The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-12-06
..The Last Grnhhine. >.

AO AAe4Gt Va
The citizens of Bethel and vicinity,
Giles CO., Tenn, are outraged at the
e gross perversions of truth and the false
n statements contained in an article I'M
d der the above head published in the
: 'sGos pei Advocate" of Nov. z. 1888,
. The article was from the pen of Elder
j. III. Kidwell of Smithville, Tenn,
l concerning some matters OF personal
{ character, between himself and Rev.
h Jn0. Il. Nichols, pastor of Prospect cir
{, cult, Tennessee Conference. Mr. Kid
: well says 81 determined togo to Bethel
d more than $50 miles by stage and rail,
S TO learn for myself the truth concern
n iIg these matters" Again: ''The
D brethren expected to get the hall in
, Bethel but were denied the use of il"
Why2 Because he came here to see at
ter personal matters between Rev. j
l FL. Nichols and himself. while Mr..
&, Nichols was at Tennessee Conference at
5 Shelbyville, 60 miles from Bethel.
r This was the reason given Mr.. Aid
, wells brethren, but he makes the i'm
preston that he was refused the use
: of the hall because Of hatred to him and
his brethren. We do not think il man
ly or christian-like in Mr.. Kidwell to
come into our midst to settle personal
matters, when he knew one of the par
ties was away, and we have yet to learn
that personal matters which have been
made public can be settled in a private
way as Mr.. Kidwell sought TO settle
these matters privately with Mr.. Mich
OILS, and would not submit to public
settlement until he was assured that
Mr. Nichols would not submit to pri-
vate settlement of public matters. Mr.
Nichols, having learned that Mr.. Kid
well was going to be here in his abb
sence, left conference and returned to |
! Bethel to meet him. So Mr.. Kidwell |
and good number of his brethren
came to Bethel Oct, 81, 1888, and MIR.
Kidwell preached in the Methodist
church, after which he and Mr.. Mich
OILS proceeded in very quiet, christian
like way to adjnst their difficulty. In
Mr.. Kidwell's repore~of the matter he
does Mr.. Nichols great injustice and
makes so many false statements that
we feel it our duty to expose the same
to the public. We will notice his false
statements in the following order, viz
l. Gle Mr., NichoIs) then took out a
paper on which he had written the
questions" That is false. 2. "He no. ,
titled me that the questions were hard
ones" That is untrue. 3. To the ques-
ton IBID you tell Bros. Jones and At
well on the streets of Smithville, that
had lied or told falsehood p Mr..
kidwell says: Il answered yes; used
the harder word; | told them that If
you said | was the G. in "Grubax YOU
lied. and l still say the same" Th,s
Is very false. His adswer was eyes.
believe | used the hard word, but | was
mlsled = by the letters received from
here, and II Brother Nichols had been
IN my stead and read the letters / re-
SeiFeO mink ne would have done as |
did" He also said he would correct
his statements when he returned to
Smlthville. 4. "Although he fMr.
Nichols) boosted of having Certificates
IN his pocket, not one of them saw the
llght." Very falseI Not one word
was sald about certificates until after
Mr, hldwelI had acknowledged every
thing to be the truth which Mr.. Mich
OILS claimed (; then Mr.. Nichols said 81
am glad we have come to an under
standing. have some certificates, but
1t Is not necessary to read them now"
and this was not said in a boa,tful way.
0. Mr.. Nichols was now in the pit he
had digged for me-" Mr., Kidwell
would have the public believe that he
put Mr.. Nichols to shame before large
audience. A more willful faslehood
could not be manufactured. The truth
is Mr.. kidwell put on the air of a
christian gentleman and acknowle ged
that everything was true that any of us
ever heard Mr.. Nichols claim publicly
or privately. Mr.. Kidwen said, EVERY
point in 'GrubaX' has been discussed bv
Bro'he Nichols aud me, and mere: we
have discussed the mode OF baptism
and various other pJinfs . Mr.. Nichols
then remarked, 'All the points in
'Grubaxs having been discussed By us,
sHch conversation did occur between
US. Now we wish To say that Mr..
Nichols could not an re:tson1 have r.
CURED more Of Mr. Kidweli than he did
require, and no man could have admit
ted more freely and fully the truth OF
al AR. Nichols claimed than did Mr..
hidwelI. Again, Mr.. Kidwell says,
''he CIDER Ahernathy) does not claim
that Mr.. Nichols from the stand said
that had promised 20 have my chill
dren sprinkled, or that he made broad
assertions about my being con Uinced OF
my error in the debate. Brother Al
ernathy claimed that these things were
said by MS. Nichols to various parties
alter the debate" Here il what Elder
Alternately wrote to Mr.. Kdweli, as
published in the Gospel Advocate of
Aug. 10, 1888. t-He 1Nichols) stated in
a puoilc discussion with me, that You
SAID you were going to have your chill
dren sprinkled, &C." There it is. A
hard nut this, but we will leave it for
the good elders to crack. As to Mr.
lWeli's play on tie word such we
only say, II in describing a horse TO Mr..
smith we should say, "He is such
horse as Mr.. Jones' horse,' and Mr..
smith should say we had lied, because
the horse was not Mr.. Jones' same,
Identical horse, we would be puzzled to
u aafl 0s. a.. 1
knave. According to Mr., Kidwell's
criticism and exploitation of the word
such, no such conversation us tina Civ
en- in the Gospel Advocate by him ev-
er occurred in the church at Bethel
THEREFORE, be it resolved,
J, That all this criticism in the Cos
pei Advocate is only foolish quibble
about words and phrases and is per-
version of the facts in the Gaze. 2, IL hat
we regard this scheme as having been
devised to injure the character of Jno.
III. Nichols, because they have failed to
refute the arguments produced by him
in the ''Grubax" against the dogmas of
Cambellism. 3. That the christian de-
portmen mt aud pleasant manner of j, Nj.
kidwell while at Bethel, and the agree
able and satisfactory settlement OF the
matter between himself and the Rev
Jno. Ii. Nichols, and the vindicti.e
spirit and perversion of the facts as
made to the Gospel Advocate do not 90
incide, and we hereby express our con-
tempt for such conduct, for we are
taught IN the word of God to eBeware
OF those who come in sleeps clothing,
but inwardly arc ravening wolves. 4.
That the department OF Rev. Jno. II.
Nichols, both public and private, has
been commendable, and we hereby in
dorse him as man of truth, and zeal
Gus minister of the gospel, and we rec
ommend the general circulation of the
"Grubax" until the Campbellites refute
it.
e. E. EDMUNDsoH,l
M. w. ROBERTS, Com.
REY.J. G. PHELPs,S
II NJ Smith, z C Edmundsop
J A Meadows,M DIM S Watson