New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-09-24

fsct'y eha'. WITH pr~,Hng Bsscp' 10 the B'rler
ssc.ior, bsilhrg Presiding Elders unwhag Confer
ace, unwilling Pastors, and unwilling Churches,
shat power has The General ConfereIoe ~ Ieso0 IN.
Loivonal Tie pTohibl.ory rule could poAess oaly
moral force but that moral force is Of Infinite in.
poraDce.
And Why is i mportsL. 20 pass this change Of rule
Btcause i s the duty Of the Church before ID 10 ex-
plain sin TO men, and to oppose Il with oil sr moral
power in the earth. Ana slsvehoding willfal self.
steal mar IL the hghest sir. II to steal man Is
monetary oct Of siD, willfny and self.hy 10 hold
him stolen permanent state OF SID II is sin Just
spol,gany il sini Just as ntemperaDce is sip. II
the Church cannot expel the sinner is her duty to
declare the SIN and to clear her own character ~
speedily es possible, by Ienouncing and denouncng
the Tin n her Iooet solemn and fundamental forms be-
fore heaven and EARTH And therefore say it IL the
most solemn duty Of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
hourly pressing upon her, 10 pass this change of rule,
perform some other solemn act equivalent, by which
she shall testify he principle ard vndicate her char
scter ss Holy Church Of Christ. Every hour Of
Neglect of the Church TO perform this duty an hour
Of SIM And say it is The duty of every member OF
this Church 10 perform his part in this act Of sefpur
cston from this dsrk stain Of EN- lie who refuses
negects to perform this onceexpainet duty, stands
guilty and condemned before the bar Of his adudgng
God. 1t awful doctrine to proclaim, and sn awful
responsibility rests upon him, my dear brother, who
procaims from Of the watch-toweYs of Zion that
il s her duty TO share little in the Elm TO convert the
must practice little polygamy in order to convert the
poygsmsts indulge little drunkenness to convert
the Incorporate or to hold few slaves to convert the
shareholders. Not such are the preceps or examples
Of the pure Jesus. II the Church would convert the
FOULS OF men, she must stand apart from the sins of
men. The more she compromises with sin, the more
do sinners multiply; skepticism increases infdelity
laughs at her Disgrace the name of Christ is bias
pbtmed and the souls Of men are destroyed. Such ID
the awful picture of the results of the completely of
the American Church with the sin of Slavery, from
which this change Of rule seeks far IN lies to
deliver the Church Of our choice.
And, now, what mighty cOnvuson need result from
this simpe change? Everything will move on organ
icslly Just as it has before. You say that division
" will strike through whole central mass" VIII it
go! Let us see.
BY striking Through the central mass, you cannot
of course me an that all individual Churches will
be divided through the center. You must mean that
our whole Church extent will be divided geographi.
cany, by a central line. This mighty crack will
cut perhaps, North and South through Ohio from
Cincinnati to the Erie But no. for both sides of this
line equally loyal to the Church. and equally zeal
Gus for the charge Of rule. Or it may be line East
and West. But such line could not even take Off the
Western Border Churches. For there stands Cen.
trail Christian AdrOcQte with its AntiSavery constit
ueDcy continually increasing with foOd-tide of Free
soil immigration, and with its stronger Anti-Siavery
columns as you admit, than any other periodical Of
the Church.
Who, then, are going to recede7 Is it the strip of
Northern Churches along the Atlantic Let US zee.
son, Castle lead off secession No one believes it.
These are loyal men and sound. They are neither
revOutionsts nor dsorgsnizers. And | will answer,
too for the Jersey Conferences. DIR. John s. Porter
d. d. Lore, and DIR. Wiley, and all their host, are
good men and true.
Let us come, then, TO NewYork. Do you mean to
secede, DIR. Stevens? Do your friends that is, those
who think with you) mean to secede Surely no. You
are conservatives. You launch your thund6s against
secessonists the possible secessionists of
Western New-York. But is city secession any better
than rural secession! Besides if you secede, who but
yourselves is responsible Your picture of ruin is not
ing of what you will do. You foretell, and you will
fulfill. Why are Anti-Slavery men to be denounced as
revolutiOnists, because You revOutonze There will
be only just 30 much evil as yon are pleased to COM
nit. But you have intention to secede revolu.
tionze. And have any of the eminent ministers in
New-lork any revolutionary intentions Win the
venerable Dr. Bangs the eloquent Dr; McC91 ,S
These men are true to our common Methodsm.
Their counsels will be counsels of peace. And how
about our Churches VIII st. Psuls seceds will
Allen street will John street Not one of them.
But, if am mistaken, would like to be informed.
If there be revOlutionists among u.s. we would Like to
know who they are. The seeding minister, the So
cedipg Church, ought in honor to announce their po
pition before the time. Let the deetrucives show
their hand. And what, then, DR.. Stevens, would ap-
pear? That, as between your section and mine, all
the secession all the disloyalty, all the danger and all
the destruction, must come from your own SIDE OF the
whole destructive movement and are absolutely re-
sponsble il harm ensue.
And because you hold the reins, all is safe. You
reaize too much the unon the honor the future pros
perty of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to permit
yCu--for proportional change merely doctrnal
in its character without organic executive force-tO
uee you or your friends into secession or revolution
You will not ircur the lifelong remorse of dividing
the Church. You will not persist in saying to the
Church and General Conference, eff you do not do
as we saw we will raise CONFUSION that will not be
merely local" but divide the center" I'VE will
break up the General Conference; we will break down
the Epscopacy; will close the honorable histsy OF
the Church 80
The glowing descriptions then, Of the ruin that will
ensue upon the change OF rule are fancy SKETCH an
idealty picture without original, threat without
purpose of executon-for the plain reason that the
change itself is not half efficient, organicay and
executvely a. either opponents or supporters sup
pose. 1t will not actually turn the Shareholders out
of the Church. The superiority of this over any other
form and method proposed consists IN the greater
solennity of ts fundamental and constitutional charac-
ter and in the fact that it is fnalty which VIII Ter
inmate the controversy Let US owen mo nens On
this point.
You propose Pastoral Address on Note.
But tbeee modes too little, solemn fundamental,
and permanent true craftsmanship requires you ut
this time to adopt the measure which will be ultimate
and complete ard put close forever to this contro-
ve,sy in the Church. Yet If the General Rule cannot
pass a Pastoral Address explicit and clear, might do
much to safety the strong Ant-Savery feeling of the
Church, and secession especially II 1t promise
hope for the future. Pastoral Address, expressing
the full doctrine that all slsvehOding with sef-inter
ested and wul intent sin, and should cease from the
Gals and ministers firmly and prudently to promul.
gate that dOctriLe snd which should reprehend all
invitation or admission of iniserS OF Unfortunately
slavehoding churches to our pulpts, would perhaps