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562 Cft* &*aSr*t* [Saturday,
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GARDENERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. Mr. P...
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11ELIGIOUS FllKEDOM IN NORWICH, WIIITEII...
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SIB JOHN FRANKLIN. It seems now certain ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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562 Cft* &*Asr*T* [Saturday,
562 Cft * &* aSr * t * [ Saturday ,
Gardeners' Benevolent Institution. Mr. P...
GARDENERS' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION . Mr . Paxton presided on Monday over the annual festival of the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution , held at the London Coffee-house . The literary men carried away ail the oratorical honours . Douglas Jerrold proposed the health of the Duke of Devonshire , the president of the institution ; and the Chairman proposed " Success to the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution , and long may it prosper . " He
said" Up to the close of the seventeenth century , indeed from the time of Trajan to that of George the Second , there had been little or no alteration in gardening . That which was called in this country Dutch and French gardening , was in fact nothing but that which existed in Pliny ' s Etruscan villa . He had been through Greece and Italy , and in no way could he find any traces of ancient gardening , except at that villa—and there he saw clearly that there had been no improvement in gardening from that time to that of George the Second . When , however , this country began to extend her colonial possessions , and her commerce advanced , so did her gardening—as her merchants and her nurserymen brought at a large expense new plants to this country from every portion of the world . "
The distress of the gardening fraternity led him to another theme—the institution and its objects : — " A number of nurserymen and gardeners met together in 1838 , and formed the association , by which gardeners and their widows might be relieved should they fall into distress . The subscription was £ 1 Is . per annum , or £ 10 108 . for life , and he cordially recommended all young gardeners before they took upon themselves any heavy responsibilities—( laughter )—to pay the first £ 10 10 s . they could spare to this institution . When this society was established , in 1838 , its income only amounted to £ 50 . This gradually increased , until 1842 , when their annual income amounted to £ 100 , and they had funded property
of £ 200 , and they paid £ 60 to four aged gardeners . In 1843 their annual subscriptions amounted to £ 271 ; in 1844 to £ 342 ; in 1845 to £ 414 ; in 1846 to £ 445 ; in 1847 to £ 502 ; in 1849 to £ 552 ; and in 1850 to £ 542 ; while their funded property had amounted to £ 2500 , and they now had thirty-five pensioners on their funds . { Cheers . ) When their society was first formed , the members were confined almost wholly to gardeners and nurserymen in the neighbourhood , of London , but now he was happy they were extended all over the country , even to Ireland and Scotland—and he trusted ere long that there would not be a gardener in the kingdom who did not belong to it . { Cheers . )"
Mr . Charles Dickens proposed the health of the Chairman . He could assure them that when he entered that room he had no idea of addressing them , but a member of the committee had asked him to propose this toast in a manner which evinced that he thought lie required no forcing—( laughter }—and that he only required to be planted in that soil to flower immediately . ( Laughter . } In all ages , gardening had formed the great delight of human beings—and if there were a few persons , and . there were such who took no delight in the products of
gardening , except it was London Pride—( laughter )—and a certain degenerate species of stocks which grew about the neighbourhood of that hou 6 e—( laughter )—he could only regard them as frozen out gardeners , whom no thaw would ever benefit . ( Laughter . ) He had now to propose to them the health of a gentleman who was both a great gardener and a great man—( cheers )—who by his Saxon determination , energy , and talent had raised a monument in the Crystal Palace to his name , which would exist and be admired when all then present were rotting in the dust . ( Cheers ) Mr . Paxton duly returned thanks .
A paper was read by Dr . Ilanmill of St . Petersburgh , showing that John Tradescant , who nourished in the time of Charles I ., and who had generally been regarded as r . Dutchman , was a native of this country ; that he was really the founder of the first museum of natural history—the Ashmolean at Oxford—the materials for that Museum having been left by Tradescant to Ashmole , who removed them from Lambeth to Oxford .
11eligious Fllkedom In Norwich, Wiiiteii...
11 ELIGIOUS FllKEDOM IN NORWICH , WIIITEIIAVKN , AND LINCOLN . The feeling of Christian fellowship which prompted the Bishop of London to offer the use of non-parochial churches to foreign Protestant ministers was restricted by the Act of Conformity ; a nimilar feeling , which prompted Mr . JJlnnd to preach in the Octagon Independe nt Chapel at Norwich , has produced a controversy and a turtnoil , and has finally resulted in hia resignation . Among the many lottern which have appeared on the subject i « one from Mr . J . Crompton , the minister of the Octagon Chapel : — " The chapel is one of the old * English Presbyterian ' foundations , rebuilt und opened by the celebrated Dr . Taylor , on the principle * * of unfettered freedom in Christian worship , which have long characterized that body .
" In the opening sermon he lines these emphatic \ vordn : ' Kpiscopalianu , Presbyterians , inricpcndcntH , jliintistfl , CalviiUNts , ArminiaiiH , Arians , TrinitariaiiH , and others , are names of religious distinctions . Hut , however , we niiiy he commonly ranked under any of these divisions , we reject them all . We disown all connection , excepting that of love and goodwill , with any nect or party whatsoever . Wo arc Christians , and only Christians . From the Churoh of Mngiand we do , indeed , dinscnt , but not hh enemies seeking her destruction , but as real friends wiuhing her moist perfect cstubliahment a * id prosperity- *
" Standing upon the same ground , and holding the same catholic principles , I welcomed into my pulpit a clergyman whom I found willing to show his Christian charity to Mb fellow-Christians of another communion . I did so , not because I thought him a heretic or unfaithful to his Church , but because I believed him a sound Churchman and orthodox in sentiments , but charitable therewith , and of wide sympathies . Had he been a heretic , or betrayed himself a dissenter in heart while living in the Church , I should not have shared in an act which would in such case have been equally dishonest in both of us . But recognising in him one of a large and increasing class , both in and out of the Church , who , though attached to their principles , are charitable m faith , and do not confound ' unity' with ' uniformity , I invited him , and he accepted it without compromise to his own sentiments as a Churchman , while with great obedience to the law of unity of spirit in the bond of
peace . " I can fully agree with Canon Sedgwick ' s picture of the alarm of certain stanch Churchmen and stanch Unitarians of the dogmatic schools of those parties , at the audacity' of the act . But ' audacity' in charity is a new heresy , and not one that has much troubled the Church since the time Paul preached to the Gentiles ; nor , I fear , is it likely to trouble any Church for some time to come . " There has been room found in the Church of England for semi-Popery—for Popery nearly complete—for bigotry of the so-called ' evangelical order' ; there may be foxhunting , stupidity , laziness , and dulness among the clergy ; is there no room for charity and bold defiance of
the schismatic spirit of the age ? Canon Sedgwick says that' high legal authorities ' do not know how to deal with the case . Every Christian spirit will rejoice that a penalty cannot easily be found against charity , and long may it be before the ' M . A . ' s ' of the church move the Parliament for a bill against ' ecclesiastical charity assumption' to repel the invasion of goodwill unauthorised by the customs of the clergy of this age . Mr . Bland is , however , not quite alone . A bishop now on the bench did , some few years ago , perform the ceremony of confirmation to the youth of Geneva , in the cathedral where Calvin once thundered , at the request of the head of the College of Geneva , an avowed Unitarian ! Mr . Bland haa only done at home what a bishop would only do where English theologies and ecclesiastical fetters did not stand in She way of his Christian spirit . Canon Sedgwick says
there is no word of Unitaf ianism in Mr . Bland ' s sermon , nor is there any * ism , ' but much Christianity , and still more in the spirit that prompted the act ; and this was what I desired and expected . Belonging to no party or sect whatever , I preach in the Octagon , because I am there free to preach , the whole Gospel ; and whenever the Canon or any of his brethren will preach Christianity on the same broad basis of the Apostle ' s Creed on which we all stand , and with which Mr . Bland ' s sermon is in full accord , my pulpit is open to him , as I believe will be all the pulpits of those ancient chapels . I regret Mr . Bland's resignation , though appreciating his motives , as I never desired he should be compromised in his relations to the Church , to which his attachment is singularly strong . He has gone out of his way to seek peace with men , like ' M . A ., ' as insignificant as they are ignorant , and as contemptible as abusive .
" If it is found , hereafter , that there are laws against such acts as Mr . Bland ' s , it will only be one more proof that English theology and English , churches arc preventing the progress of English religion , and be one more item in the growing evidence of the necessity for a thorough reform of the ecclesiastical system of the Church by the repeal of that catise of schism and bitterness , the Act of Uniformity . " The Magistrates of Whitehaven have had a case before them , in which Mr . Charles Flinn . Was charged with assaulting Mr . Ilugan ( by religious profession a Unitarian ) , while delivering a lecture at the end of the Bulwark , a place usually devoted to open-air preaching . Two witnesses proved the serious assault on Mr . Ilugan ; but the magistrates dismissed the case , on the ground that the address of the lecturer , which was on Progression , was inciting a , breach of
the peace , borne expressions relative to the divinity of Christ formed the offence which the worthy magistrates pronounced ' highly culpable conduct . The Whitehaven Herald informs us that the llev . F . W . Wicks was upon the bench when this disreputable decision was given . Thus it appears that Mr . Flinn has these magistrates' approbation to play the ruffian whenever a Unitarian Bhall displease him touching the divinity of Christ . Mr . John Norton of Lincoln refused to pay a church rate and costs , amounting to £ 2 11 s . /> . ] d ., and , in consequence , a warrant of distress was issued against his goods . The constable employed to perpetrate the distraint seized goods to the amount of £ f > 18 s . at the least , and an action waft brought by Mr . Norton , in the County Court , to recover j £ 8 as damages and compensation lor the excessive seizure .
Mr . Toynheo , solicitor , of Lincoln , appealed for Mr . Norton , and made an admirable statcmentof this cjwe of oppression : —¦• " It might possibly suggest itself to the minds of the jury that the readiest way to got rid of the difficulty would have been to have paid the rale , ratherthtm have incurred the expenses of resisting the demand ; hut Mr . Norton , holding different religious 1 . enein to those of the church , and considering that a vicious principle ought to be opposed in its small application as well as more largely , and that each form of religion should ho supported voluntarily by those who espoused that particular form , regiuted the rate : he contended that money uhould not bo wrung forcibly from thoao who disHented from the Churoh of England , whigk , was richly endowed , and had largo
territorial possessions : he therefore refused to pay . The magistrates had jurisdiction in the matter , and they made an order for the payment of the rate . Mr . Norton , not disputing the legality of the rate , did not appear before the magistrates , and an order was made that the rate was to be paid within seven days , or Mr . Norton's goods would be distrained upon ; and supposing the goods were nor sufficient to satisfy the demand , Mr . Norton would be sent to Falkingham House of Correction for five days . ( Laughter . ) Fortunately for Mr . Norton , he had goods enough to satisfy the demand , and the rectory of Washingboro ' , which was endowed to the extent of £ 2000 a-year , took not only the Is . 4 Jd . and costs said to be due , but the overplus which the plaintiff now claimed . The rate and costs were , up to the time of the seizure , 15 s . 4 itL , and that sum Mr . Norton
admitted to be due according to law . The duty of the constable ( Parkinson ) was simply to seize goods sufficient to pay the rate andreasonable expenses ; but the expense of the seizure was £ 1 15 s . lid ., making the total £ 2 Us . 3 jd . The constable went to the backdoor , and told Mrs . Norton that he had come to distrain , not for 15 s . 4 £ d ., but for £ 5 ! Mrs . Norton immediately said , ' Do your duty , ' and the constable looked round the kitchen , and , not content with the good eight-day clock , kitchen furniture , and clothes hanging before the fire , viewed them with an air of contempt , as unsuited to meet the huge demand , and walked into the dining-room : there he took a 6 urvey of the contents , as if he had received special instructions from some one who was going : to furnish a house , and appropriated six dining-room chairs , which had cost Mr . Norton 16 s . or 18 s . each . One would
have thought these were quite enough ; but no , for after taking these , the officer required time to consider ( he was two hours in making the seizure ); he next walked up stairs , without making any inquiry as to whether any one was sick , and brought down three blankets . He then leisurely surveyed the other rooms , and finding nothing to his mind , or probably that his instructions had occasion for , he took two more blankets and a feather bed . He afterwards went into the cellar , but Mr . Norton being a teetotaller—{ laughter )—he walked up stairs again , and took a counterpane : with these goods he took himself off . Mr . Murr , who was called in by the constable to appraise the goods , estimated their value ( admitting that he put the lowest possible price upon them ) at £ 6 18 s . ; but their real value was between £ 10 and £ 12 . The law
was very clear as to what constituted excessive distress . According to the constable ' s own account , after the goods were sold , there was a balance of £ 1 17 s . 5 jd . to hand over to Mr . Norton , so that he admitted he had distrained for twice as much as was necessary . Mr . Norton was charged 3 s . for levying the distress , and 2 s . 6 d . a day for nine days for taking care of the goods . " The facts contained in this statement were not controverted by any evidence , nor could the arguments of the opposing advocate throw any doubt upon them . The jury accordingly found a verdict for Mr . Norton , awarded to him . damages £ 3 14 s ., and Parkinson was ordered by the judge to pay forthwith .
Sib John Franklin. It Seems Now Certain ...
SIB JOHN FRANKLIN . It seems now certain that traces of Sir John Franklin ' s expedition were seen in September , 1848 , by the Prince of Wales whaler ; the report to that effect having been confirmed by a circumstantial narrative of the discovery by one of the crew named William Millar . He states that he was on board the Prince of Wales in 1848 , when , early in September , during very thick weather , they entered ( as they believed ) Lancaster Sound , and steered west , advancing slowly . The fog continued very heavy for some days , when it suddenly lifted , and high land was seen on
the larboard side , over the mast head . The captain , being at first doubtful if it were the loom of icebergs or of land , sent a boat off to ascertain the fact , and of this party William Millar formed one . On landing , the marks of shoe prints were distinctly visible in the mud , above high-water mark ; close by a small cooking place blackened by fire , and a little further on a well-built cairn about four or five feet high , of which the party pulled away a few stones , but being recalled by a signal from the ship , which was being driven in shore by the current , were compelled to return on board immediately . After sailing a little farther the master of the Prince of Wales found tluit
it was Jones ' s Sound in which he was , a passage leading directly into the eea north of the Parry Islands . As regards the cairn , there seems no doubt that it was erected b y some of Sir John Franklin ' s party , and that , in all probability , information , of his route will be ibund beneath it . " As to the period of the visit , " Bays the Morning Chronicle , " we may assume either of two conclusions ; first , that during the detention of the vessels off Cape ltilcy ( evidenced l > y the relics brought home last autumn by the Prince Albert ) a boat party was seat to explore Wellington Channel , and thus would arrive at the point in l it would
question , ying , as appear , at the north-east extremity of that channel , this supposition not impugning our belief that Sir John Franklin was then on hin way to the south-west , according to the first part of his instructions . Secondly , we may suppose that having failed in attempting to proceed in the south-went direction , Sir John Franklin hud attempted the northwesterly , prescribed to him as the alternative , and had gone up Wellington Channel , with the view of panning westward , leaving notice of his intention at the point in question . The latter supposition given a mine recent date to the shoe-prints , though wo are onaured by Arctic travellers that aiiuilar marks Cttduro with distiuctuefcu during successive seasons .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 14, 1851, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14061851/page/4/
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