New-York tribune., 1876-05-19
THE DELEGATES AND THEIR WORK.


ING FOR HIS SUCCESSOR
Seats in the central part of the church were occu-
pied by the delegates about 400 of whom pres
ent at the opening of the session at II o'clock Rain
was falling at the time. and this had marked effect
in limiting the attendance of persons not connected
with the Assembly. Very few ladies present.
and the audience seemed very small in proportion to
the number of Presbyterans in Brooklyn and New
York. Upon the platform were seated the Rev. Drs
Edward ID. Morris of Cincinnati, Philemon III. Fow-
Ter of Florida, T. Dewitt Talmage of Brooklyn, s.
Ireneus Prime of The Ncc- York Obserrer, and David
Wills of Washington, ID. G.
| Only 4 casual look at the delegates needed in
order to tell that the majority were clergymen
| They impressed the observer with sense OK their
intellectual power and goodness of heart Most of
them are beyond middle age, considerable number
are fifty, and not few bear the whitened locks
of sixty and seventy years. The features of many
bear unmistakable evidence of Scottish and Irish
descent. which their speech confirms.
IL accordance with the custom which prevails in
Presbyterian General Assemblies, the retiring Mod
orator, the Rev. Edward d. Morris, d. d., of Cincn-
natl delivered the annual sermon DR.. Morris occu-
pies the chair of Theology in the Lane Theological
Seminary This position he has held for about seven
years. He was elected Moderator of the Cleveland
Assembly on close vote and proved to be
an efficient and capable presiding officer.
| He is of about medium hight, not
striking in appearance; his manner of speaking
is earnest and forcibe, and he held the close
attention of his hearers during the delivery
of his sermon, which occupied an hour and half.
The subject of the discourse the past and future
of American Presbyteranism-f from the first plant
ing of the seed until its present maturity and vgor'
and the conditions which assure the progress Of tho
Church. The Presbyterian Church Of America, the
speaker said sprang from the British rather than tho
Continental stock. -Four conditions affected all
forms of American religious life: the gradual
separation from the parent stock the entire depen-
dence on the voluntary principle; the peculiar COLO
cation and commingling OF the various American
sects in the common struggle for life and growth
and the universal liberty of thought and speech
which pervaded American society. There were also
special conditions affecting the Presb terian Church.
among which lis type of theology, its polity,
its form of worship, and its denominational relations
| to the spirit of the age. The American Calvnism
was both preached and preachable" The growth
of the Church was n miracle of modern Christian
ity, and had no parallel except in the
progress of Methodism. Among the dangers
of Prcsbyteranism the perils of the
denominational press, the natural tendency
of educational institutions to propagate peculiar
doctrine and the possible rise of hereses. DR..
American Presbyterian churches; he did not despair
of union of the Northern aud the Southern
branches of the Church. nor even of combination
of all the Presbyterian bodies of the world No type
of Professionalism cosmopolitan Presby-
teriansm, and therefore it had special work to do
in the unifying of Professionalism.
At the close of the sermon DR.. Morris made brief
and pointed prayer The report of the Committee
of Arrangements being called for DIR. Talmage
ascended the platform. He first welcomed the dele
gates to the City of Brooklyn. The tent of Abra-
ham, he said was open and ready to receive, not
three angels, but 600 His hope that the Northern
and Southern Presbyterian Charches might become
united called forth hearty applause Here on
this PLATFORM" said he, may the lion and tho
lamb lie down together, so that we can't
tell which the lion and which is the
lamb.D He then announced that the communion
service which would be administered in the
evening would be conducted by DR.. Norris DR..
William Adams and DR.. William L. Breckenridge.
The original arrangement for the sessions of the As
sembly has been changed, and two are TO be held
daily, the first session from 0 a. N. 10 430 p. M,
with a recess from 1890 to p. M, and an evening
session from to 10 o'clock. The first half hour of
the morning session will be occupied with devo-
tiona exercises. There will be no evening session
on Saturday The session tonight will be devoted to
May % aud 2l will be occupied respectively with
the discussion of home and foreign missionary work,
and on the evening of Thursday, May %, delegates
from other religious bodies will be received. Tho
recommendations of the Committee of Arrangements
were adopted. The morning session closed with
singing and with prayer by the Rev. q. w. Mus
grave, ID. d., of Philadelphia.
The principal business of the afternoon session
was the election of n Moderator Of the Assembly.
Much time was consumed in reading the list of dee-
gates not only on account Of the large number, but
also because of the very deliberate manner OF the
clerk the Rev. DR.. Dickson. Further delay and
some confusion were due to the fact that some dele
gates did not understand tho rule that member
should have delivered his credentials to the
| Committee Commissions previous to tho
| session, in order to have q right TO vote.
| After the report Of the Committee OH Commissions
| had been received DR.. Morris announced that he
was ready to receive nominations for Moderator.
| Instantly member was on his feet and announced
the name of DIR. Samuel NJ. Campbell of the Roches-
ter Prcsbytery. Dr. William Adams whose face and
form are well known in tins city, where much of his
life has been spent then and begged leave to
nominate Dr. Henry j. Van Dyke of Brooklyn. DR..
Wills announced DR.. Talmage's name. The other
candidates were DIR. Dickey, Dr. Jonathan Edwards.
and DIR. Knox. The candidates then retired, ana as
the roll was called by the permanent clerk. each
member announced his vote. The candidates frc-
quenty named were DIR. Van Dyke and DIR. Tamage,
and long before the voting closed it evident that
the contest was narrowed down to the two men. The
delegates appeared to be in excellent hum0r, and
laughed and appIauded at the clerks mistakes In
| calling the names. When instead of Elijah DIR.
Dickson said Elizabeth" there was hearty peal
| of Iaughter which was for the moment uncontrol-