The family visitor. [volume] (Pruntytown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1858-1860, 1860-01-20

u fsopts - Virginia arp Al AhoIitIoaish. -
In ssidenes, 100. be might quote hon : var,.
ely efasvspapers, &e., ito show thas sseA h
NE epiAioa u 4nerieans In the Ner,A- aid
- virginianS are connected With them, ke., 10.
Tbs reply Weald Be that thu opinions II q
community must b judged, notify thsir pub
,p9hsd principles only, eut BY their priueiplss
a. understood and Interpreted BY themselves
The Declaration Of Independence mus. DO In
esp,e'sd 6y ths cifunstance,, and feelings,
end Known opinions Of the men who mad. II
AID BY the upifefw usage established upd.r a.
virginians hold to DO DESIGNATION Of Ipdcusn-
denes, and yet arc not Abolitionists-so did
their athsrs-A Thers IL NO reason why they
should do % unles, the choose; but nobody
chooses to 10 Inconsistent; therefore the vir-
ginians do not feel themselves to b ineou,l.-
tent-thcretors' they understand tho rule diff.
fersntly Pom you-end IS they hav. a RICH,
tofntsrpfssfs according to their reason, and
afe not eomRelledto prefer your interpretations,
they are not Abolitionistsl
Leta man, for the fst time, take the West
minister confession and read It, and he may
say 'Calvinists are simply fatalits-.hey mus,
DO so according to their prineiples-,herstore
they do not believe in human accoun liability
therefore they are bad citizens" The reply
would be, "you judge US inconsiderately aud
cruelty. If you examine our principles you
must take then, as we take them-and the no.
si,:ve contradiction OF our conclusion IA the
fac that zee are good ei:i-cns. We appeal 10
history TO retute ou-and we co. :. I'D that no
abstract Inference from our opinions can s,ard
Tor inomeh; against the evidence Of uuuum-
hered facts, unbroken a.. i un,mpcachei ar the
unvhryin6 testimony OF n historic lie"
<That the ru:ai Of cur church 81 not make us
AhnlirinpiS;f. IL evident from the E,ct,is, they
are ofsixty years standing. The whole South
ern church WAS formed under them. Slaves
nna Methodist, multiplied: with equal raridi,y
under the teaching of Methodist preachers.
who carried these rules in their s,ddle-bags
and sold them from the Susquehanna to the Rio
Grande. Under these rules the Acknowledgement
became BY far the mes. numerous icnomina-
ton iI tue South. Nor is this A Tradition of
oldeu time. In 1873, we End the delegates
from the Sputh. 10 the c.. Conference, main
tanning Us discipline AMI .Ont.aa lag tina, it
should bs preserteQ ipvioIate. Thief left the
Northern prea chers, SHot. becnuse of the rule.
but Because Of tue conduct ct the r,a ;Ar;ty to-
wards bop Andrew, which they de;S.rcd to
bean in t.%.lii OF carrpsot. ssieT henthey me,
In convention to form new church organiza-
tionr they declared Themselves satisfied to
mainta;H the old Discipline. When they met
IN their General Conference In 1916, they con-
hrmed oil tue rules on Slavery There WAS
sharp debate, but il uns finally settled, prin-
ciPaily by the influence OF Dr.. Wiran,, who
said, THAT although the original legislation
OF our fathers on the subject of Slavery was
wrong in itself and entailed evil upon tie
church, the rules proposed TO he altered were
Inaoxiou' to the Soath ard coull 20 no harm.
lie thought it inezpotieEt to N Ikcany change
$50 respect to Slavery" SO the C,-T.:sure
trYIned, aad yet bccarsc We have not
aged these rules we Ale accused, by organs
u.'he church South, Of beng Aboli,ionis.s.
The rule maintained itS p!ac, in the Southern
Discipline until two years ago, aud was then
stricken out only aitcr considerable. oprosi-
ton.
Nov, five are necessarily ALol!tioni,.y bc
CAUSE We have this rule, then tho church South
were Aboli;ionists for fifty years and up 10
1888, mad the CONVERSION Of such an enormous
and influential body ia5 bcca 50 recent az 10
make their present position very suspicions.-
Under this rule, which 'obli.cJ preachers TO
be Aboliiioni',s," Bishops Capcrs and An
dreW' and DIscOm, our good brothers Lee |
and RoscrI and all the other Southern wortli.,
joined the mipisiry. Under il the ancestors
OF many OF the best men and women ofyirgin- I
ia joined the church, aud innumerable others
who DOW form as loyal body Of citizens as |
Virginia can boa2, came in un Ter this organ
iziiion md abode IN il. The difference between |
the Meth; disb in Virginia with regard /,
their position Is no more than this The |
members Of the ". s. Church are Just where
and what the members OF the Church South
were few years ago. II those ays Abolition
lists then these rtrss So
Now everybody knows that the Southern
81. thodists never were Abolitio nis,s because
they consented to tho rLle-therefors we are
not Abolitonists because we yet formally CEN
sent to 1t. Indeed, In one respect the argu-
ment Is in our favor, because we consent to a
rnle which we cannot alter, but they formally
adopted 1t d noro when forming an avowedly
Soutbtrn Church.