Year: 1859

OF the case, Tor the Church of the Pu.
ritans to have affectionately RECON-
inended those seventeen malcontehts
to the. fellowship of sister churches,
while it might have exposed them to a
charge of hypocrisy, would certainly
have exposed them to the charge--to
borrow the words of the Rev. DR.. Ba-
con, one of the members of the Coun-
ell" of attempting to palm off on
another church members they did net
want to retain themselves" The Rev.
DIR. Bacon seemed, indeed, to assume
or imply that the letters actually grant
ed, or that any deviatian from the or
dinary form, would be obnoxious to this
charge; butin this matter it is perfectly
evident that the reverend gentleman
puts the saddle on the wrong horse,
1t all the church members indiscrimi-
nately, whose church standing and
christian behavior have not been for.
mallv impeached, are entitled, upon
asking, to letters of dismissal. i'm the
one stereotype form above quoted, it is
evident that the churches must and


will, by this procedure, very often palm
Oft on other churches members they
do not want to retain themselves. That
was precisely the character of the sey.
enteen malcontents in question. They
had made all the trouble they could in
the church of the Puritans. and that
church had found themlvery uncomsort.
able members. 1t is true, they still
remained in" regular standing,n and SO
said the letters but to have n i.ipd
"good," }" would, as it seems, have heen
rather a stretch of the truth. They
had not been charged with heresies. or
convicted of immoralitles, but they had
certainly proved themselves most un-
comfortable associates, and had shown
an obstinate disposition, either to rule
the church or to ruin it; one certainly,
| if not both. Such being the case. It
seems to us that the omission of this
word "good' was. but fair warning
to the sister churches to whom thev
might apply that the church of the
Puritans did by no means intend to be
responsible that the adoption of them
as members would tend to edification--
a warning to the sister churches again
repeated in the significant omission as
the end of the letters, which certainly
shows that the church of the Puritans
did not want to retain them, and was,
indeed, very glad to get rid of them,


but which it is impossible to torture
into an attempt to palm them off upon
other churches. So far from that, the
letters We're so shaped as to avoid any
recommendation of the sort. Tho
church of the Puritans dismissed them
freely to the fellowship of any church
"with whom God might appoint their
residence" The church of the Puri-
tans evinced no disposition, as in Iced,
it had no. right, to deprive them of the
fellowship of any church which might


be disposed to receive them; at the
same tine, having itself had rather


dlsagreeable experience of the conse-
quence which might attend upon such
fellowship, the church of the Puritans


could not conseienciously spain them
off D on any other church, as though


there had been no more risk in their


reception than in the case of ordinary
applicants; but so worded their letters


of dismissal as to give these sisfsr


churches to understand, that in receiv-
ling them into their fellowship they


must do SO on their own responsibility,


and on the fact that up to the date Of


the letters they had not been subjected


to church censures. 1t does not APP
pear, in mere view of common sense,


that the churches ought to be deprived


of SO useful and even so necessary q


power, and be compelled affectionately


to recommend to the fellowship of Sis


ter churches, persons, who, however


orthodox or exemplary, viii, to judge
i from their own experience, be apt to


make mischief wherever they go.-


Neo York Tribune =