but one party heard. And in this case, no injury would have been sustained by delay, for the Synod might have proceeded instantly to condemn the errors of Mr. Craighead's book, as the General Assembly did in the case of The Gospel Plan of W. C. Davis; the process against the author, however, did not commence, till some time afterwards. But, however this may be, the General Assembly think, that the Synod were in too much haste. It was reasonable, that Mr. Craighead should have been informed of this transfer of the cause, to a higher tribunal.

There is only one other thing in the proceedings on which the General Assembly will remark; which is, that statements were given as evidence, by the members of Presbytery, which are not recorded, and which do not appear to have been given under the usual solemnity of an oath.

But from matters of form, the General Assembly will now pass to the merits of the case; and for the sake of brevity, the first and second charges only shall be brought into view.

Charge 1. "We charge him with denying and vilifying the real agency of the Spirit in regeneration, and in the production of faith and sanctification in general."

And first, they would observe, that there can be no doubt, that the denial of the real agency of the Spirit, is a dangerous and fundamental er'ror; and if Mr. Craighead taught such an error, he ought to have been suspended.

The question then is, do the passages of Mr. Craighead's sermon, referred to in the charge, prove that he did deny the reality of the operations of the Spirit?

Here, it will be important to remark, that a man cannot fairly be con-. victed of heresy, for using expressions which may be so interpreted as to involve heretical doctrines, if they may also admit of a more favourable construction:-Because, no one can tell in what sense an ambiguous expression is used, but the speaker or writer, and he has a right to explain himself; and in such cases, candour requires, that a court should favour the accused, by putting on his words the more favourable, rather than the less favourable construction.

Another principle is, that no man can rightly be convicted of heresy by inference or implication; that is, we must not charge an accused person with holding those consequences which may legitimately flow from his assertions. Many men are grossly inconsistent with themselves; and while it is right, in argument, to overthrow false opinions, by tracing them in their connexions and consequences, it is not right to charge any man with an opinion which he disavows.

With these principles in view, the General Assembly proceed to observe, that there is abundant evidence, that Mr. Craighead did deny the immediate agency of the Spirit, but no clear evidence that he denied the real agency of the Spirit. These are very different things, and the proof of the one, does by no means establish the other. Immediate agency or operation, is opposed to mediate. This is a well known distinction in theology; and a point which has been greatly controverted. The Reformed Church, of which ours is a part, in all their purest times, maintained the doctrine of the immediate operation of the Spirit, not without the word, but distinct from it, and in the order of nature preceding it. Other Protestant Churches, never charged with fundamental error, have as uniformly maintained the doctrine of a mediate agency; and those commonly believe, that this operation is not occasional, but uniform, and diversified in its effects, by the difference of resistance with which it meets. Neither the Presbytery nor the Synod appear to have attended sufficiently to

this distinction. They appear to have thought, that a denial of immediate agency, was a denial of all real agency. It deserves special regard here, that our Confession takes no notice of these nice distinctions, about the mode in which the Holy Spirit operates. It usually mentions the word and the Spirit together, and the former as the instrument of the latter. And they who believe in the immediate agency of the Spirit, do not exclude the instrumentality of the word; they however explain it in a different way from those who hold, that there is no agency of the Spirit, distinct from the word. But this is the more favourable construction; there is another, which if not more probable, is more obvious. Mr. Craighead may be understood as teaching, that the only real agency of the Spirit was in inspiring the Scriptures, and confirming them by signs and miracles. There is much in his discourse, that has this bearing; and undoubtedly this is the common impression, among the people where it is best known. This was the idea of the Synod of Kentucky, when they condemned him; and this is, in fact, denying the reality of the operation of the Spirit, in our days: and whether his expressions have been fairly interpreted or not, they are dangerous, and ought to be condemned. In justice to Mr. Craighead, however, it ought to be remembered, that he utterly disclaims this meaning, in his defence sent up to this Assembly. And would it be fair to continue to charge upon him opinions which he solemnly disavows? Of the sincerity of his disavowal, God is the judge. The conclusion is, that the first charge, though supported by strong probabilities, is not so conclusively established as to remove all doubt, because the words adduced in proof, will bear a different construction from that put on them by the Presbytery and Synod.

The evidence in support of the second charge is still less clear and conclusive. The charge is,

"We charge him with denying, vilifying and misrepresenting the doctrine of divine foreordination, and sovereignty, and election."

It might, perhaps, be shown by argument, that Mr. Craighead uses many expressions not consistent with these doctrines; but agreeably to the principle laid down above, he must not be charged with holding these consequences unless he has avowed them. These passages of his discourse, it is true, contain erroneous and offensive things, but they do not establish the charge of denying, vilifying, &c. In one single instance, he seems to deny, that every thing should be referred to the sovereignty of God's will; but the words in their connexion, may have an innocent meaning. Here again it must be observed, that Mr. Craighead solemnly declares his belief in the doctrine of decrees and election, as expressed in our standards.

But whilst the General Assembly are of opinion that the charges against Mr. Craighead are not clearly and fully supported by the references, they feel it to be their duty to say, that the impression which they have received from hearing extracts from this discourse, are very unfavourable; and they do believe, that Mr. Craighead by preaching and printing this sermon, did subject himself justly to censure.

Moreover, the Assembly are of opinion, that the doctrines of this sermon, in the most favourable construction, are different from those of the Reformed Churches, and of our church, and are erroneous; although the error is not of fundamental importance. They have observed also, that this discourse contains many unjust and illiberal reflections on the doctrines which has been the common and uniform belief of the great majority of the preachers and writers of the Reformed Churches. He mentions the names of a few persons as favouring the doctrine which he opposes;

but he might have put into the list almost every standard writer of our own and sister churches, since the Reformation.

This sermon also contains much declamation which confounds fanaticism and piety; and representations of opinions which are true and important, so associated with error and absurdity, as to exhibit them in a ridiculous and odious light.

Finally, the General Assembly are deeply impressed with the evidences of an improper spirit, and an evil tendency in this sermon, and are of opinion that Mr. Craighead ought so to retract or explain his sentiments, as to afford reasonable satisfaction to his brethren.

Whereupon, Resolved, That as the proceedings in the case of Mr. Craighead, have been, in many respects, irregular, and he has suffered much injury from the delay produced by these irregularities: And whereas also, the charges are not so conclusively established as to remove all doubt, the General Assembly cannot see their way clear finally to confirm the sentence of the Synod of Kentucky, although they are of opinion, that Mr. Craighead has subjected himself, by preaching and printing this sermon, to just censure. But as Mr. Craighead has had no fair opportunity of vindicating himself, or of making satisfactory explanations or retractions, therefore,

Resolved, That the whole cause be transmitted to the Presbytery of West Tennessee, in the bounds of which Mr. Craighead resides; and that they be directed to give him an early opportunity of offering that satisfaction which the church expects, for the offence received: and that upon receiving such explanations or retractions as to them shall be satisfactory, Mr. Craighead be restored to the gospel ministry from which he had been suspended."

Petitions from the churches at Mount Pleasant and Greensburg, in New-York, and from five ministers of the gospel residing in the vicinity of Mr. George Bourne, requesting that Mr. Bourne might be restored to the office of the gospel ministry, was overtured, and application on behalf of Mr. Bourne was made by Dr. Ely, that on the profession of his penitence may be restored :- Whereupon it was

he

Resolved, That the case of Mr. George Bourne be referred to the Presbytery of New-York, in whose bounds he now resides; and it is hereby ordered, that the Presbytery of New-York be furnished by the Presbytery of Lexington, with all the documents relative to the deposition of Mr. Bourne-that they receive testimony as to the character and deportment of Mr. Bourne since his deposition, and also the evidences of repentance which Mr. Bourne may furnish. And it is ordered, moreover, that the said Presbytery of New York do proceed to issue the case, and either continue the sentence of deposition, or restore him, the said Bourne, to the Gospel Ministry, as they may judge proper.

Messrs. M'Iver and Smylie, were added to the committee appointed to prepare a minute on the appeals of Mr. Dobbins. Adjourned till 8 o'clock, on Monday morning. Concluded with prayer.

June 7, 8 o'clock, A. M. the Assembly met, and was constituted by prayer. The minutes of the last session were read.

The committee to which was referred the appeals of the Rev. R. B. Dobbins from the decisions of the Synod of Kentucky, affirming decisions of the Presbytery of Ebenezer in the cases of the Rev. William L. Maccalla, and the Session of the church of Augusta, reported, and the report being read, was adopted and is as follows, viz.

1. While the Assembly, as a general principle, disapprove of the ad

ministration of the sacraments, by one of their ministers, within the bounds of a congregation with which he is not connected, without the consent of the minister and session of said congregation; yet under the peculiar local circumstances of the people among which Mr. Maccalla occasionally administered ordinances, the Assembly cannot decide that he deserves censure. Therefore resolved, that the decision of the Synod of Kentucky, affirming a decision of the Presbytery of Ebenezer in regard to the complaint of the Rev. Mr. Dobbins, against the Rev. Mr. Maccalla, be, and it hereby is affirmed.

2. In regard to the complaint of Mr. Dobbins, against the session of the church of Augusta, for receiving members suspended by the session of the church of Smyrna; the Assembly are of opinion that both sessions acted unconstitutionally, the session of Smyrna, in suspending said members, and the session of Augusta in receiving them when suspended. Therefore,

Resolved, That the appeal on this complaint be and it is hereby sustained; and the members in question are hereby declared to be still members in good standing in the church of Smyrna, and the session of the church of Smyrna are hereby directed, to dismiss said members, if they still desire it, that they may regularly connect themselves with the church of Augusta.

A nomination was made of persons to fill up the vacancies in the Board of Education, and the ballots being taken, the following persons were declared duly chosen members of the Board for four years, viz.

Of the City of Philadelphia, and its vicinity,

Of the Several Synods.

Mr. A. Brown, of the Synod of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Henry Potter, of the Synod of North Carolina.

The roll was called, agreeably to a standing rule, to ascertain whether any members had left the Assembly without leave, and it appeared that the following persons had left it without leave, viz.

Mr. Beach, elder,

Rev. Dr. Spring,
Rev. Symmes C. Henry,
Samuel Bayard, Esq. elder,
Rev. Robert Steel,

Alexander Henry, Esq, elder,
Mr. John McMullin, elder,
Mr. Moses Reed, elder,
Rev. Elias Harrison,
Rev. Isaac Paul,

Rev. Henry Ford,

of the Presbytery of Ontario.

of the Presbytery of New York.

of the Presbytery of New Brunswick.

do.

of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.

do. do.

do.

do.

do.

do.

of the Presbytery of Dist. of Columbia.

do.

of the Presbytery of Hanover.

of the Presbytery of Bath.

Resolved, That as the names of persons who have left the Assembly without leave, are to be published in the printed journals; therefore the

E

Stated Clerk is liberated from the duty enjoined by a standing rule, of writing to the Presbyteries on the subject.

Resolved, That this Assembly be dissolved, and that another Assembly chosen in the same manner, be required to meet in the First Presbyterian church in this city, on the third Thursday in May, 1825, at 11 o'clock, A. M. Concluded with prayer.

APPENDIX.

[No. I.]

A Narrative of the State of Religion

Within the bounds of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and its Corresponding Churches, in the United States of America.

Nothing is more interesting to the friends of Zion, than to learn its prosperity. That our churches should look with solicitude to the period when information is collected from all parts of the church, is expected by the General Assembly. It would give them the most heartfelt satisfaction, to be able on this occasion, to afford, to the friends of Jesus, an animating account of the prevalence of truth, the triumphs of grace, and the enlargement of his kingdom. Although we can state many things which will give joy to the churches, and animation to all who love the glory of the Redeemer, it is not to be disguised that there is very much to excite our deepest humiliation, and awaken the most solemn fear. Within our extensive bounds, there is a vast wilderness, filled with immortal souls who are destitute of religious instruction and hope. There are regions, just beginning to enjoy the "day spring from on high," still dark in error and ignorance, and cold in indifference and sin. Where the Gospel is preached, it is met with powerful opposition by error of every form, and it is assailed by enemies of every name. Amid many of our churches are to be found cold and worldly professors, and many who having a name to live are dead, and the enemies of Jesus are sometimes established in the house of his friends. We do not recollect to have heard. more deep and afflicting representations from the Presbyteries of the want of zeal and the life giving energies of the Spirit. On every side there are complaints of prevailing error, of licentious practice, of gross intemperance, and disregard of the Lord's day. In many parts of our widely extended and extending church, the want of ministers is still most painfully felt, and even those who can support them cannot obtain them.

Since these evils do exist, the Assembly feel it to be their duty to publish them to the churches. We have too long shut our eyes to facts when they have been discouraging or afflictive. We have dwelt on the green spots that here and there, and sometimes to a great extent, meet our eyes, and we have forgotten the desert by which they are surrounded. We have been reposing by the fountains which refresh us and reflect the heavens to our sight, as we stoop to drink them, and we too often forget "the