The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-13 00:00:00

SENDING A THREATENING LETTER.

At Worcester, the Rev. J. J. Merest, rector of Upton,
Snodsbury, near Worcester, has been indicted for sending on
the sth October ult., a certain letter, demanding money of
the Rev. R. M. Workman, of Is, Southampton-street, Strand,
London, with menaces, and without any reasonable or pro-
bable cause.
On the prisoner being arraigned, he pleaded not
guilty to the charge of felony, and guilty to a misde-
meanour in sending letters of the dates of October 3,
July 4, and December 22, 1868. The letter of October
3 was signed by the prisoner, and it states :
"1 am informed upon undoubted authority that your name
is Rawlings, and that you were once curate of El untshourn,
in Hants, and P.C. of Bardsley, Lancashire. I have mil to
say that, unless the £465 that I paid you for Branksen be
returned, together with the documents that I agreed to
when last in sour office, and a full explanation given of how
the money for the house at Upton and the restoration of
the church is invested, it will come before the public."
The letter of July 4 was anonymous, and signed "A
Friend of the Clergy." It was dated "London," and
addressed "Rev. Mr. Workman, 10, Southampton.
street, Strand." It proceeds
Your habits in swindling the clergy pretty well known
and talked about, and your late transactlces will soon be laid
before the public and a stop put to all further flLshonest
transactions. It appears that you are in the habit of pur-
chasing advowsons with the money of others, and then ob-
taining patronage yourself. You have already had the
pleasure of trying the treadmill, and will soon be there
again. Before any farther disclosures take place I should
recommend, for your own sake, that you will refund the
money you have obtained through your fraudulent promises,
or the full facts will be made public."
Mr. Huddleston, addressing his lordship, said he
hoped he would sanction the course which he and Mr.
Kenealy proposed to take. On the depositions there
was not evidence enough to support the charge of
felony, but it was impossible to resist the charge of
sending a letter such as mentioned in the indictment
for misdemeanour. The circumstances were peculiar.
The prisoner had entered into negotiations with the
prosecutor, who had managed for him the sale of
valuable livings, and after certain pecuniary arrange-
ments a certain sum was placed in a bank, the prose-
cutor and another gentleman being trustees, for the
purpose of purchasing for the reverend defendant a
living. There was a misconception on the part of both
parties with regard to the pecuniary transactions. The
prosecutor seemed to expect to derive an advantage
from the purchase and sale of the living, and the defen-
dant thought that as a trustee he was not so entitled.
Disputes consequently arose, and the defendant came
to the knowledge of certain matters which he had in a
letter to the prosecutor indiscreetly intimated that be
was disposed to make public. No one was more
sensible of the indiscretion he had been guilty of than
the defendant himself, and he had thrown himself on
his lordship's consideration by pleading guilty to the
charge. The object of the prosecutor was to prevent
further annoyance from such letters, and if his lord-
ship would sanction the suggestion, it was proposed
that the rev, defendant should enter into his own
reognisances to come up to receive judgment when
called upon.
Mr. Konealy, Q.C., ass..nted to this proposal on the
understanding that Mr. Workman having manifested
this kindly and Christian feeling towards a brother
clergyman, the defendant would act with a similar
feeling, and would not renew the annoyance.
His Lordship approved of this course, observing
that if the annoyance was repeated, the defendant
would be liable to be brought up to receive judgment.

MR. GLADSTONE'S FIGURES ON THE
IRISH CHURCH.
Mr. Gladstone, in answer to a question by Sir S.
Northcote, on Monday night, repeated his calculations
as to the property of the Irish Church in a somewhat
more precise and detailed form than when he intro-
duced his bilL His figures are as follows :

ASSETS. CHARGES.
Tithe-rent charge £9,000,000 Lifeinterests of in-
Leased lands inul eumbents of all
perpetuity rents, 4,000,000 Mk. • •
th I Curates
Glebe and oer
, Lay compensations 600,000
lands let out for I Aloes 300,000
short terms . .... 1,600,000 pri,,at.
Lands in occupa- 1 rnents ..
Bon of ecelesias- ' Building charges
tics .... .. . ..... 750,000 on glebe-houses 250,000
3liscellaneous hinds 750,000 Presbyterian and
Roman Catholic
£10,000,000 compensations .. 1,100,000
Expenses of CoM-
-0,650,0°° unssion i 20,000
a-year; ........ . 200,000

endow.

./.8,650,r0

Tlelieving, however, that on the whole "the remilts
will come out rather better than worse," ar. Glad-
stone fixes £7,500,000 as the probable surplus.