JB/109/146/001

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1820 May 13
Collectanea

Morn. Chron. May 13
"Diocese of Exeter. Athanasian Creed.

"Lord Holland rose to present a Petition from the Revd.
"Pike Jones, Curate of North Bovey, in Devonshire, to which his
"Lordship said, he thought it necessary to call the attention
"of the House, by some preliminary observations. He thought it
"first necessary to call the attention of the House, by the preliminary
"observation He thought it first necessary to account
"for the delay which had taken place in presenting the Petition,
"the transactions to which it referred having taken
place last September. The fact was, that the Petition
was handed in November last to a Noble Friend friend
of his, whose distinguished eloquence would have done justice
to, as his evident zeal for liberty would have led him
warmly to espouse the cause of the Petitioner – he meant
the Earl Grey. Various circumstances, however, together
with the unfortunate indisposition of that Noble Earl,
prevented him from presenting it previous to the adjournment
of Parliament, and afterwards when the Petition
was handed to him (Lord Holland) he thought it most
expedient to refrain from presenting it during the short
interval previous to the dissolution of the last Parliament.
His Lordship then entered into a narration of the
case of the Petitioner, which want of room compels us to
give as briefly as possible. A county meeting having been
held in Devonshire respecting the claims of the Roman
Catholics, the Petitioner attended it and spoke in favour
of making concessions to that body. Shortly afterwards
the Petitioner was presented to two livings, one in the
Diocese of Peterborough and the other in that of Lincoln –
in order to be instituted to which, it was necessary, according
to the custom, for him to obtain testimonials
as to his character, moral conduct, &c. from three
Clergymen who knew him, and to have those testimonials
countersigned by the Bishop of the diocese
in which he resided. The Petitioner procured testimonials
of a perfectly satisfactory nature from clergymen
in his neighbourhood, but on handing those testimonials
to the Bishop of Exeter, who admitted the
latter refused to countersign them. Application was
made to the Bishops of Peterborough and Lincoln,
but they both refused to institute the Petitioner to
the livings alluded to, unless his testimonials were
countersigned by the Bishop of Exeter. The Petitioner then
obtained a personal interview of the Bishop of Exeter, who
admitted his fitness both on the ground of moral character
and learning, but still refused to countersign his
testimonials; the Reverend and Learned Prelate stated that
he was not bound to assign a reason for his refusal,
but in candour and fairness he did, and the reason was,
that the Petitioner had said at the County Meeting, that
9-10ths of the clergy of England subscribed the 159 Articles
without

Identifier: | JB/109/146/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 109.
Date_1	1820-05-13	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	109	Main Headings
Folio number	146	Info in main headings field	Collectanea
Image	001	Titles	Morn. Chron. May 13 / Diocese of Exeter / Athanasian Creed
Category	Collectanea	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	C1
Penner		Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public	[[notes_public::"JC to RD Go on copying this debate till you come to the word adjourned, which is just at the top of the 2d column on the 3d side of the paper" [note in Coll's hand]]]	ID Number	35801
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