Norwich bulletin., 1913-02-21
WHAT INTERESTS OTHER NATIONS

ton of exactly two persons. And at
 the close of prayers the vicar an
 nounced that the state of the church was such that he was unwilling to
 preach a sermon. The organ was si-
 lent, and there was no attempt at
 singing. Under these circumstances
 the beautiful liturgy of the Church of England sounded strangely more melancholy religious function could not
 be conceived. The whole scene was
 one of abject desolation. Some of the windows have scarcely a whole pane of glass in them; the pews are thick with dust, and there are seven holes in the roof, through which the water pours after a rainstorm. Nothing is done to warm the building. The churchyard is also neglected At eleven o'clock the vicar was to be seen with a broom
 sweeping the dead leaves out of the porch. and after he had completed that duty he rang the bell, for there is no verger. Then came the dismal "service' above described. Yet in the parish of Brompton, of which Holy Trinity is the church, there is a popu- lation of 6.782 persons, and it is grow ing rapidly Holy Trinity is a fine stone building, put up about seventy years ago. when the new parish was carved out of those of Chatham and Gillfngham. It is in the gift of the Hyndman Trustees. But the parish toners refuse to attend. One morning no fewer than twenty banns of marri- ages were published by the vicar. But church work in the parish is at a standstill, and has been for months past. A problem of a different des- cription has been facing a Baptist church at Pontypool The controver- sy between Rev. Daniel Hughes and the deaconS reached climax last month. Finding the church building closed, the gates pad-locked and a notice posted cancelling the days services, the pastor broke the locks with a hammer and forced way into the churt h. where he conducted a service. About six months ago MT. Hughes was interrupt ed in his sermon on two successive Sundays by a member of his church who disagreed with the doctrine he preached. Since then the church has been divided in it's allegiance to its pastor, and lately the members of the church, by a majority of twenty -one votes, decided to call for MT. Hughes's resignation. This he declined to ten der. He also refused to attend a meet months salary in lieu of notice. On Sunday evening the deacons learned that Mr. Hughes intended to baptize a humber of people whose names had not been submitted to the church. A special meeting of deacons was imrn ed lately held, and at their instructions late that evening paddock and chain was fixed to the three large gates at the church entrance. All the windows and doors were also secured and on Sunday morning the following notice was posted on the main doors: No services will be held today. On Thurs day, at 7.45 F. M a special church meeting will be held" Shortly before the hour for service to begin MT Hughes arrived. A number of mem bers of the congregation and others had already assembled The pastor at once climbed over the high railings surrounding the church. tore down the notice on the door, and after trying the paddock on the gates and the locks on the doors. he mounted the steps at the main entrance and addressed the crowd. He wanted to do everything in order. he said The officers and dea- cons had taken a most unwarranted and illegal step in locking the gates. The first intimatien he had was on the previous evening, when he received a letter from the church secretary stat ing that, ewing t6 his unwarrantabIe and uHe6hstitatisHai conduct in ar ranging fer 6 baPtismsl service on Sunday evening without reference to the church, the church was closed fhF0sl ghssII tfas day. He had consulted the police and had ascerta iHed that they would not interfere with him in whatever he did. beyond taking his