The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-05 00:00:00

Yesterday a vestry meeting was held in thie veqtry'
room, St. Philip's, Stepney, for the eWiort-zof
churchwardens. The church was very much
crowded, in consequence of a notice signed by the
Ocliv t I
aredEns the
Rev. Mr. Bonwell, and a rumour that he intendedto make his appearance. Shortly after twelve that
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aq
assembled, was received with some hissirg,
cvnetsetrre3d., twhhe ut tech
p__Eistinisdli
opnreei2G were
eie
dinrge
Mr. BON WELL remarked that the persous who ,
hissed were not either Christians or Churchmen to
behave in such a way in a sacred edifice,
An adjournment to the church was at once
agreed to.

The Rev. Mr. BoNwfia, said that he wished to
explain why he had come to take the chair on that
occasion. He had a right to do so ex officio. He
bad always been anxious to contribute to the peace.
of the parish, and the Bishop of London had in-
duced him to sign an agreement that if he (Mr.
Penwell) would not interfere with Mr. Hills (the
appeal was pending
ethuarattehisinlocrhdasrhgipe) wouldwhiie atlilleew him (Mr. Bonwell)
half the fees. These fees were taken by the
bishop's secretary, and kept by him, and but that
eonie friend had been raised up to him he should
not have been in a position to come to the church
that day. He had been to Mr. Lee, and found that
many of his private papers had been lost from the
school-room ; and much as the people of that end
of London had been maligned by the press, with
reference to St. George's-in-the-East, he had always
been treated with forbearance by the people there.
If the Bishop of London had kept his word, and
acted in accordance with the agreement, he should
not have come, but his fees were kept back, and
week after week he had been left without a penny
in his pocket. He had been informed that some
one in the parish had said it was intended to keep
back the fees as long as possible, on purpose to
crush him still more, and therefore he appeared
there to appoint his own churchwarden to look
after his interest, in some degree at all events. He
could not help repeating, that the bishop had not
kept his word ; and it was a frightful thing to
knew that a Christian 'minister should be living in
two palaces, like Dives, and keeping his rights
away, Nth°, NVELS obliged tolie, like Lazarus, doctored
by dogs and comforted by crumbs. He appointed
Mr. Fitzgerald O'Brien, of ,19, Markilane, as.his
churchwarden.

Mr. BANTER inquired whether this-, gentleman
had paid any taxes yet. I„Triless he had paid taxes,
he could not be recognised as a parishioner.
Mr. BONWELL said Mr. O'Brien was a house-
holder, and that was sufficient to satisfy the Act
of Parliament.
After a long discussion on this point it was pro-
posed by Mr. White that Mr. George Elmom should
be the parish churchwarden.
Mr. PREECE said it would be very important for
the parish to know what was the exact state of its
affairs. The incumbent had brought into the
parish as his nominee a gentleman whose appoint-
ment was clearly illegal. He thought it would
have been more honourable on the part of Mr. Fitz-
gerald O'Brien if he had faced the meeting and
given some account of himself. He should like to
know who Mr. O'Brien was.
Mr. BONWELL said he wavithe managing clerk
to a firm of solicitors in Mark-lane, and was a man
of education and intelligence.
Mr. BANTER said it was a great piece of effron- •
tory on the part of the rev. gentleman to come there
and palm off upon the parishioners a person they
did not know as churchwarden. He was very happy
to hear that the bishop had deprived him of his
fees, and hoped he would continue to do so.
Mr. BONWELL—Nobody else says so. There
wants a great reformation in the Church. (Laugh.
ter and clapping of hands.)
Mr. PREECE again protested against the church-
warden named by Mr. Bonwell, and assured the
rev. gentleman that the appointment would be
resisted. This was not a question of Puseyism, but
of morality or immorality in the Church, and he
trusted that all their operations, both with regard
to the church and the schools, might be so con-
ducted that the young of the parish might-be un-
sullied. He could not help thinking that it was a
degrading thing to be in a sacred edifice talking te)
the clergyman about his moral and spiritual duties.
Ho should deeply regret if Mr. Bonwell had any
further connection with the parish.
The nomination of Mr. Elmore, as the parishioners'
churchwarden, was then agreed to.
Mr. BONWELL, in the course of a second address,
loudly declaimed against the unfair manner in
' which, as he alleged, he had been treated by the
bishop. If it had not been for the way in which
the press had treated him, he might have been able
to earn a living, which was impossible for any one
to do while under its ban. During the fourteen.
years he had been in the parish he had spent £9OO
in the schools, and had worked more, as the late
Bishop of London had told him, than all the clergy-
men of St. Paul's Cathedral put together. He had
only come there to do that which the law allowed
him, and threw himself on their generosity to treat
him with fairness.

The Rev. J. G. HILL (the curate in charge of the
parish) reverting to the remarks made by Mr.
Bonwell on the Bishop of London, said that no one
who had watched the career of the Bishop of Lon-
feltdonconnection
`thepresentthetimeproceedingshislordship's could have any doubt of the deep sympathy lie
for all classes in his diocese, whether clergy or
laity._ The parishioners might not be aware that
on
in-
well had exceeded £l,OOO. With regard to the
arrangement by which Mr. Bonwell was to receive
half the church fees weekly, he might remark that
it was not issued from headquarters, but was the
mistake of One of the servants in the solicitor's
office, the arrangement being contrary to the wishes.
of the bishop's legal advisers.
The meeting then broke up.