Page:The looking-glass.djvu/60

60 board, lodging, and travelling expenses paid by their poor societies and classes. The question may arise, Why do they want three bishops I answer, Why does the ape attempt to imitate the human family? It is because he lacks understanding, and does not perceive that Nature has never bestowed upon him the proper faculties for doing the works or performing the part of a human being. They aspire to stand on a level with the white brethren of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and will have three bishops because the white Methodists are ruled by three bishops. If they had reflected a moment, they would have seen the absurdity of the proceeding. There is as much difference between the two societies, as there is between the Hudson River and the great Atlantic Ocean. The wealth of the other Church and her members, the intelligence and literary talent of her ministers, their extensive fields of labor among all nations, and the mighty influence which they wield, have opened a passage to all the benefits and blessings of the world, while the power of the Gospel which they preach has opened Heaven and all its glories to thousands whom they have persuaded to live righteously and godly in this present world. But our backsliding and rebellious sister, Bethel Church of Philadelphia, the