Year: 1879

DIR. Talmage's Opportunity.


The community seems to be divided as
to the expediency Of the trial which is in
progress in Brooklyn. A large number of
conservative people, both in the Church
and out of it, teel unwilling to be held ac-
countable for the extraordinary methods
which the defendant sees fit to pursue for
the purpose Of gathering the largest con-
gregation which listens to any preacher on
this continent. While admitting the gen.
eral fact that DR.. Talmage is thoroughly or
thodox in his theology, and the further fact
that he has been undoubtedly instrumental
in accomplishing much good among GER
tain class, they nevertheless express very
decided repugnance to the pyrotechnic
character OF his services, and re-
gard them as imperilling the good Of the
Church. They also affirm that when the
question of falsehood and dishonesty at
taches itself to q clergyman who is one of
a large number who compose the Presby-
terian body, and to such an extent that the
knowledge Of the public makes it matter
OF common fame" it is due to the accused,
and also to the denomination to which he
belongs, to institute q careful and rigorous
investigation, and either condemn him as
q wrongdoer or pronounce him innocent in
the face Of the world.


A still larger number. perhaps, look on the
action Of the Court rs o palpable interfer-
ence with the liberty of the preacher.
While admitting the bad taste which is said
to be so prominent in many Of the utter
anccs Of DR.. Talmage, and conceding the
general fact that in his business transac-
tions he has shown q certain lack of practi-
cal worldly wisdom, still it has something
Of the air Of persecution to arraign him be-
fore an august tribunal and 70 make very
grave charges of personal dereliction which
may or may not be sustained.


We have watched the proceedings thus
far with considerable interest. 1t is not q
civil, but an ecclesiastical trial, and the
proceedings are marked by methods very
different from those pursued in an ordinary
court of law. 1t is to be hoped that these
contrasts will become even more pro-
nounced as the case is developed. The OBJ
ject Of the counsel on both sides is sup
posed to be to get at the exact, the whole,
truth, and it would be regarded as uncleri-
cal to make use Of those entangling techni-
calities by which many cause is won or
lost The Presbyterian body is itself ON
trial, and the community will soon have an
opportunity to make up its mind as to tho
ability Of that body to condemn u minister
who has resorted to dishonest practices, or
to prove beyond doubt the innocence of
one who has been scandalized. In the
common court room witness is sworn to
tell the whole truth, but seldom
permitted to do SO. The object Of
the counsel for the plaintiff is to extort
Just facts enough from the evidence to win
his case, and TO skilfully cover up that part
of the truth which might tell against it.
The counsel for the defence proceeds on the
same basis, and makes strategic points
to the same end. In an ecclesiastical
court, on the other hand, the object
of all parties concerned in the case
should be to lift the cover off of everything
that is hidden and to expose to view the
exact condition ot affairs. The precise
truth is said to be the only object aimed at,
and to attempt to conceal, or hide, or avoid
anything of whatsoever nature would at
once lower the Presby terian court-made up
of individuals who, according to the Book
of Discipline, act as judges of the court OF
Jesus Christ to the level Of an ordinary tri-
bunal.


On this ground we affirm that the present
trial is the grandest opportunity which has
ever occurred in the life of DIR. Talmage.
That the air has been filled with certain
vague, aud, we hope, unfounded, charges
against him; that his character as q busi-
ness man has to serious extent been
called in question in some quarters, is con-
ceded by all. That he most solemnly
asserts his entire innocence and declares
not only that he has been impellod by no
wrong motive, but also that his various
transactions have accorded with the roquire-
ments of the moral law, and that every ac-
cusation against him is false and can bo
proven so, Is matter of common knowledge.
This being the case he can demand nothing
less than sharp and exhaustive investiga-
ton of his course, to the end that he may