Ottumwa weekly courier., 1878-05-22
THE McCOSKRY SCANDAL
the Letters Of Guilt Established
as Forgesies.

The reaction in public sentiment al
Detroit over the McCoskry scandal il
complete and overwhelming. 1t il
now known that the letters upon
which the charges against the vener-
able bishop we're based are OF two
classes, the real and forged ones.
The first class includes four, which
are now in the safe of the First Ma
tional bank of that city. They are
said by correspondent who has seen
them, to be "letters such as any chris
tian gentleman, especially q clergy
man, might write to young female
ward-letters of advice, counsel. and
Instruction" The indecent letters,
on the other hand, are plainly the
work of another hand. They bear
no signature except hieroglyphic
cipher, and their language is coarse,
misspelled and vulgar, as different az
possible from the chaste, scholarly
manuscript Of the bishop, as shown
in the genuine letters. Another fact
is of great weight as pointing out the
real author of the scandal. McCon-
nell, the printer, who processes to
have stolen the letters from Fannie
Richards while courting her, has a
certain aptness in drawing. The
forged letters are interlarded with in
decent drawings in pen and pencil,
just such sketches as Mcdonnell has
been frequently known to make, but
which Bishop McCoskry could not
make If he wished to. All this, with
the prompt and honestly indignant
do n1 nr Do vi
ry, ought it would seem, constitute
an impregnable case, without further
examination or trial. The obvious
fact is that low-bred, foul-mouthed
villain stole few harmless letters
from girl who he was courting,
wrote some others and made up pu-
rient sensation for the dirty newspa-
per market. He offered his filth to
the New York Herald and other pa
pers, but could find no purchaser
until he encountered the Chicago
Times. How much that journal paid
for this last privilege of making
fool of itself and spreading reeking
libel, no one, probably, except the
parties to the bargains knows or cares.
The Times account made it appear
that its correspondents, sent ostensi-
bly, from Chicago, had seen the let
ters es son on which zf g. ths & &stgry ryy Mas based
average intelligence, they must have
seen that the indecent letters were
forgeries-at least written in differ
ent handwriting from the others. If
they saw this they must have walked
into the enterprise with open eyes,
If not, there should be some means of
teaching them and Mr.. Storey better
discretion. Here would seem to be
case in which to test the question
whether man or woman of blame
less life has not any protection against
the class ofnewspapers which delib-
erately and wantonly prey upon pri-
vate character.
Bishop McCoskry, of Michigan,
Notwithstanding his age, is q plucky
sort of prelate, and proposes to
maintain his position in the church
until his character as a Christian and
a Bishop is vindicated. With this
view he has, in the following card,
Withdrawn his resignation as Bishop
of the diocese over which he has pre-
sided for SO many years. and an
nounces his readiness to have the re-
cent scandalous charges against him
investigated by the church:
NEW York, May 4, 1878
Right Reverend and Dear Brother:
hereby withdraw my letter re-
signing my jurisdiction of the Dio-
cese of Michigan, dated March IL,
1878, and l beg to inform you that /
have abandoned my trip to Europe
in consequence of painful events Of
recent occurrence. 1t is my purpose
to remain in the country for the pres
ent, in order that may be easily ac-
cessible to all whose duty it may be
to see me. With the strongest desire
to vindicate my character, l find it
impossible to meet charges which
have taken no shape except the vague
and varied one put before the public
by newspaper rumors and abusive
gossip. Reiterating my emphatic
and solemn denial of all the scandal
lous allegations against me, ! hold
myself ready to meet any definite
charge made by any responsible par
ties, in conformity with Title H.,
Canon 8, Section 2, Subsection l, of
the Digest. The above course of ac-
ton, l am authorized to say, meets
with the approval of those brethren
of the Episcopate whom l have had
the opportunity of consulting. / be-
gan this note by announcing the
withdrawal of my resignation. l
conclude it by aging that this is done
to give opportunity for the vindica-
ton ofmy character. So soon as this
end shall be attained, my resignation
will be renewed, because of my in
creasing physical infirmities. Most
faithfully and affectionately yours,
SAMUEL A. Nc CosKRY,
Bishop of Michigan.