The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-07 00:00:00

secutii

Lwith st

ing two dresses from the shop which sho-entered on•pretence
ofim.yincr a quantity, of black lace and gimp. • •

Ion; AYedlOck;

Tisoner, on this occasion; •:succeeded in

In the next cese, the prisoner was charged with haying, on
the iVeyious'Saturday, under similar circumstances to those
in the. foregoing cases, obtained from the shop of Mr. Han-

Thc
mittca t

icr, who said noihinl iii her defenCe, was colt

k.e her trial at the ensiling

TIOXA

CURATES

0C.17471

y, the annual meeting of the Liverpool Auxiliary
Branch of the Society for, the employment. of "additional
Curales in populous places, was held in the Savings'. Bank,
Bold-street.. The Lord Bishop of CHESTER - presided.
The meeting having been opened .with prayer, •
The CHAIRMAN briefly apologised for the temporary
absence of-the venerable Archdeacon Brooks, .and then said
the proper course was for the Secretary to read. the report
for the' ast year: Since they had last met, they lead received
a munificent offer from Mr. Naylor, to furnish them a
stipend for two- additional curates, challenging, as a condi-
tion; the gentlemen of Liverpool, and the • friend's • of the
Cluirch, to raise an equal sum to that which "he*.bad given,
in ordor to supply two more additional curates. That
challenge had been properly and handsomely-answered, and
the four 'curates were now usefully at work:

Vie Rev. Rector CAMPBELL :
.'Not exactly, three only are
appointed.
The CirAmax : Three were, at work, but, in a few
-Weeks, they would have the Pleasure of seeing the fourth at
Wor)i iii the same district. One goOd work . helped another
of the. same description.' He had great pleasure in hearing
since he came there, and he hoped he was not-premature in
announcing it, that not only were they getting additional
Curates.. to .do the work, but he hoped there was a prospect
of getting what they still wanted—additional churches ;
andnr one instance, in the north-west portion of the town,
whop() churell was greatly wanted, he was happy and
gratefuLto.say that Mr. John Shaw Leigh had.most muni-
ficently promised to give a site of land of great pecuniary
value, for to have. erected thereon a new..chursh, if the
people, would but respond by building it.: (Hear, hear.)
They were aware of the price of land iii Liverpool,. where it
was not-valued by acres but by yards, and kOW much it was
worth ; and they could well understand_ the value of the
gift which Mr. Leigh had expressed his intention, of making,
if they eould but get the money to erect the church.

The Rev. Mr. -Tommx, As;'istant Secretary, • then read
the report:—

" The income from this diocese, for the society's general pur-
poses, has risen from £6OO to £7OO per annum ;• ,but the .per-
manent increase may be estimated at about £2OO per annum,
'mouse the donations from patrons, amounting to £lOO of the
former.sum have been replaced by annual subscriptions. The
fund of £4OO a year, restricted under Rule VI to the employ.
ment of four additional curates in Liverpool,: has been accom-
plished,. and your committee beg leave to express most sincere
gratitude to the clergy and the merchants of Liverpool, for the
kind and generOus support which has been given to this impor-
tant work. Twenty-four curates in this diocese may now be
considered on the society's lists ; and for twenty of these the
society is responsible for £1,155 per annum; only £7OO being
supplied by the diocesan association. It must be remembered,
therefore, that the operations of the society, during the year,
have led to an increased voluntary expenditure in the cause of
Christ, of £6OO per annum, and that the diocese is yet beholden
to it for the gift of £455 per annum.
" Last year the statement of the incumbent of St. Barnabas,
-Liverpool, 'was circulated, and his account of the first year's
progress of an additional curate will be distributed. The re-
moval of the incumbent has occasioned regrett to the committee,
but they have reason to rejoice that the wants of his new charge
at Kirkdale have been made known in consequence of the
change; and they trust that under other auspices the exertions
of. the curate will continue to be a blessing to- the locality. It
will further prove the necessities of our large towns to state
that in the assignment of curates the conmittee were compelled
to pass by, for the present, the claims of Kirkdale, as well as
those of a district containing 14,000 people,. chiefly members
of the church of England, and all under the care of one
clergyman.
• " The second curate received his nomination to St. Nicholas
Church, with
.cure of souls in Trinity district, until a better
arrangement can be made. Hitherto his duties have been chiefly
limited to visitation of the district. He finds a large population
of nearly 7000 people willing to attend his public ministrations,
but lie bas no place of worship in which to assemble them, for
Trinity Church is not available for his purpose, the pews being
in. the possession of various owners who are entitled to pew rents,
as theyarethemselves responsible to the minister of the church
for .certain ground-rents, from which his salary. is derived ; and
many of the inhabitants of the district have-not the ability, if
they had the will, to pay for sittings; hence' the exertions of
,the curate are greatly impeded.
" The third curate has been nominated by the archdeacon to
St. Peter's Church, with cure of souls in the •district contagous
to Trinity' district, and known as the second St. Peter's district.
It is bounded by -Moss-street, London-road, Norton-street, and
Islington, and contains nearly 6000 people. A similar dfficulty
will have to be encountered, arising from the want of a place of
worship situated in the district, the distance t o St. Perer's
Church being considered a reason for the. neglect. of public
worship.

"There are no schools in either of these districts ; many of
the children who attend school go to dissenting schools, and
many do not attend school at all.

"We may surely hope for some effort ort.-the part of the
13,000 inhabitants of these two adjacent districts" to supply
thetnselves with a church and schools as soon as the ministra-
tions of the curates have led them to feel their spiritual needs.
" Unavoidable delays have hindered the assignment of the
fourth curate, but he will shortly be phiced'in a district con-
taining not less than 10,000 souls.
"It is the intention of the committee, with the sanction of
the bishop, to open licensed rooms for" divine service, unless
some better plan can be devised. It is impossible to estimate
the ,blessings which may result from this works for its great im-

•
portance is only now beginning to be manifested."
The. Rev. Rector CAMPBELL moved that' the report read,
be adopted, printed, and circulated. He thought he need
not use many words to recommend the resolution to the
favour of the Meeting, because the rep t' was well drawn
up, and expressed all they wished on the Present occasion.
Neither need he exert himself to recommend the Society to
the favour of the present meeting ; but for some- reason
which he • must confess for the life of him, he, could not
comprehend, there appeared to be an impression on the
minds of some individuals, for whom he had the. greatest
possible respect, that this was what wascalleda party society.
He (Mr. Campbell) could not really understand how it could
be a party society, presided over by all the bishops of the
church, patronised. by them, and recommended to them by
their diocesan. (Hear, hear.) He could not understand
what the term meant ; neither could he understand how the
society,,by its constitution, could possibly be a party society:
It did not interfere with the appointment "of the clergy; it
did not appoint the officiating clergy itself; it left it to the
incumbents. An 'incumbent with 5,000, 10,000, 15,000,
and sometimes 20,000 of a population, pressed, as he must
necessarily be, by the difficulties-of his situation, applied to
the society. If the society had the means, they promised
him a grant, and they left him the selection of the clergy-
man, without reference to party at all. (Hear, hear.) And
he (Mr. Campbell) did not know an instance-where there

was any undue bias which induced the Parent committee
either to object to any person who wns recommended, or to
force any clergymen, holding peculiar opinions on incum-
bents. He could not imagine what room there could be for
peculiar opinions. They wanted men to preach the word of
God, to go amongst the poor, to visit the poor, to " spend
themselves and be spent in the service of their Lord Jesus
I
Christ." • le did not know what .loom there was for such
controversy, on such matters, and he verily believed the society
was as completely free from imputation or -suspicion of the
kind, as any society could possibly be. It was hardly necessary
tO.dwell on this point at any greater length, but it might be
expedient to attempt to remove such an impression from the
minds of respectable individuals, and to request them to examine
into the - workings of the society, to :point out any case of
party spirit which it had evidenced, to represent the case to
the committee in London, and to the bishops, and he (Mr.
Campbell) had not the least doubt but it would be very
speedily righted, and all imputations •of party spirit
disavowed. (Hear, hear). There was one subject more to
which he wished to call the attention of the Lord Bishop
anti of the meeting., it was to the exertions of the Bev. Mr.
Tomlin, they were principally indebted for the prosperity of
the Liverpool and diocesian branches of the society. Mr.
Tomlin had worked day and night in the service, and to him
was owing in a great measure that £4OO a year, which they
had obtained for the parish of Liverpool. For this statement
he (Mr. Campbell,) had the testimony of Mr. Charles Grove,
one of tbeir most persevering labourers, who had told him
were it.not for Mr. Tomlin, the funds would not be raised,
and that the greatest possible credit was due to him. (Hear,
hear). As regarded any party spirit in the town of Liver-
pool, he (Mr: Campbell,) had a great deal. to do with the
selection of the three clergymen who had been appointed,
and he should have something to do with the fourth, and he
wanted to get a man (althoug it was difficult to work in
such a place as this, for the miserable remuneration of .ElOO
a year,) with a disposition to do nothing but his duty to
GO and man.

.Mr, -Anthony SWAINSON seconded the motion, which was
unanimously agreed to.

ITU Rev: Kir. DOVER proposed the second resolution,
urging the necessity of more extended support being given
to. the society. Immediately after the last census was taken
(observed the Revd. gentleman, an account of the number
of inhabitants in the St. Barnabas district was given at the
Census office he found there were no les& than 16,000 per-
sons in the district in which himself and a single Curate
were at work. He immediately applied to -the local associ-
ation for additional help, and shortly after Mr. Naylor's
liberal offer was made to the Society, and the consequence
was that a young gentleman was appointed 'to a sub-district,.
conta*ng 4,000 or 5,090 inhabitants. He had gnce,been
laboaritig therawith great earnestness and.zeal, and it .would

be an encouragement to those who subscribed 'to the funds
to know that his visits had been received with very great
kindness by the inhabitants, and a very serious impression

the work of the church, .was_to supply additional cleig

clergymen were si

under their labours in consequence of the burthens impu,
on them. If gentlemen would hitt ge with them into th
dens and polluted places in Liverpool, the-y would require m
-ument to show the necessity of supporting this soCi-
,ymen to labour amongst a popuation
increasing in ignorance and vice, because they wanted addi-
tional shepherds to watch over them and bring them back to
the fold of Christ. • • .
The Rev. Mr. Tom seconded the resolution which was
agreed to.
The Venerable Archdeacon BROOKS, who had entered the
meeting a short time previously,
.proposed the next resolu-
tion. He said, My Lord and gentlemen, the resolution put
into my hand is this:--" That the Committee would again
earnestly solicit the attention of their friends to the need of
the district Clergy, with a view to the formation of a branch
of the endowment fund Of the society." —As far as I under-
stand. ..
this resolution, it is a proposal to establish in the town
of Liverpool, founded- by subscription or donation, for the
purpose of endowing, or rather adding to the endowments
of those of our district churches, which are now inade-
quately supplied. As lam addressing gentlemen Who are
principally resident in the town of Liverpool; and know the
circunstances attending it, I need hardly sgy to them, that
several of our churches; like those in other parts; of this,
and the neighbouring diocese, and in the manufacturing dis=
tricts, are exceedingly inadeqnately provided for. I say, we
arc even worse, generally speaking, than they are in the
manufacturing districts; for many of the churches there,
have been built under the act of parliament, which enabled
the 'commissioners to increase the endowment to £l5O per
year. Now, of course; the 'expense attendant on the living
of a clergyman in the ;town of Liverpool, and the constant
calls upon his purse, which he is obliged to answer to a cer
tarn degree,—to answer so far as his means extend,—not only
obliged, but which I may generally say, he has the pleasure
of doing. Yet still,
.unless he has the means, he cannot
exert himself beneficially for the wants of the poor, who are
immediately under his care, and no doubt, you will think it
is a matter of great regret, when a clergyman is obliged to
visit in the neighbourhood Of his own. populous district, ind
that he finds eases of great want, of great necessity, of great
poverty. of great distress which- he has nu even of
assisting. But even independent of this; gentlemen, the
pittance with which many of the district churches in Liver,
pool are provided is literally not sufficient to maintain the
mere individual himself; independently of anything lie can
do for others. (Hear, hear.) -I know there was an attempt
made, a short time ago' to establish an endowment fund in
the Toxteth-park end' of Liverpool, and the Rev. Mr.
Hampton took a great interest and exerted himself very
much. It did not succeed. I am sorry it did not.
There is a feeling which has certainly au operation in pre-
venting such a fund as an endowment fund being
established, and that is, that the nominations to the churches
belong to individuals,'in many cases. There was an act of
parliament which, I think, was a very unwise one; however,
it was passed into law, and it arose from an unfortm
jealousy, and from a want, I will say, of moral courag
the part of the ministry of the day. The churches—many
of them—in Liverpool, and also in other places, where
corporations were established, were in the gift of the cor-
porate bodies, when the act passed, which did away with
the test act, and was followed by • the reform bill, which
admitted persons of. all denominations into the bodies
corporate. They said, " What are we to do with the
churches, because now the corporate bodies do not consist
of gentlemen of the Church of England, but of gentlemen
of all sects and parties ? How, then, are we to do ? "Would
it be right or proper that persons who do not belong to the
Church of England, who belong to other sects, should have
the presentation to those churches which are churches in
the establishment ?" • The arguments pro and con were gone
into, and they found there was more difficulty in the
question than perhaps had been at first imagined, when,
accidently, one gentleman of some influence in the
House of Commons, got up and said, " Let them sell
them." Well, this plan 'was adopted. The corporate bodies
were compelled to •sell their church preferments within a
given space of time, and if they had not sold them within
the prescribed period, they were no longer to present, but
the presentation was to go to Bishop. If the act had
said "-we will not wait until they sell them, we will buy
them from them, and then they shall go to the Bishop of
the diocese," it would have been all very well. I should
be glad to know who could be better able to judge
of the talents, qualifications, and ability of his clergy,
and who were the most fit to fill those livings,
when vacant, than the gentleman who presides
over the whole diocese; and to whom the circumstances of
the whole diocese, from his position, must be well known.
This, however, was not done. • The determination was
otherwise, and the Churches have gone into the hands of
private individuals. These • are two or three bad conse-
quences. In the first place, by those churches being in the
hands of a public body, the clergy who came here, and who
were induced to come here, and settle in this great and
populous town, and :to *employ themselves in the laborious
office to which they were. called. When the churches were
in the hands of a public body, and there was an oppor-
tunity of promotion; like all the rest of the world, we, of
the church, felt it necessary, sometimes, to wish we were
better off than we really were, and therefore, like others.
looked forward for promotion in our own course, in our own
profession, and this encouragement was taken away. It
was no longer a public body that had the power of raising
a gentleman. lam one of those who came into the town as
a curate. (Hear, hear.) And the first place I went to after
coming here, was to St. ;Tames' Church, and I worked as a
curate in the town of Liverpool for a considerable number
of years, and, like all the rest, I felt a want—
'the Rev. Rector CAMPBELL : How much for ?
The Venerable Archdeacon BROOKS : I shall surprise you
when I tell you for the 'first 15 or 16 years, I worked for
£lOO a year. Well, gentlemen, what kept me in Liverpool ?
I will not say it was the pure love of performing the duties
attendant on my ministerial prOfession : I cannot take to
myself what is not true... If any man offered me a living
of £lOOO a year, I would. leave my curacy of £lOO a year,
(hear, hear,) and I suppose each of you would do the same.
I was induced to remain in Liverpool, because- I was born
here, I was fond of the place, I was known in the place, I
was attached to it. Preferment lying in a public body, I
succeeded in getting from a curacy to a lectureship, then to
a chaplaincy in St. George's Church, and lastly to the
Archdeaconry of Liverpool, and here I am in this situation
now. But this is taken away ; there is no prospect of this
promotion ; and a curate may come to £lOO a year now,
and stay there if he cannot get more any where else. The
presentation to the churches, now lies with individuals, and
how is it One gentleman, an intimate friend of mine, Mr.
Lawrence, of Mosley-hill, who is now unfortunately, for
his friends, removed from this scene of probation,—he
bought one of those churches, in which he placed his
own son ; other gentlemen also bought others for
their friends, so in point of fact, that prospect which
had been presented him, and which was a fair induce-
ment in every particular for a man to perform his duty
and to remain here, is absolutely taken away. This
I say, is one of the evils which is consequent upon this un-
fortunate determination in the British House of Commons.
Then another, equally so; is that it has taken a great deal of
the interest away, and_ particularly in a question of endow-
ment. For gentlemen will say, " Why subscribe to an
endowment for a living which is in the -gift of Mr. A or Mr.
B ? lam not subscribing so much for the clergy ; I am
improving his property. He will not give it when it falls
to the fittest man ; he will give it to the man in whom
he feels the greatest interest; and, therefore, I do not feel
inclined to subscribe 'to an' endowment fund." That has
been a reason which has been given and presented for con-
sideration, when that fund was thought of, for the money
not being produced as we expected. Ido not mean to say,
my Lord, this is a right mode of thinking, by any means.
We ought all to be above such a-mode of thought, and we
ought, without considering whether A, B, or C has the no-
mination to the living—we ought to consider whether the
means provided for the clergyman of that church, come from
where they may, and be in whose hands they may; are suffi-
cient for that gentleman's common maintamance, and for
enabling him to perform the important duties which devolve
upon him as a minister of the church in such a populous
place as this, and if we find that they are not, we ought to
throw away all other considerations,. and endeavour, accord-
ing to our-abilities and the means we have, to make them so.
Therefore, on this broad principle, without at all looking at
the narrow circumstances and narrower feeling, I am one of
those who am exceedingly anxious there should be an endow-
ment fund in the town of Liverpool to increase the salaries
of the churches. I think-this may be done here in a manner
-which would be at a less cost than it would at other places,
and yet most beneficially to both the clergy themselves, and
to the inhabitants of the town. We have some fifty churches
in the town of Liverpool, and to one of them there is not
attached a house of residence. There is not even a house of
residence for the rectors. Not one. The rectors of Liver-
pool get choused out of everything that belonged to
them. The original'endownient to the parish of Liverpool
when separated from Walton, would be sufficient to pay
both the rectors and their curates, and what was really the
fact ? That was given- up, . was abandoned on the then
rectors making over' 'their interest and privileges in this
rectory, the corporation giving them for it £2OO a-year
each. I have no hesitation in saying the provision they
were obliged to make—they were obliged to build good
large houses, and large gardens in tha neighbourhoods of
the then existing parochial chapel of St. Nicholas, and the
new parish church of St. Peter's, which was then directed
to be built ; and, if those had been in existence now, where
land is selling for ten guineas a yard, look at what that
would have brought for an endowment. We gave all this
up when £2OO per year, when certainly £2OO a year was
considered a larger sum than it is now. Certainly, it was
an unfortunate compromise, and there is not even a habita-
tion for the rectors of this town to live at. They must find
their own house. Now, it would be very desirable, if
residences could be supplied for the different clergymen of
the town. Ido not say in their own districts, for some of
them are of such a description they could not live in them
with their families; but they may be so near that they may
be within call. The houses may be purchased, which would
make the money go farther than the common mode of
investing, it. Suppose you raise '13,000 or £4,000, the only
manner of investing it is to put it into the funds: There
it does not produce more than 3 per cent. I believe that
houses may be bought, within a convenient distance of the

more arg

eta•, to increase clerg

fallen very much wit

the puril

f

a the 1a

inclination 14 'herb if it

that in

events them

aone,-mit only 1:
T boo. to

The Rev.-I'.-STEIVART

' as
4 if

farAtabt'if4M

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„ye

ot
Titer all

of 1-11410.: t
orel4ll

the
actrolif -How
iv, but at all

ptinds for our cl4ermining on
lution, Something should be

fllcl religious welfilre of his people, was quite

to religion at

tile feeling that he was una
vies for his family, and relic

ich were sure to press on.liim in a large and populouS dis-
the time when unfortunately the Archdeacon
ccident, a movement was made With re-

was laid up by his

thered with

a view of raising a revenue for the endownie'nt of certain
Churches in distress. He (Mr. Stewart) had not got those
statistics with him, but they afforded many strong cases for

endowment, In that moVement many L'ipuen took part,
Mr, Grove, Mr. T. B. Horsfall, Mr. Turner, and others.
The conclusion arrived at was this, that whilst there
was an active, practical benevolence still in Liverpeol,
its tendency 'was to provide Church accommodation, and
the subject of endowment was allowed to drop. The pur-
chase of houses had also been under consideration.
The motion Was then put and carried.

Mr. CARNE moved the thanks of the meeting to the Com-
mittee, also that the Rev. Mr. Tomlin, and he Rev. Mr.
Thacker, be appointed members of that committee. Carried.
A vote of thanks was given to the Chairman, and the

proceeding

terminated