Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again: A Life StoryBarker, Joseph
Religion
Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again: A Life Story
Barker, Joseph
Barker, Joseph, 1806-1875; Methodist Church -- Clergy -- Biography; Skepticism
13. Again; the standard of morality was low in many of our societies,
and I pleaded for the enforcement of Christian discipline. Some of our
members were brewers, some publicans, some spirit-merchants, some
beer-shop keepers. Old Mr. Thwaites was a publican. His son, who was
both class-leader and local preacher, was both a drink-seller and a
pawnbroker. And I am not certain that pawnbroking in England is not as
bad a business as drink-selling. The two are nearly related and are fast
friends. Drunkenness leads to pawnbroking, and pawnbroking helps
drunkenness. Timothy Bentley, one of the greatest brewers in England,
the poisoner-general both of the souls and bodies of the immense
population of my native county, was a Methodist class-leader at
Huddersfield. I once met in his class. He was a most venerable and
saintly-looking man, and stood in high repute. I regarded these
businesses as anti-christian, and contended that those who persisted in
them after due admonition, should be expelled.
The businesses named above were not the worst. Some members of society
were wholesale panders. Take the following facts. When I was sent to
Liverpool I had a young man, whose name I need not give, for a
bed-fellow. He was a draper, and his customers were unfortunate women.
He sold to them on trust, and went round weekly to collect his money.
His father, who was a leading man in the society, and his brothers, were
in the same way of business. Another man who was a leading member and an
official, followed the same dishonorable occupation. It was usual with
those people, when their wretched customers were turned out of their
houses by their landlords, to provide them with fresh houses, and even
to supply them with furniture. When fairs or races were at hand, they
supplied them with extra dresses and ornaments, to enable them to ply
their horrible trade to better advantage. These facts I had in part from
my bed-fellow, and in part from the people in whose house he kept his
shop, and with whom I lived. When I came to know these things I was very
uneasy; and on finding that it was unsafe to sleep with my bed-fellow, I
got fresh lodgings. This vexed my bed-fellow and all his family, and
made them my enemies. I spoke of these things to my superintendent, but
he advised me to be cautious what I did and said in reference to such
matters. And he told me a story that he had met with in a work on the
ministry by an American, which he had just been reading. This author
said, that out of fifty ministers whom he had known expelled from their
holy office, only one or two had been expelled for immoral conduct or
gross inconsistency: all the rest had been discarded on account of
imprudences. This was meant to deter me from interfering either by word
or deed with faulty members of society. And he backed his ungodly
counsel by as bad an example. For he not only left those wicked people
to pursue their evil courses undisturbed, but visited at their houses,
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