At the dissolution of Parliament in 1847, Mr. Sheppard re tired, and the Hon. Col. Boyle came forward on the liberal interest. The town was also canvassed by Mr. Bethell, on the conservative interest, but as he did not proceed to the poll, Col. Boyle was declared member for the borough. Since this period it was generally understood that the conservatives who, it will be remarked, till this election had always returned the member, would, at the next dissolution, make every effort to regain their position; and it was further understood that the choice of the electors was likely to be influenced by the known political predelictions of the noble family which possessed the largest property in the parish, but which, during the last three elections, had been almost lost sight of, in consequence of its being represented by a minor. But the result did not realize these expectations, as Col. Boyle walked over the course without any opposition, except from a protest made on the hustings by a stranger, on a legal question. The secret of this unexpected inactivity on the part of the conservatives is to be found in the appointment of Mr. Bennett to the vicarage. The family likely to feel the deepest interest in the success of a conservative candidate, had lost all its influence amongst its friends in consequence of this appointment. And the electors were so well satisfied with the conduct of their late member in reference to the question brought before the House of Commons by Mr. Horsman, which weighed with them more than any purely political consideration, that they had no desire to disturb him in his seat. "And so it comes to pass that," although Mr. Bennett feels himself to be surrounded in his new parish by admiring friends, and receives an address of confidence in his integrity and truthfulness from 1032 of his parishioners; and though he possesses a churchwarden who can "boldly assert and boldly maintain," in a letter written for the House of Commons, and read there by Mr. Gladstone, that "the appointment of Mr. Bennett was not unacceptable to the body of the parishioners ;" and that, much as they were indebted to a certain noble house, there was no obligation "they more cheerfully recognised or more gratefully appre ciated,"* than the blessing bestowed on them in the nomination of Mr. Bennett; still, at the general election ensuing, not a score of conservative voters in a conservative constituency, could be found to come forward to support a candidate known to have the good-will of this noble house, or make any attempt to send to parliament a member who might be ever ready to rise in defence of their beloved Pastor, and to check the growing Erastianism of the age! Truly man is an inexplicable enigma! 3. The recent history of our National Schools will afford additional testimony to the truth I wish to establish-that Mr. Bennett is not the idolized Vicar he would wish the public to believe. It will further show that from his attempt to monopolize all power in his own hands, he is depriving himself of that share of influence which, even the protesting portion of his parishioners wish to see him exercise in certain places. The original deed of our National Schools, bearing date the 6th of April, 1824, conveyed the premises to certain trustees mentioned by name, "together with the Vicar and resident officiating Clergy for the time being of both the churches in Frome, and the Churchwardens for the time being of the parish of Frome;" with directions that when the number of the trustees should be reduced to one-half, the survivors should elect new trustees to complete their original number, to whom, conjointly with themselves, they might convey the premises. In pursuance of this order, the survivors, in the autumn of 1851, prior to the illness of the late Vicar, proceeded to complete their number. In July last Mr. Bennett and his friends endeavoured to set aside this new trust deed which placed them in a minority, and for this purpose they asserted at a special meeting of the trustees, that certain forms required by the trust deed had been omitted. At the next meeting a gentleman who had obtained evidence that Mr. Bennett had been informed by the proper person that the formality in question had been attended to, expressed his surprise that he could have allowed a statement to be made by his friends which he knew to be incorrect, without setting them right. * Times newspaper, June 9th, 1852. The Vicar, admitting that he might have been informed of the fact, drew a distinction between information and knowledge. "It is very possible," said he, "that I may have been told of what had been done,~a man may be informed of a thing, but he cannot be said to know it, unless he has received it into his intellect." Such a mode of ratiocination was not calculated to increase the confidence of the trustees of these schools in their new Vicar, and they declined to delegate their authority to him by allowing his claim to the sole charge of the spiritual instruction of the children; upon which, finding the majority were against him, he wrote to say that he should "withdraw from all share in the management of the schools." This the committee regretted, as a feeling had long existed that our National Schools, though under the direction of highly respectable masters, at competent salaries, had not progressed in an equal ratio with similar schools in other large towns, and we had hoped that a steady and united co-operation would have produced a better result. They consequently appointed a friend of Mr. Bennett's, with another gentleman, to confer with the Vicar, in the hope of accommodating differences. His friend waited upon him, but he declined to see the other gentleman appointed, referring the trustees to the letter he had previously written. As he thus again finds himself in a minority, report says he is about to build school rooms of his own, over which he can exercise the sole control, and for which, probably, abundant means will be supplied by his distant friends. 4. It may be considered superfluous to adduce any further arguments to prove that Mr. Bennett is not the idolized Vicar his letter to your Lordship would represent; but such reiterated assertions call for accumulated counter evidence. I found it convenient, some years since, to draw out on one table a list of all the contributors to the various charities, spiritual and temporal, within the parish. On now referring to this table, which I have revised, I find that three-fourths of the amount is contributed by those who are opposed to Mr. Bennett, one-fourth only being subscribed by those who still continue to attend his church, some of whom are far from professing themselves his cordial admirers. OPINION OF THE DISSENTERS. If I have thus shown that the Vicar does not possess the confidence of the great body of the Churchmen of the town, far less has he succeeded in conciliating the Dissenters, although he has held out to them the boon of dispensing with church-rates. Whilst I have been writing these pages, he published in his church, on two consecutive Sundays, the banns of a couple who were married some years since in the Wesleyan Chapel, and who have now several children, calling the female by her MAIDEN name. In consequence of this procedure, the following letter, signed by five Dissenting Ministers, was addressed to him. "Frome, November 6, 1852. "Reverend Sir,—In behalf of the Superintendent of the Wesleyan Circuit, and of the Pastors of the Churches meeting in Sheppard's Barton and Zion Chapel, in this town, as well as in my own name, I beg to submit to you the following statement. "We have heard with much surprise that persons acting under your supposed sanction, have repeatedly stated that parties married in the places of worship where we minister, are living in sin. We have not been willing to believe that statements so false and slanderous could be made with your approval. "It is now reported that you are about to re-marry a couple who were married some time since at the Wesleyan Chapel in this town. We think it due both to ourselves and to you, to bring this report under your notice, that you may not perform such marriage without having been made acquainted with it. "I am, Reverend Sir, yours respectfully, "The Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, A. M." "C. J. MIDDLEDITCH." The marriage was not proceeded with, but the complainants were by no means satisfied, as appears by the tenour of a handbill circulated in the town, signed by the same five Dissenting Ministers, which, after recapitulating the facts, concludes thus "Having stated these facts, we call upon— "Members of the Established Church, to join us in repudiating the slanderous reports which charge so many of your neighbours and friends with the sin of fornication: "Those parties who have been married by us, to repel and resent the indignity thus put upon you, firmly, yet with calmness and Christian charity: "Our Fellow-Townsmen at large, to mark your sense of the priestly arrogance of this new act of the strangers among you, whose chief mission seems to be to stir up heart-burning and strife in this our formerly peaceful town. You cannot do this more efficiently than by informing us any fresh instance of these false and calumnious assertions being made." of 66 INCREASE OF COMMUNICANTS. Neither will an increase of Communicants afford much matter of surprise to those who are acquainted with the working of the religious system which Mr. Bennett adopts, in which the externals of religion are advanced to a paramount importance, while the influences of the Holy Spirit are proportionably overlooked; and if the reception of the Holy Communion will convert a nominal Christian into a true believer, it would be hard indeed if so simple a remedy for the Pgovmua σagnos" (Article 9) were not readily tried. Still so large an increase of communicants as ninety, during the first four months of Mr. Bennett's incumbency, requires some explanation, and it will be difficult to find one altogether creditable to his ministry, as we should suppose a Clergyman would be careful not to admit to this solemn ordinance, for the first time, those who were altogether strangers to him, and of whose fitness he could consequently form no opinion. Mr. Bennett "read in" on the 25th January, and did not come to reside till some weeks later, consequently a large proportion of these new communicants, from February to May, if parishioners, must have been strangers to him. That they were communicants from either of the two other churches who had gone over to him, the books of those churches will disprove; nay more, the books of my church will show an equal or rather a greater increase on this head, which is to be accounted for, not by any unusual addition of new |