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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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such appointment . However , od the 13 th of March , 1828 , a church meeting was held , at which it was resolved to invite Clark to preach at the chapel for three months , as a probationer to be co-pas tor with Porter . Clark came accordingly , and at the end of that period was elected joint minister with Porter . To this election Porter refused to consent , alleging that the congregation had not the power to appoint a co-pastor without
such consent ; further disputes and differences were the consequences of this refusal , and eventually , on the 6 th of November , 1828 , a church meeting was held , at which it was resolved that Porter should be no longer pastor , and that the defendant Clark should , from that time , be sole pastor ; aud on the following Sunday Porter was forcibly prevented from entering the pulpit , and Clark , the defendant , took possession of it .
* ' There was no endowment for the minister , nor any trust property , except the chapel and premises , nor was the minister paid by the pew-rents , but solely by the voluntary contributions of persons attending the chapel . ' The bill was filed by Porter , by the trustees of the chapel , and by two of the members of the congregation , on behalf
of themselves and all the other members , except such as were made defendants , against Clark and nine of the members , by whose orders Porter had been forcibly expelled . It prayed that the trusts upou which the premises were held might be ascertained and declared , and carried into execution , by and under the direction and decree of the court , so far as
it might be deemed proper or necessary ; and that a sufficient number of proper persons might be appointed new trustees , in the room of such as were dead , or desirous of being released from the burden of their trust ; and that it might he declared that Porter was the lawful pastor and minister of the chapel and congregation , aud that he might be quieted in the possession of such rights as appertained to him in that capacity ; and
also , that the defendant Clark might be restrained by the injunction of the court from performing the duty of pastor or minister of the chapel and congregation , or officiating or performing divine worship in the chapel , that he and the defendants might be restrained , in like manner , from impeding , or in any manner interfering with Porter in the exercise of his duties as pastor and minister thereof . " A motion was now made for an injunction in the terms ot the prayer . In
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support of the motion numerous affidavits , made by Dissenting ministers of this denomination , were read , who all agreed , that when a minister has been duly elected to be pastor of a congregation , and has been ordained according to the form usual amongst them , he held this office until he thinks fit to decline it ; and that no person , or body of persons , has power to remove him , or to appoint a co-pastor with him , without his conseut .
" The yice-Chancellor said , that he had looked into the deed creating the trust , and that he could find no directions as to the mode of electing ministers , or as to the duration of their office , when elected ; neither could he find that there was any provision made for the minister by the trust deed ; but that he was dependent entirely on the voluntary contributions of the members of the
congregation : and he , therefore , could not see that the plaintiff , Porter , had made any case for the interference of the court . " His Honour added , that independently of the want of jurisdiction , he was of opinion that it was very reasonable that a minister who depended entirely upon voluntary contributions , should be dismissible at will by the persons so voluntarily contributing . "
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Complaint from the Pulpit against the Oxford University . On Sunday se ' nnight , the Rev . Mr . Bulteel , late Fellow of Exeter College , and Curate of St . Ebbe ' s parish , hi Ox ford , preached before the University , and a very numerous congregation , at St . Mary ' s . The subject was from 1 Cor . xi . 12 . In the course of his discourse
he launched out against all the Doctors , both the Proctors , the Heads , and Governors of Colleges and Halls , and their respective societies . " None were spared , and unceremonious epithets were applied to the Fellows and Tutors . They were charged with want of due discrimination iu giving out testimomums for holy orders . The drunken and the wicked ,
he said , too often obtained them , while the pious and the moral were frequently refused . He pointed out the necessity ot reform in the Church , and spoke of other University matters in the strongest language of censure . Never was curiosity more excited , or St . Mary ' s Church so full . After the sermon the High street was nearly as full as it was when the King was proclaimed . The sermon has since been printed , and iu the short space
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Intelligence . — Complaint against the Oxford University . 285
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1831, page 285, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2596/page/69/
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