Transcribed from the [1877] Hatchards edition ,
ON THEOCCASION OF THE CONSECRATION OF
THE RIGHT REV. ROWLEY HILL,
LORD BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN.
BY
THE REV. CANON HOARE,
VICAR OF TRINITY, TUNBRIDGEWELLS.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.
LONDON: HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.
TUNBRIDGE WELLS: H. COLBRAN, CALVERLEYROAD.
SHEFFIELD: P. D. HOPKINS.
Price One Shilling.
The Consecration of the Bishop ofSodor and Man will long be remembered, both at York andSheffield; for no one can have been present on that occasionwithout having been profoundly impressed by the sight of theoverwhelming congregation, and the many tokens of deep interestmanifestly taken in the service. So many of the Sheffieldpeople desired to be present that two special trains wereprepared for their accommodation, by which there arrived no lessthan seven hundred persons. The Dean having heard that theywere coming did all in his power to give them a welcome. The whole space in front of the Communion-rail was filled withseats, and in the admission of the crowds who were pressing intothe Cathedral precedence was given to the visitors fromSheffield. But, notwithstanding all the efforts of theCathedral authorities, I am sorry to say that a great many failedto get in. Before the Sermon I sat in the stalls, and toavoid the crowd in the choir I was conducted p. ivinto thenave, and so outside the choir to the pulpit. In the courseof that walk I saw hundreds who were unable to obtainadmission. Some were standing in the nave, and othersstraining to see and hear through the glass screen by the side ofthe choir. When the door was opened to let me in I cannotsay how I longed to take them all in with me. But that wasimpossible. The whole place was packed, and every availablestanding-ground in the neighbourhood of the pulpit was full.
Nor was it a mere sight-seeing crowd. I found myselfsurrounded by people who were manifestly there for higher ends,and who listened with as fixed an attention as any preacher coulddesire. But the most remarkable part of the service was theHoly Communion, with which it closed. At the end of thePrayer for the Church Militant there was a pause, in order thatthose who did not intend to remain for the Lord’s Suppermight retire; but of the great crowd near the rail very few wentaway. At first it seemed a doubtful question whether theyunderstood that the time was come for them to go; but it soonbecame evident that they perfectly understood what they weredoing, and that they were remaining to partake of theLord’s Supper. The bread and wine originally preparedwas quite p.vinsufficient for such a number of communicants, and itwas necessary to send out for an additional supply. Whenonce the service began everything was done that could be done forthe comfort of all that were present; but as the whole space infront of the rail was filled with seats, all of which wereoccupied, and there was only one narrow passage by which thecommunicants could both approach and retire, and as there wereeight persons