New-York daily tribune., 1857-09-07


Convention lately held at Richmond, and the basis
and foundation upon which that Convention mas
proposed to erect new church organization, goes
great deal further than the mere question OF Slavery
and its consistency with religion and morals. 1t is
deliberate attempt to oyerturn the whole system
of discipline common to all our American churches,
ard out of which grows all the benefit aud sdvan-
taee of our church organizations.
Tie sole benefit and advantage of church or
ganixation is for discipline-the watchfuness and
oversight. which the members exercise over each
other. For the mere purpose of social worship, no
church organization is necessary. Persons can
meet to pray together or to listen to preaching or
exhortations without any church organization,
The real benefit of belonging to church IS the
being a member of sn association, all the members
of which are bound TO watch over you, to put you
in mind Of your sins, and in more serious cases. to
call you TO account as body
Now it is not merely discipline for slayeholding,
it is in fact all discipline with which the new church
to be organized next May at Knoxville proposes to
dispense. Among the resolutions adopted as the
basis of this proposed new church organization was
the following:
Rol,.5 That. in the Judgment of hi. Convention nothing
can be made discipline in the Presbyterian Church
which not specifically referred tom the Constitution % crime
or heresy"
The effect of this resolution is, and was intended
to be, as the dispute upon it shows, to strike
out all discipline whatever to place the church IN
this country exactly in that neutral position which
Lord Palmerston, in his words of warning to the
Epglish clergy, which We published the other day.
seeks to assign to the clergynen OF England
they are to edify merely by their preaching and
their example; they are to be the guides In
structors and friends of the laity, ever ready we
suppose, when occasion requiree, to cover over
their easily besettng sins with the mantle of they
ecclesias,ca robes but they are not to assume the
right of being an ecclesiastical Tribunal, OF any Of
that authoritative interference with the affairs Of
private life, which, as Lord Palmerston himself ad.
.Hi.s, has been universally exercised by all other
branches of the Christian church in oil other coun.
tries.
No sooner was .his resolution read than an nquis-
Tive member of the Convention asLed the meaning
and effect of the word "specifcsly." Others
wished to add to specifically referred to-"
"-er plainly impl;.dH But the answer TO this was
instantaneous and complete. 1t was impossible to
admit Ofsny implication consistently with the OBJ
jsets which the Convention had in yicw Ii impli-
cation was admitted, slavehOldiDg might be made q
matter of discipline under the head OF OPPRESSION
ore of the heads of crminslity mentioned in the
Constitution Of the Presbyterian Cbvch. At the
,,De time it was fully recognized and admitted in
the course of the debate that if all Replication
to be excluded-if only acts, specif cally enumer
a.sd were punshaSle-ns law or prohibition would
be worth the paper it is written on, since all laws
must be general, end cannot descend to precise
enumeration, which shall, nspecific terms, include
every particular case. And yet, with this point
brought particularly to their attention, the
Convention refused TO strike out the word "speci-
fcay," or otherwise to modify the resolution, but
adopted it as originally reported.
We, therefore, take it that the intention of the
new slavehOlding 2resby yterian Church is to repu-
date discipline altogether, in which, at least, it
must be allowed 10 be consistent. If such acts Of
atIOcious and Ostsntatious cruelty those commit
ted by the pioas Col. Netherland are not to be
called to account, it would be aard to proceed
against such Offsnses dancing or .heater going.