658 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



ported as their unanimous opinion that, as it con- 

 templated a matter of doctrine, it could not, in 

 view of the mandatory provisions of the Form of 

 Government giving the ultimate determination of 

 all doctrinal questions to the General Assembly, be 

 granted, and the Assembly so decided. 



The plan of co-operation in home missionary 

 work among the Presbyterian and Reformed 

 Churches of North America, reported by the Com- 

 mittee on the Presbyterian Alliance and already 

 adopted by many Presbyterian and Reformed 

 Church boards, was approved ; and the high esteem 

 and fraternal regard of the Assembly for all the 

 churches of the Presbyterian Alliance was ex- 

 pressed, together with its desire for closer relations 

 with the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches on 

 the North American Continent. 



The report on Church unity dealt with the cor- 

 respondence which the committee had had with the 

 Protestant Episcopal Commission during the past 

 nine years concluded with an expression of kindly 

 feeling toward the Episcopal brethren and advised 

 that the correspondence be closed for the present. 

 Ic also included the proposed constitution of the 

 Federal Union of Presbyterian and Reformed 

 Churches, concerning which the Assembly resolved, 

 in adopting the report, " that, while declining to 

 adopt the plan of federation submitted by the ma- 

 jority of the committee, the General Assembly here- 

 by records its fraternal regard and affection for the 

 Churches comprehended by the proposed plan.'' 



The report on the Sabbath entreated the mem- 

 bers and all other persons conscientiously to dis- 

 countenance whatever tends to break down the dis- 

 tinction between this and other days, making a 

 number of specifications; commended the efforts 

 that were being made through Sabbath schools and 

 Young People's Societies to educate the rising gen- 

 eration as to the claims, sanctities, and obligations 

 of the Sabbath ; advised the devotion of the last 

 Sunday in October by pastors and churches and in 

 the Sunday schools to the special consideration 

 of the subject of the Sabbath ; declared that 

 " those Sabbath associations of our land having a 

 Christian basis, and being in sympathy with Sun- 

 day laws passed with a view to protect the day of 

 rest and worship, should have a claim upon the co- 

 operation and practical support of the Christian 

 public''; and gave special approval to the Ameri- 

 can Sabbath Union and the Woman's National Sab- 

 bath Alliance auxiliary, recommending them espe- 

 cially to Christian men and women in all our com- 

 munities." 



The erection of a large business building in the 

 city of New York by the Board of Home Missions, 

 on which a heavy debt was placed, having been 

 much criticised, a proposition was made by Mr. 

 John S. Kennedy to buy the building for what it 

 had cost, less Mr. Kennedy's own subscription, to- 

 gether with another proposition from Miss Rachel 

 Lenox Kennedy to enlarge and improve the Len- 

 ox Building, from which the board had moved, 

 and make it adequate to all their needs. The 

 subject was referred to a special committee of 

 11. It is understood that this committee found the 

 transactions connected with this building correct, 

 and decided to recommend that it be retained and 

 occupied as intended. 



The i-eport of the special Committee on Theo- 

 logical Seminaries related the proceedings of the 

 committee during the year and its correspondence 

 with the trustees of the seminaries concerning 

 changes which the Assembly desired to have 

 made in their charters in order to bring them more 

 fully under its control. Princeton, Omaha, and 

 Dubuque Seminaries and Lincoln University had 

 either modified their charter provisions in compli- 



ance with the wishes of the Assembly or had de- 

 clared their readiness to take steps to secure such 

 legislation as would enable them to do so. McCor- 

 mick Seminary had declined to consider the ques- 

 tion of a closer union with the General Assembly. 

 The trustees of Western Seminary had resolved I'M 

 adhere to their former act ion in the premises, which 

 was to endeavor to secure legislation permitting ,<m 

 arrangement with the Assembly. The commission- 

 ers of Auburn Seminary had prepared an historical 

 sketch of the administration of the institution for 

 the seventy-six years of its existence, and had 

 adopted a resolution declaring that, having once ex- 

 pressed and already once reaffirmed their views on 

 the subject of the proposed change, they did not 

 feel called upon to reiterate or modify them. The 

 report was disposed of by the adoption of a resolu- 

 tion that "the General Assembly highly appre- 

 ciates the readiness of the boards of control in some 

 of our theological seminaries, shown during tin- 

 past year, to carry out the plan approved by the 

 General Assembly of 1H95; and while others of the 

 boards of control have not seen their way clear as 

 yet to adopt the general provisions of that plan and 

 carry them into legal effect, the General Assembly 

 can not but hope that upon further consideration 

 they may come to the conclusion that all the funds 

 and property in their hands and the teaching in 

 the said seminaries may be so completely safe- 

 guarded to the Church that benevolent persons 

 contemplating making gifts or bequests to these in- 

 stitutions may have the fullest confidence in the 

 future security of such gifts or bequests. With entire 

 confidence in the integrity and wisdom of the be- 

 loved brethren in control of our theological semi- 

 naries, we urge them to take such measures as will 

 secure the most desirable result, and also that these 

 several boards be requested to report to the next 

 General Assembly what progress they have made in 

 this direction." The committee was discharged. 



In view of the instructions given by the pre- 

 vious General Assembly concerning the acceptance 

 of candidates for licensure, the Presbytery of 

 New York had declared its intention to assure it- 

 self of the fidelity of candidates and ministers re- 

 ceived by it, and of their acceptance of the stand- 

 ards of the Church : and further, " that it desired on 

 one side to hold fast the truth as embodied in our 

 standards, and at the same time, in the interest of 

 peace and mutual good will, did not exclude from 

 application for license students who gave evident 

 assurance of their loyalty to the standards of the 

 Church." The Long Island Presbytery had de- 

 clared that in its action in the matter the General 

 Assembly had exceeded its power. The Assembly 

 reaffirmed the action of the General Assembly of 

 1895 concerning the reception by presbyteries of 

 students as candidates who are pursuing their theo- 

 logical studies in seminaries for whose instruction 

 it disavowed responsibility, and added : ''In doing 

 this, we call attention to the facts that the Pres- 

 bytery of New York, last year, asked the General 

 Assemby to instruct it in relation to its duty 

 toward students applying to be taken under its 

 care, and that the Assembly, in response, instructed 

 it, using substantially its own words. The action 

 of the Assembly did not relate to the licensure of 

 candidates, but to the reception of students asking 

 to be taken under care. It fully recognized the 

 right of the presbytery to determine the qualifica- 

 tion of candidates for licensure. We also express 

 our understanding of the words ' instruct and en- 

 join ' in our last year's action to be simply an em- 

 phatic expression of its response to. the Presbytery 

 of New York touching the specific question over- 

 tured. 2. We call attention to the difference in 

 status between traiisfers from other denominations, 



