Protestant Exiles from France/Book First - Chapter 13 - Section XIX
XIX. Rev. Henry Bellenden Bulteel, M.A.
John Bulteel, Esq., of Flete, by his wife, the Hon. Diana Bellenden, was the father of John (of Flete and Lyneham), Thomas-Hillesden, Henry-Bellenden (unmarried), and other children. Of these, Thomas Hillesden Bulteel, Esq., married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Christopher Harris, Esq., of Bellevue, near Plymouth, and had five sons, John, Christopher, Thomas H., Henry-Bellenden (afterwards Rev.), and Francis F.; also two daughters.
The date of the birth of Rev. Henry Bellenden Bulteel was about 1802. He became a distinguished graduate of Oxford University, M.A., and Fellow of Exeter College. He obtained his Fellowship in 1826. For nearly five years he was curate-in-charge of St. Elbe’s, Oxford. He obtained celebrity by a sermon preached before his university at St. Mary’s, on 6th February 1831. Such was the esteem in which he was held that “an audience was attracted such as never perhaps was witnessed within the walls of St. Mary’s;” so wrote Professor Burton, who courteously added, “Every word which was uttered proceeded from conscientious sincerity.” Mr. Bulteel was indeed an undaunted and able preacher of the Gospel; his doctrines were those of the early Protestant Reformers, and it was for no alleged heresy that he was eventually excluded from the Church of England, as appears from the letters of the Bishop of Oxford (Bagot):—
(1.) “Canterbury, July 16, 1831. — Rev. Sir, — It is not without considerable regret that I address you upon the subject of a complaint which has caused me great anxiety. Various communications have been made to me of your having travelled into several dioceses, and, in many instances, where the pulpit of the Church has been refused to you, of your having preached in Dissenting Meeting-houses and in the open air. I request that you will give me an early answer as to the truth of this complaint, and I earnestly hope that it may prove satisfactory. — I remain, Rev. Sir, your faithful servant,
R. Oxford.”
(2.) “Canterbury, August 5, 1831. — Rev. Sir. — After your admission of the truth of those reports which I mentioned to you in a former letter, respecting your having in various instances preached in Dissenting Meeting-houses and in the open air where the pulpit of the Church had been refused to you, I have to inform you that it becomes my duty to withdraw your license to the Curacy of St. Elbe’s. — I remain, Rev. Sir, your faithful servant,
R. Oxford.”
Mr. Bulteel had during several previous weeks made a preaching tour in Devonshire and Somersetshire. After his exclusion from the Established Church, he received adult baptism from Rev. John Howard Hinton, in St. Clement’s Chapel, Oxford; this was on 12th February 1832. He temporarily succumbed to Irvingite teaching concerning the “working of miracles” and “speaking with tongues;” but Irvingism he soon renounced with abhorrence. He continued to be an advocate of adult baptism, but did not join the church that calls itself Baptist. He preserved his individuality, and a Non-Conformist church was built for him at Oxford, in which he ministered for many years. This at length was sold, and in his later years he officiated in a church of his own in the South-West of England, near the place of his birth. As to the site of this church and as to the date of his lamented death, I am not informed. But an excellent living divine, who was personally acquainted with him, assures me that he maintained a truly religious and Christian character.
His celebrated sermon went through six editions during the year when it was preached and printed. It occasioned a pamphlet-war between him and Professor Burton on the Doctrines of the Protestant Reformers, mingled with skirmishes. For instance, as to the appointment of bishops, Mr. Bulteel said, alluding to the 38th Article, “That body of clergy, who should first decline the honour of receiving a bishop at the Royal recommendation, would well testify their attachment to their Article, deserve the thanks of the Church of England, and the sincerest gratitude of the true Church of Christ within her pale.” Also, as to an indiscriminate granting of certificates of good character to candidates for the ministry, which were often false, the Professor’s reply had been weak, amounting to a plea that certificates of religious character granted to hitherto irreligious young men were properly anticipatory of their immediate and persevering repentance, if not granted charitably and in ignorance. In answer to this, Mr. Bulteel wrote, “Dr. B. supposes that the vices of the young men might possibly not come to the knowledge of the Heads and Tutors of the Colleges. Some of their vices probably may not. But what shall we say of those which take place within the College Walls? What meaneth this bleeting of sheep in mine ears? What mean those horrid execrations, oaths, and curses? What mean those notes of revelry and songs of lewdness and profanity, in which the whole company join in chorus? . . . Those whose conscience will not suffer them to give, testimonials to a pious Calvin ist, and yet bestow them on such characters as these, do but strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.” Mr. Bulteel also could say, “More than one tutor, within a day or two from the delivery of my Sermon, confessed publicly to their pupils the truth of my assertions on this head, and told them that they should therefore no longer sign testimonials in the same general way which was practised before.”
*⁎* The literature on this controversy is —
1. A Sermon on I Corinthians ii. 12, preached before the University, &c, to which is added a Sequel containing an account of the Author’s ejectment from his Curacy by the Bishop of Oxford, for indiscriminate preaching. Sixth Edition. Oxford, 1831.
2. Remarks on a Sermon preached at St. Mary’s, on Sunday, February 6, 1831. By the Rev. Edward Burton, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity. Oxford, 1831.
3. A Reply to Dr. Burton’s Remarks, &c. By the Rev. H. B. Bulteel, M.A., late Fellow of Exeter College, and Curate of St. Elbe’s, Oxford. Oxford, 1831.
4. A Hard Nut to Crack, or a Word in Season for Mr. Bulteel. By a Member of the Church of God at Oxford. Second Edition. 1832. Price Twopence.
I have regarded this controversy from an old Huguenot point of view. I give it a pacific aspect by placing Henry Bellenden Bulteel among scholars and authors, and not among the clergy.