The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-02 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

A VERY important subject, which has lately
occupied some share of public attention, is that of
obtaining official returns of the state of agriculture
in this country. It may be thought that such an
inquiry is chiefly interesting in localities which are
strictly agricultural, and to men who are employed
in the pursuits of husbandry ; but a due considera-
tion of the subject will show that it is of far more
importance to the merchants of this port, who are,
perhaps, more largely engaged than any others in
the immense trade which is now carried on in
foreign and colonial wheat and flour. To the
farmer, it is comparatively of minor consequence
to know whether a greater or less supply of food
may be required for popular consumption, because
his operations, in a great measure, depend upon
the condition of his land for the ordinary courses
of cropping, and also upon the weather which may
prevail at the seasons of tillage ; and, therefore,
though a knowledge of the state of supply and
demand may, in some degree, influence his pro-
ceedings, he is partly guided by the market prices,
and, even then, not able to controul his amount of
production, except to a very partial extent. To
the merchant, however, the information is of vital
consequence ; for, relying upon the small amount
of home-grown produce brought to market, and
indefinite notions of deficient crops, which are
sometimes compensated by breadth of land in
tillage, he may provide, by foreign importations,
for a deficiency which does not really exist, and
find, when too late for remedy, that he is a heavy
loser by his operations. Or, on the other hand,
from an over-estimate as to the productiveness of
the harvest in this country, importations may be
lessened; and the deficiency only become apparent
when it is too late for an effectual remedy. It has
long been a stigma against the corn trade that it
is little better than legalised gambling ; but such
a charge is unjust, in the absence of all authentic
information as to -supply and consumption, a kind
of information which is afforded with almost ma-
thematical precision in nearly every other branch,
of trade.

In order to obtain this much-desired informa-
tion, application has been made to the Government
more than once, but has always been met with
objections as to difficulty and expense. Some
attempt has certainly been made to obtain returns
from the counties of Norfolk and Southampton ;
but, while it has been admitted that these afforded
evidence of the practicability of the scheme, no
further steps have been "taken to obtain similar
information from the whole kingdom. There is
nothing novel in the idea, nor ought its realisation
to involve any expense greater than the importance
of the results would fully justify. Such informa-
tion has been obtained in Ireland by means of the
constabulary force ; in France it is done, we be-
lieve, every year ; and also in the United States,
which, from their great extent and scattered popula-
tion, must present far more obstacles than would
be the case in England. Indeed, we cannot con-
ceive any process which would be more easy of
accomplishment, or involve less trouble and so
little expense. Under the present system of Poor-
laws, England is divided into districts, consisting
of so many parishes, each of which is represented
by one or more guardians. Here, therefore, is a
machinery ready made for the purpose. Between
hay and corn harvest, when farmers have most
leisure, an 4 the probable yield of corn-fields may be
pretty nearly. ascertained, each guardian should

make a return to the Union Board from his own
parish, stating the number of acres then standing
in each description of grain, and the average yield
of the locality ; a point not difficult for any man
accustomed to farming operations, and, being con-

fined to one parish, not involving any very great
trouble. These returns should be collected by the
clerk of the union, and a copy of them transmitted
to a responsible officer in London, who should
I publish annually the aggregate of the returns from
all the poor-law unions in the kingdom. If such
information were, from obvious causes, not strictly
accurate, it would at least afford an approximation,
and no doubt a very close one, to the actual pro-
duction of corn in this country, and so far prove a
very useful guide for regulating more correctly
than at present the importations of foreign pro-
duce to the probable requirements for consumption.
The question is of too much importance to be al-
lowed to drop, and should be pressed upon the
attention of the Legislature until some provision
be made for attaining the desired result.

CONSRCRATION of CHRIST CHURCH,
CLAUGHTON, near BIRKENHEAD.

THIS beautiful church:was consecrated yesterday, by the
Lord Bishop bf the Diocese, in the presence of a numerous
and highly respectable congregation. At eleven o'clock
precisely the service commenced by the Bishop entering
the centre aisle of the church, attended by his chaplains,
the chancellor, clergy, churchwardens, and trustees, and
was conducted to the vestry-room, His lordship after-
wards proceeded to the front of the communion table,
when the petition for consecration was presented to him,
and the decree for consecration read by the chancellor.
Amongst the clergy and gentry present we noticed :
The Rev. Dr. Blakeney, Rev. J. E. Blakeney, Rev. Dr.
Baylee, Rev. W. F. Taylor, M.A., Rev. Messrs. Powell,
Hamilton, Linton, A. Knox, Cockcroft, Welsh, Warr, Wall,
Bell, Ireland, Stone, Prince, Gabriel, W. H. Vernon, New-
bold, Graham, Robin, &c., &c., Messrs. Curry, Palmer,
Shepherd, .Wm. Leet, Wm. Forbes, and Benj. Darbyshire,
trustees of the building, were also present, together with
Mr. Nash, the secretary ; the students of St. Aidan's Col-
lege also attended in their gowns.

-His Lordship and the Rev. Dr. Blakeney, after the cere-
mony, both assisted in Divine service.

THE SERMON.

The Lord Bishop, who preached, took his text from the
Ist chap. of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Ist verse.
His lordship observed, that after the ancient teaching
by the patriarchs, by Moses, and by the prophets, God, in
the latter days, spoke by His Son. That teaching finished
the great plan of man's redemption, which was dimly pro-
mised to our first parents, and afterwards renewed to the
patriarch Abraham. It was afterwards delineated by
Moses, who, by his preparatory tutorage, pointed unto
men the way to Christ. The prophets gave abundant
rebukes to the erring Jews, but at the same time mingled
their rebuke with a certain hope of the advent of our
Redeemer. At length the promised Deliverer came, veil-
ing his glory in the form of our frail nature, and finishing
his work by the great sacrifice upon the cross, to the end
of accomplishing man's salvation. The Bible, from the
beginning to the end, contained the full scheme of re-
demptiou, written, truly, by the hand of man, but pro-
ceeding from the fountain of light and life. His
lordship continued : It has God for its author, salvation
for its aim, and truth, without any mixture of error,
for its matter. Now, the Church of Rome claims
for itself the office of being the infallible judge of Scrip-
ture ; but this claim is a daring one, and should not be
admitted without great care as to the propriety of such an
admission. Our Lord Jesus Christ was extremely plain
and simple in his teaching, and, after he ascended into
heaven, be endued his apostles with supernatural power
to work miracles, in order to spread his Gospel in the early
church. The Church of Rome has asserted its claim
to work miracles, but we refuse to acknowledge such a
church as our spiritual dictator. It is true that Protes-
tants, while agreeing in all important points, with refer-
ence to the truth of Scripture, form different opinions
relative to some of the passages contained in Holy Writ.
God has not formed us all with the same faculties of
discrimination, but we ought to be shielded from any
compulsory dictation from.our fallow-men. We ought at
the same time to remember that, for the judgment we
may form, we must be answerable to Almighty God. Let
us, therefore, not forget to avail ourselves of the necessary
means of instruction within our reach, and pray to God to
guide our judgment aright, and shield us from error.
Thus a serious responsibility rests upon the right of
judging with respect to Holy Writ; we claim the right,
but, at the same time, we know there must be diffi-
culties in forming a right opinion upon subjects
which treat of divine attributes and perfections.
We must veil our eyes and bow our heads when contem-
plating these divine mysteries; but still let us look with.
joy at the important fact of man's redemption by Christ
Jesus—who is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for
our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. It is
the glory of the Reformation to have placed the Bible
before every eye —that all may enjoy it as freely as they
do the light of day. It is a rule of the Church of England
that nothing is to be believed that may not be proved from
Scripture ; and in the church, consecrated by us this
morning, these truths will be preached with fidelity. This
edifice was commenced at an unfortunate speculative
period, and many hindrances have taken place to procras-
tinate its dedication. It has been my gratification to
attend here and rejoice at the progress of the building, and
I hope that I may have many other opportunities of con-
gratulating you upon the completion of this beautiful
church. His lordship then complimented the members of
the committee and the subscribers, who had so ably fur-
thered by their aid the building of the raised edifice ; and
concluded by expressing a hope that the renewed Appeal
to their liberality would be generously answered upon the
present occasion.

- A collection was then made, amounting to £6O, which
concluded the morning services.
The Rev. W. F. Taylor preached an excellent sermon in
the evening.