New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-05-22
THE pRESByTERI4Y RECOYCILIATYON

TIE PRESBTTERIAN RECONcILIATIOM
The attempt of the Old and the New School
| PrcslNtciians TO heal their long existing diff
! fcrcnccs and 10 cooperate together on com
monpIincpes of observance and action, Is one
of the most interesting indications of ten
dcncy that shows itself in all the sccts Such
| attcmDts are likely To he successful III proper
| ton rs the differences are superficial, OF the
| conditions of reconciliation are radical. II the
| differences are radical and the unitics super
! fetal the effort does not promise an equally
satisfactory result. Ever since the Rciorma-
! ton looscd the human mind from thIalldom'
| two parties have appeared, and more or less
visibly dividedevcry religious sect Some wished
! more form, Others less; some construed the dog
mas literally, others interpreted thcmtIccy; some
| attached more, Others less, significance 10
! the sacramcntS and rites some cNactcd
! rigid compliance with UNCONVENTIONAL usage III
matters of church administration. others
deemed such things of small moment, and were
auitc willing to sacrifice them To ends which
| they regarded as being more vital. The differ
ences were substantially of the same kind every
where and were due to the same causes.
Sometimes they struck ill., and sometimes they
lay loosely on the surface. Every sect has or
has had its Old and its New Schools. The great
sects like the Episcopalians, Baptists, aud
PresbyteIians and the small sccts like the Uni
versalists and Unitarans, the SwcdenborgiaDs
and the Quakers. As IA general thing. the mcae
radical the sect, the more radical is the differ
cncc; the more conservative the sect, the more
! radical the agreement.
The Presbyterian Church has a very noble
l ont Il, -n.int md
civil revolutions as well a. in religious, it has
played distinguished part. Ii has given pow
crful and famous men 10 the company of
preachers and rcfonncrs. Lofty IN faith, I'M
compromising in doctrine, finn in discipline,
austerc in morals, well-knit in organization. in
administration vigorous, in spirit earnest and
devout, it has done well its part in fostering at
once religious zeal and political liberty. But
even the Presbyterian Church could not escape
from the disntecrating movement Of thought
and feeling The marks of old discussions are
visible all over its body. EmgIants from Scot
land and the north of Ireland brought Prcsby-
terianism to the American COLONIES 50 early as
$780, and before the end Of the century sew
cral churches were established in Viz
gina. Maryland, Pennsylvania and New
jersey. by 1916, four Presbyteries had
been instituted and synod formed. So long
rs the members were mainly Scotch, and Irish,
and Puritan, the severe integrity of the body
was preserved butforcign elements poured in;
Frcnchmen and Welshmen, Dutch and Swiss
brought their native and acquired peculiarities;
opinions began TO conflict, not much on
points Of faith whether spiritual 9, theological,
as On points of discipline and Observance The
education of ministers, the mode OF testing
| their fitness to preach and administer the
sacraments the rules TO be respected IN their
ordination, the binding nature of this or that
| regulation in the form Of worship. TO trace
| the course of these disagrcemcnts would be
impossible here. They broke out again and
| again with great violence the more rigid party
| usually prevailing but the party fav0ring
greater liberty gaining incidental advantages.
| The ordination of Mr.. John Rowland in 1893,
10y the New Brunswick Presbytery in defiance
of the decree of the Synod prescribing
! special feature in the examination Of
candidate, furnished one occasion
for dissension. Whitclieds visit to
America divided the sympathies of the two
parties in the Church the strcter disappearing
of the irregularities of his procedure, the laxer
warming into enthusiasm at his favor. The
SynOu WIS III TWO III ii1l, INC oiu
School or Conservatives making Philadelphia
their stronghold; the New School taking up
their headquarters in New-YOrk. This breach
was healed in 1853, the independents holding
out the olive branch. During the period of
! separation, the New School had gained in num-
Der and influence over the Old, but both were
strong. This reconciliation lasted till toward
1890, a period of about seventy years. The
organization of the Presbyteries and SynOds
was perfected in that time. The rules of prac-
tee and standards of government were
revised, reaTanged, and published; the order of
discipline and of worship was prescribed and
fixed The Westminster Confession of Faith
was sanctioned, with slight notifications. The
catechisms were readopted almost precisely as
they were before. The basis Of harmony was
substantially tue stout old Scotch Presbyterian