The Express.
London, England, 1864-11-03 00:00:00

THE COLYTOY BURIAL CAS'S

About the beginning of September last, Juba
Pretty, a parishioner of Colyton, Devon, died. According
to the testimony of his pastor, he had been "an exceedingly
worthy man—humble, diffident, and tender-hearted.'
Whether be was visited during his last illness by the vicar
of the parish to whom the law had aasigned the "cure of
his soul, we have no positive information ; but soon after
his death, the vicar, the Rev. Mr. Gurwitz, called upon the
bereaved family, and told the daughter of the deceased
that "as he might probably be expected to bury her
father, be felt very tummy, and hoped she might be able
to tell lino anything of his faith which might take away
his couplet." To his inquiries the only &weer was
that John Pawl had died a decided Unitarian—a fact
which the vicar regarded as imposing upon himself " a
very difficult and unpleasant" duty. The friends of
the departed, however, do not appear to bave thought that
Guentz's private feelings were to be set up as the rule
of his official conduct as a public officer, and hence on their
behalf he was requested by the Rev. A. M'Combe, Uni-
tarian minister at Col, tot, to state whether they might
expect him to perform the last sacred offioes of the church
over the miners. of their relative on the following Satur-
day. The vicar replied that it would be necomary for him
to be furnished with legal proofs of his (Pavey s) baptism,
but that under:any circumstancesithe notice given would be
insufficient, as not allowing him time to receive an answer
from the bishop, to whom he had written by that day's poet.
A certificate,of the registration of John Poesy's baptism was
thereupon forwarded to the vicar, sod an Hewer to the ori-
ginal request was asked for by noon, at latest, on the
next day. The vicar acknowledged receipt of the certi-
ficate, confessed that it gave the dammed a right to;• place
in the churchyard, and stated that he should not object to
his interment therein at the appointed time, but declined
giving him " • Christian burial, by using the burial office of
the church," until he should have received the bishop's reply
to his letter. Mr. M'Coenbe then Somaliy claimed, on the
part of the bereaved family, that the church of England
servoe should be read over the remains of their departed
relative, and warned the vicar that if he demurred he would
do moat his peril, observing that "the free aloof the church,
and of all its servicee, is the common right of every
parishioner, and this right dote not depend upon the contin-
gency of a letter from the bishop, nor upon aav other coatis-
gene), ." This elicited the following final reply from the in-
cumbent :—" The late Jobe Prosy having died • units-
riao, denying the divinity of our Lord, and the Atone- ,
west, I cannot conscientiously read over hoe the burial ser-
vice of the church. tits right of Uttermost in his perish
burial ground I do nut deny, mid his Irmo& may exercise
that right, if they please, by interring him in the cease-
crated portion of the cemetery." The funeral took place
the nest day. The Rev. J. James, a neighbouring parish
clergyman, was present in the churchyard, bat not to offi-
ciate, and Mr. ll'Combs was obliged to go out into the ad-
jouriag street, where he read the burial service, Mr. James
meanwhile, together with the parochial schoolmaster, and
two or three of Mr. Geeritz's lads, remaining cowered during
the ceremony.

Yr. Gerrit's, the incumbent of Colytoe, willing to the
Cierierif Ammo!, says:—" 1 wee perfectly aware of the
limit cases, but no law sae compel we to delimiour my
Seeker by burying an avowed homer of Barn as a
Christian, even though it may be perverted tepunish a
prienS who acts acceediag to his ereacienoe." Now, we
are nee gang to make light of this clergyman's emscienee,
far Iwo( W obetheose to it to bis owe possible detriment
But we stroegly suspect that if her Mayen, were to embrace
the twine of iodepentionay, and were to use the kilotons
of the avows ageiust the leg,ai nghts and interests of the
bishop* and clergy of the church estelileanent, they would
not wagone as valid any *am her behalf that see was
simply scums "accoethug to her coesciewe." SW would
doubtless be reminded of her obligations contracted by her
coronation oath, and would be adviarelthat what she did in
her public capacity should be regained by the law and by
her eugegamesits Maw-ye it, an by her own iniividuel
convictiore. We see so swoon who clams:tee should
expect to be allowed more indulgence. They
are public officers. They 124•11 given ..certain se-
curities to the put& that !bey will strictly
onform their public acts he well-karma legal prosisious—
and, in virtue of having entered ince these engagements,
they obtain their legal title to their Wiwi etnolunieute and
privileges. They have ecisaioly surrendered their aght to
oppose the dictates of individual conatioace to the dactatee
of low. They are not fres agents. They have volsetanly
circumscribed their freedom by the stipulations of the cove-
-1 oast to which they have agreed, from which coveonat they
derive their authority to act as parish priests. They are
not entitled to take the askvantage• wishout the restrictions
lof the agreement—to receive the wages 6.4 their office, and to
enjoy at the name time free choice of the dams they
will perform. Where individual conscience clashes
'sub what is required of these, the obviously
, honourable course open to them is to terminate
I the engagemeut which they find themselves taesble,
with due self•respect, to carry out—and if, shoosing
rather to violate their own coveosot obligations, and brave
the penalties of their own wrong, tholew is applied to punish
them, it is a foolish misuse of terms, as well a. a childish
cosif Woo of ideas, to talk of the law tieing " perverted " to
I that end. The law awn and exacts promises of strict
obedience, simply to prevent the clergy of the establishment
from setting up their private convictions ea the rule of
their clerical duty—aad no one, probably, but a clergyman
would regard the enforcement of the law as • perwerooo
of it.

We have observed, of late, • growing tendency in clergy-
Men, and, especially, young clergymen, to assume extra-
legal power io the exercise of their functions. They show
in many ways a disposition to substitute fur Law their own
high notion. of priestly authority, and, in point of fact, to ,
become " • law unto themselves." As chairmen of vestry
meetings, in rural pariah.. particularly, they override with-
out
...duple the most undoubted righta of parishioners. In
marriage and burial case. we have recently heard of more ,
than one instance in which the national will, aa expressed in I
act. of parliament, has been &vainly, sometimes cal-
-1 temptuoualy, oontiavened.
I We are all the more gratified, therefore, to learn that the
', Western Unitarian etti.tiiin Union have determined to ,
luring Mr. tjueritz to book for presuming, as • public 1
I otlicer, to sat his individual conscience above the law of the
land. The resolution appears to us to be the dictate of true
' patriotism. We bare read with deep istereet the report of
: the meeting of that Union, which, by a singular coincidence. ,
' had been appointed to he held at Colytoo, before the occur-
rcuee of the fa.ta we have given an outline of above. While
unable to COOLIa in every line of argument adopted by the
speakers on that occasion, we can unreservedly express our
1 numeration of their spirit. We agree with Mr. Norrington
1 that Mr. Cueritz must not be allowed to deprive any of
i their "citizen righta," and that the question involved in
i the case of John l'avey is not one affecting unitarians ex-
c:usicely --" it concerns all dissenters, and even churchmen
I —every man who maintains the principle of civil and
1 religious liberty." So long as we bare • civil establiah-
meat of one form of religious faith and discipline, let us
take care that its administrators do not overpass the limits
preacribesl to them by law—or, little by little, we shall
bring back upon this country • system of sacs/dotal tyranny
such as our forefathers were unable to bear.—Konconformist.

THE LATE DOUBLE MURDER IN IRELAND.—The
murder of the two sisters, Anne and Ellen Murphy, at Great
1101) wood, near Balbriggan, still excites speculation as to
the perpetrator of the crime. The brother of the women
was brought up on remand on Tuesday at the Balbriggan
Court-house, and, on the application of Mr. Beytagh, who
appeared for the crown, a further remand was granted, ou
the ground that the police were still prosecuting ioquuies
as to a circumstance lately preaseted to their notice. It
appears that they have been informed that the prisoner, at
the time when be mid be was proceeding to his brother-in-
law's, on the evening of the murder, was seen to diverge
from the direct route, and go towards a bog some dietetic.
off. The police have been searching through the locality in.
cheated since Sunday, but, so far, their efforts to find any-
thing that would be a clue to the murderer have been un-
Tbe prisoner will be brought up agate next week.
—DiAlin Daily Express.