The Ohio Democrat and Dover advertiser. [volume] (Canal Dover, Ohio) 1839-1840, 1840-08-28
For the Ohio Democrat
". Warern

was surprised atthe audacity ofyour assertions.
II regretted that You had exhibited yourse f 80
destitute Of the spirit OF truth-and felt indig |
nant that this community should have been SO
grossly and deliberately slandersd and hbeled, |
by one whom it had petled and patronised as
special fayorite. With whom, sir, do you as
sumo, IN that letter, 10 class the population vi
our townl For what age Of the world do you
represent them as being fitted : And what is
the spirit with which YOU proclaim them to be
embuedl Why sir, If the character you have
given, belongs 10 them, the people OF Dover are
relic Of the dark ayes, without anelioration or
Improvement = they are the spawn OF an era
that lighted the FIRE Of persecution, that the su~
premacY of barbarism, ignorance, ianaticsm,
and intolerance might be preserved-they are
community in which "hhGt spirit stu h0es'
which pursues' euen unto death, for matters OF
difference IN religious opinion. Are you quite
sure sir, that you nave not mlsrepresentedi and |
are we in truth, obnoxious 10 such ungracous
imputatlons! What are the facts you present in
corroboratlon; and where the evidence lin the
absence of all such, did you imagine that the
accusation would be taken for the proof; and
that a community, almost to Il man your seniors
and beters ia age, term OF residence, christian
character, and motive for good, would rest quiet
lyunder the ban of such denuncalion because
you were its author If SO, you mistook the
moral pO,oer of your own character, where the
means Of settlingthe question of yourrerdcity are
at hand. Yours is not the Joldness of truth,
but the impudence Of self coRcet in the pursuit
of sinister purpose: and therefore, if in repel>
ing the ndignity you have offered, use plain
ness OF speech, remember that it is necessary to
make deep and broad the incision, to expose
the seat Of that bubbling, fostering corruption,
tt1rnd in the hone "
Permit me, to enquire, who ynu are, and
what private griefs or public wrongs are yours,
that you are privileged o"spit out the venom Of
your Spleen" in derogation of the character of
our population You, an adventurer after for.
tune lhr ew yourself upon the bosom of this
conn. unity, seeking here the favor of the tickle
goddt %, but careless in what character you
wood her:or with a versatility ofgenius, in The
various characters of mechanic, pedagogue,
ano pfeacherYou have pursued your purpose,
and notwithstanding aUarice as a ruling passion
has exhibited itself in all these-and more, has
dictated you! !nanner in your present intercourse
withlour citizens, debating the cringing bow here
the fatterY Of the sychophant there, and the
begging OF pardon for having expressed or adyo
Gated opinions at variance with this and that
man ofweallh you have been treated, not with
neglect, contempt or persecution, but with much
c1urtesey, kindness, and patrOnzing libera I!
bey.nd any equivalent in your power to render,
and beyond what others, your superiors in gen.
eral usefulness, have received. Besides throwing
into your pocket, with lavish hand almost the
entire public school fund, accruing since your
residence, have not means, to which you were
accessory, not the most no o able, been at dif:
ferent lines resorted to, TO take from the sup
port olOther clergyman in town,to increase YOU
/ mpFplI M nf IaSo iran eta
ont going into detail, to show what kind ofpro
vocation you have received from this communi
ty,to p'cnptS you to indulge the language ofyou
letter; you, sir, have lead the fable Of Esop, il
which he represents the serpent as singing tn
benelaclor which had warmed HIM into life. Ii
what doyou differ from the migrate who thus re
Quilted the kindness he had received Cou
you not have devised some means, less tlncture
with fasehood & ingra Itude, 10 draw upJn tn
symphahes of your sectarian brethren abroad
and possibly induce them 10 bestow somethin
for your beiiofiti
But the 'persecutiOn," aye, the ''per
scction" 10 which your ''little churcI
has beep exposedl' And the "de
n0minational hostility" which had no
ceased when your letter was writ
ten. This "grand haillng sign Q
DISTRESS" whence is it? from tn
''liltle church," you represent to be i
jeoPurdyl No; she repudiales it a
false. 1t is exclusively your own, i
the hope to obtain by raising falls
alarm, what your own indlscretlon ha
defeated in the intentions of open hear
ted "denominationa" kindness. Whe
your own "best gifts and best actions,
had failed to establish you in a clerIct
"iuing," and, as "fororn hope," for
elgn aid had been called in for Ia
effort, did not every other denominatio
cooperate with the zeal Of chrstia
charity and benevolence, throwing ope
their respective houses Of publicworshi
for your usel And when crowds {
anxious souls seemed to be gathering
the fold of the Great Shepber'', wht
but your own anxiety to appropriate
your own benefit the fruits of these Uni
ted effors before they were ripe for tn
harS est-what but your own avariciou
haste to gather for your own exclusi,
increase, "urned the grace Of God in
TO lie," and alienated the hearts Of ii
whole community from the "good work
10 which they were inclineds And y
It's ''psrsecution" and "denomia alton
hostility" Of which you discourse vii
hypocri,ical assurance and cant phras
And more than this-is it not to Il
lberality and contributions Of other dt
nominations and this community, tn
you are now indebted for large sha
of the support you receive, and is it n
10 this contribution that 'the little bar
of disciples" are indebted for your mir
isiration as pastor3 Truly, this
tsperSecuti0n," this is "charty" turnt