EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 



275 



iiil lli'- Uev. S. C. IlivyfogH and the Kev. W. 



elected additional bi-hops. AM ap- 



i-iiurt was constituted, to be composed of 



member- cho-en by I In- general confer- 

 '"iii thirty candidates nominated by the 



\n order was adopted condemning the 



neral conference by the niinor- 



:i \iolatioii of the letter and spirit 



laws and usages of the Church and a 



^inst it; and declaring that " all 



who have heretofore actively supported, 

 w are actively support ing or participating 

 i disorganizing moveineiits have thereby 



i olT their allegiance to our Church and 

 : : -entitled themselves to any of the privi- 



f membership therein until, upon rcf- 

 "ii, they have been duly readmitted": 

 i hat no preacher so acting heretofore is 



'I to vote at any annual conference or to 



e as a preacher without being received 



..tier reformation and accepted in due form 



le duly constituted annual conference of 



irch." The Board of Bishops was given 



by an amendment to the " Discipline," to 



by a majority of votes all disputed ques- 



! Church law, their interpretations to be 



hiding upon all preachers and members of the 



liureh. Presiding elders were authorized and 



1 during the interims of General Confer- 



" take steps to prevent ministers of the 



y party from performing any official 



in any of the churches under their juris- 



n. An order was passed under which rnin- 



;iid members of churches who adhere to 



ie minority organization shall be regarded as 



by that fact withdrawn from the Church, 



d their names shall be stricken from the roll. 



tep- were taken looking to the introduction of 



Cation in the General and annual con- 



s. The mission in Japan was constituted 



M annual conference. A report on the 



iiion to submit the difficulties in the 



liureh to arbitration was adopted unanimously, 



_;li the subject had not been formally pre- 



!< the Conference. It declared that there 



neither occasion nor ground for such a 



impromise; that if a wrong had been commit- 



<1 on the part of the majority, it only had to be 



T>ved to have it corrected according to the Word 



'God, "for to compromise between right and 



would be treason and sin : that it would lie 



f weakness calling in question the right of 



<-e for the Church with its excellent dis- 



I'line to submit the adjustment of its affairs to 



i outside board of arbitrators; that if each 



ember was faithful to his obligations as such, 



d each preacher obeyed his ordination vo\\s. 



i-ioii for compromise would at once cease ; 



rid that the behavior of the minority was such 



ir proposals of compromise were a "sac- 

 is mockery. "bore " the stamp of hypocrisy 

 ceit," and deserved no further attention. 



General Conference of the Minority. 



neral Conference of the minority party, 

 hich sustains Bishop Dubs, met in Philadel- 

 I'ia. Oct. 1. Its claim to legal constitution was 



"ii a clause in the Discipline directing that 



'lie General Conference and the bishops 



iil to appoint the time and place of the next 



*Mon. the oldest annual conference shall do so. 



"Iding that in view of this clause the General 



Conference had no ri^lit to ill-legate the appoint - 

 inenl to u commisMon. the Ka-t Pennsylvania 

 Conference, as the oldest, named Philadelphia 

 as the place of meeting, and the designation of 

 IndianajMilis by a committee of the former Gen- 

 eral Conference was regarded as invalid. Then- 

 being, by reason of the suspension of Hi-hop 

 I 'lib-, no bishops present authorized to act, (he 

 Kev. ('. S. Hainan \\a< elected chairman. No 

 delegates were present from se\enteen of the 

 annual conferences and none of the ex officio 

 members of the conference, Bishop Dub- was in- 

 vited to present the ca-e of his trial and suspen- 

 sion before the General Conference for review. 

 The cases of Bishops Bowman and K-he-- were 

 also reviewed, but in their absence. The proceed- 

 ings in the trial of Bishops Esher and Bowman 

 were approved, and they were declared deposed 

 and expelled, while the verdict in the case of 

 Bishop Dubs was reversed, and he was reinstated 

 in his episcopal and ministerial relations. Bish- 

 op Dubs was elected for another term, and the 

 Rev. C. S. Hainan and the Kev. W. M. Stanford 

 were chosen additional bishops. Persons were 

 chosen to fill all the official positions of the church 

 which were under the control of the majority 

 party, including the editorships of the official pa- 

 pers, their salaries to begin when they enter upon 

 the discharge of their duties. The report on the 

 state of the Church embodied a review of the 

 transactions that had led to the division as 

 viewed from the side of the minority party, and 

 action was taken upon all the questions at J-MIC 

 with a view to establishing the lawfulness of the 

 position of the minority. A measure of lay del- 

 egation was adopted, to be recommended to the 

 annual conferences. Ex officio membership in 

 the General Conference was abolished. 



Laymen's Conventions. Laymen's conven- 

 tions met in connection with both general con- 

 ferences. The Hon. W. Grote, of Elgin, 111. 

 was chosen president of the convention of the 



eiajority party at Indianapolis, and Mr. Isaiah 

 ower. of Pennsylvania, of that of the minority 

 party in Philadelphia. Fraternal greetings and 

 expressions of a desire for peace were exchanged 

 by telegraph between the two conventions. The 

 first message was sent by the convention of the 

 minority to that of the majority, and embodied 

 a unanimous request that the laymen of the 

 majority would join those of the minority " in 

 recommending to our ministerial brethren an 

 adjustment pf our present difficulties by arbitra- 

 tion by disinterested Christian brethren of other 

 denominations, and save our beloved association 

 from total disruption." The majority conven- 

 tion replied :" Dear brethren, we are yours for 

 peace and unity, and shall be glad to give our 

 influence to any mea.-'ire looking to that end 

 (the settlement of difficult ies) which is in ac- 

 cordance with our Discipline and the Word of 

 God." The minority convention responded pro- 

 posing the names of eleven men of eminence 

 in I heir several denominations and of recognized 

 positions before the public as arbitrators. To 

 this the president of the convention at Indianap- 

 olis answered that the convention had adjourned 

 and many of the delegates had gone home. He 

 had talked with some privately, and the opinion 

 was that the proposition of the minority conven- 

 tion was not in accordance with the Discipline. 



