LETTERS TO THE REV. CHARLES FUSTIAN AN ANGLO-CATHOLIC. (From Blackwoods Magasine)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 373, 10 November 1849, Page 3

LETTERS TO THE REV. CHARLES FUSTIAN AN ANGLO-CATHOLIC. (From Blackwoods Magasine)

You object to being called a Puseyite, or a Tractarian; and aa I believe you never rend any of the Tracts, nor were lucky enough to com prebend any of Dr. Pusev'i writings, you are right to decline the names. But it ii easy to perceive, even from your outward man, i hat sonic great change Imi taken place upon you. It is not for no'hiug that you wear no very tight a neckcloth, and so veiy low collared * coat ; your buttoui also are peculiaily placed, aud there it a solemnity in your manner of refusing an invitation to pot-luck on a Fiiday which is edifying to behold. But nil this mrtly must have a name. You were intended by your father to bo a clergyman of the Church of England — tk 'it worthy gentleman toasted church and king, till a female reign and premonitory symptoms of apoplexy reduced him to silence and water-gruel ; but he is as true a defender of the faith, in hit easy gown and slipperi at ever, and lo«ks with still iacreaiing surprise at the appearance of hit eldest ion, as of(«n as occasional help in your curacy enables you to run home. But don't fancy, for a moment, that I attribute these frequent visits to your regard for the fifth commandment alone .• uo, dear Charles ; for though I grant that you are an excellent son and pr <iseworthy brother, I consider you thine with still greater lustre in the character of a neighbour, especially at Hellebore Park, Gradually I have seen a change almost equal to your own in the seven fair daughter* of that hou*e ; and it is very evident that, with this change, in same way or other, you are very intimately connected. The five daughters of our neighbour m the Lodge are also very different from what they were ; and only Miss Latbpins —who is fifty yean old, nnd believes good works to be such filthy r«gs tint she would be quite ashamed if she were icrn putting half- a-crown into the plate, or sending coal and flannel to the poor, and therefore never docs it— continues the even tenor of her way, and sighs for a gospel ministry to tell her how few will achieve (he kingdom of heaven. Every other house in the parish feels the effects of your visits. We must have a new almanac if you come among us much more ; for the very days of the week are no longer to be recog« niied. Tuesday, iustead of being the lineal descendant of Monday, is now known as the heir presumptive) of Wednesday, and does duty as the eve of something else. The wife of our physician invited us to dinner on the Feast of St. Ollapod, which, after great enquiry, we found meant Monday the 22d. The months will not long esoapi— the weeks are already doomed— and > in « few years, our parUh registers will be as difficult reading as the iiucriptions of Nemroud. Have you taken this result of your crusade againit the High and! Dry into your consideration ? Is it right to leave a worthy man like cur rector— who conducted his little ecclesiastical boat with great [comfort to himself and others, keeping a careful middle channel between the shor.li of Distent and the mudbanks of contented Or. thodoxy— to struggle in his old age against rock* wh'oh you and your female allies have rolled into the water; with fast-days rearing th-ir sharp points where there used to be su'h safe navigation, and stints' days and festivals so blocking up the passage that he can't set hit skiff near enough the shore, to enable him to visit his parishioners when they are auk or hungry ? You would pin the poor old fellow for ever into his pulpit or read-ing-desk, nnd he never would have time to go to the extremity of his parish, which, you remember, is five miles from the church ; and, at the Doctor's rate of riding, occupies him a good part of the day. But perlnps you don't know what occurs as loon a 1 your stay u over, and wa see the skirts of your depart" fog surtout disappear over Hitherstone Hill. Immediately the whole coterie (which in this instance, is an undiluted petticoat«ry) assembles for consultation. Pretty young girls thit would have been engaged ton years ago in the arrangements of a pic-nic, now lay their graceful and busy heads together to effect an alteration in the heigth of the pews. My dew Charles, young ladies are by nature carpenters ; they know all about hinges and pannellingv and glue, by a sort of intuition 5 tnd it is clear to me that, before you return to us again, the backs of the seats will be lowered at least t foot, and I shall have the pleasure of seeing the whole tKtent of Tom Holiday's back, and the undulations of the three MUs Holiday's figures during tho whole of the lesions. The rector can't hold out long— at indeed who could, agninst such petitioners ? And, after all, it is only so much wood ; and his wife who has retained her shape with vory little aid from pad* ding, has no objection to stand up during the psalms, nor any inclination to put her light under a bushel at any time, and some of tho younger people, who have not attained the stature of th Venus de Medici, complain that the present elevation of the backs, if it d oes'nt make dmts in their bonnets, at all ovents cuts them off in the very middle ; and my opposition, lam sorry to say, ever since I fell aglcep at your sermon on the holiness of celibacy, is attributed to interested motives, and therefore you may fairly expect to find our pews reduced to the height and appearance of a row of rabbit-hutches, when you cjme bick. This point they seen to consider already gained, and now they have advanced their parallels aj*iust the Doctor on another side of his defences, The Doctor, even in his youth, can never have run much rilk of being mistaken for Apollo— his nose was probably never of a Grecian pattern, as that ingenious people would certainly have rounded the point with a little more skill, and have placed the nostrils more out of sight. I have heard his front teeth were far from symmetric il, and reminded old Major M'Turk of the charge of Mahratta irregular horse, by which that heroic gentleman lost hit eye ; but as he has got quit of those spirited, though strangling defenders, and supplied their place with a straight-dressed malitia of enamel or bone, which do duty remarkably well, in ■pite of the bright yellow uniform they hive lately assumed, I conclude ho has been a gainer by the exchange. And, on the whole, I hive no doubt, if them are tome handsomer fellows in the Guagfs, and at the universities, there are several much uglier people to be teen in this very parish. It can't, therefore, be for th* express purpose of escaping the sight of his face that they have beguu their operations to force him to turn his back on them daring the prayers. Bat this they are thoroughly resolved in achieving. They have already auce placed the bible surreptitiously on one side of the reading desk, towards the people, leaving tha Prayer-Book on the side towards the south ; tnd as the Doctor, in the surprise $f the moment, began with his face in that direction! his elocution was wasted on the blank wall of the chancel aud the empty pulpit \

a d \eh d the p'easiire f»n uniuleirupted vicwofh • profile, and a Milclioning also of his words which nave. us as complete a silhouette of the prayer as of the rector. When we come to the enjoyment of his full face reversed i find cau leisurely contemplate hia occiput and the nape of his ueck — in which, I am sony to see uumbfi out; so powei fully developed— -we blndl have ihe larther advantage of n it h'>vinij our own meditations in erruptcd by hearing a syllable he says. He TPKi^tf. indeed, at pi emit ; and ev< n told a deputation of ladies that he would consult common sense on the occasion, and lead so th.it the poor folks under the west gnliciy could join in eveiy petition. Miss Aran.inta — your Araminta, ■ Charles— lifud her beautiful eyes to the Doctor in mirpiise, and abktd " if he really prayed to John Smipkins and Peter Bolt, for surely he could pray for them, ami with thana better, wi'h his face to the ultur;" and the Doctor mid something about "girls minding their own business nnd lettviug him tohi->," which would have led to very imihasint consequences if the rest of the ambassadois hid not interfered, and smoothed the laveu down of the Doctor's temper by some judicious deelaiations of respect for his office, and contempt for some unfoituimto evan-gt-licul bicthten ; til! at last the old mvn look Aiaminta by the hand, and told her, wi h great tnith, that she was one of th' 1 nicest girls in the world, and that he would li.le fi.ly mileb at a moment's warning, to save lier an iiiblunl 7 !) diiP.onitoit. So that they retucl for that time, luntinp- that they wcie rather surpiiscd that their lectoi should ha\e ii'ed the mme argument which liad been employed by the Rev. liber t?cr Snnfflj. the low church Vieai of the ndjoimm; villisje. A telling blow, this, Charles, as you are well uw.we ; for I verily believe that the Doctor would soften towanla t'.e Kojan, if liis nvi^hboui made an a 1 tack on Mahommed; j>o I wait the isbuo without much unceitainty as to what it will he. Tor all this I can't help holding you, in a gi eat measure, responsible; for there is no shutting one's eyes to the fact that a decided step in advance ia taken after every one of your runs into our parish. Tfour father, and Major M'Tiunk, and ], sink lower and lower in the estimation of jour followers every day. Instead of the nice little parties we used to have, whore the giil''. ncost of whom we lemember as infants, used to sing 4l Lizzie Lindsay" for the amusement of the old onei, or play migic music, or gaineu of forfeits, to plea c themselves, they now huddle up in a coiner~if, perchance, no eve or fast pi events them from coming out to tea— and hold deep consultations on the state and prospects of the Church. And yet there i 3 samething so innocent nnd pretty in the way they manage their plots, and such a charming feeling of triumph fills their hearts, when they hays. achieved a victoi y OTer the habits and custom*, of the village, thai I hard» ly woudei they never pause in their career, or give ear to the warnings of stupid old people like the trio 1 have named. In the mean time lliey ceitainly have it all their own way.— i« the injunctions they have laid < n the poor people, to turn round at some parts of the service, stand up at o hers, and join in the most wonderful lesponses, in a set key which they call cntoning; and they have toimentrd the bund so much with piactising nnthems, that hall' the population have turned dissenters in self-defunce ; and while the front Beats a c filled with satin bonnets and India shawls, and the lustle of eilks is like the flight of a thousml dovci when the altitude needs to be changed, there isn't a poor person to be 6ccn in the church except John Simpkins and Peter Bolt, and they, I am sorry to say, ate far from being the same quiet humble paupers they vied to be; for our feminine apostles have been telling them of the honour and dignity of the pooi, till there ia no bearing their pride and self-conceit. Sometimes, out of respect to the Doctor and a u Terence for the old diuicli, the grocer, the caiponter, and a few of the shopkccpeis will make their appearance in the afternoon, but they are like children the first time they go to Ast'ey's, and stare with wonder at all the changes they see ; and even our rector himself has become so confuaed, that he doesn't feel altogether Bure that he hasn't turned a dissenter, for the mode, if not of conducting, at least of joining in the service, is something quite different from what he has been Used to. Now dissent, at you know, has been the bugbear of the Do< tor thiuugh life. The vet y name carries with it something inexpressibly dreadful, and among the most ten ifyitig to him of all the forms of dissent was that of Rome. But lately a vast number of blight eyes have lecn lifted to the ceiling, and a great many beautiful lipb opened, and a great many sweet voices raised in oppostion to any hostile allusion to the objects of his ahhouence, " The chuich of Fenelon," says one in a leverentiul tone. '• can surely not be altogether apostate." "Tlieihurch of the two Gregories, the church of A.' Beckett and Duiibtnn, and St. Setianus, St. Junuatius, and the Seven Champions of Christendom, can nevei have I illen away from the faith,'" exclaims Miss Tindriflla Swaiiiiove in a very contemptuous tone, when the Djetor contiusts the q eat and ambitious names of Rome with the humility icquir^d in a Christian pastor. "In short, Dr. Simler, we with to know," she said, not a week ago, when she had gone up to the pursonagc to practise a Gregorian chant on Christina Sinilei's ccnieitina — " we wish to know, Dr. Scniler, whetht r icligion consists in bare plaster walls and a cubgock ?" "Cntuinly not, my dear Tindeiella, but you will ob-erve" — " Oh, we only want an answer to the queetiou," itiid the young lady, intcirupting ; *' for, allow me to tell you, we feel our devotion greatly excited by the noble solemnity of a service decently conducted with albe and chasuble, in a building fitted tor its high destina* lion by the richest combination of architecture and the arts." Tinderclla ia nineteen yenrs of age, and as decide! in her manner i>b a fielJ-inaislial. "May I Hbk, my dear, who the ' we ' are iv whose name you speak ? " inquiied the rector. " Not Mr. Ruggles the giocer, nor Chipper the carpenter, but all who aie qualified by their fortune, and pobition in life, to judge on the subject," wag Tiiulcrcl* la'fitpinted rejoinder. " Really," said the Doctor, •' you young ladies ar very mm h changed trom what you were. Two }ears ago, 1 used to have gieat difficulty in keeping you from bulls and aichcries, and had frequent occasion to lee tuie you for inattention in chuich. What, in the name of wonder, has come over jou all ? " " Do >on fiiul fault with us for having givca up fiivolilies, wnd turned rcv^ient and attentive during the service ? '' i' quired his questioner with a sneer. " l<\ir fr m it, v.\y dear, —very far from it ; but I should like \ery much to know whit is tb<s oMuae of the clang". I tiUbt, my duir Tindtirel'a, it isn't connect* el \uth fie mumaga of Luuteuant Polkcr. with whom ] remember youdancod every n'ght lail wi.iter." "Lieutenant Polkcr," repiud 'JVdiiella, "has xnained a dissetitei, or a person of low church principles, nnd that is as bad, and he has no Inn,' whatever to do with our duty to the Holy Cathol.c Church I ass.^re you, fcir." # " Then it must be that silly, ignorant coxcomb, Ch.tilesFuati'in, my own godson, my favourite from hib youth— an excellent fellow, but a conceited ass-— J wmh he Lad never gone into the diocefie of Vexcr.' 1 Tin, is the lender way in which you are spoken of, my dear Chailes ; and I feel sure you' will appreciate the compliment paid to you '»v »hw Doctort lobing b»» temper, but retain^ h s aff-^twa.

Tlieie was a blush on Tindciclla'* check us she entered into a di fence ol •' tlie Reverend t buries Fustian, a piiest of our Chinch ; " and she almost curtned in reverence for your name and office ; and I advise Ara« minta to keep watch over her friend's proceedings, for i don't think Titidciclla so deeply a't'iched to the docttine of celibacy as 6ho pretends. And I take this oppor 1 unity also, n>y dear Charles, to till you that I shall keep watch over tou ; and if I find you casting your smiles at Tindereila, and holding lur by the hand, and recom mending her to enter into the niivileges of confession, in the summer house in her futhei's gaulai— ami holding forth all the time on the blessings of a conventual life and penance, and l<air shirto and a cat-o-nine-tails— -I shull be greatly inclined to recur to the discipline that used to improve your manners greitly when you were a little boy, and use the scour»e with rnoie effct than when you apply it to your shotildeib with your own hand. The Doctor h/is just been here, and as I know you will be r juiced to hear the news his gave me, I will tiunsmit, 11 to you at once. "Buddie/ 1 he suid tome, " you have pei haps 6cen how vainly 1 have tried to resist the p.irish, at least the young ladies of the parish; for lam son 1 ) to say, that with the exception of yourself and two or three others of the seniors, the patish has leit me to fight the battle alone.,* "My dear Smiler," I replied, "what can we do? Surely, if we ll*> quiet on our oats, thu fancy for that •>oil ol thing will go olF." " Not at all; as they got older it will get worse. Theieis some hope for them wht-n they aie veiy young, but in a few years theie is no chance of escaping a universal pissing over to the Pope; and between i oursel/is,' I—and1 — and heie the Doctor looked at the door, at if he wished to bolt it with a twist of his eye — '» I am in great anxiety of mind lest they cany me with them. Yes, my good Buddle.it would nut buipii^e me if I awoke sonic morning and found myself a monk.*' '• How ? Haven't y<>u signed the articles and repeated the creed, and the oath of abjuration, and all that ? " '• That is no defence. Iliosa gii Is go to work so scientifically, carrying one object first, and then another; a"d they aie so good and active, and amiable, and useful in the parish, and so clever, and defer so lespectful.y to my judgment in all things, that I find tin re U not an alti ration which has taken pluce in the parish that I diet not at first oppose, and end in a veiy bhort time, by ordering on my own authority. Yes, my dear fumd, I feel that, it not supportid by some person of uncompromising church principles, I shall probably find myself eating fish on Fiidays and i.dministeriu^ castig.ition to niyscli in my old age, and 'isiening to young ladie&' confessions, and flogging Arnmir.ta or linderella in atonement ior their taßting a mutton chop on a fast day.', " It would do them both a great dral of good. 1 ' " No doubt of it, my dear iiuddle; and if they were five or six years younger, such things would be soon rut out of their heads." A>id heie he clenched his hand on hit riding switch, and looked like ilie picture of Doctor Busby, "But, as it is, I think 1 have stolen a march on them. Look ut that." So saying, he p inted to an udvertis ment in the Rccoid newspaper, which stated "that a curate was wanted for a country parish ; he mu3t be under thirty, an eloquent preacher and nader j a .d, finally, that no Tractarian need apply." "And he's coning, sir; the Reverend Algernon Sidney Mount liaxtuble ; a man of good iamily, toleiable fortune, and highly oithodox principles, is coming ! 1 expect him next week, and as he is only eight and twenty and umnairied, 1 think he will be »n excellent assistant in repelling these attacks on our admirable Establishment." So, with this piece of information, my dear Charles, 1 conclude, as 1 am anxious to go through the houses in the village, and see ihe effect of the announcement on the charming little army which Major M'Turk iirereiently calls St. Ursula's dragoons. Yours, &c, T. Buddle.