The Dean and Chapter of Winchester have manifested their accustomed liberality by directing 1100 bushels of coals to be supplied to the poor of the city and suburbs of Winchester.

The inhabitants of Basingstoke, assembled at a public meeting, have resolved to assist such of the poor belonging to that parish as are willing to emigrate, with the means of so doing. The time for application is limited to the 15th of February; and parties may choose any of the British colonies, or the manufacturing districts of England for their future abode.

LANCASHIRE.

A most gratifying tribute of respect has been paid to the Rev. Wm. Dawson, the curate of Royton, on his leaving that place for the incumbency of Rampside, near Ulverston. The inhabitants invited Mr. Dawson to a public dinner, on Wednesday evening, the 6th instant, at the Spread Eagle Inn, on which occasion they presented him with a splendid silver cup; and the Sunday-school teachers at Royton have presented the same gentleman with a beautiful and costly portable silver communion service, in testimony of their great regard for his valuable services to that institution. To shew the influence of the pastor, and the attachment of the flock, it need only be stated, that through the instrumentality of the former, nearly 1000l. have been voluntarily subscribed by the inhabitants, and usefully expended in effecting improvements connected with the established church in the village of Royton, during the twelve years of Mr. Dawson's ministry there.-Manchester Courier.

On Friday, the 1st of January, the teachers of the sabbath-schools connected with St. Andrew's Church, Ramsbottom, presented to their much-esteemed and talented minister, the Rev. Andrew M'Lean, M.A., a rich and beautiful silver cup, with an appropriate inscription.

SCHOOL FOR THE SONS OF THE IRISH CLERGY.-The funds of this excellent charity are daily and rapidly increasing. On Monday last, a few ladies of this town transmitted to the treasurer, through the Rev. Parkinson, nearly 601., which they had collected in a very few days, by boxes placed on their work-tables. This mode of promoting the good cause, at once so simple and so efficient, is worthy of all imitation.-Manchester Courier.

There is one particular feature in the cause of the distresses of the Irish clergy which is specially worthy of attention— the system of organization, upon which

the attack upon their property has been carried on. At a meeting recently held in Liverpool, the Rev. J. Lyons brought forward a letter of a remarkable nature: Mr. Lyons prefaced the introduction of the letter by observing "I would beg now also to read to you a letter I have received within the last few days from a dignitary of the Irish Church, of rank and influence in that country, and who is well known to many individuals present. He writes thus:

A respectable farmer, a Roman catholic, with whom I had formed an acquaintance, and whose mind was so far enlightened as to see the errors of popery, but who had not the courage to stand the persecution that always follows the public retraction of them, determined at last to dispose of his property in this country, and retire to America, where he could profess what system of religion he liked without suffering for it. On the day before he left the country, he came to me, and, after regretting the necessity of our separation, said, Now, I am going to tell you one thing, which, if it was known I bad informed you of, I should not bring my life with me to the ship.' I begged of him not to tell me ; but he said, Your kindness has been so uniformly shown to me, that I could not leave the country for ever without giving you information that intimately concerns you and the parsons, as they call the clergy of the south.' He commenced in nearly the following words, and added, You may make what use of it you like, after I am gone. If the emancipation bill had not passed the lords, (this occurred in the autumn of 1829, and we had not the slightest idea that the lords would have been so foolish as to pass the bill,) there was to have been a general stoppage of the payment of both tithe and rent through every part of Ireland. The whole plan was organized, and at a given signal the stand was to be made. The emancipation bill having passed the two houses, contrary to their expectation, the plan has been deferred for two years, and in two years (1831) the war cry will be raised, first, against tithes, and, if they succeed in that, the same warfare is to be carried on against the payment of rent.' I expressed my doubt of the truth of what he said. In answer, he said, 'I have now told you the truth, and time will tell whether I am speaking truth or not.' I need not tell you the cry was raised against tithes in 1831 by a popish bishop, now no more; and, if success attend that measure, rent will follow of course. The Romans,'

shopric of Austr lia He is to embark, with his lady and family, and several other persons who go out with him, on the 18th of February, in the ship Camden, Captain Lobban, now in the St. Katharine's Docks, London, which vessel is to convey them direct to Sydney.

The Rev. Henry Blunt has finally resigned his living of Upper Chelsea, which he has continued to hold at the request of his patron, the Earl of Cadogan, since his appointment to Streatham, on the presentation of the Duke of Bedford. We regret that his ill health still detains him at Torquay.-Record.

THE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM.-On Sunday evening, the 17th instant, the Rev. Mr. Saunders, a dissenting minister at Mile End, in the course of his sermon, took occasion to advert to the support given by the various congregations of dissenters in London to their pastors. He said he was placed in a situation in which he could speak his sentiments without fear, neither receiving, nor expecting to receive, the least emolument from his congregation; but he must say, in respect to other congregations, differently placed, that the support given to their ministers was most shamefully penurious. Many of those whose high literary acquirements had cost them years of labour, and their friends much money, were paid for their services at a lower rate than a menial servant. He knew many ministers, connected by their talents and character with the higher classes of society, who, from the meanness of those for whom they laboured, wearied out their lives in seclusion from the world on a miserable pittance. He had known others, for whom the temptation had been too strong, and who, by keeping pace with their connexions in society, had prepared for themselves trouble and anxiety, and many such had thereby been brought to an untimely grave. He thought this illiberality and meanness of spirit, so prevalent amongst those who volunteered to support their own pastors, highly disgraceful to the character of dissenters generally, and, if persevered in, would tend greatly to depreciate the talents and usefulness of the dissenting ministry and the character of that body generally. Oxford Paper.

The present applicant, Sir Edwin Sandys, Bart., deposed, that, as beir. male of Archbishop Sandys, he had exercised his right of presentation, under his Grace's endowment. Upon a former exercise of this privilege, the right had been recognised, and a Fellow admitted; but in three instances, one in August last, when a vacancy occurred on the marriage of a holder of a Fellowship, the same had been refused; and on application, a letter was received, stating that another claimant had appeared, but no person was named. Mr. Justice Pattison-It does not appear whether the matter was subject to the right or authority of the visitor. Take a rule.

NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR.-The promoters of schools, who intend to apply through the society to the Lords of His Majesty's Treasury, for pecuniary aid in building school-rooms during the ensuing spring, are requested to transmit the specifications and estimates of their plans to the society's office with as little delay as possible. Forms of application, &c., may be procured at the central school, or by letter to the secretary, the Rev. J. C. Wigram, A.M. Sanctuary, Westminster.-Times.

The Marylebone vestry met on Saturday, the 9th of January, to receive the report of the committee recently appointed to consider of the stipends assigned by the church commissioners to the four district rectors of the parish, and also of the proper application of the amounts received for the pew rents of the churches of those districts. Captain Wardell was in the chair. The report stated, that the committee were of opinion that the acts 1 and 2 of George IV. required the pew rents to be applied not only to the salaries of the ministers, but also to the payment of the clerks' salaries; and that this view was borne out by the 9th section of the act, by which the church commissioners are directed to make assignments of a proportion only of the clear profits by way of stipend to the district ministers, as often as occasion may require; that is to say, from time to time, as the amount of the pew rents might increase or diminish; which was evidently intended by the legislature as a stimulus to the rectors to exert themselves. The report concluded by recommending the present incomes of the four rectors to be reduced from 6001. to 500l. per annum, there not appearing to be a sufficient fund to pay each of the said ministers 600l., and leave a surplus sufficient to meet the other objects of the Mr. Kensett moved the adoption of the report, which motion was seconded.

act.

Dr. Penfold desired an amicable arrangement of the question. The Very Rev. the Dean of Chichester (Dr. Chandler) objected to the report, as a breach of faith on the part of the vestry. He observed, that the stipend of the rector was, in fact, only 5001., as each of them had to pay, out of the 600l. now received, 100l. to the vicar. Mr. John Thomas Hope then made some observations in answer to Dr. Chandler's remarks, and the report was agreed to.Times.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Mr. William Howitt, the author of a book on Priestcraft, and several other works, has been chosen an alderman of Nottingham, and has ventured to bolt the declaration. The following sophistical defence of his so doing appears in a Nottingham Radical Journal:

"Mr. Howitt stated to a meeting of the electors last week his intention to subscribe to it (the declaration) at once, and occasioned a good deal of merriment by his mode of demonstrating his view of it. He declared, that had it been an unqualified and unconditional declaration, no motive whatever should have induced him to accept it; but as it was strictly and avowedly official, the words by virtue of your office' confining its operation to the council. room, and leaving him as perfectly at liberty as before to act against the church in his private capacity, he should not only take it, but should strictly and literally act upon it. If this church was to be thrust upon every honest man when he entered into office, like some old woman that had lived so riotously as to have disabled her legs with gout, and must have supporters, why, in office, he would even tolerate her presence. He would not say a word about her in the council chamber; no, if he were asked a question about her, he would not answer it; he would say,

"Oh no! we never mention her, Her name is never heard!But the moment be got out of doors, then he would thunder against her with all his might. In the council-room he would not hurt this poor old beldame; he would not suffer her to be hurt; but the moment he

got out, he would catch her in the landing place, pitch her down, and break her neck, if possible. This was his mode of reasoning. It required no compromise of any principle; nobody, he believed, would suspect him of a desire to prop the Establishment; it only required him to close his mouth on one subject in one room, and that only till the law was altered, and left him all the world beside to act on it."

VOL. IX-Feb. 1836.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

A numerous and highly respectable meeting of the parishioners of Alnwick was held in the vestry, in that town, on Thursday the 10th of December, John Carr, Esq. in the chair, when resolutions were unanimously adopted, and a subscription commenced, for the purpose of presenting some testimonial of respect to the Rev. William Procter, A.M., who is now in the 37th year of his incumbency and personal ministry in that parish; and a committee was appointed to carry the object of the meeting into effect. And on Monday, the 7th of January, a meeting was held at the White Swan Inn, Alnwick, to consider of the presentation of a testimonial of affection and respect to the aforesaid Rev. W. Procter, A.M., from those who have been his pupils; Thomas Forster, Esq., of Alnwick, in the chair; when it was resolved"That the ability evinced by Mr. Procter during a period of forty-two years, as a teacher of classical and English literature, entitles him to the esteem and gratitude of his pupils; and that their grateful recollection of his valuable instruction and personal kindness will be best shewn and perpetuated by the presentation of an appropriate piece of plate, and that a subscription be commenced for that purpose." -Kelso Warder.

OXFORDSHIRE.

The lamented death of Dr. Burton causes a valuable preferment, in the gift of the Crown, to become vacant. Dr. Burton was Regius Professor of Divinity, and one of the eight Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. He was appointed in 1829, on the demise of the then Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Lloyd. The Professorship goes with the Canonry, which latter is worth about 1500l. per annum; the former only about 401. The rectory of Ewelme is also attached to the Prefessorship of Divinity.-Oxford Paper.

SHROPSHIRE.

A new chapel of ease and burial ground, at Whitchurch, Salop, were lately consecrated by the bishop of the diocese. The chapel and parsonage adjoining were built from funds left by the late rector of the parish, the Earl of Bridgewater. The present Countess purchased the land and presented it to the parish.

SOMERSETSHIRE.

BATH.-The annual meeting of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, was held on Tuesday, at the Assembly Rooms, divine service having been previously performed at Christ Church, where an eloquent dis2 H

course was delivered before the Lord Bishop of the diocese, the principal resident clergy, and other friends of the institution, by the Rev. J. H. Pinder, M.A., late Principal of Codrington College, in the Isle of Barbadoes, from John viii. 12— "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." At the meeting which took place at the rooms, and which was very numerously and respectably attended, the Lord Bishop of the diocese presided. The Rev. W. D. Willis (in the absence, through illness, of the Rev. G. Baker, the diocesan secretary) read the annual report; after which, the following gentlemen severally addressed the meeting: -Sir William Cockburn; the Ven. Archdeacon Moysey; the Ven. Archdeacon Mountain, from Upper Canada; the Rev. J. Algar, of Frome; the Ven. Archdeacon Broughton, from New South Wales; the Very Rev. the Dean of Wells; the Rev. Mr. Seymour; Capt. Mattlebury, R.N.; the Rev. W. D. Willis; the Rev. C. M. Mount, &c. The collection at the church and at the rooms amounted to 78l. 15s. 10d.

The friends of the Church at Shepton Mallet have obtained a victory over their opponents. The churchwardens of the parish gave notice for a vestry to be held for the purpose of passing their accounts and obtaining a church-rate for the current year. The Dissenters mustered all their

strength, and even placarded the walls, calling upon their friends to attend. The friends of the Church, however, were not found wanting. A fourpenny rate was asked for by the churchwardens; to which an amendment was moved by a dissenting minister, that a three-halfpenny rate only be granted. The original vote was carried by a majority of 13, the numbers being for a fourpenny rate, 72; for a three-halfpenny rate, 59. If the votes had been taken according to right of property, the majority would have been trebled.-Bath Gasette.

A silver vase and pedestal has been pre. sented by the parishioners of Mells, Somerset, to their late rector, John Frederick Doveton, LL.B., in grateful remembrance of his exemplary conduct, during a residence amongst them of twelve years, as a

conscientious minister, and a firm, impartial magistrate, whose hand and heart were ever open to relieve the distresses of the poor.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

A purse containing 2601. has been presented by the inhabitants of Dudley to the Rev. John Booth, B.A., on his leaving the curacy of St. Edmund's church, as a token

of their esteem and respect for his private worth, and in testimony of their approba tion of his public conduct during a resi dence of nearly nine years in that town. The rev. gentleman has been appointed curate to the united churches of Tedstone Wafer and Edvin Loche, near Bromyard. -Wolverhampton Chronicle.

A school-room, capable of containing 200 boys and 200 girls, is about to be erected at Moxley, near Darlaston. It is intended to have it licensed as a place of worship, and the Rev. G. Fisk, rector of Darlaston, and the Rev. Isaac Clarkson, vicar of Wednesbury, will officiate alternately on Sunday evenings. The site, forty yards square, has been given by Lord Foley, and the necessary arrangements are in progress.Ibid.

The Rev. Mr. Leigh has resigned the living of Bilston, which is in the gift of the parishioners. The Rev. Mr. Fisk and the Rev. H. S. Fletcher are candidates to succeed him.-Derby Mercury.

SURREY.

The Surrey Standard states-It is a remarkable fact, that in Croydon, a town'containing above 9000 inhabitants, and within fourteen miles of the metropolis, not even one papist can be found! We most devoutly wish that every town, village, district, and city in the United Empire could make the same boast.

able meeting of the freeholders and resiFriday, January 22nd, a highly respectdents of West Surrey was held at the Red Lion, Dorking, for the purpose of aiding in the relief of the distressed Irish Clergy; 110. was subscribed at the meeting.

Times.

The consecration of St. Andrew's church

in the hamlet of Kingswood, in the parish of Ewell, Surrey, took place on the 14th inst., by the Lord Bishop of Winchester. The church is erected on the estate of

Thomas Alcock, Esq., by whom and the

Vicar of Ewell it is chiefly endowed. It has been built by the subscriptions of Mr. Alcock, the clergy, gentry, and inhabitants of the parish, hamlet, and surrounding neighbourhood, and a grant from the Society for Building Churches, to which the

Bishop has added the munificent gift of

501. The church has about 200 free sittings.-Surrey Standard.

SUSSEX.

At the last quarterly meeting of the Lewes Deanery Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,present, the Rev. the Vicar, in the chair; the Rev. Dr. Holland, T. Cooke, and J.