Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-11-29 00:00:00

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not at all assume' the aggressive attitude in this move=
meat ; on the contrary, we merely defend ourselves from
attacks from without. Arid I trust that, by God's bles-
sing, this source of property, which has belonged to the
Church during so many generations, will be pre,served
to it. (Applause.)
The Rev. J. STEWART, the rector of West Derby,
next addressed the meeting. He said he felt the clergy-
men of the Church of England were called npon to de-.
fend their Church against what they conceived to be an-
aggressive and very unjust movement on the part of
some of those who differed from them. He felt this to
be an occasion which involved very important interests.
He would ground his objeCtion to giving up this method
of supporting the fabrics
.and the necessary services of
the Church of England Upon the fact that if it were not
so, great difficulty would be found in either maintaining
the fabries'of the churches in a due state of repair, or in
providing that which. is necessary to the decent conduct
of the ordinary services. In rural and poor districts it
would be very difficult. He considered that the great
plea, setting aside the claims which they had as a matter
of property—the great greund upon which they ought
to object to the removal of this right of rate, . was the
fact that by. means. of it the whole of
.England Was por-
tioned out into . parochial districts, having their
Church, which was intended to be the church Of
the whole of the parishioners, and:that where the
duties which belonged to the lay officers of the
chairch were adequately fulfilled, in that place
every parishioner had the right and the opportunity .of
attending Divine service, and receiving those instruc-
tions which they hoped would be useful for eternity to
them. It appeared to him very plain that there was
not any injustice in 'the levying of these assessments;
for thi4 reason : -that these rates had existed from
the very earliest period---from dates prior to any dates
we had of any rates whatever. However old any one's
tido to property, it would be found that that property had
resting upon it the necessity to provide for the mainten-
ance of the Church. (Hear, hear.) •
The Rev. Dr. HUME, who was received with consi-
derable applause, said that the meeting had been called
in connection with the Liverpool Church Defence Asso-..
dation. Sorry he was that there should be the
sity for. such an association, but it was called into
existence under the following circumstances :—Qn the sth
of Septeinbea he read a paper beforethe Clerical Society;
and a 'resolution ins moved, and carried 'unanimously,
.then and there, that a society be formed in-Liverpool, for
the purpose 'of defending the Church; pritnarily on the
subject of Church-rates. They had had several meetings
since; the had taken a formal position; and
.were
about to address the whole o f this district on the sub-
ject, and to draw out an expression' of their 'opinion.
The rev. doctor then detailed, the cireumstances under
Which le .had prepared his .coloured map, dividing the
town into ecclesiastical ancl,aural districts ; and stated
that when he published his pamphlet on the cOnditipn
of Liverpool,. be was induced by Mr. W. Gregton
to ' add a "chapter 'pointing Out the peculiar ' posi-
tion held by the National Church. He 'shelved
that the Church occupied a two-fold position. She.
was ministerial to all those who attended _ her
ordinances and worshipped within her temples; and she
was missionary to those who were cared for by nobody
else. She carried the Gospel by her ministers to the
cottages of the poor; and the law of the laud enacted
that every man who had the care of souls must, within
a 'certain district, carry the consolations of religion to
everybody who den-landed them. The minister of a
dissenting or Roman Catholic chapel might, or might
not, perform those duties. The National Church must
do so ; and therein consisted one of the important pro-
wisions of an established church. (Hear, hear.) Pernait
him now to go further back, and to tell them two or
three little facts that formed the key to' some of their
peculiar system. In very alol times, there were,in this
country of course dioceses, each diocese correspondirg
in some degree to the old principality of the country.
To what did these belong ? They would be amazed when
he told them that the very spot he was now standing
on belonged to the diocese of Lichfield, which com-
prehended the counties of Derby, Stafford, and a con-
siderable section of Shropshire. It comprehended then
Lancashire, and Cheshire as well._ ,At a, certain time
off Lancashire and Cheshire were cut o and formed into
the diocese 'of Chester. Still more lately they had cut off
the diocese of Manchester. By and by another Change
would be necessary, and they would have' to create a
diocese of Liverpool, perhaps joining with it the Isle of
Man. That, however, was in the future: However,
having diocesan churches and cathedrals was a small
provision ; and the landlords of the country, who where
universally the -great men of the country—what did
they do ? Each landlord said---," I cut off the tenth of
my income for the support of the Church, on my
estate ; and I will build a church here for the use of my
tenantry." The estate therefore became a pariih. 'The
landlord was 'himself the builder of the church: and the
one-tenth of his income cut off, called by the name of tithes,
conatitutedthe income of the clergyman. As a matter of
course,.-there ware large parishes and :small parishea;-
and, thus they had the formation of parishes, and thus
they. had a certain amount of union between the Church
and thc.,‘ State. The Church blessed the State, and the poor
and the rich, the. peer and the peasant, mingled together
in her services, almost as common as their dust mingles.
together, in the narrew house appointed for all
Then, again, the landlord•said—" Since I have built this
church, and since I actually pay the salary Of the' clergy-
man, I and my sons 'and my children after me will select
the minister from among good and proper men." Hence
arose Church patronage. Then how dicl the,inbjeCt Of
Church-rates arise? Thus :.• whenever: a present was
made, especially to a large community, they were ex-'
eected to maintain it in order and condition; The
arl of Derby gave to the town of Liverpool a beautiful
selection of' natural history; which was known as the
Derby Museum, and in, the act of Parliament which was
passed there was one, important condition; that in all
time the,museum-rate levied in Liverpool should support
that museum in perfect order and condition. Nothing
was more just and equitable. They got a free donation
of admirable property, and they were asked simply to
keep it order for their own sakes. Take another instance:
Their friend and neighbour Mr. William Brown, after'
years full of honour among us," offered to devote a
portion of his property to give a casket that would Roil-
tain the jewel of Lord Derby, and other jewels besides.
He said :—" I will build a house, that shall be your
free library and museum in all time, and you, the com-
munity of Liverpool, undertake that, for the benefit of
the people, you shall keep the museum in perfect order,
for their sakes to all time." "We agree to it," said
the Corporation, " and render you a thousand thanks
be4ides; and you shall have your statue sculptured in
the'best marble." All this was 'right, and the smallest
return they could make for that donation. Well, then,
' the landlords said at the time they gave the Chutch
to their tenantry—" Now, good
.people, will you agree
to a tax being. laid upon your land here by whaah this
shall be kept rn perfect repair for yourselves ; that' 'you
and your children's children may all have the right to
claim' sepulchre in the churchyarde--to claim every cede-,
siastical ordinance within the body of the.church ;:that
you may claim baptism for your children, marriage for
others, and that your sick may be visited." "We are
willing to do all this," said the people, and it became,
therefore, the law of England. Why, the House of
Commons itself *as betas yesterday in comparison with
Church-rates. • So lost in the mists of antiquity was
the -subject of the first levying of Church-rates that
no man could tell the date of its birth. (Hear' hear.)
But 'here was a distinction that 'ought to be drawn.
udtuttyh.ereTwheorye
etial it
Many a thing was legal, and equitable at the same tithe;
diffi-
many a thing was equitable that was not legal. Many
a thing was right in theory that could be shifted 'in
practice.. Now, nothing wax more true than. what Mr.
Stewart had told them—that it was a right, and it was
a privilege, but it was also a duty ,of every parish tsi
maintain the fabric of its parish church in Order,' and to
religionsayof oenrdfoinroainenges
knew
there were certain people who tried to evade;equitable
in
responsibilities by technicalities of law. Those 'who .
maintain a i itsth
e w
differed froni' the Chureli on this question were anxious
to take adYantage of the deficiencies of the la* to evade
a responsibility. It had' ustly been said, that laws were
not made for men of honour; but we must, nevertheless,
take the world as we found it, Dr. Hume went on to trace
the, division of Liverpool from the. parish of Walton
and its erection into a Separate, parish in the yeara
1699. Li 1721, Liverpool had two parish diurchee,
which, although then sufficient for the population, were
now utterly inkffieient to the requirements of a parish
population of 260,000. As to the question of rates, he
would tell them that a rate of a penny in the pound
raised in the.parish of Liverpool £4,000, whilst in the
borough it Would raise £6,ooo'a-year. And it Was this
sum of money that their opponents would cut off from
them. He might say, with the beasts in the
" This' nisy be sport :to you, but it is 'death tons.",
(Laughter.) It might be .urged that they should
, depend on a voluntary rate, Now, a voluntary rate of