The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-11 00:00:00

THE PECULIAR PEOPLE.

The " Peculiar People " are becoming very numerous in
Essex, and their doings are consequently becoming more
and more obtrusive. One tenet of their creed is that when
a child, or indeed, any other person, is taken ill, all medi-
cal attendance is considered sinful and superfluous.
The disease is left to take its course. In consequence,
four children have lately died in the district. Two of
these belonged to one man, who has just been summoned
at Orsett petty sessions to answer for the death of the
last, according to the powers given by a recent statute, 31st
and 32 Vic., c. 122, sec. 37, which enacts that where parents
allow their children to die without medical aid they shall
be liable to six months' imprisonment. A scene ensued in
court, where a large number of " brethren " and "sisters"
attended. A surgeon deposed that he had strongly urged
the mother and three sisters who attended the child to
allow medicine to be given it, but they refused, and would
not even tolerate a plaster. One of the sisters
stated that the child had nourishment, but, according to
rule, no medicine. This proved the case, and the defen-
dant was asked what he had to say. He replied : What I
have to say is this—The Lord saved me from my sine
eleven years ago, and I now go according to the Scripture,
and follow Christ. In the days of Christ, just before He
departed, He said, "If I depart, I will send the Com-
forter unto you ;" and it was that Spirit which I received
eleven years ago that guided me to fulfil His commands in
this case. The Word of God tells me to pray, and that if
any are sick, let him send for the elders of the church to
anoint the sick with oil, and pray over him. This is
what I believe in, and what I have done • and if my
child had not been sick unto death, it would have re-
covered, but as it did not recover it was the Lord's will
that it should die. In the last chapter of St. Mark
does it not say of them that believe "In my name shall
they cast out devils. .
hands on the sick and they shall recover."—Here a
number of brethren and sisters who were in the
court shouted out—', Yes, yes ; Blessed be His name ;"
and other similar ejaculations. —The chairman : But there
is not is nothing in that to tell you not to send for a
doctor.—The defendant : There is no passage in the whole,
Book where I am told to send for a doctor. The com-
mand is " Send for the elders of the Church, and let them
lay hands on him and anoint him with oil.' And accord-
ingly an elder presented himself, and said that he had
done the anointing with oil.—The clerk : What. name
Justdo yourwhat dtehielomßiinbaletiosnayagiN.N;oe
are
—enr
ale
not
ecaho?—senWiatnndessa:
aPseheaumliaerd opferurleilahmoely. eldersVe saeriei t
besides me. We had a prayer-meeting in the room, and
uTuhtoorethweerLo ogrtdh.;
there was a lot of us there the night the child died. We
held the meeting the night the child died.—The Chair-
man • What would you do yourself if you had a leg
broken? You would send for a medical man then, would
you not ?—Witness : If I live unto God, I shall not have
a broken leg. If Ido not, I might be liable to such a
chastisement. God has promised to take care of the
righteous, and there have been no broken legs amongst
us. Finally, the chairman said that though
the bench had power to convict, they were
willing to discharge the defendant on promising to
:ome up for sentence when called upon. The peculiar
man, with his peculiar men and women, then left the
zourt, politely assuring the bench that he meant to go on
exactly as he had begun, and a number of the brethren
and sisters shouted, " Yes, yea ; praise Him and trust
ta Rim,"

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Ti'E LATE EDITION of "THE SUN" at
W. SMITH'S Camden Stores," 78, Park-street, Camden•

town.

THE great meeting of the Education Union at
St. James's Hall is the most formidable of the many
antagonistic declarations which the demands of the
Secularists have called forth. It for a long
time seemed as if the Union were sleeping,
whilst the League was up and doing. The latter
body did, indeed, display signal activity in the pro-
mulgation of its curious theory that the doctrine of
religious liberty demanded the complete proscription
of all religion in schools for the education of
the poor. But the spirit of opposition
called forth have at length assumed decisive
proportions. The religious bodies, with few
exceptions, have pronounced in favour of religious
teaching. The Government have embodied the
principle in their measure, and refuse to depart from
it. And they have secured abundant support
from men of all creeds and political parties, who
on this question take common ground. It
is no ordinary object which can unite such men
as Lord Salisbury, Lord Shaftesbury, and Mr.
Thomas Hughes. Yet on this great subject
the Conservative chief, the Low Church peer,
and the advocate of the working classes, arrive at the
same con.-1;Fon by pretty much the same means.
Lord Shaftesbury supports the Government measure
h)cause it pro vides facilities for religious teaching as an
essential of the school course, and not asan extra. If the
Bible b 3 taught at all, it is idle to relegate it to odds
and ends of time, thus stamping religious instruc-
-1•:on as a matter of secondary inwortance, and leavinir