ynod resolved "that Profs.
Reynolds, Schmidt, and Hay be a committee to correspond with the
Evangelical Synod of the West, for the purpose of establishing fraternal
intercourse between them and this Synod, and also with a view to the
union of all parts of the Evangelical Church in the great work of
preaching the Gospel to the German population of the West, and with a
reference to the organization of all parts of our Church in this country
upon a common basis." (23.) At Dayton, 0., 1855, the committee (W. J.
Mann and S. W. Harkey), appointed to open a correspondence with the
Evangelical Church Union of the West, report "that they addressed a
letter to the Synod named, which was favorably noticed in their
proceedings, and a delegate appointed by them to meet with us at this
time." Harkey was appointed as delegate to their next meeting. (15.) At
Pittsburgh, 1859, the delegate to the same body stated: "I wrote to that
body, expressing the very deep interest which we feel in their union.
The communication was very fraternally received and a delegate appointed
to meet us at this convention of General Synod, who is now present."
(32.) At the same convention the committee on Ecclesiastical
Correspondence remarked: "You were pleased to hear Mr. Dresel's
[delegate of the Evangelical Church Union of the West] statements by
which you are assured of the near relationship of the body which he
represents to the Lutheran Church generally. They, too, recognize the
Augsburg Confession as a part of their confessional basis, although they
have modified it by the admission of the Heidelberg Catechism and other
Reformed Confessions to equal authority, standing as they do upon the
basis of the United Evangelical Church of Prussia and other parts of
Germany. It is not our business here to criticize the action of the
State authorities in Germany by which that Union was established, or of
our brethren who found themselves in this country sympathizing with the
Church in which they had there been reared. It was enough for this body
to be assured that these brethren are of an evangelical character,
holding the great doctrines of Protestantism, and zealously laboring for
the diffusion of Christian knowledge and unfeigned piety among their
countrymen, especially in the great valley of the Mississippi. Although
distinct in doctrinal position and church organization, our relations to
them here are of the most interesting character, and you will be please