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John and Charles could never have imagined it, but a student at Drew University has stolen various letters from the Methodist Archives, including some of Wesleys own original letters, and tried to sell them in the U.K. for major money.  Here is a link to the story on   CNN—-
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/19/fbi.methodist.archives.theft/?hpt=Sbin.

A student named William Scott, 18, from Massachusetts, has been arrested by FBI agents and apparently will be charged with the theft.  He was one of several students who had been granted access to the Archives to help in the process of cataloging and restoring various letters by the Wesleys and by  Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt to mention a few.   A dealer in the U.K. blew the whistle when he got suspicious when approached with some of these documents. 

As word has been circulated about this theft, it has rocked the campus at Drew, and will likely lead to a change in security procedures in the Archives. It really is sad, because for the last 25 years students have been helping with this restoration and cataloging project and have been serving honorably and reliably.  But it only takes one student to screw up the whole honor system.  What would John Wesley say?

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