you to tell me in what way I shall proceed to do this; for I presume it will not be pretended, that, placing those letters in the hands of three individuals—one of whom has long been inimical to me, and was therefore disqualified for acting upon such a committee, and another of whom is known to be inimical to Mr. Miller, and for that reason disqualified in like manner—is telling the matter complained of to the Church At any rate I should like to know how you view it, and what you think is the proper way of telling this offence of my brother "to the church.” For, having gone thus far in trying to do my duty, I am now disposed to persevere even unto the end.
Hoping to hear from you at your earliest convenience in reply to this, I remain,
Yours truly,
.B. F. Barrett.
(No. XI.)
Boston, July 3d, 1855.
Dear Brother,
I have just received yours of yesterday. I had no opportunity to read your documents before they went to the Committee, for Mr. Beswick did not deliver them till after the Committee was appointed. Then I had only time to see that they related to the case before I handed them to the Committee. But if I had received them earlier, it would have made no difference, for the Convention would not have thought it proper to have such letters read before such an assembly.
You complain of the composition of the Committee—that one of them was inimical to you, and another inimical to Mr. Miller. I appointed the Committee, and I found it no easy thing to do; for over and over again, when I thought of any one as a particularly suitable person, it occurred to me that you had had some difficulty with him, and so I was obliged to look out for another. At length I fixed upon those whom I supposed you could not object to. Nor do I now believe that either of them was inimical to you.
You desire to know what I think you should do next. I think you had better not do anything until you have seen the report of the Committee; for in it you will See the Words of men who do not desire to injure any one. You will see that they have been very considerate and tender in their expressions with respect to you. I hope you will conclude that the case has been submitted to impartial men, and that you will abide by their decision. I hope that you will also become fully reconciled to Mr. Wilks, and to the Convention. This is the course which, in my opinion, will be most beneficial to you and to the Church, and I do earnestly hope that you will not think of any other.
The plan which you propose, would certainly bring much disgrace upon the Church, and I am afraid that it would destroy you entirely.
I congratulate you upon the recent addition to your family. Please give my kind regards to Mrs. Barrett. I have been very glad to learn of the improvement in her health.
Very truly yours,
T. Worcester.