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

THE BISHOP OF MANCHESTER AND flit‘

REV. MR. SEDOVICS.

His Grace the Archbishop of York, with Lord Che
I ford as assessor, attended to give judgment on the OP'
of the Rev. Mr. Sedgwick, on Saturday, at Westminster;
against an order of the Bishop of Manchester, revold°
his license as minister of St. Albau's Church, Manchester'
Lord CHELMSFORD read the judgment prepared. Dl°
only question for judicial decision was one of jurisdicti4r2'
whether or no Mr. Sedgwick was a curate within the
meaning of the Acts. His lordship proceeded to consiciera
the meaning of the statutes in reference to curates, au:,
expressed the opinion of the Archbishop as well as b'
own, that Mr. Sedgwick was not a curate coming with
the provisions ; he had no district assigned nor stiPe°
appropriated, and was not liable to penalties, as 416
curates, for quitting their places without proper notil
Lord Chelmsford, after dilating on the legal points, °I
the Archbishop was of opinion that he bad no jurisdictieti
to entertain the appeal, and he also held the same opinioll
under the Acts which had been quoted, and therefore the
court had jurisdiction to hear such an application, 14r:
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 indul
after the judgment had been given on the question raise
to offer a few words of advice, which might lead to A satin'
factory termination of certainly a very important ne'se;
The consequence to the appellant of the loss of his license
might be most serious ; he would be severed from the congt:A
gation, and, being inhibited in one diocese, wouldbe
the testimonials required for another, and thereby linable,
to exercise his ministry. To him in a wordly point °0
view it might be complete ruin. There was nothing 111,,,t
t
charges commensurate with such a punishment. •`"„;
Sedgwick was charged with receiving confession, "
having used lights, and with adorning the corninuni°,,lP
table with coloured frontals at certain seasons. As to ef
fession, there was a letter from a person who said he 'Pa
practice habitually confessed, describing the evil effects of 'Pa
practice upon himself ; but that letter was withdrawn, 413),
the writer had excused it as more a "lesson in composition
4
than anything else. If the writer had been under sPiritudi
direction it bad had a bad effect upon him. S;
evidence was utterly worthless. As to the lights, 'heed
appellant was wrong in introducing them, but it was si.„„leg.,,
that they were removed as soon as the Bishop of DP7;
chester took an exception, and that was before they viet,
declared by the Privy Council to be illegal. As to lig'
and frontals, Mr. Sedgwick's advisers bad probably °I;
vinced him that things which might be legal in themselve
could not be introduced into a church where they had it
21,°t
been used before without the consent of the Ordinary. lto.
Sedgwick had expressed his readiness to act in obedience
the authority of the Bishop, and it would be impossible o
consider him a person deserving all the consequences voll
would follow the present proceedings. The Bishop 1214 j
not consented to give Mr. Sedgwick a hearing,
the advice which he (the Archbishop) would venture p
offer was that Mr. Sedgwick should resort to the Bieli°,
of Manchester and procure a hearing, and, after confere7/
with his legal advisers, he should admit any error he 1350
committed, and, if it was necessary, he should givesdi
assurance of his obedience, which he had twice alrea
done. The Bishop should reconsider his decision,
could restore Mr. Sedgwick to his ministrations.

A STRANGE RELIGIOUS SECT.

furtb°

A correspondent of the Daily News gives some
particulars of the Russian sect called the Skopzelb. et:
Skopteii. This community, whose peculiar views eni°f-r
the most barbarous practices, has existed in Russia
many years past, but has hitherto succeeded in esesP-1
the vigilance of the police. The doctrine from whiehil 1
derives its name is the mortification of the flesh, whic,-1.0
interprets as signifying self-mutilation. The ruen/rit-
devote themselves to trade, and are very wealtbY.
Government has long been anxious to discover the le3u-re
of this sect, as also the place in which their treasuressvie,4
hoarded, but all its attempts have been baffled till h"t
weeks ago. Somewhere about the year 1850 Cley-
P erowksy, , 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, IMO" e
their meetings, and pretended to be one of themselves. One
day the agent told the Minister that the operation
ell
mutilation was to be performed that evening on a '0,0"
convert. It was accordingly arranged that the !/,°
should be surrounded by a large body of police, which
to appear at a certain signal from the agent; but ~/sOO
signal was never given. A few days afterwards the Agebe
presented himself, looking very ill, and declared that he
had made a mistake in the day. Shortly afterward/pis
left St. Petersburg, giving as an explanation that jt
wife had inherited some property in the countrY.
rej
was not till after his death that the truth was disOvehij
through the confession of the widow. Without
having any idea of the intentions of the Skopzen,
"
himself whom they proposed to receive into ,s-e•I':
body as a new member, and they effected tue:3
object by force. As soon as it was accomplished, the he tt
of the:Skopzen approached him, and said : " lam g 134
have become one of us. If you betray us it will not he.°;oo
you, and you will fall a victim to our revenge• rho
receive only a thousand roubles annual salary fr°111,,,,000
Government, but, if you will be true to us, here are `-'0:1
roubles down as compensation for your sufferings: oe
besides this you shall receive 1,000 roubles monthlY• and
agent knew what sort of people he had to do With'
closed with the bargain at once. Herr von Harting' the
civil governor of Tambow; Herr Abasa, the vice-gnylos
and Herr Trischatny, the head of the police, at
recently discovered the leader of the Skorlelihent
Morschansk, in the person of a certain rich n'erc-of
named Maxim Plotizyn. His house is so large as to c'ew,,,ea
almost a whole suburb, and contains a kind of Skerej
nunnery. Nine nuns were residing there at the tinle,sAgt•
among them a sister of Plotizyn. The pictures °f were
wanow Schilow, and other prophets of the sect, is
found in one of the rooms. Search was 111°.atehoat
the cellars for the treasure, and at first wltity
result, as nothing was found but a large tlutiAlot,
of old clothes and other similar lumber. .111't the
after passing through six vaults, on entering to!
seventh suspicion was excited by a large stove which serif
in one corner, and appeared never to have been Pr°rcioot
fitted up for use. On further examination an iron Wl°
was discovered behind it, leading to a secret reeePtsfall
containing untold wealth. Besides enormous elle: jiver
of gold imperials, there were about 15 millions°roe
roubles, and above 10 millions in bank notes. The tof
bjeev
lations respecting the Skopzen form the great P ..n
nre so
. "
conversation at St. Petersburg at present—all the re
ea to
as the sect has extensive ramifications, and is hell°
have political objects in view.

siroo
The two Liberal members for Wigan, Mr.. 00
and Mr. Lancaster—have been declared duly elected•

petitioners are to pay costs.

thletic...4

Young India is really becoming a' dip
native "eleven" from the Queen's College, Benare°,•,,,fets
a closely contested cricket match with the Sacrole
of the same city, who appear to have been all Bur°l3s

- -
—The Asiatic. 4,11 l
lri
Lord Elcho has shewn temper and lids"- oi
withdrawing his Game Laws Amendment Bill, anc!le,ilitfp
the field clear for the measure brought forward that
aw, M`Lagan. If this bill passes into l we are satisfi,:tioal
it will tend more to revive the old pleasant ree
tbo
existing between proprietors and tenant farmeLond 075
any piece of legislation for many a year.---

IScotsman.
KIDNAPPING OF SCOTCH GIRLS.—With re'e-e iris'
to r nee
the alleged case of the kidnapping of five Scotch gir' :
brought before the magistrate at the Marylebone Vlic•e-4,
court on Monday last, it may be mentioned that the glori
in
.aurry dA.litc h e l l , who then effectively told ber tlelearo
ocence, has been known for the last seven Y
itbnhyjat
tthheheebproofoolkiucs
re 0
companionsof f
theA bsear
mdeee n as a common streetwalker' ~,r
PETROLEUM AS DOMESTIC . h tb°
Althoug
it
tse of petroleum as steam fuel has not proved Prtleticibbtlid
abuetabroreitxFiaescutlElle same characv,,_
seems to have given excellent results applied to (Islip
purposes. A vapour cooking-stove, invented bY for
Thome, has been exhibited to the American Societll;o
the Advancement of Science and Art. The fuel
useci._,eil
petroleum refuse, and the danger of explosion is
obli'la
by the use of wire-gauze, as in miners' safety-1001's; ~t 4,
oven attains a baking heat in from one to two noln",e,
as well *:,130
and bread, apples, and potatoes were baked,
steak cooked, in the presence of the meeting. Several,,io
had tried the stove expressed a favourable opinion ss "'"
operation.—Mining Journal.
SILENCE IN COURT.—Whenever we read toll:
report of a trial that has engaged the public attention; 3
,11
note that at the conclusion of the addres soft he lest i'le
counsel, or of the summing-up of the j, °,
.r. 7, 0
delivery of the verdict, there was " aPPlause wl'ue 5 oil
immediately suppressed." Moreover, the sPeetati th°
wont to mark their approval or disapproval o f
the
evidence by jeering at or assenting to the answers °,,per.
witnesses. Of course this conduct is high/Y inWrt-itaeo
It is time that a stop was put to the nuisanc 5°1:11e oh-
thve to
judges threaten to clear the court, but
jection to that plan is that the innocent bsoedgeS
suffer for the guilty. At other times
threaten to commit the disturbers ; but if the/ everof fa'
upon them—which is not often done—they are Pier t, but
monished. The officers of the court do their art' t
they cannot keep silence unless they are suPP°,rtetarf sol
the l liglit
judges. A few commitments would be * WlTipo -
laY
sufficient warning, and would put an end to510)---
hissing in ourto_Ql italtim=iifilkilowniti