- AT:TiaNNT-7. is z~l.or noi! Proprietor. IN ADVANCE. I= For .r o DOLLARS, W.' Will semi by mail ty 1.: .t.:.r• u t lt tts t. DOLI,Ah. thirty-three numb. rs. t •.l r,trl,-taling TIVV.NTT and 11PWard ••• li the r,by catithal to a paper without charge. a. 1, b, prompt, a little before the year (7.; . 'S Set rIM,VIIIenta by safe hands. or by mail. rock, all lettere to I= REV. DAVID WKINNEY, Pittsburgh, PA Reply of the Presbytery of Allegheny City to the published Remonstrance against ac cepting the Resignation of the Rev William h. Plumer, D. D., us Pastor of the Central Church of Allegheny City. The publication of the Remonstrance presented to the Presbytery of Allegheny City, on the 19th of September last, by the Central Church of Allegheny City against the aeceptiince of the resignation of its pastor, Rev. Writ. S. Plumer,_D. D., is the occasion for the issuing of this reply in this public and formal manner, The proper method fur that church to have pur sued, according to Presbyterian law and usage, if dissatisfied , with the course of this Presbytery, would have been to have ap pealed to the higher judicatories of the Church. And if the Remonstrance had • only been circulated in this vicinity; where most of the facts in this ease are so well known, no mention of it would have been necessary from P'resb'ytery. But since dila document most probably will find its way to distant parts of' the Church and the country, where the people' tray not be fa miliar with the history of the case, a proper regard for our own reputation, and the in teresta of truth and righteousness, seems to detnaird this answer. And that a elear'statethent of the whole proceedings may' be made; a brief history of the various' step's in the progress of this remarkable' case may well be pre sented,:before Meeting and refuting the charges made against Presbytery by the Remonstrants. This is the more necessary because of the very defective and wonder fully biassed presentation of facts and doc uments in the paper which calls for this rejoinder. , The difficulties in the Central Presbyte rian church of Allegheny City were for mally brought before this, Presbytery, for the first time, at a meeting held on the 10th day of last June, by a' Memorial sinned by members and pew-holders of that church. Among theie were one of the Elders, nearly all of the Trustees t and a large proportion of those who had .been con nected with that church from its first or ganization. The Memorial set forth that the church was greatly disturbed because of the conduct of their pastor ,with respect to the unhappy and threatenincs c' state of our country. It was, declare by the memorial ists that the pastor, had never expressed any opposition to the rebellion or any. ;sym pathy with our Government in the, efforts made for its suppreesioll—that be" would nut pray for the success of our arms, nor render thanksgiving for victories. It Was also set forth that tender,. respectful, 'and repeated efforts had been made to induce the pastor to cantina the public devotions of the sanctuary in such a way that the people could there, as well as elsewhere, pray for their sona in the service of their country, for the maintenance. and success of our Government, and for the suppression of re bellion ; but that all these efforts ,had been in vain ; and that a lengthy correspon dence between the pastor and ,the memori alists gave unmistakable evidence that these declarations were true. At this meet - ing Dr. Plumer 'and•the memorialists were fully heard ; the action ,of that part of the congregation which still expressed satisfac tion with the -pastor, was read.; Nand the, whole case was considered at great length by Presbytery. The only result then reached was the appointment of ,a commit tee to visit the congregation for the put , - pose of settling the .trouble,s which had arisen, if possible. This • committee, after two meetings with: the representatives of the two parties into which the congrega tion had become divided, presented' are port to Presbytery on the Bth day of July, embracing two alternative measures. 1. That the Presbytery advise the pastor to resign his charge, Or, 2 . That the ~ Pres; by tery assent to the pecuniary arrangement entered into conditionally by the parties, in the event of separation. The first alterna tive was rejected, the vote beiug six to six, and the Moderator' giving the casting vote g 'hist it. Some members declined to vote, ad still more were absent. The becousl alternative was then agreed to, but with he explicit understanding by Presbytery, that this had only reference to pecuniary :matters, if in any event the congregation should be divided. Presbytery took no steps toward effecting• such a division, ner toward organizing a new church. Now it ,was certainly competent fur Presbytery to adopt either alternative, or to reject both , and adopt some other measure. The, sole ;object of Presbytery was to - reunite the church, or if it failed in iffiliOci see that no injustice was done either 'party. Hew- ' ever, the' Congregation did 'divide, ancl dyer - eighty communicants, along'irith some ten pew-holders, not communicants, left, in consequence of the original cause of dissat isfaction net being removed At the next• meeting of Presbytery, held on the 2d - of September, it: was perfectly evident that the action taken in July had failed to fulfill the, reasonable expectations which littUbeeii entertained. And to rdtn ,edy thitl; failure as'far a's - possible, then,. three kind and, we think, judicious recom imendationa were made...l.. That the pester discontinue his ministry in that congrega tion, sinqe it was; admitted by all that his course with respeotto.eur country, in the resent momentous state of affairs, was the sole cause of. all the, difficulty. 2. The member's ; who had separated from the church were advised to return. 8. To oth,parties it was recommended to restore the funds ] to their original condition. The ntire design and :aim of all this, was to ender the church ,united and harmonious as it, had formerly been; and , the highesi onsideration was manifested toward all the, arties. That,the Presbytery had a rigbt,to act hus, will net'be'denied by any Me familiar with the prineitiles and practices ot Presby . . tertantstn. U pon'teing informed of this 'prdCed vire f Presbytery, Dr. Pludier 'at once ceased, is pastoral labors and solicited a'special eeti lig on, the 19th of September, although adjourned meeting was to he behfon the 7th or October. At this special meeting Dr. Plutner presented his resignation, and urged its acceptance. with great earnestuesis.,, The Rettionstranee against the acceptande 'of the rceSignation was presented,' and the' commisMoneri! from the Central church were beard' 'at length in its support. ull deliberations "were given by the Pres ytery, After this the resignation Was naniniously accepted ; save the vote of the, Elder from the, Centraftibtirch, whose namii • was appended to the Remonstrance.' Dr. Plumer then asked'aVediffielite of dismis •sion, to connect witW Preebytery, of Burlington, New•Altriejc*lire-thk he ME= „- VOL. XI., NO. 6. bad already made arrangements to leave for the East that, evening. This request was also granted. And now the Presbytery supposed the troubles ia the Central Presbyterian church at an .ellii. .6.1 uoh time and attention had been employed for the restoration of peace and the removal of the offence. It was our earnest hope that hereafter there would be no cause for Presbyterial interference, ex cept in the way of encouragement, and to advance directly the Redeemer's kingdom. But the publication of the Remonstrance presented to Presbytery, and which right fully belon4ed only to Presbytery, allows no alternative, if we would vindicate' the character of Presbytery. In the Remonstrance, as published, com.• plaint is made that Presbytery declined tot place this Remonstrance on its permanent Records. The. reasons for this action were these;' and we feel assured they will meet the approbation of all unprejudiced .and right-thinking minds: The Remonstrance was very lengthy, and to have, inserted it, would have taken much room and occupied Much time. But the Paper itself contained hints, threw out suspicions, and made charges calculated to do injustice And, in jury to the repetation of this, Presbytery. Heuee if' the .Paper had been entered, a reply showing the incorrectness- rir state ments therein contained,iand the inconelii- Sivenees of reasonings, there given, must also have been inserted. So that Presby tery was willing to submit to the hearing of that Paper and then place it . on file with other 'Papers of Presbytery; rather than do any 'thing which could by possibility injire Christian breihren who bad placed their signatures to that Paper without a 'fall knowledge of all the facts, in all their i bearings. Surely .we Cannot be 'blamed for i this generosity and fOrbearance. I !We have already given a history of the proceedings which endedin the dissolution of the . pastoral relation between the Rev. Vim. S Plumer, D.D., and the Central Presbyterian church, and the renionstrants I have published various documents relating to this case., It is concerning the. infer ences drawn from these and the false issue attempted .to be raised, the Presbytery would farther speak. To set these in a proper light, before the Church and the world, it, is necessary to consider them in the order in which they appear in that pa per, which compels us to 'repli in this pub lic manner, however reluctant we may be to do' s n, and however gladly we,Would pass it over, if the clernalids of truth and right eoueness would'PerMit. L This Presbytery is charged with treat ing the majoritrof 'the - lb:embers of the Central' Presbyterian Aural in a preju diced and ; harsh ' manner. We do notihesi tate to say that this eharge has . not the least felindation. The Presbytery could havebed no_ motive for doing so. The prosperity and well-being of the Church in question could only inure to the prosperity and greWth of the Presbytery. 'But, on the contrary, every facility was afforded that church, or the majority of that church, for pregenting its ease with the utmost fullness and clearness.; "Time was given) confer- ante was . allowed ; afid — the Most pii,t beating was endured: " And.;l4, tesWerthy tlell of notice ' that not a single sPeCifioatien is made in support,of the general assertion ; ',and we veuture' to say aim not one well fou.nded specification of the kind alluded to can be brought feriard. 2. It is asserted that documents suited to present the Central' church and 'its pas tor in a true light , have not , been 'entered upon the Recorcia of the resbytery or given to the publi H c. To this we reply that , • eo paper whatsbever, for* which P. place was "asked on our,Recirds, was refused, except this lone - RemonStrance which was declintd for the good and substantial reasons al ready' given. Nor has this Preiihytety pub lished anything concerning thiecherch, or its late pastor, with the intention of Placing I either in a false position. These are faits to. which we'fearleisly appeal. ' 3,., It is declared that contracts involv i ng, oousiderable sums of niOney, and puma s , vent. Church relations, are . not regarded by, the ;Presbytery,its sacred. This charge is wholly gratuitous, Unkind, and uncharita ble. The Preshytery, paid have had ,no other object than the higheet, good and the greatest usefulness, Of, the entire Central church, .including both the wajerity, and the minority.. And when it ,bec,ame ap parent to Presbytery that the pecuaiary ar rangement ,assented to in :July was , not working well for either 'Party, or for the entire Presbyterian Church, because of the failure of pr..Plumer to unet.the iinit,OX'*- pectations,, of the Presbytery, it was tier 'tainly competent, for the Presbytery to re trace its steps. The resolution recom mending the minority to ,return to the church, and to restore the Money received from the majority,l Was Merely advisory, and to take effect only upon the agreement or both parties. 'ln this wag, ''injury would be done "neither party; and the ebnieh wofild be agaie united. In this we cannot' pessibly 'eme any' ground of`- corn:- plaint, unless it was "the determined' pur pose of the majority to keep out the minor ity at all, hazards, and thiiii permanently rend'the ehurch. • - - 4. It r is said that the effeet'af the recommending the Presbytery, reeemending the minerity . to retain to the Centrel, church'and restore the money received, was to deprive the majority of the'benefit of the money paid to the Minority,`and talea,d te a distrust of the' permanency, of the Central church. 'The reason , given for this . conalusion is, ci m that noney has been yet offereds But it iS tube borne in Mind that the , recom neerlation of PresbYtery was given On the . M 'Of Septeinber, and thia RemoOstrince . Was presented on the 19th of the same month. And 'ins the iffeentime thete: had been much excitenient, , arid but little op.. portnnity for calm reflectionpendiiig the decision of Presbytery as inthe resignation of Dr. Plainer. Timemiist, be allowed, and patience exercised, 'in( cases involving so many and such tender interests. 5.'" CoMplaint , "is ' made Weaned of the bearing of these proceedings on Iliehorinred and beloved' pastor. .Presbytery Mak no hasty aetion." The' unfortimate' course of ithe pastor had been borne with for 'seven teen months. Surely during the iriornen, tons events of that period, time inough'Was given'hinti to definelis position with regard to a great and righteous cense, costing so mueli'treasure and blood, and on ficeounvof whiefirthere was so ranch misery arid suffer ing in all the land. 'iii addition to this,' his.entire CougiegittirlitlWilihed to give the most favorable eonstiactiOn'PoSsible tb all his' Words and' acts. Bdt, their expecte : , dela aie digiffitiiiteiliiinititileges'ilV, 10' Cti ) r . l " , • I . . a-rtittir+ 11 1/ 1 • PITTSBURGH, SATURDAY, OCT in public, from the lips of their pastor, for the success of the National cause, nor thanksgiving for victories. He never calls secession,' rebellion. He terms it a " schism," and " revolution," but not rebel lion. The result is, the withdrawal of ninety communicants and pew-holders from a new congregation, and the imperilling of the whole enterprise. Every opportunity is given the pastor to set himself right; but instead of attempting to do this, his letters addressed to the minority, and which were read to Presbytery by himself, con demned by implication, and' almost by di rect assertion, the course taken by the great body of the loyal ministers in the North, and declared that he could not and would mot pray for the success of our arms, or render thanksgiving for victory, as will presently be shown. Meanwhile the Theo logical Seminary in which the pastor was a Professor, was suffering; the Central church of Allegheny was suffering ; the Presbytery was suffering; the whole Pres byteian Church was suffering, in public estimation, because of the course of this distinguished pastor and Professor. For if Di. Plumer was right, the entire Pres byterian Church of the North was wrong; the whole loyal people of the nation were wrong,and the Government of thii'coun try, was' not worth the care, or thought of Cliiistitin ministers and Christian Men. 6. It is declared that the couraliol,,Pres bytery has been' dapted to fejure the good name of the Central church. We cannot' understand- how this can be. =Disloyalty was never charged by Presbytery, or in Presbytery, against that church; it was, not even intimated. On the contrary; the loyalty of that people was freely admitted and highly commended. •It is no discredit to a regitnent to , have a colonel: removed whose loyalty is not above suspicion, and `who has made himself on this account un accePtable to a large part of his command, though the other part may be strongly at tached to him 'on personal grounds. 7. It is said that notwithstanding the serious loss occasioned by the departure of ;the minority, the church was still nu.meri-, tally strong and cordially united. Withoat controverting the' assertion as to this strength and this unky, it is proper for us to say, thakneither of them arose from the cause assigned. , And it; is very doubtful whether either of' them could have been long continued, had' the late pastoral rela tion remained. Numerical strength and cordial unity -among,those remaining in the Central •church, dul l not arise because of approval of Dr. Plumes course. :..This. fact, has been. - carefully and skillfully kept out of view. To establish this it is ueces sary to go back a'little. In the beginning of thntroubles in the Central church, the minority: expressly, disavowed, any and every intention of affecting the , pastoral relation between Dr. Plumer and the Cen tral church. But from the first to the Nat; in all his communications to them, he charged them' with seeking to remove him from the pastorate. And at' the'meetings of the congregation, , held last 'Spring, when the minorit`yproposed a series of res-` olutionS, affirming 'the loyalty of the Oen traV 'chum* anti -declaring a CenVietien that in:' 1,1i6i 'devotions' of the Sanetharf, God shotild be thanked for victories won, and his' blessing sought upon 'our armies, Dr. Plumer declared and insisted that to pass such.resolutions was to censure • him, and to compel him to cease being pastor of the church. This was' the issue 'always raised and held up by Dr. Plumer= and hiS immediate friends, to the people of the Central church. The issue was not a true one, and consequently any apparent strength or unity resulting from• such an issue, must be very deceptive. Nor, does this Prtsby tery belie,ve. that the majority in the Cen tral church that still,adhered to Dr. Plum 7, er, knew his sentiments, on the subject in, dispute, as fully, as they were made known to the minority and the: Presbytery. We cannot believe any: large ; portion of that majority would approve sentiments such as, these, which occur in one of his letters to the minority, and Whieli / were read by hina self in Preshitery To the minority' he says`: "If you 'are under 'mistake, in believing that battles, VictOries, Will end our present po-' litical troubles. If lam under a mistake, it is in thinking , that no number of bat- Wes however bloody, no' number of victories however great. will bring's peace." "How `can I pray or give thanks to God for victo ries which 1' believe will •do good neither to. the North nor to the .South, the East nor. the. West, but will fill. the land with woe. I can thank God for all real blessings such as peace, rain from heaven, &e., but not for battles, which can. do no good, but only harm to all concerned." ' NOT are we•wil ling to admit • that that 'people gave their, approbation to such a piece of sophistry as this, which" has many Parallels in this correspondence. Dr. planer says : cannot, pray or give tha4.s for any battle in which one, of my neighbors, or a gen- 1 Mettler' 'Married to one of my nieces has probably" Shot "`or killed another." These quotations, might be multiplied, but encingh have been given ~to shovi the temper and tenor of the whole. 8. It is denied that the recommendation for. Dr. ,Plumer to ceapehis pastoral labors, would, if complied -with, restore unity, and,, peace to the Central, ,church. To this it, may be said, that those in the midst of• ex-. 'citement, and whose,,,personal feelings have been strongly enlisted, are not the best, judges of what will restore peace. And, Presbytery ,was under imperative obliga tions to do what seemed most likely to con duce to this result. ; In our Form of Grov 'ernment,,S,loth chapter, Sec. 8, it is enu merated as among the duties ,of Presby tery, "to visit particular churches for the purpose of inquiring into •. their 'state, and redressing'the evils that : may have arisen, in them, And „in general to ,order, what-, ever pertairia to the Spiritual Welfare of t- e, churches under their care." It is ,plain; then ' that Presbytery acted'attiotly the limits of its authority; and liould have been culpable, if in the,distracted state of the Central church ithad„Rot acted accord ing to ifs' best judgment in the case. • 9. Presbytery is charged with acting to ward Dr. PluineritiSubh.eviray " as greitt ly endangers the prinbiples of personal and religious freedom. -InAupPert of this, seV eral allegaticins - are ifl'ade. Presbytery is: blamed for taking action in reCommending- Dr. Plurnit to cease from. his pastoral 'la..' hors, when neither 'Dr. Plumer', nor ittiy inember of this Session" Was present. ' Now the truth is, Presbytery met on thht day, and On another day'hat 'Was proposed' it Dr. Phinter's'spebial , reqiiesti'and to snit! ':.'hifhiNnitin&P'lAt must be said, longer delay was impossible. At the previous meeting, after the resolu tion to dissolve the pastoral relation had been, negatived, Dr. Plumer, to the grief of his brethren, had refused to give his vote in favor of Christian loyalty to the gov ernment and the use of appropriate means for suppressing the rebellion. „In a Card published shortly afterward, he failed to satisfy, the Church or the country of his loyalty. In that Card he could denomi nate " secession " only by the term revolu tion. The Central Presbyteria i n, published at Richmond, Va., had 'in an editorial col limn declared that Dr. Hunter #ad within twelve months assured a leadin minister of. the South, of his sympathy witt the South, _ The reputation of the Presbytep and pf the entire Presbyterian Church, in this quer- ter, was in jeopardy. In vie:ii . Of all this, certainly the least we could';, and aie very mildest - thing we could do, was to re- commend. Dr. Plumer 'to ce e 'frail his., 'pastoral labors until his ka 1 hair,Vben 114. -s, . . 4 . cleared of this reproach. . -.. , Again, it is asserted that P 13 y 'eitid;f, no grounds for supposing Dr, hither had any sympathy with the rebellion, iiid that, the Presbytery acted upon insire inference. What has, just been stated goes far to in validate this charge. But there are still more direct evuiences,, agaimst its truth.,, 'a.) A large and, intelligent part of his' congregation,' • attaelied to him by strong l ties, and most anxious to bel i eve him loyal ' to the Government and to appidire:his: course, after a year of putietii, hearmg, were unable to discover whether 'he was _in sympathy with the Government or the're hellion ; and they left his ministry ; On that account, though they wouldOberwtse haie . considered it a high privilege to remaip. (2.) 'ln letters to that portiini of 4i4 con gregation, he at last ,declare t a,f,th at he wouid, not and coutd not pray for4thp success of our arms. (3.) His cond4t AeforePres bytery was highly equivlial. 'lO'r, after reading the above mentioned; letters; his, exposition of bis duty as4,minister of the Gospel at the present, time, When Pres bytery. passed resolutions:,:affiyming'the right of, i the people, to ask i their pastor to pray for the success of our armies': and to render thanksgiving for' victories, and declaring the' duty • of thwMinister' to - do so, 1)r. Plumer rose in his place and said that he .voted for these,;lieselutiens ex ammo. Yet, at, the very next mecting, i tield only a few weeks later he declined to vote for reselhtions of Siniflar ; And here we may reinarlr, that the rolv• , sons- assigned. by the retnoristratits, why, Dr. Plumer did not vote for these last resolu- tkms, are by no means creditable to,him They say'that after 'Mi. - VOW- Or the 'fiat] named resolutions, "iminediately his eau dor and uprightness weretf. assailed ;" and that 44 he then, informed l:ds friends that, until the public - temper change he should'declind voting ori,'ani-Suolyleatter in thesi, keeping silence!! Now, one of "two things is certain : lst.. if Dr., Plumer refused to do his duty lest he should be charged with duplicity, he ex hibited a want of Christian - Candor and manliness - trib'ectimingollis ehareoter; and ~ standing.., / , A fildlat; ift-after =Voting in favor of the first resolutions his position before the Church and the public was still doubtful, with respect LO• our .OVernment there is an 'acknowledgment : Of how fatally confidence in Di. Pliiiner'sloialty had been' shaken in the mind. of the-Church and the country. In view of this, was it : not . high time fur something definite, on the part of those to whom he was responsible? In the Remonstranee, Presbytery is most unjustly charged with 'bringing , forward the last resolutions to entrap Dr. Plumer. The very` reverse' ' is true. Tor, ' when Presbytery, by it majority of one vete, had determined not to'diisi3Olve 'the pastoral' re lation, Dr: Platiieritaid he had just` written his resignation, but since he' had 'now beeir sustained ~by Pr,esbytery, he would not pre sent it. To ,save from being; placed' in a false positlonby Dr..anter and ,his Pl . friends, the Presbytery ; then passed the resolutions referred to. , The Presbytery must, express its Aston . ishment to find the Remonstrants.eenclud ing their Paper by placing Dr. ; Plumer in the same category, with those ministers 'and elders who, in the General Assembly, of ; 1861, voted against what , are , commonly termed the " Spring Resolutions'', on, the state of the country. Not a single one of 'those opposed to thescieresoliiiithas, living in loyal. States, deniedthe•fight, and.Auty of praying ,for our Government, for the, ,success Of our arms, and for the i res*ation of our Union. But. on ilia Contrary, so far' as is'known 'to this Preshyteryv every one of these brethren livingin loyal= States hail done so. Most certainly, neglect or failure, in these, respects have never been publicly charged on any one of them. The PresbYtery 'would moreover' state; that when the entire proceediegs this case had been reviewed by the Synod, and after most of the members,;of Synod had •read the Remonstrance, they were unani mously approyed,'the 'committee of SYnhd 'remarking. that " ihe'PreihYtery'hdd the best that could ; have &Serf clone under{ the circumstances." And such fwe are Con: vineed will be thecenclusion ,of everyres sonable mind„ after a ,full consideration of all the NO; allthe proceedings;and all the cireurtistanCes Of the case; Those brethren Who prePitedThe Retried stranee Were devoteillyattatheittOtheir late, pastor, and the thought of parting with him was painful. They itisensibly,,per mitted themselves to be persuaded that he had been 'Wronged., and their 'jaded:in/an' ,becabie, inipereeptiblyth themstilvek Warp ed; and they:Were , prevented -from seeing many things yas. they . :, will .viey Vim here atter. Pot Opp and for the whole Cen tral church; this PresbyterY Cherishes - Abe' warmest affection'; "as it al wayd When ; they ,stiffer,ive suffer fivhenithey are hon., ored, , we are,honoredf.i For:that church we 'will - ever watch, and, pm as ' 9ippe who must give:ace'oni#. l '`,`,Beheld how goci — cltind hew pleasant it is fOrtrethreuto iliielftogethei Adopted in; Presialkeryi3OctOber -, 13th, 1 Anne Domini 1,862 G,r AAIWN Wii.LIAMS, Moderator, William Anr,oll,, Stateot Plerk. ' ReligiOn the Cimp, MAmp "WakiiLEY, near Sharpsburg, hid Oat: 11,18620.- - M. Etorrott have .beou a sub - soriber to your exedillOnt`piper fOr , 'number of years,'at d *al WaYs Fre - oeived , Rnd