The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1866-10-10


lie address In his own church. Not that he
would Justify Church roLJjRg; of course any
Christian man would condemn that crime, per
So, as thoroughly as he would murder, or lying. |
Ii therefore comes back to a question Of fact:
What have that Committee done? We shall
endeavor to give fair answer, in as brief
space as possible. Taking then the cores
pondence of DIR. Adger with Rev. Mr.. Logan,
and also the admissions found in DIR. Backus'
letter, we find the following results:
/. That Mr.. Logan has used as much Of fair
speech, and kind, brotherly, Christian profes
sion as any man could wish, admitting at the
same time that, by the help Of our mission
airy, REV. Mr. Gibbs, and the military au-
thority, he did get his claim to the Zion church
recognized, and took possession.
> That upon further investigation that
same Freedmen's Committee became satisfied
they had not the shadow of a claim to it, and
relinquished all pretension Of right to holdit
Very weIl-so far, so good. But the Ques-
ton Is surely a very natural one, what business
have they, after all this, to hold possession
still of part OF that church? We need not
discuss the question whether they seized the
church at first. Dr. Backus refuses this idea,
while we venture that the facts as stated by
himself show it was properly seizure, and
nothing else. But let that pass: they gave up
all claim afterwards Under what pretense
then do they still hold possession of a part?
How comes the Rev Mr.. Gibbs the mission
arv of this Committee to be keeping property
which cOnfessedly does not belong to him, or
| to them, nav, which they know belongs to us :?
/ Just at this precise point the one on which
| the whole matter turns, we find DIR. Backus
breaking down. After very full statements
and extracts from Mr.. Logan correspondence
and the magnanimous position of their Gen
| eral Assembly &e,-all of which looks very
j well, and has as lovely a voice as one that
playeth well upon an instrument, we find the
matter brought to this surprising conclusion
If you do not choose Gibbs to hold school
for colored people in the basement of the
| church, you have perfect right, in my opin-
ion, to exclude them And l sincerely hope
and believe that the authorities will so decide. y
This is Just such benevolent expression as
might be expected from benevolent heart
But we respectfully submit that it fails to meet
the demands of the case. Does not DR.. Back
us know that under a decision of the military
authority the missionary Gibbs still holds
possession of the church, and that the only
condition upon which its rightful owners can
get it back is that they shall give Mr.. Gibbs
the basement for a school?
Now the plain state of the case is this, that
the Freedmen's Committee, Secretary and Mis-
sionary, have been and are occupying house
Of worship lohich they kno10 belongs to others
and they occupy it By force. A word from the
committee would send Gibbs out oft. He is
in it with their knowledge, if not appreciation;
they know he has no right there, neither to
church nor to basement, and yet they keep
him there-their missionary-their represen-
taGve.
In this state of things it is useless for DIR.
Baekus or any one else to speak of the upright
and kind ilteRtioRS of the Assembly or its
Committee The wrong is too palpable and
crying to be misunderstood, or for its true ma
ture to be concealed We have heretofore said
it was simply church roJJ9y-and it is neither
pleasing to God nor useful to men that we
should soften it by putting darkness for
light 1t must be clear to the apprehension
of rghtminded people that no one Christian
man could thus keep possession Of the money
he knew belonged to his brother, without a
sense Of personal diShonor Conscience would
not allow even Judas Iscariot to keep his
money long in hand, how much less can it be
expected that such eminently good men as the
Assembly's Committee and their missionary
will long fail to see that it is neither reputable
nor comfortable for them to preach the gospel
of Christ in a church thus taken and held,
either by fraud or violence.
We own ourselves the more inclined to speak
explicitly on this subject because the present
is not the only act indicating disposition to
rob and perSecute us. Dr. Backus is quite
mistaken in this. He judges quite too much
according to his own spirit. which would lead
him to hate robbery for burnt offering -
But let us remind him that in 1868, 1--WE think
it was, one of the oldest Presbyteries of his
church in the West, Cincinnati adopted a
long memorial addressed to President Lincoln,
asking him in express terms for tie destruction
of the churches u, the South, especially the
| Presbyterian; and that two Doctors of divinity,
Messrs. Grundy and Burt, the latter a short
time ago a co-presbyter with DR.. Backus in
Baltimore, were depUted to carry the horrid
petition to WashingtOn-which was faithfully
done, by at least one of these ministers, and he
reoeiyed-we are glad to say-such a rebuke
from the President as he ought to have re-
ceived, but did not from his Synod or General
Assembly. 1t might be instructive to repub-
ish this monstrous proposition coming from a
whole Presbytery. The mission of Saul of
Tarsus to Damascus was not more atrocious {;
vet these Presbyterian Apostles of destruction
and persecution were never met, so far as we
know with syllable of rebuke from their
/ Church. Does this look as if the spirit of per
secutiou was dead in the hearts of all Northern
Presbyterians? And what is meant by the
open, explicit repeated declarations made
within few weeks, by one of the leading New
| School Presbyterian papers Of the North, (TZe
| -ImericqR Presbyterian, that Southern church
organizations ought to be suppressed What
is to be concluded from facts like these as to
the ideas of religious freedom entertained by
not few Presbyterians n the free North?"
We must be allowed also to say that our
opinions as to the scrupulosity of some in that
quarter, have by no means improved by be-
leving, as we do, that the silver spoons and
plate and costly furniture of our people have
found careful rocejrerS and preserrers among