The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-12-20 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY

The first stone of a new church, to be called after St. Bar-
nabas, to be erected on a plot of land between Parliament-
street and Greenland-street, a few yards from the Queen's
Dock, was laid on Tuesday last. Every one who knows the
neighbourhood of the Queen's Dock, the character of the
population surrounding it, and the habits of the classes by
whom it is frequented, and who is anxious that spiritual in-
struction should be freely offered to those who are destitute
of its blessings, must feel under a weighty obligation to the
Liverpool Church Building Society for having selected this
site for the commencement of their invaluable labours. That
the introduction of a commodious church into this quarter
will be attended with an increased attacluneut to our pro-
testant establishment, cannot, under the divine favour, be
doubted.
St. Barnabas' church will be a very handsome structure,
in the early English or Lancet style, and a decided ornament
to that part of the town. The principal elevation will be
towards Parliament-street, and from the centre there will
rise a beautiful tower and spire to the height of 135 feet. The
former will be finished with a pierced battlement on four
sides and shafts with pinnacles at the angles. The whole
will be faced with red stone in large courses. The interior
will correspond with the general style. It will have a nave
separated from the aisles by moulded stone piers and arches,
supporting a clear story in which there will be windows of
three lights. The cieling is to be ribbed and pannelled, and
the ribs will be painted to resemble oak. It is intended to
furnish 1200-sittings ; on the ground floor there Will be 471
sittings and 236 free sittings, in the gallery 346 sittings and
147 free, making 1200, of which 383 will be dedicated to the
use of the poor for ever. The cost will be upwards of £.4800.
The architects are Messrs. Arthur and George Williams, of
No. 2, Tarleton-street, and Mr. William Morrison, of Tox-
teth-park, is the contractor.
A precession of clergy and gentry was formed shortly after
twelve o'clock at one of the church schools, and about one
they arrived on the spot. Previously to their arrival, the
children of the Blue Coat Hospital and those of the South
School had been placed on raised platforms round the stone,
so as to enable them to witness the ceremony. Among the
clergy and gentry we noticed the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, the
Rev. Augustus Campbell, the Rev. Mr. Buddicom, the Rev.
H. Carpenter, the •Rev. Mr. Barker, the Rev. Mr. North,
the Rev. Mr. Hesketh Sir John Saiusbury, and Mr. Saml.
Holme. A number oiladies were also present.
Mr. GROVES then presented the silver trowel to
the Senior Rector of Liverpool in these words :—" Mr.
Rector Brooks, upon the part of the subscribers, I am de-
puted to request your acceptance of this trowel, for the pur-
pose of laying the foundation stone of this new church, to be
called after St. Barnabas."
The Rev. JONATHAN BROOKS having accepted the trowel,
addressed the assembly as follows :—Mr. Groves and gentle-
men, it is a subject of peculiar gratification to myself, that
the situation which I hold as one of the rectors of this parish,
has given me the opportunity of assisting in a work of this
nature—a work which I consider to be of the highest im-
portance, both to the temporal and eternal interests of the
inhabitants of this large parish, and on which I hope and
trust in its consequences and objects, will contribute in an
eminent degree to the suppression of wickedness and vice,
and to the maintenance of true religion and virtue. Gentle-
men, it must have been evident to every reflecting mind, that
the immense increase of population in this great commer-
eial city, has far outstripped the means of religious instruc-
tion ; and it is fearful to think how many in the densely
populated parts of our manufacturing and commercial dis-
tricts are living upon the confines of revelation, and yet no
heavenly light has ever illumined them—no voice of truth
and of mercy has ever reached their ears—no messenger of
peace has ever cheered them with the promised blessing of
salvation. Gentlemen, it has been the conviction of this—
the conviction of the existence of this evil, which has led
ninny pious and religious persons to endeavour to provide a
remedy, and I am happy to find that a remedy has been pro-
vided; to a great extent, by our national church. We have
had diocesan societies formed throughout the kingdom, and
our own diocese has had the satisfaction of leading the way
upon those occasions. Nor ought it to be forgotten, that to
that valuable society, no less a sum than six thousand pounds
has been contributed by the inhabitants of this town. But
societies of this kind have not been confined to dioceses, great
towns have taken up the subject; the metropolis has led the
way, and under the spirited exertions of its diocesan, it is
contemplated to build no less than fifty additional churches
in that immensely populated place. Manchester has also
formed a society of its own, and they have already erected
several churches there; Birmingham has followed the ex-
ample, and there the inhabitants contemplate adding ten
additional churches to their present number. Bethnal-
green, where spiritual destitution has existed to a fearful ex-
tent, has also come forward, and of eighty thousand pounds
wanted to supply the deficiency- there, they have already
raised two-thirds of the amount. Last, but not least, we
must speak of our own town, the inhabitants of which have
also come forward with pious and exemplary zeal, to supply
the deficiency here existing. Nearly the suns of twenty
thousand pounds, if not quite, has been raised for this
purpose, and the first fruits of that liberality we are
on this day assembled to commemorate, in rearing
this edifice. I shall now only detain you by saying
a few words as to what the committee to whom the laying out
of that money was entrusted, have yet been able to do. It
certainly does seem some time since that trust was commit-
ted to them ; but there have been several circumstances which
have operated to prevent them from more speedily carrying
their objects into effect. In the first place there was con-
siderable difficulty in finding sites for churches. Plenty of
land was to be had in the new parts of the town, but land was
wanted where spiritual destitution exists. It was necessary
to go to densely populated parts, and there the scarcity of
land is well known. We have, however, succeeded in pur-
chasing two sites—the one on which we are now assembled, at
the south end of the town, and the other in Naylor-street, at
the north end. For these the contracts have been made, and
I am now about to lay the first stone ; and, I am happy to
say, that the working plans of the intended church in Naylor-
street are ready, and in the course of a month the contracts
for the erection of that church will be completed. We have
also in operation another church which will be upon the verge
of the borough, in the hamlet of Windsor. It may be neces-
sary, perhaps, to make some explanations with regard to the
choice of that site. It we had been left to ourselves, without
the liberal offer that has been made to us, we should hardly,
at the present moment, have chosen that site for one of our
churches, although there is a rising population of upwards of
3,000 persons there who have no church room, and who, if
not accommodated, must go whither they can find accommo-
dation. That accommodation is not easily to be found, or
else this society would have been unnecessary. The inhabi-
tanta and the friends of religious improvement in that neigh-
bourhood, anxious to establish a church in it, have raised, or
intend to raise, the sum of fifteen hundred pounds towards
the corn letion of it. They told us—" If you will establish
one of churches at Windsor—where we will prove that
the tion of the place really requires it, we will give you
£l,. we will subscribe to all the rules and regulations of
you litutions ;we will give up the appointment to the
chore to be vestediri your trustees ; and we will farther lend
you a thousand pounds without interest to assist you in com-
pleting the work for the period of two years." They also
undertook td establish schools in connection with the church,
which, indeed, are much wanted in that neighbourhood. Such
an offer as this the committee did not think themselves at
liberty to refuse, because by it we shall have got a church
built at a very small cost. These, then, are the peculiar cir-
cumstances which have attended the operations of the com-
mittee since they began their labours. The next duty we
have to perform is to call down upon this work the blessing
of Him without whose asssistance and without whose grace
all human efforts would be in vain ; and I, therefore, call
upon Mr. Campbell to offer prayer.
The Rev. Mu. CAMPBELL then implored the divine bless-
ing upon the work in the following prayers :
" 0 eternal Gad! mighty in power, and of majesty incom-
peklensible ! whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain,
Mitch leSs the walls of temples made with hands, and who
yet hast been graciously pleased to promise thy especial pre-
sence in whatever place even two or three are gathered toge-
ther in thy name : be present with us who are here gathered
thgether to dedicate a building to thy service, for reading
thy holy word, for celebrating thy holy sacraments, for offer-
ing to thy majesty the sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving,
and the performance of all other holy ordinances. Accept,
0 Lord, this service ; and bless it with such success as may
tend most to thy glory, and the salvation of souls : bless
those thy servants whose hearts have been inclined to con-
tribute to this pious work, mid grant that they may see the
fruits of their godly seal in the edification of the members of
our church, and the reconcilement of those in the spirit of
meekness who dissent from it, that we may all live together
in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace, throng
Jesus Christ our Lord."

" 0 Lord God Almighty, who didst endue thy holy.apos-
Ile Barnabas with singular -gifts of the Holy Ghost: grant
that the minister and steward of thy mysteries who shall be
appointed to this church may be full of thy manifold gifts,
and have grace to use them alway to thy honour and glory,
and the salvation of the souls committed to his care, through
Jesus Christ our Lord."
_ _

The Blue-coat boys then sang the 100th Psalm, and after-
wards Mr. Williams, the architect, fixed in a niche in the
basement stone a brass plate, on which the following inscrip-
tion was engraved :

" SOLI DEO GLORIA.
The first stone of this church, called by the name of St.
Barnabas, was laid, in the presence of the clergy and sub-
scribers, by the Rev. J. Brooks, rector of Liverpool, on
Tuesday, December 17, 1839.

41 Arthur and George Williams, Williams, Architects."
The stone was then lowered and deposited in its place by
Rector Brooks, who next used the level, and found it cor-
rectly laid. This part of the ceremony having been com-
pleted, the boys of the South School sang three verses of the
149th Psalm.

The Rev. Mr. Bitooxs then said, that before he closed
this interesting ceremony by pronouncing the blessing, he
wished to make one observation. They had now laid the
first stone of the first church the means of raising which had
been provided by the spirited exertions of the inhabitants of
the town. He had already told them that the society had
two others in progress ; but he hoped the impression would
not go forth, that with these three churches they meant to
stop. He hoped it would be understood to be, as it was,
only the commencement of so good a work ; that although
the town had come forward with a large sum, the inhabitants
would never be satisfied till they had supplied all the defi-
ciency which existed amongst them. He hoped and trusted
that the spirited exertions of the merchanti Of this town,
who seemed to know no limits in dOin,sgoOd,- and the Chris-
tian spirit of the inhabitants, would keep pace with those
exertions ;' and that we should never be satisfied till, in the
expressive language of our respected diocesan, " every sheep
shall have found a fold, and every fold a shepherd."
The benediction was then pronounced, and the proceed-
ings terminated.

FAThL ACCIDENTS ON THE RIVER WEAVER.—On Mon-
day the 9th instant on the Weave' being partially drawn off
for some trifling repair at the Town Bridge, Northwich,
some children at play near the water's-edge, saw a man's
hand raised above the water, and immediately gave notice of
the same to some men working near the spot, who lost no
time in ascertaining who the owner of the same might be.
It appears that the poor man was a bricklayer, of the name
of Humphreys, residing at Norley, and late of Waverham,
who has left a wife and three children to lament his fate.
How he got into the water is not known. He had been
missing since last Prictay.--The poor man named Gerard, of
Winsford, who is supposed to be drowned tin the River
Weaver, on his way home one dark night, about a month
ago, has not yet been heard of, although the water has been
drawn off two or three times since the occurrence is supposed
to have happened.—Chester Courant.

EXECUTION OF A MURDERER.-At the Old Bailey,
London, on Monday morning, at the usual hour, (eight
o'clock,) the awful sentence of the law was carried into
execution on the person of Wiltiam Lees, for the murder of
his wife. At seven o'clock the Sheriffs arrived at Newgate,
and proceeded into the prison, when the unfortunate male-
factor was brought front his cell, and conducted into the
press yard, where he was received by the Ordinary of New-
gate, and immediately joined in devotion. After remaining
engaged in prayer some time, the usual preparations being
arranged, the awful and solemn procession moved slowly on
to the place of execution, fronting the debtors' door of
Newgate. On arriving at the scaffold, the unfortunate man
proceeded up the steps with a firm mein, and the executioner
having adjusted the rope, he remained in prayer about two
minutes, when the fatal signal was giver,, and he died almost
without a struggle. After the body had been suspended the
usual period, it was cut down, and conveyed into the prison
fin• the purpose of being buried within the precincts of it.
There was an immense assemblage of spectators, amongst
whom were numbers of well-dressed females. An accident
occurred to a lad, who was knocked down and trodden on by
the crowd ; he .was conveyed to Bartholomew Hospital,
apparently lifeless.