The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-06 00:00:00

THEtIFESTIVAL OF THE THREE CHOIRS.

Zhe Festival of the Three Cathedral Choirs (Gloucester,
Hereforevand Worcester), which takes place in Worceste:
Cathedraltin the second week in September, is being vigor-
ously preAtared for. There are 350 performers. The fol-
lowing ar sithe arrangements :—Monday, Sept. Gth, will be
devoted to rehearsals. On Tuesday morning, Mendelssohn's
oratorio "Elijah" will bo given at the Cathedral; and
in the evening a secular concert follows in the College
Hall. Barnlutt's "Ancient Mariner" will be given on the
first night,l to be followed by a miscellaneous selection.
On Wednes day morning Arthur S. Sullivan's " Prodigal
Son," writrtm expressly for this Festival, will take prece-
dence, and4a selection from Handel's "Judas Maccal rens"
is to follow. The concert in the evening is made of a selec-
tion frorn-Weber's " Oberon," and some extracts from the
works of Rossini, with a few odds and ends from other
composers. On Thursday morning are set down Ros-
sini's "Messe Solennello" and Mendelssohn's "Hymn of
Praise." The evening's concert is miscellaneous, except
a selection from Mczat's "Flank) Magico." On Friday
morning Handel's "Messiah" winds up the musical portion
of the Festival. There is, however, a grand tall at the
Guildhall that night. The principal vocalists are Mdlle.
Ti tj na, M dame Lemmens-Sherrington, Madame Trebelli-
Pet XL: lame Paten Signor Bottini, Mr. Vernon Rigby,
Mr. iilllB 'Reeves, Mr. Santley, and Mr. Lewis Thomas. The
band is under the 'Lade:ship of Mr. Blagrovc.

THE ARCIIRISHOP OF YORK AND MR.
VOYSEY.

4,

The Rev. Charles V oysey (of The Sling and the
Stone) has been served with an inhibition which will
prevent his officiating in the diocese of York until
the prosecution for heresy against him shall have
been decided. Mr. Voysey, in a letter to the Archbishop
of York, protests against this as needlessly harsh and
altogether unusual, except in cases of scandalous immora-
lity, which nobody has allsged against him. The letter
proceeds :—" In the full prospect of the success of the
prosecution, your Grace believes that I may be fined
thousands of pounds in costs, and be ruined in my
career for life, and yet, knowing this, you delibe-
rately tax me with the additional expense of an inhibition
which compels me to pay for a curate out of my small
income, though I have a wife and eight children to main-
tain, and an aged mother to shelter while she lives. Your
Grace knows that there is no scandal whatever arising
from my continued ministrations here, except that which
is felt by certain clerical rotaries to whose clamours you are
so yielding. Hundreds and thousands of intelligent and
religious men and women in England agree with me, and are
thankful for what I have said. My own parishioners and
neighbours, if not universally in sympathy with my teach-
ing, are nearly so ; and every one is personally friendly
and even affectionately disposed towards me. My average
congregation is, if anything, larger than ever. The
pretext of a scandal' such as the law properly recognises
is, in this case, a sham, and your Grace knows it. It is
also perfectly well known that the persons at whose insti-
gation these proceedings have been set on foot are
only acquainted with my doctrines through The Sling and
the Stone, and not through my personal ministrations, and
your Grace knows that The Sling and the Stone will be
continued whether or not this cruel inhibition be put in
force. It cannot, th erefox e, be urged that whatever scandal
has been caused can be stopped by destroying my official
connection with my parish church. It is, therefore, not
merely an act of extreme and unwarrantable severity
towards me, but it is also a mistake to have thus made a
pretence of stopping a scandal when the real cause of it,
viz., the publication of the Sling and the Stone, will go on
as before."

THE WESLEYAN CONFERFNCE.-THE
CHARGE TO YOUNG MIATLSTERS.

The ordination of the young ministers received into the
Wesleyan body took place at Hull on Thursday. The
,` charge " to one portion of those ordained was delivered
by the ex• President of the Conference, the Rev. S. R. Hall.
He gave some practical advice to those whom he
addressed. Their future health, he said, would very
much depend upon the habits they formed at the
commencement of their work. Mr. Hall said, speaking
for himself, that for many years he had had no greater
joy than in walking for an hour or two on his way to the
pulpit on a Sunday morning. If they used narcotics and
stimulants they would sooner or later bring upon them-
selves a condition of enfeebled health. They must not
separate the work of the soul from the work of the
body. They must guard against mental intemperance ;
their minds must not be so occupied in literature as to
exhaust-them for pulpit work. They were divinely called
to preach the gospel. lie did not say they had no right
to change their opinions, but certainly they had no right
to remain in Methodism if they changed their theological
views. As between God and themselves, the Bible was
the only rule of faith ; but as between themselves and
their brethren Methodist doctrine was, and these articles
of faith were to prevent contradiction in teaching.
If they could not subscribe to this position they had
better go elsewhere. They w,re to preach their sermons,
and not to real them. Reading sermons was offensive
to the people and very injurious to the preacher. lie
recommended them, in their preparations for the pulpit,
to make good use of the Wesleyan hymn book. They
were not to allow these hymns to be put aside for novelties.
The ministers were responsible conductors of public
worship, and they must not allow the house of God to be
used for the mere display of musical taste and ability.
They were to stand when they conducted public worship,
and not sit as if they had no part in the matter. lie re-
commended them not to neglect the preaching places
in the small villages. They were not to speak against
revivals. An impassioned desire to save souls would
save them from great squeamishness in these things.
The great need of the time was earnest preach-
ing. They were not to attempt to fascinate and tickle
by mere essays and learned criticisms. The truest
eloquence was found in the suitability of the dis-
course to the people, and unless they visited from house
to house they would not get the necessary knowledge of
the people. Uniformity in a branch of the Church, he
went on to say, was not inconsistent with the unity
of Christendom, and sectionalism was not sectarian-
ism. They would have to work with others, and if they
got into the way of their fellow labourers, and could not
work with them, they had better go elsewhere. They
were to resist the temptation that they were so spiritual
or gifted that they could not attend to the business work
of a circuit. Re exhorted them to take care of their
spirit and temper. They were not to be conformed to
this world in fashion and fancies. Consecration to one
work was the spirit of the first Methodist preachers, and
they must keep to that. If they had faith in God it
would carry them through.

Several fields of oats have been already cut on the.
wads, in the East Riding of Yorks Lire, and the cereal crops
generally are fast ripening. In tho course of ten days or a
fortnight, if the weather be proplious, reaping will be
general in the district.

Mr. Patrick Beales, jun., the borough treasurer
for Cambridge, and member of several important Corpora-
tion commit:oes, has absconded: Yesterday it was reported
to the Town Council that 'be bad surreptitiously ob-
tained a copy of the impression of the Corporation
seal, and affixed it to a bond of £7,000 made out in
the name of the Corporation, and placed iu the I ands of
Messrs. E. J. Moth ck, bankers, which bond was totally
unnutLorised. Other embtzzlements wore spoken of ;
£!,800 was nct accountsd for; and £2,000 bad been bor-
rowed from the bankers w:thout authority in the name of
the Corporation.
FANNY OLIVER AND TIIE FRENCH PRESS.—A
Parisian paper comments upon the case of Fanny Oliver
as follows :—The Court of Assize at Worcester has con-
demned to death Fanny Oliver, a beautiful young wife
with golden hair, accused of having poisoned her husband
to prevent his discovering her infidelity. The sentence
has created in England the same sort of sensation as that
of Laffaye amongst us ; and Fanny Oliver has a circle of
enthusiastic admirers, each of whom is ready to marry
her if a pardon is granted her.
Between the hours of twelve and one o'clock this
(Friday) morning, much alarm was occasioned in the
vicinity of the Honscs of Parliament by a sudden and
loud explosion, which was heard distinctly in the corridors
of the House of Commons. Several persons passing over
Westminster Bridge were also attracted by the loud
report. The police on duty in the House quickly proceeded
to the east end of tite terrace of the Houses of Parliament
by the Commons' pier. They discovered a tin case which
had contained gunpowder and a portion of a fuse. It was
surmised by the police that someone, whose purpose was
probably a "lack," had thrown the can with its deadly
contents from Westminster Bridge, and then ran off. No
damage was occasioned.

AN AWKWARD terrible accident iz-
repoited from Malta. Some of the ofaers of the garrison,
thinking to compliment the inhabitan!s of the island on
one of their great festivals, that of the Madonna of Mount
Cannel, added to the illuminations provided by the Roman
Catholic authorities by fixing a number of lights from the
stores which were always understood to be kept for the
purpose of lighting•up the port in case of a night attack.
The pieces were pear-shaped and about two feet in length,
but as soon as they were fired they delivered a storm of
grape shot. Fortunately, although there were crowds of
spectators, little or no harm was done. The officers,
seeing the mistake they had made, rushed forward at the
risk of annihilation, and threw several of the infernal
machines into the sea, when they exploeclun4eurAtey
with idiegiewlnsitolek, L'"