The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-17

| The Rt Rev Theo. D. BraIton' D D.,
 Bishop of Mississippi
 Rt. Rev. and Dear Sir: l think you un- derstood, when I removed last fall from Greenville, Miss, to Birmingham, Ala, i that it was my devout will ard purpose | to treat the bishop of this diocese with all courtesy and consideration, although be- lieved an inexcusable effort had been made to put an indelible stigma on my l character as a clergyman, and maim for ever my career in the church's ministry; my resolve to take up with all my strength the heavy responsibility here awaiting me, and to make no public state ment in self-defense which would compro- mise in Alabama the bishops character as a man. or detract from the effective ness of his work as chief officer of the church. although knowing well that my own efforts were likely to be seriously handicapped by ignorance on the part of the Advent congregation and the public generally concerning the real grounds of Bishop Beckwiths objection to my com | ing to Birmingham, and that could not be better served than by having all the facts in connection with his masterful 1 fight against me as an ecclesiastical crim- inal spread out in the dearest light Of publicity.
 Under great provocation to shape my course differently in spite of the fact pSNAA sented throughout this diocese and libeled beyond the limits of it. I clung to my re- solve and fulfilled it. I did not give the public of Alabama a single eXculpatory fact I went no further than to protest in the Living Church, last November against an unwarranted statement pub lshed in that sheet by the Rev MT. Glass. I treated the bishop with courtesy and considerat ation. and continued to do SO, notwithstanding his unmistakable frigid- ity of manner when I called on him in this city on the occasion of his first visit to Birmingham after my arrival here. This claim would be amply borne out by letters that passed between him and me during a period of six months
 Limit of Endurance.
 | At last my limit of endurance was reached and passed. Imeprative self-re- spect and my sense of duty to the people represent as rector of the Advent parish compelled me to break silence. The Rev. Dr. Cobbs, secretary of this diocese, and having a reputation for saintlness; the Rev Dr. Cobbs, commissioned by Bishop Beckwith to fight his battle for him with the vestry of the Church of the | Advent. or in mood of self-immolat1ng | aitruism to-commissioned-te Rev. pr. | Cobbs published several weeks ago in the Age-Herald of his city statement con l Beckwith could not nave truthfully cer- | tifed, on or about Octiber 4, 1903, that I was "a qualified clergyman of the Pro- testant Episcopal church." And he based | his charges then on letter he claimed you had written to Bishop Beckwith; the | letter, viz, of transfer which you gave me October 5, 1908; the letter in which you certified that was "a Presbyter in good standing in the diocese of Mississippi i; T ictp ttGo D- listry as rector of the church in Greenville;" that I had ''been guilty of no error in re- i ligion." and that you accepted me as a qualified clergyman" the letter In which you claimed that, in your view l had, in purity of motive. violated the church marriage and divorce canon, through an error of judgment; the letter in which you claimed Cnot having con ferred with your standing committee and in ignorance of it's past action) that the matter of my having married a divorced clergyman was 'suspended'' by that com mittee; and in which you declared that you would not, and did not desire, to take any step not already taken by the stand l ing committee-your canon1cal advisory | council, and in Mississippi your ecclesias- | ticaI grand jury.
 I promptly called upon Dr. Cobbs in an | open letter to establish by proof the 1 truth of his statement, or retract 1t. as | on every principle of honor 1t was his | duty to do. He has. so far, failed utterly | to do the one, and he has lacked grace to do the other; though he has been given prolonged opportunity to do the one or the other Unwilling to meet fairly and souarely the question at issue, unable to | controvert an array of facts which l have set before him, and to answer the arguments with which they were ac- companied; finding it impossible to dis pute the authenticity of official docu- ments with which I have confronted him, and perceiving that they scourge his charge out of court, the Rev. Dr. Cobbs. in the Age-Herald of the 10th instant, re- plies to my final open letter in the same paper of the 9th instant, by reminding me that he has been clergyman in Ala bama longer than I have; that he is l older than |: that something is too se- rious a matter 10 be mentioned in jocu- lar way, or discussed with an anecdote; that and the kindly, courteous. patient high-toned gentlemen of the Advent ves- try owe to the bishop an apology for something they and l have said about him. that he is praying for me to possess at some future time the proper quality ] or quantity of "courage and wisdom ; and that his charge against me-hfs pub lished charge-his charge that 1 was not "oualified clergyman of this church." october f. 1903. is justified by the con tents of two letters addressed by you to Bishop Beckwith. both of which he quotes.
 The Letters.
 One of these is the letter dimissory of October 8. referred to and it's contents given above The other is a private letter of same date, written immediately after the writing of the letter dimissory. This private letter. I am told by pr. Cobbs. | Bishop Beckwith authorized him to pub fish. I assume that Bishop Beckwith either had your permission to order pub lication of 1t, or good reason to believe that publication would not merit your l disapproval
 You will perceive at once that on this l letter. and this letter alone, Bishop Beck with and Dr. Cobbs rely for Justification of the charge, that on October 4, 1903. was not "a qualified clergyman" of the | church. On you. right reverend sir, the entire onus of proving this charge is placed by Bishop Beckwith and the Rev. Dr. Cobbs. You are the star witness called by them into the court of truth and honor. This being so, it is my right and duty to ask you few questions looking to the defence of the accused. l shall ask them respectfully, mindful of your high office, but shall ask them pointed | ly mindful that in the court of truth and honor. more i'm. ortant and more majestic are truth and honor than any office in the gift of man or God
 1 Here Is the letter as Dr. Cobbs gives 1t publications;
 ''The Bishops House. Battle Hill. Jackson, Miss. October 3, 1903. My Dear Bishop: I enclose copy of