young men, respecting whose advancement to the ministry the difficulty had originated, to submit to a re-examination. It was requested that they might be permitted to retire and ask counsel of the Most High. To this request objections were made, but it was at length granted. After retirement and prayer they still refused to submit to a re-examination, assigning as their reasons, "That they considered the Cumberland presbytery a regular church judicatory, and competent to judge of the faith and ability of its candidates; that they themselves had not been charged with heresy or immorality, and if they had, the presbytery would have been the proper judicature to call them to an account." Whereupon the commission passed a resolution, prohibiting all those who had been licensed and ordained, in what they considered an irregular manner, from exhorting, preaching the gospel, or administering the ordinances of the church, in consequence of any authority which they had derived from the Cumberland presbytery, until they submitted to the jurisdiction of the commission of synod, and underwent the requisite examination. This resolution was considered unconstitutional, and of course null and void.

As soon as the commission dissolved, the members of the Cumberland presbytery, who had been friendly to the revival, formed themselves into a council, for the purpose of trying to keep themselves and their congregations together until their difficulties could be settled by the proper judicatures of the church. They still preached, administered the ordinances, and held occasional meetings for conference; but transacted no presbyterial business. In the meantime, their labours were abundantly blessed in promoting the kingdom of Christ, and turning the western wilderness into a fruitful field.

In the spring of 1807, the council drew up an able and very respectful letter of remonstrance to the General Assembly. To this letter the assembly replied, "That as the council had not come regularly before that body by appeal, they did not consider themselves called on judicially to decide on their case."

In the spring of 1808, the council sent a petition to the General Assembly praying for the interference of that body in their behalf. The assembly replied to the petition, "That, as the matter had not been brought up to them by appeal from the Synod of Kentucky, they could give no relief; but must refer the petitioners to the synod itself, as the only constitutional body competent to reverse what they had done wrong."* They were encouraged, however, by private

Smith's History of the Christian Church, p. 628.

intimations from the General Assembly, that in process of time they would obtain a redress of their grievances. Owing to the embarrassed condition of the council in the spring of 1809, it was impossible for them to prosecute an appeal to the assembly. But that body was addressed by the Synod of Kentucky, by letter, respecting the difficulties, the result of which was a resolution equivalent to a confirmation of all the proceedings of the synod in relation to the business. The members of the council received intelligence of this decision with astonishment and sorrow, and at their next meeting, August, 1809, a large majority was in favour of an immediate constitution as an independent presbytery. But some hesitated, and wished to make a last effort with the synod for a reconciliation. It was unanimously agreed, therefore, to appoint two commissioners to propose terms to the synod, or to the Transylvania Presbytery, to which they had previously been attached by a dissolution of the Cumberland Presbytery. This commission failed to effect a compromise, and the result was, that three members of the council, Rev. Messrs. Finis Ewing, Samuel King, and Samuel McAdam, in February, 1810, constituted the Cumberland Presbytery, from which has grown the present Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The following is the record of their constitution :

"In Dickson County, State of Tennessee, at the Rev. Samuel McAdam's, this 4th day of February, 1810:

"We, Samuel McAdam, Finis Ewing, and Samuel King, regularly ordained ministers of the Presbyterian Church, against whom no charge either of immorality or heresy has ever been exhibited before any judicature of the church, having waited in vain more than four years, in the meantime petitioning the General Assembly, for a redress of grievances, and a restoration of our violated rights, have and do hereby agree and determine, to constitute ourselves into a presbytery, known by the name of the Cumberland Presbytery, on the following conditions:

"All candidates for the ministry, who may hereafter be licensed by this presbytery, and all the licentiates or probationers who may hereafter be ordained by this presbytery, shall be required, before such licensure and ordination, to receive and accept the Confession of Faith and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church, except the idea of fatality that seems to be taught under the mysterious doctrine of predestination. It is to be understood, however, that such as can clearly receive the Confession of Faith without an exception, will not be required to make any. Moreover, all licentiates, before they are set apart to the whole work of the ministry, or ordained, shall be

required to undergo an examination in English Grammar, Geogra phy, Astronomy, Natural and Moral Philosophy, and Church History. It will not be understood that examinations in Experimental Religion and Theology will be omitted. The presbytery may also require an examination on any part, or all, of the above branches of knowledge before licensure, if they deem it expedient."

Three years after the constitution of the presbytery, the number of ministers and congregations had become so great, that it was divided into three presbyteries, and a synod was formed. The first sessions of the Cumberland Synod were held in October, 1813. At this meeting of the synod a committee was appointed to prepare a Confession of Faith, Catechism, and Form of Church Government, in conformity with the avowed principles of the body. The Confession of Faith and Catechism are a modification of the Westminster Confession, and contain substantially the following doctrines:

That the scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice; that God is an infinite, eternal, and unchangeable spirit, existing mysteriously in three persons, the three being equal in power and glory; that God is the Creator and Preserver of all things; that the decrees of God extend only to what is for his glory; that he has not decreed the existence of sin, because it is neither for his glory nor the good of his creatures; that man was created upright, in the image of God; but, that by the transgression of the federal head, he has become totally depraved, so much so that he can do no good thing without the aid of divine grace. That Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man; and that he is both God and man in one person; that he obeyed the law perfectly, and died on the cross to make satisfaction for sin; and that, in the expressive language of the apostle, he tasted death for every man. That the Holy Spirit is the efficient agent in our conviction, regeneration, and sanctification; that repentance and faith are necessary in order to acceptance, and that both are inseparable from a change of heart; that justification is by faith alone; that sanctification is a progressive work, and not completed till death; that those who believe in Christ, and are regenerated by his Spirit, will never fall away and be lost; that there will be a general resurrection and judgment; and that the righteous will be received to everlasting happiness, and the wicked consigned to everlasting misery.

Cumberland Presbyterians baptize the children of believing parents, and adult persons who have not been baptized in infancy, upon a credible profession of religion. They administer baptism by affusion, and sometimes, when the subject has conscientious preferences, by immersion.

The government of the church is strictly presbyterial. The lowest judicature is a church or congregational session; the next a presbytery; and, for some years, a synod was the highest. At the sessions of the Cumberland Synod in 1828, the synod was divided. into four synods, and preparatory steps were taken for the organization of a general assembly. The first sessions of the assembly were held in May, 1829, at Princeton, Kentucky.

Something of the increase and extension of the church may be learned from the following specifications.

In 1822, twelve years after the organization of the first presbytery, the number of ordained ministers was

The number of reported conversions that year, through the instrumentality of the church, was

. 46

2718

- 575

80

3305

786

114

4006

- 996

6

32

5977

- 1150

10688

In 1843, it appeared from official documents that the General Assembly had under its supervision 13 synods and 57 presbyteries. One synod embraces the republic of Texas.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has under its patronage three colleges. The oldest is Cumberland College, at Princeton, Kentucky, of which the Rev. Richard Beard, D.D. is president. Beverly College, at Beverly, Ohio; Rev. J. P. Wethee, president. A new college at Lebanon, Tennessee; Rev. F. R. Cassitt, D. D., president. Two weekly religious newspapers are published under the patronage of the church: the Banner of Peace and Cumberland Presbyterian Advocate, published at Lebanon, Tennessee, Rev. F. R. Cassitt, D. D., editor, and the Union Evangelist and Cumberland Presbyterian Observer, published at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Rev. Milton Bird, editor. The ministry of the church are pious and generally intelligent and efficient men, and great exertions are now making to raise still higher the standard of intelligence and useful

ness.

DUTCH REFORMED.

BY W. C. BROWNLEE, D. D.,

OF THE PROTESTANT DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN NEW YORK.

In presenting this brief detail, I shall,

I. Give a sketch of the history of our church;

II. State its doctrines;

III. Its government;

IV. Its form of worship;

V. Its statistics.

I. The Dutch Reformed Church is the oldest church in the United States which adopts the Presbyterian form of church government. Its history begins with the history of New York and New Jersey. It is a branch of the national Church of Holland; and is formed exactly on its primitive, simple, and scriptural model, in every point.

The struggle in Holland for religion and liberty was severe and protracted. But, by wisdom and piety in the cabinet, and by a succession of gallant achievements in the field, against the arms of the bigoted and ferocious Spaniard, the Dutch by divine aid secured their national independence and the enjoyment of the Protestant religion. From this era the Dutch became a great and powerful nation. Commerce, literature and religion flourished to an extraordinary degree. And to our days, Holland has been pre-eminently distinguished for her devotion to religion and literature. Hence her primary schools, her academies, her universities, and parochial churches, and hence the number of her learned men, and her pious and devoted ministers in the national church. In the midst of her extensive commercial enterprises she did not lose sight of the Christian duties she owed to those with whom she traded. Her ships, which visited all lands, were instrumental, in the hands of her pious sons, of carrying the glorious gospel to many countries. The East Indies and the adjacent islands, the West Indian Islands, and our own continent, bear lasting