708 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



' Robinson, of Louisville, the editor of the "True 

 Presbyterian," denounced these declarations as 

 a perversion of the true Presbyterian doctrine 

 of the relation between church and state. 

 The paper of Dr. Robinson was, in the course 

 of the year, suppressed by the military author- 

 ities, on the charge of disloyalty. That party 

 of the Kentucky Presbyterians which agreed 

 with the majority of the General Assembly of 

 ] 862 had an able organ in the quarterly " Dan- 

 ville Review." 



The New School General Assembly met at 

 Cincinnati, and elected Rev. Dr. George Duf- 

 field, of Detroit, moderator. It was attended 

 by 104 ministers and 86 elders. Strong Union 

 and anti-slavery resolutions were presented by 

 the special committee on the state of the coun- 

 try, through Rev. Dr. Beman, of Troy, and 

 were passed by a vote entirely unanimous. 

 They denounced, in strong terms, the instiga- 

 tors of secession, all who sympathized with it, 

 those in the North who fail to support vigorous- 

 ly the Federal Government, and expressed the 

 opinion that this whole insurrectionary move- 

 ment could be traced to one primordial root, and 

 one only African slavery, the love of it and 

 determination to make it perpetual. The New 

 School General Assembly has some churches 

 in Missouri, Delaware, and the District of Co- 

 lumbia, all of which fully approve of the anti- 

 slavery position of the church. 



The secession of most of the Southern 

 churches of the Old School Presbyterian 

 Church, and the growth of anti-slavery senti- 

 ment in the northern part of the church, 

 suggested the plan of a reunion of the Old 

 and New School Presbyterian Churches in 

 the Federal States. On Jan. 14 the Old School 

 presbytery of Ogdensburgh, and the New 

 School presbytery of St. Lawrence, both of 

 which met at Ogdensburgh, N. Y., held a joint 

 meeting, and unanimously passed a resolution 

 expressive of their desire to be united in one 

 presbytery, one synod, and one general assem- 

 bly. Th e plan of a union was strongly advocated 

 by the Philadelphia " Standard" and Cincinnati 

 " Presbyter" of the Old School, and the "Amer- 

 ican Presbyterian " of the New School Pres 

 byterian Church, and petitions were sent to 

 both the general assemblies for that end. The 

 New School General Assembly passed, with re- 

 gard to this subject, the following resolution : 

 ''That it would give us pleasure to unite in 

 closest fellowship with all persons who can 

 stand with us upon the basis of our confession 

 of faith and book of discipline, and who sub- 

 stantially agree with us on the great moral 

 questions of the day, especially in the matter 

 of loyalty to the Government, and in the views 

 of slavery set forth prior to the division in 

 1836." The Old School General Assembly, 

 which had been addressed in favor of the sub- 

 ject by four presbyteries, showed itself less 

 favorable to this plan, and passed a resolution 

 declaring it inexpedient to take action upon 

 the subject at present. 



In the seceded States the plan of a union 

 between the United Synod, which originated 

 several years ago by separation from the New 

 School General Assembly on account of this 

 latter having passed anti-slavery resolutions, 

 and the newly seceded Old School Presbyteri- 

 an Synod of the South, was likewise proposed 

 on the part of the United Synod, and advocat- 

 ed by the "Christian Observer," which, after 

 the beginning of the war, had been transferred 

 from Philadelphia to Richmond, and Dr. Boyd, 

 of "Winchester, one of the leading men of the 

 church. It was, however, received with little 

 favor by the Old School Presbyterians, who 

 declared their determination to stand by the 

 act of the General Assembly of 1836, by which 

 the New School party was exscinded. The 

 plan of a union was, consequently, dismissed. 



The United Synod suifered, probably, more 

 from the war than any other body of Presby- 

 terians. A considerable portion of its terri- 

 tory Avas, for a shorter or longer period, in the 

 possession of Union troops, and, while the 

 majority of the church, like nearly all the 

 other religious denominations, strongly favored 

 the cause of secession, some leading men, as 

 Mr. Maynard, member of the United States 

 Congress from East Tennessee, were strongly 

 in favor of the Union. 



The General Assembly of the United Presby- 

 terian Church convened at Pittsburg on May 

 21, and elected Rev. Dr. Cooper, of Philadel- 

 phia, moderator. Strong anti-slavery resolu- 

 tions were unanimously passed, and it was 

 resolved to memorialize Congress, conjointly 

 with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, in 

 favor of emancipation. It was also resolved to 

 establish missions in the South, and a commit- 

 tee was appointed to designate the points to 

 which missionaries were to be sent. 



The Reformed Presbyterians, who are split 

 into two parties, generally denominated the 

 General Synod, and the Synod of Reformed 

 Presbyterians, are among the most determined 

 anti-slavery churches in this country. The 

 latter branch still refrains from acknowledg- 

 ing the Constitution of the United States, on 

 the ground that it tolerates slavery. The 

 former branch, the General Synod, has one 

 solitary congregation in the slaveholding 

 States at Fayetteville, Tenn. After the be- 

 ginning of the war, great efforts were made to 

 induce the members of this congregation to 

 sign an oath of allegiance to the Confederate 

 Government, but all refused. Subsequently, 

 the congregation has suffered a great deal of 

 persecution, and most of its members have been 

 obliged to flee to the free States. The annual 

 assemblies of both bodies passed resolutions 

 expressive of their conviction "that, so long as 

 slavery lives, no permanent peace can be en- 

 joyed," and warning the nation " that a com- 

 promise with slavery would be no less danger- 

 ous to the stability of our Government than to 

 the cause of human freedom." 



A portion of the Free Presbyterian Synod, 



