The sun., 1898-11-20
OF CHRISTIANS TO. DAY

uatcu ETOltSsOEs u N"Tioss""J
His Youth and Scores Ministers
aud Laymen for Lack of Ex.
bibition ofspirit To-day. %h'
NJ WILMINGTON, Del, Nov. II, 1895.
EDITOR OF THE SUNDAY SrN: s,..-, !. .,
Often hearing Of the low state Of Godli-
ness in the churches in our town il oc-
Cured to my mind that l might. in a
measure, tell what, to my opinion, is
some of the causes for the same.
After living q great part Of my life in
sin and worldliness, in Q great measure
owing to the bad example set before me
by professed Christians, (not Christians)
although learned when child from
my dear mother that it was proper for
every one to be Christian in words and
deeds to get through this life and get to
q Haven OF rest after, ceased to live,
although was honest, truthful, honor
able, sober and industrious, yet had
not the spirit of God in me, or in other
words, / was not born again, as the
Holy Books said should be, but | al
ways wished to be Christian. l left
home and my dear mothers instruction
before was twelve years old to work
with strangers, and l went with some OF
the young people to camp meeting held
on the Shellpot creek, in Pennys woods,
Brandywine hundred, 1881.
have since learned tx at was near the
place where the early Methodist people
held their first meeting in Brandywine
hundred at Thomas Webster's house
about 1859, and from this house started
the spring of Gods spirit and love that
began to flow as rivulet spreading out
and forming river of grace and love all
the way down the State of Delaware and
Peninsula between the Delaware and
Chesapeake Bays.
was much interested in the article in
THE Sun on the old Barrett Chapel ami
versary OF it's III years, tlat being 1854,
five years before the old Asbury Mother
Church in the city of Wilmington was
built.
But my being at that camp meeting in
1881, where saw the mode of worship
and the actions OF the converted people
and the happiness and sincerity l saw ir
their countenances, impressed me ther
and there and ever since that the Metho
dist worshiping God on the John Wesley
plan and since that time I have studiec
the different modes Of worship OF nearly
all denominations, and think yet
that the George Fox Quakers and the
Ranters, as the Methodist was derisively
called before John Wesley joined then
and after he being converted at Alder
gate Street Chapel, London, l4th May
1 1888.
/ Wesley had been brought up at Ok
ford as member Of the Episcopal o
Holy Catholic Church, generally callet
the Church of England, and was a Ii
censed minister some twelve years befor'
he was converted at the Ranters meeting
The many intervening centuries be
tween the PentcOstal and George Fo2
and John Wesley's time were mostly
made up under the Pope's rule of thu
Roman and Greek Or Eastern Churches
sway.
But the Popes and priests OF both tht
above churches caused Martin Luther, {
God fearing man, to call halt abou
1900, A. d., which caused great dis
turbance with the Pope and he pub
lished his rules or decree and sent then
as Popes' bull to M.Luther, and Luther
took his orders out in the street anc
made public burning Of them in tho
town OF Witemburg, Germany, about
the year 1920, A. D., and that created {
great comotion and caused wars between
some of the nations of Europe and it also
got into families in particular where
politics or people wished to be rulers Of
the people.
After the upsetting of Popery by
Luther some of the meek and lowly, who
had been oppressed and kept down, be.
gan to assert their rights to serve GOO
without the dictation of the rulers and
the rise of the different sects of religion
was the cause OF some very good colonies
coming to America.
In the part of America, in which We
people of Delaware are concerned, was
the Swedish Lutheran colony that land.
ed on the very ground on which the city
of Wilmington now stands. The first
Christian mission that landed in America
as Missionary society came in 1888,
but after building their place OF worship
on the rocks and settling on homes in
the surrounding country for miles ur
and down the river and over in New
Jersey and north up the Brandywine,
they still attended worship at the church
on the rocks and listened to Rorus Tor.
killus preach the Lutheran sermon.
The Dutch had settled in Manhattan
and Albany, but had wish to have the
same ground and river that the Swedes
had settled on. Both parties claimed to
be OF the same Observation-Disclosures but
this did not stop the covetousness Of
Dutch and they went to war and took
possession of the Swedish claims in 1855
and became masters of the land, and
lived harmonious enough to build q log
house as Place of worship at Crane
Hook SO as to accommodate the Dutch at
New Castle, and the congregation OF
Swedes that worshiped at the old place
on the rocks.
never heard of any dispute about
church affairs, as both Swedes and
Dutch worshipped together at the
Crane Hook Church. But Jacob Fra
betius. the general Dutch preacher, in