Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-23
BRIGGS CASE DECIDED.

The Conference Committee Refuses to Give
Out Its Ultimatun, Thoush-A Har.
| monious Solution of the Difficulty Now
Hoped For-General Assembly to Set.
tie 1t.
NEW YORK, Jan. 22.-[Special. 1.-The
conference between the Board of Directors
of Union theological Seminary and the
committee appointed by the Presbyterian
General Assembly on the relations between
the seminary and the church, as repre-
! sented by the General Assembly, was COM
| tinued to-day, and what passes for an un-
derstanding was finally arrived at.
The General Assembly vetoed as an ap-
pointment the transfer of Prof Briggs
from the Chair of Hebrew i'll the Seminary
to the Chair of Biblical Theology to express
it dissatisfaction with his views The AS
sembly claimed this veto power under an
agreement with the seminary made in 1870,
the seminary maintaining that the agree
ment did not confer with it the power to
veto transfer, and the directors said that
they would retain DR.. Briggs and stand by
him at all hazards.
Warm and Vigorous Discussion.
The conference, with its sub-conferences
of directors and committee, has lasted the
greater part Of three days There has been
every indication that the discussions were
warm and vigorous and that neither side
was inclined to yield much. DR.. Patton,
President of Princeton Seminary, was chair
man of the assembly committee.
1t was learned that the Union directors
were not at all disposed to recede from the
position they had taken. The conference
lasted until after o'clock tonight. 1t
was then announced that An agreement
or basis of possible agreement had
been arrived at. Anyway, the
conference adjourned without day. The
parties to the conference were bound not to
disclose any part of the proceedings, and
and Secretary Of the Assembly Committee,
prepared and gave out this statement for
publication:
Directors arrived at a basis of a report to
the next General Assembly satisfactory to
both parties, and giving hope for har-
monious solution of the matters at issue.
Expressions of Dissatisfaction.
The conferees sang the doxology before
adjourning but the hope of harmonious
solution, or the basis for the hope, did not
appear to content any of the members en-
tirely, and there were many expressions of
out. DIR. Brown remarked very en-
phatically that he did not like
the principle of the thing bit. One of the
assembly committee seemed much worked
up, and was patted ON the shoulder by a
more calm brother who implored him ''not
to get mad about the matter
From all that could be learned it ap-
peared that the basis of an agreement was
somewhat ursubstantial. DR.. Hastings,
President of the seminary, would not tell
what the agreement was In reply to
question as to whether things at the semi
nary would remain as at present until the
meeting of the next General Assembly, he
said that, SO far as he knew, there would
be no change at the seminary in the mean
time.
DIR. Patton declined to say anything
further than that everything was satisfactory
to the General Assembly Committee, and
that there would be "some relations between
the seminary and the General Assembly
when the matter is finally settled. The
General Assembly does not meet until May.