Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1870-05-21
RELIGIOUS.
Quadrennial Address or the bishop,
OF the Methodist Episcopal.
Church, south.
AN EARNEST PASTORAL LETTER.
To The General Conference Of the M,
Il. Church, South:

| y y
To The General Conference of the N
H. Church, South:
BELOVED BRETHREN We would
join you in devoted thanksgiving tc
God that another quadrennial session
of your body has occurred. Represent.
ing, as you do, all parts of our wide
field OF labor, conversant with their
conditions and wants, and invested
with authority over the whole church,
We beg respectfully to remind you Ol
the Importance Of prayerful, vigi-
liant, and impartial attention to the
duties of your delicate and RESPONSE
ble position. We trust that the sub
jects which may be brought before
you will be discussed and decided as
In the immediate presence of God,
and with direct reference to the well
fare Of the whole church.
With profound emotion we an
nOunce to you that since your last ses-
sion our venerable and beloved col
league, Joshua Soule, has departed
this life. His death occurred in
Nashville, Tennessee, March 6, 1867,
In the S7th year of his life, and the
10th year Of his itinerant ministry
I'm many respects Bishop Soule was a
remarkable man. AT the time of his
death he was, probably, the oldest
travelling preacher in America, If moi
i'm the world; and was thus the con-
Meeting link between the Methodism
of Wesley In Asbury and that of the
present day. Throughout his whole
ministerial life he was eminently de-
voted to God, and employed exclu.
sively In the service Of the Church
often filling positions of the highest
responsibility, and always hOnorably
and usefully. His mind was clear
and vigorous, his department digni-
fled, and his whole course was mark.
ed by consistency, purity and un.
swerving fidelity to principle
Whether viewed as man, q Chris
tian or a minister, or as filing the
highest office i'm the church for forty
three years, his character deserves Ia
he held in the highest esteem, and
his memory to be perpetuated In the
history of the Church. We devout-
ly thank God for such a man, and for
the gifts and grace which rendered
his eventful life so useful, his declin-
ing years and closing day so beauti-
fully serene, SO sublimely triumphant.
The past four years have aholnded
with trials to the Church you renre-
sent, especially in those portions oi
the country which suffered most by
military devastation during the late
war, and by ecclesiastical interference
with our Church property. But 1t is
n matter of devOut gratitude that
poverty and persecution even unto
stripes and death in some cases--have
only tested and increased the attach
ment and fidelity of our ministers
and the general body of our member
ship to the Church. The itinerant
preachers, although very meagerly
supported, have, i'm general, been
faithful to then ordination vows, and
have preserved, as best they could,
i'm peforming their duties. BY the
blessing of God this has resulted in
the maintenance of our itinerant sys-
tenn, and the steady and increasing
prosperity Ofall the enterprises of the
church. Even where we had suffer
ed most we are rapidly regaining our
former ground, and in many sections
extending our borders and multiply
ing our membership. Seasons OF re-
freshment from the presence of the
Lord have come upon the people, and
thousands have been converted and
added to the church.
We rejoice, also. to report that the
greatest unity and harmony exist
throughout the whole connection. II
has been truly said that MethOdists
all over the world, are one in doc.
trine;" so that, however widely
sacttered and differing in other re-
spects, they present the popularity OF
agreeing cordially in the great doc
trine of Christianity. And as the
members of our communities are d
unit in faith, so also there is scarcely
any disagreement among them as tC
our Church policy. Their prevalent
desire is that both be preserved-the
former intact, the latter, If altered al
all, to be modified so far only as tC
make it more effective In accomplish.
ing the original purposes of Metho'
dism. This is seen In the fact thai
we have quietly passed what IL justly
regarded In all forms of government
n great crisis, in the adoption Of Q
new element into our system. We
allude to the introduction of lay re-
preseptatiOn I'm the Annual and Gen
erai Conferences. This Important
change i'm our economy was not {
Ipeaee offering. rendered necessary foi
the preservation of the unity ant
neaee of the church. from the attack,
of a dissatisfied and refractory mem,
Ihershin bur was Droposed and eff;,c
ted Inv the nearly unnnimous voice o
the Isitv both believing that the tim,
had 6,iiv come when IL would en-.
hance tie effectiveness Of the Church
and tbe glory of Christ.
In attestation of the approval @
the whole church of this measure ",
are grntifiej 10 see i'm this body 3,