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.