The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-06 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

PROGRESS OF CHURCH REFORM.
(From the Times.)
Few things have given us more pleasure, for some
time past, than a brief and simple notice which ap-
peared in the London Gazette of. Friday last. It was
to the following effect :
" Notice is hereby given, that application is intended to
be made to parliament in the next session for leave to bring
in a bill for the division of the rectory of Winwick, in the
county palatine of Lancaster, into separate districts for
ecclesiastical purposes • and for the endowment of such
separate districts out of the revenues of the said rectory;
and for altering and reducing the present rectory-house,
called Winwick-hall, and the offices and grounds attached
thereto ; and for providing parsonage-houses for the incum-
bents of the said separate districts ; and also for extending
to such bill the provisions of the several acts now in force
for promoting the building of additional churches ; and for
raising money by rates or pew-rents, or such other means
as may be thought expedient for the several purposes of the
said bill.—Dated this 19th day of October, 1840. Kinder-
ley, Denton, and Kinderlev, Lincoln's-inn, London, solici-
tors to the Earl of Derby."
By those who know anything of church statistics
this announcement will be read with the same gratifi-
cation which we have expressed. But probably the
majority of our readers will require some explanation
of the circumstances of the case before they can share
in our pleasure. That explanation, therefore, we will
at once proceed to give.
Winwick is one of those great, undivided, and, con-
sequently, unmanageable Lancashire parishes to which
we have already once or twice, a few weeks back, called
the attention of the friends of the church. It con-
tained, in 1831, above 17,000 inhabitants; now, pro-
bably, above 20,000.
In point of revenue, Winwick is one of the largest
rectories in England. It was returned.in the Ecclesi-
astical Report of 1835 as of the annual value of
£4,220. Its patron is the Earl of Derby, and the
present incumbent, Mr. Hornby, either a nephew or
cousin of the earl.
What a noble example, then, is here about to be
given ! A bill is to lie carried through Parliament to
divide the living into (we have heard) five or six sepa-
rate parishes, apportioning the tithes among the seve-
ral incumbents; to reduce the size of the present mag-
nificent rectory-house ; to build new parsonage-houses
for the parochial clergy; and, where needed, to build
a new church or churches.
We should observe, that we see in the commissioners'
report the names of three new churches already exist-
ing, and we also see their miserable endowments par-
ticularized.
These are Ashton, in Winwick, population 6,846, in-
come £lBl. Lowton, in Winwick, population 4,255,
income £126. Newchurch, in Winwick, population
2,941, income £lOl.
All these will at once be raised to the enjoyment of
a decent provision ; and, we suppose, one or two other
churches and parishes set out and provided. Of
course there must be a sacrifice on the part of the pre-
sent
rector, or patron, or both, to effect so great an
improvement.
No doubt some one will exclaim, as in the case of
the Bishop of Winchester and the Farnham Bill, " So,
then, Lord Derby will get the patronage of six livings,
instead of one ! And this remark, with the ignorant
or unthinking, almost takes away the whole merit of
-the transaction. But those who have watched the
< working of patronage, whether in church or state,
know the prodigious difference.
The abuse in the church which most needed remedy-
ing was the heaping up a large share of church:revenue
upon a single person, where such revenue ought to
have supported several efficient labourers. This in
Ireland chiefly showed itself in the formation of
" unions," those scandals to the church, which all par-
ties are now united in condemning and dissolving ;
and in England by pluralities, which Ithe Primate's
recent bill will gradually diminish. The least criminal
of all forms of this evil was seen in such cases as Win-
wick, where a great revenue grew up without any
blameable means hieing taken to raise it ; and all that
could be wished was that such ample means should be
divided among a larger number of labourers.
It may be pleasant to a peer to have half-a-dozen
tolerable livings to give away. But it is more than
pleasant, it is profitable, to have one large rectory.
Cannot any one see at a glance that the rectory of
Winwick, with its £3,220. a year, could not be other-
wise than a part of the revenues of the earldom of
Derby ? What nobleman would have wished a finer
appanage for a younger son, or nephew, or son-in-law,
than such a splendid endowment ?
The Earl, then, in surrendering this noble piece of
preferment, and manfully resolving to do his duty by
'the church and by the people, has set one of the finest
examples which modern times have witnessed--=-an ex-
ample which we hope and trust will be extensively and
immediately followed.
Why can we not have it followed in the metropolis?
The monstrous spectacles presented by such " pa-
rishes " as Marylebone and Pancras, for instance—
how much longer shall they be suffered to continue ?
The patron, in one case, is the Crown ' • in the other
.the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. Surely, neither
of these livings can be allowed to be again filled with-
out an entire change in their organization. A "parish"
extending from Guilford-street to Highgate-hill! Why
have not the Dean and Chapter already taken the same
course as the Earl of Derby, and formed their plan for
its complete and final subdivision ?
Cathedral Chapters, however, are, we are aware,
among the slowest of all bodies in effecting changes.
But there are other peers, and those not a few, who,
like Lord Derby, hold considerable church patronage.
Let them review their responsibilities in this matter.
One thorough reform of this kind is of more real
value than half a dozen donations to church building
societies, necessary and laudable as these may be.