PAGE 298: CHAPTER VII
of the Church in its public worship; and in a letter
to the same individual, dated March, 1788, he says,
in reference to this business — "For my part, I
have digested only from the first psalm to the fiftieth inclusive. I mean, if it please, God to spare
health, to go through the whole, and I wish we
might be so prepared in the work, that we could
compare our several digests, and make a report to
the Synod at the next sitting in May." He then
adds, "I suppose it will be proper, when we get
the new Psalms printed, to have the Catechism,
Articles of Faith, and Liturgy, printed and bound up
with some of the books, and leave it to the purchasers to get the Psalm-book either with or
without those additions, as the difference in the price
will be considerable. But a fair opportunity will now
be offered to publish with our articles and liturgy,
the form of our discipline and government. The
Churches in America are all assuming a new complexion. From being the appendages of national
Churches in Europe, they now become national
Churches themselves in this new Empire. All the
denominations of any importance in America, have
considered themselves in this new light, and have
made regulations accordingly: and it deserves our
attention to see what ought to be done with respect
to ourselves in this particular, and how far we may
proceed (consistent with the relation we yet claim
|
PAGE 299: CHAPTER VII
to our mother Church in Holland. We are not
represented, and we cannot have a representation
in the Churches in Holland, — as such, we have already formed ourselves into an independent
Synod, and we have sufficient proof that some of our
brethren in Amsterdam would rather we had not
done this, but their views are contracted, and cannot be our rule. It is necessary we should revise
some articles in our fundamental agreement respecting our church government of 1771, and see
whether some of those articles do not militate
against our independent state."
Under date of March, 1789, to the same, he says,
"I have received answers from all the gentlemen
of the committee, and am authorized and requested
by them to proceed with the printing. The expectation and wishes of our Churches are raised,
and I am continually asked when our Psalms will
be published. * * * I now only wait for a letter
from you * * *. As to the translations, and what respects our Church discipline and government,
these, I suppose, may be brought in such readiness
as to enable us to make some report in the Synod
of May, and take such further steps, as to lay the
whole before the Synod of October. But the Synod has empowered the Committee, respecting the
Psalms, to proceed to the printing as soon as they
|