The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-11-20
synod Of South Carolina.

This body met In the city OF SpnrtanDnrs
on tho 2jth of October. The work Of the
Church is chiefly done by the Prcsby terics,
Int the Theological Seminary at Columbia Is
under the control of the Synod, in conncc-
tion with three other SynOds. 1t Is in refer
rnce To This institution that there has been In
the past five or six years serious division and
some very earnest discussion.
Soon after the assembling of the Synod II
became apparent that there were two partlcs.
This is brought ont very fully i'm the election
Of tie Moderator. and The strength of the par
tics is thereby clearly shown. The Moderator
snip was secured by the Woodrow party,
though with very small ma ajOrity.
II was very soon manifested thai very
large number of both parties were nVerse tn
discussion. and when any one attempted to
speak about the matters mt issue, he was soon
called to order, and nearly all the motions
made looking to tlirt end were laid on the ta-
| bic. SO pronounced was the aversion to any
discussion, that many voteh to lay on the ta-
BILE report on the Assembly's minutes which
affirmed tho right Of any one to criticise ju-
| dicia decision of Il higher court, yet that Is n
doctrine which no Presbyterian could object
| to when fairly stated.
There was some discussion about tho con-
| firmation of DR.. Beatie. the successor of Dr.
Woodrow I'm the Seminary. Some thought
the prolessorship was not vacant legally.
and on that ground were opposed to
clccting O successor. Others thought that
as DR.. Bcatie had been a citizen of Canada,
his election would be q violation Of the alien
contract law. An Episcopal churcn in New
York city had been compelled to pay 81 900 for
calling Il minister from England; q Presby-
terrain church in Erie, Pa, had to pay u SIM
liar fine for calling a man from Canada. Ac
cordnG to the decision OF the conrts, DR.. Bea-
ties case Is clearly Il violation of the statute.
and while we have but little respect Tor the
law we did not chose to violate 1t. When the
vote was taken, members who wished were
| excused from voting, and the vote stood 30 to
confirm and q 2S against confirming, and
quite q large number asked TO be excused
from voting. The clerk did not say how
many, but there certainly must have been 80
or 40, which was surely not much OF a con-
| firmatiOn.
Another matter about which the two par.
ties were arrayed against each other was the
election of two Directors of the Seminary
| The vote was very close, being ~ to "a, but the
Woodrow party got the Directors.
| Conferences were held on the subjects o
| Domestic Missions. Foreign Missions and Sys
tematic Bencficence, at which interesting al
dresses were made. For some reasons tho
than usual interest. There was in it some
discussion about the tithc to which the atten
ton OF the church has been recently called
The first speaker was Alr. j. Spratt White
whose address was carefully prepared anc
well delivered. 1t contained q masterly pres
entntion of the obligations Of Christian peo
pie TO give to benevolent purposes. He sait
very little about the tithe. He was followed
by Mr.. Blackburn In an earnest speech In IA
vor Of the the zenith as the rule to be enforced
under the Christian dSpensation. Towards
the close OF his address several members
showed their interestin the matter by plying
the speaker with questions. These brought
out the fact that in some instances, the gros
income was to be tiihed, In others the ne
income; then an inheritance was not to b'
tthed, and then free-will offerings were to ..
given In addition to the tenth. SO after all
IL seemed TO us, us he explained II, the rul'
: was very variable one, and was to be deter
mined by Il mans own Will ana wou!d be @
little account. YET there Is this to be said IL
f,vn nf scheme.
church, which claims TO be governed oy Int
tithc system is the most liberal church In tht
whole State. With membership OF abou
Sixty, and many OF them clerks and mechan
les and only three who can be called wealthy
yet that church gives $1,000 year TO beneVo
lent objects
This Subject Of giving is one of paramount
Importance To- ChriStiae people OF all demon
nations II needs fuller ventilation thur
IL has yet had. Some church members seen
to he governed by no other rule than to give
rs little as possible. Few realize that God cal
be worshppcd by property az Well ~ prayers
and fewer still regard their giving us TIT
means by which God gives TO them. "GiVe
and IL shall be given to you" .
i DR.. jacobs presented n memorial In refer
cncc to Clinton College which had been In op
Grafton for six years asking the goodwi Ill o
Synod its behalf. But another proposal WAL
brought forward for great omnibus unlver
sity supported Ivy several of the South Attain
icSynOds. Some of the members regarded DR.
Jacobs college as antagonzing this scheme
land from the drift of the discussion tina
sprahg up he thought proper TO ask the with
urawal of his memorial. We think the Syn
od made mistake In not heartily adopting
Dr. Jacobs memorial. 1t was carefully pre-
] pared paper and did not ask for any more
than should have been cheerfuliy conceded.
Education among Presbyterians has In the
mast been carried on chiefly by small colleges
which create much Of their own patronage
i And we submit that sneers at Log colleges
come with very Ill grace from the lips Of &
Presbyterian minister. The scheme of bie
university is as wild and visionary thing as
was ever brought before o dellberative body
and we were surprised that 1t received any fl
vor atall by the Synod.
| The narrative presented detailed account
Of the state of religion and contained many
pr cclous seasons Of revival In some or the
/ churches and more than thousand member:
added to the church within the past eccesias
i tcal year.
; There was some good preaching as IS usua
4 on such occasions. The sermon by DR.. Smith
recently called to the first church In Colnm
u bia, was n notably excellent one, and will
long be remembered by the very large audi
/ cpcc who listened to II on Sabbath night
i The meeting Of Synod wasa most delightful
one, The hospitality Of the citizens Of Spar
tahurg superabundant, and all the services
I vice. day and Sabbath, were specially enjoy
able. The arrangements. by the pastor OF tht
church and his assistants. To entertain the
members were perfect. and all must have fel
IL was good to be there.
The next meeting is to be held Mt Yorkville
beginning on Tuesday evening beofre tht
fourth Sabbath OF October, 1870.
| o o.