The record-union., 1896-01-02
Acknowledged.

cident" gravely professed to have oc-
CURED in the iodgeroom of the Masonic
Temple, as it is manifestly q tale most
marvelously absurd on its face and
ridiculouslys unlike and improbable. I
am also astounded at the savage ''eom-
ments' which you venture upon the
same charging me- by name, with ar
raging "the church militant" versus
Masonry" and with "brutally as
saulting and oowardly insulting and
bruising' a brother clergyman. Lest
any others should be SO weak or mali
cious as to give credence to this base
less and preposterous fiction of a dis
tempered imagination you will do me
the justice to say in your next issue
that 1.-The scandalous affair never to
my knowledge had any existence. It
is the offspring of the diseased brain
of one who is unfortunately not of
sound mind. Regretting the apparent
necessity of repudiating your ill-ad-
vised charges, / have the honor to re-
main, very respectfully. your obedient
servant, ]. H D. WINGFIELD,
Bishop of Northern California.
The editor refused to publish this let
ter, and there the matter rested until
Carey House on Saturday night and was
Hospitality entertained, the Rev. Mr..
Pierce never paying me the slightest
attention. The next morning I went to
the Sunday-school, where / found Mr..
Pierce. He neither recognized me by
word nor gesture, and / stood on the
floor waiting for about half an hour,
unnoticed and utterly ignored, until
finally young girl kindly procured for
me seat. But after waiting patiently,
/ left the room and went up into the
church to prepare for the service. At
the appointed hour I read the service,
after which I left the chancel and
walked half way down the aisle to get
nearer to the little congregation of
about thirty-five persons, two of whom
were men, and said: ST desire to have
a meeting of the vestry this afternoon
here at 3 O'Clock, as there are very inn
portant matters to be brought before
them for consideration, among which
the question as to the exact position of
this church, whether it is a parish or
mission. If it is the latter, l shall re-
move the man who has charge of this
congregation, as 1 do not consider him
worthy of your confidence" Then /
referred to the charges brought against
me last year and spread before the pub
lie, and characterized them as willful,
'unmitigated, unqualified falsehoods,
and those who tell lies are in the Ian
guage of Holy Scripture, liars" This
is the first opportunity / have had to
refute these falsehoods, and this is the
only place offered to me where I can
do SO. My letter to the paper has been
refused publication and it is only fair
that I should avail myself of this occa-
sion to defend myself My word and
honor and position have been assailed
in a community where my assailants
have the confidence of the people. /
have never expostulated with Mr.
Pierce against his connection with
Masonry, nor said word to him on the
subject in my life. Nor have ever ut
tered a sentence against the Masonic or
any other secret society. When I be-
gan to speak about dozen women got
up and left the church. / waited until
they had gone out, supposing that they
had no interest in our matters But
when I ceased to speak they all came
trooping back and gathered around Mr.
Pierce to make a scene, while he drew
from his pocket a paper which he read
with wild gesticulation and loud voice,
reiterating his charges against me- and
denouncing me as guilty of perjury,
etc. / listened until he finished and then
quietly returned to the vestry room.
AT 3 o'clock I met the vestry in the
church, nine out of eleven being pres
ent, and some of them exhibiting any
thing but a Christian spirit in their
cloudy countenances. Only one had
been present at the service in the morn
ing, and the rest had been influenced by
the wild reports that had been circu-
lated by the women, who had plotted in
the morning for the sensationalism that
had occurred after my brief address,
even the Deputy Sheriff having been
near at hand by invitation. I inquired
of the vestry as to the records of the
church, the conservation of the build
ing, in whose name the property was
held, etc. Some attempt was made to
introduce the novel idea of the church
being Independent of the Bishop and
the whole church; that it was an under
standing when the church was built by
the citizens it was for Mr.. Pierce to do
with as he pleased, etc., all of which is
ridiculously absurd For when a
church is consecrate1 it is put immedi-
ately in charge of the Bishop and his
successors in office by special donation
of the laity. Nothing is on record to
show that Mr.. Pierce was ever called to
be the rector Of the church at a living
support, say at least 500 per month,
while it is a notorious fact that all his
numerous friends and admirers had
suffered him to labor on for thirty
three years without a salary, and he
himself repudiates the title of rector
Only about $50 or $40 per year, and that
amount made by a public fair for the
purpose, have been presented to this
self-sacrifcing devotee to public opin-
ion. His people who ''love and respect
him. and are SO ready to fight his bat
ties against his Bishop, whom he has
solemnly promised to obey, have con-
tributed to his support the enormous
sum of literally nothing at all, and are
perfectly willing to accept his laborious
services without actual compensation,
although they studiously avoid his min
istrations. The attendance at the
church in Placerville, am told, aver
ages seven people. At night the usual
services were conducted in the usual
way, and the Bishop departed the next
day.
Now, I deny that there is the slightest
cause for all this excitement, even in the
most primitive part of California, where
the people are utterly ignorant of the
first principles of church law and GUS
toms. I still reiterate that Mr. Pierce
is doing me a great wrong and injustice
by persisting in his most false charges
a iE In
himself and his work, for / am entirely
trlnnoar1t Sill +nir Il