The Sun.
London, England, 1837-11-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 18

IRELAND.

(From the Morning Advertiser.)
DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION.
DUBLIN, Nov. 6.

Your express report of the proceedings of the General
Association on Tuesday has created no little sensation in
Dublin. It was the general topic of conversation in the
reading room of the Dublin library—a place where poli-
ticians so love to congregate. On yesterday, I can assure
you, your exertions to place the earliest and most authen-
tic information respecting " Ireland and the Irish" be-
fore the English public, are appreciated here as they de-
serve. I alluded in my last to the report in circulation,
relative to the resignation of the Castle Chaplaincy of Dr.
Elrington. It now appears that the rumours were substan-
tially correct ; but the following accounts will explain the
matter much better than any thing I could write on the
subject.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.
Dublin Castle, Nov. 4, 1837.

Sir,—Circumstances connected with the discharge of
my duty at the Chapel Royal on to-morrow having been
made the topic of public comment and misrepresentation, I
think myself called on to give to the public, by a single
statement of facts, an opportcnity of judging of the merits
of the case.
It is my duty, as Dean of the Chapel Royal, to appoint a
chaplain to preach on each Sunday, and this I do without
reference to any particular person or circumstance, other
than that of the order in which it stands on the list. Ac-
cordingly on the 16th August I notified to Dr. Elrington
that his turn of duty would take place on Sunday, the sth
November. On the 13th of September I received his ac-
knowledgment of my notice in the subjoined letter (No. 1),
to which I replied in substance, as nearly as I can recol-
lect, that "as it was not the usage to have any other ser-
vice than the ordinary Sunday service at the Chapel Royal
on the sth of November, no departure from that usage
would take place." To this communication I received,
when in the country, on the instant, a reply from Dr.
Elrington (No. 2), informing me of his resignation of his
chaplaincy.
I have to observe that no part of this corespondence took
place under the cognizance of the Lord Lieutenant. It is
not any part of my duty to submit to his Excellency the pro-
posed list of preachers, neither do I consider it requisite to
refer to his Excellency on the subject of Doctor Elrington's
communication to me—whatever of error there may be in the
case is ehargeable solely to me ; but, as the authority for the
course I pursued, I am enabled to state, that no particular
observance of the sth of November, falling either on
Sunday, or week day, has taken place in the Chapel
Royal from the sth of November, 1821, to the present
time. Upon the knowledge of this I grounded my reply
to Dr. Elrington. The necessity for the particular ob-
servance of that day, if it exists at all, is of equal obli-
gation both in town and country, when it occurs on the
week day as well as on the Sunday ; and I know that the
instances are rare indeed in which the obligation is com-
plied with, and Dr. Elrington knows of himself; whether in
his own country parish he has complied—and in all its
particulars—with that which he must consider an obligation
upon the anniversaries preceding the present—nor in the
College in which he still continues to retain an appoint-
ment, are all the requisitions of the enactment relied on
complied with.
I admit that on the above stated ground only of non-
usage, I rested my reasons for the omission of the special
services for the day ; and had Dr. Elrington given me the
slightest intimation of a disinclination to take his turn
of duty in consequence of such omission, I should at once
have released him from the necessity of self-martyrdom,
by taking the duty upon myself ; but so far from anti•
cipating his objection, I leave it to a discerning public
whether, from the tenour of his letter, it does not appear
he was prepared to undertake his duty as Chaplain under
any alternative.
As regards a statement in the Evening Mail, to which
my attention was drawn immediately on my arrival in town
this evening, and which enforces the necessity of using the
appointed form on to-morrow, on the ground of her Ma-
jesty's ordinance, bearing date the 21st June, I lost no time
in making the application recommended at the office of the
Queen's printers, and was there explicitly informed that no
such authority had been received at the office, and that the
existence of any such ordinance was unknown to her Ma-
jesty's printer in Dublin. Without thinking it necessary,
therefore, to assign any other reason for the course which I
intend to pursue in regard to the duty in the Chapel Royal,
I think I am supported in it by the precedent of nor-usage,
as well as the observance of all notification from authority,
that, a form of service which it has been deemed necessary
to revive and prescribe for observance, by an Order in
Council on the commencement of every reign, has, us yet,
as far as 1 can remember, received this important sanction.

I regret deeply beinc, compelled to come forward thus
publicly on on occasion like the present, but a sense of duty
to others, as well as myself, obliges me to do so ; and I
cannot but observe that had a more candid course been pur-
sued towards me, I should at once, if convinced of my error
by Dr. Elrington's superior information on such subjects,
both from my own desire to do what is right, as well as to
avoid public discussions of this nature, have yielded a ready
acquiescence to his opinion.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
CHARLES VIGNOLLES,
Dean of the Chapel Royal.

Killarney, Sept. 11.

My dear Sir,—Your letter of August 14th did not reach
Kilcoran till the Bth, and was thence forwarded to me here.
I hope to be in Dublin before the .sth of November, and I
shall take care of that Sunday—a remarkable day for me to
preach in the Castle Chapel. I shall be much obliged by
your letting me know, at any time convenient to you before
the day, whether the proper service is read in the Castle
Chapel.—Believe me very truly yours,
C. R. ELRINGTON.

Fitzwilliam-street, Oct. 31.
My dear Sir,—Your letter of the 23d I did not unfortu-
nately receive until my arrival in Dublin, at a late hour last
night. I cannot acknowledge any authority for omitting the
service for the sth November in the Castle Chapel ; and I
must, therefore, decline officiating where such an omission

is made. I have written to the Private Secretary, resign-
ing my appointment as chaplain.
I hope this short notice will not inconvenience you in
finding a preacher.—Very truly yours,
C. R. ELRINGTON.
The following is the Proclamation to which Dr.Vignolles
alludes in his letter to the Editor of the Freeman :
" Vic.rourA R.—Our will and pleasure is, that these four
forms of Prayer and Service, made for the Fifth of No-
vember—the Thirteenth of January—the Twenty-ninth of
May, and the Twentieth of June, be forthwith printed and
published, and annexed to the Book of Common Prayer
and Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ire-
land, to be used yearly on the said days in all the Ca-
thedral and Collegiate Churches and Chapels—in all
Chapels of Colleges and Halls within the Universities of
Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and of our Colleges of
Eton and Winchester, and in all parish churches and cha-
pels within these parts of our United Kingdom called
England and Ireland.
" Given at our Court of Kensington, the 21st day of
June, 1837, in the first year of our Reign.
"By her Majesty's command,
" JOHN RUSSELL."

In the Mad of this evening the following is published,
as a reply to the statement of the Dean of the Castle
Chapel. You will perceive that the charges brought
against the Lord Lieutenant are totally without foundation.
Both gentlemen exonerate his Excellency.

" TO THE EDITOR OF THE EVENING MAIL;
" Sir,—As your statement that the Queen's proclama,
tion was to be found at the office of her Majesty's printer,
has been contradicted by Dr. Vignolles in a letter published
in Saunders's News Letter of this day, I beg to send you
copy of the answer which I have forwarded to the Edi-
tor of that paper, which cannot be inserted till to-morrow
morning, and would be too late for your publication.
" Your obedient servant,
"C. R. ELRINGTON."
" TO THE EDITOR OP SAUNDERS'S NEWS LETTER.
Sir,--I am very unwilling to carry on a newspaper con-
troversy, but I have seen a letter from Dr. Vignolles .n
your paper of this morning, written in such a style, that I
must request your permission to insert a reply. "
I must say that the charge of want of candour is now
made against me for the first time in my life. Whatever
other faults I may have, I venture to say that is not one. In
the first letter I wrote to Dr. Vignolles, I said the sth of
November was a remarkable day for my preaching in the
Castle Chapel. Did not that plainly intimate my
opinion that there was some peculiar service for that
day, and at least hint that I should he called upon
to deliver from the pulpit some truths not now in fashion
at Dublin Castle ? I asked whether the service would
be read, because I thought it possible, though not pro-
bable, that such an omission would be hazarded, and
I wished not to have the discussion take place in church on
the day. Six weeks elapsed, in which there was abundant
time for consultation, which I have no doubt took place,
from the guarded nature of the communication, not di-
rectly answering my inquiry, but. seeking to avoid the re-
sponsibility of the act which had been determined upon.
Dr. Vignolles says he did not consult his Excellency the
Lord Lieutenant, but Colonel Yorke directly contradicts
him ; for in his letter, written on the Ist of November
(when there had been no time for consulting with Dr.
Vignolles, who did not return to Dublin till the 4th, as be
states himself), he alludes to the very evasion I complain
of in the letter of the 23d October.
" However this be, the attention of his Excellency the
Lord Lieutenant was called to the observance of the day