East Anglia: Personal Recollections and Historical AssociationsRitchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
History
East Anglia: Personal Recollections and Historical Associations
Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
East Anglia (England)
Such a man was John Childs. One more busy in body and brain I never
knew. That he was disposed to be cynical was natural. Most men who see
much of the world, and who do not wear coloured glasses, are so. Take
the history of the Bible monopoly. The work of its abolition was
commenced by John Childs, of Bungay, carried on and completed as far as
Scotland was concerned by Dr. Adam Thompson, while the British public in
its usual silliness awarded £3,000 to Dr. Campbell, on the plea—I quote
the words of the late Dr. Morton Brown, of Cheltenham—that, ‘God gave the
honour very largely to our friend, Dr. Campbell, to smite this bloated
enemy of God and man full in the forehead.’ The bloated enemy, as
regards Scotland, was dead before Dr. Campbell had ever penned a line.
As regards England, I believe it still exists.
It must have been about 1837 that the name of John Childs, of Bungay, was
made specially notorious by reason of his refusal to pay Church-rates,
and when he had the honour of being the first person imprisoned for their
non-payment. He was proceeded against in the Ecclesiastical Courts, and
as his refusal to pay was solely on conscientious grounds, he did not
contest the matter. The result was, he was sent to Ipswich Gaol for the
non-payment of a rate of 17s. 6d., the animus of the ecclesiastical
authorities being manifested by the endorsement of the writ, ‘Take no
bail.’ It was the first death-blow to Church-rates. The local
excitement it created was intense and unparalleled. In the House of
Commons Sir William Foulkes presented several petitions from Norfolk, and
Mr. Joseph Hume several from Suffolk, on the subject. One entire sitting
of the House of Commons was devoted to the Bungay Martyr, as Sir Robert
Peel ironically termed him. The Bungay Martyr had however, right on his
side. It was found that a blot had been hit, and it had to be removed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account