Birmingham age-herald., 1895-03-12
4 HEATED SESSION Of the New York Presbytery 0cca-
 stoned by Resolutions C0fgsGMNlNG PARKHURST S Utterances Relative to the
PARKHURST
Utterances Relative to the Sale of the Sea and
 Land Church.

NEW YORK, March I.-According to programme resolutions refecting upon the conduct of Charles H. Parkburst in the mat ter of his criticism ot the New York pres bytery's action with regard to the sale of the Church of Sea aud Land were offered thfs afternoon at the monthly meeting of that body in the lecture room in the First Presbyterian ch urch. pr. Parkhurst was absent, having left the city for two weeks' rest, but his friends were there ir force.
 Dr. Chambers, having the resolution in charge, secured the floor at tue close of the session. He rtad Il long statement based upon the records of the prcsbytery and eiv- ing in detail the facts in regard to the pro- posed sale of the property and the terms of the occupancy pending the sale by the Madison Square church, of which Dr. Parkhurst Is pastor. He prefaced his state-
 ment with whereas, setting forth the fact of an interview with Dr. Parkhurst, in which the proposed sale was characterized by the eminent reformer as 'coid-
 blooded violation of solemn contract which is as true as the everlasting gospel.
 It was an act which had it been committed in Wall street, would have furnished the clerical members of the presbytery with what they would have considered juicy material for homiletical exploitation"
 Following this preamble were the ex- tracts from the presbytery records showing that the decision to sell the Sea and Land church antedated the arrangement with Dr. Parkhurs's church by nearly year and a half; that the occupancy of the church by Dr. Parkhurst's s session was for one year only; that the session of the Mad ison Square church had stipulated in writ ing thst tive would not wish to obligate ourselves or ask the presbytery to obligate itself beyond the one year;o that subse- quent action in regard to the sale of the church was made subject to the agreement with the Madison Square church, and that part of the proceeds of the sale was to be used in planting mission in the neighbor- hood of the church, which would be avail able as field for work carried on in the Sea and Land building by Dr. Parkhurst's session.
 pr. John Hall opposed the resolution in the interest of peace and harmony. He objected to the reference in the preamble to Dr. Parkhurst and the Madison Square church. He asked to have the names stricken out.
 "Authorize the officers oi the presby- tery,' he said, ito print and circulate the statement as far as you wish, but omit all personal references to brother whom we love and respect. Let the statement rest on the facts and let the newspaper in- 'terviews be attributed to this brother alone. The public will be able to compare these statements of facts authorized by us with the newspaper references aLd adjudi- cate upon them as they see It,
 Dr. Mulally, whose objections to the re- cent vote of approval of Dr. Parkhurst's reform methods created such stir in the presbytery several weeks ago, was on his feet in an instant.
 "To my mind,'' he cried, 1.-the pre- amble is the most important. It is ques- ton of a member of the presbytery ar- raigning his presbytery before the public instead of before the session and charging it with crime, with a misappropriation of funds, with violation Of contract, with not being worthy of confidence. An hon. ored pastor of church rises to object be- cause the member who does this is named. Are we to be the prey of a man who makes his living by sensational writings? An in- dividual has arraigned the presbytery and an indiviG ual shall be named. If had my way would bring him before the bar of this court and make him answer.'
 Dr. Francis Brown, Dr. Duffield and Dr. Buchanan and other pastors opposed the resolution, which had been altered by Dr. Chambers to meet Dr. Halls suggestion. Dr. Buchanan thought it was unnecessary and undignified for the presbytery to ex- onerate itself from alleged criticisms spoken to an unknown reporter on the mere rumor of publishing statement. Dr. Atterbury agreed with Dr. Buchanan, and . his motion to lay the resolutions as amended on the table was carried by 6 vote of 57 to 36. Many of the conservative members of the presbytery voted with the liberals on this motion.