The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-20 00:00:00

H6TIIE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 20, 18614

HEALTH OF L,

Yesterday, at a meeting held at the Mansion-
house, the Lord Mayor acting as chairman, an ela-
borate scheme for the union of benefices in the City
of London was settled by the Commissioners lately
appointed by the Bishop of London, the Court of
Common Council, and the Dean and Chapter of St.
Fears, under the provisions of the recent Act of
Parliament, 23d and 24th Victoria, cap. 142, autho-
rising the union of contiguous benefices. The pro-
veal invites public attention as well on its own
=eras as because it is the first operation of the kind
contemplated under the statute in question. The
Commission, a mixed one of clergymen and laymen,
59 composed of the Lord Mayor and Mr. Blomfield
Purnell, who represent the lay element, and were
nominated by the Corporation ; the Rev. Robert
33owness Gibson, rector of St. Mary Abchurch, act-
-sng for the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's; the
Rev. Michael Gibbs, vicar of Christ Church, New-
sate-street, and the Rev. Thomas James Rowsell,
rector of St. Margaret, Lothbury, who were ap-
pointed by the Bishop of the diocese. Upon the
work in question these gentlemen have been anxi-
ously engaged, more or less, for several months
past, and have held about 80 meetings on the sub-
ject. Designed "to advance the interests of reli-
gion," the proposal, in its leading features, contem-
plates 14 for the present, and probably more in
future, unions of contiguous benefices in the city ;
the disuse or demolition of as many churches
within its limits, now no longer needed from
changes in location of the community, and the erec-
tion and endowment, in lieu of them, of a corres-
ponding number of religious edifices in extensive
parochial districts beyond the pale of the city, many
of them swarming with a population of nearly
30,000, or as large as that of some of our great pro-
vincial towns, but now comparatively destitute of
the means of religious instruction.
The general results of the deliberations of the
Commissioners may be more conveniently stated
in the shape of a narrative. Of 17 proposed unions
on which they report three have been deemed by
them to be, at least for the present, inexpedient.
The remaining 14 the Commissioners consider to
be expedient, and they recommend the terms on
which these unions may be effected. They first
of all make various recommedations affecting the
parishes to be united, the result of which they be-
lieve will be greatly to diminish the church ex-
penses of the several parishes of each united bene-
fice. After specifying the alterations which the
union will render necessary in the arrangement of
the patronage—which they have succeeded to a
great degree in simplifying by doing away in many
instances with alternate and more frequent turns of
presenting—they recommend what should be done
with the disused church. They suggest the erec-
tion of a tomb of a suitable and substantial charac-
ter in the adjacent churchyard, and that the human
remains found under the church be carefully depo-
sited in it ; •that the pulpit, organ, bells, and the
like be transferred, if required, to the new church
which by the Act of Parliament must be erected in
the stead of each church which is taken down ;
that the materials and sites of disused churches be
sold, and out of the produce of such sales, supple-
mented by glebe property and other assistance, the
new churches be erected, and a new benefice be
created for each of them, with an endowment suffi-
cient to compensate the patron for accepting such
new church in lieu of the city benefice which he
formerly owned. But in no instance have the Com-
missioners recommended the alienation of what is
called Free Act Tithe from a city parish. That
tithe is to belong to the incumbent of the united
benefice. In one case the disused church is recom-
mended to be granted for Divine service in the
"Welsh language,accordin g to the rites of the Church
of England, a committee of Welsh people having
offered the security which the Act of Parliament
requires for the maintenance of the fabric. The
disused church in another union is recommended to
be used as a national school. Fourteen churches
are proposed to be disused. The suggestions made
by the Commissioners respecting the new
churches which the Act requires to be erected
in their stead show the relief which the unions,
if effected, will afford to the spiritual desti-
tuton existing in many parts of the metropo-
lis. The following are the parishes so relieved,—
the figures denoting the population as taken at the
Census of 1851 St. Dunstan's, Stepney, having
24,843 inhabitants, two new benefices are created,
one of which comprehends a small portion of St.
Philip, Stepney, which has 13,447 inhabitants.
Another new benefice is formed out of St. Peter and
Trinity, Stepney, which, in 1851, had 7,597, and
6,264 inhabitants, but which have been greatly
augmented in number daring the last ten years. In
St. George-in-the-East, having a population of
27,000, two new benefices are created, one of which
includes a small portion of the parish of Wapping.
St. Mark, Whitechapel (15,790) has some thousands
taken from it by a new benefice, which also com-
prises a part of Wapping ; and in exchange for
these portions of Wapping a part of St. George in-
the-East, with about 2,000 people, and situate near
to Wapping Church, is added to the charge of the
rector of Wapping. Another new benefice will afford
relief to St. Leonard, Shoreditch (25,111 people),
and St. John the Baptist, Hoxton (21,370), and St.
Mary, Haggerston (26,627). The first of these
parishes is further relieved by other portions of it
being annexed to other benefices, and by the forma-
tion of a new benefice out of it, which a private
gentleman has undertaken to endow and supply
with a church, independently of any aid from dis-
used city churches. In St. Mary, Haggerston, two
now benefices are created, and St- John Baptist,
Hoxton, is further relieved by the formation of a
benefice, partly out of it and partly out of Christ
Church, Horton. Another new benefice is designed
to relieve St. James, Curtain-road (11,133 persons),
being formed partly out of it and partly out of St.
Paul, Bunhill-row, the latter of which receives in
exchange a portion of St. Luke, Old-street (22,825),
lying near to St. Paul's Church. St. Luke is fur-
ther relieved by another new benefice formed out of
it and St. John the Baptist, and Trinity, Hoxton,
and a small portion of St. Barnabas, King's-square.
Another new benefice affords additional relief to St.
Luke's, and also comprehends that part of St.
Themes, Charterhouse (9,577) between Golden-lane
and Whitecross-street. St. James, Clerkenwell
(25,275) supplies a locality for another new
benefice, and the united parishes of St. Sepulchre,
London, and Middlesex (13,452) are recommended
for severance ; the Middlesex portion, having a
population of between 4,000 and 5,000, to be made
a distinct benefice, with a new church furnished
out of the produce of a disused one one in the city.
Each of the proposed ne
from 5,000 to 9,000
persons, and in
will contain
ninnit.he selection of
the localities for them the Co
availed themselves of the recommendationsuisio have
ners
of the
London Diocesan Church-Building Society. Four
r
other proposed unions are still under the considera-
tion of the Commissioners, and if they can mature
a scheme for each of them relief will 1,„,
recom-
mended for other large parishes in the east of
London.
The Commissioners have also been able to recom-
mend out of the glebe property in the city small
augmentations of endowment for the benefices of
St. Botolph, Aldgate, St. Mark, Whitechapel, St.
John, Clerkenwell, and one or two more.
Subjoined are the benefices recommended fo
d-
r
union in the city of London :—St. Alban, Woo
street, with St. Olave, Silver-street ; St. Michael,
Wood-street, with St. Mary Staining. Allhallows,
Bread-street, with St. John the Evangelist ; St.
Mary-le-Bow with Allhallows, Honey-lane, and St.
Pancras ; St. Mildred, Bread. street, with St. Mar-
garet Moses. Allhallows the Great with Allhal-
lows the Less; St. Michael, Paternoster Royal,
with St. Martin, Vintry. Allhallows, Lombard-
street ; St. Benet, Gracechurch, with St. Leonard,
T "81eb";P• St. Ann and Agnes with St. John
Zachary;
St. An
Ch.ritus.e
t Church with St. Leonard, Foster-
lane.hn, with St. John the Enlist ;
St. Mary
Aldermary, with St. Thomas Apostle.
e St. Clement, eal). with St.
ibeies
Martin Ongars ;
,St. Mary Abchurch, with St. Lawrencee Pountney.A
St. Edmund the King with St.
St. Mary Woolnoth with St. Mary Woolchmutirschl
Haw. St. Ethelbnrga, St, Helen, St. Martin Out

b0rr5r0.0.........a...............•.+.........."......:
with. St. James, Garlickhithe ; St. Michael,
the Less.l
Queenhithe, with Holy Trinity
St. Mary, Aldermanbury ; St. Michael Bas-
sishaw. St. Mary Somerset with St. Mary
Mounthaw ; St. Nicholas Cole Abbey with
St. Nicholas Olave. St. Matthew, Friday-street,
with St. Peter, Westcheap ; St. Vedast with St.
Michael-le-Quern. St. Mildred, Poultry, with St.
Mary Colechurch ; St. Olave, Jewry, with St. Mar-
in, Ironmonger-lane.
It is interesting to note in how marked a degree
the resident population in the city has declined
during the present century, for it is upon that
ground that the present proceeding is chiefly
based. In the four parishes composing the
first union above mentioned the inhabitants in 1861
were only 1,178, as compared with 2,573 in 1801;
in the second group the.population had fallen from
1,961 in 1801 to 803 in 1861; in the third, from
1,666 to 1,086 ; in the fourth, from 1,412 to 805 ;
in the fifth, from 5,182 to 2,765; in the sixth, from
1,903 to 739 ; in the seventh, from 1,649 to 991; in
the eighth, from 1,573 to 894 ; in the ninth, from
1,580 to 1,326 ; in the tenth, from 1,980 to 1,539 ;
in the eleventh, from 1,569 to 944 ; in the twelfth,
from 1,406 to 1,100; in the thirteenth, from 1,357 to
667 ; and in the last-named, from 1,301 to 749. The
declension, too, with few exceptions, has been pro-
gressive during the last 60 years, and especially
rapid within the last 20. In the 98 parishes in the
City of London Union the population has decreased
in round numbers from 55,000 to 45,000 in the last
10 years. It is due to truth to state that, whatever
the causes, the great majority of the pastors appear
to have followed the flocks, or rather to have rowed
with the stream, for of all the 30 clergymen now
holding preferment in the parishes which are the
subjects of the proposed union, only seven, or not
quite a fourth, reside upon their benefices. The
recommendations of the Commissioners, however,
supply a remedy for this evil by providing a resi-
dence for the incumbent on his benefice in every
united parish according to the requirements of the
Act.
The Commissioners, in making their returns to
the Bishop of London, have submitted for his Lord-
ship's consideration some observations and sugges-
tions in reference to the work in question. They state
that their attention has been particularly directed
to the arrangements rendered requisite by the
proviso in the 14th section, which enacts that
a church shall be erected within the limits of the
metropolis in the stead of every church taken down
in the city. The erection of such new church neces-
sitates the creation of a new benefice in each case,
and their investigation of the localities suggested
by the London Diocesan Church Building Society,
in which they have recommended these benefices to
be placed, has convinced them of the necessity of
supplying an endowment for the maintenance of the
incumbents of such new churches. They remark
that the testimony of persons acquainted with the
churches previously erected without endowments,
or with inadequate endowments, in poor and POPU-
LOUS localities has served to increase their conviction
that the endowment of the new benefice is of indis-
pensable necessity. To erect a church without any
endowment in poor and populous localities, though
it might appear to satisfy the provisions of the Act
of Parliament, would, they fear, be attended with
serious and lasting evils, and might prevent the
carrying into effect any one of the schemes. They
have therefore recommended that the fund to be
realised by the sale of the materials and sites of
churches taken down be aided, if necessary, by
private and public contributions; and they suggest
for his lordship's consideration the expediency of
making special effort for obtaining contributions for
erecting both the churches and personage houses for
the new benefices—an effort similar to that which
resulted a few years since in the erection of ten
churches in Bethnal-green. With respect to en-
dowed lectureships in city churches, they think that
with -perhaps a few exceptions these lectureships
might advantageously be applied towards relieving
the spiritual destitution which exists in poor and
populous parishes in the metropolis. In reference to
the union of certain benefices it is possible, they say,
that the vestries of some parishes may withhold
their assent from the proposed union of their bene-
fice with another, under the 23d and 24th of Vic-
toria, cap. 142. In some of such cases they think
that the proposed exchanges in the patronage
should nevertheless be effected, which they believe
can be done under the provisions of other statutes
in order to do away with alternate patronage,—a
system which arose from necessity, but which,
while it is productive in their opinion of no benefit
to either incumbent or people, is calculated to
operate to the disadvantage of both. The results
of their communications with the incumbents appear
in many instances to intimate that the unions can-
not come into operation, though all other parties
consent, until the avoidance of one of the benefices.
It is probable in such cases that some of the incum-
bents may subsequently be willing to retire, and
may consent to a supplemental order under a clause
in the Act, and in some cases the acceptance of
other church preferment by the incumbent may lead
to the same desirable result. When they consider
the spiritual destitution which exists in many of
the localities selected for the new benefices they
venture to express a hope that his Lordship may
be able to accelerate the carrying out of the schemes,
or, at least, to procure some means of supplying
those localities with the services of a clergyman
until the avoidance of the city benefices will cause
the schemes to come into operation. With regard
to the remains of the dead, es this has been a sub-
ject of conversation between the Commissioners and
parish officers, they deem it right to inform his
Lordship that, although the Secretary of State is
charged with the duty of " giving directions as to
the removal of the remains" of the dead, they have
reason to believe that the following plan would give
general satisfaction :—That a stone building or
tomb, not exceeding seven feet high, of a suitable
and substantial character, be erected in the church-
yard adjoining the church about to be taken down,
and that the human remains deposited under the
church, if not removed elsewhere by relatives and
friends of the deceased persons, be carefully placed
in such tomb, which shall afterwards be com-
pletely closed up. They suggest that the plan
of the tomb be subject to the approval of
the Bishop of London and the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners ; that the latter appoint a com-
petent person to superintend the removal of the
remains of the dead, and that one of the church-
wardens certify to them as well as to the Secretary of
State the completion of the work; and that on the
production of the certificate the Commissioners
defray the cost of the building and removal out
of the fund created under the provisions of the
Act.
The Commissioners say they cannot conclude
their labours without informing his lordship that
they have experienced great difficulty in their at-
tempts to form unions when any one of the bene-
fices in question has been under the operation of the
Act of Henry VIII. respecting tithes. The
parishioners of such parish have stated that their
consent to a union may be construed as a consent to
the continuance of the tithe, as it is at present
levied or leviable. Withsut entering into all the
details of this question, or the relief or remedies
which might be deemed expedient, they represent
that in their opinion the subject
requires investiga-
tion, with the view to an alteration of the system
particulars.to
be
i n some
I
It remains stated that
ttuhe Act of Parlia-
ment requires the bishop cause proposals for
schemes based on the terms ca
recommended
to be prepared. These
eea by the
proposals
will then have to be submitted to the patro
rcceiving their approval will next have to bl E; senta
by the bishop to the vestries of the parishes pro-
posed to be united, which vestries have the power
of exercising a veto, or of proposing modifications.
The Commissioners hope that neither the patrons
ror the vestries will prevent the completion of the
schemes, and so lose the opportunity which the Le.
,islature has afforded them of bestowing upon the
n
• 'shed inhabitants of the
dgersateietulvtehpilialeetsheof the. Tetropolis those:means of
___.....—.--............—„_—.2
City no longer require.dtnii n,

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(From the Registrar-Gen era' s Weekly .Return.)
The high mortality that attends the inclement
months of the year has begun to appear in the
weekly returns. The deaths in London were 1,078
in the last week of October ; they rose to 1,251 in
the following week, and to 1,288 in the week that
ended last Saturday. The mean weekly tempera-
ture of the air was above 58 deg. till near the
middle of October ; it fell to 45.5 deg. at the end of
the month, and in the first two weeks of November
42.0 deg. and 36.7 deg.
The corrected average number of deaths for the
weeks in 10 years, 1851.60, corresponding with that
for which the present return is made, is 1,294 ; and
it appears that the mortality of last week agrees
very closely withthe result obtained by calculation.
The mortality from bronchitis exhibits an in-
crease ; the numbers referred to this complaint in
the last three weeks are 81, 87, and 131. Scarla-
tina continues to predominate among the zymotic
diseases ; the deaths caused by it last week were
101; by diphtheria, 25. There were 62 by typhus;
17 by croup, 3 by smallpox, 6 by measles.
No fatal cases of scarlatina were returned in
Chelsea, 8 in St. George's, Hanover-square, 8 in
Islington, 7 in Clerkenwell, and 4 in the first sub-
district of Waterloo-read. If the first divisions of
the metropolis are compared, it will be seen that
the greatest number of deaths from scarlatina was
recorded in the western division. The complaint
seems to be prevalent in Fulham, Brompton, Chel-
sea, and Hanover-square sub-district.
Nine persons, of whom 6 were children, died in
the week from syphilitic disease ; 10 children from
want of breast-milk, one in Shoreditch from " the
want of food." Two infants, who had been mur-
dered, one by starvation, the other by strangula-
tion, were found in the Regent's Park. Five cases
of murder or manslaughter are returned in the
week. Two widows, whose deaths are recorded,
had attained the age of 95 years.
Last week the births of 876 boys and 898 girls,
in all 1,774 children, were registered in London. In
the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1851-60
the average number was 1,617.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.356 in.
The barometer rose to 2964 in, on Tuesday, and fell
to 28.83 in. on the following day. The mean tem-
perature of the air in the week was 39.7 deg., which
is 3 8 deg. below the average of the same week in 43
years (as determined by Mr. Glaisher). The mean
daily temperature was below the average on every
day, and on Saturday the amount of depression was
equal to 10.6 deg. The highest day temperature
was 50.8 deg. on Sunday ; and the lowest night
temperature was 25.5 deg., and occurred on Satur-
day. The range of the thermometer in the shade
was therefore 25.3 deg. The mean daily range was
13 deg. The difference between the mean dew point
temperature and air temperature was 3.6 deg. The
mean degree of humidity of the air was 89, complete
saturation being represented by 100, which point
was attained on Wednesday. The wind was
able ; its maximum pressure on Sunday was 101 b.
on the square foot ; on Thursday it was 91b. The
amount of rain in the week was large—viz., 2.51 in.,
of which as much as 1.29 fell on Wednesday,rather
more than half an inch on Sunday, and about the
same quantity on Thursday. There was thunder
and lightning on Sunday. Rain fell almost con-
stantly for 20 hours on Wednesday and the morn-
of Thursday.

FRENCII FIN iNCE.

The following is the article in La Patric of which
a telegraphic summary has already appeared :
" The first care of the Minister of Finance in
taking the direction of the Ministerial department
entrusted to him is naturally the study of the
Budget of 1863.
"Thus, M.Yould (so we are informed) has lost no
time in examining the modifications which must be
made in the receipts and expenditure of the State,
according to the new regulations which he has in-
duced the Emperor to adopt, and which will be con-
firmed by a Senatus Consulte.
" The problem to be resolved is this : to increqse
the receipts by diminishing the expenses, and at the
same time to provide suitably for the public

service.
"If we are rightly informed, the first reform
under consideration is a reduction of the army
without infringing upon the sytem so happily
established—that is to say, maintaining the actual
organisation ( cadres actuels).
" Thus the military power of France would re.
main in full force, and would assure to our policy
the influence which it has achieved, at the same
time that the war estimates would be sensibly
diminished.
" The creation of new resources, rendered neces-
sary by the suppression of supplementary credits,
is a delicate question, which the new Minister of
Finance will certainly examine with that maturity
and reserve which such great interests command.
" We believe we may state that he does not pro-
pose to add any additional tax which might fall
heavily on industry, agriculture, or commerce, and
which would affect the working classes.
" A tax on lucifer matches is spoken of. This
measure is in fact contemplated at the Ministry of
Finance, and in such a manner that the consumer
will scarcely feel the difference. An increase on
stamped paper (papiers timbres) is also under con-
sideration.
" We are not acquainted with the Minister's views
on the tax which weighs upon the transfer of per-
sonal property (sur la transmission des valeurs mobi-
lieres), but, on the one hand, the revenue from that
tax is so small, scarcely reaching 6,000,000 f., and,
on the other hand, the liberal ideas of M. Fould are
so well known, that we may be allowed to suppose
that a modification of the law of the 23d of June,
1857, is not impossible.
"If this modification is carried out it will, we
trust, lead to the suppression of the tourniquets."
The Constitutionnel also has a few lines on the
same subject, but not very connected in the infor-
mation given. They run thus :
"If we are well informed, the Minister of the In-
terior has submitted to the Emperor a project,
which may be called both political and financial,
consisting of a disarmament, with the maintenance
of the staffs. This measure would be complimen-
tary to the new financial measures confided to M.
Fould. The disarming would not only be a new
and favourable guarantee of confidence and pro-
sperity for France, but also a fresh and powerful
one for all the Governments of Europe. It would
be general peace crowning the glory achieved by
the French array on fielde of battle. If we are well
informed, the Emperor will visit the Queen of
England during the Universal Exhibition of Len-
don. The project of Count de Persigny, submitted
to the Emperor, will therefore be at the same time
a new and great political and financial measure."
The same journal publishes an article on the
great increase which has taken place in French
commerce of late years. It commences in these