church order, and one in mutual love,-be violently separated into two
denominations? We cannot believe it. Suppose the case of two churches
originally distinct, by coming into contact and becoming better acquainted
with each other, they find that they hold to the same doctrinal standards,
and they explain them in the same manner; they have the same form of church
government and their officers are chosen and set apart in the same way;
they have the same order of worship and of administering the sacraments;
all their customs, civil, social, and religious, are precisely alike, and
they love each other dearly; should not such churches unite and form but
one denomination? Yet such a supposition does not and cannot represent the
circumstances of the churches gathered by us and by our Scotch brethren of
the English Presbyterian Church. Our churches originally were one, and
still are one, and the question is not whether those churches shall be
united, but shall they be separated? Possibly the question will be asked,
why were these churches allowed originally to become one? We answer, God
made them so, and that without any plan or forethought on our part, and now
we thank Him for His blessing that He has made them one, and that He has
blessed them because they are one.

"Our position is a somewhat painful one. We desire to give offense to no
one, and we do not wish to appear before the Church as disputants. We have
no controversy with any one. We have neither the time nor inclination for
controversy. We are 'doing a great work,' and cannot 'come down.' Yet our
duty to these churches here and to the Church at home and to our Master
demands of us imperatively that we state fully and frankly our views. We
have the utmost confidence in our church. We have proved this by
endeavoring to get our views fully known."

The subject did not come up again for discussion before the General Synod
until 1863.

Meanwhile the churches grew and multiplied. The Amoy church, which in 1856
had been organized by "the setting apart of elders and deacons," was
separated into two organizations in 1860, "preparatory to the calling of
pastors."

Two men were chosen by the churches in 1861. In 1862 an organization was
formed called the "Tai-hoey," or "Great Elders' Meeting," consisting of the
missionaries of both the English Presbyterian and Reformed Churches and the
delegated elders from all the organized congregations under their united
oversight. The