The clerical contest in the Black Country, of which we
wrote a fortnight since, ended on Wednesday, the Rev. Charles Lee &wring been elected Vicar of St. Leonard's, the contested parish in Bilston, by a vote of 2,195 to 756. Mr. Lee seems to have been the least objectionable of the candidates, a moderate evangelical, apparently not addicted to self-praise; but the election was quite .as bad as any for Parliament or the municipality. Supporters of Mr. Lee were taken from their carriages and "drubbed," probably all unpleasant process ; a drunken woman in the favourite colours was driven about the town ; and gangs of Irish girls wearing Mr. Ward's colours set upon. respectable people wearing Mr. Lee's, and but for the interference of the police would have " lynched " them in earnest. Voters found it necessary to get extremely -drunk with gin as well as enthusiasm, and the day ended in a -charge made by the police upon a riotous crowd of 2,000 people. It is a pity the soldiers were not called out, just to make the irony of the affair perfect ; but enough occurred to show that the Church may be subjected to evils a good deal worse than private patronage.
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