The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-19 00:00:00

of that committee, been repeatedly applied to, both
by letter and personally, to check the eccentric
preceedings and forms introduced by the minister,
Mr. Cecil Wray, which proceedings, it was urged,
were driving the congregation from the church, and
materially impairing its usefulness. We have our-
selves had repeated communications addressed to
us on the same subject; and the correctness of the
facts urged, as to the unpopularity of the church,
it was easy to prove from a perusal of the Corpora-
tion accounts, which this year show that whereas
the expenditure upon it has been £895 3s. 7c1., the
• whole amount for seat rents has iven £ll7 15s. 4d.
So far, however, from taking up him any of the
"airs and authority of a sort of lay archbishop,"
Mr. Hornby abstained from interference until oc-
casion arose .which rendered such interference a
matter of positive duty. The occasion in question
was an unauthorized alteration—by the minister or
churchwardens, or both—not of the ceremonial
only, but of the property of the church.
To allow of more space and convenience for
carrying out the full Tractarian ceremonial, twelve
pews, containing seventy sittings, have been de-
stroyed at the eastern end of the church, from
which an annual rental of £4O was formerly pro-
duced. In their place the frequenter of the church
now finds a large area, with screens on each side,
and provided with all .the requirements for the ex-
traordinary gyrations indulged in by the minister
and his curate. In addition, however, to the loss
of seat rents sustained, the borough estate has,
during the past year, been drawn upon to pay 'a
sum of about £l2O for providing cetthin kneeling
benches for the seats, furniture for the communion,
Terra Cotta bench-ends and tiles—we presume the
" encaustic tiles"—the bulk of which expenditure
has been incurred to gratify the excentricities of
Mr. Wray. It was certainly quite time for Mr.
Hornby and the committee to interfere to prevent
this abuse of authority; and we feel satisfied that
a great number of their fellow-townsmen will
thank them for so doing.
In addition 'to these facts, we may state that
prior to the alterations there were 131 pews in the
church; of these 12 have been destroyed, and of
the, remaining 119, only 41 are let. In 'addition
there are but 9 sittings paid for. The amount
received for pew rents for the year ending 31st
August, 1846, was £174, whilst for the year just
closed it was only £ll7.
The following remarkable report from the Cor-
poration Surveyor informs us that not onlyhave these
alterations been made "without their superintend-
ence being referred to him," but what is more im-
portant ' that they have " curtailed the space of
the free sittings," of which we always imagined
Mr. Wray to be peculiarly tenacious.
The surveyor, with reference to the alterations made in
the pews and sittings of St. Martin's Church, reports:
"That the screen which has been introduced at the
communion advances 15 feet into the body of the church.
.—That in order to obtain this extended space it was ne-
cessary to remove six single and two double pews, and to
curtail the space of the free sittings.—That 26 pews have
been taken down, including the double ones, and 18
framed elbowed benches substituted.
"By these alterations the accommodation which the
church afforded has been reduced by 70 sittings and a few
free seats.

"The surveyor thinks it due.to himself to mention that
the alterations were not made under his direction, nor
was the superintendence of them referred to him."
March 16th, 1847.

Now that we are on the subject, we feel it an
imperative duty to call the attention of the proper
authorities to the practices themselves, to carry out
which these expenses have been incurred. liere
we have, situated in one of the most populous dis-
tricts of the town, a church, capable of holding
comfortably twelve or thirteen hundred worship-
pers ; and yet we find it—such is the disgust
entertained by the public towards the novelties of
Mr. Wray—comparatively deserted. We are called
upon to increase our church accommodation for
the people; yet here is a church provided by the
Corporation, from which, notwithstanding the
inducement of seats at a merely nominal rent,
the people sedulously fly. And why do they
do so ? Because they regard the service as
only an unworthy imitation of popery. The hum-
ble protestant cannot understand why the minis-
ter reads—We beg pardon, chants—the prayers
from one place, the lessons from another; turns
his back upon them when the Litany is being
said, faces round from the communion-table when
reading the Commandments, and turns his face to
the wall when reciting the Creed. He regards
with jealousy the introduction of a large moveable
cross on the communion-table—or, we presume,
Mr. Wray calls it the altar—and of the candles
with which it is flanked, and cannot divine the
meaning of the various genuflections and shifting
of the position of the ministers and choristers in
the area, which Mr. Wray has abstracted from the
body of the church. There are, moreover, few
amongst the number of church-goers who think
much of a singing minister ; and most people
prefer a scriptural sermon or exhortation, to lec-
tures upon forms and points of ecclesiastical
ceremonial, such as that, for instance, with which
the reverend gentleman favored his hearers on
Sunday morning last. He cannot but see that the
present service is generally distasteful to the-public.
A glance round the empty pews in the church, on
Sunday morning, when announcing that "the
majority of his congregation wished for no change
in such service," might have satisfied him of this
fact ; and as it is clear that from himself we can
expect no concession to the taste and feelings of
the Protestant community, for whom he ministers,
we must look for it elsewhere.

It would seem that Mr. Wray had had some
intimation that the services of the church were not
very acceptable to the community, for, on Sunday,
referring to an announcement previously made, he
gave notice that there would not be any alteration
in the manner of conducting public worship in
St. Martin's.
It may be as well to add with reference to the
allusion to the " incumbent being ordered out of
Mr. Hornby's presence" that the simple fact is as
follows ; the Church Expenditure Committee con-
sidered that no good was likely to result from a
verbal controversy with Mr. Wray, and in compli-
ance with their request, Mr. Hornby declined to
enter into any discussion with the reverend gentle-
man on the subjects in dispute, considering that
having the whole facts before him, nothing that
Mr. Wray could urge would have the effect of al-
tering essentially the opinion of the Committee as
to their objectionable character.

Mr. Charles B. Wilson and Mr. James M'Nicoll, of
this town, have been admitted members of the Royal
College of Surgeons.
On Sunday last, after sermons by the Rev. J. Jones and
the Rev. Dr. M`Neile, the sum of £45 was collected at
St. Silas Church, in aid of the schools in connection with
that church. The sum of £2 18s. 6d. was collected at
the doors for the Scotch and Irish.
LAUGHABLE ERROR.—The Manchester Times, in a
paragraph descriptive of the statue erected at the Custom
house to the memory of Mr. Huskisson, states, that the
pedestal is composed of pomegranate ; we presume pure
granite is meant.
PITT-STREET WARD.—It appears that, through some
inadvertence, Mr. Denton, who has been put forward by
the Radicals to contest this ward against Mr. Rimmer, is
not on the register, gnd consequently his intention cannot
be carried out. We presume, therefore, that Mr. Rimmer
will be, as he ought to be, returned without opposition.
KIRKDALE CHURCH.—The Collections at this Churcn
on Sunday last—the General Thanksgiving , Day—were
made in aid of the Day Schools which are intended to be
opened at the commencement of the new year. The
sermon in the morning was preached by the Rev. D.
James, Incumbent, from Psalm 92, v. 1,2, after which
the sum of £25 7s. 54-d. was collected. The evening
sermon was by the Rev. J. Conor, Minister of St. Simon's,
after which an additional sum of £l4 17s. 21d. was con-
tributed, making a total of £4O 4s. 71d. for the day.
HUSKISSON'S STATUE AND THE PEDESTAL.—There is
a sad want of reciprocity of feeling between the statue of
our old member and the pedestal upon which the autho-
rities have placed him. The pedestal says shat he is un-
justly burthened with a weight too large for his size; and
the statue complains that he has scarcely a leg to stand
on. In this particular he is not unlike his commercial
policy. The gas lamp in front has flared up exces-
sively since he learnt that he was loftier than either ; and,
from the Top of South Castle Street, forms decidedly the
most prominent object. He says nobody ever noticed
him before. _ _

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, SEACOMBE.—This neat place of
worship, the consecration of which took place on Tues-
day, was regularly opened for divine service on Sunday
last. The appointed minister, the Rev. Edward Roberts,
formerly curate to Mr. Nolan, of St. Barnabas, of this
town, officiated, and gives promise of becoming highly
popular both as a preacher and a reader. He possesses a
clear fine voice, and an impressive and pleasing manner.
The scriptural doctrines he propounded, on the first occaL
sion at the new church, deeply interested numerous and
highly respectable congregations; forenoon and afternoon.
We learn that, in future, during the winter, service in the
morning will commence at half-past ten, and in the after-
noon, at three o'clock. Arrangements are also in pro-
gress which, in a short time, will enable him to perform
service in the evening, the inhabitants of the Increasing
neighbourhood, of all grades, including Liscard and great
part of Wallasey, being anxious that of e place of worship,
at least, should be open at night. ,

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.