Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-05-16

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such yiniication Of Mr. Talmage a. can be
mall out OF the declaration by twenty of the
reverend judges in the case that Mr.. Tai
mage Is guilty in whole or part of the charges
ci fAl<ehood and deceit, and by twenty five
that he was not Gailty, or If guilty was not
80 guilty aS TO warrant his exclusion from
the denomination The whole trial has not
been calculated to increase respect for the
ministers or % promote the cause Of religion.
The proceedings were often, by all accounts,
surprisingly lacking in dignity and lecorum.
The feeling among the ministers and in the
audience was strong and bitter ard per
sonal atray and knock lown on the church
step, between 4 church trustee and a mem
Der, was one Of the outside episodes. Of
the inside transactions perhaps the most no
tieeable was the proceedings on the Hathaway
7pectcatitn. This was that Mr. Talmace
mad toll fal,ehoois about l Mr. Hathaway,
a former member of his church, now a min
ister The evidence was in when it was
announced that Mr. T4lmage and hlr. Hath
way had "mlde up outside Mr. Tai
mage, who had jas; characterized Mr.. Hath
away'@ testimony as 'thc greatest pack Of
ia!<ehcoi' he had ever heard" there
upon announced that the whole thing had
been settled, aa1 uherei Mr. Hathaway
the hand of Christian fellowship. Mr..
Hathaway RESPONDED in like manner.
Neither withdrew his assertions or charges
but because they Lai forgiven each other, it
was actually moved anl actually voted to
di-mi's the specification, and on this, Mr.
Talmage voted, and voted in hi own favor
| pon the th-elt OF the nre,iilng officer
t. take HI hat ard leave, if a handshaking
between the IArtie4 were thus to be allowed
to aet,lr a charge of tal+thooi, the Vote to
dismiss wa recona,Iercd and reversed. hut
Mr.. Ialmagc'S counsel AMI Il large portion
Of the Prcshyterv, continued to holi that
the reconciliation was a full vndicAtion OF
Mr.. raimage on that specification.
The chief point of the defence was that
Mr.. Talmage was a nan Of such an emotion
al and enthusiastic nature that his conduct
was not to he Judged by the ordinary rules
Of trLth and integrity applicable to other
men. Il hH wanted a thing, to further his
plans Of usefulness, he was apt to want it so
badly that he sometimes overlooked the
character of the means he adopted to secure
it. This, it need hardly he said, il rather
dangerous grounds to 20 on, hut the accept
ancc Of it by majority Of the iarv seems
to furnish the main explanation Of Mr..
Talmage's formal acluittal. One member,
in giving hi verdict, excused Mr. Talmage
in the Hathaway matter. on the ground
that doubtless he tFalmagel hal heard
damaging rumors concerning Brother lIatha-
way. 1t was, he SAID very easy to hear
any kind of SANDER ronr,rning any given
man in BROOKLYN. The city was nothing
but an oyergrown village and had never ont
grown It's village propensties. lie once
preached sermon. writtaa by him for an
other congregation eight years before on
SANDER, to a Brooklyn congregation, and the
next DAY one half Of The people threatened to
leave the church, regarding it as a personal
attack upon themselves.
However this may be, and whether the
d" propen>ites' Of the inhabi;aat.. # Brook
Ign are G;han or rural, aad whether the
comparison Is SANDER on the Brooklyn
reople,or on the country 'illagers, one thing
is quite clear that the city Of churches is
not in all respects city If hrothcrly love
The ieud between the Congregational
churches Is about Il sharp as it can be.
When things reach such pas that two
Christian churcLes Of the same denom-
nation cannot be content to associate even
in their chaTitie~, they are certainly in a
had state as re~rectf harnony. In .
recent instance that has come II our
knowledge, however, the fact that a needy
Congregational S,riciy on Long Island had
accepted aid ifum ono OF the Brooklyn Con-
sresational churches wa~ made the sufficient
and conclusive reason why promised assist
auce from one yt the other churches should
be withheld. Nnw the Presbyterian de-
nomination in thar quarter l. about as
thoroughly divided between tie >ymVsthizeIs
with AMI the opponents Vi T4lmase,
as the IGngTes lt,onati-t- have been and are