The Express.
London, England, 1850-01-05 00:00:00

gfte erpnefSis•

OUTGOING MAILS.
TM nails kw Lisboa. Spats, awl Gibraltar will be made
up es Jae. 7.
The smile rid Mareeilles, to the Mediterrsnean, Egypt,
Ceplea.
iloagtlioog, as., will be suede up as
the midst of ha. 7.
The wells ix British North Amass awl the Usite4
Slaw will be nada up ea tbe regain et Jas. 11.
The West Leas Maga, fueled*, Berwads, Banana!,
Neweu, nandares, New Odeon, sad Wilco. sod includiD6
Mies ler Madeira, St. Jaaa-ditNisenoits, New Orsuads,
sad Persorill be made up cut Joe. 17.
The sails for Gibraltar, Melts, Greece, the beim lelande,l
=Copies, ladle, sad Calms, vie Sestliseptos, will
up ea the avenue of Jas. 19.
The It fee Modena, the Brasile, sad Besses laires,wlll
M sods up ea tbs sweats( el }'.b. 4.

MIDI WATI AT wrocor
To-trossn•—shavows, its:
Tau Dat—aliMikt, IA. AtainetA.

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 6.

Ir any mom for doubt ever existed regarding the
speedy and spleedid results of Free Trade, it must be
new removed. The returns for the eleven months
ending bth December, 1849' are conclusive evidence
that all which was foretold respecting the cense-
genes at free imports was true. To obtain augmented
stares of raw materiel, we most give augmented
giantlike' of manufactured epode in exchange. All
the bullion in the vaults of tie Bank would not have
sufficed to pay for the foreign corn which we have
impaled and corsumed. And as the stocks of coined
and uncoined treasure in the subterranean caverns of
Threadneelle-strret have foe now many months gone
on inereosiog, instead of diminishing, it is pretty
clear that it was not in specie we paid for the enor-
mous amount of commodities we have imported during
the last year.
To carry on the gigantic operations of imperial
traffic, silver and gold we may almost be said to have
none. Tee whole amount of the precious metals we
pones do little mere then serve as small change for
our innumerable transactions. And is the most cre-
dulous votaries of the old superstitious worship of
protection can hardly believe that foreigners give us
somepty millions worth of goods without getting
from us valuable consideration of some sort in re-
turn, we might feel logically satisfied with the enu-
meration given in the tables of the Board of Trade of
all the various articles of raw produce or exotic growth,
and rest assured that whatever we bad found room for
in our import warehouses we must have &mid (gide
vaunts for on our export wharfs. Bat logic is left
nothing to do in the matter. 'the marvellous account
is settled in the old fashioned manner of double entry.
We keep our national ledger with circumstantial
care, and tradesman-like paiticulari.y. There is no
margin left for surmise or conjecture, and we are thus
enabled at a glaecs to see not only that we have
actually paid for the huge purchas:s of all kinds we
have been making, but how and in what way we
have paid for them. In the corresponding months
of 1848, we exported goods to the value of
44,407,912/. In the eleven months of 1849 we have
exported to the value of 54,089,8091. The last
month of every ye-:r is usually one of less commer-
cial activity ; but, making a very moderate estimate
of what December will be found to realise, we shall
probably be wi•hin the mask when we ray that the
exports of 1949 will be found to have exceeded those
;of 1848 by tin millions sttrling.
s This is what we hey. gained already by free trade
'—a gain worth defending were we in any danger of
being deprived of it, but one in point of fact whose
very richtees constitutes its eaftty. For what do these
;ten millions stand fot ? What but the amount of
'additional labour absorbed, utilized, and turned to
profitable account ? Every man, woman, and child,
of the vast additional multitude that the production
of this additional mass of elaborated commodities has
given wages to, is a recruit enlisted in the great self-
;supporting. army of it:clothe. No wonder, then, that
Protectionist meetings shoidd end in confusion and
'discomfiture, wherever they have not been packed
beforehand, and " made safe," as the gamblers
phrase it.
, There is but one drawback on the exultation
'wherewith all wise and honest men regard this glo-
lions verithation of the truth of competition as the
guiding principle of the rational policy. We regret
to think that eo many of the class who above all
'others was befooled and plundered by protection,
should still be led astray by the cajolenes and false-
hoods of their bankrupt mestere. We believe that
the surviving number of dupes among the farmers is
_very mach smaller than trading and intriguing
politicians would have the world suppose. We
`have good reason to know that there are
large numbers among the over-rented cccu-
piers of land who are thoroughly alive to the tree
interests of " their order," arid who, when they dare,
Aline citterly the day in which they helped to swell
the cry for a delusive corn law, whose working has
Own to leave them in a state of terrible embarrass-
ifatift. The protecionista have taken to swaggering
'much about a dissolution of parliament. and to
tvepuriog challenges of an appeal to the country.
Will they agree ta try the issue with the ballot? lf
not, what does their vanuting mean, unless it be that
they trust to their power of bullying their exhausted
and defenceless dependents into compliance with their
;will.

Two admonitions have been most seamnably ad- I
dreamed to the farmers on this sabjecL The one '
from which we gave some extrude yesterday is from 1
the pen of the Rev. A. Hurrant.t ; the other by Mr. I
W. Wrirreioat. The former frankly. owns, as a 1
practical agriculturist, that Pit l', "l:Zi ef whist 1
daring the lest jeer were caused by physical, not I
fiscal canoes; and while he states with equal candour I
this ossvicion that no average land is worth more 1
Ito a tenant, nadir existing and probable circum-
stances, than t.ceuty shillings an acre, he proceeds to
• show all industrious and energetic farmers, who do '
not suffer themselves to be rack-rented, how they
1
!may make money, " Oven at present prices . 0
A wry large propertioa of the evils complained of maw be
found is the elects of the &Natrona sewn of 1848. The
rains which fell is the West of England were so incessant,
;that the waste fellows could not be properly cleaned, the
. hay hawse was one of the worst ever known, the wheat was
,deacieut la quantity, end is quality still more inferior—in
fact the year 1848 might be painted is the agriculture! colas.
der es one of foal knows, drenched hay, sprouted corn, sad
spoilt straw. But if it was bad in the bus, it wits worse In
;the stall ; tor daring the winter which followed came on
'that clepredatioa et stock which has continued ever since,
'and which ma *wetly be reckoned less than 23 per cent.
•The straw and hay which were employed in feeding had left
their washed-out virtues is the field, and when the spring
arrived, cattle which had been fattened with so much diffi-
culty and especisr, realised but little more than had been
'paid fer theta when they were in their store condition. I
doubt net that the value of the little good grain which was
In the farmers' hands was depreciated by the large irs-
partakes which took place on the repeal of the corn
laws, but thtse importations were absolutely required for
" working up " our own damp sprouted samples tato some.
thing like decent flour, and it ought to be remembered that
without this free admixture of foreign grain large maws of
the nation weeld have bees csedeinned to eat deer and bed
bread. It is net at all metals' that even a high amount
4 proteetive duty would materially have rallied the market,
for we find that even under the sliding scale in the year 1833
the sewage of the price of wheat was 40s. per quarter. It
ii *e very remarkeble and significant fact that, although a
larger quantity of foreign corn has been admitted this year
then ever has bees known, it has all been cleared for home
eettwunption ; and, at the same time, during the last ten
weeks, 10,000 cleaners of British corn haw been sold more
these during the corresponding period of last year. Thus
the lowness of pries and the lulnese of employment among
Our operstiws have created an enormous cinsumption. Oar
views will be illustrated by the state of things in France at
the pretest moment—there, under a high protective duty
and an abundant harvest, the price of wheat has been cos-
tinuously fa!liely, till the value of a bushel of wheat his now
sunk to 41 which the French agriculturists declare cannot
remencratithe producer.
Mr. WfitTwones pamphlet is equally well in-
tended, although in a different way. He addressee
himself to a minute and candid examination of the
causes which have contributed directly or indirectly
to swell the recent importations. He confesses ,that
they have been larger than he anticipated ; but as he
endeavours to demonstrate their exceptional character
in many leading features, he confidently pronounces
hie opinion as • practical farmer, that there is no
sufficient ground for panic or despair :
With relined to the pries at which wheat Is likely
to be sold under free trade, I have as yet seen nodding to
miss me to doubt that a price nearer to 60a. then 404. will
be an ;e—"Afew Ploin Thoughts on Imo Trade and
Agriculture." &coed part, p. 21.
Such are the facts and opinions with which the
new year openr. It is impossible to conceive any
pore full of encouragement and instruction.

Tess Churchwardens of Manchester have resolved
to bring the gaudiest of Church Reform in that City to
an immediate solution. The Crown and the
st
Ewa-
siestioal Commissioners having, mob affslint tbe
City's wish, given it a Baba?, they are deteemisod
to bestow on it a properly constituted body of Paro-
chial Clergy. The Church, being endowed therein
with large remiss, which have for centuries been
indecently misapplied, the Churchwardens Ire re-
solved to see whether parliament will refuse to
appropriate them to then original purpose—the 'pi-
nned benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of
Manchester. Much having been said by the Hierarchy
of the Establishment of the necessity of dividing
huge parishes, they we determined to put, in the case
of the hugest of all English parishes, the sincerity of
these proieseions to the t. at. In short, the Church-
wardens of Manchester have given notice of an appli-
cation to parliament for a bill for the division of that
pariah into distinct and separate parishes, for apply-
ing the church revenues therein to parochial purposes,
foe the hotter managem, nt of such property, and for
otherwise regulating and amending the ecclesiastical
'provision of the parish. This measure is conceived
in the truest spirit of church reform ; for it will lighten
rather than increase the Mathew of the city;
it will widen and extend the foundations on
which the church is there founded, without
in any manner trespassing or infringing on the
rights or feelings of dissenters; it will raise and im-
prove the character, the usefulness, and the position
tithe working clergy • it will remove and obliterate
MO of the most scandalous of ecclesiastical abuses
r--eht.,, slothful and irresponsible dignitaries in
sosslpe of large incomes without corresponding duties ;
and, in doing this it will, it is to be hoped, give such
an impetus to the causes of religion and education in
that city, both in connexion with dissent u well as
with the church, as cannot fail, if once pie in motion,
to have the most beneficial effect on its inhabitants.
This step of church reform, it will be remarked, is
taken by the laity of Manchester. They have waited
ha vain for the ministers of the crown, for the bishop
el the diocese, for the dean and chapter of the city,
Orr the ecclesiastical commissioners to move in the
matter. The churchwardens have therefore taken
the question into their own hank, and have resolved
to right themselves. The consequence it, that their
measure is one of simplicity end justice ; it is based
on no compromise of rights; it will give validity to
no jobs; it is meant to put Manchester, ecclesiasti-
cally, in the position in which it ought to stand ; and
in which it would have now stood but for the corrup-
tion of the church therein.
The parish of Manchester contains upwards of
34,000 acres, divided into 30 townships; and it is in-
habited by 400,000 people. Tne piety of our ancestors
had properly and sufficiently endowed this great parish
wi' 1,200 acres of land, and with all the great tithes
therein; and this wciltb, amounting, eves under
present tad management, to 6,0001. a year, exclu-
sive of surplice fees, the church still enjoys. Yet,
notwithstaudina this handsome income, the clergy in
its receipt refuse to perform any parochial duties in
the parish; and have thrown the cure of its souls on
the force and spirit of the Voluntary Principle. Not,
happily, in vain. For whether called into action by
churchmen or dissenters, Voluntaryism has achieved
wonders in Manchester. There ere in Manchester,
exclusive of the cathedral church, 51 district and
other churches and chapels; and of them the erection
at 49 is to be attributed to the voluntary principle.
Twee churches and chapels are served by 87 clergy-
men, all of whom are more or leas supported by the
exercise of that principle; and if to them be added
the 10 clergymen connected with the cathedral church,
and the 0 chaplains of the public inrotitutions of the
city, the whole number of its clergy is about 103.
The same principle has in dissenting hands done
even more for Manchester; for it has raised no
fewer than 150 chapels, capable of containing on
an average about 700 people each, or 105,000 in the
aggregate. The incomes both cf the church and dis-
senting ministers vary ; those of some reaching
7001. a year, others falling to even less than 1001. a
year.
Endowment has, then, given to the church of Eng-
land in Manchester not less than 6,0001. a year from
land and tithes; for which the clergy receiving this
income decline to perfcrm any parochial duties.
Whilst Voluntaryism in Manchester has erected fifty
churches and maintains nearly 100 clergymen, nod
has raised 150 dissenting places of worship. In other
words, Voluntaryism has supplied to Manchester that
religion which Endowment has defrauded it of. With
tidastriking contrast beforehim, let Doman speak slight-
inely of Voluntaryism. If it cannot perform impossi-
bilities, it can at least shame supineness and treachery.
The collegiate, now the catuedral and parish church
of Manchester, was, prior to 1421, an ancient rectory,
having cure of souls, and, as we have seen, amply
endowed. It appears, however, even at that early
date to have formed a Large and unwieldy parish ;
and for the purpose of more efficiently providing
for the cure of souls, the rectory was in the fifteenth
century converted from a corporation sole into
a corporation aggregate; whereby a greater num-
ber of ministers were tobe provided for the parish-
ioners. This was the origin of the Collegiate Church
of Manchester : the parish was in the fifteenth cen-
tury too large to be served by one rector; and thee Col-
legiate Church was erected V-erein,that it might be efff-
shindy served by a body of clergy. This plan, though
' a favourite means of church extension with our an-
cestors, seems rarely to have been successful in its
object; and, in spite of reformatory charter after char-
ter, it appears to have failed as signally in Manchester
as in airy cathedral city. At all event., in
our time we had, at the time of the enact-
ment of the Church Temporalities Act, the Warden
and Fellows of the Collegiate Church of Man-
chester in receipt of all the rectorial revenues of the
pariah without performing any parochial duties. By
that statute it was enacted that the warden and fel-
lows should be made a dean and canons; that the
cathedral church should consist of a dean with 2,0001.
a year and of four canons with 1,000/. a year; and
that the surplus revenues should be paid to the Eccle-
siastical Commissioners.ll tit the act did not impose any
cure of souls on the " dignitaries" it thus left still
largely endowed. From the parish it proposed to take
part of the ecclesiastical wealta for which there was
ample employment therein ; and, under the guise of a
reform, it actually aggravatd, by silently sanctioning,
an old abuse.
In 1847 the see of Manchester was created at w

expellee of about 5,0001. a year to the church. Thus,
then, Manchester has a bishop with 5,0001. a year ; a
dean and chapter with 6,0001. a year ; and 100 pa-
rochial clergy supported by Voluntaryism. Here was
church reform beginning at the wrong end with a
vengeance! Here werec hurch "dignitaries" amply
provided for, and the working clergy dependent on
public bounty ! Here was—nay, here is, DIVES in
the palace and LAZARUS in the parish!
Happily, however, for society, such enormities are
intolerable in Manchester; and the appointment of
its bishop brought the case to a climax. Since the
appointment the church reformers of that city have
been gradually organising their forces, bringing
together the materials of their case, conciliating
their opponents, and arousing their friends ; until at
last they are now prepared to act, and to insist, with
victory in their hands, on the abatement of this
ecclesiastical nuisance. What they demand is the
application of all the property of the church in the
parish to strictly parochial purposes; with that object
they will ask the legislature to vest the property
in the hands of trustees, to divide the parish into as
many parishes for ecclesiastical purposes as there
are ecclesiastical districts, to make the dean
rector of the mother church, with a suitable
income, giving him for his curates the minor
canons, to make the canons rectors of as
many of the parishes, and to appropriate the
rest of the use amongst the incumbents of the
new parishes pro rata. Under the management of
lay trustees, and under a system of rack rents, there
cmnot be a doubt that the value of the church pro-
perty in Manchester is susceptible of being very
largely increased; and those who have examined the
facts of the case closely are not without hopes that it
will afford very competent stipends to the working
clergy of the city. At all events, their plan will get
rid of lazy dignitaries, and will rely fur any deficiency
not on taxation or church rates, but on the sympathies
and good feeling of the public. It is a great and
worthy effort to apply honestly and faithfully the
property of the church in Manchester, and as such it
merits and will receive the support of church re-
farmers everywhere.

EVER since the celebrated fa-bunting squabble in
Dorset*hire, Mr. OSANTLEY BERKELEY lace been a
great man amongst the little men of that county.
The other day he was imported by the squirearchy of