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Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 604, 1 October 1853, Page 3

A Religious Feud. — For several months pant violent disputes have existed between the " Reform " and " Conference " sections of theWesleyan Methodists, in the manufacturing 1 village of Yeadon, in the West Hiding of Yorkshire. The peace has several times been broken, riots and assaults have been committed, and several persons, said to be of the " Reform " party, are now under recognizances to keep the peace ; and a suit in Chancery is pending in respect to the possession of a chapel in the village, formerly occupied by the •• Conference" party, but now in the hands of tha " Reformers." The chief outrages appear to have bean committed on the side of tha " Reformers," but whether by members of the Reform Methodist Society, or by the rabble that belong to such a village as Yeadon, it questionable. To show to what extent this religious feud has got, it only need be men* tioned that two of the "Conference" party were on Wednesday last committed for trial at the next assizes at York, charged with having fired a loaded blunderbuss at a young maa named Hiram Yeadon, of Yeadon (one of (be " Reform" party), with intent to murder him. The case occupied the attention of the rnagisstrates at Leeds for ten hours. It appeared that Hiram Yeadon was shot on the evening of Sunday, the 13th of March last, while passing along Chapel-lane, from a window of the house attached to the chapel formerly in possession of the " Conference " party, but now in the hands of the " Reformers," but which house is occupied by Thomas Mann, an adherent to the "Conference" body. Six persons .were charged before tbe beach with being concerned in the shooting. They were— W. i.Starkey, J. Starkey, T. Mann, J. Slater, J. Sykes. The latter is a discharged soldier, and it seems that he was engaged to protect Mano's, or the chapel, house in case of any attempt being made to carry out an oft-repeated threat of sacking it and forcibly turning Mann out. Yeadon's wounds were 60 serious that even now he has not wholly recovered ; and it has since transpired that another person passing the street at the moment, also received a portion of the contents of the blunderbuss fired at Yeadon. Under what circumstances the blunderbuss was fired— whether to scare away persons riotously assembled and assailing the house at the time, as contended on the part of the inmates, or wilfully and maliciously in the absence of any riotous aasemblage of persons or disturbance of any kind, as sworn on the part of those who gave evidence for the prosecution — will probably remain without satisfactory elucidation, tbe witnesses examined on behalf of the firing party and those whose i testimony was adduced for tbe person _ shot being equally positive, but diametrically opposed, so far as the fact of the riot is con* cerned. After a very patient inquiry, the magistrates committed John Sykes and John Mann for trial at the next assizes, but consented to admit them to bail. The other defendants were discharged. Much indignation has been excited among the naval officers at Portsmouth who are partial to cicars and tobacco, by the promulgation by Captain Shepherd, of the Victory, flagship, of an order pronibitmg all smokiag on board that ship by officer*. The or.ier is confined to -jjfi . e;B snmen, marines, and warrant officers being elill left lo iadulge in the "weed."