GIFT OF > BACON RY Ra&S i / If ff '^ THE LIFE OF CHARLES HODGE D.D. LLD. PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON N. J. BY HIS SON A. A. HODGE NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 743-745 BROADWAY COPYRIGHT 1880 BT CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. GRANT, FAIEES & EODGERS, ELBCTBOTYPBKS AND PRINTERS, PHILADELPHIA. PREFACE. THE family of the late Dr. Charles Hodge have been assured, by those in whose judgment they have the most reason to con- fide, that a memoir of his life should be prepared. This was ren- dered probable by the fact that, although his life had been a quiet one, varied by few external events of general interest, yet it had been one of very remarkable literary activity, and of protracted and extended influence, involving an intimate association with many of the most interesting characters and events of the cen- tury J The totality of the phenomenon, including personality and achievement, was unquestionably very remarkable. It matters not whether the effect is to be attributed in the largest measure to natural, gracious, or providential endowments, the study of the causes combining to produce such an effect must be instructive. Behind every cause, whatever its nature, is the beneficent effi- ciency of God, and to him will be all the praise. The subscriber undertook the work because he could secure the agency of none of those who would be more competent. That he is a son is an advantage, in so far as the relation secures special opportunities of information, and the strongest motives to diligence. It need, on the other hand, occasion no embarrass- ment, as he does not purpose to intrude upon others his opinions of, or his affection for his Father, but simply to gather and present materials through which his Father and his work may speak for themselves, and the opinions of the most competent among his con- temporaries may be impartially reflected. At the repeated and earnest solicitation of his children^ my Father jotted down during the last year of his life some reminiscences of iii j v PREFACE. his childhood and youth, and of his early friends. These I have re- corded in the first and second chapters of this Memoir, preserving his order and language in the first person, but interpolating addi- tional matter of the same kind, culled from the reminiscences of "my Father's only brother, the late Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, of Philadel- phiaVidictated to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Harriet Woolsey Hodge, during the winters of '70 and '71. I have preferred rather to fuse the new material with that of my Father, than to keep them mechanically distinct, and have marked the words of my uncle as his only in a few instances, when the propriety of doing so will be evident. The other sources from which these memorials are drawn are : A diary kept during his residence in Germany, from March, 1827, to May, 1828 : meager notices of events and dates, preserved in con- nection with his daily record of the weather : his published writings and his extant manuscripts : his own letters, preserved by his mother, brother, and friends : the letters of his correspondents : estimates of his character and services, published during his life and since his decease, and especially the printed records of his Semi- centennial Celebration, April 24th, 1872. The state of his letters and papers is accurately represented by what he said in response to an application from a daughter of one of his oldest friends: "Through my long life I have never destroyed and never preserved letters." With much care many interesting relics have been recovered from the mass, while doubtless much just as valuable remains undiscovered. I am particularly indebted to my Father's pupils in Ireland and Scotland Prof. Robert Watts, D. D., of Belfast, and Mr. Charles A. Salmond, of Arbroath, and to Rev. Professor Benjamin B. Warfield, and the Rev. Drs. Henry A. Boardman and Wm. M. Paxton, of America. PRINCETON, N. J., August 19, 1880. A. A. HODGE. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, WITH EXTRACTS FROM THE REMINISCENCES OF HIS BROTHER. Ancestry, Childhood, Mother, Brother, Teachers and Companions . . 1-19 CHAPTER II. AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED. FROM HIS ENTERING THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, SEPTEMBER, l8l2, TO HIS GRADUATION, SEPTEMBER, 1815. Profession of religion Revival Class-mates and Teachers .... 2038 CHAPTER III. FROM HIS GRADUATION FROM THE COLLEGE, SEPTEMBER, 1815, TO HIS GRADUATION FROM THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, SEPTEMBER, 1 8 19. Study in Philadelphia Journeys to Silver Lake and Virginia Seminary life * and friends and letters to Mother and Brother 39-67 CHAPTER IV. FROM HIS GRADUATION FROM THE SEMINARY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1819, TO HIS ELECTION AS PROFESSOR, MAY 24, l822. Correspondence with Dr. Alexander, and with his Mother and Brother Visit to New Haven, Boston and Andover His licensure, teaching in the Seminary, and preaching at Lambertville and Ewing 68-91 V v j TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. FROM HIS ELECTION AS PROFESSOR, MAY, 1 822, TO HIS DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE, OCTOBER, 1826. His election as Professor Marriage Birth and baptism of children Studies and commencement of the Biblical Repertory Resolution to go to Eu- rope 9 2 - I0 3 CHAPTER VI. FROM HIS DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE, OCTOBER, 1826, TO HIS RETURN TO PRINCETON, SEPTEMBER, 1828. Letters to his wife, mother, and Dr. Alexander, relating to his voyage and residence in Paris His journal, kept during his residence in Halle and Berlin Letters from Drs. Alexander and Miller His own letters relating to his visit to Switzerland, and return home via Paris, London, and Liverpool 104-201 CHAPTER VII. FROM HIS RETURN TO HOME AND WORK IN PRINCETON, SEPTEMBER, 1828, TO HIS TRANSFERENCE TO THE CHAIR OF SYSTEM- ATIC THEOLOGY, MAY, 1840. Work as a professor and preacher Correspondence with German friends Children, family relations, and recreations Correspondence with brother Death of mother Politics - Lameness His department of instruction reinforced by Mr. Hubbard and Professor J. A. Alexander Gathering of professors and friends in study The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review Its history, and estimate of its character and influence The qualifications and success of Dr. Hodge as an editor and reviewer His associates and principal contributors His Commentary on Romans His Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church of the United States 202-284 CHAPTER VIII. THE DISRUPTION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (1834-1838). The historical conditions out of which the conflict sprang The several parties in the church The true position of the *' Princeton," or conservative '* party" Dr. Hodge's own statement of the principles on which he and his associates acted The thorough agreement of all the Princeton men as to principles and measures Misconceptions corrected Dr. Hodge's TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll relation to the "Act and Testimony" His letters to his brother and to Dr. Boardman 285 320 CHAPTER IX. FROM THE CHANGE OF HIS PROFESSORSHIP, MAY, 1840, TO THE DEATH OF DR. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, OCTOBER, 1851. His transfer to the chair of Systematic Theology His method and success in teaching The "Way of Life" Letters from Dr. A. Alexander, Bishop Johns, Ludwig, and Otto Von Gerlach His articles in the Princeton Review Slavery Sustentation Romish Baptism His letters to his brother, and from Drs. Biggs and Johns Friendship and correspondence with Dr. William Cunningham Death of Professor Albert B. Dod Marriage and departure of his children Death of his wife Disturbed health Death of his senior colleagues 321 383 CHAPTER X. FROM THE DEATH OF DR. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, 1851, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR, l86l. A member of the Boards of the Church Trustee of the College of New Jer- seyMethods of Teaching Second marriage Correspondence with his brother, politics Dancing and card-playing The baptism of the infants of non-professors Commentaries Articles in the Princeton Review (I.) On the General Assemblies The relation of the Board of Missions to the Presbyteries The constitutionality of our Boards Commissions The adoption of the Confession of Faith Religious education, and the reli- gious amendment of the Constitution of the United States (II.) Free Agency, Inspiration, &c. (III.) Presbyterian Liturgies (IV.) "The Princeton Review and Cousin's Philosophy ' (V.) Review of Bishop Mcllvaine on the Church (VI.) His articles on the Church and Elder question Correspondence with Dr. William Cunningham and Bishop Johns The death of Drs. James W. and Joseph A. Alexander Letter of Dr. R. L. Dabney Election of his son, C. W. Hodge, as Professor of N. T. Literature, &c. His great debate with Dr. Thornwell in the Gen. eral Assembly of 1861 384 448 CHAPTER XI. FROM l86l, AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR, TO 1872, AND THE CELEBRATION OF DR. HODGE'S SEMI-CENTENNIAL. His appearance and health His occupations and recreation The composi- tion of his " Systematic Theology ''The Sabbath afternoon Conferences The Civil War : correspondence with his brother The assassination v jjf TABLE OF CONTENTS. of Lincoln : correspondence with his brother" Letter to Dr. Robert Watts on the "Witness of the Spirit" The relation of the Church to political questions, and the merits of the actual decisions by the General ' Assembly (O. S.) of questions growing out of the War The case of the Rev. S. B. McPheeters, D. D. The re-union of the Old and New School Presbyterians The National Presbyterian Convention, Philadelphia, Nov., 1867 449-508 CHAPTER XII. HIS SEMI-CENTENNIAL. APRIL 24, IS/2 CHAPTER XIII. HIS LAST YEARS. FROM 1872 TO HIS DEATH, JUNE 19, 1878. His appearance and habit of mind The object of general love, in his family, the Seminary, and among his students The death of his brother, Dr. H. L. Hodge, of Philadelphia Dr. William Goodell's biographical sketch of him The visit of the General Assembly of 1872 to Washington The Evangelical Alliance, New York, 1873 Historical sermon, delivered at the re-opening of the Chapel of the Theological Seminary in Princeton, September 27th, 1874 Latest correspondence and interviews with his friend, Bishop Johns The appointment of his assistant and successor His eightieth birth-day His writings during these last years . 531-577 CHAPTER XIV. THE LAST DAYS ....... 578-587 CHAPTER XV. DR. HODGE CONSIDERED AS A TEACHER, PREACHER, THEOLOGIAN, AND CHRISTIAN MAN, BY THE REV. DRS. BENJAMIN B. WARFIELD, WILLIAM M. PAXTON, AND HENRY A. BOARDMAN. GENERAL ES- TIMATE OF DR. HODGE'S SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, BY PROF. c. p. KRAUTH, D. D ............... 588-616 THE LIFE OF CHARLES HODGE, D.D. CHAPTER I. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, WITH EXTRACTS FROM THE REMINISCENCES OF HIS BROTHER. ANCESTRY CHILDHOOD MOTHER BROTHER TEACHERS AND COMPANIONS. DURING the last years of the seventeenth and the first of the eighteenth centuries, William Hodge, and Margaret, his wife, lived in the north of Ireland. They were the parents of four boys and two girls, of whom two died in early childhood, and one surviving to maturity left no record. The father died January 4th, 1723, and the mother October I5th, 1730. Soon after the death of their mother, the three remaining children, William, Andrew and Hugh, emigrated to America and settled in Philadelphia, where they became successful merchants and men of influence in the community. William had but one child, Mary, who in August, 1757, married Mr. William West, from whom are descended the Wests, Con- ynghams and Fraziers of Philadelphia, and the Stewarts of Baltimore. Hugh, the youngest of the three brothers, had but one child, a son bearing his own name, who graduated in the College of New Jersey, in Princeton, in 1773, and took his master's degree in course. Soon afterwards he 1 i / * * r ****** -9 O "'* *\ : :-* S /*: v ** ..iJfyKgb/OGXAPffY. [1745- sailed for Europe, but the ship he sailed in was never heard of after leaving port. ' His mother, Mrs. Hannah Hodge, known for many years in the family as Aunt Hannah, was recognized in all the city as a mother in Israel. She was born in Philadelphia, January, 172 1, the daughter of John Harkum, of "English descent. Her mother, whose maiden name was Doz, was the child of a Protestant who fled from France on account of the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, 1685, and afterwards with other French Protestants, was principally instrumental in founding the First Presbyterian Church, then standing on Market Street above Second, of which the Rev. Jedidiah Andrews was pastor. Although Hannah joined the church in 1736 or 7 she thought her true conversion occurred un- der the preaching of Whitefield, when her life became emi- nently consecrated to religious interests. When in 1743 the Second Presbyterian was formed out of the converts of Whitefield, she was one of one hundred and sixty communi- cants originally enrolled. In 1745, she married Mr. Hugh Hodge, who was a deacon in the Second Church from its foundation to the time of his death. They had a dry-goods store on the north side of Market Street above Second. Their house was the resort of clergymen and the centre of religious meetings. After her husband's death Mrs. Hodge, although left independent, retained the business in order that she might not curtail her charities. Dr. Ashbel Green, her pastor, afterwards President of Princeton College, en- tertained a sincere reverence for her, and concludes his memoir of her, printed in the Panoplist, vol. 2d, for the year ending June, 1807, with a glowing eulogium of his friend. "Solid sense, sterling integrity, sincere piety united with great humility, the love of truth and the abhorrence of hy- pocrisy were her chief characteristics. These gave her an influence among her Christian associates perhaps superior to that of any other individual." Her house was the home of several old and infirm ladies, supported in great measure 1 739-] HIS GRANDFATHER, ANDREW HODGE. 3 by her bounty; and here* also originated the weekly meet- ing for prayer and religious instruction observed still in the Second Church, and in most of the other Presbyterian Churches of the city. The house in which she lived was, by the will of her husband, left upon her decease to the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, for the education of candidates for the ministry. This endowment has con- tinued to fulfil the pious design of its founders up to the present time, yielding an income varying from eight to fifteen hundred dollars annually; thus constituting with a few others the foundations of a system of endowments which has since attained magnificent proportions. Aunt Hannah died December i/th, 1805, when I was eight years old. I was present at her funeral, and was stand- ing with my cousin, John Bayard, rather older than myself, near the open coffin. We began to cry. We thought that was the right thing to do. But his mother came up, and giving us a little shake, said in an authoritative whisper, "Stop." The discovery that we were making ourselves ridiculous, instantly dried the fountain of tears. By such filaments the present generation is connected with the past. Andrew Hodge, the second in order of age of the three immigrant brothers, born in Ireland, March 28th, 1711, was my grandfather. He soon became a successful and acquired considerable property. His wharf, and store, and city residence in which he spent his life, were on Water Street, to the south of what is now termed Delaware Avenue. His country seat was on Mead lane, now Mont- gomery Avenue, and he possessed one of the only six car- riages then in the city. He was active and influential in all the affairs of the Church and of the community, one of the * " The crowd being often so great as to fill, not only the parlor and kitchen, but even the back garden, close up against Christ Church ground, and much to the offence of our Episcopal brethren, who called them ' Those conventicles held by Mrs. Hodge.' " 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1745- founders of and a liberal contributor to the Second Church, and a member of its board of Trustees to the day of his de'ath. In 1739 he married Miss Jane M'Culloch. Her brother Hugh was an elder in the Second Church, and a man of great goodness and influence, though remarkable for the great tenacity with which he held on to his own opinions. He never would consent to the assertion that the earth moves ; maintaining that it was contrary alike to his own observation and to Bible authority, as Joshua com- manded not the earth, but the sun to stand still. His char- acter is said to have been imbibed by our family, " O ! there is Uncle M'Culloch " having become quite a saying among the descendants of his sister. The religious excitement which attended the preaching of Whitefield in this country about the middle of the last century, gave rise to two parties in the Presbyterian Church. Those who approved of the revival were called New Lights, and those who stood aloof or opposed to it, were called Old Lights. The pastor of the First Church, then the only Pres- byterian Church in Philadelphia, together with a majority of the congregation were Old Lights, while a minority were on the other side. These latter were, at their own request, set off and organized into the Second Church, of which the celebrated Gilbert Tennent was the first pastor. Of this Andrew Hodge, Senior, was a Trustee, and his son-in-law, Col. John Bayard, and his brother-in-law, Mr. Hugh M'Cul- loch, were ruling elders. The Church edifice was erected on the corner of Third and Arch Streets. It was an oblong building. The shorter side on the east faced Third Street ; the longer side was on Arch Street. The steeple was on the west end, and the pulpit was on the north side. Subse- quently the steeple was taken down and the tower included in the auditorium, and the pews were turned round to face the pulpit, which was placed at the west end. The Church in after years was removed to Seventh Street, near Arch, where it remained during the pastorates of Rev. Drs. Cuyler 1767.] DESCENDANTS OF ANDRE W HOD GE. 5 and Shields. The shifting of the population necessitating another removal, a lot was purchased at the corner of Twenty-first and Walnut, on which has been erected one of the most beautiful church-buildings in the city. My grand- father's pew in the original edifice on Third and Arch Streets was the front one in the middle aisle to the left hand of the preacher. The same pew, i. e., the same in relative position, has remained in the family ever since. It is now held by the great-grandson of the original occupant, Dr. H. Lenox Hodge, who is also a ruling elder in his ancestral Church. These family details are of interest to those whom they concern. I wish, however, that those who come after me should know that their ancestors and kindred were Presby- terians and patriots. Andrew Hodge and Jane M'Culloch were the parents of fifteen children, eight of whom died in infancy or early life. Their eldest child, Margaret, married John Rubenheim Bay- ard, of Bohemia Manor, Maryland, afterwards a Colonel in the Revolutionary army. After the war he settled in Philadelphia, but during the latter part of his life resided in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His sons were James A., who married the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Rodgers, New York ; Andrew, a merchant, and president of the Commer- cial Bank, Philadelphia; Samuel, clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, and a resident of Princeton, New Jersey ; John M., who resided on the Millstone river, near to a village of the same name ; and Nicholas, a physician, who settled in Savannah, Georgia. His daughters were Jane, who married Chief Justice Kirkpatrick, of New Brunswick, N. J. ; Maria, who married Samuel Boyd, Esq., of New York; and Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith, of Washing- ton, D. C. Agnes, the second child of Andrew Hodge, sr., married James Ashton, a twin-brother of her brother-in-law, Col. John R. Bayard, who was a surgeon in the revolutionary army, and was accidentally killed in Charleston, South Car- 6 A UTOBIO GRAPHY. [1772. olina. Their children were John Hodge Bayard, who lived in Cumberland and died unmarried ; Jane, whom I remem- ber as a portly lady, dressed in the simple habit of a Qua- keress, which the stricter Methodists of that period adopted ; and Jarnes Ashton Bayard, jr., born July 28, 1767. He practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware, and in 1787 repre- sented his district in the National House of Representatives. In 1804 he was chosen United States Senator, as successor to his father-in law, Governor Bassett, which position he re- tained until he was selected by President Madison as a Commissioner, together with Gallatin, Clay, and others, to negotiate a peace with Great Britain. His son, Richard-H. / Bayard, was United States Senator from 1836 to 1839, an< ^ again from 1841 to 1845. His second son, the third James Ashton Bayard in the direct line, was United States Senator for many years. And again the office has been continued in the third generation, in the person of the present Senator, Thomas F. Bayard. A third daughter of Andrew Hodge, sr., married a gentle- man from the West Indies, by the name of Philips. She left an only child, a daughter, who died unmarried. A fourth daughter, Mary, married Major Hodgdon, a commissary in the revolutionary army. She lived to a great age, and left many children. The sons of Andrew Hodge, sr., were John, a physician, who died at twenty-three years of age, and William, a mer- chant, who residing abroad was called by acquaintances on the Continent, " the handsome American." After the revo- lution he was employed in the secret service of his govern- ment, and falling under suspicion, was for a time confined in the Bastile, where he was well treated. He died when only thirty years old. Of James, the youngest son of Andrew, sr., it is only known that he died unmarried. Andrew, jr., graduated in Princeton College in the class of 1772, and married Ann Ledyard, half-sister of the traveler and author. He was a Captain in the Pennsylvania line during the revo- 1 79 o.] HIS FATHER AND MOTHER. 7 lution, and was present at the battle of Princeton, and used to boast that he had captured a cannon in " Stockton's woods." He lived to a great age, and left many children. I heard the old gentleman say that at the battle of Princeton a company from Delaware, formed a little in advance of his own, broke and ran at the first fire of the British. Its Cap- tain, who was rather corpulent, came puffing by crying, " Run, Captain Hodge, run, Captain Hodge, we shall all be killed." The only answer I could get to the question " Did Captain Hodge run?" was a little laugh. He fell back, how- ever, upon his treasure trove, " the cannon in Stockton's woods." Hugh, the eighth child and fourth son of Andrew Hodge, sr., was my father. He was born in Philadelphia, August 2O > X 755> graduated in the College of New Jersey in 1773, and studied medicine under the eminent doctor Cadwalader. He was appointed Surgeon, February 7, 1776, in the third battalion of troops raised in the Province of Pennsylvania, in the service of the United Colonies. He was captured by the British, and held as a prisoner at Fort Washington, N. Y., but through the intervention of General Washington was liberated on parole. After engaging in mercantile pur- suits with his brother Andrew, he returned to the practice of medicine, and soon secured an influential connection. The tradition of his fine person and attractive manners lingered among the latest survivors of his generation. He was a prominent actor in the terrible scenes occasioned by the memorable epidemics of yellow fever in 1793, and after- wards in 1795. And through the exposure incident to his labors on these occasions his constitution was impaired, and he died after protracted sufferings July 14, 1798, at the early age of forty-three. His pastor, Dr. Ashbel Green, said of him, in his eulogium, that " as a husband, father, brother, friend and citizen, none surpassed him." His wife, my mother, was Mary Blanchard, of Boston. Her mother's name was Hunt, probably of English origin. 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1790. Her father, Joseph Blanchard, was a descendant of the French Huguenots. She was born in Boston in 1765, and passed her earliest years amidst the excitements preparatory to< the rebellion of the Colonies against the authority of Great Britain. Of course her opportunities for education were comparatively few, but such as they were she employed them well, and early manifested a great taste for reading, often retiring from the fire-side circle to a cold room, in the depth of a Boston winter, and there enveloped in a blanket, read and committed to memory passages from Pope and Dryden, which she could repeat in after life. The physician of her family was the celebrated Dr. Joseph Warren, after- wards Major-General Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, one of the first of his country's martyrs. Her recollections of him were always very vivid, as she often sat on his lap listening to his enthusiastic discourse upon the exciting con- troversies of the day. She was the youngest of several children. The descendants of some of her brothers remain in Boston to the present time, while those of others are in the extreme south-west. Her brother Samuel married a niece of the Hon. Timothy Pickering, a Colonel in the revo- lutionary army, and afterward was Secretary of War, under Washington. Her favorite nephew, Francis Blanchard, was father of the first wife of the distinguished Mr. Winthrop, of Boston. Her parents died when she was young, and her brothers and sisters, being for the most part married, she came to Philadelphia to reside with her brother, John Blan- chard, about 1785, at twenty years of age, and was intro- duced to our family through letters to Maj. Hodgdon. After a courtship, protracted by the failure of his mercan- tile enterprises, she was married to my father in 1790, by Rev. Dr. Green] and went to housekeeping in the dwelling- house on the west of the store-house, on Water street below Race, belonging to the estate of his father, Andrew Hodge, sr., then recently deceased. On December ipth, their first child was born, a daughter, whom they named Elizabeth. JET. o.] HIS BIRTH. 9 She was a healthy and promising child, until in August, 1793, she was suddenly carried off by yellow fever. Their second child was Mary, born September 1st, 1792, and their third child was a little boy named Hugh, born August 24, 1794. When her little boy was about a year old, after many years of absence, my mother revisited her home in Boston, leaving her little ones in Philadelphia. Very shortly the little Mary sickened with measles, of which fact, of course, the mother was instantly informed. She immediately left Boston in the mail stage, and after traveling three days and three nights she arrived home to find that Mary was dead, and Hugh also was dying of the same disease. .Thus was she left again childless. Their fourth child, Hugh Lenox Hodge, was born June 27, 1796, the year after the death of his little namesake brother. The family at tkis time, because of the supposed insalubrity of Water street, removed to a house on the south side of Arch street above Fourth, the third door from Christ Church burying-ground. Here at midnight, in the last moments of the 27th or the first mo- ments of the 28th of December, 1797, I, the fifth and last child, was born. Aunt Hannah used to inquire for " that strange named child, Charles," as it was a new name in the family. \ My father died the I4th of July the next year, leaving my mother a widow in very limited circumstances, with two infants respectively two years and six months of age. It is no marvel that mothers are sacred in. the eyes of their children. The debt they owe them is beyond all estimate. To our mother, my brother and myself, under God, owe absolutely everything. To us she de- voted her life. For us she prayed, labored and suffered. My grandfather's property yielded her for some years a comfortable income. But as it consisted principally of the Water (Arch) Street wharf, with its docks, and the ware- house and dwellings by which, on three sides, it was sur- rounded, its proceeds depended on the state of commerce. r !0 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1832. As the non-intercourse act and embargo which preceded the war of 1812, and the war itself, led to the suspension of commercial business, our mother's income was almost entirely cut off. This was at the time we were preparing for college. Instead of putting her children off her hands, and leaving them to provide for themselves, by sacrificing all she had, [by the most self-denying economy, and by keeping boarders, she succeeded in securing for them the benefits of a collegiate and professional education, at her expense, and without loss of time. She lived long enough to see both her sons settled in life and heads of families. It is a tradition in the family that in her youth she was distinguished for personal beauty. A gentleman from Bos- ton, after age and illness had produced their inevitable effects, exclaimed, " Can that be the beautiful Mary Blanch- ard, of Boston ?" In the eyes of her children she continued beautiful to the end. Her large blue eyes never lost their light of intelligence and love. Although thus devoted to the support and education of her children, she was always active in promoting the wel- fare of others. Her son Hugh has recorded his recollec- tion of trudging by her side through the snow many squares to assist, with other ladies, in the distribution of soup and groceries to the destitute, either as donations, or at wholesale prices. ET. 17.] COLLEGE COMPANIONS. 35 half gave to their fellow-men, in their after life, every evidence of having become true believers during this revi- val. In the light of God, the number was probably greater. Among these were John Johns, afterwards Episcopal Bishop of Virginia; Charles P. Mllvaine, afterwards Episcopal Bishop of Ohio ; James V. Henry, pastor of Presbyterian Church at Sing-Sing, N. Y.; Symmes C. Henry, pastor of Church at Cranbury, N. J. ; Ravaud K. Rodgers, pastor of Church at Bound Brook, N. J. ; Wm. J. Armstrong, after- wards Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; Benjamin Ogden, pastor of Church at Pennington ; John Maclean, afterwards President of the College of New Jersey ; Charles C. Stewart, Missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and George H. Woodruff and John Rodney, afterwards Episcopal ministers; Benjamin W. Richards, afterwards Mayor of Philadelphia, &c., &c. Bishop Johns, together with William James, Charles Stew- art, and others, made his first profession of religion in the First Presbyterian Church, Princeton, July 7, 1815. He afterwards removed his connection to the Episcopal Church, attended by his family in New Castle, Delaware. Many of my College associates subsequently rose to dis- tinction. Judge Haines, of Ohio ; William Pennington, Governor of New Jersey, and Speaker of the House of Representatives in Congress ; James McDowell, Governor of Virginia ; Richard H. Bayard, U. S. Senator, and Minis- ter to Belgium ; Henry Carrington and John Blair Dabney, of Virginia. These last were inseparables ; room-mates, with all their books marked " Carrington and Dabney." Mr. Dabney became a prominent lawyer, but in middle life took orders in the Episcopal Church. Philip R. Fendall * was one of the first honor men of our class, and attorney of * One day a dozen of us were standing on the front steps of the College, and Fendall was exercising his wit on those around him, when one of the crowd said, " Fendall, why don't you cut C ?" The prompt reply was, "What is the use of cutting mush ?" C. was so amiable that even that gash healed by the first intention. 36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1815. the District of Columbia. Persifer F. Smith became a general in the U. S. Army. He was a great favorite, and exuberant in humor. If you heard laughter in any part of the building, you might be sure that Smith was at the bottom of it. He was greatly distinguished in both the Florida and Mexican wars. After the Florida war he was driving in Philadelphia (his native city) with a party of friends, and the question came up, " What was the cause of the great difficulty attending the war against the Semi- noles ?" One of the party turned to the General and said, " Smith, you were there, what do you think was the cause of the trouble ?" He replied, " I do not know, but I reckon it was the Indians." His constitution was undermined by malaria in Mexico, and he died in 1858, while in command of the post at Fort Leavenworth. [John Johns, Bishop of Virginia; Charles P. M'llvaine, Bishop of Ohio, and John Maclean, President of the College of New Jersey, have been my intimate, life-long friends. Besides these there were a considerable number who have become judges, or members of congress, or distinguished as lawyers, physi- cians, or ministers of the gospel.' IThere were two of my college associates^ who are en- shrined in my memory as remarkable illustrations of the ET. 3S-4L] HIS LAMENESS. 237 1836, he was most heroically treated with violent counter- irritants. His hip, and thigh, and knee were over and over again blistered, cupped, rubbed with tartar emetic and iodine ; treated with issues, and setons, and the moxa, i. e. y burnt with actual fire from the hip to the knee. All this he bore, not only with bravery and resignation, but with habitual cheerfulness, and continued without serious inter- ruption, constantly engaged in his studies and writing. In the fall of 1834, his distinguished friend, Professor Joseph Henry, brought his battery to Mr. Hodge's study and applied galvanism to his limb, without any known effect. In the spring of 1838, he believed that he had made no progress toward recovery, and becoming impatient of the old methods, he urgently pressed upon his physicians the propriety of his trying either the hot springs of Baden in Germany, or those of Virginia. After much discussion and many plans, he settled down to trying the effect first of warm baths, and then in October, 1838, of the cold douche upon his lame hip and thigh, in his own home. With the use of the latter, the tone and strength of the limb gradually returned, and [he slowly increased his exer- cise, and laid aside first one crutch and then the other, and finally settled down upon the support of a cane which he used until the end of his life, f All this time of languishing pain and confinement, his general health was preserved almost in perfection. He not only was well, but he appeared to others unusually fresh and youthful. This is to be attributed to the strength of his constitution the placidity and sunny cheerfulness of his disposition, his Christian faith, and his remarkable tempe- rance in food, and regularity of habit. Few men have ever been known who possessed a more complete control over their appetites, and although his emotions were always strong, and on occasion uncontrollable, he was characterized to a remarkable degree by the faculty and habit of throwing off from his mind all painful or disagreeable subjects. On 238 HIS LAMENESS. [1833-40. December 3d, 1834, he writes to his brother, " I have not walked across the room without a crutch for a year and a half." He has marked as a note attached to his daily record of the weather, under date of July i6th, 1842, " Preached in Elizabethtown for the first time since 1833 j" that is this was the first instance of his preaching in that time. Again, under the date of September i8th, 1842, " Preached in the Chapel for the first time." And on the ijQth of June, 1843, "Walked to town (the village) for the first time in ten years.3 During the worst of this time, the latter part of 1833 and the first of 1834, he employed at his own expense, with the assistance of a friend or two, of whom the sainted Dr. Miller was the principal, the Rev. Austin O. Hubbard, of the last graduating class, as an assistant. Mr. Hubbard relieved him of the Hebrew, while Mr. Hodge continued to lecture on Introduction and Exegesis. Mr. Joseph Addison Alex- ander was appointed assistant in his department, and en- tered upon its duties immediately upon his return from Europe in May, 1834 declined his election of Adjunct Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature in 1835, and accepted it, and was formally installed in 1838. From the summer of 1833 to the 22dj)f February, 1836, with a trifling exception, in June, 1834,' Dr. Hodge met his classes in his own housed sometimes in the study and sometimes in the back parlor. The rooms being crowded up to the edge of his couch with settees during class time, while during the intervals the settees were pushed together to the walls. Meantime, it was evident that he was conducting his studies and using his pen under the most serious physical embarrassments. From 1833 to 1840 inclusive, he wrote twenty-eight articles for the Repertory, besides reading and editing all the rest. While at the worst, lying perfectly horizontal, and at times, at least, with his right leg in a splint, he wrote his reviews of Stuart on the Romans, and JET. 38.] GATHERINGS IN THE STUDY. 239 of Barnes on the Romans, his two articles on the Act and Testimony, which shook the Church, and shaped its history, and his own commentary on the Romans. He learned then to write upon a board covered with leather held upon his breast by his left arm. This, plan he practiced exclu- sively until 1853, when he was with some difficulty induced by his wife to substitute for the board the table, which in the wood-cut of the study is represented as standing at the side of the chair. His later articles, commentaries and his " Systematic Theology," were written sitting at that table. While confined to his couch his books were placed in part in a revolving case, and stood in every available place on stands and chairs by his side, while, of course, at that time he fell back constantly upon the assistance of members of his family, to get his books and place them in convenient positions, and to read to him while he copied or translated passages for quotation. THE GATHERINGS IN THE STUDY. The fact of his long confinement, and the further fact that he was in age and general qualities the central man, the common bond of intercourse and action among the Prince- ton Professors of that day, caused his study to be for many years the meeting place and intellectual exchange of both Institutions. Here during all these years the faculty of the Seminary held all its meetings. Here the Associa- tion of gentlemen which conducted the Repertory met for the reading and criticism of articles, and for the discussion and decision of the policy of the Review. Here all debates and consultations of general interest were held, and here literary strangers, visitors to either Institution, were brought to meet the gentlemen of the town. Here almost every night for long years came Professors Dod and Maclean, and frequently Professors James W. Alexander, Joseph Henry, and the older Profes- sors, A. Alexander, and Samuel Miller, President Carnahan, 240 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. [1838. and frequently when visiting the town, Professors Vethake and Torrey, and Dr. John W. Yeomans. Thus at least in the eyes of the young sons, gleaming out from the corners, from the shadows of which they looked on with breathless interest, this study became the scene of the most wonderful debates, and discourse on the highest themes of philosophy, science, literature, theology, morals and poli- tics. When Professor Dod was here alone, the time was also improved by playing chess, at which he was a distinguished master. Mr. Hodge at that time attained to such skill in this intellectual game, that he held his own respecta- bly, not only with his habitual antagonist, Professor Dod, but also upon occasion even with Professor Henry Vethake of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most distin- guished chess players of the United States. PROF. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. August 2d, 1836. My Dear Brother : I am glad you were in season to welcome your fourth son into the world. There is no reason for turning up your nasal member at boys. They are not to be despised. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them, he shall talk with his enemy in the gate, jjf he turns out to be a good man, that is better, because a harder and a rarer thing than a good womaru) Train him up in the right way, and leave the result to God. Your affectionate brother, C. H. TO THE SAME. January nth, 1838. My Dear Brother : I have had Dr. Sweet to see me ! What a fall was there, my countrymen ! I, the son, the brother, the hus- band (?), the father, it may be, of a doctor, harboring a quack, illiterate and presumptuous. I suppose you will cut my acquaintance instanter. You must at least admire my courage in telling you. Send me a dose of prussic acid. Yesterday afternoon when I came from recitation I found a plain, respectable old gentleman, about sixty, sitting in my study waiting my return. He handed me a letter from a clerical friend, begging JET. 40.] CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. 241 to introduce Dr. Sweet, who, he assured me, had been effecting a multitude of marvelous cures in his neighborhood, and entreating me not to allow the fear of quackery to induce me to decline his services. Here then was the man himself, of whom I had heard so much, who had been recommended to me by lawyers, bishops, mer- chants, ministers, sent without any agency or preconcert of my own. Was this not Providential ? Would it not be a foolhardy rejection of a chance of relief to turn my back upon his offers of assistance ? I confess I thought so, and felt quite moved. On conversing with him I found he was ignorant to a wonder. He informed me that the sciatic nerve was the round ligament ; that the doctors were in a manner unaccountable to him, unable to discover a dislocation, when he could see it in a moment. His whole language was that of an illiterate man. On the other hand there was much to inspire confi- dence. In the first place he was plain and serious, just such a man, they say, as General Harrison, whom you tried to make President of the United States. In the second place, his grandfather and his father had been bone-setters before him ; he himself has done nothing else for more more than forty years. If there is anything in a here- ditary gift, or if practice makes perfect, he surely might challenge confidence in his own calling. In the third place, admitting one-half of his vaunted cures to be imaginary, there remains a multitude of cases which cannot be questioned. I know of several on the best human testimony. Young is one ; Mr. of Rahway, is another, who had been for years under Stevens & Mott, and could hardly walk on crutches, who was dancing in a ball-room within a month after Sweet took hold of him. He is sent for all over the United States. He went not long ago to Kentucky, to see a Mr. , who had not walked in ten years, In a week he was walk- ing about, and in three weeks he was riding on horse-back, and carrying on like a young man. For this cure he received five hun- dred dollars, and is to receive a like sum if the cure proves perma- nent. This last story is his own. He certainly has a wonderful memory, for he went into details, the most minute, about cases which I had heard of from other sources. Well, do you blame me now ? Only the other day he cured (he says) at Mount Holly a young man whom Randolph had kept twenty-three months in a splint. He was walking about the streets when he (Sweet) left him. This is one of the cases my clerical friend referred to. When he examined my limb, he pronounced immediately that the hip was out of joint and the knee also ! ! This was really too much. However he convinced me that my diseased limb is nearly an inch longer than the other. At least I did my best to make the measure- 16 242 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. [1838. ment accurate. He was not unduly urgent for me to submit to his operation. He said it would not last more than ten minutes, nor give more pain than drawing a tooth ; that it would require very little force, nor more than half his strength ; that I could immediately walk about the house without crutches, and in a week or two walk as well as ever ; that he never persisted in an operation when a patient complained or fainted ! but used all possible gentleness. Even Sarah began now to give way, and urged that I should let him begin, and make him stop when the pain became severe. But I refused, and manfully held fast to my integrity. So after he had sat here four hours and a half, I paid him $5 for the expense of coming at the request of my friend, and dismissed him, saying, that as soon as I was convinced that my hip was out of joint I would send for him. Now if you do not glorify me at a great rate for this, I will send for him right off. For I am by no means sure that I have not acted like a big fool. He may be entirely mistaken in his absurd talk about dislocations, and yet, like those famous shampooers of the East, have a knack of cracking a man's spine, neck and limbs, greatly to his edification. I maintain I have performed a great action. Whether a wise or foolish one you must judge. Your brother, C. H. PROF. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. January i6th, 1838. I feel unsettled and dissatisfied about myself, and you must not be surprised if (should we all live till spring) I should enter on some desperate enterprise. I have of late suffered more pain than usual, particularly at night. What gradual change there is in my limb is for the worse, I am sure, though I cannot trace its progress. I am also impressed with the belief that this limb is longer than the other. I have repeatedly had it measured since I first mentioned the- fact, and always with the same result. The idea that is now haunting me is the possibility of getting to some hot mineral baths. I should greatly prefer those in Virginia, could I get to them. But how to travel so far is the question, and the accommodations for bathing, I am told, are very poor. I have thought that by getting a dearborn wagon on easy springs, and large enough to hold my mattress, I might lie down and ride even over the rough roads, for the one hundred and fifty miles from Richmond. Were I rich I would venture on going to Baden, though I have no desire to cross the ocean again. By going first to London, then to Rotterdam, and then up the Rhine, I could reach those springs with little or no land carriage. Your brother, C. H. ^T. 40.] CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. 243 His brother, while with characteristic generosity offering him pecuniary assistance to execute his desire of visiting the hot springs of Baden, expressed his want of confidence in the proposed remedy, and in the virtue of natural mineral waters in general. Hence the following philippic against doctors in reply. PROFESSOR HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. January 29, 1838. My Dear Brother: I am going to write a philippic against doctors, founded on your last letter. If the public have no confidence in the profession you have to thank yourselves for it. You not only call yourselves pretenders, vain boasters, etc., etc., but make assertions which shock the common sense of mankind. For example, you say that hot water is hot water whether it be in Germany, Virginia or Princeton. This of course means that the hot natural mineral baths have no greater remedial powers than artificial hot baths. Now this, I maintain, is contrary to reason, to testimony and to experience, /. e. it is opposed to all the kinds and degrees of evidence that can by possibility apply to the case. It is contrary to reason that different things should have precisely the same effects, and hot water is a different thing from hot sulphureous water impregnated with iron, magnesia, and other matters. Secondly, a hot bath is a very different thing from those natural bathing places where the patient imbibes, exhales, inhales, absorbs and drinks down, for what I know, the fumes of these medicated waters hour after hour. Your assertion is contrary to the testimony of all classes of men. Dr. Johnson says, that though he cannot explain it, it is still the fact that one grain of iron in the natural mineral waters produces a greater tonic effect than one hundred grains administered as an artificial preparation. Besides this kind of testimony there is that of those who, having tried the artificial baths to no effect, have been essentially benefited by the use of the natural ones. And finally as to experience, those baths have been frequented, in some cases for six hundred years, by hundreds and thousands of people. Are all mankind crazy ? Might all these people as well have stayed at home, and sat down in a tub of hot water ? Is a medical fact (the most slippery thing in nature, I admit) utterly incapable of being established even by the experience of thousands of years and of thousands of individuals ? I know your answer to all this " Charles wants to go, and he will prove it reasonable." But I have no fancy for the journey nor for 244 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. [1838. the isolation from friends and home comforts. I should rejoice to be able to believe that all the advantages of these springs could be obtained at home. As to the French douches, you forget I tried them all one summer to no purpose. The idea of comparing such matters with one of nature's steaming caldrons, in which the patient lies for hours at a time beneath a vaulted roof, inhaling sulphureous fumes, while his body soaks in hot medicated waters, is like compar- ing a trickle of tepid water to a thundering cataract. So much for the philippic, in which there is so much good nature, I fear it will be but a brutum fulmen. You must consider it as written in great wrath. Your affectionate brother, C. H. He, however, submitted to try first the hot and then the cold douche at home, and afterwards rapidly and perma- nently improved. PROFESSOR HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. June 5th, 1838. My Dear Brother : We have had a visit of two or three days from the Rev. Samuel Hodge, of Tennessee, an humble, pious and sensible old gentleman. His grandfather came from the North of Ireland, and settled in North Carolina. He says the name is quite common in Carolina and Georgia, and he is inclined to think from the similar physique, that all who bear it are of one origin. " They are characteristically large men, with light complexions, friendly, yet ready to fight" Your affectionate brother, C. H. \_When writing his " Constitutional History of the Presby- terian Church in the United States," he consulted his bro- ther as to the best sources of information upon the subject of nervous epidemics, &c. This he sought by way of preparation for discussing the history of the physical phe- nomena accompanying the revival of religion in Kentucky in the early years of this century^ -j PROF. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. August 15, 1839. My Dear Brother /You seem to think I meant to penetrate very far into the labyrinth of medico-metaphysical speculations about ALT. 41.] CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. 245 nervous diseases. You need not be apprehensive on that score. A single page will probably embrace all that I have to say, but to write that page, I should like to read a volume or two. A page will con- tain a good many assertions, and I should like very much to be able to make them on good authority. The phenomena of fainting, con- vulsions, jerking, etc., which have in all ages attended strong and general religious excitements, I am persuaded are nothing but one form of an infectious nervous disease, generated by strong impres- sions on the imagination and lively emotions, tjf so they have noth- ing to do, properly speaking, with religion, and instead of being encouraged or tolerated, as they almost always have been by good men to the great injury of religion, they ought by all means to be guarded against and suppressed as much as epilepsy or hysterics./ Your brother, C. H. PROF. HODGE TO THE SAME. October 10, 1839. My Dear Brother : I was greatly concerned to hear of the suspen- sion of your banks. It must be a death-blow to the Whig party, as it will turn popular clamor against all banks and their advocates. There was great joy in Washington when the news reached there, beyond all doubt. The sub-treasury is now inevitable, and we shall have all the loco-focos dipping their straws into the molasses hogsheads of the people's money, and smacking their lips at a great rate. This is not the worst of it. I cannot see how the banks can retain their charters. If these are withdrawn, what a revolution of property must take place. How many hundreds, who depend on bank dividends, will have no income, until they can get their money back and re- invested, should the banks prove ultimately able to pay their stock- holders. However, the Lord reigns. With regard to your physico-theological investigation, I fear I can give you little assistance. You are beyond my depth. I do not know of any speculation on the subject, and I suspect we all know just nothing. We can only reason from analogy. A plant is a plant the moment the seed begins to sprout. It has all that is essential to its nature, not only as a plant, but as a plant of a certain genus or species. It has its own specific vis formativa, if that is anything more than an infidel expression for the divine energy. Still it has its own character from the beginning. So with regard to every animal. I should suppose it must be granted that it has ite specific character from the commencement of its organization. If this is so, why must it not be allowed that the human being is a human being from the \ 246 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. [1839. beginning? There is no greater difference between the new born infant and the embryo, than between the infant and a full-grown man. I should say, therefore, that the moment life begins, it is the life of a human creature, having all the essential attributes of such a being. And life begins when development or growth begins. The human soul, as I understand the matter, has no separate existence (in this world) from the body, nor the body from the soul. If I can hear of anything on this subject, I will let you know. Do write to me and let me hear how the world wags. Your affectionate brother, C. H. PROF. HODGE TO THE SAME. October 15, 1839. My Dear Brother : I am happy to hear of your professional suc- cess, and hope you may meet with many such instances to make up for your sleepless nights and laborious days. [l feel very much concerned about the poor Bank of the United States, not only, and, as I fear, not chiefly because of the distress which her misfortune must occasion, but I am mortified as a Whig, as a Philadelphian, as an American^ It is a shame, no doubt, to blame Mr. Biddle and the Bank for measures, which, before the issue was known, were almost universally regarded as wise and salutary. Still his reputation must suffer, as there can be no doubt that the present result has proceeded mainly from his measures. The general causes, of which you Philadelphians speak, will account for the general pres- sure on the money market, but not for the peculiar pressure upon the United States Bank. You may remember that Mr. Biddle, in his last letter to Mr. Adams, said, that instead of restricting its operations during the suspension of '37, the Bank greatly enlarged them ; that it advanced freely to planters and banks on the pledge of cotton, and he boasted, and with great reason, that he had thus saved the country millions, and had enabled it to pay honorably its debt to England ; and now, he added, the bank should resume its appropri- ate sphere as a Bank. Unfortunately, however, the Bank was not able to get out of its mercantile business. It was still obliged to deal largely in cotton. Whether this arose from the premature resump- tion of specie payments, or from hope of gain, it is acknowledged that the Bank did deal immensely in cotton. It subjected itself, therefore, not only to banking, but also to mercantile risks, and now that cotton has come down, the Bank suffers. I have seen these things said over and over, and long ago in the English papers, and Mr. Biddle censured for making the Bank a great trading concern. MT. 27.] THE "PRINCE TON RE FIE Wr 247 Add to all this, the large investments which the Bank has made in other banks, in railroads, &c., &c., thus locking up its capital, and I think there is no great mystery in the result. I sincerely hope she may weather the storm, though it be at a great loss. Some of the newspapers are perfectly atrocious in their abuse. The Journal of Commerce calls it a broken concern mercantilely and morally, exhorts all the Philadelphia banks to throw out its paper as bankrupt rubbish, or they will all sink with it, &c., &c., and points with exultation to its stock at 70. This is rather a strange letter for me to write. It is written before breakfast, while waiting for the lazy part of the family, and therefore may be a little crusty. Your affectionate brother, C. H. THE " BIBLICAL REPERTORY AND PRINCETON REVIEW," ITS HISTORY AND ESTIMATE OF ITS CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE. DR. HODGE'S QUALIFI- CATIONS AND SUCCESS AS AN EDITOR AND REVIEWER, HIS ASSOCIATE EDITORS, AND PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS. As has been above noticed, Mr. Hodge began in Janu- ary, 1825, the publication of a quarterly journal, under the title of the " Biblical Repertory. A Collection of Tracts in Biblical Literature." The design of this publication was "to assist ministers and laymen in the criticism and in- terpretation of the Bible." It had been occupied for the first four years almost exclusively with reprints and transla- tions of the essays of European scholars. Prof. Robert B. Patton had acted as editor during Mr. Hodge's absence in Europe. The translations had been prepared for the most part by President James Marsh, then of Hampden Sidney, Virginia, Drs. James W. and Joseph Addison Alexander, and by Professor Patton and Mr. Hodge. In January, 1829, the entire plan and management of the journal was changed, and the " New Series " of Volumes date from that year. It was thenceforward entitled "The Biblical Repertory and Theological Review." Its object is declared in a long Ad- vertisement to be 1st, to furnish Christian readers with "fa- cilities for a right understanding of the divine oracles;" 2d, 248 THE " PRINCETON REVIEW." [1825. " to bring under strict, impartial review the philosophy and literature of the time, and show their influence, whether for good or evil, on biblical interpretation, systematic theology, and practical religion, in doing which it will be necessary to correct and expose the error of founding religious doctrines on isolated passages, and partial views of Bible truth, or forcing the Scriptures to a meaning which shall accord with philosophical theories;" 3d, "To notice and exhibit the dangers of the particular form of error prevailing in the period;" 4th, " To present the history of religious doctrine and opinion, to notice the revival of old and exploded doc- trines, and their effects on vital religion ;" 5th, " To con- sider the influence of different principles of ecclesiastical polity on piety, morals, literature and civil institutions;" 6th, "To observe and sustain the various enterprises of Christian benevolence, especially the vast and growing in- terest of Sabbath-schools ;" 7th, " Such attention as the limits of the work will admit, will be bestowed on the im- portant interests of general knowledge, and select literary information will be given in every number;" 8th, "The work is not designed to be controversial in its character, but to state temperately and mildly, yet firmly and fear- lessly, Bible truth in its whole extent." This commenda- tory advertisement is signed by the following leading ministers of the day: Ashbel Green, Samuel Miller, Archibald Alexander, John H. Rice, Ezra Fisk, Ezra Styles Ely, Francis Herron, Thomas Cleland, Samuel H. Cox, Thomas H. Skinner, James Hoge, Henry B. Weed, Wil- liam Nevins, Joseph Sanford, Thomas J. Biggs, Samuel L. Graham, Luther Halsey. Thus some of the strongest and most prominent partizans of each of the two Schools, into which the Presbyterian Church divided in 1831, were in 1829 united in laying the foundations of the Biblical Reper- tory, destined to take so decided a part in the coming con- flict. The new Review henceforth instead of bearing the name JET. 27-74.] THE " PRINCE TON RE VIE W." 2 49 of a single man,[was edited by an " Association of Gentle- men in Princeton.^" These were Rev. Drs. Archibald Alex- ander and Samuel Miller, the Rev. Mr. Hodge of the Seminary, and President Carnahan, and Professors Maclean and Dod, of the College. The Rev. James W. Alexander, then of Trenton, New Jersey, and Mr. Joseph Addison Alex- ander, then of the College, and afterwards of the Seminary, were from the beginning copious and most important con- tributors to the Review, and they soon began to take a leading position in its editorial management. In 1837 the title was changed to " Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review." In January, 1840, the " Literary and Theological Review" of New York, hitherto edited by the Rev. Mr. Pigeon, in the interests of the old orthodoxy, was merged into the " Bibli- cal Repertory and Princeton Review." \Although conducted by an association of gentlemen from ^1829 to 1855, Mr. Hodge was the actual working editor during the greater part of the time, to whom fell the correspondence, the procuring of contributions, and in the first instance, their examination. In 1856 he again put his name on the title page as sole editor, which position of unrelieved labor and unshared responsibility he maintained until the end of the year 1868- Then he was fortunate enough to secure the consent of Rev. Lyman H. Atwater, D.D., of Princeton College, to act as his colleague in the Editorship.' Dr. Atwater had abun- dantly proved his pre-eminent fitness for this great office, by the ability and steadfast orthodoxy of his contributions to the Review for many past years. And henceforth, although Dr. Hodge's name continued to appear on the title page as senior Editor, and he continued to share in its direction and to contribute to its pages, Dr. Atwater discharged the major part of the work. After the reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church, the "Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review" was in 1872 combined with the "Ameri- can Presbyterian Review " of New York, with the title of " Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review" under the 250 " PRINCETON REVIEW." [1829-56. editorial management of Rev. Dr. L. H. Atwater, and Rev. Dr. H. B. Smith. And in the latter end of 1877 it was sold to the present editor of the new "Princeton Review" a transfer for which Dr. Hodge was in no degree responsible. He was the founder of the Review, and he continued in connection with it as sole or joint editor, from January, 1825, to December, 1871, a period of forty-six years. Of the management of the Review by an "Association of Gentlemen," which continued from 1829 to 1856, Dr. Hodge writes in his " Retrospect of the History of the Princeton Review" published in the Index Volume in 1868: " The Association above-mentioned was not defined within very strict limits, nor was it controlled by any special terms of agreement. It consisted of the more frequent contribu- tors to the pages of the journal, who were willing to assume the responsibility before the public of its character and con- tents. It included the Professors of the Theological Semi- nary, and some of the officers of the College. Although the laboring oar was still in one pair of hands, it was of importance that the work had the sanction of a number of gentlemen who had the confidence of the public; and it was a real advantage that all contributions touching delicate or difficult questions were read and canvassed by the Asso- ciation before being committed to the press." The most eminent and frequent contributors were Dr. Samuel Miller, Drs. Archibald, James W. and Joseph Addi- son Alexander, Profs. Dod, Maclean, Stephen Alexander, J. H. Mcllvaine, Wm. H. Green, James Moffatt, Lyman H. Atwater and John Forsyth ; the Hon. Chief Justice Lowrie, the Hon. Stephen Col well, of Pennsylvania, and Samuel Tyler, of Washington. Dr. Samuel Miller contributed be- tween 1830 and 1842 twenty-five articles; Dr. Archibald Alexander in all seventy-seven articles ; Dr. Joseph Addi- son Alexander, ninety-three ; Dr. James W. Alexander, one hundred; Dr. Lyman H. Atwater contributed from 1840 to 1868 sixty-six articles ; [and Dr. Hodge in all con- ^T. 27-74.] DR. HODGE AS A REVIEWER. 25! tributed one hundred and forty-two articlesj averaging with his proportion of the literary notices, at least five thousand octavo pages, or ten ordinary octavo volumes. (These arti- cles of Dr. Hodge were in the form both of essays and of reviews, didactic and controversial, and they ranged over a wide circle of subjects, including besides theology and bib- lical criticism, discussions in metaphysics and psychology, in personal, ecclesiastical and political ethics, and in all the range of ecclesiastical polity, constitutional and administra- tive, theoretical and practical, springing from the passing events of the time?; The grand characteristics of these reviews are knowledge, clearness and faith. These, in the degree and combination in which they existed in Doctor Hodge, gave them the qualities of breadth, independence, moderation, conserva- tism, clearness of thought and style and eminent conviction. \His religion was a personal experience. The most close and critical observer never in any moment of his living or dying hours saw in him the least symptom of doubt) That Christ is what he is set forth in the Scriptures to be, and that the Bible is the infallible word of God, were facts insep- arable from his personal consciousness. The logical force and habit of his mind made him see and grasp all things in their relations. All that he saw to be logically involved in a vital truth by which he lived, was to him part of that truth. [Thus he experienced the whole Calvinistic system, and would defend it at all cost as the truth of God, from loyalty to Christ, and love for human souls. The whole was a matter of conscience and of life and death. Hence, also, he was apt sometimes, as his critics have successfully pointed out, to go beyond the warrant of historical fact, in asserting that the Church had everywhere and always held as he held as to secondary matters^ Hence, also, he saw all truths in their relations. Defect at the circumference threatened heresy at the centre, and defective theistic con- ceptions of men of science in the various spheres of nature 252 DR. HODGE AS A REVIEWER. [1829-68. threatened atheism, and were to be met and vanquished at the time and place of their birth, before they had gathered strength, or extended their pernicious influence. Hence, also, from his logic, came the symmetrical form into which his essays were arranged, like an army skillfully set for battle ; and from his faith came that momentum and pene- trating force of absolute conviction which rendered the serried ranks of the attacking army irresistible. Hence he was transparently disinterested and essentially impersonal. He fought only in obedience to the Master, for the honor of Christ and the salvation of souls. It was God's cause, and all personal share in it was swallowed up in that awful fact, always and perfectly realized. \He cherished inimical feelings to no man, or class of men, except in as far as he thought he saw they were opposing God's truth, and were thus knowingly or ignorantly dishonoring Christ and im- periling soulsT) Only once in all his life did he strike out with an angry, personal intent, and that was in the article entitled " The Princeton Review and Cousin's Philosophy," April, 1856. The occasion was that Caleb S. Henry, D.D., after waiting seventeen years, had attacked Dr. Hodge's friend, Albert B. Dod, eleven years in his grave, for an arti- cle on Transcendentalism published in 1839. He did strike in wrath the man who tore open the grave of his friend. But with regard to all other opponents, he had no other thought or feeling than that involved in the reverent defence of the ark of God. If others praised him, he rejoiced in their love, and thanked God, to whom only praise belongs, and from whom alone all graces come. If others angrily scourged him in their attacks or replies, then, after the first sentence in which he detected the flavor of the hostile ani- mus, he closed the page, and refusing even to hear what had been said, he banished the whole thing from his mind. He certainly missed much improving discipline, which his antagonists have laboriously prepared for his good,j There probably was never another warrior of equal extent of ex- JET. 27-74.] HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. 253 perience who sat so habitually in placid unconsciousness of the missiles of the enemy, whether from the ambush or the open battle, whether the pistol or rifle of the newspaper, or the siege-guns of the great reviews. (jThe same qualities caused him to be both conservative and moderate] [He was conservative because the truth he held was not the discovery of the progressive reason of man, but the very word of God once delivered to the saints, and therefore authoritative and irreformable^ and because reverence for that word repressed in him all ambition for distinction as the discoverer of new opinions, or as the improver of the faith of the Church. [The consistency with which, under all changes of times and party-combinations, he for fifty years maintained without shadow of change absolutely the same principles was very remarkable, and without any parallel in this age. He held precisely the same doctrines in his age as in the early controversies of his youth, and the same principles as to the relation of govern- ment to moral and religious questions, and as to temperance and slavery after the war as he did years before. He was always moderate also, because his loyalty to the Master made party spirit impossible, and because the amount of his knowledge and force of his logic caused him to see things in all their relations in all directions,) by the aid of the side- lights as well as by the aid of those shining in the line of his direct vision. Of the fact of his moderation, his whole controversial history is an illustration. Dr. Ward, the editor of the Independent, notices this trait in an editorial on occasion of Dr. Hodge's semi-centennial celebration, April, 1872. The form and spirit of his "Systematic Theology" abundantly and conspicuously show it when compared with the representatives of the extreme par- ties of the Reformed Churches, as Beza and Gomarus, on the one hand, and Amaraldus and Placaeus, on the other. The same is shown by his position as to the questions of slavery, temperance and Romish baptism. At first 254 HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. [1829-68. he opposed the ultra Old School men in 1836 who were bent on the division of the Church, because the New School brethren were too bad to live with. Again, he op- posed the same men and their successors in 1866 and '8, who would precipitate the re-union of the two branches, because the same New School brethren were too good to live without! "As early as 1855, some of our southern friends who had taken extreme ground as to the policy of boards, raised a further question as to the prerogatives of the Church respecting matters that had secular relations and bearing. Dr. Hodge, in the Review, earnestly opposed the extreme action carried by a small majority at Indiana- polis. A harmonious understanding, however, seemed to have been reached, after the warm, though courteous, de- bate at Rochester in 1860. But when the Church in 1861 (the Spring Resolution) apparently leaned over to the op- posite extreme, he still adhered to the principles of the Ro- chester action. No articles from his pen have attracted more general attention or called forth more praise and cen- sure than those on the state of the country and affiliated subjects. During the excitement of the times, the radical friends of the North and the ultra friends of the South cri- ticised him with unmeasured severity; but the Church and the country appears to be gradually returning to his mode- rate position." Thus the rock in the sea by maintaining through all tempests an unchanged position, at once op- poses and measures the oscillations of the changing tides and of the restless waves. He possessed in perfection that kind of bravery which, while perfectly consistent with humility, love of approba- tion, and love of ease, yet makes it easy for a soldier to do his duty regardless of opposing odds and of consequences. It is an historical fact that he quietly took the personal re- sponsibility of the Princeton side of all the controversies for the forty years of the most momentous controversies ever known to the American Church. He just as often stood up MT. 27-74-] HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. 255 in defence of his opinions in the face of opposing majorities as with their support. iHe alternately opposed both sides, and often stood almost alone, as before the General Assem- bly in Philadelphia in 1861.' The press of the city, the mob in the street, the majority in the Assembly, the constituen- cies at home, were all violently excited at the futile opposi- tion made to their wishes. Many men were swept off their feet by excited feeling, and many more were intimidated. One confessed to Dr. Hodge : " I am opposed to these re- solutions, but if I vote against them, I can never go home." But then, as under all other circumstances, for fifty years Dr. Hodge stood fast where the Master put him. Not one of his debates or controversies was ever prompted by am- bition, or by any inspiration of the mere gaudia certaminis, but in every instance he spoke by way of obedience as the servant and soldier of Jesus Christ. "Here I stand, and cannot do otherwise. God be my help. Amen." Of the general character and conduct of the Review,\JPr. Hodge himself wrote in his Retrospect of the History of the Princeton Review, in the Index Volume, 1868 : "The con- ductors of the Princeton Review, however, were Presbyteri- ans. They firmly believed that the system of doctrine con- tained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the system of the Reformed Church and of Augustinians in all ages, is the truth of God revealed for His glory and the salvation of men. \ They believed that the upholding that system in its integrity, bearing witness to it as the truth of God, and its extension through the world, was the great duty of all those who had experienced its power. They believed also that the organization of the Presbyterian Church, its form of government and discipline, was more conformed than any other to the Scriptural model, and the best adapted for pre- serving the purity and developing the life of the Church. It was, therefore, the vindication of that system of truth and of the principles of that ecclesiastical polity, the conductors of this Journal, from first to last ; had constantly in view. 256 HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. [1829-68. In this world life is a constant struggle against the causes of death. Liberty is maintained only by unsleeping vigi- lance against the aggressions of power ; virtue is of neces- sity in constant antagonism to vice, and truth to error. That a Journal consecrated to the support of truth should be controversial is a matter of course; it is a law of its ex- istence, the condition of its usefulness. The Bible is the most controversial of books. It is a protest against sin and error from beginning to end. To object to controversy, therefore, is to object to what is in this world the necessary condition of life. It is, consequently, no just ground of re- proach to this Journal that it has been engaged in contro- versy during the whole course of its existence. If it has always contended for the true and the right, and done this with due humility and charity, it has fulfilled its destiny. That it has often failed at least in spirit and manner may, and we fear must, be conceded. All such failures are to the surviving conductors matters of regret ; but they can honestly say they have ever labored to support the truth of God and to promote the interests of His kingdom to the best of their understanding and ability." " It is with un- feigned and humble gratitude to God that the conductors of the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review can look over the comparatively long period of its existence with the conviction that from first to last it has been devoted to the vindication of that system of doctrine contained in our standards, and which, as all Presbyterians believe, is taught in the word of God. No article opposed to that system has ever appeared in its pages. It has been the honest endea- vor of the conductors to exhibit and defend the doctrines of our standards under the abiding conviction that they are the doctrines of the word of God. \They have advanced no new theories, and have never aimed at originality. Whe- ther it be a ground of reproach or^of approbation, it is be- lieved to be true that an original idea in theology is not to be found in the pages of the Biblical Repertory and Princeton ^ET. 27-74.] HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. 257 Review from the beginning until now. The phrase ' Prince- ton Theology,' therefore, is without distinctive meaning.'^) The following interesting testimonies as to the character and conduct of this Review is furnished by independent and competent witnesses. [The British Quarterly Review, in an article on the American Press, January, 1871, saysj: "The Princeton Review is the oldest Quarterly in the United States. It was established in 1825 by Charles Hodge, the well-known commentator on the Epistle to the Romans, a Professor in Princeton Theological Seminary. It is beyond all question the greatest purely theological Review that has ever been published in the English tongue, andlhas waged war in defence of the Westminster standards for a period of forty years, with a polemic vigor and unity of design with- out any parallel in the history of religious journalism. If we were called to name any living writer who, to Calvin's exegetical tact, unites a large measure of Calvin's grasp of mind and transcendent clearness in the department of sys- tematic theology, we should point to this Princeton Profes- sor./ He possesses, to use the words of an English critic, the power of seizing and retaining with a rare vigor and te- nacity the great doctrinal turning-points in a controversy, while he is able to expose with triumphant dexterity the various subterfuges under which it has been brought to elude them. His articles furnish a remarkably full and ex- act repository of historic and polemic theology. The great characteristic of his mind is the polemic element; accord- ingly we find him in collision with Moses Stuart, of Ando- ver, in 1833, and with Albert Barnes in 1835, on the doc- trine of imputation; with Prof. Park, in 1851, on 'The The- ology of the Intellect and the Theology of the Feelings ;' with Dr. Nevin, of the Mercersburg Review, in 1848, on the subject of the ' Mystical Presence ;' with Prof. SchafF, in 1854, on the doctrine of historical development; and with Horace Bushnell in. 1866 on vicarious sacrifice. In fact, a historical duel has been going on between Andover and 17 258 HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. [1829-68. Princeton for over forty years,) the leading controversialists of Andover being Stuart, Park, Edward Beecher, Baird and Fisher, and those of Princeton Hodge, the Alexanders and Atwater. The articles in the 'Princeton Review' on sci- ence, philosophy, literature and history have generally dis- played large culture and research. The review of Cousin's Philosophy, in 1839, bv Professor Dod, was one of the most remarkable papers that appeared on the subject in America, and was afterward reprinted separately on both sides of the Atlantic." (jProf. James Macgregor, D. D., of the New College, Ed- inburgh, in an article in the " British and Foreign Evan- gelical Review" for July, 1874) on "Dr. Charles Hodge and the Princeton School," says : " In thus speaking of Dr. Alexander we are not led away from Dr. Hodge, [jfhe two men are only two parts of one whole. We might set the matter thus: Alexander was the Socrates of the Princeton School, and Hodge has proved to be its Plato and Aristotle. The two between them have been the leading power in eliciting a school of Christian thought, which more and more manifestly, is destined to be the dominant thought of Chris- tian J\.merica. iiThe Princeton school has been markedly Biblical in its thinking^ Dr. Archibald Alexander was all his life-long an enthusiast in biblical studies, especially in relation to her- meneutics and criticism. His son, Joseph Addison, author of the learned commentaries on Isaiah and the Psalms, who was reckoned a prodigy of linguistic erudition, devoted his whole life to the study and exposition of Scripture. The ' Princeton Review ' was at first, for some years a ' Biblical Repertory' directly devoted to the expiscation of questions regarding Holy Writ. Dr. Hodge, the now acknowledged Coryphoeus of the school, had been twenty years Professor of Biblical Theology before he became Professor of Sys- tematic Theology. The influence of this biblical culture appears not only in his production of commentaries on the JET. 27-74.] HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. 259 Romans and Corinthians, but appears most clearly and fully of all in his great work now completed of Systematic Theology. " The manner of the Princeton School has been peculiar. Controversy is perhaps not a good test of Christian charac- ter. The proverbial odium theologicmn may be really cre- ditable to the theologians as a class, because evincing the glowing earnestness of their convictions. Still we cannot close our eyes to the fact that controversy brings about sur- prising revelations of natural character. Some men, here- tofore supposed to be simply saints, will betray a frailness in the fibre of their manhood. Other men will evince a firm fibre of manhood, either by sweet and uncomplaining acceptance of defeat, or by magnanimous forbearance and kindness to- wards those over whom they have got the upper hand. This greatness of nature has been exhibited in remarkable mea- sure from first to last by the Princeton school in general, and by Dr. Hodge in particular. They have in their con- troversies been earnest, eloquent, warm, even passionate; but so far as we know, they have invariably spoken as true Christian gentlemen, who in relation to adversaries] make due allowance for the fact that speaking more Americano 'there's a good deal of human nature in man.' They have shown themselves to be manly men of the heroic type." Dr. Charles P. Krauth, the great theologian of the Lutheran Church, testified at Dr. Hodge's semi-centennial celebration in 1872, "that he (Dr. Hodge) had always treated the doctrines of Churches and parties differing from his own with candor, love of truth, and perfect fairness." Dr. Irenaeus Prime, of the New York Observer, said at Dr. Hodge's semi-centennial, April, 1872, "I think, and I have had connection with the Press for thirty years I think Dr. Hodge the ablest reviewer in the world. Any one who has carefully studied the ' Princeton Review ' for the last thirty years will bear witness when I testify to the trenchant power with which he has defended the truth, and 260 HIS QUALIFICATIONS AS A REVIEWER. [1829-68. put forth the peculiar views which have made that Review a power in the Church and in tjie world." And in an editorial in the " N. Y. Observer" the week after Dr. Hodge's death, June 27th, 1878, Dr. Prime says: " The ' Princeton Review ' in his hands was an army with banners. It did not array itself on the side of the Church, or of any party in the Church. It was the organ of his opinions. And they were set forth with no dogmatic stub- bornness, but with such Christian meekness and deference to the Divine word, that they carried weight with them as if his was the flagship of the fleet, iron-clad, that sailed in with victory on its prow. We recall a case in which the General Assembly, after one of the ablest debates ever held on its floor, came to a decision on an important ecclesiastical question (Romish Baptism) with almost entire unanimity. Dr. Hodge reviewed the decision in the 'Princeton Review' with such masterly power, as to set back the opinions of the Church, and hold it on the other side to this day. And to us this power of his appears the more wonderful, as we believed then, and do now, that he was wrong, and the As- sembly was right." The editor of the life of Dr. Lytnan Beecher says, with reference to the article of Rev. Prof! Albert B. Dod, July, 1837, on " Beecher's Views in Theology," that "the Prince- ton Review was the most powerful organ in the land." Autobiography, etc., of Lyman Beecher by his Son, Vol. II., p. 402. ^Mr. Hodge, whom henceforth we will style by his title of doctor of divinity, which was conferred upon him in 1 834 .by Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N, jQ contri- buted to the Review, during the eleven years now under review from January, 1829, to April, 1840, thirty-six arti- cles as follows : 1829. Introductory Lecture. Public Education. Reply to Dr. Moses Stuart's Examination of the Review of the American Education Society. JET. 3 1-42.] AR TICLES IN THE PRINCE TON RE VIE W." 2 6 1 1830. Reply to Dr. Moses Stuart's Postscript to his Let- ter to the Editors of the Biblical ^/^r^r^.-4Regeneration and the Manner of its Occurrence.5- Review of an Article in the Christian Spectator on Imputation. 1831. Sunday Mails. Sprague's Lectures to Young People. Doctrine of Imputation. Remarks on Dr. Cox's Communication. 1832. Hengstenberg on Daniel. The New Divinity TriedJ 1833. Suggestions to Theological Students.,. Stuart on the Romans. 1834. Lachmann's New Testament. The Act and Tes- timony. 1835. The Act and Testimony. Barnes on the Epistle to the Romans. The General Assembly. Narrative of Reed and Matheson. 1836. Riickert's Commentary on Romans Slaveryi The General Assembly. 1 837. ^Voluntary Societies and Ecclesiastical Organiza- tions.* Bloomfield's Greek Testament. The Xieneral As- sembly. 1838. Oxford Tracts. The State of the Church. The General Assembly. West India Emancipation. 1839. Clapp's Defence of the Doctrine of the New Eng- land Churches. The General Assembly. Dr. Dana's Let- ters. Testimonies on the Doctrine of Imputation. 1 840. January. Latest Forms of Infidelity. The most important of these articles may be classified as follows for the purpose of a brief notice : I. Those relating to the controversy with Professor Moses Stuart as to the American Education Society. Dr. Hodge, in his " Retrospect of the History of the Princeton Review \ 1871," says on this subject: >"The first controversy on which the Repertory took an active part was the Educa- tion Question. In 1829 the General Assembly had reor- ganized the Board of Education, and called upon the 262 THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SOCIETY. [1829. churches to sustain it in providing for the expenses of can- didates for the ministry in their preparatory studies. At the same time the American Education Society, a voluntary society having its origin in New England, and its chief seat of operations in Boston, Mass., offered to grant its aid to all suitable candidates for the sacred office in any part of the United States. Branch societies were organized in dif- ferent parts of the country, and a large number of Presby- terian churches contributed to its funds in preference to the treasury of our own Board. In the July number of the volume for 1829, the late Dr. Carnahan, President of the College of New Jersey, published an article on " The Gene- ral Assembly's Board of Education and the American Edu- cation Society," in which the objections to the plan of the American Society were briefly and clearly stated. This called forth a long communication from Professor Stuart of Andover, in reply. Professor Stuart's article was printed at length in our October number, with a rejoinder from the conductor (Dr. H.) of this Review. A separate edition of Professor Stuart's article, with a postscript of sixteen pages, being published, that postscript was reviewed in our num- ber for January, 1830. This ended the discussion as far as this journal was concerned. " In this controversy, the general question of ecclesiastical boards and voluntary societies was not brought under dis- cussion. The simple point was the wisdom, propriety and safety of the plan adopted by the American Society. That society not only required its beneficiaries to make a quar- terly report, detailing how the amount they had received had been expended, and what each had received from other sources, but regarded its contributions as loans. All the candidates under their care were required to give their notes for the sums received, payable in one, two and three years after the close of their preparatory studies, with interest after the same had become due. All the candidates for the ministry were thus placed in the relation of debtors to the ;ET. 3 1 .] THE AMERICAN ED UCA TION SOCIE TY. 2 63 society, and must enter on their work burdened by this load of pecuniary obligation. "To this it was objected, i. That the whole plan pro- ceeded on a wrong principle. It assumed that the candi- dates had no right to the aid afforded ; that it was a pure gratuity, which the donors, if they pleased, were authorized to demand should be refunded. This placed the candidates in the position of " charity scholars." Being so regarded by their patrons, they were so regarded by their associates and by themselves. This was an injustice and an injury. This journal took the ground, 'that whenever a man devotes his whole time and talents to the service of any community, at its request, it is obligatory on that community to provide for his support.' The recognition of this principle changes the whole status of the candidate. He ceases to be regarded as an object of charity. All ground for the minute inspec- tion into his receipts and expenditures is done away with. He is regarded as a man receiving no more than he is enti- tled to, and for which he renders a full return. This prin- ciple, it was contended, was scriptural, lying at the founda- tion of the institutions and commands of the Bible. It was, moreover, evidently just and reasonable, and was acted on by all civilized governments in the education of young men designed for the public service, especially in the navy and army. "2. It was objected to the plan of the American Society that it was unjust to bring young men into the ministry burdened with debt. The salaries of young ministers are very seldom more than sufficient for their support, and in the majority of cases utterly inadequate for that end. If, in addition to providing for their necessities under these circumstances, they had to pay the money advanced for their education, they could not fail to be painfully embar- rassed and harassed. To be in debt is to be in a state of depressing anxiety. "3. The Scriptures say: 'The borrower is servant to the 2 64 THE AMERICAN EDUCA T1ON SOCIE TY. [1836. lender.' If the plan of the American Society had been fully carried out, the great body of the younger ministry in the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches would have been in this state of bondage to that society. Every one knows that virtually and effectively the power of such societies is in the hands of the executive committee. Thus, some half dozen men, with no official relation to our church, would have this controlling power over our ministers. This was evidently intolerable. The objection was not that the power had been abused, but that it existed. It was a power of dictating to a large proportion of the pious youth of the country in what academy, college or theological seminary they shall pursue their studies. It is the power of deciding under what theological influences our future ministers are to be formed. It is the power of holding and influencing these ministers as bondmen when they come out into the Church. " 4. This society was, in a great measure, independent of public opinion ; first, because it elected its own members ; and, secondly, because its income, so far as derived from the payment of the notes given by the beneficiaries, was not derived from the churches. " The General Assembly's plan was not subject to these objections: I. Because the Assembly did not elect its own members, but was renewed every year by the Presbyteries. 2. Because its Board was not the creditor of those aided by its funds. 3. Because the candidates for the ministry were not under its control." II. Two of these articles, that on " The General Assem- bly, 1836," and another in the January number of the vol- ume for 1837 relate to the respective advantages of volun- tary societies and ecclesiastical boards. Of this Dr. Hodge said in his " Retrospect," etc. : " Much greater interest attached to the controversy respecting the conduct of the work of missions, foreign and domestic. The General As- sembly in 1828 reorganized its Board of Domestic Missions. MT. 39.] ECCLESIASTICAL BOARDS. 265 The American Home Missionary Society was at that time in operation, and rapidly increasing in influence. At first, it seemed to be hoped that the two organizations might operate harmoniously over the same field. The General Assembly, as did Dr. Green and Dr. Philips and other leading friends of the Assembly's Board, expressed their cordial willingness that all Presbyterians should be left to their unbiassed choice as to which organization they should support. But it was soon found that in the existing state of the Church, harmonious action was impossible. There were so many interests at stake ; so many causes of aliena- tion between what became known as the Old and New School parties, that the Assembly's Board, under the control of the one, and the American Society, under the control of the other, came into constant and painful collision. This of necessity gave rise to serious conflicts in the General Assembly. The friends of the American Society took the ground that the Assembly had no right to conduct the work of missions; that it was incompetent for that purpose; that voluntary associations were more trustworthy, more efficient and more healthful ; that two organizations for the same purpose were not only unnecessary, but injurious. They endeavored, therefore, in every way, to embarrass the Assembly's Board. In the Assembly of 1836, they nomi- nated as members of that Board men known to be hostile to its very existence, and secured one hundred and twenty- five votes in their favor. In the same Assembly they suc- ceeded in preventing the Assembly establishing a Board of Foreign Missions. One of the reasons most strenuously urged against the appointment of such a Board, was that the Assembly had no right to conduct such operations. On this point, Dr. James Hoge, one of the wisest and most moderate ministers of our church, said: 'As the subject has been proposed in other forms, I have always objected. But the question is now brought before us in a new form, and is to be decided on the naked ground of the power and 266 ECCLESIASTICAL BOARDS. [1836. rights of the Assembly to conduct missions. And on this ground I cannot abandon it while I love the faith and order of the Presbyterian Church. He further said, that if the majority pursued the course which they did actually take, ' it would convulse the church to the very centre.' And so it did. The action of the Assembly of 1836 in reference to matters of doctrine and to the Boards of the Church, was the proximate cause of the disruption which occurred in the following year. "(The question of Voluntary Societies was not an isolated one. ? Its decision did not turn upon the point, which mode of conducting benevolent operations was in itself to be pre- ferred. It was far more comprehensive. The friends of the Assembly's Board not only contended that the Assembly had the right to conduct the work of Missions, Foreign and Domestic, but that it was highly expedient that that work should be under the constituted authorities of the Church ; that the selection, sending forth, and locating ministers, was properly an ecclesiastical function, and that it was to the last degree unreasonable and dangerous that that work should be committed to a society meeting annually for a few hours, composed of all who chose to subscribe to its funds, (which was the fact with the American Home Missionary Society), and to a large degree controlled by Congrega- tionalists, hostile on principle to our polity, if not to our doctrines. (Besides the objections founded on principle, there were others not less cogent founded on the action of the American Home Missionary Society. It was regarded as a great party engine, devoting, apparently, its immense influence to revolutionizing the Church. It sent out men educated in New England, holding sentiments condemned not only by Old School Presbyterians, but by the Woods, Tylers, Nettletons, of New EnglancQand by such men as Drs. Richards, Fisher and Griffin of our own church. Its friends and beneficiaries voted en masse in the General As- sembly against the condemnation of those sentiments, and -*r. 32-35.] HIS ARTICLES ON "IMPUTATION? &c. 267 in favor of allowing men never ordained as elders, sitting and voting in our highest judicatories. It is no wonder, therefore, that this controversy excited so much feeling. Throughout the struggle this journal sided uniformly and earnestly with the friends of the Assembly's Boards." III. A third class offarticles are those on " Imputation," " Regeneration, and the Manner of its Occurrence," and the " New Divinity Tried," which together with his Commen- tary on the Romans, first established Dr. Hodge's reputa- tion as a theologian^' Of these articles he says in his "Retro- spect," &c., 1871 : "As early in the history of this Journal as 1830, Dr. Archibald Alexander published two articles, one on 'The Early History of Pelagianism ;' the other on '/The Doctrine of the Church on Original Sin;' and, in 1832, another on 'The Articles of the Synod of Dort' To the first of these the Christian Spectator for June, 1830, pub- lished a critique, over the signature of ' A Protestant,' (Prof Stuart), which was reviewed (by Dr. Hodge) in our October number for the same year. The discussion was continued in the Spectator, in the number for March, 1831, which contained two articles in reply to our review ; one from ' Protestant,' and the other from the editors, con- tinued and completed in the June number. Of these arti- cles this journal contained a review published in October of the same year, (on ' The Doctrine of Imputation,' by Dr. Hodge). See also the article entitled ' Testimonies on the Doctrine of Imputation,' 1839, f which twenty-four pages are filled with quotations from the Protestant Confessions and Theologians, in support of that doctrine. The same subject was discussed in review of Professor Stuart's Com- mentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 1833, and of Mr. Barnes' Commentary on the same Epistle, 1835, and inci- dentally in several other communications in subsequent years. " At the same time the doctrine of Regeneration was under discussion. It was maintained, by some prominent 268 HIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ARTICLES. [1835. theologians among us, that regeneration was the sinner's own act; that it consisted in his making for himself ' a new heart.' What that was, was differently explained. Accord- ing to some it was loving God ; according to others, it was the purpose to seek happiness in God instead of in the world ; according to others, it was the purpose to seek the happi- ness of the universe. According to all the new views man was active in regeneration. The idea of passivity, as it was called, was held up to ridicule. The old doctrine, common to all Christian Churches, that regeneration is the act of God ; that man is the subject, and not the agent of the change ; and that it consists in the quickening of the soul, or imparting to it a new principle of life, a new disposition, or, in the old scholastic language, ' a new habit of grace/ was vindicated in the article on ' Regeneration, and the Manner of its Occurrence,' (by Dr. H.). To this article Dr. Samuel H. Cox replied at length in our number for Octo- ber, 1831, which number contained our answer (by Dr. H.) to his ' Remarks.' " IV. In 1835 he began to write a series of annual articles in review of the action of each successive General Assembly, in which he furnished a brief recapitulation and analysis of the proceedings, and discussed the doctrinal and ecclesiasti- cal principles involved. He contributed each of the articles of this series from 1835 to 1867 inclusive, with the excep- tion probably of 1841. They contained a summary of the arguments used by the prominent speakers on each side of disputed questions ; they are to this day of great historical value, affording information not elsewhere accessible. He says of them himself: " It is not the object of these accounts of the proceedings of the Assembly to give the minutes of that body, or to record all the motions and de- bates, but simply to select the topics of most importance, and to give the best view we can of the arguments on either side. We make no pretensions to indifference or neutrality. The arguments of those from whom we differ, we try to ^T. 35-38.] REVIEWS OF STUART AND BARNES. ' 269 give with perfect fairness, as far as possible, in the language of the reports given by their friends. But we do not un- dertake to argue the case for them. This we could not do honestly or satisfactorily. On the other hand, we endeavor to make the best argument we can in favor of the measures we approve, using all the speeches of the supporters of those measures, and putting down anything which may happen to occur to ourselves." Hence it has come to pass that they contain an exposi- tion of his views of all the fundamental principles underly- ing the constitution of the Church, and its administration, and of the practical application of these principles to the various historical conditions experienced by the American Presbyterian Church during that long period. These, to- gether with a series of articles upon the " Idea of the Church" and its various attributes, which appeared from 1845 to 1856, are the source from which the important [posthumous work on " Church Polity " has been compiled by one of his best pupils, Rev. Wm. DurantJ V. His reviews of the Commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans of Stuart, 1833; of Barnes, 1835; of Riickert, 1836. For Professor Stuart, Professor Hodge felt and expressed the strongest admiration and gratitude. "We have, therefore, long been in the habit of regarding Prof. Stuart as one of the greatest benefactors of the Church in our country, because he has been the principal means of turning the attention of the rising generation of ministers to this method (philological and exegetical) of studying the Bible. This we doubt not is the great service of his life : a service for which the whole church owes him gratitude and honor, and which will be remembered when present differ- ences and difficulties are all forgotten, We do him, there- fore, unfeigned homage as the great American reformer of biblical study; as the introducer of a new era, and the most efficient opponent of metaphysical theology. Alas, that he should have himself fallen on that very enchanted ground, 2 7O RE VIE WS OF STUAR T AND BARNES. [ 1 833-36. from which it was the business and glory of his life to with- call his younger brethren." Mr. Hodge's criticisms are directed to the exposure of Prof. Stuart's false and inconsistent metaphysical theology, as far as that was involved in his interpretation of the Epis- tle to the Romans. " We have now surely seen enough to convince the reader of two things : First, that the doctrine of imputation is not touched either by Prof. Stuart's exegesis or metaphysics. It is precisely where it was before ; and, second, that his whole exposition of Rom. v. 12-19 1S so inconsistent with itself that it cannot possibly be correct. In reading this portion of his commentary we have been reminded of a remark of Lord Erskine in reference to one of Burke's efforts in the House of Commons : ' It is a sad failure; but Burke could bear it.'" Dr. William Cunning- ham, " Reformers and the Reformation," speaks in the highest terms of this article. With reference to Mr. Barnes' book, Mr. Hodge asserted that "he had plucked his pear before it was ripe." That it gave evidence of prejudice and crudity of opinion, and was transparently inconsistent in the various statements of doc- trines it contained, was the product of a perverting contro- versial animus. " We beg our readers to bear in mind that our review is not of an aggressive character. The book, which we have been examining, contains a violent, and, as we think, gratuitous attack upon some of the more impor- tant doctrines of the church. If there be, therefore, an offensive and defensive attitude in relation to this subject, we certainly are in the latter. Had Mr. Barnes adhered to his design and given, according to his own views, ' the real meaning of the epistle without any regard to any existing theological system,' what a different book would he have produced ! So far, however, from his having no regard to any system, the system of doctrines contained in the stan- dards of the Presbyterian Church seems to have been con- stantly before his mind. Instead of simply stating and MT. 37.] COMMENTAR Y ON R OMANS. defending his own views, he frequently and at length attacks those of the Confession of Faith. He goes out of his way repeatedly for this very purpose; introducing these topics where the passage on which he comments gives not even a plausible pretext for so doing." VI. There remain a number of important articles, the consideration of which, for various reasons, we must defer to a subsequent chapter. The articles on the "Act and Testimony," October, 1834, and January, 1835, and on the "State of the Church," 1838, will be considered in connec- tion with the "Disruption of the Presbyterian Church/' under the next chapter. The article on "Slavery" will be considered in connection with that on "Abolitionism," under the date of the latter article, 1844. The article on " The Oxford Tracts " belongs to a class of articles on the Church appearing from 1845 to 1856. HIS COMMENTARY ON ROMANS. It was during the period embraced in this chapter that Dr. Hodge published his first books. [His Commentary on the Romans was written during the darkest days of his confinement, the winter of 1834 and '35, while stretched horizontally on a couch, and his right limb often bound in a steel-splint.j It was published by Grigg & Elliott in Philadelphia, but soon afterwards passed into the hands of Wm. S. Martien. A cheaper and abridged edition for the use of Bible-classes was published in 1836. A new edition revised and in a great measure re-written was published in 1864. Every good commentary on such texts as that of Paul's Epistle to the Romans must possess in greater or less de- gree two distinct qualities. It must show evidence of scholarship and exegetical tact and skill in the interpreta- tion in detail of the words and sentences constituting the original text. It must also discover a. comprehension of the subject discussed, and of the design of the writer and 272 COMMENTAR Y ON R OMANS. [ 1 835. the scope of the ideas which constitute the subject-matter of the treatise commented on. It is self-evident that in Dr. Hodge's Commentary the latter of the two characteristics predominates. He has done his best honestly to get at what the words and sentences mean. But he has written in a prevailingly doctrinal interest. And in expounding that doctrine he is as clear as a crystal in the sunlight. He gives an analysis of the epistle as a whole. He gives the contents of each chapter; an analysis of each logical sub- division of the apostle's argument; then a commentary, or exegetical discussion of each clause and verse ; and then he presents a minute statement of all the doctrines taught in the section, and closes with a series of remarks illustrative and practical. The church at that time was convulsed with the controversies growing out of the intrusion into a com- munity deriving its Presbyterianism from Scotland and the Westminster Assembly, of \the new anthropology of the New England School] These " improvements " were rather negative than positive, and involved a rejection of the con- sensus of the Reformed Churches as to the imputation of the guilt of Adam's sin to his descendants, as to original sin, as to inability, and as to the part of God in man's regeneration. 'From early in 1830 the Biblical Repertory had been engaged in an active controversy with the cham- pions of the New Theology on these points. YLDr. Stuart and Mr. Barnes published Commentaries on Romans, in which the new doctrines were brought into association with the word of God. Dr. Hodge wrote his Commentary under these moral and ecclesiastical conditions, and he has striven to defend the ancient faithjof the Reformation by a faithful appeal to exegesis, on the side which that faith presents to the hostile lines of what was then known as the " improve- ments " in theology imported from New England. In his new edition published in 1864, he again reviewed his whole work, and re-stated and defended his interpreta- tion with the added light of Meyer and other German com- JET. 3 7 .] COMMENTA RY ON R OMANS. mentators, and with additional notice of the realistic theo- ries, which lie over against the truth on the side opposite to those New England theories against which, in his first, edition^his energies were chiefly directed. While writing his original Commentary, because confined to his couch, Dr. Hodge communicated with Dr. A. Alex- ander by an interchange of notes. Although they were all designed for a temporary purpose, and no effort was made to preserve any of them, it happens that a few of these waifs have drifted into the hands of the compiler. They are given because they illustrate the relations of the two men, and because they prove, what has sometimes been denied, that] Dr. Hodge never departed from the theology of his beloved teacher. DR. A. ALEXANDER TO DR. HODGE. My Dear Sir : I have read over with some care the whole of these sheets. I am truly thankful that you have been enabled to write so much in the diseased state of your body, and I sincerely rejoice that God has helped you so thoroughly to expound this diffi- cult and important portion of divine revelation. In the main, I am deeply persuaded that you have brought to view the doctrines which the Holy Ghost intended to reveal by the pen of Paul. In a few minor points I hesitate as to the correctness of your interpretation. It seems to me that there is less clearness and lucid order in your exposition of the fourth chapter than of any other, as far as you have gone. Indeed, this part is more involved and intricate than any other. I think your exposition of the latter part of the fifth chapter is admirable. It exhibits the truth with a lustre that cannot easily be resisted. I cannot easily express how much good will probably result from the publication of this exposition. The language of the whole is characterized by simplicity and conciseness, and needs no improve- ment. The parts entitled "Doctrines" and "Remarks," especially the latter, might be advantageously amplified. There are too many parentheses. Often the sentence would be more perspicuous by leaving out the dashes and parentheses. Some method must be invented to prevent the Commentary from being encumbered with the references. Consult James and Addison 18 2 74 COMMENTAR Y ON ROMANS. [1835. on this point. The text of each chapter had better be placed at the beginning of the Commentary. When your exposition depends on a criticism of the original words, it will be best to subjoin a critical note at the bottom of the page ; but let the text of your Commentary be pure English. By thisnneans it will be studied by all intelligent Presbyterians, and will become a hand-book for teachers of Sunday Schools and Bible Classes. I entreat you to go on with the work as speedily as you can. I am anxious to have it in general circulation. It ought to be so continued as to make an 8vo. volume of 500 pages. I assure you I have not for a long time read anything with so much interest as these sheets. I am affectionately yours, A. ALEXANDER. DR. HODGE TO DR. A. ALEXANDER. My Dear Sir: Few things in my life have given me more pleasure than the approbation which you expressed of the part of the Com- mentary on the Romans, which you were kind enough to look over. I trust, too, that I shall derive great good from having the prospect of usefulness presented as something attainable. I will endeavor to profit by all your suggestions. I feared that the Commentary on the fourth chapter would not be satisfactory to others, as it is not to myself. I find great difficulty often where there seems to be the least. Though I would not make the remark as an apology for my failure in this case, yet there seem to be many pas- sages in which the sacred writers, who wrote as men, are obscure and confused in themselves. In many cases of apparent confusion there is a real principle of logical arrangement which it requires only a little attention to discover and exhibit. But in others there seems to be no such principle any more than there is in the HQth Psalm. This remark, I know, very rarely applies to the writings of Paul, and certainly not to the former part, at least, of the fourth chapter. I now send you the Commentary on chapters vi. and vii. As a great part of the paper is written upon only on one side, it appears much longer than it really is. In looking over the Commentary on the early part of the sixth chapter, which I think peculiarly difficult, I feel a good deal dissatisfied. It has to myself the appearance of being written during the actual process of studying out the meaning of the passage, and might, perhaps, be improved as to clearness by being written over again. I feel grateful to you for taking the trouble to read my manuscript. JET. 37.] COMMENTAR Y ON R OMANS. 275 You can hardly know how much peace of mind your imprimatur, my revered Father, gives me. Very respectfully, C. HODGE. DR. A. ALEXANDER TO DR. HODGE. My Dear Sir: I have cursorily read your manuscript on the sixth and seventh chapters of the Romans. As before, I think you have done best on the most difficult and disputed part. The opinion which I have formed of the exposition of the two chapters bears a near analogy to the opinion which I have already expressed on the fourth and fifth. I do not think of anything that could improve the seventh. It comes up fully to my ideas of the apostle's meaning; and I have no objec- tion to make to the exegesis of the sixth, but it is not so luminous as the exegesis of the seventh. The only thing which I would like to have added is a few observations on the meaning of the phrase "buried with him in baptism," to show that it does not necessarily relate to immersion. Readers will expect something of this kind. If you live to execute this work, you may be contented to say, if it should be the will of God, " Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, etc." I do believe that it will do more to confirm the ortho- dox faith of our church than any book which has been published for a century. I must still exhort you, therefore, to labor at it.as much and as fast as you can. Some measures ought to be taken to have the printing commenced by the beginning of winter. Yours affectionately, A. A. TO DR. H. FROM DR. A. A. My Dear Sir: The eighth chapter of Romans is, at the same time, one of the most precious and difficult portions of Scripture. Forty years ago I was led to study the first part of it from hearing an Arminian preacher expound it very ingeniously on Arminian principles. For some time I hesitated whether his exposition was not correct, but after studying it intensely, as I travelled on my mission, I came ultimately to the same views of its meaning as those which you have given in your Commentary. And all subsequent examina- tions have confirmed the opinions then adopted. But I can scarcely designate a portion of Scripture in which all the expressions are so susceptible of a double meaning. On the very "vexed passage" about "the creature being subject to vanity" you have also given my .opinion exactly. Dr. J. P. Wilson, 276 COMMENTARY ON ROMANS. [1835. Dr. Green, and, I believe, Dr. Miller, held that by xriaig the body should be understood. "The redemption of our body" they con- sidered as expository of the whole passage. Perhaps you ought to notice this interpretation, though I doubt whether it can be found in any respectable commentator. The only passage in which I have any difficulty in adopting your explanation relates to the " witness of the Spirit," which you seem to consider of the nature of the direct suggestion of a truth to the mind. Now this would partake of the nature of inspiration, and lays a foun- dation for enthusiasm. My opinion is that the witness is indirect by the illumination of the mind through the word, thus filling it with love and peace, and these graces, in present, conscious exercise, are " the witness of the Spirit." Please to re-examine the comment on this passage. I am gratified exceedingly, and thankful to God, that you have been enabled to go forward so expeditiously in this work. My opin- ion of its value increases with the perusal of every new portion. As soon as you have reached the twelfth chapter you ought to prepare a prospectus and subscription paper. It will not be necessary for you to run any risk in the publication. A sufficient number of subscribers can soon be obtained to authorize the publication of a large edition. It will possess an incalculable advantage over Stuart's and other learned works, as it can be read by the plain, intelligent Christian, who knows nothing of the original. Please let me have the ninth chapter as soon as it is completed. This will be easy after you have surmounted the difficulties of the eighth, except verse 3d. * I am affectionately yours, A. A. DR. HODGE TO DR. A. ALEXANDER. My Dear Sir: I send, agreeably to your request, the Commentary on the ninth chapter, and a few verses of the tenth. I cannot tell you how much your approbation cheers and encou- rages me, and especially the coincidence of the Commentary with your own views of the apostle's meaning. Fashioned as I have been by your hands, you can indeed hardly be surprised at finding your own opinions more or less correctly reflected from anything which I may write. I find, on reverting to the passage, that what is said of the "wit- ness of the Spirit" is inaccurately expressed. I did not intend to intimate that the Spirit conveyed any new truth to the mind, but rather produced a new feeling. As when he " sheds abroad the love JET. 43.] TRANSLATED INTO FRENCH. 2JJ of God in the heart," he produces an intimate persuasion that the soul is the object of divine favor. And when he bears witness to the truth he produces a like persuasion that the gospel is of God. In the case referred to in the eighth chapter, I suppose Paul meant to say that the Spirit produced the conviction that God regards us as His children. All these cases seemed to me to be analogous. All that I meant to say was what I understood our Confession to say when it refers our full persuasion and assurance of the truth " to the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts." This seemed to me something different from the mere judgment of the mind on the evidence afforded by the nature of its feelings to the fact of the divine favor. It appeared to me that the apostle, if the cvv in avufiaprvpel is to be urged, meant to distinguish between the evidence which consists in filial feelings towards God and the persuasion of the divine favor which the Spirit sweetly insin- uates into the mind when those feelings are in exercise. I should be glad to know whether you still think my views, as thus explained, incorrect. For, if you do, the Commentary can easily be still further modified so as to express the idea more generally, and consequently in a way less liable to objection. Should Providence permit me to get to the end of the ninth chap- ter, I have thought it would be best to turn back to the beginning. The plan of the work has been so much enlarged as I advanced that the Commentary on the first three or four chapters must be re-written in order to make the work uniform. When the Commentary on the first eleven chapters is completed the printing might commence at any time; the residue could, Providence permitting, be got ready before it was required. With filial respect and affection, Yours, C. HODGE. Early in 1841 this Commentary was published in France. The translation was made by the Rev. Adolphe Monod of Montauban, at the instance of the venerable Professor V. A. Stapfer, who had made Mr. Hodge's acquaintance in Paris in 1826, and had subsequently corresponded with him. The means to meet the expense of the enterprise were collected through the agency of Rev. Robert Baird, D. D., the emi- nent agent in Europe of the Foreign Evangelical Society. In his preface Dr. Monod said : " I am authorized to say that Mr. Stapfer attaches the 278 TRANSLATED INTO FRENCH. [1841. highest value to the Commentary of Dr. Hodge, and that of all the works which have in our day been devoted to the Epistle to the Romans, there is none which appears to him, upon the whole, superior, nor perhaps equal to this. " It possesses qualities that are among the most valuable that can be desired in such a work, and which we have sel- dom found elsewhere so combined and carried to such extent. A pure and vigorous spirit ; a simple and precise style ; an intelligent and clear exegesis ; a constant care to dwell upon those points which embarrass the reader of the Bible; a profound examination of all the great questions ; substantial observations; solid and well-drawn inferences. When we add that there is evident in every part a spirit which is jealous for the divine doctrine and the divine glory, a soul deeply pious and ripe in the experience of the Chris- tian life ; in fine, an unction of mingled sweetness and gravity, which would almost lead one to conjecture that our Commentary was painfully written upon a bed of suf- fering, our readers will understand the continued interest with which we have read the work from beginning to end. " Dr. Hodge belongs to the religious opinion known in America by the name of the ' Old School.' His doctrine is precisely that of our own churches, and it is exhibited in the Commentary with remarkable distinctness and vigor. If we may venture the inquiry, we would ask as to this point whether the matter is not rather more precise and formal in Dr. H.'s exposition, than in the Bible itself. We have learned from this Holy Book to have some dread of for- mulas that are too straitened, and of what Felix Neff, with his usual originality calls ' squared doctrines.' Happy are the authors who know how to preserve the proportions and balance which the Holy Spirit has observed in the de- velopment of the various topics of divine revelation." The editor of the " London Patriot," in a notice of Barnes' " Notes on the Romans," naively remarks : " Mr. Barnes acknowledges his obligations to Calvin, Doddridge, Mac- ACT. 42.] CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 2?$ knight, Rosenmuller, Tholuck, and Flatt. We regret that he does not appear to have seen Dr. Hodge's admirable Exposition of this Epistle, which would have been of more use for his purpose than all the rest." HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. In the early part of 1839, he published the first volume of his " Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States," and the second volume in the early part of 1 840.^ This was for him the least natural, and most laborious work he ever undertook. DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, Oct. 12, 1838. My Dear Brother: I have before now read volumes to feel au- thorized to make one assertion. I want to state in few words what were the constituent materials and peculiar views of our church at the beginning, and to do this requires a good deal of previous read- ing. I am not the man for such business. My lameness is more in my way now than it ever has been, as I have to depend on others to make search for old things in my behalf. Your brother, C. H. The design and character of this work is stated in his preface to the first volume, March, 1839. " During the past summer, the Rev. Dr. Hoge, of Ohio, wrote to one of his friends in Philadelphia, stating that a work was greatly needed, which should give a distinct account of the present controversies in our Church. He conceived that in order to the proper exhibition of the sub- ject, the documentary history of the formation of the first Presbytery, of the Adopting Act, of the great Schism, of the union of the two Synods, and of the formation of our present constitution, should be clearly presented to the public. The gentleman to whom this letter was addressed submitted it to a meeting of clergymen and laymen, who 280 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. [1839. all concurred in the opinion that such a work ought to be prepared, and united in requesting the undersigned to undertake the task. The plan was afterwards enlarged, and the writer was led to undertake a general review of the History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. The design of this work is to exhibit the true character of our Church ; to show on what principles it was founded and governed; in other words, to exhibit historically its constitution, both as to doctrine and' order. He has, there- fore, ventured to call the work ' A Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.' His readers will not expect more than this title promises. " Recent events have led to various speculations on the origin and constitution of our Church. It has been said that we owe our ecclesiastical existence to Congregational- ists ; that the condition of ministerial communion among us was assent to the essential doctrines of the Gospel ; and that the Presbyterian form of government which our fathers adopted was of a very mitigated character. . . . The writer was, hence, led to inquire what foundation was laid for a Presbyterian Church in the character of the early settlers of our country. . . The next subject of investigation was the actual character of our Church before the year 1729, as far as it can be learned from its history and records. The third chapter contains the review of our history from 1729 to 1741. As the act by which the Westminster Con- fession of Faith was adopted by the Synod as their standard of doctrine, was passed in 1729, this seemed to be the pro- per place to exhibit in full the testimony furnished by the records, not only as to the true interpretation of the act, but as to the condition of ministerial communion in the Pres- byterian Church. " It is intended in a second volume to continue the his- tory from 1741 to 1789. This will require an exhibition of the causes of the great schism, an investigation of the doc- trinal and constitutional questions involved in that contro- JET. 42.] HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 281 versy, and of the principle on which the Church was settled at the time of the union of the two Synods." It is believed that in the execution of this work Dr. Hodge fully proved that the founders of our Church in the United States intended to plant a true Presbyterian Church, a genuine daughter of the Church of Scotland, and that the terms of ministerial communion among us have been from the beginning, and by the constitution of the Church con- tinue to be, the real belief and honest profession that "the system of Doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures," is the one contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. The following letters of Dr. A. Alexander to Dr. Hodge, ' and of Dr. Hodge to Dr. Henry A. Boardman, on the sub- ject of disputed points falling within the period embraced by this History will explain themselves. DR. A. ALEXANDER TO DR. HODGE. My Dear Sir : I do not know whether you expect any fuller expo- sition of opinion from me after making your explanations. The truth is, it is a matter in which I have no right to interfere otherwise than by expressing my opinion. I have no responsibility in the matter ; but yours is great, [you are writing a history which will probably connect your name with the orthodox Presbyterian name as long as / it lasts ; and you are not at liberty to depart one iota from what ap- pears to you to be a correct statement of facts, and correct judgment on them. If other persons take a different view of either that is no reason you should change anything in deference to thernTT I must, however, in candor declare that my own opinion, as ex- pressed in a former note, remains unchanged. I object to the rule of the Synod on ground which applies to them just as it does to our Synods, namely, that the examination of candidates, with a view to ordination, is properly a Presbyterial and not a Synodical act. I ad- mit that the Synod, as then constituted, might, after consulting Pres- byteries, determine what should be required of candidates, and on what they should be examined, and might have censured the New Brunswick Presbytery for disobeying such rules ; but it was, in my judgment, improper for them to take upon themselves to make the examination. On this principle, as the protestants argued on the oc- 282 HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. [1840. casion, they might usurp all the prerogatives and powers of the Pres- byteries, and thus render them useless bodies. I never received the doctrine " that a Synod is merely a larger Presbytery," and may do whatever Presbyteries can. Their business is to see that Presbyteries do their duty, and to attend to concerns which relate to the whole body. The year on which I was Moderator of the General Assembly this principle was largely discussed, and in the first instance decided in favor of the rights of Presbyteries ; but the Kentucky Synod came forward with great zeal and power, and had a different opinion pro- nounced next year. To this decision I never gave my assent, and I believe that more than one half of the ministers then were of like mind. And I must remain of the opinion that when the schism took place, any attempt at a regular course of discipline would have been per- fectly futile and unwise. They might, and ought to have separated with less heat and violence than was manifest, but it is evident to me that a separation had become necessary. The subject of disciplining an organized body is an extremely diffi- cult thing. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, under the influence of the high-church principles of Dr. Robertson, under- took to discipline a Presbytery for resisting the exercise of patronage, and when it came to the punishment they selected one man out of the Presbytery and deposed him, not because he was worse than the rest, or a prime leader, but for other reasons. This very man laid the foundations of the relief Presbytery (now Synod). All that the ma- jority could have done would have been to suspend the whole Pres- bytery, which was the same (in effect ?) as what took place. Yours, &c., A. ALEXANDER. DR. HODGE TO DR. HENRY A. BOARDMAN. PRINCETON, Jan. ist, 1840. My Dear Sir: * * * * * As to the History, all my feelings are in favor of your Board publishing it. It would be effectually done with- out putting my friends, Dr. Mitchell and others, to any trouble ; and I shall be gratified in doing something for the Board. My judgment, however, is decidedly against the plan. As I must bear the respon- sibility, I must feel perfectly free to write as my judgment and con- science dictate. I know I should feel trammelled and uneasy if I was always thinking that what I wrote was to come out with the sanction of the Board. I have little doubt that the History will give more or less offence to a great many of our friends. I mean that kind of of- JET. 42.] HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 283 fence which men feel when they see a different view of any subject than their own presented. For example, the next chapter, which re- lates to the Whitefieldian revival, I suppose will be considered by many as very objectionable. This will be but a small matter if I only say what is disliked ; but if your Board were to say it, it might be very offensive to many of our own friends. So of the 5th chapter, relating to the Schism, I am sure that many of our good old people will think it dreadful. I had received the impression that all the Old side were irreligious, unworthy men, and that all the New side were excellent and fervently pious. This impression, among the older ministers who received the traditionary accounts of that period, is so strong as to take something of the character of the original party feeling. jDr. Alexander, after -reading the manuscript, wrote me a long letter, telling me what he had heard about the character of the two parties when he was a young man, and how strong his feelings still were upon the subject, and his conviction that the Old side were a great deal worse and the New side a great deal better than I had represented them. This letter gave me, in one view, a great deal of uneasiness. I know that documents and books retain and transmit a very imperfect view of the spirit of any age, and therefore felt that my representation might be very far from the truth. But, at the same time, I must go by those documents, and to take the traditionary representations of those who had conversed with the actors in those scenes, and who had all the feelings of the conflict, would make a perfectly one-sided history. I answered the Doctor's letter, stating how I viewed the matter, to which he replied that he would not have me alter anything out of deference to anybody that he had no responsibility, but that mine was very great. I do not mean to give you the idea that the Doctor thought the History very wicked, or that he would object to my pub- lishing it ; but I do not believe at all that he would take the respon- sibility of publishing it, or of sanctioning such a representation as I have given of the violence and disorders of the zealous men of that day. It would require the gift of prophecy for me to be able to state what will be the character of the last volume, should I live to write it. I no more knew beforehand what the character of the present volume was to be than a stranger did. I indeed question very much whether I shall have courage to undertake the labor of bringing down the History to the present time. It may be too soon to write the history of the last ten years. All my friends here whom I have had the opportunity of consulting agree with me that your Board ought not to undertake the publica- tion. If any one chooses to attack and abuse me, what harm is it ? 284 HIS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. [1840. But to have your Board hauled up and abused is a very different affair. You have a very difficult and delicate task to perform, and will get abuse enough I doubt not. I think you ought, at least for a while, to confine yourselves to books of known character, and by no means to publish too many. Yours very truly, C. H. " The Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America" was accordingly pub- lished by Wm. S. Martien in 1839 anc * 1840. But it was subsequently copyrighted and published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication in 1851. CHAPTER VIII. THE DISRUPTION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (1834 TO I8 3 8.) THE HISTORICAL CONDITIONS OUT OF WHICH THE CONFLICT SPRANG. THE SEVERAL PARTIES IN THE CHURCH. THE TRUE POSITION OF THE " PRINCETON *' OR CONSERVATIVE '* PARTY." DR. HODGE'S OWN STATE- MENT OF THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH HE AND HIS ASSOCIATES ACTED. THE THOROUGH AGREEMENT OF ALL THE PRINCETON MEN AS TO PRIN- CIPLES AND MEASURES. MISCONCEPTIONS CORRECTED. DR. HODGE'S RELATION TO THE "ACT AND TESTIMONY." HIS LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER AND TO DR. BOARDMAN. WE are concerned here with the history of this great struggle only so far as this is necessary to the under- standing of the part taken by Dr. Hodge at that time. He was a young man, with no influence resulting from past ex- perience or achievement in church affairs, and for the greater part of the time involved in the struggle excluded from church courts and confined to his room and to his couch by physical pain and weakness. Nevertheless, he was the most active member of the " association of gentlemen " who edited the Repertory, and the author of the articles which attracted the chief attention and were the objects of the most hostile criticism by the strong party men on both sides. The Presbyterian Church in America was founded by 285 286 THE DISRUPTION. Scotch and Scotch-Irish immigrants. The Congregational Churches of New England were founded by English Inde- pendents. They originally agreed in doctrine, but were radically different in their .principles of organization and polity, their traditions and their tendencies. The English Independents settled the New England colonies during the first half of the i/th century, the Scotch and Scotch-Irish immigrants settled New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware in the last of the i/th and the first of the 1 8th centuries. Subsequently, for the most part, the Pres- byterians moved westward and southward through Pennsyl- vania, the Valley of Virginia and the Valley of the Ohio, while the teeming population of New England moved west- ward through the State of New York, northern Ohio and the Valley of the great lakes. The two streams mingled in northern Ohio and western New York, and the exigencies of church extension in the new settlements led to the " Plan of Union" contracted be- tween the General Assembly and the Congregational Asso- ciation of Connecticut in 1801. This plan was designed to promote harmony and to combine the heterogeneous ele- ments of the population in the new settlements in aggres- sive church extension. It proposed to effect this end not by forming a new and compromising form of church govern- ment, but by providing for the practical working together in the same congregations of ministers and people belong- ing to both denominations. Congregational ministers were to be pastors of Presbyterian churches, and Presbyterian ministers pastors of Congregational churches, and Presby- terian and Congregational communicants were to combine in one church, appointing a standing committee instead of a session to govern them and represent them in the Presby- terian ecclesiastical courts. The effect of this was at the same time to stop almost absolutely the multiplication of Congregational churches, and rapidly to extend the area of the Presbyterian church by the multiplication of Presby- THE DISRUPTION. 287 teries and Synods, composed largely of imperfectly organ- ized churches. In the meantime the American Education Society, in Boston, and the American Home Missionary Society, in New York, sprang into the most active exercise of their functions, equally within the spheres of the Presbyterian and the Congregational churches. They were both purely voluntary societies, subject to no ecclesiastical control, their officers elected and their action directed by self-perpetuated " Executive Committees." Their funds were drawn from the New England churches, and their affairs were . con- trolled, in the larger part, by Congregationalists. New England, at this time, had in great part ceased to afford a field for home missionary effort, but on the contrary was full of energetic young men pressing into the ministry and ready to be educated and marshalled and supported in the field by the great voluntary societies above mentioned. These young men, of course, were educated as Congrega- tionalists, and were imbued with the religious and theo- logical sentiments at that time prevalent in New England. These sentiments may be classified as follows: (i) The old Calvinism identical with the original and constitutional or- thodoxy of the Presbyterian church. (2) That variation of Calvinism styled Hopkinsianism, which, while maintaining the essentials of Calvinism, denied the imputation of Adam's sin, the absolute inability of the sinner to repent, and a definite atonement. This type of doctrine, prevalent among Congregationalists, while foreign to the traditions, and uncongenial to the native Presbyterians, was yet never regarded as so far injurious as to be a bar to ministerial communion. (3) The heresies associated at that time with the School of New Haven, which were far more radical, imperiling, if not destroying, the church doctrines of original sin, and vicarious atonement, etc., and which were abhorred and resisted by the larger and sounder masses of Congregationalists, as well as by Presbyterians. 288 THE DISRUPTION. Thus it is evident that an immense and effective ma- chinery was in operation for the rapid destruction of the in- tegrity of the Presbyterian church, alike in its organic form and in the system of doctrines professed and taught. New England was the fountain ; young New England mis- sionaries the stream bearing with them Congregational church polity and New England theology ; the American Education and the American Home Missionary Societies the powerful engines; and the Presbyterian church the depository into which these foreign and revolutionizing streams were poured. These were, in general, the unquestionable historical con- ditions of that epoch*. It is evident that, without involving any one's fault on either side, sooner or later these condi- tions must precipitate a struggle for existence, and that the "fittest" must survive. Either Presbyterianism in America and Congregationalism outside of New England must alike perish, issuing in some better third form, or in ecclesiastical chaos, or they must separate and each recover its constitu- tional integrity. Sooner or later the/ time must come when the true Presbyterians must fight for the existence of their inherited system and save it by constitutional means if they can, by revolution if they must. The Old School party among the Presbyterians of that day did fight for all Pres- byterians of all time, New as well as Old, and for pure Con- gregationalism as well. The event has vindicated them beyond question as to their general purpose. In a very few years after the disruption the New School Presbyterians followed the same course. They, in like manner, abrogated the " Plan of Union," formed and ex- clusively patronized their own ecclesiastical boards, except in the department of foreign missions, and came into the Re-union in 1870 as thoroughly organized on exclusive Presbyterian principles as the other party, and tolerating in their terms of Ministerial Communion no variations from the old orthodoxy, more extreme than that falling under THE DISRUPTION. 289 the Hopkinsian or Edwardean variety, above referred to, which none of the sober-minded among the Old School had ever deliberately regarded as putting a man beyond the pale. At the same time the Congregational church emerges over the whole north-western country, as homogeneous as in New England itself. Yet there is absolutely no evidence that the same result would have been attained if the denomi- national consciousness of the two rival parties had not been aroused and intensified by the conflict and division of 1837-8. On the other hand, this same result, while it vindicates the general position and aim of the Old School party in the disruption period, vindicates specifically the peculiar position of the Princeton wing of that party. The subsequent course of the New School, as a separate denomination, clearly proves that in all essentials the majority of them were sound Presbyterians, alike in principles of order and in doctrine, the recognition of which fact in those days dis- tinguished the "Princeton" or " Middle" party. There were in those days four parties in the church: (i) Those congregations and groups of congregations which were imperfectly organized, and those ministers and people who maintained the extreme type of error they styled " Taylorism." These occasioned all the trouble. Without them all the other parties could have coalesced together in a sufficiently homogeneous Presbyterian church. (2) The New School party as a body. These were in themselves sound Presbyterians, although somewhat tinged with the Hopkinsian quality of theology. Their peculiarity arose from the fact that from position, antecedents and associa- tions they were disposed to prevent the discipline of those whose opinions departed further from the type of normal Presbyterianism than their own, and to oppose the abroga- tion of the " Plan of Union," and the re-organization, by force of ecclesiastical authority, of the churches formed upon it ; and to keep the church open to the operation of the Yolua- 19 THE DISRUPTION. tary Societies, to the exclusion of those under ecclesiastical control. (3) The "Princeton Party" or " Middle Men." (4) The Old School party in Pennsylvania and part of the .South, who, under the leadership of Drs. Green, R. J. Breckinridge, George Junkin and others, were convinced that the crisis was imminent, that the evils were so great as to be intolerable, and who, therefore, pressed urgently the prosecution of heresy, and demanded peremptorily either the speedy abatement of these evils or the division of the church. te The Princeton or Middle party was wholly Old School, adhering in principle and affection to the original normal type of doctrine and church polity. Of this there never was any doubt on either side. They desired to have the " Plan of Union" abrogated; to have the churches organized on that basis re-organized or cut off by constitutional ecclesiastical authority; to have all ministers holding and teaching the graver errors then known as "Taylorism" tried and ex- cluded from office ; to have new measures discouraged ; and denominational Boards of Education, and of Missions, Home and Foreign, substituted in the place of the Volun- tary Societies, which were really the organs of the Congre- gational churches. Hence, as Dr. Hodge said, their " feel- ings were always, and their judgment generally, in harmony with their Old School brethren and their measures of re- form." But, on the other hand, they did not wish to see the church divided either by the voluntary departure of the extreme Old School wing, which for a long time appeared imminent, or by the forcible exclusion of the great body of the New School, which the Old School leaders at least appeared to desire. The Princeton men protested against some of the Old School measures, as, for instance, that : Hopkinsian peculiarities, which should be tolerated, were indiscrimi- nately confused with Taylorite errors, which must be excluded ; that some of the measures were unconstitutional and injurious, as the procedure by the Synod of Philadel- THE DISRUPTION'. 291 phia to try the appeal of Dr. Junkin in the trial of Mr. Barnes while the records of the inferior court were absent ; and the use of the "Act and Testimony" as a test of loyalty to Presbyterianism. They believed the measures' pursued by the party men would divide the church, whereas the exigency for such a violent expedient had not arrived. The New School for several years had held sway in the General Assembly, interrupted only in 1845, and regained in 1846. If they had constituted the majority in the Assembly of 1847 the worst apprehension of the Princeton men would have been realized by the secession of the most determined of the Old School party without the succession and without the property, and the Presbyterian church would have been left predominantly New School, with a helpless Old School minority. When the Old School party found themselves in power in the General Assembly of 1837, the "Princeton Men," as represented by Dr. Archibald Alexander, voted for the abrogation of the " Plan of Union," for the estab- lishment of ecclesiastical boards, and for the excision of the Synod of Western Reserve. They regretted the peremp- tory excision of the three Synods in western New York ? yet passively acquiesced in the measure as one of " substan- tial justice," but would have preferred the plan offered by Dr. Cuyler, which summoned those Synods to purify them- selves, and suspended their right to representation in the General Assembly upon their obedience. The " Princeton Men" regretted exceedingly the secession of the "New School" division of the church in 1848, but rejoiced in the assurance that neither they nor the Old School majority were responsible for that division, which they (the Prince- ton men) had always feared and had tried so loyally to pre- vent. Dr. Hodge says himself in his " Retrospect of the His- tory of the Princeton Review," 1871, "In all the controver- sies culminating in the division of the church in 1837-8, the conductors of this Review were in entire sympathy with the 292 THE DISRUPTION. Old School party. They sided with them as to the right ? and under existing circumstances the duty, of the church to conduct the work of education and foreign and domestic missions by ecclesiastical boards instead of voluntary in- 1 dependent societies. They agreed with that party on all doctrinal questions in dispute ; and as to the obligation to enforce conformity to our Confession of Faith on the part of ministers and teachers of theology under our jurisdiction. They were so unfortunate, however, as to differ from many, and apparently from a majority of their Old School brethren, as to the wisdom of the measures adopted for securing a common object. In our number for January, 1837, it is said : ' Our position we feel to be difficult and delicate. On the one hand, we respect and love the great mass of our Old School brethren ; we believe them to con- stitute the bone and sinew of the Presbyterian church ; we agree with them in doctrine ; we sympathize with them in their disapprobation and distrust of the spirit and conduct of the leaders of the opposite party; and we harmonize with them in all the great leading principles of ecclesiastical policy, though we differ from a portion of them, how large or how small that portion may be we cannot tell, as to the wisdom and propriety of some particular measures. They ^have the right to cherish and express their opinions, and to endeavor to enforce them on others by argument and persua- sion, and so have we. They, we verily believe, have no selfish end in view. We are knowingly operating, under stress of conscience, against all our own interests, so far as they are not involved in the interests of the Church of God.' "The FIRST point of difference related to the Act and Testimony, and the measures therewith connected. "Such departures from the standards of the church in matters of doctrine and order ; such diversity of opinion as to ecclesiastical boards and voluntary societies; such alienation of feeling and agitating controversy had for years so disturbed the peace and impaired the efficiency THE DISRUPTION. 293 of the church as to produce a state of things which on all sides was thought to be intolerable. With the view to re- form these evils, and secure the peace and purity of the church, a meeting of ministers and elders was held in Phil- adelphia, May 26, 1834. At that meeting it was deter- mined to issue an Act and Testimony, setting forth the evils under which the church was laboring, and proposing means of redress. This document was originally signed by thirty-seven ministers and twenty-seven elders. It was sent forth among the churches, and all the friends of sound doctrine and of Presbyterian order were exhorted to sign it ' We recommend/ say the original signers, ' all ministers, elders, Church-sessions, Presbyteries and Synods, who approve of this Act and Testimony, to give their public adherence thereto, in such manner as they shall prefer, and communicate their names, and when a church court, a copy of their adhering act.' It was further recommended * that on the second Thursday of May, 1835, a Convention be held in the city of Pittsburgh (where the General As- sembly was to meet), to be composed of two delegates, a minister and ruling elder from each Presbytery, or from the minority of any Presbytery, who may concur in the sentiments of the Act and Testimony, to deliberate and consult on the present state of the church, and to adopt such measures as may be best suited to restore her pros- trated standards.' " Many Old School men, as zealous as any others, could not sign this document. They did not object to it as a testimony against false doctrine; nor as a means for arousing the attention of the church; nor as designed to concentrate the energies of its sounder members for the reform of existing evils; but, i. Because it contained assertions as to matter of fact, and expressions of opinion (not, however, as to matters of doctrine) in which they could not conscientiously concur. 2. Because it operated as a new, unauthorized and invidious test of orthodoxy and 294 THE DISRUPTION. fidelity. Those who did not sign it were looked upon as timid and recreant. The editor of the Presbyterian (Aug. 21, 1834) said, 'We verily believe that every ortho- dox minister and elder, who refuses his signature under existing circumstances, will throw his weight into the opposite scale, and strengthen the hopes and confirm the confidence of those who aim to revolutionize the church.' 3. Because its obvious tendency, and as the event proved, its actual effect, was to divide, instead of uniting, the friends of orthodoxy and order. The document was never signed by a moiety of the Old School body. 4. Because the issuing a document of this kind, calling for the signa- tures of all sound men, who, by their delegates, were to meet in convention and prepare for further action, was an extra-constitutional and revolutionary measure, which many good and true men could not approve. They believed that when evils exist in any organized community, civil or ecclesiastical, redress should be sought in the regular exer- cise of the constitution and laws, unless the evils be such as justify revolution. 5. From the natural tendency of the measures adopted, and from the open avowal of some of the leaders in this movement, it was believed that if the party represented by the Act and Testimony did not gain ascendancy in the church, the result would be secession and schism. There were, however, many who believed that secession, under the circumstances, would be a violation of principles and a breach of trust. They, therefore, stood aloof and abstained from taking part in measures of which, as it seemed to them, schism was the natural consequence, if not the intention. They held that so long as the standards of the church were unaltered, and its ministers were not called upon to profess what they did not believe, or pre- vented preaching what they believed to be true, or required to do what their conscience condemned, to withdraw from the church was the crime of schism, which the Scriptures so expressly forbid. Moreover, they regarded the funds, the THE DISRUPTION: 295 institutions and the influence of the church as a trust com- mitted to their care, which they were not authorized to throw up or to leave in the hands of those whom they regarded as likely to abuse or pervert it. To abandon the church whenever an adverse majority gained ascendancy for a time in its administration, would lead to never-ending divisions and incalculable evils. Many of the signers of the Act and Testimony disclaimed any intention to secede from the church ; but others, among whom was the venerable Dr. Green, openly declared that such was their purpose- Happily, the matter was not brought to that issue. The reform of" the church was effected without that sacrifice. Candid men, we think, will admit that the above-men- tioned reasons are sufficient *to justify the course of those who dissented from the Act and Testimony movement. Their conduct, at least, can be accounted for on other grounds than those of faint-heartedness or unfaithfulness. " The SECOND point on which the Old School men were divided, was the proper grounds of ecclesiastical discipline. Our ministers and elders are required to adopt the Confes- sion of Faith, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. No doctrine, therefore, inconsistent with the integrity of that system is the proper ground of discipline. It is not enough that the doctrine be erroneous, or that it be dangerous in its tendency ; if it be not subversive of one or more of the constituent elements of the reformed faith, it is not incompatible with the honest adoption of our Confession. It cannot be denied that ever since the Reformation more or less diversity in the state- ment and .explanation of the doctrines of Calvinism has prevailed in the reformed churches. It is equally notorious that for fifty or sixty years such diversities have existed and been tolerated in our own church ; nay, that they still exist and are avowed by Old School men. If a man holds that all mankind, since the fall of Adam, and in consequence of his sin, are born in a state of condemnation and sin, whether 296 THE DISR UP TION. he accounts for that fact on the ground of immediate or mediate imputation, or on the realistic theory, he was regarded as within the integrity of the system. If he admitted the sinner's inability, it was not considered as a proper ground of discipline that he regarded that inability as moral, instead of natural as well as moral. If he taught that the work of Christ was a real satisfaction to the justice of God, it was not made a breaking point whether he said it was designed exclusively for the elect, or for all mankind, etc., etc. " We do not say that the diversities above referred to are unimportant. We regard many of them as of great import- ance. All we say is that they have existed and been toler- ated in the purest Calvinistic churches our own among the rest. " But within the last forty years other doctrines came to be avowed. Men came to teach that mankind are not born in a state of sin and condemnation ; that no man is charge- able with either guilt or sin until he deliberately violates the known law of God ; that sinners have plenary ability to do all God requires of them ; that regeneration is the sinner's own act ; that God cannot certainly control the acts of free agents so as to prevent all sin, or the present amount of sin in a moral system ; that the work of Christ is no proper satisfaction to divine justice, but simply symbolic or didactic, designed to produce a moral impression on in- telligent agents ; that justification is not judicial, but in- volves a setting aside of the law, as when the Executive remits the penalty incurred by a criminal. The doctrines of this latter class were regarded as entirely inconsistent with the 'system of doctrine' taught in our Confession of Faith. In the General Assembly (O. S.) of 1868 a protest was presented against the adoption of the plan of union then before the churches, urging as an argument against the union the alleged fact that such doctrines were tolerated in the other branch of the Presbyterian church. THE DISRUPTION. 297 The majority of the Assembly, in their answer to that pro- test, denied that allegation. They pronounced it to be incredible, on the ground that such doctrines were so obvi- ously subversive of our whole system, that no church professing to be Calvinistic could tolerate them within their borders. "When in 1830, and the years immediately following, church discipline was invoked to arrest the progress of error, the Presbytery of Philadelphia included among the doctrines to be condemned those belonging to the first as well as those belonging to the second of the classes above mentioned. This was objected to by a large class of Old School men, and by the conductors of this Review, among their number. I. Because, if the errors in question do not affect the integrity of the system, they were not the proper grounds of discipline. One of these doctrines was ' that faith is an act and not a principle.' But surely a man may hold this opinion and yet be a Calvinist. The immediate imputation of Adam's sin we regard as a very important doctrine ; not so much on its own account as on account of the principle of representative accountability on which it is founded, which principle runs through the Bible, and is in- volved in the vital doctrines of atonement and justification. Nevertheless, it is notorious that the doctrine of immediate imputation has not been considered by our church as essen- tial to the integrity of the Calvinistic system. " 2. It was considered unreasonable and unfair to con- demn one man for errors which had been, and continued to be tolerated in others. " 3. This course was deemed unwise because it could not fail to embarrass the administration of discipline and to divide the friends of truth and order in the church. It was impossible that they could be brought with unanimity to concur in sustaining charges so heterogeneous, embracing doctrinal statements with which only a small minority of the church could agree. We are constrained to say, 298 THE DISRUPTION. with great respect for the Presbytery of Philadelphia, that the censures which that body pronounced in 1830 on the sermon entitled ' The Way of Salvation/ contained doc- trinal principles which we do not know a single minister in the Presbyterian church who is willing to adopt. It makes the penal character of the sufferings of Christ to depend on their nature and intensity, and not on the design for which they were inflicted. We think that any candid man will ad- mit that those who disapproved of such a judicial judgment did not deserve, on that account, to be deemed lacking in fidelity or zeal for the truth. '" We do not wish to intimate that the books on which the Presbytery, and afterwards the Synod of Philadelphia, founded their judicial action did not contain errors which called for the exercise of discipline. We believe they did contain propositions which, according to the unanimous judgment of the Assembly' of 1868, any minister should be required to retract as the condition of his remaining in con- nection with the Presbyterian church. The complaint is that matters were included in the charges which even the friends of sound doctrine could not regard as proper grounds of discipline. " The THIRD point about which Old Schoolmen differed was the wisdom of some of the acts of the Assembly of 1837. When that Assembly met, it was found that the Old School had a decided and determined majority. The opportunity had occurred to rectify some of the abuses which had so long and so justly been matters of com- plaint. It was not to be expected or desired that the opportunity should be lost. The abuse which was more immediately under the .control of the Assembly was the admission of Congregationalists as constituent members of our church courts. This was as obviously unreasonable and unconstitutional as the admission of British subjects to sit as members of our State or National Legislature. To put an end to this abuse, the Assembly adopted the follow- THE DISRUPTION. 299 ing report of their committee : ' In regard to the relation between the Presbyterian and Congregational churches, the committee recommend the adoption of the following resolu- tions : "' I. That between these two branches of the American church there ought, in the judgment of this Assembly, to be maintained sentiments of mutual respect and esteem, and for that purpose no reasonable effort should be omitted to preserve a perfectly good understanding between these two branches of the Church of Christ. " ' 2. That it is expedient to continue the plan of friendly intercourse between this church and the Congregational churches as it now exists. "'3. But as the 'Plan of Union' adopted for the new settlements in 1801 was originally an unconstitutional act on the part of that Assembly, these important standing rules having never been submitted to the Presbyteries and as they are totally destitute of authority, as proceeding from the General Association of Connecticut, which is invested with no power to legislate in such cases, and especially to enact laws to regulate churches not within its limits ; and as much confusion and irregularity has arisen from this unna- tural and unconstitutional system of union, therefore, it is resolved that the Act of the Assembly of 1801, en- titled a ' Plan of Union ' be, and the same is hereby abro- gated/ "These resolutions were carried by a vote of 143 yeas to no nays. Dr. Archibald Alexander, and all the other delegates from the Presbytery of New Brunswick, voted for their adoption. . " The question then arose, How was the above resolution to be carried into effect ? In other words, How was the Congregational element to be eliminated from our body ? Three methods were proposed. First: To cite the judica- tories, charged with this and other irregularities, to appear at the bar of the next Assembly. This was actually adopted, 3OO THE DISRUPTION. [1837. but afterwards abandoned as likely to be cumbersome and interminable. " The second method was that proposed by the Rev. Dr. Cuyler, the substance of which was a direction to the judi- catories embracing Congregational churches to require them to become Presbyterially organized, or to withdraw from our connection; and refusing to such judicatories the privilege of being represented in the General Assembly until this elimination of Congregationalism had been effected. "The consideration of these resolutions was postponed to await the report of a committee, consisting of five mem- bers, from either side of the house, to consider the question of the amicable separation of the church. That committee reported that they unanimously agreed, 1st, That in the present state of the church such a separation was desirable. 2d, They agreed as to the terms on which it should be ef- fected ; but 3d, They disagreed as to the time when it should be accomplished, and as to the legal succession. The committee representing the majority insisted that the separation should be accomplished at once, during the ses- sions of that Assembly ; the committee on the part of the minority insisted that it should be deferred for a year, by a reference of the matter to the Presbyteries. " On the failure of this attempt, the Assembly, instead of taking up the resolutions of Dr. Cuyler, proceeded to effect the separation from Congregationalism by its own authority. This was done by what are called the 'Abscinding Acts.' It was resolved, first, ' That by the operation of the abrogation of the Plan of Union of 1801 the Synod of the Western Re- serve is, and hereby is declared to be, no longer a part of the Presbyterian church in the United States of America.' "And subsequently it was resolved ' That in consequence of the abrogation by this Assembly of the Plan of Union of 1 80 1 between it and the General Association of Connect- icut, as utterly unconstitutional, and therefore null and void from the beginning, the Synods of Utica, Geneva and Gen- 1837.] THE DISRUPTION. 301 esee, which were formed and attached to this body under and in execution of the said Plan of Union be, and are hereby declared to be, out of the ecclesiastical connection of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, and that they are not in form or in fact an integral portion of said church.' " It was stated on the floor of the Assembly that less than one in four of the churches in the Synod of the West- ern Reserve was Presbyterian. We do not see how any one can censure the Assembly for refusing to recognize that Synod as a Presbyterian body when three-fourths of the churches of which it was composed were Congregational. Dr. Alexander, who had voted for the abrogation of the Plan of Union, felt free, therefore, to vote for the disowning of the Synod of the Western Reserve as a constituent part of the Presbyterian Church. For the resolution disowning the three Synods in Western New York he could not vote. " The grounds on which the majority of the conductors of this Review dissented from the Act of the Assembly dis- owning the three Synods of Utica, Geneva and Genesee were: 1st, That it was not a legitimate consequence of the abrogation of the Plan of Union that those Synods, with all their Presbyteries and churches, were out of connection with the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and neither in form nor in fact an integral part of that church. Even if originally formed on the Plan of Union, if they had become, and so far as they had become, Presbyterian in their organization, and had been duly recognized, they were entitled to be regarded and treated as Presbyterian churches and judicatories. This is all the constitution required. This the Assembly itself admitted, as it promised to recognize any of the constituent churches or judicatories of those Synods, as soon as they reported themselves as constitu- tionally organized. But if Presbyterial organization entitled them to recognition it was a valid reason why they should not be disowned. 3O2 THE DISRUPTION. [1837. " 2. The presence of a few Congregationalists in a church court did not destroy its character nor afford a reasonable ground for refusing to recognize it as in connection with the church. Committee men (i. e. Congregationalists) have been allowed to sit as members of the General Assembly; and so were the delegates from the several Associations in New England. If their presence rendered the Assemblies in which they sat unconstitutional bodies, then all the acts of those bodies were null and void, and we have lost our legal succession. " It is to be remembered that the excision of the Synods in question was not an act of discipline ; it was not founded on the prevalence of error in doctrine, or of " new mea- sures." This the Assembly expressly disclaims. In answer to the protest of the commissioners from those Synods it is said, ' There is no judicial process instituted.' ' Without impeaching the character or standing of the brethren com- posing those Synods, this Assembly, by a legislative act, merely declares them, in consequence of the abrogation of the Plan of Union of 1801, no longer a constituent part of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in the United States.' " The objection to this action is, that the presence of a small minority of Congregationalists in a church court did not so vitiate its character as to justify its being disowned. " 3. There were Presbyteries within the bounds of the Synods of Albany and New Jersey composed in part of Congregational churches, and yet the General Assembly did not disown either those Synods or the delinquent Pres- byteries. This was an admission that the presence of Con- gregational members did not destroy the character of those bodies as Presbyterian organizations. " 4. The action of the Assembly in disowning the Synods of Western New York was not necessary to secure the reform of the church. That end would have been attained 1837.] THE DISRUPTION. 303 by the due operation of the abrogation of the Plan of Union. The legitimate effects of that abrogation were : 1st, To pre- vent the reception of any new churches formed upon that plan. 2d, To render it obligatory on all the Presbyteries to require the churches within their bounds to adopt an organ- ization in accordance with our constitution, and to refuse to allow the representatives of Congregational churches to sit and act as elders. 3d, To justify, and it may be to render it obligatory on future General Assemblies to refuse to allow Presbyteries continuing their connection with Con- gregationalism to be represented in those bodies. This would have effectually accomplished the reform contem- plated by the abrogation of the Plan of Union of 1801. After having allowed for more than thirty years this union of Congregationalists and Presbyterians in our church courts, all that the Assembly had the right to do was to require that such union should forthwith and thenceforth cease. This was the ground taken by Dr. Alexander and the majority of the conductors of this Review in 1837, an ^ on which the few of their number who still survive (in 1870) still stand.- What, however, was regarded as very lukewarm Old-Schoolism in 1837 has now come to be looked upon as obsolete and narrow-minded. The Assem- bly of 1869, by a vote nearly unanimous, not only admitted (the abrogation of the Plan of Union notwithstanding) that Presbyteries do not forfeit their connection with the Pres- byterian Church, although they include Congregational churches, but authorized, as far as it could do so, their being represented in the General Assembly for at least five years to come." It was suspected and has been since charged that the gentlemen at Princeton were not perfectly at one with re- gard to the various questions which emerged during the contest, and that Dr. Hodge was responsible for separating them from the more extreme Old School leaders. It is, however, certain that they were cordially agreed on all 304 THE "PRINCETON MEN" HARMONIOUS. [1837. points as far as any men of independent minds could be on so wide a range of subjects. If there was any difference it was that Dr. Hodge was more urgently impelled to speak out his whole mind, while others at times counselled reti- cence for prudential reasons. That they were at one is cer- tain : from the public action of Dr. Miller in the General Assembly of 1836, where he voted to sustain the appeal of Mr. Barnes, and then to condemn the errors contained in his book ; and the public action of Dr. Alexander in the Assembly of 1837, where he voted to abrogate the Plan of Union and to exscind the Synod of Western Reserve, but voted against the exscision of the three Synods of Western New York ; from the uniform assertions of Dr. Hodge to the end of his life, confirmed by the assertions of Dr. James W. Alexander, one of the actors in the scenes, in his Memoirs of his Father, p. 480, and by the assertion of Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller, Jr., in his Memoirs of his Father, p. 271; from the fact that the article entitled " The Present State and Prospects of the Presbyterian Church" (Bib. Rep. Jan., 1835,) is claimed alike by the representatives of Dr. A. Alexander and Dr. Miller, and was certainly written by one of them. This article is, at least, as decidedly and offen- sively opposed to the extreme action of the Old School leaders as anything written by Dr. Hodge. The only point as to which it is known that the conduct- ors of the Repertory differed among themselves was with reference to the action of the Assembly of 1837 in ex- scinding the three Synods of Western New York. They habitually met in Dr. Hodge's study to discuss every article of importance. With regard to this difference of opinion, Dr. Hodge has left a clear statement, drawn up at the time. Note in Dr. His Journal. "July 19, 1837. The conductors of the Repertory met a second time to decide on the article on the Assembly. Drs. Miller and Breckinridge approved of the action of the Assembly respecting the three (New York) 1837.] THE "PRINCETON MEN" HARMONIOUS. 305 Synods in toto* Prof. McLean and Dr. A. Alexander thought it might be justified, although not on the grounds upon which the Assembly placed it, and would have pre* ferred Dr. Cuyler's plan (this plan was stated above). Pro- fessors James W. Alexander, Dodd and Hodge disapproved the Assembly's action, and would have preferred Dr. Cuy- ler's plan, and they wished this idea to be expressed in the Repertory. It was decided to leave out that portion of the article (written by Dr. Hodge) containing this expression, leaving it, as it was supposed, undecided how the conduct- ors viewed the matter. To this course all ultimately assented, except Dr. Hodge. He objected on the ground that the impression it would make, as it now stands, would be that the conductors decidedly sustained the measure in question. Dr. Alexander, Prof. Dod, and ultimately Prof. J. W. Alexander thought that such an inference could not be fairly drawn from the language employed. The disap- proval of the action of the Assembly in relation to the third Presbytery of Philadelphia was sustained by all the conductors, except Dr. Breckinridge. Profs. J. W. Alexan- der, Dod and Hodge were afterwards strongly in favor of inserting a note of explanation." With reference to these questions Dr. Hodge wrote the following letters to his brother : DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. Nov. 21, 1834. My Dear Brother : As to church matters, I know not what to think, .and you would find yourself in chaos were you to attempt an analysis. The Act and Testimony is doing what was from the first apprehended splitting the Old School portion of the church. How far this will go it is hard to say. The Philadelphia men, Dr. Green, &c., &c., are driving matters to an extremity, and if they succeed we shall be ruined for the next ten or twenty years. That is if by their ultraism a portion of the Old School party is broken off, it will leave the remainder completely in the power of the New School men and give them the command of our Seminaries, Boards and Education 20 306 ATTITUDE OF THE " PRINCETON MEN." [1837. and Missions, &c., &c. I still hope this consummation will be avoided. It was to guard against it, and to warn the Old School party of the evil and danger of thus splitting the church that the article on the Act and Testimony in the Repertory was written. It has had the effect of making whole classes of signers declare that they do not wish nor look for a schism in the church. But on the other hand, the obvious tendency of the measure and the avowed design of some of its authors are to that result. That article has given prodigious offence to the Philadelphia men. The Synod passed a vete which amounts to a formal declaration of want of confidence in the Seminary. They propose transferring their patronage to Pittsburgh, or to found a new institution. I do not believe this will hurt anybody but themselves. No person here regrets as yet the publication of our article. We all think it will do good on the whole. As far as I know, the Synod of Philadelphia is the only one in the whole church which is what we call ultra. It is the only one, I am persuaded, which would have entertained for a moment the proposition about a new seminary on the grounds then urged, and therefore I feel a strong hope that they will find themselves in so small a minority as to be induced to keep quiet. Your brother, CHARLES HODGE. DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, June u, 1837. My Dear Brother : I have at once to prepare a history of the doings of this momentous Assembly, in which the New School have experienced a Waterloo defeat. Their only resource is now to the law, which I suspect will give them small consolation. I think sub- stantial justice has been done, though there may, in some cases, have been some informality in the mode of doing it. I have little doubt the public sentiment of the church and of other denominations will sustain the proceedings of the Assembly as soon as they are fairly understood. The simple truth is, that the church has tolerated the Congregationalized portion of the body until its very existence was in danger, and it has aroused and shaken them off. I presume that the New School will form themselves into an American Presby- terian Church, and we shall have two denominations. I am very sorry the Assembly dissolved the third Presbytery of Philadelphia, and that in an unconstitutional manner. It looks badly, and was done by a very small vote. Your brother, C. H. 1837.] ATTITUDE OF THE " PRINCETON MEN." 307 DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, July 26, 1837. My Dear Brother : Dod seems to have produced a great commo- tion among the gentlemen of the Old School party in Philadelphia. They sent a message up to entreat and expostulate, besides a multi- tude of letters filled with lamentations and prophecies of coming evil. These letters were, some of them, from very moderate men, such as Mr. &c., &c. I presume Dod stated clearly enough how the matter stood to the few persons he spoke to, but the accounts were doubtless greatly magnified as they diffused themselves abroad. I do not believe that what I wished to do would have done any harm or have given any offence. The fact is that we are all agreed as to all the principles involved in the questions before the Assembly, and agreed also as to their application, except as to one case (the case of the three Synods of Western New York). With regard to this some were satisfied, and some were not (i. e. by the action of the Assem- bly). The Repertory, speaking the language of all the conductors, could not say anything which a portion of us could not assent to. My difficulty was that I believed the article, as altered by the major- ity of the conductors, did, at least impliedly, express approbation of the act of the Assembly in reference to the three Synods. I had no right to say that it should not do so, but I certainly had a right to say that the majority should not make me say so. I therefore insisted on stating in a note that some of the conductors, meaning Dod, J. W. Alexander and myself, felt that we had not as yet a sufficient know- ledge of the facts in the case to enable us to see the propriety of this measure. This was resisted with great earnestness by some one or two as likely to do great harm. It was, however, a point which I could not yield, and which those who agreed with me were also un- willing to give up, The note was finally thrown into a form by J. W. Alexander, to which Breckinridge assented, and to which I agreed, though with a good deal of reluctance. It is less explicit than I wished it, and yet may be understood to mean more than even I wanted to express, and it now speaks the language of the whole and not of a part. After saying in the text that the summary plan of ex- clusion was undoubtedly constitutional in its application to all those Synods which could be clearly proved to be irregularly organized, we add in a note, that as the facts in regard to the three Synods in New York are in a constant process of disclosure, the full discussion of this question is deferred to a future occasion. I had two reasons for assenting to this. The first was that all I wished was to satisfy my conscience, and not to be made to say 308 ATTITUDE OF THE " PRINCETON MEN." [1837. what I did not believe. This note answers this purpose by saying that though satisfied as to the principles, we must wait for more facts before we can say anything as to their application. My second reason was, that I really believe, or rather expect that facts will soon be brought forward which will show the substantial justice of the action of the Assembly. How far this evidence was before the As- sembly I do not know, and therefore cannot say, how far they acted in the dark. But if substantial justice has been done, that is the main point. I never had such a time in my life. On the one hand my own views of duty and propriety and even expediency were clear and un- wavering. On the other hand the opinion of almost all my friends, and the vehement expostulations, appeals, and forebodings of a good many of them. Dr. Alexander did just what he ought to have done. He said he could not see the grounds of my scruples, and thought the thing inexpedient, but gave his cheerful assent to my saying in the note just what I pleased. You may depend upon it it is very hard for a man to act upon his own opinion, when op- posed not only to the opinion of those he has been accustomed to reverence, but to the ardent expostulations and dreadful forebodings of others. I believed, to be sure, it was all nonsense ; that no such terrible consequences would follow. However, I feel thankful the thing is arranged without producing a breach, and that I have still a good conscience. Dod and Maclean both think that the note, as it now stands, is a great deal worse for the Old School than what I wanted to say. You will wonder when you see it, how little a matter has kindled such a flame. The Repertory will not be made a party concern I am persuaded. Its conductors would rather see it die. Your affectionate brother, C. H. It was inevitable, under all the conditions of the case, that the excited leaders of the Old School majority in these conflicts should have been annoyed by the independent po- sition of the " Princeton gentlemen " and those who agreed with them. This annoyance naturally led to hard thoughts and derogatory language. No Qne at any time doubted their doctrinal soundness, but the entire class of men, wherever resident, was called the " Princeton Party " in order to belittle it. They were characterized as " moderates," "trembling brethren," "compromisers." They were sus- pected of want of courage, if not of a supreme regard to 1837.] ATTITUDE OF THE " PRINCETON MEN." 309 their supposed temporal interests. Some New School men held them as weakly succumbing to the will of the Old School majority when, after protesting against the earlier steps in the controversy, they afterwards consented to the abrogation of the Plan of Union and the excision of the Synods. Some of the Old School charitably excused them on the ground that as secluded professors they were neces- sarily less perfectly informed as to the actual condition of affairs than active pastors.* However natural these derogatory representations were at the time, they were absurdly untrue. The accuracy and wide extent of their knowledge of the state of the church, and the wisdom of their judgment has been vindicated abundantly by the events which, after thirty years, led to re-union. That they were right in voting to abrogate the Plan of Union a.nd establish denominational Boards has been established by the action of the New School Assem- bly itself while a separate denomination. That they were right in resisting the confusing of the lesser with the graver doctrinal errors, and in believing that the latter were not prevalent among the majority of those acting in the New School party, has been demonstrated in re-union and its consequences. That they were eminently brave and disin- terested is abundantly proved by the very fact complained of, that instead of sheltering themselves in the mass of either conflicting army, they chose to expose themselves to the conspicuous and unsupported position of independent *The Presbytery of Newton, "of the Synod of New Jersey, appointed a com- mittee February, 1835, "to confer, by letter or otherwise, with the Professors of the Theo. Sem. in Princeton " with regard to their stand against the Act and Testimony. And in the autumn of 1836 " a company of gentlemen were desig- nated by a large and respectable number of the Old School to proceed in a noiseless and unobserved manner to wait on the Professors at the4r homes, to reason and remonstrate with them, if possible, to concur with their brethren in the public actions of the church." These gentlemen met in the study of Dr. Hodge. Their appeals were respectfully heard, but little effect was ever attri- buted to them. 310 ATTITUDE OF THE PRINCETON MEN." . [1837. soldiers, following reason and conscience without regard to the pleasure or displeasure of men. That they were not inconsistent with their past convictions or pledges when they finally consented to the abrogation of the Plan of Union and the exscision of the Synod of Western Reserve has been shown plainly above. Dr. E. H. Gillett, in his account of these events, (vol. ii., p. 496) sneeringly says: "The Princeton Review of July of that year (1836) still pleaded for union. . . Only a few weeks after the Review had denounced division, New Brunswick Presbytery (to which all the Professors be- longed) unanimously declared themselves unable to see any prospect of good in the continued union of the discordant parts of the church." This inuendo is borrowed from "A Plea for Voluntary Societies, and a Defense of the Decisions of the General Assembly of 1836 against the Strictures of the Princeton Reviewers, New York, 1837," in which the conductors of the Repertory are charged with insincerity because their Presbytery so ,soon made a deliverance inconsistent with the spirit and professed aim of their article, and made it by a vote reported to be unanimous. This might have been a natural suspicion in the excitements of 1837, but it is an inexcusable insinuation as coming from Dr. E. H. Gillett, the professed historian of the Presbyterian Church in 1864. The explanation was in his hand in an article in the Re- pertory for January, 1837, reviewing "The Plea for Volun- tary Societies," aforesaid : " Of the eight ministers resident in Princeton only one of them was present at that meeting of their Presbytery, or knew anything of the resolutions until after they were passed. . . But we have still further to remark, that the only one of their number ('Association of Gentlemen in Princeton') who was present when these reso- lutions were adopted exerted all his influence to have them reduced to the standard which he and his friends had al- ready adopted." 1834.] HIS RELATION TO THE "ACT AND TESTIMONY." 31 I Out of the attitude assumed by the conductors of the Repertory towards the Act and Testimony there sprang a personal misunderstanding. In the month of May, 1834, in the height of his physical affliction, Dr. Hodge stayed for a few days with his friend, Professor Dod, at the house of his brother, in Philadelphia. While there Dr. R. J. Breckinridge, the author of the Act and Testimony, with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship, called to see him, and consulted him on the subject of the character of the document he was preparing. From this it came to be currently rumored that Dr. Hodge was one of the authors of the Act and Testimony, and hence much painful surprise was felt by many when his articles appeared in the Re- pertory in October, 1834, and January, 1835, vigorously criticising that document, and opposing the use to which it was applied by its friends. In his 4< Plain Statement" in the Presbyterian, April 16, 1835, Dr. R. J. Breckinridge affirms " That Dr. Hodge dictated, with the aid of the manuscript put into his hands by me, and drawn in part from Dr. Miller's letters, then recently published, the very words and letters now found under the head of ' Errors ' in the Act and Tes- timony. . . And so far from his making any general objec- tions, such as he has since reiterated, I left him, confidently hoping that he would favor, if not actually sign, the Act and Testimony." It was a question of "impression" and " hopes," which must always depend largely upon subjec- tive conditions of opinion and feeling and temperament. Under all the circumstances, it is not wonderful that Dr. Breckinridge should have misunderstood Dr. Hodge. But that he did entirely misunderstand him, and hence that this " Plain Statement" misrepresents him, is absolutely cer- tain. Dr. Hodge, in his address to the " Christian Public," in the Presbyterian, April 30, 1835, says : " The facts of the case, to the best of my recollection and belief, are briefly these : During my short stay in Philadelphia, in May last, I received a note from a friend that he would call upon me in 312 HIS RELATION TO THE " ACT AND TESTIMONY" [1834. company with Dr. R. J. Breckinridge on important business, but without any more special reference to the object of his visit. At the hour appointed they came. The first annun- ciation of their special object was in nearly these words: ' Brother Hodge, we want you to draw up a statement of the doctrinal errors prevailing in the Presbyterian Church.' I answered that this was work for a month ; that I was incompetent to the task, it being out of my line, and that I was to leave town the next morning for the sea-shore. I was, of course, at this time entirely ignorant of the pur- pose for which the statement was wanted. In order to make known this purpose, and that I might understand precisely what was desired of me, Mr. Breckinridge stated that there had been a meeting on the preceding evening of the minority of the General Assembly, and of some other gentlemen, at which he was appointed the chairman of a committee to draft an address to the churches. This ad- dress he then read, and said he wished to introduce into it a statement of the prevailing errors, and that it was in pre- paration of this statement he desired my assistance. This led to a conversation especially as to the class of errors which it would be proper to notice. In this conversation Professor Maclean, Mr. Breckinridge, his friend and myself, all took part. It was agreed that the statement ought to be confined to errors of the more important kind. After this Mr. Breckinridge took his pen and with the aid of his notes previously made, wrote down the several specifica- tions in the form which, after mutual consultation, was thought to be the best. In this point there was generally a coincidence of views : as to one of the articles, however, that respecting imputation, Mr. Breckinridge differed from his friends, and wrote it down as it now stands, in opposi- tion to their judgment. This was the whole of my agency in the business. It was not only unsolicited on my part, but was entirely unexpected ; it was performed as an office of friendship, and it was neither different nor greater than I I834-] HIS RELATION TO THE ACT AND TESTIMONY." 313 both could and would, under similar circumstances, per- form at the present moment, and with my present views and feelings respecting the Act and Testimony. " To the best of my recollection, there was but one other prominent topic of remark, and that was the article respect- ing Elective Affinity bodies. To this I strongly objected on the grounds afterwards urged in the Biblical Repertory" Professor, now ex-President Maclean, wrote to the Pres- byterian y April 17, 1835. "In the Presbyterian of last week allusion is made by the Rev. R. J. Breckinridge that I was present at the interview which took place between him and Rev. Professor Hodge, on the subject of the Act and Testimony. I feel constrained to let the readers of the Presbyterian know that my impression with regard to the views then entertained and expressed by Professor Hodge, differs entirely from Dr. Breckinridge's. Both Professor Hodge and myself expressed our apprehension that the measures suggested were to say the least of doubtful ten- dency, and that they might be productive of serious diffi- culties. ... I recollect that after Mr. Breckinridge had expressed his determination to have the document under discussion sent forth, by the minority of the last Assembly and their friends, as an official paper declarative of their views and course of action, Professor Hodge observed that if it were a settled point that the Act and Testimony was to be issued, it was important that the statement should be limited to serious and important errors, and that particular care should be used in specifying these errors, so that the same errors should not be presented in different forms, and that those clearly related should be classed with each other. " Mr. Breckinridge then avowed that his object in read- ing the paper to Professor Hodge was to get his aid in doing this very thing. Prof. Hodge consented to aid him, not, as I understood the matter, that he would, upon these alterations being made, be willing to give his countenance to the measures proposed, but merely because he wished 3 1 4 THE NE W SCHO OL SE CESSION. [1838. the Act and Testimony to be as free as possible from objec- tion, and because he felt a disposition to aid a friend, as far as he could do it conscientiously. Yours, JOHN MACLEAN." Also on the same day Professor Albert B. Dod wrote to the Presbyterian. " During the time that Dr. Hodge was in Philadelphia last spring, I lodged at the same house with him. In the evening of the same day on which the Rev. R. J. Breckin- ridge called upon Dr. Hodge to consult him in relation to the Act and Testimony, I had much conversation with him on the subject of this interview, and of the character and probable effects of the instrument. The opinions and views which he then expressed were substantially the same with those that have since been published in the Biblical Repertory. I cannot be mistaken in my recollection of the nature of his remarks, as they had a decided influence in forming my own views of the Act and Testimony, and in leading me .to decline, before leaving Philadelphia, to affix my signature to it." In consequence of the " Exscinding Acts " passed by the General Assembly of 1837, the stated clerk, in making up the roll of the members of the Assembly of 1838, omitted the names of all the delegates from the Presbyteries com- prised in the exscinded synods. Motions to recognize them were declared by the Moderator, Rev. Dr. David Elliott, to be out of order until after the Assembly was duly con- stituted by the making out of the roll. Mr. John P. Cleve- land, of the Presbytery of Detroit, then read a paper, of the nature of a protest and declaration of the necessity of revo- lutionary methods. In spite of being called to order by the constitutionally presiding officer, he nominated Dr. Beman to the chair. Dr. Beman took his station in the aisle of the church, and put the motion whereby Drs. E. Mason, and E. W. Gilbert were proposed for clerks, and 1838.] THE DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT. 315 Dr. S. Fisher for Moderator. These gentlemen, with their sympathizers, then withdrew to the First Presbyterian Church, where they formed the New School Assembly. The trustees of the General Assembly had been incor- porated under a charter from the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania, approved March 28, 1/99. The funds entrusted to their care had been raised in by far the largest part by the adherents of the Old School party, and fully four-fifths belonged to Princeton Theological Seminary. The New School Assembly, on the assumption that they carried the legal succession, necessarily chose new trustees in the place of those of the existing body adhering to the other party. Just as necessarily the existing members of the Board of Trustees, holding that the other Assembly carried the true succession, refused to recognize the new appointments of the new Assembly. Hence the New School applicants brought suit for the establishment of their rights as trustees, and hence for the legal settlement of the question of suc- cession from the historical line of General Assemblies, before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The trial was brought in the first instance before Judge Rogers at Nisi Prius and a special jury, March 4, 1839. Under the ruling of the judge the jury brought in a verdict in favor of the New School trustees and Assembly. The Old School trustees appealed to the Supreme Court in Bane for a new trial, when the case was heard and decided by all the supreme judges together. On May 8th, 1839, Chief Justice Gibson, read a judgment in which all the judges except Judge Rogers concurred, which reversed the finding of the lower court. They affirm that " the apparent injustice of the (exscinding) measures arises from the con- templation of it as a judicial sentence pronounced against parties who were never cited nor heard ; which it evidently was not. Even as a legislative act, it may have been a hard one, though certainly constitutional and strictly just" " We hold that the Assembly which met in the First Pres- 31 6 CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT. [1839. byterian Church was not the legitimate successor of the Assembly of 1837; and that the defendants (Old School trustees,) are not guilty of the usurpation with which they are charged." This bare statement of facts is sufficient to explain the following letters : DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, N. J., March 27, 1839. My Dear Brother : As you may well suppose, the' decision of the protracted law-suit against us has taken us altogether by surprise. No one here considered such a result as more than possible. We thought it probable the jury would not agree, and should not have been astonished at an unfavorable verdict. But that the Judge should be against us, and that with bitterness, never appeared as even pos- sible. All our friends, legal and clerical, had perfect confidence in our ultimate success up to the moment when the Judge pronounced his opinion. Our opinion of the justice of our cause, of course, re- mains unchanged. Whatever errors may have been committed in 1837, the assumption that the New School Assembly, organized in 1838, was regularly organized appears perfectly preposterous, and therefore the Judge's decision is a mystery. I have long taken pains to find out what disinterested and intelligent persons thought on this subject, and I have never seen or heard of one who expressed a doubt upon it. I regard the decision as a very great calamity, and as a very severe judgment of God, and bow to it accordingly. I firmly believe the New School party, as a party, to be the promoters of error and dis- order ; that the interests of religion are deeply involved and greatly endangered by the weight of power and influence which this decision will give them. God will doubtless bring good out of evil, as he will make the success of the Unitarians in New England, and the Hicks- ites in the Middle States, ultimately a blessing. His bringing good out of evil is his great prerogative, but the evil still remains evil. I have very great fears as to the result to the Old School party. If they had cohesion enough to hang together, and act together with vigor, they might soon recover from this blow. But there are so many geographical and sectional causes of disunion that I am very much afraid that if once deprived of the bond of a common and ven- erated name, and of common property, we shall be split into insignifi- cant fragments. We are, in the eye of the law, a secession from our 1839.] CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT. 317 own church ; the New England men have succeeded in getting that church to themselves. A re-union appears out of the question ; and I can hardly conceive of any arrangement by which the Seminary can be preserved should the decision of Judge Rogers be confirmed by the Judges in bane. I trust our leaders in Philadelphia will be preserved from rashness and imprudence and all evil speaking. A dark cloud is hanging over us, and our ways seem to be hedged up. It is very painful to think of Princeton Seminary going to ruin ; for it must go to ruin in the hands of New School men. They have a Seminary in New York, and can- not possibly supply both with students. Still, the Lord reigns, and He will do all things well. Your brother, C. HODGE. DR. HODGE TO DR. HENRY A. BOARDMAN. PRINCETON, Feb. 28, 1839. My Dear Sir: * * * * * * The important crisis in our church's history is just at hand. Its importance constantly rises in my view. The funds and institutions, though matters not to be slighted, are but a portion of the great interests at stake, and to have these interests committed to twelve men, taken up at random, is a very serious mat- ter. It seems to be one of God's purposes in this dispensation to make us feel that we are completely in His hands. The decision of a jury in such matters is very little different from the casting of the lot ; and I should feel nearly as I feel now if the great question at issue were to be decided on Monday by the throwing of dice. I hope this will make us all feel disposed to wait upon God, and earnestly to plead with Him to plead our cause and sustain the right. And should the cause be decided in our favor I trust there will not be one word of exultation uttered from any quarter. DR. HODGE TO DR. HENRY A. BOARDMAN. PRINCETON, March 28, 1839. My Dear Sir : * * * * I hope soon to get through with my revi- sion of the Commentary on the Romans to prepare it for translation into French, and will then go at my History. Perhaps it is now more important than ever that the work should be done, if, as I hope may be the case, it will tend to increase the respect and affection of Pres- byterians for the church of their fathers. We shall need now every bond to keep us together ; we must increase in mutual love and zeal for the truth, and for the order of our church, and for its real useful- ness. The danger is that if we lose our old name and standing and 31 8 CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT. [1839. common property we shall break into little fragments and cease to have much power to do good. I hope God may guide by his wisdom the brethren who are now to decide on our course. The interests at stake are far too momentous to be abandoned while there is any prospect of saving them. Tay- lorism never received such a mighty impulse as when Judge Rogers pronounced the New School Assembly the true General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and if that judgment is confirmed I shall think God has sore judgments in store for our land. This unexpected blow, after all our confident hopes, I trust will make us humble and lead us to submit to God without murmuring at Him or complaining of one another or of the opposite party. If the Old School could hang together now and do their duty we should, with God's blessing, soon recover from this severe stroke. Let me hear soon what has been determined upon ; and if the cause goes to the Judges in bane, when it is likely to be heard. Yours affectionately, C. HODGE. DR. HODGE TO DR. HENRY A. BOARDMAN. PRINCETON, April 13, 1839. My Dear Sir : I want to say a few things to you about the present position and prospects of our church, in which, I presume, you and I will not differ much. There can be no doubt that the present is one of the most trying periods in our whole history. It will try not only the principles but the graces of the church. And our future prospects depend, under God, very much upon the manner in which we shall now act. The great object is to produce unanimity ; to prevent any such diversity in counsels or measures as shall cause a division in our own ranks. You do not appear to fear this as much as I do. I have heard, how- ever, so many and such discordant expressions of confident opinions and purposes that I shall regard it as a special indication of God's power if the Old School party are led to act harmoniously and to keep their ranks unbroken. This can be effected in no other way than by humility and mutual concessions. No one man, and no few men, ought to attempt to decide what course the church should pursue in this emergency. We should remember that we are brethren, and that no one has a right to dictate to others, but that subjection to our brethren in the Lord is part of our ordination vows. As this is the case, I think we ought to keep ourselves uncommitted and unpledged until the meeting of the Assembly. It is impossible to know till then what the church generally will think right, and the way ought to be left 1839-] CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT. 3 I 9 open for it to take that course which the great body of the brethren shall deem to be right. It is on this account that I regret to see our papers, the Presbyterian and Watchman, pronounce so confidently what the party will or will not do ; and the latter even denouncing beforehand any who should advocate union with the opposite party even for an hour. I doubt not there will be found a large portion of sound Old School men who, on the supposition of an ultimate decision against us, will be in favor of a temporary union of the two parties with a view to such a separation as shall prevent litigation and secure our property and legal standing. We have heard here that Messrs. Alex- ander Henry, Bevan, Newkirk, Chauncey, Kane, Bayard, are all in favor of this course. Mr. Musgrave is in favor of it ; and I was told that a clergyman who was among his friends in Western Pennsyl- vania, when the news of the decision arrived, said that was the gen- eral feeling there. It will be found, also, I suspect, the general feel- ing in New York. Now, what a spectacle shall we exhibit if we go to denouncing each other ; if difference of opinion as to the best means of attaining the same end be made a breaking point among us. My own opinion is that this plan will be found impracticable. It obviously cannot be done at all unless there is a general unanimity in favor of it. Of this I have very little expectation ; and therefore think that those who would prefer it ought by all means to give way to their brethren. Even if a considerable minority were opposed, it could not be urged. Still, I think it unfortunate that it should be de- cided and given out beforehand, that we can and will in no case and for no purpose go back. This is the very position that the New School papers are driving us by taunts and insults to take. We are playing into their hands, therefore, by joining in this cry that the Old School cannot go back. They do not want us back ; they ought to feel that they are not quite secure from such visitation. A second plan is to stand aloof and claim to be the true church. This is beset with difficulties. We shall be seceders in the eye of the law, in Pennsylvania at least, and all titles to church property will be unsettled. In the second place, it will give rise, in all probability, to protracted litigation in all parts of the country, to the great scan- dal of the church and injury to religion ; and it will be voluntarily throwing in the hands of the friends of error and disorder immense advantages. A third plan is a legal compromise. This seems to me so ob- viously necessary and desirable for both parties that I do not believe the mass of the New School could be brought by their leaders to op- pose it. There may be legal difficulties in the way which I cannot 320 CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT. [1839. appreciate. It has occurred to me, however, that it might be effected by some such plan as this : According to our present charter, the General Assembly has two rights in relation to the Board of Trus- tees first, to appoint its members ; and second, to control the appli- cation of the funds. Why may not the charter be so altered as to confer these rights on the two Assemblies ? Let each have nine trustees in the Board, and each be authorized to direct the applica- tion of the funds, which, according to mutual agreement, shall be recognized as belonging to each. Such a contract could not be broken when once made, and our funds would be entirely under our own control. Neither party would then be in the position of seced- ers, and all litigation would be prevented throughout the country. The more I have thought of this plan the more does it appear to be practicable and desirable. I wish you would consult Mr. Chauncey and others on the subject. I have mentioned it to several brethren, who seem to think it would be wise. Among others, I talked with Dr. Nott about it, who was here yesterday, and who went from here to Philadelphia. The Doctor, I suspect, feels that the Philadelphia brethren have not as much confidence in him as he feels he deserves. But I am convinced that his aims are right, and that he could be of immense service to the church in adjusting our present difficulties to the satisfaction of all parties, if they would but confide in him. We, of course, are looking forward with great anxiety to the result of the argument next week. Yours truly, C. HODGE. JET AT. 4 J 9 CHAPTER IX. FROM THE CHANGE OF HIS PROFESSORSHIP, MAY, 1840, TO THE DEATH OF DR. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, OCTO- BER, 1851. HIS TRANSFER TO THE CHAIR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY HIS METHOD AND SUCCESS IN TEACHING THE Way of Life LETTERS FROM DR. A. ALEX- ANDER, BISHOP JOHNS, LUDWIG AND OTTO VON GERLACH HIS ARTICLES IN THE Princeton Review SLAVERY SUSTENTATION ROMISH BAPTISM HIS LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER, AND FROM DRS. BIGGS AND JOHNS- FRIENDSHIP AND CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM DEATH OF PROFESSOR ALBERT B. DOD MARRIAGE AND DEPARTUEE OF HIS CHILDREN DEATH OF HIS WIFE DISTURBED HEALTH DEATH OF HIS SENIOR COLLEAGUES. CHANGE OF PROFESSORSHIP. AT the suggestion of Dr. A. Alexander and the Board of Directors the General Assembly, in May, 1 840, made a readjustment of the chairs in the Seminary, in view of the advancing age of the Senior Professor. Dr. Alexander's title continued thenceforth till his death Professor of Pas- toral and Polemic Theology. Dr. Hodge was transferred to the chair formerly occupied by his venerable teacher, Dr. A. Alexander, and his title was made Professor of Exegetical and Didactic Theology. And Dr. J. A. Alexander became full and sole Professor of Oriental and Biblical Literature. At the death of Dr. Alexander Polemic Theology was ad- ded to the title of Prof. Hodge. In the meantime he re- tained to the day of his death his exegetical lectures to the Junior Class on the Pauline Epistles. While Dr. Addison Alexander took beside the Old Testament, the historical books, and the entire literature of t the New Testament. 21 321 322 CHANGE OF PROFESSORSHIP: [1840. This change, which was one of the capital and most ad- vantageous turning points of Dr. Hodge's life, was not only not sought by him, but regarded at first with decided aver- sion. DR. HODGE TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, May 11, 1840. My Dear Brother : How did you hear so soon of my being made Dr. Alexander's adjunct? The thing is not done yet, nor is it likely to be done in a hurry. It must pass the Assembly unanimously, or lie over for a year. That no one should object to it I should consider well nigh miraculous. I have felt it to be my duty to be perfectly quiet, and to make no intimation of my own wishes on the subject. For two reasons First, because I do not think my wishes ought to have anything to do with the business. I ought to be willing to do just what the church bids me. The second reason is, that I would not presume to put my wishes in opposition to those of Dr. Alexan- der. I think he ought, so far as I am concerned, to be allowed to do just as he pleases. To you, however, I may say in confidence, that I would give five thousand dollars, if I had them, to be let off. The new arrangement knocks all my plans in the head, and will increase my official labors for years to come fourfold. You must not say this to anybody, because, having given my consent to be disposed of as they see fit, it would be unfair to raise any obstacle, either directly or indirectly. I live in great hopes that it will fall through without any agency of mine. And then I shall have a clear conscience as well as a merry heart. Your affectionate brother, C. H. This feeling is remarkable in consideration of the fact that, from our point of view, his natural qualifications for the attainment of eminent excellence and usefulness in the new chair were far greater than any he possessed for the attainment of the same rank in the old one. Yet, it was surely not the least of the many singularly favorable provi- dential adjustments of the conditions of his life that he should have been required, by official duty, to exercise him- self for twenty years in a department of theological study to which his natural tastes did not dispose him. Thus, in a way in which for him it was alone possible, he was led to make acquisitions in the original languages of Scripture yET. 42.] CHANGE OF PROFESSORSHIP. 323 and in the science and practice of Biblical exegesis, which are professedly the basis of systematic theology, and yet are the qualifications in which the vast majority of specula- tive theologians have been more or less deficient. Conse- quently, it is confidently believed that very few of the emi- nent authors of our classical theological literature have equalled the subject of this memoir in the consistency in which they carried out their common principle of making the faithful and natural interpretation of the inspired Word the basis of all doctrinal induction, and in the Scriptural form and spirit, as well as substance, of their systematic writings. For the first eight or nine years of his work in the new department Dr. Hodge's method was such that he was enabled to accomplish the best results of his life in class instruction. Dr. Alexander continued to read his former theological lectures to the classes until Dr. Hodge had his course prepared. The first lectures the latter wrote were those on the Church, which were delivered during the win- ter of 1845-6. The first lectures forming parts of the theological course proper were written on the topics of the "Will" and the "Second Advent," and were read to' the class the same year. In the meantime he met both the Middle and Senior Classes twice a week each, Tuesday and Thursday, or Wednesday and Friday afternoons respect- ively. Before the first meeting of either class for the week the Professor assigned a topic and a corresponding section of Turrettine's Institutes of Theology in Latin for pre- vious study. When they met the hour was occupied by a thorough discussion of this subject in the form of question and answer. In this form of discipline his chief excellence as a teacher was brought into play. He questioned with consummate skill, forcing the pupil to do his own thinking, drawing him irresistibly to the conviction of the truth, or overturning his false positions with an inevitable reductio ad absurdum. As the truth was thus evolved, or as the Pro- 324 CHANGE OF PROFESSORSHIP. [1841. fessor finally amended the result in his own words, the stu- dents eagerly wrought to fix the whole in their note books. At the same time the Professor gave them a list of questions on the topic, numbering from twenty-five to forty, answers to which, written out in full, were to be read to him at the t meeting of the class nine days afterwards. These answers were elaborated out of materials drawn from Turrettine, and the notes taken in the class-room, and from any other source rendered accessible by the Seminary library. The highest enthusiasm was excited, and the most earnest dili- gence. The students built up to a degree their own systems of theology, and were vigorously exercised in criticism, construction and expression. Many carried away from the Seminary from two to six quarto volumes of manuscript filled with the results of this exercise, which, having afforded them the most profitable discipline in the past, continued to supply them with digested and arranged material for preaching which lasted during several of the early years of their ministry. About 1847-8 he began to lecture, at first in connection with the questions and answers written by the pupils, and afterwards without them. For years, although he re-wrote his lectures several times, he was harassed with the inevit- able experience of lecturers, in having his lectures system- atically taken down by stenographers, and subsequently copied from hand to hand and given back to him verbally at recitation. Long afterwards, for the few years that he taught after his " Systematic Theology " was published, his teaching became much more satisfactory to himself, when he used his work as his text-book and devoted the entire time allotted to his class in the old effective exercise of drill by questions and answers. "THE WAY OF LIFE." In 1841 the American Sunday School Union published his "Way of Life." This is a duodecimo of 380 pages, in JET. 43.] " THE WA Y OF LIFE." 325 which his design is to set clearly before the minds of edu- cated youth the great truths involved in the Gospel method of human salvation. The book is eminently luminous ; its characteristic attribute is light suffused with love. The doc- trines of Evangelical Protestantism are clearly and fully stated, yet in non-technical language, and with such simplicity and self-evidencing power that the compiler of these memoirs has constantly advised his theological students to read the "Way of Life" on the subjects of "Conviction of Sin," " Faith," 'Justification," " The Sacraments and Profession of Religion," and "Holy Living" in connection with the discussion of the same topics in the " Systematic Theology." It is so richly and definitely theological that Dr. Archibald Alexan- der, after reading the manuscript, while expressing his cor- dial approbation of it, declared his conviction that the Pub- lishing Committee of the Sunday School Union, consist- ing of the representatives of all evangelical denominations, could not agree in giving it their imprimatur. Yet, in fact, no suspicion even was manifested, except by the representa- tive of our then freshly antagonized New School brethren, and his apprehensions were easily set at rest, and the book was adopted unanimously. It was immediately reprinted by the London Religious Tract Society, and was subse- quently translated into Hindustani. Thirty-five thousand copies have been circulated in America, and the author's heart has been often filled with grateful joy from informa- tion of its having been, in many specific instances, owned of God in the conversion and edification of souls, alike in America and in Europe and in Asia. His own account of it is thus given in the Preface : " It is one of the clearest principles of divine revelation that holi- ness is the fruit of truth ; and it is one of the plainest infer- ences from that principle that the exhibition of the truth is the best means of promoting holiness. Christians regard the Word of God as the only infallible teacher of those truths which relate to the salvation of men. But are the 326 " THE WA Y OF LIFE." [1841. Scriptures really a revelation from God ? If they are, what doctrines do they teach ? And what influence should those doctrines exert on our heart and life ? " The Publishing Committee of the American Sunday School Union have long felt the want of a book which should give a plain answer to these questions, and be suit- able to place in the hands of intelligent and educated young persons, either to arouse their attention or to guide their steps in the WAY OF LIFE." The New England Puritan (March, 1842,) said of it: " We know not where the evidence of the divine origin of the Scriptures is presented in a way so well adapted to take effect upon the mind. It wins while it convinces. Here, in our opinion, is the sterling excellency of Dr. Hodge. While his mind is endowed with such clearness that it can throw a blaze of light upon any given subject, his heart is impregnated with such benevolence towards his fellow-men that almost every one who comes within the sphere of its attraction becomes a willing convert to his opinions. While he convinces the judgment, he carries captive the will. " But the evidence of the divine origin of the Scriptures is not the best part of the volume. The author was most at home on the doctrines, and there he is primus inter pares. No one, we think, can read the volume under consideration from the 53d to the 245th page almost two-thirds of the whole work without coming to the conclusion that no- where else within the same compass, out of the Sacred Record, can he find so much to instruct and to satisfy his mind and to edify his heart. The chapter on Justification especially pleased us." Yet, it is true that the expositions of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, of the Nature and Necessity of the Public Profession of Religion and of Holy Living are as exquisitely executed and as precious as any other parts of the work. >T. 43.] THE WA Y OF LIFE? 327 DR. ALEXANDER TO DR. HODGE. May ii, 1841. I have read the greater part of your manuscript and find nothing from which I feel disposed to dissent. Indeed, your views of the subjects treated correspond very exactly with those which I enter- tain. On the subject of faith, while there is a substantial agreement, there may be some slight shades of difference. For example, I make no difference between a saving and a justifying faith. I think that you make a difference with Dr. Owen. The chapters are entirely too long. It is of much importance that in such a work the chapters should be of moderate length. The first chapter ought undoubtedly to be divided into three. But even where the same subject is continued, it is better to have it divided. I find that in my own reading I am often turning to see how many pages remain before the termination of the chapter. As you have written the book for the Sunday School Union, it is useless to offer any remarks on that subject, otherwise I would strongly recommend the Board of Publication. It struck me as doubtful whether the S. S. Union could publish all that you have written without offence to some of their friends. For, to say nothing of Arminians who patronize that Institution, there are few of the New School ministers who believe in the imputation of Christ's active obedience, which is made prominent in your book. I would not have you, on any account, to alter a word for that reason, which would be disloyal to the truth. This is the great defect of the Insti- tution, that they cannot teach the whole truth, but only that part of it in which all their patrons are agreed. Yours, &c., A. ALEXANDER BISHOP JOHNS TO DR. HODGE. BALTIMORE, Feb. 15, 1842. If I were to write to you, my dear Charles, as often and as much as I muse about you, you would have to complain of the tax upon your time and your purse. Fortunately for you, my musings end where they begin, in my own mind and heart, and whilst they afford me no small amount of pleasure, inflict nothing upon you. If you desire to know how it comes to pass that they insist on expression now, understand that you alone are answerable for it. I have been reading your book, and it is not in me to refrain from communicat- 328 " THE WA Y OF LIFE." [1842. ing the proud satisfaction with which I have perused it. Will you believe it ? I was silly enough to feel all the while as if I had a hand in it myself, and my enjoyment was increased by a fiction, which I had no disposition to resist, that I was somehow honorably concerned in the production. One thing, however, is certain, I shall use it as freely as if it were all my own, and shall find it serviceable to my- self in a way in which it cannot be a help to its author. I have sent it out into my congregation with an unqualified endorsement, and hope soon to find it in every family under my care. I am sure it will be received with as much favor by the evangelical portion of our communion as among your own people, and do great good where, perhaps, you little anticipated it. The fifth chapter I read with peculiar satisfaction. It is so simple, so clear, so scriptural, I do not see how any one who bows to the au- thority of the Word can except to a single sentence, or how a sinner, conscious of his own guilt, can fail to acquiesce in it as indeed the Way of Life. The succession of arguments is stated conclusively, and the Biblical illustrations are most happily set forth and ap- plied. * * * * The passage from page 184 to the bottom of page 186 strikes me as the best of all the good things in the book. It has furnished me with a new form of presenting the subject to such as seek salvation, and I hope to be able to employ it for the guidance and relief of anx- ious minds. I admire the calm dignity with which you have written from the beginning to the end, yet with quite as much earnestness as is neces- sary to rouse and retain the interest of the reader. On the whole, those who don't know you personally will form a very good opinion of you from this book, and to those who do, it will disclose nothing to disturb such impression. Now let me write a little about the Doctor (Hugh Hodge). I sup- pose you know he has had my dear wife under his care ever since I was with you in September last. * * Hugh received me with a brother's interest, and has rendered us such services, and in such a spirit, that, apart from early and long cherished affection, he has bound me to himself by the strongest obligations. Truly your brother, J. JOHNS. The publication of the "Way of Life" was the occasion of his receiving from his old friend, Ludwig von Gerlach, then President-Justice of the province of Magdeburg, the following letter : ^T. 49.] THE WA Y OF LIFE." 329 LUDWIG VON GERLACH TO DR. HODGE. MAGDEBURG, August 8, 1847. My Dear Sir : By these lines a friend wishes to be recalled to your memory, who twenty years ago was connected with you in Christian fellowship, and who has never met you since that time, nor expects to meet you on this side of eternity. It is your tract " The Way of Life," which has led me to call on you by this probably un- expected letter; for during an official journey through the province of my jurisdiction, I have read this work ; and my feeling of union with you in faith and profession of the great fundamental truths of religion, has by this reading, become so strong and so lively, that I cannot forbear to express it, and to thank you for the spiritual bless- ing you have conferred on me by this book. These feelings are the more powerful on my mind on account of the difference of my present tendency from that of your tract. For this very minor dif- ference is shedding a brighter light on the essential unity, which our blessed Saviour, by His grace, His word, and His Spirit, has estab- lished between us ; and which, I trust, He will maintain through time and eternity. The development of Germany, in a religious and in a political respect, makes the Christians of our country to long after catholicity, and perhaps after the essential truth of what you would call " sacramental religion." It is not the way of salvation, which is now the prominent subject of our minds, but rather the high articles of the Divine Majesty, which occupied so much the primitive Church, and about which there was no difference of opinion between the contending parties of the i6th century. Being surrounded by Atheists and Pantheists, we strive to establish a consciousness of the essential unity of all Christians, Romanists not excepted ; and the great fact of the whole Church being the body of Christ is foremost in our minds. It will not do with us to take it for granted that the Bible the "sacred volume," as the English-speaking Christians call it is a whole (ein Ganzes) without inquiring how it came to be such, for the New Testament no where exhibits the idea of the New Testament as a book. And we cannot suppose, as you perhaps are entitled to do, that our inquiries are standing vis-a-vis of this book, and examining it as a whole. They oblige us to take higher ground, and to develop the ideas of authority and of inspiration, etc., in order to establish on firm ground the, for us, all important doctrine of the Church. But all this shall only give you an idea of the feelings with which I have thankfully perused your excellent tract, which exhibits in a very clear way and with great force those blessed doctrines, which constitute the true Way of Life, and in which it is delightful 33O " THE WA Y OF LIFE." [1842. for me to think that you on that, and I on this side of the ocean so heartily coincide. God grant that this coincidence be a pledge that we shall be united for ever before the throne of grace. You know that my brother Otto is now " Hof-prediger '' of our king. I am president of the court of justice of this province. Dur- ing the summer of 1844 I was in England, Scotland and Ireland, chiefly to study the law-institutions of those countries. But even this voyage has not prevented you, as you see, your being troubled by the very bad English of this letter, since I have very little occasion of speaking this language. I remain, through the Lord's grace, your very thankful, VON GERLACH. P. S. I do not know if you are reading the Evangelische Kir- chenzeitung. If you do you will find in the papers of June 1847, an article on the " Indivisibility of the Church," from my pen, which may give you some idea of the questions very important ones I trust now occupying our German minds. The chapter of your tract on baptism and the Lord's Supper is the only one from which I must dissent on any essential point. Your doctrine of the sacraments, as it seems to me, does not quite do justice to the " objective content and import " of these ordinances, but subjects them too much to the state of mind of the recipient, whom they are destined to justify and to sanctify. It is not clear to me, how, according to your doctrine, you can avoid rejecting pedo- baptism. I hold the sacraments to be in their nature, the actual means, not only signs and seals of grace, though the grace, by man's sin may be converted into curse. DR. OTTO VON GERLACH TO DR. HODGE. PARIS, July 27, 1842. My Dear Friend ': A long time has again elapsed since I last wrote to you. Meanwhile I have passed four months in England, "the country of your forefathers," as you remarked when leaving Berlin. When there I was upon point of following my inmost desire and visiting North America, and again, as I can truthfully say, seeing you my friend, who has become so dear to me. The bearer of this letter is your fellow-countryman, Mr. Prentiss, from the State of Maine. He is one of the worthiest and most estimable Americans I have ever met. He is acquainted with all the particulars concerning my journey in England and will relate them to you. 1842.] " THE WAY OF LIFE." 331 While in London I had many thoughts of you, and I also pur- chased your " Way of Life!" In fourteen days I hope to be in Berlin again. I am residing there now in very great activity, which also yearly increases. Our king has not only introduced a general tolerance, but he will also elevate the standard of the established Church, in order that it may manifest its own wants. Advisory synods have already arisen in a greater part of the land. It is un- true that he wishes to introduce the English Episcopal Church, as is urged against him especially in France. He has, indeed, a liking for certain of its institutions, but not, however, for the organization as a whole. Moreover, generally speaking, he will not introduce any- thing into the Church by virtue of his kingly authority, but only upon decision of the Church itself. That the bishopric in Jerusalem should point toward this is therefore false. I disapprove of some things in this organization so much that I can only regard the present situation of our Church on the whole as most highly gratifying and rich in blessings for which all Christians, who, like myself, are not English Episcopalians, and do not wish to become so, ought to thank God. On the whole I hope that the Christian life will progress, as indeed the sorrowful condition of our great cities especially causes terror. In this respect we can now learn much in England, for it is truly wonderful how many churches have arisen there. Indeed, if Puseyism should be more widely spread, a terrible crisis might threaten the English Church, and I believe that this tendency, although in a more moderate form, is spreading considerably. The- ological learning is lacking very greatly in English evangelical works, and therefore the people cannot withstand the evidently igno- rant, but yet more influential and important men of the Puseyite sect. I spent several days at Oxford in dispute with Dr. Pusey. He is a very poor, weak man. How much would I have to say to you in regard to all this. Yet I must draw my letter to a close. Pray let me hear from you again as occasion may present itself. In sincere love I remain, as ever, Your friend, OTTO VON GERLACH. Though he subsequently received some letters from Tho- luck, yet from this time his correspondence with his Chris- tian German friends practically ceases. Time and distance, and occupation with new scenes and persons made active intercourse impossible. Yet the affection was immortal, and in his very last days the photographs of Ludwig von 332 ARTICLES IN THE "PRINCETON REVIEW" [1840-51. Gerlach, of Tholuck, and of Bishop Johns were around his desk and kept in constant recognition, while those of many friends of more recent acquisition were pushed aside for them. HIS ARTICLES IN THE "PRINCETON REVIEW." During this decade he wrote no book except the " Way of Life." But his pen was more active than at any other period of his life in writing his lectures on the Church and on Theology, his articles in the Princeton Review, and innumerable letters in answer to applications made for his opinion, or aid to others in forming their opinions on all conceivable subjects. His contributions to the Princeton Review during this period were : 1 840 Presbyterianism in Virginia ; Dr. Hill's American Presbyterianism ; New Jersey College and President Davies ; The General Assembly ; Discourse on Religion by Mr. Coit. 1841 Bishop Doane and the Oxford Tracts (with Prof. J. A. A.). 1842 The Theological Opinions of President Davies Milman's History of Christianity ; The General Assembly; Rule of Faith. 1843 Rights of Ruling Elders ; The General Assembly. 1844 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (with Prof. J. A. A.) ; Claims of the Free Church of Scot- land ; The General Assembly ; Abolitionism. 1845 Beman on the Atonement ; Thornwell on the Apocrypha ; SchafFs Protestantism ; The General As- sembly. 1846 Theories of the Church; Is the Church of Rome a part of the Visible Church ? The General Assembly ; Neil's Lectures on Biblical History; The Religious State of Germany ; The late Dr. John Breckinridge ; The Life and Writings of Dr. Richards. 1 847 Finney's Lectures on Theology ; The Support of JET. 38-46.] SLA VER Y. 233 the Clergy ; The General Assembly (with Dr. Hope) ; Bush- nell on Christian Nurture. 1848 The Doctrine of the Reformed Church; The Gen- eral Assembly; Dr. Spring on the Power of the Pulpit (with Prof. J. A. A.). 1849 The American Board, Special Report of the Pru- dential Committee; Bushnell's Discourses; The General Assembly ; Emancipation. 1850 The Memoir of Walter M. Lowrie; The General Assembly ; Prof. Park's Sermon. 1851 Civil Government; Remarks on the Princeton Review ; The General Assembly ; Prof. Park and the Princeton Review. The most important of these may be classified as fol- lows: SLAVERY. I. The articles " On Slavery/' April, 1836, and "On Emancipation as accomplished in the West Indies," Oc- tober, 1838, and "On Abolitionism," October, 1844, an d " On Emancipation as proposed by Dr. R. J. Breckinridge in Kentucky," October, 1849 form an important class. The first and the last of these were included in a selection from his articles, arid published in a volume in 1856, and again in 1 879, under the title of " Essays and Reviews," by Charles Hodge. It was his most conspicuous and uniform characteristic, all his life, and in every region of thought, to make the inspired Word of God, and neither his intuitions, nor his sentiments, nor the opinions of mankind, the absolute rule of his thinking and of his convictions. Hence he was equally out of sympathy with the pro-slavery men who re- garded the institution divine and to be perpetuated as good in itself, and with the "Abolitionists," who held the holding of slaves to be a sin in itself, to be in every case visited with Christian condemnation and ecclesiastical discipline. 334 SLAVERY. [1836-44- He was, on the other hand, in hearty sympathy with the many Southern Christians who strove to follow the will of Christ under the providential conditions He had im- posed upon them, and with the Colonization Society, and with the noble efforts of Dr. R. J. Breckinridge and his co- adjutors in the work of emancipation in Kentucky. This position he maintained, in all respects unchanged, to his dying day. His own explanation of his position on these delicate points is given in his " Retrospect of the History of the Princeton Review" written in 1871 : "The conduct- ors of this Review have always endeavored to adhere faith- fully to the principle that the Scriptures are the only infal- lible rule of faith and practice. Therefore, when any matter, either of doctrine or morals, came under discussion, the question with them was, ' What saith the Lord ?' Nothing that the Bible pronounces true can be false ; nothing that it declares to be false can be true ; nothing is obligatory on the conscience but what it enjoins ; nothing can be sin but what it condemns. If, therefore, the Scriptures under the Old Dispensation permitted men to hold slaves, and if the New Testament nowhere condemns slave-holding, but pre- scribes the relative duties of masters and slaves, then to pronounce slave-holding to be in itself sinful is contrary to the Scriptures. In like manner, if the Bible nowhere con- demns the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, if our Lord himself drank wine, then to say that all use of intox- icating liquor as a beverage is sin, is only one of the many forms of the infidelity of benevolence. It is as much con- trary to our allegiance to the Bible to make our own notions of right or wrong the rule of duty as to make our own rea- son the rule of faith. " It is well known that both slavery and intemperance Were matters of national importance, and awakened earnest and continued controversy. As to slavery, so far as the North was concerned, it was universally regarded as an evil, which ought in some way to be brought to an end. The MT. 38-46.] SLA VER Y. 335 difference of opinion related to the means by which that end was to be accomplished. The Abolitionists, so called, maintained that all slave-holding, as inconsistent with the inalienable rights of man and with the law of love, is sinful ; and, therefore, that immediate and universal emanci- pation was an imperative duty. Another necessary conse- quence of the assumption that ' slave-holding is a heinous crime against God and man,' is that no slave-holder could properly be admitted to Christian fellowship. As the people of God, under the Old Dispensation, were allowed by law to purchase slaves, and to hold those of heathen origin in per- petual bondage; as slavery existed among the Romans, Greeks and Jews during the apostolic age; as neither Christ nor his apostles denounced slave-holding as a crime, nor taught that emancipation was an imperative and imme- diate duty; and as, beyond doubt, the apostles admitted slave- holders to the communion of the Christian Church, the con- ductors of this Review, from first to last, maintained that the doctrine that slave-holding is in itself a crime, is anti-scrip- tural, and subversive of the authority of the Word of God. " The principles maintained in the articles above named are, (i) That slavery is, as defined by Paley, 'An obligation to labor for the benefit of the master, without the contract or consent of the servant.' It involves the deprivation of personal liberty, obligation of service at the discretion of another, and the transferable character of the authority and claim of service of the master. (2) The slave, accord- ing to this definition, is the property of his master. But property is merely the right of possession and use. The rights therein involved differ according to the nature of the thing possessed. A man has the right of property in his wife, his children, in his houses and land, his cattle and ser- vants. Property in a horse does not involve the right to treat it as a log of wood ; and property in man does not in- volve the right to use him as a brute. He can be used only as a rational, moral and immortal creature can, according to 336 SLAVERY. [1836-44. divine law, be rightfully used. All the rights conceded to him by the Word of God must be faithfully regarded. (3) The master, therefore, is bound to provide for the intellec- tual and moral education of the slave. Every human being has the right to be taught to read the Word of God, and learn the way of salvation for himself. Secondly, the mas- ter is bound to respect the conjugal rights of his slaves; and this forbids the separation of husbands and wives. Thirdly, he is bound to respect their parental rights, and this pre- vents the separation of parents and their minor children. Fourthly, he is bound to give them a fair compensation for their labor, which supposes the right on the part of the slave to hold property. Any laws inconsistent with these principles are unscriptural and unjust, and ought to be im- mediately abrogated. (4) The consequences of acting on k these principles would be the speedy and peaceful abroga- tion of slavery, the gradual elevation of the slaves to all the rights of free citizens. This is the ground taken in the art- icle of 1836. In the conclusion of that article it is said: ' It may be objected that if the slaves are allowed so to im- prove as to become free men, the next step in their progress is that they will become citizens. We admit that it is so. The feudal serf first became a tenant, then a proprietor in- vested with political power. This is the natural progress of political society, and it should be allowed freely to expand itself, or it will work its own destruction.' " The great popular mistake on this subject a mistake which produced incalculable evil was confounding slave- holding with slave laws. Because a despotic monarch may make unjust and cruel laws, in order to keep his people in a state of degradation, that his power may be secured and rendered permanent, it does not follow that an absolute monarchy is 'a heinous crime in the sight of God and man.' In like manner, because the laws of a slave-holding State may be unscriptural and wicked, it does not follow that slave-holding is itself sinful." MT. 47.] BE MAN ON THE ATONEMENT. 337 II. The articles on the " Rule of Faith," " Beman on the Atonement," " Bushnell on Christian Culture," and " Profes- sor Park's Sermon, entitled ' The Theology of the Intellect and that of the Feelings/ " all of them attracted general at- tention, and built up his reputation as a sound theologian and an effective controversialist. They were all reprinted in America and Great Britain in the volumes entitled " Prince- ton Essays" and " Essays and Reviews." The article in review of Beman on the Atonement was published in Scotland under the title " The Orthodox Doctrine regarding the Atonement vindicated by Charles Hodge, D. D., &c.," with a Recommendatory Preface by the Rev. Dr. Cunningham, Prof. McCrie, Drs. Candlish and Symington. In the Free Church Magazine, 1846, there is a notice of that volume by Dr. W. M. Hetherington, as follows : " It would be difficult to mention another treatise of the same size in which so much useful information will be found, both in regard to the nature and to the extent of the Atone- ment. Dr. Hodge is already most favorably known in this country by some theological works as remarkable for the profound learning they indicate as for the dignified simpli- city with which themes of sacred learning are discussed in them. One prevailing feature of his writings is the evidence they constantly supply that his orthodoxy is not merely a passive impression, but the attainment of a mind vigorously exercised in the search of truth. . This treatise gives a lucid summary of the most important points bearing on present controversies respecting the Atonement, is written in a strain of calm power and dignity, and successfully com- bats the sophistries through which so many authors attempt to refute the old and orthodox doctrine, not by fair argu- ments against it, but by an utter caricature of the doctrine itself." III. His article on the " Claims of the Free Church of Scotland" was written in the spring of 1844, just after 22 338 SUSTENTATION. [1847. the first two visits of Dr. Wm. Cunningham to his house. It was regarded by that eminent Free-churchman himself as a faithful exposition of the principles of that body, and as an efficient plea for its moral and material support. Upon his return to Scotland Dr. Cunningham read copious ex- tracts from this article, in connection with his report to the General Assembly. The moderator, Dr. Gordon, in thank- ing Dr. Cunningham and his colleagues in the commission said among other things : " I think he (Dr. C.) has pro- duced in the extracts which he has read from the living American divine, who, of all others of whom I have read, I do most honor and esteem, evidence that the feeling which he (Dr. C.) has awakened by the simple exposition of our principles is already working for good in America itself." IV. His article on "Civil Government" and the trans- cendently important principles he held as to the relation of the Church to the State, and of the State to the Christian Religion, will be more appropriately discussed when we come to his articles on the state of the country and of the Church, written during the civil war. V. His article on the "Theories of the Church," and that on the " Rights of Ruling Elders," form pa/t of a series covering the entire department of ecclesiology, which, although written and delivered as lectures to his Seminary classes during the decade embraced in this chapter, were nevertheless, for the most part, not published until ten years afterwards, when they led to considerable discussion and to the exhibition of much diversity of opinion. SUSTENTATION. VI. The article on the " Support of the Clergy," July, 1847, was a review of "An Earnest Appeal" to the Free Church of Scotland on the subject of " Economics," by Thomas Chalmers, D. D. At the same time Dr. Hodge made his sermon as Moderator at the opening of the Gen- eral Assembly at Richmond, an earnest appeal to the ^T. 49-] SUSTENTATION. 339 American Church in behalf of the great principles fought for by Dr. Chalmers in Scotland, and subsequently by Dr. McCosh and Dr. Jacobus by means of the " Sustentation Scheme" in America. Dr. Hodge is thus proved to have been the first and the most persistent advocate of this most necessary reform in our ecclesiastical administration. Nine- teen years afterwards, in an article on " The Sustentation Fund," January, 1866, he reiterates this plea with increased force of argument and intensity of conviction. He defines a "Sustentation Fund" to be "A sum raised by annual contributions to carry out the two principles, first, that every minister of the gospel, devoted to his work, is enti- tled, by the command of Christ, to a competent support; and secondly, that the obligation to furnish that support rests upon the Church as a whole. That is, that the Church, in her organic unity, is bound to provide an ade- quate support for every man whom she ordains to the min- istry, and who is qualified and willing to devote himself to her service. The soundness of these principles we have en- deavored to establish." These principles he always held to be not only true, but of the greatest practical importance, and that their practical execution was especially demanded by the conditions of the American Presbyterian Church. He sympathized with all his heart with the gallant struggle to carry those principles into action by Dr. Jacobus and the Sustentation Committee, and he lamented the failure of that enterprise as a great ecclesiastical disaster. VII. In his articles on the General Assembly, the most important subjects of permanent interest discussed were the " Validity of the Baptism of the Roman Catholic Church," the " Quorum," and " Elder Questions," and the " Marriage of a Man with the Sister of his deceased Wife." The "Quorum" and "Elder Questions" will fall properly under the consideration of his articles on the Church and its offi- cers, which is reserved for a future page. As to the mar- riage of a man with the sister of his deceased wife, he ar- 340 ROMISH BAPTISM. [1845. gued, both on the floor of the Assemblies of 1842 and 1847, and in his articles on the Assembly for 1842, 1843 and 1847, that such marriages are forbidden in Scripture, and there- fore unlawful for Christians, to be forbidden and made the occasion of discipline by the church courts; but, on the other hand r that they are not invalid, and that the parties to them should not be separated and might, after a period of suspension, be restored to the communion of the church. ROMISH BAPTISM. The General Assembly which met at Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1845, suddenly fulminated by a vote of one hundred and sixty-nine to eight, non liquet eight, the new and anti- Protestant doctrine that baptism administered by a Roman Catholic priest was not Christian Baptism. Dr. Hodge always lamented this as a great blunder, as well as an un- true decision of injurious consequence. In his article on " The General Assembly" for that year, and in his article "Is the Church of Rome part of the visible Church?'* published April, 1846, he vigorously combated that de- cision. He held that the papacy, the institution, not the person, is anti-Christ,* and that the order and teaching of the Romish Church is in many respects corrupted and overlaid by false and soul-destroying abuses and errors. Yet he held and believed that he proved (i) that the great body of people constituting the Roman Catholic Church do profess the essentials of the true Christian religion, whereby many of them bear the image of Christ, and are participants of His salvation. (2) Hence that that community, how- ever corrupt is a part of the visible Church on earth, the field with the wheat mixed with tares. (3) That the essentials as to " matter" and " form " of Christian Baptism are observed by the Catholic Priest, when he administers that sacrament. (4) And hence it was to be recognized by * Systematic Theology, Vol. iii. pp. 812-823.. ^ET. 48.] ROMISH BAPTISM. 341 all loyal to the great Head of the whole Church as Chris- tian Baptism. (5) That the Reformers and great Protestant theologians had universally and uniformly held and prac- tically recognized Romish Baptism to be Christian Baptism, irregular and deformed by superstitions, but still valid. (6) That this truly Protestant position had been held by the great body of the Protestant Churches to the present time. He was the author of the Answer to the invitation ad- dressed by Pius IX., in his Encyclical to all Protestants " to return to the one only fold," on the occasion of the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, held in Rome, 1869 70. This response, signed officially by Drs. M. W. Jacobus and P. H. Fowler, the Moderators of the two General As- semblies of 1869, was certainly surpassed as to lofty dignity, knowledge, charity, steadfast and ecumenical orthodoxy, and power by none, and equaled by very few of the many answers on that occasion addressed by Protestants to the Head of the Catholic world. On the occasion of writing this address to the Pope he received the following letter from Dr. William Adams, now President of Union Theological Seminary, New York : DR. WM. ADAMS TO DR. HODGE. NEW YORK, June i7th, 1869. My Dear Dr. Hodge : I have received from Dr. Musgrave the manuscript of your reply to the Pope. It is admirable every ivay. I see not how it could be improved. You were right in judging that objurgation was impertinent to the occasion. Every thing is put in the simple, pointed, dignified manner becoming a Christian scholar and theologian. You may be sure that you have done an excellent service in con- senting to prepare this paper. It will do good at home, in other churches besides that of Rome, and I beg you to accept my sincere thanks as one of the Nominating Committee. ****** With cordial esteem, Your friend and brother, WILLIAM ADAMS. 342 ROMISH BAPTISM. [1846. In August, 1872, he was asked by letter his opinion as to the propriety of granting tracts of land along a railroad for the purpose of building Roman Catholic churches. He answered : " Others say that inasmuch as the Roman Catho- lic Church teaches truth enough to save the souls of men (of which I have no doubt) ; inasmuch as it proclaims the divine authority of the Scriptures, the obligation of the decalogue, and the retributions of eternity ; and inasmuch as it calls upon men to worship God the Father, Son and Spirit, it is unspeakably better than no church at all. And_, therefore, when the choice is between that and none, it is wise and right to encourage the establishment of churches under the control of Catholic priests. For myself, I take this view. The principle cannot be carried out that no church is to be encouraged which teaches error."* He closes his argument in the Princeton Review, April, 1846 : " It is said we give up too much to the Papists if we admit Romanists to be in the church. To this we answer Every false position is a weak position. The cause of truth suffers in no way more than from identifying it with error, which is always done when its friends advocate it on false principles. When one says we favor intemper- ance unless we say that the use of intoxicating liquors is sinful ; another, that we favor slavery unless we say slave-holding is a sin ; and a third, that we favor Popery unless we say the Church of Rome is no church, they all, as it seems to us, make the same mistake ancl greatly injure the cause in which they are engaged. They give the adver- sary an advantage over them, and they fail to enlist the strength of their own side. It is a great mistake to sup- pose that Popery is aided by admitting what truth it does include. What gives it its power, what constitutes its pecu- liarly dangerous character, is that it is not pure infidelity, it is not the entire rejection of the gospel, but truth sur- rounded by enticing and destructive error." * Presbyterian, August loth, 1872. MT. 48.] MODERA TOR. 343 There is no more characteristic passage to be found in his whole writings. And in these opinions he agreed with all his brethren in Princeton, with the Reformers, the great theologians of the past and the Scotch theologians of to- day. MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. He was a member for the first time of the General As- sembly of 1842, having been hitherto prevented from attend- ing by his lameness. He was again sent as a delegate to the General Assembly which met in the loth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, May, 1846, when he was elected Moderator. He attended as a commissioner the next As- sembly in Richmond, May, 1847, and opened its sessions with a sermon in which he advocated the erection of a Board of Sustentation for the more uniform and systematic support of the clergy. HIS LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER. LHis letters to his brother during this period, from 1840 to 1851, continued frequent and regular, and were filled with all the details of family life. All he thinks and feels, all his anxieties with respect to his children or the church or the country, all the symptoms of the children's suc- cessive sicknesses, all the events which marked the stages of their mental or physical growth are minutely recorded. TO HIS BROTHER. PRINCETON, March 13, 1840. My Dear Brother : My remark about my horrible poverty, in my last, was not intended as a hint. When very bad off, I shall go be- yond hinting. 'It is true, I had not a cent in the world, nor have had for some time^i But then here is the Bank ; and what is a Bank worth but to let people overdraw ? Ours is good-natured enough to let us suck out fives and tens through a straw ; a check for a hundred or two they might endorse " No Funds ! " but they would hardly in- sult a gentleman for five dollars. Still, this is ugly business, and I feel much better since I received your hundred dollars, for which, 344 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. [1840-51. therefore, I am much obliged to you. I will give you an order on my publisher for payment. You surely need not open your eyes at a poor author ; for when was an author otherwise than poor, unless he wrote novels. Your affectionate brother, C. H. TO THE SAME. PRINCETON, April 28, 1840. M (a daughter visiting her uncle) tells me that you laughed much at my sending her two dollars. I can remember the time, old fellow, when the sight of two dollars would have made you laugh with a very different emotion. You do not know what it is to be a Presbyterian Abbe, with seven children. Only think of seven mouths, seven pair of feet, seven empty heads, and worse than all seven pairs of knees and elbows. Don't take this for a begging let- ter ; for Friday is the first of May, when I expect to be as rich as Croesus for a week. Your brother, C. H. TO THE SAME. PRINCETON, June 18, 1841. My Dear Brother: [The conduct of the House of Representatives, in Washington, is enough to put one out of conceit with Republican- ism. The Southern members act like a set of big boys, and the Northern ones are just as foolish. The fuss they make about the right of petition is just as unreasonable as the commotion about abo- lition. It has always, however, been so. Commotion, noise, non- sense, and at times violence are the price of liberty, and on the whole are better than the stagnation of despotism?] Wise is the beau ideal of Southern gasconade. Your brother, C. H. TO THE SAME. PRINCETON, Sept. 17, 1841. My Dear Brother: I thank you for sending the papers at this un- precedented crisis in our affairs. It seems to me there can be but one opinion either as to the President's conduct, or as to the duty of the Whigs. Mr. Ewing's letter contains irresistible evidence of its truth, and is confirmed by all kinds of collateral evidence. Assum- ing the truth of its statements,|^Jr. Tyler is not only a weak, but a dishonorable and dishonest man.] Now that this humiliating fact has been disclosed, people begin tolook at his past history. And the ^ET. 43-1 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. 345 singular fact, which had escaped notice, that not one of the Virginia delegates at the Harrisburg Convention voted for his nomination to the Vice-Presidency shows that they knew more about him than others did. Still, it is probable that it was not until his head was turned by his being made President that his principles were found to be too weak to stand the temptations of that exalted station. Dr. Benjamin Rice told me that he remembers when he (Tyler) became Governor of Virginia, people lifted up their hands and said " Think of John Tyler being Governor of Virginia ! " His messages, espe- cially the first veto, show him to be a man of inferior mind, and his conduct to his Cabinet and his party show him to be mean and dis- honest. [it seems to me that if the Whigs would only act on moral instead of party principles, it would be a great blessing to the country and the best course for themselves.] Let them give the President a fair hearing and every opportunity of clearing himself from the over- whelming charges of Mr. Ewing. If he can do it, then all is well. If he cannot, then let them say to him, "We are done with you. Not one of our party will accept or retain office under you. We will do what we can for the country, but we will not condescend to serve under you." If the other party would pick him out of the gutter let them do it. But I do not believe they would. On the con- trary, I believe he would be forced to resign in less than six months. Thinking that this is the plain course of duty, I feel greatly morti- fied at the conduct of Mr. Webster. I am glad he retains his place for the time being, but his reasons for doing so condemn him. His saying that there was no sufficient reason for the resignation of the Cabinet, and by implication that his colleagues did wrong in giving up their places, shows that his state of mind on the whole subject is entirely different from that of his friends. I have sufficient con- fidence in the moral feelings of the community to be confident that if Mr. Webster joins himself with Tyler he will sink with him. The load of infamy which attaches to the latter is enough to weigh down all that associate themselves with his fortunes. I cannot have any respect for any man who accepts a place in the new Cabinet ; and shall be astonished if Mr. Legare or Judge Maclean accept their appointments. As to the charge against Mr. Ewing, of revealing Cabinet secrets, it seems to me to be entirely unfounded. The obligation to secrecy cannot extend to all cases. It is limited by the nature of the object for which that secrecy is enjoined. If a President should be plotting treason, his Cabinet are bound to disclose it. And if it is necessary to the vindication of the character of a Minister to relate what passed 346 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER [1844. in the Cabinet, I am not sure that he has not a right to do it. But Mr. Ewing does not need the advantage of either of these grounds of defence. Mr. Tyler commissioned him and Mr. Webster to com- municate his views to Mr. Sergeant, and to Mr. Berrien and others. Mr. Ewing, therefore, has revealed no secret ; the main facts were communicated by the President's message. This seems to be a full vindication, without resorting to the example of the President himself, through whom Cabinet secrets are said to have found their way to Bennett's Herald ! Taking it altogether, the whole affair is the most extraordinary event in our history, and the issue, I fear, depends very much on Webster. If he separates himself from the Whigs, who will and ought to repudiate the President, on him will rest the responsibility of the schism in the Whig party. And the result will probably be defeat to them with certain dis- appointment and disgrace to him. ^Here is a letter of real politics, which, when connected with morals and the character and interests of the country, is a subject second only to religion in importance77 Your brother, C. H. TO THE SAME. PRINCETON, Dec. 15, 1844. My Dear Brother : You ask me for a dish of politics. I could only give you a plate of picked bones. [The Whig party seems to have made a great mistake ; either they have not patriotism enough to give up personal objects for the general good, or, what is probably the case, they have not been able to identify themselves with the masses. In this country the Democratic party must always be the strongest, and it is only on extraordinary occasions, and for a short period, that the Whig, the Conservative, the Federal, or by whatever name the mass of the intelligence and property of the country may be called, can get the upper han d/* Such an occasion occurred in 1840. The fruits of that triumph were lost mainly by the treachery of Tyler, partly by the passion and selfishness of the Whigs. I am afraid, when they found that Tyler was unfaithful, they determined to make his administration as unpopular and as disastrous as possi- ble. If the country, at the end of his term, is prosperous, there will be no crying necessity for a change of policy, and for Mr. Clay ; but it everything is going to ruin, as under Van Buren, then a change will be demanded. I fear this is the ground of their opposition to the Tariff, which passed by a bare majority, and especially of their refusal to adopt the exchequer bill of Tyler (i. me of them to take home with me, as I am sure they will be read with great interest by my brethren. I fear that in other respects I must request you to take the trouble of disposing of them in the way you yourself may think best fitted to ' promote the object in view, except I would like a small parcel of them addressed to Mr. Chalmers, care of the Rev. Mr. Blagden, Old South Church, Boston. The cause has been taken up cordially here by the Congregation- alists and the Baptists. I don't know what may be the result in a pecuniary point of view, but as I have not heard of any very large subscriptions from individuals, I fear the sum total will not come to a great deal. Give kindest regards to Mrs. Hodge and all the members of your family, to Dr. Miller, to Dr. Alexander and his sons, and believe me, my dear sir, Very sincerely yours, WM. CUNNINGHAM. In order that the allusions to the Abolitionists in this correspondence may be understood, it must be recollected that Dr. Hodge and the great mass of the American Christ- ians with whom Dr. Cunningham came in contact, were not pro-slavery men, "but held, as Dr. R. J. Breckinridge told Dr. Cunningham in a letter, dated Nov., 1844: "(i) That slavery is a great evil, and ought to be somehow and some- time brought to an end. (2) That it is not a sin, in the proper sense of the word, and, therefore, cannot be a proper ground of expulsion from the Church." " On the other hand," says Dr. Rainy, in his ' Life of Wm. Cunningham,' p. 221, " some of the American Abolitionists (' technically so called/ as Dr. Breckinridge says,) seeing some likelihood of troubled waters, came across to fish in them. That party included, as is very well known, a number of persons who were not particular in their choice of weapons. They villi- fied the Free Church as. associating with slave-holders for the sake of pecuniary gain, and raised the cry of ' Send back the money.' As their antecedents became known and their methods of warfare observed, they lost their influence and vanished again." VET. 46.] CORRESPONDENCE. 357 DR. CUNNINGHAM TO DR. HODGE. EDINBURGH, i5th of July, 1844. My Dear Sir: I arrived safely in Edinburgh on the i6th of May and found my wife and children in the enjoyment of good health, and the affairs of the Free Church in a very flourishing condition. We have had a very interesting and gratifying meeting of the Assem- bly. We are now delivered wholly from the unpleasant contentions with unchristian men, in which we had been so long engaged, and are, I think I may say, devoting ourselves with united energy and zeal to the improvement of the important facilities for the promotion of true religion, with which in providence we are favored. I regretted that I had not an opportunity of revising the Witness' report of the statement I made about my visit to America. Report- ing here is not nearly so perfect as in London, and the report of what I said is neither very accurate nor complete. I succeeded in preventing our Assembly from doing anything on the subject of slavery, except appointing a committee to consider it, and I shall do what I can to get them to do as little as possible. I suppose I must submit to being branded by the Abolitionists as hav- ing been corrupted by the money and hospitality of slave-holders. I most earnestly wish, however, that the churches of the United States could be stirred up to do something more than they have been doing of late years in regard to slavery, at least to the extent of seek- ing the abolition of what all condemn, such as the prohibition of in- struction and the separation of families, for, although we generally profess here to hold anti-slavery principles, I believe that it is these atrocious slave laws and their immediate practical results that chiefly excite our indignation, not only against those who practice them, but against all who may be supposed to connive at or tolerate them. I would fain hope that the proceedings of the Methodist Conference in regard to Bishop Andrews, which I have just read in the Presbyterian, indicate a growing sense of the necessity of the churches bestirring themselves in this matter. Dr. Burns has, since his return, been lec- turing in different parts of the country upon his visit to America, and upon the whole has not, I understand, been guilty of any very great indiscretion. He has usually introduced the subject of slavery, and told some stories of church members being sold, the husband sepa- rated from the wife, and the mother from her children. I will con- tinue to do what I can to preserve peace, as I am satisfied that no- thing we can do will have any beneficial effect, and because I cannot see that there rests upon us any obligation to testify upon the subject irrespective of a testimony being likely to do good. 358 CORRESPONDENCE. [1844. By the kindness of a friend I have got the use of a very comfort- able and beautifully situated country house, nine miles to the south of Edinburgh, where I expect to have three months of uninterrupted study to prepare for the labors of our Theological Seminary in No- vember. I would fain hope that the decisive votes in your Assembly will put an end to your contentions about the Elder question, and leave you at leisure to prosecute the important objects you have taken up in regard to churches and schools. Just before leaving America I received a few copies from home of a book for young people, called ' Witnesses for the Truth," and I sent one to Mrs. Hodge through Mr. Carter, which I hope she has re- ceived. The Duke of Sutherland has yielded to the force of public opinion and gives us sites, and the Duke of Buccleugh, under the pretence that he thought the Lord's Supper would be desecrated by being ad- ministered in the public road, offered to the people of Canonbie per- mission to meet in a field on the occasion of the communion, which was last Lord's Day. We think he will scarcely venture to drive them back to the road again. No part of my statement gave more satisfaction to'the General As- sembly than the extracts I read to them from your article. W. C. I would like very much to hear from you when you have a little leisure. Any thing addressed to me at Edinburgh will reach me. I will ever retain a grateful sense of the kindness I received from you, and a lively recollection of the pleasure I enjoyed in your society- Be so good as to present my kind remembrances to Mrs. Hodge and the young people, to Dr. Miller, to Dr. Alexander and his sons, to Dr. Carnahan, Rice and Maclean, and Messrs. Henry and Dod, and believe me to be sincerely and affectionately yours, WM. CUNNINGHAM. DR. HODGE TO DR. CUNNINGHAM. PRINCETON, Sept. 13, 1844. My Dear Sir : All your Princeton friends were very happy to hear of your safe return to your native land and of the cordial welcome everywhere extended to you. We have rejoiced in the abundant manifestations of the divine favor granted to the Free Church during the past year, and in the inviting prospect of usefulness which is spread out before her. Here there is little new or interesting. I am afraid that little will be done in behalf of the Free Church in virtue of the recommenda- ^ET. 46.] CORRESPONDENCE. 359 tion of our last Assembly. It was a mistake merely to pass resolu- tions expressing sympathy with your body and urging congregations which had not done anything to make a collection in aid of your funds. If a particular day had been appointed, and all the churches, without any distinction, whether they had done anything or not, called upon to make a collection on that day, I think something bet- ter might have come of it. However, you have a better dependence than the distant and feeble churches of America. We shall be happy to make the arrangements which you suggest with regard to periodicals, etc. We have all felt a good deal agrieved by the articles in the Witness on American Slavery. It is very evident that they were not written by the editor of that paper ; but we are surprised at his publishing them. They are unjust, inaccurate, injurious to the American churches, and of evil tendency in all respects. If the Abolitionists of Great Britain wish to do us any good, let them first define what slavery is, making due discrimination between slave-holding and the varying laws by which, in different countries, slave-holding is regu- lated. And then let them prove that slave-holding, not the slave laws of this or that State, but slave-holding, is contrary to the Word of God. It cannot do us any good to tell us that it is wrong to be cruel, to be unjust, to separate husbands and wives, parents and children, or to keep servants in ignorance. Our churches do not sanction any of these things, though our laws often do. Instead of really arguing the question, and affecting the conscience through the understanding, such men as the writers in the Witness take up reports of this or that case of cruelty, and hold it up as an indication of the character of whole classes of men in this country. They might, of course, as well cite passages from the reports of the commissioners on your mines to show the character of the Free Church of Scotland. I know, my dear sir, how much superior you are to all such things, and I would not write thus to you if I did not know that you are well aware of the respect which we all have for your principles and con- duct in reference to this subject. But I really feel concerned for the effect such articles are likely to produce. It is the want of sense, as much as the want of justice, manifested in such effusions and in the proceedings of some of your emancipation societies that tries our patience. I see Dr. Burns is very desirous, in his anti-slavery speeches, to bring to his support " his respected friend, Dr. Cunning- ham," as much as possible ; and to represent himself and you as standing on the same ground on this subject. In the estimation of good people here, there are few things less alike than Dr. Burns and "his respected friend," and it will require hard pulling to get them 360 CORRESPONDENCE. [1845. together. I hope you have seen in the New York Observer a notice of the article in the Witness. That notice is from the pen of Dr. James W. Alexander, who lived many years in Virginia. I hope you will often write to me, or to some of your friends in Princeton. We shall never forget the pleasure we derived from your visit. Will you present my regards to Dr. Gordon, to whom I look up with the deepest respect. I once (1828) had the pleasure of hear- ing him preach, but had not the advantage of an introduction to him during my short visit to Scotland. I see by the Witness that you are down on the Erastians with a heavy hand. They will think you have let your hair grow during your visit to America. All your friends here, including all the mem- bers of my family, unite in assurances of affection and respect. Your friend and brother, CHARLES HODGE. DR. HODGE TO DR. CUNNINGHAM. PRINCETON, Jan. 29th, 1845. My Dear Sir : ... I thank you sincerely for the number of the North British Review containing the article on the United States. All your friends in America feel under obligations to you for that manly defence, and all the more that they see you suffer for it. I notice with pain the pecking of the Record, which is noticeable only as revealing the animus of the editor. High-churchmen are accused of loving the Church more than Christ or Christians, and the Record really seems to love aristocracy more than men. It can see no good, or rejoice in nothing good, where there are not kings and no- bles. I have never noticed an expression of satisfaction at the evi- dence of the power of the Gospel in this country, but a uniform dis- position to rejoice in all our infirmities and vices. * * * * * I rejoice to see that your New College meets with so much favor. We all cherish the recollection of your visit as something we can never let die out of our minds. I hope you will brighten the chain occasionally by letting us hear from you. Mrs. Hodge and my chil- dren beg that you will not forget them. * * * Very sincerely your friend and brother, CHARLES HODGE. DR. CUNNINGHAM TO DR. HODGE. EDINBURGH, 26th April, 1845. My Dear Sir : I have to thank you for two letters, and to apolo- gize for not answering them sooner. For the last six months I have JET. 47.] CORRESPONDENCE. 361 been occupied very thoroughly with the duties of a first session in our Theological Seminary. I had made very little written preparation before the beginning of the session, as for nearly five months I have, besides other duties, to compose each week three lectures of fifty minutes each. The session, however, is now over, and we have a vacation of six months. I sent you lately two numbers of the Wit- ness containing a report of a discussion in our Presbytery on "Amer- ican Slavery," which has, I think, put down "Abolitionism" in its technical sense, so far as the Free Church is concerned. ***** I read with much interest the article on "Abolitionism" in the Repertory. It contained some important truths, which, in this country, when judging of the American churches, we are far too apt to overlook. But I am not satisfied of the soundness of some of its principles. I cannot see how any human being can justly and validly lose his own personal, natural right to control his time and labor, unless the element either of his own consent or of penal infliction for a crime proven be brought in. I cannot but think that every man is entitled to escape from slavery if he can, an idea decidedly confirmed by the decisions of the Mosaic Law about runaway slaves, and as the master's right and the slave's obligation must be correla- tive, it would seem that the slave's right to run away disproves the master's right to retain him in slavery. But I have no doubt that where slavery exists and is established by law, individuals may inno- cently occupy the position of slave-holders, because in the actual cir- cumstances in which the community and they themselves and the slaves are placed the greatest benefit which it may be in their power to confer may be to purchase a slave and to exercise to some extent the power which the law may give them over him. And it is very certain that no power on earth is entitled, in the face of Apostolic practice, to prescribe it as a law to the Church of Christ that they shall not admit slave-holders to ordinances or even to office in the Church. I think too much stress has been laid on both sides on a specific answer to the question " Is slave-holding sinful ?" With the views I entertain upon the subject I could answer this question either affirmatively or negatively, cum distinctione, according as it might be explained and applied. There is surely a class of cases which are intermediate between things indifferent and those which are in their own nature, and in all their circumstances, morally right or wrong. The country is involved in a great excitement at present in conse- quence of Sir Robert Peel's resolution to endow permanently the College at Maynooth for the educating Popish priests. He adverted the other night in the House of Commons to the possibility of a war with the United States as a reason for reconciliating the Irish Papists. 362 CORRESPONDENCE. [ 1 846. Let us hope and pray that the Lord may avert so fearful a calamity. We have suffered a great loss in our Theological Seminary by the death of Dr. Welsh, at the age of fifty-one. He was Professor of Church History, and a man very highly esteemed and respected among us. He had published the first volume of a church history, which, however, is by no means a fair specimen of what the work was to have been had he been spared to complete it. His death will probably lead to some remodelling of our arrangements in the Sem- inary, and it is not altogether unlikely that I may be appointed to succeed him; not, however, as Professor of Church History, but of Historical and Polemic Theology. Dr. Chalmers continues to enjoy good health, though he does not now take much part in the manage- ment of the ordinary business of the church. His strength is failing a good deal, and he is very anxious now to retire from public life and active duties. He is not likely to continue to take the regular charge of a class in the Seminary for more than one or two years longer. I am going to visit Sutherland for a fortnight before the Assembly. The Duke of Sutherland, as I anticipated when in America, was shamed into giving sites for our churches ; but he resolved, since we had carried off the whole adult population, to try to bring back the young men to the establishment, and has refused to give us sites for Free Church schools. The people won't send their children to the establishment schools, and there are no others in that part of the country. As he made 24,000 pass a winter without churches, he has made their children pass two without school-houses. But he seems now to feel that he must yield on this point, too ; and I expect to be able to report to the Assembly that the matter has been adjusted. It will always give me the greatest pleasure to hear from you. I will write again (D. V.) after the Assembly. Give my kindest re- membrance to Mrs. Hodge and the members of your family, and to your colleagues, and believe me to be, my dear sir, Sincerely and affectionately yours, WM. CUNNINGHAM. DR. HODGE TO DR. CUNNINGHAM. PRINCETON, January, 1846. My Dear Sir: If my negligence in writing to you entails on me the penalty of not hearing from you I am severely though justly pun- ished. I beg you, however, not to let justice grow into severity and lead you to keep silence even after I have performed my epistolary duty. If writing is a disagreeable work to you, consider that reading is very agreeable to us. JET. 48.] CORRESPONDENCE. 363 Since I last wrote two things have occurred in our Church, the one a public and the other a more personal affair, which have been pecu- liarly interesting to me. The former is the decision of our General Assembly, pronouncing baptism as administered in the Romish Church to be invalid. This decision took us all very much by sur- prise. I think a decided majority of our ministers, over fifty years of age, are opposed to the decision, and a large proportion of our more intelligent laymen. All the brethren connected with the Col- lege and Theological Seminary are in opposition, and if the Reper- tory still reaches you, you may have noticed in the number for July, 1845, an argument against the decision. * * * I beg you to let me know your own views and what you take to be the sentiment of your church as to the decision of our Assembly. The other and more private event to which I alluded is the death of Mr. Dod, Professor of Mathematics in our College. I suspect you hardly saw enough of him to get an insight into the man. He was one of the most highly gifted of our ministers ; the best public de- bater, I think, in our church, and one of the best of our controver- sial writers. I greatly relied upon him in all times of emergency. He died on the 2oth of November, after a week's illness. His death-bed experience was very remarkable. He had for some years been so absorbed in literary and professional pursuits that he ap- peared less before the public as a minister and a religious man than his friends wished ; and there was a latitude of remark and a freedom in speculation in which he was apt to indulge which produced an im- pression as to his Christian character which was not altogether fav- orable. His intimate friends, however, never doubted his piety, and when he came to die, which in his case was a slow process, contin- uing from Tuesday evening until Thursday afternoon, he evidenced a calm, intelligent, Scriptural faith, without any emotional excitement, which filled every one about him with surprise. He was just as com- pletely Albert B. Dod, in all his intellectual and social peculiarities, in his cheerfulness, even playfulness, in his clear and strong discri- minating sense, as when in perfect health. I had often known of men's dying in peace or in triumph, but to see a man dying cheer- fully in the full possession of his intellect, in calm, unexcited confi- dence in Christ as his God and Saviour, was to me a perfectly novel sight. His death is the greatest loss I have ever sustained in the death of friends. I learn by letter just received from the Rev. Thomas McCrie, of Edinburgh, that some friends there think of republishing the Re- view of Beman on the Atonement, published in the Repertory, for January, 1845, * n mv answer to his letter I ventured to suggest some \ 364 DEA TH OF PR OFESSOR D OD. [ 1 845 . reasons for thinking it better that the Review should appear without a name. You know a man can talk very "big" when he is speak- ing behind a curtain, and in the name of a whole class of men the Old School party for instance when he would feel rather foolish if the cur- tain were suddenly drawn up, and only one little fellow seen standing there. This, however, is only a personal affair. I am willing you should do what you think is most likely to be useful. At all events, leave out the compliment to Dr. Cox in the last paragraph, about his