The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-08 00:00:00

THE BTSHOP OP :MANCHESTER AND 20

REV. MR. SEDGWICK.

His Grace the Archbishop of York, with Lord Cheer'
ford as assessor, attended to give judgment on the aPl3'
of the Rev. Mr. Sedgwick, on Saturday, at Westminster,
against an order of the Bishop of Manchester, revulrLug
his license as minister of St. Albau's Church, Manchester'
Lord CHELMSFORD read the judgment prepared. re
only question for judicial decision was one of jurisdiction,
whether or no Mr. Sedgwick was a curate within the
meaning of the Acts. His lordship proceeded to considejr
the meaning of the statutes in reference to curates, all.`l
expressed the opinion of the Archbishop as well as 13,16
own, that Mr. Sedgwick was not a curate coming WWI
the provisions ; he had no district assigned nor stiPeu,
appropriated, and was not liable to perralti:,s, as 13tbe.
curates, for quitting their places without proper notle.ei
Lord Chelmsford, after dilating on the legal points, e/:
the Archbishop was of opinion that he had no jurisdiction
entertain the appeal, and he also held the same opinieu
under the Acts which had been quoted, and therefore the
court had .to jurisdiction to hear such an application, Al!
Sedgwick not being a curate as defined by either the •"'
Geo. 111., or the 1 and 2 of the Queen.
His Grace the Archbishop of YORK said he was induced,'
after the judgment had been given on the question raised,
to offer a few words of advice, which might lead to a otia.
factory termination of certainly a very important We'
The consequence to the appellant of the loss of his license
might be most serious ; he would be severed from the coal;
gation, and, being inhibitedin one diocese, would he refuel
the testimonials required for another, and thereby uni'b",j6
to exercise his ministry. To him in a wordly poln the
view it might be complete ruin. There was nothing in'
charges commensurate with such a punishment.
Sedgwick was charged with receiving confession, w.l-
having used lights, and with adorning the communion
table with coloured frontals at certain seasons. As to
fession, there was a letter from a person who said be
habitually confessed, describing the evil effects oftti
practice upon himself ; but that letter was withdrawn, Lino
the writer had excused it as more a "lesson in compoBiti°ll4
than anything else. If the writer had been under spiol,4,
direction it had had a bad effect upon him. Su:-
evidence was utterly worthless. As to the lights, the
appell.ii twits wrong in introducing them, but it was alleges
that they were removed as soon as the Bishop of DP'''.
chester took an exception, and that was before theYlvere
declared by the Privy Council to be illegal. As to righ',,
and frontals, Mr. Sedgwick's advisers had probablYeeu.
vinced him that things which might he legal in theinscifel
could not be introduced into a church where they had got
been used before without the consent of the Ordinal'. 161,1,,
Sedgwick had expressed his readiness to act in obedience'
the authority of the Bishop, and it would be impossibieig
10'
consider him a person deserving all the consequences 11,1
would follow the present proceedings. The Bishop 11
not consented to give Mr. Sedgwick a hearing,
the advice which he (the Archbishop) would venture to
3
offer was that Mr. Sedgwick should resort to the 13iel*
of Manchester and procure a hearing, and, after confersirj
with his legal advisers, he should admit any error he 11,,
committed, and, if it was necessary, he should give A.--
assurance of his obedience, which he had twice alre.-id
done. The Bishop should reconsider his decision, $413
could restore Mr. Sedgwick to his ministrations.

A STRANGE RELIGIOUS SECT.

ct
A correspondent of the Daily News gives some farO a
I particulars of the Russian sect called the SkoPzel3'4
L Skopteh. This community, whose peculiar views el'Jcifo-f
the most barbarous practices, has existed in Russia
;.ng
many years past, but has hitherto succeeded in escali
the vigilance of the police. The doctrine from which :
;
derives its name is the mortification of the flesh, which
interprets as signifying self-mutilation. The ruerarrh- e
devote themselves to trade, and are very wealthy.
Government has long been anxious to discover the lead
of this sect, as also the place in which their treasures aeA
hoarded, but all its attempts have been baffled till 11
weeks ago. Somewhere about the year 1850 C°L,.-
Perowksy, the Russian Minister of the Interior, end
voured to penetrate the mystery by the assistance oiled
clever agent, who adopted the manners of the sect, attenndo
their meetings, and pretended to be one of themselves.f
day the agent told the Minister that the operation'"
mutilation was to be performed that evening on a 110.0 e
convert. It was accordingly arranged that the 11°
should be surrounded by a large body of police, whicb, Was
to appear at a certain signal from the agent ; bub
signal was never given. A few days afterwards the ngebe
presented himself, looking very ill, and declared that be
had made a mistake in the day. Shortly afterwarclibig
left St. Petersburg, giving as an explanation that it
wife had inherited some property in the count* 61
was not till after his death that the truth was discover,„
through the confession of the widow. Without P.;
having any idea of the intentions of the Skopzen, vp-it
himself whom they proposed to receive into
body as a new member, and they effected t
h
e:
object by force. As soon as it was accomplished, the l eOO
of the:Skopzen approached him, and said : " I an' glad 0
have become one of us. If you betray us it will not bele.ott
you, and you will fall a victim to our revenge. the
receive only a thousand roubles annual salary fr°ll2., 000
Government, but, if you will be true to us, here are
roubles down as compensation for your sufferings: ;ie
besides this you shall receive 1,000 roubles monthlY.'
agent knew what sort of people he had to do With,
th e
closed with the bargain at once. Herr von Harting, a,
civil governor of Tambow ; Herr Abasa, the vice-0°730;
and Herr Trischatny, the head of the police, ,t
recently discovered the leader of the Skopzen nt
Morschansk, in the person of a certain rich InereilLf
named Maxim Plotizyn. His house is so large as to occ";e0
almost a whole suburb, and contains a kind of SiwPand
nunnery. Nine nuns were residing there at the tirne'gelt.
among them a sister of Plotizyn. The pictures of
ifmeo
wanow Schilow, and other prophets of the sect", in
found in one of the rooms. Search was mglebout
the cellars for the treasure, and at first Wintitf
result, as nothing was found but a large (I°-ii,st•
of old clothes and other similar lumber. At the
after passing through six vaults, on entering'
too('
seventh suspicion was excited by a large stove Which door
in one corner, and appeared never to have been Pr°rdeor
fitted up for use. On further examination an it°ll tole
was discovered behind it, leading to a secret recePts full
containing untold wealth. Besides enormous Cbe:,iwer
of gold imperials, there were about 15 millions eve
roubles and above 10 millions in bank notes. The rf
of
,
hiee.
lations respecting the Skopzen form the great su.'•
conversation at St. Petersburg at present—all the Moho to
as the sect has extensive ramifications, and is bell°
have political objects in view.

The two Liberal members for Wigan, "Tvwb4
and Mr. Lancaster—have been declared duly elected.

petitioners are to pay costs. A
Young India is really becoming
athletic. A
native "eleven" from the Queen's College, Benares, /
01110
a closely contested cricket match with the Sacrole elemaie
of the same city, who appear to have been all Eu
The Asiatic. ill
Lord Elcho has shown temper and wiscl°lll i
withdrawing his Game Laws Amendment Bill, and les/r,
the field clear for the measure brought forward bLbat
M`Lagan. If this bill passes into law, we are satisfieu :to
it will tend more to revive the old pleasant relay os
existing between proprietors and tenant farmer°
112/2doo
any piece of legislation for many a year.--

Scotsman.
KIDNAPPING OF SCOTCH GIRLS. IVitil refer
brought before the magistrate tt]; Marylebae
to the alleged case of the kidnapping of five Scotch gi!e:
olic
court on Monday last, it may be mentioned that the girlot
°Mary Mitchell, who then effectively told her tale ill
injured innocence, has been known for the last seven Y 3
by the police of Aberdeen as a common streetwalker, i'vt
that her four companions bear exactly the same chaise

in the books of the same authorities.
PETROLEUM AS DOMESTIC FUEL. / the
Oleg
use of petroleum as steam fuel has not proved probe ,_
OW
it seems to have
A given excellent results applied to clon „fr•
purposes vapour cooking-stove, invented 11 `";or
Thom 6, has. been exhibited to the American Society' ''a
the Advancement of Science and Art. The fuel used W,;(1
petroleum refuse, and the danger of explosion is °brik
by the use of wire-gauze, as in miners' safety-131111)s. "r. se
—Althoug=i
oven attains a baking heat in from one to two raintlo,:
and bread, apples, and potatoes were baked, as well as ii
steak cooked, in the presence of the meeting. Several Who
had tried the stove expressed a favourable opinion as t°l
operation.—Min in g Journal.
SILENCE IN COURT. —WIICROVOr we 1 til:
roc, _
report of a trial that has engaged the public attentiorlf,
wd
note that at the conclusion of the address of the learritueo
counsel, or of the summing-up of the judge, or At to
delivery of the verdict, there was " applause wl'ich 'var.
ectators
~,,
immediatelyo suppressed." Moreover, the sp
u• nt to mark their approval or disapproval off !.."6
evidence by jeering at or assenting to the answers wt..
witnesses. Of course this conduct is highly lt"ft(3-,Peee
It is time that a stop was put to the nuisance. S')°,l_efilelr
judges threaten to clear the court, but be to
jection to that plan is that the innocent havedges
suffer for the guilty. At other times the lightju
threaten to commit the disturbers ; but if they ever o,
upon them—which is not often done—they are merellbue
monished. The officers of the court do their best' the
they cannot keep silence unless they are suported bi_po
judges.e A few commitments would be a salutary]
01'
ufficient warning, and would put an end to cheering
hissing ili courts a justice,—Law Journal.