A PAPER 
 
 ADDRESSED BY THE COMMITTEE 
 
 REPRESENTING THE 
 
 ^ToFpr/a^Ns 
 
 .NOV 6 1937 
 'GJCALSE^ 
 
 Wioccbc of Neto Jersey 
 
 TO 
 
 THE BISHOPS 
 
 ASSEMBLED UPON THE PRESENTMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 £l)e Bisfjop of Neto-Ierseg, 
 
 AT CAMDEN, 
 THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER, 
 
 MDCCCLIII. 
 
€n tjie Jtjgjjt lUnmnh tjje %w\}ap 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
 
 ASSEMBLED UPON" THE 
 
 fH§e,f\iftie,f\$ of li)e 1{icj(}f fyb&Hifi 
 
 bishop of the diocese of new jersey. 
 
 Right Reverend Fathers : 
 
 Again, as the representatives of the diocese 
 which is so deeply interested in the occasion of 
 your meeting, we appear before you, charged 
 with a great mission, and loaded with responsi- 
 bility : and, we may add, not more impressed 
 with the importance of the duty, than surprised 
 at the necessity which calls us here. 
 
 If the Diocese we represent, had been found 
 wanting in the defence of their inestimable 
 rights, the indignant feelings of the Church at 
 large, and the universal sense of a great wrong 
 inflicted, and a usurpation sought to be estab- 
 lished, would have knocked for admission at 
 your doors. 
 
 But, the Diocese, whose previous conduct you 
 approved, to whom we bore a faithful, accurate 
 report of all that we had done, and to whom 
 you had referred the investigation of such 
 
charges in the presentment of the Bishop of 
 New Jersey, read before the Court, as the Con- 
 vention of New Jersey had not, for want of 
 opportunity, examined — have remained true to 
 their responsible position, and have sent us 
 back again, in this strange crisis of affairs, to 
 represent their interests, and to assert their 
 rights. 
 
 We have said, that we appear before you again, 
 because we recognise in you the same Right 
 Reverend Fathers who were assembled in Octo- 
 ber last at Camden and at Burlington, in con- 
 sequence of the Presentment of our Bishop ; and 
 the same who must compose all Courts for the 
 trial of your Peers, in our Branch of the one 
 Catholic and Apostolic Church. 
 
 Appearing, as we do, then, before the self 
 same body, only now re-assembled, whom we 
 had the honor to address before, and supplied, 
 as all of you have been, with every document 
 required to inform }^ou of the history of the 
 entire case — we feel that more than the recital 
 of the authority by which we act, and the nar- 
 rative of the proceedings of New Jersey in com- 
 pliance with your reference, will not be needed 
 to put you in possession of the facts. 
 
 You will find, when we recite the resolutions 
 of New Jersey, that we are charged with the 
 duty of submitting to your Body the evidence in 
 relation to the matters which were so referred 
 by you — which evidence was promptly taken by 
 the Diocese in full redemption of the pledge, 
 (both theirs and ours,) and which so proved 
 the falseness of one of the charges (which seemed 
 
to have been added to the substance of the first 
 presentment only to give the second one the 
 title of a new,) that it has never been repeated ! 
 And the fact of its entire omission from the third 
 presentment (which is the occasion of your 
 being now assembled here,) may be noted, as 
 a testimony to the fairness of the Diocese, the 
 thoroughness of their investigation, their since- 
 rity, their honor, their integrity. 
 
 We have not touched, as yet, the grounds on 
 which we shall protest against your further 
 action in the premises; but, after this brief 
 opening, in a case of so much moment, we pro- 
 ceed to quote the resolutions of our own Con- 
 vention, (whose purpose we shall labor to fulfil,) 
 and then, as rapidly as may be, make our firm 
 and respectful remonstrance, and leave you, with 
 what we know to be a secret history of the case. 
 This last may serve to throw some light upon 
 your duty, as it has helped to guide us in the 
 impartial course we have pursued. 
 
 When you were last assembled, in October, 
 1852, then summoned by the venerable senior 
 Bishop, who is now no more; and when the 
 second presentment was before you, you heard 
 our statement of the case — and heard the 
 labored argument which was submitted in reply 
 — and, in view of the construction of the 
 Canon, which was claimed; and, in view of the 
 past action of New Jersey, in strict accordance 
 with the sound construction of that Canon, and 
 in prompt discharge of their own duty — you 
 
 Ordered, that, wmereas, previous to the 
 making of the presentment, now before this 
 
Court, the Convention of New Jersey had 
 investigated most of the matters contained 
 therein, and had determined, that there was no 
 ground for presentment; therefore, as to the 
 matters thus acted upon by said Convention, 
 this Court is not called upon to proceed further. 
 
 This Order settled the interpretation of the 
 Canon — and recognised a right upon the part of 
 every Diocese which we shall, subsequently, 
 claim. 
 
 But, inasmuch as there were some additions 
 to the charges of the first presentment (the only 
 one the diocese had ever seen,) in the one 
 which had been read before you, and the 
 diocese was summoned shortly to assemble, and 
 stood ready to investigate whatever might be 
 new ; and we, as their Committee pledged that 
 they would faithfully perform the duty which 
 devolved upon them by the Canon — you desisted 
 from proceeding further, and referred the charges 
 which were new, to be investigated by the 
 Diocese, as they had searched into the old. 
 
 Here, too, you recognised a right in every 
 diocese, which, if you shall decide there is 
 occasion, we shall subsequently claim. 
 
 The Church rejoiced, with us, at your 
 decision. All men, unprejudiced, rejoiced, with 
 us, at the decision. It found approval in the 
 minds of good men, who are living as tfyose who 
 are to die. It met the approving smile of justice. 
 It received the sanction of the Canon Law. It 
 was endorsed by common sense. It was allowed 
 by mercy. The upright portion of the world, 
 thought it was well. And New Jersey, with a 
 
heartiness which testified her interest, and her 
 sincerity, with nearly all her sons, united in a 
 common burst of joy L They felt, their conduct 
 , was approved. They felt, their rights had been 
 asserted and allowed. They felt, that they were 
 trusted, though assailed! They felt, their 
 motives were endorsed, although they had been 
 so cruelly impugned ! There was a satisfaction 
 evident on every side, throughout the diocese — 
 and we point you, for its tokens, not to the bitter 
 publications of the dissappointed few, nor to the 
 secret circulars of such as dared not risk the 
 open light of day — but, to the warm hearts, and 
 homes and hands which greeted the accused ; 
 and to the throngs who sought for Confirma- 
 tion ; and to the crowds of worshippers who 
 followed him to holy places; and to the Deacons, 
 and the Priests, and to the Churches, all by 
 him made consecrate to God! With charit- 
 able, christian confidence in his entire innocence, 
 they waited for the verdict of the Court. After 
 your action, and the acquittal by the diocese, 
 they rushed to get his benediction: they re- 
 ceived him everywhere with open arms ! He 
 has been, since then, in labors more abundant 
 than before — in labors far more numerous than 
 theirs, who have had time to pursue him in his 
 devotion to his duties, to mar his peace, and to 
 disturb the Church. 
 
 We made report of your decision. We told 
 the Diocese, assembled in Convention, of the 
 pledge. They met it. They re-appointecl the 
 Committee of investigation. They referred to 
 them whatever you had said, had not yet been 
 
examined. They fixed a time for the receiving 
 the report. They waited for the testimony to 
 come in, either to send, to you, the grounds of 
 their acquittal, or, by their presentment, to give 
 you grounds for going on. And who can doubt, 
 but the//, who, from the first, have been intent 
 upon his ruin, that if there had appeared to be 
 a just occasion for presentment, the diocese would 
 have insisted on his trial ? It is our own per- 
 suasion, that the charitable are most true — and 
 that the merciful are not less just, when weeping 
 over that they feel compelled to do. 
 
 We submit to you, herewith, the Journals of 
 the Conventions of New Jersey, which contain 
 the testimony which was taken, the resolutions 
 of that body, and " the Statement and Vindica- 
 tion of the Diocese of New Jersey, in the case , 
 of Bishop Doane." These documents, although 
 they have been sent to every Bishop in the 
 Union, we now officially submit to your 
 Bodv. The result of the investigation of the 
 charges which had been preferred, was such as 
 to secure the adoption of the resolutions which 
 will be submitted in the Journal, to cause in 
 every candid mind conviction of his innocence. 
 
 Well might the Diocese rejoice, again, that 
 every charge had been refuted, and hope, at 
 last, for^>a(ce. The first investigation, by the 
 Diocese, had been approved by a Court beyond 
 which there is no appeal — and the duty which 
 had been imposed upon, or rather left them, by 
 that Court, had been discharged, without the 
 least discovery of any cause for trial. And the 
 Diocese had reason to conclude that your autho- 
 
rity, and her own lawful action, had put the 
 thing at rest. 
 
 But, at the last regular Convention of New 
 Jersey, we were informed officially, that a third 
 presentment had been made — made after com- 
 plete investigation — made after the showing of 
 his innocence — made after your own enlight- 
 ened action — made in the face of judgment. 
 
 We will not enter further, now, into the his- 
 tory of this transaction. But, we respectfully 
 submit, that there was no right to call you 
 back, for trial of the very matters which you 
 had disposed of, and either to reverse, or to 
 confirm the judgment you had given. 
 
 If, at this present moment, this Court pos- 
 sessed and exercised the right to review their 
 judgment — to open an adjudicated point — and 
 should conclude the matter adverse to the wishes 
 of the plaintiffs, you might be called again, 
 and yet again, till sickness, or indispensible 
 engagements, or weariness of an unchristian 
 warfare, should so change the Court, that the 
 judgment might be altered and the ruin of the 
 innocent be wrought ! 
 
 **" After a proper reference to a Committee, the 
 following preamble and resolutions were adopted 
 by the Convention of New Jersey, by a still 
 larger vote, and with almost unanimity — viz. : 
 
 Whereas, This Convention has ascertained, 
 that the Bishops of Virginia, Ohio, and Maine, 
 have addressed, to the Senior Bishop, a Present- 
 ment, against the Bishop of this Diocese, dated 
 on the 25th clay of February, A. D. 1853, and 
 the Senior Bishop has summoned a Court of 
 
Bishops, to assemble at Camden, in this Dio- 
 cese on the first day of September next, appar- 
 ently with a view to proceeding with the trial 
 of our Diocesan, under said Presentment. 
 
 And, Whereas, The present is the third 
 Presentment against the Bishop of this Diocese, 
 substantially, for the same alleged causes of 
 complaint, which has been preferred by the 
 same Presenters. 
 
 Axd, Whereas, The first of said three pre- 
 sentments was withheld from the Court of 
 Bishops, and was superseded by and merged in 
 the second Presentment, and was subsequently 
 refused to be entertained by the Court, when 
 again preferred by the Presenters, and the 
 second of the said Presentments was duly con- 
 sidered by the Court of Bishops, summoned for 
 the trial thereof; which Court assembled at 
 Camden on the seventh day of October, A. D. 
 1852, and subsequently met by adjournment at 
 Burlington, in this Diocese, and the said Court 
 declined to proceed further in the matter thereof, 
 because this Convention had, previous to the 
 making of the said Presentment, investigated 
 most of the matters contained therein, and had 
 determined that there was no ground for Pre- 
 sentment ; and because further, this Convention 
 stood pledged to investigate any charges against 
 its Bishop, presented from any responsible 
 source, and a special Convention had, at that 
 time, been ctilled in reference to the new mat- 
 ters contained in the Presentment, then before 
 the Court of Bishops. 
 
 A xi), Whereas, This Convention truly re- 
 
9 
 
 deemed its said pledge, and did afterwards in- 
 vestigate the said new matters, contained in the 
 Presentment last referred to, which was the 
 second of said three Presentments ; and did, at 
 an adjourned special convention, held at Bur- 
 lington, on the first day of December last, fully 
 exculpate the Bishop of this Diocese from any 
 charge of crime or immorality made against 
 him, and did determine that there were no good 
 grounds for Presentment. 
 
 And, Whereas, The said proceedings last 
 mentioned, were had upon the faith of the 
 above action of the said Court, which had itself 
 disposed of certain of the charges contained in 
 said two Presentments, and had referred the 
 remaining charges therein to the Convention of 
 this Diocese, as the proper tribunal for their in- 
 vestigation. And in the judgment of this body 
 the aforesaid action of the Court of Bishops, 
 was a final determination and adjudication of 
 the matter of said two Presentments, and the 
 same cannot be revived for further action, under 
 the canon of The American Church, upon which 
 said Presentments have been founded : There- 
 fore, 
 
 1. Resolved, That the attempt of the said 
 Presenters, again to bring the subject-matter of 
 said charges for trial before the Court of Bishops 
 is a violation of the spirit of the Canon of 1844, 
 entitled, " Of tlte trial of a Bishop ;" a wrong 
 done to the just rights of the accused Bishop, by 
 putting in jeopardy a second time for the same 
 cause, both his reputation and the exercise of 
 his Office ; and a direct disregard of the re- 
 
10 
 
 corded decision and judgment of the Court of 
 Bishops, assembled in October of last year. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the said attempt of the 
 said Presenters is an infringement of the rights 
 of this Diocese, so largely dependent upon the 
 exercise of his holy office, by its Bishop; and a 
 violation of the good faith, under which it pro- 
 ceeded, consequent upon the decision of the 
 Court of Bishops, to an investigation and dis- 
 posal of the new charges against its Diocesan. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Diocese of New Jersey 
 had good right in law and morals to suppose, 
 that its peace would not again be disturbed by 
 a renewal of charges, against the Bishop, here- 
 tofore investigated, and dismissed, and does 
 most solemnly protest against this renewed 
 attack upon its privileges. 
 
 4. Resolved, That a Committee of seven, be 
 appointed by the Convention, from the clerical 
 and lay members of this body, to appear before 
 the Court of Bishops, summoned to meet in 
 Camden, on the first day of September next, to 
 lay before them, the testimony taken by, and 
 the report of, the Committee, appointed at a 
 special Convention of this Diocese, on the 27th 
 of October last, to investigate the new matters 
 contained in the Presentment, read before the 
 Court of Bishops, assembled on the seventh of 
 October aforesaid, and the action of the ad- 
 journed special Convention thereon. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Committee do present, 
 before the Court, the preamble and resolutions 
 of this Convention ; and do protest, in the name 
 of this Convention, against any further action, 
 
11 
 
 under the third Presentment against our Bishop; 
 and take such measures, in the premises, as 
 their wisdom and discretion may suggest. 
 
 These resolutions convey the sense of the 
 Convention — contain a firm assertion of their 
 rights — and empower us, their representatives, 
 to act. We might feel more distrustful of our 
 own position, and some anxiety be added to the 
 weight of our responsibility, if we did not know 
 that nearly all New Jersey agree in the sen- 
 timents we put forth, and that tne fire of 
 our zeal and our devotion to the cause of truth, 
 burns less fiercely even/^than their righteous 
 indignation. 
 
 In the first place, in close agreement with 
 the substance of the resolutions we have read, 
 and in accordance with the universal sentiment 
 throughout the diocese, and we may say, 
 throughout the better portion of the Church of 
 God, in every land, where the news of this 
 strange proceeding may have gone : — and in 
 the name, worthy of honor and respect, and 
 entitled to authority ; in the name of one of the 
 oldest, most prosperous and most harmonious, 
 of all the dioceses — we protest against your 
 further action, touching those charges which 
 have been before you once, and which your 
 action, and the action of the diocese, have set 
 at rest. And we make this protest in regard 
 to every thing in this presentment which, in 
 your wisdom, you decide to be identical in sub- 
 stance with the matters which have been in 
 hand. 
 
 The Diocese of New Jersey protests against 
 
12 
 
 your further action on those charges, because, 
 she has herself examined, in the exercise of an 
 inherent, and acknowledged right — a right 
 acknowledged by the Canon — a right acknow- 
 ledged by yourselves. And she protests, because 
 so far as you may be concerned, it is a " res 
 adjudicata." You are the self-same Court, who 
 were assembled in October last. You are the 
 Bishops of the true branch of the Church of 
 Christ in our land. You constitute all courts 
 for the trial of your peers. The summons 
 issued is to every one. Absence, from any 
 cause, of any individual Bishop, does not 
 change the character, or nature of the Court. 
 It is the Court of the Bishops of the Church. 
 It is the Court of the Bishops of the Church, in 
 October, or September — in January, or in May. 
 It is the Court of the Bishops of the Church, 
 whether assembled for the trial of new charges, 
 or strangely brought together, for the re-opening 
 of matters which were closed ! You are the same 
 Court. And the language of the diocese is this 
 — " Our Bishop has been once arraigned upon 
 these charges. "We appeared, and told you that 
 which we had done. You said it was enough. 
 You owned our equal right. You admitted that 
 the case w T as concluded by that which we had 
 done. You even asked us to go on. We toent 
 on, in the examination of whatever there was 
 new. And we now are here, to lay before you 
 the evidence which we have taken, and our 
 own conclusive resolution, that, after enquiry 
 made, Ave find no cause for his presentment. 
 You asked us to go on with the investigation : 
 
13 
 
 and we now bring the result to you. You are 
 the same. In your opinion, our previous action 
 settled all that it had touched. Our present 
 action settles, therefore, all that had been left." 
 
 If anything were wanting to complete the full 
 adjudication, and the perfect closing of the case, 
 it is supplied by the opportunity afforded by 
 the calling of this court — for, having had as- 
 signed, or left to us, the labor of investigation, 
 we are here icith our return ! And, that return 
 still more concluding the action on the later 
 charges, than the former investigation on the 
 first, because the evidence was still more over- 
 whelming. But, even if the question should 
 be mooted, and the theory adopted that you are 
 not the same, and that the court which was 
 assembled in October, was dissolved by its ad- 
 journment then, you would be still precluded 
 from re-opening a case, which by a former Court 
 of equal power, had been closed. 
 
 Unless, then, there be something in this new 
 presentment, which was not embodied in the 
 old, we insist that the case is ended. 
 
 With the most patient care — the second and 
 the third presentments have been collated — and 
 they are thought to be substantially the same — 
 perhaps, so varied, (as the first and second were,) 
 as that ingenuity may suggest that they are not the 
 same. We think you will regard them as iden- 
 tical. And, being governed by your past deci- 
 sion, and the rules of charity and law, you will 
 dismiss the case at once. 
 
 But, if you. shall decide that these are matters 
 in the third presentment, so different from the 
 
14 
 
 rest, and so important, and so real, as to demand 
 the labor of investigation ; then, we claim (what 
 has already been conceded, and can never, with 
 any reason, be denied,) that they should be re- 
 ferred, for their investigation, to the Diocese. 
 This course, which has been ruled by your deci- 
 sion, even if new matters have been foisted in, 
 to serve a purpose or to gain an end, relieves 
 you of the necessity of going on. If you shall 
 say, there still are matters which have been 
 subjected to no scrutiny, we pledge the diocese 
 now summoned to assemble in Convention, for 
 whatever may turn out to be its duty or its 
 destiny, we pledge the diocese to act, in that 
 case, as in any other, as becomes a household of 
 the faith, and as becomes her past career, and 
 as becomes her blood, and as becomes the not in- 
 glorious fame which she has won ! Her members 
 have already given time from every sacred 
 calling ; and lavished means, which might have 
 been expended on the wretched, and the home- 
 less and the poor, to serve the cause of inno- 
 cence and truth, and be upon their post: and 
 sleepless enmity has had it in its power, to try, 
 and to afflict the good. But, we pledge you, 
 that if need be, they will still devote all, but 
 that jewel, which is lightly prized of some, all 
 but their Iwnor, to do justice to the cause of 
 honesty, to the Bishop of New Jersey, and to 
 you. » 
 
 It has been said, that we are seeking to avoid 
 a trial. Our Bishop has been tried : he has 
 walked, in and out, of an ordeal that few men 
 could bear: tried and found, in public esti- 
 
15 
 
 mation, guiltless of the charge : tried, by his 
 diocese ; tried, by the honorable men, Trustees 
 and Proprietors of both the beneficent and reli- 
 gious institutions he has reared : tried, by your- 
 selves — if trial be the ascertaining of the truth : 
 tried, by that private sentiment, indigenous to 
 every mind, by which, unshackled by the tech- 
 nicalities of law, actions are ever tried, — and, 
 lastly, tried, by the providence of God, which, 
 has thrown into his way, more opportunities of 
 blessings than before — has multiplied the chil- 
 dren of his fold — has laid more corner-stones — 
 has reared more temples to God's praise ! 
 
 It is said, that we are seeking to avoid a 
 trial. If it be meant, that, by a trial, he, 
 though innocent, shall be surrendered to his 
 enemies, then, we oppo-e it. If it mean the 
 scandal of a public trial — where every enemy, 
 for every cause, can fabricate his charges, and 
 send them, on the pinions of the press, to every 
 country and to every clime, where, it may be, 
 in many instances, the refutation will not 
 reach — and fill the public mind with foul sus- 
 picions, and the public tongue with false asser- 
 sions, and the public press with judgments 
 which are false — then, we resist it. The truth 
 being ascertained, by lawful means, we hold that 
 he is tried. Others hold that he has not been 
 tried, because he has not been condemned ! 
 
 Eight Eeverend Fathers, ivhy should such 
 special pleading, such tampering with sacred 
 duties, and with sacred offices, and with the 
 sacred rights of others, be allowed ? Why 
 should an unrelenting malice be permitted to 
 
16 
 
 so use the technicalities of language, and the 
 ambiguities of an imperfect law, as to endanger 
 the fair fame, and the existence of a man, who 
 has his enemies, because he has been great ; and 
 the fiercer enemies, because he is uninjured — 
 and is hated, because he has been sanguine, 
 and is brave? Why should the sleepless enmity 
 of a mere handful of men, be suffered so to dis- 
 tract the minds, and to disturb the peace of a 
 whole diocese, and to put in jeopardy what we 
 hold dear. 
 
 Gathering its contributions as the stream 
 rolled on, this opposition began in wounded 
 vanity, in mortified ambition ; and the waters, 
 as they flowed, increased in bitterness, from 
 every "root of bitterness" they touched, on 
 either shore ! 
 
 It is true, that, disappointed in his expecta- 
 tions- of assistance, in carrying on the two great 
 institutions which he had begun, the Bishop of 
 New Jersey failed, as business men would say — 
 failed, not in doing good, for, from those insti- 
 tutions have gone forth no small proportion of 
 those who are to be the jewels of the land, 
 and from whose influence much good may be 
 anticipated to the Church of Christ — but failed, 
 to meet the promises which he had given in 
 good faith. And it is charged, by his oppo- 
 nents, that he failed dishonestly, and that in 
 his transactions there were unworthy dealings" 
 which were proofs of his impiety. And the idea 
 which they would seek to spread, is this, that the 
 opposition began with his misfortune ; and that 
 their effort is, to bring a guilty man to trial 
 
and to condemnation; and that they are. or 
 have been until now — yea, that they still are the 
 friends of Bishop Doane ; and that, their pure 
 and righteous feelings were so roused, by the 
 mere story of his criminality, that most reluc- 
 tantly, in sorrow and in tears, they have been 
 driven to go on ! And, probably, the most of 
 what are called the Christian world, suppose that 
 they who thus pursue him are honest — are pious 
 — are sincere — and have a love of honesty, and 
 are absorbed in pious duties, and would take a 
 greater pleasure in the shewing of his innocence, 
 because he is a minister of Christ, than in the 
 proving of his guilt. No doubt men look upon 
 it so, and after ages of the Church may be deceived, 
 unless we put on record our impression of its 
 history, and give to this persecution, of a noble 
 and laborious man, the character which it de- 
 serves. 
 
 No doubt, Eight Reverend Fathers, you have 
 been yourselves deceived. There may be some 
 of you who still are thinking that this effort, 
 of some persons of New Jersey, is all right. 
 
 Many may think this prosecution is felt to be 
 a painful duty to the Church of Christ. The 
 Church shall not be ignorant of what we think 
 to be the truth. 
 
 The opposition, in its sources, began before the 
 misfortunes of Bishop Doane. Began, we think, 
 at least twelve years ago. Began in a fancied 
 slight. Began in wounded vanity. The oppo- 
 nents watched, and waited, for some opportunity 
 of injury. They heard, at length, of his em- 
 barrassments. They prognosticated he would 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 fail. They may have helped, by their advice. 
 to keep from him supplies, on which he had 
 depended They talked upon the corners of 
 the street, and in the houses of parishioners. 
 They opposed him in Convention, but could 
 gain no friends. At length a sickness came, 
 almost unto death. Our Bishop was brought 
 low. He was stripped of the power to act, and 
 then the failure came. He failed, from disap- 
 pointment. He failed like any other honest, 
 over sanguine man. But, matters could be dis- 
 torted. The opportunity must not be lost. The 
 thing was talked about. The records of the 
 county were consulted. Several attempts were 
 made to get the Grand Jury to indict him. 
 Personal solicitations were tried repeatedly to get 
 the larger creditors to act. Speeches were made 
 in the Convention, but no charges presented, 
 for which any one was willing to be held re- 
 sponsible. The Convention stood ready to 
 investigate his conduct, whenever proper accu- 
 sations should be made. It was openly acknow- 
 ledged by them that nothing could be done in the 
 Convention of New Jersey. Why ? They knew 
 him. They had heard the echoes of the tongues 
 of scandal. They knew that like many ano- 
 ther upright man, he was accused. They knew 
 enough of his whole life, and of his character, 
 to disbelieve the lie. Their manliness, their 
 dignity, their self-respect, forbade their hearing 
 charges which were not canonically brought. 
 And, the confidence of a whole Diocese, ought 
 to outweigh the interested slanders of a dis- 
 appointed few. 
 
19 
 
 Here the matter should have rested, and it 
 had been better for the future peace of some if 
 it had rested here. But the object was not ac- 
 complished. Laymen were brought in. After 
 some searching, four were found to sign a paper 
 full of charges, which, however, was not offered 
 in Convention. 
 
 We have heard, that nearly eighteen months 
 were spent in consultation, and in correspon- 
 dence with the Bishops who were thought to 
 differ in their sympathies, from Bishop Doane, 
 before three could be found, who would present 
 him. 
 
 This was the turning point. If they had 
 failed to procure assistance from abroad, they 
 had soon sunk down into contempt. Encouraged 
 by the obtaining of three Bishops to assist them, 
 they went on. 
 
 The rest of this strange history is known. It 
 is written in the records of the Court assembled 
 in October last, and in the Journals of the Con- 
 ventions of New Jersey. 
 
 We believe the object sought is, not the truth, 
 so much as degradation. 
 
 There is much that might be added of the 
 more recent history of this transaction — but, 
 we forbear to dwell on much that we have 
 heard — and, we shall only state two facts of 
 strangest import. 
 
 One is, that these opponents of Bishop Doane, 
 from the pure love of God, and their desire 
 to ascertain the truth, (like those good friends 
 of the Apostle Paul, who bound themselves 
 by oath, neither to eat, nor drink, till they 
 had killed him) — before the first present- 
 
20 
 
 ment of the Bishop, had secret meeting 8 , when 
 the attendants bound themselves not to reveal 
 what should occur, to further Bishop Doane's 
 salvation! Secret meetings! of members of a 
 Church, of Presbyters and laymen, about their 
 Bishop ! Secret meetings of the "friends" of 
 Bishop Doane, without his knowledge, to procure 
 his trial ! Secret correspondence ! with wily 
 those who were known to be his enemies, to se- 
 cure a meeting of his " friends !" Secret meet- 
 ings of his friends, without informing him ! 
 Secret meetings, of his friends, where not a 
 single one of all who loved him was invited ! 
 Secret meetings of his friends! — when, not a 
 single friend has learned what there occurred ! 
 They met at Trenton. They met there more 
 than once. They met, by an appointment. 
 They met, in the dark. To this day, the object 
 of their meeting, and the good they meant to do 
 to Bishop Doane, are in the dark. The good 
 they meant to do to Bishop Doane, will be for- 
 ever in the dark. And, we denounce their meet- 
 ings ; which, aiming at his trial, and his degra- 
 dation, were so carefully concealed from him ! 
 If they had loved him, they would have told 
 him. If they had sought to aid him, they would 
 have asked his acquiescence. If they had 
 sought to help him, if they had been his friends, 
 they would not have kept it, as they still do, 
 from the Church, and from the w T orld ! Secret 
 meetings ! May you never have such friends ! 
 
 The other fact, is this, that though, as we 
 have been most credibly unformed, the determi- 
 nation to preaenl again wan adopted on theday 
 
after the adjournment of the Court in last Octo- 
 ber ; yet, a paper was drawn up, and copies of it 
 circulated to obtain the signatures of those they 
 could beguile, asking to have a trial ! and this 
 request, so manufactured after the determination 
 to present had been adopted, was to be the justify- 
 ing cause of the presentment ! And that paper, 
 purporting to emanate from friends of Bishop 
 Doane, no friend of his, no one whom we could 
 call a friend, no one whom he would own to be 
 a friend, has ever seen! The Convention called 
 for it in vain. We have asked for it, in vain. 
 We cannot see it now — now, that it has served 
 its purpose ! now, that the presentment has 
 been made ! This also shuns the light ! Why 
 hide it ? Why not let him see it, with whose 
 interests it deals? And, why not, if it be an 
 honest, and a righteous enterprise, do all things 
 openly ? 
 
 Right Eeverend Fathers, in the name of 
 many people of the Church, whose shepherds 
 you now are; in the name of a Diocese still 
 unsubjected : in the name of truth and justice, 
 and of canon law, and in that mightier name of 
 Christian charity, — we protest against your fur- 
 ther agitation of this matter, your further hear- 
 ing of these enemies of peace — your opening of 
 a "res adjudicata." 
 
 The truth has been made manifest, by more 
 than one investigation. The claim of justice 
 has been answered, although our Bishop has 
 not been condemned — and patience has had 
 " her perfect work !" 
 
Fathers — with great respect, and with great 
 confidence, we leave you. 
 
 Fathers — the eye of God is on us still, the 
 eye of Him to whom we have to answer at the 
 last ! When we appealed to Him before, He 
 blessed us, with a wise decision — and by the 
 grateful offices of one whom we yet love ! 
 
 Samuel L. Southard, 
 James A. Williams, 
 Harry Finch, 
 Charles W. Rankin, 
 E. B. D. Ogden, 
 J. W. Miller, 
 D. B. Ryall. 
 
 Camden, September 1, 1853. 
 
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