Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1856-02-23

would suppose That a party might deter
mine not to vote for Catholics or foreign
ers without any apprehension of more
serious opposition than is common to po-
litical parties generally; and certainly,
had the Know-Nothings done no more
than this, | should never have interfered
with them. But what do they do? Why,
they substitute new government for
that which our fathers bequeathed to US
a government secret in its operations,
dcspotic in its principles, and revolution
airy in its tendency, Hear the sovereign
power speak T." This organization (not
party, brother) shall be known by the
name of the GRAND CoUNcIL OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and its
Jurisdiction and porer shall extend to all
the States, Districts, and territories of
the United States of North America.
This grand council is composed of
president, vice president, secretary, and
other officers, with fixed salaries, and
congress of delegates from the States.
This council has power to form State,
Territorial, and District councils :" to
determine the mode Of punishment Of
MEMBERS" &C.; to grant charters to sub
ordinate councils that may be formed
to adopt cabalistic characters for writ
ing or telegraphing;" "To DECIDE UPON
ALL MATTERS PERTAINING TO NATIONAL
POLITICS." % "to fix and establish all
signs, grips, passwords, and such other
secret acor6 as may seem 10 be necessary :"
"T0 ADOPT ANY AND EVERY MEASURE IT
MAY DEEM NECESSARY TO SECURE THE Sue
CESS or THE ORGANIZATION" We know
the carnations from this august soy
ereignty; State, county, beat and city
governments all over the country; sub
jects sworn to paramount allegiance to
these goyernments--taxed to pay their
expenses--branded as perjurers and
traitors if they disclose their secrets.
Now, sir, ifyou can find nothing worse
in all this than an appeal from me to
my church to have no connection with
Known othingism, you are rot to be
argued with. Ifyou believe that ali this
political machinery was manufactured and
set in operation merely to keep Catho-
lies and foreigners out Of Office, you have
a much more contemptuous opinion Of
Know-Nothing sagacity than I have.
You stultify them, while | only oppose
them. From their peculiar idiosyncra-
cies, they will doubtless give the pre-
ference to you; but whether any other
party would do it is questionable. You
can see no difference between such n
combination and parties generally, (and
it is plain that you do not you should
not have referred to your own "history"
to prove that you consider it the right
of Christianity and Christian preachers
to NEEDLE with politics." for it proves
something more than your liberallity-to
wit; that when you A" meddled with
politics" you did both politics and your
self sad disseryice. Qbelieve the peo-
pie of your district forestallcd this infer
cncc; didn't they, brothcr?)
You say, in continuation Of what ]
have just quoted from you, but L do
not believe that a church organization
has such right, nor, pardon my frankness,
that any man can excite a church to such
course without political delinquency,
which ! will not characterize as | think
it deserves" You certainly have the
most profound reverence for political
parties of any man Of your history that
ever lived. In the defence of them you
seem to forget all the interests of self
respect, all the duties Of your calling,
all the claims of brotherhood, and all the
rules, not to say, decencies, Of contro-
vcrsy You had already charged me
with t,0pituIe-i. c. with moral base
ness, extreme deprayity; and here you
insinuate that there is yet something in
the act thus characterized so unspeakably
depraved that even your lips refuse to
give to it its proper name. Thanked, as
you are by legion Of Know-Nothing
Methodists, and very many legions of
Nothing politicians, you may feel
confident of your security in the church,
and Of a clever popular support, while
you indulge in such defamation Of a
brother But you would do well to re-
member that there is another tribunal,
not far distant from you and me, where
words are not weighed by the standard of
Methodism or the world.
Did you understand my letter, simply
because it was headed TO the Metho-
dist Church South, 4" as designed to excite
the church in its corporate character, and
through its official organs, its bishops and
its conferences, TO take action against the
Know-Nothings? 1t would seem so,
and if this be your idea, ] do more than
pardon your frankness--I commiseratc
your understanding Where do you find
the word or syllable in my whole piece
which indicates such design? He who
addresses church, addresses the MEM
bers thereof, and in what character they
are addressed, whether MS an "organiza-
ton" or asindividuals, is 10 be collected
from the body Of the address, and not
from the caption alone. Had you read
my letter with any other design than 10
find in it grounds Of censure and abuse,
you would have seen clearly that is
whole and sole aim was TO get preachers
and members of our church out Of and
away from political party, and into
their appropriate work; not to excite n
church organization against a political
party. But then you would have lost
the laurels which you have gaiaed in this
contest--the everlasting gratitude Of the
Know-Nothings, and the thanksgiving Of
one or two hundred thousand Methodists,
for your uniooked-for intorposition in
their behalf.