l Synod is delineated in a
report presented 1848, at New York, by the Committee of Conference on
Christian Union appointed at the previous session of the General Synod,
as follows: "The kind of union to which this body was disposed to invite
the several evangelical denominations, and in which she felt it a duty
and a pleasure to lead the way in hope of virtually healing the 'Great
Schism' of Protestantism, is also definitely delineated by the following
portraiture: 'The design to be aimed at shall be not to amalgamate the
several denominations into one church, nor to impair in any degree the
independent control of each denomination over its own affairs and
interests, but to present to the world a more formal profession and
practical proof of our mutual recognition of each other as integral
parts of the visible Church of Christ on earth, as well as our
fundamental unity of faith and readiness to cooperate harmoniously in
the advancement of objects of common interest." (11.) "An article was
prepared in which, after a glance at the solemn injunction of the Savior
and His apostles to preserve unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,
the nature and extent of the union prevailing in the primitive churches
was delineated as consisting of the following features: a. unity of
name; b. unity in fundamental doctrines, whilst diversity in
nonessentials was concealed; c. mutual acknowledgment of each other's
acts of discipline; d. sacramental and ministerial intercommunion; e.
convention of the different churches of the land in synod or council
for mutual consultation or ecclesiastical regulation." (12.) "In
contrast with this picture of primitive union, the present deplorable
divided and conflicting state of the Church was delineated.... In hope
of removing the principal evils of these denominational divisions, your
committee projected a scheme of Christian union based (in the following
four preliminary principles for the guarantee of the rights of
individual conscience and denominational religious liberty: 1. This plan
must require of no one the renunciation of any doctrine or opinion
believed by him to be true, nor the profession of anything he regards as
erroneous; nor does the accession of any denomination to this union
imply any sanction of the peculiarities of any other. 2. It must concede
to every denomination the right to retain its own organization for
government, discipline, and worship. 3. It must not prevent the
discussi