myself, when I observed the proceedings of that Assembly, I am glad I am a Congregationalist and not a Presbyterian." We replied, that we neither wondered at, nor disapproved the feeling: And we now say deliberately, that for our selves, we would rather be in the Congregational than in the Presbyterian church-supposing the latter to continue in its present state. The Congregationalists have a known system, and they adhere to it; and although we are Presbyterians in principle, and immeasurably prefer genuine Presbyterianism to Congregationalism, yet rather than belong to a church whose constitution speaks one thing, and whose proceedings speak another -where every thing is fluctuating and uncertain-we would prefer to be connected with those who have adopted a system not essentially erroneous; a system to which they tenaciously cleave, and in which we should know what we were to expect. But old as we are, we may yet live to see Presbyterianism restored, in a part at least of the church in which we have ministered for more than six and forty years; and, therefore, while we can retain this hope, we shall abide in this church; and if we are compelled at last to relinquish it, we can still find a refuge among Presbyterians, without asking it of Congregationalists. In the mean time, there are hundreds and thousands of Congregationalists in New England, whom we sincerely esteem and love, as dear brethren in our common Lord; and with some of whom we cherish a warm personal friendship. There is an Independent congregation in Charleston, South Carolina, that has been served for the last half century by ministers called from the Presbyterian church. Yet it has always been conducted, if our information is correct, on strict Independent or Congregational principles. Nor have the pastors of this congregation, so far as we have ever heard, attempted to change its ecclesiastical order: nor have either pastors or people, found it impracticable, or, we believe, at all difficult, to live in friendship and good neighbourhood with the Presbyterian congregations by whom they have been surrounded. Far better it had been, in our humble opinion, if, in place of "the plan of union between Presbyterians and Congregationalists in the new settlements, adopted in 1801," the General Assembly of our church and the General Association of Connecticut had advised, that on ascertaining, by a fair vote in each congregation, whether the majority were Presbyterians or Congregationalists, the congregation should be organized, fully and entirely, on the system which such majority should be found to prefer: and to continue thus, till a change was desired, either by the whole, or by a part able and willing to support a minister of the gospel; and that when a change should take place agreeably to this plan, it should be made in a peaceable and friendly manner. We would infinitely rather see hundreds of Congregational churches settled through the territory of the Presbyterian church, and keeping strictly to their order, while the Presbyterians kept to theirs with equal firmness and fidelity, than to witness that pernicious mixture and medley of Congregationalism and Presbyterianism, which mars and perverts every thing, and produces "confusion worse confounded." 2. Having said so much on the bad consequences resulting from the commixture of Presbyterianism and Congregationalism in the church to which we belong, it may be proper to state our views of the nature and degree of the blame, which ought to attach to the parties concerned in producing the evils we have specified. We say then, that for a number of years after the formation of the General Assembly, we do not believe that by either of the parties concerned, was evil intended, foreseen or thought likely to arise, from the measures which have in fact produced it. On the formation of the General Assembly, the members who composed it were called to act in a new character; a character widely different from that which they had sustained in the old Synod; the character of representatives-representatives of bodies of which they had formerly been nothing more than component members-representatives, acting under a written constitution of specified and limited powers, which they had no more right or authority to transcend than the members of a session have, to do acts exceeding the powers conceded to them in the constitutional charter. Yet all this, the members of the Assembly, for several years, seem to have overlooked or forgotten; and indeed, up to the present time, there is melancholy proof that the constitutional prescriptions and limitations are not duly considered and regarded-For a short period, the Assembly even invited ministers occasionally present, though not commissioners, to sit and act as corresponding members. What the Assembly therefore then did unconstitutionally, in regard to intercourse and amalgamation with Congregationalists, ought, in all candour, to be imputed to inadvertence, and not to design. It is to be recollected also, that the Convention, of which we have given an account, consisting of Presbyterians and Congregationalists, had acted harmoniously for ten years, and had never trespassed on each other's rights or usages; and thus had inspired a confidence on all sides, that a degree of concert in action between the churches of the two denominations, might again take place, with out danger to either, and with advantage to both. Hence we think that the blame of incaution, inconsiderateness, and the want of due vigilance, is all that can justly be laid to the charge of either of the parties concerned; and that of this, the larger share belongs to the Presbyterians; for they were at first the inviters, and the Congregationalists only acceded to the invitation. The evils, it should be remembered, which have now risen to such a formidable height, came in, for a considerable time, by very gradual advances; so that it is not easy to fix the precise period when the existing danger ought to have produced alarm, and a determined effort to arrest its progress, and to expel it from the ground it had already gained. But for ten years past, at least, the danger has been such, that it seems to us that those who have not seen it, are justly chargeable with wilful blindness, or criminal inattention. Within that period, we have not a doubt, that many individuals have not only seen it, but have knowingly, and with design, endeavoured to promote it-not, we would hope, recognising it as an evil; but thinking rather that it was a good thing, -a good thing to break down those fences, which the bigotry and narrow mindedness of a goneby age, of comparative ignorance, had erected to stop the march of mind, impede the progress of improvement, and prevent men of liberal minds and noble enterprise from doing and saying whatever they might please, in projecting and promoting grand schemes of reformation, calculated eventually to revolutionize the world. Now, we are willing to leave it to others to decide the point of casuistry-which of two classes is the more criminal; that which is composed of those who actively do wrong, or that formed of those who stand by and permit it, when they might and ought to prevent its being done. In our estimation, both are inexcusably blamable, notwithstanding they may plead that they mean "to do God service." The_Congregationalists, and quasi Presbyterians, have been to blame for prostrating the barriers, and disregarding the constitutional prescriptions of the Presbyterian church; and the real Presbyterians, who truly love the constitution and all its provisions, have been to blame, for not resisting and preventing, as once they certainly might, the inroads and devastations of the Congregational invaders. For 3. There is a palpable and flagrant moral evil, in adopting and professing to be governed by a constitution which is permitted to be violated, in some of its most important provisions; and which in reality, is scarcely regarded as a binding rule at all. This, as an abstract proposition, requires no proof, and will admit of no controversy. Yet it is a fact, as notorious as it is confessedly most awful, that in European churches, solemn subscriptions, involving all the high sanctions of an oath, have frequently been made to articles and formularies, when the subscribers have believed scarcely a word of that to which they had sworn. Professor Miller has, in his sixth letter, spoken with just severity of this appalling act of perjury, for he shows that it is nothing less; and we heartily subscribe to what he has said, and to what he has quoted from Dr. Witherspoon on the same subject. But although this is the most atrocious form of being false to a subscription made to the Standards of a church, it is not that which at present we chiefly contemplate. We refer principally to what has more of a negative character, and which is far more general, than such a shocking practice as that just noted; which we would fain hope is not prevalent as yet, in the church to Ch. Adv.-VOL. XI. which we belong. In a word, we refer to that general neglect to observe and carry into effect the prescriptions of duty contained in our publick Standards, which, to a great extent, pervades our whole church. We all know that the Presbyterian system is, in all its parts, a system of representation. Congregations choose their pastors and their sessions, and commit to them the management of the spiritual concerns of the church, with the right of appeal or complaint to a higher judicatory, in cases of abuse; and a succession of representative bodies, from the Session to the General Assembly, each having its peculiar duties clearly delineated, constitutes the beautiful ecclesiastical order of the house of God, according to the Presbyterial form of Church government. Now we mistake greatly, if there is not a manifest and lamentable departure from the prescriptions of our constitutional Standards, in all the parts of our ecclesiastical organization. So far as our observation has extended, our Congregations are much disposed to trench on the prerogatives of their Sessions; disposed, in certain cases, to assume to themselves, the powers which they have delegated to their elders; and to order their affairs much as is done in Congregational churches; and the Sessions are often, we believe through timidity, inefficient in sustaining the order and purity of the church They are afraid of becoming unpopular, and are willing to adopt the common notion, that it is best to let irregularities alone, or only to say they disapprove of them, and hope they will be amended: and that to do more than this will be regarded as carrying things with a high hand. Presbyteries often act on much the same plan. They attend to their stated business; but as to taking care that discipline is maintained in the churches under their care, or exercising 3 T ples and forms of the constitution of the Presbyterian church, has tried to settle difficulties and controversies in the Congregational way of compromise; in which something like concession is awarded to both parties, and under colour of promoting peace, materials for prolonged, and, perhaps incurable alienations, are furnished. In a word, the forms of the Presbyterian church are now sometimes used to take vengeance on an obnoxious individual, and at others to protect a favourite; and when neither of these objects is in view, or something may be promoted by the suspending of all discipline, discipline is permitted to sleep. We do not say that this is invariably or generally done; but we do say that there are instances of this kind, and that the evil has reached so far as to impair confidence in church judicatories; and to fill reflecting minds with a painful uncertainty of what is to be the destiny of our church, discipline on their own members for preaching unsound doctrine, or for almost any thing short of gross immorality, it is seldom attempted; and when attempted, it is in great danger of being rendered abortive, by those who dislike the attempt. The difficulty of carrying through a disciplinary proceeding, discourages and enfeebles those who would readily take part in it, but for the opposition they know they will have to encounter; and the probability that, even if they are successful in the courts below, what they do will be undone by a higher judicatory. In the mean time, the lawful prescriptions of the higher judicatories are often set at nought. It is not long since we heard it gravely maintained in a Presbytery, that a plain, and positive, and strictly constitutional act of the General Assembly, directing what was to be done in a specified case, was to be consider ed only in the light of a recommendation, which might be regarded or disregarded, as the parties in a short time to come. It is concerned might choose-This was pure Congregationalism. As to Synods, who does not know that a sermon was not long since preached at the opening of a Synod, and afterwards published, in which one of the most important articles in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms was directly and violently impugned, and yet no notice was taken of it by the Synod, or by any other judicature-The time was, when the preacher of such a sermon would have been arraigned, within half a day after he was out of the pulpit. That the General Assembly of 1831 was completely congregationalized, in disposing of the case of Mr. Barnes, has been shown by Mr. Bacon, in his letter to us, in a statement as true as it is taunting. And ever since that period, the supreme judicatory of our church, instead of a straight-forward proceeding, agreeably to the princi a fact too notorious to be denied, that doctrines vitally af fecting the whole evangelical system, and directly contradictory to those laid down in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms, are both preached and published without fear, or cause of fear, that their advocates and propagators will be visited with the discipline of the church. Now, we hold it to be a moral evil of a flagrant and reproachful kind, for a church, as well as for an individual, to violate or disregard a publick profession. The Standards of our church are her solemn Confession and Profession, before the world; and it is a species of dishonesty, offensive to God, and to all men of upright minds and honourable principles, to profess one thing and practise another-or not to practise agreeably to what we profess. The course we are pursuing is exactly that which has been run by the Calvinistick and Lutheran churches of Switzerland and Germany. In those countries, the Formularies adopted at, or shortly after, the Protestant reformation, remain to this day unchanged--unchanged, as the ostensible creed and symbols of ecclesiastical order, of Unitarians and Neologists. We are rapidly tending to the same goal, and if, in the mercy of God, we are not arrested, we shall as surely reach it, as that like causes produce like effects. (To be continued.) NOTICE OF RECENT THE BIBLE COMPANION, designed for the Assistance of Bible Classes, Families, and Young Students of the Scriptures; illustrated with Maps and Engravings from the last London edition. Revised and adapted to the Present Time, with an Introduction, by Stephen Tyng, D. D., Rector of St. Paul's Church, Philadelphia. 1833. From a cursory inspection of this little volume, as well as from the commendatory introduction of one well able to make a right estimate of such a publication, it is our judgment, that it will be found exceedingly valuable to the description of readers mentioned in the title We go farther and say, that we think it will be found a useful vade mecum to all who desire to peruse the sacred scriptures carefully and profitably. We therefore recommend it cheerfully and cordially. EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, by Thomas Chalmers, D. D. To which are added, Remarks on the Nature of Testimony, and on the Argument derived from the "Commemorative Rites of the Christian Religion. By John Abercrombie, M. D. F. R. S. 1833. Chalmers' Evidences have been long before the publick, and need no recommendation. In this, as in other subjects, the talented author has struck out a course of reasoning for himself. His method of proof is novel, ingenious, interesting, and we think conclusive. The additions PUBLICATIONS. from Dr. Abercrombie, on the nature of testimony, &c., add considerably to the value of this publication. The work is intended for the use of schools; and at the end of the volume "questions are added for examination of students in the evidences of Christianity;" which will be found useful both to teachers and pupils. Both the above publications are stereotyped, and published by EDWARD C. MIELKE, 181 Market Street, Philadelphia. RENUNCIATION OF POPERY, by Samuel B. Smith, late a Priest in the Roman Catholick Church. Philadelphia. Stereotyped for the Author. 1833. 8vo. pp. 64. This is a publication of considerable interest. The writer first gives what appears to be an unvarnished account of himself, and of the motives that determined him to renounce Popery; and then he combats the main doctrines and peculiarities of Romanism, and does it with the advantage of a personal knowledge of their practical tendency. His composition has a few inaccuracies and peculiarities of expression; but it is in general good; and we think that those who begin to read this pamphlet, will read it through without fatigue; and many, we hope, not without benefit. We have little doubt that the Papists will endeavour to blacken the character of the author; but his book bears every mark of simplicity and honesty, and we hope it will be widely circulated. Literary and Philosophical Intelligence, etc. SINGULAR METEORIC PHENOMENON. We extract from the American Daily Advertiser, of the 14th instant, the subjoined article. The appearances of which it gives an account have, we believe, no parallel in the history of this country. What are called shooting stars or falling stars, are indeed of very frequent occurrence; but such a multitude and continuance of them, and of different magnitudes, and flying in all directions at the same time is, so far as we know, a singular spectacle in the United States-although not altogether singular in Europe. We have |
