Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/836

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812 PKESBYTERIANISM the national establishment. At the restoration, when Charles II. attempted to introduce epis- copacy into Scotland, many of the inhabitants took refuge in Ireland ; and thereby the cause of Presbyterianism received a fresh impulse. This was not diminished by the accession of William of Orange to the British crown; for he had been educated in Holland to a decided preference for the doctrines and discipline of that church. Nor did subsequent events tend to lessen his respect for the adherents of that system in Ireland; for when James II. landed there, with a view, through the inva- sion of this kingdom, of overturning the gov- ernment, the Presbyterians rallied around the standard of their Protestant champion, and by their memorable defence of Londonderry, as well as the assistance they rendered at the bat- tle of the Boyne, mainly contributed toward the success of his arms. As a testimony of his gratitude he doubled the sum originally given for the support of their ministers, hence known as the regium donum. On grounds of justice as well as favor, this was repeatedly augmented by the crown, until it amounted to about an average of 70 to each clergyman. With the disestablishment of the Episcopal church of Ireland, under Gladstone's recent ministry, the regium donum was discontinued, and the Pres- byterian church of Ireland is entirely relieved from state dependence. In 1854 the Presby- terian church there was composed of the fol- lowing bodies : the general synod of Ulster, the Presbyterian synod of Munster, the presbytery of Antrim, and the Seceders and Covenant- ers. The first two and most prominent of these have since united, forming a body which embraces 5 synods, 36 presbyteries, 491 con- gregations, and 593 ministers, and raises annu- ally for missions and missionary schools about 9,000, besides sustaining various other evan- gelical enterprises. Though recognizing the principle of a civil establishment of religion, its views of the subject are more in harmony with those of the Free church than of the es- tablished church of Scotland. III. PRESBYTE- EIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. The Presbyterian church of the United States was originally composed of various elements. Fran- cis Makemie, who may be called its founder, was an Irishman, who, several years before the close of the 17th century, had gathered churches in Maryland, where toleration was enjoyed, and extended his labors also into Vir- ginia, as far as the laws of that colony would permit. For several years before the organi- zation of the first presbytery, his most intimate ministerial friend was Jedidiah Andrews, set- tled in 1698 over a church in Philadelphia. Ministers were sought for new congregations, with equal earnestness, from New England and abroad, Makemie himself visiting Boston to confer with Cotton Mather on the subject, and secure those whom an unfriendly writer of the time styles " Cotton Mather's emissaries," and crossing the ocean to bring back with him Hampton and Macnish, while also appealing for men and aid to Scottish and Irish Presby- terians and London dissenters. The churches at Jamaica, L. I., Newark, Freehold, and Wood- bridge, N. J., and others which like them sub- sequently became Presbyterian, were largely of New England origin, and in the records of the times are spoken of somewhat indiscrimi- nately as Scotch Independents or Presbyterians. By their locality they were separated from Congregational association, while in Connecti- cut a serni-Presbyterianism had been intro- duced (1709) by the Saybrook platform, and in Massachusetts the old usage of ruling elders had died out within the memory of men then living. But from abroad came Scotch and Irish Pres- byterians, Welsh Calvinists, English dissenters, Reformed Dutch, and French Huguenots, blend- ing diversely in different localities, but leaving the New England and Scotch-Irish elements predominant, and nearly of equal strength. By 1716 the Presbyterian body had so far in- creased as to warrant its division to form a synod. Harmony prevailed till about 1727, when, by ministers from Ireland, where the controversy against Arianism had excited a jealousy of loose subscription to the stan- dards, the question was thrust upon the atten- tion of the American synod, while the New England element was unanimous against the introduction of any new rule. A compromise, known as the adopting act, was effected in 1729, although it resulted in one or two seces- sions, which prepared the way for the estab- lishment in this country of a branch of the Associate Presbyterian church. In 1739 party feelings were revived by the visit of White- field, and the synod was divided into those who were known as friends or enemies of the revival. The Tennents, active in the revival, sympathized with Whitefield, and, with the graduates of their "log college," furnished to the presbyteries candidates whom their oppo- nents regarded as more zealous than learned or discreet. Thus the " New Side," as the Ten- nent party were called, insisted most on piety, while the "Old Side" demanded candidates with diplomas. In 1741, through a rash and violent protest of the New Side, the synod came to an open rupture. The New York presbytery, absent at the time, united four years later with the New Side to constitute the synod of New York, while the Old Side retained the former organization as the synod of Philadelphia. The New Side, to which the celebrated Samuel Davies of Virginia belonged, indisposed longer to patronize Yale college, from which David Brainerd had been recent- ly expelled, sent Davies and Gilbert Tennent across the ocean to solicit funds for endowing Princeton college. That institution went into successful operation, and with ministerial ac- cessions from New England, the New Side no longer suffered from lack of candidates. Sup- plying vacant churches and engaging in mis- sion work, they soon outstripped the Old Side