The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-12-05 00:00:00

unions,
Now, if these unions consisted entirely
_.....es only, it is clear that there would be 956
parishes, or more than half of the whole, held in union.
Supposing, however, the average of these unions of two,
flrn.
bould
R only 907
_ eastor to themselves. Nome other lamentable facts
appear in this same Report of 1835, which may as well be
given in this place. The Commissioners report, that they
found 210 parishes without any church. And this was
the settled state of things, to amend which scarcely any
effort was making ! Of a piece with this was the further
fact, that in 157 parishes there was no resident clergyman,
and no service of any kind ! And this was the state of
things in 1835, after a great revival of religion had long
been going on, and when, beyond all doubt, there must
have been far more vigour and strength in the Church
than at any former period. What, then, must have been
the state of things a century back ? Is it not wonderful,
that even a million of Protestants should have been found
in existence, after such a system of neglect and corruption
had existed for more than a century ?—Recurd.
NEW CHURCHES AND DISTRICTS.—A very important
meeting of the incumbents of new churches and districts
was held at the National School, Etruria, Staffordshire,
on Tuesday, for the purpose of considering the present

faree, we s

n union, w

quacy of " the voluntary system" in supplying funds for
the maintenance of divine worship and the repair of the
fabric, and to adopt memorials to his Grace the Archbi-
shop of Canterbury, the Lord Bishop of Lichfield, and
the first Minister of the Crown, humbly praying that
means may be devised to form all Chapelries and Districts
into separatc Parishes, and likewise to nominate a depu-
tation to present such memorial. The Rev! H. Wynter,
of Etruria, presided ; and on the motion of the Rev. F.
Wade, a memorial to the dignitaries mentioned, was
agreed to, praying for the entire separation of all districts
and chapelries, as regards all rates, fees, and appoint-
ments of church officers. The latter gentleman, in the
course of his speech, alluded to a case "exhibiting the
hardships to which churches erected under Sir Robert
Peel's Act were exposed. The case was that of a church
with which he was well acquainted : it was erected prin.

cipaiiy through the munificence of a benevolent indi-
vidual : a district was assigned, but by being taken out
of a district parish, the inhabitants had two rates to pay
without partaking of any benefit from them. The sti-
pend of the clergyman was little more than £lOO, of
which sum £5O was a grant from the Additional Curates
Society; for repairs and all other expenses, about £9 per
annum had been raised, £6 of which was derived from an
annual collection. Was it, he would ask, reasonable or
just that the parent churches should be freed from the
charge of upwards 2,000 souls, and yet enjoy all the rates
of the district, in addition to making a claim on all the
fees which were collected in the poorer church ? Or was
it to be expected that the ill-requited clergyman was
continually to have his mind harassed as to how he was
to provide for the support of his church ? He honestly
believed that, at this moment, there were many clergy-
men who contributed largely out of their inadequate sti-
pends to carry on the services of their churches.'
THE HON. BAPTIST NOEL.—On Sunday week, St.
John's Chapel, Bedford-row, Londcn, was at an early
hour crowded to so great an excess that it was barely pos-
sible to obtain even standing room. A large number of
persons were evidently attracted to the chapel by curiosity
to ascertain the " reasons" assigned by Mr. Noel for his
proximate secession from the. Established Church. They
were, however, " sent empty sway," for the rev. gentle-
man, in the course of his long and able discourse, did not
make the most remote allusion to the subject. The reve-
rend gentleman's retirement is, however, placed beyond
doubt, as he has himself announced it. On Wednesday
evening, at the usual weekly service at St. John's Chapel,
where Mr. Noel .has officiated for the last 26 years, the
rev. gentleman selected for his text, Rev. i. 5,6, " Unto
Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, and bath made us kings and priests unto God and
His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever, Amen ;"—and then proceeded es follows My
dear Christian brethren, many of you have heard that, as
the result of opinions deliberately formed, which T know
not how to alter, and the force of conviction which I am
not permitted to resist, I have been obliged to announce
my intention of leaving this congregation, where I have
ministered for so long a period with comfort and satisfac-
tion to myself, if not with profit to others. Since I ad-
dressed you last I have seen my diocesan, and he considers
it to be his duty—an opinion from which I do not dissent
—to determine that I shall not remain with you beyond
next Sabbath. This, therefore, is the last Wednesday
evening on which I shall have the privilege of addressing
you. But let eq not think of little matters ; let us indulge
in meditations on the best of all subjects; and I have
chosen the words of my text because they speak of our
best friend, and are calculated very much to console and
animate us." The rev. gentleman then proceeded with
his address, but in no degree further alluded to the pain-
ful subject of quitting his flock.—The chapel of St.
John's is held under a lease from the trustees of Rugby
School, and the term of years, which formerly belonged
to the Bishop of Calcutta, is now vested in his son, the
Rev. Daniel Wilson. The Globe says that it was not
Mr. Noel's intention to leave the church until Midsum-
mer next, in order that due time might have been allowed
his people to choose a successor and make the necessary
arrangements for carrying on the schools and the various
religious and charitable institutions maintained by his
congregation ; but on Tuesday the Bishop of London sent
for the rev. gentleman, and, after ascertaining from him
that the reports of his intention to secede from the church
were true, at once intimated to him that he would be pro-
hibited from preaching again in any church or chapel
within the diocese of London. Mr. Noel, on receiving
this intimation, said, in the most respectful manner, that
he could not consent to act in accordance with the prohi-
bition, as he had not yet spoken to his congregation in
their collective capaCity on the subject of his intended
secession. The Bishop said he was determined to enforce
the prohibition. It was eventually agreed that Mr. Noel
should be, permitted to preach on. Sunday in his chapel,
on the understanding that that is to he the last time on
which he is to officiate as a minister of the Church of
England. llis " Reasons for Seceding from the Church
of England" have been put into the hands of the printer.
On Tuesday the leading members of his congregation
met, when they unanimously resolved to present a me-
morial to the rev. gentleman, entreating him to reconsider
his resolution to leave the church, and expressing an ardent
hope that the result of such reconsideration would be his
still remaining with them. It was then agreed to nomi-
nate a deputatio❑ to wait upon him with the memorial,
and to receive his answer; but it was found that those
who were nominated could not be prevailed upon to un-
dertake the mission, owing to its very delicate nature

THE CHASE.
The CHESHIRE' HOUNDS meet to-morrow (Wednesday)
at Warmingto❑ ; on Thursday, at Appleton Hall; and on
Saturday, at Saighton—at 11.
Sir W. W.' WYNN'S HouNns meet to-morrow (Wed-
nesday) at Little Ness; on Thursday, at Iseoyd ; and on
Saturday, at Halston Gate—at half-past 10.