Towards the latter end of the year 1793, two new batteries were commenced for the defence of the town; one on the West Cliff, which mounted eight 36-pounders, and the other on the East Cliff, which mounted four of the same weight. The guns of these batteries were of French casting, ship guns, taken from the French fleet captured by Lord Howe, in his memorable victory of the 1st of June, 1794. The latter of these batteries was at the bottom of the Marine Parade, opposite the south-end of German Place; but after being in position about ten years,—as the explosions of the guns and the encroachments of the sea had made the walls dangerous,—it was removed. The west battery was opposite Artillery Place. The Sea Fencibles, volunteers, during the war with France used to practice at this battery. They were accustomed, also, to exercise with boarding-pikes, in Belle-vue field, now Regency Square. Colonel Moore’s volunteers went through their initiation drill, with faggot-sticks, on the ground behind the battery house, Artillery Place. Colonel Moore resided on the Old Steine, in the mansion which was afterwards occupied by Lady Ann Murray, and then by Mr Harrington, (Squire Harrington, as he was usually spoken of,) now the residence of Captain Thellusson. This noble structure was erected by the Right Honourable W. G. Hamilton, Esq., formerly M.P. for Haslemere. According to a manuscript diary in possession of the compiler of this history: “On the 17th of August, 1805, soon after 12 o’clock, a shot was discharged from this battery by the Sea Fencibles, at a cask moored purposely in the offing, and it fell very close to the object: a second shot was also fired, of 42 pounds weight, merely to ascertain to what a distance the gun would throw it. From the time of the explosion until it struck the water, there was a lapse of 27 seconds; the ball consequently, ere it was received by the liquid clement, must have traversed to a distance of three miles. The weight of the cartridge used was 14 pounds.” Also, June 13th, 1807: “The Volunteers this morning, for the first time this year, were practised at the Fort, in discharging the forty-two-pounders at a cask, moored, and floating on the water, at about three quarters of a league distant from the shore. Twelve rounds were fired; and though some of the balls immediately struck the object, they generally dropped so close to it, that a moderate sized fishing-boat would scarcely have escaped being injured by either of them. Many elegant spectators were on the Cliff during the exercise.” The west battery was removed in 1859. A flagstaff within a railed space, marks its last site; as, twice after its original construction, it was removed with the sanction of Government, to admit of widening the King’s Road at that spot, to accommodate the increased traffic. The battery house and the other buildings in connexion with the Battery, were disposed of by auction by Mr. P. R. Wilkinson, on Monday, September 9th, 1861, and by the 28th of that month the space was entirely cleared for the erection of an hotel, Government having disposed of the ground to the Brighton Hotel Company. The remnant of the battery platform, marked by the flagstaff, belongs to the town, the Corporation having purchased it of Government to prevent any other purchaser placing buildings upon it. Brighton thus, wholly depends upon such means of defence as the emergency of the occasion may require to be brought into operation, by means of the railway, the facility of transit offering the full assurance that every materiel would be at hand for the ready service of our Volunteers, should an enemy have the temerity to invade our shores and put to the proof every Englishman’s motto, “Pro aris et focis.”
Brighton has not had merely to defend itself against the aggressions of foreign invaders, but the encroachment of the sea at various times has checked its prosperity. Between 1260 and 1340, upwards of 40 acres of land had become submerged, [73a] and the sea made continual inroads upon the lower town. Previous to 1665 twenty-two copyhold tenements under the Cliff, belonging to the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes, alone were swept away. Amongst them were twelve shops, with four stake places and four capstan-places attached to them, and three cottages and three parcels of land adjoining them. [73b] There still remained under the Cliff, 113 tenements (shops, capstan and stake places, and cottages) which were destroyed by the memorable storms of 1703 and 1705.
The storm of 1703 commenced about midnight on the 27th of November, and continued for eight hours with unabated fury. Many houses were demolished; and others were unroofed: the church leads were torn off; and the two mills belonging to the town, were prostrated by the storm. The town presented the ruinous appearance of a place severely bombarded. Nor was that the only disaster looked for by the dismayed inhabitants, from so dreadful a conflict of the elements. The bulk of their property, and their dearest relatives, were at the same time exposed to its utmost fury on the ocean, and the most dismal apprehensions for their fate were in many of them but too fully realised. Deryck Paine, master of the ketch, “Elizabeth,” was lost with all his crew. George Taylor, master of the ketch, “Happy Entrance,” was lost with all his crew, except Walter Street, who supported himself on a mast for three days, between the Downs and North Yarmouth, and was taken up at last. Richard Webb, master of the ketch, “Richard and Rose,” was lost with all his crew, near St. Helen’s. Edward Freind, master of the ketch, “Thomas and Frances,” was stranded near Portsmouth. Edward Glover, master of the pink, “Richard and Benjamin,” was stranded near Chichester. One man was lost; the master and the rest of the crew saved themselves in the shrouds. George Beach, master of the pink, “Mary,” was driven from the Downs to Hamburgh, with the loss of anchors, cables, and sails. Richard Kitchener, master of the “Chomley” pink, was lost, with nine of her crew; five men and a boy were saved by another vessel. Many able seamen, belonging to the town, were also lost in the Queen’s (Anne’s) ships of war, transports and tenders.
The 11th of August, 1705, was marked by another dreadful storm, which began at one in the morning, attained its greatest fury at three, and raged until eight. It completed the destruction of all the lower buildings which had escaped the fury of all former inundations. Every habitation under the Cliff was utterly demolished, and its very site concealed from the owner’s knowledge beneath a mound of beach. The roof of the parish church again also suffered much, the lead being completely stripped away. A record of this event is preserved in the tower of the church, beneath the bell storey; on the wall of which is nailed a tablet of sheet-lead, measuring 4ft. 6in. by 2ft. 6in., that was taken from the roof of the sacred edifice on the restoration of the church in 1853. It is inscribed in raised east characters, thus:—
RICHARD MASTERS.
RICHARD TVPPEN.
JOHN MASTERS.
CHVRCHWARDENS.
1 7 0 5.
Above the names is a cherub at each corner of the tablet; and between the 7 and 0 are represented two nude children amidst scroll-work, which is surmounted with an angel in the act of sounding a trumpet.
Dr. Mantell remarks that at Brighton the inroads of the sea have been very extensive. The whole of the ancient town was situated on the spot which is now covered by the sands, and the present cliffs were then behind the town, like those of Dover; and Mr. Lyell, in his “Principles of Geology,” says:—“The sea has merely resumed its position at the base of the cliffs, the site of the old town having been a beach which had for ages been abandoned by the ocean.” In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliæ et Walliæ, auctoritate P. Nicholas (A.D. 1292), and Nonarum inquisitiones in coria scaccarii (A.D. 1340), mention is made that the losses of land sustained by the action of the sea, between the years 1260 and 1340, a period of only eighty years, were in Brighthelmston, 40 acres; in Houve, 150 acres; Aldrington, 40 acres; and in Portslade, 60 acres.
The “Magna Britannia,” of 1737, says:—“About 90 years ago, this Town was a very considerable Place for Fishing, and in a flourishing Condition, being then one of the principal Towns of the County, containing near five hundred Families; but since the beginning of the Civil Wars it hath decayed much for want of a Free Fishery, and by very great Losses by Sea, their shipping being often taken from them by the Enemy: Nay, it is the Opinion of the most judicious Inhabitants, that had not Divine Providence in a great Measure protected them by their Town being built low, and standing on a flat ground, the French would several times have quite demolished it, as they had attempted to do, but the low Situation of it prevented their doing it any considerable Damage, the Cannon Balls usually flying over the Town; But the greatest Damage to the Buildings has been done by the breaking in of the Sea, which within these forty years hath laid Waste about 130 Tenements; which Loss, by a modest Computation, amounts to near 40,000l. and if some speedy Care be not taken to stop the Encroachments of the Ocean, it is probable the Town will in a few years be utterly depopulated; the Inhabitants being already diminished one-third less than they were, and those that remain are many of them Widows, Orphans, decrepid Persons, and all very poor; insomuch that the Rates for their Relief are at the Rack-Rent of 8d. in the Pound, for there are but few Charities given for their Support, viz. one by Mr. Barnard Hilton [76] of 16l. per Annum, with some other small Benefactions, which make it about 20l. a year.”
In 1706 there had been considerable wrecks of wines on the Manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes; and the then Lord High Admiral claimed them as his right. But Richard Onslow, Esq., and Colonel Tufton, as proprietors of the manor, kept the wines; and on a full investigation of the business at the assizes for the county, in 1708, their conduct, in that particular, was justified, and their manorial right fully established.
On the 4th of March, 1818, as Mr. Izard was having excavations made for the foundations of two houses on the West Cliff—now the King’s Road,—between Ship Street and Middle Street, the workmen discovered the walls of one of the streets under the Cliff, which had been overwhelmed by one of the terrible inundations of the sea. They appeared buried more than fifteen feet with beach.
In 1713, the sea having destroyed everything below the Cliff, encroached with alarming rapidity on the Cliff itself, fragments of which daily crumbled into the sapping tide. It was therefore found absolutely necessary, for the preservation of the rest of the town, to erect groynes before it. These groynes are contrived by means of strong wooden barriers projecting from the Cliff towards the sea, as far as low-water mark, which intercept and confine the beach or sea shingle, that chiefly rolls from west to east in this part of the English Channel. By these contrivances, a large body of beach, rising gradually towards the Cliff, is accumulated on the western side of every barrier, which resists and breaks the impetuosity of the roughest sea. But the reduced state into which a coincidence of unfavourable circumstances had sunk Brighthelmston, about the beginning of the last century, it was impossible for the inhabitants to raise amongst themselves a sum nearly adequate to so expensive an undertaking. A brief was therefore granted them, under which they collected about £1,700. By means of this public aid, and the internal contributions of the town itself, the Cliff was pretty well secured from the west part, as far as the Old Steine. The groynes eastward of the Steine are comparatively of modern construction, the most important of them being,—in its original state,—that constructed on the suggestion and plan of Mr. Edward Thunder, at Black Rock, about the year 1819, when the sea was rapidly encroaching at that spot and threatening to make inroads upon the whole of the Marine Parade. The barrier was effectual, although on its projection and erection it was called by the shortsighted of the time, “Teddy Thunder’s Folly.” Thunder, who was one of the Town Commissioners at the time, was an eccentric but shrewd man. He was the inventor of the pedal for shifting the keys of the piano-forte.
Groyne is quite a provincial term of very doubtful origin. It is generally supposed to be a corruption from royne. An Act of Parliament was passed in the House of Commons, in 1698, for opening of the ancient roynes and water courses in Sedgmore. And it is probable that these roynes are the same as groynes at Brighton, with this difference, that the latter are artificially constructed for a certain purpose, and the former might have been only a slow acervation of time and nature. The following is an extract from a letter, dated Lewes, September 12th, 1785:—“The violence of the wind on Tuesday last, occasioned the highest tide that has been known on this coast for a great number of years. At Brighthelmston, the fishermen were put to the greatest difficulty in saving their boats; to effect which, many were under the necessity of hauling them up into the town, and others of lashing them to the railing on the bank. Some few, however, that could not be secured, were dashed to pieces; had the storm happened in the night-time, the whole must have shared the same fate.”
By the Town Act of Brighton, 1772, a duty of 6d a chaldron was levied on all coal landed on the beach; and by the Act of 1810, a duty of 2s 6d a chaldron—now a ton,—was levied on all coals brought into the town, for the purpose of constructing and supporting the sea-defences of the town. By the construction of these groynes, the sea from time to time was driven back to allow of the building of the sea-wall that protects the whole of the southern road in front of the town, from the bottom of Cannon Place to the extreme east of the parish. The first portion formed was that between West Street and Middle Street, and was opened by George IV. in the year 1821; prior to which time the houses there were only approached at their south front by a temporary wooden platform on poles, for foot-passengers only; and then only during fair weather; as so close to the houses were the rage and flow of the sea during a storm, that the planks which formed the pathway, had to be removed to prevent their being either washed or blown away. At such times a barrier was erected at each end, at Bradley’s Library, now Booty’s, and the Ship-in-Distress Inn, [78a] now Child’s Fancy Repository, bearing the notice, “No thoroughfare.” The only way for equestrians and vehicles was the present South Street, where was the following quaint sign over the shop of an eccentric shoemaker:—
Here lives a man that don’t refuse
To make and mend your boots and shoes.
His leather’s good, his work is just,
His profits small, and cannot trust:
And when grim death doth him call,
Farewell to his old cobbler’s stall.To his blood royal highness P.G.,
And new laid eggs every day. [78b]
The last two lines were in red letters, and the initials P.G., were intended for Prince George.
The encroachments of the sea, till the complete groyne system was carried out and the sea-wall completed, extended from Russell Street to the extreme east end of the parish; and after every storm of any magnitude, the road to the east of the Old Sterne,—now known as the Marine Parade,—presented a different aspect, as the inroads of the sea frequently carried away some hundreds of tons of the Cliff; and it was no uncommon thing after a tempest, to find that so much of the roadway had been carried off, from the Cliff becoming undermined by the wash of the waves, as to leave only sufficient space for a single vehicle to pass. On the 15th of December, 1806, during a terrific storm, the roadway between the Royal Crescent and Rock Buildings was completely cut asunder, making the owners of property there uneasy for the safety of their premises. This storm gave occasion to the following trial at the Sussex Assizes, held at Lewes, August 4th, 1807:—
THE KING v. GREGORY, PHILCOX, THUNDER, AND THREE OTHERS.
RIOT AT BRIGHTON.This was an indictment against the defendants, for riotously assembling and pulling down the railing on the road east of Brighton, leading from thence to Rottingdean, and obstructing the Surveyors of the road in the execution of their duty. This case arose out of the falling of the cliff last autumn. The Surveyor of the Road thought it necessary to carry in the railing, and trenched upon the ground of the three first named defendants: they considered he had done more than necessary, and resisted his altering the railing. In consequence of this, on the 11th of February last, they employed men to cut down the polls and rails, which had been erected by the Surveyor of the Road. The next day the Surveyor employed men to re-erect them, and the defendants another party to pull them down. A riot ensued, the one set pulling down as fast as the other erected, until at last the Surveyor’s party were the victors.
Mr Gurney, for the defendants, rested his defence on the ground that the Surveyor was not under the necessity of coming upon their freehold, but that he had acted wantonly and with a view to harass the defendants. He proposed calling evidence to shew that the road at that part of it was perfectly safe.
The Learned Judge held that the Surveyor of the road was clearly right. He was to judge of the necessity if he acted wrong. They ought to have brought an action of trespass, and not to have the law into their own hands.
The jury found them all guilty. The three principals were fined £20 each, and the three workmen £5 each. In the Civil Court an action was tried, arising out of the same transaction, in which the plaintiff had a verdict against the Surveyor. Damages, seven guineas.
At the Reformation, when the monastery of St. Pancras, at Southover, was destroyed, by order of Henry VIII., on its being surrendered to that monarch, by Prior Robert Crowham, November 16th, 1537, the manor of Southover, Lewes, which included the priory, was granted to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, who also held one moiety of the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes:—
4. Hen. VIII. One moiety of this manor, with several other possessions in Sussex, was recovered by petition, by Thomas, Earl of Surrey, they having been devised by the Marquis of Berkeley, to Henry VII., and an act passed in the 7th of that king, whilst the petitioner was absent on the king’s business in the north, and ignorant of it till the said parliament was ended. The answer is “Soit fait come il est desiree.”
The petition is contained in the Burrell MSS. 5637. Folios 36 and 37.
On the attainder and execution of the Earl of Essex, Sir John Gage, of Firle, was appointed chief steward of Southover and other manors forfeited by that nobleman within the county of Sussex. But on the 20th of January, 1541, they were granted to Ann of Cleves, one of the injured queens of Henry VIII. The Burrell MSS. record:—
32. Hen. VIII. The King granted this manor (Brighthelmston-Lewes) and advowson to Ann of Cleves; with a great many others in Sussex, including the manor of Falmer (originally Fald-mer), which, on her death, again reverted to the crown, and after various successions and alienations, was purchased of Sir John Shelley, of Michelgrove, by Thomas, Lord Pelham, on the 2nd day of May, in the year 1770. It still continues in the possession of the Pelham family, being held by the Earl of Chichester, of Stanmer, the manor adjoining.
Miss Strickland, in her “Lives of the Queens of England,” says:—“The marriage was dissolved by mutual consent; and she being content to abide in this realm, and to yield to its laws, and to discharge her conscience of that pretended marriage, the king, of his especial favour, granted to her certain manors and estates in divers counties, lately forfeited by the attainder of the Earl of Essex,—Cromwell, whose spoils formed the principal fund for the maintenance of this princess,—and Sir Nicholas Carew, to be held without rendering an account from the Lady-day foregoing the same grant, which was dated on the 20th of January, 1541.”
These grants were made to Ann by Henry VIII., on her assent to the invalidity of her marriage with that monarch, who refused to consort with her. On the 8th of August, 1540, Henry married Catherine Howard. The manor of Falmer was also part of Ann’s dower, and in seclusion there she resided some time; though on her divorce she took up her abode at Preston House, in the village of Preston, where still, in one of the rooms, is a large and well executed portrait of her, by some considered the work of Holbein. It was seeing this portrait which induced the king to desire an union with hor. She landed at Dover, December, 1538. Henry met her there, and such was his dislike to her, from her beauty not being equal to Holbein’s portrait, that he spoke of her as a “Flander’s Mare,” and used other expressions respecting her of an equally contemptuous character.
Ann died on the 17th of July, 1557, at the Palace of Chelsea, and was buried on the 3rd of August, near the high altar, in Westminster Abbey, near the old portraits of Henry III. and King Sebert.
The manor formerly belonged to the Shirley family, several monumental tablets to the members of which remain within Preston church. Mary, the second sister of Sir Richard Shirley, Bart., was married to Thomas Western, Esq., of Ravenhall, in Essex, who died April 1st, 1733, leaving an only child, Thomas Western, who married Ann, the daughter of Robert Callis, Esq., and died in May, 1766, leaving Charles Western as his heir. Charles Western, Esq., married Frances Shirley, only daughter and heiress of William Bolland, Esq. His end was of the most melancholy character. Whilst riding with his eldest son, Charles Callis, a child then about four years of age, along the road by Goldstone Bottom, the horse stumbled, and they were precipitated from their carriage, the father being killed on the spot. The life of the child was preserved by his being thrown into a furze bush, by the roadside. This occurrence took place on the 24th July, 1771. The widow, with her two children, Charles and a younger brother, Shirley, about three years old, shortly after left Preston, where none of the family ever after returned, and the estate eventually was purchased by William Stanford, Esq., for £20,000. His grand-daughter, a minor, is his heiress; and so improved is the estate, through the favourable circumstance of the railroad from Brighton to London passing through it, that the portion alone used for the formation of the line realized £30,000.
Charles Callis Western, who was born on the 9th of August, was created Baron Western, on the 28th of January, 1833. He died, unmarried, in 1841, when, his brother being dead, the title became extinct.
This sacred edifice is situated upon a hill north west of the town, about 160 feet above low-water mark. It is a structure of great antiquity, and was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas, Bishop of Mira, in Lycia, who lived about the commencement of the fourth century, and was the reputed patron of fishermen, on account of the following naval miracle recorded of him in the legends of that country: A certain Lycian vessel being in great danger during a storm at sea, the affrighted crew invoked the aid of this pious prelate, and lo! to their amazement and comfort, a venerable personage appeared amongst them, and exclaimed, “Here I am, for ye called me.” With his help, the ship was successfully managed until the storm subsided; and then their miraculous assistant vanished. The mariners had no sooner reached the port, than they enquired for Bishop Nicholas, and were directed to the cathedral, where they beheld in him the identical person to whom they owed their safety. His feast is held on the 6th day of December, and used to be celebrated with devout dependence by the mariners of Brighthelmston, before the Reformation. But in the spirit of pious avarice or cunning, the Virgin Mary was, in process of time, made joint tenant with St. Nicholas, in the patronage of this church. “The second dedicator,” says Dunvan, “seems to have shrewdly considered that Nicholas could not, either as a saint or a gentleman, object to so fair and exalted a partner; and that in case any of the seafaring inhabitants of the parish were at any time in danger, either their Holy Patron, or more Holy Patroness, would most probably be at leisure to step to their succour.”
This church was given by Ralph de Cheney to the Priory of Lewes, in the reign of Stephen. But it appears from the terms of an award or arbitration between Richard de Wich, Bishop of Chichester, and William de Ruslous, Prior of St. Pancras, near Lewes, made in 1252, still extant in the episcopal archives at Chichester, that the priory obtained no full possession of this church before that period. By this award, as soon as the then Rector of Brighthelmston should die, or resign the living, the Prior of St. Pancras was to appoint a Vicar there, who was to have all the offerings of the altar, as far as they belonged to altarage, and the small tithes, viz., those of mills, sea-fisheries, mortuaries, wool, lambs, cheese, cows, calves, hogs, colts, geese, hens, eggs, flax, hemp, and of every thing that grows in gardens, except wheat and barley. He was also to have the third of the tithe of hay, and a convenient mansion assigned him. To encourage a crusade, in consequence of the capture of Acre by the Soldan of Babylon, Edward I. granted to Pope Nicholas IV. the tenths of all the monasteries and churches in England, and in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica Anglæ et Walliæ auctoritate P. Nicholas, 1291, occur these entries:—
|
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
‘Eccl’ia de Brighthelmston |
20 |
0 |
0 |
|
Vicar’ ejusdem |
5 |
0 |
0 |
P’or Lewens. |
The Vicar of Brighton was at one period saddled with a yearly pension of seven shillings and sixpence to the Vicar of Hove; and in this state the Vicarage continued, the impropriation of the great tithes vesting in the Priory of Lewes, till the suppression of that monastery, in 1538. The impropriation and patronage of this parish were granted by Henry VIII. to Lord Cromwell, his Vicar-General, who in that year, 1538, ordered a public register of baptisms and burials to be kept at Brighthelmston, and in every other parish of the kingdom.
On the death and attainder of Cromwell, the church was conferred by Henry to his repudiated queen, Anne of Cleves, and on the death of that princess, in 1557, it again reverted to the crown. In the reign of Elizabeth, the patronage and impropriation were severed, the former being attached to the see of Chichester; and so it continues to the present day. There is a great tithe on Brighton, of small extent, now belonging to Thomas Attree, Esq., Queen’s Park, Brighton, as Lay-Rector, and it formerly belonged to Thomas Read Kemp, Esq., as Lay-Rector.
The church is built of cut flints and grouting of lime and coarse sea-sand, with stone coignes. The old map picture of 1545, represents the church as cruciform, and the tower circular: probably errors of the artist, whose design was doubtless more to illustrate the prominent features of the scene,—the attack upon and burning of the town,—than the architectural details of the buildings. The sacred edifice consists of a body, chancel, and a somewhat low embattled tower, surmounted by a sloping roof, in the centre of which is a cast-iron standard, in which is a flagstaff that may be raised or lowered at pleasure. An arrow vane is on its top. Formerly, within the last half-century, the vane was represented by a gilt fish, doubtless intended as the representation of a dolphin; but in 1796 a visitor, considering that the figure bore more resemblance to a shark than any other fish, penned the following verses upon it:—
Say, why on Brighton’s church we see
A golden shark display’d,
But that ’twas aptly meant to be
An emblem of its trade?Nor could the thing so well be told
In any other way:
The town’s a Shark that lives on gold,—
The Company its prey.
A musical peal of eight bells was cast in 1777, by Mr. Rudhall, ironmonger, of the firm Rudhall and Dudlow, North street, Brighton, now Langworthy and Reed, at his foundry, at Bristol. The tenor bell, which is pitched in the key F, weighs 1,500 pounds. The belfry had a peal previous to that date, as in the vestry minutes of October 25th, 1736, is the order:—
To new cast the great bell belonging to the parish church of Brighthelmston, to agree with Joshua Kipling, bellfounder, to charge on the parish taxes.
In March, 1790, another order was made:—
That the treble bell be repaired by Mr. Palmer.
Two additional bells were hung in 1818, making a peal of ten bells; but when the clock, at St. Peter’s church, was put up, the two new bells, which did not accord with the original eight, were removed to the tower of that church, for chiming the quarters.
Doomsday Book, 1086, mentions:—
Ibide’ ten’ Wills. de Watevile Bristelmestune de Willo. Uluuard tenuit de Rege E. T’c et modo se defd’ p. 5 hid’ et dim’. T’ra e 4 car. In d’nio e’ 1 car’, et 13 vill’i, et ii Bord’ cu’ una car’. Ibi Æccl’a.
translation.
In the same place William de Wateville holds Bristelmestune of William. Ulward held it of King Edward. Then and now it defends itself for five hides and a half. The land is 4 carucates. In demesne is 1 carucate and 13 villeins, and 2 bordars, with one plough. There is a church.
The manor was that of Atlingworth, [85] and there is no doubt the church referred to was the present parish-church of St. Nicholas, which, in its original state, was of Norman construction. It consists of a nave, with side aisles, and a chancel, which is separated from the main body by a richly painted and gilded Tudor screen, over which, at no remote period, was a rood-loft. To the south, also, of the chancel is a small chantry. The five arches which separate on each side the nave from the aisles, and are supported on diagonal pillars, are of the fifteenth century. To accommodate the great increase in the population of the town, from time to time, galleries were constructed wherever it was possible to place them. In 1852, however, in consequence of the dilapidated state of the sacred edifice, the restoration of the church was determined upon. The leader in the desirable movement was the Rev. H. M. Wagner, Vicar, who having invited some of the residents and townspeople to meet at the Town Hall, on the 20th of September, in that year, and having taken the chair, stated the fact,—that many years ago, his Grace the late Duke of Wellington was a pupil of his (the Vicar’s) grandfather, the then Vicar of the parish; and that the Duke was wont to worship in the Vicarage pew of their parish church. He proposed to them the restoration of the church as an appropriate and enduring monument of their gratitude and veneration for his memory. The proposition was unanimously adopted, and a committee was appointed to collect subscriptions, which in less than a month amounted to £5,000, a sum nearly equal to the outlay.
In the chantry, also, a much admired monument or cenotaph was erected to the memory of the Duke of Wellington. This beautiful work of art, sculptured in stone, by Mr. Philip, of Vauxhall, after the design of the late Mr. Carpenter, will henceforth constitute one of the most striking features of the restored church. It is in the decorated period of Edward II. and Edward III., commonly known as the Eleanor Cross. The shape is hexagonal; the height, from the base to summit, 18-ft. 6-in.; the circumference, between 15 and 16 feet. The pedestal commences with a richly moulded base, rising from a tesselated pavement. On the base of the pedestal rests a plinth, covered with diaper-work, surmounted by another moulding, on the broad chamfer of which is an inscription, in old English characters, in brass, each line being presented by an angle of the monument:—
In Memoriam
Maximi Ducis Wellington,
Hæc domus sacrosancta,
Qua ipse adolescens Deum colebat
Reædifcatur.[Translation.]
In Memory of
The Great Duke of Wellington,
This sacred building,
In which in his youth he worshipped God,
Is restored.
From the pedestal, and above the moulding with this inscription, rise two stories, richly and elaborately decorated, with open tracery-work, and crocketed pinnacles. These are separated by a pierced parapet of chaste design: and a similar one is on the third or upper, story, which is a solid stone drum. Each parapet is also ornamented by sunk and carved panels. The crowning ornament consists of a canopied niche, with a pierced spire surmounted by a finial. Enclosed within this niche, is an alabaster figure of St. George, sheathing his sword over the dragon, which lies slain at his feet, symbolical of the career of the great chieftain to whose memory the work is raised. The drum, with all above it, rests on a shaft of dark marble, polished, which springs from the pedestal, and around which winds a scroll bearing the names of four of those achievements which mark different eras in the military career of Wellington, viz.:—
Assaye.
Torres Vedras.
Vittoria.
Waterloo.
These “crowning deeds” have been well selected. Assaye represents the Duke’s Indian campaign; Torres Vedras, his successful defence of Portugal; Vittoria, the victory which delivered Spain; and Waterloo, the battle which saved Europe. It is impossible to convey in words an idea of this beautiful monument, which reflects the highest credit on its designer.
Immediately in front of this memorial, is a monumental brass in the pavement, thus inscribed:—
In Memory of R. C. Carpenter, who but a short time survived the completion of his design, the restoration of this Church, MDCCCLV.
The font of the church was much admired for the sculpture which adorned it; but in 1743 its beauty was nearly effaced by the churchwardens, Thomas Stranbido, William Buckell, and G. Warden, who had it cleaned, partially re-cut, and their names carved in the base, a monument of their vitiated taste, confirmed vanity, and profound ignorance. It is of a circular form, and is raised from the floor by one step. It has excited much observation amongst antiquaries, some of whom contend for its early date, whilst others consider it only a copy; but where the original is they are at a loss to say. The sculpture upon it is in four sections. The first represents the Lord’s Supper, and consists of seven figures; Our Saviour, crowned with glory, in the centre, is in the act of giving the blessing, and on the table are distributed various drinking vessels, with the bread. The next compartment contains a kneeling figure; the third, which is larger, has a boat on the sea, with the sail unfurled, and two figures, one presenting a small barrel or vessel to a bishop, who has his mitre and crozier, and the other giving bread to a female; both figures in the water. The fourth division consists of three arches, in each of which is a figure, the centre appearing to be the principal. The whole is sculptured in basso relievo. Over these compartments is a line of zig-zag and lozenge work, curiously chamfered, and beneath them is a row of exceedingly handsome ornamental work of leaves and flowers.
The following are extracts from a diary:—
Sunday, August 29th, 1778. Have been this morning to the sailor’s land mark—to the only church in the town—and collected a number of novelties. The Doctor was pleased to inform us, in a religiously political, or politically religious discourse, that when men tremble they are generally afraid; when they are in danger they should strive to extricate themselves; and that hope is the expectant of many great and singular good events.
Monday, September, 13th.—A new man and wife have just passed me.—The town’s-people preserve some customs here that smack of great antiquity, and seem peculiar to the county of Sussex. At a marriage there are strewers, who strew the way from church, not only with flowers, but with sugar-plums and wheat. Why sugar-plums and wheat, I wonder? Many ceremonies have been retained longer than the history of their origin or foundation.
This system of strewing the bride and bridegroom is still pursued, not merely by the friends of the happy pair,—all couples just married are pronounced to be happy,—but by a constant group of women with children in their arms, who scatter their corn, &c., with blessings, in proportion to the harvest of coin they reap.
In the beginning of the 16th century, the Rev. Edward Lowe was vicar of the parish. His successor was the Rev. John Bolt, who died on the 2nd of November, 1660. He was succeeded by the Rev. — Falkner, who was incumbent till 1705. The vestry book of the date, “November the 2nd, Anno Domini, 1703,” records that:—
That day the Reverend Mr Joseph Grave, Rector off St. Anne’s, Lewes, Sent the works off Mr. Charnock, in two Volumes of his for the use off the Vicar of Brighthelmstone and his surveyvors. Each Volume having in gold letters (Brighthelmston) upon both sides off the cover. The benefactor at London would no(t) otherwise be known than by the two letters off his name, H: Y:
The same book has also the following entries:—
March 11th, 1707. John Mockford appointed Clerk at Church; part of his duty is to wash the church linen, and scour the church plate.
July 8th, 1713. William Cousins appointed Sexton; Mary Bridger to be equal partner.
March 31st, 1800. That Thomas Waring be appointed beadle and cryer at a salary of Twenty pounds and Cloathes. It is understood that his duty is to make the poor books, the Church Book, the surveyor’s book, and the Town book. He is also to attend the North and west galleries of the Church on Sundays. He is to go round the town with the Officers to make the Militia list, and is likewise to officiate as Headborough in the Town; but not elsewhere, and to be sworn for that purpose.
The Rev. William Colbron succeeded to the vicarage in 1705, and held it till his death, on the 20th of July, 1750. The next vicar of Brighthelmston, was the Rev. Henry Michell, who was born at Lewes, in 1714. He finished his studies at the University of Cambridge, and having obtained a fellowship in Clare-Hall college, he, at the age of 25 years, was made rector of Maresfield; and, five years afterwards, the Bishop of Chichester collated him to the Rectory of West Blatchington, and the Vicarage of Brighton. In 1747, he married the only daughter of the Rev. Francis Reade, of Bedford, by whom he had sixteen children. A marble tablet in the church fully delineates his estimable character and profound learning.
The “Magna Britannia” says:—“The church is a vicarage, but meanly endowed. The vicar claims the old episcopal custom of a penny per head, (commonly called smoak money, or a garden penny) as also he requires, as his due, a quarter of a share of all fishing vessels. [89] The parsonage tythes are about £100 per annum, but are in the hands of an improprietor, who allows the Vicar no benefit from them, by which means his maintenance is very small: and therefore the neighbouring gentlemen have augmented it by a subscription of £50 per annum, on condition he shall instruct fifty poor boys of the town in reading and writing. The church stands about forty rods from the town, at a little distance from the sea. There was formerly another church, near the middle of the town, which is said to have been burnt by the French.”
The Rev. Mr. Michell, died on the 31st of October, 1789, and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Hudson, who commenced the chapel of ease, in Prince’s place, known as the Chapel Royal.
Mr. Hudson died in 1804, and was succeeded by the Rev. Robert James Carr, afterwards Dr. Carr, of Chichester, and then Bishop of Worcester. The present Vicar, the Rev. Henry Michell Wagner, grandson of the Rev. Henry Michell, [90] was his successor, August 1st, 1824; and during the time he has held the appointment, the number of places of worship attached to the Established Church, which have been erected, will testify his zeal in the support of our Holy Religion.
In 1824, Nathaniel Kemp, Esq., presented the church with a beautiful Communion Service of silver, consisting of a flagon, two cups, and two plates, thus inscribed: “Given by Nath. Kemp, Esq., and Augusta Caroline, his wife, to the Church of St. Nicholas, Brighthelmston. Anno Domini, 1824.”
Upon stripping the roof on the restoration of the church, in 1852, three several pieces of inscribed cast lead were preserved, and they are now fixed to the walls of the tower in the chamber below the bell story. One piece has been already described in page 74, the others are as follows:—
|
THOMAS FRILAND. THOMAS ROBERTS. RICHARD ROSSUM. CHVKCHWARDENS. 1 6 7 5 JOHN VANDYKE PLVMER. |
EDWARD LOWE, VICAR. JOHN SCRAS. HENERY SMITH. RICHARD HERMAN. CHVRCHWARDENS. A O DOM N 16 77. |
Between the lines of names and the figures of the date, on the first represented piece of lead, are raised characters, twenty-one in number, intended to denote dolphins, the Arms of Brighton.
Previous to the restoration of the building, the Church, both inside and out, had undergone many changes, to afford space; low, gloomy galleries, scarcely permitting headway for the congregation when standing, whilst the common house-shaped and dormant windows disfigured it in all directions. In a dark gallery at the west, in 1813, was placed an organ, [91a] built by Lincoln. It was opened on the 7th of March, that year, by Mr. Nathaniel Cook. A small organ loft occupies the space over the vestry room, but it does not at present boast of an organ. Formerly there were several tablets on the belfry walls, recording peals which had been rung in the tower. Their places are now occupied by sundry monuments that were formerly fixed in other parts of the edifice; and some few of the ringing records have been removed to the club-room of the Brighton Society of Change Ringers, at the Running Horse Inn, King street, [91b] while the remainder fell into the hands of a marine-store dealer. The Running Horse Inn was formerly known as the Hen and Chicken; and in 1792, and for several years afterwards, was kept by Mr. John Pocock, who at that time was a sawyer by occupation. In 1795, he received the appointment of Clerk at the Chapel Royal, when that place of public worship was first opened; and after retaining the situation for thirteen years, he was appointed Clerk of the Parish, in which office he continued for thirty-eight years, dying on the 13th of June, 1846, at the ripe old age of four score and one years. The oldest ringers’ tablet preserved is thus inscribed:—
May 24th, 1779, was rung in this tower by the Society of Cumberland Youths, a true and complete peal of 11,088 changes, Bob Major, performed in six hours and fifty minutes, in order as follows, viz:
George Cross |
Treble, |
London. |
Thomas Jones |
2nd, |
Horsham. |
Thomas Lintott |
3rd, |
Horsham. |
Joseph Willard |
4th, |
Chiddingly. |
Edward Simmonds |
5th, |
Islington. |
John Wheatly |
6th, |
Epsom. |
James Wilson |
7th, |
Cuckfield. |
B. Simmonds |
Tenor, |
Leatherhead. |
N.B.—The Bobs were called by G. Cross.
The most commemorative is:—
On January 29th, 1820, being the accession of King George IV., was rung in this tower, by the Brighton Society of Change Ringers, a true and complete peal of 5,040 changes of Bob Major, in three hours and six minutes, by persons in order as follows, viz.:—
William Reynolds |
Treble. |
John Pocock |
5th |
James Parsons |
2nd |
James Potter |
6th |
Richard Bodle |
3rd |
William Wells |
7th |
Edward Honeyset |
4th |
Isaac Tester |
Tenor. |
Conducted by Isaac Tester. |
|||
The present sexton is Mr. John Shelley, who succeeded his father, Mr. William Shelley, on his retirement from the office, at Easter, 1860. The predecessor of Shelley, sen., was Mantell, the successor of Richard Jeffery, in July, 1806.
During the time of the Brighton Camp, in the autumn of 1793, the Surrey Militia were quartered in the town; and the Parish Church being then the only place of worship in Brighton, in connexion with the Established form of Religion, it was not an uncommon occurrence for some of the officers and men of that regiment, to attend at the morning service on the Sunday.
In the beginning of August, Dr. Vicesimus Knox, Master of Tunbridge School, and late Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, having come to Brighton with his family, in pursuit of health, by sea-bathing, and a salutary change of air and scene, during the anniversary school vacation, hired a house in North Street, at the corner of Bond Street, now the property of Alderman Martin, where on Saturday the 10th, he received, quite unexpectedly, a note from the Vicar, the Rev. Thomas Hudson, to whom he was a perfect stranger, expressing his desire that the Doctor would gratify his congregation, as he politely expressed himself, with a sermon on the morrow. The Doctor shewed some reluctance to assent to the request, but some friends who were present, importuned him, and he wrote a reply expressing a compliance, and on the following morning he ascended to the pulpit, and took his text:—Philippians iv. 7.—“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” “The sermon,” says the Doctor, [93] “was heard by a very large and very respectable congregation, in which were many of the military belonging to the Surrey regiment, quartered in Brighton. The utmost attention was paid to it. The military appeared to be particularly impressed, and highly satisfied. Expressions of approbation were heard, too emphatic for me to repeat. Mr. Hudson, the Vicar, who read prayers, came to my house, on purpose to thank me, in his own name, and that of his congregation. He mentioned the general satisfaction I had given; the many inquiries that had been made after my name by strangers; and expressed a hope, that I would preach once more, as he knew it was the wish of his parishioners. This, however, I declined at that time, and certainly had no intention to preach again at Brighton, though I had every reason to be pleased with my reception.”
On the following evening, Monday, August 12th, the birthday of the Prince of Wales, the Doctor was present at the Ball at the Castle Tavern, and partook of the supper which was given in honour of the occasion. Marked civility was shewn him from persons who knew him only from the sermon which had been so favourably received on the Sunday. The Vicar especially, paid him the greatest attention, and continued in his company nearly the whole of the evening, and in the course of it, renewed his request, that as his parishioners very much wished it, he would give him another sermon on the following Sunday. The Doctor’s reply was:—“I come here for recreation, after the fatigues of my daily avocations and my own parish church, and I do not wish to be interrupted by exertions of this kind, especially as I find my last sermon has excited so general an attention, and probably raised expectation too high. You mention the praises I have received; but I will not preach for the sake of praise. If you say it will serve you, if you wish to be absent, or if it is any relief to you, I will endeavour to prepare a sermon in the midst of the interruptions of this place, and will preach next Sunday, though I sincerely wish to decline it.”
The request was continued, and obtained a compliance.
The subject chosen was, “The prospect of perpetual and universal peace to be established on the principles of Christian philanthropy,” his text being, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men.” “I was led to the choice of this subject,” writes the Doctor, “from observing the extreme bitterness expressed, even in gay and good-humoured companies, against a great part of our fellow creatures; from the almost daily accounts in the newspapers of slaughtered thousands, and the eagerness with which war had been adopted by all the nations concerned, when negociation might have effected every desirable purpose, without expense, and without carnage. * * * * Had I even gone to the camp and discoursed, as a chaplain, on the same topic, it could not have been out of place. But every one who came to the church knew that he must hear peace, charity, good-will, forgiveness of enemies recommended, in hearing the lessons from the gospel. If my sermon was deemed ill-placed in recommending universal peace and universal good will in Brighton Church, what will men, who judge so, say of the gospel read there? what of the national liturgy, established by law as firmly as the national militia? * * * * I was heard in silence, and, if I can judge, [95] with great attention. I was not conscious that any part of the congregation was offended, nor did I surmise it till after the following incident. On going out of the church, a lady, a perfect stranger, accosted me and said, ‘I thank you for your sermon. I could have sat hours to have heard such with pleasure. But excuse me—I must tell you, that from what I have observed in the pews, among a certain description of persons, you have offended those, who, I fear, have as little relish for the doctrine of forgiveness as they seem to have of peace. Many, like myself, are highly pleased with every part of your discourse; but there are those who are angry indeed!’”
At the termination of the service, the Doctor and his family unmolested, returned to their residence, where they had a few friends to dine with them; and after dinner he attended the afternoon service, as, understanding that some of the officers were offended at his discourse, he was desirous of meeting them, to learn what had given them offence, that, before misrepresentation could take place, a full and amicable explanation might be given. He did not, however, meet with a single officer; and having heard the Curate, the Rev. J. Mossop, preach, he returned home to tea with his family, and afterwards took a walk on the Steine, still hoping to meet his offended hearers, that he might acknowledge his fault, if he had been in the wrong, and remove their mistake if they thought him so undeservedly; being desirous of a reconciliation. Many officers were there, but he did not recognise any of those who were at the church. From the inhabitants who observed him he received the utmost civility.
On his return home he received a letter from a stranger, who expressed a wish to distribute a number of copies of the sermon in a distant county, concluding his epistle: “A dissemination of such enlightening and convincing knowledge is only wanting to stop the effusion of human blood; for when mankind are well awakened, they will not permit the dignified human butchers, the insolent, unfeeling traffickers in blood, to lead them to destruction.—Sunday, Aug. 18.”
The Doctor, in his “Narrative,” says:—“I beg leave to mention as I proceed, that from the pulpit, where I must have had a pretty good view of the whole church, I saw very few officers; and of those few I knew not one even by name: I thought there were not twelve. Of common soldiers the number was also inconsiderable; I thought there were scarcely twenty, and these were not of the camp, but of the Surrey militia quartered in the town. There were, indeed, more of the same regiment in the porch or in the church-yard; but too remote from the pulpit to hear a syllable of sedition, if there had been any to hear. I mention the paucity of officers and privates for the following reason; the public has been taught by mistaken prints to believe that I was guilty of preaching peace and good-will before the whole camp, that the aisle was crowded with soldiers, and that all the officers of the camp attended. I appeal to the parishioners present, whether the number of military men, privates and officers included, was greater than I have conjectured. My sermon was not exclusively calculated for a congregation of persons in any particular profession. There was not a word addressed by an apostrophe, as I have heard it asserted, to the officers. I had no reason to suppose that any military men, but those of the Surrey militia quartered at Brighton, would be at the church. I thought, and I believe it was so, that divine service was performed by the chaplains in the camp, and that the soldiers of the camp would not be permitted to straggle to the town or the church, on a Sunday, during divine service. The public has been much deceived in the exaggerated accounts of my preaching to the whole army; but had the whole army been at the church, had it been allowed or been possible, I am certain they would have heard nothing from me, but what was authorized by the gospel, enforced by the law of man as well as of God, tending to promote their happiness in all events, and animating them to the discharge of every duty, on principles of humanity and Christianity. I expressly asserted, while I was deploring the calamities of war, that the conductors of war were often men of singular humanity and honour. I expressly commended the beautiful gradation of ranks in society. I enforced good order; I deprecated anarchy as much as despotism.”
On the Monday, Dr. Knox visited the Downs, where the army was assembled in review, and in the evening, as usual, he went on the Steine; but though, at both places, as he was afterwards informed, the sermon was a topic of conversation, no insult was offered, nor was any personal application made to him. Tuesday evening was the time when the offence of Sunday was to be avenged. A friend of the Doctor, having to return to London the next day, proposed that they and some of the Doctor’s family should go to the Theatre. The Doctor assented; and accordingly Mrs. Knox, Master Knox (aged about 14), and Miss Knox (12), accompanied them, the piece to be represented being the Agreeable Surprise. They occupied the right-hand side box, next to the stage box, where the Prince of Wales usually sat: but he was not there that evening. Soon after the curtain drew up, a few officers entered the opposite stage-box. But they had not been there five minutes, before their whole attention seemed fixed on the box where the Doctor and his party were seated. Other officers and several elderly ladies soon appeared in the same box; and they looked at the Doctor in a pointed manner, and then seemed to deliberate. Their attention appeared to be engrossed by the consultation, and they seldom turned to the players on the stage. There were several other officers interspersed in other boxes. Messages were sent to some of them, and they removed into the stage box. A man, whose looks were choleric, and who sat in the same box and on the same seat with Doctor Knox, was sent for, and he left his hat behind him, probably intending to return when he should be excluded. They frequently went in and out, and appeared extremely busy and anxious in concerting the plan of operations. This continued during the whole of the play. The children observed it, and told their father that they suspected some insult. Between the play and the entertainment, the following note, directed to the Doctor, was handed from behind them, to Mrs. Knox, who gave it to her husband. The son had seen one of the officers writing; and there is no doubt but he was composing this note, which was sent without a name, and couched as follows:—
“Your Discourse last Sunday was so offensive, that the gentlemen of this Theatre desire you will quit it immediately.”
He read the order, and, giving it to Mrs. Knox, rose, and addressing himself to the opposite boxes, which, however, were now nearly-empty, the military having accompanied their despatch, requested to know who had sent the impertinent paper without a name. He turned back to a phalanx of military men, who had now come round, and were drawn up behind the Doctor at the door of his box, and in the Lobby. The Doctor stept a little forward, and said:—“Ladies and gentlemen, I have this moment received an extraordinary paper, neither signed nor dated, containing a requisition that I should quit the Theatre immediately, on account of the sermon which I preached last Sunday morning in your parish church. I beg pardon for interrupting you; but under these circumstances, and surrounded, as you see I am, I humbly entreat the permission of the house, to ask aloud who sent me this note, and by what authority I am bound to obey it, in this place of public entertainment, where my family and myself have entitled ourselves to unmolested seats, by paying the price demanded at the door. We have interrupted nobody. Will you authorize the arbitrary expulsion of us all? for my family and friend will certainly follow me. I beg leave, besieged as you see me by a considerable number of men behind me, who are at this moment expressing their anger by opprobrious names, to enter into a short explanation with them, to ask the particulars of my offence in your presence, and to declare, that if anything advanced in my sermon gave personal offence, it was unintentional, and that I am concerned at it. If any one of these gentlemen will prove to your satisfaction that he is justly offended, I will immediately beg his pardon. I beg your pardon, who are totally unconcerned in this attack, for this singular interruption, which I trust I shall obtain from you, as men and Englishmen; when you have before your eyes a defenceless individual, in a situation so singular, as will, I hope, justify my present address to you.”
During the Doctor’s address the persons in uniform kept up an incessant clamour, the most outrageous expressions being used, such as:—“A democratical scoundrel that deserves to be hanged,”—“A democrat, a democrat, a d—d democrat,”—“Out with the democrat,—no democrats,” the expressions being lavishly interlarded with scoundrel and rascal, and the interjections Bah! Boo! Boh! One of the party exclaimed, “No speech,—that won’t do,—he ought to be hanged,—out with him;” while another suggested personal violence before the offender should be allowed to depart. A grim, gaunt figure vociferated, “Irons,—irons, here: he ought to be put in irons directly.” All, however, was vox et preterea nil, notwithstanding one, very much out of breath with hooting and yelling, crying out “Go directly,—you must go;” whilst from behind resounded the cry “Out with him,—a democrat, a democrat, a democrat,—no democrat, a d—d democrat.” Eventually the Doctor and his party were allowed to depart unmolested, though during the time he was separated from his family in the lobby, a tall officer, when Mrs. Knox was turning back to look for her daughter, violently pushed her by the shoulder, and bade her “go along after her husband, and be d—d.” One, somewhat ashamed of his companions’ behaviour, however, assured her that no violence should be used, and added,—“He should not have come amongst us. Had he stuck to peace we should all have admired him.” Another, nodding his terrific plumes, exclaimed, “It is well his wife and children are with him, or else, &c., &c.” The son happening to cry “Shame upon you!—near twenty to one,” one of the valiant party shook him violently, saying at the same time, “Who are you, you dog? You ought to be hanged as well as your father,—if it is your father: and all such as hold his democratical principles, you dog, you!”
The Doctor avers that though the world had been told that they were a parcel of drunken boys who committed the outrage, the ringleaders were veterans in age, if not in service; and he adds:—“Very few were my hearers in the church, the major part being wholly influenced by the false representations of gossips.”
On Wednesday, the 21st of August, Dr. Knox and his family having occupied Mr. Grantham’s house, in North Street, a month, the period for which it was engaged, left Brighton; and soon some of the newspapers teemed with magnified accounts of a mutiny having broken out in the Brighton Camp through the Doctor’s democratical sermon. The most virulent was the True Briton. He also received numerous insulting and threatening letters; and one silly epistle, dated Wick Camp, near Brighton, enclosed a painted bloody hand. The World, of August 27th, 1793, declares the treatment which the Doctor and his family received to be most unjustifiable.
The following letters of the Rev. Mr. Mossop, Curate of Brighton, who officiated in the Desk on the 18th of August, and was present during the delivery of the whole of the alleged obnoxious sermon, completely exonerates Dr. Knox from all blame in the transaction:—
Rev. Sir,—From my situation in the church at Brighthelmston the day you favoured us with a sermon, which gave such high offence to a certain description of gentlemen, I have, as may naturally be supposed, had my ears sufficiently stunned with enquiries relative to this sermon, both by many that were present, as well as the absent. From some of the former, I have experienced no small portion of ill-nature, because I could not conscientiously join in the cry with those who can judge the motives of their neighbour better than he can himself, and pronounce it at once seditions, libellous, traitorous, democratic.
The answer I have given to the latter description of inquirers, was in substance, “That I doubted not but that Dr. Knox would submit his sermon, in proper time, to that public at large, which is better able to judge, and generally more candid, than interested individuals, who often misapprehend, but more frequently misrepresent, a subject, to apologise for illiberality and malevolence;” adding, “That that christian charity, which men of our order ought to entertain one towards another, would not allow me to suppose, that Dr. Knox’s motive was to hint, in the most distant manner, at the subvertion of our present happy constitution and government, but merely to expatiate on the advantages of universal peace and good-will among mankind, and to reprobate the decision of disputes by the umpirage of the sword.”
May I, therefore, take the liberty to ask, whether you have it in intention to publish the sermon, or not? that I may have an opportunity of gratifying my inquirers with a more satisfactory answer. As I am partly a stranger to you, I beg you will excuse this liberty; and remain,
Rev. Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
J. Mossop.Brighthelmston, 12th Sept., 1793.
To the Rev. Dr. Knox.