Gury, Father Victor, Frelsburg, Texas, to Archbishop Napoleon Joseph Perché, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1882 January 9

Gury thanks Perché for naming him a member of the episcopal council. Gury gives Perché an explanation of the opposition this appointment met among some members of the clergy. During the week preceding the Synod of February or January 1879, Bishops Dubuis and Dufal sent Gury to Galveston. On his arrival they told him that they had appointed him vicar general. Gury accepted only on the their insistence. The day after his acceptance, the priests of these diocese held a meeting of these opposed to Bishop Dubuis and decided that Gury was not acceptable to them. To find a reason, one recalled that he had seen Gury drunk 10 years ago. That day Gury had done 100 miles on horseback and railway and one half mile on foot from the station to the house of the pastor of Houston; he does not recall being in that state. So the two Bishops withdrew his name. Gury was well satisfied but to defend his honor as a priest he demanded an investigation. Dubuis asked Gury not to do so. The priests claimed that they had no objections to Gury's character but only to his principle of always being on the side of authority. If Gary had been drunk 10 times during the 28 years he has been in Texas, would that make him unworthy to hold office in the diocese? Father Anthony M. Turchard in his letter to Father Buffard called the charges historical facts; if the Perché thinks it is necessary, Gury wants these charges investigated. Truchard has been the core of the coalitions against authority, always behind the scenes. :: VI-3-d A.L.S. French 4pp. 12mo.