The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1868-05-06
;A 81 Most Remarkable Letter.
SPIRIT: OF THE RADICAL PRESS
.1.-::.>l AND PULPIT.
2

EP1R1Ts~ Ok sTdE-R ADaCALrRELlGloUS'.fh fhEoo
s..,.,.:Sl Z AND PULPIT.
- 3 g. 49, -. :.as::r Is
CHICAGO, LII, Nov. IL, 1867.
y .aothe Editor ot. tie .K1l0aaiille Free Press ::
-e.ssstsf have noticed lately several (edito-
torial illusions in your. paper to. what
hppears to besa matter of feeling among
]. the people of..East Tennessee in regard
. to Methodist. Church property; and in
yours the 5th-instant, under the head
: offeDloy.f Church, an article signed Lover
ttsIPaeace,a ,ason-the same subject. From. all
Z have seen and heard on this subject in
the last three years, conclude that all
aheiSnpposeds trouble in churchspropert
amen g-EasttT 4 TeHtlesseeans has grown%out
= of the action Of Bishop Symposium church.
matters in ,th&tsSeate;; and snpposingI
-aurGissht ine-this,.Is beg leave to say a
sisese S@oiais siiszdefense Of Bishop Simpson.
on the. busis. of general principle. 1t is
evident, to my mind, that the guilt which
separates the Southern Methodist from
the N6rfherh-l Methodist lis much>deeper
andwider than manyssuppose So great,
indeed, thatit were folly to attempt to
bridgeeit, or for the two classes ever to-
meet.51 OF course bcfong to- the North
cru Methodist class, and feel and speak in
their behalf. ard, in doing So, ,d9sIrli eX-
ercise that trankness and candor Of eX
, preston. on the Methodist affairs that
Wendell Phillips is wont to do on political
afffairs.
: -sssIn the FIRST place, the Methodists, both
North and South. need watering very
much to bring them up to the true STAN
stard of courage and honesty necessary
to assert. plainly their, true characters.
Religion and politics, arc, in fact. one and
the same 1hing1aud be so considered
Tin all popular governments especally,5
in fact, rcligion:and politics bave, always
been considered one and the same IN AL
nations. Ours was the first and only
experiment, we l1now OF, to treat the two
as distinct e!emcnts in civil governments
and wGs are fully justified in asserting
zthat lheSeSperiment has been failure;
or, at least, the experiment had mas the
came conflict That has always before re-
suited from, opposing ideas, = "a -. ~
All government is based on the religious
character OF those Who form and carry it
on ;,and when there becomes 4 conflict of
.yees ipg pgfts sadn4iniStiation, it arises, Of
NECESSITY. from religious differences. II
is the Religious nilli' which makes and
executes the laws and shapes, in every
stg.ferae II, e.legisiationTof. a government.
ss1sfassissa fact which needs no argument
<ee-lYo&e:i it 1beeanse- the,.opi'osite OF the
assertion cannot lie found to exist in any
nation .tearthg. .FhesUuitcd States forms
no exception, though in our system we
attempted il. for eighty Years. Still the
-srsIIi gioiis. ioliIi power9of'the human mind would
at last prevail OYER all other elements Of
the governments, Now, the stronger pre-
vailed apd took possession OF all the
property and appliances appcrtaining to
tIhe.sorganilations Of the weaker. The
.,a,ord& odist, it is true. is applied to
celie two clasSes.of people Northand South,
yet one is like that of the Hndoo. Bish-
zops Simpson represented the Northern
masses.in taking possession of property
fairly wen, BY. conqnest.;in support and
-@dcfense of Northern religion. ~asaopposcd
toSouthertl religion. in the United States,
aadiniwhich Northern. religion nearly all
s6thef small denominations in the North
agree and .sympathizc. and have an inter
est. therefore, in the property acquired.
rssEhe Methodistsin the North constitute
the great directing power of religion in
sAmerica ;<and tho other denominations
called Protestant, though differing in
form, in ritual, and other minor points,
yet follow,sein substance, the religious
course marked out by the great ruling
power, the Northern Methodists. You
mays as well say thataD army has oright
to thesarin and supplies which it wins on
tthc hard.fought field of battle, as to say
that The Northern Methodist Church has
no right to every church, schoolIiouse.
and every acre of land formerly held by
the Southern IN Mcthodists. Not only 50,
zbutsit is just5;ls wrong and pernicious for
Northern Methodisls to permit Southern
4Methodistss to meet and worship at all, rs
ST wonld bic to permit Lee or Johnson to
call together and drill their disbanded
men under arms.
Methodisln in the South was conquered
and subiugated, aud henceforth has no
claims on anything used or belonging TO
its former self: Even tkeir Bibles, books,
and printing establishments became the
property of the voters and ought to be
nsed.a Did Spain allow Mexico to CON
time itS>rcliSious exercises after Cortez
conquered ii? Certainty not. Neither
sdisl sauy nationi.or people ever concrdc
such privilege to the one they had to
subjugate. No more. then, ought the
North conccdc such to the South. But
yeurmay say that the Southern Metho-
dists and the Northern Mcthodists are
one and the same religion This (as
have before said) is not the case, aud this
wiffappear very clear from the very cor
rect definition OF The word.
"Webstei has, perhaps, done more harn
: In his nlnhnraLr comments on the III eNnlng =