Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-01
The Great Presbyterian General As
sembly Nearing Adjournment.
ANGER OF A SPLIT
As the Result of the Action on the Briggs
Case Discussed - The Doctor Will Not
Talk, but DIR. Berrick johnson submits
to an Interview.

ing the morning and the afternoon BY end
ing their sessions this evening a larg'
portion Of the ministers who arr
commissioners will be able to get home in timt
to be in their pulpits next Sunday, and this Il
what many of them particularly desire In
the Presbyterian churches all over the
country the deliberations and the CON
illusions of the great ecclesiastical body
now in session in this city will furnish the sub
ject OF the discourses. There have been many
and very important issues up for settlement,
before the assembly, but the general opinion ID
that they have been settled in such an amicabie
manner as to leave behind them no danger OF
hard feeling or contention
DANGER OF A SPLIT.
This statement is by no means true Of all the
commissioners to the general assembly. There
is no doubt that many Of them will leave the
city feeling pretty sore over what has been
done here In respect to many things that
they hold very dear. What the final
outcome Of it all will be is a matter that no
man feels able or willing to attempt to decide.
One prominent minister, perhaps he was too
closely allied with the liberal faction in
the church to be an unprejudiced Judge,
said recently in the course of CONVEX
sa.ion that in his opinion the action Of the as
sembly in disposing OF the case Of DR.. Briggs
was euCu a. w itdfc TIC Sltatcbt dduRef OF q
split in the church that would assume
tremendous proportions before it was COM
plete.
Curiously enough. he thought that the split
would be made by the conservatives and not
by the liberal members of the Presbyterian
view of the situation. Tney claim to
believe that in the course Of the next
few years, probably within five years at the
outside, the general sentiment Of the church
will have become SO hberalized that the con-
servatlve members will say that this is not the
church as they have known it and that Il is
their duty to leave it in order to keep il mp TO
the lines laid down by the fathers.
Although there were many absorbing mat
tiers up for action before the assembly this
morning the commissioners vet found plenty
Of time TO discuss the subject of the de-
cision in the Briggs case. Opinion o. to its
righteousness was divided upon lust exactly
the same lines as have separated the Briggs
men fSom the anti-Briggs men. To the former
the result OF the vote last night was not at all q
surprise. They knew all the time that the re-
suit was foregone conclusion and
that so many of the commissioners had
come to Washington with their minds all made
up to the effect that the safety of the church
demanded that they should vote to convict
that the result was never for q moment in
doubt. The size and proportions of the vote
were Just about what were expected BY both
parties.
BITTERNESS OVER TIE CONVICTION OF DIR. BRIoas
There is more than q little bitterness felt
over the conviction Of DR.. Briggs and even the
most optimistic Of the commissioners
are willing to admit that the end is not
yet and that no man can tell just what
it will be. In. other words. thew seem
to think that the Presbyterian Church is pass
ing through a crisis just now, the real import
ance and significance of which very few fully
realize. The Briggs men clGim today that the
vote to accuit would have been considerably
larger last night il the men who voted TO sustain
in part the appeal had understood the exact
effect Of their votes. They call DR.. Briggs
today the nineteenth century Savonarola-
The man who has been convicted
of heresy and who couple
of centuries ago would have spent the day
wondering as to the temperature of boiling oil
OF the sensations attendant upon decspitation
verdict as one could well expect Of q man who
has never for moment appeared to treat the
matter lightly or to belittle the seriousness Of
his position.
Verify, times have changed since the DAYS
when heretics were burned at the stake or
siderate manner. Sull it must be admitted
that in the debate upon the case yesterday
there was shown much of tine same spirit that
urged men on to be the ones to Apply the torch
to the fagots heaped about the feet OF the heretc
Ever since the assembly began DIR. Briggs
has made his headquarters at the Cochran and
it was there that a STAR reporter saw him this
morning. He was asked If he cared to say any
thing FOR publication as to what he thought Of
the verdict.
DIR. BRIGGS DECLINES TO TALK.
"For the past two years" he said. at have
carefully avoided the charge of rushing into
print to express my views in the newspapers.
At this time of all times should be slow to say
anything for print. l am sure you must ap-
preciate my delicate position in the matter"
DR.. Briggs looked worried and tired. For
several days past he has been decidedly unwell
Yesterday he was obliged to be excused from
attendance upon the assembly and he was not
present last evening when the vote was taken.
AT the same hotel are many OF the men who
have stood by HIM during the long trial. and to
Judge by the cordial reception they gave him
this morning there was no possibility Of their
going back on him.
DR.. Herrick johnson of Chicago. who is re-
garded as one of the ablest commissioners in
the assembly. was asked This morning what he
thought of the incl results of the decision and
sentence In the Briggs case. He said:
DE. JOHNSON TALKS.
"My Judgment is tina. the sentence. whatever
it is. will be accepted by the church after the
protest from some parts of il as to the consti-
tutional questions involved. and from other
parts of the church as to the severity Of the
sentence.
while it unquestion ably settles all the con-
stitutional questions that have been raised
in tine progress of the trial. so far as the de-
cision of the supreme court can settle
them. it viii not satisfy or give rest to
the church concerning these constitutional
questions. such as the standing OF commit
tee of prosecution. the power given this COM
mittee so as to MAKE i; independent of the pres
bytery in The prosecution of trials for heresy
through the respective courts.
1T will tend TO increase the hesitation upon
the part of presbyteries to enter upon a trial
for heresy in view of the fact that this
decision of the constitutional question
will make a presbytery slow to appoint
a committee whose powers will be supreme
and transcend its own. II will be regarded by
many in the church a restriction OF liberty
in prosecuting critical and scholarly research.
at will be considered as narrowing the limits
within which there may be Independence of
conviction and tentative belief.
THERE WILL BE WIDE UNREST.
There will still be wide unrest with
respect to some important questions inv olved
In the trial Among Others that which
seems to have determined the inerrancv of the
original autograph Scriptures, determination
concerning which will not be accepted
will be looked upon as the declaration of a new
doctrine. and is beyond the power of the as
sembly to declare.
Internationally by the great majorityof the
church there will be no challenge Of the find.