The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-09-02

The SECESSION PRESBYTERIAN CONVENTION AT
RIcHMoND.-The Convention at Richmond of the
seoeders from the General Assembly Of the New
School Presbyterian church held some time since
at Cleveland, Ohio, has reached its third day,
and the proceedings promise to be continued for
several days longer.
II will be remembered that the General Assem-
bly, convened at Cleveland passed certain resolu-
tions, by which the holding of slaves was declared
to be anti Christian and contrary to the doctrines
of the Presbyterian church. This course at once
placed all the members of that church who reside
in the slave States without its pale, and the re-
suit has been that these have met in Convention,
in order to prepare Presbyterian platform on
which they can stand, and to call regular Gene
raj Assembly for the purpose of organizing the
government of their churches. The call for this
Convention, which we re-published yesterday in
tie report Of the second days proceedings, is a
very temperate and modest document 1t sets
out with the declaration that the action of the
Cleveland Assembly On the subject Of slavery
shows that peace and harmony can no longer
prevail in that body, and requires the organization
Of another Assembly, in which the agitation
of the slavery question will be unknown.
1t goes on to argue that the Cleveland Assembly
has declared slaveholding to be sin in the sight
Of God and an offence in the sense of the consti-
tuition of the church, although there is not the
most remote alusion to IL in the standards of the
church, that it regards this action Of the Assem-
bly, as palpable violation of the spirit and let
ter of its constitution, involving an ecclesiasti-
cal despotism as tyrannical as that Of Rome; it
declares that it holds the introducers of this
vexed question as alone responsible for the con-
sequences Of the division Of the church, and, final
ly, calls all constitutional Presby terians who
oppose such an agitation in the church to meet in
the present Convention at Richmond.
We are glad to zee that several Presbyteries
in Pennsylvania are represented in the Conven-
ton The proceedings thus far are mostly pre-
lminary. The report of the Committee on
Business has been made, and is now under discus
sion. This report is very judicious one, and
three of its six resolutions have been adopted
without amendment An attempt was made to en-
graft the doctrine of implication-that is, of in
terpretipg the constitution with latitude, in
order to bring implied offences as well as specified
ones within the Jurisdiction of the General AS.
sembly-but it was rejected. On the third
day the discussion pending was as to the
scope which should be given to the new Synod,
the committees report wishing to make it ma
tional, while an amendment was introduced 10
limit it to the South. One Of the evidences of
the prevalence of q correct spirit in the Conven-
ton is that it has determined to drop the term
New school, srs' return TO the old title.
We are not disposed TO look upon this new
split in the Pfesby terrain church Us foreboding
any serious evils to the country. The movement
that caused it is one Of series that seems to run
through the several churches of the world, all of
which spring from the same mania for intro
ducing new doctrines and inventing new reasons
why Satan should catch us all. The English
Episcopal church is split on Puseyism, which in
PRODUCES the new doctrine of genuaections
Rome, after letting the faithful for nearly two
thousand years so to heaven without any par
ticular opinion as 10 the Immaculate Conception,
now insists upon closing the gates of ST. Peter to
oil who do not implicitly believe in IL; and the
New School Presbyterians now determine to
make cardinal sin Of what has been looked
upon as merely social question for more than
four thousand years The result of all these
new doctrines is practically to decrease the re-
spect of men for the churches; for It will be
very difficult to persuade the sons that they must
be damned for doing the very things that did
not take away a single iota of their fathers
chances of going to heaven.