St. Paul daily globe., 1888-05-18

| feet. "Mr. Roberts knows better than
| that" Mr.. Wedge said. His common
sense, if not the brilliant education he
| received, will tell him that in no sense
| are all present at this meeting adults.
| His deliberate perverSiOn of facts shows
him to be man totally unfit to be pas
tor of.this or any other church. / will
also say that the unseemly conduct'of
! Mr.. Roberts and his claquers in this
meeting would disgrace the commonest
political caucus. No man who is
Christian would deport himself as Nr.
Roberts has here tonight, and deeply
regret that / came here at ALL"
The cat calls and Misses that were ac-
corded Mr.. Wedge as he sat down fairly
shook the church. The pastor had
things all his own way, and took,ad-
vantage of the opportunity to rout 'the
trustees. He knew his strength in the
meeting and eXerted it at his will. j
When the vote on the motion to adept
| the report of the trustees was in pro-
gresS, Mr.. Roberts passed up and down
the aisles of the church, eXhorting his
friends to stand by him and instructmg
! them how to vote. The result was that
the motion to adopt the trustees report
was defeated by vote of 81 to II. 7
When it was announced Pastor Rob
ertS elevated his arms and led his sup
| porters in shout that might have been
heard for several blocks. The oppos-
ton was Kissed and hOoted, and Mr..
| Roberts standing well in front tore the
resolution of the trustees into bits, which
he scattered about the church with the
remark, That's all l care for the
trustees and their doings."
Before the meeting adjourned Messrs.
Fowler, Jefferson, Ferguson, Green,
| BOvaird and Guernsey were elected
elders, and Messrs. Lander, Agnew,
Jefferson, Moulton and Lally deacons
As he was leaving the church Mr.
| Wedge was approached by supporter
of Pastor Roberts and taken to task for
his denunciatory speech. There was
some sharp talk, which ended in Mr..
| Wedge calling his opponent liar. II
do not want to fight, sir" said the man.
Nor do l, was the reply of Mr.. Wedge;
but l want it understood that you can
not insult me with impunity.''
This was the final scene at the church,
and the meeting dispersed at about II
| p. III.
WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT.
The trouble between pastor and
people is of recent date and as might
be inferred there is woman in the
case. There has been more or less
pickering between the members of the
| little flock ever since Rev. G.. G.. HerriOtt
gave up its charge, but no general
trouble until about six weeks ago. 1t
came about in this way. Rev. Mr..
Roberts an unmarried man. His room
in the house where he boards, as the
pastor stated to several, was during his
absence used by the family as a sew
| ing -and lOunging room. One of the
members of the family is a lady about
| twenty-five years of age and decidedly
| prepoSseSSing. Like many women, she
| talks a good deal. and Rev. Mr.. Roberts
also is inclined to be communicative.
| Sometime since the pastor stated to w.
NJ. Bole. clerk of the board of trustees,
that on going tG his boarding house late
one evening he found the lady in his
room, lying on the bed asleep. This
much and good deal more Mr.. Bole.
claims was told him by Mr. Rob
| rts. The pastors statement got noiSed
about, being added to considera-
| bly, as it passed among the med
dlesome gossips, until finally it was
magnifed into a scandal of the first.
magnitude. Two weeks ago the matter
was discussed at church meeting and
the pastor denied having expressed
latter. Mr. BOle was at the meeting,
when the question was put to him
whether or not the pastor had made
certain admissions Outlined above TO
| him. Mr. BOie reluctantly returned an
affirmative answer. This led to the
meeting of the trustees, when the resO-
luton requiring Mr.. Roberts to resign
the pastOrate was adopted, and also TO
the meeting of Wednesday evening.
There is wellgrounded opinion
among the older and wiser heads of
the flock that the pastor and the lady
are free from anything except in
discreet remarks. Her character is
unquestioned. Even those who are
friendly to Mr.. Roberts say that he.
being a minister of the gospel, should
have insisted upon having the family
keep out of his room, if for no other
reason than to protect himself and
| them from the tongues of the gOsSiperS
who see evil in everything. His
enemies exhaust the vocabulary in
criticising what he admitted to Mr..
Bole, and there the matter stands. Mr..
Roberts, having been vindicated by
vote of the congregation, at a meeting
held for the purpose of passing judg
ment upon him. declined to submit to
the minority and resign. On the con-
trary, he will hold the fort. Several
members of the church, notably the
HawthOrneS and these who believe as
they do, will quit the church.
WHO HE IS.
hCN. w IL. hODclLS dSSuilCu lilC pas
torate of Westminster church last
August, succeeding the Rev. DR.. Her
riott. He came from Liverpool, Eng,
to Montreal where he entered McGill
college and took the arts course, receiv-
ing the degree of A. b. Coming west
to Manitoba he started to work i'll the
mission field and subsequently was Or
dained minister at Winnipeg. Leav-
ing the prairie province he returned to
Montreal and took the divinity coarse at
McGill, receiving the degree of
B. d. Through the influence
of the Hawthornes, who are
the head and front of what
is known as the Canadian clique in
Westminster, Mr.. Roberts received and
accepted call to the pastorate. The
Hawthornes. once his warmeSt friends,
are now his bitterest opponents, which
goes to show what factions in church
circles are likely to spring forth. In
appearance Mr.. Roberts is short i'll stat
ure. has dark hair and complexion. and
in the general acceptance of the term, is
not at all handsome. or even good-look-
ing. He is about twenty-seven years
old.