Alexandria Gazette

Penance in Church.-The following is an account of a penance lately done in church in Exeter, England:

"Our good church of Saint Olave was the scene of considerable bustle and excitement this morning, in consequence of Henry Turpin, of this city, baker, having been adjudged to do penance, for calling his sister-in-law, Mrs. Charlotte Heath, several names, impugning her chastity, &c. The Rev. Mr. Birch and Mr. Lang, the church-warden, were in attendance as early as ten o'clock, and the anxious audience, which was composed of a great number of butchers and other personal friends of the penitent, together with a considerable portion of the agricultural interest, who were attracted to the spot from its vicinity to the market. The penitent was dressed in a white fustian coatee, breeches, and gaiters to match, but was not arrayed in a white sheet, according to a popular notion.- The penitent repeated the following words after the clergyman: I, Henry Turpin, do hereby acknowledge and confess that I have abused and defamed the said Charlotte Heath, by saying that she is a . . . There followed the scandalous names given by the penitent to Mrs. Heath for which I beg her pardon, and promise no more for the future to defame and abuse her again in the like manner.' The culprit then said, 'It was all true; but the truth must not be spoken at all times;' on which the Rev. Gentleman said he would add the statement of the penitent if he repeated it, and then he would have to go through it again before the congregation. The Rev. Gentleman was so affected by the enormity of the words, that Mr. Turpin was obliged to say them for himself the second time. The congregation were not moved in like manner, for they seemed to think that Mr. Turpin's slander and Mrs. Heath's reputation were not the most solemn subjects to be settled at church and joined in the ceremony with much fun and merriment."