, 1874-04-27


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@ @rant. 10 goes to spurgoon. Oh whose lips
tlloiH"'ius thor. saI, han9 ~ nna W whom thollAanda
lavo boon lou to lido thonlBelvoa il tito
rock ol agos, and ho to!la him that, by preach :
ng tho Calvinistn Of tho sixtocnth contury, ho
l'na turned tho God Or love away from tho poo.
plo, nld las given tlle'n Morciloss tyrant. 10
IL IL that pf: lhomaa, OF tho Mothotliat Church.
makoa all CalylniHts OF ovosy land, Of 0yory
ago, Of oyory uhurcli, horotics, for the purpose
Of oxonoratlng ono Presbyterian minister from
the charge OF supposed orror. This Ia q hurt
aftor horottcs.. Tho caso must bo bad, indeed,
IN DR., Thomas oyea when 70 many must suffer-
slandof that ono presbyterian. minister may on
capo oonanto.
But Dr. Thomas has kind word for Prea-
bytorians, after all. lie admits thot tho droat-
Of Faith; but thon he is too charitable to
charge tho presbytorians Of to-day with holding
these doctrines, Very kind, indeed. We havo,
heard i said OF tho Ohurch OF England Tint 'she'
but DR.. Thomas Inns discovered TINT thoro is as;
Eloat q discrepancy between tho porrv and creed;
of tho Presbyterian Church. How. haB ha found
out tllis2 Inns ho not aaid in that Ba1np sermon
md in tno name Of dol and roiig'on and, il 50,
wlero IL 1t taught,-in what churches, III
Prosbytorians Of tho preaont day don't hold 1t
But We venture to toll pr. Thomas that be may
charge prssbyto11ia.rs Of the present day and
oonfoslon of Faith. Thoy hold them
baonuBe they tud thom In this old
book, called tho nlblc-a book Of which
pr. Thomas seenls to hnvo holy horror,
domination OF those doctrines which lo cala
dreadful. ChlyinistB aro accustomed to appeal
to tho law aud tho testimony III support Of their
principles. rnd 20 not oonsider thnt oitloc creod
or Church is well founded that Is hot built on tho
Foundation OF HucHttEH nfODltHtH. 111r1Nt
hlmnoH nolng the ohie1 corner-stone.; And, bo-
lievlug thai. thoir religious doctrines arc 30
1onndon, thoy consider thcm PROOF against tho
20 nod rAiilory Gno the vapid declaration OF every
IhofnnB tint lives. .a.
. But docB Dr.. Thomas' litt!o sot,ho not teach
him that what lo considers compliment to
preabyterians is M assault on thoir honesty, 7
Ho makes every minister liar; worso, ho
first At his 1icensuro, aud ngair 1T lis ordlna-
tion, every minister Of tho prcsbyterau Church
Inns had this question, or ono oqnaly binding,
put to him: "Do you sincerely roooive and
s essss no so o a assrao i s Shsis
Holy Scriptures 2" And tho answer has bean:
I do." Aud yot with oil this solemn nocopt~
ance Of tho Cafvlnism Of tho Confession Of Faith,
Pr. Thomas ssys tha rrebbytcrlars, do not hold
that Confession Of Faith. !; Is ths tho poor COT
tihcaso OF character that wo eau get from
for the purposo OF apologizing for: his asanmp-
tion TINT tIoi: swing is not ualVn!st! Dr.
nomas tnm l.. 10 . peason, may totesih one T.;
tninG Win us up ana oeheFe 'anotler tblng IN
A!s heart, put II II au eiISonlery which may
well mako him blush to charge Frcsbytor'nnR
With 10 tGmpcrlng with their Convictions Of
! 1rth; no. II Ih9mas' Ton nay charge Pras.
no compliment that makes ~ gu llara, BY saying
we adopt creed which We believe not, and no
Ting nack With acorn IN inainHation tlat would
n v n IA In rA-
grat Dr. ThomaB' performance than 11of. Swing
himself. Tho attack on the Confession OF
Fatth without any provocatton, viii not tend to
exalt Or. Thomas in the csteem OF PfoHby yterlans,
cred in praae Of 2 Presbyterian minister, it
viii READILY appear TINT something ia out OF
joint. Dr. Thomas must suppose tint his friend,
Prot. Swing, is not q Presbyterian, elsc he would
III his dotenBo. The zeal Of DR.. Thomas in tho
Cause of his friend may DO strong, but It has
not bncn discrcetly exercised, andwe hope that
tho public. will just let this eloquent sermon
bv. the ground on which il is baacd
mud the conclusion to. which it leads, that
Prof. Swing In not in sympathy with tho diB-
tlnctiye principles OF his Church. DR.. Thomas
should allow Mr.. Swing himself to say what hts
thooIogical position IL. It is very unkind in him
to volunteer all opinion, and mako an admission
which virtually sussaius the charges now pre-
forred against his friend's orthodoxy. ,:H
But in his sermon Dr.. Thomas mauffosts an
abnorronoo Of tho sixteenth century. liz nays
thoy cannot put the dusty garments OF tho aix-
tool,th century on tho living men OF tho nino-
teenth century, aud he also Hays that tho ashes Of
old Genovn cannot abide the oroath Of now Chi
cngo. This laa become rather popular argu-
mont against tho Ca'vinistio systom. Some mon
do toss up their heads in derision, and say Of
honest :presby yterianB; of Tho present day,
Oh, they wore born 500. years behind
tino; thoy aro not 1T for tho nino-
teenth century; they are sixteentll.oentury men,
far, far behind tho ago. We'll, what docs all
this stuff amount to? Was tho sixteenth century
period farther away than the sixteenth century
that thoro woro giants In those daya, aud can wo
not say Of that sixteenth century, which some
speak Of no. irgeyorcntly, thors were giants in
those days. Tho sixteenth century had ita
heroes, it's mighty mon. The Puritans were
sl3toeiath-cautury mon. Thoso brave mon who