American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1845-05-13

bly, demonstrating his views in the premises;
after which he observed, that the second posi-
ton assumed in his resolution was, that if the
general conference do not recede and give the
South safe guaranty that their civil and &C.
clesiastical rights would be secure in future, we
have no alternative but to dissolve our cOnnec-
uon. He here showed that there was no pros
pect of their recedng. The recession demand
ed did not imply mere reconsideration OF res
olutions, but restoration OF the Southern
portion Of the Methodist Church to their for
mer position in the confidence of their fellow
citizens. This they could only do by giving up
al! interference with the political aspect of sla-
very, and taking the apostolic ground that the
church--as church-had nothing more to do
with slavery than to regulate the duties Of mas
ter and servant. The ground, scriptural as it
was, he felt assured they (the ministers) would
never consent to occury-hence all hope Of
union was at an end He showed that there
was no plan OF compromising the existing diff
Guilty. lie noticed the plan of DR.. Booth, of
Tennessee, so warmly commended by Drs,
Bond and Notwithstanding it had nothing but
the name Of compromise He then defined
what was essential 10 compromise, and show
ed tins plan to be supremacy ridiculous. lie
declared his own desire to maintain union W It'll
the general conference, if Il proper basis Of CON-
premise could he agreed upon. The general
conference had ceased to exert a conservative
influence upon the political union. The South
could not remain III the connection without
promoting the agitation and excitement of the
whole country upon the subject Of slavery
To keep up this state Of things would soon dis
solve our political union. Our separation,
therefore, is highly important TO the union OF
these States. The only safe basis Of compro-
mise Oh which our union could operate conser-
vatlvely, he felt assured the Northern ma jori-
ty would never consent to. Compromise,
therefore, was at an end. lie cited the fable
OF the kite and the cat, which, whilst it exhib-
tied the only ground Of compromising the ex-
stng difficulties in the church, produced a
most thrilling effect,
DI Smith said that to him it appeared that
we have no alternative but to dissolve our con-
nection with the present general conference
He commented upon the epithets, ''seceders, -
'disunonists," &C., which mad been applied to
the South by the editors Of the principal church
papers. He showed this to be a mere trick of
those editors to involve US in the guilt Of
schism. 1t was sought to prove US schisma-
tics, to divest US OF our legal title to houses
O. worship. He examined the property ques-
ton, and showed that all attempts to deprive
US of our houses Of worship would prove abor-
tive. The ninth resolution of the plan Of Sc
paration, he said, was a REIMBURSEMENT, upon
the part Of the general conference, Of all the
rights and privileges which they held under
the deed of settlement. The general confer
ence, therefore, retained no rights and privi-
leges in our houses Of worship. He demon
strated that the general conference was but
the creature of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and not the church itself; that, therefore, to
separate from the general conference was not
schsm or separation from the church itself
His arguments throughout were clear and con-
vincing, whilst his rebukes of the popular ma
jority for the politco-eccleslastica character
which they had given to the church, and the
editors Of the principal church papers for their
attempts to involve the South in the guilt OF
schsm told with whitening effect. After thank
ing the convention and the immense assembly
for the patient attention which they had gwen
him through such protracted discussion he
took his scat.
1t is to be regretted that the whole of DR..
Smiths remarks cannot be published, as they
were of interest and Importance. The brief
outline above scarcely gives the main ideas
which DR.. Smith clucidated in his able speech.
On motion, the convention adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, May 7th. Bishop Andrew in
the Chair. After the usual opening services,
Bishop Soule entered and took the Chair at the
request of Bishop Andrew. We continue to
copy the interesting debate from the Louisville
Journal.
DIR. Pierce rose in his place and said that, ac-
cording to understanding, he proposed to make
few remarks upon the resolution which DIR.
Smith and himself had offered on preceding
occasion. He called for the reading of the re-
solution, and then said that some were under
the impression that there should be but very
little speaking before the report of the commit
tee on organization was made TO the conven-
ton, and that he did not expect to engross
much of their time this morning, as it was not
so much his object to make an argument as to
allude to important facts. He argued that we
could not remain under the jurisdiction Of the
general conference as it has existed heretofore,
and stated the fact that it was with great diff
Guilty that we could reconcile the people in the
South to our having retained our seats in the
general conference after the action of the ma
jority in the case of Bishop Andrew, and that
we were able to do it only in view of the fact
that the general conference was the consttu-
tional legislative assembly of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and that we felt bound as
the representatives of the South to retain our
seats in order to vote on anything that might,
in our judgment, be vital to the interest of the
Southern church. He also merely noticed the
fact that the propositions which have been
made were neither fair nor safe in their arrange
ment for the South, and remarked that, as Dr..
Smith had settled this question so conclusively
on yesterday, he would be satisfied with mere
notice of the subject 1t was fact within his
knowledge that when this vexed question came
to be stripped of all adventurous trappings, the
matter in dispute had got to be matter of
conscience on the part of the Northern brethren.
This annihilated all hope of adjustment III
hundreds of thousands of Northern brethren
had reached the conviction that they are crimi-
nally connected with slavery, could it be sup
Al. IL. IL e = -. i