Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-03-17
Two Bishops At Confirmation
BY John r. BOFEUILLET

AS the bishop delivered the supplication
that accompanies the laying on of hands
his solemnity of manner and gentleness of
voice were deeply impressive. AS he ut
tered the final words-''until he come unto
thy everlasting kingdom''-~he raised his
half-foIded hands from the head of the
kneeling child where they were gently rest
ing, and opened them, with uplifted arms
and an upward look, in grace, toward
heaven. | was much impressed with this
reverential attitude.
AS | listoned to Bishop Mikell the hands
of memory swept Ger the golden strings
of the harp of Auld Lang Syne, and l
once again heard the musical cadences OF
the wonderful tones of another Episcopal
bishop-the late lamented Rt. Rev. John
w. Beckwith, OF the diocese of Georgia
His voice was the most marvellous that ever
registered its glorious accents in the cham
bers or my soul. At times it enchanted
congregation as the grand peals OF a mag
nificent organ, and in another instant it
was soft as the whisper of an angel in the
ear of sleeping childhood 1t could re-
spond to any emotion las the Aeolian harp
to the breeze
Matchless Was His Utterance
Neither Forrest nor Booth nor Beecher
nor Talmadge nor any other like elocu-
ZIONIST has ever delivered utterance in
my hearing with such sublime melody and
exquisite tenderness as Bishop Beckwith,
upon the young head of kneeling candi-
date for confirmation, he said:
Defend, Lord, this thy child with thy
heavenly grace: that he may continue thine
forever: and daily increase in thy Holy
Spirit more and more, until he come unto
thy everlasting kingdom"
The voice of Bishop Beckwith once heard
was never forgotten, and these words at
first heard by me in the days of my youth,
and spoken by him, have always lived fresh
and green in my memory.
\ DUTY was the watchwOrd of Bishop
Beckwith's life; duty done for duty's sake"
1t was in pursuance of this high sense
of obligation that it so happened that
Bishop Beckwith was in the presence of the
great Howell Cobb, of Georgia, when this
eminent statesman, peerless orator, former
governor, speaker of the national house,
cabinet officer and chivalrous general in
the Confederate army, was fatally stricken
down with apoplexy at the Fifth Avenue
hotel, in New York City, on the morning
of October 9, 1868.
Cobb Condemned Bishops Sermon
Not so very long prior to this tragic
event, which plunged the people of Georgia
into mourning, Bishop Beckwith had
preached a sermon in Macon on "Christian
Unity General Cobb was resident of
that city at the time, and a Baptist in af-
filiatiOn, but as he was grandly eloquent
himself naturally he was in attendance at
Christ church to hear the foremost pulpit
orator of the day. friend informed
Bishop Beckwith that General Cobb was
greatly displeased with the discourse, and
had strongly condemned the sermon.
Soon thereafter, General Cobb and Bishop
Beckw1th CHANGED to be in New York at
the same time, and the bishop, learning that
the general was stopping at the Fifth Ave
nue. hotel, called on him to ascertain what
were his objections to the "Christian Unity"
sermon. Following General Cobb's sudden
death, Bishop Bcckwith issued a written
statement OF their conversation, in which he
stated that the general kindly and frankly
declared that he objected to the sermon on
the ground that he understood 1T to
tain two statements: 1. That the bishop did
not believe that Baptist could be saved;
and, 2, that the bishop placed Baptists (who
believe in the Lords divinity upon an
equality with Unitarians. The bishop as
sured him that in each case he had entirely
misunderstood both his statements and his
opinion, and there was not word in the
sermon which could be made to mean any
thing of the kind and more than that the
bishop did not hold such opinion
The General Was Surprised
General Cobb said to the bishop: Had
you only said you expected to see Baptists
in heaven all would have been right" The
bishop replied: 81 did not say so, because
III
pected of holding any other opinion"
WhereupOn, General Cobb said, warmly and
frankly, he had misunderstood the bishop.
The Bishop further remarked to the gem
eral: The idea of placing the Unitarian
who, denies the Lords divinity-upOn an
equality with the Baptist-who believes in
it--did not once occur to me- The bishop
said that General Cobb saw his mistake i'm
mediately, confessed that he was wrong, and
hesitated not to say he was surprised that
he should have so misunderstood him.
The conversation between the two emil
nent men was then turned by General Cobb,
who stated that he had long desired to con-
meet himself with some church, but the
Baptists had not wanted him because he
did not believe in the necessity of INNER
sion, nor in the doctrine of election, and the
Episcopaians had not desired him because
he did not believe in the apostolic success
sion, He declared, however, that the far
greater question of The Divinity ofNOur
Lord had troubled him more than the
questions of immersion and apostolic sue
cession. The divine in the human he did
not comprehend and not compromising
he had not believed.
Great Man Unburdened His Heart
7 quote as follows from Bishop Beck
with's statement: 81 can never forget his
agitation as he thus unburdened his heart
to me. I saw that the great trial of his
life was before him, the memory of the
pangs it had cost him seemed to affect him
profoundly. said General, have you
overcome that difficuIty?' He answered:
7 have DO you believe in the divinity of
the Saviour 1 fancied there was something
of JOY IN his prompt, decisive answer. 4
do 1 said General, do you believe in the
apostles creed?' He replied: Yes l do.
[ accept Jesus Christ divine as the APP
pointed Saviour of man. My doubts on the
subject are all gone, I put my trust in the
Saviour I then told him that he believed
all that any church had a right to demand