CHAPTER XV.

DR. VICESIMUS KNOX AND THE SURREY MILITIA.

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.

* * * * *

REV. SIR,--I duly received yours of the 17th inst.; and as I look upon you to be misrepresented to the public, relative to the sermon you preached at Brighton, and consequently loaded with no small degree of unmerited opprobrium, I shall willingly contribute my mite to exonerate you. You have, therefore, my permission to publish my letter to you of the 12th of September last, in your intended vindication; provided your publication contain no invectives against the present existing government, nor any sentiments which might be improper for one zealously attached to our most excellent constitution to countenance.

I must conclude, by saying, that if every clergyman is to be exposed to insult, for doing what he conceives to be his duty, in exposing the reigning vices of the age, we shall soon find that the feeble rays of religion, which yet remain, to enlighten the christian world, will soon become totally eclipsed.

I am, Rev. Sir,

Your obedient humble servant, J. MOSSOP.

Brighthelmston, 19th Nov. 1793. To the Rev. Dr. Knox.

As a refutation that the appellation "'Democrat," could with any degree of truth be attached to Dr. Knox, the following extract from his published remarks cannot fail to suffice:--

I honour the King and the Prince; and I firmly believe that they would scorn to persecute or to oppress, at the instigation of the most opulent peer in the realm, the most defenceless individual, the most abject outcast, the most forlorn beggar in the British empire. I may be abused, reviled, forced out of theatres, but no man shall rob me of my loyalty. The father of his people shall ever find me a dutiful son; and the Prince himself shall not excel me as a peaceable subject, and a friend to law and order. Though he is certainly in all other qualities as much above me, as he is in birth, rank, and the glorious prospect of one day ruling over a great, enlightened, and a free people, he shall not excel me in a zeal for the interests of my country and of the human race.

Many persons endeavoured to induce Dr. Knox to take legal proceedings against his cowardly assailants; but he contented himself by sparing his pocket, publishing a narrative of the transaction,--now a rare work, although it went through three editions,--and lampooning, in a pamphlet called Prolegomena, those "Gentlemen of the Brighton Theatre," who, to be revenged on him, magnanimously insulted and assaulted his wife and his children.