1U
hemzelven opgesteld en geschreven T), waaruit zou moeten
blijken, dat Worsley den dienst voor ds. Burdett als predi
kant had waargenomen. Anders kan ik niet bevestigd worden,
had Worsley een hunner van uit Middelburg geschreven. 3)
En de parochianen, tot wie het verzoek kwam, zagen er geen
bezwaar in, om zulk eene nietszeggende verklaring te teek enen.
Ze zouden den dominee er maar buiten laten; want deze zou
toch niet willen teekenen. Maar nu hadden zij er spijt van
naar hun zeggen aan dominee. En bijaldien het weer mocht
voorkomen, zouden ze voorzichtiger zijn. 3) //De menschen
„As he by letter acknowledged himself5Zie Sentence of the qualified college.
2) Zie schrijven van ds. Burdett aan ds. Holden te Maldon (Essex) in dato
19 Augustus 1760, waarin ook eene copie van Worsley's schrijven uit Middel
burg in dato 13 Maart 1760 aan den heer Murton, koster te Newington.
Daarin schreef Worsley o. a.„The church there (Middelburg) desire no
more, than that some of my friends would only certify, that they knew me at
Newington, when I preached for Sir Hugh Burdett, vicar of the said place,
tho' it appear'd I was not in orders. They have themselves ordain'd me accor
ding to the form of ordination in an assembly, they call the classes; but I can
not be establishedtill I receive this lavor from my friends at Newington of my
living there."
3) Ds. Burdett vindt zelf die handelwijze van zijne gemeentenaren zouder-
ling en vreemd, doch niet zoo vreemd als het sommigen lijkt. „This Worsley
you must note", schrijft hij aan collega Holden, „heretofore a broker in
London, comes and settles hmself at Sittingbournfeigns himself to be in or
ders, hires the vicaragehouse of mr. Bland, sets up a school and immediately
acquires two neigbouring curacies; this was in the - spriug in the year 1757,
at which time he was not curate to me; in the month of October one of
his curacies was wanted for the vicars own son, 1 think; well then, as I
was absent upon a visit to my relationswho so handy as Worsley so he
gets my curacy promising at the same time not to leave it under two months
notice. But notwithstanding that he meets with a temptation to break his word
and does it; for the curacy of Milton was vacant, a more valuable curacy, so
he accepts of that. But he had not serv'd that long, before mr. Gregory, the
vicar, hears a whisper, that he was not in orders: upon this mr. Gregory goes
to him and requires to see his letters of orders; Worsley tells him, that he had
left them in the hands of his good friend Doctor SomebodyI forget whom
but no matter mr. Gregory writes to this doctor, and the doctor answer'd,
that all he knew of Worsley, was, that he had been a broker broken, or to
that effectand that consequently he could not be in orders at all. Upon this
