Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1867-11-20
INUHul ulINuttuI
Letter from Rev. W. II. Bates.

Lettef from ReEs W. IL, Bates.
Mr.. EDITOR In your issue Of the 9th instant,
1 see considerable space devoted to my name by
Rev. 7. A. Pearne
Were possessed of the oeaoH, the " vndic-
tive spirit with which he is pleased to characterize
me, were his personal enemy and desired his ruin,
1 would, to make that ruin complete, advise him
to pursue the very course he is pursuing. To say
nothing of the DlodeSty of comparative stranger
cutting and hewng the character of ministers long
known in community, discriminating public
will not be slow to discover "the manner of spirt
of which they are possessed Modesty and char
ity forbid a comparison of the a,ecords of the wri-
ter and his assailant While he would have no fears
of the ISSUE he would scorn to deal in such person
alities.
The people of Cooke or jefferson will certainly
be nstonished at the piece of information" of pub
lie speech that never existed, save in the prolific
fancy of the author or some manufacturer of uwar
rumors.' So the good people of Jonesboro will be
surprised to see how my connection for about three
weeks with "home guard organization solely, as
declared by the hand bills, for protection against
robbers and bushwhsckers, has been metam orphos-
ed into Sunday training to fight Yankees
~As W kuo Dl local preachers Tor
preaching in favor Of rebellion il never existed
save in the same prolific source, as Gabriel Page,
the minister to whom the alleged acommendationn
should have been given, viii testify on oath. The
man does not live that ever heard me read a line
from the Free Press in the pulpit; yet this man
tells us he believes il do not envy the head or
heart that does SO.
As to the misrepresentation Of the conversation
between us" l deny it; and refer to the two or
three witnesses who heard the conversation and my
representation of it. still hold myself responsible
to make my representation good. Suppose these
things were true, has Mr. Pearne become the keep
er Of other mems character Is he SO relieved FROM
the obligations Of moral law that be can otake lp
a reprOsch against his neighbor' with implnity.
and seek to damage bis reputation in the minds of
thousands?
Suppose these things weres So what does that have
to do with the 'oolor-blind communion that trans
pired at your Conference That was in no wav
dependent on the er;deHce Of this aprejeFicsE ,gi1
ness.F 1t was witnessed by scores that we're not
PrgHdioed." Why this labored effort TO get up a
personal contest this side issue Is it With the
hope Of calling of public attention By crying rebel
rebel Is this your stub for the whale % Thank
God the day is well nigh past when they can thus
be diverted. He kao1os The Conference did not seek
the association eoaPlained Of" How could he know
it-by intuition What evidence had he on which
he could rely So far from SHOWING the Confer
epoe did not seek the association complained of
being true sl the evidence Of which he was in pos
session would have lei TO the opposite conclusions
Take the declarations Of their Church papers, who
supposed, Of course 20 advocate snd fairly re-
present the wishes Of thei7 people, declaring him
the black man. Sc be tho 5oa,tg ma, q ffe age-
that tho Church must be educated up q tie great
idea Of equality Of races Take lhe action Of their
Conferences in South Carolina aud Mississippi
Take the action Of one Of The eoerei Mission Con-
lerences that has already elected its delegates 10
the next General Conferedce. But to be more spe-
cife, take the following from the minutes Of the
Wisconsin Conference, p. 80.
The Churches propose % educate and thereby
elevate them 10 EQUAL social aud. political rights
due every American citizen
"Res'irof Z. That We hearfila algirafs tho fofma-