as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and to support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; that the end is worth all the means; that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not. . . . . . The furnace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individuals. I submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe." Shall our faith fall behind his? Nay, though the night yet lingers, we take up the song of faith and hope "A night full of stars! O'er the silence, unseen, The footsteps of sentinel angels, between The dark land and deep sky are moving. Is heard ARTICLE VIII.-THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CO- ONE year ago we had occasion to invite the attention of our readers to the matters in dispute between the controlling party among the New School Presbyterians and the American Home Missionary Society. Since that time, action of a decisive character has been taken. In the resolutions of the General Assembly, passed at its meeting in Pittsburg, the question of continued coöperation, so far as the denomination, as such, is concerned, has been settled; and although multitudes of individuals, with churches not a few, will, in all probability, still hold fast to old friends and to the voluntary system, yet the broad and comprehensive coöperation of past days is, obviously, at an end. Nothing now remains but the slow working apart of the two denominations which have longest clung, and with so much of mutual affection, to the principle, of the systematic and organic subordination of denominational interests to those of the kingdom of heaven. The Assembly has determined that hereafter, for itself, the latter must be merged in the former. The importance of this decision is not likely to be overestimated. Happily, the process of separation, which it sanctions and ordains, promises to be achieved without the pain and shame of outrageous conflict, and with as much of charity and of dignity as the infirmities of human nature would ever allow us to anticipate. These old friends are parting, not, indeed, without mutual censures; that could not be; but with no abiding bitterness, and more in sorrow than in angerwords of blessing, even, mingling sometimes quite touchingly, amid complaints and rebukes. God give to us all more and more of that spirit of brotherly love, which is a spirit of wisdom and a sound mind; that even if we must withstand each other to the face, we may do it without unchristian acrimony. The present time invites us to a review of the past-to such a comprehensive survey as will show us the forces which have been operating this change, and will help us to correct judgments and wise resolves. The two portions into which the Presbyterian church was divided in 1837, both expected to prosper and to grow. Stung with a sense of injury, and strong in a consciousness of right, the Constitutional body anticipated an increase by no means inferior to that of the party that had been guilty of the excision. And even with the loss of the institutions and the prestige, torn from them by a legal decision, the injustice of which is now generally conceded by fair minded men, they were not without grounds for such a hope. For, through all their conflict, the heart of New England had beat responsive to their own; and they trusted that her homes and her schools would continue to replenish Presbyterian churches and pulpits. But, with a strange aggravation of their misfortune, the very wrong that they had suffered, while awakening the warmest sympathy with them personally, had given rise to serious questionings with regard to the tendencies of the Presbyterian system; and from that hour is to be dated an awakening of a fresh interest, on the part of the sons of the Puritans, in their ancestral polity, and the gathering of the New England emigration into Congregational churches. But unhappily, the very beginnings of this movement were resisted by New School Presbyterians, -resisted with upbraidings and direct opposition. For, by a practical misconstruction of "The Plan of Union," it had long been assumed that Congregationalists coming West were in duty bound to become Presbyterians; Congregational ministers were not permitted ordination over Presbyterian churches; churches retaining a local Congregational government were expected to come "under the care of Presbytery;" -to send delegates, to "submit their records to be revised," for approval or censure, to seek the consent of the Presbytery in calling or dismissing a pastor, to have appeals-of itself and its members-made to the Presbytery and not to a Coun cil, and the formation of purely Congregational bodies was felt as a violation of the compact. It had even been held, that the action of a majority of a church, withdrawing it from the care of the Presbytery, was only a secession of individuals. The "Plan" itself furnished no ground for such demands; but the indifference of the one party, the desires of the other, and the seeming expediences of the hour, favored their silent assumption and concession, until they had acquired a hurtful authority. It was natural that Presbyterianism, of such sort as was now more plainly exhibiting itself, should be anxious to possess the whole land; for Presbyterianism, strictly interpreted, is a system of distinct authority and dominion; and it is ever the attribute of power to seek its own increase. It was natural that Congregationalists should, at first, be regardless of such aims, and thoughtful only of the kingdom of Heaven; for Congregationalism is not a system of authority, but merely a method of communion and co-working. It was most natural, again, that Presbyterians should have been disappointed, when they found that they could no longer depend upon receiving the great New England emigration. But, however consonant with infirmities of human nature, it was neither right nor wise that they should allow their disappointment to go to the extent of a distinct opposition to the formation of Congregational churches. The very "Plan of Union" to which they made appeal, was based upon the expectation that churches of the two denominations were to exist side by side, on terms of equality. Such opposition found, indeed, a certain palliation in the fact, that some of the churches that early took the Congregational name were the fruits of "Radicalism;" and others, of the one sided theological movement centered at Oberlin. But these abnormal developments, however they might afford an excuse to ignorance, could not justify the very general opposition on the part of prominent individuals. and ecclesiastical bodies to the existence of genuine, regular, orthodox, New England Congregationalism at the West. Пlere, in our view, was the first sin, daughter of that "original" which inheres in the nature of all consolidated systems of church power. This opposition delayed, but also intensified the movement of Congregationalism, created a needless and increasing friction-heart-burnings, suspicions, and conflictsand awakened a strong determination in many New England minds to insist upon the liberty to enjoy their own polity wherever in all the land the sons of New England might go. In 1846, a Congregational Convention met at Michigan city, and made a luminous and effective protest against the long continued abuse of the "Plan of Union;" and "The Puritan" newspaper, under the editorship of one of the leaders in the Convention, followed up its action with characteristic vigor. All these appeals, however, wrought but moderate results. New England cared but little for these things. The diverg ence between the denominations was still slight; and with wise management, at this juncture, on the part of Presbyterians, need not have increased to the permanent damage of the coöperative system. Congregational churches would have multiplied, indeed, at the West; but what sort of coöperation would that be, which should insist on the annihilation of one of the parties? Associations would have been formed alongside of Presbyteries; but Presbyterians who should join the churches connected with them had their rights secured by the "Plan of Union." In a word, the "Plan" would have been, for the first time, fairly carried into effect. In such prospects, there was no real ground of complaint. Nevertheless, the grand fact was staring New School Presbyterians in the face, that the Old School-who, by all that was just, it would seem, ought to have been experiencing decay and disaster-were positively gaining upon them; and with a prospect of a greater relative gain, in proportion as the Congregationalists increased. Not reflecting that their own relative loss involved no real loss to Christ's kingdom, nor remembering that members of their branch of the church had been wont to identify Congregationalists with themselves and to count the gains of each as substantially the gains of both, certain Presbyterians began to feel the prickings of acute disappointment, and their denominational sensibilities were greatly roused. No reader who has thoughtfully considered the statements already made, needs to be told what course these Presbyterian brethren took. Had it been their purely Christian zeal which |