Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-11-26

brethren have been removed from the active
and useful scenes OF life TO mingle with the pale
vacant, but their names are embalmed in the
hearts Of the living. and their disembOdied and
redeemed spiritshave gone TO join the general
assembly of the frst-born in heaven. r-s OIL.
l have now, Mr.. Moderator. given you a sum-
mary statement Of our history and arrange
ments for the present year. Permit me 10 extend
Oyou, and through you to the honorable body
over which you preside, the kind e0n1ratula-
progress, and prosperity, and happiness. we
shall always rejoice. In the language Of one of
our fonoly cherished Psalms | will say in reia-
ton to you,
Pray that Jerusalem may have
Peace and felicity; q - @ 20
Let them thatloVe thee and thy peace
Have still prosperity.
Therefore, Il wish that peace may still
Within tbs walls remain. Gi
And ever may thy palaces
Prosperity retain.
Now for my friends and brethren's sakes,
Peace be in thee Ill say, rsesF ..E
And for the house Of God our Lord
III seek thy good alway." - -. 49,
The Moderator replied as folloRs. ~
Mv dear Brother. It gives me great pleasure
as the Moderator of this Assembly TO return TO
S and thEp1gs ySg to the bSdy
the churches for which IL is the chief iudicatory
The fact which YOU have declared to Us, that
yonr church + one Of he smsisst IN the tribes Of
for we remember that il was from Bethlehem
Ebhratah, one of the least among the thousands
Of judah, that there came forth the King and
head of the church. and the wordsof that great
King 10 his people are, Fear not, little flock for
it is your Fathers good pleasure TO give you the
kingdom" Our afeetionate interest in you arises
from the fact that you have ever maintained
with steadfast fidelity the great doctrines which
we esteem so highly, the supremacy of the word
of God as the only rule of faith and practice
and that grand old system Of doctrine which has
kaara fha MAJ IF fho on. .Sc
her best days, that system which has been the
Yitalising principle of her most heroic endeavors
when those endeavors were most heroic. In re-
gard to the termination of all negotiations in re-
gard 10 an organic union with us, which You have
officially announced, on the ground that the basis
proposed would involve practical difficulties in
the matter of PsalmOdy that You cannot over
come, have to say, that whilst we would gladly
have welcomed you 70 an absolute union with us,
weshRll not lOveyou the less. or take diminished
interest in your prosperity. because you have de-
clined this union. The Assembly could not do
more in regard to your book of praise than it
does in regard to our own; we authorize and re-
commend ITS use TO such congregations as choose
to adopt it. We do not enjoin our Book of Psalms
and Hymns as obligatory on our people. leaving
them to the general exercise of their Christian
liberty in the matter of praise, as we do in the
matter OF prayer, preaching, and the other parts
of the worship Of God. This plan having been
acted upon by the churches ofthe oldAssembly for
many years, without any serious difficulty, some
OF them using your book and some of them ours,
we pT6Suutu tHdt the same plan OF mutual con-
eession and christian liberty might work equal
ly well in our churches should they see fit TO
unite. But rs you do not feel prepared to adopt
this basis, we accept your decision in the matter,
with the assurance that We can appreciate the
tenaeity with which you cling TO your book of
praise, The rugged strength and antique sim
plicity of these old Psalms are mingled with
the earliest recollectons of your childhood in
the songs of the family altar, of the house of
dOd and of the communion. table, and these
time -hOnOred lays Of Zion came down to you,
hallOWed by the memories of your martyred
fathers in the land of Richard Cameron and
Margaret Wilson. When they mingled with the
roar OF the waves that swallowed up the heroic
confessor who refused to abjure her Divine
King and awaked the echoes of the lonely glens,
when the hunted Covenanter sought refuge to
worship God. And we have expressed onr APP
probation Of these renderings of the Psalms of
David. by incorporating fifty of them in our
present collection. But our appreciation of oaT
preference of these Psalms arises from the
seme fact in regard to our own, because we
have heard them from the lips of those whose
tongues are now silent In the grave, because
they are mingled with our hottest memories Of
sick rooms and dying beds. and gatherings for
prayer, and hallowed seasons Of holy e0mmu-
nion and all that Is most sacred in the
memories of the past with which they are
now Inextrieably interviewer. Hence, for the
very reason that we love our own songs of sa-
cred praise, do we appreciate the love you cher
| ish for yours, and acquiesce in the decision
which you have announced to- us from your Sy
nod. You will, therefore, bear back to your
| Synod our most fraternal greetings, and our as
5urance that We shall still endeavor to cherish
| that unity of the spirit and that bond of peace
| that is better than all mere outward unity
| when this is venting, ana we include your body
| IN orr ferFent prayer and love, when We sing in
| one Of our own beautiful Psalms,
IS love thy kingdom, Lord,
| The house Of thine abode,
The Church our blessed Redeemer saved,
With his own precious blood
| / love thy church, o God
Her walls before thee stand
Dear a. the apple of thine eye,
| And craven on thy hand.
If e'er to bless thy sons,
My voice or hands deny
These hands let useful skill forsake,
This voice in silence die.
If e'er my heart forget,
| Her welfare or her woe,
Let every Joy this heart for5ake,
And every grief o'ertiow.
For her my tears shall fall.
| For her my prayers ascend
| TOher my cares and tolls be given,
TIL tells and cares shall end.
Sure as thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
| The brightest glories earth can yield,
And brighter bliss of heaven.
Our parting prayer for us both then is, that we
| may be enabled so TO serve our common Lord
that we shall all meet in that General Assembly
| and Church OF the hrst-bOrn above, where We
can all join in singing the song of Moses and
the Lamb, and unite in singing unto him that
| loved as and washed us in his blood, and hath
made us to our God kings and priests, be glOrJ
evermore. through Jesus Christ, our Lord
Amen.
Rev. DR.. B. NJ. Smith, from the Com.
mittee on Bills and Overtures, reported
overture No. A, which was as follows
The Synod of Georgia, in session at Atlanta
October 20, 1867. respectfully memorable thu
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church il
ne SsIsSots ~ he Gsnerai ConfeTenee Of M
Methodist Episcopal Church South. rendering &
them christian salutations, and if agreeable Il
them, proposing to establish correspondents
between the churches.
A true extract from the Minutes of the Synod
of Georgia, JOHN s. WILSON.
Stated Clerk of Synod of Georgia.
| Angcer.-That in view Of the fact that thu
Methodist Georgia Conference meets SO mucl
less frequently than our Assembly, such CORES
| pOndence could not conveniently be conducted
are already possessed by occasional ministeria
intercourse and the intercommunication of on
people.
Also overture No. 5, being an overtur
from the Presbytery of North Alabam
touching the propriety of the Assembl
establishing a Southwestern Theological
/ Seminary.
, The committee recommend as an an
swer that at present it is inexpedient I
r do 80.
5 The report was received and made tn
, second order Of the day Tomorrow.
! Two oveftures, also touching the chang
! Of time of the meeting of the Assembly
! were returned unanswered, as the action {
7 the Assembly already has answered thes
! overtures.
Also an overture from K. Mclnnis, "
f. Sheriff., J. A. Smylie, j. II. Alexande
e and ]. II. Thomson, dissenting from tn
action of the Synod of Mississippi orderin
e a meeting of the Central Mississippi Pres
z bytery without specifying the object 70
4 | which the Presbytery was ordered. III
dissentients we're sustained.
y Rev. T. f. Peck, d. d., from the Com
mittee on the Relation of the Church {
b the State, through DR.. Smith, gave motto
Q Of his failure in reporting, and asked tbs
the committee be discharged. Adopted.
t The Stated Clerk gave notice OF tn
b appearance of Rev. A. p Forman, dele
! gate from the Synod of Missouri. Heal
4 ing him, and any others that might srriv,
e as delegates from that Synod, vas made tn
I. order Of the day for ii o'clock on Wednei
G day. The records Of the Synods of Nasl
w~erFfr