The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-18 00:00:00

THE CONFESSIONAL IN THE CHURCH

OF ENGLAND.

PUBLIC MEETING-(THIS DAY).

A great meeting of the Vestrymen of the metropolis and
others was held this morning at St. James's Hall, Piccadilly,
to protest against the system of auricular confession, and
other innovations in the Church of England.
At twelve o'clock, the hour appointed for 'commencing
the proceedings, the body of the hall and galleries were well
filled, and a number of clergymen were observable amongst
the persons on the.platform.
On the motion of Mr. BEAL, Alderman and Sheriff
HALE took the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said, without occupying the time of the
meeting, he should call upon a gentleman connected. with
St. George's, Hanover-square, to move the first resolution.
Mr. VEREKER said the attendance that day in so noble a
cause was really a cheering sight. The cause, however,
was good, and he felt they would all agree that the time
had now come when every true friend of the Church of
England should exert himself to rid the Establishment of
its professing friends, the Puseyites, who, while they were
called upon to administer the gospel, dearly showed that
they were the emmisaries of Rome. (Cheers.) The feel-
ing was great in the country that there should be a firm
stand made against the aggressions of Puseyism, and that
a thorough church reform should be insisted on by the
people at large. (Cheers.) But he felt that if
anything was done it could be done by the middle classes of
the metropolis. (Cheers.) If the course he recommended
was :adopted, a movement would be commenced which
would end in good to the Church of England, and would
show to those who fancied they were secure in the position
they were then temporarily holding—(cheers)—that the
people were determined that the gigantic revenues of our
Church should not be the handed over to these traitors to be
used against ourselves for our own destruction. (Loud
cheers.) But what was the remedy for the great evil of which
he complained ? He knew but one, and that was a revision
of the Book of Common Prayer. Of course he was aware of
the extreme difficulty of procuring such an object, but the
rubric was but the work of man, and therefore no insuper-
able objection existed to such a proceeding. (Cheers.) If
that alteration was made, then these professing—merely
professing—clergymen of the Church of England would be
defeated in the great object they had in view—the Roman-
ising of that great establishment. (Cheers.) He implored
the meeting to fully consider the importance of firmly bind-
ing themselves together, as by union such a demand could
be made as would compel those who now received the
stipends of the Church of Endland to administer its doc-
trines in all their purity. He concluded by moving the
following resolution :

"That priestly confession, and absolution, and other false
doctrine and innovation, have been recently taught and
practised by many of the clergy of the Church of England,
and encouraged by some of its dignitaries and bishops.
This meeting, believing such doctrine and innovations to
be at variance with the spirit and teaching of the Reformed
Church of England, but especially having no warrant or
foundation for the same in the holy Scripture, the only basis
on which all true Christian doctrine and practice should be
raised. That such teaching and practices having excites
the alarm and fired the indignation of the great bulk of the
members of the Church of England, and of all true Protest-
ants throughout the empire, this meeting hereby raises its
I solemn protest against such teaching and such innovations
in the Church of England, and declares its allegiance to the
doctrines of the Gospel, to preserve which for our use and
guidance the martyrs of the Reformation suffered. This
meeting, therefore, declares that, if the Church of England
is to be truly the Church of the nation, she must not be
permitted to go back to the darkness and serfdom of the
I priest-ridden middle ages, but adapt her institutions to the
growing wants of the people, and take the great and simple
truths of thegovel only as the foundation of her teaching."
Mr. BEAx., in rising to second the resolution, was received
with loud cheers. He said the meeting no doubt expected
to see Mr. Westerton amongst them, but that gentleman's
absence, he regretted to say, was occasioned by a great
domestic calamity—the death of his wife—but although
Mr. Westerton was not then in that room, he assured the
meeting that no man was more fully convinced of the neces-
sity of immediate action to counteract the baneful effects of
auricular confession than he was. (Immense cheer-
ing.) Having referred to the steps that had been taken
since the last meeting in that hall to consider the
subject of auricular confession in the Church of England, he
said that Mr. Westerton had received no less than 2,800
letters, the writers of which all assured him that they looked
on and accepted him as their champion in his endeavours to
throw down the barrier of auricular confession, which was
sought permanently to be set up in the Church of England.
(Immense cheers.) He called upon the meeting to protest
in the strongest manner possible against a doctrine
so opposed to the spirit of the Church to act
so vigorously that Parliament would be compelled
to interfere —to condemn the practice of it, or to
eject the professors of it from their livings. (Immense
cheering, accompanied by waving of hats.) The dark room
which they had heard of was not the only dark room in
Belgravia. The system of confession was carried on to an
extent that was, he thought, scarcely known. The Jesuit
confessor entered the private home under the garb of friend-
ship, and there he wrung from the unfortunate victims by
threats and denunciations what he called a confession of
their sins. He strongly advised all those then present in a
parocllial capacity, on their returns to their respective
parishes to call meetings, and submit the resolution, which
he had no doubt would be agreed to enthusiastically
that day for consideration, and then embody the sentiments
into a petition to Parliament, condemning the practice of
auricular confession in the Church of England. (Cheers.)
If such a course were adopted success was certain, but there
must be no depending upon others each man pre-
sent
must exert himself most strenuously. Each must
sign the petition to Parliament—must urge his neigh-
bour to do likewise; and every person who once joins
the movement must not rest in his endeavours until
the manhood .of England was aroused. (Immense
cheering.) The resolution moved by Mr. Vereker clearly
showed the spirit by which its author was animated.
(Cheers.) The author of it was Mr. Westerton. (Immense
cheering.) He expected that there would be no mistaking
the meaning of that day's proceedings, but that results would
follow which would restore the Established Church to its pure
simple, and beautiful character, and thoroughly to defea
the Romanising doctrines that were now being forced upon
the public by men who were its greatest enemies. (Immense
cheering.) Mr. Beal then concluded by very forcibly urg-
ing the meeting to adopt the resolution unanimously.
Mr. BROWNING, a vestryman of St. Georges's-in-the-
East, said he wished to read a passage from the Book of
Common Prayer, relating to confession, but the meeting
refused to hear him. For some timehe persisted in his
object, but the feeling of the meeting being decidedly
against him he resumed his seat.
Mr. SIMPKINS then addressed the meeting in support of
the resolution. He assured the meeting that if merely the
ordinary means were taken to put an end to a system
fraught with so much evil it would be a long
time before their object was attained, for they had for
opponents men who knew full well the best and surest
means of carrying out their objects.
Amidst great cheering the resolution was then agreed to.
Mr. TAVERNER moved, that a petition founded upon the
foregoing resolution, be drawn up and presented to Parlia-
ment. (Cheers.)
The resolution having been seconded was carried
unanimously.
Thanks having been voted to the Chairman the proceed-
ings terminated.

THUNDERSTORM AND SNOW.—A thunderstorm
and fall of snow occurred at Xilharn and Langtoft,
.on the
Yorkshire Wolds, on Monday
.last. The electric fluid
killed 10 sheep in a field belonging to Mr. S. Lampleugh,
and also struck an unoccupied house belonging to the same
person, and one or two other houses in'the neighbourhood.
Every window was broken in one of the houses, and other
damage done. What is rather singular, two wood pigeons
as they were flying were killed by the lightning.
COLLISION.—Some little consternation was caused
among the passengers of the last up train on the Oxford'
Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway, on passing Chip.
ping Norton junction on Tuesday evening last. At this
b place a branch line runs off to the town of Chipping Nor-
ton, and the engine which is used for that
of
t purpose was
id
shunting to a siding, when, from. some mi
the points, instead of passing into a siding it ran on to the
main line, and dashing against one of the carriages, of the
'one oc,hotilillevegr, some
excitement among the passengers. No
was
passenger train knocked it off the rails
hurt, and after a little delay the train proceeded oni's
Wen use d during the day.
journey. The points had

Shortland-crescent was now burning from the
Bee-hive (Keesing's), to the inn at the corner of
High-street. The most strenuous effors were made
to cut down Keesing's inn, so as to stop the fire
reaching Mr. M'Ewan's and Messrs. Nathan and
Co.'s. A large ladder was with difficulty at length
raised against M'Ewan's, and hose of one of the
fire brigade engines led up to it to the roof, another
engine played on Keesing's house, the upper part of
which at last was hauled down into Shortland-st. ;
all made safe towards Nathan's. Meanwhile the

fire having extended across Vulcan-lane, the houses
of Somerville, shoemaker, Clements, Robertson, and
Low, were endangered. Here Mr. Forsaith and
_ _

others worked hard and well ; Mr. Keily mounted
on the roof of a building, which was already al-
most cut away below, and with an axe cut holes
under the ridge to affix ropes for hauling down the
mass. The wind favoured their exertions, and the
fire was got under in the direction of Messrs.
Petschler and Low's.

The only way to stop the progress of the fire up
Shortland-street now appeared to be by the de-
struction of some of the hbuses in the line of the fire,
and the Beehive, (Keesing's) was selected, Capt.
King, R.A., placed a charge of powder against this
house, which was ignited, partly destroying the
house in its explosion—heard even to Onehunga.
A hose was got into the upper floor of Gibson and
Mitchell's store, and though the window frames
facing the Beehive and even the roof were at times
on fire, the place was saved, and the conflagration
arrested in the direction of Upper Shortland-street.
Mr. George, the baker's house was of brick, and
still stood amidst the fire, but at length the heated
roof caught, and the place burnt fiercely, notwith-
standing a copious supply of water poured upon it.
It burnt until daylight, when the back wall alone
remained. _ _

At the end of High-street, between Keesing's
Inn and M'Ewan's store, the heat was so great
that the men who held the hose had to be enveloped
in blankets, and water kept thrown over them to
withstand the scorching of the flames behind them.
A bale of blankets from Nathan's stores was
brought out by Messrs. Jervis and Stitchbury, sa-
turated for this purpose, some being pulled over
M'Ewan's side window, and others thrown over
some burning kauri gum in the yard, thus removing
one great cause for further apprehension. The fire
was now arrested at all points ; the space where it
had raged still burnt fiercely, but the fire was low
in the cellars, and among fallen ruins, and not
likely to extend. Crashing chimneys, however,
and the occasional bursting up of the fire as it
reached the woodwork of foundation stones still
maintained the fearful and exciting spectacle, and
when day fairly broke, a clear space existed. from
Shortland-street to the Wesleyan chapel, and from
Fielding's to Brown Campbell's stone store. About
50 houses had been destroyed.
Around the fire, and especially in Shortland-
street, there must have been collected about 3,000
persons ; but from want of due organisation, their
presence was in a great measure useless. Assist-
ance was givini in many cases nobly and most affec-
tively ; but c:ither from selfish apathy or indecision,
there was much hanging back from exertion on
the part of in any stalwart civilians. We heard Dr.
Pollen, Mr. Merriman, and others, themselves
working hard, appealing to a large number of men
e_
to assist in a bucket chain-gang, but nearly all
Aelir.
clined,- some. even asking for remuneration.
e.Heaphy, one of the most active, ma de similar
ap-
peals to ind-ae these lookers-on to reinforee,
a fire-
engine that b
in a hot position, but with very
little avail.
While no ti Icing, as is our duty, this unhappy
want of organ u
•sati on and zeal on the party of so
many content:, to remain mere spe_ctators: we must
give our mesa of praise to some who distinguished
themselves
jr. Asher and the whole of the fire
•
brigade. Mr. J. Derrom was seen working every-
where where I he fire was thickest, and always use-
fully. Mr. IC( ning, of H.M.'s Customs, Mr. Ely,
Mr. Cadman, : Mr. Henderson, Mr. Coolahan, Afr.
Hansard, , were conspicuous, working effec-
tively at the a lost threatened points. Mr. Daldy
and Mr. Smart, saved the premises of Gibson and
Mitchell, anal totkped the progress of, the fire in that
direction. M 4 G. Graham, senior and junior,
were most tied ye; and Mr. M`Ewan, whose house for
a long time wt .s in most imminent danger, worked
hard in other directions to west the fire. Mr.
Heaphy was h auling the hose up the high ladder
against M'Ewl an's store, and afterwards removing
the burning' s pirit casks from Keesing's public-
house. Mr. J. Graham worked manfully ; and the
Rev. Mr. Lloy a, as at W. S. Grahame's fire, was
conspicuous at the most threatened point. We also
noticed Messi, s. Moorhouse, 011ivier, Blakiston,
Hall, Domett, and other southern members, co-ope-
rating with gi Seat energy with Mr. Dignan, Mr.
Whitaker (Ag orney-General), Mr. De B. Adams,
,Mr. Griffin, M r. Brennan, Mr. Bain, &c. -The as-
sistance of the military and fire brigade was above
all praise. CF apt. King, ILA., whose services were
employed tf )I(frw up Mr. Keesing's house: Wa, to

be seen walking coolly in the driving smoke and
sparks, with a powder bag under his arm to pl.aos
it in the most effective position for the explosion.
Mr. Perkins was very conspicuous and cool in the
most dangerous plaCes.
When the whole of the lower part of Mr. Bees.
ing's public-house had been cut away, and the
upper floor hanging only by its attachment to the
next house and by the roof which was burning,
into
the Warren, of the 58th, climbed
the bed-room and affixed a chain in such a manner
as enabled a rope-gang to pull down the burning
house which was threatening the opposite build.
ing. When Warren was in the upper part of this
house there was literally nothing under the roof
on which he was standing to support it, and. the
house was expected to crash each. mament,
Colonel Wynyard, the superintendent (Mr. Wil-
liamson), Mr. Merriman, and Dr. Pollen were at
the fire from first to last, advising, directing, and
animating the working parties ; and Major Thomp-
son, Capt. Reynolds, and other officers were among
the most active in working the bucket gangs.
At four o'clock p.m. (Wednesday) a public meet-
ing was held at the Odd Fellows'-hall, for the pur-
pose of taking measures for affording to the suf-
ferers by the late calamitous fire such aid as might
be needful. The hall was densely crowded. Among
the earliest to arrive were--his Excellency Colonel
Brown, Captain Stewart, Mr. Bolt; the Superin-
tendent, Dr. Pollen, Mr. Merriman, and Mr.
Heaphy ; and soon after the Southern- members of
the Assembly, headed by the Speaker (Mr. Clif-
ford), together with a large concourse of merchants
and other respectable colonists. Resolutions were
adopted, calling on the public for subscriptions
to relieve the sufferers, and also thanking those
who had taken an active part in preserving life
and property during the time of the conflagration.
The subscription list was headed by the Governor
and superintendent, and in a few minutes the sum
of £537 16s. was subscribed, and afterwards reached
£869 19s.

The following is a list of the sufferers and pro-
perty destroyed :
Shortland-street--Messrs. A. and R. Keesing,
shop and dwelling ; Mr. James George, shop and
dwelling ; Messrs. A. Keesing, shop and dwelling ;
Mr. Scott, painter's shop; Mr. Brighton, shop; Mr.
HenryKeesing, Commercial Hotel.
East Side of High-street—Mr. Godwater, shop
and dwelling ; Kelly's bakery, Messrs. Collins and
Ripley, cabinetmaker's shop ; Mr. Lorigan, shop
and dwelling; Mr. Leathem, baker, shop and
dwelling ; Mr. H. King, Osprey Tavern ; Mr. Mac-
donald, blacksmith's shop ; Mr. Hanlan, shop and
dwelling ; Mr. Walter M'Caul, shop and dwelling;
Mr. Banning, shop and dwelling (brick), the Old
Post-office and Police-station.
West Side of High-street—Messrs. Natlitin" and
Co., stables ; Mr. Rawson, shop and dwelling ; Mr.
Moore, shop and dwelling, ; M-r. Gourley, lodging-
house; Mrs, Harkins, dwelling; Mr. Macguire,
dwelling ; Messrs. Marston and George, offices ;
Mr. Overston, shop and dwelling ; Mr. M'Dermot,
shop and dwelling ; Mr. Cromwell, dwelling ; Dr.
Shiell, Auckland Dispensary •, Mr. B. Newell,
Auckland Hotel (brick) ; Mrs. Thompson, shop and
dwelling ; Police-corporal Forster, dwelling ; Mr.
Leach, shop and dwelling.
Vulcan-lane. Mrs. Welsh, dwelling •, Grace,
blacksmith's shop ; Mr. J. Robertson, dwelling ;
Mackie, coachmaker's shop ; Harkins, cooperage.
Chancery-lane and O'Connell-street—Mr. Robt.
Pollock, dwelling and stables ; Mr. John Finlay-,
carpenter's shop ; the Old Theatre ' • Keesing's
stores ; Mr. Hodge, blacksmith's shop ; Mr. Samuel
Campbell, dwelling house; Mr. John M'Leod,
dwelling house ; Brown and Campbell, wooden
store and stables.

THIRD EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock.

TATTERSALLS'-(THIS EVENXYG.)

The Cesarewitch settling progressed most satisfactorily.
No great winners are reported beyond the immediate
" party" of Rocket.

The Cambridgeshire betting took rather an extensive
range ; the animals most in request being Blanche of
Middlebie, Zouave, and Ignoramus.
CLOSING PRICES.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
9to 1 agst Blanche of Middlebie
12 to 1 agst Lecntes
14 to 1 agst Zouave
14 to 1 agst Ignoramus
25 to 1 agst The Brewer
20 to 1 agst Prioress
25 to 1 agst Gorlette
30 to 1 agst Rocket
100 to 3 agst Satinstone
1000 to 30 agst Physalis colt
40 to 1 agst Eclipse
40 to 1 agst Farmer's Son
40 to 1 agst Nelly
40 to 1 agst Tricolor
50 to 1 agst Lambourn
50 to 1 agst Kelpie
1000 to 10 agst Barbarity
DERBY.

12 to 1 agst Promised Land
25 to 1 apt Cavendish
30 to 1 agst Viking
40 to 1 agst Gamester

ARRIVALS AT KELSO.

Mr. Sykes, Simpleton, Cora Linne, Pretty Boy, Captain
Wedderburn, Leukothea, Duneany, Mimosa, Phoenix, Peg
Taft, Logie o' Buchan, Gift, Maid of Derwent, and
Mauchline.