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PRESBYTERIANS. 



pressing more fully the sentiments of the lay- 

 men on subjects of common interest. The resolu- 

 tions adopted on temperance urged the ministers 

 and people " to a careful study of existing laws 

 against the saloon in their own communities, and 

 of those methods of suppressing and controlling 

 the liquor traffic which are proved efficient in any 

 part of the land "; and " so far as conscience and 

 wisdom dictate," to approve and aid all meas- 

 ures which oppose the saloon and aim at its de- 

 struction. They further appealed to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States to carry the antican- 

 teen law into full force and effect by issuing an 

 order as commander in chief of the army for the 

 total suppression of army saloons, at least until 

 the Attorney-General's opinion has been finally 

 tested in the courts; and invited the attention of 

 Congress to the effect of the ruling of the Attor- 

 ney-General in establishing the canteen as still 

 a part of the military establishment. An over- 

 ture having been presented from the Presbytery 

 of Baltimore on the subject of church attendance 

 of Presbyterian students at the Naval Academy, 

 Annapolis, a correspondence was produced, from 

 which it appeared that the Secretary of the Navy 

 had explained that while students as a rule were 

 expected to attend religious services at the 

 chapel, where the preacher was a Methodist min- 

 ister, they were allowed, upon making a request to 

 that effect in writing, and with the written ap- 

 proval of their parents, to attend the church of 

 their choice in Annapolis. The Assembly, while 

 accepting the statements of the Secretary as an 

 assurance that religious liberty prevailed among 

 the cadets under the present rules of the Academy, 

 urged upon the authorities of the Academy that 

 no restriction, whether formal or otherwise, be 

 laid upon the right of cadets to attend the Pres- 

 byterian Church at Annapolis under the prevail- 

 ing rules; and upon those parents who wish their 

 boys to be under distinctively Presbyterian train- 

 ing " not to fail to assert their parental influence 

 with their sons and their undoubted rights with 

 the authorities to this end." A protest was 

 passed against the seating of Brigham H. Roberts, 

 " an avowed polygamist," as a member of the 

 national House of Representatives from Utah. 

 The resolutions on the Sabbath deprecated the 

 secularizing of the day; urged members and 

 young people of the Church to realize the impor- 

 tance of Sabbath observance, and legislatures 

 and Congress to protect the American Sabbath; 

 commended various societies for the promotion 

 of Sabbath observance; recommended every pas- 

 tor to preach a sermon on Sabbath observance; 

 advised the preparation by the Board of Publica- 

 tion and the use by Sabbath-school superintend- 

 ents of a leaflet on the subject; and expressed 

 sympathy with 3,000,000 persons "who, because 

 of Sabbath desecration, are compelled to do secu- 

 lar work on the Sabbath." The Assembly, while 

 expressing the utmost confidence in its trustees 

 and its stated clerk, directed that, " in accord- 

 ance with the most approved business methods, 

 their accounts, cash, and securities be annually 

 examined and approved by a public auditor, whose 

 certificate should be appended thereto before sub- 

 mitting the said accounts to the standing Com- 

 mittee on Finance of the next and subsequent 

 General Assemblies." 



The Rev. Dr. A. C. McGiffert, professor in 

 Union Theological Seminary, in response to the 

 request of the preceding Assembly (see Annual 

 Cyclopaedia for 1898, page 651) that he reconsid- 

 er the "questionable views" in his book, A 

 History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, 

 " and if he can not conform his views to the 



standards of our Church, then peaceably to with- 

 draw from the Presbyterian ministry," sent in 

 a letter declining to take either course. " The 

 action of the Assembly," he wrote, " as well as 

 the overture from the Presbytery of Pittsburg^ 

 upon which that action was based, make it evi- 

 dent that many of my positions, together with 

 the spirit and purpose of my book as a whole, 

 have been seriously misapprehended. Such mis- 

 apprehension 1 sincerely regret, and I wish here 

 emphatically to repudiate the false construction* 

 that have been placed upon my book in many 

 quarters. So far as my views are concerned, 

 they have been and remain, as I believe, in ac- 

 cord with the faith of the Presbyterian Church 

 and of Evangelical Christendom in all vital and 

 essential matters, and I therefore can not feel 

 that it is my duty, or even my right, in ju-t in- 

 to myself and to my brethren, and to the Church 

 of our Divine Lord' and Master, in which 1 am 

 an office bearer, to withdraw from the Presby- 

 terian Church. In taking this position, to which 

 I am constrained by a profound sense of duty, I 

 desire to say that I recognize gratefully the 

 spirit of Christian kindness which animated 

 those who joined in the action of the last 

 General Assembly, and appreciate the devotion 

 to the truth and the concern for the \\elt.ue 

 of the Church which prompted their action. 

 I desire to say, also, that I yield to no one 

 in my devotion to the truth and in my con- 

 cern for the welfare of the Church." The 

 Committee on Bills and Overtures, in who-c 

 hands the case lay, brought in a unanimou- n 

 port, a majority report, and a minority report. 

 The unanimous report, while taking notice of the 

 repudiation by Dr. McGiffert of the intei|'i.i,i 

 tion placed upon his utterances in the book as 

 being not in accord with the standards of the 

 Church, and of his assertion of devotion to the 

 truth and concern for the welfare of the Church, 

 and accepting the same as sincere, never! lid- 

 asserted the deliverance of the General Assembly 

 of 1808 condemning the statements of the book 

 as being such as to justify the interpretation he 

 repudiated; then laid down the fundamental doc- 

 trines of the Church on the points involved. 

 This report was adopted by the Assembly. The 

 majority report further recommended that the 

 matter of the teachings of Dr. M < ;iil 1 1 - 

 book " be referred to the Presbytery of New York. 

 to which belongs the primary constitutional re- 

 sponsibility, for such disposition as in its judg- 

 ment the peace of the Church and purity of doc- 

 trine may require." The minority report em- 

 bodied a direction to the Presbytery' of New York 

 as to the course it should pursue in the matter. 

 The majority report, leaving the Presbytery of 

 New York free to e\eni-. ii- judgment, was 

 adopted, and the vote adopting it was made 

 unanimous. 



An appeal was made by Hermann Warszawiak 

 against the decision of the Synod of New York in 

 effect confirming his expulsion froni the Fifth 

 Avenue Presbyterian Church on a charge of gam 

 bling. The report of the Judicial Com mi ion to 

 whom the case was referred, which was confirmed 

 by the Assembly, recommended that the judgment 

 of the synod be reversed only in so far as the 

 synod instructed the Presbytery of New York to 

 remand the case to the session of the Church on 

 the ground that the synod had no constitutional 

 right to direct a retrial on charges not involved 

 in the original indictment. Otherwise, it WM 

 recommended and determined that the judg- 

 ment of the synod stand in the case of the ap- 

 peal and complaints, and the records be remanded 



