The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-01-28 00:00:00

THE BISHOP OF EXETER AND HIS DIOCESE

The unhappy differences which have agitated the pa-
rishioners of St. Sidwell, in the city and diocese of Exe-
ter, are too notorious to require greater notice than we
have already bestowed upon them ; and the scenes of dis-
turbance and riot to which they have given rise will be
found described in detail in another part of our paper.
We have now to record the tardy submission of the curate
of St. Sidwell, and the Bishop of Exeter, to the demands
of the parishioners, and the restoration of the forms of
public worship in that church to the order practised before
the spread of the new-fangled principles of Tractarianism.
This desirable event, however, has not been brought
about without a degree of compulsion on the part of the
parishioners, the submission to which is calculated very
materially to injure the standing of the rev. parties thus
submitting, and to weaken the church itself in the esti•
mation of the public; and that it has not led to the re-
establishment of peace, the following proceedings of a
meeting of the ratepayers of the parish, held on Thursday
last, will sufficiently shew :
The meeting in question was convened by the warden of
St. Sidwell's for the purpose of considering " what steps
should be taken to put an end to the disturbances which
now totally prevent the proper worship of God on the
Sabbath day in the parish church; and whether it is not
expedient to call on the Rev. Francis Courtenay to resign
his cure." This was certainly going much beyond what
would have been necessary under ordinary circumstances,
and perhaps beyond what the parishioners themselves
contemplated before their feelings had been embittered to
the last extreme by the obstinacy with which the rev.
gentleman persisted in the observances complained of,
notwithstanding the recently published withdrawal of his
pastoral, enjoining them, by the Bishop of Exeter. The
meeting was numerously attended, a d resolutions expres-
sive of the most determined dislike to the curate, and a
wish for his removal from the parish, were passed with
scarcely a dissentient voice. Before the commencement
of the proceedings the vicar (Mr. Atherley) announced
that the curate had a communication to make to the meet-
ing, and that gentleman accordingly was introduced, and,
after remarking upon the object for which they had met,
said, " These disturbances have arisen from the conti-
nued use of the surplice in preaching. lamin a position
to tell you that I have authority to discontinue the use of
the surplice. (Cries of " oh," and " too late.") lam
not going to say more, or to give my reasons why I do
this, but I thought it was due to you as friends, as many
of you are, whilst debating on measures which have arisen
from the use of the surplice, to state this to you." The
reverend gentleman was then taken to task by the meeting
for having expressed himself contemptuously of the parties
by whom this and previous meetings bad been called ;
and especially of having torn down a notice posted at the
church gates, calling one of these meetings, and in a petu-
lant way trampling it under his feet. These questions
were not very satisfactorily replied to; and with respect
to the last the following jesuitical mode of disposing of it
was attempted, but failed :—" As to pulling down the
notice," remarked Mr. Courtenay, " I constantly pull
down notices from the church gates. It was hanging in
strips when I pulled it down." A parishioner replied,
I saw it. and it was not in strips"—upon which the rev.
gentleman changed his story to " I don't say it was in
strips ; but when I pulled it, it came in strips"—a piece
of evasion, if no worse, which excited the marked disap-
probation of the meeting. Another parishioner inquired
" Why a corpse was left in the churchyard last night for
forty minutes without a minister to bury it ?" A third
inquired " Why a couple were kept waiting for two
hours last Monday morning, and could not get married;"
and in the midst of the groaning and yelling which these
questions excited Mr. Courtenay retired from the meeting.
The following letter from the Bishop of Exeter to Mr.
Courtenay, will explain the fact of that gentleman being
now "in a position" to discontinue the use of the sur-
plice—the cause of the disturbances which have disgraced
this parish.

" Bishopstowe, Jan. 22.
" Dear Sir,—Not baying received from you, nor from
others, till this day, any authentic account of the unhappy
scenes which, on two successive Sundays, have been
enacted at St. Sidwell's, I have felt it my duty to forbear
from writing to you on the subject.
" In the very imperfect state of information in which I
was placed, I was afraid of incurring the responsibility of
advising you to yield to the violence of the populace, lest
such a concession should be deemed injurious to the cause
of peace and order by those whose official duty it is to
guard those main objects of all good government.

"'Letters which I have this clay- received from the
mayor of Exeter seem to intimate that it is the wish of
himself, and of the magistrates who are acting with him,
that I should take this step.

" Still, as I do not feel myself competent to decide what
course is fittest, I enclose this letter open to the mayor,
who will either deliver it to you, or not, as he in his dis-
cretion shall deem proper.
" If you receive this letter, you will understand from it
that I advise you to give way at the request of the civil
authorities of Exeter, and not to persist in wearing the
surplice in the pulpit, unless, conscientiously and on full
inquiry, you have satisfied yourself that your engagements
to the church require you to wear the surplice when you
preach.
" I do not myself think that the matter is so free from
doubt that you may not act on your bishop's advice, as
now given to you.

" Still I do not pretend to any right to order you to
wear the gown—l only advise it, and advise it with this
limitation, that you can, without wounding your own
conscience, comply.

"1 am, dea.r Sir, your faithful friend and bishop,

" H. EXETER

" The Rev. F. Courtenay."

There is here, it will be observed, no condemnation of
the obstinacy with which Mr. Courtenay has acted
throughout:these disturbances—no condemnation of the
introduction of novel and unpalatable observances into
his parish. The Rev. Prelate has only just heard, good
easy man, of the disturbances in question ; and is even
now too sensitively afraid of damaging the conscience of
the youthful Curate to lay upon him any injunction as to
the course to be pursued, but leaves the matter entirely
to his discretion—advising the laying aside of the sur-
plice, yet evidently intimating his opinion that in wearing
it the Curate was right, and the parishioners of St. Sid-
well and the great mass of the Church are in the wrong.
It is greatly to be feared that, with such an open lean-
ing to these observances on the part of their Bishop, the
clergy of his diocese are little likely to abstain from their
introduction wherever they are not violently opposed, as
in St. Sidwell's ; and that the peace of the diocese cannot
be insured, without some more potent controlling power
being placed in requisition.

At the Adelphi Hotel, yesterday, Arthur Henderson,
Esq., brother to the Recorder, was installed Master of the
St. George's Lodge of Freemasons.
The third lecture of the course now delivering at St.
Andrew's Church, on the " Christian character and con-
duct," w:11 be delivered this evening, the subject being
" the Christian in his domestic relations, including hus-
band and wife and parent and child."

We understand that the very unusual occurrence of the
baptism of an adult by immersion, according to the form
of the Church of England, will take place at Christ
Church to-morrow evening, January the 29th. The lady
to be immersed is a member of the congregation, and the
ceremony will be performed by the Rev. Fielding Ould.
STEALING MONEY.—At the Police-court, yesterday,
a female named Elizabeth Doyle, servant to a Mrs.
Humphries, was charged with stealing from her mistress
a £5 note, for which she had procured change from a
Mrs. Parry. The note was identified so far as being a
new one and joined up the middle, it having been cut for
safe remittance. The prisoner was sent for trial.

COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION.—We perceive that the
Rev. J. T. Brown, whose lectures at this Institution have
been so attractive, will conclude this evening, on which
occasion the whole of the drawings with which his course
has been illustrated will be again exhibited. Professor
Greenbank, it will be perceived, is to make his appearance
on Friday, for one night only. His selection of subjects
is admirable, and for his taste and well-known powers of
oratory we anticipate a treat.

PACKET-SHIP ASHBURTON.-ThiS fine vessEl which
left New York on the 9tti instanr, arrived here yesterday.
She left one day earlier than the Sea, the news by which
we give in another column. The passengers by the Ash-
burton presented her commander, Captain Huddleston,
with an address expressive of their admiration of his sea-
manlike qualities. The following is a list of the passen-
gers Brownell, James Cloy, John P. Mdrsh,
F. B. Houghton, J. B. Matthews, John N. Poe, John
Fraser, William Moody, John Sutherland, J. B. Spence,
Francis J. Blackader, James Arthur.

THEFT FROM A DWELLING-HOUSE.—Yesterday, at
the Police Court, a youth, named Thomas Thompson, was
charged, by Mr. George Greaves, of the police force, with
entering his house, and stealing therefrom a quantity of
wearing apparel. It appeared that, about seven o'clock
on Saturday night, a police-officer saw the prisoner run-
ning in Scotland-place with a large bundle, and detained
him. Mrs. Greaves said she had left the house about
half-past five o'clock, and returned about eight, when she
found the house had been entered by breaking a pane and
opening the window. She also missed the articles, in-
cluding gowns, pieces of the same pattern of which she
produced. The property was stated to be worth about £6.
Th,‘ prisoner was committed for trial.
ROYAL GARRICK SOCIETY.—On Thursday evening
last, the members of this socicy gave a performance in
the Portico, Newington, which was crowded upon the
occasion. The first piece selected was Morton's favourite
comedy, " A Cure for the Heartache," previously to
which an opening address was spoken, written for the
occasio❑ by Mr. Leigh—of course a nomtne de theatre,
as were those of the remainder of the amateurs. The
piece itself went off with great applause, the parts of Old
Rapid, Young Rapid, and Frank Oatland being excel-
lently supported—especially the first, by Mr. Leigh, who
need have no fear of undertaking the character in any
theatre amongst profes-ional actors. Sir Hubert Stanley
was a failure, the comical customer who played it nut
being able to resist his risible propensities. The same
gentleman subsequently sung, in character, " The sor-
rows and lamentations of Sairey Gamp," as written by
Mr. J. Morgan, of Liverpool, for Mr. Strickland, of the
Haymarket company, and drew down thunders of ap-
plause. A comic song was also sung by Mr. Graham.
The farce was " The Boots at the Swan," in which the
same party who enacted Sairey took the principal cha-
racter—Jacob Earwig—which he sustained admirably.
Frank Friskley and Peter Pippin were also respectively
undertaken and well played by Mr. Leigh, Mr. J. Leigh.
There was, however, we imagine, a slight hitch some-
where, which curtailed the piece of its fair proportions.
In gallantry we must express our satisfaction with the
acting of the ladies, Misses Corrie, Montague, and
Milian, which was very creditable. We hope to have
another occasion of being present at these performances.