The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-05-24
SESSION.

Promptly at 80 p. m. tho General As
sembly Was called 10 order for the after
non session by Moderator Dickey.
When the ASSEMBLY dropped the cou~id-
Grafton OF tn" report Of The Committee on
Bills and DVeitures on the great question
of creed revision. Tuesday afternoon, IL
was voted that the Regular order Of the
day Tor yesterday afternoon should b. de-
ferreu anu in it, stead should De substt-
tuted consideration of the all important
report. Every member of the assembly was
intensely Interested In this sJ;bJec,. and to
this fact is due the promptn"SS VITA which
all entered the hall at the appointed hour
for opening.
! As soon as the assembly had been called
{" order boCto: Francis :. Horton was
called upon to open the session with prayer.
Ia doing 50. h. prayed frrVcEtiy for divine
guidance in the disposition II the great
question that wauid engage the hearts
and minds and utteranceS of every member
during the afternoon.
Doctor Lees Substitute.
Doctor =. Trunbuu Lee Of Cincinnati was
the fist speaker recognized by the motior-
ator lie Halsei 10 the platform and
stated that he desired 10 offer the following
substitute, both for Mr. Gfanan's subSti-
Iute and for The committee report:
solved. That Il committee Of fifteen.
eight ministers and seven Elders. he now
appointed by the moderator on the subject
Of revision Of the Confession % Faith. that
the tweRty-right oyeTtures sent 10. the
ls@2 be referred I" this committee for con-
sideration, and that the committee report
"a the next assembly as to the advisabiiity
OF sending one or all II said overtuTes
again ia the prpsbytery-"
As soon as he had concluded! reading the
substitute he addressed the assembly, say
ing. IN part: In his speech TO this body
yesterday The Reverend Doctor Sutphin Of
Cleveland made some assertions touching
the reracity Of the Presbyterian Church.
Fer one. L want TO say trat | do not care
70 remain silent under any such asperSior.
The learned gentleman in the Zeal OF his
impassi"ned remarks made some state
menis which I am sure ne would not have
:1adc under cslmer Influences.
In the first place. he insisted that the re-
VISION movement began IN 1879, and at ttlat
time more than two-thirdS of the Presby-
terians had voted for revision TIE facts
do not Justify the assertion. II s-ich had
been the case, revision would have been
before ;his an established facf. foI by the
organic law of the churCl, Il two-thirdS vote
would have accomplished that purpose. I
DO not believe that there Is any such de-
maId for revision in The church as war
rants this assembly in taking IN" step con-
on Bills and cvefturnS: a few men IN thS
church have raised this hue aud cry and
have made much noise, but back Of all OF
it. as .trUt- as the nesdi" 20 the pole, the
great body Of Presbyterian ldEInen stand
steadfast To the old fa!th. entirely satisfied
with TIE creed as II stands to-day ana has
stood for - years. II you adopt this report
YOU viii asperse your own creed and excite
doubts where none now exists, anu force me
prespyteries to agitate a question which had
better he left alone. Not that the creed can
not withstand the shock. for that viii en-
tuEe Forever. nut l.ifft - Shl" - VI q SciiSr
Of pain To the person, whoever he be. that
bumps against it"
Doctor Lees substitute contemplated hav.
irg the committee consider the overtures of
1882. thus keeping the question away from
the preshyteries for general discussion for
Il year ut least.
Opposed T." Both.
The Reverend William Steele Of East
Oregon Presbytery followed Doctor Lee. He
opposed both the committees report and
Doctor Lees substitute. He said: The old
time religion Is good enough for me. Some
Of the Commissioners would have as believe
that the church is in danger Of losing its
existence unless we abandon the taith
which IL has upheld for more tnan Two Ceii-
turtles. IL l. argued that the demand for
revision is constantly growing, and that
now a large majority OF the church insists
upon It. Upon what this assumption is |
based | do not know. but il seems to me
1t is an erroneous one. Those who most |
strongly advocate revision in this body |
say that in 1859 more than lO presDyterles |
overture! the General Assembly for revi- |
sion To-day there are only ih.rty-seven |
overtures for il. and none OF them agrees |
upon what they want. Does not this show |
that the question Of revision is on the de- |
cadence? Does it not show that she de-
rnand for IL is decreasing, rather than In +.
creasin&? Another thing. IL You adopt this |
report and refer this question To the pres
b~yteites for final action a. the next Gen |
erai Assembly, you practically leave the |
church without q creed. The very act i'm
pGgns our faith in the creed we have taught |
and believed all these years. and If the
or substitution. or what not. why. then. we
ali will have 20 confess that what We are
preaching to-day is not the creed of our
church, and we. its ministers. have been |!
imposteTS." |
. Doctor James G. Bolton OF Philadelphia 1
spoke in favor of the adoption Of the com !
mittee's report He said: None of US cares
to confront a task of this kind. and all Of
us assume II with . feeling OF fear. last
we err in our conduct. Much as / -ecre, /
the necessity of wrestling with this prop /
lem. / have to confess that it is a real live. |
active agency that has arisen in our midst 1
and must be put out OF the way. II will not |
do to argue II down on fauciful ar sen.i-
mental grounds. II threatens the security
OF the church. and must be met and handled |
wisely ard efficiently. After careful consid- |
Grafton. l am persuaded that this asseEsSss