The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1872-06-12

tried by the same. I tell you there are hundreds
Of people who will not stand It'll 1hey are true 10
their covenant VOWS; they intend to remain true;
they do not intend to permit the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made them free to be taken from them,
| do not speak this IN the language OF threat 1
never threaten anybody am merely telling what
know. 1t is true, sir, and ask you to look be-
fore you leap. l ask you to let honest men;
whose love to your laws has never been questioned
Ito let honest men alone, and let them leave the
world in peace.
do not choose to go into particulars; tor if the
paper of DR.. Wilson does not pass, we shall nave
another chance to discuss this thing upon Its
merits. | am merely speaking OF the general state
of the question. We bad an account this morn
ing, from brother of East Hanover Presbytery,
about greater and lesser communication.
This is one Of the reasons why am opposed 10
any change-that even the brother who moves the
change does not even understand the question OF
greater and lesser communication.
Dr. ArmStroag-Will the brother allow me to
correct him? | said greater aud lesser excommu.
nication as held in the Churcl of Rome.
Dr. Plumer--l am very glad that | misunder-
stood him; for l was once his pastor, and always
liked him. He was an amiable boy, and is a very
amiable doctor of divinity. -
Well what is the fact about greater and lesser
communication Lesser communication Is
suspension, either indefinitely or for time, from
religious communion. The greater excOmmunica-
ton is what We call accommodation. That Is
the whole of it, and that is all that any Protestant
Church has ever adopted ca this subject. They
never sent curses after ANYBODY, we bless and
curse not, is Fundamentals law In the Protestant
Church
w.. 'gstmsg- 70pDointsS- "a
be ID were Impto, nv t would be very
marvellous thing 10 book OF twenty-one octave
pages if you could not find four things, especially
when the Committee was at liberty to quote from
from the old Discipline can find dozen good
things in it, but they are taken pretty much from
the old Book But Jet US look at the list though
have not time to dwell upon it.
I'm case Church member or officer shall re
move his residence beyond the bounds of the court
to which he belongs into another, if he shall neg
lect for twelve months without satisfactory rea-
sons given to both these courts to transfer his &C.
clesiastica relations, the court, whose bounds he
has left shall be required to transfer the same
And should that court neglect this duty, the one
into whose bounds he has removed shall assume
jurisdiction giving due notice to the other body
And this is proposed as law Suppose young
Adams of Charleston had followed his father to
China and stayed there two years, without joining
the Presbytery of Hong Kong Then the Presby-
terry of Charleston would have been bound to send
a dismission to him, and the other Presbytery
would have been bound to enroll him Why sir,
the thing is simply absurd. 1t is impractlcable.
Suppose man goes to Boston, and the Presby
terry there should happen to hold that 1t was
grand heresy to maintain that Paul taught the
true doctrine about slavery; and suppose the
brother in Boston should not choose to ask for a
dismission from u.s. or if he did, they should not
choose to receive him what would you doY Sup
pose that when my venerable colleague, DIR. LIE
land, became an Emeritus Professor, he had moved
from the bounds of his PreSbytery to another, and
had lived there for ten years without joining the
other This Book says he shall. We are not pre-
pared to treat our old and invalid men IN this way
And yet this clause is imperative. That brother
was terribly alarmed yesterday at the word i'm
perative" on another subject. This is but one
sir; and it is absolutely impracticabe; twill hurt
the feelings and wound the best sensbiities OF ou
people. Let Presby' % q cir duty; and lei
them do it within ded limits OF oul
Book, as it now st
have said th ned four good
things in the Boo paper shall
not be accepted may be mis-
taken; | never cot he whole mat
ter ceases. This end. III II Ii
not adopted, VIC book on III
merits: and v necessarily
prolonged Book dowr
with the ss rood many
in this hoe an never
keen silc ek wheI
such house
for the
ter, 1t
with al aa0 but
one or tie each
other auG toast
She indulge ca, he sal
nibbling much pro
press. At nj, excuse
me for few n down aud
give out breakfast aid he. She
delayed as long as nd him when
she back, ,,shll Nib " toast Said
She. I" NV dear, arr mo, said
he, Il / am not dor Laughter.
Dr. Ad0er.-I indeed, that the
discussion of this r. e. on precisely IN this
way. [ could not ha better pleased than to
have had precisely sucu paper presented to the
Assembly, as my brother fTom Louisville has pre-
sented, because it is direct. He comes from a
quarter of the church which is characterized by
direct action in what they undertake and what
they say. 1t is we'll that this report should be
handled by the Assembly precisely in that kind Of
way-either by accepting or rejecting DR.. Will
sons paper, which deals with the subject in a
manly, bold, and straight-out manner. Ii the As
sembly is disposed after what has been done to say
that we should now lay this matter on the table In
definitely, think we ought to say so distinctly,
as other Assemblies have said before-that they
think this has been useful is useful, will be useful
and they will go forward in the same, which down
to this time has been so profitable
[ propose to introduce the few remarks which
| have to make by giving brlet statement OF the
history of this matter. | shall have to correct
one remark of my respected brother as to what
took place two years ago. If heard him rightly,
what he said was not correct. | think it may be
useful to take at this time, after fourteen or fifteen
years, a review of what has been done-what has
been the course of previous Assemblies and how
this matter came to be where it is now.
The beginning of this matter was in 1857, when
the Assembly met in the bounds of the Synod
from which my brother comes-at Lexington KY.
Although great authority has this morning pro
nounced thatto consider the Discipline before Gov
eminent is putting the cart before the horse, 2"
that Assembly which had some of the greatest
men in our Church on Its floor, did not think so;
they began by referring the Discipline to a COM
mittee That committee consisted of some of the
wisest men that the Church, Of which we were
ridge. Hodge, Swift McGill, Judge Sharswood,
Judge Allen and one OF two ohcEs. They re
ported to the Assem- N 500.
[ viii pause juos - .aoduee, py way Of
episode, the changes which tIsy reported. This
will bring before the Assembly an exact statement
however hurriedly and briefly made-of what
that first committee proposed to do. The report
of that committee is substantially the same that
which is laid on your table to-day-with certain
changes which will indicate. 1t was written by
DR.. ThornwelI-the work, of course, Of his fellow
committeeman but he drafted and presented it,
will give statement, in his own language, Of
the changes made, and recapitulate after him the
changes made in the Book now presented. Then
you can judge, as We 60 along, how correct it is to
say that the fundamental principles Of the present
Book are proposed to be changed and how Tar it is
revolutionary.
The first head is, looping off redundancieS. "
They were what he characterized as preaching
those parts of the present Book which preach
and exhort.
The second head is, " Omissions Supplied; , and
thn first qualification is - Eynlicit enumeration OF