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Unsettled Years
Failure at Piddlehinton
When Carter came to Clewer
"Papistical Practices"
Canon Carter in Clewer
Carter's Response
Retirement
Carter's Passing
The Last Article
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CARTER'S RESPONSE
In 1874, in response to what were seen as growing "papistical
tendencies" in the C.of E. the Government passed the Public Worship
Regulation Act. The Queen - with her soft spot for Presbyterianism - was
delighted. Disraeli called high church ritualism "a mass in
masquerade". Gladstone, however, disapproved of the Church and its liturgy
being made "a parliamentary football" and he opposed subordination of
Church to State. Four priests were actually imprisoned under the terms of the
Act, but these imprisonments of good men served to bring the Act into disrepute.
The Act gave leave for "aggrieved parishioners" to make
representations to the Bishop. The Bishop, however, had the power to veto legal
proceedings, thanks to a clause introduced by Archbishop Tait.
So when, in 1877, Captain Thomas Bulkley of Clewer Lodge, and others, tried
to bring charges against Thomas Carter, Bishop Mackarness vetoed the action. In
1878 Dr. Frederick Julius of The Hermitage, Clewer Green, sought to bring action
against Carter, but ultimately, after many legal developments, the Bishop of
Oxford stood firm for Carter.
He (Carter) when the Julius case collapsed, knowing that although Bishop
Mackarness had defended him he did not approve of "ritualism" decided
that the honourable thing to do was to resign.
This he did, becoming full-time Warden of the Community of St. John Baptist
and living in a house, St. John's Lodge, built for him in Hatch Lane. The new
Rector, Roland Errington, allowed Carter to continue to live at the Rectory
until his house was ready.
Denis Shaw |