The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-11 00:00:00

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much hesitation in reducing even this amount by fully one-
third. Yet these are the people who must needs possess
themselves of an ecclesiastical hierarchy, with territorial
titles appointed by a foreign sovereign to governments
within this realm !
In striking contrast to such proceedings are the transac-
tions of the other congregations to which we referred at
the opening of these remarks. The Papists, with their
handful of followers, have done their best to frighten the
whole State from its propriety ; the " Brethren," and the
" Irvingites," are scarcely, perhaps,, known by name, and
still less comprehended in reality. Yet there is something
to he said for both these sects. The great principle recog-
nised by the "Brethren" is the true unity of all Christian
believers, and, while they exact a lively belief rather than
a formal profession as a condition of membership, they re-
ject all sectarian tests of doctrine or discipline. They
think that the Established Church, for instance, is too lax
in its regulations, as including in its body and receiving
into the most solemn acts of worship all the population of
a particular district or territory, without inquiry in`_
their personal faith. On the other hand, they hold that
Dissenting communities, by insisting on conformity in cer-
tain small particulars, exclude many Christians essentially
as good as themselves, and thus destroy the unity of
Christ's Church. They consider, in short, that all be-
lievers in Christ, that is to say, all persons professing those
vital truths by which Christianity is distinguished from
unbelief, should form one body, without distinction ; that
there should in this respect be only two classes of people.—
Christians and non-Christians; and that the division of
Christians into sects among themselves is absolutely
wrong. It is for these reasons that they have abstained
from appropriating any peculiar denomination. They will
not allow that they are a sect, but call themselves
simply Christians, and as Christians, " Brethren.'
There is some speciousness in this argument, but
we wonder it has not occurred to the Brethren that
the unity which they snake their chief—olkiect is cer-
tainly better represented in the English Church than in
their own congregations ; that the sole fault which
they impute to this body—that of indulgence—is a fault
on the liberal side, and that it is hard to decide who is not
a Christian among tliose who performs Christfan's outward
duties. The number of chapels frequented by the bre-
thren was returned as 132, but this is considered to be
below the mark.

The "Irvingites" constitute in many respects a more re-
markable community ; indeed, from the public position
held by one of their chief authorities, and the splendid
church which they have erected in the metropolis, they
have acquired considerable repute. We use the term " Ir-
vingites," as conveying most directly the general informa-
tion which the reader would desire, but the congregations
themselves repudiate this designation, and with reason,
too. They call themselves the " Catholic and Apostolic
Church," not as claiming this title exclusilvey, but as .re-
fusing to be called by any other, inasmuch as they espe-
cially profess to be Christians according to the Catholic
and Apostolic standard. It was at the commencement of
the present century, when the public mind had been con-
vulsed from its uttermost depths by the tremendous events
of the French Revolution, that some persons recognised in
these scenes the fulfilment of the sacred prophecies denot-
ing the final epoch of the world. As a necessary incident
of this epopla they looked for the revival of miraculous
powers—for acts of healing and prophecy, and other super-
natural works. Th ;se expectations were thought to be sa-
tisfied by the " unknown tongues," in connexion with
which Mr. Irving's name will be remembered, and
ulti-
mately "prophets" were recognised as a regular order in
the new congregations. Prophets designate "apostles,"
and apostles ordain to the ministry chief pastors, or
"angels," in accordance with prophetic nominination.
Generally speaking, the tenets of this community may be de-
scribed as those of the ancient Catholic Church, many of
whose ceremonies and usages they have restored. Theydiffer
f.om other Christian Churches chiefly in their recogni••
tion of those supernatural gifts elsewhere thought to
be suspended—which gifts, together with the prophetic
and apostolic ministries, they consider necessary for pre-
paring for the second advent. They numbered at the last
census about 6,000 souls, and were said to be on the in-
crease. The members dedicate to the service of the church
a tenth part of their whole incomes of every description.
Such is "the Catholic and Apostolic Church"—a com-
munity whose claims would seem to admit of an immediate
and unimpeachable test. If their miraculous endowments
are real their views acquire Divine confirmation ; if not,
the only alleged distinction between themselves and others
vanishes at once.

( Front the Morning Chronicle.)
It will be remembered that, when the arrangements
were being made for the census of 1851, the Government
I thought it desirable that advantage should be taken of the
opportunity for obtaining returns relative to the amount
of accommodation for religious worship provided by diffie-
rent communities, the number of attendants, and other
particulars of a similar nature. To the fertile imagination
of Lord Derby this innovation appeared pregnant with
evils of the direst character. The proposed inquiries were
"most inquisitorial and vexatious, and not at all war-
ranted by the statute ;" and, moreover, " an invidious dis-
tinction would be drawn "between Churchmen and Dis-
senters—inasmuch as the former were interrogated as to
their free sittings, while the latter were called upon only
for the area of standing room supplied by their chapels.
We have, however, great cause to rejoice that, in defiance
of the remonstrances urged by this zealous champion of the
Church, a precedent, in his opinion " most dangerous,"
has been established ; for the result has been to furnish us
with a volume which may, without any exaggeration, be
styled one of the most valuable contributions ever made
to the ecclesiastical annals perhaps we might say
the ecclesiastical history—of this country. The high-
est praise is unquestionably due to Mr. Horace Mann,
under whose able superintendence the vast mass of ma-
terials collected has been condensed into very moderate
dimensions; and he has prefixed to the returns a report
containing most useful information, not only as to the sta-
tistics of different denominations, but also, in many cases,
as to their distinctive peculiarities of doctrine, discipline,
or ceremonial. We have, in fact, a sketch of the Chris-
tian world, so far as its various divisions are to bo found in
our own island, drawn by a competent and impartial hand,
and presented to us in a highly convenient form.
We shall best do justice to the subject by noticing first
the conclusion of the report, which states very briefly the
"prominent facts elicited by the whole inquiry." It ap-
pears that there are, in the whole, 1,644,734 inhabitants of
England, who, " if all who might attend religious services
were willing to attend," would not be able, on account of
insufficient accommodation, to join in public worship; and
the deficiency is, as might have been expected, found al-
most exclusively in towns, especially in large towns. In
order. to provide sittings for this large number of persons,
the erection of about 2,000 new churches or chapels would
be necessary; and even then the provision would not be
sufficient without additional services. Of those able to
attend, and for whom accommodation at present exists, at
least once on the Sunday, it is estimated that five millions
and a quarter are, on the average, absent through the whole
day; and the able compiler naturally treats this melancholy
fact as a conclusive proof that a mere addition to the num-
ber of religious buildings would afford but a partial remedy
for the evil. " The greatest difficulty," he says, "is to fill
the churches when provided, and this can only be accom-
plished by a great addition to the number of efficient ear-
nest religious teachers, clerical or lay, by whose persua-
sions the reluctant population might be won." As the
figures above given are founded, to a certain extent, ou
calculation, and not on actual returns, it may be well to
show the process by which they have been obtained from
the data furnished ; and we shall here find it convenient
to deal only with round numbers— referring to the report
itself for more exact statements.
The total population of England, on the 30th of March,
1851, was eighteen millions ; and the actual Sunday at-
tendances were, in the morning, four and a half millions—
in the afternoon, three millions—and very nearly as many
in the evening. From the total population we may, in the
first place, deduct one-sixth for children under five years
of age. Next, as sickness or infirmity is usually estimated
as incapaciting 5 per cent. of the population for active
duties—and as " the degree of indisposition which usually
detains a prudent person from church or chapel is snuck
slighter than that contemplated in this calculation"— we
shall probably not err in striking off an additional million
under this head. The, care of inhabited houses, of which
there are three millions, may account for an equal deduc-
tion from the number of those able to attend a religious
service at any one time ; and lastly, a less definite allow-
ance must be made for those employed in connection with
various public conveyances. Taking all these matters into
account, it may be assumed that about ten millions and a
half of individuals—or 58 per cent. of the entire community
—ought to be able to attend Divine service at a given hour
on the Sunday. If, therefore, only one service were per-
formed in each religious edifice, we should at once know
the numbea of those who Were, without sufficient cause,
entirely absent on the day of enumeration ; and we should
at the same time be able to judge of the accommodation
which ought to be provided. On both these points,. how-
ever, the double or even treble services now used in our
own communion and in others, introduce some complica-
tion. First, as to the actual fact—by what mode can
determine how many of the four millions and a half who
attended in the morning, again resorted to their co of
worship in the evening? All we positieelyknowlise some-
where that
the whole number present at any service
between the maximum attendance_ at must
any one ser-
vice and the aggregate attendance at all—that is to say.
between 4i and nearly 11 millions. Perhaps we shall not
mean, and assuming that more
the
greatly err by taking
were presentduring some part of the day ;
than 7,000,000
and if we estimate at 70 per cent. of the population the
total number able to be present at one hour or another, we
shall arrive at the conclusion before stated, viz., that five
millions who ought to have been present were wholly ab-
sent. It is unnecessary to observe that, although this may
be the aggregate of non-attendance on any particular Sun-
day, it by no means follows that the aggregate is always,
or ordinarily, composed of the same individuals ; but we
have not, and are not likely to have, any data from which
the number of habitual or constant neglecters of public
worship can be determined.
In the next place, before we can judge as to the extent
of accommodation required, some opinion must be formed
as to the frequency of attendance desirable in each indivi-
dual case ; for it is obvious that a church calculated to hold
1,000 persons would sufficiently accommodate a district
containing 3,000 who ought to attend, if there were three
services, and if each made a rule of being present at one
service only. It will probably be safest to conclude, with
the able author of the repert, that there ought to be room
for all the population capable of attending at any one time
—that is to say, for about ten millions and a quarter ; and
perhaps some readers may be surprised to find that, if re-
liance can be placed on the returns, we have already,
within a trifle, the amount required—the actual aggregate
returned being 10,212,563. If, therefore, the deficiencies
of one district could be supplied from the superfluities of
another, no great exertion would be required in order to
afford each individual the opportunity of attending seine
religious service, supposing him willing to accept accom-
modation from Quaker, few, or Mennonite, as might be
most convenient. But although, as we aro informed in an
early page of the report, "the Rev. Daniel Rowlands had
such a reputation that persons have been known to come
one hundred miles to hear him preach," the " prudent:per-
sons" already spoken of usually confine their Sabbath-day's
journeys within more reasonable limits, and it is well
that they should. In this point of view, the comparison
between rural and urban districts, with which the Report
fureishes us, becomes of the greatest importance. Of the
former, there are a considerable number in which the
whole population might find ample accommodation at every

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servi&.. and there are many more in w he
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cient-room for all who could be expected to allOnd ;
in the latter, the ratio of the number of sittiiia to tht in-
habitants is often exceedingly small—falling, in the case
of Shoreditch, as low as 17.9 per cent., and in fifty districts,
almost all of which are metropolitan, not exceeding 40 per
cent. On the average, there is room for 66per cent, of the
whole population in rural, and for only 46 in urban
parishes. The latter, moreover, differ widely among them.
selves, and a stronger contrast can hardly be presented
than that afforded by the metropolitan district just men-
tioned and the City, so closely adjacent to it. The efforts
which have been made by our own Church, and by the
members of other communions, to supply the long-existing
deficiency, have almost restored the proportion of which
we are speaking—taking the average of the whole country
—to the point at which it stood at the beginning
of the
century. Until 1831, a decided decline was observable,
and at successive decennial periods the ratio fell from 58.1
to 54.4, to 50.8, and to 50.4 ; but in 1841 it was found that
it had risen to 53.8, and on the most recent occasion it had
further advanced to 57.0.
In the preceoding remarks, we have avoided all reference
to those peculiarities which separate the various religious
bodies existing in this country ; but it is unnecessary to
say that the members of our own Church cannot relaxtheir
exertions because others aro supplying the accommodation
which has hitherto boon so defective. The relative amount
of the provision made by different denominations for the
spiritual necessities of the people is a point on which much
very valuable and necessary information may be found in
the present report ; and we hope to be able, on a future
occasion, to call attention to some of the most interesting
details which it furnishes with regard to this part of the
subject.
tto I

In a former article on the " Religious Worship" statis-
tics of the census of 1851, we stated that, in the buildings
open for public worship on the day of enumeration, there
was accommodation for 57 per cent. of the total population
of England and Wales ; and we now proceed to show the
proportions contributed to this aggregate by the most im-
portant communities. Passing over thoso which do not
separately supply a single integer, the arrangement will be
as follows :

Church of England 29'7
Wesleyan Methodists (Original Connexion) Bl
Independents 6'o
Particular Baptists
Primitive Methodists
Welsh Calvinistic Methodists l'2
Roman Catholics FO
• This leaves, it w"1 be seen, 5'4 out of a--or-lass than
.one-tenth of tly• ' .h 1 number of sitthigti—to be divided
among about nino.k minor sects and "isolated congrega-
tions." If we next distinguish between "large town dis-
tricts"--that is to say, those which comprise towns having
more than 10,000 inhabitants—and "rural districts," we
shall find, from Table F F, that accommodation was pro-
vided for 44'7 of the population in the former, and 70 per
cent. in the latter. Employing, as before, for the sake of
convenience, the church and chapel as distinctive appella-
tions, we may distribute the numbers last mentioned as
follows Church. Chapel. Total.
Town districts
Rural districts
The former class may be again sub-divided, and will give
the following results, which we cannot but look upon as
important, and in some degree encouraging to church-
men :

Populations between 10,000 and
20,000 ..............................
Populations between 20,000 and.
50,000 ..............................
Populations between 59,000 and
100,000
Populations between 100,000 and
upwards

Church.

Chapel.

32'0

34.5

Total.

It thus appears that, in our largest cities, where the de-
ficiency is greatest, the Church numbers a majority of sitt-
ings ; while, in the smaller ones, where, on the average,
there is room for more than 58 per cent. of the popula-
tion—the maximum number whose attendance can
be expected—dissent predominates, as it also does
in the third class. It is, however, worthy of notice,
that the strength of the Baptist denomination appears to
ha almost wholly in the smaller towns, where it contri-
butes 174 sittings out of every 1,000; but when we reach
the next grade, the proportion falls to 85, and afterwards
to 71, which is precisely what it is in the rural districts.
We can discover no means of accounting for this variation,
except by supposing that the community in question is
one which reaps where others have sown, and that it gains
additions to its numbers rather by aggressions on other
denominations than by direct efforts to Christianise our
most densely-peopled districts. Tho Wesleyans—who, in
the country, supply 213 sittings out of every I,ooo—pro-
vide, in the first class of towns, 138, in the second 237,
and in the third 261 out of the same number; but in the
last and highest class, only 165. The corresponding num-
bers for the Independents are, in the rural districts, 100,
in the smaller towns 148, in the next class 93, in the third
109, and in the fourth 127. We give these details—which,
although not contained in the report, may easily be de-
ducted from the table to which we have referred—because
it is obviously to our largest towns that the attention of
earnest mere must be principally directed. It will be re-
membered that nearly four millions (two-ninths of the
whole population are contained within the limits of the
metropolis and of the eight largest provincial cities or bo-
roughs—that several of the latter have increased threefold,
and one even sevenfold, during the present century—that,
in them the church possesses only to a small extent those
resources which, in rural districts, give her so great an
advantage over unendowed communities—and lastly, that
political bias has favoured the progress of dissent. It is,
therefore, gratifying to know that, at the present time, the
provision made by our own communion for the spiritual
wants of our most densely populated localities exceeds that
supplied by all denominations of dissidents ; and the re-
collection of the superiority thus actually existing cannot
fail to stimulate our efforts to increase it.
From Table G we gain a curious insight into the " Com-
parative position of the Church of England and the Dis-
senting Churches in different parts of the country." Wales,
as might have been expected, shows a strong preponde-
rance of the latter. For every hundred of the population
in North Wales, the church affords 28 sittings, and the
chapel 61 ; and, for the same numbers in South Wales,
the figures are 25 and 59—the Wesleyan and Calvanistic
Methodists being by far the most flourishing communities.
In none of the English counties is anything like the same
disparity observable ; and, indeed, there are only twelve—
the Ridings of .Yorkshire being counted separately—in
which the Church does not provide more than a moiety of
the existing accommodation. The species of dissent most
popular appears to vary with the locality • and from a pa-
ragraph in the report we may conclude that the peculiari-
ties of different sects are to some extent antagonistic to
each other, since no district, except South Wales, is men-
tioned as a stronghold of more than one of the three prin-
cipal denominations.
We have hitherto considered only the amount of accom-
modation contained within the walls of edifices dedicated
to seligious purposes. In order, however, to determine how
far the accommodation is practically available, we must
extend our inquiry, and ascertain the number of services
actually performed. Out of 14,077 churches 4,740 were open
once only on the Sunday, 7,585 twice, and only 752 three
times. In the "town portion," however—which includes
all towns, without. regard to size—there were only 338
out of 2,213 which had not at least two services ; and it
must be admitted that in small contiguous parishes, whe-
ther urban or rural, exceedingly little inconvenience may
be occasioned by alternation. With every prepossession
in favour of the parochial system, we must not attach too
much importance to boundaries which are purely arbitrary,
and which would, in many cases, if rigidly observed, ac-
tually exclude church-goers from the most accessible place
of worship. It appears from the report that, "on the
whole, the Dissenters make rather more of their accommo-
dation than does the Established Church ;" but the periods
of the day at which their services are held ought to be
particularly noticed, for a reason which wo shall state.
The Wesleyans, out of more than two millions of seats
which their chapels possess, rendered only about one-half
available in the morning, a somewhat larger number
in the afternoon, and almost the whole in the even-
ing. As stated in table 19, their per centages were,
at the three periods, 62, 58, and 88 respectively ;
but the first of these numbers appears to be a mis-
print for 52. A large proportion, therefore, of the Wes-
leyan chapels were open only when the churches were
shut ; and this will appear more clearly if we turn to
Table L, which shows that, out of 5,497 such buildings
belonging to the original connection in the rural districts,
2,327 only had a morning service. We have no desire to
strain an inference from these facts, but it is obvious that
a large proportion of those who were enumerated at their
exit from these places of worship are not to be considered
as Dissenters in principle ; and we believe many of them
to, be churchmen who avail themselves of a Wesleyan ser-
vice only at a time when nine out of every ten churches
in country localities are closed. With other denomina-
tions the case is exceedingly different, although, even as
regards them, there is a preponderance of afternoon and
eveningser
wice
We must conclude by barisewflyereferrin to the statistics
provided have e_ befores proportionally
lesst h the
ofam othuentmoeftarcoepoomlitowdhateireon,
than in any other district of England. Out of a popula-
only 460,168 persons attended in
tion exceeding 2,300,000,
tho morning, 100,855 in the afternoon, and 313,316 in
the evening ; while the churches and chapels open would
have coutained, at the three periods of the days respec-
tively, 682,697, 320,031, and 585,399. The evening con-
gregations were pretty evenly divided, but the Church
claimed a considerable majority in the morning, andthree-
fourths of the whole in the afternoon. From comparison
between tho figures above given, it would clearly appear
that the real difficulty arises from the fact that " the area
which a minister can cover in the course-of pastoral over-
sight is far from co-extensive with the sphere which he can
influence by his ministrations in the. Church • he can
preach to 1,500 people, but he cannot visit and effectually
supervise the third of such a number. If this be correct,
wo seem to be driven, in such cases, to the appointment of
additional agents rather than the erection of additional
churches." We are here quoting from the able compiler,
of the report, and although there may be a difference of
opinion as to the precise limit of efficient pastoral supenn-
tendence, there are probably many districts in which the
general conclusion at which he has arrived may be found
more or less applicable.

ROYAL ARTILLERY.—WOOLWICH, Jan. 10.—Captain
Lefroy's company, 4th battalion, marched from the
garrison at 8 o'clock a.m. to-day, headed by the drums
and flutes of the regiment, to the Arsenal station of the
North Kent Railway, en route to Eastbourne, where the
company is to be stationed, and there will now be two
companies on that part of the coast instead of one com-
pany. Two years ago there was not a single artillery-
man stationed at Eastbourne nor within a considerable
distance. Captain Rorner's company, 7th battalion, Las
returned in the Simoom iron screw steam -ship, from the
Cape of Good Hope to Portsmouth, and the men are
expected to arrive at head-quarters in the garrison here
this evening. The companies from Jamaica, Barba-
does, and Bermuda are also daily expected to arrive at
head-quarters here.
FLOODS ARISING FROM THE THAW.—The weight of
water brought from the uplands sloping to the Medway
has been so great, that tho river gradually rose on Sun-
day and Sunday night to an alarming height, overflowing
its - banks and flooding the neighbouring fields and
meadows to a far greater extent than during the floods
which occurred on the 20th and 21st of October last, and
which occasioned the loss of a number of lives at Radlow.
At Maidstone the paths and wharves on each side of the
river were placed completely under water, and in passing
under the bridge assumed the wild strength of a torrent.
—South-Eastern Gazette.

OLD AGE.—There died at Moscow, on the 11th of
October, a certain Peter Sosnowsky, aged 122 years, 1
month, and 20 days.—Journal de St, PC;enk

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1854.

The combined fleets having at length entered
the Black Sea after prolonged hesitation—it re-
mains now to be seen what they will do there
towards the settlement of so many enormous diffi-
culties, difficulties affecting not only the integrity
of the Turkish empire, but the maintenance also
of the general peace of Christendom. Will they
bring matters at once to a conclusion, or are we
fated to witness the continuance by our naval offi-
cers and seamen of that wretched system of delays,
and doubts, and palterings with a terrible danger
which has been persisted in for nearly twelve
months consecutively, in spite of all the dictates
of common sense and ordinary prudence, by our
statesmen and our diplomatists, by our adminis-
trators and our ambassadors Are we for ever
to be hovering round the question at issue, instead
of grappling with it valorously, promptly, and
rigorously? Are we to be pining after peace instead
of at once boldly conq tiering it ? Speaking upon this
very subject, and to this very purpose, the great Whig
organ has just enunciated its views in language
beyond the reach of misapprehension. In an
elaborate paper relating to the Ottoman Empire,
a reviewer in the last number of the Edinburgh,
the number for the current quarter beginning
with this present month of January, speaks thus
decidedly : he says—" Every Minister of the
Crown who advises, and every Member of Par-
liament who votes, for a war with Russia, must,
if he understands the true interests of England,
be prepared to make the utmost exertions, to strike
the hardest blow, and to inflict the deepest wound
which the east resources of this country will
permit." It is the old cry against " a
little war " uttered long since by the late
Duke of WELLINGTON—a cry which has now been
re-echoed by the old Whig Edinburgh. Language
could not well be more explicit or more decided
than that just now described. It tells Ministers
and Members of Parliament that they "must be
prepared to make the utmost exertions, to strike