GS2 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



opinions and views of the Presbyterian Church of the 

 United States on the subject o*f slavery. By these 

 deliverances this Synod was willing and is still will- 

 ing to aoide, and any further or different utterance 

 on that subject by the last General Assembly was, in 

 the judgment of this Synod, unnecessary, unwise, 

 and untimely unnecessary, because the former de- 

 liverances were sufficiently expressive of the views 

 of the Church, and had been acquiesced in with great 

 unanimity for many years ; unwise, because the 

 whole country was excited upon the subject of sla- 

 very, and the means adopted by the President of the 

 United States for its destruction, in regard to which 

 there was great division of sentiment in the public 

 mind ; aud the Assembly could not take any action on 

 the subject without at least seeming to cast its influ- 

 ence with the one or the other political parties which 

 divided the country. Moreover, the minute of the 

 Assembly was peculiarly liable to this interpretation, 

 because in the latter part of it some of its expres- 

 sions may be misunderstood, and others may be 

 taken in the sense of a political, if not partisan state- 

 ment. 



The action of the Assembly was untimely, because 

 times of high political excitement are not proper oc- 

 casions for ecclesiastical courts to express opinions 

 upon the topics which constitute the party issues of 

 the day. The mission of the Church of Christ is 

 spiritual, and any interference with matters purely 

 political is a departure from her duty, and without 

 the pale of her authority as conferred upon her by 

 her Divine head. 



The New School Presbyterian General As- 

 sembly met at Dayton, Ohio, on May 19, and 

 elected Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., of Phila- 

 delphia, Moderator. On May 29th the Assem- 

 oly unanimously adopted the following paper: 



1. That this Assembly cordially welcomes all signs 

 ">! increased love and union among those who hold to 

 tb.3 same facts and doctrines of the gospel, and bears 

 its solemn testimony with self-humiliation against 

 whatever fosters alienation and genders strife among 

 the disciples of our Lord. 



2. That the tendencies of modern society, the con- 

 dition of Protestant Christianity, the increase of in- 

 fidelity, the progress of Romanism, and the present 

 and prospective state of our country, afford powerful 

 arguments against further subdivision, and in favor 

 of that union and unity of the Church into which it is 

 to grow, and which is to be its consummation ; and 

 that we record with unfeigned gratitude our pro- 

 found conviction that the spirit of disunion and of 

 sectarianism is waning, and that the spirit of brother- 

 ly kindness and mutual confidence is largely on the 

 increase. 



3. That in an especial manner are those churches 

 bound to foster this spirit who adopt the same 

 standards of faith and order, and whose decisions 

 are local, personal, and incidental, and for whose re- 

 union there is only needed a wise deference to each 

 other's rights, and a higher measure of Christian 

 charity. Adopting the same formulas of faith and 

 form of government, all that is needed is to receive 

 them in the same spirit. That it is our united and 

 fervent prayer to our common Master, that he would 

 so remove all hindrances, or to make a plain path for 

 our feet wherein we may walk together, being of one 

 heart and mind in the ways of the Lord. 



4. That as the churches represented by this Assem- 

 bly did not inaugurate separation, so too they would 

 hold to no principles and views, and would impose 

 no terms inconsistent with a full and cordial reunion, 

 whenever and wherever the great Head of the Church, 

 as indicated by Divine Providence, may open the way 

 for us all to meet together again on the same basis 

 on which of old our fathers stood, and that we should 

 rejoice in such reunion. 



5. That while we do not deem it expedient now to 



appoint such a committee as that asked for in the 

 memorial of the St. Lawrence Presbytery, yet that 

 this expression of our principles and convictions 

 with our heartfelt Christian salutations, be transmit- 

 ted to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church now in session in Newark, New Jersey. 



The report and recommendations" were nnan- 

 imously adopted. The reading of this paper 

 called out an enthusiastic response of " Amen " 

 and applause. 



The Committee on the State of the Country 

 reported the following resolutions, which were 

 unanimously adopted : 



Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly reaffirms 

 the principles and reveres the declarations of pre- 

 vious General Assemblies, so far as applicable to the 

 present aspect of public affairs. 



Resolved, 2. That we recognize clearly the good 

 hand of God in all the victories of the national arms, 

 whereby the limits of the rebellion have been con- 

 tracted, and its vitality impaired ; and we look hum- 

 bly and confidently to the same Divine source for 

 further success, until the cause of the nation shall be 

 vindicated and peace established on the grave of 

 treason. 



Resolved, 3. That we also recognize the same good 

 hand of God in the delays and disappointments of 

 tLe war, by which he has made more sure and com- 

 plete the destruction of the vile system of human 

 bondage, and rendered less self-confident and more 

 religious the heart of the nation. 



Resolved, 4. That in such recognition and hope wo 

 dp by no means lose sight of our national and indi- 

 vidual sins, which render us so utterly unworthy of 

 the Divine favor, but confess them with penitent 

 hearts, and trust to a covenant God in Christ Jesus, 

 that this unworthiness will not hinder the might of 

 God's grace in behalf of the cause of right and 

 order. 



Resolved, 5. That we exhort all our churches to re- 

 newed zeal and faithfulness in supplication to God 

 for the deliverance of the land, and prosperity of 

 Christ's kingdom, through the blessings of national 

 peace and fraternity. 



Resolved, G. That we cordially uphold the Govern- 

 ment with our sympathies and prayers in its ener- 

 getic efforts for the suppression of this most cause- 

 less and cruel rebellion, urge all Christians to refrain 

 from weakening the authority of the administration 

 by ill-timed complaints and unnecessary criticisms, 

 fully believing that in such a crisis all speech and 

 action which tend to differences should be sedulously 

 avoided for the sake of the common weal. 



Resolved, 7. That a copy of these resolutions duly 

 authenticated be sent to the President of the United 

 States by special committee. 



The contributions of the churches to foreign 

 missions during the last year were $80,000; 

 only 629 churches out of 1,464 gave any thing 

 to this cause. For home mission about $70,000 

 were contributed, an advance of $20,000 over 

 the previous year. 



A considerable portion of those Presbyte- 

 rians of East Tennessee who formerly belonged 

 to the New School Presbyterian Church, and 

 reluctantly in 185V yielded to the secession 

 movements inaugurated by their ministers, re- 

 turned, in 1864, to their former church connec- 

 tion. At a meeting of Union Presbytery, which 

 was held in July, in Knox County, and which 

 was attended by three ministers and twelve 

 elders, the following resolutions were passed : 



Whereas, Presbytery is convinced that its interests 

 are not likely to be promoted by a continuance of its 



