The Rev. Mr. Fletcher And...
The Times, 1824-12-20T00:00:00

Wve had thought that our attention would never again have been called to the concerns of this reverend gentle- man, but a certain set of resolutions ivhi6h passed on Friday last respecting hiTn, and which have been trans. nitted to us- for our especial use by the managers, make it necessary still to say a fevw parting words. These re- solutions purport to have been adopted 'C at a very nu- mnerous meeting of the trustees, managers, members, an(1 congregation of Albion Chapel ;" and the result of them is, that the great majority of this congregation have deter- inined to aidhere to their minister, and to desert their ehurch-standard-to support the virtues of Air. Fletcher, and to renounce the sect of his adversaries, retiring from the Associate Synod to the Mons Sacer of Independence, and leaving their aboriginal ehapel, the cunaila gentis, to the Patriciani solitude and tyranny of the managers and trustaes for Presbytery. Albion Chapel will therefore no longer resound with the voice of its original pastor, wbo removes his tabernacle from Moorfialds to the City Chapel. Thus, though according to his own account he -was triumphant in every conflict, he surrenders the -vpolia opima to his enemies, and selects a retreat where lie shall be free from the ex- *aenses of a Chancery suit, and the intrusion of Scotch de- legates, who in the opinion of his flock Laid out their apostolic functions On carnal orders and tnitsctgions." The Scotch comfess;on offaith and theecelesiastical discipline of the Synod will no longer limit the creed or correct the conduct of this new congregational leader. WiVth the adoption of this plan we have nothing to do; antd we should have taken no notice of it, except for same of the statements by which it is accompanied. Amid many com- plaints of the conduct of the Secession church,and lainenta- tions over the persecutions to which the congregation of Albion Chapel has been exposed, we find the following resolution:- " That deep and mournfLil has been the disappointment of their hopes; for during the past-year peace has been disturbed,and sad and ceaseless anxieties prevailed: that their minister has been the subject of domesUc troubles-of pubUc calumny--of needless litigations-of -rsecutions by the jealous and the intereDted..3nd of censures, which, though they could not inzpugn his religious character nor moral worth, tended to his da=atlon and annoyance; and that, altbough they saw him triumph over all legal proceedings, and aere cbeered -to find that among themselves a majority of the trustees, all the managera, and nireteen-twentieth parts of the congregation were Nis -cordial and devoted frlendls, they were distressed to ind that he was unjuiitl and cruelly harassed by the Scotch Secedere, witb whom they had become connected only through him." Now, that ' nineteeil twentieths" of the reverend gentle- s Congregation should adhere to his ininistry-or, as +#us express it in another resolution, that he should be one "c vhese talents they-admired, by whose labours they were edified, at wvhose seal they were astonished, and wvhose piety they revered"-is no aff'air of ourg, and w6 shlall not dispute about tastes; but that they should, after the appearance of his late appeal, anti( the publication of previous disclosures, consider him as a person " whose re- igious character anad m-'oral wortb no ceHsures impugned," is, indeed, unaccountable. Is it nothing against a man's veligious character or moral worth" that, by his own confession, he breaks a solemn engagement, involving the reputation and happiness of a woman whom he professed to love with a pure and ardent affection ? 1s it nothing against a man's " religious character or moral worth," that after -admitting his breach of engagement in a court of law, in order to avoid the award of damages, and the. disclosure of love-letters, he should shuffle, retract, ex- plain away, or endeavour to deny this admission in a so^ Iemn protest against the proceedines of his clerical brethren? Is it nothitg against a man's " religious character or moral worth," that after insulting the feelings and destroyiNg the peace of a being whose only weakness may have been an attachment to him, he should, wlheni she complained, turn round and pour all the abuse of a mean and rancorous spirit on herself, her family, and her friends ? Is it nothing against a man s "religious character or moral worth," that he should pervert the sootbing language of' piety, and clothe the burst- ing imprecations of his heart in the dress of a .charitable prayer-that he should pour out the vials of his wrath against every man, woman, or child, disposed to op- pose his views, or censure his concluct-that he should endeavour to mnake Provitlence the accomplice of his irri- tated ssions, and doomn a whole religious comnmunity to ruin, because its members refused to admire his virtues, or even to preserve Iils fellowshil), withoutrepentance for his errors and submission to its censures ? We shall not extend these interrogatories farther, though we mi ht found a si- milar question on nearly every page of Mr. Yetcher's long " Appeal :" but, travelling for a moment out of this re- cord, we shall merely beg leave to ask, did he, or did he not, sanction the vulgar impertinence of his sister's letter, which brokeup his first correspondence with Miss Dick, (whicli.-vahliahed on Tuesda,); and, did he, after his pretended fainting fits of love anl disappeintment-.-tid he, amid his extravaganit affectation of sorrow for his lost hopes, and his well-dissembled indignation at his sister's inter- ference, write these words-" My dear brother, the Glasgow :business is all over. I an) happy, very happy at i L . . . . . . Jean has done me much good in the matter. She sentdown to her ladysbip two bulletins of a very curious niature. ' n e e Thanks to God for this great deliverance. Jean compared her to Delilah. " ' ' Keep rhis secret. I am lookiing round here: God will guide my steps ?"-(SignedA.F.) This ex- traordinary epistolary extract appeared in the communica-a ton of a person evidently acquainted with the whole affair, published in a mornini paper ofrFridy; and if the letter from which it is copieW be authentic, wc would challenge the annals of private-perfidv and canting hypocrisy to pro- duce any thing like it. Let Mr. Fletcher declare this letter a forgery, or let the congregation of Albion Chapel ex- punge their resolution of " his religious character and moral worLb." Though he has now deserted the cause of Prcsbytery, and ranged himself, like another Ralpho, under the banners of a new-light independence, he can- not mystify us as to the guilt, or prevent the punish- ment of such pctfidious duplicity, by exclaiming against die persecuting spirit, or laughing at the just severity of his tormer Presbyterian associates. He may call the Synod ' a Star-chamber and an Inquisition," or he may go the 1sgth of his prototype Ralpho, and tell us that " Snods are mystical Uenr-gardens, " Where elders, deputies, churchwardens, Andother members ot the Court, " Manage the lSabyloniah Lport." But unless he can expunge manv things in his ap- peal-contradict nearly the whole of the communication alluded to-and profess a sincere repentance for the scan- dal he has brought on the charities of religion, his late change will avail him little. At any rate, till then, let us hear no more of "his religious charact-r and moral worth." 72E PRR i. RLE. C?BRR -Uv Ns8 CAAPPL.