The Sun.
London, England, 1830-05-19 00:00:00

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE BISHOP OP LONDON AND

THE REV. THEODORE WILLIAMS, IN REFERENCE TO

THE CHAPEL NOW BEING BUILT BY MR. WILBER-

FORCE AT MILL-HILL.

" London-house, May 22, 1829.

" Rev. Sir,—A copy of a notice, which you state is to
be your intention to have published in church next Sun-
day, has just been put into my hands.
" It is so indecent and improper, that I have no hesita-
tion in prohibiting its publication, which would subject
you to ecclesiastical censures. Mr. Wilberforce, lam
persuaded, be ready to consider calmly all objections
to his plan. I will ascertain, in the course of a day or
two, the effect of a district as to pews and repairs, which,
I believe, you have misunderstood.

" I am, Sir, your faithful servant,
" Rev. T. Wilberforce." " C. J. LONDON."
Mr. Williams having, in mere courtesy and candour to
Mr. Wilberforce, enclosed to him a copy of a notice which
it was in contemplation to publish, this gentleman, with
no very honourable intention, and without the least in-
timation to Mr. Williams, immediately conveyed it to the
Bishop of London; who, presuming upon an authority
which he does not possess, addressed Mr. Williams in this
intemperate and unprovoked manner. The letter is evi-
dently written without the least consideration, as it is

directed to the Rev. T. Wilberforce, instead of the Rev.
'l. Williams. And the notice, which the Bishop is
pleased to term indecent and improper, and which, in his
opinion, was to call down ecclesiastical censures, is printed
on page 16 of Mr. Williams's Address to the Inhabitants
of Hendon, and is this :—" Mr. Wilberforce having,
without the least intimation to the vicar or the inhabi-
tants, applied to the Church Commissioners for a district
to be attached to his proposed chapel; and the effect of
such an application, if granted, being to preclude all those
who may be contained in that district from a right to a
seat in their parish church, as well as to subject them to
the future repairs of the said chapel, a special vestry will
he held on —, to take into consideration in what man-
ner so injurious a proceeding to the interests of religion,
to the parish at large, and to private property, should at
once be met." We confidently leave it with the reader to
determine which is the more indecent and improper, and
which is the mere worthy of ecclesiastical censures, the
Bishop's letter, or Mr. Williams's copy of notice.

ANSWER.

" flendon Vicarage, Saturday Morning.

" My Lord,—Those who are in the constant habit of
witnessing my attention to every particular connected
with my church, will, I am sure, prove that I am inca-
pable of actin indecently in so sacred a place.
" As my diocesan, I should certainly (if the notice had
been mine) have attended to your prohibition ; though I
would, with every deference, submit whether it could have
subjected me to ecclesiastical censure.
" But it was yesterday determined in the parish, that
the notice to be given on Sunday next should simply be—
' to fix on an early day, by spec ial notice, for a meeting to
take into consideration Mr. Wilberforce's application to
the church commissioners :' a copy of which special notice
I will immediately forward to London-house.
" I have read the several Acts with great attention, and
shall be most happy to find that I have misunderstood them.
" Your Lordship's obedient servant,
" THEO. WILLIAMS."

Mr. Wilberforce must have been fully aware that the
form of notice had not been determined when he so dis-
ingenuously applied to the Bishop of London ; and as the
promise of a district had at this time been actually givim
to Mr. Wilberforce, the Bishop ought to have known that
Mr. Williams had not misunderstood the effect of a district.

" Hendon Vicarage, June 20, 1829.

" My Lord Bishop,--May I take the liberty of asking,
whether, in the event of my building a chapel at Mill-
hill, consisting almost wholly of free seats, you will con-
secrate it ? After all that has transpired, I cannot but
be anxious to obtain this information previous to incurring
so heavy an expense ; and as, with the existing population
of Mill-hill, there can be no plea nor pretence for a dis-
trict, I propose to make it a parochial chapel, to be served
through the incumbent of the mother-church, in such a
manner and with such a stipend as you may think proper
to direct.

" I am, my Lord Bishop, your humble servant,

"THEO. WILLIAMS,

" P.S. As I have been presented with a most desirable
piece of ground for the purpose, and as the season is fast
advancing, I trust I shall be forgiven while requesting an
early reply.
" The Lord Bishop of London."
As soon as Mr. Wilberforce commenced drawing bricks
to the ground on which he is now building his chapel,
and before the building had been in any way begun, Mr.
Williams gave him notice, under the advice, and in a
form prepared by Mr. Patteson, that he should oppose,
by every legal means, his unjustifiable proceedings. In
consequence, it is supposed, of this notice, and of the
Commissioners having ascertained that they had been as-
suming powers which the Legislature had not vested in
them, the Bishop of London recommended Mr. Wilber-
force not to proceed with his building ; and that recom-
mendation was adopted. But the moment Mr. Williams
offered, as above, to build a parochial chapel, and under
such restrictions as would preclude all objections, did not
the Bishop of London again write to Mr. Wilberforce,
and, though the best part of the season had gone by, ad-
vise him to forthwith prosecute his intention of building a
chapel ? The object in this advice is too evident to re-
quire comment And it is asked—Did the Bishop of Lon-
don ever acquaint the Board of Commissioners with Mr.
Williams's offer ? It is believed that he did not.

ANSWER.

"Fulham, June 22, 1829..

" Rev. Sir,—His Majesty's Commissioners for Build-
ing additional Churches and Chapels having consented to
vest in Mr. Wilberforce the perpetual right of nomination
to a chapel, intended to be erected by him in the parish
of Hendon, and a question having arisen touching the
powers of the said Commissioners in that respect, I cannot
return a definitive answer to the inquiry contained in your
letter of the 20th instant till that question has been de-
cided. But I may say, generally, that I conceive both
the Commissioners and myself bound, after what has
passed, to afford Mr. Wilberforce every facility for the
completion of his design.
" I am, Rev. Sir, your faithful servant,

" Rey. Theo. Williams." " C. J. LONDON."
Because Mr. Wilberforce (and in the grossest violation
of all good faith) intended to build a proprietary chapel at
Mill-hill, the incumbent and patron of the living is to be
thus indirectly prevented from building a parochial chapel,
and because the Bishop of London is pleased to make an
illegal and improper promise, yet, for the sake of his pro-
mise, and of those who sat with him, he feels himself
bound to afford Mr. Wilberforce every facility for the com-
pletion of his design.
" According to my honour and my conscience,
" I cannot break my word."
_ _

Mr. Williams, urging upon the Bishop of London the
injustice of the commissioners attempting to enforce a dis-
trict, not only against the wish of the patron and incum-
bent of the living, but of the parishioners at large, who
had, by unanimous vote of vestry, declared such a measure
inexpedient, was told in reply, that the vestry were afraid
to act otherwise, lest he .should be obnoxious to them in
the collecting their tithes, &c.
This unguarded assertion induced thefollowing letter : ..-
40 Hendon Vicarage, Aug. 29, 1829.
" My Lord Bishop,—You yesterday thought proper to
state to me, that the opinion of vestry, which was for-
warded to the commissioners, had been elicited under im-
proper influence, and that the persons expressing that opi-
nion, acid supporting that resolution, were afraid to act
otherwise, lest I should be obnoxious to them in the col-
lecting their tithes.
" A compromise of principle or opinion, from worldly
fear, or from worldly advantages (though the channel
througli which so many rise), is despicable conduct indeed.
In common justice, therefore, to myself, and to the highly
respectable parties upon whom so unjust and unworthy a
reflect:on has been cast, I would respectfully ask of your
Lordship the author of this wicked untruth ?
" The parish will; I am sure, meet it as it ought to be
met, and your Lordship's moral sensibility will at once in,
duce you to give the information,
" I am, my Lord Bishop, your bumble servant,
" THEO. WILLIAMS."

" The Lord Bishop of London."
That there rnig4t he no mistake, nor misunderstanding
on this occasion, Mr. Williams, immediately
on leaving
the. house of the Bishop of London, went into an almost
adjoining shop, and put down upon paper the subject•mat-
trr of the conversation, which bad just taken place be-

tween the Bishop and himself; and on returning to Hen-
don wrote the above letter. _

yV
It were absurd to suppose that Mr. Williams couhl have
invented such matter ; and has not the Bishop of London
expressed himself to the same effect on other occasions?
He knows he has: and yet what is his answer?