The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-09-19 00:00:00

ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, LIVERPOOL

LBTTBR I

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SIB,—A recent visitor to Liverpool, and long
to the Church, I naturally made enquiries as to the manner
in which it was supported, and the peculiarities attaching
to its various professions in a town which had taken so
prominent a part in defence of our Protestant Institutions.
I was told of several popular preachers, but was desirous
rather to ascertain the extent of public opinion, with refer-
ence to those party questions in which, unfortunately, so
so many in our Church find reasons for difference as great

I sent. I was informed that by far the great majority were
what is termed Evangelical, while the so-called Tractarian
or Puseyite party was represented by the Rev. Cecil Wray,
at St. Martin's Church. I was further informed that if
I were foolish enough to venture into St. Martin's Church,

service conducted with such embers

able to believe my

self not in a Ro

that this was so generally distasteful to the pure Protes-
tant feeling which prevailed in Liverpool, that the congre-
gation rarely numbered more than five-and-twenty. I
must confess that I had no particular wish to form one in
the celebration of superstitious mummeries, alien alike to
our Church, as well as to the pure spirit of the Gospel ; yet
I had had some experience of the exaggerated misrepre-
sentations which are too often dictated by the virulence of
party spirit, and propagated through ignorant prejudice,
and therefore resolved to run the risk of forming one of
the quarter of a hundred who were only to be found in
Liverpool to join Mr. Wray in imitating the tinsel cere-
monial with which the Romish Church attracts the vulgar
and the ignorant. Accordingly, yesterday morning, I
wended my way to Great Oxford-street, through a neigh-
bourhood certainly not the most inviting, but its squalid
features owing chiefly to the prevalence of Romanism, and
found myself outside the Church of St. Martin. Its ex-
terior presents little worthy of notice except the tower, the
body of the church being apparently ornamented to cover
its poverty of design. The interior, however, is consider-

ably worse, a plain barn-like building, in the preaching-
house style, which about thirty years ago was the perfection
of ecclesiastical architecture, thin reeded pillars supporting
long wide galleries, surmounted by arches of lath and
plaster, and instead of the slightest resemblance to the
style of Rome, a very strong leaning the other way, so
that I was more inclined to believe myself in some dissent-
ing Ebenezer. Attempts, however, had been made, and
with some success, to remedy the original defects. In the
front of the chancel, a. choir had been formed by open oak
screens, and within it were stalls, two rows on each side,
for the accommodation of about thirty persons ; there was
also a lectern, and in the centre, far into the body of the
church, was a litany desk, appropriately ornamented, while
the pulpit was rather on one side, so as not to hide the
communion place. The building had evidently been ori-
ginally fitted with square pews, but many of those
near the choir had been converted into open benches
with conveniences for kneeling. The communion place
was considerably raised, so as to bring it within full view
of the congregation, and upon the whole I should be in-
clined to admit that the best had been done to adapt so ill
designed a structure to the purposes of Divine worship.—
Thus much for the place; but my chief object was the ser-
vice, which I will endeavour to describe as briefly as pos-
sible. At the commencement, the doors at the east end
were opened, and ten boys in surplices entered two and
two, and, proceeding to the choir, took their places in the
front seats. They were followed by seven or eight men,
also in surplices, who took their seats in the stalls behind
the boys. From the other door came in the Rev. Cecil
Wray, and two assistant curates, all in canonicals, and
took their places at desks within the choir. The service
then commenced by reading one of the sentences and the
Exhortation, followed by the Confession,Which was delivered
in a kind of monotone, the members of the choir and the
congregation following the minister after he had concluded
each sentence. This, it struck me, was no improvement
on the usual way of the congregation repeating the Con-
fession with the minister. The Absolution was also pro-
nounced in monotone, as were also the Lord's Prayer and
the sentences which follow. The Venite was given by
the choir in a quick chant, in which most of the congrega-
tion joined, but the full effect was wanting, owing to the
silence of the organ, arising, I was informed, from the
absence of the organist through sudden illness. The
Psalms for the day were then chanted to a very simple
tune, and I must confess that I never heard them to more
advantage. So far from the singing destroying the effect
of these beautiful compositions, the language seemed to
strike on the ear far more impressively, and as the sweet
voices of the youthful choristers were raised or modulated,
as the simple air of the chant was adapted to the varying
length of the respective verses, the meaning was given with
an emphasis far surpassing all that I had ever heard from
simply saying them. Nor did they occupy more time, the
measure of the chant being fully as rapid as ordinary read-
ing. One of the clergymen then advanced to the lectern
and read the first Lesson for the day ,but some of the effect
was lost, owing to a disagreeable echo or ringing sound
arising, I suppose, from the form of the building, The
Te Deem was then given in a four-part chant, which it
struck me was very superior to the double chant often used
for this magnificent hymn. After the second Lesson,
which, like the other, was read from the lectern, the choir
chaunted the Benedictus, and the Creed was repeated in
a monotone, the clergy and the whole of the choir turning
their faces to the East, a practice long used in many
churches, though condemned by some ultra Protestants as
superstitious. After the Collect for the day and the two
succeeding collects, the choir sung two verses of the
147th Psalm as an anthem, which was the whole of
the singing not included in the order for Divine Service.
At its conclusion one of the clergymen came forward, and
kneeling at the faldstool, commenced the Litany in the
well-known music of Tallis, as generally used in most of
our cathedrals, the congregation joining with the choir in
the responses, and, if I may judge by their demeanour,
those assembled appeared to feel that they formed a neces-
sary part in the due celebration of Divine Service. The
succeeding prayers were given in monotone, and they in-
cluded the one in the time of War and Tumult," and "in
the time of any common Plague or Sickness." After the
Blessing at the end of the Litany, the three clergymen
proceeded into the chancel, two of them taking their places
one at each end of the communion table, and the other at
a desk near the side. The Kyrie Eleison was chanted by
the choir and congregation, and at the end of the Nicene
Creed the Rev. Cecil Wray went at once from the com-
munion place to the pulpit, and gave out his text from
Hebrews viii. 10 : " For this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people." Here, to my, thinking, was an
evident improvement upon the ordinary practice of the
minister retiring to change his vestments. I never could
understand the objection to a clergyman preaching in his
surplice—which is a vestment specially recognised by the
Church—and preferring the black gown, which is simply
a University distinction, showing the having attained an
academical degree, and no way peculiar to the clergy.
There is something also absurd on the ground of Roman-
ist tendency in preferring the surplice in the desk, where.
the Romish priests always wear it, and objecting to it in
the pulpit where they never wear it. I must confess that
I also approved of the absence of any prayer at the com-
mencement of the sermon : they are quite out of place, are
not ordered in the Prayer-book,and unnecessarily lengthen
the service. The Reverend gentleman, in illustrating his
text, made an excellent and really practical discourse, ap-
plying the gracious promise of the gospel to ourselves as
Christians, and not uttering one syllable which, by any
stretch of the imagination, could be construed into leaning
or tendency towards Romanist doctrines, or opposed to that
pure gospel teaching, which is the especial delight of pro-
fessing Protestants. At the conclusion of his sermon, Mr.
Wray returned to the communion place, and the collection
was made during the reading of the sentences of the Offer-
tory, after which the prayer for the Church Militant was
read, and several of the congregation, including the school
children, left the church.
I may here remark that, so far from the congregation
being limited to about twenty-five, there were, as near as
I could judge, between three and four hundred present,
not strangers like myself, but apparently habitual wor-
shippers, and of these between forty and fifty remained for
the Holy Communion, which, I understand, is adminis-
tered every Lord's Day. I may however remark that
the congregation, as I was informed, was thinner than
usual, owing to the absence of many families from town at
this season of the year, and that the number of communi-
cants is much greater on the first Sunday of the month.
In the performance of this part of the service there was
nothing to call for particular comment, it being conducted
as usual in most churches, with the exception that each
communicant was specially addressed—a commendable
practice—and the Gloria was sung by the choir, the
whole finishing with the Blessing.
Having thus taken a brief survey of the performance of
divine service in St. Martin's Church on Sunday morning,
from my own observation, relying nothing upon hearsay,
I may remark that I saw much to approve, with very
little to which the slightest objection ought to be ken.
I should have preferred the congregation joining with The
minister in the Confess I should also prefer tie read-
ing of the prayers without the monotone, believing Them
to be far more impressive; and it would have been as well
or better, I think, if the Litany had been said instead of
sung. These, however, are but minor objections, which
will in no degree outweigh the many practical advantages,
from a strict observance of the rubrics, which were here so
apparent. Instead of observing;anything like histrionic
displays, or imitation of Rome, df, which I had been told,
I found the order for Morning Prayer observed with a
strict attention to do nothing extraneous, or beyond that
which was commanded; and the result was a far more
lively attention, on the part of the congregation, than in
many churches where the people attend to sit under" a
popular preacher, and leave the important duties of prayer
and praise to the parson and clerk. It is a prejialice which
commonly prevails among dissenters, that there is no fer-
vour or meaning in any but extempore prayers ; but such
a notion must be dispelled by an attendance at St. Martin's
Church, where all share in the sacrifice of prayer and
praise : and that mind must have but a very imperfect
conception of the meaning of language, which could hear
without emotion, and deny the fervour of the concluding
petition to the King of kings, when, after reminding Him
of His gracious promise, that where two or three are
gathered together in His name, He will grant their re-
questg, it proceeds—" Fulfil now, 0 Lord, the ;desires and
petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for
them."

I had intended to have described the afternoon and
evening service, but I find I have trespassed already so
much on your valuable space, that I must leave the re-
mander until next week.
Liverpool, 11th Sept., 1854. VIATOR.

A Sw=sic ROYAL. PROCLAMATION announces that so
long as the British coasting trade was open to Swedish
vessels, the like privilege will be granted to British vessel's
in Sweden. _

Nsw Doer IN THE TYNE.—On Tuesday the foundation
stone of the NorthumberLyd-dock, to be formed at Hay-
hole, on the Tyne, about A mile above Shields harbour, was
laid by Mr. ifoseph Coweb, the chairman of the River
Tyne Commissioners.
latr.-sclr.-i-On Saturday week, Messrs. William Simons
and Co., of Greenock, launched an iron'screw steamer, 220
feet in length and 120-hOrse power, This vessel, which
is called the Morna, is for the Lon4Oil and Belfast Seim'
Men% Packet Company,

THE MAGISTRATES at Sheffield recently refused to re-
new the license of the Adelphi theatre in that town,
because it had been let for infidel lectures.

A WARNING —The operative weavers of Kiddermin-
ster, after ten days or a fortnight's struggle against the
masters, have returned to their work on terms less advan-
tageous than were offered to them at the commencement
of the strike.

Sias. FITZWILLIAM, the celebrated actress, died on
Monday last. She was in good health on the preceding day.

ROBBERY PROM A. Cuerucll.—The parish church of
Watford has recently been robbed of about 14 cwt. of lead,
taken off the roof.

TILE FLITCH OF Ricox.—A local committee appointed
to revive the ancient custom of the Dunmow Flitch have
heard from Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, that he will present
a flitch of bacon to any one couple who may claim it next
summer, and who can justify their title to the prize
A PATTERN MAYOR.—The m

,yor of Oxford, Mr. R.
J.Spiers, has been giving concerts in the town-hall, with

exhibitions of paintings, photographs, microscopes, &c. ;
and provided material "refreshments" into the bargain.
One night he received the townsfolk; on another he wel-
comed 1000 of the school children, and gave them a
concert. Something like a mayor !

SUDDEN DEATH.—A shocking instance occurred at the
Worcester musical festival on Tuesday week. Miss Den-
ning, sister of the Rev. P. Denning, of that city, just after
she had entered the concert room with several friends,
screamed and fell, and, notwithstanding the • prompt
medical assistance which was rendered, died shortly after-
wards.

fire broke out in the establishment of Messrs.
Hitchcock, St. Paul's Church-yard, London, on Wednesday
morning, but was speedily suppressed. .
CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.—The report of the directors,
which will be submitted to a meeting of the shareholders
on Thursday, recommends the payment of a dividend on
the ordinary stock at the rate of £3 per cent. per annum,
amounting to £45,741, leaving a surplus of £938 for the
next half-year.

ADMISSION OF DISSENTERS TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
—The new Act on Oxford University will take effect in the
forthcoming Michaelmas term. By the 43d section, from
and after the first day of Michaelmas term, " it shall not
be necessary for any person upon matriculating in the
University to make or subscribe any declaration, or to take
any oath, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstand-
ing ; and by the following provision a degree may be taken
without a declaration or an oath ; but the degree is not to
be a qualification for holding any office which has hereto-
fore always been held by a member of the Established
Church."

GUANO ISLAND.-A letter has been received at the Ad-
miralty from Commander de Horsey, of her Majesty's
ship Devastation, dated August 1, 1854, reporting that
he found three vessels, under American colours, at the un-
inhabited island of Ayes, in lat. 15 deg. 40 min. 40 sec. N.,
and long. 63 deg. 36 min. W., and one day's sail from St.
Croix, shipping guano, of which he reports there is about
200,000 tons on the island, and but slightly inferior to
the Peruvian.

DEATH OF CARDINAL MAI.--The•scientific world has
just experienced a severe loss in the death of Cardinal
Angelo Mai, which took place at Albano, in his 72d year.
Cardinal Mai owed his hat to the high position which he
had acquired in the learned world by his curious discovery
of the Palimpsestus. He had just succeeded Cardinal
Lambruschini as librarian of the Vatican.
AWFUL JUDGMENT.—On Saturday three weeks a young
man named Thomas Chambers, of London, attended his
mother's funeral, at Saxon-street, Woodditton, in a dis-
graceful state of intoxication. Before the procession set
out for the church, he asked for some gin, and upon being
told there was none, threw a shilling upon the coffin, and
wished some to be sent for ; but his uncle, Mr. Thomas
Chambers, very properly refused to allow it. On the fol-
lowing day, while in the churchyard, he offered, with
dreadful imprecations, to lay half-a-gallon that "Tom
Chambers," meaning his uncle, "would be dead in less
than three weeks, and he would go to hell if he would not
come down and pay it if he lost ; but he was sure to win,
for he would go to hell if he (the uncle) wouldn't be dead."
Dreadful to say, in less than the predicted time, the young
man himself was a corpse. "Tom Chambers " was "dead
in less than three weeks "—" howbeit he meant it not so :''
for the rest of his imprecation, the last day alone can re-
veal the issue.—Cambridge Chronicle.
POPULAR ERRORS.—Numbers of people seem to be of
opinion that the human hair was only provided us as a
temporary protection and ornament, instead of which it
was designed to last us for life, and with ordinary care it
would do so. It must be treated, however, as other parts
of the body, that is to say, supplied with nutrition, and no
article has ever shown itself so capable of affording this in
the highest degree as Rowlands'Macassar Oil, the success-
ful results of which during the last half century have
proved beyond question its extraordinary powers in the
growth and improvement of the hair, and which have
obtained it a universal celebrity unparalleled !
THE PRINCE OF WALES is about entering upon the
naval profession. The Royal Albert, launched a few weeks
ago by the Queen, is at present at Sheerness, and in the
course of a few days the young Prince will join her as a
midshipman.

DONCASTER RACES.—These time-honoured sports took
place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last,
and were attended by the usual throng of visitors. On
Tuesday, the Great Yorkshire Handicap was won by Mr.
Milner 's Grapeshot, beating sixteen others ; and the Cham-
pagne Stakes by Mr. Bowes's The Bonnie Morn. On
Wednesday, the St. Leger Stakes were won by Mr. Mor-
ris's Knight of St. George, beating Ivan, Arthur Welles-
ley, Scythian, and fourteen others ; and the Municipal
Stakes by Lord Derby's De Clare. On Thursday, the
Eglinton Stakes were won by Mr. H. Baker's The Chicken,
beating Dervish, Rylstone, Andover, and six others; and
the Old Two Year Old Stakes by Saraband. On Friday,
Mr. Gully's Andover beat Hospodar for the Don Stakes ;
the Park Hill Stakes were won by Mr. Nichol's Honey-
amide ; the Doncaster Cup, by Virago, beating Kingston ;
and the Doncaster Stakes, by Lord Derby's Acrobat, beat-
ing Ivan, The Grand Inquisitor, and five others. On the
horses returning into the enclosure, after the race for the
Doncaster Stakes, a dense mob surrounded Mr. John
Scott, who shouted and yelled in the most savage manner.
Templeman, who rode Acrobat, jumped off, much fright-
ened, and forced his way to the weighing-room ; but John
Scott was not so fortunate. The mob closed round him;
and heavy blows were dealt at his head and body, which
almost produced insensibility ; and it was only by the most
determined resistance on the part of his friends that he
escaped more serious injuries. This unparalleled exhibition
of popular feeling is generally attributed to the running
of Acrobat in the St. Leger, who had been backed for large
sums by the sporting public. There were large sales of
thoroughbred yearlings during the week, one of them,
Voivode, by Surplice, realising 1,020 guineas !
POSTOFFICE CLERRS.—The Postmaster-General has.:
given notice to the country postmasters, that henceforward
they will be entrusted with the appointment of their own,
clerks, and that they will in future be held responsible for.
the efficiency and honesty of those clerks. They may re-
quire
what security bonds they may please from the clerks.
they appoint. The Postmaster-General retains the power
of dismissing provincial postoffice clerks.
Ciuqus.—A very curious !feat is nightly performed at
the Cirque in the Champs Elysees by an acrobat of the
name of Price. He brings a ladder into the arena, and,
keeping it in equilibrium by the mere weight of his body,
climbs to the top. Arrived there he performs on the violin
some variations on the " Carnival de Venice," and, always
seated on the top of his ladder, keeps it moving all round
the circus, and finally descends from his perilous position
in a manner quite as extraordinary as the remainder of his
performance. This startling feat is not inappropriately
designated as " L'Echelle animee."—Galignani.

A-FAnmEn in Herefordshire committed suicide 'from a
too hasty despair at his pecuniary circumstances. He took
arsenic, and submitted with great reluctance to the opera-
tions of the stomach-pump, which were unavailing. His
circumstances, though low, and causing him great appa-
rent anguish of mind, were not irreparable, and, with a
little assistance from his brothers, he could have paid all
his debts. He has left a widow and eight children. Ver-
dict, " Temporary insanity."
SHOCICING T2AGEDY.—The town of Sassari (Sardinia)
has just been the scene of a dreadful traggdy. An officer
of the 6th Regiment of Infantry, quartereX in that town,
being refused the hand of a young lady belonging to a
respectable family of the place, felt so much offended that
he determined to take a terrible revenge, With that in-
tention he proceeded to the young lady's house, armed
with four double-barrelled pistols and several poignards.
The first person he met was the mother of the young
lady. He discharged one of the pistols at her ; and then
in succession the daughter, her uncle, her father, and a
servant girl fell to the ground, to ail appearance mortally
wounded. He then put an end to his own existence with
one of the pistols. Two days after this scene of carnage
the several wounded persons still survived, although
scarcely any hope was entertained of the recovery of any
one of them.

SPEECHES TO A JIIRY.—On the 24th of October an al-
teration will be made In respect to speeches to a jury in
the superior courts. The party who begins, or his counsel,
is to be allowed, in the event of his opponent not announc-
ing at the close of the case of the party who begins his in-
tention to adduce evidences, to address the jury a second
time at the close of such case, for the purpose of summing
up the evidence ; and the party on the other side, or coun-
sel, is to be allowed to open the case, and also to sum up
the evidence, if any, and the right of reply is to be the
same as at present.

LOOSE liiireviouß.—Mr. Francis Collman Soper, se-
cretary to the "Working Man's Emigration Society," has
been twice examined during the week on a charge of
roughly treating a Mrs. Skinner, emp'oyed in the esta-
blishment of the society. The complainant alleged that
Mr. Soper had tried to kiss her, and in the attempt had
hurt her very much, besides breaking the bone of her
stays. Mr. Jeffs, a director of the society, gave evidence
implying an habitual disregard of propriety on his own
part as well as that of the complainant and Mr. Soper.
The complainant strongly denied the imputation. For
the defendant an alibi was set up, and though the magi-
strate was at first disposed to send the case for trial, he
ultimately yielded his intention, observing that much
looseness was evidently carried on in thehouse. Mr. Soper
was then discharged, and left the court.

REPORTED ARREST OP M. MAZZINI.—The Journal de
Genevime of the 9th contains the fbllowing :—"A letter
from Berne, of the 7th, informs us that Mazzini has been
arrested at Basle. He was coming from Berne, where he
had spent some days in the house of a patrician, to whom
he described himself as an Italian count, greatly attached
to Austria, and driven into Switzerland by the fear of the
cholera. According to our correspondent, the police had
discovered his residence, and were preparing to apprehend
him when he absconded, and left for Basle, under a false
name. The government gave notice to the authorities of
his arrival, and he was arrested on alighting from the
dillence."

.PBH9CILING AFFAIR has occurred at Cincinnati, U. S.
Two young persons who were engaged to each other were
sitting alone, and the young man 'was endeavouring to at-
tract the lady's attention from a book to himself by ex-
tinguishing the candle. Finally, all his efforts having
failed, he took a double-barrelled shot-gun which stoad in
the corner, put on a cap, and pulled the trigger, intending
blow out the candle with the air forced out of the gun by
its explosion of the cap. Unfortunately, the gun was
loaded, and the horror-stricken man heard a loud report";
and saw his betrothed sink to the floor, bleeding and
dying. She expired shortly Afteowll,ol,

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1854.