The Clinton New Era, 1886-05-07, Page 6I .
4
information eespecting an alleged union ,of
QrrR TTER, 80 °'the aeafliona of Manchester and Smith's Sill
The Nair Ear* does not' sate ltselt reepogetble by,Iat of Presbytery *cine years ago. A care
eseisexpressed under this heading, 'full examinatian of the records disclosed the
" � feat that though such r► union baa been flag
°A MUCH -VEXED QUESTION. treated, it bad never been oonsummuted. Thse
To. ase .E,ditor• of She Wew-Rra.
•
Dy•r Slei•
b;dpermission;
briefly -refer difficulty inthe Pres
Wien church, Manchester. Mr. Ja4kop
Went to the Rev. Mr. Pritchard and acknow•
ledged that he (Mr. Jaokt:on) coneidered be.
bad acted wrongly in paseiug him (Mr;
Pritchard) without recognizing him, This
adt,of Mir Jackson as circulated throughout.
the congregations of Manchester and Smith's.
Hill„riot as it actually is, but to the effect
thAt Mr, -.Jackson acknowledged to Mr..
Pritchard that he (Mr, Jackson) waw in the
wrong throughout the diMioatty. That Mr.
Pritchard.ia the responsible party for the
difficulty, and not M, Jackson,
acon,f islypgro nt
from the follawiug particulars,
by the following certified copies from the
Presbytery books: 'The difficulty, originated
--regarding•the management. of. the .Sabbath
School, the Rawer and duties of the Sabbath
Scheel' superintendent, minister,' and session,
being the bone of . ontention, the. minister
clearly defining 'what be considered . his pre-
rogative, in the following words, 44.1 am the
Spiritual bead here ;" Mr. Kerneighan main-
tained that the. eeesion was the head, and
requested Mr, Pritchard's authority for. hie
stets:Went.- "Comugou sense," was the reply.
This pointwae referred to the. Presbytery,
the following answer of which clearly proves
that the elder was correct; and that the Rev.
gentleman was assuming power not Conferred
on him by' the constitution Of the °burob,;-
."1. The Sabbath School is under the control
of the session." The following finding of the
Presbytery regarding the• ordinance. of bap,
tiem will be of• interest to Presbyterians
"2; Baptism is to be administered: in • the
nubile meeting, except in ease of sickifleas,'t
The following is thhe auswe ;to a question sub.'
• mitted to the .preillytery, theetvisdonr of sub
pitting which ie evident from subsequent
• --proceedings : •"3. That the elders of congre;
gatlons-forming-one paatoralcharge-can-take-
part in the internal affairs of such cougrega'
tions, if said elders are united' as one session
for all purposes," Itis evident that harmony;
which is so essential: for the spiritual welfare.
of every, congregation,.no longer existed be»
tween Mr. Pritchard and the majority of
Manchester elders.4.0ne of:the elders:
drew, and 'joined .at Blyth. • The errata was
reached, when Mr, Pritchard, as be stated
"At the request- of several nfiuontial mem•
bers,"-requested Manchester session to order
. an election of elders... This reSjuest was.: re•.
freed by the season: " In answer to a petition
presented by part of Meneheatercongregatioo,.
Smith's Hill session,' in' Smith's' Hill church,.
along with one of the Manchester elders, f vbo
• was •previous'ly:.werned that lie, would get
into trouble if he wont) ordered .the election
• •' :The, following protest was-presented'to the,
session :=-"The said election ,vee not author»
ized by either. the pigskin, or congregation •;
in the ease of 'Joseph Dobie, he not being a
communicant of Knox church atpresent..The•.
aforertaid elected men have. never been eaam.
fined in the session since elected. and that the
edict for ordination read on the Ilth of June
never' stated that •such were examined, or
made provision for session to receive objece
tions to ordination of eta* persons:" The
day for the ordinatiou.has atr*ved,,the solemn
services have,begnn-the sermon' preached,
which. all are duly reminded of their••daty to
e minims er; a rs: s age o, a proeee•
ings the congregation is left praising, God -in
the church, the session" repairs to. the manse,.
instead of to pralie God to diepnte evervie,
lated laws of the chnreb.:. • A'fitting prelude
to the ermine which followed, a *Mane enacted
by the total disregerd•of tbo divine law, "Let
everything be done decently and in order."'
The•objections were-not•entertained. " It was
appealed to the Presbytery. • The' follovviee
,notions were entertained bythe Presbytery,:
"4. Moved by Mr. Danby; and duly seconded,
that .while recognizing the informality:. au
applying teethe 'session of Smith's Hill station,
..witho'ht the authority --of thee Presbytery' in
order'to hold a meeting . of sessiorf • for the
election of elders for 14iarichester station, we
dismiss the appeal. 5.: Moved'in, amendment
by Mr. Musgrove; and duly+'seconded :.
miss the appeal and enjoin it upon_all parties.
to seek- the things •which . Make'. for peace
_ Fi. Moved in'frlrther amendmerit''•by •Mr:• Mc-
Coy; and duly'senonded; that inasmuoh as
i.
i;he-infor malit,�of using tlie-elilers°•of Snitih s
Hill in the matter of the' : election of . elders
for Manchester, is•in accordance .with the,
• wont and eastern' of that session;' regard the
election.as regular and valid, and dismiss. the,
appeal." , Votes beifag taken, 'the ametidmen;
of Mr. Musgrove was cai•riecl, anrIthe Presby
K tery decided accordingly.- The arnendment
carried spstainod•Mr.Pritchard. . Apparently
lie was right.' • The motion and the amend-
ment
mend•
n}entto the amendment bad tb'e'same object
theillegality,
.• in -view, while acknowledging
of 'Mr. Pritchard'e actions -a poor' policy in-
• deed to violate the.constitution of the chtireh
to sustain a minister in the violation of 'the
same donatitution. Mr. "Pritchard, in ,his
stated ...that'
'sb es. t
efor •the Pre t
b e
y .
evidence Y
unitedthe ,
hi _re nest= he>Preabvte
r had
at a q t
sessions of Manchester -end. Smith's Hill as
' • ode Maslen, therefore 'it mattered • not which
part•of the session ordered the election, as
' they were' one:. The.followingquesttons were
eb. ter
submitted at the neat meeting of•Pre . y y
"`?.'(I) At what meeting of'the-Presbytg y
was the above union consummated? ,8. ('II
Who gave Mr. Pritchard authority to: make
the abode request? 9: (III) Wily did the
• Presbytery of. Huron unite these two sessions
without citing the parties to appear for their.
interests, or at least giving notice of:their .in-'
• tention?" .The finding ,of tbe'.Presbytery is
as follows :-� 10. "'That. mobile. believing that
Mr, Pritebard acted under the Belief that the,
Presbytery had united the sessions of Man.
• ^ •ohester and -Smiths •Sil1-as one • session, and
• therefore approve of proceedings taken. during
--theft�imer-yete-now•r•-its. awiningstbasPresby
•tart' records, find that in reality the sessions
have not been and areti'iot united ae one sea,
cion." The Presbytery formerly decided
that sessions could only. work tottetbor when
united for all puurposee (See X3'o. 8). it -now
- decides these sessions aro :not 'united ; still
the Presbytery approves of an not, {see No.
10) which by its awn decision is illegal. The
finding of the•Preabyterya(soo No. 10) in an,
ewer to gralsttons, (4o. 7i 8 and 9) Paces Mr.
• Pritcherd'a veracity in such a light as would
not be tolerated, in tt ok4l court. I have good
• authority from Manchester session, that, as
already stated; Mr. Pritchard had 'applied to
Smiths Hill eeesion to order the election
after Ilrlunehester session had, refused at his
request toad so, After i'&r.. Pritehard's in•
"dilation here, and previous to the :1labohester'
,.__ _ eleetien,a'Smith's Hili. ' congregation :nae, an
oleotion of elders, in "ordering_which Mae -
cheater session took no' part.. ew could Mr.
Pritchard believe' that the sessions were unit.
ed, with the conatitntinn of theChnrch,before
hitn, when the sessiona'.bad taker: na;steps to
effect a union. I'u the celebrated case,bobie
vs. t1to.'Tsiinporalties Fund, the Privy Council
decided that the union ofehe Canada, Presby.
terian Church and the Presbyterian Church'
imGanaTa in connection with the Church of
.8eotland, were Hiegel, Iilaneheeter belonged
ro' the former branch, Smith's hill the latter
toads'' of the church, Here Sire facts, ,from
" " " " v u1i Tow"' err)i'1'bniteVi)'' "t"hit tr;`P'itcli•
detc..," ( No Irl) Pumpers tehe was
Presbytery, however, waw .unan>imoue that
Mr. Pritchard ;•• Sha minister of the . two. con-
WANTED
grcrgatiorig, had acted in good fatth,iend under 1.
the conviction that the two sessions had been f
actually united. I1 was also agreed to confirm
the proceedings of these sessions while acting 13eVora you buy awatch
Under the impressioolthat the union had taken +
place." Here. are. three important. points, "a call` at
suggested union," of which the Presbytery
records contain nothing.; "the sessions acting
under the impression they worb united," at
the same time the majority of Manchester
session maintained that the sessions were not
united, and hence Mr, Pritchard was opposed.
+'jvir• Pritchard acting in good faith, etc,"
yes ! when Manchester session refused to
order an •election of elders for..Manohesl_0r.
congregation et his request, be takes the
business to Smith's Hill session. , From the
consideration of the above, it ie evident .that
this election structure is indebted for its origin
to a total disregard of the•Preshyterian,-con•-
etitution, fostered by falsehood,, propped by
Presbytery faith, protected by public m. is•
representation, a monument of Presbytery
ferbearance to an erring. minister at the ex,
pens° of justice to a session._ . At the same
meeting of the Presbytery the following ap•
pears in the published minutes "Messrs.
Jackson and Kerneighan, of the.Menehester.'
congregation, complained: that the session of
Manohester:had taken no action upon certain.
charges which had beeii preferred against-,
them, and that they bad thus been deprived
Divan opportunity of clearing themselves.. The
session was instructed to investigate the
chirps withotltdelay, and to report the result
to the Presbytery at its next meeting. Dr.
'(ire andlthree members of the Goderich session
were afterwards appointed' to assist the Man -
;Amster eeesion-in the investigation." Here
we find two 'of'the members of Manchester.
session publicly charged. with an, of%nce, but
in vain have we looped for that report in the
published minutes of -rhe Presbytery,' The
mystery is, Mr.. Pritchard brought the charge
against Mr. -K- rnoigban and -was unable -to
substantiate -it. Bet,,t�gg}}tt. will observe, by the
formei-`fiadingso t`Tie "Preabytory that it
,patters not whether a. minister- is right or I.
wrong in an ecclesiastical. court ; if right, ho
is, and'fiught to be suitsined ;.if 'wrong, why
"he acts in good faith," and his whole• pro
molt'',: reedingastrQ apprtreed pt. ,Ip tides,* jn )a,,,
quietly -withdrawn from: the public gaze. -Hu-
ron Presbytery applia�' to, and receives per-
mission from the Synod, to delete the whole
proceedings against both, from the Presbytery
bolts., In briefly reviewing the nese, we find
the Presbytery records prove that Mr. Prich-
ard violated the laws ,of the church', and re-
sorted to falseheod to"jnstily:his actions. For
the former offence; in the face•of opposition,
from data at hid disposal. Ignorance; the
]?resbytery's excuse, is :eonteniptible for the
latter•offenee, a dime detested in all, ages, a
witness giving false evidence is an inexcusable
offence, and ander no oiroumstare:esigit•just,
ifiable. While,•as a closing serne,_.Wewhnd.
the Rev. •gentleman bringing a charge' against •
-one of -those opposed to him, and . unable to
prove' it. When these facts became' known a
part of the congregation 'lost confidence in
Mr. Pritchard ani left the. ehurali, These'
facts we leave•iu the hands'of on intelligent
public, to judge whether' Mr: Pritchard_ or 1
those who opposed him were, light, . and
whether. the Presbytery of Huron acted justly
COATS'
�a see his
-
All fai'lners to come into town and buy what you want, it wilt
pay you ,fit is a silk hat, get•it•.at---y lu can't get it of a peddlait'
If you want cheap Groceries, 'w'hy't sure as
you, Ave, go to 1•i
CO.,
S PA�-L SSR and
--R
ITowCoisW.at�e
They. are the Strongest,_ ,east liable to het out
- r and will rufrm .8 to10hoursglonger
of vide
than any other watch made. .=When you see
y gr they arose. that is claimed,
them. you will a ee
Y' KEEP' A' COMPLETE STOCK OF •
Clock ; i verware, Jeweller -and -M Spectacles.
•
Isom. VV.'r. ' COI.A.xB,•
W`atelmaker, ° J e'weller and Engraver, Clinton.
•
1
See .our PRINTS, FLANNELS and• DRESS GOODS, at, an immense redo'.
-tion-on.w-bolesale••pr ees--Semi -of that C'A:NTO-N-FLANNEL ' f`, -•se:•-per•-yartl :
' GLOVES, in Dark 'and Evening Shades, at.:/5 cents,
13l,ackand' .Golorea Kip G O - g
worth : 1. A'll the above are at rices that are bound .to cleat' tl et)t oat. Cottle
1 n s i• in
flick and get it Ronan]:
ga •
-Just o)�ened.ou .cases of'STR:A•WS, in. the very•1,iteSt New York Styles,,in el
the eading'Sbades in fine . Sh'''it at Beesley's 'popnlit:r lntv.price. '
l .b T Y
your valuable paper, I remain -yours truly.,
A hlesinFR of MA.tcenns'rau Qnuncli.___+
•4loiug From Bad Ito Worse: .
'1'lie,Dominion Parliament has been hit- •
ESLEY'S MllineryEmporium
geke
iso Vl' TO , :
Yee a, IL di i"n•. 9E1;41108t'_` tO1`il it:0X' .
CASH FOR ERGs,
-?�/F7 D
Having leased the p'eneises now occupied by us, for another term of 7 years. We
prepared to give the BEST 13ARGAINS possible. We have on "hand a large and
and well selected stock of ,
GROCERIES CANNED :.GOODS EXTRACTS
GRO FRUITS and SPICES •
t1.
TitaitR`ARTED PURE, NOTUYNO BETTER 11i THE MARKET, AI:S0
BLACKING, BKooks, BRUSIIES, BASKETS, BIS.CTITS, CON'EEQTTON--
F . ' ERY, CHINA, CROCKERY. AND GLASSWARE.
We have the largest -stock in town. Combiiye quality with price and wrecannot-
Under sold: A.
A. A,NGITS, CLIFF T4' N
roat Illdcim8llt1
•
t.
Having bong'ht ,C; J. Tuthill's Stook of
•
CI INA,, CRO 02tER.Yi t CL.1s�S'a,W4tLE
At a disep:tnt, 'w Il' Sell at V'liolesale Prices Until all is cleaned out.
A Fi\E AS=ORTIIENT OP ,I. S. K1RK'S, OF CI;LCs1UO
•
FINE TOILET: SO:A•P:
YE. ST ' formerly. kept b *: Tuthill tS Co. always ori jt -nd
FLFESHI'LAN Sz:'4O'S -Sc A. , y i 3
.H ,' IROOE tL'iill .rb'Ol�: .
�'o�� C1SJI�TING.wI.lx%4�� �"
C
ting for over::two months, and it is given:TAILORING •' .
uut•b the O nservritive cess that it is I ijCcr to..an that I,hTve o�)ened out. in the TAILORING
T :7-.
y p`t
considered, highly. desirable by Abe Gov-
ernment'
c?v- TRADE-
ernment'that" prorogation lace' .:.t .�,.•�DE-:where y.il1'U.c-an rely ou•getting the _Latest. onoi_s. Cl „
P o p
within. the next three weeks: ' .Yet it 'is•
only now that some of the more important
nleastires are being brought: down; while
return) promised during the session of 1880
have not been.leid on the table:: 13y keep-•
• ing back their bills till the;last•few days of
thes session, and deferring the taking of
action on, matters calling for investigation,
the'Ministees doubtless- hope, to. et Soon
'sures: through without that criticalexatniia--
atien:wIlicliit is Hi the .public interest
is not
e a.
' nd o them. I
e t edt G
a ouId bex e
h
very* statesmanlike wag of bonductitt pub
lie tGsinees, .but we suppose not er
pct from the LL.' ntriitinc: