The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-01 00:00:00

iiITOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

. /ft/ werffty brethren dear, htett see the nete-taerde plan, , nem at her feet upon the lion's skin he had himself
And your appoint.. nts there, now take thens if you eats; ' brought home as trophy of his prowess from the
But if you should be called aside, be sure you got thens African desert. He had mitt succeeded in quieting the
well eupplied." scruples betrayed by the poor actress concerning the
disposal of the diamonds. he had lust been persuading
The plan Wilk simply a list of thirteen places which were
to be visited by the elders The headquarters id the sect her that they had been bestowed as a tree gift by the lowiret
of kindly ri,lations, who had no other help to bestow at
appeared to he in Essex. The document concluded with the
that moment to free him from the difficulties into which he
words, o Dear brethren,—lt is requested that the church
hail fallen. rihe lovers were devhing all kinds of plans for
visited pay the yielding elder Id. his time and travelling ex- .
the future. They were to fly to Italy, to sail for America.
"tenses." The elder then sald, in answer to the coroner's ,
They were to roam amongst the Abruzzi, they were to Mall-
inquiry into what the document had to do with not calling
der over the solitary prairie alone. The exact direction they
In a doctor to save the child's life," ixteen years ago the
Lord saved my soul. All then are appointed to die we were to take was undetermined as yet, hut the solitude at
all events was decided upon. The dream was enchant-
have a conscience that we want to keep clean"—
log, and they were inhaling the last breath of that azure
At this pohit the coroner cut short the sermon, that was
fluid, more intoxicating than the strongest drug, when a
evidently intended to he a long one, by proceeding to sum
struggle was heard at the door of the boudoir, a scuffling of
up The deceased child, he said, had lost its life through
feet, stew words uttered in ft gruff voice, and presently a
the fault of the parents in not procuring necessary medical
aid, and the offence amounted in law to manslaughter. . loud knock upon the panel, with the words, so awful to a
Elders might leave their own lives to the care of the Lord if French ear that they always seem like the summons of the
they liked, but the lives of children should not be played headsman on the morning of the execution, "Open hi the
name of the law "' The doorman tucked; the actress started
with. Ile Itked their notion of trusting in the Lord, but in
this case they hail gone too far,
to her feet, but the young lover rose slowly from his re-
eluting pos' .1 the lion's skin. It needed but to I,—.

The jury, after a short consultation, returned a
verdict of manslaughter against Thomas Wagstaffe
, and Mary Andrews Wagstaffe.
The coroner said that he would take bail for the
I appearance of the accused at the Central Criminal
Court. He fixed the amount at f.:80 for Wagstaffe
and his wife, and two sureties of kin each.
Two members of the sect, hat manufacturers
became sureties.
The Elder above alluded to, said that in Essex,
where they had numbers of these cases, the coroner,
after consulting with the Recorder, decided that
when they sincerely believed in the Lord it was not
manslaughter.
The Coroner said that be was of a different opinion,
and that he would send the parties to Newgate in
future cases, for children's lives should be protected.
The age for miracles WWI past, and they would I;nd
that though the gates opened for Paul and Silas, the
gates would not open for them when they were in
prison.
The Elder remarked that physic killed a great many
people.
The Saints gained a victory over the people of the
world at the cod of the case. When they had signed
the bail bonds they refused to pay the usual fees, and
as the bonds were signed and accepted there was no
way of compelling them to hand over the money;
they accordingly went on their way rejoicing in the
Lord.

lining posture on v.. ,non's skin. It needed 'hut to look at
the ghastly expression of dismay which had overspread his
features to have the truth revealed at once. The gulf was
yawning at his feet. She knew the worst at a glance, and
with a resolution and courage worthy of a heroine of the
olden time, she seized the bottle she had prepared In case
she had been destined to separation from her lover, and
swallowed a draught of its contents without the =anent
hesitation. As she sank backwards on the sofa the second
summons was distinctly heard, louder 81111 more peremptory
than the first-- Open in the name of the law !" The
young man was bewildered and terrified at the result of his
own folly and imprudence. Ile, too, felt not brave enough
to face the consequences, and, perhaps scarcely conscious of
the act, drained off what remained of the drug. The third
summons was followed by a tremendous crash, the bursting
open of the door by the butt-ends of the guns of the guard,
and the poor victims. already in the agonies of death,
offered no resistance to the authorities they had seemed to
defy. The actress lived for some hours, and it was from
her lips that the tale was gathered. The young mum tiled,
without uttering a word, before the guard had withdrawn
from the house. The story is one of the most terrible that
has happened since the days of Louis Philippe, and ia
always quoted as the great criminal idustration of the
Second Empire. No wonder that the Princess Bacclochi
should have sought, in retirement anti the contemplation of
Nature, forgetfulness of the tremendous storm which had
passed over her head, awl, without any fault of hers,
weighed her down beneath its burden.

At the Central Criminal Court, in London, on
Wednesday, Thomas Wagetaffe, and Mary Andrews
Wagstaffe, his wife, surrendered to take their trial for
the manslaughter of Luis Wagstaffe.
Mr. Metcalfe prosecuted by direction of the court ;
the prisoners were undefended by counsel.

This was the case of the "Peculiar People," as they term
themselves. The offence imputed to the prisoners was, that
While the child in question Was suffering from an attack of
inflammation of the lunga all that was done was to atiotnt
the chest and call in the Elders of the "Peculiar People" to
pray to God for its recovery.
Mr. Justice %Villes expressed his opinion at the outset
that the facts would not support a charge of manslaughter.
The only offence imputed ti the defendants appeared to be
that they had not called in a medical man; but according
to his evidence, even Ii he had been called in, the same re-
sult WOl/111 have been arrived at. lie said, however, that
prohatily the better course would be to hear the evidence.
The :acts were accordingly gone into. It appeared that
the child in location hail been sickly from its birth, and that
it was attacked by inflainination of the lungs, and died of
that mal.dy. No medical nuns was called in, but all that
was done was to anoint the chest and to pray for the restora-
tion ot the child.

A wltness, named Fanny Adlain, who was one of the sect
of "Peculiar People," stated in answer to questions put by
the learned judge, that the members of " the Church" did
not think it was any sin to call in a doctor ; but since they
had come to the "terse knowledge of the Lord," they had
entire faith in God. she had herself, she said, suffered
severely from serious Illnesses, and had never called in a
doctor, but had placed faith in God, and she had always
recovered.

ttttttt Willey to the witness, Then you think it is
a superfluity to call in a doctor? You bolievo (led will
answer your prayers: and that he will heal the patient with-
out the assistance of a doctor?

~.„
Witness That is our helm!. We have seen so many cases
Where a recovery has taken place that we have entire faith.
We consider that it is all very well for those who have no
faith to call inn doctor.

Mr. O'lionoghne, who made the post tnorteln examination.
saki that the child died front acute inflammation of the
lungs, and he expressed an opinion that the symptomi must
have been very urgent, and that if a medical malt had been
called in the child's life would probably have been saved.
Mr. Juatice Watteisuninsed up the case at considerable
length, and observed that it was notorious that the medi-
cal profession differed very much as to the treatment of
lung diseases, and the sole question for them was whether
the prisoners had caused the death of the child by gross and
culpable negligence.

The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a
verdict of Not Guilty, but at the same time censured
the prisoners for not having called in medical advice.
On the above case one of the " Pecnliar Brethren
has written the following to a London contemporary;
respecting misstatements appearing in the report of
the " Extraordinary Delusions." He says:—
.

In the first place the name of the child is Lois not Louis
as wrongly stated (2nd liinothy, let Ch 5 verse and not after
• distinguished Saint as we do not recognise the existence of
suck we all being Baptized into one body and made to drink
Into one spirit none lording it over God's Heritage
254. For reasons peculiar to Himself Thomas Cook describes
the place were the parents of the Child resides as a loft if
four rooms properly lath de Plastered and in Thorough repair
and in no respect different to rooms in new Buildings de-
manding a rent of 4,25 per annum; is a loft, I am certain
there are thousand's of Skilled Mechanics including myself
who would be glad to occupy such Lofts
And in reference to our dispensing with the aid of Doctors
we h tie a more excellent way one laid out for us by the
New Testmient Scriptures though there be many who say
the age tor such things are past they tail to tell us at what
partie.ular period the word of God betowne a dead Letter

A Juror attempted to quote scripture which never existed
But to the Qu, stlon If your Leg was broken A:l' I infer
Him and others to the 10 and 20 verNes of the 3 ith Psalm
1 will not furtner intrude upon your valuable time than
by statim: that the Plan mentioned was put in merely to
show that this Peculiar People existed in other parts of the
country anal have been thank God for more than 30 years
truAing to your love of the truth for the insertion of this in
your Journal You will Oblige Yours Faithfully
8.8., Newington one of the peculiar Brethren)
William Bri.lg.es, styling himself an Elder of Bath
street Chapel, London-road, Southwark, writes :

_
As you have an account in your valuable paper of a
coroner's inquest respecting the people calling themselves
"Peculiar,' you will kindly allow me to correct three mis-
takes.

I.The chilli's name is Lois 2 Timothy, I. k, not Louis.
2. Thomas Cook stated that he went to a loft, where he
saw the child ; whereas there are four small rooms, fit, for a
working man and his family to live in comfortably ; and
a The hail refused to pay the fees, because they signed
no paper, and it was not the coroner who asked thorn to
pay . . .

And, respecting the views they hold, and why thus call
themselves" Peculiar," is when they hall ti register their
chapels they were obliged to give a name, awl as they adhere
Closely to the Scriptures, that is the IMMO Goil gives to His
people, as will be found in several places in the Bible, and
in the New Testament-1 l'eter, ii., 9, "But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people, that ye should show forth the praise of Him who
bath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light
and Titus, if , 14, "Who gave himself for us that he might
redeem us front all iniquity and purify unto Himself a
' peculiar ' people zealous of good works," they do not think
they hold umeriptural views. They believe Jesus Christ
came int.) the world to save people front their sins, and that
they might have a holy, heavenly, divine life, which they
get by being born of the Spirit. They are then enabled to
lead a new life because they are made new creatures in
Christ Jesus. It is not a point, they long to know whether
they are the elect of God, for God gives them His Spirit to
witness with their spirit that they are the children of God ;
for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ Jesus he is none
of His.

Respecting healing the sick, we take James v., 14.; and
all those who have faith in God's word trust in the Lord for
the body as well as the souL
If we have been breaking a law respecting our children it
has beets done ignorantly. We are not a people who wish to
break the law in word or deed, but to adorn the doctrine of
God our 51,svionr in all things.
With respect to being cattail "fanatics," we are not sur-
prised, for the Auth d. of this religion was called a blas-
phemer ; some sail be had a devil and Iva own family sai•l
he was bobble himself. If, then, they called the Master of
the house lieelsebub, so wonder if they call those of his
househ4 dd.

If you aid kiadly ingert the above 1 shall feel greatly
obliged as a lover of the truth.

An " Eisex Incumbent" also writes :

I do most earnestly hope that you will " work " the tenets,
of the " Peculiar People." Their founder was, I believe, a
certain Banyard, who lived in the good town of Rochford.
But, alas, sir, a grievous heresy arose. Bement's wife
"was t.ken worse," and Biinyard did his duty ; that is, he
ran for the doctor. For this his brother elders severely
censured him ; but not long afterwards the prophet himself
wanted the doctor and had him, but he died all the same,
and over since then there has been a schism in the camp,
Shiites and Soonites, doctors and no-doctors. „ .

.....
I have a certain person in my parish who is very' peculiar"
Indeed about small-pox; but, unfortunately, his peculiarity
takes a wrong direction, for he thinks it wicked to have his
children vaccinated. On remonstrating with him lie
triumphantly directed my attention to Mark ed., IS. Well,
I said, M my Innocence, I will bring you up a black adder
and a bottle of laudanum, and, it you will drink the
laudanum over night and let the adder sleep with you, and
get up all ince mid comfortable next morning, why then I
will grant you that if you lay your hands on the sick they
will recover. You will hardly believe that he would not
accept my very natural proposition. They are great then-
logiaim are these Peculiar People.
At the commencement of last Lenten season I asked one
of then, if he would come to a weekday lecture, if I had it
in my barn instead of the church. Well, air, he said,
"Should I be allowed, after you had finished, to say a few
words ?" I hastily made up my mind to have it in the
church. . .

Seriously speakinz, the delusion of these persons has
become 111 some parts of Essex • mischievous evil, and
requires to be dealt with by the ridicule of the press and the
high baud of the law.

he had sent invitations to the detective police to attend
his lecture. He went on to praise Ireland, reciting,
of coarse with disapproval, to Mr. Roebuck's recent
speech at Sheffield; and as a proof of Irish greatness
he recited a list of distinguished Irishmen. After this
he called for groans for "Mr. Roebuck's slanders,"
and the appeal was very heartily responded to. Mr.
Train then spoke of himself. Ile said that he was
born in Boston, which he characterized as one of the
meanest places in America. He was sorry for that
piece of ill-fortune, and begged to apologize for it. His
ancestors, however, were very distinguished people,
and one of them had been second cook in the May-
flower. All the Americans who had come here, he
said—Mr. Everett, Mr. Bancroft, and Mr. Adams—
were "bottled on getting to London by Lord
Russell and Mr. Gladstone. Assuming that he should
get the £lOO,OOO he claims as damages from the British
Government, he said he would give it all for a single
hour to speak for Ireland in the British l'arliament.
He concluded amid immense cheering, and was after-
wards borne in triumph on the shoulders of some of his
admirers.