rillc, which letter is at this time in the
VVm. Comntnn.tn harrow the feelincsoflnossession of the writer.
a brother, and in this vour committee! The correctness of this corrcspqn
can verv readilv ioin. it would be well
. ,. .
J a 1 '
to inquire if none have feelings but the
antis. Had Jones no sensibility, when
dragged before an unrelenting tribunal
lie heard his name associated with tories,
and at the same time saw himself thrown
from the membership of his church; and
that too for an act declared by his Judg
es, to constitute nothinsr immoral? Had
' CI
Harris no sensibility, when charged by detailed therein.
this self-same man, with turning others
from the simplicity of the Gospel? It
were useless to follow this subject fur
ther the adage is exemplified, "that we
are guilty of what wc blame in others.'7
"Our brother's letter has one remark
able passage, the import of which your
committee hope he did not intend the
passage is this: "reject me if you think
proper and with rne the Gospel of
Christ." Your committee, in regard to
this part of the letter of the said Rev.
Wm. Compton, are persuaded that no
reasonable man, can for one moment
suppose, that the rejection of any one
man amounts to a rejection of the Gos
pel of our Saviour; if it did, we appre
hend that few would be in the pale of
that Gospel. Your committee, without
commenting on the vanity and sclf-suifi-ciency
of the man in arrogating to him
self so eminent a distinction, will barely
'remark, that if the rejection, by this So
ciety, of the Rev. W. Compton as a
"messenger of peace" to it, places its
members in the awtul situation of reject
ins the council of God
ajrainst
them-
selves, what is the situation of the man
who uses his mission as a means to op
press, and to deprive of communion with
his Maker, a soul that has been purcha
sed by the blood of the Saviour? Your
committee are forced to believe, on a re
view of the whole matter, that though
possibh to some the mission of our bro
ther Compton may be one of peace, yet
to this society, it evidently carries wilh
it, and sent before it, the emblems of
war. Something is said in the reply to
your resolutions, about the represent.!
five departments of the different Socie
ties. Your committee, to this oart of it.
are at a loss to understand the object of
the writer; he boldly avows himself to
be on that sideot this controversy which
denies the semblance of representation
from the membership of the church:
Your committee are therefore of opi
nion, that this Society take no stens to
inform the said Rev. Wm. Compton of
the names ot those who voted in affirm
ative or negative on the passage of the
resolutions referred to.
"By your resolutions your course is
now decided from the answer of the
Rev. Wm. Compton, his seems to be
equally as much so Your committee,
therefore, recommend the adoption ot
the following resolutions:
"Resolved, That this Society deem it in
expedient to make any reply to the letter of
the said Rev. Wm. Compton.
"Resolved, That this Society is engaged
in a contest involving interests to its mem
bers of a class the most important.
"Resolved, That its members will make
common cause with each other, and will
stand by each other in eery emergency.
"Resolved, by the members of this Society
individually, That they make no disclosures,
no concessions, and no apologies of what, nor
for what has been done in Society, for the
sake of peace or advantage to themselves
and of throwing blame on others, otherwise
than may be ordered by the Society itself.
"All of which is respectfully sub
mi tted."
POSTSCRIPT.
A member of the Corresponding Com
mittee, in reference to that part of the
foregoing report, which alludes to the
conduct of the Rev. W. Compton in the
affair of Jones, deems it adviseable to re
fer the reader to the April No. of the
Mutual Rights, for 1827, published in
the city of Baltimore, and edited hy Dr.
Jennings and others, in the correspon
dence of Ivey Harris and Wm. Comp
ton; by which he can see whether the
conduct of the said W. Compton has
been misrepresented.
The writer of this acknowledges, that
the only vehicle of information to him
in relation thereto, has been the corres
pondence in the publication referred to
and a letter of James Hunt, from Gran-
dence has not been denied by the Rev.
W. Compton; so far as the writer knows
or believes, it may be considered to con
tain the real sentiments and to detail the
actual conduct of Mr. C. But as it is to
be presumed, that this publication will
be read by persons that have not seen
ihft nublieation referred to, the writer
will give a brief statement of the
fac!
Within a short time posterior to the
Institution of the Granville Union Socie
ty, James Hunt, a local preacher in the
Methodist Episcopal Uhurcn, was canea
before a committee of which W. Comp
ton was a member, charged with the
common count of inveijrhinjr against the
discipline of the church, and endeavor
ing to sow dissention in it. Hunt was
acquitted, but was recommendedby the
committee sitting on his case, to be less
urgent in behalf of reform; the inference
is plain, that Hunt's being a Reformer
was the "head and front" of his offence
it was on this particular juncture, that
the Rev. W. Comnton advocated the
freedom of speech and the liberty of un
trammelled discussion, in as strong terms
as his ingenuity could prompt him to.
It was however, his fortune to hold a
seat in the Quarterly Conference as a lo
cal preacher, when the case ot Jones
came up by appeal, within a short time
after Hunt's acquittal. By some means,
not satisfactorily to be accounted for in
Mr. C.'s letter to Mr. Harris, we behold
the whole man changed; and he urged
with all his power an act to be highly
criminal in Jones, and to be deserving
of the highest penalty the church could
inflict, which he justified in Hunt. To
account for this discrepancy in the con
duct of Mr. C. we must ctfmbinc the cir
cumstances of the whole transaction and
the man's subsequent conduct, by which
wc may arrive to some conclusion rela
tive thereto, that seems to have the sanc
tion of human reason.
It does not appear that our minister
had, as early as Hunt's trial, come to the
decision of again becoming an itinerant
preacher the same love of power, so
apparent in his conduct since that time,
may have been the proximate cause of
the stand then taken by him; as a local
preacher, his only road to distinction
was with the Reformers. If ambition
was his ruling principle, he perhaps be
came doubtful, whether in their ranks
he could become first among the fore
most, and despairing of success, his
course to him was a plain one, he must
shrink back to his original nothingness,
or propitiate the "powers that be" by
some appropriate sacrifice, and evince
the sincerity of his zeal by some overt
act. Changing his original intention,
but influenced by the same motive.
Jones became a proper victim, and the
Quarterly Lonlerence a favored spot to
slay him a place in the itinerancy and
a seat in the Annual Lonlerence might
afford some charms to his view in the
presence of the Presiding Klder was an
excellent situation to exhibit the sinceri
ty of his conversion, and show forth his
powers as a partizan nothinsr he knew
would be lost, he knew he would have a
faithful reporter the death of the Klder
was no obstacle his letter to Mr. Har
ris was on record, where he claims -'title
to be an inquisitor" in common with his
"brethren of the Conference," if thev
deserved the appellation, and P. I a i m i n r
the privilege of being involved in the
"same righteous condemnation" with
these real friends of "old Methodism."
Mark the. result Roanoke Circuit is
given him a Circuit that had two en
ticements, one that it afforded a fair field
tor slaughter; the other, that it had the
ability to pay well. This man has ro-
ceived $450 and his travelling expenccs
paiu mm, lor one year's services as an
itinerant minister. The writer of thU
has no seat in the Conference, and can
not speak from the evidence of his sen
ses
that
Circuit at Samfison's Moetinr.t,mien
the minister madfs tun nf tl; i.,..'
. 1UII-
"When in
nirMiif. (VIVO mR what you please,
There can be no mistake nere, me in
tent of the preacher is evident; by be
ing particular in detail and shewing an
increase of domestic burden, the com
mittee could but infer that he wished
and expected an increase of wages. In
these times of difficulty and distress five
or six hundred dollars is a fund by which
something can be accumulated by specu
lating on pecuniary embarrassment. The
reader is given to understand that our
minister has a small (arm, is said to be
independent in his circi-mstances, keeps
his family at his plantation, and stays
with it one week in five. It is well to
observe, that since the Quarterly Confe
rence he has stricken off two classes
from the plan of his Circuit, the two con
taining some thirty or forty members,
both of them of long standing and pret
ty much in the centre of his Circuit, for
the only ostensible reason, that five or
six members of one class and two mem
bers of the other, voted for the resolu
with the rod of Ins vengeance sust ,
over them; the minister know in
disposition of his flock, would harril v
disPOSed to talro mnnli ti.n.,M )k
- - ..w,u nuuuie on
sell in
fare Under such
attending to their
spiritual
Wel-
he be a minister of peace to them I
in the nature of things to suppose C
lauuum uiuepenueni oeing cau kiss th
dagger reeking with his brother's b!0r
An injury to a man's social rights d
mands reparation, for which alUvell,
gulated governments have provil
And shall a death blow, aimed at the
tals of man's moral rights, pass unhjj"
ed as the whispers of the breeze? '
writer of this looks upon the saying
the old Grecian worthy to be full of
limity, in which he declared "the gov"
ernment is best in which an insult oV
ed to the meanest individual, is an in
ry to the whole community:" i'
was a heathen and spake of man as a
cial being only; it has fallen to the 1
men in uiese nines ui modern civil;
tion and moral improvement f
suppose, that one member from one of a thesis too renned to be comprehended
flip classes bei n-onnosed to his receiv-l by an old Greek idolater.
r r r
ing any extraordinary allowance for his
family, formed an additional induce
ment. Men are but men, the garb. of a
rru,... i
discovered that it is totally an error ta
think a man's mind and bo(W &ml
'should be free; it would constitute to&
. ...v.. m.w v.. . ' - muiciQi
minister makes them neither Hons nor mucn lencuy iur ins nature to near, and
lambs in all situations of life thare be utterly at variance with the mandiL
of the Gospel. To our claim for eqiri
lty of privileges, to our demand fa
suffrage, they reply that our system cf
should be a salutary check on their con
duct, within human control.
vvrifpr nf lhl dnr nnt. in thnt
- wv. ... 0-7 - -j -r-j Jiim t
part of the report of the committee of ecclesiastical policy should beunlikethe
correspondence alluding to the fact of so system of our civil policy, less we cor,.
mnrh frpndnm m pxnrcsinn hmn" en- form ourselves to the 7:nrrf. Tka,..j.
. - f o . iicn-
ijoyed by the free people of this Union, ter cannot envy the man who lelieves
without the terrors of a gag-law hang-'such a doctrine; he deserves as much pi-
ing over them, wish it to be understood, ty for the bcliet of it, as the propagator
that the committee were of opinion it of it does abhorrence. Carry the doc
should be otherwise; the allusion was trine to its legitimate results, and it a
only made to show with what pains the mounts to this that in Turkey, in Rus
Methodist Church had enveloped the sia, in France and in Spain, their eccle
offiee of a travelling preacher in the ap- siastical government should be totally
parel of a superior existence, and had free, because the civil institutions of all
made penal in a high degree words spo- these countries are quite despotic; and
ken in regard to that order of beings, . that in the United States, in England,
that have not been made so by the joint'and in the Swiss Cantons, the civil ia
yirtue and intelligence of these States, jstitutions being free in a very great m.
in regard to the President himself. The ; sure, their ecclesiastical governments
writer of this declares himself to be op- should be despotic; that in one country
posed to putting any restraints on the; man should be a freemanand inlheoih
liberty of the press or the liberty of er a slave, so far as his mind is concern
speech, more than exist at common lawj'ed, less he conform himself to the world,
although with a view of preventing the1 Dr. Bond's book has something like this
alleged abuse of either, licentiousness; notion in it, some of the publications in
being an allow that must necessarily be' Baltimore urge it; but surely the Metho
mixed with liberty, the former can only jdist public are not to be hoodwinked by
be destroyed by destroying the latter,! such absurdity,
it should only be punished where it a- The writer does not intend to decline
mounts to an injury, and that injury realu the question of right; on the contrary,
not constructive.
But it may be urged, and certainly
he l'oins issue with those who denv it,
and asserts in the broadest terms that it
will be urged, that the Union Society, in! is a right which we always have had,
ts qualified rejection ofour minister, as
sumed an authority to which its mem
bers were not entitled: The rejection
was a qualified one, the resolutions re
quired and only required, the reparation
oi an injury, which the bocicly consid
ered to have been inflicted on an inno
cent man; which reparation could be ea
sily accomplished, by the bare recom
mendation of the minister in Roanoke
Circuit to the minister in Tar River Cir
cuit, that Jones and his fellow sufferers
were properly qualified to become mem
bers of the Methodist Church; which re
commendation being made public, would
be sufficiently repairing the wrong com
mitted by a course of this kind, harmo
ny would have been restored between
the classes supporting the resolutions
and their minister. If Jones was guilty
of any offence, and for the commission
of that offence deserved mmishmpnt
did we: nnthino- wn nhan.i .
Jones but what could be equally char-ed
against us. If our minister thnmrkt
conductor Jones deserved reprehension,
"u7uol,lsoi ours. Ithethouehtour
conduct not deserving punishment, he
must have concluded he was in an error
as regarded the Granville Reformers;
ami it he had committed a wron", no
thing was easier than a pnnfo;r :..!
i . . w u ui j i :
In l flnun
a vuiuusncssot wrong should al
possess now. and which cannot be sur
rendered it is nothing more nor lea
than the right of suffrage. Is the claim
to executive, judicial and legislative au
thority, as practically exercised by the
itinerant preachers, a right to which they
derive title jure divino, or to which
they claim title by the consent of lhcs
over whom it is exercised? If the for
mer, title derived from the Deity ca.i
only be taken by, or sunendered to, the
Deity; it cannot be taken away by, ncr
surrendered to man, otherwise than by
the express command of the Deity him
self; it is as inalienable as the right to
live; the creature by no deed however
solemnly executed, can surrender the
gift emanating from so pure a source.
If the itinerants claim title to the exer
uiu i unci an 13 Lwtim iiiiu iu
cise of this power, it must be in virtue
of their call to preach; and if in virtue
of their call to preach, nil that are set
aside for the ministerial office are enti
tled to the same power. iJut the locsl
preachers are so set aside, therefore the
local preachers have this authority the
loc.il nrpnplifrc liovino lln; authority 11
common with the travelling preachers
become thereby joint heirs and tenants
in common to the same estate ana
owner is accountable to his co-tenants
for any damage done to the estate; the es
tate being common, whatever is done
that tniirhps it pin nnltr Up. leal by fe'
; ceiving common consent, either express
lint the local
Circuit I rn.t.,,,,1 ;r L.i,, -v exstcd; ministers have no seat in Coniereuw
ceived $450, 1 then had a wife and three ' the part of the m ,l?tlIness on the doors are closed against them, ne
children; now I have a wife and fourllyzed TJ- h i." :C,reby para"' lher haVG they any representation m H.
children and am appointed to Roanoke their "nr-'acCr f V-'0U r "Pon!lheir consent therefore cannot be ex-
pi.acui as a mmcr of terror, 1 press, neither can it be implied, because
s; but he has it from direct authority, I w.
at at the late Conference held for the I If
,.r - i'wout-u a course
different trom the one adopted by it
jea ousy must have constantly ei,tPd'
ays be attended wu
., 0 : 1,1 - 'jwon lor it.
the Socirtr I,.! .
1 -UUI3U
ruairo: