The Sun.
London, England, 1845-08-08 00:00:00

VISITATION OF THE BISHOP OF

WORCESTER.

WORCESTER, MONDAY AFTERNOON. - The Lord
Bishop of Worcester held a visitation at the Cathedral
in this city to-day. There was a very full attendance
of the clergy, and the wardens of the church, by whom
it was expected that his Lordship would, in his charge,
advert to the recent dissensions in the Church.

Morning service commenced at eleven o'clock. prayers
being read by the Rev. A. Wheeler, precentor. The Rev.
D. J. Stevenson, honorary canon of the cathedral, and
chaplain to the Lord Bishop, then preached an excellent
sermon from Acts x., v. 42 and 43, "And he commanded
us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he
who was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and
dead. To him give all the prophets witness that through
his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remis-
sion of sins."

The Reverend Preacher's discourse from the above
text had reference entirely to the duties and obligations
of the Christian minister, the Reverend Preacher ob-
serving, that the consideration of these duties was at
the present time of excitement, aarm, and suspiciotain
the Church, of the utmost importance. He then
divided his discourse under three heads, comidering
first, the origin and offices of ministers of the Gospel,
tracing the origin of their ministrations to the Foun-
tain of all Wisdom in the command delivered to Peter
on the mount, "Go thou and teach all nations ;"
secondly, the Rev. Preacher dwelt upon the nature and
description of the offices or Christian ministers as minis-
ters and witnesses ; and lastly en the objects of their
ministration ; concluding a most appropriate discourse,
by exhortations to his brother clergy and the laity, the
formes to cultivate mutual charity in their ministration,
and the latter to receive God's Word from them, not as
from men hut from God, adding nought thereto, neither
diminishing anything therefrom.
The Bishop, accompanied by Chancellor, Phillimere
and other officers of the court, the clergy and parochial
churchwardens, then proceeded to the court behind the
altar, when the names of the clergy and churchwardens
were called over, after which his Lordship took his seat
within the communion railings and delivered his charge
to the clergy.
His Lordship's charge had reference almost exelu-
sivelY to those matters which have recently agitated the
Churchviz., the question of the revival of obsolete
forms and usages. His Lordship observed that the
first matter which had presented itself to his mind,
as most calling for remark from him on this occasion
of his triennial visitation, was important, not only on
account of its effect, but of the specious grounds on
which it rested—he meant an undue- regard for anti-
' quities which had latterly been maeifested and dwelt
upon by theological writers, and which extended not only
to the forms and ceremonies of the Church, but related
also to architectural matters ; and he proceeded first to
consider whether there were sufficient grounds for
such reverential observances of these antiquities. Here
he fund that scanty as were the books which had
reached us written by authors living in the first century
of the Christian era, and invaluable as those works
were in establishing the fact of the early circulation
of the Scriptures, they did not assist in 'clearine those
points which now agitated the Church. Not only was
it unsafe to appeal to those authorities, because so few
records had reached us, but also because there was reason
to believe that in those early days the Church had
become' much corrupted ; and it might be doubted whe-
ther the early fathers, while engaged in refuting the
errors which had crept into the Church, had
not really been imbued with their latent heresy.
Hence we were struck with the differences which
seest between the doctrines taught by the inspired
thllowers of our Lord, and those .inculcated by
the ancient fathers of the Church. By the former they
were taught that the expiation of sin was through the
vicarious intercession of Him who sacrificed himself for
us upon the cross ; and by the latter they were strictly
enjoined to expiatory penances and fasts. But if the
paucity of writers in the three first centuries of the
ihristian era rendered it unsafe to trust to them, he
asked should they be more successful if, abandoning
these, they had recourse to the writings of the fourth
and following century ? Much stress had been laid upon
the writings of the fourth and fifth centuries of Chris-
tianity as authorities not to be questioned regarding Ca-
tholic doctrines ; but here errors much more fatal to
Christianity were found to prevail. The contest between
Christianity and Paganism finally ended in the victory
of the former, though that victory was not won without
-erne sacrifice. His Lordship then alluded to Roman
Catholic •processions as in use in Italy. and their
similarity to the Pagan rites. All these ancient autho-
rities were contradictory one to another ; if; therefore,
they were to regard antiquity, it became a question
which of the fathers they should adopt. Should they
believe some who affirmed that the blessed should live for
a thousand years in Elysium, or should they treat that
doctrine as others of the same day had done—viz.,
as the idle dream of a child. "In short," said
his Lordship, " he who trusts to antiquity will find
so much diversity of opinion among those styled
the fathers of the Cnurch,' that he will so be
tossed about upon these troubled waters as to search in
vain for an anchor for his soul in the midst of them."
Were, then (he asked), the writings of antiquity worse
than useless ? He answered, by no means. Not only
were they most valuable for the sentiments of piety
which they contained, but as corroborative of the Scrip.
tures. The Established Church was deeply indebted to
the works of antiquity as furnishing corroborative evi-
dence of the book of Scripture ; but they would be
in danger of falling into the worst errors of Popery
if they went beyond this in their regard to those
works. The Bible, and the Bible alone, was the book
upon which the Protestant depended in his faith. It was
an argument against the doctrines of transubstantiation
and the adoration of the Virgin Mary, that they could
find no traces of them for six centuries of the Christian
era. Now was' it likely that such important doctrines
should have been transmitted from the Apostles
while they found no traces of them until five or six
centuries after Christ ? In this negative sense it
was that the true use of antiquity consisted. The
Right Reverend Diocesan then went on to gay that
there was another point to which he was anxious to call
the attention of the clergy, as resulting from excessive
attention to antiquities—a matter of very inferior conse-
quence as to doctrine, but which had its effects upon the
Church. He alluded to the pedantry (if he might so
call it) of introducing into Protestant churches stone
altars instead Jr the communion table, a substitution for
a reading desk, sediha, candlesticks placed --en the
communion table, never to be lighted, and texts
of Scripture eieblezoned upon the walls, in divers
colours, and in Roman text, which never could
he read. He objtcted to the revival of these obsolete
uses in the Church—not on account of the expense
attending them (though this was, under circumstances, to
be regarded), but because he regarded them as having
a tendency to convey a wrong impression of the. pur-
poses for which they assembled in church. They did
not meet to gaze with awe upon lighted tapers
carried by priests ; but they assembled together in
Protestant worship, humbly to confess that they
hail left undone many things which they ought to have.
done, and had done many things which they ought
not to have done, to pray to God to forgive their sins
committed, and to offer up prayers and thanksgivings
at the throne of mercy. These were the spiritual exer-
cises for which Protestants assembled together in the
house of God. His Lordship then begged to offer some
remarks in favour of an internal arrangement in
churches, which had been made the subject of much
vituperation. He alluded to that distribution of the sit-
tings by which each family in the parish was allowed to
make, as it were a family cotigregation in the midst of.
ti e general congregation. Such arrangements he observed
were unnecessary in Roman Catholic congregations,
where the mass of the people assembled, not to pray
hut is i gaze ; where the service was performed in an un-
known language, and the whine was performed by
the priests, the congregation taking little part in it.
His Lordship expressed himself in favour of family
arrangements of the pews, and asked what father"
of a family, who had been accustomed to offer up his
prayers wtth his wife and children, would willingly
resign that privilege for a strict reaard to ancient
usages ? He admitted that abuses of this privilege had
crept into practice, but such abuses should, immediately
on their detection, be corrected by the proper authori-
ties. His Lordship next alluded to the practice of
turning to the east, which he said was now exercised,
only during the recitation of the Creed, but even •
when the congregation united with the priest in prayer.
This was unquestionably a very ancient practice,
and his Lordship here quoted authorities, who, in tracing
the origin of this custom, had assigned the eastern
portion of the universe to the Omnipotent, and the
western to the enemy of mankind. On this point it
was evident that the fathers differed. and certain it was
that no authority could be foetid fur the usage in the
Scriptures, which abounded in evidence of the univer-
sality of the Deity. In the above observations, as also
in the expression of his opinion on other points, when
called upon (his Lordship continued), he trusted he
had sufficiently testified that there was no leaning on
hie part towards the errors of Rome, no deviation froth*
the principlete of the Reformation. He, therefore, ap-
proached with more confidence a subject upon which he
difihred in opinion from most of those around him. He
alluded to his vote upon the grant to the College of
Maynooth. It might be true that a bishop, as a peer
of Parliament, was bound to give his vote according to
the dictates of his conscience, without being called upon
to render au account to his clergy in justification
of himself ; but for his part he was most anxious
to prove to his brethren that he had not wren his vote
in favour of the Maynooth grant without the most
mature deliberation and upon pied grounds. No con-
sideration of expediency would ever induce him to vote
for a measure which he could consider per se sinful . His
Lordship then proceeded to corniest the argument ad:-
duced against this measure—viz., that it was a national
sin, and would be injurious to the Established Church.
He denied both of these positions, and saiti the
was whether they should contribute to teach.
Christianity as inculcated by Roipan Catholics, or
whether their fellow-cOuntrymen in Ireland should not
be educated at all. The education, he considered, must
in the end contribute to the extension of the Eetablished
Church. .1\ fter some further remarks and arguments in-
favour of the Meynooth endowument, his Lordshipedis
missed the clergy in the usual form.

On Sunday last some thousands of people from-
Henley, Staffordshire, came to Liverpool by a cheap
Lsreepooi Lamer.
STATE OF TRADE.—The unfavourable state of the
weather had some effect upon our goods market yesterday-,
which was quiet. but without change in prices. For yarn the'
demand continues exceedingly good, and prices, especially of
some counts of water twist, which are relatively scarce, con-
tinue buoyant.--ROCHDALE FLANNEL Al A Rxrr, Monday,
Aug. 4.—We have had a brisk demand for flannels at better
prices, and the supply of goods is not equal to the demand.
Low-priced wools are becoming very scarce, and the manufac-
turers are obliged to purchase at higher rates.—Mauchoster
Guardian.

The Bishop of NORWICH expressed the great satis-
faction he felt in having it in his power to present the
commander and ship's company of the Scout with some
token of his respect and regard for men who had 60
gallantly distinguished themselves in attempting to save
.he crew of the Hero, when driven on shore oe
the exposed beach near Languard Fort. As soon
as the details of their praiseworthy and perse-
vering exertions reached him, he had encouraged a
hope that the time would come when he might have an
opportunity of seeing these who had set so striking an
example of w hat British sailors could and would do when
the preservation of human life was at stake, nobly and
fearlessly for such a purpose risking their own. But he
little thought that such an opportunity as the present
would have offered itself—when, on the deck of a British
man-of-war, he could in person express his feelings on
the subject. He would not stop to speak of his own
individual approbation ; for' stranger as he was to them,
that'uiight be of little worth ; but he felt persuaded that
in addressing them, and reminding theta of their own
devotion and persevering endeavours on that awful night,
he was expressing the approbation of every individual
present, most of whom, from being resident in the
neighbourhood, must have- taken as deep an
interest as he did, and were better informed pro-
bably than himself of all the circumstances of the case.
Still more gratifying was it for him to address
them, not only in the presence of those to whom he had
alluded, but in the presence of a crew serving, like them-
selves, their Queen and country in their own calling and
profession. And here he would. remind them of the advan-
tage of discipline—that characteristic feature of the army
and navy of England, by a strict adherence to which those
-services had distinguished themselves aliove all others;
and c.nquered armies and navies, led by commanders who
boasted that they were invincible. In- -union, it was said,
there was strength; but strength withobt discipline would
still be inefficient and defective. By discipline the strength
of the navy was collected into one tocus or point, as it were;
and when under the control
.0 a judicious commander,
bearing down all opposition, it becameinvincible; and,with
reference to this essential ingredient in our land and sea
service (he here addressed.- himself to Captain Saxby)
he could-have no doubt but that the gallant 'conduct of
the crew was rendered still more efficacious by the
discipline and good order which he, as commander, had
established on board the 'Scout. He nett referred
to those times when, during the war, the united ser-
vice of England could vie with each other ; and who
could . forget the numberless' occasions, when, in
contending with their country's foes, they had added
so much to her glory and renown ! But proud :as.
Englishmen had a right to be, and grateful as they
ought to be, for those deeds of valour, they could not
and ought not to dismiss from their minds that a day
of victory must inevitably 'be the day of death to
many, and that with their joy and gladness there
was an accompaniment of sorrow for those who
had perished in the fight. Many were the instances
he could mention of the sympathy which manifested
itself in various parts of the kingdom, when news arrived
of battles fought and victories won, towards the brave
men who had fallen. One above all he could mention,
which occurred in the city of Edinburgh, illustrating
his remark, so creditable as it was to all concerned.
No sooner did the intelligence arrive of the vic-
tory of Trafalgar than a burst of joy and ex-
ultation resounded far and wide but when it
was known that Captain Duff, of the Mars, had
perished in the action, andsthat his widow resided in
the city, the people of their own accord posted a guard
at each end of the street in which she lived, and when
the rest of the town was one blaze of illumination, and
thronged with joyous multitudes, none were allowed to
intrude upon the solitude of that street—there and there
alone were darkness and silence—a due respect shown to
a widow's feelings in the moment of public exultation—a
due reverence paid to her hour of mourning and bereave-
ment. He next begged to call their attention to another
point. Bravery and energy, it known to all, were the
characteristic features of our sailors and soldiers ; but
there was one other principle still more important, and
without which a character, however high and dis-
tinguished for its noble qualities,- was destitute of
much of its worth and value. Pointing to the BlazerV
ensign, he called their attention to the red cross
which was its con,piruous nature ; and remind-
ing them of what it was the sign and symbol, urged them
above all things to bear in mind that while they served
an earthly Sovereign, they also served another whose eye
was ever upon them, and his spirit ever.around them. He
pointed out to them in the strongest terms the importance
and necessitY.on all occasions, wherever they might be, of
linking together their religious and professional duties in
One bond of inseparable union—never to forget that their
duties to their Queen and country ought always to go
band in hand with their duties to their God ; and to
their loyalty, as Englishmen, invariably to add "the
faith and works required of them as. Christians ; and
ho trusted that thiS latter feeling had its full share
on the occasion respectirg which he then ad-
dressed them.; that, while risking their own lives in
endeavouring to rescue those of others they felt that they
were, in thus doing to others as they would be done. by,
performing at the same time a work pleasing and ac-
ceptable to Hun who watehed over' them in that hour of
peril, whiCh _might, for aught they knew, have been their
hour 'of death. He concluded by reminding them of the
satisfaction such deeds as this; for which he was now
about to request their acceptance of a memorial, mast
give themi whenever they lOoked hack to it ; how tar
superior the satisfaction this'l_ any derived from sources
of vice, and what toe many
_thoughtless people called
pleasure ; and he had only to hope that from the books
he was now about to 'present-to them, they would -de-
'rive benefits, not only for the furtherance of their wels
fare and respectability in this-W-Orld, but for their eternal
happiness in the; world to come, when their earthly
course.should have reached its close. '

His Lordship then proceeded to present Prayer-
Books and Testaments; commencing _with Captain-Sax-
by ; and in addressing himself More particular...? to tkree
men ivho bad distinguished themselves,l/4,one of whom
was an artilleryman in .Languard Fort, he ex-
pressed the peculiar satisfaction he fAt in reminding.t.is
hearers that the soldier bad -rivalled the sailor in this
scene of danger and exertion-; and added that such
he hoped, as it had ever been, ever would be the case
with the two-united services, identified :in one and the
same generous and noble spirit, contending in laudable
rivalry who should be -first and foremost on every occa-
sion, whether in the day of battle or in other-scenes like
this to which he had alluded, when their courage and
energies might. be rendered available for the benefit of
their fellow-countrymeu.
Capt. 'Washington then, turning to Mr. Saxby, said—
After the eloquent and impressi+e address you have
just heard from his Lordship, -it would be quite out of
place that -I should add another word.. I will only say,
then, -that in- the name of Archdeacon Berners,
• Slr Philip
.Broke, Sli.Attwoil, M.P. for the borough,
the Mayor of Harwich, a feW sailors and other friends,
I beg to offer you one of Ditilond's best _telescopes,
and to your chief mate la: Dollond's silver pocket
.
corn pass, In testimony. of respect and admiration for your-
self and the crew of the Scout,-for your huranneexertions
in entleavouying to save .the -lives of -the crew of the
Hero schooner, wrecked on Lanuuard :beach, in •an
eaiterly gale and heavy snow-storm, on the night: of th,•
Bth of December, 1844 ; and-inay„ yon hoth-live many
years-to make use of them in the profession which
you do so touch credit. And ;now, my _ men, not Only of the Scout, but my --ibipinates of the Maser,
Who have faithfully and cr,ditattly served your Queen
and your country upwards ul_ four years witti me in the
North Seas, I trust what you:have heard and seen this
day will not be forgotten by you, but that it- will be au
encouragement-to press forward in the cause of humanity
Whenever an opportunity arises, assured that sooner or
• iater your exertions will at'Ways bring 01.4 oc it reward.
• By-permission of Capt. Stanicy, captain of 'the ship.
all hands then -joined-. in three hearty cheers for -the
crew of the -,t-tiut and the Lin-d isishop of Norwich;
the band of the ith stit-it?lc up ').-iule ;"
and thus terminated a ceremony that-we think will not
be readily' forgotten by any one who. witnessed it.