The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-10 00:00:00

DISPUTES IN THE CHURCI 1.
PISHOP PiIILLPOTTS AT;HIS DEVOTIC
EXETER, JAN. B.—l had thought, and so stet( in
toy communication in the earlier part of the -w eek,
thi the controversy was dying away—that the clergy ,
folloi.v1:14 the example of the bishop who had w ith .
drawn the order for the surplice, would have ab -
sta:fial from 1 use; that they would have ascen,
fey d
the pulp,:t in the old-fashioned garb, and that wzt h
this concessi
the storm would have subsides 1.
Peace, however, :sag deserted the temple. The w tr.
is renewed. The Tractai.4°' clergy persevere with if. to
surplice, and the bishop 4, *lentiv encourages Cho n
therein.
On Sunday afternoon last the bilaop.„,attendee I
Divine service at St. John's r.,ha;)el, rep
prayers were read by one of th,,
(Henry), who has a capital living i., them neigh.
bourhood. The son bowed lower and
quently than clergymen usually bow—such 1),:w11
was scarcely ever seen in a Protestant church
before. The bishop, who rarely attends the after-
noon service, occupied his chair within the rails.
He affects to believe that that part of the church
is holier than any other. After the prayers were
read, the clergyman mounted the pulpit in his sur-
plice ! the bishop looking notes of admiration right
and left, what would be called in London, "sarcy" by
that portion of the laity who are most at home out-
side the fabric. There he sat, as happy as power and
supremacy coald make a man. His eye glistening
with delight, and his frame swelling with authority—
every inch a priest. The sermon was preached from
the following text, St. James, 3d chap., verses 1, 13,
14, 15, 16, and 17 ; and lam told by one who had
the misfortune to be present, that it was the most
Jesuitical and offensive sermon that could be delivered
to a Protestant congregation. Apostolical, unbroken
succession was vehemently enforced, passive obedi-
ence was peremptorily exacted, and the unlimited
right of bishops and clergy to regulate all Church
matters was boldly claimed. Bishop Phil/potts
wag present. The bowings were lower than ever ;
the surplice was worn, as if the order had never been
withdrawn; worn, too, in a town where the chi ;web-
men, in a highly influential and numerous meeting,
had protested against it ; and the doctrines most ob-
jectionable to Protestants were all most strenuously
enforced ; and all, be it remembered, in the presence
and manifestly with the acquiescence of the bishop :
for his son took part in the performance of divine wor-
ship, and everybody knows that the young gentlem an
is kept as tightly in hand as the most rigid discipli-
narian could desire. When he had to introduce 'the
effertory in his own parish, he apologised to seve-
ral of his parishioners, " because the old genticn ian
would have it so." It is to be hoped that when ;this
meets the eye of the old gentleman that he wont be-
lieve it ; nevertheless, it is an absolute fact. Al a
consequence of this brazen-faced mode of repentance,
as display ed by the respectable bishop at Torqn:
you will not be surprised to learn that the anti-svr-
plice war rages there with greater violence than eve
A pamphlet has just been issued by "A Pres-
byter of the Church," which shows that Bishcp
Phillpotts, whilst he has been whipping, up both
clergy and laity so sharply for neglect of tilt'
law, Lath been equally unmindful of la.w °n
his own side. He is bound not to ordain exCePt
on some holiday or Sunday, whereas on Saturda.y•
the 19th of December, 1835, he did, at Exeter, ordain
his own son, and others, contrary to the rubric and
the 31st canon. The office for making deacons pre•
scribes that the archdeacon or his deputy shall, as
examining chaplain, present the candidates for ordina-
tion to the bishop. But it is melancholy to state that
the present chaplain is not an archdeacon ; but much
better than that, certainly, for he happens to be
(young Woollcombe) a clever and captivating young
divine, who is now courting the bishop's daughter, a
fact that has been published, and notoriously known
to the whole diocese. I should not, however, repeat
these facts for publication in London, where there

are so many speculative attorneys ready to pounce
upon any one, did I not know that the bishop is pro-
tected by the statute, which says that " no person
shall be molested for any offence against these acts,
unless he be indicted thereof at the next assizes."

But let him look out if he do not appear in alb and
cope at the next confirmation he holds, "and also hys
pastoral staffe in hys hande, or elles borne or holden
by hys chaplyne."
You will thus see that Bishop Phillpotts will find
both rubric and canons a two-edged sword, and that
be may, in dealing out his trenchant blows, wound
himself as well as those below him.—From a Corres-
pondent of the Chronicle.