DELIGHT AND GRATITUDE IN THE CATHEDRAL, EXETER, 1822.

".... last  Thursday was indeed an exhilairating - a triumphant day, for all the real friends of the old Church of England in this city and neighbourhood.   The large number of children (more than 1,300) assembled in the House of God - all of whom are being educated in the good old paths of Christianity, or, in other words, in the doctrines of the Established Church of this country;  the sound of the voices of these little ones, poured forth to the praise and glory of their God and Father, in the words of that beautiful .... Christian psalm the 16th; - the crowded Congregation of all ranks of society, met to give their support to so entirely unexceptional an Institution as the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; - and though last , by no means the least,  the truly sound, judicious, and impressive sermon of the Archdeacon of Totnes, - all together conspired to excite, within the minds of those present, unmingled sentiments of delight and gratitude."

Thirteen hundred 'little ones' chanted this good old 'Christian!?' psalm of David whereby they declared that the sorrows of people who hastened after other gods would be multiplied and that they, the children who sang, would refuse to drink the offerings of blood that these same 'others' drank.   Moreover they declared  their gratitude to God that he would not leave their souls in hell.  I wonder what sense the many  'little ones' made of Psalm 16. 

The representative of The Exeter Flying News (26th  September 1822) and  the rest of the crowded congregation were, we are told, grateful for and delighted by this Gathering of Charity School children in Exeter's Cathedral in 1822.  

EXETER AND THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT, 1868.

The Editor of the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (19th June 1868 was alarmed that the Volunteers in Exeter were underfunded.   The Exeter Volunteer battalion depended on local subscriptions and, as always in more peaceful times, these were drying up.

"EXETER is bound to stand by the volunteer movement.  In the year 1859 all England awakened to the important fact that the best possible method by which a country could gain the prestige abroad of being a well-fortifed land was that of arming the flower of its citizens., and teaching them how courage and patriotism might be utilised to the end of preserving our shores from foreign invasion."

When he looked at the continent of Europe the Editor saw that: 

"Numberless schemes occupy the minds of Sovereigns and Ministers, and, for the most part, they are not schemes of commerce or peace, but of war; of changes of dominions, of re-arrangements of empire." 

"It is true that for the last year or two we have been less prosperous than heretofore, but to cease to encourage and subscribe to the Volunteer army now would be to yield a point of nationality which might prove the worst piece of economy ever practiced in England."

"We believe the momentary error will soon be amended, but it is expecially depressing to the pride of the city which writes Semper Fidelis on its banners, and whose civilians did not wait for the crowing of the French colonels before they put themselves under arms, to be told that the Exeter battalion languishes, not for want of men or military zeal, but for lack of public subscriptions".

The Exeter and South Devon Volunteers, formed in 1852. were the premier unit of the national Volunteer Force.  The City was proud of them. 

The Gazette was proved right to fear that there would be further threats of invasion and, however remote the possibility may seem, the threat of an armed invasion of our shores never altogether disappears. 

When did I last see, hear or read of territorials (Reservists) in Exeter?  They seem to keep an amzingly low profile.  I hope we still have some.

"RELIGIOUS FRENZY", EXETER, 1828

 On Sarurday 17th May 1823 a young man who had been exhibiting extraordinary conduct in the street was brought before the magistrates at the Exeter Guildhall.   His name was Josiah Stonelake,  He came from Bovey Tracey and Contable Howard had found him distributing religious tracts,   Josiah said that he had been with the Lord, and that the speedy destruction of the world had been communicated to him.

"....previous to getting into this state of religious frenzy he had been the mate of a most respectable Devonshire mercantile house, in the Newfoundland trade.  The unfortunate young man's violent conduct soon rendered retraint necessary,  but consistent therewith, every humane attention was paid him, and , under proper attention he has been conveyed to his friends."

It would seem that for some in every generation the end of the world is nigh.  Josiah Stonelake was wrong about the speedy destruction of the world.  His information came from the Lord; two hundred years later it comes from the scientists and is therefore perhaps a tad more reliable.   

I am aware that, as I write, there are frenzied young men and women, not just millenarians, extraordinary and violent in their conduct, on the streets of Exeter every day and night.  No one seems to pay them any attention, never mind proper attention.   Is this progress or regression?  

Source The Western Times, 24th May 1828. 

A WANTED MAN, EXETER, 1813.

 An advertisement that appeared in The Exeter Flying Post (of the 8th April 1813) gave information that:

"JOSEPH COLERIDGE, of this city, Wheelright, having left his Wife and Family chargeable to the Corporation of the Poor of the said city, This is to give notice, that a reward of FIVE GUINEAS will be given to such person or persons who shall inform Mr. Robert Davey, the Inspector of the Poor of the said city, of the residence of the said Joseph Coleridge, so as he may be apprehended for the said offence.

"N.B. The said Joseph Coleridge is about 31 years of age, five feet five inches high, light complexion, light brown hair, and is supposed to be in or near London."

Poor Joseph had had enough of Exeter and of his wife and family and he had skipped it.   But it was not going to be that easy!  Robert Davey was on his track and hoped to haul him back to Exeter to be punished for his offence and there to fulfil his responsibilities to his family.

I find myself sympathising, for no good reason, with little Joseph Coleridge, the fugitive wheelright, and hoping that he managed successfully to lose himself in the Great Wen. 

And why do petty bureaucrats of every said time and place end up murdering the said language?

"THE SAVOURY FLUID", EXETER, 1895.

 On the first day of 1895, the Editor of The Western Times called for the soup kitchen to be opened:

"During the prevalence of the bitter weather which has just set in, it is hoped that the promoters of the Soup Kitchen will take speedy measures to commence the delivery of the savoury fluid.  The new year is destined to open to-day in a very severe position, with frost and snow and all the most trying aspects of winter.   This means that many men will be thrown out of employment and there will be much privation among their families, as well as in households with limited means.  The supply of rich, nourishing soup at such a time is doubly welcome, therefore, and I trust that it may soon be obtainable.   

"The kitchen became the means at about this time last year when we had such a fit of frosty weather, of doing a vast amount of good by giving the right sustenance at the right moment.  The corners of the streets at the present moment are the places of assembly of men who look as if a good basin of soup would be welcome, whilst there are children to be met with to whom such a meal would be a positive blessing."

Only ten days later the  newspaper was able to report that the kitchen had been established and soup had been served.  The ingredients had been meat, peas, onions and parsnips and 6,135 quarts had already been provided to the needy at 'tuppence' a bowl.   The charitable citizens had provided the means, mainly in tickets, bought by the dozen and then distributed by the buyer, for the families of the poor and the unemployed to eat rich, nourishing soup.

Source  The Western Times, 1st and 10th January, 1895.

LISTEN TO TOMMY BUCKNILL!, EXETER 1894.

The Recorder had travelled 200 miles to Exeter's Guildhall and on the last day of December 1894  the Grand Jury had been assembled for the Exeter Quarter Sessions but there were no prisoners to be tried.  There was nothing to be done except for the Sheriff to present to the Recorder, T. T. ("Tommy") Bucknill, who was born in Exminster, the customary pair of white gloves and for them all to go home again.  Mr. Bucknill made a speech to the Jury in which he said:

"....I am going to ask you to listen to me for a moment or two , because I think we have good reason to be proud of ourselves as citizens.  There can be no greater sign of success, of good local government, and of those things of which we ought to be proud, than the absence of crime.  Crime may be traced to many causes and may arise from various sources,  bur we may take this as true and indisputable - that where a city is badly managed, where its local administration is carelessly managed, where its police force do not do their duty, where its Corporation is idle and careless, there you certainly will find crime, there you will find trouble, there you will find those things which you do not now happily possess in the City of Exeter.

"Therefore I say again, as an old Exonian, as an old Grammar school boy, as one who has the privilege - the high privilege - of presiding over a  court where I held my first brief, I have reason to feel proud of the facr that I meet you here on the closing day of the year to congratulate you and Exeter that nothing is found for us to do in the shape of administering the criminal law." 

Source The Western Times, 1st January 1895

INGENUITY AND PERSEVERENCE, EXETER, 1815.

"The public were highly gratified on Thursday evening by the first exhibition of Gas Lights in the streets of this city.  The communication with the Gasometer erected at Mr Phillip's house, being made so far as the Guildhall;  two superb lamps have been placed in the front of this building, each furnished with a burner, from which radiate three flames sufficiently brilliant to illuminate the street at a very considerable distance.  The purity of the light had a most pleasing effect, and excited much admiration. The highest praise is due to Mr Reuben Phillips, Jun. by whose ingenuity and perseverence this modern discovery has been so readily introduced into Exeter, and from the success which has already attended the experiment, there is no doubt but it will meet with general encouragement."

It is, I feel, a charming image: a December evening in front of the Guildhall and the Regency public being  gratified by gaslight. 

I read in the Wikipedia article on gas-lighting that, outside London: "the first place in England to have gas lighting was Preston, Lancashire, in 1816."  so our Exeter High Street, in 1815, must have a fair claim to be the earliest gas-illuminated English street beyond the capital.   

The ingenious and persevering citizen, Reuben Phillips, son of an eighteenth-century Mayor of Exeter, went on to build an Exeter gas-company and to make a fortune.   He merits one of those little blue plaques!

 Source: The Exeter Flying Post, 14th December, 1815.