The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-06 00:00:00

Sergeant Shee on the Irish Church.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sir,—ln the course of recent debates in the House
of Commons, it was several times stated that the
scale of income proposed by me for the beneficed
clergy of the Established Church in Ireland would
❑ecessitate an addition of £78,000 to its net
revenues.

You would much oblige me by inserting in your
columns the passage in a work published by me ten
years ago, which has given rise to that misconcep-
tion.

I think it does not support the inference which
has been drawn from it.

I enclose the passage, and am, Sir, your obedient

servant,

WILLIAM SIIEE.

2, Sergeant's-Inu, July 4, 1863.

By the 3d and 4th Will. IV., c. 37, s. 116, it is enacted
that whenever it shall appear by the certificate of the ordi-
nary that in any benefice, not being of private patronage,
which shall become void, Divine service had not been cele-
brated for three years next preceding the Ist February,
1833, it shall be lawful for the ecclesiastical commissioners
to direct the appointment of a clerk to such benefice to be
suspended, and to receive the emoluments thereof, for the
purposes of the commission, until they shall direct such
suspension to be removed.
And by the 4th and sth 'Will. IV., c. 9, a. 1, the Lord-
Lieutenant and Privy Council are empowered, with the
recommendation of the ecclesiastical commissioners, on the
avoidance of any ecclesiastical dignity or office under the
rank of a bishopric, without cure of souls, or rectory not of
private patronage, without cure of souls, to suspend the ap-
pointment to such dignity, office or rectory, and to vest its
emoluments, during such suspension, in the ecclesiastical
commissioners.

By the bill brought into the House of Commons, on be-
half of the Whig Government, by Lord Morpeth, on the
25th May, 1836, it was proposed to augment the funds
disposable from this source by enacting that in all parishes
where the number of resident Protestants was below 50, the
incumbent should have an income of £100; one of £2OO
where the number of Protestants was below 500; one of
£3OO, where the number was below 1,000 ; one of £4(O,
where the number did not exceed 3,000; one of £5OO where
it exheeded 3,000; and in every case 30 statute acres of
glebe. This arrangement could hardly give satisfaction to
the friends of the Church, or be approved of by a just judgo
of the requirements of its ministers. An income of £3OO is
not too large—an income of £lOO is too small for any clergy-
man of the Established Church above the rank of curate.
Better to extend the provisions of the 4th and sth Wm.
IV ,c. 90, a. 1, by enacting that no incumbent of any
benefice shall be deemed, within the meaning of that sec-
tion, to have cure of souls, in whose church a congregation
of 20 persons does not on Sundays and holidays usually as-
semble for public prayer, and empower the commissioners,
on the avoidance of any such benefice, to annex the duties
of it, during suspension, to an adjoining care, than subject
a man of sacred profession, and debarred by it from all
lucrative pursuits, to the misery of an existence on an in-
come inadequate to the support of his position in society,
and the suitable education of his children. In deference to
the feelings and the hopes of our Protestant
fellow-subjects, we would maintain, with a view to their
possible future serviceableness, in a state of substantial
repair the parochial churches, to which, on account of the
smallness of their congregations and their vicinity to other
churches, it might be creditable to suspend the appointment
of clerks. Ws would preserve to the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners the power which they now have, under the 3d
and 4th Victoria, c, 101, of augmenting the incomes of poer
benefices to a sum not exceeding £2OO. Limiting, except
in the large cities, the incomes of the benefices in the more
Protestant dioceses of Armagh, Cloger, Connor, Derry,
Raphoe, DrJmore, and Kilmore, at their next advoidance, to
a maximum of £4OO, and of the benefices in the other dioceses
to a maximum of £3OO, we would touch the incomes of no
benefices of a smaller annual value, with cure of souls, but to
improve them, freeing all clerical incomes from the tax
imposed by the 3d and 4th William IV., c. 37, sec. 14, and
in case of reduction from a rateable part of their building
charges* and securing to every curate appointed by the
commissioners, on the nomination of the incumbent, and
with the approbation of the ordinary, a stipend of £lOO, of
which not more than £25 should be a charge upon the
benefice.

* See 14 and 15 Victoria, c. 73, an Act to amend the
laws relating to ecclesiastical residences in Ireland.

THE GREAT FIRE IN LIVERPOOL.

The following are the particulars of this occur-
rence which we briefly reported in The Sun of
Saturday:—On Friday morning the fire broke out
shortly before one o'clock in the offices of Messrs.
Chapple, Dutton, and Co., in -W ater-street.
Immediately on the discovery being made, an alarm
was conveyed to the fire police station, and a num-
ber of the Liverpool fire brigade, together with the
West of England Insurance Company's fire engine,
were speedily in attendance. Water being at
hand, it was anticipated that the damage would be
confined to the destruction of the office fixtures,
&c., bat unhappily the flames had obtained hold
upon the upper story of the same premises, and
soon the dense masses of sm ,ke gave indication
of the extent of the calamity. Ladders were
placed to the warehouse windows, but the shutters
being of wrought iron it was not without great loss
of time and much labour that an opening could be
effected, and when this was accomplished the flames
and smoke for a time drove back the firemen. In
defiance of all the efforts made, the fire continued
to spread, and by daybreak the sight may fairly
be described as " terribly grand." By this time
there were no less than seven streams playing
upon the building, and still the fire was undimi-
nished, and even wren 11 pipes were laid on the
efforts made seemed of no avail. One after another,
storey after storey, window after window, was
sacrificed. Nothing but toe aestruction of the cotton,
stowed in the warehouse could put a stop to the
conflagration. At 35 minutes past four the police,
after great exertion, succeeded in taking off two
of the iron doors in Covent-garden, with which
the warehouse portion of the premises was fitted,
and the flames burst out in that direction.
The other iron doors became red-hot, and then the
cotton piled against the windows added to the diffi-
cuities with which the firemen had to content. At
four o'clock in the afternoon two-thirds of the pre-
mises and a large portion of their contents had been
destroyed; but the fire had not been extinguished.
&bout noon part of the wall fronting Covent-garden
tell in with a terrible crash; and about three o'clock
in the afternoon another large mass of the wall in
the same street also fell,fortunately without injuring
any one, but causing much damage to the property-
opposite. After the second portion of the wall
gave way the fire appeared to have in some
measure exhausted itself, and there seemed every
reason to believe that it would be prevented
from spreading further. In the meantime the
destruction of property has been very great..
In the premises which have been burnt there were
2,972 bales of cotton stored, estimated to be of the
value of about £103,000. Of this quantity, 2,820
belonged to Messrs. Duckworth and Rathbone,
chiefly Egyptian, but 40 bales were Sea Island,
and 150 were American ; Messrs. Zielzler, Miess,
and Co. held 70 bales, Mr. W. Marsden 150,
and Mr. Marriott 43. It is also understood that
in the cellars a large quantity of sulphur and
orange juice was stored, and that an extensive
quantity of porter was in the cellars of the agent
of Messrs. Truman, Ilanbury ,and Buxton, and in the
office of Mr. Bigham a considerable quantity of
samples of petroleum was stored. The salvage, it
is expected, will in all likelihood amount to be-
tween 35 and 40 per cent. of the whole. The stocks
are said to be heavily insured, and the following
sums are said to be the relative amounts insured
in different offices :—Liverpool and London,
£28,000 ; General, £20,000; Royal, £14,000 ;
Atlas, 1.33,0W--,-"itoyal Exchange, £7,000; West of
England, 1.6,000 ; and other similar insurances to
an aggregate of between £3,000 and £5,000.

ALGERIAN ONYX MARBLE.—A very eplended
display of exquisite objects manufactured from this
beautiful marble, is now on view at the establishment of
Messrs. Howell and James, Regent-street. It comprehends
almost every imaginable variety of decorative art, includ-
ing clocks, candelabra, vases, gueridons, inkstands, teizi,
card trays, jardinieres, porte bouquets, lamps, ringstands,
&o. The combination of the onyx marble with metal pro-
duces a most chaste and elegant appearance, and certainly
nothing that has hitherto been used in the manufacture of
articles of the description above enumerated can for a mo-
ment be compared to it, The objects suitable for the draw-
ing room are all of the purest taste and design, while those
intended for wedding presents and souvenirs are beautiful
beyond description. Each article is most certainly "a
thing of beauty," and to its fortunate possessor it must con-
sequently become "a joy tor ever." The brilliant display
is open gratuitously to the public, and, in addition to the
onyx marble ornaments, the visitor will have an opportu-
nity of getting a glimpse at the contents of one of the most
renowned establishments of the metropolis.