The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-27
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL OPINIONS OF THE LEADING JOURNALS
Upon CURRENT ToPICs-COMPILBD EVERY
DAY FOR THE EvBNINo TELEGRAPH.
THE TWO AssEMBLIEs-THEIR COMMON
CREED.

It looks as if the two sections of the Presbyte-
rian denomination, which, with lts cognate
branches, is perhaps the most PomI,aui ,i ~, fno
nation, were about to come together again.
With no right to speak for either Dut as Irienus
of union and harmony in all things, we nope
they will succeed i'm restoring the most cOrdlal
relations Nevertheless as independent jour
nolists whose mission il is to pour light along
the pathway of all parties and sects, we teel
bound to warn our brethren of the Old School,
whose adherence to the letter of the Westminster
Confession and the projections OF the Synod OF
bort nobody doubts, that the New School are
NOT rigid Calynists, but moderate Armenans
rather or, to speak more correctly they accept
the creed of the great Geneyan with Armenian
explanations, therein following the example OF
General jackson, who said he had sworn to sup
port the constitution as he understood IT,
The truth is the teachings of Taylor, Beecher,
Beman Barnes, and Finney have left an impress
sion upon their section of the Presbyterian
Church too deep to be effaccd by mere sigh for
union. Measured by the PrOcrustean creed of
Calvin, the large majority of the clergy who
have graduated during the past thirty years
from the divinity schools at AndOver, New
Haven, New York Cincinnati, Auburn, and
Oberln would Lbe found too short or too long
we are not quite sure which. For example,
listening thirty-live years ago to lecture before
the Moral Philosophy class of Lane Seminary,
by DR.. Lyman Beecher, student, who was
UniveTsalist and n teetotallcr, like,
for instance, the Hon. Horace Gree
ley, asked the lecturer how he could reconcile
Deity. Whereupon the doctor with the speed
of light, flashed back upon him--"God will
never punish anybody any longer than he con-
tnues to sin against Him; and the punishment
will only be the natural consequence of his own
acts; as, If a man gets drunk and falls into the
ditch, no fire and birthstone are necessary to
give him good roasting Now this may be
sound philosophy but is it thorough Calyinism?
We commend it to the calm consideration of
Dr. McCosh, of Princeton.
Again, to show the light and airy style in
which eminent New School diyines were
wont to treat fundamental doctrines of the
Church in the acrimonious stages of this con-
troVersy, we refer to fact respecting the Rev.
Nathan s. s. Beman, DID, DR.. Beman, in the
acme of these quarrels, was the Moderator of the
General Assembly. The contest was about the
orthodoxy of a minister since highly distin-
guished Those who were present in Philadel-
phia at the Republican National Convention, in
1856, which nominated Fremont to the Presi-
dency will recolect the striking appearance of
tall man with an expressive eye, his hair
rapidly spTinkling with grey, who opened the
convention with an eloquent prayer. This was
thes Rev. Albert Barnes paster of the largest
and richest Presbyterian Church in Philadel-
phia, About twenty years anterior to that time
he had been arraigned for heresy; and DR..
Beman, DR.. Patton, DR.. Krebs DR.. Ely, DIR.
Green, and other divines of both schools, con-
tended over certain phrases in some almost for
gotten sermons of Mr. Barnes, as eagerly as the
Greeks and the TrOjans fought over the dead
body of Hector.
The airy incident to which we more especially
refer was this:-The main charge upon which
Mr.. Barnes had been arragned was n want of
faith in original sin. He was admitted to be
sound on actual transgression, but he questioned
whether the men of our day ought to be damned
for not repenting of Adams weakness in yield
ing to Eve in the matter of the apple. On the
MOderator's return from the assembly he him
self was taken to task by venera de female of
his church for heteTOdOXy this very point,
who sought to confound him by citing that
well-known passage of Scripture, as she called
it,
"In Adams fall
We sinned ALL"
All replied Doctor Beman with sarcastic
twinkle in his eye and a dash of Hudibras on
his tongue, you ought to give the whole pas
'Tn Adams fall
We snned all:
In Gains murder
We snned furder;
By Doctor Green
Our sin is seem
meaning thereby-to quote phrase from the
complaint in a recent libel suit-the Rev. Ashbel
w. Green, D. D., LID, the patriarch of the
Theological Seminary at Princeton, who, we be-
lieve had been DR.. Beman's unsuccessful COM
petitor for the Moderatorship of the Assembly.
Now we submit to Dr. Spring and the other
grave divines in session at the Brick edifce on
Fifth avenues Can the pupils of such teacher
be regarded as sound in the faith?
We are reminded of the fate which awaits
W,
well-known parallel passage in the history of
the Democratic party of this State. For several
years they quarrelled over the Wilmot Proviso,
and in 1847 they had shivered their organization
on that rock of offense. The Barnburners, who
may be called the New School, introduced the
proviso as embOdying doctrines in accordance
with the advanced spirit of the age. The Old
School Hunkers repudlated it, and turned the
Barnburners out of the Democratic church.
After having avenged themselves by the
defeat of General Cass in 1S4S,
the new lights, in the following year,
proposed a reunion. The two wings of the
Democracy met in separate Conventions at
Rome in the summer of 1S19, the Hunkers sitting
in the Presbyterian Church, and the Barnburn-
ers in the Baptist. William l.. Marcy, Daniel
leading spirits in the former, and John Van
Buren Sanford E. Church, and Martin III
Grover in the latter After a stormy session OF
three or four days they failed to agree mainly
it was asserted, because, through the influence Of
John Van Buren and Henry Is. Stanton, the
Barnburners insisted upon making the prOviso
test of genuine Democracy. So they separated
apparently more acrimonious than ever.
But Marcy and Seymour were ambitious, and
with their conniYance, mass convention OF tn,
Democracy was soon after held, irrespective o
past divisions, over which James 5. Wadswortl
presided. Prince John of Lindenwald was pre-
sent and made speech for union and harmony
onlete with that persuasive eloquence OF whicl
he was so perfect master, Whl!e Horatlo Sey
mour smiled approyingly in the LOBBY, AM
Governor Marcy, whose name was tower o
strength in the orthodox ranks of the party, as
sured the Hunkers in private room Mt a hote
near by that he had no doubt 1t would all com
out right in the end.
And so il did The Barnburners got contrC
of the party, and soon made Marcy secretary
State and Seymour Governor of New YORK
throwing Dickinson and his inileNibe adherent
of the old school quite into the shade. III