, 1875-11-14
THE LATEST ASPECTS OF THE BEECHER


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| CASE.
| To understand the bearings of the most re-
cent movements in the case Of HENRY WARD
l}EEcHEn, one needs to bear in mind certain
peculiarities of tho Congregational Church
po1ity. An " "Assocletion in the Eastern
States is simply au organization of ministers
| for mutual professional improvement,
and hes nothing to do with churches; !;
/ but at the West the Associations have
| become conferences Of churches. Gus
| tom requires every Congregational min
| lister to belong to some Association, Us q
| guarantee of his good standing in the denom-
| ination. Mr.. BEEcHER is member of the
| New York and Brooklyn Association. This
body has right to inquire into the truth Of
| any charges or reports which affect the repu-
| tation Of one of its members both because
| of the relation Of membership in it to the
standing of the members, and because of the
necessity Of fellowship among themselves.
Hence, when l1r. BEEcHEE's character was
publicly impugned, motion was made, q
year or more since, to inquire into the duty
! which the Association might have to
| discharge in the premises. In view Of the
| promised civil trial, this motion was tempo
rarily laid On the table. Six months later,
after the spring meeting, Mr.. BEEcHEn's de-
Tenders sought in vain to hnve it expunged
from the minutes. This autumn it was
taken from the table, aud. after much discus
sion as to the wisest course to be pursued, in
view Of the indecisise result of the civil trial,
| it WIS voted to appoint committee Of five,
| to report to the body what course it was in
| cumbent to pursue in the peculiar circum-
stances of this case.
| This action does not indicate necessarily
| m ecclesiastical trial for the Committee
| may report that such trial is ine1pedient,
after the failure Of six-months' trial in q
civil court to secure united verdict. Yet
the Committee may conclude that the single
issue presented in the Court and the narrow
| range of evidence allowed by Legal rules shut
out important testimony which would be ad-
mitted by an ecclesiastical body; and they
may consequently recommend further inves-
tigation. After the Committee have re-
ported, the Association may or may
not adopt their recommendation. The Rev.
Dr.. ". j. BUpNGToN is the Chairman Of the
Committee, and will no doubt see that the
inquiry after duty is thoroughly made. This
action was taken under the pressure Of feel
ing, which is said to exist very generally in
the denomination that the Church ought not
to relagate its duties to civil tribunal; and
especially that it ought not to rest satisfied
after divided verdict, which was failure to
acquit. There probably was call, from all
parts Of the land, for the ministers on the
ground to make further inquiry; especially if
there was a likelihood of bringing forward
additional witnesses, whose testimony might
throw decisive Light upon the disputed points.
Many unquestionably represented that the de-
nomination was suffering reproach from
seeming incapacity to deal with so prominent
person
Precisely here comes in the bearing Of the
call Of the Rev. DR.. R. s. SroRss, Of Brook
lyn, to the Brick Presbyterian Church in New
York City. This would attract comparatively
little attention in ordinary circumstances;
though the Congregationalists would be sorry
to lose, as the Presbyterians would rejoice to
gain, q clergyman Of such eminence. Still it
is matter of common occurrence for minis
tiers to pass and repass between these two
denominations, as personal choice of location
may decide. But the difficulty in this case
is, that the reason for a change seemed to
grow entirely out Of the complications
OF the BEEcHER matter. It is supposed
that the Brick Church people have learned
that DR.. SToRRs is dissatisfied with being
kept in forced ecclesiastical fellowship with
Mr. Rr-ruru
that they imagi zine that he is indisposed to
engage further in controversy respecting the |
difficulty, and prefers to step over the river
into e land of peace, and into denomina-
ton which hes stronger methods Of disci- |
pine. There is no doubt that the Presbyte- |
1lans have had high hopes of securing this /
eloquent preacher, md for precisely these |
reasons. But that fact has aroused the Con |
gTegationalists, who resent the imputation |
thus cast upon their system, and insist that /
AIR. BErcHEE can be reached by their methods |
if thera is evidence Of his guilt to be pro-
duced /; that the Association could expel him, |
aud the local Conference could disovn his |
church, and q properly-called Council could |
advise universal disfellowship. It is un-
derstood, therefore, that a steady stream of |
protests against the acceptance of his call to- |
New York has set in upon DR.. SToaRs, and is I
likely to prevail, as he is not man to expose |
himself to the charge Of deserting his cole,rs
during battle.
Next comes the late action Of Plymouth
Church in dropping from the roll Of n,em-
bers the names Of Deacon WEST and Mrs,
MoU1roS, without any disciplinary trial, and |
IN the face of the gravest charges mo lie BIZ
the latter, in the church-meeting at the time,
against the pastor. For dealing similarly
with Mr. TnToN, that church was called to
account By the churches of Drs S71RRs and |
BUpEoroS, and they finally summoned the
famous Brooklyn Council Of last year; which
censnred the action Of Plymouth Church, but !
recommended continued fellowship and for
bearance, on the ground that its paper, sent
to the Council, gave reason to believe that it