1906. Originally, Tyrrell did not intend to make this letter public. However, he justifies public publication because under the altered circumstances: I am convinced that such a course will remove far more scandal than it will cause. In the Introduction he explains his reasons for changing his mind; the letter in question is founded on ideas written two or three years earlier; the letter can only be judged in light of its original context, not read in extracts; and parts of the published letter were not written by him but he agrees with their contents. Such parts, he maintains, resulted from adaptations to local circumstances. Tyrrell advocated the untenability of the conservative Catholic position. Following the publication of A Much Abused Letter he was expelled and suffered minor excommunication for letters to The Times opposing decrees against Modernism. He was also attacked by Bishop Mercier as being the embodiment of Modernism.