622 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



action to be then decided upon by the General 

 Assembly. The Louisville commissioners de- 

 clined an invitation by the Assembly to appear 

 and defend the action of the presbytery. On 

 taking a vote (on June 1st) the resolutions of 

 the committee and the amendment of Dr. Hum- 

 phreys were laid on the table by motion of Dr. 

 Thomas, and the substitute of Dr. Gurley taken 

 up and passed by a vote of 196 to 37. This 

 substitute condemns the "Declaration and Tes- 

 timony " as a slander against the church, schis- 

 matical in its character, and its adoption by 

 any church court is declared an act of rebellion 

 against the authority of the General Assembly. 

 It summons all the signers of the " Declaration " 

 and all the members of the presbytery who 

 voted for it, to appear before the next General 

 Assembly to answer for their conduct, and pro- 

 hibits them from sitting as members of any 

 church court, higher than session, until their 

 cases are decided ; it dissolves any presbytery 

 that disregards this action of the Assembly, and 

 vests all presbytery authority in such ministers 

 and elders of such presbytery as adhere to the 

 action of the Assembly. On the motion of Dr. 

 Monfort, those members excluded under this 

 substitute were allowed to retain their seats in 

 the Assembly until its adjournment. On May 

 25th, the subject of reunion between the Old 

 School and the New School Presbyterian 

 churches was reported upon. The plan sug- 

 gested was for the appointment of a committee 

 of nine members and six elders to meet a sim- 

 ilar committee of the New School Assembly, 

 who, after consultation, if they deemed reunion 

 desirable and practicable, were to report meas- 

 ures for its accomplishment to the next General 

 Assembly. A motion made by Dr. Vandyke 

 that the Confederate Assembly be invited to 

 join the union was laid on the table. The re- 



Eort of the committee was then adopted by a 

 irge majority. 



The action of the General Assembly, with 

 regard to the signers of the "Declaration and 

 Testimony," led to a formal division of the 

 Church in Kentucky and Missouri. At the 

 meeting of the presbyteries, the adherents of 

 the General Assembly insisted that, in accord- 

 ance with the decree of this year's General 

 Assembly, the names of the signers of the 

 " Declaration and Testimony " be not put upon 

 the roll, and in all cases where the majority of 

 the presbytery refused to accede to this demand, 

 the Assembly men left, and reconstituted them- 

 selves as the presbytery. The division was 

 fully consummated at the meeting of the Synods 

 of Kentucky (at Henderson, October 10th), and t 

 Missouri (Booneville, October 10th). At the* 

 meeting of the Kentucky Synod, the clerk, Rev. 

 S. S. M. Roberts, who adheres to the General 

 Assembly, proceeded to call the roll, and, in 

 accordance with the directions of the General 

 Assembly, left out the names of the signers of 

 the " Declaration and Testimony." After hav- 

 ing called the list of loyal ministers, he was 

 directed by the moderator to "call the names 



of all the constituent elements of the Synod ;' 

 and when he refused to obey this direction, the 

 roll was called by the moderator himself. The 

 adherents of the Assembly did not answer when 

 their names were called.' The opponents of the 

 Assembly then organized. The friends of the 

 Assembly remained in the church after adjourn- 

 ment, and likewise constituted themselves as 

 the Synod of Kentucky. Of the members 

 present, fifty-nine endorsed the Assembly, and 

 ninety-nine supported the Louisville Presbytery. 



At the meeting of the Missouri Synod, the 

 majority resolved to enroll the signers of the 

 " Declaration and Testimony," whereupon 

 twenty-seven ministers and elders withdrew, 

 and constituted a synod in accordance with the 

 order of the General Synod. Previous to the 

 meeting of the Missouri Synod, Drs. Robinson 

 and Wilson had written, signifying their pur- 

 pose to go with the Southern Assembly ; a few 

 of the " Declaration and Testimony " men in 

 Missouri were of like mind, but the majority 

 were, at that time, opposed to such a movement, 

 declaring that they would not connect them- 

 selves with any other religious organization, 

 but remain in their connection with the Old 

 School Presbyterian Church in the United 

 States. The Synod of New York, by a vote 

 of 111 to 7, excluded a signer of the " Declara- 

 tion " (Rev. Dr. Vandyke), and endorsed the 

 action of the General Assembly. The same 

 resolution was passed by the Synods of Phila- 

 delphia and Baltimore. The latter synod, by a 

 vote of 27 to 11, disapproved of the action of 

 the Presbytery of Baltimore, in not declaring 

 vacant a church the pastor of which, a signer 

 of the " Declaration and Testimony," had de- 

 clared that he had left the church. It also 

 condemned the Presbytery of Lewes (Maryland) 

 for allowing a signer of the " Declaration and 

 Testimony" to sit as a member. In August, 

 1866, a conference of ministers and laymen, 

 composed of Presbyterians dissatisfied with the 

 action of the General Assembly on the slavery 

 question, met, at St. Louis. The following dele- 

 gates were present: ministers from Kentucky, 

 8 ; from Maryland, 2 ; from Illinois, 1 ; from 

 Ohio, 1 ; from Missouri, 21 ; ruling elders from 

 Kentucky, 2 ; from Illinois. 2 ; from Missouri, 

 27. Resolutions were passed, in substance as 

 follows : 



To prepare a statement of doctrines, eccle- 

 siastical principles, and policy, on which to 

 stand, as against the unscriptural and uncon- 

 stitutional acts of the Assemblies of 1861 and 

 1866, inclusive, to be adopted as the official 

 action of this conference. 



To prepare a popular warning against the er- 

 rors of the General Assembly of five years back. 



To urge cooperation in this movement from 

 all who are opposed to the aforesaid acts of the 

 Assembly. 



It was resolved not to form a new Church 

 organization, but to appeal to the churches to 

 correct the errors of the General Assembly, and 

 hold another conference. 



