The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-06 00:00:00

THE LATE ARCHDEACON BROOKS.

THE people of Liverpool have decided to commemo-
rate the virtues and long services of our late Archdeacon
by a statue, to be placed in one of the niches within
St. George's-hall. Our readers will recollect that,
some weeks ago, we suggested a church as the most
fitting monument ; while some have recommended a
girls' school, and others an endowment for the unfi-
nished church, which is already popularly known and
spoken of as Archdeacon BnooEs',---and very appro-
priately, being the last within the bounds of this great
parish in which he was permitted to interest himself.
Against the decision in favour of a statue we would say
nothing more than, that we should have preferred
something which, while it would have equally marked
the Parishioners' sense of their late Rector's many
virtues, would have been calculated to promote the
higheSt interests of those who were sometime his flock.
The people have said a statue, and, therefore, a statue
let it be : and we earnestly hope, that the subscrip-
tion-list will not only allow the committee to engage
the first talent for its execution, but furnish a large
balance for other objects after all expenses are de-
frayed.- In one point of view, even we are ready to
admit that a statue is preferable to what ourselves ven-
tured to suggest ; for, had a church been decided
upon, it could hardly have been expected that any but
churchmen would have contributed towards its erec-
tion. Certainly, no consistent Dissenter could have
done so. To a statue, however, particularly to one
which is to be erected in a secular building, such as
St. George's-hall, the Dissenter may contribute as
conaistently as a Churchman ; and of many thousands
of them, we believe, he had secured the love and
respect, no less than of his own people. And, there-
fore, while we retain our previously expressed opinion,
and should have rejoiced had our fellow-townsmen
coincided with us, we again say, a statue let it be, and
one at once worthy of him whom it is intended to
commemorate, and of the noble building in which it
will be placed.
But, is it really imperative to confine the con-
tributions of the people to one object? Let the statue,
by all means, be first provided for : but cannot some-
thing else be done, more immediately connected with
the great parish over which the late Archdeacon so
long presided ? We have already said, that one of
the suggestions was to raise an endowment for the
yet unfinished church in the district of Vauxhall:
and we do not believe that any insuperable difficulty
would be found, if it should be attempted to carry it
out. Nothi 2; could be more appropriate, for helook
a special interest in its erection, and already it is
popularly connected with his name by the people in
its more immediate neighbourhood. And no one can
look at the neighbourhood without being convinced,
that an adequate endowment would be as great a
boon as the church itself. There can be no doubt
that the erection of a House of God, and the location
of a Minister of God, in such a place, are great steps
in the right direction; and that even under the most.
unfavourable circumstances some spiritual good must
result from them. But, for many reasons, it is im-
portant that the Minister should be provided with a
maintenance : for, not to speak of the difficulty of
raising a sufficient income in a poor district ; not to
speak of the fact that he must feel painfully conscious
that every augmentation of income testifies of self-
denial and self-sacrifice, upon the part of those who
can least afford them ; how painful a position is it for
him to be placed in, to know that whenever the line
of duty diverges from that of popular prejudice, he
can only follow the former at the risk, or rather with
the certainty, of having his already-limited-means
still further reduced. As long as his income arises
from pew-rents he will be regarded by the bulk of
his congregation, not as the minister of God and their
servant for Jesus' sake, but, as their servant directly
and immediately, engaged for their service, and paid
with their money. And though they cannot, upon
any particular occasion, show their dissatsfaction
by dismissing him from his post, they will not
fail to withdraw themselves and leave him to
starve in it. This is a position in which no
honest man should be placed, be he high Church-
man or low Churchman. It gives to his congregation
a power which, even for their own sakes, it is
not desirable that they should possess. However,
even supposing this difficulty to be overcome, and the
congregation taught to regard God's minister as a
shepherd, and themselves as his flock, others remain
behind; and not the least of these is, that his income
will in all probability be at its lowest, when he has
the greatest need of all his resources. Pew-rents in
a poor neighbourhood will never produce any very
large sum, but will assuredly produce less than usual
in years of distress, let the distress arise from what
cause it may ; and these are the very times at which
he will be constantly called upon to put his hand in
his pocket. The expenses of himself, and of his family
if he has one, are largely increased ; he is surrounded
by numerous cases of sickness and poverty ; and his
income, which was barely sufficient before, is dimi-
nished by a third, or a half, or even more. And how
many opportunities of doing good are lost by the
Minister who is constantly compelled to turn a deaf
ear to the complaints, or shut his eyes upon the
miseries of his people, we need hardly say.
But, besides all this, it will not be denied, that they
who minister at the Altar have a claim for their own
sakes. They are entitled not only to a maintenance
for themselves, but to such a maintenance as will
enable them to make provision for their families.
Clergy-orphan Schools, and Clergy-widows' Funds,
are all very well, but there ought to be no necessity
for them ; and painful must be the lot of one who, while
he is spending and being spent in the service of God,
has no more cheering prospect for his loved ones, when
himself shall be removed from them, than is generally
afforded by these and similar institutions. So far the
case would be different, if our Clergy, like those of
Rome, were bound to a life of celibacy ; but, to say
nothing of the inexpediency and wickedness of re-
quiring from them such a vow, we may safely assert
that they are hardly allowed a choice in the matter.
They not only may, but, as a general rule, they ought
to, and must, marry. We say must: for theretis a
general prejudice against an unmarried clergy, and
not without foundation in reason. But surely the
laity, who require them to marry, should enable them
to do so without the almost-certainty of leaving, at
some future period, a family of paupers behind them.
It would be easy to extend our remarks upon this
subject; but enough, we think, has been said to show,
that no testimonial to our late Archdeacon could be
more useful, none more appropriate, than an endow-
ment for a church in a poor district which owes its
erection in so great a measure to his exertions. Doubt-
less there are many others which need it as much ; but
if the evil, in this town of overwhehnning magnitude,
is to be abated, a beginning must be made somewhere;
and nowhere can it be made more appropriately.

THE NATIONAL DEBT.—TI
t,ratrotal amount of the unre-
deemed public debt on the 31sti
of which £3,007,775 was in Two:ant 155' was
2-1911. f per Cent. Stook,
paying an annual interest of £75
Three per Cent. Stock, paying an interest £745,333,404 in
£2,871,515 in Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Stock paying
interest of £100,503 ; and £433,121 in Five per C" epnay
paying an interest of £21,656. On the .sth or shualunacirtiSltoBe2ko,
Bthlits exhibiting
unredeemed debt amounted to £794,080,4,
an-
nual interest payable thereon to £27,736,448
a decrease, between 1820 and 1855, of £43,334,663 on the
capital stock, and £5,179,093 (net) on the annual interest.
The gross increase of interest amounted to £21,851,
too3ltal
,
against a gross increase of £16,671,485. The gross
amount of debt created from 1820 to 1855 was £523,358,006,
and the amount of debt redeemed, £566,693,342, thus leaving
a balance of £13,334,663 debt redeemed.