Page:The Judicial Capacity of the General Convention Exemplified.djvu/9

Rh this, I was called to order by the President, and signs of disapprobation were expressed by the Convention, such as were unbecoming a Christian assembly.

Now I can truly say, that in the course I pursued on that occasion, I acted as wisely and as prudently as I knew how. And from that day to this, I have not been able to see wherein I could have acted more wisely or discreetly than I did, and done my duty as a Christian, or as a member of the Convention. Spite of my earnest remonstrance, Mr. Wilks was retained in the office to which the Executive Committee had appointed him; for that Committee never suffer any of their doings to be reversed, and woe to the man who intimates that they ever should be reversed. But he was not then admitted, formally, into full membership. And it was voted—and the vote had my cordial concurrence—that nothing which had been said in Convention, in relation to this matter, should appear upon the Journal. And nothing of it did appear. It was an unpleasant matter; and if what had transpired had been published, it would undoubtedly have been to the prejudice of Mr. Wilks.

And notwithstanding the unreasonable and most unjust manner in which I was treated on the occasion referred to, I very cheerfully consented to take the advice of the President—which was, to go and see Mr. Wilks in person in relation to the matter complained of, agreeably to the teaching of Matt, xviii., 15–17, according to the literal sense. And I acted upon that advice, as will be seen in my letter to the Rev. T. Worcester, under date of June 22, 1855. I first went to Mr. Wilks, privately, with a sincere desire that he might be able to satisfy me that he had not done the great wrong attributed to him; or, if he had, that he might exhibit such signs of sorrow and repentance as the heinous character of his offence demanded. But, getting no satisfaction from this private interview, I subsequently called on him again for the same purpose in company with brother Waldo; but this visit was even more unsatisfactory than the former, and attended with no better results.

Not long after this, at the Convention in Boston, June 27, 1855, which I was prevented from attending by sickness in my family, Mr. Wilks presented the following memorial:—

To the General Convention:—

The undersigned, formerly a member of the Central Convention, respectfully asks to be admitted a member of your body, as a Minister of the New Church.

And whereas, at the last meeting of the General Convention at Portland, the Rev. B. F. Barrett made certain statements affecting the private character of the undersigned, and calculated, if generally believed, to greatly prejudice, if not destroy, his usefulness as a Minister of the Lord’s New Church) he would, therefore, most respectfully request that the matter should be investigated at