Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1867-02-27
THE Old Ohurchy-a aOld MethodIsm.' .

The Stter hatred evinced towards the Methodist
Episcopal Church and her ministers by minis
ters and members of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, South, has various ways Of ex-
pressing itself Now it tries social proscrip
ton, again, it uses intimidation; anon, it makes
false aud slandercus insinuatiens and charges
"This minister is in favor Of negro-equality p
THAT minister IL political psrson." p" The other
minister was in the John Brown raid" "They are
ali church thieves and horse thieves But in
spite Of all this rage and sputter "the old Church"
is growing in numbers, cohert acc and efficiency in
East Tennessee Sc il is in the Middle and Western
parts Of the State Unterrifed by such threats and
threatencrs, "Old Methodsm' is replanting itself
among these hills and valies never again to be
rooted out by slavery sristocrats secessionist reb
els or rebel sJmpsthizen. As showing the GRip'as
Of the NJ E. Church, South, and also, as indicating
the sort Of arguments which confront the misrep-
resentations Of such men as Rev. Mr.. Kennedy
Rev. Mr.. Price, Rev. Mr.. Stringfed and their as
sociates / quote from letter, published in the
Memphis Post of the llth instant. 1t is written by
my brother, Rev w h. Pearne, Presiding Elder of
the Memphis District Tennessee Conference, and
it is as follows, viz:
hdtf0rS Post. In the OhrlsUan AQNOCdte, pun
lshea in this city, under the date Of the 3lst ultr
appeared a letter from the Rev. G. W. ID. Harris
which reflects quite seriously and improperly, upon
the NJ T.. Church and its ministers lRboring in
these parts lis sarcastic hings at the Church do
not merit serious notice They are powerless for
harm even though he will persist in calling 1t the
Church North But the inuendoes OF the writer,
which, by implication charge the Church and its
ministers with wrong, cannot be passed over in ST.
lsnce.
L am sorry 10 see so much Of the old aniaus of
sectionslsm which has wrought such terrible re-
suits in this fair portion Of our common country,
in this letter. II is quite apparent in speaking Of
the ministers Of the NJ. E. Church. BE charges us
with being Yankees and tsuntingy assuming
that as such we have an unusual amount of inge-
nuity, calls upon US to inform him what is "Old
Methodismn Ii may be pity TO rob his hate for
Yankee and New England OF any zest il
may haze acquired. Perhaps Mr.. Harris knows Of
certain Divine who has allowed his prejudice to
carry him far as TO say that he hated the sight Of
blue 10 such an extent because he had seen u so
long in Yankee" uniforms, that be could not bear
even 10 look upon jay bird Poor bird Can he
bear 10 look upon the clear skyP
But truth requires that we spoil this small crumb
Of comfort 10 him. il happens that not one of the
brethren laboring in West Tennessee under the di-
rection Of the Tennessee Conference of the NJ. L.
Church, is a Yankee he himself admits that
in the case Of the brother of whom he makes spe-
cial mention, ne halls from Middle Tennessee he
might also add, be is 8 native Of North Carolina.
Without claiming the high honor Of Yankee pedi-
gree, however, we have common sense and lngenu-
ity enough TO tell him what Old MethOdism' is.
Ii Is the Methodism, which, planted on this con-
unent in l166, and assuming ecclesiastical form IN
1884 under the designation of the Methodist Epis~
copal Church, has ever from the days Of Asbury
down 10 the present uttered its voice against
great moral wrong q crime against humanity
which has not modified its discipline that point
70 cater 10 the vitiated moral sense Of the world
which never seeded from the Church because the
ooings of a majority, on q great moral question,
we're not in harmony with the opinions or prelu-
1ioes oi minority--which never taught or encour-
gsa secession from the Government of the Y nited
.sS@-Which never tried men before ecclesiSstica
SIounas because they were true 10 the flag and the
,ho'erameni that protected them, and under which
49, wished TO live peaceably 70 the end OF their
- ys-Which has not been obliged 10 change Its
70 - ehol IN a word, is the same as handed down
,nLi .'Oni the fathers, unimpaired in its theology,
te5 L' gea IN its general economy and still actua-
cSy ~ the same spiritual energy and power which
DSSlAeterlzed its early history
,a m MT harris says this Methodism iCas one un-
Cse sSe year ls44 when the delegates in the General
go; from the South protested against the
n III ol the majority the question OF Slavery.
eAse and pacify them, and as they said 20 en-
snSu 70 preserve the Church intact a plan OF
~ f~a5on was adopted, which to be constitutional
g. senectve, must receive the sanction Of two
ao as ol al the annual Conferences lust As Is being
10 S noN oy the Church South, on the proposition
aos .s.ge le name. But before the Church could
Vas bsis me proposition the Louisville Convention
ia csraa ae the Church South ds faeto started on
separate and distinct ecclesiastica