The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1883-08-04

withdrew from the passionate of St. Luke's
| NJ. f. Church, Newark, and returned to
his home in Baltimore, in view of the
charges of immoral behavior made
against him on the testimony of several
| boys whom, he states, that he had pre-
| viousy reprimanded for bad conduct, has
addressed the following letter to his
! ecclesiastical superior:
BALTIMORE, Md, July so, 1883.
Rev. ]. III. Knowles, presiding elder of
| the Newark district, Newark Annual
| Conference NJ. f. Church-Sir: On July
90, while laboring under intense mental
excitement, l, unasked, placed in your
hands my credentials as a minister in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Upon July
% you received my written demand for
the return of said credentials, in order
that | might have the right of an eccles-
iastical trial, no such privilege being ac-
corded a withdrawn minister. Your an
swer, dated upon July %, but postmark-
ed on July 81, declines my reasonable
demand on the basis that you, as custo-
dian of the Newark Annual Conference,
must retain the parchments until the
|
also request in your letter that | shall
let it be known that myself was the
first one to suggest the course | took,
and that there is no one but yourself
| (myselD responsible for my Withdraw wal
from the Methodist Church.
s. In this matter you are correct. |
volunt ,rlly withdrew from the ministry
of the NJ. E. Church. Nor did seek
renewal of that relationship save for an
opportunity to vindicate myself from the
malicious ISLANDERS heaped upon me. For
five years the condemnation by my judy
ment of the political trickery and clique
system of many of the leading lnanipu
lators of Methodism has only been held
in check by my love for the doctrines and
| for hosts of the members of that church
And this opinion has not been secret
from some of my friends.
| - on have seen proper, however, to
furnish the Newark press with an official
and generally correct statement of my
withdrawal from the Methodist Church.
Commenting upon your letter those pa
pers have professed to give full account
of the unfortunate matter. BY some
malicious person. wish to believe that
you were not even indirectly party to a
step SO harmful to the cause of Christ
and SO divergent from the truth-the AS
ISOLATED Press was also used to announce
throughout the country the horrible
SANDER. AS am by your refusal of my
credentials debarred the right of an i'm
mediate ecclesiastical trial, it becomes
my imperative duty to make a brief and
true statement of the matter. Whether
| manifest the vindictiveness and reck-
lessness as to results upon Gods cause
shown SO clearly by my traducers, and
whether they or exemplify the spirit of
the Christian gentleman, even you may
decide.
ION Thursday or Friday, July 10 or
~, 1T Is said, rumors affecting my moral
character reached the ears of certain Off
cials of the St. Lukes Church. These
individuals i'll secresy proceeded to ex-
anime into the matter. Not the slightest
intimation of such rumors was given me,
although | was on Friday and Saturday
in personal contact with these officials.
! Upon Saturday, the 21st instant. the ST.
Luke's Church excursion was ATTENDED
by majority of the church officials and
myself. At various times that day some
of those officials, as have since learned,
met privately on the steamboat and dis
cussed these rumors: other officials re-
NAMED in Newark working the matter
up. summoning distant officers, and call
ing you, sir, from Ocean Grove. was
not only kept in perfect ignorance of the
matter, but the treatment | received
from the officials upon the excursion was
most gracious and atlectinnate.
" About nine o clock on Saturday night,
when kindly informed by yourself of the
rumors. and notified that the church
officers were then i'll session, iaZed and
shocked as | was, Immediately proceed
ed with you to that meeting, and there
in positive words denied the truth Of the
ISLANDERS. 1t was decided near midnight
to postpone further consideration ot the
subject until Monday night. Before alt
journing, however, when it was said that
the formality of ministerial trial, with
its publicity, might be necessary plainly
told of the condition of my wife, health,
and of my fears that any such excite
ment as trial would bring to Ii er might
cause death, and that while most posi-
lively affirming my innocence | would
rather quietly withdraw from the church,
if that was necessary to avert what
feared would prove fatal excitement to
those whom love better than my own
life.
sit was asked Of that Saturday night
meeting that in view of my condition
weakened by my incessant toll for st.
Lukes, and now utterly crushed by the
shameful charge-that | should be al
lowed TO invite a lawyer friend to attend
the Monday night session to counsel me.
BY vote this ii hit was refused me- 1t
was also then decided that the witnesses
should be kept separate until after Mon
day night to prevent collision. At the
~ hoo
my own judgment, | turned over my pull
pit for the next day to your hands, while
|, seeking mental relief and advice, spent
the day elsewhere.
con Monday evening when the Off
Gals met although they had refused my
request for a lawyers counsel, they
elected one of their number-a would
be lawyer, whom | the previous week
had enraged by rebuking him for ungen-
tlemanlinesS-as examiner and prosecu-
tor in their behalf. Upon motion. it was
unanimously decided to allow no speeches
after the testimony in order to prevent
my speaking in my own defense | soon
discovered that the three witnesses were
closeted together in an adjoining room.
Then, sir, it became evident that Justice
was to be but farce. Three witnesses
gave testimony, each having been at
some time previously and privately ex-
amined by some official. My so called
cross. examination as you are aware,
sir, consisted solely in proving two things
from the admission of these boys: "a
that each and all of them had for wears
past been guilty of immortality and had
confessed the same to me as their pastor
months ago; CD that all of them had
either been detected in and acknowledge
lying during the preceding month to save
themselves from trouble, or else had de
clared that they would lie out of it if
their parents learned of their immural;ty
If you listened you heard those boys adj
nit these things on Monday night. Also
you know that when attempted to show
by his own admission that one of the
boys had previously had. and boasted of
it, immoral compani, II ship with lewd
negro woman. the chairman of the meet
ing ruled out the question and the boys
confessing answer, on the ground that it
had occurred before his conversion, in
January, 1888. And you, sir, whose duty
it was to see justice done, sat by or
stretched yourself upon 4 lounge and ut
tered not a word of protest to such
miscarriage of justice. While those of
the officials present who were not perse-
cutors meekly submitted to the wrong,
one manprotesting against the ruling, but |
Immediately succumbing to the pressure.
'You also know, sir, that then, face to
face. denied the immortality alleged by