The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

t

Llttratart.

POETRY.

THE CROWDED STREET.

,How fast the flitting figures come I
The mild, the fierce, the stony face !
Some bright with thoughtless smiles. and some
Where secret tears have left their trace.

They pas•—to toil, to strife, to rest ;
To halls in which the feast is spread;
To chambers where the funeral guest
In silence sits beside the dead.

And some to happy homes repair,
Where children, pressing cheek to cheek,
With mute caresses still declare
The tenderness they cannot speak.

And some, who walk in calmne"s here,
Shall shudder as they reach the door
'Where one, who made their dwelling dear—
Its Sowers, its light—is seen no more.

Youth, with pale check and slender frame,
And dreams of greatness in thine eyes!
Goest thou to build an early name ?
Or early in thy to ks to die ?

Keen son of trade, with eager brow
Who now is fluttering in thy snare )
Thy golden fortunes—tower they now,
Or melt: the glittering shade in air.

Who of this crowd, to-night shell tread
The dance till daylight gleams again ?
Who sorrow o'er the untimely dead,
Who writhe, themselves. in mortal pain I

Some. famine-struck, shall think how long
The cold dark hours !—how slow the light !
And some, who flaunt amid the throng,
Shall hide in dens of shame to-night.

Each wh' re his tasks or pleasures call,
They pass and hied each other not :
There is who heeds, who holds them all
In His large love and boundless thought.

These straggling tides of life, that seem
In shifting, aimless course to tend,
Are eddies of the m'ghty stream
That rolls to its predestined end.

NOTICES.

SELECTIONS.

AIEMOIR OF RICHARD OASTLER.

(From the Illustrated London Nem)

DY WILLIAM CULLAN BRYAN, AN AMERICAN POET.
Let me move slowly through the street.
Filled with an ever-shifting train,
Amid the sound of steps, that beat
The murmuring walks like autumn rain.

The Law relating to Simony considered, with a view to
its Revision. By William Forsyth, of the Inner
Temple, Barrister-at-Law, &c. London Saunders
and Kenning, 43, Fleet-street, and Hatchard and Son,
Piccadilly.

The question which is here started by Mr. Forsyth is
one which it is of great importance to the interests of the
church to have placed upon some satisfactory footing. A
law so penal in its character as that relating to simony
should be clear and practically just—neither capable of
being evaded by the unconscientious—neither containing
pitfalls for the unwary—nor shadows, which the unscru-
iSulous and worldly overlook, but which are regarded as
substances by men of tender conscience. Such, it has
long been felt, has not been the case with the existing
law ; and it contains many inconsistencies, and demands
imperatively the correcting hand of the legislature.
Mr. Forsyth, in the pamphlet before us, shows that
the crime of simony has undergone a very material change
in its character since the time of the Apostles and its
being legislated against in the early ages of the church.
Simon Magus sought to purchase a supernatural gift,
" that on whomsoever he laid hands he. might re-
ceive the Holy Ghost." But when the age of miracles
was passed, the nearest approach to the crime which
brought down on Simon Magus the anger of the Apostles
would be an attempt to purchase admission into the num-
ber Of the Christia” priesthood ; and as this was effected
by the imposition of hands by the bishop, and in corrupt
times might be extensively practised, the ecclesiastical
la, extended the term simony beyond its original sense,
to embrace such practices. In the twelfth century, it
was further extended to the case of preferments after or-
dination—churches, benefices, and dignities being for-
bidden to be " in any wise bought and sold."
Such were the regulations of ecclesiastical law up to the
time of Elizabeth, when the first statute was passed upon
the subject, which brought the crime of simony under
the jurisdiction of the law courts. This statute indicates
six cases or species of simony—
" lst.—The taking of any money, fee, or reward, as a
consideration fir voting in a college election, or in that of
any spiritual E•ody corporate.
"2d.—The taking of any money or other benefit to resign
any fellowship or other place in such a body.
"3d.—The presenting or bestowing of beneficeswith cure
of souls for money or reward.
"4th.—Admissions, institutions, or collations, for money
or reward.

" sth.—Corrupt resignations, or exchanges of benefices
with cure of souls.

" Gth.—The taking of any money (beyond the ordinary
and lawful fees) to procure the ordaining or making of
any minister, or to procure the giving of any orders or
license to preach."
reign Anne tsleaftkire Ail Anne, BUq;tre tal
to the case of the Dean of York, which reviewed the sub-
ject and showed the doubtful character of the old law,
the 3d and 4th of Victoria placed it in its present state.
Mr. Forsyth, we think, very clearly shows the unequal
operation of this combined with preceding statutes, and
instances many cases of such unequal operation and some
anomalies which he contends ought to be taken away.
The right, for instance, of a patron, when a living is va-
cant, to convey away the inheritance of the advowson, so
as to confer upon another the right to all the further
presentation, he maintains is inconsistent with the law's
refusal to allow him to sell, or any one to buy the vacant
right to present. Again it is inconsistent with the per-
mission to sell a vacant advowson, when permission is
denied to sell if the incumbent is alive, although in
articulo morbis. It is inconsistent that a spiritual person
may not purchase a next presentation for himself, when
he is allowed to purchase the advowson in fee, and so pre-
sent himself on the next vacancy. Again the distinction
between Simoniaci and Simoniace promoti, which in-
volves the question of the cognizance of the party pro-
moted, is one which he maintains is calculated to lead to
subterfuge and the suspicion of perjury for the evasion of
penalties.
Mr. Forsyth proposes some regulations for the simpli-
fication and proper adjustment of the law to the circum-
stances of the present age. His leading object, however,
in which we trust be will succeed, is to call the attention
of the church and the legislature to the whole subject,
leaving them to settle the points which he has mooted—
and which, being here placed before the public by Mr.
Forsyth in a very clear and able manner, we strongly re-
commend to the serious consideration of the clergy and
our readers in general.

Richard Oastler was born in St. Peter's-square,
Leeds, on the 20th of December, 1789. He was the
son of Robert Oastler—the youngest of eight children.
His grandfather lived and died upon the paternal estate,
at Moorhouse, Kirby Wiske, in the North-Riding of
Yorkshire. His forefathers and the forefathers of the
present Earl of Harewood were substantial yeomen,
occupying neighbouring farms, and connected by busi-
ness, friendship, and congenial disposition, for many
generations.

n early life Robert Oastler formed an intimacy with
the celebrated John Wesley, while under the fostering
care of his uncle John Oastler, at Thirsk ' • and this in-
timacy afterwards ripened into such close friendship,
that Robert Oastler's house was Wesley's home when-
ever the latter visited the town or neighbourhood of
Thirsk in the prosecution of his missionary labours. In
process of time Robert Oastler removed with his family
to Leeds ; and it is worthy of remark that the venerable
Wesley, on the last visit he paid to that put of York-
shire, and very shortly before his death, took the little
Richard up in his arms and solemnly and affectionately
blessed him.

Mr. Oastler's father for many years followed the busi-
ness of a cloth-merchant in Leeds, and most actively
exerted himself in the cause of charity and local im-
provement. His mother was the daughter of Mr. J.
Starr, a member of an ancient and honourable family,
and a woman of great hut unoAentatious piety.
At eight years -of age, Richard, the subject of this
sketch, was sent for education to Fulneck, near Leeds,
the celebrated Moravian establishment; where, until he
was sixteen, his mind was stored with useful knowledge;
hut more particularly was he taught the importance of
religion, and the inestimable value of the Christian du-
ties and virtues. At seventeen, Mr. Oastler entertained
a strong desire to he allowed to prepare himself for the
bar, but his father's wishes were in the direction of trade.
Subsequently a kind of compromise took place : he was
articled to Mr. C. Watson; an eminent architect, then
of Wakefield, afterwards of York ; but this profession,
after following it four years, he was obliged to relinquish
on account of weak sight. Fle then turned to business
as a commission-agent. In 1816 he married iliss Mary
Tatham, a member of a highly respected Nottingham
family.
In the month of July, 1820, Mr, Oastler's father died,
then holding the situation of steward to Thomas Thorn-
bill, Esq., the owner of large estates in the West-Riding.
The vacant post, without solicitation, was offered to the
son, who accepted it, and removed from Leeds to Fixby
Hall.
From the time that Mr. Oastler first gave his atten-
tion to politics to the present hour, he has been a zealous
Church and King Tory, free, however, from the slight-
est taint of intolerance or uncharitableness ; and so earl).
as 1807 he actively engaged in:the support of Wilber
force and Lascelles, and warmly advocated negro maim:
mission and the suppression of the slave-trade.
Mr. Oastler holds that the State should provide for
the proper celebration of public worship, and give the
means of Christian education to the mass of the people.
But lie is severe in his estimate of clerical duty. He
tolerates no yielding in this respect to power, worldli-
ness, or expediency. He was, therefore, strongly op-
posed to " Catholic Emancipation," for religious rea-
sons, as well as on political grounds. His notions of
what he expects from the Church may be gathered from