New-York daily tribune., 1844-01-12
r He TR UnT E +.
From the Commercial .4dcertiser.
cannot bc II Church without q
Prclace.
roreTH LETTER TO DR.. wA1SWRIGHT.

A
~ I,,,cr in answer to yours OF the oth instant,
l.' ders will have discovered that 1t is not my
ou. to reard the discussion Of your PROPOSE
P-.f b, insisting upon the merely technical ques-
.:on' .:on who shall by the laws of Defence commence
the the, discussion. will commence 1T; bat, IN do
;nr :ar 60. mean to hold you strictly to the propo
- .;;on YOU have thrown out as defiance, and to
ioan yoprself and our readers in mind that mine
IN attitude of lt-detcncc, against an assault,
anJ H. an upprovoked assault, upon the character
and r;;Cbts of the great mass Of our Christian lel-
lOwCltlzens.
II IN nv last think it was shown conclusively
.b,t this was the case. You seem to have sus-
rcon that the close OF my letter, which, indeed,
contained the gistoi the matter, was ''well adapt
ID for nv purpose or popular effect" You pro-
fess not indeed to see It's relevancy, but | think
others have not failed to perceive that my state
,ncnt of the circumstances convicts you Of having
made gratuitous attack upon all who do not
think that Prelates only can open the gates of the
Christian Church. Nv purpose | admit, was
popular cffcct and feel complimentcd by your
thinking that my argument has achieved my pur-
nose. The reason of its fitness for popular ct-
feet is not to be found in any special skill upon
nv part in stating the facts, but In the nature Of
the facts themselves. In a simple matter Of fact,
the best Judge is the common sense Of common
people. perceive that you do not yourself call
in question the force of my argument, that as
there was confessedly nothing in Mr. Choate's
language, and nothing In the applause OF the au-
dience, which invaded yO,r ecclesiastical stand
ing, so you were not called upon, especially upon
tbaoccason, to attack the ecclesiastical standing
Of the general community Of Christians.
You will understand me, however, do not
think that the lnapproprlateness OF time ana
place is the worst feature IN this case OF cccIc
sast;cal prescription. 1t is the utter unrcason-
ableress and the unrclieved moral deCormlty of
the unchurching dogma, which, IN my view,
cons atute its offensive character. | admire
boldness but not in bad cause and | hold
that to be, prima tacie, bad cause, which,
either in the pulpit OF one Of your Churches, or
at the dirner-tablc of the Astor House, prompts
any man thus to assail the Church standing, IN
Guiding the faith, hopes and rights, OF his ltlioW
Christians. When you set up clam, not to {;
superiority, but to monop0ty OF the privileges
belonging to the house of God-wacn you set up
this claim in behalf OF q mere fraction, a mole
cule, Of the Protestant communlty-and when
such conlesscdlv stupcndous consequences arc
necessarily involved in the claim-lt cannot
escape the most unobservant reader, that to
make out such a claim, its advocates ought to
be prepared with proof little short OF andthe
maticai demonstration. And yet, as | shall
hereafter more fully show, the extravaganza of
the claim is cqualcd only by the contradictory,
indefinite, and must add the absolutely ndicu
lous character of many of the arguments which
are employed to sustain it. This aggravatcs the
unproyokcd assault you have chosen to make,
and if, in the course of my future remarks, l
shall speak of the high Church dogma as 1t &c
serves shall hold myself absolved from blame
as an aggreSsor.
Before proceed to do for you, what you de-
cline TO do for yourself, C. define the terms OF
your own proposition so that the redder may un-
derstand them, (lor shall show you that my
self understand pretty we'll the sense you aihX TO
them there arc two little pieces Of history, gwen
IN your last letter, which call for criticism.
The first is that in which you are giving an ac-
count ofthe origin of this discussion, for the Pur-
pose Of "leting the public understand what are
cur respective positions 1t runs thus Upon
leaving my study one morning, for the discharge
of my parochial duties, | informed IN the
street, to my great surprise, that letter has been
addressed to me in public print by the Rev Dr.
Potts. 1t is put into my hand" &c &c. Tins
history wants the ttle-page and few of the first
leaves VIII ii not be better TO supply the hiatus
and begin at the beginning 1t would be more
complete If it commenced by recording the polite
invitation which led YOU to the New England
festival; the speech OF the New England orator
the applause which accompanied HIM throughout,
and which offended you so deeply, when he gave
sort Of Ecclesiastical gencalogy of hls 1oreia-
thers; your determination to rebuke the orator
and the audience, by declaring your belief, not
that YOU had better gencalogy, but that their
seneaogy was absolutely spurious; your taking oc-
caSlon two or three hours after, {whcn IT might be
supposed that you had had time for dehberauon) to
avow that ii the orator of the day should chal-
lenge you, you would prove that of the ccrgyoi
New England, who had Just been toasted, there
were none Justly entitled TO the name, except tue
Samtcd Cheverus, and the meek Prelate OF
your own Church., with their several subordmates
oithe Papst and Protestant priesthood; that this
attack upon the self-respect and senslbllltles oil
nlletecn-twenticths, if not more, of your fellow
cazens--I am almost afraid to say fellow Chris
hea, that after ali tins had come to pass, and you
had perhaps congratulated yourself that you had
chastiscd Yankee mpertnencc-then-" upon
leaving your study one morning." &c. &c. &c,
Is not the record unfair until these few little
items arc prchxcd to 1t | will leave the reader
tosay, whether the above be not the true Genesis
otthe present discussion.
The second piece of history, which is open to
animadycrson more severe than | can administer,
Is that which informs US of the comparative an
tquity and universally of the motto which - you
bear upon your shield" No church 'oith0ut a
Prelats." At the very unqualified claim you
make IN respect to this motto, | would express
my conder surprise. estonisla@e"t, SC &c.
were | not tired with that common pracucc o.
dlspntants, very efficient thing IN rhetoric ou
useless in logic. Whatever my wonder may De