The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1876-03-01

! yours, IL is our right anu prlVIeSe W looh
into yours little and see if they are SO mar,
yellously pure after all.
| A few words on the other point referred
to in your letter. We desire no better evil
dence of the imgregnability of position
than that it is asailed only by those who
misunderstood i or pervert it. Among all
the assaults whid pave been made on what
we said in regarTto the impracticable and
prepOsterOus nature of your demand in the
Baltimore Conference We do not now recall
single sentence which has the slightest
bearing on the proposition We affirmed. In
deed, we do not recall single sentence to
which we do not subscribe as heartily as the
man who penned it. What we said was, it
is not in the province of our Assembly to
7isapprous Of the disposition shOacn to take
exception to the temper displayed and to re-
grst the acts performed By assemblies long
since held. Mr.. Beach replies as a Church
We stand committed to the doctrine that
there is one and but one infallible rule of
faith and practice. Marvellous piece of In
formation But What has that to do with
the right of one Assembly to judicially ami
madvert upon the temper displayed and to
disapproye of the disposition shown by As
semblies long since held? You say that
"whoever may attempt to maintain the po-
sition that your Assembly and ours are not
both legally and morally the same they were
ten years ago, will find himself perplexed by
SO many glaring alsurdities that it must soon
be abandoned" pOdy denies that. But
are the men tn impose our Assemblies
now the same m iat composed them ten
years ago? If an the men of our pre-
sent Assemblies lack of the official acts
of their predecer assume without giving
them hearing tAstthey acted under high
excitement and showed bad temper, and,
assuming all this, express sorrow for their
sins? That would be Adams posterity re-
penting of Adams sins with vengeance
You reply, "that, if one Assembly cannot
review, repeal and in all manner Of ways sit
in judgment upon what previous Assemblies
have done, it is an anomaly on earth" No.
body denies that. But can it impute to
them "high excitement" bad temper, ETC.,
etc., and that, too, without hearing them in
their own defense-yes, after they are dead?
Now this is exactly what you asked US to do.
You did not ask US to nullify the acts of pre-
Vious Assemblies. This you distinctly ac-
knowledged we had already done. Letter
No. ~ But, passing from the words and
acts, you ask US in addition to this to say,
in ga few plain words that these obnoxious
things were said in times of high excitement,
that they are to be regretted, and that now
in calm review the imputations cast upon
the Southern Chul@ are disapprOved in
other words, that the men that composed
previous Assemblies acted under the infu,
ence of passion and thus did things which we
regret and disapprove. Now what we affirm
is, it is not in the power of one Assembly to
adiudge the temper and repent of the al
legged sins of previous Assemblies in that
way. Why, sir, passing from the question
of loyal to the question of moral right, it
would be an outrage. There is not senti-
ment of honor, or justice, or manhood, but
what revolts at the proposition. We are
bold in the affirmation that it is without
parallel in the history of the Presbyterian
Church. Among all the negotiations for
union that have been carried on by the diff
ferent denominations in our own land, we
challenge you to show single instance in
which such demand has been made by one
party and acceded to by the other.
And, besides, it is candid to say, your
STEW plain words would not have been
true, if our General Assembly had uttered
them. The past General Assemblies of
which you comp were composed of falli-
bic men, it is tru but they were good men.
They were consc Eous men. They acted
with the fear of before their eyes. They
did their duty as they understood it. We
may rescind their enactments, we may annul
their proceedings; but we may not and you
may rest assured we will not impugn the
purity of the impulses from which they
acted. This much our late General Assem-
bly, indicated beyond peradventure.
Having said this much for our own men
We are willing to say just SO much for yours,
even if they did call our missionaries "schis-
matical intruders, " and our act on the slavery
question "perniciouS heresy." Allowing
them both to stand or fall by the judgment
of the Master, into whose presence many Of
them have already gone, We are willing to
maintain with you just whatever fraternal
relations are most agreeable to you. Now,
sir, if you have any doubt of the sincerity Of
these pretensions on our part personally, the
next time you visit the blue grass, just try
our latch-string.
Yours very truly,
J. S. HAYS,
T. H. CLELAND.
H..