The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-03-16

sion, the character of, and, if our cor
respondent will have it so, the idiocy
of this prosecuted man. In the in
PRODUCTION to this work, which is writ
ten as a letter to the Protestant epis
copate and clergy, he says of himself:
1T is due both to you and myself,
as it is more especially to the cause
of God, that 1 yield without loss of
time to the promptings of my heart
and conscience and lay before you as
best I can the reasons Which have
constrained me to take so serious, and
to many dear ones as well as to my
self, so trying step as that Of aban-
doning the position in which had
acted as a minister of the Protestant
Episcopal church for more than thir-
ty years, and as Il bishop Of the same
for more than twenty years, and Of
seeking at my time of life admission
as Il mere layman into the Holy Cath
Ole church, and with no prospect be-
fore me but simply peace Of conscience
and the salvation of my SOUL
y little later he tells us what chiefly
caused him to doubt at critical
time:
"But the circumstances which at
this period shook my confidence most
Of all was the absence, in my view, of
any Instituted method among Protest
ants for the remission of post-baptis-
mai sin. Sins before baptism were
expressly forgiven in that sacrament.
But for the remission Of those COM
mitted after, however deadly, l could
see in Professionalism no provision.
That Christ left power in His church
to remit these l had no doubt. And
for Il time after my mind had become
alive to. the Importance of the exercise
of this power l believed that it exist
ed; and might be lawfully exercised
in the communion of which l was n
bishop. But upon stricter eXamina-
ton and more mature thought | be-
came convinced that if the existence
of such a power was not actually de-
MED, it's exercise, except in a very
modified sense and within very re-
stricted limits, was virtually prohibit
ed. The discovery filled me with
dread, which daily observation in
creased, till finally it passed into alb
SOlute CONSERVATION. No one who has
ate my sensations when l opened my
eyes to the fact that multitudes
around me intrusted to my care were
goaded by Il conviction Of mortal sin
and demanding relief, and l was not
allowed by my church to administer
that relief in the only way which
Word as understood by His early
church. The question now forced it.
self upon me: Can that be an institu-
tion of God which thus locks up the
gifts (supposing it to have received
them) which He commands His priest
hood to dispense to the needy and per-
ishing souls for whom Christ died?"
"This state of doubt and fear awak
ened in my mind the inquiry why 1
should not more thoroughly examine
the ground on which stood, on which
were based my hopes of eternal saliva
tion.'
His anxiety Of mind and weakness
he pOrtrays as follows:
"When l seriously approached this
question, however, it was terrible to
me. No man can well conceive the
horror with which first contemplated
the possibility Of conviction against
my own claims as the result-my
claims us bishop, a minister, a Chris
tian in any safe sense, and hence Of
my being compelled as an honest man
to give up that position. A horror en-
HANGED by the standardization with
which saw such a step must cover
me, the absolute deprivation of all
mere temporal support which it must
occasion not only to myself, but to one
whom l was bound to love and cher
ish until DEATH The heartrending dis
tress and modification in which it
must involve, without their consent, a
large circle of the dearest relatives
and friends, the utter humiliation Of
all that confidence and hope which
under common struggles and common
sufferings for what we deemed the
truth had been reposed in me as q
sincere and trustworthy bishop. But
forbear. Enough that the prospect.
heightened in it's responsiveness by the
sad forebodings around me ut the re-
newed symptoms of my wavering.
was so confounding as actually to
make me debate whether it were not
BETTER and my duty to stay and risk
the salvation of my soul as to make
me supplicate in agony to Ike spared
so bitter a chalice, to make me seize
with the eagerness Of n drowning man
upon every possible pretext for relin-
gushing the inquiry. Could not be
sincere where l was? Work with
quiet conscience where Providence
had placed me? We're not the fathers
Of the Reformation, in case of my be-
ing in error, to be held responsible?