The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-11-27 00:00:00

CHURCH PASTORAL AID SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of the Manchester and Salford Aux
iary to the Church Pastoral Aid Society, was held on Friday
evening, in the great room of the Cord Exchange ; Mr.
Atkinson, the treasurer of the society, in the chair, instead of
the worshipful and reverend Chancellor Raikes, who was
unavoidably absent owing to severe indisposition. The Se-
cretary read the annual report of the society. It commenced
by stating the objects for which it was established, and the
means adopted for carrying those objects into effect. The
main pupose for which it was instituted was to supply the
poor with church accommodation, and with spiritual instruc-
tion, by means of voluntary donations subscribed by the af-
fluent and religious. The deficiency of chu ch accommoda-
tion was so great, that no less than one thousand churches
were now required, and, in Manchester alone. they wanted one
hundred new churches; whereas they had only thirty-six to
accommodate their vast population. The necessity of em-
ploying lay agency was very forcibly argued, and the objec-
tions which are raised to the principle of lay agency'were
eloquently refuted. The society during the last year had
made 174 grants-148 for the support of curates, and 26 for
lay agents, amounting in the whole to the sum of £lOOO,
all of which was devoted to an aggregate population of one
million two hundred thousand souls. On Lancashire alone
thirty of these grants were conferred. It was not for the as-
sistance of the clergy exclusively, as was alleged, that sup-
port was required by the Pastrol Aid Society; for the man-
ner in which the grants were distributed, sheaved that no such
purpose was contemplated. Grants were refused to clergy-
men who were resident incumbents, and to pastors having
schools in their charge: and the consequence was, that ap-
plications were not for aid,—nor, in fact, was the aid of the
society required but by places where religious instruction or
accommodation was insufficiently supplied. The funds were
chiefly applied to the erection of churches in parishes where
the number of religious edifices was not proportioned to the
amount of the population. The report stated that the secre-
tary of the society had sent in his resignation, in conse-
quence of his.removel from Manchester to Runcorn, and re-
commended the appointment of a gentleman to the office of
assistant-secretary. It concluded by enforcing the necessity
of supporting an institution having such laudable objects in
view, but at such length as to prevent us from giving more
than this brief summary of the principal points. The Rev.
Mr. Huntington, in moving that the report be received,
adopted, and printed for circulation, under the direction of
the society, said that he fully concurred in that part of it
which stated the disproportion of churches to the population
of the country, and he referred in illustration of the truth of
this, to the religious buildings of the metropolis. The same
remarkable disproportion was observable, he said, in all our
principal towns. In Birmingham, Leeds, and other manu-
facturing places, the sad truth of his statement was too appar-
ent. He proceeded, at lunch length, to detail the various
benefits that the society was the means of conferring. The
Rev. Mr. Frost seconded the resolution, and vindicated the
society from the charges made against it. He especially di-
rected himself to the refutation of a statement recently pub-
lished by some author, as to the tendency that the employ-
ment of lay agents had to produce dissent. That author
stated, that he heard in a bishop's presence, and in a Bis-
hop's palace, that two lay agents had attached to them, in a
certain parish, a large number of churchmen , and that they
and their followers had all become dissenters. He (Mr. F.)
denied that in the parish mentioned, lay agents had ever
been engsged, and he declared, that there was not a shadow
of truth in the entire statement. He advocated very warmly
the objects of the society, and besought all present to aid in
this benevolent undertaking. Several other reverend gen-
' tlemen addressed the meeting, but we regret that owing to
the lateness of the hour at which the meeting separated, an d
' its being the eve of publication, our report oft the proceedings
is necessarily curtailed.

A Handicap Race for a Sweepstakes of 20 Boys. each w:
come off over Aintree in the course of a few days. Any
Bolivar, Waverley, and Vernal have already accepted.

MANCHESTER Rartways.—We-perceive that the parlia
mentary notices have been given by the Liverpool and Man
Chester, Manchester, Bohn'', and Bury, and Manchester and
Leeds Railway Companies, to construct a short line of about
two miles in length, through the town of Manchester, with
the view of uniting the three important lines already men-
tioned, and, in fact, of connecting all the great railways in
the north of England, and by which means, as one uniform
guage of rails has been observed, the passengers and traffic
will be able to pass from one line to another with great con-
venience. When this spirited project shall have been com-
pleted, it will afford to the mercantile and manufacturing in-
terests of Lancashire and Yorkshire facilities of intercourse
which have hitherto been deemed unattainable. The inti-
mate commercial relations now existing between Liverpool
and the West Riding of Yorkshire, will render this Railway
one of vast importance. The raw produce sent from Liver-
pool to Y orkshire, and the return of the manufactured woollens,
alike require expedition and certainty in the conveyance.
Passengers may also be conveyed front one side of the king-
dom to the other, viz., between the ports of Liverpool and
Hull, in the same carriages; as well as along the other rail-
ways with which this line will communicate; goods may also
be forwarded in the same manner in one waggon throughout.
The great cotton spinning district of Oldham and its neigh-
bourhood has hitherto been unapproached by any water navi-
gation whatever, its great altitude having rendered it inac-
cessible. The Oldham branch from the Manchester and
Leeds railway wilt, however, do all that is desired. Raw cot-
ton may be brought from the docks at Liverpool to the nu-
merous cotton manufactories there, in the short space of
about three hours; which circumstances cannot fail to have
a most beneficial influence on the trade in that district. We
understand that the two passenger stations, one for the Liver-
pool and Manchester, and the other for the Manchester and
Leeds Railways, will he within a few hundred yards, and
willein sight of the Manchester Exchange, which must be a
great desideratum to the merchants. We conceive the town of
Manchester will also derive a material advantage from this
railway, as it will undoubtedly abstract from the streets
a great quantity of heavy traffic, which at present has to be
carried through the town, to the inconvenience as well as
danger of the inhabitants.

THE EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS,

POST-OFFICE-PLACE.

Our multitudinous avocations have prevented us giving
that regular detailed notice of the paintings which we com-
menced, and had intended to complete: and the time when
the exhibiton will close, rapidly drawing near, compels us
hurriedly to glance at the paintings, and bring our remarks
to a conclusion. Few seasons have been so well attended,

and few of the exhibitions so attractive.
No. 166.—" A scene in the Interpreter's House."—" The
interpreter takes them apart, and has them into a room,
where was a man that would look no way but downwards,
with a muck rake in his hand; there stood also one over his
head, with a celestial clown in his hand, and proffered him
that crown for his muck rake ; but the man did neither look
up nor regard, but raked to himself the straw, the small
sticks, and dust of the floor. Then,' said Christiana,
persuade myself that 1 know somewhat the meaning of this;
for this is a figure of a man of this world; is it not, good
sir?"—Pilgrim's Progress This forms the text from which
the picture is drawn. It is a fine painting, but its excellence
consists not so much in its being a clever work of art, as that
it " points a moral," to which many may attend with benefit.
No. 169.—" Merchant Brig running in harbour—strong
breeze."—This is an excellent sea painting by Seaforth.
No. 181.—" The confidant."—This is a clever little paint-
ing by Clater. It represents an old woman picking a goose,
and a young girl busy unbosoming all her secrets to her.
No. 193.—" The Prophet Ezekiel."—As a painting this is
a good picture. It represents the Prophet Ezekiel receiving
his inspiration from above, and writing the word. There is a
want of poetry iu the conception, and a slavishness of look
in the prophet, as though writing after dictation; there is no
look of inspired intelligence—the image of the Deity is not
apparent in him.
No. 201.—" The Gamblers."—This picture contains a re-
presentation of as sly a piece of cheating as we ever saw.
Two fishermen are gambling at cards i❑ their cottage; and
while one is showing his cards to a girl behind him, the other
is conveying a low card within the reach of a lad under his
chair, who thus smuggles off with his bad deal. The atti-
tudes and expressions are in good keeping, and the painting
is a well finished work of art.
No. 204.—" Portrait of her most gracious Majesty, Queen
Victoria."—This is a most vile picture, whether considered
as a portrait or a painting. The Queen is unlike most wo-
men, in having been called ferfill so high a station; and the
artist seems determined that she shall be unlike most women
in more respects than this. We don't know exactly what
may be the particular shade of complexion of the squaws of
the Red Indians: but this we know, such a complexion as is
given to our fair Queen in this picture is not often met with
amongst Englishwomen. We imagine the artist must
have been reading Nicholas Nicklehy when he painted it,
and has been imitating Miss La Creevy's " bright salmon-
flesh tint," which her chief friends and patrons considered to
be "quite a novelty in art."
No. 211.—" View of Stockport."—This is a finely finished
landscape, by Pennington. The scene is rather a peculiar
one: a placid stream of water, confined between banks of
rock. The light is finely thrown on the water.
No. 218.—" King Charles the First, after his last Interview
with his Children." The artist of this beautiful painting is
not named. It is a chaste and exquisitely finished picture,
and will repay the study of it.
No. 222.—" The Thames, near Twickenham"—is a small
and beautiful painting, by Havell, with a gorgeous flood of

light cast over it.
No. 225.—" Interior of Tintern Abbey."—This painting
represents the interior of a ruined abbey, and is a most beau-
tiful specimen of art. The sombre hue of the ruin is enli-
vened by the bright foliage of the parasitical plants which
are creeping up the pillars, and the whole ruin has a light-
.some appearance. The light and shade are most correctly

thrown.
No. 232.—" Highlanders returning from a Forage"—is a
well drawn large painting, in the suuth room. The subject
is taken from the following verse of Wordsworth:-
-" The good old rule
Suffieeth them; the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,

And they should keep who can."
It represents a number of Highlanders driving off cattle, and
carrying off the daughter of some laird. It is rather a hard,
dry style of painting.
No. 249.—" The Emigrant's Departure." is a painting
about which much has been said. It owes, however, More to
the poetry of its painting, than to its art. As a mere specimen
of painting it possesses no great merit; but the scene is full
of sentiment and feeling, and the characters are judiciously
drawn. It represent sthe interior of a husbandman's cottage,
and the stalwart husbandman, with his wife and children,
taking leave of his aged parents.
—" What sorrows gloomed that parting day
.That call'd them from their native land away."
The wife, with melancholy sadness of countenance, is bidding
adieu to her aged mother, who is overwhelmed with grief;
the children are embracing each other before they part—
perhaps for ever ; the aged grandfather is slowly and feebly
rising from his chair with his hands on the head of one of
the young children, solemnly giving him his blessing;_ and
the husbandman is lingering, leaning against the door:
anxious to depart, yet lingering to bid adieu and.take a fare-
well look, of thoughtful sadness, of parents, home, and all
his household goods. The subject is painfully interesting.
No. 270.—" The Aristocracy."—This is a clever painting
of two large springer dogs, by Ansdell, a rising young artist.
There is great boldness and freedom of drawing; and the
attitudes are graceful and natural. The etceteras' which fill
up the picture—fruit and so on—are also cleverly drawn.
No. 313.—" Christ Meditating iu the Wilderness."—is a
bold, fine painting ; the drapery exhibits some beautiful
chaste colouring. The back ground, however, is more like
a chaos than 'a wilderness.
No. 319.—" Christmas in the Reign of Elizabeth." This
is a magnificent painting, crowded with incident. The de-
scription given with it is as follows :—" Dinner is supposed to
he over, the tables removed, and the guests in the midst of
their gambols. The centre group represents the struggling
for kisses under the misletoe. To the right is the cushion-
dance. Round the fire-place, in which blazes the yule log,
is a party listening to an old crone relating a ghost story ;
at the most interesting point of which a mummer, in a
" subtl disgysment," bursts from his concealment, and adds
to the fright of the party." This however, is but a meagre
description. In one corner, a stout old man is sat on a bench
asleep, and some young urchins have put him a punch-bowl,
wrong side up, on his head, and are painting him a pair of
mustachios from the bottom of a grimy pan. In another
part two young ladies, under pretence of stealing kisses from
an elderly gentleman, are adroitly picking his pockets. In
another part all the excitement of " snap-dragon" is going
on; and in another place some "gallant gentlemen" are on
their knees, assisting a "ladye fayr" to same choice confec-
tionary in the wassail bowl. But it would be a task to de-
scribe all the incidents. As a 'painting, it is very highly
finished.
No. 328.—" Miriam rejoicing after the Passage of the Red
Sea."—This is a large painting in the form of a lozenge, and
is painted in a peculiar style; something after the manner of
Raphael. There are his bright style of colouring and strong
contrasts ; and a good deal of his quaintness of attitude.
Miriam is represented with the timbre! in her hand, followed
by the women with timbre's. The figures are very beautifully
drawn, but there is a great degree of stiffness about them. It
is, however, a fine painting. Some of the colouring is very
beautiful.
No. 344.—" Deathbed of Lady Macbeth."—This is a hor-
rible conception of a horrible scene.
No. 363.—" Valley of Aosta"—by W. Linton.—This is a
glorious burst of landscape scenery.
No. 398.—Homer Reciting his Iliad."—This is a beautiful
imaginative picture, representing a brilliant Italian landscape
view—a sort of wild Paradise, as Homer's poetry has been
well described to be. This is the chief painting in the Octa-
gon-room.
There are many other paintings of merit which we have
not time especially to notice. Many of the prints in the
print-room also possess considerable merit.
The exhibition, it is expected, will close for the season in
about three weeks, when the raffle of the unsold paintings
will take place.

LECTURES ON POPULAR PHYSIOLOGY AND
THE LAWS OF HEALTH.

Dr. Thorburn's second lecture was delivered on Friday
evening last and gave general satisfaction. The audience
was numerous and consisted of many of the most distinguished
families in Liverpool. In addition to the ladies of the party,
we noticed several medical wen, and many of the most popu-
lar of our resident clergy occupying the benches of the
theatre.
The business of the subject of the lecture was to establish
the nature and philosophy of the scie,nce of lilt.. The neces-
sity of recognising the existence of a vital principle was de-
monstrated. The appeals to the eye with the aid of plates
were judicious, and highly successful. The doctrines of
vitalism and materialism, on which depended the farce and
delusion of modern infidelity, were lucidly explained, inter-
spersed with popular illustrations, to which the audience re-
sponded with attention and laughter. The description of
the " Philosopher," as a wanderer in Wales, elicited loud
laughter: the allusion was in connexion with the eccentric
opinions broached in Liverpool, by a well-known character,
enjoying the tight of "hale fellow, well met" with the self-
styled British Association for the advancement of science!
The ideal sketch of the fate that awaited him, if as a wan-
derer in Wales, and unable to sustain his incognito, told well;
the philosopher among savans could not avoid his fate, if
detected, among the old women of Wales, who idolized the
land of their ancestry.
Dr. Thorburn possesses the art of exciting and sustaining
the attention of a mixed audience. His illustrations and
anecdotes of the wisdom of the rats of Bath, and the ratting
of statesmen in times of panic, told with irresistible effect.
These were anecdotes to prove that animals have minds, and
think, and reason. He alluded to these manifestations of
brute mind while contrasting them with those of the God-like
mind of man, in which there was a soul at work. It was the
soul which distinguished man above the brutes, which urged
on the mind to supremacy over them, and so apparent was
this superiority that the most savage brutes were known to
quail before the gaze of man. This expression of the soul in
the eye of man he beautifully illustrated. This characteristic
of man was expressed by Moses in his account of the creation
of man. "God created man from the dust of the earth"—
gave him a corporeal frame—"and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life"—gave him that life—that vitality which
infidels
are brute animals possess'(and which materialists and
are so anxious to be thought only to possess)—" and man
became a living soul." This was the addition ; in this con-
sisted man's superiority over the brutes—it was in the addi-
tion of the "living soul"—the attribute of God conferred
upon him. Dr. 'Thorburn on this point also eloquently
illustrated his views. The lecture was spoken from notes,
and occupied an hour and a half in delivery.

We understand that the nominations for the Waterloo
Cup and the Waterloo Purse are nearly filled. The Marquis
of Douglas and several other celebrated owners of dogs have
nominations.

Lord Frances Egerton, M.P. continues at Bath still labou
ing under a stubborn attack of gout.

We understand that Mr. Lewis, the spirited proprietor of
the Liverpool Theatre presented young Henry Betty with a
munificent gift in money upon his benefit night, independent
of the very liberal terms of his engagement.

LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAT.—WE under•
stand that, since the opening of this railway, little more than
eight years, five millions of passengers have passed along
line, and that out of this immense number, only two passel].
gers have lost their lives by accident on the railway, arising
from the sudden collision of some of the carriages.

SERMON AT ST. JUDE'S CHURCH.—On Sunday morning
last an excellent sermon was preached in St. Jude's Church,
by the Rev. Wm. Dalton, in aid of the funds of the Blue
Coat Hospital. The reverend gentleman, after eulogising the
system of education used in the Blue Coat Hospital, as being
based upon the Bible and the Formularies of the Church of
England, denounced the liberal, new-fangled, anti-Bible
system, and strongly protested against what he very justly
called putting bits and scraps of the Bible into the hands of
the children, instead of the entire unmutilated Word of God.
The collection amounted to the handsome sum of £54 4s. Bd.

GREAT EXPORT OF MANUFACTURED GOODS TO AMERICA.
—Under this head we noticed last week the export of manu-
factured goods to the United States. The George Washing-
ton, which sailed on Sunday, had to shut out goods so early
as Thursday ; and the United States, which will sail on
Saturday next, will be full early in the week. The South
America, the packet of the 7th of December, will also he
quite full. It is likely, indeed, if the easterly winds should
continue much longer, that there will be a scarcity of Ameri-
can vessels to convey the goods which, it is understood, are
preparing for export. In that case, it would not surprise us
to see first-rate British vessels laid on the berth for New You k.
The United States, having recovered from the depression
caused by the commercial convulsion of 18.36-7, are evidently
"going a-head."—A/biun.