South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 105

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MINISTRY   OF    REV.    MR.    CARROLL.  95
in  words.     A  few  of  bis  friends  also  spoke, — one  of
them  as  follows  :  *
"  I  protest  against  the  doctrine  that  because  a  man  does
not  deny  an  accusation,  lie  therefore  admits  it  to  be  true.
Why,  according  to  this  doctrine,  a  minister  might  spend
half  his  time  in  vindicating  himself  against  false  accusa-
tions, and  after  all  there  would  be  "  a  few  more  left."  I
trust  this  Church  will  never  have  a  minister  who  will  spend
his  time  so  unprotitably.
"  Besides,  a  minister's  private  judgment  on  public  affairs
is  his  own  property  :  as  much  so  as  the  private  judgment
of  any  other  citizen  is  the  property  of  that  citizen.  It  is
lodged  in  a  sanctuary  which  no  man  has  a  right  to  invade.
The  owner  of  that  sanctuary  may  open  it,  or  not,  as  he
pleases ;  but  no  one  can  force  it  open  without  being  guilty
of  impertinence  and  oitpression.
"  If  a  minister  cannot  justly  be  required  to  declare  his
politics,  much  less  can  he  be  required  to  preach  them.  He
has  a  right  to  preach  them,  if  such  be  his  convictions  of
duty,  but  he  has  an  equal  right  to  withhold  them.  In
either  case  he  is  responsible  to  his  Maker,  and  to  his  own
conscience,  for  the  course  he  pursues.  He  is  also  respon-
sible to  his  people, — to  this  extent,  that  if  they  deem  his
course  objectionable,  and  if  that  course  is  persisted  in,  they
have  a  right,  as  individuals,  to  withdraw  from  his  ministry ;
or  as  a  Church  and  8ociety,  to  dissolve  their  connection
with  him,  under  proper  forms,  subject  to  all  the  obligations
and  conditions  of  his  settlement.  Thousands  of  Churches
and  religious  Societies  in  this  our  land  have  been  broken
up  or  depleted  by  one  or  the  other  of  these  processes.  We
need  not  go  beyond  our  own  city  to  find  an  illustration.
How  else  can  the  fact  be  accounted  for,  that  the  aggregate
attendance  upon  Congregational  Cluirches  in  this  city  has
scarcely  if  at  all  increased  within  the  last  25  or  30  years,
although  in  the  mean  time  the  population  of  the  city  has
increased  three-fold?  Within  the  same  period,  another  de-
nomination in  this  city,  from  whose  pulpits,  as  a  general
remark,  political  topics  are  excluded,  has  greatly  increased,
both  in  the  number  of  its  churches,  and  in  the  affgre^ate

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0105. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 105. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n109/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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