Preliminary statements.—General review of the acts of the synod.—I. Its missionary operations.—II. Its efforts in behalf of education.—III. Its standard of doctrine.—IV. Its discipline.—Its exercise of ordinary powers in the formation of new presbyteries; in establishing general rules and deciding questions of conscience; in the general supervision of the church; in the decision of appeals and references.—V. Its exercise of extraordinary powers, in acting by a commission; in the exercise of presbyterial powers; in investing committees with synodical authority.—VI. The synod’s intercourse with other churches.—VII. Its conduct in reference to the revolutionary war.—VIII. Formation of the new constitution.—IX. State of the church during the existence of this synod.
THE number of ministers in connexion with our church at the time of the union of the two synods, was not far from one hundred. Among these were some of the most distinguished men who have ever adorned our annals. The two Tennents, Richard Treat, Francis Alison, Alexander McDowell, John Pierson, David Bostwick, Samuel Davies, Samuel Finley, John Roan, Matthew Wilson, John Miller, John Blair, Elihu Spencer, George Duffield, Robert. Smith, John Rodgers, and others equally prominent, either for learning or piety, were then in the vigour of their days. To these were added in succeeding years, men no less distinguished for talents or usefulness. In 1759, Mr. John Ewing took his seat as a member of synod. This gentleman was pastor of the first presbyterian church in Philadelphia, and provost of the university of Pennsylvania. “In all the branches of science usually taught in seminaries of learning, more particularly in mathematics, astronomy, and every branch of natural philosophy; in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, and in logic, metaphysics, and moral philosophy, he was probably one of the most accurate and profound scholars which this country can boast of having reared.” In 1760, we find the names of James Latta, Alexander McWhorter, and William Kirkpatrick. The first mentioned is the ancestor of the family which has furnished so many ministers to our church. The second was long the excellent pastor of the church in Newark, New Jersey; and the third, a member of the presbytery of New Brunswick, was distinguished for his piety and usefulness. In 1761, John Strain became a member of the synod, and is still remembered as one of the most eloquent and impressive ministers our church has ever produced. In 1763, we find the name of James Waddell, who was to the Virginia church in point of eloquence, what Patrick Henry was to the Virginia bar. In 1765, the presbytery of Hanover reported the ordination of David Rice, a man of distinguished usefulness in the southern church. In 1766, the names of Robert Cooper and Samuel Blair were reported. The former was a prominent and pious member of the presbytery of Donegal, and the latter, a son of the Rev. Samuel Blair so distinguished for his piety and usefulness at an earlier period of our history, at the age of twenty-eight or thirty years, he was elected president of Princeton College, though he declined the appointment, and soon sank into a state of health which made the residue of his life a protracted disease. In 1769, John McCreary and Joseph Smith were added to the roll. Both of these were distinguished men. The latter, preeminent for piety and energy, was one of the fathers of our church in Western Pennsylvania. The same year the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, who had already obtained in Scotland, a high reputation as the able advocate of evangelical doctrine, was received as a member of the synod, and entered upon that course of active usefulness in the service of his adopted church and country, which has rendered his name so conspicuous in our civil and ecclesiastical history. The same year Dr. Sproat was received from the Association of New Haven county, Connecticut, having been called to take charge of the second presbyterian church in Philadelphia. In 1771, the name of John Woodhull, so long the faithful pastor of the church in Freehold, New Jersey, first occurs on the records. This enumeration would become tedious if further continued. It may, therefore, be briefly stated, that the names of Robert Davidson in 1774, of James Power and John McMillan, apostles of the west, and of John McKnight in 1777, of Thaddeus Dodd and James Armstrong in 1778, of Samuel Stanhope Smith in 1779, of James Hall in 1782, of Moses Hoge in 1786, occur for the first time on the minutes. To the preceding list there are doubtless many names which ought to be added, whose omission is to be attributed to the writer’s limited means of information. In 1787, the Rev. Dr. Nesbit, the learned president of Dickinson college, was received as a member of synod; and in the same year the venerable Dr. Green first took his seat in our highest judicatory, in whose counsels for a long succession of years he has been so eminently influential. The whole number of accessions to the synod during this period of thirty years, was considerably more than two hundred. The deaths and removals reported to the synod were about one hundred; in many cases, however, the decease of members is not recorded in the synodical minutes.
The synod was soon called to weep over the graves of some of its most distinguished members. In 1760, the death of “that pious, zealous saint of God,” the Rev. George Gillespie, is recorded. He died at an advanced age, having been received by the presbytery of Philadelphia, as a licentiate of the presbytery of Glasgow, in 1712. In 1761, the synod heard of the decease of the eloquent, devoted, and accomplished Davies, at the early age of thirty-six. “Heu quam exiguum vitae curriculum! Corpore fuit eximio; gestu liberali, placido, augusto. Ingenii nitore, morum integritate, munificentia, facilitate inter paucos illustris. Rei literariae peritus; theologus promptus, perspicax. In rostris, per eloquium blandum, mellitum, vehemens simul, et perstringens, nulli secundus. Scriptor ornatus, sublimis, disertus. Praesertim vero pietate, ardente in Deum zelo et religione spectandus.” In 1766, Davies was followed to the grave by Dr. Samuel Finley, his scarcely less distinguished successor in the presidency of Princeton College. The preceding year the synod were informed that the Rev. Gilbert Tennent had closed his long, laborious, and eminently successful ministry. In 1768, the death of the Rev. Adam Boyd was reported. He was ordained by the presbytery of Newcastle, in 1724, and was an indefatigable and faithful pastor of the church of Octarara, and of two neighbouring congregations. From this time the older members of the synod disappear in rapid succession. In 1771, there were seven deaths reported, including that of the excellent Mr. Pierson; in 1772, four, including that of Mr. John Blair; in 1776, Mr. John Roan; in 1777, Mr. William Tennent; in 1779, Dr. Richard Treat, of Abington; in 1780, Dr. Francis Alison: so that but few of the original members of this synod were now remaining.
The following history of this synod, from the design of this work, and from the nature of the materials at the command of the writer, must be in a great measure purely ecclesiastical. That is, it must be in a good degree confined to a classification of the acts of the synod, with a view to exhibit its character as an ecclesiastical body. Such a classification, though it may not be without its use, cannot be expected to possess the interest which belongs to the history of revivals, or of polemical discussions.