The San Francisco call., 1896-04-22

church- lie na0 grown to love Dr. brown,
but all personal feeling must be laid aside:
At this point the conference adjourned
until 1 80 P. NJ.
At the opening of the afternoon session
Rev. Mr.. Balleck of Tacoma moved that
each speaker be limited to ten minutes.
Consldera BILE discussion followed, resulting
in the motion being laid on the table. DIR.
Brown then moved that the time be ex-
tended to twelve minutes; carried. ). L..
Barker of Berkeley then followed IN one OF
the strongest speeches of the day. lie
said:
Our Bay Conference is to-day confronted with
question of such vital import that 1t behooVes
us to proceed with the utmost care IN our de-
liberations At the same time we. must assume
the grave res possibility incumbent upon US
and meet the issue as Christian men ana
women. 1t is our duty to sustain the goou
name of the church OF our divine Master ana
remove any stigma brought upon the church
by any man. be he layman or preacher, who
shall be guilty of conduct unbecom1ng foi-
lower of him whose name we bear. Such q
state of affairs exist to-day in the charges pre-
ferred against Rev. c. o. Brown, at present oc-
cupying the pulpit OF the First Church, San
Francisco.
/ would gladly vote for the vindication OF
DR.. Brown did believe him innocent, but the
evidence is altogether against him, and, IN my
opinion, had the evidence of Mrs. Brown been
eliminated at the time OF his trial before the
council and certain information received
since | believe he would have been convicted
on the main charge, rs her testimony certainly
had great weight with the council This testl-
mony by recent evidence is seriously I'M
peached.
brethren. the motion before US OF suspension
from this conference is as mild as we could
possibly make IL, for he has SHOWN h1msel1 by
many acts unworthy TO occupy the Christian
pulpit
He has been guilty of conduct unbecomtng
in a Christian gentleman, and while preaching
selt-Sacrifice to his flock he has shown himself
suprenely selfish in that he has shown him.
self willing to wreck our mother churc in
order TO save himself.
l believe that DR.. Brown, because of his
acknowledged ability, is most dangerous
man; he has strong points and many weak
ones. Certain inffrmitles OF temper, over
which he seems to exercise no control, render
ing him capable of doing great injury to the
cause OF Jesus Christ; he also possesses most
remarkable power, the nature of which is a
mystery none can understand, by which he has
been able in more than one instance (by u
wave of the hand as it were) to influence a
complete retraction OF statements made
against him.
Brethren, these things render him capable of
doing great harm to our cause, and we owe it
10 ourselves, to the community at large, and
more than all else to the cause of our Divine
Master, to remove frcm ministerial standing as
far we are able this man who has given our
church such staggering blow that it will take
five years to recover. The church cannot
afford TO be weakened on this matter. De-
cisive action is demanded of this conference
here and now.
How can you ask business men to contribute
money to build churches and carry on the
unrebuked, who has damaged the cause by un-
doing the work of years? This is not the time
for temporizing; it is the time for action.
Deacon l. III. Morse was the next
speaker. He said that he came as an
officer of the church. He was glad that
some one had preferred charges, because
they now had some tangible basis for SIAN
der.
Would l travel this continent from sea
to sea if l thought DR.. Brown guilty?" he
continued. II have for fourteen years
fought for the purity of the pulpit and
Will continue to do so. / know that DR..
Brown is an innocent man, and l will
stick TO him if l have to stand alone"
Other members of the conference made
short speeches for and against the resolu-
luton submitted by Judge Havens.
George Gaden, delegate from the new
Cooper Congregational Church. made a
fiery talk in which he stated that not
nearly all the members of the First Church
were deslrous of having DR.. Brown con-
tinue as pastor. He unrolled long list,
said to contain 194 names, and he added
that there were over 100 more WHO did not
sign from fear OF petty persecution.
Brown made motion that Gaden be
compelled to produce the names of the
alleged dissatisfied members, but the rev.
erend gentleman failed to get second.
He alleged that some names on the list
were fraudulent and he had reasons to
believe there we're MANY others.
at this point Rev. f. B. Perkins deliv-
cred himself OF stirring speech against
the resolution as proposed, offering the
following as substitute:
THAT in view OF the widespread painful
ouestlonings and uncertainty which pre-
walls in all communities where reports of
the matters involved in this inquiry and
OF DR.. Browns present inability to so ex-
plain them as to afford grounds for public
confidence in his Christian character and
worthiness to stand forth as an accredited
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, this
conference urges DR.. Brown kindly but
earnestly to withdraw from the pastorate
of the First Congregational Church of San
francisco and from the ministry of the
word until such time as God by his provi-
dence shall vindicate his good name, and
restore him to public confidence.
That in the event of DR.. Browns refusal
to act upon the advice of the conference.
1t must decline to recognize hlm as Chris
tan minister, or in any way to become
for his ministerial STANDING
until such time as his worthiness of such
recognition and support has been proven -.
The substitute failed to arouse sufficient
to call for a second
DR.. Mclean followed in lengthy speech,
in which he severely scored DR.. Brown,
saying:
II hope l may be credited with absolute
sincerity when l say that my position is.
most painful. stand here only because
of the most intense loyalty to the Lord
Jesus Christ-loyalty to truth. When in
the early part of the year DR.. Brown came
into the Monday Club and asked for con-
tinued faith, asked that it be- accorded
him. Laterwhen the startling disclosures
We're made in the press l was shocked. He
told me that if given an opportunity he
would clear himself. His attorneys at
that time would not allow him to speak.
went with the council, believing that all
would be right, but later, like big black
serpent, the disgusting details came out"
DR.. Mclean then reviewed the calling of
the council and its verdict He spoke of
the mysterious disappearance of Mrs.
Tunnel and expressed it as his opinion
that it was concocted in Browns house
hold. The speaker also referred to the
way in which the accused man dropped
the prosecution of Mrs. Davidson in the
criminal courts. In a quietly sarcastic
way he went over the testimony of Miss
Overman, paying particular attention TO
that young woman's explanation of the
Overman-1unnell letters. He said there
was not pe.son in San Francisco who had
not read these letters.
At this mint Dr Proup,u lodx, fr;...I.