Rev. John Scotford

:onmnnica!ion trom Mr. Scotford. It bcars ' ïvidont signs of a wish on the part of Mr. S. ' 0 close tliis controversy. As a sort of ', exl, however, to get off, he talks of i rrons trealment," onourpait. Rcallv, Mr. ' ?., we are not aware of Living ndulged un ' inkind feeling, or of writing an ungenerous cnfence since an ir.terchangc of sentiment ornmenced between us. Bul give us the ■ Jence ihat st:ch has been the fuct, and we ' i-ill mo.t chcerfully retrncf. We had wel] ' igh come to the conclusión that our labor n fnend S. was lost, until we received the t nter on our first page. His "consistent r lition creed," needs but a elight alteration to i ender it "Shnon and when he shall j ave made a little more advancement in f lavery ethics, we shall be able to take him '' y the hand, and welcome him to ovr ranks v s a moral and political aboJi'icnist of tha L arest dye. Mr. S. speaks in the th'rd item b f his creed of "preferring claims" to the v ave. Now we utlerly deny that one man a as a righr, under any circuinstances, to :pre:r claim?," to a human being as property.- - j l'.onld this not be done, he cannot, in point t f fací, be called a slaveholder. If the lato g xes the relation upon hitn without his ;nt, it is no fanlt of his. Having 1 emancipation to the -lave, and explnined to a im his piecife situa'.ion, if the emancipated b lan tisks his protection, hc is bound by the a w of kindnes, to render him all the j,' rice he can, in order to secure him in the b ymentof his rights. And there is nothiug b Qt what he can do j.ist as cffectually by v laring to all the world, that tho man is free, s to claim him as an nrticle of property, n Jn the Inst item of the "creed," let the (l .ordá 'slavrry,' and cílavetrade,' be changed 1 o daveholdcrs and slavelradrrs, and thus fastn the crime pon the sinner instead of the r in, and we wil! be satisfied so far as the creed s concerned. ( That the Methodist Episcopal Church is a { invchoJdhxg and a shivery defentling church, L ppears evident, not only fr om the facts I eady adduced in our prevlous articles, but l o from her book of discipline, Sec. 10, page 32-9. This seclion, in our opinión, zes lavebolding in the church. The rule s as follows: ; J 1. "No slaveholder shall be eligible t.t any c iflici;.l station in our church luTPafier, where '! he laws of ;he State in which he lives wil! d tfmitóf emancipaiion, and pennit the s edslave to enjoy freednm. ' L. "When any travelling prencher becomes n owner rf a slave or sinves, by any means, r' e shall forfeit his ministerial diameter in our l Imrch, i;nlesp he execute, if it be practicable, c lpgal ernancipation of such sla ves, n bly o the Jaws of the Slate in which he T, vês." ll This rule makes it ecclesia6t;cally luwful r all olher members of this church to hold aves if they choosc. By en doing they j ■ render themselves ineligible to official ons in the church, and this privilege even, is 3t denied ihem in those States where the ws forbid emancipation. lIf a traveüng reacher becotne the owner of a 6lave or ave?, in a State where the laws permit cmanpation,' and he refuses to emancípate them, , o only penalty inflicled, is forfeiture of his j inisterial charactcr. He may remain a j r of the church in good nnd regular , j, however extensively engaged in slnvcilding. If the Jaws of the State in which j tL lives forbid emancipaiion, he can hold ives and retain his nrnisterial character, ns ;11 as membership in the church, without a ' lation of discipline. We are aware it may said that this oes not aulhorize any one ,. hold elavoS : it only prohibits certain peris. Take an illutstralion. Our State con' ut ion says that "every white male citizen soi ill have a riglít to vote," fee. Does not bei s efiecluallv prohibit uil colored persons on m voting? We think it does. are What is the practical comment on the above all es by the church? Most certainly in favor j but the position we assume. Tor where the ' dis;Inws pervtit emnncipntion, the laity liold eloves in mnny insian.-ef, and wliere Iho laws forbid cmancipatiou, larjre mimbers of ministers u vc!l H8 mcmbors co Üo. -i.nie. It fullows ther Prora (lie virw we have tnken, tliut the Methodist Episcopal Chureh as snch, by lier bock of discipline, ns po.-itivc ly 'hes to her members the privilege of holding1 claves, ns itfórliids the eligibiüty to official stal ons in the chureh whcre the la1- s allow of emanciparon. Mr. S. says: "Nniv ns the editors have not provrd tlml a single ïnembcr or minis'er holde slnvcs nnflér circíinwtáhcesinvolving moral giiih, they have failed to prove iha! tl.e church 'tolérales I n rul 'ftinctions' slaverv.'' We think thnt we have shown fo a strution that all slaveholding invo'ves moral gnilt. Still if Mr. S. wishes particular cases speciiied, vn wül accommodate him wit'i a few out of vast numbers wc have before us. Tlie Rev. Mu. Uusto.v is a Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh, íbrmerly a resident of the South, but more recently of N. Y., wliere we were acquaiuted with him, and receiwd from him personaily the following, amoflg other astoundingfucts, relative to slavery m the M . E. Chureh : "I know thnt members of the Methodist Episcopal Chmch, scll slaves at auclion, to the hihest bidder, and it is not considered o difciplinary offenco. Í know óf Methodist preachei-3 buying 6lave9 with no apparent i.'esirrn to beller tlieir condition, but evidently Por the sake of gain." "I know an officia! member of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh, Col. , that bmiglu in one pnrehase about Jijty thousand lollurs worlli of sla ves." "Eío. . nf ____. R r o„ -:„:„i-H. . ii , L,. Kjm an orncial memoer, who made it a business to buy & sell siavesin lots to snit the purclinsers; has become rich in liis specnlalions n thcm, and still ' continúes the Irade in human beings - trading, not only for himself, but as an agent for era. Ilis house is head quarters for ', iiistF - a home for iho prendiera. He is a ' cliief mnn in the chnrch - very benevolenl ' keopa his brandy boules on his table to treat ' company." y "One instance of which I wos an eye 1 ness. This E?q. sold a mai: away from iiis wife: sho wos his cook, so thai he did not want to sell her. She was in great trouble, l iad went lo this Methodist brolher, (! !) her l masfer, and bosought liim for God's sake to f sel! her with her hnsband or kill her. He cotila hearnothing !o her, but drove her off 0 her work. She went about gelting ' ïer, bnt complained some I o her mistress, a McthodUt sister, thatshe did not ieel right. s riie mistress toH her that ehe wou]d malee her . reeliight : nnd Jiad her taken to the jail and loggerK fjty lashes on the bare back. 7o cool c off," Wüs the langucge this sister used, vho toldmehowshe had had her sJave Mary v ured. Whew I expostulated with the „ er (!) on tlie impropriety of eepnrating . nnd and wife, she hooted at it, nnd said f. '! i-ould not be Jong before Mary would have P nother husband." g ;I attendeá a large sale sale of sla ve?, abont c :00: numbers of them were members of the l. E. Church. Many people were gathered ogethertoattend theenle. Jt was a time of reat festivity- a high day. Several s ers of he M. E. Church were present. The M üieriff who had the charge of the slaves, was a meraber of the M. E. Church- so was the 0 uctioneer - and not less than a dozen memers of the same Church bought more or less tthis auclion. A Methodist auctioneer mg up slavas in lot?,' without any regard to rr Disbands and wives, &c , nnd crying, 'who „ ids]' The slaves were raised aloft on a T ench - snme fo old they could not get up nthout lielp - and some could not stand long G nough to be sold after they vere on the ench. Such wailings ns were heard at the o inrting of relations was heart-rcudinnr. One ai ifficin! member of our Church, in high , ng, wlio bonght a number on this occasion, I jr leard bragging whaXacfood bargain he had nade. He bought lo sell again; said he did , lot want them for himself." - "Ministers ond members of the M. E. ühurch hire out their slaves for the sake of l' rain. I knew one Minis'er, a member of the b South Carolina Conference, who sent his laves into Tennessee to be hired out, becnuse ie could get highér wages for them ihere a lian in South Carolina." c. But enough on this point - our soul sickens it tle horrible picture, and for once we are y himb. Look at the facts. Members of the 9 Methodist Episcopal Church for sale.' Methodist Sheriff- Methodist auctioneer ! sclling lis own brethren and sisters for whom Chris! üed! Methodists buying them and that to ell again! These facts all substantiated by n eye witnes?, and he ,-i Meteiodist c :r. Come, friend ÍScotford, what say you to rf hese tliings? Were they carried on under a irctimstances that did not involve 'moral 'a uilt,' or have he editors' at last sustaincd P1 lieir position? VVliatsay you? w Mr. S. denies having received the counsel Iri nJ assistan.ee of his brethren in the Ministry fii 1 conducling thiscontroversy. n f, we feel ourselves called upon to give the ta lidence we have thal such is the fact. ei proof. u First, Mr. S. himself gave us in one of his t'1 ticles the result of an interview he hnd had n ith a member of the last General Conference, 'il ld positivciy declared he was aulhorizcd by i" m lo make certain dcclarations, which he d make, from which .vc inferred he had relived 'counsel.' Second. One of the artios forwarded to us by Mr. S. beanng his l'' vn signatura was in Ihe hand writing of a Iinisterial brother,' stationed not a thou Jc nd miles from Aan Arbor, and this lookcd 'no us very niuch like having received ?? ice in conducting thiscontroversy. tic Wi h these remarks we leave this subject co r the present. ov Sundry poet cal favors aro inadmissible, me because they do not suit onr taste, some t cause thoy are rebellious against measure aP; i English Grammar, and some because they tv wretchedly spclled, while others combine wh iheee defècts. We like togratify aut hors, Co . we cannot affoid to do it at the risk of Pal gusting several thousand readers. Wl