, 1874-03-29
r1R. TILToN's WITEDRAWAL.

| 0lh: 1lt t1GAuaoSl polut NilDu HAS ueeQ ulHQ
the ostensibls occasion for the assembling Q
tba Congregational Council now sitting in Ne,
t Tofhh ia not well chosen. It would hare bee
mora manly had tho callers Of that entio,
| presented the real issue Is rear for its as
sembIing. doubt II II has been the usage d
| any Protestant church to attempt preventing
tho Withdrawal Of msnber by bis Own act,
| without action on lhe part Of the church. No il
stance OF the kind has ever occurredin my knowl
edge. It is argued that because oae cannot
| unite with charch without it's formal oonsent,
| therefore ono cannot wlthdraw without its
| formal dismissal; but one Cannot enter house
as guest without consent Of the housekeeper
| but his consent is not thought essential to The
right Of departure; and people do, Labitual1y,
! Withdraw from churches without explanation or
their part or opposition on the part Of the
church.
Iwas born member Of the old Scotch Cove
nauter Church, baptized III it. in infancy, and unit
cd With 1t at the aye Of Is. In 1915 or 1876 made
Of our congregation. 1 made them publicly,
through one of The most influential daily papers
Of Pennsylvania, tho Pittsburgh Commercial
Journal I charged him with be,ue the ally Of
man thieves and adulte1ers; Of those who stole
babies AMI sold women for the worst OF purposes.
mas savage, indexible, because he, as Mayor Of
Pittsburgh, had ordered it's Illumination in honor
ct Rome Of our Mcxlcan victories. He was
Christian gentleman,--as good man as any
one can suppose Henry Ward Beecher to be. He
death-ped Of both my father aud motber,-tke
syrnpathisipg, Christian friend yet publicly ar
raigned him az the criminal l believed
him to be, and stuck to my charges. refused
to,commune with him, and absnnted myself
from the church. When our pastor, Dr.. Black,
died, did not like his successor, mud continued
to absent myself, until went to Minnesota,
where We had no church. When returned to
Pittsburgh united with another congregation,
OF the same presbytety to which Dr.. Blacks
congregation belonged, united on profession OF
faith. The session knew all about it, and ac-
cepted the fact that haa severed my relation to
the church, without any action on its part. +
had done this a:tor bringing public newspaper
charges against the moral character OF one Of
ts p.orninen. members. The case il 60 liks
thatof alr Tilton that thus recall it to show
that these Congregational churches are attempt
lug to establish rule more stringent than that
which prevails III the strcteas Of the Presbyterian
churches. wns not alone in Hy withdrawal
large part Of the congregation withdraw. some
Just as did, axcept that they we're not liable to
be called up for trial On the ground Of having
slandered q brother. In one case where tue
person Bunght, after snme time, to renew her
membsrahip, eht, heard that she could only do
absenilng Herself, two years. under circum-
stances which might have justified her absence,
Gu the gronud Of difficulty, or eyen impossibility
Of attendance, she was held to have Bsvered her
connection with the church, just as
bfr. Tilton did, by STAYING away, and.
this, for shorter period Of time than that
during which be had neglected church privileges.
It la monstruus attempt at despctic ecclesiasti-
cal authority to claim that, aftcr man has
actually severed his connection with church,
and it has tactls accepted the fact, for years, 1t
can turn and summon him to it's bar to answer
charges. This makes a church too much like
tile SPIDERS little parlo1. You go IN, but don't
get out again." Il there VAS ANYTHING wrong in
the manner Of a1r. Tiltou's withdrawal, 1t WAS
the neglect Of tho church to inquire after him,
and she has no right to take advantage OF her
own wrong. If che violated her part OF the
church command il failing to watch over him,
for his good, che has no right to pursue him, for
her own good and his punishment.
JANE GaEY SW1ssHE16.