676 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



appointments, or transfers are reported for approval 

 to act thereon shall be regarded as approval thereof; 

 and that all of said professors and teachers shall be 

 either ministers or members in good standing of 

 the Presbyterian Church in the United States. 



(d) That in the event of the violation of any of the 

 terms of said amendments, or the misuse or the di- 

 version of the funds or property held by them, then 

 the General Assembly shall be empowered to pro- 

 vide a-rainst such violation of the provisions of said 

 charters and for the enforcement of the same, and 

 for the protection of the trusts on which said property 

 arid funds arc hold, in such manner and in the name 

 of such person or corporation as it may direct, by 

 resolution certified by its clerk, in any civil court 

 having jurisdiction over the corporations whose 

 charters arc so amended. 



2. That all seminaries hereafter established or or- 

 ganized shall contain in their charters the foregoing 

 provisions as an essential part thereof before they 

 shall be recognized as in connection with the Presby- 

 terian Church of the United States of America. 



3. That the General Assembly shall, in the event 

 of the approval of the foregoing resolutions, appoint 

 a committee of 15 persons to confer wkh the various 

 seminaries, with a view to securing their approval of 

 said resolutions, and their consent to said changes in 

 their charters, and for the purpose of aiding them, by 

 counsel and otherwise, in securing the necessary 

 changes and amendments to the respective charters 

 herein recommended ; said committee to make report 

 to the next General Assembly lor final action on this 

 whole subject by the Assembly. 



A minority report held, in the light of a his- 

 torical review of discussions on the subject, that 

 the scheme for direct control of the seminaries 

 by the General Assembly was without warrant 

 in the Form of Government, and proposed a 

 practical subversion of invested and established 

 rights. The minority therefore recommended 

 That no change in the established order be proposed 

 by the Assembly to the seminaries, except such as 

 may in some instances be necessary to strengthen 

 ana further establish it, such as these : 



1. That the seminaries be advised to adhere to the 

 recommendation of the General Synod of 1761 in the 

 selection for each chair of u some minister of approved 

 character for his skill in theology." In other words, 

 to fill their chairs with ministers who are under the 

 control of and subject to the discipline of the courts 

 of the Church, ana who will submit to such control. 



2. That if anything be lacking in the charter of 

 any seminary by which lack its property might be 

 alienated from its use in supporting Presbyterian the- 

 ological instruction, such seminary be advised to 

 strengthen its charter at that point so that such alien- 

 ation shall be forever impossible. 



The minority report having been rejected by 

 a vote of 411 to 438, the majority report was 

 amended by inserting in the third resolution a 

 provision that its adoption should be without 

 impairment of any of the rights of the General 

 Assembly- or of the seminaries that had accrued 

 by the compact of 1870, and was adopted by a 

 vote of 437 to 11(5. In answer to an overture 

 from the Presbytery of Rochester deprecating 

 an alleged attempt of the General Assembly to 

 make new definitions of dogma by deliverance 

 and by judicial decision, and expressing the con- 

 viction that no doctrinal statement should be 

 made which is not explicitly contained in the 

 Confession of Faith and the catechisms of the 

 Church, the Assembly declared that it had never 

 undertaken to make new definitions of dogma 

 either by deliverances or judicial decisions. 



The case of the Rev. Prof. Henry P. Smith, 



D. D. (see "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1893, arti- 

 cle PRESBYTERIANS), came before the Assembly 

 from the decision of the Synod of Ohio, given in 

 the autumn of 1893, affirming the judgment of 

 the presbytery suspending him from the minis- 

 try of the Presbyterian Church until such time 

 as' he should make manifest to the satisfaction 

 of the presbytery his renunciation of the errors 

 he had been found to hold, and his solemn pur- 

 pose no longer to teach or propagate them. The 

 case was argued at considerable length, after 

 which, the vote being taken, the Assembly de- 

 cided, by a vote of nearly 4 to 1, adversely to each 

 of the 12 specifications of the appeal. A com- 

 mittee was then appointed to confer with Dr. 

 Smith, and to suggest such further action as 

 might seem judicious. This committee reported 

 subsequently that, after having had a fraternal 

 conference with Dr. Smith, it was not prepared 

 to communicate anything that would justify 

 further action by the Assembly, and advised 

 that questions of his future relations to the 

 Presbyterian Church and its ministry be left 

 with the Cincinnati Presbytery. The report of 

 the Standing Committee on Theological Semi- 

 naries, after mentioning the other seminaries, 

 spoke' particularly of Lane Seminary, reviewing 

 the events which had occurred during the past 

 years in connection with the case of Prof. Smith. 

 While the Board of Trustees had protested 

 against the action of the last General Assembly, 

 their spirit and purposes were now thoroughly 

 kind, conciliatory, and loyal. The report rec- 

 ommended, in view of all the facts, 

 An entire reorganization of the seminary by intro- 

 ducing new and different men into the board of 

 trustees and the corps of instructors; the appoint- 

 ment of a committee to visit the seminary and con- 

 fer with the board of trustees, especially concerning 

 its reorganization, this committee to report to the 

 next General Assembly ; the restoration, in the 

 meantime, of the seminary to full standing with the 

 General Assembly ; the disapproval of the election 

 of Henry Hulbert to the chair of Church History, 

 who might, however, be continued as a teacher. 



The report closed with the following general 

 suggestions : 



1. It is not so much learning, not even sacred 

 learning, as it is a profound experience of the things 

 of the Spirit that is the source of power and the 

 secret of usefulness in a minister of Christ. 2. The 

 students should be assiduously trained in the ready 

 and skillful use of the English Bible. 3. Constant 

 and earnest endeavor should be used to foster and 

 cultivate an intensely evangelistic and missionary 

 spirit among the students, emphasis being placed 

 upon the solemn and self-denying character of their 

 great work. 



The Assembly resolved that, according to 

 Presbyterian law, the various presbyteries have 

 the right to prohibit the attendance of students 

 under their care upon theological seminaries 

 disapproved by the General Assembly. 



The resolutions on Sabbath observance in- 

 cluded the following : 



That we lay upon the individual conscience the 

 responsibility of personal example in keeping the 

 Lord's Day by avoiding whatever tends to desecrate 

 it, such as tlie buying, reading, and supporting in 

 any manner the Sunday secular newspaper, unneces- 

 sary Sunday travel, amusements foreign to the spirit- 

 ual purposes of the day, social entertainments that 

 dissipate serious thought, and needless self-indul- 



