New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-06

it, Some of his accounts of drinking preachers aIo
almost incredible. There was one at CHESTER
Methodist superintendent, who after preaching |
would sit and sm oke and drink glass after glass; !
empty pitcher after pitcher for hours ana theh |
tumble into bed" One minister OF the ChesteI
circuit died drunk one night after preaching u
once" SAYS Barker, "saw preacher OF the New |
Connection drink ten glasses of port wine between
dinner and tea. besides what else he had drunk VI
other kinds of drink at dinner"
While Barker was al Sheffield, he saw often |
James Montgomery, the poet, and describes MN rs |
=" little man. delicate and womanly In his appear
ance as we'll as in his manner" lie llVed WIFI t"o |
elderly maiden ladies' and somehow Barker got an
immersion that neither Montgomery nor the LADIES
he lived with took pleasure in visitors. Eoehezer
Elliot the autcorn-law poet, was also al that '''io
a resident of Sheffield. any impression says |
Barker was that he was mild, gentle and an
afiectionate man, and that his spirits and behavior
in private might almost be imagined to form con-
trast with the fiery and denunciatory energy oil MS
rhymes"
| have spoken of Barler's bold and by no means
fattering portraits of some of his feow-prcacherS
Int one of the most extraordinary is that OF one
Chairman of Chester who is thus deneated: lie
was a bad a grabbed, a sour, malignant, Ii pas
sonate proud, an insOlent, an exclusive lhtoier
ant dishonest, incorporate and prosecuting man
that would lie, and steal and cheat, ana gulfle,
and gormandize, and borrow without Thought oil
returning what he borrowed, and run into deht
without the slightest intention OF paying; ana
swindle and embezzle, without the least apparent
remorse or misgivlng He was ike Dottomess
nit, that devoured all that was cast into II, ana
restored nothing" Among the things which Chap
man appropriated were the umbrellas, walking
sticks and coals of his friends together with the
pennies and shngs which he found in the con-
trbution-boxeS He got into debt for porter, ale
and spirits He was perpetually III contentious and
lawsuits. He would quarrel with the very children
in the streets. He was greedy, glnttonous eater
Long afterward, Mr.. Barker resumed the story CT
his hfe He had gone on modifying ms religious
views and dIsagrccing with his brethren on the
subject of human creeds, until it was deemed ne
cessarv to expel him from the Connection When
the news reached MIN, he received 1t with strange
and Undesirable emotions" But Mr.. Barker was
not a person to be easily sienced. All sorts OF
stories were circulated about hm-that he was an
opIuin-eater; that he was stark mad that he was
suddenly dead that he had destroyed hinelf, being
found hfeess in the woods with his throat cut
and with razor in his hand. The newslnan erred
in the streets: 1.-THE melancholy death oil Mt.
Joseph Barker" Never was there greater mis-
take Mr. Barker was not only not dead, but ne
was engaged in founding new religious sect called
| d" Barkerites." He also gave lectures ana says
that he was charitably aided by the Cnakers OF
Darlington and Newcastle Moreover, that he
mioht support his family he determined to turn
printer and he did establish an Office at NoItey,
near Leeds. the Quakers still aiding him. 50 that he
built up good business lie published among
other books the works of Dr. Charming, and he
himself became something of Unitarian. In 1916
Machining rs he SAYS to dabble IN politics" and
to entertain startling views with regard to tie
right of property in man." he conceived passion
ate hatr OF the privileged classes and woudh nave
{" no King no Queen no House OF Lords, anu no
State Church" He joined the Chartists, and pap
lisbed newspaper called The People, which gained
large circulation lie was opposed to all physlcaI
resistance but for ali that he was arrested IN 1918
while lecturing and locked up for sedltion in Man
chester Jail. Nothing came of this, for when the
time for trial arrived the AttorneyGeneral refused
tn prosecute the Indictment. Barker came off vic
torious He came to this country for six months IN
lS47 and lectured against slavery under the aus
| plces of the Garrsonan Abolitonlsts. In 1871 he
! transported himself and his family to OHIO where
| he engaged in farming Here the first deadly
blow was struck at his belief in the supernatural
| inspiration Of the Scriptures by Henry {. Wright
| Mr. Wright also undermined his belief IN the
| necessity of Church organization. Mr.. Barkers
| faith in God Providence, prayer and immortality
|
his neghboIs, and he felt Obliged to sell his farm
and to buy another in locality The inhabitants of
| which were mostly Come cutters" He found them
| so fond OF freedom that they wanted his share rs
we'll as their own" And then" he says, | saw
| that the greatest DRAWERS about liberty often
az bigoted as intolerant and as tyrannical rs the
| greatest despots earth" NJ. Barker had TO
| move once more be undone. This time he re-
solved to make mistake, and went INTO the I'M
| 1rr- Nnh Harnk lind for
the first time in many years, was at rest. He was
| in a region favorable to calm and serious thought.
The loneliness of his condition brought him
| to God news came to him of the death of his
| mother in far-ofl England. He met with many
misfortunes Several wonderful dcyerances made
him feel that there were far more incredible doc
trines than that of q watchful and gracious PrOvi-
dence" lie says very plainly that he usually found
unbelievcrs 10 be men with whom he was ashamed
to be seen standing in the streets; from the touch
of whose hands he shrank as from pollution When
he returned to England he expected to lind unDc-
levers better, but he found them worse. His wife
had never ceased to pray for him. His children did
not share in his sceptical notions; his son deter
mined TO enter the Christian ministry that he
might spend his life in a warfare against the dclu
sions of his father At Philadelphia Barker at
tended the preaching of the Rev. DIR Barnes. and
tbonph he was at that time at the head of congre-
CATION of free-thnkers, he gave up his engagement,
| and advised his disciples TO go to church, and to
make the best of what they heard there. Then he
| went hack TO England. Then he Teread the Bible.
| and reviewed the history Of the Church. The re.
suit of these and other influences was that in May,
1868, Barker publicly announced his return to the
Christian fold lie became local preacher Of the
| Primitive MethOdists and continued to work
| onietly and unostentatiously with them. He came
back again to America preached in Philadelphia.
| sometimes to the Methodists and sometimes to the
Presbyterans He died at Omaha, Nebraska, Sep
tember 10, 1873, making last solemn declaration
that he departed in the firm and full belief in