"The population of Taunton is estimated at upwards of 12,000; while, supposing the enlargement, before spoken of as in progress at St. James's church, to be already completed, there is church-room for only about 2,628, with a very inadequate supply of free sittings. To render the church accommodation only equal to that afforded by the dissenters in this town, about 1,400 additional sittings are immediately required; and, even by this increase, only one-third of the population would be able to attend the service of the church each time of its celebration.

"At Bridgwater, the population has very largely increased since the census was taken in 1831; it was then 7,869, with church-room for about 1,000, without any free sittings; and, with the addition of the new episcopal chapel about to be erected, not more than one-fourth will be provided with church accommodation, so that another new church might be most beneficially built in this town.

"The population of Yeovil is about 7,000, with present church accommodation for about 1,200; it is proposed to increase the number of sittings to 1,500, by a better arrangement of the pews; but it would be far better to build another church, and one, to hold at least one thousand, is much wanted. "At Frome, where two new churches have been lately built, three-fourths of the population, or more than 9,500, are still without the means of attending the ministrations of the church; so that one or even two more large churches would not be more than adequate to the wants of upwards of 12,000 inhabit

ants.

"The population of the in and out parishes of St. Cuthbert's, Wells, the former comprising the town, the latter the rural districts, was, as taken at the census in 1831, 6,268, while the present church accommodation is only for 1,070 persons; and, even with the addition of the chapel-of-ease at East Horrington, 4,938 will remain unprovided for.

"At Chard, the population is upwards of 5,000, and the church will hold only 1,010.

"At Crewkerne, the population is about 4,000, and the church-room is computed to accommodate not more than 1,000.

"In the parish of Nailsea, the church will scarcely hold 500, out of a very poor population of about 2,500, greatly in want of extra means of improvement. "At Paulton, a country village, inhabited chiefly by colliers, the population is about 1,800, and church accommodation for only 200. This is one of the worst cases in the diocese.

"Other places in the diocese where the church accommodation is not sufficient for one-third of the population, are

"This list, it is to be borne in mind, only includes parishes where increased accommodation should be obtained to make the number of sittings adequate to the wants of one-third of the population; a calculation much below that in some other dioceses, where it is thought that three-fifths of the inhabitants should be provided with the means of attending the services of the church. Should the same calculation be adopted here, the exigences of the diocese would appear to be insuperable.

WORKING OF THE REGISTRATION act.

(From the Cambridge Chronicle, Nov. 11th, 1837.)

We fancy that its parents, its godfathers, and all its friends, are thoroughly ashamed of the beautiful bantling called the Act for Registering Births, Deaths, &c. Its oppressive clauses as regards the established clergy are already condemned; and the ensuing parliament is looked to for an immediate change of the law. The case against the Rev. R. Taylor, of Leeds, has been quashed, in anticipation of the alteration; and the "Leeds Mercury," through an obstinate determination to praise the law, has got itself into a disreputable position, as the following passage in the proceedings at the Leeds Borough Sessions will shew. We must add to the point, that the counsel who had to make the motion was son and brother to the proprietors and editors of the "Mercury."

TAYLOR, CLERK, v. COOKE.

MR. BAINES, addressing the court, said—

Mr. Recorder, There is an appeal in your paper entitled, Taylor, clerk, v. Cooke, which is against a conviction under the Act for the Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, in England. On the part of the respondent I am now to move that the conviction may be quashed, under an arrangement of the parties which I will read to the court without any comment. The learned counsel then read as follows:-

"The necessity for any public hearing of this case at the approaching borough sessions has been avoided by an arrangement satisfactory to both parties. The result has been brought about by having learned from undoubted authority that it is perfectly well understood among all parties in parliament that an act shall be passed in the ensuing session to explain and reconcile the various acknowledged ambiguities of the act, and, knowing this, both sides have concurred in thinking that any further prosecution in the meantime of their opposing views of the present act would be better avoided. The conviction therefore will be quashed by consent, each party paying his own costs."

CHURCH ROOM IN LONDON-NEW CHURCHES,

(From the First Report of the Metropolis Churches Fund.)

THE amount of subscriptions up to 20th of June instant, which is rather within twelve months since the establishment of the fund, is 117,423l. 2s. 6d. The committee indulge the hope that, in some cases at least, local subscriptions may be raised in the several neighbourhoods where the churches are to be built, in order to furnish the means of adding to the churches such architectural ornament as cannot, in the opinion of the committee, be properly charged upon this fund.

They at first proposed, as a general rule, of course varying in some measure according to the character of the site, to build churches, each capable of

holding from 1000 to 1200, at a cost of about 3500l. Experience, however, has proved the impossibility of their adhering strictly to this rule. The tenders which have been sent in upon the plans proposed have almost all exceeded 40007.; and the committee now fear that they cannot place the average cost of each church at a less sum than 45001.

The committee have the pleasure of announcing that they have now contracted for the building of three churches-one near Arbour-square, Commercial-road, one at Mile End, and one in Radcliffe; all in the parish of Stepney. The building of these churches is now commenced, or upon the point of commencing, and it is hoped the season is not so far advanced as to prevent the expectation of their being roofed in before the winter. Instructions have been given to architects to prepare plans for two other churches, one in Bunhillrow, St. Luke's; and one in St. Margaret's, Westminster.

These works are undertaken directly by the committee. But in addition to these, they have pledged the fund to assist in building ten other churches, or chapels-of-ease, where part of the expense is to be defrayed by local subscriptions-viz., 1 in the parish of St. Bride's, Fleet-street; 3 in Lambeth; 2 in Rotherhithe; 1 in Chelsea, and 3 in Islington; making in all 15 churches to be built, either wholly or in part, by means of this fund. The sittings in these churches may be estimated at upwards of 17,000, of which about one-half will be free, or let at low rents.

In the first application of the fund, the committee have endeavoured to select those parishes where the wants are most pressing, as the following table will shew:

On the subject of sites, the committee have to report that four have been given by the following proprietors

:

One by Lord Southampton

One by H. C. Sturt, Esq.

One by the Mercers' Company

One by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Four have been purchased on advantageous terms

Two in Stepney,

One in Whitechapel,

St. Pancras.

Shoreditch.
Stepney.
Lambeth.

One in St. Margaret's, Westminster.

The committee are also in treaty for the purchase of certain interests in three other sites, the fee of which is promised (according to Rule X.) by the respective proprietors of the freehold the Prebendaries of Finsbury and Wenlock's Barn, in the Cathedral of St. Paul's.

Another site, kindly offered by Mrs. Wheeler and the Rev. J. Medhurst, jointly, has not yet been conveyed to the committee.

INCORPORATED SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE ENLARGEMENT, BUILDING AND REPAIRING OF CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.

A MEETING of this society was held at their chambers, No. 4, St. Martin's Place, on Monday, the 20th of November-the Lord Bishop of London in the chair. There were present, Sir Stephen Gaselee, Revs. Archdeacon Cambridge, Dr. Shepherd, Dr. D'Oyly, Dr. Spry, H. H. Norris, and J. Lonsdale; N. Connop, jun., J. S. Salt, Wm. Davis, E. H. Locker, Wm. Cotton, and Benjamin Harrison, Esqrs.

Among other business transacted, grants were voted towards increasing the accommodation in the church at Vange, Essex; enlarging by rebuilding the church at Rawmarsh, Yorkshire; increasing the accommodation in the church at Whiston, Yorkshire; building a chapel at Gleadless, in the parish of Handsworth, Yorkshire; increasing the accommodation in the church at Gillingham, Dorset; building a church at Stretton, in the parish of Burtonon-Trent, Stafford; building a church at Chesterton, in the parish of Wolstanton, Staffordshire; increasing the accommodation in the church at Worsborough, Yorkshire; building a chapel at Cleve, in the parish of Yatton, Somerset; building a chapel at Barnwell, in Cambridge; increasing the accommodation in the chapel at Marsden, in the parish of Whalley, Lancashire; increasing the accommodation in the church at Westerdale, in the parish of Stokesley, Yorkshire; building a church at Stafford; increasing the accommodation in the church at Remenham, Berks; building a chapel at Brinsley, in the parish of Greasley, Nottinghamshire.

CHURCH MATTERS.

THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER.

SEVERAL circumstances have occurred with respect to the celebration of the 5th of November, in the present year, which seem to call for a few words of remark. It appears that Dr. Dickinson, the chaplain of the Archbishop of Dublin, officiating at Dublin, omitted the service for the day altogether. But after some previous performances of Dr. Dickinson's, this could not possibly occasion any surprise. What does call for the expression of that feeling is a statement in the Morning Herald, that the service was omitted in many churches in this metropolis. Is it possible that this can have been done on deliberate reflexion? It is not intended here to inquire, whether it is or is not expedient that the service in question should be continued for ever, or should be given up by authority after a time. It is not intended to inquire whether this service is of the same excellence as the other services of our church-whether it uses the phraseology which modern liberality thinks sufficiently gentle, and candid, and kind-or not. The simple matter for consideration is this. The service has every possible and every imaginable authority. Its use has been specially enjoined by the new sovereign within six months, by a separate order, in virtue of which it is printed with the liturgy; and the rubric prefixed to it is as clear and as positive as a rubric can be, that the service shall be used instead of the ordinary service for Sundays, whenever the 5th of November falls on a Sunday. And yet it is alleged that in spite of all church and all state authority, and in defiance of the

rubric, in many churches this service was not read. The writer would very respectfully ask of the clergy who have done this, on what grounds they took this step. Is it that they do not like the service, and that it is not to their taste? What part of the liturgy will escape when such a rule is set up? Is it that in their judgment it is not expedient to use it now? What authority can stand, or what laws will be observed, if each person is to judge of their expediency? Is it that they deem the service obsolete, when within six months they find a proclamation issued by the Queen, bearing the signature of Lord John Russell, commanding the continued use of this form of prayer?

But whatever be the reasons, the step which seems always wholly indefensible is peculiarly dangerous now. Not a week has elapsed since we have read in the papers petitions from clergy that the legislature would not alter the rubrics of the church without church authority. "Why should the legislature not have the right of superseding rubrics," its members may well ask, "when we see individual clergy superseding them, in the most public places and the most open way, whenever it is good in their own eyes, and directly violating all the authority which an act of parliament and the order of the head of the church can give ?"

It would really be preposterous in any clergy, who, on the strength of their own opinion or determination, defy law and authority, and supersede rubrics, to object to its being done by the legislature. Right or wrong, they cannot object. But what they may do, or not do, as individuals, is of little moment; the mischief is, that their practice is, of course, appealed to as a fair specimen of clerical proceedings and of the indifference with which clergy treat any rubric of the church when it pleases them to disapprove of it. This is used as a good argument against the complaints of the conscientious clergy, who do observe the authority of the church, and who look with fear and horror to mere secular interference with it. And perhaps, with men of the world, it is not wonderful that this argument should hold good, and should consequently stamp many petitions of the clergy, as the writer believes that it has, with the marks of hypocrisy in their eyes. Surely, if higher motives do not weigh, the serious consequences to be apprehended in this way ought to prevent any clergyman from violating church authority. He may rest assured that the very persons whom he seeks to please will be the very first to use his own proceedings as an argument against himself and the church whenever it suits them, as a very limited knowledge of men and things may shew. The service may be good or bad, wise or unwise, better or worse. But what has that to do with the matter? If a man finds his conscience offended with what the church orders, let him leave it, if the thing cannot be altered; but in a matter of expediency, a question of better or worse, the self-will which induces men to defy all authority, and act in violation of clear and undoubted directions, ought to be reprobated by every clergyman who wishes well to the church and desires to see it rightly governed, and rescued from the touch of profane hands.