The sun., 1904-11-27

anoa that IL will not depart from the ortgina
plan 10 the character Of the men constitute
ing the board OF directors
1T is true that the seminary has recently
received gifts aggregating &2<o,ooo, but the
names OF the donors are not yet to be made
public. .u.
statement and OF the others which were
made unoffi daily by members OF the board
Of trustees 10 a carefully reserved mystery
as 70 the exact nature OF the prooe ennge o.
the Union trustees at the meeting when the
steps referred to by DR.. Brown were taken
No one OF the trustees would say even thai
there was meeting last week at which the
matter wes discussed. Most OF them
would not say anything.
The Rsv. Charles H. Parkhurst. who has
o way Of saying what he is willing TO stano
sAs win be observed by study OF the
original charter OF the Union Seminary the
Institution had for its original purpose the
preparation OF young men for the gospel
itseR the obligation to fit such men for any
ono particular denominational line OF ser
Vice. The denominadonal Idea Is not m
volyed In the gospels and is not involved In
the original charter OF the Union Theo-
logical Seminary.
sCArtain Influences have operated to con-
tract the seminary within lines narrow,I
than were originally contemplated. AND
whatever action may have recently been
taken by the trustees Of the summary 10
% be Interpreted simply as q return 70
the broader grounds upon which the IN m
stltutton was originally founded 1t should
be understood. however. that the 6 mlnary
b distinctly and unqualih' dly evangelical.
One OF the trustees, whose name may
not be printed. said that very GIT at law.
yer, and one who was earnestly against
pr. Briggs in the heresy trial. had said 70
him recently:
sThe trustees Of the Union Theological
Seminary never had the right to put the
terian General Assembly. They exces ded
their legal powers when they did so. they
perverted the broad and generous intentions
Of the founders"
The feeling voiced by this lawyer has
been very general among hymen and
Of the summary at heart. The Union Semi
nary school OF Presbyterian thought, some
dimes known as the liberal school, has BEEN
making very great progress In directing
least II has been credited with bringing
shout, indirectly, the broad interpreta,
Gjone Of the creed which have been adopted
By the General Assembly within two years.
Prominent theologians who were not
yesterday that they thought the. most
3easonable explanation Of the action OF
che trustees was this: The liberals are
winning and are making headway: they
have so far advanced that the Union Theo-
logical Seminary feels this an auspicious
time to rid itself Of the Westminster Con;
by the fact that the confession Is not a
part OF the original charter Of tho institu-
lion and the elimination Of it therefore
can be heralded as a return to first prln-
ciples.
The Union Theological Seminary has
sent few, very few. young ministers into
the Methodist Episcopal. Baptist, and
Protestant piscopal churches and con;
Church. Most OF its graduates, however,
have been Presbyterians
1t was explained by DR.. Parkhurst yeeter-
day that the surrendering OF the Union
Seminary to the General Assembly Of the
Church was along rather supervisory lines:
As he put it, the seminary bound itself
not TO have any instructors OF whom the
General Assembly disapproved. The Rev.
Or. Briggs, who was tried for hereey by
the assembly and acquitted. but who was
efterward suspended and became an
Episcopalian, is still a professor at Union.