Smyrna times., 1873-08-27
i" Respect the Church" :"


Mr.. Editor Il would not dare to worry
your patience, nor to force my crude writings
into your columns; but in justice to myself
and to the subject in controversy, l beg leave
to present to your readers one more communl-
cation which shall be omega.
would say in the first place, for il. Z. y 8.
instruction, that our large cities, with which
he is so familiar, have no bearing at al on our
customs and modes of worship here. lie Is In
error altogether his writing is an exact fac
simile of the back-woods, lll-bred, heathen-
like behavior which he essays to defend: The
Methodist Church, in its discipline, which is
tho soIe law and government OF the church,
reauires its members on the authority of the
Holy Scriptures, to kneel in public worship.
Most lessons taught us By our Saviour, while
on earth, were by example; St. Luke says, on
n certsin occasion: "And he i0dS aoithdrdWn
from them about stones cast, and kneeled
do,0n, and prayed )" we are taught, therefore,
to kneel down to pray; not only by the in
spi:ed men of God, but by the example of
Christ himself Aud furthermore, the Scrip
lures declare that every knee shall bow. But
notwithstanding all the Bible argument in IA
vor OF kneeIing this modern Oracle, who per-
haps, never reads the Bible, nor ever saw a
copy of any church discipline, would have
the readers of the '"1IMEs" believe that there
is no Bible Authority for kneeling down to
pray. don't condemn other denominations
for not kneeling in worship; but so far as the
church and holy things are concerned, for the
sake of etiquette, respect for ones SELF and for
the house of God, as the old adage has it /:
When in Rome, do as Rome does.
II every State, in all this broad land of ours,
the Christian Churches are protected by State
authority. 1t matters not what the denomina
ton may be, if a man enters one of those
churches and fails to comply with the rules
thereof, it does not only tell badly for his
training, his associations, and the community
in which he resides, but he commits wicked
misdemeanor for which he may be brought to
justice.
What would L. c. J. think OF himself
should he get into a Methodist Church and
while all the congregation were kneehng 10
prayer, he would sit up and scoff at those who
were praying-acting the part of a keathen, as
did the three young perts, whom he prcsumes
to exhonerate. He would undoubtedly look
like fool, and if be is not an old hand at that
kind of behavior he would feel about the same.
Now, if this funny fellow can find Bible Au.
thOrity for his strange positions, | would sug-
gest that he propose to the trio to remove to
some benightcd country, where it is no dis
grace to be heather, and where the people
in a measure are excuseable for their wicked
folly. l am sure they would be none the
worse III, and We would be profted by such a
change.
Aud Uncle Jake, who are you? Who holds
your pencil while you write? Do you sit up
or lie down? You write like some smart old
core out of employment. hardly know what
sort of advice to give you; but, however,
rather than to have you 10 every body's way
and dabbhng in things which don't concern
you, | would advise you to propose to l.. G. j.
that you join him and his trio and 60 to some
foreign land where your doctrine is better ap-
preciated. And where the aoild geese don't
play The military and rob one another of thei,
tcarm clothing. Perhaps if you be the senior
of the five they may give you some important
poSition-grand patriarch, may be.
If you have occasion to write again be sure
to stick to the text. Vent! Ndi!! Eci!!.
OBSERVER.