The sun., 1879-05-02

Su@"1H, that IN" church oi wha'H he was % pastor
was n free church. and that Inc siti nRr were
tion, although he knew such declarations to he
false That man you will aquit on this charge.
and to that man you should make the best
reparaton in your power. | would rather
thousand times he that man than to he hi nc
cuser The accusation mas given to that man
the opportunity TO prove TO this Presbytery that
he Is one OF the noblest OF men. 1t hus not left
even stain upon his garments"
As to the specification involving the nccusa-
tion OF dishonest practices against |. w Hath.
away, DR.. Spear said: The declaration that
Or. Talmage stood thus charged by common
| fame is not true; and 1t s true that the common
| fame which now exists in respect to this mat
ter has resulted from the action Of the Presiy-
| terry. But for that action the Who'll" question.
having been honornbly settled. would have
slept in quiet and undisturhed rntirsmept
How this purely personal difficulty. that had
been finally adjusted by the parties themselves.
and Of which the general public had never
heard. came 70 be placed IN this lndlctmrnt
| shall not inquire. Yet am Of the opinion that.
| II the Presbytery had known the facts as II now
never have appeared in this charge. l cannot
resist the conviction that 1t is there 10y n very
grave mistake. / appeal to the candor Of this
Preshytery and to the judgment of a candid
world, for the correctness OF my opinion on this
point"
As to the telegram sent by Dr. Talmage to his
nephew, John !. Talmage, asking him to sub
scribe $4,000. and Offering to make up to him
privately all he did not choose to give OF that
sum DR.. Spear said: Il do not believe. and You
do not that the Omniscient eye detected any
fraud or deceit or any species Of falseness in
the heart OF Dr. Talmage or In that Of his wife,
when they were musing over the declinature II
| his nephew. and agreeing among Themselves n
| end that was dear to both. Their action upon
its face bears tho stamp OF sincerity and evinccs
q spirit nf self-denial ~ which we all have too
/ little. Would to God that there were more such
men and womenl You must commend rather
than condemn TIE state Of mind evincsd 10y Or.
send the second telegram. The purpose
OF the alleged deceit was to induce others
TO subscrbe.' To subscribe for, whatP Why,
| for the payment Of the church debt. Is that a
| bad thing to do2 Is there any sin in endeavors
| TO induce people 10 subscribe money for good
| objects Is not this being done every day, and
is II not frequently true that "A good deal Of art
in the way OF pumping men. cornerlng them.
| the means Of getting them up to the giving
roint2 Mr.. Kimbal the famous church debt
raiser Is said TO be an expert In this business
and TO have made great many subscriptions
paid by others. for the purpose Of inducing
others to subscribe. and so far ms | know, no
| church court has as yet called him to account
| for IT, or declared that he stands charged by
common fame with fal lsehood an deceit. His
action is notorious. and many Of the pastors in
this and other cities have availed themselves OF
DR.. Spear dismissed the sixth specification
| relative to the orRanist matter. and on the
| seventh, which accused Or. Talmage of intend
| ing to deceive his. people by announcing that ho
| was to be tried by the Presbytery for hrtero-
| doxy. when he knew that he was to be- tried. II
| at all, for falsehood and dereit DR.. Spear said :
| The plain truth ls-And regret the neceSS ty
! Of saying it-this charge looks as II somebody
was very anxious to get up accusations against
DR.. Talmage. and just rs busy in doing tho
In concluding. DR.. Spear said: Il have. per-
! haps. studied this case with IA much care as
any member Of the court and, though / shall
not vote. snail here exercise the right Of say
| ing that, In my judgment, there is nothing in
| this whole accusation that can Justify you In In
| hicting the least censure upon DR.. Talmage.
| The case as presented by the prosecution. even
without the defence. was failure and II there
bound oT to acouit the accused. with the defsnce.
there is abso utely nothing lett ot this case.
fail to have observed. that this weakness OF the
case itself Is due to no lack Of zeal or erOft
on the part OF the prosecution.
10 DR.. TAmage, not from the love OF controver-
| sy. not from the want Of employment. not be-
| cause he was my familiar friend. but becnuse
did moi believe in either the constiutionnlity or
expediency Of the method BY which this pro-
cedure was inaugurated II was at frat with
me a question OF law; and on that question |
was not able % concur with the majority ~ ~ 5
Presbytery. II was next question ot eNpedi.
saw a wiser and better way 10 dispose Of the
whole difficulty than that Involved in "A formal
judicial process Il next became question oi
intense sympathy for man who had Hitherto
been n stranger TO me These differrnt and sue
cessiye phases Of thought and feeling led me. at
what regarded rs serious peril 10 my per-
eonal health to yield 10 the urgent request of
Dr. Talmage and aid him in his defence. 10
not regret having done So. II has given me the
opportunity 10 make the ncquaintance OF a man
10 whom had unwttingy done injustice. |
am glad TO be corrected and TO repair the in
Jury,
this case. They should be citing words. | ask
you. when you come TO the actual business ~
making up your Judgment TO consider well
what you are doing. Let no prejudice, no pre-
possessions. no previous commitments ~
thought or feeling enter into that judgment.
You are dealing with man who has all the IN
terests Of man in his own good name. You
are dealing with husband and \ father who
has a wife and children TO be affected by your
lister OF the Gospel and with the pas
tor OF one OF the largest churches in
this country: and the interests. solirtud"s
and conhding affections OF that church Will
not and should not escape your notice. You
are indirectly dealing with a prevalent public
sentiment that sees no occasion for the con-
demnAtion OF the accused, and whose judgment
in this respect you can neither en- tighten re-
verse. The law OF cons slderate and
generous kindness should rule the heart OF
every member OF this court. You had better a
thousand times stretch the law of Il charitable
construction even to its eNtrem"st limit, rather
than do him the slightest injustice May The
Great Head OF the church be your counsellor
glory. for the good of the accused. and the besi
interests OF religion among mem
The speech lasted about three hours and
half, and at its close was applAuded Hs much a.
the Moderator would allow. Dr. Spear delv
cred the closing sentences with much solem
nifty OF utterance. and. stepping forward. RAISED
mis- hands at the end. as though 10 pronounce
benedicon Messrs. Crosby and Mccullough
will sum up for the defence to-day.