The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-07-27
BAKERsvILLE, N. c., July %.

To the Editor of the News and Observer:
l recently noticed an article in your
paper which put, not only the County
Commissioners, but the good Methodist
and Baptist people as well, of Mitchell
county, in a false light before the public;
and believing that you are willing to
correct any false statements which you
have unwittingly made in your paper,
feel it my duty to give you the facts as
they really are:
The County Commissioners made an
order for the Sheriff to keep the court
house closed against all business other
than that for which it was built, more
than year ago, and before the highly
esteemed(O Episcopal clergy ever came
to this place to preach. Their reason for
doing so was because at such gatherings
the windows were broken out, the fur
niture of the court house had been dam
aged and the court house otherwise in
iured.
But the sheriff had failed to carry out
the order to the letter, and when the
aforesaid highly esteemed-(0 Episcopal
clergymen came to the place and after
having preached in the churches Of the
town, and had held up the members of
those churches in derision and denounc-
ed them as hypoerites and otherwise abus-
ed them to such an extent that they con-
Guided that hospitality (of that kind at
least) had ceased to be virtue, and
closed their doors against the aforesaid
highly esteemed clergymen. Then the
court house doors were thrown open to
them and they were allowed to preach
in the court house unmolested, giving
vent to all the spleen that the devil
could prompt against the churches and
clergy of this section until some of the
good citizens complained to the sheriff
that they thought it unjust that the peo-
pie had been taxed to build house In
which they are to be thus publicly
abused, and the sheriff called the atten-
ton of the county commissioners to the
matter, and the commissioners said that
they had upon investigation found
the court house to be unsafe,
and from recent development was
liable to collapse and must be
repaired and therefore directed the
sheriff to enforce the order which was
made before the preachers of ''uncom-
Portable doctrine ever came to Bakers
vile.
The order closes the court house doors
as effectually against the Methodists and
Baptists and all other public gatherings
Except for the transaction of public bus
iness) as it does against the Episcopa-
lians
The Baptists have always been the
champions of religious liberty, and the
Baptists and Methodists of mitchell county
are no exceptions to the rule, and none
of them object to Episcopal ministers
coming here and preaching the doctrines
of their church, but they do object to
them calling the Methodist and Baptist
ministers Of this county ''liars, who're
mongers and low down, contemplate
seoundrels, so mean that heaven will not
have them and the devil don't want
them, and there will have to be a new
and worse hell created to put them in. T"
Now the people of Mitchell county
don't believe such slang to be Episcopal
doctrine; though we plead guilty to the
charge Of ignorance, we are not natural
fools and we don't believe the masses of
the members of the Episcopal church are
fools, and if they will send a minister to
preach to US who is not blackguard we
will treat him with the utmost courtesy,
just as we did Mr.. James so long as be
would allow us to do so,
Now these are the facts in the case
without any attempt to paint or magnify
them, and in justice to the reople of
Mitchell county hope you will give
them to the public.
S. E. K. BUCHANAN.