Since the affray at Stockport, those districts of Manchester, which are chiefly inhabited by the humbler classes of the Roman Catholics, of whom there are 80,000 in the town, have been in a very unsettled state, and the authorities have deemed it prudent to take precautions to prevent disturbances. The civil force will have the assistance of the soldiery, in case of need. An address to the Roman Catholic population has been iscued by the Rev. Dr. Turner, Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, in which be advises them to preserve the peace, and refrain from all attempts at reprisal: —
To the Catholics of Manchester and Salford and the neighbourhood, — We your bishops, have received the painfull intelligence that a serious disturbance has occurred in a neighbouring borough involving the breach of the peace; the loss of lives, the ransacking of two places of religions worship, and the destruction of a considerable amount of property; and it has been represented to as that these disgraceful acts of violence and transgression of the lews of this realm have arisen out of, and been caused by, religious animosities. In the discharge of the weighty duties devolved upon us, we earnestly entreat you not to join or take pert in any procession or meeting having a tendency to disturb the public peace, not only at present, but particularly during the ensuing Parliamentary election. We further exhort you to discountenance all angry discussions on religion, to cultivate and practice charitable feelings towards all your fellow subjects, more especially towards those who differ from you in religion, to evince by your general conduct that our religion is one which condemns all resentment and ill-will, and which requires from all her members the practice of meekness and the forgiveness of injuries, and the strict observance of the laws of the realm. Let your conduct during these trying and anxious times be such as to save your religion from the scandal which will necessarily attach by any act of insubordination or breach of the law. Let it be your anxious endeavour to aid and assist the civil authorities, whom Providence has placed over you, in the preservation of the peace, so that whatever scandal may exist elsewhere, you will occupy the proud position of proving to all our fellow subjects that while you adhere with firmness and unabated sincerity to the doctrines and discipline of our Church, you forgive those who persecute you, and are loyal and faithful subjects to the Crown and Constitution of the country. (Signed) X W. Turner.
Dated this 1st day of July, 1852, Manchester.
Related material from the same article
- St. Peter’s Schools, and Alderman Graham’s House
- The Roman Catholic Chapel of Sts. Philip and James, Edgeley
- St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Chapel, Park-street
- The Prisoners
- An Investigation into this lamentable affair
- To the Protestant electors of the Borough of Stockport
- To the Protestant electors of the Borough of Stockport [II]
- The Bishop Blaize Public-House
- The Cottages, Rock-Row, Carr-green
- Life returns to normal, and sightseers visit the town
Bibliography
The Riot at Stockport” The Illustrated London News 21 (10 July 1852): 28-30. Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 17 December 2015. The text above to which paragraph has been added for ease of reading was created from the web version with ABBYY FineReader. — George P. Landow
Last modified 17 December 2015