506

terday's report; which was agreed to-yeas | GENERAL CONVENTION OF UNIVERSALISTS, 1864. 26, nays 9, as follows:

YEAS-Clerical: A. W. Bruce of Massachusetts, C. H. Fay of Rhode Island, E. G. Brooks of New York, G. W. Montgomery of New York, D. Bacon of Pennsylvania, Marion Crosley of Ohio, W. J. Chaplin of Indiana, H. F. Miller of Indiana, A. G. Hibbard of Illinois, James Gorton of Michigan, J. S. Dennis of Iowa, G. W. Lawrence of Wisconsin-12. Lay: Dennis Britain of Vermont, J. W. Fairbanks of Massachusetts, J. A. Darling of Rhode Island, Isaac Tinkey of New York, Aaron D. Miller of Indiana, John Heuston of Indiana, Paul B. Ring of Illinois, Hon. Alired Knowles of Illinois, A. G. Throop of Illinois, Hon. G. I. Parsons of Michigan, Ion. W. A. Robinson of Michigan, C. H. Wright of Iowa, H. M. Buttles of Wisconsin, N. H. Iemiup of Minnesota-14. Total, 26.

NAY Clericul: L. I. Fletcher of Massachusetts, C. W. Biddle of New Jersey, George Messenger of Ohio, J. P. Weston of Illinois, J. T. Goodrich of New York-5. Lay: Benjamin Kelley of Maine, Minot Tirrell of Massachusetts, John Osborn of Massachusetts, P. P. Demarest of New York-4, Total, 9.

The report of 17th made by Mr. Dennis, was then adopted, as substituted, yeas 28, nays 7. Same as before, except that Revs. Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Weston changed from nay to aye. GENERAL CONVENTION OF UNIVERSALISTS, 1863. September 15-The body met in Portland, Maine.

September 17-The Business Committee Revs. J. G. Bartholomew, H. R. Walworth, and A. Battles-reported these resolutions:

Whereas the General Convention of Universalists in the United States of America, has ever been distinguished for its loyalty to Government and its devotion to the principles of freedom and humanity; therefore,

Resolved, That in this time of national peril, when the wicked hands of a blood-thirsty rebellion have been raised to strike a death-blow at the Constitution and the laws of the land, and overthrow the liberties of every citizen, we recognize the merciful hand of Providence in the constant and zealous loyalty of the great majority of our people, as well as in the victories which have recently crowned our arms; and while we still appeal to our rulers and the people not to abate their vigor in prosecuting the war until the rebellion is effectually subdued, we yet feel that our trust must be in God, who alone can give us permanent triumph.

September 20-The body met in Concord, N. H.

September 21-The report of the Committee on the State of the Country-J. V. Wilson of Conn., P. B. Ring of Ill. and Revs. M. Goodrich of R. 1., Richard Eddy of Penn., L J. Fletcher of N. Y., and J. M. Usher of Mass.,was unanimously adopted, as follows: scourged for years still continues, and makes additional demands on our courage, energy, patience and faith; there

Whereas the fearful war with which our nation has been

fore

Resolved, That we recognize in it the punishment of our can not therefore hope for the return of peace through people for their persistent arrogance and oppression. We efforts to rivet anew the chains of the bondinan, or to perprofessions of love for liberty and the support of slavery. petuate the former glaring inconsistencies between our 2. That while we deplore the bloodshed, costliness and agonies of war, and earnestly pray for peace, we yet deem treason is to be rebuked or petted and fondled, a delusion a cessation of hostilities which leaves it unsettled whether and a snare. If followed by attempts to bribe traitors to return to a nominal allegiance by the promise of surrendering to their vengeance two hundred thousand colored men, who are now bravely battling in our armies for Union and order, it would show such dastardly perfidy in our Government, as would call down on our nation the stern displeasure of a righteous God, and condemnation from all good men; such attempts would sound the knell of our Union, the shipwreck of our country.

3. That while we gratefully accord the meed of praise to Grant, Sherman, and their brave associates in command on the land, and to Farragut, Stringham, Porter, and the other noble commanders on the sea, for their valor and skill, we desire to place on record our admiration for and gratitude to the common soldiers and sailors, who, with little hope of distinction and fame, have cheerfully periled their lives for country and humanity. While so many are found ready to serve, as well as to be served, to follow as well as to lead, we will not despair of the Republic.

4. That while we recollect that it was not alone by the sword of Joshua, but also by the uplifted arm of Moses, that Israel prevailed over Amalek of old, we recognize the power of earnest, trustful prayer. Most reverently, therefore, will we continue to supplicate the God of Sabbaoth, that justice and equity may be done in our land; that anarchy and misrule may be checked; that righteousness may triumph, and peace speedily return; and that the Lord God may lift his face upon us and bless us.

ATIONS.

2. That we renew our expressions of Christian fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and reaffirm our confidence YOUNG MENS' CHRISTIAN ASSOCIin our Chief Magistrate, whose honesty of purpose stands unimpeached; and that we recognize in his Proclamation of January 1st, 1863, a carrying out of the injunction of Scripture to "break every yoke and let the oppressed go free."

3. That we recognize the wisdom which prompted our fathers in their struggle for National Independence to arm the negro in securing our freedom, and are sanguine in the belief that a similar policy adopted at this time, which shall call the blacks to share with the whites in the perils and sacrifices of our present struggle, and secure to them the blessings of a common freedom, will be equally effectual in re-establishing order among us, and striking at the root of this cruel rebellion," so that when peace comes, it will come so as to stay, and be a peace worth having."

4. That the President of this Council be instructed to

forward to the President of the United States a copy of

these resolutions.

The first resolution was adopted. On the second, the vote was:

NATIONAL CONVENTION OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRIS

TIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND
THE BRITISH PROVINCES, 1863.

May-The body met in Chicago. Delegates were present from most of the Northern States, the District of Columbia, Canada and England. The Association was presided over by George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, and passed the following resolutions:

Resolved, That we hereby reaffirm our unconditional Joyalty to the Government of the United States, and our de termination to afford every required and Christian aid for

the suppression of the infamous rebellion.

Resolved, That we are gratified by the steps already taken by the Administration for the removal of the great sin of slavery-"the sum of all villanies"-and must express our candid conviction that the war will last so long as its cans morally exists, and that when we as a nation do fallyright, God will not delay to give success to our arms.

Resolved, That it is no time to confound liberty with law

YEAS-Clerical: A. Battles, F. A. Hodsdon, B. F. Bowles,
Eli Ballou, T. R. Spencer, J. S. Barry, Benton Smith, A.
M. Rhodes, Thomas Borden, H. Blanchard, C. W. Tomlin-
son, H. R. Walworth, Richard Eddy-13. Lay: Hon.
Israel Washburn, E. F. Beal, W. A. Vaughn, Moses Ilum-lessness. We cherish the dearest boon of freedom with j‹s
phrey, E. C. Starr, E. C. Fuller, J. M. Sargent, Benjamin
Spinney, G. W. Hall, Willard Goldthwaite, H. J. Angell,
Paschal Converse, James Cooper, N. Van Nostrand, G. W.
Barnes, J. J. Van Zandt, David Tappen-17. Total, 30.
NAYS-Clerical: G. L. Demarest and George Messenger
Lay: avid Tichenor of New Jersey-1.

Obin

lous vigilance, but remember that true freedom can only continue under restraints, and exist at all as guarded by

law.

Resolved, That neither is this a time for doubtful, timid measures. The counsels of time-serving, self-seeking, r consistent politicians are not to be heeded; but the lond

ple, the heroic demands of our teeming of unselfish and up

Resolved, That we remember with honest gratitude the noble and immense work accomplished by the Young Men's Christian Association of our land, and the sanitary and spiritual fields opened up by the providence of God for our willing hearts and hands, and pledge that we will continue to pray for our army and navy and to meet their wants in the future with greater fidelity, if possible.

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FOREIGN
MISSIONS.

October, 1864-At the recent meeting of the Board in Worcester, Massachusetts, Rev. Albert Barnes was, by unanimous vote, granted leave to present a series of important resolutions without the reference of the same to a special committee. The preamble and resolutions are as following:

Whereas this Board is called upon to conduct its operations at an important crisis of our country, the result of which must materially affect the missionary cause in time to come; and

Whereas this Board has on former occasions expressed its sense of the system of slavery in our country, which lies at the foundation of the present effort to overcome our civil institutions and to establish a separate government in our land; and

Whereas the missionaries of this Board have with entire ananimity expressed their interest in the cause of the country in its endeavors to maintain the Government, and have freely given their sons to the defence of the nation in its present crisis; therefore

Resolved, 1st. That this Board receives with affectionate sympathy these expressions of the interest thus manifested by those in its service, and the sacrifices thus made.

V. The Board shall have power to fill any vacancies occurring therein during the year, and shall be styled, "The Board of Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, for the Freedmen of our Southern States."

VI. To this Board shall be intrusted, with such directions and instructions as may from time to time be given by the Assembly, the superintendence of the Freedmen Missionary operations of the Church.

VII. The Board shall make to the Assembly an annual report of its proceedings, its condition, and its needs, and shall submit for approval such plans and measures as may be deemed necessary or useful.

VIII. To the board shall belong the duty, though not aries and Agents, and of designating fields of labor: to the exclusive right, of nominating and appointing Missionthem shall belong the duty of receiving the reports of the Corresponding Secretary; of giving him needful directions in reference to all matters of business and correspondence intrusted to him; of preparing for the Assembly estimates of all appropriations and expenditures of money; and of taking the particular direction and oversight of the Freedmen's missionary work, subject to the revision and control of the Assembly.

IX. All property, houses, lands, tenements, and permanent funds belonging to the Board, shall be taken in the name of the Trustees of the Assembly, and held in trust by them for the use and benefit of "The Board of Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of North America for the Freedmen of the South."

X. The Board shall have power to enact its own By-Laws. XI. This Constitution shall not be changed, unless by a vote of two-thirds of the General Assembly present at any of its sessions, of which notice shall be given at least one day previously.

XII. The Board shall submit an abstract of its condition, proceedings, wants, and plans, to the several Synods of the Church at their annual meetings.

As some Presbyteries have already taken action upon this subject, and have agencies on the field, your committee recommend the following resolutions:

Resolved, 2d. That in connection with the purpose to spread the Gospel through the world, the results of the contest on the cause of missions, and in view of diffusing a religion that will be everywhere adapted to sustain just Resolved, 1. That the doings of the Presbyteries of civil government and the principles of liberty, and that Wheeling, Muskingum, Chartiers, and 1st Presbytery of shall tend to deliver the world from the oppression of sla- Ohio, be recognized and approved, and after the organizavery, as well as in the relation of its members to the Gov- tion of this Board it shall be the duty of these agencies to ernment of this land, and their duty to sustain that Gov-report their doings and resources to said Board. ernment, this Board expresses its hearty sympathy in the efforts to suppress the rebellion, and gratefully acknowledges the divine interposition in the successes which have attended the arms of the nation, as an indication that we shall again be one people, united under one glorious Constitution, united in our efforts to spread the Gospel around

the world.

The resolutions were seconded by Rev. Dr. Brainerd, of Philadelphia, and unanimously adopted, the audience rising en masse and spontaneously singing

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty, &c.

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.

The following arrived too late for insertion in their proper place, page 474:

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED PRESBYTE

RIAN CHURCH, 1863.

May 27-The body met in Xenia, Ohio.

Resolved, 2. That such Presbyteries as may prefer it are hereby authorized to select their own mission field, procure their own laborers, and conduct their missions in their own way, provided that they report to the Board the location of their respective fields, the laborers employed and the amount of funds collected and disbursed.

Your committee would recommend the following persons as members of the Board of Missions to the Freedmen of the South:

Revs. J. B. Clark, Charles A. Dickey, J. W. Baine, J. G. Barnes, W. J. Reid, G. C. Vincent, and Messrs. John Dean, James Robb and James Mitchell, with power to fill vacancies.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED PRESBY-
TERIAN CHURCH, 1864.

May 25-The body met in Philadelphia.
June 2-The following report of the Com-
mittee on Bills and Overtures-Revs. S. Wilson,
D. D., S. Wallace, William Davidson, Wm. M.

June 4-The report of the special Commit-McElwee, D. D., and Elders Jno. Dean, H. Wartee on the "freedmen of our Southern States" nock, Thomas McAlister-was adopted: -Revs. G. C. Vincent, J. B. Johnston, John Van Eaton, and Elders William Walker and D. Mitchell-was adopted, as follows:

That in the interests of the United Presbyterian Church a Board be created for this special purpose, and that the following Constitution be adopted with a view to secure the objects contemplated:

CON-TITUTION OF THE BOARD OF MISSIONS FOR THE FREEDMEN
OF THE SOUTH,

I. There shall be a Board of Missions for the Freedmen, to be appointed by and amenable to the Assembly.

II. It shall consist of nine members, who shall hold their office three years, and five of whom shall constitute a quorum. Of those first chosen three shall go out of office annually in the order of their names; and thereafter three shall annually be elected by the Assembly.

III. The Board shall be located in the City of Allegheny. IV. The Board shall meet quarterly, and as much oftener as necessary; and shall hold its first meeting on the 4th of July, 1863, at ten o'clock, A. M., in the Second Church.

The Committee on Bills and Overtures beg leave to rethe first from G. D. Henderson and S. Collins; the 2d from port on three papers submitted to them by the Assembly; S. Wilson and A. M. Elliott; and the 3d from S. Livingston and W. M. McElwee, as follows:

I. The paper of G. D. Henderson and S. Collins asks for the appointment of a committee to prepare an address to President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, and Lieut. General Grant, embodying the following items:

1st. An assurance of the deep sympathy and earnest cooperation of this Assembly and of the people whom we represent, with the Government in its present trials and worthy efforts to maintain the principles on which it is based.

24. The great satisfaction we have enjoyed in observing their recognition of the facts-" that God alone can organize victory," "that we need the Divine favor," and that we are warranted to expect this favor only in the way of a dutiful regard to His will as Governor among the nations.

3d. An assurance that we gladly recognize this favor in the successes which have attended the movements of our armies on the Potomac and in Georgia, and that it is only

in the continuance of this favor that we can hope for final | CHARLESTON (S. C.) PRESBYTERY, (OLD SCHOOL),

Buccess.

That an address of the nature contemplated in the paper of these brethren should go forth from this Assembly, it

appears to your Committee, is highly proper. We therefore

recommend for adoption the following resolution, viz: Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to prepare, at their earliest convenience, an address such as the paper of these brethren contemplates, and forward it to President Lincoln and his Cabinet.

II. The paper of S. Wilson and A. M. Elliott asks that a Committee be appointed to report whether any, and if so, what advice should be tendered by this Assembly to our National Executive, touching the morality of retaliation as a means of preventing the continuance of the cruelty and barbarity which has been practiced upon our soldiers by our rebel enemies. As this paper was presented under the impression that President Lincoln was hesitating on the question of retaliation, your Committee think Lo action is needed in the premises by this Assembly, as we have been informed that the President has already decided the course to be pursued by him, and that retaliation is being already practised to some extent by the Union army. We therefore recommend that this paper be dismissed. III. The paper of S. Livingston and W. M. McElwee asks for the adoption of the following resolution: That this Assembly hails the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln as a measure of high military importance and necessity, and statesmanlike in striking at slavery, the root, cause, and strength of the rebellion, and that we recognize in it the voice of God speaking as he did to his ancient people Israel, saying by it to us," Break every yoke and let the oppressed go free." The Committee present this resolution in another form, and recommend that in this amended form it be adopted, viz:

1861.

July 25-The body met in Columbia, when the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, The relations of the State of South Carolina, of ten other adjacent States, and of the people thereof, with the other States and people previously composing the United States of America, have been dissolved, and the former united in the separate and independent Government of the Confederate States of America, thereby making a separate and independent organization of the Church within the said Confederate States desirable and necessary, in order to the more faithful and successful fulfilment of its duty to its Divine Lord and Master; and whereas, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, by the adoption of a paper known as Dr. Spring's Resolutions, ignoring the establish ment of the Government of the Confederate States of America, and disregarding our rights, privileges, and duties as citizens thereof, enjoined our allegiance to, and support of, a Government foreign and hostile to our own, and required us not only to yield obedience to a political power which we, in common with our fellow-citizens of all classes and all churches, have disowned and rejected, but also to act as traitors and rebels against the rightul and legal authorities of the land in which we live; and whereas these resolutions of the General Assembly require us to continue united to a people who have violated the Consti tution under which we were originally confederated, and broken the covenant entered into by their fathers and ours; and whereas, the said action of the General Assembly in the United States of America, demands of us and all members of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States, the approval and support of the wicked and cruel war now waged by the other States of the former United States of America against the States and people of the Confederate States, against our fellow-citizens, against our friends and neighbors, against our own households and ourselves; and whereas, we do most heartily, with the full Insurrec-approval of our consciences before our Lord God, unanimously approve the action of the States and people of the Confederate States of America; therefore,

Resolved, That without expressing any judgment on the military importance and necessity, or the statesmanlike character of the Proclamation, we hail it as obedience to the voice of God, calling us, as he did his ancient people, Let the oppressed go free and break every yoke.

Action of Churches in the tionary States.

PRESBYTERIAN.

PRESBYTERIAN (OLD SCHOOL) SYNOD OF SOUTH
CAROLINA, 1860.

Be it resolved by the Charleston Presbytery,

1. That the ecclesiastical relations heretofore subsisting between this Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America are dissolved; that we do not recognize the right or authority of the General Assembly to adopt the resolutions above referred to; and that we

December 3-Report of committee unani- disown and repudiate those resolutions, both in their letter mously adopted, closing thus:

The Synod has no hesitation, therefore, in expressing the belief that the people of South Carolina are now solemnly called on to imitate their Revolutionary forefathers, and stand up for their rights. We have an humble and abiding confidence, that that God, whose truth we represent in this conflict, will be with us, and exhorting our churches and people to put their trust in God, and go forward in the solemn path of duty which his Providence opens before them, we, ministers and elders of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina Synod assembled, would give them our benediction, and the assurance that we shall fervently and unceasingly implore for them the care and protection of Almighty God.

Several of the Presbyteries of the Old School Presbyterian Church in the Seceded States held their regular fall meetings in 1861, and, without exception, passed acts of separation from the General Assembly of the church, and appointed delegates to attend at Augusta, Georgia, on the 4th of December, for the purpose of forming a General Assembly of the Southern Confederacy portion of the denomination which was done.

1861, July 24-The Presbytery of South Alabama met at Selma, and declared severed its ecclesiastical connection with the General Assembly of the United States, and recommended a meeting of a Confederate States Assembly at Memphis, on the 4th of the next December, suggesting, for a preliminary convention, if such be desired, Atlanta as the place and August 15th the time.

and their spirit, as having no authority over us, and as entitled to no respect or consideration from us.

2. That in the judgment of this Presbytery, it is expedi ent and necessary that the Presbyterian Churches in the Confederate States should formally separate themselves from the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and establish a separate and independent ecclesiastical organization.

3. That this Presbytery heartily approves of holding s Convention of all the Presbyteries in the Confederate States, for the purpose of considering this whole matter, securing the united and harmonious action of the whole Church, and devising and recommending such measures as may be necessary fully to organize the Church in the Con

federate States.

4. That this Presbytery will proceed to appoint two ministers and two ruling elders, with alternates, to attend such Convention, who shall be authorized to advise and act the Confederate States, as in their judgment may seem with similar delegates appointed by other Presbyteries in best; the action of said delegates and of the Convention to be submitted to this Presbytery for its action thereon. place, and the 15th of August next as the time, for the 5. That this Presbytery prefers Atlanta, Ga., as the meeting of the proposed Convention, but that our delegates be authorized and instructed to meet at any time or place that may be agreed on by the majority of the Presbyteries appointing similar delegates, previous to the next stated meeting of this Presbytery.

GENERAL

JOHN DOUGLAS,
Stated Clerk.
ASSEMBLY OF
THE PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH IN THE CONFEDERATE STATES, 1861.
December 4-The body met in Augusta,
Georgia-35 ministers and 38 elders present.
Same day-A Committee consisting of James
H. Thornwell, D. D., Theodoric Pryor, D. D.,
C. C. Jones, D. D., R. B. White, D. D., W. D.

Moore, D. D., J. H. Gillespie, J. I. Boozer, R. W. Bailey, D. D., and Frederick K. Nash, Ministers; J. D. Armstrong, Charles Phillips, Joseph A. Brooks, W. P. Finley, Samuel McCorkle, William P. Webb, William L. Black, T. L. Dun-mitted to enter the Church Courts, there must be an end

We should be sorry to be regarded by our brethren in any part of the world as guilty of schism. We are not conscious of any purpose to rend the body of Christ. On the contrary, our aim has been to promote the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. If we know our own hearts, and can form any just estimate of the motives which have governed us, we have been prompted by a sincere desire to promote the glory of God, and the efficiency, energy, har-in the idea of duty. But even duty is viewed by each in mony, and zeal of his visible kingdom in the earth. We have separated from our brethren of the North as Abraham separated from Lot-because we are persuaded that the interests of true religion will be more effectually subserved by two independent Churches, under the circumstances in which the two countries are placed, than by one united body:

510

Assembly at Philadelphia, it is possible that the ecclesias-
tical separation of the Northr and the South might have
been deferred for years to come. Our Presbyteries, many
of them, clung with tenderness to the recollections of the
past. Sacred memories gathered around that venerable
Church which had broasted many a storm and trained our
fathers for glory. It had always been distinguished for its
conservative influence, and many fondly hoped that, even
in the present emergency, it would raise its placid and
serene head above the tumults of popular passion, and bid
defiance to the angry billows which rolled at its feet. We
expected it to bow in reverence only at the name of Jesus.
Many dreamed that it would utterly refuse to know either
Confederates or Federalists, and utterly refuse to give any
authoritative degree without a "Thus saith the Lord." It
was ardently desired that the sublime spectacle might be
presented of one Church upon earth combining in cordial
fellowship and in holy love-the disciples of Jesus in
different and even hostile lands. But, alas! for the weak-
ness of man, these golden visions were soon dispelled.
The first thing which roused our Presbyteries to look the
question of separation seriously in the face, was the course
of the Assembly in venturing to determine, as a Court of
Jesus Christ, which it did by necessary implication, the
true interpretation of the Constitution of the United States
as to the kind of government it intended to form. A
political theory was, to all intents and purposes, pro-
pounded, which made secession a crime, the seceding States
rebellious, and the citizens who obeyed them traitors. We
say nothing here as to the righteousness or unrighteous-
ness of these decrees. What we maintain is, that, whether
right or wrong, the Church had no right to make them-
she transcended her sphere, and usurped the duties of the
State. The discussion of these questions, we are sorry to
add, was in the spirit and temper of partizan declaimers.
The Assembly, driven from its ancient moorings, was
tossed to and fro by the waves of popular passion. Like
Pilate, it obeyed the clamor of the multitude, and though
acting in the name of Jesus, it kissed the sceptre and
bowed the knee to the mandates of Northern phrenzy.
The Church was converted into the forum, and the Assem-
bly was henceforward to become the arena of sectional
divisions and national animosities.

terians of Scotland, and the Presbyterians of this country
constitute a Church, in like manner, distinct from all other
Churches on the globe. That the division into national
Churches, that is, Churches bounded by national lines, is,
in the present condition of human nature, a benefit, seems
to us too obvious for proof. It realizes to the Church Catho
lic all the advantages of a division of labor. It makes a
Church organization homogeneous and compact-it stimu-
lates holy rivalry and zeal-it removes all grounds of
suspicion and jealousy on the part of the State, What is
lost in expansion is gained in energy. The Church Catho
lic, as thus divided, and yet spiritually one, divided, but
not rent, is a beautiful illustration of the great philosophi-
cal principle which pervades all nature-the co-existence
If it is desirable that each nation should contain a sepa-
of the one with the many.
rate and an independent Church, the Presbyteries of these
Confederate States need no apology for bowing to the
decree of Providence, which, in withdrawing their country
trom the government of the United States, has, at the
the Church of their fathers. It is not that they have
same time, determined that they should withdraw from
ceased to love it-not that they have abjured its ancient
principles, or forgotten its glorious history. It is to give
these same principles a richer, freer, fuller development
among ourselves than they possibly could receive under
foreign culture. It is precisely because we love that
Church as it was, and that Church as it should be, that we
have resolved, as far as in us lies, to realize its grand idea
in the country, and under the Government where God has
cast our lot. With the supreme control of ecclesiastical
affairs in our hands, we may be able, in some competent
measure, to consummate this result. In subjection to a
foreign power, we could no more accomplish it than the
Church in the United States could have been developed in
dependence upon the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
The difficulty there would have been, not the distance of
Edinburgh from New York, Philadelphia, or Charleston,
but the difference in the manners, habits, customs, and
ways of thinking, the social, civil, and political institutions
of the people. These same difficulties exist in relation to
ly proper that the Church in each should be as separate
the Confederate and United States, and render it eminent
In addition to this, there is one difference which so radical-
and independent as the Governments.
that it is becoming every day more and more apparent
The antagonism of Northern and
that the religious, as well as the secular, interests of both
will be more effectually promoted by a complete and
lasting separation.
Southern sentiment on the subject of slavery lies at the
The Presbyterian
root of all the difficulties which have resulted in the
dismemberment of the Federal Union, and involved us in
the horrors of an unnatural war.
Church in the United States has been enabled by Divine
grace to pursue, for the most part, an eminently conser
vative, because a thoroughly scriptural, policy in relation
to this delicate question. It has planted itself upon the
Word of God, and utterly refused to make slaveholding a
sin, or non-slaveholding a term of communion.
though both sections are agreed as to this general principle,
it is not to be disguised that the North exercises a deep
and settled antipathy to slavery itself, while the South is
equally zealous in its defence. Recent events can have no
other effect than to confirm the antipathy on the one hand
and strengthen the attachment on the other. The North-
ern section of the Church stands in the awkward predica
evil which ought to be abolished, and of asserting in the
ment of maintaining, in one breath, that slavery is an
next, that it is not a sin to be visited by exclusion from
communion of the saints. The consequence is, that it
plays partly into the hands of abolitionists and partly into
the hands of slaveholders, and weakens its influence with
both. It occupies the position of a prevaricating witness
whom neither party will trust. It would be better, there
fore, for the moral power of the Northern section of the
Church to get entirely quit of the subject. At the same
time, it is intuitively obvious that the Southern section of
the Church, while even partially under the control of those
who are hostile to slavery, can never have free and unim
peded access to the slave population. Its ministers and
In the present circumstances, Northern alliance would be
elders will always be liable to some degree of suspicion.
absolutely fatal. It would utterly preclude the Church
too dear a price to be paid for a nominal union. We can
from a wide and commanding field of usefulness. This is
not afford to give up these millions of souls and consign
them, so far as our efforts are concerned, to hopeless perd
tion, for the sake of preserving an outward unity which
heartily and in earnest, for the work which God has set le
after all, is an empty shadow. If we would gird ourselve
have the control of our ecclesiastical
and independent

We frankly admit that the mere unconstitutionality of
the proceedings of the last Assembly is not, in itself con-
sidered, a sufficient ground of separation. It is the conse-ly and fundamentally distinguishes the North and the South,
quences of these proceedings which make them so
offensive. It is the door which they open for the intro-
duction of the worst passions of human nature into the
deliberations of Church Courts. The spirit of these pro-
ceedings, if allowed to prevail, would forever banish peace
from the Church, and there is no reason to hope that the
tide which has begun to flow can soon be arrested. The
two Confederacies hate each more intensely now than they
did in May, and if their citizens should come together
upon the same floor, whatever might be the errand that
brought them there, they could not be restrained from
smiting each other with the fist of wickedness. For the
sake of peace, therefore, for Christian charity, for the
honor of the Church, and for the glory of God, we have
been constrained, as much as in us lies, to remove all
occasion of offence. We have quietly separated, and we
are grateful to God that, while leaving for the sake of
peace, we leave it with the humble consciousness that we,
ourselves, have never given occasion to break the peace.
We have never confounded Cæsar and Christ, and we have
never mixed the issues of this world with the weighty
matters that properly belong to us as citizens of the King-

2. Though the immediate occasion of separation was the course of the General Assembly at Philadelphia in relation to the Federal Government and the war, yet there is another ground on which the independent organization of the Southern Church can be amply and scripturally maintained. The unity of the Church does not require a formal bond of union among all the congregations of believers throughout the earth. It does not demand a vast imperial monarchy like that of Rome, nor a strictly universal council, like that to which the complete development of Presbyterianism would naturally give rise. The Church Catholic is one in Christ, but it is not necessarily one visible, all-absorbing organization upon earth. There is no schism where there is no breach of charity.

Churches may be perfectly at one in every principle of faith and order, and yet geographically distinct, and mutually independent. As the unity of the human race is not disturbed by its division into countries and nations, se the unity of the spiritual seed of Christ is neither broken nor impaired by separation and division into varisus Church constitutions. Accordingly, in the Protestant