The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-19
PRBsBYTER1ANs MEET.
Opening of the General Assembly at
Washington.

session of the general assembly of the
Presbyterian church convened in the New
York Avenue Presbyterian church this
morning. Every nook and corner was
filled and had the church been twice as
large it would not have accommodated all
who desired to be present, On the main
floor were seated the commissioners and
others having business in connection with
| the assembly. On the platform We're the
officers, Rev William &. Young of the
! Danville (Ky) Seminary, moderator; Rev.
| William II. Roberts of Cincinnati, stated
| clerk and Rev. DR.. William Alvin Bart
| lett, pastor of the church, chairman of
| the executive committee.
Colored Presbyterians were sprinkled
about over the church The leading COM
| missioner of that race is Rev. John A.
Savage from the Cape Fear presbytery,
North Carolina.
The decorations of the church were
simple but effective. Over the pulpit
swung an arch bearing ON its face the
legend, General Assembly, in white
immortelles. The keystone of the arch
showed the number of the assembly, 105,
in red The background of the arch was
| of leaves of galax, a rich wine color, which
was also used to twine around the various
columns in the body of the church In
| the fretworlI of the gallery front was in
| terlaced branches of bridal wreath and in
the embrasures of the windows stood pots
of palm. Palms were also massed on the
! sides and against the back Of the pulpit,
and vases of roses shed their perfume
| from the tables of the assistant secre-
| ta'ries.
The services of the opening session be-
gan with the singing of the chorus, THE
! Glory of the Lord !" from Handel's ''Mes-
siah, - by a choir of fifty voices. The
! tenor solo, "The Valley Shall Be Ex-
| allied, " was sung by w. d. Mcfarland.
| The anthem was selected from Elijah,
| including the soprano solo, Hear We
| Israel" which was succeeded by the
grand chorus, "Be Not Afraid"
OPENING OF THE SERVICES.
Promptly at IL o'clock Rev. DR.. w. G.
! Young, the moderator of the assembly,
| appeared on the pulpit platform and took
| his seat, accompanied by Revs w. II.
| Roberts of Cincinnati, state clerk; w f..
| Moore of Columbus, permanent clerk;
| Joseph 7, Smith of Baltimore, moderator
of the centennial assembly, Charles l..
! Thompson of New York. w G. Roberts,
secretary of the board of home missions,
and Herrick johnson of Chicago, ex-
| Justice William Strong, eX-Gov. Beaver
of Pennsylvania, Revs. DR., William Al
win Bartlett, pastor of the New York
| Avenue church. and Teunic, Sambin,
| Byron Sunderland and S. v V. Holmes
| of the local Presbyterian clergy.
Dr. Bartlett announced that the hour
for the beginning of the services had az
rived The chorus from the Messiah" was
| followed by the doxology and prayer by
| Rev w. H. Roberts, state clerk The
| hymn, ''All People That on Earth Do
! Dwell, " was then sung BY the entire con-
gregation.
Rev. Herriclx johnson read part of the
sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, beginning with
the eighth verse; also part of st. Mat
thew, sixteenth chapter, from the twelfth
verse.
Rev. Joseph F. Smith led the assem-
blage in prayer, asking that the spirit of
wisdom, grace and love might rule over
| ali the meetings of the assembly The
anthem from the Oratorio of Elijah" was
rendered by the choir.
The annual sermon was then delivered
by DR.. Young, the moderator
THE NEW MODERATOR.
After the sermon matters of detail
were attended to and the assembly took
a recess until 3 O'Clock. Upon reas-
! sembling nominations for moderator were
in order Immediately after the opening
devotions and the roll call. Rev DR.
| Charles A. Dickey and Rev. George A.
Baker, both of Philadelphia, Rev. Willis
| G.. Craig of Mccormick University at
Chicago, but who sits as commissioner
from the Iowa presbytery, and Rev Cal
win W. Stewart of Washington state were
| placed in nomination. Drs. Dickey and
Stewart withdrew their names The first
ballot resulted Craig 324, Baker 1913; ;
total 522 The election of DR.. Craig was
made unanimous and he was presented to
the assembly by the retiring mod
/ orator
DIR. Bartlett, pastor of the church in
which the assembly meets, then made an
address of welcome
j. r. Foster of Newark, N. j., presented
the following resolution which was unani-
mously adopted by rising vote, with a
subsequent understanding that it should
| be amended or made more comprehensive
| tomorrow:
Resolved, That this assembly protests in
| behalf of the Christian sentiment Of the
| nation against the opening Of the Columbian
| exposition at Chicago on the Lord day. We
| appeal to the national commissioners TO as
| sert their rightful authority to prevent the
| opening of the exposition on that day and we
! respectfully invoke the cooperation Of the
national executive in the enforcement OF all
| laws designed and calculated to secure that
! end.
Resolved, That copy Of this resolution be
| communicated to the President Of the United
| States and to Hon Il. w. Palmer, president
! of the world fair commission.
| This evening the ordinance of the
| Lords supper was administered to the
| commissioners and an accompanying con-
| gregation, which again more than taxed
| the capa city of the church.