Vol. X.Vo 30.
The "Tar borough Free Press,"
BY GEORGE HOWARD,
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Communications;
FOR THE FREE PRESS.
to tiii:
Church at South Quay,
THIS LETTER IS DEDICATED UY
T11K PUBLISH KK.
TO THE PUBLIC.
The many cnoiiuous reports in circu
lation, calculated to injure, very material
ly, the character of :Mr. Jom:s, have sug
gested to me the propriety of submitting
the following letter before the public;
though it was originally written to me for
jnv own private gratification. It is ho
ped that the public, in its criticisms, will
exercise thai kind and forbearing spirit
which the nature of the case, and the cir
cumstances, under which the letter was
written, so eminently demand at their
hands. The dedication, tho Publisher
conceives, is appropriate without being!
ulfonsivc. J. b.
(A car) South Quay, Va.Dcc. 1S3:J.
Mr UK au Friend: The friendly solicitude
you seem to manifest for me, in consequence of
the unfortunate situation in w hich 1 have been so
unwillingly placed, elicits my warmeu and tnot
unfeigned gratitude: hence 1 cannot reconcile it
to myself to deny the reasonable request you
make of me, namely, to give you a statement
of tbe tacts in relation to my case, together with
such commentaries upon them as may seem ne
cessary, in my estimation, to vindicate my cha
racter from the foul aspersions which have been
thrown upon it. I could not, 1 say, deny this
reasonable request, without doing injustice to the
kind teelings which prompted it, and to the inti
mate and cherished friendship so long subsisting
between us.
To reasonable and candid minds, a simple
statement of the facts would, perhaps, be suili
cient; yet a few remarks explanatory of the pro
ceedings, by me, will serve to elucidate the case
more clearly and present the point in all its de
formity. I shall, therefore, in examining the
case somewhat minutely, have to trespass upon
your attention longer, than perhaps, under other
circumstances it would seem necessary.
All I ask is, that you will suspend your judg
ment, until the merits of the case are presented
before you, through whatever source you derive
your information; and then form your opinion
accordingly. Tims arraigned before any tribu
nal, however rigid in its scrutiny, 1 fear not the
result. Impressed with a belief that my conduct
in relation to this matter has been guided by pure
and proper motives; and being sustained by the
conscious integrity of those motives; I have no
thing with which to reproach myself: and believ
ing that you are prompted by the goodness of
3'our heart to obtain a correct statement of the
case, so that you may fairly decide thereupon,
regardless of the reports in circulation, to which
exaggerated accessions are often made, I enter
tain no apprehensions, but that you will eoncur
with me in sentiment fully and entirely.
In July of 1S27, through the instrumentality
of Elder John Harrell of the Baptist church,
(whom I venerate as a father, and for whose
Christian-like conduct and integrity, I entertain
the most profound regard,) the Lord was pleas
ed to warn me of the situation in which I was
placed. At his hands 1 sought and obtained
mercy. In August of the same year I joined the
Baptist church at South Quay. During the in
terval between that time, and sometime in the
year 1S32, not a circumstance, of a serious na
ture, occurred to disturb the harmony of the so
ciety; though 1 confess there appeared occa
sionally to be a system of measures, in embryo,
which somewhat alarmed my apprehensions, and
which was to receive its final denouement in the
tragical act to which your attention will be call
ed in the sequel; however, as I said, those mea
sures were not sufficiently palpable to produce
any discord of moment, until a resolution to the
following efl'eci was brought in: "Resolved,
therefore that if any member of this church shall
in future fail to contribute to the church funds, it
shall be the duly of one, or more of the deacons
to apply to him, and if he still refuse after hav
ing promised, it shall be the duty of such deacon
to report his delinquency to the next Quarterly
Conference, to be dealt with," Sec.
I immediately determined to resist this mea
sure, because I conceived it an aggression upon;
the rights of the members; because it compelled
them to pay, whether they were disposed to do
so or not uhcther the purposes of the money,
so paid, were agreeable to them or not; because
it was calculated to create distinctions in the
church; because it favored the rich at the expense
of the poor; because it extorted from those not
in a situation at all times to pay; at a time too
when their little pittance might perhaps be es
sentially necessary to gratify some want (not im
aginary) and that at the risk of expulsion: but
principally, because, the funds so collected were
to be appropriated to purposes far from being
charitable, as I understood the meaning of the
term; and because it was essentially anti-republican,
and inconsistent with the simplicity that
should characterise the church of God, every
where enjoined by the sacred scriptures. These
objections every candid person must confess were
weighty, and if conscientious could not be dis
regarded: I consequently refused to conform to
the requisitions of the law in the manner pre
scribed, the very first opportunity that presented
itself; resolving at the same time to contribute
to the wants of the poor as occasion might re
quire, in the way of voluntary donations.
It is not my object to criminate others I only
vindicate myself But Sir, if you had been at
the June Conference, (the lime when this grave
and weighty charge was brought,) and witnessed
the many pointed and personal remarks made
on the occasion, you could not have resisted the
conclusion that some concerted arrangement had
been made to produce the very effect in which
the affair did ultimately result. You will under
stand the money thus to be collected, was intend
ed, mostly, for the payment of a stipulated salary
to the minister. 1 admit there are occasions on
which ministers have a claim to our bountv
and that it is reasonable and juat for us to admin
ister to their wants if they are needy we ought
to assist them But at the same time 1 am of
opinion the money should be raised by voluntary
contributions and never by extortion. In the
present case none of these circumstances existed,
and therefore it was hard to compel them who
needed it more to pay it to hitn who needed it
less; that the minister far from being in needy
was in aflluent circumstances; and at all events,
admitting that he was in need of it, that it was
much more consistent with principle and the ge
neral character of our holy religion to obtain it
in the way of charitable donations, than to ex
tort it by force. I contend that there is no au
thority for such a proceednre to be found in the
New Testament, the oracle of our church; and
therefore was determined not to submit to it. Nor
was I alone in advocating this opinion, even in
our own church, lor many of the members con
cur with me in sentiment, there are other chur
ches also whose members have since told me that
no such resolution could find a place on their re
cords and that they should hold me in full fel
lowship. Nevertheless 1 was disregarded: my
objections were considered as futile and absurd:
my course was declared to be dictated by a par
simonious and niggardly disposition; and my
case, as it was called, was deferred from June to
September Conference to give me leisure to re
flect on the subject. At the September Confer
ence I was at a considerable distance from home
on business that could not well be dispensed
with, and consequently did not attend the Con
ference but requested several of the members
to say to the Conference, that I wished them to
dispose of the subject this was the first Confer
ence from which I had been absent in six years:
However the case was not disposed of, but defer
red to a called Conference to be held about the
first of October, and I was accordingly cited by
the authorities of the church to appear to answer
this grave and weighty charge.
At the October Conference I was not present
having been subpoenaed to attend the Superior
Court of Elizabeth-City county, as a witness in
a very important case. I addressed a letter to
the church and assigned therein the reason of my
absence the excuse was considered as sufficient
1 also requested they would dispose of the
case; this they thought proper not to do; and I
was again cited to appear at the next Confer
ence to be held in December. In the meantime
abundant evidence appears to indicate to me the
cause of this anomalous proceedure: my resolu
tion was fixed to have nothing more to do with
the matter until it was finally disposed of; to let
them take their own course and work it as they
pleased. I get myself upon a cast and was de
termined to stand the hazard of the die, be it for
weal or for woe. 1 did not attend the Confer
ence conscious of having acted throughout upon
correct principles; and being satisfied in my
mind, thai according to an old adage "Death
was in the pot," I determined to leave them to
their own deliberations, to decide the matter as
they might think proper concluding not to de
precate any judgment, to which in the plenitude
of their zeal for the purity of the church, they
might subject me. Not that I wished, by this
measure, to show any contempt for the process of
their Court or to set their proceedings at defi
ance; but it was because I was desirous that the
original question about the church funds should
be settled; and as so utter a disregard for my
feelings on one oceasion hod been manifested, I
was determined to give them no farther opportu
nity whilst the present case was pending for ano
ther attack. In the mean time my case was
brought up in due form, and the dreadful anath
ema of excommunication was fulminated acrainst
me, with all the horrors of Romish superstition.
Here ended the drama. And, surely, no Nullifi
cation (right or wrong) ever met with so severe
a rebuke; and no Force Bill ever went to work
with such vengeance.
Now that passion and feeling have subsided,
let me coolly examine into the grounds of this un
heard of proceedure, and see whether it can be
sustained by even the shadow of a reason: I wish
you to accompany me, as critically as you please,
whilst 1 develop to you the profound absurdity
whereon my expulsion has been predicated if
productive of no other advantage, it will serve,
at least, to show, that even in the councils of the
wise, folly will sometimes gain the ascendancy.
Several members of that Conference have told
me that if I had been present, they would not,
and could not have expelled me, others say
they do not know for what I was expelled; tho'
they were present, Now the inference to be
drawn from these words, "hadyou been present
they would not, and could not have expelled
you," is, that I was expelled for failing to at
tend this at least is implied: then if the infer
ence to be drawn, be correct, it appears that the
Conference aware of the flimsy grounds on which
they proceeded in the first instance, to wit, my
refusal to contribute to the church funds under
their resolution, shifted their operations and com
menced their attack in virtue of my failing to ap
pear conformably to their citations: For 1 have
also been told by a member who was present,
that it was urged by some that my absence of it
self, was sufficient to expel me. Their first point
therefore seems, in a measure, to have been aban
doned. (jus:!y too 1 conceive;) and as they
cannot ground any proceedings because of my
non-attendance at the October Conference inas
much as they admitted my excuse to be amply
sufficient, they are obviously reduced to the ne
cessity of supporting their charge on the ground
of my failure to attend at the December Confer
ence. Now my friend, suppose for the sake of
argument, I had been sick, and unable to go from
homeland such was the case for any thing they
knew to the contrary) what would have been
their mode of reasoning? 1 leave vou to judge.
Admit, however, that their proceedings had
not been marked by these distinguished defects,
and that by virtue of their religious ubiquity it
was fully ascertained that my default vtas wilful
and malicious, yet I contend that their admission
of the insufficiency of the first point, whereon to
sustain their proceedings, is enough of itself to
overthrow their proceedings on the second. A
member of that Conference said to me, the next
day (perhaps) "that the question was waived,
and that I was not expelled for the charge first
brought against rne, for if I had been, there
would have been a split in the church, and
that, said he, they well knew." By this, it docs
appear that the first ground was deemed insuf
ficient; yet the second which is altogether de
pendant on the first for its existence, is suffi
cient: Strange logic! Now Sir, suppose, in
any series of dependent propositions, forming a
process of reasoning, it was admitted that the
first on which the others depended Was fallacious;
would you believe that any deduction therefrom
was correct, logical, and to be depended upon?
Surely not. Would you Sir, believe it right to
expel a member for not appearing when cited to
answer a charge, when the charge itself is not
sufficient to authorise the expulsion?
Thus, my friend, have 1 been excommunica
ted from church, exiled from the society of Chris
tians, declared unfit for communing with those
whom I was once proud to call my brethren
and lamentable to tell, the Conference seemed to
recognise no grade in their punishments propor
tionate to the nature of the offence, for they
have associated me, in the annals of their church,
in the same degree and on the same day, with
those expelled for adultery, &c. kc.l Sent forth
into the community with the imputation of a stain
upon my morals," and an anathema upon my
name, And charged by a church militant with
being a back-slider from my church, and an out
law from my God: and for what? Echo answers
what? Was it for failing to contribute to the
church funds? Some say not. Was it for failing
to appear at the September or October Confer
ence? Surely not. Was it for failing to appear
at the December Conference? Ostensibly it was;
but my previous reasoning has been exerted to
little purpose, if it has not shown the. utter absur
dity of this ground.
Thus my name has been erased from the rolls
of the church either for failing to contribute to
the church funds, or for net appearing on one
occasion when cited; and that the second time I
had ever been absent from a Quarterly Confer
ence since 1 first entered my name on the record.
There are many other facts and circumstances
connected with this case, tending very strongly
to corroborate the impressions made upon my
mind as to the nature of this proceeding; but the
great length to which this letter has been spun
admonishes me to withhold them at present.
Perhaps their development may be elicited on
some other occasion, until then 1 shall rest sat
isfied with what I have said; not doubting but
that the case is exhibited in a point of view suffi
ciently strong to answer the purpose for which it
was intended.
Six years have elapsed since I first became a
member of the Baptist church at this place; gra
tified with a pleasing hope, that a radical reform
had been effected, (whatever may be the opinion
of others who pretend to know better,) and ele
vated with the prospect of being enabled, in my
humble sphere to contribute to the advancement
of the Christian religion that little, to be sure,
was humble, yet sincere and disinterested, ema
nating from the purest motives of my heart.
How those hopes have been blasted, I will not at
tempt to portray. In severing the ties which
have bound me so long to many members of that
church, I feel the most sincere and heartfelt grief.
1 have cherished them with a warm and a devo
ted affection, and presumed so far as to think
that, that affection was reciprocal.
I shall ever look back upon the time spent with
them as the happiest of my life; and the retro
spect will constitute no inconsiderable item a
mong my future enjoyments. Though my pros
pects will perhaps be enveloped in gloom fora
while, yet like the cloud of a summer's sky, they
will be dissipated as soon as the light of truth
shines upon it. And though, the world, too,
may condemn me, still there is a principle within
that admonishes me that all there is right; a
principle which supersedes all positive institu
tions in its operations upon the human mind.
Sustained by it, 1 entertain no apprehensions as
to the rectitude of mi' moral conduct.
I have thus, my dear friend, performed the
promise I set out with, and fulfilled your request,
though, I must confess in a much more expanded
form than I at first anticipated. This hasty
sketch, such as it is, you arc at liberty to dis
pose of in any way you think proper, subservi
ent to the purpose of my vindication.
With sincere esteem,
Yours, &c.
WM. M. JONES.
fXTThe Rev. Thomas Meredith, of tho
Baptist church, has issued a new publi
cation at Edenton, called the "Biblical
Recorder and Journal of passing events."
Mr. Meredith is now the editor of threo
periodicals, viz: Edenton Miscellany and
the Recorder, weekly; and the Baptist
Interpreter, semi-monthly.
Indiana Newspapers. We heard late
ly of u newspaper establishment in Indi
ana, somewhat novel in character. A.
printer has provided himself with a sup
ply of wooden types, and having set uj
the form of his paper, each of his sub
scribers furnishes bun with a piece of
linen or muslin of the proper size, where
upon the printer inks his type with swamp
mud, and takes ibo impression upon the
cloth fur each patron, who receives bis
paper on Saturday, and after reading it
has the cloth washed and sent back ia
time for the next impression. Spy.
C?The Cincinnati (Ohio) Gazette
6ays, there are before the Legislature, at
least five hundred applicants for divorce.
C?Mrs. Willard, in her Letters from
France, lately published, stales tlmt it is
the settled intention of General Lafay
ette, to re-visir this country, and that ho
will probably he accompanied by one 05
his grand daughters.