The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-10-03
Ole gstekkiaeltten.
OUR LONDONLErrEn.

OUR LONDON LETTER,
The Methodist EcumcnIcaI Council.
Points OF DiscussIOn-Thc COlored Del.
CSatca-ModeFn SccpticIsn and How 10
TFcatIt,
Special correspondence Of the Intelligenccr.
LONDON, September l7.-For the first
few days OF the Conference the delegates
seemed little afraid OF one another, and
the consequence was that, excepting on the
part Of few, there seemed no great de-
sire among them to enter INFO the dis
cussion& Afterwards, however, the great
difficulty with the presiding officer was to
decide whom, OF the many who rose and
addressed the Chair when five minutes
speeches were in order, should have the
floor; and so anxious We're some, who had
not up 10 that time made their voices heard
in the assembly, to get the opportunity
to do 50, that IL couple OF days ago com.
municaIion was read from the platform,
sent there, il WINS said, by prominent
member, suggesting that those who had
spoken so often should thenceforward for
bear, so US TO give others q chance. OF the
relative speechiiying tendencies OF the
Britishand American delegates it is not
easy to Judge, nor does your correspondent
feel competent to pass an opinion on the
relative ability in this line OF the two sides
OF the house, The fact Is, the speaking
has all been good, though, us is usually the
case, tile addresses which most caught the
eur Of The Conference, and which 0wak-
ened the greatest enthusiasm, were not
those which had been carefully prepared,
but the otf-hand efforts which were called
forth by the inspiration Of occasion.
The discussion on "Thc Lords Nay" was
participated in by the leading men Of the
different denominations. Bishop Simpson,
Of them. j., Church, expressed the belief
that al the present time the Sabbath day
was more genepllya and better observed on
the whole than ut any former time in the
worlds history, Bishop M'Tyeirc, of the
NJ. H. Church, South took the ground that
great good would be done II Christian PEG.
pie, and ministers more especially would
be careful OF their own example in this mat.
ter. He condemned the opening OF the
gates Of camp meetingson the Sabbath day,
and was opposed to Sunday trains. In the
course Of the debate 1t TRANSFERRED that in
some parts Of the British Empire-to wit:
in Scotland, Wales and Canala-laws arc
In operation which close all saloons OIL the
LOrd'sday, and u resolution was passed by
the Conference demanding similar law for
England, where, ut present, such places are
closed during only portion OF the dry.
Tuesday was occupied by the Conference
in the wholesome work OF looking ut the
dangers which threaten Mothodism. She
was IN great peril, it was held, from the
worldlnGss ind from the tendency of her
members to indulge in improper amuse.
ments, The opinion seemed to obtain,
however, that the fashionable amusements
Of the day, such rs cards, the theatre, and
dancing, were not inherently wrong, and
the point was made that the time had gone
by for telling the young people Of the
ChurChthat they would go straight to hell II
they gave why to such things. The proper
position to take, II was said, was that these
pleasures were simply evil in their tenden.
cies and should be Stunned as
indulEnces which weakened the
moral energies and stifed spirituality.
Modem scGptiCsm was referred to us
another OF the dangers OF the times, and the
general sense Of the Conference seemed TO
be that this could be best guarded against
on tho part OF ministers By the strict
preaching Of the Gospel, in distinction from
the delivery OF lectures, or the reading Of
scientific essays, and tint the most effect.
ual weapon OF the lay membership in this
contest with infdelity would be found to
be n true Christian experience working
itself ont in pure Christian life. An.
other danger was said to arise from the
Of the Papacy, and under
this head the view was advanced by one
speaker, that the Pope Of Rome was now
concentrating his energies OIL the United
States ind was ferfnenting dis.
content in Ireland with tho sole
object Of drawing the people Of that
land across the Atlantic TO aid him there
in getting hold OF the helm OF State. In
this connection 1t may not be uninterest.
ing to your readers to be informed that, MI.
ilnated by the universal desire felt here by
all denominations to use this occasion for
speaking well Of Methodism, a Unitarian
paper has printed perhaps the highest Ell.
lOgy that las appeared, In the course Of
which II praises this church chiefly Tor the
fact that wherever Il operates, and pspeCi.
ally In the United States, II Is the uncom.
promising foe Of the Papacy, and Is doing
more than any other church to neutralize
the power Of that system and TO prevent It's
spread.
The discussion on tile innovations with
which Nlethodism is threatened was char.
aCtersed by that stern devotion 10 the tra.
ditions and customs Of the fathers which
might have been expected in such all rs.
semblage; but one speaker diverged Il little
to make the very sensible remark that
Methodism might possibly not have, after
all, either in doctrine or usage, "tlle whole
truth and nothing but the truth" and TINT,
therefore, she should treat with respect the
rreCtls and customs Of other denominations,
and should not be above learning
from others. This discussion was
chiefly remarkable for little
episode to which II led in which the pulse
Of the Conference was felt for the first time
on tie subject Of organic union. DR.. Mar.
shnl, Of ViCksburg, Miss, expressed the
hope TINT ere long the Methodist bodies Of
England would come together and be one
body. This brought to his feet DR.. j. II.
llipi, leading delegate from the British
Wesleyan Church, who said that this
would not be, and that for His own part,
Whatever he might have thought previous.
~, this Conference had quite convinced
him that such thing was neither desira.
bic nor practicable, remarks which called
forth so many "hear, hears" from Ills col.
Leagues as to make Il obvious that on the
British side Of the house at least the union
feeling was not very strong nor very wide.
spread.
The general topic, 1.-THE Use Of The Press
Tor HE Advancement Of Christianity" WIS
discussed on Thursday, and proved TO he
deeply interesting. The denominations
press, Il was conceded, would gain In in.
lluGhCe II Il were less tame than IL IL, and