Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1867-07-27

and its w5ys?-in devoted 10 God and
His cause?-.in the form of sound words?
in freedom from secular and carnsl ALI.
ances? Nay, verify, in all these, her
originally essential features, she has un-
dergone change-and that a radical one.
The church OF 1867 bears but little re-
semblance 10 that oI 1854, and Bishops
Ames and Simpson are not very decided
counterparIs OF the great and good AS
bury and Whatcoat. Why, my dear Dr..
The intelligent world L1ious the change;
and the sinful world fe,is il; and if the
church itself is so infatuated as not 10
be uIcare oft, this unconsciousness must
certainly come Of some such divinelv i'm.
posed m9dness as, we are toll, sometimes
precsdes destruction. Al the early
Melhodists, unknown TO fame, weak in
worldly resources, free from all dreams Of
secular and political complications, were
yet living power, approved of God,
strong in faith, and addicted exclusively
10 spreading scrptura! holiness over these
lands. Now, the great NJ. f. church,
known everywhere, "rich and increased
with goods" very power in the gov
ernment," stands forth shorn OF lis prop.
er strength and addicting itself 10 the un.
holy work OF keeping alive sectional
sirife-a strife which but for It's inierven.
ton would be speedily aIlayed.
The Doctors third point is the graui-
lous assertion that ga fair construction Of
the Deed can give the Shepherdstown
Church property 10 none other than the
NJ. +. Church. If he had said construc.
ton Of the Deed, limited and defined by
the strict rules Of law, as ignoring the
equities Of the case, would give such q di.
reciion TO the property, | might pruden'ly
omit any notice Of this clause--although |
cannot understand how the NJ. Z. Church
"a body having no recognized legal ex-
istence here, incapable Of suing or being
sued.-Can legally hold property. But
he says fair construction Of the Deed
would secure 10 them the church proper
ry. | affirm that fair construction Of
the. Deed would secure the property, in
strict accord with our claims, to the local
Methodist congregation .us well
known, ihat IN the conveyance Of said
properly, the disciplinary form Of Deed
was purposely ignored, and counsel,
learned in the law, employed to prepare
Deed expressly 10 secure the premises
10 the society, by whose zeal and energy
the buildings were constructed. The
funds. instead OF being "given distinctly
for the NJ. +. Church." as DR.. Green a.
Ieges, were unequiVocally given for the
very congregation, who are now eNfed
from their own chnrch-house,b the pres.
ent construction Of the Deed. In regard
10 "lbe people here standing 10y the old
church'-lhis is simply sbsurd-fhe pcO-
pie stood By the Baltimore Conference
on the basis Of lis oft repeated pledges,
10 stand Jy them 10 the last extremity;
and could they have seen into the future,
how these pledges were made by many
TO be "honored more in the breach, than
in The observance" doubt whether
any sum could have been raised here for
the NJ. L. Church, above few cents 10
pay some penny.a.liner for few verses
OF doggerel by way Of epilaph. In this
connection, commend 10 public attention
the vvidness Of DR.. G.'s Imagination
when affected by even speculative inqui-
res about property. In lis dreams, 20
years ago, he saw the parsonage that now
stands on The corner Of Washington and
Church Streets, JuiH some eleven or
tt0eIve gears atter,0ards, the walls, floors
and roof Of which were bought some sev-
en- years ago by our members and ihsn
or thereafter fitted up for parsonage
and to be sure, this property tca8
bought and paid for athe time he min
iSiercd here, and especially and particu-
iarly at the time ,chen lie performed
the funeral rites Of that venerable ser.
cant Of God, Jacob HeSS-2O gears ago.
The DR.. suggests the great conclusive,
when he says "our fathers were all anti.
slavery" In what sense Does he
mean to say they were abolilionisls ! If
so, join issue with him, and declare
that this honor was reserved for some Of
their children and grandchildren. In
common with the fathers of the Republic,
Washington, Jefferson, &C., many Of the
early Melhodisis regarded slavery as an
evil, and looked 10 the Providence Of God,
in its own good tine,to effect lis removal.
Ii remained for preachers and conferences
4 long way this side Of The early church
in point Of time, to be far ahead also on
this question. limitations Of change Of
the church's views began TO appear at the
General Conference Of 1910. A bolder
front was assumed in 1874, and precipits.
I'D rupture Of the church;-and only
the pledges Of the Annual conference.-the
ceeding the General Conference Of that
year, caused the Baltimore Conference 10
continue its connexion with the Northern
branch of the church, in provisional
icay-pleJges that were kept with more
or less OF good faith, until the Buffalo
hunt of 1860 came of, when new doe
ttne was incorporated in the Discipline
Of the church, whereby slavery was prac-
iically put first in the calendar Of crime,
and declared TO be the most sinful Of sins.
A ,,,-.i ..n,o, rs. tbrs f,is,eJ unnn a