The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-26 00:00:00

be met with, the water must rise above the earth's
surface at Grenelle.

after having remained nearly four hours under water
withr.ut intermission. On the day following they were
equally successful, sending up a 12-pounder and a
6-pounder, and on the 11th Corporal Jones sent up
another 12-pounder. At this time the divers gene-
rally worked three slack tides, as in the middle of
summer, so that they were often out before daylight
and when anything interesting occurred, they conti-
nued their work long after dark. The weather had
frequently bsen so tempestuous as to oblige them to
suspend their labours, but particularly on Monday, the
14th of October, when a violeut gale set into the har-
bour, accompanied by such a swell, that Major-Gene-
ral Pasley, who came from London on that day to
inspect the work, was obliged to return in the even-
ing, without having been able to get out to Spithead
in his boat. Next morning the weather was still too
boisterous for sweeping, but the diving over the hull
was resumed, and three slack tides were worked with
great zeal. This day her Majesty passed alongside of
the Success frigate hulk in her steam yacht on her
way to visit the French war steamer Gomer, which
had anchored near the same spot ; and as this took
place during the interval between the first two slack
tides, when the men employed in these operations
were not at work, they saluted her Majesty and Prince
Albert with hearty and loyal cheers, but not with
manned yards, as the Success frigate, though cele-
brated in our naval history in former times, had
neither mast nor yard at this period. On the 18th of
October Corporal Jones was sent for with his diving
apparatus to recover the mooring bridles by which the
Gomer had been anchored in Portsmouth harbour,
which by some accident had gone to the bottom on
being cast off when that ship got under weigh. These
he slung and sent up in half an hour, without even
losing one of the regular slack tides at Spithead,
though the usual mode of sweeping for them with
boats, under the direction of the Master Attendant of
the Dockyard, had been repeatedly tried and failed.
This is one amongst many proofs of the superior uti-
lity of helmet diving.
On the 28th of October, Major-General Pasley
paid his last visit of inspection to Spithead, and find-
ing that the divers could not go on much longer, as
the water was becoming too cold for them to work
with comfort, he directed Lieutenant Barlow to con-
tinue the sweeping for guns only one day more,
after which he was to go into harbour and break up
the whole establishment ; which was done accord-
ingly. By this time the great mass of woodwork of
the hull had been entirely removed, together with the
greater part of the sheel in which it was embedded,
the general height of which hal been reduced more
than ten feet. Amongst the large timbers brought
up were several pieces of the keel, measuring in all
72 feet 3 inches, out of 124 feet, its orig►inal length.
The quantity of powder exploded during the whole
season in small charges, placed 14y the divers and
fired by the voltaic battery, was 6,222 lbs. A few
of the largest charges consisted of about 130 lbs.
each. None of the others exceeded 50 lbs.; many
were smaller.

But one other condition is requisite to ensure the
rising of the water in an Artesian well, namely,
that the feeding level of infiltration should be higher
than the orifice in the bore above which the water is
to ascend. This, however, turned out to be the case
of the borings of the wells at Rouen, Elbeuf, and
Tours, where abundant supplies of water had been
found below the chalk, between similar strata of clay
and gravel.
The necessary works were commenced with
boring rods about 9 yards long, attached to each
other, and which could be raised or lowered by
mechanical power, while an ingenious method
was adopted for giving them a rotary motion.
['he diameter of the bore was about 6 inches.
The instrument affixed to the end of the lowest
boring-rod was changed according to the different
strata which were successiTely attacked ; the form
suited for passing through the softer materials near
the surface being unsuitable for boring through the
chalk and flint, as a hollow tube was used for the
former, while a chisel-shaped tool was employed to
penetrate the latter. The size of the rods was lessened
as the depth increased ; and, since the subterranean
water was not reached as soon as was expected, it be-
came requisite to enlarge five several times the dia-
meter of the bore, in order to permit the work to be
successfully prosecuted. Accidents occurred which
tried the patience of the projectors. In May, 1837,
when the boring had extended down to a depth of 418
yards, the hollow tube, with nearly 90 yards of the
long rods attached to it, broke, and fell to the bottom
of the hole, whence it became necessary to extract the
broken parts before any further progress could be
made. The difficulty of accomplishing this task may
be conceived; for the different fragments were not all
extracted until after the constant labour of 15 months.
Again, in April, 1840, in passing through the chalk, the
chisel attached to the boring-rod got detached, and,
before it could be recovered, several months were
spent in digging round about it. A similar occur-
rence created an obstacle which impeded the work
for three months; but, instead of withdrawing the
detached part, it was forcibly driven down among the
stratum of gravel. At length, in February, 1841,
after eight years' labour, the rods suddenly descended
several yards, having pierced into the vault of the
subterranean waters so long sought after by the in-
defatigable engineer. A few hours afterwards he
was rewarded for all his anxious toils ; for lo ! the
water rose to the surface, and discharged itself at the
rate of 600,000 gallons per hour !
The depth reached down was 602 yards, or about
three times the height of St. Paul's. The pipe by
which the water reaches the surface has been recently
carried to a height nearly level with the source of
supply. The portion of the pipe above the ground Is
surrounded with a monumental pagoda of ornamental
carpentry, and it discharges a circular cascade of
clear water continually into a circular iron reservoir,
to be thence conveyed by a lateral pipe to the ground.
The water is well adapted for all domestic uses, and
it will he unfailing, being supplied from the infiltra-
tion of a surface of country nearly 200 miles in dia-
meter. The Artesian wells of Elbeuf, Rouen, and
Tours, which were formed many years ago, overflow
in never-varying streams ; and the ancient Artesian
well at Lillers, in the Pas de Calais, has for about
seven centuries furnished a constant and equable
supply.
The opportunity of ascertaining the temperature of
the earth at different depths was not neglected during
the progress of the works at Grenelle. Thermometers
placed at a depth of 30 yards in the wells of the Paris
Observatory invariably stand at 53 deg. Fahrenheit.
In the well at Grenelle the thermometer indicated 74
deg. F. at a depth of 442 yards, and at 550 yards it
stood at 79 deg. At the depth finally arrived at of
602 yards, the temperature of the water which rose
to the surface was 81 leg., corroborating previous
calculations on the subject. For a descent of .572
yards there is an increase of temperature equal to 28
deg. F., which is 2044 yards, or 61.2 feet for each de-
gree of that scale. Now that the skilful labour of so
many years is terminated, the Parisians regret that
the subterranean sheet of water had not lain 1,000
yards beneath the surface, that they might have had
an overflowing stream of water at 104 deg., to fur-
nish a cheap supply to their numerous hot-bath esta-
blishments.—Dr. tire's Supplement to his Dictionary
of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines.

After the Success frigate and the two mooring
lighters had been towed into harbour, the stores were
delivered into the dockyard, and on Saturday, the 2d
of November, Lieutenant Barlow conducted his de-
tachment of Sappers and Miners to London by the
South-Western Railway, whence he took the Royal
Sappers and Miners to Woolwich by steam-boats, and
sent the East India Company's men by the Eastern-
Counties Railway to their depot, at Warley, in Essex,
the same evening ; both parties thus performing in one
day a journey which, in former times, would have re •
quired at least five or six days' march.
On the Ist of September, Quartermaster Germain
and a second party of volunteer seamen from her Ma-
jesty's ship Excellent had been sent out to Spithead
to practise diving, which they did till the end of the
season, under the direction of Lieutenant Barlow, and
gave no less satisfaction by their zeal, good conduct,
and improvement, than the first party of men from
the same ship had done. Besides Lieutenant Fair-
holme, of the Excellent, Lieutenant Peel, R.N., also
practised diving this season, before he sailed for
South America in the Collingwood, as had previously
been done by Lieutenant Barlow himself. Major-
General Pasley, who was prevented by his duties as
Government Inspector-General of Railways from
giving so much personal attention to the operations
at Spithead as in former years, was so ably seconded
by Lieutenant Barlow, the executive engineer, and
all the men employed, whether Sappers and Miners,
riggers, or naval pensioners, of whom that officer
reported most favourably, and the service was so
efficiently promoted by the aid afforded from the
dockyard, by order of the Admiral Superintendent,
that the General had no cause to regret his own ab-
sence from the scene of action.
The Master-General and Board of Ordnance have
approved of a portion of the guns recovered from the
Ldgar being preserved as memorials, at the principal
ordnance stations, and also at the East India Com-
pany's depOt, at Warley, and at their military semi-
nary at Addiscombe, the guns having been recovered
by military divers of the Sappers and Miners of both
services; and the Admiralty have approved of pieces
of the keel, &c., both of the Royal George and the
Edgar, being preserved in her Majesty's dockyards,
or in public museums.
The original armament of the Edgar was 70 pieces
of ordnance, of which 54 whole guns and five frag-
ments have been recovered in the course of Major-
General Pasley's operations, each of the latter being
usually the breech part of the gun, broken off in front
of the trunnions, and therefore larger and heavier
than the corresponding part of the same gun at the
bottom.

MAJOR-GENERAL PASI.EY'S OPE-
RATIoNS AT SPITHEAD.

In our former notices of the operations against the
wreck of the Edgar we described all that had been
done from the commencement in May last till the 23d
of August, on which day two guns were sent up. We
shall now continue our narrative to the end of Octo-
ber, when the diving, that had been carried on with
the utmost vigour, five military divers generally and
one naval diver often being employed, was discon-
tinued as a matter of necessity, though the sanguine
expectation of recovering the whole of the guns that
had been entertained at the beginning of the season
was not realised.

After the day before mentioned, the divers were
occupied for a fortnight in getting up timber from
the hull of the wreck, and the half-anchor creeper and
rake were frequently drawn across the shoal in which
it had been imbedded, whilst a couple of boats were
employed in sweeping all round whenever the
weather permitted, in order to discover the re-
maining guns, if possible. This method not
being so satisfactory as at first, when the re-
mains of the wreck and guns were more abundant,
divers were afterwards sent down, one from each
of the launches, to walk about the bottom in va-
rious directions to endeavour to discover guns, whilst
the others were employed in getting up the timber of
the hull. By this method several guns were ob-
tained ; but this also failing, a new system of sweeping
by divers walking along the bottom occurred to Lieu-
tenant Barlow, which was tried for the first time on
the 19th of September, and continued till the end of
the season, whenever the weather permitted, the ar-
rangements being as follows :—Two guiding lines,
each sixty fathoms in length, and twenty fathoms
apart, were sunk parallel to each other, in the direc-
tion of the run of the tide, by means of pigs of ballast
at their ends, to each of which a buoy and buoy-line
were attached to mark its position. Two divers,
Corporal Jones, of the Royal, and Private Sticklen, of
the East India Company's Sappers and Miners, de-
scended each to his respective guilding-line, from a
launch in which his air pump and attendants were
placed, and moved along the bottom from west to east
and back, or vice versa, according to the tide, parallel
to one another, each holding in his near hand the end
of a sweep rope and chain, which dragged along the
bottom between them, whilst in his far hand he
held the line that guided him in his course. At
the same time the two launches above were
warped along in the same direction as their respec-
spective divers, by whom their motions were regu-
lated according to preconcerted signals. This mode
of sweeping was much more sensitive than the
former, as any very small object, such as a stone or
piece of wood, that would have escaped observation
entirely in sweeping from boats, was immediately felt
by the divers, who made the signal for the launches
to stop, and then walked towards it until they met at
the spot. This progress was very fatiguing, as it took
them an hour to sweep from one end of their guiding-
lines to the other, though a distance only of sixty
fathoms, as before mentioned. The second day that
they carried on this process those two excellent
divers fell in with a leaden scupper of the Edgar, and
a sinker or large mooring-stone, of one of the old
wreck-buoys, though at a distance of ninety fathoms
to the northward of the position of the shoal in which
the hull was imbedded. On the 23d of September,
whilst sweeping to the northward of the Success
frigate hulk, Corporal Jones slung another buoy-
stone ; and in the evening he was employed about
an hour after dark in slinging and sending up what
proved to be one of the anchors of the Edgar, hav-
ing the two palms and the stock broken off, so
that it nearly resembled the form of the broad
arrow marked on Government stores. The ex-
treme distance between the ends of the broken arms
was a little more than five feet, whilst the dia-
meter of the shank varied from about 8 to 10:4 inches;
its length, as measured from the broken end to the
crown, being 6 feet 2 inches. This curious relic,
found about 120 fathoms to the north and eastward of
the same shoal, shows the violence with which it
must have been propelled by the explosion of the
ship's magazines; but this was proved in a still more
striking manner on the 28th of the same month,
when, after having swept before day, by a beautiful
moonlight, without success, Corporal Jones and his
assistant, on resuming the same process in the fore-
noon tide, sent up what proved to be a large frag-
ment of an 18-pounder gun, 7 feet in length, which
they found about 160 fathoms to the north and east-
ward of the position of the hull, whilst the first
group or nest of guns of the Edgar, as the seamen
termed them, nearly twenty in number, had been
found 80 fathoms to the southward of the same spot;
so that, making allowance for the difference of bear-
ing, this isolated gun, launched into the air from the
larboard side of the wreck of the Edgar, must have
fallen at the distance of 200 fathoms from the group
of guns that were thrown from her starboard side.
From that time nothing of importance occurred
till the sth of October, when privates Sticklen
and Herbert, of the East India Company's service,
who were employed sweeping about thirty fathoms
south-east of the position of the hull, discovered and
sent up two guns, a 12-pounder and a 32-pounder.
Next day Corporal Jones and private Sticklen sent
up one iron 12-pounder and a fragment of another
seven feet in length, and the tide ran so strong during
part of the time they were employed about this frag-
ment, that private Sticklen was obliged to hold Cor-
poral Jones to prevent him from being carried away,
whilst the latter was digging round it with a spade,
and afterwards slinging it, which they did not ac-
complish until half-past eight o'clock in the evening-,

The first guns of the Edgar lay in groups or masses
near the same spot, and there was no trouble in find-
ing them by the common process of sweeping from
boats, but the last guns were at such great distances
apart, and discovered with so muck difficulty, that if
we were not possessed of an authentic account of the
number, it would be natural to conclude that all were
got up; instead of which it is known, from the records
of the Ordnance Department, that 11 whole guns
and five fragments are still at the bottom ; and, judg-
ing by those already found, none of which were en-
tirely buried under the mud, it is to be presumed that
the guns and fragments which still remain must also
lie nearly on the level of the surface of the bottom ;
and, consequently, though the chances are perhaps
1,000 to 1 against the contingency, yet, however im-
probable, it is net impossible that a man-of-war's an-
chor being cast at this part of Spithead might strike one
of them. A doubt, therefore, naturally suggested itself,
whether the safety of a ship would thereby be endan-
gered, which having been submitted to the Lords of the
Admiralty by Major-General Pasley, in his report of the
concluding operation of the season, as a naval ques-
tion upon Which he would not presume to give an
opinion himself, but upon which it would depend
whether his operations should finally close, or be re-
sumed next summer on a small scale, their Lordships
decided that the anchorage at Spithead might now be
considered safe, in spite of those guns. In fact every
man-of-war is provided with more anchors than one,
so that if the first, in being cast at this part of Spit-
head, should strike on one of the Edgar's guns, and
thereby be broken or rendered unserviceable, which is
very doubtful, the spot would be marked by a buoy,
and in the meantime a second anchor would be
dropped, which in such good anchoring ground would
be sure to hold ; and a naval diver from her Majesty's
ship Excellent, where the practice of helmet diving
will be kept up, might be sent for, who would remove
the gun, as well as the injured anchor, if necessary,
with ease.

The goodness of the anchorage of the port of Spit-
head, hitherto obstructed by the wreck of the Edgar,
was sufficiently proved by the circumstance of the
Success frigate hulk and the two mooring lighters
having been securely anchored there tor six months
last summer, though such very violent gales prevailed
from time to time that it was often impossible for
the men to work, and the communication with the
shore was suspended ; but, though the anchoring
ground of the Edgar may therefore be considered as
good as that of the Royal George, yet the latter
would be preferred for a man-of-war coming to Spit-
head, as it is nearer to the harbour and town of
Portsmouth as well as to the dockyard, and con-
sequently snore convenient than the former; but in
the event of Spithead again becoming the rendezvous
of a large British fleet, which must necessarily be the
case sooner or later, the one would not br more im-
portant than the other.
Upon the whole, the removal of these two wrecks
from Spithead, which has cleared the whole of that
excellent anchorage, and rendered it available for the
use of the Royal Navy, may be allowed to be an im •
portant national object, though it has been attended
with greater difficulty, and a much greater expen-
diture of money, labour, and time, than was originally
contemplated by the officer with whom the plan
originated, and by whom it has been successfully
carried into effect, after the incessant labour of five
successive summers and part of another, under the
auspices of the Lords of the Admiralty, and at the
expense of that department, aided by the valuable
services of officers and men supplied from the Royal
Engineer Department by permission of the Master-
General and Board of Ordnance, and of volunteers of
the East India Company's Sappers and Miners.

A BRAYB Fiii.Low.—A grenadier of the 47th re-
giment, named Viriville, was remarked for his daring
and coolness at the late fire in the Rue Cadet. When
on the roof of the burning building, finding it inipos-
sible to retain his positio❑ on account of the intense
heat, he passed a pump-hose round his neck, and then,
by means of a ladder with hooks at the ends, he got nr,
the roof of a neighbouring house, and by his presence of
mind prevented the flames from communicating with it.
This brave fallow has before on several, occasions distin-
guished himself by acts of courage a'.ld devotedness. In
1839 he saved a woman and child ',vim drowning in the
Canal St. Martin : and in 1843, the occasion of a fire
breaking out in the Rue Ventridour, hearing that a man
had remained in a room of the burning house, he rushed
into the flames, and, after sc,me minutes' absence, re-ap-
peared, bringing the person for whom ho exposed his life
safely out.—Galignani.

TFIE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1841.

the reigning dynasty, had no alternative but that
i of retiring from politics, and applying their undi-
vided energies to their sacred duties. From that
time until within a very recent period, the growth
of their influence was as rapid and as steady as its
effects were wholesome. A religious spirit appeared
to extend itself throuvhout all classes of the com-
munity ; the tone of scepticism and mockery be-
came unfashionable ; a respect for religion was
professed even where belief was not avowed ; the
churches began to be filled ; and it was a novel sub-
ject of triumph to the clergy of Paris that even in that
capital of civilization and dissipation, at least half of
the congregation in every church was composed of
men. A sudden taste for building, repairing, and
beautifying churches struck the eyes of every traveller
as indicative of this remarkable change in the national
feeling.
Nor were there wanting to the clergy some indica-
tions of returning favour on the part of the Court as
well as of the people. The Queen of the French fur-
thered the efforts of the clergy with the zeal of a firm
and ardent faith ; and it became apparent that the
King himself was animated by a sincere conviction
that by showing favour to the clergy he might pro-
mote the interests of his dynasty. In fine, a year ago
the state of France afforded the most satisfactory
prospect to the friends of religion. There could be no
doubt of the existence of a more extensive and whole-
some state of religious feeling than had prevailed
since the revolution of 1789; and the most sanguine
hopes might reasonably have been entertained that,
by the continued zeal and moderation of the clergy,
the good work which they had so successfully begun
might be carried to a happy issue.
A year ago ! It was just a year ago that the incon-
ceivable rashness of the heads of the French clergy
destroyed in a few days the labours of the past and
the hopes of the future. Elated by the palpable evi-
dences of the extended influence of religion and in-
creased consideration for themselves, they seem to
have imagined that the time was come for asserting
with safety the pretensions which ,they had so long
been compelled to withhold. The wise counsels which
in general regulate the policy of the Roman Catholic
clergy, have at all times been liable to be marred by
the rashness of individual members of a hierarchy,
whose duties and associations are apt, at least in con-
tinental countries, to render them alien to the sympa-
thies and opinions of their fellow-countrymen. But
never were the evil consequences of this defect more
signally exhibited than on the occasion on which the
bishops of the French Church thought fit to make
their re-entry in the arena of politics, and to make
the question of education the subject of their agita-
tion. It is not to be denied that the clergy had some
grounds for proposing reforms in the national sys-
tem of education at a time at which, independently
of them, the subject was to be brought under the
consideration of the Legislature. In spite of the
boasted improvements which philosophy had intro-
duced into education, it is now universally admitted
that, as far as elementary teaching was concerned,
the system adopted in the schools of the clergy had
been more successful than any other that had been
tried in France. The clergy had a perfect right to
demand a freer play for the experiment of their own
system than was allowed by the restrictions of the
existing law; and public opinion would undoubtedly
have gone with t:iem, had they urged with temper
the liberty of education. But, instead of doing this,
all of a sudden, and as if by concert, bishops in
various parts of France startled the public with man-
demens and letters containing the most unprovoked
and outrageous attacks on the existing system of
education and all concerned in it. They denounced
the system as atheistical; held up individual profes-
sors to obloquy as notorious infidels; exhorted their
flocks to agitation against the law ; and went so far
as to declare that they would withdraw the chaplains
from the " infidel" colleges and academies. There
was no question on which a similar movement
would have brought the clergy into collision with
prejudices so fatal to their influence. The con-
nexion of education with the clergy naturally re-
vived the idea of the Jesuits; and all France was
agitated from one end to the other with a notion that
men whom they regard as the eternal enemies of
human progress were to be" re-invested with the
power of fashioning the youthful mind to bondage.
Suddenly the work of thirteen years seemed to be
undone ; the fears and animosities of the days of
Charles X. started again into existence; the priests
became again the objects of popular indignation, and
it is too much to be feared that religion itself has
been once) more confounded with its teachers in the
public dislike. An irreligious reaction has been
gaining strength in France for the last twelve
months ; the exterior of Christian observance has lost
its tone of fashion ; Voltaire is restored to honour ;
and if you wish to ensure the circulation of a novel,
you must fill it with monstrous fables of the ma-
chinations of priests, and the dark villany of Jesuits !
Political parties have unfortunately seized hold of
these religious strifes, and mixed them up with the
contest for office. In the Bill which lust session
passed the Chamber of Peers, and 's ill in the ensuing
form an early subject of discussion in the De-
puties, the Ministry endeavoured to moderate be-
tween the contending parties, and do justice to each.
M. Thiers, who was entrusted with the report of
the Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, saw his
opportunity, and turned it to account. In the very
able report which he presented at the close of last
session, he contrived, with great semblance of fairness
and reason, to throw himself entirely into the current
of popular feeling, to stimulate the prevalent sus-
picions and animosities against the clergy, and by
almost imperceptible insinuations to involve the King
and his Ministers in the unpopularity of the Jesuits.
The utmost success attended his efforts. He and M.
Cousin have become the most popular men in France.
Nor do they mean to quit their hold of this question.
They know that an inbread jealousy of the clergy
pervades every portion of the middle classes of France;
and that feeling, if once roused into full activity,
would enlist on their side more than half of the Con-
servative supporters of M. Guizot. If, by keeping
the Minister to his proposal of last year, they can
apparently place hi:n on the side of the clergy, they
deem, and rightly deem, their victory secure. And
hence, as we said a few days since, the present posi-
tion of the education question is the foundation of a
large portion of their hope of defeating the Minister
in the ensuing session.—Chronicle.

THE BISHOP OF EXETER AND
THE BISHOP OP WORCESTER.

The dispute between the bishop and residentiaries
of Exeter is relieved by contrast with the Bishop of
Worcester's admirable and well-timed charge to the
candidates for ordination. We have, in the first in-
stance, a bishop at war with his dignitaries ; in the
second, another bishop expressing sentiments con-
trary to the Bishop of Exeter, and that, too, on the
very questions that are fraught with so much interest
at this time, and have created so much excitement
among the laity, as well as among the clergy. All
this is fresh cause for dissatisfaction and regret; but
we must not forget that it is the consequence solely of
art attempt to revive obsolete and antiquated usages
in which the people have firmly and properly refused
to coincide. We have never assumed that a congre-
gation are to dictate to their teacher, or a vestry
to prescribe to the clergyman what doctrine or
discipline he should maintain ; indeed, we never
yet heard of such an attempt, as it has always
been supposed a settled matter that the Prayer-book
is the rule of worship, and the articles and homilies
(generally) the true standard of faith for the Church of
England. But we do think that the question is alto-
gether distinct and of a very different character when
a body cff the clergy take upon themselves to alter the
forms of Divine service, so long, so universally, and
so beneficially adopted, and introduce what are con-
fessedly so many novelties ; and, by the aid of strong
sermons and incessant personal agitation, try to gain
over their parishioners to their measures, or set them
at defiance if they do not succeed. This was borne
with considerable patience for a while, till the pros-
pect of one encroachment upon another induced the
lay members of the Church to discuss the subject se-
riously among themselves ; and when they found that
so little hope was there of the abandonment of these
usages, that they were even authorised and enjoined
by episcopal mandate, then, and not before, they be-
took themselves to public meetings, and showed a
decisive but respectful opposition to the obnoxious in-
novation. This has now gone on for some time—
quite long enough certainly to have softened the as-
perities of wilful rule, and taught reason where no-
thing but prepossession could before be heard
The Bishop of Exeter, however, finds in all this
disaffection only a motive to persevere in his intention,
as a duty which he dares not evade. Let us see how
the observances for which he is content to run this
fearful risk are regarded by his Rev. Brethren on
the bench. His first point is the continued wearing
of the surplice. On Saturday last the Bishop of
Worcester, while addressing the candidates for ordi-
nation at their final examination, with a manliness of
avowal that claims our freest praise, openly declares,
in respect to the habit in which they ought to preach,
" This is a question so utterly unimportant that I
have never hitherto thought it worth while to express
my opinion on the subject." Nay, he advises them,
for fear of offence, " to continue the practice which
has so long prevailed, of preaching in their academical
habit, even though by so doing" they " deviate from
the precise directions of the rubric." lie argues, in-
deed, and with great clearness, that the sermon never
did, and never could, according to the rubric, form
part of the Communion-service ; and he further ob-
serves, that had the surplice ever :been in general use
for preaching, we should have found some remnant of
it in one or both of the Universities ; but such is not
the case. Again, the Bishop of Exeter enjoins the
use of the prayer for the Church militant, as strin-
gently required by the rubrics ; the Bishop of Worces-
ter conceives the various rubrics to be " certainly incon-
sistent," and uses the fact that this prayer had really
been discontinued as a proof that the surplice was not