The Press. — London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

366 THE CHURCH SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S, KNIGHTSBRIDGE. DIFFERENCES have foil some time past existed be• tween the Hon. and Rev. R. Liddell, incumbent of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, and some of his parish ioners, relative to the manner of performing service in that church. The incumbency, it will be remem bered, was held some time since by Mr. Bennett, and the complaints in question refer to the continuation of many ceremonial observances, intonations, pro cessions, decorations, and fittings up of the church, &c., of which he set the example, and which were by many considered objectionable, on account of their resemblance to the Popish ritual. On the 4th of February Mr. Westerton, the churchwarden, laid before Mr. Liddell the subject of complaint in a series of articles. Mr. Liddell having declined to take any notice of this communication beyond a formal acknowledgment of its receipt, the church warden embodied his statements in a memorial to the Bishop of London and the archdeacon. The decision of the bishop has now been published. Divested of some matters of merely personal interest, his lordship's reply is as follows : " I have to acknowledge the receipt of your memorial, accompanied by a copy of a memorial addressed by you to the Hon. and Rev. R. Liddell, which letter you desire msy be taken as parcel and part of the memorial. " You complain of certain forms and practices observed in the celebration of divine service in the church of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, as being Popish and offensive, and you pray that I will cause inquiry to be made into the matters complained of, and admonish the said Robert Lid dell and his curates and others to discontinue the said `Popish and superstitious practices,' and especially that I will direct the removal of ' the high altar' and the cross standing thereon, and the credence-table, and several other superstitious things referred to in your memorial. ' In the first place, I have to observe that when you speak of Mr. Liddell as having introduced into the performance of public worship the several Popish practices and innovations set forth, you appear to have forgotten the fact that these forms were introduced, not by Mr. Liddell, but by his pre decessor eleven years ago ; that Mr. Liddell has continued them as he found them, with the exception of a few ob servances which were discontinued at my request, and that no formal complaint of them has been made to me since the date of his incumbency. This, it is true, does not render legal anything which is in itself illegal, but it re lieves Mr. Liddell from the charge of having introduced the practices in question, and throws the onus of that charge upon me, for not having sooner interfered to put a stop to them. To some extent I may, perhaps, be justly liable to that charge. but not to the extent which you imagine. For the sake of avoiding fresh disturbance in the district, I may possibly have erred on the side of in dulgence, not forbidding that which was not clearly ' Po pish and superstitious,' as certain other observances in the chapel of St. Barnsbas appeared to me to be, which I did interfere to prevent, and which were the ground of my disagreement with Mr. Bennett. I will now proceed to notice, one by one, the heads of your memorial. 1. You complain that before the commencement of divine service the choristers and other lay persons are formed into regu lar order, and so proceed from the clerk's vestry in a kind of theatrical procession, in such order and arrangement, and in all respects similar to what is observed in Romish churches, and that ' the second act consists in a solemn procession of the clergy, each beating, with pomp and cere mony, one or more of the vessels used in the offices of the Church.' " With regard to the first matter objected to, it by no means follows that a custom, in itself decent, is to be con sidered a peculiarly Romish custom because it is observed in the Church of Rome. It seems to me to be quite as proper that the pervms engaged in the performance of the Church's offices should walk to their places in regular order, as it is that they should straggle on one by one, and take their seats as they may happen to enter the church. It is customary in many of our cathedrals, perhaps in all of them, for the choristers and singing men to walk in procession from their vestry to the choir, followed by the clergy in order, two and two To this custom, if there be no ostentatious display, I see no objection; although if it gave offence to pious persons I should recommend its dis continuance. The case is different with respect to a pro cession of the clergy bearing the vessels and elements used at the holy communion. This I regard as a distinct imita tion of the practice of the Roman Church, and Mr. Liddell has assented to my request for its discontinuance. If the vessels or elements are brought into the church before the celebration of the holy communion begins, they should be brought without any procession or ceremonial before the commencement of divine service. "2. With regard to bowings," genuflections,' and gesti• culations,' Mr. Liddell denies the truth of your statements. I did not observe any such gesticulations when I held a confirmation in St. Paul's Church on the 24th of March, nor were any such noticed by a confidential person who attended divine service there at my request on Sunday last. The custom of bowing upon entering a church or chancel is a very ancient one, and very generally observed in our Church till within the last hundred years. I have been told by some old clergymen that when they were young it was the general practice, at least with the clergy. Ido not observe it myself, but I should be loth to impute a superstitious feeling to those who do. The rule to be fol lowed in this and similar cases is not to use outward marks of reverence in an ostentatious or singular manner, so as to awaken suspicion, and call forth observation. Ido not see how it is possible to lay down a stricter rule than this, or to prescribe an exact scale for the orderly expression of devout feelings. I have already expressed my dislike to frequent genuflections in my charge of ltiso. I have reason to believe THE PRESS. that Mr. Liddell is not only not inclined to anything like ex travagance in this respect, but has endeavoured to restrain it in others. I cannot, however, forbear from observing that our congregations are for the most part too unobservant of the outward expressions of devotion, and that it may some times be desirable that the clergy should set them a good example in this respect. With respect to the particular one of bowing the head when the doxology or ascription of praise is pronounced, I believe it to be a novelty in our Church, and have more more than once expressed my dis approval of it. "3. I now come to the subject of intoning the service. It is well known that I do not approve of this mode of performing divine service in parish churches. I expressed my dislike of it in my charge of 1842; and all I can say in its favour is, that I had rather hear the prayers well in toned than badly read. But whether I have authority to forbid it is a different question. [The bishop quotes from the canons in support of this view.] "4. With respect to the communion-table, which the memorial designates ' the high altar,' I have to observe that you use that term incorrectly. The high altar is the principal altar in a church where there are more than one, which is not the case in any of our churches, except in a few instances where a church is divided into two parts, and divine service is performed in each. The communion table in St. Paul's Church cannot be termed an altar, ex cept in a figurative sense of the word. It is not of stone, but wood ; not fixed, but moveable. When I consecrated the church, the disputes on this article of church furniture had not risen to such a pitch as they have since attained, and the height of the communion-table did not attract my notice. It is now a part of the goods of the parish; and although the churchwardens, with my consent and that of the vestry, might change it or replace it by another, I do not believe that I have authority to direct them so to do. If any persons think it to be the duty of the churchwardens to make such a change, they must proceed against them by a suit in the Consiatorial Court. " b. As to the candlesticks on the communion-table, I have stated my opinion in my charge of 1842, and I am not prepared to retract that opinion. I had rather not see them in parish churches, but I am not prepared to order their removal when they have been placed there for several years. " 6. The wooden cross which is fixed upon the com munion-table I consider to be objectionable ; but when, soon after Mr. Liddell's appointment to St. Paul's, I ex pressed a strong wish for its removal, I was assured by Mr. Sotheron, M.P., then one of the churchwardens, that such removal would wound the feelings of a great number of the congregation, and I therefore allowed it to remain in suspense. As this cross (which is not large and mas sive, as you describe it, but small and light) was on the table when the church was consecrated (though not seen by me, a large offertory-desk being in front of it ), I am not satisfied that I have authority to direct its removal without consent of the churchwardens and parishioners, except by a formal decree of the Consistorial Court. I certainly wish it to be removed, and should be glad if the parishioners would agree to its removal without such authoritative sanction." His lordship conclue..s as follows: " I have now touched upon all the allegations of your memorial, and I have to observe, in conclusion, that if the practices complained of are ' offensive to the parishioners of the district of St. Paul, and bring scandal on the whole Church,' it is somewhat strange that the parishioners should have so quietly acquiesced in them for so long a time, and that I should only now be called upon by one of the churchwardens to interfere. The best proof that they are not generally offensive to the parishioners is to be found in the crowded congregations who attend the services at St. Paul's, in their devout behaviour there, in the yearly in crease of their alms and oblations, and in their readiness to assist Mr. Liddell in every pious and charitable under taking for the good of their poorer neighbours." On Wednesday the annual election of church wardens for the district took place at the school house in Wilton-place. Mr. Westerton was again proposed, but his opposition to the incujnbent occa sioned the nomination of a rival candidate, and the election was hotly contested. Ultimately Mr. Wes• terton was successful, but only by a majority of three votes, the numbers being 203 to 200. In the evening, after the result of the poll had been declared, a large body of the parishioners held a meeting, at which the reply of the bishop was discussed, and the follow ing resolution adopted : "That the Bishop of London having intimated, in reply to a remonstrance of Mr. Westerton, a desire to be favoured with an expression of the wish of the parishioners in certain furniture and practices of St. Paul's, we, the parishioners in vestry assem bled, beg to express a strong desire for the removal of the super altar, the credence table, the cross, and the candlesticks, and hereby authorise the churchwardens to remove the same. We strongly protest against the practice of the minister to open the alms•chest, and therefrom to pay choristers and washing expenses, as tending to bring alms-giving in its only legitimate form into contempt. We desire also to record our diapproval of the pro cession of choristers and clergy, and of the practice of intoning instead of saying the services, and desire that the churchwardens will forward a copy of this resolution to the diocesan." A deputation was appointed to wait upon the bishop and present a copy of the resolution to him. THE GENERAL FAST to be held on Wednesday next was proclaimed on Wednesday by Mr. Beddome, the sergeant-at-arms, and other civic officers, at the Royal Exchange. A proclamation from tho Lord Mayor, requesting the citizens to close their shops and abstsin from all business on that day, in order that the fast may be devoutly and reverently observed by all classes, was also read. The ceremony at tracted a large assembly. SATURDAY, WARNINGS AGAINST CHOLERA. THE Board of Health have issued a notification, which was published in Tuesday's Gazette, conveying a serious warning to all boards of guardians, local boards of health, and other authorities entrusted with sanitary arrangements, against placing security in the present apparent disappearance of epidemic cholera. It is of the last importance, continues the naitica don, to bear in mind that a similar decline of the pestilence took place at corresponding periods of its progress on both its former visitations. The attack of 1t431 was premonitory of a more severe and wide-spread outbreak in 18.12. The epidemic of 1848, which in the autumn of that year numbered nearly one thousand victims in the metropolis, almost wholly disappeared in the spring, yet returned with redoubled violence in the summer, destroyed nearly two thousand persons weekly for several weeks in succession, and produced, including deaths from diarrhoea, a total mor tality of more than 17,000. In like manner, the outbreak of last autumn, which com menced with greater virulence than the epidemic of 1848, and destroyed in the metropolis during the first months of its course double the number of victims, has been followed by a lull, which has been more complete than that of 1849. But within the last month the disease has again become more active, and a gradual increase has taken place in the number of deaths, raising, for this month, the total deaths in England and Scotland to twice the amount of the corre• sponding period of 1849. The analogy of the preceding visitations therefore justifies the apprehension that the dis ease, instead of having ceased, is in its period of incubation, and that the epidemic, in its decided form and full force, is yet to come. The modifications in its character which the pestilence has recently exhibited are of a nature to render it doubly necessary that the first indications of its appearance in a locality should be vigilantly watched. In the majority of the places which it has hitherto attacked it has seized its victims more suddenly and hurried them through its fatal course with greater rapidity than on any preceding visita tion. One stage of the disease, formerly well marked, and of the utmost value with reference to the z:pportunity afforded for the application of the means of prevention, is now generally much shorter in duration, and often even sup pressed, namely, that denoted by the term " approaching cholera." Premonitory diarrhoea does still indeed exist, but that also is commonly of shorter duration, and passes more directly and rapidly into cholera, and cholera itself into collapse. During its first visitation in 1831 and 1832 the attacks of the epidemic, with few exceptions, were confined to the poorer portions of the population residing in the most neg lected and unhealthy districts. In 1848 and 1849 it was fatal to larger numbers of the middle classes inhabiting better-conditioned localities and houses. As far as the disease has yet advanced, the proportion of the better class attacked is still greater than in 1849. In that year, among the total number of persons who perished by the epidemic in the metropolis, 81 per cent. were labourers and artisans, and 15 per cent. were trades men ; but in the places in which the disease has lately pre vailed, the proportion of deaths among labourers and artisans has been only 72 per cent., while the mortality amongst tradesmen has reached 24 per cent. In like man ner, in the epidemic of 1849, the proportion of the deaths of the gentry and professional persons to the total deaths was 2.0 per cent., but recently it has risen to 3.2 per cent. In other countries the disease has not spared the highest classes, and, if the safeguards against it are neglected, there is no reason why it should in our own. It is furtherindicative of an increasing activity and in tensity in the pestilence that while the interval between its first and second visitations was sixteen years, the interval between its second and third visitations has been only four years ; and that its second visitation was far more extensive and mortal than the first. In the absense of more efficient precautions against it, there appears no reasonable ground for the expectation that the third will be less extensive and mortal than the second. . . The board then proceed at great length to insiston the importance of precautionary measures, and to urge the benefits which may be expected to follow the adoption of sanitary precautions. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNAL. AN invention designed to accomplish the great desideratum of establishing a means of constant communication between the guards and drivers of railway trains has been effected by Mr, Gluckman, and has undergone a series of very successful trials on the North Western line. The apparatus em ployed consists, in its simplest form, of a small "constant battery," placed in the guard's van, and communicating by a wire from each pole, led under the carriages with an electro-magnet. A powerful bell is placed near the hand-lever of the engine, the hammer of which is the "keeper" of the magnet; and as soon as the communication is made, by the guard pressing with his finger upon a small button in his van, the hammer commences to vibrate rapidly, and produces a loud and continuous signal. Experience has proved that the warning thus given can be heard by the driver above all the rattle of the train, even while passing through a tunnel. With respect to the difficulty of connecting the wires, and the expense of fitting up the carriages with the apparatus, the invention does not appear open to the objections which have been urged against signals of this description. Each carriage has its two wires permanently attached to it, insulated in a