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A second

In this Table the word "parish" sometimes includes a large district. Table is added, in which the Population and the Church-room of the principal Ton in the district is given separately from those of the district.

N.B. In Manchester parish the township of Pendleton is sometimes included, called, in the Ecclesiastical Return, Pendleton-in-Eccles, with a church containing 1,500 sittings, which must be added (if Pendleton be included) to the accommodation of Manchester parish. In the town, also, one chapel is mentioned in the Panorama of Manchester, which is not included in Ecclesiastical Return.

TABLE II.

Separating the large Towns from the great Districts (as given in the former Table} in which they are situate.

N.B. E. means that the population is taken from the Ecclesiastical Report; If they agree, no letter is affixed.

P. from the Population Reports.

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The table which accompanies this statement has been constructed on the following principle:-The population of each place has been taken from the Population Reports for 1831; and the number of churches or chapels, with the number of sittings afforded by each, has been ascertained from the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales, and other sources. It is possible that some inaccuracies may have arisen from the circumstance that the churches given in the Ecclesiastical Report are not always under the same name as the townships and dependencies mentioned in the Population Report, but every pains has been taken to check this source of imperfection; and it is hoped, therefore, that it cannot have any material influence in affecting the general result. Thus, for

Prestbury and Prestwich are not large towns, but only the mother-churches, with the population given in the Ecclesiastical Report as belonging to those churches

example, in the district parish of Rochdale, the churches at Friarmear, Littleborough, Lydgate, Whitworth, &c., none of which names appear in the Population Report, have been inserted from the Ecclesiastical Report.* Maps (such as Walker's, or Sidney Hall's pocket county maps,) and local guides, as well as Lewis's and Capper's Topographical Dictionaries, have been occasionally consulted, in order to ascertain the localities of churches, &c. To illustrate the mode in which the table is compiled, let us take Ashton-under-Lyne. The population assigned to this parish is made up of that comprehended within the districts of Ashton-Town, Audenshaw, Hartshead, and Knott Lanes; and the Report of the Commissioners was referred to for the purpose of ascertaining how far these districts are provided with churches. No return, however, of any churches or chapels in these districts is to be found in the Report in question, and it might thence have been concluded that the two churches, returned as belonging to Ashton Town, and as capable together of accommodating 3,600 persons, are all the places of worship provided by the establishment for the 33,597 persons to be found in the precincts of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne. But on reference to the Parliamentary Report of the Number of Churches and Chapels in Lancashire (1830), it was found that this parish contains one church and four chapels; but as the number of sittings in each is not given, the proportion of church-room to the population could not be determined. The proportion of the number of sittings to the whole population is, as one glance will shew, only put down in the nearest whole number. It may, perhaps, seem desirable to some persons that one other column should have been added, for the purpose of shewing the actual destitution of each town in regard to church-room. This was, in the first instance, contemplated; but further consideration decided that it would be best to leave each individual to ascertain for himself the extent of so serious an evil with reference to any particular town. The reasons which led to this decision were, chiefly, the difficulties encountered in an endeavour, even approximately, to ascertain the number of services which are performed on Sundays in the churches of large towns and their dependencies; the proportion which ought to have the means of attending Divine service at any one and the same time; and that proportion of the church-going population which frequents the house of God more than once on each Sunday. The bare mention of these difficulties will be sufficient to shew that the construction of a column which should exhibit anything like an accurate statement of the destitution as regards church-room, would be a work requiring local and other information of so minute and extensive a nature as to render the task all but hopeless to private individuals. In the absence, however, of such information, it may be stated, that various calculations have been attempted with a view of arriving, on general principles, at some probable conclusions, which, if they serve no other purpose, may supply a motive for Christian exertion.

It has been assumed, for example, that if the whole population were as desirous of attending the worship of God as all ought to be, a proportion of about one-third would be under the necessity of remaining at home for family purposes. For any given service, therefore, on this calculation, it would be

• Some little inaccuracy is, perhaps, unavoidable, as the limits contemplated by the two reports do not always coincide, and also from other causes. Individuals can only take up the subject from public documents, and must therefore be liable to some error from their imperfection. Local knowledge also would be highly desirable in checking the accounts, but individuals can seldom have an accurate local knowledge in matters which affect the whole surface of England. If the nation cared for the matter, and would employ a few of the starving Irish clergy as commissioners, at 51. 5s. a day, they might obtain accurate information, but the means which have been taken in this case to avoid error are all that can be employed by private individuals.

sufficient to supply church-room for two-thirds of the whole population. Thus for 1200 persons, a church affording 800 sittings would, as respected one service be amply sufficient. If, again, there were two services, and no person went to church more than once on a Sunday, 600 sittings would admit of 1200 persons being brought under Christian instruction in one day; and a church having but 400 sittings would thus accommodate 1200 persons, on the supposition of three services, each congregation being composed of different individuals. Now, if this last hypothesis (the most exaggerated that can possibly be adopted) be applied to such a place as Birmingham, there will remain 77,215 persons without accommodation in the churches of that town, after deducting 15 per cent. for children under five years of age. At Manchester, there would be above one hundred thousand.

Putting aside, however, hypotheses which refer to man as he ought to be, and not as he is, let us apply the principle of calculation suggested by Dr. Chalmers, deduced from an observation of “Christian and Civil Economy of Large Towns."-vol. i., p. 109. This Christian philanthropist supposes that five-eighths of the whole population, in the case of a town parish, will be the church-going proportion. On this supposition, the churches of Birmingham ought to be sufficient for the purposes of worship for 91,866. Now, as it has been calculated that one-third, at least, of the whole church-going population attends twice, Birmingham will afford accommodation only for 26,511, supposing two services; and for 42,418, supposing it possible that the physical strength of every clergyman in Birmingham admits of his performing three services (besides occasional duty) on each Sunday, or that his income is ample enough to enable him to pay for sufficient assistance. In the first case there will be 65,355 persons, and in the second, 49,448, positively excluded from the possibility of attending the ordinances of the established church. It would be easy to apply the same principles of calculation to any other town on the list, but it is apprehended that enough has been said to shew that a fearful amount of guilt has been already incurred from negligence in this matter, to which it becomes us as individuals, and as a nation, no longer to remain indifferent.

CHURCH REFORM.

It is right to notice that the Bishop of Gloucester, one of the Church Commissioners, tells us in his charge that the revenues of the nonresidentiary stalls will probably be made available hereafter for the care of parishes in the same patronage, and so of the sinecure rectories; that he hopes that effectual measures (not taxation) will be taken to raise all livings to a decent though humble maintenance, without violating equity or property; that the grounds for non-residence and licence will probably be lessened; and that he has no reason to apprehend that the Church Commissioners contemplate the abolition of cathedral dignities.

The bishop states that, by the application of the tenth of his revenue, he has obtained from Queen Anne's bounty 8007. for the augmentation of small livings, and has already augmented five small livings.

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The Bishop of London held an Ordination on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Fulham Church, when three of the students from the Church Missionary College, Islington, were admitted to the office of the priesthood. The Rev. A. E. Eckel and the Rev. J. J. Mülhauser proceed on their voyage to Trinidad, and the Rev. C. T. Schlenker shortly to Sierra Leone.

The next General Ordination of the Lord Bishop of Gloucester will be held on Sunday, December 20; and the examination will commence on Thursday the 17th. The Bishop of Chichester will hold an Ordination for the Diocese of Norwich on Sunday, December 20.

The Lord Bishop of Salisbury will hold a General Ordination, at the Palace, in that city, on Sunday, December 20.

The Ordination at Bishopsthorpe, announced for the 15th of December, has been postponed, and no other day has yet been fixed.

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CLERICAL APPOINTMENTS.

Prebendary of Tachbrook, in Lichfield Cathedral
Domestic Chaplain to Lord Scarborough

Curate of Torpoint Chapel

Hollingworth, A. G. H., of Stowmarket, a Surrogate for the Diocese of Norwich
Langley, D. B., Vicar of Olney, a Surrogate for the Diocese of Bucks

Leigh, W..

Mills, William..

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Chaplain to Lord Hatherton

Head Master of the Exeter Free Grammar School
Domestic Chaplain to Viscount Boyne

Head Master of North Waltham Grammar School,
Norfolk

Chaplain of the Garrison at Stirling Castle

Head Master of Kington Grammar School, Herefordshire

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