The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-10-27


| WAS apparent disposition to make the ey-
nod of Virginia an object of idolatrous wo :5
ship. It was question for serious consul sau
eration whether the Synod was not ln'el-
ferinp with the work of Christ. IL was IN,
d;anntable that the Synod is composed =.
ali the ministers within its bounds anu ~, ono
rnlinp elder from each church. aneas
we're then. four hundred members. ~ 1 WOE
ON aroument for division that not more ma naa
ono-t5ird of these ever attended one he .:s
;nr but il was another, that II all ever IL ~
o.tend there was not congregation III Inc
stote outside Of the capital that cpulu 1o
cornmodate the delegates. The sPeakei ai %
alluded TO the fact that in the oyhou s11
o. present constituted the business %ae ~,
done nv a few prominent men, wno,.o0
there were others equally gifted VINO LIZ
d J KENT back, but who, If there VIZ
otber fields presented. would alspi"ye
ob;1;tiea now idle. He spoke, loo, y.
the moral effect of the multlPl,ca.ioaf
~ osV svnodical meetings, and the holding %
those meetings in places which now wout O
.noo" ha reoebed. Instead of being some
th nv n fear. division was to be longeo Ior,
.nins s;s;nr an infusion Of new life ana
sp.renatb into the Presbyterian Cnurcn ol
s M!;a nd a future exceeding in glory
silean. nnototions of the most sanguine ad-
vocates of the change. eu.hor
;1,,strated the points made by Mr.. Nell
waine. and also dwelt particularly upon
The EXPENSE of going from one end OF this
GREAT State to the other to attend synodlcal
meetings.
nrenared to believe division advisable.
No division yet proposed, in his opinion,
WAS unconnected with greater disadvantages
than were now experienced. There is
power in numbers, too, to attract which can
not be overlooked; this influence he feared
would be lost in division Of the Synod
into two or three mparatively small bo-
dies. Referring briefly to the arguments
advanced by DR.. Armstrong and Mr.. Nc
Ilwaine, this speaker urged that this was a
most unpropitious time for division. TWAS
not time to lift single anchor or cut a
single cord, but, on the contrary, to change
the metaphor, every bond should be
strengthened, and united front presented
to the enemies of the Church within our
territory and upon our border.
Rev. Dr.. Brown, of Richmond, thought
the report Of the committee entitled to less
weight because that committee had not had
all the facts in the case before them. This
was no new proposition, as had been init
mated, but had long ago received the ap-
proval of such men as Rev. DR.. John ii.
Rice and Rev. DR.. Conrad Specie, and also
the venerable gentleman elected to preside
over the present session of the Synod (Rev.
DR.. Bocock), who was many years ago an
earnest advocate of division, though now
on the other side. Since that time the
speaker had been converted to sense of
its propriety. He cited the advantages
which would accrue to each Presbytery by
the change, and quoted, in conclusion, a
remark of the late DR.. James Hoge, that
"as soon as synod was large enough to
make two synods it should be divided"
A recess was then taken until 3 P. NJ,
Rev. DR.. Bocock having the floor. During
the morning session Rev. 7. W. Gilmer,
of Fredericksburg, preached in another
church, to large congregation, from John
vii, II.
In the afternoon Rev. DR.. Bocock took
the floor and entered an emphatic protest
against any steps looking towards divl-
sion of the Synod. No sane man could con-
template such movement at such time.
It seemed to him that a lot of men with
"duty" on their lips had gathered around,
not his god, not his idol, but his mother,
threatening to cut her in two or three, be-
cause she is too long or too broad. He con-
fessed that he did tremhle at the mere men
ton of the idea. Whatever he might have
thought in the piping times of peace, now,
in these times, when everything else was
failing the people of Virginia, he wished
the grand old Synod to stand where it had
always stood-a city set on hill that can
not be hid. AS to the travelling long
distance, he wished to do it forever and
ever. He didn't want a synod for every
county-a Synod of Chickentown, Synod
of Israel's Hill, and the like. The move
ment should die here, where it had first
seen the light. Let us not present broken
front. Don't pull down the fixed stars
Let ug not NEEDLE with them that are given
to change!
Major T. J. Kirkpatrick, of Lynchburg,
addressed himself particularly to the argu-
ment that the Synod was too large. He
thought it's size had been exaggerated by
participants in the debate. There were
lS6 ministers; but how many of these were
unemployed or engaged in other business?
How many of the churches were really
alive and entitled to representation
Surely not too many to be embraced in one
Synod. There has never been any evidence
that the body is too large no slurring over
of business; no scenes of strife; but, on
the contrary, the Synod had stood always
as tower of strength and consolation to
this stricken southern land.
Rev. DR.. B. NJ. Smith disayowed any dis
position to spring the question on the Synod.
lie was decidedly in favor of division,