The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-08-22
MIR. j. c. Hinkston of Burton, Ohio

and did good work i'm the church, which
was well attended all through your
ministry. Moreover, the Sunday school
never was So large, or in more pros
porous condition, financially or other
wise, than undery your superintendency
do not know of a single act of yours,
i'm word or deed, that can reflect any
thing but good upon Your private or
public character"
Hon. George ID. Chafee, Shelbyville,
ILL.,, writes the following open letter
under date of March 21st, 1887: "The
bearer Rev. Edward Bell, has lived i'm
Shelbyville about two years, and dur
ing that time | have heard him preach
at least fifty times. He is an eloquent
speaker, and usually, perhaps unusu-
ally, original and interesting He is
genial gentleman. He has IA very inter-
esting family of five boys and one girl.
Mrs. Bellsis an intelligent, bright,
motherly woman. If Mr.. Bell or his
family have any enemies here am not
aware of it, and he has many warm
friends. He has a set of resolutions
passed by the two churches i'm this city
where he has preached, expressive of
the feelings of the people here. know
as much of Mr.. Bells history, as | do
of any minister, and on full inquiry,
very cheerfully say that he is capable
OF doing great amount of good
work, and that nothing in his past life
ought to stand i'm his way"
Mr.. ID. j. Ryan of the same city
writes under date of April Sth, 1887:
Desiring voluntarily to testify my APP
probation and personal knowledge of
the christian character of the Rev. Ed
ward Bell from an intimate and close
observation of nearly two years, | would
state that have ever found him pure
and sincere christian gentleman, ever
devoted To his clerical profession, his
church and his people. His upright
and manly conduct under misfortunes
and slanderous enemies, has won my
admiration, and | envy him his equa-
nimity and patience under prosecutions
of bitter enemies, who follow him
wherever he goes, enough to drive an
ordinary man to an insane asylum. /
know of no better man i'm an intercourse
among men for the past thirty years,
and feel unable to express enough to
justify my appreciation of him as man,
II gentleman, clergyman, and a
scholar 1t is unnecessary to speak of
his ability, which he can illustrate for
himself. | feel that charity should
cover multitude of sins, and charity
should begin at home, in the church,
where we are taught and led to believe
there is forgiveness of sins, which was
our Lord Jesus Christ's doctrine"
From every church that | have ever
served since entering the ministry,
have received the best of testimonials,
either in the form of church letters, or
| resolutions, attesting to the success and
faithfulness of my work. During that
time | have been an humble instrument
in Gods hands in winning at least six
hundred souls to Christ, and that too,
at times, in the midst of difficulties and
opposition that have met me from var
ious quarters.
Whatever may be the disposition of
some of the members of the Baptist
church here, their conduct has certainly
belied it. Mr.. Taylor speaks of my max
ing display of my grievances and thus
put them on the defensive, or else these
sO-called facts would never have been
made public here. The truth is that for
weeks, he, and others like him, had
been retailing their scandals wherever
they could get a hearing, and threat
ened repeatedly to publish me in the
newspapers. while l. as the most inter
ested party was largely ignorant of
what was being said, thus violating
Christ's own teaching. Thus it will be
evident, according to the laws of war
| fare, as | learned them when soldier
in the rebellion j was placed on the de-
fensive against malign and bitter at
tacks against my reputation
| have recently learned that the rea-
son the doors were barred against me
was because they were afraid of the
truth that might utter, and believe
it, If | had abused their confidence,
and they had lost faith in me as chris
tan minister, why, on Jan. LIST, was
elected superintendent of the Sunday
school? Why, in May was | chosen
delegate to represent the church ut the
association? Mr.. Taylor has been a
first class obstructionist almost from
the time of my coming here, as / have
abundant facts to prove. lie was u
failure as Sunday school superintend
ent, very good on dress parade at con
ventiOns, but IA failure at home. He
had the same want of success as church
treasurer, and worker generally, and
now he comes forward with wonderful
munificence, to reinstate himself in the
confidence of the church by advancing
money Ill llS stIdllS, WHICH, VIII pIODd-
| bly, never be refunded. /, with my
dear wife, lost confidence in him long
ago, while she fairly despised him. On
the morning of June 1st, one of his
brethren said to me, Taylor will do
you all the harm he can" and his letter
proves it. He is great on writing and
receiving letters, and as one of the
ladies of the church told him lately, the
best thing that he could do was to dig a
grave and bury his letters, and she
might well have added and himself too,
for they will certainly bury him beyond
all hope of resurrection. Think of a
professedly christian man being engag
ed in such filthy correspondence!
Taught Truly in coming to this Bap-
fist church | am like the man that fell
among thieves, and | might truly add,
liars also. The good Samaritans among
them have been few, while the priests
and Levites have been many.
One would have naturally imagined,
that in suffering the loss of my beloved
wife and darling baby, that | had
enough TO bear, but my sorrow has been
shrouded with trouble, the care and
support of my family has not been
enough, so persecution must be added
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