Show intolerance IN THE SOUTH SOOTH the writ of at once so rampant in christendom has not yet died out that freedom of thought and speech and action on cm religious matters which Is ia guaranteed in civil government under the constitution of the united states to is not yet fully enjoyed in religious government this has been recently exemplified in some occurrences in the state of mississippi the particulars tic ulars briefly stated staked are these some months ago elders edwin C penrose and J T S bellows traveling elders in the southern states made considerable stir by preaching the gospel in lewisburg miss they were ere kindly entertained by a prominent catl citizen and merchant of that place mr B F P lewis who with his family became much interested in the principles ad danced by the elders they belong belonged lg to the methodist church but believed belleve fl in the scriptural adage prove an all things and hold fast that which JIB Is good the elders were permitted at first to speak in a schoolhouse but the prejudices of sectarians sect arians being crousett they were refused permission to occupy 4 i that building mr lewis desiring W ft 3 give the brethren an opportunity to present a their side of questions in controversy cleared out a large store building for public services and gave the free use of it to the elders whenever chr J should visit lewisburg it came tobe to be toe 14 known in the town as the mormon morinda tabernacle this aroused the ire of some of the local methodists and mr lewis threatened with expulsion from the ac M E church if he did not cease ing the elders and giving them the 00 opportunity port unity to speak in his building thai gentleman not being of the kind that yields to improper force asserted fate rights as an american citizen and a believer in the bible and continued the course which he believed to be right and an effort was then made to exclude him from fellowship without a hearing but being familiar with the discipline of the church the designs of his enemies were for a time frustrated he demanded that he be given an opportunity to ap appear pear in person and also requested that elder edwin C penrose be permitted to speak in his defense the request was wals not granted but his demand could not be P entirely ignored after several to expel mr lewis by irregular proceedings extending over a period of two or three months he was at length tried be fore rev W D burrough the mi M E F z minister at lewisburg and found au guilty ity under the following charges jg bro W D burrough P C lewiss burg M E south we the undersign members of said church and committee commett appointed by you to investigate the re 1 port that bro B F lewis was idem doctrine contrary to our articles article of religion par discipline of M E S church south regret very much to say that in our judgment we deem a trial griat s necessary nece seary inasmuch as he persists in f encouraging a denomination commonly known as the mormon church who whose doctrine in our judgment is subversive ersilai tol to the methodist doctrine r first in furnishing them a house hause in which to preach second in caring for them as ministers of the gospel and bidding them theca welcome to his home while they axe are disseminating their doctrine third this specification was withdrawn fourth by encouraging ot others hers till to shear them preach B F ROSS ROB J an N P ALLISON J M DOWNER 11 from the decision rendered in his ease case mr B F lewis appealed to tac quarterly conference of the M IL EL church in pleasant hill circuit horii nortes mississippi addressing his appeal eal to rev dr J D cameron presiding elder eidet it is here inserted in full to the rev J D cameron pre elder of the holly spring district a members of the quarterly confere conference a pleasant hill circuit north miss feren ference c e 1 I 33 F lewis appellant before your yeas body from a trial held by W D bu bur rough P C at lewisburg church 0 the of september 1898 at chic 41 4 1 was charged with disseminating do anc da trine contrary to our articles of r e it ton ion paragraph discipline of the fe E church south I 1 desire here to submit for yoo 1 prayer prayerful fill consideration the unjust atoot unchristian like manner in which X have been treated and to show shameful irregularities and abuse of Areat treatment ment to which I 1 have been subjected acted before and during said trial in the first place I 1 was waited on by a ro committee ommittee claiming appointment from W D burrough P C I 1 asked this committee who had made complaint against me to brother burrough they answered no one but general rumor had caused brother burrough to send them it was proven on the day vf of trial that B F ross had at that time ime made complaint in writing which does not appear in the testimony furnished you by the church and J M downer also testified on the day of trial that he had made oral complaint all of which had been done prior to their appointment now to show one of the irregularities to which I 1 have been subjected brother burrough did appoint B F ross and J M downer who were complainants upon the committee of investigation which is contrary to all parliamentary usage common law or justice soon after the said committee waited on me I 1 went to brother burrough which was the 3rd ard Z sunday june and asked him as my pastor to show me wherein I 1 had violated any of the rules of our church he said if I 1 had my discipline I 1 could show you I 1 at once drew mine from my pocket and handed it to him and asked him to point it out which he failed to do then and has never done so yet another irregularity the bill 01 of charges was made out against me by the said committee on the ath of july 1 1898 98 and was handed me on the oi of thuly july brother burrough attempted to shave ve me tried on the of july with fout out so much as notifying me of his indention ijen tion but I 1 happened to hear that I 1 they ey were going to try me so I 1 went down to the church he brother burrough paneled em his jury had the indictment read and asked me if I 1 was fr ready for trial I 1 told him I 1 had not been cited to trial and the trial was indefinitely after I 1 had gone home he with a few other persecutors of mine fixed the of august as the time to try me again without asking me anything about whether it sailed me or not I 1 at that meeting I 1 asked him to have the specifications amended so as to show what I 1 had done in order that I 1 might make an intelligent defense he refused this and ignored everything I 1 proposed he also failed to appoint a secretary lor or keep a minute of the said meeting I 1 was duly cited to appear on the of august for trial and I 1 appeared for trial rial on said day the house was called to order and I 1 asked that a secretary be appointed which was done the attorney tor for the church then announced that he was not ready for trial I 1 asked why he was not ready and he add that dr wilkins allkins and J M dow witnesses for the church were ab bent I 1 then asked what he wished to prove by them that I 1 might possibly s dmit admit it he B P F ross could not tell ell what he wanted to prove by these witnesses vit witnesses nesses however brother burrough tf ranted anted the continuance with the remark that some of the committee or jury were absent and they had studied e case and he wanted them to be on aana and knowing that no record had been of the preceding meeting I 1 again asked that the specifications against hinline inline be amended and began to printout point poin tout out y objections to them when brother said very abruptly that he g would not hear me nor listen to me and nd further stated that there were lather ther things against me that would be from me until the day of trw he then indefinitely postponed the trial again no minutes were kept of this meeting on the of september I 1 was again cited to appear for trial on the giving me only one day for preparation I 1 made showing of this and after great effort on my part a continuance was reluctantly granted me the day of trial then was fixed for sept pursuant to adjournment we met and the house being called to order at the request of the prosecutor J M downer the third specification was stricken from the indictment whereupon I 1 claimed a trial before the church according to the discipline of the M E church south P 30 and 31 which privilege was denied me and I 1 was forced to a trial before a committee proceeding at once to empanel the committee or jury placing dr wilkins on said jury while he was a witness against me thereby causing me to exhaust one of my preemptory preempt ory challenges bro burrough then attempted to place N P allison on said committee or jury and he was a member of the committee that found the indictment the jury finally became completed testimony was taken a portion of which has been submitted to by the prosecution some of which however is not what witnesses testified to on the stand for instance N P allason said when asked if he had ever heard a mormon preach that he had not it if he had bad read any of their literature 1 I have not if he had ever read the discipline of the M E church but very little if he had ever read the bible any not much I 1 also asked mr allison this question did I 1 not ask the committee on the day they visited or waited on me who made the complaint to the preacher about rhe I 1 and he answered that ross one had made complaint but the committee was appointed on general rumor J M downer also stated the same on the witness etland then further admitting that he had also made complaint to the preacher A portion of J C Langs tons statement was left out when asked did you ever ask the mormon elders what was meant by a certain clause in their articles of reli religion gloa which reads as follows we believe the bible to be the word of god as aa far as it is translated correctly answered dr mims and I 1 add ask the elders what they meant by that clause and they said every bible scholar knew that the italicized words were not supposed to be a correct translation and that clause was put in their articles of religion to meet the argument of the infidels when J M downer was on the witness stand I 1 wished to refute some of his testimony with the bible and asked that he read a certain portion this was overruled over ruled by burrough the case was given to the committee or jury and they were bade retire and bring a verdict according to the testimony they were out about two and a half 2 hours long enough in fact to convince any unbiased person that the jury was divided in their opinion finally they brought in a verdict of guilty as charged said saad verdict not being signed by the committee or jury and bro burrough did not ask the jury if that was their verdict but very abruptly declared me expelled from the church giving me the severest punishment known in the discipline without giving me one word of consolation or showing one particle of sympathy for me since this trial I 1 have been reliably informed that the two members from my own church who were on this committee were in favor of aca acq acquitting me all the time and would not sign the verdict the three members that found me guilty were from another church end and I 1 am fully persuaded that it if they had fully understood the case as did the two members from my own church I 1 would have been acquitted without a dissenting vote in my feeble way I 1 have stated these irregularities and have stated nothing but facts as they occurred and will also sta state te thea that I 1 am no mormon that I 1 have been a simon pure toy thirty three 33 years trying to serve god in my feeble way and I 1 expect to continue conAl niue doing so by the help of god either in or out of the methodist church until I 1 am called the river I 1 hereby ask that this case against me be dismissed and show to bo the ithe world that malice and prejudice cannot prevail in our church yours very truly 13 F P LEWIS appellant the object in view in thus expelling our friend from the pale of the M E church was doubtless to deter other methodists from giving shelter and aid to the mormon elders it will not have the desired effect in the case of mr lewis and his estimable family numbered as they are among the very best people in that part of the state in which they reside they will find in the sequel that they have lost nothing by their kindness and their determination to investigate for themselves the doctrines which have been revealed from heaven in this century for the he obedience and salvation of mankind it is difficult to see wherein our friend has violated any rule or regulation of the M E church methodist ministers in some instances have entertained the elders of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints when traveling without purse or scrip and in rare cases have permitted them to occupy methodist pulpits so go tar far as known those ministers have not been disciplined for their kindness and certainly they weve wee acting upon the instructions of jesus christ when giving even a cup of cold water to one of his disciples it to is to be deplored that bigotry and aad in toler ance should still hold such sway away among people who profess to be followers of the loving and charitable nazarene however the lord will no doubt overrule it all for the good of our frienda who have been pers persecuted muted tor for righteousness sake and for the spread of the principles which they will do well to accept and embrace with all their hearts and thus gain the reward of obedience to the everlasting gospel and obtain a crown of glory which will forever |