Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-06
FOUND GUILTY.
REV. DIR. ARMSTRONG'S CASE.

The Verdict or the Court Made Pus''c :
Not More Than Ten Year, susPcnsioa--
Feeling.
Especial Telegram TO the Dlspatch.l
ATLANTA, Ga, February 5.-As
soon as he arose this morning Bishop
Beckwith broke the seal Of the package
which had been handed him by the &C.
clesiastical court which had been trying
DR.. Armstrong on charges OF immortality.
II was found that the verdict Of the
court was that "Dr. Armstrong con-
Quoted himself in a manner inconsistent
with and in violation Of his ordination
VOW, but we do not find that the testi-
mony establishes immortality" The
ordination-vow upon which this verdict
is founded, az laid down in the
Pray er-Book, is as follows:
Twill you apply all your diligence
to frame and fashion your own life aud
the lives of your families according to
the doctrine of Christ and to make both
yourself and them, as much as in you
lieth, wholesome examples Of the flock
Of Christi"
The court held that the drinking Of
beer at his hotel and the visiting Of i'm
moral houses in Cincinnati, even for a
laudable purpose, as DR.. Armstrong
claimed, constitute a violation of his
ordination-vow in that he failed to be
a wholesome example.
The sentence of the court is that DR..
Armstrong be suspended from his Of
fee for such length of time a. the
Bishop may deem best, not to exceed
ten years.
Those matters Bishop Beckwith made
due copies OF, and at once served them
upon DR.. Armstrong, who had been
waiting in agony at the rectOry for the
result. In that communication Bishop
Beckwith informed DR.. Armstrong that
he would be given until the 10Th in
slant in which TO make any plea he
might wish. at which time the sentence
Of the court would 90 into effect.
1t is learned from the evidence that
the whole case hinged on the charge OF
intoxication.
Mr.. Mann, the Cincinnati editor,
swore in his affidavit that he believed
DR.. Armstrong was under the influence
of liquor.
Mr.. Foote, now of Chicago, swore
that DR.. Armstrong; speech was thick,
and he looked like a man recovering
from spree.
Mr.. Hunt, Of the Cincinnati Hotel,
where DR.. Armstrong stayed, swore that
be was under the influence Of the beer
he had drank.
The sensation which this unexpected
result produced, especiallyin DR.. Arm
strong's congregation, is hard to de-
,cribe. The feeling against the court
is deep, and the opinion is freely ex'
pressed that DR.. Armstrong is the vic.
Tim Of men who felt that his life ont.
shone theirs. For years there Ia,
been a quarrel between BishoT
Beckwith and st. Phillips church
growing out Of transactions in church
property. In this quarrel l.. d. Har'
rison, a member of the Standing
Committee, stands to the Bishop. In
consequence of this disagreement DR.. r
9. Foute accepted call to San Fran
cisco. When Dr.. Armstrong was called
to Atlanta seeming peace was made
but when the Doctor fell into the
trouble for which he is now so severely
punished, the church vestry passed re
solutions ofcontdence in him and passed
the matter over. This was too good a
chance for the Standing Committee t
hit the vestry, and, as alleged by DR.
Armstrong; partisans, Mr.. Harrison
made himself prominent in calling for
trial of the case. II Bishop Beckwiti
permits the full sentence Of ten years
or any sentence which will cut DR.
Armstrong off from the ministry, t
stand. there is no telling the end Of tn
trouble which will grow up in fashiona
BILE St. Philips.