THE BISHOP OF LONDONwished to put a question to the noble Earl (Earl Granville) with regard to any orders which might have been given by the Government for the preservation of the peace in the parish church of St. George's-in-the-East. His attention had that day been drawn to the fact of a serious riot, threatening danger to property, having taken place in that church last evening; and it must be obvious that it was very desirable that all persons who were likely to take part in such disturbances should be made exactly aware of the steps that were to be taken by the Government to bring the offenders to justice. Whilst the present state of things continued it was almost impossible for the clergy, or for the ecclesiastical authorities generally, to take any steps on their part:—for until the majesty of the law had been vindicated it would seem to be impossible to 256 make any change in the services, even those which were desirable, because, of course, it was not desirable that that which was right in itself should be conceded to violence and to riotous, disorderly clamour. He was bound to say that as the matter then stood nothing could be more unsatisfactory. Some changes had been introduced into the manner of performing service at that church, but they had not as yet met the wishes of the people, who had chosen the present mode of expressing their disapproval of the manner in which the services were performed. It was impossible that anything further could be done while these disorders and riots disgraced the parish night after night. It would be satisfactory, therefore, if the noble Earl could state that the police had received orders to put a stop to these disorderly proceedings. He was bound to say that nothing could exceed the kindness and courtesy with which the authorities at the Home Office had gone into the matter hitherto. Steps had been taken, which it was hoped would have put an end to these disgraceful scenes; but after a time the Home Secretary communicated to him that it was not thought expedient that the presence of the police in a parish church should be continued. It seemed, however, that the right hon. Gentleman's anticipations of peace had not been realized; and it would be satisfactory to know, therefore, what steps he now proposed to take in the matter. He believed that an idea existed that it would be easy to put a stop to these disturbances by refusing admission to any but parishioners into the parish church; but it was very doubtful whether that would be a legal course. He was afraid, also, that if none but parishioners were admitted, many persons would be excluded who were at present desirous of preserving order there; and from all that he could gather many of those who had caused disturbance were themselves residents in the immediate locality of the church. He did not wish to express any opinion as to the original cause of these discontents. That seemed to him to have nothing to do with the present question. The question was simply this—whether disturbances could be allowed to take place in a parish church which would not be tolerated in any other place of worship in the kingdom; and he now earnestly put it to the noble Earl to consider carefully whether such slops could not be taken as would quell those riots for the future. The experience of past times taught that these things were contagious, and the foolish zeal 257 of uninstructed persons, if unrestrained, might lead to the destruction of property, and to the greatest injury not only to religion hut even to the civil welfare of society.
§ EARL GRANVILLEI am not surprised that the right rev. Prelate should address me a question upon a subject so interesting to him and to the public. Your Lordships will all agree that the events which have occurred in this church are a very great scandal. As far as my opinion goes, I must say that I think that the present state of things is not creditable to any of the parties concerned. I am, however, hardly in a position to give an exact answer to the right rev. Prelate, as I have not yet seen the police report of these occurrences made to the Home Office, and only know the facts as they are stated in the morning papers. It may, however, be satisfactory if I state what has been the course of the Government up to the present time in relation to these matters. When these disturbances first occurred, there was a difficulty in ascertaining the law by which magistrates could punish offenders in such cases, and it was found that the only Act giving such power was one of Philip and Mary, respecting which a question arose whether it applied to Protestant churches, it having been originally passed with a view to Catholic churches. It was held that the law applied in the present instance; but there were still difficulties in carrying it into effect. Several parties were brought before the magistrates upon summons; but in a short time the disturbances rose to such a pitch, that a large body of police were ordered to occupy the church; and that state of things lasted for several Sundays. At the end of the year, it having been represented to the Home Secretary that great inconvenience had been experienced from having so large a number of police engaged in that special duty—and it is obvious that it is impossible to maintain as a permanent institution and establishment a large number of policemen in a church for the suppression of such disturbances—and they were accordingly withdrawn. It was thought that during that time there had been ample opportunity for the clergy to make such alterations in the service as would meet the wishes of the congregation, and, on the other hand, for the congregation to cool down in their feelings towards the clergy. Yesterday's proceedings, however, show that that has not been the case. But 258 although the police were not in the church on that occasion, there was a sufficient force in the neighbourhood to clear the church, and to maintain the public peace, and it was by their intervention that the disturbance yesterday was quelled. I am not able to state what particular steps will be taken in future, but I fully admit that it is the bounden duty of the police to preserve the public peace in that parish as elsewhere.