The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-10-08 00:00:00

ST. SILAS'S CHURCH

This handsome place of worship, the erection of which
has excited great interest amongst the public generally, was
opened for divine service this day week, under the most fa-
vourable auspices ; and we should have noticed so valuable
an addition to the ecclesiastical edifices of our revered Esta-
blishment in our last publication, had our columns not been
almost wholly occupied by our long report of the great meet-
ing of the Protestant Association on the previous day. The
conviction, however, that we were doing our best for the
furtherance of the Protestant Church, by furnishing the full-
est possible record of the addresses of many of her ablest
supporters, at a time when unhappily their advocacy is se
immediately valuable, precludes our regretting a postpone-
ment which will enable us to supply some details, of which
we could not before have availed ourselves, of an event only
secondary in local interest to that to which we felt ourselves
bound to give priority.
St.,Silas's, situated on an airy and convenient site in Pem-
broke-place, is in the neat unasuming English Gothic style
of architecture, that wont to delight our forefathers, and
which the poet contemplated when he feeling depicted "the
decent church that topped the neighbouring bill ; ' but it is
richer in exterior embellishment, and greatly superior in in-
terior convenience and comfort. The body of the church is
of substantial brick-work, with buttresses, mouldings,
of red free-stone, The front—to the south—as well as the
steeple which is surmounted by a spire, are also of stone; and
the tower being partly inserted in the front which projects on
either side in resemblance of trancepts or wings, it may be
said to be crusiform in design. There arc three entrances,
the principal one in the centre of the tower, and one at the
end of each wing, forming pointed arches. The windows of
the tower are ornamented by handsome cast-iron mullions.
%lt is cheerfully lighted by six tail lancet windows at each
side between the buttresses, rising to nearly the full ele-
vation of the building. The chancel, owing to the area of
the ground, is in but slight projection; but the whole has a
very neat appearance, and ;the workmanship is of a faithful
description.
The interior is tastefully fitted up, with a peculiar regard
to comfort and convenience, and much praise is due to
Messrs. Hand and Sons, of Bold-street, for the execution of
their department of the work. The gallery is supported by
slender clustered Gothic pillars of cast iron, thrown back
about a yard from the front, an evident improvement. The
wood-work round it is empanelled in Gothic pointed arches.
The reof is finished in the olden style of this description of
crchitecture, the carpentry of the. principals being left ex-
posed, and enriched by diagonal arch-work, and the whole
divided into longitudional compartments—those in the ceu.
tre having foliated ornaments in relief, serving as veutillators.
The seats are admirably constructed and roomy, the backs
being sloped, and covered, as well as the desks, with
watered morine. The pulpit, reading-desk, and altar,
are all designed and executed with much taste. The
whole of the wood-work is painted in oak, or is of " heart of
oak," and, though plain, is appropriate. On each side of
the space allotted for the organ is a gallery in a Gothic arched
recess, for the accomodation of the school children. The
church, we are informed, will accommodate about 1200
individuals.

On the opening day, the Rev. H. M`Neile, the highly re-
puted Pastor of St. Jude's, officiated in the forenoon ; and
the Rev. Mr. Cordeaux, incumbent of the church, in the
evening. The throng was excessive—many parties being un-
able to obtain seats.
The sermon of the former rev. gentlenu.n, at the opening
of the church, was a noble effort, worthy of the man. He took
his text from. St. Paul's epistle to Timothy—" Holding
forth the word of life ;" and after detailing the circumstances
which led to the building of the church, the particulars of
which we have before given, he went on to show how God
had honoured " means," and that even his greatest as well
as his lesser (if he might so speak) works were accomplished
by the use of means, even redemption itself being only a
means to an ending, the glory of God. The evening sermon
was preached by the incumbent, Rev. Mr. Cordeaux, from
the book of Revelations, the address to the Laodeceau
church, and, considering the position he occupied, sufficient
to unnerve the boldest man. He delivered himself remark-

ably well ; his doctrine was sound ; his arguments convin-
cing, and his delivery free and pleasant. The collection,
after the two services, amounted to £62145. 3d. We, know-
ing that much painstaking had been used with reference to
the appointment of an incumbent to the church, determined
to attend agai❑ on Sunday morning, which we did both

morning and evening, and without entering into detail, we
will only remark, that though we are not insensible to the
talents and merits of other candidates, yet we cannot help
congratulating the trustees of St. Silas that their choice has
fallen upon so suitable a person in every respect; his talents
for preaching are of the first order—fluent, mild, and per-
suasive ; evidently feeling the power of the truth heendea-
yours to inculcate, and his appeals to the consciences of his
hearers were very searching, and were listened to with breath-
less suspense. We recommend our readers to go and judge
for themselves; our only wish is that his services may be duly
appreciated, as, indeed, they appear already to have been,
for, upon inquiry, we learn that two-thirds of the seats are
already taken up.

FRIVOLOUS CHARGE AGAINST A lIIISPECTABLE YOUNG
WOMAN.-At the Police-court yesterday, a respectable-
looking young woman, named Charlotte Atkinson, was
placed at the bar of the Police-court, to answer a charge
preferred against her by a well-dressed individual, named
Stanley. The complainant said that the prisoner had been
his servant, but had left him about three weeks ago, and, he
found, had pawned some articles, his property, before she
left. It turned out in evidence, that an old towel and a cot-
ton pocket handkerchief had been pledged by request of de-
fendant, for her mistress, the wife of the complainant, by a
girl who was in court, and that the sum of fivepence (!) had
been obtained upon them ; but as the complainant ad-
mitted that articles had frequently been so pledged by di-
rection of his wife, and there was no proof whatever of
a felonious act or intent on the part of the prisoner, the sit-
ting magistrates, Mr. Birch and Mr. Rathbone, immediately
discharged the accused. [There are some rather extraordi-
nary circumstances connected with this case, to which we
may probably advert hereafter.]
One of those brutal and inhuman exhibitions, an up-and-
down-tight, took place at the village of Norbury, near Stock-
port, on Thursday night last, which resulted us the death of
one of the combatants; and a verdict of manslaughter
azainst live individuals, one of them being( brother to the
unfortunate man who lost his life. The particulars of this
affair are of such a disgusting nature as scarcely to be cre-
dited. The victim to this barbarous practice, Samuel Perry,
a young man aged 22, was a labourer in the employ of Mr.
Locke', farmer, of Handforth-cum-Bosden. The person
who caused his death is named John Hadfield, about the
same age, by trade a collier, employed at the Worth Colliery.
An investigation into the circumstances of the case took
place before C. Hudson, Esq. coroner, and a respectable
jury, at the Grapes public-house, Norbury, on Saturday
last.
_ . . . . . .

A meeting of the Repeal Association took place in Dublin
last week, when Mr. O'Connell said the motto of the society,
was, that " Everything coming from England should be
burnt, except coals." No oue should be admitted to its
meetings who was not dressed altogether in Irish manufac-
tures.

DEATH OF Mu.. FRAStill.—The publisher of Fraser's
Magazine died on Saturday last, after a protracted illness,
brought on, as it is supposed, by the attack of Mr. G.
Berkeley. Literature has thus lost an earnest supporter,
literary men a generous patron, and a large circle or friends
one beloved as a very brother. It is often true that an inti-
mate acquaintance, by unveiling defects of character, weak-
ens the reverence, respect, and esteem first felt. This did
not apply to Mr. Frazer. One learned slowly but surely to
love him, and they who knew him best loved him most.
His fine taste, his ardent attachment to literary pursuits,
and his sacrifices in the service he loved, endeared him to the
most distinguished literati of the age. His unfeigned faith,
humility, and true Christian conduct, exemplified in public
life, and yet more truly developed on a death-bed, showed
that the loss of many' is indeed the gain of one.
- - •

..---
BANKRUPTCY.—From a return to the House of Lords,
recently made, we extract the following " Number of Fiats

issued

Year. Town. Country. Total.
1832 756 914 l7OO
1833 .518 765 ..1283
1834..
1835
1836 483 721
1837
1838 306...... 781 lOB7
1839
1840..
The above period comprises the entire fiats issued under the
Bankrupt Act, 1 and 2W.4, c. 56. The bankruptcies have
increased, it appears, nearly 80 per cent. during the last three
years. They stand thus in Manchester alone :—ln 1838. 82 i
in 1839, 199 ; in 1810. 204. The average rate of country
bankruptcy, it appears, has been 955 ; and the average rate
of town bankruptcies 518 per annum, during the above years.
The great increase, therefore, in bankruptcies, has been in
the country. London is decidedly the most prosperous place
in the kingdom, owing, in no small degree, to its being the
terminus of nearly all the railways, and also owing to its being
the abode of so large a portion of fixed annuitants and lauded
proprietors.—Facts and Figures, No. I.
Dn. SumNER, BISHOP OF CHESTER.-" If all ministers
were like the Bishop of Chester," he once exclaimed, " there
would be some grounds for the theory of apostolical succes..
sion." And in a letter to one of his congregation—to one,
as he himself says, " whom I have numbered with my little
flock "—he mentions his lordship in the following words :
" We have lately rejoiced to have our excellent bishop at
Lancaster. Re is one of the right kind—taught of God, and,
influenced by the love of Christ. I had much conversation
with him. Ile preaches, and he feels, that •Itis a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus cane
into the world to save sinners.' This is the inexhaustible
theme of the gospel ministry, and the prominent subject of
the meditations of those who arc running successfully the
race that is set before them."—Life of the Rev. R. Hous-
man.

Tlll, CENSUS.—A general return of the population of the
kingdom has been.presented to parliament y the Registrar-
General of Bit tlis and Deaths, which the House of Commons
..
has ordered to be printed.
while the
pekoe
Sir Stratford Canning is appointed ambassador to Constan.
tinople, having declined the embassy to Vienna.
Admiral Sir Edward Owen has pit the naval command in
dated Sept. '
the Mediterranean, in place of Sir R. Stopford.
letter of the senior
SINGULAR COINCIDENCE.—A few days ago,
Messrs. Thorbur.u, were unpacking a chest of orange
tea, imported in one of the late arrivals from China, they
aCgoofc:loconniat)aii3nifne
grcaury,
discovered between the lead lining and bottom of the box -a
clo7poliy,o(fexthaectfyri4isnbytrera-gr/st
Mr. Thorburn,.the venerable partner of the fir/n, regarding
packed
the tea trade of that period. The chest was
miles above Canton, where the newspaper, A,500el
lent preservation, must have been put in , which is in excel.
;
is given to remove the mystery how • and no explanation
It has been preserved
and transmitted back nearly half
i ion.—Caledonian Mercury. a century after its publics-

There is but one political article in this number, and
that not written with the vigour and ability which
usually characteris9 the papers in this magazine. No
more poetry is to appear, and the last of the " Poetical
Garlands" contains three contributions from our ta-
lented townswoman, M. A. Browne, who is designated
one of the first of living poetesses. A proposal for the
reconciliation of the Protestant and Roman Catholic
churches, from a priest in the latter communion, is
presented as a gratifying proof of the charity existing
amongst individuals in the Roman Catholic Church in
Ireland ; but no tangible reason is assigned whereby
we can judge of the likelihood of such a consumma-
tion, so long as the creed of Pope Pius the Fourth is
the acknowledged standard of the Church of Rome,
and so long as the dogmas of that creed are contrasted
with and condemned by the articles of the Church of
England : to anticipate a union between the two is
perfectly preposterous. The interesting " Letters from
the Coast of Clare" are continued, and from them we
collect the following graphic description of the process
of catching birds on the cliffs of Moher ; premising,
however, that there is much in the number before us
both interesting and instructive beyond what we have
been able so briefly to notice :
The sea eagle builds her nest in the cliffs of Moher—a
fitting abode for the king of the feathered tribe. We were
not fortunate enough to see any, but I can fancy how fine
the effect, and how much in keeping with the grand and
majestic character of the place it must be to behold these
splendid creatures wheeling and circling among the mighty
cliffs. They are very ferocious and bold, and sometimes
made desperate attacks upon the bird-catchers, flying at
them, as they descend the cliffs, with beak and claws, and
directing their fury against the eyes of the intruders. To de-
fend themselves against these formidable enemies, the men
carry long knives ; and a story is told of a desperate en-
counter that took place some six or eight years since between
a bird-catcher and one of these sea eagles, which was well
nigh terminating fatally with the former.
The man had been lowered from the top, and hung sus-
pended from the over-hanging precipice, when an eagle
darted at him from out of a fissure in the rock, and com-
menced a furious attack. The bird-catcher drew his knife
and defended himself : but his feathered assailant eluded for
a long time every blow. At length, however, finding himself
closely pressed, and maddened by repeated slight stabs of the
knife, the enraged bird gathered up his powers for a last
desperate dart at the man. The latter saw the impending
danger, and blind to every thing but the necessity of a
vigorous effort to parry the attack, raised his knife, and
aimed a furious blow at the eagle; it took effect but too
well ! The stroke that freed the bird-catcher from his fierce
antagonist, severed at the same moment almost in twain, the
rope to which he was attached, leaving the unfortunate man
suspended by but a single thread or twist of the cable over
the yawning abyss.

In this dreadful extremity there was nothing left him but
to give the signal by which his companions overhead
would understand that he wished to be drawn up. Most
providentially they perceived his awful predicament, and,
slowly, and with the greatest caution, commenced pulling in
the rope. It was so slender, and there seemed scarcely a
possibility that the almost severed thread could last until the
wretched man reached the top ; and with sickening suspense
and dread, he felt the frail link that still bound him to life,
and saved him from the horrible gulf below, stretch and crack
beneath his weight. It required, too, the utmost skill and
caution on the part of those overhead, to keep the fractured
portion of the rope from chaffing against the sharp knife-like
edges of the projecting rocks; and between the agony of
seeing the fragile thread gradually attenuate, and become
every moment weaker and weaker from the continued
pressure,. end the necessity of drawing it very slowly, lest
some unforeseen shock should cause it to snap suddenly, and
hurl the victim into the abjss, the men on the cliff were in a
state of scarcely less suspense than the object of their
anxiety.

At length the unfortunate bird-catcher neared the brow of
the precipice ; his companions redoubled their efforts, for the
rope was every instant showing increased symptoms of
giving way. 1t snapped just as he was within an inch of the
top, but not before one of the men had seized a firm grasp of
his clothes, by which he was enabled to drag him triumph-
antly over the brink. At sight of their comrade in safety,
the men, among whom a breathless silence had hitherto pre-
vailed, raised a loud shout; but he heard it not. The awful
situation in which he had been so long suspended, was too
much for the poor bird-catcher; he lay stretched on the
grass without sense or motion. For a long time, so profound
was his insensibility, his companions thought he was dead ;
but he recovered at length, though he has never, it is said,
completely gotten over the effects of that fearful hour.

Blackwood's MI

October. Walmsley, Liverpool

Blackwood couimences with a learned and elaborate article
on Homer and Homerithe, in which the authenticity of the
works-and the existence of the poet are considered. " Vani-
ties in Verse," by B. Simmons, introduces us to some elegantly
written poems. A new feature is presented to the reader of
Blackwood this month, in a smartly written farce, called
" Ambition." It would act capitally. We fancy we see
Harley bustling through Smout. "Brighton" is a jingling,
rapsodical description of that celebrated, but to our fancy
disagreeable, watering place. In "Three Nights in Berlin"
we find transactions which occur in three different epochs,
namely, 1443, 1813, and 1833. The adventures are quite des-
titute of interest, spirit, or point. " The World of
London" continues to show up the natives of that great
The advertising humbug is ably exposed. These
articles are very clever and pointed. The old and modern
" Rbles of Drinking" are two clever lyrics, by Anion. In
" Contemporary Spanish Literature" we find a critique in a
new form, introducillg a good story about that capital painter,
Velasqucz, and the immortal Cervantes, the poet, who, as
Byron says,

" Laughed Spain's chivalry away."
" Tomkins's Letter to Jenkins on the Manchester Con-
ference and the Corn Laws" is one of the best things in the
number : it will he found elsewhere. " Notes of Travel" is
an agreeable and spirited description of a tour in the Penin-
sular. It is replete with anecdote. " The Crisis of Modern
Speculation" is a very well-written article. " The Prospects
under the Peel Ministry ought to ba read by every conser-
"

vative man and woman

Charles O'Malley. No. 19. Webb, Liverpool

Charles O'Malley we find returned to his home, and his
good uncle dead. The gallant dragoon settles down into:
plain, country gentleman. The Blakes once more step on
the stage, and occupy a prominent part in the number.
" Baby Blake" is a novel character. The reader will be
greatly amused with her introducing herself to O'Malley.
She is quite an original. This amusing publication will be
complete in three numbers. We can safely say the readers
of it will regret its termination. The spirit of fun, wit, and
drollery has been. unflagging throughout. The illustrations
are excellent.