South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 138

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128  THE   EX-PARTE   COUNCIL.
did.  How,  and  when?  It  was  in  connection  with  the  case
of  John  Nicoll,  M.D.,  one  of  the  petitioners,  then  an  officer
and  member  of  our  Church,  and  about  the  time  when  he
was  summarily  taken  to  Fort  Lafayette.  His  home  was
broken — his  practice  interrupted — his  reputation  as  an  hon-
est man  suifering — his  character  as  a  Christian  clouded —
and  believing  him  innocent,  with  no  opportunity  to  prove  it,
and  thus  save  himself  and  family — it  was  under  these  cir-
cumstances and  in  his  case,  that  Mr.  Carroll  said  the  action
of  the  Government  was  "tyrannical  and  unjust,"  and  "in
the  pulpit "  prayed  for  his  speedy  deliverance  and  return.
And  when  he  did  return,  7ic  prayed  what  Mr.  Carroll  had
said,  a?id  more;  that  they  might  be  put  out  of  power.
Pi-oof — an  entire  prayer  meeting.  Now,  which  was  most
"  disloyal ;  "  to  say  what  Mr.  Carroll  said,  or  to  pray  what
Dr.  Nicoll  prayed  %  And  yet  the  one  who  prayed  thus  in
our  meeting,  is  one  of  the  aggrieved  "  brethren  "  before  the
Council,  whose  patriotism  and  piety  are  shocked  by  Mr.
Carroll's  prayers.
"4.  He  has  borne  no  testimouy  against  the  wicked  doctrine  of  these
times,  that  it  is  right  for  white  men  to  make  slaves  of  black  men;  but
on  the  contrary,  he  has  used  his  influence  to  suppress  in  the  meetings
of  the  Church  all  allusions  to  the  injustice  of  slavery."
True,  Mr.  Carroll  does  not  preach  or  pray  abolitionism,
or  any  other  "  ism."
If  he  has  used  his  influence  to  suppress  "in  the  meetings
of  the  Church  all  allusions  to  the  injustice  of  slavery,"  he
has  not  been  very  successful,  at  least  in  the  case  of  several
of  the  petitioners.
"5.  He  has  by  his  private  and  public  influence  brought  certain  young
persons  of  the  congregation  into  open  sympathy  with  the  existing
rebellion."
Who  these  "  certain  young  persons  of  the  congregation  "
are,  as  a  Church  we  do  not  know ;  and  if  there  be  any,  Mr.
C.  could  not  have  made  them  such.  Even  the  petitioners
virtually  confess  this;  for  they  assert  that  "  when  members
of  the  Church  have  courteously  inquired  of  him  concerning

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P004-0138. South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865, printed page not verified, PDF page 138. Hallock, Gerard, 1800-1866; digitized copy contributed by University of California Libraries https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthco00hall/page/n142/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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