'll,r :40.ik.rritaw7/2.ricsb/ftlian New Series, V( JohnA.weir 15ju1y 69 Strictly in Advance $2.60, Otherwise $3. 1 Postage 20cts, to be paid where delivered. f 3r Liza Ivolsgitri.alt. THURSDAY, MAY 27,: 1869 A REALITY WORTH CONTENDING Are the American libertieS of Presby terianism a phantom ? It iS confessed that as maintained by our denomination, they are entirely consistent' with ortho doxy. No one cherishing'these liberties, proposes for a moment, as many Congre gationalisis brought up' in Calvinism 'do, to associate in any organic way with Ar minians, or with Pelagians. But we claim these that liberties are 'peculiarities of our branch as such. Other's wink at them, tolerate them with more or less indul gence, while as denominations they know nothing of them, or have actually de nounced them, and striven to brand their adherents as heretics. And at any time, in perfect accordance with their princi ples, spirit and history, they may turn the whole force of their ecclesiastical machinery against sueh exceptional indi viduals among them as hold them. What security have men holding a general atonement, and a natural ability of the sinner, and denying federal headship, for their positions as recti in ecclesia in the Old School Church ? What security does mere toleration give ? Liberty is indeed enjoyed to some extent in the Old School Church by men of a similar doctrinal position with our own, but it is a stolen liberty; it is pre carious, because utterly inconsistent with the history and precedents of that branch, and because no word or line is found in its records as a distinct branch to give color of a warrant for such liberty, un less in the transactions connected with the present Reunion movement. The American liberties of Presbyte rianism are a distinctive reality and char acteristic of our Church, proclaimed as such in all our . periodicals, known in all our practice, and announced in some of our fundamental papers, (such as the Pro test of 1837, and the Auburn Declaration) and informing our denominational litera ture, official or not. Our Church is a great experiment Nil.; h Calvinism and Presbyterianism, designed to test their powers of expansion and self adaptation. The question which multi tudes of intelligent men have a deep in terest in seeing settled is, whether these systems can maintain themselves in the world without a marked and repulsive degree of narrowness ? Can Calvinism he Calvinism while relinquishing its claims to validity in every part ? Is an extended creed or rubric, the infallible antecedent of bigotry ? Can a truly Cal vinistic and Presbyterian system show flexibility, breadth of theological thought, and wide humanitarian sympathies, with out the sacrifice of a single essential fea• Lure ? The affirmative answer to these ques tions, is found in what we have called— and we think the phrase made its way before the world through the columns of this paper—the American Liberties of Presbyterianism. The existence of the New School Church, so-called, establish es the important fact, that a reasonable measure of doctrinal liberty is compati ble with loyally holding to the great fundamental ideas of the Calvinistic sys tem, and with subjection to the Presbyte rian form of government. In other words, our Church presents a hopeful solution of the important problem of providing am ple range for independent thinking with in the limits of a vast and majestic sys tem of Scripture truth. We have shown it altogether unnecessary to make long strides towards itomanism, in order to be secure from r Latitudinarianism. Such a great truth has been demonstrated and illustrated by the separate existence of the " New School" Church. Congrega. tionalists, with their hick of organization could do it only in isolated and ineffective instances. No existing'branch of. the Presbyterian Church had 'felt it any part of its mission to unbar the iron doors of its elaborate written system; and so,--that it might be done at all, it NVaS necessaly that some new and grievouS developinent of the rigorous element, should take place in the Presbyterian body and that in the throes of 'the accompanying con vulsion, a New Branch should shoot forth, and thus the lusty old stock of Cal• vinism in this third century of its exis tence proves its marvellous vigor, and blooms and bears fruit for the new age as for the old. A root almost , out of dry. • ground.! Those who smile at our zeal for these liberties, who are incredulous as to their importance, or who pooh-pooh the de mand for their express recognition in any organic reconstruction, are mocking at some of the gravest realities in the his tory. of the American Church. Those who would quiet our anxieties by lofty assurance, that in any event, and upon any basis these liberties will be perfectly safe in the reconstructed Church, ought to bring us a warrant for more than hu man foresight. Those who wish us to unite on the ground of general'confidence in: the liberal spirit of the ',tither body, should explain to us more satisfactorily than it has yet been done, why that liberal spirit has twice failed, utterly'failed, to get formal expression in the votes of the Presbyteries. • LETTER FROM THE ASSEMBLY. Nnw YORK, Monday Morning. The Assembly having settled itself and beconie fairly conscious of its ,own character, may be spoken of more con: fidently by an' observer. It is, again, the largest ever convened, numbering' :257 members. Every clerical -delegate 'but one, and he from California, is in his place, and the places of thirteen Elders only are vacant. The Synod .of Toneessee has' a full representation, so. have the new Synod , of Kansas and the old Synod of Missouri. T. ere is only one place, an Elder's, vacant in the far-off- Synod of Minnesota, and only one each in those'of Wisconsin and lowa. The new Presbytery of South Carolina, represented by Rev. Silas McKinney, but without an Elder, is assigned on the roll, to the Synod of Pennsylvania.,. It is a familiar saying, at such gatherings: " We have an able Assembly ;" rit could never be more justly said than now. Not only have we 32 titled ministers, most of whom have worn their honors long and well, but we count .eighteen laymen whose professional ,position as judges, Congresimen, physicians, etc., is in like manner recognized. 'The abund ance of good material, naturally led to an abundance of candidates for modera . torship, seven excellent men having been nominated, and five names remaining to be voted upon. .The choice, after three ballots, fell upon Dr.,P. •H. Fow ler, of Utica, who has since proved him self among the very best of moderators; courteous and unassuming, yet quite at home in the chair; prompt and of good business capacities. Business has moved forward with cheering rapidity ; every permanent Committee had reported by Saturday morning early; and but for the matter of Reunion, there must have been an early adjournment. The New York Press almost unanimously and with unusual fullness had announced the coming of the two Assemblies, and , gave more or less careful and correct accounts of our history, character and prospects—par ticularly upon Reunion. Mr. Greeley himself wrote Thursday's article in The Tribune, and it is, by his particular de sire that space has been given for the very full and admirable reports of the proceedings, which have thus far ap peared in that paper.-- •More interest has been shown by Mr. Greeley and his associates of The Tribune in these pro ceedings, than perhaps in any religious matter hitherto, unless it was the Re• vival of 1858. Reunionl It is remarkable that while this subject is felt to be the most pressing and im portant before the body, and while some thing decisive is felt to be impending, not a few of the once warm advocates of early reunion, especially in this section of the ,Church, are found comparatively cool and indifferent—hurt, not a little, by the treatment their carefully, prepared plans .have received at the hands of the other PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1869 body; while, some of the most cautious and reluctant in former years, are now yielding to what they regard as.signs of a change in the other body. But there is a very strong popular current for re union, which will probably. control the action of our body as it has done heretO fore,foie and there is, moreover, a sturdy and able band, abler we think than-last year, who will give every plan that may be submitted, a thorough sifting, and doubt less be able to save us from a disastreus • surrender of principles. The' special Committee of ten to ; confer with. a, like CoMmittee of the other branch, appoint ed by . the Moderator on Friday, was of such a high character as to give general confidence. Dr. Patterson or Chicago, and Judge Strong of our city, who• are members, may be relied ,on to secure whatever elements of caution are needed' in the joint deliberations, and it May,tiot be.amiss,thus early to say; that wisdom, and not precipitancy, seems likely to characterize the conclusions of the whole Committee on our side. Dr. hlusgrave's speech this morning, as a delegate from the other branch, was a very able plea for the dropping of all mere administra tive matters from the terms of union, and for the Standards "pure and simple" as the only Basis. The goodtaste of mak ing his congratulatory address .a plea for his own plan of Reunion was very ques tionable. And the implication that our side of the Joint Committee bad proposed another doctrinal basis than th'e Stand: ards, aroused the indignation of not afew of Our. brethren.. True, he was warmly, even . vehemently applauded in his more general declarations, as to : carrying his own body with him on that plan, but when he asked specifically for a union without guarantees for liberty, there was &manifest, falling off in the applause. The Moderator's reply was exceedingly cau tious and satisfactory, as our readers will observe. Perhaps some plan will be an nounced by telegraph as commanding the assent of both Assemblies, before these words reach the great body of our read ers, but we will venture to predict (1) that there will be no reunion here and now, and (2) that no plan oblivious of our liberal character or giving, over all 'the details to the united body will pass .with anything beyond an approach to unanimity in our body, if it passes at all. Besides Reunion there seem few topics likely to create discussion. Among these few is probably that in regard to the Sunday School Committee, whose work the Publication. Committee =aims to ac complish and has been accomplishing, and would formally absorb its' functions, if the Assembly is inclined. The S. Committee is likely to resist this propo sal. Dr.—Fowler's admirable report of his visit to the Free Church of Scotland, with its instructive suggestions has leen referred to a Committee. It ought to be discussed and some practical inferen ces should be drawn from it. Abundant hospitalities and courtesies have been offered to the ministers of the Assemblies. The best homes in this , wealthy part of the city are freely opened to its members. Invitations to visit the great artistic and literary attrae• tions, the mission fields, etc., of the city, have poured in upon the members. On Saturday evening large numbers of both , Assemblies visited the annual Ex hibition of the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN. It was pleasant amid the dis play of nearly 500 works of art, to no tice that eight of the very choicest landscapes, by Paul Weber, gems that practised eyes would pick out across the room—were marked as the property of one of the members of the General As sembly, one no,k, unknown to Philadel phia—Rev. Thomas Street. On Sunday many of the members as usual filled pulpits in the city and vicinity; and at night, in Dr. Adams' great church on Madison Square, an immense audience listened to able and inspiring addresses on City Evangeliza tion by such men as Revs. George J. Mingins, Dr. John Hall and Stephen H. Tyng, Sr. To night a social reunion of both the Assemblies will be held at Apollo Hall, when very pleasant social interchanges among the brethren and their friends are expected. I shall use the telegraph if anything of importance occurs before the paper goes to press. J. W. M. The General Assembly. Under a bright sky, and with a fresh and genial air' to keep "off fatigue and main ain the annual spirit, the General Assembly, in goodly numbers, convened in the church of the Covenant to-day. Many of the best and ablest men' in the Church are in the body; Adams, Patterson, Fisher, Humphrey, Herrick Johnson, Sunderland, Wing, Heacock, of Buffalo, Fowler, of Utica, Pratt, of Ohio, Vin Cent, of Troy, Cros by, of New York, - Darling; Stearns, and many others giving force and dignity to the body and fitting it to deal with the great questions before . it. California and Nevada are well represented, one of the - delegates having . come `through to Oinaha, with first; train direct from Sae rainento. The appearance of - the body hewever' 'is governed rather by the sin ewy and'' somewhat rugged faces' which' predoniinate, telling hard work in the Master's service; much more than deep thought and aesthetic culture. The _people are represented, the active and theworkingi rather than the thinking element tif the Church. Theie are not a few fine professor-like faces ; faces' in which the contemplative, ehines calmly and beauofully over the other elements of chara,bter, but they do not give ex pression to the tout ensemble as viewed from the platform. The church of the Covenant is one, of the richest and most •strikino• c in .archi tecture, within and without, in which the Assembly has ever met. Painting in bri.aht colors, carving and gilt letter abound: The 'audience room is di vided into nave and aisles, with roof fin ished in a lofty clerestory, and carved columns rising. from the floor to the ceil T ing. It a commanding position at the corner of Thirty-fifth St. and Park avenue, which is a continuation of Fourth avenue, not very remote from Central Park. Close by, on Fifth avenue, is the Brick Church, in which the Assembly of the other Branch is in session. And already on Thursday afternoon, news came that a Committee on Re-union, to confer with a like Committee of our own body, had just been ordered to be appointed. But we need not anticipate. The Moderator's sermon, before our Assembly like that at - Harrisburg, was on Re-union : Text—That they all may be one. It was able, wide in scope, and lofty in sentiment; starting with general views, it came, step by step, to the par ticular phase of re•union before the two- Presbyterian bodies. Great stress was laid by the speaker upon the absolute advantage of organic union. From this part of the argument, which was strong and: beautiful, we make the following extract: Take the duty of mutual< defence. The Church is, thus far, surrounded with ene mies. Can an army be defeated without 'an organization in the army that opposes it? Take once more the vast and still in creasing work of the Church. Isolated bodies of men never accomplish great re sults. ' Even a common mechanical busi ness requires unity of organization. How much more an enterprise extending Over the world, and perhaps through genera tions, and requiring, for its accomplish ment the talents, knowledge and resources of millions of men? If the Church is to stand against the wiles of the devil, if she is to conquer the world, making disciples of all nations, beating down everywhere the strongholds of error and sin, and building up the glorious kingdom of her Lord, will she not need concentration of her efforts, combination of her means, and some de gree of unity of plan ? Are scattered ef forts, such as may be made by a little body of men -here and another there, paying no attention to each other, and one pulling down what the other has built up, likely to succeed? And if the force of the whole Church is to put forth together, must there net be some one recognized centre, from which all its operations may receive their direction? It seems to me, nobody can dispute this.* Nor can I doubt that when the worldcomes to be actually converted, not only all the denominations that now exist will have to put aside their'denomi national isolation and something of what they now claim as their denominational independence, but that Christians of Eng land and America will have to make com mon cause with those of France, Germa ny, Italy, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, and even of Asia and Africa, and consent tai have their action regulated by some common law, and perhaps common ad ministration. This is at least the natural way. God may dispense with it if He choose's. But as a question of natural •The Lord' means through which we know He ordi narily works, the conclusion is obvious. Approaching the particular question before the two Assemblies he said : And this brings me to the particular question now before the two Bodies of Churches met together in this city by their Commissioners to the General Assembly. I confess to a sense of awe, of deep solem nity, making every nerve quiver, as I ap proach a theme fraught with interests so vast, and so vital to the welfare of our be loved Church and the cause and kingdom of our. blessed Lord. Here in these two Assernblies is to be determined in e f fect, a question that will decide the destinieti of the Presbyterian Church in these United States, perhaps for many generations, per haps for the whole of its future history. Shall, it be strong or weak; shall it have influence or become of little account; shall' it sow far and wide the seeds of doe trine and order, which we verily believe are of the highest importance to the Chris tian interest in our country and the world; or shall it, perhaps. find itself, after a few years of unnatural rivalry and mutual hi nderance and distrust, sunk from its high prestige as one of the great national Churches, its b-anches withering, its roots drying up, and its name no more a word of honor or of power? It is very rare that such a crisis occurs in the history of any religious body. The state of our coun try and the world, just now, gives the question an importance hardly to be paral leled, and if the opportunity be lost now, it .is likely' to recur in our day, perhaps never. Let me call your attention to a few facts open to all. The struggle between the powers of light and darkness was never fiercer, nor the foe more confident or bet ter furnished than now. See on the' ne hand, Romanism, which has seldom failed in an emergency to re new its strength, gathering itself up for a new onset, resorting to all the arts of which it knows so well how to avail itself, summoning its ecclesiastics from all parts of the world to a council for the common defence and advancement, pouring its em igrant poor into our new country, and more or less into other Protestant noun• tries, to he the ready toolNif its prieetaln, controlling the policy of free governments; corrupting, with its false doctrines and perverting ritualism, one large . branch of the Protestant Church ; already boasting of its expected ascendancy in this favored land, and, wiser than of yore, changing its tactics, laying bold of the facilities. of the age, and using our methods as. well as its own for the accomplishment of its purpo ses. Can a divided, disintegrated, pulvcr ized Protestantism cope with a compact, closely organized Papacy? Well may it laugh at our poor, petty divisions and sub divisions, pecking here and skirmishing there, and scarcely bringing together against its own vast army so much as a single well compacted corps. Well may it trust to the power of disintegration among us, if so wise and far-seeing a body as the Presbyterian Church cannot close up its ranks and act like one in such an emergency. A rapid view was taken of the vari ous forms of Infidelity to be met by the Churches both as diffused in literature and through the community, and as are embodied in the German element of im migration. The following thoughts are appropriate, and too frequently over looked: It is a mistake which some hare made that indifference to one's own denomina tion is in. favor of general unity. Who cares for union with a body which has in itself no organic life? Had our own Church acted on this principle, its two great branches Auld not 'have stood as now, negotiating for re-union. It is the strength internal and external of both the Bodies; it is the high standing before God and man which they, have sehrally . achieved, and the work which they have done, and, by the grace of God, made themselves still capable' of doing, which makes them now desirable, one to the other. After Ili eloquent description of the great advantages enjoyed by our own denomination in its different branches, in doctrine and polity for wielding a sav ing influence upon men, he throws his appeal for union into the following form —an appeal to a sentiment which thay be laudable, which ought to be pure, but which too often becomes a grasping for power. With such advantages what should hin der this. Church from doing a great, tar reaching, and permanent work? If dis tinct denominations must continue for the present, what should binder it from placing itself at the very head of the Evangelical hos4and leading, on the general movement mi.' the conversion of the world? If we were only united, and could gather around us all that properly belong with us, how easy would it' be for us, strengthening each other's hands, and kindling eel other's enthusiasm in the noble. clime, to make our influence felt in every depart ment of life? There are denominations that have larger numhers, and. perhaps greater versatility, but where is aim one, on the whole, better adaptea to' _produce deep, strong, and lasting results ?- Towards the close, he puts the follow ing significant declarations on record I rejoice to know that our Own Presby teries have not been wanting at such a 'time4 in any concessions tending to a full agreement:with their brethren. It is a re- Genesee Evangelist, No. 1202. Home & Foreign Miss. $2.00. I Address :-1334 Chestnut Street cord that will stand to their honor, what ever be the result of the now pending ne gotiations. As to the terms yet to be con sidered, I have purposely avoided entering into a discussion. As our Presbyteries have approved of the Overture sent down by both the Assemblies, and also consen ted, on terms which seemed to them just and fraternal, to the amendment proposed by the Assembly at Albany, propriety seems to require us now simply to wait and see what may be further suggested. With all the power, and eloquence, and justice of the sentiments of the discourse, was it quite the thing, to ap peal to our body in behalf of union, as if the difficulties had come 'from our side of the house, either at the beginning of our divided state, or at any stage of our history since ? It is a significant fact, in this connection, that the retiring Moderator of the Old School Assembly, Dr. Musgrave, had not a word to say on the subject, his sermon being on the very old-fashioned theme of Faith. With considerable difficulty, and thrice calling the entire roll, the Assembly in the afternoon elected a Moderator. The first vote showed sixty-one each for Dr. Fowler of Utica, and Dr. Chester of Buffalo, and fifty-eight for Dr. Howard Crosby, besides quite a number for Drs. Wing and Sunderland. The second vote was ninety-one for Dr. Fowler out of two hundred and eleven votes cast, not yet a majority as required by the rules. The third vote gave him a decided major ity, and he was placed.in the chair, to the very great relief of the clerk, Dr. But ler, who had, without assistance, called the entire roll three times, repeating many names twice or thrice. Dr. Fow ler's remarks, on taking the chair, were brief, and delivered in a clear and audi ble voice, a very great matter on this most noisy corner, for, to the usual turmoil of the New York streets, was added fre quent and startling reports, from blasting operati.oN3 4 .piag. on, as it, seemed, under the . very ..eaves of the church. New Yorkers take such things as matters of course; it is their only way of digging cellars, in many parts of the city. Rev. Geo. A. Howard and our co presbyter, who seems to take naturally to the desk in Preabytery and Synod, Rev Wm. E. Moore,—two capital men for the work were chosen clerks. During the routine, business, reading the docket, &e., that ensued, some inter est was excited by the announcement made by Dr. Crosby, that the other As sembly had resolved to appoint a Corn mitte of five Elders and five laymen on Re-union with our branch ; accompany ing it with a motion that we respond by appointing a similar Committee to-mor row morning. Drs. Adams of New York, and Taylor of Cincinnati, and Mr. Adair opposed the motion, which was favored by . Drs. Darling and Crosby, and passed. The Assembly then adjourned. The prayer meeting this morning by no means equalled in character the aver age. The prayers and exhortations turned much upon Reunion ; yet the language generally was noticeably guard ed as compared with that heard at for mer Assemblies. Towards the close, Mr. Dodge introduced Rev.. J. C. Stiles, D.D., formerly a member of this body, now with the South, who offered prayer. Elder Robert Carter, of the other branch, was introduced, who bore an invitation to our Elders to meet With the Elders of the other branCh in a so cial prayer meting, which was cordially accepted, one of our Elders remarking that the Elders were •° all right," and that if the niatter were left to them, Re union would be consummated at once. The long list of Committees was an nounced with apologies for any infelici ties which might be exhibited in the selection. Dr. Crosby having been an nounced as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Publication, asked to be excused, on the ground of opposition to the cause itself. He was excused, after a division, by a very decided vote. Mr. Griffith read the report on For eign Missions, which was brief in com parison with former reports and which showed no change in the standing of the cause in our body, and the value of which was lessened by the want of full and fresh statistics. FRIDAY MORNING. [Continued on Page 164.]
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