the simple plan laid
down in God's Word. As the Church by experiment and by discussion has
thus been led to retrace some of her steps in the preliminary work of
missions, should she not be ready to take advantage of experiment and
discussion, in reference to the ecclesiastical organization of the mission
churches, and stand ready to retrace some of her steps in this second stage
of the work of missions, if need be, in order to conform more fully to
the doctrines of our Presbyterial church polity? I would use the
phrase _Scriptural church polity_, but I suppose it is the
universal belief of our Church, that Presbyterial polity is scriptural.
At any rate, it is the duty of the Church to examine the subject
carefully. She has nothing to fear from such examination.
She should fear to neglect it.

In addition to the importance of the subject in itself
considered, I have other reasons for discussing it at the
present time. There are mistaken impressions abroad in the
Church, concerning the views and course of your missionaries
at Amoy, which must be injurious to the cause of missions
in our Church. It would seem to be a plain duty to correct
these impressions. I will quote an extract from a letter, I
recently received, from an honored missionary of a sister
Church:

"I have heard much, and seen some notices in the papers
of the battle you fought on the floor of Synod, and would
like to hear your side of the subject from your own mouth,
as the question has also been a practical one with us. * *
* * * We have our own Presbytery, and manage our own business,
and insist on not having too much of what they call the new science
of Missionary management; a science which, I believe, has been
cultivated far too assiduously. It was this, more than anything else,
which kept me from going out under the A.B.C.F.M., and to Amoy.
* * * * * I hear, however, from some, that what you and the brethren
there had formed, was some sort of loose Congregational association.
If so, I must judge against you, for I believe in the _jure divino_
of Presbytery (or Classis if you choose so to call it), and I think you and
they should have been allowed to form a Presbytery there,
and manage all your own affairs, and that your Boards at
home should be content to consider themselves a committee
to raise and send on the funds. But it is hard for the D.
D's and big folk at home to come to that. They think they must manage
everything, or all will go wrong;