Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-30
ROUGH ON THE BISHOP.
How a Redskin MiseOustrued PrOfane
Expression and Started a Painful
Story.

Story.
l write this in simple justice to an in
iured man. When l see an opportunity
TO deal out eyen-handed justice, you Will
generally find me there assisting the god
dess with the bread-and-milk poultice
over her eyes. i was always that way,
even as a child. Later on, as Justice OF
the Peace. I was known all over the West
as headquarters for substantial justice. L
am that way yet.
There is an anecdOte In the great llst OF
American yarns which runs something
like this:
A wicked, unregenerate and profane
man once jOurneyed through the South,
in the land that is over against Mason and
Dixon's line, and behold, he met large
multitude upon the way, and he said unto
one of those whom he met: Nv hlther
20 ye?" And they answered him: Even
unto the BAPTISM which is after the man
ner of that country. And he turned about
and followed them even unto the rink
whereat they did baptize.
Now. it so happened that when the
preacher had washed away slough OF
sins and was about through, the profane
man from the San Juan, who stood by the
shore. seeing that the preacher was
aweary, and that he approached the bank
for to come out, put forth his hand 10 ald
him; but, behold, when he put foFta MS
hand the preacher rallied and jerked the
worldly man from San Juan into the water
and proceeded to baptiZe him with the
usual extempOre remarks. The profane
man sought again and again to excuse
himself and even with tears to set forth
that he had not been regenerated, and tnat
owing to the panic he had failed 10 meet
with a change of heart; but the preacher
would not listen to it. He immersed the
him how he felt. Forgetting for the mo-
ment the peculiar circumstances by which
he was surrounded, the prOfane man made
answer that he felt o. X, but that 1t would
be a ID long time before he attended
another baptism.
Well, that's the story; and last summer
Bishop Beckwith, of Georgia, In company
with several other Bishops and Rev. M.
Gilbert. Of Christ Church, st. Paul, and
several other gentlemen, went up on the
north shore of Lake Superior to catch four
pound trout in a stream with long Indian
name. that makes into Superior. Bishop
Beckwith told the above story to the party,
and. unfortunately, in the presence of two
or three Indian guides, who took the party
up the stream IN their canoess Wen, an
Indian may be internally stupid about all
matters of national and international law,
but when man says Sd" it seems to
be a language that just hits him exactly.
He can grapple with that and understand
it fret rate. You swear at an Indian,
whether he is Chippewa on the shores OF
the great lakes or the classical angle
worm eater of the Pacific slope, and he
smiles and understands you. These In
dams understood just that one word Of the
Bishops anecdote, and they casually told,
when they brought the clerical fisherman
back, that the party had had big row on
the trip, and swore at each other like pl-
rates, or words to that effect.
The story is still prevalent in the North
west that such is the case. 1t is to rectify
this mistake, therefore, that l now take
nv pen in hand. If / can in that way
set a good man right before the people of
the United States and st. Lawrence
county, New York, it will rot only be
pleasant to him, but it may call attention
to the almost criminal scOrn for truth
which we often find scorched into the sim
soaked soul of the red man as the result,
according to the sOre-eyed philanthrOpists,
of contact with our modern alcoholic
saturated civilization.
please send marked copies Of Opinion
to Bishop Beckwith and to some of the
Northern Chippewa Indians, whose names
will follow this letter on hat-cars.)