The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-15 00:00:00

PROFESSOR MAURICE .

The following letter has been addressed by Mr.
Maurice to the Council of Ring's College, and was laid
before them at their meeting yesterday :
"TO THE COUNCIL OF KING'S COLLEGE.
"21, Queen-square, Bloomsbury, Nov. 7, 1853.
"My Lords and Gentlemen—l have received from
the secretary of King's College a copy of certain resolu-
tions respecting me, which were adopted at the last
meeting of the Council.
"Under ordinary circumstances, it would be my duty
at once to resign offices, which the legislative body of
the college has declared that I cannot hold without
serious detriment to its usefulness. But the Council is
aware, and the public is now also aware, that certain
definite charges have been brought against me by the
Principal, upon the strength of which he asked that I
should be excluded from my professorship. These
charges amounted to a declaration that I had departed
from the orthodox faith. He alleged, as his reasons for
this grave charge, that I did not accept a meaning of
the word `eternal' which he considered to be the only
right one, and that I refused to draw certain conse-
quences from that meaning, or to pronounce an opinion
upon a subject on which the Articles of the Church of
England have not pronounced one.
"The decision of the Council, as it avowedly takes
cognizance of the opinions which I expressed on this
subject in my Theological Essays' and in my corres-
pondence with the Principal, can be understood to
amount to nothing less than a condemnation of me
upon the grounds which are expressed in the Principal's
letter. The Council must be deemed to have accepted
the propositions in that letter, and to require that all its
professors should accept them likewise. The Principal
evidently shares in this opinion. When I wrote to in-
quire whether my lectures were to be continued till my
successors were appointed, he answered that I had
better discontinue them from the day on which the re-
solutions of the Council were passed. He pronounced
this decision though he had officially commanded me to
be present at the opening of the term, and to commence
my usual courses, retracting an unofficial letter in which
he had recommended me to ask for leave of absence. I
submit that a person ordinarily s• courteous to the pro-
fessors of the college, and so tender of the interests of
the students, would not have thus summarily suspended
a teacher whom, with a full knowledge of his opinions,
he had invited to be a lecturer in the theological depart-
ment, and who had served the college in the other de-
partment for 13 years—that he would not have inter-
rupted the studies of the term, and forced me to break
an implicit engagement with those who are taking part
in them—if he had not believed that he was executing
an ecclesiastical sentence upon a convicted heretic.
" I cannot, my lords and gentlemen, believe that,
great as are the privileges which the right reverend
bench has conceded to the Principal of King's College,
their lordships the bishops ever intended to give him an
authority superior to their own, superior to that of the
Articles by which they are bound ; I cannot think that
they wished to constitute him and the Council arbiters
of the theology of the English Church. Such a claim
would be as alarming, I apprehend, to the public as to
our ecclesiastical rulers. If Isome parents have been
suspicious of the influence which I might exercise over
their sons, I believe that there are few parents in Eng-
land who will not complain that the college has departed
from its original principle, when it gives such a scope to
the private judgement of its chief officer, or even to the
judgment of the body which manages its affairs.
" I think it due, then, to my own character as a
clergyman, to the interests of the college, and to the
liberties of the English Church, that I should call upon
the Council, if they pronounce a theological sentence
upon me at all, to declare what article of our faith con.
demns my teaching. I conjure them not to use any
phrases in condemning me which they would reject as
loose and vague if the property or the life of a fellow-
citizen were in question. Whether I have unsettled the
faith of my pupils, by giving an interpretation of the
word eternal which I had maintained to be true (and
especially important for students in divinity) before I
was asked to join the theological department, the after
lives of those pupils must determine. But if I have vio-
lated any law of the Church, that law can be at once
pointed out—the nature of the transgression can be de-
fined, without any reference to possible tendencies and
results. It is this justice, and not any personal favour,
my lords and gentlemen, which I now request at your
hands.—l have the honour to be, my lords and gentle•
men, your obedient servant,

" F. D. MAURICE."
" P.S.—I have requested the secretary to lay before
the Council some copies of my letter to the Principal, to
which I have added some notes. I would respectfully
call the attention of the Council to Note B, page 31, of
the pamphlet."

After reading this letter, the council decided that they
did not think it necessary to enter further into the sub-
ject ; and declared_th• two chairs held by Mr. Maurice
in the college to be vacant.—The Spectator.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

WOOLWICH, Nov. 14.
APPOINTMENTS.

. --
Lieutenants.— -Edward WllnaJt (1853), recently pro.
moted from mate of the Victoria and Albert Royal
steam-yacht, to the Excellent gunnery ship at Ports-
mouth ; Thomas M. F. Bond (1853), to the Royal
George, 120, screw steam-ship at Sheerness.
Mates.—Spencer P. Brett (1852), to the Duke of
Wellington, 131, screw steam-ship; William Codrington
(1853), from the Queen, 116, to the Excellent ; Cecil W.
Buckley (1851). Arthur R. Wright (1852), Henry D.
Grant (1853), and Richard Adams (1853), to the Royal
George ; N. J. Murphy (1853), to the Vulture paddle.
wheel steam-sloop at Devonport ; C. E. S. 'Woodman
(1851), Alfred Broadhead (1852), and John B. Mitchell
(1853), to the Princess Royal, 90, screw steam-ship at
Portsmouth ; Charles Smith (acting), in the Hogue, 60,
screw steam-ship, is appointed mate of that vessel ; E.
11. Hankinson (1853), to the Desperate screw steam.
sloop at Devonport ; William B. Pauli (1852), to the
Rifleman steam-sloop at Woolwich ; Thomas F. Stud-
dert (acting), in the Prince Regent, 90, at Portsmouth,
is appointed mate of that vessel ; Arthur L. Galbraith
(acting), in the Victoria and Albert, to be mate of the
Arrogant screw steam-frigate at Portsmouth ; John B.
Creagh (1852), to the St. Jean D'Acre, 101, screw steam-
ship, at Devonport ; William F. Gollock (acting), in the
Blenheim, to be mate in the Stromboli steam-sloop ;
Edward E. Richards (acting), in the Magicienne paddle.
wheel steam-frigate, to be mate of that vessel.
There is a rumour to-day that a number of men well
acquainted with their duties will be selected from each
of the four divisions of Royal Marines to proceed to
Malta, where they will be formed into a battalion for
service there.

PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 12.
The Growler, 5, paddle, having undergone a survey,
has been found to be so rotten that she is ordered to b©
broken up forthwith. She was built at Chatham in 1841.

RTs
screw,
Captain the H
UT ,
HeTnhrye St. Jean d'Acre, PORTSMOUTH,
w
Keppel.—A contemporary has stated that the
above war-steamer will have to go to
Plymouth to be
docked. We beg to state that the St. Jean d'Acre will
be docked, at this port to-morrow morning (Tuesday.)
1. he Medea, 6, paddle, Commander J. C. Bailey.—
This vessel will go into dock as soon as the Frolic, 16„,
comes out, which may be on Wednesday. We perceive
that Commander Bailey has returned from his attend-
ance at the Admiralty.
The Fairy, Royal yacht tender, Captain Crispin, liPs
been on the gridiron to-day to examine the interior of
the screw boss—wherefore, we know not ; everything
was perfect, and she comes off at flood tide.
The Princess Charlotte, 104—We understand this
three-decker is to be brought down the harbour prepara-
tory to being commissioned.
The Dragon, 6, paddle, commenced swinging to-day
to ascertain the deviation of her compass.
The Dauntles,
33, screw, and Frolic, 16, Commander
Nolloth, have painted topgallant masts to day. Lieu-
tenant Reynolds, of the Blenheim, is fitting out the
Dauntless, and Lieutenant Peyton the Frolic—boat
thoroughly practical men.
The American barque Titers, master, went out of
harbour this morning,. in tow of the tug Ranger, and
sails for Rio Janeiro with a fair wind down Channel.