The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1878-05-01

from our Assembly of 1870, with the papers
he adopted in the Baltimore Conference.
We judge that the "utterances" of the
Brooklyn pastor are about as much alike as
black and white, and bear no remote resem-
blance to the Irishman's story of the borrowed
kettle. But his Inconsistencies and strange
sayings and doings have not yet reached their
climax so We come to number
4. In the Northern General Assembly at
Brooklyn, in 1876, the Rsv. DR.. Talmage
offered paper on the subject of " fraternal
relations" in which We find the following
"Whereas, we sincerely regret the aliena-
ton of the past, and disapprOUe any wOrds
spoken IN times Of high excitement, which may
Be regarded az impugning the sound PreS6y
terrain and Christian character of the South
ern brethren therefore
Resolved, That we bury in one grave all misun
derstsndings aud differences, and all expressions
that haze been Interpreted OtenSiUe bet'oeen the
t.oo sections of the Presbyterian Church. and IN the
name of the Lord Jesus stretch forth both hand
with US in fraternal relations
DR.. Talmsge followed this paper with
very earnest, enthusiastic speech in its sup
port. A motion to lay on the table was
voted down by very large majority. A
motion to refer to the Committee on Cores
pondence led to q discussion by number oil
members, some in favor, others against
The Rev. DR.. Van Dyke left the ModerFor I
chair, "a thing almost without precedent in
General Assembly, and indicating his ex
treme anxiety to advocate reference. Ii
the course of his speech he referred to his
interest in the Southern Church; as g a man
full of Southern SympathieS." He then went
on to say concerning DIR. Talmages paper
"This action is entirely too weak for me-.
It is turning back the hand of the dial-plate
from striking II, as brother Talmage thinks
it is ready to do. 1t is turning back away
to 1, and it will have to come all the round.
Why, sir, these resolutions are weaker than
the ones which were offered in 187O--greatly
weaker. They are thousandth dilution of
those resolutions. They are homeopathic
dose, and they don't believe in homeopathy
down South. Then if you will read the res
oIutions again, you will see that they are in
expressibly weaker than what the Committee
in Baltimore adopted unanimously. | hope
it is not telling secrets out of school when l
say that those resolutions were written by my
own hand. They are infinitely weaker than
what the Assembly said last year endorsing
what their Committee said in Baltimore
Why, our Southern friends will say: This
brother meaning himself) is going back on
us. When he was obscure, he was our friend /;
but now that he is seated in the Moderator s
chair, he allows this Assembly to take back
what they have said.
In further reference to the resolutions ne
said he was opposed to them because | "knOw
that the Southern people will regard them as
unkind, and that they will be unkind to the
Southern Assembly. They will throw an
atom of discord into that Assembly, and will
be SO regarded by the strongest men in that
body. Now I beg you not to do it,"
Referring to DR.. Hoge's answer to the
telegram of DR.. Tslmage, he says;
"I tell you that DR.. Hoge's private opin-
ion ia that it would not be wise for US to do
it. | tell you that the private opinion of the
best men in that Assembly is that for the
present we had better not send any sponta
neous message at all"
Now, if our capacity for amazement had
not been pretty much exhausted long ago,
we should feel obliged to take at single
dose enough of it to brighten a genuine no.
mepsthist half to death. For we assert
what every one informed upon that subject
knows perfectly-that the very point on
which that Baltimore Conference split and
failed, was that Dr.. Van Dyke and his Com
mite refused to do just what DR.. Talmage's
resolutions proposed, that is, to express re-
greet and disapprOval of offensive imputations
cast upon the Southern Church. This is not
an open question it is matter of record.
Our Committee said to his" All that we
desire is that the imputstions which We con-
ceiVe to be resting upon our Church by the
acts of yOnr Assembly should be removed /;
We care not in what terms, so they fairly
cover the case Anything beyond that we
should consider it unworthy of the character
of Christian gentlemen to ask or accept. !"
This was positively and absolutely the only
thing made indispensable to harmonious
result, and no one had better opportunity
to know this than he who misled his Assem-
bly, by the extraordinary statements quoted
above. The last thing which one man has a
right to do is to impeach the veracity of an
other, especially of one whose character and
standing are shelter from such an imputa
ton. We expressly disclaim it here. But if,
with all these most remarkable facts which
had been plainly before him, DR.. Van Dyke
could tell that Assembly that what DR.. Tai
IMAGES resolution contained was only infinite
ly weaker than what had been already offered,
aud rejected by our Church, it was certainly
such hiatus of memory as could not safely
bear many repetitiOns.
Foreign MissiOns.-If all our pastors will re-
member the injunction of our last General Assem-
bly,, and preach a sermon next Sabbath on this
great subject, the result would be an increase pro.