Intelligence.-Clerical Delinquents.—Mr. Joseph Barker. 253 in the will which gives the legacies over, in case they should be attacked as illegal, an attack which he now made, and which he contended was sufficient to defeat them. His Honour the Vice-Chancellor Wigram overruled all the objections declared the legality of the bequest of the Government annuity to Mr. Hornby for the purposes intended by the testator, and directed the payment of it to Mr. Hornby. The costs of all parties his Honour ordered should be paid out of the estate, in proportion to their several interests. N. B. The Government annuity will consequently have to bear a proportion of the costs of the suit. We under stand that at Mrs. Cooke's death the annuity had about eight or nine years to run, and that Mrs. C. disposed of the first half-year's dividend to a relation. Clerical Delinquents. There have been some painful and disgraceful cases during the present assizes, in which clergymen have been the defendants, and have been convicted of enormous offences against morality and decency. Two of these cases have attracted their full share of attention from the press. They are of such a nature as to prevent further reference in the pages of this work. But there was another trial, in which a clergyman was the plaintiff, which has, we think, received far less attention than it deserves. In this case, the well-known Michael Augustus Gathercole, now Vicar of Chatteris, sought damages from Mr. Miall, the proprietor of the Nonconformist, for a libel. The libel consisted in some very free, but we must say both provoked and not undeserved, comments on Mr. Gathercole's conduct towards the Dissenters in his parish. It is matter of notoriety that Mr. Gathercole has for many years, both from the pulpit and through the press, indulged in the harshest censures on Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters. Such a man could not enter into a court of justice, to complain of libellous censures on himself, with clean hands. Baron Parke, we regret to see, laid down the law in such a manner as, if we rightly understand him, would screen any clergyman, who should indulge in libel from his pulpit `or in his parish, from the visitations of the press, if not of the law. He said, "He had yet to learn that there was any right in the press to publish an opinion of the conduct of a clergyman in his parish, and the method in which he might see fit to administer its charities.' This referred to Mr. Miall's criticisms on Mr. Gathercole having broken up a charity which he found in existence at Chatteris, and substituting an exclusive Church Clothing Club, the 9th rule of which declared, that "drunkenness, theft, schism, or any other deadly sin," should disqualify a member. We regret to say a Cambridgeshire jury awarded Mr. Gathercole £200 for the damage done to his character by Mr. Miall. We regret this, not because we particularly admire the phraseology of the article pronounced by the verdict to be libellous, but because we think the whole proceeding is an attack on the freedom of the press, and because we see no reason why Mr. Gathercole, in consequence of his being a clergyman, is to be himself protected from the kind of attack which against other men he freely uses. We trust this verdict will be hereafter reversed, and in the mean time we venture to express the hope that Mr. Miall will be borne harmless by a public subscription. Mr. Joseph Barker. Mr. BARKER has written to us to the effect, that "the Dictionary of the Bible" which he has announced, is of quite a different character from that now in the course of publication by Dr. Beard, and that it was not merely con templated, but announced, before Dr. Beard's was spoken of. He adds, that he "should be sorry to hinder the sale of any of Dr. Beard's works, especially his Dictionary."-We may take this opportunity of calling attention to Mr. Barker's proposal to publish a series of 300 works, theological, moral, biographical, scientific and poetical, at the lowest possible price. He calculates that if he obtains 5000 subscribers to his proposed Library, he can publish a volume similar to his edition of Channing at eight-pence. He proposes to publish about a volume and a half a week, and to continue this series for about four years. The subscription will be a shilling a week. To non-subscribers, the price will be a shilling a volume. Mr. Barker thinks that among the poor he can obtain 2500 subscribers. He trusts to obtain the other moiety of the number required from a higher class, who see the importance of aiding in every well-directed effort to improve the mental and moral condition of the labouring masses. Mr. Barker thus candidly states what the character of this series of works will be: "It is known that I am myself what most of the sects call heterodox, and I do not wish to conceal the fact, that several of the theological works which I purpose to publish, are what would be called heterodox. Still, my object in proposing to publish this Library, is something far better and higher than the mere spread of heterodox opinions. What I want is, to make people truly wise and great and good,-to lead forth to useful action their thinking and their moral powers, and make them Christlike and God-like men and women. Only let them be brought to read, and taught to think, and led to live for God and for their kind, and I will trust them to form their opinions for themselves. Hence most of the books on religion that I propose to publish, are of a general and practical character. I have chosen them simply because they are calculated to rouse, invigorate and free the soul, and fit it for the service of its Maker and for the service of mankind." We shall watch with great interest the progress of this spirited attempt, and from time to time report what we observe. Ministerial Changes. The Rev. P. P. CARPENTER, of Stand, removes at Midsummer to Warrington. The congregation at Stand has given a unanimous invitation to the Rev. JOHN WRIGHT, assistant minister at York, which that gentleman has, we hear, accepted. We understand that the Rev. ROBT. E. B. MACLELLAN has signified his intention of resigning the pastoral charge of the Unitarian congregation at Bridport on the 1st September next. The Rev. EDWARD HIGGINSON, of Hull, has received and accepted an unanimous invitation from the Presbyterian congregation of Wakefield. We rejoice that this ancient and respect able congregation is again under the pastoral care of a gentleman of education and talents and prudence, whose tastes, both personal and hereditary, dispose him to sympathize with the habits of the English Presbyterians. We at one time entertained the thought of calling our readers' attention to the legal proceedings which the Trustees of the Westgate chapel were compelled to adopt to regain possession of the pulpit. Though we abandon that purpose, we take the opportunity of saying that it behoves both ministers and people to exercise a thoughtful prudence as to the persons invited into our pulpits. We are far from encouraging the prudery of excluding all but ordained and regularly-educated ministers from our pulpits; but we think care should be taken to ascertain the mental habits, as well as the moral character, of pulpit aspirants. If fluency of speech and freedom from bigotry are made the only tests of ministerial fitness, the pulpits which have been adorned by a long succession of able and high-minded men, will become the mark at which adventurers anxious to achieve a social position, or desirous of a stage on which to exhibit their eccentricities, may successfully aim. Without prudence, the liberality and freedom from doctrinal tests habitual to our societies, may prove a snare by which they may be entangled and fall. Manchester District Sunday-School Association. The objects of this Association are, the promotion of Sundayschool education by the holding of aggregate meetings of teachers and friends -the visiting of schools in the district - and the collecting and diffusing of information on all subjects connected with Sunday-schools. No subscription is required on joining the Association, the only condition being, to forward a yearly report previous to the annual meeting. The particulars required in the Report are, the number of scholars and teachers, distinguishing male and female, the average attendance,-the the auxiliary institutions connected subjects of instruction,-the books used, with the school,-the nature and extent of the accommodation,-together with any other details that may be thought interesting. These particulars will be embodied in a general Report, to be presented to the annual meeting. In order to give to as great a number as possible an opportunity of laying their opinions before the meeting, and of thus forwarding the objects of the Association, written communications from the teachers and friends of Sunday-schools are invited on the following question: "What are the best means of communicating moral and religious instruction in Sunday-schools?" The annual meeting will be held at Dukinfield on Easter Monday, April 13, 1846. Tea at five o'clock. MARRIAGES. 1845. Dec. 14, at the chapel in the Conigree, Trowbridge, by Rev. S. Martin, Mr. JAMES DUNNING to Miss MARY RODWAY, both of Trowbridge. 1846. Feb. 2, at the chapel in the Conigree, Trowbridge, by Rev. S. Martin, Mr. SIMEON HARPUR to Miss ANNA MARIA KING, both of Trowbridge. Feb. 22, at the chapel in the Conigree, Trowbridge, by Rev. S. Martin, Mr. GEORGE WALKER to Miss SARAH SLATFORD, both of Trowbridge. Feb. 22, at Christ-church chapel, Bridgewater, by Rev. R. L. Carpenter, B.A., PHILIP SHEPHERD to ELIZABETH JAMES. March 5, at the Old chapel, Dukinfield, by Rev. R. Brook Aspland, M.A., Mr. ROBT. WOOLLEY KINDER to PHOEBE HIRST, both of Dukinfield. March 9, at the Unitarian chapel, Billingshurst, by Rev. T. Sadler, of Hackney, Mr. WILLIAM TURNER, of Slaughter Farm, to Miss MIRIAM JOHN SON. March 10, in the Bowl-alley-lane chapel, Hull, by Rev. Edward Higginson, THOMAS EARLE, Esq., sculptor, of Upper Ebury Street, London, to MARY, daughter of Mr. Frank APPLEYARD, builder, Hull. March 10, at Holywood, near Belfast, by Rev. Henry Montgomery, LL.D., the Rev. JAMES CARLEY, of Antrim, to JANE MATILDA, second daughter of the late John BARKLIE, Esq., of Drumadaragh, County Antrim. March 10, at the Great meeting, Leicester, by Rev. Charles Berry, Mr. ROBERT MARSHALL, Princes Street, to Mrs. HIPWELL, Sparkenhoe Street, both of the same place. March 17, at the chapel in the Conigree, Trowbridge, by Rev. S. Martin, Mr. SIMEON GREEN to Miss CATHERINE CANTELLO, both of Trowbridge. March 17, by licence, at Chapel-lane chapel, Bradford, Yorkshire, by Rev. J. H. Ryland, Mr. BENJAMIN GOUGH MORRIS, late of Shrewsbury, to MARTHA, eldest daughter of Mr. John SPENCER, bookbinder, both of Bradford. March 21, at the chapel in the Conigree, Trowbridge, PATRICK LYONS, of the 1st Regt. of Dragoon Guards, to ANN JERRETT, of Trowbridge. OBITUARY. 1846. Feb. 8, at Cheltenham, aged 70, Mr. JOHN FINCHER, confectioner, of Tewkesbury. The subject of this notice was for many years a worthy member of the Calvinistic Baptist church in that town. Some years since, whilst at Evesham, on a visit to his mother, the "Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion," by the venerated Priestley, came under his notice; the perusal of which confirmed his doubts, and led him at length to avow himself a Unitarian. The excellent Christian character of John Fincher was not, however, a sufficient shield to shelter him from the fierce attacks of even the savage bigotry he then encountered for conscience' sake, and for liberty of thought, as the freedman of Jesus Christ. His former associates in religious doctrine attacked him on his avowing his changed opinion, with all that denunciation of future woe which is too well known to us to need any relation of particulars here. Sufficient for us to know that he felt he had gained deliverance from the most abject mental slavery, and he was prepared to pay the price demanded for his freedom by the spirit that is in the world. And he did pay it in the spirit of his great Master; rejoicing likewise that he was associated with his muchloved and honoured Priestley in bearing witness to the Truth. Though reviled, he reviled not again; although persecuted, he threatened not. It is to the great honour of our friend that he calmly stood alone in this great work of confessing Christ. Not a mind for a long time was associated with him therein. His social spirit, however, sought and found kindred ones in Cheltenham, to whose place of assembly to worship God he frequently resorted. And it was on a pilgrimage to this same place, for the exercise of his devotional spirit with his brethren, that death met him, and cut short his work of faith among mortal men. The doctrines of Unitarianism which John Fincher embraced, were not lightly taken up by him. They were to him springs of action of the most exalted kind, and as wide in the demands of duty, as great in purpose for the human race. Sources of thought and hope also were they to him, as holy as they were powerful to create all things anew in the image of God-of the God of love-whose dearest manifestation of that love he beheld in the example, in the character and spirit, of Jesus Christ. To his mind, these doctrines were not matters of indifference; for he found in them that enlargement of spirit which made them to him most precious, enabling him to overcome the world. His life under their influence was no wavering uncertainty of doctrinal opinion. To him, they were day-stars in the heavens, reflecting a constant steady light on the difficult and often trying path of ever-present duty, and loving obedience. These doctrines made the yoke of duty to him easy, and the burden of human cares light. Humble in life, yet great in his Christian calling, beyond all that this world of passing fashions can bestow, -faithful in his obedience to God, to Christ, and his own conscience,-John Fincher has descended to the grave with honour, from which he will arise, to realize the fruits of that faith which here inspired him to seek for true glory, honour, immortality, eternal life. March 5, in her 42nd year, at the house of her brother, the Rev. Joseph Hutton, LL.D., 5, Hamilton Place, King's Cross, MIRA, widow of John Edward BRENAN, M.D., late of Bombay. March 6, at Horsham, Mrs. LUCY CAFFYN, aged 82, much respected by a numerous circle of friends. March 10, at Clifton, near Bristol, in the 80th year of his age, WILLIAM RICHARDS REYNELL, Esq., second son of the late Rev. John Reynell, of Thorverton, Devon. He was descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors, and was the twenty-first in lineal descent from Sir Richard Reynell, Governor of the Castles of Exeter and Launceston, temp. Richard I., 1191. This family, for nearly seven centuries connected with the county of Devon, is still worthily represented by Lieut.General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B.; Mr. Reynell, the subject of this notice, having been the representative of that branch of it which for more than two centuries was settled at Newton-Abbot, Devon.-The Patrician Newspaper, March 14. March 11, aged 25, after a long and painful illness, borne with great fortitude, CAROLINE, eldest daughter of Mr. SAYER, mercer, of Newport, Isle of Wight. March 15, at Geldeston, Norfolk, aged 82, SUSANNA, relict of Benjamin Utting Dowson. March 17, ELIZABETH JANE, the eldest daughter of the late William Stanley Roscoe, Esq., of Liverpool. March 18, aged 76, HANNAH, relict of the late William HAMPSON, Esq., of Dukinfield. By the death of this venerable and excellent lady, one of the very few remaining ties is severed that connect the present with former generations of worshipers at the Old chapel, Dukinfield. For seventy years she was a regular attendant on the services of this place of worship, of which in her youth her uncle, the Rev. William Buckley, was the respected minister. In the three-score years and ten during which a gracious Providence permitted her to frequent the house of prayer which her forefathers had helped to build, and in which two of her ancestors had ministered, she was the witness of great changes. At a period when the Old chapel wanted friends, it is gratefully remembered by those interested in its history, that she aided the judicious and generous exertions of her late excellent husband in sustaining and raising the Dissenting interest in their native village. Her cheerful dwelling for a long series of years offered the attractions of a most friendly but unostentatious hospitality and of intellectual cultivation, and was often the resort of the ministers of the district. In every relation of life, Mrs. Hampson was respected and most estimable. In the domestic relations, she was through life the object of affection and reverence. She was cheered in her decline by the attentions of a wide circle of friends, as well as the devoted attentions of her family. She saw very distinctly the approaches of death, but she met it equally without fear and without presumption, and with habitual humility resigned a well-prepared soul into the hands of her Maker. THE CHRISTIAN REFORMER. No. XVII.] MAY, 1846. [VOL. II. STATE OF RELIGION IN FRANCE.* IN the year 1844, Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, then the Head Master of Harrow, devoted his summer school vacation to a journey in France, for the especial purpose of ascertaining the state of religion there,―education being chiefly considered in its relation to religion, and constituting the smallest portion of the volume. It records his conversations with eminent persons, chiefly of the Roman Catholic or Jesuit party, but including a small proportion of all religious Protestants. The state, or lay, or university party, which is at the same time the popular or national party, he seems to have associated with as little as was compatible with the objects of his journey. We may record to his honour that he has not incurred the reproach cast on so many recent biographers and travellers alike, (among whom his brother High-church clergymen, the Messrs. Wilberforce, have been the chief offenders,) of betraying private confidence and giving publicity to private papers. With great delicacy, he sent over his MSS. for the inspection of the parties whose words are recorded in them; and we have no reason to suppose that any objection would be taken to the publication; for the learned diarist certainly has avoided the common fault of giving himself the best of the argument. Though he went with the acknowledged object of the spy about him, "to discover the nakedness of the land," yet he has made no exposure offensive to the individuals among whom he sojourned. Of both the conflicting bodies in France, the University and the Church, he does not scruple to pronounce emphatically, that they are a "development of anti-christianism in various and contrary forms," filling his mind with the "most awful apprehensions with regard to the explosions which in all human probability will take place in this country in a very brief period of time." But though there is a seeming neutrality in such a declaration, the severe observer is assuredly at a much greater distance from the one body than the other; and we have no doubt that, though by no means betraying any inclination to follow so many of his High-church brethren in going over to the Church of Rome, he generated a kindly feeling towards himself in the clergy by his more decided hostility to their enemies, the partizans of the University. Besides, he added the conciliating quality of a harmless opponent to the honourable character of a faithful witness. As a conscientious record of whatever was brought under the author's notice, this little volume is valuable; and * Diary in France, mainly on Topics concerning Education and the Church. By Christopher Wordsworth, D.D., Canon of St. Peter's, Westminster. Rivingtons. 1845. |