The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-11 00:00:00

ADDRESS TO LORD SIDNEY GODOLPHIN

08B01114:

The following address has been presented to
"S. G. 0." (Lord S. G. Osborne) by residents of WWI-
- and the neighbourhood :
" We, the undersigned, lay members of the church of
England, being owners and occupiers of land, persons en-
gaged in trade and various professions in Wimborne and
the neighbourhood thereof, beg leave to exprese to you
our warm and earnest thanks for the hearty part you have
taken in resisting and denouncing the Popish doctrines
and practices that have been suffered to creep into our
church. We assure you of our hearty support, and that
we have no intention of abandoning those protestant
truths and that religious liberty for which our forefathers
went resolutely to the strike."—{Here follow the signa-
tures of between NO and 300 personal
To this address the following reply has been received:—
" To the Earl of Shaftesbury, and other lay members of
the church of England, being owners and occupiers of land,
persons engaged in trade and various professions, in Wim.
borne and the neighbourhood, who have coed and pre-
sented an address to the Rev. Lord Sidney G. Osborne.—
My Lord and Gentlemen—ln acknowledging the receipt of
the address in which you convey to me your earnest and
warm thanks for the part I have taken in resisting and
denouncing the Popish doctrines and practices that have
been suffered to creep into our church—permit me
heartily to thank you for this kind appreciation:74:z
conduct in a matter in which we are mutally int.
Believe me, I value your address, not simply in reference to
myself as proof of your good will, but chiefly as evidence
that you, representing a° large a body of the laity of all
classes over a large district of this diocese are resolved to
cleave to that plain protestant doctrine and practice on
which the faith of your forefathers was founded, and to
contend for that full religious liberty they enjoyed. You
clearly are not of those who will tamely submit protestant.
ism to lapse into Romanism ; your prayer-book to be cun-
ningly perverted into so much church authority to rule the
interpretation of your bibles ; your clergy to become, not
the ministers of the church charged to deliver pure scrip.
tore doctrines and to offer scriptural ordinances as a means
of gram, hut priests, arrogating divine power by an inhe-
ritance common to them and to those of the church of
Rome to search hearts and forgive sins, to work the miracle
claimed at the Romish altar at the table of the protestant
communion. May God grant that this may yet prove to
be the determination of the great body of English laymen.
You tell me these doctrines and practices have been suf-
fered to creep into our church. It is but too true, but it
S not the whole truth. I can have no doubt that there
are some amongst those whose sworn duty it is to protect
the church against such treason to her protestant prin-
ciples, who, not only were content to suffer it, but, alas !
were too much disposed to welcome it ; to such men we
am bound to my If, as overseers of a church which is
established under the protest of centuries against Romish
error, they now find they cannot be true to that church,
they are bound by every social and religious principle to
surrender their authority and retire from an office they
can no longer hold with real peace to themselves or safety
to the interests of those over whom they are appointed.'
You, gentlemen, I am sure, will agree with me that tress
are not the days in which it can be borne that public
authority shall be made subeervieat to private prejudice.
We are bound to respect the conscientious scruples and
opinions of our fellow-creatures, but it is treason to truth
and justice to leave the administration of the protestant
church in the hands of men who take little pains to con-
ceal from us that they are more disposed to follow aad
promote Romish prattlee than protest against it. It is
foreign to the sprit of our constitution that what the
' Sovereign swore at her coronation to uphold, any, who are
in authority under her, should deliberately reek to subvert.
Again thanking you for the avowal of principles, so many
of the laity in private profess to hold, and yet, are but too
slow to putlicly exhibit, believe me to remain, yours sin-
seedy, Wintry G. Omnivore. Dzrnt—,ti fzh. 1567."
-Salisbury Jeered. -

THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL ON REFORM.—Sir
John Kerslake, who is a candidate for the vacancy in the
representation of Andover, addressed the eleiters on
, Thursday evening. In the course of his speech the right
, hon. gentleman, after explaining the circumstances which
had led to his acceptance of his official position, and had
' brought him to seek their suffrages, observed, in Allusion
to reform, that at last all parties had joined in an opinion
I that the time was come when each and all should unite
I together to effect, as far as was possible, such a settle.
went of the question' on a fair and equitable basis, as
would set the master at rest, at any rate, for some
years to come. He strongly deprecated the agitation of
those who hail been going about the country for the
purpose of exciting class against class, and persuad-
ing the working classes that they were '.a::Red
their rights, and that they ought to obtain them by en-
constitutional methods. He desired that every man who
had or thought be bad a grievance slioahl endeavour to
get it redremsal ; if he thought that his voice was not
heard in the representation, he should seek redress
by the constitutional method of petitioning parliament.
• But of late a resort had been made to the practice of
aaseinbling men in large masses, for the purpose of intimi-
• dating the government and parliament. He did not like
to see that. Nor did he like to are another practice which
had been instituted of late, of mire) reacntoig gentlemen
who bed spoken on the question of reform, for the pus-
' pose of exciting the feelings of the working classes against
them. There wasone honourable gentleman in ',articular
from whom he differed in opinion. With relect
to the measure that was about to be brought is, he
trusted it would be met with that spirit of fairneas to
which it was entitled. The right honounA.:e gentleman
the leader of the opposition in the lower house said last
year at Salisbury that it should meet with no factious op-
position from him. and in his speech in reply to the adds.
on her Majesty's speech the right hon. gentlemen repeated
the statement. But he was sorry to find that the noble
lord the leader of the opposition in the upper Louse had
not thought proper to adopt the mine tone. He thought
that the conservatives had as good a right as anyone to
, settle the question. It was not the special mission either
of the liberals or whigs. (Hear, hear.) The state of
affairs this year was different from what it had been pre-
: vionsly. tip to the opeuing of parliament Lord Russell
and Mr. Gladstone had been abroad, end on the es e of the
session neither the noble leader of the opposition in the
upper house nor the right honourable leader of the oppo-
eition in the Holm of COIIIOIOIO gave their customary
dinner to their supporters. But it was a singular feet
that there was a dinner at the half-way house. (Laughter.)
I Lord Grosvenor and his animorters, who ha i brCllllO
I known as the Athilhimites, held a meeting, of which it was
pretty certain more would he heard before the end of the
j session. .111 now that parliament was aseemble,l, they
did not see the Adellamites taking their usual place on
the opposition benches. It night well be that they.
finding that vast numbers of men were being collected
in the metropolis and other great cities in tie provinces,
and marched about the streets, baying for their avowed
object manhood suffrage and the ballot, would hold
themselves aloof, and say they could not submit
to the demands of the ultra-liberal wasp, and dis-
connect themselves from those gentlemen, because they
did not endorse their views. That was the position of poli-
tical affairs at present, and by and by, if a measure we,
brought forward honestly attempting to effect a settle-
ment of the question upon a fair and equitable basis. and
no factious opposition was made to it on tile port of the
opposition as a body, Lord Derby would be entitled to the
credit of it ; if he failed be would have .cone all that 1.. y
in his power to set a much vexed question at rest, theezh
he was not able to carry his measure. ' mere.)
GREAT NORTHERN HOSPITAL, CALEDONIAN-ROAD,
ISLINGTON. —Number of patients for the week endiug
Feb. V, btid, of which 273 were new cases.