The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-23 00:00:00

EXETER BALL.

Last night the first of ,a series of Sunday evening reli-
gious services was held in Exeter Hall, under the auspices
of an influential body .of Dissenters in the metropolis,
having precisely the same object in view as those insti-
tuted in the summer of- the present year, with the sanc-
tion and approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury and
the Bishop of London, but to the resumption of which,
as is well known, a stop was recently put by the incum-
bent of St. Michael's, :Burleigh-street, Strand, in whose
parish this "unconsecrated building" happens to be
located, acting on a strict legal right with which the law-
invests him. The energetic and beneficial movement,
therefore, which eliminated from the Church of England
with the view of bringing under the influence of the
Gospel a large class of the inhabitants of this city who
habitually absent themselves from all the ordinary places
of worship—which received the direct countenance of
some of her most d istinguished laymen; and the assist-
ance of some of heir most eminent divines, and which, so
tar as it went, was attended with considerable success—
is not, it seems, destined to be arrested, though it be
carried on by other hands than those with which it ori-
ginated. The Rev. W. Brock, minister of the Baptist
chapel in Bloomsbury, was the preacher selected to offi-
ciate on the occaition. The doors were opened at 6 o'clock,
but long before that hour a crowd of well-dressed people
had assembled i-a front of the hall, and, when admission
was obtained, the building was speedily filled in every
part. Dense though the crowd was, nothing could beinore
creditable than the order and decorum with which the
people ascended the stairs leading to the hall and took
their seats. The admission was wholly free ; there
were no reserved seats, not even on the platform ; no
money cohlectioti. The services, as on the former occa-
sion, were announced to be for the benefit of the working
classes, and persons accustomed to attend places of wor-
ship were requested not to absent therneelves from them,
lest they might occupy roo,u intended for those whom it
was specially designed to instruct and edify. This hint,
we apprehend, eras not acted on to the full, any more
than in summer, when the Church of England services
were held in the same place, and when peers of the
realm, Cabinet :Ministers, and distinguished members of
Parliament were to be seen among the general audience.
Mr. Brock took his seat on the platform shortly after
six, accompanied by Mr. A. Kinnaird, M.P., Mr. S.
Morley, and se., oral other gentlemen, aid the service
commenced at the half hour. It is a note. orthy cire
cumetance, aa al creditable to the minister and all con-
cerned in the arraugements—as indicating to divest
these ministrations as much as possiole of everything
ike sectarian feeling, and to make them a substantial
continuation of those which had gone before—that the
hymns and ritual used in the service last night were
precisely those adopted at the Sunday evening services
of the Church of England held there in the present year.
It is, perhaps,, the first occasion on which a Noncon-
formist minister—except among the Wesleyans, where
the practice is not uncommon—has used the Litany of
the Church of England and several of the prayers
' contained in i'ai ritual in condUcting a religious service.
Cho circumsta etee is significant of an increasing spirit of
religious tolera. tion and a desire for a hearty co-operation,
'f not for uxiion, among some at least of the variant'
,ections of the Protestant church. In one past of the
Litany, indeee, Mr. Brock introduced words to which
no one could p ossibly object, not even, we imagine, the
most rigid Churchman. In the intercession, beginning—
" That it may please Thee to illuminate all bishops,
priests, and deeecons, with true knowledge, and under-
standing of Thy Word ; and that both by their preaching
and living their may set it forth and show it accord.
• ingly,"—he aed ded, after the word " deacons," "pastors,
ministers, and. missionaries of the Gospel." At another
period of the service he put up an extempore prayer
and read selected portions of Scripture, in much the
same way as is customary in Dissenting chapels. He
a:terwards preached a sermon from the 15th chapter of
the First Epdstle to the Corinthians, the 3d and 4th
verses—" For. I delivered unto you, first of all, that
which I also received ; how that Christ died for our
sins according., to the Scriptures, and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day, according to the
Scriptures." The discourse for earnestness, novelty,
and felicity of illustration, and vigour of delivery, was
tar above the .ordinary class of sermons, and was listened
to throughout with the most marked attention.