The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-03-09 00:00:00

THE SHERIFF'S CHAPLAIN.

WE have examined, but in vain, for any authority
empowering the Sheriff of a county to appoint a
chaplain, beyond mere custom and ordinary cour-
tesy. The practice is unknown in Scotland, as may
be supposed ; but in Ireland, where the laws in this
respect are identical with those of England, the
assize sermon is almost invariably preached by some
prominent clergyman of the assize town. We have
no doubt that the practice arose from the fact, that
almost every squire, knight, baronet, or peer, who
is selected to perform the duties of High Sheriff, is
possessed of Church patronage in some parish or
chapelry on his own property. It was natural that
the clergyman who was the object of the Sheriff's
choice should have conceded to him the pulpit of
the church at which the Judges attend ; but he has
no legal right to appear there, and the ordinary
incumbent can at at any time prohibit him, though
a clerk in priest's orders of the United Church. In
the case of a Roman Catholic there is a double im-
possibility, even if the appointment of a Sheriff's
Chaplain were authorised by statute, viz., that Ist,
Roman Catholics do not usually possess church pa-
tronage, and 2nd, that whether or not, no Roman
Catholic priest is so appointed by a layman in this
country. He may reside in the family of a Sheriff
or of any one else, performing religious duties; or
he may celebrate mass at the chapel which that gen-
tleman attends usually or occasionally;—but he is
not and cannot be a " Chaplain," in the legal sense
of that term.

The good citizens of London have the election of
their Sheriff in their own hands ; and last autumn,
when it was thought that the opposition to a Roman
Catholic Sheriff arose from an uncharitable feeling,
there was a reaction which placed the objectionable
candidate in office. A few days after, he showed
the amount of his respect for public decency and
public feeling, by an act of aggression worthy of
the Cardinal. He introduced a Roman Catholic
priest at the Mansion House, in the garb of his
clerical rank, no doubt; but which, being usually
restrained within stone walls and closed doors, ap-
peared to the astonished spectators like the tom-
foolery of theatrical decoration. It was regarded
by the party as a triumph; it was simply a gross
violation of good taste, and a flagrant abuse of
established courtesy.

In Buckinghamshire the Sheriff for the present
year is Mr. SCOTT MURRAY, a renegade Protestant;
and he was at some pains to procure a priest called
MORRIS, also a renegade, who was quasi chaplain
quasi legally appointed. The Sheriff hoped it would
not be interpreted to mean any disrespect if he ab-
sented himself from church ; and the Judges, of
course, replied assuring him that they expected no
such violence to his conscience. Upon th;s, how-
ever, be installs Mr. MORRIS, in the full costume of
his order, in the same carriage with Mr. Justice
CROMPTON, deserting his lordship at the church
door, and rejoining him in time to gratify the gazers
from the church to the court-house. Lord CAMP-
BELL severely rebuked the act in open court, in his
address to the Grand Jury, and the latter expressed
their approval of the remarks, a report of which will
be found in another page.
In 1837 we did not find that Sir MOSES MONTE-
FIORE introduced a circumcised Rabbi to instruct
the aldermen and common council-men, on the ab-
surdities of the Gospel history or the niceties of a
Hebrew dagesh. We venture to believe that if
OLIVER COWDERY, the Mormon apostle and poly-
gamist, were Sheriff, he would not obtrude the
" loves of the Angels" into this country; and even
OWEN the Socialist would not annoy "the young
person called the Queen" nor any of her subjects,
by trying to reduce us to the bondage of a happy
family. It is surely not unreasonable to suppose
that a Roman Catholic gentleman, whenever he
may be selected by the Judges and pricked off by
the Queen, will show at least as much respect for
the laws and institutions of this country. Mr.
WELD BLUNDELL, of Ince, the present Sheriff of
this county, is a thorough gentleman, and a mem-
ber of stn ancient and honourable Roman Catholic
family, which produced Cardinal WELD, and which
has contributed in no small degree to the cultiva-
tion of the fine arts. We cannot believe that be
will forget himself as Mr.MURRAY has done, though
there was a good deal of irritation some months
ago, respecting the election of a county coroner.
But if it should be so, their lordships, we trust, will
vindicate their own position, and maintain the spirit
of the constitution. It would perhaps be better
for Mr. LAWRENCE to take his own place in the
pulpit of St. Luke's, and thus put an end to the
farce of chaplaincy, so liable to be converted into a
nuisance; or the Judges may refuse to sit with any
one in the carriage who has no legal right to be
there, The Sheriff cannot ineist on whatever corn._