The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-06-19 00:00:00

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WRITING, BOOKKEEPING, &c.
MESSRS. THOMPSON,
No. S, CLAYTON SQUARE,
Head Teachers in Liverpool a quarter of a century, guarantee to
every Pupil a good HAND WRITING in a few Lessons. BOOK-
KEEPING by DOUBLE ENTRY, thoroughly and practically
taught in a few days.
Mrs. and Miss THOMPSON give Private Lessons to LADIES,
or attend out, if required.
Cards of Terms at 8, Clayton-square.

D. WALKER, Importer of Leeches, has
0• REMOVED from London-road to 28, ST. ANNE-
STREET.—A fresh supply from the Continent every week.

HORATIO L E W I S,
IMPORTER OF CIGARS,
No. 67, CHURCH-STREET.
est- THE BEST BRANDS OF CIGARS IN STOCK.
MEERSCHAUM BOWLS and every description of SMOKING
APPARATus, of the tnott recent designs.

PATRONISED BY THE "LORDS
ADMIRALTY. 9 CONINIISSIONERS OF THE

--
WEIGHING MACHINES, FOR MER-
CHANTS, GROCERS, COAL-MERCHANTS, &c. •
R. FORSHAW and CO. beg to call attention to their recently
improved Weighing Machines, for every purpose and in every
size. Weigh Bridges, for Rail and Common Roads, from 3to 20
tons, graduated to British or Foreign Weights; Oat and Bean
Bruisers, Wheat Mills' Agricultural Implements, &c..
Export Orders executed with despatch.
.

Engineering fools of every description, Screw Bolts for En-
gineers and Shipsmiths, Bolt Ends and Square-headed Wood
Screws, always in Stock.
ATLAS WORKS, CORNWALLIS•STREET, LIVERPOOL.

ANALYTICAL SYSTEM OF PIANO-FORTE 7..
TUITION.
Mr. GEORGE EYTON begs respectfully to announce to his
Friends and the Public generally, that the first part of his Work
on the above NEW SYSTEM OF TEACHING THE PIANO-
FORTE is now Published. To he had at his Academy, 92, Falkner- i
street; or the Publisher. Mr. JAMES SMITH, 66, Lord-street. i

A LARGE STOCK OF PIANO-FORTES and HARPS,

For HIRE, at
RIME AND SON'S,

PIANO-FORTE, HARP, and MUSIC WAREHOUSE,
57, CHURCH-STREET.

PIANO-FORTES REPAIRED
In the same style as at Messrs. BRONDWOOD & Sous, London, at
HATEAND SON'S,

PIANO-FORTE, HARP, and MUSIC WAREHOUSE.

57, CHURCH-STREET.

RIME and SON beg to call attention to their
NEW STOCK of PIANO-FORTES,
Manufactured by

Messrs. JOH NT BROADWOOD and Sons, and COLLARD and Cot-
LARD, which at present is larger than they ever had the honour

of offering to the Public.
Their Stock of Instruments in WALNUTWOOD cannot be
surpassed for beauty by any house in the kingdom.
57, CHURCH-STREET.

PIANO-FORTES AT PRICES LOWER THAN
EVER BEFORE HEARD OF.

J. RICHMOND and CO. having purchased the Stock of a Lon-
don dealer, comprising Square, Horizontal, Upright, Cabinet,
and beautifully-finished Cut:age PIANO.FORTES, all in first-rate
order and warranted; the whole is now READY for SALE, and
the extraordinary low price, to insure a quick sale, places the
Piano within the reach of the most humble ,overs of music, as the
prices range from 30s. to 50 guineas each. Al,o, a quantity of
SHEET MUSIC, and other articles connected with the trade, at
extremely low prices.
Tuning, Repairing, Packing, &c.
RICHMOND'S PIANO-FORTE ROOMS,
32; ISLINGTON.

SEVERAL THOUSAND POUNDS VALUE OF GLASS,
CHINA, AND EARTHENWARE, &c.,
SELLING OFF AT REDUCED PRICES.

JWARD, 40, BOLD-STREET, Liverpool, with a
• a view to improvements in the interior of his Premises,
intends disposing of his valuable and well-selected Stock of
GLASS, CHINA, EARTHENWARE,
FRENCH CHINA ORNAMENTS, ALABASTER,
FIGURE SHADES AND STANDS FOR PRESERVING WAX
FLOWERS, &c.,
BRITANNIA METAL TEA AND COFFEE POTS,
HOT-WATER JUGS, WITH METAL COVERS, &c., &c.,
At prices that offer a very great advantage to parties Furnishing.
Fitting-out Ships, Hotel Keepers, and others.

THE

Itbtrpool #tartbarb.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 1855,

DISTRICT CHURCHES : THEIR ANOMALIES

AND ABUSES.

WE have had our attention called to a very glaring
anomaly, and consequent grievance, in our parochial
arrangements, by the report of a Church-rate meeting
in Ormskirk, held on the 7th inst. The meeting,
.which was convened to be held in the Parish Church,
,was adjourned to the Town-hall, where the Church-
:wardens' accounts for the previous year were read,
and passed. They shewed a balance of £9. I4s. 44d.
against the parishioners ; while one of the Church-
wardens stated that the amount of rate required, to
meet the expenses of the ensuing year, would be
£165. 18s. 10d. Upon this, Mr. PART, of Wigan,
stated, in behalf of CHARLES SCARISBRICK, Esq., for
whom he appeared, that he was not opposed to the
Church-rate being laid, but to the present mode of
-laying the rate ; inasmuch as the townships of Skel-
mersdale and Scarisbrick were paying, respectively,
one-third and one-fifth more than the other townships
in the parish. It was accordingly moved and
seconded :

" That a uniform rate of one penny in the pound be laid
upon all and every the Parishioners of the Parish of Orms-
;kirk, for and towards the necessary repairs of the Parish
Church and its appurtenances; for defraying the expenses of
cleaning the church and lighting it with gas; and also for
paying the ringers', singers', organist's, beadles', and clerk's
.salaries, and all other expenses necessary for the due and
decent performance of Divine Worship."
This was met by an amendment, moved by the Rev.
E. L. BLENKINSOPP, who said that :

" He did not agree that the rates should be equal in all the
Townships. He did not say that he wished to keep up the
old arrangement, because Mr. Part had most clearly shewn
the injustice of it : but he (Mr. Blenkinsopp) would also spew
that there was another, perhaps a greater, injustice, which
this proposal would not touch. It was this : that some Town-
ships had to support two Churches, while others only supported
one. He wished to see some remedy for this. He would state
clearly what he meant. This year, three out of the six
Churches in this Parish had put up apparatus for heating, viz.,
the Parish-Church, and the Churches of St. Paul, Skelmers-
dale, and St. James, Lathom. The expense of that in the
Parish-Church was defrayed out of the rate ; in the other two
by voluntary subscription: but the same persons, who sub-
scribed money for the apparatus at Lathom and Skelmersdale,
also paid rates for that erected in the Parish-Church. The
consequence of this was, that Skelmersdale and Lathom
Churches had been heated in a very inefficient manner, solely
..through a want of funds to do it effectually. And so,
also, the current expenses of five out of the six Churches
were defrayed by voluntary subscriptions, gathered from
persons who were paying rates to Parish-Church.
To go no father than his own Church :tit was consecrated
in 1851 ; a large number of things were required in order
to the proper celebration of divine worship, as matting, has-
socks, and, of course, in a new building, a quantity of coal for
fires to dry the Church ; a considerable item, too, was the
drainltig of the Church-yard—a thing absolutely necessary
before interments could take place. The money for these
things he had advanced ; and he could assure the meeting
that not a half had been repaid him. The Church was in debt
to him then upwards of £2l, yet he had to pay rates himself to
the Parish Church ! Now, he asked, was there not a crying
injustice in all this ?—an injustice to him, and an injustice to
the people of his district ? But this was not all ; the injustice
ended not there. They were aware that there was a burial-
.ground attached to Lathom Church, in which he was bound
to perform the burial-service over those that were brought to
be barielthere. They knew, also, that certain fees were paid
to the officers of the Church for the performance of this duty
.a just arrangement, as the labourer was worthy of his hire.
However, he was informed by the Vicar that this was not
law. He came down upon him, and claimed the fees. He
said, you must perform all this service, and be put to all this
inconvenience; but I must have the money. When he (Mr.
B.) pointed out the monstrous injustice of this claim, he said,
you may have justice upon your side, but nave right—[Q.
law ? Sumrnum jus, sumrna injuria.—ED. L. S.j—inicl so the
money I will have. Was there not room in all this for
investigation ?—for inquiry ? The Church-rate was originally
intended to provide for the celebration of Divine worship in a
;Parish.: then there was only one Church ; now there were six.
•Why then should not all six equally participate in the rate ?
Would any one say that Divine worship was celebrated pro-
perly only in the Parish Church 9—that the district Churches
were unworthy of support? Would any one say, that it was
a just and right thing that the people in the districts should
have the burden of supporting two Churches? There could '
be but one answer. He asked, therefore, for investigation, for
a report, in order to some better arrangement. He begged
leave, therefore, to move the following amendment :—" That a
committee be formed, consisting of the Vicar and Church-
-wardens of the Parish of Ormskirk, the Incumbents and
7ehurchwardens of the Churches of St. John and St. James,
Lathom; St. Paul, Skelmersdale ; Holy Trinity, Bicker-
staffe ; St. Mark, Scarisbrick ; with power to add to their
number, to inquire into, and report upon, the present mode of
'levying and applying the Church Rate of the Parish of Onus-
'kirk, in order to effect a more equitable adjustment of the
-same."

While the existence of the evils, so ably brought
forward by the reverend gentleman, was readily ad-
mitted, it was shown that the meeting had no power
•to remedy them, their business being to allow or reject
the rate, which was eventually carried by a show of
J 14114,
All honour, say we, to the inhabitants of the Parish
-of Ormskirk, who, though acknowledging the esist-
•ence of injustice, under which many of them actually
smarted, would not avail • themselves of the power
•which they possessed to 'refuse the rate ! Not
' more than three or four hands, we are informed,
in a very full meeting, were held up against it. We
are glad, also, to be able to say, that; upon the
motion for adjournment from the vestry to some
larger place, the determination, by a large majority,
was against holding the meeting in the church, and
in favour of the Town-hall.

But the 'portion of the 'business which principally
'claims our attention is the speech of the Rev. Mr.
BLENKINSdPP (which we have given above in extenso),
Incumbent -of one of the • district churches in the
parish, who certainly made out a case of grievance of
no light character ; both as regards his own position
as incumbent, and that of the people of his district as
ratepayers. We have now a very much clearer per-
- caption of the considerations which may induce the
refusal ofa Church-rate,thanwe had before: we can quite
'understand how some very faithful Churchmen may
-have felt the present law of Church-rates a grievance,
and have absolutely voted against Church-rates alto-
gether,' rather than submit to the grievance. The
state of things described by the reverend gentleman
as existing in•his own district, is, without doubt, that
of hundreds more. These district churches have all
the duties and-responsibilities of old parishes, but have
not the privileges : in fact, the district church, in many_
instances, is a burden rather than a privilege. Then,
again, these 'district churches were the origin of pew-
letting ; a thing unknown in parish churches, until
imported from these anomalous excrescences. We
need not -Stop now to prove the disastrous conse-
quences of thus introducing mammon as an element
`- into religion : it is sufficient to say, that the evil we
have mentioned has been stereotyped, and made
part and parcel of the regular order of things,
by successive acts of parliament ; each succeeding
act Confirming the wrong, instead of attempt.-
jug to remedy it. By the system of appropriated
seats, the man who is too poor to pay for one
for himself and his family, is excluded from the benefit
of ilie district Church; while he is still called upon to
pay Church-rates to the. Parish Church, which is,
perhaps, at too great a distance to enable him to
attend it : and besides this, with a refinement of
cruelty, the Parish Church itself is so taken up with
close pews, that there also he is shut out. If of set
purpose means had been taken to alienate men from
the. Church, and make them disgusted with it, hardly
any more effectual could have been devised. Nothing
can demonstrate more clearly how utterly unfit Par-
liament is to deal with the affairs of the Church ; how
incompetent to understand her position and her
interests. No doubt, it intended all these arrangements
for the good of the Church, and the advancement of
her interests : nay, we remember that Sir It: PEEL, on
occasion of his resigning office, mentioned some of
these measures, as a proof of how he had studied to do
her good, and to legislate for her benefit : and he
really thought so. No further proof is needed to
shew
how incapable a mere statesman is to compre-
hend the wants of the Church. As clearly must all
see that only the Church's legislature can understand
these things ; it is only the Clergy, who so feel them
as to be able to suggest the remedy. Had Convoca-
tion been in full force, no such anomalies as these
could have been introduced. Its members would not
people at heart too
only have had the real good of the

Deeply- to allow such grievances as these to be perpe-
tuated, but, being themselves daily in view of them,
they would have both seen the evil, and supplied the
remedy.