Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-02-05
Religion North and South.

Here is an cxtrac: from letter written
by the Editor Of the Nashville ChristiGn Ad-
coca.s TO. Bishop NoEEIs, Of Ohio, which
our riead of the Ga.stte d Citizen says is
.'striking appeal TO the Christian charity
nd sober sense OF the clergy of the North
ern Methodist Church:
"WilI you, revered sir, interPose VIII
vou and your colleagues throw oil upon The
the troubled waters, and strive TO calm and
quiet the preJudices OF such of your preach
ers and people as as are warrng against the
interests ol' the Church Of Christ They
know moi hereof they affirm. T'ey d. not
know the condition of the S nth they are
unacqusinted with the elements of Southern
Sucietv. Thousands of The citizens Of the
North arc mised by designing men, who
cater to their passions and prejudices. They
Judge of Slavery by the representations OF
irresponsible writers, who carricature Sou h
err institutions and slander Southern Chris
,ians vii! they be persuaded TO let us
alone We are doirg great work. We
preach Christ, and no. politics. We are
looking after the sheep in the wilderness,
not as wolves, to scatter, tear and s'ay, but
as shephards, 10 provide for the flock of
Christ You have full enough TO employ al
your men and ycsr mems in instruc:ing the
hords of ignorant and nfidel men who throng
your cities, skirt your prairie1, dwell upon
rour sea and lake shores, build your ra a'lroacs.
dig your d,tches, and serve as nenials in
the houses and on the farms Of your wealthy
citizens
"What is your Cflr3h doing for the free
blacks at the North! Sir, | WAS surprised
nhen looked at the statistics Of your Gin
cinnati Con 'erence. The returns sho' that
Won have in the bounds of that Conference
ninct, eight cs.ured members! My dear
sir, how many thousands of c1lored people
lie in your Queen City, to say nothing OF
the country around; and with all The sympa-
thy of your preachers and people for the
black man you have less than one hundred
members in your whole Conference. Com
pare Cincinnati with the city of Charleston,
city with perhaps population not on"
third so great as yours, ar:d there you will
find -olured membership in the Methodist
Church of not less than FIVE thousand In
the South Carolina Conference alone, there
are not less than forty-fve thousrnd colored
people in communion with the Church =
Well may | SIX, who cares for the soul OF
the negro! All! sir, 1t is 'sy to say, be ye
warm and be We fed; but the good Samari-
ha - e rho cuTarip,r
Say 10 your brethren, LET then alone: they
are following the example of Jesus, and the
instructions of the inspired apostles. Let
them alone and 60 and preach the gospel 10
your own poor. Charleston Mercury.
This is simply mis.ake. 1T is The appeal
Of ignorance, and must be treated as such,
and the "sober sense Of any intelligent
render will a. once see the faliacious argu-
.n.nt. His comparison is, in the first place.
no, Just one. for the reason that there are
in the State Of South Carolina fifteen OF a
colored population to every one in Ohio =
and then the Methods, Church-to the s,a-
tis.ics Of which he refers, contains ali, or
nearly all of the cnlored population that
belong TO any church in the South, while
this is not the case in the North. lie also
omi;s, or ID ignorant Of the fact, that in the
Nu,,h the rolored race are free 10 hold meet
inrs tf their on and, in consequence, have
,heir own church not differing materially
from the Methudi.is. and it is with this
church he should have drawn comparison.
His argument has but one cUnciusicn, that
Of making ignorance and Slavery essential
tc The progress of Christianity.