REFOKMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



339 



ing the Covenanters in New York, Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland. 

 Virginia, and Pennsylvania, as far as the Ohio River. 

 He chronicles the names of the families he visited. 

 In 1759 Rev. Alexander McDowell left the Presby- 

 terian Church and joined the Covenanters, being in 

 sympathy with them in their adherence to the Solemn 

 League and Covenant and the usages of the Church 

 of Scotland. He ministered mainly to the New 

 England societies, but was also in Eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania, whence returning to New England in 1761 his 

 further history in not known. In 1766 the Reformed 

 Presbytery of Ireland sent out Rev. Daniel McClel- 

 land. He had been in America, but went back and 

 pursued his theological studies, being ordained in 

 1705. He preached fora time among the societies in 

 Connecticut and Eastern Pennsylvania, going in the 

 spring of 1768 to New England and was lost sight of. 

 In 1772 Rev. William Martin (1729-1806) came from 

 Ireland with a colony, which settled in South Carolina 

 on Rocky Creek. He graduated at Glasgow in 1753, 

 and was ordained at Vow on the lower Harm, the first 

 Covenanter minister ordained in Ireland. In the 

 spring of 1773 the Paxtaug society sent a commis- 

 sioner to Ireland to secure ministerial help for Mr. 

 Cuthbertson. Rev. Alexander Dobbin and Rev. Mat- 

 thew Linn answered the call and were met at Philadel- 

 phia Dee. 13, 1773, by Mr. Cuthbertson. These three 

 ministers constituted the first Reformed Presbytery in 

 America, March 10, 1774. Each had his field of labor 

 in Eastern Pennsylvania, Mr. Martin, the fourth 

 Covenanter minister then in America, laboring in 

 South Carolina. 



This brings us to the eve of the Revolution. The 

 trials of the fathers in Scotland had led them to nar- 

 rowly examine the principles of civil government, and 

 Lex Rex by Samuel Rutherford, the Hind Let Loote 

 by Alexander Shields, and Jia Ponuli Vindicutnm 

 snow their conclusions. Their children were filled 

 with democratic ideas and were not only in sympathy 

 with the rising spirit of the colonies but were in the 

 van. The covenanting of 1743 at Octorara had chal- 

 lenged the attention of the provincial governor. JI r. 

 Craighead spread their principles in Carolina, and the 

 members of the convention at Charlotte that formed 

 the first declaration of independence, May, 1775, 

 known as the Mecklenburg Declaration, were members 

 <if the churches he had founded. Thomas Jefferson 

 had before him the account of the proceedings at 

 Octorara when he penned the Declaration of 1776, and 

 the Mecklenburg Declaration is also reflected in it. 

 July 2, 1777, Rev. John Cuthbertson and many of his 

 people, after sermon, ewore fidelity to the cause of 

 the colonies. Rev. William Martin was imprisoned 

 and brought before Lord Cornwallis in 1780atWinns- 

 boro, South Carolina, for his patriotism. 



The Covenanters went heartily into the war to 

 throw off the yoke of Great Britain. War is leaven- 

 iii.L'. The changed condition of affairs led to discus- 

 Ki"!i and then to assimilation with the body nearest 

 them, the Associate, made up of members of the 

 body which rose in Scotland by secession from the 

 Church in 1732. The union was formed 



at Philadelphia. Nov. 1, 1782, and the united church 

 was known as the Associate Reformed (q. v.). The 

 larger part of the Covenanters of the North followed 

 their ministers into the union. The Southern Cove- 

 nanters were not involved in this step. The remnant 

 in the North, being without a minister, fell back again 

 to their condition in 1749. 



In 1789 the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland 

 sent out Rev. James Reid on a missionary tour, 

 in answer to repented requests from America. He 

 journeyed from New York to South Carolina, re- 

 organizing mid encouraging the people, spending less 

 than a v.-ar. His re|x>rt produced fruit, and Rev. 

 tlanicf McQamgh (1752-1810) was sent by the Re- 

 formed Presbytery of Ireland, reaching South Caro- 



lina in the spring of 1791. Rev. William King (1747- 

 98) was sent by the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland 

 and reached South Carolina in the fall ot 1792. They 

 were associated as a committee of the Scotch Presby- 

 tery. They restored Rev. William Martin, who had 

 been disciplined for intemperance. In 1793 Rev. 

 James McKinney (1759-1802) came from Ireland, 

 having fallen under the ban of the British government 

 at home, on account of his sympathy with the Irish 

 cause. On his arrival he favored the formation of a 

 Presbytery, but acted with the Scotch committee. 

 He travelled from Vermont to the Carolinas, minister- 

 ing to the societies and organizing many congrega- 

 tions. In the fall of 1797 Rev. William Gibson 

 (1 753-1 838) came from Ireland, also John Black and 

 Samuel B. Wylie, students of theology. 



Rev. James McKinney and Rev. William Gibson, with 

 ruling elders, May 18, 1798, at Philadelphia, reconsti- 

 tuted the Reformed Presbytery, that had been dissolved 

 by the union of 1782. June 24, 1799, Alexander Mc- 

 Leod (1774-1833) was licensed by this Presbytery at 

 Coldenhnm, N. Y. He was pastor in New York 

 city, 1801-33. He was chairman of the committee to 

 prepare the testimony, and in May, 1806, the " Decla- 

 ration and Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church in America" was unanimously adopted by 

 the Presbytery. In 1807 the "Terms of Com- 

 munion" were prepared. The increase of the minis- 

 try and people now called for the formation of a 

 higher court and. May 24, 1809, the Synod of the 

 Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized at Phil- 

 adelphia. The next year a theological seminary was 

 organized at Philadelphia, and Rev. Samuel B. 

 \Vylie (1773-1852) was chosen professor. He gradu- 

 ated at Glasgow, 1797, and was ordained at Ryegate, 

 Vermont, June 25, 1800, the first Covenanter minister 

 ordained in America. He was pastor in Philadelphia, 

 1801-52, and for seventeen years a professor in the 

 University of Pennsylvania. In 1823 the constitu- 

 tion of the supreme judiciatorywataltered, and a Gen- 

 eral Synod was formed, delegates chosen by the Pres- 

 byteries. The General Synod met in New York city, 

 Aug. 2, 1825. The Presbyteries were grouped under 

 two subordinate Synods, Aug. 12, 1831, those east of 

 the Allegheny Mountains forming the Jkstern Sub- 

 ordinate Synod, and those west of the mountains the 

 Western Subordinate Synod. The growth of the 

 church up to this period had been steady. 



The scattered Covenanters in the British maritime 

 provinces had been visited by a committee of the North- 

 ern Presbytery in 1821, Rev. James R. and Rev. Samuel 

 M. Willson, and organized into societies. Missionaries 

 came out in answer to appeals. Rev. Alexander 

 Clarke (1793-1874) came from Ireland to St. John in 

 August, 1827, Rev. William Sommerville (1800-78) and 

 Rev. Andrew Stevenson (1810-81), then a catechist, in 

 1831. All these men were sent out by the Synod of 

 Ireland, and a Presbytery was formed, April 25, 1832, 

 under its care. 



II. The Division of 1833. The year 1833 marks a 

 division in the Covenanter Church. All were united 

 in their testimony in 1806. The Covenanters who 

 stood out in 1 782 from the union with the Associate 

 body were justified in their caution when the national 

 constitution was adopted in 1 787. It did not embody 

 the principles they had sworn to maintain. The Testi- 

 mony of 1806 says of it : "There are moral evils essen- 

 tial to the Constitution of the United States, which 

 render it necessary to refuse allegiance to the whole 

 system. In this remarkable instrument there is con- 

 tained no acknowledgment of the being or authority of 

 God, there is no acknowledgment of the Christian 

 religion, or professed submission to the kingdom of 

 Mi-sMah. It gives support to the enemies of the Re- 

 deemer, and admits to its honors and emoluments Jews, 

 Mahometans, Deists, and Atheists. It establishes that 

 system of robbing by which men are held in slavery, 

 despoiled of liberty and property and protection. It 



