frriginat SOME OBJECTIONS TO PRESBYTERIAN UNION CONSIDERED. [A COVENANTER'S VIEW.] MR. EDITOR :—ln the• last meeting of the Committees of the Old and New School and United Presbyterian Churches in your city, the platform they agreed to 'recommend to their re spective Assemblies, was the platform of the Philadelphia General Convention, with slight modifications. We think this basis admirable, and rejoice at the prospect of Union which still seems to be opening before these Churches.. We earnestly hope that the Reformed Presbyterian Church, will not, after "sohonorable a part in originating this measure, fall'behind in prosecu ting it to its glorious end: We are reminded', 'ltowever, of objeetions against this blessed Movement, by reading the protest against it lately written and published by Dr. Breckenridgii. Dr RreCkenridge will always be held in deierved adinifation. Rut his praise will not, in the judgment:cif posterity depend upon his,agency in the exelsions of .1.837, nor on this frantic, opposition to reunion at the pre-' . • sent time. Theie are some' who dislike Presbyterian • niacin beciuse its name givesit an `unduly restricted character.`' But we do not think that' the effort for union is to atop when the Presbyterian bo'clies are all united. The Presbyterian union will, only be a step towards a larger fulfilment of Our Lord's prayer that they all may be one. We al-' ways regret that in'the British isles the efforts of such kings as William, and such divine, as Tillotson and Leighton to unite the Established and the different dissentibg Chi/1.613.es failed of success. If their power had equalled their dis position, unity would have been restored' to our Protestant forces ; in which case we have reason to think the results of their contest with 'Popery would liave been diffei•etit and less Absorbed in disieniions about bands and gowns they allowed Rome With all the power that ever springs from unity and organization ;to recover her lost don3inious, and eiteild'her conqueSts every part of the world. We have more reason to he hUMhled, tha'n eu raged, now, .when men' uplifaid us with, the "failure of Protestantism." Our 'defeats might yet help us to victory if they would teach us this one lesson :—that the success of the . Church will always be in the ratio' of her unity, her free: dom from internal 'schism, her concentration of her forces against the' enemy without. j The Church of 'Rome through her unity has with stood and prevailed, although Scripture and rea son are against her, while 'the diiisions of Pro-, testants although Scripture and reason are in their favor, have prevented any considerable ad vances. This •lesson is forcing itself upon the convic- . tion of earnest Christians. 'And before a divine purpose to extend the Gospel of Christ Jesus throughout the world, the petty differences that keep apart Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Congre gational Christians, will vanish, and they "all will be one—that the world may believe" in the divine mission of Messiah. It is not, therefore, in any exclusive spirit that 'we advocate PRES BYTERIAN union, but on'the principle of accep ting what is attainable, rather than lose all by demanding what may be yet premature and re mote. But the objections to Presbyterian union come mainly from the opposite directicin. While the basis is considered too restricted by some, it is de nounced as too liberal by niftily. And if it were narrowed down a thousand fold more than the Bib!e warrants, there' would still be GOOD MEN to charge it with latitudinarianism. • The most of the objections are mere unwor thy appeala to prejudice and denominational pride. That our stricter churches have better preach ers, and t , hat they educate a more solid and prac tical pietyt.han the other bodies which are to participate in this , Union; that it will not be 'a union, but' an absorption of the less by the greater, in Whieh the" venerable name" of our church will bejlost, the record'of long contendings for the•crown rights of the Bing of nations be blotted out, and the chain of our identity 'with our martyied fOrefathers and Reformed Presby terians the world over be stindered,-4hese and similar rhetorical utterances are rather appeals to passion than words of truth and soberness. Let these objectors inform themselves whether this supposed' superiority d our preachers, and of our type of religious character is 'a fact, or not rather an' instance of that spiritual pride which is always born of bigotry and exclusive ism. In Job's day there , were those who said, it We are the people:" And' our gaviour rebuked in the Pharisees this sentiment', Stand by, Tam holier than thon." Let them remember too that our church, in all her true excellencies, will not be sunk, but be perpetuated bithis union. .The truth, so far as it is embodied in her standards, in the lives of her members, and in the history of, her conieadings for Jesus she will take with her,;as a hlesaeddeaven into her new con nexion, and it will be.incxeaaedly operative in proportion tp Vae. enlarged Add of its operation. And the larger bodies are prepared to •welcome this new element, and say it is just what they THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, JULY 22, 1869. need. Not only for the sake of union, but ftoin convictions of advantage, Ay are ready to ac cept from us all the higher attainments we may have made as to pastoral duty, family religion, the purity of the church and a Scriptural psalm, ody. All that we are required to give up for the sake of this union, is what we ought to give up if no such motive were present : a spirit of intolerance, a want of charity towards the minor or non•essen tial differences of our Chrisiian .brethreCii.:_Thoie, who accept and profess the. Westminster symbols of faith are substantially agreed. There is, po 'differen'ce on doctrinal or piacticaf points of sufficient importance to justify continued separa tion.. The only real difference is " Teitimony bearing' and the extent to which toleration should be exeicised idwardCbrethredin the same . connexionwith onrselVes. We confess we think the' General Assembly P'resbyterians are nearer, the truth in this respect than we. 'And we are persuaded that the framers of the 'Philadelphia, ,basis, and the - anion Coinmittees who recentli , met in the sane phip i ,e; have 'reached results, on this Subjeet, very 'm uch in advance" of any pre vious attainment of the church. The kingdom of 'Christ and the interests of true religion are advancing. Iwtead:of opposing let us tike part in the gloiionsmovement. , "Bleseed are the peacemakers for theyshall be called the children of GOd." . , " Yes, lint," sayi the objector, " if 'we go into this union we must sing hymns." We ask your par don. By the proposed plan of .union, you will be secured in your right to keep and use the psalms. "Yes," kis replied, "but'we will lia.Ve to bear with our brethren singing hynins." That'is truc, to a degree. But we have to do that now: 'We cannot, or do not -session our members for sing ing hymns now. Rion ministers who leut`their influence to' establish the precedent and tile 'law of our Synod in - favor of disciplining. 'foil thiS offence' have since quieted their people with as surances of impunity'frnm'the operation tif these • , measures. Is it not better to be honest, Uhd profess the principle of tolerition On this I sdhject, than to keep up false' appearances'? We are' prepared to show that the toleration' on the psalm question were recommending ! 1. In harmOny with the. teachings Of christ and His apostles in the' Bible, and the bistcry l of the institution of the ChriaWn church.' 2. In harmony with.a correct ihterpretitiOn of the standards" tit!il he historyl of the Reamed' Presbyterian church. 'We are not accountable" for the glosses, and 'wrestings, arid'traditionary' meanings which men have given to- these eym:' bols of our faith. , Until.the decisions of Synod in 1868,'our Testimony on the pgalmody of the churdh had'rieVerr been ''narrowed down the 150. That•deeisien is null add void, 'for it was reached without first overtaring the Presbyteries in regard to the change. -' So y So' far-them from neglecting'the proposed 'basis of Presbyterian union for ita recognition of the principle of ioleration, this very feature should' _commend it to•our favor.% And we are persuaded that, the morC'thia subjeCtis 'studied in the light of Scripture and reason, the'more will we discover in it the working of the Spirit of god. LIMITS OP PRESBYTERIAN UNION. It seems: ta.belta , Common impression ' among those, who favor the Union.of the two Aasemblies, that the Reunion- of all. the various Iranches of the Presbyterian Church of the North; into one body would be a desirable 'Rad by no= Means .an• impracticable , thing. Most of thoia who take this ground concede that it 'is not likely to be ac complished at once. They think, howeVer, 'that in the course of a few years, the process •of eralization which has been going on' :in: all 'the smaller bodies, and which will 'be greatif accel erated by the Reunion of the Assemblies; will end in bringing theni all upon a common plat form, and4in presenting 'to the World a great united Reformed Church of North Atnerica.' That the smaller branches-will be' greatly in fluenced by the measure consummated at Pitts burg'next November, is very certain. 'More'than one of the' ministry the Most rigidl'and' exclu sivaof these confess the fact, with rejoicing or with trepidation according to*- their sympathies. That smaller or greater local minorities in all of them will be drawn into the United Church, and that many of the younger of their ministry will find in it a congenial home, is equally certain. It is to be presumed that all the pastors and congregations of the three Presbyteriei who were virtually exscinded by the R. P. General Synod at its lastmeeting, (as well as the congregations and pastors in other parts of that Church who ad here to them), will 'seek ecelesia6tical connections elsewhere, as soon as -the suits proposed by Sy nod's party have been decided by our Supreme Court in banc. It is also to be presumed that the ministerial current which has'for years been sitting always from the United Presbyterian Church towards the two Presbyterian Churches will not be diminished or retarded by the union of the Assemblies. Yet, I cannot see that it is either desirable or probable that the present Psalm singing Churches should speedily go out of existence, or be merged in the great central body. They are very useful as temporary arrangements, and their place could not be supplied by any united Church.; They are, so to speak, the nurseries of Ameri can Presbyterianism, perpetuating on our soil for .the convenience and spiritual .comfort of our Pres -I:iterian immigrants, the ecclesiastical systems of the old world, and keeping these brethren Pres byterian Until they become American. In this connection we must take into account the strin gently conservative character of these brethren and their rigid attachment to the usages and forms which prevail abroad. Whatever they have been geed to, is in their eyo, a law of the ilniverse. ~Grim logic, grimmer wit, grimmest. objurgatinp, awaits the man who tries to bring absurd changes in the established order of things. In one of our' Covenanter churches, the,paster—a gra:ve and tbodox Doctor enough—proposed that, on the oc , casion of a coinmUnion, the people, to avoid neilfu : ' SiOn, should come forward t 9 the, tables by one aisle and withdra7 by , tlie ,other,.insfead of approaching by both ." B'ut'When the first com pany were complying with his request, 'an ',old 'ecilielniaster, whom some of our city father's ref member` to their sorroi, sprang from his seat and 'stopped them, driving them back, like a flock of chickens, with the* exc arnation„Gano. awa back! Gang awa back!. hae _nine o'your, new ways here!" He . spoke 'for his race, the `Scotch Irish of Ulster, as truly as that old elder 'prayed for them when he hesought the Lord that he might be always right, you:unto hard for ken I'm co hard to turn"• , That iinmigration'froni t ulster 'is not likely" cease at an early date is well knovin. In view Of all that her people have done the nation in the past, it wouldseemto be the nation's loss if it did., The introdection of agricultural imprOie: ments has within a few; years'greatly reduced the thimber of small farina; and the'ininaber of litho: reps needed for farming in the province. The steam ploiv, the reaping machine, the horse-rake ave left Many hands idle; and while* thet:e is some growth' 0f her mannfibtnies, it Will' never be such as:to ibsorb the surplus of Mier so long as free • trade with . England exists. In . this state ofthings whole'Multitues of her people inust 'find a'.hienib' inthe the Colonies or "the States."nCol o' nies they find Churches modified - by no new and independent national life, but 'rather . Closely nie delled after the'Chnich at home. Themodei . Of , f.•„ 111.4 organization and work, the style, an 'manner 'of the l formS Of worship, 'the of praiie,' all cOnforin to what'fliey have been used to. 'And hesides".illthese'ile personal aSsocia-• ticMi'are the all' these are, if not' 'd'ifferent, yet modified. pin. traditions are not their'r; our likes arid disftee are not-theirs; our Mrs. { Grundy is quite another "person. Insensibly` oiir Standards of propriety, of expediency' end; in a -feas'ileg,ree, of doctrie.al truth, are all our Own. In this state of things the minoianA 'rigidly old-world branches of the Presbyterian' family have their own uses. That there' need be so many varieties of them we do not assert. Look' at the list-=Reformed Presbyterians of three kinds (Presbytery, Synod and General Synod) ; Asso- Oiate Reformed Preskiterians; North - and' South; Associate Presbyterians; and United Preshyterians. I trust the day is not far when i the 'United' Preshyterian Church will absorb all of them* that are not ripe for union to, and membership' in,, the . Presbyterian *Church. That word " ' ripe" just expresses hew matters stand now. If yorigd into an orchard August: yon *find the different species of apple's in very different stages of ripeness. Some ,are. already mellow; some are just with the first tin ges of the coming'gold and pUrple; but the win= ter-greenings in the coiner will never ripen till' they are gathered! But the promise*of the min'- , mer's work is upon of them, and the summer Will neither hasten nor delay' her work to suit any one. As surely as the fruit'' grows will it come to maturity. • And as surely as the narrow views, rigid in terpretations, and stubborn traditions of these' 'brethren are not part and parcel of the dispensa tion of the kingdom of God granted to this na tion, and are not in conformity to that which is best and worthiest in the life that, God has given to this people, so surely will the beams of the Sun . of Righteousness and His kindly, and enriching,' and nourishing influences, sweeten and ' mellow' the fruit of every tree that He has planted, until the sourness and the bitterness of the past ire * but of the past. il k But for a time these little churches must abide Ts great ecclesiastical tunnels (as I have heard one of their pastors call his congregation) with' emigrants going in at one end and Americans going out at the other, or (as Coleridge observed of the constitution of a cloud) such that while every particle is continually shifting its position, and some passing away to make room for others— yet the whole retains its shape. Such a state of things does not, and cannot, contribute to'the denominational peace and quiet of these bodies. Disagreements as to their inter nal policy and their relations to each other and to other Churches must arise in the nature of things. The children will not agree with the fathers about instrumental music, read sermons, psalm-Singing, forms of and barriers to comma= nion, &c. And when the dissension does not speedily take the form of peaceable division, it is likely to end less peaceably and more noisily than could be desired. But on the whole it is perhaps as well that reforming and liberalizing measures do not succeed, or at least, not.to a greater extent 'than in the older Churches abroad. They who largely desire such reforms will find their true place in the course of things inAhe one Presbyte rian •Chureh!which will need no other adjective . to deitie it.:F ° ln 4o saying f dP . noi mean to pro nounce spelally againstant s Ofiiie Measures adopt ed by them, nor yet to join with those who claim that they must go out stripped and speechleTfr silent under every lawless indignity and bare of the property bequeathed to them by their fath ers. They have a moral right to what they have rightfully inherited or freely 'Contributed. They buy; amoral fight also to a fair hearing, and _their excision is. none Ae more just because it was in, the nature of things to be expected. • -' ITLTONIENSIS. WHAT IS OULTUAEI The methods of education are of necessity end leas subjects of debate. They .coneern 'every one, and are of suchs. fun damen tal character thdt every ,view, we entertain, of life, man or , pocl, mod ifies our view of how ,education should be carried The,Jew haft- one.thecry, and drills his pu pils in the. Rabbis and the Talmud. The Roman- i ist has Another, end.,..,c , rinas his pupils in Cate ... $ phisms. ,The,Materialist has quite another, and cares, for nothing but the exact and the.physical. sciences. The great mass 'of men ,between the two,,last—whq neither, anept, Roar nor reject all spiritual truth—seem,able.to -unite on, no one theory. Some say knowledge is _the .great end, so let us have the sciences and the modern 'lan- guages as these alooeare,pructically useful. Mr.• Fronde scouts science itself in the - interests of I the!samP theory.; and demands a strictly techni cal training for every profession. He vfould have the doctor begin his studies when he _leaves his primer; ,the, lawyer tape up the tatutes at , Large 4 2 BPP us, out "of petticoats, ,&c.„ and;learn noth ing else • . Others say, mental discipline, is the, end, l soi let , us,,have the• classics and the pure Mathe patios. Others blandly inte r pose with" You are both ; right and; beth-wrono• gentlemen. , Combine your.,methodp and the resulttis,perfect." The advocates sif ,the, old-fashioned,methods of, liberal education upon which oufolderAmerican ,colleges were, ,founded, and which came in with the Reformation, are not certainly losing lioaTt zn this ,great t tnssle. They. have fought hard to 4keep Chas. *.„ L .Filiot,, (with his .!‘ gew_ Educa tiOn ?Tout ofilHarvard. , They have more and mors of the.pnblie ear in,,ou,F times, although op : ponents_ like Fronde, Eliot, Farrar and others londly : ancl confidently opposition. hts,beenthpir mi,sfortune to L have,been too much associated , in the public mind .with ultraism, char T tered abu r ses and old f i ggyisin of all' kinds. Pert Reformers have Ato time ! tp,draw,distinctions, and sp , uselessipedantry and ,priggishness •has been ceaselesely 7 ,laid„ to the charge_ of system !hioh above ; all others has,,proyed itself : ptrong. to develop;, he sympathy of,rnan for his fellows,, and which.rests on, whatimay be called Kin_ the better sense of the word) a humanitarian basis. The liberal ,edncation of our-fathers. woceeds upon ,the supposition that , .man , has within him self a double patpre—is allied both to lower and higher existences. It recognizes the right of the higher or spiritual nature to ruld,over and to use (not to.torment and destroy) the.lower. It con templates that higher;nature itself in .a two-fold aspect, as dealing both with things above, which are absolute and, eternal, _and, things below and around, 'which are,temporal, relative and pheno .anenal. develop, that nature, for deal ing with both classes. of objects,--as reason for dealing with.the first, as understanding, for deal ing with the, second. „ To this end , it adopts .a two-fold discipline of the ,faculties. Ivfinds in the pure .Mathematics the great discipline. of tlae• human reason: In this, branch of, knowledge alone, nothing is vari able, nothing,uneertain, nothingrests on probabili ties: From things intuitively known to, be ne cessary truths we here proceed by demonstration to necessary conclusions. ' In this ways the &Innen reason iediaciplined to its true power and activity. For thereis a con nection between the , higher Acts of spiritual philosophy. and the Mathematics . . IhiSsec crew perpnc " Let no - one nnekilled , in Maths- Anatics enter," was writtenn, over. the portals ,of Plato's school. They:Litho . ef, Mathematics are only, ,approximately true , of the worldof our e.x 7 i perience. No true and real circle , for instance,, has the outward eye of man ever seen. Only the inward-eye, of the reason is cognizant of it. ,It is a truth of the intellectual mid unseen World, ;of which our outer world is but the mantle , or the shadow. The Flatonists-reason i frem the neces sary truth of Mathematical propositions ,to the. existence of the objects in Plat spiritual World of which these propositions are true, seeing that in the outward world they are not so:, But there is ans outer and.shifting 'world of phenomena, with which' the spirit.of_ man must, have dealings also. This is the world where the ideas which we have of morality and truth are, never realized, but always tending, to realization,, just as no true and perfect circle exists ,there;, but. only• attempts at such. ,And we need train ing and discipline for our dealings with this' world also,—the world of becoming (werden) ;the: Germans justly, call it, while the, other. -is% the world of being, (wesen)--the , of (will& "the fashion passeth away." ..This•,is the,' world of probabilities, as was the other sof certainties, —af , prebable truth as: was the:other of necessary truth. These probabilities vary: is degree—as from the probability (sometimes regarded as a certainty) that the sun will'rise to morrow, down to the probability that any reader has waded thus far through' these metaphysics. .And the man whose dealings'are exclaivelyicith..certain and necessary truth, is not best fitted for dealing with ... this world. The professional mathematician for instance who "lives in a world of ascertained premises': (Youmans), has trouble in dealing With a ivorld of uncertain premise's. Every So phomore knows that he can palm pfx excuses on the profeSsor,gf mathematics, which would not, "go down" in the Greek room. Now, the old method of training made provi sion for this need nlib t %' Finding lan.ua...e as the reat bond which unites man, and binds interests 'together in this shifting .world,it fixed on it as the means of discipline,—as a training for the understanding and • the judgment. And as the most effectuallniethol of bringiowthat discipline to bear, our fathers chose tbe i practiceof transla tion, by which we are compelled to put ourselves in the place of another man by intellectual sym pathy; and' use ouijildginerdjaA`tO which of tie Manifofd iiinenyulons "our ' own tongue Will best 'convey hib inein t ilit • It is iMposSible to render 'a' Sidgle'likge l ot"thd - Gieek or tatin au thors into English, without at every step weigh ing probabilities and exercising the : judgment. But why choose ti-reek and tatin rather than French and Geruitin'l any good reasons. Those are the two most perfect types Of ; human Speech. The one is the most perfect. example of the livina force a Words, the other of the gram matical structure of language. They two embody the world's thought in the . youth and opening manhOod, and therefore come into closest i. ) .mptithy with the youth of our schools and col leges. 'They'have'paSsed out of ac,i've use, and , are therefore best fitted for teaching by methods coinbine the two grai; intellectual proeeS ses of analysis and synthesis, while living len guages'inuSt' be `lelirut t'he latto . r alone, fur Vivisected isl'as'iniposiiibm in; language, as it is brt/rat ' . 1136 apparatus .toi their mas tery is the:mese lierfeciin the World, haiiing em ployed the intellect generations of scholars in its construction: ' Tlidt they are lif the past is an advantage, that the; 'het to4eVolep in uslhat Historical consciousuesi•Whioli' raises us above 'slavery to the spirit of the age, and forms the 'brown of trde.scholars f hip.... Tim older of; the.two embodies in itself - not only the first and fnnda mentaf treatises on moi4s,. philosophy, science, in edicihe and critidisni;iiht 'the great record of redeeming love. "The second - is the base of half our own language..The'men who spoke it found ed our.. legal system, and transmitted to us. the legal 'conceptions which modify' so profoundly our social life. It is not all unreason then that leads men to cling to our old methods in. education. Our fathers, perhaps, builded wiser than they knew in these things, and our B.efortners may tear down what,they can never replace. Zion's Herald makes, the fpllowing claims, for the three• Theol , ogical•Schools of the Methodists. They may not be altogether just, but they are far from empty boasting's: There are, in conneclion , with the Church, three theological schools of the highest grade. Each is centrally and favorably located; each is ably mann ed:; each is handsomely endovied; each ranks with the best dingle school of any other denomination, and is superior to all other 'schools of those churches except the chief representative. That is,'there is only one Baptist school as well officer ed, and endowed, and fitted for the work of in struction as anyone of the three Methodist schools. There is only one Congregational,tpiscopal, New School, or Old School Presbyterian, that is equal in rank to either of our three vand not one of any of them that is superior.., Andover does not to day offer better advantage,s than Boston, nor New York or Princeton than Drew, _while all others of their order are far inferior! In'. fact, it may be more than doubted'if one , caw get as good a the olOgical culture, using that term in its broadest sense, at Andover as at Boston. Mr. Lewis E. Jackson, of the City Mission; sums. up the, receipts of the national religious so cieties of this country as $.6,243,969.56; while the receipts' of a portion of the 106.1 societies of this city are giverLa S $1,016,885.14. The Ob server believes that another - million should be added as the, income;ofdocal societies not report ed. In this [N. Y] city,the,Children's Aid So ciety, the New York Juvenile, Asylum, and the Rowan Catholic Proteefoii'for Ilte4itute Child ren each report Over's'l2s,oool The largest in come of all is the Methodist Missionary society, which includes the, home ,and !foreign field, and which reports $600,; and next comes the American Board, which received $535;839. Of the grand total, $1,1:62,162' 1 dre the receipts of those societies which' are supported by the two great branches of Presbyterianism, though from this amount should be deducted probably nearly 4150,001 A, which was received for sales by their publishing societies; and about $200,000 should he added fOr the •contribiltions of New School Presbyterians to the American Board. The y above is from The independent. Very glad should we be to k elieve this about the $200,000. According to the statistical reports of our churches, one-half that amount would be nearer the truth. =The .Evangelist of week before last quotes an article from the. Universe which was in our c o l um ns sometime , last ypar,,and speaks, of the paper as the organ of the gomish Church. It ha,s been ,dead, as •a Rol:Disk-organ, for months, and we believe has altogetherAisappeared from the newspaper world. ON THE WING
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers