The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-05-15

to time in the Church of tho Walden
slams, until, In 1916, under the great Re-
formers, 1t ran In two dircctions-theo ono
Eastern, tho other Western. The one
Church: The onc headed by Luther took
possession OF Germany; the other, head
ed by Zwinglius, the hero of Zurich
The latter, the Western branch, support
cd by Oecolampadius and defended by
the intrepid Farcl and LaFeyro, became
the Creed of Geneva. Powerfully advo-
Gated and elaborated by the great Calvin,
it ran through France, and became the
creed of tho Huguenots. This that /
hold IN my hand was endorsed for sub
stance OF doctrine by tho great French
! synod held in Paris 1862 until that awft
historical monstrosity occurred in 1872
| the Massacre OfSt. Bartholomew-hadd dis
abled its professors; and yet more when
NJ the revocation Of the Edict OF Nantes
| 1855, 100000 Presbyterians were dis
persed Throughout Europe and America
| small but patriotic batch Of whom
headed by. tho Moragues, Giberts and
Belots, settled OH the banks of tho Sa-
vannall, In Abbeville County, in l764.
| It's principles had boen ably codified by
| the learned Mclanchthon Mt AUGSBURG
| 1870, at Diet presided over by Charles
| v, and so called tho Augsburg Confes-
sion. Taking deep root in Holland, it
| sprung to tho great Belgic Confession of
| 1861, the Same almost rs the Calvinistic
| church OF Franco. 1t became the bone
ana SNOW, the shot and powder, OF the
resistance of the United Provinces of
Holland against the cruel invasion of
| fhliilp III, of Spain, for period of 20
years, and was eventually and triumph
ally reasserted in the grand old Synod of
| Dort In 1918. There in quaint old
| mousse, with its gavel ends facing the
street, and in quaint old town, watered
| ny canals from its river docks, met tho
| oid Dutch preachers of the Continent,
ana soino from Scotland and England
anu solennly re-enacted these everlast-
ing principles. From them have come
| the Dutch Reformed Church of America.
| Through the influence of Calvin and
inc nartyred Cranmer, the same great
! into the 80 articles Of the Church OF Eng
| ianu; adopted with additional accretions
| and articulations by the celebrated West
munster Assembly of divincs in 1916; by
the scotch Assembly in 1917. Just this,
letter for letter, that hold in my hand,
| League and Covenant" For this those
stern old lions Of tho Cromwellinn army,
Hampdon, Pym and Hollis fought and
died Forthis the Puritan fathers plowed
| inc western wave to Plymouth rock and
planted these principles in America. II
was adopted for substance of doctrine bv
tho old Synod of Cambridge In this couii-
try in 1913, and by the PRESBYTERIAN AS
! scmbly Of America in 1879. 1t is TODAY
almost to tho letter the Confession Of
t tath or tho Northern and Southern Pres
| formed Synod of the South, of the Cum
Derland Prcsbyterians of tho West, of
the Dutch Reformed Church of America.
and Of the Presbyterian Assembly of
Canada. 1t is out and out. except in
uhhrch polity, tho theological system of
the Congregational Church of Now Eng
land, and, except in Church polity and
| ordinance, the theological systcm Of tho
great Baptist Church of this country and
Old England. Over tho Atlantic it is tho
creed almost to the letter of the United
pi,resbyterians OF England, of tho Irish
Presbyterian Church, of the Scotch
| Church both Free and Established, of
| the Reformed French Church of to-day
| OF the Netherlands, of Switzerland. OF
the old Waldensian Church, now merged
into the Italian Presbyterian Church.
us grand old elements lie imbedded in
TIC Theological system of the
Eplscopal Church of America, and as far
as the Methodist Episcopal Church has
formulated her theological system it is
based upon the same great clements.
NY friends, would not deserve to be
called Presbyterian if l could not say
to-day, and say it with high fraternal
regards to my brethren of ali ticnoniina-
| tions, that this which hold in my hand
is tho closest approximation to tho mind
OF tho Sacred Writings of any other book
| in existence. It is an edifice of stone.
whose pieces and parts have been blocked
out of the quarry Of the Holy Writings,
| chiscled and polished and put in, pioco
| ny piece, from age to age, until has
risen tc the grandeur Of beautiful and
c0nsummate ediiicc-the very symbol of
Christianity. You will pardon me for
saying so much on subject which take es
my heart, and understanding also. This
| wonderful book, l propose to deposit in
! that vault.
B. Tho third article, my friends, is a
more wonderful thing still-a document
| that dropped down from Heaven, Gods
| Epistle to his fallen children, the palla-
dunn of tho human race / will put it
| there, lest If the world should forget that
God has spoken, and all human copies of
His Holy Word should mould and decay,
come, plucked up from its sleeping place,
| like beautiful heavenly ligh; to lead
erring mon back to God and revive an
apostate world. Like the old Palladium
| OF Troy, which forbade that Troy should
| ever bo taken until it should be snatched
from its enshrinement, this world shall
never be taken by the powers of dark
ness so long as that document remains.
place 1t there to say TINT our hopes, and
the hopes of mankind, rest on that Book
tho Book that stretches its grand story
| from the very beginning to the very end
| Of time-the Book that opens with the
| grand tragedy of q worlds creation. and
closes with the moro august tragedy of a
world called into Court--the Book that
| lifts tho veil from the secrets of the un-
seen world and discloses tho mind OF
Deity.
At the close of DIR. Fr;e-son's speech
| the Band furnished moro music, after
which Rev. t. F. Gadsden, Rector of
Grace (Episcopal) Church, was intro
duced. He said:
My Friends of the Presbyterian Congreoa-
tion You are engaged in laying the cor
| ner stone of Il building for the worship
Of God, which will strengthen your con-
gregation, be an ornament to the town.
| and promote tho cause of sound religion
in the whole community. Hnnny The
Pastor, happy the people, who, in times
| like these, have the faith to conceive
such an enterprise. We esteem il a priv
ilego to share i'll your joy and give You
our hearty congratulations. This impor-
tant work did not begin to-day. It is
rather the coming to the light OF months
OF preparation-in fact, tho fruit Of years
OF the quiet, steady labor OF your faith
ml Pastor Ycur congregation had cut
grown the old building, and a new ono
became necessity This dan marks an
era in your Church-lifo. It is both a
history and prophecy. AS history, it
looks back to that mother Church, with
all its tender and sacred associations, and
records how woll it served its day and
generation. Some of you, the oldcr
members, perhaps cling to that church
as to your spiritual home, the birth place
of your souls, where in days gone by
you have poured out your heart before