The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-09-20
TO THE INDICATORS OF THE REV
John e. HOiRR)(lK

JOHN G. HOLBROOK.
to throw myself upon the charity Of yourseI
and your readers, in vindicaiion Of my integrity
and iii justice to the Rev. John G. Holbrook
whose defence is assumed by the Congregatio
al Church, in the form of a set Of resolution,
passed at a recent meeting Of that d. nomin,ti /,
and published in the papers Of this city.
'hall not stop to inquire how many were pres
ent al that meeting, besides the officers whose
names appear attached to the proceedings, a. d
the gentlem1n who offered the resolutions, Of
how far they are sabse-ving the cause o
".trsth' and the Churcl, interest, by expressing
in their official capacity, such holy horror Owe
" few pi"ia truths addressed to an individual
who has been more harshly denounced to hi.
face and in this very Church, than by you
humble correspondent. 1t is sufficient for tn.
purposes of this reply and my own vndica'ior
that should conine myself to the record
which intend to do
The resolutions declare first, that l have ma.
ligned the character of thu ir former pastor b,
,nisrt presentations, and that my communities.
ton betrayed aspire IF unmingied bitterness.
md Aatred. As this resolution is simpiv de
claratory and declamatory, without any specii
cations Of wherein the R.v John C.. Holbrool
has been mis'epresented and m,lipne d or tn.
writer has been prompted by bitterness and ha.
tired, it is unnecessary tn waste time in ATTEMPT
ng to refuie what barely deserves passin.
n'tice and therefore shall proceed to cons d
er the second resolution. 1t is in the following
words:
Resoiced, That in ascrbing the secession o
a large number from this Church, and their e
rect'on OF a seperate house of worship, to hi
unwarranlable s. course and teaching" the au-
thor OF this letter does Violence tn the truth ant
puts d'scredit upon the 81 ceding party by imply
ing that their course, instead Of being promptat
ny The love Of truth, and conscientiou, pref.
erence for another form Of church government
was the result OF mere PEI sonai feeling.
1t is asserted in this resolution that my forme
letter did Uioienee to truth in declaring the Sc
cessIon from that Church, to have proceeded
from personal objections to The Rev. Mr.. Hol.
brook, as religious teacher, and put diseredi
upon the seeding party, by ascribng to tina
party motives which did not actuate it. Her,
is something tangible TO be got at, and it is m,
ov fault, if do not improve the opportunity
it presents to good advantage. 1t is fact to,
familiar t. the old residents of this city to b,
gainsayed, that the Rev. Mr.. Holbrook, Will,
pastor of the Congregational Church in .hi
city, was meddling much more with matter
foreign to his duties as a christian teacher. tha,
he should have been, to merit the good opinio,
OF those outside Of the church, or promote
spirit of christian harmony in it. His extrem,
radical views upon the subject Of temperance
slavery, secret socielies, wars in general, an,
the Mexican war in particular, and the isms o
his party to which he subscribed with the yea
of high ehnrehman, gave him a zest for popu
lar discussion and temporal notoriety; and LEI
him into promiscuous assemblies entirely to-
much, to deserve, or receive that respect due t.
the position he represented, or promote the in,
'erest Of the denomination over which he wa.
called to preside. Am | to be told that hi.
harsh denunciation of the order of Masons anc
Odd Fellows, produced no dissatisfaction in the
church, when one half of his memb. rs, if mo-
more, were members of one, or the other, o
these societies? Am to be told that his un
patriotic and reasonable language delivered
from the pulpit during the existence of tn.
Mexican war, in opposition TO that war and il
detraction of the noble and valorous soldier
who obeyed the call Of their country to 70 /.
the field, produced no discomfort in the mind
Of that patriotic denomination of christians
Am l to be told that his mixing up with secuIa
questions and bis repeated newspaper con.ro.
versies upon political and local issues, had n
De leterious effect upon congregation admire,
for their devotions? Am | to be told that hi
treatment Of the Rev. .dr. Gurnsey, after hav
ing come to this city at his solicitation, wa
becoming iE him as a christian minister, an,
calcul1'ed to elevate him in the estimation q
| those who presume to tell me this, know it'll
Of the man, or the opinion OF communit
VIII" have been attentive observers of his course
II is surprising that men VIII the most &C
tive in defending the Rev. John c. Holbrool
now, were foremost and the most bitter in d.
n"uncing him when here. They made n
scruples then of arraignng him as wanting il
truth and moral rectitn6e. The member VIII
offe, ed these resolutions, and the Rev gen,lema,
who presided as Moderator at the meeting, wer
prominent in denounclng the course of the Rev
John C Holbrook pro. to his departure from
this city II is unnecessary to detail the cir
cumstances connected with the call of the Rev
MIR. Guernsey, and the consequent dePartur
Of the Rev. Mr.. Holbrook, to satisfy the oubli
that the conduct of the last named individual
was unbecoming as Christian Minister. 1t i
barely sufficient 10 direct attention to the fac
O: the Rev. Mr. Holbrook's soliciting the Rev
Mr.. Guernsey to come TO this city and tax,
charge of The church and after he reached her,
endeavoring to prevent his being retained. =
This will call to mind the loud complaints o
the Rev. Mr.. Guernsey, at the treatment re-
ce.ved from the Rev. Mr.. Holbrook; the reso
luton deliberately formed at one time to aban
don the place and return to the East; the exhi-
bition Of the Rev Mr.. iiolbrook's letters writ
ten after he had settled in Chicago, that tn.
Rev. Mr.. Guernsey was not the man for thi.
church and had better be got rid Of; and the visi
the Rev. Mr.. Guernsey made to Chicago t,
have the matter recnnciled. Is it not surprising
after the Rev. MIR. Guernsey and the member
who offered those resolutions, had complained
so bitterly Of the conduct Of the Rev. Mr.. Hul
brook and had SO generally made public the con
tents of his letters unfriendly to the Rev. Mr.
Guernsey, that they should prove to be tn,
most instrumental IN presenting 10 the publ,
this defence Of that gentleman! It is not m,
purpose to complain of their course, but simply
to exhibit what may appear as inc ,nsistent o.
insincere.
The same unchrstian spirit was manifesto,
by the Rev. Mr.. Holbrook towards the Rev
Mr.. Lyon; and this brings me to that point il
the history Of this case. wherein my Statement
of the cause Of division in the church, is de
nounced as untrue. do not profess to be ia