A Book of Remembrance The Presbyterian Church NEVJ SCHOOL 1837-1869 An Historical Review By EDWARD D. MORRIS, D. D.. LL. D. Emeritus Professor of Theology in Lane Set»inary COLUMBUS, OHIO 1905- dalnalna.tMi'i Prefatory. Vour fatbm, where are tbey ? JInd the Prophets, do ibey live forever? ««« the Righteous shall be In everlasting Remem- brance. ««« E Book of Remembrance was written before film for them that feared the Cord, and that thought upon fils name. ««« malk about ZIon, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof: mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the Generation following. ««« If 1 forget Chee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning: Tf T do not remem- ber Chee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; If T prefer not Jerusalem above my chief jov. CONTENTS Chapter First. American' Presbyterianism. Its Transplantation and Development. European Protestantism imported to America: its vari- eties and locations. General conditions of development: 1. progressive sundering of European connections ; 2. geo- graphic collocation and commingling ; 3. separation between Church and State — voluntaryism; 4. liberty of thought and of speech. Presbyterianism transplanted, subject to these conditions ; history of its introduction ; its development, doctrinal, ecclesiastical. Doctrinal Basis. Calvinistic. West- minster Symbols adopted, 1729 : conflicting views of inter- pretation and subscription : consequent disruption, 1741. Reunion of 1758, its basis and character ; liberal rule of sub- scription. Church increase and expansion subsequent ; na- tive ministry provided for : spiritual depression during Rev- olutionary War. First General Assembly, 1788 ; its doctrinal position and standards ; denominational extension ; gracious revivals amid current unbelief. The Cumberland Schism, its occasion, nature, issues ; estimate of the event. Ecclesiasti- cal Basis : the Presbj'terian polity, its affinities with Calvin- ism. European type modified in America : liberal adminis- tration preferred ; union of 1758 an illustration ; the Cum- berland division a departure : further development of polity. First Century of the Church. Chapter Second. The Disruption of 1837. Second Century opening auspiciously : conditions of con- flict remaining; general statement. Causes of Disruption named ; 1. differences in interpretation of confessional doc- trine ; 2. questions respecting liberty in subscription — toler- ation ; 3. issues as to church polity — loyalty to Presbyterian system ; 4. as to undenominational or ecclesiastical agencies in Christian work ; 5. diverse estimates of revivals ; 6. duty of the Church respecting slavery. Each of these causes de- scribed : centers of antagonism noted. Pl.\n of Union, fur- ther occasion of conflict ; Plan described ; its practical work- ings ; ground of difference. The Disruption : earlier stages — trials of Barnes, Duffield, Beecher ; Edwardean Calvinism arraigned ; growing divergence in doctrine ; ecclesiastical and other issues involved. Later, stages : rupture becoming inev- itable. Plan of Union challenged; Assembly discussions and struggles : the final excision, — an extra-constitutional pro- cedure. Chapter Third. Genesis and Evolution. 1838-1849 The Excluded Party: its perplexed condition; synods and presbyteries maintained ; adverse influences. Auburn Convention, first step toward organization ; its members and character ; protest against the disruption ; ecclesiastical pro- cedure determined upon. The Auburn Declaration, its or- igin, doctrinal contents, mediate character ; not a creed but a commentary. Subsequent Events : Commissioners to the Assembly of 1838, their admission refused, consequent struggle for organization, withdrawal ; another Assembly constituted. Assembly of 1838, its composition and acts ; protest against the excision ; steps toward full organization ; condition of the churches; its Pastoral Letter. Assembly of 1839; growth of the young Church : Proceedings of the Assembly ; division of property sought ; doctrinal soundness affirmed ; organization progressing; another Pastoral Letter. Assembly of 1840 ; at- tendance; general temper; growth of the Church amid strug- gles ; revivals reported ; undenominational societies approved. Declaration of Principles issued ; change to triennial Assem- blies. Assembly of 1843, its composition and .spirit, action on various subjects; general position more fully defined. Nar- rative of Religion indicates progress ; discouragements, an- tagonism, state of the Church. Hope of reconciliation and union given up. Assembly, 1846-47; process of evolution going on. amid hindrances; fellowship with other Churches, protracted discussion respecting slavery ; return to annual Assemblies agreed upon. Adjourned to meet in 1847; doubts as to constitutionality of this meeting, only routine business transacted ; special interest in home missions. Assembly of 1849; close of first decade; growth and consolidation re- ported; Church realizing its position and mission. Action on various subjects, including slavery ; denominational extension discussed ; comparative statistics. Chapter Fourth. Organization and Advance. 1850-1859 Second Period now dawning; general condition, pros- pect of further growth, the problem of organization. Assem- Hi.v OF 1850: twelve States represented. Home missions the ceiltral subject; church extension urged, denominational re- sponsibility ; obstacles to growth removed. Position and claims of the Church ; an important book of defense. As- sembly OF 1851 ; place and attendance; its transactions, de- liverances on various subjects, — the Sabbath, temperance, slavery. Church extension advocated ; revivals reported ; pro- test against church rivalry. Assembly of 1852, convened in Washington. Three important measures adopted : 1. De- nominational agency for home missions; relations to Amer. H. M. Society. 2. Education for the ministry, theological seminaries. Western Education Society. 3. Publication of church literature ; Quarterly Review. New departure deter- mined. Assembly of 1853, plans of preceding year followed; home missions, education, tract publication. A fourth meas- ure, church erection ; fund provided. Debate on slavery. Re- vivals noted. Assemblies of 1854, 1855, 1856. General situ- ation favorable. Church extension still the controlling inter- est ; four main departments review^ed. Church organization matured ; fraternal correspondence maintained ; action on various subjects. Many revivals, but no net growth; causes noted. Assembly of 1857 ; large attendance. Church exten- sion ; growth of denominational feeling. Protracted debate on slavery ; deliverance adopted ; withdrawal of southern commissioners. Formation of the United Synod South ; statistics of the secession. Assemblies of 1858, 1859: Church development the chief interest ; important reports on missions, education, publication, church erection. Organization now complete ; obstructions to progress removed. Religious life and activity. Review of the entire decade. Chatter Fifth. Maturity and Consummation. Church Growth described; third and final decade; two main events, the Civil War, and Church Union, mark the per- iod. AssE.MBLY OF i86'J : home missions ; connection with Amer. H. M. Society dissolved ; Church erection fund dis- tribution ; ministerial education considered. Connection with Amer. B. C. Foreign Missions continued. Assembly of 1861, large attendance ; Civil War begun. Peril to all church work involved ; each department carefully considered. Bible and Tract Societies endor.sed. Declaration of loyalty to the Gov- ernment adopted ; prayer for President Lincoln, for the army, for the country enjoined. Assemblies of 1862. 1863, 1864; Activity in all church work; special difficulties encountered. Plan for ministerial relief instituted; systematic beneficence urged. Narratives of Religion encouraging. Repeated dec- larations of loyalty ; letters to the President ; committee sent to Washington. Organic union with the Church O. S. dis- cussed. Assembly of 18O5 : Return of civil peace welcomed ; death of President Lincoln deplored; pledge of loyalty re- newed. Church work in all departments prosecuted with vigor ; duty of fresh consecration urged ; claims of the f reed- men considered ; slavery condemned ; sympathy for the suffer- ing South. Assemblies of 1866, 1867, 1868: Period of marked advance ; renewed zeal along all lines of work ; extensive revi- vals reported : remarkable accessions. Deliverance on state and claims of the country ; copies sent to the President and Con- gress. Negotiations respecting organic union. Assembly of 1869 ; full attendance, extraordinary interest. All depart- ments of church work and life reviewed; favorable reports. Other important action taken. Organic Union the chief matter ; detailed account of proceedings ; terms of union con- sidered ; deliberation and conference. Basis agreed upon to be submitted to pre.sl)yteries. Adjourned meeting in autumn ; Basis of union endorsed, final action taken. Assembly dis- solved; independent church life closed. Chapter Sixth. The Union of 1869. Union, not return or admittance: a new Church organ- ized from existing materials; a formal compact. Assembly OF 1870, composition and spirit : Process of organization ; first step, adjustment of boundaries — polity; second step, denominational agencies — church boards and committees , hoard of foreign missions freedmen ; third step, relation of theological seminaries to the Church. General Conditions recognized: i. Cordial regard — mutual confidence. 2. Cor- dial acceptance of church polity, — loyalty and liberality. 3. Substantial uniformity in belief and doctrine ; basis of 1758. Catholicity of the Assembly ; fraternal correspondence ; Southern Church invited to exchange delegates. Wisdom, temper, diligence of the Assembly; Narrative of Religion; statistics. The Union Justified : survey of results, internal, external. Presbyteriaitisni exalted through it. Will the United Church Survive? History shows frequent divisions, in Scotland, in America ; causes suggested. United Church not exempt. Dangers noted ; in sphere of doctrine, of polity, of administration. Two guarantees : First ; faithful adher- ence to the compact of Union ; its basis, its concurrent declar- ations, its temper of love and trust. Second ; devotion to the work providentially ordained for the Church ; extent, variety, grandeur of that work, internal, external ; an expanding fu- ture; a sublime mission, its unifying power. A Personal Word. CHAPTER FIRST. American Presby i erianism. Its Transplantation and Development. The history of the Christian Church contains hardly anv chapter of greater interest than that which recounts the progressive importation of the various types of re- hgious thought and hfe in Europe to this new contrnent, and their respective rooting and growth in its virgin soil. It is true that many other incentives, such as the lust of empire, the greed of gain, the spirit of adven- ture, the aspiration after a measure of freedom which could not be secured anywhere in the Old World, were blended largely with the distinctively religious motive, in inducing the remarkable migration which, running on through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, populated and possessed the continent. But such secu- lar incentives, however strong or pervasive, could never have brought about that migration, with all its nudti- plied developments and issues, had not the religious factor been present, in addition to all other agencies, both animating and regulating the complex process of colonization. This was especially the case in that in- teresting series of colonies, extending from Massachu- setts to the Carolinas, which were founded and 1)uilt up into strength by representatives from the British Isles and from the adjacent sections of northern Eu- rope. The colonist at Jamestown, though actuated in large measure by other motives political and personal, brought his Episcopacy with him under the royal 10 AMERICAN PRESBYTER! AXISM. charter, and gave it from the firsi a conspicuous place in his organized existence. The Dutch settlement in New York, estahlished almost simultaneously with that in Virginia, had its distinctive type of both doctrine and ecclesiastical order, derived directly from the parental source in the Reformed Protestantism of Holland. Even in the cabin of the Mayflower the immigrants to New England, acting on the basis of Puritanism, ordained the supremacy of the church over the state, and from the outset their strong religious convictions ruled in their public as in their personal life. A little later came the Lutheranism of Sweden to seek under royal patronage a provincial home in Delaware, bring- ing with it as its chief treasure that sturdy form of Pro- testant belief which had travelled northward from its primal seat in Germany, and had found cordial accept- ance in the country of Gustavus Adolphus. Roman Catholicism also, springing not froiu the ultramontane but from the finer English stock, planted itself in the same period in adjacent Maryland, mainly as a refuge for persecuted Catholics, yet with a degree of tolera- tion for immigrants holding the Protestant faith. In like manner the Calvinism of France, represented by Huguenot colonists resident at various points on the Atlantic coast but chiefly in the Carolinas, established itself, especially after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, as one of the permanent religious forces in the New World. William Penn brought with him the doc- trines and usages of the disciples of Fox, and incor- porated them as fundamental constituents in the colony which l)ore his name. At an earlier date Roger Wil- liams founded the colony of Rhode Island, primarily TRANSPLANTATION AND DErELOPMENT. 11 to be the representative of his l)elief respecting the sacrament of l)aptisni, and of his doctrine of rehgious liberty. Dnrins; tlie later decades of the centm-y Scotch rresbvterianisni. though existinj^ in an luiorganized form until the Ijegimiino- of the centin-y sulxscquent, became a distinct and prolific element in the religious life of New Jersey and the adjacent iirovinces. It is needless to refer to other and minor varieties of reli- gious belief, transplanted at earlier or later dates into the scattered settlements along the Atlantic shore. The striking general fact is that in these various ways almost every influential type of Protestant faith or polity in Europe was reproduced on American soil, and became from the first a factor more or less con- spicuous and commanding in giving form and char- acter to American life. But that reproduction was largely aiTected in its- historic development by certain special conditions amid which these transplanted faiths, and also those that followed them during the eighteenth century, took root and grew into maturity in the Xew World. The vital relations of soil and air. sunshine and shower and other contributing agencies, to the unfolding and maturing of the living plant may serve as an illustration here. These special conditions deserve passing thougli it be brief consideration : One of these was the progressive separation of these colonial faiths from the Churches of the Old World, with all that such separation involved. The Atlantic was indeed a broad ocean in those primitive days, and communication was both scant and infrecjuent. Yet for a long time each of the transplanted orgaiiism.s: 12 AMERICAX PRESBYIERIANISM clung- with a filial tenacity to its parental connection. Each preserved so far as possible the ancestral names and usages, imported its ministry and its educating agencies, and but slowly adjusted itself to its modifying environment. All alike shrank from the possibility that, in the exigencies of frontier life on a continent so vast and distant, the venerated creeds of Europe might come to be regarded as no longer binding, and the historic forms of polity and worship, so precious in memory, might be thoughtlessly set aside. There was real peril at this point, as the rise of some erratic and grotesque developments, especially in New England, clearly showed. Rut on the other hand too close an adherence to these ancestral connections, too much of the traditional ele- ment, too infantile dependence, would have proved re- pressive, if not fatal to healthful growth. It was better that broad seas should roll between the parental Churclies and their American representatives — espe- cially between the old Protestantism with its rigid forms and teachings, and that young Protestantism that was to spring up into vigor and fruitfulness on American soil. While what was inherited was to be cherished and so far as possible preserved, these im- planted organizations were constrained to become in large measure independent in their development — more and more acclimated to the soil wherein they were to take root. One marked illustration of this necessity appears in the fact that those denominations have thriven most, and are now exerting the most potent infiuenoe as religious forces in the nation, which were the readiest to drop off foreign names and usages and TRANSPLANTATION AND DEVELOPMENT. 13 affiliations, and to adjust themselves to the demands of their position as distinctively American Churches. A second condition appears in the geographic collo- cation and commingling of these denominations, and in their consequent struggle for existence and for growth in their new spheres. In the Old World, geographic boundaries were keeping apart, not only Romanism and Protestantism generally, but also the various types of Protestantism ; and in the American colonies similar territorial lines at first separated sect from sect, giving to each its own special area of development. Virginia. Xew York. New England, Maryland. Delaware, had each its own authorized and dominating Church, even to the exclusion of all others. But by the necessities of the case such segregation could not be permanent. As new settlements began to be formed in the developing provinces, and common in- terests drew together in many ways the adherents of differing sects, it became impracticable for any one Church to maintain an exclusive title to denominational supremacy in any part of the public domain. Provin- cial seclusion gradually ceased to be regarded as de- sirable or just ; the right of each sect to establish itself wherever opportunity offered, came by degrees to be broadly recognized ; the aspiration to be not provincial but continental began to actuate all alike ; and the grad- ual diffusion of their various types of faith and order throughout the continent was the final result. Such diffusion and commingling produced their natural consequence in eager struggle for position, for influence, for church supremacy. The spirit of the 14 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. denominations inevitably came to be, not one of friendly amity and mutual helpfulness, or even of amicable rivalry : too often it degenerated into a temper of sus- picion, of aversion, and even of open antagonism. As the domain to be occupied broadened and became con- tinental, the effort to possess it became more and more intense; and an era of sectarian zeal and strife such as has hardly a parallel in Christian history followed. Yet it is pleasant to note that the severe strife of sects in America, a phenomenon as pamful as it is unique, was one which by its own nature could not be perma- nent. The warfare of the Puritan against the Baptist, of the Episcopalia'n against the Quaker, of sect with sect, could not last always. Each Church was com- pelled to acquaint itself with the principles and methods of other Churches : minor dififerences were gradually seen to be unimportant : contact and comparison tended at length to induce concord : and from the whole experience there emerged by degrees a practical toler- ation and a measure of mutual respect and confidence such as has appeared in no other land. A third condition to be noted is the progressive separation of the Church in whatever variety from the State, and the universal enthronement of the voluntary principle in church support. How much the Regium Donum and other kindred bestowments, — the asserted obligation of the civil power to contribute toward eccle- siastical maintenance, and the consequent obligation of the ecclesiastical to sustain the civil power, and even to submit spiritual matters to its control, has done to cor- rupt the Church in belief and action, in head and mem- TRAXSrL.iXTATIOX AND DHrELOPMEXT. 15 hers, is well enough known to every careful student of the religious history of the Old World. The same theory was at first, and for long periods, regarded as valid and authoritative by most of the American Churches, h^ir generations every property holder, of whatever religious belief, was re(|uire(I b\' law to sup- port financially the established E])iscoi)ac\- of X'irginia. A century has not passed away since the maintenance of the local church was laid as a legal obligation on every resident of the Connecticut parish. Similar re- quisitions prevailed, with more or less of rigor, in most of the colonies. But the various attempts to establish State Churches came bv degress to be recognized as defective in both theory and practice, and were gradually abandoned. The broader principle that any specific form of reli- gion should be maintained by those only who accept it, and that in the eye of civil law all existing varieties of religious belief should not only stand on precisely the same footing, but should be alike left to stand or fall according as the zeal or the indifference of their adher- ents might determine, came by degrees to be generally accepted. The obligation of the State to protect and foster the common Christianity continued to be recog- nized : the propriety, for example, of exempting from taxation property devoted exclusively to religious uses was widely admitted : public worship and the Sabbath were protected ; but no consequent right to dictate terms of religious belief or prescribe rules of church administration or discipline was anywhere allowed. The State might neither enact laws establishing reli- gion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion, nor re- 1(3 AMERICAN PRESBVTERIAXISM. quire any religious test as a qualification for civil trust or office. Within its own sphere the Church of what- ever name came to be regarded as a kingdom not of this world — a kingdom far above all civil jurisdiction or control, so far as its own interests were concerned. That there were son.ie undesiralile consequences following from a change so radical — from the en- thronement of voluntaryism as the universal rule, may easily be admitted. It too often tended to develop an inordinate denominational zeal. — to incite an intense though narrow love of sect or of party which was in- consistent with broad and generous regard for the one Church Catliolic. It sometimes imjiosed too great bur- dens on the membership, esjiecially in the erection of sanctuaries and the support of ordinances. It occasion- ally led selfish and worldl}- minds into indifference to the claims and blessings of the Christian faith as repre- sented and expressed in and through the Church. Yet voluntaryism has justified itself an hundred fold in the energy it has induced, in the temper of sacrifice it has engendered, in the better administration of church afifairs, and in the loftier estimate of religion which it has taught the people at large to cherish. It has proved its value also in the larger interest it has developed in all varieties of Christian beneficence and charity, in the generous support given by individual nuuiificence to all forms of higher education, and in the zeal for mis- sions supported by free gifts and including the whole race of man within their loving and Christlike sweep. Absolute liberty of thought and of speech was still another general condition, closely related to the preced- TR.lXSPLJXT.rnON A\'D nFJ'ELOPMENT. 17 ing, — the tviU rij^lit of every denoniination and of each bchever to ex])ress and declare in all i^roper wavs their res])ective convictions, withciit check or restraint either by the arm of civil law or thrtmo^h any repressive force of popular sentiment. That rig-ht, as all know, was distinctly enunciated in the Reformation : it is em- bodied in the very word. Protestant. It stands out in perpetual antitliesis alike to the claims of churchly authority in whatever form, and to all assumption by the State of an\- warrant to prohiiiit the free expres- sion of personal belief within the civil domain. It is a rit^ht inherini2: inalienably in all intellit^ent minds, espe- cially within the religious sphere. How much the ex- ercise of this right was challenged and obstructed in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- ries, is known to all historical students. Instances are not wanting in America where both the State and the Church, and the Church Protestant as well as Papal, have attempted to invade this right, and under some pretext to repress legitimate freedom of speech. Yet it is to the glory of American Christianitv, and espe- cially of American Protestantism, that it has more and more tirmlv and cordially come to recognize this ina- lienable prerogative as vested not only in the Church as an organization. l)ut in eacli believer as a moral per- son, supremely accountable for his belief and his utter- ances to Ciod alone. That there are serious dangers accompanying the exercise of such liberty, — that it may degenerate into reckless license, or become a medium of destructive error, or an inciting cause of revolution and anarchy within the religious s])here. is (|uite ol)vious. Cnder the 18 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. banner of free thought, all varieties of opposition to the Christian Faith, all types of unbelief however irra- tional have at times banded themselves together, and wrought immeasurable mischief to the cause of true religion. Nor is it strange that in the natural revolt against such perversion of liberty, thoughtful minds should sometimes question the validity of the principle itself, or should seek shelter from such dangers under the wing of what is supposed to be an infallible and authoritative Church. Neither is it strange that the Church should sometimes assert, even to an unwarrant- able degree, its right to protect itself against such per- nicious license, especially when manifest within its own commiuiion. Still, the right to think as one chooses concerning religious matters, subject only to the scrutiny of con- science and the tests of right reason, and the correlated right to express under proper limitations what is be- lieved, is a heritage so precious, a privilege so unques- tionable and sacred, that we may well rejoice that it came so early to be recognized in the American colo- nies, and has now become so thoroughly established as an essential condition of American Christianity. Protected by positive statutes and by court decisions, upheld by multiplied ecclesiastical deliverances in its defense, and sustained by concurring popular senti- ment, such liberty of thought and of speech has become for all the future a primal principle both in our per- sonal and in our denominational life as a people — a law luiiversal and unchallengeable. Such in l^rief were the four generic conditions under which the various Christian denominations in America TRAXSPL.IXT.niOX AXD DErtLOl'MEXT. ID began their existence and development, and by these the Presbyterian Cliurch found itself surrounded and affected from the first, as it took its place among these religious bodies, and entered upon its ordained and distinctive work. While it retained with tenacity its affiliation with European and especially with Scotch Presbyterianism, it still was constrained even from the outset to recognize its essential independency, and to take on forms and features such as the new continent with its fresh and unique life was imposing. And while it naturally emphasized its own strong system of belief and its particular form of ecclesiastical organization, even claiming for the latter an exclusive jure divino authority, it was at once compelled to adjust itself to the companionship of other sects claiming like warrant, to recognize their rights and their excellencies, and to labor side bv side with them in substantial harmony for the promulgation of the Christian Faith. So, while in Europe, especially in Britain, it had as- pired to become a state religion, and had claimed pecu- niary as well as moral sustenance from the civil power, here it was obliged from the beginning to depend en- tirely on voluntary support, even while Episcopacy and Independency were still receiving contributions to their respective maintenance from or through public treas- uries. And in like manner it was obliged at an early day to drop off all ecclesiastical assumption in matters of belief, and to grant not liierely to its own ministry and membership, but to all men of whatever religious body or whatever shade of religious opinion, full demo- cratic libertv in thouglu and speech. In all this it had 20 AM ERIC AX PRESBVTERIAXISM. a notable example in that bold and firm independence of spirit, as against all civil control, which had led the Assembly of Westminster to stand out so bravely against both the asserted domination of Charles I. and the equally unwarranted domination of Cromwell. ' A free Church in a free State became its motto and aspi- ration, even from the outset in its organized career; and this freedom, assumed for itself and justly and gen- erously asserted alike for all, became one of its cardinal characteristics. The manner of its transplantation strongly em- phasizes the need of conformity with these practical conditions. That transplantation indeed began early in the seventeenth century when Presbyterianism found its first home in the New England colonies, and became a visible though an unorganized type of Protestantism at other points along the Atlantic shores. Churches presbyterially constituted and grounded doctrinally in the Westminster Symbols thus came into existence here and there, sparsely during the first but especially in the latter half of the century. But the process of denominational evolution, bv which such churches be- came organicallv one in and through the presbytery, and the sect as such took its rightful place among the existing denominations, was postponed until the dawn of the eighteenth century. From that time the process of denominational organization went on imder the con- ditions already named, and the body became an inde- pendent, a catholic, a voluntary, and a free and liberal Church, — putting ofT bv its own choice not merely the narrownesses but even in some measure the legitimate characteristics of the mother Church wliether British rRANSPLAXrATIOX AND DEVELOPMENT. 21 or Continental, and accepting freely all that was need- ful in strncture or spirit to make it truly and heartily American. It is not needful here to trace in detail the inter- esting history of this implantation, or to em])hasizc further the conditi(jns under which the young denom- ination grew into vigor antl intluence. Turning rather to the organic evolution that followed, we may note in brief its two main elements, the doctrinal and the ec- clesiastical : American Preshyterianism was from the outset founded as to doctrine generically upon the Calvinism which. centerii]g and generating in (kmeva. had worked its way with remarkable energy northward, not only on the continent, but into the British Isles. — where in fact it gained and held a firm position even after it had in some measure declined in commanding force beyond the Channel. More especially it was founded on the Confession and Catechisms of Westminster as being the last and best formularies of Calvinism : faithfully representing that doctrinal system as distinguished from both Lutheranism and Arminianism. Under the teaching and training of that remarkable system the young denomination was developed from the start and through successive generations : and from it there has never been, as to essential and generic principles, any marked departure. From the organization of the first Presbytery in 1706. and especially of the first Synod in 1717, the Church — it may safely be aflfirmed — has continued to be in all stages and varieties truly Calvin- istic. 22 AMERICAN PRESBVTERIAXISM. But differing views as to what is really essential in Calvinism, differing- interpretations of particular doc- trines, differing judgments as to the degree of minute- ness and stringency with which subscription to the accepted formularies should he required, arose early. (Jne prominent source of such differentiation reveals itself as one notes the composite and somewhat diverse elements brought together in the young organism. — particularly the foreign, such as the Scotch and Irish and other European constituencies on one side, and the native and more thoroughly American on the other. ( )ther sources aj^pear in the extended and complex doctrinal system itself, in varieties of speculative ten- dency manifest in the interpretation, in different modes of explaining and applying specific truth, and especially in tlie exercise of that rational liberty which all were in form agreed in allowing. This differentiation made its appearance at an early day. even in the conflict re- specting the proper rule of suliscription to the Adopt- ing Act itself. The Synod had been constituted twelve years before by the subdivision of the original Presby- tery into three (perhaps four) but its membership had been held together rather through s])ontaneotis affinity and through agreement respecting church carder than by any jirescribed com]:)act. — the Adopting Act oi 1729 lieing the hrst formal affirmation of the doctrinal basis on which the Church was planted. The rule laid down was clear and just. While recognizing the liberty of opinion vested in all alike and disclaiming any inten- tion to impose its form of belief on the conscience, the Synod held and agreed that the Confession and Cate- chisms of Westminster should henceforth be formallv Th'.ixsrL.ixT.rnox .i.\n nr.ri-.LOPMrixr. s.i :\(l(i])tc(l "as l)finj^^ in all the cssenlial and necessary ar- ticles good forms of sound words and s\stenis (syste- matic statements) of Christian doctrine." and as such should he received and adopted l)y all who luight hold office within the Church. l')U.t the imderlying (|uestion as to what are essential and necessarv articles, and as to the measure of liherty to he allowed in the interpretation of the good forms of sound words, still remained. In 1730 it was declared hv the Synod that all candidates or intrants must re- ceive and adopt the Symhols in exactly the sense agreed upon liy those who concurred in the Adopting Act ; and in 1734 ])articular incjuiry was mstituted as to the measure of com]jliance with this rule, though not without opposition in the interest of denominational freedom. In 1736 the stricter party, heing in the ascen- dency numerically, and helieving that dangercnis dis- tinctions were heing introduced as to certain essential articles and their interpretation, secured the further declaration that the Synod adhered to the Symhols. not onl\- as containing the true system of doctrine, but also as involving their acceptance "without the least variation and without regard to such distinctions." Such rigiditv of subscription was not contem])lated by the Westminster Assembly neither was it required in Scotland or Ireland until it seemed to be demanded as a safeguard against the influence of Episcopacy on the one hand and the subtle tendency to .-Xrianism or Moderatism on the other. Nor could a rule so rigid command universal ac- ceptance within the Synod itself, and by degrees the difTerentiatiim between the two parties, conservatives 24 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. and liberals, become so acute as to bring about contro- versy, conflict, destructive antipatbies, ending in tbe disruption of 1741 — tbe first in tbat series of disrup- tions wbicb more tban almost any otber cause bave bin- dered tbe grovvtb and influence of Presbyterianism on the continent. It is needless to speak of tbe specific aspects, ecclesiastical as well as doctrinal, wbicb tbe general issue assumed. Tbe story of tbe struggle be- tween the Old Side and the New Side, as tbe parties were respectively called, is a story not merely of dis- cussion and difl^erence as to doctrine and order, but also of narrowness and partizanship, of suspicion, alien- ation, bitter antagonism, wholly unworthy of men who bore the Presbyterian name. It is easy now to see tbat a calmer temper, a broader spirit of fraternity, a larger measure of Christian msight and wisdom, might bave held and ought to bave held the parties together within tbe one Church, notwithstanding all the irritating is- sues involved. But in spite of all attempts made by moderate men on both sides to Ileal the festering sore, the separation continued for seventeen long years, — both parties and especially the New Side increasing in numbers, each organized in separate presbyteries and synods, though both were all the while agreed as to tbe general terms and conditions of tbe Adopting Act itself. But concil- iatory opinion and sentiment began more and more to displace the original antagonism, and in 1758 a formal reconciliation was effected, resulting in tbe organiza- tion of tbe unified Synod of New York and Philadel- phia. Tbe history of the negotiations, continued through six or eight vears, which led on to this result — TR.IXSPf..LyTATIOX JXD DEI' EI.OI'M EXT. 25 of the various proposals for coniproinise and agreenictn. and the proloniii^ed and patient labors of the interme- diate partv with both classes of extremists, is not only interesting" in itself hut is full of instruction to all who desire to know what the doctrinal foiuidations of Amer- ican I'resbyterianism tndy are. The object sought was well defined by the Synod of I'hiladelphia, four years earlier, as the uniting' of the various j)resbyteries and synods in one body "on such scrijitural and rational terms as may secure ])eace and ortler, tend to heal the broken churches, and advance religion hereafter." The union thus secured was not a mere scheme of aggrandizement to be effected through the combining of denominational forces, without establishing internal and essential concord as a condition ; the movement was rather in the interest of that catholic unity, that communion of saints, which according to their Confes- sion ought to characterize Presbyterians everywhere. Its doctrinal basis was none other than the Adopting Act of 1729, before tliat Act had been interpreted by the Old Side as requiring subscription without the least variation, and with no recognition of the distinction between things essential and things not essential in the accepted system. Its truly Christian spirit, as well as its broad doctrinal quality, is admirably set forth in the Plan of Union as finally adopted. In earnest terms that noble docimient describes the injury done to the Church and to the cause of religion through the dis- ruption, pleads for the taking away of all occasion for reproach and the banishing of all jealousies, exhorts to submission to the will of the majority and the cor- dial cultivation of the sentiment of brotherhood, pro- 26 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. nounces all careless charges of heresy or heterodoxy a censurable evil, urges the uniting of divided presby- teries and congregations wherever practicable, defines the proper standard of church membership and the true tests of religious experience, and affirms it to be the solemn purpose of all concerned to advance through the Union the common kingdom of Christ among men. During" the half century prior to 1758, the young denomination had grown from the single presbytery centered at Philadelphia into an ecclesiastical body of consideralile magnitude, notwithstanding the mischief wrought through the disruption, and may fairly be said to have already taken its |)lace by the side of Con- gregationalism and of Episcopacy as one of the three dominating types of Protestantism on American soil. Its area had extended nortliward into .\evv York and Long Island, and st)Uthward into Maryland and Vir- ginia, and at the date of the Union it comprised nearly a hundred organized churches and a somewhat larger numl)er of ministers. The (jreat Awakening which under- the preaching of Whitefield and lulwards and others of kindred spirit had ([uickened so thoroughly the religious life of New England, had imparted a like gracious impulse to the Presbyterian churches, even while the unhappy division continued, and doubtless contributed largely to the union itself. Meanwhile new missionary fields were opening to view in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and also in \'irginia and the Carolinas, wherever immigrants of the Presbyterian faith from l^)ritain or from the Continent became resi- dent. There is pleasant evidence that the conscious- ness of such a missionary work in ])P»spect — of the TRAXSPL.tXT.lTIOX AXP imi'IlLOPMllXT. -11 manifest and attractive opportunity to ])lant tin- old and revered standards on new soil, had as much as the developed sense of essential oneness even amid diversi- ties in belief, to do witli the consummation of the union itself. I'^or nothinj;;^ unifies Christians like the consciousness of a common work to he done tt)gether for (lod and the souls of men. It nnist l)e confessed, how^ever, that that needful and l)cneficent work would liave i)een nuich hetter done I)\ the Church durinj^' tlie cji'encration that followed the union. Iiad the disastrous disruption never occurred. i'hat generation mcludes hotli the peri(*d of ante- cedent agitation in ci\il affairs and the years and trials of the Revolution, and extends to the formation of the first ( ieneral Assembly in 1788. Doctrinal issues had now retreated largely from view, in the presence of the ])olitical struggle that issued finally in national in- dej)endence. It was a time of extraordinary trial antl of severe ])rivati()n. Religion was at a low ebb in the cf)untry at large. The churches were enfeebled in l)Otii membershi]) and resources. The influx of ministers from Kurojje diminished steadil\- and finally ceased altogether. It was to provide a native rather than a foreign ministry that Princeton College was founded,, even during the ])eri()(l of disruptitju : without its con- trilmtions in the generation that followed, the minister- ial supjily would have been totally inade(|uate. As early as 1761, the imitcd Synod declared it important tliat special ])rovision l.e made by the College for the better instruction of students in the knowledge of divinitv p and in 1768. IVesident Withersjioon. soon after his inauguration, gave lectures on theol()ir\- and also in- 28 AMERICA:^ PRESBYTERIANISM. structed candidates for the ministry in the Hebrew Scriptures. In 1771, special provision was also made for the partial support of students engaged in such studies. But the churches were too poor either to maintain properly such supplies as they already had, or to push forward adequately the missionary work of the denomination, whether in the colonies then es- tablished or in the new settlements which were rapidly being jjlanted on the frontier lines of civilization. And during the dark years of the Revolution the impedi- ments to denominational progress were in various ways greatly multiplied. Ministers were persecuted for their loyalty, always conspicuous, to the cause of independ- ence ; sanctuaries were sometimes seized by the royal forces, congregations were scattered, and sacred ordi- nances and worship suspended : presbyteries and the Synod met but infequently, and spiritual desolation was widespread. With the return of peace through the establishing of constitutional government and the new nationality, the interests of the Church rapidly revived. The scat- tered congregations came together again ; ministers and missionaries were more fully supplied and more adequately supported, and the great task of church extension was resumed as fast as resources and oppor- tunities allowed. And in 1788,' five years after the close of the War, the final step in perfecting the con- tinental organization of the Church was taken in the constituting of the first General Assembly at Phila- delphia. It is important to refer to this procedure just here, only to direct attention to the doctrinal position of the denomination at this interesting juncture in its TR.-IXSPL.LXT.ITIOX .LXP ni-rF.LOr.MI'.XT. 29 liistory. Xo ohani;"cs wrrc made in the Confession of Faith excej)! at those ])i)iiits \vliicli treated of the civil iil^overiiment and mai^istracy, and these anien(hiients consisted sinipK- in an exchision of all asserted claim of the civil autliDrity to interfere in church doctrine or administration. The amended C'onfession atifirmed indeed the ohligation of the q()\ernment to protect the Christian Church of whatever name in the enjoy- ment of its spiritual privileges, hut declared also that all classes and hodies of Christians should enjoy an eqtial measure of religious libertv. without interference by the State. The Catechisms were also adopted as authoritative formularies, with the significant omis- sion of the clause which in the original declared the toleration of a false religion to be one of the sins for- bidden in the second commandment. But while this action was. like the Adopting Act of 1729, a formal commitment of American Presby- terianism to the theology of Westminster, there is abundant evidence that the action was taken in no temper of extreme ecclcsiasticism. During the War the influence of the foreign element in the Church, from which chiefly the demand for strictness in sub- .-cription liad come, had steadilv declined, and in fact had almost whollv given wa\' to the more liberal and catholic, the more American, disposition of Wither- spoon and his associates. The s])irit of libertv was quite as prevalent in the Church as in tlie country, and the strong sense of brotherhood which was bind- ing the colonies together and drawing them all not- withstanding minor ditTerences into unitv within the rine centralized government, had its counter])art in the :30 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. fraternal and mutuaily trustful disposition of the large majority of those who, whether from Britain or the Continent or from New Fngland, now consti-. tuted the one denomination doctrinally as well as ecclesiastically. Indeed the strongest objection to the adoption of the Westminster standards seems to have come from those who questioned whether it was best for the young Church to be hampered in belief or teaching, as they feared it might be, through the for- mal acceptance of any such authoritative formularies •of faith. Had the effort been made to proclaim the Confession and Catechisms as doctrinal standards to be accepted without the least variation, to the exclu- sion of all distinctions between the essential elements and the elements not essential to the Calvinistic sys- tem, there is good reason to conclude that the first Assembly could not have been organized as it was, at least without the loss of some of its most intelligent and liberal and most . thoroughly American constitu- ents. The Church thus organized now grew far beyond its original boundaries, migrating by degrees from the Atlantic coast into central New York and Pennsylva- nia, crossing the Alleghenies by the two or three :great mountain passes, and gaining a foothold even in Kentucky and Ohio. It was soon represented by four synods, composed of the membership of sixteen presbyteries, which in turn comprised more than four hundred congregations and about half as many min- isters. The rapid development of the country, socially and commercially as well as politically, was favorable TRANs/'i..L\ r.iriox J.\'J> njiriii.oi'MiiXT. si to this marked expatisioh. — especially as this was aided before loiio^ by the considerable imniij^ration from Presbyterian regions in the Old World. In many respects, the prospect of larg^e orjj^anic growth and of even continental intluence seemed bright as the morning. Rut it is also true that the baleful spread of irreli- gion. particularly through the poisonous growths of the open unbelief so current in b'rance and also in England, proved to be a powerful hindrance to this denominational development. Skejitical philosophies, false theories of life, flagrant vices originating dur- ing the War and abundant afterwards, the secular spirit and the zeal of new enterprise absorbing the thoughts and strength of the multitude. — to say noth- ing of the bitter jjolitical controversies developed in the process of framing and organizing the civil gov- ernment — constituted in their combination a barrier to religious progress, in all denominations alike, which seemed at times to be absolutely insurmountable. Such adverse agencies would indeed have been insurmount- able, had not the gracious help of God at this juncture, just as the new century was dawning, manifested itself in that remarkable series of revivals which, what- ever may be said of their grotesque and sometmies highly objectionable accompaniments, changed so de- cisively the moral aspect of society, and lifted the whole nation up to a higher religious level. It was found by actual experiment that the evangelical doc- trines, and among Presbyterians that the Calvinistic exposition of these doctrines, still had a potency which unbelief, however intellectual or courtlv, however 32 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. gross or malignant, could not withstand. It was found that the faithful proclamation of these doctrines hy those who helieved them and lived up to their hchei, could convince men of sin and turn them unto right- eousness, could confirm and quicken languid churches, could stir wholi commi^nities and regions with the im • piilses of a divme life, and could confute skepticism by a living and practical process which no skepticism in any age has ever been able to gainsay. Within a few short years, through these revivals affecting espe- c'ally the western half of the Church, but manifest- ing then- efficacy also at many points in more easterly sections, the whole denomination was lifted up. not only spititually and numerically, but doctrinally also. Its confidence in the practical as well as theoretic cogency of its theological system had been greatly strengthened, and its determination to state, proclaim, defend, exalt its Calvinism became stronger and stronger. Yet out of such a condition and purpose arose by a singular evolution another doctrinal agitation and conflict, culminating in what is known historically as the Cimiberland Schism. It is not strange that in the stir and zeal of such revivals the growth of congre- gations and the opening of new missionary fields shouUl exceed the capacitv of the Church under its ordinary methods to supply the wide ministerial de- mand. Nor is it strange that sucli extraordinary de- mand should be met here and there by bringing into service as ministers some who had not attained that degree of mental discipline and equipment which had been regarded by the Westminster Assembly, and ever 'rR.i.\srf..i.\r,ri'/(>.\ .ixn niiii-.i.of'MiiXT. 33 svil)S(.'(|ueiitly, as cssciuial in tlio sacred ofiicf. Xeithor is it strange that in the ])ractical apphcation of the Calvinistic formularies in such seasons of excited revival there should he some among accredited min- isters who relatively ceased to lay stress on the sov- ereignty of ("lod in grace as in nature, and on the dt])ravati()n and utter helplessness of sinners a]:>art from eti'ectual grace, and who einphasized rather the aliility and the duty of all men to re])ent and helieve, and the r ct)nsequent guilt for ever\- moment of im- l)enitence or unlielief. Xor is it remarkahle that it should he affirmed 1)\' some earnest men of this class, not indeed without some show of reason as is now admitted, that if cer- tain i)ro])ositions in the Confession did not positively teach a spiritual fatalism as ahsolute as anv fatalism in nature, they were at least so far fatalistic in form and in the impression they made on many minds, that they might safel\- he left out of view hy the preacher who was anxious only to save souls. Affirming as much as this, and carrying their convictions out along logical lines, such men further held that the acceptance of such fatalistic teachings was not essential to proper loyally to the I'reshyterian scheme of doctrine, or to he recpiired as a test in IVesh}terian ordination. — es- pecially in a great spiritual emergency such as had arisen, in which persons not ])re])ared or willing to meet such test and recpiisite. might yet he found in practical experiment quite competent as ministers to preach the essential Ciospel. j^articularh- in destitute regions, and therehy to lead sinners to genuine faith in Christ and his redemi)tion. 34 AM ERIC AX FRESBYTERIANISM. Here were the conditions of a strenuous contro- versy, at once theological and ecclesiastical. The con- troversy speedily arose, and was carried on with spirit on both sides, and with growing divergence between the parties, until at length the judicial authority resi- dent in the Form of Government was invoked, and those who held such views or shared in such usage either were formally excluded from the Church or vol- untarily withdrew from its fellowship. Whether this painful result was necessary or was right in itself, will always be questioned. Abstractly considered, the doc- trine of particular and unconditional election is so em- bedded in the Symbols, and so prominent in them, that it seems impossible to regard the doctrine as less than essential. But the question still remains whether cer- tain modes of stating that doctrine found especially in the Confession do not tend, as the excluded or with- drawing party believed them to tend, to a species of fatalism not warranted in Holy Scripture, and prac- tically injurious to both faith and life. Was it suffi- cient to hold the doctrine in general terms such as were accepted by Calvinists elsewhere or were em- bodied in other Reformed symbols, or must every phrase or expression in the Confession be formally assented to as a condition of ordination or of ministe- rial standing in the Church ? Might not persons other- wise acceptable and giving good evidence of ability so to preach the Gospel as to win and save men, be wisely and rightfully ordained, even if they were in doubt as to individual and unconditional election or felt themselves unable to proclaim the Gospel under the forms and limitations imposed by that doctrine? Such TRJXSPLAXT.rnO.y AXD DEI'ELOPMEST. 35 in essence was the issue raised between the parties. — at once a question both of official subscription and standing and of theological opinion and belief. At this distance in time and in the lig-ht of recent events, it seems altogether probable that due consid- eration by each party of the actual position of the other, proper regard for the practical exigency that precipitated the issue, intelligent study of the Re- formed theology in general, close scrutiny of the rec- ords of preceding controversies of like character, just comprehension of the real nature of American as dis- tinct from European Presbyterianism, would have led to a considerate settlement of the questions involved, and saved the Church from another disruption, with all its piteous consequences. But it is characteristic of Presbyterians when they differ, to differ positively and sweepingly, to hold their differences too tena- ciously and in too litigious a temper, and finally too often to split asunder where they would better a thou- sand fold have tolerated their diversities of opinion, and determined to remain together within the common Church. The disruption of 1741, with its disastrous influence on the growth and prosperity of Presbyteri- anism in the century preceding, ought at least to have awakened in both parties, in this instance, a livelier sense of the mischief and the wrong of schism, and have predisposed both to allow at least that degree of divergence respecting the mysterious tenet of election, with its correlate in the dogma of reprobation, which is now freely allowed within the united Church. Postponing at this point the survey of the doctrinal element in the life of the developing Church, we may 36 AMERICAN PRESBYTER] AXISM. now grlance in lirief at the corresponding ecclesiastical element which figured so largely in its earlier, as it has figured also in its later history. Much that falls properly within this division of the general subject has already been introduced incidentally in the consid- eration of the more vital element of doctrine. Faith is always more than form. How a Church is organ- ized and governed, is in the nature of things a ques- tion subordinate to and one largely answered by the more fundamental question, what does the Church truly believ'?. It is a notable fact that a particular form of church government has almost invariably accompanied the Calvinistic scheme of doctrine, — the two being con- joined historically in many countries and ages by some subtle and tenacious bond of affiliation. It is true that the Presbyterian polity has in some instances maintained its hold wdiere distinctive Calvinism has in a measure declined ; it is also true that Calvinism has held its place in some instances where another form of government, or at least a modified form, has been preferrefl. Yet the general fact remains that for reasons which undoubtedl}' lie in the nature of the two things rather than in mere location or outward circumstance, Calvinism and Presbyterianism have dwelt together in special harmony, each suggesting and confirming, each commending and strengthening the other. This generic fact is abundantly illustrated in church history, and it goes far to explain the other significant fact that Presbyterianism has shown larger capacity for transplantation and diffusion, and is now TRAXSI'LAXTATIOX A\D DEVELOPMEXT. 37 habitant in more o<">unlrics and inulcr a wider variety of conditions, than any other type of Protestantism. In view of these two facts the query why Presbyte- rian bodies the world over should bear a name which describes their method of organization and internal administration rather than one that should represent that system of doctrine which they agree in holding so tenaciously as their chief heritage and glory, is one not easily answered. But the Presbyterian polity like Presbyterian doc- trine has been passing in this country through an ev- olutionary process which has rendered the American type of it, especially as we now have it, a quite ditYer- ent thing from the norm o{ the same name which had its chief seat in Scotland and for a little time throve and dominated in England in the first half of the seventeenth century. The imported Presbyterianism which was represented in the mother presbytery in Philadelphia and in the original Synod, was essentially a foreign fa])ric ; its principles and methods, its prece- dents and rules and administration were British. But to hold on invariably and indefinitely to a mode of government so foreign. — to live and act generation after generation under the regulative force of Euro- pean usage and tradition merely, was from the nature of the case impracticable. And the records of the Adopting Act, of the disruption of 1741, and of the subsequent organic union of 1758, together with all that followed ecclesiastically during the remainder of the century, all show how of necessity new rules and methods were gradually introduced, new ])recedents established, a new order and stvle of administration 38 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM by degrees brouglit into use, to meet the special exigencies imposed by the novel conditions of Ameri- can Hfe and work. One ilhistration of this fact has already come vmder notice in the early controversy respecting the proper theory of subscription — a controversy substantially in the first instance between the close adherents of foreign order and the advocates of personal liberty, but one which it has required more than a century in various forms to bring even to its present stage of solution, and which as an issue between conservative and progressive parties may in the future as in the past rise again to disturb, possibly even to divide the Church. Another kindred illustration may be seen in the historic issue raised between the original Synod and the presbytery of New Brunswick respecting the relative rights and prerogatives of the two bodies as to the reception of candidates and their licensure and ordination. That issue is not yet entirely settled, for while the presbytery has now come to be recognized generally as the true unit and source of authority in this particular and indeed in all matters not directly limited under our Constitution, there have been at times even recently strong efforts to lift the synod, and es- pecially the Assembly, into a degree of supremacy which the Form of Government framed in the Jeru- salem Chamber did not give it. In all varieties this is the old conflict between centralized and distributed power, between oligarchy and democracy in the Church, between the freedom of the individual unit acting within its legitimate sphere and the domination of an organism, naturallv too indifferent to individual TR.lXSPL.-iXT.ITIOI^ A.\D DEl'ELOPMllMT. 39 rit^lits, and often ready to assert control even at the sacrifice of personal prerogatives and personal welfare. The union of 1758 was a clear triumph for the time of the freer, more generous interpretation of our ec- clesiastical system. L'nder its terms the official was not permitted to dominate over the })rivate member, nor the presbytery over the humblest minister or church, nor the synod over its weakest presbytery. The organic law was to determine the relative positions, rights, pre- rogatives, of all persons and all organizations within the unified Church. And the administration of that law was to be not technical, narrow, rigid, domineering, as indeed it is always possible for such administration to become under our Form, but rather tolerant, generous, brotherly throughout, — with supreme de- sire to allay differences, remove ofifenccs, preserve the sense of fraternity at all points, without assumption or show of magisterial power. Xor is there reason to think that, although some sagacious minds apprehended such a result, the organization of the General Assem- bly thirty years later changed in any essential feature either the mode or the spirit of church administration. At least at the outset, before the stress of contingen- cies real or fancied wrought otherwise, few if any traces appear of a tendency in that supreme judicatory to excessive centralization or to the assuming of any control not warranted by just and generous interpreta- tion of the organic law. The Cumberland Schism like the disruption of 1741. illustrated painfully the peril of departing on an\ side from this conception of church government. To revert for a moment to that sad event, there can 40 A M ERICA N PRESB Y' TERIA A' ISM. be little doubt that, strictly construed, both the Con- fession and the Constitution forbad those divergencies in faith and teaching and those departures from proper ecclesiastical regulation out of which that schism grew, and technically called for the exercise of discipline on that account. But is there not as little room for doubt that if that issue had been met in the spirit of the Union of 1758, — if all the occasions for divergence or variation had been duly considered and so far as possible provided for, — if all parties had been will- ing to adjust their issues on the true American basis of large toleration and on the true Christian basis of brotherhood, the ecclesiastical rupture might have been avoided, and Cumberland Presbyterianism might have remained a prolific and valuable branch of the one continental vine, the one imdivided Church ? Still it is obvious in general that, notwithstanding occasional variations, the earlier history of organized Presbvterianism in America reveals a decisive and healthful development in the ecclesiastical as in the doctrinal sphere. The extent of that evolution is greater than many are accustomed to suppose. It is inconceivable, for example, that an American Assem- bly, even in the eighteenth century, should call on the civil power, were there any such power adequate to the task, as the Assembly of Westminster more than once did, to order the seizure and burning of a doc- trinal treatise believed by it to be heretical. It is equally inconceivable that an Assembly at least in our time should require, as the Synod of 1741 required, that the church standards should be subscribed by everv official jicrson without the least variation, to the TR.L\'sri..ixr.n'!()x .ixn nnriiLoPMnxr. 41 exclusion of the fundamental right of private inter- pretation. Hardly more conceivahle is it that, in this age, those sacred guarantees with which the Consti- tution surrounds every minister and every meniher of the Church should, even to correct lawlessness or re- press heresy, be so much ignored or set aside, as they were even a century ago. More and more a wider, freer, nobler interpretation alike of our organic law and of our confessional teaching has come in. not merely to modify Old World usage or tradition, but also to confer new jMiwer and new dignity on tht.' Presbyterian name. The growth of the Church during its first century clearly shows the inestimable value of the twofold evolution here described, and establishes the right of the denomination to a large place and to strong and practical inHuence on American soil. Within a hun- dred years from the organization of the first presbv- tery, with its seven ministers and five churches, located in a comparatively narrow space on the Atlantic coast, the Church had extended its area throughout almost the entire country, excepting Xew England, and its ministers had increased thirty fold and its congrega- tions more than seventy fold. Its strong, clear, con- sistent and commanding creed, fairly interpreted, had found favor in the eyes of men, and as in an eminent sense the Church of the Doctrines the denomination had acrpiired for itself a teaching function within the religious sphere which no other Church seemed quite so competent to fill. Meanwhile, its representative type of government resembling so closely that of the nation, and its fine adjustment in administration be- 42 AMERICAN PRESBVTERIAXISM. tween an excessive individualism on one hand and hierarchal assumption to the other, had also done much to inspire general respect and win public confi- dence and support. On the whole, it is safe to say that a hundred years ago no other type of Protestant- ism exhibited evangelical belief and church life in more attractive ways, or contained in itself larger ele- ments of popularity and influence. And when the nineteenth century opened there was much, notwith- standing existing impediments and the distracting issues doctrinal and ecclesiastical, to justify the hope that the place and influence thus reached would broaden with time until Presbyterianism should become one of the most extensive and commanding forms, if not indeed as some of its adherents fondly expected, the dominant form of Protestantism in America — in the best sense a free Church in a free State. CHAPTER SECOND. The Disruption oi 1837. It is indeed a pleasant picture wliicli the Church in the first three decades of the nineteenth century jiresents. Out of various colHsions and conflicts earlier and later the principle of toleration had come to be widely reco.g^niztd. and even to be enthroned as a sovereign law in the denominational conviction and activities — as indeed it is recognized and enforced in the confessional Cliapter on the Communion of Saints. The consciousness of substantial unity around the main tenets and interests of the Church had risen into commanding prominence ; circumstantial diversities had for the most part disappeared. This was in some de- gree a natural result, flowing from past experiences both agreeable and painful, and developing more freely as the organization became less foreign and variant, more and more distinctively American in temper and habit, and as the great denominational work spread out before it more fully and attractively. Doubtless it was also a supernatural result, induced by the pres- ence of the Divine Spirit, anrl nurtured into strength bv that gracious culture which everywhere reveals one of its most beautiful manifestations in the expe- rience and fellowship of the organized Church. And surely no one in contemplating the condition and prospects of the denomination at this juncture would have dreamed it possible that within a brief period explosive differences would arise, partizan antago- nisms would lie developed, the sense of oneness and 44 THE DISRUPTIOX OP 1837. brotherhood would vanish, and bitter struggles be be- gun, — all ending in a rupture which a decade or two earlier all parties would have pronounced impossible. But the conditions of further conflict still remained. The old questions respecting faith and order were not. could not. be settled once for all ; the composition of the organism was more or less explosive in its nature ; new issues of policy and instrumentality were of ne- cessitv from time to time arising. Spontaneous con- flagrations, exploding gases, infectious diseases, were always possible agents of michief and of ruin. And back of all lay the latent poison, the corrupting potency of original sin — of original sin in a hun- dred forms of mutual blindness and narrowness, of ^ obliquity in motive, of selfishness and ambition and the spirit of evil. A brief survey of some of the more conspicuous among these deteriorating or destruc- tive forces is essential to a just comprehension of the result that finally came to pass. At this distance of time, when partizan feelings and purposes have hap- pily died away, and when another and more substan- tial unification has taken place, such a survey mav properly be undertaken. — provided it l)e conducted in the historic tem])er. and with no disposition to at- •tempt the distri])ution of praise or blame among the parties involved. It would ht a judgment both shallow and unjust to condenm all differences or diversities among evan- ' gelical people as departures from tlie essential prin- ciples of the common Christianity, or as a refiection tipon the religious character or profession of those who are concerned in them. ¥o\- while there is much OCC.ISIOXS OF COXriJCT. 45 ill tliat Christianity respecting whieli its adherents are not at Hherty to differ — much wliich it heconies sinful schism in tliem to wrangle ahout, there is also just room within the religious s])here as elsewhere for the free action of specific and ])articularizing ten- dencies, for the play of many diversifying sentiments and convictions, even for large ditTerences as to creed and organization and church life, — all permissihle within reasonahle limits so long as the\' do not mili- tate against the sui)reme good which all i)arties are ] pledged alike to revere and suhserve. Ancestral ten- I dencies flow all unconsciously in our hlood ; the tra- l ditions and ini]iressions of childliood affect in many ways our maturer convictions: personal temperament phlegmatic or sanguine, and ])ersonal education or culture, influence largelv our theologizing and our ec- clesiastical preferences : the associations into which we are providentially hrought, our sjiecific environ- ments, aid in developing our religions views, feelings, hahits — our friendshi])s and also our anti])athies. even within the one household of faith, .^uch influences are emhedded in the verv muscles of our spiritual, as hoth healthful and pernicious germs are emhedded in our physical organism. Xeither the private disciple nor the assemhled Church can escape them, nor can their ])resence in either he regarded as always a serious reflection on the unifving nature or the prac- tical workings of the common C"hristianit\-. In the instance under consideration, although the denomination was hecoming year hv \ear more honio- geneous in composition, there were still certain na- tional and racial tendencies — the I'.nglish persistence. 46 THE DISRUPTION OF 1837. the Welsh enthusiasm, the Dutch phlegm, the Hugue- not temper, ennnently the Scotch positiveness and readiness to do hattle to the death for cherished belief on one side, and the equally strenuous Puritanism of New England, no less conscientious in belief or less ready to insist to the last extremity on the other — ■ tendencies which were still operative as differentiating forces within the one Church. To these should be added all those segregating influences already adverted to, personal and social, which tended in many ways not only to impair the sentiment of unity and the zeal of service, but also to magnify existing differences and imperceptibly to prepare the way even for division. And beyond these we should note the impersonal occa- sions for diversity frequently arising from the com- plex conditions amid which the work of the Church was being carried forward, — the varied problems of sphere, method, instrumentality, resource ; giving rise often, first to zealous debate, then to wide variety in their solution, and finally to antagonism and alien- ation, all tending toward open rupture in the end. To the careful student of the history of the period the presence of such disintegrating causes is painfully apparent, and sadly ominous of the division that was to follow. But turning from this general survey to a more specific view of the denominational situation, we may note six particular causes which all will agree in re- garding, though there may be varying degrees of emphasis laid upon one or another, as producing in their combination the historic Disruption. These were, first, diversity of opinion as to either the essential SIX PARTICULAR CAUSES. 47 content of certain doctrines, or to the proper mode of stating or explaining these doctrines ; second, differ- ence of judgment as to the measure of liberty allowa- hle in subscription to the accepted standards of belief, or of toleration to be granted to those who might vary more or less from these standards ; third, diversity as to the requisite degree of conformity to the church polity in certain details, or of adherence to the Pres- byterian system as against all other forms of church government ; fourth, the question respecting the rela- tive claim and value of ecclesiastical agencies as com- pared with voluntary associations, in carrying forward missions both foreign and domestic and other kindred forms of Christian work ; fifth, difference respecting the theological soundness, the prevalent methods and the spiritual results of the revival movements extensively current in certain sections of the Church ; and sixth, diversity of opinion as to the institution of domestic slavery, and to the duty of the Church toward those among its members who were not conforming in prac- tice to its various testimonies against that institution. Some consideration of each of these particular causes is indispensable to a proper apprehension of the his- toric result. Among the various types of Christian theology-, none is so remarkable as Calvinism, in the generic sense of the term, for the effort on one side to include in one comprehensive scheme all the main elements of our Holy Faith, and on the other to adjust these elements in their proper relationship, and so to bal- ance all opposites as to secure through their interblend- 48 THE DISRUPriOX OF 1837. iiig tlie finest atlainal)!^- measure of both completeness and harmony in the enunciation of divine truth. All types of theolo"}-. worthy of the name, are indeed confronted by the same complex problem, and must concern themselves with the same effort at solution. God and man. sovereignty and freedom, depravity and responsibility, justice and grace, election and sal- vation, regeneration and conversion, faith and works, — these and other kindred antitheses confront the thoughtful mind under whate^'er sky or name it may seek to formulate or express the truth of God in creed and svstem. And the endeavor to attain such formu- lation, to set forth the great verities of Christianity in one conjoined, harmonious, comprehensive struct- ure — a scientific scheme of doctrine — has been go- ing on a'.iuost from apostolic times, and is likely to continue so long as the Truth of ("iod. revealed in nature and in His Word, presses its sacred, solemn claim on the ])elieving soul. But among all who undertake this task, the dis- ciple of Augustine, of Calvin, of Edwards will always be foremost. The manner in which he approaches the work, the philosophic principles which regulate his inquiries, his high sense of the supremacy of what is divine above what is human in the material, his strong faith in the intrinsic harmony of the various elements, even of those which seem most opposite if not antagonistic and mutually exclusive, his scientific aspiration after unity and his untiring temper and zeal, — all these constrain him to theologize, and to theologize with the utmost possible measure of pa- tience and thoroughness, and with an unconquerable nOCTh'IX.H. DnilRSITY. 49 contidenco tliat, when rii^htlv apprehended and ad- justed, the doctrines of the Word will liecome as truly harmonious, as truh- one, as the songs of the angels are. Hence come his diligent attempts at compre- hension, his careful adjustment of elements apparently in conflict, his studied statements and halanced pro- positions, and finally his strong and hroad and cosmic system, standing forth among the other theologies as Mount lUanc among the mountains of Switzerland. Hence also come his resolute adherence to the con- victions wrought into his mental and moral structure hy such a process, his ])ride sometimes extreme in his formulated creed, his readiness to hattle against all comers in defense of the truth as he has thus formu- lated it, and his strong affection and sympathy tt^ward all those who dwell harmoniously with him within what has been well teriued the Church of the Doc- trines. But how obvious it is that a scheme of theologv thus framed, with its strenuous eff'orts toward com- prehensiveness, with its balancings and adjustments, with its measured statements and its strict demands upiin 1)1 )th intellectual credence and religious acce])t- ance, nmst from the nature of the case furnish many occasions for difference in the use of material, for variations in method and form and emphasis, for di- versities in the actual jjroduct, and even for tenacious and sometimes bitter conflict among those who still hold conscientiously to the generic Calvinism. How easy it is to exalt one element or one section of doc- trine unduly while relatively retiring another section or element from view, to attempt jointure where it 50 THE DISRUPTION OF 1837- seems to human view impossible, to lose the just bal- ance in proposition and statement, to construct the system disproportionately and unsystematically, and too often to become partial, narrow, dogmatic in the enunciation of the fabricated Truth. Hence no class of Christian thinkers seem quite so liable as Calvinists to differ around unessential elements in doctrine, or to debate concerning minor issues of phrase or inter- pretation, even until debate ends in distrust or alien-" ation or possibly in open rupture. No system of the- ology seems quite so liable to lose its broad generic quality, or to split into a series of small systems, hav- ing indeed a common historic likeness, yet diverse and partial in each instance, and often more hostile- toward each 'other than any of them are toward widely differing types of theological construction. And hence have come largely those numerous issues and conflicts among Calvinistic divines which ever since the age of the great Swiss teacher have had so prominent a place in the records of Protestantism, and have done so much — more than any and all opposition from the outside — to prevent Calvinism from attaining its legitimate position among the theologies of Christen- dom. It is needless to enter here upon any acccnmt of the specific issues respecting doctrine out of which the Disruption arose. One who reads with care the list of sixteen doctrinal Errors which were charged upon one party by the other as indicative of a radical departure from the Calvinism of the Symbols, and the sixteen Answers presented by the party so arraigned, will have no difficulty in seeing just where the theo- Sf'hX'Il-IC JSSLILS. 51 logical cleavag;c started and just how far it extended. Summarily stated, the matters in issue may be reduced to four in number. The first of these related to orig- / inal sin. the extent and form of its imputation to the race, the fact and nature of human depravation in consequence, and the measm-e of al)ility and responsi- bility and guilt remaining- in the sinner. The second related to the eternal purpose of God in respect to /I human deliverance and salvation, the nature and scope of the divine election, and the extent and application of the atonement as a gracious provision for the ])roper satisfying- of divine law and justice in conjunction with the full redeniption of all who believe. The __3 third involved the great problem of justification, with its essential elements of pardon and acceptance and adoption, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, and the wav and form in which faith receives and ap- propriates the justification thus provided. And the y fourth, springing logically from the three preceding, r involved the sovereignty of the Spirit in the applica- tion of these divine provisions, his supremac\' in re- generation, the quality of that experience, the respon- sibility of the simier in the matter of his own salva- tion, and the nature of the new life implanted in the believing soul. It is iiot difticult in this later and brighter day to see tliat. important as tlie\- were, these were issues respecting which in their various aspects earnest men might dift'er. and differ seriously, who still were essen- tially at one in their adherence to the generic Cal- vinism. Xor is it difticult to see how the center of conflict might shift widely among these issues, or how ^ 52 THE DISRUPriOX OF 1S37. the differences evolving- here or there might vary greatly, according' to the temperament and training of the disputants, and the heat of the actual contro- versy. Nor is it difficult to conclude from our pres- ent point of ohservation that, however serious these differences in doctrine might be. or might seem to be. they were hardly sufficient in themselves to justifv relentless antagonism or open rupture within the Church . For men may dispute tenaciously, empha- size their conflicting opinions stronglv, antagonize one another openly in minor matters of faith, and even cast suspicion on their opponents and strive for su- premacy over them in place and influence on such accounts, without proceeding to the extreme of schis- matic revolt or outright division. In all great and wide denominations it is not onlv possible Init neces- sary for opposite persons and parties to dwell to- gether and to work together for the common good, though consciously varying and even conflicting around subordinate questions in belief. The experi- ence of Presbyterianism since the Union of 1869. as well as that of various other Protestant communions, and even of the Church of Rome, so strongly unified and consolidated amid its recognized diversities in theological opinion, proves beyond question both the possibility and the vital necessity of such toleration. The second cause of separation sprang from the extent and complexitv of the church creed, and cen- tered itself, as in the ])receding century, around the question of suliscri]:)tion, the degree of closeness re- quisite in adherence to the specific terms and propo- (jriisriox ()!■' sii^scRirriox. -jS sitir)iis of tlic S\nil)ols. It was in substance that great issue of toleration which had aj^^iiated the Westminster Asseni])ly and inspired the pen of Mikon, and which in one form and another had l)een one of tlie most perplexins;- problems in the i)athway of Presbyterian- ism.both luiropean and American, for nearly two cen- turies. In this instance it was natural that those who were conscious of ditifering- more or less extensively from the very letter of the Confession should draw fresh lines between what is and what is not essential in doctrine, should interpret phrases and propositions with unusual freedom, and should claim for them- selves a large measure of liberty in opinion and in teaching. And it might be expected that in some cases the privilege of private interpretation would be abused, and lil)ert\- would degenerate into harmful license, until here and there men might arise who, perhaps 1)\- processes of which they were themselves but dimly conscious, were actually transgressing proper confessional boundaries and becoming some- thing other than Presbyterian Calvinists. The result would naturally follow that the advo- cates of strictness in subscription and interpretaticni would become more strict, that the lines of liberty would be narrowed, and more stringent demands on allegiance be made, in the presence of divergencies such as these. The legitiiuate boundary between the necessarv articles in the Confession and the articles not necessary would be limited or erased, the freer interpretation would be regarded as disloyalty, the claim of Christian tolerance would be ignored, and those who could n(^t subscribe to the verv letter would 54 THE DISRUPTION OF 1837. be denounced as unfaithful to the Symbols and to the Church. The storx- of the Disruption will tell us what came to pass. It is enough to say here that what could not have been brought about by the doctrinal diversities alone, occurred readily through this con- fessional issue, working on and on until it became a question whether two parties so widely separated in their estimate and interpretation of the church creed could dwell peacefully within the one denominational fold. Just here arose the third cause of division, involv- "^ '1 ing the rightful utilizing of the church politv as a corrective in the res])onse to this very practical and j)er])lexing question. I'o that polity the party of strictness would naturally turn as a suitable instru- ment in suj^pressing what it regarded as doctrinal looseness, and in restoring theological harmony and ecclesiastical peace, while the party of liberty on the other hand might seek to find in its provisions some safeguard against what thev regarded as an unwar- rantable imputation and an imjust challenge of their title to standing in the Church. Too much cannot be said in general respecting that polity as to its inherent strength, its careful adjustments and balances, its re- markable adaptation as a judicial guardian alike of denominational unity and of personal rights. No Church in Christendom has a more carefully devised or more potential or efifective method of government. In nudtitudes of instances from the Westminster period down to our age this polity has proved its effi- ciency and value, and no small share of the prestige of I'resbx terianism treneralK- ma\- justlv be attributed coxri./cr R/isriicrixa roi.rry. 55 to its int^uence and wurkiiii^. ( )ttcn as it has Ik^cii criticised and sonictinies denounced, especially l)v those who have experienced its corrective or punitive force, the Lhurch has just occasion to he proud of it. and to preserve and commend it. Like the Calvinism with which it has heen almost always closely affiliated, it has stood thus far and now seems likely to stand all the tests which time and the developing" experience of the various churches hearing^ the Preslivterian name may require. liut like every other denominational mode of gov- erniueiit. history has more than once or twice shown that this mode luay Itecome an ag'encv of harm rather than of hlessing. Its cai)al)ilities of good however luarked may. if unwiseK or unrighteously used, be- come ca])abilities of evil. Injurious mistakes, grave errors, have sometimes occurred in the application of its princi])les. The inconsiderate zeal of men or par- ties has sometimes j^erverted its salutarv rules. Even the ])assion. the selfishness, the ambition of luen have sctmetimes through its instrumentality wrought griev- ous wrong to individuals or to parties in the Church. In the last resort, everything seems to depend on the temper with which its requisitions are interpreted and applied — the s])irit that moves and acts within its polished machinery. In the instance here considered. as we shall see. bothi the intrinsic efficiencies and the attendant perils a])parcnt in this polity made their ap- pearance in \arious ways. — good men. brethren at heart, but disagreeing respecting some articles in the conuuon b'aith. dififering widely, disastrously, as to what luight be and wh.'it ouijht not to be Sfjusjlit or ac- 1 56 THE DISRUPTION OF 1837- complished through this dynamic instrumentaHty. Nor will it be strange or unprecedented if such differ- ence, long continued and aggravated with time, should be found to end at last in a formal rupture, justified by one party on constitutional grounds, and resisted by the other as unwarranted either by church law or by that justice which is higher than law. The fourth cause of the Disruption comes into view in this immediate connection, — in the general question whether the church polity, viewed now not as an instrument in judicial procedure, but as an agency in carrying forward the work and especially the missionary work of the Church, was to be pre- ferred and utilized to the exclusion of all voluntary, undenominational organizations such as were at the time conspicuously active in that great field of Chris- tian effort which is the World. That this general question should arise at this juncture, involving a series of particular issues respecting missions at home and abroad, respecting the education of ministers, respect- ing the publication of religious literature, and the sup- port of other kindred undenominational agencies, was perhaps inevitable. During the earlier and simpler life of the Church in the eighteenth and the first de- cades of the nineteenth century, such issues were rel- atively few in number and of small importance. I>ut as these voluntary agencies grew in magnitude and activity, and as their points of contact with the church life became more frequent and more close, the prob- lem of denominational connection with them became more and m(jre urgent, and the query whether the Church could not better do its share of the great work DISCUSSIOX OF RF.rir.lLS. 57 in its own \\a\ and throu.^li tlu- iustrunirntalities ex- istent in its polity, soon arose in various forms askinj^ for an early S(jlution. 'llie issue thus raised was at first prudential rather than fundamental : it involved (|uestions of efficiency in service, of brotherly miion with other Christian peo- ples, of j)ractical methods and dem(»nstrated results, quite as much as the application or enforcement of abstract princijile. lUit b} degrees the same parties that were in conflict around the three direct issues already descril)ed, came into collision at this strategic point also. Loyalty to the Church and its machinery and methods, as. against loyalty to these voluntary agen- cies acting outside of the Church and not directly re- sponsible to it. grew to be the watchword of the more conservative and churchly party. That intense, even bitter controversy should arise in time between this party and those who entertained an opposite opinion, and found superior delight in conscious brotherhood with believers of another name, naturally followed, and filled a real, not an initial or main — as some sup- pose — but rather a subordinate, place among the causes which brought on the final rupture. Two other contributing causes are to be considered here. Of ib.ese the first related to the nature, the doc- trinal teaching, the special methods, and the real value J of the revival movements which for almost a genera- tion before the final division had been prevalent in cer- tain sections of the Church. To these movements it was earnestly objected that they were a departure from the normal and healthful ])rocess of church growth 58 THE DISRUPTIOX OF 1837. suggested in Scripture and illustrated in the best ex- perience of Protestantism, — that they were largely the prodtict of physical excitement and of social agi- tation. — that many of their methods were at best questionable, and some of their manifestations posi- tively offensive and discreditable to the very name of religion. It was alleged that many of the ministers condticting such revivals were silent respecting such weighty truths as the elective grace of God, the spirit- ual deadness of the sinner, the sovereignty of the Di- vine Spirit in salvation. It was further alleged that some of the luinistry had not only surrendered such essentials of Calvinism but had substituted positive Arminian heresy and were teaching dangerous error from the pulpit. It was also said that many of the supposed conversions were spiu'ious, that the churches were being filled up with a membership in fact uncon- verted, and that the whole denomination was conse- quently in danger of l)ecoming not only heretical in belief but also corrupt in heart and life. The friends of these movements were nc^ less earn- est in enforcing the opposite view. They claimed that such special visitations of grace were promised in Scri])ture and illustrated in the Pentecost, and verified at many points in the history of spiritual Christianity. While they admitted that in some instances improper methods had been adopted, and animal excitements had been aroused, and grotesque consequences had been manifest, yet these in their judgment were only occasional, and could not be justh- adduced against the movement as a whole. They claimed also that, although there had in some instances been departures L MATTER OF SL.UllRV. 59 iiKirc or less distinct from sound doctrine, yet in the main tlie proacliing liad l)een in sul)stantiai harmony with the Symhols and thorou,s;^lilv F>ihlical in l)Oth con- tent and spirit. They affirmed that the conversions in such revivals were genuine in general, and that the religious character developed was often of the highest and nohlest type, and consecpiently that the churches in the regions visited by such revival influences had been wonderfidh' increased in numbers and activity, and in their power to ])roclaini and comiuend the Gosj)el in the communities where they were planted. That this issue should induce susjiicion. disi)utation, antagonism was inevitable; the diversity between the parties was wide, intense, and for the time incurable.- What is to be noted just here is the serious fact that this controvers\- was in direct line with the conflicts and antagonisms already noted, and that it became, especialh- in the later periods of the denominational struggle, a strong factor among the forces that brought about the final result. The sixth and last among the causes of division named was the relation of the Church to the institu- tion of domestic slavery. As earlv as 1818. the ( ien- eral Assembly had a(lo])ted an emphatic deliverance condeuming such slavery as a grievous wrong, and enjoining all churches and presbyteries to discounte- nance the institution in all possible ways, and especially to discipline church members guilt\' of selling slaves, ynless some mitigating circumstances should appear. This was in harmony with the action of the .Synod in tlu' preceding century and it was followed in subse- (luent \ears li\' other declarations eciualh' clear and tio THE DISRUPTIOX OF 1837. t'ni])liatic. lUit the marked growth of the Church in tlie south, and tlie prominence of its ministry and membership in that section of the country — to sav nothing- of other influences social and political con- tributing — induced in some sections of the denomina- tion, first passi\e endurance, then culpable indiffer- ence to the existing evil. Hut in other sections the sense of the enormity of slavery steadily increased, and the hostility to it grew more intense, until at length the determination was reached to array the Church more decisively against the evil at whatever cost to denominational development. The issue was as una- voidable in the Church as in the Xation ; neither could ])ermanently exist half slave and half free. And it is noticeable that long years after the Disruption, both branches of the divided Church were rent in twain by that issue, and that within a generation the Nation was l)assing through the agonies of civil war to protect itself against a disruption which slavery sought to efifect. That the antagonism developed around this issue became, especially in the later stages of the general conflict, one of the active forces in bringing about the final division can hardly be questioned, although its influence was more incidental than direct. Hostility to slavery and the desire to limit or to end it by whatever legitimate means were manifest in nearly all sections, even in the more southerly portions of the Church, at least along the Atlantic coast. Hut such hostility was most openly manifest in those regions where the most liberal interpretation of the Symbols prevailed, where revivals were luost abundant, and where church gov- /'/,./.v ()/•■ r.v/o.v. Gi crniiK'nt assniiu'd its freest ty])c. And while the more conservative partv t^raihially hecaine inehned to sniter the al)horrent itistitntion in silence, leaving- all action respecting it to tlu' discretion of southern churches, jireshvteries. s\ nods, the more progressive and liberal element became all the more earnest in antagoni.sin to it. and the more stremions in the purpose to utilize the judicial as well as the moral authority of the Church in order to its abolition. It is not to be su])posed that the six causes here described were always working together at all times, or were equally active or e(iually visible at any given time or ]:)lace ; or that the\- always wrought in obvious conjunction, each, conscious of its affinity with all the rest; or that the result when it came to ])ass could, so far as responsibilit\ extended, be distributed among them severally, with accuracy and with impartiality. The movements and the issues of history do not sub- mit to such close analvsis. In conjunction with these productive causes, one important occasion or condition should also be introduced here — what is known his- torically as the Plan of I'nion. During the later de- cades of the eighteenth centurv the vigorous Congre- gationalism of New England and the developing I'res- bvterianism of the other Atlantic States became asso- ciated in several wavs more or less formal and ex- tensive, in implanting the Gospel in which they alike believed thronghoiU the ra])idl\- expanding West. As early as 1766 the Syn(Kl of Xew \'ork and Philadel- ])hia approved a definite scheme for fellowship in such missionarv endeavor. — the object being declared to be 62 THE DISRCPTION Of 1837. tlie spread of true religion, the founding and strength- ening of churches, and the magnifying of the name and influence of the two denominations in what were then tlie frontiers of the nation. Conventions in fur- therance were held annually and alternately in New England and New Jersey until the War of Independ- ence compelled their suspension. But in 1790, the General Assemhly, just constituted, sought a renewal of such conference, and two years later a plan of,,cor- respondence with the Association of Connecticut was established, which in 1794 \yas so far extended as to give the representatives of that body a right to vote in the Assembly — a privilege which a few years later was granted to kindred As.sociations in \'ermont. New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Out of such fellowship grew in 1801 the Plan of Union, whereby on the principle of mutual toleration and fellowship churches and ministers of the two de- nominations might become affiliated ecclesiastically on terms which, it was believed, would secure the just rights of all parties without doing violence to either of the two types of church government. Arrangements working toward this entl had already in fact occurred. Presbyterian ministers had organized Congregational churches, and Congregational ministers had organized Presbyterian churches, wherever the preponderance of the one element or the other seemed to determine the form of organization. Presbyteries, oppressed with the vastness of the field and work and with the inade- quacy of their own sources of supply, had assigned Congregational ministers to service within their own bounds, and some Associations had pursued a similar DiriiRSiriF.S ARISIXG. 63 course wherever this was deemed exi)e(heiit. It was inevitahle that such procetkire should in time result in such a hroader, better organized, more effectual scheme as the Plan of L'nion when ado])ted aimeil to he. Its special provisions need not he described here. It is enough to say that a most sincere and earnest desire existed on all sides that in actual oper- ation neither party to the Plan should have precedence of the other in whatever form, and that the Plan in every detail should be so administered as best to sub- serve those great missionary interests to whose furth- erance both denominations were alike devoted. High encomiums were pronounced upon the Plan : it was wisely recognized and admired as the finest expression of Christian fellowship and of denomina- tional comity which the continent had ever witnessed. Yet from the nature of the case it was but a temporary expedient. As what was the frontier at the opening of the century became more fully settled and better furnished, it was natural that each of the denomina- tions should become more distinctly conscious of its own independent strength, and should seek to establish within itself more positive and controlling forms of fellowship. The retreating frontier might continue to call for such fraternal interaction in its behalf, but in the more matured sections of the missionary field such demand naturally grew less and less. There crept in also a growing inclination to emphasize denomina- tional differences and laud denominational excellen- cies, which tended more and more to redtice interest in the Plan, to embarrass its practical operations, and to render manv minds less ardent in its continuance. 64 THE DISRUPT ION Of 1S37. By deg^rees the doctrinal and ecclesiastical diversities arising- within the Presbyterian fold g^ave occasion for questioning- and even for opposition to the I'nion, partly among more zealous Congregationalists. but chiefly among more strict adherents to the Presbyte- rian standards, who apprehended the corruption of doctrine under and through the existing compact. Nor were these the only unfavoring influences. The question between the relative value of voluntary methods and ecclesiastical luethods in carrying on re- ligious work also entered as a disintegrating issue. The education of the ministry for distinctively denom- inational work, the pulilication of literature adapted to the needs and designed to satisfy the tastes of each communion, the use and distribution of moneys col-- lected for common purposes, and many other kindred problems came in to complicate, if not to divide. In such various ways the original temper of toleration and of trustful brotherhood gave way to a more pro- nounced denominationalism on both sides ; the weaker elements of the T'lan l)ecanie the occasion of heated discussion ; suspicion and jealousv grew more mani- fest in its varied applications. .And thus in a single generation what seemed in 1801 to l)e so lieautifid a manifestation and bond of concord, and so advanta- geous a method of carr\ing on the one great continen- tal work, became a chronic and an acute occasion of difference — difference not onlv between the two com- munions now conscioush- ])arting company, but be- tween the conservative and jjrogressive parties within the T*resliylerian bodv itself, until at last it came to lie an efficient inducement, and jiossibly even, as some Acrnii COM-Licr niiniLOPiNG. fio Iia\(.- tlicuu'-ln. a ])i"incii)al factor in the rupture which, ^ in 1837 as in 1741. rent the Clnircli in twain. Tlu' causes and occasions of division now l)ecame intensely active: countervaiHni;- forces adecjuate to ar- rest them no louijj-er existed : tlie atmosphere was charj^ed with infiammal)le material, and the explosive process of vlisruption went rapidly on. That process mav he said to have he^un at the i)oint of doctrine, thout^h the doctrinal ru])ture drew along with it the ecclesiastical and administrative, and involved as well the various practical elements of diversity, including the Plan of I'nion. The divergence in doctrine, lead- ing on to conflicting interpretation of the Confession and Catechisms, may he said to liave had its origin historically as far hack as the lmi)rovements, as they were called, made hy Jonathan Edwards in the Cal- vinistic svstem — improvements incorporateut as the discussion yiul the conHict weiit on to- ward the later stages, it gradually became apparent to all that the issue in controversy had become too ex- tensive — that the new doctrine with all that accom- panied it, had infected so many ministers, churches, presbyteries, and even synods, as to be incurable » through any series of ecclesiastical trials however pro- tracted, and thus had jjassed beyond the reach of the Book of Discipline. The party of resistance therefore found itself facing the query whether some procedure of a more general and radical nature, one h'ing even beyond the ex]iress provisions of the Constitution, could not be invoked to meet the grievous exigency. And when at this stage it was noted that the infected sections of the Church were almost wholly those which had come into being under the provisions of the Plan of Union, the ([uestion was at once raised whether this Plan was not itself unconstitutional and in its nature at variance with sound Presbyterian politv and prin- ci]:)le. And this query soon led to the further question whether the various ecclesiastical proceedings imdcr the Plan were not in consequence irregular and void — in other words, whether the churches organized, whether the ministers ordained or installed, whether the presbyteries and synods constituted under this ar- 70 ■ THE DISRUPTIOX OF iSs7- ranijement, were not fatally tainted by defective title, and might not on this account be justly barred out as no longer a legitimate section of the Presbyterian Church. It is not needful here to answer these ques- tions or to discuss tlieir legitimacy ; it is enough to note that their introduction into an arena already rent with belligerent discussion rendered more sure, more inevitable, the Disruption that followed. The hnal step could not be much longer delayed. All unifying considerations, all coalescing agencies were found to be powerless. The counsels of moder- ate men on both sides were unheeded ; the prayers of many who loved the Church and desired its continued unity and peace were unanswered. The general de- clension in religion, as indicated partially by an actual loss in the roll of membership during the four years preceding the actual rupture, may be regarded as an inducing cause no less than a lamentable effect of the existing agitation. The chief arena of controversy passed, as we have seen, from presbyteries and syn- ods to the General Assembly ; and the history of the Assemblies from 1830 to 1837 tells us how the one l)arty or the other in different years predominated, how the struggle went on with increasing intensity, how the current grew swifter and more ominous until the final plunge was made. The records of several conventions, held especially by the conservative party in order to secure concerted action in the Assemblies, also bring into distinct view the persons, the move- ments, the measures, that figured in the producing of the final result. That result at the last was compre- hensive and conclusive. It included everv element or tuf. fixal nisRiTi'iox. ti issiK' that had conic uikUt (Hscussion (hirinj^ the pro- ocdinc:- \ears of strife. — strict interjiretation of the S\nilioIs and positive loyalty to them, the ohlig'ation of close sul)scription, tidelity to the church polity and full alleg^iance to the denominational name and inter- ests. It included also the enthronement of the churchly as distincj'uished from the voluntary principle in all forms of Christian work, and the severance of the relations heretofore existing between the Church and the foiu' principal imdenominational agencies for the promotion of home missions, of foreign missions,; of ministerial education, of religious literature and' publication, which had so long shared in the support and beneficence of its membership. It questioned the permanent value of much that passed under the name of revival, and declared its preference for more ordi- nary and quiet methods of church growth. And it consummated the whole procedure by formally abro- gating the Plan of l^nion as unconstitutional and void, aiul declaring four synods, with their presbyteries and their churches and ministrv. to be no longer in form or in fact integral sections of the Presbyterian Church. That this decision was an act of supreme power for which no provision existed in the Constitution. o'kI which assumed more the character of a revolution than of a transaction under law. mav lie admitted. That the act was, in view of the circumstances of the case justifiable and necessary, an expedient to meet a fearful exigency which could in no other way be met. IS a proposition that remains and will always remain a painful tpiestion. I'ut the fact survives in history 72 THE DISRUPTION OF 1837. that a Church which, after passing through one dis- astrous rupture, had lived in concord for almost a century, and meanwhile through much labor and sac- rifice had attained dimensions well-nigh continental, now came through a singular combination of untoward causes and occasions to a second disruption, far more disastrous than the first, and became two Churches — each still retaining unchanged the same polity, still adhering to the same Confession and to the Calvinistic name, and alike conscious that in their essential prin- ciples they still were truly one, yet variant and much embittered in spirit, and going forth before all observers as rival claimants for position and influence in the land. CHAPTER THIRD. Genesis and Evolution. 1838-1849. Witliin the domain of IVotestanlisni new sects liave almost universally come into existence through the voluntary withdrawal of some group or party in a parent organization on the ground of some particu- lar difference in doctrine, order o"" sacrament, resulting in the genesis of a new denomination, with a distinc- tive name and a separate life, partly as an expression of dissent or perhaps avowed antagonism, but chiefly for the better manifestation or wider diffusion of that to which the withdrawing party specially adhered. In the instance whose history is here to be traced, the new sect became a distmct organism, not by its own selection, but through tlje process of exclusion which has been already described, antl in defiance of its earnest desire to remain, with title unchallenged and its liberties uiyabridged, within the ancestral abode. Overwhelmed at first by the perplexities of its anomalous position, the excluded party was in no con- dition to organize itself as a separate denomination. Considerable variety of opinion still existed among its members as to some of the phases of doctrine involved in the conflict which had resulted so disas- trously, as to the value of the Symbols and the limits of interpretation, as to the policy of emphasizing the points of diff'erence rather than the points of agree- ment still reiuaining. Xor were they consciously agreed in the measure of their loyalty to the Presbyte- rian polity, or the amount of fealty due to the prev- 74: GENESIS AND El'OLVTION. alent FVesbyterian sentiment or metliods. Though all or nearly all preferred the voluntary above the strictly ecclesiastical form of evangelizing effort, there still remained considerable diversity both of judg- ment and of practice at this point also. Between the four exscinded synods there were no direct channels of communication ; their various presbyteries had no practical points of contact one with another ; eccle- siastical unity hardly suggested itself to any as a possibility. Indeed, the exscinded party was at first little more than a confused collection of ministers, churches, organizations, swept awav together as by some resistless flood. — an aggregation but dimly con- scious of any unity in purpose or prospect, and wholly impre])ared to take any immediate steps toward con- solidating themselves in one unified, compact, effective organization. In a situation so perplexing there were wide diver- sities in individual judgment and inclination. Some were wholly disinclined to attempt the experiment of independent ecclesiastical existence amid conditions so unfavorable. A few preferred some sort of com- promise even at the cost of humiliating surrender, and some stronglv desired to make their way by almost anv fair and honorable procedure back into the dear ancestral home. Some differed from others as to the best process of forming a new organization, should one be attempted, and scattered abroad as they were, many were unable to cherish that measure of mutual trust and assurance out of which alone such an organ- ization could grow. Moreover, the loss of all church properties and endowments, and of all the church ./ /'/•;a'/7./-;.\7.V{; sin .mow 75 iiiachinerios and inthu'iicf. left tlu' s\ nods and their dependencies in a liel])lcss condition, rcsourcclcss and impoverished ahiiost to the point of {lcs])air. 'i'he sit- nation lias sometimes l)een com])ared with that of the Free (."lun-cli of Scolhmd in 1S43, l)ut in fact it was far more trvins^:. That liody went ont from tlie mother Church vohmtarily. with the liaimer of a single and distinct issue waving over it. and with a degree of homogeneousness and a compacted pur])ose and temper which made its separation a hap]\v exodus rather chan an unwelcome hanishiuent. The perplexity was greatly increased by the action of the Assembly of 1837. in opening the door for indi- vidual ministers and churches within the four synods to return to the fold upon proper acceptance of its jurisdiction and decisions. In response to this invita- tion, some of the persons excluded withdrew early from fellowship with the rest, and went back into the old relations. In August of that year four ministers and one or two churches ])ul)licl\' announced the sev- erance of their connection with the excluded presby- teries, and cast in their lot with the adjacent ])resbytery of Susquehanna, and within a few years this presbytery grew by addition and sul)(li\ision into three presby- teries, comprising thirtx ministers and twenty-two churches. In a similar way a fourth presbytery, ( )gdensburg. came into l)eing after a little, and in 1846 these four ])resb\teries were combined in the rival svnod of lUitialo. Secessions of members from churches that adhered to the excluded ])resbyteries occurred in manv instances, with luuch of feeling and no small measure (jf conflict among those who once 7(j GENESIS AMD EfOLUTIOX. had been friends. Bitter debates and strifes, suits respecting church property, unseemly rivalries between churches, and other disastrous events followed, and it was soon manifest to all that the career of the new denomination, should one be organized, must be at- tended by widespread rupture, struggle, sacrifice, and the keenest sorrow. Nor was this the only source of embarrassment. In August, 1837, the Congregational Association of New York advised all such churches as had been or- ganized under the Plan of Union, now formally declared null and void, to withdraw from all Presby- terian connection and become entirely Congregational in organization and fellowship. It proposed, in other 'words, that all churches and ministers that were agreed with it in polity and doctrine, should sever their rela- • tionship with the excluded synods, and form under its banner a better ecclesiastical union, free from all entangling afiiliations. However kindly or just the invitation, it could only multiply and intensify the emliarrassment surrounding the exscinded body. Yet its effect was less disastrous than might have been anticipated. While a few churches, weary with the "^ strife existing and fearing further trouble, accepted the proposition, the large majority of the Plan of Union churches preferred to continue their historic relationship, and to stand firmly by their brethren who had suffered and were suffering so much, partly on their account. The living consciousness of substantial unity in belief, the strong spiritual ties established during the recent revivals, the pleasant bond of neigh- borhood and brotherhood socially develojied, and pos- THE AUBURN COXUliXTIOX. 77 sibly the conviction tliat tlic I'rcsl)ytorian mode of government, riglitly administered, was not so far out of the way. lield them in their place. Tlie first positive step toward an independent or- j^anization and hfe — a ste]) taken in the face of such unfavoral)le concHtions — was th.' C'onventi(Mi of re])- resentatives from tlie exchided Ixjdy. witli some dele- £^ates from sxnipatliizinfi" sections of tlie Church, which was held in the August after the disruption at Au])urn. Xew York. The main object of this Conven- tion was to bring about better ac(|uaintance and larger consciousness of unity within the excluded liody. to consult respecting the course i)rt)per to be i)ursue(l in the painful emergencx' that had arisen, and incidentally to gain so far as ])racticable the sxmjjathy and supj^ort of friendlv parties in other sections of the Church. It was composed of one hundred and sixty-nine persons, clerical and lay. all of whom but fourteen had been commissioned to this service l)y thirty-three jjresby- teries within the bounds of the four synods. Some of the members represented, more or less formally, other presbyteries in the States of Xew York, Xew Jersey and Pennsylvania in the east, and in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois iri the west. It is surely a signi- ficant indication of the extent and strength of the opposition excited by the disruption that in those days of difificult travel so large a company should have come so great distances and at so much expense to attend such a convocation. In respect to personal character and to denomina- tional standing the Convention was a remarkable bodv. 78 GENESIS AXD EfOLUTIOX. James Richards, Lyman Beecher, Samuel Hanson Cox, Luther Halsey, and Drs. McAuley, of New York, and Hillyer. of New Jersey, and Judge WilHam Jessup of Pennsylvania, — not to mention others — were men of the first rank in the Church an-1 in society. Two of their number had been Moderators of the Assembly from which they were now formally expelled. In general, the membership represented, not the more ardent and belligerent, but rather the moderate and thoughtful, and in a proper sense conservative elements in the exscinded section. The venerable Dr. Richards who was first a pastor in New Jersey, and now had been for fourteen years a professor of Systematic Theology in the Seminary at Auburn, a man of sin- gular wisdom and prudence and of unquestioned orthodoxy, was choseri to act as chairman, and his con- siderate and devout temper became a controlling influence throughout the deliberations that followed. It was anticipated in some quarters that the Con- vention would in the course of its discussions make manifest the existence of wide, possibly irreconcilable diversity among its members, in regard not only to doctrine and polity, but especially to the real character •of the emergency that had brought them together and the course to be pursued in view of that emergency. There were those who prophesied that the Convention would dissolve into fragments, and that the result would be the return of the better portion to the ances- tral fold, with such a statement of doctrinal views and of loval disposition as would enable the Church to receive them back with cordiality, while the lesser, more pernicious portion would break away altogether and pass over into the Congregational or other coni- nnmions. Such anticipations, sucli prophecies, were happily (hsappointed. Tendencies to disintegration, so far as they existed, were held in check from the start : the proposal tiiat the ecclesiastical separation which had taken place, shcjuld he regarded as final, ])recluding all attempts at reconciliation or return, was disregarded. As the records, and also the suhsequent testimony of participants show, wiser and better coun- sels prevailed throughout. On one side it was earnestly alarmed that the action of the Assemhlv in cutting off the four synods with their dependencies, and on the ground of vague and unsupported charges declaring them no longer con- stituent parts of the Presbyterian Church, was uncon- stitutional and therefore itself null and void. This affirmation was one in which all could and did agree, and it constituted in a word and in positive form the ecclesiastical platform of the Convention. On the other side it was with equal positiveness and unanimity affirmed that the purposes and movements of all the excluded judicatories ought for the time being to be directed to the preservation of the unity and integrity of the Presbyterian Church on the principles of good faith, brotherly kindness and the Constitution. The effect of this affirmation was to arrest any inclination to independent action on the part not only of presby- teries but also of particular churches and ministers, and to show to all that there was to be nothing hurried, premature, frantic in any steps that might in future be taken. In accordance with these resolutions, it was spe- 86 GENESIS AND El'OLUTION. cially agreed that all the preshyteries directly involved sliould retain their existing organization, and should elect and send commissioners to the next Assemhly as usual. A committee was also aj^pointed to secure such action in the several preshyteries, and in general to labor toward the attainment of the ends sought by and through the Convention. Tlie spirit of union and the desire and jnirpose to act together in all essential matters predominated at every stage, and the several declarations and resolutions were passed with great imanimitv, — the bo'dy pausing in its l)usiness to offer solenm thanksgiving to God for the unity that had characterized its ])roceedings. A day of fasting, humil- iation and prayer was appointed in view of the divided condition of the Church, and the low state of religion in the c(nmtr\' ; and the Convention, after four days of deliberation, was formally closed with the singing of the one hundred and thirty-third Psalm and the apostolic benediction bv the venerable Chairman, then in his seventieth year, and who six years later entered into eternal rest.* Important as were these ecclesiastical deliverances of the Convention, its action respecting church doc- trine was much more important. The general charge of doctrinal defection, made in various forms during * James Ruh.vrds, D. D.. born Oct. "29, 17f)7 ; licensed, 17})8; pastor Morri.stown, N. J., 1794-1809; Newark. N. J., 1809-1823: Prof, of Theology. Auburn Theol. Sem.. 1823 till his death, Aug. 2, 1843. Moderator of Gen. Assembly, 1805 ; I). D.. Yale, 1815; Author of Lectures on Mental Philosophy and Theology ; also, volume of Discourses, both published after his death. "With considerable learning, and a terse and simple style, he combined in a high degree the talent which is best of all talents — common sense." So testified William H. Seward, his neighbor and friend. I'Hli .UHChW niiCl-lRAIlOX. 81 the progress of the judicial trials already referred to, was fornuilated more definitely in the notable Act and Testimony, a document presented by tbe conservative minority to the Assembly of 1834. and in the Deliver- ance of the Assembly of 1835 against opinions existing within the Church whicli — it was said — were not distinguishable from Pelagian or Arminian errors. Hut in a Convention held just before the meeting of the Assembly of 1837, a further Testimony and Memorial was adopted which contained a list of six- teen specific errors alleged to exist, of such nature and magnitude as — it was declared — to demand prompt judicial consideration. The doctrinal issue was thus brought at once to the front, and became. — as has been stated — one main feature and toi)ic in the dis- cussions that preceded the Disruption. It was conse- quently incumbent on those who were charged with holding these errors, both to disavow the heresv de- scribed and to set forth by contrast what they really believed. Hence arose the counter document, at first styled Errors and True Doctrines — a statement pre- pared by members of that Assembly in refutation of the charge of teaching what was contrary to the Con- fession of Faith. But the Assembly virtually rejected their explanation, and, thus left the responding partv under the grievous imputation of unsoundness in the faith as set forth in the church standards. Hut the statement thus rejected by the Assembly became the headstone of the corner in the .Auburn Convention, and afterwards in the developing denom- ination. The convention took uj) the statement originating in such painful circumstances, and openly 82 GENESIS AND EVOLUTION. adopted it as expressing its own matured belief and that of the churches and ministers which it represented, on the several doctrines involved. It thus became what is now known as the Auburn Declaration — a representative document, not indeed to be regarded as a substitute for the Confession of Faith, as has sometimes been supposed, but simply as a reasonable and satisfactory explanation and commentary on what the Confession was believed to teach. The Convention had not been called together to make a new creed, or even to expound the old creed authoritatively, and it was careful not to go beyond its proper sphere. But as the original document had been put forth as a formal protest against injurious allegations, and as such allegations continued to be made against the ministers and congregations comprised in the four synods, it was deemed needful to utter this open and positive Declaration, in the hope that it would check all unjust interpretation and would make manifest to all men what was the real belief of the excluded party. A full account of the contents of this Declaration, undoubtedly the most interesting and commanding statement of esential doctrine in the history of Amer- ican Presbyterianism, is not needful or practicable here. The main points defined or expounded in it are, first, the introduction and transmission of sin, and the condition of mankind as fallen and corrupt through sin ; second, the relation of the divine and the human in regeneration and deliverance from sin, and in the spiritual life resulting; and third, the nature and char- acteristics and extent of the plan of salvation, through the mediation and atonement of Christ. ITS rilLOLOGlC r.ii.rti. 83 Rut more specifically each of these main i)oints was expanded in the document in a series of minor propo- sitions or articles, so framed as to meet in each par- ticular the charge of Pelagian or Arminian error on one side, and on the other to present the antithetic truths, sixteen in number, as these are set forth in Scripture and in the Symbols also, in contrast with what the Convention believed to be defective, possibly erroneous, interpretations of the creed set forth by the conservative party — the party of prosecution. The chief values of the Declaration lay in what it was as a protest against narrow or defective confessional ex- position, and as a clear and open testimony to what was held and cherished as essential truth. In this respect it resembled and followed the Confession itself. And as such its verbal lucidity, its line balancings in statement, its reverential pauses at each point where real doctrine might degenerate into disputatious spec- ulation, and above all its thoughtful moderation and its devout temper and spiritual influence gave it wide currency from the first, and still continue to make it, though signed and sealed by no formal endorsement even by the denomination that accepted it, one of the most interesting and fruitful symbols of recent times. During the autumn of 1837 and the trying winter that followed, the general situation was unchanged. The excluded churches and ministers carried on their special work with a measure of diligence which possi- blv was energized by their sense of the wrong wrought in their estimation, and by a growing conviction that 84 GENESIS AXD EVOLVTION. their position was essentially rig^ht and was therefore certain to secure extensive sympathy and support. In some quarters this sense of wrong led to extreme hostility toward the exscinding party, and even toward Presbyterianism itself. But such was the commanding influence of the Auburn Convention, that all revolu- tionary tendencies, so far as these existed, were held in check, and although lowering clouds hung darkly over the future, the spirit of unity survived, and a temper of courageous devotion was manifest. And in the spring of 1838 all of the presbyteries but two, following tlie advice of the Convention, elected com- missioners to the General Assembly as heretofore. In taking this course the majority, though not all, hoped that this Assembly would reconsider the action of its predecessor, and take some steps which even at this stage would preserve the Church from rupture absolute and perpetual. It was hoped that the temper- ate and judicious course of the Auburn Convention W'Ould lead the dominant party to see, not perhaps that wrong had been done in the excision, but at least that the way was still open for some adjustment, upon the principle of nnitual toleration, wdiich might prevent the scandal of utter and bitter separation. There were also many outside of the bounds of the four synods, who though themselves remaining within the Church, were still in active sympathy with the excluded party, and strongly desired that its representatives should be received by the Assembly, and that an earnest attempt at reconciliation and adjustment should be made. And there is reason to believe that if all parties had ap- proached the difficult problem in the temper of broth- AX ECCLISlASriLWI. COXI'LICT. 80 criv love and mutual forhcaraiioc — if the spirit of faction and the love of supremacy and the heats of resentment and other like infirmities had heen sup- pressed on all sides, the evils of complete disruption miq^ht even at this last stage have been escaped. What followed, it would he painful to describe in detail. At the orja:anization of the Assembly its otificers refused to recognize the commissioners from the ejected presbyteries as members, on the ground that the bodies they represented were no longer constitu- ent parts of the Church. A motion to enroll them, offered by other commissioners who believed the action of 1837 to be unconstitutional, and therefore held that these representatives were still within the Church and entitled to admission to the Assembly, was declared to be out of order and illicit. The door of admission was thus closed; conference within the Assembly with a view to some adjustment became under this ruling impossible. At this juncture, amid great confusion, the unprecedented process of deposing the obstructive officials, and electing others in their stead, was under- taken, — commissioners from twenty-nine presbyteries outside of the four synods, nearly sixty in number, joining in this revolutionary measure. Such a pro- cedure could be justified, if at all, only on the ground that the officials arraigned were assuming prerogatives not vested in them, even though the Assembly of 1837 had instructed them to act as they were acting, — that the party in j)ovver was nullifying the Constitution, and trampling on the rights of loyal Presbyterians, — and that no alternative was left to the aggrieved party but to secure their rightful place within the Church 8G GENESIS .IXP EVOLUTION. even through such revohition. It may he added that eminent legal cf)unsel had advised that in such an emergencv as had arisen, such a process of organiza- ti(>n must l)e carried through in order to secure to the liherah party its place and title and pro])erty interests within the Church. \\diether with or without sut^cient warrant, the revoluticMiary step was taken. The otifending ofificers were sujjerseded : one wdio had hecome conspicuous in the movement, Dr. lieman, a former Moderator,* was called, to preside ; other action requisite to complete the organization was adopted : and those who shared in the ])rocedm-e. claiming now to he the true and only ( ieneral .\ssenil)lv of tlie Preshyterian Church, ad- journed and witlulrew to meet elsewhere. Those wdio remained, making the same claim, proceeded to com- ])lete their organization as an Assemhlv, the superseded officers presiding, as if no interruption had occurred. And the fatal die was now cast ; the se])aration was com])lete and final. The faithful historian, viewing in all its stages and aspects the conflict thus ending. es])eciallv in the light of suhse(|uent history, and apply- ing to it such tests as Christian princi])le and Chris- tian charity mav supply, will prohahly he led to con- clude that if all inferior motives and douhtful meas- ures had heen cast aside, and the vast denominational *Nathan S. S. Benian, I). I)., horn New Lebanon. N. Y., 1785: graduated Middlebni v College, 1807: pastor Portland, Me.. 181(1; missionary in Georgia: pastor Troy, N. Y., 182'2- 18(!;:5: died Carbondale, Ills., 1871. .'Kutbor of Sermons on the Atoneinent and other discourses: compiler of Cliureh Psalm- ist. Moderator of the General Assembly in 1831, six years before tbe Disruption. ./.V.S7-; .!//>'/.)■ ()/•' 1?eecher and Flavel iiascom, Lyman P>eecher and Ikixter Dickinson, whose facile i)en had * Samuel Fishek, D. 1).. lioni in .Sundci-land, Mass., June 30, 1777; graduated Williams College, 1799; pastor Wilton, Conn.. 1804-9; Morristown. N. J.. 1809-14; Pater.son, N. j.. 1814-:M: Ramapo. N. Y.. 1884-40; Greenbush, 1844-r)0. Died Dec. 29,18:)ti, at Snckasnnnv, N. J.. D. D. Coll. of New Jersey. 18-J7. Father of Sanniel VV. Fislicr, D. D,, Moderator, 1857. 88 GENESIS AND EVOLUTION. drafted the Auburn Declaration. Many others of somewhat less prominence were present, representing not only the exscinded territory, but also presbyteries as remote as Illinois and Tennessee. There were val- uable elders also, men prominent as judges, lawyers, physicians, teachers, merchants, — men of character and influence wdio did much to guide and give tone and weight to the deliberations. For the new move- ment was not something in which ministers only were concerned : there were many laymen in all sections who deeply felt the shock and pain of their enforced separation from a Church in which many of them had begun their religious life, and to whose upbuilding they had up to that fatal crisis been ardently devoted. The first formal act of the Assembly was the adop- tion of a preamble and resolution condemnatory of the excision of 1837, and afiirming the title of the excluded synods and presbyteries to full standing within the Church ; denouncing the exclusion of the commissioners from these bodies as unwarranted, and declaring the entire proceedings of the conservative party an unworthy violation of the rights guaranteed under the Form of Government. Claiming to be the only true Assembly, it demanded all records and other papers in the hands of the other body, including the commissions of all delegates, and proceeded to elect trustees to care for all church property, and directors of the several theological seminaries under Assembly care, as though it alone had legitimate jurisdiction in these matters. It also appointed a special committee, with full power to act in respect to all legal questions and all pecuniary interests, that might need attention ./.V.S7-.U/V/.)- .U'l'IOX. 8!> duriiii;" the year in coiiu'. At the sanu' time after full (hscussion it declared itself willing to a^ree to any measures that nii^ht l)e pro])osed, looking" to an anii- cahle adjustment of the existinj; dit^eulties. The Assemhly further defined its position, in con- trast with that of the Assemhly of 1837, hy atfirminj^ the usefulness of the American Home Missionary Society and the .American I-'ducation Society, and com- mending- these undenominational agencies to the con- tinued confidence and support of the churches. Also, l)v rescinding the rule of the .Assemhly refpiiring the examination of ministers passing from one preshytery into another, and also its rule regulating the admission of commissioners from preshyteries newly formed. It took action also in regard to the use of ahhreviated creeds in the particular churches, such use having- heen condemned hy the previous Asseml)ly as tending toward la.x departure from the church standards, and while declaring- that no occasion existed for such ap- prehension, recommended the presbyteries to take special pains toward securing a wider circulation of the Confession of Faith and the Form of Government. It also declared against all desecration of the Sabbath, specifying- certain varieties of such desecration ; com- mended daily reading of the Scriptures as a personal and domestic duty : and designated the first Monday in January as a day of special prayer for the revival of true and undefiled religion throughout Christendom. Considerable routine business was transacted by the Assembly, — chiefiy the erection of a new synod of Pennsylvania, the preparation of a Digest, the choice of delegates and the sending of official letters 90 GHXHSIS AXn El'DIA'TIOM . to other ecclesiastical bodies. Its most important action was the preparation and adoi)tion of a Narrative of the State of Religion, and of a Pastoral Letter, drafted by a committee of which the venerable Lyman Beecher* was chairman, for distribntion among the churches. Each of these documents deserves special attention, as illustrative of the existing situation. The Xarrative spoke at length of the order and discipline, the orthodoxv and liberality of the churches, defending them warndy against the charge of doctrinal looseness, and claiming for them as great a measure of loyalty and devotion as existed in any section of the Pres])\terian Church. It dwelt especially on the revivals of religion enjoyed during the year, notwith- standing the prevalent ecclesiastical agitation, — such revivals having occurred in no less than two hundred and thirtv-four churches within the limits of the disowned synods, the presliytery of Philadelphia dis- banded bv the last Assembly, and other sympathizing sections, chiedv in Michigan, ( )hio and Indiana. Much interest was reported in the spiritual training of the young both in the home and in the Sabbath school, in catechetical instruction, in tract distribution, in the cause of temperance and the Sabbath, and in missions at home and al)road. The three theological seminaries, l^nion and .•\uburn and Lane, all affiliating doctrinally * Lyman Beechek. D. D.. Iwrn, Oct. 12. 1775; Yale, 1797; pastor East Hampton, L. I., 1799-1810; Litchfield, Conn., 1810- •2. In the light of all that had trans])ired during the three or four years preceding, the force of this vigorous l')eclaration can be easily understood, and its passion may be easily condoned. The general-temper of the .Assembly appears in its action res])ectin'^ some other matters of interest. A troublesome judicial case, involving chiefly the rulings of certain lower judicatories, claimed too large an amount of time and attention. In yiew of the unusual coxf^Tiox or TUP. CHURCH. loi prevalence of (Irunkenness with its kindred vices, a strong^ resolution was passed in favor of temperance. The prevalence of Sabbath desecration led to like action on that subject — pastors being: counselled to preach respectin*^ it. esj^ecially on the Sunday pre- ceding- the h'ourth of July. The Assembly declared itself, even more fully than its predecessors had done, in favor of the voluntary societies organized in the interest of home and foreign missions, ministerial education, tract distribution and Sunday school work, and made an earnest apjjeal for enlarged liberality in all departments of religious enterprise. The general condition of the young Church is graphicallv sketched in the Narrative of Religion adopted by the Assembly. On one hand the Narra- tive describes the difficulties and discouragements manifest. — external, in the general state of the coun- try, the commercial depression current, the spread of vices, the indifference of the multitude to spiritual things. — internal, in the coldness and inaction of many among professed l)elievers. the temper of worldliness prevalent, the contentious sectarianism, and specifically the measure of controversy still manifest between those who once were brethren within the one Church. C^n the other hand it dwells with enthusiasm on some evidences of outward j^rosperity in the churches, the' organizing of new congregations especially on the frontiers, and the strengthening and increase of many of the older congregations. Tt emphasizes even more joyously the signs of spiritual advance, the numerous revivals adding from 12,000 to 15,000 meml)ers on profession of faith, and the growing sense of unity 102 GENESIS JND El'OLUTJOX. within the Churcli. It exhorts to increased confidence in the Gospel and in the stated ministrations of the Word, to the cuhure of greater stal-)iHty in church life, and the cultivation of deeper interest in mission work esjiecially in the far West. And the Narrative closes with these earnest words : Finally, we recom- mend seasons of special private and social thanksgiving to God for the spiritual mercies of the ecclesiastical year which has just closed. It was begun in darkness and fear, in fastings and tears and supplications. It has closed in triumphs and joys which have brought heaven and earth to mingle in holv sympathy. Three years elapsed before another Assembly was convened, and the history of the Church during this period can be gathered only from occasional and some- what scant indications. The organization still labored under the opprobrium which had fallen upon it, or the nucleus of it, at the Disruption — still encountered opposition, sometimes unfair and even cruel, from the conservative sources. Moreover, it had as yet neither churchly machiner\- nor wealth nor much other help- ful resource : it was still weak in various ways. Yet it had reason for encouragement in the quieting or elimination of undesirable elements and tendencies, in the developing spirit of unitv. in the increasing con- sciousness of responsibilitv and of progress, and in its rapidly widening area. There had also been an actual increase, though slight, in the number of synods and presbyteries, ministers and churches, and a somewhat larger growth in membership. Added to all this was the cheering fact, that the sym]Xithy and aid of various ,!SS/-.MBI.)- ()!■ 1S4;V 103 other cvan.m'lioal Cdiiinninions wuc- freely manifested in its interest. The AssemhK- of 1S43 met. as its predecessors had (lone, in the I'irst Church of 1 'hiladelphia of which Alhert luirnes was the loved and honored pastor. The attendance was large, and amon.ij the commissioners were man\- cons])icnouslv earnest and active men, from hoth the East and heyond the Allei^henies. Still it is ohvious that the chano^e from an annual to a triennial convocation, to^^ether with the lar_t;"e transfer of juris- diction to the synods — a change which was later on to reveal more fully its injurious quality — detracted somewhat from l)oth the number and the weight of the asseml)le(! ])od\'. The Moderator chosen was An- sel R. Eddy. 1). IX,* and the hu?iness in hand went forward nrom])tly, the sessions closing on the tenth day. It is needful to refer here to only a few items of special interest. The general disjxisition of the Assembly is indi- cated by its action respecting the observance of the Sabl)ath, resjiecting promiscuous dancing as incon- sistent with Christian ])roprietv. respecting benevolent collections for religions uses, respecting days of fast- ing and prayer for special objects, respecting its own religious exercises dail\- and a solemn communion ser- vice. The approaching centennial anniversary of the convening of the Westminster Assembly was recog- nized by a])pro]:)riate ])reamble and resolution. .\s to * Ansel R. Eddv. I). L)., horn. 17!l!»; grad. Union Coll., 1817; Andover Sem.. 1822; pastor, Canaiulaigua, N. Y., New- ark, N. J., Chicago, Ills. Agent .\. and F. Christ. Union. Died Lausinglnirgh. N. ^'., Feb. 7, 187."). 104 GEMESIS AND EVOLUTION. slavery a strenuous discussion was carried on day after day, with various propositions and some bitterness of feeling^, to the exclusion of other important matters, and with some harm to the unity of the body, — the whole ending in a resolution adopted, not without dis- sent and protest, declaring it inexpedient to take pres- ent action. A judicial issue, involving the suspension of a minister, and revealing some irregularity in dis- cipline, added to the excitement of the body, and was finally referred to the synod implicated for review and correction — a considerable minority protesting against the decision. The special committee which had been charged by the preceding Assembly with the oversight of the pecuniary interests and claims of the Church involved in the Disruption reported that the quo warranto suit had been abandoned, and the Assembly approved its action, but with a declaration that this step must not be regarded as waiving or extinguishing its legal and equitable rights in the properties of the parent Church. In the same temper it was resolved to forego the elec- tion of trustees or directors to look after these ancestral interests — these valuable heritages. An important resolution was also adopted in this connection, express- ing gratification at some evidences of increase in the measure of kindness and courtesy shown by the other Church, and counselling all ministers and churches to cultivate a responsive measure of brotherly love toward that body. The Narrative of the State of Religion is the most distinctive evidence now attainable as to the spiritual condition of the Church at that juncture. It ENCOURAGIXG rROSPECTS. 105 records with devout gratitude to (iod tlu- rcniark.iljU- series of revivals which had licen enjoyed bi)th in the Atlantic sections of the Church, and equally in the central West wherever the standard of the denomina- tion had been planted. It refers to the rapid develop- ment in the farther West, instancing especially one of the frontier States where a few years earlier there was not a single presbytery, but where now there were no less than five presbyteries, united in one strong synod. It speaks of increasing interest in the study and the distribution of the I'.ible, in the cause of temperance and the Sabbath, and in Christian benevo- lence and activity : also hi greater permanence in the pastoral office, and the increasing confidence shown in the outcome of the faithful preaching of the Word publicly and from house to house. In this connection it commends the three theological seminaries as fur- nishing many faithful young men for the ministry, and urges the duty of pressing on the continental work of home missions with fidelity and vigor. All in all. the condition and prospects of the young Church were said to be such as would justifv enlarged confidence and the broadest expectations for the future. The remaining vears of the first |)eriod in the life of the young Church, extending to and including 1849, may be sufficiently described with smaller detail. The process of evolution went on steadily, and with less of outward opposition or of interior agitation, except in one or two directions, as the vears advanced. When the Assembly of 1846 met in the usual ])lace. it chose as Moderator a gifted and brilliant man. who had 106 GENESIS AXn El'OLUTION. shared conspicuously in tlie movement from the he- ijinnino^, Samuel H. Cox, D. Y).r and entered with some enthusiasm on the dischar^s^e of its proper ecclesi- astical functions. lUit its proceeiiui^s were soon dis- turbed by the incursion on the second day of memorials from nearly thirty presbyteries and four synods touch- ing the subject of slavery and specially the relations of the Church to tliat enormous evil. A discussion folknved, largely to the exclusion of other matters, which was continued for eight consecutive days, — the roll being called, and each commissioner given oppor- tunity to express his judgment. Wide variety of opin- ion was developed, involving much excitement and no small strain ui)on the brotherliness of the body, and injuriouslv ]:)r(jtracting its sessions. The discussion was finally closed by the adoption, not without a large negative vote followed by two or three protests, of a formal Declaration, which en one side referred the whole matter of discipline for slaveholding to the minor judicatories to which it properly belonged, but deplored on the other hand the existence of the msti- tution of slavery, endorsed the condemnatory action of previous .\ssemblies from 1787 to 1818, exhorted all who might be imjilicated to put away the evil, and meanwhile counselled all others tcj abstain irom divis- ive or disturbing action. But this was not the end : eleven vears later the controversy rent the Church in twain. * Samuel H.-^nson Cox, D. D., born Aug. 25. 1798: pastor, Mendham, N. J., 1817-21; New York City. 1821-84; Prof, of Pa.storal Theoi. Auburn Sem., 1884-7 ; pastor, Brooklyn, N. Y , 1837-54. President of Ingham Univ. Died. Bronxville, N. Y., Oct. 2. 188(1. D. D. Williams, 1828; LL. D., Marietta, 1835. I FRATliRXAI. RRLATIOSS. 107 Special interest was nianit'c'sr'd in the matter of fellowship with other reli^inns hodics. Delejj^ates from such hodies. inchulin,!:;^ the ( Itrnian Reformed and the l^vanijelical Lutheran Churelu-s, were welcomed: steps were taken toward wide recijjrocal correspond- ence, emhracin^ not onlv .American denominations, but also the Congreg'aticinal I'nion or I'.niiiand and Wales and the Free Church of Scotland. The ICvangelical Alliance was heartily endorsed and its approaching convocation in London was anticii>ated with hojio and exultation as a step toward union throughout Christ- endom. A special committee was ap])ointed for con- ference with the Lumlx'rland Presbyterian Church, with a view to closer fellowshi]). if not to organic union. .\ fraternal communication was addressed to the .\ssem])lv of the ( ). S. Church, tlien in session in P'hiladelphia. proposing a joint celebration of the Lord's Supper, — a proposal which was kindly but firmly declined on the ground tliat the Assembly as a corporate body had never shared heretofore with any other like organization in that sacred observance. In view of the existing war with Mexico and of prevail- ing rumors of war. a day of humiliation and prayer was appointed, and earnest effort in the pulpit and elsewhere was recommended in the interest of uni- versal peace. But it -was evident that the inordinate discussion respecting slavery, while it ])rolonge(l the sessions of the .Assembly for more than two weeks, had crowded out injuriously other subjects, such as temperance, the Sabbath, psalmody, doctrinal literature, which were 108 GHXESIS AND EVOLUTION. of great practical moment to the Church. It also be- came evident that Assemblies, meeting but once in three years, could never give adequate consideration to these and other kindred denominational interests. It was also realized that though since 1843 there had been some advance in the roll of ministers and churches and membership, as the statistics showed, the Church had sulTered in several respects in consequence of so long an interim of fellow^ship in and through the Assembly. It was therefore resolved, not without serious questionings as to validity, that the Assembly when it adjourned should meet at Cincinnati in the coming year : and an overture was sent down to the presbyteries ])roposing a return to annual sessions and a restoration of appellate power to the Assembly. The Narrative of Religion w^as then read, referring with interest to the Church growth as real though small, and lamenting certain hindrances such as the spread of pernicious literature, the rise and influence of gross forms of error, and especially the prevalence of war as a public condition alwaxs unfavorable to the progress and ]X)wer of the Ciospel of Peace. And the Assembly then adjourned. When the liod\- met again in 1847 according to adjournment, the attendance from both the east and the farther west was found to be but small, and a shadow seemed in view of the recent constitutional rule to rest upon the convocation. l>ut the constitutionality t)f the adjournment was afifirmed loth the time and the interest of the Assembly were absorbed rather by the three practical subjects sub- mitted by the committee of the previous year on church extension. ( )f these the most urgent and important was home missions, b'or two or three years, as we have seen. the subject had been pressing itself with increasing force on the attention of the Church, as one involving its growth if not its existence. After prolonged dis- cussion it was determined that the .\merican H. M. Society should continue to be the agency through which this form of missionar\- work should be carried 124 ORGAXIZATIOX AND ADl'ANCE. on, — that annual contributions to its treasury should continue to be secured by the presbyteries and churches. — but that each presbytery should have the right to recommend applications for aid independently of the agents representing that Society, and should have the further right to appoint itinerant mission- aries within its own bounds who should explore desti- tute fields and ])repare the way for the formation of new churches wherever in the judgment of the pres- bytery these were needed. Further, each presbytery and likewise each synod was empowered to elect annu.- ally a standing committee on church extension, in order to supervise all such special work, and each svnod was authorized to call for a specific collection from each of its churches, to be distributed directly for the erection of houses of worship within its own bounds or beyond them : and such committees were required to make annual report of their doings and of the condition of the churches under their care, in all particulars, to the Assembly ensuing. As a concil- iatory measure, a special committee was appointed to confer with the officers of the .A.. H. M. Society in order to secure its concurrence, so far as possible, in the provisions thus made. The second of' these subjects was education for the ministr\ a matter which had for some years de- manded special consideration, and which now excited much earnest discussion. The Assembly finally recom- mended that each presbytery appoint a standing com- mittee on this subject, to secure the presentation of the cause in all its churches, to press upon parents their dutv to devote their sons and upon young men EDLCA TlOX — I'i'HIJC.l TIOX. 125 to sj;ivc thciiisflvcs to the niiiiislrv. to take cliaryc of all churoli collections and disburse tlieni, and to have si)ecial supervision over all candidates for the sacred office. The formation of what was called the West- er!i Education Society, to be located at Cincinnati, and authorized to act as a general ai^ency for the promo- tion of the cause, was recommended under certain prescribed conditions. The theolo.^ical seminaries also were both cordially etjdorsed and encouraged in their actual work, and requested, notwithstandiui;- their in- dejxMulent mode of organization, to make full iei)orts of their students and their general condition to each .Assembl}-. The third suliject i)resented by the committee re- lated to the adoption of measures suited to promote through the press the dissemination of those truths and principles which were regarded as characteristic of the denomination, — in other words, an agency for the publication of doctrinal tracts and other church literature. The proposed issuance of a Quarterly Re- view, the first number of which in fact appeared shortly after the adjournment, and the assurance of the man- agement of the Xew York livangelist that that periodical would be so conducted as to subserve the interests of the Church in this regard, were cordially welcomed, and these two pul)lications were com- mended to the patronage of ministers and people. But a more significant ste]) was the a])pointment of a stand- ing committee to provide for the publishing of a series of tracts explanatorv of the doctrines, govermnent and missionary policy of the Church : — said connnittee l)eing located in F'hiladelpliia and empowered to ap- 126 ORGASIZATIOX AXD ADVAXCE. point a secretary and treasurer, and to solicit fund& from the churches in support of the cause ; and in- structed to report its doings to each Assembly. It now becomes apparent that after fourteen years of experiment the Church had come into a more medi- ate position on the issue between voluntary societies and strict ecclesiastical agencies in carrying forward these three forms of religious activity. Partly through such ex])erimental conviction, and probably in part through other influences, it had reached the point where in view of the career providentially opening before it. it found itself constrained to supply itself with more efifective instrumentalities of this class than it had heretofore possessed. The second stage in its Hfe had thus begun, and the process of organization once started could only progress toward still larger provisions of this kind in the near future. The Narra- tive for the year reveals both the widespread need of the action which the Assembly liad taken, and the encouragement to go forward in supplying that need through the agencies thus chosen. Special emphasis is laid in the Narrative on the threefold form of the work waiting to be done. — among the destitute population of American birth along the s])reading frontier, among the incoming multitude of immigrants from the Old World, among the colored people in the South. The condition of the Church at this interesting stage is well described in the introductory article of the Quar- terly Revievy just mentioned: "We have with us the confidence of other Chris- tian communions : we have in our body the grand and essential elements of truth, order, liberality and the CHXRR.ii. roi.irv n/rrnRMixnn. \n spirit of proi^rcss ; we have no stain of injustice on our history ; we have our ancient cherished comnui- nion and cooperation, as had our fathers, with the churches of Xew l^ni^land : we liave our nohle and well manned collej^iate and theolog^ical institutions ; we, have under our s])ecial influence the northern helt of this glorious land, with its ra|)id advance in a free population; we have near sixteen hundred ministers, and nearly one hundred and fifty thousand church members, representing- a population of some six hun- dred thousand souls ; we have wealth, enterprise and — it is to be hoped — the blessing of God. Well may we congratulate ourselves on our prospects. We can afford to love our branch of the Church and consecrate our labors and ])rayers and charities to its prosperitv." The plan of organization initiated at Washington determined largely the policy and methods of the de- nomination during the remainder of its separate life. Though some doubted the wisdom of the new move- ment, and a few among the special friends of the vol- untary method withdrew from the body. Churcli Ex- tension, especially along the three lines specified, be- came the accepted and general watchword. The act of the Albany Convention. Congregational, during the same year, formally setting aside the Plan of Union, justified distinctly the course taken, particularly in the field of home missions. Other indications there were which need not here be described, going to show that the new policy had not been inaugurated too soon. And when the Assembly met at lUtffalo in 1853. though some divcrsit\' of judgnient and feeling still 128 ORGANIZATION AND ADl'AXCE. existed, the pathway of progress seemed to most to be clear and inviting — a way of safety and a way of growtli. The ]\Ioderator chosen. Rev. D. Howe Allen, D. D.* — a man of great personal worth and charm, and who had been extensively known as a wise and safe counsellor — was called to the place with the cordial approval of all. because he was known to be in sympathv with the measures already adopted and with the plans in contemplation for further advance. The large attendance, especially from the West, made plain the loyal adherence of the denomination gener- ally to these measures and prospective plans. While sonie doubted and a few held back, it was clear that the Church was at least as far unified in its acceptance. as loyal in its temper, as could have been expected at that stage. That there was no disjiositii'U to break away at once from all undenominational activity- is evidenced by the cordial action taken in endorsement of the Am- erican Bible Society, the Sunday School Union, the American and h^)reign Christian Union, the National Tem])erance I'nion, and some other kindred organiza- tions, and also by the hearty welcome given as here- tofore to the delegates representing other evangelical comnnmions. The Am. H. M. Society with which the Church was still conjointly canying on the home missionarv work, with the excei)tions already noted. * DiARCA Howe Allen. D. D.. born. Lebanon, N. H., July 3, 18(18; grad. Dartmouth, 18'Ji> and Andover Sem.. 1833; Prof. Marieua Coll.. 1833-40; Prof. Sac. Rhet. Lane Sem., 1840-51: and Syst. Theol.. 1851-()7 ; eineritu.^^ Prof., till his death. Granville, O., Nov. 9, 187(1. D. D., Marietta, 1848. nEiiiLori^c I'l.Axs. \i\) disavowed all disjjosition to intcrtcn.' with the proper functions of the jjresbyteries, and j;ave ecjrdial assur- ance of just and impartial administration of its trust, without any discrimination between the two denomin- ations interested. ( )n this basis the Asseml)ly advised that the work of the Church should so far as possible be conducted throuLjh that agency. — at the same time declarini;- that there were some imi)ortant ])arts of the worl< which coidd not be ade(|uately cared for tiirouuh tile Societ\- and must be carried on therefore, if at all, thr()U'.;h s])ecial denominational instrumental- ities. As to ediicatiim and publication there was no re- cession from the ])lans determined ui)on by the ])re- vious Assembh. It was stroui^ly urged by some that the Church sh(mld at once assume full responsibility for the su])pl\- of a trained and sufficient ministry by instituting an agency of its own for that ])urpose: and a committee was finally a])])ointed to consider and digest a ])lan to this end with instruction to report such plan to the next Assembly. Meanwhile reports from the several theological seminaries were received with special interest ; and colleges and also schools for the education of youth of both sexes were commended t(i the fostering care of Christians in all suitable localities. — The standing committee on publication was airain instructed to issue a series of tracts for general distribution, clearly setting forth the doctrine, polity and general ])olicy of the Church, in order to answer current calumnies and to show to the world its true position. The committee was also authorized to secure in an\ ])racticable way funds for the building 130 ORGAXIZATION AND ADfAXCE. of a house of puljlication. In this connection the volume on the (hvision. already mentioned, vva-; par- ticularl}- commended to both ministers and church officers and members as a correct and acceptable history of the painful Disruption. A fourth step in the line of complete denomina- tional organization was taken by the Assembly in de- termining' to a])i)oint another standing committer in the interest specifically of church erection — the aid- ing' of feeble congregations in the securing of houses of worship as indispensable adjuncts in the upbuilding of the Church in more destitute regions. It was also resolved to raise a permanent fund of $100,000, to be loaned or otherwise used in furtherance of this object. The committee was empowered to solicit sub- scriptions from all the churches, to appoint its own salaried secretary, and to make all needful rules and provisions, subject to the Assembly, for the wise ad- ministration of the trust committed to its care. The strong deliverances of the Assembly on the subject of religious liberty and on the observance of the Sabbath, its wise suggestions concerning forms of public worship, its protest against promiscuous danc- ing as an amusement unworthy of Christians, its commendation of the scheme of African colonization, its judicious action on certain synodical records in- volving a matter of discipline and the erection of two new synods, must be passed without special notice, though they well illustrate the general attitude and spirit of the body. The troublesome question of slav- ery made its appearance here as in every previous Assembly, exciting a debate both bitter and prolonged ^7.. / / 7:7\ ) ■ — ST. / TIS'llCS. 131 — endiiij; in the adoption, with lart^e dissent, of a report reconinuMidin^ j)resI)vtorics in the South to make particular in(|uiries as to tlio nuniher of church members hoUHn.^' slaves and to the treatment and religious training- of slaves ])y such masters. This action was followed by two vij^orous protests, claiming that the re(|uest of the .\ssembly was one which that body had no constitutional right to make, and one with which the jjresbyteries addressed liad no consti- tutional ])ower to comply. It seems clear that if that request is to be regarded as a summons to these presby- teries to institute an investigation at a point where they had no ecclesiastical authority, specially with a view to furnishing to the Assemblv a series of facts that might be made the basis of judicial proceedings against themselves, there was just warrant for such protestation. The statistics for the vear show that in the number of ministers and candidates for the ministry, of churches and presbyteries, and in the additions to the membership, there had been a small increase over the figures of the preceding year, wliich were the largest in the history of the Church thus far. The Narrative, while it speaks of the developing spirit of benevolence, of churches reaching the stage of independence and of increasing interest in church extension in its several forms, and em])hasizes especially the cheering facts of revivals enjoyed in more than half of the presby- teries, rei)orts on the (ither hand a lamentable dearth ' of ministers, particularly in the farther West, and earnestly deprecates the existence of two great evils from which the Cliurch was suffei ing, — an aggressive 132 ORGASIZATIOX AXH APTAXCE. sectarianism operatiiii^ from without to the impairment of concord and the (Hsruption of churches, and the pro- longed agitation resi)ecting slavery, with its bitter and schismatical accompaniments, threatening year by year to be the destruction of the denomination. The three years that followed, 1854-1856,* were vears of advance in organization and equipment, and also in position and inHuence. They were so nearly alike in their experience and mo\ement that they may readily be surveyed together in this review. In 1854, the Church was represented by twenty-three synods with one hundred and eight presbyteries, distributed * The three Assemblies were held at Philadelphia. St. Louis and New York, respectively, and the presiding officers were: 1854. Thomas Harvev Skinner. D. D., LL. D., born in North Carolina, March 7. ITitl : grad. Princeton Coll., li- censed. 1812 ; pastor. Philadelphia : Prof, of Sac. Rhet. An- dover; pastor. New York. 1835-48; Prof. Sac. Rhet. and Past. Theol. Union Seminary. 1848 till his death, Feb. 1, 1871. Author of Aids to Preaching and Hearing. Hints to Chris- tians, Discussions in Theology, and other publications. . 1855. William Carpenter Wisner, I). D., son of Dr. William Wisner (Mod. 1840). born. Elmira. N. Y.. Dec. 7, 1808: grad. Union Coll.. 1830: pastor Rochester, 1832, and other places: Lockport. 1837-7H. Died July 14, 1880. .\uthor of Prelacy and Parity, and many published sermons. 1856. Laurens Perseus Hk kok. D. D., LL. D., bom Pethel Conn., Dec. 2!), 1799; grad. Union Coll., 1820; era., 1824; pastor. Kent. Ct., 1824-9: Litchfield 1829-36: Prof. Theol. in Western Reserve Coll., 183(i-44, and in Auburn Sem., 1844-52: Prof, and Vice-Pres. Union Coll., 1852-66; Presi- dent, 1866-8; died in .^mher.st, Mass., May 6, 1888, D. D., Hamilton. 1843; LL. D.. .Amherst. 18t;6. Author of /^afionfl/ Psychology. Empirical Psychology. Moral Philosophy. Creator and Creation. Hnmanitx immortal, and other works. THRF.r. XOTABLF. YF.ARS. 133 tlirough no less than fourteen States, and comprising a membership of one hundred and forty thousand. Six of these synods, having a nienil)ership of about fifteen thousand, were located in five of the southern States. chieHy in V'irjj^inia and Kentucky. The statis- tics of three years later show but very slight increase in ministers and churches, and a small loss in member- ship — a fact which nia\- be accounted for in part by reference to the two great evils mentioned in the Narrative of 1853. Still, when the hundreds of re- vivals reported during these years are taken into account, and when statistics show additions of more than seventeen thousand on profession of faith and nearly fifteen thousand more by letter, the lack of registered advance at the close seems inexplicable. \'iewe(l on the interior, the situation was not un- favorable : the various forms of church activity, not- withstanding occasional questioning or indifference, went on with a good degree of eflficiency. Church extension continued to be an inspiring watchword. The complex task of home missions was prosecuted as heretofore under the original arrangement witli the Am. H. M. Society: further years of discussion and of adjustment must be passed before the Church could entireh- and with unanimitv undertake that task for itself. Rut the aggregate of special or exceptional cases was steadily increasing, and larger provision was consequently needful to supply this growing need. In 1855 a permanent committee on church extension 'was therefore a])pointed, which was empowered to employ svnodical or presbyterial or exploring agents for the purpose of ])lanting churches of tlu' Presbyterian faith 134 ORGANIZATION AND ADVANCE. and order in country or in citv. and also to solicit and disburse any funds that could bo secured for this pur- pose. This step was justified, notwithstanding the arrangement with the H. M. Society, on the general ground that the Church is one. that its stronger sec- tions ought to support the weaker, that all are alike interested in the general development and expansion, and that the Assembly is the projjer organ for the supplying of this denominational need. The report of this committee to the next Assembly showed that some valuable results had been secured through this process. and that some thousands of dollars had been obtained for this purpose without — it was claimed — diminish- ing the contributions to the Society. In the department of church erection, similar activ- ity was manifest. In 1854, a committee appointed the previous year presented an elaborate ])lan, which was adopted with unanimity by the Asseml)ly, establishing a permanent committee. prescnl)ing its sphere and functions, authorizing it to secure a charter, to appoint a secretary and treasurer, to receive and disburse all moneys contributed to this cause, to hold in trust all permanent funds, and instructing it faithfully to dis- charge the duties thus designed under the supervision of the Assembly. At the next Assembly this ])lan was further revised and some changes were made : the requisite charter was reported, trustees were appointed under it and the permanent fund was placed under their care ; and from this time the perfected scheme began to work out the beneficent results hoped for, as in fact it continued to do while the Church lived. In the interest of theoloeical education, a similar PLANS M.irik'IXG. 135 committee was apiK)inte(l in 1854, to operate in con- junction witli the two undenominational Societies already existing^ and engaj^ed in this form of service. This committee was to he a re])resentative of the Assenihlv in this special department, and was empow- ered to appoint a secretary, to solicit and use funds, and do whatever else the welfare of the cause might demand. The synods and preshxteries were exhorted to use all diligence in furthering the operations of the committee, and to secure annual collections in its su])port. The discussions on this plan were prolonged and intense, — considerable diversity of view being manifest on one side as to both principle and expe- diency, offset on the other by a controlling desire to conserve the denominational unity and harmony. In 1855 and again in 1856, the ])lan was more fully elaborated, the committee enlarged, its powers and duties defined, its sphere more distinctly described : and the cause thus constituted was earnestly com- mended to presbyteries and churches throughout the denomination. In the latter year the theological sem- inaries were eulogized for their efftciency in a s])ecial rei)ort, which closes with these words : We connnend these institutions, their teachers and students, to the prayers and cordial sup])ort of the Church : they are our hope for continued and increasing influence and power among men. Mention has already been made of the ap]:)oint- ment in 1852 of a standing committee for the pub- lication of doctrinal tracts and other church litera- ture. — enlarged with additional ]:)owers and duties in the following year. In 1854, this committee was also 136 ORGANIZATION AND ADVANCE. organized on a basis similar to that already described in the departments of church erectior and theological education : the plan was more fully elaborated in the two years following; and in 1856 the Assembly de- clared its conviction that there was here an import- ant field of influence and usefulness which could well be occupied without interference with voluntary So- cieties or other agencies engaged in supplying a more general evangelical and evangelizing literature, and therefore authorized annual collections from the churches, and the solicitation of a permanent capital such as might be needful in carrying forward this special work. It is thus apparent that during the three years now passing under review the Church had been carefully and firmly organizing itself along these four main lines for the better furtherance of its own life and growth. Even though this process involved more or less of friction with the several undenominational agencies en- gaged in these four departments of Christian effort, it cannot justly be said that there were no adequate reasons for the course so adopted and pursued. Nor can it fairly be alleged that either an aggressive sec- tarianism or a culpable indifference to the claims of these agencies marked the transition in policy thus wrought. The repeated and hearty commendation of these jiarticular agencies, and the earnest loyalty of the successive Assemblies to the American liible So- ciety, the Sunday School Union and some other like organizations, are clear evidence to the contrary. The determination to do nothing toward organizing pres- byteries by missionaries in pagan lands is another in- rARTlCLLAK QlESllOXS. 137 (lication of tlie catholic spirit and purpose of the Church. The complex process as it went on year by year is sini])ly to be reg;arde(l as a needful ])r()visi()n for the coni]ileter unifyin1. 1814; grad. Illinois Coll., 1837; Lane, 1841 ; pastor Chicago. 1842-73. Prof, of Christian Evidences, McCormick Seni.. 1873-81 ; President Lake Forest Univ., 187()-8 ; Lecturer on Evidences, Lane Sem., 1881-4. Died, Evanston. Ills.. Eel). 28. 1894. I). D.. Hamilton. 1856: LL. D., Lake Forest Univ. DEXOMIX.ITIOXAL GROW TIL 145 tlie presbyteries for consideration, l)ut the summary was never adopted, — probably because it was deemed inexpedient to take any step that mii^ht seem to implv an indifference to the existinj^ standards of faitli. r.oth Assembhes were chieHy occupied witli the work of (k-nominational devekipnieiit in its four main departments. In respect to home missions there was said to be much encouragement as to both contribu- tions to the cause and tlie measure of success actually reached. The growing difficulty in adjusting this work to that still in the hands of the Am. H. M. So- ciety was recognized, and careful effort was made to guard as far as possible against collision or conflict between the two kinds of administration. In respect to theological education it was declared that a large increase of the ministry \yas indispensable to success in the yast home missionary field, and that such in- crease could be secured only through the practical sup- port of the plan devised by previous Assemblies. In view of the urgent need of laborers, pastors were ex- horted to make use of lay talent .so far as this could be consistently done. Encouraging reports were pre- sented respecting both church erection and publication, and the larger use of the issues of the latter agency in both church and family was urged. The Assem- bJies declared their continued fealty to the American Board of Foreign Missions, and counselled the churches to contribute more freely to the treasury of that Hoard, it being agreed that missionaries are at liberty to organize presbyteries in their several fields so far as this is found to be advisable. With the adjournment of the Assembly of 1859, 140 ORGAXIZATIOX AMD ADVANCE. the second era in the Hfe of the Church may be re- garded as closed. The era had been begun in the pres- ence of much outward obloquy and opposition ; the Church had done little more than maintain its exist- ence amid the wrench and pains of the Disruption. Inwardly it was suffering greatly from the lack of anything resembling corporate consciousness, from smallness of resources, from incomplete and inefifec- tive organization. It was an infantile rather than a matured denomination, and its title to a place among the various evangelical communions had hardly been recognized. But now the diffitulties in the path of progress, both external and internal, though still in a measure present, had been largely overcome. The de- nominational instinct, desire, purpose, had grown steadily although slowly, and were now vigorous and absorbing. The unifying bond and solvent had been found in the movement for church extension, and the organizing of the four practical helps for the attain- iuR" of that cherished end. Though the body had be- come widely scattered in area and had sutYered from the lack of practical contact, section with section, still its parts and members had become knit together with the passage of the years, and a measure of just de- nominational pride and ambition, hardly adequate in- deed vet strengthening continually, now moved it on with vigor toward what it believed to be a grand con- tinental mission. One singular fact remains to be mentioned. Dur- ing the three vears just now considered, an aggregate of 25,391 persons had been added to the churches on profession of faith, and during the entire decade as STATISTICS. 147 many as 65,820 — an annual average of more than six thousand five hundred new communicants. During the same period 47,728 had been received by letter, a considerable percentage of whom inust have come from other denominations. Yet the astonishing fact is that the roll of membership at the end of the decade was somewhat smaller than at the beginning. De- ducting the loss of the six southern synods with a membership of 16,137, how is the enormous shrink- age of the roll to be explained ? On natural grounds such as death or migration it is inexplicable. Xo seri- ous controversy as to doctrine or sacrament or order, no destructive heresy or violence of faction, can be found to explain it. Did the prolonged discussions respecting slavery lead to the secession or withdrawal of many in the northern sections of the Church ? Dur- ing the revival excitements were many enrolled who never were Christians, and who in more quiet seasons dropped off from the churches, as untimely blossoms are blown away in springtime? Were the attractions of the two strong communions, largely occupying the same territory and in some sense rivals, eager to in- crease their numbers and strengthen their footing in the country, powerful enough to draw away such mul- titudes from the fellowship of the Church ? Were many hundreds of names dropped from the rolls year after year in ways not authorized by the church con- stitution ? Can it be presumed that the annual reports of accessions coming from the churches and presby- teries were far above rather than below the actual aggregate? In whatever direction we turn, the start- ling problem seems insoluble. CHAPTER FIFTH. Maturity and Consummation. 1860-1869. With the dawning; of the third and final decade in its history, the Church passed beyond the stages of infancy and of youthful development, and entered on an interesting though brief period of maturity and of marked efficiency and influence. The four original synods located in two States had increased, prior to the withdrawal of the southern section, to twenty-six synods, with one hundred and fourteen presbyteries, distributed through fifteen States including distant California. .Mthough in tliat secession it had lost five States, with six synods and about twenty presbyteries, it had not been seriously weakened in either members or resources : it had in fact been strengthened by some compensating advantages especially in the farther West. Though it had not increased appreci- ably in numbers, it had developed greatly in constitu- tional capabilities and in its machineries for practical work along all lines of religious effort. Those who had been leaders in its organization and earlier de- velopment, such men as Richards and Beman and Fisher, Sen., and Beecher and Dickinson, Cox and Hay and Mason and Gilbert and others of like ability — not to mention by name noble elders such as Judges Jessup and Haines and Hornblower, and others, men conspicuous in civil life as well as in church affairs — had either already passed or were now passing through the vallev of age and infirmity into the rest and .ISSHMBLY OF j86o. 149 felicities oi heaven. lUit there remained a still larger group of men, hotli ministers and elders who, stimu- lated bv such examples and trained under such guid- ance, were ([uite coni])etent to lead the Ihurch forward into another era of vigorous life and of fruitful service. Meanwhile many particular churches had grown from weakness into strength; pecuniary resources had lieen accumulating with the years; educational institu- tions and ])rovisions had multiplied or matured; and notwithstanding much hindrance the denominational zeal and diligence had been healthfully intensified. And thus in various aspects the way was now opening attractivelv for a strong, worthy, fruitful career. The new decade was to be marked by two especial and momentous events, the Civil War with al! its serious bearings on the denominational life and work, and the Church I'nion with its various movements and stages ending in the consummation of November. 1869. The first of these events involved in several ways the intricate problem of the relations between the Church and the State and Nation. The second involved the equally intricate problem of the rela- tions between the two Churches which, though hold- ing the same system of doctrine and the same polity and name, and occupying in the main the same terri- tory, had now for more than twenty years been living out, not without competition and conflict, an independ- ent and in some degree an adverse life. These two events naturally divide the decade into two shorter periods, the first extending to the close of the War, and the second to the happy hour of organic Union. The Assemblv of i860 was convened at Pittsburgh, 150 MATI'RITY AXD CONSI'MMATIOW and liavini^ elected Thornton A. Mills, D. D..* as its Moderator, entered with vigor on the discharge of its appointed duties as the su])reme judicatory of the de- nomination. The representation of the Church was large and uniform, the southern section excepted, and the temper of the hody was earnest and resolute, though the ahsence of delegates from the south cast its sad shadow cn'cr the convocation. The work of church extension in its four main branches was the chief matter of interest throughout the sessions. The most decisive measure was the determination to dis- solve the partnershi]) which had so long existed in the work of home missions and to take the necessary ste]:)S toward independent o])erations in that vast field. The reasons for this course in brief were the increas- ing com])lications and embarrassments of the ])artner- shi]) and the inabilit\- to effect any satisfactory adjust- ment of various differences on one side, and on the other the paramount right and duty of the whole Church to care immediately for its weaker portions and members, and also to e.xtend its own area of influence without hindrance in all sections of the country. It was declared that this determination neither involved any break of faith with the .\m. II. M. Society or rcHection u])on its good name, nor any inclination to interfere with the ])lans or movements of Congrega- tional Associations eastern or western ;v and these * Thornton A. Mills, D. D., born, Paris, Ky., 1810; grad. Miami Univ.. 1830; labored in Ky.. 1833-6; pastor Cin- cinnati, 183(1-48: editor Watchman of the Valley. 1848-53; pastor, Indianapolis, 1853-6; Sec. Com. on Education for the Ministry. 1856. till his death, Jnne 19. 1867. LlliRCli J:XTH.\SIOX. 151 parties wore invited to snoli fraternal conference as would, it was lioped. secure wise and L'hristian ad- justment of the wliole matter in (|uestion. Meanwhile the committee on cliurch extension was instructed to prosecute the work in this department as assifrned to it with all enerj^N . It is sui^s^estive of the hope that this work might still he carried on in the southern States, that a resolution forl)i^ conditions and ])rospects. As a result of the deliberations a formal ])aper. containing' an extensive ])reanible and resolutions, was ado])ted without audible dissent, affirmiui; the just claims of the existino^ o()vernment and jjled^iin^- the Church to positive and cordial loyalty to the I'nion in both principle and act. It was de- clari-d that the ])reservation of the national life was indispensable to the interests alike of civil liberty and of evangelical religion, and that those to wdiom this solemn task was si)eciallv committed, were entitled to the sympathy and su]:)port of all o^ood citizens. It was- , therefore recommended to all pastors and congreg'a- tit)ns that continuous ])rayer be o'fifered for the President of the Ignited States, for Con^i^ress. for the 156 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. General commanding the army, and for the soldiers in the field. And inasmuch as slavery was regarded as the irritating cause of the war impending, the Assembly repeated its preceding testimonies against that evil, and counselled that prayers be offered more fervently than ever for its removal from the land. Phis solemn deliverance was sent to I'resident Lin- coln, and the Assembly united in a season of special supplication for the country and its rulers. A day was also nametl, in view of the prospect of material and moral desolation in the country, to be set apart as a day of united fasting, prayer and humiliation be- fore God, with confession of national and personal sins and earnest ])leading that He would even now save the coimtrv from the calamities of civil war. The ■i efforts of the Bible and the Tract Societies in supply- ing bibles and religious literature to the soldiers in camp and field were strongly approved. The Narra- tive for the year recounts but little of special moment in the spiritual history of the Church, but emphasizes the spirit of patriotism prevalent, urges watchful inter- est over those who have entered the army, and ex- presses satisfaction in the fact that the denomination was practically an unit on this whole subject while some other religious bodies were agitated and rent by discussions respecting it. The desolations of civil war, apprehended by the Assembly of 1861, were only beginning to be realized at that date, and were to be experienced in broader and more dreadful forms by the Christian Church in all its branches as well as bv the Nation in all its THREE SrHSEQfEXl' V E.IRS. 157 sections (luriiii:;' tlic years that were to follow. NDr were the Assemblies of ihy ; Introduction to Christian 'Theol.. System of Christian Theology, and a multitude of valuable articles, reviews and discourses. 18<)4. Thomas Bkainerd, D. D., born, Leyden, N. Y., Tune 17, 1804; student at Andover; pastor Cincinnati, 1831-7; Phila., 1837. till his death at Scranton. Pa.. Aug. 22, 1866. Author of Eife of John Brainerd. Assoc. Editor Pres- byterian Quarterly. 158 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. vigorously as possible, and with a fair degree of success. In 1862 it was declared that the salvation of the country was the tirst and highest duty of the ■Church, and in this conviction the body urged all its churches to contribute liberally to the cause of home missions, counseled both diligence and economy in the prosecution of the work, pressed the task of exj)!or- ation especially along the frontiers with the purpose of planting churches wherever these were needed, and trailed loudly ft)r ministers suited to such service. In 1863 the Assembly congratulated the Church on the measure of success attained in this department, de- clared its confidence in the plan of independent action and in the wisdom and et^ciency shown by the com- mittee, asked for the co-operation of every synod and every presbytery, and called again for both means and men to carry on the growing work. In 1864 it was said that the diversity of feeling and counsel respect- ing the policy of the Church in this great field of Christian activity had passed away, — that the receipts in the treasury and the number of laborers had in- creased in a gratifying ratio, — that new regions were opening in the distant west, far beyond the capacity of the Church to supply them. — that some sections ■of the south were already becoming promising fields, — and that the war instead of diminishing was vastly augmenting both opportunity and responsibility. In 1863 and 1864, the subject of theological educa- tion as adjunctive to this missionary work was care- fully considered : existing difficulties were discussed and objections answered: the rules were revised and new provisions and adjustments made: the necessity ORGANIZATION COM I' LET ED. 139 for the plan in hand was strongly argued ; and pres- byteries were exhorted both to greater care in receiv- ing candidates tor the sacred office and to greater effort to secure the recjuisite funds. ( )n the whole, the three years exhibit a gratifying advance in this department, though the cause had not yet gone far beyond the stage of infancy. The story of the other adjunctive agency, church erection, is somewhat sim- ilar, though with less of criticism and adjustment, and a fair degree of success. But the large number of exceptional cases presented, the incc^nsiderate demands of presbyteries and synods, and the palpable inade- quacy of the permanent fund, rendered such success less extensive and thorough than it might have been. The fourth agency, publication, is represented as still struggling with special difficulties, yet more and more proving its right to exist and its value as an effective aid in the church life. ( )ne new agency which was destined to grow into popularity and usefulness was established in 1864 under the title of Provision for Disabled Ministers, including also their families. The strong reasons for such an agencv were recognized bv the Assembly, a tentative plan was drafted, contributions were sohcited from congregations and individuals, and the distribu- tion of such funds was placed for the time in the hands of the trustees of the Presbxterian House. In 1862 an elaborate report on systematic benevolence, as a condition essential to the largest success of the vari- ous agencies of the Church, was adopted and com- mended to the churches. .\ proposition to establish new missions under denominational control in regions 160 MATURITY AX D CONSUMMATION. not occupied by the American Board, though strongly advocated, was decHned on the ground that such a step might imperil the cordial relations subsisting be- tween the Board and the Church. The matter of organic union with the Church C). S. was considered as earily as 1862, but while regret at the separation and the existence of cordial feeling were affirmed, it was deemed desirable to take no action, — one reason given being the possibility of diverse sentiments and judgment respecting slavery and respecting the obligations of loyalty to the govern- ment. In 1863 an invitation to institute fraternal cor- respondence through delegates was accepted, and the hope was expressed that this step might lead to a better understanding of the relations proper to be maintained between the two Churches. In 1864, a more formal declaration was adopted by unanimous vote, welconu'ng all signs of returning love and unity, suggesting reasons why the Churches should come to- gether, and expressing a readiness to enter into full and cordial union on terms that were just and equal. It may be said here that the withdrawal of the southern section from the Church (). S. and other incidents of the war probably explain these conciliatory actions on both sides. It is hardly needful to advert to the various minor proceedings of the three Assemblies : their position on the issues involved in the civil war is in fact the most sienificant feature in their history. What had been said and done at the outset, in 1861, had determined substantially the attitude of the Church throughout, and i)repared the way for all the succeeding action I.OY.ILIY or I'fl/i CIHRCII. 161 \\Iiicli sliiiK'S so hrii^litly in tlic dciK miinalioiial records. Ill each of the three years the dehveraiice of i86i was repeated in elaliorate and emphatic terms. The rif]jht- fuhiess and vahie of the national I'nion and of the p^overnment estabHshed under it. tlie wron^j and the crime of secession, the references to slavery as an institution which secession had been orj^anized to sub- serve, the horror and sin of civil war in such a cause, were all set forth in the strongest kui<^ua^e. Expres- sions of confidence in the ]jrinci])les and purposes of President Lincoln and those associated with him in authority were heartil\- adopted. An official letter manifesting*; the sentiment of the Church was addressed to the President in 1862. and another in 1863. and in 1864 a committee was sent to Washini^ton to express that sentiment in person. .Ml ])astors were instructed to read these deliverances , on the Sabbath to their res])ective cou'^ret^ations, and continual jirayer for the countr\- was enjoined upon all — the .Assemblies settinj.;' the example by re])eated seasons of united supi)lica- tion and stroma cryins.^' before (iod. X'arious [)ractical measures were also uroed. such as carintj for the physical wants of the soldiers. su])])lyinj>" aid to the wounded in camps and hospitals, securing^ the services of cba])lains and other relii^ious hel])ers. providing" reli<^ious literature for distribution, contributing gen- erousK- in every way calculated to sustain the ITnion. 'i'he Christian Commission and the Sanitary Commis- sion, and other similar agencies, were commended for their valuable services. The Narratives of the State of Religion during these three vears reveal the disastrous influence of a 162 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. condition of doniestic war on all religious interests and movements — an influence illustrated most pain- fully in several particulars. But they also indicate that the deliverances of the Assemblies had had a marked effect in the development of patriotism in syn- ods and presbyteries, and that the Church everywhere was standing manfully on the ground so defined. It is stated that large numbers of communicants had joined the armies, and that many of these were show- ing themselves true Christians and loyal men even in the shock of battle. It was also said that in view of the unexampled exigency, and of the evils specially induced by war, such as intemperance and the violation of the Sabbath, many churches and members were thinking and feeling and praying as never before. What is most remarkable is that many revivals of religion are reported as having been enjoyed in various presbyteries during these years, — 14,719 persons hav- ing been added to the churches on profession of faith. All in all. the position of the Church, as thus evidenced, was one of steadfast loyalty both to the country and to the cause of religion, and its course throughout, in both directions, was one of which American Presby- terianism may well be proud in the coming ages. The Assembly of 1865, met in Brooklyn, and was organized by the choice of James B. Shaw, D. D., as Moderator. The civil war had just ended in a final vic- * James Boylan Shaw, D. D., born in New York, 1808; ordained 1834 ; pastor Utica, 1834, and later, Rochester for forty years till his death, May 8, 1890. D. D., Univ. of Rochester. ASSl-MHLV or rS63. 163 ton for the g'ovt'rnincnt and nation, hut the jov whicli such an issue liad excited throughout the loyal States had lieen greatly lessened hy the tragic death of the IVesident whose wisdom, patience, courage and en- ergy had made thai issue possihle. The attendance was large, with full delegations from almost everv presh\terv, and contained an unusual proportion of the leading minds in the Church. It may he imagined that the regular husiness of the Assemhly was carried through with a vigor and a hopefulness such as the restoration of peace in the land would inspire. The work of home missions naturally received the cliief attention. While hoth lahorers and contribut'ons had increased during the year at an encouraging ratio, it was realized that the work to be done had grown much more rapidly. The western field seemed never so inviting or the call from the frontiers more urgent : a vast empire, it was said, was fast growing into greatness, and sanctuaries and the ])reaching of the Word and other evangelizing agencies were needed everywhere. Two presbyteries in Tennessee, with- drawing in 1857, '1^^^^' returned and were received, and a synod was at once erected in that State as a step toward the establishment of the Church in the south- ern sections of the Republic. It was justly felt that the fourteen seceding States, devastated and prostrated by the ravages of war. had still a strong claim on all denominations in the North, and on none more dis- tinctly than upon the body from which the United Synod had withdrawn. The work among the freedmen also presented itself as one of vital moment and of great urgenc\ . .\nd in view of these w^de and varied 164 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. opportunities the Assembly resolved itself to under- take, and also to summon all its churches and member- ship to help in carrying forward in all its branches, this supreme work of home evangelization. F)Ut a task so complex and so great could not be prosecuted with efficiency without the aid of the other three administrative agencies of the Church. The Assembly therefore, while encouraged by the increase of candidates and contributions reported, and by the good condition of its theological seminaries, empha- sized afresh the loud call of Providence for a larger number of trained and devoted ministers to meet the expanding need. As to church erection it was said that, the hindrances occasioned by the war being re- moved, there was now in lioth the west and the S'juth an e.xtraordinarv summons for hel]) in building houses of worshi]) such as would cheer and strengthen the feebler clnu'ches everywhere. Tlu' ])eculiar exigencies of the hour, it was said, also called u])on the Church to print and scatter abroad more freely its religious publications, and presbyteries \yere counseled to em- ploy ministers or other colporteurs in this hopeful form of evangelistic service : and in this connection the religious ])a])ers affiliating with the Church and the (Quarterly Review were strongl\- commencially in the grace bestowed on the clnirches and ministry, confessed the sinfulness of the nation and particularly the sin of slavery whose abolition for- ever was regarded as calling for devout thanksgiving, petitioned for the recognition by the government of everv right of citizenshi]) which might properly be granted to the freedmcn, and finally extolled the Christian religion as the only safeguard and chief glorv of the Re])ul)lic. Xo nobler document than this was issued at this juncture by any branch or section of the Christian Church. REMARKABLE RELlClOrs GROll'TIl. 171 'I'lic three N'arralivcs of Rclii^ion tor the \cars here reviewed are interesting:^ and ini])()rtant as J)ein^ in tile main atithentic acconnts of the condition of the C'hureh, both dutward and internal. The first relates the external prosperitx enjnyrd hy the ehurches gener- alh. the interest shown in moral reforms, in benevo- lence, in the religious inslruction df youth, and specially the revivals enjoved in more than two hundred con- ^g^reg'ations, — descrihinij in general the prosperity of the Church as t^reater than in any ]>revious period, its hel])ful a,e:encies as in effective o])eration, its stand- m^y and influence in the country increasing' steadily, and the smiles of Providence as resting upon it. Sim- ilar statements were made in 1867 and again in 1868: th.' latter testifying es])ecially to the abiding ])resence of the Holy Spirit as certified ])\' marked revivals, by advance in i)ersonal ])ietv and in Christian activity, by a developed church life and better ministerial sup- port, and by ])ractical interest in all church enterprises, particularlv home missions and missions to the freed- nien. The significance of these testimonials becomes a])parent in the remarkable fact, shown in the statistics, that during the three years 34.433 persons had been received into the churches on profession of faith. Such an accession had never been known in the previous history of the Church. Well did one of these Narra- tives say : Looking l^ack over a few years it is easy to see that very remarkable imprcjvement has taken place. A new order of things has comiuenced. The Church has received a new baptism from on high and has l)een invigf)rated with new strength and life. We have gf)tten intti com])lete working order. Having 172 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. ,e:iven u? a great work to do, God smiles upon us in doing" it. Deferring for tlie moment reference to the action of these three Assenibhes respecting Union, we may turn to note the events of 1869, the last year in the independent life and history of the Church. The Assembly was convened in New York, every synod and every presbytery but that of San Francisco being represented. The Moderator chosen was Philemon H. Fowler, D. D.* Though all minds were fixed chiefly on the supreme matter of organic union, the usual business was vigorously and harmoniously transacted, every department of the church work receiving its proper share of attention, just as if the denomination were to continue its independent life. A glance or two at these proceedings must suffice : The cause of home missions was carefully consid- ered in all its varieties, — the rapidly growing west, the feebler churches in the east, city evangelization, care for the inflowing tides of immigration from Eu- rope, provision for the Chinese on the Pacific coast. The general call was declared to be bewildering in its magnitude and importance, and the force of nearly five hundred missionaries in the great field was said to be wholly inadequate. The kindred work among the *Philemon H.\lsted Fowler, D. D., born Albany. N. Y., Feb. 9. 1814; grad. Hobart Coll., 1832 and Princeton Sem., 1836; pastor Washington, D. C. 1836-9; Elniira, 1839- 50; Utica. 1850-74. Died Dec. 19, 1879. D. D., Williams Coll. Author, History of Presbyterianism in Central New York. .ISS/iMBLV OF i86ij. 173 frecdnicn was the subject of a special report in which tlie claims of these needy millions were earnestly set forth, and a general i)lan for their s])iritual sup])l\' was considered. Church erection was also earnestly connnended : the new regulations were said to work well in actual experiment : larger contributions were called for, and the presbyteries were counselled to exercise careful oversight and economy ; and it was said that every dollar given to church erection was ten times that sum saved to home missions. In this connection the anticipated I'nicMi was strongly com- mended as an a.^sured source of new life and useful- ness in the broad task of continental evangelization. Substantial advance was rei)orted in the matter of publication, especialK in the line of Sabbath School literature and in the planting of Sabbath Schools in destitute regions. Enccmraging reports were presented •in respect to education, to ministerial relief, to system- atic beneficence, and these interests were urgently com- mended to the care of ministers and churches. ( )ther matters, such as stability in the pastoral ot^ce. the problem of unemjiloyed ministers and vacant churches, (|uestions in church polity, fraternal correspondence with Canadian Presbyterians and other communions, the Kvangelical .Alliance and Protestantism, the I^ncyc- lical Letter of the Papacy, were all duly considered. The Xarrative of Religion contains various illustra- tions of the prosjx-rous condition of the Church at this jimcture, but its chief significance lies in its account of munerous revivals enjo\ed and of large accessions to the churches. — no less than 9.707 additions on ])ro- fession being re])orte(l in the statistical records. The 174 MATURITY AND CONSUMMATION. accessions for the five years were 50,745. and the net increase for the jieriod was 34,486 — a gain ahnost equal to that of all the five and twenty years preceding. But the interest of the Assenihly was centeretl in the matter of Union ; everything else was considered in its relations to this supreme concern. Prior to 1866, the action on this suhject had heen limited to a friendly interchange of delegates, to the expression of desire for a hetter understanding and some declarations of cordial regard, and to an assurance of readiness to consider organic union on the historic basis of earlier Presbyterianism as soon as Providence should seem to open the way. In that year, both Assemblies being convened in the same city, more decisive steps were taken. In the Assembly ( ). S. a series of resolutions was adopted, containing strong assurances of regard, and expressing an earnest desire for organic union at the earliest moment consistent with recognized agree- ment in doctrine and polity ; and also proposing the appointment of a joint committee to confer respecting the desirableness and the practicability of such union. The assurances of regard and the desire for union were cordially reciprocated, and the proposition was accepted by the appointing of such a committee of conference, under instructions to report to the next Assembly. A joint religious service for fellowship and prayer, and also a joint sacramental service were agreed upon and cordially observed. It was further enjoined upon all ministers and churches to abstain from all that might hinder true Christian fellowship, and to seek the union of all believers, and especially those of like historv, faitii and order. ORG.IXIC rX/OX. 175 In i8()7, a basis of union, containing' certain s})<'cific terms which had been agreed upon by the joint com- mittee, was laid before the Assembly. — the proposal l^eing accompanied bv an elaborate ])aper in favor of union as soon as satisfactory terms and conditions could be reached. The comse of the committee was thus far a])i)roved, and its continuance for another year was agreed upon. It was also deemed wise to submit the ]:)rojK)sed basis tentatively to the considera- tion of both Churches in order to ascertain what modi- fications mij>ht l)e found necessary or desirable. — leaving to future Assemblies the task of revisinp^ the basis, so far as needful, and of submitting; the whole matter, if this were deemed advisable, to the presby- teries as re(|uired l)y the Constitution. In 1868. the joiiU committee presented terms of union in a form soiuewhat modified in order to meet queries and objections which had arisen, and strenu- ously urg-ed the desirableness of union in view of the rapid expansion of the countr\ and the wide oppor- tunity conse(|uent. of the baleful growth of various forms of unbelief and of corrupt religion, and also of the salutary influence that would flow forth from such • union upon other evangelical communions. Two of the terms submitted excited earnest dissent in the Assembly, but in view of the iiuportance of an early settlement of the whole matter, it was agreed to sub- mit the basis as modified to the presbyteries in the form of Overture, — together with the report of the com- mittee by way of ex])lanation. The Assembly also accepted the report of a committee which had been appointed by the two Assemblies to investigate all 176 MATURITV AND CONSUMMATION. questions of property or of vested rights which might stand in any way related to the question of union. P>oth AssembHes also agreed to spend a certain hour during their respective sessions in special prayer for divine guidance in a movement so momentous. When the Asseml)lv met in 1869. it was found that the Overture had been, not indeed without question- ings here and there, almost unanimously approved by the ])resl)yteries. — but four voting directly against it, chiertv to express objection to one or more of the par- ticular terms contained in the basjs as proposed. But it was also found that although a large majority of the presbyteries in the Church. ( ). S. had accepted the basis, with several modifications, a considerable min- orit\- was adverse. It became needful therefore either to abandon the scheme of union for the present, or to endeavor b\' further conference to frame a basis for wliicli broader nnanimitv might be secured. A joint committee was a])iK)inted for this purpose, and while this committee was for some days in session, friendly delegations were sent from each .\ssembly to the other bearing assurances of mutual regard and confidence, joint services for praver were held, and social gather- ings in the interest of closer fellowship were enjoyed. This committee finally presented a Plan of Reunion in which the doctrinal basis was stated in terms more simple, and a ])referable mode of procedure was pro- posed ; and with this F^lan a series of what were termed Concurrent Declarations was also presented as a prac- tical method of adjusting various details involved in the general Plan. This report was unanimously adopte\" ado])tin*T these measures the Assembly comjileted the ecclesiastical orj^anization of the Church so far as this was needful at the outset of the denom- inational life. The second step in the process was the adjustment of the several aj^encies engaged in carrying on the church work. — permanent committees on one side and ])ermanent boards on the other, with their re- spective secretaries and other officials — the general object being to secure practical unity and the highest degree of efficiency in and through these instrument- alities. In respect to the four main departments already efTectively at work in each of the two Churches, comprehensive statements of sphere and method were submitted, and little more was needful than consolida- tion, location, general rules for administration, and the choice of supervisory and executive officers. A glance 184 THE UNION OF 1869. of each of these departments as thus adjusted, must suffice : The Assembly was fully alive to the claim of home missions as primal and central. American society in its present formative state was waiting — it declared — for the institution of pure, simple Protestant Chris- tianity. Never were such imperial opportunities pre- sented for rapid and successful evangelization. This work — it was added — was now assuming before the united Church new proportions and vastly greater im- portance. A Board of Home Missions was accord- ingly planned, two secretaries and a treasurer were elected, the location was defined, some needful provis- ions were made for administration, the necessary legis- lation was provided for, the appointment of district missionaries was approved under prescribed conditions, competent support for missionaries was urged, and the whole Church was encouraged to prosecute this work with a hope of being able to occupy every point of influence in this vast country in the name of the Master. Similar provisions were made for the constituting of three other Boards, to have charge of the depart- ments of education, of church erection, and of publica- tion respectively, with all needful arrangements as to place, office, treasury and sphere. The claim of the Board of Education, with its six hundred candidates for the ministry, was earnestly commended to the sym- pathy and support of all the churches, — especially in view of the widened opportunity and the enlarged de- mand for efficient ministerial service. Some needful adjustments were made in organizing the Board of ADJLSTMEST OI- BOARDS. 185 lliurch l-'.rcotion, and this aj;cncv was also recognized with emphasis as a most vahiahle help in establishing the Church everywhere. — in the cities, on the prairies, along" the railways, and on the shores of the Pacific. The lioard oi I'uhlication as thus organized was com- mended in terms e(iuall\- strong: instructions were given io it respecting Sabbath School literature, psalmod\ and other ])ublications : the a])pointment of colporteurs was advised, and a central house of ])ubli- cation was judged to be an essential adjunct in the prosecution of the work in this (le|)artment. — a work earnestly declared to be one of vital moment to the whole Church. A fifth agency, a Hoard of Foreign Missions, was also established by the Assembly, with provisions and adjustments similar to those just mentioned. The way to such a step had been made clear by a conference with the official representatives of the American Board of Foreign Missions- — a conference eminently friendly and satisfactory, in which proposals for the transfer of certain missions with their property, and for the adjustment of the ecclesiastical relation of the mission- aries concerned, were amicably made and cordially accepted. That venerable institution — as it was de- scribed — was assured of the continued sympathy and good will of the Church, although the Church felt 'tself constrained in the interest of the general cause to assume the entire charge of the missionary work with- in its own jurisdiction. While individual donors were regarded as still at liberty, if such was their prefer- ence, to contribute to the treasury of the American Board, the churches were counseled to sustain the de- 186 THE UNION OF 1869. nominationar agency, now ai)pointe(l, with their means and with their prayers. The work among the freedmen and the provision for the rehef of disabled ministers were carefully con- sidered by the Assembly, and permanent committees — which afterward became Boards — were appointed under suitable regulations to care for these two im- portant interests. The vast significance of the former ■work was strongly emphasized in its bearings both ui)on the religious culture of the colored race and upon the moral welfare of the south and of the whole countr\ . The committee was empowered, acting in conjunct J )ii with the Boards already constituted, to receive and disburse funds, to sustain existing institu- tions and organize others for the education of. the negro population. The committee on ministerial relief received s])ecial instructions in regard to the collection and disbursement of funds, and the cause itself was warmly commended to the churches as one deserving their cordial sympathy and aid. .And with all these various agencies thus established, the Church was fully equipped at the outset of its organized life, for practical endeavor in every department of evangelical and beneficent service. .\11 that tht- experience of lialf a century had suggested as desirable was now in order and fully empowered, and nothing more was needful except a correspondent temper of work and sacrifice, to carry on a truly benevolent, a truly apos- tolic mission for the Church and for mankind. The thirtl ste]) in the process of organization here considered was the adjustment of the relations between SEM/X.-IR/HS .-iXD THE ClILRCII. 187 the Church and the theological .seminaries alreaclv ex- istini;;^ within its ecclesiastical domain. These institu- tions, founded chiefly hefore the .separation of 1837, and acting^ under the auspices of the one or the other of the two uniting^ Churches during that separation, had heen estal)lished and conducted on principles in some res])ects ijuite diverse. Those affiliating with the Church, (.). .'>. had heen constituted hy the Assembly directly, their teachers and managers elected by it, their funds chiefly under its control, and their courses of instruction and their theological teachings subject to its supervision. Those affiliating with the Church X. !^. though they had always been cherished as its s])ecial wards and representatives, had made annual re])(irts to its .\sseml)lies. and were often formallv endorsed by it. were originally founded, as they were afterwards supported, entirely through the generous zeal and sacrifice of Presbyterians acting indei)endentlv in their several localities. Their charters were con- ferred not by ecclesiastical but bv the civil authorities, and their funds and interests were in the hands of boards of trustees or directors whf) were not respon- sible to the .Assem])ly for their administration, and who provided jx'r])etuallv for their own succession, outside of any direct ecclesiastical oversight. To bring two classes of institutions so unlike in their origin and constitution and their antecedent rela- tions to the Churches for whose benefit the\- were severally maintained, under one uniform plan, in one and 'the same sort of relaticmship to the Church of the L'nion. was early seen to be unattainable ; and the .As- sembly of 1869 wisely declared that complete uniform- 188 THE UNION OF 1869. ity was impracticable, and the attempt to secure it altogether undesirable. It was well known that to require the seminaries of the second class to surrender their autonomy, put aside their civil charters, place their funds under the control of the Assembly, and confer on that body a supreme right to elect their teachers and direct their internal administration, or in case of refusal to relegate such seminaries to an inferior position within the Church, or regard as less worthy their claim upon the sympathy and support of the entire body, would have rendered the Union im- possible. A more feasible and equitable scheme was therefore devised. It was agreed that in seminaries of the first class the several boards of directors should have power to fill vacancies in their own number, to elect or remove teachers, to conduct the internal aflfairs of such institutions at their own discretion, — the As- sembly retaining the right to veto any election of direc- tors or instructors, to inquire into the proceedings of the several boards, and to require full account of all funds and transactions whenever demanded. As to the institutions of the second class it was agreed that, while their civil charters could not be altered, or the obligations resting on their boards of trust under such charters be ignored, or their true autonomy in any way disturbed, the Assembly should have the right to ex- press by formal veto its disapproval of the election of any instructor, and so far forth to bring the instruc- tion given in these itistitutions under direct ecclesias- tical control. In the explicit language of one of these boards subsequently adopted, it was agreed that in case any Assembly should by vote express its disap- coNPrnoxs or ixirv. i89 jiroval of any election, such iirofcssorslii]) should from and after sucli vote of the Assenihly he ipso facto vacant. — it not heins;- the pleasure of this board that in such case any such [)rofessor should continue in office. The sciieme thus outlined met on both sides of it the cordial ajijiroval of the Assembly. It was ex- plicitlv declared that this scheme wmld secure all the uniformitv necessary to ensure ^^eneral confidence and satisfaction. Less than this, it was said, mi^i^ht excite jealousv; more than this, it was added, would be cumbersome and undesirable. And when this result was reached with entire unanimity, an eminent leader in the Assembly pronounced such ai^reement a conspic- uous evidence that the whole movement for union was from (iod. And it was added that an agreement so cordial at a point where special difficulty had been apprehended, was an earnest not only of perpetual unity and harmony within the Church, but also of increased efficiency in every department of church work. Such was the sober judgment of the hour; and so far as strict fidelity to this historic covenant has been main- tained, the seminaries of both classes have for a ^ren- eration justified the conspicuous place then granted them among the beneficent and fruitful agencies of the Church. I'ut while the .\ssembly was thus earnestly and wisely occupied with the process of organization and structure in the three directions now described — giv- ing form, coherency, effectiveness to the Church ex- ternally in and through these administrative agencies. 190 THE UXION OF 1869. it was not unmindful of certain interior, more generic conditions on which the future existence and pros- perity of the Church were seen to be no less vitally dependent. Of these conditions the most fundamental was the development of a positive and cordial regard for each other as Christian men and brethren, on the part of all who were henceforth to become members together in the one household of faith. Compliance with this primal condition was as difficult as it was indispensable. There was much to be forgiven and forgotten — much to be changed or greatly modified. The prejudices, the jealousies, the animosities of a generation were to be done away. Estrangement was to give place to unity and rivalry to love. Suspicions as to belief and teaching, diversities of usage or in- terest, the many barriers to personal fellowship which had been set up or had grown up with the years, were all to be laid aside, and a new Caritas like that which Paul commended to the believers of Corinth was to take their place. How difficult this personal task of reconciliation and cordial fellowship was, only those who lived through that eventful period and shared in its ex])eriences can truly apprehend. T)Ut this indispensable culture was not personal and individual only. Churches ' long more or less hostile or rival in their separation were now to be united in common activities, and in many instances to become organically one. Presbyteries were to be composed of men who had lived apart, and possibly lived in antagonism for half a lifetime. Xew associations as well as new boundaries were to be instituted every- where as signs and ])roducts of the union now defined BROrillil^HOOn — fA)).IL'J )\ HI aiul cstaMishcd. The apostcjlic injunction to love the brotherhood was not only to be accepted as a supreme law by each disciple in every congregation, but written also as a golden rule of wide and tender import in the records of every judicatory from session to synod. This was indeed a difficult task — an elevation of dis- position, temper, activity in some directions almost unattainable, but none the less indispensable to the healthful life and growth of the new organism. For it was fully realized that, apart from this interior ex- perience, this spiritual reconstruction, this indwelling and triumphing sense of brotherhood pulsating through its veins, all outward adjustments and provisions how- ever skillfully devised would be but worthless, the union would become a fretting^ bondage as well as a mere outward form, and the Church would inevitably sooner or later fall off into incohering' fragments, and ultimately cease to be. How fully the Assembly real- ized all this — how carefully it carried forward the process of formal organization under the influence of this fundamental conviction, is apparent to every con- siderate reader of its records. A second condition of like nature in the judgment of the Assembly, was the cordial agreement by all parties that the accepted polity of the Church should not only command universal fealty, but should be administered throughout in a free, broad, fraternal spirit and method. — in harmony with the Union itself. It is a fact of history that Christendom thus far has evolved no more effective or beneficent type of church polit}-. if rightly administered : but it is also a fact of history that no Protestant polity works more in- 192 THE UNION OF ISHH. juriously if administered in the temper of tyrannizing power. It was seen to be indispensable to the success of the Union that the extremes of intense ecclesias- ticism on one hand and mischievous laxity on the other should be alike avoided. All tenacious stickling for forms or usages, all dogmatic narrowness or per- sistency, all illicit license or lawlessness, were by the nature of the compact to be excluded. Faithful regard for' the rights of the individual, cordial recognition of all just prerogative, an administration of law as gentle and brotherly as it is just, were to be required of all — acknowledged by all. Both the prescribed prerogatives of the several judicatories and the constitutional limitations of their jurisdiction were to be faithfully regarded. Central- ization of power in the Assembly was to be resisted as a departure from the spirit of the Constitution : indifference to superior jurisdiction or authority in the presbytery was no less a departure. Above all. a broad generosity which could appreciate the fact that in the kingdom of God there are many ways of administra- tion, and could rejoice in practical ends gainerl by whatever process admissible under the common law of the Church, was to be the pervading, controlling spirit in the ecclesiastical sphere. That this was the temper of the Assembly itself is very apparent : that it also sought to enthrone this spirit as a supreme element in the life of the Church for all the future, is no less apparent to the thoughtful student of its records. And so far as the succeeding generation of church judica- tories has recognized and regarded this fundamental condition, the acce])ted and enthroned polity has been. IfARMO.W IN DOCTRINE. 193 iK'vcT an injury, always a lK'l])ful and j^racious clement in the denominational life and history. The cordial recognition by all alike of sul)stantial uniformity in belief and doctrine was the third, and probably the most important among the interior con- ditions on which the Assembly regarded the life of the Church as deper.denl. This uniformity had been affirmed in the Plan of I'nion itself, though the ex- plicit statement of it had been omitted from the final draft of that document. .Ml were agreed that the Symbols were to be interpreted as standards in the Calvinistic or Reformed sense, and in that sense only. It was understood that various methods of viewing, stating, explaining and illustrating the teaching of the Symbols, in accord with that general test, were to be freely allowed in the united Church as they had been in the two separate communions. But the two extremes of Antinomianism aiid Fatalism on one hand, and Arminianism and Pelagianism on the other, were — as the first draft said — to be faithfully shunned by all schools and parties alike. In a word, the uniform- ity affirmed was to rest on a distinctiveh- Calvinistic basis in hanuony. not indeed with every letter nor with the interpretation of any special school, but with the substance and heart of that Confession of Faith to which all alike avowed their allegiance as containing the SNStem of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. This ty]X' or measure of uniformity was in fact that on which the Westminster Assembly itself rested while engaged in setting forth before the world its strong, compact, systematical scheme of faith. It was the type of uniformit\- in which the .\merican I'resby- 194 THE UNION OF 1869. terianisin liad found rest in 1758. after eighteen years of contention over the proper rule of subscription. It was the uniformity which the two separated Churches, after thirty years of disputation and con- flict, gradually came to see and appreciate as the only foundation on which organic imion was possible — on which a reallv broad, comprehensive Presbyterianism could build with vigor and with hope. And there is abundant evidence in the records of the preliminary negotiations, and in those of the Assembly as well, that the Church being organized under its skillful hands was planted doctrinally on this broad, yet firm and distinct and sufficient basis — becoming in the full sense, a Calvinistic Church. But it should be added here that the Assembly in its affirmations and its acts held also that while the Church was to be stanch and positive in opposition to error in whatever form, it was to be in the largest sense free, cordial, catholic, in in- cluding within its sacred circle all of whatever type or school who worthily wore the Calvinistic name. The remarkable catholicity which the Assembly manifested in its own acts, and by its example taught the Church, deserves to be emphasized as still another of the interior, spiritual conditions on whose main- tenance the future growth and power of the denomina- tion were to rest. The Assembly showed in various ways its own broad, cordial, loving disposition toward all men and all communions that had a just place in the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ among men. It welcomed to its convocation repre- sentatives of the Lutheran, the Reformed, the Con- gregational and other evangelical denominations in CATHOLICITY OF THE ASSEMBLY. 195 America, and also delegates from rresbyterian bodies in this country and Canada, and from England, Scot- land and Ireland, and in turn appointed delegates to each of these Churches, it received a fraternal letter from the Pres])yterian Church in distant Bohemia, and resi^onded to it with a cordial assurance of interest and regard, to be bt)rne by a special deputation to the supreme council of that ancient and long persecuted household of faith. It declared thv Heidelberg Cate- chism, the doctrinal standard of the Reformed Church both in America and abroad, to be a valuable scriptural compendium of Christian doctrine and duty proper to be used in family instruction, and in that connection expressed its great satisfaction in the increasing evi- dences of agreement among all those whose symbols maintain in common the faith once delivered to the saints. It also conmiended the free public schools as an essential part of our republican system, conducive to the moral unity, the common spirit and kindly sym- pathy of American citizenship, and avowed its readi- ness to unite with all Christian people of whatever name, and with all good citizens, in supporting and perfecting the plan of popular, as opposed to all forms of sectarian education. The most significant act of the Assembly in this direction was the appointment of a delegation to the Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church, then in session in Louisville, Ky., commissioned to assure that body of the friendly interest cherished toward it, and to propose fraternal correspondence for the future. It was hoped that this might prove an introductory step to closer relations, if not ultimately to organic 1V6 THE UNION OF isv.u. union. The acticjn was not regarded with favor by that Assembly, and the proposal to establish fraternal correspondence was decisively rejected in a formal com- munication in which, among other things, the union between the two northern Cliurches was said to in- volve a total surrender of the historic testimonies of Presbyterianism as to some fundamental doctrines of grace. To this the Assembly responded with an ex- pression of profound regret over the decision an- nounced, and of hope that negotiations might soon be resu'.ned under happier auspices. Twelve long years passed before tliat hoj^e was realized in an exchange of delegates, with mutual expressions of fraternal re- gard. The -Assembly also commended the Historical Society, in which all lVesl)yterian bodies in the country are associated, as an important agency in preserving the records of American rresbyterianism in all its ])ranches. and all memorials of its growth, trials and conHicts. and of those who had been its honored cham- pions in whatever branch. The ])ractical wisdom, the sanctified temper, the tireless assiduity manifested b\- the Assembly in the various directions here described and in others, during its twelve or thirteen working days of existence, lift it into ])rominence as the grandest Assembly ever con- v^ened on this continent — a prominence not likely to be superseded until the meeting at some future day of tb.at .Assembly yet to be. in which all varieties of rreslnternianism, however separate nenv, shall be lirought together organically in one continental com- nu'im'on of belief, order, activity in the service of its ENCoi R.u;i\c; Riii'oh'Ts — sr.■^ tistics. 197 one aiul only Lord and KodocMncr. The Xarrative of Relig^ion adopted hy the Assembly exhibits in an in- teresting' form the j^eneral condition of the Church at the outset of its career. It reports all parties and sections as becoming one in practical synipathy and fellowship, and one in loyalty to the accepted doctrine and polity, and to the one divine and adorable Head. It commends the movements in the interests of home missions and of church extension as in large degree successful. It mentions the work among the f reed- men as showing commendable progress. It represents the Sabbath School interest as encouraging, and urges the establishing of mission schools in neglected dis- tricts, especially in our great cities. It laments the prevalence of Sabbath desecration, of intemperance. and of other social vices, and calls for more strenu- ous effort to counteract such evils. But it also reports the fact of revivals enjoyed in at least eighty presby- teries, and the addition during the year as shown in the statistical tables, of thirty-two thousand members on profession of their faith. It pleads for large in- crease in Christian benevolence in view of the extra- ordinary demand for financial expenditure. And the Assembly crowned all its previous action by calling for the raising of five millions of dollars as an offering of gratitude to God for the Union, and in order to the more eflfective prosecution in all its branches of the grand mission of the Church, as God had clearly ap- pointed. The Minutes of the Assembly of 1870. report the Church as consisting at the date of its organization of fifty-one synods and two hundred and fifty-nine pres- 198 THE UNION OF 1809. byteries ( reduced by the Enabling Act to thirty-four synods and one hundred and sixty-five presbyteries) with 4,238 ministers and 4,526 churches, having an aggregate membership of 446,551. The Minutes of 1837, prior to the disruption, report thirty-three syn- ods, and one hundred and thirty-five presbyteries, com- prising 2,140 ministers, 2,865 churches and 220,557 members. The loss through the two secessions during the interim on account of slavery amounted to at least sixteen synods and sixty-eight presbyteries, with about 1,300 churches and more than 92,000 communicants. -^ Including these figures as representing a real part of the aggregate growth during the thirty-three year? of the separation, that growth may be estimated at 120 per cent, in the number of churches (with a like in- crease in the ministry) and at 135 per cent, in the roll of membership. During the thirty-four years since the Union, the increase in churches and in ministers has been about 80 per cent, and in communicants not far from 140 per cent. These figures seem to suggest the conclusion that the Union has not thus far had the ^ large effect anticipated from it, so far as the annual increase of the Church is concerned. A comparison of the contributions per member for congregational uses and for all benevolent purposes also seems to show no increase but rather a decline in the beneficences of the denomination — a result the more remarkable if the vast accummulation of wealth in Presbyterian hands since 1870 be taken duly into the account. But if comparative statistics should not show that the united Church has grown in numbers and resources since the Union at a ratio superior or even equal to L'XJOX .1 BLIiSSIXG. 199 that of the two combining Churclies (hiring- the period of separation, the l^nion has justified itself fully in other wavs. increase in members or in resources is not always the last or the best measurement of the .growth of any church organism : in the kingdom of God there are other measurements of far greater mo- ment. 'I'he I'nion t)f 1870, whatever may have been the results reported in tlie statistics subsequent, was in many aspects a grand fact accomplished. It was a great thing to terminate a schism and a rivalry which had been prolonged through an entire generation, and which had become a scandal not only to the two de- nominations involved, but to the general cause of Trotestant Christianity. It was a vast gain, not merely in economics, to consolidate into one group of effective agencies the various committees and boards at work in the separate Churches, and so to adjust and improve these as to make them in higher degree useful as de- nominational and evangelizing forces. It was a large advance in government and administration when the differing, somewhat variant conceptions of the church polity were so fully harmonized and unified on the basis of the common Constitution justlv and generouslv interpreted. It was a still larger and more significant advance when the varying types of Calvinism which had been warring bitterly against each other around issues minor and relatively unimportant, were brought together under the banner of a broader, more spiritual unity. — when the long and sad era of disputation was ended in a theological as well as ecclesiastical recon- ciliation. 200 THE UNION OF 1869. Nor was this the whole. It was a noble thing thus to lift up the Presbyterian name into its just promin- ence, to cleanse it from the dust and blood of gladiator- ship, and make it shine with some measure of fitting lustre and of brightening influence. It was a worthy deed to set before the varying, somewhat antagonized sects and parties in the land the winning spectacle of disagreements harmonized, of generous ignoring of old alienations, of unity attained through legitimate con- cessions, and of loving fellowships reigning where dis- cord and alienation had once prevailed. And it was worthiest and noblest of all to secure by this combina- tion of elements and forces a larger capacity for dili- gent and fruitful service in the vast field of spiritual ministration which just at this juncture was opening before the organized Church — a field as wide as the nation, as wide as the world. Assuredly no Christian organization on American soil ever saw a grander opportunity awaiting it, or was consciously better equiped for successful activity as one among the evan- gelizing agencies of the age. These one and all were results actually gained or at least made possible in and through the grand transaction of 1869. And if we are obliged to confess, as we must, that the real- ization at the end of a generation has not equaled the promise or the potency apparent at the beginning, we may still rejoice that the Church has both preserved faithfully the principles and heritages then possessed by it and also has done in this land and in foreign lands a great, if not the greatest possible work for God and His Kingdom among men. HILL ruit rxiox costixue? 201 The task of the historian is ahx'ady ended : the narrative of the g^enesis, evohition, organization, ad- vance, maturity and consummation of tlie Church whose existence l)ej^an in 1837. and was terminated in and with the I'nitinj^ Act of 1869. is now finished. One serious (juestion still remains to confront who- ever thoughtfully reads the simple story — the (lues- tion whether the Church which came into being through that historic Act will continue to live for generations to come, increasing in volume and influence, and pos- sibly including other Presbyterian bodies now sepa- rated within its broadening communion, — or will be- come itself the victim of internal controversies pre- venting such development, and ending possibly in other disruptions or in ultimate decay. It must be con- fessed that no section of Protestantism has exhibited stronger (lisru])tive tendencies than the Presbyterian. Its divisions in I'ritain. especially in Scotland, have been many and marked, although it is justly questioned whether the reasons for separation, with one or two exceptions, had any large significance when contrasted with the fundamental matters in which the separating parties were in both substance and s])irit agreed. The multiplied divisions in America, once or now existing, hardly seem more significant when thus tested. And certainly the presence among us at this late day of so many Presbyterian communions, accepting in nearly all essential features the same standards of faith and order, yet dwelling in separate tents and with ukm-c or less of alien feeling, must be regarded as a I)lemish on the Presb\terian name, as well as a serious hind- 202 THE UNION OF isi;9. ranee to the advancing of that generic system of doc- trine and poHty which all alike desire to uphold. It is impracticable here to do more than merely advert to the causes which underlie or produce such divisions wherever Presl)yterianism exists. They un- doubtedly lie partly in the nature of the system itself : such an extensive and positive symbol as the West- minster Confession, such an elaborate scheme of gov- ernment and order, together with such a type of training and character as these tend to develop, may easily induce diversity instead of concord in their practical operations. \'arious secondary causes sug- gest themselves, — differences of form, usage, observ- ance, worship, for example, such as have often rent asunder or kept apart those who for reasons far deeper ought to have lived happily together within one gra- cious household. It must be confessed also that many less creditable causes, such as the prejudices of race, provincial sentiment, inordinate zeal of party, even po- litical differences, have sometimes been potent — as history shows — in sundering ligaments whose health- ful preservation was essential to the best life in each of the divided communions. The noble Church whose horoscope we are study- ing cannot expect to be altogether free from the in- fluence of such disintegrating causes. In the sphere of doctrine, for example, two conflicting tendencies are always liable to manifest themselves within it, — on one side, looseness in adherence to what is essential in belief, a disposition not always conscious or open to decrv doctrine, disparage creed, exalt personal opinion, encourage erratic notions, and even condone positive rossjHiJi ri-.Rii.s xoted. 203 luresv, — on the otlier an excessive orthodoxy wliich fails to appreciate the real l)rea(hli and lihcral temper of the Sxmhols. insists on verl)al suhscrijjtion. proposes niicr()sco])ic tests of hehef, and hnrsts forth into noisy criticism over everv sho^ht (hver^ence. In the sphere of politv also two kindred liahilities are apparent, — on one hand, the lihertv e^uaranteed nnder the Consti- tution may dej^enerate in exercise into heedless license, the just res^ulations and restraints of law disregarded, autonomy changing into an independency which is in- ditiferent to constituted authority and ever ready to hreak out into schismatic revolution. — on the other, an undue assertion and centralization of power, easily degenerating into an invasion of individual rights or local prerogative, changing possibly into a subtle tyr- anny exercised by adroit minds to the injury or the overthrow of truth or liberty. Questions of organization or administration involv- ing in some cases real principle, in many others simple expedienc\-. mav in like manner arise at various points to disturb the peace or impair the usefulness of the Church. It is an historical fact that Presbyterians are somewhat more likely than other Protestants, first, to invent a wide variety (jf ways to accomplish some desirable end ; then, to discuss at length the relative merit of these ways : and finally, to break up into ])arties around the mere question of method, — too often at last in the heats of controversy losing sight ])racticallv of the object whose attainment all were at first agreed in desiring. The several church Boards for example, furnish constant opportunity for debate as to their iiumlxT and relative value, their organiza- 204 THE UNION OF 1869. tion and modes of working, the persons officially em- ployed, the periodicals or other instrumentalities used in their furtherance. The problem of improvement in these Hoards is one which by the nature of the case can never be settled abstractly or absolutely : imper- fections are as inseparable from such agencies as are the contingencies of accident in a complex machine or of disease in the human body. It is obvious, niore- over, that as the Church grows into continental magni- tude, and takes under its care a greater multiplicity of interests and demands, such questions will inevitably increase in both number and complexity, and wise, just, calm action respecting them, such as will con- serve all conflicting interests and secure the largest attainable results for the whole Church, will become more and more difficult as well as more and more im- perative. These scant suggestions may be sufficient to illus- trate the fact that the life of the Church which we are contem])]ating is always exposed in these various ways to trouble or disaster : conflict, controversy, alien- ation, even division may be said to be always hanging as stormy possibilities over its pathway. Two specific preventives or guarantees against such liability cannot be too strongly enii)hasized. The first of these lies in firm. just, inviolable adherence to the historic com- pact, signed and sealed in the Union tlirough which the Clnirch came into existence. In that comj^act the Church bound itself to be and remain in a compre- hensive and catholic sense Calvinistic ; on one hand receiving the existing standards in their pure and sim- AnilliRliNCli TO COMPACT REQCISITE. 205 pic nicanins^. but oontincd to no s])ecific mode of in- terpretin,^' tlu'sc standards: olu'risliiii!^ j^cnerous toler- ancc toward all who truly accept the "generic system, and meanwhile — in the lanj4ua_ye of the Westminster divines — ever ready to admit and receive any truth not \et attained whenever ( iod shall make it known. In that compact the Church also hound itself to he and remain I'reshvterian : acce])ting' as its formal basis the strong", just, effective i)olit\ cherished alike by the two (.'liurches merged in that Union ; abidin^s^ loyal from the heart to the common Constitution, yet averse to all t\ramn and all undue assumption of ecclesiastical power, and reco.e^nizinq- as admissible no form of ad- ministration which is not sufifused with the irenic and lovin.i^ tem])er of the New Testament. Whatever changes or adjustments may l)e found needful in its a])plication. the orj^i'anic law itself from which the Church derives its name must stand like its system of doctrine unaltered and unalterable. In that compact there were various concurrent de- clarations and agreements, which from the nature of the Cnion were to be no less sacred and inviolable than were the accepted politv and doctrine, and whose faithful observance is hardlv less essential to the pre- servation of the church unitv and life The equal standing of all ministers from either body within the united communion, the organizing of churches on the denominational basis only, the measure of authority due to antecedent rules and precedents, the jjreserva- tion of official records and evidences, the consolidating of corporate rights, the i)reference for church boards abf»ve undenominational organizations, the doctrinal 206 IHE UNION OF 1869. publications permissible, were each and all essential parts or elements in the covenant which made the two Churches one, and these are therefore each and all as perpetual as the covenant in their sacredness. The agreement respecting the equal rights and prerogatives of the theological seminaries existing within those Churches and welcomed with equal cordiality within the Union, has already been mentioned as one of these terms of union. Xo question considered in that com- plex movement was more delicate, no solution of rec- ognized difficulties was more happily received, and no contract was deemed more sacred, or more unchallenge- able. And so long as the Church stands on its granite foundations of belief and government, so long must this article in the compact like the others be preserved in its integrity and its preciousness ; to disturb it by whatever form of subversive disparagement would be treachery to the Union itself. In that entire compact the one ct)mprehensive guar- antee above and beneath all the rest was love, — love overcoming prejudice and alienation, love cementing differences, love solving all problems, love inspiring to mutual ministrations, love blending all elements in holy and enduring concord. It will not be questioned that the one thing which more than every other beau- tified and glorified the memorable transaction of 1869, was the Christian affection which characterized it. That affection was the more remarkable when con- trasted with the bitternesses of 1837, and with all the antipathies and rivalries that followed after the Dis- ruption. It was the upspringing and blooming of a Caritas as divine in its origin as the Gospel itself — LOIH AND LABOR. 207 an un(|ucsti()nal)k' hcstow inent oi the Spirit of God, now nianifestinj'' its supernatural potency where alien- ation and division had ruled before. And in that heavenly ijift Christ oblij^ated the Church to mutual love for all the future — its coalescing bond both of fellowship and of action. And that Caritas can hold the Church continually in doctrinal unity, establish perpetual!}- its polity and <;overnment, render sacred forever all its historic declaratiiMis and covenants, — that and that only. Surelv no branch of His Church on earth is more supremely pledged to live on from generation to generation under the sway of that heav- enly love which in so signal a degree gave it birth. The second preventive and guarantee against the evils or perils which of necessity beset the pathway of the Church is an absorbing devotion to that broad, complex, grand work for which, we may justly pre- sume, Christ gave it being, (iod always ordains the work while He is ordaining and preparing the worker. He gives spiritual life to no man, He vitalizes no body of believers, excepting for some service already planned for and provided. On any other hypothesis such a transaction as the L'nion of 1869 would be whollv in- explicable. How large, how momentous in itself and in its issues that work is for which Christ then brought his alienated peoples together and made them one, the Church created by their union has hardly begun even yet to realize. Ages will be needful to deter- mine its full measurement : eternity alone can compre- hend its magnitude or its worth. On its interior side, it is a work of spiritual development. — the culture of believers in knowledge and in piety, the evolving of a 208 THE UNION OF 1869. nobler Christian manhood and womanhood, the Chris- tianizing of the family, the nurture and training of baptized youth within the household of faith. — in a word, the realization of what has well been called the outpopulating power of the Christian stock, producing successive generations of renewed and sanctified dis- ciples, born and matured within the Church, and through grace endowed for useful service in all the multiplied spheres of Christian activity and culture. On the external side it is a work of conquest, in- cluding all the many activities and agencies through which the great unsaved world may be won for Christ and thnnigh Hiiu brought into the Church. — the planting of churches in his name on our widening frontiers, citv evangelization and rural evangelism, ministrations to the destitute native jiopulation in mcnuitain regions, to the foreign immigrants, to the negro race, the giving of Holy Scripture and of re- ligious literature to the needy and sinning multitudes everywhere, the establishing of Christian charities and homes for the sutTering, and the sending of the Cios- pel and the missionary to all the continents and islands of the wide earth. Development and Conquest, growth from within by virtue of an indwelling spiritual energy, growth from without by virtue of the faithful proclamation of the • ruth of Crod to all classes and conditions of men the world over, — these doubtless are the two regulative laws, these the two aspiring aims, these the two aggre- gated results, for which Christ lias organized and ordained the Church whose horoscope we are con- templating. — for these He has given it unity, strength, J I'Lh'SOX.lL WORD. 209 ri'sniirccs, capabilities as i^rcal as lie has bestow i-il on any rinnvli in our land and time. May it \nn\v worlliN of this gracious, sublime ealliui;. I'or uian\ an aL;e uia\ it continue to be more and more what \\v has planned it to l)ecome, — surrenderinjj itself wholly, consecratino; all its heritaiies and ])o\vers, to Him who conferred upon it so noble a mission. It was the rich ])rivile,ue of tlu' writer of this His- torical Review to receive his ordination to the ministry, more than titty years ai;«>, by the laying- on of hands of the Church whose brief but impressive biooraphy is hero recited. It was also his ])rivilege to stand jovfullv in his place as one of its loyal servitors from the dav of his ordination until its separate existence was ended in the I'nion of iSfxj. He also enjoyed the felicitv of beini;- somewhat in contact during his earlier ministry with somi'. and later on with many of those who were the animatinij and guidint^ minds of that Church, especially durinti' the second and third decades in its independent history. And it may be added that he counts it a si.ynal honor to have had some small share as l)oth preacher and teacher in its experiences, its trials, its efforts and its successes, as it advanced year by year from the sta.^e of organiza- tion to that of stroni^ and noble maturity. It is hardly needful to say that the writer has not been animated consciously in the preparation of this sketch bv anv imindse of ])artizanshi]) or any desire to revive issues long past, or to impugn the'motives or criticise the course of an\ of the actors in the events 510 THE UNION OF 1869. here (lescril")ed — actors who have nmv almost wholly passed into the life immortal. Considerations of quite another class have inspired him. ( )ne motive has been a filial desire to chisel afresh on a tablet more or less enduring the names of those devoted and capable men through whose agency the Church was enabled to grow in a single generation into such fair proportions and achieve such noble results — names already be- ginning, too early, to be obscured by the mosses of subsequent time. Xor is he ashamed to say that his pen has sometimes paused spontaneously, and his page grown dim with tears, as he has remembered how earnestly and how well they wrought for the Church they loved. Another motive has been to bring before the vision of a younger generation this picture of a Church which once came into being through great trial, assumed form and strength with the years, lived out worthily its separate life, and then as worthily gave up an independent existence, in order that the Church of the L'nion might be. To candid and thoughtful minds in this later age, alive to the inci- dents and the teachings of history, such a picture, though traced with a tremulous hand, can hardly fail either to awaken interest in the story told, or to sug- gest profitable lessons for the present and the future. Xor is the writer without the still larger hope that the noble Church, to which he has cordially given a gener- ation of service, and for whose growth and usefulness, in the seclusion of declining years, he offers daily and nightly prayer, might find in this simple narrative a tai:)er to shine along" its jiath. a lesson in faithfulness and devotion, a warning so far as needful, an encour- 211 A FAREWELL. aoement in every form of Christian activity, anf! an assurance of preservation, (levelopmcnt. success in the ages that are yet to come. In this larger hope he ven- tures to offer to tliat Church, as his last word, THIS BOOK OK REMEMBRANCE. Date Due 17"^ ^ A)6 ^ ^4tMr?L?/-^ th IK' ^^JWfcA^ ■«P r '!< ' 2b ^t ST . ---TV wiV 2'' •" » ■'■ "'^•■LIlB* ^- "* 'li '"^G umiiigBjin tmm sm^ MT' f) !.!'^:>ik'>i' '^^i.