The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-10 00:00:00

THE

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TUESDAY, JULY 10, 1855.

CHURCH PROSPECTS.

IME was, when Bishopricks in Ireland were
abolished with as little ceremony as if the office of
those who filled them had been one of confessedly
human institution, and of very questionable use.
Time was, when a profligate Minister insolently bade
our own Bishops to set their houses in order ; when
the Church's foes were many and rampant ; and her
own :children, for the most part, either disaffected, or
disheartened by contemplation of the many dangers
which surrounded and threatened her. Happily,
since then, things have slowly but surely altered for
the better ; and the change, which has already been
accomplished, affords a bright augury for the future,
so that those whose birth dates from about the period
referred to may well hope, if their lives be spared, to
see the Church of England more healthy, more ear-
nest, more vigorous, more powerful for good, than she
has ever been at any period of her history. Dangers,
it is true, still beset her, which will call for all the
prudence of her rulers, and all the zeal and diligence
of her pastors and people, to carry her through ; and
others, still unseen, may arise from time to time, to
retard her progress ; but still, we say, the experience
of the last quarter of a century is such as to inspire us
with gratitude and hope.
Who does not recollect the timid tone in which a
certain Commission reported, with regard to the re-
arrangement of our overgrown Dioceses ? How they
proposed to take a slice of territory from one and add
it to another, as if the existing evils could be reme-
died by giving additional work to a Bishop who had
already enough or too much, and leaving those who
were overworked only less so than they were before ?
How when, with wondrous temerity, they ventured to
suggest a new see at Ripon, they felt themselves com-
pelled, as a counterpoise, to propose the union of
Glo'stiaa... _and Bristol ? We all know, too, how nar-
rowly, first the see of Man, and then that of St. Asaph,
escaped suppression, in order to provide a Bishop for
the wealthy cotton-metropolis; and how, when the see
of Manchester was at length erected, it was only upon
condition that there should be no addition to the
Spiritual Peers in the Upper House, though up to
the time of the Reformation they were actually more
numerous than their lay brethren, who have since
been multiplied without let or hindrance. We all
know, too, how Commissioners recommended, not the
reform, but the cutting-down of our Cathedral Es-
tablishments ; and how Parliament carried out their
recommendations, thereby rendering them incapable
of that efficiency, the lack of which was urged in
defence of their spoliation. Who, then, we ask, will
not thank GOD and take courage, when, with all these
things, he compares the Report of the last Cathedral
Commission, recently made public ? Its recommen-
dations are all in an opposite direction, its framers
evidently wishing to restore and reform, and not to
destroy. Some of their recommendations may, possi-
bly, be open to question:; but, viewing the report as a
whole, we can wish nothing better than to see it car-
ried out ; while the very existence of it, we hope, will
put a stop once for all to such crude and ill-digested
schemes as those which Lord BLANDFORD has so
perseveringly brought before the Legislature.
But the part of the report which has afforded us
most pleasure, is that in which the Commissioners re-
commend the foundation of twelve additional sees: few
enough for the wants of the Church, which could well
find occupation for four times the existing number of
Bishops; but, what a contrast with the recommen-
dations of the old Commission ! We will not quarrel
about seats in the Upper House, if only we can obtain
this addition to the Episcopate : nay, sooner than not
obtain it, we would be content to see the Lords Spi-
ritual removed from that august assembly in a body.
Already we see it asserted in the public prints, with
what truth we know not, that measures are on foot
for founding four of the twelve new sees ; and we fer-
vently hope, that no impediment may be thrown iu
the way upon the score of its being difficult to provide
palaces and lordly incomes. We do not consider that
any of our Bishops are overpaid, though some may be
over-housed ; but we should be sorry, indeed, that
the Church should lose the advantages which are cer-
tain to accrue to her from an increase in their num-
bers, merely because it may not be possible to pay the
additional ones equally well.

QUEEN'S LETTERS AND THE CHURCH

SOCIETIES.

AN influence, which no one can doubt is adverse to
the Church of England, has been at work, as our
readers are probably aware, to cause three of our
Church Societies to be deprived of that portion of their
incomes-which was collected under the authority of
what are known as Queen's Letters. 'The societies in
whose favour these documents were alternately issued
are, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
'Foreign Parts, the National School Society, and the
Church Building Society ; and, as we have already
maintained with regard to the' second of these, so now
we fearlessly assert of the other two, that they know
no party but the Church, and are, therefore, worthy of
the warmest support of all the Church's children.
'The first of these, we believe, affected by the refusal
to issue the usual Queen's Letter, is that for Church
Buildilig:—But how- is it to be affected ? Once in
three years the SOVEREIGN, through the Archbishops
and Bishops, has required a collection to be made in
its behalf; and the amount received has varied from
about twenty-four "to-thirty thousand pounds, which,
divided into three, has afforded an addition to its funds
of from eight to ten thousand a year, the other two
societies realising about an equal sum. We recollect,
some years ago, that the Times, in consequence of a
dispute between its then-proprietor and the Incumbent
of the parish in which he resided, endeavoured to prove
the illegality of Church collections, unless made under
the Queen's authority ; and, possibly, those who have
brought about the refusal of this authority may en-
deavour to revive this point, and hinder the Church to
do for herself what others refuse to do for her. How-
ever, many and bitter as are the Church's foes, the
temper of the times would hardly, we think, support
any attempt of this kind, and, therefore, we will not
anticipate it. The problem is, how to raise an annual
sum of some twenty-eight thousand pounds, in order
that these three societies may not suffer, nor their work
be impeded. And, surely, there ought to be no diffi-
culty in this. It would only amount to au average of
two pounds for each of our congregations ; and what
we fear is, not want of ability upon the Church's part
to raise this sum) a mere drop in the bucket compared
with the wealth of Christian England, but, that some
of the clergy through forgetfulness, some through
procrastination, and others through lukewarmness,
will allow the year to slip away without making the
necessary effort. We would fain hope that the bishops
will.do something in the matter. A united pastoral
from them would, we believe, be even more efficacious
than a Queen's letter, and certainly far more satisfac-
tory in principle. And, if this be found to be imprac-
ticable, there is no reason why each bishop should not
address the clergy of his own diocese : and, even if some
of the: n should decline to take this course, we see not
what is to hinder each clergyman addressing his own
flock. We are satisfied that, if the right steps are
taken, the societies will not only not be injuriously
affected by the hostility of the 1-ten at present in power,
but their incomes will be increased, and their means
of usefulness extended. _

Of the hostility of certain persons to the National
Society we have, on two previous occasions, written