The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-10-26
Synod OF South Carolina
News and Courier.l

News and Courier.l
CHERAw, October 21.-The Synod OF
South Carolina assembled here last night
in the Presbyterian church. The attend
ance of delegates was much larger than
that on the first day Of many previous
Synods, a total Of nincty-six having an
swcrcd the roll-caIl. or these 45 were
ministers and 81 elders. Among the cleri-
cal delegates already in attendance are
some OF those who have at previous meet
ings OF the Synod taken a prominent part
in the evolution controversy, namely. DR..
j. T.. Girardeau, DR.. j. f.. Jordan, Dr.. j.
B. Mack, DR.. w. T.. Thompson. and 9TH
ers. II is not known definitely whether
DR.. Woodrow will be present during the
session, but the prevailing opinion is
that he will appear sometime during the
latter part Of the week.
or Charlcston's clerical delegation
Drs. Thompson and Bracket and ". r.
Junken are present. tho Rov. c.. T..
Chichester is absent.
The proceedings Of the Synod were
opened last night at 8 O'Clock by the
usual preliminary devotiona! exercises.
The church. quito a cominodious build
ing, Was crowded to cxcesa, and the
music was exceptionally fine. AZ is
customary, the serino Of the occasion
was preached by the retiring Moderator,
who on this occasion is the Rev. W. W.
Mill. Of Camden. The discourse was ON
tho text: Romans, 18th chapter. LIST
verse: II beseech you. therefore, breth-
rem, by the mercies Of God, that We
present your bodies q living sacrifice,
wholly acceptable INTO God,' &c.
The lesson drawn from the Scripture
as e%xpoundod was that the bene6cent
and gracious purpose Of God was not
thoroughly accomplished whom the sin
ner was first converted and turned
towards salvation. There was more
necessary, and more requircd-that the
Christian should conSecrate himself to
God. AS an argument. the speaker
said, the text was powerful in itself, but
taken in connection with the previous
~utterances Of tho Apostle Paul, was
irrefutable. Tho position assumed by
the Rev. Mr.. Mills was that the term
mercy as used in the text implied A
precedent exercise Of Gods power and
~graciousness to mankind, and that it was
the duty Of the Christian to 80 regulate
his life as to be worthy Of the Creators
loving Kindness He also incidentally
compared the text with other Scriptural
passages TO prove tho doctrine Of pre-
destination. The Rev. Mr.. Mills pre-
scented the points in an exceedingly clear
and entertaining manner; his reasoning
was logical and &C ute and was delivered
with much force and effect.
After the sermon the roll OF the Pres
hVtnrv yUao po1loI r. 1nforp:o - ~. .-
her Of delegates present. As already
noted ninety-six delegates answered to
their names. Them oderator then announ-
ced that, his term Of service having expir-
Cd, the fret business in order was the ell
ectlon OF his successor. Nominations
being then in order the following gentle
men were named for the position: Dr..
W. T. Thompson, of Charleston; DR.. j..
e. Jordan. of Winnsboro', and the Rev.
f.. N. Law, of Spartanburg. Immedi-
ately, however, upon his nomination DR..
Thompson arose and said that he fully
appreciated tho honor which the Synod
did him by entertaining his name as
worthy Of the position. He begged leave,
however. to decline the nomination for
the reason that the selection ola Moder-
ator had once already boen made from
the Charleston Presbytery, to which he
belonged. There was, however, an equal
ly grave reason, he said. that prompted
him to earnestly request that his name
be withdrawn, and that was the proba-
billity Of the necessity Of his leaving the
Synod before the end Of its deli6era-
tons.
A motion was then made to allow DR..
Thompson to withdraw his name. The
motion was put to the house and, al.
though the viva voce vote: was appar-
emily equally divided, tho Moderator
decided the vote in favor Of Oh. Thomp-
sons. The two remaining candidates,
DR.. j. E. Jordan and the Rev. T.. NJ.
Law, were then voted for, the result
being: Jordan 58, and Law SO. The
organisation was theh completed by the
election Of the Rev. n. A. Webb as
assistant clerk, tho Rev. r. NJ. Law re-
tanning his position as stated clerk.