The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-06-27

UP CAhA1h tl
DR.. Merrill's pastorate, | told YOU il was
the first word of controversy | ever
wrote and hoped it would be the last.
You thought the matter at an end. The
The member answered me, and said he
had ( done with the subject" But your
last paper has another piece from the
same man, under a new fictitious name,
Dctector." One disposed TO be cap
tious would give this as n fue "illustra.
ton Of his love of simple truth--neith.
er more or less !" will not, however,
look on it in that light, but charitably
assume that he has had a relapse and
as a relapse is always considered worse
than the original disease, | give over the
patient and contrOvcrsy-Gr tie present
into the hands Of my correspondent
who seems %a6undantly able to give him
the nursing he needs.
Though accused Of falsehood in every
variety of form, / have not returned
railing for railing" by one uukind or
discourteous word. and choose to drop
the subject when | have done " throwing
grass" because I may not act with en-.
tire decorum if ] bcginto try what vir.
tue there is in stones" As Sheridan
said to Pitt, ! care not who has the last
word, provided have, as | know 1 have.
the last argument.
The whole contest ia. at best. a little.
needless. worthless picayune affair, about
which it is of no Importance which is
right or wrong. or whether both are right
or both wrong.
DR.. Merrill having done a great and
good work as Minister ana Pastor for
half a century has gone to his reward.
L submit that it would be becoming in
us to cease from useless strife. and pre-
pare to follow him and join him, if wo
may, in his everlasting rest.
Truly yours, j. MEAcuAM.
For the Register.
Your correspondent Detcctor' seems
to himself to have detected error in the
statement Of Friend of sufficient i'm.
2ortaocc to justify criticism. T. we're
easy to fill as many columns'in exposing
the errors of Detector' and a Member
(scc note) as they have in making them,
but the public appetite is more than sa-
tiatcd with this laborcd effort to make
something ont of nothing.
d" Detector' seemingly, if not intcn.
tioially, comedies the point 50 pertinac.
iously insisted on by Member" when
he says that Middlebury church for
ten yeorS kdd no Pastor nj aH." Ac-
cording to q" Members" definition of Pas.
tor they certainly had very many during
that time.
But Dotector' thinks " Fricndn las
dose injustice by detracting from others
for the purpose Of clarifying DR.. Merrill,
Til, were indeed a wrong, and, if done,
Friend" would repent it. He thinks,
however, this statement Of "Detectorn is
opposed to the truth, as presented in Mr..
SHADES " Manual"
'Fricndn did indeed make the error Of
assigning but twenty-five years where
Mr. Slade gives twenty-six to Pastors
and teachers othcr than DR. Merrill, but
this only increases the disparity as it
gives $50, the whole number added in
t~wcnty-six years, to be divided by 2j in
stead Of %. showing an annual increase
Of but nine, instead of eleven yearly.
during all the years Of this church, OK.
ccpt those blessed by the labors Of Or.
Merrill which, as stated yielded, an in
crease of more than thirty.iye annually,
or 1915 in the 81 years of his active
pastorate. But DctectOrn further com
plains that this is unflir because "tRcfe
asaS 10 Pastor ri all turing TO- and 5.
fifteen years in all, Of this &c. But if
" Dctector" will consult Mr.. SHADES
Manual he will see that the - years
having "no Pastor at 0U' are more
productive than those having a Pastor.
with the exception Of DR.. Merrills pas.
tocatc. And, let it be understood. it
was the Hon. VIM. Slado not " Friend"
that first brought this fact before the
public. Nevertheless his heart meant
it not so.
But "Dctectorn complains that the
history of the twelve and a half years,
about which all these words have been
multiplied. is not fully given 10 the Man
ual Verily-but Mr., Sladc can com
plete that at bis leisure. Friend p"
barely summed up the twelve years. in.
Gliding ~ and SO, as per Manual If
it will at all improve the state of the
case by giving the accurate results Of
that exact period, from the termination
Of DR.. Merrill's lahors to the end of his
days, certainly Friend will net grudge
the advantage,
But " Detcctor ~ complains again that
the credit due to Mr.. and Mrs. Burchard
is not endorsed upon Dr.. Mcrrill's, Nay,
verify .-but Mr.. Sladc did not insert
this IN the Manual" Ga him. there.
fore, rests tic blame, though he be not
suspected Of any want Of intention to DO
them honor. But Friend" looking on.
ly at the Manual" had not tho evidence
that DR.. Merrill had better help,
than those who preceded or camc after
him in the ministry. Besides, it has
been usually held that seasons Of revival
are but harvest seasons, when the labors
Of past years are gathered in. "Friend,"
too, had supposed, as do most others,
that the spirit which d%etracts from the
Pastor, to glorify evangelists, Of equivo.
cal character, or their rietos, is identical
with that which has draped in mourning
The churches of Vermont for the last
eighteen years, and brought more than
one veteran Pastors gray hairs with sor.
row to the grave. But we leave these
things to the judgments infallible de-
t%cctor, where will be distinguished the
real foe and the true FRIEND.