Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-03-21
GREENE.
March 9th. 1866

March 9th, 1866.
Editor Chronicle 1t appears that our
place is growing in Importance, as it has two
correspondents, and Xenophon pitches into
Zebulon. Who knows but that the contest
may prove as important, and perhaps as in
teresting to your readers, as the board fence
controversy of Bazetta.
Zebulon is willing to acknowledge his OBJ
legation to Xenophon for information, fur
nished in his first count, as to what were the
particular views of ''the early ministers of
the F. W. Baptist denomination :" as to
who made ''about the first innovation - as
to s'When the church in Greene was organ
ized,' what were the particular views of its
members, how they have 'ialways stood on
the same platform" &c. &C., But in regard
to the discrepancy between Zebulon "for
fear' and Xenophon's "when the fact be-
comes fully known" we have only to say,
thst the evidence required to make a thing
"fully known" to some, frequently is serious
ly doubted by others.
Xenophon's second count is es follows /:
SECONDLY, your correspondent says they en-
ployed q crippled soldier to preach to them,
partly out Of sympathy, and because he was
smart !; implying that he did not consider
smartness or intelligence a necessary qualif-
CdLlOu " lllulSlGEs CuEtll uOh LudL lLu-
plication is far fetched, and no other person
than Xenophon, would ever have thought of
such a thing following naturally from the
quotation. On the contrary, we gave the
the church the benefit of all the excuses they
had, and even Xenophon claims no more
reasons for their hiring him. Indeed, you will
remember that when he makes excuses for
the church, he but reiterates the two excuses
given in the quotation, only clothing them
in different language. The more natural in
ference weuld have been, that Zebulon
~thoughtthat crutches and talents were not the
only necessary qualifications for a minister"
for the church did not receive the least scrap
of evidence from King, (neither did they re-
quire it of him) that he 11Gs or eUer had been
a F. B. Baptist preacher, or anything else
than that which he proved himself to be, the
most precious scoundrel out of the peniten-
tiary. The wonder was, that they made the
steps TO their pulpit so very plain, so soon at
ter attempting to make them mora difficult.
ZebLlon cannot do otherwise than 'consider
the church answerable for his conduct" just
so far as their influence was auxiliary there
to, no farther. In Xenopnon's third count
he says: 'If the church has, at any time,
had an attack of the chills," &c. Now if
he doubts that the church did have such an
and that the disease was protracted
and obstinate, he is the only person that
knows anything about It, that we ever heard
of, that had a like disbelief.
We said nothing about the exact time
when they took the disease or from whom
took it; we only mentioned ''about the
time when the shakes became apparent.
Xenophon further says ''the church since
the dismissal of their former minister, nave
been ready to engage in every good
work" Now if he meant to say that, for
these last, long three years, %(sincee the dis
&C., they nave been ready, that is,
had their decks all cleared for action, and
still did not engage, why, then they hold
u~npardonably. We cannot possibly be-
that be meant to imply that the church
were not anxious "to engage in every good
work, eUen before the dismissal of their former
minister" (Zebulon did not do so cruel a,
thing as that still his language must mean
the one thing, or imply the other. After
complaining that Zebdlon 'aims g blow at
the f. W. Baptist church, which 1 think IN
called for" he says 81 think 1 am justified
in saying that the spiritual mercury of the