23 OCTOBER 1869, Page 1

A meeting was held in the British Hotel, Cockspur Street,

on Wednesday, and attended both by Lord Shaftesbury and Dr. Pusey, to promote the rather hopeless object of preventing Dr Temple's nomination and election to the See of Exeter. Con sidering that Mr. Gladstone has recommended him, and the Queen approved the recommendation, and Dr. Temple accepted it, and that the Crown can appoint in case the Dean and Chapter refuse to elect, there is not very much room for the energy of the clergy who wish to "prevent the scandal." Perhaps that is the reason why they seem to have exhibited a certain superfluity of energy in thrusting back clergymen who went to the British Hotel without having made up their minds but open to conviction from the speeches of either the Evangelical or High-Church magnates. Some thirty clergymen in this state of mind seem to have been turned away,—discussion and persuasion not being the object of the meeting, but only counsels of resistance. One or two seem to Ihave been very rudely used, cries of "Send for a policeman !" and

"Turn him out !" being got up by the clerical conspirators, on the visitors declaring their wish to hear the arguments addressed to the meeting. It is natural, perhaps, that a meeting confeeeedly called to promote a hopeless cause should get to work at once. If there had been any opening for success, the clergy would have debated most anxiously the wisdom of attempting it.