The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-14 00:00:00

other Powers. We cannot say on what foundation
those expectations rest. There is no doubt that
England and France are anxious to see friendly
relations restored, and would do their best towards
that object; yet the causes of jealousy and discon-
tent are too deep to be easily removed. Between
Austria and Piedmont appearances may be kept
up, but a good feeling cannot for a long time be
sincere on either side.
Letters from Constantinople, dated the 2d, state
that the pirates who attacked a Dutch ship in the
BosphornS had escaped all pursuit. Crimes were
numerous at Constantinople. The English minis-
try and the India Company have reversed the
project for carrying the telegraphic wire from
Constantinople to India by way of the Red Sea.
It is now decided that the wire shall follow the
line of the railway of the Euphrates. The English
steamer Areadia,whieh was wrecked atthe entrance
of the roadstead of Smyrna, has been got up by
the aid afforded by Admiral Roset The Presse
d'Orient publishes a communicated article denying
the rumour that.the Sultan had granted the basin
of Pera to the -English.
The Indian Mail arrived at Marseilles on
Sunday, and was immediately despatched - to
England. It will probably arrive here to-morrow
afternoon.
The screw steam ship City of Baltimore, which
sailed from New York on the 2nd inst., was off
Cork yesterday. She brings one day.s's Utter news
than that by the Africa, and will arrive here this
afternoon.

THE Easter Annual General Vestry will be

held to-day. From the indications already per-

ceptible, it is evident that the extreme Church
party contemplate a grand display, and are not
indisposed to make another effort to impose a
Church Rate, and to select Churchwardens who
will act according to the ,i,ishes of the party, no
matter what amount of public inconvenience and
annoyance it may cause and perpetuate.

The first business to he transacted is the
selection of Churchwardens. In the performance
of that duty, the Vestry should look well to the
men whom they select. The appointment is not

only an honourable, but responsible one. Jr
the Select Vestry, which has the care and guar•

dianship of the poor, they are second only to
the Rector of the parish. The making out of the
list of Ratepayers qualified to vote at Parliamen-

;ary elections comes under their control (in con.

nection with the Overseers), as well as the regula-
tion of Church expenditure. There are many
other duties appertaining to the office, which we
need not here enumerate, but all of which
exercise a direct or indirect influence upon the
peace and good regulation of the parish.
Considering, then, the nature and extent of the
duties to be performed by these parochial func-
tionaries—the general tendency of almost all
public Boards to countenance a lavish expendi-
ture, and otherwise blink at delinquencies in one
shape or another, which should not be permitted—
it is a matter of the utmost importance that
none but gentlemen of integrity, men of purpose
and tried business habits, should be elected to

the office in question. The duties, as we have
already shown, being multifarious, none but
gentlemen having a good deal of spare time on
their hands, should be called upon to serve. In
any other case, the Ratepayers do themselves an
injustice by not having their interests properly
watched ; whilst the individuals chosen are
pestered and annoyed by demands upon their
time and leisure, which their daily pursuits do
not afford them to give.

As to that part of the Churchwardens' duty
which requires him to look after the proper
celebration of Divine service throughout
the parish, it is a matter of comparatively small
moment to the Ratepayers as a body. In the
view we take of such a question, each congrega-

tion should elect its own officers to look after such

purely ecclesiastical matters. The strong-
minded and zealous High Churchman cannot
be expected to feel a deep interest in the minis-
trations at a Baptist, a Wesleyan, or a Roman
Catholic chapel ; neither can we expect that a
Dissenter will enter into the feelings of the
Churchman as to the performance of Divine ser-
vice in the Established Churches of his parish.
It is for these reasons that we would separate the
duties now imposed upon Churchwardens.
Although these functionaries may not fe '1 the
same amount of interest in watching over the
internal condition and regulation of the churches
as he does to the state and condition:of the poor
and the several other civil requirements of the
office, it does not follow that every duty which
the law prescribes he will not faithfully fulfil.
We can point to numbers of Dissenting Church-
wardens whose tenure of office has been marked
by a rare and beneficial attention to the interests
of the Church ; and who, when retiring from the
office, not only earned but received the hearty
and grateful acknowledgments of the late and
present Rectors.

The insinuation then, of some of our Tory co-
temporaries, is not only uncalled for,but totally at
variance with the fact. The Nonconformists, in
undertaking any public duty, are at all times
faithful in discharging its several requirements.
They are not " selected notoriously, almost
avowedly, in the belief that they will prove a
facile and convenient instrument in Nonconfor-
mist hands." The Dissenters are entitled to a re-
presentation in the Select Vestry, for a variety of
reasons, among which are the following :—first,
they contribute largely to the parish rates, and
upon the principle that there should be no taxa-
tion without representation, they justly consider
that they are entitled to their fair share on the
Parish Board. Secondly —any one-sided public
body is always open to suspicion, and hence it is
that the Dissenters, as well as Roman Catho-
lics, desire that they should be put in a position
to expose, if not prevent, any improper expendi-
ture of the parish funds, or paro2hial corruptions
of any kind or description, The infusion of
Nonconformists and Roman Catholics into the
Select Vestry has already effected much good,
saved the people several thousands of useless ex-
penditure, and effectually thwarted any party
designs of extravagance, jobbinz, and corruption.
Thirdly—lt forms part of the duty of the Select
Vestry to provide for and supply intellectual and
religious instruction for the inmates of the
Workhouse ; both Dissenters and Roman Catho-
lics desire a voice at the Vestry Board, so that
proselytism may be prevented, the children