The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-09 00:00:00

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STATEMENT OF THE PURSER.
$l4 „.\0 r. •-• , • j .44
‘.7 • :
r" •• The following statement of the purser, made itu-
. '4,4421Lit , _ ro mediate] y after the catastrophe, was published in
41* a „ .rw xo . • At
Halifax

"On the morning of Monday, the 21st inst., at
five o'clock, but not by any means thick *eat
ther, the vessel struck on what arc called I Sea
Ledges, a great number of irregular rocks almost
entirely covered at high water, and over whieli,
when. there is the slightest swell, the water breaks
with great violence. These Ledges are at the mouth
of the small fishing harbour called Maria lonia',
about 65 miles cast of Halifax, N.S.

PRICE 4D• STAMPED, SD.

TILE BELIGIOU4 DISSENSIONS IN 81'.
GEORGE'S-flit-THE-EAST.

Yesterday evening a meeting of vestry of this
parish was held at the board-room of the work-
house, Mr. Churchwarden THOMPSON in the chair.

" The vessel went on not with a shock, but with
a rip, from the very sound of which it was per-
fectly evident that the bottom of the forward pal t
at least was literally torn out. Before the firemen
could leave the stokehole the water was nearly up
to the roof of the furnace doors, and in about 20
minutes the engine-room filled, almost up to the
highest platform.

From .the explanations of Mr. Churchwarden
Thompson, and some conversation which ensued,
the following facts were elicited. Yesterday
(Thursday) morning the Rev. C. F. Lowder, minis-
ter of the Mission Chapel in Weliclose-square, who
has been officiating for the Rev. Bryan King at the
parish church during his illness, attended before
Mr. Yardley on a summons charging him with
assaulting aparishioner named Soames.• It appears
that on Sunday morning last there was a wedding
at St. George's Church, the persons interested in
which were admitted into the church at a quarter
past 10 by a side door. Mr. Soames, knowing that
the choristers and others had "gone in, deter-
mined upon folloWing them,. when Mr. Lowder,
who had possession of the door, refused him ad-
mission, raised his arm and struck him on the
shoulder, and then, banging too the door, made
Mr. Soames a prisoner by the skirt of his coat,
which was caught by the doors. Mr. Soames, ac-
cording to his statement at the police-court, was
obliged to hammer away until he could 'obtain his
release. Four parishioners were called in support
of the charge, and Mr. Digby Seymour, MX w., ho
attended forPlr. Lowder, argued in defence that
the door was the private entrance of the rector, and
that Mr. Soames had no business there. Mr.
Churchwarden Thompson was also called, and
proved that this was not a door for the rector, but
for the public, upon which the magistrate decided
that the assault had been fully proved, and ex-
pressed his opinion that Mr. Lowder had acted very
injudiciously as a minister of peace in acting as a
policeman or doorkeeper. He added that he did
not believe that religious principle actuated any of
the parties. As the complainant had paid two
s
suhl
to,usl
so that
fine 110
pr.
Llaioirwltlyidnemgrsitglfootrsnhotithllee summons,ihxgusltfoorverthtehehaseostaher
Mr. BARNARD, after stating the circumstances
which had led to the recent disturbances in the
.pariA, and giving a succinct history of the griev-
ances of which the parishioners had to complain,
mol-ed the adoption of a petition to the House
of Commons, praying that some means may be de-
vised whereby the existing defects in the disci-
pline of the Church of England may be removed,
and power given to the laity to interfere, by some
cheap and summary process, for the redress of griev-
ances to which they are at present liable, from the
want of any sufficient means to restrain or remove
an erring or wrongheaded incumbent of a parish.
Mr. BARRETT seconded the adoption of the peti-
tion, which was supported by

7' Thehoats were lowered as q,nickly as possible,
and without much difficulty. rho starboard and
port boats, Nos. 1 and 2, were swung on the davits so
low as to be clear of the rail. The entire efforts of
the crew were then directed towards lowering the
boats (starboard and port), Nos. 3 and 4. No. 3,
under the charge of Mr.'Smith, second officer, vas
launched in safety, but all attempts to launch No. 4
for a: • icing while were fruitless. While the men
were still employed in the attempt to do so, and, as
nearly as I can recollect, about 4a minutes: after she
struck with a tremendous crash, the vessel began
which
othpwicahhritcwialemtrieilds
e3,o,hu‘itips
:e.rimtlraostsof t
working,
at le
tlahnihds a
crowded
time
eldeteft the i
iaattolot
those
isrt
eer
life" took place. The two forward boats being
nearest the steerage were naturally enough those
to which the steerage passengers crowded. The
German families, as well ad the other passengers
that have been lost, were alllost there, and the only
way in Which Lean account for it is this ; when 'the
vessel struck the sea was almost calm, but imme-
diately after a considerable swell arose at the very
time that she began to breakup. The sea was breaking
with great violence againa the bow, and I presume
it was the peopl:! crowding to the boat that caused
some incautious person in the starboard boat No. 1
to cry to those who were standing by to cut the
fall. His orders were unfortunately obeyed, and
the consequence was that the stern of the boat was
smashed to atoms against the ship's side, and most
of the people in her perished.
"The port boat, No. 2, which was also swung
on the davits, shared a similar fate, and in a some-
what similar manner. One of the davits, lam
told, gave way with the weight of the people
on her; however that may be, I know that almost
at one and the same moment with boat No. 1
she was swamped and turned bottom upwards ;
and it is supposed the engineers were drowned
out of her. Mr. Smith, who was on the weather
side, then brotight round his boat to the lee-
ward of the vessel, where he was to lie off until
daylight would enable him to pick up some more
from the wreck, but this he found it impossible to
do. He was driven out to sea, and with great diffi-
culty managed to bring his boat to land about 35
miles westward from the wreck. Another boat,
under the direction of Mr. Tibbitts, fourth office,
and one in charge of the boatswain, after endeavour-
ing for hours in vain to return to the wreck, got
ashore at Marie Joseph. There was also another
lowered in comparative safety—namely, port boat
No. 4. It appeared, however, that it had sus-
tained some damage, too, as it filled immediately
on reaching the water. Mr. Biggan, third
officer, went down to assist those already id
the boat to bale it out, when he was driven out to
sea and has not yet been heard of.
"About daylight the vessel parted completely
in two, the forward part falling over almost on its
beam, and the after part settling down in about 21
feet of water. Throughout the (lay the whole of
the passengers and cretv were taken off' by boats
belonging to the place, and throughout the
night they (the boatmen) sought to reward
themselves by visiting the wreck and - carry-
ing off all the silver plate along with the
whole of the clothing belonging to both passengers
and crew. Every effott was made that night to
obtain a boat's crew, but not a single man could be
found who would go. The magistrates are endea-
vouring to trace the guilty parties, but have thus
far been unsuccessful.

_ •
Mr. ARMSTRONG, who said he wished to attack
the system which had been imposed upon them, and
not the man who introduced it, for ke had the
highest possible respect for their rector as a gen-
tleman. It was, however, a question, and a very
serious one, between 50,000 parishioners on the one
hand and a solitary priest on the other. It was
obvious that it would be useless to appeal to the
bishop, who had shown that he had no power. All,
therefore, that the parishioners had left to them
was to go to Parliament. (Hear.)
Mr. STEPHENS remarked that it was
_not safe
now for a parishioner to go into the church, for
unless he conformed to all the strange practices
which prevailed there, he might be summoned on
the following day for tome outrageous act of which
he was both innocent and ignorant
Mr. B. HERBERT stated that with regard to Mr.
Rosier, who had been cited to the Consistory Court
at the instigation of the rector, no expenses would
be incurred, unless they were voluntarily given.
Mr. Rosier would allow the law to take its course,
and would go to prison, if that should be the re-
sult of the proceedings. (Hear, hear.)
On the motion of Mr. BARNARD, it was agreed
that a similar petition should be presented to
the House of Lords ; the petition to the House of
Lords to be entrusted to Lord Ebury, and that
to the House of Comnions to Mr. C. S. Butler, M.P.
for the Tower Hamlets.
Mr. Churchwarden TnomPsosz announced that
he had received a requisition from a large number
of the inhabitants of the parish, which he should
act upon, praying the churchwardens to convene a
public meeting of the parishioners, to consider the
present ecclesiastical condition of the parish, and
to memorialise the Queen to remove the Rev.
Bryan King.
It was stated in the course of the proceedings
that the Rev. Hugh Allen, the afternoon lecture.,
has been presented by the Lord Chancellor to the
rectory of St. George's, Southl.vark, rendered va-
cant by the preferment of the Rev:William C:d-
man; M.A., to the rectory of Trinity district, St.
Yfarylebone. It appears to be doubtful at present
whether Mr. Allen will be able to hold his lecture-
ship (which is unendowed and dependent. upon
voluntary subscriptions) with his Suuthwark ree-
-1 terry.

" A boat's crew went out on Tuesday morning
to see if any of the wreck remained, and returned
with the news that not a single plate of the vessel
was to be seen.
" The mails have been saved."
In explanation of this statement, we are in•
formed by one of the principal officers that the
seven boats were away from the ship before she
parted, which was about three-quarters of an hcur
from the time she .4truck,
,and that the loss of life
did not really, eccur in the way supliosed by the
purser. With .tho exception of one- seaman, who
was washed offt he wreck forward, the lives of bath
passengers and crew were lost in connection with
the daunehing of the, boats. "Wit 11. a view to secur-
ing the safety of the family which appears at, the
head of the passenger list, they were placed in the
No. 2 boat before it was lowered ; and it is supposed
that the two engineers and one or two seamen had
also got into her whilst she was yet suspended
from the davits, when a heavy sea washed over and
filled her, turned her bottom upwards, and broke
the davits. The other persons drowned were in
the_ starboard (No 1) boat, when it is supposed a
heavy sea touched her bottom and lifted herconsi-
derably, so that the few persons who were in her
brotight her down with a sudden jerk, which
straightened one of the davits and broke her fall,
and the other :;eing cut, or also parting with the
strain, this boat and those who were in her were
lost. The purser's room was broken to pieces, and
but few of the papers were saved. The log, how-
ever, was preserved.
The schooner Alexander, Captain Shellnut, was
first to render assistance, and conveyed to Halifax
24 of those rescued.

FLOODS IN YOIK,VIIRE.

Some heavy
.floods have occurred in different
parts of Yorkshire this week. In the western part
of the county, especially in the Calder valley, the
streams and rivulets greatly overflowed their hanks,
as did also the river Calder in several parts, and a
good deal of damage was done, and in one instance
human life was lost; The rain was accompanLA
with a strong wind, and about noon on Monday a
factory girl named Matilda Clegg, eight years of
age, wad walking near a mill-darn at Shibden, a
short distance from Halifax, when she was blown
into the dam and drowned. Several of the worsted
factories and corn-mills in the valleys about Hali-
fax were injured by the flood, and at Suddenfoot,
in the same district of county, a wooden bridge was
washed away. In Wharfedale also, the rivers and
streams were much increased, and many hundreds
of acres of laud were laid under water. In the
northern part of the cauutv, especially in Wensley-
dale, the floods were very -heavy. A mild thaw set
in on Sunday evening;;, which, gradually dissipating
the snow which had fallen on the two previous
days, caused a flow of water from the hills to the
river Yore, but not to such an extent as to cause
any apprehensions of the tremendous flood which
afterwards ensued. Purim, the bight the wind rose
to a hurricane, accompanied with heavy showers.
and this, it is supposed. caused a large natural
basin, known as Summer IVater, near Bainbridge,
to overflow its banks, and pour into the already
swollen and turbulent river below. With the
return of daylight on Monday morning a
scene presented itself in Wensleydale which was
as fearful as it was unexpected. The whole of
the flat tract of land from West Witton, at the foot
of Pen-hill to below Cover-brigde near East Witton
and Middleham, was so completely submerged that
nothing but the tops of trees and a few hillocks
aed hedgerows were visible:on the large sheet of
water which, like a vast lake, was spread over the
face of the country. The course of the stream in
the middle was very rapid and powerful, and a great
deal of anxiety soon began to be manifested re-
specting the live stock which had been left on the
pastures along the river's bank. The greatest loss
at present known seems to have been sustained by
Mr. Peacock, of Harmby, butcher, who had left, 40
sheep and three horses in a field called Boat Pas-
ture. Some of these were seen early in the morn-
ing huddled together on a small hillock, sur-
rounded by water, and, as the water continued to
rise, the loss of the whole flock seemed inevitable.
It was, however, known that a boat was kept by
Lord Bolton in a shed near the river, and though
the task seemed as hopeless as it was daring, two
men, named John Taylor and James Constantine,
boldly waded into the water, and, after being
nearly overpowered, at length succeeded in getting
out the boat, when, with the ready help of a number
of persons who had assembled, 2-1 of the sheep
wore brought from their isolated position. The
horses had already taken care of themselves and
fortunateiy escaped without injury, but 16 sheep,
chiefly half-bred and Leicester ewes, were carried
away by the flood, and out of the 21 which re-
mained, two at least were on the brink of perish-
ing.. Four sheep were swept away out of a flock
of .27 bslonginz to Mr. Whitolock, which were
in a field adjoining the Boat Pasture, but these,
with one exception, were afterwards recovered. Mr.
Robinssn, of Thornton Steward, is said to have lost
three sheep out of a flock of 50, and the carcases of
a horse and other animals were seen floating down
the river. , A great number of petions from Ley-
burn and the neighbouring villages visited what
may be termed the margin of tho lake during the
day, especially. on the road from Leyburn to Mid-
dleham, crossing the suspension bridge, which was
so completely submerged for nearly a quarter of a
mile as to render the passage of conveyances im-
possible. A good deal of damage has been done to
some of the land which was flooded, especially to
such as was sown with wheat.

The schooner Lutca ran close to the wreck, went
among the breakers, and became a total wreck.
Her crew was saved.

The Delta, which it was supposed might have
been the vessel wrecked, has arrived at Sydney,
Cape Briton.

A GALLANT .4 UT.TON.

• The following gallant action, accomplished bj•
Capt. Hemel, of the French clipper Luzitano, by
which the captain and crow of the Birkenhead, of
Liverpool, were saved from impending death, has
been reported to the French Government. The fact
is the more remarkable as a British vessel had
previously lissed near. the Birkenhead, and, al-
though her dangerous position was evident, the
other ship continued on her voyage without afford-
ing any assistance. The following is the report
made by Capt.. HerMel:—" On the 24th November,
about 7 in the morning, during a violent gale, the
wind blowing from the west, 1 perceived a ship at
a shot distance steering badly, and endeavouring
to move towards the south. I found that this vessel
had lost all her masts but her lower ones. I imme-
diately steered towards the vessel, and when 1 was
sufficiently near she hoisted the union flag reversed.
The captain hailed me, and prayed me to take him
and his crew on board, as his ship was about to
founder. In fact, I saw that his deck was broken
up, and that the sea was breaking over her on all
sides. I lay to as close as possible to the ship in
distress, and at half-past 8 I had the satisfaction to
receive the crew, consisting of 23 men, on board.
The captain told me his name was Edward Phelan,
of Waterford, his ship the Birkenhead, measured
883 tons, and . belonged to Mr. J. Wilson, of Liver-
pool, He was on his passage from Quebec to
Liverpool, with a cargo of timber. The'Birkenhead,
being in 45.40 north lat. and 40.20 west long. from
the meridian of Paris, sprung a leak, making 5 feet
of water an hour, the wind blowing fresh from the
north-west. Finding that the water was gaining
on the vessel, although all hands were employed at
the pumps, the captain commanded a reef to be taken
in the mizen sail. While this operation was going
on the deck was burst up by the cargo, while the
stern and bows were seriously damaged by the
shifting of the large logs of timber. In this critical
position Capt. Phelan cut away all his upper masts,
leaving only the lower ones, with which he ex-
pected to. make the Azores, but he found it almost
imposSible to make the Birkenhead answer the
helm. Thus the crew were exposed to the greatest
danger for 12 days, until I met them, when they
had made only ,80 leagues. They had passed the
northern islands of the AzOres, and I am convinced
that Capt. Phelan could not have made the island
of St, Michael, for the west and south-westerly
winds were driving his ship to the east., although
he was making every effort to steer to the south
He was then in 42.15 north latitude, and
.32 west
longitude. , When I received the crew they were
reduced to the last glass of water, and the small
quantity of provisions which they had saved from
the sea was nearly exhausted. Moreover, the
weather being extremely' severe, the men suffered
horribly from cold and, damp. Six days before I
fell in with the Birkenhead, a ship of her nation
passed close by, but the captain did not think pro-
per to stop to assist his unfortunate countrymen.
A violent tempest arose from the south-west shortly
after the crew arrived on board the Luzitano, and
lasted for 12 hours. Capt. Phelan is ofopinion that
his ship must have gone to pieces during tha storm."

THE GREAT BELL OF WESTMINSTER.—In Mr.
Walesby's letter, inserted in The Sun of Monday evening
last, instead of "even," read " `ever' to produce a rich
and tQuQ," -