The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-11 00:00:00

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

WHOLESALE DISFRANCIIISEMENT.—At the Court, of
the Revising Banisters for Marylebone, last week, five
thousand persons in that parish and in St. Pancras were
disfranchised in consequence of not having paid their
assessed taxes before the 20th of July last.
WONDERFUL, IF TRUE.—The Stamford Mercury re-
lates that a few days since, at St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, a
cow ran at a child, who became fixed between the animal's
horns. The cow used its horns with such violence as to
knock large pieces of brick from the wall of 'a house ; but
the child maintained its position, and escaped unhurt.
FRUITS OF TEETOTALISM.—A child died from the
effects of opium last week, at Boxworth, Cambridgeshire.
The mother and family are all opium-eaters, and, though
labouring people, spend 4s. a-week- in the drug ! The child
was poorly, and the mother placed a piece of crude opium
in its mouth to suck.

LEDRU ROLLIN, unsuccessful in the ways of revolution,
appears to be cultivating the arts of peace : having pur-
chased a patent for washing wool, so as to convert its
grease into soap, and thus prevent its being wasted, he has
established a factory for this purpose near Bradford, in
Yorkshire.

GROSS FEEDING.—A flock of fine ewes, all in lamb,
and amounting to nearly 900, were closely folded on Tues-
day night upon a piece of rape and buck-wheat, at New
Barn Farm, in the parish of Calbourne. On the shepherd
paying a visit to his flock on Wednesday morning, 118 of
them were already dead from the effects of gross feeding.
A PERTHSHIRE JURY.—The trial of Samuel Faniks, on
a charge of robbing the Dundee bank in February 1852,
took place at Perth on Saturday, and resulted most unex-
pectedly in the following extraordinary terms :—" The jury
unanimously find that the prisoner has completely failed
to make out an alibi. There is a majority in the
,prisoner's
favour, that the case against him is not proven.' Such a
ridiculous verdict is quite enough. to hand down a Perth
jury to immortal ridicule.
STATISTICS OF CRIME. —A parliamentary paper, lately
issued, states that the number of prisoners in custody, on
the 18th of April last, in England alone, was 20,143, in-
cluding 10,659 males, 2,622 females, and 6,871 whose sex
is not specified in the returns. The number of persons
confined at that time in the penitentiaries and convict es-
tablishments, was 6,723. It also stated, that of the
above number 5,685 received their education at prison
schools, 252 in workhouse schools, 6838 in Sunday schools,
214 in mill or factory schools, 12,860 had received a com-
mon public or private education,and 1,919 had received no
education at all. _ _ _

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RATLIVA.T.—The direc-
tors have, with the view of bringing local traffic upon their
line, issued a notice " to persons intending to build houses
of a suitable character, and of the value of not less than
£5O annual rent, within two miles of the following stations,
viz., Harrow, Pinner, Bushey, Watford, King's Langley,
Boxmoor, Berkhampstead, and Tring," that they will
grant a free annual first-class pass to one resident of each
of such houses for the following, .periods :—Harrow, 11
years'; Pinner, 13 years ; Bushey, 16 years ; Watford, 17
years.; and for the other stations.mentioned, 21 years.
A CONSCIENTIOUS BAKER IN EDINEURGIL—The fol-
'lOwang story is told respecting the Duchess of Kent and a
baker of Edinburgh :—On her way to the Highlands the
Duchess spent a Sunday at Barry's Hotel, in that city.
The hotel-keeper had no biscuit of a particular kind,
Tailed " Albert biscuits," and, is the afternoon, sent to
Mr. Calderwood, the baker, to buy some. The baker re-
fused to sell biscuits on a Sunday, even to royalty. On
luearing this, the duchess was se pleased, that she ordered
Calderwood to supply her household with biscuits
during her stay in the Highlands, and the Queen likewise
ordered him to send forty dozen of the said biscuits weekly
to Balmoral.—Dumfriesaridarcl.
SINGULAR ACCIDENT.—Last week, Mr. Power, of Bris-
tol, with another gentleman, went down to Shirehampton
to dine with a friend, when the phaeton in which they
drove was left in front .of the house with the shafts turned
up, the horse having been taken off. The carriage having
attracted the attention ofn child between two and three
years old, the son of Mt. Heaven, mason, of that place, the
little fellow proceeaedminibserved to play with it, when,
by some means, he drew down the shafts; when the semi-
circular iron whicii attaches them together, near the cat-
riage, wheeling round, caught the child by the neck as if
in a mousetrap, between it and the fore-carriage. Here
the little fellow is as and actually strangled to
death before he was discovered.

A 111SLGISTERTAIL 'QUANDART.-A case involving seine
complexity was called at the Central Police Court, Glasgow,
on Thursday last. Joseph Milne, a young man, was
charged with assatilting a young lad, a baker, named
James Sniith,iin a house in High-street, a few nights pre-
viously. The magistrate and his assessor appeared seme-
what posed on learning that the complainer, defender, Ind
witnesses weretilfboth deaf and dumb. But they were
relieved on finding that there was a disposition among the
patties and their friends to settle the dispute, by retiring
into an anteroom for the purpose of bbringing about an
understanding and a reconciliation. .And thns.cnded the
case, the beneit seeming not the least satisfied party with
tile result.

THE SLAVETRADE.—We are in possession ofthe report
of the select 'committee appointed to inquire into thetrea-
'ties arid engagements between Great Britain, Spain, and
'Portugal, respecting the slave ' trade. It is a very in-
rteresting document, in which it is clearly shown in the report
(`that, if the market for slaves in Cuba were abolished, Rijn
rate Braiihevery few British ship-of-war would be regriired
on the Africanreoast, and those only for the vrotection of
our commerce. The ' report also' states—what we are less
,surprised than grieved to learn—that the great number
•of American eliips trading to the Havana, and the abuse
of the Ameilean flag, increase the difficulties of her Majes-
ty's cruisers, that station, in the visiting of suspected
vessels. It appears that some more cordial to-operation,
on the part or-the United States, would :materially:iassist
the efforts 'to abolish the slave trade in that quarter.—
SAz'pping'Vcrectte. .
ANOTHER BRIGHT COMET.--The comet discovered at
Berlin on the 11th of last month promises tdbeillmest as
1 conspicuous ache one which has just lift us. Last week
it was distinctly visible to ' the naked eye ; the !head
equalled in brightness a star of the fourth magnitude, and
the tail could Else traced about one degree. The 'comet
1 is increasing in brilliancy each morning, but its rapid
southerly md6,6a will prevent our seeing it more than
; three or fouritasrs longer, until after the perihelion pas-
, sage. PoSsibly;like the last, it may be discovered near the
sun on the ISth or 16th inst. About the fourth of. next
month it will be again visible in the morning, close to the
equator, sad in the vicinity of the ingn Virgo ;: it 4111
remain in sight or some time after . this, ;svith theaideaf
telescopes, its movement being towardslhe .head of Sep
pens, or northekly in declination'.
RUMOURED tIEACES OF SIR J. Fatwarerx.—The 0-
' lowing appearnir. the Chronicle, and is part of a letter
from Berlin•Of the Ist instant :—" It isearrentlFreported
at St. Petersburg that several bottles, hermetically- sealed,
and air-tight, but not containing any memoranda to indi-
cate their origin,Phave been picked up on the highest hill-
tudes of the lilibeinan coast, and fornrarded to the Russian:
government,r4which has not only communicated the .eir-
cumstance to' :her Majesty's envoy, but 'delivered to him
several of these ibe-ctles. An impression has consequently;
arisen that thew; :bottles belonged to Pranklin'aexpedition,:
and it is isaped, 'fable as these indices mar.he, that they:
may tend to throw:some light upon the fate of ;ourcoun-:
trymen, by produhing a search in a new direction, corres-
ponding with the set of currents that have thrown these
bottles on the Siberian coast;"
FIRE £T A DIETILLERY.—On Wednesday evening la
been
ntifinngisLa Übe' r.thaamannannedr:
fire broke east set 'Sunbury Distillery, near Ildiriburgh,oki-
inThcoemwpioile de
:the
"efor still had
Excise regulations, Vkich came into force on the 14th inst.,
several workmen were engaged to make the Teguisite
Icith the new
al-
teration on tise receiver so as to change it from a dip of ;47
inches to a dip of lainehes, by contracting its eircumfe-
1 rence. The rereiver,was of wood, and was deeply inipreg-
-1 nated with alcohol, itii,aving been accustomed -to contain
ti spirits at 65 ,corer proof ; and on the wood be. !out, it
1 emitted a spirit or gaaehich caught the light of , one of
the workmen, and 'immediately set the receirmand the
»still in a blaze, and thn-eee the whole building. Ilse fire
,was confined to the .promises in which it originates. The
?loss of the stills and ibeptoperty is estimated st 402,0(X)
iror 83,000. _ - .

Tui COMING Efanvit4r.—The difficulties which abates in
,the way of a brevet are maw more and greater thav our
headers in general suppose. If credence is to be gives. to
..the "quid nuncs" at th4thilts, the great difficulty erpe-
-tienced is to obtain a-teem:se/A of the Treasury to thxe.nis-
!ioursement of the 2A. a darl.4r each of the captains to be
• liwinnoted to brevet majorities. ft is now said that a earn-
promise will be made, and 'that the captains only whose,
.commissions are dated 1842,wi1l be included in the MG-
•rootien. The proposition to ;include all the eaptainsiaf:
1541312a5, we regret to leatm,;been positively rejected by the
Chanixilor of the Exchequer; and it is generally behaved.
rLottlArlardinge has found great difficulty in obtaining thel,
'brevet,even for those of 1/44,2. The necessity for the pro-
,motief. .of the colonels down to.tlik Ith November, 18443,
was so.self-evident that hardly any. opposition was offered
at the '(Treasury; and, as promotistis to be colonels and i
tieutenantieolonels cost not 011 E veal,, the extent in each i
of those,ralks was, we believe, leftin Lord Hardinge's and
Mr. Sidney Herbert's hands. The 'brevet will probably be
gazetted November, but efferts we 'ianow are used by
interested ',parties to have it postponed ;another year.—
Nara dad Military Gazette.
Tits CONSrifirATIVE LAND soctswar.---1. meeting of
the inhabitants of Tottenham was held at The Lecture-
hall, on Tuestlaky„, for the purpose of heating :an explana-
tion of the pringillas and plan of this society. A deputa-
tion front the execrative committee, consiatingmf Viscount
Ranelagh, the, Rev. Dr. Worthington, Mr. R, X. Fowler,
Mr. C. E. Lewis,. atak itor, and Mr. Grnrwisen, seeretary,
I attended. Mr. Deputy Corney, of Tottenham, presided.
Viscount Ranelagli gare a clear and succinct statement of
the objects of the society. As a political body the society
I
was forced to take a defensive position to the operatrams
of their political opponents. As a mercantile association,
he could assure the meeting in all sincerity that they
would find it not only a liAost advantageous but a most
profitable investment and speculation. He cautioned
working-men to be careful in *raking inquiries before they
invested their savings in tine numberless new freehold
land societies daily starting into existence. Mr. R. N.
Fowler,
the banker, followed with an excellent speech, in
which he enforced the commercial advantages of the
society. He would be the last to recommend it, if he did
not believe it to be a sound and safe arid most profitable
investment. The Rev. Dr. Worthington spoke on the
great social advantages of the society. Mr. C. E. Lewis
explained the whole plan of the society, and mentioned
that several valuable purchases had been made in Totten-
ham and the neighbourhood. On the motion of Mr.
Purton, seconded by Mr. Fullager, a resolution was unani-
mously passed approving of the, principles, plan, and ob-
jects of the Conservative Land Society, and recommending
it as worthy of public support,
FRAMPTON'S PILL OF HEALTH.—" For upwards of nine
rars, (writes Mr. Thomas Province, of Winchmore Hill,
Middlesex,) I have experienced the efficacy of this excellent
medicine. I had long previously been afflicted with head-
ache and indigestion ; but a friend having induced me to
make a trial of Frampton's
I now ijiforni you that a
few doses gave me great relief; and during this long period
of time I have taken them in preference to any other medi-
cine; and I have the happiness of saying that I never bad a
better state of health, which I attribute to Frampton's Pills.
I beg further to add, that this medicine is in general use by
my family, and we know of nothing to equal it." In any
case where an aperient medicine is required, they need only
be tried to be universally adopted. Sold by all medicine,
vendors, Price Is. lid. per box. See the name of "Thomas
Prout, 229, Strand, London," op the government stamp,

ADDITIONAL CURATES' SOCIETY.

TnE annual meeting of this society was held on Thurs-
day, at the Savings-bank, Bold-street, the Bishop of Chester
in the chair. Among those present, were the Revds. Augus-
tus Campbell, John Tobin, M. Powley, J. W. Welsh, H. T.
Hecker, W. Bannister, T. Hornby, George Dover, T. M.
Lisier, T. Carter, W. Hughes, D. T. Barry, George J.
Banner, Ellis Ashton, T. G. Leigh, F. Walker, R. R.
Lingard, J. B. Monk ; Messrs. C. F. Carne, H. W. Banner,
E. G. Deane, C. Groves, A. Swainson, &c.
After apologising for the absence of the Ven. Archdea-
con Brooks,

The Right Rev. CHAIRMAN said that, since they had last
met, the society-had received the munificent offer of Mr.
Naylor of a sum sufficient for the stipends of two curates,
challenging others to furnish the amount required for the
support of two more. The challenge had been answered,
and three of the curates were now at work, and another
was shortly to be appointed. He was happy to mention,
as another munificent offer, that of Mr. John Shaw Leigh,
who had promised to give a site of land, of very great pecu-
niary value, in the north-west portion of the town, for the
building of a church, if the people of Liverpool would sub-
scribe a sufficient sum for that purpose. He hoped these were
proofs that the kind feeling of Liverpool was developing
itself more and more, and would show itself adequate to
the requirements of the town.
The Rev. A. J. Tommie, the secretary, then read the
report, which stated, that—
"ln again recommending to your notice the cause of
this society, the committee have much pleasure in stating
that the progress has been more encouraging than usual
during the year ending at Easter, 1853, nevertheless, the
pressing demands of the Church have increased far more
rapidly. than the resources of her handmaid. Both of
these circumstances furnish reasons for gratitude to God.
It is far better that the real requirements of the Church
should be made known, than that they should be con-
cealed, at a time when there appears to 'be a general dis-
position to remedy existing evils, lest the wealth of some
parts of the Lord's vineyard should blind us to the utter
destitution prevailing in others.
"'The permanent increase in the Society's income has
enabled the committee to renew the grants for 322 curates
on their list at Easter, 1853, without encroaching further
on the small reserved stock, and to extend the number to
336 grants for the current year, in reliance upon the pro-
mised support of their friends. It becomes apparent, how-
ever, that still greater efforts are requisite from the fact
that the unaided applications have risen from 150 to 200
during the year. To meet these 200 cases at the present
average of aid given by the Society, namely, about £6O a-
year to each, an augmentation of £12,000 per annum
would be required. The appeal of the committee will not
be read without interest by the friends of the Church in
this wealthy diocese :
" ' The committee desire most earnestly to appeal to their
fellow churchmen. They desire to record their conviction
that our first duty is to care for our home population,
especially at a time when thousands and tens of thousands
are every year passing as colonists to distant shores, and
carry with them, if not that religion and morality which
is the best boast of Englishmen, those habits of vice, and
those errors in religion which will reproduce and multiply
abroad those very evils which are the foulest blot and dis-
grace of our native land. The State, the Church, and our
remote dependencies, the cause of education at home, and
of missions abroad, are alike dependent on the multiplica-
tion at home of ministers of pure and undefiled religion.
The committee,therefore,feel more than justified in pressing
their claim for funds to enable them at least to do their
part in this great work by aiding the 200 parishes which
implore their help.'
"It is gratifying to observe that the improved state of
the society's funds is mainly attributed to the efforts of
diocesan and district associations ; in other words, the
attempt to enlist the kind help of each of the ranks of clergy,
in their several departments, has been attended with some
measure of the success reasonably to be anticipated. In
the diocese of Chester the co-operation of the senior clergy
in their respective archdeaconries and deaneries, so kindly
-undertaken last year, with the approval of the Bishop,
has excited a degree of interest in the home missionary
cause which could not have been attained in any other
way. Too much gratitude cannot be expressed for the
-cordial manner in which this plan has been adopted. The
immediate fruits of our diocesan association are not, per-
haps, the true indication of progress, for many promises
'of assistance have yet to be redeemed by clergymen whose
-whole energies have hitherto been devoted to the numerous
wants of their own parishes. If we have reason to be
grateful for the encouragements of the past year, the
're-arrangement of the list of subscribers, according to the
archdeaconries and deaneries, will show that there are
very many parishes from which the Church has yet to
hope for some small help towards the extension of our
parochial system.
" The income from this, diocese, for the society's general
Inirpeses, has risen from £6OO to £7OO per annum ; but
the permanent increase may be estimated at about £9OO
per annum, because the donations from patrons, amount-
Ing to £lOO of the former sam, hare been replaced by an-
nual subscriptions. The fund df £4OO a-year, restricted
under Rule VI. to the employment -of four additional ,
curates in Liverpool, has been accomplished, and your
'committee beg leave to express most sincere gratitude to
'the clergy and the merchants of Liverpool for the kind
-and generous support which ha,s 'been given to this im-
portant work. Twenty-four 'curates in this diocese may
mow be considered on the society's Mist ; and for twenty of 1
these the society is responsible for £1,155 per annum, only
t7OO being supplied by the diocesan association. It must
'be remembered, therefore, that the operations of the so-
ciety, during the year, have led to an increased voluntary
expenditure in the cause of Christ of £6OO per annum, and
that the diocese is yet beholden to 1t for the gift of £455
'per annum.
" Last year the statement of the iincumbent of St. Bar-
nabas, Liverpool, was circulated, and his account of the
first year's progress of an additional curate will be dis-
tributed. The removal of the :incumbent has occasioned
regret to the committee, but they hove reason to rejoice
that the wants of his new -charge at Kirkdale have been
made known in consequence of -the change ; and they
trust that under other auspices the-exertions of the curate
will continue to'be a blessing to the:locality. It will fur-
ther prove the necessities of our large towns to state that
in the assignment of curates the (committee were com-
pelled to pass by, for the present, the .claims of ICirkdale,
as well as those of a district containing 14,000 people,
chiefly members Of the Church of England, and all under
the care of one clergyman.
" The second curate received 'his :nomination to St.
Nicholas Church, with =cure of -souls iin Trinity district,
until a better arrangement can be made. Hitherto his
duties have been chiefly limited to visitation of the dis-
trict. He finds a large population of :nearly 7000 people
willing to attend.his
.public ministrations, but he has no
place of worship in which to assemble them, for Trinity
Church is not available for his purposes, the pews being
in the possession of various owners:Who are entitled to
pew rents, as they are themselves responsible to the
minister of the church for certain ground rents, from
which his salary is derived ; and many of the inhabitants
of the district have not the ability, if they had the will, to
pay for sittings ; hence the exertions of the curate are
greatly impeded.
The third curate has been nominated by the Arch-
. deacon to St. Peter's Church, with cure of souls in the
. district contiguous to Trinity district, and known as the
r second St. Peter's district. It is bounded:by Moss-street,
!London-road, Norton-street, and Islington, and contains
enearly 6000 people. A similar difficulty -s ill have to be
eencountered, arising from :the want of a piece of worship
estimated in the district, the distance to St.. Peter's Church
itseing considered a reason far the neglect of public worship.
" There are no schools ineeither of these districts ; many
(4f the children who attendsehool go to dissenting schools,
:mil many do not attend *elated at all.
“" We may surely hope for,some effort on the part of the
WOO inhabitants of these two adjacent districts to sup-
plysthemselves with a church and schools asoon as the
rdisilstrations of the curate` bave led them to feel their
spititual needs.

"ainavoidable delays have hindered the assirnment of
thelsurth curate, but he will ,shortly be placed in a dis-
,trictcontaining not less than 4-0,000 souls.
' is the intention of the eummittee, with the,sanction
of tbeßishop, to open licensed rooms for divine service,
unlessnome better plan can be devised. It is impossible
itoosstiniate the blessings whicli may •result frean this
,work, ler its great importance b only now hegiuding to
be maarlested.
-"if, then, a measure of success should seem to,have
,attended Vie work of the association, it will be apparent
that a "Awe general co-operation As loudly called :for,
in orderthat some provision may le made for the fearful
(destitAitign thus gradually revealed through the reports.
" Whether so large an increase is the. number of curates
with amaa.agpends can be regarded.ae.an indication of the
prosperity of cur Church, is an inquirysvliich merits grave
(consideration. We may perhaps trust,that the temporary j
(employment ula curate will often lead to the creation of
:a new llistrietincumbency. But then seise* the necessity
fcr endowments_ The poverty of many cf thetown ineura.
bengiesled to, an effort in behalf of the Endowment Fund
*fee .Society; ;bat nothing has yet been accomplished liu
sad of -.district linsumbents, although their labours are
ackiroWledged .to file beyond measure serfweable to the
vast populations priced together in our large towns. The
denseness of the population in the highways of commerce
at oneestiminishes the beneficial social intereonese between
the diftenesit nlasses,of the community, and exposes the poor
and igiroimat to the arts of the designing, whose aetivity
shrinks (rem no toil,,kosen- as their ambition overtimes all
scruples. Every appointment of a beneficed clergyman
tends to Mt subdivision• of unmanageable parishes and
districts, and consequently reduces the difficulty of carry-
ing the blessings of the cogospel to the poor, through the
instrumentality of our Mooch. But surely the men who
have the courage to face the labour and the danger, should
be exempted from the anxieties of degrading poverty, and
from the thraldom of a fluetnating income. From cases of
distress which have recently', occurred, it may be affirmed
that many most zealous Clergy sink into helpless em-
barrassment, after undermiaining their health by denying
themselves and their families tvcrimon comforts, and, in
some instances, necessary food.
" After all other remedies are applied to raise the sub-
ordinate Clergy above want, abundant opportunity will
remain for the application of voluntary bounty.
"The committee are permitted to direct your attention
to a portion of the charge lately delivered by the Bishop
of the diocese, in which his lordship expresses most kindly
his approval of the association, and recommends it
strongly to the support of the clergy. The society
cannot be too grateful for the unvarying favour of the.
Bishop, and it is hoped that this additional proof of
interest will induce the clergy and laity throughout the
diocese to aid in the work of extending the authorised
ministry of the Church of England."
The Rev. Rector CAMPBELL, in moving the adoption of
the report, said that it was needless for him to say any-
thing respecting it, for it was admirably drawn up, and
expressed all that could be desired. He would rather
recommend the society to the meeting. For reasons
which he :could not comprehend, there appeared to be an
impression on the minds of some individuals that it was a
party society. The society was presided over by all of the
bishops, and recommended by their own diocesan, and he
could not understand how the society, by its constitution,
could by any possibility be a party society. It did not
interfere with the appointments of the clergy, but left
that to the incumbents, who, having received the grant
of a curate, were allowed to make their own selection,
without reference to party at all. He could not imagine
wkat room there could be for the enforcement of peculiar

opi lions in such districts as those into which the curates
were sent. He would request them to examine into the
work:ugs of the society, and represent any case, where
party spirit was evinced, to the committee in London and
to the bishops, and he had not the least doubt that it
would be speedily righted, and all imputation of party
spirit disavowed.

Mr. ANTHONY SWAINSON seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
The Rev. GEORGE DOVER moved the next resolution,
which expressed a grateful sense of the support rendered
by the society, and urged the necessity of greater assist-
ance being afforded—This was seconded by the Rev.
JOHN TOBIN, and carried.
At this part of the proceedings the Ven. Archdeacon
BROOKS appeared, and moved a resolution, in which the
committee solicitedthe attention of theirfriendsto the wants
of the district clergy, with aview to the formation of a branch
of the endowment fund of the society. The resolution
was a proposal to establish in the town a fund, by means
of subscriptions or donations, for the purpose of endowing,
or rather adding to the endowment of those district
churches which were now so very inadequately supplied.
He need hardly tell those who were resident in the town
of Liverpool. that the churches, like those in other parts
of the diocese and in the manufacturing districts, were
exceedingly inadequately provided for. It was even worse
here, generally speaking, than in the manufacturing
districts, for many of the manufacturing towns had acts
of parliament which enabled the commissioners to increase
the endowment to £l5O. The expense attendant upon the
living of a clergyman in the town of Liverpool was so great,
and the calls upon his purse (which he was obliged to
answer in a certain degree)so frequent, that if he had not
the means, he could not exert himself beneficially in re-
lieving the wants of the poor placed under his care. It
was a matter of great regret, that when a clergyman
visited populous districts, he found great poverty and
distress which he had no means of assisting; but the
pittance with which the ministers of some of the district
churches in Liverpool were provided was literally not
sufficient to maintain a man individually, independent of
anything he could do for others. There was an attempt,
a short time ago, to establish an endowment fund in
Toxteth-park, in which Mr. Hampton took a great interest,
and exerted himself very much. He was very sorry to
say that it had failed. There was a feeling certainly which
operated to prevent the formation of such a fund. It was
caused by the nomination of the churches belonging to
individuals in many cases. Many of the churches in
Liverpool, and in other places where corporations ex-
isted, were formerly in the gift of the corporate bodies,
until an act of parliament was passed which enacted that
all persons of all denominations should be admitted into
the bodies corporate, and then came the question, " What
was to be done with the churches ?" It would not be
right or proper for gentlemen not belonging to the church
of England to have the giving of the churches. The argu-
ments pro and con. were gone into, and there being some
difficulty about the question, it was proposed to sell them,
and the corporations were all accordingly required to sell
the church preferments in a given space of time, and
if they were not sold within that time, the presentation
was to go to the bishop of the diocese. If parlia-
ment had said, "We will bay the livings, and they shall
be placed in the giving of the bishop of the diocese,"
it would have been all well ; for who was more competent to
judge of the capacities and fitness of ministers to petform
the work of God than the bishop ? When the livings were
in the gift of a public body, there was a prospect of pro-
motion for those who were willing to spend and be spent
in doing the work of God. He himself, when first he com-
menced his ministry, laboured as a curate for 15 or 16
years, at a salary of £lOO per annum ; but as the prefer-
ments were then vested in the hands of a public body, he
first succeeded in obtaining a curacy, then a lectureship,
and so he had gone on until he arrived at his present po-
sition. This prospect was now taken away, and parties
would not subscribe to the endowment fund, thinking that
they should only contribute to the emolument of those
who held the gifts of the livings. This was not the
right mode of thinking ; the question should be, were the
means provided sufficient to enable the clergyman pro-
perly, to perform the duties which devolved upon him ?
There was another point to which he wished to call the
attention of the meeting. It related to residences for
ministers. There were thirty churches in Liverpool, and
to none of them was there attached a residence for the
minister. It would be very desirable that the clergyman
should have a house near to his church, that he might be
in the district, within the call of those under his care.
Supposing that £2,000 were raised for the endowment of
one of those churches, the only means of investing it was
to put it in the funds, which did not produce more than:
three per cent. Houses might be built at convenient dis-
tances within each of the districts at a very small rate, as
the value of house property was now rather reduced, and
they would yield a higher per cent., and increase the means
and income of the clergy, without calling for a very large
sum. He should be the last to question the liberality of
the people of Liverpool, for he had seen vast sums raised,
on many occasions, for the building of churches, and the
different religious societies were well supported ; but he
thought he had shown sufficient grounds for their giving
their consent to the resolution he had proposed.
The Rev. JoirN STEWART seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
The BISHOP wished to express his concurrence in what
had been said by the Rev. Rector Campbell concerning the
impartial nature of the society. He thought that would be
sufficiently proved by the fact that the applications for
additional curates passed through the hands of the bishop.
i Inquiries were made into the circumstances of the parish
! or district, the population, and other material points, in
I order that the parent society might consider whether the
case was one in which their assistance was requisite.
Where assistance was found to be necessary, the incum-
bents were always allowed to make choice of curates. In
regard to the transfer of ecclesiastical preferment from
the hands of corporate bodies to private individuals, he
' thought that if there was less prospect of promotion held
, out to the curates, it was an additional reason that there
' should be an endowment fund raised to provide better
stipends or salaries for those who were content, for the
love of their Lord and Saviour, to do His work without
hope of preferment.
After a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting
, separated.