758 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



ney, and by R Mr. John D. Coalter the whole relating 

 to the Rev. Dr. McPheeters. The petition prays in the 

 name of justice and mercy, that I will restore Dr. Mc- 

 Pheeters to all his ecclesiastical rights. 



This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical 

 rights are withdrawn. Your letter states that Pro- 

 vost-marshal Dick, about a year ago, ordered the arrest 

 of Dr. McPheeters, pastor of the Pine street church, 

 prohibited him from officiating, and placed the man- 

 agement of the church out of the control of its chosen 

 trustees ; and near the close you state that a certain 

 course "would insure his release." Mr. Ranney's let- 

 ter says : " Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying all the 

 rights of a civilian, but cannot preach the Gospel." 

 Mr. Coalter, in bis letter, asks : " Is it not a strange il- 

 lustration of the condition of things, that the question 

 of who shall be allowed to preach in a church in St. 

 Louis shall be decided by the President of the United 

 States? 



Now, all this sounds very strangely ; and withal a 

 little as if you gentlemen making the application do 

 not understand the case alike, one affirming that tho 

 Doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, and an- 

 other pointing out to me what will secure his release ! 

 On the 2d of January I wrote to General Curtis- in re- 

 lation to Mr. Dick's order upon Doctor McPheeters ; 

 and as I suppose the Doctor is enjoying all the rights 

 of a civilian, I only quote that part of my letter which 

 relates to the church. It is as follows : "But I must 

 add that the United States Government must not, as 

 by this order, undertake to run the Churches. When 

 an individual, in a church, or out of it, becomes dan- 

 gerous to the public interest, he must be checked, but 

 the Churches as such must take care of themselves. 

 It will not do for the United States to appoint trustees, 

 supervisors, or other agents, for the Churches. 



This letter going to General Curtis, then in com- 

 mand, I supposed, of course, it was obeyed, especially 

 as I heard no further complaint from Doctor McPhee- 

 ters or his friends for nearly an entire year. I have 

 never interfered, nor thought of interfering, as to who 

 shall or who shall not preach in any church ; nor have 

 I knowingly or believingly tolerated any one else to in- 

 terfere by my authority. If any one is so interfering 

 by color of my authority, I would like to have it speci- 

 fically made known to me. 



If, after all, what is now sought is to have me put 

 Doctor McPheetera back, over the heads of a majority 

 of his own congregation, that, too, will be declined. I 

 will not have control of any church or any side. 



Yours, respectfully, A. LINCOLN. 



There was a general desire in this church to 

 reconnect the congregations in the States re- 

 occupied, with the General Assembly, but no 

 further progress was made in this direction 

 than the authorization of the Board of Domes- 

 tic Missions, by the General Assembly, to aid 

 the Second Presbyterian church of Nashville, 

 Term., which had resumed its connection with 

 the General Assembly, to the amount of one 

 thousand dollars per annum. 



The minutes of the General Assembly of the 

 New School Presbyterian Church for 1863, 

 present the following statistics: synods 22, 

 same as last year ; presbyteries 106, a gain of 

 two; ministers 1,616, a gain of 61 ; licentiates 

 162, a gain of 11 ; churches 1,454, a loss of 

 12 ; added on examination 4,744, and on cer- 

 tificate 4,079; communicants 135,894, a gain 

 of 440; adults baptized, 1,556; infants baptized, 

 8,191 ; contributions for expenses of General 

 Assembly $6,263.08, $1,125 more than last year; 

 contributions to domestic missions $122,407.39, 

 $30,486 more than last year ; to foreign mis- 

 sions $80,528.97, an advance of over $11,000; 



to education $49,362.78, an advance of over 

 $2,100; to publication $40,560.04, an advance 

 of over $1,400. The whole amount of contri- 

 butions reported is within a fraction of $300,- 

 000, an advance of 20 per cent. upon, the 

 amount reported last year. 



The N. S. Presbyterian General Assembly met 

 on May 21st, 1863, in Philadelphia, and elected 

 Prof. H. B. Smith, moderator. The committee 

 on the state of the country submitted nine 

 resolutions, which were received with applause 

 and adopted without a dissenting vote. The 

 resolutions declare that 



The Administration duly placed in power is the 

 Government, and the present Administration is the 

 Government of the United States, and the most un- 

 compromising support to the President and cabinet is 

 religiously the duty of all good citizens. While we 

 deprecate the losses of the war, it must be prosecuted 

 vigorously to the end in order that the rebellion may 

 be subdued, and that the flag of our country shall float 

 over every foot of our land. The Government is 

 founded on the great principles of human rights. The 

 rebellion is based upon treason, and is offensive against 

 heaven. It evinces depravity in its blind support of 

 human bondage. Loyalty, firm and reserved, rising 

 above all questions of party politics, should be the ex- 

 pression of this assembly as a Christian obligation. 

 The system of human bondage, as practised in the 

 South, is in direct violation of human rights and the 

 teachings of our better natures. The strongest sup- 

 port is, therefore, given to the President in his procla- 

 mation of freedom to the colored people of the South. 

 Prayers that wisdom be endowed by the Almighty 

 upon the President and his cabinet are warmly rec- 

 ommended. All ministers are exhorted to sustain the 

 Government in every way possible and proper, and to 

 honor and obey religiously all civil and military officers 

 throughout all future troubles. We condole sincerely 

 with those whose children and brothers have fallen in 

 the cause, but earnestly urge a continued support to 

 the Government from the people. 



In relation to an application from the Re- 

 formed Dutch Church for a correspondence 

 between the two bodies, a report was read by 

 a special committee recommending that the 

 application be declined, inasmuch as it had 

 cast imputations upon the orthodoxy of the 

 General Assembly; but the assembly finally 

 adopted an amendment to the report of the 

 committee, that a correspondence be opened 

 with the synod on terms according to those 

 existing with other 'bodies, and the appoint- 

 ment of a commissioner to carry on this cor- 

 respondence. 



The General Assembly of the Cumberland 

 Presbyterian church met on May 21st, 1863, 

 at Alton, Illinois. A memorial having come 

 up from the Ohio synod, respecting the subject 

 of slavery and secession, a committee was ap- 

 pointed of one commissioner from each synod. 

 The committee submitted the following report, 

 which was adopted by all but two votes : 



Resolved, That this General Assembly look with cen- 

 sure and disapprobation upon attempts from any quar- 

 ter to dissolve this Union, and would regard the success 

 of any such movement as exceedingly hazardous to the 

 cause of religion, as well as civil liberty. And this 

 General Assembly would strongly recommend to all 

 Christians to mak'e it a subject of prayer to Almighty 

 God, to avert from our beloved country a catastrophe 

 so direful and disastrous. 



