rUKSHYTKKIANS. 



651 



compact of 1870, by it* withdrawal of the considera- 

 tion cm iu part on which tin- compact of 1*70 was 

 i-nicivd into viz, itn recognition and approval of 

 a >cininar\ I'M' instruction in thdologj. thw diwmd- 

 iting the sunn- before tin- Church. In view of the 

 luets tin- B<>anl of Trustees of Lane Theolog- 



ical Scminan regards itself as freed ly the As-i-m- 

 bly's action from any anil all obligation* growing out 

 of our agreement of Aug. 28, 1870, until tlu-n- shall 

 I'f Mtabuthod such relations between the General 

 Assembly and Lane Seminary as shall bo satisfac- 

 tory to the Church and consistent with the charter of 

 the seminary and the rights and duties of its board 

 of trustee.-, thereunder. And it i.s the cani'-.-t ile.sire 

 and hope of this hoard that such satisfactory relations 

 may soon he established. 



'Ihis board attiring what its records attest, that it 

 has always Keen faithful to its agreement <>t 1^70. and 

 true and loyal to the 1'rcsbyterian Church, and de- 

 sires to continue and maintain its historic position. 



With respect to Prof. Smith the board re- 

 solved : 



Whertas, The General Assembly has declared that 

 sentence of suspension from the ministry carries with 

 it a suspension of the exercise of teaching in the theo- 

 logical seminaries ; and 



W hereas, Loyal acquiescence in the said declara- 

 tion by our board seems to make it necessary that 

 pending his appeal Dr. Smith should not teach in 

 the seminary ; and 



\\ lureas, The board declined to receive his resig- 

 nation when offered under censure, on the ground 

 that such resignation would seriously prejudice his 

 case before the synod and General Assembly ; there- 

 fore, 



Resolved, That Dr. Smith be requested to continue 

 his present relation with the seminary during the 

 coming year, with the understanding that he shall be 

 relieved from teaching in the seminary until such 

 time as final action in his case shall be determined, 

 and that the action of the board last May to the ef- 

 fect that Prof. Smith continue teaching be rescinded. 



Thereupon Prof. Smith peremptorily resigned 

 his professorship. 



The appeal of Prof. Smith from the decision 

 of the Presbytery of Cincinnati suspending him 

 from the ministry and from his offices was heard 

 by the Synod of Ohio in October. Twelve points 

 of complaint were made : 



(1) That the Court erred in allowing members of the 

 presbytery to sit in judgment on the case after they 

 had published opinions of his guilt ; (2) that the pro- 

 ceedings were irregular; (8) that the action of the 

 presbytery failed to show that his teaching was con- 

 trary to fundamental doctrines : (4) that it was not 

 definite and specific in that it did not define the sense 

 in which the term inspiration was used ; (5) irregu- 

 larity in the statement of charges and specifications, 

 some being founded on a mere inference of the prose- 

 cution; (6) declining to receive the whole of certain 

 testimony, a part of which had been accepted; (7) 

 allowing the vote of a member to be recorded and 

 counted in his absence } (8, 9, 10) error in sustaining 

 charges ; (11 ) that certain specifications were grossly 

 exaggerated, others not relevant: (12) that the im- 

 posed ]enalty is excessive, even if the professor were 

 guilty. 



The action of the presbytery on all these 

 points was sustained, and the suspension of the 

 appellant was confirmed. Prof. Smith decided 

 to appeal to the General Assembly. 



Committee on Theological Seminarist. The 

 General Assembly's special committee of fifteen 

 appointed to prepare and report a plan of con- 

 trol of the theological seminaries which will se- 

 cure closer relations between the Assembly and 



these institutions met in Pittsburg, Pa., in De- 

 cember, mid adjourned after three 0*71 spent in 

 discussion without completing n report. 



Conference of "Liberal J'retibt/terians." A 

 conference of " Liberal PmbrtnuBt" was held 

 in Cleveland, Ohio, in Novemlx-r. The sessions 

 were private, but on adjournment, Nov. 10. the 

 following declaration of principles was given out : 



We, the undersigned, ministers and eldera of the 

 1'rcsbytcrian Church in the United State* of America, 

 being seriously concerned in view of certain facts and 

 tendencies in our Church, hereby make the following 

 statement : 



1. We believe that the General Assembly has no 

 right to impose upon the Church new doctrinal state- 

 ment.- under the guise of interpretation, whether by 

 deliverance or through judicial process, and, further, 

 that interpretation of doctrine by the courts of the 

 Church ought always to be strictly within the letter 

 of tl.c standards and with sacred regard to the broad 

 and general terms of the reunion of 1870. 



L'. We believe that the most scrupulous care should 

 be used in all trials for doctrinal divergence from the 

 standards, especially now when a large majority of 

 the presbyteries have expressed, after much delibera- 

 tion, their dissatisfaction with our Confession of Faith 

 as it stands, their desire for its revision, and many of 

 them their desire for a new creed. We view with 

 grave concern procedures at such a time, conducted 

 by what seems to us interpretations of our standards 

 strained bevond their letter and far beyond any just 

 regard for the compact of the reunion. 



8. We believe that no court of our Church has a 

 right by deliverance, or resolution, or rebuke, or other- 

 wise to seek to suppress respectful action by judica- 

 tories below it expressive of their anxiety and appre- 

 hension concerning anything in the Church which 

 seems to them to imperil the constitutional liberties 

 of the Church or of any of its members. The right 

 of petition and remonstrance must not be denied in 

 the Church of Christ. 



4. We believe that the interpretation of one or two 

 phrases in our Book of Discipline as meaning that a 

 prosecuting committee should become from the mo- 

 ment it enters on its work independent of the court 

 which appointed it, capable of living on even after 

 the judicatory has died and of prosecuting after the 

 indicatory has acquitted, is a strained interpretation, 

 leading logically to many absurdities and easily to 

 possible miscarriages of justice. If these phrases are 

 fairly susceptible of such interpretation, they ought 

 to be eliminated from the book. 



5. We believe that it is no part of the constitutional 

 power of any court of the Church to warn honest and 

 God-fearing men to withdraw themselves from its 

 ministry or eldership because they can not accept as 

 binding upon them interpretations of doctrines which 

 are outside the letter ot the Confession and which 

 have never been settled by the sanction of the pres- 

 byteries in any legal way. " This method of discipline 

 by withdrawal, enjoined by resolution of a church 

 court, is not provided for in the Book of Discipline. 

 Such warning carries no obligation of obedience. 



ft. We believe that our Church is broad enough and 

 strong enough to abide by the spirit of the compact of 

 reunion and to embrace in its communion and its 

 ministry all forms and schools of reverent scholar- 

 ship which accent the essential and necessary articles 

 of our common faith, acknowledging the Lord Jesus 

 as Divine Master and Saviour and the Bible as the 

 only infallible rule of faith and practice. 



7. NVc call uj>on all l'resl>\ tenans to stand together 

 in defense of reasonable liberty of opinion in the 

 Church and of the constitutional rights of individual 

 members wherever assailed, and we heartily approve 

 of the protest of Dr. Ilcrriek .Johnson, Dr. Mccola, 

 ami others at the last General Assembly. 



8. We do most urgently counsel our brethren who 

 may be perplexed concerning their duty to abide in 



