Page 3 Advertisements Column 2

North Otago Times, Volume II, Issue 29, 8 September 1864, Page 3

New Advertisements.

TO THE REV. CHARLES CONNOR. SIR,— The course that you are pursuing in reforence to my communication with you on many important points — I cannot submit to have it piecemoal'd, nnd to tho detriment of my character and standing in Bociety. Your way was plain and straightforward had you pursued tho honorable, as man to man, which you have repudiated. Therefore, m self vindication, I am not afraid of my letter meeting the full gaze of tho public eyo. I Bhall publish it without demur, and let its merits and demerits be seen ; and, moreover, I shall publish a letter in explanation why I did write to you. I remain, Sir, Yours most respectfully, THOMAS FEEENS. Sop. 3rd, 1864: Stot fold.

[copy.] TO REV. CHARLES CONNOR. SIR,— In taking up my pen to write to you, it is not in a spirit of resentment or contrary to Christian propriety ; but with a deep and heartfelt de«ire for the cause of Christ, of His truth, and righteousness— to which I dare any man to gainsay to the contrary. I intend to be plain and pointed in my remarks, and also not the less truthful and courteous — to be otherwise would bo subverting the spirit of Christianity, and would tend to evil. I therefore desire to call your attention to facts prior to you or any person or minister coining into the north. In ray household, and on my station, I had kept up religious services, and adopted those modes which were the most simple and pure in our devotional exercises. Being a Weslcyan Methodist', and having occupied in all its varied callings, both m England and out here in the mission-field, — and having, by the grace of God, used such menus in other wajs as to promoto the salvation of souls, and endeavored to build them up in the faith of Christ, irrespective of all creeds, but m strict and close keeping with God's Iloly Word and the example and spirit of our Lord and His faithful followers, — I therefore feel my position to bo responsible to God, on account of those whom Ho has in His Providence placed in my care, both temporally and spiritually. To man I cannot bo supposed to yield my position — nor have it presumed that any one has a right to como and disturb either myself or people on the Station j — for it being private property, and holding private responsibilities, I cannot permit, a3 proprietor of my rights, any one to come within the limits of my jurisdiction without my knowledge, and, first of all, asking permission to do so. For they aro my people — my servants — in my own tenements — and of whom I am watching over them, as accountable to God, both temporally and spiritually ; — and therefore cannot, nor will not, allow you or any man to take an unjustifiable course of procedure in any house of mine without my knowledge. For be it known, Sir, that whoever ha°j my permission, Wesley an or "Roman Catholic, &c , to preach at my place on my Station, do so only by sufferance. I put the question thus -Has not God, in His Providence, both placed mo here and given me the people that are with me 9 and, by Divine blessing, 1 have not neglected my people in spiritual things ; but, by His aid, have got the places and the people to be a hearing and God-fearing people, who were not, and are now, made a willing people to follow Christ in love and word. And now forsooth ! because such being the case — a people and congregation deposed to hear God's word — you presume to authorise a right to take my labors from me without let or hindrance, and then boast that my people are willing to hear j on. I pity you, Sir, when I look at St Paul, who was jealous lest he should enter into " other men's labors." If you will examine Eoui. 15, 20, learn a memorable leBson of prudence, and turn over to what he says, 2 Cor,, 10, from 13v to the end of the chapter . how he deprecated what you have so unbecomingly dared to do. 1 ask you, Sir, is it \\ ith a view, that which you have done, and are presiiming to do, for (lie salvation of eouh p and nteo seeking to convert sinners from the grasp of the Evil One? Or is it to sow strifes, divisions, and contentions? tv Inch, I am grieved to say, has been the effect of your visits, which have been paid by you in a most surreptitious manner. I am jealous about my own people and my own labors, and cannot allow them to be so ruthlessly torn out of my hands and riven asunder by any one who may presume to follow out his own capricious feelings as he may dictate. I chargo you, Sir, with contravening Christ's most sacred Word in giving offence — see Luke 17, 1.2. I am alarmed at your unenviable position, as your works and words testify. You and Mr Eyley glaringly misrepresent dead authors ; you falsify thenwritings, and make them to say winch they do not. And, moreover, Sir, you dare to charge nvyself and others with teaching erroneous doctrines. I defy you, and demand your proofs. You and Mr Eyley say snch, upon the report of minds w ho cannot think for themselves — which is derogatory to your position as a minister of Christ to hearken to such. Moreover, you do appear to forget the legitimate position between masters and servants by what you have clone, and are doing, Sir. Can you not see, or are you that purblind, that you are actually interfering between me and my people, and that you are positively causing my people to neglect my duties— winch I am bold to say, and can prove that you have done both times you have been here. If you would read 1 Tim. 6, from the 1st verse to the 6th, I seriously think that you may learn a lesson of the evil you are doing, and the good you are thwarting, as well as the spirit that you are engendering in the minds of my employed. Such conduct, as a Minister of the Gospel, is subversive to all sacred ties. Why not act as a Paul—and laudably go and break up new ground, and take up other services, and seek up sinners to hear the Word, and thus compel those who hear not to come and hear, and attend to God's ordinances — then will you have the praise of all good men. I am honeBt and plain — I cannot permit such subversive intrusions on to my Station j as my people are privileged with the Gospel means, and all who come into my employ know they will have them as enjoyed by myself. I am fully persuaded that it is done by you with a spirit of opposition to me and the Methodist people in thi« northern district. I have ample evidence from my own place, without having it corroborated from other places where you preach. I have seen letters show ing mo the cloven foot ; but, as an author of celebrity in the Church of England writes : — " Men not particularly marked with religion are always shrinking with terror from the approach of Methodism. The world, too, in its zeal agaiuBt religion, is always taxing any appearance of religiousness above the common standard as Methodism — and thus religion, like a snail, is always retiring upon any hand's approach into the privacy of its shell." By such a want of appreciation of Christianity, and attacking the sacred precincts of another's field of labor, ia directly in opposition to Apostolic rule and spirit. I will call your attention to a few most responsible passages. You know -what St. !P»ixl naid wlien " ChriBt's love constrained him" to noe all moans to save some, and that he had a " woe" resting upon his conscience if he did " not preach the Gospel in season and out of season." And why should John urge such a warning to the angel of the Church of Philadelphia — " Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." The inference that I draw from those points is — That it is not in the jurisdiction of man to know or to question who is, or who is not, to speak for God to his fellow-men. If it is admissible for a person to speak to two or three persons for their God, why should it not also be admissible to speak to a larger number, and exhort from God's own Word, depending upon the aid of that divine agent who instructed the Apostles, and is also given to the world, and pervades and influences tho minds, of those who are concerned for the weal and woe of others ? It is God's grand prerogative to make ministers of the word of righteousness to save souls — and not colleges, not professors. It wants discrimination ever? there, who ought to study for the miu istry, in order to preach the Word. Man may send, when God does not. It rests with the converted soul, and the call of God, by a responsible desire to work for God. Your opposition to lay preaching arises from jealousy, which opposition is truly paradoxical. Is not