Page:The looking-glass.djvu/59

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
bethel m. e. church reproved.
59

envied and deprived of my legal rights. I saw their backsliding and ignominy, and fully I told them thereof to their faces.

What I foretold them came to pass. I, therefore, cleared my skirts of their blood. I now speak more plainly to them than before. Dear brethren and sisters of the Bethel M. E. Church in Philadelphia, the mother of all the branches, your Church commenced under the superintendence of Rev. Richard Allen. Since 1816, it had increased very considerably, and they did well until after the election of Rev. Paul Quin of New-York, but formerly of Pennsylvania.

After his installation, there was great dissatisfaction with respect to the neglect of the discipline and other rules of the Church. It ended in a heavy lawsuit and a split in the Church—a malicious division. The Church has never since been settled, and yet they wanted to extend their borders and their power. They petitioned for two more Bishops, and the petition was granted. Therefore they appointed a Mr. Willis Nazua, formerly from Virginia, and Daniel A. Payne, from Charleston, S. C. Thus they have three bishops: the two last were elected in 1853. Now they have their desire; but there is a great deal to do. Those three bishops must be supported, their