_Man and Bishop_
In addition to his accomplishments as a clergyman, prelate, and scholar,
Bishop Cheshire attained considerable skill and reputation as a
sportsman. Fishing and hunting were the sports he liked best and the
only ones he indulged in. He once remarked that he had been fond of
fishing from his boyhood, but he thought his liking for it increased
with age. His prowess as a fisherman was well known to his churchmen
from the coast to the mountains of North Carolina. During the 1890's,
when he was building up his mountain work, he would sometimes allow
himself a few hours of relaxation to fish for the fine trout in the cold
mountain streams. As a good fisherman should, he always carried his
tackle with him when traveling near promising streams. In later years,
whenever he had the opportunity, he returned to the mountains for a
brief vacation of fishing.
On one of these trips, accompanied by his son, Joseph B. Cheshire, Jr.,
he was fishing in the Watauga River. When they came to a ford, the
Bishop recalled that he had an old friend, Bill Holler, living a short
distance away, whom he would like very much to see. Accordingly, they
walked up the road about a half mile. Pausing at the foot of a
mountainside, the Bishop asked his son to climb up and tell Mr. Holler
that an old friend wanted to see him, but not to mention his name.
Shortly afterwards, his son returned accompanied by a little old man,
with long white hair and beard and a pleasant, wrinkled face. As soon as
the old man saw his visitor, his face lit up with a smile, he threw open
his arms, rushed up to the Bishop, and embraced him, crying: "Lord! It's
the old Bishop, the old Bishop, the old Bishop!"
The Bishop's fondness for hunting was almost as great as that for
fishing. He began hunting in early boyhood but, according to his own
statement, he never became a good shot. Many of his hunting companions,
however, would undoubtedly contest the point. Among the people of his
Diocese he was famous for his skill in wild turkey hunting. Strange as
it may seem, he did not kill a wild turkey until he was sixty-four years
old. Up to that time he had hunted partridges a great deal, but as he
grew older, he had to give it up because it required so much walking.
Hunting wild turkeys, although strenuous enough, was better suited to
his years. After his first kill, scarcely a season passed that he did
not bag at least one turkey. As the Bishop's enthusiasm for this sport
grew, he made an interesting collection of turkey calls. They ranged
from several varieties made from the wing bone of the turkey to the box
type, which was usually made of cedar.
[Illustration: _Bishop Cheshire fishing in the French Broad River,
September, 1912._]
[Illustration: _Photograph by Bayard Wootten
The Parker-Cheshire House in Tarboro, birthplace of Bishop Cheshire.
The house was built by Theophilus Parker, the Bishop's grandfather._]
Less than a month before his death Bishop Cheshire went turkey hunting
in the Roanoke River swamp, near Scotland Neck. On this occasion, at the
age of eighty-two, he killed a fine gobbler. About a week later he was
to go to St. Stephen's Church, Oxford, for a visitation and planned
while there to go turkey shooting with his friend, Rev. Reuben Meredith,
rector of the church. His son Godfrey was to join them for the hunt on
Monday. A few days before leaving home, however, he did not feel at all
well and, after consulting his physician, informed his daughter, Miss
Sarah Cheshire, he would give up the hunt. But by Saturday the Bishop
was feeling so much better that on his way to Oxford he wrote his
daughter the following letter:
"Dear Sarah:
When Godfrey comes to Oxford tomorrow have him bring my gun and the bag
in which I keep my hunting clothes and turkey calls. I am going turkey
hunting on Monday.
'When the devil was sick the devil a monk would be, When the devil was
well the devil a monk was he.'
Your affectionate father,
Joseph Blount Cheshire"
Bishop Cheshire had an enviable reputation throughout the state as a
raconteur of rare charm. Some of his best stories came from his fishing
and hunting experiences, but they covered many other subjects as well.
Most of his best anecdotes of personalities and events in North Carolina
history are found in his book _Nonnulla_. It was not always the content
of his stories which caught and held the interest of his listeners, but
quite as often the manner in which the Bishop told them. For this reason
they sometimes lose their color and charm when read or repeated by
someone else. When he told an amusing story, which he often did, one of
its best features was his own enjoyment in the telling and his hearty,
contagious laughter. Another characteristic of the Bishop's stories was
the natural way they appeared in his conversation, usually graphically
illustrating or emphasizing a point. He never dragged a story into his
conversation merely for the pleasure of telling it.
As a conversationalist, however, he did not depend upon his ability to
tell a good story. He could talk interestingly to persons from any walk
of life, seeming always to know just the right thing to say to each. He
never flattered, but gave freely his candid opinion whenever requested.
Although he talked a great deal himself, the Bishop made his listener
feel that he was interested in his ideas and wanted to hear them.
In his role as a preacher of sermons Bishop Cheshire did not resemble
his modern prototype, who quite often is more of a brilliant lecturer
than a preacher. The Bishop employed no oratory in his sermons, but
preached very much as if he were talking to a group of friends. He took
a text from the Bible, most frequently from the New Testament, and
proceeded to expound and interpret it, seldom using stories or anecdotes
to illustrate his ideas. They were unadorned, straightforward
expositions of religious truth. Of his sermons, the Bishop remarked to
one of his clergymen, "Because a man is not converted to Christ through
my teaching and preaching, I do not on that account conclude that he has
rejected Christ; he has only rejected my representation of Christ."
Dr. Robert B. Drane, for more than fifty years rector of St. Paul's
Church, Edenton, once wrote of a rather typical reaction to the Bishop's
sermons. He invited a man, who scarcely ever came to church, to come to
St. Paul's to hear Bishop Cheshire. The man said he would be glad to,
that he had heard the Bishop preach several times, and that he "always
talked sense." Dr. Drane remarked that if the thousands of persons who
belonged to no church could be made to realize that "preachers did
really talk sense," the membership of the churches would increase and
religion would be more respected.
While not meaning to belittle the value of sermons, Bishop Cheshire
sincerely felt that the prayers, responses, chants, and hymns of the
church's service, climaxed by the supreme act of Christian worship, the
celebration of the Holy Communion, held a greater significance for
mankind and better satisfied spiritual needs.
Bishop Cheshire's interest and activities extended to all phases of the
church's life in his Diocese. There was scarcely any work or endeavor of
his people too small to attract his attention. He often remarked that it
is "the little things that count." It was his capacity to understand and
sympathize with the everyday problems of his people that so greatly
endeared him to them. Although the Bishop never in any way permitted
himself or his clergy to become involved in controversial political
affairs, he displayed at all times a vital interest in the social
problems of his state. When he felt it to be the duty of the church to
take a positive stand on a social question, he did not hesitate to make
clear her position and to take what action he believed best suited to
the occasion.
The increasing number of divorces in North Carolina and the growing
laxity of the laws on that subject was a problem which gave the Bishop
much concern. In 1904 he called the matter to the attention of his
diocesan convention and suggested a remedy for the situation. The Bishop
asserted that there had been sufficient talk and theorizing upon the
divorce question and that now was the time for positive action. The
apathy of the public conscience, which had permitted the divorce law to
be greatly modified, was, in his opinion, the cause of the divorce evil.
Bishop Cheshire believed there was only one true reason for divorce:
adultery. For many years it had been the only cause recognized by the
state law, but in recent years frequent changes in the law to meet
individual cases had created an unjustifiable condition. Not one of
these modifications of the law had been adopted upon "any general
principle of morals or of social science."
The Bishop called upon the convention to express its condemnation of the
present legislation on the divorce question, and to issue an address to
the people of the state urging the necessity of reforming the divorce
laws. He also suggested that the convention appoint a committee to
communicate with the other Christian bodies of the state in order to
secure united action on the subject. After serious deliberation, the
convention indorsed the Bishop's position. It authorized him to appoint
a committee, of which he should be chairman, to publish an address to
the people of the state expressing the sentiment of the Episcopal Church
on the divorce question; and to prepare a memorial to the General
Assembly requesting that the divorce laws be restored to the status of
the code of 1883. The convention sent a request to the Diocese of East
Carolina, the Jurisdiction of Asheville, and all the other denominations
of the state to join in this memorial.
Bishop Cheshire lost no time in forwarding to every church conference or
synod, meeting prior to January, 1905, the resolutions of his diocesan
convention. Favorable action was taken on the resolutions by the
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Methodist Protestant churches. The
Bishop attended the Presbyterian Synod and the Conference of the
Methodist Church, and was cordially received.
When the General Assembly met in 1905, Governor Robert B. Glenn
recommended that the divorce laws be restored to the form as found in
the code of 1883. After a close consideration of the memorial of the
North Carolina churches, the legislature enacted a law which embodied in
substance the request of the memorialists.
Bishop Cheshire once more concerned himself with the divorce problem
when the legislature of 1931 was considering several bills for modifying
the conditions for granting divorces. At the time the bills were under
discussion he was visiting his daughter in Louisiana. In order to place
his views on the subject before the legislature, the Bishop addressed a
letter to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House of
Representatives. It was published in the _News and Observer_ of February
12.
He again attacked the practice of enacting special laws for
particular persons, and asserted that in some incidents the laws were
unconstitutional. He reviewed the efforts which he and many other
citizens had made about twenty-five years before to restrict the causes
for granting divorce. With public opinion behind them, their efforts had
been successful, but since that time many of the old abuses had
reappeared. The Bishop declared that from his knowledge of public
opinion in North Carolina, sentiment against relaxing the divorce laws
was as strong then as it had been twenty-five years before. In his
letter he confined himself to one principal idea, "the will of the
people of the State against personal influence in behalf of individual
parties," believing that it would produce a greater effect than if he
merely reiterated the usual moral and social arguments.
It cannot be said with certainty how much effect the Bishop's letter had
on the members of the legislature, but coming from a man whose character
and opinions were held in such high regard by North Carolinians, it must
have had some influence upon the outcome. The proposed measures were
defeated by large majorities in the General Assembly.
On one of the most controversial questions of the twentieth century,
national prohibition, Bishop Cheshire held very definite views. He
believed that each state should be allowed to decide the question for
itself, and that a federal prohibition law would breed more evil than
good.
Several years before the passage of the national prohibition law, Bishop
Cheshire attended a meeting in Raleigh which was considering various
aspects of social welfare work. He was present as an invited guest. The
business of the meeting was moving along smoothly, when someone
introduced a resolution to the effect that the meeting should
memorialize Congress with a demand that the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic beverages be made illegal in the United States. The resolution
was received with much enthusiasm. Many speeches were made advocating
its passage and all were applauded. After the enthusiasm had somewhat
subsided and the question was about to be put, Bishop Cheshire asked
permission to say a few words. He stated that he deplored excessive
drinking and its evil consequences, suffered as much if not more by the
innocent as well as the drinker. He sympathized with the purpose of the
resolution to achieve more widespread temperance, but, he reminded them,
good intentions unless intelligently directed often did more harm than
good. Under the American system each state or community had the
authority to outlaw liquor, as had already been done in North Carolina.
So long as the prohibition of liquor was confined to those states whose
public opinion was behind it, he believed it could be enforced. He did
not think, however, that a federal law could be enforced in those states
where public opinion and the state authorities were in opposition. He
maintained that what had already been accomplished in some states in
behalf of temperance would be jeopardized if an attempt was made to
impose prohibition upon those states which were not yet ready for it.
Upon the conclusion of the Bishop's remarks, there was for a few moments
complete silence. It was as if someone had thrown cold water over the
entire meeting. When a member moved that the resolution be laid on the
table, not a voice was raised in opposition to the motion, and the
subject was dropped. The Bishop was never one to allow his intelligence
to be overruled by emotionalism, and in stating his views on national
prohibition he not only displayed his sound judgment but also proved
himself a very good prophet.
Bishop Cheshire exercised a remarkable influence upon the people of his
Diocese. One aspect of the effect of his character upon them is seen in
the ready co-operation and assistance they gave him in his work for the
church. The inspiration they caught from him was not a transient
enthusiasm, but one which carried over from one endeavor to another.
Above all, the Episcopalians of the Diocese loved their Bishop as a
man—a vital, interesting personality who possessed none of the unctuous
pompousness of the commonplace ecclesiastic. Miss Nell Battle Lewis once
aptly characterized the Bishop as "much more than a Churchman, able
Churchman though he is. Foremost, he is a man—a gentleman—of the most
unswerving honesty, conviction, courage, kindness, humor, and
charm."[42]
Throughout almost all of his Episcopate Bishop Cheshire had no
secretary. By choice he attended to his correspondence himself, writing
all of his letters in longhand. Towards the end of his life he employed
a secretary for a short time, but soon found that he preferred to do the
work himself. He kept letter-books in which he entered a record of every
letter he wrote, giving the name of the person written to, the date, and
the place he was writing from. According to his own records, he wrote
during his Episcopate 66,778 letters. The Bishop never liked any help in
doing something which he felt he was able to do for himself.
As a father Bishop Cheshire won the admiration of everyone who knew him.
Each of his three daughters and three sons gave him their wholehearted
love, obedience, and respect throughout his lifetime. He gained and held
their devotion by his kindness, intelligence, and sympathetic
understanding. He was a strict disciplinarian, but always preserved a
tolerant and open-minded attitude towards the desires and weaknesses of
youth. He treated his sons as men and expected them to act the part.
The Bishop gave his children all the advantages he could afford. Two of
his sons were educated at the University of North Carolina, and the
third attended the University of the South. His three daughters all went
to St. Mary's School. When one of his sons was leaving home to enter
college, the Bishop told him that he would not ask him to promise to
refrain from forming bad habits at school, such as drinking and
gambling, nor would he accept such a promise if his son offered it. He
went on to say that he had tried to teach him right from wrong and that
his son well knew what things he could do that would make his father
happy and proud and those which would make him unhappy and ashamed. He
wanted his son to conduct himself as a gentleman, not because of any
promises made, but for the sake of decency. The Bishop asked him to
remember that he would always stand up for him as long as he was in the
right, but he would not defend him for a moment if he were ever guilty
of misconduct. This straightforward, manly counsel made a lasting
impression upon the son. It was typical of the Bishop's uncompromising
and practical way of thinking on moral questions.