Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-04-09
A STATEMENT.
FoREsTvIBLE, J
PRINCE GEORGES Co., Md,
March 80, 1881.

LCto. IWtttUtftttSftts
In the MARTINsBURG INDIE
PENDENT of March Goth there APP
pears letter and a statement,
signed j. Lewis Banister. Rector
of st. Mary's Parish. Please give
this communication the same pub
licity accorded to the statement of
Mr.. Banister.
A reading of the communication
of Mr.. Banister will convince any
thoughtful person that the writer
thereof needs much Of the.princi-
pies spoken of by Paul in the 18th
chapter of his first letter to the
Corinthians. Mr.. Banister has q
very small amount of love for the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He
believes in and breaches about
apostolical succession. A careful
reading of the statement made TO
the Baltimore Conference, at the
request of DR.. Lannahan. will con-
vince any. sensible person that
there was not particle of malice
in the heart of the one who made
the statement. (Dr..Landhan and
myself acere both absent from the
evening session of The Conference, at
Which time IL is said Mr. BWaister's
letter t0as read.) / Go not believe
that the Rector of st. Mary's Par
ish deserves as much notoriety as
the affair has given him.
If the reader will compare the
statement made to the Conference
with the communication of Mr..
Banister, he wiJl.find every.point
of the Conference statement ad.
mitted, not Intentionally, but new.
ertheless so. He admits that he
said / could not officiate on &C.
count of the co1asecroted nature Of
the cemetery. He admits that he
said if we buried him without a
service he would read the service
after we left. He admits (substan-
tally that he said it would be
burying him like dog. His men,
ory, or something else, is sadly de-
fective at this point. We were in
such close proximity with Mrs.
Cullison and her son when he used
the sentence with the term dog in
it that the son burst into tears al
the remark. He is also badly in
formed in regard to the aged
mother. He says, They did take
the body away In spite
of the protes tation and tears of the
mother, who, with her other son,
refused to 60 TO Ebenezer, and as
far as / am informed did not go,
but returned 10 their homes"
The mother did go to Ebenezer:
she stood by the grave while the
service was being read, and on the
following Sabbath was at tn
church when her sons funeral
sermon was preached. So far as
the other son is concerned, / do
not know him, but do know that
hs is not a Methodist. He charges
US with treating them with gros,
discourtesy" by entering their
churchyard without due notice,
&C." Mr.. Frank Cullison, a son
of the deceased, came to me Sat
urday afternoon, September 18th,
and said, Brother Fort, | have
been down to St. Mary's Cemetery,
and have made arrangements to
have father buried there; we want
you TO lead the service tomorrow
at the grave" / did not for a mo-
ment suppose that any objection
would be raised against my lead
ing the burial service.
He speaks of my statement as
Being "malicious" in it's character
lie certainly has not recovered
from his illness. The truth Is Mr..
BaliSter cares easily more for pub.
Tic opinion than he does for the
Methodist Church Every sub
stantial Methodist on the circuit
endorsed my action in its entirety.
The dignity and courage of retir-
lng from st. Mary's Cemetery be-
longs to the widow, her son and
every Methodist present. After
being decidedly told that could
not officiate on account of the con-
secrated character OF the ground,
my respect for the position / held
in the church, and for my own
character, necessarily hindered
me from performing any service
ia the cemetery. Had / done so
/ verify believe that Mr.. Banister
would have read burial service
after we left, not believing in the