The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-18 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—We find the following paragraph in
Wednesday's Exeter Flying Post .
"ENFORCEMENT OF THE RUBRIC.—WO hear that
the whole body of the chapter of our cathedral, in-
cluding both canons and prebendaries, are to assemble
to-morrow (Thursday) in the chapter-house, at the
special request of the Bishop, to consider the propriety
of a regular conformity by the clergy to the rubric
throughout the diocese of Exeter. We trust that, on
the discussion of this very delicate subject, which has
of late caused so much controversial and untoward feel-
ing to exist in so many of our parishes as well as the
Universities themselves, there will be a regard for the
laity, whose feelings on the matter we hope will be duly
considered."
The spirit which presides in these movements in the
diocese of Exeter may be estimated without breach
of charity from the judgment of the Bishop of
Exeter in the case of the Rev. Walter Blunt. It is
probable that we may see occasion to revert to that
judgment in somewhat of detail. At present we
refer to it only for the purpose of " noticing that the
authority for regulating ritual practices, most relied
on therein, is the 13th and 14th C. 11., ch. 4, com-
monly called the Act of Uniformity. Now this de-
ference to Act of Parliament, even as supersed-
ing canons and rubrics, is, we do think, somewhat
suggestive of what is now due to the laity on the
part of the Established clergy. We are not aware
that Parliament has lost any of the power that
it ever had. We are not aware that the clergy
have regained any of the power they have lost in late
ages. The present generation of high-flying Angli-
cans, among whom the Bishop of Exeter is so emi-
nent, may indeed amuse themselves by decrying Parlia-
ment, since the abolition of tests, as a motley assembly
of schismatics. We content ourselves with reminding
them that it is the legislature of this empire. It has
before controlled the clerisy (by the Bishop of Exeter's
own acknowledgement), and it can do so again. It may
become—we believe it will, very shortly—its bounden
duty to strike in, once more, on the part of the nation,
and put an end to the disturbances of public peace,
worship, and instruction, occasioned by the overween-
ing arrogation of independent license of discord
amongst parties in the Church. The laity will not
continue to submit to be counted for nothing in
the proceedings of the priests ; and it will soon be
seen whether the Episcopal Bench or the House
of Commons (the next, if not the present) best
represents the feeling and resolutions of the laity;
and what degree of force the protest of bigotry
will have against the adoption of some new model,
as much within the competence of Parliament as
was the Act of Uniformity, and better suited than
the Act of Uniformity to the views of these times
With regard to this continual employment of the
epithet schismatic, which distinguishes so especially
Churchmen of the Bishop of Exeter's stamp, it may
not be out of place to qnote the following passage
from Burke's " Correspondence :"
" I cannot consider our Dissenters, of almost any
kind, as schismatics, whatever some of their leaders
might originally have been, in the eye of Him, who I
alone knows whether they acted under the direction of
such a conscience as they had, or at the instigation of
pride and passion. There are many things amongst
most of them which I rather dislike than dare to c•n-
damn."
The Bishop of Exeter, however, and the high-flying
6thurchmen of his diocese, consider not only dissent-
ing but Roman Catholic "schismatics" as proper sub-
jects for re-baptism, before they will pray for them on
their death-beds. And at this very moment, the other
set of high Churchmen (the Romanising Puseyites)
consider us all as involved in the sin of schism, till
reconciled with the Church of Rome. Here is a well
qualified order of men, as regards its present consti-
tuents, to pronounce upon what is schism, or what is
not, outside of its pale ! There is evident• urgency
for some authoritative clearance of this clerical chaos.
We say, the authority belongs to Parliament ; and
ought to be exercised, not to restrict the terms of
communion in the Established Church, or exclude
this or that party—but to render all continued esta-
blishment by the State, and all aid to any commu-
nion—conditional on enforced better behaviour to
each other, as well as to their " schismatic" fellow-
countrymen, on the part of a profession, whose pre-
sent agitators are drawing on England the pity of
immoveable Rome, and the contempt of progressive
Europe.
STANDARD.—Another extraordinary example
of the unchanged and unchangeable spirit of Popery
has been recently brought to light, in the abduction,
at the instance of the present Archbishop of Turin,
of a young lady from her friends, with the view of
inducing her to enter the Roman Catholic Church.
It is not the first instance of the kind by many, but,
looking at it in all its features, it is one of the most
remarkable. The father of the young lady in ques-
tion, M. Heldivier, held for some years the post of
Dutch Minister at Turin, where he had resided until
his recal in May last. His departure was, how-
ever, hastened by domestic circumstances. One of
his daughters had formed an attachment to a young
advocate of the town; but circumstances rendering
any permanent connexion unsuitable, their further
intimacy was interdicted. Having presented his let•
tern of recal to the King of Sardinia, M. Heldivier,
would have taken his departure immediately, but that
he was detained at the hotel to which he had removed,
by the illness of another of his children. It appears
that on the Bth of June the ex-Minister and his lady
were induced to attend a fife, given in Turin in honour
of the birth of the Duke of Savoy, and that during their
absence their daughter, who made a feigned excuse for
not accompanying her parents, quitted their hotel alone,
without even a change of dress. Their suspicions
were naturally attracted to her lover, who proved
himself to have been wholly ignorant of her move-
ments. After a long and ineffectual search the ago-
nised father applied to the Archbishop of Turin, as
the head of the Sardinian Church, for permission to
pursue their inquiries in the various convents in Tu-
rin, or for any information he might be enabled to
afford of her destination. He replied that he had rea-
son to believe that she had sought refuge in a con-
vent, but pretended not to know in which of the
many houses of that description she might be found.
It turned out, however, that that respectable dig-
nitary had been the chief party to her abduction.
Smarting under the interdiction of her parents, and
in the fever of youthfnl enthusiasm, she was per-
suaded by a Roman Catholic priest, whom she had
taken into her confidence, to enter the Roman Ca-
tholic Church. With the view of promoting this
object the wily archbishop, who did not care to
criminate himself by a wfitten order, furnished the
convert with half a sheet of paper, cut in a parti-
cular manner ; the other was given to the abbess of
the convent of St. Croce, with directions to receive
the bearer of the corresponding fragment into her
house, at any hour of the night. She, however,
was advised by the archbishop to delay her elope-
ment until her father had delivered his letters of re-
cal, lest his diplomatic privilege might enable him
to defeat the conspiracy. It will scarcely be be-
lieved that, up to this period, M. Heldivier, al-
though the most strenuous exertions have been made
on his behalf, has been unable to obtain the restora-
tion of his child. The King was appealed to in vain.
Although he did not disguise his own opinion of the
transaction, the subjection in which he is kept by
the Papal power is such, that he dared not inter-
fere in the matter, declaring that he would incur the
penalty of excommunication, which would inevitably
be fulminated against him if he made himself a party
to her release. Such might have been the reply of
the monarch who devoted his leisure time to em-
broidering petticoats for the Virgin Mary; but a mo-
narch so despotic as the King of Sardinia might have
mustered courage to do something. In vain did the Mi-
nisters of England and France protest against so
monstrous an outrage. Their threats and entreaties
were alike unavailing, and the King of Holland having
taken no steps in the matter, the lady still remains
in the convent, where she is now undergoing her no-
viciate. This exercise of the power and disposi-
tion of the Romish clergy is shocking enough, but is
hardly worse than some things that have occurred
in England in the course of the last few years.
In this case the young lady is spirited away,, and
then forcibly returned, because she is above
twelve years old. A few weeks ago we were
called upon to notice an instance in which a Mal-
tese widow, who had entered the Protestant Church,
and married a Protestant, had her two children torn
from her by the Popish authorities of that place,
on the ground that they were under twelve
years of age, so that Popish zealots make sure
of their victims of whatever age. The apathy
of the King of Holland in the matter would
seem to be unaccountable, seing that his peremp-
tory demand for redress could not he disregarded.
Had the outrage been offered to a British subject, the
Papist powers at Turin would soon have been taught
that it would not have been perpetrated with impu-
punity. We trust, however, that the matter will not
be allowed to rest where it does. If it is, there is nc
security for a stranger at any foreign court at whicl
Popery is in the ascendant.

OXFORD, FRIDAY.—The Archbishop of Dublin and
the Bishop of Kildare have addressed the Board of Heads
of Houses on the subject of the prevailing errors in the
University ; and a committee is now sitting to concert
measures for checking their progress. Mr. R. Ley, of
Brasanose College, a connexion of the Rev. Isaac Wil-
liams, has avowed himself the author of a report that
Mr. Newman had written to the Rev. I. Williams, inti-
mating his probable secession from tho Anglican com-
munion.—Evening Paper.
ANOTHER VESSEL SUNK BY COLLISION.—LIVER•
yERPOOL, FRIDAY EVENING.—The Britannia steamer,
yesterday, on her passage from Duobulitnwatrod.tbhoisunpdorto,
came in contact with the brig Fly,
the b
Africa, when, owing to the injurz_leceived by
she almost immediately sunk. We regret to say, :O.'
the mate of the brig was drowned, not having beeant
enabled to get out of the vessel before she sunk ; all the
others of her crew were saved. The crew and passen-
gers of the Britannia sustained no injury whatever. The
wcifikut occuocq punt Lynas.