to be wronged and blackened by misrepresentations; I only
desire that my brethren and old friends through the land may be
permitted and enabled to read my own reasons and views on this the
last occasion of my official intercourse with them.[140]

This request was denied, so that Dr. Ryerson published the documents in
a pamphlet himself. In doing so he said:--

A more vitally important and deeply affecting subject can scarcely be
laid before the Wesleyan community; but in order to present it to the
pious judgment of that body at large, I have had no other alternative
than to assume the position I now sustain--otherwise being compelled to
observe, as in past years, a strict silence beyond the walls of the
Conference room. But from what I have witnessed and heard in that room,
I appeal to the calm consideration of the intelligent and devout members
of the Wesleyan Church, either in their closets with their Bible before
them, or at their firesides with their children around them. Whether I
have or have not overrated the importance of the question, I leave
everyone to decide after reading the following correspondence. It will
be seen that the question is not one of a personal nature--is not one
which ought to excite any unkind feeling between persons who may take
different views of it. The question is as to whether, on the Wesleyan
Conference assuming the position and functions of a distinct and
independent Church, a condition of membership has not been imposed which
is a departure from the principles of Mr. Wesley and the doctrine and
practice of the Apostolic and Primitive Church--a condition which
ignores the church relation, rights and privileges of the baptized
children of the Wesleyan body, and excludes thousands from its
membership upon unscriptural and un-Wesleyan grounds. It will be seen by
an extract on page 20, that Mr. Wesley's disciplinary object in giving
quarterly tickets was, "to separate the precious from the vile," "to
remove any disorderly member;" but in vain have I sought for an instance
of Mr. Wesley ever excluding, even from his private societies in a
Church, an upright and orderly member for mere non-attendance at
class-meeting. That, however, he might have consistently done in a
society in a Church, if he had thought it expedient to do so, as it
would not have affected the membership of any parties in the Church to
which they belonged. The three paragraphs of our Discipline, containin