He saw the
especial peril of sham explanations, of covering up facts which
must soon be known, and which, when revealed, must inevitably bring
the plain people of England to regard their teachers, even the most
deserving, as "solemnly constituted impostors"--ecclesiastics
whose tenure depends on assertions which they know to be untrue.
Therefore it was that, when his catechumens questioned him
regarding some of the Old Testament legends, the bishop determined
to tell the truth. He says: "My heart answered in the words of the
prophet, `Shall a man speak lies in the name of the Lord?' I
determined not to do so."
But none of these considerations availed in his behalf at first.
The outcry against the work was deafening: churchmen and
dissenters rushed forward to attack it. Archdeacon Denison,
chairman of the committee of Convocation appointed to examine it,
uttered a noisy anathema. Convocation solemnly condemned it; and a
zealous colonial bishop, relying upon a nominal supremacy, deposed
and excommunicated its author, declaring him "given over to Satan.
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