Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-06-17
A Reply.
EDITOR, MINERAL PoINT TRIBUNE,

: icle for something published in that pa
per May Is
BY "A Methodist Lavman" the Chroni
Gle is said to have quoted from the n y
} independent, chat a meeting was held IL
n the city of \ \. of the solid men Of tht
) NJ +. Church to consider the question o
= lay delegation. The Chronicle make,
:, no mis- statement in this most of the arti
" Gle in the independent was quoted by the
9 Chronicle, and quoted word for word a;
7, the Independent had it If there was nc
4 such meeting. then the ependent made
:, ei.O raioesoten,ant and not the Chronicle
A Methodist Layman goes on to say
4 that ms / e. the editor of the Chroni-
+ Gle s, hrst statement betrays a great q
Y mount Of ignorance on the subject of lax
delegation now being agitated in the NJ
f. church, or otherwise an intention to
mierel5 5resent said church to the public. "
A. to ;rn, rance Of things agitated in that
church il is very possible for the editor OF
the Chronicles to re, Tor My the initiated
can know, and re l7ot being among the
initiated into the IN yster~les OF the NJ. E.
Church, cannot verv " ell c.alm to know.
But in reference to the Law dele @atlon mat
ter he Is not altogether ignorant, ne, tne
/ editor Of the Chronicle, knows that TINS
matter Of lay delegation has been agltate2
again and again, Il was agitatcd previCus
to the last general conference, it was in
troduced at the last general conference,
I 1t was given back again to the people TO
be agitated preparatory to the next gene
raj conference there has been strong
current in favor of it in the NJ + church;
there has been, hitherto, a stronger cur
rent against it in that church, so that it is
not yet made part of the church polity
I The thing has not been mooted for the
last two years in any Of the office organs
. of the N. E. church but very little, so
little indeed that any one uninitiated might
easily suppose 1t was huSbed and had it
not been for the information OF a meeting
on the subject "Of the solid men of the
+ church, it might be Inferred by any one
/ of no more intelligence on matters per-
taining to the NJ F. Church than the edi>
tor Of the Chronicle pretends to have that
the matter was really ''hushed for the
. present generation. lie was somewhat
surprised that it still was in agitation
since there was so much silence concern
ing it in the official organs Of the church
J Where then is the misrepresentation
! Is it in saying that there was a meeting
4 of the sort re erred to in New York or IS
/ it in saving he thought the agitation was
/ "hushcd, until he saw the article in the
I Independent? IF it be in the hush part Of
/ it, the editor Of the Chronicle came to that
I conclusion frOTn the fact that so little has
I been SAID for tho iae+ t,.-a 5-s..rs aholgt. =
! and would now say that, if the stat .ment
made in the Independent is true, the
! question of lay delegation IS not huShed
I in the VI. f. church; and moreover, "a
I Methodist Iayman' tells us that report
4 is to be made upon it at the next general
/ conference then the subject will doubt
II ,g,,f 4 6
/ that body ;; so that it Is not hushed at
ali but going to come up again to be test
/ ed In Sol A Methodist Layman' thinks
that the editor of the Chronicle is hardly
( sincere when he speak, about being ''puz
zled about this lay delegation question.
The editor of the Chronicle is not puzzled
about the righteousness Of laymen having
to do with the administration of church
/ affairs he has never been much puzzled
/ On that matter. The right Of laymen to
/ this privilege has been his belief for thirty
wears. it is his belief still, and he has no
penchant to be in fellowship with any
Church that discards lay delegation but
he Is puzzled to know how the idea of n
Law delegation operates upon the sensibli-
tiles of the NJ Z. Church in point of pro-
qreSSjOH or retrogTeSSi0H, for the editor of
the Chronicle does know that some of tile
d.vines( by the way Is \ N. Laymana divine
/ in the NJ i. Church y hooted the Primi-
tive Methoiists as old fogieS for their lay
delegationism Now, if the Primitive
Methodi>ts are old fosies because Of this
feature in the policy OF theiI church, Will
I the VI. +. Church, since it is now wrest-
/ ling to Get the same thing. IN some other
form perhaps, be going back to old fogyism
also If she admits iav delegation into her
politv ?-morcover, if lay delegation is
I considered bv the NJ Z Church n pro
. gressive meaSure-a matter of improve
ment-as q thing calculated to place the
. church on a fairer basis, then, cannot \
+ Methodist Layman see that the Primitive
Methodist Church, having from the first
adopted the lay delegation system, is in
/ the progressive already-has this matter
of Improvement already as one of her
prominet features and hence, is based on
a fairer foundation; and is not so much
of an old forvisn afttr T all as some of the
NJ +. theologians wouli feign make out.
As to ''some solid men in some p. NJ.
conference having said, Eve have too
much lay delegation that is not the point
at issue shall we have any al all Is the
question now agitating the VI. +. church.
which on its very face, goes to show II al
that church has none ut all and IS getting
to be quite troubled about It As to the
matter Of the NJ F. Church swelling It's
membership in the Union and accumu-
lating much property without Law delcga-
ton, does that 30 to say that lay delega-
ton is wrong ?--does 1t 20 TO say that the
NJ f. Church would not have swelied into
-anv members if she had had lay del
80, a. = feature of her church polity
49, = 90 - s.,v that all churches swell
ing cut in vast propG.~f OF N eiIipeI
shin Is always sound the core
Methodist Laymau' knows that I@rge
swellings and great accommodations do not
alwavs prove soundness of constitution.
That is monStrous quotation given isy
F. "A Methodist Layman' from the Pilgrim.
But he quotes from memory, and he voueh-
$ for the sense if not the expression, II IS
neither. The memory of A Methodist
Layman' must have been TnercIlessiy be
stridden with a monstrous nightmare
when it coniured mp that stuf as the
sound or the sense of the Pilgrim on the
Law delegation question. "A Methodist
Iavmana tries TO raise a dust by this QUO
tation from the Pilgrim, and seems dis