321 LADD, G. T. Outlines of Descriptive Psychology. Pp. 428. $1.50. MULLER, Prof. F. Max. Auld Lang Syne. 8vo. Pp. 325. $2.00. MCGIFFERT, Ph. D., D. D., A. S. A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age. 8vo. Pp. xii., 681. $2.50. Scriptural Tract Repository, Boston. HASTINGS, H. L. The Corruptions of the New Testament. Pp. 94. 15 cents. REED, Elizabeth A. The Bible Triumphant. Twelve Dozen Frederick A. Stokes. HOBBES, John Oliver. Some Emotions and a Moral. Pp. 451. E. B. Treat & Co., New York. GREGG, D. D., Rev. David. Facts That Call for Faith. 12mo. HANNA, D. D., William. The Wars of the Huguenots. 12mo. United Presbyterian Board of Publication, Pittsburgh. WATSON, D. D., Andrew. The African Mission in Egypt. Pp. 480. $2.50. Universalist Publishing House, Boston. EDDY, D. D., Richard. Universalist Register. 20 cents. John D. Wattles & Co., Philadelphia. Williams & Norgate, London. Thomas Whittaker, New York. CHAMPRÉ, A. St. John. Sermons on the Apostles' Creed. 75 cents. HUNTINGTON, W. R. A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer. 25 cents. MOULE, D. D., H. C. G. Prayers and Promises. ORR, D. D., James. The Ritschlian Theology and the EvanPp. 275. gelical Faith. WARRINER, Edward A. $1.50. 75 cents. The Gate Called Beautiful. Pp. 355. OF THE SYNODS OF South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. COLUMBIA, S. C. SESSION OPENS WEDNESDAY AFTER THE THIRD MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER. SESSION CLOSES THE SECOND THURSDAY IN MAY. FACULTY. WILLIAM M. MCPHEETERS, D. D., Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis. DANIEL J. BRIMM, A. M., Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis. WILLIAM T. HALL, D. D., Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology. JAMES D. TADLOCK, D. D., LL. D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Church Polity and The Sacraments. SAMUEL S. LAWS, M. D., D. D., LL. D., Perkins Professor of Natural Science in connection with Revealed Religion, and Christian Apologetics. Professor of Pastoral Theology, Homiletics and English Bible. WILLIAM H. MILLS, A. M.; MELTON CLARK, A. B., Tutors. Chairman of Faculty, Wм. M. MCPHEETERS. Clerk of Faculty, Librarian, S. S. LAWS. D. J. BRIMM. For Catalogue and all information apply to the Chairman. Library OF THE Rev. J. WILLIAM FLINN. No. Presbyterian Quarterly. NO. 45.-JULY, 1898. I. COMPLAINT* AGAINST THE ACTION OF THE SYNOD OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN ADDRESSING AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION TO THE CIVIL COMMONWEALTH. TO THE VENERABLE, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES: We, the undersigned Ministers and Elders of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and members of the Synod of South Carolina, submitting to its authority, hereby present to your venerable body this our Complaint against the action of said Synod of South Carolina taken at its meeting at Darlington, S. C., on Monday, November 1st, 1897, in the matter of a petition to an official representative of the United States, touching certain civil affairs which concern the commonwealth. *This Complaint as here given appears in an amended form. The nature of the subject, the time limit imposed by the Constitution, and the circumstances in which the writer found himself, combined to render it impossible for him to put the first draft of the Complaint in such form as was desirable. The writer ought to add that he found it impossible to confer with the individuals who authorized him to sign their names to this paper as co-complainants, or even to submit to them for their formal approval the Complaint as drafted by himself. (Rev. W. T. Hall, D. D., is the single exception. To him the writer is indebted for valuable and valued advice and suggestions.) He has reason to believe, however, that on all material points he has faithfully represented the mind of his co-complainants. W. M. McP. THE HISTORY OF THE ACTION. The following statement will put your venerable body in possession of the facts material to a proper understanding of the occasion of the complaint now to be made. During the session referred to, under the head of Communications, a paper from P. F. Stevens, Bishop Reformed Episcopal Church, was presented to the Synod, in which he submitted to Synod the following Petition, viz: "To the Hon. James A. Gary, Postmaster General. "HONORED SIR: The Sunday railway train, by its ready and wide extended inducement to travel, both for pleasure and business, is undoubtedly the most influential agency now undermining public reverence for the divinely appointed Sabbath. "The transportation of the mail, except in the vicinity of large cities, is the chief cause and support of the Sunday train. "The great facilities for daily intercommunication by rail, telegraph, and telephone, leave no excuse for the Sunday mail as a necessity, a fact sustained by the diminished mail service and almost universal closing of post-offices in England and Canada. "State legislation cannot stop United States mail trains, therefore the responsibility for Sunday mail service, and largely for all Sunday travel, rests solely upon the Post-Office Department. "If the United States Government, through you and your department, by the approval and direction of the President, would set the example of reverence for the Lord's day by stopping the transmission of mails and closing all post-offices on Sunday, it would evoke a Divine blessing upon itself and the whole country; would teach a sublime lesson to the world; would confer a great boon upon thousands of its own and other officials and employees, and would put such a stamp of condemnation upon all acts of public desecration of the Sabbath as would deter good citizens from their commission, and render all proper Sunday laws, State and municipal, easy of enforcement. "We, the therefore do earnestly but respectfully petition you, and through you His Excellency the President, to forbid the transmission of any mails on Sunday, and order the closing of all post-offices throughout the United States on that day, or if not empowered so to do, to ask authority from Congress to order the same." This Petition, Bishop Stevens requested Synod to adopt and forward through its proper officers to the Department at Washington. Thereupon, a motion was made that this communication be referred to a select committee to frame a suitable response. For this motion to commit, the following substitute was offered, viz : "In response to a communication from P. F. Stevens, Bishop Reformed Episcopal Church, requesting this Synod, as a Synod, to petition the Postmaster General, Hon. Jas. A. Gary, to forbid the transportation of the mails and to order the closing of the post-offices upon the Sabbath, the Synod would reply: 1st. That it has heard said communication with much interest, and is in hearty sympathy with the ends sought to be attained by Bishop Stevens and his co-laborers. 2d. That it finds itself unable to comply with the request of the communication, not because it fails to recognize the fact that the transportation of the mails and the opening of the post-offices on the Sabbath is a flagrant violation of God's law, as disclosed in His Word, and as impressed upon the constitution of nature: nor because it is in any doubt as to the injurious tendencies and effects of such violation of God's law upon our material, moral, and political interests as a people— but simply because it is our settled conviction that 'Synods and Councils,' as such, 'should handle or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical;' and should 'not intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth.'" This substitute was subsequently so modified as to be merely a motion to table the motion to commit. The motion to table was put, and lost. The communication of Bishop Stevens was then referred to a special committee, consisting of Revs. W. T. Matthews and Jas. McDowell and Elder F. F. Whilden. This committee subsequently presented a majority and a minority |