The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-04 00:00:00

(a laugh), and were likely in..the. end_ to become
CC) ortabiareethinkers, -be said he noticifml on all
hinds, Wherever he went; that the popular feeling
Was now unmistakeably expreSsed in the building
of churches, and, what was more, in the direction
of magnificence and accuracy in ecclesiastical archi-
tecture, in which they never before took any in-
terest. ,The Church in Ireland was now developing
its artistic power—a thing never thought of. 20
years ago—and he regarded it as an instinctive in-
dication of the nationality of the people that they
should have taxed themselves to the extent they
had done in this direction. Their progress was fur-
ther evinced by what he called " nationality of cha-
rity," of which he cited many instances in the larger
towns, especially in Dublin ; and he dealt a passing
rebuke on the attempts made at one time inParliament
to bring the nunneries under the supervision of.
the Legislature. Their nationality of attachment
to the oly See he also mentioned as another mode
in which their physical amelioration expressed it-
self, a sentiment which elicited loud cheers, in the
meeting • and he concluded with an elaborate
eulogium upon the Irish hierarchy, and with many
expressions of gratitude for the warm-hearted re-
ception he had met with from them and the great
bulk of the people.
It was far on to 11 o'clock before the meeting
separated.

AURICULA.R CONFESSION IN THE
CHURCH
.OF ENGLAND.

MEETING AT SOUTHAMPTON.

• A large public meeting, convened 1)7 the church-
wardens of the severalparishes and districts in and.
around Southampton ' was held on Tuesday even-
ing, at the Royal Victoria-rooms, to consider cer-
tam resolutions to be proposed to the' meeting,
protesting against the practice of auricular confes-,
sion and priestly absolution in the Church'ef Eng-.
land. " The rooms were crowded to excess, and
numbers left unable to gain admission. • •
Lord H. CHOLMONDELEY took the chair, and
among those present on the platform were General"
Bullock, Messrs. Fall, Bernard, and Pearce (magis-
trates of the borough), the Rev. Mr. Adkins (hi-de-
pendent minister), and the following clergymen
of the Church of England :—The Revs. Fitzgerald,
Harris, Cashman,;Masters, Jennings, Burton Brock,
Russell, and Oke.
Notice was made of several letters received from
gentlemen unable to attend, among whom were—
Lord Palmerston, Lord Shaftesbury, the Hon. R.
Dutton, M.P. for the county, Messrs. Weguelin and
Wilcox, M.P.s for the borough, Col. Crabbe, &c.,
each of whom expressed regret at their unavoidable
absence, and gave their sentiments in favour of the
objects of the meeting. .
The meeting having been opened by player,
Lord CHOLMONDELEY said—We have met to-
gether this evening for a very important object—
an object which concerns us all, both as members
of.the-Church of-England and lovers Of Protestant
truth. We have this evening to determine whether
we shall unite in condemning practices which have
of late sprung up in the- Established Church, and
which we hold to be opposed to the true spirit and
teaching of that chinch:- He alluded to the practice
of auricular confession and priestly absolution.
These practices have sprung up in the Church of
England ; it was for the meeting to determine
whether or no they were in accordance with the
teaching of the. Church. He hoped he should not
be misunderstood in calling upon the meeting to
condemn such practices. God forbid that he should
say one word which might create a coldness bet Ween
a minister and his people, or that any one, who was
anxious about his soul should be prevented asking
counsel of a faithful minister on matters relating to
his immortal welfare. But what has this to do with.
aricular confession ? Simply nothing. What was
meant by auricular confession and priestly absolu-
tion? It was this : I, a weak, fallible man, am to, go
to another man as weak and as fallible as myself, to
confess to him all the sins of my, past life--of _omis-
sion as welt as commission—that 'I may receive at
his hands absolution 'and pardon, which can be-given
by no mortal man. In matters of this kind: we must
fall back upon the Bible, and' there we shall find
that we have no need of a priestly intercessor on
earth, when we read that Christ ever •liveth to make
intercession for all who come unto God by; him ; we
feel that we have no need of an earthly mediator
when we read that there is one Mediator between
God and man, the' man Christ Jesus. Auriculur
confession was practised by not a few of the clergy
of the Church, and it was not even distasteful to
some of the prelates of tin Church, although °Re
of the articles of the Church saith that Holy Scrip-
ture'containeth all things necessary for salvation.
After reading several statements on the practices of
the confessional in the metropolis; his lordship said.
—What is the difference between practices such as
these and the practices of the Church of Rome ?
And yet this system is defended by numbers of the-
clergy of our Church who call themselves Protest-
ants and are still eating the bread of the Church of
England. He called upon the meeting to protest
against such practices. He did believe that if they
were allowed to spread the Church of England was
a doomed Church, and instead of being one of the
brightest lights Ot Protestantism it would become
a by-word and a proverb. We ought to lift up our
heads to God and pray that He may keep this evil
from us, and keep our candlestick in its place. He
believed the social grievance of the system also con-
cerned us deeply as fathers, husbands, brothers,
wives, mothers, and sisters. It is more particularly
among the gentler sex that these practices are being
disseminated ; and the apostle meets the case where he
says, " Of theie kind are they who creep into houses
leading captive silly womenUaden with sins," It
was intended that a memorial be presented to the
Queen on this subject. It was a wise and consti-
tutional course to pursue, for he believed the Queen
of England was as much opposed to such practices:,
as anyone at that meeting. (Cheers.) There-
fore he would' say let us carry -the subject to
Majesty; and-having claimed the sympathy. of our
earthly sovereign, let us take it to our Creator,Who
is King of kings and Lord of lords, and by whom
kings reign and princes decree justice.
Mr. Alderman PALK proposed the following
resolution :—" That, repudiating the practices of
auricular confession and priestly absolution, and
repudiating the fiction of there being priestly orders
in Christ's church (our great High Priest hiinself
being the only priest), this meeting sees with grief
and indignation that not a few of the clergy of the
national church have of late been actively promoting
the introduction of such practices among their
flocks."

Mr; BATEMAN, of Rugby, seconded the resolu-
tion. • He could not see the slightest difference
between confession as practised in the Romish
church, which the Bishop of Oxford looks upon
with so much horror, and the confession of the
4nglican church, which he looks upon with so
much delight. The work of putting an extinguisher
on the confessional must be done by the people
themselves.

J. DEVERELL, Esq., of Purbrook Park, proposed
the next resolution :—" That this meeting desires
to express jf,s,•determination to resist to the utter-
most the introduction of practices so opposed to the
principles of the Reformation and to the whole spirit
of the standards of the Church of England, and
likewise so fraught with danger to the spiritual
and civil liberties of the Church and nation." He
remarked that the people of England were truly
Protestant. They would not submit to the dictation
of any priest, and auricular confession was no part
of the doctrines of the Church of England,. If
he believed in confession, and put faith in it, he
would rather receive it from the Church of Rome.
There was an infatuation, a fashion, and a charm
about auricular confession which' led the upper
classes to use it, on the same principle that the
lower classes would fly to the beer-shop and the
gin-palace. He detested all usurpers ; and, if asked
which usurper he detested most, he would say it
was he who takes away the Saviour and puts a
-priest in his stead. Lord. Chatham has said, "If
the breach in the Protestantism of England be
repaired, the people will of them-
selves return to a state of tranquillity. If not, may
discord prevail for ever. I know to what• point
this doctrine and this language will appear devoted,
but I feel the principles of an Englishman, and I
utter them without apprehension or reserve."
Mr. LE FEUME proposed the next resolution,
" That a memorial founded on the foregoing reso-
lutions be presented to the Queen, praying that
her Majesty, as head of the Church and defender
of the faith, will be graciously pleased to take such
steps as her Majesty may see., fit, with a view to
doing away with the scandal and offence caused to
many of her Majesty's f!aithful subjects, by the
practices complained of, and be signed by the chair-
man and churchwardens now present on behalf of
this meeting "
The resolutions were put, from the chair and
carried unanimously.
A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings.

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