S S -t-~ SA- —'rp~ / Z z~~~~~~~~~~~e~~~~~ /o Z/<,w'<, ~3a~z~~ ~do im~f H oif /, LIT, I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ _~~_______ I> _.~ ~ _ __ -- /1I _ X.I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I i~~~i FE Ier /K2,- -- AN1_ _ i-4z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~....... _~e __A ~~~~~' ~~~~~~~~~~2~~~~~~~ A MEMORIAL VOLUME. 1837-1871. (Orz EZ5 a'pro5, Ev 6cUza of iro;ltot hdjtev oo ycdp 7rdare5 Et roj v EvoSaprov /aeraXo/tev.- 1 CORINTHIANS X. I7. NEW YORIK: DE WITT C. LENT & COMPANY, 45x BROOME STREET. 1870. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by DE WITT C. LENT & CO., ", the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. PREFACE. 1F rtsREsBYT'ERIAN CHURCH in the United States of America has reached an epoch in its history that demands some permanent and adequate record. A portion of that record, not inappropriate or unwelcome, it is hoped, will be found in these pages. This volume may be considered as a platform upon which brethren of both the former branches of the church stand to speak to us of its life and progress for the past thirty years. Each enjoys full liberty to express his own views in the most free and familiar manner. Upon questions hitherto mooted, their language cannot be expected to please all readers, nor, looking from different points of view, will it be strange if there may seem to be some opposition in their statements. The future church will, however, be better served if the eye-witnesses of scenes that were full of interest and events that will shape its destiny in other generations, furnish it with their most candid and sincere impressions. The army correspondents, writing to their public, each from a different corps, relate incidents that may at first seem inconsistent, but which, when combined, serve to furnish the full story of a campaign. The Biographical Records have been compiled from the best sources of information, but are, as it were, only specimens of what might be recorded to commemorate the worthy sons of the church. Much valuable statistical matter will be found in this volume, which, it is thought, will be of permanent service to its readers. (iii) 1V PREFACE. Perhaps the illustrations demand a word of reference. They have been prepared with much care to secure accuracy, that, when present interest in them declines, they may serve as mementos of the past. Excellent plates of several of the objects illustrated, ready to hand, have been offered to the publishers, but they have engraved others, to secure uniformity and beauty to the book. To all who have aided in the design of this volume, by kindly furnishing materials, and by other fraternal co-operation, the thanks of the writers are hereby given. They send forth this little token of their deep love for the church now so happily united, with congratulation and prayer. May its future officers and members see a progress even greater than it has yet enjoyed, that their historians, as they review another era, may have reason to rejoice and to say with them, "What hath God wrought!" "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee." C ONTENTS. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE 1837. BY THE REV. SAMUEL MILLER, D.D. 1 CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCEH (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE 1837. BY THE REV. JONATHAN F. STEARNS, D.D. O 50 CHAPTER III. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. WILLIAMI B. SPRAGUE, LL.Do.. 103 CHAPTER IV. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. Z. M. HUMPHREY, D.D..... 196 CHAPTER V. THE REUNION. BY THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D., LL.D.. 24C CHAPTER VI. THE ASSE2BLIES OF 1869. BY THE REV. MELANCTHON W. JACOBUS, D.D., LL.D........... 31 ADDITIONAL ImPRESSIONS. BY THE REV. PHILEMON H. FOWLER, D.D. 406 CHAPTER VII. THE RECONSTRUCTION. BY THE REV. G. S. PLUMLEY... 415 (v) vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. TEm FUTURE CHLRCa. BY THE REV. JOHN HALL, D.D.. 461 APPENDIX. I. — STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE 1837. BY THE REV. DAVID IRVING, D.D..... 493 II. - STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE 1837. BY THE REV. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, D.D... 500 III. - BRIE F SKETCHES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE "REUNION COMMITTEE." BY THE REV. JAMES H. M. KNOX, D.D... 504 [V. - DOCUMENTS), &O..o e.. o. 528 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE I. -CERTIFICATE OF REUNION... FRONTISPIECE. II. -OLD PRINCETON COLLEGE... III. - COMMUNION GATHERING IN THE OLDEN TIME. 25 IV. — AUBURN SEMINARY..... 50 V. — THIRD CHURCH, PITTSBURG 75 VI. -PORTRAIT OF THIE REV. ASHBEL GREEN, D.D., LL.D. 1o3 VII. -CHAIRMEN OF THE REUNION COMMITTEE OF i866 178 VIII. -PORTRAIT OF THE REV. JAMES RICHARDS, D.D. I96 IX. -CHURCH OF THE COVENANT, NEW YORK. 221 X. -CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, I869... 246 DRS. MUSGRAVE, HALL, ATWATER, LORD, WILSON. XI. -CONFERENCE COMMITTEE (Continued)... 291 DRS. ADAMS, STEARNS, PATTERSON, FISHER, SHAW. (vii) Vili I LTLUSTRATIONS. PAGE XII. — FIRST CHURCH, PITTSBURG.. 3I6 XIII. — CONFERENCE COMMITTEE (Continued).. 4o6 MESSRS. CARTER, FRANCIS, GRIER, DRAKE, DAY. XIV. - FIRST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. 415 XV. -MODERATORS OF 1837, x869, x870.. 446 DRs. ELLIOTT, JACOBUS, FOWLER, BACKUS. XVI. - BRICK CHURCH, NEW YORK... 46i XVII. - CONFERENCE COMMITTEE (Concluded). 477 MESSRS. STRONG, HAINES, DODGE, FARRAND, KNIGHT. OLD PItINCETON COLLEGE. PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. CHAPTER FIRST. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. SAMUEL MILLER, D.D. What proposed. - World's annals. - Grounds of division. - Reconstruction. - Relative numbers. - Controversy and Revival. - Lawsuit. - Advantages of the Old School. — Congregationalism. — Theological history. - Church-boards.- Rights of ruling Elders. -Westminster Assembly and Free Church of Scotland. - Slavery. - Theological Seminaries.- Martyr Missionaries. - Revival. - New School South. - Southern opinions. - Rebellion. - Assembly of 1861. —Old School South. - Further testimonies. -Incident in 1861. —Defence of the Assembly's measures.Declaration and Testimony.- Action thereupon and defence of that action.- Result. - Invitations to Southern Churches. -Review of warmeasures. -Miscellaneous events and acts. — Proposed changes in the Standards. - Literary activity. - Prosperity. - Church-boards. - Board of Foreign Missions. -Reunion: its history and ground. ALMOST a third of a century has elapsed since the Old School and the New School, opposing parties in the Presbyterian Church of these United States, separated, after long controversy, and became distinct communions. At length, happily if the hopes and prayers of many should be fulfilled, they have been restored to organic unity. A concise history of the Old School Church, during the period of separation, it is proposed to'give in the first few pages of this volume. It will be well for the reunited body, if its later party names, like the earlier ones, Old Side and New Side, should speedily die away from the current, especially from the emotional, language of Presbyterians; though they must forever survive in history, and the historical use 1 (1) PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. of them cannot, with reason, be deemed invidious. Of course, in what is written, at this early clay, from a point of view in either school, the warm glow of interest and of a reasonable partiality will be looked for, rather than the clearer but colder light of unbiassed indifference. This period of about thirty-two years has been a very momentous one in the annals both of the church at large and of the world. It has been marked by extraordinary progress in the arts and sciences: by wonderful improvements in domestic, agricultural, and manufacturing machinery; by brilliant discoveries in the depths of old ocean, in the stellar universe, and in the all-pervading laws of the physical forces; by the practical introduction of intercontinental steam navigation and of the magnetic telegraph, linking closely together points the farthest asunder round the almost girdled globe. Its record of human enterprise tells of adventurous expeditions, on one side far toward the North Pole, on the other into the tropical mysteries of interior Africa; of the ocean cable, of the Suez canal, and of the Pacific railroad; of the close earth, in regions wide apart, greedily disembowelled, and yielding up unheard-of treasures. These years have witnessed political changes, many of them of the greatest importance. The United States have gained by conquest, justly or unjustly, from Mexico, a large extension of the national domain. A war of almost unparalleled magnitude has saved our union, emancipated and enfranchised four millions of slaves. The Emperor of the French, attempting to interfere with our American system, has been disconcerted by a frown, and in wis. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 3 dom dearly purchased has abandoned the adventure. In Europe, France has tried a republic, but fallen back under the imperial Napoleonic dynasty; Russia has been humbled at Sebastopol, but has greatly advanced in civilization and power, and emancipated millions of serfs; the larger part of Italy has recovered itself from arbitrary rule, and the temporal despotism of the Pope is tottering - perhaps to its fall; Prussia has suddenly, by warlike achievement, become one of the great powers, and has well-nigh realized the pregnant idea of German unity; Austria has been wonderfully modernized; and Spain, having exiled her royal house, stands hesitating between a republic and a constitutional monarchy. In benighted Africa, Liberia has become an independent state, with free Christian institutions modelled exactly after our own. In slumberous Asia, the dense millions of China and Japan have been awakened to intercourse with the busy, outside world; and over those of India, Great Britain, through much blood and suffering, has reasserted her power, which God seems to overrule to such poor idolaters and worshippers of the false Prophet for good. To the Church of Christ this period has been made specially interesting by the decline of rationalism in Germany, but its spread in Great Britain and the United States; by the decay of Romanism in Papal, but its revival in Protestant, countries, and by striking indications that its superstition, iniquity, and blasphemy are almost full, seen in the mingled craft and madness with which the machinery of conferences and councils has been restored, modern civilization and evangelical religion denounced and attacked, and the monstrous dogmas of 4 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the immaculate conception of Mary and the infalli bility of the Pope unblushingly promulgated; by the discovery of the more complete of the two oldest known manuscripts of the Greek New Testament; by the exodus of the Free Church of Scotland; by a spirit of union and communion freshly and extensively awakened among Christians; by wide openings of the Papal and Pagan world to the gospel, its more abundant success, and the wonderful outpourings of the Holy Spirit, by which, in many lands, it has been made indeed the power of God unto salvation. For obvious reasons, the division of seventeen years between the Old Side and the New Side of the last century was of shorter duration than that just now healed. The amount of transient feeling excited was, perhaps, in the two cases, nearly equal - feeling enough to rend the church in twain. But much the more important have been the differences, as to doctrine and church order alike, which have protracted the separation of the Old and New Schools. And without a general idea of these differences, we should hardly be able to understand the long continuance of the division; the history meanwhile of either school; the negotiations which have resulted in reunion; its final terms; or the prospects of the reunited church. Affinities and a fraternal confidence which unhappily time has not increased, between Presbyterians and Congregationalists, had led to an admixture of Congregationalism in Presbyterian judicatories. The Old School insisted that this admixture, as unconstitutional, should cease. The New School contended for its toleration and extension. The Old School preferred HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. strictly ecclesiastical agencies for conducting the missionary and other general evangelistic work of the church, urging, particularly, the establishment of a Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. The New School desired, in union with Congregationalists, to confide this work to voluntary associations, the foreign part of it to the American Board of Commissioners. Both professed to be Calvinistic and to "receive and adopt the Confession of Faith.. as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Scriptures;" but they differed seriously in judgment as to what was essential to that system, and, therefore, what departures from the formulary were consistent with such a profession. The Old School contended that certain errors utterly inconsistent with it were prevalent in the church; for the purification of which they endeavored to visit with discipline several prominent ministers charged with these errors. The New School argued that some of the views alleged to be erroneous were reconcilable with the Calvinistic system; denied that the others were really entertained by the parties accused, or were seriously prevalent; and resisted the discipline proposed. This difference as to doctrine the Old School uniformly considered and treated as by far the most serious difference between the parties. The Old School majority in the General Assembly of 1837 having disowned four synods, as so far Congregationalized that they could not be any longer acknowledged as Presbyterian bodies, the New School commissioners to the Assembly of 1838, refused to recognize an organization of this judicatory which excluded representatives from the disowned constituency, 6 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. and formed another, and, as they claimed, the only true Assembly. This was but the commencement of the division. A process of separation and reconstruction, necessary to some extent in both schools, at once began, which was not completed throughout the two for several years. Most of the component parts of the former church took up their positions definitely and finally, at once, on this side or that; but some small portions remained for a while undecided; while a few made a decision at first to which they did not ultimately adhere. The whole process, though not carried through without much heat and friction, produced less of either than might have been anticipated. Appeals to the civil courts for the settlement of church disputes were not of very frequent occurrence. Here, a synod, presbytery, or congregation, without division or serious difference of opinion, declared for the Old School or the New; there, such a declaration was submitted to by some persons under protest. Minorities in many cases seceded from majorities, and frequently claimed the true succession, yet in general without open strife. Ecclesiastical records were usually retained by the bodies whose adherents happened to have them in hand. Legal right, real or imagined, often assumed at first an attitude of defiance, yet in the end yielded to the spirit of Christian forbearance. As usual in such circumstances, adherence to one side or the other was not always determined by a full, or even predominant, approval of the views or measures by that side adopted. The Old School have always claimed to have made full provision, in 1837 and 1838, for the proper read HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 7 justment of the ecclesiastical relations of all sound churches, ministers, and judicatories involved in the disowning acts; and, by several measures adopted in the latter year and the next, they provided further for the minorities left in synods, presbyteries, and congregations, in the church at large, by the withdrawment of the New School. Before any suit at law had been commenced, they recommended, in regard to property questions, "great liberality and generosity" on the part of all their adherents. And after the main suit had resulted in their favor, they more than intimated their readiness to stand by the terms, as to temporal interests, which had been proposed and both parties had approved in their negotiations for an amicable division. The exact relative strength of the two, when they separated, cannot be easily determined. By the statistical tables of 1837, the whole number of ministers in the yet united church was twenty-one hundred and forty, of congregations twenty-eight hundred and sixtyfive. Several years elapsed before all these ministers and congregations determined definitely their respective positions, and the numbers of the two sides could be clearly ascertained. Moreover, the New School, in 1840, commenced the experiment of a triennial Assembly, their supreme judicatory not meeting again till 1843. At the latter date, they reported twelve hundred and sixty-three ministers, and fourteen hundred and ninety-six congregations; the Old School, fourteen hundred and thirty-four of the one, two thousand and ninety-two of the other. By comparing these numbers, and allowing for the natural increase of both 8 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. bodies in six years, we shall perhaps come nearer to their relative strength at the separation than we can in any other way. It is an interesting fact, that the years of most earnest controversy, pending the division, were years of special religious prosperity in the Presbyterian Church. From 1829 to 1838, inclusive, the statistical reports exhibited an unusual number of additions upon profession, though the reports of 1836, 7, and 8 were less favorable than those preceding. And after the division, there was in this respect no appreciable falling off, in the Old School communion, from the exhibit of the years last mentioned. The New School, to test their claim to the true succession, and their title to the funds and institutions of the Presbyterian Church, commenced a suit in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the state by which the Trustees of the General Assembly had been incorporated. Three other suits by commissioners from within the bounds of the disowned synods, who had been denied seats in the Assembly, were also instituted, to test in a different way the principles of the case. The one first mentioned, however, was the only one brought to trial, the decision therein being regarded as finally settling, so far at least as the courts of Pennsylvania were concerned, the whole controversy. This trial, involving as it did great interests, drawing together a number of the most distinguished men of the Presbyterian Church, and being conducted by eminent counsel on both sides, excited profound attention, and was watched throughout its progress by many anxious minds all over the United States. Early in HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 9 March, 1839, it commenced before Judge Rogers and a jury at nisi prits. Most of the time during its contin. uance, the court-room was crowded by eager spectators and auditors. One after another called upon to testify, a number of them venerable clergymen, put aside "the Book," with Puritan conscientiousness, and swore with the uplifted hand, a form of oath particularly solemn and impressive. In the crowd the question was frequently asked, "What is the difference between the Old School and the New?" Perhaps a tipstaff would assume for the nonce the gravity of a theologian, and attempt to satisfy the inquirer. "The Old School hold that whatever is to be will be," he said, but broke down in trying to reverse the proposition plausibly. Under the judge's charge, sustaining the New School in every important point, the jury gave a verdict in their favor. From outside the bar, in the densely packed courtroom, rang forth a warm burst of applause, which the judge instantly and sternly suppressed. A motion for a new trial was afterwards presented and argued, and on the eighth of May an anxious throng were again assembled to hear the decision. Chief-Justice Gibson delivered the opinion of the court, Judge Rogers only dissenting. The judgment at nisi p)rius was entirely reversed, a new trial granted, and the whole case really settled in favor of the Old School. In silence the crowd dispersed. Three years and some months later, the New School quietly discontinued the suit. This triumph at law, and consequent retention of the general property of the church, have not uncommonly 10 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. been regarded as a signal advantage to the Old School, and a chief cause of their subsequent prosperity. They were beyond doubt gainers, in character and influence, by being declared thus judicially the true Presbyterian Church. But the funds secured were a mere trifle comparatively, not amounting to half a million of dollars, and not equalling the aggregate of missionary and other charitable contributions of the whole church for two years alone prior to the division. Moreover, they were the funds, mainly, of the Old School theological seminaries; and three seminaries, with their endowments, out of seven, the New School retained; as likewise, in all but a few cases, the property of their individual congregations. They had in fact agreed, in the Assembly of 1837, that an equitable division of the only general funds, to any part of which they could lay just claim, would give them less than fifteen thousand dollars. But advantages more important the Old School really enjoyed. The separation was not their act, and no effort to rend the body asunder gave them an impulse in any divergent course. They went on in the even way of the standards, to which, in fact, they were accused only of adhering with too much strictness. Their orthodoxy has been scarce questioned, however they may have been charged with putting undue restraints upon liberty. With them, much the greater part of the period of separation has been one of steady progress in the old Presbyterian orbit, with only the slightest perturbations. Though not quite all approving of the acts of 1837, they have been united, in an unusual degree, in doctrine, spirit, ecclesiastical policy, earnest effort to IISTORICAL REVIEW OF TILE CHURCH. 11 spread the Gospel under strict Presbyterian forms and in the whole work of the church. It was an advantage, too, that the Old School felt themselves particularly bound to demonstrate by special activity and zeal, that what they had so earnestly contended for was in truth for the furtherance and prosperity of Christ's kingdom. To save their own credit, much more for the glory of God, they must prove that Congregational order was no help to Presbyterianism; that church boards were better than voluntary associations; that old Calvinism was the form of doctrine most effective in producing genuine revivals and saving men. The measures adopted by the General Assembly to purge the church of Congregationalism were soon completely successful. The greater number of those judicatories in which it prevailed to any serious extent went off, sooner or later, with the New School; but in one way or another the last vestige of it disappeared, before long, from the Old School body. The theological history of this division of the church for the whole thirty-two years of its separate existence may be presented in a very few words. It was left by the separation in a state of almost unpreceden-ted doctrinal homogeneity. One may well doubt, whether any other Christian communion of equal size has ever excelled it, as to unity in the reception of an evangelical creed of such extent as the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. Differences of opinion, even among its ministers, have, of course, existed; but these differences have been comparatively trifling, or of very little prominence or prevalence. If in any quarter se 12 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. rious error has been adopted, for the most part it must have been kept secret, or have been known to but a few. No agitating discipline on this ground has been exercised, or, to the knowledge of the church at large, needed. "Princeton Theology," as it has often been called, has, beyond question, been almost universally prevalent among the Old School. If opposing systems must take a modern nomenclature, there may be no harm in making Princeton and New Haven respectively the synonyms of the Old and the New Divinity; but it should be remembered that the text-books of Princeton have constantly been the simple Westminster symbols, and such long and generally approved systematic presentations of the Reformed Theology as the " Institutio Theologia Elenctic&" of Franciscus Turrettin. Old School men have been slow to admit the idea of any possible improvement in the generally received system of gospel truth. Recognizing fully the recent progress made in Biblical criticism and exegesis; the fact, too, that from time to time fuller and more exact statements of Christian doctrine may be, as they have been, elaborated; and by no means maintaining that any uninspired man has been wholly free from error; they have, nevertheless, rejected with singular unanimity the assumption, that any part of the substance of the gospel has lain hidden in holy Scripture until modern times; or that the church of Christ has new discoveries to make as to the system of truth in Jesus. Of a wellknown Presbyterian quarterly publication, one identifled with it from the beginning has lately said, " It has been the honest endeavor of its conductors to exhibit and defend the doctrines of our standards, under the MITSTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 13 abiding conviction that they are the doctrines of the word of God. They have advanced no new theories, and have never aimed at originality. Whether it be a ground of reproach or of approbation, it is believed to be true, that an original idea in theology is not to be found on" its "pages... from the beginning until now." And this praise or blame may be said to have belonged to the Old School Church in general as distinctively as to the publication from which it has been quoted. A deep conviction of the church's duty to carry on, through strictly ecclesiastical agencies, the work of Foreign Missions, had led the Synod of Pittsburg, as early as 1831, to organize itself for this purpose as The Western Foreign Missionary Society. The New School had refused to consummate the desires and plans of the Old, by taking this enterprise under the care of the whole church; but the Assembly of 1837 accepted the trust, establishing in New York City The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, to which the Synod of Pittsburg immediately made a surrender. This result greatly cheered those who had so long labored for it, and they felt their solemn responsibility to prove that zeal for Christ's cause, not mere party spirit, had ani mated their endeavors. The first meeting of the new board was held in Baltimore in the following October; and it commenced its operations with alacrity, and with most encouraging prospects, which have not proved delusive. According to the plan of church agencies now fully established, a Board of Publication was appointed by the Assembly of 1838, to which was transferred the property and business of the Presbyterian Tract and 14 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Sabbath-School Book Society, organized by the Synod of Philadelphia a few years before. The Assembly of 1839, the fiftieth year having now been completed since this supreme judicatory had first convened, recommended the second Sabbath of December for a semicentenary celebration, a day of jubilee thanksgiving for past mercies; and the offering at that time, by all the members of the church, of gifts for the endowment of the new board. The fund raised reached the sum of forty thousand dollars. This sum, with about twentyeight thousand dollars donated for building purposes a few years later, has been the nucleus of all that board's permanent property. Before the division, two boards had been organized: The Board of Missions, now of Domestic Missions, for the home work, in 1816; and in 1819, The Board of Education, to aid candidates for the ministry; both located in Philadelphia. These had been fostered by the Old School, while, as a party, the New School had preferred The American Home 5Missionary Society, and The American Education Society, voluntary associations in which Congregationalists participated. The Board of Missions had, in 1844, the business of church extension, or church erection, added to its other operations. This was carried on by a special committee, which, ten years afterward, for greater effect, was enlarged. But in 1855, an independent Committee of Church Extension was established at St. Louis, the name of which was changed, in 1860, to that of the Board of Church Building, then the Board of Church Extension. In 1845, after several years' agitation of the subject, HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THmE C1IJRCH. 1i the Assembly directed the Board of Missions to appoint an Executive Committee at Louisville, furnished with a secretary and other officers, co-ordinate with the Executive Committee at Philadelphia, and to have the care of the western and south-western fields. In 1859, a South-western Advisory Committee, with a district secretary at New Orleans, was ordered, and the next year a similar Committee of the Pacific Coast at San Francisco; but in 1862, all this additional machinery was discontinued, as cumbersome, expensive, and unprofitable, and the management placed upon its previous simpler footing. The sphere of the Board of Education was enlarged, in 1846 and the two years following, so as to include the assistance and care of Presbyterian colleges, academies, and primary schools, a part of its work which has grown constantly, though not rapidly. Two other departments of Christian liberality and effort have been committed to similar agencies. For more than a century and a half the Presbyterian Church has systematically raised funds for the relief of disabled ministers and their families. But, in 1849, the General Assembly ordered collections for this purpose to be disbursed by the Board of Publication, a business transferred in 1852 to its own trustees; and in 1861 a secretary was appointed to devote his time mainly to this enterprise, which has since more prosperously advanced. In 1864, the condition of the Freedmen at the South demanding immediate attention, two committees, one in Philadelphia, the other in Indianapolis, were appointed to take charge of educational and general evangelistic work among this 16 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. class; and the next year, in place of the two, a single Committee on Freedmen was established and located at Pittsburg. In 1840, the Assembly determined that an efficient system of agencies, by which the churches should be visited from year to year, was, in the existing condition of Christian feeling and knowledge on the subject of benevolent operation, absolutely indispensable. But gradually that system has passed away, yet the liberality of the churches has greatly increased. This result has been attained in part through a standing committee on Systematic Benevolence, appointed first by the Assembly of 1854, and reporting every year. Although many congregations yet fail of making regular contributions to every scheme of the church, the plan of striving to cultivate in ecclesiastical judicatories and individual Christians a sense of their responsibility, and leaving the matter with them, has proved in such a degree effectual, that any system of special agencies for the collection of ordinary benevolent contributions would now find little remaining favor. In 1842, the Assembly gave a unanimous decision that ruling elders should not lay on hands in the ordination of ministers; yet afterward the matter was laid over, in mere courtesy, for the action of the next Assembly, in which was also agitated the question, whether there could be a quorum of presbytery or synod, without the presence of any ruling elder. A controversy on these subjects, carried on for several years in ecclesiastical judicatories and in periodical and other publications, excited no little interest. The office of ruling elder has been regarded almost unanimously, in IISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 17 the Presbyterian Church, as of divine appointment, but with a considerable latitude of opinion as to its exact Scriptural warrant, and its relations to the office of the preaching elder. On these points at least four distinct theories have been propounded. (1.) One is, that the term elder in the New Testament, as applied to Christian ecclesiastics, is used only to designate ministers of the word and sacraments, who are also, as universally admitted, rulers in the most general sense, including all ecclesiastical functions. The scriptural words then designating those now called ruling elders are such as rulers and governments. The other theories all agree in the supposition, that the same New Testament term includes both the ruling and the preaching elders of our day, but from.this common starting point diverge widely. (2.) One of the three supposes two orders of elders; that is, two kinds distinguished by ordinations essentially different. The two remaining theories alike represent all elders as of exactly the same order or ordination; but (3) one of them supposes all to be fundamentally rulers, and the office of preaching to be a mere superadded function or gift; while (4) the other makes all fundamentally ministers of the word, the fact that some do not much addict themselves to this ministry being due, in part to a wrongful ordination of incompetent persons, in part to an allowable diversity of service. The latter two theories seem to have been confined pretty much to this country. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, Dr. Thornwell, and others who maintained either of them, naturally enough contended that ruling and preaching elders alike should unite in presbyterial ordinations. They argued, moreover, that 2 18 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. as ordination was an act of presbytery, participation in every part of it was the right of every member of presbytery. It was rather inconsistent with either of these theories to maintain, that without the presence of one or more ruling elders no church court could be properly constituted; but Dr. Breckinridge and other advocates of the latter doctrine based it chiefly upon certain expressions in the form of government. The ready reply was that these expressions had received ap authoritative interpretation to the contrary by immemorial and nearly uniform and unquestioned practice. Against any innovation upon that practice very large majorities decided in both 1843 and 1844; and this quieted the agitation of the subject. Of a later date, in the Old School Church, and of much less notoriety, has been the question, whether ruling elders may be elected to serve for a limited time -— one year or a term of years. The Assembly of 1835 had condemned such an election; but recent tactitians having devised plans for turning the flank of both the supreme judicatory and the form of government at this point, they met with a more decisive check in the Assembly of 1869. The year 1843 was the two hundredth since the first meeting of the ever-memorable Westminster Assembly of Divines, and it was made itself memorable by the thrilling exodus of the Free Church of Scotland. The Old School Assembly of the previous year had appointed a committee to mature a plan for a bi-centennial commemoration, in which other Presbyterian bodies also might be interested. Now it was resolved to recommend a more general indoctrination of both HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 19 young and old in the Westminster standards, and instruction by pastors, on the first of July, the anniversary of the assembling of the divines, or at some other convenient time, in the history of the church's struggles and sufferings for the maintenance' of gospel faith and order. A resolution of sympathy with that portion of the Church of Scotland which was contending and bearing reproach for the truth's sake, was also adopted. A few weeks afterward, intelligence came of the secession from that church of four hundred and seventy ministers, with about six hundred congregations, two thousand ruling elders, and at least one million of worshippers. "Since the Act of Uniformity," it was well said, "there had been no such public and general sacrifice of interest to principle, and it could not fail to secure the approbation and admiration of the Christian world." The seceding ministers relinquished yearly stipends amounting, in the aggre gate, to about half a million of dollars, and the people their places of worship —the church homes, where their fathers before them, for many generations, had called upon the name of the Lord and waited for his word. The next year, the Rev. Messrs. George Lewis and William Chalmers appeared in the Assembly as representatives from the Free Church, of which they gave most interesting and soul-stirring accounts; and resolutions of the warmest welcome and sympathy were passed. Contributions also, to aid the Free Church, were recommended. Other delegates, among whom were Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Burns, subsequently, by their public addresses, extended this glow of sympathy all over the land. It may here be added, 20 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. that out of the bi-centenary commemoration of the Westminster Assembly, at Edinburgh, in July, 1843, grew the Evangelical Alliance formed in August, 1846. - The subject of slavery had for many years, in some degree, agitated the church; but the General Assembly had taken thereupon no decided action between 1818 and 1845. In the latter year, by a vote of one hundred and sixty-eight to thirteen, an important minute was adopted, which itself became, at once, a matter of more or less dispute. Extreme abolitionists and extreme pro-slavery men alike, the former with chagrin, the latter with exultation, maintained that it virtually annulled the action of 1818; which, though unanimously approved then by the southern as well as the northern commissioners, had condemned slavery as " a gross violation of the most precious and sacred rights of human nature," and declared it to be "the duty of all Christians... to use their honest, earnest, and unwearied endeavors... as speedily as possible, to efface this blot on our holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition of slavery throughout Christendom.'" But by the church at large the deliverance of 1845 has been constantly understood to deny only certain unjustifiable inferences from that of 1818, particularly that slave-holders ought to be excluded from membership in the visible church of Christ. The doctrine of the Old School, from first to last, consistently was, that slavery was a great evil, which, as soon as it might be safely, ought to be abolished; that slave-holding, however, was not always or necessarily a sin; but that masters ought faithfully to give to their servants "that which was just and equal," seeking diligently their improvement HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 211 and preparation for freedom. The doctrine, advanced chiefly in later times, and which found some advocates in the Presbyterian Church at the South, that slavery, like the family relation, was a divine institution, was never at all countenanced by the church at large; but was virtually and decisively condemned, over and over again, in several well considered and unanimously or almost unanimously approved deliverances. In 1846, the Assembly's previous action was declared consistent throughout, and all that was needed; a declaration which in substance was reiterated in 1849. But ultra men from the North or South were not the only ones that troubled the church about this matter. It was pressed upon the Assembly with strong determination, and occasionally, in the view of many, with severe, if not unchristian expression, in its foreign correspondence. The Irish General Assembly, in partiecular, took upon itself the office of rebuke, which led, in 1854, to a suspension of intercourse with that body, a letter from which it was resolved not to answer. During the whole protracted controversy on this subject, the General Assembly continued to enjoin, from time to time, upon the southern churches, increased attention to the moral and religious improvement of the slaves; and particularly from 1845 to 1861, we find in its narratives of the state of religion frequent accounts of diligent efforts and good success in this great work. The importance of those efforts, as a providential pre parative for emancipation, can scarcely be overestimated. The Boards of Domestic Missions and Education were heartily interested and engaged in them; the former, while that distinguished Georgian, the Rev. Dr. 22 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. C. C. Jones, was its secretary, to an unusual degree and with the happiest effect. No man better than he understood the demands of evangelical work among the slave population of the South; for he had spent his ministerial life in it, and published several important volumes as the fruit of his long experience. Speaking of the improvement of this class, the Assembly convened at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1855, said in its narrative, " In few, if any of our Southern States, are laws enforced forbidding that slaves be taught to read. Usually, as far as among any other class, Sabbath schools are sustained for their instruction.... And we believe ourselves to be speaking the language of sober truth, when we say there are in our southern churches thousands of slave-owners, whose desire and effort is to prepare those whom an inscrutable providence has cast upon their care, for a state of liberty and self-control they cannot yet enjoy; and whose fervent prayer is, that God would hasten the day of safe and salutary freedom to men of every clime." It is a significant fact, that the emancipation of the slaves by military and civil authority in 1863 and afterward, with the general rejoicing over this great event at the North, and the fervor of thanksgiving which it excited, did not render it necessary for the Old School Church to rescind or modify one of its deliverances upon the subject of slavery. It is believed that those deliverances express its mind at the present time as truly as they ever did. And when the Assembly of 1864 was called, in God's providence, to frame a minute expressive of its sentiments, in view of the emancipation decreed by our national government, all HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TIHE CHURCH. 23 the grand abiding principles of that minute were quoted carefully from its own previous utterances. Yet the paper fully satisfied the public mind, even at a moment of the greatest excitement and clamor. Happily this whole subject seems to have been put, in God's goodness, beyond the possibility of further dis. turbing the church's peace. Sometimes it has been intimated, that pro-slavery tendencies on the part of the Old School were among the most influential causes of the division of 1838. No allegation could be more entirely opposed to historical truth. A careful reading of all the official documents of that time, when, too, crimination and recrimination were loosely prevalent, will not disclose the slightest hint of such a charge from any quarter. Nay, the Assembly of 1835, in which there was a decided Old School majority, appointed a committee to report upon slavery; but the Assembly of 1836, in which the New School had altogether their own way, postponed the whole subject indefinitely by a vote of one hundred and fifty-four to eighty-seven. When, in 1812, the first theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church was established at Princeton, there was a very general sentiment in favor of concentrating the resources of the whole church in a single thoroughly equipped institution. Even then, however, the advocates of this plan encountered a few warm opposers; and these, with the increase of Presbyterianism, and its spread over a constantly widening territory, grew so numerous and powerful as to change altogether the policy of the church in this respect. In favor of the multiplication of seminaries have been urged, the Q4 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. cost to students, in time and money, of travelling to distant parts of the land; the advantage of interesting the denomination more generally in theological education and the increase of the ministry; the undue influence which might be exerted by theological professors, if the training of the church's candidates were committed to but a few, and the evil - a special benefit as it was once considered- of casting all in one mould; the fact that an education at the North or East unfitted persons sometimes, to labor in the South or West, particularly in slave states; and the danger that young men going far away from home to pursue their studies would never return, or that, at least, churches in the neighborhood of the divinity school would attract and retain the ablest of them. The new policy of multiplying such schools had so far prevailed prior to the division in 1838, that about half a score of them were already more or less actively competing for the patronage of the Presbyterian Church. Of these, the Seminary at Princeton and the Western Seminary at Allegheny were under the immediate care of the General Assembly; Union Seminary in Virginia, that at South Hanover, afterward at New Albany, and that at Columbia, South Carolina, under immediate synodical supervision; and Auburn Seminary, Lane Seminary at Cincinnati, and Union Seminary in New York City, New School institutions, under the control of Synod, or of their respective corporations. In 1853, the subject of another seminary for the West was brought before the Assembly by numerous overtures and proposals. All parties seemed, at first, to be agreed, that the new institution should command the whole patronage of the Old School body west of s;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~y ~~~2r-~if~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i~~~~~~~~~ftIM1, I a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Q_ A COIMMUNIONY GABTHERING I~N THE OLDEN TIME., MIISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 25 the appropriate limits of that at Allegheny. As to its location there was great diversity of opinion. Of six places named, three only, however, came into active competition, - New Albany, Saint Louis, and Danville. Danville was at length fixed upon by a decided majority; but its selection was regarded as an abandonment of the idea of a single institution for the West: it was at once quite apparent that the North-west could not be satisfied with a seminary so far south. Besides, personal energy, influence, and zeal, rather than the true relations and wants of different sections, seemed to have given the triumph to Danville. The school at New Albany, therefore, which was to have been merged in the new one,was continued under synodical management, and any intention to interfere with it was disclaimed by the next Assembly. In 1856, the Synods having it in charge resolved upon its removal to Chicago; and a want of harmony among its friends, with the munificent offer of Mr. C. IH. McCormick to endow it with one hundred thousand dollars, provided it should be permantly located at Chicago and put under the control of the General Assembly, determined them to apply to the latter to take it in charge. A considerable endowment was also promised, if the institution should be fixed at Indianapolis; but the advocates of Chicago prevailed by a very large majority. Here the Presbyterian Seminary of the North-west, as it was named, has since had its location. With the churches of the South, when they seceded, the institutions in Virginia and South Carolina of course remained. Four theological seminaries, therefore, all under the control of the General Assembly, the Old School bring into the 26 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. reunited church. That at Princeton celebrated in 1862, with appropriate observances, its fiftieth anniversary. The few years immediately preceding the Southern Rebellion were years of special activity and prosperity, though not without apprehensions, difficulties, and trials, in the Old School Church. In June, 1857, eight beloved missionaries of the Presbyterian Board in Northern India, -Messrs. Freeman, Campbell, Johnson, and McMullin, and their wives, with two little children, Willy and Fanny Campbell,-fell by the cruel hands of the notorious Nana Sahib and the Sepoy mutineers. Money was freely offered for their release and that of other captives by a rich gentleman among the latter. A" It is blood we want, not money," was the reply. For Christian blood, indeed, the poor heathen were thirsting. With the faith of true martyrs, these devoted men and women yielded up their lives. The intelligence of the complicated horrors of that rebellion thrilled deeply and powerfully the hearts of God's people in this and other lands. Here, upon its reception, days of special prayer were widely observed, and supplication for India seemed to be the spontaneous utterance of the whole church. In God's good providence and faithful remembrance of his covenant, the mutiny was arrested, and a wider door of usefulness than ever before was opened in that benighted land; while in this country, especially during the fall and winter, most of the evangelical churches, the Old School Church among the rest, were graciously and signally revived and increased. The Fulton-street daily prayer-meeting in New York, the forerunner and model of many of a similar kind, HISTORIOAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 27 was established. The glad tidings flew across the ocean, and a remarkable "Year of Grace" was vouchsafed to the churches of Great Britain and Ireland. But, before these had felt the Spirit's breath, our surviving missionaries in Northern India had been aroused by the good news from America; and after much prayer and a blessed refreshing, they had recommended the devotion, in every land, of a week in January, 1860, to united supplication for a lost world. The Evangelical Alliance heartily endorsed the suggestion, and hence the "Week of Prayer" since so generally observed. Thus again became the blood of the martyrs the seed of the church. The gracious revivals mentioned, which but little prevailed south of what are now known as the Border States, were a merciful preparation for the dread lifestruggle which followed. And already, in both church and state, the mutterings of the fearful storm were heard. The southern commissioners to the New School General Assembly of 1857, offended by its anti-slavery action, called a convention, the result of which was the subsequent organization of the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Such men as Dr. F. A. Ross and Dr. A. H. H. Boyd were opposed to a proffer of union with the Old School, against which various reasons were urged; among these, the " exscinding acts " unrepented of; the examination of applicants to presbytery; very serious doctrinal differences as to original sin, the atonement, and other points; the denial of each one's right to interpret the Confession of Faith for himself; and, above all, blind persistence in the "toleration theory" as to 28 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. slave-holders, in spite of the discovery by certain southern illuminati that slavery was. a permanent divine ordinance. The proffer, nevertheless, was at length unanimously made, upon certain " indispensable terms,' which, however, the Old School Assembly of 1858 decided, did "not afford a basis of conference" promising the advancement of the Presbyterian Church or of the Redeemer's kingdom. In 1863, the Synod was invited by the General Assembly of the Presby. terian Church in the Confederate. States to a negotia. tion, which resulted, the next year, in a union between the two bodies, under the name of the latter. Extreme southern opinions were now overbearingly urged upon the Old School. In the Assemblies of 1859 and 1860, Dr. Thornwell, a man of lovely character but inexorable in debate, maintained, in the interest, of course, of slavery, that the church is so purely spiritual, so completely restricted to the simple business of saving men, so absolutely limited to what the Bible in express words commanded or permitted, that all ecclesiastical action in regard to Bible Societies, Temperance, Colonization, Slavery, or the Slave-trade, and all church boards is unlawful. This new and startling doctrine, contrary to the whole current of Presbyterian usage and tradition, was, of course, not accepted by the Assembly, although, at first, some feared the eloquent Southron would prevail. In April, 1861, the storm of civil war, which had been for months, in visible blackness, hanging over the country, burst upon it with the thunder of the bombardment of Fort Sumter. On the sixteenth of May, the General Assembly met in the city of Philadelphia. HIISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 29 It met, of course, in the midst of unparalleled excite. ment, and when public opinion, if not evident duty, required from every man and every organized body of men, an open declaration of principles as to the terrible conflict already commenced, and soon widely and fearfully to rage. Only some thirteen commissioners ap. peared from the seceding states, seven of whom were from within the bounds of the Synod of Mississippi. A very large part of the time of the Assembly was taken up in the warm and able discussion of several papers offered upon the state of the country. It was evident that a majority, in the beginning, would have been glad to avoid the subject altogether; but now that it was forced upon them, would not silence, or a refusal to express loyal sentiments, be misconstrued? In the end, a decision was made simply between two papers in substance not unlike, but in form a declaration, one of them by the Assembly, the other by the mem'bers of the Assembly; a difference which many regarded as distinguishing between an authoritative act and a mere opinion of certain individuals. The venerable Dr. Spring had offered the former, as in substance it was at length adopted by a vote of one hundred and fifty-six to sixty-six, the minority protesting. It recommended a day of prayer, professed loyalty to the Federal Government, and declared it a duty to support that government and preserve the Union. Several inferior judicatories at the North, pronounced this deliverance inconsistent with the constitution, and with the word of God. Some who viewed it thus, did not object, however, to similar declarations made by subsequent Assemblies after the southern churches had 30 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. withdrawn. Their idea was, that a judicatory representing Christians in states that had seceded had no right to decide for them the political questions, whether secession was lawful, and whether allegiance was due primarily to the individual state or to the United States. But it was asked, Does not a judicatory representing only Christians in states that have not seceded, decide virtually the same questions, in pledging themselves to assist in a war to prevent secession, a war utterly unjust if secession be lawful, and the people of the South be suffering persecution for righteousness' sake? In the fall of 1861, met the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States. This secession drew off, first and last, about seven hundred ministers and twelve hundred churches. It is not probable that it was precipitated by the action in Philadelphia, although that action was made in part to bear the blame. How could Christians remain united in the church, while fiercely fighting against one another along the whole dividing line of their respective territories? Every subsequent Assembly during the war added something to the church's testimony on the subject of all-absorbing interest, fthe state of the country. Once and again regret was manifested that it was further pressed; many thought that enough had been said and done to establish a character for loyalty, and to satisfy even the popular demand for an outspoken declaration of principles; but each new body of commissioners found, in ever-fresh zeal for the country, and current soul-stirring events, abundant reason for new deliver HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CH URCH. 31 ances. Especially when enthusiastic men had introduced the subject, it was sufficient to plead that hesitation would imply indifference, a refusal sympathy with the South; and discussion having once commenced, feelings were soon aroused which carried the body away captive in the chains of patriotic emotion. The deliverances of the Assembly on this subject after 1861, so far as they added any material idea to the testimony of that year, condemned most unequivocally the rebellion for the perpetuation of negro bondage, as a monstrous iniquity, to be earnestly resisted and "force crushed by force;" yet called upon the loyal people of the country to humble themselves before God, confessing both national and individual sins, that the divine anger might be turned away; and declared that the time had come, when every vestige of slavery should be swept from the land, and when every Christian should address himself earnestly to the ac. complishment of that work. Then, the war having abruptly terminated, thanks were returned, the whole Assembly in the vote rising to its feet, for the conduct and issue of the struggle, and the emancipation of four millions of slaves; Abraham Lincoln was eulogized, his sad death deplored, and a blessing invoked upon his successor in the chief magistracy; the Board of Domestic Missions, which has always exercised a full discretion as to the character of its missionaries, was directed to aid no disloyal minister, nor any one not in cordial sympathy with the Assembly in its "testimony on doctrine, loyalty, and freedom; " churches and judi. catories were forbidden to receive from the South 32 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. applicants who had voluntarily participated in the rebellion, or held that slavery was a divine ordinance, or that, in the words of the Southern Assembly, it was "the peculiar mission of the Southern Church to conserve" it, without repentance of their sin and error; and they were directed to suspend, pending discipline, or erase from the roll after two years' absence, ministers who were fugitives or exiles on account of disloyalty, or had gone south and aided in the rebellion. Further, the southern church secession was declared schismatical, and the intention of the Church North not to abandon the southern field asserted. At the same time, kindness and a concilatory spirit were recommended toward the erring, especially the younger, more impulsive, and less guilty of them; and the constant tempering of justice with mercy. A little incident of the year 1863, may illustrate the excitement of feeling in which every church judicatory during the war convened. - A motion was made to raise the national flag over the church edifice occupied by the Assembly at Peoria. A large minority were for laying this motion on the table, but it was referred in due dilatory form to a committee. While the latter were deliberating, however, " the fire burned" in some hearts, and the trustees of the church were urged to hoist the flag without waiting for the issue of parliamentary process. Might not the stars and stripes unfolded to the eye quicken deliberation upon them? The trustees, with a slight stretch of authority, though hardly a stretch of reverence for the embodied wisdom of the church, yielded to this suggestion; and the Assembly afterward gravely decided, that as the thing HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 33 had been done, their further attention to it was unnec. essary. A statement of the grounds upon which these various acts of the supreme judicatory, most of them more or less earnestly contested, were by their advocates sustained, will exhibit sufficiently the argument on both sides. Kindness, it was said, to the erring, might be serious unkindness to the church and nation; there were higher interests at stake than the retention of the southern churches; and loyal Christians at the North would not be satisfied without the fullest declaration of loyalty, and the plainest dealing with the rebellion as an atrocious iniquity. The duty to condemn sin was urged, especially sin so monstrous and destructive. Repentance neither the state nor political parties dcmanded, but the church never restored offenders with. out it, and was to be governed by a simple regard to right far more than to policy. No terms of communion unknown to Presbyterianism had been established, no new offences created. Were not the ten commandments part of the church standards; and had not the Assembly always exercised the right of laying down conditions for the reception of outside ministers, in the position of which those at the South had really put themselves, and of enjoining examinations which supposed a liberty to reject applicants, and which every church court was confessedly entitled to make? All moral and religious questions, no matter on what other questions of a secular kind they depended for settlement, the church could rightfully decide. Must a convicted smuggler, sent to the state-prison, remain in good ecclesiastical standing, because his guilt de. 8 34 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. pended wholly upon the interpretation of positive civil laws? Must a murderer continue an unimpeached church-member, because his conviction required, in the church as in the state, the settlement of such a mere scientific and professional question as that of medical malpractice? In cases of this kind, the church could not merely follow state decisions, which might be glaringly unrighteous. By such decisions Christians had often been persecuted; by such a decision Christ himself was crucified. It was admitted that erroneous political opinions, generally prevalent and imbibed in early years, were a great palliation of political offences, and made lenient discipline specially desirable in the present case. The action of the Assembly upon the state of the country and of the church gave great offence to some persons, particularly in the border states. The Presbytery of Louisville issued a "Declaration and Testimony," to which they solicited the signature of all their brethren who agreed with them. The whole number of signers, first and last, was something like one hundred and twenty; say forty-two ministers and seventyeight elders. This paper testified against various errors in acts of the Assembly growing out of the war, errors which, of course, were attributed to political views and feelings. Two things at least secured its very general condemnation. Its language was grossly unbecoming. It charged the Assembly, for example, with unjust and scandalous self-contradiction, malignity, and even falsehood. Moreover, it raised avowedly the standard of revolt, inaugurating in the church what had just been attempted in the state. This ecclesias HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 35 tical rebellion took the place, in the Assembly of 1866, at St. Louis, of the civil rebellion which had produced such protracted agitation, as a source of excitement and vehement debate. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge had endeavored to exclude the signers of the Declaration and Testimony from the Synod of Kentucky, and had appealed to the Assembly against their admission. This case, however, was passed by, and the commissioners from the Presbytery of Louisville were summarily, without allowance of argument, excluded from the house until their case could be adjudged. Afterward, when it was brought forward, they were invited to defend themselves, but declined. At length, the Assembly, but not without the warmest, most excited discussion, adopted, by a vote of one hundred and ninety-six to thirty-seven, a paper offered by Dr. P. D. Gurley, in substance con. demning the Declaration and Testimony as slanderous, schismatical, and rebellious; summoning its adopters and signers to the bar of the next Assembly; forbidding them to sit, meanwhile, in any church court above the session; and declaring every such court admitting any of them to be ipso facto dissolved, its power passing into the hands of those adhering to the order,of the Assembly. In support of this action, it was urged that the Assembly was a body, not of limited powers given to it by its constitution, but of powers unlimited — all the power of the Presbyterian Church, excepting what the constitution expressly took away; that every deliberative body had an absolute discretion in regard to the qualifications of its members, and the preservation, as 3 6 P1RESBYTERIAN REUNION. against those members, of its own dignity and the dignity of its constituency; that the effectual rebuke of violence and prevention of rebellion demanded, in this case, sharp work; and that the offence of the Louisville Presbytery and its commissioners, as the original and most flagrant one, required special treatment. In view of the importance and exigency of the crisis, a preliminary convention had been called, after the manner of the troublous times preceding the division of the church in 1838, to meet at St. Louis. It was quite numerously attended, and sent in a memorial to the Assembly, which was treated with respect, but as proposing nothing desirable after the deliverances already made. The issue proved that the call of the convention had been unnecessary, as indeed, beforehand, it had been generally regarded. As the result of all this, the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri, with the presbyteries belonging to them, were divided, and the Assembly of 1867 adjudged those portions of the several judicatories which had obeyed the orders of 1866 to have the true succession; but conciliatory measures, though without the relinquishment of principle, were adopted, remitting the cases of the signers of the Declaration and Testimony to the lower courts, and providing for the return of all who might be willing to promise obedience in the Lord, and disclaim intentional disrespect, and for dropping the names of the rest. In 1868, the Assembly refused to modify this action, but gave permission to the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri to do, in the whole matter, anything consistent with the honor and authority of the supreme judicatory, for the sake of peace and order. The Dec. IISTORICAL REVIEW OF THi CHURCH. 37 laration and Testimony men, however, are now, in genm eral, with the southern secession, or by themselves. As early as 1866, the Assembly had declared that it deplored greatly the separation of the southern churches, and earnestly desired a reunion on the basis of the standards, and on terms consistent with truth and righteousness. In 1867, generous contributions for the relief of destitution at the South were recommended. The next year, the Southern Presbyterian Church was recognized as independent, with the expression of an earnest hope, that, although its separation could not be justified, it might return to its former relations; and in 1869, Christian salutations were addressed to it, with the assurance of a strong desire for a general reunion among Presbyterians throughout the land. Our sketch, thus far, of ecclesiastical events during and since the war, makes several things which deserve consideration sufficiently evident. In the Assembly as well as out of it, ministers and ruling elders acted often under great excitement, which it would be extreme folly to say was not unfavorable to wise action. But how great had been the provocation! How impossible it was, the war still raging, for men whose sons, brothers, or other near relatives were at the moment exposed to death upon the field, if their lives had not been already offered up, to view the rebellion calmly, or express themselves upon it with moderation, or punctilious propriety. One reason why prudently moderate men sometimes failed to get the ear of the church was, that rank sympathizers with the South hailed them as allies, and threw upon them suspicion. Now, when the danger has passed away, we can imagine the 38 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. event to have proved that others were hasty, rash, unnecessarily alarmed and severe. The acts of men in great peril are to be judged of, however, by that peril as imminent, rather than by a subsequent providential escape; and, indeed, who can say that the Union would have been preserved, without the resolute, it may be the stern, violent patriotism of northern Christians? Nor is a general disposition now, the emergency having ceased, to relax the rigor of previous enactments, any evidence that they were originally unjustifiable. We approached, even at the North, very near to that condition actually experienced by large portions of the South, in which constitutions and laws crumble away, and natural right and Christian principle remain the only social bonds. Well may we be thankful that the review demands so little regret; that the great principles of the Gospel and of Presbyterianism were so well sustained; that so little, if any, essential injustice was done; that narrow limits to beneficial and patriotic church action were not allowed to be set. Had we realized the proverb, Intern carma silent leges, it had hardly been a wonder; but the gracious Head of the Church saved us from that calamity: to him be the praise! It is not probable, either, that a more conciliatory course in the northern Assembly would have even retarded the southern church secession; which was deliberately designed to aid the rebellion and carry out its foregone conclusions, as clearly as our acts were designed to strengthen the national government. Besides, it may well be doubted vwhether the coherence, during the war at least, of the northern and southern portions of the church was desirable. Men cannot, alter HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 39 nately, go out and fight against each other to the death, and come in together to the Lord's table, at once con sistent foes and consistent friends. No church could preserve its oneness the land over, through such a civil war as ours, unless the Church of Rome, with its bond of union in another and distant country. Leaving now a topic which might well have occupied a much larger space, it may be desirable, running over the whole period of this history, to condense into a few paragraphs, in the order of time rather than of logical connection, some brief allusions to events, particularly acts of the General Assembly, to which little room comparatively can be given. The troubles of 1837 and 1838 interrupted fraternal intercourse with various evangelical bodies at home and abroad, with which, however, a friendly correspondence was speedily re-established. Soon after the division, measures were not unsuccessfully adopted to revive and invigorate the office of deacon. Various arrangements and changes have been made to secure to the boards the advantage of periodical publications, to disseminate intelligence of their work through the churches. The latest accounts shew a circulation of sixteen thousand copies of the monthly Record; nearly one hundred thousand of the Sabbath Sclhool Visitor of the first, with thirty-four thousand additional copies of that of the fifteenth, of the month; and three thousand five hundred of the pamphlet, with almost fifty-two thousand of the newspaper, edition, both monthly, of the Foreign 2issionary; besides many thousands of the several yearly reports and of various occasional issues. From about 1849, the project of a weekly religious paper, like the 40 PR]ESBYTERIAN REUMION. Afethodist Advocate, was pressed upon the Assembly for several years successively, but without effect. Yet the church has always acknowledged the unspeakable importance of religious papers, many of which have been established by private enterprise. The value of its periodical publications to the Old School, before the division, none can estimate. But then they were weighty with doctrinal discussion, and bristling with the arms of sturdy polemics. One of our most honored ministers recently said, in an address to theological students, "I cannot help thinking we shall need, in the next ten years, a little more controversial preaching:" he might wisely, perhaps, have added, "and a little more doctrinal and controversial newspaper writing." It is probable that Millenarianism has become more prevalent among the Old School than it was in 1838, though lately it seems to have suffered a decline. The Assembly has more than once strongly recommended preaching without manuscript and expository preaching. It has discouraged ordination sine titulo. Twice the presbyteries have virtually declined to make provision for a voluntary demission of the ministry. Twice the Assembly has refused to submit to them a proposition to allow marriage with a deceased wife's sister, and other marriages falling within the same general prohibition; and it has sustained discipline for such a connection, with the explanation, however, that, though the union was sinful, it was not invalid; and with the result that church judicatories, as to discip. line in this case, do each one what is right in its own eyes. Total abstinence from intoxicating drinks has HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 41. been strongly recommended, though not enjoined; unless we may regard the equivocal language of the Assembly's acts of 1865 and 1869 as amounting to an injunction, which a majority of the church, it is probable, would hardly sustain. Romish baptisms, after long hesitations, have been by a nearly unanimous vote declared void. The subject of union, more or less intimate, with evangelical, and especially Presbyterian, bodies in the United States, other than the New School, has repeatedly been brought before the Assembly, and has always awakened a favorable interest, as in the cases of the Presbyterian National Union Convention of 1867, and the National Council of Evangelical Churches proposed, in 1869, by the General Synod of the Reformed Church. The ordinations of all Protestant communions have been pronounced valid, with the express proviso, however, that ministers received from other bodies must possess the qualifications required by the Presbyterian standards. The dismission of church-members to the world has been condemned. In 1853, the Assembly addressed a memorial to Congress requesting the adoption of measures for securing the rights of conscience to our citizens abroad. The American Bible Society and the American Colonization Society have been warmly commended, although the alterations made by the former, in the received English version and its accessories, were in effect condemned, though not until the society had itself seen its mistake and withdrawn its revised editions. In 1858, the centennial anniversary of the reunion of the Old and New Sides was celebrated. The Assembly has refused to authorize the preparation of a church-commen 42 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tary on the Bible. The subject of unemployed minis. ters and vacant congregations has been repeatedly dis. cussed, but without any effective action. Mr. Joseph M. Wilson, the indefatigable advocate of churchmanses, has succeeded in engaging for his project the favorable attention of the church. There have been several attempts, during the same period, to make important changes in the Form of Government, Book of Discipline and Directory for Worship. Offices for the administration of baptism and for the public admission of church-members have been proposed, but have not found favor. An able committee, appointed in 1864, elaborated a plan for trying judicial cases in synod and in the General Assembly by a commision of appeals in each, composed of four ministers and four elders, elected, two every year, for four years. This plan, however, was rejected by the presbyteries, although it has been an almost universal conviction, that some radical change ought to be effected for the dispatch of judicial business in our larger church courts. The entire recasting of the Book of Discipline has, moreover, been before the General Assembly and the church, some of the ablest, most influential men having been engaged in the work, ever since the year 1857, until the anticipation of reunion suggested the wisdom of leaving the business to be consummated by the reunited body. There have been, besides, slight and wholly ineffectual efforts, in some quarters, to induce the church to return to the use of a liturgy. The interval of separation has been one of very marked literary activity in the Old School body. Some HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 43 thirty original volumes, from this source, of comment upon various portions of Holy Scripture have appeared; and a very large number of important works, biographical, historical, dogmatical, practical, and miscellaneous. Probably no other denomination in the United States has produced, within the same period, so many theological books of standard value. Before the southern churches seceded in 1861, that is, in twenty-three years from the separation, the Old School branch had much more than doubled the number of its communicants, ministers, and congregations. And now, after that secession and the loss also of the Declaration and Testimony party, it re-enters, with forces not very far from double, into organic union with the New School. To the Assembly of 1869, additions of more than fifteen thousand communicants upon examination were reported, and contributions for congregational and benevolent purposes of between four and a half and five millions of dollars. Excepting the troublous times of the rebellion, the whole period under review has been one of peace, steady enlargement, and uninterrupted prosperity. No small share of this prosperity has been due to the happy operation of the boards and similar agencies of the church. The superior advantages of these, as compared with voluntary union associations, for building up, not only Presbyterianism, but also the kingdom of Christ, few of either school now question. For a time, after the separation, many church-members and some congregations of the Old School preferred to make voluntary societies the channels of their benevolence. Their Christian freedom in this matter was not disputed; their preference was not condemned. A 4 1 PRESBYTERLXAN REUNION. spirit of forbearance and love prevented difficulty, and by degrees has won nearly all to a hearty support of the church's own agencies. The question, how many boards there should be, has sometimes been agitated. It has been well-nigh universally agreed, that the work of foreign missions, that of domestic missions, that of education, and that of publication, should be committed each to a separate agency; but many have thought that the Boards of Domestic Missions and Education might, between them, take the whole work now confided to that of Church Extension, to the Committee on Freedmen, and, in the matter of disabled ministers and their families, to the Trustees of the General Assembly. The location of different boards has, from time to time, been warmly discussed; but for the most part the very sensible idea has prevailed, that the northern and eastern portions of the church, as able to contribute more largely by far than the southern and western portions, should not be discouraged from devising liberal things, by having the application of their charities taken too much out of their own hands. The operations of all the boards, at times, and particularly, in several instances, those of the Boards of Domestic Missions, Education, and Publication, have been subjected to searching inquiry, with the result, occasionally, of modification and improvement, but always of demonstrating the general. ability and fidelity with which their affairs have been managed, and of recommending them to increased confidence in the church. Said a speaker, several years ago, on this point, "The boards breathe more freely after the Assembly adjourns" - more freely, the ordeal passed, and the sub HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 45 jects of it "found unto praise and honor," yet not left without a wholesome sense of responsibility. Besides, uneasy spirits must have an outlet. Fretting over the imperfections which the best efforts of our fallen humanity, and our most effective institutions, cannot always escape, they are ready at any time for radical transformation or revolution, forgetting that incessant change may itself be one of the most ruinous of evils, and that no plan can even seem perfect, unless because untried. The church, so far as her boards have been concerned, has paid little regard tot visionary perfectionists, and has steadily maintained these agencies, as the right hand of her power. Among them all, none has held a warmer place in her affections than the Board of Foreign Missions. Its receipts for a year, as reported in 1869, had exceeded three hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars. As to the increase of means, its prosperity, for an equal length of time, has far transcended that of the American Board, so honorably distinguished for its success. And wherever the two have labored in the same field, side by side, or in fields that can justly be compared, the results prove the Presbyterian Board to be, saying the least, not one whit behind the other in the evidences of God's blessing. The number of its church-members, on foreign missionary ground, has doubled in about five years; and average pastors at home are often compelled to mourn that they have been less successful, in our Christian land, than average foreign missionaries in the dark places of the earth. To close this brief historical sketch, there remains but to present a simple outline, from an Old School 46 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. point of view, of the protracted negotiations that have resulted in the consolidation of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church. And here, the reader's attention will be directed to points for the most part outside of the ground occupied by the full account of the reunion, from other pens, in subsequent chapters. The Old School Assembly, in 1846, courteously declined an invitation to unite with that of the New School in celebrating the Lord's Supper, doubtless mainly on the ground, that though the great lawsuit before mentioned had been discontinued some three and a half years, former differences and conflicts were yet very fresh in thought and feeling; and each body yet expressly claimed to be the Presbyterian Church; each, too, regarding the other as making herein a sinful claim. With the language of mutual recrimination upon their lips, ought they to sit down together at the Lord's Table? In 1850, the Assembly refused to take any action upon the subject of reunion. When the rebellion commenced, however, causes -similar to those which speedily brought the two branches together at the South, began to operate powerfully at the North. The common agitating excitements, alarms, perils, and sufferings of a struggle for the nation's life, drew Old and New School men into closer and more frequent communion, and the rather because of their near relationship and family resemblance. Yet, in 1862, the Old School Assembly still declined to talk of reunion, though it unanimously agreed to open a correspondence by delegates. No doubt this correspondence was a great advance toward organic unity. Nothing, however, more definite was accomplished, although the MISTORICAL REVIEW OF THIM CHURCH. 47 subject was brought every year to the notice of both Assemblies, until, in 1866, the first joint committee was appointed to confer upon " the desirableness and practicability of reunion." The earliest plan proposed by this committee was by no means satisfactory to the Old School. Various objections were made to it, but the "doctrinal basis" was the grand difficulty. Besides, the major part yet doubted the fact of that reasonable agreement in doctrine, without which the two branches could not wisely unite. Now, there met in Philadelphia, the Presbyterian National Union Convention of November, 1867, and gave a very perceptible impulse to the whole movement. The hope which it excited of the consolidation of five or more Presbyterian bodies; the impression that it gave of a general feeling, soon to be irresistible, in favor of reunion; and the warmth of enthusiasm which it kindled, were very influential to turn opponents into friends of the measure. The convention was thought by many to have produced an improved "doctrinal basis," which was therefore incorporated into the joint committee's plan. Still, as before, the Old School Church was not satisfied. Yet a few months later, upon a new basis, the reunion was decreed by such an overwhelming vote of the presbyteries, that the feeble minority could but bow in humble submission to the evident will of the church. To explain all this, some, on both sides, have supposed a relaxation of doctrinal strictness in the Old School body, of which, however, there has not been the slightest evidence. What single act of the Assembly, what disposition manifested by any considerable num. 48 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ber of the presbyteries, has indicated such a thing? The very reverse is too apparent to be questioned. In express words, the Assembly has reaffirmed all its old testimonies against error. And, on the very ground of apprehended doctrinal disagreement, and of dissatisfaction with the doctrinal basis, the church hesitated, up to the last moment, to sanction the reunion. But the plan of 1869 was regarded by the presbyteries generally as presenting the safest basis possible in point of doctrine - the basis of " the standards pure and simple." It was the basis with which those who loved the standards most were evidently the best pleased. In fact, past negotiations had proved it to be the only basis offering the least promise of safety. And, again, from every quarter had come to the Old School body multiplied assurances, in most influential forms, that the New School, not as to every individual, but as a church, had become, and were becoming, more orthodox than formerly; nay, were now as strictly conformed to the Confession of Faith and Catechisms as the Old School themselves. Such assurances were given in the joint committee to its Old School members. The unimpeachable orthodoxy of the present theological professors in the New School seminaries was avouched with the strongest confidence. As a specimen of the declarations made on this general subject, take the following from the able pen of Dr. Henry B. Smith, professor in the Union Theological Seminary of New York. He says it is notorious, "that the New School is thoroughly organized as a Presbyterian body, having renounced the vain attempt to combine incongruous elements in its system of church order, and no HISTORICAL ]REVIEW OF THE CIHURChI. 49 longer favoring even the vestiges of the plan of union for any future churches; that it is not strenuous as to the support of voluntary societies; that it is separated in all church action from Congregationalism; that many of its more extreme men have willingly gone into other church connections; that certain objectionable forms of doctrine and of practice are no more taught in its pulpits and seminaries; that it, in short, has become a homogeneous body, on the basis of the standards of the Presbyterian Church; and that, especially in' case of reunion, all these tendencies will be accelerated and carried to their completion." Now, this declaration and a thousand others, to the same general effect, the Old School Church, after long doubt, indeed, yet at length, confidently received and believed. It consented to reunion - in the end gladly and warmly consented, — because authoritatively assured that the New School Church was as orthodox as the Old. May its confidence never be shaken: then, for this reunion, glory shall be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, forever! 4 CHAPTER SECOND. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. JONATHAN F. STEARNS), D.D. Sources of Presbyterian History. -The Separation not Anticipated. PERIOD OF DEPRESSION. - Policy of Absorption. - Hope of Reunion. - Unsectarian Spirit.- Missionary Churches.-Changes in the Form of Government. - Preparation for Growth. - Contributions. - Gradual Consolidation. PERIOD OF REVIVAL.- Assembly at Cincinnati in 1847.- Plan of Church Extension. - Assembly at Washington in 1852.- New arrangement for Home Missions, Education, and Publication. — Work required of Presbyteries and Synods. - Presbyterian Quarterly Review. - Relations with the Congregationalists.- Conflict with the Home Missionary Society. PERMANENT COMMITTEE ON CIUR~CH EXTENSION.- The "Declaration of Principles. "- Assembly at Wilmington.- Assembly at Pittsburg in 1860.Separation from the Home Missionary Society. — Agreement with the A. B. C. F. M. in 1859. THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY.- Testimony against the system, with care not to do injustice to those involved in it. — The Detroit Resolution. -Action at Cleveland.- Withdrawal of the Southern Synods. PERIOD OF PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS. —Unity and Unanimity.- Loyalty in the War. — Home Missions. - Church Erection. - Education. - Publication. - Presbyterian House. - Foreign Missions. - Periodical Literature. - Colleges. — Theological Seminaries. -Position towards Reunion. -Doctrinal Position.- The Future. IT is provided by the " concurrent Declarations " that "the official records of the two branches of the church for the period of the separation should be preserved and held as making up the one history of the church." Those documents are now the property of the united body, and will, no doubt, be made the subject of careful investigation by its future historians. They contain a portion of Presbyterian history of equal value to both the classes of which the united body is composed. We are henceforth to have but one interest; and whatever good has been accomplished by one class will be a (50) 'I,. p-" c" AUUN EINR HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 51 matter of satisfaction, and whatever evil incurred, of regret, to the other. Both results must be accepted and acknowledged as the achievements or failures of American Presbyterians. In preparing this sketch, the guiding principle must be that of truth impartially stated. Yet, if separate sketches are to be given, the writer of either will stand somewhat in the position of an advocate, and must not be held as violating the wholesome rule, "to study the things that make for peace, and to guard against all needless and offensive references to the causes that have divided us," if, on some critical points he states the case of his clients from their own point of view, though, to the other party, it may have a different aspect. It is to be hoped, however, there will be very little even of the appearance of partisanship. It will be readily granted by those who have studied the history, that the New School party in the old Presbyterian church did not desire the separation. Their feelings were against it; their interest was manifestly against it; they had no points to carry which, in their estimation, were likely to be subserved by it; their action, up to the last moment, was directed with a view to its prevention. When it took place, it found them totally unprepared for the exigency. They had no plans concocted for separate action, no policy adapted to the new condition in which they found themselves. If such was the case with the act itself, still more was it with the manner of doing it. The cutting off of the four synods, on the principles which were held to justify it, seemed to them so arbitrary and undiscrimi. nating a measure, that they had not supposed it would 52 PRESBYTEPIAN REUNION. be contemplated. Why not dissolve the Assembly as well, since it contained the same elements Why not rather take measures to eject the unsound and alien elements, carefully preserving such as were sound and constitutional? Why break up these large organizations, the conservators of large and widely extended interests, simply for having followed rules of action adopted for them by the General Assembly? So they reasoned. We say this, not to vindicate their position, but only to state it. The other side took a different view, and their arguments are on record. But these were theirs, and must be considered, if we would understand their action. They held the act of exclusion to be unconstitutional, and felt bound, not only in justice to their brethren, deprived, as they thought, of rights sacredly secured to them, but in justice also to the church itself, and to their own constitutional pledges, to make common cause with those brethren, and organize the General Assembly on what they deemed the only true principles. This they did; and by the subsequent course of events, particularly by the final decision of the court in Bank, found themselves, against their wishes and expectations, a separate body. It has been a matter of surprise to many, that the New School party, immediately upon the disruption, should have exhibited so little strength and so great a lack of decision. Up to that time they had been a strong, compact, and steadily advancing party. They claimed to be the majority, and no doubt included in their ranks a large share of the aggressive activity of the church and a large proportion of the young men. In numbers, the two parties were nearly balanced, and HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 53 every year there was a sharp struggle for the ascendency in the General Assembly. But during seven years, from 1831 to 183'7, inclusive, the New School held the majority in that body five times, and their rivals of the Old School only twice. It might naturally have been expected, that in case of a division, the advantage in respect to efficiency, organic life, and growth would have been on their side. Why the result was otherwise will be seen when we consider the obstacles. Unquestionably the blow which severed them from the legally recognized Presbyterian church was to them a stunning blow. Its decisive character, partly because of its unexpected occurrence, they failed at first to understand; to use a modern military phrase, it quite demoralized them. It loosened all the bonds of their organic union. Their membership began at once to fly apart. Many who adhered to the body lost their interest in it. For many years they scarcely knew whom they could rely upon as permanently of their number. It crippled their resources. It separated them from their strongest institutions. It threw suspicion, not only on the soundness of their faith, - the alleged defects of which had been assigned as one of the chief motives of the acts of excision, - but the genuineness of their denominational standing. It even raised the question of their right to exist as an organized body. Indeed, scarcely had the disruption occurred, when the standard of another denomination was openly raised within their own camp, among those who had professed to be of them; and from the highest watch-tower of the New School citadel, as it then regarded itself, rang out the cry of revolt, "To your tents, 0 Israel." 54 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. The disadvantage was increased by the policy which the other party, awalened to new life and organic energy by the separation, saw fit to adopt in regard to them; the policy of " absolption," so called. In their view, the separation was filial. Considered as an organized body, they did not know the New School; they did not suppose it could live. But its elements, of which a large part were still held in esteem by them, they desired to recover. Hence, immediately on the withdrawal of the New School, they adopted a resolution which operated, during the whole period which followed, as a standing invitation to churches, ministers, presbyteries, and minorities of presbyteries, to disconnect themselves from the New School and become united with the Old School Assembly. Taken from their own point of view, this was an affectionate invitation to all sound Presbyterians, unhappily separated from the true Presbyterian fold, to return, with an assurance of welcome. Taken from that of the New School, it was an invitation and encouragement to unfaithfulness, disturbing and disintegrating their ranks, and so a source of irritation and distrust. In the light of recent events over which we all rejoice and thank God, it will be held as an honor to the Christian spirit of the New School, though it delayed the consolidation of the body and the settlement of their denominational plans, that, for several years, amidst those troubled scenes, they did not give up the hope or effort to bring about a reunion of the church. In a convention held just before the disruption, they resolved, and sent the resolution to a convention of their brethren, "that we are ready to co-operate in any ef HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCI-. 55 forts for pacification that are constitutional, and which shall recognize the regular standing and secure the rights of the entire church." The day after the separation took place, their General Assembly resolved as follows: "That this body is willing to agree to any reasonable measures for an amicable adjustment of the difficulties existing in the Presbyterian Church; and will receive and respectfully consider any propositions that may be made for that purpose." In 1839, they proposed a "plan of peaceable division," "designed only," as they say, "to secure our constitutional privileges as Presbyterians," while it relinquished to the other body " all the chartered rights, institutions, and funds of the Presbyterian Church." It was not till the year 1840, as the Assembly say, that they relinquished the idea of reunion, and, "coming reluctantly to the conclusion that union was impracticable, corrected their roll, and dropped from it the names of those brethren in deference to their feelings." One more proposition, though only for a mutual recognition of each other as bodies of Christian brethren, by communing together at the Lord's table, was made during the session of the two Assemblies, in the same city of Philadelphia, in 1846. None of these proposals were successful. No doubt they were all made, as the Assembly declare, "in good faith, and with the earnest desire and hope that they might be met in the spirit that prompted them." No doubt the one last named raised, in the Old School Assembly, an embarrassing question. Most of them would gladly have accepted the invitation, had they regarded it as expedient to do so. And they rejected it, although decisively, yet kindly. The result served to convince 56 PREESBYTERIAN REUNION. Lhe New School, of what perhaps it would have been better for them to have understood earlier, that, however desirable union might be on general grounds, the time had not come for tlhem to be pressing proposals to that effect on the consideration of their brethren; and that the best thing they could do in existing circumstances, was to go about their separate work, and build up as best they might, their own particular section of the fortifications of Zion. This independent action, necessary to their growth and vigor as a denomination, was still further checked, and that growth and vigor hindered, by the very unsectcarian - we might say zundenomninational - spirit that pervaded the body. Mlany of them were New England men, born and educated in another denomination; and though, by conviction, they had heartily adopted the Presbyterian system, they did not regard their own section of the church as the only true church, and shrunk sensitively from even the appearance of prose. lytism. This was manifest to a considerable degree in their relations to the Old School, bitterly as they remembered the acts of excision; and still more as respected the Congregationalists, among whom were the near relatives and fellow-students of many of them, for the sake of whose fellowship and co-operation they had incurred in their own denomination the evils of suspicion and disruption. Some may ask here, Why, with these views, did they insist on keeping up their distinct organization? Why not rather abandon it, and allow its elements to fall off, on the one side and the other, to their natural affinities,- the strong Presbyterians to the Old School, and those who had little objections to Con HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 57 gregationalism, to the Congregationalists. But the reply is obvious. Here was a large body of churches, say fifteen hundred, more or less, that were neither of the one extreme nor of the other. They were Presbyterians, and they were not Presbyterians on the basis of 1837 and 1838. These churches were to be cared for; the great religious interests involved in them were to be preserved. Their resources and working powers were to be called forth and made available. None but a New School Presbyterian church, at that juncture, could have performed this service. And to perform it, that church must not only maintain its existence, and resist disintegration, but increase, by all fair and Christian means, its organic strength and efficiency. A sectarian spirit is, no doubt, to be reprobated. Denominationalism may not be, on the whole, the best principle for the distribution of the church. But while denominations exist, each is made responsible for its own. And a certain degree of the denominational esprit du corpys is therefore indispensable to the common interest. The Congregationalists, looking to the interests of Evangelical Protestantism in our land, and of the Redeemer's Kingdom, have occasion to rejoice; and the Old School, looking to the fair proportions, happy fellowship, and augmented strength of the reunited Presbyterian Church does rejoice to-day, that the New School body, at that critical period of its history, did not wholly forget its divine mission as a distinct body of Evangelical Christians. Had it sooner and more vigorously roused itself to this duty, it would, no doubt, have done more for the common advancement. One more hinderance in its way, may be found in 58 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the peculiar condition and stage of growth at which the, disruption found a large part of its churches. Most of them had been missionary churches and were recently established; many of them were still beneficiaries of the American Home Missionary Society. They were, it is true, a noble band of true-hearted, zealous-minded Christian people, deeply imbued with the spirit of the great revivals which had just before rejoiced the country and astonished the Christian world, and full of evangelical fervor. But they lacked resources. Most of the old wealthy churches went with the other division. So did all the old and well-endowed institutions. Those which remained were in their infancy, weak, unendowed, and struggling for existence. Lane Seminary received its first student in 1829. Union, in New York, was organized in 1836. Auburn was a few years older, but was not strong. The same may be said of the colleges. Most of the ministers were young men, not much versed in matters of ecclesiastical policy. A few, such as Dr. Richards of Auburn, were men of ripe experience and comprehensive and far-seeing judgment. But the number of such men was not large, and most of their contemporaries were in the other body. The mass of those that remained were rather men of zeal and ability, than experience and reputation. Their best power and weightiest influence was in the future. In such circumstances, it is not strange that some mistakes should have been made increasing the e'mbarrassment. One of these, the impolicy of which the church afterwards saw and retrieved, was the alteration of the constitutional rules. The CONFESSION of FAITi IIISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 59 was never altered, even in a penstroke; but the FoRi.M of GOVERNMENT was, in a few particulars. Partly owing to a weariness with past struggles, the General Assembly had come to be regarded with less favor, and its importance to the Presbyterian system less highly estimated than formerly. The impression had begun to gain ground before the division, and had the sanction of some eminent names in both parties, that if appeals could be stopped with synods, annual Assemblies might well be dispensed with. Accordingly, in the year 1839, the next year after the separation, overtures were sent down to the presbyteries, which, being approved, took effect in the year 1840, altering the basis of representation, making the synods courts of ultimate appeal, and providing for triennial instead of annual Assemblies. A committee ad interim was also erected, invested with large but not well-defined powers. The effect especially at so critical a period, may be easily supposed. It left the body with at best a very weak and inadequate bond of union, and at a time when the most constant vigilance, concert, and co-operation were essential to safety, with no provision, during repeated intervals of three years, for the slightest common consultation upon its interests and dangers. That the church did not make complete shipwreck during the nine years of the continuance of this policy, is indeed far more to be wondered at, than that it should be found to have lacked much in organic strength and successful progress. But while, from these and other causes hereafter to be noticed, the progress and efficiency of the body, during the first half of its existence, was not as great 60 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. as might otherwise have been expected, justice to its history requires us to add that, during all that period of discouragement, an important work was going on, in it and by it, both for immediate results and in preparation for the future. The " co-operative " or undenominational method to which the New School strongly adhered in their work of evangelization, so merged their contributions with those of a sister denomination, that it is not easy to determine, except approximately, what portion of the common results was due to their agency. But there is reason to believe it was in full proportion, both in men and money, to their comnparative ability. With generous aid afforded them from New England, they sustained and strengthened their numerous feeble and infant churches, and made provisions for the support and endowment of their theological and literary institutions. Some of these suffered severely from the financial embarrassments which wellnigh overwhelmed the country just at the occurrence of the separation, and it was only with the greatest difficulty, and at the cost of great self-denials and exertions on the part of their guardians and Faculties, that they were kept alive, to be the blessings which they now are to the church. The records of the General Assembly give tokens likewise of a high degree of devotion to the work of the gospel, in the frequent, very extensive, and deeply moving revivals of religion, which obtain notice in its Pastoral letters and official "' Narratives of the state of Religion." Large numbers were, from year to year, added to the church; bold and judicious testimony was uttered for the sanctity of the Sabbath, the purity and integrity of the Christian doc HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 61 trines, the promotion of temperance, and against the worldly spirit threatening in various ways to corrupt the piety of the church. In that most critical and formative period in the history of our Western country, there went forth steadily, it is believed, from this devoted band of hard-working, self-denying ministers and churches, an influence of vast though silent efficacy, to make that great and now powerful section of our country what it is, - eminently Christian. Meanwhile, a process was going on within the body itself, whose beneficial results some, no doubt, were then unable to foresee. That process of depletion which began, as we have seen, at the beginning of its troubles, -the dropping off, on this side and on that, of men and churches, that had been considered in some cases leaders of the body, and that certainly did contribute to swell its numbers and apparent strength,- was gradually disentangling it from hurtful complications, removing the embarrassment and peril of alien counsels, and promoting unity and homogeneousness among its members. Some of those trusted leaders, who, in the days of adversity, went away, and walked no more with them, were among the rowers who rowed them into the deep waters, and whose unwise measures, or vulnerable expressions, had made their views and actions to be misinterpreted by those who were really of the same principles. At the same time, questions vital to their future peace and prosperity were getting discussed and settled. Such was the question of slavery, to the discussion of which they gave the utmost latitude, as will be shown hereafter, and with respect to which they reached conclusions which, during all the fierce struggles which afterwards 62 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. agitated the country, they saw no reason to alter. Night seems to most men, especially if it be overcast with clouds, a season of gloom; but it adds mightily, with its refreshing moisture and its sparkling dewdrops, to the beauty and freshness of the morning. Winter seems a cheerless and barren interval; but spring owes not a little of its bursting life, and summer and autumn of their growth and wealth of products, to its silent processes. So, often, does the church of God look back with gratitude to her seasons of discouragement, as she looks forward, and takes up the words of hope," The winter season has been sharp, But spring shall all its wastes repair." It has been necessary to dwell thus long upon this period of depression, that we might the better understand that of the new life and activity which followed. The stirrings of this new life began to discover themselves during the meeting of the triennial Assembly in 1846. Most of the time in that meeting, to the great disparagement of the Assembly in the eyes of some, was occupied with the discussion of slavery. In consequence of this, as appears from the minutes, "business of vast importance to the prosperity of our church, especially at the West, was left unfinished and unattempted; business which, in the opinion of many entitled to belief, must be done soon, or it would be wholly beyond our power ever to do it." In this view, the evil of triennial, instead of annual Assemblies, began to be apparent to many. " It was not surprising," they said, "that during the long interval, the churches at the West, in all stages of existence, among a heterogen HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 63 eous and rapidly increasing population, should feel the want of the presence and wisdom of the General Assembly, both to attract around a common centre these diverse elements, and to devise plans for the extension and consolidation of our branch of the church. That the exigency might not fail to be met, an adjourned meeting of the Assembly was agreed upon, to be held in the spring of the next year; and as the measure was then without precedent, and some doubted its legality, the opinion of Chancellor Kent was procured, who gave it the sanction of his weighty authority. In the spring of 1847, the Assembly came together in the city of Cincinnati, full of the spirit of their important mission. A memorial was presented from Rev. Thornton A. Mills, not a member of the Assembly, which, though not to be found upon the minutes, deserves to be carefully preserved, both as a memorial of the man, and an important monument of progress in the history of the church. The opening paragraph is characteristic: "That, being a native of the great West, and expecting to live and die in the service of Christ, endeavoring to spread the influence of the Presbyterian Church throughout its wide limits, he feels peculiar pleasure in welcoming the Assembly, at this, its first session in the great city of the West, and in learning that one object of the adjournment, was to consider the condition of our western churches, and devise means for their enlargement. Having been all his life an observer of the state of things, and having for several years past possessed peculiar advantages of acquiring knowledge from his connection with the Home Missionary Society through a large portion of this region, he trusts it will 64 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. not be deemed presumptuous if, in the form of a memorial, he ventures to offer a few suggestions as to the best means of extending the influence of the kingdom of Christ, as it is connected with our church." In this memorial, four points are very clearly presented and forcibly urged. 1. The great want of places of public worship. " The power of Presbyterianism" lies " in the continuity of its efforts; and this cannot be secured without permanent church accommodations." 2. The expediency of a temporary system of itineracy under the direction of presbyteries and synods. Presbyterianism cannot be made aggressive without this. 3. The need of some new measures to supply suitable ministers, "men apt to teach, who will persevere in laying the foundations of many generations." 4. The need of some special provision for the wants of our foreign population, especially the Germans. This memorial, carefully considered in a committee, and freely discussed in interlocutory meetings of the Assembly, resulted in the adoption of a plan which required only to be matured and carried out, to place the church on a new platform in respect to its prosperity and usefulness. "Every pastor, session, and church," were exhorted to "regard themselves as a missionary body, established in the midst of the most important missionary field in the world, andi the object of their vocation to lead all around them to Christ." To this end, the congregations were to be "thoroughly instructed," "thoroughly grounded in the doctrines of gace," and particularly "in the doctrines of the Bible as contained in the standar-cds of our c7hurch." All the points contained in the memorial were urged as of HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 65 great importance, and it was recommended "' to all our presbyteries carefully to survey their whole territory, and apply to the Home Missionary Society, for one or more missionaries who shall be employed in itinerating among the destitute." This short adjourned meeting of the Assembly, in 1847, proved to be one of the most important in the annals of the New School Church, not so much for what it accomplished, as what it put in process of accomplishment, as indicative of the new spirit which was beginning to arise in the body and prophetic of its future advancement. In its action are to be found the germs of the whole subsequent policy. Nor did the Assembly dissolve itself till it had taken measures to reinvigorate the impaired system by a return to the old rule of annual Assemblies, and the restoration of the constitution to its original state; of which the former was effected in 1849, and the latter one year later. On this last point, an able report, drawn up by Dr. Hatfield and containing the history of this whole subject, in the light of which the Assembly and the Presbyteries finally acted, is to be found in the appendix to the minutes for 1849. Various causes contributed to retard, for several years, the full execution or completion of the plan. But it was not dropped or overlooked. The question was freely discussed, information sought, committees raised to consider it during the intervals of the Assemblies, and, from year to year, progress was made. In 1851, Dr. Mills preached, by previous appointment, an able and stirring sermon on Home Missions, from Isaiah liv. 2, 3: "Enlarge the place of thy tent," &c., 4 66 PRESBYTERIAN RZEIUNION. and the whole subject, having been again fully discussed, was referred to a special committee of nine, among whom were some of the ablest ministers of the church, and of which Dr. Mills was the chairman, with directions to report to the next General Assembly. Such was the posture of affairs when the Assembly met at Washington, in 1852. It was an earnest, resolute, hard-working Assembly. The church was represented by some of its ablest men. They came together from all parts of. the field, North and South, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, not to see the sights of Washington, in which recreation they indulged but sparingly, but to devise and fix upon measures to make their beloved church what they all felt she ought to be, -a power in the land. An excursion to Mount Vernon, and a visit in a body to the Presidential mansion, where, being introduced in a felicitous speech, by their Moderator, Dr. Wm. Adams, they were received with great courtesy by President Filmore, who complimented them in his happiest manner, as an " Ecclesiastical Congress of the United States," occupied the hours of Saturday, and gave opportunity for free conference on the work before them; and their unfeigned love of country, and devotion to its interests, always characteristic of the Presbyterian Church in all its history, found expression in the presentation of a block of marble, to be inserted in the monument to the memory of Washington, bearing that most fitting emblem, an open Bible, with the inscription: THE GENERAL ASSEMIBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCI-I IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN SESSION IN WASHINGTON CITY, MAY, 1852. These were pleasant incidents, occupying little time HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 67 and serving, as did the very genius of the place, to stimulate their zeal, and give them enlarged conceptions of the sublime mission of the church in this great and growing country, at once to "walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it," and take possession of it in the name of the Master. It was well understood from before the appointment of the commissioners, that the grand subject of interest in this Assembly would be the report of the special committee and the work of CHURCH EXTENSION, which that committee had in charge. Dr. Mills and his associates had prepared a detailed plan for carrying into effect the long-cherished purpose of the church. It consisted of three principal sections, which were taken up and discussed seriatimn; viz., that on Education for the Ministry, on Home Missions, and on Doctrinal Tracts. The stress of the discussion came upon the first, chiefly perhaps because it was taken up first; for they all involved substantially the same principles, and the adoption of either was felt to be a virtual committal of the Assembly to the whole policy. The discussion was able, earnest, and protracted. Two parties discovered themselves, one,- of those particularly jealous of what might in any degree impair or imperil the system of voluntary societies, to which the church had been committed from the beginning; the other making no objection to that system, but resolute to secure, at whatever cost in that direction, a more efficient method of Church Extension and Home Evangelization. Elaborate arguments were presented on the one side by Dr. Asa D. Smith, then a member of the Executive Committee of the American Home Missionary Society, and 68 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Dr. Beman, that prince of debaters, who had always been an earnest champion of the voluntary or nonecclesiastical system. These were answered by arguments, if not as elaborate, yet quite as effective, at least with those predisposed to that side of the question. In particular, the commissioners from the West were drawn out and encouraged to tell freely the story of their embarrassments under existing methods; which they did, using their rifles as practised marksmen, in pithy speeches or plain statements of facts. The debate, although eager, was eminently courteous and fraternal, and resulted in the very general conviction that something munst be done, and that quickly, if we would perform our proper part in carrying forward the Lord's work, or save ourselves from being absorbed on the one hand, or losing our very name as Presbyterian Christians on the other. At the end of three days the discussion was arrested, and the whole subject referred to a special committee. It may be of interest to recall the names of those who at this important juncture were entrusted with the responsibility of harmonizing the opinions of their brethren and recommending the new plan of operations. They stand on record as follows: " Rev. Messrs. Stephen Taylor, D.D., Nathan S. S. Beman, D.D., Philemon H. Fowler, Asa D. Smith, D.D., George A. Lyon, D.D., Samuel W. Fisher, and Robert W. Patterson; with the Hon. Messrs. William Darling, William Jessup, LL.D., and John Mason, and Messrs John Ogden and Horace Maynard." Their report was on the first section only, -that on Education for the ministry; and the two others having received several amendments in the body HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TIIE CHtTRCIt. 69 itself, the whole plan was adopted by the General Assembly with great unanimity. The leading feature of the plan, in the intention of the Assembly, was the combination of the voluntary or co-operative system, with the effective and responsible supervision by the chuclh judicatories of the work of the church. In the department of doctrinal tracts, there was no difficulty, because the field was unoccupied. A committee of nine were appointed, whose duty it should be " to superintend the publication of a series of tracts explanatory of the doctrines, government, and missionary policy of the Presbyterian Church, as the Assembly should from time to time direct." In the department of education, existing education societies, with which the presbyteries or churches might co-operate, were left undisturbed, but were requested to adopt such a plan of operation and correspondence as would make the parties concerned mnutual hfelps; and, for the West, as there was no such society there, it was recommended that one should be formed, to be called the Western Education Society, which should arrange its annual meetings to be at the same time and place as those of the Assembly, and permit the members of the Assembly, ex qfoicio, to act as members of the society. These societies were requested to furnish annual reports to the Assembly, "as far as their operations" should "relate to our church;" and the Presbyteries were to appoint standing committees to take charge of the funds collected in their churches, exercise supervision over their young men, and press the subject in all its 7 0 PRESBYTERIAlN REUNION. bearings on the attention and action of their congregations. In the department of Home Missions, "the American Home Missionary Society," say the Assembly "is hereby recommended as the agency through which, as heretofore, the work of Domestic Missions shall be done." Each presbytery was to have a standing committee on church extension, " to see that, by its own ministers or otherwise, the claims of IHome Missions should be urged upon the churches, and funds raised and paid into the treasury of the society with as little expense to it as possible; to recommend all applications for aid, and keep the amounts asked for as low as would answer the purpose." In order to avoid conflicting and irresponsible action, while the Assembly would not abridge the right of the society "to obtain all needed information in regard to applications " for aid, or "exercise its full discretion as to granting them in whole or in part," the society was requested so to arrange its system that the applications of the presbyteries for their clhusrc/es should not depend, as had recently been growing to be the custom, on the "official sanction" of the agents of the society. The synods also were to have each a church extension committee, and on them was devolved the duty of forming a plan, and devising means to aid feeble churches, either by loan or gift, in erecting houses of worship; for which object they should require of the churches to make each a yearly collection. The Assembly also was to have its standing committee, and the whole work was to come up annually, by reports, for its supervision. The most important provision of the plan in this de HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCII. 71 partment, as the case then stood, was the sixth item, viz.: "Each presbytery whose circumstances as to churches and members demand it, is recommended to appoint an itine~racnt Wmissio.nacry within its bounds for each synod, where it is best that two or more, or all of its presbyteries shall be united in this work, is recommended to appoint such a missionary, whose duty it shall be to act as a travelling evangelist after the scriptural pattern, to explore destitute fields, to prepare the way for the formation of new churches by the presbyteries, to seek for ministers to take charge of them, to assist and direct in building houses of worship in destitute places, and, in all other suitable ways, under the direction of presbyterial or synodical committees, promote the work of church extension." The object of the provision is not doubtful. The Assembly had at length awoke to its obligation, too much overlooked in times past, to superintend the developement, in all legitimate ways, of its owen brancht of the churc]h, and was determined to do it, not without regard to the claims of others, but with a vigilant and self-reliant energy. That there might be no misunderstandings in the matter, a committee of five was appointed " to confer with the executive committee of the Home Missionary Society, expressing to it the confidence of the General Assembly, and the churches it represents, and requesting its co-operation in this plan, as far as its principles will admit, and also requesting a statement of the princqiples on which its appropriations are made to the churches of the several denominations of Christians who ssupport it, and report the result to the next General Assembly." 72 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. One department, second to none in importance, both as a necessity of the work, and a bond of union to the church itself, viz., that of aiding feeble congregations in the erection of houses of worship, was not finally acted upon till the following year. The assembly of 1853, instituted a CHURCH ERECTION committee, and, following out a scheme devised and put in successful operation in Missouri, under the influence of Dr. Artemas Bullard, resolved to raise by contributions from the churches the sum of $100,000, which should constitute a permanentfund for that purpose. As a further instrument of the new plan, the assembly at Washington took measures to encourage the agency of the periodical press as sustained by the friends of the church. An arrangement, partially effected with the New York EJvangelist, and New York Presbyterian, then recently united, by which that paper should be made to subserve the interests of the denomination, received the approval of the Assembly; and the announcement of the recent establishment of a quarterly, to be called the PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, in the city of Philadelphia, and to be "under the control and superintendonce of several of the most distinguished ministers of our connection," called forth a warm expression of satisfaction, and a cordial recommendation of the enterprise. The results of this Assembly were eminently gratifying to the friends of progress. The members went home to their presbyteries and churches feeling that a new era had at length opened on their beloved church. It had now fairly taken its stand as an independent body of Presbyterian Christians. It had abandoned, at MISTORICAL REVIEW OF THM CHURCH. 73 least for the present, all thought of reunion wich the Old School, having made its last ineffectual effort, in 1849, in a proposition for friendly "correspondence," and with a solemn renewal of its declaration of " readiness to meet in a spirit of fraternal kindness and Christian love any overtures that may be made to Aus from the other body," resolved, in present circumstances, " to take no further action in the matter." In respect to the Congregational churches, while it still clung to the idea of co-operative or voluntary societies, regarding them, as they had been regarded by all parties at the beginning, simply as suitable agencies through which the chwrch nmight act, they still claimed for themselves, as they freely conceded to their brethren, the right and duty to look after their own safety and prosperity as an organized body, and superintend and carry forward their own proper portion of the work of the gospel. The church had now, to a degree never felt before, the consciousness of a nmission among the churches of Christ, and in the spirit of a sacred zeal, trusting in God, was resolved to hold on its way, and press forward in the holy rivalry of love and good works. But the way was not as clear yet, as, perhaps, some sanguine men had supposed. It is the lot of men to encounter antagonisms, and that in the best pursuits and among the most sincere brethren. When the plans of the Assembly were adopted, there seemed no doubt that they could be carried into execution with the cordial concurrence of the Home Missionary Society. They were in full accordance with the principles on which that society was founded and which had been repeated again and again in its official documents. In 74 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. its earliest communications to the Christian public, it had invited ecclesiastical bodies, "presbyteries, and synods," to become its auxiliaries, and pledged itself, in the most explicit manner, not to interfere in the slightest degree with their denominational preferences or their denominational work. "It had no desire," it said, "did it possess the power, to assume the control of missionary effort on the field, any further than it should be conceded by the confidence of the public." It aimed. only " to be the servant of all in building the house of Jehovah in the length and breadth of the land." This is strong language; but the founders of the society did not mean to be misunderstood. These pledges, had they been steadily adhered to, would have secured every object which the General Assembly had in view. The rules which the society had adopted were good in the main. But they left unprovided for some objects which the Assembly thought quite indispensable to the prosperity of its churches. And how were these to be supplied? The question was asked, Cannot the society so modify its rules as to include them? This it declined to do, for reasons of which it was competent to judge. But its executive committee agreed with the Assembly's committee, that it was better, on the whole, that cases of that class should be provided for "by such local arrangements as would not divert funds from the Home Missionary Society." So far all seemed satisfactory. The Assembly's committee made a temporary arrangement with a few individuals in Philadelphia, to supply the means, and the work was commenced. But finding that arrangement not sufficiently reliable, the Assembly, at length, made a more adequate provision, -- --= — — —— --- — 1 —-- —— =-L. — 2 —-Zz- —--= — - — —- - — -: —- =- i —— =,,- —— ___-___,, —,,= —; —----- --------— —- BiiBiiiiJ,-,_-; - = —------ ~ —--— = -,-, —--— 7 I --= —= — —-- -— —lfiillllll IIIIIU1UL -_. _-;=-= —==== -; —-I —----— J -— =-_ _=. — — - — ---- - --- - -I — I O, —-= —r \1 n II S —;^- L-____ 5=_ir=_,i -CTHIRD CHCBH. PITTBUR.GH, PB. HIISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 75 by the establishment, in 1855, of its CHURCH EXTENSION COMMITTEE. The functions of this committee were strictly limited. It was not to be in " an Ecclesiastical Board," or "to interfere with the proper functions of the Home Missionary Society; " but only to provide for those exceptional cases which, being important to be met, could not well be included under the society's general rules. The committee, in their Declaration of Principles, on which they proposed to govern themselves, and which were afterwards sanctioned by the Assembly, are careful to say: " We have no wish to divert funds from the Home Missionary Society. On the contrary, we hope and expect that this supplementary agency, by increasing light, will tend, both directly and indirectly, to enhance the receipts of the society. We feel quite sure, that the ends of our appointment will be most fully accomplished by preserving, if possible, unharmed, the holy ties of fraternal love and confidence which have so long united us and our Congregational brethren, in furthering, at home and all over the earth, the kingdom of our blessed Lord." But times had changed, and were changing rapidly; and what would once have been regarded as a matter of mutual congratulation was now looked upon with distrust or severely censured. For several years there had been a growing jealousy between the two denominations co-operating in the society, especially at the West. It was gradually infecting public opinion at the East, and was industriously fomented by a portion of the eastern press. The correspondence between the Assembly and some of the Congregational bodies had 76 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. begun to be disturbed by it. The plan of union abrogated by the Old School, in 1837, as subversive of Presbyterianism, had been abolished by the convention at Albany, in 1852, as injurious to Congregational interests. Congregationalism, once contented with its New England home, and regarding New School Presbyterianism as its best representative in other parts of the country, had now, as it had a perfect right to do, entrenched itself at the commercial centre, and was spreading itself as a distinct denomination over all parts of the Western field. The competition was sharp. And the question of slavery, in this, as in everything else, took its share as a disturbing element. In these circumstances, the society, or rather its executive committee, allowed themselves to be drawn into the controversy. Their position was no doubt a difficult one. They made it worse by undertaking to arbitrate between two great rival denominations, and assuming to control the policy, at least, of one of them. In various quarters, in the Congregational ranks, the action of the General Assembly, in the establishment of its 0Church Exten8sion CUommittee, was denounced as an unfair and unfriendly attempt to gain denominational advantage. The society took up the contest, and proceeded to execute, according to its own discretion, rules, excluding from the benefit of the common fund, to which the Presbyterian church largely contributed, both missionaries and churches who did not themselves, or who belonged to ecclesiastical bodies who did not "contribute to the funds of the society, according to the full measure of their' ability; " that is, as the practice under those rules showed who did not make the society their HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 77 exclusive agent in Home Missionary work. All the churches of one presbytery were excluded because one prominent church in that presbytery gave its collections to a feeble church at its side; and those of another, because the presbytery, as such, employed a considerable portion of its contributions, as it had always done, in sustaining its own itinerant missionary. Congregational bodies, it is true, took the same liberties. But then, as they were only voluntary associations, individual churches were not held responsible for their action. The adoption of this policy, as might naturally have been expected, called forth loud remonstrances. By impairing confidence in the impartiality of the society, it did no doubt divert funds from its treasury. It increased rapidly the work of the Church Extension Committee, and made it necessary for the Assembly to enlarge its functions. To aggravate the growing difficulty, the society claimed to sit in judgment on the position of the churches, in regard to the vexed question of slavery, and to determine, as a condition of aid, whether or not the decisions of the Assembly on that subject were satisfactorily carried into execution. It was in this posture of affairs that the Assembly came together at Wilmington, in the year 1857, and the complaints were urgent. It was plain that some decisive action must be taken. The society, from being, as it declared itself at the beginning, "the servant of all," was becoming, unconsciously perhaps, and by the force of circumstances, the master of all. The Assembly could not submit to the new policy without sacrificing its own independence, and allowing an irresponsible body, com 78 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. posed of different denominations, to interfere, both with its policy and its ecclesiastical discipline. That it might not act without a full understanding of the case, a commission was raised with directions to ascertain, by a thorough investigation, the facts in the case, and to procure such other information as may be in their power, relating to the history of our connection with the work of Home Missions, and our present relations to it; also, to learn the principles and modes of administration of the American Home Missionary Society over the entire field of its operations, and to submit the whole, well authenticated, to the next General Assembly. In pursuance of the object of their appointment, the commission during the year, made a thorough examination of the historical documents, compiled from the publications of the society a careful estimate of contributions and benefactions, instituted an extensive correspondence, conferred in writing with the executive committee of the society, and prepared an extended report which they presented to the General Assembly convened at Pittsburg, in 1860. It was now clear that a separation must take place. The Assembly came reluctantly to the conclusion. The churches had been warmly attached to the society. In the whole system of voluntary societies, there were none which they regarded as so emphatically their own. It was founded chiefly by Presbyterians, and sustained by them several years before their Congregational brethren came into it. They had important interests, moral and. pecuniary, involved in it. And if part they must, they desired earnestly to part amicably and with a fair ad HISTORICAL REV ITEW OF TIr CIHURCI. 79 justment of all mutual claims. To accomplish, if possi. ble, this object, the Assembly made one more effort at conference; and, since the society held no meetings, except once a year, and those but formal ones and with out an adequate representation, it resorted to the appointment of a committee, with instructions to invite the appointment of corresponding committees by the associations with which the Assembly was in correspondence, to confer with reference to the adjustment of their and our mutual relations with the society, and, if a separation should be found necessary, to agree upon equitable terms. This proposition was declined. Most of the associations declared their approval of the offensivd acts of the society and saw no good to be expected from negotiations. The next year the Assembly withdrew, leaving be hind all the interests of its churches in an institution which they had done so much to build up; leaving also, for the sole benefit of the sister denomination, all the unexpended funds and legacies, some of which were large, of Presbyterian contributors. The committee of conference, in accordance with the duty assigned them by the Assembly, "to recommend to that body such plans and measures pertaining to the Home Missionary work, as they may deem wise and necessary," presented a constitution, carefully drawn up, in the adoption of which the Assembly resolved, that "the General Assembly, in accordance with the obvious indications of providence, and agreeably to the constitution of the church (Form of Gov. xviii.), assumes the responsibility of conducting the work of Home Missions within its bounds." To this end, the Assembly hereby insti 80 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tutes a permanent committee, to be known as the PeESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF HOIME MISSIONS. The Church Extension Committee, of which the lamented Dr. Wallace was the indefatigable secretary, discharged its difficult and responsible trust, during the six years of its continuance, with eminent wisdom and fidelity, and with perfect good faith to all parties. In all that time it never had a divided vote, and to its agency it is largely clue that the church, in that critical period, was not only preserved from disintegration, but advanced in prosperity and usefulness. This was the only serious collision which the New School ever had with their Congregational brethren. Some misunderstandings threatened at one time to disturb their relations with the American Board. But the prompt and fraternal manner in which the Board met the case in their action at Newark, in 1856, and again at Philadelphia, in 1859, quelled at once the rising discontent; and from that time the harmonious co-operation of the two parties in that most beneficent institution, has continued unabated to this hour. We have had occasion to glance more than once at the question of slavery. The relations of the New School Church to that subject demand a much fuller consideration than the limits of this chapter will allow. Probably no denomination of Christians in the land has devoted a larger, if so large a portion of its time and strength to the discussion of it. It finds a record in the minutes of almost every Assembly, from the organization of the separate body till the providence of God, forcing on the issue, took it out of the range of deliberation. In 1846, nearly the whole time was con HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 81 sumed with it. The roll was called, alternating be. tween the top and the bottom, to give every member, northern or southern, conservative or radical, a full and equal opportunity to express his opinions. At the close, resolutions were adopted by a large majority, -92 to 29, - declaring " the system as it exists in the United States, viewed either in the laws of the several states which sanction it, or in its actual operation and results in society, an intrinsically unrighteous and oppressive system, and opposed to the principles of the law of God, the precepts of the Gospel, and the best interests of humanity." The Assembly of 1849, in a paper occupying four pages of the minutes, recites the action of former Assemblies, and, while deprecating all harsh and indiscriminate judgments, exhorts all under its care to do their utmost, and "make all necessary sacrifices to remove this foul blot on our holy religion," and specifies certain evils incident to the system, as the buying and selling of slaves by way of traffic, and the separation of families, as " evils which should be corrected by discipline." The Assembly of 1850, after another long discussion running through nearly a week, adopted by a majority of 87 to 16 the article known, from the place of meeting, as "the Detroit resolution:" That "the holding of our fellow-men in the condition of slavery, except in those cases where it is unavoidable by the laws of the state, the obligations of guardianship, or the demands of humanity, is an offence in the proper import of that term, as used in the Book of Discipline, chap. i. sec. 3, and should be regarded and treated as other offences." The Assembly of 1853 reaffirms the Detroit resolution, exhorts to ".patience and fraternal confidence 6 82 - PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. towards brethren who are subject to embarrassments from which we are happily free," and in order to cor. rect misapprehensions, and allay irritations by a knowledge of the real facts, requests the presbyteries in the slave-holding states, to lay before the next general Assembly distinct statements respecting the number of slaves and slave-holders in the churches, how far they are included in the excepted cases of the Detroit resolution, and what regard is paid to the parental and conjugal relations and the religious needs, privileges, and well-being of the enslaved. To this request there were urgent protests: it was pronounced unconstitutional and offensive, and was never complied with. In 1856, both the Assemblies met in the city of New York, and were numerously attended. The question came up on the report of a committee on the constitutional powers of the General Assembly. It was ably debated; and the southern brethren by general consent occupied a large proportion of the time. They put a special construction of their own on the Detroit resolution, frankly acknowledged that the views of the South, their own among the rest, had materially changed in regard to the alleged evil of slavery, and did not hesitate openly to avow that they now accepted the system of slavery. The report of the committee, which was a guarded one, and carefully limited the constitutional powers of the Assembly, was adopted, and the report of the minority, a document covering eight pages, contrary to the custom, was, at the request of the southern members, printed side by side with it in the minutes. The Assembly of 1857 found itself in a new posture of affairs. Developments had been made during the HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 83 year, which seemed to call for the most explicit declarations. The Presbytery of Lexington, Ky., gave official notice, that a number of its ministers and ruling elders held slaves from pprinci29le and of choice, believing it to be, according to the Bible, righy; and that they, without qualification, assumed, the responsibility of sustaining them in so doing." This position, the Assembly felt itself called upon pointedly to condemn, and while still expressing "a tender sympathy for those who deplore the evil and are honestly doing all in their power for the present well-being of their slaves, and for their complete emancipation, declared emphatically, "Such doctrines and practices cao, nnot permanently be tolerated in the Pr~esbyterian Chuarch." The question had now reached its final issue. The Assembly, planting itself upon the well-defined principles of the Presbyterian Church from the beginning hitherto, had only to abide the result. The southern synods, determined to stand or fall by the new doctrines, immediately withdrew from the body, and formed themselves into a separate body called the UNITED SYNOD OF TIHE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. In all this procedure, two things mark the conduct of the Assembly; viz., a firm and explicit condemnation of the whole system of slavery, on the one hand, and a considerate and charitable regard for the circumstances of' those connected with it, on the other. Its action was, all the way, decisive and yet conservative, resolute to destroy the tares, yet tenderly careful not to root up the wheat with them. The New School Presbyterian Church had now gone through its last conflict, and, deeply as it regretted the 84 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. loss of so many valued brethren, perceiving that there was no alternative, acquiesced cheerfully, and felt itself only the stronger for its diminished numbers. The terrible struggle through which the country was about to pass, and by which other bodies were so sorely agitated, found them a unit. Their views in respect to it, were outspoken and unanimous; their position was unambiguous and well understood; and it is no disparagement to any others, to say that, in respect to loyalty to the government, and readiness to make any sacrifices for the salvation of the country in the time of need, none were more prompt and earnest, whether in the Assembly or the pulpit, in the social circle or on the field of battle. All their church judicatories spoke one voice, and all their pulpits rang out clear and strong, the obligations and incitements of CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM. On this point, the General Assembly led the way, and set the example. At the meeting in Syracuse, in 1861, just after the commenencement of the war, "the absorbing topic that is pressing upon the heart of the whole country," says the PqresbyteriaAn Qua/rteq ly Revsiew, " it now appeared was the first to occupy the Assembly." Meetings for prayer, and discussion on the state of the country, were held on three successive evenings, and " the deepest enthusiasm was manifested." A carefully prepared paper was adopted, in which, after stating the main facts of the rebellion, and citing the patriotic words of the old Synod of New York and Philadelphia, at the opening of the war of the Revolution, in 1775, the Assembly declared: "We should be recreant to our high trust, were we to withhold an earnest pro. test against all such unlawful and treasonable acts:" and, in pursuance of this declaration, - HIISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 83 "Resolved, 3. That inasmuch as we believe, according to our Form of Government, that God, the Supreme Judge and King of all the world, has ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good, and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil-doers, there is, in the judgment of the Assembly, no blood or treasuzre too precious to be devoted to the defence and _perpetuity of the governmnent in all its constitutioncl authority." The Assembly at Cincinnati, in 1862, again referring to the same explicit words of our Form of Government, condemning the rebellion, approving the war as just and necessary, expressing great confidence in the President and his cabinet, the commanders of the army and navy, the soldiers, etc., and recording the opinion, that, "This whole insurrectionary movement can be traced to one primordial root, and one only - African slavery and the love of it, and the determination to make it perpetual:" "Resolved, 7. That we here, in deep humility for OU1 sins and the sins of our nation, and in heartfelt devo. tion, lay ourselves, with all we are and have, on the altar of God and our country; and we hesitate not to pledge the churches and all Christian people under our care, as ready to join with us in the same fervent sympathies, and united prayers, that our rulers in the cabinet, and our commanders in the field and on the waters, and the brave men under their leadership, may take courage under the assurance that the PRESBYTERPIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES are with t7them wvith heart and 86 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. hand, in life and death, in this fearful exist-ina contest!" A copy of the resolutions was sent to the Pres ident, accompanied by a letter expressing "in a more personal manner, the sentiments of the church in reference to himself, and the great issues with which he was called to deal." "Since the day of your inauguration," they say, "the thousands of our membership have followed you with unceasing prayer, beseeching the throne of grace in your behalf." "In our great church courts, in our lesser judicatures, in our weekly assemblages, in the house of God, at our family altars, in the inner place of prayer, you have been the burden of our petitions." "We give praise not to man, but to God. In your firmness, your integrity, challenging the admiration even of your enemies, your moderation, your wisdom, the timeliness of your acts exhibited at critical junctures, your paternal words, so eminently fitting the chosen head of a great people, we recognize the hand and power of God." Expressing their "deep sympathy" with him in his great trust, and in the depth of his then recent personal bereavement, pledging him " all the support that loyal hearts can offer," referring to the sons of the church, ministers, and others, who had served, and some of them died in the common cause, and adding, in regard to the latter, "we are glad that we have given them: we gladly pledge as many more as the cause of our country may demand," it concludes thus: "We believe there is but one path before this people: this gigantic and inexpressibly wicked rebellion must be destroyed; the interests of humanity, the temple of God and his church, demand it at our hands. May God give to you his great support, preserve you, MISTORICAL REVIEW OF TI-IE CHURCH. 87 impart to you more than human wisdom, and permit you ere long, to rejoice in the deliverance of our beloved country, in peace and unity." To this warm-hearted, as well as patriotic letter, the President returned, through the Secretary of State, the following reply - "DE1PARTMENT OF STATE, June 7, 1861. To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian CBlhurch qo' the United States holding its Annual Session in the city of Cineinnati:- - "REVEREND GENTLEMEN, - I have had the honor of receiving your address to the President of the United States, and the proceedings of your venerable body on the subject of the existing insurrection, by which that address was accompanied. "These papers have been submitted to the President. I am instructed to convey to you his most profound and grateful acknowledgements, for the fervent assurances of support and sympathy which they contain. For many years hereafter, one of the greatest subjects of felicitation among good men will be, the signal success of the government of the United States in preserving our federal union, which is the ark of civil and religious liberty on this continent, and throughout the world. All the events of our generation which preceded this attempt at revolution, and all that shall happen after it, will be deemed unimportant in consideration of that one indispensable and invaluable achievement. The men of our generation whose memory will be the longest and the most honored, will be they who thought the most earnestly, prayed the most fervently, hoped. the 88 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. most confidently, fought the most heroically, and suf fered the most patiently, in the sacred cause of fieedom and humanity. The record of the action of the Pres. byterian Church, seems to the President worthy of its traditions and its aspirations, as an important branch of the church founded by the Saviour of men." " Commenling our yet distracted country to the interposition. and guardian care of the Ruler and Judge of nations, the President will persev -re, steadily and hopefully, in the great work committed to his hands, relying upon the virtue and intelligence of the people of the United States, and the candor and benevolence of all good men." " I have the honor to be, Reverend Gentlemen, " Your very obedient servant, "WILLIAM H. SEWARD." The Assembly met in Philadelphia, 1863, at a perilous crisis. The national heart had been wrung to the core by the defeats of the previous summer. The conscription was in process of enforcement, and treason and semi-treason were bold and boastful. The Assembly reaffirmed all the principles and declarations of previous assemblies on this subject, declared it to be "the religious duty of all good citizens promptly and cheerfully to sustain the government by every means in their power, and stand by it in its peril;" that "loyalty, unreserved and unconditional, to the constitutionally elected government of the United States, not as the transient passion of the hour, but as the intelligent and permanent state of the public conscience, is not only a sacred Christian obligation, but indi, pensible, if we IISTORICAL REVIEWV OF THEo CHURCH. 89 would save the nation;" that "the Proclamation of Emancipation, issued by the President," is to be recog. nized "with devout gratitude," as a fruit of the " wonder-working power of God:" and exhorted all the churches and ministers, "to stand by their country, to pray for it, to discountenance all forms of complicity with treason - having on this subject one heart and one mind; waiting hopefully on providence; patient amid delays; undaunted by reverses; persistent and untiring in effort, until, by the blessing of God, the glorious motto, One Country and Constitution, and one -Destiny, shall be enthroned as the sublime fact of the present, and the sublime harbinger of the future." A copy of the whole paper was transmitted to the President, and appointed to be read in all our pulpits. The utterances of the Assembly of 1864 were of the same tenor, reaffirming the previous action, recognizing the good hand of God in the disappointments and delays of the war, exhorting to renewed zeal, and urging all Christians to refrain from weakening the administration by "ill-timed complaints," "and from all speech and action which tend to difference." When the Assembly of 1867 met in Brooklyn, the rebellion was conquered; but the final stroke which struck down the beloved and honored chief of the nation had filled all loyal hearts with the profoundest horror. The Assembly recognized with joy and thankfulness, the divine goodness in the happy termination of the war, and added its emphatic declaration, "that in our opinion a nation like ours, whose corner-stone is equal rights, cannot permanently prosper, nor be exempt from future convulsions unless the principles of 90 ]PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. civil and religious liberty are firmly carried out and fully applied, with only just and healthful limitations, without reference to class or color, to all the people. Neither the law nor the Gospel, when rightly under. stood, will allow us to exclude from the rights and privileges of free men, those who are citizens like ourselves, many of whom have imperilled their lives in this conflict." The tribute of this Assembly to the excellences of the martyred President, will form a fitting conclusion of what we have here to say on this subject: "In his life, he struck the chains from the trembling limbs of millions, vindicated the rights of humanity, and illustrated the glory of a patriotism made strong by devout confidence in God; in his death, he touched the cords of sympathy in the heart of universal man, and won over to our holy cause, every true lover of his race, every soul in which dwells the hope of freedom." The unanimity which pervaded every Assembly dur-.:g all this period was very remarkable, and illustrates in an eminent degree, the wisdom of that freedom of discussion, and that frankness and firmness of testimony which, in all matters pertaining to the interests of the country, and the rights, as well as duties of man, had characterized their procedure from the beginning. We shall be obliged, for want of space, to pass hastily over the years of steadily increasing prosperity which succeeded these conflicts. We may say of them, in words borrowed from an earlier history, " Then had the church rest, and was edified, and, walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied." Its several departments of Qelf-developing MISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 91 and evangelizing work had now attained their full organization, and were in vigorous and hopeful opera tion. "The Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions" was organized in 1861, and has been steadily increasing in efficiency. Its receipts, the first year, were $27,244, and the number of its missionaries 195. In 1869, it had 465 missionaries and an income of $162,421. Its missionaries report 70 new churches formed during the year, 2,400 hopeful conversions, and 2,191 added to the churches on profession of their faith. The freedmen's department, organized in 1865, received and expended, during the same year, about $16,000, and reports'79 teachers employed and 20 others under appointment — all in the southern States. "The Trustees of the Church Erection Fund," appointed in 1854, were incorporated by the Legislature of the State of New York, in the year following. The original basis of their operations was the permanent fund of $100,000, raised by contributions from the churches, most of it in the year 1854, the interest to be employed in promoting the object chiefly in the way of loans. The establishment of this fund operated as a strong bond of union in the church. In the year 1866, the basis was enlarged, and an annual contribution ordered, and freer disbursements. Since that time this organization has been rapidly growing in importance, and now stands in the very first rank of the evangelizing agencies of the church. In 1869, it reports an increase of $54,996, and of churches aided about 70. The "Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry," organized in 1856, came slowly into opera. 92 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tion, moulding its plans gradually, and embarrassed by the remains of the old voluntary system. In 1869, its income amounted to $26,569, and the number of its beneficiaries to 210; viz., 63 in the theological, 102 in the collegiate, and 45 in the preparatory department. The Committee "on Doctrinal Tracts," organized in 1852, has become the "Presbyterian Publication Committee." In 1869, its income from all sources was $66,214, of which $6,851 was expended in its purely benevolent work. " The Trustees of the Presbyterian House " located in Philadelphia and incorporated by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, hold for the uses of the church a valuable property, purchased chiefly by donations made by individuals in the city of Philadelphia, now estimated to be worth more than one hundred thousand dollars. Under their charge has been placed the Ministerial Relief Fund, managfed by an executive committee, which commenced its operations in 1864. In 1869, they report $13,465 received froml ordinary sources, and $8,200 a special donation towards a permanent fund; also 29 disabled ministers aided, 33 widows, and 4 families of orphans. The average age of the ministers was 76 years, and of their ministry 40 years. The Assembly has also a Permanent Committee on Foreign Missions whose functions are not the raising and distributing of funds or the conducting of missions, but the supervising of our part of the work and reporting the results to the Assembly. From their report, in 1869, it appears that our contributions for that year to the American Board were, in money, about $93,643, and in laborers, 71; viz., 52 male and 19 female mission. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 93 aries. In 1868 the contributions were $110,602; in 1867, $110,725. The literary and theological institutions with which the New School Church has been connected, are independent in their control and management, though in perfect harmony with it, for the most part, in their views and aims. It was no part of its original policy, even where it had a controlling influence, to establish an organic connection. Marysville College, in East Tennessee, was founded in 1819. It had a theological department, and, of its graduates, 120 have found their way into the ministry. Its work was suspended during the war, but resumed in 1866. Efforts are now in progress for its endowment, towards which $65,000 have been pledged. Of Hamilton College, President Brown remarks: " The relations of the college to the Presbyterian Church are very intimate. It is under no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and is liberal in its general policy, but the large majority of its trustees, officers, and students are connected with that church. It is prosperous and growing, and during the period of the separation has graduated 923 pupils, and added $300,000 to its property." That eminent benefactor of the church, John C. Baldwin, recently deceased, has made the college one of four, his residuary legatees. In the valley of the Mississippi, where the New School at the time of the disruption found its chief field of labor and promise, there is a cluster of colleges, some of which were then in their infancy, and others sprang into being soon after, - Western Reserve, Marietta, Illinois, Wabash, Knox, and Beloit. They were founded, 94 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. for the most part, by Presbyterians, and sustained largely by New England liberality. In these, Presbyterians and Congregationalists have a joint interest, though some have come to lean chiefly to the one denomination, and some to the other. In a most critical period of their history, they were sustained, if not saved from utter extinction, by the timely aid of that unpretending, but most useful, organization, " The Society for promoting Collegiate and Theological Education at the West." Its indefatigable secretary, the Rev. Theron Baldwin, D.D., a man as noble, energetic, and far-seeing as he was unassuming and modest, -a Presbyterian at the beginning, a Congregationalist afterwards, a sectarian never, - was for more than a quarter of a century the life and soul of the institution; and the cause of Christian learning in our land (especially at the West), which now joins his many personal friends in their sorrows over his new-made grave, will hold his stainless memory in devout admiration as long as such learning retains a place in the hearts of American Christians. Illinois, Knox, and Beloit are now chiefly Congregational; though they have been largely patronized by Presbyterians and done them much valuable service. Western Reserve was founded in 1826, and was regarded with special interest by the New School Church in its early struggles, for the theological department attached to it. President Hitchcock says of the college, in 1868: " Its number of alumni is 319. Of these, more than one-third are ministers of the gospel." Among them are not a.few Home and Foreign Missionaries. Wabash College was founded in 1832. " On the 23d of November," says President Tuttle, "five ministers IHSTORICAL REVIEW OF TIE CHURCH. 95 and three laymen met, and counselled, and prayed, and resolved to go forward." " They selected the spot, drove a stake to mark it, and all kneeled down in the snow, and consecrated the proposed enterprise to God." Its alumni, in 1868 were 199. It has seen hard times, but is now free from debt, has a permanent endowment of $105,000, a library of 10,000 volumes, and several thousands of acres of wild lands, on which to found golden expectations. This college is another of the residuary legatees named in the will of the late Mr. John C. Baldwin. Marietta College graduated its first class in 1838. The history of its struggles and triumphs is much like that of the other two. Its graduates number 298, of. whom 115 are devoted to the ministry. During twentyfive years, the West has raised for its use $150,000. Its property now amounts to $180,000. Lake Forest has as yet no organized collegiate department, but the Preparatpry department and Female seminary are well established and prosperous; and the property and funds may be safely valued at from $250,000 to $300,000. It is " wholly under Presbyterian control." There is also the beginning of a college enterprise in Iowa, for which there is a property of perhaps $50,000 in value. Of the Theological Seminaries, Auburn is the oldest. It was founded in 1819; it has a professorship fund of $125,000, an education fund of $65,000, a small library fund, and a library of 8,000 volumes. The corner-stone' of a new library building has just been laid, to be erected through the munificence of Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, and Hon. E. B. Morgan. Its graduates number 96 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. not far from 950, of whom 550 were graduated since 1838. Lane Seminary went into full operation as a theological institution, in 1832. The history of its early hopes, embarrassments, struggles, disappointments, and successes, is one of uncommon interest. Some of the ablest names in the church are to be found in the catalogue of its faculty. The receipts in 1869, were $27,041. During the separation, there has been contributed to its funds about $120,000. The whole number of its graduates is 481. Union Theological Seminary is the youngest of the three. It was organized in 1836, and was incorporated by the Legislature of the State of New York, March 17, 1839. The design of the founders as expressed in the constitution, was "to provide a Theological Seminary in the midst of the greatest and most growing community, which may commend itself to all men of moderate views who desire to live free from party strife, and to stand aloof from all extremes of doctrine or of practice." Every director on entering upon his office, and every melmber of the faculty, triennally, or as often as required by the board, must declare his approval of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the Presbyterian form of church government, and promise to maintain them in the discharge of the duties of his office. The institution has been eminently prosperous, its property exceeds half a million, and measures are already in operation for securing for it half a million more. It has a library of great value, containing about 35,000 volumes. Its graduates number 853, among whom are a very large proportion of Domestic and Foreign Mission. HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 97 aries. The Seminary is not under ecclesiastical control, but is, in a measure, under the supervision of the two nearest synods, who appoint annually a committee to attend the examinations and report. The beginning of a Theological School for the education of ministers for the GERMANS, in which instruction is to be given both in German and English, has been made, during the past year, at Newark, N.J., with encouraging success. The periodical literature of the New School church deserves honorable mention. Besides other local papers, the American Presbyterian, at Philadelphia, has shown a warm zeal for its interests, and the New York Evangelist has done it excellent service. Much credit is due to the EPresbytery Reporter, a monthly published at Alton, Ill., now in its eighth volume, for the ability and faithfulness with which it has watched over the interests of the church in the North-west. During the ten critical years, from 1852 to 1862, the PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, ably conducted by an association of ministers in Philadelphia, defended its cause and was an honor to its Christian intelligence. The AMERICAN THIEOLOGICAL REVIEW, founded in 1859, on a basis not distinctly denominational, and united with the Presbyteroian Reviews in 1863, combining the names and objects of both, has, under the charge of Prof. H. B. Smith, its editor from the beginning, assumed and secured a place second to none in the land. The general statistical results of the thirty years of the separate existence of the church, will be given in the appendix, by a more accurate and practised hand. It need only be said here, that with some vicissitudes, 7 98 PRIESBYTERIAN R:EUNION. the body has made steady progress both in strength and numbers. The sifting process referred to in the early period, and the retirement from it of the southern synods in 1857, greatly reduced its numbers, but they were soon replenished; and whereas, in 1843, there were but 94 Presbyteries, 1,263 ministers, and 1,496 churches, in 1869, there were 113 Presbyteries, 1,848 ministers, and 1,631 churches. It would be instructive could we trace its fortunes in its local developments, in cities and towns and in the new territories of an advancing country. In some places the progress has been cheering, in others slow and embarrassed. For example, in Cincinnati and St. Louis, neither branch of the church has gained much during the whole period, owing partly, it is believed, to mutual jealousies. In Chicago, since the year 1842, the advance has been rapid. Whereas, then, there was but one church, and that in an uncertain condition, now there are in the city, or closely connected with it, fifteen, and they are all flourishing. In Missouri, under the energetic influence of Dr. Artemas Bullard and his associates, the growth was rapid till about 1856; then, owing to the growing influence of slavery, the decline was constant till the war began and everything was thrown into confusion. Since the war, New School men have met a hearty welcome in the regenerated State, and now it shows a larger roll of ministers, churches, and members than ever before. Somewhat similar has been the case of East Tennessee, where we have now 38 churches and an encouraging opening for the future. In Kansas, not much was accomplished till 1838, when a band of eight young men from one class in Union Seminary, entered ilISTORICAL REVIEW OF TiE CHItUECH. 99 the State, and the success was signal. In October of that year, ten young men were ordained at the same meeting of presbytery, and now we have a Synod of Kansas with three presbyteries, thirty-one ministers, and forty-one churches; and the work of exploration, organization, and church erection is going rapidly forward. The position of the New School Church towards the Reunion requires but a word here, as that will be the subject of another chapter. Suffice it to say, that position has been throughout frank, cordial, and remarkably unanimous. The ill success of their early efforts seemed to forbid their again taking the initiative; and, on strictly denominational grounds, they had no desire to contract new relations. After many discouragements and long str;lggles they had won a place among the branches of the church of Christ, in their own esteem inferior to none. Their organization for church work was completed, and seemed, from experience, to have some special advantages. They understood each other perfectly, and were happy with each other. They loved their own church, and the name NEW SCHOOL had come to have very pleasant and inspiring associations. They shrunk from breaking up old ties and forming new ones, which might, for aught they knew, lead to new complications. But they looked to the common interest of the Presbyterian cause and especially of the cause of Christ, and had no hesitation. It may be confidently affirmed that, among all the parties now brought together in the happy union of which this volume is a memorial, none worked harder or prayed more fervently, or were more willing to make 10( PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. every reasonable sacrifice, to bring about the blessed consummation. As to the BASIS on which the Reunion stands, the members of the now historical New School Church have nothing more to desire. "The standards pure and simple" have ever been their preferred standards. When they stood alone, in the days when suspicion was thrown by some upon their orthodoxy, their General Assembly, again and again, enjoined upon their churches "the faithful use of the Westminster Catechism, in the instruction of the young." If any ask for a more explicit exposition of the particular _phase of Calvinistic doctrine which should be distinguished as "N3Ew SCHOOL TrEOLOGY," they will find none so likely to be accepted as such, by the larger n-umber, as that first drawn up by Dr. Baxter Dickinson, and afterwards formally adopted, under the title of "Errors and True Doctrine," by the convention at Auburn, in 1837, of which Dr. James Richards, of Auburn was the President, and nearly two hundred ministers and laymen, the very flower of the New School body, were the members. But, in truth, there is no such phase of theology, which either the body as a whole, or its theological seminaries would agree to distinguish by that name. I They take the standards of the Presbyterian Church just as they are - the Bible as " the only infallible rule of faith and practice," and the Confession of Faith " as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures." Further than that, they give, and claim from others no pledlges, - they give and take reasonable liberty. The task assigned to the writer of this chapter is now finished. It has been a pleasant task, though a HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CHURCH. 101laborious and painstaking one. As he has gone from page to page of the annals, covering a period of more than thirty years, memories both sad and animating have, in turn, taken possession of his thoughts. The New School Presbyterian Church need not be ashamed of its history. Noble men and noble deeds stud the line of its fortunes. It has met frankly and earnestly every question of the day, as affecting the moral and religious interests of man and the cause of Christ, and pronounced judgments and assumed positions which it has no occasion to retract. It has grappled with difficulties before which any but resolute, courageous, and believing men would have succumbed. It has risen above them. The conviction is deepened, as we examine its records, that we have here a band of true, trusty, intelligent, well-grounded, liberal Presbyterian Christians, —men who can re-examine and test, over and over, the foundations of their faith, and stand only the more strongly and squarely upon them; eminently catholic towards all Christian denominations, eminently loyal to their own chosen standard. The contribution which they now bring to the United Presybterian Church, in strength, wisdom, activity, and resources, is one worthy of its acceptance. They will stand by it, as they have hitherto stood by their own particular branch of it, in the spirit of a true self-devotion, and a firm, courageous trust in the divine promises. And now the long and troubled drama of New and Old School is at length finished. The seal is on the past, and the future, with its responsibilities, opens before us. And now, forgetting the things that are behind, all the grudges, all the alienations and rivalries 102 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. of the past, and reaching forth to those things which are before, what have we, but to press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? The church expects of us,- the world with all its sorrows and sins, well aware that the true church is by its vocation the salt of the earth and the light of the world, expects of us, - more than all, the Master himself expects, - that we, thus favored in the happy healing of our long-broken unity, should now unite our force in one harmonious, resolute, persevering effort for the salvation of our race and the spread of the benign principles of our HOLY RELIGION. "uc,, xi: MN~~~~~~~~~ T~~~ 4111",-i- ~ i ~' CHAPTER THIRD. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D.D., L.L.D. Prefatory Note.- Ashbel Green, D.D. LL.D. - Archibald Alexander, D.D.James W. Alexander,.D.D - Joseph Addison Alexander, D.D. - Samuel Miller. D.D. - Eliphalet Nott, D.D., LL. D.- William Neill, D.D. - John McDowell, D.D. — William McDowell, D.D. - George Junkin, D. D., LL.D. - Joseph Smith, D.D. - William W. Phillips, D.D. - Joseph H. Jones, D.D. — William M. Engles, D.D. — John N. Campbell, D.D. -George Potts, D.D. - Nicholas Murray, D.D. - John M. Krebs, D.D. - Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, D.D. - Phineas D. Gurley, D.D. PREFATORY NOTE. I HAVE been requested to write sketches of Old School Presbyterian ministers, who have died during the period of the separation of the church, sufficient to occupy a very limited portion of this volume. In looking over the list of those who may be considered representative ministers, who have died within these thirty-three years, I am bound to say that there is double the number that I have selected, who are just as fairly entitled to a commemorative notice, as most of those whom I have made the subjects of it. As it was impossible, however, to include them al within the specified limits, while I have taken care to include none whom the voice of the whole Church would not pronounce worthy of being thus distinguished, I have made the selection not without some reference to the comparative facility with which the material for different sketches could be obtained. Those who do not find in the series, some honored and beloved names which they look for, may rest assured that the omission has been occasioned by the circumstances I have mentioned, and not by the want of due appreciation of the individuals concerned. —W. B. S. ASHBEL GREEN, D.D., LL.D. TimE father of ASHBEL GREEN was the Rev. Jacob Green, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hanover, N.J., and his mother was a daughter of the Rev. John (103) 104 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Pierson, of Woodbridge, N.J., and granddaughter of the first President of Yale College. He (the son) was born at Hanover, on the 6th of July, 1762. At a very early age, under the influence of his father's loyalty, he enlisted in defence of his country's liberties; and in one instance at least, at the attack on Elizabethtown Point, his life was in imminent jeopardy. In consequence of the associations into which he was brought, during the period of the Revolution, he became doubtful in respect to the Divine authority of the Scriptures; but he determined not to surrender his faith without a diligent and impartial examination. The result of such an examination was a full conviction that the Bible is the word of God; and that conviction he followed out, shortly after, by entering, with great strength of purpose, upon the religious life. His aspirations for a collegiate education were early manifested, and his preparation for college was begun and completed under the instruction of his father. He entered the junior class in the College of New Jersey, in the spring of 1782, and graduated the next year, the Valedictory Orator of his class, General Washington being present at the Commencement. He was appointed to a tutorship in the college, immediately after his graduation; and, having held that office for two years, was advanced to the chair of Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, in which he continued till 1787. In connection with his collegiate duties, he prosecuted the study of Theology, under the direction of Dr. Witherspoon, then President of the college, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, in February, 1786. Shortly BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 105 after his licensure, he was invited to become the pastor of the Independent Church in Charleston, S.C., and at a little later period received a similar invitation from the Second Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The latter invitation he accepted, and was installed in May, 1787, as colleague pastor with the Rev. Dr. Sproat. The same year he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 1791, iMr. Green, for the benefit of his health, journeyed into New England as far as Portsmouth, N. H., mingling in many interesting scenes, and forming many valuable acquaintances. In 1792, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the University of Pennsylvania, when he had been but six years a licensed preacher; and the same year he was elected Chaplain to Congress, an office which he held during eight successive years. In 1793, during the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, he left the city, with a view to visit his son in Princeton, who, he had heard, was seriously ill; and, while he was absent, his venerable colleague fell a victim to the raging malady. In the course of the next winter, the Second and Third Presbyterian churches, of Philadelphia, united in securing the services of the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) John N.. Abeel, with the understanding that the two churches should jointly share his labors. He was, accordingly, installed as colleague pastor with Dr. Green; but, though there was perfect harmony between the two pastors, the union did not result favorably, and was dissolved in 1795, when Dr. Abeel removed to New York. 106 PRESBYTERIAN REUKION. In 1799, the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) Jacob J. Jane. way, became associated with Dr. Green in the pastoral office, and the relation continued, a source of mutual comfort and blessing, until the removal of the latter to another field. In 1799, he suffered a severe chronic rheumatism, the effect of which was great mental depression, unfitting him, in a measure, for his public duties. In the hope of obtaining the desired relief, he visited the Warm and Sweet Springs of Virginia, and in the course of his journey, made the acquaintance of some of the most distinguished men in that part of the country. Though the journey proved physically salutary, it did not avail to the restoration of his spirits; and it was nearly two years before his faculties were all in their full operation. After the burning of the edifice of the College of New Jersey, in March 1802, Dr. Smith, the President of the college, was requested, by the trustees, to visit South Carolina, to solicit aid in repairing the loss which had been sustained. This he actually did; and the oversight of the college, meanwhile, was commnitted to Dr. Green, who discharged the various duties, thus devolved upon him, with great fidelity and dignity. In 1809 was formed in Philadelphia the first Bible Society in the United States. An Address to the public, setting forth the design and importance of the institution, was written by Dr. Green, and did much to prepare the way for other institutions of a similar nature. Dr. Green succeeded Bishop White, as the president of that society, and held the office till the close of his life. In 1810, a resolution to establish a Theological Semi BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 107 nary was adopted by the General Assembly, and Dr. Green was appointed chairman of the committee to draft a constitution; and, in the discharge of this duty, he produced a document that has had an immensely important bearing on the interests of the Church. When the Board of Birectors for the seminary was appointed, in 1812, they elected Dr. Green as their president, and this office also he retained as long as he lived, rendering it a channel of rich blessing to the institution. In August, 1812, he was chosen President of the College of New Jersey; and, having accepted the appointment, was released from his pastoral charge, and was introduced to his new field of labor in October following. The same year the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him, by the University of North Carolina. In 1815, an extensive revival of religion prevailed in the college, which resulted in the hopeful conversion of a large number of the students. Dr. Green labored vigorously and earnestly, in carrying forward this work; and, after the excitement had ceased, he made a long and able report of what had been passing, to the trustees, which was afterwards published, and had a wide circulation. Dr. Green continued to occupy the presidential chair till September, 1822, when he thought proper to resign his office. Though it was chiefly with a view to being relieved from the burden of care which had so long oppressed him, that he was induced to take this step, yet he passed immediately into another field of labor, where his faculties were scarcely less tasked than they had been in the preceding one. He immediately returned to Philadelphia, and became the editor of the Uhristian 108 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Advocate, a monthly periodical, and continued it till 1834. In this work first appeared his Lectures on the Assembly's Catechism, delivered at Philadelphia, both before he went to Princeton and after his return; and they were subsequently published in two duodecirno volumes. For about two years and a half he preached to the African congregation, and was always on the alert to promote the best interests of the Church by every means in his power. During several of his last years his faculties were perceptibly waning, and most of his time was spent in private devotion. While the General Assembly was in session in Philadelphia, in 1846, he unexpectedly appeared for a few minutes among them, and was met with the highest testimonies of respect and reverence. HIe died in the midst of a large circle of friends, to whom he was greatly endeared, on the 19th of May, 1848, aged nearly eightysix years. His remains were removed to Princeton, where his monument is now to be seen, amidst a cluster of illustrious names, such as is hardly to be found elsewhere. In November, 1785, about the time that he entered on his professorship, he was married to the eldest daughter of Robert Stockton, of Princeton. She died in 1807, leaving three children, -all of them sons. In October, 1809, he was married to Christiana Anderson, the eldest daughter of Colonel Alexander Anderson. She died in 1814, after a connection of a little less than four years and a half. In October, 1815, he was married (for the third time) to a daughter of Major John McCulloch, of Philadelphia.' She died, after a somewhat lingering illness, in November, 1817. His BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 109 three wives were all ladies of excellent character, who did honor to the position which they occupied. Besides the two volumes of Lectures on the Assembly's Catechism, already referred to, Dr. Green published, in 1822, an elaborate History of the College of New Jersey, in connection with a series of his Baccalaureate Discourses. He published, also, a History of Presbyterian Missions, and about twenty occasional Sermons and Addresses in pamphlet form. Dr. Green was of about the medium height, with prominent features, a dark, piercing eye, and an expression of countenance highly intellectual. His manners were dignified, sometimes approaching even to sternness, but he knew how to unbend in free and cordial intercourse. His mind was comprehensive, logical, and highly cultivated; indeed, he seemed at home in almost every accessible field of knowledge. Though he sometimes appeared distant, and may have been thought to lack the genial element, it needed only a change of circumstances to show that his heart was overflowing with kindness. As a Preacher, he was highly evangelical, lucid, impressive, while his manner had, perhaps, more of the commanding than the graceful and attractive. As the Head of a college, he commanded the utmost respect, while he was always intent on the moral as well as intellectual improvement of those committed to his care. As a minister of the Presbyterian Church, the General Assembly testified their high sense of his merits by making him their Moderator; and it may safely be said that he has left behind him a bright and enduring record. 110 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D.D. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER was a son of William Alexander, a person of great worth and respectability, and was born near Lexington, Rockbridge County, Va., on the 17th of April, 1772. While he was pursuing his studies at Liberty Hall Academy (now Washington College), in 1789, he accompanied his instructor, the Rev. William Graham, to Prince Edward, to attend a communion in the Briery congregation. This brought him into the midst of a revival of religion, of which he became, as he believed, one of the subjects. He made a public profession of his faith in the autumn of the same year, and shortly after commenced the study of theology, under the direction of Mr. Graham. He was licensed to preach, by the Lexington Presbytery, in 1791, when he was but nineteen years of age. In 1792, he was occupied in missionary labor about six months, partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina. After having served six different churches, in connection with the Rev. Drury Lacy, for some time, he took charge of the churches of Briery and Cub Creek. He was ordained at Briery, in November, 1794, and was dismissed from Cub Creek in April, 1797, and from Briery in November, 1798. In 1796, he became successor to the Rev. Drury Lacy, as President of Hampden Sydney College. The same year he went as a delegate to the General Assembly, at Philadelphia, and such was his popularity as a preacher, that the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, then vacant, invited him to become their pastor. About the year 1797, he caine to have serious doubts in respect to the divine authority of in BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 111 fant baptism, and for a year or two discontinued the administration of the ordinance to infants; but his scruples were ultimately removed, and he returned to his former practice. In 1801, he was sent a second time to the General Assembly, and accepted the appointment of delegate to the General Associations of Connecticut and New Hampshire; and, until within a few years, there were those living who heard him there, and could never forget his thrilling eloquence. On his return he preached in Baltimore, and afterwards received a call to settle there, as successor to the Rev. Dr. Allison, but declined it. In 1806, he received a second call from the Pine Street Church, Philadelphia, which, chiefly on account of his too onerous duties in connection with the college, he accepted. He was installed as pastor of that church, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in May, 1807. The same year he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly. In 1810, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the College of New Jersey. In 1812, the General Assembly having determined to establish a Theological Seminary at Princeton, Dr. Alexanderi was chosen to the Professorship of Didactic and Polemic Theology. After considerable deliberation, he accepted the appointment, and was inaugurated in August following. Here he continued in the constant and laborious discharge of his duties till near the close of life. His last illness was dysentery, and was of about a month's duration. In the prospect of his departure, he was lifted above all doubt and fear, and had the fullest confidence that the change before him would be a blessed one. He died on the 22d of October, 1851. 112 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. The Synod of New Jersey, which was in session at Princeton at the time, attended his funeral on the 24th, and a sermon was preached on the occasion by the Rev. Dr. John McDowell. Dr. Alexander was married in April, 1802, to Janetta, daughter of the Rev. James Waddel, D.D., of the county of Louisa, Va. Mrs. Alexander died in September, 1852. They had seven children, who survived them, - six sons and one daughter. Of the sons, three became ministers of the gospel, two lawyers, and one a physician. Besides numerous Tracts and Sermons in pamphlet form, Dr. Alexander published the following: A Brief Outline of the Evidences of the Christian Religion, 1825; The Canon of the Old and New Testament ascertained, or the Bible complete without the Apocrypha and Unwritten Traditions, 1826; A Selection of Hymns adapted to the Devotions of the Closet, the Family, and the Social Circle, and containing subjects appropriate to the monthly concerts of Prayer for the Success of Missions and Sunday Schools, 1831; The Lives of the Patriarchs, published by the American Sunday-School Union, 1835; History of Israel; Biographical Sketches of the Founders and Principal Alumni of the Log College, together with an account of the Revivals of Religion under their ministry, 1845; A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of Africa, 1846; A History of the Israelitish Nation from their Origin to their Dispersion at the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, 1852; Outlines of Moral Science, 1852. The following were issued by the Presbyterian Board of Publication: Practical Sermons, to be read in Fami BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCIHES. 113 lies and Social Meetings; Letters to the Aged; Counsels of the Aged to the Young; Universalism False and Unscriptural; A Brief Compend of Bible Truth; Divine Guidance, or the People of God led in unknown Ways; Thoughts on Religious Experience; The Way of Salvation familiarly explained in a conversation between a Father and his Children. He published also an abridgement of the Life of Richard Baxter, of Andrew Melville, and of John Knox. Dr. Alexander was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable men whose names appear in the history of the American Church. There was nothing about him, physically, that could be considered especially attractive; and yet it was impossible to scan the expression of his countenance, especially when he was engaged in animated conversation, without seeing that which betokened the workings of an extraordinary mind. His manners were characterized, first of all, by perfect simplicity; he could not, if he would, have taken on airs or made any equivocal demonstrations; no one could resist the impression that his heart was in his utterances and his actions alike. His mind, originally of the highest order, had been subjected to a most thorough discipline, so that he had full command of all his admirable powers; and whether he was called to solve some difficult problem in philosophy or morals, or to explore the depths of some darkened and bewildered spirit by the light of revelation, he always seemed ready for the exigency. As a Preacher, it may safely be said that he held the very highest rank. So thoroughly conversant was he with every part of Scripture, and such perfect command had he of thought and language, that it 114 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. was quite safe for him to preach without much premeditation, and some of his most effective sermons are said to have been wrought out almost entirely in the process of delivery; while yet his ordinary mode of preaching was to study his subject carefully beforehand, and trust to the prompting of his feelings at the moment for the language. As a Writer, his leading characteristics were perspicuity, naturalness, and adaptation. No matter how abstruse might be the subject upon which he was writing, his thoughts were always direct and clear and apposite; and he never took a step beyond the legitimate boundary of human knowledge. As a Professor in the theological seminary, he discharged every duty, not only with signal ability, but with great punctuality and fidelity. His lectures were generally written; and they were always luminous, and, to every thoughtful student, in a high degree attractive. The part which he bore in the Sunday afternoon conference, taking on the form of a familiar talk on some subject of great practical interest, was always most edifying; and every one who had listened was sure to carry away with him thoughts for both his intellectual and moral powers to digest. In his more private intercourse with the students, he was perfectly free and communicative, always ready with the most fitting word of instruction, of counsel, or, as the case might be, of admonition. In Chmuch Courts he never spoke unless there was manifest occasion; but when he did speak, he never failed to commlancl profound attention, and not unfrequently the mists which had been accumulated by a long discussion, were all swept away by a few of his direct and luminous remarks. That which formed the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 115 glory of his whole character was his deep, simple, unobtrusive piety. It was impossible to notice his movemsents in any of his relations, without perceiving that he walked closely with God. The actings of the principle of spiritual life were manifest in his whole deportment; and those who knew most of his religious habits as well as those who only witnessed his daily conduct, could bear testimony that he always seemed in communion with the fountain of all grace and purity. His death was worthy of his life, — full of peaceful and joyful anticipation. Dr. Alexander had two sons, now passed away, who were every way worthy of their parentage, and who are justly entitled to a much more extended notice than it is possible here to give them. The first is Dr. JAMrES WADDELL ALEXANDER. He was born in Louisa County, Va., on the 13th of March, 1804. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey, ill 1820, and was appointed tutor in the same institution, in 1824, but vacated the place the next year. He became a student in the Theological Semlinary at Princeton, in 1822, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, in October, 1825. In March, 1896, he preached for the first time to the church at Charlotte Court-House, Va., and was installed as its pastor, in March, 1827. He resigned his charge here at the close of 1828, and accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton, N. J., and was constituted its pastor in February, 1829. About the beginning of the year 1830, he became the editor of the B3iblical Relertory. In October, 1832, he was dismissed from the charge of his church in Trenton, and 116 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. in January following became editor of the Pfresbyter~ian, and continued to hold this place until the close of the volume for 1833. In the course of that year he left Philadelphia for Princeton, having accepted the Professorship of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres in the College of New Jersey. This office he held until 1844, when he became pastor of the Duane Street Presbyterian Church in New York. In 1849 he resigned this charge, and accepted the Professorship of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government, in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. Here he remained two years, and in 1851, accepted a call to become pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, the same with which he had been formerly connected in Duane Street, and retained this place till his death. He died of dysentery, at the Red Sweet Springs, Va. (whither he had gone for the benefit of his health), on the 31st of July, 1859. His dying utterances left no doubt that he was in communion with the Resurrection and the Life. He was married to Miss E. C. Cabell, of Virginia, and had several children, one of whom, the Rev. Henry C. Alexander, after having had charge of the same church in which his father exercised his pastorate at Charlotte Court-House, has been transferred to the Union Theological Seminary, Va., as Professor of New Testament Greek. Dr. J. W. Alexander was a voluminous writer. Besides numerous contributions to periodicals, he published the American Mechanic and Workingman; Gift to the Afflicted; Geography of the Bible; Thoughts on Family Worship; Consolation, or Discourses to the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 117 Suffering Children of God; Life of Archibald Alexan. der, D.D.; Plain Words to Young Communicants; and upwards of thirty volumes for children, published by the American Sunday School Union. Since his death, there have been published several volumes of his Sermons, together with Forty Years' Correspondence with Dr. Hall of Trenton. Dr. James W. Alexander was undoubtedly one of the most gifted and accomplished men of his day. His faculties were developed in great harmony, forming a character at once attractive and efficient. In the pulpit he was regarded as a model of simplicity, while he was not less distinguished for original thought and evangelical earnestness. A bold and steady adherent to the great truths of the Gospel, he could overlook minor differences, and welcome in cordial Christian fellowship all in whom an enlarged charity could recognize the Saviour's image. In his ordinary intercourse he was thoughtful and generous, and on fitting occasions could pour forth a torrent of good humor. His writings show his versatile, polished, and richly endowed mind, as well as the nobility and purity of his spirit; and they cannot but represent their author most advantageously to the coming generations. Dr. Archibald Alexander's third son, was the Rev. Dr. JosEPi-i ADDISON ALEXANDER, who has also left a splendid mark behind him. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1809; developed early a wonderful power of acquiring language; and was graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1826, with the highest honors of his class. He was elected tutor soon after his graduation, but declined the appointment, and joined with another 118 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. person in establishing the Princeton Edgehill School. He studied theology under the direction of the professors at Princeton, though he was never matriculated as a student of the Seminary. In July, 1830, he was appointed Adjunct Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature in the College of New Jersey. He accepted the appointment, and held the place until the spring of 1833, when he resigned it, and left for Europe. He spent some time at the Universities of Halle and Berlin, and returned to this country in 1834. While in Europe, he was offered the Adjunct Professorship of Oriental Languages and Literature in the Princeton Seminary; and on his return in 1834, he acted as assistant to Dr. Hodge, and in May, 1836, was elected to the Professorship of Oriental Literature, which he did not formally accept until May, 1838, although he was actually fulfilling the duties of the chair. In 1836, he was elected to the same chair in the Union Theological Seminary, New York, but declined the appointment. In 1851, he was transferred to the chair of Biblical and Ecclesiastical History; and, in 1859, at his own request, the department of Hebraistic Greek and New Testa. ment Literature was assigned to him. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by both Marshall College and Rutgers College. He died in great peace on the 27th of January, 1860. Dr. J. Addison Alexander published the following works: Commentary on Isaiah, 2 vols.; Exegetical Essays; Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles; The Psalms Translated and Explained; and Commentary on Mark. Since his death, there have been published, under the supervision of his brother, Rev. Dr. S. D. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 119 Alexander, An unfinished Commentary on Matthew; Two volumes of Sermons, and [Notes on New Testament Literature and on Ecclesiastical History. Dr. J. Addison Alexander was remarkable, not only for his extraordinary facility of acquiring language, and the great number of languages that he thoroughly mastered, but for his wonderful skill in the use of his own language, whether in the pulpit or the lectureroom. One of his fellow-professors, than whom there is no more competent judge, has expressed the opinion that he has never met with a man in this country or in Europe, who was Dr. Alexander's superior, in respect to the power of his intellect or the extent of his learning. He was not altogether without the eccentricities of genius; and though there were those with whom he could be communicative and playful, yet in other circles he would maintain an almost absolute silence. He was remarkable for his love of little children, and his efforts to gratify them; but when they had passed a certain period, they were obliged to give place in his iegards to those who came after them. All who have listened to his impressive eloquence in the pulpit, or to his profoundly critical teachings in the lecture-room, think of him with admiration. SAMUEL MILLER, D.D. SAMUEL MILLER, a son of the Rev. John and Margaret (Millington) Miller, was born at the residence of his parents, near Dover, Del., on the 31st of October, 1769. After having passed his early years at home, and been fitted for college under the instruction of his father, he became a member of the University of Pennsylvania, 120 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. where he maintained a high rank, and graduated in 1789. He entered almost immediately on the study of Theology, under the direction of his father, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Lewes, in October, 1791. After his licensure, he continued his studies, under Dr. Nisbet, President of Dickinson College, and one of the most learned theologians of his day. After declining an invitation to become his father's successor at Dover, he preached to great acceptance in the city of New York, and in the autumn of 1792, received a unanimous call from the United Presbyterian Churches in that city, to become a colleague of Dr. Rodgers and Dr. McKnight. Though the call was entirely unexpected, he accepted it, and was ordained and installed in June, 1793. His settlement in New York brought him within the immediate range of several of the ablest and most widely known ministers of the day; and yet his wellbalanced and highly cultivated mind, his bland and attractive manner, and the graceful facility with which he moved about in the different circles of social life, soon gave him a position among the most prominent of his brethren. He was invited to preach on various occasions of great public interest, and several of these discourses were printed, and attracted much attention. His sermon preached at the beginning of the present century, became the nucleus of a work, published in 1803, ill two volumes, and entitled " A Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century." This work is marked by great ability, and has commanded much attention on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1804, he was honored with the degree of Doctor BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 121 of Divinity from the University at which he graduated. In 1806, he was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. In 1811, Dr. Rodgers, who had been united with him in the pastorate nearly twenty years, was removed by death; and, two years after, his Biography, written by Dr. Miller, appeared, in an octavo volume, full of interesting details of the History of the American Presbyterian Church. In 1813, he was elected to the chair of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. This appointment he thought it his duty to accept, though, in doing so, he had to abandon a field of usefulness, which had become endeared to him by many sacred associations. - Here Dr. Miller continued, accomplishing a work of the highest interest to the Church, during the period of thirty-six years. Besides attending to his stated duties in the Seminary with great fidelity, he performed a large amount of literary labor, the results of which are now in the possession of the Church, and will form a rich legacy to posterity. After tendering the resignation of his office to the General Assembly, which was accepted with the warmest expressions of respect and gratitude, in May, 1849, his health, which had been waning for some time, became more and more feeble, until his ability for all active exertion was gone. He lingered in this condition several weeks, fully aware that the time of his departure had nearly come, but in the possession of a triumphant faith, that not only cast out all fear, but seemed to bring Heaven down to earth. He died on the 7th of January, 1850, and an appropriate commemorative dis 1 2 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. course was preached at his funeral, by his venerable colleague, the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander. Dr. Miller was married, in the autumn of 1801, to Sarah, daughter of the Hon. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, a distinguished lawyer and member of Congress, of Philadelphia. They had ten children, but only six survived him. One of his daughters was married to the Rev. Dr. John Breckinridge, and another to the Hon. John F. Hageman, of Princeton. Of the sons, two became ministers of the gospel, one a surgeon in the navy, and one a lawyer, practising in Philadelphia. Dr. Miller was one of the most voluminous writers which our Presbyterian Church has ever produced. Beside the works already mentioned, he published more than a dozen volumes on various subjects, and upwards of forty pamphlets, containing sermons and addresses. Several of his works are controversial, two of them being devoted to a vindication of Presbyterianism against the claims of Episcopacy. His controversial writings are clear, fair, earnest, and marked by uncommon ability. It has already been iitimated that Dr. Miller possessed a large measure of personal attraction. He was of about the middle size, and had a face expressive at once of high intelligence, and of all that was gentle and kindly and genial. There was a sort of graceful formality about his movements, but nothing to create reserve or embarrassment. His mind was remarkable for the admirable proportion in which its faculties existed; all acting in perfect symmetry, and therefore with great power. His heart was full of benevolence and generosity, and no one knew better than he how to render good BIOGRAPIUCAL SKETCHES. 123 for evil. His presence in the social circle was always met with a cordial welcome, and always diffused an air of. cheerfulness, while yet not a word fell from his lips that was not consistent with the dignity of a minister of the Gospel. As a Preacher, he was justly regarded as among the more eminent of his day. His sermons were written with great care, and so simple and logical in their arrangement as easily to be remembered, while yet they were uncommonly rich in evangelical truth, and were delivered with a simplicity and unction, well fitted to impress them on the mind and heart. As a Pastor, he was always ready to meet the needs of his people, and he moved about among them so kindly and tenderly, that they could almost forget that he was not a father or a brother. As a Professor in the Theological Seminary, he was always punctual in the observance of every duty, delivered luminous and well-digested lectures, treated the students with marked attention and respect, and was a model in everything pertaining to social manners and habits. As a member of Ecclesiastical Courts, he was watchful, firm, and yet condescending; he would not tolerate what he believed to be gross error, while yet he would not make a man an offender for a word. He was strongly attached to the Presbyterian Church, regarding it as more strictly conformed to the scriptural standard than any other; but he was ready to open his arms and his heart to all whom he recognized as holding the fundamental truths of the Gospel. He was an earnest and a resolute patriot, and possibly, at one time, sympathized more deeply in the political movements of the day than was most conducive to his usefulness as a Christian minister; but, during his latter 124 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. years, especially, his patriotism never took on a parti. san aspect. His life was a blessed testimony to the power of the truth, and a freewill offering to the glory of God and the great interests of humanity. ELIPHALET NOTT, D.D., LL.D. ELIPHALET NOTT, a son of Stephen and Deborah Nott, was born at Ashford, Conn., June 25th, 1773. His parents, who were persons of great moral worth, had previously lived in Saybrook, but, in consequence of the burning of their house, their circumstances became straitened, and they removed to Ashford in the hope of improving them. Having one of the best of mothers, this son began very early to be instructed in the truths of religion, and at the age of four years he had read through the Bible, and committed considerable portions of it to memory. His youthful days he passed principally in laboring with his father on the farm; but his thirst for knowledge was insatiable, and, under his mother's direction, he was constantly adding to his acquisitions from every source within his reach. He passed two winters in his youth with two of his sisters, living in different places, and spent a short time with his brother, the Rev. Samuel Nott, of Franklin. At one time he was strongly inclined to become a physician, and was actually taking the incipient steps towards the medical profession; but a severe surgical operation, at which he was present, proved an overmatch for his nervous system, and gave a different direction to his life. After the death of his mother, which occurred in October, 1788, he returned to Franklin, the residence of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHIES. 125 his brother, who had been settled there a few years in the ministry. For two or three years he worked on his brother's farm during the summer, and in the winter taught a district school, and prosecuted his studies under his brother's tuition. At sixteen, he taught a school at Portapaug, and was there two successive winters. In 1793, he took charge of the Plainfield Academy, at the same time pursuing his classical and mathematical studies, under the Rev. Dr. Benedict. On leaving Plainfield, he became a member of Brown University, and remained there for one year, during which time he held the highest rank as a scholar; but it seems, from the college catalogue, that his graduation, which was in the year 1795, was out of the regular course. He studied theology under the direction of his brother, about six months, and was then licensed to preach, by the New London Association, and was immediately sent on a mission by the same Association, to an almost desolate region, -the part of New York bordering upon Otsego Lake. On his arrival at Cherry Valley, which was, to some extent, inhabited, he was very favorably impressed with the appearance of the country; and, after laboring a couple of months in different places in that region, he accepted an invitation to return to Cherry Valley, in the double capacity of a preacher and a teacher. Here he established a flourishing academy, and had the charge of it as long as he lived in the place. After having remained two or three years in Cherry Valley, he was on a journey to visit his friends in New England, and stopped at Schenectady to pass the night. One of the ministers of the place, having fallen in Aith 126 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. him, invited him to conduct an evening religious service; and the Rev. Dr. Smith, President of the college, being present, was so favorably impressed by the sermon, that he immediately proposed Mr. Nott as a candidate to the First Presbyterian Church in Albany, which was then without a pastor. The result was that he was invited to preach to that church two Sabbaths, after which he received a call, which, though not entirely unanimous, he thought it his duty to accept. He was installed on the 13th of October, 1798. The church of which he now became pastor, was one of great influence, and his ministry attracted such men as Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Brockholst Livingston, and others of like reputation. When the news of the duel between Hamilton and Burr reached Albany, Mr. Nott was attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Union College, Schenectady. The common council of Albany dispatched a messenger to him, with a request that he would preach a sermon with reference to the event the next Sabbath. He complied with their request, and preached the celebrated sermon on duelling, which passed through several editions, and was reckoned a masterpiece of pulpit eloquence. In 1804, he was chosen to the Presidency of Union College, Schenectady, and held the place during the residue of his life. In 1805, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the College of New Jersey, and, in 1828, the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University. In 1811, he was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Though Dr. Nott continued to hold the office of Pres. BIOGRAPICAL SKETCRAHES. 127 ident till the close of his life, he was relieved of its active duties in 1852, by the induction of the Rev. Dr. Hickolk to the offices of Professor and Vice-President. As he advanced in-age his strength of both body and mind gradually failed, until he was reduced to an almost infantile weakness. The winter of 1859-60 he spent in Philadelphia, in the hope of invigorating his health; and, during that period, he exerted himself to the utmost to bring about a reconciliation between the two parties into which the Presbyterian Church was divided. He gradually retired, not only from all the activities of life, but from the society of his friends, except as he could meet them in his own dwelling. His last days were days of great physical suffering, and his mind was sometimes clouded with gloom; but his confidence in his Redeemer was generally firm and unwavering, and he left a dying testimony to the power and excellence of that Gospel in which he trusted. He passed gently to his rest on the 29th of January, 1866. An appropriate and impressive address was delivered at his funeral by the Rev. Dr. J. T. Backus. Dr. Nott was married in July, 1796, to Sally Maria, eldest daughter of the Rev. Dr. Joel Benedict, of Plainfield. She died in March, 1804, the mother of four children. In 1807, he was married to Gertrude Tibbits, of Troy, who died about 1840, the mother of two children. In 1842, he was married to Urania E. Sheldon, of Utica, who yet survives. Dr. Nott's principal publications are Lectures on Temperance and Counsels to Young Men, though he was the author of several Occasional Sermons and Ad dresses, which have gained a wide circulation. 128 PRESBYTERIAN REUCNION. ]Dr. Nott was, undoubtedly, one of the most strongly marked men of his generation. In his person he was large and portly, and his countenance betokened, in a high degree, both thoughtfulness and intelligence. His mind was at once philosophical and practical: whi] e he could penetrate the depths, and was at home in the regions of abstract science, he knew how to make the results of his inquiries turn to good account in the every-day concerns of life. In his ordinary intercourse, he was bland and courteous, and yet no one knew better than he how to maintain a dignified reserve. In the pulpit, he was everywhere recognized as a prince among orators; and though, during the early part of his ministry, especially, the American pulpi~t had perhaps the brightest galaxy it has ever known, there was probably no one who held a higher rank than himself. His impressive manner of utterance was, no doubt, the result of great care and study; but it seemed only the legitimate actings of a grand and lofty spirit. His style was ornate and striking, and formed after the finest of the French models. As the President of a college, he was greatly beloved and honored by those under his care, and was generally admired for his cautious and adroit management. As a member of ecclesiastical bodies, indeed, in all his intercourse with society, he studied the things that make for peace. He was a noble specimen of the divine workmanship. WILLIAM NEILL, D.D. WILLIAM N SILL, a son of William and Jane (Snodgrass) Neill, was born a few miles from Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), Pa., in the spring of 1778 or 1779: the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 129 25th of April has been fixed as the day of his birth, though there is some doubt as to both the year and the day, on account of a deficiency in the record. Both his parents were born in Lancaster County, Pa., his father being of Irish, his mother of Scottish, descent. In the spring of 1779 or 1780, he was taken by his parents to a farm about eight miles from their residence, and there his father and his father's brother were most barbarously muirdered by the Indians, and his mother escaped in great peril, carrying him in her arms, to a block-house in the neighborhood. On the death of his mother, which occurred about three years afterwards, lihe was taken to live in the family of his mother's brother, near Pittsburg, where he passed his early boyhood in circumstances not the most favorable to either intellec-.tual or moral culture. Having led, for several years, rather a migratory life, - living first with one of his sisters and then with another, -he accepted a clerkship, in 1795, in the store of a respectable merchant in Canonsburg. Shortly after this, he was the subject of a very threatening illness, during which he formed the purpose of entering on a new life, if his health should be restored; but, though it was restored, his purpose was not immediately carried out. Not long after this, however, he began to attend on the ministrations of the venerable Dr. McM3illan, and through the influence of his preaching was brought to deep, serious reflection. While he was in this state of mind, and before he had any satisfactory evidence of having begun the Christian life, he felt a strong desire to become a minister of the Gospel; and he, accordingly, entered the academy at Canonsburg, and began his Latin grammar, in 1797. 9 130 PRIESBYTERIAN REUNION. It was not long before his mind reposed trustingly in the gracious provisions of the Gospel, and he became a member of the Presbyterian Church at Charters, then under the pastoral care of Dr. McMillan. In the autumn of 1800, he left Canonsburg, and became a member of the Sophomore class in the College of New Jersey. He was graduated in September, 1803; and it was a high testimony to his scholarship and general character, while a student in college, that he was appointed immediately to a tutorship, which office he accepted, and held for two years. With a view to carry out his purpose to become a minister of the gospel, he prosecuted his theological studies, while he was acting as tutor, under the supervision of the Rev. Dr. Kollock. In October, 1805, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Brunswick; and, in compliance with a request which he had received before his licensure, went immediately to Cooperstown, N. Y., to preach as a candidate. As his services proved highly acceptable, a call was made out for him in the course of the next summer, which being accepted, he was ordained and installed there, by the Presbytery of Oneida, in November, 1806. Here he had a very comfortable and useful ministry. A portion of his time seems to have been devoted to teaching, for Femnnimore Cooper was, at one time, his pupil. In the summer of 1809, he received a call from the First Presbyterian Church in Albany, to become the successor of the Rev. Dr. Romeyn in the pastoral office. As his salary at Cooperstown was inadequate to the support of his family, he thought it his duty to accept the call; and, accordingly, having resigned his charge, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 131 he removed to Albany, and began his labors there in September, 1809. In 1812, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Union College. The same year he became deeply interested in the founding of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and secured considerable funds in aid of the enterprise. He was one of the Directors of the institution from its beginning. In 1816, he was a member of the convention that formed the American Bible Society. - In the summer of 1816, he received an invitation to become the Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, - then a new organization that grew out of a secession from the Third Church, on the settlement of Dr. Ely. He accepted the call, and was installed in November following, though he subsequently doubted whether he had been wise in leaving his charge in Albany. The congregation gradually increased under his ministry, and considerable numbers were added to the church, without anything, however, that could be called a revival of religion. His ministry here was an unusually quiet one, but he was the object of universal respect. In the summer of 1824, he was invited to the Presidency of Dickinson College, as the successor of the Rev. Dr. John M. Mason. This invitation, after considerable hesitation, he accepted, and removed to Carlisle in September, following. Here his situation, owing to various circumstances, was far from being what he desired or expected; and, in July, 1829, after having been connected with the institution nearly five years, he tendered the resignation of his office. He consented, however, to re 132 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. main till after the Commencement, which took place at the close of September. His connection with the college having now ceased, he accepted the office of Corresponding Secretary and General Agent of the Presbyterian Board of Education, and engaged immediately in its duties, remaining meanwhile in Carlisle. In September, 1830, he returned with his family to Philadelphia. In the autumn of 1831, he resigned his agency, without having accomplished much, except in the way of preparing for future more vigorous operations. Immediately after this, he removed, with his family, to Germantown, and, being desirous of resuming the work of the ministry, became a stated supply to the church in that place. He removed from Germantown to Philacelphia, in 1842, and remained without a charge till his death, which took place on the 8th of August, 1860. During this long inverval, he was constantly engaged in doing good, though his labors were of a somewhat miscellaneous character. Besides often supplying vacant pulpits in the city, and rendering assistance to his brethren when they were in need of it, he was always ready to lend a helping hand to any object of Christian benevolence that presented itself. His faculties gradually wained, but he never lost his interest in the progress of truth and righteousness. In October, 1805, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew Vandyke, who lived in the neighborhood of Princeton. She died in November, 1809, leaving him with two infant children. In February, 1811, he was married to Frances, second daughter of General Joshua King, of Ridgefield, Conn. She died in October, 1832, the mother of three children. In April, 1835, he BIOGRAPMICAL SKETCH-ES. 133 was married to Sarah, daughter of Dr. Ebenezer Elmer, of Bridgeton, N.J., who still (1870) survives. By the last marriage there were two children. Dr. Neill's publications were Lectures on Biblical History, and a Practical Exposition of the Epistle to the Ephesians, besides several Occasional Discourses. After his death there was published a volume of his Sermons, with his Autobiography, and a Commemorative Discourse by the Rev. Dr. J. H. Jones. Dr. Neill was somewhat above the medium height, had an intelligent, thoughtful expression of countenance, and was rather deliberate in his movements. His mind was naturally well balanced, and his faculties were developed in due proportion. He was naturally quiet and gentle and unpretending, though he was always firm to his convictions of duty. As a Preacher, he was distinguished for method, sound logic, and a highly evangelical tone; and though his manner was far from being generally impassioned, yet he sometimes rose to a high pitch of animation. As the President of a college, his success was less strongly marked; but it is perhaps safe to presume that this was owing, in a measure at least, to the adverse influences with whichli he had to contend. As a Christian, his heart always seemed to be glowing with love to Christ and his cause; and, wherever he has lived, he has left behind him enduring monuments of his beneficent activity. JOHN McDOWELL, D.D. JOHN MCDowELL, a son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Anderson) McDowell, was born in Bedminster, Somerset County, N.J., on the 10th of September, 1780. 134 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. His parents were exemplary members of the Presbyterian Church at Lamington, and their children were the subjects of the most careful Christian nurture. At the age of eleven years this son became deeply concerned for his immortal interests, and, after a protracted season of anxiety, was enabled, as he believed, to exercise a living faith in the Saviour; though, for a considerable time, he regarded the evidences of his Christian character as somewhat dubious. At an early period, he felt a strong desire to become a Minister of the Gospel; and, having worked upon his father's farm until he was fifteen years old, he became a member of a classical school, then recently established in the neighborhood by the Rev. William Boyd. Here he continued for three years, and in the fall of 1799 entered the Junior class in the College of New Jersey, then under the presidency of Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith. He graduated w-ith honor in September, 1801. After his graduation, he engaged as a teacher in Sussex County for six months, and commenced the study of theology, under the direction of the Rev. H. W. Hunt, of Newton, N.J.; though, in the spring of 1802, he went to study, under Dr. Woodhull, at Freehold, where he continued for about two years. It was not till he had been engaged in the study of theology nearly a year that he made a public profession of religion. He joined Dr. Woodhull's church, in September, 1802, -eleven years after he first indulged the hope that he had. been born from above. Shortly after this, he placed himself under the care of the Presbytery of New Bruntmswick, and, in April, 1804, was licensed to preach the Gospel. Having preached a few Sabbaths in dif BIOGRAPHICL SKETCHES. 135 ferent places, he was called, in July following, by the Presbyterian church in Elizabethtown, to become their Pastor. This call he accepted, and his ordination and installation took place about the close of December. Mr. McDowell now became the minister of one of the largest and most influential congregations within the bounds of the Presbyterian Church; and his position was the more difficult from the fact that certain agitating influences had previously existed there, which had placed different portions of the congregation in antagonism with each other. He, however, immediately inaugurated a system of measures, which were fitted to heal existing difficulties, as well as to bring the Gospel in contact with all classes of persons around him. In the winter and spring of 1806, he made a journey, for the benefit of his health, into New England, of which he has recorded many interesting particulars. In August, 1807, there commenced a revival of religion under his ministry, which not only pervaded his congregation, but spread into other congregations, and lasted eighteen months. In the spring of 1809, he received a call from the Collegiate Dutch Church, in New York, which he was greatly urged to accept, but which, in due time, he declined. Scarcely was this call disposed of before he received another from the Brick (Presbyterian) Church in the same city, but this also, though, by the urgent request of the church that presented it, it was submitted to the Presbytery, was quickly answered in the negative. About this time (September, 1809), Mr. McDowell preached his memorable sermon on Horse-racing. Being aware that a horse-race was contemplated by some per. 136 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. sons from New York, in the immediate neighborhood of Elizabethtown, and knowing well the evils by which such scenes are generally attended, he resolved to do what he could to avert the threatening calamity. Having tried in vain to secure the influence of the civil authorities against the movement, he resolved to put forth his own influence in a more direct manner, an d, accordingly, wrote and preached a sermon on the text, "Cry aloud, and spare not," etc. Several, who had most to do with the races, were present, and, though at first they seemed to take on an air of defiance, before the sermon was finished they were evidently smarting under its scathing rebukes. The horse-race went fornward, attended with fearful exhibitions of vice and crime, but it terminated prematurely, and no effort was ever made to repeat it. No event in the whole ministry of this excellent man showed more impressively than this his unyielding fidelity to his own convictions. In 1810, Mr. McDowell was appointed, with his neighbor, Dr. Richards, of Newark, to represent the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to the General Association of New Hampshire. They were absent about a month, and, during the whole of that time, found everything they could desire to minister to their social enjoyment. The meeting of the Association was at Exeter, but they travelled as far as Portsmouth, and even crossed over into Maine, for the sake of setting their feet in another departnient of the Yankee dominion. In 1812, when the Theological Seminary at Princeton was established, Mr. McDowell was chosen one of its first Directors; and in 1825, he was appointed one of its BIOGRAPICAL SKETCHES. 137 Trustees; both of which offices he held till the close of life. In 1814, 1815, and 1818, he took long journeys in different parts of the country, to collect funds in aid of the Theological Seminary, and was generally very successful. In 1818, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by. the University of North Carolina and by Union College. In 1820, he was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. The same year, the church of which he was pastor, having reached a membership of between six and seven hundred, it was thought best that a colony from it should be organized into a second church; and of that church the Rev. David Magie was chosen pastor, who has, within a few years, closed an honored and useful ministry. In 1822, he was appointed a delegate, by the General Assembly, to the General Associations of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and fulfilled his mission in respect to both Associations, to great acceptance. In 1824, the First Presbyterian Church in New York gave him a unanimous call to become their pastor, but he declined it. In September of the next year the call, was repeated, and, on being referred to the Presbytery, there was a unanimous decision that it was his duty to remain at Elizabethtown. In 1828, he was appointed, by the General Assembly, Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the Western (Allegheny) Theological Seminary; but, after due reflection, he became satisfied that it was his duty to decline the appointment. In 1831, he was chosen to the Professor. ship of Church History and Polity in the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, as successor to Dr. John H. Rice; and though he accepted the appointment, and 138 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. was actually released from his pastoral charge by the Presbytery, yet circumstances subsequently occurred that rendered it undesirable to him to leave Elizabethtown, and, without being formally installed, he was re-stored to his pastorate. In 1832, he went on a short begging tour to the South, in behalf of Princeton College; and about the same time declined a call from the church in Princeton, and also an appointment as General Agent and Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Missions. Early in 1833, a proposal was made to him to come and administer the communion to a new church in Philadelphia; and shortly after, he received from that church a formal call; and though his attachment to his congregation remained undiminished, yet partly on account of his health, and partly from some adverse circumstances which he found it difficult to control, he accepted the call, and thus closed an eventful ministry at Elizabethtown, of twenty-eight years. Dr. McDowell was installed as pastor of the Central Church, Philadelphia, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, on the 6th of June, 1833. When the controversy arose which issued in the division of the Presbyterian Church, in 1837, though he fell in with the Old School, lhe was far from favoring the division; believing, as he did, that whatever errors in doctrine or practice existed, they could be effectually corrected without a resort to extreme measures. His attachment to that portion of the Church with which he identified himself, was, however, firm and enduring. He held the office of Permanent Clerk of the General Assembly, from 1825 till 1837, and the office of Stated Clerk from 1836 till 1840. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 139 In 1844, Dr. McDowell discovered that the pecuniary indebtedness of his congregation was much greater than he had supposed, and was brought to believe that it was his duty to resign his pastoral charge. Accordingly, by his own request, the Presbytery dissolved the pastoral relation, in November, 1845, the congregation meanwhile rendering the most honorable testimony to his character and services. Several congregations were now ready to extend a call to him, but, instead of encouraging any such movement, he joined a portion of the congregation to which he had ministered, in an effort to establish a new church. He commenced preaching in the old Fourth Street (Whitefield) Academy, where he continued for a year. An application was made to the Presbytery, in January, 1846, for the organization of a new church, and the request being granted, the church was organized a few days afterwards, under the name of the Spring-Garden Presbyterian Church. Dr. McDowell was immediately invited to become the pastor, and, having accepted the call, was installed within a few days. A new place of worship was forthwith erected, through the generous contributions of friends, both at home and abroad, and was ready for occupancy, in May, 1847. In 1851, in consequence of an accumulation of snow on the roof of the church, the building fell under the weight. The disaster awakened a general sympathy throughout the city and elsewhere, and within about six months it was rebuilt, re-dedicated, and reoccupied. In the spring of 1859, Dr. McDowell expressed to his session, for the second time, the full conviction that, in consequence of the increasing infirmities of age, it 140 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. was fitting that he should be relieved from the duties of his charge. In consequence of this, the Rev. Morris C. Sutphen was settled as his colleague, in May, 1860; and the relation was always mutually agreeable. After this, Dr. McDowell preached frequently, and, during the greater part of the summer of 1861, he performed the service regularly once almost every Sabbath. He died of what seemed to be an attack of bilious colic, on the 13th of February, 1863. At his funeral; there was every demonstration of the highest respect, and the Churches and the Boards with which he had been connected passed resolutions expressive of their sense of his extraordinary worth. In February, 1805, he was married to Henrietta, daughter of Shepard Kollock, Esq., of Elizabethtown, and sister of the far-famed Dr. Kollock, then of Princeton, afterwards of Savannah. They became the parents of three children. Mrs. McDowell died in January, 1867. Besides about a dozen Sermons in pamphlet form, Dr. McDowell published, in 1825, a System of Theology, in two vols. 8vo; in 1839, The Bible-Class Manual, in two vols. 12mo; and, in 1816, A System of Questions on the Historical parts of Scripture, afterwards extended to cover the entire Bible. Few men have ever been connected with the American Presbyterian Church who have rendered to it such manifold and varied services as Dr. McDowell. Though he never sought publicity in any other way than by attending faithfully to the duties devolved upon him, the number of applications for his services in important places was perhaps unprecedented. He was a man of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 141 excellent common-sense, without being either highly imaginative or metaphysical. He had great executive ability, and rarely engaged in an enterprise that did not prove successful. But his crowning attribute was an earnest, devoted piety, which gave complexion to his whole life. His preaching was in a high degree evangelical, practical, and experimental; and his labors out of the pulpit were eminently fitted to give effect to his teachings in it. His ministry at Elizabethtown, especially, was signalized by a succession of revivals of religion which scarcely any other church has ever enjoyed. It was manifest to all who saw him, that the great object for which he lived was to bring glory to God in the Highest by saving the souls of his fellow-men. Dr. McDowell had a brother, WILLIAM ANDERSON McDowELL, who is justly entitled -to a commemorative notice. He was born in Lamington, May 15th, 1789; was graduated at the College of New Jersey, in 1809; studied Theology under Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith, of Princeton, and Dr. Kollock, of Savannah, who afterwards became his brother-in-law; was ordained and installed Pastor of the church at Bound Brook, in December, 1813, but remained there less than a year; was installed at Morristown, in December, 1814, and continued there about nine years; was installed as Pastor of a church in Charleston, in December, 1823; was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Franklin College, Georgia, in 1827; was Moderator of the General Assembly, in 1833, and at the same time 142 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. was appointed. Secretary of the Boarcl of Domestic Mis. sions, and discharged the duties of the office with great fidelity until 1850, when his declining health obliged him to withdraw from it. He died at Lamington, on the 17th of September, 1851. He was exceedingly quiet and unobtrusive in his manner, but possessed an intellect of uncommon vigor and clearness, with fine social feelings, and an earnest, devoted piety. He was withal an excellent preacher and pastor, and sustained honorably and usefully every relation. GEORGE JUNIKIN, D.D., LL.D. GEORGE JUNKIN, a son of Joseph and Eleanor (Cochran) Junkin, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of November, 1790. His parents were of Scotch-Irish descent, and belonged to that branch of the Presbyterian Church known as Covenanters. They were most faithful in the religious education of their children, and the event proved that their parental fidelity was not in vain. The subject of this sketch was very early brought into a serious state of mind, and his own conviction was that, in his eleventh year, he experienced a radical change of character. He did not, however, make a public profession of his faith until he had reached his nineteenth year; and for this he was greatly indebted to the preaching of the Rev. James Galloway, his pastor at Mercer, who afterwards became his brotherin-law. From this time till the close of his life, he seems to have had scarcely any doubts of his gracious acceptance. His earliest years were spent in Cumberland County, and afterwards in Mercer County, where his father's BIOGRAPHICAL SKIETCHIES. 143 family had their home. The means of intellectual culture, in that region, were, at that time, by no means abundant; and yet, by diligent application, and with such aid as he was able to command, he was fitted for Jefferson College, and actually became a member of it in 1809. He graduated in 1813, having, for the sake of lessening the expense of his education, spent a large part of his college life at home, though keeping along with the prescribed course of study. Immediately after his graduation, -- his eye and his heart being set upon the Ministry, — he became a member of the Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, under the care of the illustrious Dr. Mason. Here he remained three years, taking the regular theological course, and was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the Presbytery of Monongahela, of the Associate Reformed Church, in September, 1816. Agreeably to an existing arrangement in that Church, by which licentiates were sent, by the General Synod, to the several presbyteries, Mr. Junkin was sent to labor within the presbyteries of New York and Saratoga. He, accordingly, preached there in the autumn and winter months of 1816, and afterwards was engaged in missionary labor in different parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland. In June, 1818, with a view to his greater usefulness as a missionary, he received ordination in Gettysburg. Shortly after this he was invited to take charge of the united congregations of Milton and Pennell (now McEwensville), and, having accepted the invitation, entered at once upon his labors as pastor. HIis connection with this charge continued about eleven years; and in the mean time (in 1824) he passed 144 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. from the Associate Reformed to the Presbyterian Church. During this period he was constantly and earnestly engaged in the various duties of the ministry, and had the evidence, on every side of him, that his labors were not in vain. He resigned his charge, however, in 1830, and, in the hope of attaining to yet higher usefulness, accepted the position of Principal of the Manual Labor Academy at Germantown. Here he remained for two years, when he was invited to remove his students to Easton, and, taking advantage of a charter obtained from the Legislature of Pennsylvania for a military school, to become the President of a college. This invitation he accepted; and, shortly after, Lafayette College was organized, and he entered upon his work with a zeal mounting up well-nigh to enthusiasm. He discharged the duties of this new relation with great ability and fidelity; and besides his week-day labors in connection with the college, which were arduous and incessant, he usually preached, at least once, on the Sabbath, and sometimes three, and even four, times. In 1833, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college at which he graduated, and, in 1856, with the degree of Doctor of Laws from Rutgers College. In 1841, Dr. Junkin accepted the Presidency of MWiami University, Ohio. After having labored here with great success for three years,-his successor at Lafayette, the Rev. Dr. Yeomans, having resigned his place, -he was earnestly invited to return to Easton, and resume his former position. This he actually did, and continued there till the autumn of 1848, when he accepted an invitation to become President of Washington BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 145 College, Lexington, Va. His parting with his classes at Lafayette, on Commencement davy, was a scene of the most tender interest; and the estimation in which he was there held was sufficiently indicated by the fact that twenty-six of those who had been his students there, appeared at the Washington College, to resume their studies under his direction. Here he continued until May, 1861, -twelve years and a half; and, as in every public position he had previously occupied, so here, he was a model of energy, perseverance, and fidelity. When the clouds began to darken our political horizon, and to forebode the horrors of war, he had no sympathy with the proposed secession, regarding the principle as a fallacy, both in law and in morals; and as he found the current too strong to resist, nothing remained for him but to vacate the place which he had held so long, and so usefully and honorably. He left behind many warm friends, some of whom were in full sympathy with his political views, while the greater portion of them believed that he had fallen into a sad, though honest, mistake. He came from Virginia to Philadelphia, where he, ever after, found a home in the family of his son. The residue of his life was spent, as the preceding part of it had been, in a constant succession of efforts to do good. During his seven remaining years, he preached about seven hundred times. He labored as a Colporteur of the Board of Publication, visiting encampments, as he had opportunity, distributing tracts and books, and beseeching sinners to be reconciled to God. He spent days and even weeks among the southern prisoners at Fort Delaware and Point Lookout, and was one 10 146 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. of the first to exercise his mission of mercy after the battle of Gettysburg. He wrote many articles for the newspapers in defence of a proper observance of the Sabbath, against the threatened encroachments of legislative authority. He also officiated in two benevolent institutions in Philadelphia, and in one of them the in mates had arranged his desk with reference to his speaking, on the very day that he died. And besides all his other labors, he wrote and published, during his last years, a Treatise on Sanctification, a Treatise on the Ancient Tabernacle of the Hebrews, and some smaller works; and he left behind him in manuscript a very full Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, the wvhole of it written in a fine, bold hand, after he had completed his seventy-fifth year. Dr. Junkin had, throughout his whole life, dreaded the pains of death; but when death actually came to him, it took on its mildest form. Until Monday, the 18th of May, 1868, he was in his usual health; on that day he was taken ill; the next he was greatly relieved; and the next, Wednesday, the 20th, without any apparent aggravation of his symptoms, he died, with the name of Jesus on his lips. A Discourse, commemorative of his life and character, was preached in the West Spruce Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, by the Rev. Dr. James H. Mason Knox, on the 28th of June following. Dr. Junkin was married in June, 1819, to Julia Rush Miller, of Philadelphia, a lady of great personal attractions, of high intelligence, and earnest piety. They had nine children, - five sons and three daughters. Of the sons who lived to maturity, two became minis BIOGRAPmCAxL sKETCHES. 147 ters of the Gospel, two became lawyers, and one a teacher. The daughters were all most respectably married. Mrs. Junkin died, greatly lamented, in February, 1854. Besides the works already referred to, Dr. Junkin published, in 1839, a Treatise on Justification, and, in 1844, Lectures on Prophecy. Several of his occasional Sermons and Addresses were printed. He was also a liberal contributor to many of the periodicals of his day. Dr. Junkin was a man of commanding appearance, though not above the medium height; of a countenance expressive of great energy, and fine intellectual powers, and of manners simple and direct, and yet prepossessing. In his private intercourse he was sociable and communicative, and when he ceased talking, he always left the impression that it was not for want of anything more to say. In his Theology he was thoroughly Calvinistic, and was not specially tolerant towards any departure from the accredited standards. In the controversy by which the Church was agitated and finally separated in 1837, he took the deepest interest, and though his intense regard for orthodoxy may have suggested measures that some thought extreme, yet those who knew him best have testified of his private expressions of respect and affection even towards those from whom he differed most widely. Nowhere was he more at home than in a church court: here his promptness, his energy, his keen insight into matters of difficulty, and his faculty at suggesting the appropriate remedies, were specially apparent; and no one who watched his movements could resist the impression that he was act 148 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ing in obedience to the dictates of conscience. He was just such a preacher as might be expected from his pe culiar intellectual and moral constitution, in connection with his large measure of Christian fervor; he brought out the doctrines of the Gospel with great simplicity and plainness, while yet his large and well-stored mind would often suggest thoughts which were beyond the common range of pulpit instruction. In discharging the duties of the pastoral relation, he was eminently felicitous; his fine social qualities combining with his deep sense of responsibility and his earnest devotion to his work, to make this part of his labor at once pleasant to himself and profitable to those to whom he ministered. He was eminently beloved and honored as the HIead of a college; and while his admirable powers and qualities rendered him an object of attraction to the students, they were a pledge at once of his fidelity and success. The several churches and institutions with which he has been connected, rejoiced in his light, and now they gratefully cherish his memory. JOSEPH SMITH, D.D. JOSEPH SMITII was born in Fayette County, Pa., on the 15th of July, 1796. His paternal grandfather was the Rev. Joseph Smith, and his maternal grandfather the Rev. James Power, D.D., both of whom were of that noble band of ministers who first preached the Gospel west of the Allegheny Mountains. His father was the Rev. David Smith, a highly gifted young man, who died in 1803, after a most successful ministry of only nine years. He (the subject of this article) became, in due time, a member of Jefferson College, and BIOGRAPIICAL sKETCHEs. 149 graduated in 1815, -the class to which he belonged consisting of only two persons besides himself. It war; during the last year of his college life that his religious; views and feelings became so far matured, that he was enabled to make a public profession of his faith in Christ. After leaving college, he went to Virginia, and spent a year in teaching an academy at Berryville, then in Frederick County. In the autumn of 1816, he commenced the study of Theology, under the Rev. Dr. Hill, of Winchester; but, in the fall of 1817, became a studclent in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. Here he remained until April, 1819, when he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Winchester. During the two following years he was employed as a Domestic Missionary in five counties immediately east of the Blue Ridge, and extending from the Potomac to Albemarle, Va. In MAay, 1821, he was called to the church of IHarrisonburg, Rockingham County, and, having accepted the call, was ordained and installed, in the course of the ensuing summer, by the Presbytery of Lexington. Here he remained till 1826; and then became pastor of the church at Staunton, where he continued about six years, - until the fall of 1832. lHe removed now to Fredericktown, Md., and was there preaching and teaching for one year, and then accepted a call from St. Clairsville, Ohio, where he remained as pastor till the spring of 1837. At that time he accepted an invitation to become President of Franklin College, Harrison County, Ohio, but continued there only till the fall of 1838, when lie returned to Frederick, MId., as both Pastor of the church and President of Frederick 150 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. College. He resigned his pastoral charge, in April, 1843, and the office of President, inl July, 1844; and, shortly after the last-mentioned date, was employed as a stated supply at Ellicott's Mills, and a few months later was constituted pastor of the church. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Jef ferson College, in 1845. In September, 1846, he accepted an agency from the Board of Missions in the Synods of Pittsburg, Wheeling, and Ohio; and held this office, residing first in Steubenville, and then in Allegheny City, until April, 1850. He then accepted a call to Elizabeth and Roundhill, in Redstone Presbytery, and remained there till about the close of 1855, and at the beginning of 1856 was transferred to Greensburg, where he had his last pastorate, and continued through a period of ten years. The infirmities of age had now begun to creep over him, and, after having been engaged in the service of his Master forty-seven years, he felt that he had a right to retire from the active duties of the ministry, and, therefore, for the last time, resigned his pastoral charge. He preached, however, occasionally, after this, and when he could not use his voice in public speaking, he would use his pen in his own house, and always with marked ability. Dr. Smith had a naturally vigorous constitution, and was never the subject of any protracted illness. For some weeks previous to his death, however, he had suffered from an affection of the head, which had disabled him for any intellectual labor. On the 3d of December, 1868, he rose in the morning, and attempted to dress himself, but his strength failed, and with it the power of speech, premonitory of the extinction of the vitual BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCmHES. 151 principle. He lingered until the afternoon of the next day, and then passed onward to his rest. A Discourse commemorative of his life and character, and full of the most interesting details, was afterwards preached at Greensburg, by the Rev. W. H. Gill, and was published. Dr. Smith was married, in 1821, to a daughter of John Bell, a well-known merchant in Winchester, and a greatly respected ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church. He became the father of eight children, six of whom, with their mother, survive him. Olne of his sons is a Presbyterian minister, and two of his daughters are the wives of ministers. Dr. Smith was an able and useful, though not very voluminous, writer. Besides numerous contributions to newspapers and other periodicals, he published Old Redstone, or Historical Sketches of Western Presbyterianism: its Early Ministers, its Perilous Times, and its First Records; and the History of Jefferson College. Both these works are carefully and elaborately written; and while they are of great historical interest anywhere, to the Presbyterians of Western Pennsylvania they must be invaluable. From the sketch of Dr. Smith's life now given, it is apparent that his ministry was marked by an unusual succession of changes. In a letter written by himself, from which most of the material for this sketch has been drawn, there is the following statement with reference to this remarkable feature of his life: "Thus you see what a sojourner I have been, having lived and labored in four different States. To explain the reasons which led to all these changes would weary my pa 152 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tience, -much more yours. One thing I can say with satisfaction, - I have never had any trouble or difficulty with any congregation. I have left no place where I had any reason to believe they were tired of me, - no place that I cannot now visit with mutual satisfaction, as I am firmly persuaded. And it has always seemed to me that my way was distinctly cleared'before me by the good hand of our God. The Lord has given me the privilege and honor of raising up to comparative strength and independence several churches, in every instance doubling the numbers of their membership, and the still greater privilege of healing breaches, removing schisms and divisions, and restoring harmony. Yet the review of the long and scattered character of my mlinisterial life teaches me some very humbling lessons." Dr. Smith was a man not only of varied experience, but of pure and elevated character. A stranger, on meeting him, could not help forming the opinion, from his countenance and manner, that he was not only a highly intellectual, but genial and amiable, man; and this impression was sure to be justified and confirmed by a subsequent acquaintance. Perhaps no one of his intellectual powers was more prominent than his judgment. His views of men and things, where he had had very slight opportunities for observation, he rarely had occasion to change, upon any subsequent enlargement of his knowledge. H e was always a diligent student, aand his mind became a vast storehouse of varied information, which he was ever ready to dispense as he had opportunity. But, with his extensive acquisitions, he was modest and unpretending, and never uttered a sen BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIES. 153 tence for the sake of self-glorification. His Christian character was at once consistent and decided. With great fervor of spirit he combined a discreet and thoughtful halit of speaking and acting, thus rendering his influence both safe and pure. As a Preacher, he could perhaps scarcely be considered a favorite with the multitude; but to the more reflecting andcl judicious his clear and logical exhibitions of Divine truth were always most acceptable. He was a vigorous helper in all ecclesiastical proceedings, perfectly familiar with all the forms of business, and able, sometimes, by his timely suggestions, to meet difficulties that seemed well-nigh insuperable. At the same time, he knew how to treat an opponent with the utmost courtesy, often disarming him by kindness; and while nothing could induce him to make the slightest sacrifice of principle, neither could he needlessly put at hazard the peace of the Church. And the brightest attribute of his character was, that he was an eminent saint: he lived habitually under the influence of the powers of the world to comfe; and when he passed away, all who knew him felt the fullest assurance that he had gone to receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. WILLIAM W. PHILLIPS, D.D. WILLIA3M WIRT PI-ILLIPS was born in Florida, Montgomery County, N.Y., on the 23d of September, 1796. His father was born in England, and came with his parents to this country while he was yet a boy, and the family still occupy the place where they originally settled, and where the subject of this sketch was born. Having gone through his preparatory course, he was 154 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. admitted, in due time, to Union College, where he grad uated, in 1813, when he was seventeen years of age. Shortly after his graduation, he became a member of the Associate Reformed Theological Seminary in New York, at the head of which was the Rev. Dr. John M Mason. After completing a three-years course of study at this institution, he spent a year in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church at New Bruns wick, under the instruction of the Rev. Dr. J. H. Livingston. lie was licensed to preach, by the Classis of New Brunswick, but, shortly after, transferred his relation to the Presbyterian Church. He received a call from the Pearl Street Presbyterian Church, in New York, which he accepted, and in April, 1818, was ordained and installed as its pastor, by the New York Presbytery. Here he continued a most useful and acceptable pastor for eight years, when he was translated to the First Presbyterian Church, then worshipping in Wall Street. This church was, in clue time, removed to what was then the upper part of the city; and, after the new edifice was built, he continued to occupy it till near the close of life. Though he had been for several years the subject of a painful chronic disease, he still continued actively engaged in the duties of the ministry until within about four weeks of his death. He died on the 20th of March, 1865, after having been a minister of the gospel forty-seven years. The Address at his funeral was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Krebs, with whom he had long been in the most intimate relations, and, on the next Sabbath, followed a Commemorative Discourse by the Rev. Dr. Richard W. Dickinson. Both the Address and the Discourse presented very BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 155 felicitously the character they were designed to commemorate. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Phillips by Columbia College, in 1826, when he was only thirty years of age. He was a Trustee of the College of New Jersey, and also a member of the Council of the New York University. He was both a Trustee and a Director of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and of the Board of Directors he was President. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Foreign Missions, and, during several of his last years, was President of that Board also. He was often a member of the General Assembly, and in 1835 was its Moderator. The services devolved upon him by these various offices were numerous and onerous; but he adapted himself to each with apparently as deep an interest as if it had been the sole work to which he was designated. Dr. Phillips was married, in 1818, to Frances Symington, daughter of James and Frances (Evans) Symington, of the city of New York. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom, with their mother, still survive. Dr. Phillips was a firmly built man, with a face indicating thoughtfulness and gravity rather than an excitable temperament. So admirably blended were his intellectual and moral powers that it were impossible to do justice to the one without including also some estimate of the other. Among the more prominent of the faculties of his mind was a calm and sound judgment, that rarely mistook in respect to any matter on which it was called to exercise itself. He was naturally 156 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. of a quiet and retiring habit, and never obtruded him self in any circumstances, while yet he was always prompt to obey the call of duty, even at the expense of placing himself in an attitude of antagonism towards others. His religion moulded his whole character and diffused itself over his whole life. In prosperity his heart glowed with thankfulness, and in adversity he was not only submissive and trustful, but was calling gratefully to remembrance the blessings that still remainecld to him. In his family his presence was constant sunshine. Among the people of his charge he moved about as a good angel, intent on carrying blessings in his train; and whether they were in sorrow or in joy, the fitting words of counsel were always upon his lips. In the pulpit there was nothing about him of a sensational or startling character, but he was a model of simplicity and fervor, and brought out the great truths of the gospel in a luminous and impressive manner. His good influence was felt, not only in every circle in which he moved, but throughout the whole Church; for Providence placed him in various responsible stations, and few of his contemporaries had more to do in moulding the destinies of the denomination with which he was connected than himself. If others have possessed characters more attractive to the multitude, his was one that must always be gratefully remembered for the harmonious combination of the good qualities that composed it. JOSEPH H. JONES, D.D. The father of JOSEPi- HUNTINGTON JONES, was Amlll asa Jones, and his mother was a daughter of the Rev. BIOGRAPIICAL SKETCHES. 157 Dr. Joseph Huntington, author of the work which at. tracted much attention in its clay, entitled " Calvinism Improved." He (the son) was born at Coventry, Conn., the residence of his parents, on the 24th of August, 1797. In 1810, he began to prepare for college at Coventry; but on the removal of the Rev. Abiel Abbott, under whom he had previously studied, to Byfield, Mass., to become Preceptor of Dummer Academy, he quicldy followed, and spent somewhat more than a year under his instruction. He entered Harvard TUniversity, in 1813, on the day that completed his fifteenth year. Here he had a highly respectable standing, and graduated with honor, in 1817. Among his classmates were George Bancroft, Caleb Cushing, George B. Emerson, Dr. Tyng, and others, who have impressed themselves indelibly on our civil or religious institutions. Shortly after his graduation, he accepted a tutorship in Bowdoin College, and held the office for a year. During his residence at Cambridge, he had fallen in with the current of religious thought that prevailed there, and had become a decided Unitarian; but, on going to Brunswick, and becoming associated with President Appleton and some of the professors and tutors, whose views were thoroughly orthodox, he was led to re-examine the system which he had adopted at Cambridge, and the result was that he rejected it altogether. This, however, did not occasion any interruption of his pleasant relations with his Harvard friends; and of the generous qualities and kind offices of some of them he never grew weary of speaking as long as he lived. In 1819, he removed to Wilkesbarre, Penn., TNwhere his fathei's family had become settled, and took charge of 158 PR:ESBYTERIAN REUNION. the academy in that place. His mind, meanwhile, had taken a thoroughly serious direction, and he not only indulged the hope that he had been born from above, but was deeply impressed with the idea that it was his duty to become a Minister of the Gospel. In this state of mind he actually entered on his theological studies, under the direction of the Rev. Cyrus Gildersleeve. In 1822, he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Susquehanna Presbytery, and subsequently spent three months as a supply at Montrose, the capital of Susquehanna County. While at Montrose, he was invited to Union, Broome County, N.Y., and here also he spent three months, and declined an earnest request to settle there as pastor. In the the spring of 1823 he joined the Princeton Seminary, and remained there about a year, though, during one of his vacations he went on a mission to Erie Run, and there declined another invitation to settle in the ministry. In 1824, he was ordained by the Susquehanna Presbytery, and immediately after took his dismission to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and became a supply for the church at Woodbury, N.J. In 1825, he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in New Brunswick, N.J. He accepted the call, and was installed on the 28th of July, when he had not fully recovered from an attack of bilious fever. Here he remained, laboring faithfully and successfully among his people, until 1838, when he was called to be the pastor of the Spruce Street Church, in Philadelphia, -the same church with which Dr. Neill had been connected, previous to his removal to Dickinson College. In 1842, Mr. Jones received the degree of Doctor of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 159 Divinity from Lafayette College, and, in 1855, was honored in a similar way by Harvard University. Dr. Jones continued the pastor of the Spruce Street Church about twenty-three years, and discharged the duties of his office with exemplary diligence and fidelity. In 1853, he was appointed a Trustee of the General Assembly, and very soon became deeply interested inl the Fund for Disabled Ministers. He, however, retained his pastoral charge until May, 1861, when he retired from it, and devoted the residue of his life to a course of effort designed to relieve his suffering brethren. In this cause he labored most earnestly and faithfully, and no doubt the blessing of many ready to perish came upon him. He died so suddenly that the tidings of his death shocked the whole community. He had just returned from New York, apparently in his usual health and spirits, but was attacked the same evening with a malady, which, though it seemed, after a few hours, to yield to treatment, returned upon him before morning with a fatal power. He died on the 22d of December, 1868, in the seventy-second year of his age. Several of the ministers with whom he had been associated delivered commemorative addresses at his funeral. Dr. Jones was married, in October, 1825, to Anna Maria Howell, daughter of Joshua L. and Anna B. Howell, at Fancy Hill, Gloucester County, N.J. They had five children, only three of whom survive. Mrs. Jones died in January, 1865. Besides several occasional Sermons, Dr. Jones published the following: An account of the Revival at New Brunswick; Influence of Physical Causes on Re. 160 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ligious Experience; Life of Ashbel Green, D.D.; and AMemoir of Dr. Cuyler. Dr. Jones was rather under the medium size, though, on the whole, a well-formed man, and possessing the usual degree of bodily vigor. His face was a fair index to some of the features of his character: it indicated great kindness, with a tinge of melancholy; and these were the qualities for which he was especially distinguished. His natural sympathy with human want and wretchedness, sanctified, as it was, by the grace of God, rendered him eminently fit for the position he occupied in connection with the Fund for Disabled Ministers. Not only did his benevolent spirit prompt him to explore thoroughly the various parts of the Church, to find out the proper subjects of this form of charity, but also to gather means sufficient to meet the varied exigences that were made known to him. In his ordinary intercourse he was cheerful, and sometimes even buoyant; but occasionally he had turns of deep depression, occasioned by a withdrawal, to a great extent, of the evidences of the Divine favor. It was this proclivity to gloom, no doubt, that suggested to him the writing of his admirable work on the Influence of Physical Causes on Religious Experience; a work that has already done much, and is destined to do more, in guiding darkened spirits into the light of heavenly truth. As a Preacher, there was nothing about him to awaken the applauses of the multitude, but there was much in his discourses for the thoughtful and earnest mind to feed upon, - much that could be' carried away as material for lasting edification and comfort. As a Pastor, he showed no respect of persons; the high and the low, the rich and the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 161 poor, came equally within the range of his attentions. In his more general relations to the Church, he manifested great consideration, and good sense and regard to the Presbyterian standards, while yet he was watchful for the promotion of harmony among brethren. He was universally esteemed and honored while living, and the generations to come will take care that his memory does not die. WILLIAM M. ENGLES, D.D. WILLIAM MORRISON ENGLES, a son of Silas and Annie (Patterson) Engles, was born in Philadelphia, October 12, 1797. He passed his early days at home, enjoying the best advantages of education which the city afforded. In due time he became a member of the University of Pennsylvania, where, notwithstanding he was among the younger members of his class, he graduated, in 181.5, with one of the highest honors. After studying Theology for three years, under the direction of Dr. Samuel B. Wylie, of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, he was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in October, 1818. Shortly after his licensure, he set out on a missionary tour in the Valley of Wyoming, where his fresh and earnest preaching is said to have produced a powerful impression. Having performed the missionary service allotted to him, he returned to Philadelphia, and on the 6th of July, 1820, was ordained and installed Pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian Church, which had previously existed as a colony of English Independents, but had shortly before, owing to various circumstances,'become connected with the Presbytery of Philadelphia. He 162 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. continued in this relation until September, 1834, when, on account of an affection of the throat, he was obliged to discontinue public speaking, and therefore resigned his pastoral charge. The church enjoyed a good degree of prosperity under his ministry, and if its numbers did not increase during the latter years, it was attributable to circumstances over which he had no control. About the time that his connection with his congregation closed, Dr. James. W. Alexander was just retiring from the editorship of the Presbyterian. That paper then came under the direction of Mr. Engles; and though, at different periods, he shared the labor and responsibility with several other individuals, his connection with it as editor continued through the long period of thirty-three years. The Rev. Dr. Grier, who was associate editor with him at the time of his death, has rendered the highest testimony to the good taste, and good judgment, and good spirit, with which he prosecuted his work. In May, 1838, he was appointed Editor of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and he held that important position, discharging its duties with great fidelity, twenty-five years. In 1840, he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly, and the same year was appointed Stated Clerk. The latter office he held until 1846. Dr. Engles (for the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him in 1838) had, for a considerable time, been subject to occasional turns of illness, which medical skill could not avert, and which proved to be an obscure affection of the heart. The last attack was accompanied with congestion of the lungs, which left BIOGRAPITICAL SKETCHIES. 163 little doubt of a fatal issue. While he was willing to submit to whatever medical treatment might be thought best, he had the fullest conviction that his hour had nearly come; but he was perfectly tranquil and submissive in the prospect, not doubting that it would be gain for him to depart. He died on the 27th of November, 1867, when he had just completed his seventieth year. He was married, in 1836, to Charlotte Schott, daughter of James Schott, of Philadelphia, who survives him. They had no children. The following is an extract from the record of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, in reference to his death: " The Presbyterian Board of Publication is probably more largely indebted to Dr. Engles, than to any other man, for its existence and its early influence. He was one of the first half-dozen men who clearly perceived the necessity for such an institution, and who met to take counsel together in reference to its formation. In all the incipient measures which led to its organization, and afterwards to its adoption and reorganization by the General Assembly, he took a prominent part. He was appointed, at the very beginning, a member of its Executive Committee, and continued to serve uninterruptedly in that capacity, until June, 1863. He was likewise appointed the first editor of the Board's publications, and every one of them passed under his eye and hand until the same date. In the following year, after the death of the Rev. Dr. Phillips, of New York, President of the Board, Dr. Engles was selected to fill the vacant chair. This he continued to do with dignity, and Christian courtesy, and warm regard to the Board's interests, till his removal by death. " His usefuilness in connection with this Board, the Church can never fully appreciate. His sound judgment rarely allowed him to fall into a mistake. His extensive reading, and his thorough and discriminating orthodoxy, placed upon the Board's catalogue a large variety of the most approved Calvinistic books, both of our own 164 PIRESBYTERIAN REUNION. country and of Great Britain, yet kept its list, to a remarkable degree, free from all admixture of error. A large number of old and valuable works, which had become nearly extinct because of their cumbrous style, were revised and abridged by him, and have had an extensive circulation and usefulness in every part of the land. He was also himself the author of a large number of valuable books and tracts, nearly all of which were published anonymously. Among them Sick _Room -Devotions has carried light and comfort to thousands of chambers of sickness. His little work, The Soldier's PocketBook, of which nearly three hundred thousand, in English and German, were circulated among our soldiers during the war, achieved an untold and unspeakable amount of good." Dr. Engles enjoyed, in a high degree, the confidence and regard of every community in which he lived. He had a well-built, symmetrical frame, and a face indicative of thoughtfulness and dignity, rather than anything brilliant or startling. He was not impulsive but cautious and discreet, and rarely took a step or suggested a measure which the circumstances did not justify. In the pulpit, he was simple and natural and edifying in all his deliverances. On questions of church polity, he manifested great wisdom; and while he was earnest for what he believed to be the truth, he was far from indulging a censorious spirit. Everywhere he showed himself under the influence of a living piety, and all who saw him took knowledge of him that he had been with Jesus. JOHN N. CAMPBELL, D.D. JOHIN N. CAMPBELL was born, of highly respectable parentage, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 4th of March, 1798. His maternal grandfather, Robert Aitken, was the publisher of the first edition of the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 165 Bible in this country. He was baptized by the Rev. Robert Annan, minister of the old Scott's Presbyterian Church, in Philadelphia, and in connection with that church he had his early training. He was for some time a pupil of that celebrated teacher, James Ross, and afterwards became a member of the University of Pennsylvania, though his name does not appear on the catalogue of graduates. After studying Theology, for some time, under the direction of the Rev. Ezra Stiles Ely, he went to Virginia, where he continued his theological studies, and became connected, as teacher of languages, with Hampden Sydney College. He was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of Hanover, in May, 1817, when he was about nineteen years of age. The first two or three years after he entered the ministry were spent chiefly in Virginia; but in the autumn of 1820 he was chosen chaplain to Congress; and, notwithstanding he was very young to occupy such a place, his services proved highly acceptable. He afterwards returned to Virginia, and preached for some time in Petersburg; and also went into North Carolina, and was instrumental in establishing the First Presbyterian Church in Newbern. In 1823, he went again to the District of Columbia, and, for more than a year, was an assistant to the Rev. Dr. Balch, of Georgetownm. In 1824 or 25, he took charge of the New York Avenue Church, in Washington'City, where his great popularity quickly filled the house. In January, 1825, he was elected one of the managers of the American Colonization Society, and for six years discharged the duties of the place with great ability and fidelity. During his residence in Washington, he muade the acquaintance of 166 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. many of the most distinguished men of the day, among whom was the illustrious William Wirt, with whom, for some time, he kept up a correspondence. It was here that the late Ambrose Spencer, Chief-Justice of the State of New York, first heard him, and so favorably was he impressed by him, both as a preacher and a man, that he recommended him as a suitable person to take the pastoral charge of the First Presbyterian congregation in Albany, with which he was connected. He was accordingly invited to preach there as a candidate, and shortly after accepted an invitation to become their Pastor, and was actually installed in September, 1831. The services were rendered especially interesting by the fact that the venerable Dr. Nott, one of the former pastors of that church, took part in them. In 1835, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the College of New Jersey. In 1836, he was appointed a Director of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and held the office till the close of life. He very rarely attended the meetings of the General Assembly, but he was a member in 1856, was nominated for the office of Moderator, and came very near being chosen. He occupied his own pulpit with a degree of constancy rarely equalled, being scarcely ever absent from it, except during a few weeks in the summer, which he spent, for the benefit of his health, at Lake George. His large executive ability devolved upon him many duties outside of his immediate profession. He was, for many years, one of the Regents of the University of the State of New York, an office which he readily accepted, on account of its intimate connection with educational interests. He was one of the BIOGRAPEICAL SKETCHES. 167 busiest of men, and yet his habits were eminently social, and he could always command time to devote to his friends. Dr. Campbell's habit of great activity continued till near the close of life. He preached with his usual animation and interest on the Sabbath immediately preceding his death, and there was nothing to betoken the approach of any serious* malady. On Monday, he was walking the streets with his accustomed vigor, but, before the close of the day, the disease of which he died began to develop itself. It did not, however, take on an alarming form for two or three days; but, in the course of the week, it became doubtful whether it was not beyond the control of medical skill. On Sunday morning, just as his congregation were assembling for public worship, and for the celebration of the ordinance of the Supper, the startling intelligence went forth that their Pastor was no longer among the living. The whole community were well-nigh paralyzed, as the tidings circulated among them. He died on the 27th of March, 1864. Dr. Campbell was twice married. His first wife was Miss Bowling, of Petersburg, Va.; his second, who is still living, was Miss Elizabeth Tilden Wilson, of Maryland. -Dr. Campbell was somewhat above the ordinary height, of a slender frame, a pallid face, and a general appearance not indicating robust health. His countenance and whole manner, however, indicated what he actually possessed, — great energy of mind and decision of character. He was genial, and often jovial, in his intercourse, and was almost sure to be a commanding 168 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. spirit m any social circle into which he was thrown. He had mingled much with the world, and, with his uncommon natural shrewdness, was an adept in the knowledge of human nature. He saw both clearly and quickly; and when his mind was once made up on any subject, though he could still consider and appreciate adverse evidence, he was not very likely to yield his first conviction. As a Preacher, he was clear, evangelical, and animated. His sermons were carefully prepared, and written in a character that was scarcely legible to any one but himself; and then they were delivered with a graceful ease and freedom, which made them appear to those who listened, as if they were the productions of the moment. They were withal very brief, and logical, and easy to be remembered. He had but little to do with controversy in the pulpit, though if there were any errors, that seemed to him especially palpable, he did not hesitate to expose them. There was an air of lofty independence pervading all his movements. It may safely be said that he feared not the face of man; and his plans were generally successful, even where they had to encounter the most intense opposition. Even those who differed from him still applauded his honesty. GEORGE POTTS, D.D. G:EORGE POTTS was the son of the Rev. George Charles Potts, who emigrated from Ireland to this country about the beginning of this century, and of Mary Engles, his wife, and'Was born in Philadelphia, the place of his father's settlement, on the 15th of March, 1802. He studied for a while, under the Rev. Dr. James Gray, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 169 and then under the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Wylie, after which he was transferred to the Grammar School of the University. He entered the University at the age of fourteen, one year in advance, and graduated in 1819; the third in his class, — Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, and Henry D. Gilpin, Attorney-General, being the only persons occupying a higher place. After his graduation, he spent a year in general studies, preparatory to entering the Theological Seminary. He joined the Seminary at Princeton, in 1820; was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, at Doylestown, in 1822; and left the Seminary at the close of the regular course, in 1823. He went immediately to Natchez, on the invitation of the Presbyterian congregation there, and, after preaching six weeks, received a call to become their Pastor. He accepted the call, and returned to Philadelphia for ordination, which took place in his father's church, on the 9th of September, 1823. Immediately after his return to Natchez, he was installed Pastor of that church, and continued'there twelve years, the utmost harmony existing between him and his people during the whole time. The climate, however, by this time, exerted such an enervating influence upon him that he found it necessary to seek a northern home. Accordingly, he resigned his charge, and shortly after received an invitation to become Pastor of the Duane Street Church, New York. This call he did not at first accept, on the ground that he was unwilling actually to leave his people until there was a fair prospect that the vacancy would be speedily supplied. The call was subsequently repeated, and he accepted it, on condition that he should remain with 170 PREISBYTERIAN REUNION. his former charge till the opening of spring. His in. stallation at New York took place in Mgay, 1836. Some time after his settlement in New York, he became afEected with the bronchitis, and in 1838, visited Europe for the benefit of his health. The same year, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the University of New York. In 1845, he resigned the charge of the church in Duane Street, and on the 25th of November was installed Pastor of a newly gathered church in University Place. lie continued in this connection till the close of life. Dr. Potts, during the greater part of his ministry, enjoyed vigorous health. Within a few months of the close, some of his faculties perceptibly declined, and he was at length induced to separate himself from his field of labor, in the hope that perfect rest might effect the desired renovation. In parting with his people, uncertain, of course, whether he should meet them again, he addressed to them a letter, in which were condensed what proved to be his last counsels and admonitions, — a letter that testifies, in the strongest manner, of his tenderness and fidelity. After having been absent for some time, he returned to his family, but returned only to die. He lingered for a brief period, and then passed away, amidst floods of sorrow, but in the joyful hope of entering into rest. He died on the 15th of Septeln. ber, 1864, and, at his funeral, the Rev. Dr. Krebs, his neighbor and friend, delivered an impressive address. Dr. Potts was marriied, in April, 1824, to Mary Postlethwaite, of Natchez, thereby securing to himself tile highest domestic enjoyment. They became the BIOGRAPtICAL SKEITCHES. 171 parents of nine children, only four of whom survive. One of the sons, the Rlev. Arthur Potts, is Pastor of a Presbyterian church in Morrisania, N.Y. Dr. Potts was a Director of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and a member of the Council of the New York University. He never aspired to anything in the way of authorship, having published only a few occasional Sermons and Addresses. The personal appearance of Dr. Potts was eminently imposing. Of commanding stature, being not less than six feet and two or three inches in height, and every way well proportioned; with a countenance expressive of high intelligence; elastic and yet dignified in his movements; his first appearance could hardly fail to suggest the idea of superiority. And that impression was fully justified by an intimate acquaintance with him. He had an uncommonly genial temperament, and without any attempt to put himself forward, he was very likely to be recognized as the commanding spirit in any social circle. His intellect, naturally of a high order, had been subjected to the most careful culture and discipline, and there was scarcely any subject of general interest with which he had not made himself familiar. As a Preacher, he was undoubtedly regarded as one of the most attractive of his day. His voice was full and clear; his utterance distinct and ilmpressive; his gestures simple and graceful, and the manifest promptings of nature; and his whole manner such as was best fitted to give effect to the momentous truths he proclaimed. There was in his preaching a happy admixture of the doctrinal and the practical; he never felt that he had done with any truth that he presented, 172 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. until he had not only shown its intellectual bearing, but had brought it in contact with the conscience and the heart. Though his sermons were generally written, he accustomed himself, especially during his latter years, to extemporaneous speaking; and he has been heard to say that he had more freedom and comfort in this mode of preaching than any other. The interests of his congregation seemed always uppermost in his thoughts; his pastoral visits were a source of mutual enjoyment to him and his people; and those who were in the morning of life especially shared most largely in his watchful regards. Though his tastes were rather for a life of quietude than bustle, he was by no means destitute of executive ability, nor did he shrink from taking his share in guiding and moulding the destinies of the Church. In every relation he sustained, his pure and noble spirit was impressively exemplified. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D.D. NIcHOLAs MURRAY, a son of Nicholas and Judith (Mangum) Murray, was born in the county of Westmeath, Ireland, on the 25th of December, 1802. His father was a man of considerable influence in his neighborhood, but he died while this son was in early childhood. Both his parents were in the communion of the Roman Catholic Church. After having been sent to school three years, - from the age of nine till the age of twelve, - he was apprenticed as a merchant's clerk, near Edgeworthstown; but, on account of the unkind treatment he received there, he ran away and returned home. Though his mother earnestly advised him to return to the place he had vacated, he persisted'in re BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 173 fusing to do so, saying that he purposed going abroad into the world to seek his own fortune. Accordingly, in 1818, he took leave of his native coun try, and sailed for New York, where, on his arrival, he found himself in a land of strangers and almost pen niless. After looking about a short time for employ. ment, he engaged himself as a proof-reader, or for any other service of which he was capable, to those wellknown publishers, the Harpers. Up to this time his faith in the religious system to which he had been trained had not even begun to falter; and when, through the influence of one of his associates, who afterwards became a Mlethoclist minister, he was induced to read the New Testament, and, as a consequence, renounced his faith in Romanism, he rejected Christianity altogether and became an avowed infidel. At the suggestion of some young men, students in Dr. Mason's Seminary, with whlom he became acquainted, he went to hear Dr. Mason preach; and so deeply was he impressed by the sermon, that he went home to read his Bible with a view to entering on a new life. Feeling the need of some one to counsel him, he was introduced to Dr. Spring, who cheerfully became his spiritual adviser, and, after about a year and a half, admitted him to the communion of his church. Mir. Murray, as he had the opportunity of exhibiting' his talents and virtues, began to attract the attention of some benevolent individuals, who very soon proposed to him, to lay aside the work in which he was engaged, and, at their expense, to begin his preparation for the Christian ministry. After consideiing the generous proposal for some little time, he determined to accept 174 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. it; and he did accept it, and entered upon his studies, without, however, altogether relinquishing at once his previous occupation. In the fall of 1821 he became a member of the Amherst Academy, where he completed his preparation for college. He entered Williams College in 1822, and graduated in 1826, being the whole time under the presidency of Dr. Griffin, who continued through life his fast friend, and whose character was the object of his intense admiration. After leaving college, he was very successfully employed, for a short time, as agent of the American Tract Society, in the northern part of the State of New York, and then became a member of the Theological Seminary at Princeton. At the close of a year, in consequence of pecuniary embarrassment, he resumed his agency under the Tract Society, making Philadelphia the scene of his labors. Here he established a Branch Tract Society, and acted as its secretary for eighteen months; and then he resumed his place in the Seminary, having kept along with the studies of his class during the whole period of his absence. The compensation which he received for his labors enabled him to complete his theological course without further embarrassment. Mr. Murray was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in April, 1828. After preaching a short time with great acceptance in Morristown, he engaged as a Domestic Missionary, and, at the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Engles, of Philadelphia, went to Wilkesbarre, where the Presbyterian Church was with. out a pastor. Here he preached for a short time as a candidate, and then received a call, which he accepted. He was ordained and installed in November, 1829. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 175 In the antumn of 1832, he attended the meeting of the Synod of New Jersey at Morristown, and, by ap. pointment, preached a sermon on Domestic Missions. His congregation at Wilkesbarre were then engaged in building a church; and he asked Dr. McDowell, of Elizabethtown, if his people would not listen to an application to assist them in the enterprise. Dr. McDowell replied, that if he would come to Elizabethtown, and repeat the sermon that he had preached before the Synod, he doubted not that something might be done. Mr. Murray, accordingly, went and preached, and obtained a liberal contribution to his object. When that congregation became vacant, by the removal of Dr. McDowell to Philadelphia, the next year, Mr. Murray received a unanimous call to become his successor. He accepted the call, and was installed in July, 1833. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the college at which he graduated, in 1843. Dr. Murray's noble qualities of mind and heart rendered him an object of attraction to several of the most prominent churches in the land. He had calls, at different times, from Boston, Brooklyn, Charleston, S. C., Natchez, St. Louis, and Cincinnati; but he preferred to occupy the field in w1hich Providence had already placed him. He was appointed to a Professorship in two Theological Seminaries, but in both instances declined the appointment. In 1849, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church conferred upon him one of its highest honors, by choosing him its Moderator. Twice in his latter years Dr. Murray crossed the ocean, and travelled extensively, not only ill England, Scotland, and Ireland, but on the continent of Europe. 176 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. These visits brought him in contact with many of the most illustrious minds of the day. The high reputation that had preceded him secured to him a cordial welcome, and his fine powers, and genial manner, and earnest piety, to say nothing of his remarkable history, fully justified the best things that had been said of him. It may safely be said that few American clergymen have found more ready access to the best European society, or have left behind them a more honored name than did Dr. Murray. When he had nearly reached his threescore years, his vigor had not begun perceptibly to wane, and there was nothing visible to indicate that he was not destined to many years more of active usefulness. But, notwithstanding these hopeful appearances, the time of his departure was at hand. Accustomed to pay an annual visit to a friend in Albany, he had actually made his preparations for the journey, when he was seized with the imalady which, in a few days, changed him into a corpse. In the full possession of his faculties, he uttered words of counsel and comfort to those around him, and passed away in the joyful hope of being admitted to the communion of the ransomed in Heaven. He died on the 1 Ith of February, 1861. Dr. Murray was married, in the year 1830, to Eliza J., daughter of the Rev. Morgan Reese, a distinguished Baptist clergyman, who emigrated from Wales, and settled in Philadelphia. They became the parents of ten children, only four of whom now survive. The two sons have been graduated at Williams College, one of vwhlom is a lawyer, the other in a course of prepara. tion for the ministry. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 177 Dr. Murray's character, intellectual, moral, religious, was well formecld and eminently attractive. His mind was comprehensive and logical, and always reached its conclusions by a luminous process. He had the common birthright of his countrymen,- an exuberance of wit, which he dealt out in the form of mirthful pleasantry, or cutting sarcasm, as occasion required. His heart was the natural dwelling-place of generous purposes and kindly feelings, and perfect sincerity breathed in all his utterances. His presence was always an element of pleasure in the social circle; for he could accommodate himself with great facility to every variety of intellect and every shade of character. As a Christian, he was thoroughly grounded in the truth, stood firm to his convictions of right, and was always ready to improve every opportunity of doing good; and if, sometimes, his natural proclivity to good-humor may have seemed to some excessive, his daily life proved that it was consistent with an earnest and elevated piety. As a Preacher, he held a high rank among the lights of the American pulpit. While his sermons were of a deeply evangelical tone, they were so clear and forcible, and well adapted, that they never failed to command attention and awaken interest. His fine executive talent gave him great influence in church courts, and in ecclesiastical matters generally, while it rendered him a competent guide and an efficient agent in adjusting the private affairs of some of his parishioners. In his own family he was a model of all that was generous and attractive; he was dignified and yet full of love and of life. With the' members of his congregation he was on terms of great familiarity, -while yet he was the faithful and devoted 12 178 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. pastor, always ready to move about among them, when he could carry blessings in his train. But perhaps the very crown of his usefulness was his authorship. Besides several sermons and addresses of great excellence, printed in pamphlet form, he published Letters to Bishop Hughes, under the signature of Kirwan; Notes, Historical and Biographical, concerning Elizabethtown, N. J.; Romanism at Home; Men and Things, as I saw them in Europe; Parish and other Pencillings; and The Happy Home.' Of these, the volume containing Letters to Bishop Hughes has had the widest circulation, having not only passed through many editions in this country and Great Britain, but having been translated also into several foreign languages. It is written with great power and consummate skill; and it will always remain, not only as a grand testimony in favor of truth and right, but as an evidence that its author had one of the brightest Ininds as well as the most remarkable experiences of his day. JOHN M. KREBS, D.D. JOHN MICHAEL KIREBs, a son of William and Ann (Adamson) Krebs, was born at Hagerstown, Md., on the 6th of May, 1804. His father was of German, his mother of English, extraction; and both were of highly respectable families. When he was about fourteen or fifteen years of age, having previously received a good common education, he became a clerk in the post-office, while part of his time was spent in his father's store. Thllough he was fond of reading, and devoted to it all his intervals of leisure, he became ultimately so identified with the post-office, that he had the chief direction of it; 'A W =~~~~ AIAI ~ ~ ~ y..........EG,D.D 6,HO B RA6NE RD,2 _ 0 )GURLEY,D-D A -g id nW air i i ii Ali Ii HAS C B E AT-TY, -D BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 179 and in this way his fine executive abilities were admirably developed. He continued to be thus employed till his father's death, which occurred in 1822, and for more than a year after he was occupied in assisting to settle his father's estate. Though he had been educated in the German Reformed Church, yet, as the services in that church were conducted chiefly in German, he was accustomed to attend, for the most part, on Presbyterian preaching. Shortly before his father's death he became deeply thoughtful on the subject of religion; and, not long after it, without having scarcely revealed the silent workings of his spirit to an individual, indulged a hope of acceptance with God, and joined the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. John Lind. Having determined to devote himself to the ministry, he began to prepare for college; and having made the requisite preparation, partly under the private instruction of Mr. Lind, and partly at the Hagerstown Academy, he entered the Sophomore class of Dickinson College, then under the Presidency of Dr. Neill, early in 1825. Here he had a high standing, and graduated with distinguished honor, in 1827. Shortly after his graduation he began his theological studies under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Duffield, then of Carlisle; but a few months after this, he became a teacher in a grammar-school connected with the college, and continued thus employed for two years. Meanwhile he was pursuing his theological studies, and early in 1829 was licensed by the Presbytery of Carlisle to preach the Gospel. After having preached for some 180 PRESBYTERIAN REUMON. time, by the appointment of Presbytery in that neighl borhood, he went, in lMay of the next year, to the Theological Seminary at Princeton, with a view to avail himself of the advantages of that institution. As he arrived at Princeton during the vacation of the Seminary, he determined to make a brief visit to some of his friends in New York, and the result of that visit was, that he was introduced as a candidate to the Rutgers Street Church; and though he returned to Princeton for a short time, he afterwards went back to New York, and, after preaching for the Rutgers Street people two or three months, received a call to become their Pastor. This call he accepted, and, in Novemlber, 1830, he was duly set apart to the pastoral office. From the commencement of his career in New York, he attracted great attention, especially for his remarkable executive ability. In 1837, he was appointed Permanent Clerk of the General Assembly, and held the office till 1845, in which year he was Moderator of that venerable body. He was elected Clerk of the Presbytery and Synod of New York, in 1841, and Director, of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, in 1842; and'was appointed President of the Board of Directors in 1866. He was a member of the Board of Foreign Missions from its organization till his death. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dickinson College, in 1841. He publishedc several occasional sermons, which show great facility of adaptation. Dr. Krebs had a good constitution, and generally enjoyed vigorous health, but he was subject to turns of nervous prostration, that, in several instances, occasioned a serious interruption of his labors. In the summer of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 181 A 353, and again in the summer of 1865, he spent several months in travelling in Europe, for the benefit of his health; and in both cases, the desired object was, in a good degree, realized. In the summer of 1867, he became greatly disordered in respect to both his bodily and mental faculties, and, after a lingering process of decay, which medical skill could not arrest, he passed on to mingle in higher scenes. He died on the 30th of September, 1867, and at his funeral, which was attended on the 2d of October, addresses were delivered by Drs. Spring, and R. W. Dickinson, and the other services conducted by several prominent clergymen in the neighborhood. Dr. Krebs was married in 1830, to Sarah Harris. daughter of Andrew and Annie Holmes, of Carlisle. Mrs. Krebs died in 1837, having been the mother of two children, both of whom survived her. In 1839, he was married to Ellen Dewitt, daughter of John Chambers, of Newburgh, who also became the mother of several children, and died in 1863. Both of his wives were persons of great excellence, and contributed much to his usefulness and happiness. Dr. Krebs was a short, but thick-set man, and had great quickness and energy of movement, and a countenance expressive at once of vivacity and strength. His intellect was much above the common order, being'at once rapid in its movements, and clear and logical in its conclusions. He had an unusually genial and versatile temperament, and, without compromising his dignity, could accommodate himself to every variety of character and circumstances. His mind was of an eminently practical turn, and could never be at rest unless it were 182 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. working out some beneficial results. His Christian character was marked by great quietness, earnestness, and efficiency; and, when his mind was not clouded through the influence of bodily disease, by great cheer. fulness also. His sermons on the Sabbath were generally written, and were full of evangelical truth, exhibited in a luminous and impressive manner. His mode of delivery was simple and natural, and sometimes rose to a high pitch of earnestness. He could extemporize with great ease and fluency, and some of his unpremeditated utterances are believed to have been among his most effective. With great executive ability, directed and sanctified by a living faith, and a gracious influence from above, he was a most active and useful member of all ecclesiastical bodies. Indeed, he adorned every relation he sustained; and when he passed away, all who had known him, felt that he entered on a glorious reward. CORTLANDT VAN RENSSELAER, D.D. CORTLANDT VAN RENSSELAER belonged to one of the most ancient and honored families in our country. His father was General Stephen Van Rensselaer, a man of immense wealth, and great personal and political influence, well known as the " Patroon" of Albany. His mother was a daughter of the Hon. William Patterson, Governor of New Jersey, and one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Both parents were not only distinguished in the walks of philanthropy, but possessed, in other respects, a marked Christian character, and were specially careful to train BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 183 up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He was born in Albany, on the 25th of May, 1808. He passed his early years at home, but in due time was fitted for college, and entered at Yale, where also he was graduated in 1827. For three years after his graduation, he was engaged in the study of the Law, and, in 1830, was admitted to the Bar in the State of New York. Before the close of that year, however, the great purpose of his life seems to have been changed, and he resolved to devote himself to the ministry of the Gospel. This was in consequence of his having experienced a silent but thorough change of character, which led him to wish to make the most of life, as an opportunity for doing good, and as a preparation for Heaven. Accordingly, in 1830, he became a student in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, but, after remaining there two years, took his dismission, and connected himself with the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia; and there he passed the last year of his preparation for the ministry. Mr. Van Rensselaer, during his whole theological course, seems to have been deeply impressed especially by the moral degradation of the slaves at the South; and no sooner had he left the Seminary, than his efforts for ameliorating their condition began. He accepted an invitation from a distinguished Virginia planter, General Cocke, at that time well known in the walks of Christian benevolence, to live in his family, and labor among the occupants of his plantation. Here, and especially through the influence of Mr. Van Rensselaer, was built one of the first, if not the very first, of the chapels in Virginia for the religious instruction of the colored population. In this 184 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. self-denying work of endeavoring to instruct and elevate these poor people, he continued vigorously engaged until the fall of 1835, when certain changes in the political state of things not only made his position an uncomfortable one, but revealed to him the necessity of seeking another field of labor. Accordingly, in a letter to the West Hanover Presbytery, by which he had been ordained, he asked for his dismission, stating what he had regarded the sources of encouragement in his labors, and what he then regarded as the death of all his hopes of usefulness in that field. Mr. Van Rensselaer, on leaving Virginia, came northward, and in 1837 was instrumental of establishing a church in Burlington, N.J., and was installed as its Pastor on the 29th of June. He resigned his charge in May, 1840; but always retained for the church a warm affection, and was ready to do his utmost for the promotion of its interests. For two or three of the following years, he lived chiefly in Washington City, where he supplied the pulpit of a feeble church. In 1843, he was invited, by the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, to undertake an agency for increasing its funds. He accepted the appointment, and travelled over a large portion of the United States, and collected one hundred thousand dollars; and when he resigned his commission, he refused to accept any compensation for his services, and insisted even on paying the expenses of his long and tedious journey. In 1845, Mr. Van Rensselaer received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from the University of New York. Early in 1846, he was elected, by a unanimous vote of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 185 the Presbyterian Board of Education, their Corresponding Secretary. In this office he performed what may justly be considered the great work of his life. He entered upon it under a deep sense of its magnitude, and a corresponding distrust of his own ability for the successful performance of it, but at the same time with a resolution that scarcely knew a limit, and in humble dependence on the higher influences of God's grace. And in this work he showed that he was willing to spend and be spent. He wrote and published numerous essays and addresses, designed to awaken the public mind to the importance of a thorough Christian training. He assisted many a poor youth of promise either by his own generous contributions, or through the kindness of others which he enlisted in their behalf, to gain the requisite qualifications for the Christian ministry; and it is believed there are those still actively and faithfully en gaged as the ministers of Christ, who, but for his influence, would never have been invested with the sacred office. In short, his ruling passion was to help forward thecause of Christ, especially in connection with the great object to which he was devoted,- the increase and the improvement of the Christian ministry. He had many testimonies of respect and good-will from the Presbyterian Church, one of which was his being chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1857. The illness that brought Dr. Van Rensselaer to his grave, was a lingering and protracted one. For many weeks previous to his death his case was regarded hopeless; but so intent was he on doing good, that, after he became too feeble to use his pen, he kept on writing by another's hand. Dmuring the session of the General 186 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Assembly at. Rochester, in May, 1860, the announcement of his death was daily expected; and, as a testimony of the high regard which that venerable body bore for his exalted worth, they all (numbering more than three hundred) signed their names to a letter, expressive of the warmest gratitude for his distinguished services. On the morning of his death, he was carried out upon the veranda, that he might enjoy the fresh air, and the beautiful prospect that opened around him; and while there, the cord that bound him to life was broken. He died on the 25th of July, 1860, and the discourse at his funeral was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, Doctors Plumer, Boardman, and Chester, participating in the services. His remains were taken to Albany, and interred in the family vault. Dr. Van Rensselaer was married, in 1836, to Catharine, daughter of Dr. Mason T. Cogswell, of Hartford, Conn., for many years one of the most eminent physicians in that state. They had eight children, - six sons, and two daughters; five of whom, with their mother, still survive. Dr. Van Rensselaer was a large, strongly built man, and, during the greater part "of his life, enjoyed vigorous, uninterrupted health. His face would lead one to expect a clear, practical, well-ordered mind, rather than one of extraordinary brilliancy. His manners were simple and unostentatious, without any of those artificial airs which are too often associated with the consciousness of superior rank. His mind was naturally clear, comprehensive, and correct; and though it had been subjected to careful culture, it was manifestly most in its element when it was devising or carrying BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 18 7 out plans of doing good. His heart easily warmed with generous affection, and his ear opened spontaneously to the tale of want or sorrow. Iis religion diffused itself as an all-pervading influence, sanctifying and elevating his whole character. In his family, he was a model of gentleness and kindness, but never lacking in domestic dignity and decision. In the ordinary intercourse of life, he was always upon the lookout for opportunities of doing good, and either by a word in season, or by some timely gift, he very often accomplished his object. In the pulpit, he could not be said to be eminently attractive to the multitude, but his sermons were always full of sound evangelical thought, clearly and vigorously expressed, and pressed upon the heart and conscience with much more than ordinary power. In the various more public relations to the Church which he sustained, especially in the office of Secretary and General Agent of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church, the generosity of his heart, in connexion with his excellent common-sense, and thoroughly practical tendencies, made him eminently a man of mark. He lived to bless his generation, and through them his good influence will extend to posterity; and, as long as the record of his life remains, his name will be held in cherished remembrance. That which, more'than any thing else, gave complexion to Dr. Van Rensselaer's character and life, was his devotedness to his self-denying work, in connection with the position of ease and worldly independence that seemed to come to him as his birthright. After he had graduated at college, and fitted himself to enter the legal profession, in which, doubtless, he might have become 188 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. eminent, he directed his thoughts to the Christian min. istry; and from that time, he seemed to forget every thing else in the one all-engrossing object of doing good. What were great worldly possessions, including all the luxuries of life, to him who had deliberately consecrated every thing to the service and glory of his Redeemer? He began his professional career among the slaves of Virginia, and he closed it in faithful efforts, and generous benefactions, designed to elevate the character of the ministry throughout our whole Presbyterian Church; and the whole interval was spent in intense devotion to his work. Let every scoffer at the ministry contemplate this noble character, and be confounded. Let every minister of the Gospel contemplate it, and be encouraged, strengthened, comforted. PHINEAS D. GURLEY, D.D. PIINEAS DENSMORE GUURLEY, the youngest child of Phineas and Elizabeth (Fox) Gurley, was born at Hamilton, Madison County, New York, on the 12th of November, 1816. But during the infancy of this son, the family removed to Parishville, St. Lawrence County. His father was born and educated a Quaker, though his ancestry were Scotch Covenanters; and his mother was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, though she frequently attended the Presbyterian Church, and in all her intercourse was a model of Christian charity. He received the rudiments of his education at the academy in Parishville. As a child, he was remarkably amiable and gentle in his disposition, and was especially distinguished for a spirit of reverential obedience toward his parents. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIIES. 18 9 In the year 1831, a revival of religion, of great interest, was experienced in the village in which his lot was cast. Under a sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Cannon, of Geneva, he became deeply impressed with a sense of his own sinfulness, and, after a season of intense agony, found rest, as he believed, in a cordial acceptance of Christ as his Saviour. Shortly after this, he united with the church in Parishville, being then about fifteen years of age. Immediately after this, he not only felt a desire, but formed a purpose, to become a minister of the Gospel; and his father, though his pecuniary means were limited, finally consented that he should receive a liberal education. Accordingly, after having been engaged in his preparatory course about a year, he was admitted a member of Union College, in 1833, before he was sixteen years of age. At the close of his first year in college, he was summoned home to see his mother die; but before his arrival, she had departed, leaving it as her dying message to him, " that he should be a faithful minister for Jesus." This message was treasured among his most cherished remembrances as long as he lived. The scantiness of his pecuniary resources obliged him to teach a school at intervals, during his college course: but notwithstanding this, he maintained a high position in his class, and graduated, in 1837, with the first honor. Shortly after his graduation, Mr. Gurley entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, where also he took a very high stand, as a scholar, a gentleman, and a Christian. During the vacation of 1838, he performed missionary labor in Sussex County, Del., and, by this 190 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. means, not only acquired a greater facility of extempo. raneous speaking, but learned many important lessons that he was able to turn to good account in his subsequent ministry. In April, 1840, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, by the Presbytery of North River, at Cold Spring, New York. His first sermon, which was preached in Newburgh, shortly after his license, made so decidedly favorable an impression, that it brought him an immediate call to become Associate Pastor with the Rev. Dr. Johnson, who was then far advanced in life. The church in Indianapolis, Ind., having become vacant in 1839, its strength was much reduced by the withdrawal of a large number, who formed a second church (N. S.), with the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher as their Pastor. The first church, consisting of about one hundred and fifty members, and worshipping in an old and incommodious edifice, requested Dr. Archibald Alexander, through a commissioner to the General Assembly, in 1840, to recommend to them some suitable person for a minister. He recommended Mr. Gurley; and, accordingly, Mr. Gurley was applied to, accepted their invitation, and, on the 15th of December, was received by the Presbytery of Indianapolis, was ordained to the work of the ministry, and installed as Pastor of the church which had called him. Here he very soon acquired a powerful influence, not only by his correct, able, scriptural preaching, but by his faithfulness as a pastor, and his considerate, exemplary deportment in all the relations of life. The rapid increase of his congregation created the necessity for a new church-edifice; and this was built, chiefly in response to his appeals and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 191 efforts, and was dedicated in May, 1843. In the early part of that year, a revival of religion took place under his ministry, in which his labors were most abundant, and from which was gathered much precious fruit. During his ministry here, he visited Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, and several other places, in seasons of revival; and his labors were always attended with a manifest blessing. In November, 1849, Mr. Gurley preached in the First Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio, and assisted the pastor in the communion service. That congregation, becoming vacant soon after, elected him as its Pastor. Influenced largely by a regard to the health of his family, he accepted the call, and was installed by the Presbytery of Miami, in April, 1850. Here he remained four years, during which time he was indefatigable in his labor, and the church enjoyed unwonted prosperity. The pastoral relation of the Rev. Dr. D. X. Junkin, to the F Street Presbyterian Church, in Washington City, having been dissolved in October, 1853, the congregation, by advice of the several Presbyterian ministers in Baltimore, unanimously called Dr. Gurley (for meanwhile he had received the degree of Doctor of Divinity) to become their Pastor, and that without even having had the opportunity to hear him preach. He immediately visited Washington, and preached to the congregation, who, after having heard him, repeated their call. He returned to Dayton, and announced to his people his determination to remain with them; but, upon more mature reflection, he reversed his decision, and resigned his charge, and, in 192 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. March, 1854, was installed pastor of the F Street Church, by the Presbytery of Baltimore. Here he continued, discharging his various duties with great fidelity and success, until he finished his course with'joy. In 1858, he served as Chaplain in the Senate of the United States. In 1859, a union of the Second Presbyterian Church with the F Street Church having been consummated, the united body was known from that time as the New York Avenue Church, Dr. Gurley continuing its Pastor. To the building of the noble edifice now occupied by this church, he contributed largely, by collecting funds, both at home and abroad. In 1865, the church with which he was connected, in accordance with his advice, established a Mission Church in the northern part of the city, which he helped to sustain and advance by every means in his power. He had a high estimate of the importance of Church Extension, and, both by his teachings and his example, did much to promote it. Dr. Gurley was a commissioner from his Presbytery to the General Assembly that met at St. Louis, in May, 1866. As Chairman of the Judicial Committee of that Assembly, he exerted a commanding influence, and was especially active in securing the passage of certain resolutions, having a bearing on the then distracted state of the country and the Church. The same General Assembly appointed him a member of the Committee of Fifteen to confer with a similar Committee of the lNew School General Assembly, in regard to the reunion of the Presbyterian Church. Here he labored with great care, and yet with great diligence, and, though at BIOGRAPmICAL SKETCHES. 193 first doubtful, became ultimately satisfied, of the desirableness of reunion. He was again commissioned by his Presbytery to attend the General Assembly which met at Cincinnati, in May, 1867. Of that body, he was chosen Moderator; and by the promptness and skill with which he presided, as well as the graceful and cordial welcome which he gave to the delegation of foreign ministers present on the occasion, he excited general admiration. Dr. Gurley's ministry at Washington brought him in contact with many of the higher class of minds; and several of the successive Presidents of the United States, and many others holding exalted stations, were among his stated hearers. With President Lincoln, especially, he was on terms of intimacy; and one reason which the President gave for liking him as a preacher, was, that he kept so far aloof from politics. Dr. Gurley, as a pastor, was called to attend him in his last hours; and after the death-scene was over, he offered a most touching and impressive prayer; and afterwards, at the funeral, delivered an address of great pathos and power. He accoempanied the remains of the President to their last resting-place in Springfield, Illinois, and there closed the series of funeral services. At the time of Dr. Gurley's attendance at the General Assembly at St. Louis, his health seemed firm, andthere was every thing in his appearance to justify the expectation that he would see yet many more years of active usefulness. But even then, he was rapidly nearing the close. On the first Sabbath of February of the next year, he felt constrained to ask leave of 13R 194 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. absence from his congregation for a few months, in the hope of being able to return to them with invigorated health. His request was readily granted, and he went immediately to Philadelphia, and stopped with a much loved friend there for about six weeks. Thence he went to Richmond, Va., and afterwards to Brooklyn, N.Y.; and then to Clifton Springs. Being fully impressed with the conviction that his malady must soon prove fatal, he requested that he might be carried back to Washington to die; and, accordingly, he reached his earthly home a little less than a week before he took possession of the building of God. His departure was eminently peaceful, and even glorious. He died on the 30th of September, 1868. In October, 1840, he was married to Emma, youngest daughter of Horace Brooks, M.D., of Parishville, where he spent his early years. Mrs. Gurley and five children - three sons and two daughters - survived him. Dr. Gurley had a well formed and robust frame, that seemed fittingly to represent his intellectual and moral character. He had great power of endurance, and could perform more labor than almost any of his contemporaries. He was earnest and firm, yet condescending and conciliatory. His preaching was not highly impassioned, but it was eminently clear, evangelical, and spirited, and fitted to find its way to both the understanding and the heart. As a Pastor, he united great discretion with great fidelity, and no one knew better than he how to mingle in scenes of sorrow. As a Presbyter, the various ecclesiastical bodies with which he BIOGRAPMICAL SKETCHES. 195 was connected have testified their respect for him and their confidence in him, by placing him in their highest positions of influence and responsibility. As a Christian, he was humble, zealous, consistent; and his grand inquiry always was, what his Lord and Master would have him to do. CHAPTER FOURTH. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH). BY THE REV. Z. M. HUMPHREY, D.D. Each branch of the Church has its own individual life.- First Officers of the New School.-Samuel Fisher, D.D.-The Rev. E. W. Gilbert.- Erskine iMason, D.D. -Edward D. Griffin, D.D.-James Patterson, D.D.- Gideon Blackburn, D.D.-James Richards, D.D.-Henry Mills, D.D.-Henry White, D.D. - Edward Robinson, D.D. -Lyman Beecher, D.D. - Thomas Brainerd, D. D. - George Duffield, D.D. — Artemas Bullard, D. D. - The Rev. Frederick Starr, Jr. - Thornton A. Mills, D.D. — Frederick Starr, Esq. - Hon. William Jessup. EVERY vigorous association has an organic life, which is marked more or less clearly by individual characteristics. This is especially true of the Church of Christ. In a subordinate sense, it is true of each of the divisions of the Church. The Greek, the Roman, the Protestant Church - each is individual. The same is true of denominations, and of the minor divisions into which denominations are separated. The history of a Church, therefore, must be treated somewhat as we treat that of a man, -presenting it in its personal character, as well as in its relations. In writing even single chapters of such a history, some analysis must be made of the elements and forces which give the history its tone. The Presbyterian Church of America, for example, may be compared to the Mediterranean, if not to the Atlantic. It has a direct connection with the Church *,~~~~z- T -H ==EN- -r NEW YORK CH — O TE VV~iN- NNVYOtE BIOGRAPHICAL SKITCiES. 221 But Hebrew never was the chosen language of Dr. Robinson. He always preferred the Greek; and de. voted himself peculiarly to the unfolding of its treasures, especially as found in the mines of the New Testament. After remaining in Andover three years, he repaired to Europe for wider opportunities of study than this country afforded. - He spent four years abroad, residing mainly at Halle and Berlin, and enjoying an intimate association with such scholars as Gesenius, Tholuck, iRodiger, and Neander. In 1830, he returned to Andover, where he received the appointment of " Professor Extraordinary of Sacred Literature, and Librarian." In 1837, he accepted the appointment of Professor of Biblical Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, on the express condition that before entering upon the duties of the professorship, he should be permitted to spend three or four years in exploring Bible lands, espe cially the Sinaitic Desert and Palestine. The results of this exploration, published in three volumes, gave him immediate rank as a scholar and a scientific discoverer. The gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London was awarded him. The University of HallE conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Yale College that of Doctor of Laws. After entering upon his duties in the Union Seminary, he continued to discharge them, except as they were interrupted by subsequent travel, until his death, in January, 1863. He made a second tour to Palestine, in 1852, and afterwards published an additional volume of his "LResearches." He visited Germany, for relief from disease in 1861, and died January 27, 1863. 222 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. His literary labors were incessant and varied, yet always those of the Biblical scholar. He was the founder of both the Bibltical Pepository and the Bibliotheca Sacra; and his contributions to both are of permanent value. His Greek Harmony of the Gospels was a great improvement upon that of any one who had attempted that work before him. For his Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament, there is as yet no readily accessible substitute. As an exegete, he was critical, yet reverent. He never sacrificed the truth to an accent or a particle. His views of inspiration were well-defined, and consistently applied. In this respect, he was remarkable, - seeming the more so, when we consider the wide ranges of scholarship over which he travelled. It is a prevailing complaint of those who pursue their studies in foreign lands, that they become unsoundly " broad " in their opinions. Dr. Robinson was catholic, but never careless. Hle never caught that critical spirit which interprets the Bible as Neibuhr and others after him interpreted Roman history. He did not suspect fables in Genesis, because the story of Romulus and Remus was doubted. HIe never ran the knife through the threads of Revelation, that, first destroying, he might then explain it. He was sufficiently " scientific " to recognize the difference between the natural and the supernatural elements of the Scriptures; but not so scientific as to reject the supernatural. He did not find a miracle where no miracle was recorded, but he resolved no miracle into a myth. The essential truths of the Bible were all illumined by his investigations; they were never dimmed. It would be an occasion of unfailing regret that he died without BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 223 leaving us a solitary commentary, had he not given to Christian scholars such abundant materials for independent conclusions. His Lexicon is of more value to the student than most, or than many commentaries. It is easy to see that such a mind and heart must have exerted a powerful formative influence upon the Church, through those whom he moulded and quickened. It is not so easy to trace that influence to its limits. Omniscience only can follow the lines of light, the pulsations of the air, the transformations of moisture, or the vital forces which go out and on from a great and sanctified human soul. It is by no means easy to determine whether Dr. LYMAN BEECHiER * should be classed among the instructors or the preachers of our Church. Logically, his place in this record would be among the instructors; for his direct connections with the Presbyterian Church were formed in the year 1832, by his acceptance of the office of President and Professor of'Theology in Lane Theological Seminary. Yet, at nearly the same time, he took his place among our pastors, by his installation over the Second Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, in 1833. On the whole, considering his mental habits and peculiarities, we should class him among the preachers, and assign him a rank second to that of none. He was a man of genius, and of an individuality most marked. Genius always develops itself most perfectly in some single line. Michael Angelo is great in art, Milton in poetry. Neander had genius as a professor, none at * Son of David Beecher. Born at New Haven, Conn., October 12th, 1775. Died at Brooklyn, January 10th, 1863. 224 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. all as an orator. One might compare Neander with Dr. Beecher, when rehearsing odd stories of the abstracted ways of either. Either might appear in the morning with a slipper on one foot, and a boot on the other. Neander was never presentable except through his sister's care. Dr. Beecher had often to submit to adjustment by female hands, when he rushed from his study with a hopeless-looking manuscript, as the last stroke of the church-bell died away. But, unlike Neander, Dr. Beecher was a preacher in grain. He was still preacher when he attempted the duties of professor. Neander steadily read from his manuscript, twirling a quill - the symbol of his power - in his fingers. Dr. Beecher broke often impulsively away from his manuscript, and preached to his students as if the "great congregation'" was before him. His feelings were perpetually breaking through the methods of his intellect and flaming out in unpremeditated eloquence. HIe was already a preacher by constitution, while, yet a lad, he discouraged his uncle, Lot Benton, in all attempts to teach him the mysteries of the plow. He went to college expecting to be a preacher. He took notes of Dr. Dwight's sermons,'" condensing and making skeletons," with all a preacher's instincts, though, as yet, unconverted. His earliest attempt at literary composition was an argument against Tom Paine's infidelities. He discovered the fallacy of Samuel Clark's famous argument for the being of a God, even while praising the ingenuity with which his schoolmate, Roger Sherman, defended the fallacy. He was always ready for discussion, and always characteristic in his treatment of the subjects he debated. lIe was not without method BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 225 in his thinking; yet method was not his distinguishing peculiarity. Ideas lay in his mind in a state of fusion. His favorite definition of eloquence, was, A" logic afire;" and he exemplified his definition. Some men first refine their thoughts by mental heats, then coin them. He, not unfrequently, poured his out hot from the crucible. He is said to have been, like other great preachers, occasionally dull. If so, it was because at such times the furnace did not draw. In his more common moods, he was any thing but dull. Very seldom could the sarcasm of Heinrich Heine be applied to what he spoke or penned, - " I was reading this book, and fell asleep. I dreamt that I went on with the reading, and three times I was waked up by its tediousness." Such a man as this will always be both understood and misunderstood. The intensity'of his convictions, and of the language in which they are expressed, will be such that he will neglect some proper qualifications of his thought, or purposely leave them for the hearer or reader; believing that the impression of a thought is often weakened by encumbering it with related thoughts. Hence he will need to make many explanations to those who think he has slighted some qualifying idea. Some will say that he is " lno theologian," while few theologians " to the manner born " will exert an immediate influence so penetrative and powerful. Dr. Beecher could be exact in his statements, but we must judge him by the laws of his individuality. Had he been of cooler temperament, and of more cautious habit, he would have been less effective. The discussions of the period of the division would not have cir15 2 2 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. cled so swiftly about him; but he would have been far less of a man. To rehearse those discussions, or to make an analysis of Dr. Beecher's views at this time, is not within our province. We are unwilling to disturb even the echoes of the past. Indeed, there is now but little dispute that though he made himself generally understood through some tribulation, he was substantially in accord with those Church standards of which he considered himself representative and defender. His great purpose in life was to move men rather than to mould them. Individual himself, he did not care to fashion men after other patterns than were designed for them by Him who planned their lives. He would move all men so that they should become disciples of the Lord. Thus by choice, as well as by nature and grace, he became a revival preacher. He went to Lane Theological Seminary, avowedly to make it a "revival institution."' He was attracted to the West by the ardent natures which there awaited him. He thought of the victories to be achieved for Christ among those who had carried the enterprise of the emigrant into what he foresaw would be the heart of the nation. He longed to be among the earliest in the conflict. No other call of duty could have drawn him from his post at Boston, where he seemed to be accomplishing more than any other man could have done. It must be conceded that the effect he produced upon the preaching of his time, was signal and wide-reaclh*ing. Methods of preaching change with the changing generations. If to-day the pulpit is characterized by more eloquence, by more "logic afire " than it was fifty BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 2 27 years ago, it is partly because of Dr. Beecher's influence. So, also, as to prevailing forms of theological thought and expression; Dr. Beecher's marks are upon these, though he has left but little which will be long associated with his name in the ranges of theological literature. His earthly immortality is not in print and binding. His works will not go into the permanent stock of booksellers, but his influences are abiding. In Litchfield as an advocate of temperance and an earnest preacher of the Gospel; in Boston as a corrector of pernicious doctrinal errors; in Cincinnati as intent upon the salvation of souls, - he was like Elisha, casting salt into corrupted waters. The salt was lost to sight, but the fountains were " healed." He left to others the not less useful work of laying the enduring curb-stones about the fountains' rims. It is impossible to give a perfect portraiture of Dr. Beecher. We have not attempted that of which his own children despaired. They sketched him, indeed, from various sides and in various moods; but condemned each sketch as faint and feeble. His connection with Lane Seminary continued through a period of twenty years. He was faithful to it. He gave it all he had -- himself. He gained for it many friends and no inconsiderable endowments. He saved it in a time of extreme depression. He left it, having accomplished for and by it, if not all he hoped, yet more than a less sanguine spirit than his could have ever expected. Among the most appreciative friends of Dr. Beecher, and closely associated with him in the discharge of pastoral duty while in Cincinnati, was Dr. TaHOMA BnAIN '28 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ERD. Like Dr. Beecher, he sprang from Puritan stock He was a member of a family already rendered illustrious by the labors of that devoted missionary, David Brainerd, and of his not less devoted brother John. He inherited many of the qualities which braced and gave tone to the characters of these missionaries. He was born in Lewis county, New York, in 1804. " Changing the sky " did not, at this period, change " the mind " of New England families. Dr. Brainerd was carefully nurtured in Puritan habits. His academic training was thorough. His early purpose was to enter the legal profession; and with this in view, he devoted some time to legal studies. But after being partially fitted for admission to the Bar, he abandoned these studies and engaged in the duties' of teacher at Philadelphia. There he became a member of Dr. James Patterson's Church, and formed an intimacy with him which was terminated only by the death of that eccentric but useful man. He remained in Philadelphia at this time but about a year; then repaired to Andover to study for the ministry. Soon after his graduation, in 1831, he went to Cincinnati, and became pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in that city. This position he resigned at the expiration of two years for the editor's chair, and conducted the cincinc,ati Journal and the Youth's Jiicagazinc nearly four years. During this period it was that he became associated with Dr. Beecher in the labors of the pulpit in the Second Church. In 1837 he left Cincinnati to take charge of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and remained in this pastorate until his death, in 1866. His relations to the New School Church continued therefore througl nearly the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 229 whole period of its independent existence. And no one was more thoroughly identified with it, or more sincerely devoted to its interests. He was a man of remarkable personal influence. Without the intense nature of Dr. Beecher, he had not a little of that magnetic force which in Dr. Beecher was so great. Without enjoying the culture of colleges, he was better disciplined than are many college graduates. He possessed by nature, or acquired by taste, what some students never obtain. Sidney Smith speaks of a friend into whose brain you could get a joke only by a surgical operation. Something like this may be said respecting scholarly habits of thought and speech in the case of those who have no natural aptitude for them. Dr. Brainerd had the gift of mastery over his mother-tongue, and used it as not abusing it. He had an uncommon fluency of speech, and his command of language was well nigh perfect. The choicest expressions came instantly to his lips. Sometimes quaint, he was never, like Dr. Patterson, grotesque. HIis sentences did not coruscate like Dr. Beecher's; but they flowed like a pleasant, and sometimes sparkling, stream. " From the lips of no one," says Albert Barnes, " could fall more pertinent and fit words, more complete sentences, more beautiful figures, more striking illustrations. In description, in statement, in argument, in warning, in appeal, in invective, his language presented the best forms of the Anglo-Saxon tongue." He was peculiarly happy in extemporary address. His congregation often expected most, when on rising to address them he declared himself least prepared. He never lost those tastes of the editor which were 230 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. exercised, not formed, in Cincinnati. We say "'not formed," for they were inborn. "No man," says one of distinguished authority, "'can be a successful editor, unless printer's ink beats in his veins instead of blood." Dr. Brainerd would have been successful had he devoted his life to the periodical press. He would sometimes write for the journals of Philadelphia, and always in a fresh and vivid style. A few articles from his pen appeared in the American Presbyterian ancd Theological ]Review, whose origin was due to a council of which he was a member. He has left us no volume except the lJife of John -Brainerd, a book whose style is of rare felicity. As a Pastor, Dr. Brainerd was almost unsurpassed. He was on terms of affectionate intimacy with the fam. ilies of his flock, - such intimacy that, if his visits were ever unexpected, they were never unwelcome. He was almost as likely to appear unheralded at the breakfasttable of a parishioner, as at his tea-table, thus varying the pleasure of an early morning ride by that of social intercourse and influence. He made even casual acquaintances feel that they were his friends. He was beloved by the young, into whose sympathies he entered with all the freshness of youth. No decay of physical vigor ever affected his heart or checked its perennial streams. To the very last his church was a favorite resort for young men. He never failed of their co-operation in all his purposes for the benefit of the Church and of society. In ecclesiastical matters he was always among the foremost. He took a special interest in the work of Church Extension in Philadelphia. The founding of IBOGRAPEICAL SKETCHES. 231 three of the most important, churches in the city was due in no small degree to his influence. The interests of his denomination were always near his heart; but he was never offensively a denominationalist. The whole city respected, revered, was proud of him. The nation had his sympathy in its darkest days. He was among the mnost active of those who contributed to the comfort of our soldiers, as during the late civil contest they passed through the city or lingered in its hospitals. And when the news of the surrender of General Lee thrilled the community with joy, his voice it was which led the thanksgivings of the multitude, as by spontaneous impulse they gathered under the shadow of Independence Hall. So ardent indeed were his patriotic feelings, so incessant were his patriotic labors during the period of strife, that it is supposed his life was materially shortened by their exhaustions. He officiated in his pulpit in Pine Street for the last time, July 8, 1866. His text on this occasion was, " Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." A little more than a month after this the evening fell, the day was over, and he passed " through night to light." Another name, well known in the annals of Presbyterianism, and associated more or less closely with that stronghold of the Church, Philadelphia, is that of DUFFIELD. During the period of the Revolution, George Duffield, D.D., was pastor of the Third or Pine Street Presbyterian Church in this city. He was an ardent patriot as well as an efficient minister, and officiated as chaplain of the Continental Congress. His son George was for many years Comptroller-General of the State 232 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Of Pennsylvania, and a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church. He resided in Strasburg, Lancaster county, where his son, perpetuating the same name, was born, July 4th, 1794. This GEORGE DUFFIELD is the subject of our present sketch. In the line of the Duffields, fidelity to the truth for conscience sake was conspicuous for many generations. That member of the family who first emigrated to America, left Ireland to enjoy Christian liberty, as his ancestors had left England for the same reason. We may be sure that nothing was lost from the good qualities of the Duffield blood when the father of our present subject married Faithful Slaymaker, of Huguenot extraction. It is thought, indeed, that her son inherited her qualities, rather than those of his father. In his youth, he was a wayward boy, but began to regard life as having some earnest purpose, while in the University of Pennsylvania, at which he was graduated May 30th, 1811. His first real interest in religion was occasioned by overhearing the conversation of two godly women; and his first conviction of sin, by a sermon preached by Dr. Archibald Alexander, on prayer. The way of peace he found long and difficult; but was led through it, so that soon after his graduation in Philadelphia, he repaired to New York, and placed himself for theological study, under the care of Dr. John M. Mason, who, with great interest, directed his education for the ministry, through the period of four full years. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, April 20th, 1815. He was then not quite twenty-one years of age, but he had been subjected to a somewhat rigorous discipline by the Presbytery, under whose care BIOGRAPHICAL SLKETCHES. 233 he had been for three years, and who, at every semiannual meeting during that time, examined him on regular or extra "parts of trial." The great questions pressed upon his notice were such as these: " What is saving faith in Christ? " "What is the grand essential fact to be believed in the first actings of saving faith? "'These questions were specially prominent in that day, and he was compelled by his own experiences, as well as by the searching examinations of Presbytery, to find a clear answer to them. They occasioned him much spiritual doubt and perplexity. If there was any thing individual in his theological views, it was because of this discipline. He had no difficulty in accepting the fact, as historically proved, that Christ died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. The hard point to solve, was, "What authority have I to believe that Christ died for me as a person? " It was solved at last in the conviction that the offers of salvation through\ Christ are freely made to all, and that the saving act of faith is first of all an appropriating act, by which the sinner accepts the gift as extended to, and meant for him. "This appropriating act of faith, I saw, was like the hand stretched forth to take the free gift, and make it mine in possession as it was mine in the offer. This became to me the way of peace, and joy, and strength, and holiness. So to preach the riches of His grace, and so to press upon sinners the acceptance of Him as their personal Saviour, as having died as particularly for each one as He did in general for all, I felt before my licensure to be the way to preach the very essence and marrow of the Gospel. The Presbytery at Philadelphia 231 PRESBYTERIAN REUMION. thought that in so doing, I taught that the sinner in his first actings of faith, must believe that he is one of the elect, and did not give me credit for the distinction made between faith's saying,' Christ is mine in God's gracious offer,' and the witness of the Spirit, through conscious dependence, enabling me to say,'He is mine in actual possession.' Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory." * A similar difficulty was found in harmonizing the immediate obligation of the sinner to believe in Christ, and the indispensable agency of the Htly Spirit to induce and enable him so to do. This difficulty was thus solved: " Moral corruption, I saw, was not regarded in the Scriptures, - i. e., viewed in the light of their definition of sin, as a physical entity or quality at all; but the attribute of voluntary moral agents, endowed with adequate capacities for moral obligation, and justly held responsible, under law, for obedience to God." So the agency of the Spirit in regeneration, was never'" a physical potency or an irresistible afflatus," but a " powerful motive moral force brought to bear upon the minds, consciences, and hearts of sinners, through the truth as revealed by Jesus Christ." In these solutions, he believed himself to be sustained by Scripture, and by some of the most distinguished authorities of the Church. We have referred to them at length, because they constitute the distinctive features of his preaching. Their definite declaration was accepted by Presbytery, after some discussion and delay, both at the time of his licensure and at that of his * Sermon delivered at the installation of Rev. W. A. McCorlde as his associate in Detroit. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 235 ordination and installation as pastor at Carlisle, Pa., in 1815. He remained at Carlisle nineteen years. He was then called to Philadelphia to succeed the Rev. Dr. Skinner, as pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church. Two years later he removed to New York, to assume the pastorate of the Broadway Tabernacle Church. But, after a year spent in this service, he accepted the call of the First Presbyterian, then styled "Protestant " Church, in Detroit, over which he was installed, October, 1838. Here he remained until his death, June 26th, 1868. These thirty years constituted the most important and fruitful period of his ministry. His influence extended over the whole State of Michigan, and measurably through the Church. He was thoroughly "pronouncedl" as a Presbyterian, and indefatigable in the promotion of the interests of the Gospel through his denomination. He was zealous in the work of domestic missions; he was abundant in labors, making use of the press, as well as of the pulpit; interesting himself in all matters of local importance; foremost in the cause of education, of temperance, of good morals. Scarcely a man in Detroit was so influential. He had his favorite ideas, as have all men of decided individuality; and he so impressed those ideas upon the popular mind and heart, that one will often hear them referred to as standard truths. Yet his culture was unusually broad and rich. He was thoroughly skilled in the use of the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and German languages. He was a careful student of the sciences, and so mastered them that he was a fit companion for the most scientific. His memory was unfailing, and his fancy 236 PRESBYTERIAN REUNON. brilliant. He was therefore always welcome in general society. He was a scholar among students, a savant among philosophers, a political economist among merchants. We well remember being in Detroit, a few years since, when a new building of the Board of Trade was formally opened. Dr. Duffield was among the most prominent in the exercises of the occasion. As a Preacher, he was vigorous, logical, persuasive. His feelings always lay so near the surface, that they suffused his speech at a touch. As a Philanthropist, he was untiring. As a Patriot, he was worthy of his ancestry. During the civil war, he was instrumental in the establishment of a hospital, and was among the most active in the service of the Christian Commission. He was never old in spirit, and his fire was never phosphorescent. We do but feeble justice to his memory in these unillumined sentences. We have space only for a few lines respecting his early and consistent advocacy of Presbyterian Reunion. He spoke upon that subject in the Assembly held at Detroit, in 1850, and was a recognized leader in the Assembly held at Washington, in 1852, when that movement was made which resulted in the organization of a distinct Committee on Home Missions. His interest in the subject took him to St. Louis, and also to Harrisburg. He intended to be present at the memorable Union Convention, held in Philadelphia, but was providentially detained. He watched with interest, and aided every judicious step towards the consummation which has at last been realized. Whatever may be or may have been thought of his peculiarities, in explain BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 237 ing or impressing our doctrinal symbols, no more ardent friend of the Church can be specified; scarcely any one has rendered it more signal service. He died as he had wished to die, " in the harness." Delivering an address before the International Convention of the Young Men's Christian Association at Detroit, June 24th, 1868, he suddenly paused, and with an exclamation of distress, fell into the arms of those near est him. He was tenderly borne to his home, and there, two days afterward, expired. His remains were borne to the cemetery between two long lines, formed as if out of the whole population of the city. The mourners literally "' went about the streets." It would be impossible to give even a partial com pleteness to our view of the personal influences which have given tone to the life of the New School Church, without definite reference to the efforts of those who have.been closely identified with its aggressive work on the frontiers. We have already given a sketch of Dr. Blackburn, the pioneer; but his influence upon the missionary spirit of the Church was indirect. The name of Dr. ARTEMAS BULLARD, of St. Louis, is intimately associated with the systematic development of Presbyterian Home Missions. Born at Northbridge, Mass., June 3d, 1802, he was graduated at Amherst College, in 1826. Fitted by natural qualities for a life of enterprise, he was early directed by Providence into lines of usefulness in which only a man of enterprise could be successful. In him, energy and resolution were associated with a sanguine temperament. He is said to have closely resembled in 238 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. personal appearance, the " Old Hickorv " of American Presidents. He certainly resembled him in character. His perceptions were keen, his will was tenacious, his mental movements were quick, and his sagacity was almost unerring. lie possessed in a remarkable degree, the constructive faculty, and marshalled principles or men with an equal facility. His frankness sometimes gave offence, his firmness made his opposition formidable. He had, like all men of positive character, his troops of friends, and his experience of enmity. Yet none of his opponents could ever deny him the praise of sincerity and of love for the truth and the 3Master. While at the seminary in Andover (1.828), he proposed to devote himself to Foreign Missions; but, having formed intimate relations with Dr. Cornelius, and other eminent men in Boston, he was prevailed upon, in 1830, to visit what was then the West, in the service of the American Sunday School Union. He travelled on horseback, as far as the State of Illinois; and in this service displayed such qualities, that when Dr. Cornelius was slcldenly laid aside, he was urgently solicited to assume the arduous duties of Secretary of the A.B.C. F.M., in the Valley of the Mississippi. He accepted the appointment, and for some years travelled over his wide field from Detroit to:New Orleans. This experience gave him not only an accurate knowledge of the West, but also an ardent sympathy with its wants. And when in 1838, he was invited to accept the pastorate of the only Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, he felt it his duty to comply. He saw in the position to which he was invited, the centre of an influence whose bounds were indefinitely wide. The waste places were on every BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 239 side. He knew what -were the demands of the Home Missionary work, and what the sacrifices of the Home Missionary. He could aid the churches of the wilderness, and encourage those who had gone or might be induced to go to the scattered flocks, as to sheep having no shepherd. He could assist in planting new churches and do much to develop the educational interests of a new and broad region. He threw himself into his new duties with characteristic zeal. He was the faithful pastor of his own flock, the earnest friend of every missionary within his reach. He was a true bishop, making frequent and long journeys to visit the churches which naturally turned to him for counsel and help. He was accurately infformed of the condition of all the Presbyterian congregations in the State. No one knew better than he what was a minister's life in a log-cabin, or what the influence of a pulpit in some rude school-house, or ruder sanctuary. Yet he was one of the first to perceive the importance of providing comfortable and attractive houses of worship, as centres of a permanent power. As early as 1845, he undertook under sanction of his synod, to raise a fund of $10,000, to be used for the purpose of church erection in MIissouri. He visited the East, to collect a portion of this fund, and to obtain recruits for Home Mission. ary service. He returned, bringing with him generous donations, and ten clergymen. He was, indeed, remarkably successful in his lifelong efforts to raise the means for carrying on benevolent enterprises. "Come away," said a student to a friend who called his attention to a "speaking likeness" of Dr. Bullard, at the door of a 240 PRESBYTERIAN REUNKON. photographic artist: "Come away! he'll have five dollars out of you for a church before you know it." He was greatly interested in the establishment of Webster College, near St. Louis. The subscription book of that institution was found upon his person, wet and soiled by the rain which beat upon his lifeless body, as, with twenty-nine victims of the disaster of Gasconade bridge, he lay amid the ruins of that wreck which had cost him his life. He was always a distinguished member of the General Assembly, when he attended its meetings as commissioner. Ardently devoted to every interest of the church in the line of progress; possessed of a knowledge and experience to which all were compelled to defer; fluent, direct, and clear in debate, -he never failed to wield a powerful influence. When he died, every missionary lost a friend, every measure of importance to the Church lost a champion. Among those whom he was instrumental in introducing to the missionary work of the Church, we will mention one only whose character and career are illustrative of some of the phases of the work itself. When, in 1849, Dr. Bullard visited the Seminary at Auburn to stimulate the interest of its students in the great West, he became acquainted with F1REDERICK STARR, Jr., a graduate of that year, who had already distinguished himself by self-denying labor as teacher and missionary in the Sunday-school of the prison. This young man quickly caught the spirit of Dr. Bullard. He was not unlike him in character. Born in Rochester, January 23, 1826, his development was quick BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCHES. 241 and strong. H-e made a profession of religion in his tenth year, and was from the first an active and useful Christian. In 1850 he repaired to St. Louis, and under Dr. Bullard's direction began the labors of city missionary. But he was not long content with these. His spirit craved a wider, freer horizon. Hence in March, 1851, he went up the Missouri four hundred and fifty miles to the verge of civilization. Here he found the town of Weston, then numbering about 3,000 inhabitants. Four miles from Weston was Fort Leavenworth, where at that time all the annuities of the Indians in that region were paid. Here, too, was the starting-point from which emigrants to California launched out upon the plains. When Mr. Starr arrived, the whole territory about Weston and the Fort was occupied by a host of these emigrants, waiting for the grass to spring up along the route before them. He constituted himself at once a missionary among these motley hosts. He conciliated their favor both by his frank demeanor, and by his interest in their spirit of adventure. Gifted with strong and well disciplined mechanical tastes, he could assist in mending a wagon or in making a plaything for a child. Having an easy address and a remarkable facility of speech, he could with equal readiness rivet their attention by an anecdote at the camp-fire, or by a sermon delivered from some convenient bench or barrel. While laboring in this manner with great success, he was urged to accept the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Weston, whose pulpit was vacant. He took the call into consideration and carried it to his father, Hon. Frederick Starr, a man whose name is held in dis 242 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tinguished regard by the Church, for advice. It was natural that the father, desiring to have his son near him in his declining years, should hesitate; but the father had too much of the spirit of the son to resist the appeal made to him as the son sprang to his feet after laying open the case and exclaimed, " Father, have you not always taught me from a child, where there was any work to be done which no other man would do, to take hold and do it? I have travelled many thousand miles, and nowhere in the land have I found a place so wicked, so sunk in sin, and where any other minister would be so little likely to incline or dare to go as Weston; and that is my reason for wishing to go there." He went. He carried with him money to relieve the church at Weston of an embarrassing debt. He aided with his own hands in repairing the church edifice, which was "open, dilapidated, repulsive." Hie was ordained and installed October 23, 1850. He organized an extensive system of labor among the rich and the poor, among masters and slaves, among civilians and soldiers. He reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Positive, fearless, energetic, powerful, he won the love of many, the admiration of all —even of those whose prejudices he aroused. In the summer of 1852, the cholera raged in Weston with great violence. He was unwearied in his active exertions for the relief of the sick and the comfort of the afflicted. The Methodist and Baptist clergymen of the town both fell victims of the pestilence. He alone was left to render such services to the whole population as a minister can render; but his habitual fearlessness and fidelity were conspicuous until the plague was stayed. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 243 A still severer trial tested his nerve and his devotion, when the excitements attending the repeal of the Mis. souri Compromise prevailed. He was in the very theatre of the Kansas raids —a Northern man of positive character and convictions where no Northern man was safe. He was marked with suspicion. His life was threatened. He was summoned to attend a meeting of the " Platte County Defensive Association," when he knew that the summons meant death. He attended it, and by his courage and address averted the peril which hung over him, though frankly declaring his conviction that slavery was a moral evil, and appealing for authority to such southern men as Jefferson and Benton. But the Border War went on, and soon became so bitter that, yielding to the entreaties of his friends, he returned to New York, despairing of stemming a tide which defied all barriers. This was in the spring of 1855. He was immediately enlisted in the service of the Auburn Theological Seminary, and of the Western Education Society, and continued therein until 1862, performing what many of his friends regard as the great work of his life. After a short and successful ministry at Penn Yan, he returned to the West in 1865, to take charge of the North Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, where, after two years of labor remarkable in results, and giving signal promise for the future, he died, January 5, 1868. We cannot close without reference to another to whom the Church owes much of its solid growth and of its preparation for Reunion,- Dr. THORNTON A. MILLS. He was born in Paris, Ky., September, 1810. He 244 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. was graduated at the Miami University, in 1830, and licensed by the Cincinnati Presbytery, in 1833. In 1836, he became pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, and retained that relation for twelve years. In 1848, he purchased the WCatchman of the Valley, a religious journal published in Cincinnati, and immediately began to exert a wide influence in the formation of those opinions which resulted in the full organization of a system of committees to carry forward the distinctive work of the church. This paper, under the present title of the Gentral (Christian Herald, was one of the earliest and steadiest advocates of Reunion. The principal labor of Dr. Mills in the service of the Church, however, commenced in 1853, when he was elected Secretary and General Agent of the Church Erection Committee. On the completion of the fund of $100,000, which was raised by his energetic advocacy, he accepted a call to the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. But from this post he was removed in 1856, at the urgent demand of the Church at large, to enter upon the duties of General Secretary of the Assembly's Committee on Education, then just organized. These duties he performed with great efficiency until his decease, June, 1867. A consummate organizer, a powerful advocate, a man of wide views and of tenacious purposes, undaunted by obstacles, unshrinking from work, a thoroughly genuine man,- his influences were by no means confined to the sphere in which he officially moved. Ardently loving his denomination, brought into constant contact with its leading minds, he touched all the springs of ecclesiastical life, and forwarded all the measures of ecele BIOGRAPHICIAL SKETCMES. 245 siastical progress. His record is so interwoven with the history of the Church during the past fifteen years, that one can trace it in all the chapters of that history. Our space in this book is already more than full, and our regret that the sketches we have attempted are so meagre, is scarcely less than our regret that we have no room for extended reference to some of the honored laymen who have contributed in no slight degree to the growth and prosperity of the Church which has now so gladly dropped its New School title. Such men as FREDERICK STARR, Esq., and Judge WM. JEssuP, have accomplished what no clergyman could effect. The names of these two, at least, shall stand in this chapter to remind the reader of virtues and services which a volume only could fitly commemorate. CHAPTER FIFTH. THE REUNION. BY THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D., LL.D. Prognostics of Reunion.-Practical Co-operation of both branches in benevolent work. - Causes of Separation removed.- Interchange of Delegates between the two Assemblies.- Informal Convention at Newark, 1864. — Dr. H. B. Smith's Sermon at Dayton.- The Two Assemblies at St. Louis, 1866. - Reunion Committee of Thirty.- Drs. Brainerd andKrebs. - Meetings and Progress of the Committee.- The Report presented to the two Assemblies.- Haste avoided and time given for deliberation.- Terms of Reunion.- Presbyterian National Union Convention.- Important addition to the terms of Subscription.- Other Conventions.- Meeting of the Joint Committee in Philadelphia.- The Gurley Amendment.- Solemn and Affecting Interview. —The Amendment unanimously adopted in Committee.- Report of the Committee on Reunion, 1868. — Its Adoption in the Old School Assembly. —Protest and Answer.- Adoption of the Report in the New School Assembly.- The way prepared for final action.- The Standards pure and simple. — Assemblies in New York, 1869.- Committee of Conference.- Its Report adopted and sent to the Presbyteries.- God's Providence manifested in the entire history of the Reunion. THE greatest events are generally foreshadowed by many signs and tokens. Spring and summer have many harbingers. Changes of opinion in Church and State are brought about by insensible degrees. The large blocks of ice detached fromn polar masses, are gradually dissolved in the warmer currents by which they are borne to the south. To attentive observers, it was very evident for several years before formal negotiations were inaugurated, that the Reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church was merely a question of time and mode. The grounds of this expectation were obvious. (246) IV. MUSGRAVEL D. A.G. HAGI, / Da'l /I Ijl t,'J A TEE REUNION. 247 Many of those who were leaders on both sides at the time of the disruption had either passed from this life, or had entered into other ecclesiastical relations. Personal prejudices,'those most powerful of all agencies in producing the separation, were thus to a large degree eliminated from the question. A new generation had risen in the ministry and membership of the Church, having but little information, and less interest as to the separation itself. Social and ecclesiastical intercourse, except when vain attempts were made by a few to keep alive old distinctions, had done much to obliterate former lines. Ministers on both sides were accustomed to exchange pulpit services. Members of churches passed from one side to the other, dismissed and received on the ordinary certificate. This practical union had been largely promoted by co-operation in good causes in cities and towns. When it pleased God to pour out his Spirit and excite an unwonted prayerfulness over the country, the hearts of Christian people were drawn together in visible unity. For its general extent and influence, it was like the breath of Spring. There seemed to be floating in the very air a sentiment of Christian confidence and love. Indifferent to things of minor importance, the hearts of men were made to converge on those things supreme and ultimate relating to the kingdom of Christ. In such an atmosphere and current of events, all projects for union among Christians seemed to meet with a ready response. Then came the memorable struggle for national integrity and life. Before the mighty enthusiasm and inflexible purpose of the nation to save itself from dismemberment and to preserve its Constitution, all subordin 248 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ate distinctions in Church and State instantly clisappeared. In large cities, in towns, villages and scattered settlements, there was one and the same high-wrought patriotism, drawing men together in the closest and firmest unity. Both Assemblies, though with different degrees of unanimity, took the same position in relation to the duty of the Church in the fiery trial to which our national life was subjected. As the conflict proceeded, it became apparent that the continued existence of slavery was involved in its issue. As this was the cause of the war, so had it much to do with the separation of the Presbyterian Church. It was not generally recognized as such in public debate. But large ships are turned about by that plank which is out of sight and under water. The New School Assembly at the time of the disruption had but few churches and ministers who endorsed slavery b5y theory and practice. All these withdrew and founded a separated organization of their own in the South before the war, and before negotiations between Old School and New School were opened for Reunion. The General Assembly Old School had a large slave-holding constituency for which it always manifested, in debate and legislation, the utmost tenderness and caution. The time came when it was evident that slavery was to go down forever before the well-nigh unanimous purpose to maintain the national existence. This cause removed, there went with it what had long tended in Church judicatories to produce irritation, repulsion, and strife. Much has not been said or written in the discussions of the last few years upon this subject, but all who are personally acquainted with the affairs of the Presbyterian Church in this THE REUNION. 249 country, for the last thirty-five years, will, in all candor, be prompt to admit that the existence of slavery had more to do with the division of the Church than has generally been supposed; and that its entire extinction has been among the many causes which have made the Reunion of the two Northern Assemblies more easy and more certain. In view of all these circumstances, it was inevitable that the subject of Reunion should become a matter of discussion. Several religious papers representing both branches made unequivocal expression of opinion in its favor. In May, 1862, the Old School Assembly, then in session at Columbus, Ohio, adopted a resolution proposing a "stated annual and friendly interchange of commissioners between the two General Assemblies." This, it will be perceived, was not a movement towards organic union. It has been understood as intended by some by a flank movement to defeat Reunion, by establishing friendly relations between two independent bodies, always to be retained in this position. The above resolution was communicated to the New School Assembly at its next meeting, May, 1863, in Philadelphia. Its action on the subject is contained in the following resolution: " Resolved, That this Assembly, with heartfelt pleasure and Christian salutations, accepts the proposition thus made, hoping and praying that it may result in securing a better understanding of the relations which, in the judgment of this Assembly, are proper to be maintained between the two Assemblies." The Old School Assembly beinig in session at this time in Peoria, Illinois, was at once informed by tele 2'o 0 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. graph of this action, and immediately delegates were chosen by both bodies, in accordance with the terms of the resolution. So far from operating, as some of its advocates supposed that it would, as a measure looking to continued independency of the two branches, with honorable and friendly recognition of each other as between distinct denominations, it tended immediately to strengthen the wish for a closer union. The very next year (1864), when the Old School General Assembly was in session at Newark, N. J., a meeting of ministers and elders, members of that body, and others casually in attendance, was held for conference upon the expediency and feasibility of organic Reunion. This, so far as is known to the writer, was the first action in favor of Reunion on the part of a public and representative body. It was not the action of the General Assembly itself, but of those, in large part, who were members of it. The paper prepared and published by this meeting, was signed by seventy ministers and fifty-three elders. From this document we make the following extract: " It is believed that the great majority in each branch sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, and approve the same government and discipline. On this basis we may reunite, mutually regarding and treating the office-bearers and church courts of each branch as co-ordinate elements in the reconstruction. There are difficulties in the way of repairing the breaches of Zion, which must be met and overcome by well-considered methods, and in a spirit of forbearance and prudence. Reunion cannot be accomplished, nor is it to be desired, without the restoration of a spirit of unity and fraternity. We believe this spirit exists, and is constantly increasing. That which should first engage the attention of the friends of Reunion TIE REUNION. 251 should be to find out how far unity of sentiment and kindness of feeling prevail." The same year, at the opening of the New School Assembly at Dayton, Ohio, a sermon was preached by the retiring Moderator, the Rev. Henry B. Smith, D.D., which presented the whole subject of a Reunited Church with singular felicity and power. These documents were widely circulated and freely discussed throughout the country; signs multiplied in every direction of an ever-increasing disposition and purpose to unite the two branches of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. That the two Assemblies should meet simultaneously in the city of St. Louis in the year 1866, was no accident. It was an evidence of pre-concert on the part of influential members of both branches, and indicated a general expectation that some formal action in favor of Reunion would soon be inaugurated. Scarcely had these Assemblies been organized, before it appeared that each had been memorialized by a considerable number of Presbyteries in different parts of the country between New York and San Jose, to take action in favor of reunion. It was necessary that these overtures should receive official notice. Moreover, in that city, so remote from all memories and associations of the disruption, a Christian spirit was prevalent which made it easy for members of the two Assemblies to meet together for social worship and the sacrament of the Communion. At these services, popular sentiment expressed itself de cidedly in favor of Reunion. At length the General 252 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Assembly of the Old School adopted the following resolutions: " Resolved, That this Assembly expresses its fraternal affection for the other Branch of the Presbyterian Church, and its earnest desire for Reunion at the earliest time consistent with agreement in doctrine, order, and policy, on the basis of our common standards and the prevalence of mutual confidence and love, which are so necessary to a happy union and to the permanent peace and prosperity of the united Church.'.Resolved, That it be recommended to all our churches and church courts, and to all our ministers, ruling elders, and communicants, to cherish fraternal feeling; to cultivate Christian intercourse in the worship of God, in the promotion of the cause of Christ; and to avoid all needless controversies and competitions adapted to perpetuate division and strife. "-Resolved, That a Committee of nine ministers and six ruling elders be appointed, provided that a similar committee shall be appointed by the other Assembly now in session in this city, f6r the purpose of conferring in regard to the desirableness and practicability of Reunion, and if, after conference and inquiry, such Reunion shall seem to be desirable and practicable, to suggest suitable measures for its accomplishment, and report to the next General Assembly." These resolutions were presented in the New School Assembly by a delegation from the body adopting them, consisting of the late and lamented Phineas D. Gurley, D.D., of Washington, and Hon. Lincoln Clark, of Detroit. With no unnecessary delay, the Assembly of the New School made response by passing the following resolutions: " Resolved, That this Assembly tender to the Assembly representing the other branch of the Presbyterian Church its cordial salutations and fellowship, and the expression of its earnest wish for Re. THE REUNION. 253 union on the basis of our common standards, received in a common spirit. "Resolved, That a Committee of fifteen, nine of whom shall be ministers of the Gospel, and six ruling elders, be appointed to confer on this subject in the recess of the Assemblies with the Committee to be appointed by the other General Assembly, and to report the re sults to the next General Assembly. "Resolved, Thatwe enjoin upon this Committee, and upon all our ministers and church-members, to abstain from whatever may hinder a true Christian fellowship, and to cherish and cultivate those feelings and purposes which look to the peace and prosperity of Zion, the edifying of the body of Christ, and the complete union of all believers, especially of those who live in the same land and have the same history and the same standards of doctrine and polity." Notwithstanding the spirit of Christian confidence which breathes through these respective resolutions, it does not appear that there was any definite measure then in view beyond the appointment of the Committee of Conference, which was likely to bring about the re suit contemplated. Many on both sides were skeptical as to any good likely to ensue from the proposed conference. Some there were in each Assembly who were personally active in the scenes of the disruption. However, with a good degree of unanimity, the above resolutions were passed in both Assemblies, which immediately proceeded to appoint the proposed Committees. These were selected with care, as representing different sections of the country. Very few of the members were members of the Assemblies then in session. They were chosen from the States of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, lMichigan, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia. As originally constituted, these Committees were as follows: 254 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Those on the part of the Old School were - MINISTERS. J. M. Krebs, D.D., Chairman. J. G. Monfort, D.D. C. C. Beatty, D.D. W. D. Howard, D.D. J. T. Backus, D.D. W. E. Schenck, D.D. P. D. Gurley, D.D. Villeroy D. Reed, D.D. F. T. Brown, D.D. RULING ELDERS. James M. Ray. H. K. Clarke. Robert McKnight. George P. Strong. Samuel Galloway. Ormond Beatty. Those on the part of the New School wereMINISTERS. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., Chairman. Philemon H. Vowler, D.D. William Adams, D.D. James B. Shaw, D.D. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D. Henry L. Hitchcock, D.D. Jonathan F. Stearns, D.D. Robt. W. Patterson, D.D. Henry A. Nelson, D.D. RULING ELDERS. Edward A. Lambert. Truman P. Handy. Joseph Allison, LL.D. Robert W. Steele. Henry Williams. William H. Brown. Before these Committees could meet, events occurred which were fitted to produce unusual sobriety. The Chairmen of both Committees were removed from all participation in the conference. The Rev. Dr. Brainerd was suddenly translated to that world where all the distinctions of Christian discipleship are lost in the harmony of heaven. The Rev. Dr. Krebs was disabled by severe illness from any share in the deliberations, THE REUNIoN. 255 and before long he too was united to the great company of Christian ministers in the kingdom of God. Both of these brethren were wise and magnanimous, and their untimely death was profoundly felt throughout the Church. After correspondence between members of the Committees, they were convened in the city of New York, February 20, 1867, and organized by the appointment of their respective Chairmen, Drs. Beatty and Adams. At first each Committee met by itself. It was natural that some degree of awkwardness should exist, when one was waiting for the movement of the other. At length the two Committees met in joint session. Most of the members were personal strangers. But all estrangement and reserve soon disappeared before the spirit of prayer and honorable Christian confidence. In the first instance, no member of these Committees was so sanguine as to expect immediate action in favor of organic union. The first proposal looked only to closer relations in the work of the Church; the avoidance of rivalry in the establishment of new churches, especially on the frontier settlements. An arrangement of this description had already been inaugurated by the respective Boards of Home Missions. But after continued conference, in which, as the result of the utmost frankness, entire confidence was established, it dawned upon the Committees that they were appointed to accomplish a specific thing. To that point they now addressed themselves with the honest and earnest endeavor to adjust a plan for reuniting the two bodies which they severally represented. It soon appeared, to their own surprise and satisfaction, that a substantial 256 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. agreement could be reached. To give opportunity for farther inquiry and information, the Committees adjourned to the month of May. On the first clay of that monththey reassembled in the city of New York, and gave an entire week to their deliberations. The result of the conference appears in the following report, which was made totidem verbis by the two Chairmen to their respective Assemblies, the Old School meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the New School in Rochester, N. Y., in May, 1867: All the meetings of the Committees were distinguished by a degree of courtesy and unanimity, which was more than common. Composed of men of decided individuality, representing divers interests and sections, they have discussed every question, many of them of admitted delicacy and difficulty, with the utmost frankness, without one word or expression of any kind ever to be regretted by Christian brethren who felt the grave responsibilities of their position. The result of their conferences is contained in the following document, adopted in Joint Committee with remarkable unanimity: PROPOSED TERMS OF REUNION BETWEEN' THE TWO BRANCHES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Joint Committee of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church, appointed for the purpose of conferring on the desirableness and practicability of uniting these two bodies, deeply impressed with the responsibility of the work assigned us, and having earnestly sought Divine guidance, and patiently devoted ourselves to the investigation of the questions involved, agree in presenting the following for the consideration, and, if they see fit, for the adoption, of the two General Assemblies: Believing that the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom would be promoted by healing our divisions; that practical union would greatly augment the efficiency of the whole Church for the accomplishment of its divinely appointed work; that the main causes producing division have either wholly passed away, or become in a great degree in. TIE REUNION. 25'7 operative; and that two bodies, bearing the same name, adopting the same Constitution, and claiming the same corporate rights, cannot be justified by any but the most imperative reasons in maintaining separate and, in some respects, rival organizations; and regarding it as both just and proper that a Reunion should be effected by the two Churches, as independent bodies and on equal terms; we propose the following terms and recommendations as suited to meet the demands of the case: 1. The Reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common standards; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted " as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures;" and its fair, historical sense, as it is accepted by the two bodies in opposition to Antinomianism and Fatalism on the one hand, and to Arminianism and Pelagianism on the other, shall be regarded as the sense in which it is received and adopted; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall continue to be approved as containing the principles and rule of our polity. 2. All the ministers and churches embraced in the two bodies shall be admitted to the same standing in the united body which they may hold in their respective connections up to the consummation of the Union; and all the churches connected with the united body, not thoroughly Presbyterian in their organization, shall be advised to perfect their organization as soon as is permitted by the highest interests to be consulted; no other such churches shall be received; and such persons alone shall be chosen Commissioners to the General Assembly, as are eligible according to the Constitution of the Church. 3. The boundaries of the several Presbyteries and Synods shall be adjusted by the General Assembly of the united Church. 4. The official records of the two branches of the Church for the period of separation shall be preserved and held as making up the one history of the Church; and no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both the bodies shall be of any authority until re-established in the united body. 5. The corporate rights, now held by the two General Assemblies and by their Boards and Committees, shall, as far as practicable, be consolidated and applied for their several objects as defined by law. 17 258 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. 6. There shall be one set of Committees or Boards for Homo and Foreign Missions, and the other religious enterprises of the Church, which the churches shall be encouraged to sustain, though left free to cast their contributions into other channels, if they desire to do so. 7. As soon as practicable after the Union shall be effected, the General Assembly shall reconstruct and consolidate the several Permanent Committees and Boards which now belong to the two Assemblies, in such a manner as to represent, as far as possible, with impartiality, the views and wishes of the two bodies constituting the united Church. 8. When it shall be ascertained that the requisite number of Presbyteries of the two bodies have approved the terms of Union as hereinafter provided for, the two General Assemblies shall each appoint a Committee of seven, none of them having an official relation to either the Board or the Committee of Publication, who shall constitute a Joint Committee, whose duty it shall be to revise the Catalogues of the existing publications of the two Churches, and to make out a list from them of such books and tracts as shall be issued by the united Church; and any Catalogue thus made out, in order to its adoption, shall be approved by at least five members of each Committee. 9. If, at any time after the Union has been effected, any of the Theological Seminaries, under the care and control of the General Assembly, shall desire to put themselves under Synodical control, they shall be premitted to do so at the request of their Boards of direction; and those Seminaries which are independent in their organization shall have the privilege of putting themselves under ecclesiastical control, to the end that, if practicable, a system of ecclesiastical supervision of such Institutions may ultimately prevail through the entire united Church. 10. It shall be regarded as the duty of all our judicatories, ministers, and people in the united Church to study the things which make for peace, and to guard against all needless and offensive references to the causes that have divided us; and, in order to avoid the revival of past issues by the continuance of any usage in either branch of the Church that has grown out of our former conflicts, it is earnestly recommended to the lower judicatories of the Church, that they con THM RVEUNION. 259 form their practice in relation to all such usages, as far as consistent with their convictions of duty, to the general custom of the Church prior to the controversies that resulted in the separation. 11. The terms of the Reunion shall be of binding force, if they shall be ratified by three fourths of the Presbyteries connected with each branch of the Church within one year after they shall have been submitted to them for approval. 12. The terms of the Reunion shall be published by direction of the General Assemblies of 1867, for the deliberate examination of both branches of the Church, and the Joint Committee shall report to the General Assemblies of 1868 any modification of them they may deem desirable, in view of any new light that may have been received during the year. 13. It is recommended that the Hon. DANIEL HAINES, and the Hon. HENRY W. GREEN, LL.D., of New Jersey, DANIEL LORD, LL.D., and THEODORE W. DWIGHT, LL.D., of New York, and Hon. WInLIAM STRONG, and Hon. GEORGE SHARSWOOD, LL.D., of Pennsylvania, be appointed by the general Assemblies a Committee to investigate all questions of property and of vested rights, as they may stand related to the matter of Reunion; and this Committee shall report to the Joint Committee as early as the first of January, 1868. 14. It is evident, that, in order to adapt our ecclesiastical system to the necessities and circumstances of the united Church as a greatly enlarged and widely extended body, some changes in the Constitution will be required. The Joint Committee, therefore, request the two General Assemblies to instruct them in regard to the preparation of an additional article on this subject, to be reported to the Assemblies of 1868. Signed by order of the Joint Committee. CHARLES C. BEATTY, Chairman. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, Secretary. NEw YOREK May, 7th, 1867. Leaving their Report with the General Assemblies and the ministers and churches of their denomination throughout the land, your Committee cannot disregard the Providential auspices under which their recommendations await decision. The present is thought to be a favorable time, now that many questions of former controversy have 260 PRESBYTERIAN REUNMON lost their interest, for adopting a magnanimous policy suited to the necessities of our country and the world. The Presbyterian Church has a history of great renown. It has been intimately associated with civil and religious liberty in both hemispheres. Its republican and representative character, the parity of its clergy, the simplicity of its order, the equity of its administration, its sympathy with our institutions, its ardent patriotism in all stages of our history, its flexible adaptation to our heterogeneous population, its liberal support of schools, colleges, and seminaries designed for general education and theological culture, its firm and steadfast faith in the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom, and that by means of revealed truth and the special effusions of the Holy Spirit, in distinction from all trust in human arts and devices, all unite to promise, if we are wise and faithful, a future for the Presbyterian Church in these United States greater and better than all the past. Amid the changes which have occurred around us, we are confident that nothing true and good will ever recede or decay; and it becomes all those who love the same faith, order, and worship, abounding in love and hope, to pray that God would count them worthy of their calling, that they may fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in them, and they in him, according to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Signed by order of the Committee. WILLIAM ADAMS, Chairman, N. S. CHARLES C. BEATTY, O. S. NEW YORE, May, 7th, 1867. It will be seen in the 12th article of these proposed terms of Reunion, that action upon the merits of the plan, was, by agreement, to be postponed for an entire year. It was deemed very unadvisable that there should be any appearance of haste. It would have been very unhappy should any, doubtful as yet as to the expediency of Reunion, have cause to complain that decisive action had been precipitated upon them with THE REUNION. 261 out the fullest opportunity for deliberation and dis. cussion. The Report recommended that the Terms of Reunion, agreed upon by the Joint Committee, should be published by direction of the General Assemblies, that the Committee should be continued, and that they should report to the Assemblies of 1868 any modification of them which they may deem desirable, in view of any new light they may receive during the year. The course of events from this point onwards, has been so faithfully and happily described by the Rev. Dr. Stearns, a most sagacious and indefatigable member of the Joint Committee, in an article in the American Presbyterian Review, for July, 1869, entitled " Historical Sketch of the Reunion," that the writer prefers, instead of affecting a new cast of the facts into other language, to avail himself largely of the narrative prepared by his distinguished associate in the Committee: The New School Assembly approved and adopted "the whole report with entire unanimity, appointed the legal committee recommended in Art. 13, and authorized the Joint Committee to recommend needed changes in the Constitution, as requested in Art. 14. In that of the Old School, parts of the Report encountered opposition. The special committee to whom it was referred, brought in two Reports. That of the minority asking the Assembly to instruct the Reunion Committee " to obtain a more definite statement of the doctrinal basis," the exclusion of " Committee men " from the Church Courts, and a " distinct and formal recognition of the right and obligation of every presbytery to be satisfied as to the soundness of every minister it receives," was, after discussion, rejected by a large majority: nays 152, yeas 64. Pending a resolution to adopt that of the majority, the resolution to' instruct the Joint Committee to propose changes in the Constitution, as recommended in Art. 14 of the Plan, was unanimously stricken out; another was added declining to express either approbation or disapprobation, of the terms presented by 262 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the Committee of Reunion in detail, and the rest adopted without a count, containing the Resolution, "that this Assembly has listened with grateful and profound satisfaction to the Report of the Committee on Church Reunion, and recognize, in the unanimity of the Joint Committee, the finger of God as pointing toward an early and cordial Reunion of the two sister churches now so long separated. In this posture of affairs, the Report of the " Terms of Reunion" went out to the churches and presbyteries. It was, by order, published in the Appendix to the Minutes of both Assemblies, and in the religious newspapers, and commended to the careful consideration of the whole church. During the Summer and Autumn, the provisions of the Plan were very freely discussed by the press, and in the presbyteries, and various opinions and suggestions were elicited concerning them. The Princeton.Review, in its July number, attacked the whole scheme with great vigor, in an article written by Dr. Hodge, and afterwards published under his own name in pamphlet form. The object of that article, he says in the preface to the pamphlet, " is threefold: _First, To show that the true principle of subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith requires that those who profess to adopt the system of doctrine therein contained, should sincerely receive in their integrity, all the doctrines essential to the Reformed or Calvinistic System. Second, That this is the principle adopted and insisted upon by our church from the beginning, and to which the Old School body stand solemnly pledged before the Christian world. Tiirdl, That however numerous may be the orthodox members of the New School Presbyterian Church, that Church, as an ecclesiastical organization, never has and does not now adopt and act upon that principle; and, therefore, that union between the two churches under these circumstances, would be not only inexpedient, but morally wrong." An able answer to this article appeared in the Presbyterian Review, in the number for October, written by Professor H. B. Smith, and afterwards published separately, and widely scattered through both branches of the Church. In this article, the charge of loose subscription made against the New School was positively and indignantly denied, and proof challenged. On the contrary, it was affirmed that the sense in which the New School Church received and adopted the Confession was precisely the same with that claimed as the true one by Dr. Hodge, viz., the Calvinistic or.Re THE REUNION. 263 formed. This discussion was very generally read, and had a powerful influence in disabusing many minds of their prejudices or misapprehensions. Both of the admissions of Dr. Hodge, and the denials and assertions of Professor Smith, tended to the same result, - the conviction of the substantial oneness of both bodies in the receiving\ and adopting of the Confession of Faith in the true, honest, liberal, common-sense, and Presbyterian signification of those words. But the question still remained in the minds of some, Was this a fair representation of the opinions of the New School Church? In the month of November of that same year, occurred that remarkable meeting of Christian men in the City of Philadelphia, known as " THE PRESBYTERIAN NATIONAL UNION CONVENTION." " It originated in a proposal, made in the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, at its meeting in the city of New York, in May, 1867, by George H. Stuart, Esq., an elder in that body," and had for its object "to inaugurate measures to heal Zion's breaches, and to bring into one the divided portions of the Presbyterian family." Though entirely spontaneous, and without ecclesiastical authority, this meeting was composed of delegates sent by the repective presbyteries of the different branches of the Presbyterian family in all parts of the land, and had a most important influence on the progress of the'mea sures in operation for the reunion of the Old and New School. The presence of the Spirit of God was never more sensibly felt, and scenes were there enacted which will be remembered when the prayer of the departing Saviour shall have reached its complete fulfilment, " That they all may be one." In this meeting the proposition was very early entertained and adopted to attempt an organic uniozn of these different churches, and a Committee to prepare and report a " basis of union" was appointed, consisting of one minister and one elder from each of the churches. This Committee went immediately to their work, and the next day brought in their report. Meanwhile, as the discussions and devotional exercises proceeded, all hearts seemed melting into one. The strongest expressions of desire for the accomplishment of the design were uttered by the speakers of every branch of the Church represented, and from every part of the land. A Convention of Episcopal brethren in session in the same city had turned aside from their business to pray for God's blessing upon our deliberations. We had 264 PIRESBYTERLAN REUNION. reciprocated the fraternal action, and sent a delegation with our Christian salutations to them. The delegation had returned, reporting their very cordial reception, and the desire on the part of the Episcopal Convention to reciprocate the courtesy by sending a corresponding delegation to us. The Report of the Basis had been read and largely explained and commented upon by the members of the Committee. The highest degree of enthusiasm prevailed. The first article, containing an acknowledgment of the Scriptures, had been revised and adopted, and the second, declaring that " in the United Church, the Westminster Confession of Faith shall be received and adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures," was before the Convention. All this while, Dr. lodge, a member of the Convention, had remained perfectly silent. Except a short prayer, very guarded in its language, which he offered at the request of the Moderator, he had not uttered a word. The reason, as was supposed, and as he afterwards avowed, was his great surprise at seeing the turn which the affairs of the Convention took, and the spirit and desires of its members. "Mr. President," he said the next day, " I came to this Convention under an entire misapprehension, and I presume that this is true of the majority of our Old School brethren. We thought it probable that some plan of federal union, which would allow each member of the confederation to retain its own peculiarities, and revolve in its own sphere, might be proposed and recommended. But, sir, from the first hour of our coming together, with the solitary exception of the remarks of Dr. R. J. Breckenridge on the first day of the Convention, I have not heard a word uttered or a prayer offered from the members of any of the bodies here represented, which did not assume that the organic union of all the Presbyterian churches in the land was the object contemplated and desired. Such being the case, I have taken no part in your deliberations, but have sat in silence, waiting to see what God, in his providence and spirit, would bring to pass." It was late in the evening, at the close of the second day, and the question was just about to be put, when Prof. Smith, also a member of the Convention, and who had from the beginning taken a warm interest and a prominent part in all its deliberations and actions, arose and said: " Mr. Moderator, it seems to me that, in this article, THE REUNION. 265 we have reached the central point, and that here we need to be careful and circumspect, because we have come to the article where there is the most controversy. There will be the most difficulty in respect to the terms of subscription as to the sense in which we assent to the doctrines presented, and receive the Confession of Faith as containing the doctrines taught in the Holy Scriptures. I move that the following words be added to that article, namely:'It being understood that this Confession is received in its proper historical, that is, the Calvinistic or Reformed, sense."' The proposition took the Convention by surprise. Some did not see the need of it; others feared it would raise a new and unnecessary discussion. But the mover persisted. To a friend who suggested to him that some would prefer to have him withdraw it, he replied, " I have offered it, and the Convention may dispose of it as they like; vote it down if they do not like it." His object is manifest from the history of the case as already given. It was first, to meet the objections to the organic union then contemplated, on the part of a considerable section of the Old School body, of which the Princeton Rieview was the representative; and, second, to test, in an open and explicit manner, the position of the New School on the subject of accepting and adopting the Confession. In this latter view, its success was most signal. There had been no concert. The mover acted upon his own responsibility. But when the question was put to the New School portion of the Convention, every man except two (46 ayes, to 2 nays) immediately voted in the affirmative. And from that time to this we have never heard from any quarter in our branch of the Church, a single voice dissenting from the position there taken by their delegates. The result proved, as might have been expected, eminently acceptable to all candid men in both parties. It had, no doubt, a most important influence in producing harmony and confidence between the two parties in all parts of the Church. The meeting of this Convention was preceded and attended with meetings for prayer in various parts of the land, and followed by a series of UTnion Conventions in different localities, accompanied, in some cases, with special united celebrations of the Lord's Supper, all which served to deepen the influence. In the month of March following, 1868, the Joint Committee of Reunion came together in the city of Philadelphia, to revise and com 266 PRESBYTER1AN REUNION. plete their Plan of Terms to be recommended to the General Assemblies. Vacancies in their ranks had been filled by the appointment of Dr. J. Edson Rockwell, in the place of Dr. Krebs, Dr. George F. Wiswell in the place of Dr. Brainerd, and Elder Jacob F. Farrand, in the place of Elder W. H. Brown, since deceased. The transactions of the eventful past year were before them, and they came together with the earnest desire, on all hands, to meet the demands of the case as manifested by what had occurred. When the doctrinal article of their first Report came before them, the members of the Committee from the New School were satisfied to let it stand just as it was. The resolutions of the Convention at Philadelphia had answered their end. They were not intended for a basis for Reunion between the Old and New Schools. On the contrary, they expressly disclaimed any such purpose. In many respects they were not adapted to this use. But those of the Old School greatly preferred the doctrinal Article adopted at the Convention, especially in view of the Smith amendment, popularly so called. And those of the New School were quite disposed to acquiesce, provided that Article could be so modified as to adapt it to the demands of the case. There was a little clause in the original Article *which they thought ought to he retained, viz., the words " as it is accepted by the two bodies," thus recognizing the equal standing of both churches in respect to their adoption of the Confession. But this was objected to. The clause had met with misinterpretation and objection, it was said, from numbers in the Old School body. We must not throw it back upon them. At one time, there was danger of a very serious disagreement. But the New School members of the Committee, wishing to avoid such a result, offered a choice of three distinct propositions, to either of which they would cheerfully assent, viz., to take the original Article formally approved by one of the Assemblies, and not disapproved by the other, just as it stood. 2. To take the same Article, with the addition of the Smith amendment, and with no other alteration. 3. To take the Philadelphia Article, including the Smith amendment, with the insertion of the clause from the original plan, slightly modified so as to mak it more acceptable; "as it is now maintained by both the separate bodies." In case these should be unacceptable, their brethren of the other side must, they insisted, furnish something to the same effect more satisfactory to themselves, THI REUNION. 267 rt was in these circumstances that the Gurley amendment, so called, was produced. The circumstances in which that important clause was proposed, will never be forgotten by any one then present. Most of the day had been spent in vain attempts to agree upon a form of statement which would be perfectly satisfactory to all. The two Committees held separate meetings for protracted conference. So difficult was it found to be to frame a mode of expression which would at once remove all existing misapprehensions and not be liable to yet other misapprehensions on one side or the other, even more unhappy, that it was seriously debated by some whether it would not be necessary to adjourn all farther conference and report to the respective Assemblies, that it was impossible to agree upon a doctrinal article not open to objections and implications, such as had become apparent in previous discussions. At this point a recess of some two hours was taken. It was with heavy hearts that the Joint Committee convened again in the afternoon. Immediately upon the opening of the session, Dr. Gurley rose and said that instead of going to his lodgings for refreshment, he had spent the intermission in retirement and prayer, greatly oppressed by the despondent attitude of affairs at the time of the morning adjournment; and as the result of his earnest deliberation, he would propose an amended form of expression which he ventured to hope might harmonize all. This he said with great solemnity of manner and depth of emotion. It should be observed that Dr. Gurley at this time was in very feeble health, suffering 268 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. greatly from that painful malady which in the course of the summer carried him to the grave. This it is believed was the last public service rendered by this most estimable Christian Minister. His amendment was in these words: "It is also understood tlhat various qnethods of viewing, stating, excplaining, and illustrating the doctreines of thle confession, which7 do not imnair thle integrity qf the Reformed or Calvz'nistic system, are to be freely allowed in thle United CLhurch, as they have hit~herto been allowed in the separate CYhurches." No sooner were these words uttered, than it was apparent that they met most happily all the points of the case. They were instantly referred to the Sub-Committee who had been charged with framing the doctrinal article. Withdral0wing for a few minutes for consultation, they returned with the cheerful report that they were entirely and heartily agreed, and upon their recommendation the proposed amendment was adopted by a unanimnous vote of the Joint Committee. Immediately all anxiety was removed. Despondency was succeeded by hearty joy; with tears and sobs of intense emotion, the whole company rendered thanks to Almighty God for the happy result which had been reached. The difficulty now removed had not been owing to any misunderstanding between members of the Committee. It arose from the nature of the case, in attempting to adjust existing opinions in both branches of the Church, which had been brought out with great explicitness in the debates and discussions of the year. The amendment proposed by Dr. Gurley was intended to be a kind and suitable balance to the amendment introduced by Dr. Smith in the Philadelphia Convention. THE REUNION. 269 The latter, as we may say, was designed to satisfy the orthodox demands of the Old School. The former was intended to secure that reasonable liberty within the limits of the Presbyterian System for which the New School had specially contended. This article thus amended and disposed of, all other terms of agreement were readily adjusted. The result of all the deliberations was presented in the following report, made to the two Assemblies meeting respectively:It Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Albany, N. Y., in May, 1868. This report had been prepared by the Chairmen of the two Committees, by order of the Joint Committee. The" Terms of reunion " had been decided upon in exact and unalterable phrase by the Committee itself. These, it was thought, should be accompanied by suitable explanations. The report thus prepared was submitted to all the members of the Committee who had taken part in all these deliberations and final action, and received their approval. In these circumstances, the document as distinct from the terms themselves forms a part of the history of reunion, and is reproduced in this record as showing the several changes which had been made in the original report the year previous, as also the understanding which existed at the time by members of the Committee on either side. It was read in both Assemblies at the same hour, previously agreed upon, and in precisely the same words, without addition or subtraction; the only difference being that in the one Assembly it was signed by WILLIAM ADAMS, and in -the other by CHARLES C. BEATTY, as Chairman. 270 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON REUNION, 1868. The Committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1866 to confer with a similar Committee of the other Assembly, in regard to the Reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church, and continued by the Assembly of 1867, with directions and instructions to co-operate with the other Committee in furtherance of the object, and "report to the General Assemblies of 1868 any modification of the terms of Union which might seem desirable to the Joint Committee, in view of any new light that may have been received during the year," — would now respectfully report: That the two Committees again assembled in joint meeting, in the city of Philadelphia, on Wednesday, A. I., the 11th of March, 1868, and continued in conference, reviewing the terms of Union with the fiurther light which they had received, till Saturday afternoon, the 14th, when, having finished the important business with which they were intrusted, they finally adjourned. Every member of these large committees was present with the exception of Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of Ohio, absentin Europe; Rev. Dr. Howard, of Pennsylvania, detained by severe illness; and Judge Strong, of Missouri, prevented by unavoidable professional engagements. Rev. Dr. Patterson, of Illinois, arrived from a foreign voyage, after a long absence, in season to meet the Committee; but feeling himself obliged to leave for home on Thursday afternoon, did not participate in the final action. This large and patient attendance was a new indication of the deep interest which is felt throughout the country in the subject under consideration, and also of the profound sense of responsibility on the part of the several members of the Joint Committee, charged to take action in a matter which must affect extensively and permanently the interests of our country and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. To our regret, the report expected from the legal advisers appointed to investigate questions of property and vested rights was not received, owing to the death of Mr. Daniel Lord, and the fact that Judges Strong and Sharswood had declined to act in the premises, because of their present official position on the Bench. After filling a vacancy by the appointment of Hon. William M. Porter, of Phliadelphia, we requested the Legal Committee to meet as soon as practi THE REUNION. 271 cable and prepare their report, which will be submitted by them'lirectly to the Assemblies. To affirm that all the meetings of the Joint Committee were distinguished, as heretofore, by Christian courtesy and kindness, would be but a faint expression of the truth. This sentiment of fraternal confidence and regard assumed such forms of expression, that all who participated in the conference will be sure to remember it, as one of the greatest and happiest privileges of their lives. This kindness of feeling, however, did not repress or modify the utmost frankness in the statement of difficulties, real and alleged, on either side. It ought to be stated distinctly, in justice to all the many interests and sections represented by these Committees, that there was not the least reserve in the expression of the objections, which had been urged in any quarter, against the proposed Reunion. So frank and explicit was this utterance, that at times it appeared as if honest differences of opinion would render success uncertain. But the effect of continued and candid conference was the increase of confidence, through the correction of misapprehensions and the removal of obstacles, so that the very clouds, which threatened to obscure the light, arranged themselves at last so as to reflect and increase what they could not hide. The prayers of many Churches and Conventions, in different parts of the country, known to the Committee to be ascending to God in their behalf, were abundantly answered in the entire harmony and unanimity to which they eventually attained. By this unanimity it is not meant, that in every article and act of the Committee the preferences of each member were fully met; but that all were finally agreed, that the basis of Union now to be reported was, in the circumstances, the best that could be framed in the way of adjusting divers conflicting views and interests; and as such it was adopted, in the final vote, with entire unanimity, pledges of cordial support, and sincere thanks to Almighty God. Your Committee are fully persuaded that, if the ministers, elders, and members of both branches of the Church had been present at our recent conferences, seen what we saw, and heard what we heard, they would heartily join in the result which was reached by their representatives. With this belief, the Committee have judged it ex pedient and proper to accompany their report with such explanatory 272 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. words as may serve to convey to others the facts and motives which proved of such weight to themselves. Your Committee were not at liberty to forget or overlook the premises upon which they received their appointment. The Resolution of the General Assembly (O. S.) in which this movement originated, expressed the "earnest desire" of that body "for Reunion at the earliest time consistent with agreement in doctrine, order, and polity, on the basis of our common standards and the prevalence of mutual confidence and love." The General Assembly (N. S.), in responding to this action by a similar vote, expressed " its earnest wish for Reunion" on a similar basis. This EARNEST DESIRE for Union, as confessed by both bodies, is a fact which antedates the appointment of your Committee. They were not commissioned to inquire whether it existed, or to take measures to excite and promote it. The existence of this acknowledged sentiment was the basis upon which the two Committees were appointed. These premises assumed, the position occupied by the Joint Committee, and the point of view from which they should survey their work, were already decided by both Assemblies. The desirableness of Reunion, if it can be consummated on satisfactory terms, is not to be treated and put aside as a blind and imbecile impulse: it is the act and expression of Christian wisdom. The movement, thus inaugurated and advanced, was not made necessary by the condition or prospects of either of the bodies now in conference. Each is thoroughly organized, equipped, and prosperous. Neither needs the accession of the other for its own sake merely. The motives which impel to Union are higher and greater than any which pertain to denominational advantage. They relate to the welfare of the whole country, and the kingdom of our Lord in all the earth. On this high ground, chosen for them in the providence of God, by the action of both Assemblies, the two Committees took their stand, inclined in advance, when any concessions were to be made, that the lesser preference should defer to the greater and the stronger. The changes which have occurred in our own country and throughout the world, during the last thirty years - the period of our separation arrest and compel attention. Within this time the original number'f our States has been very nearly doubled. It was in the year 1837 that what is now the great and prosperous State of Michigan was THE REUNION. 273 admitted into the Union. Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, Nevada, Nebraska, have followed in rapid succession; with numerous territories already organized, soon to take their places in the National Union. And all this vast domain is to be supplied with the means of education and the institutions of religion, as the only source and protection of our national life. The population crowding into this immense area is heterogeneous. Six millions of emigrants, representing various religions and nationalities, have arrived on our shores within the last thirty years; and four millions of slaves recently enfranchised, demand Christian education. It is no secret that anti-Christian forces, - Romanism, Ecclesiasticism, Rationalism, Infidelity, Materialism, and Paganism itself,- assuming new vitality, are struggling for the ascendancy. Christian forces should be combined and deployed, according to the new movement of their adversaries. It is no time for small and weak detachments, which may easily be defeated in detail. A lesson has been given us in recent years, as to the ease with which diversities of sentiment may-be harmonized and combined in one purpose to maintain the national life. The time has come when minor motives should be merged in the magnanimous purpose, inspired both by patriotism and religion, to Christianize the whole country. The necessity of a closer union among Christians of a common faith and order has come to be felt, in a new; sense, by the members of our several Churches. It cannot be denied, that there exists a wide-spread and earnest longing for more of visible unity among all classes of Christian people.' This is especially noticeable among the most intelligent, active, and generous in our connection. Responding to the teachings and challenges of the pulpit, the laity in our large cities and towns have entered upon a new stage of Christian activity, demonstrating the possibility of practical union in the stewardship of Christ. In many quarters there is an evident increase of evangelic life and energy. With these facts well authenticated before them, your Committee feel that, should the elements now stirred and converging toward union-be diverted and repelled from their object, the effect would be most disastrous on the prospects of true religion. If the hearts of Christian people, combined already throughout the land in Christian work, should be disappointed as to that organic union which they crave, and this through differences asserted by the clergy, 18 274 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. which the laity either do not understand or with which they have no sympathy, the certain effect will be to lessen the sentiment of respect and confidence on their part toward their appointed leaders, and weaken the force of paramount motives. Nor is the proposed Union desirable on our own account only. It is inevitable that its effects should be felt throughout the whole of Christendom. Many of the. ecclesiastical organizations of Protestant Europe had their origin in remote controversies connected with the Reformation. That was a time for the assertion of truth, rather than for the expression of love. It was not so much a season for extending Christianity as for purifying and preparing it for future aggression. If we must judge now, that segregation was then carried to an extreme beyond what was required by necessity and Christian charity, surely we possess peculiar advantages in this country and age, for availing ourselves of a- wiser and happier policy. Nothing is so long-lived and inveterate as ancestral memories and prejudices. Before the world we are now engaged, as a nation, in solving the problem whether it is possible for all the incongruous and antagonistic nationalities thrown upon our shores, exerting their mutual attraction and repulsion, to become fused in one new American sentiment. If the several branches of the Presbyterian Church in this country, representing to a great degree ancestral differences, should become cordially united, it must have not only a direct effect upon the question of our national unity, but, reacting by the force of a successful example on the Old World, must render aid in that direction, to all who are striving to reconsider and readjust those combinations, which had their origin either in the faults or the necessities of a remote past. The results of our present movement are eagerly observed by many, and its success or failure must inevitably affect other efforts, at home and abroad, looking to the consolidation of other branches of the Christian Church; nor can we doubt that, if any hindrance should frustrate the consummation of that Union now contemplated by ourselves, a pang of grief and disappointment would be felt not only in our own country, but throughout Protestant Christendom. The third of a century, the life of a whole generation, has indeed wrought wondrous changes, of the greatest promise for the. future. Another order of things exists. Old causes of irritation are removed. A new generation in the ministry and the membership of the church THE REUNION. 275 has arisen, with little sympathy for those controversies that resulted in division. A new evangelic spirit is abroad, like the breath of spring, inviting to a new style of action. It would have betrayed a criminal temper, on the part of your Committee, had they been indifferent to those events and sentiments to which they owe their own appointment, and under the influence of which they addressed themselves honestly, patiently, and prayerfully, to the duty assigned to them. The result of their deliberation is embodied in the following document, which they now submit for the consideration of the Assemblies: PROPOSED TERMS OF REUNION BETWEEN THE TWO BRANCHES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE TTNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The Joint Committee of the two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church, appointed for the purpose of conferring on the desirableness and practicability of uniting these two bodies, deeply impressed with the responsibility of the work assigned us, and having earnestly sought Divine guidance, and patiently devoted ourselves to the investigation of the question involved, agree in presenting the following for the consideration, and, if they see fit, for the adoption of the two General Assemblies. Believing that the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom would be promoted by healing our divisions; that practical union would greatly augment the efficiency of the whole Church for the accomplishment of its divinely appointed work; that the main causes producing division have either wholly passed away, or become so far inoperative, as that Reunion is now " consistent with agreement in doctrine, order, and polity, on the basis of our common standards, and the prevalence of mutual confidence and love;" and that two bodies, bearing the same name, adopting the same Constitution, and claiming the same corporate rights, cannot be justified by any but the most imperative reasons in maintaining separate and, in some respects, rival organizations; and regarding it as both just and proper that a Reunion should be effected by the two Churches, as independent bodies, and on equal terms, we propose the following Terms and Recommendations, as suited to meet the demands of the case: 1. The Reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical 276 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. basis of our common standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted, " as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures;" it being understood, that this Confession is received in its proper, historical -that is, the Calvinistic or Reformed — sense; it is also understood that various methods of viewing, stating, explaining, and illustrating, the doctrines of the Confession, which do not impair the integrity of the Reformed or Calvinistic system, are to be freely allowed in the United Church, as they have hitherto been allowed in the separate Churches: and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the -United States shall be approved as containing the principles and rule of our polity. 2. All the ministers and churches, embraced in the two bodies, shall be admitted to the same standing in the united body which they may hold in their respective connections up to the consummation of the union; imperfectly organized churches shall be counselled and expected to become thoroughly Presbyterian, as early, within the period of five years, as is permitted by the highest interests to be consulted; and no other such churches shall be hereafter received. 3. The boundaries of the several Presbyteries and Synods shall be adjusted by the General Assembly of the United Church. 4. The official records of the two branches of the Church, for the period of separation, shall be preserved and held as making up the one history of the Church; and no rule or precedent, which does not stand approved by both the bodies, shall be of any authority, until re-established in the united body, except in so far as such rule or precedent-may affect the rights of property founded thereon. 5. The corporate rights, now held by the two General Assemblies, and by their Boards and Committees, shall, as far as practicable, be consolidated, and applied for their several objects, as defined by law. 6. There shall be one set of Committees or Boards for Home and Foreign Missions, and the other religious enterprises of the Church, which the churches shall be encouraged to sustain, though free to cast their contributions into other channels, if they desire to do so. 7. As soon as practicable after the union shall be effected, the General Assembly shall reconstruct and consolidate the several THE REUNION. 277 permanent Committees and Boards, which now belong to the two Assemblies, in such a manner as to represent, as far as possible, with impartiality, the views and wishes of the two bodies constituting the United Church. 8. The publications of the Board of Publication, and of the Publication Committee, shall continue to be issued as at present, leaving it to the Board of Publication of the United Church to revise these issues, and perfect a catalogue for the joint Church, so as to exclude invidious references to past controversies. 9. In order to a uniform system of ecclesiastical supervision, those Theological Seminaries that are now under Assembly control may, if their Boards of direction so elect, be transferred to the watch and care of one or more of the adjacent Synods; and the other Seminaries are advised to introduce, as far as may be, into their Constitutions, the principle of Synodical or Assembly supervision; in which case, they shall be entitled to an official recognition and approbation on the part of the General Assembly. 10. It is agreed that the Presbyteries possess the right to examine ministers applying for admission from other Presbyteries; but each Presbytery shall be left free to decide for itself when it shall exercise the right. 11. It shall be regarded as the duty of all our judicatories, ministers, and people in the United Church, to study the things which make for peace, and to guard against all needless and offensive references to the causes that have divided us; and, in order to avoid the revival of past issues, by the continuance of any usage in either branch of the Church that has grown out of our former conflicts, it is earnestly recommended to the lower judicatories of the Church. that they conform their practice in relation to all such usages, as far as is consistent with their convictions of duty, to the general custom of the Church. prior to the controversies that resulted in the separation. 12. The Terms of the Reunion, if they are approved by the General Assemblies of 1868, shall be overtured to the several Presbyteries under their care, and shall be of binding force, if they are ratified by three fourths of the Presbyteries connected with each branch of the Church, within one year after they shall have been submitted to them for approval. 2 78 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. 13. If the two General Assemblies of 1869 shall find that the plan of Reunion has been ratified by the requisite number of Presbyteries in each body, they shall, after the conclusion of all their business, be dissolved by their respective Moderators, in the manner and form following, viz.: Each Moderator shall address the Assembly over which he presides, saying, " By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the Church, and in conformity with the Plan of Union adopted by the two Presbyterian Churches, let this Assembly be dissolved; and I do hereby dissolve it, and require a General Assembly chosen in the same manner, by all the Prebyteries in connection with this body, and all those in connection with the General Assembly meeting this year in, to meet in, on the day of May, A. D. 1870; and I do hereby declare and proclaim, that the General Assembly thus constituted will be the rightful General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, now, by the grace of God, happily united." Signed, by order of the Joint Committee. CHARLES C. BEATTY, Chairman. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, Secretary. PHILADELPHIA, March 14, A. D. 1868. It will be observed that the Committee have agreed upon a few modifications of the Basis of Union reported in May, 1867; this, not so much from any change of opinion on their own part, as with a view, if possible, of preventing or correcting misapprehension, and to meet, more fully, the views and wishes of the bodies which they represent. In reference to the First Article, containing the doctrinal basis, the language employed is so explicit, that the Committee believe it will prove satisfactory to all who desire union on the terms of Christian confidence and honor. First of all, following the order of the "Constitutional Questions" proposed by our Form of Government to all who are ordained to the Ministry and Eldership of the Presbyterian Church, we assert the great Protestant principle -the sole supremacy and undivided authority of the Word of God, in all matters of faith and practice: assigning to this the foremost place above:Church, Creed, Confession, School, and System. Magnifying the Inspired Scriptures, we next adopt, indorse, and THE REUNION. 279 honor, our common Confession, as'"containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures." So far as they were concerned themselves, the Committees would have been content to rest in this prescribed form of words, as received and used by Christian Brethren. Unhappily, misapprehension, prejudices, and distrust are engendered by divisions, to obviate which the Committee have endeavored to modify the language of their former report, thought by some to be ambiguous, so as to make it precise, without surmising or exaggerating differences of opinion. In their judgment, the line of distinction between the two Assemblies, as now drawn, does not consist, as some have supposed, merely in theological diversities. The same confession is adopted by all. It is adopted in the same terms as containing the same system. To make this agreement the more determinate, the Committee have given this system its historic name. At the same time that we mutually interchange these guarantees for orthodoxy, we mutually interchange guarantees for Christian liberty. Differences always have existed and been allowed in the Presbyterian Churches in Europe and America, as to modes of explaining and theorizing within the metes and bounds of the one accepted system. What exists in fact, we have undertaken to express in words. To put into exact formulas what opinions should be allowed and what interdicted, would be to write a new Confession of Faith. This, neither Branch of the Church desires. Your Committee have assumed no such work of supererogation. Neither have they made compromises or concessions. They append no codicil to the old Symbols. They have asserted, as being essential to all true unity, the necessity of adopting the same Confession and the same System, with the recognition of liberty on either hand, for such differences as do not impair the integrity of the system itself; which is all the liberty that any branch of the great Calvinistic family of Churches has ever claimed or desired. Your Committee cannot see how it was possible for them to employ language more precise and guarded, unless they were ptepared to substitute " private interpretations" for the recognized standards of the Church. To go further in either direction than they have done, would certainly lead to useless and endless " strifes of words." Language somewhere must find a limit. It would be impossible so to frame expressions on this subject, that those who are c280 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. opposed to Reunion may not find occasion to cavil and object. But the Committee hope and trust that the Article now reported will commend itself to all fair-minded men, as containing what is precise, yet not exclusive; definite, yet not rigid; specific, yet not inflexible; liberal, without laxity; catholic, without latitudinarianism. If exact uniformity in all shades of opinion, in technical adjustments, in philosophic theories, be regarded as essential to union, we should earnestly recommend the indefinite adjournment of the present movement. Nor would consistency allow us to rest here; our present organizations should be dissolved and exchanged for disintegration and individualism. Nothing need be said in vindication of the Second Article, to those who are fully informed concerning the churches referred to therein. Your Committee had to deal, not with abstractions, but. with facts and realities. The churches here described originated in a policy which was itself inaugurated by a remote necessity; their number is limited, and cannot be increased; the terms of their relationship are prescribed and limited also; their Presbyterian relationship is at present cordial, happy, and eminently useful; and some of them are deemed, by the Presbyteries with which they are connected, as among their most efficient and excellent churches. As nothing is intended by our action to disturb the present relations of these churches, so nothing is designed to be done, at any time, which can be regarded as inconsistent with good faith and honor; but such statements were made by those members of the Joint Committee more immediately representing the sections of country in which these churches exist, as led the Committee to believe, that the friendly counsel contained in this Article would prove not unacceptable to these churches themselves, and that the specification of a definite time might be an aid to them in perfecting that organization which is now suggested by Christian expediency. The several Articles, which contemplate the combination and readjustment of the respective Boards and Committees of the two Assemblies, look only to economy and increased efficiency. The recommendation contained in the Eighfth Article calls for the briefest explanation, as it is believed that it will prove more satisfactory than the former Article, to which various objections were made. No disposition was manifest in the Committee to press in THE REUNION. 281 vidious distinctions and preferences. Neither Publishing Committee is to supersede or indorse the other. Both, earnestly engaged at present in publishing what is received by the churches at large as valuable literature in theology and practical religion, are advised to continue as now organized, till such a new Board or Committee shall be appointed in the United Church, as, it may be supposed, would be prompted by every instinct of Christian propriety to omit painful and invidious references to past strifes, leaving undisturbed what is now, and ever must be, highly prized by all our ministers and churches. As to the action of the Committee concerning Theological Seminaries, as embodied in Article Nint/h of their report, all difficulty springs from the obvious fact, that there is no authority which is competent to forbid the endowment of Seminaries at any time by any individuals in our connection. Those Theological Seminaries which are now independent of ecclesiastical control, werel founded before the disruption, and endowed by men representing alike what are now known as Old and New School Churches. What was done then, may be repeated again. A recommendation, looking to some uniformity of ecclesiastical supervision, is all which the Committee felt to be within their province or that of the Assembly; except that those Seminaries, now belonging to either branch of the Church, should have every guarantee and protection for their chartered rights which they might desire. A new Article, here designated as the Tenth, has been introduced, in which some concession has been made on both sides, designed to reconcile conflicting claims and usages. Many churches and Presbyteries, in both Assemblies, claim the right, as now expressed in formal vote, of pronouncing upon the expediency of admitting, to their own membership, those who bear testimonials from correlative bodies. One Assembly now makes this obligatory upon all the Presbyteries. The Committee recommend the recognition of the right, and the abolition of the imperative rule. As all difficulties springing from this cause had their origin in times of suspicion and distrust which, it is hoped, are passing away, it is believed that the whole matter may safely be left to adjust itself in a new era of confidence and harmony. In this connection, however, the Committee would particularly refer to the next Article (No. 11), which empha W $ 2 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. sizes the duty of all our judicatories to study the things which make for peace, and earnestly recommends to the Presbyteries to conform to earlier and more ancient usages. The examination of ministers passing from one Presbytery to another is altogether unknown to the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland and Ireland; nor was it originally practised in our own. The extent of territory covered by the Presbyterian Church in the United States may have been one reason for another method, in later years, in our own country; but, inasmuch as the right and usage asserted and defended by some, and denied and discarded by others, were related to controversies which are past, the Committee are confident that practical difficulties, from this quarter, will be obviated by the adoption of their entire action in the premises. Amid the diversified practices which now prevail as to this subject in both branches of the Church, this recommendation of the Committee was designed to allay, and not to promote distrust and suspicion. That some changes must be made ini the present method and ratio of representation, is apparent from the size of the two Assemblies. Differences of opinion also have long existed in both branches, as to the powers and prerogatives of the General Assembly, as now exercised. Many are jealous and apprehensive lest these may transcend the limits of expediency and Constitutional Law. Whether the proposed Reunion would create the necessity of enlarging the authority of the local Synods and modifying somewhat the power and province of the General Assembly, is a subject upon which, as not having been referred to them, the Committees have not felt at liberty to make suggestions or to take action, beyond that of commending it to the attention of the two Assemblies, which they do in the following terms, to wit - "The Joint Committee recommend that each of the two General Assemblies of 1868, appoint a Committee of five, to constitute a Joint Committee of ten, whose duty shall be to prepare and propose to the first General Assembly of the United Church a proper adjustment of the boundaries of Presbyteries and Synods. " This Committee shall also recommend to the General Assembly any amendments of the Constitution, which they may think necessary to secure efficiency and harmony in the administration of a Church so greatly enlarged and so rapidly extending." THE REUNION. 283 Thus have the Committee discharged the duty with which they were intrusted. Having acted to the best of their ability, according to all the wisdom they could command, their responsibility ceases. The grave necessity of decisive action is now devolved on the respective Assemblies and Presbyteries of the Church. That this responsibility transcends what ordinarily occurs in the life of men, no one will question. The Union contemplated in this report is one based on "mutual confidence and love." The Committees are aware that they have personally enjoyed peculiar opportunities, in the way of intimate fraternal intercourse, for the cultivation and expression of these Christian sentiments. Whatever differences may exist among themselves on subordinate matters, they have come to rest in mutual confidence concerning that which is of paramount importance. If the same sentiment prevails throughout the whole Church, organic Union cannot be prevented; if it should prove to be wanting, no technical formulas, no cautious definitions, no well-guarded conditions, can produce union of any value or permanence. There is a so-called unity, which is like the freezing together into one solid mass of all incongruous and heterogeneous substances. Such icy compression is undesirable. There is another unity, which the Holy Ghost has compared to the living " body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part," making "increase of the body unto the edifying of itself it love." Such is the Divine model of ecclesiastical Union, combining diversity and harmony, liberty and love, and the whole instinct with life, and predestined to growth and perfection. Love demands few conditions, and confidence builds on something better than verbal guarantees. Your Committee have never expected to reconcile all local interests, all private preferences, all personal memories and prejudices. Content are they, if the Articles of Agreement, herewith reported and recommended, approve themselves to the thoughtful and judicious in both branches of the Church, as suited to promote, not the advantage of any school or sect, but the healthful vigor of the entire Church, the prosperity of the whole country, the honor of our adorable Lord. We make no computation of majorities and minorities, in the United Church, as related to past distinctions. We recognize no 284 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. such idea as one body absorbing the other; our whole action is based on the principle of two bodies, now independent and equal, becoming assimilated and fused together in cordial " agreement as to doctrine, order, and policy, on the basis of our common standards, and the prevalence of mutual confidence and love." In such a sublime act, something must be trusted to the power of Christian sentiment; something left to be accomplished by faith in one another, as well as in our common Lord. Signs are visible in every quarter of increased confidence among Christian churches and ministers, long separated by ecclesiastical differences, now yearning for more of unity. As well might we deny the return of spring and the putting forth of buds and the tender grass, as question this obvious fact. Do not events indicate a Divine Leadership which it is our wisdom to observe and obey? Results have already been reached, under Pentecostal effusions of the Spirit from on high, surpassing the most sanguine expectations, rebuking unbelief, dissolving prejudice, and betokening greater things to come. Some things must be referred to the past. If we face the sun, our shadows are behind us. " Let the dead bury their dead." It is our Lord Himself who teaches us, that all which is personal and private should be held subordinate to the claims and affinities of His kingdom. What was tolerated once may not be justified now. The future cheers and animates us with brightest prospects. The voice of the Son of God rebukes the weakness and wickedness of schism, and enjoins the unity of faith and love. Hope anticipates the time when, every dissension healed and forgotten by Christian charity, all branches of the Presbyterian Church, in all sections of our common country, holding the same Standards, shall be drawn together by patriotic and evangelical sympathies in cordial and indissoluble union. Glorious things are promised to the Church, " in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people and healeth the stroke of their wound." Surely it will be for good and not evil, for joy and not sorrow, for strength and not weakness, if henceforth our rule shall be " One body and one spirit, even as'we' are called in one hope of' our' calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in' us' all." "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, THE REUNION. 285 unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Signed, by order of the Committee. WILIAM ADAMS, Chairman, X. S. CHARLES C. BEATTY, O. S. May 20, 1868. The whole subject was now before both Assemblies for action in the form of definite terms for organic Reunion. The terms met with no little opposition. In the Old School, the opposition was chiefly against the explanatory clauses of the doctrinal article; in the New, against the admission of the tenth article, concerning the right of examining ministers in good and regular standing. After a long and animated debate, the whole plan, as reported by the Committee, was adopted by both Assemblies, by a very large majority, and according to the provisions of the plan itself was sent down as an overture to the Presbyteries for their decision. In the Old School Assembly, the minority disapproving of the plan, entered a formal protest. This was answered by Professor Shedd, Chairman of a Committee appointed for the purpose. As this paper was approved and adopted by the Assembly itself, thus en dorsing the orthodoxy of the New School Presbyterian Church, it is too important, as a historic document, to be omitted from this record. It is as follows: ANSWER TO THE PROTEST. In reply to the Protest against its action on the Terms of Union, the Assembly observes: The authors of the Protest first speak of a series of doctrinal errors and heresies, which may be concisely stated as follows: (1.) 286 PRESBYTERPIAN R. MUNION. There is no moral character in man prior to moral action, and therefore man was not created holy. (2.) There was no covenant made with Adam, his posterity did not fall with him, and every man stands or falls for himself. (3.) Original sin is not truly and properly sin bringing condemnation, but only an innocent tendency leading to actual transgression. (4.) Inability of any and every kind is inconsistent with moral obligation. (5.) Regeneration is the sinner's own act, and consists in the change of his governing purpose. (6.) God cannot control the acts of free agents, and therefore cannot prevent sin in a moral system. (7.) Election is founded upon God's foreknowledge that the sinner will repent and believe. (8.) The sufferings of Christ are not penal, and do not satisfy retributive justice. (9.) Justification is pardon merely, and does not include restoration to favor and acceptance as righteous. These doctrinal errors the authors of the Protest are careful to say are repudiated by the great mass of the New School Church. They say that " they are far from believing or insinuating that these doctrines generally approved by the New School Church " - that they do not impute these errors to a majority, or to any definite proportion of our New School brethren." The charge that is made in this Protest, and the only charge made in this reference is, that while the other branch of the Presbyterian Church repudiate these doctrines for themselves, they at the same time hold that they are consistent with the Calvinismv of the Confession of _Faith. The authors of the Protest allege that it is the judgment of the New School body that a person can logically and consistently accept the Westminster symbol, and these nine or ten Pelagian and Arminian tenets, at one and the same time. This is the substance of their charge. The Assembly pronounces this allegation to be without foundation, because: 1. Such a position, if taken by the New School Church, or by any church whatsoever, would simply be self-stultifying and absurd. That a great religious denomination, which from the beginning of its or. ganization in 1837, down to the present time, has held up the Westminster Confession as its symbol, has compelled every one of its ministers and elders to subscribe to that symbol, and has received its membership into church communion upon professing faith in the doc TIE REUNION. 287 trines of that symbol; that an ecclesiastical body which has thus stood before the other churches of this and other lands, as a Cacvirnistic body, and has been reckoned and recognized as such, should at the same time be jealous in behalf. of the distinguishing doctrines of Pelagianism and Arminianism, and insist that these latter are consistent with the former, and are to be tolerated in a Calvinistic body, is too much for human belief. The entire history of the Church does not present such a phenomenon as that of a denomination adopting, before the world, a definite type of doctrine, and at the same time claiming that exactly the contrary type of doctrine is compatible with it, and must be tolerated within its communion. If the New School Church are really doing what the signers of this Protest allege they are, then their position before the churches and the world would be as absurd as would have been the position of the Nicene Church, if, at the very time that it adopted and defended the Trinitarianism of Athanasius, it had insisted that the tenets of Arius or those of the Humanitarians were consistent with those of the great father of orthodoxy, and must be allowed in the Catholic Church. The human mind, even in its natural condition, never did work in this manner, and never will; and still less will the human mind, when renewed and sanctified by divine grace, be guilty of such a palpable inconsistency. 2. These very errors, charged by the signers of the Protest as allowed by the New School Presbyterians, have already been distinctly repudiated by them. The Auburn Convention, held in 1837, under the influence and doctrinal guidance of that excellent and sound divine, the late Dr. Richards, specified sixteen doctrinal errors, which contain the very same latitudinarian and heretical tenets mentioned in the Protest, rejected them in in toto, and set over against them sixteen " true doctrines," which embrace all the fundamentals of the Calvinistic creed. This Assembly regards the " Auburn declaration" as an authoritative statement of the New School type of Calvinism, and as indicating how far they desire to go, and how much liberty they wish in regard to what the terms of union call " the various modes of explaining, illustrating, and stating" the Calvinistic faith. We believe that a large number of our New School brethren would prefer the modes of " explaining and illustrating" the tenets of Calvinism which are employed by the authors of this Protest themselves, 288 PRESBYTERIAN RJEUNION. and the other portion of the body claim only that degree of variation from these modes, which would be represented by the theology of Richards and the Auburn Declaration. 3. The Assembly is fully satisfied that any instances of laxity of doctrine among the New School which have been exhibited, are exceptional cases, and that the great body of the other Church sincerely and firmly stand upon the basis of our common standards. The many disclaimers of the unsound views charged, and declarations that the standards are received as by us, which have been made by distinguished and representative men, and in the periodicals of the New School Church, leave no room to doubt that the interests of sound doctrine will be safe in the united Church. 4. That the allegation of this Protest is unfounded is proven by the fact that the New School Church have adopted, by a unanimous vote, the Basis of Doctrine presented by the Joint Committee. Whatever may be the preferences and opinions of individuals respecting particular clauses in the first article in this basis, this General Assembly holds and affirms that it not only commits, but binds any ecclesiastical body that should receive it to pure and genuine Calvinism. It will be so understood by all the world. For it expressly lays down the Westminster symbol as the doctrinal platform, and expressly requires that no doctrine shall be taught that is not Calvinistic in the old, ancestral, " historical" meaning of this term, or that "impairs the integrity " of the Calvinistic system. We affirm that there is not a man upon the globe, possessed of a sane mind, and acquainted with the subject of doctrine, who would assert that the list of errors and heresies mentioned by the signers of this Protest is " Calvinistic " in the accepted and historical signification of the term, or that their reception would not impair the integrity of the Calvinistic system. And it must be distinctly observed, that if any doctrines had been hitherto allowed by the New School body which " impair the integrity of the Calvinistic system," they are not to be allowed in the united Church under the terms of union. Such doctrines are condemnedl, and any one who may teach them will be subject to discipline. It is the testimony of some of the protesters themselves that the great body of the New School are sound in doctrine; our own body being the large majority in the union, when fortified by the accession of the THE REUNION. 289 great body of sound men in the other, will establish and confirm the testimony of the Church to the truth; will preserve it, by God's help, from error, and maintain intact, while it extends, the purifying and saving power of our venerated Confession. 5. The errors and heresies alleged in the Protest are combated and refuted in the Theological Seminaries of the New School. Such Seminaries in any denomination are important exponents of its doctrinal position and character. The Assembly knows that in the three Seminaries of our New School brethren, Westminster Calvinism is fully and firmly taught. The Professors in these are obliged to subscribe to the Westminster Confession, and heretical teaching throws the Professor out of his chair by the very constitution of these Seminaries. The Assembly notices this point, particularly, because the authors of the Protest assert that the doctrinal errors specified by them " have been taught in some of the Theological Seminaries of our land." This is not the proper manner in which to affix so grave and damaging a stigma upon our New School Presbyterian brethren. The authors of this Protest ought to have made this allegation, not in the way of insinuation, but by distinct assertion and proof. Many things are " taught in the Theological Seminaries of our land," which are not taught in the Presbyterian Seminaries of the land, either New School or Old. 6. The Protest alleges it to be a "notorious fact" that the New School Church insists that the heresies mentioned are compatible with Calvinism. If the alleged fact had been so " notorious " as the Protest affirms, it would certainly have been known to this Assembly, and would have made it simply impossible to have secured for the Basis of the Joint Committee, or for any other conceivable basis, any favorable consideration. The idea of reunion would not have been entertained for a moment. Furthermore, this Assembly emphatically holds up to the Church and to the world, that it receives into its ministry and membership those who adopt " the system of doctrine taught in our Confession," and that it never has held, and does not now hold, that its ministers or members shall " view, state, or explain" that system in any other than the words of the Holy Scriptures and our standards; and to show that this is the sentiment not only of the Assembly, but of the protesters themselves also, the Assembly here cites the testimony of 19 290 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. one of the signers of the Protest, whose words have been referred to in the discussions just closed. Says Dr. Hodge: " If a man comes to us, and he adopts' the system of doctrine taught in our Confession, we have a right to ask him,'Do you believe there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost -and that these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory? If he says, Yes, we are satisfied. We do not call upon him to explain how three persons are one God, or to determine what relations in the awful mysteries of the Godhead are indicated by the terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If we ask, Do you believe that'God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures "? and he answers, Yes, we are satisfied. If he says he believes that'the covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression,' we are satisfied. If he says that he believes that' the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual trangressions which proceed from it,' we are satisfied. If he says,' Christ executes the office of a priest in his once offering himself a sacrifice to satisfy Divine justice and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us,' we are satisfied. If he says he believes justification to be' an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone,' we are satisfied. Is not this what is meant when a man says he adopts our' system of doctrine'? Is not this - nothing more and nothing less - that which we are authorized and bound to require? God grant that we may unite on terms so simple, so reasonable, and, I must hope, so satisfactory to every sincere, humble, Christian brother."- (-Remarks of the Rev. Charles Ilodge, D.D., in the Philadelphia Convention.) The Assembly cannot enlarge the basis beyond the platform of God's truth as stated in our standards, and it would not narrow the basis by taking one tittle from the form of sound words therein contained. We declare our willingness to unite with all those who pro A/\ \\\ \;K ii j$7/ I ( 4i ~~~~~ ~ K zZ Zi>z' 1 _ _ -, /' - - THE REUNION. 291 fess their faili in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their adoption of " the Confession of Faith and Form of Government" of our beloved Church. The protesters object to the eighth item of the Basis, because it makes the united Church responsible for the publications of the New School Committee. This is a misapprehension. The publications of the New School Committee and our Board are to be issued as now, with the imprint of each, until the new Board shall prepare a new catalogue, for which alone the united Church will be responsible. Again, the protesters object to the fourth article as unsettling past acts of our Church. This is a matter of necessity where the action of the two bodies differs. It is believed, however, that except in the case of the imperative clause of the examination rule of 1837, no important difference can be found. If it is otherwise, the united Church is the proper body to establish its own usages. We do not believe that our brethren of the New School Church have now any sympathy with Congregational views of government, or any objection to usages that are strictly Presbyterian. The various amendments proposed by the protesters were laid on the table, not because they were contrary to the sentiment of the Assembly, but because, under the circumstances, it was not possible to engraft them upon the terms of the union, and, in the judgment of the Assembly, were not essential to the integrity of the Calvinistic basis on which the union is to be effected. WM. G. T. SHEDD, J. G. MONFORT, S. IREN.AUS PRIME, H[. H. LEAVITT, ROBERT MCKNIGHT, Committee. In the New School Assembly at Harrisburg, the minority, after having expressed their dissent and their apprehensions in regard to the tenth article, with few exceptions, waived their objections in the final vote upon the whole plan, and acquiesced in the judgment of the majority. 292 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. As the Session of the Old School Assembly at Albany was drawing to a close, action was taken which it is important to understand correctly, because of its bearing on all subsequent proceedings. In hope of conciliatinEq the mirnority, who had professed honest imisgivings as to the effect of the explanatory clauses of the doctrinal article, that Assembly adopted the following resolution: While the Assembly has approved the Report of the Joint Committee on Reunion, it expresses its preference for a change in the first item in the basis, leaving out the following words, viz.: " It being understood that the Confession is received in its historical — that is, the Calvinistic or Reformed sense, - it is also understood that various methods of viewing, stating, explaining, and illustrating the doctrines of the Confession, which do not impair the integrity of the Reformed or Calvinistic system, are to be freely allowed in the united Church, as they have hitherto been allowed in the separate churches.' The Assembly believes that by omitting these clauses the basis will be more simple and more expressive of mutual confidence; and the Permanent Clerk is directed to telegraph this proposed amendment to the Assembly at Harrisburg, and if that Assembly shall coZceur in the amendment, it shall become of effect as the action of this Assembly also. The Assembly also appoints the Rev. C. C. Beatty, D.D., the Rev. V. D. Reed, D.D., and ruling elders Robert Carter and Henry Day, a Committee to proceed to Harrisburg and personally to lay this action before the other Assembly. This Committee immediately put in execution the trust assigned to them; and on their arrival at Harrisburg, were very cordially received, and by their presence and warm expressions of fraternal love, did much to advance the interest of Reunion. But the Assembly at Harrisburg was now very near its close. Many of its members had already obtained leave of absence, THE REUMNON. 293 and on investigation it was found that there was no Ion. ger the requisite constitutional quorum for reconsidering the action which had been taken. A free conference on the subject, however, seemed to warrant the belief that the Assembly would have been willing to concur in the proposal, if their brethren of the other Assembly would add the tenth article to the portions to be omitted. The Committee returned to Albany and reported the result of their mission, and there the matter was left when the Assemblies severally adjourned. The plan recommended by the Joint Committee and adopted by both Assemblies was now the overture, and the only one regularly before the presbyteries. If, however, having acted upon that, any of them had chosen to express their approval of the proposed amendments, subject to the concurrence of the two Assemblies, no embarrassment would have arisen. But, unfortunately for the immediate success of the effort for Reunion, other councils prevailed. The presbyteries of the New' School acted upon the regular overture, and approved it by a very large majority; but the presbyteries of the Old School voted, some for the overture, some for the amended plan proposed but not adopted by their Assembly; and still others ignored both for the basis of " the standards pure and simple;" and by far the largest number effectively rejected the only measure legally before them. In this state of affairs, seeing that that measure was defeated, not intentionally on the part of most of the presbyteries, but by confusion of action, the Reunion Committee, on the part of the New School, which had been continued by that Assembly, while that of the other Assembly had been 294 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. dissolved, hoping still to bring about an agreement, and deeming it within the limits of their authority to attempt to do so, met in the city of New York, in the month of January, 1869, and adopted the following paper: ADDRESS OF THE REUNION COMMITTEE TO THE PRESBYTERIES. In pursuance of a resolution of the General Assembly, at its meeting at Harrisburg, Pa., May, 1868, continuing the Committee on Reunion for the purpose of " furnishing such information as they may deem best to the churches, in order to secu~e intelligent action on the subject of reunion," the said Committee met in the city of New York, on the 20th day of January, 1869. It appeared from the best evidence that could be obtained, that while a large proportion of the New School presbyteries, acting on the overture sent down by both General Assemblies, had given their approval of the same, most of the Old School presbyteries had given their approval only to an amended basis, for which their Assembly had expressed a preference, in case the Assembly at Htarrisburg should concur; that is, to the basis of the overture with the omission in the first article of the following words: " It being understood, etc., or, as some of them have expressed their action, the basis of the Standards pure and simple." It thus appeared that, while on both sides there has been a very general approval of Reunion itself, a difference of action has prevailed which, as the case now stands, is likely to defeat what we believe is the earnest purpose of a very large majority of the members of both branches of our Church, to wit, the accomplishment of Reunion at the meeting of the next General Assemblies. That the other Assembly did not intend to make any alteration in the. principles of the plan submitted by the Joint Committee, is clear from the fact that, having adopted that plan by a large majority, the amendment was proposed only as a matter of " preference," subject to the concurrence of our General Assembly; and the reason given for the preference is, that, so amended, " the basis would be more simple and more expressive of mutual confidence." It appears from THE REUNION. 295 the statement of the Committee sent by the Assembly at Albany to report their action to the Assembly at Harrisburg, that they were influenced in part also by the hope of reconciling opposing elements in their own body, and so securing in favor of Reunion greater unanimnity. Believing that the Presbyteries connected with us, and our branch of the Church generally, are disposed to make any concessions to their brethren of the other body not inconsistent with principle, and that express guarantees, both in regard to doctrine and polity, may be safely dispensed with, now that free discussion of the subject has brought about so good an understanding, this Committee deem it their duty, in accordance with the purpose of their continuance, to call the attention of the presbyteries to the present posture of the case.; and, without assuming any authority, would reccomend that, at a regular meeting preceding the next General Assembly, they express their assent to the amendment referred to, with the additional one (which to us appears to carry with it all the reasons that apply to the other, and is regarded by some as quite necessary in case the other is adopted), viz., the omission of the whole of the Tenth Article. We cannot but trust that our Old School brethren will concede this additional omission, since it is but the application of the same principle to the polity of the Church which they have applied to its doctrine; and while it will serve to harmonize differing preferences among us, as theirs does among them, will be equally, with theirs, expressive of the same "mutual confidence." Should the requisite number of Presbyteries in both the bodies agree to both these modifications, the two Assemblies may find themselves in a position to consummate the Reunion at the approaching meeting, and thus avoid the delay of another year, which is much to be deprecated, in order to frame and send down a new overture. It must, however, be well understood, that, by agreeing to the omissions in question, the Presbyteries do not relinquish nor deny the right to all reasonable liberty in the statement of -views, and the interpretations of the Standards, as generally expressed in the First Article as it now stands; and also that the interpretation of their own language by the Joint Committee in the preamble and conclusion of their report, MIay, 1868, is to be accepted as the true interpretation. With these views, and in order to prepare the way for definite and,. 296 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. uniform action on the part of the Presbyteries, the Committee beg leave to submit the following form, not to supersede but to follow their previous action, in case they have already approved of the terms of the overture: "This Presbytery, having already approved of the basis of Reunion overtured by the last General Assembly, do now, in order to a final and harmonious adjustment of the whole case, consent to the amending of the Basis, by the omission, "cF irst, Of that part of the First article of the Basis that begins with the words' It being understood,' &c., and ends with the words'In the separate chnrches.' And, " Second, Of the whole of the Tenth Article of the basis. "WM. ADAMS, Chairman." This address was sent to all the presbyteries in connection with the New School branch of the church, and published in the religious papers, for the information of all parties concerned. Unfortunately, again, no sooner had the adoption of the address been made known through the press, than the Central Presbytery of Philadelphia, with the best of intentions, we are bound to believe, but without the slightest consultation with the Committee or any of the members of the New School, adopted and issued a circular to the presbyteries of the Old School, advising them to abandon the whole plan over'tugred by the Assemnblies, and vote for the union on the basis of the Standards, without explanations or agreements, leaving all the delicate questions on which the Reunion Committee had labored for nearly three years to be settled as best they might, after the union should be consummated. The result was as might naturally have been expected. While the presbyteries on the one side voted for the Committee's measure of attemp'ted concilation, those on the other were as much TIE REUNION. 297 confused in their action as before; and again there was no agreement. It was in this posture of affairs that the two Assemblies met in the city of New York, May 17, 1869. It can hardly be thought strange that in the New School portion of the church a considerable degree of coldness had begun to manifest itself. Not a few of them began to feel that they had been trifled with. With the utmost confidence in the good-will and sincerity of the friends of Reunion in the other church, they could not see why they should still pursue their efforts to conciliate a small minority in their own body, who had been opposed to Reunion from the beginning, to the extent of ignoring the opinions and policy of its friends in the New School body, who had battled with them side by side for many years, and of neglecting to take them'into their counsels. This was the case especially with some of the laymen. Two eminent jurists, members of the Assembly, expressed as much during the course of its meetings. One of them, who had been a member of the Reunion Committee from the first, and had declared himself warmly for Reunion as early as 1864 at the Assembly of the Old School at Newark, declined for the first time to concur with the New School Committee when they put forth the January letter, thinking it unwise and beneath their dignity to make any further attempts in such circumstances. It was well known before the meeting of the Assemblies that the plan of Reunion overtured the preceding year, owing to the confused and diverse manner in which the vote had been taken, had failed of the requisite endorsement by the Presbyteries. This tended 298 PR3PESBYTERLAN REUNION. somewhat to dispirit the friends of Reunion, especially in the New School Branch. They approached the Assembly, so far as is known, with no definite plan. It was expected, if anything was done toward Reunion, that it must be with considerable delay, and by the inception of some new method, they knew not what, to be inaugurated by the other branch. But it was soon evident that the desire and purpose for Reunion were deepened and not diluted by delay. A meeting for prayer had been appointed in the Brick Church the evening previous to the opening of the Assemblies. It was instantly apparent that all hearts converged towards the same object, and some of those who had for various reasons been supposed to be indisposed to Reunion, now appeared to be the foremost in its advocacy. On the first day of the session, a motion was made in the Old School Assembly for a Committee of Conference to meet a similar Committee from the New School Assembly, to consider what further action should be taken on the subject of reuniting the two bodies. A similar Committee was appointed by the New School Assembly, upon information of what had been done by the other body. These committees consisted of five ministers and five elders from each Assembly. On the part of the Old School, the Committee was composed entirely of new men. Not one who had served upon the previous committee was reappointed. It is not known that any of these had been returned to the Assembly. On the part of the New School, one half had been members of the original Committee, appointed three years before. This con stitution of the Joint Committee proved to be favor THE REUNION. 299 able to success. It had been suggested more than once, in several quarters, that in previous conferences the Old School Committee had not been sufficiently firm and sagacious in the maintenance of their own ground. Those who were associated with them had no occasion to doubt for an instant their- true and decided fidelity to the interests which they represented, or to question the singular ability with which they discharged their trust. But for the wisdom, patience, and excellent Christian bearing of the first Committee, upon whom it devolved to initiate the work of Reunion in its least promising and most difficult aspects, the task of their successors would have been a thousand-fold more onerous. It will always be a very strong testimony to the wisdom and fidelity and discernment of those to whom reference is now made, -the members of the Joint Committee from the Old School, -that, in the final review by new men, in their place, every one of the provisions to which they had agreed, even those which had been most severely criticized, are retained unaltered in substance. The Committees now appointed addressed themselves immediately to the work assigned them with intense earnestness. Meantime the members of the two Assemblies were thrown into intimate intercourse. On Monday evening a social entertainment was given in Apollo Hall by the citizens of New York, in which there was the freest interchange of friendly sentiments. Nearly every day the two Assemblies met together for social worship. By the guidance of God's Providence and Spirit, the tide of feeling in expectancy of reunion was visibly and constantly 300 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. rising. Monday morning, a delegation from the Old School Assembly, consisting of the Rev. Drs. Beattie and Musgrave, and Hon. Robert McKnight, appointed under the old rule of. interchange, addressed the New School Assembly; and their fervid eloquence kindled a new enthusiasm for Reunion. Two days after, the Delegates from the New School, — Dr. Adams and Hon. Win. E. Dodge, -were received by the Old School Assembly with every expression of kindness and respect. The address delivered on that occasion by the former is here inserted, inasmuch as it represents the attitude of affairs upon one side at that critical time: ADDRESS OF REV. DR. ADAMS, BEFORE THE OLD SCHOOL ASSEMBLY. MR. MODERATOR, Lest it might be supposed by any that my colleague and myself are the bearers of some special overture from the Xssembly which we represent, it will not be impertinent to premise that the appointment under which we serve was made by the General Assembly of the last year. It is, on our part, a continuance of that interchange of fraternal courtesies which was inaugurated several years ago, but which is now drawing to a close; for I am awed by the thought that this is undoubtedly the last delegation from our Assembly to yours, as interchange is now to give place to interblending. We remember with delight the visit of your delegation to our Assembly last year at Harrisburg; their kinds words, their genial spirit, their noble bearing; while our hearts are still glowing with the fervent eloquence of your commissioners, when addressing us two days ago; for all which we thank both you and them. Though my connection with the Presbyterian Church has exceeded fhirty years, this is the first time that I even so much as looked upon the General Assembly of your branch of the Church.. With particular men among you, I have formed intimate, and I trust immortal friendships. Many of your names pardon me, Mr. Moderator, for mentioning your own among them -belong to the common scholarship of the country; while I can truly say of the men THiE REUNION. 301 with whom I have been associated in the negotiations of the last three years, that to me their faces will ever shine as did that of Moses, though it may be added that, in their Christian modesty, "they wist it not themselves." To give first impressions, it strikes me that I am not among "strangers and foreigners;" that you have the true, indescribable but unmistakable Presbyterian look, -gravity without austerity, dignity without dulness; or, if I may accomodate the descriptive words of Sir John Denham, written two hundred years ago, - " Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; Strong, without rage; without overflowing, full." It will be remembered by some present, that shortly after the division of the Presbyterian Church into two bands, our own branch, not having the most delightful associations with the General Assembly as then administered, and wishing to put into form that idea of its functions which had been propounded by many of the fathers of the Church, that it should be more of a bond of union among Synqds as local Assemblies, and less of a supreme, long-armed, legislative power, inaugurated - wisely or unwisely - the system of Triennial Assemblies, and, for the conduct of any business which might require action in the interval, a committee was appointed called the "Comnnzittee ad Interim." Though a young man at the time, I had the honor to be a member of that Committee. It may also be remembered by some present that, in subsequent Assemblies of your own, it was quite common facetiously to refer to this Committee of ours as "the COMMITTEE AD INTERMENT;" a pleasant and witty mode of expressing the conviction that we were dead. Ours was not the first instance in which premature burial has been arrested. I am reminded of that immortal passage in English literature, familiar to all nurseries, which describes a certain motherly person greatly grieved because of the death of her favorite dog,-' So she went out to buy him a coffin; When she came back she found him a-laughing." Mr. Moderator, we are not dead. We have never had any idea of dying. How could we die when we are vitalized by the spirit of Presbyterianism and by all the memories and traditions of Presby 302 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. terian history? It is very common for those who migrate from the Old World to the New to be taunted with the rawness and recency of their origin. If there is any virtue in historic lineage, all such have as indefeasible a right in every thing which constitutes the glory of Britain as those who still hold the ancestral cliffs. In like manner, we, as a Church, are no foundlings, blushing at the bend of illegitimacy in our coat armorial. All good and great Presbyterian names are our common property. Your Alexanders, McDowell, Rice, Miller, are ours, as our Richards, Skinner, Barnes, and Smith, are yours. Chalmers, the Browns, the Erskines, are ours. The Confession of Faith is ours. The old Catechisms are ours. Presbyterianism, in all its bravery, and scholarship, and fidelity, is ours, as truly as theirs who ever have lived on the hills and heather of Scotland. We have nothing to report concerning our branch of the Church but the special goodness of Almighty God. We do this, not in pride and exultation, but, we trust, with true gratitude for the past, and humble dependence on him for the future. All our organizations for Church work are complete and efficient. Special reference may be made to our Home Missionary work, which has been greatly prospered. Our receipts for this object are, I believe, considerably in advance of your own. There are many of these topics, of which, in other circumstances, we might speak at length; but it will be expected that I come at once to that subject of Reunion, which at this hour occupies all minds and hearts. By this time, we must all be convinced how much easier it is to break than to mend, to tear than to heal. The hand of a child may break off a branch from a rose-bush; but to reunite it to the parent stock, and cause it to grow fibre to fibre, bark to' bark, so that there shall be no scar, is a divine art, to be accomplished only by a Divine power. In what has been done already, we can see the signs of some working which is not altogether of man. No man, no set of men, on either side can take to themselves the credit of that movement which has already advanced so far towards its consummation. For myself, I can honestly say that when informed that my name was put on the Joint Committee, magnanimously inaugurated by your Assembly at St. Louis, in 1866, I had very little faith in the success of what was then projected. I see before me my friend and brother, Rev. Dr. Beatty, THEE REUNION. 303 Chairman of your own Committee of Fifteen, who, at the first meeting of our Joint Committee in February, 1867, told us that he hoped from some summit in the upper world one day to look down upon this Reunion -a consummation which he did not expect to see on the earth. Day before yesterday, in his address to our Assembly, he expressed the belief that this blessed issue was nigh at hand. I need not fall back upon the etymology of his name, which I have no doubt is derived from the Latin Beatus, to find reasons for congratulating him on his happiness this day. In nothing is the good hand of God more conspicuous than in the delays and doubts and hindrances which had their origin in honest convictions. The solution of a doubt is oftentimes the strongest confirmation of truth. I may apply to a good cause what Robert Hall has said of meritorious character, — it rises superior to opposition, and draws lustre from reproach. The-vapors which gather about the rising sun and follow it throughout the day, seldom fail, when evening comes, to form a magnificent theatre for its reception, and to invest with variegated tints and a softened effulgence the luminary which they cannot hide. It may not be impertinent to say that as we know of nothing in your condition as a Church which should lead you to seek this Reunion on your own account, so there is nothing in our condition which, for our own sake merely, makes it necessary that we should be united. You are a strong and venerable Church, needing no accession of strength or numbers. We are young, vigorous, and flexible. To a remarkable degree, we are homogeneous and united. We have no jealousies, no roots of bitterness throughout our large communion. So far as I know, we have no questions before us which are likely to divide us. Slavery is dead. Slavery has killed itself in these United States, and all the people have said Amen. Theological polemics are behind us. So far as we are concerned, it must be confessed, we enjoy this condition of things mightily. We trust that it will not be regarded as an offence if we are disposed to compare ourselves with the herdmen of Isaac, who digged a well, and when the herdmen of Gerar strove for it, called it Esek - Contention - and passed on; and they digged another well, and when they strove for that, they called it Sitnah - Hatred - and passed on; and digged a third well, which they called REHOBOTH -ROOM. Having dug our new well Rehoboth, and finding its waters sweet and abundant, rejoicing in the 304 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. liberty wherewith Christ maketh us free, there is no necessity, and we have no wish, for our own sakes merely, to go back to that which is past. But there is a ground on which-we have come to believe that reunion is desirable, pre-eminently desirable. It is a consideration higher and grander than the interests of either branch,- the good of the whole country, and the extension of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Evangelism is better than ecclesiasticism. Our common Christianity is nobler and higher than any zeal for partisanship. As we have been taught by our common system of theology, that God foreordains whatsoever comes to pass, making even the wrath of man to praise HEim, we may suppose that each of these distinct bodies may have had its mission, and so is now prepared to benefit the other in a new combination; as streams, impregnated with the qualities of the different soils through which they run, flow together and purify each other by the gentle effervescence of contrary qualities. I suppose you will consider it no affront if you are regarded as the special conservators of orthodoxy. Adopting the same Confession of Faith with yourselves in all honesty, we will not shrink from being considered as the special advocates and representatives of liberty. Circumstances have created these distinctions. You will not think it strange, while you hold steadfastly to your orthodoxy that we should magnify and assert our liberty. We have found it necessary to emphasize the fact that, within the bounds of our common system of doctrine, there is room for liberty. As there always have been, so there always will be differences of opinion in unessential particulars among those who are agreed heartily in the great essentials of the same historic system. 3fy excellent friend and brother, Rev. Dr. Musgrave, when addressing our Assembly, two days ago, as your Delegate, said, emphatically, in his admirable eloquence, that he rejoiced in the name of Calvinist, a name in which we rejoice also; but we have never supposed that in order to vindicate one's title to that honored appelation, every one of us should go through the world like the iron man Talus in the drama, with his flail crushing on the right hand and the left, all who differ from us in permitted shades of opinion. You and we together insist upon the free play of forces within the range of our common self-prescribed limitations. You are called Old School; we are called New School. THiE REUNION. 305 When I say that all the novelty, all the innovation in theology which we represent consists in getting rid of superstitions, using the word according to its exact etymology, to denote those things imposed upon theology which are not of its substance, — human traditions and philosophies, which have attached themselves to what is divine, like barnacles to a ship, so getting back more and more to the old, simple, primal, granite, eternal facts of Revelation,- perhaps it will appear not altogether impossible to reconcile the ideas of -new and Old in true harmony and unity. Upon this point it is not necessary to multiply words, on our part, especially as we recall the generous act of your last Assembly, in amply vindicating our orthodoxy by that deliverence which, of your own accord, was entered upon your minutes, and for which we render you, in the name of all truth and fairness, our sincere thanks. Should this reunion be consummated, there are two things, Mr. Moderator, which, as it seems to me, will be of immense importance, and of which I would presume to speak a word, without appearing to drop into the strain of professional homiletics. The first relates to the mode in which, from this time onward, we are to treat one another. Nothing is so long-lived and inveterate as prejudice — professional prejudice, party prejudice, sectional prejudice. While holding to freedom of speech, the utmost freedom of the Press, can any candid man deny that the Church and the country are both suffering at this hour from the misrepresentations of a partisan Press? We have had enough of parvanimity -let us pledge ourselves now to a noble magnanimity. Let my right hand forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I write or speak one word which shall tend to rekindle old prejudices, revive old issues, or excite distrust and suspicion in this critical hour of healing. If any man is disposed to do this, to give heed to idle rumor, to propagate rumors and suspicions fitted to make divisions, just when the tissues are beginning to knit themselves together into a new confidence, we have inspired authority for the direction to mark that man. WThat a noble opportunity especially is theirs who, advanced in years and having a vivid memory of former times, veterans scarred in past conflicts, men whose honest convictions are always to be honored, may so take the lead, at this new era, in the conquest of personal prejudices and partialities, as that they shall secure the love, gratitude, and, 20 306 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. honor of a new generation, and go to their rest at the close of life with the benedictions of a united Church. What the country needs now most of all, and the Church also, is the restoration of intelligent confidence between all its parts, North and South, East and West. Let the educated men of the country, especially our ministers and elders, cultivate more of intercourse and acquaintanceship, and they will bind this whole land into compactness, as the roots of the willows by the water-courses give firmness to the sod. If our Union is to be based on confidence and honor, then honor must be whole-hearted. WVe cannot mix clay and iron and gold together. The second thing is the wisdom and the necessity of engaging immediately in larger enterprises of Christian evangelism. This is the true method of diverting thought from obsolete questions, and preventing new divisions because of minor and subordinate matters. " Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass, or loweth the ox over his fodder? " The true way to arrest all senseless brayings and lowings is to fill heart and hands with grand and urgent work. We are much impressed on our side with the paramount necessity of evangelizing our cities and new territories, believing that Presbyterianism has peculiar advantages for this vast achievement. In our late national struggle manifold were the diversities of opinion in regard to men and measures, but these were all compelled to follow the one grand purpose to preserve the national life and integrity. We read in the Apocalypse of certain forms of life destined to annoy the Church, that " their power is in their tails." No matter how many tails a serpent may have, so long as. he has but one head he will be able to glide through any thicket, every caudal extremity forced to obey one capital tractive power. It is the attempt to put these diversities in the foreground - going as it were tails foremost - which ensures either stoppage or dismemberment. Let us make sure of true unity by undertaking great things for the kingdom of our Lord. Our Theological Seminaries should be more liberally endowed. The scholars of the Church should be provided for more generously. As thank-offerings to God, new churches should spring up all over the land. Now is the time for splendid action. We have been skirmishing only, using squads and detachments. Now for the bugle-note:sounding for an advance along the whole line. Having drawn an illustration from the wells of Isaac of different THE REUNION. 307 names, it occurs to me that there was a sequel to that history which justifies a further analogy. In his new encampment, Jehovah appeared unto Isaac and said, "I am the God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee and multiply thy seed." "Then Abimeleck went to him from Gerar and Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. " And Isaac said unto them, " Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? " And they said, " We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee " - anticipating that fine formula of Ireneus, "where the Spirit is there is the Church," in distinction from the ecclesiastical formula, " Where the Church is there is the spirit "-" we saw certainly that the Lord was with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee." " So they made a feast, and did eat and drink together;" and the last well which was dug there was called BEERSHEBA - The well of the oath - for there those who had been at variance sware one to another in a blessed covenant of amity and peace. "Then Israel sang this song. " Shall we, ere this week is past, sing it, here on Murray Hill, by the side of our new well? " Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver." So they journeyed " from the wilderness to the top of Pisgah." Pisgah! with what blessed memories and hopes is the name associated. Shall we stand awhile together upon this mount of vision and look around us. There is one temptation to which we are exposed at this hour, and that is elation. So much is said of the excellence of our standards of doctrine and polity that we are in danger of exalting theim unduly, forgetting that they are but instrumental to that which is higher and nobler. Leighton says that the devil is alert in watching for full and satisfied souls, just as pirates look out for ships which are heavily freighted, letting the empty pass unmolested. If we shall be tempted to pride because of our numbers and wealth and ecclesiastical strength, we shall be in imminent peril. Believing as we all do that our Church system is subordinate to Christianity, let this memorable week be distinguished by the birth of a purer and loftier type of spiritual religion. Pisgah! how is the word associated with heavenly visions and hopes. How small in the presence of death those distinctions of 308 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. which we make so much in " the pride of life. " What difference can we imagine there is now between Krebs and Brainerd, Erskine Mason and James W. Alexander, and all those who have been welconmed by the Lord of glory to His presence out of these two separated Branches of the Church on earth? How are we to account for that physiological fact which has so often come under our professional notice, that as nature dissolves itself into its simplest elements, the moral affections come forth with utmost tenderness and power. Some twenty years ago, when our partisan prejudices were in their first heat and strength, I had a neighbor, eminent for his scholarship and for his legal reputation and office, who was so thoroughly impregnated with theological partialities that he could regard me only with cold distrust and suspicion. For years our intercourse was confined to the most frigid forms of civility. He was seized by painful and fatal illness, during which, at his request, I frequently visited him. Not a word ever passed between us pertaining to different schools and systems. We talked of " the common salvation." All that was rigid and exclusive disappeared. Every thing that was sweet and tender and gentle came forth. How often did he take my hand and kiss it over and over again in fondest affection. The intellectual gave place to the moral — the simple affections of the heart asserted their supremacy. WVhy should we defer till the process of dissolution that union which is sure to be at last through the medium of Christian love? " All my theology," said that sweet saint, Dr. Archibald Alexander, when waiting and listening for the footsteps of his Master, " is reduced to this brief compass - the faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." My dear Mr. Moderator, pardon my prolixity, and accept the most cordial, fraternal, and Christian salutations for yourself, and the Assembly over which you preside, from those whom we have the honor to represent. God bless you and them in all things! God bless all branches of the Presbyterian Church! God bless all true Christian ministers and men; " all who, in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours! " In this day of gladness, because of the reunion of the tribes of Israel, let us chant together the jubilant words which the Spirit of God has made ready for our use, "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact to THE REUNION. 309 gether. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good." A week had elapsed since the opening of the Assemblies, and on Thursday, the seventh day, the Joint Committee was ready to report. As this was the document upon which both Assemblies agreed in their final action upon Reunion, it is here inserted entire, that it may be conveniently compared with preceding reports on the same subject. It was signed individually by every member of both committees. RlEPORT PRESENTED TO THE TWO ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. The Committee of Conference appointed by the two General Assemblies, have attended to the duties assigned to them; and after a very free interchange of views, with prayer to Almighty God for his guidance, are unanimous in recommending to the Assemblies for their consideration, and, if they see fit, their adoption, the accompanying three papers, to wit: 1. Plan of Reunion of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; 2. Concurrent Declarations of the General Assemblies of 1869; and, 2. Recommendation of a day of Prayer. WILLIAM ADAMS, Cha7irman. Old School. New School. G. W. MUSGRAVE. J. F. STEARNS. A. G. HALL. R. W. PATTERSON. L. H. ATWATER. S. W. FISIER. WILLIS LORD. JAMES B. SHAW. H. R. WILSON. W. STRONG. ROBERT CARTER. DANIEL HAINES. C. D. DRAKE. WILLIAM E. DODGE. WMT,. M. FRANCIS. J. S. FARRAND. JOHN C. GRIER. JOHN L. KNIGHT. HENRY DAY, Secretary. 310 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. I.- PLAN OF REUNION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH I INT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Believing that the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom would be promoted by the healing of our divisions, and that the two bodies bearing the same names, having the same Constitution, and each recognizing the other as a sound and orthodox body according to the principles of the Confession common to both, cannot be justified by any but the most imperative reasons in maintaining separate and, in some respects, rival organizations; we are now clearly of the opinion that the reunion of those bodies ought, as soon as the necessary steps can be taken, to be accomplished, upon the basis hereinafter set forth. 1. The Presbyterian Churches in the United States of America, namely, that whose General Assembly convened in the Brick Church in the city of New York, on the 20th day of May, 1869, and that whose General Assembly met in the Church of the Covenant in the said city on the same day, shall be reunited as one Church, under the name and style of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, possessing all the legal and corporate rights and powers pertaining to the Church previous to the division in 1838, and all the legal and corporate rights and powers which the separate churches now possess. 2. The reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the government and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity. 3. Each of the said Assemblies shall submit the foregoing basis to its presbyteries, which shall be required to meet on or before the 15th day of October, 1869, to express their approval or disapproval of the same, by a categorical answer to the following question: Do you approve of the reunion of the two bodies now claiming the name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, on the following basis, namely: " The reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity?'? Each Presbytery shall, before the first day of November, 1869, forward to THE REUNION. 311 the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly with which it is connected, a statement of its vote on the said Basis of Reunion. 4. The said General Assemblies now sitting shall, after finishing their business, adjourn, to meet in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the second Wednesday of November, 1869, at eleven o'clock, A. M4. If the two General Assemblies shall then find and declare that the abovenamed Basis of Reunion has been approved by two thirds of the Presbyteries connected with each branch of the church, then the same shall be of binding force, and the two Assemblies shall take action accordingly. 5. The said General Assemblies shall then and there make provision for the meeting of the General Assembly of the united church on the third Thursday of May, 1870. The Moderators of the two present Assemblies shall jointly preside at the said Assembly of 1870, until another Moderator is chosen. The Moderator of the Assembly now sitting at the Brick Church aforesaid shall, if present, put all votes and decide questions of order; and the Moderator of the other Assembly shall, if present, preach the opening sermon; and the Stated Clerks of the present Assemblies shall act as Stated Clerks of the Assembly of the united church, until a Stated Clerk or Clerks shall have been chosen thereby; and no Commissioner shall have a right to vote or deliberate in said Assembly until his name shall have been enrolled by the said Clerks, and his commission examined and filed among the papers of the Assembly. 6. Each Presbytery of the separate churches shall be entitled to the same representation in the Assembly of the united church in 1870, as it is entitled to in the Assembly with which it is now connected. II. - CONCURRENT DECLARATIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. As there are matters pertaining to the interests of the Church, when it shall have become reunited, which will manifestly require adjustment on the coming together of two bodies which have so long acted separately, and concerning some of which matters it is highly desirable that there should be a previous good understanding, the two Assemblies agree to adopt the following declarations, not as articles of compact or covenant, but as in their judgment proper and equitable arrangements, to wit: 1. All the ministers and churches embraced in the two bodies should be admitted to the same standing in the united body, which they may have held in their respective connections, up to the consummation of the union. 2. Imperfectly organized churches are counselled and expected to become thoroughly Presbyterian, as early within the period of five years as may be permitted by the highest interests to be consulted; and no other such churches shall be hereafter received. 3. The boundaries of the several Presbyteries and Synods should be adjusted by the General Assembly of the united church. 312 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. 4. The official records of the two branches of the church for the period of separation should be preserved and held as making up the one history of the church; and no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both the bodies, should be of any authority until re-established in the united body, except in so far as such rule or precedent may affect the rights of property founded thereon. 5. The corporate rights now held by the two General Assemblies, and by their Boards and Committees, should, as far as practicable, be consolidated, and applied for their several objects, as defined by law. 6. There should be one set of Committees or Boards for Home and Foreign Missions, and the other religious enterprises of the church; which the churches should be encouraged to sustain, though free to cast their contributions into other channels if they desire to do so. 7. As soon as practicable after the union shall have been effected, the General Assembly should reconstruct and consolidate the several Permanent Committees and Boards which now belong to the two Assemblies, so as to represent, as far as possible with impartiality, the views and wishes of the two bodies constituting the united church. 8. The publications of the Board of Publication and of the Publication Committee should continue to be issued as at present, leaving it to the Board of Publication of the uniited church to revise these issues and perfect a catalogue for the united church so as to exclude invidious references to past controversies. 9. In order to a uniform system of ecclesiastical supervision, those Theological Seminaries that are now under Assembly control may, if their Boards of Direction so elect, be transferred to the watch and care of one or more of the adjacent Synods; and the other Seminaries are advised to introduce, as far as may be, into their Constitutions, the principle of Synodical or Assembly supervision; in which case they shall be entitled to an official recognition and approbation on the part of the General Assembly. 10. It should be regarded as the duty of all our judicatories, ministers, and people in the united church, to study the things which make for peace, and to guard against all needless and offensive references to the causes that have divided us; and in order to avoid the revival of past issues by the continuance of any usage in either branch of the church, that has grown out of former conflicts, it is earnestly recommended to the lower judicatories of the church that they conform their practice in relation to all such usages, as far' as is consistent with their convictions of duty, to the general custom of the church prior to the controversies that resulted in the separation. III. — RECOMMENDATION OF A DAY OF PRAYER. That the counsels of Infinite Wisdom may guide our decisions, and the blessing of the Great Head of the Church rest upon the result of our efforts THE REUNION. 313 for Reunion, it is earnestly recommended to the churches throughout both branches of the Presbyterian Church, that they observe the second Sabbath in September, 1869, as a day of fervent and united prayer to Almighty God, that he would grant unto us all "the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord," and in the new relations now contemplated, enable us to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace." The chief points of difference between this document and the Report of 1868, it will be seen, are these: It distinguishes several things which before had been confounded in popular apprehension. It does not propose a new Basis for Reunion. The first Report, of the first Joint Committee recommended that the " Reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common standards." No other basis was ever thought of by any. But this basis, in the first instance, was accompanied by certain terms relating to cognate subjects, such as in the circumstances were thought to be necessary to bring about a good understanding. These terms had been confounded in many minds with the Basis itself. This appeared from the manner in which the different Presbyteries took action on the overture. In the new and last Report, to prevent all confusion, these several matters are carefully distinguished. The Basis stands by itself. It is so framed that the Presbyteries were required to render a categorical answer to the question whether it should be approved or disapproved. But inasmuch as it was not only desirable but absolutely necessary that some good understanding should be established between Bodies so long separated, those matters which in previous reports had been constituent parts of the compact and terms of covenant are here 314 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. put into the form of " concurrent declarations," as being of equal force and value with men of Christian confidence and honor. Previous conferences, debates, and articles had accomplished their needful service. In regard to the doctrinal article, it was no more necessary that any explanatory clause designed to represent either side, should be introduced. The old qualifications - excellent in their time and place - " as it is accepted by the two bodies," " as it is now maintained in the two bodies," "as they have hitherto been allowed in the separate churches "- are all dropped, and in their place a better expression is introduced into the preamble - satisfactory to all, " EACH IREcOGNIZING THE OTHER AS A SOUND AND ORTHODOX BODY." Thus it appeared as the result of the way in which God had led us, through all conferences and debates, that entire confidence between the negotiating bodies had been reached, and so the Reunion was consummated. The scenes -which occurred, in both Assemblies, when the final vote was taken upon the Report of the Committee, were such as occur only once in a lifetime. As these belong to a subsequent chapter of the volume descriptive of the Assemblies in New York and Pittsburg, to be written by their respective Moderators, they will not be anticipated. The writer of this chapter, a member of the Joint Committee from the beginning, in 1866, cannot lay down his pen without making record of his conviction that the whole movement has been under the guidance of the great Head of the Church. The work of healing what was broken, of uniting what was sundered, was THE REUNION. 315 divine. No man, no set of men, can take to themselves the credit of its success. Oftentimes faith faltered and the issue seemed most dubious. But difficulties at the critical moment disappeared, and discomfitures and delays were overruled for good. The faces of good men, alive when the movement began, but translated before it was complete, — Brainerd, Krebs, Gurley, Brown, - smile on their surviving associates who have seen its consummation. To mention the services rendered by individual members of the Committee now living or dead, would be invidious. Each contributed his part; and some, representing different sections and interests of our extended country and of our beloved Church, exhibited a degree of wisdom and faith, firmness and charity, discernment and skill, which will never be forgotten by their associates. May the future of our history furnish proof that the whole movement is approved of God, and tends to the augmented usefulness of the Church, the good of our native land, and the advancement of the Kingdom of our Lord throughout the world. CHAPTER SIXTH. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. BY THE REV. M. W. JACOBUS, D.D., LL.D. Vigorous Maturity of the Church. - Reunion a Necessity. - The Antecedents. - Classes of Opinion on Reunion. - Assembly of 1866. - Discussions. - — Basis of Reunion. -The Smith and Gurley Clauses.- The Tenth Article. - Undecided Action of the Assemblies of 1868. - The Pittsburg Circular. - The Standards Pure and Simple. - Growth of Mutual Confidence. - New York.- Old Brick Church.- The Church of the Covenant. - Introductory Prayer Meeting. - Prevailing Spirit of Reunion. - Some wearied by the Tedious Negotiations. - Some for Immediate Reunion. - The Opening. - The Sermons. - The Organization. - Joint Committee of Conference. -Elders' Prayer Meeting. - The Sabbath. -Social Reunion. - Reception of Delegates in the New School Assembly.Reception of Delegates in the Old School Assembly. - Report of the Joint Committee of Conference. - The Catechisms. - Inside History. - Mutual Confidence. - The Vote. - Overturing to the Presbyteries. - Delegations announcing the Vote. - Joint Communion Season. - Bohemian Delegation. — Methodist Delegation. - The Southern Church. - Christian Council. - The Evangelical Alliance. - Adjournment. - Pastoral Letter. - Day of Prayer. - Proceedings at Pittsburg. - Report from the Presbyteries. - Home Missions. - Delegations announcing the Vote. - Dissolution of the Assembly.- The Reunion Jubilee. IT has been truly said that "the meetings of the Old and New School General Assemblies of 1869, almost within speaking distance, on Murray Hill, New York, will be memorable so long as the Presbyterian Church lives in this country or the world." It was no conclave of Prelates, in Ecumenical Council, at the seat of Church power, plotting the subversion of free Institutions and of pure Evangelical Chris. tianity. But representative bodies of Christ's ministers, having the same historic name and polity, were con(316) RSTCURCITB - P FIRST CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PA. TEM ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 317 vened in the spirit of concord, and were yearning, though long alienated, to become again one. Because it was Reunion, rather than Union that was contemplated, the occasion was all the more conspicuous in the eye of the world. And yet, for this very reason, the work itself was all the more difficult. Old grievances were to be conciliated, and old strifes were to be buried and forgotten. And the reflections and criminations of the separation were to give place to mutual greetings, as of those who are of right, " one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Such events are advents of grace and blessing. There is a charm in the healing - a great grace in the reuniting of dissevered parts - as when the rod of gold is cut in pieces in order to form the links of a golden chain, which shall be far more beautiful and useful than the rod itself. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America had now attained its fourscore years. It had reached this age "by reason of strength," and so far from the "strength" being "labor and sorrow," the labor and sorrow had become the strength. The movement now happily culminating and traced through a history of strife and tears, stands without a parallel in the annals of the Christian Church. That bodies formerly one household, but long time sundered by great questions of doctrine and polity, with all the animosities and jealousies springing out of such a disruption, should become one again, after a generation of separate, and often of rival action - this was the marvel! But just because the division had lasted through a generation, it was all the more 318 PRESBYTERIAN REhUNION. a time for Reunion, when most of the men, left on the field, had not been personally involved in the act of separation. It was also because there was vitality in the parts that there was the element of healing: Or rather, because the Spirit of the Lord had breathed upon the scattered limbs, that they came together again, bone to his bone, in all the plain. The event, considered in all its bearings, is so signal and so significant as to seem to be a great first chapter in that Johannean development for which the Church looks and waits - the age of Christian concord and love, in all the body of Christ. It is notable that the generation which had been passed in division, and to some extent also in dissension, had wrought silent and steady results towards conciliation. Each body, claiming, on whatever ground, to be " The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," what wonder if each was, all the while, the rather intent on making good its claim in the eye of the world? Besides, the lessons of the strife had been put to account, to the end of correcting what was amiss. So that, at this period, the respective parts were found, by all confession, in great degree, homogeneous, as they were not at the division thus always tending towards each other, rather than apart. The Congregational element, introduced by "The Plan of Union" of 1801, had, in large measure, occasioned the outbreak of 1837; and the question was whether the disruption would work in that direction, as to doctrine and polity, or in the line of reaction towards the old paths. It was just the steadfast adherence to the Presbyterian faith and order in the mass, that came, at THE ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 319 length, to demand a Reunion of the respective parts, when the reconsideration and adjustment, on either side, had so diminished the differences. Every lover of the Church felt that there was a great sacrifice of Church power by such separate operation, which could be justified no longer when essential divergence was at an end. Different views, it is true, were all along taken of the situation. And some on both sides, who had been opposetl to the disruption, were now as conscientiously opposed to the Reunion. But it was just the question whether the grand inner forces of a true Presbyterian. ism were not steadily working towards a homogeneity which would warrant a reuniting of the sundered but affiliated parts, and whether the time had not even now come for the Reunion. True, it could be claimed that the signal thrift and success of the two branches, in their separation, were such as to justify the separate organizations, and that a healthful competition had been even an element of success fully warranting a longer continuance apart; but such a view is quite too secular, and overlooks the higher demands for the oneness of the Church of Christ by all legitimate means. But peril to Scriptural doctrine was the stronger point made by not a few, and that on either side. Though at the disruption the formal question was a constitutional one, —a question of Church polity rather than of creed,- and though, as to doctrine, the separating portion had then formally protested their orthodoxy, and some of the highest authorities in the exscinding body were so agreed, and maintained that the divergence was not such as to infer separation, yet, 320 PRESBYTEERIAN REUNION. all along, a zeal for the truth, as set forth in our Calvinistic system, led many in the Old School branch to dissent, or greatly to hesitate as to the Reunion. But actual uniformity is not pretended in either body; and the degree of divergence can only be measured and adjudged, in individual cases, according to the rules of the Church, as plainly provided. If freedom of private judgment has most asserted itself in the Presbyterian family, to the extent of schism, for what has seemed the truth's sake, yet who shall deny that the truth of God has its most noble and Biblical definition and exposition in our cherished Westminster formulas of faith, which are the common family heritage And, what wonder, if with these in hand, and claimed equally by both, the distinctive truth they set forth should dispose and draw together the living parts as essentially one in the vital doctrines of salvation? But the facts and auguries, in the case, were interpreted differently. As in the proverb of the ~red siy, it is a sign of storm or of sunshine, according as it is seen at dawn or at evening; so the same facts were tokens of conflict or of concord, according as they were viewed. And according as acknowledged differences are maximized or minimized, must be the judgment and action in the case before us. At a time when Anti-Christ, in all the forms of papacy and infidelity, rallies the strongest forces, and displays a solid front against the Holy Child Jesus, and His true Church; and when the exigencies of our time are so alarming, it must be accounted as, at least, a Christian sentiment, even though it were a practical TIME ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 321 mistake, that these great bodies, one in confession of faith and form of government - one in their mode of organization and of operation, and one aforetime, with a common ancestry and history - should be again organically one, for most effective action. For here, in the Divine arithmetic, it is most plain that one is more and better than two. A brief review of the antecedents will prepare us better to estimate the status of 1869, and the constituent elements of this Assembly. There were mainly, from the first, four classes in the Church on this great question of Reunion. Some were in favor of it, most positively, and by all lawful means. Others, a decreasing few, were as positively opposed to it, by all means, on the ground of essential differences believed to exist in doctrine and order. A larger number, early averse, then dubious and distrustful, were, at length, desirous of its accomplishment so soon as the constitutional terms could be carried. And others, a few, were at the first opposed, and at length only ready to acquiesce in what was seen to be inevitable, yet all the while insisting on the safest and best terms. In 1866, both Assemblies having met in the same city of St. Louis, the first formal initiative was taken by the Old School body. They proposed the naked basis of "' our comnmon standad'cls," and expressed " an ear'nest desi're for the ]Reunion, at the earliest time consistent with agreement in docitrine, orde~r, and polity, and the prevalence of mnutual confidence and love, which are necessary to a happy union, and to the permanent peace and prosperity of the Church." 21 322 PRESBYTERIAN PE7UNION. The other branch emphasized the terms, " on the com. mon standards, received in, a common spirit." A Committee of fi/teen, from each Assembly, was then appointed, to draw up a plan qf Rezunion, and report to the Assemblies of 1867. This was accordingly done. But there was not yet the "nmutual confidence." There were many and deep misgivings as to the sense in which the two branches understood and held the " Common Standards." An attempt was, therefore, made by the Joint Committee to fix the sense, so as to forbid any misconception or divergence. This restrictive movement was from the Old School side of the Committee. And, according to the very unanimous Report, it was expressly provided in the Doctrinal article of the Basis that the sense in which the Confession was to be received, should be " its fair, historical sense, as it is accepted by the two bodies in opposition to Antinomianism and Fcatalism on one hand, and to Arminianism and Pelacgianism on the other." Besides the Doctrinal Article, there were thirteen items pertaining to various matters of church polity. These were proposed as points for agreement. And as to certain of these, there was much division of sentiment in both bodies. The Report was, however, adopted in the New School Assembly with entire unanimity. But in the Old School body, a Minority Report of a Special Committee to whom it was referred, asked the Assembly to instruct the Joint Committee in three several particulars, viz., "To obtain, (1.) A more definite statement of the DoctrinalBasis. (2.) The exclusion of',Committee-men' THE ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 323 from the Church Courts. And (3.) The distinct and formal recognition of the right and obligation of every Presbytery to be satisfied as to the soundness of every minister it receives." This Minority Report obtained (64) sixty-four votes, against (152) one hundred and.ffty-two. But the Assembly " declined to express either approbation or disapprobation of the plan in detail," and meanwhile "recognized with satisfaction the finger of God as pointing towards an early and cordial Reunion of the -two sister Churches now so long separated." This Basis, though not formerly overtured to the Presbyteries, was sent down for discussion and free expression. Already it was pronounced loose in terms, and capable of very different constructions, according as it was read with, or without, a comzma after the word "bodies." And when it was discussed and voted upon in the Old School Presbyteries, it was very generally disapproved, as more indefinite by far than the Standards which it would seek to define. The question was sharply discussed, especially by Dr. C. lodge and Dr. H. B. Smith, in their respective Reviews for the year, the former charging upon the New School a loose subscription to the Standards - the latter positively denying this, and challenging the proof, asserting, " that the sense in which the New School receive and adopt the Confession is precisely the same with that claimed by Dr. Hodge as the true sense, viz., the Calvinistic or Reformed." Professor Smith, in 1864, as retiring Moderator of his Assembly at Dayton, Ohio, had suggested, as the terms of Reunion, " the simple Basis of the Standards, which we equally accept [he said] without private interpre 324 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tation, interpreted in their legitimate and historic sense, in the spirit of the Adopting Act, and as containing the system of doctrine-taught in the Holy Scriptures." In November, of 1867, "the Presbyterian National Union Convention" assembled in Philadelphia. In the course of their proceedings, Professor Smith moved this defining clause in the platform for the union of all Presbyterians, viz.: " It being understood that this Confession is received in its proper historical, that is, the Calvinistic or Reformed sense." This was found to be eminently satisfactory to the most conservative of the delegates present. The Joint Committee, accordingly, in their Report to the Assemblies of 1868, modified the Doctrinal Article of the Basis, incorporating the Smithb clause, instead of the defining clause of the previous Report, and after much discussion adding what is known as "the Gurley amezdmenwt," viz., " It is also understood that various methods of viewing, stating, explaining, and illustrating the doctrines of the Confession, which do not impair the integrity of the Reformed or Calvinistic system, are to be freely allowed in the United Church, as they have hitherto been allowed in the separate churches." There seemed here, in the Doctrinal Article, to be a balancing of cautious clauses, which savored of Ecclesiastical diplomacy. The Gurley clatuse, as was well understood, had been interposed at a serious exigency of the negotiations, as an offset to the former defining clause. In itself, it would appear to be quite legitimate, as calling for no liberty beyond what was " consistent with the integrity of the Calvinistic system." Yet the proviso for such an THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 325 allowance in the United Church, as had been hitherto used in the separate churches, as to variety of viewing, stating, etc., was open to weighty objection, as seeming to contradict itself, and to imply already some misunderstanding, and to threaten most serious altercation in the future. There were also certain modifications of the subordinate items. Besides, the famous Tenth Atsticle was added, as called for by the Minority Report of 1867, so far as acknowledging the riight of Presbyteries to examine ministers coming from other Presbyteries, but not making it a " clduty," and imperative, as had been the case in the Old School branch. Hence, though both of the Assemblies of 1868 adopted the Basis, and sent it down to the Presbyteries for formal action, yet it was evidently with great misgiving in the Old School, and with much dissatisfaction upon second thought. It was earnestly opposed in the Assembly, and a weighty minority uttered a strong protest against it. This was pointedly answered by a Committee, of which Professor Shedd was the Chairman. Ground was taken, in this reply, that "to suppose the objectionable clause provided for Arminianism and Pelagianism within the sphere of Calvinism, was an absurdity not to be named in such case." Nevertheless, there was such dissatisfaction in the Assembly, that it was sought to break the force of this Basis, after it was passed upon. It was unanimously voted, on motion of Dr. A. G. Hall, as a measure of conciliation, " that this Assembly hereby declare it to be distinctly understood that the Doctrinal Article of the Basis, already adopted, is not to be interpreted as giv. 326 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ing license to the propagation of doctrines which have been condemned by either Assembly, nor to permit any Presbytery in the United Church to license, or ordain to the work of the ministry, any candidate who maintains any form of doctrine condemned by either Assembly." This action was immediately telegraphed to the other Assembly at Harrisburg. Besides this, a special delegation was sent to the New School Assembly, to request an alteration of the Basis, so as to strike out both of the amending clauses in the Doctrinal Article, and so as to leave " the Common Standards pure and simple," for the platform of doctrine. This action, however, proved to be too late. Though it was well received by those yet present at Harrisburg, the house was too much thinned, at this last moment, to take formal action upon it, there being, in fact, no quorum remaining. And, as it was only in the event of its adoption by the Harrisburg Assembly that this alteration was to be made in the plan, the result served merely to indicate the mind of the two bodies on this important point. It was in this aspect of aye and nay, pro and con, that the Assembly of 1868 left the question of Reunion. No wonder that the Church was puzzled to understand the exact status. In such tanglement of terms, a plan having been passed upon, and sent down, and then closely followed up by a unanimous ccaveat, as to the meaning, and after that, by an expressed preference for an important change in the plan, no wonder that the Presbyteries scarcely understood what they were to vote upon. It was in such category that " The Pittsburg Circula r" was issued, soon after the adjournment. It pro THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 327 t posed, unofficially, the STANDARDS pure and simple, as the Doctrinal Basis, leaving the remaining articles of agreement to stand as last reported. This was proj ected by Drs. Paxton, A. A. Hodge, and Jacobus. The project was cordially seconded and furthered by Drs. Allison and McKinny, and others. This was meant, not by any means to balk the Reunion movement, but to set up a banner for the distracted ranks. It was more than ever manifest, however awkwardly brought about, that the Reunited Church could stand only on the naked Confession, and that the sense of the Standards could not be categorically defined in such an instrument, without interpolating, in such restrictions and qualifications, certain new' terms additional to the Confession itself, which would need to be interpreted as much as that, and would be quite as liable to be misconstrued. In the light of this plain history, it will appear, how disingenuous is the assertion that this was equivalent to accepting the Standards "' withbout ca sense," and that it was, in fact, an utter surrender of the truth in our Confession. The Old School Presbyteries again voted, variously but largely, against the Basis of the Joint Committee, at the same time expressing their willingness to unite upon the platform of the Standards. The Tenth A4rticle remained as a chief difficulty in the other branch; yet they reported one hunzcded cand fiv Presbyteries for the Basis, and onlyfour against it, with fourt others not heard from. Thus matters were generally tangled. Meanwhile the Old School Committee on Reunion had been disbanded. In this juncture, the New School Committee met in January, 1869, and recommended to their Presbyteries to vote at their spring meet 328 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ings for omitting both of the qualifying clauses of the Doctrinal Article, and also the entire Tenth Article. Such informal action, modifying the Basis, as overtured to the Presbyteries, could only serve to express the mind of the Church, for the enlightenment of the approaching Assembly. And it was by this thorough testing of different Bases that the Church was made ready, on both hands, for the true and proper Basis of the Standancrcds. A new and striking phase was given to the matter, closely on the edge of the Assemblies, by the detion of the Central Presbytery of Philadelphia, as moved by Dr. Musgrave: namely, to make the Basis consist of but one Article, the Doctrinal one, and herein proposing the Standards alone, leaving the other items for adjustment by the Reunited Church. This plan was startling, as being perhaps too summary, and as altogether extra hazardous. Yet, on maturer consideration, it was well approved. This same Basis had been moved in the Assembly of 1868, by Dr. Musgrave; but it had failed of adoption. Yet this was in fact coming back to the starting-point of the negotiations, after so roundabout a course. This was what was contended for, and counselled in T/e Princeton Revierw, after the Assembly of 1868, as follows: " We are willing to unite upon the Basis of our Common Standards, without explanation. If they are willing to take that ground, well and good. If not, the fault is theirs, not ours. Let the rejection of' the Basis' be followed by a request, or overture, to the next General Assembly, to negotiate a plan of Union having for its doctrinal Basis our Common Standards pure and simple." - July, 1868, pp. 453, 472, 3. It was made plain as day that no new Confession THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 329 would be accepted, nor any codicil to the old document, nor any well-phrased ultimatum, formulated by any number of ecclesiastical diplomatists, however revered and loved. The Church had already her well-accepted, time-honored formulas, of which she is so justly proud, for their strict conformity with the Word of God. And she asked no better, and would not peril her own identity by adopting ally other, in ally shape, at this late day. It would have been grossly unjust to both of the high negotiating parties. The secret of such a recurrence to the original terms must be sought in the manifested vanity of all efforts to change them with advantage, and in the further, better fact, that a change had come over the Church in both of its branches, bringing about more of the " mutual conf dence " which was foreseen as vitally conditioning the great problem. This was the outlook of the subject, as the time drew nigh for the Assemblies of 1869. Manifestly an influence had gone forth meanwhile, like the soft spring-tide, melting the mountains of ice, and dissolving the bands of frozen rivers as a thousand fires of our kindling could never have done. There could be no doubt of the fact, that Un5ion u pon the basis of the Starndards was now the joint plan and ptupose, and that each party was ready to challenge the other by the same original formulas of the Presbyterian ordination; an ex anirno reception, and embrace of the Confession. All objection seemed thus to be cut off, except in few cases, on the ground of alleged diversities not covered by such positive terms, or on the ground of inexpediency upon other considerations. It was in this condition of things that the two As 330 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. semblies convened in New York city, on the 20th of May, A. D. 1869. Strangely enough, on the first day of the session, devout men carried to the burial the 1Rev. Absalom Peters, 2D.D., whose name had been most prominent in connection with the disruption, as the Secretary of " The American Home Missionary Society." The two Assemblies had met here in the great Metropolis, in 1856. But no high public interest was then excited. There was then, as yet, no drawing together of the parts, but rather a manifest distance. An overture was made by the New School' Assembly to the Old School for formal correspondence; but it was declined. The venerable and excellent Dr. Phillips said on the floor of the house, " How can we enter into correspondence with a body which claims to be ourselves? " The hour had not yet come. But now the city was moved. Entertainers' and outsiders were astir. The wires were at work to convey despatches to all quarters of the world. The leading daily journals, as the Heralcld and the Tribune, and Times, and Post, were largely given up to the proceedings. It is noteworthy that this Assembly of the Old School branch was the largest ever convened in the entire history of the Church, saving only that of 1832, at Philadelphia, which had seven more members enrolled, and excepting also the Assemblies of 1859 and 1860, pending the separation of the Southern Church. And in the other branch, the numbers were the largest since the disruption in 1837. And, what is still more remarkable, the latter body lacked now only thirty-six of TME ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 331 being equal in numbers to the former, indicating the wonderful increase since the disruption. A Joint Assembly would have numbered five hun-. dred and fiftyfve. And it was currently remarked that a larger amount of ripe experience, of practical wisdom, and of sound, Scriptural knowledge, together with earnest loyalty to the Church, and devout faith and piety, had not at any time been gathered in either Assembly. Civilians of eminent rank were among the members of both bodies. It is further notable that among the Old School commissioners there was not one of the original Reunion Committee of Fifteen, whilst on the New School floor there were five of the leading clerical members of that Committee, and one of the most eminent jurists. That Historic Church, "THE OLD BRICK," whose historic pastor, the venerable and beloved Gardiner Spring, D.D., LL.D., was a member of the Assembly, added interest to the sittings of the Old School branch. It was the Church whose pastor, the Rev. John Rodgers, D.D., was the Moderator of the first General Assembly, fourscore years ago, when there were thirty/four members in all; and his last official act was to lay his hands, in ordination, upon the head of Dr. Spring,, in 1810, the latter now the senior pastor of the same Church, and a grand connecting link with the first General Assembly of the Church in this land. Only some three or four blocks from this stately corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-seventh street, sat the other Assembly (N. S.), in "the Church of the Covenant," corner of Thirty-fifth street and Park Avenue. The pleasant contiguity was not more suggestive of 5332 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. cordial interchange than it was found to be answerable to the friendly relations now existing. It was, every way, a most happy conception, that the formal sittings were prefaced by a Joint Prayer-Meeting of members and others, at the Brick Church, on the evening preceding. The weather was ill-favored, with rain and chill, but a large concourse was present. The retiring Moderators, Drs. Stearns and Musgrave, presided, and, after introductory services, the meeting was thrown open for voluntary exercises of prayer, exhortation, and praise. It had been advised, as a prudential measure, that the exciting topic of Reunion, in its delicate bearings at the moment, should not be introduced. But it was all in vain to set up barriers against the overflowing thought and emotion. You could as well shut out the morning from the day, or the spring-tide from the fields and gardens. The first prayer referred to it, and the first speaker plainly broached it, as the topic of the hour. Irresistibly, every exercise savored of this Reunion sentiment, and it was seen to be the one great thought and feeling of the praying Assembly. It was, however, remarked that the brethren of the New School were more retiring and less pronounced on that occasion than could have been expected. But, on the other hand, it was manifest that a very great change had come over many on both sides, who had, up to this time, been regarded as opposed or reluctant. It was a first coming together of the brethren long time distant, and now met at the mercy-seat. The ointment bewrayed itself. The atmosphere was redolent of it. Families of the city who had sought the spot as one of promised privilege, shared TIE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 333 in the high enthusiasm. The advent of long-expected good was sung to the watching shepherds there, that evening, by a chorus of the heavenly host. Earnest hearts unburdened themselves before God, pleading for the consummation. No injudicious word was spoken, and it was plain to all that the key-note was struck, and a kind of Divine intimation was given in the tone of the meeting that the time had come for brethren whose souls flowed together so in prayer and praise and mutual address, to band together again as one in the grand old Church of their fathers. It soon became manifest, however, that there was a shyness on the part of the New School branch, - that there was even, in some minds, a feeling bordering upon irritation, at the equivocal negotiations thus far, especially at the rejection of the Basis by the Old School Presbyteries, even after its adoption by both Assemblies, and further still, at the seeming instability of the Assembly itself, proposing alteration of the Basis, even after their own formal adoption of it, and at the same sitting. Leading members of the New School were free to say that they were tired of such fruitless overtures, - that they wished the matter brought to a prompt decision, that further delay and doubt would be damaging to all the interests of the Church, and that, for themselves, they felt aggrieved at the divers misadventures, and could only now, in all good faith, await the definite action of the other branch. There was a chafing of spirit, easily accounted for, which seemed, at the first, to imperil the good result. " Not a few " (says Dr. Stearns) "began to feel that they had been trifled with, and the prospect of Re 34 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. union seemed to many, at that moment, to be very unpromising." On the other hand, there were not a few, of both branches, who were only debating whether the Reunion could not be consummated at this sitting, and without any further delay. At the opening exercises in the Briclk Church, when Dr. Musgrave took his seat in the pulpit, the venerable Dr. Spring, sitting beside him, suggested the propriety, as the first business, of "notifying the other b1ranZch of our readiness to consummate the Reunion imnnediactely." Dr. Musgrave replied that he had thought much of that measure, and would be quite agreed, except that there were over thirty Presbyteries of our branch who had protested beforehand against any decision being reached without first overturing the terms to the Presbyteries for their action. And when this majestic and veteran pastor, the Metropolitan Patriarch, then rose in prayer, he uttered such exalted petitions, in such glowing and godly words, as even he, perhaps, had never excelled. The day was a sunshine after the rain. The noble sanctuary was crowded. The opening sermon in this Assembly did not touch the topic of Reunion, albeit it was well known that there were members present whose minds were not quite clear as yet, and who might need some argument or persuasion. But the retiring Moderator, with all his earnest zeal for the measure, "determined not to know anything among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." The discourse was a massive and masterly exposition of the Gospel Faith, in its relation to the great salvation. The passage was Mark xvi. 16: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, THE ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 335 etc.' Such clear, convincing exhibition of fundamental truth was, in itself, a proof of Christian unity, and a plea for Christian Union, amongst those of " like precious faith." The sermon at the opening of the other Assembly grasped the great theme, and in a discourse of an hour and twenty minutes, elucidated the subject of Christian Union. The text was from the intercessory prayer of our Lord: " That they all zmay be one." With sound logic and luminous illustration, the preacher enforced the importance of Presbyterian Union under such heads as these: " The demand for united effort." " Inducements to Reunion." "The obstacles not insuperable." "The desire for Reunion." "Reunion probable," and "Unity of spirit." Both these sermons, so strikingly different, and yet, in reality, so much to the same effect, had their happy influence in both Assemblies. bThe one Gospel provision cmad the oneness of Gospel effort was the united theme, looking to the Reunion. Said Dr. Stearns: I say, if we were only united, - and why should we not be united? - what possible reason could a candid man, looking on and observing the ways of these two main Branches of the Presbyterian Church, see or devise why they should stand apart or claim to be distinguished? They have the same Confession of Faith; not a word, a letter, or a point, either in the confession, properly so-called, or the Catechisms that repeat and expound it, which is not exactly the same. And to this they have both held fast during the thirtyone years of their separation. They have precisely the same Form of Government, Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship, the same order of exercises, the same method of procedure, the same objects of Christian beneficence, and the same style and stamp of piety and action. And they both claim to bear precisely the same name. Where, in the whole history of the Church, was there ever exhibited such a spectacle? Two bodies of Christian men who could find nothing tangible, nothing by which the eye or ear of a passer-by would be able to distinguish them, and yet unable to go together? 336 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. THE OBSTACLES NOT INSUPERABLE. But it is said we are very jealous about the doctrines. Well, are we not all jealous about them? If not, why have we kept the old Confession of Faith? Does not that state them distinctly? Is there a man among us who would exchange it for another system, or allow its proper integrity: as a system of doctrine, to be impaired? But it is said, on the other hand, we want liberty, both of thought and expression. What liberty? Liberty to subscribe one thing and believe another? Liberty to think and speak contrary to the Holy Scriptures? None of us would say that. Do we then require other or greater liberty than that secured to us by the words of our Standards? They require us to maintain the unrivalled supremacy of the Scriptures, and to receive them as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Presbyterianism has made provision for an ever-fresh resort to that fountain of truth. It does not require us to receive the Confession of Faith as infallible. It does not tie us up to those precise words and forms of expression; it does not require us to subscribe to every proposition contained in it, but only to receive it as containing, according to its true intents and original meaning, the system of doctrines taught in the Scriptures. There is no dispute now between the two parties (whatever there may have been once), in regard to that matter. True, it would be hard to find in the Confession any other than a pretty strong Calvinism; but Cal vinism is not that iron thing which some have supposed it. None of us takes it as such; none of us preaches it as such. We mean to have all reasonable' liberty. But, in the union or out of it, we mean to maintain and teach the doctrines of the Confession. The Assemblies were then formally organized. The election, in the Old School body, fell upon the Rev. Melancthon W. Jacobus, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Exegetical Theology in the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pa. Dr. Jacobus's senior colleague, the Rev. David Elliott, D.D., LL.D., was Moderator of the Assembly at the Disruption in 1837. He was professor of Didactic Theology at that time, and still lives, to magnify his office, and to rejoice in the Reunion. It was jocosely remarked, with allusion to the chairs, that Dogmatic Theology had presided at THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 337 the separation, while it was reserved for Biiblxcal Exegesis to preside at the Reunion. In the New School body the choice fell upon the Rev. Philemon H. Fowler, D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Utica, New.York. The Moderators had been fellow-students and friends in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, at the time of the disruption. This was accepted as a Providential bond, and an omen of cordial relations. The first formal business of the Old School Assembly was the motion of Dr. Musgrave for a " Committee of Conference on Reunion "-to whom all matters on the subject should be referred. And the same was likewise moved in the other Assembly, on the hearing of this fact, and without waiting for the formal notification. In the former house, the Moderator appointed a strong Committee, who, though entirely new in this joint official work, fairly represented the hitherto diverse views of the body on the subject. And, in the other Assembly, there were able representative men, some of former joint committees, fully posted in all the points of dispute through all the history. The Committee were (0. S.)The Rev. Dr. G. W. Musgrave, of Philadelphia. " Dr. A. G. Hall, of Rochester, N. Y. " Dr. L. H. Atwater, of Princeton. " Dr. Willis Lord, of Chicago. Dr. Henry R. Wilson, of St. Louis. And Ruling Elders - Hon. C. D. Drake. Win. MI. Francis. Robert Carter, Esq. J. C. Grier, Esq. Henry Day, Esq. 22 338 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION., And (N. S.)The Rev. Dr. Wn. Adams, of New York. " Dr. J. F. Stearns, of Newark, N. J. " Dr. R. W. Patterson, of Chicago. Dr. S. W. Fisher, of Utica. " Dr. Jas. B. Shaw, of Rochester, N. Y. And Ruling EldersHon. Winm. Strong. " Daniel Haines. W" in. E. Dodge. J. S. Farrand, Esq. Jno. L. Knight, Esq. Here was a strong force of men every way well fur nished for their responsible work. These Committees at once addressed themselves earnestly to the task, both separately and jointly, and the members were scarcely to be seen in the Assemblies during the first week of the sittings. Deep interest was felt, on all hands, touching the negotiations going forward in the Committee-rooms; and it was plain that every phase of the question was canvassed, without and within, with a view, if possible, to agree upon a plan that should be mutually satisfactory. There were significant hints, here and there, of sharp discussion. But it soon came to be known that the respective Committees were each a unit, and that between them there was only the most manly, courteous, and Christian debate. A lady of New York, well reported of for good works, and known as enthusiastic for the Reunion, met Drs... and S. at the corner of the Brick Church, and gracefully congratulated the former upon the happy prospect. He replied, to her dismay, "'Madam, I THE ASSEMBLImS OF 1869. 339 fear that it will fail, after all, and that all our efforts will come to nought, if the position taken by my brother here is to be maintained." They went into Committee again, and found that they had simply misunderstood each other, and were soon heartily agreed. Already, on the first evening of the Session, according to notice given in the Assembly, the Ruling Elders of the New School body were convened for prayer. They were understood to be earnest for the reuniting, and they made this sentiment most manifest in their petitions at the very threshold of the work. And so, also, they made their influence to be widely felt in this Assembly. The power of prayer was devoutly recognized amidst such grave responsibilities. Men felt that it was a case in which the Great Head of the Church must be deeply interested, and should be humbly invoked, - that God, as in the case of Jacob and Esau, must be recognized as controlling the minds of men; and that there, at the brook of Jabbok, it was fitting to pass the evening and the night, if need be, to pray that the meeting of the alienated brothers might be in peace -little dreaming how, in the morning, they would fall on each other's neck, with tears and kisses, and start along their way together, careful for each other's comfort and anxious for sparing the flock. On the Sabbath there was a general interchange of pulpit ministrations between the two branches, giving pleasant presage of the Reunion. On the fourth day of the Sessions, Monday, a joint prayer-meeting was held at 8S to 9' A. M., in the Brick Church. The Moderator, Dr. Jacobus, presided, assisted by his brother Moderator, Dr. Fowler. The house was ;40 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. filled. The occasion elicited the deepest interest. The meeting was aglow. Representatives of both Assemblies, clerical and lay, led in the prayers. The petitions were fervent. The oil ran down upon the beard, and went down to the skirts of the garments, and the perfume filled the house. One of the religious papers remarked of it, "It was a blessed season, never to be forgotten by those who were present. At the close, two verses of the hymn'All hail the power of Jesus' name' were sung with a fervor not often excelled. Brethren parted with reluctance, as if unwilling to separate." On Monday evening, a garand social Reunion took place at "the Apollo Rooms," Broadway. It was a happy conception, admirably planned and carried out by the Rev. Drs. S. I. & E. D. G. Prime, of the New York Observer. The arrangements were magnificent and munificent, altogether worthy of the jubilant occasion, and of the great Metropolis. Not only were the members of the two Assemblies thus brought into social contact, but the congregations of both branches were largely represented — the wives, and sons, and daughters added to the charm of the soiree. Ministers and laymen of other denominations evinced their interest by their cheering presence. Prominent civilians, from the city and from abroad, men of professional rank and of military and political renown, gave zest to the occasion. Music was richly discoursed. Dr. Adams called the meeting to order, and announced the appropriate introductory of praise, "_Blest be thle tie that binds." This was sung with a will by the immense assemblage, variously estimated at 1,500 and 2,000. After an opening, in his own graceful style, THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 341 upon the word " RECEPTION," which headed the cards of admission —saying that it was each receiving the other, he alluded to the ~nuptiaZs in prospect, and then, approaching the Moderator of the Old School Assembly, and seizing him by both hands, he led him to the front of the platform for an impromptu address. Dr. Jacobus responded to the graceful commitment, and followed up Dr. Adams's introductory by an allusion to Oriental nuptials, in which the bride is bargained for by father or brother, and when the groom is introduced to her by "the friend of the bridegroom," on the nuptial occasion, *and the bride is then perhaps for the first time unveiled to his view, he is expected to make loud demonstration of joy; and "the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice." Here it wats the Elder Brother who had bespoken the Bridei and had made the contract, and we could all rejoice. This was followed by Dr. Howard Crosby, and by the Moderator (New School), Dr. Fowler, in words of brief acknowledgment, also by Dr. Ormiston, of Canada, and by the venerable Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox. The b6zz of a score of hundreds of voices overwhelmed the loudest efforts of the platform beyond the circuit of a few feet, till the speeches and music gave way for the banquet-room. Here was, indeed, a rich display of the elegant hospitality of New York Christians. The highest credit is due to the generous entertainers, and to those who, by dint of indefatigable industry, wrought out such a splendid success. It was, in effect, Social Reunion pleading for the Ecclesiastical Reunion of Presbyterians. So many old friends came pleasantly 342 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. together -ministers and members, Old and New-that the occasion formed, altogether, a most significant index and appropriate prelude to the higher Reunion of the week. Already, during the day, there had been a formal reception, in the New School Assembly, of the Delegates from the other branch, appointed the preceding year. The hour was anticipated with great interest as being a possible foretaste of the better things to come. The house was thronged with eager listeners, deeply symps thizing in whatever tended to the great result. The venerable C. C. Beatty, D.D., first addressed the Assembly. He adverted to the opening of this correspondence, in 1862, when he presided as Moderator. The address was an elaborate and earnest exposition of the great doctrines of Unity and Liberty, defining the power of the Church to set a guard upon abuses of liberty, and a check upon such diversities in doctrine and practice, as are not justly allowable. It was eminently kind and sound, and met a cordial response from the entire body. Dr. Musgrave followed, saying that he was glad to be present as a Delegate, but that he had rather be there as a Commissioner: reminding, also, that upon his motion, at the Columbus Assembly, this correspondence had been begun. "Now, sir," he added, "I can't tolerate error. (Impressive silence.) I dare not do it. I am sworn not to do it. There must be a limit to expression of opinion. Now, I honestly say to you, if I did not believe -if I were not fully convinced — that there was no vital difference between us, I would oppose this Union with all my heart. I would, so 7fep me, God! But I have the same confidence in THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 343 your body that I have in my own. When did you evei hear of a man being tried for heresy in the Old School Church? When, since 1838?" (Reiterated laughter and applause). He was followed by the Hon. Robert McKnight, in cordial salutations. These were responded to by the Moderator, Dr. Fowler, who said, "We seek only what you ask-the Word of God, and the liberty of that Word. These points conceded, we are ready to consummate the Union at once." A Second Joint Prayer-meeting was held on Wednesday (the sixth day) morning in " the Church of the Covenant." The religious fervor was in no wise abated, but rather increased. And before the close, it was announced by Dr. Musgrave that the Sub-Committee of Conference had agreed unanimously upon a report to the Joint Committee, which would be presented at halfpast ten o'clock. It was not yet known what was the result. But there was a feeling abroad that it could be nothing adverse to what seemed to be desired by all. In the Old School Assembly, on this day, the delegates from Corresponding bodies were received. Dr. W. J. R. Taylor, from the Reformed (Dutch) Church, and Dr. Win. Ormiston, from the Presbyterian Church of Canada, were heard in the morning: and, in the afternoon, Dr. Wm. Bruce, from the United Presbyterian Church. Each of these made happy reference to the Reunion as an event the most desirable, and as a movement enlisting their Christian sympathy and that of their respective Churches. And they severally expressed 844 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the hope of further Unions to embrace all the Presbyterian family in one. Immediately following these, the delegates from the New School body were received-the Assembly rising as they appeared upon the platform. The house was crowded. The galleries were thronged with deeply interested spectators, representing the Christian families of both bodies, ardently enlisted in the great Reunion movement. Though it was only a delegation of the previous year, appointed by the last Assembly, whose office it was now to convey the salutations of the other body, without any report on the subject of Reunion, yet it was seen to be a notable step in the advance, and it proved a golden link in the chain of events bearing steadily upon the issue. The Rev. Dr. Win. Adams, Chairman, conveyed the fraternal greetings of his constituency in passages of rare eloquence, and of genuine Christian courtesy, which elicited the admiration and applause of the large audience. (See Chap. V.) He was followed by Hon. Win. E. Dodge, who, in a brief and earnest speech, kept up the glowing enthusiasm. To these the Moderator, Dr. Jacobus, responded, fully reciprocating and emphasizing the courtesies of the occasion. This response is here inserted as part of the history, showing the understandings as expressed on either side. Rev. Dr. M. W. Jacobus, Moderator, responded to the delegates from the New School Assembly as follows: TImE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 345 "The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America" opens her arms to receive you, as delegates from "The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." We are glad to see you on this platform to-day. We have been wont to speak of you as delicately as possible, as the "other Branch." It was never said whether we were branches of a tree, or branches of a river. But Jesus Christ spoke a parable about the branches when he said: " I am the vine, ye are the branches." Blessed be God, the vine includes the branches. I have known a tree, just by being lopped off at the top, to shoot out right and left, and there seemed to be a healthful, vital competition between the branches, as to which should bear the greater amount of fruit. God's ways are wonderful. There may have been some healthful competition between us, which may have done ourselves and the world some service. But the time has come when this correspondence should cease, not because of variance but because of alliance, just because of the coincidence and concurrence with which we shall henceforth work together and walk together in the cause of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand we have had our devotional reunions, and they have been blessed ones; and on the other hand we have had our ffraternal, social reunion, when we have eaten salt together, for a covenant of salt. We have dwelt in tents together, and claim a share of each other's heritage. " Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity;" not to live apart in unity, but to dwell together in unity, under one roof. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, which ran down upon the beard and went to the skirts of the garments; and the beard was Aaron's, and the garments were Aaron's, and we are a royal priesthood.' It is like the dew of Hermon, like the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. " You spoke the other night of nuptials about to be celebrated, and there seemed to be some little difference and doubt about the matter. I apprehend that the only question can be, which is to be married to the other; and it is still, I believe, an open question whether a man is married to the woman, or whether a woman is married to the man. But this is of small moment to us. The time has come when Joseph and his brethren must make a mutual discovery of themselves. They cannot refrain themselves to-day. I remember in the same history, when a pair of brothers, tw$in brothers, alienated from each other for a time, came together; it was Jacob and Esau. We cannot say to-day which is Jacob and which is Esau. But the brothers had each his claim to the birthright. And we have each of us a claim to the birthright, which is a blessed birthright. We have the common standards, we have common formulas of Christian faith, a common form of Church Government and polity, common memories of the past, and common ances 846'PRESBYTERLAN REUNION. tral traditions. Such a heritage, blessed be God, such a birthright we own together. We have come to an interesting posture in this state of things. You remember that one of these travelling brothers was met by the angels of God. He called the name of the place of meeting Mahanaim. And then he sent forward presents to his estranged brother, whom he feared. And he put up his prayer to God, pleading his Covenant - "for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands." And now, he crosses the ford Jabbok. We have come to this point, which in secular phrase is the crossing of the Rubicon. And now there is wrestling to be done with the Covenant Angel until the breaking of the day. Oh, for the faith and hope to say" We will not let thee go except thou bless us. " Now is the moment when the name is to be changed, when Jacob is to be called Israel - prevailer with God and with man! And now comes to pass the meeting of these twin brothers. On the neck of each other, what tears of joy. And then the mutual tenderness and sparing of each other, with which they go forward on their journey homeward. Too much self-confidence will spoil the matter. Therefore, the Wrestling Angel will perhaps make the sinew of his thigh to shrink, that he may go halting in a sense of his dependence. The General Assembly is eighty years old this year -fourscore years old. It is not, however, with it as it is with the human frame, that the strength is labor and sorrow. No, but the labor and sorrow is the strength. So it shall be by the blessing of God upon us. God doesn't lead us into Canaan by a very direct route. He has a discipline for us. We never saw that, when a great good was to be accomplished, we were sent right into the promised land. We have been talking these many years of a basis, a platform upon which we can stand together. But we have found at last that the true and proper platform, the constitutional platform of the Presbyterian Church, is the platform of our Standards, pure and simple; no limitation, no qualification, no explanation. Some speak of liberty. My dear brethren, we have liberty, as your retiring Moderator has well put it, not the liberty to subscribe one thing and believe another. This neither of us would ask. But it is the liberty to receive the truth of God, and our appeal will be'still as ever to the vernacular Scriptures, and then to the originals - the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. This' is the safe and dignified platform upon which we can all stand, as Presbyterians, and must stand. We can stand squarely vpon this platform of the Presbyterian Church, and we rejoice to-day that we can clasp hands, and stand shoulder to shoulder, still embracing the doctrines of our fathers. I pray and believe that the result of this will be that the people will come forward with their offerings, and with new impulses, giving themselves and their means to forward the cause of the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, when they see our banners floating together in the breeze. There is but one grand banner after all, borne by us both, and we are one. You speak of the Church on THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 347 "the other side. " Was it not marvellous in the Providence of God that this Reunion Committee had its Chairmen taken to heaven, first from your side, and then from our side, as if to show the connections of the cause with the Church triumphant? Venerated and beloved men, Brainerd and Krebs - they have gone up and are set down together with Christ in heavenly places: and I think this day is something like the transfiguration, when Jesus Christ is manifestly transfigured before us, and when his countenance shines like lightning and his raiment is white as snow. And as those two men of the old covenant, Moses and Elias, came down and talked with him, so may our two brothers look down upon us from their heavenly places, and talk of this blessed work of Christ. We pray to God for the morrow's dawn, to hear the Report of the Committee of Conference. We have an inkling of what it is. You, Mr. Chairman of the Committee of Conference, in the Providence of God, are happily made the representative of your side of the house to us today. We are waiting for your report. We are impatient, anxious, longing for it. Our Presbyterian system has eminent simplicity for the most universal work, a glorious apparatus for the conquest of our land to Jesus Christ. We have the locomotive built, and polished, and oiled, and the track is laid, ready to bear forward its loads of precious freight. But it must be irfed upl and what we ask is, that the fire of God may come down upon us. That is what we ask. And we shall then traverse this continent, and stretch our arms widely from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. May God bless you and keep you always. It was now well understood that " the Joint Committee of Conference " had unanimously agreed upon a Report, and already it was intimated by the Speakers, and by the Moderator, in his response, that this correspondence was now to cease, not because of divergence, but because of convergence and concordance. The crowded assemblage, present from both houses, brimmed over with emotion. And the smiles and tears of members and of spectators indicated plainly their zeal for the good result. On the seventh day of the Assembly (Sabbatic) a Third Joint Pqrayer-mneeting having opened the day with fragrant incense of fraternal pleadings at the mercyseat, the Joint Committee of Conference, by their re. 348 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. spective Chairmen, presented their Report at ten, A. M., according to announcement of the previous day. The public interest was intense. Both houses were crowded, as the reading was going on, simultaneously, in both. Enthusiasm was added by the declaration that the Report was unanimotb s. Drs. Musorave and Adams explained the main features to their respective houses. The remarks of the former we are able to present in full. (See Alpendix). It was regarded as a masterly expose of the plan, and a conclusive vindication of it. At the close of this, the Moderator called upon Dr. John Hall to lead the Assembly in thanksgiving and prayer. From amidst the packed multitude illn the aisle, Dr. Hall pleaded fervently as befitted tlha occasion: With one heart and with one voice we glorify thee for that to which thou hast brought us this day, for the progress that has been made, for the encouragement that is afforded to us, for the unanimity that thou hast given unto our brethren; and now, Lord, we do not know what is before us. We, in our feebleness and foolishness, cannot tell with confidence what is the best that we should do; but, O Lord God, thou knowest all things; and we beseech thee that thou wouldst give us bountifully of thy wisdom; clear, we beseech thee, our spiritual vision from all obstructions of pride and selfishness; enable us in thy light to see light clearly. Give to each of us singleness of eye, and let the whole body be filled with light. Oh, blessed Jesus, the Son of God, who hast brought us to love thee and worship thee, into whose hands we have been led to commit our souls' salvation, whom we acknowledge as King and Head in the Church; we beseech thee that thou wouldst take this matter into thy hand; leave it not, we pray thee, to the pride or to the passion or even to the mind of man. Oh, take into thine own Almighty hand this matter, and if it be thy supreme will to carry this thing through, we beseech thee that it may be done in such wise that we may be thoroughly devoted to it in heart, spirit, feeling, and happy Christian activity. And if this is the end, pour out thy Spirit upon us, upon both branches of the Church; and O, let it please thee to humble us before thee in such a way as to bring us together that we may be one; that we may be united, humble, earnest, sincere children of Christ, sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning the truth, and learn THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 349 ing the way of service from his holy lips. Oh, keep us, we beseech thee, from looking unduly to visible resources. We feel that this Christian work that thou hast given us to do in the land, is to be done, not by might, nor by power, but by thy Holy Spirit. Then followed deliverances of leading members, in both houses, defining their position; some accounting for their slowness in accepting the Reunion movement, and declaring, in certain instances, their opposition to it up to the time of this Assembly. Others vindicating the spirit and terms of the plan throughout — while some expressed their fears, and contended for certain understandings as requisite to secure the desired harmony of working. There were those, also, who here bore witness to the orthodoxy which others had doubted, and to the sound instructions given in the Theological Seminaries of the New School branch. These testimonies were outspoken and influential. It could not be wonderful if some few would file a caveat, or serve a special notice as to the understandings in the case. But it was most surprising that, among the various deliverances, there was nothing said but was most fraternal, as between Christian men, loving the common cause and service. The venerable patriarch, Dr. Spring, objected to any delay in the consummation, and argued that it would be "flying in the face of the prayers of God's people." "If you postpone this Union another year [said he], I shallprobably not see it, but shall die a memnnber of a divided 6Y]hurch." God has been better to him than this fearful prophecy, and may he live yet many years to rejoice. Some gave free expression to their doubts, as to several details of the plan, touching the legal suec 350 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. cession, etc. These queries were all well and satisfactorily answered. Dr. Skinner, Jr. (0. S.), wished to know whether "the Confession of Faith " was to be understood as including " the catechisms." And to this important inquiry Dr. Atwater replied by reading from the Digest, and showing that in the Assembly of 1832, before the disruption, this question was settled in the affirmative,asfoltows: Resolved, That in receiving and adopting the Confession of Faith, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, the larger and shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly of Divines are included, and do constitute an integral part of the Standards of this Church. And that so it stands as the law, accepted in both branches, for the whole Church. The leading feature in this Report is that the Standards, pure and simple, are made the Doctrinal Basis without any explanatory clause whatever, and without any other article. This is simply falling back upon the original platform, in the preliminary negotiations of 1866: "A Reunion upon the basis of the Common Standards, so soon as a mutual confidence would seem to justify it." This "mutual confidence " was now expressed in the preamble, " Each recognizing the other as ca sound and orthodox body, according to the principiles of the confession commlon to both." "This clause of mutual confidence [says Dr. Stearns, in his Historical Article] was the only one which, in the reading before the Old School Assembly, was greeted, with a spontaneous applause." We happen to know that when this clause was broached in the Joint Committee, one of the Old School members privately queried Tma ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 351 of Dr. Musgrave whether the phraseology would not seem to be quite too explicit an endorsement of New School orthodoxy. To which Dr. Musgrave replied, that only uzpon this explicit statement, that each so "recog. nizes the other as a sound and orthodox body, according to the principles of the Confessior," could he consent to the Peunion, and only so could it be well and properly advertised beforehaznd, that the United Chtlrch cozuld never consistently tolerate heresy. Another special feature of this plan is, that the items of readjustment are separated entirely from the Basis, in the form of mutual understandings, as "CoNCURRENT DECLARATIONS of the General Assemblies of 1869." For this apt title the Committee were indebted to Dr. R. W. Patterson, of Chicago. It may be mentioned, as part of the inside history of the negotiations, that when the;" Joint Stb- Committee " met for the purpose of engrossing what had been passed upon by a" the Joint committee of (onvference," and to prepare the Report to the Assembly, one of the members (N. S.) objected to the insertion of the words contained in the preamble to the Concurrent Declarations, viz.: ";Not as articles of compact, or covenant, but as, in their judgment, proper and equitable arrangements." He admitted that the language fairly expressed what had been agreed upon, that the articles referred to were merely recommended, and if adopted by the United Church, might, hereafter, for good and sufficient reasons, be modified or repealed. But he argued that the insertion of the words above referred to would make the impression that the articles are ephemeral, and would have a tendency to invite change. There was force in 352 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the objection. But to this it was well replied, that the words ought to be inserted. 1. Because they fairly express our mutual good understandings. 2. Because, if omitted, it might be hereafter argued, that the articles were intended to be a compact between the two parties, which could not be honorably modified or repealed. 3. Because it was held to be in the highest degree important, that the United Church should be left entirely free to adapt itself to any changes which, in the future development of Providence, might be deemed either necessary or expedient. This difference threatened to be a stumbling-block in the way, even within reach of the goal. At this very crisis, however, an eminent layman of the New School Committee joined in this view of the case, with such cogent reasons as to prove the correctness of the position. Upon re-examination of the paragraph, the dissent was revoked, and the entire paper was then adopted by a unanimous vote. This meeting of the Joint Sub-Committee was held on the evening preceding the day of presenting the Report to the General Assembly. And it was not until eleven o'clock at night that the decisive vote was reached, in the Committee room. These concurrent items enter into the plan, not as any part of the Basis, but yet, as honorable understandings at the time, indicating the view of these consorting Assemblies as to the proper mode of adjustment, and hence, not to be departed from, except for very manifest and sufficient reasons. It was seen that circumstances might arise, however unanticipated, which might make it eminently wise and proper to alter or repeal some of these provisions. Indeed, this very judicious disposal. of THE ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 833 these several items, which had formerly been so many topics of debate, facilitated greatly the adoption of the Basis, as it not only simplified it, but relieved it from sundry particulars which could not as yet be so positively determined, and which could bet-ter be transmitted to the United Church for after settlement. Some, in both Assemblies, were perhaps not quite willing to leave in this shape, even with a five years' period of grace, the question of the mixed Churches, our legacy from the plan of Union of 1801. But this was, on all hands, felt to be a difficult point, requiring delicate treatment, and not capable of easy issue. And here the set period was named with notification in advance, so. as to plainly assert the Constitutional principle of Church polity, and to restrict the divergence within this narpow limit.'These free deliverances, in both Assemblies, had overpassed the morning session, and occupied the entire afternoon, leaving only time for the vote, before adjournment for the day. The crowd of spectators waited anxiously upon the result, —all the more as it was plainly foretokened by the respective speakers what the decision would be. The excitement, in both houses, rose to the highest pitch, as the moment drew nigh for the poll. In the New School Assembly, there was call for an interval of sileentrcayer; and then, by a risin, vote, the adoption was declared ncanimotms. The emotions of the entire body were brimming over all former bounds. In the Old School Assembly, the. vote was taken by ayes and nays. On the negative part, several presented their reasons in detail. One. of these argued, at great length, the heterodoxy. 23 354 PRESBYTERIA N REUNION. of the New School body, adducing excerpts from the former writings of individuals, - some of them long past, -and citing scattered declarations of one and another. But this was deemed inconclusive, unless it could be shown that no change had meanwhile occurred with these, and that these were accepted representatives of the body. Confessedly, there were citations, also, from more recent individual deliverances, well worthy of attention, which, in so far, would indicate serious differences in the construction of the Standards. But it could not be shown that the body, as such, was represented by these, or implicated in them; and this was the point to be proven. There was no formal protest except of a solitary layman, and that on the ground, among others, that the plan proposed for organizing the United Assembly, in 1870, would imperil the legal succession. This was "important, if true." But it was not deemed necessary to formally answer the protest, -though in its terms highly respectful, —inasmuch as, according to most eminent legal counsel, the plan provided for the succession of both Assemblies; while, as respects the Joint Mod-.eratorship, in the opening of the first Reunited Assembly, and its organization, the functions of Moderator were so assigned as to fix the legal succession, ac-,cording to the pronounced decision of the highest Court in the Commonwealth. At the count, the vote in the Old School Assembly stood 285 to 9! Of these negatives, five were clerical,.and four were lay! The news of the result, so harmoniously reached in'both Assemblies, was flashed by the telegraph all over THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 355 i the land, and across the seas. The Reunion was virtually secured. That only nine, out of the five hundred and sixty enrolled members of the two Assemblies, were found voting in the negative, was surely a degree of unanimity most marvellous, and quite without a parallel in the annals of the Church. OVERTURING TO THE PRESBYTEREES. The Plan of the Joint Committee provided for overturing to the Presbyteries the question of Reunion in categorical form, to wuit: "Do you approve of the Union of the two bodies claiming the name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, on the following BASIS, to w'it: The Reunion shall be effected on the Doctrinal and Ecclesiastical Basis of our Common Standards. The Scriptures-of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible Rule of Faith and Practice. The Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be approved, as containing the principles and rules of our Polity." However it might have been claimed that no such reference to the Presbyteries was necessary, after such explicit, though informal, action of theirs to this effect; yet it was eminently wise to satisfy thus the protest, in advance, of over thirty Presbyteries in the Old School branch, and to send down the Basis for formal approval. 356 PRESBYTERIAN RPEUNION. It was provided that a two-thicrds vote should be sufficient, - not, as in former plans, a thr~eefourtaihs vote, inasmuch as, in such case, one-fourth of the Presbyteries in either branch could defeat the measure. And besides, in this voting, the delinquent Presbyteries who, for any reason, might return no vote, must be counted in the negative, a three-fourths actual affirmative being required. Many in the Old School, at least, who otherwise would have dissented from the plan, were fully committed to the verdict of the Church thus regularly to be pronounced. The great objection, with some, arose from the necessary delay in such case, when the Assemblies had acted now so harmoniously, and when all was so ripe for consummation on the spot. But, this objection was, in great part, relieved by the novel expedient of adjourning for six months - a very extra interval, -so as to give full time for the Presbyteries to act, and yet to consummate the Union by these Assemblies, and without the necessity of postponing for a year. This feature of the plan was not seriously opposed, but rather welcomed, as forestalling apprehended difficulties of delay, and conciliating many who else would have opposed. It was, indeed, altogether a most happy expedient, entirely justified by the case in hand, and securing the best results. The working of this extra adjournment was much inquired into, so many not seeming able readily to apprehend it as a simple adjournment. Questions were already started, as to seats that might possibly be vacated by principals, whether they could be filled by alternates already chosen, or whether new elections would be THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 357 requisite, or allowable, to provide for such vacancies. In the Old School branch, alternates were allowed, and only such,- who had Seen already chosen, to fill the place of absent principals. In the New School, newly-elected Commissioners were required in such cases. By the strict construction, the Assembly being the same, not dissolved as usual, but only adjourned for six months as if for a day, the Commissioners must be elected prior to the meeting of the Assembly. Yet, exceptionally, the other method of supplying vacancies was also held to be admissible. The instances in question were not numerous enough to seriously affect the identity of the body in either house. What remained was now to commit the goodly movement, as thus far so harmoniously advanced, to the Great Head of the Church, so to direct and control the Presbyterial action, in both bodies, as to secure the best result. It was with high gratulation, and with special solemnity, that the Old School Assembly was led in prayer by the Rev. A. G. Hall, D.D., and adjourned at six o'clock. The New School Assembly was led in special thanksgiving by the Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, Sr., D.D., and adjourned at about the same hour. Thus ended Thursday, May 27th, 1869! On the following morning (Friday), a joint prayermeeting of the two Assemblies was held for one hour in the Church of the Covenant. Of course, at this advanced stage of the Reunion, after the great event of the day preceding, the united supplications were most fervent, and the flowing together of the two bodies was more manifest than before. The feeling 358 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. of oneness was no longer restrained; for, as concerned these representatives of the two Churches, they had already, with scarce an individual exception, expressed their wish to be one. And even the few dissenting brethren joined earnestly in the public prayer, and expressed their.strong desire also for Union. Delegations from each Assembly. to the other now appeared, and formally announced the vote. This was again the occasion of pleasant interchanges and responses, with new assurance of fraternal regard. The following letter from the other Assembly was read: To the Mloderator of the General Assembly meeting at the Brick Churc7h, New York. REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER.-It gives me pleasure to inform you, as instructed by the General Assembly meeting at the Church of the Covenant, New York, that the report of the Joint Committee of twenty on Reunion was, at the close of the Sessions of the Assembly this afternoon, unanimously adopted, and that the Hon. William Strong, and the Rev. William Adams, D.D., were appointed to communicate this action to the venerable Assembly over which you preside. By order of the General Assembly. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, Stated Clerk. Churc7 of the Covenant, NGay 27th, 1869. Judge Strong (of Pa.), from that Assembly, was then introduced, and received with applause. After giving verbal notice of the fact, contained in the above letter, he proceeded to say that they had all yearned for years to consummate the union which is now in a fair way of accomplishment, a union of faith, of sentiment, of doctrine, and practice. And in order to secure these blessings they will follow the recommendations of the Committee of Conference, and study the things that make for peace. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 359 Dr. Adams stepped forward, and paid high eulogy to Dr. Musgrave, and said that if the Old School had any more such cannon, throwing fifteen-inch shells, they need no addition to their numbers. He was especially moved on meeting Dr. Musgrave, whose memory he had associated with former strifes and controversies, but whom he had known as a faithful adherent to his own convictions, as one of the principal leaders in the movement for Reunion. And now, for all of the Church, the noble service is left to finish what had been so earnestly and so successfully begun, for the good of the kingdom of Christ. Dr. M. W. Jacobus responded as follows: DEAR BRETHREN. —Every step in this matter of Reunion becomes only the more blessed occasion for the descent upon us of the Spirit of the living God. How blessed are even these interchanges of notification! Our Committee has appeared before your Assembly, as you appear before us, to announce this marvellous unanimity thathas prevailed with the Committees of Conference. Union and Reunion are the order of the day. It is the will of God among us, manifestly. We cannot affirm that the delegates of this large body have all been able to say aye to the report of the Committee. The venerable father of this Assembly, Dr. Spring, thought for a moment that he must say nay. But it was only because he was more aye than any of us. Not that he was opposed to Reunion, but because he was opposed to any postponement of the Reunion. Others who have given in their nay have expressed their reasons, which we can appreciate; and considering the circumstances, and the larger number of our body, the unanimity is as marvellous and God-inspired perhaps with us as with you. We bless God for this hour. We do confidently expect, as we look forward through the next six months, to hear all along through this broad land, from the Canadas to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the loud and cordial Amen of Ratification. And in November next we will welcome.you as you will welcome us, to our city of Pittsburg, in the region that has been familiarly called the " backbone of Presbyterianism," and we will strike hands together there on that spot where symbolically and beautifully the Allegheny flows into the Monongahela, and the Monongahela flows into the Allegheny, to make the broad Ohio, rolling on into the Mississippi, and swelling that noble and majestic river into the Gulf. 360 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. JOINT COMMUNION SEASON. It was deemed only most fitting that, at this stage of pleasant and hallowed interchanges, A JOINT COMMUNION SEASON should be held now upon the day following the Reunion vote of the Assemblies. On this Friday afternoon, at three o'clock, the solemn service took place in the Brick Church. The Moderators jointly presided. The body of the house - even the aisles - was filled with communicants. The galleries were thronged with guests, many of whom were also communicating churchmembers. It was an hour so truly refreshing with the dew of Hermon on the mountains of Zion, that, with a most signal manifestation, the Lord commanded the blessing. The Venerable Dr. Spring offered the Sacramental prayer, and distributed the bread; and it was as if Moses or Elias had come down to talk on that Transfiguration Mount of the decease accomplished at Jerusalem. Dr. Shaw (N. S.) delivered earnest and tender words of address, followed by Dr. Taylor, of Cincinnati (N. S.), distributing the Cup; and by Dr. Anderson(O. S.), of Indiana, in a closing appeal. It could scarcely have been more impressive as a spectacle, or more ravishing as a holy feast. The place was called by one and another, Bethel and Peniel. It was a wELL, and it was named Beesrheba., Re1hoothb, and Beeqa-la,-ai ]oi. This season of Communion was all the more enjoyed because there were many who remembered that during the years of separation, such a Sacramental meeting of the two Assemblies had been proposed, but was declined, as being without precedent. The Joint Prayer Meeting held on Saturday morning., THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 361 in the Blick Church, was very largely attended, and the devotions of the United bodies were enthusiastic. The tidings had now gone abroad, and the sympathy of other Christian bodies was deeply stirred and sought expression. The following despatch was received and read: NEWARIK, OuIO, May 28, 1869. The General Assemblies of the Old and New School Presbyterians in the City of New York:The Synod of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists greeting the brethren. 2 Thess., first chap., third and first clause of fourth verse, and 2 Corinth., thirteenth chap., eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth verses. E. T. EVANS, Moderator. DAVID HARRIS, Secretary. The verses referred to were read by Rev. Dr. Rodgers, as follows: We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The despatch was received with much satisfaction by the Assembly, and Henry Day, Esq., was appointed a committee to prepare an answer. Before adjournment, he reported the following, as the joint answer of the two Assemblies, which was adopted and ordered to be transmitted: That the General Assemblies, now convened in the city of New York, return their cordial and Christian salutations to the Synod of the Calvinistic Methodists now sitting in the City of Newark, Ohio, and we express to them our best wishes and desires in the words of Moses to Hobab, Numbers x. 29: " We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you. 362 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." This fitting passage of reply was understood to have been suggested by the Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Newarkl The N. Y. Y/ ribune entitled this Biblical Telegraphic Correspondence, "Apples of Gold, in pictures (baskets) of Silver." A Delegation from the Evangelical Church of Bohemia was received, and one of them, Dr. Von Tardy, said in the Old School Assembly as follows: I especially congratulate myself that I am here just at this interesting juncture, when these two bodies, not two but one, standing upon a common foundation, are upon the point of uniting themselves upon the common foundation of Christ and his Apostles, Christ being the corner-stone, thus showing that perfect faith works love, and love itself together with faith is the perfect token of the children of God. I then come here for the express purpose of being quickened and refreshed. A Delegation from the Methodist Preachers' Meeting, composed of one hundred ministers in New York and vicinity, was received, consisting of the Rev. Drs. Curry and Ridgway, and Rev. Mr. King. The following paper was read: The New York Preachers' Meeting, composed of one hundred pastors of the Methodist churches in New York and vicinity, have adopted the following minute: WMERnEAS, The General Assemblies of both branches of the great Presbyterian family are now in session in the city, we take pleasure in sending to them our fraternal greeting and assurances of our Christian love and fellowship. We rejoice with them in the prospect of a speedy reunion of the two branches of their communion, and pray that their prosperity in the future may be even greater than it has been in the past. We also express the deep conviction that the time has fully come when all Evangelical churches, forgetting the sad estrangement of the past, should come nearer together, and united in heart, aid in maintaining throughout this land a sound morality THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 363 against vice, intemperance, and Sabbath desecration; and a pure religion against Ritualism and Popery. We hope the day is near at hand when fraternal relations will be established between these two great churches, with a'mutual interchange of friendly delegates between the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and we respectfully suggest that the General Assembly of 1870 appoint such delegate to meet with our General Conference, which will convene in Brooklyn, May 1, 1871. In'reply, the Moderator, Dr. Jacobus, said: The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church reciprocates the Christian salutations of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. The Church of John Calvin responds to the Church of John Wesley, in the name of our common Lord and Head. We are engaged in a common conflict against irreligion. It is a conflict of Christianity against all the powers and forces of antichrist. It is a conflict of true religion against irreligion and false religion. We rejoice in the great work which your large and active Church has been able to accomplish in our land. All the agencies and resources of the Christian Church are needed at this critical moment. And we hope soon to hail the time when the final conquest of our King Jesus shall be proclaimed in all the land and in all the world. THE SOUTHERN CHURCH. Amidst so many and such cordial congratulations ill which the Spirit of a Revived Church seemed to be awakened and further foretokened by the Spirit ol Union, it was not at all wonderful that the heart of the Old School Assembly should go out towards the alienated brethren of the Southern Church. A Committee had already been appointed to report upon the important subject of Reunion with the Presbyterian Church of the South. The Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, late of Georgetown, D. C., introduced the following resolution on this subject: Whereas, The last General Assembly acknowledged the separate and independent existence of the Presbyterian Church in the Southern States, and enjoined upon all subordinate courts so to treat it, thus according to its 664 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ministers and members the privilege of admission into our body upon the same terms which are extended to the ministers and members of other branches of the Presbyterian Church; therefore Resolved, That this General Assembly hereby conveys its Christian saluta tions to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the Southern States, and gives expression to its sentiments of Christian fraternity and fellowship toward the ministers and members of that body. And as we inherit and hold with them the same ancient symbols of faith, the same forms of government and of worship, thus representing before the world the same sacred principles which our common ancestors witnessed, and which we have maintained in the past, and especially since we occupy adjacent, and in many places, common territory, we deem it due to our one Lord, and to the best interests of his kingdom on earth, to express the desire that the day may not be distant when we may be again united in one great organization that shall cover our whole land, and embrace all branches of the Presbyterian Church. Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in the Southern States. This manifesto was thus eminently fraternal - an honest, earnest expression of desire, "That the day may not be distant when we may be again united in one great organization, etc., of the Presbyterian Church." It was the yearning for Reunion extending itself, and growing only more intense and wide-spread, by its incipient gratification. It could be thought of here, only in a spirit of mutual concession - on the ground of ignoring past complaints, and burying old differences as in the Reunion North - nothing more said of old, " dead issues - nothing now charged of heresies or of excisions- no confessions, nor retractions called for on either side." A poor way to make peace is by taking up the war again. The only question could now be, not whether the Northern Church, from which the South had separated, - was ready - for that was most plainly declared -but whether the Southern Church would be found ready, for the Reunion, or for any positive step THE ASSEMBLMS OF 1869. 365 in that direction. It was intimated, at this juncture, by the Stated Clerk, Dr. McGill, that in an informal correspondence, the Stated Clerk of the Church South, had rather deprecated the agitation of this question, at present, as likely to disturb the peace of their churches. But it was felt that, however this overture might be treated at the present, the time must come when welladvised efforts at peace will not imperil the peace of Christ's house, but will avail to restore it, for it is written, as it was spoken by the Master himself, " Blessed are thepeacemaker8, for THEY shall be called the children of God." This movement in the New York Assembly was at least in good faith, and it went the full length of committing that body to the Reunion, and of taking the initiative in so good a cause. And so far, it was, indeed, a great step in advance. And though that body would form only a portion of subsequent Assemblies in the Reunited Church, yet they have put themselves upon the record that so far as in them lies, they crave a return to the old fraternal relations as of one grand Presbyterian Church. When the French architect was repairing the mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, he asked of the Sultan the privilege to remove the whitewash which covered the ancient Christian emblems that adorned the ceiling of that church of the silver-tongued Chrysostom, and the Sultan replied "T he time ha8s not come yet." But we say the time is coming, and must come, when our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers worshipped must be restored from floor to ceiling, and when the emblems of our Christianity, that have been 366 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. covered with divers washes of the hour, must be made to appear again. And no man, nor set of men, can possibly prevent this blessed result. The Moderator of the late Established Kirk of Scotland Assembly, Dr. Norman McLeod, in his closing address to that body, said, "Not for the sake of my Church, but rather for the sake of our common country and common Christianity, I would refuse to be an Old HMortality, restoring and keeping fresh the deep and sharp-cut lines on the monuments reared by us all, on our old Ecclesiastical battle-fields, but would rather leave them to be quietly covered by time and a genial heaven, with their benevolent ministrations of green moss and lichen - emblems of that Christian charity which covereth a multitude of sins." At this very time, the Southern Assembly was in session at Mobile, Ala., with over one hundred Commissioners. Since this writing, we regret to add that a more special overture of the first Reunited Assembly, borne by a most conciliatory delegation, has been answered by declinature and "indictment," yet though the Assembly was carried for such an unhappy response, we rejoice to know that it was not without strong and manly protests, and not without a feeling of Christian revulsion in the ministry and membership at large, which will soon, we trust, make itself felt in another Assembly of the Southern Church, that we may be ONE again, beyond the reach of any poor, political complication- the Church ONE for the nation's sake, and the nation ONE for the Church's sake. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 367 THE REFORMED CHURCHE NATIONAL COUNCIL. From still another quarter, another and important movement for Union of the Churches indicated the spirit of the time. A communication was received and adopted by both Assemblies from the General Synod of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, proposing a National Council of Evangelical Churches, for mutual strengthening and defence, and for promotion of the common cause of Christianity versus Antichrist: It is the conviction of this Synod, that wholesome fraternal measures may be adopted for combining and unifying the Evangelical denominations in support of the common doctrines of Christianity, without involving any surrender of the distinctive features and individual characteristics of these denominations. The state of Christianity in our country, in its relation to antichristian forces, seems to encourage an effort to secure a co-operation among all who " hold the faith," in measures fitted to meet the exigencies of the times. Hoping that your reverend body may be willing to take the action suggested in the preceding paper, we subscribe ourselves as Yours in fraternal bonds, ELBERT S. PORTER, Pres't of General Synod. DAVID D. DEMAREST, New A York, _May, 1869. Stated Clerk. The following action was taken by the New School Assembly, on the proposal for a general Christian Council, submitted by the Reformed Church (this is a report from Dr. Maxwell's Special Committee): Recognizing this proposition as a part of the great movement of our day, which is seeking better to express the essential unity of the Church of Christ, and to bring about that organic unity toward which we have just taken so important a step, we regard it as one eminently fitting to be entertained. Our own hearts have felt most convincingly the influences of that Spirit when in joint supplications for the reunion of our separated Presbyterian family. Mutual love and confidence fill the hearts of believers. The spirit of wisdom 368 PRESBYTERIAN REUNIO)N. seems to be imparted to our councils for reunion, and from all branches of the Church the prayer is going up for a speedy realization of that oneness fof which our Redeemer prayed. And when God so manifestly points the way and opens the path where was a sea of difficulties before, it is for His people to go forward. Great good may also result from the adoption of some such plan. In a common profession of the essentials of our common faith; in the promotion of wholesome discipline and mutual co-operation therein; in devising means of practical evangelism; in borrowing life from every part, and in diffusing it through all the members of the common body; in presenting a common front to a common foe; in such prospects of vast good accomplished, we see a motive for acceding to the proposition submitted. Therefore, Resolved, That five representatives of this body, three ministers and two laymen, be appointed to meet similar representatives from other bodies on the third Tuesday of October, in the city of New York, provided the higher Judicatories and Assemblies of sister churches accede to the proposition. Similar action was taken by the other branch, and Delegates were appointed likewise. Still another announcement in the same direction was made by the Rev. Dr. S. I. Prime, representing the Evangelical Alliance, a Protestant Ecumenical Council, to assemble in the autumn of 1870, in the city of New York: The Evangelical Alliance in this country has called the various Christians of all denominations to meet in the city of New York, in the autumn of this year; and it has also invited a conference of Evangelical Christians, from all the nations of the earth, to meet in this city, in the autumn of 1870. We have now an agent in Europe, Rev. Dr. Schaff, who is making arrangements with the brethren in England, and in Germany, and in Holland, and in Switzerland, and in other countries, to be represented at that conference; and we have no doubt that, with God's blessing, it will be not only one of the most interesting, but one of the most useful assemblages of Christians ever held in this country, and perhaps in the world. I count it a great joy to be permitted to commend the operations of this institution to the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and to ask that, in your several spheres of usefulness, in the several cities and towns in which you reside, you will make known its character and its operations, and that these conferences may be understood. We hope that your several localities will be represented in it, and that we may bring together Christians from all parts of this country, and then in the following year from all parts of the world, who will unite their hearts and their hands in the great work which the Alliance sets before it. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 369 At the conclusion of Dr. Prime's address, the follomwing paper, introduced by Rev. John Hall, D.D., was adopted: Resolved, 1. That this Assembly has heard with great satisfaction that the Evangelical Alliance of the United States has invited a Conference of Evangelical Christians in this country, to meet in the city of New York, in the ensuing autumn, and a general Conference of Evangelical Christians in all the earth, to assemble in the same city of New York, in the autumn of 1870; and it will unite its prayers with those of Christ's people everywhere, that the Holy Spirit may guide their counsels and lead to wise results for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. Resolved, 2. That the principles of the Protestant Reformation, identified as they are with the progress of religious liberty, education, and Christianity in the earth, are increasingly precious in our eyes, and we call upon our ministers and people to watch with jealous care the efforts of Romanism in the'United States, and by the employment of all suitable means, to resist insidious attempts of Roman Catholics to obtain undue influence in this counrmtry. And now the time for adjournment was at hand. The closing scenes in both Assemblies were truly impressive. Parting to meet again, if God should so please, in a distant city, a six months hence. And yet to think of possible vacancies in the seats of the Commuissioners! Careful and detailed provision had been made concurrently in both Assemblies, for securing from the Presbyteries a categorical answer to the questions overtured in the plan, so as that a full return might be made to the November meeting. The New School Assembly ADJOURNED on the tenth day, and the Old School Assembly on the eleventh day of their sessions at evening, to reassemble in the city of Pittsburg, on the tenth day of November, in the Third and First Presbyterian Churches, respectively. The members of both bodies had been held together in 24 3 70 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. unusually full numbers till the close, and beyond the adjournment of the New School, many remained to witness the conclusion of the other Assembly. In the nature of the case, such Ecclesiastical proceedings, whose harmony had been so unbroken, left little of the wearied, worn-out feeling that ensues upon mere routine transactions of Church Courts. The two houses had both been banqueting houses, and the banner over both of them had been LOVE. The hospitalities of New York Christians had been displayed in the spirit of a large-hearted Christianity. And no pen can adequately detail the thousand pleasing incidents occurring daily at the tables of the generous entertainers. Besides, it was quite t specialty of the occasion, that soirees were given at private houses, in which groups of a score or two from the two Assemblies were gathered round the table, with Chris tian cheer, followed by genial rounds of address and' personal reminiscences of Reunion movements. Who that had the happiness of being present at the dejekuner of Dr. Adams, or of Mr. Henry Day, will ever forget the graceful challenge and genial repartee, and the impromptu address and response all round the circle, that brought smiles and tears in quick succession. Such brimming emotions at length -as broke the alabaster box and filled the room with the odor of the ointment. And, not to mention other names, it may be allowed to refer to like Christian refreshings at Dr. E. P. Rogers', of the Reformed Church, and Henry M. Alexander and James Brown, Esqs., where elegant hospitalities were lavished upon the guests of both branches. Members lingered as if reluctant to leave the spot THE ASSEMBLMS OF 1869. 371 consecrated by such thrice happy meetings. And they looked with confident forecast over the six months interval, to the reassembling at Pittsburg, to receive from the Presbyteries the word of ratification. Already the marriage covenant was signed by the high contracting parties. It seemed only a signature of the witnesses and a marriage certificate that was further requisite. And Pittsburg was already looked to as the city which should be honored with celebrating the rare nuptials. Such unanimity as had characterized the action of both Assemblies left little doubt on the minds of any, that the Presbyteries would return the requisite majority and more, in favor of the plan as overtured by the Assembly. Nevertheless, there was anxiety until the result should be fixed beyond any peradventure. Silent Presbyteries were to be counted with the negative, because a clear affirmative vote of two-thir(iS was required. Besides this,'the foreign and frontier Presbyteries might not act, or not in season. Still further, some dissent would certainly show itself in a few Presbyteries, though there was no token of organized or concerted opposition. And any negative vote beyond one-third of either Assern.bly, which might, indeed, be less than one-sixth of the whole number of Presbyteries, would defeat the movement. The writer of this, received letters expressing such anxiety-and that from those who might be supposed to be most capable of judging how the field lay. The PREss, both secular and religious, was most active and decisive for the Reunion. And this was by~ no means confined to the Press of the denomination, 372 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. but was most remarkably the voice of the leading Journals in the land. Such an -Eirenicon was hailed, on all hands, as a precious National boon. The PASTORAL LETTER ordered to be prepared by the Joint Committee of Conference and the two Moderators, was soon issued to the Churches. (See Appendix.) It was brief, direct and earnest, and it aimed, in a spirit of Christian conciliation, to state the case with clearness, and in terms of honest simplicity to urge the fitness and timeliness of the Great Measure of IReunion. It had been first submitted to each of the Joint Committee, and had received the cordial approval of each member separately. It is testified to, as having done good service in helping forward the blessed work. And it stands on record as a public testimony to the equal terms of the Reunion, and to the strong and positive adherence to the Standards, on one part equally as on the other part, without any restriction or qualification. DAY OF PRAYER. The Day of Prayer, recommended by both the Assemblies, came. The great theme of Union and Reunion was treated by the thousands of ministers in so many pulpits of the Church. It was a rare season of concerted supplications. At this advanced period (September), within two months of the re-assembling in Pittsburg, there seemed scarcely the shadow of a doubt as to the issue. The public sentiment had settled down to a measurable certainty. And yet, the Great Con-cert of Prayer for the Reunion, on the eve of the meeting of the two Assemblies, was a grand auxiliary. TIHE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 373 Not a few of the leading Presbyteries had already met soon after the Assemblies' adjournment, to receive and act upon the Report of their Commissioners. And the indications had been slowly gathering with increased distinctness. But now, God, the Paraclete, Teacher, and Strengthener, was invoked by the Assembled Churches, on both parts, for the best results, and for the consummation of all that was hoped for. The heart of the people was plainly enlisted for the movemnent. As the time approached, reports from the fall Presbyteries were rolled up in swelling affirmatives, and beyond the requisite two-thirds, on both sides. And the glad announcement was at length made that the conditions precedent had been fufilled! PROCEEDINGS AT THE ADJOURNED SESSION IN PITTSBURG. According to adjournment, the two Assemblies convened in the City of Pittsburg, on Wednesday, Novenmber 10th, 1869, at 11 o'clock, A. M. The General Assembly (O. S.) met in the First Presbyterian Church, on Wood street. The General Assembly (N. S.) convened in the Third Presbyterian Church, on Sixth avenue. These churches were only a couple of blocks apart. The members in attendance were more nearly equal in numbers than at the New York session. The Old School roll counted 237, and the New School roll 227. After clearing the docket of whatever business belollged to the Old School body, the Stated Clerk, Dr. McGill, read the Report of the action of Presbyteries 374 PIRESBYTERIAN REUNION. in response to the overture on Reunion. This was on Thursday morning- the Second Day. REPORT ON THE REUNION VOTE OF THE PRESBYTERIES. The Presbyteries in connection with this General Assembly have all reported in writing, on the overture of Reunion, as ordered in the Brick Church, at New York, except the following ten, viz.: Austin, Corisco, Knox, Knoxville, MIaury, Ogdensburg, Shantung, Siam, Stockton, and Western Africa. The Stated Clerk of the Santa Fe Presbytery has reported by letter, that it is impossible for this Presbytery to have a meeting, in present circumstances. The Presbyteries of Allahabad and Canton, being unable to meet within the time specified, have sent circulars, signed by a majority of each, to indicate the will of the Presbytery in favor of the Reunion as now proposed: but these are not counted in declaring the result. Another Presbytery, Lahore, formed by the Synod of Northern India, in December last, but not regularly reported as yet by any officer of that Synod, has sent its answer to this overture, in written form, and this has been counted; on the presumption that the Assembly will recognize, at this meeting, the existence of that Presbytery on our roll. We have thus one hundred andforty-four Presbyteries. One hundred and twenty-eight of these have answered the overture sent down affirmatively, in writing. Three, Hudson, Rio de Janeiro, and West Lexington, have answered in the negative. Informal Reports from the Presbyteries of Stockton, Ogdensburg, and Milwaukee, in the affirmative, were admitted to record. In both Assemblies action was taken looking to union with the United Presbyterian body, without any bar from their Psalmody. A book was opened on the clerk's desk for the autographs of all the officers and members of both Assemblies. Photographic artists succeeded in taking excellent views of both bodies as they were grouped in front of their respective churches. On Thursday evening, a Public Meeting in the interest of Home Missions was held in the First Church. Stirring addresses were made, and the large audience THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 3T5 of both Assemblies evinced their appreciation of that vastly augmented strength which the Reunion must give to the denomination, for vigorously prosecuting this great work of our day. On Friday morning, the deputation from the New School, to report the vote of their Presbyteries, was announced in the Old School Assembly. It consisted of the Rev. Drs. Aiken, and Z. M. Humphrey, and the Hon. Jno. A. Foote. The chairman, Dr. Aiken introduced the reading of the Report as follows: MR. MODERATOR. —I am one, sir, of a Committee of three appointed by the other branch to wait upon this Assembly, and to report to you the results of the action of our Presbyteries on the subject of Reunion. As I may take it for granted, I suppose, that you are ready to receive our report, I would beg leave to call on Dr. Humphrey, one of the Committee, to read an official statement from our Stated Clerk. Dr. Humphrey read the following: REPORT. Report of the Stated Clerk of the Generad Assembly of the Presbyterian Chuzrch in the United States of America, on tuhe answers of the Presbyteries to the Overture on the Reunion of the two branches of the Church. The number of Presbyteries connected with this General Assembly is one hundred and thirteen. Official responses have been received from every one of them. They have all answered the overture in the affirmative. Iu each of the Presbyteries of Albany, Wellsboro, and the District of Columbia, a single negative vote was cast. In each of the remaining one hundred and ten Presbyteries, the vote was unanimous. Respectfully submitted, EDWIN T. HATFIELD, Stated Clerk. Pittsburg, Pa., November 10, 1869. The reading of the report was hailed with great ap. plause. 376 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. The Moderator, Dr. Jacobus, responded in these wiords: BRETHREN, - Our hearts have been deeply moved by the announcement of the singular unanimity which has pervaded your body; a unanimity, as we believe, unparalleled in the history of the Church of Christ. Only three Presbyters of all your list of voters, in all parts of this land, and of other lands, vote No to this programme of Reunion. Is not this in the line of what was predicted by the Evangelical Prophet: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion"? And shall not the results be also in the line of what was predicted in the same connection by that prophet: I" Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem "? The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and give us peace. [Applause.] Mr. Henry Day moved the adoption of the following paper. It was unanimously adopted by a rising vote, as follows: This Assembly having received and examined the statement of the votes of the several Presbyteries on the Basis of the Reunion of the two bodies now claiming the name and the rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which Basis is in' the words following, namely: " The Union shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical Basis of our common standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the Government and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity; "- does hereby find and declare that said Basis of Union has been approved by more than two-thirds of the Presbyteries connected with this branch of the Church, - and whereas, the other branch of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, now sitting in the Third Presbyterian Church, in the City of Pittsburg, has reported to this Assembly that said Basis has been approved by more than two-thirds of the Presbyteries connected with that branch of the Church, now, therefore, we do solemnly declare that said Basis of Reunion is of binding force. [Applause.] Dr. Rodgers said: Mn. MODERATOR, - My grandfather was the first Moderator of the Pres THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 877 byterian Church in these United States; and, as his grandson, I move you now that this General Assembly be dissolved. The motion was passed. The Moderator, Dr. Jacobus, then said: By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the Church, let this General Assembly be dissolved, and I do hereby dissolve it, and require another General Assembly, chosen in the same manner, to meet in the City of Philadelphia, on the third Thursday of May, Anno Domini, 1870, in the Firsi Presbyterian Church, at eleven o'clock, A_ M. In the New School Assembly, the Moderator announced that a deputation was present from the other Assembly, and if no objections were made, it would now be heard. The deputation consisted of Rev. Dr. Musgrave, and Mr. Day. Dr. Musgrave said: I appear before you as a delegate from the General Assembly in session in the First Church, to communicate to you specially the vote of our Presbyteries on the subject of Reunion. We have brought a certified copy of the vote; the majority has been much more than two-thirds - the number required - and the votes of our Presbyteries have been almost unanimous. The overture has been adopted, and the union has thus been consummated. I have not time to make a speech, and am not in condition to do it. I will, therefore, simply add, that I never discharged any duty in my life with a greater pleasure than this. I have had many duties during the course of my ministry, that have filled my heart with praise and thanksgiving to God, but I may say that nothing has so excited my gratitude and joy as this. I believe it has been brought about by the Spirit and Providence of God, and I firmly believe that, as this result has been introduced by Him, so He will continue to guide and bless us, and make this union a blessing to our land and the world. Mr. Day then read the certified vote of the Old School Presbyteries on the overture of Reunion -only three dissenting. The reading of the vote was greeted with applause. Mr. Day said: BRETHREN, - I trust that perhaps at this very moment an overture or state. 378 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ment similar in character has gone forth from this Assembly to the Assembly from which we have come, and that it is being read there at this very moment. These two churches, so long divided, are now united by the hand of God; and what God hath joined together, brethren, let us never sunder. [Applause.] The Moderator (Dr. Fowler): This General Assembly feel renewed within.them the joy they experienced on being unofficially informed of the result of the vote in your Presbyteries, and we fully sympathize with you in your hopes for the future. Bear to your Assembly the assurance that we are in full accord with them. [Applause.] Dr. Adams: Mr. MODERATOR,- I move you the following resolution: This Assembly having received and examined the statement of the votes of the several Presbyteries on the Basis of the Reunion of the two bodies now claiming the name and the rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which Basis is in the words following, viz.: " The Union shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical Basis of our Common standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity;" does hereby find and declare that said Basis of Union has been approved by more than two-thirds of the Presbyteries connected with this branch of the Church,- and whereas, the other branch of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, now sitting in the First Presbyterian Church, in the city of Pittsburg, has reported to this Assembly that said Basis has been approved by more than two-thirds of the Presbyteries connected with that branch of the Church, now, therefore, we do solemnly declare that said Basis.of Reunion is of binding force. The paper was adopted unanimously by a rising vote. THE ASSEMIBLY DISSOLVED. Dr. Adams: I now move you, 5Mr. Moderator, that this Assembly be dissolved in the usual form prescribed by our constitution. Adopted unanimously. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 379 The Moderator, Dr. Fowler, then said as follows: By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the Church, let this General Assemblybe dissolved, and I do hereby dissolve it, and require anotherAssembly, chosen in the same manner, to meet in the First Presbyterian Church, in Philadelphia, on the third Thursday in May, 1870. It had already been agreed that at ten o'clock, on this day, the two Assemblies should each be regularly dissolved, and that the two bodies should immediately come together for such religious celebration of the grand event as was befitting to the occasion. Thus, at the same hour, in both houses, with a solemnity becoming so rare an event, the Moderators formally dissolved their respective Assemblies. The Christian Doxology, and the Apostolic benediction, closed whatever pertained to the separate history and doings of these kindred bodies, which had now become in effect ONE. The hour of ten arrived. The skies had thus far been propitious. But the chill November wind was out on this memorable morning, when the two Assemblies were to meet and to greet each other in the open street. The city was moved; and no blast of November could repress the public enthusiasm. The programme was well arranged, and its items were admirably carried out. The New School body first left their house, at the hour, and marched in double file down Sixth avenue to Wood street. As they turned the corner into Wood, the head of the column stood opposite the First Church. This was the signal for the Old School body to move out of their house, and to take up the line of march in a parallel column with the other body, along Wood street, also in double file. The marshals and 380 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. their aids, who headed the two advancing columns, found no little difficulty in clearing the street. The Marshals were Gen. J. K. MOREHEAD, SAMIUELR EA) JOHN D. MCCORD, and GEORGwE H. STUART; and their Aids, JosEPU DILWORTH, CHARL:ES J. CLARKE, ROBERT A. CLARKE, WILLIAM A. HERRON, DAVID ROBINSON, and T. A. CREE. Besides the crowds who thronged the sidewalks and filled the doors and windows, the broad avenue was ajam with eager spectators. Waving of handkerchiefs and shouts of applause greeted the rare procession, and evinced the public enthusiasm. The Iron City was electrified. The magnetism of such a movement was attractive beyond any parallel. It was confined to no denomination. The heart of the people was stirred. It was, indeed, a spectacle altogether novel. Christian fraternity was holding Jubilee! The parallel ranks, Old School and New School, on opposite sides of the avenue, two-and-two, arm-inarm, moved along one block, when a halt was made. The two Moderators who headed their respective columns, then approached each other, and grasped hands with a will. This was the signal for the Clerks, who followed, and then the pairs all through the ranks parted, crossed over, and paired anew, -the Old and New, grasping each other, and amidst welcomes, thanksgivings, and tears, they locked arms and stood together in their reformed relations. There were rare personal meetings on that avenue after this strange fashion. Men found themselves, by this wonderful order of the ranks, brought face to face, and hand to hand, with those from whom they had been a long time separated, and, perhaps, more or less alienated. TEE ASSEMBLES OF 1869. 381 There were incidents within that brief moment of forming the new columns which stirred half a thousand hearts to the depths, brothers hailing brothers, as if long absent or lost; some discovered to others, as Joseph to his brethren, and others falling upon the neck of those long dissevered and at strife, as Jacob and Esau. For example, it may be mentioned, that two eminent and excellent pastors of the same city in New York State, who had for years been estranged, as acknowledged leaders in their respective branches of the Church, found themselves in that providential pairing brought together for the hand-shaking and fraternal greeting which was the divine order of the day. Neither of those dear brethren was the man to resist the loving ordinance of God. Neither of them could fail to note the providential commandment. Even, in any case, what arm could be so withered as not to move at such command of Jesus to stretch it forth to a brother in Christ, for its own cure? And at this great family holiday it was meet to make merry and be glad. Those large hearts bounded at the celestial signal for that fraternal embrace. They met. They grasped each other. They wept together on the street. They stood arim-in-arm in the ranks and blessed God. All alienations were gone. They were brothers confessed before men and angels, under the open sky, and on they marched with gushing emotion to keep the Reunion Jubilee together in God's house. On the next Sabbath each of these pastors made public mention of the striking incident to their respective congregations, as indieating the finger of God in the great movement, bearing testimony to the Reunion, as so personal with them 382 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. selves. And, as by a strange magic such a revolution had occurred as in a moment, and the Presbyterian ranks had been formed anew, so had occurred the great Reunion, of which this was only the typical illustration. Through Fifth avenue into Smithfield street, and onward to the Third Presbyterian Church, the procession passed, brethren unbosoming themselves to brethren at every step. It was a grand public profession of Christian unity. It was felt to be the linking of mighty forces for doing battle against a world of evil. Men of all beliefs acknowledged the power of such a movement. It was well remarked that " the tread of armed thousands through the same thoroughfares, with banners blackened and torn in their country's defence, had not so stirred the soul of the people as did the sight of this united band of once separated brethren." It was a triumph of love - a victory gained under the banner of the Prince of Peace. As the procession reached the church, the building was blockaded by the waiting multitude. Within the house, both the gallery and orchestra were already in possession of eager spectators. As the head of the column entered the door, the large and noble edifice rang with the grand old Jfubilee ~Hymn, sung by a choir in the organ loft, " Blow ye the trumwpet, blow - the gladly solemn sound." The spacious platform was promptly filled by the officers of the Assemblies, and by such of the Commissioners as could be seated there, and as soon as the remainder of the procession was disposed of in the, body of the church, the outside multitude rushed in, and instantly every seat and standing place was crowded to the ut. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 383 most capacity of the building. Hundreds could find no room, not even so much as about the door. On either side of a small table in the centre of the platform, the Moderators, Drs. Fowler and Jacobus, sat, and presided by turns. It was now about 11 o'clock, and "the Coronation Hymn " was grandly given by the entire audience. The solid mass of faces in pew, and aisle, and doorway, and gallery, was most impressive from the platform. And from the body of the house the array of Commissioners, clerical and lay, among the foremost men in Church and State, and met for such a divine purpose, was everywhere noted as a rare sight. It was an interesting incident, that the venerable David Elliott, D.D., LL.D., who had presided in Philadelphia at the Disruption, stepped forward to the platform, and took his seat in front near the Moderator. His appearance was greeted with applause. After a solemn invocation by the Rev. C. C. Beatty, D.D., it was ordered, on motion of the Rev. G. S. Plumley, that the following message be sent by cable to the Chairman of the Union Committee in the Free Church of Scotland: "To the Rev. Robt. Buqchanan, PD.D., Glasgow: " The two great Presbyteriacn Chrches in America, this day united, greet the Presbytergian Churches of Great;Britain and Ireland, and pray that they also may be ONE. (Signed) "GEO. H. STUART, " JNO. HALL, "WM. E. DODGE, "Committee. "Pittsburg, Nov. 12th, 1869." 384 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Selections of Scripture were read, after which the audience joined again in the service of praise -" Blest are the Sons of Peace." The Rev. Philemon H. Fowler, D.D., Moderator (N. S.), made the opening address. He said: Well may one feel dumb in the presence of this overpowering occasion And it is from no choice of my own that I break silence now. Would that I could sit quietly here, and wonder, and praise, and adore, and rejoice! Is there a parallel in all history to the event that has now been accomplished? It is easy to rend asunder, but oh, how hard to reunite! You may splinter the rock, but can you gather together the scattered fragments and solidify them again? You may easily divide the Church, but can you so easily bind it together again? History is full of divisions of the Church- only here and there is there a record of reunion - and when reunion has taken place, how comparatively small the bodies whose parts have been joined together! But here we are, thousands of ministers, thousands of congregations, hundreds of thousands of Christians, flowing together by one impulse, and embracing each other in what we hope and believe will be an indissoluble Union. [Applause. ] And now, how wonderful the unanimity! There have been reunions before, but how many and what large fragments have stood out against the fusion! How small the fragments that withstand the glow of love under which we, who have been dissolved, have flown together, and those fragments remaining in the mass will be dissolved with it. [Applause.] Think of it! Of a hundred and twenty Presbyteries of one branch, all, without an exception, pronouncing in favor of Reunion. Think of it! Out of a hundred and forty-four Presbyteries of the other branch, only three pronouncing against the Reunion. And what gladness this Reunion gives to the advanced corps of the sacramental host of God's elect! How our outposts are rejoicing in view of it - our missionary brethren at home and abroad! Two or three days before I started for Pittsburg, as I left my own house, I met a missionary brother from Ceylon. He was about coming to see me., He was the bearer of a letter from another missionary brother in India. That letter will best speak for itself, and I will take the liberty of reading it. "' DEAR BRETIHREN [It is addressed to us] - I have been reading in the New York Observer and in the Evangelist the'accounts of the meetings of the two Geneial Assemblies. In view of what has been done, and what now appears may be done in the future, I can say, with an overflowing heart,' Let THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 385 everything that hath breath praise the Lord.' I cannot express the degree of pleasure that I experienced on reading the proposition to raise the sum of five millions of dollars as a thank-offering, to which I gladly contribute my mite, on the principle laid down in Malachi. "I hope that the one hundred dollars in gold, accompanying this, will prove a mustard-seed from which a gigantic tree may spring up, with extended branches studded with golden mites, that will bear five millions of dollars. The thousands connected with the Presbyterian portion of Zion can easily collect the required sum, which, with earnest prayer and more ardent consecration, will bring down the answer to the Saviour's supplication that they all may be one. "'A PRESBYTERIAN ON THE FOREIGN FIELD." And here is the donation, converted from gold into currency, and amounting now to one hundred and twenty-eight dollars and seventy-five cents. This was greeted with loud applause. Turning then to Dr. Jacobus, he said: MY DEAR BROTHER MODERATOR, - May we. not, before I take my seat, perform a simple act symbolical of the Union which has taken place between these two branches of the Church. Let us clasp hands. This challenge was instantly responded to. The Moderators promptly grasped each other's hands, a" amidst prolonged and deafening applause." The Doxology to the Old Hundredth was then sung -with a hearty good will, the great audience standing,-'Praise God fror whom all blessingsflow." Dr. Jacobus then, alluding to the joining of hands, said: These are the nuptials of the Churches which we represent. Then, I am sure, my brethren, that the Great Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ, officiates at the wedlock. And, in His name, I would put the question just now - just here, and say, " If there be any person present who knows of any reason, just and sufficient, why these parties may not be lawfully united, let him speak, or ever after hold his peace." [Applause.] And I say to you, venerable father [addressing Dr. David Elliott], who were the organ and instrument in Philadelphia, of the church I represent, at the 25 386 PRESBYTE RIAN REUNION. parting asunder of those that were yesterday separate branches of our Presbyterian body, - Do yout know of any reason, just and sufficient, why these parties may not be lawfully united? -Dr. Elliott. — I do not, sir. [Applause, and cries of good, good.] George I. Stuart. - "Whom God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." [Prolonged applause.] Dr. Jacobus [continuing] — In the name of God, Amen! [Amens, in the audience. ] When we met together on another platform, in the great commercial metropolis, six months ago, we looked with happy anticipations to this hour -this solemn, impressive, eventful hour. May we not say the hour has come? May we not add with all reverence, the hour has come that the Son of Man may be-glorified, and that these kernels of wheat, that fall into the ground and die, die only that they may not abide alone, but that they may bring forth much fruit? The Presbyteries have spoken from Maine to California, and from across the Pacific, from China and from India, and they have sent up, with such'signal and marvellous unanimity as only God himself could bring about, as we believe, their affirmative response to the Plan of Reunion. Three Presbyters of your body, three Presbyteries of our body, brethren good and true and loyal, and who will be faithful in the Reunited body, as I verily believe, yet having, with us, the right of private judgment, have said No. But this element of dissent is not an element of antagonism. Where could there have been less of dissent? We standhere on symbolic ground, near where these beautiful rivers run into each other. They run into eacCh other, I say, - the Allegheny into the Mo{0 nongahela, and the Monongahela into the Allegheny. You shall see just at the confluence a slight difference in the currents, but only for a little while. You shall see more of it in stormy times, when there come rushing down the banks of the Monongahela the tributaries to that stream. But how shortly the waters of the Allegheny - as the name imports, "' cear,'running ocaters " -wash away all the muddiness, and the united stream makes the Ohio - "the beautiful river." And the Monongahela -- as the name imports, "tVie river of crrumbling b an7cs" that symbolizes the situation. The crumbling banks of prejudice and alienation, and suspicion and strife, on both sides, have muddied the current for a while, and muddy it yet, perhaps, a little, just at the point of union. But pass on a few steps, and the clear running water, which is symbolic in all the Scriptures of the river of the water of life, purifies the stream. When the spring-tide comes; when the icy bands of winter are melted away; when the snows upon the hills are dissolved - then the rivers rush impetuously into each other's arms and bosom, and plow deeper the channel of the united stream, and flow down together to the Father of Waters. And with our representative system, and our free principles, and our unexelusive ecclesiastical polity, we claim to be a great American Church —that THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 387 may properly be the great American Church - if we understand the situation and accept it, and put our energies, into it, and go forth on all our frontiers; and through all the States, to evangelize the people. And this day this Reunion is the great bugle-blast, calling upon all the brethren of the Presbyterian family to come together - to have their forces massed into one - all of them, North, South, East, and West — however they may choose to sing, whatever forms they may choose to observe, adopting with us the doctrines of our Confession and the polity of our Church, that we may be one, as Jesus has prayed that we may be one. [Applause.] Yes, my brethren, this reunited body is a Church for missionary work. With five thousand ministers nearly, with half a million of members nearly, having contributed the last year nearly eight millions of dollars - too much of it expended, perhaps, in matters not closely connected with the multiplication of sanctuaries, and the sending abroad of the living missionaries. But the money is here, and it is at the command of our Lord Jesus Christ; and we believe that this union is accomplished by the order of God, for the most enlarged results. That symbolical transaction recorded by the prophet Zechariah -might it not have intimated what we have heard to-day from the missionary stations, in sympathy and concert with this great movement? When the captive exiles had set to work to rebuild the waste places of Jerusalem, they were ordered to take the gold and silver brought from heathen Babylon, not so much for the rebuilding, as to make of the precious metals a triple crown for the head of Joshua, the great representative and type of the High Priest of our profession, " to be a memorial," it is said, " in the temple of the Lord." " And," it is added, " they that are afar off shall come and build in tlhe temple of the Lord." But to-day we keep high festival in this city. Blessed be God, we have had the Christian Passover, when Jesus Christ died at Jerusalem. And we have had the Christian Pentecost in part, as we are to have it in fuller measure in the future. And was not this the condition of the advent of the Holy Ghost?' When they were all, wOith one accord, in one place, sutddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the place where they were sitting." Even so now come, blessed Spirit of grace, and truth, and promise, in a second glorious Advent that shall bring about the great Feast for which the -Christian Church waits -the festival of which the prophet Zechariah has sung - when from all lands, all people, and tongues, and tribes shall come up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles - the great closing feast of the year, -when all the crops, and all the vintage shall have been gathered in; and it shall be the great Harvest Home, which the Church yet looks for, the Harvest Home of the world. [Applause.] Those who have had to do with this important transaction, have some of them already gone to glory; others, who have borne the work and burden of their day in the matter, are still here to pray with us, and to rejoice in God. Men have said meanwhile, " Protestantism is a failure; " and a Bishop in the 388 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Church where that statement was made answered it well, when he said, that, coming out of his rural home one day, he saw an owl perched on the limb of a tree, winking, and blinking, and screeching, and what do you think he said? "'Daylig7ht is a fcailre! " [Laughter.] No, my hearers, Protestantism is not a failure. And Presbyterianism is the pure essence of Protestantism, and we have it in its simplest form - with the Bible and the living minister- to go through all our land, and through all lands in all the world. Diplomacy can alter the boundaries of States; war can reconstruct the map of continents; science can tunnel granite peaks, and connect the territories on either side. But it is the function and prerogative of Divine Grace to overcome prejudices and alienations and suspicions, and to shed a sweet influence upon the minds of men, and to turn them as the rivers of waters are turned, so that we all may be one, as our blessed Lord Jesus Christ has prayed. So let it be. Amen! [Applause.] The audience united in singing the Hymn "Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian Love." Dr. Musgrave then took the platform and said: ADDRESS OF TIE REV. DR. MUSGRAVE. Thank God for this hour! and for the privilege of being present on this occasion! How marvellous a change! How great a contrast between 1869 and 1837-38! As a Calvinist, I must believe that everything has been ordained of God, so that I believe that our separation was the will of God, as our Reunion is. But, sir, we have been accustomed to distinguish between the permissive and the efficient will of God. [Applause.] And that is the logical method of solving a great many difficulties which embarrass Arminians. [Laughter.] I believe that this Reunion has been brought about by the efficient, efficacious, gracious will of God. [Applause.] I do not believe it is possible that anything less than an Almighty Power could have produced this result. When we remember our antecedents and the materials of which (I only speak of the Old School), when we think only of the materials of which we are coinposed, it is marvellous [laughter], it is almost miraculous [renewed laughter] that we should have been brought together so trustingly and lovingly. [Laughter.] Well, I am constrained to say that I yielded to nothing short of the conviction that this thing is of God, and is in accordance with His will! Now, sir, I believe that this Reunion will be permanent! Now, after a separation of more than thirty years, we are agreed to come together again. It puts me in mind of a remark made by a good Quaker, whose wife, on one occasion, was disposed to quarrel - well, there are ladies THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 389 here, and I don't like to tell the story —but she was anything but sweet tempered; but the husband of the old lady would say to her, " My dear, it is not worth while for you and me to quarrel, for we will have to make it up afterwards." And so there is no use in these two churches quarrelling; and I think now, historically, that we have been taught this lesson - that it is not worth our while, in the future, ever to quarrel, for we have to make it up again. [Laughter.] Well, sir, as I believe this Reunion is in accordance with the will of God, I have.given it my whole soul, and I rejoice in the belief that God will bless it, and make it a blessing to our country and to the world. But, Moderators, we must be humble; we must be prayerful, we must be devoted to our Master's cause and glory, that we may have His continued favor —for without his blessing, our means, our numerical strength, our intelligence and our wealth will avail nothing. Oh, let us lie low at his feet, and implore God to restrain us from pride, and ambition, and self-seeking, and enable us as his servants to seek his honor and the prosperity of his Church. I feel, sir, that my work is nearly done, and in a few months, if I may be allowed by my brethren, I expect to retire from the official position I have occupied, and resign my place to, I trust, abler hands. But in my retirement I shall not cease to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I shall watch while I live, with intense interest, for the developments of God's Providence,- and the progress of His Church. It is now nearly half a century since I have been in communion, uninterruptedly, with this church, as a private member, and as minister of the gospel, and I have endeavored to promote its interests. But the men of my generation have nearly all passed away, and the few of us that remain will soon disappear; but while we have life and breath, we will pray God to bless this good old Presbyterian Church, and make it a blessing to this nation and to the world. Let us go to work with a will; with energy, with perseverance; and let this spirit of activity pervade the whole Church. I would close by repeating an expression that I had occasion to use a little while ago: Let the bugle sound the advance along the entire line; and let us, as one united phalanx, move forward in the name and for the sake of the glory of Christ, and the spiritual conquest of this and all other lands. [Long-continued applause.] DR. WILLIAM ADAMS'S ADDRESS. I, too, thank God that I am permitted to see this day. Many have desired to see it, but have been denied the sight. Four of the Joint Committee as originally constituted -Brainerd, Krebs, Gurley, and Brown —have gone to their reward. If the spirits of the departed are permitted to take cognizance of affairs upon the earth, I have no doubt these brethren are bending over us, and sharing in our joy. " Glory to God in the highest." " This is the Lord's doing, and it is mar 390 PRESBYTERIAN REJNION. vellous in our eyes." None but those who were originally on that Committee can comprehend all the difficulties, misgivings, and apprehensions which they felt when, by no seeking of their own, they were brought together for thefi first conference on a cold, wintry day. Those difficulties and misgivings are now behind us. To-day, after many wrestlings with fear, we say, as the angel to the patriardh of old, " Let me go, for the morning breaketh." We have crossed the ford Jabbok: alienated brethren have met: Esau and Jacob falling upon each other's neck, kissing and weeping. It is a beautiful custom in the Moravian Church -I was quite startled by its novelty on the first occasion, when Dr. Muhlenberg came round from one side of the Communion table and gave me his hand, - at a certain point in the administration of the Lord's Supper, for each communicant to grasp the hand of his neighbor, saying " Here is my heart, and here is my hand. " I did not know, Messrs. Moderators, when you joined your hands just now in that symbolic act of Union, but that you were about to propose, after the Moravian method, that the whole constituency of these Assemblies should repeat the act. [A voice, " It's not too late to do it yet." Scarcely had Dr. Adams uttered the sentence, when the whole audience caught the idea and enacted it most heartily, every one taking his neighbor by the hand, and repeating in many instances the words, " Here is my heart, and here is my hand."] It is not often, I am told, that here in Pittsburg the sun and the moon are seen to shine so brightly as during these passing days and nights. I am not superstitious; but I am reminded that on a certain occasion Luther looked out of the window, and said, "' I see a sign in the heavens: the firmament upheld by no visible pillars." These are the halcyon days of which Virgil sang, when " birds of calm, with silver plumage, sat and swung on the pliant wave." Perhaps the crowds of people who hung upon our procession to this place have been ready to ask, " What does all this mean?" "What was the cause of this old division? " and "What is the meaning of this present Retunion?" The first thing which this occasion signifies is a magnanimous forgetfulness of the past. We forgive and forget even as God " remembers our sins no more forever." When fractured limlis are in the very act of knitting together, it is no time to undo the bandages and scrape the bones.. Let the things which are past sink like lead in the great waters. For the,future, this occasion means liberality in the best sense of the word. Unessential differences will not be allowed to divide us; diversities will result in harmony; and as for narrowness and exclusiveness, we mean to show that scholarship and piety and the whole spirit of the New Testament, as expressed in our symbols, by this act of union, publicly rebuke them. The occasion means, moreover, progress in our work as a Church. In recent debates and negotiations we have had frequent occasion to refer to "our Standards." The word Standard may be used in several different senses. Hei e in Pittsburg, where they manufacture iron so. extensively, it THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 391 may mean an upright pillar, stiff and hard and cold, such as is used to hold up the deck of a boat or the floor of a warehouse. There is another sense in which we may use the word Standard, as a symbol of our faith and polity. It is the banner which we raise at the head of our line. It is not something on which we are to stand motionless and still, as if it could bear us up, but something which, in the name of Jesus Christ, we are to bear onwards from conquering to conquer. It has been asked what are we to do henceforth with those old-time and familiar designations, Old School and New School. A very simple arrangement has been suggested - even that, as Old and New Schools are brought together on this occasion, the initial letters 0 and N should be brought together also, leaving the two SS on either flank, and we have that expressive word SONS - sons of one and the same Presbyterian Church — sons of God in one household of faith. The old blue banner of Presbyterianism, which in former times was borne by brave and godly men over the hills and heather of Scotland, with its new armorial quarterings, Learning, Liberty, Charity, Magnanimity, Piety, let us lift it higher, and bear it on, in the name and by the Spirit of God, in our great work of the future. We were all struck with the beautiful symbolism of the place where we are assembled, the Allegheny and the Monongahela meeting to form the Ohio. That figure is daguerreotyped on all our memories. It has occurred to me that the resemblance might be carried yet further. The Ohio has many tributaries. I cannot recall them all. But, as it runs to the sea, the Wabash, and the Cumberland, and the Tennessee flow into it, and swell the flood. One speaker said this morning that we should never see another scene like this. I hope and expect that we may. We cannot forget our Presbyterian brethren of the South, or other organizations having our own faith and polity; and we trust the time will come, when, after many divisions and dispersions, there will be flowings together of many others into one Church of augmented numbers and vigor and joy. Those who live long enough will, as I believe, see grander and happier occasions even than this. I was somewhat afraid just now, when my excellent friend and brother, Dr. Musgrave, announced his purpose ere long to resign his official position, that he was about to speak of his anticipated departure to a higher world. Now, some of us have a special favor to ask of Dr. Musgrave, Dr. McGill, and these other fathers in the Church: Don't pray Nuzne dinitts'too hard. We greatly desire that you should live to be the objects of respect and love; to see for yourselves the happy results of the union now consummated, and to take part in other reunions equally important and blessed. Our hearts are enlarged the more we love. It seems a little thing to advise or to do, but let us, instead of being kept apart by any chevaux de frise of prejudice, cultivate each other's acquaintance, assured that the more we know each other the more we shall confide and love. Our eloquent friend, Dr. Musgrave, has just reminded us that he was a Calvinist, and as such a believer in the "foreordination of whatsoever comes to pass." He has reminded us also of the distinction recognized in our theo 392 PRESBYTERIAN REUINION. logical books between the permissive and the efficient will of God. I do not know that from my position I should have ventured to emphasize this distinction, since, if my memory serves me, we are accustomed to refer to God's permissive foreordination such events only as are especially mysterious, like the introduction of sin into the world. But since my brother has referred to the disruption as somehow perzmitted ancd so foreordained, I may add, concerning this matter of pacification and reconcilement, it is so obviously in accordance with God's positive and efficacious" purpose, that I shall not be suspected of anything extreme in New School Theology if I should say that we have all been willing to have a part in its accomplishment, giving " great diligence to make our calling and election sure." [Applause.] Dr. Adams here referred to the good service done by some of the original members of the Joint Committee, whom it would be invidious to mention by name, but who; amid manifold embarrassments, contributed so much to this day's happy issue, and he concluded by a summons to all Presbyterians to lift aloft their standard, having upon it Christ's name and crown, and to bear it down all the rivers, over all the prairies, up and down the slopes of the mountains, all over our own land, and into heathen lands, so that on earth and in heaven there may be joy because of this day. At the close of Dr. Adams's address, the Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., was called on to offer prayer, which he did with great fervency. It was then moved by the Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, D.D., that the cordial thanks of the Reunited Church be returned to the members of the Joint Committee, through whose labors of love, by the blessing of God, this great and glorious result has been brought about. This Resolution was unanimously adopted. The REV. DR. SAMUEL W. FISHIER then introduced a paper, which he read, closing with the resolutions following. FATHERS AND BRETHREN, - It is not my intention so much to make a speech as it is to read a short document. I was directed by the Joint Committee on Union to prepare a document of this kind, to be read on this occasion. The sentiments, I doubt not, will be approved. Its defects and faults are my own. (Dr. Fisher was crowded with duties of the Comn THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 393 mittee of Arrangements, of which he was Chairman, and was almost disabled by a severe cold.) In the Providence of God, the two branches of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America have to-day become one - in form and in fact - one Church. This is an event so unparalleled in the ecclesiastical history of this country, and almost of the world, as to attract attention and awaken expectation of corresponding results among all those who love the cause of the Redeemer. This event is specially significant of the inspiring presence and unifying power of the Divine Spirit. To that great body of Christians, this day united in one ecclesiastical organization, it constitutes an era in their history most memorable and auspicious; mernorcable, as a most triumphant exhibition to all men of the power of Christian love; auzspicious, not as an era of decadence and torpor and death, but of enlightened progress in the great work, to accomplish which Christ has constituted the Church militant. It speaks with the voice of God to our profoundest gratitude, demanding the expression of that gratitude not merely in words, but in deeds, in heroic Christian deeds answering to the greatness of the Divine Goodness. In this event, there are outflashings of the Divine Spirit to make this Church a more signal, efficient co-worker with Christ in the evangelization of this continent and the world. It summons us, while we maintain that great system of truth which Paul so luminously unfolded, and which our Church has so gloriously upheld through all the centuries, to give ourselves, our sons and daughters, and our wealth, more perfectly to the work of saving souls. Let us, then, in humble dependence upon our dear Redeemer, with deep humility in view of our past inefficiency and present unworthiness, and as an expression of our devout gratitude to Him who has brought this once dissevered and now united Church up to this Mount of Transfiguration, signalize this most blessed and joyful Union with an offering in some good degree commensurate with the pecuniary gifts He has bestowed upon us. Therefore, be it Resolved, By the ministers, elders, and members of the Church, here assembled, as in the presence and behalf of the entire body'of the disciples connected with us in this land, and of those beloved missionaries on foreign shores, now meditating our action with tender and prayerful interest, that it is incumbent on the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America - one in organization, one in faith, one in effort - to make a special offering to the treasury of our Lord of one million of dollars; and we pledge ourselves first of all to seek, in our daily petitions, the blessing of God to make this resolution effectual. And second, that we will, with untiring perseverance and personal effort, endeavor to animate the whole Church with the like purpose, and to 394 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. secure the accomplishment of this great work before the third Thursday of May, 1871. I have another resolution, Mr. Moderator, and I wish to state that the sum which is named here is one that can be easily altered. It has been suggested that the sum should be five millions of dollars. [Applause.] Five millions of dollars - and I am sure that when we look upon the Church as it is to-day, its wealth, and what it is able to do with Christian self-denial, this sum is small enough. Most readily would I place this in the resolution; but the matter is wholly at your disposal. The fact is, it is easy for us to talk, but hard work to act; and in my ears all this morning one text is ringing, and that is my speech on this occasion, in moving this resolution. " Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before, let us press toward the mark for the prize of our high calling." This prize we are pressing after in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is my speech; for we come here to-day to bury all our past suspicions, enmities, and jealousies; to forget them, and bury them in the ground forever. We come here not only to forget the past in that respect, but to forget it in the greatness of the hour. We propose that the doings of this Church in the future shall be related to the doings of this Church in the past, as the income and work of the United States Government of Amlerica, in 1869, are related to the income and work of that government in the year 1789. There are several other speakers to follow me, and I do not propose to detain you. This is a family gathering, and I have one thing which I simply wish to say. I said there are some things which we want to forget, but there are some things we will not forget. We will not forget, Mr. Moderator [turning to Dr. Jacobus], when we were boys together, when we sat together, and were reared together in the same Church, and under the training of the same ministers. We will not forget when we sat together at the feet of Alexander, and Miller, and Breckenridge, and others who have gone to their reward, as well as Dr. Hodge, who still remains. We will not forget that while we were in our course in the Seminary the stroke came which sent you in one direction and me in another, and from that time until to-day we have never met as members of one church. And now I am too full for utterance. To-day we are brethren in one household of faith. We are brought together, and memory bridges the thirty years that have gone by since that hour of divergence, and enables us to feel that the same warm current of affection is in our veins now as flowed in them then. We w~de strangers to rivalry and suspicion -separated, but not opposed; and we had the same hopes in reference to a united Church in the future. I say that there are many here to-day who will remember such things that are not to be forgotten, though the fact of the separation is past. The Union has come, and now let us be up and doing, forgetting the past, and with Christian earnestness let us go forward, leaning on God. Let us carry into execution a resolution something like this: And furtaer. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 395 "EResolved, That the Stated Clerks be directed to print this Resolution and append to it the names of the Moderators, the Clerks, and the Union Committee, and the members of the Assemblies just dissolved, and send it to all the pastors of the Churches." A motion was made, and carried unanimously, to amend the first resolution so as to make the thankoffering to be raised the sum of $5,000,000 instead of $1,000,000. This amendment was promptly seconded by DR. JOuN HALL, of New York, who said: On the personal side of this august transaction, in which we are permitted to take our part to-day, there is nothing, if there had been anything, left for me to say. I was not in the Disunion, and I have not shared in any of the feelings incident to that Disunion; and, practically, to me personally, the Reunion happily effected to-day will make no very great change. I must, therefore, speak of the public aspect of this transaction. We are here to-day, as one United Presbyterian Church, by the grace and mercy of God, a free Church in a free land, a United Church in a United country. [Applause. ] There are at this moment many questions being raised in this country upon the subject of the administration and government of the Church. We are not bound to be controversial, and I suppose we should not be, in any distinctive sense. We shall, however, throw some light upon that great question: if we can exhibit the spectacle of a body of Christian people, governed in the Lord Jesus Christ with a form of government that in its aim is analogous to the government of the State; that aims to conform the people to the government of the State; that gives full play to individual conscience, while it gives full expression to the whole; if we can exhibit to the world this Church, doing its work in saving immortal souls - then we will do much to guide the inquiries, and shape the convictions of those who ask "H Iow is the Church to be governed; how is its administration to be carried on?" At this moment the Sabbath, which is so dear to us, is perilled in some degree over this land. The Sabbath, like its Lord, is in danger of being got away with. The multitude, in many places, are crying out, " Away with it," as the multitude in olden times cried concerning Him. And when the question is brought before courts and rulers, it happens sometimes, as it happened in His case, that it is condemned upon the ground of a supposed political expediency. There is work for the Church in holding up the Sabbath, and teaching in all this broad America, I Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." [Applause.J 396 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. From the immense material resources of this great land, there is a strong temptation to mammon-worship among us. We are tempted to set up a great golden image, and to call upon our young men everywhere to fall down and worship it. There is nothing that will save the young men from this, but the Truth of God. There is nothing that will make them bold and fearless confessors of the truth, but the truth in their hearts; and there is nothing that will strengthen the Church to do her duty in this matter, but the truth. And this united Church, if she would be faithful to her King and Head, may at length be able to dash to pieces this idol. This selfishness of the world can only be held in check by holy living, and holy communion, and Christian unselfishness, and a marked magnanimity, and prayer for the blessing of the Lord upon His Church. Fathers and Brethren, let us show what we think of this selfishness. Let us show what we think of it, by forgetting ourselves, and losing ourselves in that magnificent enterprise which He sets before us, when He gives us this land to be subdued under the sceptre of Jesus Christ. This day He makes us one. In the valleys of Switzerland, where the people are isolated and apart, in some places, owing to the temperature, they sometimes b'ecome afflicted with a sad and frightful disease. It is said that the only cure for this is to take them out of these valleys, and bring them to a higher and healthier atmosphere. Fathers and Brethren, if we have been thus isolated by this seclusion, if the barriers have done us mischief, God breaks them down to-day. He permits us to go up the mountains, where we have not been before, and we may breathe a purer air. Let this strengthen us, and shed a healing influence upon us, and let us make this a day for personal, spiritual devotedness and consecration to Christ, remembering the promises that he has made unto his people. Many years ago, when I was a pastor in another land, I had among my parishioners two very old men - brothers. Their families had grown up very close to each other. In their middle life these two brothers had quarrelled. One of these two brothers became sick, and he had every reason to believe that he would die in the course of a little time. I was sent for. I spoke, and read, and prayed with him, as was my duty. I told him that if his repentance was sincere, he would make a reconciliation with his aged brother. I tell you it was a hard thing to bring him to that point, even now on his death-bed, to allow me to send for his brother. And then I had to go to the brother, and bring hinm to the same point. By and by, the consent of the old man was obtained, and he came into the sick-room of his brother, and some of his children, and his brother's children, were there, and the old men were there face to face. " Brother!" said the man, sick on his deathbed. " Brother! " said the old man, standing by his side; and neither of them could say any more. The one bent down upon, and kissed the other. They kissed as little children, and the gray hairs of the two old men mingled together. They put their arms around each other, and lifted up their voices THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 397 and wept; and they prayed together that God would make this reconciliation permanent, and accept it through Jesus Christ; and we all gave thanks to Almighty God again and again, that his grace - his grace - could conquea such strong hatred. We are met and reconciled to-day. I have seen many tears fall to-day. These are gracious days, in which you will bury forever out of sight all the things that have divided and disunited you heretofore. Let us thank God that we are reconciled here to-day, not because we are dying, but because we are living. We are reconciled, not in view of the grave, but in view of the battle-field to which the Lord summons us to fight, the right against the wrong, to fight for Christ against the devil. He marshals us to that battlefield. The pillar of cloud and fire has guided us into this large and wealthy place. Let us stand up for the pure, holy truth of the Gospel, and for pure discipline, and for a pure and Christian life; and while we do so stand up, He, to whom the silver and the gold belongs, will bless us. Let us not trust in riches, but take our stand beside the cross, lest otherwise we transmute our gold into dross. I have special pleasure in seconding this resolution, and I shall have special pleasure in making it a real and glorious fact. This was followed by the address of HON. WILLIAM STRONG, now of the Supreme Court, U. S. I cannot speak. My heart is too full, and I have no words with which to express my emotions. I cannot attempt to describe my joy, and it would be vain were I to make the attempt. I have listened to all that has been said this morning, and I have rejoiced in all that has been said. I have appreciated the beautiful symbols - the expressive figures - by which the union of these two great bodies has been represented; and yet they are all inadequate to express my feelings. I cannot think of the junction of these branches of the Church as a marriage, simply because we are too near of kin for that, and always have been too near of kin for that. [Laughter.] Nor are we in all respects like rivers, for we have not different sources; we have one source in God, the Father, through the Holy Spirit of God. We have the same spirit; we are mingling into one, as kindred drops from one stream, and that stream is the Spirit of the living God. I can, therefore, find no language to express my ideas in regard to this union of the church. We have been accustomed to think of ourselves as different bodies. In past days, in history, there were persons who called themselves Old School Presbyterians, and they thought they could see certain qualities in New School Presbyterians not according to their taste and judgment; and so there were New 398 PRESBYTrERIAN REUNION. School Presbyterians who thought they saw a peculiar stiffness in their Old School brethren. But I am unable to discover in this large Assembly a single Old School Presbyterian, or a single New School Presbyterian. No man can say of himself now, " I am an Old School Presbyterian," or, "I am a New School Presbyterian." [Applause.] By the Articles which we have ratified by our Presbyteries, and which we have resolved, in both Assemblies, to observe, and to be of binding force, we are all Presbyterians, members of the " Presbyterian Church in the United States of America "- one spirit, one name, one purse. [Applause.] This union calls us to higher work than ever. THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. DRAKE, United States Senator from Missouri, Ruling Elder, next addressed the audience, whose attention was unflagging to the end. He said: Two great bodies of Christians to-day change their orbits, and merge them into one — doing in the Christian world what is impossible in the natural world, that great constellations should change their orbits and run together. When they change their orbits in the natural world and come in contact, ruin and desolation is the result; but here these two great Christian constellations come hereafter to have a common orbit, and all move hereafter forever around the great central Sun of the Christian system - the Lord Jesus Christ. My brethren, let us not forget in this moment, that at last that Sun is all that binds us together. His name on the first page of the New Testament stands for ever and ever as the glorious centre light of the whole Christian system. The angel said, " They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." And there, in that name, on that first page of the great word of God, stands the Sun of the Christian system, shedding his light upon all succeeding generations, and at last to gather all the world into one brotherhood in Him. And, my brethren, let us not forget, oh, let us not forget, that he was called Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins. He saves us to-day as individuals from our sins; He saves us to-day as churches from the sins that have marked our pathway in the days of our separation, to be remembered against us, according to his promise, no more forever. Brethren, let us not imagine that this Reunion can take place and can go along from the very beginning without some friction. I look for no such thing. But let us be careful what use we put the friction to. There is not a single cog or pinion in this watch that I hold in my hand, but was once so rough that if you attempted to put them together, they never could have been brought to work. Friction was necessary to polish them, and to make them smooth and fit to work together. Let us be sure that in this reunited Church, wherever friction comes, it comes only to polish and to brighten, not to ruin and to make in THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 399 capable of action. And if we make this use of friction, how are we to do it? Only, brethren, by keeping every joint and pinion well oiled with prayer. That is the way that the friction that will come in spite of all that we can do - and will come all the more because we are Presbyterians - [Laughter] - that is the way in which it can be made to bring everything to a smooth and polished surface, so that in a little time this reunited Church shall be not only moving in harmony, but will be the grand time-piece of the Christian religion in the whole world; and it will go on, and it will tell the time, minute by minute, and hour by hour, marking the progress of the faith of Christ, until at last all shall end in the glorious coming of its Divine Head, and the work of all human agencies and time-pieces shall be done forever, and all shall be taken home to God. SENATOR DRAKE was followed by ELDE-R HENIRY DAY, ESQ., of New York. Brethren of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. I do not say Moderators- their duty is done —but this our glorious Church remains. I am struck to-day with the grand idea of what has been accomplished in the Providence of God within these two hours. It is not a union of the brethren here merely. It is not a union only of the hearts that are gathered together to-day in this church. It is a union of four hundred thousand Christians in this land. If I could set before you an array of the churches scattered all over our land, North, South, East, and West, and the mission stations in foreign lands, and put the picture before you, then I could portray what has been done within these last two or three days. Thanks be to God who hath done this work. Brethren, great crises and great occasions, in churches, in nations, and in individual history, always lay great responsibilities upon those by whom they are brought about. We are not to be an exception to that rule. You, brethren, representing the Presbyterian Church of the United States, have put yourselves under tremendous responsibility in this matter. This is not mainly an occasion of coming together that we may show our strength and our numbers. Why, brethren, we have come out before Almighty God, we have come out before the world, we have brought these two churches to this point of union, and what have we sought by it? What tremendous responsibility have we taken upon ourselves to the Lord, the Head of the Church! Great power has been put into our hands, and the Lord-the Head of the Church - demands that we use it for his praise and his glory. I will not attempt to say anything new. Any man would shrink from that after what has been said upon this stage, and I would merely gather up one or two snutiments that we may fasten them in our minds, and carry them With us to our homes. The first sentiment is, that the Lord God Almighty 400 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. has brought about this union, and woe be to the men, or the man, or the theologian, who attempts to undo it. He has brought us to this through disappointment and reverses, and he has led us by the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, and to-day we stand on the hither side of the Promised Land. If we stand in this position, what then have we to do? Every speaker has been impressed with the idea that we have something to do. Look into your own city and streets, go through the towns along your railways, see the thousands appealing to us for our prayers, and then you have the answer to the question, What have we to do? What have we to do? We have everything to do. How are we to do it? As I was walking last night, under a fair sky and a beautiful moon, across the majestic bridge that spans the river between this and your sister city;. as I looked up and down the river, I saw the lights from houses, and stores, and river craft, — I saw the lights scattered all along that stream, and that every single light was reflected upon the bosom of the river. Every one, even that of the humblest widow, was reproduced again. It occurred to me that is the Church, that is the Presbyterian Church, that is the Church militant. As I looked into the sky and saw the stars shining brightly, and they too reflected in the waters of the river, it occurred to me that is the Church triumphant. Now, my brethren, that is what we want. that our light may be reflected upon the world. Let all, let every widow, let every child, let the humblest, reproduce their light, and let it shine out upon the darkness around them. That is what is to be done when we go to our homes. [Applause.] This was followed by the address of the HON. WM. E. DODGE. If I attempt to say anything, dear brethren, it will be to give an outburst of my heart, in the words of the Psalmist: " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul," for the privilege of living to see this day. I did live at the separation, and my heart bled at the separation, and I thank God that I am here to-day, to unite with you in ascriptions of praise and glory to God. Hereafter, our strong men - our honored professors - will not spend their time in attempting to find out whether we differ as a church, but in the determination to stimulate it to the utmost capacity, so that every member of this united Church may go forward in the great work of subduing this dying world to Jesus Christ. I have no doubt that we have honestly differed, but let us forget all those differences. We are a united country, and if we would be united in truth, North and South, and be one great country, for which we fought and bled, we must forget all past differences. So in the Church, we must forget Old School and New School. The interesting anecdote related by Dr. Hall reminds me of one which I think I ought to relate to this audience. THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 401 More than twenty years ago, two eminent merchants in the city of New York commenced business together poor, but they prospered year by year, till they had rolled up an immense estate. On one occasion they differed upon a matter of policy in business. That difference grew into anger. They separated, each believing the other meant wrong. The result was that the very next day there was a dissolution of partnership, and for ten long years they never spoke to each other. They settled their business through mutual friends. I stood in a large room, on one occasion when one of them stood in one room and the other in another, because they would not speak to each other, and an auctioneer called out their bids on stock as a mutual friend. They grew gray in their differences. Once, one of them, musing in his library, thinking of the origin of their separation, and of their pleasure in early life, at last the thought passed through his mind, " Can it be possible that I misunderstood him?" He spent a sleepless night, and in the morning he went to a mutual friend and said, " Go to my partner and see if he meant so and so." The answer was,' No, I never thought of such a thing." The mutual friend came back and gave the reply. " Can it be possible that we have suffered all this through these twenty years, and have gone through all this, simply because we misunderstood each other, or thought we did? " A reconciliation took place, that bound those men together again, and they were one. They lived together as friends as long as they lived. One of them recently passed away to his last account. On his dying bed he was thankful to God, for they were Christians, for the reunion which bound them together heart to heart, that it had taken place before he died. Let this be a union that we shall never, never break. Let us never separate because we think we differ on certain questions of policy. What we want is, to aid one another a great deal. I have thought that some of us might do much in the way of pecuniary effort. Our fathers will have much to do in urging us to duty. Let all the past be forgotten, andlet us go forward. [Applause.] At the close of Mr. Dodge's address there was a loud call for Mr. GEORGE H. STUART, who was present on the platform, and who was known to feel a hearty interest in the event. He said: As an outsider standing on a platform of Presbyterianism perhaps a little more rigid than the rest of you, late New School and Old School brethren, I have looked with interest second to no man upon the movement inaugurated in the city of St. Louis, during the visit of Dr. McCosh to this country in the year 1866. I was then in Ireland, and when looking upon the hills of my native land my heart went up to God in a song of thankfulness for that communion season that the two Assemblies had enjoyed together in the city of St. 20 402 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Louis. My heart went up still more when I heard you had so far looked at each other as to appoint committees on Reunion. When I heard of difficulties arising in the progress of the movement, my heart was sad indeed. I have prayed for this union; ~nd I have labored for it; simply because I believed that it would bring glory to my blessed Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, whose I trust I am and whom I endeavor to serve. I have labored and prayed for it, because I believed it would tend to the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, not only in the United States of America, but in distant heathen lands. I have labored for it, and I have prayed for it, because I believed it would allow ministers from towns in which several are now laboring (while one would be sufficient), to go to more destitute fields at home and abroad. I have labored and prayed for it, because it would bring brethren together, now unhappily divided, to see eye to eye, and send ministers from these little charges, with the prayers of this united Church, to go to Africa, and China, and India, and the Islands of the Sea, that the nations that have so long bowed down to idols might learn of Jesus and Him crucified. Oh, brethren of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America! think of it, that since this hour yesterday - since these twenty-four hours have passed away —eighty-six thtousand four huLndred immortal souls have gone to the judgment seat of Christ, and we ought to ask ourselves the question which Baxter asked when he said,'L I never hear the funeral bell toll without asking myself the question, what have I done to point that de parted soul to the Lamb of God that died to save a perishing world?" Brethren, buckle on your armor for the great conflict; buckle it on for giving the glorious Gospel of the Son of God to the millions of the earth who are perishing for lack of knowledge. May God bless this great Presbyterian Church, and may God grant that the day may soon come when one United Church shall embrace all in this land who bear the Presbyterian name. When Mr. Stuart took his seat, the Moderator called on Mr. ROBERT CARTER, Ruling Elder of New York, to offer prayer. This he did with great unction, and in hearty sympathy with the occasion — the great assembly melted together at the throne of grace. The Apostolic benediction was then pronounced by the Moderator, the Rev. M. W. Jacobus, D.D., and the immense audience which had been held together three hours, great numbers of them patiently standing, and signifying their unflagging interest by breathless TIE, ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 403 attention, dispersed, but never to forget the day of THE PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. These scenes of Christian fellowship and fraternity, so rare and memorable, were crowned with the sacra ment of the Lord's Supper, in the afternoon of this jubilee day, at the First Presbyterian Church. The Moderators presided jointly, and over a thousand communicants received the holy ordinance. The Church was crowded in auditorium and galleries, and many were standing in the aisles. Addresses were made by Rev. Drs. J. F. Stearns and R. K. Rodgers. It was the first reunited communion. The great and joyous event of the week, with all the pleasing transport of the morning service, fresh in mind, made this a feast of tabernacles —a closing festival of the year. Such a day is one in a lifetime. Men confessed themselves converted to the movement by the morning celebration. A well-known lawyer of the city, who had, a few months before, asked the privilege of one of the Presbyteries to argue against the Reunion, said to the writer as he entered the Church at the sacramental service, "You may count me a convert after the meeting this morning." And the Holy Supper set its seal at once upon the covenant of Divine love, and upon this answering covenant of Christian love and union. There were such meltings and flowings of heart there, at the Table of the Lord, as made the place to be the Gate of Heaven. And altogether, the impressions of the brief, but blessed sitting of the two Assemblies, with the grand climax of the jubilee and the Supper, are such impressions as are 404 PRE'ISBYTERIAN REUNION. rarely, if ever, equalled, and cannot be excelled on earth. Remembering, too, that this was in Pittsburg, which had witnessed such scenes of conflict in the days of bitter controversy, it was all the more notable and joyous. The healing was to be measured by the depth of the wound, -the joy of 1870 by the sorrow of 1837. It was no such absurdity as an empirical pronouncing that there never had been any wound, nor any departure. But it was a pronouncement of a healthy knitting together, and of a sound recovery. Christianity has her most august triumph in Christian conciliation, on the platform of Christian truth, and for united Christian service. " Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." There may be mistakes and shortcomings in all these transactions, but harmony, and not strife, concord, and not discord, union, and not separation, are in the Divine programme for the Churchi'sfuture. And if the world inquires of the watchman, " What of the night?" we will answer, "TiE MORNING COMETII and also the night." If ye will inquire, inquire ye! Return Come'! The Commissioners, in large companies, took the evening trains of Friday for their homes. But there was yet another service for those who remained. It was a public meeting in the interest of Foreign JfMissions. It was held in the Third Church. The Assemblage was very crowded, and interested. There seemed a special fitness in the arrangement by which the Jubilee was ushered in by a convocation for Home AMissions, and followed up by a stirring convention for Foreign Nlissions, as the two grand departments of Church enter THE ASSEMBLIES OF 1869. 405 prise, which this united host has sworn together to push forward to the noblest results, with God's blessing, for the evangelizing of the world. It was necessary, for legal purposes, that the next As sembly should meet in Pennsylvania. And the city of Brotherly Love, the traditional seat of Presbyterianism in the land, had its prior claim. And so also it was ordered, in God's Providence, that the first meeting in General Assembly of the Reunited Church should be in the same house where the disruption first became a pronounced and public fact, by the meeting there of a separate Assembly -that the coming together in peace of the two Assemblies should take place where the protesting Assembly met a generation ago - nay, more, that it should be in the same First Church, on Washington Square, where Albert Barnes had so long labored before and since the disruption with which his name was so prominently connected. So the ends of history meet, and make God's circles, every way fitting and complete for the admiration of the world, and for an exhibition to the universe of the wisdom of God. And this Reunion in Philadelphia would be all the more remarkable in view of the fact, that when the two Assemblies last met, in that city, in 1846, an overture from the New School for a joint communion was rejected - formally for lack of precedent, but really for lack of the conditions precedent, the mutual confidence and love; which conditions were now happily fulfilled. If any ask, like Nicodemus, "How can these things be? " the only answer is figured forth by the Master, in the wifbd that bloweth where it listeth, and makes itself known by its effects, as an emblem of the renewing, reviving spirit of God. LAUS DEo! 406 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ADDITIONAL IMPRESSIONS. BY THE REV. P. H. FOWLER, D.D. The Hand of God in the Reunion. - Disinterested Motives. - Fears of Some in both Schools. Final Confidence.- Glad Emotions at the Result reached by the Conference Committee. — The Silent Prayer. —The Vote. - The Hymn of Thanksgiving. - The Joyful Reassembling at Pittsburgh -Sentiment of Responsibility attending the Consummated Union. -- The Key-Note given to the Reunited Church. TnHE reunion of the two branches of the Church so far transcended every other subject before the Assemblies of May and November, 1869, and the two bodies were so homogeneous, that an account of either is in all essential respects an account of the other. It was presumed that the narrative of Dr. Jacobus might leave something to be supplied by one who was present in the New School Assembly; but it is so comprehensive that any addition to it is almost superfluous. God is in history, and conspicuously does he appear in the event now so happily consummated. The train for it was laid so independently of human agency, progress towards it was made to such an extent without visible means, formidable difficulties so frequently retired as it was approached, and it was finally reached with such unanimity and cordiality in so brief a space, after bitter alienation, that it cannot be explained except on the supposition of a special Divine interposition. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory." And giving God the glory, we take encouragement for the future. A guaranty of good to r ROI3BERIT CAR. w. M. I'ANCIS W', ~J~v ChRL K ADDITIONAL IMPRESSIONS. 40 7 come is furnished. What has been Divinely wrought must be Divinely prospered. The disinterestedness with which the Reunion was sought should also be observed. Neither body had selfish objects in view. Neither desired to ease or magnify itself. Each was thrifty and fruitful, with no need of change to escape barrenness and decline, and each could say from the depths of its consciousness that it had no aspirations for aggrandizement. We yielded to our convictions of what was due to the cause of God and accordant with his will. We longed indeed for the association to which our affinities adapted us, but while drawn together by sympathy, we came together at a divine call, for the larger work our combination enables us to perform. We accept the Reunion as a responsibility even more than as a pleasure. Enlarging our opportunities, we look upon it as enhancing our obligations. We expect and mean to do more than ever before. While fears for orthodoxy and apprehensions of commotion from the mingling of discordant elements and surviving antipathies, disinclined many of the Old School brethren to the Reunion, it was repugnant to a few of the New School brethren as likely to restrain the Chris tian liberty of thought and to destroy or impair the pleas antness of their ecclesiastical associations, and as calling off their Church from a course of bold and successful enterprise which it was pursuing. But a better acquaintance with each other allayed suspicions and anxiety on both sides. Truth was found to be as precious and safe with one as with the other, and toleration as reasonable, and an association of the two proved a fel 408 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. lowship of congenial spirits. It was remarkable how a membership of joint committees and of Assemblies convened in the same place removed distrust and substituted confidence and affection. The elders and private members of the church were soonest ready for the Reunion, and most unanimous and earnest for it, because, in fact, they frequently met in business and social intercourse and knew each other. Some of the aversion to the Reunion remained among the Old School brethren to the last, though generally these were but little in conference with New School brethren, and, therefore, could not understand them. Opposition to it among the New School brethren was entirely withdrawn, not altogether because they were satisfied with it, but because it was a foregone conclusion, and unanimity was the habit of their body, and they preferred concession to dissent. Although the New School branch of the church had been generally well disposed towards the Reunion from the first, a change was distinctly manifest, as Dr. Jacobus has remarked, at the opening of the Assemblies in New York. While no zeal for it had widely prevailed, there was an assent to it as wisest and best in the circumstances of the case, and an acquiescence in the successive projects proposed for it, though these were by no means fully approved and relished. The failure of these projects in the other branch produced a sense of wounded pride and dignity. If not repelled or trifled with, the New School brethren felt that they had not been met with the generosity they had shown, and just self-respect constrained them to put on reserve. All this passed away on the correction of the misappre ADDITIONAL I,,PRESSIONS. 409 hension in which it originated. The earliest proceedings of the Old School A~ssembly expressed such heartiness for the Reunion that the delay of it in its branch of the church was demonstrated to have been induced by unpropitious circumstances and not by blameworthy con siderations. The tide of feeling in both bodies was thus swollen, and defied all impediments to its flow. The acts and incidents of the session may be recorded, but the spirit of the occasion can never be described. There was the inflamed ardor for the Reunion, and then the solicitude about the speedy practicability of it, when the terms of it came again to be considered and stated, the alternation of hope and fear, the elation and depression, until the intelligence that the Joint Committee to whom the matter was referred had agreed on a "basis." The presentation of the Report and its adoption by the Assemblies turned excitement into ecstacy. None but they who felt it can know the experience of those days, — the pressure of soul,- the suspense, - the relief when it was known that our prudent men, under the leading of the Spirit, had devised a plan which they believed met the exigency, - the eagerness with which its public reading was listened to, - the seriousness with which it was discussed, -the solemnity with which it was voted upon, and the gratification with which it was approved. The Report was carefully considered in both Assemblies, but it cannot be said to have been debated in the New School Assembly. No opposition was made to it there. There was only a difference in the assent given to it, and they who most qualified this were only precautionary.'They en. tered a caveat against a narrow and illiberal spirit and 410 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. policy in the reunited church, and against a censorship of " all reasonable liberty in the statement of views and the interpretation of the standards not impairing the integrity of the Calvinistic system," and especially against a disturbance of the ecclesiastical status of any particular individual who had retained a good standing in the New School branch of the church, notwithstanding his peculiarities in minor articles of faith, and his philosophy of doctrines and facts. The sensitiveness on this subject grew out of the intemperateness of speech, amounting to threats, which had been indulged in here and there by Old School brethren disaffected towards the Reunion, and not from zeal for the views in question, or even concurrence in them, and still less because they were presumed to prevail in the New School body. The speeches were simply a notice in advance that the tolerance of immaterial diversities was expected and would be claimed, and that acceptable members of either branch of the church must hold an unquestioned place in the two combined. All who desired to speak having been satisfied, the voting in the New School Assembly was preceded by silent prayer, and these were deeply impressive moments. The thronged house was motionless and still, as if transfixed and hushed in looking to God. The question was then taken by rising, and every C6ommisssioner stood up in the acfinmative! Nothing like tumultuousness succeeded, nor was there the faintest applause, and yet the joy was rapturous. Thanksgiving and praise were the universal impulse, and the venerable Dr. Thomas H. Skinner most fittingly led in this act. A hymn was then sung. With thrilling force the ADDITIONAL IMPRESSIONS. 411 grand old words of that inspiring song rolled upward from that vast Assembly of strong, earnest, resolute Christian men, standing there in a solid body — "Let Zion and her sons rejoice, Behold the promised hour; Her God hath heard her mourning voice, And comes to exalt his power. " The Lord will raise Jerusalem, And stand in glory there; Nations rejoice before his name, And kings attend with fear. "This shall be known when we are dead, And left on long record, That nations yet unborn may read, And trust and praise the Lord." The Assemblies met at Pittsburg with a very different spirit from what prevailed at their opening in New York. All was exhilaration now. The Presbyteries, it was known, had affirmed the overture submitted to them, and after the reception and announcement of their answers, the proclamation of the Reunion was to be made; and as the Commissioners exchanged greetings their faces beamed with smiles, and they grasped hands closely, and shook them vigorously, and their voices rang out cheerily. On calling the roll in the New School Assembly, the gayety of the hour was subdued by the disappearance from it, through death, of the names of one minister and two elders: the Rev. Frederick R. Gallaher, D.D., of the Presbytery of Coldwater, H. G. Torbett, M.D., of the Presbytery of Utica, and Loring Danforth, of the Presbytery of Buffalo. Reports of Committees on Amutsements, on the Bible in Schools, and on State Appropriations to Sectarian Schools, 412 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. on the Report of the Delegate the preceding year to the General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland and of the Free Church of Scotland, and on the relations of the General Assembly to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, were adopted by the New School body, and few other matters were disposed of there. The answers of the Presbyteries to the overture sent down to them were examined and declared and reported to the other Assembly, and its report of the answers of its Presbyteries was received, and thereupon the Assembly was dissolved. A sentiment of anxiety and sadness predominated in the act which finally merged the two bodies into each other. The attention was naturally turned to previous relationships that had been greatly enjoyed, and which, if not broken up, were to be henceforward modified. If old associates were to be retained, many new ones were to be introduced into the company, and the character of the intercourse held might be changed. There was the risk, too, attending all decisive deeds, however commended and approved. The die was cast, and while great good was confidently expected, evil might ensue. I am best informed, of course, about the New School brethren. They could hardly be more consentaneous and affectionate. Leaderships, parties, cliques, anilmos ities, strifes, rivalries, jealousies, envies, were unknown among them. There were frequent differences of opinion and earnest discussions, but no disputes and dividing lines. Their method of conducting ecclesiastical proceedings was exceedingly fraternal. They were family conferences rather than legislative and judicial ADDITIONAL IMPRESSIONS. 413 assemblies. Superior wisdom exerted superior influence, but no lording it appeared, and voting was a means.of ascertaining the judgment and wish of a body, and not; the triumph or defeat of contestants. The least possible appearance of authority was exhibited. An attachment thus so bound them together, and a sympathy thus so identified them, that it is not strange that they took the step with moistened eye and trembling limb, which, though it did not part them, added associates to them that might jeopard their fellowship. This foreboding was quickly composed. In private conferences, in committees, in ecclesiastical meetings, there has been no consciousness on either side of any change in the character of former association and intercourse. Every individual has felt perfectly at home in his new relationships. None, indeed, have seemed aware that they were new in the least. If the numbers connected with them have increased, it is not perceived from an abatement of familiarity and freedom. The Jubilee Convention that followed the dissolution of the Assemblies gave the key-note to the reunited church, and started it on its career. Jubilation and congratulation and thanksgiving were irrepressible, but the sense of duty and its pressure superabounded. Every speaker was burthened by the work to be performed, and intent on securing faithfulness and efficiency, and the immense audience, packed into a single body, lifted its shoulders and stretched out its arms to undertgtke it. "We must dare and do," the one soul throbbed. A million of dollars as a thank-offering will not suffice. It shall be five millions, at least. Enthusiasm proposed the sum to be presented, but the 414 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. resolute purpose to raise it seconded the motion and adopted it. Thus setting out with liberality, and committed to enterprise, the reunited church must be destined to large prosperity and rapid and extensive progress. Let "achievement" be its motto, with benevolence as its spirit, and beneficence as its work. !ltlllll I~/lil/Itllllllll i~~~~tilllltl/1 1'~': ~'~""i~ ~ ff I'iiiiiiilllIllltt E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I',r~.:~,i I",~,''~l+,,l1,1!,Flill'lll,I I i ii1 /h I 17_~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qi~ij i FRTCHUR~CH, PHILADELPHIA, CHAPTER SEVENTH. THE RECONSTRUCTION. BY THE REV. G. S. PLUMLEY. WThat Reconstruction is. - The General Assembly of 1870. -Philadelphia. — Organization. -Incidents. — Joint- Committee on Reconstruction. — Its Report as modified. - The new Synods and Presbyteries. - Theological Seminaries. - Home Missions. - Foreign M1issions. -Publication. - Sabbath School Literature. - Education. - Selection of Candidates. - Church Erection. -Ministerial Relief. - Work for the Freedmen. — Concentration of the Plans of the Church. - Remarks of Dr. John C. Backus. — Report on the Finances of the Church. - Committee on Unification..The Southern Church. - Popular Education. - Memorial Fund. - IHeidelberg Catechism.- Social Reunion. -:Work of the Assembly well performed. - Satisfaction of the Church. - What yet remains to be done.Hopes and Responsibilities. - God's Promise. UPON the consolidated Church is laid the task of Reconstruction. This includes a new arrangement of Synods and Presbyteries, constitutional and other changes made necessary by combining into one two previously distinct branches, and a fresh adjustment of the agencies hitherto employed by them both for missionary and other Christian efforts. Its full accomplishment will, moreover, add to the power of the Church as an instrument for doing good, it will prune her administration from everything not approved by experience, it will enable her to adapt her plans to the demands of the present and the future, and more fully equip her for the mighty work to which her God now calls her. Such a task may well employ the best (415) 416 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. thoughts and most earnest prayers of all her officers and members, for the Divine voice once more is saying to her, "'Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations." If this view of the magnitude and scope of the workz of Reconstruction be correct, the General Assembly of 1870 performed its full share of it, by defining its outlines, and commencing to fill them up. The object of the present chapter is to review what this Assembly thus transacted, and to indicate what yet remains for its successors to accomplish. Philadelphia was in every way most appropriately a place of meeting for the first Assembly of the Reunited Presbyterian Church. It has been claimed that the first Presbyterian Church in this country was here organized. The mother Presbytery was formed in the same city in 1705. Forty-four General Assemblies had here been welcomed previous to the division, and after it, nine of the Old School and seven of the New School Assemblies transacted their business in Philadelphia. Its very name suggests harmony, and during the sessions of 1870, its citizens, with liberal kindness and unsurpassed hospitality, accommodated the nearly six hundred delegates that composed the Assembly, rendering their sojourn most agreeable, and filling up the intervals of their business with pleasant, social entertainments. The General Assembly convened, as was most fitting, with that congregation from which all others in the city date their origin, in the First Presbyterian Church, on Washington Square (the Rev. Albert Barnes and THE RECONSTRUCTION. 417 Herrick Johnson, D.D., pastors), on Thursday, May 19, 1870, at 11 A. M. To prepare for this meeting, arrangements of the most ample character had been made by a joint-committee, consisting of the Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., chairman, the Rev. Alexander Reed, ID.D., the Rev. Z. M. Humphrey, D.D., and Messrs. William G. Crowell, Morris Patterson, and J. A. Gardner. These gentlemen were indefatigable in their endeavor to secure the comfort of their numerous guests. Their forethought had provided ample accommodations for all the wants of the large deliberative body meeting with them, and from the commencement to the close of its protracted sessions, the cheerfulness and constant courtesy with which their arduous labors were rendered elicited the united commendation of all for whom they toiled. The thorough success of their efforts deserves special mention. As the opening exercises commenced in the spacious edifice of the First Church, the sight was pleasant and impressive. The ground floor of the house was nearly filled by the Commissioners and the Delegates from various kindred bodies. Upon the platform were seated representatives of the Free Church of Scotland, the United Presbyterian Church of Great Britain, and of the Irish Presbyterian Church; also the Rev. Thomas DeWitt, D.D., one of the oldest ministers of the Reformed (late Reformed Dutch) Church. A floral committee had tastefully decorated the pulpit, the desks of the clerks, and the galleries with choice evergreens and flowers. Over the pulpit they had suspended the words: " Now ARE THEY MANY MEMBERS, YET BUT ONE 27 418 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. BODY; " while at the rear end of the Church were seen the date of the division with that of the Reunion: 1837, 1870. An audience, that crowded every portion of the building not reserved for the Assembly, gladly united with its members in the services of praise and prayer which preceded the sermon of the Rev. Dr. Fowler, the last Moderator of the New School branch. This discourse at once entered upon the subject of the Reconstruction of the Reunited Church, and suggested its outlines. Dr. Fowler's text was Ephesians iv. 4:'"There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling." The preparation of this discourse was somewhat advanced before it was noticed that the Rev. F. Allison, D.D., had chosen the same text when preaching in Philadelphia, May 24, 1758, before " The Reverend Synod of Philadelphia and the Reverend Commission of the Synod of New York," on occasion of the former Reunion of the Presbyterian Church. Instead, however, of changing the text as was his impulse at first, Dr. Fowler retained it, as sanctioned by such an authority for it, rather than interdicted by such a use of it. The portion of the sermon which relates to Reconstruction is as follows:First, the Reunion lays upon us a wcornk of reconstruction. I will not intrude on the part assigned to committees appointed to report to this General Assembly. They are charged chiefly with the necessary changes in the boundaries of our judicatories, and with the combination of our two sets of evangelistic agencies. The further question arises, Is any modiyJcation of our ecclesiastical administration desirable anzdfeasible? Everything distinctive in our polity is beyond inquiry, of course. As none of us entertain a thought, so none of us could present a proposition THE RECONSTRUCTION. 419 looking the most remotely to the least alteration of our Presbyterianism. We fully approve it. We ardently love it. Study and observation and experiment commend it to our judgments and hearts. But is our method of operation incapable of improvement? Has trial developed no faults or defects in the organs we furnish for the functions of our Church? For example, how is it in reference to szpervision? Our organization provides for it. Indeed, it is characterized by it. We define Presbyterianism as "a series of courts of review and control." But ours is a supervision by bodies. Presbyteries, Synods, and the General Assembly exercise it. Is there not a measure, and is there not a method of it, that could be entrusted to individuals, and that would be useful to the Church? None of us could be reconciled to an Episcopacy — technically so called. The parity of the ministry is inviolable among us, and imperiousness and inquisitiveness are intolerable by us. We must be freemen and peers. And we would not sacrifice self-training, self-incitement, self-restraint, for the quickening and check of a bishop's crook and eye. We must be, we will be, laws to ourselves. But cannot individualism be reconciled with a supervision by individuals, and would not our Presbyterianism be helped by it? Prelacy and Methodism largely owe their efficiency to it, and guarded against excess and abuse, and an appendix to supervision by judicatories, might it not add to our force? This would be no novelty in Presbyterianism, as it would be no intrusion upon it. Jolm IKnox established it in the Scotch Kirk, whichl he divided into ten dioceses, for each of which a superintendent was appointed. The first Book of Discipline directed that these superintendents should have their own special kirks, besides the common charge of others, and that they should not " remain in their own kirks above three or four months, but should pass again to their visitations." Their duty was described as not only to preach where they went, but to "examine the doctrines, life, diligence, and behavior of the ministers, elders, and deacons;" to "consider the order of the kirk, the manners of the people, how the poor are provided, how the youth are instructed, how the purity and discipline of the kirk are kept, how heinous and horrible crimes are corrected," and to " administer and dress things out of order with their counsel the best way they may." The genius of Presbyterianism presides in the study. Our ministers are the thinkers and scholars of their profession, and particularly set apart for the inculcation of principles and doctrines. Diligently do they prosecute their special mission, and they need little additional incitement and guidance in it. We feel our shortcomings and deficiencies more in out-of 420 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. door work, and who of us but often need responsible counsel and help, and how invaluable they would be to the juniors among us! Our churches suffer from the lack of oversight. Pastors tend well the folds over which they are severally set; but, with here and there an exception, our Presbyteries and Synods very imperfectly watch the shepherdless flocks. As ecclesiastical bodies do not and cannot whisper caution and advice and encouragement and stimulus to those of their members who call for the delicate administration of such an office, so they are too cumbersome for all the activities of a missionary field. They are compelled to undertake them by the exigencies of new settlements, and are occasionally aroused to them in established communities, but their efforts are generally transient and fitful. And the result is disastrous. Scores and hundreds of churches die of neglect, and scores and hundreds of opportunities for churches are lost. Episcopacy has an advantage here, and Methodist Episcopacy is making the most of it. It takes up our expiring flocks and puts them in well-tended folds. And would not an arrangement for a kind and measure of supervision, by individuals as well as by bodies, abate an evil, of which both our church and ministers are the victims? I can hardly bring myself to publish the fact, for it seems like proclaiming either our weakness or our shame, and yet the stress of the case compels me to state, that while our last minutes report 4,181 ministers, and 4,330 churches, more than 1,000 of our ministers are stated supplies, or without permanent engagements; and nearly 800 are wholly unemployed, and less than 1,500 are pastors; and more than 1,500 of our churches are served by stated supplies, and nearly 1,000 have no regular supplies of any kind. Suppose that onehalf of these unemployed ministers are aged or infirm, or otherwise incomVpetent for pulpit and pastoral labor, we then have 400 ministers, qualified to preach and visit, without pulpits and parishes. Most of the 1,000 vacant churches are small and feeble, but the greater their need of care, and with 400 able-bodied and well-trained ministers disengaged in our bounds, they ought to be served, The impossibility of a support for these 400 ministers in these 1,000 churches is not the reason of their being unemployed, for long-continued experiment by a sister denomination shows that it can be furnished. What is needed, though not all that is needed, is an accepted medium of communication between the two, and also some degree of authority to bring them to terms. Left, as each church so much is left, to provide for itself, and left, as each minister so much is left, to settle himself, our Minutes will continue to report their humiliating tale. And is it not distressing to think of this amount of cultivated and consecrated power lying idle in the THE RECONSTRUCTION. 421 midst of t?,s abounding waste, and must there not be something faulty oi wanting in the administration that admits of it? All modification of our methods of ecclesiastical action may seem too perilous to be risked; but more is to be feared from a timid conservatism than from a bold amendment. None of us, I am sure, are content with our present degree of efficiency. We make no comparisons with other denominations, but we are dissatisfied with ourselves. We have not the life, the vigor, the enterprise that become a Christian church in this day and in this land. According to the plan of Reunion adopted by the Assemblies of 1869, the Moderators of the two Assemblies of 1869 jointly presided until the new Moderator was chosen. By this arrangement the Rev. Philemon H. Fowler, D.D., Moderator of the Assembly that met in May, 1869, in the Church of the Covenant, New York, having preached the sermon, the Rev. Melancthon W. Jacobus, D.D., LL.D., Moderator of the Assembly that met in May, 1869, in the Brick Church, New York, took the chair, for the purpose of putting the votes and deciding questions of order. Prayer having been offered by Dr. Jacobus, the Rev. J. Trumbull Backus, D.D., was by acclamation elected Moderator. Also by a unanimous vote, the following gentlemen were elected clerks: The Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., Stated Clerk, the Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D.D., Permanent Clerk; and the Rev. Villeroy D. Reed, D.D., Hon. S. F. McCoy, and Ezra M. Kingsley, Esq., Temporary Clerks. The following telegram was read, and received with applause: ALLEGHENY CITY, PA., May 19, 1870. To the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church: The Moderator of the last General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 422 PRF6BYTERIAN REUNION. immediately preceding the separation, sends greeting to the first Reunited Assembly of the same through their Moderator, praying that their proceedings may be distinguished by the wisdom that is from above, and cemented by the charity which is the bond of perfectness. DAVID ELLIOTT. The Rev. Dr. Hatfield, by appointment of the Assembly, prepared a reply, using for the purpose the words of Psalm xcii., verses 12-15: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." After the preliminary organization, in which was thus exhibited an entire unanimity, the Assembly commenced its appropriate work. A Joint Committee on Reconstruction had been appointed by the Assemblies of 1869. This Committee, of which the Rev. Dr. Musgrave was Chairman, and the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, Secretary, reported at an early stage of the proceedings. The consideration of this report, that involved the boundaries of the Synods, arrangements for the formation of new Presbyteries, and important constitutional changes, occupied more of the time of the Assembly than any other subject. It originally proposed the establishment of all the Presbyteries during the sessions of the Assembly of 1870, a plan being suggested by which the various representatives of the Synods in the house should meet and nominate bounds to be afterward ratified by the whole Assembly. For this, the method finally adopted was, after not a little discussion, substituted. The THE RECONSTRUCTION. 423 specific work of reconstructing the Presbyteries wvas remitted to the Synods, when organized, as defined by the Assembly. These Synods were directed to meet for the purpose of thus arranging the bounds of the new Presbyteries previous to July 15, 1870. In several other particulars the very able report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction was changed by amendments, all of which were fully discussed and quite unanimously adopted. As this report will possess a historical value, it seems proper to insert it in here in its amended form: Your Committee have held three several meetings in the city of Philadelphia - one in January, another in March, and the final one the present month, just before the meeting of the Assembly. The second, and most important of all our meetings, had the presence of every member. We have endeavored diligently and faithfully to attend to the business of Reconstruction, which had been intrusted to us. Our duties, as described in the concurrent resolutions of the two Assemblies for our appointment, were - " to prepare and propose to the General Assembly of the United Church a proper adjustment of the boundaries of the Presbyteries and Synods, and the ratio of representation; and any amendments of the Constitution, which they may think necessary to secure efficiency and harmony in the administration of the Church, so greatly increased and so rapidly extending." Under this minute, especially the latter part, many supposed our powers very extensive, and our range of subjects almost unrestricted. We have not so judged, but preferred to keep closely to what is more specially mentioned or clearly implied. Numerous communications on these matters have reached us; a few from ecclesiastical bodies, or associations of ministers, but chiefly from individuals; all which have been respectfully and patiently considered, though the suggestions contained in some of them we may have failed to adopt. Many of them either fell in with our own convictions, or tended somewhat to modify them; a few recommended changes so great and radical in the constitution of Presbyteries, Synods, and the Assembly, that we could not approve of them; some, we thought, might better come before your body from another quarter; while others, though important and salu 424 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. tary, would cause such agitation and opposition, if proposed, as might seriously disturb the peace and harmony of our so-happily united Church. We have thought proper to recommend only measures which were of immediate and pressing necessity, leaving other matters to future and fuller development. THE SYNODS. First, then, as to the consolidation, adjustment, and defining the boundaries of Synods; we recommend the following, viz., the Synods of - 1. LONG ISLAND; to comprise the counties of Kings, Queens, Suffolk, and Richmond, N. Y. 2. NEw YORK; to comprise the counties of New York, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan, N. Y., with our ministers and churches in the New England States. 3. ALBANY; to include north of the line of the Synod of New York, and east of the west line of the counties of Greene, Schoharie, Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton, and Franklin, N. Y. 4. UTICA; to extend west of the Synod of Albany, to the west line of Tioga, Cortland, Onondaga, and Oswego counties, N. Y., and to the State line on the north. 5. GENEVA; to comprise the counties west of Utica to the west line of Steuben, Ontario, and Wayne counties, N. Y. 6. GENESEE; to embrace all the counties of New York west of the Synod of Geneva. 7. NEw JERSEY; to be conterminous with that State, and have also attached to it the Presbytery of Corisco. 8. PHILADELPHIA; to embrace the eastern part of Pennsylvania to the west line of the counties of Bradford, Sullivan, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Lebanon, and York; and to have attached to it the Presbytery of Western Africa. 9. HARRISBURG; to comprise the central counties of Pennsylvania west of the Synod of Philadelphia, and east of the west line of the counties of McKean, Cameron, Clearfield, Blair, and Bedford. 10. ERIE; to comprise the north-west counties of Pennsylvania, west of the Synod of Harrisburg, and bounded south by the counties of Cambria and Westmoreland, and the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, to the State line, except that part of Indiana County lying east and south of the Blacklick Creek. 11. PITTSBURG; to comprise the remainder of Pennsylvania west of the Synod of Harrisburg, and south of the Synod of Erie; with all of West Virginia west of the Allegheny ridge. 12. BALTIMORE; to contain Delaware, Maryland, the District of Co THE RECONSTRUCTION. 425 lumbia, and our ministers and churches in Virginia and West Virginia, east of the Allegheny ridge; to have attached to it, also, the Presbytery of Rio Janeiro. 13. ATLANTIC; to embrace the States of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 14. CLEVELAND; to extend from the Ohio State line, on the east, to the west and south lines of the counties of Lorain, Medina, Summit, Stark, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Noble, and Monroe, Ohio. 15. TOLEDO; to comprise the counties west of the Synod of Cleveland, and to be bounded by the east and south lines of the counties of Erie, Huron, Crawford, Wyandot, Hardin, Logan, Champaign, Shelby, and Mercer, Ohio. 16. CINCINNATI; to comprise the counties bounded by the north and east lines of Darke, Miami, Clark, Greene, Fayette, Ross, Vinton, and Gallia, Ohio. 17. COLUMBUS; to comprise the remaining, being the central, counties of the State of Ohio. 18. MICHIGAN; to embrace the whole of the lower peninsula of that State. 19. KENTUCKY; to be conterminous with that State. 20. TENNESSEE; to embrace the States of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas, with all our ministers and churches in the States intervening. 21. INDIANA, SOUTH; to extend to the northern line of the counties of Wayne, Henry, Hancock, Marion, Hendricks, Putnam, Clay, and Vigo, Ind. 22. INDIANA, NORTH; to embrace all of the State north of this line. 23. ILLINOIS, SOUTH; to comprise all of the State south of the north line of Edgar, Douglas, Moultrie, Shelby, Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Green, and Calhoun counties. 24. ILLINOIS, CENTRAL; to comprise the counties north of the above line to the south line of Kankakee, Grundy, La Salle, Pitnam, Bureau, Henry, and Mercer counties, Ill. 25. ILLINOIS, NORTH; to comprise the remaining counties of the State, bounded on the south by the north line of the Synod of Illinois, Central. 26. WISCONSIN; to take in all that State, the upper peninsula of Michigan, and the county of St. Louis in the State of Minnesota. 27. MINNESOTA; to comprise the State of Minnesota, except as above, and the territory of Dacotah. 28. IowA, NORTH; to comprise all the State of Iowa north of the south 426 PRESBYTERIAlN REUNION. line of Clinton, Jones, Linn, Benton, Tama, Marshall, Story, Boone, Greene, Carroll, Crawford, and Manona counties. 29. IowA, SOUTH; to comprise the remainder of the State of Iowa, with Nebraska and the Territory of Wyoming. 30. MissoURI; to be conterminous with the State of Missouri. 31. KANSAS; to extend over that State, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Indian Territories. 32. PAcIFIC; to embrace all the region west of the Rocky Mountains. 33. INDIA; to comprise all our missionaries and churches in that country. 34. CHINA; to comprise all our missionaries and churches in China, Siam, and Japan. THE PRESBYTERIES. In regard to fixing the boundaries of the various Presbyteries, which seemed as distinctly assigned to us, we have felt not only that it would be a most onerous task, which we could hardly do, for all parts, with just discrimination, or to general satisfaction, but that it seemed to fall more properly under the province of the different Synods or their representatives, who could do it, when assembled, more understandingly and to the fuller content of those interested, than if clone by us or by this Assembly. Accordingly, it is proposed that this specific work be remitted to the several Synods, as now defined by this Assembly. And, for the purpose of securing uniformity of action on the part of the Synods throughout the whole Church, it is recommencied that each Synod being convened, as hereinafter provided, shall organize the Presbyteries within its bounds in accordance with the following general principles, viz.: i. That each several Presbytery, with the ministers and churches within its limits, be defined as to boundaries by geographical lines, or with respect to the most convenient lines of travel. 2. That. Presbyteries be enlarged, and the formation of small ones be discouraged; none formed hereafter to consist of less than five ministers, the quorum for business remaining as heretofore. 3. That in the formation or arrangement of Presbyteries by the respective Synods it be recommenced that no Presbytery consist of less than ten ministers - except in outlying, frontier, and missionary districts, and then to be constituted as large as possible. 4. That when two or more congregations, on different sides of a Synodical or Presbyterial line, are under one pastoral charge, they shall all, for the time, belong to that Presbytery with which the minister is connected, but only so long as such pastoral relation continues. THE RECONSTRUCTION. 427 5. That ministers without charge are required to unite with that Presbytery within the geographical limits of which they ordinarily reside, or are nearest to, and to which they shall be amenable for the proper discharge of their ordination engagements. 6. That the Presbyteries and Synods heretofore existing, which shall lose their present organization by consolidation under these arrangements, shall be considered and designated as continuing their succession in that Synod, now defined, or Presbytery to be constituted, which includes the largest portion, counting both ministers and churches of said body as existing May 19th, 1870, to preserve its records, and attend, as may be found necessary, to its business and interests. That the Commissioners of the Presbyteries within the bounds of each Synod, as fixed by this Assembly, be respectively appointed a Committee to designate the day, not later than July 15th, 1870, when, and the place where, each Synod shall hold its first meeting, for the reorganization of the Presbyteries within its bounds, and for the transaction of any other business that may come before them; also, to nominate some one to preach the opening sermon, and preside until the Synod shall be organized by the choice of a Moderator; and report the same to this General Assembly for its action. REPRESENTATION. The next general subject is that of Represen~tation in the General Assembly, and a proper ratio for the same. Your Committee, after full and repeated consideration of this important and difficult subject, are of the opinion that a change to Synodical representation is necessary, in order to bling the numbers in the Assembly within clue limitsb and secure equal rights to all parts of the Church. But, so far as we can discover, the Church generally is not yet prepared for such a change; and the Committee desire to avoid all occasion of discord in our united Church, or needless discussions on this subject in this General Assembly. Therefore, no change from Presbyterial representation is proposed; nor would we at present advise any change in the ratio of representation, but leave the matter as it is ordered by chapter xii., section 2, of the Form of Government. LIMITATION OF APPEALS. For the relief of the General Assembly in the dispatch of business, and to discourage pertinacious litigation in Church courts, the Committee recommend that all Appeals, References, and Complaints terminate at the Synod, except in relation to questions of constitutional law, or the trial of a minister for heresy in doctrine. 428 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. STANDING RULES. For the purpose of securing the necessary constitutional changes foi the foregoing objects, the Committee propose that this General Assembly send down to the Presbyteries the following Overtures, viz.: 1. In the Form of Government, chapter x., section 2, after the word Ministers, to insert, "in number not less than five. " 2. In the Form of Government, chapter xii., section 4, to add to the first sentence, at its close, the following words: "and which relate exclusively to the construction of the Constitution, or the trial of a minister for heresy in doctrine." 3. In the Form of Government, chapter xi., at the end of section 4, to add the following sentence: "Every case of the trial of a minister for heresy in doctrine, and all questions relating exclusively to the construction of the Constitution, may be carried by appeal or complaint to the General Assembly; in all other cases or questions the decision of the Synod shall be final." 4. In the Book of Discipline, chapter vii., section 2, to read as follows, viz.: " Every kind of decision which is formed in any church judicatory, except the highest, may be reviewed by a superior judicatory, subject to the limitation of appeals from the Synod as. provided in the Form of Government, and may be carried before it in one or the other of the four following ways." Moreover, it is recommended that the Assembly instruct and order all the Presbyteries, when reconstructed, at their first appointed meeting, to vote directly yea or nay on these several Overtures, and send forthwith an attested copy of their action to the Stated Clerk of the Assembly, who shall keep an accurate account of the same, and report it to the next Assembly. Finally, your Committee will close their report with a suggestion for the action of the Assembly, which they think would secure greater efficiency and dispatch in their business. OVERTURES TO THE ASSEMBLY. As much time is consumed, and the attention of the Assembly distracted with Overtures, and Questions of minor importance, coming up from various quarters, impeding the transaction of business of more general interest, it is recommended that the Assembly order that, hereafter, Bills and Overtures come up only from Synods or Presbyteries; yet that this may not prevent any Committee of Bills and Overtures from bringing before the house, of its own motion, lupon a two-thirds vote of THE RECONSTRUCTION. 429 the Committee, any matter which they may deem of sufficient importance to engage the attention of the General Assembly. After the adoption of this report as amended, arrangements were immediately made for convening the various Synods defined by it. An enabling act, prepared by the Rev. Dr. Hatfield and Hon. William Strong, was also passed, by which the several Synods and the Presbyteries that compose them become the legal successors of those into which the Church was formerly divided. Since the adjournment of the Assembly these Synods have met in conformity with its appointment, and, with the greatest harmony, have performed their part, in turn defining the bounds of the new Presbyteries according to the principles adopted in the report on Reconstruction. It is a remarkable fact that thus, without any friction or dissatisfaction, the number of the Presbyteries has been reduced from two hundred and fifty-nine to one hundred and sixty-five. MHost of these are well bounded by geographical lines, so laid down that the convenience of the members of them, and the advantage of the churches composing them, are well secured. When the Reunion was still in progress, and not yet consummated, the remark was frequently heard that the relation of the THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES to the General Assembly would give rise to difficult and delicate questions. Some of them were already subject to the Assembly's control; others were under Presbyterial supervision, or that of a Board of Directors. It was feared that the effort to bring them all under one plan of administration satisfactory to the whole Church 430 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. would occasion prolonged, perhaps excited discussions. Happily, such fears were not justified by the event. In the Providence of God, at a very early stage of its sessions, the whole matter was brought before the General Assembly, in such a form as seemed to meet the views of all the brethren, and to promise in the future the utmost harmony and success in the management and direction of these Seminaries. The Directors of the Union Theological Seminary, New York, had prepared a memorial, which was read to the Assembly. In this paper they suggest as a rule and plan, that the Board of Directors of each Seminary be authorized to appoint its professors, subject to the veto of the General Assembly. A Memorial appended to the Report of the Directors of Princeton Theological Seminary made request for the same rule, asking also that the Board of Directors of Princeton Seminary have power besides to. fill vacancies in their number, subject to the Assembly's veto. In behalf of the Trustees of Auburn and Lane Seminaries, representations were made that their Boards will give most cordial assent to the plan proposed, or to any other plan which the Assembly adopts. In view of these communications, the Rev. Dr. Musgrave, in the course of some remarks upon the Report of the Directors of Princeton Seminary, proceeded to say: Will you allow me to add, that this is an additional cause for congratulation and for thanksgiving to God [applause]; that even these questions of the Theological Seminaries, which we thought the most difficult to adjust and that would be likely to give us the greatest trouble, are thus amicably adjusted by their respective Boards of Directors. [Applause.] Is it not another proof that the whole Reunion is from God, and that we THE ERECONSTRUCTION. 431 have the earnest of perpetual unity and harmony not only, but of increased efficiency in every department of our work? [Applause.] In accordance with these views the Committee on Theological Seminaries reported the following plan and resolutions to the Assembly, which were subsequently adopted: 1. Accepting the offer so generously made by the Directors of the Union Theological Seminary in New York, a Seminary independent hitherto of all direct ecclesiastical control, to invest the General Assembly with the right of a veto in the election of Professors in that institution, this Assembly would invite all those Theological Seminaries not now under the control of the General Assembly, to adopt, at their earliest convenience, the same rule and method, to the end that throughout the whole Presbyterian Church there may be uniform and complete confidence in those intrusted with the training of our candidates for the ministry. 2. That the several Boards of Directors of those Seminaries which are now under the control of the General Assembly shall be authorized to elect, suspend, and displace the Professors of the Seminaries under their care, subject in all cases to the veto of the General Assembly, to whom they shall annually make a full report of their proceedings, and to whom their minutes shall be submitted whenever the Assembly shall require them to be produced. These Boards shall further be authorized to fix the salaries of the Professors, and to fill their own vacancies, subject hin all cases to the veto of the General Assembly. 3. Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the Assembly to propose such alterations in the plans of the Seminaries now under the control of the Assembly, as shall be deemed necessary to carry into effect the principles above stated, and that said Committee report to this or to the next succeeding Assembly, 4. In case the Board of Directors of any Theological Seminary now under the control of the General Assembly should prefer to retain their present relation to this body, the plan of such Seminary shall remain unaltered. Passing in review the Assembly's work of Reconstruction, it is not essential to observe as to the record the same order in which the different topics came up for 432 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. decision. With reference to all the Boards and Permanent Committees of both the Old and the New School, the Assemblies of 1869, at their adjourned meetings at Pittsburg, raised Joint Committees to combine and consolidate the former organizations, and to report to the General Assembly of 1870. In each case these Committees faithfully discharged their trust, and, with some judicious modifications, their reports were adopted. The great importance of the subject demands an early reference to the plans adopted for HOME MISsIONS and for FOREIGN MISSIONs. The Board of Domestic Missions of the Old School, and the Permanent Committee on Home Missions of the New School, each presented its Annual Report to the Assembly. A Standing Committee, of which the Chairman was of the late Old School branch, carefully considered these documents. In reviewing themt in its report and resolutions, this Committee spoke in terms of approbation with reference to both organizations, commending the efficiency and competency of their management. The following extract from the Report of the New School Permanent Committee on Home Missions was especially approved, as well calculated to indicate the proposed future policy of the new Board in the lReunited Church: There was an obvious propriety that we should insure those whom we sent into the field against suffering. We first guaranteed them $600 and their necessary travelling expenses, and as prices advanced we were compelled to advance the rate per annum $200 more. We found in the field at first many who, for want of adequate support, could not give themselves wholly to their ministry. Some were teachers, many were farmers, and in consequence many of them were non-resident stated THE RECONSTRUCTION. 433 supplies. We have believed it a better policy and the only true economy to pay the laborer more, so that we could command his entire services. The Joint Committee on Home Missions had recommended that the name of the new Board be, "The Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." This suggestion was adopted, and also the following provisions, with reference to the late "Board of Domestic Missions," and " Permanent Committee on Home Missions:" i. That this Assembly designate the locality in which the chief operations of the new Board shall be carried on, and in which the principal office for that purpose shall be located. 2. That a Committee be appointed by this Assembly, whose duty it shall be to endeavor to procure all the legislation required by the exigencies of the case, and direct the transfer of property now held by the two bodies above described, on receiving the opinion of competent counsel that the authority of the new body is perfect. 3. Meantime, till such a result has been reached, that both of the existing organizations be kept up in the form required by their respective charters. Subsequently, by an affirmative vote of two-thirds, the Assembly decided that the place for the future Board of HIome Missions shall be the city of New York. It having been agreed that the existence of both the Board of Domestic Missions and the Permanent Committee on Home Missions, as corporate bodies, be maintained until such a time as they can be joined into one Board, thereupon two Secretaries and a Treasurer were elected by acclamation, as the officers of the new Board into which they are to be merged. The Assembly, however, while thus exercising its right to designate the officers of one of its Boards, expressed its desire that the act, apparently necessary in the peculiar 28 434 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. exigencies of the case, might not be used as a precedent under ordinary circumstances. Arrangements were also made by which the necessary legislation for combining both the existing organizations into one may be promptly and satisfactorily obtained. The new Board will consist of twenty members, five constituting a quorum. There is every indication that in the future Church our Domestic Missionaries will be more adequately supported, and that their work will more thoroughly than ever before enlist the prayers and efforts of all God's people. In many portions of the field where two or more Mission stations have hitherto existed, these will be combined into one, which, by its greater strength, will become more efficient for good. By a similar concentration of resources, in various places where two missionaries have hitherto labored, one will be retained, and the other commissioned to a'new and more destitute position, where he will find ample room in which to work for Christ. As to FOREIGN MISSIONS, the task of the General Assembly was more simple, as there were not two Boards or Committees to be fused together. The New School having hitherto performed its part in the matter through the American Board, the only measure necessary was to give both former branches a proper representation for the future management of the work. The consolidated Church adopts as its own the old organization, retaining its name. The number of the Board was fixed by the Assembly at fifteen memblers, divided into classes of five each, each class serving three years, and one-third of the whole number con. THiE RECONSTRUCTION. 435 stituting a quorum. The churches of the former New School branch are preparing, after the present financial year, to retire from their long and pleasant connection with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and to bring their contributions and their co-operation to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. It wwas understood that a third Secretary, elected from the former New School branch, would be added to the two former Secretaries of the Board. The work of assuming the support and control of certain missions hitherto sustained by the INew School branch, in correspondence with the American Board, must evidently be a gradual one. Harmony and kindly feeling will doubtless still obtain between those sister societies, that work together in different fields for a common object. A Committee appointed by the New School Assembly, in 1869, to confer with the American Board, was continued to complete the negotiations already commenced, and to report to the next Assembly. The report of this Committee, of which the Rev. Dr. Jonathan F. Stearns was the Chairman, is so important that it is given in full in the Appendix, as well as the action of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, to which the conference of the Assembly's Committee with the officers of that Board gave rise. The subject of PUBLICATION occupied much of the attention of the Assembly, and elicited considerable debate. Both portions of the Church possessed organizations well offcered and appointed to perform the work of preparing and circulating religious literature 436 PRESBYTERIAN REUhNION. on a liberal scale. Both were located in Philadelphia. Both were found to be operating faithfully and successfully. The General Assembly combined them into one Board, under the title of "The Presbyterian Board of Publication." This Board is to be composed of fortyeight members, taken in equal number from each of the late branches —one-half ministers. They are divided into three classes, each class serving for three years. Presbyteries are hereafter to appoint a Presbyterial Publication Committee, which Committee shall, in that Presbytery, supervise the work of securing an annual collection for this Board from each of its churches; shall search out and recommend to the Board suitable persons to act as colporteurs; shall correspond with the Board in reference to its work in that Presbytery; and shall do whatever else may tend to promote the work and interests of the Board, and to secure a thorough distribution of the Board's publications within and throughout the bounds of the Presbytery. All the property of both the former organizations is to be united and placed in charge of the new Board, and an equal representation within it is secured to both of the former branches of the Churchl. A prolonged debate upon the appropriation of the future profits of the Board resulted in the adoption of the following important declaration: It is to be understood by all parties to this arrangement, and it is directed by this General Assembly, that the property thus vested in "The Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publication," together with all which may hereafter be given to it for publication purposes, and all the net profits of its business, are to be perpetually and sacredly used in the work of publishing and diffusing a sound religious literature, and for no THE RECONSTRUCTION. 437 other purpose, in accordance with trusts heretofore accepted and pledges heretofore given. It was also decided to sell the real estate used previously by the Old School branch, and to erect upon the premises of the other, or near them, a larger house, adequate to the extended operations of the new Board. The resolution to effect this result was followed by the adoption of the following: In order that the above recommendation may be carried out so as tc provide ample accommodation for the Board's future business, and for all our other Presbyterian interests in this city, without the absorption of any part of its capital now used and needed for the publication and distribution of a religious literature, it is recommended that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be raised among our churches and people for the erection and equipment of said Publication House, and all contributions made thereto shall be recognized as a part of the offering of five millions of dollars, which it was at Pittsburg resolved to raise. The Assembly also adopted these recommendations: We recommend the Board to give special and prominent attention to Sabbath-school literature, and to its introduction into Sabbath schools. We recommend that the Board, at as early a date as possible, consider the propriety of establishing a Department of Sabbath Schools, whose office it shall be to promote the number and efficiency of Sabbath schools throughout the congregations of the Presbyterian Church. We recommend that the excellent " Sabbath School Visitor " should be circulated much more widely than it has hitherto been, and that the pastors and churches should exert themselves to secure this end. We recommend that the two publications, the "Record"cl and the "Presbyterian Monthly," be merged in one, and that measures be devised and adopted to have that one periodical competently edited, and full of information likely to interest the families of our people. Deeply impressed with the importance of the colportage work conducted by the Board, we would strongly urge its extension, as being the means best fitted to make known the truths of salvation to multitudes in our country, and to Roman Catholics and persons separated from the ordinary means of grace. 438 PlESBYTERIAN REUNION. We recommend that the Board consider what may be the best means of effecting some understanding as to the issue of Books of Psalmody, and report on the subject to the next General Assembly. We are happy to find that Books and Tracts have been furnished so generally to ministers, to domestic and foreign missionaries, and to Sabbath schools; and recommend that these gifts be continued and increased. It will be evident, from a careful perusal of the above papers, that in no respect was the action of the Assembly more thorough or provident than in its direction of this important subject. The new Board of Publication enters upon its career with ample accomtmodations for its printing and other mechanical work, with abundant capital, with an eligible salesroom, and with the ripe experience of its officers. A bright future, full of the triumphs of saving truth, is assured to it, if God's blessing accompanies it hereafter as it has accompanied its predecessors. In their plans for the EDUCATION of young men with a view to the ministry, but little difference was found to exist between the policy of the Board of Education of the Old School, and that of the Permanent Committee on Education of the New School. Upon the recommendation of the Joint Committee to adjust their affairs, the Assembly adopted the following measures: The title of the new Board is, "The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." Its objects shall be the general superintendence of the Church's work in furnishing a pious, educated, and efficient ministry in sufficient numbers to meet the calls of its congregations, to supply the wants of the destitute classes and regions in our own country, and to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It shall provide for the collection and judicious distribution of the funds which may be requisite in the proper education of candidates for the ministry under its care, and it shall, in co-operation with the THE RECONSTRUCTION. 439 ecclesiastical courts, do whatever may be proper and necessary to develop an active interest in education throughout the Church. The Board will consist of twelve members, of which six are to be ministers. It is to be divided, like the other Boards, into three classes, so that a portion will be elected each year. Five constitute a quorum. The fifth and sixth articles of the Constitution define the functions of the Board, and the relation of the Presbyteries to it, thus: ARTICLE V. Fnlctions. - SEC. 1. The Board shall act through the Presbyteries of the Church. Candidates for the ministry, when properly examined and received by the Presbyteries, and recommended for aid to the Board, shall receive the amount specified, within the limits prescribed by the Assembly, provided in all cases that a discretionary power, necessary to the general trust committed, shall be exercised by the Board; and the Board shall require that each recommendation shall be accompanied with such informlation as may be necessary to the intelligent and judicious performance of its duties. SEc. 2. It shall exercise a general supervisory care over the students, through annual renewals of recommendations from Presbyteries, and quarterly reports from instructors, and through the correspondence of its Secretary, and his personal visits to literary and theological institutions and the judicatories of the Church, and by other appropriate instrumentalities. SEc. 3. It shall take all suitable means to inform the Church as to the duties and interests relating to the consecration of her young men to the office of the ministry, and their sound and thorough education, and to urge the effective care of her judicatories over them; and it shall make such statements and appeals as are calculated to secure contributions sufficient for the accomplishment of its ends. It shall make a full annual report of its work to the General Assembly. ARTICLE VI. Relation of the Presbyteries to the Board. — It shall be the duty of each Presbytery to see that collections are taken up annually for this cause in all the churches under its care; to make the subject of increase of cancidates for the ministry a topic of serious consideration in its meetings, at 440 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. least once a year; to appoint a standing committee to act for Presbytery il all matters pertaining to this cause, when it is not in session; to recommend to the Board proper cases for its aid, and to make an annual report of the transactions of the Presbytery on the whole subject to the Board, previous to the meetings of the General Assembly. The Board is to be located in Philadelphia, and is instructed to take such legal steps as are necessary to secure to it the present property of the Board of Ecducation, located at Philadelphia, and the Permanent Committee, located at New York; so that this property, and any funds with which either is or may be intrusted, or which may hereafter be received by bequest or otherwise, for purposes of ministerial education, shall be managed by one and the same Board and its successors as trustees thereof; and that said Board have authority to apply for and obtain a charter of incorporation, or such modification of the existing charter as they may deem proper. It is further recommended that the organizations of the "Permanent Committee on Education" and the "Board of Education" be continued, so far as may be necessary for the purpose of holding and transferring to the Board of Education, as arranged by the present General Assembly, such funds and trusts as may have been, or shall be, committed to them. In subsequently adopting the suggestions of the Standing Comzinittee upon this subject, the General Assemubly acknowledged the need of a careful selection of candidates, and of a high standard of qualifications for the work of the ministry. It recommended ample provision for the wants of the students of the Church; and, while acknowledging that the processes and ap THE RECONSTRUCTION. 441 pliances for the education of the rising ministry admit of great improvements, insisted upon the importance of having the youthful candidates trained to preachz well, in the highest sense of the phrase. The above extracts from the Assembly's action sufficiently exhibit the fact that the Reunited Church recognizes the indispensable importance of a thoroughly trained ministry, while making ample provision to secure it for its future members. The new Board of Education goes into operation with about six hundred young men under its care, more than two hundred of whom will be pursuing their theological studies. With the results of a past useful history to aid its highly respected officers, and the prayers and benefactions of the many thousands of our Zion, it cannot fail to do its precious work wisely and well. As to CHUniCIn ERECTION, the action of the General Assembly was well considered and thorough. It was rendered the more simple, because, while the Church Erection Fund of the New School was a chartered institution, the Board of Church Extension of the Old School was without a charter or permanent funds. Among the recommendations adopted were these: That the operations of the United Church be carried on under the charter of "The Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," and that its location be continued in the city of New York. That the members of the Board be chosen impartially from both branches of the Church; that their number be twenty-one, consisting of ten llinisters and eleven elders acting in connection with the Presbyterian Church; and that the entire Board so formed be expected to meet at least once each year. That fifteen llelmbers, seven ministers and eight elders, shall reside in the city of New York or its vicinity. That at an early day an amnendment of the charter be obtained, authorizing these fifteen local members 442 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. to act as Trustees of the Fund; but until such change can be secured, nine of the fifteen members shall continue to hold the said Trusteeship under the provisions now existing. That six members of the Board, three ministers and three elders, shall be chosen from the West. This recommendation is made in view of the fact that certain properties held by the Board of Church Extension are temporarily located in Missouri, and require a local supervision. It also seems desirable that the Board shall have representatives on the ground who may secure those grants of land which are so freely offered for Church purposes by railroad and town companies throughout the West; also to have special oversight in the matter of insurance on church properties - a matter of great importance, in which it is feared there is at present great neglect. The Assembly also called the attention of its Presbyteries and churches to the importance of this work. Its language is: If any comparison may be made, it is more important to secure the church edifice (in the present condition of our frontier, with its rapidly increasing land prices) than the missionary himself. We may provide the missionary next year, but with the land for a church it is now or never. In making arrangements for MINISTERIAL RELIEF, the Assembly of 1870, availing itself of the labors of its Joint Committee, arranged for more thoroughly supplying the wants of the veteran soldiers of the Church, and their widows and orphans. The centre of operations for this necessary fund is to be Philadelphia. It is placed, under the supervision of the Assembly, in the hands of faithful and kindly men. With officers of tried experience and fidelity, it is recommended in the strongest terms to the justice and liberality of the churches. The work of the Presbyterian Church for the FREEDMEN, as its value demands, received a full share of time THE RECONSTRUCTION. 443 and attention. In the deliberations that it called forth, several brethren of color, representatives of Southern Presbyteries, were listened to with much pleasure. The Assembly's Committee (Old School), and the Freed. men's Department of the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions (New School), and their secretaries, were praised for their fidelity and energy in the prosecution of the work committed to them. It was resolved to conduct the efforts of the Church for the colored race in this country, including both their religious and educational interests, under the charge of a Committee of twelve members, five being a quorum, with its location in the city of Pittsburg. The cause was earnestly commended to the churches; and the various Boards were recommended to co-operate with the Committee supervising it. In re-organizing this Committee the Assembly expressed its opinion that the great need of the Freedmen to-day is a supply of competent preachers and teachers, raised up from among themselves. It also adopted this language: For help in this matter we look with hope to Lincoln University, Biddie Memorial Institute, and the Normal School of Winchester, Va., and other similar institutions established by our Church. We especially urge the necessity of providing schools where females may enjoy advantages that may enable them to keep pace with the other sex in intellectual and moral elevation. One of the most important discussions of the General Assembly occurred in connection with resolutions introduced by the Rev. John C. Backus, D.D. These resolutions, although not passed, and thus not appearing in the Minutes for 18'70, deserve notice not only for their 444 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. intrinsic value, but principally because the considera. tion of them paved the way for the suggestion of a plan for the " unification" of the work of the Church, to be consummated by another Assembly. One of these resolutions is as follows: Resolved, That a Committee of fifteen, representing all sections of the Church, and having power to fill vacancies, be appointed by this General Assembly to examine all the above reports and the plans and modes of benevolent operations of sister churches at home and abroad, and with all the light thus gained to devise a general uniform plan, that shall combine and economize and give as much efficiency as possible to all our schemes of benevolence, and report the same to the next General Assembly. In its support, Dr. Backus said: We are about to enter upon the great work of this Church, which is to devise the best plans for the purpose of extending this Church throughout the land and throughout the world, according to the great commission of our Master. We are in a peculiarly serious position. Various committees have reported to us. There is a great difference of opinion in this body in regard to a great many of the points which they have recommended.:Now, the question is, Is this Reunion to be now the means of awakening a greater interest in these great objects, and of providing this Church with the machinery and the means that shall give to them the greatest possible success? We are, at this time, about to enter upon a great and new sphere of action. We have a great body which is to be put now in motion as it has never been before. We have four thousand ministers, and half a million of members, and half a million of children to be educated, and a million of adherents; and now the question is, How shall we best enter upon this great work? Our Committees have all been reporting to us fron time to time, and have rendered a very important service. They have provided for the welding together of the Church in regard to these various operations, and their plans have been well considered. But there have been many ways proposed by which to bring out all the powers and agencies of this great Church. Here and there are gentlemen who feel that it is of the greatest importance that the eldership of the Church be developed in this great matter. Now, sir, we have sessions which can operate in this way. We have Synods which cover THil RECONSTRUCTION. 445 the larger districts, but none of these are brought into play in this matter. If you appoint committees in your Presbyteries, who shall take the oversight of these benevolent operations in the churches under their care, and then make the Chairmen of the Presbyterial Committees in which those Presbyteries are, and the Chairmen of the Synodical Committees thus composed, constitute the Boards of this Church, then you will have a machinery in operation that will bring all this body into play in all its various powers and agencies, so as to accomplish the end you desire. And now not only will this more conform to the great principles which we desire to promote throughout this country, but we have around us sister churches in this lanJd who have been making great advances beyond us in regard to this most important matter. Hitherto, our Boards and Committees have all acted separately, without reference to each other. There is no combination, and yet you will perceive that it would be a very serious thing for this Church to saddle itself with all those expenses of the machinery, that seems to a great many of us to need a great deal of harmonizing in its different parts, to make it effective in this great work; and therefore we propose that you shall appointa committee, and bring all of these reports together in harmony, with no jarring, and make each one contribute to the efficiency of the other. This we feel to be of the greatest possible importance in this great work, as these Boards are now proposed to be constituted. According to the present arrangement, no Board represents this Presbyterian Church. It does not have reference to all its parts, but it is simply constituted of those belonging to a particular locality who will be regarded as a clique having no particular knowledge of the various parts of the Church, standing afar off, and having no knowledge of those churches that are distant, and no means of developing their liberality, and making them efficient in this great work. We want to harmonize all these things. It has been suggested that some of the Boards be united together; others have suggested to combine all in one treasury, and there are a great many plans and schemes upon this subject that seem to call for the special attention of the Church. These remarks had prepared the minds of the members of Assembly to seek a more compact combination of the present plans for benevolence, and a resolution from the Commnittee on the Finances of the Church subsequently furnished the occasion for securing it. This is the resolution referred to: 446 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Resoulved, That it be recommended to the General Assembly, at their next meeting, to apploint a Treasury Board, consisting of twenty, composed largely of business men of standing and character, to be divided into four classes of one, two, three, and four years, and the Assembly to elect annually five - the Board to have charge of all the funds annually contributed for the benevolent operations of the Church, and to meet the drafts of each of the Boards for the amounts annually appropriated by the Assembly, or designated by the donors, so far as they have received the money, and to report annually to the Assembly. During the consideration of the above, the Rev. Dr. C. C. Beatty offered the following resolution, which was adopted: Resolved, That so much of the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance as relates to the permanent financial operations of the Church be referred to a select committee of twenty-one, which shall consider and re commend to the next Assembly a mode of carrying out the suggestions of the Joint Committee on this first branch of their report; and that, with a view to the uniform arrangement and administration of our entire "benevolent work," this same committee of twenty-one shall, if possible, recommend a plan for simplifying and consolidating our various operations, and for enlisting the vigorous and effective sympathy and co-operation of all our Presbyteries and all our congregations with the Boards of the Church as they may be organized. To this Committee of twenty-one, the Moderator, the Rev. J. Trumbull Backus, D.D., was, by a special and unanimous vote, added, and made its Chairman and Convener. As the Church expands, and its benevolent work grows commensurately, our most judicious minds may well be occupied in welding together more and more closely its active agencies, that they may not only be as simple as possible in their constitution, but by direct communication with pastors and churches call out the interest and sympathies of the entire body. Several important matters were discussed and passed i~~~~ii "Dav I D E LL' I OTT, D DV V _v-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: -____i_: dMW. JA~cosusDD_ F HLD = —--— ~I —-_~~~~~~~~~~~, —-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~q -iU BL KSDD THE RECONSTRUCTION. 447 upon by the Assembly, which, although not immediately essential to the reconstruction of the Church, yet had a relation to it too obvious to be omitted from this record. Early in its sessions a movement was made to open a friendly correspondence with the " Southern Presbyterian Church." With this object the following paper,. offered by the Rev. William Adams, D.D., was unanimously adopted: Whereas, This General Assembly, believing that the interests of the Kingdom of our Lord throughout our entire country will be gradually promoted by healing all unnecessary divisions, Whereas, This General Assembly desires the speedy establishment of cordial fraternal relations with the body known as the " Southern Presbyterian Church," upon terms of mutual confidence, respect, and Christian honor and love, Whereas, We believe that the terms of Reunion between the two branches of the Presbyterian Church at the North, now so happily consummated, present an auspicious opportunity for the adjustment of such relations; therefore be it Resolved, 1. That a Committee of five ministers and four elders be appointed by this Assembly to confer with a similar Committee if it shall be appointed by the Assembly now in session in the city of Louisville, in respect to opening a friendly correspondence between the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches, and that the result of such conference be reported to the General Assembly of 1871. Resolved, 2. That with a view to the furtherance of the object contemplated in the appointment of said Committee, this Assembly hereby reaffirms the " Concurrent Declaration" of the two Assemblies which met in the city of New York last year, viz.: " That no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both bodies slall be of any authority in the reunited body, except in so far as such rule or precedent may affect the rights of property founded thereon." Resolved, 3. That two Ministers and one Elder of this Committee appointed by this Assembly be designated as delegates to convey to the Assembly now in session at Louisville, a copy of these resolutions, with oui Christian salutation. 448 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. In accordance with the above resolutions~ a deputation consisting of the Rev. Dr. John C. Backus, the Rev. Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke, and Hon. Win. E. Dodge, visited Louisville, Ky., where the Southern General Assembly was in session. They were received with kind. ness and cordiality by the delegates of that Assembly, and, in the presence of a large audience, explained their mission. While they were speaking, the breathless interest and deep emotion of their hearers gave good hope of the success of their efforts, and, at the conclusion of their remarks, many took them by the hand and thanked them for coming. To the regret, however, of the Assembly, the Committee charged with preparing a response to its peaceful overtures sent the following paper: LOUISVILLE, Ky., IMAY 28th, 1870. Rev. E. F. Hatfield, D.D., Stated Clerik of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Agnerica. DEAR BROTHER: - The " General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States," in session at Louisville, has directed me to forward to you the following official document. It is a true extract from the Minutes of Friday, May the 27th. The Committee on Foreign Correspondence, to whom was referred the overture for reunion from the Old School General Assembly, North, of 1869, at its sessions in the city of New York; and also the proposition from the United Assembly of the Northern Presbyterian Church, now sitting in Philadelphia, conveyed to us by a special delegation, respectfully report: That the former of these documents is virtually superseded by the latter; because the body by whom it was adopted has since been merged into the United Assembly, from which emanates a new and fresh proposal reflecting the views of the larger constituency. To this proposition, then, "that a committee of five ministers and four elders be appointed by this Assembly, to confer with a similar Committee of their Assembly in respect to opening a friendly correspondence between the Northern and TIE RECONSTRUCTION. 449 Southern Presbyterian Church "- your Committee recommend the following answer to be returned: Whatever obstructions may exist in the way of cordial intercourse between the two bodies above named, are entirely of a public nature, and involve grave and fundamental principles. The Southern Presbyterian Church can confidently appeal to all the acts and declarations of all their Assemblies, that no attitude of aggression or hostility has been or is now assumed by it towards the Northern Church. And this General Assembly distinctly avows (as it has always believed and declared) that no grievances experienced by us, however real, would justify us in acts of aggression or a spirit of malice or retaliation against any branch of Christ's visible kingdom. We are prepared, therefore, in advance of all discussion, to exercise towards the General Assembly, North, and the churches represented therein, such amity as fidelity to our principles could under any possible circumstances permit. Under this view the appointment of a Committee of Conference might seem wholly unnecessary; but, in order to exhibit before the Christian world the spirit of conciliation and kindness to the last degree, this Assembly agrees to appoint a Committee of Conference to meet a similar Committee already appointed by the Northern Assembly, with instructions to the same that the difficulties which lie in the way of cordial correspondence between the two bodies must be distinctly met and removed, and which may be comprehensively stated in the following particulars: 1. Both the wings of the now United Assembly, during their separate existence before the fusion, did fatally complicate themselves with the State, in political utterances deliberately uttered year after year; and which, in our judgment, were a sad betrayal of the cause and kingdom of our common Lord and Head. We believe it to be solely incumbent upon the Northern Presbyterian Church, not with reference to us, but before the Christian world, and before our Divine Master and King, to purge itself of -this error, and by public proclamation of the truth to place the crown once more upon the head of Jesus Christ as the alone King of Zion. In default of which, the Southern Presbyterian Church, which has already suffered much in maintaining the independence and spirituality of the Redeemer's kingdom upon earth, feels constrained to bear public testimony against this defection of our late associates from the truth. Nor can we, by official correspondence even, consent to blunt the edge of this, our testimony concerning the very nature and mission of the Church as a purely spiritual body among men. 2. The union now consummated between the Old andl New School Assemblies, North, was accomplished by methods which, in our judgment, 29 450 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. involve a total surrender of all-the great testimonies of the Church for the fundamental doctrines of grace at a time when the victory of truth over error hung long in the balance. The United Assembly stands of necessity upon an allowed latitude of interpretation of the standards, and must come at length to embrace nearly all shades of doctrinal belief. Of those falling testimonies we are the sole surviving heirs, which we must lift from the dust, and bear to the generations after us. It would be a serious compromise of this sacred trust to enter into public and official fellowship with those repudiating these testimonies; and to do this expressly upon the ground, as stated in the preamble to the overture before us, "that the terms of reunion between the two branches of the Presbyterian Church at the North, now happily consummated, present an auspicious opportunity for the acljustment of such relations" -to found a correspondence professedly upon this idea would be to endorse that which we thoroughly disapprove. 3. Some of the members of our own body were, but a short time since, violently and unconstitutionally expelled from the communion of one branch of the now United Northern Assembly, under ecclesiastical charges which, if true, render them utterly infamous before the Church and the world. It is to the last degree unsatisfactory to construe this offensive legislation obsolete by the mere fusion of that body with another, or through the operation of a faint declaration which was not intended, originally, to cover this case. This is no mere "rule" or "precedent, " but a solemn sentence of outlawry against what is now an important and constituent part of our own body. Every principle of honor and of good faith compels us to say that an unequivocal repudiation of that interpretation of the law under which these men were condemned, must be a condition precedent to any official correspondence on our part. 4. It is well known that similar injurious accusations were preferred against the whole Southern Presbyterian Church, withl which the ear of the whole world has been filled. Extending, as these charges do, to heresy and blasphemy, they cannot be quietly ignored by an indirection of any sort. If true, we are not worthy of the " confidence, respect, Christian honor and love" which are tendered to us in this overture; if untrue, Christian manliness and truth require them to be openly and squarely withdrawn. So long as they remain upon record they are an impassable barrier to official intercourse. Yours fraternally, JOSEPHa R. WILSON, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. THE RECONSTRUCTION. 451 To this letter a reply was adopted by the Assembly in terms as follows: Whereas, This General Assembly, at an early period of its sessions, declared its desire to establish cordial, fraternal relations with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S., commonly known as the Southern Assembly, upon the basis of Christian honor, confidence, and love; and with a view to the attainment of this end, appointed a committee of five ministers and four elders, to confer with a similar committee, if it should be appointed by the Assembly then in session at Louisville, " in regard to the amicable settlement of all existing difficulties, and the opening of a friendly correspondence between the Northern and Southern churches," and for the furtherance of the objects contemplated in the appointment of said committee, and with a view to remove the obstacles which might prevent the acceptance of our proposals by our Southern brethren, reaffirmed the concurrent declaration of the two Assemblies which met in New York last year, to the effect that " no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both the bodies shall be of any authority in the re-united body, except so far as such rule or precedent may affect the rights of property founded thereon;" and as a further pledge of our sincerity in this movement, sent a copy of our resolutions, together with our Christian salutation, to the Assembly at Louisville, by the hands of delegates chosen for that purpose, And wohereas, the Southern Assembly, while receiving our delegates with marked courtesy, and formally complying with our proposition for the appointment of a committee of conference, has nevertheless accompanied that appointment with declarations and conditions which we cannot consistently accept, because they involve a virtual pre-judgment of the very difficulties concerning which we invited the conference. Therefore, Resolved, That the further consideration of the subject be postponed and the committee be discharged. At the same time we cannot forbear to express our profound regret, that a measure designed and, as we believe, eminently fitted to promote the establishment of peace and the advancement of our Redeemer's kingdom in every part of our country, has apparently failed to accomplish its object. We earnestly hope that the negotiations thus suspended may soon be resumed under happier auspices, and hereby declare our readiness to renew our proposal for a friendly correspondence whenever our Southern brethren shall signify their readiness to accept it in the form and spirit in which it has been offered. 452 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. On motion of the Rev. George L. Prentiss, D.D., a committee of five was appointed to consider the perils which beset the system of popular education in this country, and to prepare a minute expressing upon the question the sentiment of the General Assembly. Subsequently, as the chairman of this committee, Dr. Prentiss offered a very satisfactory report, which was unanimously adopted. This report contained the resolutions following: 1. Resolved, That the General Assembly regards the free public school as an essential part of our republican system, as conducive in the highest degree to the moral unity, common spirit, and kindly sympathies of American citizenship, and as closely connected with all the best interests of Christian society in the United States. 2. Resolved, That in the judgment of the General Assembly the divorce of popular education from all religious elements, while involving a radical departure from the spirit and principles in which our public school system had its origin, would be eminently unwise, unjust, and a moral calamity to the nation. 3. Resolved, That the General Assembly is also entirely opposed to the appropriation of any portion of the public school funds for the support of sectarian institutions, and would regard the establishment of such a policy as fraught with the greatest mischief, not only to the cause of popular education, but hardly less to the interests of American freedom, unity, and progress. 4. Resolved, That whereas the Bible is not only the Magna Chcartca of the spiritual rights and liberties of mankind, but is also pre-eminently our National Book, the best model of our mlother-tongue, and the fountain of our highest thought and of our ruling ideas, both in private and public life, the General Assembly would regard its expulsion from the schools of the people as a deplorable and suicidal act; nor can it perceive that any real advantage could thereby be gained to the cause of popular education. 5. Resolved, That the General Assembly, conscious of being actuated in this matter by no other motive than the greatest good of the whole country, hereby professes its readiness to, co-operate with all Christian people, of whatever name, and with all good citizens, in so modlifying and perfecting our noble public school system, as to obviate as far as THE RECONSTRUCTION. 453 practicable the conscientious scruples and difficulties of any of its friends, and thus to render it a fountain of still greater light and benediction to us and our children after us to the latest generation. It was to be expected that, with the zeal and enthusiasm that filled this Assembly, it would endeavor actively to carry out the plans inaugurated by its predecessors for raising a Memorial Fund of Five Millions of Dollars, as a special thank-offering7 to the treasury of the Lord. After sufficient deliberation, the following gentlemen were appointed a Committee to raise the amount: W. S. GILMAN, of New York, Chairman. JOHN CROSBY BRoWN, of New York. JOHN E. PARSONS, of New York. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, of New York. WILLIAM T. BOOTH, of New York. ALEXANDER WHILLDIN, of Philadelphia. GEORGE JUNKIN, Of Philadelphia IsAAc SCARRITT, of Alton, Illinois. ARCHIBALD MCCLURE, JR., of Albany, N. Y. This Committee was instructed to prepare and forward to each congregation, through the pastor, stated supply, or session, to be laid before each member of the congregation, a clear, distinct, and minute plan for subscribing, reporting, collecting, and forwarding the amounts contributed to this fund, and also to prepare and send suitable blanks for these purposes. The Assembly also instructed the Presbyteries and Synods, at their Fall meetings, to make careful inquiry of each pastor and elder, and know if these subscriptions have been presented to the individuals of all our congregations, and in cases of failure, to take such measures as may best secure this result. 454 PRESBYTERIAN- REUNION. Institutions were also designated by the Assembly, to which, if contributions are given, these may be counted as included in the Memorial Fund, namely: I. -Theological seminaries, and colleges, and seminaries for the education of our daughters, including buildings and endowments of the same, it being understood that such institutions shall be chartered, and shall be in connection with the Presbyterian Church. II. Literary institutions for the raising of a native Gospel ministry in heathen lands. III. Church buildings and manses originating subsequently to the union, and otherwise entitled to public aid; hospitals and orphan asylums in connection with the Church. IV. Institutions for the education and evangelization of the Freedmen. V. Special contributions for the establishment of a Permanent Sustentation Funmd, which shall include appropriations for the support of disabled ministers and their families. A committee, appointed by the last Old School Assembly, to consider upon the allowance of the Heidelberg Catechism in the churches, presented a report which was unanimously adopted. The resolutions at its close, thus made the action of the Assembly of 1870, are the following: I. Resolved, That this General Assembly recognizes in the Heidelberg Catechism a valuable Scriptural compendium of Christian doctrine and duty. 2. Resolved, That if any churches desire to employ the Heidelberg Catechism in the instruction of their children, they may do so with the approbation of this Assembly. 3. Resolved, That this Assembly cordially rejoices at the continued and increasing evidences of agreement and of union among those whose symbols maintain in common the faith once delivered to the saints. Allusion has been made to the remarkable kindness and generosity with which the members of the various congregations of Philadelphia entertained the Assembly. Besides numerous private receptions, and a constant ex THE RECONSTRUCTION. 455 hibition of hospitality on the part of the families of both ministers and laymen, the SocIAL REUMON of Thursday evening, May 26th, deserves a grateful commemoration. That all the members of the Assembly, with their kind hosts, and very many distinguished men in attendance upon the sessions of the body might meet together most pleasantly, the Academy of Music was selected, as affording very great facilities for such a gathering. This spacious building was beautifully decorated with flowers, while a multitude of singing birds were so arranged as to fill the air with their cheering melody. A motto of welcome was placed in a conspicuous position:'"THE CHURCH WHICH IS IN PHILAD:ELPHIA SALUTETH YOU. A large committee of ladies and gentlemen had made such ample provision for the entertainment of the great company that were assembled at this most agreeable reunion, that none were incommoded, and all enjoyed it to the full. In one portion of the building, short addresses from eloquent men, some of them from other lands, attracted an applauding concourse. In other parts, groups were collected for conversation and the interchange of joyful congratulations over the happy progress of the Church's peaceful work. And in a spacious hall, with convenient ingress and egress, others were enjoying a repast comprising in bountiful profusion the choicest viands, sufficing for all the great company thus collected. On a subsequent evening the Oratorio of the Messiah was rendered in the same building, at the expense of the citizens of Philadelphia, in honor of the Assembly. These brief references but imperfectly describe most successful public exhibitions of the deep and cordial interest which evi. 456 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. dently existed in all the churches and congregations of Philadelphia with regard to this General Assembly, permitted, in God's Providence, to consummate the work of Reunion, and to provide for the future progress of Christ's kingdom. In rapidly reviewing the process of Reconstruction, as aided by the members of the Assembly of 1870, we cannot fail to be impressed with the promptness of their action, as well as with its satisfactory results. Every duplicate Board or Permanent Committee was combined upon principles somewhat similar, it is true, but yet by methods greatly varying with the peculiar circumstances of each case. - Here one is called by the name of the organization as known to the Old School; here another receives the title formerly employed by the New School. One results from the fusing together of both the former agencies; in the case of others, choice is made of that which, by reason of its better charter or more perfect plan, promises to do the most good. And, as in the Assembly itself these results were reached with no excited discussion or unfriendly ardor, but in the exercise of Christian courtesy and with an evident desire to seek the glory of God and the welfare of souls, so have the tidings of what was effected been received through the churches. On every hand we hear expressions of gratification and thankfllulness with reference to the work so far completed without any rivalries or jealousies or complaints. The history of ecclesiastical bodies may well be challenged to present any parallel to the wonderful readiness with which the entire Church now adapts itself to the new ordering of all its plans as thus THE RECONSTRUCTION. 457 arranged. Private opinions and interests have been subordinated to the common judgment and the general welfare. Under the evident superintendence of God's Holy Spirit and the plain direction of God's Providence, radical changes have taken place. But these, subjected to the tests of combined wisdom and experience, as gained by both the former branches of the Church, are cordially accepted by all. There appear to be no parties, no dissatisfied minorities, no unwilling protesters. With happy hearts and devout thanksgivings, Judah and Ephraim and Levi and Benjamin and all the other tribes merge their distinctive names and their separate plans in their sincere affection for the united Israel into which, as one, they flow together. And now some may ask, What further is needed to finish the work of Reconstruction so happily begun? In one sense, but little more, since the foundations are carefully selected, well laid, and strongly cemented. In another sense, much more, since upon these noble foundations there must be erected a structure vast and enduring. In indicating briefly the following portions of the yet uncompleted task, they are referred to because now occupying the attention of our thinking and progressive minds in various parts of the Church. Some of them are very generally deemed desirable, others require yet to be more thoroughly elaborated and matured. If adopted by the Church, time and use must prove their value or reveal their defects. Few, however, will deny that the present is an auspicious period in which to increase the efficiency of our system and to adapt its methods more perfectly to the demands of our country 458 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. and the world. It furnishes an occasion such as seldom can occur in the history of any communion, to make needed changes and to secure desirable reforms. It is a grand opportunity, a transition epoch, when the wisdom and experience of the past may guide us so that, holding fast to all that is really valuable in our traditional methods, we may also incorporate upon our system whatever the sound judgment and the ripe reflection of our most judicious leaders endorse and approve of as requisite for the enlarged and increasing usefulness of the Church. Our Presbyterian Homes in the great cities east and west are yet to be built. A Psalmody adequate to the wants of this wide-spread Zion is to be selected and prepared. A Manse is not yet found in every congregation. Some Sustentation plan remains to be suggested, that the Church, from the overflow of congregations whose concentrated wealth suffers a very trifling draft when from it but one ministry is sustained, may pour forth to the aid of feebler folds enough to save them from the sorrow or reproach of awarding to faithful pastors a scandalous maintenance. Some method must be devised by which the humbler and middling classes in cities and towns shall be more generally attracted to God's altars, that rich and poor may there meet together. A multitude of churches and mission chapels need to be built in our crowded centres of population, and at frontier points that will soon become such centres. The relations of the Church to popular education, and its responsibilities in training all children and youth are to be more clearly defined. Our Christian women, the deaconesses of primitive times, THI RECONSTRUCTION. 4,59 and in every age numerically, and by reason of their great capabilities for extensive usefulness, an invaluable band of helpers, -await the disposal of the Church, saying, "Here we are; send us." A host of unordained servants of Christ, laymen, it is true, yet gifted and educated, are ready to go everywhere preaching the Word in the shop, at the market, on the railway, from house to house, through the secular week, and on the Sabbath day in halls, parks, or streets, desiring to be told how they may perform this function decently and in order. Chairs for the instruction of missionaries in foreign and especially Eastern languages are yet to be endowed, that every man may speedily hear in his own tongue the wonderful works of God, and another stupendous Pentecost of conversions follow. Such preparatory steps are awaited as may draw other kindred churches to ours, or ours to them, as far as God intends organic union or fraternal correspondence between these, His witnesses. Some old measures must be revived, or new plans secured that may bring with increasing numbers the baptized members of the Saviour's fold to assume every duty of a religious life, until all the Church's children be taught of God, and great be the peace of her children. The session must be restored to its ancient efficiency, and its elders become more thoroughly the helps they were ordained to be, with a Scriptural and settled plan by which the efficient may be retained, and, ruling well, have double honor; while the inefficient, and such as experience declares cannot serve to edification, may retire from the active exercise of the office. Unemployed ministers must, by some well-ordered and perpetuated means,- be set at work, 460 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. and vacancies be constantly supplied. The arrangements for a Memorial Fund and kindred schemes must develop a system by which every son and daughter of the Lord's house shall habitually, upon the first day of the week, lay by in store an offering as God hath prospered them. A return to what is regarded by them as the New Testament use of the diaconate is by some demanded, who desire that the deacons may be more numerous and more fully employed, and that those who are of Israel may direct the Church's temporalities, according to the dictates of consciences instructed by the Holy Oracles and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. But we may not longer dwell upon these things, which are suggested in various quarters, and which many hope for as yet to result from the full Reconstruction of our beloved Church. To her future history and destiny the eye of faith may well look forward with glad and prayerful anticipations. How auspicious the beginnings of her prosperity! How solemn the responsibilities of those who now in God's Providence have committed to them this precious ark to bear forward! Truly there is much land to be possessed. Most of all gifts, do we not need individual piety, personal holiness, the entire consecration each of his one soul to Christ? Let but every heart be fired with love to Jesus, every closet be witness to new and more solemn devotion, each family altar blaze with a more constant and holy sacrifice, each pulpit and pew be filled by those who are absolutely dedicated to the service of the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, and His voice will send to us its sweet, assuring promise, " bMY PRESENCE SHALL GO WITH TIEE, AND I WILL GIVE THEE REST." -— — —-----—;----— -----— == —7 —==x r__I=' — —------— = —— = —-— i —-— 2 — ___ ---- --— =----- ------— = ---- - ~ - ----------— —-~ —-~ -;--- -C —F — —-L --— - --: ------— —-L- —; —-=-= = —-------— 21 — —-: —- ------— i — -- -— 7=5- - -- ----— I== —-=;= — —-------- ---------- --— ----------—, -,-----— = —-------- --- -— --;1 ----— — —-~ —-— =s —-2_ -i= 15=s----' — = ---- — -------- ---- -- — --— — —- — —--- ---— =- — —5 = —="-= —--— = —_ — —---— c —-----— —-- = —--=-;- —--— — -- -— I- —-, -=-:-`;=========-i= =---"=" —='="=cl-z--====-===== 1--1 —-— - ----- - -- -z I -- — = —- -' — L i-— _ — _; — —-— _c_ — sz —- —__ —- —-_-_ - ___--==-_c====__= —, c ~= —— ==== —— —- ---------- -— S=-c- —— - i iA - -------- ----- -— =--15 ------- —, ---- --------------—;= —--- ---- = —---------- ------- =r- —r -=-==5. - ----- -- -_ — - —--—, --- — I- __ _ _ ______=__=__=______ _ eii —-----— i — - _L —=-~_=--===I ii i ---- -.;-i-=- —— = ---- -----------— — — -- — = —----— — m I - — — —-— =--= — — --- ---— - ------— —— —------ --— —--- I — z,,- -- —-— - —- —-ii = — =_2 —— L= -----— =I--S — _ _'II: ---- -Iiirl -,, --------------- - —- - — — —--------- --------— ——,c —- ~I --- _ __ - ;I/ ---- I II ~i!llll —----— 7. -~M ---- --- -— 5_'"!IIPI'lilijl i''' /ii II! lil;liii I nl illlL n II a~~~~-= —==-___-=-T — — r;......, LIITiii_iiiilT"I''-' " "U'WUUL~;i-,=L=;2-I=-L: -—`7_ -— L —--— -- Si —-— - -- — XI —- —'-- --— ~ —-----: —- -— i ~ —;,-= — —-___ — —— -r -,-TLCCCC —_1._, — c-ho-,S~S\ 3nIC CHUECH, NW YOKI~Z CHAPTER EIGHTH. THE FUTURE CHURCH. BY THE REV. JOHN HALL, D.D. Objects of the Reunion. - The Church must hold fast what it has already gained. — Influence of American Cities. -What Church will control the Religious Character of the Country. - Law of Growth for Churches. - Need of Amalgamation. - Congregations misplaced. -A Distinct Territory for Each. — The best Missionary Organization. -Problems of City Missions. - Church Extension. - Disadvantages of a Casual Plan. - Each Church responsible for Evangelizing the Region around it. - Denominational Co-operation. - Function of the Elders. - Theory and Fact. - Stated Supplies. - "My People — "Our Pastor." - Ministerial Support. - Scotch Sustentation Fund. - The Deacons. - The Church must teach the truth. - " Gospellers." - Teach the Children. — Sunday-school Teachers and Literature.- Parental Responsibility. — The Shorter Catechism. — Presbyterianism in Great Britain.-Public Services of the Future Church. - Sermons- read and spoken. -Agencies of the Presbyterian Church. - Doctrines.-The great Object of Prayer and Labor. WrHEN the English and the Prussians, under Wellington and Blucher, effected a junction on the 18th of June, 1815, on the field of Waterloo, it was not that they might enjoy the parade and pomp of a'mighty host, or luxuriate in the gladness which led the old Prussian, after the manner of his country, to embrace and hug the victorious Englishman; but to continue the work in which they had been engaged - to drive a military despotism out of France, and to restore to Europe the blessings of an assured peace. And when two great sections of the Lord's sacramental host fell into one line in Pittsburg, it was not for the satisfaction of exulting in the sense of greatness, or indulging in mutual gratulations, but for the purpose of (461) 462 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. pushing Christian effort with more vigor, of concen. trating strength, and bringing the land under the Saviour's peaceful sceptre. The sympathy of numbers is indeed a valuable power, and the joy of enlarging communion on earth a precious fruit of the Spirit. But they are not to be rested in as an end, but employed as means. We are to be more sanguine because we are one; for the Spirit that has put aside the barriers to union, and made us one, may well be counted upon to carry us over other difficulties. If, however, flushed with a sense of strength and success, we rely on visible resources, and yield ourselves up to mere carnal exultation, we shall be certainly visited with God's displeasure, and with de. served humiliation. But if we feel our dependence on Divine aid, give God glory for the great things he has done for us, and address ourselves in a right spirit to the work of a Church of Christ in this land, we shall see enough in ourselves, and in the desolation around us, to emphasize the caution to the angel of the Church at Sardis, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die."' —Rev. iii. 2. The measure of the strength of. a machine is the strength of its weakest part. It is prudent for a besieged city to look to its defences where the line is most easily penetrable. And it is wise for a church to make good any position which it is right to hold, preparatory to successful aggressive effort. There is a charm about a new thing to many minds. It is all too common to quit the old spheres and relieve the monotony of labor by seeking fresh fields of exertion. The lines may thus be widely extended without any absolute gain. To cultivate a country is not to rush across it, here burning THE FUTURE CHURCH. 463 a wood, and there making a corduroy road over a swamp. When men steadily persistently, and on a definite plan, sit down on the land, root out its trees, fence it in, and cultivate it, till its valleys are covered with corn and its hills with cattle, they are really ruling over and subduing it. And on such a course, though less striking to the imagination than the movement that sweeps along like a prairie-fire, ought the Presbyterian Church to enter if she is to win in years to come the Master's commendation, " I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first."- Rev. ii. 19. The cities of America are permitted to exercise an immense influence. The agricultural districts of every country are slower in movement than the cities. From great cities smaller towns take their cue; from these, again, the villages; and from the villages the purely rural population. What an immense power is radiating from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and many other centres only distinguished from these by their areas of influence being less extended. It ought to be among the first objects of the united Church to strengthen itself in the great cities. Apostolic practice, the later history of the Church, the deductions of common sense, and the peculiar circumstances of America, all point to this. If we be strong in the cities, we shall be strong in the land. If we be feeble where people most do congregate, where mind is most active and vigorous, where thought is soonest and most loudly uttered, we must resign into other and abler hands the work of evangelizing the land. The Church that holds the 464 PRESBYTERIAN REUUMON. great cities will control the religious character of the country. In some of these, our Church is already strong, relatively. In some she is almost unknown. And in some she must be content to remain unknown. To expect missionary effort to be made from without for setting up Presbyterianism in New England towns, for example, is in the highest degree absurd. There are certain laws of life which must be respected in the growth of churches, as in the growth of any societies composed of human beings, and which you cannot control by any forcing agency with advantage. A congregation " got up " in a place by external zeal is usually a poor, sickly, hothouse plant, drooping under every unfavorable change.'" Behold, I am at the point to die," is its frequent cry, "and what profit shall this birthright do to me? " There is no wisdom in forwarding these artificial " erections." But when the people of a locality, looking around, and seeing how well a system works elsewhere, set up among themselves an organization, and maintain it as a thing of their own, there is hope; for there is natural and healthy growth. The plant is racy of the soil. It does not need the nursing demanded by an exotic. It has not to overcome the prejudice with which an intrusive stranger is apt to be regarded. Its existence is its justification. Its progress is an argument for sympathy, and its success is a plea for a second like unto it. And so the work of healthy and useful church extension advances. But how are our existing possessions to acquire that attractive appearance? 1. In many places there is need for wise amalgama TEE FUTURE CHURCH. 46 5 tion. Of what use can it be to maintain two feeble churches in a district which has seen its best days, when one would serve all the objects of a church? Union would set one man free for ministerial work elsewhere, and would secure employment and adequate maintenance for the other. That there is a second building is of no real consequence. Buildings and organizations are for men, not men for them. There is no indelibility about the sanctity of a church edifice; when it ceases to be what it was intended, its work is done. No mercantile firm that could move would remain in a region from which trade had disappeared simply because they owned a house. And the children of light ought to be no less wise than the children of this world. 2. There has been some waste of power in many of our cities and towns from the misplacing of congregations and mission stations. Sometimes this arose from the ignorance which comes from want of concert and consultation. Sometimes, one fears, there was too much eagerness to push denominational interests to permit dispassionate examination of collateral questions. It would be easy enough to have Presbyteries survey the cities and towns within their bounds, and so far as new churches and mission stations are concerned, distribute their resources to the utmost advantage, so as to secure as near an approach as possible to the territorial system. To give to each congregation that undertakes aggressive work a definite district for which, in Christian honor, it should be held responsible, would be an immense gain. There is, on the present plan, a great discouragement in the apparently unmanageable character of the undefined regions in which evangelistic 30 4f- (3lea PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. organizations labor. A small, defined, and appropriated "plot" would be cultivated with a sense of obligation and a hopefulness of spirit not attained upon the present haphazard method. So congregations only able to maintain themselves should have assigned to them the region immediately around their centre, for the careful cultivation of which they should be considered accountable. Many a congregation is sinking to dependence, when, by the faithful and joint effort of pastor and people, its pews might be filled, its funds replenished, and its life invigorated and prolonged by the evangelization of its surrounding district. The cheapest, most effective, and every way most reliable missionary organization is the congregation, which subsidizes and sanctifies the social instincts, and forms Christian character in and through the Christian fellowship, the want of which is the confessed weakness of ordinary city missions. When the lapsed or careless family has been brought to value religious privileges, and to desire them, the difficulty arises, How are they to be given? The mission is a reclaiming agency. It does not contemplate the cultivation, but only the awakening, of religious life. Its very success becomes its embarrassment. Its subjects are skilfully and patiently conducted upward to the point of seeking fellowship with God's people, and there they are to be abruptly switceed off to a congregation of which they know nothing, to be scrutinized and - through what elaborate forms they know not —put on probation for the Church privileges. It is not in the earlier stages of Christian feeling that this process can be hopefully entered upon. Even advanced Christians would not TI]E FUTURE CHURCI. 467 always cheerfully submit to it. Men like to be, or to think themselves, free. The people whom city missionaries approach have their full share of pride, sensitiveness, and independence. They do not like to be "evangelized," labelled, and handed over like a parcel, to a body of Christians which, however valuable and excellent, is a strange body to them.* But a congregation is able to offer a home to each family as it is brought in; the children form social ties; the parents learn to take an interest where they are of some consequence; and as the devout aspirations grow in the minds of parents or children, there are means of satisfying them simply, naturally, and without that violence which not unfrequently throws back an inquirer on his old and careless ways. The adjustment of this matter, and the determination of the means by which mission work can be made to pass over into organizations, like the trees of the field "whose seed is in themselves after their kind," is one of the questions awaiting settlement. The Presbyterian Church ought to be able to deal with it, and a satisfactory and practical plan would be eagerly scanned by other churches with a view to its adoption.t * So strongly has this difficulty been realized in the New York City Mission, that after much consideration, and in the face of some difficulties of detail, it has been decided to give congregational shape and privileges to the better attended mission stations. The difficulties encountered there would not attend the movements of a single Church. f In New York, and probably in other cities also, there has grown up a system-if that word can be applied properly to anything so irregular and without concert - of mission churches and schools. It is an obvious advantage that the congregations of such cities should be grouped in one Presbytery, so as to give opportunity for adjusting the orbits of these satellites, and securing by united counsel and joint action that they shall give light where it is most 468 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. 3. The United Church, having rearranged its Presby. teries, might easily direct Church extension among the self-sustaining. districts in such a way that no strength should be wasted, and that the least possible temptation should lie in the way of pastors and people to look with jealousy on their neighbors' prosperity. The loose and casual plan upon which churches and mission stations are, at present, too much located, has these disadvantages, no one of which may be thought serious, but the conjoined result of which is in the highest degree mischievous: 1. The Poor. are allowed to drop out of view of the Church, to fall into carelessness, and if ever won back,'which all too often never occurs, it is by whatever Church may " happen" to notice them. Of course it is well that they should be drawn in anywhere, if they learn Christ; but it is a pity that they should for any length of time swell the ranks of the lapsed masses, create necessity for missions outside the Church, and carry about in their bosoms the rankling thought- as we fear many do - that while they were of some consideration the Church cared for them, but so soon as they lost their position, disregarded them. How diligently Satan fosters this feeling, by exaggeration, misrepresentation, and reiteration, is known to all who have ever had to do with the neglectors of ordinances, who were once in better circumstances. As it is now, people are sought out and visited, because they are on the roll of the church or congregation. On the plan we recommend wanted, and with the least risk of their obstructing the path of other, and in some instances brighter, luminaries. Such an object is adequate reason in itself for having, for the present, large Presbyteries. THE FUTURE CHURCH. 469 they would be reached with Christian care, because they were in the given district which a church had in charge to convert into a " garden inclosed." The loss to the Presbyterian Church among the poor, though probably no greater than in other comnmunities, is yet far too great to be contemplated with indifference. Let us reform in this respect, and earn the benediction which comes on churches no less than on individuals, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." 2. Less important than this, but yet not to be overloolked, is the facility now afforded to persons so inclined to fall into practical neglect of ordinances. A family takes a residence in a given district. If not prominent enough to be anticipatedl with some interest, and calculated upon to enter a particular congregation, the members may remain long enough without any approach on the part of Christian people. No one feels responsibility. No one wishes to intrude. No one, with an honest, kindly zeal invites to the sanctuary, and compels a decision one way or another. All are apt to wait to see what the family will do. But the family will do nothing; and by and by, some prov. idence makes explanation necessary, and they may be heard saying, "Where we lived last, we attended church regularly, but since we came here, we knew no one, and we have fallen into neglect." But suppose the congregation charged with the care of a district. Now no apology is needed for calling upon the new family. It is an adclitted duty. It is done from felt responsibility. It is the way of the place. If the first call is without result, a second will perhaps succeed, and the hearts that would have been glad of an excuse 470 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. for letting God alone, feel that God will not let them alone, and are won to the reverent reception of His truth. And how many, under such a well-worked arrangement, would be found saying, "We love our church, for when we came here it took kindly notice of us, and drew us in, and we never felt as strangers, and God has made it the means of unspeakable good to us." 3. A third bad consequence follows: Districts neglected follow the usual law, and become missionary ground. Each church is surrounded by a belt of ungodliness. It should be reduced by the' activities of the church, or rather should never have been allowed to form. Instead of this, it is constantly encroaching on the church, widening itself and reducing the church area. At length there comes a period of Christian activity. "Here are lapsed people, living in heathenism. Shall we feel as Cain did? Are they to perish at our door? Surely not. Let us form a society." And so City Missions, Reformatories, Refuges,Woman's Aid, Ihelping Hands, and other well-meant expedients, come into being, each with its Secretary, Board, and Directors, first, second, and third, and try to drain this Pontine marsh, which is not only stagnant, but malaria-breeding, and threatening to overrun the church itself. And so the ministers have to be " approached; " the societies have to be sustained, and their rival claims nicely adjusted; and the community has to be interested, and - we write it with no lack of appreciation of the real good in these auxili. ary agencies — the churches are teased by the persistency of worthy people, who have a vested interest in' the life and prosperity of an organization, the failure TIHE FUTURE CHURCH. 471 of which they persuade themselves would be the collapse of Christendom. And then comes the long train of Fairs, Bazaars, Concerts, Lotteries, with their gambling, and other abominations, by which the world is humbly entreated, in its worldly way, to help Christ's kingdom, and in which we presume, it laughs at the simplicity of the church, or despises its servility. And in all this the church is punished in the way of her sin. Overtake the wants of the population, forsooth! How did the population get so far ahead that it is now a hopeless race to overtake it? By the church's neglect. Had she done her duty, this "mixed multitude" had not grown up defiant of the societies, which are called in as mercenaries to gain the ground which the church should have conquered and held all along. It may be said, indeed, that we assume that our church shall occupy all the ground and include all the population. We do not make such an assumption. Let other churches do the same if they think fit, and gather in all in their districts that are in affinity with them. The accumulation of lapsed Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Episcopalians will make a practically heathen people; and their being cared for in detail by their respective churches will prevent the catastrophe. Nor would it be any calamity if the Presbyterian elder should say to the Methodist class-leader, "I came the other day on a family that would more readily fall into your church than mine; won't you try them?" When the godless find churchmen -we use the word in its true sense - thus work disinterestedly, they will be helped to believe us something better than 472 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. members of ambitious corporations. Oh! for more charity and fewer " charities"! But, it may be said, this process would entail the employment of a large staff of Christian workers. Of course it would require a number. But in the first instance the Presbyterian Church has them to her hand. What are her Elders? A body of "selectmen" to comfort the minister? Anl honorary and ornamental Committee meant to give the weight of their sanction to the cause, as a list of Presidents gives respectability to a charity ball? No; they are a bench of Bishops, to whom, the Holy Ghlost has given oversight of a congregation. In theory the office is the glory of our church. In practice, it has been a source of immense strength to her. But she is not deriving from it all the aid she ought to obtain, and the fault is her own. She has not magnified the office that distinguishes her. Other churches have Bishops. So has she. Other churches have Deacons. So has she. But she has Elders, as she professes to believe, on the New Testament plan, and with adaptations and authority peculiar to her. Let the United Church make the whole use of the Eldership that Scripture and reason warrant, and she will find herself possessed of power she has never yet realized. Let ministers preach on the office. Let them teach the people to magnify it. Let them take pains to train Elders, to introduce them to work, to lead the people to expect their visits, admonitions, and Christian offices. Let earnest Elders deal with those who are idle or inefficient,% so as to deepen a sense of responsibility, and send the indolent either out * In some instances, Elders' mzeetings -separate and distinct - for mutual edification and prayer, have been set up, with great advantage. THE FUTURE CHURCH. 473 into the field, or out of the office. It is a mockery of sacred things, and has all the mischievous effects of such mockery, to go through the solemn pageant of ordaining men to duties they never attempt. Let us here be true to the facts of life, and to the commands of the Master; let us honor Him, and HI-e will honor us. This waste of power in the Eldership suggests another and similar sphere for reform. Hlere is a village that expects, like two-thirds of all American villages, to become "quite a place " by and by. Some years ago, a settled pastor did not get on well. There was some trouble about his leaving. The consequence is that the congregation has since been provided for by stated supplies. A minister is engaged from year to year, but not installed as pastor. A conscientious man will try to do spiritual work wherever God is pleased to put him; but it is easy to see how much is wanting to the complete idea of the pastorate in this penny-a-day plan. How does a man stand in the community whom a congregation hires from year to year, but does not sufficiently trust to require his settlement? In some instances, it is true, the minister has declined settlement for reasons of his own, in which case the history and operation of the evil are different, but the evil itself remains. Both minister and congregation are in a position of weaklness, relatively to one another, and to the general community. It is good for a minister to be able to say "My people." If there be true worth in him, the words recall responsibility, Christian honor, fidelity- -"My people- who appreciated me, called me, asked my settlement over them. in the Lord, honor me in the Lord, for whom I watch, pray, live, labor; and among whom, 474 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. so far as I know, I am to die and be buried." And so it is good for the people to be able to say " Our pas tor." It recalls their own act and choice, their obliga tion to receive his teaching, their union as a congregation, their relation to him and to one another.'" Our pastor, who loves us and whom we love, who belongs to us, to whom we belong, who goes in and out among us, in our joys and sorrows, sharing both, and giving to us, the children, the consolation that cheered our departing parents." This is the feeling that ought to be, and that cannot be in the case of these incomplete connections. "MIoderator," said the old man when it was proposed to transfer his pastor to another sphere, and the Presbytery was sitting upon the question, "our minister has been with us thirty years. He has married most of us, baptized our children, and married many of them. He has been at the dying beds and graves of our departed. Moderator, we hoped he would live among us, die among us, and be buried among us, and break g7round for us at the Ares'urrection mortn." Quaintly put as this is, it embodies a fine sentiment, the strength and value of which it is impossible to overestimate in a Christian church. It is desirable that the Presbyterian Commonwealth should rid itself of these anomalies, which are at war with her theory, with her organization, and, we humbly think, with her efficiency. A system of rotation, such as our Metho dist brethren employ, works well, because it is the accepted plan of operations. But when, in opposition to our Church's idea of the pastoral relation, the average of pastorates is reduced to almost the term of Metho THE FUTURE CHURCH. 476 dist residence in one locality, as it is said to be in New England; or when, as in the case of these long " stated supplies," years pass without any pastoral relation whatever, nothing but growing weakness, derangement, and depreciation of the ministerial office can result. It is a sore misfortune for the land when her rulers fall into contempt, and their office is despised, for respect for them is a kind of chivalrous self-respect. And it is a terrible loss to a Christian community when her religious leaders of whom the Spirit of the Lord says, " Obey them that have the rule over you," and the high office they occupy, fall below their proper place in the community. To raise the ministry, not in the Anglican, but the Presbyterian and evangelical sense, is to raise the entire Church, and to bless the commu.nity. But this desirable elevation is closely connected with another and very commonplace topic, the material sup. port of the ministry. Attention has need to be called to this point, and in many instances this is all that needs to be done. Many congregations only require to be shown that they are defrauding the laborer of his hire, that the preachers of the gospel should live by the gospel, and that their minister only lives by the gospel and his own or his wife's means, and they hasten to rectify the wrong. But in many cases there is an entirely mistaken idea upon this subject, which needs to be energetically dealt with, and removed, like any other practical error, by solid instruction. The agricultural population is slower in movement than the dwellers in cities. Producing on their own ground much of what they consume, the farmers form no idea of how much it 476 PR:ESBYTERIAN REUNION. costs to pay for everything. RPeceiving the money they use once a year, they are less familiar with it than traders who constantly pass it through their hands, and a sum of five dollars appears much larger to a farmer than it does to a storekeeper of no greater wealth. Then the amount of supplies "sent in" to ministers is tremendously overrated in quantity, and still more in vadue to 7him. On all these accounts the rural population has special need of enlightenment on this point. Yet it is not with them, but with the larger and richer churches, the reform is to be practically begun. When a subscription is to be raised in the community, we go to the larger givers first, knowing that they will be followed by the less liberal or less competent. Precisely so we believe it must be with the raising of the standard of ministerial income.*' The most obvious method of putting ministers' incomes upon a basis not contemptible is by a systematized employment of the resources of the rich for supplementing the contributions of the poor. The Free Church of Scotland has given prestige to the plan of a common fund, into which all put their contributions, * With this conviction we cannot regard, with any satisfaction the course pursued, no doubt with the best motives, by clergymen declining increased salaries. If they do not require them, nmany of their lbretlhren do. If they do not need the money, there are a ]unllredl ways of using it for good; and if they are not as caplable as the trustccs of the church of laying out for Godcl's glory a thousand dollars or so, they are hardly fit to lead a Christian community. It is not common for a ricl lawyer or doctor to reduce his fees because he is well off, nor would it serve either the profession or the community. The placing of the ministerial profession upon a different basis inl.this reespect, has done much evil, of whicl we shall have occasion to take subsequent notice. i' I I~~~~ (iWILLIAMI STRONG DNIL HAINI S.:,,!IdWILLIAM1 E. D J. S. FAI{RANI). ~lK>~ JOHN L. KNJGHLJ ~~~~~~~1\1 Q iP,I" THE FUTURE CHURCH. 477 and out of which all congregations receive for their ministers an "equal dividend." But it by no means follows that a movement in Scotland arising out of the strongest feeling naturally evoked by legislative wrong, could be here copied with success, in cold blood. The immense extent of country over which the Presbyterian Church must operate, and possibly what may be called the national feeling, are unfavorable to such a common sustentation firnd. But we are already sustaining many of the weaker "causes" through the Board of Domestic Missions, and otherwise. The consolidation of these resources and operations might be made to do the work at the lower end of the scale, while the movement of intelligence and liberality from the higher might meet it, and so produce a church above reproach on the score of justice to ministers: for surely it is not the divine will that the world should be brought to truth, justice, and piety, through a ministry systematically wronged and underpaid.* For the vigorous prosecution of a work of this kind, we have an order of officers- the Deacons - to whom it is appropriate, and ought to be congenial, work. The * One of the very strongest arguments on behalf of the national establishment of the British Isles is founded upon the inadequacy of ministers' incomes in America. They can tell there of ministers among us keeping stores, and being driven to still more unprofessional pursuits - almost as much so as Paul's tent-making. They make rather merry over such accounts as they have -received of " donation parties; " and they allege that churches so sustained cannot raise and educate in the natural way their own ministers. Even so lately as the last meeting of the Scottish Assembly [Established], Dr. Norman McLeod urged this argument with all his characteristic force and earnestness. lAmerican failure in this particular is a strong buttress of Old World state churches. 478 PRESBYTERIAN' REUNION. legislative arrangements of the country regarding ten. ures take out of the deacons' disposal and give to the trustees what in European churches is supposed to be peculiar to the deacons' court. How much good public service even a few spirited men, conversant with affairs, themselves accustomed to business life, might effect by the agitation and discussion of this question! Let us suppose them to call a State convention; to invite all denominations to send representatives; to compare notes; to ascertain how many ministers - educated for the work at some expense, often at the public expense - had been starved out of it; to compare the usual mode of providing ministerial incomes; to examine their proportion to the incomes of other forms of educated industry; to tabulate and publish the results; and then to set about acting on such suggestions as could not fail to be elicited: suppose other States to follow the example, what an amount of good might be done to the Church and to the country! For our sober and deliberate opinion is, that on this side is the greatest weakness of the American churches. In zeal, fidelity to the world, energy, and capacity of adaptation to the wants of men, they have no superior. But the arrangements regarding the supply and maintenance of ministers are open to criticism. Of course, we who live in the country understand the allowances that have to be made for its peculiar circumstances, arising from a history like which the world has no other. But others have not the intelligence, perhaps not always the candor, to take these things into account; yet the fact may be fairly weighed, as one of many considera tions that should stimulate us to reform. TEM FUTURE CHURCH. 479 Our attention has been fixed, so far, upon the means of " strengthening the stakes." But when the Church has put her machinery in the best working order, when the organization is as thorough as it can be made, what is it to accomplish? What work is to be done? To this question but one answer can be given. The great function of the Church is to teach the te uth. The Church is a mighty civilizer. She keeps intellect awake. She is a grand reformer. Science flourishes most where her testimony is clearest and best heard. Commerce lives in the security and confidence she begets. Crime is kept mainly outside her territory. But all those incidental and collateral benefits are attained, not when directly aimed at, but as the results of the Church's fidelity to her main duty —the duty of witnessing to the truth. When these objects are aimed at as primary, the consequence is often enough a failure; when the salvation of men is directly aimed at, the minor benefits come in their place as consequences. There is indeed no true social or moral movement in which the Churchman may not take his place. There is no honest human effort in which he may not, if it be otherwise suitable, bear a part; but his main power to do good, his special and distinctive " talent," is setting forth the Christian truth. To use a bad instrument when a good is at hand; to employ an old flint-gun when the newest and best can be had - such a course is, by common consent, foolish either in peace or in war. Why, then, should men armed with that which is " the power of God unto salvation " turn to weaker weapons? Is human ingenuity to succeed where the power of God is ineffectual? Is human speculation to avail 480 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. where divine revelation fails? Will good be clone by ingenious essays on petty side-issues, if "the cross of Christ " be impotent? HIe who loves Zion may well pray and labor that the Church of his affection may be ever distinguished by her decided, upright, downright, thorough evangelicalism. Let her ministers be " Gospellers." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the sharp-cutting instrumnent with which they are to clear away vices and crimes. "If the iron be blunt,' says the wise man, " and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength." And many a strong man is toiling with a blunt axe, when the sharpest possible is within his reach. "For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Let the Presbyterian Church of the future be marked above all by this, that her ministers are teachers of the AWford, in Sabbath schools, in Bible classes, in the pulpit; let her people be thorough in their knowledge of the Scriptures; let her prayers, her sermons, her literature be rich in scripture truth; and her energies will be little wasted and her time little consumed in the temper-trying discussion of such petty crotchets as have all too often vexed the community.* * The earlier Protestants were distinguished by their using their Bibles in church. MBen have heard of the great English evangelist's amazement when he read his text in a Scottish pulpit, at the rustle of the leaves as the people turned it up in their Bibles. Why have we abandoned this goodly custom of the fathers, both of Scotland and of New England? Why not use our Bibles in church? We need every help to memory in divine things, and it is of some importance to be able to "' place " the great sayings of inspiration. Nothing can be more pitiable than the helplessness of many a professing Christian, THE FUTUuRE CHURCH. 481 We make no apology for adverting at this point to the imperative necessity that exists for securing for our children thorough scriptural instruction in the Sunday schools. It is pleasant to think of the homage done to God's Word by its being read in our common schools; but if the American churches persuade themselves that anything approaching to real scriptural knowledge is thus given to any considerable proportion of our population, we fear it is a mischievous delusion. Thousands have passed through them with no more knowledge of the Word than suffices for a flippant allusion, or a profane reference. The Church must see to it that the Word of her God be taught her young members, or they will be practically ignorant of it. Nor is it at all certain that their attendance on the Sabbath school is an adequate remedy. Many teachers are incompetent as teacihers; and much of the Sunday-school literature which is superseding the reading of the Bible is worse than useless. It is mischievous. What can be the effect of giving children mere stories with just enough spice of religion to make them " Sunday books," but to drive them to novels? For novelettes many of these volumes are, and often poor as such. There is little reading, and no study of Scripture on week-days; and on Sabbath it is supposed to be as it should if the chil. dren are engaged with their Sunday-school books; and so they grow to maturity, with only the most superficial ideas of the holy oracles. The years roll on, and they go West, or to Europe, or to social circles at home, where indifference or scepticism reigns, or where some human when an occasion arises for finding,- say one of the minor prophets. And yet this book is his Bible - the foundation of all his hopes! 31 482 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ism" is is the ascendant, and they have no definite knowledge to the contrary, and go with the tide. All this must be considered by the Church, if her children are to be safe.* And at this point let us not suppress the hope that the catechism of the Church will receive increased attention in the training of the young. If the vows which parents make in the act of dedicating their children to God mean anything, the parents bind themselves to teach their offspring the doctrines of the Christian religion. Do they? Were we to ask thousands of professing Christians, " What doctrines of the Christian religion have you taught your children? " we should get no satisfactory answer. If our young people were left to learn arithmetic and grammar in the haphazard way in which they are left to learn these doctrines, these unambitious attainments would be much rarer than they are. No wonder that a speculation cannot be pro. pounded among us so silly that it shall not find followers. Multitudes, and that where the population is the least affected by the tide of emigration, have no anchor in definite religious knowledge, and are consequently blown about by every wind. True, it is easy to make flippant statements about the difficulty of learning our catechism, and its obscurity to the young mind. The young mind finds the multiplication-table hard; learns * It will not, I trust, be thought improper to refer here to the fact that the Scotch-Irish form so large and so reliable a portion of many a congregation, and that it is because they have been so grounded in the truths of the Word, that when they settle, instead of consulting mere convenience, they either find out or they form a congregation where they can have the same old, definite truths. There are, of course, many sad exceptions, but such is the genera] course; and such is its explanation. THE, FUTURE CHURCH. 483 it as a mere matter of memory, and finds the use of it afterwards. It is so with much of the education of every one of us. Common sense, observation, and fidelity to our vows all combine to urge upon parents the right and conscientious use of a help so valuable in giving the young members of the Church a competent knowledge of the doctrines of the Christian religion.* In confirmation of the views here presented, and with general reference to the fitness of Presbyterianism to instruct and, if we may so say, unify a people, let the reader give a moment's thought to Scotland. Small as a country, and one half of it moor; long harassed by wars, intestine and foreign; in constant jeopardy from the ambition of England, and compelled again and again to buy her freedom with blood, what a power she has been in religion, in philosophy, in commerce, in politics, and in war! How much she has moulded human thought, and influenced human action! Her Church has again and again been violently agitated, and many a secession has taken place in her borders. But her seceders carry with them her Confession of Faith, her catechism, her forms of government and of worship, without the slightest change. The overwhelming mass of her people are Presbyterians. Look at England, which has also a Church, from which an enormous proportion of the * It has been shrewdly observed that the method of baptism in the English Establishment - the placing of the responsibility of training upon persons who became sponsors as a mere act of social courtesy, and who mean nothing- has done much to send people into the ranks of the Baptists. It is matter for congratulation that there was such an excellent body to receive them; for the. rough sense of mankind will always ask the value of infant baptism, detached from parental teaching.' Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them." 484 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. population, nearly a half, have seceded. But when they have gone out they have uniformly left behind them bishop, prayer-book, and catechism, and adopted or set up something entirely without all these - often conspicuously opposed to them. English seceders get away as far as they can from their former system; Scottish sece. ders, without exception, have gone out avowedly and actually to obtain a purer Presbyterianism. We adduce this notable historical comparison, not with regard to the relative goodness of either system, but as proof that a Presbyterian Church, rightly worked, gives stability, steadfastness, and a healthy, safe, conservative bias to a people. It is therefore, we humbly venture to think, well adapted to elevate a country like ours, - a country whose population is so various in training, mental habits, and tendencies, and in which change is all too readily presumed to be improvement. For another feature of the Scottish population deserves our notice in this connection. Though repeated schisms have weakened the "Kirk'" established in the country, the population is exceptionally homogeneous in religious thinking. Not only is Arianism, for example, unknown, but even denominations elsewhere strong, such as Congregationalism and Methodism, have hardly found materials with which to build. Whether this is an advantage or not, may be a matter of divergent view. The question is not material to our object. The point we emphasize is, that Presbyterianism has held and united the whole people. It has retainedcl the strongest hold on the popular mind,. as evidenced by the influence of its courts. The STimes newspaper, though conspicuously unfriendly to Scotland, in a review of the last General -THE FUTURE CHURCH. 485 Assemblies and the U. P. Synod, describes them as the most influential ecclesiastical assemblies in the British empire, compared with which the meetings of the Congregational Union and Convocation are feeble. These courts of review exercise real power. They decide cases, legislate upon questions that have interested kirksessions, presbyteries, and synods, and so have reached the entire thoughtful mind of the country. The effect of such an agency here ought to be the same as it has been there -to bind the people together in conviction and sympathy; to maintain the recollection of a real and spiritual authority in the world; to keep alive in men's minds the feeling that there is a kingdom of Jesus Christ to which and through which he speaks on earth; and so to give to men in a true and evangelical way what the Church of Rome offers in corrupt and unscriptural fashion, but yet by presenting which, and so satisfying a craving of the human spirit, she commends herself to mankind, and maintains her position. In order to realize this high object, and become a yet greater power for good in the country, we doubt not the Church of the future will seek in a.higher degree to popularize her services. And this, we apprehend, will be done, not so much by the adoption of new, as by the resumption of former methods. Take, for example, the subject of singing in divine service. In many churches this noble function of the Church has been relegated to a few persons, and the appearance a congregation presents to an observant heathen would be that of a body of people in a large building, at one end of which, on an eminence above the people, a man does all the praying 486 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. and talking, and at the other end of which, three or four others, at a greater elevation, do all the praising! This plan is bad enough in city churches, but when it is rudely mimicked in small villages, as it has been seen, it is intolerable. It recalls Conybeare's description of the state of matters in many English churches, where a set of the worst reprobates in the parish bawl out " the Hanthem," or shriek out the Psalms, out of which the poetry has been previously extracted by Tate & Brady. Musical faculty and moral worth do not, unhappily, always go together; and where the " voices " in the singers' gallery disport themselves in the intervals of their performance in a way more like their week-day than their Sabbath spheres, the farce is turned into an abomination. We shall live, let us hope, to see this thing banished from evangelical churches. All the history of Protestantism is against it. Luther led Germany to worship in spirit and in truth in no small degree through the popular hymn-singing. Knox had the Scottish people taught to praise God so thoroughly, that a mass-meeting could sing a psalm through without books, and in the "parts" of the melody. The Wesleys, the power and value of whose work can hardly be overrated, sung Methodism into the cots and hearts of the most inaccessible of the English population. The spectacle of a church claiming to win the masses, and taking from them the one portion of public worship in which they can all unite, would be, if not so saddening, supremely ridiculous. It is idle to say that certain people get music of the highest order elsewhere, and if they cannot have it in TIE FUTURE CHURCH. 48'7 the church they will not come. The patrons of the opera and theatre have never been of so much real value in the Church as to be worth consulting, and least of all should devout and serious worshippers be wronged and driven away, for the aesthetic satisfaction of casual and patronizing visitors to the services. Let Israel worship God as He has appointed, and let the " mixed multitude" follow, or keep away. But the army of the Lord is not to change its plans for the idle pleasure of the camp-followers. And it is vain to think of winning the world by mere music. What is the value to ainy church of such acquisitions The week-day entertainments supply the genuine article, and without making the church an actual theatre, you cannot compete with them. Whether a less formal style of pulpit address will be adopted in the future, is an open question. There always will be in the Church probably — and to the Church's advantage - a number of men who will read sermons, which by their very nature. almost require to be read. But possibly the power of the ministers, as a whole, would be increased by their speaking instead of reading their discourses. We have to get rid of the phrase "eextempore preaching." There never was continuous good extemnpore preaching. Any preaching, to be good, must be carefully prepared, in the order of thought, links of argument, substance of illustration, and in some parts in the phraseology. It is not unreasonable to think that the minister can remember what he expects his people to remember. And it is hard to expect the audience to carry away definite thought which an educated man cannot put into intelligible lan 488 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. guage and speak to them. At the same time, it must not be forgotten, that no rule can be laid down that will apply to all cases; that men will always do their work according to their aptitudes and tastes; and that the great power that is wanted is not so much that of free utterance or finished reading, as the power of the Holy Ghost. When we recollect' that Jonathan Edwards read closely those sermons through which so noted a revival was produced, we are interrupted in our generalizations. God " divideth to every man severally as He will." That the organization of the Church is adapted to the institutions of our country, and that it can work harmoniously with them, is a truth so obvious as to require only statement. Again and again there has been collision in Great Britain and on the Continent between the civil government and the churches. We see no likelihood of such conflict here. A free church works without obstruction in a free state; and the intelligence, constancy, and fidelity to principle, which the Church inculcates and fosters, constitute the best guarantee for the stability and security of a people's government. No man can possibly forecast the future, but it is not too much to hope that, with the growing and consolidating Republic, there will also advance and prosper a Presbyterian Church, whose influence shall bind together and bless these United States. For one can see no reason to anticipate any material changes in the forms or methods of our Church. Our brethren of other denominations, as it seems to us, find it wise and proper to adopt methods — to say the THE FUTURE CHURCH. 489 least - very like ours, when they wish to extend their church operations. The best and most evangelical Episcopal missionary society has as little to do with the bishops as it can. The'"Union" of our valued Congregational brethren in England, or here, looks to us -and we regard it only with kindly interest — like "feeling after" our method of concerted action. So, when times of revival have come, the free worship for which we have always contended becomes natural to many who declined it before, and men pray as the Spirit gives them utterance. No amount of religious earnestness, so far as we can see, will render our ma chinery useless, or our forms of worship obsolete. The current of spiritual life cannot become so deep that our system shall have no channel for it. Let millennial knowledge and peace come in, and the simple forms of our Church will well avail for the expression and culture of religious feeling. When " the people shall be all righteous," they can be safely trusted to "look out among theml" men of good report for places in the Church. When mutual love is fervent, free men can meet and confer without collision of temper, or violation of the unity of the Spirit. The supremacy of God's Word, the Headship of Christ over His Church and people, the brotherhood and parity of His ministers, and His constant presence with His Church by the Holy Ghost, who energizes her effort and makes effectual the means of grace —these doctrines, for which the Presbyterian Church has ever been a witness, will not dwindle into insignificance in that coming and glorious time, when "the mountain of the Lord's house 490 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. shall be established in the top of the mountains, and when all nations shall flow unto it " - a period of glory and blessedness into which, we believe, will extend the future of the Presbyterian Church, and a period for the speedy approach of which it is her duty and her honor to pray and labor. APPENDIX. APPENDIX. I. STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH (OLD SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE I837. BY THE REV. DAVID IRVING, D.D. A GENERATION has passed away since our Church became two bands. The forces which divided it did not arrest the life and aggressive action of the two separate parts. Each gradually took up an independent position, and sought in its own way to advance the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. Each at the outset had its own defined policy, which has either been modified or enlarged to meet new demands or a new order of things; and each has been brought, as the result of a thorough and intelligent experience, to see eye to eye, as to the best mode of conducting the work and the varied schemes of the Church. But it is only with one branch of the reunited body we have to do, and to show in figures, as far as these can express its vital forces, the things accomplished by it. Energy and an enlightened denominational zeal has marked the ecclesiastical life and history of the Old School branch. Holding to certain great principles of action before the disruption, it has steadily and with an increasing devotion maintained them since. This has not interfered with what it regarded as outside efforts. To humane and philanthropic enterprises it has given, through its local churches and individual gifts, much generous sympathy and aid, and it may be truly said that no portion of Christ's Church, according to its numerical strength, has done more for such movements than the members of the Presbyterian family in this land. A small part of what the Old School has done in this-line of effort may be seen in the " Miscellaneous" column of its "Minutes," which amounts in the last three years to $I,2II,654. This sum is mainly the result of congregational 493 494 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. collections; the steady outflow of individual donations cannot be estimated. It took time for each branch to settle down into a healthy and working condition;.hence the Minutes of I838 can give no just estimate of the relative strength and state of the two parties. These can be gathered more truly from the published records of 1840, when, each knew its true place and the number of its friends and adherents. The undivided Church made the following report in I837:.,., *4 A 9,5 9 MEMBERS. I23 96 35 I,22I I85 I99 I763 I262,55783 From this period until I869, the last time when its Minutes as a distinct organization were issued, we have thirty working years, including that of I840; dividing this into three equal portions, and we have the following resultschool in: d*4f |E _5 |MEMBERS. U U z849 23 I22 1,860 252 364 2,52 200,830 I859 33 I68 2,577 297 493 3,487'279,630 869 7 43 2,3821 8587 376 2,746 258,903 2869 27 2E43_ 2,382 187 376 2, 740 2-58,903 APPENDIX. 495 In the first decade there is a gain of 6 synods, 26 presbyteries, 639 ministers, 67 licentiates, I65 candidates, 749 churches, and 74,247 members. In the second decade there is a gain of io synods, 46 presbyteries, 7I7 ministers, 45 licentiates, 129 candidates, 975 churches, and 78,800 members.. In the third period there is a decrease of 6 synods, 25 presbyteries, I96 ministers, IIo licentiates, II7 candidates, 747 churches, and 20,727 communicants. This last period covers two important secessions from the body. One of these in I86i, when io synods, 45 presbyteries, embracing 74I ministers, and I,I34 churches, with nearly 76,ooo communicants, in what was then called the Confederate States, withdrew, and were organized into a separate Church; the other in I866, when the larger portion of the churches in Kentucky, and about one-half of the churches in Missouri, embracing some Io,ooo members, ceased to be enrolled as an integral part of our Church. This last period, though showing from the causes specified a loss in the aggregate, was yet equally with the others a reaping time, and considering all the circumstances in our national and ecclesiastical affairs, was one of the richest results and most decided growth. Thus 370,589 members in the three decades were admitted on profession of their faith into communion with the church. In the first were received 93,546 on examination; in the second, I39,657; and in the third, I37,386. Taking the first twenty years, when a comparison only can be drawn between the relative increase of the Old School Church and that of the country at large, and we have this interesting fact, that whilst the increase of population in the latter from I840 to I86o was 8I~ per cent, the advance in the membership of our Church was I3I per cent. At the time of the separation the Church was engaged in evangelistic efforts at home and abroad. The organizations aided were both ecclesiastical and voluntary. These were not, however, as numerous and comprehensive as the schemes instituted and fostered by each branch in later times. Three prominent causes were aided by those who adhered to the Old School body, and these were in one form or another under ecclesiastical control, viz., Foreign Missions, Domestic Missions, and Education. As soon as the division took place, the Western Foreign Missionary Society was transferred to the General Assembly, and through it as the Board of Foreign Missions has the 496 PRESBYTERIAN RIEUNION. Church sought the evangelization of Jew and Gentile, of Romanist, Pagan, and Mohammedan. The " Board for the Publication of Tracts and Sabbath-school Books," afterwards changed to the " Presbyterian Board of Publication," was transferred, under the name of "The Presbyterian Tract and Sabbath-school Book Society," from the Synod of Philadelphia to the care of the General Assembly in i838, and became one of the accredited agencies of the Church. The Church Extension Committee, afterwards called "Board," was instituted by the Assembly in I844, and continued under the direction and oversight of the Board of Missions till I855, when it became a distinct body, and was located at St. Louis. The sixth benevolent scheme of the Church was inaugurated by the General Assembly in I849, to meet the wants of disabled ministers and the widows and orphans of deceased ministers. The funds for this object were disbursed by the Board of Publication upon the recommendation of presbyteries, and afterwards they were transferred for distribution to the trustees of the General Assembly. The seventh ecclesiastical agency is the Assem bly's Committee on Freedmen, authorized by the supreme judicatory of the Church in I864, but which did not get into active and effective working until the following year. It will thus be seen from this simple statement that the benevolent schemes of our Church have more than doubled since its separate and independent action, and that they cover very broad and important interests, both in themselves and in their immediate bearing upon the extension of Christ's own cause among all classes and in all lands. In their' support many hearts have been enlisted, and for their advancement and success much Christian activity, generosity, selfdenial, and prayer have been given and consecrated. Such offerings have been blessed to many souls, and have been a great spiritual power in the Church itself. In summing up the contributions of our Zion to the different specified objects, we can only gather up the amounts contributed directly to the respective Boards and Committees, but these are far from embracing the Church's gifts to these causes. Thus the Board of Education receives a small part of what is generously bestowed upon this important work. This may be seen from a comparison of the Minutes of the General Assembly with the published statements of the Board. The latter reports for the last three years a total of APPENDIX. 497 $123,5o7; the former sets forth $8I5,720, as given in this time for this object. A great disparity is also seen in Church Extension and some of the other causes, but even these columns in the " Minutes" fail to exhibit the majority of individual gifts and private subscriptions to various interests of the Church. But, taking simply the reports of the different Boards, etc.; and we have the following facts and figures: DOMESTIC MISSIONS. This Board has received, from I838 to I870, $2,548,965. It is impossible to tell the number of missionaries who have been aided throughout the length and breadth of the land, the number of churches brought into existence, sustained and made self-supporting by its gifts, and the number that but for its steady aid would have died. EDUCATION. This Board, for the various departments aided by it, has received, from I838 to I870, $I,357,335, and has assisted in this time 2,76i candidates for the ministry, as well as extended help to schools and colleges. THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION, Leaving out of view its large sales, and what it has accomplished by its sound literature, has received for its colportage fund, etc., from 1840 to I870, $56I,927. CHURCH EXTENSION. During its eleven years' connection with the Board of Missions, it aided 382 churches to complete their buildings without debt, and obtained in contributions $68,544. In the fifteen years of its separate existence it has raised $5I5,287, given help to Io040 churches, and secured free from debt property worth $3,575,500; making a total of receipts $583,83I, and of churches assisted I422. THE DISABLED MINISTERS' FUND Reports a total of donations given by the Church, from I849 to I869, 82 498 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. at $I99,788. The number of ministers, widows, and orphans relieved and cheered by this fund cannot be given, but the numbers reported each year make in the aggregate 422 ministers, 586 widows, and 62 families of orphans. The number assisted for I870 is 64 ministers, 91 widows, and 13 families of orphans. The receipts for the past year were $36,774. The total of the Permanent Fund is $41,442. THE FREEDMEN S COMMITTEE Has received from the churches, during its five working years, $I35,264, has organized 75 churches, has 76 schools, and 5:7 buildings for church purposes.:In its churches are gathered 5,264 communicants, and in its schools 5,220 pupils. FOREIGN MISSIONS. In I83I the Western Foreign Missionary Society was organized at Pittsburg, Pa. This society received till I837, from churches and individuals, $92,362; then it was transferred to the General Assembly, as has been already stated. From i838 to I870 the Board of Foreign Missions has received from all sources $5,296,365; but omitting what it has acknowledged from Government school funds for the Indians, Bible and Tract Societies,- etc., the amount from the Chlrch, including legacies, is $4,379,879. The following were transferred to the Board by the Western Foreign Missionary Society: 3 missions, 7 stations, I missionaries, 6 male and 27 female assistant missionaries; in I870 the Board has 21 missions, 67 stations and sub-stations, 84 foreign missionaries, I5 ordained native ministers, 8 licentiates, a large number of candidates, 8 foreign male and 87 female assistant missionaries, I99 native assistants, I2 presbyteries, 54 organized churches, with a membership as far as reported of 2,047. In the different schools, day and boarding, are 7,465 children and adults. The receipts of the past year have been $271,940. Besides these results, the property of the Board in New York, and the property reared and gathered for missionary purposes in different lands, would cost to-day, to obtain them, at least $350,000. The vast sums;contributed for theological seminaries and colleges APPENDIX 499 in the past thirty years, and the influence of these upon the growth and efficiency of our Zion, cannot be estimated. Never in its history were there such noble gifts and such Christian givers as are now within its pale, but never had our branch such large resources to consecrate to the cause of Christ and humanity. In I858, when the membership of our body was almost the same as in I869, the aggregate of all its reported contributions for benevolent and congregational purposes was $2,544,692; but the whole amount in I869 was $4,526,28I, showing a vast difference in these two periods and in. favor of the present. The total number of books and tracts issued by -the Board, of Publication from its organization to I870 is I5,I32,788. Last year I,765,ooo copies of the "Sabbath-school Visitor' (a semi-monthly), and I75,00 copies of the "Record," were printed. Within the.same time 42,500 copies of the pamphlet "Foreign Missionary," and about 720,000 copies of the children's "Foreign Missionary," were issued. A church thus organized and equipped, possessing such life and zeal, guided throughout its various departments by like faith and principles, animated with the same spirit, and seeking the same end, is capable of still greater achievements; as these facts- show, it has been steadily putting forth new life and power, and never was it so capable of doing great things for God as at the present time. -.If figures are in themselves dry and bald, still, as in the case before us, they are expressive of things done, and if rightly viewed they contain the seeds of events that are yet to be developed. The "spolia opina " for God and eternity are to be gathered. May some future statistician show by facts and figures the wonderful impulse given to our church life, benevolence, and deeds from the year 870. - 500 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. IIL STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH (NEW SCHOOL BRANCH) SINCE I837. BY THE REV. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, D.D. THE history of the New School branch of the Church, during the period of the disruption, has been so well and fully written and put on record in another portion of this volume, that very little remains to be stated. A few brief statistics will complete the picture. When the disruption became an accomplished fact in I838, it found this portion of the denomination utterly unprepared for a separate existence. Such a result they had not contemplated. They opposed the excision of I837, and sought to maintain the integrity of the body. They clung to the hope to the very last, relinquishing it only when the breach appeared to be irreparable. Consequently, they were compelled to enter,upon their distinct course, without records, without funds, without any organized agencies to carry forward their operations (save such as were furnished by co-operative associations), and even without any well-defined plans for the future. In these circumstances, it was found impossible to publish, in connection with the Minutes of i838, any detailed statements of the condition of this branch, thus rudely broken off from the parent tree. The Statistical Reports of the Presbyteries fell into the hands of the other branch, and were published in connection with the Minutes of their proceedings. The first tabular statement of the denomination called "the New School," appeared in i839, in connection with the published Minutes,of the Assembly of that year. Excluding the baptisms and funds, the following figures, taken from the "Summary View" of the Statistical Reports, give some idea of the composition of the body at that.date: COMMUNICANTS......z 85 I, o18 o105 43 -,286 0oo,850 APPEINDIX. 501 These figures, however, are not reliable. On examining the roll, it is found that ten Presbyteries are included improperly, and must be deducted. The table thus corrected would be as follows ui U;'C R i,:= COMMUNICANTS. P c-I U U. 75 1,o93 95 43 1,260 97,033 A reference to the Statistical Reports themselves shows that the returns from the churches were very imperfect. A large number of them failed entirely to report the number of communicants; so that the whole number of church members was much greater than here appears, probably by one-tenth at the least. This would show a total of I06,736 communicants, which probably is a near approximation to the true state of the case. The number of the Synods can be gathered only from the roll of that year. It thus appears that seventeen Synods were represented, in two cases by only a single Presbytery, the remaining presbyteries adhering to the other branch; so that but fifteen Synods are to be reckoned as attached to the New School branch at the disruption. The progress of the body may properly be measured at equal intervals of ten years, covering a period of thirty years to the Reunion. In I849 the following summary view was given: g, C a Em; [9 COMMUNICANTS. (2o xo4,453 I3o 58 I, 555 )39,o47 20 04was the 1,453 30 58 Triennial555 39,047 Th,'s was the period of Triennial Assemblies, and many circumstances conspired to retard the growth of the body during the whole decade, as has already appeared in the Narrative History; yet the growth was very gratifying. 502 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. At tlhe expiration of another period of the same number of years, the Minutes of 1859 exhibit the following tabular statement: f~ a; a s COMMUNICANTS. N 1 112 U U 23 108 1,545 I34 370 - 1 I,542 I37,990 The progress of the body would appear from this statement to have been slower than in the previous decade. But it is to be borne in mind that in the year 1858 the Southern Synods, in their zeal for the conservation of the system of slavery, and in obedience to the behests of the slaveholding aristocracy of that portion of the country, separated from their brethren at the North, and walked no more with them. The returns from the Synod of Virginia for a previous year are included in the summary of I859. The other Synods had been dropped from the roll. Had these Synods also been reported in 1859, the footings would have been as follows: r U, I; z oz: U S a = 4COMMUNICANTS. 27 22,6 36 388 I,2I 47,664 7 Comparing22 i,64s statement with that f36 388 it i een72 that th47,664 Comparing this statement with that of 1849, it is seen that the denomination, notwithstanding the difficulties and discouragements with which it had to contend, elsewhere circumstantially and truthfully related, had made considerable progress, and had fully vindicated its claims to an honorable recognition among the ecclesiastical powers of the land. Another period of ten years covers the remainder of the separate history of the two branches. The summary for I869 exhibits the following results: APPENDIX. 503 1U 3 1,848 303 I COMMUNICANTS..24 II3,848 ii6 303 1,631 172,560 This last decade shows but a small growth in the number of Synods and Presbyteries, the tendency being not to an enlargement of their number, but to an increase of their strength. The number of licentiates and candidates, owing probably to the absorption of such a vast host of young men by-the army and navy during the War of the Rebellion, had actually decreased. But a large addition had been made to the ministry, the churches, and the communicants. The Reunion finds this part of the Church in a most healthy, thriving condition. In respect to funds for the promotion of the great schemes of the Church and for the support of public worship, it is not possible to give any tabular statements with any sort of accuracy. This part of the Church, it is well known, was distinguished for its adherence to the co-operative system of benevolent action. It is but recently that it has established boards of its own, and withdrawn from the voluntary societies in part. With the exception of the funds for the Assembly, no reports were rendered by the presbyteries of the sums contributed by the churches, either for their own support or for purposes of benevolence, until the year I853, at which time the denominational spirit began to be more fully developed. The returns of funds contributed for that year were as follows: ASSEMBLY. HOME MISSIONS. FOR. MISSIONS. EDUCATION. PUBLICATION. $3,990 40 $62,058 38 $53,I43 25 $28,922 88 $34,535 39 These returns included, under each separate head, all that was given in every direction in that particular line. Latterly they have been principally restricted to what was given to the boards and committees of the Church, while gifts to outside associations and objects 504 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. have beer mostly included under a misceZZaneous head. Several new columns have been introduced, and among them one exhibiting the sums expended for congregational purposes- the sums expended on themselves by each congregation. The returns for I869 are as follows: a.. 0 _ I!!U "$142,377 sut6,364 t29,492 $14,49X $43,0o3 Ic8,966 SI2,594 $y2,998 $2,866,940 c363,298 The sum total, thus reported as contributed by the churches within the year preceding the meeting of the Assembly of I869- the last year of the separate existence of the two branches -is $3,620,533. As the history of the rise and progress of the denominational spirit is elsewhere so fully given, it is not deemed necessary to go more fully into the details of the sums given from year to year, especially as the returns from the presbyteries have, until recently, been quite defective in these respects. Enough is here given to show, that, at the time of the Reunion, this branch of the Church had attained to a most commendable development of its energies and resources, in the extension and building up of the Redeemer's kingdom on the earth. III. BRIEF SKETCHES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE "REUNION COMMITTEE." BY THE REV. JAMES H. M. KNOX, D.D. THE gratitude of the Church will ever render illustrious the names of the Reunion Committee of I866. The work they performed in bringing together the two branches of the now United Church is fitly commemorated in the fifth chapter of this volume. It is the object of these sketches to furnish simply the outlines of their biography. Their names are given on page 254. APPENDIX. 50.5 THE REV. JOHN M. KREBS, D.D., NEW YORK CITY. For incidents of his life see Biographical Sketches, etc., page 178. THE REV. CHARLES C. BEATTY, D.D., LL.D., STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. CHARLES CLINTON BEATTY, son of Col. Erkuries Beatty, was born near Princeton, N. J., in the year I8oo00. His father was an officer in the army of the Revolution. His grandfather, the Rev. Charles Beatty, was an eminent minister of the Presbyterian Church. He was educated at the College of New Jersey at Princeton, and in the Theological Seminary in the same place. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, inlJanuary, 1822, and on October Ist of the same year was ordained as an evangelist, with a view to missionary labor in the West. Having spent seven months in the States of Indiana and Illinois, he received a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Steubenville, Ohio, May, I823. He was installed pastor in October, I823. In this charge he continued until the spring of 1837, when his health having failed, the church reluctantly accepted his resignation. Shortly after, his health having improved, he commenced the enterprise of a second church in Steubenville. A church edifice was erected and a church organized in x838. Here he ministered at first as partial supply, and then as pastor until the summer of 1847. He has since acted as minister-at-large among the churches of the Presbytery and its neighborhood. The honorary degree of S.T.D. was conferred upon him by Washington College, at Washington, Pa., in I840, and in I86I the same institution conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. At the meeting of the General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio, in May, 1862, he was elected Moderator. He has been a director of the Western Theological Seminary from its organization; and for the past eight years he has lectured in the same Institution. Dr. Beatty has been the recipient of numerous appointments from the General Assembly. He was a member of the Committee on the Revision of the Book of Discipline, appointed in I857, and Chairman of the Committee on the Board of Publication, appointed by the General Assembly of I862, and which made its report at Peoria in x863. In i866 he was appointed on the Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church, and in I869 the General Assembly, at its adjourned meeting in Pittsburg, Pa., appointed him on the Committee on the Reconstruction of the Church. In I829, in co-operation with his wife, Dr. Beatty commenced the Female Seminary at Steubenville, Ohio, which has ever since been under his superintendence. In the Presbyterian Church no man is held in greater veneration and love than Dr. Charles C. Beatty. His life has been a pre-eminently useful one. In every good work he has been forward. Washington College and the Theological Seminary at Allegheny City have partaken very largely of his cares, toils, prayers, and benefactions. To each of these institutions he has given $50,ooo, having very lately endowed the Chair of Theology at the Seminary at Allegheny with the munificent sum of $35,ooo, in addition to $I5,000 that he had previously bestowed upon the Institution. In the work of Reunion Dr. Beatty has been engaged with all the 506 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. ardor of his:nature, and he rejoices over nothing so much as that he has been spared in the good providence of God to see the work for which he labored so earnestly consummated so grandly. THE REV. J. TRUMBULL BACKUS, D.D., SCHENECTADY, N. Y. J. TRUMBULL BACIKUS, son of E. F. Backus, was born in the city of Albany, N. Y., January 27, I809. He was prepared for college at the Albany Academy, and graduated at Columbia College, in the city of New York, in I827. He received from that Institution the degree of A.M. in I830. He pursued his theological studies at Princeton from 1827 to I830, at Andover from I830 to -83I, and at New Haven during the last half of the year I832. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New York in I830. He was ordained and installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Schenectady, N. Y., by the Presbytery of Albany, in December, 1832. He is still pastor of that church. He received the honorary degree of S.T.D. from Union College in I847. He has been a member of seven General Assemblies, and has served the Church on many important Committees. He was one of the Committee that prepared the Hymnza. He was unanimously elected Moderator of the First Reunited Assembly of I870. In the discharge of his duties in this high office he gained the commendation of all his brethren, for the impartiality, suavity, and dignity with which he presided over the deliberations of the Assembly. THE REV. PHINEAS D. GURLEY, D.D., WASHINGTON, D. C. See Biographical Sketches, etc., page i88. THE REV. JOSEPH G. MONFORT, D.D., CINCINNATI, OHIO. JOSEPH GLASS MONFORT, son of Rev. Francis and Sophia (Glass) Monfort, was born in Warren County, Ohio, December 9, I8IO. His father, who was for many years pastor of Hamilton, Ohio, and Mount Carmel, Ind., was of Huguenot ancestry, and himself was born in Adams County, Pa. Dr. Monfort graduated in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1834. He pursued his theological studies in 1835 and I836, in Indiana Theological Seminary, at Hanover, Indiana. In 1836 and 1837, he, in connection with Dr. W. L. Breckinridge, established and edited the "Presbyterian Herald " at Louisville, Ky. He was licensed to preach in September, I837, by the Presbytery of Oxford. He preached six months in Hamilton, Ohio, from the date of his father's resignation of that charge. He received and accepted a. call from Greensburg, Ind., in I838, and was ordained and installed pastor of the churches of Greensburg and Sand Creek by the Presbytery of Indianapolis, in April, I-839. The church of Greensburg divided a few weeks before his call, soon after the Assembly of I838. He resigned his charge in October, I842, on account of the division. In two years after he was agent for the Theological Seminary at New Albany, Ind. In October, I844, he was recalled to Greensburg, bothldivisions of the congregation uniting in the in APP:ENDIX. 507'itation. This call he accepted, and remained pastor at Greensburg until Jan. uary, I855, when he was invited by the vote of the Synod of Indiana, and by a circular letter signed by a large majority of the Synods of Northern Indiana, Cincinnati, and Ohio, through the agency of Rev. Drs. E. D. MacMaster, J. E. Thomas, and J. M. Stevenson, to become the editor of the "' Presbyterian of the West," Cincinnati, from which the Rev. Dr. N. L. Rice had recently retired. He has since conducted this paper, first changing its name to " The Presbyter," and in October, I869, uniting with the New School paper at Cincinnati, under the name "Herald and Presbyter." He was Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of White Water from its erection until his removal to Cincinnati. He received the honorary degree of S. T.D. from Centre College, Kentucky, in 1853. For many years he has been a member of the Church Extension Committee and of the Boards of Domestic and Foreign Missions, and a Trustee of Hanover College, Indiana. For several years he was a Director of the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, and he is now a Trustee of Lane Theological Seminary, at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati. For ten years Dr. Monfort has been an earnest advocate in his paper of the reunion of the Presbyterian Church. He was the author of the Newark paper on Reunion, which was signed by seventy ministers and forty Ruling Elders in attendance upon the General Assembly in I864. He was the founder and editor of the'" Reunion Presbyterian," in IS65. He was the author of the paper adopted by the General Assembly of I866, proposing negotiations for reunion. He was appointed by the General Assembly of I866 a member of the Joint Committee on Reunion. He was the author and mover of the supplementary action of the General Assembly in Albany in I868, proposing to the other Assembly a- change of the Basis, so as to make its doctrinal theories the standards pure and simple. He was the author of an article in the "American and Presbyterian Review " which was sent to all the ministers of both Churches, proposing union upon the standards alone as the proper basis. THE REV. WILLIAM D. HOWARD, D.D., ALLEGHENY CITY, PA. WILLIAM D. HOWARD, the son of Caleb and Julia (McCartee) Howard, was born in Philadelphia, on July 28, 1814. His father was a native of New England and his mother of Pennsylvania. Her ancestors belonged to the Society of Friends. At the age of fifteen he became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Joseph Sanford. In the following year he began his studies with a view to the ministry, in the Manual Latin Academy at Germantown, Pa. When this Institution was merged into La Fayette College at Easton, he removed to that place and continued his studies there. In 1833 he returned to Germantown, and pursued theological studies under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. William Neill. He was licensed to preach by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, in October, 1837; and on March I3, I838, he: was ordained and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in 508 PR1ESBYTERIAN REUNION. Frankford, Pa. His ministry in Frankford was a highly successful one. In 1849 he received a call from the Second Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg. This call he accepted, and was installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of Ohio, on May I6th, I849. With this church he still remains. Under his ministry it has greatly prospered, and increased largely in numbers, liberality, and efficiency. He received the degree of S.T.D., in r853, from Washington College, Pa. For several years Dr. Howard was a Trustee of Washington College. He is now, as he has been for a number of years, President of the Board of Trustees of the Western University of Pennsylvania, located in Pittsburg. In I849 he was elected a Director of the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny City, and this position he still holds. For many years he has been a member of the Boards of Foreign and Domestic Missions of the Presbyterian Church. Since the organization of the General Assembly's Committee on Freedmen, Dr. Howard has been a member of it, and was for the first year its Chairman. This place he resigned, under the impression that he would leave Pittsburg for Cincinnati. In 1857 he preached a sermon before the General Assembly at Lexington, Ky., by appointment of the previous Assembly, in behalf of Domestic Missions. This discourse was afterwards published by the Board. Dr. Howard is the author of many sermons published by request. A number of these were preached before the Synod of Pittsburg, the others were delivered on various special occasions — as installations, in commemoration of deceased friends in the ministry, etc. Dr. Howard remains in Pittsburg, though he has repeatedly been solicited to leave for charges in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. In I866 he had a most urgent call to the First Church of Cincinnati, which he thought it his duty to accept, but the Presbytery, in response to the earnest desires of the church of Pittsburg, unanimously declined to dissolve the relations between Dr. Howard and them, and the result has, proven that the decision was a wise one; for few things are better known than that no man is more beloved than is this pastor, or more abundantly useful THE REV. WILLIAM E. SCHENCK, D.D., PHILADELPHIA, PA. WILLIAM EDWARD SCHENCIC, the son of John C. and Ann B. (Hutchinson) Schenck, was born at Princeton, N. J., March 29, 18I9. His ancestors came to this country from Holland about the year I730. They first settled at Flatlands, L. I., but soon removed to Pleasant Valley, Monmouth County, N.J., where Garrett Schenck, at that time the head of the family, had purchased a large tract of land. Garrett Schenck was a Ruling Elder in the Reformed Dutch Church, and through his exertions mainly the Reformed Dutch Church at Holmdel was founded. He was also a member of the Provincial Legislature. One of his descendants, the grandfather of the subject of this notice, removed to the vicinity of Princeton, and purchased a large farm there. The ancestors of Dr. Schenck for seven generations were pious persons, and members, several of them ruling elder;, APPENDIX. 509 of the Church. He received his education at Princeton, at the academy of the Rev. Robert Baird, D.D., at Edge Hill, then under the care of the Rev. Robert Patton, D.D., in the College of New Jersey, entering the Freshman class in I834, and graduating in I838. On graduating he devoted himself to the study of law, which he pursued for more than a year under the care of James S. Green, Esq., of Princeton. Before the end of this time his religious views underwent a change, and he united with the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, of which the Rev. Benjamin H. Rice, D.D., was pastor. He soon after decided to study for the ministry, and entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, from which institution he graduated in 1842. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, April 27, 1842. By the advice of the Rev. Archibald Alexander, and the Rev. Richard Webster, of Mauch Chunk, Pa., he devoted the summer after he had received license to missionary work among the coal-mining population of Schuylkill County, Pa. Returning to Princeton, he was called to be the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Manchester, Monmouth County, N. J. This call he accepted, and was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, February 28, 1843. In I845 he was invited to undertake a new church enterprise in the city of New York. This invitation he accepted, and the Hammond Street Church was organized, in which his labors were largely blessed. In the midst of'his labors in New York, in the beginning of 1848, he received an earnest call to become the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, N. J. In this call all the Professors of the College and of the Theological Seminary warmly united. He was installed at Princeton, May 7, I848. During his pastorate there the church received numerous accessions, especially in I850, in which a powerful revival occurred, which added to the church more than eighty persons. While Dr. Schenck was settled at Princeton, those eminent and venerable men, Dr. Samuel Miller and Dr. Archibald Alexander, died, and he was called to attend upon them in their last hours upon the earth. In April, 1852, Mr. Schenck was induced to leave Princeton to accept the office of Superintendent of Church Extension in Philadelphia. This office he held for two years, when he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Publication, and entered upon the duties of that office November I, I854. In this position he has now served the Church with faithfulness and ability for nearly sixteen years. He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from Jefferson College in the year I859. In I862 the General Assembly elected him Permanent Clerk. THE REV. VILLEROY D. REED, D.D., CAMDEN, N. J. VILLEROY D. REED, the son of Kitchel and Sallie (Dibble) Reed, was born in Granville, Washington County, N. Y., April 27, I8I5. His paternal ancestor was y7ozn Reed, an officer in Cromwell's army, who, after the Restoration in England, fled to this country and settled on a farm in Norwalk, Conn. From this place his grandfather, after the Revolutionary war, removed to Northern New York, then a wilderness. When he was five years of age his father removed to 510 PRESBYTERIAN REBUNION. Lansingburg, N. Y., where he was brought up. At the age of twelve he was received into the First Presbyterian Church of Lansingburg, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Blatchford, D.D. From this time he was very anxious to prepare for the ministry, but many difficulties were in his way, because of the straitened pecuniary circumstances of his father. At the age of fifteen he taught a district school to secure funds for college; and from that time till he was licensed to preach he taught more or less every year. In September, 1832, he entered the Junior Class of Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., and though compelled to labor in various ways to procure the means to meet his expenses (for he never obtained any assistance from the Church), he graduated in 1835 with his class, and with as high a grade of scholarship as any other member. He was tutor in Union College for one year. For more than a year he taught an academy in Waterford; N. Y. While thus engaged he studied Hebrew with Professor Taylor Lewis, of Union College, and Theology as he best could. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Troy (O. S.), in the Synod of Albany, August 29, I838. After his licensure he entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and graduated in I839. He accepted a call from the Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, N. Y., and was ordained and installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of Albany, December I8, I839. Here he remained, with many tokens of the Divine favor upon his ministry, till the spring of I844, when he received and accepted a call from the church of his youth, the First Presbyterian Church of Lansingburg, over which he was installed by the Presbytery of Troy, July 9, I844. He continued in Lansingburg fourteen years, during which the church greatly prospered. In the autumn of 1857 the Synod of Iowa elected him President of Alexander College, established at Dubuque, Iowa. This invitation he accepted after six months' deliberation, being strongly urged thereto by the Rev. Drs. Van Rennsalaer and Chester, at that time the Secretaries of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church. Against the remonstrances of his church, the Presbytery, with whom the decision was left, decided that it was his duty to go; and accordingly he left his pleasant home and strongly attached people, to devote, as he thought, the remaining years of his life to educational and missionary labors beyond the Mississippi. The times, however, were not propitious. The college suffered in the financial tornado which soon swept over the country, and it became evident that its operations must cease, for a time at least. In this crisis Mr. Reed was invited to preach at Buffalo, N. Y., as supply for six months of the church of which the Rev. Dr. John C. Lord was, as he is still, the pastor, and afterwards in organizing and preaching to Calvary Church in connection with the effort of Mr. George Palmer, who soon after built the elegant edifice on Delaware avenue (now the pastoral charge of the Rev. Alexander McLean), -and presented it to the Church. While at Buffalo, it became evident that. the college enterprise must be abandoned, and Dr. Reed accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church of Camden, N. J., over which he was installed pastor by the Presbytery of West Jersey, November 20, I86, where he still remains. The honorary degree of S.T.D. was conferred upon him by Union College, APPE.NDIX. 511 Schenectady, July 29, 1858. Dr. Reed has been for some years a member of the Board of Domestic Missions, and has served upon its Executive Committee. THE REV. FREDERICK T. BROWN, D.D., ST. PAUL, MINN. FREDERICK T. BROWN, the son of William and Eleanor (Lyons) Brown, was born in West Carlisle, Coshocton County, Ohio, where he lived. till six months before leaving home permanently for school. His father's father was- a native of Germany, and was a minister of some branch of the German Church. His father became a member of the Presbyterian Church of St. Clairsville, Ohio, early in life, and later was a ruling elder. His mother was from the north of Ireland, was connected with the Arbuthnots, and had Huguenot blood in: her veins. She was an eminently godly woman, but always cheerful and pleasant. His parents were nAarried in St. Clairsville, and there his brothers, Rev. J. C. Brown, D.D., Colonel W. L. Brown (killed at Bull Run), and Rev. H. A. Brown, of Va., were born. When the family removed to Coshocton County the country was as wild as Colorado and Montana now are, and he grew up familiar with Indians, hunters, hunting, fishing, and nature in all its wildness. A good deal of this passed into him and became part of him, and is probably the reason why he has always enjoyed most a Western and frontier life. He was sent to the preparatory school of Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, Pa., in I840. There lihe remained two years and a half, or to the end of the Freshman year. In the year I842 he entered the Sophomore class of the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, N. J., where he graduated in 1845. In the fall of the same year he entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and remained one seminary year. Then, at the request of Dr. Robert Baird, and under the auspices of the Foreign Evangelical Society, he went to Geneva, Switzerland, to study there, if the way were clear, to remain in Europe, preaching to some French or other church. After counselling freely with Dr. D'Aubigne, Malan, and others, he was convinced the scheme was not practicable, dissolved his connection with the Society, returned the money advanced, and more, and remained to study as he thought best. After good part of two seminary years there (and having travelled a good deal on the Continent and in England) he returned to the United States, and spent another term at the Seminary at Princeton. He was licensed and ordained as an Evangelist by the Presbytery of Logansport, in the Synod of Northern Indiana. The spring and summer of 1847 he spent in Dayton, O., supplying the pulpit of the First Church during Dr. W. C. Anderson's absence in Europe. In the fall of the same year he accepted a call to the First Church in Madison, Ind. In the spring of 1853 he went to Cleveland, 0., organized the Westminster Church, and remained there till the breaking out of the war, when he resigned to serve as chaplain in the army. In I862 he was called to the Bridge Street Church, Georgetown, D. C. Here he remained three years, and resigned to accept an urgent call to Chicago, Ill. After continuing in Chicago a short time, he resigned, and soon afterwards accepted a call, to the Central Church of St. Paul, of which he. has now been pastor three 512 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. years. In I864 he received the honorary degree of S.T.D., from La Fayette College, at Easton, Pa. THE REV. J. EDSON ROCKWELL, D.D., BROOKLYN, N. Y. J. EDSON ROCKWELL, the son of Warren and Sarah R. (Wells) Rockwell, was born at Salisbury, Vt., May 4, I8I6. His father's father, who for nearly twenty years represented his native town in the Legislature of the State, and his father were both successively deacons in the same church at East Windsor, and were descended from a pious ancestry, who, as early as I626, came from Yorkshire to the colony of Massachusetts for their attachment to the Puritan faith. Warren Rockwell died at an advanced age in Brooklyn, N. Y., in i866. He was a man eminent for his intelligent piety and devotedness to the service of his Saviour, whom he imitated most closely, " in going about doing good." His son passed his academical studies at the Hudson Academy, Hudson, N. Y., to which place his father removed in the spring of 1817. In this academy he was a schoolmate of Gen. H. W. Halleck. He graduated at Amherst College, Mass., Aug. 24, 1837, and at the Union Theological Seminary, June 30, 184r. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Columbia, April 2I, I84I, and was ordained and installed, by the same Presbytery, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Valatie, N. Y., October 13, 1841. He remained with this charge until called to the Hanover Street Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, Delaware, over which he was installed, May 4, I847. Nearly four years later, on the x3th February, 185i, he was installed pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., then located on Willoughby street. Here Mr. Rockwell remained seventeen years. When he entered upon his duties in Brooklyn, the membership of the church was only one hundred and twenty. Under his ministry eight hundred were added, of which nearly one-half was by profession of their faith. In September, i868, he removed from Brooklyn to Stapleton, S. I., at the call of the First Presbyterian Church of Edgewater, to which he still ministers. He received the honorary degree of S.T.D. from Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, Pa., in I859. Dr. Rockwell has been a constant contributor to the religious and secular press. He is the author of several works, viz.: "Sketches of the Presbyterian Church," "Young Christian Warned," "The Sheet Anchor," "The Visitor's Questions," "Scenes and Impressions Abroad," and "Seed Thoughts." Besides these, he has published a number of sermons and addresses, delivered on special occasions; among which may be mentioned, " A Plea for the Eldership," " Christ Walking on the Water," " The Christian's Work and Rest," " On the Death of President Taylor," " On the Death of President Lincoln," " Fruitfulness in Old Age." He has been for some years a member of the Board of Publication, and at one time was the editor of "The Sabbath School Visitor," published by the Board. He was appointed a member of the Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church by the General Assembly of I867, in the place of the Rev. Dr. APPENDIX. 513 Krebs, who was incapacitated by the illness which terminated in his lamented death. THE REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D., PHILADELPHIA, PA. See Biographical Sketches, etc., page 227. THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D., LL.D., NEW YORK CITY. WILLIAM ADAMS, the son of John Adams, LL.D., and Elizabeth (Ripley) Adams, was born in Colchester, Connecticut, January 25, I807. His parents removed in his infancy to Andover, Mass., where his father became the Principal of Phillips Academy. Few men have lived of more rigid and conscientious integrity than John Adams, and few educators have been as distinguished in the training of youth who afterwards were eminent in the various spheres of active and professional life. Dr. Adams lived to the great age of ninety-one, to enjoy the abundant evidence that his labors were not in vain. He was a descendant of the old stock of Henry Adams, which has given two Presidents to the United States. His wife was a lineal descendant of Governor Bradford, of the May Flower. Their son was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, from which he entered Yale College, New Haven, and graduated in I827. His theological studies were pursued in the Theological Seminary at Andover. He was licensed to preach in Boston, by the Suffolk South Association, in the spring of I830. Immediately after leaving the Seminary, in September, I830, he was invited to the pastorate of the Congregational Church in Brighton, Mass., where he was ordained and installed in February, I83I. Leaving that place, because of the illness of his wife, he was invited to become the pastor of the Broome Street Church in the city of New York, in the summer of I834. This invitation he accepted, and he was installed over the church in November, I834, by the Third Presbytery of New York. In I853, the church erected a new and splendid building on the corner of Madison avenue and Twenty-fourth street, in which Dr. Adams has continued to preach until the present time, so that in November next he will complete his thirty-sixth year of pastoral service in the same congregation. He received the honorary degree of S.T.D., in 1842, from the University of the City of New York, and of LL. D. from " The College of New Jersey," at Princeton, in I869. Dr. Adams has occupied a very prominent position in the Presbyterian Church from the time he entered its ministry, and has received from the Church many marks of its appreciation of his abilities and virtues. He was Moderator of the General Assembly which met in the city of Washington in the year 1852, and has been a most influential member of several of the standing committees of the General Assembly from the time of their organization. His published works consist in part of sermons printed in the "National Preacher" and in pamphlet form. Among these is one to the memory of Professor Moses Stuart, which " is a beautiful wreath laid by a grateful pupil upon the grave of his beloved 33 514 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. teacher and intimate friend." Besides these, he has published several volumes which have had extended circulation, and are highly appreciated by the Christian community, alike for the perfectness of their style and the ability with which their important themes are treated. These are, " The Three Gardens," "Thanksgiving Memories of the Day, and Helps to the Habit," and " Conversations of Jesus Christ with Representative Men." Dr. Adams' life has been spent chiefly in his study and among his own people, he having little taste for ecclesiastical affairs. The Assembly of I866, which met in the city of St. Louis, however, having appointed him on the Committee on Reunion, he earnestly engaged in its duties, with signal honor to himself, and with great influence in furthering the end in view. Perhaps it is not too much to say that his speeches delivered in New York and Pittsburg, both as Commissioner from the General Assembly of his own Church to the General Assembly of the other branch, and as member of the Committee on Reunion, contributed most powerfully to the conviction which seemed finally to become unanimous, that Reunion was safe and right, and most glorifying to God. In New York, in which city he has resided so long, his name is identified with many institutions of learning and benevolence, and his fame as a good man and devoted to good, bringing to the promotion of every right cause rare abilities both of mind and heart, is throughout the land, and "in regions beyond." THE REV. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, D.D., NEW YORK CITY. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, the son of Oliver S. and J;ane (Mann) Hatfield, was born in Elizabethtown, N. J., January 9, 1807. His father was a descendant of Matthias Hatfield, one of the founders of the town in I665. His mother was a descendant of John Woodruff, another founder of the town, and of John Ward, Jr., and Richard Harrison, founders of Newark, N. J. He made a public profession of his faith in Christ in the Central Presbyterian Church of the city of New York, on March 25, I827. He graduated at Middlebury College, Vt., in I829; studied theology at the Seminary in Andover, Mass., 1829-3I; Was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Third Presbytery of New York, October 6, 1831, and ordained by the same Presbytery at New York, May 14, I832. From October, 1831, to February, I832, he preached at Rockaway, N. J., as an assistant of the Rev. Barnabas King, D.D.; and from March, I832, to September, 1832, at Orange, N. J., as an assistant of the Rev. Asa R. Hillyer, D. D.; was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Mo., from October, 1832, to February, 1835; of the Seventh Presbyterian Church of New York, from July, 1835, to February, 1856; and of the North Presbyterian Church of New York, from February, 1856, to October, i863. Resigned and retired from the pastoral work on account of loss of health. Remained one year in retirement, when he became special agent of the Union Theological Seminary in New York, December, I864, and in the following year obtained for the Seminary an endowment of $I50,00ooo. Two years were then occupied in writing and preparing for the press a " History of Elizabeth, APPENDIX. 51 N. J.," 702 pp., 8vo. In May, I868, he took the place of the Rev. Dr. Kendall, Secretary of the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions (abroad for his health), till October, I868, from which time he has been Secretary of the Freedmen's Department of the same Committee. In January, 1870, he again became special agent of the Union Theological Seminary to raise $500,000, of which sum he has already secured the one-half. He has been Stated Clerk of the Third Presbytery of New York since October, 1838, and of the General Assembly since May, 1846. He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. in I850, from Marietta College, Ohio. Dr. Hatfield's pastoral life was a most active and fruitful one. During his ministry in the Seventh Church in New York, I556 persons were received into the communion of the church on examination, and 662 by certificate from other churches; and in all other respects the church was gl'eatly strengthened. The same devotedness which he displayed as pastor he has carried into the other work which has been devolved upon him, and amidst his activities he has found time to become the author of a number of valuable works, of which the principal are, "Universalism as it is," 1841; " Memoir of Elihu W. Baldwin, D. D.," I843; "St. Helena and the Cape of Good Hope," I852; and " The History of Elizabeth, N. J.," I868. He is now engaged in providing suitable accommodations for Union Theological Seminary, on the grounds recently purchased on Harlem Heights, and completing the endowment of the Seminary. THE REV. JONATHAN F. STEARNS, D.D., NEWARK, N. J. JONATHAN F. STEARNS, the son of the Rev. Samuel Stearns, was born in Bedford, Mass., where his father was pastor of the Congregational Church, his only charge, for a period of forty years. He was prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.; was graduated at Harvard College, Cambridge, in 1830; and studied theology partly at Andover Theological Seminary, and partly under the direction of his father. He was licensed to preach by the Woburn Association in Massachusetts, in October, I834, and was ordained, and installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Mass., by the Presbytery of Londonderry, in the Synod of Albany, on September I6, 1835. Beneath the pulpit of this church repose the remains of George Whitefield. In I836 he was a commissioner from the Presbytery of Londonderry to the General Assembly in Pittsburg. His ministry at Newburyport continued fourteen years. In October, I849, he accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, N. J., and was installed pastor of that church by the Presbytery of Newark in December of the same year. He still continues the honored pastor of this important and ancient charge. He received the degree of S.T.D. from the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in the year I85o. He was Moderator of the General Assembly which met in Harrisburg in the year I868. Dr. Stearns is a member of several of the committees of the General Assembly for prosecuting the work of the Church. He is also connected with literary and benevolent institutions -in 516 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Newark and other places, and is widely known as a foremost man in the Church in promoting every good work. THE REV. PHILEMON H. FOWLER, D.D., UTICA, N. Y. PHILEMON H. FOWLER, the son of William and Margaret Fowler, was born in Albany, N. Y., February 9, I814. He was educated at the Albany Academy, Hobart College at Geneva, and the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J.; entering college in I828 and graduating in I832; entering the Theological Seminary in 1833, and graduating in I836. He was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Albany, on October I5, 1835, and ordained by the same Presbytery, sine titulo, in I836. He was called to the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C., before leaving the seminary, and remained in charge of the Church without installation from the autumn of I836 to the autumn of Is39; at which time he accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church of Elmira, N. Y., over which he was installed pastor. In this charge he continued till the close of the year I85o, when he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Utica, N. Y., in which charge he still continues. The degree of S. T. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Norwich, Vt., and, afterwards, the same honor was conferred upon him by Williams College, Mass. In I869 Dr. Fowler was Moderator of the General Assembly which met in May in the Church of the Covenant, New York, and held an adjourned meeting in November in the Third Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg, Pa. At this Assembly the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church was consummated, amid scenes of gratulation and joy which must be forever memorable in the annals of the Church. Dr. Fowler occupies a position of great influence in the Church. His congregation is large and active. He is a trustee of Hamilton College, at Clinton, N. Y., and of the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y. He is also a Corporate Member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. As a member of the Joint Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church, his practical wisdom and good sense, combined with courteous manners and a catholic Christian spirit, made his services of great value. On two occasions Dr. Fowler has visited Europe. During the summer of I868 he represented the General Assembly of his Church in the Assemblies of the Free Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. THE REV. JAMES B. SHAW, D.D., ROCHESTER, N. Y. JAMES BOYLAN SHAW, the son of James and Margaret Shaw, was born in the city of New York in the year I8o8. He was among the first children on whose heads the venerable Gardiner Spring laid his hand in baptism. He was fitted to enter the Sophomore class in Yale College, and then entered the office of a physician and attended a course of medical lectures. After that he entered the office of Thomas Addis Emmet, and commenced the study of the law. When he was APPENDIX. 517 about to be admitted to the bar, the Lord touched his heart. He united with the Brick Church of New York in I829. In I834, having been previously licensed to preach the gospel, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Genesee, and installed pastor of the church at Utica. For thirty years he has been pastor of the Brick Church of Rochester, which reported to the General Assembly which met in I869 in the Church of the Covenant, New York, I264 members. The College of Western Reserve conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M., and in I852 the. University of Rochester gave him the degree of S.T.D. In I862 he was elected a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was Moderator of the General Assembly which met in Brooklyn in I865. He is a Trustee of the Theological Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., where he graduated in I832. He was a member of the General Assembly of I837, when the act of excision was passed, and that; as a member of the Joint Committee on Reunion, he has had a part in healing the breach, he counts the greatest honor of his life. THE REV. HENRY L. HITCHCOCK, D.D., HUDSON, OHIO. HENRY L. HITCHCOCIK, the son of Peter and Nabby Hitchcock, was born at Benton, Ohio, October 31, I8I3. His father, who settled in Northern Ohio in I8o6, was judge of the Supreme Court of the State for twenty-eight years. He also held other important public positions at different times, as member of the State Legislature and of the House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States. Dr. Hitchcock received his academic education at Benton Academy. In September, I829, he entered the Sophomore class of Yale College, and graduated in 1832. For two years after graduating he taught in Benton Academy. He then spent one year in theological studies, reciting to his pastor, the Rev. Dexter Witter, after which he was a student in Lane Theological Seminary, Walnut Hills, Ohio. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Grand River, Synod of the Western Reserve, July 25, I837. He was ordained and installed by the same Presbytery over the church of Morgan, Ohio, November 29, I837. In June, I84o, he was dismissed from this charge to accept a call from the Second Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Ohio, which had then been organized a little more than one year. He commenced preaching in Columbus, July, I840, and was installed pastor of the church, November 24, I84I, by the Presbytery of Marion (afterwards Franklin). In this charge he remained fifteen years, during which the church became strong and influential, and the Third Church of Columbus was organized from its membership. This church afterwards became Congregational, and is now a large and useful church. Dr. Hitchcock became President of Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio, in July, I855, in which position he still remains. In addition to the duties of the Presidency, he is the pastor of the College Church, which under his ministry has recovered from its depression, and attained a good degree of prosperity. 518 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. THE REV. ROBERT W. PATTERSON, D.D., CHICAGO, ILL. ROBERT W. PATTERSON, the son of Alexander and Sarah (Stevenson) Patterson, was born in Blount County, Tennessee, January 2I, I814. His literary course, preparatory and collegiate, was pursued in Illinois College, at Jacksonville, Illinois, and his theological course in Lane Seminary, Walnut Hills, Ohio. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Cincinnati in the spring of 1839, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Ottawa, Sept. 14, I842; and at the same time hewas installed pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago, of which he is still the honored and beloved pastor. He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. from Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., in July, I857. He was Moderator of the General Assembly in I859, at Wilmington, Del. He has b~en the recipient of numerous appointments from the Church of which he has been so long a prominent minister. The congregation which he serves has grown to be one of the largest and most effective in the country, and for years has been recognized as a power in the land. Dr. Patterson has been a Trustee of the Lake Forest University at Chicago, from its organization, and for several years was a Trustee of Blackburn University. THE REV. HENRY A. NELSON, D.D., ST. LouIs, Mo. HENRY A. NELSON, the son of Seth * and Sophia (Aspinwall) Nelson, was born in Amherst, Mass., Oct. 3I, I820. His great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were successively deacons in the Congregational Church at Milford, Worcester County, Mass., the first-named being ordained to that office in I748. In his seventh year his parents removed into the State of New York. They died in Cortlandville -his father February 5th, 1857; his mother in I86o. His father was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church of that village for more than twenty years, until his death. He was prepared for College at the Cortland Academy in Hlomer, N. Y., of which S. B. Woolworth, LL. D., now Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University of New York, was then Principal. He graduated at Hamilton College, July 29, I840; received from the trustees of that institution the degree of A.M. in I843, and the honorary degree of S.T.D. in I857. In I866 he was invited to the Presidency of the College. After graduating, he spent three years in teaching in Eaton, N. Y;., and in Homer, N. Y. He entered the Theological Seminary at Auburn in October, I843, and graduated in June, I846. He was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Cortland, in the church of Preble, in the summer of I846. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Cayuga, and installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Auburn, N. Y., July 29, I846. In the autumn of I856, he was installed pastor of the. First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, Mo. In April, I868, he resigned that charge, having been elected Professor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology in Lane Theological Seminary, Walnut Hills, Ohio, in which * Born at Milford, Mass., Aug. 2, 1776. He removed to Amherst, Mass., in I8i5. APPENDIX. 519 office he was inaugurated May 13, I868. He was a member of the General Assemblies of I850, I86o, 1867, I868, and was Moderator of that of I867 in Rochester, N. Y. THE REV. GEORGE F. WISWELL, D.D., PHILADELPHIA, PA. GEORGE F. WISWELL received his collegiate education at Middlebury College, Vermont, and graduated from the Union Theological Seminary, in New York, in 1844. lie was ordained in June, I845. He has been settled in Southhold and Peekskill, N. Y., and in Wilmington, Del., and is now the pastor of the Green Hill Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. After the death of the Rev. Dr. Brainerd he was appointed a member of the Reunion Committee, and attended all the sessions of the Committee after the first. He received the honorary degree of S.T.D. in I866, from Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. JAMES M. RAY, ESQ., INDIANAPOLIS, IND. JAMES MITCHELL RAY, son of Andrew (from Kippen, Scotland), and Mary McWhorter (McChesney) (of New Jersey) Ray, was born at Caldwell, N. J., December 23, I800. After preparatory education in the city of New York, he was two years at Columbia College, until I814, when the family removed to Baltimore, Md., and thence to the West. In October, I82I, when the city of Indianapolis was laid out, Mr. Ray was the clerk at the first sale of its lots. In I822 he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county (Marion). In I829 he was re-elected Clerk and Recorder, which office he resigned in 1834 to accept the appointment of Cashier of the State Bank of Indiana at its organization, and also that of Clerk of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, who had charge of the income of the stock in the Bank held by the State. In the management of these Commissioners the profits to the State reached the sum of three and a quarter millions (3,250,ooo) dollars, the interest on which is forever pledged to the support of the common schools of the State. These offices he filled until the charter of the Bank expired and the Bank of the State of Indiana was chartered. Of this bank he was chosen cashier in January, I857. This position he held until after the resignation of the presidency by the Hon. Hugh McCulloch and George W. Rathbone, Esq., when he was elected President. This office he has continued to hold till the present time. In the beginning of the late civil war, Mr. Ray was one of the three State Commissioners who successfully negotiated two millions (2,ooo,ooo) of Indiana War Loan bonds, for the equipping, arming, and forwarding the volunteers of Indiana to the field. During the entire period of the struggle he showed his deep interest in his country's trouble by his services as treasurer, at Indianapolis, of the 520 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Christian Commission, of the Freedmen's Commission, and of the Indiana Soldier's and Seaman's Home. Mr. Ray was elected superintendent of the first Sabbath School in Indianapolis, in April, I823. He united with the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis in October, 1828. I-e was chosen elder of the church on October I7, I830; which office he still holds, in this, the fortieth year of his service. He has served as Commissioner of his Presbytery at several sessions of the General Assembly. In I866 he was appointed on the Joint Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church. In the deliberations of this Committee he took an active and important part, especially at the important and decisive meeting held in Philadelphia in I868. When, in I838, after the division of the Church, fifteen members of the First Church of Indianapolis withdrew to organize the Second Church, under the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, at the instance of Mr. Ray a certificate of good standing was unanimously given to the withdrawing members, with kind expressions of love, and desire for their prosperity, and the continuance of brotherly affection; and at the same time a fair division of the property of the First Church was satisfactorily made. These fraternal desires have been happily fulfilled. In thirtytwo years, these churches, with their offspring, have dwelt together in love and peace, and have been equally blessed. There are now in Indianapolis eight churches, four of each branch of the Church, now privileged to unite under one banner, in name, as well as in heart. HON. ROBERT McKNIGHT, PITTSBURG, PA. ROBERT McKNIGHT, son of William and Catharine McKnight, was born in Pittsburg, O., January 27, 1820. He prepared for College at Xenia, O., where he spent four years under the instruction of the Rev. Huglh McMillan, and near Pittsburg, where he was two years under the instruction of Daniel Stone, Esq. He entered the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in I835, and graduated in I839. In I839, after graduating from college, he entered the office of Richard Biddle, Esq., as student of law. Admitted to the bar of Allegheny County, Pa., in I842. He was a member of the Common Council of Pittsburg in the years I848, 1849, i850, and during the last two was President of the Council. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the United States in I858, and in the Thirty-sixth Congress served on the Committee of Elections. He was re-elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress, and was a member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs. This committee reported the bill for the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, in favor of which Mr. McKnight addressed the House, and which became law. For his services in behalf of the Liberian Republic he received a token of thanks from the three Commissioners of Liberia. In the same Congress he was placed on a joint commission with two Senators and two Representatives, Captain Dupont, U. S. N., and Major-General Gareschie, U. S. A., to examine and report as to the com APPENDIX. 521 pensation of all officers of government, civil, naval, and military. After leaving Congress, Mr. McKnight served as Vice-President of the Western Branch of the Christian Commission, which effected such great benefit for the troops during the late civil war. He united with'the Central Presbyterian Church of Allegheny City (Rev. Dr. Plumer, pastor) in I854. He was elected and ordained ruling elder in the same church in March, I857. He transferred his membership to the North Church of Allegheny City (Rev. Dr. A. A. Hodge, pastor) in i868, and was elected elder in that year. He still serves in this office in the North Church. He was a Commissioner to the General Assembly in Pittsburg in I865, in St. Louis in I866, and in Albany in i868. In I862 he was elected Director of the Theological Seminary at Allegheny City. In 1866 he was appointed on the Joint Committee on Reunion of the Presbyterian Church. In I868 he was appointed on the Committee on Reunion of the Old and New School and United Presbyterian Churches. In I869, with the Rev. Drs. Beatty and Musgrave, he represented tile Assembly of his own Church in the General Assembly then in session in the Church of the Covenant, in the city of New York. By the General Assembly of I869 he was appointed on the Committee to investigate the affairs of the Theological Seminary at Danville, Ky., and in the discharge of that duty visited Kentucky. This Committee reported at the adjourned meeting of the Assembly in Pittsburg, and the report was unanimously adopted. At the adjourned meeting of the General Assembly in Pittsburg, Mr. McKnight was appointed on the committee to inquire and report on the best means of raising and distributing funds for the reunited Presbyterian Church. Mr. McKnight's life has been one of honor and usefulness, both in Church and State. HON. SAMUEL GALLOWAY, LL.D., COLUMBUS, O. SAMUEL GALLOWAY, the son of John and Margaret Galloway, was born of Scotch-Irish parentage, in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pa., in I8II. His father was an elder of the Presbyterian Church for more than thirty years, first under the pastorate of the Rev. William Paxton, D.D., at Marsh Creek, Pa., and afterwards under the pastorate of the Rev. David McConaughy, in Gettysburg. Mr. Galloway lived in Gettysburg till the death of his father, in I829. Soon after this he removed to Ohio, and completed his education at Miami University, at Oxford, where he graduated in 1833, with the highest honors of his class. In I833-34 he taught a classical school at Hamilton, Ohio; and in 1835 he was chosen to supply in part the department of Ancient Languages in Miami University, made vacant by the resignation of Dr. W. H. McGuffey. In consequence of ill-health, he relinquished that position in 1836, and for a year engaged in agricultural and other active pursuits; after which he resumed teaching, first at Springfield, O., and. il I839-4o as Professor of Ancient Languages in South Hanover College, Ind. His health again failing, he returned to Ohio, and commenced the study of law at ~52 2 PRESBYTEIPIAN REUNION. Hillsboro. He was admitted to the bar in 1842, and in 1843 removed to Chilli. cothe. In I844 he was elected Secretary of State, and removed to Columbus, in which city he has since resided. In I85I he resumed the practice of law. In 1854 he was elected a member of the National House of Representatives, and participated prominently in'the political conflicts arising out of the Kansas difficulties. As Secretary of State, Mr. Galloway was ex-officio Superintendent of Common Schools, and in that capacity his personal efforts and his annual reports to the Legislature inaugurated a new era in the history of public instruction in Ohio, and entitle him to a high place among the educational benefactors of the State. His eloquent advocacy of the claims of teaching to a much more honorable and lucrative consideration than it had received, of a higher standard of qualification for its duties, of teachers' institutes and associations, of county superintendency, of an independent State superintendency, of school libraries, and generally of the undeniable value of education both to the public and individuals, arrested the attention of public men, and prepared the way for the associated and legislative action which followed. Of the State Teachers' Association, which was formed in December, 1847, he was elected the first president, and has often responded to invitations to address educational conventions and associations. In all philanthropic movements he has always taken a very prominent part, although his special line of study and activity has been in the sphere of political life, and law. In his own chosen field, before a jury, the bench, or the people, a competent witness has written, Ohio has among her living orators not one more versatile, effective, or popular. In IS33, Mr. Galloway became a member, in full communion, of the Presbyterian Church of Hillsboro, O., on profession of his faith in Christ. In I859 he was elected an elder of the Westminster Church of Columbus, O. He has been three times a Commissioner to the General Assembly: in I86o at Rochester, N. Y.; in I864 at St. Louis, and in I865 at Cincinnati. He has been a Director of the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pa., and of the Boards of Domestic Missions and Publication. HON. HOVEY K. CLARKE, DETROIT, MICH. HOVEY K. CLARKE, son of Hovey and Sarah (Kilburn) Clarke, was born in Sterling, Mass., July I I, I8I2. His school days were spent mainly in the academies at Utica and Clinton, New York, and in 1" Phillips," at Andover, Mass., from I821 to 1828. From 1816 to I83I his home was in Utica, N. Y., then five years in Canandaigua, N. Y., and in IS36 he came to Michigan, in which State he has since resided; in Detroit since i852. He was first elected an elder in 1837, in the Presbyterian Church at Allegan, Mich. Since that time he has held the office in the Reformed (Dutch) Church in Allegan, in the Presbyterian Church in Marshall, in the Second (now Fort Street) Church and the " Westminster" Church in Detroit. He has been a Commissioner to the General Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio, in I857; hi Rochester, N. Y., in 86o0; in Philadelphia in I86I; in Columbus, APPENDIX.' 523 Ohio, in 1862; in Peoria, Ill., in I863; in St. Louis in I866; and in Cincinnati in I867. He was elected a member of the Board of Domestic Missions in I86o, I864, and i868, and of the Board of Publication in I867 to fill a vacancy, and in I868. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary of the North-west from I865 to I869. In I866 he was appointed a member of the Joint Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church. HON. GEORGE P. STRONG, ST. LOUIS, Mo. GEORGE P. STRONG, the son of the Rev. Henry Pierce and Laura (Clark) Strong, was born at Woodbury, Conn., December I7, I8I2, but resided the most of his life previous to going to college at Vienna, Ontario County, N. Y., where his father was settled in the ministry for many years. He entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, N. Y., in I83I, but left at the commencement of his Sophomore year, and studied at Canandaigua, in order to enter the Senior Class at Yale College in the fall of I833. Ill-health prevented this purpose from execution, and he never returned to College. In I835 he went South, and spent eighteen months in teaching in the State of Kentucky. In the summer of I836 he united with the Presbyterian Church, in Elkton, Todd County, Ky. In the fall of the same year he removed to Clinton, Hinds County, Miss., and united with the Presbyterian Church of that place. In I839 he was elected and ordained elder of the Clinton Church. In the fall of I840 he removed to Port Gibson, Miss., and connected himself with the Presbyterian Church of that place, and served it in the office of the eldership from 1840 or I84I, until his removal to St. Louis in 1852. In St. Louis he united with the Westminster Church. In I853 a union was effected between the Westminster Church (Old School) and the Pine Street Church (New School). Mr. Strong was on the committee to effect that union, and drew the " Plan of Union." The first condition was, that the united church should be received under the care of the (Old School) Presbytery of St. Louis. This was done, and the united church retained the name of "The Pine Street Presbyterian Church." In 1853 or i854, he was elected an elder in that church, which office he still continues to hold. The church prospered in great harmony under the pastoral care of the Rev. S. B. McPheeters, until the war broke out in i86I. Then the pastor and a large portion of the church, with all the elders, excepting Mr. Strong, sympathized with the South: this occasioned a long and bitter controversy, which resulted in the withdrawal of nearly all the members who sympathized with the Government. When the war was over, the session of the church called to the pastorate a chaplain in the Southern army, who was installed. Mr. Strong appealed from this action to the Presbytery, and it was set aside; and Mr. Strong and the members adhering to the General Assembly were recognized as " the Pine Street Church" and Session. The majority repudiated the action of the Presbytery, and are now acting with the " Declaration and Testimony " party in Missouri. The matter of the church property is not adjudicated as yet. 524 PRESBYTERIAN REEUNION. He was admitted to the-Bar in I840 in Mississippi, and since 1843 he has pursued his profession as a lawyer without interruption. The only civil office Mr. Strong has held is that of member of the Constitutional Convention which framed the present Constitution of the State of Missouri. In that Convention he was chairman of the Committee on Emancipation, and brought in the Ordinance of Emancipation which passed January I Ith, I865, making Missouri a free State. He was also Chairman of the Standing Committee on Education, and drew the article on Education as it now exists in the Constitution. During the war for a time he held the commission of major, and for a year was on the staff of Gen. Edwards in the service of the State of Missouri. During the late war Mr. Strong was very active in sustaining the Government of the country. Hie has repeatedly declined nominations for office, as Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri, and Governor of the State. PRESIDENT ORMOND BEATTY, LL.D., DANVILLE, KY. ORMOND BEATTY, son of Adam and Sarah Beatty, was born in Mason County, Ky., August 13, I815. His early education was received chiefly in the town of Washington, near which his father resided. In I832 he became a student in Centre College at Danville, Ky., under the presidency of the Rev. Dr. John C. Young, and graduated in September, I835. In I835 he united with the Presbyterian Church at Danville. In I844 he was elected an elder of the First Church of Danville, and served in the office until 1852, when he became an elder in the Second Church, which was organized in that year. He was a Commissioner to the General Assembly in Nashville, Tenn., in I855, in St. Louis in i866, and in Cincinnati in I867. In I836 he was elected Professor of Chemistry in Danville College, Ky., in which position he continued until i870. In September, 1870, he was elected President of the college. HON. JOSEPH ALLISON, LL.D., WEST PHILADELPHIA, PA. HON. HENRY W. WILLIAMS, LL.D., PITTSBURG, PA. HENRY WARREN WILLIAMS, the son of Warren and Elizabeth Stanton (Gallup) Williams, was born in Groton (now Ledyard), New London County, Conn., January 20, I8i6. Both of his parents were members of the Congregational Church, in which his father was Deacon for a number of years before his death in I843. He was a man of the strictest integrity, and a Christian of devoted piety. His mother is still living, a woman of great energy, sound sense, and correct Christian life. He attended common school till he was about fourteen years of age. In the fall of I83I, he commenced preparatory studies for a collegiate course at Bacon Academy, Colchester, Conn., where he remained two terms. In the spring of I832 he went to Plainfield Academy (Plainfield, Conn. ), where he remained till tlhe fall of I833, when he entered Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.), from which APPENDIX. 525 he graduated in I837. In college he took and maintained throughout his entire course a very high rank as a speaker, a writer, a debater, a logician, and metaphysician, while because of his many virtues he was one of the most popular of his class. After graduating he taught for one year at Southwick, Mass. In March, I839, he entered the office of Walter H. Lowrie, Esq. (now ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania), of Pittsburg, Pa., and studied law under his direction until May, 184r, when he was admitted to the Bar of Allegheny County, Pa. He practised his profession with increasing success, as a partner of his preceptor, until Mr. Lowrie was appointed Judge of the District Court of the County, and then with William M. Shinn until October, I851, when he was elected Associate Judge of the District Court for the county of Allegheny, for ten years from the first Monday of December, I85I. At the expiration of his term, Judge Williams was re-elected for a second term of ten years. He remained on the bench of the District Court till October, I868, when he was appointed by Gov. Geary a Judge of Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. Wm. Strong. He took his seat on the 26th day of October, I868. In October of the following year (I869) he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court for the term of fifteen years from the first Monday of the following December. This office he now holds. Judge Williams united with the Third Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg (Rev. D. H. Riddle, D. D., pastor), March I, I840. He was elected elder May I2, I858, and ordained July IS, I858; at which time Rev. H. Kendall, D.D., was installed pastor, in place of Dr. Riddle, resigned. He was a member of the General Assembly at Wilmington, Del., in 1859; at Brooklyn, N. Y., I865, at St. Louis, Mo., I866; at Rochester, N. Y., I867. He was elected Corporate Member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at the annual meeting in Pittsburg in I869. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Amherst College in I866. HON. TRUMAN P. HANDY, CLEVELAND, OHIO. TRUMAN P. HANDY, son of William and Eunice Handy, was born in Paris, Oneida County, N. Y., January I7, I807. He united with the Congregational Church of Paris Hill, N. Y., on profession of his faith in Christ, at the age of 13 years. He was elected elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1833; and in June, 1844, in the Second Presbyterian Church of Cleveland; this latter he now serves in this office. He was a Commissioner to the General Assembly at Wilmington, Del., in I859, at St. Louis, IS66, and at Rochester in x867. He was appointed on the Committee on the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church in x866, and attended all its meetings. He is a Trustee of the College of the Western Reserve, Hudson, Ohio. For thirty-five years he has served as a Sabbath-school Superintendent in Cleveland. 526 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. In his business relations he has been cashier and president of banking institutions in Cleveland for thirty-eight years. MR. ROBERT W. STEELE, DAYTON, OHIO. ROBERT W. STEELE was born in Dayton, Ohio, July 3, I819. He graduated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, under the Presidency of the Rev. George Junkin, D.D. He united with the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton in I84I, and removed his membership to the Third Street Presbyterian Church in 1842. He was ordained an elder in the Third Street Presbyterian Church, January 22, 1854, and has served that church in. this office until the present time. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Miami University, and a director in Lane Theological Seminary, at Walnut Hills, Ohio. For twenty-five years he has been a member of the Board of Education of Dayton, Ohio. He is a member of the Board of Agriculture of Ohio, and one of the five citizens of Ohio appointed by the Governor to constitute " The Board of State Charities," whose duty it is " to investigate the whole system of the public charitable and correctional institutions of the State, and recommend such changes and additional provisions as they may deem necessary for their economical and efficient administration." HON. EDWARD A. LAMBERT, BROOKLYN, N. Y. EDWARD AUGUSTUS LAMBERT, son of William A. and Jane Lambert, was born in the city of New York, June Io, I813. He united with the Central Presbyterian Church of New York, on profession of his faith in Christ, in I830. He was one of thirty-two young persons who organized the Third Free Presbyterian Church of New York, in December, I83I, the Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, D. D., pastor. This church was afterwards known as the Houston Street Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. Samuel D. Burchard, D. D., became pastor. At a subsequent time it was removed to Thirteenth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, where it is at present located, and is one of the largest and most flourishing Presbyterian churches in the city of New York. In IS46 Mr. Lambert removed to Brooklyn, New York, and connected himself with the South Presbyterian Church, then newly organized (the Rev. Samuel T. Spear then and still pastor). In I85 7 he with others organized the Park Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, now known as the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D., pastor. He was ordained an elder in the Houston Street Church in 1837, and he held the office in the South Presbyterian Church and Lafayette Avenue Church, Brooklyn. In this latter church he is now serving. In l855 the General Assembly appointed him a member of " the Church Extension Committee." In I86I he was appointed by the General Assembly a member of " the Committee of Home Missions," and of this Committee he has been Treasurer since its organization. In I866 he was appointed by the General Assemblly a member of the Committee on " the Reunion of the Presbyterian Church." Mr. Lambert has had several very important and responsible positions in civil life. In I853 and I854 he was Mayor of the city of Brooklyn. He was one of the A.PPENDIX. 527 original trustees of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, and was appointed by the Legislature as one of the committee to select a location. He was a Coin missioner to the General Assemblies of I855, I862, I866, I868, and I870. HON. JACOB S. FARRAND, DETROIT, MICH. JACOB SHAW FARRAND, son of Bethuel and Marilla (Shaw) Farrand, was born in the town of Mentz, Cayuga County, New York. His father was of Huguenot, and his mother of Puritan descent. In I825 the family emigrated to the then territory of Michigan. When he was thirteen years of age, the subject of this sketch went to Detroit, then a place of two thousand inhabitants, and there he has since remained. In 1832 he made a public profession of his faith in Christ, and united with the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit, of which the Rev. George Duffield was so long the pastor. With this venerable man it was the privilege of Mr. Farrand to be on terms of the most intimate intercourse for the period of thirty years. In I856 he was ordained to the office of ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit, in which position he still remains. Ile was a Commissioner to the General Assembly of 1863 at Dayton, Ohio, and of I869 at New York and Pittsburg. He was a member of the Joint Committee on Reunion appointed by the Assemblies, I866, and also of the Committee of Conference on the same subject appointed by the Assemblies of I869. The same Assemblies placed him on the Joint Committee on the reorganization of the Board of Domestic Missions. In I870 the General Assembly elected him member of the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary of the North West, at Chicago. From the time of its appointment he has been a member of the Synodical Committee of Church Erection, and he is now on the Synodical Committee on the Memorial Fund. For many years Mr. Farrand was the receiving agent in Detroit of the A. B. C. F. M. He has been the President of the Detroit City Missionary Society, and he is now President of the Wayne County Bible Society. He has always been actively engaged in Sabbath-school work. He has served the State, as well as the Church. From I841 to 1845 he was deputy collector of customs for the port and district of Detroit, then extending from below the city of Detroit, around the shores of Lakes Huron and Michigan, including the city of Chicago. On the organization of the Metropolitan Police by the Legislature of Michigan he was appointed one of the Commissioners, and was elected President of the Board, which position he still holds. For eight years he has been a member of the Board of Education of the city of Detroit; for four years he has been a member of the Common Council of Detroit -one year its presiding officer; and for a short time he was the acting Mayor of the city. For years he has been a member of the Board of Water Commissioners of the city of Detroit, and is now its President. He is President of the First National Bank of Detroit, Vice-President of the Mutual Life Insurance 528 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Company, Treasurer of the Detroit Gas Light Company, and since its organization he has been a trustee of the Harper Hospital. For forty years he has been engaged in the drug business. IV. DOCUMENTS, ETC. 1. THE ILL US TRA TIONS OF THIS VOL U'ZME. MODERATORS OF 1837, I869, I870. THE REV. DAVID ELLIOTT, D.D., LL.D., MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 1837, BEING THE LAST ASSEMBLY PREVIOUS TO THE DIVISION. DAVID ELLIOTT, Son of Thomas and Jane (Holliday) Elliott, was born February 6, I787. His parents were both of Scotch-Irish descent, whose ancestors for several generations, as far as known, belonged to the large Presbyterian family. His father, Thomas Elliott, was born in Enniskillen, Fermanagh County, Ireland, but came to this country with his parents when a small boy, about the year I730. He was brought up in the vicinity of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where his father purchased a farm, on which he resided. His ancestors participated in the conflicts between the Protestants under William of Orange and the Roman Catholics under James of England, in which the Enniskillen Dragoons so greatly distinguished themselves. Dr. Elliott's mother, Jane Holliday, was born in the County Down, in the North of Ireland, and came over to this country with her family some time after his father. When arrived at manhood, his father purchased and resided on a farm some twenty miles north of Carlisle, in Sherman's Valley, now Perry County, Pa. There he and his mother became acquainted and were married. He was their youngest child, and was born at the family home, February 6, I787. His early years were spent at home on the farm until about his fourteenth year, much of his time at such schools as the neighborhood furnished. About that age he commenced his classical studies under the Rev. John Coulter, pastor of a church in Tuscarora Valley, Mifflin County, Pa. He was a fine classical scholar. With him he continued about eighteen months, when he spent a year or more in the town of Muiffin, under the tuition of Andrew K. Russell, afterwards a minister of the Presbyterian Church APPENDIX. 529 in the State of Delaware. Before he went to college he spent a year -from April, I805, till April, I8o6 - in Washington, Pa., as an assistant teacher in the academy there, in connection with the Rev. Matthew Brown, afterwards the Rev. Dr. Matthew Brown, the distinguished and well-known President of Washington, subsequently of Jefferson, College. Having returned home in April, I8o6, he entered Dickinson College soon after, and graduated in September, I8o8, having, before entering college, attended to the studies of the Freshman and Sophomore classes, and prepared to enter the Junior class, when he entered college. Soon after leaving college he commenced the study of theology under the direction of his pastor, the Rev. John Linn, of the Presbytery of Carlisle, and father of the late James Linn, D.D., of Bellefonte, Pa. The latter part of his course of three years he read under the direction of the Rev. Joshua Williams, D.D., of the same Presbytery. There were then no Theological Seminaries, but the Presbytery required three full years of study before license, and the examinations in Presbytery were much more searching and rigorous than at present. Dr. Elliott was licensed by the Presbytery of Carlisle, in the last week of September, ISI I, and spent the following winter under the direction of the Presbytery in itinerant labors within its bounds, in which there was a vast territory entirely destitute of the stated ministrations of the gospel. Having preached a few times in the church of Upper West Conococheague, now Mercersburg, a call was made out for him and presented at the spring meeting of the Presbytery in April, I8I2, which he accepted, and entered upon his labors, although his ordination did not take place till the fall meeting, October 7th, the Presbytery meeting only twice in the year. At his ordination, the Rev. Dr. Jno. McKnight, previously of New York, preached and presided, and the Rev. Dr. McConaughy, afterwards President of Washington College, Pa., gave the charges to both pastor and people. Shortly after his acceptance of the call to this church, May I4, I812, he was married to his late wife, Miss Ann West. In accepting the pastorate of this church, he became the immediate successor of the Rev. John King, D.D., the fourth Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, A.D. I792, and a very able man. Here he labored for nearly eighteen years. In the fall of I829 he received and accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church of Washington, Pa., and removed there in the month of November of that year. There he became the successor of the Rev. Obadiah Jennings, D.D., a man well known throughout the Church, who had abandoned a lucrative practice at the bar to become a preacher of the gospel of Christ. He also was a Moderator of the General Assembly, A.D. 1822. When Dr. Elliott went to Washington, the college was suspended, and the trustees, being anxious to resuscitate it, offered him the presidency, which he declined; but the Board not being able to find a man to undertake it, he agreed to act as president until a suitable person could be procured. That position he occupied for a year and a half, assisted by two young men, Messrs. Alrich and Smith, just commencing their professional career. Providence smiled upon their labors, and at 34 530 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the end of eighteen months Dr. Elliott withdrew, and passed the college, with 120 students, into the hands of Dr. McConaughy, a man of talents and ripe scholarship, and whose presidency was eminently successful. During his pastorate at Washington, he was elected by the General Assembly of i835 to the professorship of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny. This, for various reasons, he declined; but at the special and urgent solicitation of the Board of Directors, he agreed to hold the appointment in his hand for further consideration and consultation by the friends of the Seminary. While in this position, Prof. Halsey proposed that if he, Dr. Elliott, would come into the Seminary, he would relinquish the chair of Theology and take that which Dr. Elliott had declined, but which he preferred. In this the Board of Directors joined him, and although Dr. Elliott long hesitated as to the path of duty, he finally agreed to accept. This arrangement having been confirmed by the next General Assembly, he resigned his charge at Washington, and entered upon his duties in the Seminary on the Ioth of June, 1836, the number of students at that time being about twenty-five. The circumstances of the Seminary then, and for many years afterwards, were very discouraging. One professor after another was elected, but before long resigned, and left the faculty. Like actors in a drama, they appeared on the stage, but soon departed — and Dr. Elliott has been heard to say that he was often tempted to go also. But he felt that the Institution was of too great value to the Church to be thus abandoned, although at various times scarcely a glimmering of light could be seen through the darkness by which it was enshrouded. He encouraged the hope, however, that the Head of the Church would in due time appear for its deliverance and elevation to a larger sphere of usefulness. This hope has been verified, and the Seminary has its thousand or more of alumni abroad in the Master's vineyard, doing their Master's work. To Him be the praise! Dr. Elliott received the degree of D.D. from Jefferson College in the year 1835, and that of LL.D. from Washington College in I847. He has been a warm friend of the Reunion, and lives to congratulate the Church at the attainment of it, and still brings forth fruit in old age while training young men for the ministry of the gospel. THE REV. MELANCTHON W. JACOBUS, D.D., LL.D., Moderator of the General Assembly (Old School), I869, being one of the Assemblies that prepared and sent down to the Presbyteries the Basis of Reunion, which was finally adopted, and the last Assembly known as Old School. [From the Appendix Volume of The Princeton Reviewv.] MELANCTHON WILLIAMS JACOBUS was born September Ig, I816, at Newark, N. J. IHe entered Princeton College (Sophomore class) in his fifteenth year, and was graduated in his eighteenth year with the first honors of the College. After an APPENDIX. 531 interval of a year at home, he entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton in 1835, and having completed his course, he was invited to remain as an assistant to Prof. J. Addison Alexander, in the Hebrew department. He acted in this capacity during an academic year. When the year was drawing to a close, he received a unanimous and urgent call from the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn to become its pastor. The church was involved in the struggle which ensued upon the rupture in 1838 in the General Assembly, and it fell to his charge to build it up amidst very peculiar difficulties. He was installed pastor in the fall of 1839. In January, 1840, he was married to the eldest daughter of Samuel Hayes, M.D., of Newark, N. J. He labored successfully in Brooklyn during eleven years, in which time the church was well established as one of the most flourishing churches of the Presbytery. A beautiful and expensive edifice was erected on Fulton street, which was afterwards vacated for a more quiet and central part of the city; and a superior sanctuary of stone was built on the corner of Clinton and Remsen streets, which is still occupied by the congregation of that church. In the fall of I850 the health of the pastor broke down under the severe duties of the charge, and the church made liberal provision for releasing him, and supplying his pulpit, for a year's absence in foreign travel. He went with his wife through Europe, into Egypt and Palestine and Syria, to Damascus, returning by Constantinople and Greece, and arrived at home in September, I85 I, after a year's journeying among classic and Bible lands, to the great advantage of his health. During his absence, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, at their session in May, I85I, elected him as " Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature " in the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pa. He was now thirty-six years of age. Finding his health inadequate for the pulpit and pastoral work, and feeling himself called of God to enter upon the new field, in an interior climate, with furniture such as he was known to possess for the professorship, he entered upon his duties in Alleglheny in the opening of the year I852. The Presbytery of New York, when called upon to dissolve the pastoral relation, made most complimentary notice of his laborious and successful work in Brooklyn, and few will forget the touching speech of the venerable Dr. Spring in making the motion. He made a second tour of Europe in I866. Already in Brooklyn in 1848, during the toil of his pastorate, he had prepared and published his first volume of "Notes on the New Testament," entitled " Matthew, with the Harmony." This volume was received with so much public favor, and with the Catechetical Question Book accompanying, supplied so important a need, that, in the Professor's chair, with larger and richer materials from Bible lands, where he had made personal observation with advantage, he issued a second volume, "Mark and Luke," in May, I853. In I856 he published a very valuable Commentary on John; and this was followed in I859 with a still more elaborate Commentary on the Acts of the Apos-. tles. In I862 the Notes on the Gospels were republished in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Messrs. Oliphant & Son. Their very extensive circulation in this country, and 532 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. the great favor with which they were received in the churches, warranted the British publishers in this undertaking. In I864-5, the two volumes on Genesis were issued from the press of the American publishers, the Messrs. Carter of New York. They evince great labor and research, and in a brief space furnish a mass of material. And his special fitness for this latest work, where so many great questions were to be grappled, at the threshold of Divine Revelation, was already indicated by his review of " Bush on Genesis" in the Princeton Review in I839. In 1852 the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Jefferson College, and he was honored with the degree of LL.D. by the College of New Jersey in 1867. He had the happy distinction of being Moderator of the General Assembly in i869, the last Assembly of the Old School Church introducing the Reunion. He presided in the great Assembly at New York, and at the adjourned Assembly at Pittsburg, with marked dignity, suavity, and success, and was credited with having made most happy and eloquent responses to the several delegations from other bodies, and from the New School Assembly; and he will be remembered not only as presiding with his brother Moderator at the Reunion y7zbilee in' Pittsburg, but as most happily introducing the nuptial formula, and appealing to the venerable Dr. Elliott (Moderator at the disruption) if he knew of any reason, just and sufficient, why the parties might not lawfully be united. He is the author of " Letters to Governor Bigler (of Pennsylvania) on the Common School System," in controversy with Bishop O'Connor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburg; also of a tract on " Universal Salvation," published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication in Philadelphia; also of a public debate with Bishop O'Connor on the relation of the Romish Church to Free Institutions, and of a controversy with I" The Pittsburg Catholic" (the late Rev. Dr. Keogh) on " Indulgences," published in the Pittsburg Desr5atch. In February, I858, Dr. Jacobus was called to the pastorate of the Central Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg (formerly the Fifth Presbyterian Church, which had been dissolved), and, beginning with a membership of nineteen persons, he has gathered around him, during ten years, a flourishing and well-established church, which he still continues to serve, in addition to the duties of his professorship. The following articles are from his pen: 1839. Bush on Genesis. 1845. Concordances. THE REV. PHILEMON H. FOWLER, D.D., Moderator of the General Assembly (New School), x869, being one of the Assemblies that prepared and sent down to the Presbyteries the Basis of Reunion which was finally adopted, and the last Assembly known as New School. [See sketches of the members of the Reunion Committee, page 5xi6. APPENDIM 533 THE REV. J. TRUMBULL BACKUS, D.D., Moderator of the First Reunited General Assembly. [See sketches of the mem. bers of the Reunion Committee, page 506.] CHAIRMEN OF THE REUNION COMMITTEE OF i866. The steel plate by Ritchie, on which are seen the portraits of Drs. Krebs, Brainerd, and Beatty, would have contained also the portrait of Dr. Adams, but for the fact that his picture appears in the group of the JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE OF 1869, in which he labored so earnestly and successfully, and of which he was the chairman. At the request of numerous brethren of both of the late branches of the Church, the place thus left vacant is filled by the portrait of the much-beloved and lamented Dr. Gurley, whose patient efforts for Reunion all acknowledge. Dr. Krebs was the Chairman of the Reunion Committee, Old School, of I866. Dr. Brainerd was the Chairman of the Reunion Committee, New School, of I866. Dr. Beatty succeeded Dr. Krebs, and Dr. William Adams succeeded Dr. Brainerd. When the Committee of each branch combined with the other, and both became one Joint Committee, the Rev. Dr. Beatty was elected as its Chairman, and the Rev. Dr. Hatfield was chosen Secretary. THE REV. JOHN M. KREBS, D.D. [See Biographical Sketches, page I78.] THE REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D. [See Biographical Sketches, page 227.] THE REV. PHINEAS D. GURLEY, D.D. [See Biographical Sketches, page I88.] THE REV. CHARLES C. BEATTY, D.D. [See Sketches of the Reunion Committee of i866, page 505.] CONFERENCE COMMITTEE OF I869. The members of the Joint Committee of Conference of I869, appointed by the General Assemblies meeting in the Brick Church and the Church'of the Covenant, New York, are represented in this volume by their portraits in groups of five each. A list of their names may be found on page 309. 534 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. VIEWS OF CHURCHES, ETC. THE CERTIFICATE OF REUNION. This certificate was drawn up by HENRY DAY, Esq., of New York, whose services in the judicatories of the Church and in the Committee of Conference of 1869, have greatly promoted the Reunion. The document appears in the handwriting of the Rev. Dr. McGILL, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Old School, from 1862 to its consolidation with the other branch. The signatures are those of the officers of the two Assemblies of I869. P. H. FOWLER, Ifoderalor, N. S. M. W. JACOBUS, 1Moderator, 0. S. EDWIN F. HATFIELD, Stated Clerk, ALEX. T. MCGILL, Stated Clerk, N. S. O. S. J. GLENTWORTH BUTLER, Permanent W. E. SCHENCK, Permanent Clerk, Clerk, N. S. O. S. WILLIAM E. MOORE, Temporary Clerk, R. K. RODGERS, Temporary Clerk, N.S. O.S. GEO. A. HOWARD, Temporary Clerk, N. S. OLD PRINCETON COLLEGE. This picture is a reproduction of the appearance of Princeton College as it stood previous to its first conflagration. It is taken from the fac-simile of a " plate in the new AmericanI Magazine for March, I760, published at Woodbridge, in New Jersey." The original plate has beneath the picture of the college the words, AULA NASSOVICA. Above, upon a scroll, is seen the motto, DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET. Princeton College is dear to the Presbyterian Church not only because it is closely associated with its history in this country, but still more since it has trained so many of its ministers. Princeton Theological Seminary owes its origin to the friends and patrons of Princeton College, and it is because of its relations to that institution and to the work of educating young men for the ministry that the view of it in its earlier days is presented. A COMMUNION GATHERING IN THE OLDEN TIME. Scenes like this were common in the former days of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other States. To the temple here represented the fathers and mothers in Israel of our early history in this land were wont to repair to celebrate the sacraments: "Not to the dome where crumbling arch and column Attest the feebleness of mortal hand, But to that fane most catholic and solemn Which God hath planned." APPENDIIX..535 AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. This picture is a copy of an excellent stereoscopic view of the Seminary. The number of its graduates who are now pastors, or serving the church in other spheres of usefulness, is so large that it is believed many will be pleased to see a picture of Auburn Seminary in the Memorial Volume. THIRD CHURCH, PITTSBURG, PA. Here the General Assembly, New School, held its adjourned meeting, November, I869. It was also the scene of the grand Reunion Convention and Jubilee, after the declaration of the adoption of the Basis of Union, Friday, November I2th, I869. [See page 382.] THE REV. ASHBEL GREEN, D.D. [See Biographical Sketches, page Io3.] THE REV. JAMES RICHARDS, D.D. [See Biographical Sketches, page 211.1 CHURCH OF THE COVENANT, NEW YdRK. Here the General Assembly, New School, of I869 met. [See page 331]1 FIRST CHURCH, PITTSBURG, PA. Here the General Assembly, Old School, held its adjourned meeting, November, I869. [See page 374.] FIRST CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. Here the First Reunited General Assembly convened, May, I870. [See page 416.] BRICK CHURCH, NEW YORK. In this church the General Assembly, Old School, of I869 convened. [See page 33I.] 2. PAPER PREPARED AND SIGNED BY MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, OLD SCHOOL, AND OTHERS, NEW. ARK, N. J., I864, REFERRED TO ON PAGE 250. NEWARK, N. J., May 27, 1864. The ministers and elders of the Presbyterian Church, represented by the General Assembly now in session in this city, feel called upon to express their confident 536 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. conviction that the time has come when measures should be initiated to promote the reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church which were separated in I838. The questions over which they differed and divided have mainly passed away. They adopt the same views in opposition to slavery. There is now no difference of opinion in regard to the propriety of ecclesiastical supervision in conducting educational and missionary operations. After having been separated for more than a quarter of a century, they adhere alike to the old constitution. Their ministers and ruling elders receive and adopt the Confession of Faith in the use of some prescribed form. Whatever differences in doctrine may have existed at the time of separation there is reason to believe have mainly passed away. It is believed that the great majority in each branch " sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Scriptures," and approve of the same government and discipline. On this basis we may reunite, mutually regarding and treating the office-bearers and church courts of each as co-ordinate elements in the reconstruction. There are difficulties in the way of repairing the breaches of Zion which must be met and overcome' by well-considered methods and in a spirit of forbearance and prudence. Reunion cannot be accomplished, nor is it to be desired, without the restoration of a spirit of unity and fraternity. We believe that this spirit exists, and is constantly increasing. That which should first engage the attention of the friends of reunion should -be to find out how far unity of sentiment and kindness of feeling prevail. Where these exist, they should be cherished and strengthened by meeting together for the purpose of interchanging views, and using means for final union. By way of ascertaining the views of the ministers, ruling elders, and churches, and of calling out, organizing, and concentrating public sentiment, so as to open the way for organic union as speedily as possible, we propose the following measures: I. We recommend to Presbyteries and Synods the appointment of corresponding delegates to attend the Presbyteries and Synods of the other branch, as a measure adapted to develop and promote the spirit of union. 2. We recommend union meetings of Presbyteries and Synods of the two bodies wherever practicable, such as were held by the Presbyteries of St. Lawrence and Ogdensburg, as furnishing the best means of ascertaining how far a spirit of kindness and confidence has been restored, and to what extent a desire for reunion prevails. 3. We recommend that Church Sessions, Presbyteries, and Synods that are in favor of reunion take action on the subject, and express and publish their views. 4. We recommend conventions of the friends of reunion at important points, to be composed of ministers, ruling elders, and others, to consult together and to declare their views. 5. We respectfully request the conductors of the religious journals of the two Churches to open their columns to the publication of communications and reports of church courts and other meetings in favor of reunion. APPENDIX. 537 6. We would recommend to all concerned to discourage the organization of weak churches of the two branches, where only one is needed and can be supported, and especially where missionary aid is required to sustain them; and we commend the union of such churches where they exist. 7. We recommend, in the language of the General Assembly of I863, at Peoria, " That the ministers of the two branches of the Church cultivate fraternal intercourse and free interchange of views, and in all suitable ways encourage and aid one another in the appropriate work of the ministry; and that the members of the one or the other branch connect themselves with existing congregations of either, rather than give their influence and their aid to bodies whose principles and form of government are foreign to their own." 8. We earnestly recommend to all to seek, by prayer to the Head of the Church, that the Divine blessing may rest upon all efforts for the accomplishment of this desirable object. MINISTERS - Septimus Tustin, Washington, D. C.; J. G. Monfort, Cincinnati, Ohio; T. N. Haskell, First Church, East Boston; J. A. Steel, Topeka, Kansas; W. S. Rogers, Oxford, Ohio; George Hale, Pennington, N. J.; Sheldon Jackson, Rochester, Minn.; A. McElwain, Indiana, Pa.; N. V. Morrow, Van Buren, Ohio; Arthur Burtis, Buffalo, N. Y.; L. Merrill Miller, Ogdensburg, N. Y.; Alfred Nevin, Philadelphia, Pa.; George C. Bush, Hackettstown, N. J.; A. O. Rockwell, Pittsburg, Pa.; E. B. Raffensperger, Toledo, Ohio; Samuel Steel, Hillsboro, Ohio; Alfred Taylor, Bristol, Pa.; W. B. Stewart, Pottstown, Pa.; C. V. McKaig, Candor, Pa.; S. McC. Anderson, Davenport, Iowa; J. H. Pratt, Athens, Ohio; John Johnson, Sybertsville, Pa.; Emilius Grand Girard, Ripley, Ohio; John Robinson, Ashland, Ohio; M. L. Wortman, Perrysville, Pa.; A. E. Thomson, Marysville, Ohio; Thomas W. Hynes, Greenville, Ill.; E. W. Wright, Delphi, Indiana; C. K. Thomson, Lebanon, Indiana; Thomas S. Crowe, Jeffersonville, Indiana; J. M. Stevenson, New York, N. Y.; B. Johnson, Oxford, Wis.; William C. Roberts, Columbus, Ohio; J. H. McIlvaine, Princeton, N. J.; E. Wilson, Philadelphia, Pa.; J. W. Heynes, Hudson, Michigan; M. Barrett, Newton, N. J.; H. L. Craven, St. Charles, Minn.; J. D. Paxton, Princeton, Indiana; D. A. Wilson, Ironton, Mo.; S. M. Templeton, Delavan, Illinois; W. R. Marshall, Baltimore, Md.; Wilson Phraner, Sing Sing, N. Y.; Joseph F. Fenton, Washington, Mo.; B. S. Everett, Stroudsburg, Pa.; Alex. McA. Thorburn, Malta, N. Y.; Algernon Sydney MacMaster, Poland, Ohio; James A. McKee, St. Anthony, Minn.; James Allison, Pittsburg, Pa.; J. H. Nixon, Indianapolis, Indiana; Randolph A. De Lancey, Boston, Mass.; I. N. Rendall, Oneida Valley, N. Y.; W. T. Adams, E1l Paso, Illinois; Jos. Platt, Waveland, Indiana; Edsall Ferrier, Florida, N. Y.; S. H. Stevenson, Granville, Illinois; M. A. Hoge, Cleveland, Ohio; Joseph W. Hubbard, Bridgeton, N. J.; E. Slack, Cincinnati, Ohio; N. C. Burt, Cincinnati, Ohio; I. N. Candee, Galesburg, Illinois; Bellville Roberts, Rochester, N. Y.; S. F. Scovel, Springfield, Ohio; John Wray, Rockdale Mills, Pa.; James Tully, Ballstown Spa, N. Y.; 538 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Edward E. Rankin, Newark, N. J.; Samuel J. Baird, Woodbury, N. J.; John Y. Allison, Arcola, Illinois; David M. James, Budd's Lake, N. Y. RULING ELDERS - Cyrus Falconer, Hamilton, Ohio; Daniel Kelley, Buffalo, N. Y.; J. M. Chambers, Burlingame, Kansas; W. Shepard, Rochester, N. Y.; E. Crosby, Bath, N. Y.; Joseph Gorrell, Ossian, Indiana; Nehemiah Dodge, Mt. Joy, Pa.; E. J. Beall, New Philadelphia, Ohio; J. G. Allen, East Springdale, Ohio; Robert W. Pratt, Salem, Illinois; Stanley Matthews, Cincinnati, Ohio; Wm. Taylor, Findley, Ohio; Noah Evans, I-Hillsboro, Ohio; W. Seawright, Frankfort, Indiana; A. J. HIays, Charleston, Indiana; Martin Ryerson, Newton, N. J.; T. W. Lockwood, Detroit, Michigan; Charles N. Todd, Indianapolis, Indiana; John Morehouse, Dayton, Ohio; George Hurlbut, Ogdensburg, N. Y.; W. Helphenstein, Washington, Ind.; J. W. Sutherland, Kirkwood, Mo.; B. S. Disbrow, Trenton, N. J.; James Patton, Reemersburg, Pa.; James I-I. Wilson, Prairie City, Illinois; James Ayers, Toulon, Illinois; Thompson Bell, Zurick, Iowa; Matthias Osborn, New Providence, N. J.; Eustus H. Smith, St. Louis, Mo.; John S. Furst, Cedar Springs, Pa.; James M. Briggs, Mt. Gilead, Ohio; Win. Byram, Liberty, Indiana; J. W. Kennicutt, Boston, Mass.; S. Wittlesey, Toledo, Ohio; J. H. McGrew, Piqua, Ohio; J. H. Whiting, Mt. Pleasant,. Iowa; James P. Wallace, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Charles E. Lathrop, Washington, D.C.; A. Eldridge, North White Creek, N. Y.; John Ogden, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; James Rankin, Dunningsville, Pa.; Charles Fuller, Scranton, Pa.; John D. Stokes, Beaver, Pa. 3. THE PITTSBURG CIRCULAR, I868. REFERRED TO ON PAGE 326. This circular, it is believed, exerted an important influence in behalf of the Reunion, and paved the way for its general acceptance upon the basis finally adopted. The idea of issuing it was originally suggested by the Rev. James Allison, D.D., editor of the PRESBYTERIAN BANNER. It was projected in its present form by Drs. Paxton, A. A. Hodge, and Jacobus, Drs. Allison, McKinney, and others consenting. The first part of the paper was written by the Rev. A. A. Hodge, D.D., and the remaining portion by Dr. Allison. A few verbal alterations were afterwards made by the brethren who were present at the meeting at which it was signed. CIRCULAR ON REUNION. The late General Assembly, which held its sessions in Albany, after having referred the Basis reported by the Joint Committee to the consideration of the presbyteries, declared, by a unanimous vote, their decided preference for the Common Standards of the Presbyterian Church without qualifying clauses of any kind, as the doctrinal basis of the reunited Church. When this was reported to the General Assembly sitting in Harrisburg, although by reason of the previous departure of many of their members they were unable formally to reconsider their former APPENDIX. 539 action, yet by a very large majority of their remaining members they also expressed their preference for the change proposed. In view of these facts, the undersigned desire to make known their very decided agreement with both these General Assemblies in preferring that the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, without qualification, should be the only doctrinal basis of the reunited church in the future. I. Because the Common Standards, without qualification, have been from the first the basis of both churches, and their adoption consequently will involve no sacrifice of principle nor of consistency upon the part of either. 2. Because it is known to have been the first choice of our New School brethren, and is now preferred by an overwhelming majority of both branches. 3. Because its adoption in preference to the Doctrinal Basis reported by the Joint Committee will conciliate the cheerful acquiescence of very many who acted with the minority in the late General Assembly. 4. Because it has already been approved by the New School, Old School, United, and Reformed Presbyterians in the Philadelphia Convention, and its adoption will therefore greatly facilitate the ultimate reunion of all branches of the hitherto divided Presbyterian family in the United States. 5. Because it will avoid all ground of litigation with respect to church property of every kind. 6. And, finally, because the adoption of the common Confession and Catechism, without qualifying clauses, will facilitate instead of delaying our reunion with the other branch; since, as the adoption of this basis involves the creation of no new "' constitutional rule," nor any modification in any pre-existent rule, it is selfevident that, provided it is in the meantime indicated as the preference of the Church, it may be adopted by the two General Assemblies of I869, and made the basis of reunion by a simple resolution. On the other hand, the adoption of the doctrinal basis reported by the Joint Committee, however well intended, may be divisive in its tendency. It is very complex in its terms, and is already interpreted in different senses by different parties. It is a new basis, altering, in terms at least, if not in spirit, the established formula of subscription. Being a modification of the ancient constitutional form of subscription, it cannot be made binding by a mere resolution of the General Assemblies, but must receive, according to the plan of the Joint Committee, the suffrages of three-fourths of the presbyteries of both branches. It is the first choice of neither party. It is more or less seriously objected to by a large portion of the Old School, and is conscientiously protested against by a respectable minority. It is believed to be especially distasteful to the great body of the United and Reformed Presbyterians, and its adoption by us would therefore embarrass and tend to postpone our reunion with them. Therefore we recommend that the presbyteries adopt, as far as they may be able, the other parts of the basis, and that all presbyteries which may prefer this proposed article to the one now in the basis of agreement give expression of their desire that the two branches should unite on this basis; and that presbyteries 540 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. which may prefer the basis of the Joint Committee, but who are willing to unite on the basis proposed, give expression to that willingness, asking that if it shall appear that a majority of the presbyteries desire the doctrinal basis here proposed, or are willing to accept it, the General Assembly may adopt such measures as, in its wisdom, may be deemed best to secure the concurrence of the General Assembly of the other branch; and that the stated clerks of the presbyteries report their action to the next General Assembly. We hereby most respectfully ask our Committee on Reunion, whose prudence, wisdom, patience, and great desire to act so as to subserve the highest interests of the Church we most highly appreciate, either by correspondence or personal intercourse with the Committee on Reunion of the New School, to secure a reconlmendation to the presbyteries of both branches, to adopt the suggestion made above, so that simultaneous and undivided action may be taken by the presbyteries in both branches. MINISTERS. DAVID MCKINNEY, Ohio Presbytery. DAVID ELLIOTT, Allegheny City Presbytery. W. B. McILVAINE, Ohio Presbytely. S. C. LOGAN, Lake Presbytery. JAMES I. BROWNSON, Washington Presbytery. J. B. BITTINGER. Allegheny City Presbytery. JAMES M. PLATT, Allegheny City Presbytery. RICHARD LEA, Ohio Presbytery, S. M. HENDERSON, Blairsville Presbytery. ROBERT CAROTHERS, Blairsville Presbytery. ELLIOTT E. SWIFT, Allegheny City Presbytery. JOHN GILLESPIE, Ohio Presbytery. W. W. EELLS, Ohio Presbytery. A. A. HODGE, Allegheny City Presbytery. JNO. LAUNITZ, Allegheny City Presbytery. C. V. MCKAIG, Ohio Presbytery. JAMES ALLISON, Allegheny City Presbytery. WILLIAMSON S. WRIGHT, Logansport Presbytery. S. F. SCOVEL, Ohio Presbytery. A. C. MCCLELLAND, Ohio Presbytery. JOHN KERR, Ohio Presbytery. S. J. WILSON, Ohio Presbytery. M. W. JACOBUS, Ohio Presbytery. J. E. WRIGHT, Allegheny City Presbytery. L. R. McABoY, Allegheny City Presbytery. T. X. ORR, Allegheny City Presbytery. JOSEPH SMITH, Blairsville Presbytery. APPENDIX. 541 W. D. HOWARD, Ohio Presbytery, JAMES A. REED, Wooster Presbytery. A. M. REID, Steubenville Presbytery. WM. A. WEST, Carlisle Presbytery. RULING ELDERS. JOHN SAMPLE, Blairsville Presbytery. DAVID ROBINSON, Ohio Presbytery. T. H. NEVIN, Allegheny City Presbytery. J. B. FINLAY, Saltsburg Presbytery. PITTSBURG, PA., June 25, I868. 4. SPEECH OF THE REV. GEORGE W. MUSGRAVE, D.D., LL.D., IN PRESENTING THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE, ETC., GENERAL ASSEMBLY, OLD SCHOOL, i869. REFERRED TO ON PAGE 348. The following speech was delivered by the Rev. G. W. Musgrave, D.D., LL.D., Chairman of the 0. S. Committee of Conference, on the occasion of the presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee of Conference, to the Old School General Assembly sitting in the Brick Church in the City of New York, May 27th, I869: MR. MODERATOR, — It affords me great pleasure to be able to report a Plan of Union between what are known as the Old and New School bodies, and to be able to say that our report is unanimous, and is signed by every member of each Committee. The Joint Committee report three papers to the Assembly. Thefirst is a Plan of Union, containing the Basis, which will be sent down to the Presbyteries for their acceptance or rejection. The second paper is a declaration, made that there may be a good understanding between the two branches. This paper is not a compact or covenant, but is a recommendation of certain arrangements as to Seminaries, Boards, etc. It is no part of the Basis or Terms of Union. It only recommends certain arrangements as suitable to be adopted. The t/zird paper is one recommending a day of prayer to Almighty God for his guidance and presence, that Presbyteries may be under the Divine influence when they come to vote upon this momentous question. The report has been printed, and will be distributed as soon as read. It has not been circulated before, because it was feared that members would be so much engaged in the reading of it that they would not listen to it with sufficient attention. I will now call upon the Secretary of the Committee to read the Report. [The Report having been read, Dr. Musgrave proceeded:] I have already, Mr. Moderator, made a very brief explanation of the character of the three papers submitted by the Joint Committee. But I wish to make a few additional remarks with respect to each of them consecutively. The first paper, as you will notice, is the Plan of Union, containing the basis upon which it is proposed this union shall be effected. That basis is to be over 542 PRESBYTERIAN REUlNION. tured to the Presbyteries, and is the only paper which will be sent down a the Presbyteries to be acted upon by them. This basis is our common Standards -is the Confession of Faith, including, of course, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, agreeably to former decisions of the General Assembly, they being regarded as included in the expression, " our Standards." REUNION ON THIE STANDARDS. Now, sir, this is simple. We shall have but one question before us. Are we prepared to approve of the reunion of these two Assemblies upon the simple basis, the Confession of Faith, our common Form of Government and Discipline, the doctrines and the polity which both of the branches receive and adopt? Well, sir, I am compelled to say that, much as I have desired this union for great objects and for the glory of God, I would never have given my consent to this union upon any other conceivable basis. My objection to all the overtures heretofore sent down was that they add something to the Standards; and, to say the least, they were ambiguous, were liable to be differently construed, and, in my judgment, opened the door for the introduction of errors which no sound Calvinist will ever agree to endorse. Give us our pure, time-honored, scriptural Standards, and then we can all stand upon them as the rock upon which our fathers have ever stood, and upon which I pray Almighty God our successors will ever stand till the end of time. Now, sir, we have had a frank and a very kind interchange of opinions in the Committee. We have been, as your representatives, allow me to say, faithful to the trust committed to us, loyal to Christ and to God's truth. We have said that when we make the Standards the basis of this union, we mean what we say - these Standards, nothing else, nothing more, and nothing less. We have said that we mean to maintain the system of doctrines taught in those Standards, because we believe them to be according to God's Word, with constancy and fidelity. In other words, we meant and wanted to be understood that we never intended to allow brethren to impair the integrity of that system. If any such errors are propagated, those who are engaged in it must expect to be disciplined. We will maintain, God helping us, the purity of doctrines taught in our blessed Confession. That is distinctly understood, and I rejoice that in the preamble to one of the papers we distinctly announce that we recognize each other as sound and orthodox bodies, thus advertising to all the world that the reason why these two great brallches of the Church are to be united is because we believe each other to be orthodox, and sound in the faith. So that it must be plain enough that a united Church, founded upon our Confession, each branch recognizing the other as sound and orthodox, will never tolerate heresy. Why, sir, I have not changed my theological views and my conscientious convictions of duty in the least degree in regard to that, and though I may not live long, I will endeavor, as in the past, by God's grace, to defend and maintain the purity of our doctrines. That is under. stood, that we receive the Confession sincerely, and that we mean to maintain and defend it. APPENDIX. 543 On the other hand we have understood each other on the question of liberty. We have said to our brethren, " You have possibly misunderstood our branch. You, through some representations made in the papers by anonymous writers especially, have received the impression that the Old School church will tolerate no difference of opinion; that we are obliged, every man as before his God, to accept the ipsissiznc ve,-ba theory; and that any man who undertakes to review, or to state or illustrate doctrines in any degree different from those of Princeton, for instance, is to be considered as a heretic, and to be disciplined." Well, we have disabused them of that. We have said, " Brethren, there have always been shades of difference in the Old School Church; and in a body of such intelligent and conscientious men there must of necessity be differences of opinion." Why, sir, as long as men think at all - and may the day never come when one man shall think for all the rest - as long as men think, they will differ in some respects. Now, sir, we have said to them that we understand that there is to be allowed in this united Church a reasonable degree of liberty; that men are not to be made offenders for a word; that we will not encourage persecution, or needless prosecution, if you prefer it, but will allow just such liberty in the united Church as has been freely allowed in the Old School branch of the Church. Well, that satisfied them. Now, sir, we understand each other. We are both sound, orthodox bodies, pledged to that old Confession, understanding each other that we mean to maintain it in its integrity; and on the other hand, that we will allow all reasonable differences of opinion - that is to say, such differences as are consistent with maintaining the integrity of the system. No opinion is to be tolerated that would be subversive of our system of doctrine. Thus we arrived at a harmonious conclusion, and, so far as I could judge, every man in that Joint Committee agreed that this was fair and just, and I think it is. What more can we ask than that this basis should be our common Standards, with this' understanding between the parties, that it is not to be received insincerely, with reserve; that there is to be no toleration of material doctrinal differences, while a reasonable liberty will be allowed? I thank God that we have reached this result. Now I can subscribe to it for one, with all my heart; and, sir, I would be glad if the other Calvinistic and Presbyterian bodies would unite with us upon this same broad, solid, scriptural basis. WHY REFER TO THE PRESBYTERIES Now, you will ask why the Committee recommended that this Basis should be sent down to the Presbyteries, and why we did not propose to consummate this union here and now. Well, a word of explanation. I think our Committee were of opinion that, if it had been expedient, these two General Assemblies would have the constitutional right to effect this union at once. That is certainly the opinion of the Chairman of the Committee. And though I have great respect for those who have expressed a different judgment, nevertheless God has so made me that I am obliged to do my own thinking. Often I can agree with Princeton; I am very 544 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. happy to agree with the brethren I respect and love, and with whom I have cooperated, some of them at least, for forty years or more. But I must somehow or other do my own thinking, and I believe that this Assembly has the right to consummate this union at once, if it chose to do so, because there is no constitutional change proposed. Yes, if you have a Smith or a Gurley amendment, if you have anything else than the simple Confession, then I agree that in order to make it legal the change must be approved by the Presbyteries; but when no constitutional change is proposed, there is no necessity for that. Then, second, we have precedent. Now we know that it has been argued that, although the Associate Reformed Church was united without sending the question down by overture to the Presbyteries, yet it was a small body. Why, Mr. Moderator, that is strange logic to me! Does the size of a body affect the principle involved? If the Assembly had the constitutional right to unite with that independent denomination, without asking leave of the Presbyteries, certainly the size of the body does not affect the principle. Theft is theft, whether a man steal a penny or a million; and so with everything else. Ah, but then it is said'that that reference is unfortunate, because the union was unhappy! Why, that is still stranger logic to me! What would you think, Moderator, of a man who would gravely undertake to argue that the consummation of a certain marriage was unlawful, because the union of the parties was unhappy? Is there any logic in that? Certainly not. I am- clearly of opinion that this Assembly would have had the right to do it. Well, then, even admitting that in a case of this sort, where such great interests are involved, it would be proper to consult the Presbyteries before consummating union, has not this been done? Have you not, as a matter of fact, already overtured the Presbyteries twice? Has not a large majority of your Presbyteries declared, in answer to your overtures, that they approve this union, provided you would omit one or two amendments in the first article? Now, I submit that it looks to me something like a quibble to say that the thing has not been overtured. It has been. The Presbyteries have answered, and they have said, " Yes, you may do it; we will approve of it, provided you will omit one or two amendments in the first or doctrinal article." Well, notwithstanding such are my own views, and I believe I am expressing the views of the entire Committee of Conference appointed by you, nevertheless we thought that it would not be expedient to undertake to consummate the union at once. Some thirty, perhaps speaking correctly, as some gentleman has undertaken to count them, thirty-one Presbyteries, some of them the largest and intellectually and morally among the most influential in our body, have said that this thing would be either unconstitutional, for that was the voice of some, and in others that it would not be judicious or wise, and they have insisted upon it that it ought to be overtured to them before it is consummated. Well, sir, it was our opinion, decidedly my own, that we ought to defer to the views and the feelings of these brethren, and send the thing down to them. Why, sir, we don't want an inharmonious union. We don't want to get up a contest at the very outset with regard APPENDIX. 545 to the constitutionality of the union when it is perfected. We don't want to sour these brethren, or to force them into antagonism with us. No, sir. We hope, and now I will say that I am very sanguine in my hope, that the great mass of those brethren, if you send it down, will all express approval of it, and come into the union heartily, and so we will have an harmonious union, which will vastly promote our happiness and efficiency; so that I am gratified at this compromise, if I may so express it. Instead of doing the thing at once, send it down, and let the brethren have what they claim as rights - the opportunity of expressing their judgment. But, sir, while we were willing to delay this matter for so important a purpose, we felt that there were other interests, great and enduring, that ought to be consulted likewise, and that we ought not unnecessarily to postpone this matter. Instead, therefore, of providing that the next General Assembly shall count the votes and take the order according to the instructions of the Presbytery, we propose to adjourn- the Assemblies- these Assemblies now sitting, to the month of November, giving the Presbyteries the opportunity of voting in October, so that next November, having received their answers, if they are favorable, as I doubt not they will be, then in November the Assembly can take such order as will enable the Assembly of i870 to be an Assembly-of the United Church, making arrangements for the manner in which that Assembly shall be organized. REASONS FOR TWO-THIRDS VOTE. Well, now, sir, a word of explanation in regard to a change which you perhaps have noticed. Hitherto we, the Committees, have recommended that three-fourths of the Presbyteries shall be necessary to determine this question, and we seriously considered that point, and after the most mature deliberations it was thought that under existing circumstances, and in view of the great interests involved, a twothirds vote was more proper and judicious. It did not seem to us to be right to allow a minority of one-fourth to govern the Church in the settlement of this grand question. Minorities have governed the world, the Church of God; and, sir, in direct accordance with one of our fundamental principles, we thought a majority should govern. Why, sir, even with respect to constitutional changes, our Government demands nothing more than a majority vote. It is not right that a small minority should control and govern the Church of God. There are, sir, we also remark, some Presbyteries from which we do not hear, we know not from what cause. It is not peculiar with respect to this question. Some have noticed it for' many years. No matter what questions you send down to the Presbyteries, there will always be a number of them that will make no response; and unfortunately our Government requires us to count them as dissenting. Now, sir, if I have been correctly informed, for I have been out of the house on these Committees almost all the time during your proceedings, I cannot therefore speak, perhaps, with that accuracy that I might if I had been present and heard the thing; but I understood that some thirty Presbyteries sent up no report. Well, now, are all those thirty 35 546 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Presbyteries opposed to Union? I don't believe it. I can't believe it. And yet, sir, in counting the votes, you must count them as dissenting. You can only count the votes for and against, and the question must be determined by the majority of the votes returned. Well, sir, that is a very grave consideration in this matter. If we could be certain that all Presbyteries would make a return, then perhaps it would not only be safe, but wise and proper, to make it three-fourths. But, sir, knowing that in all previous time many Presbyteries failed to send up a report; and even upon this question of Union, that has so stirred the hearts of the great masses of our people throughout the length and breadth of the land, even on this grand question of Union, thirty Presbyteries, if I am rightly informed, send no answer to your overtures - thirty-five, the Stated Clerk tells me, and that increases the weight of my argument - thirty-five Presbyteries i - as prudent men we thought it would not be judicious to measure the result by requiring a threefourths vote, if all the Presbyteries should not be heard from. Not that if I were certain that three-fourths of all the Presbyteries would not sanction this thing, I would seriously doubt whether the time had come for us to consummate it. But I felt, like my brethren of the Committee, I felt unwilling that thirty-five negligent Presbyteries, or owing to the miscarrying of their responses, or to the neglect of their stated clerks, or from any cause, - that thirty-five silent Presbyteries should turn the scale against the consummation of this blessed Union. No, sir, we looked at it carefully, and we thought that two-thirds is the proper number, and I trust the Assembly will agree with us. Surely, from what we know of the great heart of the Presbyterian Church, whose pulsations are felt in every section of our land, surely, if two-thirds of these Presbyteries say aye, we ought to take it as the voice of God in his providence. CONCURRENT DECLARATION Now, sir, in regard to the articles contained in the second paper, called the Declaration, etc., I have already stated to the Assembly that that don't form a part of the Basis. They are not a compact or covenant, but they suggest to the Assembly what are suitable arrangements. I will not repeat what I have said, except to call your attention to that important distinction. They are not terms of the union. They may be annulled or modified, as any future Assembly may deem proper. We told our brethren that we were unwilling to tie the lands of the future Church of God, and I for one was very decided upon that point; and I will say to you that I would have risked, yes, risked the failure of this Union at the present time, rather than concede that these articles should be unchangeable, though I cannot foresee that there will be any necessity in the future to change them. I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; but I think I have some little common sense, and I felt that it would be unsafe for us to imperil the future by trammelling the Church of God, preventing it from exercising its liberty and from dealing with circumstances as they might arise in the providence of God. Sir, we were very de APPENDIX, 547 cided and determined that those articles should not form a part of the compact, but that they should be suggestions and recommendations, in order that the Presby. teries should get an understanding between the parties. But, sir, it is due to fairness that I should say, and I repeat it now publicly, in order that it may have a response from this house, we did say to these brethren, " We will not consent to makl;e these articles a covenant; we won't adopt them as a legal compact, binding upon the future; yet we are acting in good faith and as honorable men, and we say to you that we will not change them at any future time without obviously good and sufficient reasons." And I; for one, will feel bound in honor to maintain those articles, so long as they can be maintained without serious detriment to the interests of the Church of God; and I hope this Assembly will understand it so, in all honor and in good faith, when we have said that we proposed these arrangements, that we did not intend that they should be ephemeral, nor that we should take advantage of our numerical majority and alter them to conform to our peculiar interests and wishes. No, I told the brethren of the other side that they could trust my Church; that they were men of honor and good faith; and if you ratified this thing, you would stand by it, and future Assemblies would stand byit, until in the progress of events some good and sufficient reason should exist for their modification. SAFETY ON THE PROPOSED BASIS. Now, sir, I have but a few more words. Perhaps I have already occupied too much time; but my apology is in my official relation to the Committee. Permit me to say a few words in regard to the general subject. I believe that the basis we have proposed is perfectly safe for the Church of God. If I thought otherwise, I would not advocate it, I would not consent to it. In my conscience and before God, I believe that the doctrines of our beloved Church are safe on that basis. I believe that the whole body of the other branch are orthodox, in our sense of that word. That there are some men among them, as perhaps among us, whose theology neither you nor I could endorse, I admit; but if we wait to consumnmate this union until we are ready to endorse the opinions of every man, we will wait certainly until the millennium. No, sir, there is no perfect Church on earth. No matter how long you would wait, why, sir, you would never have it. I venture to say that if you would not organize this General Assembly until you were satisfied that every man — every minister and every ruling elder constituting your constituency -until you would believe that every man of them, clergy and ruling elders, were perfectly orthodox, you would never have a General Assembly of the Old School Presbyterian Church! Now, sir, all that I cared for was that the law should be right; that if any opinions were propagated which seemed to us to be inconsistent with an honest subscription to our standards, we should not be obliged to try the man upon a 548 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. Gurley law, or upon a Smith law, but upon the old law of our Westminster Confession. If the law is right, it is our fault if we don't justly apply it. Well, sir, so much for that. I believe they are sound and orthodox as a body, just as I believe we are. I will not go into any detail here. Suffice it to say, Moderator, I have considered it my duty, as an individual, to satisfy my own conscience with respect to that vital point, not simply on account of my past personal history, and my public testimonies on this subject, but in the fear of God, and in order that I might discharge my individual duty to Christ and to God's people. I have carefully endeavored to satisfy my own mind with regard to that vital point. It would not be proper for me to state the process which I adopted - the methods, nor to detail the operations. All I shall say to my brethren is this: that with no undue prejudice-for or against them; I have endeavored to inform myself as to the character of the other branch; and the result has been that I for one am satisfied that they are substantially sound, and that there is no material difference between us; and that as to those points upon which we divided, thirty odd years ago, they have all passed away. We are no longer troubled with them, and they will not corrupt us. CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. Why, sir, the change of circumstances is almost radically entire. I will not enter into that, lest I should speak too long. There were causes in operation from I828 up to I838 which we had good reason to dread, and which were undoubtedly corrupting and revolutionizing the Church of God.- I have never said, because I have never felt; as some men have said and doubtless felt - I have never said that I regretted the part I took in that early conflict. Sir, were we to meet in the same circumstances, I would repeat, God helping me, the same conduct. I will rebuke heresy now, as I did then. I would resist any attempt to revolutionize the Presbyterian Church and to make it Congregational. I will do it now with as much vigor, if I have still left the mental and physical strength that I had thirty odd years ago; at any rate I would do it with all the power that God would give me. Sir, the circumstances are different. We are not called upon to watch the Home Missionary Society and the American Education Society. We have not got to watch the notoriously unsound Congregationalists, who were undoubtedly at that time spreading sentiments which were grossly offensive to Old School men. Sir, that day has passed away. These brethren have their Committees of Missions, their Education and Publication Committees. They are prepared to consolidate them with our Boards, and to act together with us on ecclesiastical principles. Well, voluntaryism has ceased to have any influence, as have also the unsound Congregationalists. And I qualify my remark always when I speak of Congregationalists, because there are two classes of them; there is a class of Congregationalists who are orthodox, sound men, eminently pious men, whom I would welcome into the Presbyterian Church, for they are Presbyterians, as well as Calvinists in their views. Why, sir, such men I have no suspicion of.' I will APPENDIX. 549 receive them with open arms to my heart. All I ask is for a man to be a good Calvinist, and a thorough Presbyterian, and a sound Christian, and I don't care from what quarter he comes, whether from the North, or the East, or the South, or the West. Somehow or other, I have such an affection for all the families of real Calvinists and Presbyterians, that I can take in all New England that is sound, all the Canadas, and Great Britain, and Ireland, and the whole world Some men like to repeat that remark of Whitefield, that there will be no Presby terians and no Methodists, etc., in heaven. Well, sir, I don't know any more about heaven than Whitefield did, as I have never been there. I don't know exactly what form of worship they have, but I have an idea that it will be Presbyterian. And, brethren, I will give you my reason. I don't say I never have expressed an opinion without thinking I had a good reason for it; but I think I have in this case, and the reason why I think their worship will be like ours in heaven is because I believe that our mode of worship is what God inspires; that we have the principles and the examples of the apostles and prophets; and as God inspires this simple form of worship here, I suppose he will approve of it there., But certain I am of this, or more certain I should say, that we will all believe the doctrines of Paul when we get to heaven. I believe what Augustine and John Calvin taught; but I would not like myself to say that we will all be Calvinists in heaven. But I will say this, that we will all believe in accordance with the revelation which God gave through the Apostle Paul, and by that I understand Calvinism; and therefore I think that we shall all have that system of doctrines in heaven. Why, sir, I have another reason for it, if this is not too much out of the way. No matter how much certain denominations may differ from us speculatively and when in controversy, if you just get them to pray- I don't mean in heaven, for you can't get there yet, but on earth — ask these good Methodist brethren to pray right after they have been talking about Calvinism, and if they don't pray Calvinism I will wonder. Well, get their hymns, and when they come to worship God in that part of the service, why some of the purest and best Calvinism that you will find anywhere you will find in some of their hymns. They don't know it by the name. Well now, sir, I argue that the work of the Spirit must correspond with his teachings in his Word. We have not the doctrines and the experiences of the saints in heaven; but we see the teachings and the work of God's Spirit on the minds and hearts of his people upon the earth. NO VALID OBJECTIONS. Well, sir, enough for that. I am satisfied: that we can safely unite, because we are orthodox, both of us, and I think too that we ought to do it, because we are agreed. Why, sir, a man ought to give some grave reason, and obviously good reason, why this union should not be effected, because it is so natural, it is so proper in itself; the parties are really at one -just as I hold that no man can reach forty-five without being married, and be excusable, without a good reason; for a man ought to give a good reason. If it is not his fault, he is not to blame. Well, 550 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. now, my logic on that subject is this. I premise that no man shows more folly than when he undertakes to be wiser than God. That is an axiom. Now the Almighty has said, " It is not good for man to be alone; " and therefore a man ought to have a good reason. Paul had a good reason -- a good reason, and so have some others of God's people. Well now, sir, it is not for me to publicly tell what Paul's rea son was, or the reason of anybody else; but, sir, there is the argument. Now I say that no man is justified ill voting against this union, this marriage if you please, between these two parties, unless he has a good reason for forbidding the banns. Why, sir, if two were to come up here and want to be married, and somebody were to say, I object to it, wouldn't you, Mr. Moderator, ask him why? Certainly you would, and if he couldn't give a good reason, you would proceed. So I would takle it. No man can vote against his own creed. We have fixed it so, I won't call it a trap, that a man must have a prodigious amount of moral courage, I won't say impudence, to vote against himself, against his own creed. Now, sir, if we put anything else to it, he might object to it; but, sir, haven't you, before God and his Church, declared that you receive and adopt the Confession of Faith? for that is the creed. THE ADVANTAGE AND THE DANGER. The time has come when this thing ought to be settled, because it is proper and:right in itself — and now I come to my last remark. I sometimes speak longer than I should. An old Scotch woman was told that her new preacher read his sermons. She was told to go into the gallery and she would find it to be true.,She did so, and sure enough she found that in the big Bible he had a little paper book, and when he came to the end she was fairly boiling over. When the minis*ter remarked, "I will enlarge no further," she squealed out, " Ye canna; the paper is oot I" Now, brethren, it has never been my habit to read, and of course not to write, and I could tell you some funny things about these pressmen who wanted to get a copy of the sermon that I preached. Why, bless your souls, said I, not a line have I written. But the press went and pressed me until, with the aid of an amanuensis, I filled up the heads. I am not in that predicament now, and therefore may talk too long. I will try to be short for the remainder of the time. I do not want this union simply because I think it is the will of God, and because I think it is safe, and proper, and natural; but I want it for the great work that we have before us. Now, in my official position, perhaps I have been able to appreciate this more sensibly than many of my brethren; for I have cries for help, pleas for men and means, in all quarters of this great land. Well, sir, it has been my duty to study the map of our country, and to keep myself acquainted with its moral destitutions, and oh, the weight that these things have upon our spirits! So much to do, so weak, and so little power to do it with! In behalf of millions of souls I implore you to combine your forces for the conquest of this land and the evangelization of the world! Oh, what a power there will be in this combination, not simply by real multiplication, according to our numerical strength I APPENDIX. 551 Why, that is not the half of it. It is not that you are to have in one Church so mnany more men and so many more dollars; but, sir, you are to have a spirit there, you are to have a faith there, you are to have an enterprise there, and energy and courage, which are so much needed in this grand work before us. It is not always the large army that is the most effective. It may be disorganized; it may be discouraged. Sometimes a much smaller host, united with mutual confidence, will attack and overcome the far larger force, by dint of discipline and spirit. Now, sir, I think that if this union is consummated you will infuse a spirit of hope, of faith, of zeal, of renewed courage. All our ministers, all our elders, all our people, will have a heart; and that is what we want. They will have a heart to work, and there is no telling what good may be accomplished. Why, sir, there is not an infidel, there is not a Jesuit in this land that would not rejoice at the failure of this attempt at reunion! They delight in our divisions; they lament our unions; yes, I have thought that I could trace the hand of a Jesuit in many an article that I have read in the Protestant papers within the last thirty-eight years. Sir, you know what a Jesuit is, and therefore I need not describe him. But, sir, they dread the Presbyterian Church more than all others combined. One of their priests once said to me, " We.hate the Methodists, but wefear you." Fear you! Now, sir, in order that you may give a blow to infidelity and Sabbath desecration, that you may give a check to Romanism, in God's name reunite these hosts, that you may do battle in the name of King Jesus. Only let us guard, brethren, against one temptation. Just as sure as you live, if it promotes vanity, and ambition, and self-sufficiency, God will frown upon it. That is now about the greatest danger I apprehend. It is that if we consummate this union we will feel proud and selfsufficient. Oh that God would keep us from that spirit; that he would make us humble, and help us to realize our absolute dependence upon him; and that he would give us the spirit of prayer after the union as well as before it; that he would make it a blessing to the Church and to the world! May God speed this happy work, and this year not close until this union is declared effected! 5. PASTORAL LETTER OF I869. BY THE REV. M. W. JACOBUS, D.D., LL.D. REFERRED TO ON PAGE 373. The. General Assemblies of both Branches of the Presbyterian Church in the United Slates of America, to the Presbyteries and Churches under their care: BELOVED BRETHREN, - You are already informed of the successive measures which have been adopted during the last three years, designed to effect an organic union of the two great branches of the Presbyterian Church in these United States. The several conferences and overtures of preceding Committees and Assemblies having accomplished much in the interest of mutual understanding and of Christian confidence, the two General Assemblies recently convened in the city of 552 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. New York found themselves ready,. very promptly,- to agree,, as they have agreed with signal unanimity, upon a basis of Reunion. This basis is simply the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our standards, here. tofore. and now common to both branches- "the Confession of Faith and Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church in -the United States," without note or comment, without restriction or qualification. Each body, equally with the other, recognizes and abides by this platform, as the natural and constitutional ground for those claiming to be Presbyterians; and as the true, safe, consistent and unchallengeable ground for these two bodies coming again to be one.'We have commingled our prayers and praises as one Assembly, and we have communed together at the table of our common Lord as one " body in' Christ; " and we believe that the spirit of love and concord has been shed down upon us, leading to this good result. The great questions of our cherished formulas, which are solemnly propounded in the licensure and ordination of ministers, and in the ordination of ruling elders and deacons, namely: " Do you believe the Scriptures, etc.? " "Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures? " and, " Do you approve of the government and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in these United States?" - these vital questions are here addressed by each to the other of these great bodies. And as to each of these questions each of these bodies responds to the other, and to the world, with an unqualified AYE! Several items, not in the basis, are appended as " Concurrent Declarations of the General Assemblies of x869." They express certain mutual understandings to be carried out in good faith, though not of the nature of a contract. So simple a plan, and so constitutional, with such unanimous adoption by your representatives in both Assemblies, seemed to some to warrant an immediate consummation. But unanimous as were the General Assemblies, they were not disposed to deny to any presbytery the free expression of its opinion and suffrage, even though this may seem to have been given already in advance. Accordingly it was ordered that the plan of Reunion above described should be transmitted to you for your formal and official approval. It only remains that you take prompt and harmonious action upon it, such as is indicated by the action of your delegates, and that you send up to the respective General Assemblies your Presbyterial ratification; and then the separation which has lasted nearly half the century thus far, and almost a whole generation, will be happily ended, and we shall surely gird ourselves for a new stadium of our career in the work and service of our Lord. We beg you to notice that, inasmuch as the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the presbyteries connected with each Assembly is requisite, each presbytery must act, or be counted in the negative. And action must be taken definitely, on or before the 15th day of October; and a statement of the vote of the presbytery nmust be certified to the stated clerk of its Assembly, prior to November ist. And besides, in order to secure transmission, the Commissioners should bring up in. APPENDIX. 553 hand to the adjourned meeting of the Assembly in Pittsburg, on the loth of November, a duplicate certificate of the action of their respective presbyteries. And now, brethren, do not the times demand of us such organic consolidation, when the forces of antichrist are everywhere organizing union against the Lord and against his anointed, and when the rallying call for an Ecumenical Council goes forth from Rome, that would fain muster her recruits from the Protestant ranks for the great coming conflict? Our best answer to the Pope's Encyclical will be our Reunion in November, in season to be communicated to the Papal conclave at the Vatican in December. We are loudly summoned to reunite now, when such gigantic enterprises are on foot to subvert our holy religion, when all forms of misbelief and disbelief are banding their forces to- destroy the Christian faith, to break down the Christian Sabbath, to demoralize society, and to root out our blessed Christianity from the world; when Romanism, Rationalism, and Ritualism make up the TRINE FALSEHOOD which denies all that is vital in our doctrine and worship; and when the great Deceiver goes forth, in all the earth, with sleepless energy, to instigate kings and peoples to all the horrid orgies of Atheism. At such a fearful crisis ought any evangelizing energy to be wasted or misapplied? At the moment of final conflict, is it not a woful mistake to turn our guns against battalions of our own army, who come to join our ranks, bearing aloft our banners? Our Confession dwells much upon " the communion of saints" (see chap. 26). And if there should be any dissent from the plan so unanimously agreed upon by your representatives, then is it not the true Presbyterian loyalty that a minority should defer, in all good conscience, and in all Christian charity, to the Presbyterial majority - " following after the things that make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another "? (Rom. xiv. I9). And now, beloved brethren, let us not boast ourselves, as if by the mere force of such a compact our great work could be achieved; else, like Jacob in his success with the wrestling angel, the sinew of the thigh will be shrunk, and we shall be sent halting on our way (Gen. xxxii. 25, 31, 32). Nor, on the other hand, let any one foster suspicions or stir up strifes. Even torches of truth may be mischievously placed so as to set on fire the standing corn, and vineyards, and olives, that give such glorious promise of harvest (Judg. xv. 4, 5). And then remember that even greater than Faith and Hope is CHARITY (I Cor. xiii. I3). To exercise an intelligent Christian confidence, to cultivate a higher style of piety for pastors and people, and to devise and execute liberal things for Christ and his Church- these are the urgent demands of this jubilant occasion. And finally, dear brethren, for this great united, reunited Presbyterian Church in these United States, still opening her arms to receive other members of the same noble family who " have obtained like precious faith with us," what a stupendous work is set forth, which we may enter upon and achieve! Our own land is pleading for our united and aggressive action. Moral elements, good and bad, are seeking their affinities. Unevangelized masses, in our teeming cities and on our wide frontiers, are retaliating upon our neglect of them, by claiming license: 554 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. under the name of liberty, and threatening our free institutions. Meanwhile the ends of the earth are marvellously brought together, as if in eager waiting to see the salvation of our God. And as if to rebuke the slowness of our Foreign Missionary work, the idolatrous populations of Asia are thronging upon our Pacific coast. Is it nQt high time for us, as a Church, to move in solid phalanx upon the enemy's works? Can we afford longer to divide our forces and weaken our defences, by working apart? And shall not this Church, to whom God has committed, as we believe, a special deposit of his truth, gird herself anew, at this loving impulse, to disseminate this truth in all lands and languages? In such a day of his power, shall not his people be willing (free-will offerings, Psalm cx. 3), as when the people of Israel "brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets, and ear-rings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold"? (Exod. xxxv. 21, etc.) Wealth that has long been withheld will flow forth, as we trust, in a new consecration, and our excellent Presbyterian system will be operated with new efficiency in all its departments. We fondly believe that not only our merchant princes, but the masses of our membership, touched by this spirit of REVIVAL, and hailing this new era in the annals of our Church, will bring forward their munificent thank-offerings, to supply the treasuries of our boards and committees; to endow and equip our theological seminaries; to sustain our impoverished ministry; and against all negative and false Christianity to bear aloft the standards of the Presbyterian Church, its Confession and Catechisms, with its free government and its simple, Scriptural worship for the salvation of the world. We have only, in conclusion, to beg your observance of the second Sabbath in September, recommended by both General Assemblies as " a day of fervent and united prayer to Almighty God, that he would grant unto us all the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord," and that he would enable us, in the new relations now contemplated, "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." "c Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee." " Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus; that ye may, with one mind and one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. WHEREFORE RECEIVE YE ONE ANOTHER, AS CHRIST ALSO RECEIVED US, TO THE GLORY OF GOD " (Rom. xv. 5-7). Signed by the 7oint Committee. M. W. JACOBUS, P. H. FOWLER, Moderator, O. S. Moderator, N. S. G. VW. MUSGRAVE, WM. ADAMS, A. G. HALL, J. F. STEARNS, LYMAN H. ATWATER, R. W. PATTERSON, WILLIS LORD, S. W. FISHER, APPENDIX. 555 H. R. WILSON, JAS. B. SHAW, kMinisters. Ministers. HENRY DAY, W. STRONG, ROBERT CARTER, DANIEL HAINES, CHAS. D. DRAKE, WM. E. DODGE, WM. M. FRANCIS, J. S. FARRAND, JNO. C. GRIER, JNO. L. KNIGHT, Elders. Eiders. 6. RESOLUTIONS WITH REFERENCE TO OTHER PRESBYTERIAN BODIES. REFERRED TO ON PAGE 374. Resolutions passed by the General Assembly (N. S.), Pittsburg, November, I869: Resolved, That, rejoicing in the immediate Reunion of the two Presbyterian Bodies so long separated, we would gladly hail a Pam-Presbyterian Union, embracing all branches of the Presbyterian family holding to the same Confession of Faith and Form of Government. Resolved, That all uniting with us may freely enjoy the privilege of using such songs of praise to Almighty God as their consciences may dictate, as indeed is already allowed to and variously enjoyed in and by the several congregations now in our communion. The Old School Assembly adopted the former of the above. 7. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE WITH THE AMERICAN B. C. F. M., APPOINTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEW SCHOOL, i869, INCLUDING THE ACTION OF THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE OF THE A. B. C. F. M. REFERRED TO ON PAGE 433. The General Assembly, convened in the Third Presbyterian Church, Pittsburg, Pa., in the month of November, I869, anticipating the formation of a Board of Foreign Missions for the united Church, appointed a Committee, consisting of the Ministers, J. F. Stearns, Robert W. Patterson, and R. R. Booth, and the Elders, Robert S. Williams and William E. Landen, " to take into consideration our relations to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and report to the next Assembly such measures as to them may seem proper and expedient, for the adjustment of those relations to the new posture of our affairs." This Committee, having attended to the duty assigned them, as far as their circumstances would permit, now beg leave to present their Report: The relations between the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions have been from the 55 6 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. beginning intimate and fraternal. The Board, immediately after its organization, submitted to the Assembly " the expediency of forming an institution similar to this, between which and us there may be such a co-operation as shall promote the great object of missions among unevangelized nations." As the Assembly declined the proposal, preferring, for reasons assigned, to have for the present no separate organization for that object, the original corporators of the Board, who were all of the Congregational denomination, elected into their body, at the first meeting after their incorporation, "eight of the more distinguished members of the Presbyterian Church," among whom we recognize with interest such names as Samuel Miller, Eliphalet Nott, Elias Boudinot, James Richards, and Ashbel Green. " The amalgamation of the United Foreign Missionary Society with the Board, in 1825, gave occasion for a formal and emphatic recognition of the Board by the General Assembly." This Society had been formed, in the year I817, by a Joint Committee of the General Assembly and the General Synods of the Reformed Dutch and Associate Reformed Churches. The Assembly, in 1826, formally ratified the engagements which had been made by the two missionary bodies, and, in accordance therewith, recommended the Board to "the favorable notice and Christian support of the Church and people under its care." The relations thus established remained undisturbed till about the time of our disruption; after which the Old School Assembly had its own Board of Foreign Missions, while the New School Assembly continued as before to maintain its connection with the American Board. During the whole period of more than thirty years that followed that event, the relations of the two last-named bodies have been eminently satisfactory. The Board has always received the communications of the Assembly with fraternal courtesy, and shown a ready disposition, as far as practicable, to comply with its wishes; and the Assembly, in a corresponding spirit, has received from time to time the delegations of the Board, and commended that institution.to the confidence and co-operation of the churches. In the year I859, the Assembly, desirous of coming into closer connection with its missionaries on the foreign field, and of securing there a fuller proportional development of our ecclesiastical polity, so far as might be consistent with other interests, appointed a Committee of Conference to attend the next meeting of the Board, and lay before it the following proposition, viz., "The Assembly desires:'s I. That it should be distinctly understood here and abroad, that the Board, its Prudential Committee and officers, interpose no obstacles in the way of the formation of Foreign Presbyteries. " 2. That the appointments of missionaries should be so disposed, wherever it is wise and practicable, as to facilitate the formation of such Presbyteries. "3. That there should be a free correspondence of our missionaries with the Permanent Committee of the General Assembly." To all these propositions, after full examination by a Committee, and free discussion in the open meeting of the whole body, the Board gave an affirmative answer. During the ten years that have since elapsed, the Assembly, has relied APPENDIX. 557 upon the engagements contained in them with unquestioned confidence; and, if less of fruits have resulted from them than was at first expected, it has been, we have reason to believe, because such results could not well be secured in existing circumstances. We now come to the " new posture of our affairs." contemplated by the Assembly in the appointment of this Committee. The Committee, having carefully considered the whole subject, are clearly of the opinion: That the time has come when an effort should be made, as far as may be consistent with the fullest liberty of individual contributors and churches, to concentrate the counsels, the energies, and the contributions of the whole united Church in the work about to be carried on by our Foreign Missionary Board. Reluctant as we are to sever the bonds which have so long and happily subsisted, the Committee are confident that nothing would be gained, and much may be lost, to the common cause by unnecessary delay.- In pursuance of this conviction, at a meeting held in the chapel of Mercer Street Church, New York, March i9th, I870 Present, Ministers, J. F. Stearns, R. W. Patterson, and R. R. Booth; Absent, Elders R. S. Williams and R. E. Landen - after prayer and free discussion on the subject referred to them, the Committee resolved: "I. That, in the judgment of this Committee, it is desirable and important that a fair'proportion of the Missions of the A. B. C. F. M. should be transferred to the Board of the united Presbyterian Church. " 2. That in order to a harmonious and satisfactory transfer of any portion of these missions to the Board of the Presbyterian Church, it will be necessary to leave the missionaries, now connected with such missions, at liberty t6 retain their present ecclesiastical relations, in case they should prefer to do so. " This liberty should be accorded to the Congregational missionaries who may be and continue in such missions; and also, in case of the formation of Presbyteries on the foreign field, to such Presbyterian missionaries as may prefer to remain members of the Presbyteries in this country to which they now belong. " 3. That it should be fully understood by all parties, that the same liberty thus provided for, in the case of Congregational missionaries to be transferred to the Assembly's Board, should be granted by the A. B. C. F. M. to such Presbyterian missionaries as may still continue with the missions of that Board." The first of these resolutions was deemed essential, in justice to ourselves and the Board, as well- as for the most successful prosecution of our future missionary work. With so many missionaries in the field, and so large a work begun in common, with the expectation of our continued co-operation, we could not, in all fairness, withdraw our contributions without taking with us a corresponding part of the responsibilities of the work. On the other hand, after having contributed largely in men and money to the building up of this great missionary enterprise, and, during a period of thirty years, assisted to carry it forward to its present advanced position, it would be manifestly unreasonable that we should go out empty-handed, leaving behind all the results of the past and the accumulated facilities for the 558 PRESBYTERIAN RE UMN ON. future. Indeed, it would be quite impossible for us to carry with us into the new organization our churches and individual contributors, if in making the change they must give up their whole present working force, and separate themselves from the beloved missionaries, the precious sons and daughters of the Church. The other two resolutions were deemed important, as an assurance to the missionaries that, in changing their external relations from one Board to another, they will not be required suddenly to change their missionary policy, of which, from long experience in their particular fields, they must, in many cases, be the best judges; nor to sacrifice their ecclesiastical preferences, or break their present ecclesiastical connections. Were this required, some, it is to be feared, who would otherwise gladly cast in their lot with us, would think it wisest to remain as they are. In respect to two at least of the points involved in the foregoing resolutions, we are happy to say that we have the concurrence of the Joint Committee of the two Assemblies on Foreigl Missions, as will appear from the following extract from their minutes furnished to us, and of which the former was read by us to the Prudential Committee previous to their action: " Resolved, That the Joint Committee desire that our Church, through its reorganized Board of Foreign Missions, shall be understood as ready to assume a portion of the existing Foreign Missionary work now conducted by the A. B. C. F. M., proportionate to the contemplated transfer of resources under the new ecclesiastical arrangement, the most careful regard being had to the interests and efficiency of the existing missions, and to the feelings of the missionaries. "Resolved, That this Committee recommend to the General Assembly the passage of the following resolution: "Resolved, That the Assembly hears with satisfaction that there is a good prospect of the transfer of a certain portion of the Foreign Missions, now under the care of the A. B. C. F. M., to the Board of the General Assembly; and that, in view of the transitional and exceptional nature of the contemplated arrangements, the Assembly would leave a liberal discretionary power to the Board, and to the missionaries who are to be received, in reference to their policy and{ ecclesiastical relations." With these views, the Committee adjourned, to meet at Boston, May Ioth; and arrangements having been made for a Conference with the Prudential Committee of the A. B. C. F. M., met at the Missionary House - Present: Ministers, J. F. Stearns and R. R. Booth, and Elder, R. S. Williams - and were cordially received by that body. The object of the interview was to explain the views of the Committee of the Assembly, ascertain those of the Prudential Committee, and, more especially, to secure the co-operation of the latter in determining and carrying into effect the changes that are desirable. After a full and free discussion of the points involved, in which the Assembly's Committee disclaimed ail desire to interfere in the slightest degree with the judgment and preferences of the missionaries, or to pursue any claims on the part of those whom they represented, to the detriment of any of the missions, or the hindrance in any respect of the common cause, ALPPENDIX. 559 the Prudential Committee adopted, as the expression of their views and intentions, the following paper, which is herewith submitted to the Assembly: "At a meeting of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, held at the Missionary House, Boston, May 17th, I870, the action set forth in the following minute was duly taken, to wit: "' The Prudential Committee have heard with pleasure the statements and suggestions of Dr. Stearns, Dr. Booth, and R. S. Williams, Esq., a Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (N. S.), appointed at Pittsburg, November IIth, iS69, to take into consideration its relations to the A. B. C. F. M., and " report to the next Assembly such measures as to them may seem proper and expedient for the adjustment of those relations to the new posture of affairs; " and, in response thereto, they adopt the following resolutions: i. "' Resolved, That the thankful acknowledgments of the A. B. C. F. M. are due to the Presbyterian churches for their cordial and unwavering co-operation during a long series of years, whereby our resources at home and our efforts abroad have been greatly enlarged. 2. "' Resolved, That while we are unable to anticipate, without regret, the withdrawal of friends who have been so steadfast and helpful, we sincerely rejoice in the conviction that, by reason thereof, the work which the American churches are doing in heathen lands is to receive at once a new impulse, and to yield in coming years a more abundant harvest. 3. "'Resolved, That the Prudential Committee gratefully recognize the generous confidence which these friends have reposed in them, as the Directors ad inzleiilnz of the affairs of the Board, thereby enabling them to consider the questions which have come before them, irrespective of their denominational bearings, and simply as missionary problems. 4. "'Resolved, That we cheerfully concede the right of the missionaries to take a release from their connection with us, upon their personal application, and to seek a connection with the Presbyterian Board; not that the organization which we represent is unwilling or unable to support them in case they choose to remain with us, but in order to leave them uninfluenced in their choice; with the understanding that their privileges as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ are to be fully recognized as heretofore. 5. "' Resolved, That we will cheerfully co-operate with the Committee of the General Assembly, in arranging for the withdrawal of such a proportion of the missionaries connected with us as will satisfactorily represent the interest of that part of the Presbyterian Church which has hitherto acted with the A. B. C. F. M. in the prosecution of our common enterprise, so far as it can be done without injuring the work in any field, or interfering with the preferences of any of the missionaries. 6. "' ICResolved, That, in case all the missionaries in any field shall come under the care of the Presbyterian Board, the Prudential Committee will convey thereto the property heretofore in the occupancy of such missionaries, and will discontinue their endeavors in such field. 560 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. 7. "C'Resolved, That, in case a part of the missionaries in any field shall wish to transfer their relations to the Presbyterian Board, without desiring a change of location, while a part shall wish to remain in their present relation and their present work, it will be the aim of the Prudential Committee to adjust the various questions which may arise, with sole reference to the highest interests of the missionary enterprise. 8. "'Resolved, That the Prudential Committee avail themselves of this occasion to say, that they have never recognized any distinctions among their brethren in the foreign service, but have felt for. all the same affection, and have reposed in all the same confidence; and that they shall part from those who may desire a release with profound regret, and with earnest supplications that the blessing of Him who is "Head over all things to the Church" may be vouchsafed to them tnore and more. 9. "' Resolved, That a copy of this minute be sent to all the missions of the A. B. C. F. M.'" Thus far the Committee have had no correspondence with any of the missionaries on the foreign field, and are not able to state their views. Considerations of propriety and delicacy seemed to require that no such correspondence should be instituted till the views of the Prudential Committee should have been ascertained; and this object, owing to unavoidable circumstances, could not be effected till near the time of the meeting of the General Assembly. They can easily suppose that obstacles may arise in this or that mission, which otherwise might be expected to become connected with the Assembly's Board, making the transfer difficult, if not for the present impracticable. Nor are they able to judge, until after a closer examination, what portions of the missionary field can, or ought, in all fairness and Christian prudence, to be so transferred. The contributions of that part of the Church, hitherto connected with the American Board, have been for the last ten years about one hundred thousand dollars per year, and the number of Presbyterian missionaries employed about fifty, besides missionary assistants. It can hardly be supposed that all these missionary brethren and sisters, or this full proportion of the missions established, can be withdrawn consistently with the principles by which, as we are all agreed, this transaction should be governed. The work of the Board has been sustained in common by the two sister denominations composing its membership..The funds of both have gone into the same treasury, and been expended in the same fields. The missionaries have been assigned to their respective places, with reference chiefly to their fitness for the work required or the needs of the missions; and, while retaining each his own ecclesiastical relations and preferences, have labored side by side in loving brotherhood. The Presbyterian missionaries, being a minority of the whole force, will perhaps be found in the minority on most of the fields, and it may not be easy to separate them. Still it is confidently believed, that, with such disposition, as we may expect to find on the part of our missionary brethren, to make any sacrifices consistent with higher claims, for the sake of completing and giving strength and efficiency for the frork of Christ to our happy reunion, and especially with the co-operation cheerfully APPENDIX. 561 promised to the Committee of the Assembly by the Prudential Committee in their fifth resolution, such a proportion as will on the whole " satisfactorily represent the interest of that part of the Presbyterian Church which has hitherto co-operated with the A. B. C. F. M. in the prosecution of the common enterprise," may be, with the concurrence of all parties, withdrawn and transferred. Indeed, we are assured, by some well entitled to express an opinion, that several of the missions, among which are one or two of the choicest and most valuable fields in the whole missionary domain, are already predisposed to the transfer, and may, with prudence and the manifestation of a liberal spirit on our part, be soon gathered under the new banner of the reunited Presbyterian Church. It cannot be denied that, to most of us, who have so long been accustomed to identify almost the American Board with the cause of missions itself, with whom the very name of that Board has been a name of honor and household affection from our infancy, the sundering of the sacred tie will be a painful process. Indeed we cannot, while we live, cease to honor and love and pray for the prosperity of that good old mother of American missions among the unevangelized nations. But why should churches, or missionaries, or individual members, at a crisis like the present, hesitate to dissolve one sacred tie for the sake of perfecting another, to which the providence of God so manifestly and wonderfully points us? With these views, the Committee would respectfully recommend to the Assern bly either to continue them in service, or appoint some other, as they may see fit, with instructions to pursue the negotiations already begun, and, with the concurrence of the Prudential Committee, make arrangements for the transfer to the Assembly's Board of Foreign Missions, now about to be constituted, such portions of the missions of the American Board as, on the principles which are herein expressed, may and ought to be so transferred. In conclusion, they would beg leave simply to remind the Assembly, and through them the churches hitherto co-operating with the American Board, that the financial year, for which the Assembly of the New School at Pittsburg, last November, made provision for the continuance of contributions to that Board, does not end till some time in the month of August next. J. F. STEARNS, Ch/airman. 8. THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION AND CONSOLIDATION, APPOINTED NOVEMBER, x869, AND REPORTING IN MAY, I870. REFERRED TO ON PAGES 422, 432. [From the Report of the Joint Committee of Conference, i869.] 2. This Committee recommends that a Special Committee of five from each branch of the Church shall be appointed to take into consideration the affairs of each of the Boards and Committees of both branches of the Church, and to recommend to the Assembly of the united Chttrch, next to be held, what changes are required in said Boards and Committees. 3. That each Assembly shall also pass the following: Whereas, it is apparent 36 562 PRESBYTERIAN REUNION. from the size of the two Assemblies that some changes must be made in the pres. ent method of representation; therefore, Resolved, That each of the Assemblies of iS69 shall appoint a Committee of five, to constitute a joint committee of ten, whose duty it slhall be to prepare and propose to the General Assembly of the united Church a proper adjustment of the boundaries of the Presbyteries and Synods, and the ratio of representation, and any amendments of the Constitution which they may think; necessary to secure efficiency and harmony in the administration of the Church, so greatly enlarged, and so rapidly extending. [From the Old School Assembly.] x. The Committee on Reconstruction, to define boundaries of Presbyteries and Synods, etc., etc. - Rev. G. W. Musgrave, D.D., Rev. Charles C. Beatty, D.D., Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D.D. Ruling Elders, Henry Day and WV. M. Francis. 2. On Foreigin i7~'ssions.- Rev. John C. Lowrie, D. D., Rev.'William M. Paxton, D.D., Rev. S. F. Scovel, D.D. Ruling Elders, John B. Skinner and.Martin Ryerson. 3. On Domestic iVissions. — Rev. G. V. Musgrave, D. D., Rev. D. A. Cunninghllam Rev. D. McKinney, D.D., Rev. J. T. Backus, D.D., and Ruling Elder H. D. Gregory. 4. On Publication. - Rev. W. E. Schenck, D. D., Rev. W. P. Breed, D. D., Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D. Ruling EZlders, George Junkin and John T. Nixon. 5. On Education. - Rev. William Speer, D.D., Rev. S. J. Niccolls, D.D., Rev. S. C. Logan, Rev. George Hill, D.D., and Ruling Elder R. S. Kennedy. 6. On Church. E'xtension.-I Rev. H. R. Wilson, D.D., Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, Rev. Oscar A. Hills. Ruling Elders, J. C. Havens and Jesse L. Williams. 7. On Disabled Ml linisters' Fund. - Rev. George Hale, D. D., Rev. Alexander Reed, D.D., Rev. T. H. Skinner, Jr., D.D. Ruling Elders, Robert Carter and A. B. Belknap. 8. On Freedmen.- Rev. A. C. McCleland, Rev. E. E. Swift, Rev. A. McLean. Ruling llders, John McArthur and J. E. Brown. 9. The Committee to raise Funds. — Rev. John Hall, D.D., of New York, Rev. C. K. Imbrie, D.D. Ruling Elders, Winthrop S. Gilman, Sr., Robert McKniight, and Hovey K. Clarke. [From the New School Assembly.]'. ON RrECONSTRUCTION: Rev. Samuel WV. Fisher, D.D., LL.D., Rev. Robert W. Patterson, D.D., Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., Rev. Conway P. Wing, D.D., and Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D.D... ON RAISING FUNDS: Hon. William E. Dodge, Hon. William Strong, Rev. Jonathan F. Stearns, D.D., Rev. William H. Goodrich, D.D., and Rev. Charles Hawley, D.D. APIPENDIX 563 3. ON HOME MISSIONS: Rev. William Adams, D.D., Rev. Henry Kendall, D.D., Rev. Arthur Mitchell, Hon. Henry W. Williams, LL.D., and Hon. Jacob Farrand. 4. ON FOREIGN MISSIONS: Rev. Henry A. Nelson, D.D., Rev. Robert R. Booth, D.D., Rev. Franklin A. Noble, Hon. Joseph Allison, LL.D., and Mr. Isaac Scarritt. 5. ON EDUCATION: Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D., Rev. John G. Atterbury, D.D., Rev. Edward D. Morris, D.D., Mr. Alexander Whilldin, and Mr. Truman P. Handy. 6. ON PUBLICATION: Rev. Zephaniah M. Humphrey, D.D., Rev. J. Glentworth Butler, D. Do, Rev. John W. Dulles, Mr. James M. Brawner, and Hon. John S. Knight. 7. ON CHURCH ERECTION: Mr. George \W. Lane, Rev. Frank F. Ellinwood, D.D., Rev. Cornelius H., Taylor, D. D., Mr. Oliver H. Lee, and Mr. Samuel T. Bodine. 8. ON MINISTERIAL RELIEF: Rev. Thomas J. Shepherd, D.D., Rev. Charles Brown, Rev. James B. Shaw, D.D., Hon. Charles Noble, and Mr. Robert W. Steele. 9. ON FREEDMEN: Rev. Samuel M. Hopkins, D.D., Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., Mr. William Thaw, and Mr. Joseph W. Edwards. STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY, 1870. Synods....................................................1 Presbyteries.................................... 259 Candidates................................................. 541 Licentiates............................................338 Ministers.................................................... 4,238 Licensures, reported........................................... 141 Ordinations, reported.......................................... 93 Installations, reported........................................ 247 Dissolutions of pastoral relations, reported...................... 224 Ministers received from other bodies, reported.................... 44 Ministers dismissed to other bodies, reported......................6 Ministers deceased....................7..... 73 Churches................................................... 4,526 Churches organized, so far as reported..................1... 133 Churches dissolved, so far as reported.......................... 33 Churches received from other bodies, so far as reported..... I4 564 PRESBYTERIAN REP UNION. Churches dismissed to other b.-dies, so far is reported.............. 0Io Added to the churches on exam lation............................ 32,003 Added to the churches on certifi -te............................. 21,447 Whole number of communicants............................. 446,561 Baptisms of adults............................................ I, 122 Baptisms of infants...................................... 16,476 Sabbath-school membership.................................... 448,857 CONTRIBUTIONS. Home missions, so far as reported............................ 366,274 Foreign missions.............................................. 328,847 Education................................................... 246,898 Publication.................................................. 42,040 Church erection............................................... 210,939 Ministerial relief............................................. 53,832 Freedmen........ 51,845 General Assembly............................................ 32,645 Congregational............................................. 6,416, I65 Miscellaneous................................................ 690, 636 Sum total............ $8,44o, I21 STATISTICS OF TIHE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CIIURCH FOR I869 AND 1870. -869. I870. Synods in connection with the General Assembly....... II I Presbyteries........................................ 54 55 Ministers....................................... 857 840 Licentiates......................................... 49 53 Candidates...................................... I24 i6i Churches........................................... 1,460 1,469 Licensures.......................................... 21 16 Ordinations......................................... I8 14 Installations........................................ 36 52 Pastoral relations dissolved.......................... 33 40 Churches organized....................... 28 33 Churches dissolved....6...., 4........ 6 14 Members added on examination...................... 4,470 5,048 Members added on certificate......................... 2,7Io 2,851 Total number of communicants................ 79,96I 82,014 Adults baptized.................................... I,I60 1,529 Children baptized................................... 3,378 3,555 Children in Sabbath schools and Bible classes....... 42,284 47,3I7 Amount contributed to sustentation................. $38,814 $49,002 Amount contributed to foreign missions................ I8,657 23,269 Amount contributed to education..................... 33, 191 34,209 Amount contributed to publication.................... 7,900 10,279 Amount contributed for presbyterial purposes........... I, 15 I2,247 Amount contributed for congregational purposes.... 605, 164 676,432 Amount contributed for miscellaneous purposes.......... 60,559 66,917 Whole amount contributed........................ 774,400 872,355 Churches not reporting number of members............. 215 206 INDEX. A. B. C. F. M., 555. BOYD, A. H. H., 27. ADAMS, W., 66, 254, 309. BROADWAY TABERNACLE, N. Y., 235. Address of, before 0. S. Assembly, BROOKS, EMMA., 194.'69, 300oo, 337, 378, 389, 447, 5I3- BROWN, F. T., 254, 5II. ANNAN, R., I65. W. II., 254, 266. ATWATER, L. H., 309, 337, 350- BULLARD, A., 72, 237. ABEEL, John N., 105. BURNS, Dr., I9. ADVERTISING Sermons, 208. ALEXANDER, A., IIo, 90o. H. C., II6. CAMPBELL, J. N., I64. J. A., II7. the Missionary, 26. J. W., II5, I62. CANNON, Dr., 189. S. D., 118. CARLINVILLE, 2I0. ALLEN STREET CHURCH, N. Y., 2I8. CARLISLE, 235. AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, 41. CARTER, R., 292, 309, 337, 402. AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, The, 97. CATECHISMK 482. ASSEMBLY, GENERAL, o 1837, 5, 13;'38, CHALMERS, W., I9. 5;'39, 55, 59, 199;'40, i6, 55;'42, I6;'45, CHAMBERS, Ellen D., 18I. 14;'46, 15, 55, 62, 80;'47, 63, 65;'49, I5, CLARK, L., 252. 65, 8; 50,; I; 5, 65;'52, I5, 65;'53, sI; CLARKE, H. K., 254, 522.'54,'57, 77, 82,'6, 78, I86;'6i, 15, Charles J., 380. 28, 84;'62, I5, 85, 249;'63, 32, 249;'64, 15, Rolbert A., 380. 22, 89, 250. 535;'66, 25I;'67, 89, I93;'68, CENTRE COLLEGE, 2Io. 269;'69, 297, 3I6, 373;'70, 4I6. CHESTER, Dr., I86. ASSEMBLY, Triennial, 7. CREE, T. A., 380. AITKEN, R., I64. CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, 107. ALLISON, J., 254, 375- CINCINNATI, 223, 228. COGSWELL, Catharine, I86.. COLLEGE OF N. J., I07. BACKUS, J. C., 443, 444. COLONIZATION SOCIETY, 4x. J. T., 254, 421, 446, 50o6. COI,UMBUS, O., 249. BALCH, Dr., I65. COMMITTEE AD INTERIM, 59. BALDWIN, John C., 93. CONCURRENT DECLARATIONS OF'69, Theron, 94. 311, 35I. BARNES, A., 229. CONFERENCE, COMMITTEE OF,'69, 298, BLACKBURN, G., 209. 337. BRAINERD, T., 227, 254. t CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, Report of, BEATTY, C. C., 254, 292, 300, 342, 383, 446,'69, 309. 505. CONFESSION OF FAITH, 59. O., 254, 524. CONGREGATIONALISM, Disappears from BEECHER, L., 223. the Old School, ii. D., 223. CONVENTION, PRESBYTERIAN NAH. W., I90o. TIONAL UNION OF'67, 47, 263. BEMAN, N. S. S., 66. CORNELIUS, Dr., 238. BENEVOLENCE, Systematic, i6. COX, S. H., 200. BIBLE SOCIETY, 42, I31. COVENANT, Church of, 33I. First in U. S., io6. Joint Prayer-meeting in, 343, BIBLICAL REPOSITORY, 222. 357BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, 222. CHURCH ERECTION, 72, 75, 244, 441. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, O. S., 2o3. CHURCH EXTENSION, 464. N. S., i96. CHURCH MEMBERS, Dismission to the BRECKINRIDGE, R. J., I7, 35. world, 41. John, 122. CUNNINGHAM, Dr., 19. BRICK CHURCH, Joint Prayer-Meeting in, 298, 331, 339, 360. BOARDMAN, H. A., i86. DARLING, W., 68. BOARDS OF THE CHURCH, 44. DAY, H., 292, 309, 337, 362, 376, 399. BOHEMIA. Evangelical Church, 362. DRAKE, C. D., 309, 337, 398. BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, 42. DECLARATION AND TESTIMONY, 34. BOWLING, Miss, I67. DECLARATIONS, Concurrent, 5o. 566 INDEX. DELAWARE COLLEGE, 202. HOME MISSIONS, Committee of, 8o, 9g, 432. DETROIT, 235. HOWARD, W. D., 254, 507. DETROIT RESOLUTION, 8x. HUMPHREY, Z. M., 375. DICKINSON, R. W., I8i. HYDE, Dr., I98. DICKSON, Cyrus, 421. DILWORTH, Joseph, 380. DISABLED MINISTERS' FUND, SECRE- IRISH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 2X. TARY appointed, 15. DWIGHT, T. Wv., 259. DOCTRINE, differences as to, 5. JACOBUS, M. W., 344, 359, 376, 385, 530. DOCTRINAL TRACTS, Committee on, 92. JANEWAY, Jacob J., io6. DODGE, W. E., 300, 309, 338, 383, 400, 448. JEFFERSON COLLEGE, 207. DUFFIELD, G., 23I. JESSUP, W., 68, 245. JOHNSON, the Missionary, 26. Dr., 90o. EDUCATION, IS5, 69, 9I, I85, 438. JOINT COMMUNION SEASON, 360. ELDERS, Ruling, i6. JOINT COMMITTEE, 392. Rotation in office of, I8, 472. JONES, C. C., 22. ENGLES, W., I6i, I62, I74. J. H., 156. Mary, i68. JUBILEE THANKSGIVING, 14. ELLIOTT, David, 383, 42I, 528. JUDD, G. N., 206. ELY, E. S., i65, 205. JUNKIN, D. X., 29i. ERVINA, 206. G., I42. EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, 20, 27, 368. EVANGELIST, NEW YORK, 72, 97. EXTEMPORE PREACHING, 487. KREBS, J. M., I70, I78, 254, 505. KENT, Chancellor, 63. KINGSLEY, Ezra M., 42I. FARRAND, J. S., 266, 309, 338, 527. KNIGHT, J. L., 309, 338. FRANCIS, W. M., 309, 337. KNOX, J. H. M., 504. FREEMAN, the Missionary, 26. FREEDMEN, 442. FISHER, S., 298. LAMBERT, E. A., 254, 526. S. W., 68, 309, 338. LAKE FOREST INSTITUTION, 95. FOOTE, John A., 375. LANE SEMINARY, 58, 96. FOREIGN MISSIONS, 92, 434. LEAVITT, H. H., 291. FORM OF GOVERNMENT, 59. LEWIS, G., i9. FOWLER, P. H., 68, 254, 378, 418, 5i6. LINCOLN, Abraham, 32, 90, I93. FOX, P., i88. LIND, J., I79. FULTON STREET PRAYER-MEETING, LITURGY, 42. 26. LORD, D., 259. FUND, MEMORIAL, 385, 453- W., 309, 337LOUISVILLE, Presbytery of, "Declaration and Testimony, " 34, 35. GALLOWAY, S., 254, 52I. LYON, G. A., 68. GRAY, J., i68. GENERAL ASSEMBLY, Confederate States, 30. MAGIE, D., 237, 200. GERMAN PHILOSOPHY, 217. MANSES, 42. GESENIUS, 22I. MARRIAGE, action of Assembly, 40. GREEN, A., 103, I6o. - MARIETTA COLLEGE, 95. H. W., 259. MARYSVILLE COLLEGE, 93. GILBERT, E. W., I98, 20x. MASON, John, 68. GILPIN, H. D., i69. John M., 173, 203. GRIER, M. B., I62. E., I98, 202. J. C., 309, 337. MAYNARD, H., 68. GRIFFIN, E. D., I74, 205. McLEOD, Noiman, 366. GURLEY, P. D., 35, I88, 252, 254. MEMORIAL FUND, 385, 453. GURLEY AMENI)MENT, The, Circumstan- METHODISTS, Welsh Calvinistic, 36i. ces of its introduction, 267, 324. Preachers' Meeting, 362. MIAMI UNIVERSITY, 244. McKNIGHT, R., 254, 29I, 300, 343, 520. HAGEMAN, John F., i22. MILLER, S., ii9. HAINES, D., 259, 309, 338. MILLENARIANISM, 40. HALL, A. G., 309, 337. MILLS, H., 215. John, 3, 48, 369, 383, 395. T. A., 63, 65, 67. HAMILTON COLLEGE, 93, 213, 220. MINISTERIAL RELIEF, 92, I6o, 442. HANDY, T. P., 254, 525. - MINISTRY, Demission of, 40. HARPER AND BROTHERS, I73. MISSIONS, HOME, 24, 70o. HATFIELD, E. F., 65, 254, 421, 5I4. MISSIONS, FOREIGN, I3. ~HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, 454. McCORKLE, WV. A., 234. HERRON, William A., 380. McCORD, John D., 380. HILL, W., 206. McCORMICK, C. IH., 25. HISTORICAL Review of the Church, Old McCOY, S. F., 42I. School, I; New School, 50. McDOWELL, J., 133, 275. HITCHCOCK, H. L., 254, 517. W., I4I. HODGE, C., 186, 262, 264. MODERATOR of 0. S. Assembly of'69, 336, HOLMES, Sarah H., i8i. of N. S. Assembly, of'69, 337, HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 58, 73. MONFORT, J. G., 254, 29I, 506. INDEX. 567 MORRISTOWN, i98, 2II. RAY, J. M., 254, 519. hMOREHEAD, Gel. J. K., 380. Samuel, 380. McMULILEN, the Missionary, 26. REED, V. D., 254, 292, 421, 509. MURRAY, N., 272. REESE, E. J., 176. J., 172. REFORMED CHURCH, 367. MUSGRAVE, G. W., 300, 337, 342, 377, 388. RECONSTRUCTION of the Old School in speech of, in 2869, 54.'38, i2. Joint Committee on, 422, 423, 56I. NEANDER, 22I. RESOLUTIONS in New School Assembly NEILL, W., 228. relating to the state of the country, 85. NELSON, H. A., 254, 5I8. REUNION Committee of i866, i92, 254. NEWARK, i98, 2II, 250. REUNION Committee of I866, their Report, NEW SCHOOL test their title, 8. 256. NEW SCHOOL, Did not desire the separation RE UNION Committee, their Report in'68, 270. of'37, 5I. REUNION Committee, Address of, Jan.'69, efforts for reunion, 57. 294. NEW YORK, Social Entertainment,'69, 299. REUNION Committee, Sketches of, 504. NISBET, Dr., I20. REUNION, Progress of, 46. NOTT, E., I24, i66. Preparation for, 247. First action for, 250. Resolutions of'66, 252. OGDESN, J.- NEW SIDE, 61. Terms of, in'68, 275. OLD SIDE AND NEW SIDE, 4. Plan Of, 3I0. OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL, Rela- Initiative movement, 321. tive strength in'37, 7. Social, 340. Vote in O. S. Assembly'69, 354, OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL, Suit Vote in S. Assembly, 354, OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL, Dif- Vote of the Presbyteries on, 374, ference between, 9. 375. OVERe tURING to the Presbyteris, 355 REUNION Reports of'68-9, Difference between, 3i3. REUNION Certificate, 534. RICHARDS, J., 58, I98, 21i. PARIS, Ky., 243. ROBINSON, E., 219. PASTORAL LETTER, 372. David, 380. PARTY NAMES, I, 214. ROCKWELL, J. E., 266, 512. PASTORS, 473. RODIGER, 221. PATERSON, i99. RODGERS, R. K., 376. J., 206. ROMISH BAPTISMS, 41. PATTERSON, J., 228. ROSS, F. A., 27. R. W., 68, 254, 309, 338, 351, J., 165. 518. RULING ELDERS, Theories as to, 17. W., I82. PRAYER, Day of, 312, 372. PERMANENT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN MISSIONS, 92. SABBATH SCHOOLS, 481. PETERS, A., 206, 330o. SHARSWOOD, G., 259. PEORIA, 32, 249. SHAW, J. B., 254, 309, 338, 516. PRENTISS, George L., 452. SLAVERY, Doctrine of Old School on, 20. PRESBYTERIAN NATIONAL UNION Relations of New School to, 8o. CONVENTION, 324. Its removal aids Reunion, 248. PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISHING COM- SLAYMAKER, Faithful, 232. MITTEE, 92. STARR, F., 245. PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY RE- F., Jr., 240. VIEW, 97. STATISTICS of OLD SCHOOL, 493. PRESBYTERIAN, The, ii6, I62. of New School, 500. PRESIDENT of the U. S., Letter to, 86. of Consolidated Church, 563. Reply, 87. of the Southern Church, 564. PHILADELPHIA, First Presbyterian Church, SCHENCKI, W. E., 254, 508. 416. SEPARATION, Grounds of, 4. PHILLIPS, WV W., I53, i63. Disadvantages of, to New PITTSBURG Circular, 326. School, 53. PINE STREET CHURCH, Phil'a, 228. SEWARD, W. H., 88. PRIME, S. I., 29I. SHEDD, W. G. T., 285, 291. PRINCETON COLLEGE, 215, 534. SPENCER, A., i66. PRINCETON SEMINARY, 23, 26. STEARNS, J. F., 254, 309, 335, 338, 350, 362, PRINCETON THEOLOGY, i2. 515. PORTER, W. M., 270. STEELE, R. W., 254, 526. POSTLETHWAITE, M., I70. SCRIPTURES, More use of the, 480. POTTS, A., I7I. SKINNER, T. -I., 235, 350. G., i68. SINGING, in Public Worship, 485. G. C., i68. SMITH, A. D., 67, 68, 218. PROGRESS, HUMAN, 2. H. B., 48, 25I. PROTES' OF I868, Answer to, 285. Jos., I48. PUBLICATION, 13, 435. SPRING, Dr. G., 29, 173, "8S, I99, 349, 360. PLUMIER, Dr., x86. SCOTLAND, Free Church of, 4, 19, 383, 483. PLUMLEY, G. S., 383. SOCIETIES, VOLUNTARY, 43. PROTEST, Answer to, 285. SOCIAL REUNION, 455. 568 INDEX. SOCIETY for promoting Collegiate and Theo- UNITED SYNOD of the Presbyterian Church, logical Education at the Wcst, 94. 83. SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, 202. 37, 363, 366, 447. ST. LOUIS, 238, 251. VAN DYKE, H. J., 448. STRONG, G. P., 254, 523. VAN RENSSELAER, C., 182. W., 259, 309, 338, 397 S., 182. SYNODS of Kentucky and Missouri divided, 36. STUART, George H., 380, 383, 40I. WABASH COLLEGE, 94. M., 220. WALKER, R. J., I69. WALLACE, Dr., 8o. WARE, Dr., i98. WASHINGTON MONUMENT, 66. TAYLOR, 5., 68. WEBSTER COLLEGE, 240. THEOLOGY, New School, Ioo. WEEK OF PRAYER, 27. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES, 429. WESTERN EDUCATION SOCIETY, 69. Allegheny, 24. WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE, 94. Andover, 220. WESTMINSTER STANDARDS, i8. Auburn, 24, 58, 95, 2I1, 535* WESTERN FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOChicago, 25. CIETY, 13. Columbia, 24. WESTON, 241. Danville, 25. WHITE, H., 216. Lane, 24, 58, 227. Preaching of, 218. New Albany, 24. WILLIAMS, H., 254. Princeton, 23, 183, 189. HI. W., 524Union, 24, 58, 204, 205, 2I8, 221. WILMINGTON, 201. Union, Va., 24, I83. WILSON, Joseph M., 42. School for Germans, 97. E. 1., 267. THOLUCK, Dr., 22I. H. R., 309, 337THORNWELL, J. H., 17, 28. WIRT, W., 66. WISWELL, G. F., 266, 519. WOODBRIDGE, N. J., 2x5. UNION COLLEGE, 189, 2I3. WYLIE, S. B., i69. UNION SEMINARY, 58, 96. YALE COLLEGE, x83.