The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-07 00:00:00

THE RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS IN ST.

GEORGE'S EAST.

Yesterday the parish church of St. George's in
the East was re-opened for divine service after the
mediation of the Bishop of London in reference to
the ecclesiastical disputes which have for some time
past agitated the parish. Unhappily the mediation
has ended in nothing, except, indeed, in inducing a
fiercer and more outrageous display of passion on
the part of the parishioners than has hitherto been
experienced. The result of this unfortunate state
of things must be told in the form of a brief narra-
tive of yesterday's extraordinary proceedings.
It was understood throughout the parish that the
Rev. Bryan King, M.A., the rector, would take the
morning service. He did so, and the congregation
was a very large one, an unusual occurrence as far
as regards the morning service at St. George's.
At eleven o'clock the rector, accompanied by ten
or twelve choristers, walked in procession from
the west to the east end of the church, and
all of them having taken the choristers' seats, Mr.
King commenced the service, which was choral
throughout. It will be remembered that the Bishop
of London in his mediation decided that the coloured
stoles should not be used, and Mr. King got over
his dislike to this part of the mediation in a very
ingenious manner. Yesterday being within the
octave of All Saints, the stole, according to the
model hitherto observed, would have been green ;
but Mr. King wore none of any kind, being habited
simply in his surplice, with his hood representing
his degree of a Master of Arts in the University of
Oxford. As soon as he commenced the service there
was a hiss, but this soon subsided, and there was no
further interruption until the rev, gentleman com-
menced his sermon. Preparatory to this Mr. King
turned his back to the congregation, and, bowing
to the altar, said, " In the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost," instead of the ordinary
prayers. This was followed by liis.mes, stamping of
feet, and the slamming of pew doors. Mr. King,
unmoved by this display of feeling, proceeded to the
delivery of his sermon, selecting for his text the
26th chapter of Leviticus, 34th and 35th verses—
" Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long
as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land,
even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sab-
baths, As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest,
because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye
dwelt upon► it." He remarked that he fully agreed
with the statement which was made by the Bishop
of London in his consecration sermon on Friday

last, that to desecrate a church was like desecrating
a father's or a mother's grave. To desecrate a church
was a sin above all others. It was opposed to
the deepest and the strongest feelings of the
natural life. In this respect he could not add any-
thing to what had been so truly and properly ex-
pressed by the bishop of the diocese. It was the
sin of sacrilege—a sin arising out of the exhibition
of an unholy temper. He wished to take that
opportunity of saying that it was at his own
special request—having been put in trust for the
sanctity of that place—that the Bishop of London
closed the church. For the last six weeks the
voice of prayer and praise had been silent there, the
Word of God had not been preached there, the high
and most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist had
not been administered, and no intercession had been
made fsr immortal souls. In this respect the work
of God had been hindered through the evil passions
of men. Ile did not know that the fearful scenes

which had been enacted there were capable of any

exaggeration. He could only cemiare them to
those sad events in the victory of the Church which

occurred at the great Rebellion. The pretence then
was much the same as now. What was clamoured
against then was singing and music in the service
of God, and the service of God investments which
were appropriate to their peculiar offices. Tho
murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury and of
the King followed, and he could not help thinking
that such things might occur again, when he heard
of the violence and the fierce gnashing of teeth
with which the servants of God hud been met. He
believed that those who had desecrated the church
were not inhabitants of the parish ; but at the same
time he was greatly disappointed that so few had
raised up their hands in support of the doctrines of
the Church to which they adhered. He should ever
redangdars
adtnheessse, tahnidn g
yets with
Nv
tha
jf eo eyl i na gn
do f hum
iliation
thankfulness
that they were again permitted to worship
Almighty God in their parish church. However
long he might be permitted to continue the rector
of that parish, he should never enter the walls of
that church without a feeling of shame on account
of the gross outrages that had been committed
there. Their services henceforward would be per-
formed without those eucharistic vestments which
were peculiar to them. He could never again put
on those beautiful robes, and henceforth, there-
fore, they must worship God in this holy sacrifice
in the garb of humiliation. He then announced
that for the future the Holy Communion would not
be administered on Sundays in the church, but
that the administration would take place on Tues-
day and Thursday mornings at 8 o'clock.
The Bishop of London's decision was, that the
afternoon lec:urzn's service should take place at half-
past three, and that the rector's afternoon service
should precede it. Accordingly Mr. King fixed his
service for a quarter before three, at which time the
church was filled to overflowing. When the rev.
gentleman appeared with his choristers in the
church, a loud, determined shout of disapproval
burst forth. Unmoved, however, by this violent de-
monstration the rev, gentleman knelt before the
altar, and went through the Litany service. He was
hissed, hooted, and yelled at, during the whole of
the service, and at its close made his way with dif-
ficulty to the vestry, from which in a few minutes
afterwards the Rev. Hugh Allen came, habited in