The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-08-16
reached in the Conference between the

In his second letter DR.. Nelson said:
That no doubt may be left on this point,
between you and me, reiterate what l
said in my former letter. 1 have under
stood you to expect us to adhere to the
entire substance of our testimonies against
slavery and the war waged against our
national union, and have understood you
to ask for only an expression of regret
tor whatever there may be in the lam
guage of those deliverances inconsistent
with sincere recognition of and respect
for our brethren's opposite convictions
and full confidence in their Christian
character. Your letter confirms me in
this understanding, and in reply to this
shall be glad if you can expressly as
sure me that it is correct. am conf
dent that this would be satisfactory to
many whom you would love to satisfy,
if you can do so by any true declaration.
On the other hand, am confident of the
general readiness, on our side, to make
every acknowledgment of your Christian
sincerity and integrity, which is seen to
be consistent with unwavering fidelity to
the convictions which we held while the
conflict was pending, and which we still
hold unaltered and unweakened: convic-
tions which nerved us to the fearful task
and responsibility of compelling YOU 10
relinquish that, for the conservation of
which your convictions impelled you to
so strenuous a contest and so vast sac
rifce
DR.. Palmer replied to this: 81 do not
see how [ can express myself more clearly
than in my former letter. AS 1 under
stood it, both our committee at Baltimore
and our last Assembly at st. Louis in its
endorsement of their action, have waived
bodily all your 'Deliverances on Loyalty
and Freedom, as bar TO hate7maJ re-
LdtlonS. OF course we know that eocle-
siastically you never had the right to
make them-that by the declaration of
Jesus Christ, My kingdom is not of this
world, they were ab orlgine, null and
void, not of the things bound on earth
which are also bound in heaven. We
leave them, therefore, in your hands un-
broken and untouched, to repeat them,
to modify them, or to affirm and to glory
In them, just as you please. For your
own sake, and for the truths sake, we
could wish that you were extricated from
this grave error as to the nature and func-
tions of the Church of God on earth. But
as our very existence as a separate Church
is monumental protest against this er-
ror, we can afford to waive it as bar to
ecclesiastical fellowship. This we have
done explicitly and officially. We have
said as plainly as we know how, that
your political utterances, considered as
political utterances, are set aside as pre-
senting no insuperable obstacle to fra
ternal relations. All that we insist upon
is (Church property questions being re-
served) that the aspersions thrown upon
our Christian character shall be removed
from the very beginning. II these are,
indeed, so bound up, warp and wool, with
your political dogmas, that they cannot
be separated, why then all hope of public
and official intercourse is at an end But
if you desire determination, we can ask
nothing less, consistently with truth be-
fore God and with the respect due to our
selves, than the frank withdrawal of the
charges which, if true, make us to be lit
tie short of profigate apostates from re-
ligion and from God. We care nothing
about the language in which this with
drawal shall be couched provided only
that it be clear and unambiguous, and |
that it cover the whole period of our sep
aration from you. Can say anything
more definite than this?'
I have given these copious extracts
from this interesting correspondence as
bearing Immediately on the present state
OF the question. Admitting that the re-
solution adopted by the last Northern
Assembly before passing the concurrent
resolution, was unhandsome, wholly I'M
necessary, and most unfortunate; was it
after all any thing more than declaration
that they adhered to those deliverances
which in the Baltimore Conference were
expressly waived as bar to fraternal re-
lations? By referring to the Minutes of
our Assembly of 1875, page II, you will
see that we have stood pledged ever since
that time to enter into fraternal relations
with the Northern Assembly whenever
they might say to US just what was said |
in the concurrent resolution; and if the
resolution previously adopted had only |
the significance which have Indicated
if, as they expressly declared in answer to
our request for an explanation of its sig
nifcance, it did not modify the other re-
solution, then we were bound to estab-
lish fraternal relations with them. While,
in common with many others, have been
deeply concerned about the whole mat
Il