ROCHESTER, N. Y., March, 1854.

MR. EDITOR:—In obedience to a duty
which I owe, alike to God and man, I am
compelled to present my view of the cause
which gave rise to the dissatisfaction in re
lation to the election of the Rev. Wm. Bish
op, as General Superintendent of the A. M.
E. and Z. Church in America.

Those who read the minutes for the N. Y.
Annual Conference, which convened May
15th, 1852, will find thereby that the charac
ter of Wm. H. Bishop stood fair at that time.
We find him one of the Committee to make
out the appointment of the preachers during
the session. At the Philadelphia Annual
Conference, May 12th, 1852, the Rev. Jacob
Trusty was appointed one of the Nominating
Committee to present candidates for the su
perintendency at the general Conference, the
ensuing June.

May 25th, 1852, the Rev. C. Rush, Gener
al Superintendent, and Rev. G. Galbraith in
the Chair, the N. Y. Conference appointed
the Rev. S. Talbot one of the Nominating
Committee—the said Committee being com
posed of one from each Conference. At the
New England Conference, June, 1852, the
Rev. Wm. H. Bishop presented memorials
from the Baltimore, Philadelphia and New
York Annual Conferences, all of which were
concurred in—the whole church were in
union at that time—but soon came the "tug
of war." The General Conference met in
Philadelphia in 1852, to elect the superin
tendent and assistant superintendent. It
appears that the Rev. Wm. H. Bishop was
elected superintendent by a large majority
of the votes, and conducted to the Chair;
and it also appears that he was acknowl
edged General Superintendent at the Gen
esee Annual Conference, met agreeably to
adjournment in the village of Ithaca, Sept.
11th, 1852, he then and there presiding.

I wish to call the attention of all to whom
it may concern, to the 35th page of our book
of discipline of A. D. 1848, viz: "If a su
perintendent is accused of immorality, or
grossly improper conduct, in the interval of
the yearly Conference, the elder having
charge of the circuit or station where the
accusation is brought, and two more itiner
ant elders, or one elder and a deacon, from
a neighboring circuit or station, shall call the
superintendent and examine into the case;
and if they believe him guilty of the crime,
shall have power to suspend him from the
superintendency, and shall call together the
members of the quarterly Conference of the
circuit or station, where the examination
shall take place; when, with the said Com
mittee, shall have power to suspend him from
all official standing, if they judge him guilty
of the charge brought against him, until the
ensuing yearly Conference, where the case
shall be fully determined; but no accusation
shall be received against a superintendent
unless it be presented in writing, and signed
by the accuser, and a copy of the accusation
shall be given to the accused at his first trial
or examination. He may be allowed an ap
peal next ensuing annual Conference, in
which his case will be fully determined."

Now these steps have not been taken; and
as they have not been taken, according to
our law, we intend to consider the Rev. Wm.
H. Bishop, our superintendent general until
they have. I want the truth to bring up
those dark clouds which have obscured this
matter. I want that the beast may be seen.
Let every man appear on the deck of old
ship Zion, and be ready to cut away the
masts and lighten the ship least the howling
tempest and raging seas whelm her, and she
sink to rise no more.

It will be well for some of the brethren to
read Mathew, vi. chap, 14 verse: "For, if
ye forgive men their trespasses, your heaven
ly Father will also forgive you; but, if ye
forgive not men their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses." Matt.
xii., 33; Either make the tree good and its
fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and
its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by
its fruit. Oh ye generation of vipers! how
can ye, being evil, speak good things; for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. A good man, out of the good
treasures of the heart, bringeth forth good
things; and an evil man, out of his evil
treasure, bringeth forth evil things.

So long as the world is so full of iniquity,
we need not wonder at the efforts of men to
extend the curse of American slavery into
Nebraska Territory. But I hope the politi-

cal elements will be surcharged with thun
der and lightning, until the atmosphere is
purified. I think the church of which I am
a member has greatly degenerated; for when
I look at the life of the venerable John
Wesley, and see what he did, and then at
some of the professed fathers in the church
at the present day, standing like horned ox
en in the "gap," spreading their horns so
that one can scarcely get by them, I am
compelled to repudiate and trample on a
great part of what is preached by them as
gospel; they do not do unto others as they
would wish others to do unto them; and
worst of all, this is the professed church.
Oh God! let thy truth thunder and lighten
in the church, until purified; she stands forth
as the light of the world.

All I ask in the Rev. Wm. H. Bishop's case,
is, that justice be given him. I know not
the man that I would do wrong for, to shield
from justice—all I ask, is what is just and
right. I am contending for right, and it
must prevail, because the Lord hath spoken,
and all things are possible with Him.

I want my christian friends to take notice,
that the Rev. Wm. H. Bishop held the Bal
timore, Philadelphia, Alleghany, Genesee
and Canada Conferences; he was only reject
ed by a portion of the New York General
Conference, who appointed the Rev. John
O. Spencer to fill his place, giving as a rea
son for their act of rebellion and usurpation,
a pretend charge against his moral char
acter—the charge was preferred by the Rev.
Joseph P. Thompson, who put it in the
hands of the Rev. Dempsey Kenedey, after
informing them of the illegal manner in
which he had been called to trial; the su
perintendent stated to Mr. Kenedey that he
stood before them an accused person, de
manded the specification of the charge, and
declared his readiness for trial. Elder Ken
edey replied that he did not know the par
ticulars of the charge, and, therefore was
not prepared to give them; he referred to J.
P. Thompson, and refused to take any fur
ther action on the premises.

To those who are concerned, suppose we
admit that Superintendent Bishop had trans
gressed our book of discipline, should he be
put out of his office without using all the
means in our power to restore one who stands
so high as a General Superintendent? See
Matt. xviii., 15.: "If thy brother shall tres
pass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone; if he shall
hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother; but
if he will not hear thee, take with thee one
or two more, that out of the mouths of two
or three witnesses, every work may be estab
lished!"

A word or two in relation to the revolters;
look in their minutes of a general conven
tion (so called then) held in July, 1853.

"Convention assembled according to ad
journment. The Rev. Levin Smith in the
Chair. The meeting opened by reading a
portion of Scripture, singing and
prayer.—The roll was called. The discussion again
arose in relation to Wm. H. Bishop. On
motion, that when we adjourn we adjourn to
meet at 2 1/2 o'clock, P. M., with closed doors
—a very black spot—also that the present
Convention dissolve into a general Confer
ence." This reminds me of the Romans
soon after the day of Pentecost. Acts xi.,
10. As early as A. D. 64, eight or ten years
after, a church was established there and ad
dressed by Paul. Rom. xvi., 19. The Em
peror Nero commenced a furious persecu
tion against its members, which was carried
out with malee.

Now, I wish to show that the New York
Annual Conference met on the 21st day of
May, 1853. Some of the members of that
body said they had a charge against him
and yet they let him hold the Baltimore and
Philadelphia Conferences. This goes to show
that the New York Annual Conference did
not consider the charge a true one, or else
did not feel interested in behalf of the
Southern Church. It appears to me that
this thing was all made up before hand, when
the New York Annual Conference resolved
not to receive any delegates by the authority
of the Right Rev. Wm. H. Bishop. Then
the connection was split, or we are a repub
lican church, governed by representatives
elected by the people—a minister is an agent
for God's church, whether from Philadel
phia or elsewhere. When you resolved not
to receive those delegates, you took a bold
stand for one annnual Conference, though it
be held in the city of New York. You are
in the slough of despond. You had better
climb out; the sooner the better it will be
for you.

WM. F. GOODMAN.

Elder in charge of Rochester and
Lockport Churches.