The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-26 00:00:00

oratory consisted in its truthful simp'icity, a vrai-
semblance that brought conviction to the minds of his
auditors. There were no finely rounded periods, no
appeal to the passions-, or studied expressions. It was
a man of bu,iness habits and sound common sense
explaining to persons, jointly interested with himself
in an important undertaking, the true principles on
which their affairs should be conducted—the abso-
lute necessity of resisting the unreasonable demands
of the employes, which, if conceded, would constitute
them the masters rather than the servants of the com-
pany, and prevent the possibility of carrying out the
economical arrangements, which the general depre-
ciation of railway property renders essential, and
which the Eastern Counties directors have pledged
themselves to—and which they are gradually, but
steadily bringing into operation on the entire line.
The most skilful and practised orator could not, how-
ever, have produced a more striking and almost
magical effect than the simple and straightforward
speech of the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
A little consideration might have convinced the
parties who hurled their anathemas against the autho-
rities of the propriety of awaiting the authorised answer
to the assertions of the malcontents, before giving
premature expression to opinions formed on inade-
quate data. The conduct of the engine-drivers made
out a prima facie case against themselves. They at
tempted, in the first instance, to ride roughshod over
the directors, and to compel them 'to decide a ques-
tion of considerable importance without even hearing
the defence of the accused. Their earliest complaint,
the first intimation given to the board of directors of
any dissatisfaction being entertained towards Mr.
Goocu, the new superintendent, was accompanied by
a threat. Their memorial concluded with. these
words :—" We deeply regret that we are compelled to
be so hasty in our proceedings, but the prompt man-
ner in which Mr. Gooca is carrying out his tyran-
nical measures leaves us no alternative. We are
quite willing to serve your honourable board as here-
tofore, but we have unanimously come to the determi-
nation to be the servants cf your honourable board
no longer than the 18th of August, 1850, unless Mr.
Goocu is removed from being our superintendent."
Here there was no application for inquiry,
no expression of a willingness to come
forward and prove the charges then, for the
first time, brought forward. They would not even
wait for t'he decision of the board on the memorial.
The deputation which presented it met a single
director (Mr. ELLIS), the only one at the station, no
such complaint having been for a moment antici-
pated. That gentleman received them in a most
courteous manner, and did all that man could do to
assuage their irritation, to calm their angry passions,
and to indnce them to pursue a rational course. He
declared the directors " had no knowledge of any dis-
agreement between the engine-drivers and Mr.
Go( cis ; they had never complained individually or
collectively, and that was the first intimation they
had given. The directors had no desire to part with
their old servants, or any intention that they should be
harshly or unfairly dealt with. They believed Mr.
Goocu to be a kind man, and he was so con-
sidered by those under his management on the
South-Western Railway, where he had been
employed for the last ten years. His serious advice
to them was not to act precipitately or prematurely.
Many of them doubtless had wives and families, and
they should, thersfere, consider before they acted in
the way mentioned in the memorial. They would
see that he could not be prepared with an answer, as
in justice to Mr. Goocu the directors must hear his
reply bef ire they determined the matter. They would
see Mr. Goocu, and endeavour to adjust their differ-
ences " This conciliatory and judicious answer, how-
ever, failed to satisfy the malcontents. The prudent
advice given by Mr Eeers was slighted and despised.
The Chairman arrived at -the station within a quarter
of an hour after the departure of the men, and he im-
mediately telegraphed for Mr. Goocu to come to the
station, and to bring with him a statement of all the
tines he had imposed; but in the interim every man's
resignation bad been placed in Mr. Goocu's hands.
['hey were on printed forms, prepared for the occa-
sion even before the meeting with Mr. ELLIS, and
were contained in a single parcel.
Every employer of human labour throughout the
length and breadth of the land, every man accus-
tomed to see many persons engaged under a single
master, must be well aware of the injurious conse-

quences of yielding to such intimidation. If they
bad done so for a single moment—if they bad
truckled to the palpable combination, there would
have been an end to all subordination. They were
in the position of rebels is open arms, who could not
even be treatcd with until they laid down their
weapons. These misguided individuals had, how-
ever, forn.ed an erroneous:estimate of their own con •
s.-quence, and persevered in their reckless course.
the directors took every precaution that prudence
dictated to provide for the emergency—no exertions
were spared to replace the seceders by competent and
well-qualified drivers. Wirr companies came nobly
forward to render assignee in a matter of
general interest, and spared several experienced
drivers until the arrangements of the directors
could be perfected, and the best refutation of the
charges against the new superintendent was to be
found in the fact, that many experienced drivers re-
signed their situations on the South-Western Railway
to follow their old superintendent (Mr. Goocu)—a
sterling testimonial to his kindliness of disposition and
temperate government that could not be surpassed.
Meanwhile the drivers were rather surprised at the
firm and unexpected position assumed by the direc-
tors ; they had supposed themselves indispensable, and
they began to be aware of_their mistake. They held
daily meetings, at which every accident, or rather
everything that could by possibility be tortured into
an accident, was to have been brought forward, and
the characters of the new men exposed, if any tan-
gible charge could have been preferred, but, fortu-
nately, they reckoned without their host " in these
respects. Although the men were brought to a new
district, with which they had previously been unac-
quainted, and although means were taken to occasion
accidents that might have led to the most calamitous
results—nothing •• but a :Tight shaking of a passenger
train, that could scarcely be called an accident,"
had occurrtd. And, notwithstanding the urgency d
the occasion and the pressure of the emergency, the
characters of tbeinew candidates for employment were
rigidly tested, and none but those who • could bear
the strictest inquiry were retained, so that Mr. BETTS
was able to speak personally of every new driver on
the line, and to express the fullest confidence that
" there was not one who was not equal to the dis-
charge of his duties."
The seceders were all this time speaking loudly es
to the public safety and the dangers incurred by the
directors in bringing new and untried men. But to
whom was this danger ascribable. Was it not to the
mei who discharged themselves en masse, and refused
to continue their duties even until their com-
plaints bad been investigated? The parrot cry
of " disregarding the safety of the passengers"
proceeded strangely from such a quarter, and
did not assort well with the removal of the " gauge
glasses," the soap, the tallow- grease and sand that
were found in the boilers and axle-boxes. These
latter acts of so deeply criminal a character were not
brought home to any of the parties, and GOD forbid
that we should, 'without ample proof, suppose that any
body of Englishmen could be guilty of such atrocious
and ccwardly conduct; but some persons, aware of
the probable cons( quences of such proceedings, must
have been cognizant thereof, which certainly did not
help the cause of the seceders.
Their last hope was, however, placed on the share.
holders, and bills were handed to every gentleman
en. eri. g the room, asking for a committee
" to inquire into all the facts of the case."
This, te it remembered, was the appeal of men who
had previously refused to permit any inquiry with
respect to Mr. Goocu, who had served their notices
before their complaints could be investigated. The
shareholders, howei er, unanimously cusidered that
they bad lipled their time, and had now
no locus standi, and this feeling was con-
firmed by the statement of the Chairman,
that he and Mr. Eu.is had investigated, the very day
of the mem ,r;4l, " eV& ry single fine that bad been im-
posed upon the men," and that, "as a practical man,
he could say that net a single fine had been imposed
that should n )t have been imposed, nor had any fine
been imposed from an improper motive."
Under such circumstances, we cannot feel surprised
at the perfect ccrdi4llY sad unsAiruity with which

the customary vuteof thanks to th- Chairman and di-
rectors was carried, and at the feplini universally en-
tertnined, that by their conduct during this trying
emergency they had gained new claims upon the
gratitude of the important consti'ueney whose inte-
rests they have so efficiently wafched over for the
past year. They have not been able "to command
success," but they have unquestionably " deserved it."

Various have been the methods adopted by cele-
brated men of giving vent to their feelings when
enraged, vexed, dr perplexed. MOZART was wont, on
such occasions, to rush to the pianoforte and rattle
away his annoyances in a series of brilliant fantasias.
THERSITES raved, ACHILLES sulked, and Dr. HENRY
PIIILLFOTTS writes pamphlets. No sooner is that
right reverend and holy man thwarted or annoyed
than he forthwith retails his vexations across the
counter of his bookseller, at the low charge of one
shilling and sixpence, making commodity of his cala-
mity and turning his very grief to profi'. It might
have been supposed, from the tenor of the letter
which the Bishop of EXETER thought it decent to ad-
dress to his Metropolitan on the subject of the judg-
ment of the Privy Council in the case of Mr. Goa -
HAM, that the Right Rev. Prelate would sturdily
hive refused to take any steps that should
aid, assist, or abet the induction of Mr.
GORHAM into the living of Brampford Speke, and that
he would have braved the terrors of the Ecclesiastical
Court rather than have returned into the court the
presentation; but the opinions of (he Bishop of EXETER
on the subject of martyrdom are, it is evident, similar
to those of MATTHEWS' old man on the subject of
Vauxhall—"lt's very fine, but it's very expensive."
An unbeneficed clergyman like Mr. SUORE may in-
deed afford to become a martyr, but with a well-
endowed dignitary of the Church the case is different.
Comfortable is a prebendal stall at Durham, most
comfortable the revenues of the see of Exeter, com-
fortable exceedingly the patronage attached thereunto.
These are matters not lightly to be placed in jeo-
pardy. The race of Silkies, whether lay or clerical,
must " provide for their families," and accordingly,
having a wholesome horror of the FLUELLIN of the
Ecclesiastical Court, our Episcopal PISTOL eats his
leek, and swears while eating. Dr. PIIILLPOTTS re-
turns the presentation to the Arches' Court, and
writes a letter to the churchwardens of Brampford
Speke.
There would be something excessively ludicrous,
if the subject-matter were less grave, in the
spectacle of this five-times defeated Prelate ap-
pealing on a matter of law from the Courts of
Westminster Hall and the Judicial Committee of
the Privy Council, and on a matter of theology and
church discipline, from the judgment of his Metropo-
litan, the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, whom at his
consecration he bad sworn that he would reverence
and obey, to the churchwardena of Brampford
Speke; but the subject is of too grave a nature
to be treated after this fashion ; albeit, it must
be confessed that the specimens of " slangwhan-
gery" (we are forced to adept an Americanism
to describe accurately the peculiar characteristics
of the Bishop's style) with which this epistle abounds
are most tempting. The Bishop commences his letter
by giving his own version of the history of the Gorham
controversy, and, while in allusion to his consecration
vows, he says—
" When I was consecrated to the high office which,
however unworthy, I bear in the Church of Christ, I
,01.-mnly engaged, just before I was admitted to the com-
munion of El 3 body and of His blood, to be reldy, the
Lord being my helper, with all faithful diligence ,to
banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doc-
trine contrary to God's word;' "
he does not condescend to explain how it happened
that he, knowing in the early part of 1846, that the
Rev. GEORGE CORNELIUS GORHAM, then Vicar of St.
Just, within the diocese of Exeter, "held doctrines
on the subject of the baptism of infants which he
(the Bishop of EXETER) deemed directly contrary to
the sure Word of GOD, as set forth in the Thirty-nine
Articles of the Church of England, and still more
plainly in the offices of baptism in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer, and in the catechism, or instruction to
be learned of every person before he be brought to be
confirmed by the Bishop,'" did not, in obedience
to his consecration vow, take immediate
steps "to banish and drive away the strange
' doctrine from his diocese," but suffered the, as he be-
lieves, "heretic" to continue teaching unmolested in
the parish of St. Just for the space of not less than

eight, perchance for the space of twenty months.
At the period of his consecration as Bishop of
Eceter, Dr. PHllll'Ol73 declared that be felt
" persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain suffi-
ciently all doctrine required of necessity to eternal
salvation through faith in JESUS CHRIST," yet, strange
to say, throughout the whole of this controversy neither
the Bishop nor any of his supporters have ventured
in any one instance to appeal to the Scripture, or
to adduce a single Scripture authority in support of
the tenets which they profess, and this letter to the
churchwardens of Brampford forms no exception.
The uninspired Prayer- book is constantly quoted as
an authority, the inspired Scriptures never—per-
chance the Bishop does not altogether approve of the
summary of episcopal duties given in the Scriptures.
It has long been known to all scholars that there
are on the Episcopal Bench many Bithops more pro-
foundly learned in theology than the Bishop of
EXETER, in fact, that Right Reverend Prelate has
been in respect of theology somewhat of a chamelion,
and has generally been of- the hue of his examining
chaplain for the time being, and the probability is
that had not Mr. MASKELL been the Bishop's ex-
amining chaplain at the time of the presentation of
Mr. GORUAM to the living of Brampford Speke, the
world would have heard nothing of this baptismal
regeneration controversy. Since the decision of the
Judicial Committee Mr. Me.-it.ELL has gone over to
Rome, and we were curious to know how Dr. PIIILL-
POTTS would manage to conduct the controversy in
the absence of bis " guide, philosopher, and friend ;" he
has very judiciously, and with infinite tact, given the
subject the go by. "I say ditto to Mr. BURKE,"
said the Bristol merchant when called on to make his
profession of political faith. "I say ditto to Mr.
Archdeacon BARTHOLOMEW," says the Bishop of
EXETER, when called on in the absence of
Mr. MASKELL to conduct the baptismal
controversy. "It was my intention," says the Right
Rev. Prelate, " to have addressed you somewhat at
length on the grace of baptism. But that has been

done so admirably well by the pastor near to you, my

friend Archdeacon BARTHOLOMEW, in a sermon on
The Holiness of Baptised Infants,' that I shall
thankfully avail myself of its publication, and trans-
mit a copy of it to every house within your parish?'
The manner in which the Right Rev. Prelate de-
clares what he will not do now, but what he would
have done, and what be will do, bad certain things
happened, or should certain events occur, is charac-
teristically Pistol-like ;be will, not set up an opposi-
tion to Mr. GORHAM in Brampford Speke by licensing
a " sound minister" to preach in the parish,
because Mr. GORHAM has been instituted by the Arch-
bishop. "The case would have been very different,"
magniloquently Faith Dr. PHILLPOITS, " if—not the
Archbishop, but some person authorised merely by
the State—had affected to give institution. In that
case, I should have continued to regard the cure of
souls as void, and to supply the vacancy by a minis-
ter licensed by myself."
If that is his only reason, he may licence his oppo-
sition man to-morrow ; it is " as a person authorised
merely by the State" that the Archbishop of CANTER.
BURY has inducted Mr. GORHAM, it is as a person
" authorised merely by the State" that Dr. PHILL-
POTTS enjoys the revenues and privileges of the Epis-
copal see of Exeter. The Parliament established the
eti
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Church and the Parliament can dis-estai,lish it, and if
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were
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pn delis
it la iL
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would
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anedjetehteed revenuesfrom w thhi ec Ch
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re-
ceives would be paid over to the uses of the Presby-
terian Church, which would then be the Church of
England by law established, as it is at present the
Church of Scotland. The Church was established as
a State Church by the Parliament, and the establisher
is necessarily superior. to the established. We shall
have other opportunities of arguing this point, and
we therefore return to the letter. The Bishop will
not venture to " take steps td bring Mr. GORHAM to
trial for heresy by reason of the publication of his
book entitled •On the Efficacy of the Baptism of
Infants,'" but "if he should put forth the Mane
dogmas iu another form, or should preach the num ,