The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-17
PRESBYTERIANISM.


well-knowp sSolemn League and Covenant to
exterminate prelaoy, and lent their full inhu-
ence to the carrying out of those measures
which resulted in the death of Charles and the
establishment of the Commonwealth. Upon
the restoration of Charles the episcopacy was
re-establishedin Scotland but the Presbeterians
still resolutely adhered to their principles, and
upon the abdication of James ii they conf
IDENTIFY anticipated the triumph of their cause.
Though William III was bent on preserving the
same form Of ecclesiastical government
both in England and Scotland the bishops
refused to transfer their allegiance to him, and
by this means the way was opened for that
establishment of Presbytery which had been
urged upon him by some of his most jealous
adherents, and which was ratified by an act of
Parliament in 1890. Scotland and England
having been separate Kingdoms at the time
of the Reformation, a difference of circum-
stances in the two countries ultimately led to
different religious establishments When the
treaty of union was formed in 1707 it was agreed
by both Kingdoms that Episcopacy should con-
tinue in England, and that Presbyterianism
should be the only religious system recognized
by the State in Scotland. The only confession
of faith legally established before the Revolu-
tion of 1858 is that which is attributed to John
Knox. 1t consists of twenty-five articles, and
y
of the Presbyterian Church, though the Cove
nanters during the Commonwealth adopted the
Westminster Confession. At the Revolution the
Confession was received as the standard of the
national faith and 1t was ordained by the same
acts of Parliament which settled Presbyterian
church government in Scotland ''that no person
be admitted or continued hereafter to be
minister or preacher within this Church unless
he subscribe the Chat is the Westminster) Con-
fession of faith, declaring the same to be the
confession of his faith"
The Presbyterian Church In the United States.
In the year 1854 Francis Mackenzie, a Presby-
terian clergyman who came to this country
from Ireland organized church at Snow Hill,
Maryland From this beginning has sprung a
religious denomination which at the present
day is divided into about dozen branches each
with distinct and independent organization,
including in their ranks 1924 clergymen and a
membership, according to the latest statistics,
of 925, ZIG. At various times divisions occurred
in the denomination, the most important of
them being that which separated the largest
branch of the Church into what have heretofore
been generally termed the 'Old School" and the
New School" sections.
The frstand largest churches were established
in Pennsylvania and Maryland, two colonies
distinguished from the earliest times for their
Just notions of religious liberty. The Puritan
element early found its way into the body from
New England. In New England itself some of
the early settlers were Presbyterians.
Its Early History.
But it was for the most part where the Church
was not overshowed or tyrannically patronized
by the State, that Presbyterianism first effec-
lively took root. On the banks of Elizabeth
river, in Virginia, and on the Eastern Shore OF
Maryland, the earliest Presbyterian Churches
were gathered. The earliest representative of
the denomination of whom we have any trace
was Matthew Hill, one of the English Non
Conformists of 1862, who lost his few worldly
goods in the great fire of London Q666), and
subscribing his letter, Sine re, sine spe, tantun
non sine Sc, determined to find in the New
World sphere of labor denied him in the Old.
In 1869 he located in Charles county, Nd,
where he labored for time with on
couraging prospects of success. Josiah
Mackie must soon after have commenced
his labors in Eastern Virginia, and with no
long interval, the man who has with more
reason been denominated the founder of the
Presbyterian Church in this country-Francis
Makemie-fOund call for his labors in Mary
land The graduate of Scotch University the
licentiate of an Irish Presbytery, and sent forth
as q missionary to his transatlantic field by the
liberality of English dissenting ministers, he
fully represented that denomination of compo-
site elements with which his name thcnceforth
was associated. He observed the wants of his ex-
tensive field, and performed for it the work of a
primitive bishop. He sought colaborers far and
near, crossed the ocean, as well as visited New
England, to procure them, and manifested his
own cooperative spirit by his correspondence
with Cotton Mather.
Thus the Church was composed of such varied
elements as to forbid it to be classed as English
Welsh, Scotch, or Irish, for, combining all these
elements, it constituted new body, itly enti-
tied the American Presbyterian Church. Its
early growth was rapid. Immigrants from va
rious quarters, but very largely from Ireland,
added to its numbers. In about ten years the
single Presbytery had grown to the dimensions
of Synod with three Presbyteries. For ten
wears more its prosperity under all the difficult
ties with which it was forced to struggle, con-
tinued uninterrupted.
The First Synod
was organized in 1716. At this time the hete-
rogeneous character of the Church became so
marked that the harmony of its opinions and of
its operations was proportionally decreased.
The points on which the conflicts of opinion
were most strongly marked were the examina-
tion of candidates for the ministry on expert
mental religion, the strict adherence TO Presby-
terian order, and the requisite amount of learn
ing in those who sought the ministerial Office.
In the several Presbyteries these points were
discussed with great zeal. Two distinct parties
were formed known as the old and new sides
This, be it remembered, was more than a GEN.
tury before the days of the Old and New School
division.