The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-17 00:00:00

TIIE

that were intended for them by the benevolence of their
ancestors. He had dwelt at some length upon the case
of Canterbury, and he would now call upon the
House to look to the case of Lincoln. The course
that had been taken by the Commissioners at
Lincoln was most remarks's'. ; they made a
reduction in the stalls of all the cathedrals
of the kingdom, but they made no reduction
in the stalls of Lincoln, but instead of that they created
a new one. There the chapter was left in as uncontrolled
power as before the appointment of the Commission.
There were some very curious facts connected with the
see of Lincoln. The members of the chapter had 2,0001.
a year each; but it was difficult to say what duties they
performed. He confessed he had never been able to
discover from any one any accurate account of the duties
performed by the members of the chapter. The Eccle-
siastical Commissioners attempted to obtain some infor-
mation upon this point, but it was certainly not very
ample. The Dean, for instance, was asked what
were the duties of his office. The reply was that the
duties of the office were the ordinary duties ot a cathe-
dral dean—not very definite certainly. The sub-dean was
then asked, what were the duties of his office ; the reply
was equally as definite as the former. The reply was
that the duties of his office were to assist the Dean in his
office. The answer of the third officer was no less satis-
factory, for the Chancellor stated that the duties of his
office were the ordinary duties of a cathedral chancellor ;
bnt the answer of the fourth member gave them some-
thing like information. The answer of the precentor
was that his duties were to superintend the
choir, which, by the way, invariably devolved
upon the singing master, and to preach a sermon
once a year.—(Hear and laughter.) But there was
something in connexion with the sees of Canter-
bury and Lincoln still more singular than
this. In Canterbury the Commissioners pro-
posed to reduce the number of the chapter fromel
twelve to four, but the Chapter protested tha t
t
we
at
was not sufficient to perform the duties,
Lincoln, where the Commissioners profpousred
theto
increase the number from three .to
(chapterilear a
ed
Laughter.)protested that
Let
wshuaffiotcaieencot.m—.
Previous to 1940 there were in the patron g e dean
modation the chapter of Lincoln providedafoerotfhtehpublic.
and chapter of Lincoln 96 parishes.,;.
tbhueste,thBatprnoudmoebeedr
had since been cut down to 27. Or
about 2501. ; 6, from 1501. to 2001.;andof these 13 wereeseuandereer
1501. per annum. Of course the richest
disposed of by the chapter among themselves. Of the
27, only 11 had resident clergymen, and in 9 others the
clergymen had other duties to perform. He had re-
ceived a letter from a clergyman in Lincolnshire, stating
that the churches in the patronage of the dean and chap-
ter were almost without an exception in a forlorn and
' wretched condition ; the churches were falling and the
people degraded morally and intellectually; and that an
alteration in the management and expenditure of the
cto
ranotdmh eda
of
otherrl
e propertyneolenrngtyr was
ymetclergymen
hadtloudlyhe
reached
ahceeahrl
e,l called
hfiomr,
there
. Similar
was
and,
scarcely
letters
rmone
c e l y
a
clergyman who did not deplore the present system.
But what was the state of the churches in the city of
Lincoln itself ? Formerly there were 52 churches.
now reduced to 13, the patronage of which was divided
g the members of the chapter. These could
scarcelyamon be called churches, for they were miserable,
decayed, dilapidated buildings, such as could not be
found in any district under the control of a cathedral
ehapter. Here, as in Canterbury, the churches were so
served and the incumbents ill paid. Those 13 churches
in Lincoln were held by 10 incumbents, of whom six
have other clerical duties independent of those of their
parishes. The highest stipend was 1501., and there was
one as low as 681 per annum; but the income of the
clergy of the whole of them was 1,4441. a year, or less
than the income of one member of the chapter.—(Hear.)
With respect to the provision made for the congrega-
tions, he had a return of all the attendances at the estab-
lished churches and all the dissenting chapels in the
city of Lincoln on last Sunday. Be found that of the
13 churches nine only were opened for morning service,
three for afternoon service, and seven for evening ser-
vice, and in all of them only 19 services were performed.
There were present at the morning services, 1.013;
at the afternoon, 175; and at the evening, 1,075-1
making a total of '2,263, out of a population of 13,000,
inhabitants. On the same day the attendance at the
dissenting chapels were ;as follows ;—in the morning,
2,565 ; and in the evening, 3,102 ; making a
,total of
6,667 in ten dissenting tckeapels, which had twenty one
services. The greatest number attending the churches
was 1,07.5, whilst the greatest number attending the
chapels was 3,100, being three to one. He therefore
asked again could these things be heard without feel-
ings of sorrow and shame, and would it be wise or just
to permit such a state of things to exist ?—(Hear.) Ile
had no return of the attendance at the cathedral, but he
had a document to which he must draw the particular
attention of the House, because it gave a better insight
,nto the services at the cathedral than could be gained
Tom any statistical return. He had in his hand a docu-
ment, certainly the most extraordinary ever issued to a
religious and Christian public. Ile wished that the
worst which could be said ot the attendants at cathedrals
were that they were indifferent or altogether heartless.
But he would give the House a description of the attend-
ants at the cathedral service of Lincoln, written by no
less an authority than the Dean, and addressed to the
vergers, stall-keepers, and other officers of the cathedral,
in these words:—" Whereas complaints have been made
to me from several quarters, and I have likewise myself
observed that persons are placed in the stalls, or most
distinguished places of the cathedral who do not come
within the rules of our church discipline, which supposes
every one to be seated according to his rank, quality,
and station—(Hear, heir, and laughter)—whence arise
the abuses of—first, a total disregard of the rubrics, such
persons often remaining in a sitting posture during the
whole of the service, neither standing nor kneeling at the
appointed periods—often, no doubt, from ignorance ;
secondly, a system of talking, laughing, and jesting
during the service, to the annoyance of their devouter
neighbours, with such attitudes, gestures, and postures
as would be unbecoming even in private houses ; and
whereas, on remonstrance with some of these persons
they have declared their intention to resist all attempts
to reduce them to better order, I hereby require and
order you—first, to exercise your best jedgment
and discretion, aided by whatever knowledge of
the persons you may possess, to admit no
person whatever to the stalls who does not bear,
or appear to you to bear the character of a gentleman."
—(Laughter.) The document went on to recommend
that all persons should be forcibly removed from the
stalls who persisted in their ill behaviour after being
remonstrated with. Under the circumstances it was no
doubt very proper on the part of' the Dean to issue such
a document; but what a picture did it present of the
services of our cathedrals.—(Hear, hear.) In the memo-
rial to which he had already alluded, from the Dean
end Chapter of Lincoln, they stated that their regular
attendance upon the choral services of the church secured
:o the public the full preservation of the most beautiful
and striking solemnities of Christian worship, together
with the most substantial comforts of daily prayer and
thanksgiving. How did that contrast with the the order
just read? That aas an order more fitted for those
woo infested a public-house or a playhouse than for
the attenders of a Christian church.—(Hear, hear.)
And it was that of which the public had so much
right to complain. It was wrong and unjust to say
chat there was any want of sympathy with these
establishments, or that on the part of the public
1 there was any want of acknowledgment of what had
been owing to them in times past, or was due to
them in times present. Cathedral stalls were an object
of attachment to Englishmen; still more the magnificent
Cathedral services. But for the abuses attached to them,
there were few persons who would not feel for them all
that veneration which could possibly be felt by the most
deveut attender on these public services—few who would
not say, with one of their greatest admirers—
" Yet do these structures of our fathers' age
Shame the weak efforts of art's later page—
Say, whence the skill these darker times possess'd?
In those true days men gave to God their best."
He had also returns of he Sunday attendance at the
cathedrals, but did not think it necessary to go into
them, or to detain the Huuse much longer. But it
would be a great mistake to suppose that the influence
of the chapter was confined to the cathedral city; from
she property in the neighbourhood, the parishes under
their patronage and the preferments to which they ap-
pointed, it was obvious the chapters :must exercise very
great influence, in every sense of the word, in the
districts around. He had a return of seventy-five
P shes within ten or twelve miles of London, al-
most"ery one of which had been personally visited,
and
regarding which he was furnished with the most
urinatepatrris..hoesfdetails.,.t.here were
only
would give the House a mere sum
au•
Y the result of this inquiry. In the whole 75
resident curates; ari3o reeident incumbents and 12
only 34 clergymen of any kind
were resident in theirleoundaries. In eight cases the
resident clergymen hveci
of connexion with at -Lincoln, either in conse-
quencerothe cathedral or some other
morinelostrer who officiated on the
cause. In 22 cases the
plurality, 45
parish. Of
Sundays lived in some
the 75 livings, 44 were held in
non- resident ministers, 42 were w t hinS th4aesnyw parsonage-
house, and 60 had only one service
hear.):Let it not be said that these cases Act
oo
non-residence were provided for by
them were in
for be bad details to show that many of 'ament ;
violation of the Act; that in some cases ~Pn ;
ar.ntnaents
in plurality had taken place since the
passing of the
Act ; that in others, licenses for non-residence
had been granted ; and that in other cases, the
diocesan might have compelled the building of
parsonage house and residence,
thbuetßhisahop odnotfondon done so.
So much had this evil struck
time ago he had. published a very ed-
its which he said:—" I
himself, that some
of the Act. I
anerairadbelterceahianregde oton
provisionsetnhta.otreseubtjheect,
to
om the
prevalence that n
ofo
dissent single
in causethi
this diocese
contributedtohnaoththe.
the too
frequent practice of having only one service!. i _
Sun-
day. When the parishioners see that aresoldpeenntaciferognylv
man, having the care of a single church, ~
once on the Lord's day, the impression naturally made
en their minds is,'s that he is more desirous of consulting
his own ease than of promoting their spiritual welfare,
and that they should be disposed to turn to any teacher
who professed to supply them with the spiritual food
for which they hunger." He was very sorry to find
that experience did not show that direction to have been
acted ots ; fur it was impossible to conceive any district
in a state of greater neglect than that immediately
around the parishes be had referred to. He
would now direct attention to the state of the clergy
themselves. He could show their poverty, their
privations, their sufferings; he could show cases that
had occurred since he began to institute this inquiry,
where it would not be too much to say that the clergy
had actually died from starvation; he could show from
the'ide
illetters
oosfe gentlemen
districts,
thofat therethehicgohuelsdt
ncohtabreactaermorree-
t,
harrowing tale than the sufferings of those clergy. In-

SUN,

stead of that, he preferred placing the matter in another
point of view; he would show the labours they under-
took, the exertions they made—the manner in which one
portion of the clergy neglected their duty, while another
performed more than their share. One of the latter
class stated as follows:—" The rector of a rich living in
my neighbourhood (it was sixteen miles off) had taken
past ten o'clock
-
his family to the waterside. He sent his groom to me
ntoexktno if
I could take
morning. h s
saiddutyna
o: was engaged at
t h f
that hour, but that I would take it at twelve o'clock."
Sundayw
There being no one else at hand, twelve o'clock was
fixed accordingly, and the distant parishioners of this
rich rector, who came to church at the usual hours,
found to their surprise that they would have to wait an
hour and three-quarters before the service commenced.
At half past seven o'clock in the morning the clergyman
who had been applied So left home on his pony to do duty
at his own church, which was sixteen miles away.
The service began at ten ; he got through it as quickly
as possible, gave a short sermon, and then galloped off
to the church of the rich rector, where, by dint of hard
riding, he arrived just in time to do duty there, at
twenty minutes after twelve. Here he got through the
service again as rapidly as possible, and then galloped
away other fifteen miles across the country to do duty
for another incumbent, who was ill. The service there
was at three ; he went through the duty, and then gal-
loped ten miles back, arriving late at his own parish
church, where a small congregation was waiting anxious
to know whether a parson was coming to give them e
service or not. It was easy to suppose the state of
fatigue in which this clergyman must have returned
home late at night.—(Hear, hear.) This he did on
eight successive Sundays in the dog-days.—(Bear.)
But he stated that he had even dune hinder work
than that. He said—" One day when Mr. M., who
is very fond of shooting, had gone to the moors, in
the month of August, and his neighbour, Mr. C.,
had gone to the lakes, in consequence of the death
of his brother, one of these gentlemen sent to me to
ask me to take his duty. I replied that it was impos-
sible. 'Master, sir (said his groom, who brought the
message), will be very sorry to hear that, for he is sadly
confused.' I said, ' Well, then, tell him if be will send
me one of his hunters to meet me at Lincoln,ll will try to
take the service for him at six in the evening.'" It was
agreed upon that the matter should be so arranged.
On the Sunday the clergyman started on his pony and
rode to his first parish, 15 miles off, where his service
was at halt-past ten. He had two parishes of his own;
the second was two miles from the first; but he managed
to take the service there at one. The parish of Mr. C.,
for whom he had also to do duty, was not far off, and he
managed to arrive there in time for the service at balf-
past three. " Then," he continued, " I rode as hard as
I could gallop to Lincoln, where I found a splendid mare
waiting. I shut up my own pony in the stable, and gal-
loped 10 miles to Mr. 11.'s parish, which I reached at
six. This I continued to do for three Sundays in the
month of August; and to make matters worse, on
one of those I was overtaken and drenched by an
autumnal thunderstorm."—(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
That was one case out of many, proving the hard'
labours to which these poor clergy were exposed. In
the memorial to which he had already referred, the
chapter` expressed great alarm at any innovation, and
referred to their past exertions in the cause of education
and religious improvement, their superintendence of
re-
ligious establishments, and their general influence on
the state of the city; and they added, " We fear there i-
moving abroad a mischievous disposition to magnify. at
our expense, the pastoral office and ministerial duties of
those who are invidiously called the working clergy."—
(Hear, hear.) This was no invidious phrase, but one
which had originated in the distinction between those
poor clergymen who did the work, and the rich who re-
ceived large salaries and emoluments, paying pittances to
those by whom the work was done.—(Hear, hear.)
To show how little had been done in these districts,
in the way boasted of, he might state, that, out of
4,5001. a year received by the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners from the benefices of this diocese, only
4901. bad been laid out; and that out of 376 poor
livings, they had only augmented 72. There were
innumerable cases of destitution which had been very
grievously neglected. Into these it was unnecessary to
enter, or to go into the cases of o:her cathedrals; the
two he had ad luced were sufficient to establish the po-
sition with which he set out. He could show in others
the evils arising from the system of letting church pro
party, whereby everything like improvement was put an
end to.—(Hear.) He could show cases of chapter li-
braries containing rare and magnificent books,
which anywhere else it would be a privilege to
look into, but of which the last catalogue had been made
in the last century. There were instances of persons
wanting to visit these storehouses of knowledge, when
none of the chapter knew who had the key, and where
the lock was so rusty that the key would nut turn and
the door could not be opened; and in one case, the party
who had charge of the library key had complaint d of
the great annoyance caused by a clergyman constantly
coming to consult books.—(Hear, hear) 'These me-
morialists claimed to be the promoters of education;
but he could show that they abused their trust as trus-
tees of grammar schools, as much as they did in the
chapter; he could show lands and estates made away with;
he could show—by letters to clergymen from the chapter
themselves, who had become careless by long impunity
—proposals as to managing the affairs of their churches
which were perfectly scandalous. But in all these abuses
nothing appeared to him so flagrant as the regulation
which had been imposed by Act of Parliament directing
that all the patronage vested in these chapters should be
given to themselves, and precluding them from bestow-
ing any portion of their preferments on deserving clergy
men in their neighbourhood. If there was one thing
more than another which should have been encouraged
by the Legislature it was the seeking out of deserving
clergymen for the bestowal of preferments; but instead
of that, Parliament compelled the chapters to divide
those preferments amongst themselves, and forbade their
being bestowed on others. They were to be given in
the first instance to the members of the chapter, then to
the minor canons, then they might be given to the
master of the grammar-school; and if within six months
they were nut given to any of the three the patronage
lapsed to the bishop. He had heard a reason as-
signed for this regulation which he would not now state;
but if it were true, nothing could pronounce a stronger
sentence of condemnation on the characters and pro•
ceedings of these parties. The Honourable and Learned
Gentleman then referred to two petitions which he had
presented from Wokingham and Carlisle (which have
been printed with the votes), and read part of their con-
tents. He had now stated all he thought necessary to
bring before the House. The two chapters he had re-
ferred to were a fair sample of the rest. He would now
ask the House whether it was possible or right to allow
these things to continue? There were many exemplary
individuals amongst the members of these chapters ; he
did not blame them, bet the system and the law ; and
he wished to enforce a change in the law by appealing
to the good sense and conscientious feelings of the
Legislature. It these things were allowed to continue,
in a very short period the evil must get ahead of us.
there was not one of the cathedral cities in England in
which the Dissenters did not show a greater proportion
to the Establishment than in almost any other part of
the country.—(Hear, hear.) 'lhankicg the House for
having listened to him so long and so patiently, he
would now move, " That an humble address be pre-
sented to her Majesty, praying that she will be gra-
ciously pleased to direct an inquiry to be made into the
state of our cathedrals and collegiate churches, with a
view of ascertaining whether they may not be rendered
more conducive to the services of the Church, and the
spiritual instruction of the people."
Lord R. GROSVENOR said he rose to second the
motion, in the absence of his Noble Friend the Member
(or Bath. Ile was moat dearly attached to the Esta-
blished Church; but feeling it the best means of dissemi-
nating the doctrines of the religion he professed, and,
oelieving that, despite some deformities, the great
majority of the people were sincerely attached to it, lie
was most anxious that it should be freed from the abuses
alluded to. He earnestly desired its extension; but how
could this be effected, either by public or private means,
so long as pluralities and non-residence were.spffered to
exist, and its revenues were misapplied?—(Hear, hear.)
Without.committieg himself to every statement of his
Hon. Friend, he begged to thank him for having brought
forward this motion, by which he must have created
many enemies, although actuated doubtless by the purest
motives. The time and attention he had bestowed in
procuring his details must have been most considerable.
If only a tithe of what he had stated were true a com-
plete ease for inquiry had been made out.—(hear,
hear.) He (Lord R. Grosvenor) knew enough of the
cads. drat establishments to be convinced that such an
inquiry would be attended with the greatest possible
benefit.—(hear, hear.)
Sir R. INGLIS feared that the Hon. and Learned
Member (Mr. Horaman) had overrated the intelligence
of the majority of the House, in assuming that they were
acquainted with the origin and nature of our cathedral
establishments. For himself; he must confess to a very
imperfect knowledge on this matter. But this question
was not of so much importance as the inquiry what were
the objects and duties of our cathedral establishments at
the present day. In alluding to the metropolitical
cathedral of Canterbury, the Hon. and Learned Gentle-
man had given a statement of the attendance there of
persons officially connected with the cathedral; and this
was stated to be twenty-three, rather a considerable
proportion. As to the general attendance, it should al-
ways be borne in mind that cathedrals were not parish
churches; they were not designed as places of worship
fur as large a number as their area would contain,
but rather to exhibit a model of the purity and ex-
cellence of our system of worship, to which the whole
of Europe furnished no equal, removed alike
frotn superstition on the one hand, and from
levity or indecorum on the other. But he had
seen statements which gave the number of atten-
dances much higher than had been
would of course vary materially at different periods of
the year. For instance,the
himself to the accuracy of
this., 152. Without pledging
much to be relied on as the
other,
he thought it as
,Btuot which implicit cre-
dence ought not to be attached.' morece serious
con-
sideration than the number of attendances
was this. He could not but fear, notwithstanding tand.n cathedrals
he
disclaimer of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, tihgat thet
tendency of his motion must be to cast an imputation on
the cathedral system generally, which he alleged tended
to the decay and the extinction of religion. This reminded
him of a dissenting minister who declared that the
Church destroyed more souls than it saved. How this
could be said of a Church founded upon the pure doc-
trines of the Reformers, and cemented by the blood of
martyrs, and boasting of prelates the most pious and en-
lightened, he could not conceive. Against such sentiments
•
he must protest as wholly unjust. A minor point dwelt on
by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman was, the income of
the members of chapters. At Canterbury, he said, the
livings of the dean and canons amounted to 8,0001., and
But
the livings in.their gift to 9,2001. ; in all, 17,0001.
he bad failed to show that this sum went wholly to the