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    March 29, 1851.] ffifte llca&et. 289

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    MISS TALBOT—CONVENT DISCIPLINE. The case...

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    . Protestantism And Popery. The Bill Bro...

    sion , " and to make inquiry into the conduct of ajl Romish ecclesiastics , subject * of the Queen , who have openly aided in the execution of the Papal bull—« And , if the conduct of any of them shall be proved upon such inquiiy to be against the said laws and statutes ( as your humble petitioners believe it will be found ) , that your honourable House will consider the , propriety of proceeding against any such offenders in the way of impeachment before the high court of Parliament . "

    A very large meeting of the inhabitants of the united parishes of St . Andrews , Holborn , and St . George the Martyr , was held in the board-room of the workhouse , Gray ' s-inn-lane , on Monday evening , for the purpose of considering the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill . Mr . Talbot presided . Resolutions were passed , after very decided opposition , asserting the danger which menaces civil and political as well as religious rights in the proceedings of the Pope , and demanding a strong legislative enactment limiting the Catholics to that just equality which was established by the act of 1829 .

    A correspondence has taken place between Sir Benjamin Hall , M . P . for Marylebone , and the Bishop of London , on the subject of the Puseyite practices in the Church of St . Andrew , Wells-street . Sir Benjamin calls upon the bishop to put an end to those practices , or to resign his charge over the diocese that it may be given to one who shall act more energetically in the matter . The Bishop of London declines to reply to the complaints made by Sir Benjamin Hall ; because , as he save , he has publicly called in question his veracity , which Sir Benjamin denies , and , apparently , on good grounds .

    There has just been printed a Parliamentary document containing the copy of a letter from the Lord Bishop of Sydney to Sir C . Fitzroy , the Governor , in relation to the rank or precedence of bishops appointed by the Pope within her Majesty ' s Australian dominions . Sir Robert Inglis obtained the document . On the 22 nd of May last , the Bishop of Sydney addressed the Governor , and concluded as follows : — "The riaht and full power of her Majesty to bestow

    rank and precedence upon any of her subjects , and therefore upon Romish ecclesiastics , regarded as individuals , and not as a class or order of men , cannot be doubted or questioned , if this prerogative be exercised by the customary forms of grants for such purposes ; but the question 1 am compelled to raise is , whether direcions issued not expressly in the name of her Majesty are in force to invest the Pope with the sovereign prerogative of conferring , even virtually , rank and precedence at his own will upon his nominees , and in virtue only of his nomination , within this roalm . "

    At the end of July , the Governor enclosed the letter to Earl Grey , which was received on the 4 th of January . No answer had been returned to the letter or despatch , and both arrived in this country when the agitation against Papal aggression was rife . Intimations have reached us from several quarters that a vigorous effort will be made at the next general meeting of the National Society to weid the committee of all names associated with High Church principles . —Guardian .

    Ihe Christian Times has published a goodly and instructive list of the fruits of Oxford teaching for the last years . These fruits being a string of about one hundred fellows ., professors , and teachers who have journeyed from Oxford to Itome . To each college is assigned its peculiar merits ^ and traced its especial converts to the Pope . At the tiiil of these one hundred ecclcsiactical lenders follow seventeen hundred clergy , holding emoluments and functions in the Church of England , who have disowned the

    royal supremacy , and , in fact , the only basin upon which the Protestant Church rests . . Such being the fruit , it wan time for the crown to examine into the state of tho tree . But , lo ! it is puled round and parked off . The universities arc an imperium in im-> erio t lords of tho national croed , guides of national endencies , education , ritual , and logic . Pour eini-Jent lawyers have declared that tho commission of nquiry issued by the crown " is Jiot , constitutional or "gal , or Much as the university or its members arc ound to obey . "—Daily News .

    A correspondent of the Church and State dazctti nya that tho Reverend A . ( Jhirol ( curate to Mr . Honnett ) with Ins wife and family ; also bin mother , nd Heveinl other pernonH ; and W . FinhiHon , Ksq . author of the pamphlet on the legality of the Papal liernrehy ) , with bis wife ; and also several relatioiiM f tho latter , have joined the Church of koine . A correspondent of the Morn iny Herald wiy . M , 'During the puwt week Dr . I ' UHey , one of the pntronB ¦•'¦ St . Saviour ' w church , Leedw , l » an been on a vital , to

    hat town , with the object of preventing the srcennion f the clergy of St . Saviour ' s to Rome . In thin , iowever , Itu hat ) been uuHuecennful , and Koine- of the lergy , uiid at leant twenty of tho laymen of the hurch are about immediately to go over to the * opiali Church . " A crowded vostry-meoting wiih held at the parish hurch of Leighton Huzzanl , liedH , on ThurH < lay , for . he purpose of levying a church rate to defray the xponaen of proHecuting tho chupelwardeiiH of the utunlota for not collecting the ruteu required for tho

    repairs of the mother church . After a spirited discussion and exposure of the injustice of the proposed rate , it was rejected by an overwhelming majority . The churchwardens demanded a poll , which lasted two days , and terminated in a majority of 245 against the rate .

    March 29, 1851.] Ffifte Llca&Et. 289

    March 29 , 1851 . ] ffifte llca & et . 289

    Miss Talbot—Convent Discipline. The Case...

    MISS TALBOT—CONVENT DISCIPLINE . The case of Miss Augusta Talbot has almost diverted public attention from the Papal Aggression this week . The story of her wrongs , as narrated by the Times and other journals , is well calculated to revive the rather worn-out popular feeling against the abuses of the conventual system . Miss Talbot is the daughter of the late Honourable George Henry Talbot , half-brother of the Earl of Shrewsbury , who , as most of our readers are aware , is a Roman Catholic devotee , but , nevertheless , Premier Earl of England and Hereditary Lord High Steward of Ireland , and patron of seven livings in the Church of England : —

    " By the will of Charles , late Earl of Shrewsbury , two sums of £ 30 , 000 each were given to John Talbot and Augusta Talbot , the two children of the late Honourable George Henry Talbot , half-brother of the present Earl of Shrewsbury , on their attaining the age of twenty-one , or in the case of Miss Talbot upon her marriage . John Talbot was born on the 18 th of February , 1830 , and died on the 23 rd of April , 1843 ; at which time , by a gift of survivorship in the will above-mentioned , Miss Talbot , who was born on the 6 th of Jure , 1831 , became presumptively entitled to the whole £ 60 , 000 and accumulations . The Honourable George Henry Talbot , the father , died on the 11 th of June , 1839 , and his widow remarried on the 9 th of September , 1839 , the Honourable Craven

    Fitzhardinge Berkeley , and died on the 25 tb of April , 1841 . In the year 1839 a suit was instituted for the purpose of carrying into effect the will of the testator , Charles , Earl of Shrewsbury , and Miss Talbot and her brother were made wards of court . In August , 1839 , two petitions were presented to Lord Chancellor Cottenham respecting the custody of the infants , when his lordship directed that they should continue to reside with her mother , Mrs . Berkeley . Upon the death of that lady in April , 1841 , Miss Talbot went to reside with the present Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury , and continued to do so up to the month of September last , with the exception of the period of her education at a convent called « The Lodge , ' at Taunton . "

    Last summer Miss Talbot was introduced to society , and ir said to have produced a great sensation . The Times , in alluding to the twelve weeks she was taken out into the world , after spending ten years in a nunnery , pays , "Upon the particulars of what happened during that period it does not become us to enter , although they are matter of public notoriety . We will simpl y fill up the gap in the story by repeating that the young lady most creditably refused to contract a marriage into which her relatives endeavoured to force her . This refusal on her part , and other considerations on which we cannot

    enter , as they have not been formally before us , appear to have induced Lord and Lad y Shrewsbury to leave the young lady to the care of the two priests—Doyle and Ilendren . " In September , last year , Miss Talbot returned to the convent at Tuunton , and tho general understanding among her frionds was , that she was there aa a postulant , that in September , 18 / 51 , her year of probation would expire , when she was finally to take the vows of a nun , and that her largo fortune would thenceforth cease to be hers , and become the property of the convent . Some of her relatives , alarmed at the prospect of her being thus sacrificed , began to bestir

    themselves with a view to see if she could not be induced to give up the notion of taking the veil . Her step-father , Mr . C F . IJerkeley , also applied to tho Lord Chancellor to exercise his authority , as Mis . Talbot wus a ward in Chancery . Mr . Berkeley urged that the case required immediate interference-, and upon Lord Truro ' s refusal to hear the case , except in open court , the former presented a petition to the Court , complain ing that the friends of Miss Talbot were denied acerHS to her , and that evil influences were at work to induce ; her to become a nun , in order that her fortune may become instrumental in tho propagation of the Horn . in Catholic religion .

    This petition culled forth a letter from Dr . Ilendren , titular Bishop of Clifton , in which he denied that Mihs Talbot was under any undue restraint , and repudiated , on behalf of himself and his fellow Catholics , the insinuation that they bad any siniHter design upon the young lady ' £ 80 , 000 , although he admitted that u poi'ion of it would probably be devoted to pioiiH usen . Previous to Mish Talbot ' s return to " tho Lodge , " last autumn , he bad boon applied to , uh the ecclesiastical superior of tho con - vent , and a . s she could not he received except as a postulant -that is , as one intended to become a nun , in due time , if properly qualified' --she herself wrote " a most eurneHtly-Hupplieating letter " to be admitted as nuoh , anil , " accordingly , nho wiih admitted about the beginning of September . "

    The petition of Mr . Craven Berkeley wan presented on Saturday , and , at tho Maine time , one from Mr . Doyle , a Roman Catholic priest , the testamentary guardian of MinsTnlbot , in which he prayed tin ; court lor a Hcheme of expenditure which may permit her introduction to Luudou lift * during tho coming

    fashionable season . Mr . Bolt appeared for Mr . Doyle , and Mr . Page Wood for Mr . Berkeley . The following report of the proceedings tends to throw some light upon the affair : — " The Lord Chancellor ( Truro ) said that in the autumn of last year , when on a visit to the Earl of Shrewsbury , he had a conversation with Miss Talbot , which proved her to be a very intelligent person . Subsequently he received the information from Mr . Grantley Berkley that she had gone to a convent . A statement had recently appeared that she had done so with his ( the Lord Chancellor ' s ) consent . Now , there was no foundation whatever for that assertion , for he was

    not even aware of such a step having- been taken until informed of the fact . As the matter had now been brought before him , and the parties were in court , the only object that anyone had in view ought to be the interest and comfort of the young lady . He did not think it right to allow the young lady to remain in the convent , and he should therefore order that such an arrangement should be made as would provide for her future safe residence and comfort during the remainder of her minority , for which purpose he should direct a reference to the master to inquire and report what would be requisite for that purpose , and draw out a scheme in accordance . That order might be made at

    once . " Mr . P . Wood was dissatisfied with this course . He wanted the statement in some affidavits which had been prepared to be brought out , and an order for Mr . Berkeley to have private access to Miss Talbot . Mr . Holt hoped the young lady would be first consulted ; she should be in attendance upon his lordship whenever he pleased . Mr . Wood raised the inquiry whether she was really a postulant . The Lord Chancellor replied that her petition distinctly denied that she was a postulant ; from her letter to him , she appeared desirous to come out into society , but she showed a great aversion to private interviews with her step-father . The order of the court had not been fulfilled by the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury in placing their niece in a convent—that was never intended . He ( the Lord Chancellor ) had also had some conversation with her as to a marriage , which seemed an

    undesirable one , and was broken off . She should not be removed from the convent without knowing where she I was going , nor should she be involved in a public contest for the gratification of other par'ies . Mr . Page Wood said , that if the gentleman who styled himself the Bishop of ' Clifion had abstained from publishing letters in the Times , asserting , amongst other thiiigs , that Miss Talbot had been admitted as a postulant , he would have adopted a better and a wiser course than that which he had taken . He could scarcely believe that he was a Christian bishop of any denomination . The Lord Chancellor said that there certainly was a grpat discrr-paiioy betwepn the statements in the petition and that letter . Mr . Page Wood was glad to find , from his lordship '! observations , that Mr . Berkeley ' s had been a brnefiviii interference , his only object having been to prevent thi young lady from being sent to a convent ignorant of all its consequences . " I

    After some discussion between the counsel , it was arranged that the second petition should stand over until Thursday . In consequence of what transpired in the Court of Chancery , on Saturday , a short discussion took place in the House of Commons , on Monday evening , regarding Miss ' 1 albot . The subject was introduced by Mr . Reynolds , who appealed to the report of the proceedings in the Court of Chancery to prove that he had been correct in stating that she was not a postulant . That statement had been contradicted , not in very courteous terms , by Sir Robert Inglis and Sir Henjamin Hall , they would now see that he had been correct . I ft ? was bound to . say ,

    however , that Mr . Craven Berkeley was warranted in what lie . stated , because he had been assured by the superior of the convent that Miss Talbot wa . s a postulant , Jiud , therefore , he only stated what he believed to be true . Sir Benjamin I fall was glad to find that the affair had been ho amicably disposed of . It wan perfectly evident that although one party said one thing and the other quite the reverse , they were both equally in tho right . For his own part he had given credit to the bishop , who said Miss Talbot was a postulant , and he was now sorry at . having done . so . Mr . F ; i » iin said the truth was that Miss Talbot , though not an inmate of the lodge , as a postulant strictly speaking , wa . s ho in one nciine . : —

    " There were but two modes in which a lady could lie received into a convent . One of these , mode * was lo become ii hoarder or school girl , and the other was to become ii potitulunt . Miss Tall > ot . having been previously educated at ( he Lodge , could not bo received us u hoarder . She could only therefore , filter an ii postulant . ; and a . s her uncle was about to leave the country , tiiicl « he had no other relative ( tor a stepfather was no relut ion ) . she did ask to bo received in the only way she could he icocived , as a poMlnhiiit . { Seeing the position which Misn Talbot . held iriHociety , and the enormous fortune alir possessed , although the auihoi ities were nnxioiif * to receive her ,

    they ht'xiUited to do ho . Miss Talhnt wita at length iulmiUcd without ; going through all the usual forms required of a postulant ; and the bishop , to whom allusion vviiw made by Ihe honourable baronet the member for Mai ylelione , with the information that , wan laid before him , wan perfectly justified in Muting that mIio was received uh a postulml ; and Minn Talbot wuu equally . justified , Hccing that tin- principal ceremony was passed over , in writ tug to the Lord Chancellor , and Haying ( but hIic wiih not . a postulant . In point of fact , ulu : went to tho convent , for tho purpose- of making it a temporary reaidenco ; and the fact , uh it now stood , wno , that Dr .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 29, 1851, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29031851/page/5/