The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-09-19 00:00:00

POPERY THE " MYSTERY OF INIQUITY."

FEARFUL DISCLOSURES,

(Prom the Morning Herald.)

It will be retnembered that about a year and half ago
considerable alarm and indignation were excited by the
discovery that a young Cambridge student, named Morrigo
had been offered a dispensation by the Romish clergY,
permitting him to remain in Cambridge, to continue his
studies, to feign himself still a Protestant, deceiving both
his parent and his tutors,—he having been, in fact, ad-
mitted into the Romish church.

Dr. Wareing, the Romish Bishop of Northampton, in-
dignantly denied the charge; but it was clearly proved
that the young man himself had, in the simplicity of his
heart, spoken of the offer ; and no reasonable doubt could
remain that such a proposition, immoral as it was, had
actually been made to him.

On that occasion, however, the wickedness was onlr
contemplated. We had a glimpse, it was true, of the
morality of the Romish Church, but it was only a
glimpse. The last few days has brought to light another
case, in which this same atrocity has been absolutely per-
petrated, and that for a series of months !

The Rev. Dr. Hook, the Vicar of Leeds, has just pub-
lished a sermon, preached and published " with reference
to a late act of apostacy." Of that act of apostacy he
thus speaks, in a preliminary address :

" I preached this sermon on love to the Church of England,
and, at your request, I publish it, because, as you are aware, 11
clergyman has apostatised to the Church of Rome, who, a few
months ago, was officiating as a curate in this parish. I wag
desirous of laying before my congregation, in one short dis-
course, the important subjects upon which I am accustomed
to enlarge.

Mr. Jephson was recommended to me as a curate, by a
clergyman holding a high position in the Irish Church; who
informed me that Mr. Jephson had at one time been unsettled
in his principles, but assured me that he was now devoted to
the interests of the Church of England. He showed me a letter
from Mr. Jephson, in which he expressed himself to the same
effect. Mr. Jephson, who had been curate of Wilby, in Nor-
folk, produced the necessary testimonials, signed by three
beneficed clergymen, and countersigned by the Lord Bishop Of
Norwich. To me he was a perfect stranger, but he declared
himself to be a decided Anglican.' His license bears date the
Bth of January, 1847."

The date is important. In January, 1847, we beg
our readers to observe, Mr. Jephson became curate of
Leeds, and he continued to hold that curacy until Mid-
summer of the present year 1848. He remained in Leeds
until August, the month which has just passed away,
mingling with the clergy and laity, as a clergyman of the
Church of England, and never uttering a word a nnv

preference for Popery. In August he left Leeds, profes-
sedly to seek the restoration of his health, and avowed-11
purposing then to take another curacy. But then, adds
Dr: Hook :

"A few days after they had left Leeds. and two months after
he had resigned the curacy on account of ill health, Mr. Jephson
sent to the senior curate of the parish church an insulting letter,
in which he announced the fact that he, together with his wife,
had been received at Birmingham into the Church of Rome."
This might be considered somewhat strange, but what
will our readers say to the following ?

"Judge, ge• tlemen, of the surprise which, under these cir-
cumstances, I experienced when I received information, last
week, that Mr. and Mrs. Jephson had been received into the
Church of Rome, not on their quitting Leeds in August, 1848,
but in the year 1846, before his coining to Leeds ; that, even,
then, while professing himself to be ' a decided Anglican,' he
was actually a member of the apostate Church of Rome. Of
this fact you may receive the proof by referring to The
(Roman) Catholic Directory Almanac and Ec:lesiastical Regis-
ter,' for 1847, of which a copy will be left at the publisher's.
This work, which was published in January, 1847, is of indis-
putable authority, being the annual register of the Romanists,
which is issued permissu Superiorum. At page 186 you will
find the following passage :

" CONVERSIONS.--111 the directory of last year we chronicled
a few of the leading conversions to our holy faith, most of which
were then recent. We now give the names of other converts,
who made profession of the (Roman) Catholic faith after the
direptor) went to press, and also the names of others who have
since been admitted into the church. The list, though select,
is by no means complete, for we have reason to know that other
distinguished names could be given. Were an enumeration
made of all the converts since our last publication its vastness
would excite surprise. The names of the new converts we now
give as follows.'—Then follow the names of 14 clerical apos-
tates, the fifth name in the list being that of the Rev. J. M.
Jephson, curate of Wilby.' At page 187 a list is given of other
converts,' and in that list occurs the name of Mrs. Jephson,
who is described as Mrs. Jephson, wife of the Anglican minis-
ter, who also became a (Roman) Catholic.' "

Thus it appears quite clear, and beyond the possibility
of doubt, that Mr. Jephson was received into the Church
of Rome in the autumn of 1846, and being so received,
his next step, taken, doubtless, with the approbation of
his new spiritual guides, was to offer himself to Dr'
Hook, as curate of the parish church of Leeds ! That
this implied no sudden revulsion,—that he did not fly
from Protestantism to Popery, and then back to „,Pr°i
testantism again, is clear from this circumstance :
there were several Romish priests at Leeds, who were
ful-
ly apprised by this same Catholic Directory of hii:ni
version. And had:they believed him to be a recreant
their body, resentment would have led them to dea°,—i a
him. But beyond question they were made acqualll43,e
with the part he was acting, and quietly followed t
instructions they received.
Here, then, is the appalling FACT; long able
but now established in the most positive and irrefrag
as
manner, that a man has been publicly ministering, a
f the most
clergyman of the Church of England, in c)
one the while,
important churches in all England, he being, all
-of neces-
sity', publicly-professed Romanist, and therefore,
Church of
sity, a hater and detester of the Protestant
England, and a contemner of her rites and her belief.
The fact, it is clear, shakes the very ground under ourrw
41.
nr;t_ nnhtliavp, we bit
an apostate clergyman, willing to deceive—to act a part:
:
to assume a false character ; but we have also the Rornisn,
authorities in this country, ready to give, in this, and
doubtless in other cases, what they offered to poot.
MORRIS, DISPENSATION to converts, to appear and
profess themselves whatever may tend to advance "the
interests of the Church." And this readiness neces-
sarily spreads a wide distrust. How many men have
we in the Church of England, who have long pro-
fessed Romish doctrines, and whose apostacy has been
expected for years past, as a natural and proper act
on their part ? But they do not apostatize, or rather,-
they do not openly apostatize. What is the inference
suspected,
which must be silently drawn by many minds ? Dispen-
sations are ready—are promptly offered, by the Romig)
authorities, to persons in these circumstances. Who,
then, can tell, whether the Puseys. Dodsworths, Bennetts,
are, or are not, actually Romish Priests at this moment.
They may be such, and yet be still ministering among Or
that fact Dr. Hook has now established. they act as
such persons would act, that is open to all men's view;
Who can help wishing that such a " mystery of iniquity
as this miscalled " Church of Rome" were thoroughly
understood and appreciated among us, alike by our
bishops, our legislators, and our rulers both in church and'
state ?

This poor man must, we apprehend, when licensed /a
the first time in the diocese of Ripon, have anew subscribea
the Articles of the Church of England,—those Articles
which, in the plainest terms, and under a variety of header
condemn the doctrines of the Church of Rome ! Yet he
had just before submitted himself to that Romish systems
and had avouched his belief in those very doctrines which,.
at Leeds, be disclaimed ! What a religion is that of
Rome ; or rather, how truly does Scripture term it—the
mystery of iniquity !

VICISSITUDES OF TRADE

(From the Times)

The problem is to distinguish between real and fictitious
prosperity, between an increase in permanent trade, and
that which is merely the result of a transitory crisis. Bx-
traordinary prosperity in our manufacturing districts fiS
invariably followed by a reflux. The Registrar in his 1
report instances the case of Birmingham, and discusses ft
length the fluctuations in its trade. Increased demandg,
that town, realising to the masters increased profits, to the
men increased wages, to the boys rapid promotion, is a'
eertained now to have but a limited term. For five YeTi
it lasts—the sixth is the year of reckoning. The vi,,,er;
athanands
nti
ha occasion-emle nt
ad butasnp o
Archipelago.
for oibpremal
brass rods,
tdheszaoent
and lamps.
occasionlam
p dolls,s. fi
fr
oe
ri
Chinar os onst
n,e
I:I:kg
and no more. Now, it is found that in five years' tit%
the Birmingham men, when they set themselves to well,
with a hearty good will, can supply the human race„ll7.
more of these articles than they can can consume.
ing this heyday time, " youths have married, the expen
ture of families has been increased, employers have en-
ture
larged their establishments, and young men have opened
new factories—for the prosperity at the time appears_
perpetual." What really dues happen during suc" eirflu
tonic jubilees is merely an anticipation of the wages ,e`„„d
ture years. The tide ebbs more rapidly than it flowed' '-
an increased population, habituated to an increased ex-
penditure, is thrown out of employment. The Registrar'
General, finding the " tendency to marriage" beginno.3g:
to operate again on the population of Birmingham at tno.
beginning of this year, offers them the following very sen
sible advice :

" Without discussing the great question of the currenal!
appears anything but unsound advice to recommend the P;-,,,ve
ple of Birmingham, in the periods of prosperity to rae,f
(which I hope are not far distant, for they began tom ;ia
again in the spring of 1848), to deposit a part of their incre.d
profits and wages in security for at least six years,
.at the "Oro
which time it is probable they will find it a convenient reeotes,
to fall back upon until prosperity returns ; and should th,e,,nanti-
value-one-pound,' ever supersede the sovereign, or tu'oilor4
gusted I promise to pay,' it would still be prudent to Pests
the same course, until they find by experience that the tep_% of s
of the trading atmosphere are for ever stilled by the flights
talismanic paper."
The case of Birmingham is of course given but ea,„"eidico-
gratiii ;—Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, are exPn.sele.
precisely the same vicissitudes and fluctuations °'nd nus-
More than this, the interests of the agriculturoV'rcrocen
nufacturing districts are now so inextricably invoeining
that the loss of the one has ceased to be even the ers sPe-
gain of the other. We shall hear no more of farrad-•
• distress'
misting upon high prices in years of commerels , Essex,
Huddersfield and Lincolnshire, the Potteries an

number of 572,625. At the present moment,
must stand and fall together. '
Mea •
nwhile we have to consider the number of
eb,irttuh:
young, men, women, and children, there are
registered in England alone in the year 1840 reach Sand
olba,i,
Pro
~'2,
about 29,000,000 of us struggling for life and food 'Vol;
year 1846 the emigrants from the United Kin
the narrow compass of these little islands ; and yet, In 14
King
of
"'..
not reach the number of 130,000. This is a sta,te
lost. s_l',.
ciety which has not yet been known in the world'h: t 070
Did we not feel convinced that remedies shouldatten
we bhe
evils, and are 'suggested by their very nature, .
be disposed to regard with alarm even any increas I! the
the development of our commercial resources, vvinis.
see its inevitable consequence in the returns of the.,73Bre
trar-General. But we cannot recede or stand stitu. ;01..
possible.
are now fairly embarked in a career where retreat 15 '