Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1912-08-01
Communication from DR.. J. o. Knott.

DcdI NCRiStCi oii SS"6
letter and in person what ! propose to
do in the matter Of my late ecclesiastical
trial and appeal. have kept silent till
now because felt that when once the
matter got into the public prints there
would be no limiting its run. have
lust seen the report in the Baltimore
"Sun" emanating from Winchester, va.
II might be characterized as the truth
told falsely.
Let me now say to my friends in my
own neighborhood {: have before me
a difficult problem. To sue the church
at large seems to be nothing short ofhor-
rible. Yet am urged to do this by some
of the strongest men in the M. E. Church
South. Some have written me that they
will leave the church if | positively de-
clare am innocent. stand where
Luther did: 81 can do no other, so help
me God" | sometimes almost wish that
could say that am guilty, so that the
church might be free from blame. But
the truth remains and is as follows: The
Investigating Committee acted, so the
members report, latter much prayer. y
That sounds pious. Devout members OF
the NJ. E. Church South are slow to think
that pastors would pray for guidance and
then act from prejudice. now declare
before God that not one essential element
in their report to the Trial Committee was
true. The Investigating Committee would
never have reported that "a trial was
necessary" had not one party, who was
the chief mover in the whole persecution,
suggested that the story told by the two
parties involved In the charge was the
result "of COLLISION" The truth is, the
stories told by the two parties were in
such substantial agreement that there was
nothing left for the committee but to &C
cept their statements as true and dismiss
the affair; or take the uncharitable and
malicious view that we got together and
made up story! Those who know me
from my youth know that falsehood has
never been one of my vices; and they
know also that have been the soul OF
candor-too much so, indeed, for my own
good. When ! say therefore in public
print that had never so much as spoken
one word to the second party in this al
fair, but simply asked that she come in
and testify to substantiate my own story
i was doing what thought body of
Methodist preachers would be glad to
have done, and whit would settle forever
the question of the truthfulneSS OF my
story. For, if my account of the affair
was true, no matter how unusual the Sit
uation, still the criminality involved was
gone. And the entire trial, even up to
the appeal, was based upon this, viz,
the Investigating Committee has "prayer-
fully" asked for guidance, and had the
whole case carefully sitted. That COM
mittee said, "c0lQSion, and if collision,
then crime. for that implies consciousness
OF crime.
Now. if the Spirit guided these men to
say "collusion," then He guided them to
say what is falSel The Spirit of Truth
Can not be the Spirit of Error. If the re-
port on collision was not of the Spirit, it
was OF Evil. Then the committee was
led by the Devil. There is no escaping
the logic. This whole thing was begun
and continued on the basis of certain
things that were false in toto. Yet, done
in the name of the church
have given the church ample oppor-
tunity TO clear itself. have silently sub
mltted to humiliation and misiudgment.
have taken the bitter cup pressed to my
lips. But when | am asked the plain
question: Was the church wrong or
right ? | am compelled to say, "wrong!'
have now in my possession a brief OF
the entire case. shall in time publish
it. am willing that the world should
know all there IS in this affair. am par
ticularly anxious that all who know me,
especially from boyhood up, should know
what was really charged with and the
replies given.
My chief sorrow in il all is this: That
any one should have occasion to stumble
at what might be thought of as unfaith-
fitness in pastor. Let me say to any
who are in doubt in this respect that am
the same as ever, save that | have had
my baptism of sorrow. My faith is not
weakened. My belief in Providence is
as firm as ever. God has a purpose in
all this. "Not a sparrow falls without
Him." God permits many things He
does not cause. A poor rector here in
Washington was cast out Of the church
for Ia years for supposed crime. A
few months ago man dying confessed
to the crime the rector was expelled for.
This is ecclesiastical justice Fourteen
years of keenest suffering and loss TO the
church-all because trial committee
"prayerfully" gave verdict that was
not according to the facts, yet backed by
an appeal to high Heaven to witness how
they were guided in the verdict! Such
monstrous things, done in the name OF
the meek and lowly Jesus, almost shake
the faith of the most faithful.
might add that in the trial in my case,
two matters were brought in OF an extra
neous character. They were brought in
to injure, as the Trial Committee could
not verify the facts at the time. 1t now
known that both these charges are false
to the core. Nothing could have been
further from the truth. Furthermore, the
pracid;nu elder Of the WASHINGTON dis