Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1855-09-27
NUMBER 10.

NUMBER 10.
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and partake of refreshing draurht9,,-.
You will permit me-" said our friend. ato
carry the comparison a little further and -
inquire whether if should under the cir.
cumsances mentioned, find t,co pools of wa
ter, one pure and fresh and the other stagnant
AMI putrid, | might not have the privilege Of
selecting between them? II have this right,
continued he, "then the presumption is that.
as IN Heaven there are many mansions. so
there are many gates leading to that country.
aud, Of course, yoa are at liberty to take ono
while may chose to take another
HENRY WARD BEEcHrR man Of mora
practical sense than all the New England
Clergy together, is said to have made the re-
mark, that it is a melancholy fact that uipe-
tenths of the young men Of the day-tbe
men Of intellect and energy, whese minds and
muscles control the commerce and the nol;-
tics of the Nation, are, however the fact NAV
be sought to be disguised, iufidels to the
teachings of the Book of Divine Insniraiion.
ie>ze,z uose f,s<i1 thsa ,os.rv 4. he re-
mark, and It's truth finds its source IN the
tact that whatever may be the intrinsic viz.
tues OF what purports to come to us as the
Divine Word, the expounders OF that word
are too often weaker and more ignorant than
those whom they aspire to instructor. if
highly intellectual and cultivated. are given.
not unfrequently, to that intrigue and chica-
merry in worldly affairs, which must sink them
IN the estimation of the rehecting public. and
bring doubt in the minds of all, of the efficacy
and purifying power of a Religion, the min
isters of which-those supposed to be clothed
In the lmpenetrable rO5es of its most imma-
culate orders, are mose grovelling than our.
selves, and more deceitful than the worst of
the devotees of the faeinations of the world.
A lady, whose general charity and practical
piety even the tongue Of cllumny has never
dared to attempt to tarnish, once remarked 10
the writer that had 1t been possible thing to
shake her faith in the religion taught her by
her mother, the plotting diplomacy and cum
ming intrigue she had witnessed amongst the
ministers of the Methodist Church, from
twenty or thirty years association with them,
as the wife of one Of their nunil,sr. she. long
ago, would have been an outright and avow-
ed infdel. In making this REMARK, we arc
not ignorant Of the fact, that we will be sub
ject to the charge. by the hypocritical, Of viii
lifying and abusing the Methodist Church.
The day has passed, however when the man,
independent enough to call his soul his own,
will be tolerated, as speaker or a writer, who
hesitates to express his opinions, freely and
openly, no matter what lrejudices they may
have to combat or what combined power
they may be brought to contend with. We
do not attack the Methodist religion, or all of
its preachers. The religion itself, is tho reli-
gion Of those that are and were dearer TO MS
than all Others on the earth. Many of the min
isters are exemplary christians and good and
true friends of the writer of this article. 1t is
the absence of religion in the Methodirt Church
and amongst some preachers in nearly all the
churches, that we would censure. We have
a right to do this, as much as they have to
censure us, and we sciH do il when necessity
requires the act no matter if the Devil stands
at the door, with his threatening pitch-fork
in his hand
To get back to the point then-the ministers
OF the Methodist Church, to great extent,
are body of men independent Of the laity,
or the members in the aggregate. They,
without consultation with the mass Of people
they represent as Church, devise, in Con-
ference, the polty by which they, and those
under their charge, shall be directed This
is all well enough in religious, or Church af-
fairs, at any rate to those who like it-but
when the ministers begin 70 speak, through
their Conferences, in secular or political af-
fairs, the question assumes a different shape
and a more important magnitude. Tho
members Of a church, for instance, nine-tenths
Know Nothings maybe represented in Con-
ference by a man opposed 10 them in politics.
In such case, that m.n certainly transcends
every moral aud equitable right by voting
for the passage OF 4 resolution, on any ques-
tor, conflicting directly with the views Of
his people. The members abandon, to a great
degree, their spiritual afIairs to the direction
of their ministers in charge,-whcn those
ministers attempt to commit the body Of men
they represent to politicsl incasure, they
transcend every power that belongs to them,
and deserve an unqualified condemnation
Men, authorized to exercise great power,
are very prone to grasp at more than
they legitimately possess. This is hu-
man nature. Whenever attempted it
should be rebuked, TO matter al what per-
sOnal sacrifices or hazard. It has been
said that no successful political man in the
State Of Indiana has ever yet dared TO cen
sure the acts, in temporal affairs, Of a preacher
OF number Of preachers in the Methodist
Church. Such a condition Of things, if il be
true, is disgrace to our republican institu-
tons. If minister. ora Church, brings him.
self, or ITSELF into the political arena, he or IT,
becomes as other men, or other bodies, and
must expect TO be dealt with as politicians
and pclitical'parties are treated. If aman in
public Sfe should shrink, in the discharge Of
his duty, from the combined power Of politi-
cal preachers OF Of a Church, he shows him.
{ self too servile person for general trust, and
, should be scorncd by every sovereign Of ouI
independent soil. There is no denying the
fact that the Methodist preachers Of our State
. have controlled a wonderful political power
within its borders, that they have mingled
too much in political affairs,-and, II is equal
! ly certain that their spiritual power has waned
more than their temporal power has strength
ened by such procedures.