Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1893-06-01

/
and General Assembly. showing the dis
ini,sal Of the charges in 1891 and an ac-
quilul i'll 1892, hhy a court" ~ he said,
which showed 50 evidently, to say the
least, that us members were not biased i'll
favor Of DR.. Briggs, and which was under
the external pressure of the unfavOrable
action OF two General Assemblies, and
which was compelled to acqut him
by the evidence in the case. Is it
| equitable to put the defendant in
! jeopardy again for the offences
charged against him? No, sir, The General
Assembly cannot entertain this appeal
without doing violence to the sense of
| right which is exhibited in the Constitu-
| ton Of our country, i'll the maxms of
common law, in the statutes of our COM
monweulth and in the practice OF our civil
courts without establishing all entirely
new and dangerous precedent i'll ecclesias-
| tical law, without doing grave injustice to
4 the defendant and to the PIesbytery of
New York, and without undermining
| public confidence in the equity Of Preby
| terinm discipline"
At 1925 Dr. Briggs yielded for motion
to adjourn, having then occupied total
| of 3 hours and 81 minutes.
| WAsHISGToN, May 26-At o o'clock the
| General Assembly again convened. The
| largest attendance so far i'll the history of
| the l0Jth General Assembly Of the Pres
|
America was present at the prayer meet
| ing with which the days proceedings were
| ushercd in. The Rev. Mr.. Allen OF Chat
! tanooga presided.
| Moderator Craig announced that at the
request Of ). ]. Nichols, d. D., Of ST.
| Louis, and Elder Cyrus l.. Pershing. he
| had replaced them on the judicial com.
| mission to try the complaints Of ]. j.
NlcCoek and others against the Synod of
| New York, by the appointment of the
Rev. w. II. Reinolds of Minnesota, and
Elder Law of California. The Rev. MIR.
| H0yt, the moderator further announced,
had been added TO the committee to visit
| President Cleveland unon the matter of
/ traffic in fire arms i'll the Western Pacific.
Upon the formal motion TO approve the
minutes OF Yesterday. after the opening Of
the Assembly for business, the furry of
/ last night over the form of the question to
be voted upon AZ the close of the four
hours debate by the iudiclat0ry. was re-
newed. The moderator at length reviewed
the proceedings of last night upon this
matter, and stated at the close of the de
bate, that he would entertain a motion to
amend the form Of the question; the
| motion to be voted upon without further
debate. This was satisfactory to all parties
aud moderator gave the floor TO Elder
kctchum OF New Jersey. BY his permis-
sion Professor Brown Of New York arose
to question Of privilege.
Eldef MClougall Of Cincinnati inquired
il commissioners from the New York
rresbytery could be heard at this time.
The ModeratUr-"l don't know what the
brother is going to say. lie may be sick. !"
Laughter.
Elder McDougall-" the terms of the
book the commissioners of the New York
Presbytery are constructively absent.
Being constructiyely absent can they be
heard ?'
The Moderator-"Let us hear Professor
Brown, lie may be going to explain why
he is present when he should be absent"
Professor Brown-"Mr Moderator, there
are one or two commissioners from New
York who are not satisfied with the ruling
made last night, and | wanted to ask il
you would listen to a few suggestions, the
presentation Of which might induce to
modify that ruling"
The Moderator-"Not at all, not at all,
Prof. Brown. Under the circumstances
cannot listen to YOU"
DIR, ketchum OF New Jersey was recog.
nized by the moderator on the question
shall the appeal be entertained 2" He
favored sending the clSe of Professor
Briggs back to the Synod, and said that al
the end of the debate he would offer o
resolution to that effect. He had not one
particle of sympathy with his friend DR.
Briggs. He wanted it understood that Ii,
strict Interpretation of the Bible WITHOUT
rising above the mysteries in it. But ht
believed DR.. Briggs had a certain righ
, which should be respected.
Here DIR. kGtchum's time expired. The
moderator announced that he would mex
, recognize Elder lIinklev of Philadelphia
who had requested to be heard, but Eide
McDougall Of Cincinnati stated that by
arrangement with the chairman of the
Judiciary committee he was charged witt
the duty Of opening in support OF motion
| to entertain the appeal.
This was accepted by the moderator ant
Mr.. McDVugall took the platform.
, Thereupon "A storm of protest arose
against this by Mr.. Herrick johnson anC
I Elders sheppard and Griffin. The moder
ator explained that the rGie Of dividing tn,
time by prearrangcmept had been fol
lowed at Saratoga in the cdiscussion of the
/, revision Of the confession.
Elder Sheppard called attention TO th,
rules, which require that as between twt
members claiming the door, the one far
: thcr from the moderator Shall speak first
The Moderator-''l would get away from
, this quicker than lightning. II the As
sGmbly desires, let the members scramble
D fer place under the rule quoted. shal
t recognize the men i'll the back seats rs fas
! as they arise"
Mir. Shcppard--"D Dividing the tim,
equally between the two sides 2'
4 The Moderator-"Oh, yes"
/ Elder Hinliiey was then given the floor
He cantended that the Synod of New
York did not Try this case on its merits
. The question, therefore, before Tn
1 Assembly WAS, Are the theological view
( AS expressed by the appellee iii this cas-
sound or not?n It looked to him rs il
( the synod Of New York had not pAssct
r OH the case at all. 1t had brought in
5 verdict of mot guilty, but don't do j
/ again lie did not see how the church
i could gain anything by pattering in tn
dark passages of The church of Rome. IL,
/ wanted This question to be settled once ant
1 forever.
I Elder Hnkley here began discussion
) Of the relative views OF distinguishe,
: theoiogians and was called to order b,
several commissioners. He is not dcbat
: ing the question:" shouted commits
$ sioner.
i "He thinks he is debating the question,
/ said the moderator, amid much laughter
! Continuing, Elder Hinklcy proteste,
i against sending the matter back to III
v synod Of New York.
The Rev. Thomas O. Hall of Chicago
said the question was one of cOnStitll
G tional law. If Dr. Briggs were the wors
heritic in the church it would not be wis
g to infringe the least his constitutions
n rights to get rid of him. DR.. Briggs YES
L terday on this platform stated that he be
! lieved in the Holy Scriptures as the wort
. of God. This was the bed rock of tn
& church, and any other matters of belle
q which were not before the Assembly
g might well be left to the Synod or Presby
i terry.
il Elder Thomas McDougall of Cincinnati
/ next addressed the Assembly in behalf 0
a trying the case at once without sending
n back To the synod. Dr. Briggs stated tina
It il the matter were sent back to the Syno