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faction to that feature of it, which makes it the depository of the treasured reminiscences of so many eminent living persons, and which the public judgment has so unanimously approved, as an occasion of renewing my hearty thanks to all, who have lent the influence of their names and their pens in aid of my enterprise. It is to this wide and generous coöperation especially, that I have been indebted, not less for the spirit to sustain so arduous and protracted a course of labour, than the means necessary to a successful result.

ALBANY, AUGUST 5, 1857.

P.S.-The publication of this and the next volume has been delayed several months, on account of the embarrassed financial condition of the Country.

February, 1858.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.*

The Presbyterian Church of the United States must undoubtedly be considered as of Scottish origin. From about the period of the Revolution of 1688, which issued in the establishment of William and Mary on the British throne, Presbyterians began to emigrate from Scotland and the North of Ireland to these American Colonies; and they quickly manifested a desire to reproduce, in the land of their adoption, their own peculiar institutions. As the Quakers in Pennsylvania, and the Roman Catholics in Maryland, were the only denominations in America who, at that time, extended a cordial welcome to emigrants, of other sects, it was in these two Colonies that the earliest and largest Presbyterian Churches were established. The Puritan element was early introduced into the Body, by way of New England, and contributions have, from time to time, been inade to it from the Reformed Churches on the Continent of Europe; but though this may have served, in some degree, to modify, it has never essentially changed, its organization.

The early history of the Presbyterian Church in this country is involved in no little obscurity,―owing principally to the fact that those who originally composed it, instead of forming a compact community, were widely scattered throughout the different Colonies. It is evident, however, that several churches were established some time before the close of the seventeenth century. In Maryland there were the Churches of Rehoboth, Snow Hill, Upper Marlborough, Monokin and Wicomico,-the first mentioned of which is commonly considered the oldest, and was probably formed several years before 1690. The Church on Elizabeth River, in Virginia, is supposed by some to date back to nearly the same period, but the exact time of its origin cannot be ascertained. The Churches in Freehold, and Woodbridge, N. J. were constituted in 1692; and the First Church in Philadelphia, as nearly as can be ascertained, in 1698. In Newcastle, De., in Charleston, S. C., and in some other places, Presbyterian

Hodge's History of the Presbyterian Church.-Krebs' Outline of the History of the Presbyterian Church.-Parker's do.-Article on the History of Presbyterianism in the United States, in the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.-Greenleaf's Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of Maine.-MSS. from Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D., Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., Rev. Alexander Blaikie, Rev. J. H. Bates, and Rev. T. S. Childs.

Churches were planted at a very early period. In the latter part of 1705, or early in 1706, a Presbytery was formed under the title of the Presbytery of Philadelphia,-all whose members were from Scotland or Ireland, the Rev. Jedediah Andrews, who was born and educated in New

except England.

In 1716, the Presbyterian Body had so far increased that some new organization was thought desirable. Accordingly, instead of one Presbytery, there were constituted four,-namely, the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the Presbytery of Newcastle, the Presbytery of Snow Hill, and the Presbytery of Long Island; and, at the same time, a Synod was formed, under the title of the Synod of Philadelphia. Shortly before this, several churches, with their ministers, in East and West Jersey, and on Long Island, originally Congregationalists, had connected themselves with the Presbyterian Church.

Notwithstanding the growth of the Church from this period was constant and rapid, it soon became manifest that the fact of its gathering its ministers and members from different countries, where, to some extent, different modes of thinking and acting on the same subjects prevailed, was likely to interfere with the general harmony of the Body. The points on which the difference of opinion chiefly developed itself, were the examination of candidates for the ministry on experimental religion, the strict adherence to Presbyterial order, and the amount of learning to be required of those who sought the ministerial office. These subjects were discussed with great, and often intemperate, zeal in the different Presbyteries. Two distinct parties were now formed-those who were more zealous for orthodoxy, for the rigid observance of Presbyterial rule, and for a thoroughly educated ministry, were called the "Old Side;" while those who were more tolerant of departures from ecclesiastical order, and less particular in respect to other qualifications for the ministry, provided they could have the evidence of vital piety, were called the "New Side" or "New Lights."

In 1729, after several years of diligent exertion on the part of the strict Presbyterians, and in consequence of an overture drawn up and prosecuted with great zeal the year before, by the Rev. John Thompson of Delaware, the Synod passed what was commonly called "The Adopting Act." This Act consisted of a public authoritative adoption of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, and made it imperative that not only every candidate, but every actual minister of the Church, should, by subscription or otherwise, in the presence of the Presbytery, acknowledge these instruments respectively as their Confession of Faith. This Act had to encounter great opposition, especially from those ministers of the Synod, who had come from England, Wales, and the New England Colonies.

The strict Presbyterians having thus gained their main point, the other Side thought themselves entitled to be gratified in their favourite object. Accordingly, in 1734, they brought an overture to the Synod, directing

"that all candidates for the ministry should be examined diligently as to the experience of a work of sanctifying grace on their hearts, and that none be admitted, who are not, in a judgment of charity, serious. Christians." Though this overture was adopted unanimously, it afterwards proved the occasion of great disquietude.

These two Acts embraced the favourite objects of both parties—the main difficulty lay in carrying them into execution. The practice of the several Presbyteries was decided by the accidental circumstance of one party or the other being the majority, and this occasioned much debate. and collision at the Synodical meetings, each party charging the other, and commonly not without reason, with some violation, in the several Presbyteries, of the order of Synod.

In 1738, the strict Presbyterians, with a view to remedy what they regarded as a serious evil, prevailed on the Synod to pass an Act, directing "that young men be first examined respecting their literature by a Committee of Synod, and obtain a testimonial of their approbation before they can be taken on trial before any Presbytery." The Presbytery of New Brunswick, in the face of this Synodical decision, proceeded almost immediately to take Mr. John Rowland on trials, and a few weeks after licensed him to preach. The Presbytery of Philadelphia protested against the measure, and refused to admit Mr. R. to preach within their bounds; and the Synod, at their next meeting, formally annulled it, declaring that he could not be regarded as a regular candidate. Notwithstanding this, however, William Tennent, (the elder,) a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, publicly recognised the validity of Mr. R.'s licensure by admitting him to his pulpit; and when some of his congregation complained of it to his Presbytery, he earnestly justified his course, denied the authority of the Presbytery in the case, and "contemptuously withdrew"-whereupon the Presbytery censured his conduct as "irregular and disorderly.” This took place in September, 1739. In October following, the Presbytery of New Brunswick, adhering to its first offence, proceeded to ordain Mr. Rowland to the work of the ministry; and he continued a member of that Presbytery until 1742, when he was dismissed to join the Presbytery of Newcastle. All this served to exasperate feelings already excited, and formed, in no small degree, the legitimate preparation for an open rupture. It was at this juncture that Whitefield, in 1739, paid his second visit to America. The great revival that ensued, in connection with his labours, found its friends in the Presbyterian Church chiefly with the New Side; while the Old Side, or the strict Presbyterian party, perceiving some really censurable irregularities in the active friends and promoters of the revival, were not slow to pronounce the whole a delusion. This brought on the crisis. The controversy waxed more and more violent until 1741, when the highest judicatory of the Church was rent into two parts-the Old Side constituting the Synod of Philadelphia,-the New Side, the Synod of New York.

Soon after the separation, the Synod of New York began to perceive the necessity of providing for the education of their future ministers; and the result of their consultations on the subject was the establishment of the College of New Jersey. This institution commenced its operations in Elizabethtown, in 1746; was removed to Newark, in 1747; and thence to Princeton, in 1757. Meanwhile the Old Side patronized the Academies of New London and of Newark in Delaware, under the Rev. Francis Alison and the Rev. Alexander McDowall, and also the Academy and College of Philadelphia. The rivalship between these literary institutions served to render more intense the mutual hostility of the two parties.

But violent as the controversy was, it was not proof against the subduing, healing influence of time. Both parties gradually became sensible that they had acted rashly and uncharitably, and began at length to meditate a reunion. The first overtures in that direction were made by the Synod of New York in 1749; but it was nine years before the desired consummation was reached. In 1758, mutual concessions having been made, and the articles of union agreed upon, the two Synods were happily united under the title of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. At the time of the disruption, the Old Side was the most numerous; but before the reunion, the New Side had become so.

From this time, the Presbyterian Church went on in as much prosperity as could consist with the disturbed state of the country, until after the Revolutionary War,-when it was judged proper to enter into some new arrangements. Accordingly, in 1785, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia began to take those steps for revising the public standards of the Church, which led to their adoption and establishment on the present plan. A large and respectable Committee, of which Dr. Witherspoon was Chairman, was appointed to "take into consideration the Constitution of the Church of Scotland and other Protestant Churches," and to form a complete system for the organization of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. The result was that on the 28th of May, 1788, the Synod completed the revision and arrangement of the public standards of the Church, and finally adopted them, and ordered them to be printed and distributed for the government of the several judicatories. This new arrangement consisted in dividing the Old Synod into four Synods-namely, New York and New Jersey, Philadelphia, Virginia, and the Carolinas,-and constituting over these, as a bond of union, a General Assembly, in all essential particulars after the model of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Westminster Confession of Faith was adopted with three small alterations. The Larger and Shorter Catechisms were adopted with one slight amendment. And a Form of Government and Discipline, and a Directory for public worship, drawn chiefly from the standards of the Church of Scotland, with such alterations as the form of our civil government and the state of the Church in this country were thought to demand, completed the system.