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diff --git a/10479.txt b/10479.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d8883b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/10479.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10693 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Our Churches and Chapels, by Atticus + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: Our Churches and Chapels + +Author: Atticus + +Release Date: December 16, 2003 [eBook #10479] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR CHURCHES AND CHAPELS*** + + +Transcribed by Peter Moulding +p e t e r @ m o u l d i n g n a m e . i n f o +Please visit http://www.mouldingname.info + + + + +OUR CHURCHES AND CHAPELS + + + +THEIR PARSONS, PRIESTS, & CONGREGATIONS; +BEING A CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT +OF EVERY PLACE OF WORSHIP IN PRESTON. + +BY "ATTICUS" (A. HEWITSON). + +'T is pleasant through the loopholes of retreat to peep at such a +world.--Cowper. + +Reprinted from the Preston Chronicle. + +PRINTED AT THE "CHRONICLE" OFFICE, FISHERGATE, PRESTON. 1869. + + + +TO THE READER. + + + +The general satisfaction given by the following sketches when +originally printed in the Preston Chronicle, combined with a desire, +largely expressed, to see them republished, in book form, is the +principal excuse offered for the appearance of this volume. Into the +various descriptions of churches, chapels, priests, parsons, +congregations, &c., which it contains, a lively spirit, which may be +objectionable to the phlegmatic, the sad-faced, and the puritanical, +has been thrown. But the author, who can see no reason why a "man +whose blood is warm within" should "sit like his grandsire cut in +alabaster," on any occasion, has a large respect for cheerfulness, +and has endeavoured to make palatable, by a little genial humour, +what would otherwise have been a heavy enumeration of dry facts. +Those who don't care for the gay will find in these sketches the +grave; those who prefer vivacity to seriousness will meet with what +they want; those who appreciate all will discover each. The solemn +are supplied with facts; the facetious with humour; the analytical +with criticism. The work embodies a general history of each place of +worship in Preston--fuller and more reliable than any yet published; +and for reference it will be found valuable, whilst for general +reading it will be instructive. The author has done his best to be +candid and impartial. If he has failed in the attempt, he can't help +it; if he has succeeded, he is thankful. No writer can suit +everybody; and if an angel had compiled these sketches some men +would have croaked. To the generality of the Church of England, +Catholic, and Dissenting clergymen, &c., in the town, the author +tenders his warmest thanks for the generous manner they have +assisted him, and the kindly way in which they have supplied him +with information essential to the completion of the work. + +Preston, Dec. 24th, 1869. + + + +INDEX. + + + +Page +7 Parish Church +13 St. Wilfrid's Catholic Church +18 Cannon-street Independent Chapel +23 Lune-street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel +28 Fishergate Baptist Chapel +34 St. George's Church +39 St. Augustine's Catholic Church +45 Quakers' Meeting House +51 St. Peter's Church +55 New Jerusalem Church +60 Trinity Church +66 Lancaster-road Congregational Chapel +70 Saul-street Primitive Methodist Chapel +75 St. Ignatius's Catholic Church +82 Vauxhall-road Particular Baptist Chapel +88 Christ Church +94 Wesley and Moor Park Methodist Chapels +99 Presbyterian and Free Gospel Chapels +104 St. James's Church +110 The Mormons +116 St. Walburge's Catholic Church +122 Unitarian Chapel +127 All Saints Church +132 United-Methodist Free Church and Pole-street Baptist Chapel +137 Church of the English Martyrs +142 St. Saviour's Church +148 Christian Brethren and Brook-street Primitive Methodists +153 St. Thomas's Church +158 Croft-street Wesleyans & Parker-street United Methodists +164 Grimshaw-street Independent Chapel +169 St. Paul's Church +175 St. Mary's-street and Marsh End Wesleyan Chapels, and + the Tabernacle of the Revivalists +181 St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Catholic Chapels +187 St. Mark's Church +192 Zoar Particular Baptist Chapel +196 St. Luke's Church +201 Emmanuel Church and Bairstow Memorial Chapel +207 St. Mary's Church + + + +OUR CHURCHES AND CHAPELS: THEIR PARSONS, PRIESTS, AND +CONGREGATIONS. + + + +It is important that something should be known about our churches +and chapels; it is more important that we should be acquainted with +their parsons and priests; it is most important that we should have +a correct idea of their congregations, for they show the +consequences of each, and reflect the character and influence of +all. We have a wide field before us. The domain we enter upon is +unexplored. Our streets, with their mid-day bustle and midnight sin; +our public buildings, with their outside elaboration and inside +mysteries; our places of amusement, with their gilded fascinations +and shallow delusions; our clubs, bar parlours, prisons, cellars, +and workhouses, with their amenities, frivolities, and severities, +have all been commented upon; but the most important of our +institutions, the best, the queerest, the solemnest, the oddest--the +churches and chapels of the town--have been left out in the cold +entirely. All our public functionaries have been viewed round, +examined closely, caressed mildly, and sometimes genteely +maltreated; our parochial divinities, who preside over the fate of +the poor; our municipal Gogs and Magogs who exhibit the extreme +points of reticence and garrulity in the council chamber; our brandy +drinkers, chronic carousers, lackered swells, pushing shopkeepers, +otiose policemen, and dim-looking cab-drivers have all been +photographed, framed, and hung up to dry long ago; our workshops and +manufactories, our operatives and artisans, have likewise been duly +pictured and exhibited; the Ribble has had its praises sung in +polite literary strains; the parks have had their beauties depicted +in rhyme and blank verse; nay--but this is hardly necessary--the old +railway station, that walhallah of the gods and paragon of the five +orders of architecture, has had its delightful peculiarities set +forth; all our public places and public bodies have been thrown upon +the canvas, except those of the more serious type--except places of +worship and those belonging them. These have been neglected; nobody +has thought it worth while to give them either a special blessing or +a particular anathema. + +There are about 45 churches and chapels and probably 60 parsons and +priests in Preston; but unto this hour they have been treated, so +far as they are individually concerned, with complete silence. We +purpose remedying the defect, supplying the necessary criticism, and +filling up the hiatus. The whole lot must have either something or +nothing in them, must be either useful or useless; parsons must be +either sharp or stupid, sensible or foolish; priests must be either +learned or illiterate, either good, bad, or indifferent; in all, +from the rector in his silken gown to the back street psalm-singer +in his fustian, there must be something worth praising or +condemning. And the churches and chapels, with their congregations, +must likewise present some points of beauty or ugliness, some traits +of grace or godlessness, some features of excellence, dignity, +piety, or sham. There must be either a good deal of gilded +gingerbread or a great let of the genuine article, at our places of +worship. But whether there is or there is not, we have decided to +say something about the church and the chapel, the parson and the +priest, of each district in the town. This is a mere prologue, and +we shall but hint at the general theme "on this occasion." + +Churches and chapels are great institutions in the land. Nobody +knows the exact time when the first was thought of; and it has not +yet transpired when the last will be run up. But this is certain, we +are not improving much in the make of them. The Sunday sanctums and +Sabbath conventicles of today may be mere ornate, may be more +flashy, and show more symptoms of polished bedizenment in their +construction; but three-fourths of them sink into dwarflings and +mediocrities when compared with the rare old buildings of the past. +In strength and beauty, in vastness of design and skill of +workmanship, in nobility of outline and richness of detail, the +religious fabrics of these times fall into insignificance beside +their grand old predecessors; and the manner in which they are cut +up into patrician and plebeian quarters, into fashionable coteries +for the perfumed portion of humanity, and into half-starved benches +with the brand of poverty upon them for the poor, is nothing to the +credit of anybody. + +All the churches and chapels of the land may profess Christianity; +but the game of the bulk has a powerful reference to money. Those +who have got the most of the current coin of the realm receive the +blandest smile from the parson, the politest nod from the beadle, +the promptest attention from that strange mixture of piety and pay +called "the chapel-keeper;" those who have not got it must take what +they can get, and accept it with Christian resignation, as St. Paul +tells them. This may be all right; we have not said yet that it is +wrong; but it looks suspicious, doesn't it?--shows that in the arena +of conventional Christianity, as in the seething maelstrom of +ordinary life, money is the winner. Our parsons and priests, like +our ecclesiastical architecture and general church management, do +not seem to have improved upon their ancestors. Priests are not as +jolly as they once were. In olden days "holy fathers" could wear +horse-hair shirts and scarify their epidermis with a finer cruelty +than their modern successors, and they could, after all that, make +the blithest songs, sing the merriest melodies, and quaff the oldest +port with an air of jocund conscientiousness, making one slyly like +them, however much inclined to dispute the correctness of their +theology. And the parsons of the past were also a blithesome set of +individuals. They were perhaps rougher than those mild and refined +gentlemen who preach now-a-days; but they were straightforward, +thorough, absolutely English, well educated, and stronger in the +brain than many of them. In each Episcopalian, Catholic, and +Dissenting community there are new some most erudite, most useful +men; but if we take the great multitude of them, and compare their +circumstances--their facilities for education, the varied channels +of usefulness they have--with those of their predecessors, it will +be found that the latter were the cleverer, often the wiser, and +always the merrier men. Plainness, erudition, blithesomeness, were +their characteristics. Aye, look at our modern men given up largely +to threnody-chiming and to polishing off tea and muffin with elderly +females, and compare them, say, for instance, with-- + +The poet Praed's immortal Vicar, +Who wisely wore the cleric gown, +Sound in theology and liquor; +Quite human, though a true divine, +His fellow-men he would not libel; +He gave his friends good honest wine, +And drew his doctrine from the Bible. + +Institute a comparison, and then you will say that whilst modern men +may be very aesthetic and neatly dressed, the ancient apostolic +successors, though less refined, had much more metal in them, were +more kindly, genial; and told their followers to live well, to eat +well, and to mind none of the hair-splitting neological folly which +is now cracking up Christendom. In old times the Lord did not "call" +so many parsons from one church to another as it is said He does +now; in the days which have passed the bulk of subordinate parsons +did not feel a sort of conscientious hankering every three years for +an "enlarged sphere of usefulness," where the salary was +proportionately increased. We have known multitudes of parsons, in +our time, who have been "called" to places where their salaries were +increased; we know of but few who have gravitated to a church where +the salary was less than the one left. "Business" enters largely +into the conceptions of clergymen. As a rule, no teachers of +religion, except Catholic priests and Methodist ministers, leave one +place for another where less of this world's goods and chattels +predominate; and THEY are COMPELLED to do so, else the result might +be different. When a priest gets his mittimus he has to budge; it is +not a question of "he said or she said," but of--go; and when a +Wesleyan is triennially told to either look after the interests of a +fresh circuit or retire into space, he has to do so. It would be +wrong to say that lucre is at the bottom of every parsonic change; +but it is at the foundation of the great majority--eh? If it isn't, +just make an inquiry, as we have done. This may sound like a +deviation from our text--perhaps it is; but the question it refers +to is so closely associated with the subject of parsons and priests, +that we should have scarcely been doing justice to the matter if we +had not had a quiet "fling" at the money part of it. In the letters +which will follow this, we shall deal disinterestedly with all-- +shall give Churchmen, Catholics, Quakers, Independents, Baptists, +Wesleyans, Ranters, and Calathumpians, fair play. Our object will be +to present a picture of things as they are, and to avoid all +meddling with creeds. People may believe what they like, so far as +we are concerned, if they behave themselves, and pay their debts. It +is utterly impossible to get all to be of the same opinion; creeds, +like faces, must differ, have differed, always will differ; and the +best plan is to let people have their own way so long as it is +consistent with the general welfare of social and civil life. It +being understood that "the milk of human kindness is within the PALE +of the Church," we shall begin there. The Parish Church of Preston +will constitute our first theme. + + + +No. I. + + + +PRESTON PARISH CHURCH. + + + +It doesn't particularly matter when the building we call our Parish +Church was first erected; and, if it did, the world would have to +die of literary inanition before it got the exact date. None of the +larger sort of antiquaries agree absolutely upon the subject, and +the smaller fry go in for all sorts of figures, varying as to time +from about two years to one hundred and fifty. This may be taken as +a homoeopathic dose in respect to its history:- built about 900 +years since by Catholics, and dedicated to St. Wilfrid; handed over +to Protestants by somebody, who was perhaps acting on the very +generous principle of giving other folk's property, in the 16th +century; rebuilt in 1581, and dedicated to St. John; rebuilt in +1770; enlarged, elaborated, and rejuvenised in 1853; plagued with +dry rot for a considerable time afterwards; in a pretty good state +of architectural health now; and likely to last out both this +generation and the next. It looks rather genteel and stately +outside; it has a good steeple, kept duly alive by a congregation of +traditional jackdaws; it has a capital set of bells which have put +in a good deal of overtime during the past five months, through a +pressure of election business; and in its entirety, as Baines once +remarked, the building looks like "a good ordinary Parish Church." +There is nothing either snobbish or sublime about it; and, speaking +after Josh Billings, "it's a fair even-going critter," capable of +being either pulled down or made bigger. That is about the length +and breadth of the matter, and if we had to appeal to the +commonwealth as to the correctness of our position it would be found +that the "ayes have it." We don't believe in the Parish Church; but +a good deal of people do, and why shouldn't they have their way in a +small fight as well as the rest of folk? All, except Mormons and +Fenians, who honestly believe in anything, are entitled to respect. + +Our Parish Church has a good contour, and many of its exterior +architectural details are well conceived and arranged; but, like +other buildings of the same order, it has got a multiplicity of +strange hobgoblin figure-heads about it which serve no purpose +either earthly or heavenly, and which are understood by hardly one +out of five million. We could never yet make it out why those +grotesque pieces of masonry--gargoyles, we believe, they are called- +-were fixed to any place of worship. Around our Parish Church and +half-way up the steeple, there are, at almost every angle and +prominence, rudely carved monstrosities, conspicuous for nothing but +their ineffable and heathenish ugliness. Huge eyes, great mouths, +immense tooth, savage faces and distorted bodies are their prime +characteristics. The man who invented this species of ecclesiastical +decoration must have been either mad or in "the horrors." An evenly +balanced mind could never have thought of them, and why they should +he specially tacked to churches is a mystery in accordance with +neither King Solomon nor Cocker. The graveyard of our Parish Church +is, we dare say, something which very few people think of. We have +seen many such places in our time; but that in connection with our +Parish Church is about the grimmest specimen in the lot. It has a +barren, cold, dingy, unconsecrated look with it; and why it should +have we can't tell. Either ruffianism or neglect must at some time +have done a good stroke of business in it; for many of the +gravestones are cracked in two; some are nearly broken to pieces; +and a considerable number of those in the principal parts of the +yard are being gradually worn out. We see no fun, for instance, in +"paving" the entrances to the church with gravestones. Somebody +must, at some time, have paid a considerable amount of money in +getting the gravestones of their relatives smoothed and lettered; +and it could never have been intended that they should be flattened +down, close as tile work, for a promiscuous multitude of people to +walk over and efface. The back of the churchyard is in a very weary, +delapidated and melancholy state. Why can't a few shrubs and flowers +be planted in it? Why is not the ground trimmed up and made decent? +From the time when the Egyptians worshipped cats and onions down to +the present hour, religious folk have paid some special attention to +their grave spaces, and we want to see the custom kept up. Our +Parish Church yard has a sad, forsaken appearance; if it had run to +seed and ended in nothing, or had been neglected and closed up by an +army of hypochondriacs, it could not have been more gloomy, barren, +or disheartening. The ground should be looked after, and the stones +preserved as much as possible. It is a question of shoes v. +gravestones at present, and, if there is not some change of +position, the shoes will in the end win. + +About the interior of our Parish Church there is nothing +particularly wonderful; it has a respectable, substantial, +reverential appearance, and that is quite as much as any church +should have. There is no emblematic ritualistic moonshine in any +part of it; we hope there never may be; we are sure there never will +be so long as the men now at the helm are in office. But let us +start at the beginning. The principal entrance is through a massive +and somewhat dimly-lighted porch, which, in its time, has +necessarily, like all church porches, been the scene of much pious +gossip, superstition, and sanctimonious scandal. It is rather a snug +place to halt in. If you stand on one side of the large octagonal +font, which is placed in the centre of the inner perch, and +patronised by about 20 of the rising race every Sunday afternoon, +you will be able to see everybody, whilst nobody can distinctly see +you. As a rule, many people are too fired, or too ill, or too idle, +to go to a place of worship on a Sunday morning, and at our Parish +Church one may plainly notice this. A certain number always put in a +regular appearance. If they did not attend the Parish Church twice a +day they would become apprehensive as to both their temporal +respectability awl spiritual welfare. They are descendants of the +old long-horned stock, and have a mighty notion of the importance of +church-going. Probably they don't care very profoundly for the +sermons; but they have got into a safe-sided, orthodox groove, and +some of them have an idea that they will be saved as much by church- +going as by faith. The members of this class have a large notion of +the respectability of their individual pews and seats. If they +belonged to a family of five hundred each, and if every one of them +had to go to Church every Sunday, they would want their respective +seats, Prayer Books, footstools, and all that sort of thing. They +don't like to see strangers rambling about, in search of a resting +place; they are particularly solemn-looking, and give symptoms of +being on the border of some catastrophe, if an unknown being shows +any disposition to enter their pews. And some of them would see a +person a good deal beyond the ether side of Jordan before they would +think of handing him a Prayer Book. We don't suppose any of them are +so precise as the old gentleman who once, when a stranger entered +his pew, doubled up the cushion, sat upon it in a two-fold state, +and intimated that ordinary beards were good enough for interlopers; +but after all there is much of the "number one" principle in the +devotion of these goodly followers of the saints, and they have been +so long at the game that a cure is impossible. + +Taking the congregation of our Parish Church in the agregate it is a +fair sample of every class of human life. You have the old maid in +her unspotted, demurely-coloured moire antique, carrying a Prayer +Book belonging to a past generation; you have the ancient bachelor +with plenty of money and possessing a thorough knowledge as to the +safest way of keeping it, his great idea being that the best way of +getting to heaven is to stick to his coins, attend church every +Sunday, and take the sacrament regularly; you have the magistrate, +whose manner, if not his beard, is of formal cut; the retired +tradesman, with his domestic looking wife, and smartly-dressed +daughters, ten times finer than ever their mother was; the +manufacturer absorbed in cotton and wondering when he will be able +to do a good stroke of business on 'change again; the lawyer, who +has carried on a decent business amongst fees during the week, and +has perhaps turned up to join in the general confession; the doctor, +ready to give emphasis to that part of it which says:- "And there is +no health in us;" the pushing tradesman, who has to live by going to +church, as well as by counter work; the speculating shopkeeper, who +has a connection to make; the young finely-feathered lady, got up in +silk and velvet and carrying a chignon sufficient to pull her +cerebellum out of joint; the dandy buttoned up to show his figure, +and heavily dosed with scent; the less developed young swell, who is +always "talking about his pa and his ma," and has only just begun to +have his hair parted down the middle; the broken down middle-aged +man who was once in a good position, but who years since went all in +a piece to pot; the snuff-loving old woman who curtsies before fine +folk, who has always a long tale to tell about her sorrows, and who +is periodically consoled by a "trifle;" the working man who is +rather a scarce article, except upon special occasions; and the +representative of the poorest class, living somewhere in that venal +slum of slime and misery behind the church. A considerable number of +those floating beings called "strags" attend the Parish Church. They +go to no place regularly; they gravitate at intervals to the church, +mainly on the ground that their fathers and mothers used to go +there, and because they were christened there; but they belong a +cunning race; they can scent the battle from afar, and they +generally keep about three-quarters of a mile from the Parish Church +when a collection has to be made. To the ordinary attendants, +collections do not operate as deterrents; but to the "strags" they +are frighteners. "What's the reason there are so few people here?" +we said one day to the beadle, and that most potent, grave, and +reverend seignior replied, with a Rogersonian sparkle in his rolling +eye, "There's a collection and the 'strags' won't take the bait." It +is the same more or less at every place of worship; and to tell the +truth, there's a sort of instinctive dislike of collections in +everybody's composition. + +The congregation of our Parish Church is tolerably numerous, and +embraces many fine human specimens. Money and fashion are well +represented at it; and as Zadkiel and the author of Pogmoor Almanac +say those powers have to rule for a long time, we may take it for +granted that the Parish Church will yet outlive many of the minor +raving academies in which they are absent. There is touch more +generalisation than there used to be as to the sittings in our +Parish Church; but "birds of a feather flock together" still. The +rich know their quarters; exquisite gentlemen and smart young ladies +with morrocco-bound gilt-edged Prayer Books still cluster in special +sections; and although it is said that the poor have the best part +of the church allotted to them, the conspicuousness of its position +gives a brand to it neither healthy nor pleasant. They are seated +down the centre aisle; but the place is too demonstrative of their +poverty. If half the seats were empty, situated excellently though +they may be, you wouldn't catch any respectable weasle asleep on +them. If some doctor, or magistrate, or private bib-and-tucker lady +had to anchor here, supposing there were any spare place in any +other part of the house, there would be a good deal of quizzing and +wonderment afloat. If you don't believe it put on a highly refined +dress and try the experiment; and if you are not very specially +spotted we wild give a fifty dollar greenback on behalf of the +society for converting missionary eaters in Chillingowullabadorie. +We shall say nothing with regard to the ordinary service of the +Parish Church, except this, that it would look better of three +fourths of the congregation if they would not leave the responses to +a paid choir. "Lor, bless yer," as Betsy Jane Ward would say, a +choir will sing, anything put before them if it is set to music; and +they think no more of getting through all that sad business about +personal sinfulness, agonising repentance, and a general craving for +forgiveness, than the odd woman did when she used to kiss her cow +and say it was delicious. There was once a period when all Parish +Church goers made open confession joined audibly in the prayers, and +said "Amen" as if they meant it; although we are doubtful about even +that. Now, the choir does all the work, and the congregation are +left behind the distance post to think about the matter. But if it +suits the people it's quite right. + +There are three parsons at our Parish Church--Canon Parr, who is the +seventeenth vicar in a regular line of succession since the +Reformation and two curates. As to the curates we shall say nothing +beyond this, that one has got a better situation and is going to it, +and that the other would like one if he could get it--not that the +present is at all bad, only that there are others better. We don't +know how many curates there have been at the Parish Church since the +Reformation; but it, may be safely said that in their turn they +have, as a rule, accepted with calm and Christian resignation better +paid places when they had a fair opportunity of getting them. We are +not going to say very much about Cannon Parr, and let nobody suppose +that we shall make an effort to tear a passion to tatters regarding +any of his peculiarities. Canon Parr is an easy-going, genial, +educated man kindly disposed towards good living, not blessed with +over much money, fond of wearing a billycock, and strongly in love +with a cloak. He has seen much of the world, is shrewd, has a long +head, has both studied and travelled for his learning, and is the +smartest man Preston Protestants could have to defend their cause. +But he has a certain amount of narrowness in his mental vision, and, +like the bulk of parsons, can see his own way best. He has a strong +temper within him, and he can redden up beautifully all over when +his equanimity is disturbed. If you tread upon his ecclesiastical +bunions he will give you either a dark mooner or an eye opener--we +use these classical terms in a figurative sense. He will keep quiet +so long as you do; but if you make an antagonistic move be will +punish you if possible. He can wield a clever pen; his style is +cogent, scholarly, and, unless overburdened with temper, dignified. +He can fling the shafts of satire or distil the balm of pathos; can +be bitter, saucy, and aggravating; can say a hard thing in a cutting +style; and if he does not go to the bone it's no fault of his. He +can also tone down his language to a point of elegance and +tenderness; can express a good thing excellently, and utter a fine +sentiment well. His speaking is modelled after a good style; but it +is inferior to his writing. In the pulpit he expresses himself +easily, often fervently, never rantingly. The pulpit of the Parish +Church will stand for ever before he upsets it, and he will never +approach that altitude of polemical phrenitis which will induce him +to smash any part of it. His pulpit language is invariably well +chosen; some of his subjects may be rather commonplace or +inappropriate, but the words thrown into their exposition are up to +the mark. He seldom falters; he has never above one, "and now, +finally, brethren," in his concluding remarks; he invariably gives +over when he has done--a plan which John Wesley once said many +parsons neglected to observe; and his congregation, whether they +have been awake or fast asleep, generally go away satisfied. Canon +Parr has been at our Parish Church nine and twenty years, and +although we don't subscribe to his ecclesiastical creed, we believe +he has done good in his time. He is largely respected; he would have +been more respected if he had been less exacting towards Dissenters, +and less violent in his hatred of Catholics. Neither his Church-rate +nor Easter Due escapade improved his position; and some of his +fierce anti-Popery denunciations did not increase his circle of +friends. But these things have gone by, and let them be forgotten. +In private life Canon Parr is essentially social: he can tell a +good tale, is full of humour; he knows a few things as well as the +rest of men, and is charitably disposed--indeed he is too +sympathetic and this causes hint to be pestered with rubbishy tales +from all sorts of individuals, and sometimes to act upon them as if +they were true. As a Protestant vicar--and, remembering that no +angels have yet been born in this country, that everybody is +somewhat imperfect, and that folk will differ--we look upon Canon +Parr as above the average. He has said extravagant and unreasonable +things in his time; but he has rare properties, qualities of sense +and erudition, which are strangers to many pretentious men in his +line of business; and, on the whole, he may be legitimately set +down, in the language of the "gods," as "O.K." + + + +No. II. + + + +ST. WILFRID'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. + + + +It was at one time of the day a rather dangerous sort of thing for a +man, or a woman, or a medium-sized infant, living in this highly- +favoured land of ours, to show any special liking for Roman +Catholicism. But the days of religious bruising have perished; and +Catholics are now, in the main, considered to be human as well as +other people, and to have a right to live, and put their Sunday +clothes on, and go to their own places of worship like the rest of +mortals. No doubt there are a few distempered adherents of the +"immortal William" school who would like to see Catholics driven +into a corner, banished, or squeezed into nothing; probably there +are some of the highly sublimated "no surrender" gentlemen who would +be considerably pleased if they could galvanise the old penal code +and put a barrel able to play the air of "Boyne Water" into every +street organ; but the great mass of men have learned to be tolerant, +and have come to the conclusion that Catholics, civilly and +religiously, are entitled to all the liberty which a free and +enlightened constitution can confer--to all the privileges which +fair-play and even-handed justice call give; and if these are not +fully granted now, the day is coming when they will be possessed. +Lancashire seems to be the great centre of Catholicism in England, +and Preston appears to be its centre in Lancashire. This benign town +of Preston, with its fervent galaxy of lecturing curates, and its +noble army of high falutin' incumbents, is the very fulcrum and +lever of northern Romanism. If Catholics are wrong and on the way to +perdition and blisters there are 33,000 of them here moving in that +very awkward direction at the present. A number so large, whether +right or wrong cannot he despised; a body so great, whether good or +evil, will, by its sheer inherent force, persist in living, moving, +and having, a fair share of being. You can't evaporate 33,000 of +anything in a hurry; and you could no more put a nightcap upon the +Catholics of Preston than you could blacken up the eye of the sun. +That stout old Vatican gentleman who storms this fast world of ours +periodically with his encyclicals, and who is known by the name of +Pius IX., must, if he knows anything of England, know something of +Preston; and if he knows anything of it he will have long since +learned that wherever the faith over which he presides may be going +down the hill, it is at least in Preston "as well as can be +expected," and likely, for a period longer than be will live, to +bloom and flourish. + +Our text is--St. Wilfrid's Catholic Church, Preston. This place of +worship is situated in a somewhat sanctified place--Chapel-street; +but as about half of that locality is taken up with lawyers' +offices, and the centre of it by a police station, we fancy that +this world, rather than the next, will occupy the bulk of its +attention. It is to be hoped that St. Wilfrid's, which stands on the +opposite side, will act as a healthy counterpoise--will, at any +rate, maintain its own against such formidable odds. The building in +Chapel-street, dedicated to the old Angle-Saxon bishop--St. Wilfrid- +-who was a combative sort of soul, fond of argumentatively knocking +down obstreperous kings and ecclesiastics and breaking up the +strongholds of paganism--was opened seventy-six years ago. It +signifies little how it looked then. Today it has a large +appearance. There is nothing worth either laughing or crying about +so far as its exterior goes. It doesn't look like a church; it +resembles not a chapel; and it seems too big for a house. There is +no effort at architectural elaboration in its outer arrangements. It +is plain, strong, large; and like big feet or leathern shirts has +evidently been made more for use than ornament. But this style of +phraseology only refers to the extrinsic part. Inside, the church +has a vast, ornate, and magnificent appearance. No place of worship +in Preston is so finely decorated, so skilfully painted, so +artistically got up. In the world of business there is nothing like +leather; in the arena of religion there seems to be nothing like +paint. Every church in the country makes an effort to get deeply +into the region of paint; they will have it upon either windows, +walls, or ceilings. It is true that Dissenters do not dive +profoundly into the coloured abyss; but weakness of funds combined +with defective aesthetic cultivation may have something to do with +their deficiency in this respect. Those who have had the management +and support of St. Wilfrid's in their hands, have studied the theory +of colour to perfection, and whilst we may not theologically agree +with some of its uses, one cannot but admire its general effect. +Saints, angels, rings, squares, floriations, spiralizations, and +everything which the brain or the brush of the most devoted painter +could fairly devise are depicted in this church, and there is such +an array of them that one wonders how anybody could ever have had +the time or patience to finish the work. + +The high altar which occupies the southern end is, in its way, +something very fine. A magnificent picture of the crucifixion +occupies the back ground; flowers and candles, in numbers sufficient +to appal the stoutest Evangelical and turn to blue ruin such men as +the editor of the "Bulwark" are elevated in front; over all, as well +as collaterally, there are inscriptions in Latin; designs in gold +and azure and vermilion fill up the details; and on each side there +is a confessional wherein all members, whether large or diminutive, +whether dressed in corduroy or smoothest, blackest broad cloth, in +silk or Surat cotton, must unravel the sins they have committed. +This confession must be a hard sort of job, we know, for some +people; but we are not going to enter upon a discussion of its +merits or demerits. Only this may be said, that if there was full +confession at every place of worship in Preston the parsons would +never get through their work. Every day, from an early hour in the +morning until a late period of the evening, St. Wilfrid's is open to +worshippers; and you may see them, some with smiling faces, and some +with very elongated ones, going to or coming from it constantly. +Like Tennyson's stream, they evince symptoms of constant movement +and the only conclusion we can fairly come to is that the mass of +them are singularly in earnest. There are not many Protestants-- +neither Church people, nor Dissenters, neither quiescent Quakers nor +Revivalist dervishes--who would be inclined to go to their religious +exercises before breakfast, and if they did, some of them, like the +old woman who partook of Sacrament in Minnesota, would want to know +what they were going to "get" for it. On Sundays, as on week days, +the same business--laborious as it looks to outsiders--goes on. +There are several services, and they are arranged for every class-- +for those who must attend early, for those who can't, for those who +won't, and for those who stir when the afflatus is upon them. There +are many, however, who are regular attendants, soon and late, and if +precision and continuity will assist them in getting to heaven, they +possess those auxiliaries in abundance. + +The congregation attending on a Sunday is a mixed one--rags and +satins, moleskins and patent kids, are all duly represented; and it +is quite a study to see their wearers put in an appearance. Directly +after entrance reverential genuflections and holy-water dipping are +indulged in. Some of the congregation do the business gracefully; +others get through it like the very grandfather of awkwardness. The +Irish, who often come first and sit last, are solemnly whimsical in +their movements. The women dip fast and curtsy briskly; the men turn +their hands in and out as if prehensile mysticism was a saving +thing, and bow less rapidly but more angularly than the females; +then you have the slender young lady who knows what deportment and +reverence mean; who dips quietly, and makes a partial descent +gracefully; the servant girl who goes through the preliminary +somewhat roughly but very earnestly; the smart young fellow, who +dips with his gloves on--a "rather lazy kind of thing," as the +cobbler remarked when he said his prayers in bed--and gives a sort +of half and half nod, as if the whole bend were below his dignity; +the business man, who goes into the water and the bowing in a +matter-of-fact style, who gets through the ceremony soon but well, +and moves on for the next comer; the youth, who touches the water in +a come-and-go style, and makes a bow on a similar principle; the +aged worshipper, who takes kindly but slowly to the hallowed liquid, +and goes nearly upon his knees in the fulness of his reverence; and +towards the last you have about six Sisters of Mercy, belonging St. +Wilfrid's convent, who pass through the formality in a calm, easy, +finished manner, and then hurry along, some with veils down and +others with veils up, to a side sitting they have. There is no +religious shoddy amongst these persons. They may look solemn, yet +some of them have finely moulded features; they may dress strangely +and gloomily, yet, if you converse with them, they will always give +indications of serener spirits. Whether their profession be right or +wrong, this is certain: they keep one of the best schools in the +town, and they teach children manners--a thing which many parents +can't manage. They also make themselves useful in visiting; they +have a certain respect for faith, but more for good works; and if +other folk in Christendom held similar views on this point the good +done would in the end be greater. All these Sisters of Mercy are +accomplished--they are clever in the head, know how to play music, +to paint, and to sew; can cook well if they like; and it's a pity +they are not married. But they are doing more good single than lots +of women are accomplishing in the married state, and we had better +let them alone. Its dangerous to either command or advise the +gentler sex, and as everything finds its own level by having its own +way they will, we suppose, in the end. + +One of the most noticeable features in connection with the services +at St. Wilfrid's is the music. It is proverbial that Catholics have +good music. You won't find any of the drawling, face-pulling, +rubbishy melodies worked up to a point of agony in some places of +worship countenanced in the Catholic Church. All is classical--all +from the best masters. There is an enchantment in the music which +binds you--makes you like it whether you will or not. At St. +Wilfrid's there is a choir which can't be excelled by any provincial +body of singers in the kingdom. The learned individual who blows the +organ may say that the comparative perfection attained in the +orchestra is through the very consummate manner in which he "raises +the wind"; the gentleman who manipulates upon its keys may think he +is the primum mobile in the matter; the soprano may fancy she is the +life of the whole concern; the heavy bass or the chief tenor may +respectively lay claim to the honour; but the fact is, its amongst +the lot, so that there may be a general rubbing on the question of +service, and a reciprocal scratching on the point of ability. + +There are several priests at St. Wilfrid's; they are all Jesuits to +the marrow; and the chief of them is the Rev. Father Cobb. Each of +them is clever--far cleverer than many of the half-feathered curates +and full-fledged incumbents who are constantly bringing railing +accusations against them; and they work harder--get up sooner, go to +bed later--than the whole of them. They jump at midnight if their +services are required by either a wild Irishman in Canal-street or a +gentleman of the first water in any of our mansions. It is not a +question of cloth but of souls with them. They are afraid of neither +plague, pestilence, nor famine; they administer spiritual +consolation under silken hangings, as well as upon straw lairs; in +the fever stricken garret as well as in the gilded chamber. Neither +the nature of a man's position nor the character of his disease +enters into their considerations. Duty is the star of their +programme; action the object of their lives. They receive no +salaries; their simple necessaries are alone provided for. Some of +them perhaps get half-a-crown a month as pocket money; but that will +neither kill nor cure a man. Sevenpence halfpenny per week is a big +sum--isn't it?--big enough for a Jesuit priest, but calculated to +disturb the Christian balance of any other class of clergymen. If it +isn't, try them. + +In reference to the priests of St. Wilfrid's, we shall only +specially mention, and that briefly, the Rev. Father Cobb. No man in +Preston cares less for fine clothes than he does. We once did see +him with a new suit on; but neither before nor since that ever- +memorable day, have we noticed him in anything more ethereal than a +plain well-worn coat, waistcoat, and pair of trousers. He might have +a finer exterior; but he cares not for this kind of bauble. He knows +that trappings make neither the man nor the Christian, and that +elaborate suits are often the synonym of elaborate foolery. He takes +a pleasure in work; is happy inaction; and hates both clerical and +secular indifference. Priests, he thinks, ought to do their duty, +and men of the world ought to discharge theirs. In education, Father +Cobb is far above the ordinary run of men. He has a great natural +capacity, which has been well regulated by study; he is shrewd; has +a strong intuitive sense; can't be got over; won't be beaten out of +the field if you once get him into it; and is sure to either win or +make you believe that he has. Like all strong Catholics he has much +veneration--that "organ," speaking in the vernacular of phrenology, +is at the top of the head, and you never yet saw a thorough Catholic +who did not manifest a good development of it; he is strong in +ideality; has also a fine, vein of humour in him; can laugh, say +jolly as well as serious things; and is a positively earnest and +practical preacher. He speaks right out to his hearers; hits them +hard in reference to both this world and the next; tells them "what +to eat, drink, and avoid;" says that if they get drunk they must +drop it off, that if they stuff and gormandise they will be a long +while before reaching the kingdom of heaven; that they must avoid +dishonesty, falsehood, impurity, and other delinquencies; and, +furthermore, intimates that they won't get to any of the saints they +have a particular liking for by a round of simple religious +formality--that they must be good, do good, and behave themselves +decently, individually and collectively. We have never heard a more +practical preacher: he will tell young women what sort of husbands +to get, young men what kind of wives to choose, married folk how to +conduct themselves, and old maids and bachelors how to reconcile +themselves virtuously to their fate. There is no half-and-half ring +in the metal he moulds: it comes out clear, sounds well, and goes +right home. In delivery he is eloquent; in action rather brisk; and +he weighs--one may as well come down from the sublime to the +ridiculous--about thirteen stones. He is a jolly, hearty, earnest, +devoted priest; is cogent in argument; homely in illustration; +tireless in work; determined to do his duty; and, if we were a +Catholic, we should be inclined to fight for him if any one stepped +upon his toes, or said a foul word about him. Here endeth our +"epistle to the Romans." + + + +No. III. + + + +CANNON-STREET INDEPENDENT CHAPEL. + + + +Forty-four years ago the Ebenezer of a few believers in the "Bird- +of-Freedom" school, with a spice of breezy religious courage in +their composition, was raised at the bottom of Cannon-street, in +Preston; and to this day it abideth there. Why it was elevated at +that particular period of the world's history we cannot say. Neither +does it signify. It may have been that the spirit of an +irrepressible Brown, older than the Harper's Ferry gentleman, was +"marching on" at an extra speed just then; for let it be known to +all and singular that it was one of the universal Brown family who +founded the general sect. Or it may have been that certain +Prestonians, with a lingering touch of the "Scot's wha ha'e" +material in their blood, gave a solemn twist to the line in Burns's +epistle, and decided to go in + +--for the glorious privilege +Of being Independent. + +Be that as it may, it is clear that in 1825 the Independents planted +a chapel in Cannon-street. Places of worship like everything else, +good or evil, grow in these latter days, and so has Cannon-street +chapel. In 1852 its supporters set at naught the laws of Banting, +and made the place bigger. It was approaching a state of solemn +tightness, and for the consolation of the saints, the ease of the +fidgety, and the general blissfulness of the neighbourhood it was +expanded. Cannon-street Chapel has neither a bell, nor a steeple, +nor an outside clock, and it has never yet said that it was any +worse off for their absence. But it may do, for chapels like +churches are getting proud things now-a-days, and they believe in +both lacker and gilt. There is something substantial and respectable +about the building. It is neither gaudy nor paltry; neither too good +nor too bad looking. Nobody will ever die in a state of +architectural ecstacy through gazing upon it; and not one out of a +battalion of cynics will say that it is too ornamental. It is one of +those well-finished, middle-class looking establishments, about +which you can't say much any way; and if you could, nobody would be +either madder or wiser for the exposition. Usually the only +noticeable feature about the front of it--and that is generally the +place where one looks for the virtues or vices of a thing--is a +series of caged-up boards, announcing homilies, and tea parties, and +collections all over the north Lancashire portion of Congregational +Christendom. It is to be hoped that the sermons are not too dry, +that the tea saturnalias are neither too hot nor too wet, and that +the collections have more sixpenny than threepenny pieces in them. + +The interior of Cannon-street Chapel has a spacious and somewhat +genteel appearance. A practical business air pervades it. There is +no "storied window," scarcely any "dim religious light," and not a +morsel of extra colouring in the whole establishment. At this place, +the worshippers have an idea that they are going to get to heaven in +a plain way, and if they succeed, all the better--we were going to +say that they would be so much the more into pocket by it. Freedom +of thought, sincerity of heart, and going as straight to the point +as possible, is what they aim at. There are many seats in Cannon- +street Chapel, and, as it is said that hardly any of them are to +let, the reverend gentleman who makes a stipulated descent upon the +pew rents ought to be happy. It is but seldom the pews are well +filled: they are not even crammed on collection Sundays; but they +are paid for, and if a congenial wrinkle does not lurk in that fact- +-for the minister--he will find neither the balm of Gilead nor a +doctor anywhere. The clerical notion is, that pew rents, as well as +texts; must be stuck to; and if those who pay and listen quietly +acquiesce, then it becomes a simple question of "so mote it be" for +outsiders. + +The congregation at Cannon-street Chapel is made up of tolerably +respectable materials. It is no common Dissenting rendezvous for +ill-clad screamers and roaring enthusiasts. Neither fanatics nor +ejaculators find an abiding place in it. Not many poor people join +the charmed circle. A middle-class, shopkeeping halo largely +environs the assemblage. There is a good deal of pride, vanity, +scent, and silk-rustling astir in it every Sunday, just as there is +in every sacred throng; and the oriental, theory of caste is not +altogether ignored. The ordinary elements of every Christian +congregation are necessarily visible here--backsliders and newly- +caught communicants; ancient women duly converted and moderately +fond of tea, snuff, and charity; people who cough continually, and +will do so in their graves if not closely watched; parties, with the +Fates against them, who fly off periodically into fainting fits; +contented individuals, whose gastric juice flows evenly, who can +sleep through the most impassioned sermon with the utmost serenity; +weather-beaten orthodox souls who have been recipients of ever so +much daily grace for half a life time, and fancy they are +particularly near paradise; lofty and isolated beings who have a +fixed notion that they are quite as respectable if not as pious as +other people; easy-going well-dressed creatures "whose life glides +away in a mild and amiable conflict between the claims of piety and +good breeding." + +But the bulk are of a substantial, medium-going description-- +practical, sharp, respectable, and naturally inclined towards a +free, well got up, reasonable theology. There is nothing inflamed in +them--nothing indicative of either a very thick or very thin skin. +Any of them will lend you a hymn book, and whilst none of them may +be inclined to pay your regular pew rent, the bulk will have no +objection to find you an occasional seat, and take care of you if +there would be any swooning in your programme. Clear-headed and full +of business, they believe with Binney in making the best of both +worlds. They will never give up this for the next, nor the next for +this. Into their curriculum there enters, as the American preacher +hath it, a sensible regard for piety and pickles, flour and +affection, the means of grace and good profits, crackers and faith, +sincerity and onions, benevolence, cheese, integrity, potatoes, and +wisdom--all remarkably good in their way, and calculated, when well +shaken up and applied, to Christianise anybody. The genteel portion +of the congregation principally locate themselves in the side seats +running from one end of the chapel to the other; the every day +mortals find a resting place in the centre and the galleries; the +poorer portion are pushed frontwards below, where they have an +excellent opportunity of inspecting the pulpit, of singing like +nightingales, of listening to every articulation of the preacher, +and of falling into a state of coma if they are that way disposed. + +The music at this place of worship has been considerably improved +during recent times; but it is nothing very amazing yet. There is a +curtain amount of cadence, along with a fair share of power, in the +orchestral outbursts; the pieces the choir have off go well; those +they are new at rather hang fire; but we shall not parry with either +the conductor or the members on this point. They all manifest a +fairly-defined devotional feeling in their melody; turn their visual +faculties in harmony with the words: expand and contract their +pulmonary processes with precision and if they mean what they sing, +they deserve better salaries than they usually get. They are aided +by an organ which is played well, and, we hope, paid for. + +The minister of Cannon-street chapel is the Rev. H. J. Martyn, who +has had a good stay with "the brethren," considering that their +fighting weight is pretty heavy, and that some of them were made to +"have their way." Frequently Independents are in hot water +concerning their pastors. In Preston they are very exemplary in this +respect. The Grimshaw street folk have had a storm in a tea pot with +one of their ministers; so have the Lancaster-road Christians; and +so have the Cannon-street believers; and the beauty of it is, they +generally win. Born to have their own way in sacred matters, they +can turn off a parson, if they can't defeat him in argument. And +that is a great thing. They hold the purse strings; and no parson +can live unless he has a "call" to some other "vineyard," if they +are closed against him. On the whole, the present minister of +Cannon-street Chapel has got on pretty evenly with his flock. He has +had odd skirmishes in his spiritual fold; and will have if he stays +in it for ever; but the sheep have a very fair respect for the +shepherd, and can "paint the lily" gracefully. A while since they +gave him leave of absence--paying his salary, of course, whilst +away--and on his return some of them got up a tea party on his +behalf and made him a presentation. There might be party spirit or +there might be absolute generosity in such a move; but the parson +was no loser--he enjoyed the out, and accepted with Christian +fortitude the gift. The Rev. H. J. Martyn is a small gentleman-- +considerably below the average of parsons in physical proportion; +but he consoles himself with the thought that he is all right in +quality, if not in quantity. Diminutive men have generally very fair +notions of themselves; small men as a rule are smarter than those of +the bulky and adipose school; and, harmonising with this regulation, +Mr. Martyn is both sharp and kindly disposed towards himself. He is +not of opinion, like one of his predecessors, that he assisted at +the creation of the world, and that the endurance of Christianity +depends upon his clerical pivot; but he believes that he has a +"mission," and that on the whole he is quite as good as the majority +of Congregational divines. There is nothing pretentious in his +appearance; nothing ecclesiastical in his general framework; and in +the street he looks almost as much like anybody else as like a +parson. The education of Mr. Martyn is equal to that of the average +of Dissenting ministers, and better than that of several. He is, +however, more of a reader than a thinker, and more of a speaker than +either. On the platform he can make as big a stir as men twice his +size. His delivery is moderately even; his words clear; and he can +throw a good dash of imagination into his language. In the pulpit, +to the foot of which place he is led every Sunday, by certain sacred +diaconal lamas, who previously "rub him down" and saddle him for +action, in a contiguous apartment--in the pulpit, we say, he +operates in a superior style, and he looks better there--more like a +parson--than anywhere else. He is here above the ordinary level of +his hearers; if it were not for the galleries, minute as may be his +physiology, he would be the loftiest being present; and if he wishes +to "keep up appearances," we would advise him to remain in the +pulpit and have his meals there. Casting joking overboard--out of +the pulpit if you like--it may be said that Mr. Martyn as a preacher +has many fair qualities. It is true he has defects; but who has +not?--unless it be a deacon;--still there is something in his style +which indicates earnestness, something in his language, +demonstrative of culture and eloquence. His main pulpit fault is +that he "goes off" too soon and too frequently. In the course of a +sermon he will give you three or four perorations, and sometimes +wind up without treating you to one. There is nothing very +metaphysical in his subjects; sometimes he wanders slightly into +space; occasionally he exhausts himself in fighting out the +mysteries of faith, and grace, and justification; but in the +ordinary run of his talk you can get good pictures of practical +matters. He is a lover of nature, is fond of talking about the +sublime and the beautiful, conjointly with other things freely named +in Burke's essay, can pile up the agony with a good deal of ability, +and split the ears of the groundlings as the occasion requires. He +can get into a white heat quickly, or blow his solemn anger +gradually--wind it up by degrees, and make it burst at a given point +of feeling. He is a better declaimer than reasoner--has a stronger +flow of imagination than logic. There is nothing bitter or mocking +in his tone. He seldom flings the shafts of ridicule or irony. He +constructs calmly, and then sends up the rocket: he draws you +slowly to a certain point, and then tells you to look out for "it's +coming." His apparatus is well fixed; he can give you any kind of +dissolving view. His ecstacies are rapid and, therefore, soon over. +The level places in his sermons are rather heavy, and, at times, +uninteresting. It is only when the thermometer is rising that you +enjoy him, and only when he reaches the climax and explodes, that +you fall back and ask for water and a fan. Taking him in the +aggregate we are of opinion that he is a good preacher; that he goes +through his ordinary duties easily and complacently. He gets well +paid for what be does--last year his salary exceeded 340 pounds; and +our advice to him is--keep on good terms with the bulk of "the +brethren," hammer as much piety into them as possible, tickle the +deacons into a genial humour, and look regularly after the pew- +rents. + + + +No. IV. + + + +LUNE-STREET WESLEYAN METHODIST CHAPEL. + + + +Wesleyan Methodism first breathed and opened its eyes in or about +the year 1729. It was nursed in its infancy at Oxford by two rare +brothers and a few students; was christened at the same place by a +keenly-observing, slightly-satirical collegian; developed itself +gradually through the country; took charge of the neglected masses +and gave them a new life; and today it is one of the great religious +forces of the world. The first Wesleyan chapel in Preston was built +in the year 1787, and its situation was in that consecrated and +highly aromatic region of the town called Back-lane. There was +nothing very prepossessing or polished, nothing particularly +fashionable or attractive about the profession of Methodism in those +days. It was rather an indication of honest fanaticism than of +deliberate reasoning--rather a sign of being solemnly "on the +rampage" than of giving way to careful conviction--and more +symptomatic of a sharp virtuous rant, got up in a crack and to be +played out in five minutes, than of a judicious move in the +direction of permanent good. The orthodox looked down with a genteel +contempt upon the preachers whose religion had converted Kingswood +colliers, and turned Cornwall wreckers into honest men; and the +formally pious spoke of the worshippers at this new shrine of faith +with a serene sneer, and classed them as a parcel of fiercely +ejaculating, hymn-singing nonentities. But there was vitality at the +core of their creed, and its fuller triumphs were but a question of +time. In 1817, Methodism became dissatisfied with its Back-lane +quarters, and migrated into a lighter, healthier, and cleaner +portion of the town--Lune-street--where a building was erected for +its special convenience and edification. It was not a very elegant +structure: it was, in fact, a plain, phlegmatic aggregation of +brick and mortar, calculated to charm no body externally, and +evidently patronised for absolute internal rapture. + +In 1861 the chapel was rebuilt--enlarged, beautified, and made fine, +so as to harmonise with the laws of modern fashion, and afford easy +sitting room for the large and increasing congregation attending it. +The frontispiece is of a costly character; but it has really been +"born to blush unseen." It is so tightly wedged in between other +buildings, is so evenly crammed into companionship with the ordinary +masonry of the street, that the general effect of the tall arch and +spacious porch is lost. Nothing can be distinctly seen at even a +moderate distance. You have to get to the place before you become +clearly aware of its existence; and if you wish to know anything of +its appearance, you have either to turn the head violently off its +regular axis, or cross the street and ask somebody for a step +ladder. The facade of the building is not very prepossessing; the +large arch, which has given way at some of the joints considerably, +and has been doing its best to fall for about six years, does not +look well--it is too high and too big for the place; the stonework +within is also hid; and the whitewashed ceiling above ought to be +either cleaned or made properly black. At present it is neither +light nor dark, and is rather awkwardly relieved at intervals with +cobwebs. There is something humorous and incongruous in the physical +associations of this chapel. It is flanked with a doctor's shop and +a money-lending establishment; with a savings bank and a solicitor's +office. The bank nestles very complacently under its lower wing, and +in the ratio of its size is a much better looking building. The text +regarding the deposit of treasure in that place where neither moth +nor rust operate may be well worked in the chapel; but it is rather +at a discount in the immediate neighbourhood. + +A great work in the business of spreading Wesleyan Methodism has +been done by the people and parsons of Lune-street chapel. We know +of no place in the town whose religious influence has been more +actively radiated. Its power, a few years ago, spread into the +northern part of the town, and the result was a new chapel with +excellent schools there; it then moved eastward, and the consequence +was a school chapel in St. Mary-street. In Croft-street, Canal- +street, and on the Marsh, it has also outposts, whose officers are +fighting the good fight with lung, and head, and heart, in a +sprightly and vigorous fashion. Originally, what is termed the +"circuit" of Lune-street embraced places 18 or 20 miles from +Preston; but the area of the sacred circumbendibus was subsequently +reduced; and its servants now find that they have as much on hand as +they can fairly get through by looking after half of the town and a +few of the contiguous villages. There are none of those solemn +milkmen called deacons in connection with Wesleyanism; still, there +are plenty of medicine men, up; up the ears in grace and business, +belonging it. At Lune-street Chapel, as at all similar places, there +are class-leaders, circuit stewards, chapel stewards, and smaller +divinities, who find a niche in the general pantheon of duty. The +cynosure of the inner circle is personal piety, combined with a +"penny a week and a shilling a quarter." All members who can pay +this have to do so. + +Beneath the chapel there is a Sunday school, which operates as a +feeder. When the scholars--there are 500 or 600 of them altogether-- +show certain symptoms of inherent rectitude and facial exactness, +when they answer particular questions correctly and pass through the +crucial stages of probation consistently, they are drafted into "the +church," and presented with licences of perennial happiness if they +choose to exercise them. The school is well supervised, and if some +of the teachers are as useful and consoling at home as they are in +their classes their general relatives will be blissful. + +The congregation of Lune-street Chapel is moderately numerous; but +it has been materially thinned at intervals by the establishment of +other Wesleyan chapels. In its circuit there are now between 800 and +900 persons known as members, who are going on their way rejoicing; +at the chapel itself there are between 300 and 400 individuals +similarly situated. Viewed in the aggregate, the congregation is of +a middle class character both in regard to the colour of the hair +and the clothes worn. There are some exceedingly poor people at the +place, but the mass appear to be individuals not particularly +hampered in making provision for their general meals. Lune-street +chapel is the fashionable Wesleyan tabernacle of Preston; the better +end of those whose minds have been touched, through either tradition +or actual conviction, with the beauties of Methodism, frequent it. +There is more silk than winsey, more cloth than hodden grey, and a +good deal more false hair and artificial teeth in the building on a +Sunday than can be found by fair searching at any other Wesleyan +chapel in the town. A sincere desire to "flee from the wrath to come +and be saved from their sins"--the only condition which John Wesley +insisted upon for admission into his societies--does not prevent +some of the members from attending determinedly to the bedizenments, +conceits, and spangles of this very wicked speck in the planetary +system. + +In the congregation there are many most excellent, hardworking, +thoroughly sincere men and women, who would be both useful and +ornamental to any body of Christians under the sun; but there are in +addition, as there are in every building set apart for the purposes +of piety, several who have "more frill than shirt," and much "more +cry than wool" about them--rectified, beautifully self-righteous, +children who would "sugar over" a very ugly personage ten hours out +of the twelve every day, and then at night thank the Lord for all +his mercies. In Lune-street Chapel faction used to run high and +wilfulness was a gem which many of the members wore very near their +hearts; but much of the old feudal spirit of party fighting has died +out, and there are signs of pious resignation and loving kindness in +the flock, which would at one time have been rare jewels. A somewhat +lofty isolation is still manifested here and there; a few regular +attenders appear heavily oppressed with the idea that they are not +only as good as anybody else but much better. Still this is only +human nature and no process of convertibility to the most celestial +of substances can in this world entirely subdue it. The bruising +deacon who said that grace was a good thing, but that that knocking +down an impertinent member was a better didn't miss the bull's eye +of natural philosophy very far. The observation was not redolent of +much Christian spirit; but it evinced that which many of the saints +are troubled with--human nature. + +Lune-street chapel contains standing, sitting, and sleeping room, +for about 1,400 people. The bulk who attend it take fair advantage +of the accomodation afforded for the first and second positions; a +moderate number avail themselves of the privileges held out for the +whole three postures. The chapel is not often crowded; it is +moderately filled as a rule; and there is no particular numeric +difference in the attendance at either morning or evening service on +a Sunday. The singing is neither loftily classic nor contemptibly +common-place. It is good, medium, well modulated melody, heartily +got up; and thoroughly congregational. In some places of worship it +is considered somewhat vulgar for members of the congregation to +give specimens of their vocalisation; and you can only find in out- +of-the-way side and back pews odd persons warbling a mild falsetto, +or piping an eccentric tenor, or doing a heavy bass on their own +responsibility; but at Lune-street Chapel the general members of the +congregation go into the work with a distinct determination to +either sing or make a righteous noise worthy of the occasion. They +are neither afraid nor ashamed of the job; and we hope they draw +consolation from it. The more genteel worshippers take up their +quarters mainly on the ground floor--at the back of the central +seats and at the sides. The poor have resting places found for them +immediately in front of the pulpit and at the rear of the galleries. +Very little of that unctuous spasmodic shouting, which used to +characterise Wesleyanism, is heard in Lune-street Chapel. It has +become unfashionable to bellow; it is not considered "the thing" to +ride the high horse of vehement approval and burst into luminous +showers of "Amens" and "Halleleujahs." Now and then a few +worshippers of the ancient type drop in from some country place, and +explode at intervals during the course of some impulsive prayer, or +gleeful hymn, or highly enamelled sermon. You may occasionally at +such a time, hear two or three in distant pews having a delightful +time of it. At first they only stir gently, as if some on were +mildly pinching or tickling them. Gradually they become more +audible, and as the fire of their zeal warms up, and the eloquence +of the minister enflames, they get keener, fiercer, more rapturous; +the intervals of repose are shorter, the moments of ecstacy are more +rapid and fervent; and this goes on with gathering desperation, +until the speaker reaches his--climax, and stops to either breathe +or use his handkerchief. But hardy a scintilla of this is perceived +on ordinary occasions; indeed it has become so unpopular that an +exhibition of it seems to quietly amuse--to evoke mild smiles and +dubious glances--rather than meet with reciprocity of approval. It +must be some great man in the region of Wesleyanism; some grand, +tearing, pathetic, eloquent preacher who can stir to a point of +moderate audibility the voices of the multitude of worshippers. In +Lune-street Chapel, the Ten Commandments occupy a prominent +position, and that is a good thing. It would be well if they were +fastened up in every place of worship, and better still if the +parsons referred to them more frequently. + +Respecting the ministers of the chapel in question, we way say that +there are three. None of them can stay less than one, nor more than +three, years. It is a question of "Hey, presto--quick change," every +third year. The names of the triumvirate at Lune-street are, the +Rev. W. Mearns, M.A., who is the superintendent; the Rev. W. H. +Tindall, second in command; and the Rev. F. B. Swift, the general +clerical servant of all work. Mr. Mearns is a calm, rather bilious- +looking, elderly man. There is nothing bewitching in his appearance; +he looks like what he is--a quietly-disposed, evenly-tempered, +Methodist minister. He is neither fussy, nor conceited, nor fond of +brandishing the sword of superiority. He goes about his work +steadily, and is as patient in harness as out of it. He has northern +blood in his veins which checks impulsiveness and everything +approaching that solemn ferocity sometimes displayed in Methodist +pulpits. There is nothing oratorical in his style of delivery; it is +calm, slow, and has a rather soporific influence upon his hearers. +There is more practical than argumentative matter in his sermons; +but, in the aggregate, they are hard and dry--lack lustre and +passion; and this, combined with his stoical manner of delivery, has +a chilling, rather than an attractive, influence. He always speaks +in harmony with the rules of grammar. His sentences, although +uttered extemporaneously, are invariably well finished and +scholarly. His words are well chosen; they are fit in with +cultivated exactitude and polished precision. They will stand +reading; nay, they will read excellently--infinitely better than the +burning rhapsody of more phrensied and eloquent men; but they fall +with a long-drawn dulness upon the ear when first uttered, and +don't, as Sam Slick would say, "get up one's steam anyhow." Mr. +Mearns has a clear head and a good heart, but his spoken words want +power and immediate brightness, and his style is deadened for the +want of a little enthusiasm. + +The Rev. Mr. Tindall comes up in a more polished, energetic, and +fashionable garb. He is eloquent, argumentative, polemical. His +literary capacity is good, and it has been well trained. He has read +much and studied keenly. His sermons are well thought out; he has +copious notes of them; and when he enters the pulpit they are made +complete for action--are fully equipped in their Sunday clothes and +ready for duty. His delivery is good; but physical weakness deprives +it of potency; and his contempt of the clock before him renders +people now and then uneasy. His manner is refined; his matter is +select; but there is something in both at times which you don't +altogether believe in digesting. A rather haughty, dictatorial ring +is sometimes noticed in them. A large notion of the importance of +the preacher occasionally peeps up. He has a perfect right to +venerate Mr. Tindall, and if he is a little fashionable, what of +that?--isn't it fashionable to be fashionable? Only this may be +carried a little too far, even in men for whom pulpits are made and +circuits formed, and it is not always safe to let organ "15" in +phrenological charts get the upper hand. After all we admire Mr. +Tindall's erudition and eloquence. He is free from vulgarity, and in +general style miles ahead of many preachers in the same body, whose +great mission is to maltreat pulpits and turn religion into a +rhapsody of words. + +The well-meaning and plodding Mr. Smith succeeds. He is a hard +worker; but there does not appear to be over much in him at present. +More thinking, and a greater experience of life, may cause him to +germinate agreeably in a few years. His style is stereotyped and +copied; there is a lack of original force in him; when he talks you +know what's coming next--you can tell five minutes off what he is +going to say, and that rather spoils the sensation of newness and +surprise which one likes to experience when parsons are either +pleasing or terrifying sinners. But Mr. Swift does his best, and, +according to Ebenezer Elliot, he does well who does that. It would +be wrong to deal harshly with a new beginner, and therefore we have +decided to check our criticism--to be brief--with Mr. Swift and +express a hope that in time he will be president of the Conference. + + + +No. V. + + + +FISHERGATE BAPTIST CHAPEL. + + + +The "right thing" in regard to baptism is a recondite point; but we +are not going to enter into any controversy about it. We shall say +nothing as to the defects or merits of aspersion or sprinkling, +immersion or dipping, affusion or pouring. Opinions vary respecting +each system; and one may fairly say that the words uttered in +explanation of the general theme come literally to us in the "voice +of many waters.", Jacob the patriarch was the first Baptist; the +Jews kept up the rite moderately, but had more faith in its +abstergent than spiritual influence; John turned it into an +institution of Christianity; the Primitive Church carried on the +business slowly, Turtullian kicking against and Cyprian lauding it; +in the fifth century baptism became fully established amongst all +Christian communities; then the Eastern and Western Churches +quarrelled as to whether sprinkling or immersion constituted the +proper ceremony; other small disputes concerning the modus operandi +followed; and from that time to this the adherents of each scheme +have spilled a great deal of water in piously working out their +notions. There was once a time when nobody could undergo the +ordinary process of baptism except at Easter or Whitsuntide; but +children and upgrown people can now be put through the ceremony +whenever it is considered necessary. In Preston, as elsewhere, the +majority of people think well of water when it is required by +children for engulphing or baptismal purposes; but they care little +for its use when the teens have been trotted through. It may be +right enough for the physical and religious comfort of babes and +sucklings; but its virtues recede in the ratio of development. There +are, however, some sections of men and women in the town who, +symbolically at least, have a high regard for water at any time +after the years of sense and reason have been reached. + +These are the Baptists. There are four or five chapels set apart for +their improvement in Preston, and the smartest of these is in +Fishergate. In Leeming-street it was in the chrysalis state; in +Fishergate the butterfly epoch has been reached. A dull, forlorn +looking edifice, afterwards taken advantage of by the Episcopalian +party, and now cleared off to make way for St. Saviour's church, +once formed the sacred asylum of a portion of the Baptists; but a +desire for better accomodation, combined with a wish for more +fashionable quarters, induced a change. The dove was repeatedly sent +out, and dry land was finally found for the Baptists in Fishergate. +In 1858 a chapel was erected upon the spot, and thus far it has +steadfastly maintained its position. It is a handsome building, +creditable to both the architect and the congregation, and if its +tower were less top heavy, it would, in its way, be quite superb. We +never look at that solemn tower head without being reminded of some +immense quadrangular pepper castor, fit for a place in the kitchen +of the Titans. In every other respect the building is arranged +smartly; if anything it is too ornamental, and in making a general +survey one is nearly afraid of meeting with Panathenaic frieze work. +On the principle that you can't have the services of a good piper +without paying proportionately dear for them, so you can't obtain a +handsome chapel except by confronting a long bill. The elysium of +antipedobaptism in Fishergate cost the modest sum of 5,000 pounds, +and of that amount about 800 pounds remains to be paid. Considering +the greatness of the original sum, the debt is not very large; but +if it were less the congregation would be none the worse; and if it +didn't exist at all they would be somewhat nearer bliss in this +general vale of tears. Fishergate Baptist Chapel is the only +Dissenting place of worship in the town possessing an exterior +clock; and it is one of the most orderly articles in the town, for +it never strikes and has not for many months shown itself after +dark. It used to exhibit signs of activity after sunset; but it was, +considered a "burning shame" by some economists to light it up with +gas when the Town Hall clock was got into working order, and ever +since then it has been nightly kept in the dark. + +Fishergate Baptist Chapel has an excellent interior, and it will +accommodate about twice as many people as patronise it. Long stately +side lights, neatly embellised with stained glass and opaque +filigree work, give it a mild solemnity which is relieved by fine +circular windows occupying the gables. The seats are arranged in the +usual three-row style, and there is a touch of neat gentility about +them indicative of good construction, whatever the parties they have +been made for are like. Fashionably-conceived gas-stands shoot up +and spread their branches at intervals down the chapel; and at the +extreme end there is a broad gallery, set apart for the singers, who +need be in no fear of breaking it down through either the weight of +their melodious metal or the specific gravity of their physique. A +new organ is much wanted, and if a few new singers were secured, or +the old ones polished up slightly, the proceedings would be more +lively and agreeable. Nearly three of the members of the choir are +really good singers; the remainder are what may be termed only +moderate. What Lune-street is to the Wesleyans, so Fishergate seems +to be to the Baptists--the centre of gravity of the more refined and +fashionable worshippers. Very few poor people visit it, and it is +thought that if they don't come of their own accord they will never +he seriously pressed on the subject. The free sittings are just +within the door, on the left hand side, and we should fancy that not +more than 25 really poor people use them. The higher order of +Christians occupy the lower portion of the same range of seats, the +central pews, and those on the right side thereof. + +The congregation consists almost entirely of middle-class persons-- +people who have either saved money in business or who are making a +determined effort to do so. Good clothes, quiet demeanour, and +numerical smallness are the striking characteristics. Nothing +approaching fervour ever takes possession of the general body. +Religion with them is not a termagant, revered for her sauciness and +loved for her violent evolutions. It is a reticent, even spirited, +calmly orthodox affair, whose forerunner fed on locusts and wild +honey, and whose principles are to be digested quietly. There may be +a few very boisterous sheep in the fold, who get on fire +periodically in the warmth of speaking and praying; who will express +their willingness, when the pressure is up, to do any mortal thing +for the good of "the cause;" but who will have to be caught there +and then if anything substantial has to follow. Like buckwheat cakes +and rum gruel they are best whilst hot. At a night meeting they may +be generously disposed and full of universal sympathy; but they can +sleep out their burning thoughts in a few hours, and waken up next +morning like larks, with no recollection of their gushing promises. + +There is accomodation in the chapel for about 400 persons, but the +average attendance is not more than 200; and there are only about 90 +"members." Not much difference between the morning and evening +attendance is noticed. The baptismal Thermophylae is generally +guarded by the sacred 90, and looked at by the fuller 200. The pew +rents are very high; but this evil is compensated for by the +comparative absence of those solemn gad flies which come in the +shape of collections. At some places of worship contribution boxes +and bags are seen floating about rapidly nearly every other Sunday, +for either home expenses or perishing Indians; but at Fishergate +Baptist Chapel incidental requirements are blended with the pew +rents; and for other purposes about two collections annually +suffice. That is all, and that ought to make attendance at such a +place rather agreeable. + +The primal government of the chapel is in the hands of four deacons; +but they are not very officious like some pillars of the church: +one of them is mild and obliging, the second is wise-looking and +crotchety, the third is disposed to pious rampagiousness in his +lucid intervals, and the fourth is a kindly sort of being, with a +moderate respect for converted dancers and hallaleujah men. Some +theological writers say that there are "evangelists" as well as +deacons in connection with Baptist government. There may be some of +this class at the Fishergate Chapel; but we have not yet seen their +sacred personages. The place is highly favoured with clocks. Not +only is there a specimen of horology outside, but there is one +within, and it may be called a worldly-wise creature, for it never +gets beyond No. I in its striking. Tradition hath it that once when +there was no clock in the chapel, the preacher used to overshoot +most uncomfortably the ordinary limits of time; that the +congregation, whilst fond of sermons, did not like them stretched +too violently; and that they resolved unanimously to purchase a +clock. Probably this story is groundless; but it is a fact +nevertheless that the clock is so situated as to be only fully and +easily seen by the preacher. More than three-fourths of the people +sit with their backs directly to it. And it is furthermore a fact +that, whilst when there was no clock the usual time of deliverance +was passed, the congregation are now released with scrupulous +exactitude. They got into the open air one Sunday evening when we +were there about 16 seconds before eight, and the preacher had +abandoned the pulpit by the time the Town Hall clock gave its +opinion on the question. + +In winter there is a Sunday morning prayer meeting at the place; but +in summer the members can't stand such a gathering, either because +too much light is thrown upon the subject, or because the attendance +is too small, or because early prayers are not required at that +season of the year. A prayer meeting is, however, held all the year +round, on a Wednesday night, and it is favoured, on an average, with +about 20 earnest individuals, who sometimes create what might, if +not properly explained, be considered a rather solemn disturbance. +These parties meet in the Sunday school, which is beneath the +chapel. The average attendance of scholars at this school is not +very large. When buns and coffee are astir it may be computed at +200; when ordinary religious instruction is simply placed before the +juvenile mind the attendance may be set down at about 100. + +In the chapel and immediately before the pulpit, there is a square +hole, usually covered, which in denominational phraseology goes by +the name of the "baptistery." In the first ages of Christianity such +places were made outside the church, and were either hexagonal or +octagonal, then they became polygonal, then circular, and now they +have got quadrangular. Two of the finest baptisteries in the world +are at Florence and Pisa; that at the former, place being 100 feet +in diameter, made of black and white marble, and surrounded with a +gallery on granite columns; that at the latter being 116 feet wide, +and beautifully ornamented. The biggest baptistery ever made is +supposed to have been that at St. Sophia, in Constantinople, which, +we are told, was so spacious as to have once served for the +residence of the Emperor Basilicus. But there is no marble about the +baptistery in Fishergate Chapel, and no one would ever think of +transmuting it into a residence. It is used two or three times a +year, and if outsiders happen to get a whisper of an intended +dipping, curiosity leads them to the chapel, and they look upon the +ceremony as a piece of sacred fun, right enough to look at, but far +too wet for anything else. This dipping is, indeed, a quaint, cold +piece of business. None except adults or youths who have, it is +thought, come to sense and reason, are permitted to pass through the +ordeal, and it is recognised by them as symbolic of their entrance +into "the Church." Sometimes as many as six or seven are immersed. +They put on old or special garments suitable for the occasion, and +the work of baptism is then carried on by the minister, who stands +in the figurative Jordan. He quietly ducks them overhead; they +submit to the process without a murmur; they neither bubble, nor +scream, nor squirm; and the elders look on solemnly, though +impressed with thoughts that, excellent as the ceremony may be, it +is a rather shivering sort of business after all. After being +baptised, the new members retire into an adjoining room, strip their +saturated cloths, rub themselves briskly with towels, or get the +deacons to do the work for them, then re-dress, comb their hair, and +receive liberty to rejoice with the general Israel of the flock. +Such baptism as that we have described seems a rather curious kind +of rite; but it is honestly believed in, and as those who submit to +it have to undergo the greatest punishment in the case--have to be +put right overhead in cold Longridge water--other persons may keep +tolerably cool on the subject. People have a right to use water any +way so long as they don't throw it unfairly upon others or drown +themselves; and if three-fourths of the people who now laugh at +adult baptism would undergo a dipping next Sunday, and then stick to +water for the remainder of their lives, they would be better +citizens, whatever might become of their theology. + +The Rev. J. O'Dell is the pastor of Fishergate Baptist Chapel, and +he is an exemplary man in his way, for be only receives a small +salary and yet contrives to keep out of debt--a thing which a good +deal of parsons, and which many of the ordinary children of grace, +can't accomplish. He is well liked by his congregation, and we have +heard of no fighting over either his virtues or defects. He has +quite a clerical look, and, if he hadn't, his voice would give the +cue to his profession. There is an earnest unctuous modulation about +it, which, as a rule, is acquired after men have flung overboard the +common idioms of secular life. The salary of Mr. O'Dell is about 160 +pounds a year, and although he would like more, he can make himself +and Mrs. O'Dell, and the younger branches of the house of O'Dell, +comfortable on that sum. Some pastors gnash their teeth if their +purse strings are opened for less than 300 pounds a year; Mr. O'Dell +would purchase a pair of wings, and sing "'Tis like a little heaven +below," if his stipend was raised to that figure. There is nothing +very extraordinary in the preaching style of Mr. O'Dell. It lacks +the cunning of that rare old Baptist bird, who once went by the name +of Birney, and it is devoid of that learned and masterly eloquence +so finely worked by the last minister of the chapel, who used to +read some of his sermons over to the deacons, before trying them +upon the other sinners in the chapel; still it is sincere, straight- +forward, and theologically sound. It never reaches a point of +raving, is never loudly pretentious, or ferocious in tone. Mr. +O'Dell will never be a brilliant man; but he is now what is often +much better--a good working minister. He will never occupy the +position of a commander, will never even be a lieutenant, but he +will always be a good soldier in the ranks. He has neither a lofty +imaginative capacity nor a dashing ratiocinative faculty, but he has +a clear sense of the importance of his pastoral duties, he goes +easily and earnestly to work, makes neither much fuss nor smoke, and +if he does now and then seem to pull queer faces in his sermons-- +give odd twists to some of his muscles--that does not debar him from +preaching fair even-sounding sermons, soothing to his general +hearers and pleasing to those who have to pay him. There are a few +people whom Mr. O'Dell's sermons fail to keep awake; but as such +parties are probably better asleep than in a full state of +consciousness, no great harm is done. He has all sorts of folk to +deal with--men who are pious, and smooth creatures quietly given to +humbug; people who practice what they are taught, and a few so +wonderfully good that if they called a meeting of their creditors +they would begin the business by saying, "Let us pray;" individuals +who follow their duties calmly, and make no show about their work; +and respectable specimens of indifference, who go to chapel because +it is fashionable to do so. But they seem all complacent, and the +"happy family" element predominates. Mr. O'Dell suits them; they +suit Mr. O'Dell; and if he had only a fuller chapel--a better +salary, too, wouldn't be despised by him--he could send up his +orisons with more courage, and preach to the sinners around him with +the steam hammer force of a Gadsby. + + + +No. VI. + + + +ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH. + + + +"My respecks to St. George and the Dragoon," wrote the gay and +festive showman, at the conclusion of an epistle--penned under the +very shadow of "moral wax statters"--to the Prince of Wales. And +there was no evil in such a benevolent expression of feeling. +George, the particular party referred to, occupies a prominent +position in our national escutcheonry, ant the "Dragoon" is a unique +creature always in his company, which it would be wrong to entirely +forget. The name of the saint sounds essentially English, and it has +been woven into the country's history. The nation is fond of its +Georges. We had four kings--not all of a saintly disposition--who +rejoiced in that name; we sometimes swear by the name of George; and +it plays as good a part as any other cognomen in our universal +system of christening. Nobody can really tell who St. George was, +and nobody will ever be able to do so. Gibbon fancies he was at one +time an unscrupulous bacon dealer, and that he finally did +considerable business in religious gammon. Butler, the Romish +historian, thinks he was martyred by Diocletian for telling that +amiable being a little of his mind; ancient fabulists make it out +that be killed a dragon, saved a fair virgin's life, and then did +something better than either--married her; medieval men, with a +knightly turn of mind, transmuted him into the patron of chivalry; +Edward III made him the patron of the Order of the Garter; the +Eastern and Western churches venerate him yet; Britains have turned +him into their country's tutelary saint; and many places of worship +have been dedicated to this curiously mythologic individual. We have +a church in Preston in this category; and it is of such church--St. +George's--we shall speak now. + +In 1723 it was erected. Up to that time the Parish Church was the +only place of worship we had in connection with what is termed "the +Establishment;" St. George's was brought into existence as a "chapel +of ease" for it; and it is still one of the easiest, quietest, best +behaved places in the town. It was a plain brick edifice at the +beginning, but in 1843-4 the face of the church was hardened--it was +turned into stone, and it continues to have a substantial petrified +appearance. In 1848 a new chancel was built; and afterwards a dash +of Christian patriotism resulted in a new pulpit and reading desk. +The general building, which is of cruciform shape, has a subdued, +solemn, half-genteel, half-quaint look. There is neither +architectural maze nor ornamental flash in its construction. It is +plain all round, and is characterised by a simplicity of style which +could not be well reduced unless a severe plainness were adopted. +Its position is not in a very imposing locality, and the roads to it +are bad and irregular. Baines, the historian, says that St. George's +Church is situated between Fishergate and Friargate--rather a wide +definition applicable to about 500 other places ranging from +billiard rooms to foundries, from brewing yards to bedstead +warehouses in the same region. That brightest of all our historical +blades, "P. Whittle, F.A.S.," states that it is located on the +south-west side of Friargate--a better, but still very mystical, +exposition to all not actually acquainted with the place; whilst +Hardwicke comes up to the rescue in the panoply of modern exactness, +and tells us that it is on the south side of Fishergate. These +historians must have missed their way in trying to find the place, +and in their despair guessed at its real situation. There are many +ways to St. George's--you can get to it from Fishergate, Lune- +street, Friargate, or the Market place; but if each of those ways +was thrown into one complete whole, the road would still be +fifteenth rate. Tortuousness and dimness mark them, and a strong +backyard spirit of adventure must operate largely in the minds of +some who manage to reach the building. + +The churchyard of St. George's has nothing interesting to the common +mind about it. The great bulk of the grave stones are put flat upon +the ground--arranged so that people can walk over them with ease and +comfort, whatever may become of the letters; and if it were not for +a few saplings which shoot out their bright foliage periodically, +and one very ancient little tree which has become quite tired of +that business, the yard would look very grave and monotonous. The +principal entrance can be reached by way of Lune-street or Chapel- +walks; but when you have got to it, there is nothing very peculiar +to be seen. It is plain, rather gloomy, and in no way interesting. + +The interior of the church wears a somewhat similar complexion; but +it improves by observation, and in the end you like it for its +thorough simplicity. No place of worship can in its internal +arrangements be much plainer than St. George's. If it were not for +three stained windows in the chancel, which you can but faintly make +out at a distance, nothing which could by any possibility be termed +ornamental would at first sight strike you. On reaching the centre +of the place you get a moderately clear view of the pulpit which +somewhat edifies the mind; and, on turning right round, you see a +magnificent organ which compensates for multitudes of defects, and +below it--in front of the orchestra--a rather powerful +representation of the royal arms, a massive lion and unicorn, +"fighting for the crown" as usual, and got up in polished wood work. +We see no reason why there should not be something put up +contiguously, emblematic of St. George and the dragon. It is very +unfair to the saint and unjust to the dragon to ignore them +altogether--The Ten Commandments are put on one side in this church- +-not done away with, but erected in a lateral position, very near a +corner and somewhat out of the way. One of the historians previously +quoted says that St. George's used to be "heated by what is commonly +called a cockle"--some sort of a warmth radiating apparatus, which +he describes minutely and with apparent pleasure. We have not +inquired specially as to the fate of this cockle. It may still have +an existence in the sacred edifice, or it may have given way, as all +cockles must do in the end, whether in churches or private houses, +to hot-water arrangements. The pews in St. George's are of the old, +fashioned, patriarchal character. They are of all sizes an +irregularity quite refreshing peculiarises them; there are hardly +two alike in the building; and a study of the laws of variety must +have been made by those who had the management of their +construction. Private interests and family requirements have +probably regulated the size of them. Some of the pews are narrow and +hard to get into--a struggle has to be made before you can fairly +take possession; others are broader and easier to enter: a few are +very capacious and might be legitimately licensed to carry a dozen +inside with safety; nearly all or them are lined with green baize, +much of which is now getting into the sere and yellow leaf period of +life; many of them are well-cushioned--green being the favourite +colour; and in about the same number Brussels carpets may be found. +There is a quiet, secluded coziness about the pews; the sides are +high; the fronts come up well; nobody can see much of you if care is +taken; and a position favourable to either recumbent ease or +horizontal sleep may be assumed in several of them with safety. The +general windows, excepting those in the chancel, are very plain; and +if it were not for a rim of amber-coloured glass here and there and +a fair average accumulation of dust on several of the squares, there +would be nothing at all to relieve their native simplicity. The +pillars supporting the nave are equally plain; the walls and ceiling +are almost entirely devoid of ornament: and primitive white-wash +forms the most prominent colouring material. The gas stands, often +very elaborate in places of worship, have been made solely for use +here. Simple upright pipes, surmounted by ordinary burners +constitute their sum and substance. The pulpit lights are simpler. +Gas has not yet reached the place where the law and the prophets are +expounded. The orthodox mould candle reigns paramount on each side +of the pulpit; and its light appears to give satisfaction. + +There is no Sunday school in connection with St. George's. In some +respects this may be a disadvantage to the neighbourhood; but it is +a source of comfort to the congregation, for all the noise which +irrepressible children create during service hours at every place +where they are penned up, is obviated. Neither children nor babes +are seen at St. George's. It is considered they are best at home, +and that they ought to stay there until the second teeth have been +fairly cut. The congregation of St. George's is specifically +fashionable. A few poor people may be seen on low seats in the +centre aisle; but the great majority of worshippers either +represent, or are connected with, what are termed "good families." +Young ladies wearing on just one hair the latest of bonnets, and +elaborated with costly silks and ribbons; tender gentlemen of the +silver-headed cane school and the "my deah fellah" region; quiet +substantial looking men of advanced years, who believe in good +breeding and properly brushed clothes; elderly matrons, "awfully +spiff" as Lady Wortley Montague would say; and a few well-disposed +tradespeople who judiciously mingle piety with business, and never +make startling noises during their devotional moments--these make up +the congregational elements of St. George's. They may be described +in three words--few, serene, select. And this seems to have always +been the case. Years since, the historian of Lancashire said that +St. George's "has at all times had a respectable, though not a very +numerous, congregation." The definition is as correct now as it was +then. The worshippers move in high spheres; the bulk of them toil +not, neither do they spin; and if they can afford it they are quite +justified in making life genteel and easy, and giving instructions +for other people to wait upon them. We dare say that if their piety +is not as rampant, it is quite as good, as that of other people. +Vehemence is not an indication of excellence, and people may be good +without either giving way to solemn war-whoops or damaging the +hearing faculties of their neighbours. Considering the situation of +St. George's Church--its proximity to Friargate and the unhallowed +passages running therefrom--there ought to be a better congregation. +Churches like beefsteaks are intended to benefit those around them. +It is not healthy for a church to have a congregation too select and +too fashionable. Souls are of more value than either purses or +clothes. More of the people living in the immediate neighbourhood of +St. George's ought to regularly visit it; very few of them ever go +near the place; but the fault may be their own, and neither the +parson's, nor the beadle's. + +The choir of St. George's is a wonderfully good one, and whether the +members sing for love or money, or both, they deserve praise. Their +melody is fine; their precision good; their expression excellent. +They can give you a solemn piece with true abbandonatamente; they +can observe an accelerando with becoming taste; they can get into a +vigorosamente humour potently and on the shortest notice. They will +never be able to knock down masonry with their musical force like +the Jericho trumpeters, nor build up walls with their harmony like +Amphion; but they will always possess ability to sing psalms, hymns, +spiritual songs, and whatever may be contained in popular music +books, with taste and commendable exactitude. We recommend them to +the favourable consideration of the public. In St. George's Church +there is an organ which may be placed in the "h c" category. It is a +splendid instrument--can't be equalled in this part of the country +for either finery or music--and is played by a gentleman whose name +ranks in St. George's anthem book, with those of Beethoven, Handel, +and Mozart. We have heard excellent music sung and played at St. +George's; but matters would be improved if the efforts of the choir +were seconded. At present the singers have some time been what we +must term, for want of a better phrase, musical performers. They are +tremendously ahead of the congregation. Much of what they sing +cannot be joined in by the people. Many a time the congregation have +to look on and listen--ecstacised with what is being sung, wondering +what is coming next, and delightfully bewildered as to the whole +affair. + +The minister at St. George's is the Rev. C. H. Wood--a quiet, +homely, well-built man, who is neither too finely dressed nor too +well paid. His salary is considerably under 200 pounds a year. Mr. +Wood is frank and unostentatious in manner; candid and calm in +language; and of a temperament so even that he gets into hot water +with nobody. You will never catch him with his virtuous blood up, +theologically or politically. He has a cool head and a quiet tongue- +-two excellent articles for general wear which three-fourths of the +parsons in this country have not yet heard of. He is well liked by +the male portion of his congregation, and is on excellent terms with +the fair sex. He is a batchelor, but that is his own fault. He could +be married any day, but prefers being his own master. He may have an +ideal like Dante, or a love phantom like Tasso, or an Imogene like +the brave Alonzo; but he has published neither poetry nor prose on +the subject yet, and has made no allusion to the matter in any of +his sermons. No minister in Preston, with similar means, is more +charitably disposed than Mr. Wood. He behaves well to poor people, +and the virtue of that is worth more than the lugubriousness or +eloquence of many homilies. Charity in purse as well as in speech is +one of his characteristics; and if that doth not cover a multitude +of ordinary defects nothing will. In the reading desk Mr Wood gets +through his work quickly and with a good voice. There is no effort +at elocution in his expression: he goes right on with the business, +and if people miss the force of it they will have to be responsible +for the consequences. In the pulpit he drives forward in the same +earnest, matter-of-fact style. There is no hand flinging, hair- +wringing, or dramatic raging in his style. The matter of his sermons +is orthodox and homely--systematically arranged, innocently +illustrated at intervals, and offensive to nobody. His manner is +calculated to genially persuade rather than fiercely arouse; and it +will sooner rock you to sleep than lash you to tears. There is a +slight touch of sanctity at the end of his sentences--a mild +elevation of voice indicative of pious oiliness; but, altogether, we +like his quiet, straightforward, simple, English style. People fond +of Church of England ideas could not have a more genial place of +worship than St. George's: the seats are easy and well lined, the +sermons short and placid, and the company good. + + + +ST. AUGUSTINE'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. + + + +St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Preston, is of a retiring +disposition; it occupies a very southern position; is neither in the +town nor out of it; and unlike many sacred edifices is more than 50 +yards from either a public-house or a beershop. Clean-looking +dwellings immediately confront it; green fields take up the +background; an air of quietude, half pastoral, half genteel, +pervades it; but this ecclesiastical rose has its thorn. Only in its +proximate surroundings is the place semi-rural and select. As the +circle widens--townwards at any rate--you soon get into a region of +murky houses, ragged children, running beer jugs, poverty; and as +you move onwards, in certain directions, the plot thickens, until +you get into the very lairs of ignorance, depravity, and misery. St. +Augustine's "district" is a very large one; it embraces 8,000 or +9,000 persons, and their characters, like their faces, are of every +colour and size. Much honest industry, much straight-forwardness and +every day kindness, much that smells of gin, and rascality, and +heathenism may be seen in the district. There is plenty of room for +all kinds of reformers in the locality; and if any man can do any +good in it, whatever may be his creed or theory, let him do it. The +priests in connection with St. Augustine's Catholic Church are doing +their share in this matter, and it is about them, their church, and +their congregation that we have now a few words to say. The church +we name is not a very old one. It was formally projected in 1836; +the first stone of it was laid on the 13th of November, 1838; and it +was opened on the 30th of July, 1840, by Dr. Briggs, afterwards +first bishop of the Catholic diocese of Beverley. It has a plain yet +rather stately exterior. Nothing fanciful, nor tinselled, nor +masonically smart characterises it. Four large stone pillars, +flanked with walls of the same material surmounted with brick, a +flight of steps, a portico, a broad gable with massive coping, and a +central ornament at the angle, are all which the facade presents. +The doors are lateral, and are left open from morning till night +three hundred and sixty-five days every year. + +The interior of the church is spacious, wonderfully clean, and +decorated at the high altar end in most tasteful style. We have not +inquired whether charity begins at home or not in this place; +perhaps it does not; but it is certain that painting does; for all +the fine colouring, with its many formed classical devices, at the +sanctuary was executed by one of the members of the congregation. +The principal altar is a very fine one, and a fair amount of pious +pleasure may be derived from looking at a tremendous pastoral +candlestick which stands on one side. It is, when charged with a +full-sized candle, perhaps five feet ten high, and it has a very +patriarchal and decorous appearance--looks grave and authoritative, +and seems to think itself a very important affair. And it has a +perfect right to its opinion. We should like to see it in a +procession, with Zaccheus, the sacristian, carrying it. Three fine +paintings, which however seem to have lost their colour somewhat, +are placed in the particular part of the church we are now at. The +central one represents the "Adoration of the Magi," and was painted +and given by Mr. H. Taylor Bulmer, who formerly resided in Preston. +The second picture to the left is a representation of "Christ's +agony in the Garden;" and the third on the opposite side is "Christ +carrying the Cross." In front of the altar there is the usual lamp +with a crimson spirit flame, burning day and night, and reminding +one of the old vestal light, watched by Roman virgins, who were +whipped in the dark by a wrathful pontifex if they ever let it go +out. At the northern end of the church there is a large gallery, +with one of the neatest artistic designs in front of it we ever saw. +The side walls are surmounted with a chaste frieze, and running +towards the base are "stations" and statues of saints. A small altar +within a screen, surmounted with statuary, is placed on each side of +the sanctuary, and not far from one of them there is a bright +painting which looks well at a distance, but nothing extra two yards +off. It represents Christ preaching out of a boat to some Galileans, +amongst whom may be seen the Rev. Canon Walker. If the painting is +correct, the worthy canon has deteriorated none by age, for he seems +to look just as like himself now as he did eighteen hundred years +since, and to be not a morsel fonder of spectacles and good snuff +now than he was then. His insertion, however, into this picture, was +a whim of the artist, whose cosmopolitan theory led him to believe +that one man is, as a rule, quite as good as another, and that +paintings are always appreciated best when they refer to people whom +you know. + +There are three of those very terrible places called confessionals +at St. Augustine's, and one day not so long since we visited all of +them. It is enough for an ordinary sinner to patronise one +confessional in a week, or a month, or a quarter of a year, and then +go home and try to behave himself. But we went to three in one +forenoon with a priest, afterwards had the courage to get into the +very centre of a neighbouring building wherein were two and twenty +nuns, and then reciprocated compliments with an amiable young lady +called the "Mother Superior." Terrible places to enter, and most +unworldly people to visit, we fancy some of our Protestant friends +will say; but we saw nothing very agonising or dreadful--not even in +the confessionals. Like other folk we had heard grim tales about, +such places--about trap doors, whips, manacles, and all sorts of +cruel oddities; but in the confessionals visited we beheld nothing +of any of them. Number one is a very small apartment, perhaps two +yards square, with a seat and a couple of sacred pictures in it. In +front there is an aperture filled in with a slender grating and +backed by a curtain which can be removed at pleasure by the priest +who officiates behind. On one side of the grating there is a small +space like a letter-box slip, and through this communications in +writing, of various dimensions, are handed. Everything is plain and +simple where the penitent is located; and the apartment behind, +occupied by the priest who hears confession, is equally simple. +There is no weird paraphernalia, no mysterious contrivances, no +bolts, bars, pullies, or strings for either working miracles, or +making the hair of sinners stand on end. Number two confessional is +similarly arranged and equally plain. We examined this rather more +minutely than the other, and whilst we could find nothing dreadful +in the penitents' apartment, we fancied, on entering the priest's +side, that, we had met with something belonging the realm of +confessional torture as depicted by the Hogans, Murphys, and Maria +Monk showmen, and which the officials had forgot to put by in some +of their secret drawers. It was hung upon a nail, had a semi- +circular, half viperish look, and was cupped at each end as if +intended for some curious business of incision or absorption. We +were relieved on getting nearer it and on being informed that it was +merely an ear trumpet through which questions have to be put to deaf +penitents who now and then turn up for general unravelment and +absolution. The two confessionals described are contiguous to a +passage at the rear of the church; the third we are now coming to is +near one of the subsidiary altars, nod looks specifically snug. It +is a particularly small confessional, and a very stout penitent +would find it as difficult to get into it as to reveal all his sins +afterwards. There is nothing either harrowing or cabalistic in the +place; and you can see nothing but two forms, a screen, and a +crucifix. + +There are many services at St. Augustine's. On Monday mornings at a +quarter past seven, and again at half-past eight, mass is said; on +Tuesdays and Thursdays there is benediction at half-past seven; on +Fridays and Saturdays and on the eve of holidays there is +confession; on Sundays there is mass at half-past seven, half-past +eight, half-past nine, and at 11, when regular service takes place; +on Sunday afternoons, at three, the children are instructed, and at +half-past six in the evening there are vespers, a sermon, and +benediction. The church has a capacity for about 1,000 persons, +without crushing. The average number hearing mass on a Sunday is +3,290. On four consecutive Sundays recently--from February 14 to +March 14--upwards of 13,100 heard mass within the walls of the +church. + +The congregation is almost entirely made up of working people. A few +middle class and wealthy persons attend the place--some sitting in +the gallery, and others at the higher end of the church--but the +general body consists of toiling every-day folk. The poorest +section, including the Irish--who, in every Catholic Church, do a +great stroke of business on a Sunday with holy water, beads and +crucifixes--are located in the rear. It is a source of sacred +pleasure to quietly watch some of these poor yet curious beings. +They are all amazingly in earnest while the fit is on them; they +bow, and kneel, and make hand motions with a dexterity which nothing +but long years of practice could ensure; and they drive on with +their prayers in a style which, whatever may be the character of its +sincerity, has certainly the merit of fastness. How to get through +the greatest number of words in the shortest possible time may be a +problem which they are trying, to solve. The great bulk of the +congregation are calm and unostentatious, evincing a quiet demeanour +in conjunction with a determined devotion. There are several very +excellent sleepers in the multitude of worshippers; but they are +mainly at the entrance end where they are least seen. We happened to +be at the church the other Sunday morning and in ten minutes after +the sermon had been commenced about 16 persons, all within a +moderate space, were fast asleep. Their number increased slowly till +the conclusion. Several appeared to be struggling very severely +against the Morphean deity dining the whole service; a few might be +seen at intervals rescuing themselves from his grasp--getting upon +the very edge of a snooze, starting suddenly with a shake and waking +up, dropping down their heads to a certain point of calmness and +then retracing their steps to consciousness. + +There are five men at St. Augustine's called collectors--parties who +show strangers, &c., their seats, and look after the pennies which +attendants have to pay on taking them. Not one of these collectors +has officiated less than 11 years; three of them have been at the +work for 27; and what is still better they discharge their duties, +as the sacristan once told us, "free gracious." That is a +philanthropic wrinkle for chapel keepers and other compounders of +business and piety which we commend to special notice. The singers +at St. Augustine's are of more than ordinary merit. Two or three of +them have most excellent voices; and the conjoint efforts of the +body are in many respects capital. Their reading is accurate, their +time good, and their melody frequently constitutes a treat which +would do a power of good to those who hear the vocalisation of many +ordinary psalm-singers whose great object through life is to kill +old tunes and inflict grevious bodily harm upon new ones. There is a +very good organ at St. Augustine's, and it is blown well and played +well. + +Usually there are three priests at the mission; but on our visit +there were only two--the Rev. Canon Walker, and the Rev. J. +Hawkesworth; and if you had to travel from the lowest point in +Cornwall to the farthest house in Caithness you wouldn't find two +more kindly men. We Protestants talk volubly about the grim, +grinding character of priests, about their tyrannous influence, and +their sinister sacerdotalism; but there is a good deal of extra +colouring matter in the picture. Whatever their religion may be, and +however much we may differ from it, this at least we have always +found amongst priests--excellent education, amazing devotion to +duty, gentlemanly behaviour, and in social life much geniality. They +have studied all subjects; they know something about everything; +their profession necessarily makes them acquainted with each phase +and feeling of life. The Rev. Canon Walker is a good type of a +thoroughly English priest and of a genuine Lancashire man. He is +unassuming, obliging in manner, careful in his duties, fonder of a +good pinch of snuff than of warring about creeds, much more in love +with a quiet chat than of platform violence, and would far sooner +offer you a glass of wine, and ask you to take another when you had +done it, than fight with you about piety. He is a man of peace, of +homely, disposition, of kindly thought, unobtrusive in style, +sincere in action, with nothing bombastic in his nature, and nothing +self-righteous in his speech. His sermons are neither profound nor +simple--they are made up of fair medium material; and are discharged +rapidly. There is no effort at rhetorical flourish in his style; a +simple lifting of the right hand, with an easy swaying motion, is +all the "action" you perceive. Canon Walker speaks with a rapidity +seldom noticed. Average talkers can get through about 120 words in a +minute; Canon Walker can manage 200 nicely, and show no signs of +being out of breath. + +The Rev. Mr. Hawkesworth--a bright-eyed, rubicund-featured +gentleman, with a slight disposition to corporeal rotundity--is the +second priest. He is a sharp, kindly-humoured gentleman, and does +not appear to have suffered in either mind or body by a four years +residence in Rome. Mr. Hawkesworth is a practical priest, a good +singer, and a hard worker. He resides with Canon Walker in a +spacious house adjoining St. Augustine's. No unusual sounds have +ever been heard to proceed from the residence, and it may fairly be +inferred that they dwell together to harmony. The house is +substantially furnished. The library within it is not very large, +but what it lacks in bulk is made up for by variety. Its contents +range from the Clockmaker of Sam Slick to the Imitation of Thomas a +Kempis, from Little Dorrit to the Greek Lexicon. Not far from St. +Augustine's Church there is a convent. It is the old Larkhill +mansion transmuted, and is one of the most pleasantly situated +houses in this locality. In front of it you have flowers of +delicious hues, shrubs of every kind, grassy undulations, rare old +shady trees, a small artificial lake, a fountain--shall we go on +piling up the agony of beauty until we reach a Claude Melnotte +altitude? It is unnecessary; all we need add is this--that the +grounds are a lovely picture, delightfully formed, and most snugly +set. The convent is a large, clean, airy establishment. The entrance +hall is handsome; some of the apartments are choicely furnished, the +walls being decorated with pictures, &c., made by either the nuns or +their pupils. The convent includes apartments for the reception of +visitors, a small chapel, with deeply-toned light, and exquisitely +arranged; dining rooms, sitting rooms, two or three school rooms, +lavatories, sculleries, dormitories, and a gigantic kitchen, +reminding one of olden houses wherein were vast open fire-places, +massive spits, and every apparatus for making meat palateable and +life enjoyable. The 22 nuns before referred to live at this convent. +They belong to the order of "Faithful Companions;" they lead quiet, +industrious lives--have no Saurin-Starr difficulties, and appear to +be contented. + +At the convent there are 33 pupils--some from a distance, others +belonging the town. They are taught every accomplishment; look very +healthy; and, when we saw them, seemed not only comfortable but +merry. Near the convent there is a commodious girls' and infants' +school connected with St. Augustine's, the general average +attendance being about 240. In Vauxhall-road there is another large, +excellently built school belonging to the same Church, and set apart +for boys. The attendance is not very numerous. At both there is room +for many more scholars, and if religious bigotry did not operate in +some quarters, and prevent Catholic children going to those schools +recognising the principles of their own faith, the attendance at +each would be much better than it is. Taking the district in its +entirety, it is industriously worked by the Catholics. They deserve +praise for their energy. Their object is to push on Catholicism and +improve the secular position of the inhabitants, and they do this +with a zeal most praiseworthy. This finishes our Augustinian +mission. + + + +QUAKERS' MEETING HOUSE. + + + +I love Quaker ways and Quaker worship. I venerate the Quaker +principles. It does me good for the rest of the day when I meet any +of their people in my path. When I am ruled or disturbed by any +occurrence, the sight or quiet voice of a Quaker acts upon me as a +ventilator, lightening the air, and taking off a load from the +bosom; but I cannot like the Quakers, as Desdemona would say, "to +live with them."--Charles Lamb. + +Sheep, leather, and religion were the principal things which George +Fox, the founder of Quakerism, looked after. In boyhood he was a +shepherd, in youth a shoemaker, in manhood an expounder of +Christianity. No one could have had a series of occupations more +comprehensive or practical. The history of the world proves that it +is as important for men to look after their mutton as to "save their +bacon;" that, after all, "there is nothing like leather;" and that +there can be nothing better than religion. 219 years since the +ancestors of those who now follow the "inner light" were termed +Quakers. An English judge--Gervaise Bennet--gave them this name at +Derby, and it is said that he did so because Fox "bid them quake at +the word of the Lord." Theologically, Quakers are a peculiar people; +they believe in neither rites nor ceremonies, in neither prayer- +books nor hymn-books, in neither lesson reading, nor pulpit +homilies, nor sacraments. They are guided by their spiritual +feelings, and have a strong idea that a man has no right to open his +mouth when he has got nothing to say, and that he should avoid +keeping it shut when he has something worth uttering. + +This is an excellent plan, and the world would be considerably +benefited if it were universally observed both in religion and +every-day life. Creation is killed and done for daily through an +everlasting torrent of meaningless talk. Compact and quiet as it may +appear, Quakerism has had its schisms and internal feuds. Early in +this century, the White Quakers, who dressed themselves in light +suits when outside and didn't dress at all--stripped themselves +after the manner of Adamites--when within doors, created much furore +in Ireland. About 30 years since, the Hicksite Quakers, who denied +the divinity of Christ and the authority of the Bible, made their +advent; afterwards the Beaconite Quakers put in an appearance; and +then came the Wilburites. Taking all sections into account, there +are at present about 130,000 Quakers in the world, and Preston +contributes just seventy genuine ones to their number. In this +locality they remain unchanged. Today they are neither smaller nor +larger, numerically, than they were thirty years age. In the early +days of local Quakerism, the country rather than the town was its +favourite situation. Newton, Freckleton, Rawcliffe, and Chipping +contained respectively at one time many more Quakers than Preston, +but the old stations were gradually broken up, and Preston +eventually got the majority of their members. A building located +somewhere between Everton-gardens and Spring-gardens was first used +as a meeting-house by them. In 1784 a better place was erected by +the Friends, on a piece of land contiguous to and on the north side +of Friargate; and in 1847 it was rebuilt. Although no one was +officially engaged to map out the place, a good deal of learned +architectural gas was disengaged in its design and construction. It +was made three times larger than its congregational requirements-- +the object being to accommodate those who might assemble at the +periodical district meetings. Special attention was also paid to the +loftiness of the building--to the height of its ceiling. One or two +of the amateur designers having a finger in the architectural pie +had serious notions as to the importance of air space. They had +studied the influence of oxygen and hydrogen, of nitrogen and +carbonic acid gas; they had read in scientific books that every +human being requires so many feet of breathing room; and after +deciding upon the number of worshippers which the meeting-house +should accommodate, they agreed to elevate its ceiling in the ratio +of their inspiring and expiring necessities. This was a very good, +salutary, Quakerly idea, and although it may have operated against +the internal appearance of the building it has guaranteed purity of +air to those attending it. + +The meeting house is a quiet, secluded, well-made place; but it has +a poor entrance, which you would fancy led to nowhere. A stranger +passing along Friargate on an ordinary day, would never find the +Quakers' meeting house. He might notice at a certain point on the +north-eastern side of that undulating and bustling public +thoroughfare a grey looking gable, having a three-light-window +towards the head, with a large door below, and at its base two +washing pots and a long butter mug, belonging to an industrious +earthenware dealer next door; but he would never fancy that the +disciples of George Fox had a front entrance there to their meeting +house. Yet after passing through a dim broad passage here, and +mounting half a dozen substantial steps, you see a square, neat- +looking, five-windowed building, and this is the Quakers' meeting +house. + +Over the passage there is a pretty large room, which is used by the +Friends for Sunday school purposes. The attendance at this school on +ordinary occasions is about 60; at special periods it is +considerably more. During the cotton famine, a few years ago, when +the Quakers were manifesting their proverbial charity--giving money, +food, and clothing--the attendance averaged 160; and if it was known +that they were going to give something extra tomorrow it would reach +that point again. Speaking of the charity of Quakers, it may not be +amiss to state that they keep all their own poor--do not allow any +one belonging their society ever to solicit aid from the parish, or +migrate in the dark hour of poverty to the workhouse. Reverting to +the meeting-house, we may observe that just within its front door +particular provision has been made for umbrellas. There is a long, +low stand, with a channel below it, and this will afford ample +accomodation for about 160 umbrellas. Taking into account the +average attendance at the meeting-house, we have come to the serious +conclusion that if every member carried two umbrellas on wet +Sundays, the said umbrellas could be legitimately provided for. It +is not a pleasant thing for a man to carry a couple of umbrellas, +and we believe it has been found very difficult for any one to put +up and use two at the same time; still it is satisfactory to know +that if ever the Friends of Preston decide upon such a course, there +will be plenty of provision for their umbrellas at the meeting +house. + +The inside of the general building is severely plain. There is no +decoration of any description about it, and if the gas pipes running +along the side walls had not a slight Hogarthian line of beauty +touch in their form, everything would look absolutely horizontal and +perpendicular. The seats are plain and strong with open backs. A few +of them have got green cushions running the whole length of the +form. In some small cushions are dotted down here and there for +individual worshippers, who can at any time easily take them up, put +them under their arm, and move from one place to another if they +wish for a change of location. Over the front entrance there is a +gallery, but ordinarily it is empty. There is no pulpit in the +house, and no description of books--neither bibles, nor hymn-books, +nor prayer-books--can be seen anywhere. At the head of the place +there is an elevated strongly-fronted bench, running from one side +to the other, and below it an open form of similar length. The more +matured Quakers and Quakeresses generally gravitate hitherwards. The +males have separate places and so have the females. It is expected +that the former will always direct their steps to the seats on the +right-hand side; that the latter will occupy those on the left; and, +generally, you find them on opposite sides in strict accordance with +this idea. There is nothing to absolutely prevent an enraptured +swain from sitting at the elbow of his love, and basking in the +sunlight of her eyes, nor to stop an elderly man from nestling +peacefully under the wing of his spouse; but it is understood that +they will not do this, and will at least submit to a deed of +separation during hours of worship. In addition to the 70 actual +members of the society there are about 60 persons in Preston who pay +a sort of nominal homage at the shrine of George Fox. + +They have two meetings every Sunday, morning and evening, and one +every Thursday--at half-past ten in the morning during winter +months, and at seven in the evening in summer. The average +attendance at each of the Sunday meetings is about 70. The character +of the services is quite unsettled. Throughout Christendom the rule +in religious edifices is to have a preliminary service, and then a +discourse; in Quaker meeting houses there is no such defined course +of action. Sometimes there is a prayer, then another, then an +"exhortation"--Quakers have no sermons; at other times an +exhortation without any prayer; now and then a prayer without any +exhortation; and occasionally they have neither the one nor the +other--they fall into a state of profound silence, keep +astonishingly quiet ever so long, with their eyes shut, and then +walk out. This is called silent meditation. If a pin drops whilst +this is going on you can hear it and tell in which part of the house +it is lying. You can feel the quietude, see the stillness; it is +"tranquil and herd-like--as in the pasture--'forty feeding like +one;'" it is sadly serene, placidly mysterous, like the +"uncommunicating muteness of fishes;" and you wonder how it is kept +up. To those who believe in solemn reticence--in motionless +communion with the "inner light,"--there is nothing curious in this; +it is, in fact, often a source of high spiritual ecstacy; but to an +unitiated spectator the business looks seriously funny, and its +continuance for any length of time causes the mind of such a one to +run in all kinds of dreadfully ludicrous grooves. + +Quakers don't believe in singing, and have no faith in sacred music +of any kind. Neither the harp, nor the sackbut, nor the psaltery, +nor the dulcimer will they have; neither organs nor bass fiddles +will they countenance; neither vocalists nor instrumentalists, nor +tune forks of any size or weight, will they patronise. They permit +one another to enter and remain in their meeting house with the hat +on or off, and with the hands either in the pockets or out of them. +They have no regular ministers, and allow either men or women to +speak. None, except Quakers and Ranters--the two most extreme +sections of the religious community, so far as quietude and noise +are concerned--permit this; and it is a good thing for the world +that the system is not extended beyond their circles. If women were +allowed to speak at some places of worship they would all be talking +at once--all be growing eloquent, voluble, and strong minded in two +minutes--and an articulative mystification, much more chaotic than +that which once took place at Babel, would ensue. At the meeting +house in Friargate it is taken for granted that on Sundays the +morning service lasts for an hour and a half, and the evening one an +hour and a quarter; but practically the time is regulated by the +feelings of the worshippers--they come and go as they are "moved," +and that is a liberal sort of measure harmonising well with human +nature and its varied requirements. + +We have paid more than one visit to this meeting house. The other +Sunday evening we were there. The congregation at that time numbered +just thirty-two--fifteen men, twelve women, two boys, and three +girls. This was rather a small assemblage for a place which will +hold between 500 and 600 persons; but it might be gratifying to the +shades of its chemistry-loving, cubic-feet-of-air-admiring +designers, for they would at any rate have the lively satisfaction +of knowing that none of the famous 32 would suffer through want of +breathing space. The members of the congregation came in at various +times; four were there at half-past six; the remainder had got +safely seated, in every instance, by ten minutes to seven. All the +males made their appearance with their hats on; some pulled them off +the moment they got seated; two or three seemed to get their +convictions gradually intensified on the subject, and in about ten +minutes came to the conclusion that they could do without their +hats; some who had cast aside their castors at an early period +reinstated them; whilst odd ones kept on their head coverings during +the entire meeting. For 45 minutes, not the least effort in any +lingual direction was made; no one said a word for three-quarters of +an hour. There was a good deal of stirring on the forms, and +creaking sounds were periodically heard; the whole indicating that +the sitting posture had become uneasy, and that the paint, through +warmth, had got tenacious. There was, however, neither talking nor +whispering indulged in. The elderly Quakers, with their broad- +brimmed, substantial hats, and white neckcloths, kept their eyes +closed for a season, then opened them and looked ahead pensively, +then shut them serenely again,--just + +As men of inward light are wont +To turn their optics to upon 't. + +The Quakeresses on the other side followed a similar programme. We +saw only three of them in the olden dress--only three with narrow- +barrelled high crowned bonnets, made of brown silk and garnished +with white silk strings. The younger branches of Quakerdom seemed +more conventional than their ancestors in general dress. There was a +slight dash of antiquity in their style; but their hats and bonnets, +their coats and shawls had evidently been made for ornament as well +as use. Originally Quakers were peculiarly stringent in respect to +the plainness of their clothes; what they wore was always good, +always made out of something which could not be beaten for its +excellence of quality; but it was always simple, always out of the +line of shoddy and bespanglement. But Quakerism is neither +immaculate nor invincible; time is changing its simplicity, its +quaint old fashioned solidity of dress; "civilisation" is quietly +eating away its rigidity; and the day is coming when Quakerism will +don the same suit as the rest of the world. For the first ten +minutes we were in the chapel silence was not to us so much of a +singularity; but when the Town Hall clock struck seven, when the +machinery in the dim steeple of Trinity Church, which adjoins, gave +a slow confirmation of it, and when all the little clocks in the +neighbouring houses--for you could hear them on account of the +general silence--chirped out sharply the same thing, one began to +feel dubious and mystified. But the Quakers took all quietly, and +even the children present sat still. The chime of another hour +quarter came in due order; still there was no sign of action. Two +minutes afterwards, an elderly gentleman, whose eyes had been kept +close during the greater part of the time which had passed, suddenly +leaned forward; the "congregation" followed his example in a crack, +and for ten minutes they prayed, the elderly gentleman leading the +way in a rather high-keyed voice, which he singularly modulated. But +there was not much of "the old Foxian orgasm" manifested by him; he +was serene, did not shake, was not agonised. He finished as he began +without any warning; the general assemblage was seated in a second; +and for seven minutes there was another reign of taciturnity. When +that time had elapsed the same elderly party gave an exhortation, +simple in language, kindly in tone, and free from both bewilderment +and fierceness. Mr. Jesper--the person to whom we have been +alluding--is one of the principal speakers at this meeting house. +His colleague in talking is Mrs. Abbatt, a very worthy lady, who has +often the afflatus upon her, and who can hold forth with a good deal +of earnestness and perspicuity. Although Mr. Jesper and Mrs. Abbatt +do the greatest portion of the talking and praying, others break +through the ring fence of Quakerdom's silence periodically. One +little gentleman has often small outbursts; but he is not very +exhilerating. All the "members" attending the meeting house are very +decorous, respectable, middle-class people--substantial well-pursed +folk, who can afford to be independent, and take life easily--men +and women who dislike shoddy and cant as much as they condemn +spangles and lackered gentility. + +The aggregate of the people connected with the place are calm, +steady-going beings. We have a large respect for Quakerism. Its +professors are made of strong, enduring, practical metal. They never +neglect business for religion, nor religion for business. They +believe in paying their way and in being paid; in moral rectitude +and yard wands not the millionth part of an inch too long; in yea +and nay; in good trade, good purses, good clothes, and good +language; in clear-headed, cool calculations; in cash, discounts, +sobriety, and clean shirts; in calmness and close bargain driving; +in getting as much as they can, in sticking to it a long while, and +yet in behaving well to the poor. The influence of the creed they +profess has made their uprightness and humanity proverbial. Their +home influence has been powerful; their views in the outer world are +becoming more fully realised every day. Nations have smiled +contemptuously at them as they have gone forth on lonely missions of +freedom and peace; but the inner beatings of the world's great heart +today are in favour of liberty of thought and quietness. The Quakers +have been amongst life's pioneers in the long, hard battle for human +freedom and human peace. Quakerism may be a quaint, hat-loving, +silence-revering concern in its meeting-houses; its Uriahs, and +Abimelechs, and Deborahs, and Abigails, may look curious creatures +in their collarless coats and long drawn bonnets; but they belong to +a race of men and women who have kept the lamp of freedom burning; +who have set a higher price upon conscience than gold; who have +struggled to make everything free--the body, the religion, the bread +and butter, and the trade of the nations; who are now by their +doctrines slowly lifting humanity out of the red track of war, and +teaching it how grand a triumph can be made all the world over by +absolute Peace and Honesty. + + + +ST. PETER'S CHURCH. + + + +Upon a high piece of enclosed land, adjoining Fylde-road, stands St. +Peter's Church. Portions of its precincts are covered with +gravestones; the remainder has been "considerably damaged" of late, +according to the belief of one of the churchwardens, by the vicious +scratching of a number of irreverent hens, whose owners will be +prosecuted if they do not look better after them. The other Sunday, +we saw a notice posted at the front of the church relative to the +great hen-scratching question. It is said that some of these tame +and reclaimed birds have penetrated a foot or two into the ground +for the purpose of lying, not laying, therein; and on this account +it is important that their proprietors should look more +(h)energetically after them. The foundation stone of St. Peter's +Church was laid by Mr. Justice Park, one of the old recorders of +Preston, in 1822; Rickman, an able Birmingham architect, designed +the place; and the edifice (sans steeple, which was built in 1852, +out of money left by the late Thomas German, Esq.), was erected at a +cost of 6,900 pounds, provided by the Commissioners for the building +of new churches. St. Peter's has a lofty, commanding appearance. +Learned people say it is built in the florid Gothic style of +architecture, and we are not inclined to dispute their definition. +It has a very churchly look, and if the steeple were at the other +end, it would be equally orthodox. The world, as a rule, fixes its +steeples westward; but St. Peter's, following a few others we could +name, rises in the opposite direction, and, like a good Mussulman, +turns to the East. There is nothing in its graveyard calling for +special comment. Neither monuments nor lofty tombs relieve it. All +round it has a flat dull aspect, and good arrangements have been +made for walking over the tombstones and obliterating their +inscriptions. There are two ways into the church at the western end; +both are near each other; but one has advantages which the other +does not possess. Passing through the larger you immediately face +the pulpit and the congregation; entering by the other you can hang +your harp on several preliminary willows--sit just sideways and hear +what's going on, stay behind the screen until a point arrives when a +move forward can be made without many people catching your "mould of +form," or inquire who's present and who isn't, and glide out if +nothing suitable is observed. + +St. Peter's Church, internally, looks dirty. If cleanliness be next +to godliness, a good cleaning would do it good and improve its +affinities. Whitewash, paint, floorcloths, dusters, wash leathers, +and sundry other articles in the curriculum of scrubbers, +renovators, and purifiers are needed. The walls want mundifying, so +does the ceiling, so do the floors; the Ten Commandments need +improving; the Apostles' Creed isn't plain enough; the spirit of a +time worn grimness requires ostracising from the place. All is +substantial; but there is an ancient unwashed dulness about the +general establishment, which needs transforming into cleanness and +brightness. The pews are high, and on the average they will hold six +persons each. Seven might get into them on a pinch; but if the +number were much extended beyond that point, either abraison or blue +places through violent pressure would be the consequence. Two or +three pews at the top end will hold twelve each; but that apostolic +number is not very often observed in them. The price of a single +sitting in the middle aisle is 10s. per annum; the cost of a side +seat is equal to three civil half-crowns. The long side seats are +free; so are the galleries, excepting that portion of them in front +of the organ. Often the church is not much more than half filled on +a Sunday; but it is said that many sittings, calculated to +accommodate nearly a full congregation, are let. Viewed from the +copperhead standpoint this is right; but taking a higher ground it +would be more satisfactory if even fewer pews were let and more folk +attended. The church is not well arranged for people occupying side +seats. In looking ahead the pillars of the nave constantly intercept +their vision if they care about seeing who is reading or preaching. +Wherever the pulpit were put it would blush unseen, so far as many +are concerned. At present it is fixed on the south-eastern side, and +only about one-fourth of those seated under the galleries can see +either it or the preacher. Some of them at times complain +considerably of sequestration; others feel it a little occasionally; +a few think it a rather snug thing to be out of sight. A large five- +light stained glass window occupies the chancel end; but there is +nothing very entrancing in its appearance. The greater portion of it +has a bright, amber-coloured, monotonous flashiness about it, which +flares the eyes if gazed at long, and makes other things, if looked +at directly afterwards, yellow-hued; and it is surmounted with a +number of minor designs, reminding one of the big oddities in a +mammoth keleidoscope. But the congregation have got used to the +window, and will neither break it nor permit others to do so. Six +spaces for tablet inscriptions occupy the base of the window. Two of +them are blank; two have a great mass of letters packed into them; +and two are but moderately filled in with words. At a distance +nobody can see what is said upon them. It is reported that they +contain the Decalogue and the Apostles' Creed; and if this be so, +the incumbent, the curate, and the clerk must have been the parties +for whose delight they were put up, for they are the nearest to, and +can consequently best read, them. There are the full compliment of +sacred enclosures and resting places at the higher end of the +church--a chair for the ease of the incumbent or curate; a desk for +the prayer reader; a box for the clerk; a lectern for the lesson +reader; and a stout pulpit for the preacher. + +The congregation of St. Peter's Church, as we have said, is small. +We cannot tell whether the collections terrify folk; probably they +do; for it is estimated that there are between 30 and 40 of them +annually, and sometimes they come in an unbroken line for several +Sundays together. A plan like this is enough to make people shy in +their attendance,--is certain to make ordinarily generous beings +cover what they give with their finger ends, or slip their gifts +sharply into the boxes and get them instantly mixed up with the +rest, so that nobody can tell whether they have contributed a simple +copper, a roguish little threepenny piece, or a respectable looking +shilling. There are voluntary contribution boxes at the doors, but +they never get very heavy. Those attending the church are mainly +working people. With the exception of about five, all have to fight +briskly for a living. A greater work has been done outside than +within the church. There are many schools and classes belonging, the +place. In Cold Bath-street there is a large school for girls and +infants, and it is very well attended. In Fylde-road there is a club +for working men, open every day; and on Sundays several of the +"wives and mothers of Britain" attend a class in the same building. +In Brook-street there is a regular day school. On Sunday afternoons +the members of an adult male class meet in it. The average +attendance of these members is about 160, and their ages range from +20 to 70. The district has been well worked up; and there are many +of both sexes in it prepared to either pray or fight for St. +Peter's. + +The music at the church is good. It costs about 30 pounds a year, +and a rather strong effort is sometimes required to raise that sum. +The organist immediately preceding the present one used to play for +nothing; get one or two collections annually for the choir; and make +up out of his own pocket any financial deficiency there might be. +The gentleman who now operates upon the organ, likewise gives his +services gratuitously; he also has collections for the choir; but if +those said collections come short of the sum required, he is +seriously impressed with the idea that the deficiency ought to come +out of other people's purses, and not his. And so it does. The +organist has considerable musical ability; he plays the instrument +in his care with precision; but he throws too much force into its +effusions--believes too much in high pressure--and the general +boiler of its melody may burst some day, kill the blower instantly, +and dash the choir into space. The internal service arrangements at +St. Peter's are worked by an incumbent, a curate, and a clerk. The +last named gentleman has been a long time at his post; he is a dry, +orthodox, careful man; never mistook a three-penny for a fourpenny +piece in his life; doesn't like slippery sixpences; and he gets for +his general services at the church 15 pounds a year. Nobody hardly +ever hears him; the responses of the choir materially swamp the +music of his voice; but his lips move, and that is at least a sign +of life. + +The incumbent is the Rev. D. F. Chapman. He has been at the place a +few years, and receives about 400 pounds a-year for his trouble. Mr. +Chapman is a powerfully-constructed gentleman; is somewhat inclined +to oleaginousness; has contracted a marine swing in his walk; is +heavily clerical in countenance and cloth; believes in keeping his +hair broad at the sides; has a strong will and an enormous opinion +of the incumbent of St. Peter's; will fume if crossed; will crush if +touched; can't be convinced; has his mind made up and rivetted down +on everything; must have his way; thinks every antagonist mistaken; +is washy, windy, ponderous; has a clear notion that each of his +postulates is worth a couple of demonstrations, that all his +theories are tantamount to axioms; and, finally, has quarelled more +with his churchwardens than any other live parson in Preston. He +once fought for weeks, day and night, with a warden as to the +position of a small gas-pipe, because he couldn't get his way about +it. He is well educated, but his erudition is not fairly utilised; +he can read with moderate precision; but there is a lack of +elocutionary finish in his tone; he can talk a long while, and now +and then can say a good thing; he preaches with considerable force, +makes good use of his arms, sometimes rants a little, at intervals +has to pull back his sentences half an inch to get hold of the right +word, talks straight out occasionally, telling the congregation what +they are doing and what they ought to do; but there is much in his +sermons which neither gods nor men will care about digesting, and +there is a theological dogmatism in them which ordinary sinners like +ourselves will never swallow. We are rather inclined to admire the +gentleman who, until lately, officiated as his curate--the Rev. E. +Lee,--and who, after preaching his last sermon, was next day made +the recipient of that most fashionable and threadbare of all things, +a presentation. Originally he indulged in odd pranks, said strange +things, was laughably eccentric, and did for a period appear to be, +in an ecclesiastical sense, what the kangaroo of Artemus Ward was in +a zoological one--"the most amoozin little cuss ever introduced to a +discriminatin public." He has still some of the "amoozin" traits +about him; but during his curacy in St. Peters district he showed +that he could work hard, visit often, look after the poor, be +generous, get up good classes, and never tire of his duty. His +salary was about 120 pounds a year, and he was benevolent with it. +He has a stronger pair of lungs than any parson in Preston, and he +can use them longer than most men without feeling tired. His sermons +are of a practical type; he believes largely in telling people what +he thinks; and never hesitates to hit rich and poor alike in his +discourses. He has been transplanted to the Parish Church, and he +will stir up a few of the respectable otiose souls there if he has +an opportunity. There is a good deal of swagger about him; he +believes in carry a stick and turning it; in admiring himself and +letting other people know that he is of a cypher; there is much +conceit and ever so much bombast about him; he likes giving +historical lectures; thinks he is an authority on everything +appertaining to Elizabeth, Mary, the Prince of Orange, &c.; is fond +of attacking Bishop Goss, and getting into a groove of garrulous +declamation concerning Papists; still he is a determined worker, has +been a laborious curate, has troubled himself more than many people +in looking after those whom parsons are so fond of calling sinners +and so indifferent about visiting. He was well liked in St. Peter's +district, and we hope that in the new one he has gone to he will +gather friends, increase his usefulness, get married, and give fewer +polemical lectures. + + + +NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH. + + + +De gustibus non est applies with as much force to religious as to +secular life. People's tastes will differ; you can no more account +for them in church-naming than in kissing or child-christening; and +that being so, let no pious piece of perfection dispute with the New +Jerusalem brethren as to their spiritual gustation. If a man were +virtuously inclined to pirate in his religious nomenclature the +oddities of old Carey, who coined that finely flowing word +"aldeborontiphoscophornio," which is only a line ahead of that other +stately polysyllable "chrononhotonthologos," why let him do so, for +somebody with more madness or wisdom than yourself will some day end +or mend him. Let every man have his "cogibundity of cogitation," and +let people suit themselves about the names of their churches. +Swedenborgians is the name commonly given to those who belong to +"the New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation." +They might have cut it shorter to be sure; and they might have had a +less mystical but certainly not a cleverer man for their founder +than the Swedish Emanuel. No modern ever knew half so much, or knew +it so oddly, as Swedenborg; and no one ever wrote so immensely on +questions so varied and intractable. He knew something about +everything, from toe nails to the differential and integral +calculus, from iron smelting to star cycles, and in reading his +works you might almost fancy, so familiar does he appear to be with +spirits, that he had a quotidian nod from Michael and a daily "How +are you, old boy?" from Gabriel. Emerson does well when he puts him +down as the representative man of mystery; and when he calls him the +mastodon and missourian of literature, he will have the concurrence +of all unbiased scholars. + +There are about 70 persons in Preston who care vitally for that +ideal Church which St. John saw in Patmos--if New Jerusalemism, as +delineated by the followers of Swedenborg, is its symbol. Only about +70 are connected as "members" with its physical temple in Avenham- +road. More may be in embryo; several maybe hanging on the skirts of +conviction, ready for a goodly plunge into reality; but that is the +number of mortals at present associated with the "New Church +signified by the New Jerusalem," in Preston. All of them are +earnest, the bulk are conscientious, and on that account entitled to +respect. About a quarter of a century ago, a few sincere +Swedenborgians met in an office down Cannon-street, which is now +used as a gilding room by a modern Revivalist. They pushed "the +cause" with a fair amount of energy, and increased, though by slow +degrees, the number of their members. During the period of their +spiritual exercises here, the late Mr. Hugh Becconsall, a calm, +benevolent-hearted man, got associated with them, and this was the +means of bringing into fuller life the principles of Swedenborg in +Preston. Mr. Becconsall's thoughts were quickened and changed by +them; he became a devoted and sincere believer in the new Church; +attended its meetings in Cannon-street; was impressed with the idea +that better accomodation was required for them; and finally decided +to build out of his own pocket, and endow from the same source, a +new church in Avenham-road. It was estimated that the cost of the +church would be 1000 pounds, which Mr. Becconsall willingly agreed +to pay; but religion has no aegis against "extras"--they will creep +in, are irrepressible; and, in accordance with this fatal +philosophy, the church in Avenham-road cost in the end nearly 2000 +pounds, which he paid without even grumbling--a privilege all +Englishmen have the right to exercise freely after they have paid +the piper well. The foundation stone was laid in 1843, very soon +after which the Rev. James Bonwell, curate of Trinity Church, +Preston, made a virulent attack upon Swedenborgianism and its +followers. This gentleman, who was subsequently unrobed for +immorality, charged both the ministers of the New Church party and +all who listened to them, with the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and +Abiram, and uttered language implying a wish that the earth would +open its mouth and swallow them up. The Rev. Augustus Clissold, +M.A., formerly collegian at Oxford, who is the only profound scholar +in England belonging to the New Church sect, ably answered him. +There are many smart polemics but very few great scholars in the +sect referred to. Twenty-five years ago New Jerusalem Church, in +Avenham-road, was opened, and the believers in it increased for some +time afterwards. Anything new is fashionable, and a new church +always gives an impetus to the number of its worshipers. Those +assembling at the church created much curiosity, and not a little +cynical criticism, at first. They even do so now. Ordinarily +orthodox people look down censoriously upon believers in "the New +Jerusalem," and class them as a mysterious, visionary sect of +religionists, given up to dreams, pious eccentricity, and self- +righteousness. But they have, like other individuals, a reason for +their belief; if it is madness there is method in it; and they are +prepared to "argue the point," and make a respectable disturbance if +their creed is assailed. + +We shall not criticise their belief--neither praise nor condemn it-- +but just give its chief points for the benefit of unknowing ones. +Here they are: they believe in a trinity, not of persons but +essentials--love, wisdom, and power; they do not believe in the +doctrine of faith alone, but of faith conjoined with good works; +they do not believe in a vicarious atonement, but in a +reconciliation of man to God; they don't believe in a resurrection +of the material body, but a resuscitation of the spirit immediately +after physical death; they don't believe in a physical destruction +of the world by fire, but think that the world as it is now created +will continue to exist--for ever; they have no faith in the Noachian +deluge, and say that the sacred record of it refers to an inundation +of evil and not of water; finally they believe that there will be +marriages in heaven,--not wedding ring unions, not kissing, +courting, and quarrelling amalgamations, but conjunctions of +goodness with truth; and they have further an idea that there will +be "prolifications" in heaven, not of crying children with passions +for sucking bottles and sugar teats, but of truth and goodness. +Swedenborg, by whom they swear, believed in three heavens and three +hells; they have a similar idea, and fancy that common place +sinners, who think one heaven will meet all their requirements, and +that one hell will be too much for their nerves, are wrong. + +New Jerusalem Church, in Preston, has a Sunday school beneath it--a +place obtained partly on the celestial and partly on the Irish +principle--by heightening the roof and lowering the foundations. The +school is pretty well managed; but its scholars are not numerous; +they number between 60 and 70, and there is no immediate prospect of +an increase. The endowment of the late Mr. Hugh Becconsall realises +100 pounds a-year for the minister--the Rev. E. D. Rendell, who has +been at the church ever since its opening; and the investment of a +sum of money by the late Mr. John Becconsall, of Ashton, who was a +great believer in Swedenborgianism, brings in on his behalf 50 +pounds more. The minister once had a "call" to Accrington, where the +doctrines of the New Church obtain a very large number of admirers, +and in consequence of that call, which necessarily implied a better +salary, as well as a wider sphere of action, five 10 pounds notes +were added to his stipend here. He was appeased by those said notes. +Mr. Rendell also lives rent free in a house adjoining and belonging +to the church. Its situation renders the house very convenient; but +a position more distant would not have been very harrowing if +freedom from rent had accompanied its tenancy. + +The Church is built of stone, and has a neat appearance, but the +approach to it is not very good. You have to mount a small flight of +steps to get to it, and their gradient is so acute that if you +should fall on them you would never proceed onward, nor lie still, +but wend your way in a rolling manner to the bottom. Internally the +church is one of the prettiest in Preston. It is not large; we don't +suppose it will accommodate more than about 250; but it is +peculiarly neat and pleasing. The walls are painted and slightly +ornamented; the windows are toned a little and bordered with +elegant, well-finished designs; the chancel is fronted with a gothic +arch painted in marble pattern and edged with gold; beyond there is +a circular window, stained in bright colours. At each end there is a +gallery--one which apparently contains nothing, whilst the other is +devoted to the choir. At one side of the chancel arch there is a +reading desk, which looks piously at a pulpit, made just like it, on +the opposite side. Few churches have windows in the roof; but this +has about four--at least they are circular lights, and, in +conjunction with the side windows, make the place very bright and +cheerful. At the bass of the chancel, beneath the gallery, and +behind the communion table, there are several paintings, some, if +not all, of which were executed by the minister, who has rather +vivid artistic conceptions. In the centre there is an open Bible, +and on each side the Decalogue, or something to that effect, for the +letters, although in gold, can't be seen very clearly at a distance. +Flanking these are sacred figures, which are too small to be +attractive at a greater distance than six yards. But in their +aggregate the representations look well, and they give a good finish +to the chancel. The seats are of various sizes; some will hold three +persons, others four, and a few about six. + +The church is not well attended; hardly half of it is occupied +except upon special occasions. At present it appears to be a little +better patronised than formerly; but even now the congregation is +comparatively thin, and there will be no necessity for some time to +do anything in the shape of enlarging the building. If anything is +effected in this way during the present century one of two things +will certainly have to happen--either three times as many as those +now attending it will have to solicit admission, or those actually +visiting it will have to grow three times as stout in their +physiology. They are a quiet, pious-looking class of people who +frequent the church. They may, like their great apostle, have +seasons of inner rapture, and like him revel in the mysteries of the +Arcana Coelestia, but if so they keep the thing very subdued. They +never scream nor shout about anything, and would refuse to do so if +you asked them. Many of them are elderly people, with decorous +countenances; all of them, whether old or young, believe in good +suits; very few of them are wealthy; none of them seem very poor. +Calmness, with a disposition to find you a seat any time, and +provide you with books, characterises them. They have fixed +services, embracing prayers, lessons, psalms, hymns, and chants. +They have an excellent organ, which was given to the place by Mrs. +Becconsall; and their music is "ever so fair." Their services, on +Sundays, are held in the morning and evening, and they can get to +the latter much easier and in much better time than to the former. + +Once a month there is an afternoon instead of an evening service, +the minister having to officiate for a few of the followers of +Swedenborg at Blackburn, who can't afford to pay, or won't get, or +don't want, a regular expounder of their views. Mr. Rendell is a +rather learnedly-solemn kind of gentleman. Originally he was a +painter; but he had a greater passion for polemics than brushes, and +was eventually recommended to, and admitted into "the Church" as a +minister. He reads the scriptures and prays in black kid cloves, but +he shows the natural colour of his hands when preaching. While +conducting the preliminary service he wears a white surplice; in the +pulpit he has a black gown. He looks very sacerdotal, coldly- +clerical, singularly-sad in each place. His voice is deep toned and +has a melancholy authoritative ring in it. He is fond of making +critical allusions in his sermons; and is rather lengthy in his +talk. Some of the old Puritans used to get to a "nineteenthly point" +in their discourses, but Mr. Rendell has not reached that numeric +climax. He can occasionally get to a fifth point, and then subdivide +it, before giving that final "word of advice" which parsons are so +enamoured of; but he never branches out beyond this stage. His style +of preaching is easy; but it is very solemn. Occasionally he pushes +a little Latin into his discourses and at intervals be graces them +with morsels of Greek. He can be practical sometimes; can say a wise +and generous thing at intervals; but he is often very mysterious, +and has a large reverence for that which very few people can get at- +-"the spiritual sense." Mr. Rendell is an author as well as a +preacher; he has dived into anti-diluvian history, and has tried to +bring up mystic treasures from the post-diluvian period. +Furthermore, he has written a prize essay on "The Last Judgment." +And in addition to everything he is the editor of "The Juvenile +Magazine;" but the salary is only poor. Still he may console himself +with the thought that he gets as much for his annual services on +behalf of modern juveniles as Milton did for his Paradise Lost on +behalf of all posterity--a clear 5 pounds note. He has a sharp eye +in his head, and there is an aristocratic reverentialness in his +look. Learned he is in some things; but we are afraid he is too +profound and sad. He has a good analytical faculty, and is a very +fair polemical writer; but he is very solemn in tone--very serious, +too wise-looking, and phlegmatic. His style of speaking has the ring +of earnestness in it; and his delivery is accompanied with a +tolerable amount of activity. If he were a little more buoyant, if +he could put on a less learned and more cheerful look, and would not +got so very grave in his style, he would be better relished. +Polemically, he has done fair service for the denomination to which +he belongs--done it sometimes in spite of Lily, and Linacre, and +their descendants; and if he is not immaculate, he has at least the +satisfaction of knowing that nobody else is, and never will be until +they reach the real New Jerusalem. + + + +TRINITY CHURCH. + + + +In a part of the town pre-eminently dim, intricate, and populous +stands "The Church of the Holy Trinity." Father Time and the smoke +of twice five hundred chimneys have darkened its fabric, and +transmuted its chiselled stone walls into a dull pile of masonry. +But it is a beautiful church for all that. If the exterior has been +carbonised and begrimed, the interior has enjoyed a charmed life, +and is apparently as young today as it was on "Friday, the eighth of +December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and +fifteen," when "George H. Chester" consecrated the building and all +thereunto belonging. The first stone of this church was laid on the +4th of June, 1814--the natal anniversary of George III--by Sir Henry +Philip Hoghton, of Hoghton, the lay rector and patron of the parish +of Preston. Under that first stone there were deposited a number of +coins, two scrolls, and one newspaper--the Preston Chronicle. The +first minister of Trinity Church was the Rev. Edward Law, a +gentleman, who, according to a local historian, "ably defended the +belief of the adorable Trinity in a series of letters, assisted by +the Rev. R. Baxter, of Stonyhurst, against a Unitarian minister, the +Rev. T. C. Holland, which appeared in the Preston Chronicle," and +were subsequently reprinted and sold for the enlightenment and +mystification of all polemically-minded men. Trinity Church is built +on a plot of ground once called Patten Field. Moderns know little, +if anything, of that field; but Patten-street--a delicious +thoroughfare proximately fronting the church--still remains as a +lingering topographical reminder of olden days. There were few +houses in the region of Patten Field when Trinity Church was built: +pastures were its colleagues, and patches of greensward its regular +companions. But things have changed since then, and a mile of +houses, stretching northward, and westward, and eastward now fills +up the ancient hiatus. Trinity Church cost 9,080 pounds 9s. 3d., and +that sum was raised partly by subscriptions and donations and partly +by the sale of pews. Who gave the ultimate threepence we cannot +tell, neither are we told in what way it was expended. + +The architecture of the building is Gothic. There is nothing very +striking about the exterior; indeed it looks cold, and sad, and +forsaken, and its associations don't improve it. The church is built +upon a hill, and, therefore, can't be hid. Its approaches may have +been good at one time; its environs may have been aristocratic and +healthy in 1814, but they are not so now. Smoky workshops, old +buildings, with the windows awfully smashed in, houses given up to +"lodgings for travellers here," densely packed dingy cottages, and +the tower of a wind mill, which for years nobody has been willing to +either mend or pull down, are its architectural concomitants. The +approaches to the church are varied and aggravatingly awkward. You +can get to the church from any point of the compass, but access to +it may mean anything--perhaps, a wandering up courts and passages, a +turning round the corners of old narrow streets, an unsavoury +acquaintance with the regions of trampery, and an uncomfortable +perambulation along corn-torturing causeways and clumsily paved +roads. Pigeon flyers, dog fanciers, gossipping vagrants, crying +children, old iron, stray hens, women with a passion for sitting on +door steps, men looking at nothing with their hands in their +pockets, ancient rags pushed into broken windows, and the mirage of +perhaps one policeman on duty constitute the sights in the +neighbourhood. The church-yard, which contains several substantial +tombs and monuments, is in a decent state of preservation. It looks +grave as all such places must do; but it is kept in order, and men +of the Hervey type of mind might meditate very beneficially amongst +its tombs. Trinity may not be the longest, but it is certainly about +the widest, church in the town. It is neither a high nor a low, but +an absolutely broad church. + +Internally it is excellent. On entering the place you are perfectly +surprised at its capaciousness. Nothing cramped, nothing showy, +nothing dim, grim, nor shabby-genteel enters into its proportions. +It is finely expansive, airy, light, and well made. Goodness of +build without gaudiness, sanctity without sadness, and evenness of +finish without new-fangled intricacy, pervade it. It is fit for +either beggars or plutocrats. There is not a better, not a plainer, +neater, nor more respectable looking church in the town. And there +is not a cleaner. Some of our churches have for years been +cultivating a close and irreligious acquaintance with dirt--with +dust, cobwebs, mould, and other ancient kinds of mild nastiness; but +Trinity Church is a model of cleanliness. Everything in it seems +clean--the windows, pews, cushions, mats, floors, &c., are all +clean; there is even an air of cleanliness about the sweeping +brushes and the venerable dust bin. The church has accomodation for +about 1,400 persons of ordinary proportions. The seats are +constructed on comfortable principles, and that very traditional +article--green baize--plays an important and goodly part in them. At +the top and bottom of the middle range, on the ground floor, the +seats are of various shapes--some narrow, some broad, a few oblong, +and others inclining to the orthodox square. The central ones are +regular, and so are those at the sides. In the galleries there is a +slight irregularity of shape in the seats; but they are all +substantial, and the bulk easy. There are 46 free pews or benches in +the church. They run along the sides on the ground floor, and will +accommodate nearly 280 persons. All the other seats, excepting about +two, were sold to various parties at the time the church was opened- +-not for any fixed price all round, but for just as much as the +trustees could get. Many were bought by high-class local families, +and the names of several of the original and present proprietors-- +inscribed on small brass plates--may now be seen on the front sides. +Fifty of the pews have ground rents, amounting respectively to 1 +pounds a year, attached to them. Several of the pews are let, the +owners caring little for them, or having removed to other towns; +many have been re-sold at intervals; and three have been forfeited +through their proprietors having neglected to pay certain trifling +rates laid upon them. The pews have deteriorated much in price. Once +upon a time, when nearly all the fashionable families of Preston +went to Trinity Church, neither Platonic love nor current coin could +secure a pew. It was a la mode in its most respectable sense, it was +Sabbatical ton in its genteelest form, to have and to hold a pew at +Holy Trinity when George the Third was king. And for a considerable +period afterwards this continued to be the case. The "exact thing" +on a Sunday in Preston, 40 nay 20 years ago, was to own a pew at +Trinity Church, to walk up to it, and to sit therein: it was +superior to every modern process, and beat "Walking in the Zoo" and +all that species of delightful work hollow. Pews were then worth +something; they are now worth little. Only the other week a pew, +originally bought for about 70 pounds, was sold by auction for 8 +pounds! And it is said that some proprietors would not be very +unwilling to give a pew or two now, if nicely asked, just to get out +of the ratepaying clauses. + +Trinity Church has a plain, yet pleasing, chancel. It is neat and +good, simple yet well-proportioned and elegant. The chancel window +is but sparingly stained; still it has a tasteful and rather stately +appearance. Amber is the most prominent colour in it, and loyalty +the principal virtue represented on it. There are a few small +emblematic-looking characters towards the base, which few can make +out; but everybody can see and understand the rather large English +outburst of loyalty surmounting the window. The display consists of +the Royal arms, well and broadly defined, with a crown above them, +and a lion above all. This speaks well for the lion, which ought to +be satisfied. Plain Gothic-bordered tablets, with a central +monogram, occupy the wall below the window. They have a good effect, +and give a somewhat artistic richness to the chancel. Within and at +each end of the communion rails there is a fine old oak chair. Both +are beautifully carved and are valuable. The reading-desk and the +pulpit are placed opposite each other, and at the sides of the +chancel. They are very tall, but altitude rather improves than +diminishes their appearance. They are well made, are fashioned of +dark oak, and have carved Gothic canopies. We have seen nothing so +tall nor so respectable-looking in the arena of virtuous rostrumdom +for a long period. On each side of the pulpit-desk there is a small +circular hole, and those said holes have a history. "What are they +used for?" said we one day, whilst in the pulpit, to a friend near +us. "For?" said the sagacious party, "they are for nothing;" and +then followed a history which we thus summarise for the benefit of +parsons in general:- A few years ago a gentleman with a red-hot dash +of Hibernian blood in his veins was the curate here. When he came, +the stands of two gas lights were fixed in the holes named; but one +Sunday, when wilder than usual, he gave the bottom of the right-hand +stand a vehement beating, smashed his ring in the encounter, and +frightened the incumbent, who, being apprehensive as to the fate of +the two stands and their globes, had them shifted further back and +more out of the curate's reach. They were in imminent peril every +minute, and a change was really necessary. + +Not many years ago--plenty of people can remember it--the +congregation of Trinity Church was both large and influential. The +elements of influence and the representatives of wealth may still be +seen in it; but few and far between are the worshippers. Pews may be +owned, seats may be taken, few sittings may be to let, but where are +the worshippers? What a pity it is, that a church of proportions so +goodly, an edifice with accomodation so capacious, a building with +arrangements so substantial and excellent should be deserted in a +manner so absolute? A screw of large dimensions is loose somewhere. +The population of the district seems great--dense; many of the +people round about the church stand singularly in need of entire +acres of virtue, some of them are thorough-going heathens, and think +heathenism a rather jolly thing at times. And yet this most +excellent church is comparatively empty--desolate--reminding one +painfully of Ossian's picture of Balclutha's walls. The congregation +of Trinity Church is better than it was a few years ago, but it is +still lamentably, small. There is often "a beggarly account of empty +boxes"--a great deal of nothing in the church, and how to remedy +this defect is a problem. The present congregation consists of a +very moderate number of middle class people, a few elderly well-to- +do individuals, a thin scattering of poor folk, and a small body of +Sunday school scholars. The Recorder of Preston, who has been +connected with the management of the church since the time it was +opened, attends regularly when health permits: Trinity Church is, +of course, in the hands of trustees, and as people of an inquiring +turn of mind sometimes wonder who they are we will give their names. +Here are the trustees: Mr. T. B. Addison, Mr. John Cooper, Mr. +Thos. Walmsley, Mr. John Swainson, Mr. John Bickerstaffe, Mr. Thomas +Houlker, and Mr. Isaac Gate. The present churchwardens are Mr. W. +Fort and Mr. W. H. Smith, and they have discharged their duties-- +looked after the church, kept it clean, preserved its order--in +thoroughly commendable style. Testimonials are due for their +services. + +The music at Trinity Church has for a considerable period been a +troublesome, irregular, unsatisfactory thing. Years ago it was fine; +there was full cathedral service in the church then; and the +orchestral performances were attractive. But dullness and poorness +are now their characteristics. The organ is one of the best in the +town; its tones are fine and musical; it could perhaps be improved +in one or two particulars; but everything in it is good as far as it +goes. The tunes, however, which come from it are of a very ordinary +character. Some of them may be tasteful; but the bulk seem weak and +wearisome--lack fine-flowing harmony, and can neither be joined in +nor appreciated by many parties. The members of the choir are not a +very lustrous class of vocalists; but they do their best, and appear +to fight through the musical fog surrounding them very patiently. We +believe the tunes are selected by the incumbent. If so, let us hope +that he will see the propriety of recognising something a little +brisker and more classical--something rather livelier and more +popularly relishable. Many clergymen simply select the hymns and +leave the music to the choir: the incumbent might try this plan as +an experiment. Squabbling about music, carping, and fighting, and +biting about it, have in the past done much harm to Trinity Church. +There is more peace now than there used to be amongst the singers; +but there will never be very much contentment, and never much +harmony of music, until they are permitted to moderately follow the +custom of other places--to swim with the tide--and have a reasonable +share of their own way. Singers can, as a rule, quarrel enough among +themselves when in the enjoyment of the fullest privileges; and +interference with their services, if they are really worth anything, +only makes them more ill-natured, angular, and combative. They are +awkward people to deal with, and have strange likings for "hot +water." + +The minister of Trinity Church is the Rev. J. T. Brown, and his +salary amounts to about 300 pounds a year. He was christened at the +place; was in after years curate of it; and is now its incumbent. +About two years ago, when he came to the church in the last-named +capacity, the congregation was wretchedly thin--awfully scarce, and +just on the borders of invisibility. It has since improved a little; +but working up a forsaken place into real activity is a difficult +task, which at times staggers the ablest of men. Mr. Brown is a +scholar, and a thoroughly upright man. He believes not in fighting +down other people's creeds; never rails against religious +antagonists; has a natural dislike to platform bigotry and pulpit +wrathfulness; is generously inclined; will give but not lend; +objects to everything in the shape of loud clerical display; is +strongly evangelical in his tastes; is exact, and calm, and orderly, +even to the cut of his whiskers; won't be brought out and exhibited; +doesn't care about seeing other people make exhibitions; and thinks +every minister should mind his own business, and leave other people +alone. But he is far too good for a parson. A gentle melancholy +seems to have got hold of him. He always preaches sincerely; a quiet +spirit of simple unadorned, piety pervades his remarks--but he +depresses you too much; and is rather predisposed to a calm mournful +consideration of the great sulphur question. He never gets into a +lurid passion, never horrifies, but calmly saddens you, in his +discourses. He is fond of quoting good old Richard Baxter and John +Banyan, and he might have worse authorities. But he is very serious, +and his words sometimes chill like a condensation of Young's "Night +Thoughts." If he had more dash and blithesomeness in him, if he +could fling a little more of this world's logic into his sermons, if +he would periodically blow his own trumpet very audibly, and make a +smart "spread" now and then, he would gather force. The best of +things will sink if there be not some noise and show made about +them. If Mr. Brown knew the "Holloway's Pills and Ointment" theory +better than he does, he would have a fuller congregation; but he is +too honest and too good for superficial emblazonry, and he believes +in quietness. + +Trinity Church has some excellent schools for boys, girls, and +infants. The attendance is only poor; but it is better than it was. +The boys' school is improving; that of the girls is also recruiting +the strength it lost last Whitsuntide but one, when a number of its +attendants left in a body because Mr. Brown objected to a display of +orange and blue ribbons which they were senselessly enamoured of; +and with respect to the infants they are regularly growing in size +if not in numbers. Mrs. Brown, wife of the incumbent, not only +industriously visits the district, like a genuine Christian lady as +she is, but teaches in the girls school, and at intervals when at +church--here is an example for parsons' wives--looks after a number +of the scholars personally, whilst her own servants are quietly +occupying the family pew. We could like to see both the church and +the schools of Mr. Brown full; he has our best wishes in this +respect; and we hope he may find some talisman by which the +difficulty will be satisfactorily solved. + + + +LANCASTER-ROAD CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL. + + + +Preston Congregationalism is a very good, a very respectable, and a +very quarrelsome creature. It is liberal but gingerly; has a large +regard for freedom, but will quarrel if crossed; can achieve +commendable triumphs in the regions of peace, but likes a +conscientious disturbance at intervals; believes in the power of +union, but acts as if a split were occasionally essential; will +nurse its own children well when they are quiet, but recognises the +virtues of a shake if uneasiness supervenes; respects its ministers +much, but will order them to move on if they fret its epidermis too +acutely; can pray well, work well, fight well; and from its +antagonisms can distil benefits. About nine years since, a sacred +stirring of heads, a sharp moving of tongues, and a lively up- +heaving of bristles took place at Cannon-street Congregational +Chapel, in this town. The result of the dispute involved, amongst +other things, a separation--a clear marching from the place of +several parties who, whether rightly or wrongly, matters not now, +felt themselves aggrieved. They did not leave the chapel in +processional order, neither did they throw stones and then run, when +they took their departure. The process of evaporation was quiet and +orderly. For 12 months the seceders worshipped on their own account, +in accordance with the principles of Congregationalism, at the +Institution, Avenham, and whilst there they gathered strength. In +the meantime they negotiated for land upon which to build a new +chapel and schools; and finally they purchased a site on the higher +side of the Orchard, contiguous to the old Vicarage--a rare piece of +antique, rubbishy ruin in these days--and very near, if not actually +upon, ground which once formed the garden of the famous Isaac +Ambrose, who was Vicar of Preston in 1650, and afterwards ejected; +with many more in the land, on account of his religious opinions. +Thinking it good to harmonise with that ancient wisdom which +recommends people to carry the calf before beginning with the cow, +the new band of Congregationalists under notice, commenced +operations on the site named by erecting a large school room in +which for about a year they worshipped. In due time they got the +chapel built, and for about seven years it has been open. + +Its position is prominent; but its associations, like those of the +generality of sacred edifices, has a special bearing upon the world +we live in. Above it there is a portion of the old vicarage +buildings, graced in front with various articles, the most prominent +being a string of delapidated red jackets; right facing it we have +the sable Smithsonian Institute, flanked with that gay and festive +lion which is for ever running and never stirring; below there are +classic establishments for rifle-shooting, likeness taking, and hot +pea revelling; and ahead there is the police station. The chapel +stands well, occupies high and commanding ground, and looks rather +stately. Its exterior design is good; and if the stone of its facade +had been of a better quality--had contained fewer flaws and been +more closely jointed--it would have merited one of our best +architectural bows. The chapel and school, and the land upon which +they are erected, cost 7,000 pounds, and about 1,000 pounds of that +sum remains to be paid. This is not bad. Considering the brevity of +their existence and the severe times they have had to pass through, +the Lancaster-road Congregationalists must have worked hard and put +a very vigorous Christian screw into operation to reduce their debt +so rapidly. + +The inside of the chapel is plain, very neat, and quite genteel. We +have seen no Congregational place of worship in this part equal to +it in ease and elegance of design. It is amphi-theatrical, is +galleried three quarters round, and derives the bulk of its beauty-- +not from ornament, not from rich artistic hues, nor rare mouldings, +nor exquisite carvings, but from its quiet harmony of arrangement, +its simple gracefulness of form, its close adherence in outline and +detail to the laws of symmetry and proportion. The circular style +prevails most in it, and how to make everything round or half-round +seems to have been the supreme job of the designer. The gallery +above, the seats below, the platform, the pulpit on which it stands, +the chairs behind, the orchestra and its canopy, the window-heads, +the surmountings of the entrance screen, the gas pendants, and +scores of other things, have all a strong fondness for circularity; +and the same predilection is manifested outside; the large lamps +there being quite round and fixed upon circular columns. The pews in +the chapel are very strong, have receding backs, and make sitting in +them rather a pleasing, easy, contented affair. The highest price +for a single seat is 3s. 6d. per quarter; the lowest 1s. There are a +few free sittings in the place, and although they may seem a long +way back--being at the rear of the gallery--their position is not to +be despised. They are not so far distant as to render hearing +difficult; and they obviate that unseemly publicity which is given +to poor people in some places of worship. How to give the poorest +and hungriest folk a very good seat in a very prominent place--how +to herd them together and piously pen them up in some particular +place where everybody can see them--appears to be an object in many +religious edifices. But that is a piece of benevolent shabbiness +which must come to grief some day. In the meantime, and until the +period arrives when honest poverty will be considered no crime, and +when a seat next to a poor man will be thought nothing vulgar, or +contaminating, whilst worshipping before Him who cares for souls not +lucre, hearts not wealth, let the poor be put in some place where +they can hear fairly without being unduly exhibited. The chapel we +are noticing has a spacious appearance within, and has none of that +depressing dulness which makes some people very sad long before they +have been ministerially operated upon. From side windows there comes +a good light; and from the roof, which has a central transparency, +additional clearness is obtained. The light from the ceiling would +be improved if the glass it were kept a little cleaner. + +The congregation is neither a very large nor a particularly small +one. It is fairly medium--might be worse, and would in no way be +hurt if it were enlarged. The "members" number about 120, and they +are just about as good as the rest of mortals, who have "made their +calling and election sure." The congregation consists almost +entirely of middle and working class people. There is not so much of +that high, gassy pride, that fine mezzotinto, isolated hauteur and +self-righteousness in the place which may be seen in some chapels. +Of course, particles of vanity, morsels of straight-lacedness, +lively little bits of cantankerousness, and odd manifestations of +first person pronoun worship periodically crop up; but altogether +the congregation has a quiet, unassuming, friendly disposition. +Nobody in it appears to be very much better or worse than yourself; +there is an evenness of tone and a sociality of feeling in the spot; +and a stranger can enter it without being violently stared at, and +can sit down without feeling that his room is nearly if not quite as +good as his company. The music is fairly congregational; individuals +in various parts of the chapel have sufficient courage to sing; and +the choir is moderately harmonious; but the melody one hears in the +place is rather flat and meagre; it lacks instrumental relief; and +it will never be really up to the mark until an organ is obtained. + +The first regular minister of this chapel was the Rev. G. W. +Clapham; he was connected with it for some years; then had a +"difficulty" with certain parties--deacons amongst the rest, of +course; and afterwards left the place, uttering, in a quiet +Shaksperian tone, as he departed, "Now mark how I will undo myself:" +He threw to the winds his Congregationalism, and a few months ago +joined, in due clerical order, the Church of England. The present +pastor of Lancaster-road Congregational Chapel is the Rev. E. +Bolton. The "church" tried the merits of about 30 ministers before +making a selection. The height, depth, weight, tone of voice, +matter, manner, theology, brains, and spirit of that band of 30 were +duly weighed, and finally, Mr. Bolton was picked out. A salary of +300 pounds was offered him. He might have got other places, and if +he had followed the clerical wisdom of his generation he would have +tried to secure one of them; for they all, more or less, implied a +better salary than that which the Preston people offered him. But he +fixed upon Preston just because he fancied more good might be done +therein than elsewhere. A trick like this--a generosity so distinct +as this--is a real oasis in the ecclesiastical desert. Few parsons +would imitate it. How to get the biggest salary, and lug in the +"will of the Lord" as an excuse for changing to some locality where +it could be snugly got, is the question which many pious men seem +desirous of solving. Mr. Bolton has different ideas, and finds some +compensation in goodness achieved as well as in money pocketed. He +has been at Lancaster-road Chapel three months, and, unlike many new +parsons, he had more sense than preach his best sermons first--than +make a grand pyrotechnic dash at the onset and settle down into a +round of prating mediocrity afterwards. When tried he gave the +people a fair average specimen of what he could do--did not say his +best nor his commonest things; began with a fire which he could keep +up; and the result is not disappointment, but an increasing relish. + +Mr. Bolton is a plain, dark-complexioned, clear-headed man--rather +clerical in look; well-built; married; about 38 years of age; fond +of a billycock; teetotal, but averse to drowning other people with +water; doesn't think it sinful to smoke just one pipe of tobacco +after he has done a day's work; had rather visit poor than rich +people; dislikes namby-pambying and making a greater fuss over high +than low class members of his church; thinks that those in poverty +need most looking after, and that those with good homes and decent +purses should try to look a little after themselves; believes in +working hard; cares precious little for deacons--we rather like +that, for deacons are queer birds to encounter; is original in +thought, fairly up in theology, and straightforward in language. It +is rather a treat to see him preach. He does not, like the bulk of +parsons, solemnly work out all his divinity in the pulpit: +preaching is not a sad, up and down, air-sawing, monotonous thing +with him; he steps out of the sacred box when his feelings begin to +warm up, moves to one side of it, then round the back of it, and +then to the other side of it; talks to you and not at you; is quite +conversational in style, and ignores everything conventional and +stereotyped in manner. He exercises his lungs with considerable +force at times; but he never tears nor disturbs the circumambient +air with religious agony. It is as pleasant to hear as to see him. +Good sound sense, neatly adjusted argument, newness of thought, and +clear illustration characterise his expressions. He is liberal and +independent in tone; speaks easily, and if he now and then wanders a +little he always returns to the question with vigour, and freshness. +He has no written sermons; a few notes are sufficient for him; he +does not believe in long discourses; he has an idea that it is +better to say a little and let it be well understood than float into +immensity, let off fireworks there, and dumfounder everybody. But he +has his faults. He has quite as much confidence in himself as is +requisite for the present. He is rather too impervious and too +oracular; but then who would not be if they had the chance? We like +him well on the whole, and as he is new amongst us, it is but right +that we should deliver him with charity. Adjoining the chapel there +are many class-rooms, and a fine school. Boys, girls, and infants +are accommodated in them. The average Sunday attendance is about +200. We believe Mr. Bolton will add numeric strength to both the +chapel and schools. And if he does, let no one make the least +conceivable noise, for there is room enough for all in Preston. The +town isn't a quarter as virtuous as it should be; the bulk of us are +scarcely half as good as we ought to be; and if anybody can do any +good in any way let it be done without a single whimper. + + + +SAUL-STREET PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL. + + + +There is nothing very time-worn about Methodism; it is only 140 +years old; but during that period its admirers have contrived to +split numerous hairs, and have extended very fairly what is known as +"the dissidence of dissent." The ring of Methodism includes many +sections: it embraces, amongst others, ordinary Wesleyans, +Bryanites, New Connectionists, Primitives, United Free Church men, +and Independent Methodists. They can't all be right; but they think +they are; and that is enough. They have as yet requested nobody to +be responsible for them; and weighing that over well, the fairest +plan is to let the creed of each alone--to condemn none, to give all +legitimate chance, and permit them to "go on." Antique simplicity +seems to be the virtue of those whom we have now to describe. And +yet there is nothing very ancient about them. There is more in the +sound than in the name of primitive Methodists. They are a +comparatively young people with a somewhat venerable name. It was +not until 1810 that they were formed into a society. Originally they +were connected with the Wesleyan Methodists; but they disagreed with +them in the course of time, and left them eventually. The immediate +cause of separation was, we are informed, a dispute as to the +propriety of camp meetings, and the utility of female preaching. The +Wesleyans couldn't see the wisdom of such meetings nor the fun of +such preaching: probably they thought that people could get as much +good as they would reasonably digest in regular chapel gatherings, +and that it was quite enough to hear women talk at home without +extending the business to pulpits. The Primitives believed +otherwise--fancied that camp meetings would be productive of much +Christian blissfulness, and thought that females had as much right +to give pulpit as caudle lectures. With a chivalry nearly knightly +they came to the rescue, and gave woman a free pass into the regions +of language and theology. A third point of difference had reference +to the representative character of Wesleyan conferences; but into +that question we need not enter. + +The first regular quarters of Preston Primitive Methodism were in +Friargate, in a yard facing Lune-street--in a small building there, +where a few men with strong lungs and earnest minds had many seasons +of rejoicing. The thermometer afterwards rose; and for some time a +building which they erected in Lawson-street, and which is now used +as the Weavers' Institute, was occupied by them. Often did they get +far up the dreamy ladder of religious joy, and many a time did they +revel with a rich and deafening delightfulness in the regions of +zeal there. They were determined to "keep the thing warm," and to +let outsiders know that if they were not a large, they were a +lively, body. Primitive Methodism does not profess to be a fine, but +an earnest, thing--not a trimmed-up, lackadaisical arrangement, but +a strong, sincere, simple, enthusiastic species of religion. It has +largely to do with the heart and the feelings; is warm-natured, full +of strong, straightforward, devotional vigour; combines homeliness +of soul with intensity of imagination; links a great dash of honest +turbulence with an infinitude of deep earnestness; tells a man that +if he is happy he may shout, that if under a shower of grace he may +fly off at a tangent and sing; makes a sinner wince awfully when +under the pang of repentance, and orders him to jump right out of +his skin for joy the moment he finds peace; gives him a fierce +cathartic during conversion, and a rapturous cataplasm in his +"reconciliation." Primitive Methodism occupies the same place in +religion as the ballad does in poetry. It has an untamed, +blithesome, healthy ring with it; harmonises well with the common +instincts and the broad, common intuitions of common life; can't +hurt a prince, and will improve a peasant; won't teach a king wrong +things; is sure to infuse happiness amongst men of humbler mould. +Its exuberance is necessary on account of the materials it has to +deal with; its spiritual ebullitions and esctacies are required so +that they may accord with, and set all a-blaze, the strong, vehement +spirits who bend the knee under its aegis. Primitive Methodism has +reached deeper depths than many other creeds--has touched harder, +wilder, ruder souls than nearly "all the isms" put together. It may +not have made much numeric progress, may not have grown big in +figures nor loud in facts, but it has done good--has gone down in +the diving bell of hope to the low levels of sin, and brought up to +the clear rippling surface of life and light many a pearl which +would have been lost without it. Primitive Methodism is just the +religion for a certain class of beings just the exact article for +thousands who can't see far ahead, and who wouldn't be able to make +much out if they could. There are people adoring it who would be +stupid, reticent, and recalcitrant under any other banner, who would +"wonder what it all meant" if they were in a calmer, clearer +atmosphere--who would be muddy-mottled and careless in a more +classical and ambrosial arena. After this learned morsel of +theorising, we shall return to the subject. + +In 1836 the Primitive Methodists left their Lawson-street seminary +and pitched their tent eastwards--on a piece of land facing Saul- +street and flanking Lamb-street. Its situation is pretty good, and +as it stands right opposite, only about eight yards from, the Baths +and Washhouses, we would suggest to the Saul-street brethren the +propriety of putting up some sign, or getting some inscription made +in front of their chapel, to the effect that "cleanliness is next to +godliness," and that both can be obtained on easy terms. The chapel +is a very ordinary looking building, having a plain brick front, +with sides of similar material, and a roof of Welsh slate, which +would look monotonous if it were not relieved on the western side by +19 bricks and two stones, and on the eastern by four stones, one +brick, and a piece of rod-iron tacked on to keep a contiguous +chimney straight. The chapel has a somewhat spacious interior; and +has a large gallery fixed on six rather slender iron pillars. The +pews have at some time had one or more coats of light delicate green +paint--the worst colour which could be chosen for endurance--put +upon them, and many are now curiously black at the rear, through +people leaning back against them. A glance round shows the various +sombre places, and their relative darkness gives a fair clue as to +the extent of their use. + +At one end there is a small gallery for the choir and the organ, and +in front of it the pulpit, a plain moderately-subtantial affair, is +located. The organ is a very poor one. It has a tolerably good +appearance; but it is a serious sinner with reference to its +internal arrangements. We quietly examined it very recently, and +should have gone away with a determination not to be comforted if an +intimation had not been made to the effect that "the organist was +organising a plan for a new organ," and that there was some +probability of a better instrument being fit up before very long. +The members of the choir are of a brisk, warbling turn of mind, and +can push through their work blithely. The singing is thoroughly +congregational--permeates the whole place, is shot out in a quick, +cheerful strain, is always strong and merry, is periodically +excellent, is often jolly and funny, has sometimes a sort of chorus +to it, and altogether is a strong, virtuously-jocund, free and easy +piece of ecstacy which the people enjoy much. It would stagger a man +fond of "linked sweetness long drawn out," it might superinduce a +mortal ague in one too enamoured of Handel and Mozart; but to those +who regularly attend the place, who have got fairly upon the lines +of Primitive action, it is a simple process of pious refreshment and +exhileration. + +The chapel will hold between 700 and 800 persons; if hydraulicised +1000 might be got into it; but such a number is rarely seen in the +place; and the average attendance may be set down at about 600. +There are about 400 members in connection with the place, and they +respectively contribute 1d. per week towards the expenses. We may +here remark that in Preston there are two Primitive Methodist +chapels, that in Saul-street being the principal one. The "circuit" +runs mainly westward, its utmost limit in that direction being +Fleetwood. Formerly three ministers were stationed at Saul-street +chapel; but two are now considered sufficient; and they are, as a +rule, married men, the circuit being considered sufficiently large +to keep parties in the "olive branch" category. In the whole circuit +there are between 700 and 800 "members." The congregation of Saul- +street chapel is almost entirely of a working-class character. In +the front and on each side of the body of the building there are a +few free seats, which are mainly used by very poor humble-looking +people. + +The ministers are the Rev. J. Judson, who is the superintendent, and +the Rev. W. Graham. They are paid on a systematic and considerate +plan. Money is given to them to accordance with the number of their +family. They get so much per head--the more numerous the family and +the larger the pay becomes. But it is not very extraordinary at the +best of times; and if even a preacher happened to have a complete +houseful of children, if his quiver were absolutely full of them, he +would not be pecuniarly rich. The bulk of Primitive Methodist +preachers are taken from the working classes, and the pay they +receive is not more than they could earn if they kept out of the +ministry altogether. They become parsons for the love of "the +cause," and not for loaves and fishes. Reverting to Mr. Judson, it +may be said that he is a quiet, earnest, elderly, close-shaven, +clerical looking gentleman--has a well-defined, keen solemnity on +his countenance, looks rather like a Catholic priest in facial and +habilimental cut, is one of the old school of Primitive preachers, +is devout but not luminous, good but not erudite, is slow and long- +drawn in his utterances, but he can effervesce on a high key at +intervals, and can occasionally "draw out" the brethren to a hot +pitch of exuberance. His general style is sincere; he means well; +but his words, like cold-drawn castor oil, don't go down with +overmuch gusto. + +The junior preacher--Mr. Graham--is more modernised in manner and +matter. He is an earnest, thoughtful, plodding man, can preach a +fair sermon tears a little sometimes, and can "bring down the house" +in tolerably good style. Both of them are hard workers, both are +doing good, and neither must be despised on account of humility of +position. Primitive, like Wesleyan, preachers are changed +periodically; superintendents can, under certain conditions, stay at +one place for three years, but no longer; junior men have to cut +their straps every two years. Since this description was first +published both the ministers named have gone; the Rev. Thomas Doody +having succeeded as superintendent, and the Rev. John Hall as +junior. Mr. Doody is a middle-aged gentleman, is a pretty good +preacher, has considerable zeal in him, and fires up more +energetically than his predecessor. Mr. Hall is a young man with a +rather elderly look. His style is discursive, his lucid intervals +not as electrical as those of some Primitive parsons, but he is a +good fellow, and if he had more physical force and more mental +condensation be would "go down" better. + +There are numerous collections, some fixed, and some incidental, at +Saul-street, and on special occasions they can raise sums of money +which would put to the blush the bulk of loftier and more +"respectable" congregations. Not much time is lost by the Saul- +street Primitives: every Monday evening they have preaching at the +place; on Tuesday evening three or four class meetings, in which +singing, praying, and talking are carried on; on Wednesday ditto; on +Thursday evening the singers work up their exercises; on Friday +evening there is a meeting of leaders, or committee men; on Saturday +evening a band of hope meeting; and on Sundays they are throng from +morning till night. Their prayer meetings are pious and gleeful +affairs. Throughout the whole of such gatherings, and in fact +generally when prayer is being gone on with, the steam is kept well +up, and the safety valve often lifts to let off the extra pressure. +Sharp shouts, breezy "Amens," tenderly-attenuated groans, deep +sighs, sudden "Hallelujahs," and vivacious cries of "Just now," +"Aye," "Glory," "Yes," "Praise the Lord," &c.--all well meant-- +characterise them. But prayer meetings are not half so stormy as +they used to be; twenty or thirty years since they were tremendously +boisterous; now, whilst a fair amount of ejaculatory talk is done at +them, they are becoming comparatively quiet, and on Sundays only a +few of the old-fashioned and more passionately devoted members make +noises. Love feasts are held occasionally at Saul-street as at all +other Primitive Methodist chapels. The "members" give their +"experience" at these gatherings--tell with a bitter sorrow how +sinful they once were, mention with a fervid minuteness the exact +moment of their conversion, allude to the temptations they meet and +overcome, the quantity of grace bestowed upon them, the sorrows they +pass through, and the bliss they participate in. We have heard men +romance most terribly at some of these love feasts; but we are not +prepared to say that anybody does so at Saul-street Chapel. + +Immediately adjoining the chapel there is a large and well made +building, which has only been erected about two years. The lower +portion of it is used for class rooms; the upper part is +appropriated for Sunday school purposes. The average attendance of +scholars is 350. Belonging the school there is a good library. The +building cost about 1,000 pounds and is entirely free from debt. +Considering everything the Saul-street Primitives are doing a +praiseworthy work; they may lack the spiciness and finish of more +fashionable bodies; they may have little of that wealthiness about +them which gives power and position to many; but they are a class of +earnest, useful, humble souls, drawing to them from the lowly walks +of life men and women who would be repelled by the processes of a +more aesthetic and learned creed. We have a considerable regard for +Primitive Methodism; in some respects we admire its operations; and +for the good it does we are quite willing to tolerate all the +erratic earnestness, musical effervescence, and prayerful +boisterousness it is so enamoured of. + + + +ST. IGNATIUS'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. + + + +Catholicism owes much to the Jesuits; and, casuistically speaking, +the Jesuits owe their existence to a broken leg. Ignatius of Loyola +was their founder. He was at first a page, then a soldier, then got +one of his legs broken in battle, was captured and confined as an +invalid, had his immortal leg set and re-set, whiled away his time +whilst it was mending in reading romances, got through all within +his reach, could at last find nothing but the Lives of the Saints, +had his latent religious feelings stirred during their perusal, +travelled to different places afterwards, and at last established +the order of Jesuits--an order which has more learning within its +circle than perhaps any other section of men, which has sent out its +missionaries to every clime, has been subjected to every kind of +vicissitude, has been suppressed by kings and emperors, ostracised +by at least one Pope, and shouted down often by excited peoples in +the heated moments of revolution; but which has somehow managed to +live through it all and progress. The men fighting under the +standard of Ignatius have a tenacity, a mysterious irrepressibleness +about them which dumfounds the orthodox and staggers the processes +of ordinary calculators. In Preston we have three churches, besides +an auxiliary chapel, wherein priests of the Jesuit order labour. By +far the largest number of Preston Catholics are in charge of those +priests, and the generality of them don't seem to suffer anything +from the "tyranny"--that is the phrase some of us Protestants +delight to honour--of their supervision. They can breathe, and walk +about, laugh, and grow fat without any difficulty, and they are +sanguine of being landed in ultimate ecstacy if they conduct +themselves fairly. + +In a former article we referred to one of the Catholic churches in +this town--St Wilfrid's--which is looked after by Jesuit priests--on +this occasion we purposely alluding to another--St. Ignatius's. The +Catholics in the district of this church are very strong; they +number about 6,000; are mainly of a working-class complexion; and +are conveniently and compactly located for educational and religious +purposes. Catholics are so numerous in the neighbourhood--are so +woven and interwoven amongst the denizens of it--that it is a good +and a safe plan never to begin running down the Pope in any part of +it. Murphyites and patent Christians fond of immolating Rome, &c., +would have a very poor chance of success in this district. The +church of St. Ignatius stands in the square which bears its name. +The first stone of the edifice was laid on the 27th of May, 1833: +to 1858 the church was enlarged, and in the course of the re-opening +services the famous Dr. Manning (now Archbishop of Westminster) +preached a sermon. The building is erected in the "perpendicular +English" style of architecture--literally, a very general thing, the +horizontal style being yet unworkable; is railed round; and has a +dim, quiet elegance about its exterior. At the southern end there is +a tower, with a spire, (surmounted by a cross) above it; the total +height being 120 feet, It may be information to some people when we +state that the first spire attached to any place of worship in +Preston, was that we now see at St. Ignatius's. Indeed, up to 1836, +it was the only spire which could be found between the Ribble and +the Lune. Spires have since sprang up pretty numerously in Preston; +but there was a time, and not very long since either, when the line +in the well known doggrel verse "High church and LOW STEEPLE" was +descriptively correct. The original cost of St. Ignatius's church, +with the adjoining priests' house, was about 8,000 pounds and of +that sum upwards of 1,000 pounds was raised by small weekly +offerings from the poor. The church has got an outside clock with +three faces, and they would sustain no injury whatever if they were +either washed or re-gilt. We don't think the clock would "strike" +against such a thing. The enlargement of the church, which was at +the chancel end, cost about 3,000 pounds, and the money was quite +ready when the job was finished. + +The building is cruciform in shape, and has a fine interior--is +lofty, capacious, and cathedral-like. The high altar is very choice +and beautiful; and the contiguous decorations are profuse and +exquisite. The painting is rich and elaborate, and the most frigid +soul, if blessed with even a morsel of artistic taste, would be +inclined to admire it. There is a large window behind the altar, and +it is a very handsome affair; but it is rather too bright--flashes +and crystalises a little too strongly; and needs a deeper tone +somewhere to make it properly effective. Not very far from the +pulpit, which is massive, elegant, and calculated to hold the +stoutest priest in the country, there are two large statues, +standing on tall stone columns--opposite each other--at the sides of +the nave. One of them represents St. Joseph, and the other, we +believe, St. Ignatius. Not very far from this part of the building +there used to be a statue of St. Patrick; but it was removed to one +side, awhile since, either to make room for some other ornament, or +to edify those belonging "ould Ireland" who may happen to sit near +its present position. Towards the higher end, and on each side of +the church, there is an opening, projecting back several yards. A +gallery occupies each of these spaces, and beneath there are seats. +The roof of the nave, which is finely decorated, depends upon +parallel stone columns; but they are rather heavy--are massive and +numerous enough to support another church, if ever one should be +erected above the present edifice. The seats are of plain stained +wood, and the doors are gradually disappearing. Open seats are +desiderated and whenever the opportunity occurs, the doors are +attacked. Some of the pews have doors to them, and so long as the +present occupiers hold their sittings in them they will not, unless +it is requested, be disturbed; but as soon as they leave, the doors +will be quietly taken off and either sold, or judiciously split up, +or quietly buried. + +Adjoining the chancel there are four of those mystic places called +confessionals. The other evening we were in every one of them, +viewed them round from head to foot, asked a priest who was with us +the meaning of everything visible, and left without noticing in any +of them anything to particularly fret at. "Confession is good for +the soul," we are told; and by all means let those who honestly +believe in it "go the entire figure" without molestation or insult. +Every morning, on week days, there is mass in the church at seven, +half-past seven, and eight o'clock; every Friday evening there is +benediction; and on Sundays a great business is done--at eight, +nine, ten, and eleven, in the forenoon, at three in the afternoon, +and at half-past six in the evening, there are masses, combined more +or less with other ceremonies. The "proper services" are understood +to be at eleven and half-past six. The nine and ten o'clock masses +are by far the best attended; partly because they appear to be more +convenient than the others, and partly because the work is cut +comparatively short at them. Human nature, as a rule, can't stand a +very long fire of anything, doesn't like to have even too much +goodness pushed upon it for too long a time, believes in a very +short and very sweet thing. It may have to pay more for it, as it +has at the ten o'clock mass on a Sunday, at St. Ignatius's--for the +price of seats at that time is just double what it is at any other; +only the work is got through sharply, and that is something to be +thankful for. School children have the best seats allotted to them +at the mass just named, and the wealthiest man in the place +occupying the most convenient seat in it has to beat a mild retreat +and take his hat with him when they appear. The more fashionable, +and solemnly-balanced Catholics attend the services at eleven and +half-past six. They are made of respectable metal which will stand a +good deal of calm hammering, and absorb a considerable quantity of +virtuous moisture. At this, as at all other Catholic chapels, the +usual aqueous and genuflecting movements are made; and they are all +done very devotedly. More water, we think, is spilled at the +entrance, than is necessary; and we would recommend the observance +of a quiet, even, calm dip--not too long as if the hand were going +into molasses, nor too fleetingly as if it had got hold of a piece +of hot iron by mistake. + +At ten and three on Sundays the music is sung by a number of girls, +occupying one of the small galleries, wherein there is an organ +which is played by a nun. The singing is sweet, and the nun gets +through her work pleasantly. The Catholic soldiers stationed at +Fulwood Barracks make St. Ignatius's their place of devotional +resort. They attend the nine o'clock Sunday morning mass, and muster +sometimes as many as 200. One of the finest sights in the church is +that which the guilds of the place periodically make. On the first +Sunday in every month the girls' and women's guilds, numbering about +600 members, attend one of the morning masses; on the third Sunday +in each month the members of the boys' and men's guilds, numbering +between 400 and 500, do like-wise. Fine order prevails amongst them; +numerous captains are in command; special dresses are worn by many +of the members; some of the girls are in white; all the members wear +sashes, crosses, &c.; and, after entering, their bright golden-hued +banners, are planted in lines at the ends of the seats, giving a +rare and imposing beauty to the general scene. The church will hold +about 1,000 persons; and the complete attendance on a Sunday is +about 3,500. The congregation is principally made up of working- +class people, and they have got a spirit of devotion and generosity +within them which many a richer and more rose-watered assembly would +do well to cultivate. + +There are four priests at St. Ignatius's, and in addition to the +duties discharged by them in the church, they have special +departments of labour to look after outside it. Father J. Walker, +the principal priest, superintends the female guilds, and visits the +soldiers at the Barracks; Father R. Brindle attends to the male +guilds; Father Boardman hangs out an educational banner, and has the +management of the various schools; the fourth priest officiates as +auxiliary. Wonders used to be worked in this district by the Rev. +Father Cooper--an indefatigable, far-seeing, mild-moving man, in +very plain clothes, who could any time get more money for religious +and educational purposes than half a score of other priests. He was +always planning something for the improvement of the district; was +always looking after the vital end--the money; and was always +bringing in substantial specimens of the current coin. He included +Protestants among his supporters; people who in nine cases out of +ten would give to nobody else--were always calmly tickled and +trotted into a generous mood by him. St. Ignatius's district was +stirred into full and active life by Father Cooper; he extended and +elaborated the church; improved the schools greatly; touched with +the wand of progress everything belonging the mission; and the +Catholics of the neighbourhood may thank all their stars in one lot +for his 15 years residence amongst them. A man like Father Cooper +was bad to follow; it was no easy matter putting his shoes on and +walking in them regularly through the district; but his successor-- +Father Walker, who has seen something of the world, has done service +in the West Indies, has fought with mosquitoes, confronted black and +yellow fever, preached to dark men and soldiers, and made himself +moderately acquainted with the hues and habits of butterflies, +centipedes, and snakes, if the museum at Stonyhurst College is +anything to go by, was not the priest to be either disheartened or +ignored. + +Father Walker is a locomotive, wiry, fibrous man--full of energy, +wide awake,--tenacious, keenly perceptive; could pass his sharp eye +round you in a second and tell your age, weight, and habits; could +nearly look round a corner and say how many people were in the next +street; has a touch of shrewd, sudden-working humour to him; can +stand a joke but won't be played with; has a strong sense of +straightforwardness; is tall, dark complexioned, weird-looking, +wears bushy hair, which is becoming iron grey, and uses a thin +penetrating pair of spectacles. He has been at St. Ignatius's for +two-and-a-half years; the decorations in the church are mainly due +to him; and he has earned the respect and affection of the people. +His style of preaching is clear, sonorously-sounding, and vigorous-- +is not rhetorically flashy, but strong, impetuous, and full of +energy. The ardour of his nature makes his utterances rapid; but +they are always distinct, and there is nothing extravagant or tragic +in his action. He is a clear-headed, determined, sagacious man, and +would be formidable, if put to it, with either his logic or fists. + +Father Brindle, who has been at the church about ten years, is a +quiet, mildly-flowing, gently-breathing man; has nothing +vituperative or declamatory in his nature; works hard and regularly; +has an easy, gentle, subdued style of preaching; but knows what +common sense means, and can infuse it into his discourses. If he had +a little more force he would be able to knock down sinners better. +The oracle can't always be worked with tranquillity; delinquents +need bruising and smashing sometimes. Father Boardman--an active, +unassuming sort of gentleman--has been at the church for about a +year. He is quick in the regions of education and literature; knows +much about old and new books; has a lively regard for ancient +classical and religions works; is perhaps better acquainted with the +26,000 volumes in Stonyhurst College library than anybody else; +likes to preach on tuitional questions; has a mortal dislike of +secular education. He is plodding, intelligent, up to the mark in +his business, and if 50 changes were made it is quite probable no +improvement would be made upon him. + +Father Baron comes next. When we visited St. Ignatius's he had only +been there a few weeks, and since then he has gone to some place +near London. For a long time Father Baron was at Wakefield, and +during his stay there he officiated as Catholic chaplain of the +gaol. He was the first priest in the kingdom who made application, +under the Prison Ministers Act, for permission to hold regular gaol +services. In Wakefield he earned the respect of all classes; and +there was general regret expressed when it became known he had to +leave. Protestants as well as Catholics liked him, and, if he had +stayed in Preston, the very same feeling would have been created. He +is just about the most fatherly and genial man we have seen; has a +venerated, rubicund, cozy look; seems like the descendant of some +festive abbot or blithesome friar; makes religion agree with him-- +some people are never happy unless they are being tortured by it; +has hit upon the golden mean--is neither too ascetical nor too +jocund; is simply good and jolly; has ever so much vivacity, +sprightliness, and poetic warmth in his constitution; can preach a +lively, earnest, sermon; has a strong imitative faculty; is brisk in +action; can tell a good tale; is fine company; would'nt hurt +anybody; would step over a fly rather than kill it unkindly; and is +just such a man as we should like for a confessor if we were a +believer in his Church. He has been succeeded by Father Pope, who is +no relative of the old gentleman at Rome, but is we believe, a +nephew of the celebrated Archbishop Whately. + +All the priests at St. Ignatius's avoid in their discourses that +which is now-a-days very fashionable--attacking other people's +creeds. A person who has regularly attended the church for twenty +years, said to us the other day that he had never heard one sermon +wherein a single word against other folks creeds had been uttered. +The great object of the priests is to teach those who listen to them +to mind their own business; and that isn't a bad thing at any time. +The music at St. Ignatius's is of a high order. It is not nice and +easy, but rich and vigorous--fine and fierce, comes out warm, and +has with it a strong compact harmony indicative of both ability and +earnestness. The conductor is energetic and efficient, wields his +baton in a lively manner, but hits nobody with it. There is a very +fair organ in the church, and it is pleasantly played. The blowers +also do their duty commendably. + +Adjoining the church there is the priests' house--a rather +labrynthal, commodious place with plain, ancient furniture. Beyond, +is a very excellent school for girls as well as infants of the +gentler sex. It is supervised by nuns, some of whom are wonderfully +clever. They are "Sisters of the Holy Child;" are most painstaking, +sincere, and useful; never dream about sweethearts; devote their +whole time to religion and education. All of them are well educated; +two or three of them are smart. The school, which has an average +attendance of 550, is in a high state of efficiency; is, in fact, +one of the best to the country. The sceptical can refer to +Government reports if they wish for absolute proof. Still further on +there is another school, set apart for the instruction of middle +class boys, and in charge of three Xavierian brothers. About 90 boys +attend it, and they are well disciplined. At the rear of the school +there is a fine playground for the boys--it is about the largest in +Preston; and close to it we have the old graveyard of the church, +which is in a tolerably fair state of order. Brothers of the +Xavierian type have been in charge of the school for about nine +years. The three now at it are mild, obliging, quiet-looking men. +They live in a house hard by, and do all the household work +themselves, Well done, Xavierians! you will never be aggravated with +the great difficulty of domestic life--servant-maidism; will never +have to solve the solemn question as to when it is "Susan's Sunday +out;" will never be crossed by a ribbon-wearing Jemima, nor harrowed +up in absent moments by pictures of hungry "followers" fond of cold +joints and pastry. In addition to looking after the school, the +Xavierians in question give religious instruction at nights, and on +Sundays, to the children attending St. Ignatius's school in Walker- +street. The Sunday after we visited the church, about fifty whom +they had been training, received their "first communion," and in +addition, got a medal and their breakfast given,--two things which +nobody despises as a rule, whether on the borders of religious bliss +or several miles therefrom. The school in Walker-street is attended, +every day, by about 400 boys and infants, and is in an improving +condition. The Sunday schools are in a very flourishing state; the +girls attending them numbering about 650, and the boys about 500. +Taking all into account, a great educational work is being carried +on in the district of St. Ignatius. The importance of secular and +religious instruction is fully appreciated by the priests; they know +that such instruction moulds the character, and tells its tale in +after life; they are active and alive to the exigences of the hour; +are on the move daily and nightly for the sake of the mind and the +soul; and they, like the rest of their brethren, set many of our +Protestant parsons an example of tireless industry, which it would +be well for them to imitate, if they wish to maintain their own, and +spread the principles they believe in. + + + +VAUXHALL-ROAD PARTICULAR BAPTIST CHAPEL. + + + +"Don't be so particular" is a particularly popular phrase. It comes +up constantly from the rough quarry of human nature--is a part of +life's untamed protest against punctilliousness and mathematical +virtue. Particular people are never very popular people, just +because they are particular. The world isn't sufficiently ripe for +niceties; it likes a lot, and pouts at eclectical squeamishness; it +believes in a big, vigorous, rough-hewn medley, is choice in some of +its items, but free and easy in the bulk; and it can't masticate +anything too severely didactic, too purely logical, too strongly +distinct, or too acutely exact. But it does not follow, +etymologically, that a man is right because he is particular. He may +be very good or very bad, and yet be only such because he is +particularly so. Singularity, eccentricity, speciality, isolation, +oddity, and hundreds of other things which might be mentioned, all +involve particularity. But we do not intend, to "grammar-out" the +question, nor to disengage and waste our gas in definitions. The +particular enters into all sorts of things, and it has even a local +habitation and a name in religion. What could be more particular +than Particular Baptism? Certain followers of a man belonging the +great Smith family constituted the first congregation of English +Baptists. These were of the General type. The Particular Baptists +trace their origin to a coterie of men and women who had an idea +that their grace was of a special type, and who met in London as far +back as 1616. The doctrines of the Particular Baptists are of the +Calvinistic hue. They believe in eternal election, free +justification, ultimate glorification; they have a firm notion that +they are a special people, known before all time; that not one of +them will be lost; and they differ from the General Baptists, so far +as discipline is concerned, in this--they reject "open communion," +will allow no membership prior to dipping; or,--to quote the exact +words of one of them, who wrote to us the other day on the subject, +and who paled our ineffectual fire very considerably with his +definition--"All who enter our pail must be baptised." If there is +any water in the "pail" they will; if not, it will be a simple +question of dryness. + +The chapel used by the Particular-Baptists, in Vauxhall-road, +Preston, has a curious history. It beats Plato's theory of +transmigration; and is a modern edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The +building was erected by Mr. George Smith (father of the late +Alderman G. Smith, of this town), and he preached to it for a short +time. Afterwards it was occupied by a section of Methodists +connected with the "Round Preachers." Then it was purchased by a +gentleman of the General Baptist persuasion, who let it to the late +Mr. Moses Holden--a pious, astronomical person, who held forth in it +for a season with characteristic force. Subsequently it was taken +possession of by the Episcopalians, the Rev. Mr. Pearson, late of +Tockholes, being the minister. He, along with some of his flock, was +in the habit of holding prayer meetings, &c., in different parts of +the town; the Vauxhall-road building being their central depot. But +when the Rev. Carus Wilson was appointed Vicar of Preston an end was +put to both their praying and preaching. When the Episcopalians made +their exit, a section of religious people called the Fieldingites +obtained the building. They drove a moderately thriving business at +the place until permission was unwittingly given for a Mormon +preacher to occupy the pulpit just once--a circumstance which +resulted in a thorough break-up; many of the body liking neither Joe +Smith nor his polygamising followers. After the Mormon fiasco and +the evaporation of the Fieldingites, another denomination took it. +The Particular Baptists--some people call them Gadsbyites--were at +this period working the virtues of their creed in a small room +towards the bottom of Cannon-street; and on hearing that Vauxhall- +road Chapel was on sale, they smiled, made a bid at it, and bought +it. Their first minister, after the removal, was a certain Mr. +Mc.Kenzie, who stimulated the elect with many good things, and +eventually died. The question as to who should be his successor next +presented itself; "supplies" were tried; various men from various +parts were invited into the pulpit, looked at, and listened to; the +object being to get "the right man in the right place." + +There was considerable difference of opinion as to that said "right +man;" one portion of "the church" wanting a smart, well-starched, +polished individual, and the other desiring a plain, straightforward +"gospel preacher"--a man of the Gadsby kidney, capable of hitting +people hard, and telling the truth without any fear. This was in +1848, and about this time a plain, homely, broad-hearted "Lancashire +chap," named Thomas Haworth, a block printer by trade, and living in +the neighbourhood of Accrington, who had taken to preaching in his +spare time, was "invited" to supply the Vauxhall-road pulpit. +"Tommy"--that's his recognized name, and he'll not be offended at us +for using it--came, saw, and conquered. He made his appearance in a +plain coat, a plain waist-coat, and a pair of plain blue-coloured +corduroy trousers; and as he went up the steps of the pulpit, people +not only wondered where he came from, but who his tailor was. And if +they had seen his hat, they would have been solicitous as to its +manufacturer. The more elaborate portion of the "church" pulled +uncongenial features at the young block-printer's appearance, +thought him too rough, too unreclaimed, too outspoken, and too +vehement; the plain people, the humble, hard-working, unfashionable +folk liked him, and said he was "just the man" for them. Time kept +moving, Tommy was asked to officiate in the pulpit for 52 Sundays; +he consented; kept up his fire well and in a good Gadsbyfied style; +and when settling day came a majority of the members decided that he +should remain with them. The "non-contents" moved off, said that it +would not do; was too much of a good thing; escaped to Zoar; and, in +the course of this retreat, somebody took--what!--not the pulpit, +nor its Bible, nor the hymn books, nor the collecting boxes, nor the +unpaid bills belonging the chapel, but--the title deeds of the old +place! and to this day they have not been returned. This was indeed +a sharp thing. How Shylock--how the old Jew with his inexorable +pound of flesh-worship, creeps up in every section of human society! +Vauxhall-road Chapel, which has passed through more denominational +agony than any twenty modern places of worship put together, is +situated in a poor locality--in a district where pure air, and less +drink, and more of "the Christ that is to be," as Tennyson would +say, are needed than the majority of places in the town. + +Architecturally the chapel is nothing; and if it were not for a few +tall front rails, painted green, a good gable end pointed up, and a +fairly cut inscription thereon, it would, ecclesiastically speaking, +seem less than nothing. It has just been re-painted internally, and +necessarily looks somewhat smart on that account; but there is no +pretension to architecture in the general building. Between 500 and +600 persons might be accomodation in it; but the average attendance +is below 200. People are not "particular" about what church or +chapel they belong to in its locality; and some of them who belong +to no place seem most wickedly comfortable. There is a great deal of +heathenish contentment in Vauxhall-road district, and how to make +the people living there feel properly miserable until they get into +a Christian groove of thought is a mystery which we leave for the +solution of parsons. The interior of Vauxhall-road Particular +Baptist Chapel is specially plain and quiet looking, has nothing +ornamental in it and at present having been newly cleaned, it smells +more of paint than of anything else. The pews are of various +dimensions--some long, some square, all high--and, whilst grained +without, they are all green within. This is not intended as a +reflection upon the occupants, but is done as a simple matter of +taste. The "members" of the chapel at present are neither increasing +nor decreasing--are stationary; and they wilt number altogether +between 50 and 60. Either the chapel is too near the street, or the +street too near the chapel, or the children in the neighbourhood too +numerous and noisy; for on Sundays, mainly during the latter part of +the day, there is an incessant, half-shouting, half-singing din, +from troops of youngsters adjoining, who play all sorts of chorusing +games, which must seriously annoy the worshippers. + +The music at the chapel is strong, lively, and congregational. +Sometimes there is more cry than wool in it; but taken altogether, +and considering the place, it is creditable. There is neither an +organ, nor a fiddle, nor a musical instrument of any sort that we +have been able to notice, in the place. All is done directly and +without equivocation from the mouth. The members of the choir sit +downstairs, in a square place fronting the pulpit; the young men--in +their quiet moments--looking very pleasantly at the young women, the +older members maintaining a mild equillibrium at the same time, and +all going off stiffly when singing periods arrive. The hymn books +used contain, principally, pieces selected by the celebrated William +Gadsby, and nobody in the chapel need ever be harassed for either +length or variety of spiritual verse. They have above 1,100 hymns to +choose from, and in length these hymns range from three to twenty- +three verses. Whilst inspecting one of the books recently we came to +a hymn of thirteen verses, and thought that wasn't so bad--was +partly long enough for anybody; but we grew suddenly pale on +directly afterwards finding one nearly twice the size--one with +twenty-three mortal verses in it. It is to be hoped the choir and +the congregation will never he called upon to sing right through any +hymn extending to that disheartening and elastic length. We have +heard a chapel choir sing a hymn of twelve verses, and felt ready +for a stimulant afterwards to revive our exhausted energies; if +twenty-three verses had to be fought through at one standing, in our +hearing, we should smile with a musical ghastliness and perish. + +At the back of the chapel there is a Sunday-school. It was built in +1849. The number of scholars "on the books" is 120, and the average +attendance will be about 90. In connection with the school there is +a nice little library, and if the children read the books in it, and +legitimately digest their contents, they will be brighter than some +of their parents. There are two Sunday services at the chapel--one +in the morning, and the other in the evening. No religious meetings +are held in it during weekdays; the minister couldn't stand them; he +is getting old and rotund; and, constitutionally, finds it quite +hard enough to preach on Sundays. "He would be killed," said one of +the deacons to us the other day, in a very earnest and sympathetic +manner, "if he had to preach on week days--he's so stout, you know, +and weighs so heavy." We hardly think he would be killed by it. +Standing in a narrow pulpit for a length of time must necessarily be +fatiguing to him; but why can't things be made easy? If a high seat- +-a tall, broad, easy, elastic-bottomed chair--were procured and +fixed in the pulpit, he could sit and preach comfortably; or a swing +might be procured for him. Such a contrivance would save his feet, +check his perspiration, and console his dorsal vertebra. We suggest +the propriety of securing a chair or a swing. It would be grand +preaching and swinging. + +The congregation at Vauxhall-road Chapel is pre-eminently of a +working-class character. Nearly the whole of the pew holders are +factory people; not above six or seven of them find employment +outside of mills. They are a plain, honest, enthusiastic, home-spun +class of folk. A few there may be amongst the lot who are +authoritative, or saucy, or ill-naturedly solemn; but the generality +are simple-dealing, quaintly-exhuberant, oddly-straightforward, and +primitively-pious people--distinctly sincere, periodically +eccentric, and fond of a good religious outburst, a shining +spiritual fandango now, and then. + +As we have before intimated the minister of the Chapel is Mr. Thomas +Haworth. During the first 18 years of his ministry he received 20s. +a week for his services; for three years afterwards he got 25s.; +during the last two he has had 30s. per week; and his temporal +consolation is involved in a sovereign and a half at present. Be is +54 years of age, has had very little education, believes in telling +the truth as far as he knows it, and cares for nobody. He has a +strongly intuitive mind; is full of human nature; is broad-faced, +very fat and thoroughly English in look: has a chin which is +neither of the nutmeg nor the cucumber order, but simply double; +weighs heavier than any other parson in Preston; couldn't run; gets +out of breath and pants when he goes up the pulpit stairs; has his +own ideas, and likes sticking to them, about everything; has neither +cunning nor deception in him; is rough but honest; is without polish +but full of common sense; would have been a good companion for Tim +Bobbin in his better moments, and for Sam Slick in his unctuous +periods; cares more for thoughts than grammar; likes to rush out in +a buster when the spell is upon him; can either shout you into fits +or whisper you to sleep--is, in a word, a virtuous and venerable +"caution." He is the right kind of man for humble, queer-thinking; +determined, sincerely-singular Christians; is just the sort of +person you should hear when the "blues" are on you; has much pathos, +much fire, much uncurbed virtue in him; is a sort of theological +Bailey's Dictionary--rough, ready, outspoken, unconventional, and +funny; is a second Gadsby in oddness, and force, and sincerity, but +lacks Gadsby's learning. Unlike the bulk of parsons, Mr. Haworth +does his own marketing. You may see him almost any Saturday in the +market, with a huge orthodox basket in his hand--a basket bulky, and +made not for show, but for holding things. He has no pride in him, +and thinks that a man shouldn't be ashamed of buying what he has to +eat, and needn't blush if he has to carry home what he wants to +digest. His sermons in both manner and matter are essentially +Haworthian. There is no gilt, no mock modesty in his style; there is +to vapid sentimentalism in the ideas he expounds. A broad, unshaven, +every-day Lancashire vigour pervades both; and what he can't make +out he guesses at. In the pulpit he seems earnest but uneasy-- +honest, but fidgetty about his eyes, and legs. Watch him: he +preaches extemporaneously, but often peers up and winks, and often +looks down at his bible and squeezes his eyes. He has a great +predilection for turning to the left--that he apparently thinks is +the right side for small appeals of a special character; and when he +gets back again, for the purpose of either looking at his book or +sending out a new idea, he makes a short oscillating waddle--a +sharp, whimsical, wavy motion, as if he either wanted to get his +feet out of something or stir forward about half an inch. He pitches +his hands about with considerable activity, and often flings himself +suddenly into a white-heat, tantrum of virtue, and the brethren like +him when be does this. He is original when stormy; is refreshing +when his temper is up. His style is natural--is a reflection of +himself--is warm with life, is odd, and at times fierce through the +power of his sincerity. His illustrations are all homely; his +theories most original; his expressions most honest and quaint. He +has a fondness for the Old Testament--likes to get into the company +of Isaiah, Jeremiah, &c.; sometimes touches the hem of Habakkuk's +garment; and nods at a distance occasionally at Joel and the other +minor prophets. We should like to see a Biblical Commentary from his +pen; it, would be immortal on account of its straightforwardnsss and +oddity. Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry must sometimes turn over in +their graves when he expounds the more mysterious passages of sacred +writ. To no one does Mr. Haworth hold the candle; he is candid to +all, and pitches into the entire confraternity of his hearers +sometimes. He said one Sunday "None of you are ower much to be +trusted--none of us are ower good, are we? A, bless ya, I sometimes +think if I were to lay my head on a deacon's breast--one of our own +lot--may be there would be a nettle in't or summut at sooart." He is +partial to long "Oh's," and "Ah's" and solemn breathings; and +sometimes tells you more by a look or a subdued, calmly-moulded +groan than by dozens of sentences. He spices his sermons +considerably with the Lancashire dialect; isn't at all nice about +aspirates, inflection, or pronunciation; thinks that if you have got +hold of a good thing the best plan is to out with it, and to out +with it any way, rough or smooth, so that it is understood. He never +stood at philological trifles in his life, and never will do. Those +who listen to him regularly think nothing of his singularities of +gesture and expression; but strangers are bothered with him. +Occasionally the ordinary worshippers look in different directions +and smile rather slyly when he is budding and blossoming in his own +peculiar style; but they never make much ado about the business, and +swallow all that comes very quietly and good-naturedly. Strangers +prick their ears directly, and would laugh right out sometimes if +they durst. There are not many collections at the chapel, but those +which are made are out of the ordinary run. Two were made on the +Sunday we were there, and they realised what?--not 5 pounds, nor 10 +pounds, nor 12 pounds, as is the custom at some of our fashionable +places of worship,--no, they just brought in 63 pounds 3s. 9d. At +the request of the minister, who announced the sum, the congregation +set to and sung over it for a short time. Simplicity and liberality, +mingled with much earnestness and a fair amount of self- +righteousness, are the leading traits of the "elect" at Vauxhall- +road chapel; whilst their minister is a curious compilation of +eccentricity, sagacity, waddlement, winking, straightforwardness, +and thorough honesty. + + + +CHRIST CHURCH. + + + +About 33 years since there was a conquest somewhat Norman in Preston +and the neighbourhood; and the "William" of it was an industrious +ex-joiner. In 1836, and during the next two years, four churches-- +three in Preston and one in Ashton--were erected through the +exertions of the Rev. Carus Wilson, who was vicar here at that time; +each of them was built in the Norman style; and the general of them +was a plodding man who had burst through the bonds of joinerdom and +winged his way into the purer and more lucrative atmosphere of +architectural constructiveness. One of the sacred edifices whose +form passed through his alembic was Christ Church and to this +complexion of a building we have now come. There is so much and so +little to be said about Christ Church that we neither know where to +begin nor how to end. Nobody has yet said that Christ Church, +architecturally, is a very nice place; and we are not going to say +so. It is a piece of calm sanctity in-buckram, is a stout mass of +undiluted lime stone, has been made ornate with pepper castors, +looks sweetly-clean after a summer shower, is devoid of a steeple, +will never be blown over, couldn't be lifted in one piece, and will +nearly stand forever. It is as strong as a fortress; has walls thick +enough for a castle; is severely plain but full of weft; has no +sympathy with elaboration, and is a standing protest against masonic +gingerbread. It rests on the northern side of Fishergate-hill; +between Bow-lane and Jordan-street, is surrounded with houses, has +two entrances with gateposts which might, owing to their solidity, +have descended lineally from the pillars of Hercules; is entirely +out of sight on the eastern side; and from the other points of the +compass can be seen better a mile off with a magnifying glass than +20 yards off without one. There is something venerable and monastic, +something substantial and coldly powerful about the front; but the +general building lacks beauty of outline and gracefulness of detail. +Christ Church is the only place of worship in Preston built of +limestone; and if it has not the prettiest, it has the cleanest +exterior. There is no "matter in its wrong place" (Palmerston's +definition of dirt) about it. If you had to run your hand all round +the building--climbing the rails at the end to do so--you might get +scratched, but wouldn't get dirtied. The foundation stone of Christ +Church was laid in 1836, and in the following year the place was +opened. Adjoining the church there is a graveyard, which is kept in +excellent condition. Some burial grounds are graced with old hats, +broken pots, ancient cans, and dead cats; but this has no such +ornaments; it is clean and neat, properly levelled, nicely green- +swarded, and well-cared for. The first person interred in the ground +was the wife of the first incumbent--the Rev. T. Clark. Outside and +in front of the building there is a large blue-featured clock with a +cast-iron inside. It was fixed in 1857, and there was considerable +newspaper discussion at the time as to what it would do. Time has +proved how well it can keep time. It is looked after by a gentleman +learned in the deep mysteries of horology, who won't allow its +fingers to get wrong one single second, who used to make his own +solar calculations in his own observatory, on the other side of +Jordan (street), who gets his time now from Greenwich, who has +drilled the clock into a groove of action the most perfect, and who +would have just cause to find fault with the sun if antagonising +with its indications. He his thoroughly master of the clock, and +could almost make it stop or go by simply shouting or putting up his +finger at it. It is a good clock, however blue it may look; it has +gone well constantly; and, if we may credit the words of one of the +clock manager's sanguine brethren, "is likely to do so." At the +entrance doors there are two curious pieces of wood exactly like +spout heads. Some people say they are for money; but we hardly think +so, for during our visits to the church we have seen no one go too +near them with their hands. + +The interior of Christ Church is plain, and rather heavy-looking. +But it is very clean and orderly. The chancel of the building is +circular, tastefully painted, with a calm subdued light, and looks +rich. The ceiling of the church is lofty, and very woody--is crossed +by four or five unpoetical-looking beams which deprive the building +of that airiness and capaciousness it would otherwise possess. +Contiguous to the chancel there is a galleried transept; a large +gallery also runs along the sides and at the front end of the +general building. The seats below are substantial and high; very +small people when they sit down in them go right out of sight--if +you are sitting behind you can't see them at all; people less +diminutive show their occiput moderately; ordinarily-sized folk keep +their heads and a portion of their shoulders just fairly in sight. +About 560 people can be accommodated below and 440 in the galleries. +There are several free sittings in front of the pulpit--good seats +for hearing, but rather too conspicuous; just within each entrance +on the ground floor there are more free sittings; and all the pews +in the galleries except the two bottom rows--let at a low figure-- +are, we believe, also free. Altogether there are about 400 seats +free and tolerably easy in the building. There are many pretty +stained glass memorial windows in the church; indeed, if it were not +for these the building would have a very cold and unpleasantly +Normanised look. They tone down its severity of style, and cast +gently into it a mellowed light akin to that of the "dim religious" +order. They are narrow, circular-headed; and occupy the front, the +sides, the transept, and the chancel. All the lower windows in the +building, except two or three, are filled in with stained glass. The +windows were put in by the following parties:- Four by Mr. Edward +Gorst (afterwards Lowndes), one in memory of his wife and two +children, another in memory of Mr. Septimus Gorst, his wife and only +child, and two in commemoration of the 20 years services of the late +Rev T. Clark at the church; five by the late Mr. J. Bairstow--two of +them being in memory of his sisters, Miss Bairstow and Mrs. Levy; +two in memory of the late Mr. J. Horrocks, sen., and Mrs. Horrocks +his wife, by their children; one in memory of the late Mr. John +Horrocks, jun., by his widow and two sisters; one to the memory of +Mr. Lowndes by his son; two by the late Mrs. Clark, one, we believe, +being in memory of her mother, whilst the other does not appear to +have any personal reference; one by the Rev. Raywood Firth, the +present incumbent, in memory of Miss Buck, who remembered him kindly +in her will; and one by the Rev. Mr. Firth and his wife, which was +put up when the Rev. T. Clark relinquished the incumbency, and gave +way for his son-in-law. This "in memoriam" act was done out of +affection and not because the incumbency was changing hands. The +pulpit in the Church is tall and somewhat handsome. It occupies a +central position, in front of the chancel, and is flanked by two +reading desks, one being used for prayers and the other for lessons. +There is no clerk at this church; and there were never but two +connected with the place; one being the late Mr. Stephen Wilson, of +the firm of Wilson and Lawson; and the other the late Mr. John +Brewer, of the firm of Bannister and Brewer of this town. The +responses are now said by the choir; and everything appertaining to +the serious problems of surplice and gown arranging, pulpit door +opening and shutting, is solved by black rod in waiting--the beadle. + +The first incumbent of Christ Church was the Rev. T. Clark--a +kindly-exact, sincere, quiet-moving gentleman, who did much good in +his district, visited poor people regularly, wasn't afraid of going +down on his knees in their houses, gave away much of that which +parsons and other sinners generally like to keep--money, and was +greatly respected. We shall always remember him--remember him for +his quaint, virtuous preciseness, his humble, kindly plodding ways, +his love of writing with quill pens and spelling words in the old- +fashioned style, his generosity and mild, maidenly fidgetiness, his +veneration for everything evangelical, his dislike of having e put +after his name, and his courteous, accomplished, affable manners. +For 27 years--having previously been curate at the Parish Church in +this town--Mr. Clark was incumbent of Christ Church. + +He was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Rev. Raywood Firth, who has +worked through Longfellow's excelsior gamut rapidly and +successfully. The father of Mr. Firth was a Wesleyan Methedist +minister, and, singular to say, was at one time--in some Yorkshire +circuit we believe--the superintendent of a gentlemen who is now, +and has been for some years, the incumbent of a Preston church. A +few years ago Mr. Firth visited Preston as secretary of a society in +connection with the Church of England; then got married to the +daughter of the Rev. T. Clark; subsequently became curate of that +gentlemen's church; and in 1864 was made its incumbent. Well done! +The ascent is good. We like the transition. Mr. Firth is a minute, +russet-featured gentleman; is precise in dress, neat in taste; gets +over the ground quietly and quickly; has a full, clear, dark eye; +has a youthful clerical countenance; has given way a little to +facial sadness; is sharp and serious; has a healthy biliary duct, +and has carried dark hair on his head ever since we knew him; is +clear-sighted, shy unless spoken to, and cautious; is free and +generous in expression if trotted out a little; is no bigot; +dislikes fierce judgments and creed-reviling; likes visiting folk +who are well off; wouldn't object to tea, crumpet, and conversation +with the better end of his flock any day; visits fairly in his +district, and says many a good word to folk in poverty, but would +look at a floor before going down upon it like his predecessor; +thinks that flags and boards should be either very clean or carpeted +before good trousers touch them; minds his own business; is +moderately benevolent, but doesn't phlebotomise himself too +painfully; never sets his district on fire with either phrensied +lectures or polemical tomahawking; takes things easily and +respectably; believes in his own views rather strongly at times; +loves putting the sacred kibosh upon things occasionally; is well +educated, can think out his own divinity; need never buy sermons; +has a clear, quiet-working, fairly-developed brain; is inclined to +thoughtfulness and taciturnity; might advantageously mix up with the +poor of his district a little more; needn't care over much for the +nods of rich folk, or the green tea and toast of antique Spinsters; +might be a little heartier, and less reserved; is a sincere man; +believes in what he teaches; and is thoroughly evangelical; is more +enlightened than three-fourths of our Preston Church of England +parsons, and doesn't brag over his ability. His salary is about 400 +pounds a year, and that is a sum which the generality of people +would not object to. He is a good reader, is clear and energetic, +but shakes his head a little too much. In the pulpit he never gets +either fast asleep or hysterical. He can preach good original +sermons--carefully worked out, well-balanced, neatly arranged; and +he can give birth to some which are rather dull and mediocre. His +action is easy, yet earnest--his style quiet yet dignified; his +matter often scholarly, and never stolen. He is not a, "gatherer and +disposer of other men's stuff," like some clerical greengrocers: +what he says is his own, and he sticks to it. + +There are two full services, morning and evening, and prayers in an +afternoon, on Sundays, at the church; and on a Tuesday evening there +is another service,--attended only slenderly, and patronised +principally, we are afraid, by elderly females, whose sands have run +down, and who couldn't do much harm now if they were very solicitous +on the subject. The attendance on Sundays is pretty large-- +particularly in a morning. The adult congregation used to be very +select and high in the instep--was a kind of second edition of St. +George's, in three volumes. It is still numerous, but not so choice; +still proud but not so well bred; still stiff, serene, lofty-minded, +and elanish, but not so wealthy as is formerly was. The superior +members of the congregation, as a rule, gravitate downwards, have +seats on the ground floor,--it is vulgar to sit in the galleries. +They are all excellently attired; the "latest thing" may be seen in +hair, and bonnets, and dresses; the best of coats and the cleanest +of waistcoats are also observable. A cold tone of gentle-blooded, +high-middle-class respectability prevails. Much special adhesiveness +exists amongst them. Small charmed circles, little isolated +coteries, fond of exclusive devotional dealing, and "keeping +themselves to themselves," are rather numerous. Many good and some +very inquisitive and gossipy people attend--individuals who know all +your concerns, can tell how many glasses you had last week and where +you had them at, and like to make quiet hints on the subject to +others. The congregation is substantial in look, and possesses many +excellent qualities; but there is a great amount of what Dr. Johnson +would call "immiscibility" in it. Nearly every part of it has a very +strong notion that it is better than any other part. As in the +grocer's shop pictured by one of our best wits, so is it here--the +tenpenny nail looks upon the tin tack and calmly snubs it; the long +sixes eye the farthing dips and say they are poor lights; the bigger +articles seem cross and potent in the face of the smaller; the +little look big in the face of the less; and the infinitessimal clap +their wings when they make a comparison with nothing. The +congregation at Christ Church won't mix itself up; is fond of +"distance"; says, in a genteely pious tone, "keep off"; can't be +approached beyond a certain point; isn't sociable; won't stand any +hand-shaking except is its own peculiar circles. We know a person +who has gone for above 20 years to one of our Methodist chapels, and +yet nobody has ever said, on either entering or leaving the place, +"How are you?" The very same thing would have happened if that same +person had gone to Christ Church, unless there had been some +connection with a special circle. In all our churches and chapels +there is sadly too much of this rigid isolation, this frigid "Don't +know you" business. Clanishness and cleanliness occupy front ranks +at Christ Church, and if the Scotch tartans were worn in it, the +theory of distinction would be consummated. We would advise Mr. +Firth to write northward--beyond the Firth of Forth (oh!)--for +samples of plaids. The congregation on the whole is pretty liberal; +can subscribe fair sums of money; but the collections are not now +what they once were; the main reason being that there is not the +same wealth in the place as there used to be. + +The music at Christ Church was, until lately, very good; it now +seems to be degenerating a little. There is a splendid organ in the +building. It cost about 1,000 pounds, and, with the exception of +that at St. George's, is about the best in the town. The late Mr. J. +Horrocks, jun., contributed handsomely towards the organ; played it +gratuitously; gave liberally towards the choir expenses; and Christ +Church is under a lasting debt of gratitude to him for his excellent +services. The organ is blown by two small engines, driven by water; +so that its music literally resolves itself into a question of wind +and water. The tones of the instrument are good, and they are very +fairly brought out by the present organist. The services are well +got through, and whilst Puritanism is on the one hand avoided in +them, Ritualism is on the other distinctly discarded. A medium +course, which is the best, is observed in the church, and so long as +Mr. Firth remains at the place there will be nothing bedizened or +foolish in its ceremonies. A small memorial place of worship, which +will operate as a "chapel of ease" for Christ Church, has been built +in Bird-street. Belonging to Christ Church there are some good day +and Sunday schools. They are numerously attended, and well +supervised. Adults have a room to themselves on a Sunday, and they +go through the processes of instruction patiently, benignly, and +without thrashing. At one time there was a school connected with the +church in Wellfield-road; but when St. Mark's was erected the +building and the scholars were transferred to its care. Viewing +everything right round, it may be said that Christ Church is a good +substantial building, but is rather too plain and weighs too much +for its size; that its minister is a mildly-toned, well-educated, +devout gentleman, with no cant in him, with a tender bias to the +side of gentility, and born to be luckier than three-fourths of the +sons of Wesleyan parsons; that its congregation is influential, +rose-coloured, good-looking, numerous, thinks that everybody is not +composed exactly of the same materials, believes that familiarity is +a flower which must be cautiously cultivated; that its religious and +educational operations are extensive; and that if all who are +influenced by them would only carry out what they are taught--none +of us do this over well--they would be models from which plaster +casts might be taken either for artistic purposes or the edification +of heathens generally. + + + +WESLEY AND MOOR PARK METHODIST CHAPELS. + + + +These two places of worship must constitute one dose. They are in +the same circuit, are looked after by the same ministers, and if we +gave a separate description of each we should only be guilty of that +unpleasant "iteration" which Shakspere names so forcibly in one of +his plays. Wesley Chapel is the older of the two, and, therefore, +must be first mentioned. It is situated in North-road, at the corner +of Upper Walker-street, and we dare say that those who christened it +thought they were doing a very hand-some thing--charming the +building with a name, and graciously currying favour with the Wesley +family. People have a particular liking for whoever or whatever may +be called after them, and good old John may sometimes look down +approvingly upon the place and tell Charles that he likes it. The +chapel, which was built in 1838, enjoys the usual society of all +pious buildings: it has two public houses and a beershop within +thirty yards of its entrance, and they often seem to be doing a +brisker business than it can drive, except during portions of the +Sunday when they are shut up, and, consequently, have not a fair +chance of competing with it. The chapel is square in form, has more +brick than stone in its composition, and has a pretty respectable +front, approached by steps, and duly guarded by iron railings. +Neither inside nor outside the building is there anything +architecturally fine. A decent mediocrity generally pervades it. The +entrances are narrow, and there is often a good deal of pushing and +patient squeezing at the neck of them. But nobody is ever hurt, and +not much bad temper is manifested when even the collateral pew doors +mix themselves up with the crowd, and prevent people from getting in +or out too suddenly. The chapel, although simple in style, is clean, +lofty, and light. A gallery of the horse shoe pattern runs round the +greater portion of it. Thin iron pillars support the gallery and the +"chancel" end, which is arched and recessed for orchestral +accomodation, is flanked by fluted imitation columns. + +There is accomodation in the place for between 800 and 900 persons; +but it is not often that all the seats are filled. The average +attendance will be about 800; and nearly every one making up that +number belongs to the working-class section of life. Amongst the +body are many genial good-hearted folk-people who believe is doing +right without telling everybody about it, in obliging you without +pulling a face over it; and there are also individuals in the rank +and file of worshippers who are very Pecksniffian and dismal, +cranky, windy, authoritative, who would look sour if eating sugar, +would call a "church meeting" if you wore a lively suit of clothes, +and would tell you that they were entitled to more grace than +anybody else, and had got more. The better washed and more +respectably dressed portion of the congregation sit at the back of +the central range of seats on the ground floor, also along portions +of the sides, and in front of the gallery. Towards the front of the +central seats there is a confraternity of humble earnest-looking +beings, including several aged persons, who are true types in form, +manner, and dress, of unsophisticated Methodists. Here, as +elsewhere, there are very few people in the chapel ten minutes +"before the train starts." Those present at that time are mainly +middle-aged, unpretentious, and very seriously inclined; others of a +higher type follow; and then comes the rush, which lasts for about +five minutes. Worship is conducted in the chapel with considerable +quietness. You may hear the long-drawn gelatinous sigh, the subdued, +quiet, unctuous "amen," and if the thing gets hot a few lively half- +innate exclamations are thrown into the proceedings. But there is +nothing in any of them of a turbulent or riotous character. The +parsons can draw out none of the worshippers into a very +ungovernable frame of mind; and we believe none of the people have +for some time been very violent in either their verbal expressions +or physical contortions. They are beginning to take things quietly, +and to work inwardly during periods of bliss. There are about 400 +"members" in connection with Wesley Chapel, and we hope they are +nearly half as good as such like people usually profess to be. The +rule in life is for people to be about one-third as virtuous as they +say they are; and if they can be got a trifle beyond that point by +any legitimate process, it is something to be thankful for. + +There is a very fair organ at Wesley Chapel, and the person who +plays it does the requisite manipulative business with good ordinary +skill. The choir is a sort of family compact; the members of one +household preponderate in it; but its arrangements are well worked, +and the music, taking everything into account, is pretty fair. It is +far from being classical; but it will do. The singing in the +galleries and below is full, if not very sweet; is spirited and +generously expressed if not so melodious. Quite the old style of +vocalising prevails in some quarters of the place, and it is mainly +patronised by old people; they swing backwards and forwards gently +and they sing, get into all kinds of keys, experimentally, put their +hands on the pew sides or fronts, beating time with the music as the +business proceeds, and like singing hymn ends over again. There is a +school beneath the chapel. On week-days its average attendance is +about 115; and on Sundays 450. + +We must now for a moment pass on to Moor Park Chapel. This is a new, +and somewhat genteel-looking building--has a rather "taking" +outside, and is inclined to be smart within. It was opened on the +26th of June, 1862. A style of architecture closely resembling that +of Lancaster-road Congregational Chapel has been followed in its +construction. There is much circular work in its ornamental details; +its general arrangements are neat, and well finished; nothing cold +or sulkily Puritanical presents itself; a degree of even taste and +polish has been observed in its make. This is a more "respectable" +chapel than its companion at the top of Walker-street; its patrons +are supposed to be a somewhat richer class. It will accommodate +about 900 people; but, as at Wesley Chapel, so here--there are more +sittings than sitters. "It has been known to hold 1,300, on an +excursion," said a quiet-minded young man to us when we were at the +chapel; but we didn't understand the young man, couldn't fathom his +"excursion" sentiments, and afterwards threw ourselves into the arms +of one of the ministers for numeric protection. There is a good +gallery in the building, and the pillars which support it prop up a +sort of arched canopy, like an oblong umbrella, which is too low, +too near the head, and must consequently both confine the air, and +develope sweating when the place is filled. There is a neat pulpit +in the chapel, and it is ornamented with what seem to be panels of +opaque glass. We were rather distressed on first seeing them, being +apprehensive that one of the preachers might, some very fine Sunday, +when in a mood more rapturous than usual, send the points of his +shoes right through them; but our mind was eased when an explanation +was made to the effect: that the "glass" was ornamental zinc, and +that the feet of the preachers couldn't get near it. Behind the +pulpit there is a circular niche for the members of the choir, who, +aided and abetted in musical matters by a pretty good harmonium, +acquit themselves respectably. + +The congregation, as hinted, is more "fashionable" than that at +Wesley Chapel: it is more select, has more pride in it, sighs more +gently, moans less audibly, turns up its eyes more delicately, +hardly ever gets into a "religious spree," and is inclined to think +that piety should be genteel as well as vital. The members here +number 280. Immediately adjoining the chapel there is good school +accomodation; and the attendance appears to be very creditable. On +week days the average is two hundred; and on Sundays it reaches +about four hundred. At both Wesley and Moor Park Chapels there are +week-night services and class meetings. The former are rather dull +and badly attended; and a special effort on the part of both those +who talk and those who listen is required to get up the proceedings +into a state of pleasant activity; the latter are fairly managed, +and are somewhat like "experiences meetings;" talking, singing, and +praying are done at them; there is a constant fluctuation, whilst +they are going on, between bliss and contrition; and you are +sometimes puzzled to find out--taking the sounds made as a +criterion--whether the attendants are preparing to fight, or fling +themselves into a fit of crying, or hug and pet each other. + +The circuit embraces the two chapels named, also Kirkham, +Freckleton, Bamber Bridge, Longridge, Moon's Mill, Wrea Green, and +Ashton; it has now about 795 members; and all of them, with the +exception of 115, as figures previously given show, are in Preston. +The circuit, so far as members go, is slightly decreasing in power; +but it may recruit its forces by and bye; There has been a species +of duality in it during the past three years; its energies have been +a little divided; faction has reigned in it; there have been too +many Raynerites and Adamites and sadly too few Christians in it; +pious snarling and godly backbiting have been too industriously +exercised; and one consequence has been weakened power and a +declension of progress. But the brethren are getting more cheerful, +much old spleen has subsided, and, we hope, they will all kiss and +get kind again soon. + +When this sketch was first printed the Rev. T. A. Rayner was the +superintendent minister; the Rev. J. Adams being second in command; +and they worked the different sections alternately. Mr. Rayner is an +elderly gentleman, with a strong osseous frame, which is well +covered with muscle and adipose matter; he has been about 34 years +in the ministry, and should, therefore, be either very smart or very +dull by this time; he has a portly, grave, reverential look; carries +with him both spectacles and an eye-glass; is slow and coldly-keen +in his mental processes; thinks that he can speak with authority; +and that all minor dogs must cease barking when he mounts the +oracular tripod; he is sincere; works well, for his years, and in +his own way does his best; he is a man of much experience, and has +fair intellectual powers; but his temperament is very icy and +flatulent; his humours heavy and watery, and a phlegmagog purge +would do him good. He is a rigid methodical man; believes in +original rules and ancient prerogatives; is a Wesleyan of the +antique type, but is devoid of force and enthusiasm; he never sets +you on fire with declamation, nor melts you with pathos; he had +rather freeze than burn sinners; he thinks the harrier principle of +catching a hare is the surest, and that travelling on a theological +canal is the safest plan in the long run. He is more cut out for a +country rectory, where the main duties are nodding at the squire and +stunning the bucolic mind with platitudes, than for a large circuit +of active Methodists; he would be more at home at a rural deanery, +surrounded by rookeries and placid fish ponds, than in a town +mission environed by smoke and made up of screaming children and +thin-skinned Christians. Mr. Rayner has many good properties; but +short sermon preaching is not one of them. Some of the descendants +of that man who, according to "Drunken Barnaby," slaughtered his cat +on a Monday, because it killed a mouse on the Sunday, were in the +bait of preaching for three hours at one stretch. Mr. Rayner never +yet preached that length of time, and we hope he never will do; but +he can, like the east wind, blow a long while in one direction. One +Sunday evening; when we heard him, be preached just one hour, and at +the conclusion intimated that he had been requested to give a short +sermon, but had drifted into a rather prolix one. We should like to +know what length he would have run out his rhetoric if be had been +requested to give a long discourse. By the powers! it would have +"tickled the catastrophe" of each listener finely--doctors would +have had to be called in, a vast amount of physic would have been +required, and it would never have got paid for in these hard times +so that bad debts would have been added to the general calamity. We +could never see any good in long sermons and nobody else ever could +except those giving them. Neither could we ever see much fun in a +parson saying--"And now lastly" more than once. In the 60 minutes +discourse to which we have alluded, the preacher got into the lastly +part of the business five times. If that other conclusive phrase-- +"And now, finally brethren"--had been taken advantage of, and +similarly worked, we might never have got home till morning. +Summarising Mr. Rayner, it may be stated that he is calm, +phlegmatic, earnest but too prolix, likes to wield the rod of +authority and occupy one of the uppermost seats in the synagogue, is +an industrious minister but adheres to a programme antique and +chilling, is a real Wesleyan in his conceptions, but behind the +times in spirit and mental brilliance, is in a word good, grim, +imperial, cold as ice, steady, and soundly orthodox. + +Mr. Adams, the junior minister, is quite of a different mould; he is +sprightly, gamey, wide awake, full of courage, with a smack of +Yankee audacity in his manner, and a fair share of conceit in his +general make up. There is much determination in him, much of the +lively bantam element about him. He has a sharp round face which has +not been spoiled by sanctimoniousness. He is sanguine, combative, go +ahead, and would like a good fight if he got fairly into one. He +cares little for forms and ceremonies; is a good mower; wears a +billycock which has passed through much tribulation --we believe it +was once the subject of a church meeting; can play cricket pretty +well, and enjoys the game; is frank, candid, and speaks straight +out; can say a good thing and knows when he has said it; has an +above-board, clear, decisive style; is not a great scholar, and +would be puzzled, like the generality of parsons, if asked how many +teeth he had in his head, or who was the grandfather of his mother's +first uncle; knows little of Latin and less of Greek, but +understands human nature, and that, says the Clockmaker, beats +scholarship; has been in America, which accounts for the nasal ring +in his talk; is active, sanguine, free, and easy, and would enjoy +either a ridotto or a fast; can utter lively, merry things in his +sermons, and does not object sometimes to recognise the wisdom of +Shakspere. Mr. Adams is a good platform speaker, and he can give +straight shots as a preacher. Sometimes his discourses are only +common-place, wordy, and featherless; but in the general run he is +much above the average of sermonisers. He has good action, can put +out considerable canvas when very warm, smacks the pulpit sides with +his hands when, particularly earnest, and occasionally makes a +direct aim at the Bible before him, and hits it. We rather like his +style; it is free, but not coarse; spirited, but not crazy; +determined, but not bigoted; and it is in no way spice with either +cant or hallowed humbug. Mr. Adams was five years in America, and he +is now completing the tenth year of his career as a regular Wesleyan +minister. He has a large veneration for his own powers and thinks +there are few sons of Adam like him in the Methodist world; still he +is a hard-working, shrewd, clear-headed little man, a good preacher, +with a deal of every day fun and sunshine in his heart, and +calculated to take a considerably higher post than that which he now +occupies. + + + +PRESBYTERIAN AND FREE GOSPEL CHAPELS. + + + +"Who are the Presbyterians?" we can imagine many curious, quietly- +inquisitive people asking; and we can further imagine numbers of the +same class coming to various solemn and inaccurate conclusions as to +what the belief of the Presbyterians is. Shortly and sweetly, we may +say that they believe in Calvinism, and profess to be the last sound +link in the chain of olden Puritanism. They do not believe in +knocking down May poles, nor in breaking off the finger and nose +ends of sacred statues, nor in condemning as wicked the eating of +mince pies, nor in having their hair cropped so that no man can get +hold of it, like the ancient members of the Roundhead family; but in +spiritual matters they have a distinct regard for the plain, +unceremonious tenets of ancient Puritanism--for the simplicity, +definitiveness, and absolutism of Calvinism. Some persons fond of +spiritual christenings and mystic gossip have supposed that the +Presbyterians who, during the past few years, have endeavoured to +obtain a local habitation and a name in Preston, were connected with +the Unitarians; others have classed them as a species of +Independents; and many have come to the conclusion that their creed +has much Scotch blood in it--has some affinity to the U.P. style of +theology, and has a moderate amount of the "Holy Fair" business to +it. The most ignorant are generally the most critically audacious; +and men knowing no more about the peculiarities of creeds than of +the capillary action of woolly horses are often the first to run the +gauntlet of opinionism concerning them. The fact of the matter is, +the Preston Presbyterians are no more and no less, in doctrine, than +Calvinists. In discipline and doctrine they are on a par with the +members of the Free Church of Scotland; but they are not connected +with that church, and don't want to be, unless they can get +something worth looking at and taking home. + +Historically, the Presbyterians worshipping in Preston don't pretend +to date as far back as some religious sects, but they do start +ancestrally from the first epoch of British Presbyterianism. Their +spiritual forefathers had a stern beginning in this country; they +were cradled in fierce tomes, said their prayers often amid the +smoke of cannons and the tumult of armies; and maintained their +vitality through one of the sternest and most revolutionary periods +of modern history. In the 17th century they were, for a few moments, +paramount in England; in 1648 nearly all the parishes in the land +were declared to be under their form of church government; but the +tide of fortune eventually set in against them; at the Restoration +Episcopacy superseded their faith; and since then they have had to +fight up their way through a long, a circuitous, and an uneven +track. Their creed, as before intimated, is Calvinistic, and that is +a sufficient definition of it. They believe in a sort of universal +suffrage, so far as the election of their pastors is concerned; and +if they have grievances on hand they nurse them for a short time, +then appeal to "the presbytery." and in case they can't get +consolation from that body they go to "the synod." We could give the +history of this sect, but in doing so we should have to quote many +"figures" and numerous "facts"--things which, according to one +British statesman, can never be relied upon--and on that account we +shall avoid the dilemma into which we might be drifted. It will be +sufficient for our purpose to state that in 1866 a few persons in +Preston with a predilection for the ancient form of Presbyterianism +held a consultation, and decided to start a "church." They had a +sprinkling of serious blood in their arteries--a tincture of well- +balanced, modernised Puritanism in their veins--and they honestly +thought that if any balm had to come out of Gilead, it would first +have to pass through Presbyterianism, and that if any physician had +to appear he would have to be a Calvinistic preacher. + +They, at first, met privately, and then engaged the theatre of +Avenham Institution--a place which had previously been the nursery +of Fishergate Baptism and Lancaster-road Congregationalism. From the +early part of January, 1866, till September, 1867, they were regaled +with "supplies" from different parts of the kingdom. When they met +on the second Sunday--it would be unfair to criticise the first +Curtian plunge they made--14 persons, including the preacher, put in +an appearance; but the number gradually extended; courage slowly +accumulated, and eventually--in September, 1867--the Rev. A. Bell, a +gentleman young in years, and fresh from the green isle, who pleased +the Preston Presbyterians considerably, was requested to stop with +them and endeavour to make them comfortable. Mr. Bell thought out +the question briefly, got a knowledge of the duties required, &c., +and then consented to stay with the brethren. And he is still with +them; hoping that they may multiply and replenish the earth, and +spread Presbyterianism muchly. From the period of their +denominational birth up to now the Preston Presbyterians have +worshipped in the theatre of the Institution, Avenham--a place which +everybody knows and which we need not describe. There is nothing +ecclesiastical about it; the place is fit for the operations of +either lecturers, or preachers, or conjurors; and it will do for the +inculcation of Presbyterianism as well as for anything else. The +leaders of the Presbyterian body are looking out for a site upon +which a new chapel may be erected, but they have not yet found one. +By-and-bye we hope they will see a site which will suit their +vision, will come up to their ideal, and, in the words of Butler, be +"Presbyterian true blue." + +The members of "the church" number at present about 112; and the +average congregation will be about 200. It includes Scotchmen, Irish +Presbyterians, people who have turned over from Baptism, +Independency, Catholicism, and several other creeds, and all of them +seem to be theologically satisfied. There ought to be elders at the +place; but the denomination seems too young for them; as it +progresses and gets older it will get into the elder stage. There is +no pulpit in the building, and the preacher gets on very well is the +absence of one. If he has no pulpit he has at least this consolation +that he can never fall over such a contrivance, as the South +Staffordshire Methodist once did, when in a fit of fury, and nearly +killed some of the singers below. The congregation consists +principally of middle and working class people. Their demeanour is +calm, their music moderate, and in neither mind nor body do they +appear to be much agitated, like some people, during their moments +of devotion. + +The preacher, who has been about six years in the ministry, and gets +250 pounds a year for his duties here, is a dark-complexioned sharp- +featured man--slender, serious-looking, energetic, earnest, with a +sanguine-bilious temperament. He is a ready and rather eloquent +preacher; is fervid, emphatic, determined; has moderate action; +never damages his coat near the armpits by holding his arms too +high; has a touch of the "ould Ireland" brogue in his talk; never +loudly blows his own trumpet, but sometimes rings his own bell a +little; means what he says; is pretty liberal towards other creeds, +but is certain that his own views are by far the best; is a steady +thinker, a sincere minister, a tolerably good scholar, and a warm- +hearted man, who wouldn't torture an enemy if he could avoid it, but +would struggle hard if "put to it." Like the rest of preachers he +has his admirers as well as those who do not think him altogether +immaculate; but taking him in toto--mind, body, and clothes--he is a +fervent, candid, medium-sized, respectable-looking man, worth +listening to as a speaker of the serious school, and calculated, if +regularly heard, to distinctly inoculate you with Presbyterianism. +It is as "clear as a bell" that he is advancing considerably the +cause he is connected with, and that his "church" is making +satisfactory progress. There is a Sabbath school attached to the +denomination. The scholars meet every Sunday afternoon in the +Institution; and their average attendance is about 90. As a +denomination the Presbyterians are pushing onwards vigorously, +though quietly, and their prospects are good. + +To the Free Gospel people we next come. They don't occupy very +fashionable quarters; Ashmoor-street, a long way down Adelphi- +street, is the thoroughfare wherein their spiritual refuge is +situated. If they were in a better locality, the probability is they +would be denominationally stronger. In religion, as in everything +else, "respectability" is the charm. We have heard many a laugh at +the expense of these "Free Gospel" folk, but there is more in their +creed, although it may have only Ashmoor-street for its blossoming +ground, than the multitude of people think of. They were brought +into existence through a dispute with a Primitive Methodist preacher +at Saul-street chapel; although previously, men holding opinions +somewhat similar to theirs, were in the town, and built, but through +adverse circumstances had to give up, Vauxhall-road chapel. In the +early stages of their existence the Free Gospellers were called +Quaker Methodists, because they dressed somewhat like Quakers, and +had ways of thinking rather like the followers of George Fox. In +some places they are known as Christian Brethren; in other parts +they are recognised as a kind of independent Ranters. + +About ten years ago, the Preston Free Gospel people got Mr. James +Toulmin to build a chapel for them in Ashmoor-street; they having +worshipped up to that time, first at a place on Snow-Hill and then +in Gorst-street. He did not give them the chapel; never said that he +would; couldn't afford to be guilty of an act so curious; but he +erected a place of worship for their pleasure, and they have paid +him something in the shape of rent for it ever since. The chapel is +a plain, small, humble-looking building--a rather respectably +developed cottage, with only one apartment--and we should think that +those who attend it must be in earnest. The place seems to have been +arranged to hold 95 persons--a rather strange number; but upon a +pinch, and by the aid of a few forms planted near the foot of the +pulpit, perhaps 120 could be accommodated in it. There are just +fourteen pews in the chapel, and they run up backwards to the end of +the building, the highest altitude obtained being perhaps four +yards. A good view can be obtained from the pulpit. Not only can the +preacher eye instantaneously every member of his congregation, but +he can get serene glimpses through the windows of eight chimney +pots, five house roofs, and portions of two backyards. In a season +of doubt and difficulty a scene like this must relieve him. + +There are about 30 "members" of the chapel. The average attendance +on a Sunday, including all ranks, will be about 50. The worshippers +are humble people--artisans, operatives, small shopkeepers, &c. A +few of the hottest original partisans were the first to leave the +chapel after its opening. There is a Sunday school connected with +the body, and between 40 and 50 children and youths attend it on the +average. Voluntaryism in its most absolute form, is the predominant +principle of the denomination. The sect is, in reality, a "free +community." Their standard is the bible; they believe in both faith +and good works, but place more reliance upon the latter than the +former; they recognise a progressive Christianity, "harmonising," as +we have been told, "with science and common sense;" they object to +the Trinitarian dogma, as commonly accepted by the various churches, +maintaining that both the Bible and reason teach the existence of +but one God; they have no eucharistic sacrament, believing that as +often as they eat and drink they should be imbued with a spirit of +Christian remembrance and thankfulness; they argue that ministers +should not be paid; they dispense with pew-rents; repudiate all +money tests of membership--class-pence, &c.; make voluntary weekly +contributions towards the general expenses, each giving according to +his means; and all have a voice in the regulation of affairs, but +direct executive work is done by a president and a committee. The +independent volition of Quakerism is one of their prime +peculiarities. If they have even a tea-party, no fixed charge for +admission is made; the price paid for demolishing the tea and +currant bread, and crackers being left to the individual ability and +feelings of the participants. + +Service is held in the chapel morning and evening every Sunday, and +the business of religious edification is very peacefully conducted. +There is a moderate choir in the chapel, and a small harmonium: The +singing is conducted on the tonic sol fa principle, and it seems to +suit Mr. William Toulmin, brother of the owner of the chapel, +preaches every Sunday, and has done so, more or less, from its +opening. He gets nothing for the job, contributes his share towards +the church expenses as well, and is satisfied. Others going to the +place might preach if they could, but they can't, so the lot +constantly falls upon Jonah, who gives homely practical sermons, and +is well thought of by his hearers. He is a quaint, cold, generous +man; is original, humble, honest; cares little for appearances; +wears neither white bands nor morocco shoes; looks sad, rough and +ready, and unapproachable; works regularly as a shopkeeper on week +days, and earnestly as a preacher on Sundays; passes his life away +in a mild struggle with eggs, bacon, butter, and theology; isn't +learned, nor classical, nor rhetorical, but possesses common sense; +expresses himself so as to be understood--a thing which some regular +parsons have a difficulty in doing; and has laboured Sunday after +Sunday for years all for nothing--a thing which no regular parson +ever did or ever will do. We somewhat respect a man who can preach +for years without pocketing a single dime, and contribute regularly +towards a church which gives him no salary, and never intends doing. +The homilies of the preacher at Ashmoor-street Chapel may neither be +luminous nor eloquent, neither pythonic in utterance nor refined in +diction, but they are at least worth as much as he gets for them. +Any man able to sermonise better, or rhapsodise more cheaply, or +beat the bush of divinity more energetically, can occupy the pulpit +tomorrow. It is open to all England, and possession of it can be +obtained without a struggle. Who bids? + + + +ST. JAMES'S CHURCH. + + + +There is a touch of smooth piety and elegance in the name of St. +James. It sounds refined, serious, precise. Two of the quietest and +most devoted pioneers of Christianity were christened James; the +most fashionable quarters in London are St. James's; the Spaniards +have for ages recognised St. James as their patron saint; and on the +whole whether referring to the "elder" or the "less" James, the name +has a very good and Jamesly bearing. An old English poet says that +"Saint James gives oysters" just as St. Swithin attends to the rain; +but we are afraid that in these days he doesn't look very minutely +after the bivalve part of creation: if he does he is determined to +charge us enough for ingurgitation, and that isn't a very saintly +thing. He may be an ichthyofagic benefactors only--we don't see the +oysters as often as we could like. Not many churches are called +after St. James, and very few people swear by him. We have a church +in Preston dedicated to the saint; but it got the name whilst it was +a kind of chapel. St. James's church is situated between Knowsley +and Berry-streets, and directly faces the National school in +Avenham-lane. "Who erected the building?" said we one day to a +churchman, and the curt reply, with a neatly curled lip, was, "A +parcel of Dissenters." + +Very few people seem to have a really correct knowledge of the +history of the place, and, for the satisfaction of all and the +singular, we will give an account of it, in the exact words of the +gentleman who had most to do with the building originally. Mr. James +Fielding deposeth:- St. James's was erected by the Rev. James +Fielding and his friends. The occasion of its erection was this-- +Vauxhall-road Chapel, in which Mr. Fielding had been preaching four +or five years, had become too small for the accomodation of the +congregation worshipping there, and it was thought advisable to open +a subscription for a new and larger building. The first stone of St. +James's was laid by Mr. Fielding, May 24th, 1837, and the place was +opened for divine worship in January, 1838, under the denomination +of "The Primitive Episcopal Church," [that beats the "Reformed +Church,"--eh?] by the Rev. J. R. Matthews, of Bedford, who was a +clergyman of the Established Church. The building was computed to +seat about 1,300 people. The cost of the place was about 1,500 +pounds. After the opening, Mr. Fielding commenced his ministry in +the new church--the congregation removing from Vauxhall Chapel into +that place of worship. Not long afterwards Mr. Fielding had a severe +attack of illness, and was laid aside from his work. From this, +together with the urgency of the contractors for the payment of +their bills, it was thought advisable to sell the premises. The late +vicar of Preston, Rev. Carus Wilson, in conjunction with his +friends, offered 1,000 pounds for the building. This was believed to +be considerably under its real value, being 500 pounds below the +cost amount. However, under the circumstances it was decided to +accept the offer. The transfer of the premises took place in April, +1838. Mr. Fielding continued his ministry in Preston in several +other places for thirteen years after the erection of St. James's. + +The late John Addison, Esq., of this town, says, in a document +written by himself, which we have before us, and which is entitled +"Some account of St. James's Church, in the parish of Preston"--"A +body of Dissenters having erected a large building, capable of +holding 1,100 persons, and having opened it for public worship under +the name of St. James's Church, but, being unable to pay the +expenses, offered it for sale. The building being situated directly +opposite the Central National School, and in the immediate +neighbourhood of the infant school and Church Sunday schools, a few +of the committee of the National school thought it desirable that +the building should be purchased and made into a church for the +accomodation of the children of the schools and of the +neighbourhood." And the result was the purchase of the Rev. James +Fielding's "Primitive Episcopal Church." + +The building is made mainly of brick, and looks very like a +Dissenting place of worship. It is a tame, moderately tall, +quadrangular edifice, flanked with stone buttresses, heavy enough to +crush in its sides, fronted with a plain gable, pierced with a few +prosaic windows, and surmounted with collateral turrets and a small +bell fit for a school-house, and calculated to swivel whilst being +worked quite as much as any other piece of sacred bell-metal in the +Hundred of Amounderness. There is a small graveyard in front of the +church containing a few flat tombstones and six young trees which +have rather a struggling time of it in windy weather. The ground +spaces at the sides of the church are decorated with ivy, thistles, +chickweed, and a few venerable docks, The internal architecture of +the building is as dull and modest as that of the exterior. The +seats are stiff, between 30 and 40 inches high, and homely. Just at +present they have a scraped care-worn look, as if they had been +getting parish relief; but in time, when cash is more plentiful, +their appearance will be improved. A considerable sum of money was +once spent upon the cleaning and renovation of the church; but the +paint which was put on during the work never suited; it was either +brushed on too thickly or varnished too coarsely; it persisted in +sticking to people rather too keenly at times; would hardly give way +if struggled with; and taking into account its tenacity and ill- +looks--it was finally decided to rub it off, make things easy with +pumice stone, and agitate for fresh paint and varnish when the +opportunity presented itself. + +There is a large gallery in the church; but, like everything else, +it is plain, The only striking ornament in the building is a +sixteen-spoked circular window (at the chancel end), and until made +to turn round it will never be popularly attractive. In 1846 the +chancel, which isn't anything very prepossessing, was added to the +church. The pulpit is high and rather elegant in design; the reading +desk is a gothicised fabric, and, with its open sides, reminds one +more of a genteel open gangway on which everything can be seen, than +of a snug high box, like those in which old-fashioned clerks used to +sup gin and go to sleep during the intervals. Until recently there +were two wooden gas stands at the sides of the reading desk. They +looked like candlesticks, and short-sighted people, with thin +theological cuticles, and a horror of Puseyism, disliked them. +Eventually the wood was gilded, and, seeing this, as well as knowing +that candles were never gilded, and that, therefore, the stands +couldn't be candles, the dissatisfied ones were appeased. There are +about 400 free sittings in the church; but few people appear to care +much for them. These seats are situated on each side of the +building, at the rear, and in the gallery; and they will be dying of +inanition by and bye if somebody doesn't come to the rescue. People +don't seem to care about having a thing for nothing in the region of +St. James's church. They would probably flock in greater numbers to +the edifice if there were an abundance of those oysters which it is +said "Saint James gives;" but they appear to have a sacred dread of +free seats. Very recently we were at the church, and on the side we +noticed seventeen free pews. How many people do you think there were +in them? Just one delicious old woman, who wore a brightly-coloured +old shawl, and a finely-spreading old bonnet, which in its weight +and amplitude of trimmings seemed to frown into evanescence the +sprightly half-ounce head gearing of today. Paying for what they get +and giving a good price for it when they have a chance is evidently +an axiom with the believers in St. James's. There is at present a +demand for seats worth from 7s. to 10s. each; but those which can be +obtained for 1s. are not much thought of, and nobody will look on +one side at the pews which are offered for nothing. That which is +not charged for is never cared for; and further, in respect to free +pews, patronage of them is an indication of poverty, and people, as +a rule, don't like to show the white feather in that department. + +The congregation is thin, but select--is constituted of substantial +burgeois people, and a few individuals who are comparatively +wealthy. There is a smart elegance about the bonnets and toilettes +of some of the females, and a studied precision in respect to the +linen, vests, and gloves of several of the males. Nothing gloomy, +nor acetose, nor piously-angular can be observed in them; nothing +pre-eminently lustrous is seen in the halo of the respective +worshippers; yet there is a finish about them which indicates that +they have no connection with the canaille, and that they are in some +instances approaching, and in others directly associated with, the +"higher middle class." There are only two services a week--morning +and evening, on a Sunday--at St. James's. Formerly there were more-- +one on a Sunday afternoon, and another on a Thursday evening; but as +the former was only attended by about 30, and the latter by eight or +ten, and as the fund for maintaining a curate who had the management +of them was withdrawn, it was decided some time ago to drop the +services. The Sunday congregation, although it does not on many +occasions half fill the church, is gradually increasing, and it is +hoped that during the next twenty-years it will swell into pretty +large proportions. + +The choral performances form the main item of attraction in the +services. Without them, the business would be tame and flavourless. +They give a warmth and charm to the proceedings. The members of the +choir sit in collateral rows in the chancel; they are all surpliced; +all very virtuous and clerical in look; seldom put their hands into +their pockets whilst singing; and, whatever quantity of "linen" may +be got out by them they invariably endeavour to obviate violence of +expression. Their appearance reminds one of cathedral choristers. In +precision and harmony they are good; and, as a body, they manage all +their work--responses, psalm-singing, &c.--in a very satisfactory +style. For their services they receive nothing, except, perhaps, an +annual treat in the shape of a country trip or social supper. They +wouldn't have money if it were offered to them. St. James's is the +only Preston church in which surpliced choristers sing, and we +believe they have tended materially to increase the congregation. +The choral system now followed at St. James's was inaugurated in +1865, Originally, the choir consisted of 12 boys and 10 men, but, if +anything, parties who are under the painful necessity of shaving now +preponderate. In one corner at the chancel end there is a moderately +well-made organ; but it is not an A1 affair, although it is played +with ability by a gentleman who is perhaps second to none hereabouts +in his knowledge of ecclesiastical music. Like the singers, the +organist resolves his services into what may be termed a "labour of +love." In other ways much may be fish which cometh to his net; but +he is, ORGANICALLY, of a philanthropic turn of mind. The necessary +expenses of the choir amount to about 25 pounds a-year, and they are +met by private subscriptions from the congregation. + +The lessons are read in the church by Mr. Gardner, who comes up to +the lectern undismayed, with a calm, military cast of countenance, +and goes through his articulative duties in a clear, distinct style, +saying nothing to anybody near him which is not contained in the +book before him, and making neither incidental comment nor studied +criticism upon any of the verses be reads. The Rev. John Wilson, +son-in-law of the present vicar of Preston, is the incumbent of St. +James's. He is the seventh minister who has been at the place since +its transference from the Primitive Episcopalians. The first of the +seven was the Rev. W. Harrison; the next was the Rev. P. W. Copeman; +afterwards came the Rev. W. Wailing, who was succeeded by the Rev. +Mr. Betts, whose mantle fell upon the Rev. J. Cousins. Then came the +Rev A. T. Armstrong, and he was followed by the present incumbent. +During the reign of Mr. Cousins there was a rupture at the place, +and many combative letters were written with reference to it. Up to +and for some time after his appointment the Sunday schools of the +Parish and St. James's Churches were amalgamated--were considered as +one lot; but through some misunderstanding a separation ensued. Mr. +Cousins, who had no locus standi as to the possession of the +schools, took with him some scholars, drilled them after his own +fashion for a time, and eventually the present day and Sunday +schools in Knowsley-street were built and opened on behalf of St. +James's. The day school is at present in excellent condition, and +has an average attendance, boys and girls included, of 400; the +Sunday school has an average attendance of something like 200, the +generality of the children being of a respectable, well-dressed +character, although no more disposed, at times, than other +juveniles, to be docile and peaceful. + +The Rev. J. Wilson has been at St. James's upwards of 15 years. He +was curate of the Parish Church from 1847 to 1850. In the latter +year he left in order to take the sole charge of a parish in +Norfolk. In 1854 he gravitated to Preston again, and in the course +of a year was made incumbent of St. James's. For some time he had +much to contend with in the district; and he has had up-hill work +all along. He was one of the original agitators for an alteration of +the Parish Church, and in one sense it may be said that the move he +primarily made in the matter eventuated in the restoration of that +building. The creation of St. Saviour's Church is also largely due +to him, and owing to the building being in St. James's district, +which is a "Blandsford parish," and the only one of the kind in +Preston we may remark, he has the right of presentation to it. Mr. +Wilson is a calm, middle-sized, rather eccentric looking gentleman, +tasteful in big hirsute arrangements, and biased towards a small +curl in the front of his forehead. He is light on his feet, has a +forward bend in his walk, as if trying to find something but never +able to get at it; has a passion for an umbrella, which he carries +both in fine and wet weather; likes a dark, thin, closely-buttoned +overcoat, and used to love a down-easter wide-awake hat. He is a +frank, independent, educated man; has no sham in him; is liberal is +far as his means will allow; works hard; has an odd, go-ahead way +with him; cares little about bowing and scraping to people; often +passes folk (unintentionally) without nodding; and has nothing of a +polemically virulent character in his disposition. There is +something genuine, honest, gentlemanly, and unreadable in him. He +almost reminds one of Elia's inexplicable cousin. He has a special +fondness for architecture; plans, specifications, &c., have a charm +for him; he is a sort of clerical Inigo Jones; and ought to have +been an architect. He is a rather polished reader; but he holds his +teeth too tightly together, and there is a tremulousness in his +voice which makes the utterances thereof rather too unctuous. As a +preacher he is clear, calm, and methodical. His sermons, all +written, are scholarly in style cool in tone, short, and, in the +orthodox sense, practical. In their delivery he does not make much +stir, he goes on evenly and rapidly, looking little to either the +right hand or the left, broiling none, and foaming never. +Occasionally, but it is quite an exception, he forgets his sermons-- +leaves them at home--and this is somewhat awkward when the mistake +is only found out just before the preaching should be gone on with. +But the company are kept serene by a little extra singing, or +something of that kind, and in the meantime a rapid rush is made to +the parsonage, and the missing manuscript is secured, conveyed to +the church either in a basket or a pocket, taken into the pulpit, +looked at rather fiercely, shook a little, and then read through. +How would it be if the manuscript could not be found? Long official +life appears to be the rule at St. James's. Mr. Wm. Relph, who died +last year, was a churchwarden at the place for 21 years; Mr. +Bannister has been in office as churchwarden for nearly as long; the +person who was beadle up to last year had officiated in that +capacity for nearly eleven years; the organist has been at the +church above 15 years; the mistress of the school belonging the +church has been at her post about as long; and the schoolmaster has +been in office 13 or 14 years. If long service speaks well for a +place, the facts we have given are creditable alike to the church +and the officials. Mr. Wilson, who gets about 300 pounds a year, is +well-respected by all; he manages to keep down unpleasant feuds; +regulates the district peacefully, if slowly, deserves a handsomer +church, and would be quite willing, we believe, to be its architect +if one were ordered. + + + +THE MORMONS. + + + +There are about 1,100 different religious creeds in the world, and +amongst them all there is not one more energetic, more mysterious, +or more wit-shaken than Mormonism. It is a mass of earnest "abysmal +nonsense," an olla-podrida of theological whimsicalities, a saintly +jumble of pious staff made up--if we may borrow an idea--of +Hebraism, Persian Dualism, Brahminism, Buddhistic apotheosis, +heterodox and orthodox Christianity, Mohammedanism, Drusism, +Freemasonry, Methodism, Swedenborgianism, Mesmerism, and Spirit- +rapping. We might go on in our elucidation; but what we have said +will probably be sufficient for present purposes. There are some +deep-swimming fish in the "waters of Mormon;" but the piscatorial +shoal is sincere enough, though mortally odd-brained and dreamy. On +the 22nd of September, 1827, a rough-spun American, named Joseph +Smith, belonging to a family reputed to be fond of laziness, drink, +and untruthfulness, and suspected of being somewhat disposed to +sheep-stealing, had a visit from "the angel of the Lord." He had +previously been told that his sins were forgiven; that he was a +"chosen instrument," &c., and on the day named Joseph found, +somewhere in Ontario, a number of gold plates, eight inches long and +seven wide, nearly as thick as tin, fastened together by three +rings, and bearing inscriptions, in "Reformed Egyptian," relative to +the history of America "from its first settlement by a colony that +came from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of tongues, to the +beginning of the 5th century of the Christian era." These +inscriptions were originally got up by a prophet named Mormon were, +as before stated, found by Joseph Smith, were read off by him to a +man rejoicing in the name of Oliver Cowdery, and they constitute the +contents of what is now known as the Book of Mormon. Smith did not +translate the "Reformed Egyptian" openly--if he had been asked to do +so, he would have said, "not for Joe;" he got behind a blanket in +order to do the job, considering that the plates would be defiled if +seen by profane eyes; and deciphered them by two odd lapidistic +transparencies, called "Urim and Thummin," which he found at the +same time as he met with the records. Report hath it that Joe's +"translation" of the sacred plates is substantially a paraphrase of +a romance written by one Solomon Spalding; but the Mormons, or +rather the members of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day +Saints," deny this, and say that at least eleven persons saw the +original plates after transcription. They may have seen them; but +nobody else has, and Heaven only knows where they are now. + +Did you ever, gentle reader, see the "Book of Mormon?" We have one +before us, purchased from a real live Salt Lake missionary; but it +is so dreadfully dry and intricate, and seems to be such a dodged-up +paraphrase of our own Scriptures, that we are afraid it will never +do us any good. It professes to be a "record of the people of Nephi, +and also of the Lumanites their brethren, and also of the people of +Jared, who came from the tower." The Mormons think it equal in +divine authority to, and a positive corollary of, the Old and New +Testaments. It consists of several books, and many chapters; the +books being those of Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Mosiah, Alma, +Helaman, Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. The language is quaint +and simple in syllabic construction; but the book altogether is a +mass of dreamy, puzzling history--is either a sacred fiction +plagiarised, or a useless and senile jumble of Christian and Red +Indian tradition. Smith, the founder of Mormonism, had only a rough +time of it. His Church was first organised in 1830, in the State of +New York. Afterwards the Mormons went into Ohio, then established +themselves in Missouri, were next driven into Clay County, +subsequently look refuge in Illinois, and finally planted themselves +in the valley of the great Salt Lake, where they may now be found. +Smith came to grief in 1844, by a pistol shot, administered to him +in Illinois by a number of roughs; and Brigham Young, a man said to +be "very much married," and who will now be the father of perhaps +150 children, was appointed his successor. Mormonism is disliked by +the bulk of people mainly on account of its fondness for wives. The +generality of civilised folk think that one fairly matured creature, +with a ring on one of her left-hand fingers, is sufficient for a +single household--quite sufficient for all the fair purposes of +existence, "lecturing" included; but the Latter-day Saints, who were +originally monogamists, and whose "Book of Mormon" condemns +polygamy, believe in a plurality of housekeepers. They contend that +since the finding of the sacred record by Smith there has been a +"divine" revelation on the subject, and that their dignity in heaven +will be "in proportion to the number of their wives and children" in +this. + +Leaving the polygamic part of the business, we may observe that the +Mormons believe that God was once a man, but is now perfect; that +any man may rise into a species of deity if he is good enough; that +mortals will not be punished for what Adam did, but for what they +have done themselves; that there can be no salvation without +repentance, faith, and baptism; that the sacrament--bread and water- +-must be taken every week; that ministerial action must be preceded +by inspiration; that Miraculous gifts have not ceased; that the soul +of man "co-existed equal with God;" that the word of God is recorded +in all good books; that there will be an actual gathering of Israel, +including the Red Indians, whom they regard with much interest as +being the descendants of an ancient tribe whose skins were coloured +on account of disobedience in some part of America about 2,400 years +ago; that the "New Zion" will be established in America; and that +there will be a final resurrection of the flesh and bones--without +the blood--of men. Some of their moral articles of belief are good, +and if carried out, ought to make the Salt Lake Valley a decent, +peaceable place, notwithstanding all the wives therein. In one of +the said articles they express their belief in being "honest, true, +chaste, temperate, benevolent, virtuous, and upright," and further +on they come down with a crash upon idle and lazy persons, by saying +that they can be neither Christians nor enjoy salvation. + +In 1837, certain elders of the Mormon church, including Orson Hyde +and Heber C. Kimball, were sent over to England as missionaries; the +first town they commenced operations in, after their arrival, was-- +PRESTON; and the first shot they fired in Preston was from the +pulpit of a building in Vauxhall-road, now occupied by the +Particular Baptists. Things got hot in a few minutes here; it became +speedily known that Hyde, Kimball, and Co. were of a sect fond of a +multiplicity of wives; and the "missionaries" had to forthwith look +out for fresh quarters. They secured the old Cock Pit, drove a great +business in it, and at length actually got about 500 "members." +Whilst this movement was going on in the town, the missionaries were +pushing Mormonism in some of the surrounding country places. At +Longton, nearly everybody went into raptures over the "new +doctrine;" Mormonism fairly took the place by storm; it caught up +and entranced old and young, married and single, pious and godless; +it even spread like a sacred rinderpest amongst the Wesleyans, who +at that time were very strong in Longton--captivating leaders, +members, and some of the scholars in fine style; and the chapel of +this body was so emptied by the Mormon crusade, that it was found +expedient to reduce it internally and set apart some of it for +school purposes. To this day the village has not entirely recovered +the shock which Mormonism gave it 30 years ago. During the heat of +the conflict many Longtonians went to the region of Mormondom in +America, and several of them soon wished they were back again. In +Preston, too, whilst the Cock Pit fever was raging numbers "went +out." After the work of "conversion," &c., had been carried on for a +period in the sacred Pit mentioned, the Mormons migrated to a +building, which had been used as a joiners shop, in Park-road; +subsequently they took for their tabernacle an old sizing house in +Friargate; then they went to a building in Lawson-street now used as +the Weavers' Institute, and originally occupied by the Ranters; and +at a later date they made another move--transferred themselves to a +room in the Temperance Hotel, Lime-street, which they continue to +occupy, and in which, every Sunday morning and evening, they ideally +drink of Mormondom's salt-water, and clap their hands gleefully over +Joe Smith's impending millenium. + +There are only about 70 members of the Mormon Church in Preston and +the immediate neighbourhood at present; but they are all hopeful, +and fancy that beatification is in store for them. We had recently a +half-solemn, half-comic desire to see the very latest development of +Preston Mormonism in its Lune-street home; but having an idea that +strangers might be objected to whilst the "holding forth" was going +on, that, in fact, the members had resolved themselves, through +diminished numbers, into a species of secret conclave, we were +rather puzzled to know how the business of seeing and hearing could +be accomplished. Nevertheless we went to the Temperance Hotel, and +after some conversation with a person there--not a Mormon--we +decided to go right into the meeting-room, the idea being that, +under any circumstances, we could only be pitched into, and then +pitched out. And with this notion we entered the place, put our hat +upon a table deliberately, took a seat upon a form quietly, and then +looked round coolly in anticipation of a round of sauce or a trifle +of fighting. But peace was preserved. There were just six living +beings in the room--three well-dressed moustached young men, a +thinly-fierce-looking woman, a very red-headed youth, and a quiet +little girl. For about 30 seconds absolute silence prevailed. The +thin woman then looked forward at the red-haired youth and in a +clear voice said "Bin round there yet--eh?" which elicited the +answer "Yea, and comed whoam." "Things are flat there as well as +here aren't they--eh?" And the red-haired youth said "Yea." +"Factories arn't doing much now, are they?" said she next, and the +rejoinder was "They arn't; bin round by Bowton, and its aw alike." +This slightly refreshing prelude was supplemented by sapient remarks +as to the weather &c.; and we were beginning to wonder whether the +general service was simply going to amount to this kind of +conversation or be pushed on "properly" when in stepped a strong- +built dark-complexioned man, who marched forward with the dignity of +an elder, until he got to a small table surmounted by a desk, whence +he drew a brown paper parcel, which he handed to one of the +moustached young men, who undid it cautiously and carefully, "What +is it going to be?" said we, mentally; when, lo! there appeared a +white table cloth, which was duly spread. The strong built man then +dived deeply into one of his coat pockets, and fetched out of it a +small paper parcel, flung it upon a form close by, seized a soup +plate into which he crumbled a slice of bread, then got a double- +handled pewter pot, into which he poured some water, and afterwards +sat down as generalissimo of the business. The individual who +manipulated with the table cloth afterwards made a prayer, universal +in several of its sentiments; but stiffened up tightly with Mormon +notions towards the close. + +Two elderly men and a lad entered the room when the orison was +finished, and a discussion followed between the "general" and the +young man who had been praying as to some hymn they should sing. +"Can't find the first hymn," said the young man; and we thought that +a pretty smart thing for a beginning. "Oh, never mind--go farther +on--any--long meter," uttered his interlocutor, and he forthwith +made a sanguine dash into the centre of the book, and gave out a +hymn. The company got into a "peculiar metre" tune at once, and the +singing was about the most comically wretched we ever heard. The lad +who came in with the elderly men tried every range of voice in every +verse, and thought that he had a right to do just as he liked with +the music; the elderly men near him hammed out something in a weak +and time-worn key; the woman got into a high strain and flourished +considerably at the line ends; the little girl said nothing; the +three young men seemed quite unable to get above a monotonous groan, +and the general looked forward, then down, and then smiled a little, +but uttered never a word, and seemed immensely relieved when the +singing was over. The bread which had been broken into the soup +plate was next handed round, and it was succeeded by the pewter pot +measure of water. This was the sacrament, and it was partaken of by +all--the young as well as the old. During the enactment of this part +of the programme a gaily-dressed young female, sporting a Paisley +shawl, ear-rings, a chignon, a small bonnet, and the other +accoutrements of modern fashion, dropped in, and also took the +sacrament. Another hymn was here given out, and the young woman with +the Paisley shawl, &c., rushed straight into the work of singing +without a moment's warning. She carried the others with her, and +enabled them to get through the verses easily. Just when the singing +was ended, a rubicund-featured and bosky female, who had, perhaps, +seen five-and-forty summers, landed in the room, took a seat, and +then took the sacrament. She was the last of the Mohicans, and after +her appearance the door was closed, and the latch dropped. + +Speaking succeeded, and the talkers got upon their feet in +accordance with certain nods and memoes from the chairman. They all +eulogised in a joyous strain the glories of Mormonism, but never a +syllable was expressed about wives. A young moustached man led the +way. He told the meeting that he had long been of a religious turn +of mind; that he was a Wesleyan until 17 years of age; that +afterwards he found peace in the Smithsonian church; that the only +true creed was that of Mormonism; that it didn't matter what people +said in condemnation of such creed; and that he should always stick +to it. The thin woman, who seemed to have an awful tongue in her +head, was the second speaker. She panegyrised "the church" in a +phrensied, fierce-tempered, piping strain, talked rapidly about the +"new dispensation," declared that she had accepted it voluntarily, +hadn't been deceived by any one--we hope she never will be--and that +she was happy. Her conclusion was sudden, and she appeared to break +off just before reaching an agony-point. The third talker was one of +the old men, and he commenced with things from "before the +foundations of the world," and brought them down to the present day. +His speech was earnest, florid, and rather argumentative in tone. +After stating that he had a pious spell upon him before visiting the +room, and that the afflatus was still upon him, he entered into a +labyrinthal defence of "the church." "Mormonism," he said, "is more +purer than any other doctrine that is," and "this here faith," he +continued, "has to go on and win." He talked mystically about things +being "resurrectioned," contended that the Solomon Spalding theory +had been exploded, and quoting one of the elders, said that +Mormonism began in a hamlet and got to a village, from a village to +a town, thence to a city, thence to a territory, and that if it got +"just another kick it would as sure as fate be kicked into a great +and mighty nation." This "old man eloquent" seemed over head and +ears in Mormonism, and almost shook with joy at certain points of +his discourse. + +The fourth, and the last, speaker was the chairman. He raised his +brawny frame slowly, held a Bible in one hand, and started in this +fashion--"Well I s'pose I've to say something; but I can't tell what +it'll be." This declaration was followed up by a long, wandering +mass of talk, full of repetition and hypothetical theology--a +mixture of Judaism, Christianity, and Mormonism, and from the whole +he endeavoured to distil this "fact" that both Isaiah and St. John +had made certain prophetic statements as to the Book of Mormon and +its transcription by Joe Smith. It did not, however, appear from +what he said that either Isaiah or the seer of Patmos had named +anything about the blanket trick which had to be adopted by Joe is +translating "the Book." But that was perhaps unnecessary; and we +shall not throw a "wet blanket" upon the matter by further alluding +to it. When the chairman had done his speech, the doxology was sung, +and this was supplemented by benediction, pronounced by a young man +who shut his eyes, stretched his hands a quarter of a yard out of +his coat sleeves, and in a most inspired and bishoply style, +delivered the requisite blessing. Hand-shaking, in which we found it +necessary to join, supervened, and then there was a general +disappearance. The whole of the speakers at this meeting--which may +be taken as a fair sample of the gatherings--were illiterate people, +individuals with much zeal and little education; and the manner in +which they crucified sentences, and maltreated the general +principles of logic and common-sense, was really disheartening. They +are very earnest folk; we also believe they are honest; but, after +all, they are "gone coons," beyond the reach of both physic and +argument. We knew none of the Mormons who attended the meeting +described, and singular to say the proprietor of the establishment +wherein they assembled had no knowledge of either their names or +places of abode. They pay him his rent regularly, and he deems that +enough. All that we really know of the sect is, that their chairman +is either a mechanic or a blacksmith somewhere, is plain, muscular, +solemn looking, bass-voiced, and dreamy; and that his flock are a +small, earnest, and preciously-fashioned parcel of sincere, yet +deluded, enthusiasts. + + + +ST. WALBURGE'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. + + + +This is a church in charge of the Jesuits, and by them and it we are +reminded of what may fairly be termed the great leg question. The +order of Jesuits, as we lately remarked, was originated by a damaged +leg; and St. Walburge's church, Preston, owes its existence to the +cure of one. Excellent, O legs! Tradition hath it that once upon a +time--about 1160 years ago--a certain West Saxon King had a daughter +born unto him, whose name was Walburge; that she went into Germany +with two of her brothers, became abbess of a convent there, did +marvellous things, was a wonder in her way, couldn't be bitten by +dogs--they, used to snatch half a yard off and then run, that she +died on the 25th February, 778, that her relics were transferred, on +the 12th October following, to Eichstadt, at which place a convent +was built to her memory, that the said relics were put into a bronze +shrine, which was placed upon a table of marble, in the convent +chapel; that every year since then, between the 12th of October and +the 25th of February, the marble upon which the shrine is placed has +"perspired" a liquid which is collected below in a vase of silver; +and that this liquid, which is called "St. Walburge's oil," will +cure, by its application, all manner of physical ailments. This is +the end of our first lesson concerning St. Walburge and the +wonderful oil. The second lesson runneth thus:- About five and +twenty years ago there lived, as housemaid at St. Wilfrid's +presbytery, in this town, one Alice Holderness. She was a comely +woman and pious; but she fell one day on some steps leading to the +presbytery, hurt one of her legs--broke the knee cap of it, we +believe--and had to be carried straight to bed. Medical aid was +obtained; but the injured knee was obstinate, wouldn't be mended, +and when physic and hope alike had been abandoned, so far as the leg +of Alice was concerned, the Rev. Father Norris, who, in conjunction +with the Rev. Father Weston, was at that time stationed at St. +Wilfrid's, was struck with a somewhat bright thought as to the +potency of St. Walburge's oil. A little of that oil was procured, +and this is what a sister of the injured woman says, in a letter +which we have seen on the subject, viz.:--That Father Norris dipped +a pen into the oil and dropped a morsel of it upon her knee, +whereupon "the bones immediately snapped together and she was +perfectly cured, having no longer the slightest weakness in the +broken limb." + +This is a strange tale, which people can either believe or +disbelieve at their own pleasure. All Protestants--ourselves +included--will necessarily be dubious; and if any polemical lecturer +should happen to see the story he will go wild with delight, and +consider that there is material enough in it for at least six good +declamatory and paying discourses. Well, whether correct or false, +the priests at St. Wilfrid's believed in the "miraculous cure," and +decided forthwith to agitate for a church in honour of St. Walburge. +That church is the one we now see on Maudlands--a vast and +magnificent pile, larger in its proportions than any other Preston +place of worship, and with a spire which can only be equalled for +altitude by two others in the whole country. What a potent +architectural charm was secreted in that mystic oil with which +Father Norris touched the knee of Alice! In the "Walpurgis dance of +globule and oblate spheroid," there may be something wonderful, but +through this drop of oil from the Walpurgian shrine an obstreperous +knee snapped up into compact health instantly, and then a large +church, ornamental to Preston and creditable to the entire Catholic +population, arose. There used to be a hospital, dedicated to Mary +Magdalen, either actually upon or very near the site occupied by St. +Walburge's Church; but that building disappeared long ago, and no +one can tell the exact character of it. Prior to, and until the +completion of, the erection of St. Walburge's Church, schools +intended for it, and built mainly at the expense of the late Mr. W. +Talbot, were raised on some adjoining land. Service in accordance +with the Catholic ritual was held therein until the completion of +the Church. Father Weston was the leading spirit in the construction +of St. Walburge's, and to him--although well assisted by Father +Williams--may be attributed the main honour of its development into +reality. Father Cobb, of St. Wilfrid's, laid the foundation stone of +St. Walburge's Church, on Whit-Monday, 1850; and on the 3rd of +August, 1854, the building was opened, the ceremony being of a very +grand and imposing description. The spire of the church was not +completed until 1887. The entire cost of the place has been about +15,000 pounds. + +St. Walburge's is built in the early decorated Gothic style of +architecture, and it is beyond all controversy, a splendid looking +building. At the eastern end there is a remarkably fine seven-light +stained glass window. This is flanked by a couple of two-light +windows; and the general effect is most imposing. The central window +is 35 feet high. At the western end there is a beautifully-coloured +circular window, 22 feet in diameter, which was given by Miss Roper; +and beneath it there are small coloured lights, put in by Father +Weston out of money left him by Miss Green. Nearly all the side +windows in the church are coloured, and four of them are of the +"presentation" stamp. The most prominent thing about the church is +the spire, which, as well as the tower, is built of limestone, and +surmounted by a cross, the distance from its apex to the ground +being about 301 feet. We saw the weather vane fixed upon this spire, +and how the man who did the job managed to keep his head from +spinning right round, and then right off, was at the time an +exciting mystery to us which we have not yet been able to properly +solve. A little before the actual completion of the spire, we had a +chance of ascending it, but we remained below. The man in charge +wanted half-a-crown for the trip; and as we fancied that something +like 5 pounds ought to be given to us for undertaking a journey so +perilous, it was mutually decided that we should keep down. Why, it +would be a sort of agony to ascend the spire under the most +favourable circumstances; and as one might only tumble down if +ascension were achieved, the safest plan is to keep down altogether. +We have often philosophised on the question of punishment, and, +locally speaking, we have come to this conclusion, that agony would +be sufficiently piled in any case of crime, if the delinquent were +just hoisted to the top of St. Walburge's spire and left there. From +the summit of the tower, which is quite as high as safe-sided human +beings need desire to get, there is a magnificent view: Preston +lurches beneath like a hazy amphitheatre of houses and chimneys; to +the east you have Pendle, Longridge, and the dark hills of Bowland; +northwards, in the far distance, the undulating Lake hills; +westward, the fertile Fylde, flanked by the Ribble, winding its way +like a silver thread to the ocean; and southwards Rivington Pyke and +Hoghton's wooded summit with a dim valley to the left thereof, in +which Blackburn works and dreams out its vigorous existence. The +general scenery from the tower is panoramic and charming. The view +from the spire head must be immense and exquisite, but few people of +this generation, unless a very safe plan of ascension is found out, +will be able to enjoy it. In the tower there is a large bell, +weighing 31 cwt.; and it can make a very considerable sound, +drowning all the smaller ringing arrangements in the neighbourhood. +Some time, but not yet, there will probably be a peal of twelve +bells in the tower, for it has accomodation for that number. + +Internally the church is very high and spacious; is decorated +artistically in many places; and a sense of mingled solemnity and +immensity comes over you on entering it. The roof is a tremendous +affair; it is open, and supported by eleven huge Gothic-fashioned +principals, each of which cost 100 pounds, and it is panelled above +with stained timber. But we don't care very much for the roof. No +doubt it is fine; but the whole of the wood work seems too, heavy +and much too dark. There is a cimmerian massiveness about it; and on +a dull day it looks quite bewildering. If it were stained in a +lighter colour its proportions would come out better, and much of +that gigantic gloom which now shadows it would be removed. There are +canopied stands for two and twenty statues towards the base of the +principals; but the whole of them, except about five, are empty. +Saints, &c., will be looked after for these stands when money is +more abundant, and when more essential work has been executed. What +seems to be proximately wanted in the church is a good sanctuary-- +something in keeping with the general design of the building and +really worthy of the place. It is intended, we believe, to have a +magnificent sanctuary; but a proper design for one can't be exactly +hit on; when it is, the past liberality of the congregation is a +sufficient guarantee that the needful article--money--will be soon +forthcoming. Notwithstanding the greatness of the church, it will +not seat as many as some smaller places of worship. This is +accounted for through its having no galleries. There is a small +elevation in the shape of a gallery at the western end, which is +seldom used; but the sides of the church are open, the windows +running along them rendering this necessary. The church will +comfortably seat about 1,000 persons; 1,700 have been seen in it; +but there had to be much crushing, and all the aisles, &c., had to +be filled with standing people to admit such a number. The seats are +all well made and all open. + +On a Sunday masses are said at eight, nine, ten, and eleven, and +there is an afternoon service at three. The aggregate average +attendance on a Sunday is about 3,000. There are three confessionals +in the church, towards the south-eastern-corner; they stand out like +small square boxes, and although made for everybody seem specially +adapted for thin and Cassius-like people. Falstaff's theory was-- +more flesh more frailty. If this be so, then, there are either very +few "great" sinners at St. Walburge's or the large ones confess +somewhere else. The worshippers at this church are, in nine cases +out of ten, working people. The better class of people sit at the +higher end of the central benches; and if one had never seen them +there no difficulty would be experienced in finding out their seats. +You may always ascertain the character of worshippers by what they +sit upon. Working-class people rest upon bare boards; middle-class +individuals develop the cushion scheme to a moderate pitch; the +upper species push it towards consummation-like ease, and therefore +are the owners of good cushions. Very few cushions can be seen in +St. Walburge's; those noticeable are at the higher end; and the +logical inference, therefore, is that not many superb people attend +the place, and that those who do go sit just in the quarter +mentioned. At the doors of this church, as at those of other +Catholic places of worship in the town, you may see men standing +with boxes, asking for alms. These are brothers of the Society of +St. Vincent de Paul. The object of this society is to visit and +relieve the sick and the poor. The brothers are excellent +auxiliaries of the clergy; and, further, do the work of the +mendicity societies, like those now being established in London, by +examing applications for relief, and so disappointing impostors. The +conference of St. Vincent attached to St. Walburge's Church numbers +16 active members, who collected and distributed in food and +clothing during last year 112 pounds. The brothers are deserving of +all praise for spending their evenings in visiting the sick and +distressed, in courts and alleys, after their day's work. + +The singers at this church occupy a small balcony on the south side. +They are a pretty musical body--got through their business ever so +creditably; but they are rather short of that which most choirs are +deficient in--tenor power. They would be heard far better if placed +at the western end but a good deal of expense would have to be +incurred in making orchestral arrangements for them there; so that +for some time, at least, they will have to be content with their +grated and curtained musical hoist on the southern side, singing +right out as hard as they can at the pulpit, which exactly faces +them, and at the preacher, if they like, when he gets into it. The +organ, which is placed above the singers, and would crush them into +irrecoverable atoms if it fell, is a fine instrument; but it is +pushed too far into the wall, into the tower which backs it, and if +there are any holes above, much of its music must necessarily escape +up the steeple. The organ is played with taste and precision. The +members of the choir sing gratuitously. + +Since the opening of St. Walburge's there have been twelve different +priests at it. Three are in charge of it now. Father Weston was the +first priest, and, as already stated, was the mainspring of the +church. He died on the 14th of November, 1867, and to his memory a +stained glass window will by and bye be fixed in the church. This +window is in Preston now; we have seen it--it is a most beautiful +piece of workmanship; and as soon as the requisite money is +"resubscribed," the original contributions having, through +unfortunate financial circumstances, been more than half sacrificed, +it will be fixed. Father Henry, late rector of Stonyhurst College, +was for some time at St. Walburge's, and during his stay the work +begun by Father Weston, and pushed on considerably by successive +priests, was elaborated and finished. The three priests now at St. +Walburge's are Fathers J. Johnson (principal), Payne, and Papall. +Father Johnson, who has been at the church about fourteen months, is +a spare, long-headed, warm-hearted, unostentatious man. He is +between 50 and 60 years of age; has a practical, weather-beaten, +shrewd look; would be bad to "take in;" has much latent force; is a +kindly, fatherly preacher; is dry in humour till drawn out, and then +can be very genial; is a sharp man, mentally and executively; has +been provincial of the Jesuits and rector of Stonyhurst College; +knows what's what, and knows that he knows it; is determined, but +can be melted down; seems cold and sly, but has a kind spirit and an +honest tongue in his bead; and is the right man for his position. + +Father Payne has been at St. Walburge's about four years. He has +passed 40 summers in single blessedness, and says he intends to +"last it out." His preaching is serious and earnest in style. His +eloquence may not be so captivating as that of some men; but it +comes up freely, and involves utterances of import. Father Payne has +not much action, but he has a good voice; he lifts his arms slowly +and regularly, leans forward somewhat, occasionally seizes both his +hands and shakes them a little; but beyond this there is not much +motion observable in him. He has a keen, discreet sense of things, +and, like the rest of his order, can see a long way. In private +life--that is to say when he is out of the pulpit and off general +duty--he is an affable, clear, merry, brisk-talking little +gentleman, fond of a good joke, a blithe chat, and a hearty laugh. +He is a pleasant Payne when in company, and if you knew him you +would say so. The last Daniel who cometh up to judgment is Father +Papall--the very embodiment of vivaciousness, linguistic activity, +and dignity in a nut shell. Dark-haired, sharp-eyed, spectacled; +diminutive, warm-blooded, he is about the most animated priest we +know of. He has English and Italian blood in his veins, and that +vascular mixture works him up beautifully. No man could stand such +an amalgam without being determined, volatile, practical, and at +times dreamy; and you have all these qualities developed in Father +Papall. He is 40 years of age, and has seen more foreign life than +many priests. He has been in Italy, where he resided for years, in +Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, America, &c.; and he has been at +St. Walburge's in this town, for 14 months. He is all animation when +conversing with you; and in the pulpit he talks from head to foot-- +stirs all over, fights much with his sleeves, moves his arms, and +hands, and fingers as if under some hot spell of galvanism, and +fairly gets his "four feet" into the general subject, and revels +with a delicious activity in it at intervals. He is an earnest +preacher, has good intellectual constructiveness, and if he had not +to battle so much with our English idioms and curious modes of +pronunciation he would be a very potent speaker, and a racy +homilist. He has a sweeping powerful voice; you could almost hear +him if you were asleep, and this fact may account for the peculiarly +contented movements of several parties we observed recently at the +church whilst Father Papall was preaching. At least 20 near us went +to sleep in about five minutes after he began talking, slept very +well during the whole sermon, and at its conclusion woke up very +refreshed, made brisk crosses, listened awhile to the succeeding +music, &c., and then walked out quite cool and cheerful. + +Most excellent schools are situated near and on the northern side of +the church. The average daily attendance of boys is 200; that of the +girls 260; that of the infants, 350. The boys seem well trained; the +girls, who are in charge of nuns--called "Companions of the Holy +Child Jesus"--are likewise industriously cared for; and the infants +are a show in themselves. We saw these 350 babies, for many of them +are nothing more, the other day, and the manner in which they +conducted themselves was simply surprising. The utmost order +prevailed amongst them, and how this was brought about we could not +tell. One little pleasant-looking nun had charge of the whole +confraternity, and she could say them at a word--make them as mute +as mice with the mere lifting of her finger, and turn them into all +sorts of merry moods by a similar motion, in a second. If this +little nun could by some means convey her secret of managing +children to about nineteen-twentieths of the mothers of the kingdom, +who find it a dreadful business to regulate one or two, saying +nothing of 350, babes and sucklings, she would confer a lasting +benefit upon the householders of Britain. Night and Sunday schools-- +the latter being attended by about 700 boys and girls--are held in +the same buildings. There are five nuns at St. Walburge's; they live +in a convent hard by; and like the rest of their class they work +hard every day, and sacrifice much of their own pleasure for the +sake of that of other people--a thing which the generality of us +have yet to take first lessons in. + + + +UNITARIAN CHAPEL. + + + +There is something so severely mental, and so theologically daring +in Unitarianism that many can't, whilst others won't, hold communion +with it. Unbiased thinkers, willing to give all men freedom of +conscience, admit the force of its logic in some things, the +sincerity of its intentions in all, but deem it too dry and much too +intellectual for popular digestion. The orthodox brand it as +intolerably heretical and terribly unscriptural; the multitude of +human beings;--like "Oyster Nan" who couldn't live without "running +her vulgar rig"--consider it downright infidelity, the companion of +rationalism, and the "stepping Stone to atheism." Still there are +many good people who are Unitarians; many magnificent scholars who +recognise its principles; and if "respectability" is any proof of +correctness--this age, in the obliquity of its vision, and in the +depth of its respect for simple "appearances," says it is--then +Unitarianism ought to be a very proper article, for its +congregations, though comparatively small, are highly seasoned with +persons who wear capital clothes, take their time from the best of +watches, and have ever so much of what lawyers call "real and +personal" property. Men termed "Monarchians" were the first special +professors of Unitarianism. They made their appearance between the +second and third centuries, and, if Tertullian tells the truth, they +consisted of "the simple and the unlearned." Directly after the +Reformation Unitarianism spread considerably on the continent, and +Transylvania, which now contains about 56,000 of its followers, +became its great stronghold. Unitarianism got into England about the +middle of the 16th century; and many of the Presbyterian divines who +were ejected during the century which followed--in 1662--gradually +became believers in it. In England the Unitarians have now about 314 +chapels and emission stations; in Scotland there are only five +congregations recognising Unitarianism; in Ireland about 40; in our +colonies there are a few; in the United States of America the body +has 256 societies; in France, Germany, Holland, &c., the principles +of Unitarianism are pretty extensively believed in. Some of our +greatest thinkers and writers have been Unitarians: Milton was one, +so was John Locke, and so was Newton. In different ages there have +been different classes of Unitarians; in these days there are at +least two--the conservative and the progressive; but in the past the +following points were generally believed, and in the present there +is no diversity of opinion regarding them, viz., that the Godhead is +single and absolute, not triune; that Christ was not God, but a +perfect being inspired with divine wisdom; that there is no efficacy +in His vicarious atonement, in the sense popularly recognised; and +that original sin and eternal damnation are in accordance with +neither the Scriptures nor common sense. + +The origin of Unitarianism in Preston, as elsewhere, is mixed up +with the early strivings and operations of emancipated +Nonconformity. We can find no record of Nonconformists in Preston +until the early part of the 18th century. At that period a chapel +was erected at Walton-le-Dale, mainly, if not entirely, by Sir Henry +de Hoghton--fifth baronet, and formerly member of parliament for +Preston--who was one of the principal patrons of Nonconformity in +this district. Very shortly afterwards, and under the same +patronage, a Nonconformist congregation was established to Preston-- +meetings having previously been held in private houses--and the Rev. +John Pilkington, great uncle of W. O. Pilkington, Esq., of the +Willows, near this town, who is a Unitarian, was the minister of it, +as well as of that in Walton. In 1718, a little building was erected +for the Nonconformists of Preston on a piece of land near the bottom +and on the north side of Church-street. This was the first +Dissenting chapel raised in Preston, and in it the old +Nonconformists--Presbyterians we ought to say--spent many a free and +spiritually-happy hour. Eventually the generality of the +congregation got into a "Monarchian" frame of mind, and from that +time till this the chapel has been held by those whom we term +Unitarians. The "parsonage house" of the Unitarian minister used to +be in Church-street, near the chapel; but it has since been +transmuted into a shop. One of the ministers at this place of +worship towards the end of the last century, was a certain Mr. +Walker, but he couldn't masticate the Unitarian theory which was +being actively developed in it, so he walked away, and for him a +building in Grimshaw-street--the predecessor of the present +Independent Chapel there--was subsequently erected. + +The edifice wherein our Unitarian friends assemble every Sunday, is +an old-fashioned, homely-looking, little building--a tiny, +Quakerised piece of architecture, simple to a degree, prosaic, +diminutive, snug, dull. It is just such a place as you could imagine +old primitive Non-conformists, fonder of strong principles and +inherent virtue than of external embellishment and masonic finery, +would build. It can be approached by two ways, but it is of no use +trying to take advantage of both at once. You would never get to the +place if you made such an effort. There is a road to it from Percy- +street--this is the better entrance, but not much delight can be +found in it; and there is another way to the chapel from Church- +street--up a delicious little passage, edged on the right with a +house-side, and on the left with a wall made fierce with broken +glass, which will be sure to cut the sharpest of the worshippers if +they ever attempt to get over it. What there really is behind that +glass-topped wall we are at a loss to define; but it is evidently +something which the occupier of the premises apprehends the +Unitarians may have an illicit liking for? If they want to get to it +we would recommend the use of some heavy, blunt instrument, by which +they could easily break the glass, after which they might quietly +lift each other over. Recently, a small sign has been fixed at the +end of the passage, and from the letters upon it an inference may be +safely drawn that the Unitarian Chapel is somewhere beyond it. To +strangers this will be useful, for, prior to its exhibition, none +except those familiar with the place, or gifted with an instinct for +threading the mazes of mystery, could find out, with anything like +comfort, the location of the chapel. Whether the people have or have +not "sought for a sign," one has at any rate been given to them +here. A small, and somewhat neat, graveyard is attached to the +chapel; there are several tomb-stones laid flat upon the ground; and +in the centre of it there is a rather elaborate one, substantially +railed round, and surmounting the vault of the Ainsworth family. The +remains of the late W. Ainsworth, Esq., a well-known and respected +Preston gentleman, are interred here. + +At the northern side of, and directly adjoining, the chapel there is +a small Sunday school, It was erected about 15 years ago; the +scholars previous to that time having met in a little building in +Lord's-walk. The average attendance of scholars at present is about +60. The chapel, internally, is small, clean, plain, and ancient- +looking. A central aisle runs directly up to the pulpit, and it is +flanked with a range of high old-fashioned pews, some being plain, a +few lined with a red-coloured material, and several with faded green +baize, occasionally tacked back and elaborated with good old- +fashioned brass nails. The seats vary in size, and include both the +moderately narrow and the full square for family use. There are nine +variously shaped windows in the building: through three of them you +can see sundry things, ranging from the spire of the Parish Church +to the before-mentioned wall with the broken glass top; through some +of the others faint outlines of chimneys may be traced. The chapel +is light and comfortable-looking. There seems to be nothing in the +place having the least relationship to ornament except four small +gas brackets, which are trimmed up a little, and surmounted with +small crosses of the Greek pattern. At the west end, supported by +two pillars, there is a small gallery, in which a few elderly +people, the scholars, and the choir are deposited. The body of the +chapel will accommodate about 200 persons. The average attendance, +excluding the scholars, will be perhaps 60. When we visited the +place there were 50 present--45 downstairs and five in the gallery; +and of these, upwards of 30 were females. + +The congregation is quite of a genteel and superior character. There +are a few rather poor people embraced in it; but nine out of ten of +the regular worshippers belong to either independent or prosperous +middle class families. The congregation, although still "highly +respectable," is not so influential in tone as it used to be. A few +years ago, six or seven county magistrates might have been seen in +the chapel on a Sunday, and they were all actual "members" of the +body; but death and other causes have reduced the number of this +class very considerably, and now not more than two are constant +worshippers. There is neither sham, shoddy, nor rant amongst them. +From one year end to another you will never hear any of them during +any of the services rush into a florid yell or reduce their +spiritual emotions to a dull groan. They abstain from everything in +the contortional and ejaculative line; quiet contemplative +intellectualism appears to reign amongst them; a dry, tranquil +thoughtfulness, pervades the body. They are eclectical, optimic, +cool; believe in taking things comfortably; never conjure up during +their devotions the olden pictures of orthodoxy; never allow their +nerves to be shattered with notions about the "devil," or the +"burning lake" in which sinners have to be tortured for ever and +ever; never hear of such things from the pulpit, wouldn't tolerate +them if they did; think that they can get on well enough without +them. They may be right or they may be very wrong; but, like all +sections of Christians, they believe their own denominational child +the best. + +There are two services every Sunday in the Unitarian chapel--morning +and evening--and both are very good in one sense because both are +very short. There have been many ministers at the chapel since its +transformation into a Unitarian place of worship; but we need not +unearth musty records and name them all. Within modern memory there +have been just a trinity of ministers at the chapel--the Rev. Joseph +Ashton, an exceedingly quiet, unassuming, well learned man, who +would have taken a higher stand in the town than he did if he had +made more fuss about himself; the Rev. W. Croke Squier, who made too +much fuss, who had too big a passion for Easter-due martyrdoms and +the like, for Corn Exchange speeches, patriotic agony points, and +virtuous fighting, but who was nevertheless a sharp-headed, quick- +sighted, energetic little gentleman; and the Rev. R. J. Orr--the +present minister--who came to Preston about a year and a half since. +Mr. Orr is an Irishman, young in years, tall, cold, timid, quiet, +yet excellently educated. He is critical, seems slightly cynical, +and moves along as if he either knew nobody or didn't want to look +at anybody. There is somewhat of the student, and somewhat of the +college professor in his appearance. But he is a very sincere man; +has neither show nor fussiness in him; and practices his duties with +a strict, quiet regularity. He may have moods of mirth and high +moments of sparkling glee, but he looks as if he had never only +laughed right out about once in his life, and had repented of it +directly afterwards. If he had more dash and less shyness in him, +less learned coolness and much more humour in his composition, he +would reap a better harvest in both pulpit and general life. Mr. Orr +is no roaring will o' the wisp minister; what he says he means; and +what he means he reads. His prayers and sermons are all read. He is +not eloquent, but his language is scholarly, and if he had a freer +and more genial expression he would be better appreciated. If he +were livelier and smiled more he would be fatter and happier. His +style is his own; is too Orrible, needs a little more sunshine and +blithesomeness. He never allows himself to be led away by passion; +sticks well to his text; invariably keeps his temper. He wears +neither surplice nor black gown in the pulpit, and does quite as +well without as with them. For his services he receives about 120 +pounds a year and if the times mend he will probably get more. In +the chapel there is a harmonium, which is played as well as the +generality of such instruments are. The singing is only moderate, +and if it were not for the good strong female voice, apparently +owned by somebody in the gallery, it would be nearly inaudible-- +would have to be either gently whispered or "thought out." The +services in the main are simple, free from all boisterous +balderdash, and if not of such a character as would suit everybody, +are evidently well liked by those participating in them. + + + +ALL SAINTS' CHURCH. + + + +The calendar of the canonised has come in handy for the christening +of churches. Without it, we might have indulged in a poor and +prosaic nomenclature; with it, the dullest, as well as the finest, +architecture can get into the company of the beatified. Barring a +few places, all our churches are associated with some particular +saint; every edifice has cultivated the acquaintance of at least +one; but that we have now to notice has made a direct move into the +general constellation, and is dedicated to the aggregate body. We +believe that in church-naming, as in common life, "ALL is for the +best," and we commend, rather than censure, the judgment which +recognised the full complement of saints when All Saints' was +consecrated. A man maybe wrong in fixing upon one name, or upon +fifty, or fifty hundred, but if he agglomerates the entire mass, +condenses every name into one, and gives something respectable that +particular name, he won't be far off the equinoctial of exactness. +In this sense, the christeners of All Saints' were wise; they went +in for the posse comitatus of saints--backed the favourites as well +as "the field"--and their scheme, so far as naming goes, must win. +There is, however, not much in a name, and less in a reverie of +speculative comment, so we will descend to a lower, yet, perhaps, +more healthy, atmosphere. + +In 1841, the Rev. W. Walling, son of a yeoman living is Silverdale-- +one of the prettiest places we know of in the North of England--came +to Preston, as minister of St. James's Church. He stayed at the +place for about a year, then went to Carlton, in Nottinghamshire, +and afterwards to Whitby. Mr. Walling was a man of quiet +disposition; during his stay in Preston he was exceedingly well +liked; and when he left the town, a vacuum seemed to have been +created. He was a missed man; his value was not found out until he +had gone; and it was determined--mainly amongst a pious, +enthusiastic section of working people--to get him back again if +possible. And they went about the business like sensible people-- +decided not to root out his predecessor at St. James's, nor to +exterminate any of the sundry clerical beings in other parts of the +town, but to build him a new church. They were only poor men; but +they persevered; and in a short time their movement took a distinct +shape, and the building, whose erection they had in view, was +prospectively called "The Poor Man's Church." In time they raised +about 200 pounds; but a sum like that goes only a little way in +church building--sometimes doesn't cover those very refreshing +things which contractors call "extras;" a number of wealthier men, +who appreciated the earnestness of the original promoters, and saw +the necessity, of such a church as they contemplated, came to the +rescue, and what they and divers friends gave justified a start, on +a plot of land between Walker-street and Elizabeth-street. On the +21st of September, 1846, the foundation-stone of the church--All +Saints--was laid by the late Thomas German, Esq., who was mayor of +Preston at that time. The building, which cost about 2,600 pounds, +was not consecrated till December, 1856, but it was ministerially +occupied by the Rev. W. Walling on the 23rd September, 1848, and he +held his post, earning the respect and esteem of all in the +discharge of its duties, till October 10th, 1863, when death +suddenly ended his labours. When the church was consecrated there +was a debt of about 750 pounds upon it; but in a few years, by the +judicious and energetic action of the trustees, it was entirely +cleared off. The present trustees of the church are Dr. Hall, +Messrs. J. R. Ambler, F. Mitchell, and W. Fort. The successor of the +Rev. W. Walling was the Rev. G. Beardsell, who still occupies the +situation; but before saying anything to the point concerning him we +must describe the church and its concomitants. + +All Saints' is a good substantial-looking church. It is built in the +Ionic style of Greek architecture; has a massive pillared front; is +railed round, has an easy and respectable entrance, and--getting +worse as it gets higher--is surmounted with a small bell turret and +a chimney. Other things may be put upon the roof after a while, for +space is abundant there. The church has a square, respectable, +capacious interior--is roomy, airy, light; doesn't seem thrown +together in a dim foggy labrynth like some places, and you feel as +if you could breathe freely on taking a seat in it. It is well- +galleried, and will accommodate altogether about 1,500 human beings. +The pews are good, and whilst it is impossible for them to hold more +people than can get into them, they are charged for as if one +additional person could take a seat in each after being full! This +is odd but quite true. In the case of pews which will just +accommodate five persons, six sittings are charged for; those +holding four are put down in the rent book for five; and this scale +of charges is kept up in respect to all the pews, whether big or +little. The rents go into the pocket of the incumbent. At the +southern end there is a small chancel, which was erected at the +expense of the late J. Bairstow, Esq. It is ornamented with several +stained glass windows, and has an inlaid wooden canopy, but there is +nothing startling nor remarkable about the work. Beneath the windows +there is painted in large, letters the word "Emmanuel;" but the +position of it is very inconvenient. People sitting above may see +the name fairly; but many below have a difficulty in grasping it, +and those sitting in the centre will never be able to get hold of +more letters than those which makeup the mild name of "Emma." Names- +-particularly great ones--should never be put up anywhere unless +they can be seen. On each side of the chancel arch then is a small +tablet; one being to the memory of the Rev. W. Walling, and the +other to that of the late W. Tuson, Esq., who was one of the +original wardens. The church is clean and in good condition; but the +windows would stand re-painting. There are about 400 free seats in +the building, and they are pretty well patronised. The general +attendance is tolerably large; between 700 and 800 people frequent +the church on the average; but the congregation seems to be of a +floating character, is constantly changing, and embraces few "old +stagers." Formerly, many who had been at the church from the first +might be seen at it; numerous persons recognised as "fixtures" were +there; but they have either gone to other churches or died off, and +there is now a strong ebb and flow of new material at the place. + +The congregation is of a complex description; you may see in it the +"Grecian bend" and the coal scuttle hood, the buff waistcoat and the +dark moleskin coat; but in the main the worshippers are of a quiet +well-assorted character--partly working class, partly middle-class, +with a sprinkling of folk above and below both. The humble minded +and the ancient appear to have a liking for the left side range of +seats; the swellishly-young and the substantially-middle class take +up a central position; people of a fair habilimental stamp occupy +the bulk of the seats on the other side; whilst the select and the +specially virtuous approximate the pulpit--one or two in the +excelsior category get even beyond it, and like both the quietude +and the dignity of the position. The galleries are used by a +promiscuous company of worshippers, who keep good order and make no +undue noises. The tale-tellers and the gossips--for they exist here +as in the generality of sacred places--are distributed in various +directions. It would be advantageous if they were all put in one +separate part; for then their influence would not be so ramified, +and they might in the end get up a small Kilkenny affair and +mutually finish off one another. Late attendance does not seem to be +so fashionable at All Saints' as at some churches; still it exists; +things would look as if they were getting wrong if somebody didn't +come late and make everybody turn their heads. When we visited the +church, the great mass were present at the right time; but a few +dropped in after the stipulated period; one put in an appearance 30 +minutes late; and another sauntered serenely into the region of the +ancient people just 65 minutes after the proceedings had commenced. +At a distance, the reading desk and the pulpit look oddly mixed up; +but a close inspection shows that they are but fairly associated, +stand closely together, the pulpit, which is the higher, being in +the rear. There is no decoration of any sort in the body of the +church; everything appears tranquil, serious, straightforward, and +respectable. The singing is of a very poor character,--is slow, +weak, and calculated at times to make you ill. Pope, in his Essay on +Criticism, says-- + +Some to church repair, +Not for the doctrine, but the music there. + +Probably they do; but nobody goes to All Saints' for that purpose. +No genuine hearty interest seems to be taken in the singing by +anybody particularly. The choir move through their notes as if some +of them were either fastened up hopelessly in barrels, or in a state +of musical syncope; the organist works his hands and feet as well as +he can with a poor organ; the members of the congregation follow, +lowly and contentedly, doing their best against long odds and the +parson sits still, all in one grand piece, and looks on. The +importance and influence of good music should be recognised by every +church; and we trust in time there will be a decided improvement at +All Saints'. A church like it--a building of its size and with its +congregation--ought to have something superior and effective in the +matter of music. + +We have already said that the Rev. George Beardsell is the minister +of All Saints'. He has been at the church, as its incumbent, about +five years. Originally Mr. Beardsell was a Methodist;--a Methodist +preacher, too, we believe; but in time he changed his notions; and +eventually flung himself, in a direct line, into the arms of "Mother +Church." Mr. Beardsell made his first appearance in Preston as +curate of Trinity Church. He worked hard in this capacity, stirred +up the district at times with that peculiar energy which poor +curates longing for good incumbencies, wherein they may settle down +into security and ease, can only manifest, and with many he was a +favourite. From Trinity Church he went to St. Saviour's, and here he +slackened none of his powers. Enthusiasm, combined with earnest +plodding, enabled him to improve the district considerably. He drew +many poor people around him; he repeatedly charmed the "unwashed" +with his strong rough-hewn orgasms; the place seemed to have been +specially reserved for some man having just the perseverance and +vigorous volubility which he possessed; he had ostensibly a +"mission" in the locality; the people of the district liked him, he +reciprocated the feeling, and more than once intimated that he would +make one or two spots, including the wild region of Lark-hill, +"Blossom as the rose." But the period of efflorescence has not yet +arrived; a "call" came in due season, and this carried the +ministerial florist to another "sphere of action." Mr. Beardsell was +translated to the incumbency of All Saints', and he still holds it. +When Mr. Walling was at this church the income was about 260 pounds +a year; taking everything into account, it is now worth upwards of +400 pounds. + +Mr. Beardsell is not a beautiful, but a stout, well-made, strong- +looking man, close upon 40, with a growing tendency towards +adiposity. He has a healthy, bulky, English look; is not a man of +profound education, but, makes up by weight what he may lack in +depth; thinks it a good thing to carry a walking-stick, to keep his +coat well buttoned, and to arrange his hair in the high-front, full- +whig style; has a powerful, roughly eloquent voice; is rather +sensational in the construction of some of his sentences; bellows a +little at times; welters pathetically often; is somewhat monotonous +in tone; ululates too heavily; behaves harshly to the letter "r"-- +sounds it with a violent vigour, and makes it fairly spin round his +tongue end occasionally; can sustain himself well as a speaker; is +never at a loss for words; has a forcible way of arranging his +subjects; is systematic in his style of treatment; and can throw +into his elucidation of questions well-coined and emphatic +expressions. He likes perorations--used to imitate Punshon a little. +He has a good analogical faculty; takes many of his illustrations +from nature, and works them out exceedingly well; is a capital +explainer of biblical difficulties; is peculiarly fond of the +travels of St. Paul; piles up the agony easily and effectively; many +times gets into a groove of high-beating, fierce-burning enthusiasm, +as if he were going to take a distinct leap out of his "pent-up +Utica," and revel in the "whole boundless continent" of thought and +sacred sensation; is a thorough believer in the "My brethren" +phrase--we recently heard him use it nineteen times in twenty +minutes, and regretted that he didn't make the numbers equal; +delights in decking out his discourses with couplets and snatches of +hymns; has a full-blown determined style of speaking; reads with his +gloves on, and preaches with them off, like one or two other parsons +we have seen; makes his sermons too long; is a good platform man, +and would make a fair travelling lecturer; has a great predilection +for open-air preaching, and has spells of it to the Orchard; might +with advantage work more in and less out of his own district; +wouldn't commit a sin if he studied the question of personal +visiting; shouldn't think that his scripture reader--a really good, +hard-working man--can perform miracles, and do nearly everything; +can talk genuine common sense if he likes, and make himself either +very agreeable or pugnacious; is an Orangeman, with a holy horror of +Popery; can give deliciously passionate lectures about the +Reformation; considers money a very important article, and is +inclined to believe that all people, particularly parsons, should +stick to it very firmly; will have his own way in church matters; +likes to fight with a warden; has had many a lively little brush +over sacrament money; might have got on better with many of the +officials if he had been more conciliatory; is a man of moderate +ability, of fair metal, of strong endurance, but would be more +relished if he were less dogmatic, were given less to wandering +preaching, and threw himself heart, soul, purse, and clothes into +his own district. Near the church, and occupying good relative +positions on each side of a beerhouse, called "The Rising Sun," are +All Saints' schools. One of them--that now occupied by the boys-- +was, according to a tablet at the outside, erected several years ago +by our old friend Captain German "as an affectionate tribute to the +memory of Thomas German, Esq." About five years since, two class- +rooms were attached to it, at the expense of J. Bairstow, J. +Horrocks, R. Newsham, and T. Miller, Esqrs. The other school, set +apart for the girls, was erected after that built by Captain German. +Both of the schools are very good ones--are large, lofty, and +commodious. That used for the boys is, scholastically, in a superior +condition. The master is sharp, fully up to his duties; and, +according to a report by the government inspector, his school is one +of the best in the district. The average day attendance at the boys' +school is 150; whilst at the girls school the regular attendance may +be set down at 330. The schools are used on Sundays, and their +average attendance then is 800. Much might be written concerning +them; but we must close; we have said enough; and can only add that +if all are not saints who go to All Saints' they are about as good +as the rest of people. + + + +UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH AND POLE-STREET BAPTIST CHAPEL. + + + +We have two places of worship to struggle with "on the present +occasion," and shall take the freest yet most methodistical of them +first. The United Methodist Free Church--that is a rather long and +imposing name--is generally called "Orchard Chapel." The "poetry of +the thing" may suffer somewhat by this deviation; but the building +appears to smell as sweetly under the shorter as the longer name, so +that we shall not enter into any Criticism condemnatory of the +change. This chapel is the successor, in a direct line, of the first +building ever erected in the Orchard. Its ancestor was placed on +precisely the same spot, in 1831. Those who raised it seceded from +the Wesleyan community, in sympathy with the individuals who retired +from the "old body" at Leeds, in 1828, and who adopted the name of +"Protestant Methodists." For a short time the Preston branch of +these Methodists worshipped in that mystic nursery of germinating +"isms" called Vauxhall-road Chapel; and in the year named they +erected in the Orchard a building for their own spiritual +improvement. It was a plain chapel outside, and mortally ugly +within. Amongst the preaching confraternity in the connexion it used +to be known as "the ugliest Chapel in Great Britain and Ireland." In +1834 a further secession of upwards of 20,000 from the Wesleyans +took place, under the leadership of the late Dr. Warren, of +Manchester. These secessionists called themselves the "Wesleyan +Association," and with them the "Protestant Methodists," including +those meeting in the Orchard Chapel, Preston, amalgamated. They also +adopted the name of their new companions. In 1857 the "Wesleyan +Association" coalesced with another large body of persons, who +seceded from the original Wesleyans in 1849, under the leadership of +the Rev. James Everett and others, and the two conjoined sections +termed themselves the "United Methodist Free Church." None of the +separations recorded were occasioned by any theological difference +with the parent society, but through disagreement on matters of +"government." + +The ministers of the United Methodist Free Church body move about +somewhat after the fashion of the Wesleyan preachers. They first go +to a place for twelve months, and if they stay longer it has to be +through "invitation" from one of the quarterly meetings. As a rule, +they stop three or four years at one church, and then move off to +some new circuit, where old sermons come in, at times, conveniently +for new hearers. The various churches are ruled by "leaders"--men of +a deaconly frame of mind, invested with power sufficient to enable +them to rule the roost in ministerial matters, to say who shall +preach and who shall not, and to work sundry other wonders in the +high atmosphere of church government. The "members" support their +churches, financially, in accordance with their means. There is no +fixed payment. Those who are better off, and not stingy, give +liberally; the less opulent contribute moderately; those who can't +give anything don't. After an existence of about 30 years, the old +chapel in the Orchard was pulled down, in order to make way for a +larger and a better looking building. During the work of +reconstruction Sunday services were held in the school at the rear, +which was built some time before, at a cost of 1,700 pounds. The new +chapel, which cost 2,600 pounds, was opened on the 22nd of May, +1862. It has a rather ornamental front--looks piquant and seriously +nobby. There is nothing of the "great" or the "grand" in any part of +it. The building is diminutive, cheerful, well-made, and inclined, +in its stone work, to be fantastical. + +Internally, it is clean, ornate, and substantial. Its gallery has +stronger supports than can be found in any other Preston chapel. If +every person sitting in it weighed just a ton it would remain firm. +There are two front entrances to the building, and at each end red +curtains are fixed. On pushing one pair aside, the other Sunday, we +cogitated considerably as to what we should see inside. We always +associate mystery with curtains, "caudle lectures" with curtains, +shows, and wax-work, and big women, and dwarfs with curtains; but as +we slowly, yet determinedly, undid these United Methodist Free +Church curtains, and presented our "mould of form" before the full +and absolute interior, we beheld nothing special: there were only a +child, two devotional women, and a young man playing a slow and +death-like tune on a well-made harmonium, present. But the "plot +thickened," the place was soon moderately filled, and whilst in our +seat, before the service commenced, we calmly pondered over many +matters, including the difficulty we had in reaching the building. +Yes, and it was a difficulty. We took the most direct cut, as we +thought, to the place, from the southern side--passed along the +Market-place, into that narrowly-beautiful thoroughfare called New- +street, then through a yet newer road made by the pulling down of +old buildings in Lord-street, and reminding one by its sides of the +ruins of Petra, and afterwards merged into the Orchard. To neither +the right nor the left did we swerve, but moved on, the chapel being +directly is front of us; but in a few moments afterwards we found +ourselves surrounded by myriads of pots and a mighty cordon of +crates--it was the pot fair. Thinking that the Orchard was public +ground, and seeing the chapel so very near, we pursued the even +tenour of our way, but just as we were about sliding between two +crates, so as to pass on into the chapel, a strong man, top-coated, +muffled up, and with a small bludgeon in his hand, moved forward and +said "Can't go." "Why?" said we; "Folks isn't allowed in this here +place now," said he. "Well, but this is the town's property and we +pay rates," was our rejoinder, and his was "Don't matter a cuss, if +you were Lord Derby I should send you back." We accused him of +rudeness, and threatened to go to the police station, close by; but +the fellow was obstinate; his labours were concentred in the +virtuous guardianship of pots, he defied the police and "everybody;" +and feeling that amid all this mass of crockery we had, for once, +unfortunately, "gone to pot," we quietly walked round to the bottom +of the ground, for the crates and the pots swamped the whole _place, +came up to the chapel door, within four yards of the Lord-Derby- +defying individual, and quietly went into the building. + +There are about 300 "members" of the church. In the Preston circuit, +which until recently included Croston, Cuerden, Brinscall, Chorley, +and Blackpool, and which now only embraces, Cuerden and Croston--the +other places being thought sufficiently strong to look after +themselves--there are about 400 "members." What are termed +"Churches" have been established at all the places named; Preston +being the "parent" of them. A branch of the body exists at +Southport, and it was "brought up" under the care of the Preston +party. Orchard Chapel will accommodate between 700 and 800 persons; +but, like other places of worship, it is never full except upon +special occasions; and the average attendance may be put down at +about 400. In the old chapel the father of the late Alderman G. +Smith preached for a time. The first minister of the chapel, when +rebuilt, was the Rev. J. Guttridge--an energetic, impetuous, +eloquent, earnest man. He had two spells at the place; was at it +altogether about six years; and left the last time about a year ago. +Mr. Guttridge, who is one of the smartest ministers in the body, is +now residing at Manchester, connected regularly with no place of +worship, on account of ill health, but doing what he can amongst the +different churches. The congregation of Orchard Chapel consists +principally of well-dressed working people--a quiet, sincere-looking +class of individuals, given in no way to devotional hysteria, and +taking all things smoothly and seriously. They are a liberal class, +too. During the past two years they have raised amongst themselves +about 800 pounds towards the chapel, upon which there is still a +debt, but which would have been clear of all monetary encumbrances +long since if certain old scores needing liquidation had not stood +in the way. The members of the choir sit near the pulpit, the +females on one side and the males on the other. They are young, +good-looking, and often glance at each other kindly. A female who +plays the harmonium occupies the centre. The music is vigorous and, +considering the place, commendable. On Sundays there are two +services at the chapel--morning and evening; and during the week +meetings of a religious character are held in either the chapel or +the adjoining rooms. + +The present minister of the chapel is the Rev. Richard Abercrombie. +He has only just arrived, and may in one sense be termed the +"greatest" minister in Preston, for he is at least six feet high in +his stocking feet. He is an elderly gentleman,--must be getting near +70; but he is almost as straight as a wand, has a dignified look, +wears a venerable grey beard, and has quite a military precision in +his form and walk. And he may well have, for he has been a soldier, +Mr. Abercrombie served in the British army upwards of twenty years. +He followed Wellington, after Waterloo, and was in Paris as a +British soldier when the famous treaty of peace was signed. His +grandfather was cousin of the celebrated Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who +defeated Napoleon's forces in Egypt, and his ancestors held +commissions in our army for upwards of four generations. Tired of +military life, Mr. Abercrombie eventually laid down his arms, and +for 33 years he has been a minister in the body he is now connected +with. It is worthy of remark that, before leaving the army, he +occasionally sermonised in his uniform, and 35 years ago he preached +in his red jacket, &c., in the old Orchard Chapel. Mr. Abercrombie +is a genial, smooth-natured, quiet man--talks easily yet carefully, +preaches earnestly yet evenly; there is no froth in either his +prayers or sermons; he never gets into fits of uncontrollable +passion, never rides the high horse of personal ambition, nor the +low ass of religious vulgarity--keeps cool, behaves himself, and +looks after his work midly and well. He has two or three sons in the +United Methodist Free Church ministry, and one of them, called after +the general who defeated the Napoleonic forces, is the only man +belonging the body who has a university M.A. after his name. + +Very good schools are connected with Orchard Chapel. The average day +attendance is 140; and on Sundays the average is about 350, In the +last place, we may observe that the people belonging Orchard Chapel +are, generally, getting along comfortably in all their departments. +Formerly they had feuds, and fights, and church meetings, at which +odd pieces of scandal were bandied about--they may have morsels of +unpleasantness yet to encounter; but taking them all in all they are +moving on serenely and well. + +Passing not "from pole to pole," but from the Orchard to Pole- +street, we come to the Baptist Chapel in that, thoroughfare--a +rather dull, strongly-railed-off place, which seems to be receding +from public sight altogether. About 45 years ago, a small parcel of +Preston people, enamoured of the Calvinistic Methodism which the +Countess of Huntingdon recognised, worshipped in a building in +Cannon-street. In 1825 they built, or had raised for them, a chapel +in Pole-street, which was dedicated to St. Mark. At this time, +probably on account of its novelty, the creed drew many followers-- +the new chapel was patronised by a somewhat numerous congregation, +which kept increasing for a period. But it gradually dwindled down, +and a total collapse finally ensued. In 1855 a number of General +Baptists, who split from their brethren worshipping in the old +Leeming-street chapel, struck a bargain with the expiring Lady +Huntingdon section for their building in Pole-street, gave about 700 +pounds for it, forthwith shifted thereto, and continue to hold the +place. There is nothing at all calling for comment as to the +exterior of the chapel; and not much as to the interior. It will +accommodate about 900 persons. The pews are high, awkward to sit in, +and have a grim cold appearance. The building is pretty lofty, and +is well galleried. The pulpit is at the far end, and the singers sit +on a railed platform before it. The congregation seems both thin and +poor. Very lately we were in it, and estimated the number present at +84--rather a small party for a chapel capable of holding 900. + +The building possesses about the best acoustical properties of any +place of worship in Preston. The late Mr. Samuel Grimshaw, of +Preston, who, amongst many other things, had a special taste for +music, used to occupy it at times, with his band, for the purposes +of "practising." He liked it on account of its excellent sounding +qualities. Once, after some practice in it, Mr. Grimshaw offered a +"return"--said he would give the brethren a musical lift with his +band during some anniversary services to be held in the chapel. His +promise was accepted, and when the day came there was a complete +musical flood. The orchestra, including the singers, numbered about +50, and the melodious din they created was something tremendous. +"Sam" had the arrangement of it. There were tenors, baritones, bass +men, trebles, alto-singers, in the fullest feather; there were +trumpeters, tromboners, bassooners, ophicleideans, cornet-a-piston +players, and many others, all instrumentally armed to the very +teeth, and the sensation they made, fairly shook and unnerved the +more pious members of the congregation, who protested against the +chapel being turned into a "concert-hall," &c. The music after all, +was good, and if it were as excellent now there would be a better +attendance at the place. The present orchestra consists of perhaps a +dozen singers, including a central gentleman who is about the best +shouter we ever heard; and they are helped out of any difficulties +they may get into by a rather awkwardly-played harmonium. + +The Rev. W. J. Stuart is the minister of the chapel, and he receives +from 70 to 80 pounds a year for his duties. He has a gentlemanly +appearance; looks pretty well considering the nature of his salary; +is getting into the grey epoch of life; is not very erudite; but +seems well up in scriptural subjects; is sincere, mild, primitive in +his notions; has fits of cautiousness and boldness; is precise and +earnest in expression; has an "interpretational" tendency in his +sacred utterances; is disposed to explain mysteries; likes +homilising the people; can talk much; and can be very earnest over +it all. He has fair action, and sometimes gets up to 212 degrees in +his preaching. We won't say that he is in any sense a wearying +preacher; but this we may state, that if his sermons were shorter +they would not be quite so long. And from this he may take the hint. +We are told that the attendance at the chapel is slightly +increasing; but as compared with the past it is still very slender. +The admission to either the platform or pulpit of the chapel, not +very long ago, of a wandering "Indian chief," and a number of +Revivalists, who told strange tales and talked wildly, has operated, +we believe, against the place--annoyed and offended some, and caused +them to leave. The minister, no doubt, admitted these men with an +honest intention; but everybody can't stand the war-whooping of +itinerant Indians, nor the sincere ferociousness of Revivalists; and +awkward feelings were consequently generated in some quarters by +them. In the main, Mr. Stuart is a kindly, quiet, gentlemanly +person, and barring the little interruption caused by the dubious +Indian and the untamed Revivalists, has got on with a small +congregation and a bad salary better than many parsons would have +been able to do. + + + +CHURCH OF THE ENGLISH MARTYRS. + + + +To this church a name which is general property has been given. Each +of our religious sects can number its martyrs. In the good old times +cruelty was a reciprocal thing amongst professing Christians; it was +a pre-eminently mutual affair amongst the two great religious +parties in the land--the Protestants and the Catholics,--for when +one side got into power they slaughtered their opponents, and when +the other became paramount the compliment was returned. The church +we have here to describe is dedicated to those English Catholics +who, in the stormy days of persecution, were martyred. It is +situated on the northern side of the town, in a new and rapidly +increasing part of Preston, at the extreme south-western corner of +what used to be called Preston Moor, and on the very spot where men +used to be hanged often, and get their heads cut off occasionally. +"Gallows Hill" is the exact site of the Church of the English +Martyrs. And this "hill" is associated with a movement constituting +one of the rugged points in our history. The rebellion of 1715 +virtually collapsed at Preston; many fights and skirmishes were +indulged in, one or two breezy passages of arms even took place +within a good stone-throw of the ground occupied by the Church of +the English Martyrs; but the King's troops finally prevailed. +According to an old book before us there were "taken at Preston"-- +amongst the rebels--"seven lords, besides 1,490 other, including the +several gentlemen, officers, and private men, and two clergymen." +And the book further says, in a humorously sarcastic mood, "There +was a Popish priest called Littleton among them; but having a great +deal of the Jesuit he contrived a most excellent disguise, for he +put on a blue apron, went behind an apothecary's counter, and passed +for an assistant or journeyman to the apothecary, and so took an +opportunity of getting off." But all the captured rebels did not +escape so adroitly as our Jesuitical friend Littleton; for several +of them were either hanged or beheaded, and the fate of many was +sealed on the site of the Church of the English Martyrs. On the 5th +of January, 1715, we are told that sixteen rebels "were hanged upon +Gallows Hill, for high treason and conspiracy." In the following +year "42 condemned prisoners of all religions were hanged and +decapitated at Preston;" and amongst them were five belonging +Preston and the neighbourhood. They were "Richard Shuttleworth, of +Preston, Esq.; Roger Moncaster, of Garstang, attorney; Thomas Cowpe, +of Walton-le-Dale; William Butler, of Myerscough, Esq.; William +Arkwright, of Preston, gentleman;" and all of them were put to death +on Gallows Hill the cost being for "materialls, hurdle, fire, cart, +&c.," and for "setting up" Shuttleworth's head, &c., 12 pounds 0s +4d. There can be no doubt that Gallows Hill derives its name +directly from the transactions of 1715-16. Prior to that time it was +a simple mound; after that period it became associated with hangings +and beheadings, and received the name of "Gallows Hill," which was +peculiarly appropriate. + +In May, 1817, "Gallows Hill" was cut through, so that "the great +north road to Lancaster" might be improved. Whilst this was being +done two coffins were found, and in them there were discovered two +headless bodies. Local historians think they were the remains of +"two rebel chieftains;" they may have been; but there is no proof of +this, although the fair supposition is that they were the +decapitated remnants of two somebodies, who had assumed a rebellious +attitude in 1715. It is probable that the heads of these parties +were "exposed on poles in front of our Town-hall," for that was an +olden practice, and was considered very legitimate 154 years ago. We +have spoken of the "discoveries" of 1817, and in continuing our +remarks it may be said that "near the spot" some timber, supposed to +have been the gallows, was once found, and that a brass hand-axe was +dug up not far from it, at the same time. The Moor, which amongst +other things embraced the "hill" we have mentioned, was a rough +wildish place--a rude looking common; but it seems to have been well +liked by the people, for upon it they used to hold trade meetings, +political demonstrations, &c.; and for 65 years--from 1726 to 1791-- +horse races were annually run upon it. The Corporation and the +freemen of the borough once had a great dispute as to their +respective claims to the Moor, and the latter by way of asserting +their rights, put upon it an old white horse; but the Corporation +were not to be cajoled out of their ownership by an argument so very +"horsey" as this; they ordered the animal off; and Mr. J. Dearden, +who still obeys their injunctions with courteous precision, put it +into a pinfold hard by. + +The Church of the English Martyrs was erected not long ago upon that +part of the Moor we have described. Originally the promoters of the +church treated for a plot of land about 20 yards above the present +site; but the negotiations were broken off, and afterwards they +bought Wren Cottage and a stable adjoining, situated about a quarter +of a mile northwards. The house was made available for the priest; +the stable was converted into a church; and mass was said in it for +the first time on Christmas morning, 1864. On the 21st of January, +1865, it was formally "opened;" the Revs. Canon Walker, T. Walton, +and F. Soden taking part in the services of the day. During 1865 +preparations were made for erecting a new church upon the same site; +but some of the gentlemen living in the immediate neighbourhood took +offence at the movement, and insisted upon certain stipulations +contained in the covenants, which barred out the construction of +such a building as a church or a chapel, being carried out. There +was a considerable amount of Corporation discussion in respect to +the question, and eventually the idea of erecting a church upon the +land was abandoned. Directly afterwards, "Gallows Hill," in which +both the Corporation and Mr. Samuel Pole Shaw had rights, was +purchased as a site for it. Operations, involving the removal of an +immense quantity of earth--for the place was nothing more than a +high, rough, sandy hillock,--were commenced on the 26th of March, +1866. On the 26th of May, in the same year, the foundation-stone was +laid, with great ceremony, by Dr. Goss, and on the 12th of December, +1867, the church was opened. Mr. E. W. Pugin designed the building, +which externally does not look very wonderful at present; but, when +completed, it will be a handsome place. The original design includes +a beautiful steeple, surmounted with pinnacles; but want of funds +precludes its erection. + +The church is a high double-roofed edifice--looks like two +buildings, one placed above the other; and, owing to the absence of +a steeple, it seems very tall and bald. It has a pretty western +gable, which can only be fully appreciated by close inspection. The +centre of this gable is occupied by a fine eight-light window, and +the general work is surmounted by pinnacles and ornamental masonry. +Two angels, cut in stone, originally formed part of the +ornamentation; but during a strong gale, early in 1868, they were +blown down. These "fallen angels" have never regained their first +estate; and as they might only tumble down if re-fixed, and perhaps +kill somebody, which would not be a very angelic proceeding, we +suppose they will not be interfered with. + +The church has an imposing, a noble interior. It is wide, lofty, has +a fine calm majestic look, and is excellently arranged. The nave, +which is 69 feet high, is supported by 14 stone pillars. From nearly +any point every part of the building may be seen; the nave pillars, +do not, as is the case in some churches, obstruct the vision; and +everything seems easy, clear, and open. In the daytime a rich +shadowy light is thrown into the church by the excellent disposition +of its windows; at eventide the sheen of the setting sun, caught by +the western window, falls like a bright flood down the nave, and +makes the scene beautiful. The high altar is a fine piece of +workmanship; is of Gothic design, is richly carved, is ornamented +with marbles, has a canopy of most elaborate construction, and is in +good harmony with the general architecture. Two small altars are +near it. One of them, dedicated to St. Joseph, and given by Mr. J. +Pyke, of this town, is particularly handsome; the other, dedicated +to the Blessed Virgin, is of a less costly, though very pretty, +character. Near one of the pillars on the north-eastern side there +stands a square wooden frame, which is called the pulpit. It is a +deliciously primitive and remarkably common-place concern; but it is +strong enough, and will have to stop where it is until money for +something better is raised. There are sittings in the church for 850 +persons. On Sundays there are masses at eight, and half-past nine; a +regular service at eleven, and another at half-past six in the +evening. The aggregate attendance during the day is about 1,350. The +assemblage at the first mass is thin; at the second it is good-- +better than at any other time; at eleven it is pretty numerous; and +in the evening it is fair. Adults and children from the union +workhouse, of the Catholic persuasion, attend the eleven o'clock +service; and they come in tolerable force--sometimes they number +100. + +The general congregation consists nearly altogether of working class +people, and it includes some of the best sleepers we have seen. The +members of the choir sit in a gallery at the western end. Their +performances are of a curious description. Sometimes they sing very +well--are quite exact in their renderings and decidedly harmonious; +at other times they torture the music somewhat. But then they are +young at the business, haven't had so much experience, and have +nothing to rely upon in the shape of instrumental music except the +hard tones of an ordinary harmonium. Organ accompaniments help up +good choirs and materially drown the defects of bad ones. With +better instrumental assistance, the singers at the Church of the +English Martyrs would acquit themselves more satisfactorily, and +with additional practice they would still further improve matters. + +There are two priests stationed at the church--the Rev. James Taylor +and the Rev. Joseph Pyke. Father Taylor, the principal, is a +blooming, healthy, full-spirited gentleman. He is a "Fylde man;" has +in him much strong straight-forwardness; looks as if he had never +ailed anything in his life; doesn't appear to have mortified the +flesh very acutely; seems to have taken things comfortably and well +since the day of his birth; has not allowed his creed to spoil his +face--a trick which some professors of religion are guilty of; and +is, on the whole, a genuine specimen of the true John Bull type. +Father Taylor's first mission was at Lancaster, under the late Dean +Brown; afterwards he came to St. Augustine's, Preston, where he +remained four and a half years; then he was appointed Catholic +chaplain at the House of Correction; and subsequently he took charge +of his present mission. He is an active man, and works very hard in +his district. As a preacher he is energetic, impetuous, and +practical--speaks plainly and straight out, minces nothing, and +tries to drive what he considers to be the truth right home. He has +very little rhetorical action, hardly moves at all in the pulpit, +stirs neither head nor hand except upon special occasions; but he +has a powerful voice, he pours out his words in a strong, full +volume, and the force he has in this respect compensates for the +general immobility he displays during his discourses. + +His colleague--the Rev. J. Pyke--is a small, mild gentleman, +unassuming in manner, cautious, careful, quiet, precise, and, whilst +attending to his duties regularly, he makes no bluster about them. +He was ordained at the Church of the English Martyrs, in September, +1868. In the pulpit he is earnest, clear, and regular in his +remarks. He makes no repetitions, flings himself into no attitudes, +assumes no airs, but proceeds on to the end steadily and calmly. +Both the priests named live close to the church, in a building which +forms part of the property of the mission. It is intended some time +to have a proper presbytery, near the church: one is included in +the original plan; but shortness of funds bars its erection. The +work thus far executed--the church, vestries, &c.--has cost about +8,000 pounds, and there still remains upon the buildings a debt of +about 4,000 pounds. There are no schools in connection with the +church; but it is expected that there will be by and bye. The land +formerly used as the cattle market, and situated near the church, +has been bought for this purpose, and collectors are now engaged in +raising money towards the erection of the schools. The church has +two or three "guilds," the female members thereof numbering about +200, and the males 100. In the "district" there are about 3,000 +Catholics, including 700 children under 10 years of age; so that the +priests in charge of it have quite enough on hand for the present. A +mission in debt to the tune of 4,000 pounds; a church to internally +complete--for much yet remains to be finished in the one described; +a church tower which will cost 2,000 pounds to raise; a presbytery +to begin of; schools, which are primarily essential, to erect; and +7,000 human beings to look after, constitute what may fairly be +termed "no joke." + + + +ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH. + + + +Few districts are more thoroughly vitiated, more distinctly poverty- +struck, more entirely at enmity with soap and water than that in +which this church stands. Physically, mentally, and spiritually, it +is in a state of squash and mildew. Heathenism seethes in it, and +something even more potent than a forty-parson power of virtue will +be required to bring it to healthy consciousness and legitimate +action. You needn't go to the low slums of London, needn't smuggle +yourself round with detectives into the back dens of big cities if +you want to see "sights" of poverty and depravity; you can have them +nearer home--at home--in the murky streets, sinister courts, crowded +houses, dim cellars, and noisy drinking dens of St. Saviour's +district. Pass through it, move quietly along its parapets--leaving +a tour through its internal institutions for some future occasion-- +and you will see enough to convince you that many missionaries, with +numerous Bibles and piles of blankets, are yet wanted at home before +being despatched to either farthest land or the plains of Timbuctoo. +The general scene may be thus condensed and described: Myriads of +children, ragged, sore-headed, bare-legged, dirty, and amazingly +alive amid all of it; wretched-looking matrons, hugging saucy, +screaming infants to their breasts, and sending senior youngsters +for either herring, or beer, or very small loaves; strong, idle +young men hanging about street corners with either dogs at their +feet, or pigeon-baskets in their hands; little shops driving a brisk +"booking" business with either females wearing shawls over their +heads or children wearing nothing at all on their feet; bevies of +brazen-faced hussies looking out of grim doorways for more victims +and more drink; stray soldiers struggling about beer or dram shops +entrances, with dissolute, brawny-armed females; and wandering old +hags with black eyes and dishevelled hair, closing up the career of +shame and ruin they have so long and so wretchedly run. + +Anybody may see the sights we have just described. We mention this +not because there is anything pleasing in it, but because it is +something which exists daily in the heart of our town--in the centre +of St. Saviour's district. No locality we know of stands more in +need of general redemption than this, and any Christian church, no +matter whatever may be its denominational peculiarities, which may +exist in it, deserves encouragement and support. The district is so +supremely poor, and so absolutely bad, that anything calculated to +improve or enlighten it in any way is worthy of assistance. A +Baptist chapel was built in the quarter we are now describing--it +was erected in Leeming-street, at the corner of Queen-street--in +1783. Fifty years afterwards it was enlarged; subsequently the +Baptists couldn't agree amongst themselves; the parties to the +quarrel then separated, some going to Pole-street Chapel, others +forming a new "church"--that now in Fishergate; and on the 10th of +August, 1859, the old building was bought by certain gentlemen +connected with the Church of England. A young man, named William +Dent Thompson, strong in constitution, greatly enamoured of +Reformation principles, keenly polemical, and brought up under the +aegis of the Rev. Geo. Alker, was appointed superintendent of the +place. He stayed awhile, then went away, and was succeeded by the +Rev. Geo. Donaldson, who in turn left for Blackburn, and was +followed by the Rev. Geo. Beardsell, the present incumbent of All +Saints' in this town. Mr. Beardsell did an excellent business in the +district--worked it up well and most praiseworthily; but he, in +time, left. + +For seven months after this, there was no regular minister at the +place; still it didn't go down; several energetic, zealous laymen +looked after it and the schools established in connection with it, +and, considering their calibre, they did a good work. But they +couldn't keep up a full and continuous fire; a properly stationed +minister was needed; and Mr. Thompson, who had in the meantime +entered holy orders, was summoned from Blackenall, in Staffordshire, +to take charge of the church and district. In 1863 he came; under +his ministrations the congregation soon augmented; and in a short +time a movement was started for a new church; the old building being +a ricketty, inconvenient, rudely-dismal place, quite insufficient +for the requirements of the locality. The principal friends of the +new movement were R. Newsham, the late J. Bairstow, J. Horrocks, and +T. Miller, Esqrs., and what they subscribed constituted a +substantial nucleus guaranteeing the commencement of operations. In +1866, the old edifice was pulled down to make way for a new church, +and during the work of re-construction divine service was performed +in Vauxhall-road schools, which were, sometime after Mr. Thompson's +appointment, transferred by the Rev. Canon Parr from the Parish +Church's to St. Saviour's district. R. Newsham, Esq., laid the +corner-stone of St. Saviour's Church on the 26th of November, 1866; +the building was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester, on the +29th of October, 1868; on the 9th of December in that year, the Rev. +W. D. Thompson was licensed to its incumbency; and on the 16th of +April, 1869, the district was "legally assigned" by the +Ecclesiastical Commissioners. + +St. Saviour's--designed by Mr. Hibbert, architect, of this town--is +one of the handsomest and best finished churches we have seen. It +almost seems too good for the district in which it is situated. The +style of it is Gothic. Externally its most striking feature is the +tower. We thought at one time, when the tower had been run up a +considerable distance, that it was positively "going to the dogs." +At each of its angles there is a strange arrangement of dogs; they +bristle out on all sides, and are not over good looking--are thin, +hungry, weird-looking animals, appear to have had a hard time of it +somewhere, and to be doing their best to escape from the stone +whence they are protruding. But the pinnacles placed above have +completely taken away their grotesqueness, their malicious, +suspicious appearance, and the tower now looks beautiful. There are +three entrances to the church--one at the back, another at the +north-western corner, and the third beneath the tower on the south- +western side. If you please we will enter by the door on the last- +named side. + +We are within the building--just within; and here we have on the +right a glass screen, on the left a multiplicity of warm water +pipes, and in the centre of the spot a handsome substantial +baptismal font, the gift of Sir T. G. Fermor-Hesketh, M.P. This font +can't be too highly praised; its workmanship is excellent; its +material is most durable; and with care it will last for at least +four thousand years. Behind it are two stained glass windows; one +being in memory of the father of the incumbent's wife; the other in +remembrance of the architect's mother. Adjoining is a plain window +which will shortly be filled in with stained glass, at the expense +of Mr. W. B. Roper, in memory of a relative. Leaving the font, and +the water pipes, and the windows, we move forward, and are at once +struck with the capaciousness, the excellent disposition, and the +handsome finish of the interior. Directly in front there is a +magnificent five-light chancel window--beautifully coloured, well +arranged, containing in the centre a representation of our Saviour, +and flanked by figures of the four evangelists. We have seldom seen +a more exquisite, a more elegantly artistic window than this. Edward +Swainson, Esq., whose works are in the district, presented it. Still +looking eastward, but taking a nearer view and one of less altitude, +we notice the pulpit--a piece of fine carved oak-work, resting upon +a circular column of stone, and given by Mrs. Newsham; then we have +a lectern, of the eagle pattern, presented by the Rev. R. Brown; and +to the left of this there is a most excellently finished, carved- +oak, reading desk, given by R. Newsham, Esq. The communion plate-- +most choice and elaborate in design--was, we may observe, given by +the same gentleman. Turning round, we notice a pretty four-light +window in the western gable. This was also presented by R. Newsham, +Esq., in memory of the late J. Bairstow, Esq. The church consists of +a nave and a northern aisle. If an aisle could be constructed on the +southern side the building would assume proportions at once most +complete and imposing. But space will not permit of this. Land +constitutes a difficulty on that side; and the general building is +considerably deteriorated in appearance at present through +"associations" in this part. At the south-eastern end there is a +small wretched-looking beershop, and near it a dingy used-up +cottage. These two buildings are a nuisance to the church; they +spoil the appearance of the building at one end completely, and they +ought to be pulled down and carted off forthwith. + +Reverting to the interior of St. Saviour's, we observe that the +northern side is supported by four arches, the central one depending +upon double columns of polished granite, and all of them having +highly ornamented capitals. A couple of stone angels support the +primary principal of the chancel roof, and they bear the weight put +upon them very complacently. The northern aisle is occupied below +with free seats; and above, in a gallery, with ditto. At the western +end there is a continuation of the gallery, filled with free seats. +The church will hold 800 people, and more than half the seats are +free. All the pews are strong, open, and good to sit in. The central +ones on the ground floor are very lengthy--perhaps thirty feet in +extent. + +The congregation, considering the capacity of the church, is large, +and consists almost absolutely of working people. We noticed during +our visit to this place what we have seen at no other church or +chapel in the town, namely, that many of the worshippers put in an +early appearance--several were in their seats at least a quarter of +an hour before the service commenced. We further noticed that the +congregation is a pre-eminently quiet and orderly one. At some +places you are tormented to death with stirring feet, shuffling, +rustling clothes, coughing, sneezing, &c.; here, however, you have +little of these things, and at times, a positive dead calm prevails. +It may also be worthy of mention that we saw fewer sleepers at St. +Saviour's than in any other place of worship yet visited by us. Only +one gentleman got fairly into a state of slumber during the whole +service; a stout girl tried to "drop over" several times, and an old +man made two or three quiet efforts to get his eyes properly closed, +but both failed. All the other members of the congregation appeared +to be wide awake and amazingly attentive. The free seats are well +patronised by poor people, and it is to such a class as this that +the place seems really advantageous. + +The music at the church is simple, hearty, and quite congregational. +The tunes are plain, and the worshippers, instead of looking on +whilst the choir perform, join in the music, and get up a very full +volume of respectable melody. The regular singers have their +quarters at the north-eastern end, on the ground floor, and they +acquit themselves with a very good grace. Near them is a small, +poor-looking organ; it is played well, but its music is not very +consolatory, and its tame, infantile appearance throws it quite out +of keeping with the general excellence of the church. Some money +has, we believe, been promised towards a new organ, and if somebody +else would promise some more, a seemly-looking instrument might be +obtained. + +Two or three "classes" meet every Sunday for instruction in the +church. Formerly, owing to defective accomodation, the members of +them had to assemble in two public-house rooms, where the education +was in one sense of the "mixed" kind, for whilst virtue was being +inculcated above, where the members met, the elegant war-whooping of +pagans below, given over to beer, tobacco, and blasphemy, could be +heard. This wasn't a thing to be desired, and as soon as ever the +church was ready, a removal to it was effected. Educational business +in connection with St. Saviour's is carried on in various parts of +the district. In Vauxhall-road there are day schools with an average +attendance of 220. On Sundays, the work of education is carried on +here; also at the Parsonage-house (which adjoins Lark-hill convent), +where a mother's class is taught by Mrs. Thompson; in Shepherd- +street, where a number of poor ragged children meet; and likewise, +as before stated, in the church; the aggregate attendance being +about 900. The Parsonage-house was purchased and presented to St. +Saviour's by the late J. Bairstow, Esq. Handsome new schools are +being built (entirely at the expense of R. Newsham, Esq., who has +been a most admirable friend to St. Saviour's) near the church. They +will accommodate about 400 scholars, and will, it is expected, be +ready by the end of the present year. The entire cost of the church, +parsonage house, &c., has been about 10,000 pounds; and not more +than 50 pounds will be required to clear off all the liabilities +thus far incurred. + +The incumbent of St. Saviour's is plain, unpoetical, strong-looking, +and practical. He was reared under the shadow of Ingleborough. We +have known him for 30 years. On coming to Preston he was for +sometime a mechanic; then he became missioner in connection with the +Protestant Reformation Society, first at St. Peter's in this town,-- +and next at St. Mary's. Afterwards he left, studied for the +ministry, and six years since, as already intimated, came to St. +Saviour's as its incumbent. For a time after the church was erected, +he had nothing to depend upon but the pew rents, which realised +about 70 pounds a year: but fortune favours parsons: the +Ecclesiastical Commissioners subsequently increased his stipend, +then 1,000 pounds was left by J. Bairstow, Esq., and the income is +now equal to about 300 pounds per annum. Mr. Thompson is not a +brilliant man, and never will be. He is close-shaven, full-featured, +heavily-set, slow is his mental processes, but earnest, pushing, and +enduring. He is an industrious parson, a striving, persevering, +roughly-hewn, hard-working man--a good visitor, a willing worker, +free and kindly disposed towards poor people, and the exact man for +such a district as that in which he is located. If a smart, highly- +drawn, classical gentleman were fixed as minister in the region of +St. Saviour's, the people would neither understand him nor care for +him. If he talked learnedly, discussed old cosmogonies, worked out +subtle theories of divinity, and chopped logic; if he spiced up big +homilies with Plato and Virgil, or wandered into the domain of +Hebrew roots and Greek iambics, his congregation would put him down +as insane, and would be driven crazy themselves. But Mr. Thompson +avoids these things, primarily because he doesn't know much about +them, and generally because plain words and practical work are the +sole things required in his district. + +The gentleman under review used to be a tremendous anti-Popery +speaker, and more than once thought well of the Reformation +perorations of Henry Vincent; but he has toned down much in this +respect, like Panjandrum the Grand, under whose feathers he +originally nestled. He is still, and has a right to be, if that way +inclined, a strong believer in the triumph achieved at Boyne Water; +only he doesn't make so much stir about it as formerly. Mr. Thompson +is a determined and aspiring man; is earnest, windy, and clerically +"large;" knows he is a parson without being told of it; has a +somewhat ponderous and flatulent style of articulation; has not the +faculty of originality much developed, but can imitate excellently; +could sooner quote than coin a great thought; believes in stray +polemical struggles with outsiders; used to have a Byronic notion +that getting hold of other people's thoughts, and passing them off +for those of somebody else, was not a very great sin; is a better +anecdote teller than reasoner; can be very solemn and most +virtuously combative; could yet, though he seems to have settled +down, get up, on the shortest notice, any amount of "immortal +William" steam, and throw every ounce of it into a good ninth-rate +jeremiad. Still he has many capital points; he is a most +indefatigable toiler in his own district, and that covers all his +defects; he is not too proud nor too idle to visit everybody, +however wretched or vile, requiring his advice and assistance; he is +homely, sincere, and devoted to the cause he has in hand, and the +locality he has charge of; he does his best to improve it; he has +not laboured unsuccessfully; and no better minister could be found +for such a place. He can adapt himself to its requirements; can +level himself to its social and spiritual necessities; does more +good in it every day than a more polished, or brilliant, or namby- +pamby parson would be able to accomplish in a year; has an excellent +wife, who takes her share of the district's work; attends to the +varied wants of the locality--and there are many in a godless +district like his, with its 5,000 souls--in a most praiseworthy +manner. He is the right man is the right place, and it is a good job +that he is not too learned, for that would have interfered with his +utility, would have dumfounded those in his keeping, and operated +against his success. Mr. Thompson, adieu, and good luck to you. + + + +CHRISTIAN BRETHREN AND BROOK-STREET PRIMITIVE METHODISTS. + + + +All over, there are many who consider themselves Christian brethren; +but the number taking up the name specifically, with a determination +to stick to it denominationally, is small. In all large towns a few +of this complexion may be found; and in Preston odd ones exist whose +shibboleth is "Christian Brethren." We had a spell with them, rather +unexpectedly, on a recent "first day"--"Christian Brethren" always +call Sunday the first day. And it came about in this way: we were +on the point of entering a Dissenting place of worship, when a +kindly-natured somewhat originally-constituted "pillar of the +Church" intercepted our movements, and said, "You mustn't come here +today." "Why?" we asked, and his reply was, that a fiftieth-rate +stray parson, whom "the Church doesn't care for" would be in the +pulpit that day, and that if we wished for "a fair sample" we must +"come next Sunday." We didn't want to be hard, and therefore said +that if "another place" could be found for us, we would take it +instead. Violent cogitation for five minutes ensued, and at last our +friend, more zealous than erudite, conjured up what he termed, "them +here new lot, called Christians." + +We had heard of this section before, and at our request he +accompanied us to a small, curiously-constructed building in Meadow- +street. At the side of the doorway we observed a strangely-written, +badly-spelled sign, referring to the different periods when the +"Christian Brethren" met for worship, &c.; and above it another sign +appeared, small and dim, and making some allusion to certain +academical business. Hurrying up fourteen steps we reached a dark, +time-worn door, and after pausing for a moment--listening to some +singing within--our guide, philosopher, &c., opened it, and we +entered the place with him. The room was not "crowded to +suffocation;" its windows were not gathering carbon drops through +the density of human breathing; there were just fourteen persons in +the place--four men, three women, two youths, a girl, and four +children. A Bible and a hymn book--the latter, according to its +preface, being intended for none but the righteous--were handed to +us, and our friend want through the singing in a delightfully- +dreadful style. He appeared to have a way of his own in the business +of psalmody--sang whatever came into his head first, got into all +manner of keys, and considering that he was doing quite enough for +both of us, we remained silent, listening to the general melody, and +drinking in its raptures as placidly as possible. + +Prior to describing either the service we witnessed, or the +principles of those participating in it, we must say a word in +reference to the building. It stands on the northern side of Meadow- +street, between sundry cottage houses, retiring a little from the +general frontage, and by its architecture seems to be a cross +between a small school and a minute country meeting-house. It was +originally built in 1844 by Mr. John Todd of this town. He started +it as a chapel on his own account--for at that time he had special +theological notions; and probably considered that he had as much +right to have a place of worship as anybody else. We have been +unable to ascertain the primal denominational character of the +building; the founder of it is unable to tell us; all that we have +been able to get out of him is, that the place "had no name," and +all that we can, therefore, fairly say is, that he built it, and did +either something or nothing in it. Mr. Todd did not occupy it very +long; he struck his colours in about a year; and afterwards it was +used by different Dissenting bodies, including some Scotch Baptists, +on whose behalf the building was altered. Originally it was only one +story high; but when the Baptists went to it a second story was +added, and, having either aspiring notions or considering that they +would be better accommodated in the higher than the lower portion of +the building, they went aloft, leaving the ground floor for +individuals of more earthly proclivities. Two years ago Mr. Todd +sold the building, and about six months since certain Christian +Brethren hired the top room for "first day" purposes, week day work +being carried on in it by an industrious schoolmaster. + +Like the Quakers, Christian Brethren are a "peculiar people." They +believe more in being good and doing good than in professing +goodness formally. They recognise some forms and a few ceremonies; +but vital inherent excellence--simple Christianity, plain, +unadorned, and earnest--is their pole-star. They claim to be guided +in all their religious acts solely by the Scriptures; consider that +as "the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch," their +followers have no right to assume any other name; think, baptismally +speaking, that whilst there may be some virtue in sprinkling and +pouring, there can be no mistake about absolute immersion, inasmuch +as that will include everything; think baby baptism unnecessary, and +hold that none except penitent believers, with brains fairly +solidified, should be admitted to the ordinance; maintain that, as +under the apostolic regime, "the disciples came together on the +first day of the week to break bread," Christians should partake of +the sacrament every Sunday; call their ministers "evangelists;" hold +that at general meetings for worship there should be full liberty of +speech; that worship should be perfectly free; and that everything +should be supported on the voluntary principle. Those now +worshipping in Meadow-street are the first "Christian Brethren" we +have had, regularly organised, in Preston. How they will go on we +cannot tell; but if present appearances are any criterion, we are +afraid they will not make very rapid progress. They have about ten +"members" at present; when the "baker's dozen" will be reached is a +mystery. + +The executive business of Christian Brethren is managed by deacons; +but the diaconal stage has not yet been reached in Preston. There +are branches of the body in Blackburn, Southport, Bolton, &c.; but +none exist in Lancashire north of Preston. The brethren here have no +Sunday-school; but the establishment of one is contemplated, and it +may be in time fairly attended. What the number of attendants will +be we can't tell, but this may be fairly said--that if each of the +ten members happens, in the lapse of time, to have 12 children, and +if all are sent to school, 120 scholars will be raised, and that +this would constitute a very good muster for a small denomination. +But we must return to the subject. + +After the singing, which our friend so improved--and he continued +"in the werry same tone of voice," as poor Sam Cowell used to say in +his "Station Porter's" song, through every hymn--a bearded, +mustached, and energetic young man (Mr. W. Hindle), originally a +Methodist town missionary, at one time connected with Shepherd- +street Ragged School, Preston, and now an "Evangelist" belonging the +Christian Brethren, labouring at Southport, Blackburn, &c., but +generally engaged for Sunday service at Preston, read several verses +from the Bible; then be prayed, his orison being of a free and wide- +spreading type; and afterwards he asked if any "brother" would read +from Holy Writ. A pause followed, doubt and bashfulness apparently +supervening; but at length a calm, thoughtful gentleman got up, and +went through sundry passages in Isaiah. The singing of a hymn +succeeded, and Mr. Hindle then asked if "another brother" would +read. A gentleman, spectacled, with his hair well thrown back, and +very earnest, here rose, and having put a small Bible upon a little +table in front, and taken up a larger volume which the minister had +been perusing, diced into Corinthians, and gave a tolerably +satisfactory reading. The minister then commenced discussing certain +antithetical points in St. Paul's writings, and next asked if "two +or three brethren" would engage in prayer. Thirty seconds elapsed, +and then one of the brethren made a prayer. The sacrament--bread and +wine--directly followed, and after a purse, suddenly pulled out from +some place by the minister, had been sharply handed round for +contributions, a serious young man gave out a hymn, which the +company genially sung. More speaking ensued: but the minister had +it all to himself. He said--"Will any brother speak; now is the +time; if you have anything to state utter it; lose no time, but say +on." Never a brother spoke; eye-squeezing and thumb-turning, and +deep introspection followed; and in the end the minister rose, took +his text from three or four parts of the Bible, and gave a lengthy +discourse, relieved at intervals with genuine outbursts of +eloquence, relative to Christian action and general duty. He seemed +to have a poor notion of many Christians, and somewhat fantastically +illustrated their position by saying that they were, spiritually +troubled with consumption and apparently with diabetes!--were +continually devouring good things, constantly wasting away, and +doing no particular good amongst it at all. We felt the force of +this; but we didn't ejaculate; quietness, except on very excited +occasions, being the rule here. His discourse lasted about 30 +minutes, and it was well and forcibly delivered. At the conclusion +two or three of the Brethren came out of their circle--they were all +round a table before the parson--and shook hands with us. + +We shortly afterwards retired, leaving our "musical" friend engaged +in a hot discussion with the parson as to the propriety of certain +observations he had made in his sermon. How the matter was fought +out we cannot tell. The Brethren assemble every Sunday morning and +evening in the building; sometimes they have a Bible class meeting +on a Sunday afternoon; and occasionally a week night service. They +are a calm, devout, forlorn-looking class; are distinctly sincere; +have strong liberal notions of Christianity; seem to love one +another considerably, and may at times greet each other with a holy +kiss; but they don't thrive much in Preston. In time they may become +a "great people," but at present their status is small. Ten +Christian Brethren up 14 steps may grow potent eventually; but they +may, figuratively speaking, fall down the steps in the meantime, and +so injure the cause as to defy the influence of theraputics. + +A few words now as to Brook-street Primitive Methodist Chapel, which +we visited the same day. This is a tiny building, and appears to +stand in a dangerous region. On one side all the windows are +continually shuttered, so as to prevent the mischievous action of +stones, and in front the door is railed in closely so as to +frustrate the efforts of those who might be inclined to kick it. The +chapel, which is also used for Sunday school purposes, was built in +1856. It is a very humble, plain-looking edifice externally; and +internally it is equally unassuming. You get to it collaterally, +through a pair of narrow doors, which bang about very much in stormy +weather. The roof is supported by two iron pillars, with which a +tall stove pipe keeps company. In the centre there are 16 pews, each +capable of holding three persons, and a large pew which will +accommodate six. Rows of small forms run down each side. Those on +the left are used by men and boys; those on the other side are +principally patronised by women and little children, some of whom +are too young to engage in anything but lactary pursuits. Green is a +favourite colour here. The inside of the pews are green; portions of +the walls are green; some of the windows are similarly coloured at +the base; the music stands in the orchestra are green; and there is +a fine semi-circular display of green at the back of the pulpit. At +the south-eastern corner there are sundry pieces of old timber piled +up; at the opposite side there is a cupboard; and over the entrance +numerous forms, colour poles, and a ladder are placed. These +constitute all the loose ornaments in the chapel. About 150 persons +can be accommodated in the place. When we visited it--the time was +rather unfavourable, owing to the roughness of the weather--sixty- +six persons, exclusive of the choir and the parson, were in it. + +The congregation is a very poor one, but it is singularly sincere +and orderly--is not refined but devout, is comparatively unlettered +but honest. There is neither silk, nor satin, nor diamond rings, nor +lavender kids, in the place; a hard working-day plainness, mingled +with poverty, pervades it; but there is no sham seen: if the people +are poor, commonly dressed, noisy--if they effervesce sometimes, and +shout "Hallelujah" with a fiery joyfulness, and pray right out, as +if they were being ship-wrecked or frightened to death, why let them +have their way, for they are happy amongst it. Their convictions are +strong, and when they are at it they go in for a good thing--for +something roughly exquisite, hilariously pious, and consumingly +good. They don't mince matters; are neither dainty nor given to +cant, but shout out what they feel at the moment whatever may become +of it afterwards. Sunday services, prayer meetings, and class +meetings are held in the chapel regularly. The pulpit is occupied by +various persons. + +The minister stationed at the place is the Rev. J. Hall--colleague +of the pastor at Saul-street Chapel--but he only takes his turn in +it. A strong-built man, plainly attired, earnest, and not so given +to flights of violent fancy as some preachers, had charge of the +pulpit during our visit. His style was homely, and in his easier +periods he had a knack of putting his left hand into his breeches +pocket, and talking in a semi-conversational Lancashire dialect +style. He dilated for thirty minutes upon the horn-blowing at +Jericho, the siege, the wall-falling, and the sin of Achan; and then +wound up by telling his hearers--drawing the moral from Achan's +fate--that if they did wrong they would be sure to be found out. The +sermon was quite equal to the bulk of homilies given in Primitive +Methodist Chapels, and it seemed to go right home to the +congregation. The plundering of Achan was well told, and when it was +announced that he was stoned with stones, and then burned, the +congregation sent up a mild, half-sighing groan, shaking their heads +a little, and apparently determining to do right as long as ever +they lived. + +The music at the chapel was strong, and, remembering the nature of +the place, satisfactory. Three men, three young women, and a boy +managed it. The women sometimes drowned the men; the boy often got +into a shrill mood; but the men finally reached the surface, the +women quietly subsided, the boy toned down his forces somewhat; and +on the whole the singing was well done. After the sermon there came +a prayer meeting. We determined to see it out, preserving that +quietude and respect which one ought always to evince towards those +believing in the great cardinal points of Christanity, however +peculiar may be, the modes of their expression. Only about twenty- +five, who assembled on the southern side of the chapel, joined the +prayer meeting. The proceedings were of a most enthusiastic, +virtuous, hot, and bewildering character. Singing, feet-beating, +praying, hand-clapping, and reciprocal shouting constituted the +programme. One elderly man went fairly wild during the business. He +shook his head, doubled his fists, threw his arms about, ejaculated +with terrible rapidity and force, and appeared to be entirely set on +fire by his feelings. A thorough craze--a wild, beating, +electrifying passion--got completely hold of him for a few minutes, +and he enjoyed the stormy pulsations of it exceedingly. At the end +somebody said, "Now, will some of the women pray?" Instantly a +little old man said, "God bless the women;" "Aye," said another, +while several gave vent to sympathetic sighs. But the women were not +to be drawn out in this style; none of them were in the humour for +praying; they didn't even return the benediction of the little old +man by saying "God bless the men;" they kept quiet, then got up, and +then all walked out; the last words we remember being from a woman, +who, addressing us, said, "Now, draw it mild!" + + + +ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. + + + +We have made no inquiry as to the original predecessors of those +attending this church. They may have been links in the chain of +those men who, ages ago, planted themselves on the coast of Malabar, +rejoicing in the name of "Christians of St. Thomas," and struggling +curiously with Nestorians, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits; +they may have constituted a remnant of the good people whom Cosmas +Indicopleustes saw in the East twelve hundred years since; they may +have only had a Preston connection, knowing nothing of the Apostle +of India--St. Thomas--beyond what anybody knows, and caring more for +his creed than his title. Whatever may have been their history and +fate, it is certain their successors believe in that most +apostolical of unbelievers just mentioned--so far, at least, as the +name is concerned. The church they respect is situated at the +northern end of Preston, near the junction of Moor-lane and +Lancaster-road. It is a small, strong, hard-looking building; seems +as if it would stand any amount of rain and never get wet through, +any quantity of heat and never have a sunstroke; it is stoical, +cold, firm, and very stony; has a bodkin-pointed spire, ornamented +with round holes and circular places into which penetration has not +yet been effected; and its "tout ensemble" is in no way edifying. It +is neither ornate nor colossal. Strength, plainness, and smallness, +with a strong dash of general rigidity, are its outward +characteristics. + +St. Thomas's is one of the local churches erected through the +exertions of the late Rev. R. Carus Wilson; and, like all those +churches, it is built in the Norman style of architecture--a +massive, severe style, which will never be popularly pleasing, but +will always secure endurance for the edifices constructed on its +principles. The first stone of this church was laid in August, 1837. +The building stands upon a hill, is surrounded by a powerful stone +wall, can be approached two ways, and has its front entrance +opposite a small street, which has not yet received any name at all. +To a stranger, ingress to the building is rather perplexing. A +gateway in Lancaster-road, leading to a footpath, fringed with +rockery, would appear to be the front way, but it is only a rear +road, and when you get fairly upon it you wonder where it will end-- +whether you will be able to get to the interior by it, or only to +some rails on one side and a wall on the other. It, however, +eventuates round a corner, at the main entrance. We recommend this +back way, for the legitimate front road is much more intricate and +harassing; you can only become acquainted with it, if +topographically unenlightened, and bashful as to making inquiries, +by hovering about an ancient windmill, moving up narrow hilly +streets, flanked by angular bye-paths, and then following either the +first woman you see with a prayer book in her hand, or the first man +you catch a sight of with a good coat on his back. The main entrance +is ornamental but diminutive in many respects. There are three +doorways here, the collateral ones, which are very low, and quite +calculated to prevent people from entering the building with their +hats on, being patronised the most--not because there is an +offertory box in the central passage, but because the side roads are +the handiest. During a second visit to the church we went in by the +middle door, the medium course, as the proverb hath it, being the +safest, and seeing the offertory box--a remarkably strong, iron- +cornered article, fastened to the wall--we remarked to an official, +in his shirt sleeves, who was with us, "This will stand a deal of +money before falling." The official replied "It will so," and the +look, he gave us superinduced the conclusion that the offertory box +was not going to fall for some time. + +We have seen no more deceptive-looking church than that we are now +at. Viewed externally, you would say that scarcely a good handful of +people could be accommodated in it; it seems so narrow, so entirely +made up of and filled in with stone, that one infers at first sight +it will hardly hold the parson and the sacrament-loving "old woman" +who invariably exists as a permanent arrangement at all our places +of worship; but this is a fallacy, for the building will accommodate +about 1,100 people. The interior consists of a nave, two aisles, and +a chancel. Everything in the building seems strong, clean, and good; +and considering the ponderous character of its architecture a fair +share of light is admitted to it. At the entrance, there is a glass +screen, ornamentally got up and surmounted with a small lion and +unicorn design. Just within this screen there is a curtained pew, +and sitting within its enclosure must be a very snug and select +thing. It is occupied by Mr. Hermon, M.P., and when he draws the +curtains all round--"he sometimes does," said the official +accompanying us--no one can see a morsel of him whilst he can see +never a one in the building, not even the parson, without a special +effort. The nave is broad and quadrangular, is supported by +immensely strong pillars, and has a fine high roof, looking clean +and spacious, but considerably spoiled by several commonplace +awkwardly fashioned beams. The roof of each aisle is similarily +marred. The seats are disposed in six parallel ranges, and the +generality are quite good enough for anybody. Along each side there +is a row of free seats--about 50 altogether--capable of +accommodating upwards of 300 persons. There are also many free seats +in the gallery. + +The present incumbent has an idea that he has made some addition to +this accomodation; but people who have known the church ever since +it was built say that the extra "free pews" appropriated for the +poor by him were never charged for. At the end of each aisle there +is a neat stained glass window; that to the right bearing this +inscription--"To the memory of W. P. Jones, M.A., ob. January 29, +1864, aged 77 years," and that on the left these words "To the +memory of Mrs. Fanny Jones, ob. January 27, 1864, aged 75 years." +Mr. Jones was a former incumbent of St. Thomas's. He was a quiet, +mild-minded man, devoid of bombast, neither cynical nor meddlesome, +and was well liked by all. His wife died just two days before him, +and both were interred in one grave in St. Peter's church yard. The +pulpit and reading desk at St. Thomas's are good-looking and +substantial, but both are rather bad to get into and out of--the +steps are narrow and angular, with a sudden descent, which might +cause a stranger to miss his footing and fall, if he had not firm +hold of the side rail. Right above, perhaps 20 feet high, and +surmounting the chancel arch, there is a small ornamental +projection, like a balcony. It would make a capital stand for the +minister; or might be turned into a conspicuous place of Sunday +resort for the wardens; but, then, they would have to be hoisted to +it, for there is no road up, and that would not be seemly. Formerly, +we believe, this balcony was used by the singers, but they were +subsequently transplanted to the western gallery. The passage to the +balcony front is now shut off. A considerable effort at +ornamentation has been made on the walls flanking the balcony +described. But we don't care much for it. Little pillars, quaint +window models, and other architectural devices, are heaped upon each +other in curious profusion, and it is difficult to get at their real +meaning. They relieve the walls a little, but they do the work +whimsically, and you can neither get a smile nor a tear from them. +The chancel arch is strong and ornamental; within it there is +another arch, the intervening roof being neatly groined and +coloured; and beyond there is the chancel--a small, somewhat +cimmerian, yet pretty-looking place. There are five windows in it; +three having sacred figures painted upon them, and the remaining two +being filled in with fancy designs, which don't look over well, +owing to the decay of the colours. + +The congregation is tolerably numerous, has in it the high, the +fair-middling, and the humble--the good-looking, the well-dressed, +the rubicund, the mildly mahogany-featured, the simply-dressed, the +attenuated, and the indigent. But there is a clear halo of +respectability about the place; superior habiliments are distinctly +in the ascendant; and orderly behaviour reigns throughout each +section of worshippers. The free seats are very fairly patronised, +and sometimes very oddly. In one part of them we saw nine persons +all near each other, and out of that number five wore spectacles, +whilst three could only see with one eye. At the western end of the +church there is a beautiful circular window, but it has not met with +very good treatment. It has been broken in one part, and every +morsel of it is covered up from general view by the organ occupying +the gallery. Only the organ blower can see it properly, and having +the whole of it to himself, it is to be expected he will derive some +consolation from his special position. If he doesn't, then he +neither gets up the wind nor looks through the window properly. The +organ is a good one, and it is played with average ability, but it +is too big for the place it occupies, and entirely swamps what was +once considered a fine gallery. The singers are rather afraid of +giving vent to their feelings. They discourse the music tastefully, +but they are too quiet, and don't get into a temper, as they ought +to do occasionally, over it. Prior to the advent of the present +incumbent, the choir, considering its numbers, was, perhaps, as good +as any in the town or neighbourhood; but one Sunday morning the +gentleman referred to, having apparently been fiercely stung by a +Ritualistic wasp, blew the trumpet of his indignation very strongly- +-got into a whirlwind of denunciation all at once and without the +aid of a text, regarding Ritualism; and the organist and singers, +whose musical services embraced chants, &c., fancying that the rev. +gentleman was either tired of their presence or performances, many +of which were voluntary, sent in their resignations. Since then the +music has not been very brilliant. + +There are religious services every Sunday morning and evening at St. +Thomas's, and on Thursday night a small gathering of the faithful +takes place in the building. The trustees of the church are--Miss +Margaret Ann Beckles, St. Leonard's; Samuel Husband Beckles, Esq., +of the Middle Temple; the Rev. Edward Auriol, St. Dunstans; the Rev. +Charles F. Close, St. Ann's, Blackfriars; the Rev. W. Cadman, +Marylebone; and Sir Hugh Hill. The Rev. L. W. Jeffrey was the first +incumbent of the church; then came the Rev. W. P. Jones, who died, +as before stated, in 1884; afterwards the Rev. J. T. Becher was +appointed to the incumbency, but he died from typhus fever in five +weeks and was succeeded by the Rev. J. P. Shepperd who still holds +the post and receives from it about 400 pounds a year. + +Mr. Shepperd is a man of middle age, and looks after his sheep +fairly, but at times eccentrically. He has a polished, tasteful, +clerical contour; attends well to his hair, whiskers, and linen; +wears a hat half bishoply and half archidiaconal in its brim; is a +good scholar, a clear reasoner, an able-preacher, but repeats +himself often, and gets long-winded on Sunday nights; is highly +enamelled, touchy, and imperial; is lofty in tone, cream laid and +double thick in manner; is full of metal, and there is a stately +mystery about him, as if he were a blood relation of the Great +Mokanna; he is nearly infallible, and would make a good Pope; he is +strongly combative, and would be a vigorous bruiser in stormy +ecclesiastical circles. We fancy no parson in Preston has had more +officials than Mr. Shepperd. In less than half a dozen years there +have been at the place many organists, singers, curates, scripture +readers, and eight or nine churchwardens. Either they have been very +uneasy people or he has been uniquely antagonistic. Mr. Shepperd +resides at a good parsonage some distance north of the church, and +he has a pretty garden adjoining, the walls thereof having been +built at the expense of Mr. Hermon, who has been a capital friend to +the church. In the garden there is a quantity of handsome rockery, +purchased by the late Mr. James Carr (who was at one time a warden), +out of the church funds. This rockery was originally placed in the +church yard, along with that still remaining there; but it was +thought by somebody that the yard didn't require so much ornamental +stone, so a quantity of it was removed to the place mentioned. If +Mr. Shepperd has it set in a circle he may play the Druid amongst +it, reserving the biggest block for a cromlech and the smoothest for +a seat; if it is concentrated in one mass he may stand upon it, defy +all the ex-churchwardens, and quoting Scott, cry out, "Come one, +come all, this rock shall fly" &c. Originally, St. Thomas's cost a +considerable amount of money, and in consequence of improvements +subsequently made, there is still, it is said, a pretty round sum +due to the late wardens and the contractors, and they, are much in +the dark as to when they will get it. The parson can't see the force +of paying it himself, the officers of the church make no move in the +matter, the congregation is apathetic on the subject, the beadle +keeps quiet, and does his central church walk calmly, never thinking +of it. But, if owing, somebody should settle the bill, and the +sooner it is liquidated, the more respectable will the affairs of +the church become. Bother without end has prevailed at St. Thomas's +about money, and until people get their own, and see regular annual +statements of accounts--things which seem to be scarce in these +times--they will continue to be uneasy and, probably, noisy. + +Associated with the church are superior schools--one for infants, in +the unchristened street near the church, and two others for boys and +girls, in Lancaster-road. The average day attendance is--boys, 250; +girls, 220; infants, 240. The average attendance on the Sunday is-- +boys, 250; girls, 320. The day schools are in a good state of +efficiency, and are of great service to the district. They are well +managed, and with respect to some of their departments Government +reports speak most encouragingly. Worn old grievances with ex- +churchwardens are duly squared, when a greater amount of what is +called "fixity of tenure" exists in respect to the officials, and +when Mr. Sheppard drops his little dogma as to personal immaculacy, +and allows other people a trifle more freedom, his flock will be +fatter, woollier, and quieter than ever they have been since he +came. + + + +CROFT-STREET WESLEYANS AND PARKER-STREET UNITED METHODISTS. + + + +In 1827, a little school was opened in a building at the corner of +Gildow-street, abutting upon Marsh-lane, in this town. It was +established in the Wesleyan Methodist interest, and one of its chief +supporters was Mr. T. C. Hincksman, a gentleman still living, who +has for a long period been a warm friend of the general cause of +Methodism. Although begun tentatively, the school soon progressed; +in time there was a good attendance at it; ultimately it was +considered too small; and the result was a removal to more +convenient premises--to a room connected with the mill of the late +Mr. John Furness, in Markland-street: But the little old building +did not change so much in its character after being deserted by the +Wesleyan scholars; it was still retained for juvenile purposes-- +still kept open for the edification, if not improvement, of +youngsters. Old-fashioned sweets were sold in it, and the place was +long known as "Granny Bird's toffy shop." At the mill in Markland- +street, which used to be called "Noggy Tow," the school was very +prosperous; but the accomodation here at length became defective, +and in 1832 the scholars retraced their steps to Gildow-street,--not +to the small toffy establishment, where sucklings, if not babes, +were cared for, but to a building at the opposite end of the +thoroughfare erected specially for them. In 1840 they withdrew from +this edifice and went to a new school made in Croft-street, the +foundation stone of which was laid by the Rev. John Bedford, a well- +known Wesleyan minister, who at that time was stationed in Preston. +In 1858 two wings for class and other purposes, principally promoted +by the late Mr. T. Meek, costing 700 pounds, and opened clear of +debt, were attached to the school, and twelve months ago--scholastic +business still proceeding--the central portion of it was set apart +for regular religious services on the Sabbath. + +The building is large, good-looking, and well-proportioned. There is +nothing of an ecclesiastical complexion about either its external or +internal architecture. Substantially it is a school, utilised twice +every Sunday for devotional purposes. The floor of it is well cared +for, and ought to enjoy much fresh air, for there are 18 +ventilators, grate shaped, in front of it. When that which formed +the nucleus of the school was started, the neighbourhood was open; +there was a suburban look about the locality; but entire rows of new +dwellings now surround the school; the part in which it stands is +densely populated; all grades of men, women, and children inhabit +it; "civilisation"--rags, impudence, dirt, and sharpness, for they +mean civilisation--has long prevailed in the immediate +neighbourhood; a fine new brewery almost shakes hands with the +building on one side; the "Sailor's Home" beershop stands sentry two +doors off on the other. What more could you desire? A large +industrious population, lots of crying, stone-throwing children, a +good-looking brewery, a busy beershop, a school, and a chapel, all +closely mixed up, are surely sufficient for the most ardent lover of +variety and "progress." The room wherein the Wesleyans associated +with Croft-street school meet for religious duties is square, heavy- +looking, dull, and hazy in its atmosphere. It is ventilated by +curious pieces of iron which work curvilinearly up huge apertures +covered with glass; its walls are ornamented with maps, painted +texts, natural history pictures, &c.; and at the eastern side there +is a small orthodox article for pulpit purposes. There are several +ways into the room--by the back way if you climb walls, by the +direct front if you ascend steps, by the sides of the front if you +move through rooms, pass round doorways, and glide past glass +screens. + +We took the last route, and sat down near a young gentleman with a +strong bass voice. In a corner near there was a roseate-featured, +elderly man, who enjoyed the service at intervals and slept out what +he could not fathom. Close to him was a youth who did the very same +thing; and in front there were three females who followed the like +example. The service was plain, simple, sincere, and quite +Methodistical; it was earnestly participated in by a numerous +congregation; the responses were quiet and somewhat internal; an +easy respectable seriousness prevailed; nothing approaching either +cant or wild-fire was manifested. Working-class people preponderated +in the place, as they always do; the singing was clear, and plain, +odd lines coming in for a share of melodious quavering; and the +sermon was well got-up and eloquent. The Rev. C. F. Hame, who has +recently come to Preston in the place of the Rev. W. H. Tindall +(Lune-street Circuit), was the preacher on this occasion. He is a +little gentleman, with considerable penetration and power; has a +good theological faculty; is cool, genial, and lucid in language; +and, although he can shout a little when very warm, he never loses +either the thread of his argument or his personal equilibrium. There +are 120 members at this place of worship; the average attendance at +the different services is 250; and the number is gradually +increasing. + +Regular ministers and local preachers fill the pulpit in turns; +there being, as a rule, one of the former at either the morning or +evening service every Sunday. Sometimes both kinds may be present +and ready for action at the same moment; but they never quarrel as +to which shall preach--never get "up a tree," figuratively speaking, +and everything is arranged quietly. The school, wherein the services +we have referred to are held, has been one of the most useful in +Preston; more scholars have probably passed through it than through +any other similar place in the town; old scholars--men and women +now--who received their religious education here, are in all parts, +and there is not a quarter of the globe where some may not be found +who have a pleasant recollection of the school. Its average day +attendance is 240; its average Sunday morning attendance 275; whilst +on a Sunday afternoon the regular number is 425. The school, which +is conveniently arranged and well fit up with every sort of ordinary +educational contrivance, is in a satisfactory state, and, in +conjunction with the "chapel," which it makes provision for, is +doing an excellent work in the district, which is open to all +comers, and will stand much drilling and spiritual flogging ere it +reaches perfection. + +"Over the hills and far away"--up the brow of Maudlands, down new +streets on the other side, under the canal, up another brow, through +narrow, angular roads, flanked with factories, by the edge of a wild +piece of land supplying accomodation for ancient horses, brick- +makers, pitch and toss youths, and pigeon flyers, and then turning +suddenly at a mysterious corner in the direction of mill gates you +reach Parker-street United Methodist Free Church. Externally this +church is a very simple, prosaic building. Viewed from the front it +looks like the second storey bedroom of a cottage; eyed from the +side it seems like a long office, four yards from the ground, with a +pair of round-headed folding doors below, and at the extreme end a +narrow aperture, which apparently leads round the corner. It was +built 12 or 13 years ago, for a school, by Messrs. J. and J. Haslam, +near whose mill it is situated, and it is still used for educational +purposes. During the latter end of 1858 and the beginning of 1859 +there was a dispute amongst the United Free Church brethren +assembling in Orchard Chapel. Both men and women entered into the +disturbance freely; but they did not follow the plan lately adopted +by some United Methodist Christians, living at Batley, who, having a +grievance at their chapel, "fought it out" in the back yard; what +they did, after many a lively church meeting, was to appeal to the +authorities of the denomination, state their case quietly, and abide +the decision of their superiors. That decision sanctioned a +separation and the establishment in Preston of a second United +Methodist circuit, totally independent of the Orchard-street people, +but responsible to the general executive for its actions. Those +forming the new circuit in Preston--about twenty "members"--had not, +however, a chapel, so Messrs. Haslam, who sympathised with the +movement, permitted them to meet in the school they had built in +Parker-street. The course pursued by the secessionists was approved +of by some United Methodists at Cuerden Green, where the Orchard +brethren had a small chapel, and they left the parent body when the +separation already mentioned took place. There was a fair amount of +goodly squabbling about the Cuerden Green Chapel. Each side wanted +it. For a time the secessionists held it; then the owner of the +building died; and, after various movements, the Orchard brethren +"went in and won," and they have retained possession of the premises +ever since. The second circuit includes no country place except +Brindle, where the denomination has a good chapel. + +The "full members" of the circuit number about 90, and 75 of them +are in Preston. There are 25 "on trial" at the present moment, but +as we cannot tell how they will pass through the alembic, it would +be out of place to make any absolute statement as to their fate. The +circuit is increasing in strength; its finances, notwithstanding bad +times, are in a very fair state; a good feeling exists between the +members of both circuits; they have become peaceable and +pachydermatous, thin-skinnedness being considered an evil; and +altogether affairs are satisfactory. The system under which +ministers are appointed to Parker-street chapel is the same as that +prevailing amongst the general body, and as we described at in a +previous article no allusion need now be made to it. The first +parson at the chapel in Parker-street was the Rev. Robert +Eltringham; since then the following have been at it--the Revs. J. +Nettleton, J. Shaw, J. Mara (who is now a missionary in China for +the United Methodist body), W. Lucas, C. Evans, J. W. Chisholm, and +the Rev. T. Lee. The names show that there has been a new parson at +the chapel almost every year. The present pastor (Rev. T. Lee) only +came in August last; his predecessor (Mr. Chisholm), who is a sharp, +shrewd, liberal-minded gentleman, having been removed to Manchester. + +Not long ago, after struggling through many far-away streets, we +found ourselves at the corner of a little opening at the top of +Parker-street. "This is the place," said a friend who was with us. +We knew it was, for several yards before reaching the building, the +torrents of a strong voice came impetuously through an open window, +and the burthen of its strains had reference to a revival of "our +connexion." Such a noise as this we thought ought to have aroused +the whole neighbourhood; but we could see nobody about except a +woman right opposite, who was engaged in the serious business of +front step washing, and who seemed to take no notice whatever of the +strong utterances coming through the window. She washed on, and the +good man above prayed on. It was rather difficult to find the way to +the chapel. It could not, we fancied, be by the front door of a shop +which we saw beneath; it could not, we were certain, be through a +window above, for whilst there was a pulley roller in front of it +there was neither rope nor block visible for regular lifting +purposes; neither, we thought, could it be through a large double- +door at the side, for that was bolted, and seemed to have been made +for something taller and broader than the human form. After +sauntering about, the grand rush of words through the window still +continuing, in the interests of "our connexion," we moved towards a +corner at the far end of the side opening, passed up twelve narrow +steps, rushed past a charity box, seventeen hats and caps, and a +small umbrella stand, and then sat down. + +We were surprised at the cleanness and neatness of the building, and +at the large number of people within it. Rumour had conveyed to us a +notion that about three persons visited this chapel; but we found +between 100 and 200--all well-dressed, orderly, and pleasant--in +attendance. We also noticed a policeman amongst the company. He was +present, not to keep the peace, but to get some good, for Heaven +knows that policemen need much of the article, and that they have +very little Sunday time to find it in. The policeman behaved himself +very well during the whole service. The building will accommodate +about 200 persons, and the average attendance at the Sunday services +is 120. Three or four middle-class persons, several good-looking +young women, a number of men, including the policeman; a wedding +party, and a numerous gathering of children, made up the +congregation we saw. The service was simple and heartily joined in; +the singing, supported by a small harmonium, went off well; and the +minister preached a fair sermon. But he is far too excitable to last +out long. The speed he goes at would kill a man directly if he were +made of cast-iron. + +Mr. Lee, the preacher, is a ten times breezier man than his +vivacious namesake at the Parish Church; he is small like him, dark- +complexioned like him, wears spectacles like him; but he travels at +the rate of 1000 miles an hour, and his namesake has never yet got +beyond 500. The gentleman under review is a pre-eminently earnest +man. We never saw any minister throw himself, head, arms, shoes, and +shirt, so intensely into the business of praying and preaching as +he. Nothing seems to impede his progress. He rushes into space with +terrible vehemence; prays until the veins on his forehead swell and +throb as if they would burst; and when he sits down he pants as if +he had been running himself to death in a dream, whilst sweat pours +off him as if he had been trying to burn up the sun at the equator. +In his preaching he is equally intense and earnest. He puts on the +steam at once, drives forward at limited mail speed; stops +instantly; then rushes onto the next station--steam up instantly; +stops again in a moment without whistling; is at full speed +forthwith, everybody holding on to their seats whilst the regulator +is open; and in this way he continues, getting safely to the end at +last, but driving at such a frightfully rapid speed that travellers +wonder how it is everything has not been smashed to atoms in +readiness for coroners, and juries, and newspaper reporters. As to +his sincerity there cannot be a question. He is not profound, but is +very honest; he has nothing strongly ratiocinative in him, but he +has for ever of earnestness in his composition--indeed he burns +himself up in a great blaze of zeal and blows himself to pieces in a +self-generated whirlwind. If he were quieter he would be more +persuasive; and if he expended less of his vital energy in trying to +brew forty storms in one tea pot he would live longer. "Easy does +it" is a phrase plucked from the plebeian lexicon of life, which we +recommend for his consideration. If he doesn't attend to it we shall +have a case of spontaneous combustion to record; and we want to +avoid that if possible. There is not a more sincere man, not a man +more anxious to do good in Preston than Mr. Lee, only he piles Ossa +upon Olympus too stiffly, and that was a job which the gods couldn't +manage properly. + +The building where the Parker-street brethren meet is used for +school purposes regularly--barring the periods when worship is being +conducted in it. On week days about 100 scholars attend it; and on +Sundays about 150. The school and the chapel have done much good in +the locality, and we wish both prosperity. Whatever maybe the +character of the building, and however difficult it may be for +strangers to get to it, those living in the neighbourhood know its +whereabouts, many having derived improvement from it, and if more +went to it, pigeon-flying, gambling, Sunday rat hunting, tossing, +drinking, and paganism generally--things which have long flourished +in its locality--would be nearer a finish. + + + +GRIMSHAW-STREET INDEPENDENT CHAPEL + + + +Long before two-thirds of the people now living were born there was +a rather curious difficulty at the Unitarian Chapel in this town. In +1807, the Rev. W. Manning Walker, who at that time had been minister +of the chapel for five years, changed his mind, became "more +evangelical," could not agree with the doctrines he had previously +preached, got into water somewhat warm with the members, and left +the place. He took with him a few sympathisers, and through their +instrumentality a new chapel was built for him in Grimshaw-street, +and opened on the 12th of April, 1808. It was a small edifice, would +accommodate about 850 persons, and was the original ancestor of the +Independent Chapel in that street. In 1817 the building was enlarged +so as to accommodate between 500 and 600, and Mr. Walker laboured +regularly at it till 1822, when declining health necessitated his +retirement. The Rev. Thomas Mc.Connell, a gentleman with a smart +polemical tongue, succeeded him. Mr. Mc.Connell drew large +congregations, and for a time was a burning and a shining light; but +in 1825 be withdrew; became an infidel or something of the sort, and +subsequently gave lectures on theological subjects, much to the +regret of his friends and the horror of the orthodox. + +On the 23rd of July, 1826, the Rev. R. Slate began duty as regular +minister of the chapel, and remained at his post until April 7th, +1861, when through old age and growing infirmity he resigned. Mr. +Slate was a tiny, careful, smoothly-earnest man, consistent and +faithful as a minister, made more for quiet sincere work than +dashing labour or dazzling performance; fond of the Puritan divines, +a believer in old manuscripts, disposed to tell his audiences every +time he got upon a platform how long he had been in the ministry, +but in the aggregate well and deservedly respected. No clergyman in +Preston has ever stayed so long at one place as Mr. Slate; and +Grimshaw-street Chapel since it lost him has many a time had a +"slate off" in more respects than one. + +After Mr. Slate retired from his post at Grimshaw-street Chapel, the +Rev. J. Briggs, a young and vociferous gentleman, fresh from +college, given to Sunday evening lecturing, Corn Exchange +serenading, virtuous speech-making, and other--we were going to say +evils--labours of love, appeared upon the stage. Soon after he +arrived a new black gown was presented to him, and if one of the +local papers which recorded the event at the time tells the truth, +he had it donned in the vestry, after which there was a procession +round the church, Mr. Briggs leading the way, whilst the deacons, +including some mythological "Mr. Clinkscales"--that was the name +given--and others brought up the rear. If the town's beadle and +mace-bearer had been present, the procession would have been +complete. In October, 1866, Mr. Briggs retired, with the gown, and +he has since, like Brother Clapham, formerly minister of Lancaster- +road Independent Chapel--"par nobile fratrum"--gone over to "mother +church." + +On the 20th of January, 1867, the Rev. Evan Lewis became minister of +Grimshaw-street Chapel, but after staying about a year and a half, +he, on account of ill health, resigned, went south, and died there. +Mr. Lewis was a cautious, cultured person, had very many letters, +which were always coming in a row to the surface, after his name, +was a man of ripe and polished intellect, was clever in brain work, +had good strategic skill, could manage an ill-natured church meeting +well, and would have been a power in his own denomination and in the +town if he had been physically stronger. He was an invalided +intellectualist, well up in everything, but defective in stamina, +muscle force, and lung strength. For about nine months after the +retirement of Mr. Lewis no fixed minister occupied the pulpit. +Sunday "supplies" were tried in the meantime; finally the Rev. G. F. +Newman was selected, and about two months ago he commenced his +ministerial labours. + +The building as enlarged in 1817 remained without molestation for +years; but in 1850 it was thought that a better place was needed; in +1856 it was decided to have a better place; soon afterwards the old +edifice was pulled down; and in 1859 the Congregational Chapel we +now see was opened. It stands upon the original site, but is +extended nearer the street than its predecessor. There used to be a +considerable portion of the graveyard in front, but owing to the +enlarged character of the new chapel it was mainly covered over-- +built upon; and only a remnant of the old burial ground can now be +seen in this quarter. Two small upright tombstones, immediately +adjoining the chapel, and a few flat slabs on the ground below, are +the only sepulchural indications remaining here. On the southern +side of the building there is a dull and dreary square piece of +ground, railed round, which constituted a portion of the old burial- +yard, and which now contains a few forsaken-looking tombstones. The +new church cost between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds, and it is not +entirely finished yet. At the front it has a one-sided irregular +look; and this is owing to the non-completion of a collateral spire. +In the original design the facade consists of a central elevation +with two flanking towers and spires; but one of the towers, whilst +being constructed, gave way, got seriously out of the perpendicular, +and it was decided to pull it down rather than allow the stone-work +to fall of its own accord. New foundations, ten feet deep, had to be +sunk into the old front burial ground for it, and during the +excavations 33 coffins were taken up and conveyed to a more +peaceable place of sepulture. They literally couldn't stand the +pressure of the tower, and for their sake; as well as the safety of +the building, a change was necessary. Afterwards the tower was +raised to its former elevation, but it is still without a spire. The +re-erection of the tower coat 380 pounds, which was raised by a +weekly offertory. + +The chapel, barring the incomplete masonry mentioned, is a well +made, neat-looking building. In front there is a large four-light +window, which had to be taken right out when the tower was being re- +made; on each side there is a long and very narrow window, more for +ornament than use; and below there are two small triangular +apertures of a similar character. Strong rails, intended to prevent +people from approaching the building too closely on week-days, +surround the chapel. There are three arched doorways immediately +adjoining one another at the front, and on a Sunday you are at +perfect liberty to use any of them--to try all of them if so +disposed--and pass through that which appears most agreeable. The +chapel has a large and remarkably clean interior. It is well lighted +with numerous windows bordered with coloured glass, and has a fine +arched roof, supported by four principals, and filled-in centrally +with elaborate designs. Around the building there is a large +octagonal gallery; and whilst all the seats in it run up to a pretty +fair height, those at the western end approach quite an aerial +altitude. It is almost a question of being "up in a balloon, boys," +when you are perched in the loftiest of them. + +All the pews are plain, strong, and without doors. The central ones +on the ground-floor are very uniform in design; those at the sides +are, of various shapes, and are whimsically disposed--seem to be up +and down, straight, diagonal, and semi-circular. The first pew on +the right side was occupied, when we last saw it, with three +brushes, an elderly shovel, and two gas-meters, one of them being a +very full-grown fatherly affair--a sort of deacon amongst ordinary +meters, and looking very authoritatively upon its smaller colleague +and the brushes. The pulpit, at the eastern end of the chapel, is +neatly made, but when the parson sits in it you can't see him from +the front. When we went the other Sunday evening, we could see no +one in it; but after a hymn had been sung, a spring seemed to be +touched, and up jumped the parson, who had been reclining on his +dorsal vertebra for eight minutes at the rear. The pulpit formerly +stood about a foot-and-a-half higher than it does now; Mr. Slate, +who was a little man, would have it a good height; but a hole was +afterwards made in the platform supporting the pulpit, and it was +dropped through it to the level of the ordinary floor, where it now +stands. Six chairs, in Gothic design, with cushions of rich velvet, +are placed upon the platform near the pulpit; in the centre there is +a more patriarchal-looking seat--a sort of pastoral throne; and in +the front of the whole there is a strong table. The deacons and the +minister sit here periodically, feeling grand and furzy all over, +weighing up the universe on special occasions, but endeavouring +always to discharge their executive duties with due propriety and +gravity. We have seen them once or twice on this platform--on those +silk velvet-bottomed chairs, resting upon Brussels carpet--and they +looked majestic. One old gentleman we know, who used to be a deacon +here, never would sit in any of these chairs. He seemed to have +either a dread of the eighteen-inch elevation they conferred, or a +fear that the platform would give way, or a dislike of the +conspicuousness caused by it, and on all occasions when his official +brethren took possession of the chairs, he sat upon an open bench +adjoining. + +An ancient-looking organ, of Gothic pattern, and formerly used in a +Blackburn chapel, is placed within an archway in the eastern +gallery. It is a moderately fair instrument, and is decently played, +but it is not good enough for the place, and it is quite time to +sell it to some other chapel, and get a better. The choir contains +about the usual complement of smiling young men and maidens, with a +central gentleman "bearded like the pard," who sits in state in an +elaborately backed chair, and conducts the proceedings with +legitimate authority. The singing of the choir is pretty exact and +melodious; but it is too weak--needs more harmonic energy and +general strength. The congregation do their duty mildly in the +singing portion of the proceedings, and at times, when some good old +tune is started, they rush to the rescue with much dexterity and +thoracic power. There are about 200 "members of the Church" at this +place of worship, and several young people are now, we believe +"ready for admission." The average congregation will be about 300-- +not a large number considering the size of the building; but then, +through ministerial changes, &c., the place has had much to contend +with, and it has not had a chance for some time of getting into +proper working order. Peacefulness prevails now at the chapel. + +Prior to the advent of the late Mr. Lewis, there were many storms at +the place. The parson never got to literal fighting with any of the +members; the members never threatened to hit him; but one or more of +them have been heard to say that they would put him "behind the +fire" in the vestry, and he in turn has been heard to remark that he +would return the compliment. But all this sort of Christian courtesy +has disappeared--let us hope forever; and the members now nestle in +their seats lovingly, casting calm glances at each other betimes, +and attending duly to the parson, who eyes them placidly, and +encourages their affection. If they had to nestle upon each other's +bosoms during the intervals--properly, and without falling asleep +over the job--he would not grow sullen and angry. On Sundays, there +are a couple of services--morning, and evening--at the chapel; and +every Wednesday evening there is a prayer meeting, but it is not a +very savage gathering; men and women seldom lash themselves into a +foam at it; and nothing is uttered during its proceedings out of the +ordinary run of Queen's English. + +The Rev. G. F. Newman, a south of England gentleman, who, during the +past seven or eight years, through delicate health, has spent much +of his time in France, is the minister. He has an income independent +of his clerical stipend. From Grimshaw-street Chapel he gets about 3 +pounds per week. It is derived from pew rents, which range from 1s. +to 2s. 11d. per seat per quarter, so that its increase will depend +upon the manner he fills the place. Mr. Newman is about 34 years of +age, is of middle stature, has nothing physically ponderous or +irrelevant about him; is a dark complexioned, moderately-sized +person, of gentlemanly taste, deportment, and expression; knows +manners--"they order this matter better in France," as Sterne would +say; his commingling with our lively neighbours has evidently given +him the direct cue to them; has a temperament of the nervous-bilious +order; is more perceptive than reflective; but has a calm, clear +intellect notwithstanding; is rather fond of the sublime, and likes +a strong dash of the beautiful; believes in good music, and +understands notes a little himself; is an excellent reader--one of +the best we have heard; is an average preacher; has nothing flashy +or terrific in his style, but goes on quietly, tastefully, and with +precision; cares more for short than long sermons; repeats himself +rather often; likes to give his own experience during illustrations; +talks much of France, and never forgets to let his hearers know that +he has been there; takes long, careful pauses in his sermons, as if +he were elaborating his conceptions, or selecting the exact words in +which to convey them most definitely; has a special regard for the +gas pendant on the left side of the pulpit, which he handles +affectionately as a rest; dislikes being interrupted when either +reading, or praying, or preaching; can't stand coughing; doesn't +like a Preston cough--it has a half-harsh half-oily sound, which he +could detect if in London or Paris; believes more in faith than good +works, but respects both; is scrupulous as to punctuality, and is +almost inclined to emulate the incumbent of Christ Church, who once +threatened to lock the doors of that building at a certain time +after business commenced, if all were not in their places; +particularly objects to a lady coming late, because, as a rule, she +makes a great noise with her dress on entering a place of worship, +and, in addition, induces all the other ladies present to turn +round, or look on one side, for the purpose of seeing what she is +wearing; is more of a conversationalist than a speaker; likes chit- +chat; would be at home in a conversazione or al fresco tea party, +where the attendants walk about, gossip merrily, and, whilst holding +a tea cup in one hand, poise with two fingers a piece of delicately- +buttered toast in the other--a continental style quite aesthetic and +refined in comparison with our feeding, and gormandising, and +sweating exhibitions. Mr. Newman promises to be a good minister. His +commencement has been, satisfactory, and his prospects are +encouraging. He is a bachelor, and seems mildly happy; but his bliss +might be consummated--let no lady prick her ears too highly, for Mr. +Newman has cautiousness largely developed--if he would study and +practically carry out that notion expressed at a meeting over which +he recently presided; the lecturer on that occasion saying that +"marriage is essential to the true happiness of man." + +The young men at Grimshaw-street are pretty intelligent and +controversial. They have a mutual improvement class, which is one of +the best of its kind in the town, and they discuss the laws of +life,--mental, physical, political, and spiritual--like embryonic +philosophers bent upon rectifying all creation. Their class is +prosperous, and is calculated, if correctly managed, to be of much +importance to those visiting it. All such classes ought to +encouraged, and we hope the Grimshaw-street essayists will go on +rectifying creation--never forgetting themselves at the same time. +For a long period there has been a Sunday school in connection with +the chapel. Several years, in the earlier stages of the +denomination's career, the scholars were taught in the vestry and in +pews at the chapel; but in 1836 a school was erected for them upon a +plot of land adjoining, and in 1846 it was enlarged to its present +size. The average Sunday attendance is about 300. In January, 1868 a +day school for boys, girls, and infants was opened in the same +building, under the conductorship of Mr. J. Greenhalgh. So far it +has been very successful. Its average attendance is about 190. +Government reports speak very hopefully of the place; more prizes +have been awarded to it by the Science and Art Department, South +Kensington, than to any other school in the town; and its present +status indicates a prosperous future. An unsectarian night school is +also held in the building, and its average attendance is about 120. +In addition there is a band of hope society at the place, and it is +better attended than any other similar association in Preston. All +that Grimshaw-street Chapel wants is a fuller congregation. That +would develope every department of it; and energy, combined with +continuity of service, would secure this. Mr. Newman who understands +French, must adopt as his motto, and have it embossed on the buttons +of his own and his deacons' coats, and on the backs of the seven +chairs they use in the chapel, the words "Boutez en avant." + + + +ST. PAUL'S CHURCH. + + + +There are nearly 13,000 people in the "district" of this church. +What a difference time makes! At the beginning of the present +century the greater portion of the district was made up of fields; +whilst lanes, with hedges set each side, constituted what are now +some of its busiest streets. Volunteers and militiamen used to meet +for drill on a large piece of land in the very heart of the +locality; troops of charwomen formerly washed their clothes in water +pits hard by, and dried them on the green-sward adjoining; and +everything about wore a rural and primitive aspect. St. Paul's +Church is situated on a portion of land which, 50 years ago, was +fringed with trees and called "The Park;" and this accounts for the +name still given by many to the sacred edifice--namely "Park +Church." The sisters of the late J. Bairstow, Esq., kept a school at +one time on, or contiguous to, this park. A road, starting opposite +the Holy Lamb, in Church-street, and ending near the top of High- +street, formerly passed through "The Park." Years ago a ducking or +cucking stool was placed at the northern side of it, adjoining a +pit, and at the edge of the thoroughfare known as Meadow street. +This ducking stool was intended for the special benefit of vixens +and scolding wives. It consisted of a strong plank, at the end of +which was a chair, the centre working upon a pivot, and, after the +person to be punished had been duly secured, she was ducked into the +water. If this system were now in force, it would often be +patronised, for there are many lively termagants in the land, and +lots in Preston. + +The first stone of St. Paul's Church was laid on Tuesday, 21st +October, 1823. Out of the million pounds granted by Parliament for +the erection of churches, some time prior to the date given, +Preston, through Dr. Lawe, who was then Bishop of Chester, got +12,500 pounds. It was originally intended to expend this sum in the +erection of one church--St. Peter's; but at the request of the Rev. +R. Carus Wilson, vicar of Preston, the money was divided, one half +going to St. Peter's, and the other to St. Paul's. Some people might +consider this like "robbing Peter to pay Paul," but it was better to +halve the money for the benefit of two districts, than give all of +it for the spiritual edification of one, and leave the other +destitute. The land forming the site of St. Paul's was given by +Samuel Pole Shawe, Esq. The full cost of the building was about +6,500 pounds. Around the edifice there is a very large iron-railed +grave yard, which is kept in pretty good order. St. Paul's is built +entirely of stone, in the early English style of architecture. It +has a rather elegant appearance; but it is defective in altitude has +a broad, flat, and somewhat bald-looking roof, and needs either a +good tower or spire to relieve and dignify it. In front there are +several pointed windows, a small circular hole above for birds' +nests, two doorways with a window between them, a central +surmounting gable, and a couple of feathery-headed perforated +turrets, one being used as a chimney, and the other as a belfry. +There is only a single bell at the church, and it is pulled +industriously on Sundays by a devoted youth, who takes his stand in +a boxed-off corner behind one of the doors. At the opposite end of +the church there are two turrets corresponding in height and form +with those is front. Two screens of red cloth are fixed just within +the entrance and, whilst giving a certain degree of selectness to +the place, they prevent people sitting near them from being blown +away or starved to death on very windy days when the doors happen to +be open. + +The interior consists of a broad, ornamentally roofed nave (resting +upon twelve high narrow pillars of stone), and two aisles. The +pillars seriously obstruct the vision of those sitting at the sides; +indeed, in some places so detrimental are they that you can see +neither the reading-desk nor the pulpit. Above, there is a very +large gallery, set apart on the west for the organ and choir, and on +each side for general worshippers, school children, as a rule, being +in front, and requiring a good deal of watching during the services. +In some parts of the gallery seeing is quite as difficult as in the +sides beneath, owing to the intervening nave pillars. Efforts have +been made to rectify this evil, not by trying to pull down the +pillars, but by removing the pulpit, &c, so that all might have a +glance at it. The pulpit is situated on the south-eastern side, near +the chancel, and one Sunday it was brought into the centre of the +church; but it could be seen no better there than in its old +position, so it was carried back, and has remained unmolested ever +since. If it were put upon castors, and pushed slowly and with +becoming reverence up and down the church during sermon time, all +would get a view of its occupant; but we believe the warders have an +objection to pulpits on castors, so that there is no hope in this +respect. The reading-desk stands opposite the pulpit, and looks very +broad and diminutive. The chancel is plain. A large, neatly designed +stained glass window occupies the end. On each side there is a mural +monument--one being to the memory of Samuel Horrocks, Esq., Guild +Mayor in 1842, and son of S. Horrocks, Esq., of Lark-hill, who for +twenty-two years represented Preston in Parliament; and the other, +raised by public subscription, to the memory of the Rev. Joseph +Rigg, who was minister of St. Paul's for nineteen years, and who +died in 1847. The general fittings and arrangements of the church +indicate plainness of design, combined with medium strength and +thorough respectability. In no part of the building is there any +eccentric flourishing or artistic meandering. The roof, the walls, +and the base of the window niches, which have become blackened with +rain, need cleaning up; and some day, when money is plentiful, they +will no doubt be renovated. The seats are strong, broad, and regular +in shape. All of them, except one, are let, and it would speedily be +tenanted if more conveniently located. There is a pillar in it, and, +in order to get a proper view of the officiating minister, you must +stand up, lean forward, and glance with a rolling eye round the +corners of the obstruction--a thing which many of the more bashful +of our species would not like to do. + +The church will accommodate about 1,200 persons, and the average +Sunday attendance may be calculated at 800. The gallery is +patronised extensively by the "million"; the ground floor pews are +occupied by more select and fashionable individuals. The great +majority of the worshippers sit above, and few vacant spaces can as +a rule be seen there. Down stairs the crush is less severe. The +congregation is a mixture of working and middle class people; the +former kind being preponderant. At the sides there are long narrow +ranges of free seats; but they are not often disturbed. On two +successive Sundays we gave them a passing look, and they appeared to +be almost deserted. A couple of little boys seated in the centre, +and engaged in the pleasing juvenile business of swinging their +legs, were the only occupants we saw on the right side during our +first inspection; and when we viewed the range on the other side, +the Sunday after, we could only catch tender glimpses of three +females, all very quiet, and each belonging the antique school of +life. "Where will you sit?" said a large-hearted young man, when we +made our second appearance. "There," was our reply, pointing at the +same time to a well-cushioned and genially sequestered seat at the +north-west corner, and we were ushered into it with becoming +decorum. In two minutes afterwards five women and a festive infant, +dressed in a drab cloak, and muffled all over to keep the cold out, +stopped at the pew door. We stepped out; three of the females, with +the baby, stepped in; the remainder went into the next pew; and +after condensing our nerve power, we settled down in the corner from +which we had been disturbed, quietly lifting one hand over the door +and latching it firmly at the same moment, our idea being than an +environment of five females, with a baby thrown into the bargain, +was quite enough for the remainder of the morning. After an inquiry +as to the christening arrangements at the church, for we fancied +this was a christening gathering, we got nearer the baby, and, in a +delicately sympathetic whisper said--"How old is it?" The maiden who +was holding it blushed, and laconically breathed out the words, +"Three months." We subsequently found out that the seat we were in +was the incumbent's, and that the blessed baby, whose lot we had +been contemplating with such interest, was his, too. + +Six minutes before the commencement there were only nine persons in +the body of the church; but nearly 300 were congregated there when +the service began, whilst the gallery was well filled with +worshippers of all ages and sizes. All the responses here are +"congregational"--none of them being in any way intoned. We believe +that St. Paul's is the only Protestant church in Preston wherein +this system is observed. The effect, when compared with the plans of +intonation now so universal, is very singular; and it sometimes +sounds dull and monotonous--like a long, low, rumbling of irregular +voices, as if there were some quaint, oddly-humoured contention +going on in every pew. But the worshippers seem to like the system, +and as they have a perfect right to be their own judges, other +people must be silent on the subject. The music is not of an +extraordinary sort; it is plain, and very well joined in by the +congregation. But the choir, like many others, lacks weight and +symphony. Mrs. Myres, the wife of the incumbent, is a member of the +choir, and if all the other individuals in it had her musical +knowledge, an improvement would soon follow. The organ is a very +good one. It was given by the late T. Miller, Esq., and H. Miller, +Esq., and placed in the church in 1844. Recently it has been put in +first-rate condition, for organs, like the players of them, get +worse for wear, by T. H. and W. P. Miller, Esqrs. The organist knows +his work, and is able to perform it with ability. + +At St. Paul's there is morning and evening service on a Sunday; and +every Wednesday evening there is a short service, but like the bulk +of mid-week devotional exercises it is not much cared for, only +about 150 joining it on the average. On the second Sunday in each +month there is an early sacrament at St. Paul's. At no other place +of worship in the town, that we know of, save Christ Church, is +there a similar sacramental arrangement. Since St. Paul's was +opened, there have been five incumbents at it. The first was the +Rev. Mr. Russell; then came the Rev. J. Rigg, who was a most +exemplary clergyman; next the Rev. S. F. Page, who was followed by +the Rev. J. Miller; the present incumbent being the Rev. W. M. +Myres, son of Mr. J. J. Myres, of Preston. Mr. Myres came to St. +Paul's at the beginning of 1867, and when he made his appearance +fidgetty and orthodox souls were in a state of mingled dudgeon and +trepidation as to what be would do. It was fancied that he was a +Ritualist--fond of floral devices and huge candles, with an +incipient itching for variegated millinery, beads, and crosses. But +his opponents, who numbered nearly two-thirds of the congregation, +screamed before they were bitten, and went into solemn paroxysms of +pious frothiness for nothing. Subsequent events have proved how +highly imaginative their views were. No church in the country has +less of Ritualism in it than St. Paul's. Its services are pre- +eminently plain; all those parts whereon the spirit of innovation +has settled so strongly in several churches during the past few +years are kept in their original simplicity; and in the general +proceedings nothing can be observed calculated to disturb the peace +of the most fastidious of show-disliking Churchmen. + +Mr. Myres is about 30 years of age, is corporeally condensed, walks +as if he were in earnest and wanted to catch the train, has a mild, +obliging, half-diffident look, wears a light coloured beard and +moustache, each of which is blossoming very nicely; is sharp, yet +even-tempered; bland and genial, yet sincere; has keen powers of +observation, has a better descriptive than logical faculty, is not +very imaginative, cares more for prose than poetry, more for facts +than sallies of the fancy, more for gentle devotion, and quiet +persevering labour in his own locality than for virtuous welterings +and sacred acrobatism in other districts. He has endeavoured, since +coming to Preston, to mind his own business, and parsons often find +that a hard thing to accomplish. Polished in education, he is humble +and social in manner. He will never be an ecclesiastical show-man, +for his disposition is in the direction of general quietude and good +neighbourship. If he ever gets into a sacred disturbance the fault +will be through somebody else dragging him into it, and not because +he has courted it by natural choice. He is more cut out for sincere +labour, pleasantly and strenuously conducted, than for intellectual +generalship or lofty theological display. His brain may lack high +range and large creativeness; but he possesses qualities of heart +and spirit which mere brilliance cannot secure, and which simple +cerebral strength can never impart. We admire him for his +courteousness, his artless simplicity of nature, his earnest, +kindly-devotedness to duty, and his continual attention to +everything affecting the welfare of those he has to look after. Mr. +Myres is greatly respected by all in his district; he has transmuted +the olden ritualistic horror which prevailed in the district, into +one of love and reverence; and all his sheep have a genial and +affectionate bleat for him. + +The Rev. C. G. Acworth, a learned young man, whose facial capillary +forces are coming gradually into play, and who seems to have the +entire Book of Common Prayer off by heart, is the curate of St. +Paul's. He is a good reader, a steady, sententious, epigrammatic +preacher, and with a little more knowledge of the world ought to +make a clever and most useful minister. Something, which we do not +think exists in connection with any other Preston church for the +management of affairs, is established here. It is a "Church +Committee." It consists of the ministers, the churchwardens, and a +dozen members of the congregation. They discuss all sorts of matters +appertaining to the district, smooth down grievances when any are +nursed, and keep everything in good working order. The outside +machinery for mentally and religiously improving the district is +very extensive and varied. There are five day and Sunday schools +under the auspices of St. Paul's. They are situated in Pole and +Carlisle streets, and are under the guidance of four superintendents +and fifty-seven teachers. Mrs. Myres (wife of the incumbent), who is +a great favourite throughout the district, is one of the teachers. +The day or national schools are the largest in the town; they have +an average attendance of 934; and that in which boys are taught is +the only one of its kind in Preston which is self-supporting. The +average attendance of Sunday scholars is 800. + +Night schools also form part of the educational programme, and they +are well attended. A mutual improvement class--the oldest in the +town--likewise exists in connection with St. Paul's. It was +established by the Rev. S. F. Page, and is conducted on principles +well calculated to regulate, illumine, and edify the youths who mar +and make empires at it. A temperance society, in which the Rev. Mr. +Acworth, who is a "Bright water for me" believer, has taken +praiseworthy interest, has furthermore got a footing in St. Paul's, +and beyond that there is a band of hope society in the district, +which does its share of work. Every Monday afternoon, a "Mother's +Meeting," conducted by Mrs. Myres, Mrs. Isherwood, Miss Wadsworth, +and the Bible woman, is held in a room of the Carlisle-street +school. The mothers are pretty lacteous and docile. In various parts +of the district, cottage lectures, conducted by the curate and a +number of energetic teachers, are held weekly. The district of St. +Paul's is great in missionary work. There are about four-and-twenty +collectors in the field here, and by the penny a week system they +raise sums which periodical efforts would never realise. By the way, +we ought to have said that there are a good many collections in St. +Paul's church--16 regular ones and 14 on the offertory principle-- +every year. Those who consider it more blessed to give than receive +should be happy at St. Paul's. The sums collected at the church +range from about 12 to 50 pounds. The Irish Church Missionary +Society receives much of its Preston support from this district. +Lastly, we may remark that there is a good staff of tract +distributors, supervised by a ladies' committee, in connection with +St. Paul's. The distributors are chiefly young women belonging the +schools. Owing to the vastness of the district it is contemplated to +erect as early as possible a school chapel as an auxiliary of the +church. It will be built near the railway bridge in St. Paul's-road. +R. Newsham, Esq., has offered to give a handsome sum towards the +edifice, which is much needed. When opened a second curate will be +required, and towards the stipend of such gentleman, E. Hermon, +Esq., M.P., has offered to contribute liberally. The salary of the +incumbent is about 280 pounds per annum. The generality of the +officials connected with the church and schools have been long at +their posts--a proof of even action and good harmony; everything +seems to be progressing steadily in the district; and if St. Paul +himself had to give it a visit he would shake hands warmly with Mr. +Myres, the incumbent, praise Mrs. Myres and the baby, and throw up +his hat gleefully at the good work which is being done amongst the +people. + + + +ST. MARY'S-STREET AND MARSH-END WESLEYAN CHAPELS, AND THE TABERNACLE +OF THE REVIVALISTS. + + + +"When shall we three meet again?" We can't tell--don't care about +knowing; you have met now; and keep quiet, if possible, whilst being +vivisected. There are worse companions, so shake hands, and sigh for +universal bliss. We shall use the dissecting knife with a kindly +sharpness. The first of the places named is situated in St. Mary's- +street, opposite a very high wall, which we believe is intended to +prevent men from scaling it, and is closely associated with the +arrangements of the House of Correction. One hundred yards off, it +looks like a high, modernised, seaside hotel; fifty yards off, it +seems like a well-arranged gentleman's residence, in the wrong +place; two yards off, it indicates its own mission, and clearly +shows that something embracing both education and religion is +carried on within it. It is a large, well-built, quadrangular +building, with two round-headed ranges of windows in front, and a +good roof above, surmounted with an iron rail, put up apparently for +imaginary purposes. Nobody has yet got over that rail so far as we +have heard; and if the job is ever attempted, nothing will be found +on the other side worth carrying home. The foundation stone of this +building--it is really a school chapel--was laid on Good Friday, +1866, and the place was opened in the same year. The place cost +2,500 pounds, and it is nearly out of debt. Internally, it is full +of rooms. On the ground floor there are nine apartments--all well +disposed, appropriately fit up, and set apart for general scholastic +and class purposes. On week days, some of them are used as school- +rooms, the average attendance of pupils, who are carefully looked +after, being about 120; and on Sundays they are devoted to "class" +business. In a large room above, children are also taught on +Sundays: the general attendance on those days throughout the place +being about 450. This school-chapel owes its existence to the cotton +famine. During that trying period, when people had nothing else to +do but think, live on 2s. a week, and grow good, Messrs. Wilding and +Strachan generously opened a room connected with their mill in New +Hall-lane, for secular and religious instruction. It was attended +mainly by those belonging the Wesleyan persuasion; in time it became +too little; and the result was the erection of a school-chapel in +St. Mary's-street. We have never seen a better arranged nor a more +commodious place of its kind than this. Its class, and ordinary +scholastic departments we have alluded to. Let us now proceed above- +-into the room used for worship. You can reach it from either the +northern or the southern side, but from neither can you make headway +without ascending a strong, winding series of steps, which must be +trying and troublesome to heavy and asthmatic subjects, if any of +that sort ever show themselves at the building. The room is large, +lofty, clean, and airy, and will hold about 400 persons. Just within +each doorway there is a box, intended for contributions on behalf of +"sick and needy scholars." But both have been put too near the side; +they often catch people's clothes, on entering, and as everybody is +not disposed to stop and exercise the organ of benevolence, whilst +the remainder wish to be judicious about the business and save their +dresses, it has been decided to shift them inwards a little. From +the centre of the ceiling, gas burners, in star-shaped clusters, are +suspended, and when the taps are on they give good lights. + +The congregation, which is generally constituted of working-class +people, numbers about 350. The people attending this place are a +quiet, devoted lot, with patches of pride and self-glorification +here and there about them, but, on the whole, kindly-looking and +sincere. Some of them are close-minded and intensely orthodox; but +the majority are wide-awake, and won't pray for fair weather until +it has given over raining. The members of the choir sit on the +eastern side, and if not so refined and punctillious in their +musical performances, they are at least pretty strong-lunged and +earnest. They are located near the wall. The harmonium-player enjoys +a closer proximity to it. He manipulates with fair skill, has a +clock right above him, and ought, therefore, to keep "good time." If +he doesn't, then let the clock be condemned as a deceiver and +incumberer of the wall. The pulpit is a broad, neatly-arranged +affair--fixed upon a platform at the southern end, and environed +with rails of blue and gold colour. Just within, and on its +immediate left, there is a small paper nailed up with four nails, +and containing, is written English, these words, as a reminder for +each preacher during his "supplications"--"Pray for God's ancient +people of Israel." "Does this mean the Jews?" said we to an elderly +man near us, whilst we were scrutinizing with a plaintive eye, the +pulpit, and he replied, "Bleeve it does." That, we thought, was a +bad speculation for a chapel containing two subscription boxes for +"sick and needy scholars." The man who wrote out that exhortation in +the interests of Petticoat-lane men and their kindred, and the +patriot who drove with a fierce virtue the four nails into it +didn't, we are afraid, know clearly how much it costs to convert a +genuine Jew, else more caution would have been exercised by each of +them. A Jew's eye is a costly thing; but a Jew's conversion is much +more expensive; you can't get at the thing fairly for less than +10,000 pounds; and as five good Wesleyan Chapels could be built, in +ordinary districts, for that sum, we advise Wesleyans to go in for +chapels and not for Jews. + +If the pulpit had not been a broad and accommodating one, in St. +Mary's-street Chapel, we should have been inclined to think that the +parson might have had a "walk round." There is just space enough in +front of the pulpit for a medium-sized gentleman to pass between it +and the front rails. In a moment of high dudgeon, a thin preacher +with a passion for "action" might easily flank off and traverse it +frontally; but an easy-minded individual would find plenty of room +in the pulpit, and if he did not, presuming he were stout, he would +have to "crush" considerably in order to accomplish a full circular +route. Beyond and in the immediate front of the pulpit rails there +is a circular seat. This we fancied, during our inspection, was the +"penitent form"--it seemed close and handy during a season of stern +excitement and warm eruption; but in a moment we were told it was +for "sacrament people," who patronise it in turns, on particular +Sundays. Two services are conducted on Sundays here by regular and +itinerent preachers; the former coming from Lune-street Chapel, and +the latter being furnished out of the general lay body. Nearly every +night throughout the week, class meetings, &c., are held in the +building, and they are conducted with much rapture and peacefulness. +How the Jew-converting business gets on we cannot tell--badly, we +imagine; but in respect to the ordinary operations of the place they +are successful and promise to be still more so. A chapel whose +members branched off from this place has been established at Walton. +About 12 months ago it was opened. A cottage situated on the road +side leading to the church constitutes the walhallah of Methodism +there, and the support accorded to it is increasing. We have no more +to say as to the St. Mary's-street mission. We hope it will go on +and agreeably grapple with the people in its own district whatever +may become of the Jews. + +A mile and a half distant, on the other side of the town, and +quietly resting amongst the desolate premises once occupied by the +Preston Ship Building Company, at the Marsh End, there is a small +preaching place, wherein the Scriptures are expounded and the +doctrines of John Wesley duly inculcated. About two and a half years +ago a couple of cottages in this locality were "thrown into one," +and arranged so as to moderately accommodate those caring about +religion, and willing to have it in a "good old Methodist" style. +There was considerable briskness of trade hereabouts at that time, +ships were made in the adjoining yards, the bubble of speculation +was being strongly blown, large numbers of strong-armed men, caring +more for ale in gallon jugs than either virtue in tracts or piety in +sermons, resided in the district, the population was rapidly +increasing, a new section of the town's suburbs was being strongly +developed, and there being drinking houses, skittle grounds, and +other accompaniments of a progressive age visible, it was considered +prudent to mix up a small Wesleyan preaching room and school with +the general confraternity of institutions in the locality. At the +beginning of this year, owing to the insufficient accomodation of +the premises, a portion of the pattern room of the Ship Building +Company, which in the meantime had resolved its organisation into +thin air and evaporated, was secured, and arranged in a homely +fashion for the required business. After passing through a small +door in the centre of a large one, leading to the shipyard, then +turning to the right, then mounting 18 steep awkward steps, and then +turning again to the right, you arrive at the place. + +The moment we saw it we knew it. It was in this very room where +grand champagne luncheons used to be given after ship launches, and +where dancing and genteel carousing followed. The last time we had +business at this place we saw twenty-three gentlemen alcoholically +merry in it, six Town Councillors helpless yet boisterous in it, +thirty couples of ladies and gentlemen dancing in it, four waiters +smuggling half-used bottles of champagne rapidly down their throats +in it, an ex-Mayor with his hat, thrown right back, looking awfully +jolly, and superintending the proceedings, in it, and in an +adjoining room, now used for vestry purposes, three ladies in silk +velvet, wine-freighted, and just able to see, blowing up everybody +because their bonnets were lost. The place where all this "fou and +unco happy" work was transacted is now the school chapel of the +Wesleyans. The room wherein the congregation meet is bare, plain, +and primitive-looking, with an open roof, whitewashed all round, and +boarded off from a workshop at the southern end. Its "furniture" +consists of eleven forms, three stoves, a pulpit with no back, and a +chair. A strip of wood is placed across a window at the rear of the +chair, which is used by the officiating parson, and this wood +prevents him from breaking the glass if he should happen to throw +his head back sharply. On one side of the room there are 19 hat +hooks, and on the other 24. There are seats in the place for about +100. The members number about 20, and the average congregation, +entirely working people, and of homely, orderly character, will +range from 80 to 100. The room is connected with the Wesley circuit; +every Sunday there are two services in it; a meeting for religious +purposes is held each Thursday night; and the preaching is done by +"locals" and "regulars." The singing is neither good, nor bad, nor +indifferent; but a mixture of the whole three qualities. It is +accompanied by a small harmonium, played by a young lady in +moderately tasteful style. The services are simple and hearty, and +whilst there may be a little plaintive noisiness now and then in +them--a few penitent flutterings--they are generally, and +remembering the complexion of the congregation, respectably +conducted. + +"It's a regular bird nest, and you'll never get to it, unless you +ask the neighbouring folk," said a friend to us whilst talking about +the Revivalists' tabernacle. To the bottom of Pitt-street we then +went, and seeing two or three females and a man dart out of a dim- +looking passage beneath one of the side arches of the railway bridge +there, we concluded that we were near the "nest." Having sauntered +about for a few moments, and assured ourselves that this was really +the place we were in search of, we went to the arch, walked six or +seven yards forward, looked up a dark, tortuous, narrow passage on +the right, and entered it. In the centre of the passage there was a +hole, through which you could see telegraph wires and the sky, on +one side a grim crevice running narrowly to the top of the railway +bridge, and ahead a shadowy opening like the front of an underground +store, with a wooden partition, in the centre of which was a small +square of glass. Theseus, who got through the Labyrinth, would have +been puzzled with this mystic passage. We never saw such a time-worn +and dumfounding road to any place, and if those who patronise it +regularly had done their best to discover the essence of dinginess +and intractibility, they could not have hit upon a better spot than +this. A warm air wave, similar to that you expect on entering a +bakehouse, met us just when we had passed the wooden partition. In +the centre of the room there was a stove, almost red-hot. This +apartment, which was filled with small forms, was, we ascertained, a +Sunday-school. At the bottom end there were some narrow steps, +leading through a large hole into a room above--the "chapel." A fat +man could never get up these steps, and a tall one would injure his +head if he did not stoop very considerably in ascending them. + +The chapel is about five yards wide, 15 yards long, very low on one +side, and moderately high on the other. It is plain, ricketty, and +whitewashed. The side wall of the railway bridge forms one end of +it. On the northern side, there is a door fastened up with a piece +of wood in the form of a large loadstone. This door leads to the top +of a pig-stye. The "chapel" will hold about 70. When we visited it, +the congregation consisted of 35 children of a very uneasy sort, 11 +men, and five women. Every now and then railway goods trains kept +passing, and what with the whistling of the engines, the shaking +caused by the waggons, the barking of a dog in a yard behind, the +grunting of a pig in a stye three yards off, and the noise of the 35 +children before us, we had a very refreshing time of it. The +congregation--a poor one--consists of a remnant of the Revivalists +who were in Preston last year, and it has a kind of nominal +connection with the Orchard United Methodists. The building we have +described was formerly a weaving shop or rubbish store. Its present +tenants have occupied it about twelve months. They are an earnest +body, seem obliging to strangers, are not as fiery and wild as some +of their class, and might do better in the town if they had a better +room. They have no fixed minister. The preacher we heard was a +stranger. He pulled off his coat just before beginning his +discourse. After a few introductory remarks, in the course of which +he said he had been troubled with stomach ache for six hours on the +previous day, and that just before his last visit to Preston he had +an attack of illness in the very same place, a lengthy allusion was +made to his past history. He said that he had been "a villain, a +gambler, a drunkard, and a Sabbath breaker"--we expected hearing him +say, as many of his class do, that he had often abused his mother, +thrashed his wife, and punished his children, but he did not utter a +word on the subject. The remainder of his discourse was less +personal and more orthodox. At the close we descended the steps +carefully, groped our way out quietly, and left, wondering how ever +we had got to such a place at all, and how those worshipping in it +could afford to Sabbatically pen themselves up in such a mysterious, +ramshackle shanty. + + + +ST. MARY'S AND ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHAPELS. + + + +In this combination the past and the present are linked. Into their +history the elements of a vast change enter. One is allied with +"saintly days," followed by a reactive energy, vigorous and +crushing; the other is amalgamated with an epoch of broadest thought +and keenest iconoclasm; both are now enjoying a toleration giving +them peace, and affording them ample room for the fullest progress. +Unless it be our Parish Church, which was originally a Catholic +place of worship, no religious building in Preston possesses +historic associations so far-reaching as St. Mary's. It is the +oldest Catholic chapel in Preston. Directly, it is associated with a +period of fierce persecution. Relatively, it touches those old times +when religious houses, with their quaintly-trimmed orders, were in +their halcyon days. After the dissolution, caused by Henry VIII, it +was a dangerous thing to profess Catholicism, and in Preston, as in +other places, those believing in it had to conduct their services +privately, and in out-of-the-way places. In Ribbleton-lane there is +an old barn, still standing, wherein mass used to be said at night- +time. People living in the neighbourhood fancied for a considerable +period that this place was haunted; they could see a light in it +periodically; they couldn't account for it; and they concluded that +some headless woman or wandering gnome was holding a grim revel in +it. But the fact was, a small band of Catholics debarred from open +worship, and forced to secrete themselves during the hours of +devotion, were gathered there. + +When the storm of persecution had subsided a little, Catholics in +various parts of the country gradually, though quietly, got their +worship into towns; and, ultimately, we find that in Preston a small +thatched building--situated in Chapel-yard, off Friargate--was +opened for the use of Catholics. This was in 1605. The yard, no +doubt, took its name from the chapel, which was dedicated to St. +Mary. There was wisdom in the selection of this spot, and +appropriateness, too--it was secluded, near the heart of the town, +and very close to the old thoroughfare whose very name was redolent +of Catholicity. Friargate is a word which conveys its own meaning. +An old writer calls it a "fayre, long, and spacious street;" and +adds, "upon that side of the town was formerly a large and sumptuous +building belonging to the Fryers Minors or Gray Fryers, but now +[1682] only reserved for the reforming of vagabonds, sturdy beggars, +and petty larcenary thieves, and other people wanting good +behaviour; it is now the country prison . . . and it is cal'd the +House of Correction." This building was approached by Friargate, and +was erected for the benefit of begging friars, under the patronage +of Edward, Earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III. The first occupants +of it came from Coventry, "to sow," as we are, told by an ancient +document, "the seeds of the divine word, amongst the people residing +in the villa of Preston, in Agmounderness, in Lancashire." + +Primarily it was a very fine edifice, was built in the best style of +Gothic architecture, and had accomodation for upwards of 500 monks. +Upon its site now stands the foundry of Mr. Stevenson, adjoining +Lower Pitt-street. The Catholics of Preston satisfied themselves +with the small building in Chapel-yard until 1761, when a new place +of worship, dedicated to St. Mary, was erected upon part of the site +of the convent of Grey Friars. Towards this chapel the Duke of +Norfolk gave a handsome sum, and presented, for the altar, a curious +painting of the Lord's Supper. But this building did not enjoy a +very prosperous career, for in 1768, during a great election riot, +it was pulled down by an infuriated mob, all the Catholic registers +in it were burned, and the priest--the Rev. Patrick Barnewell--only +saved his life by beating a rapid retreat at the rear, and crossing +the Ribble at an old ford below Frenchwood. Another chapel was +subsequently raised, upon the present site of St. Mary's, on the +west side of Friargate, but when St. Wilfrid's was opened, in 1793, +it was closed for religious purposes and transmuted into a cotton +warehouse. The following priests were at St. Mary's from its opening +in 1761 until its close in 1793:- Revs. Patrick Barnewell, Joseph +Smith, John Jenison, Nicholas Sewall, Joseph Dunn, and Richard +Morgan. The two last named gentleman lived together in a cottage, on +the left side of the entrance to the chapel, behind which they had a +fine room commanding a beautiful view of the Ribble, Penwortham, +&c., for at that time all was open, on the western side of +Friargate, down to the river. Whittle, speaking of Father Dunn, says +he was "the father of the Catholic school, the House of Recovery, +and the Gasworks," and adds, with a plaintive bathos, that "on the +very day he left this sublunary world he rose, as was his custom, +very early, and in the course of his rambles exchanged a sovereign +for sixpences, for distribution amongst the indigent." + +In 1815 the chapel was restored; but not long afterwards its roof +fell in. Nobody however was hurt, just because nobody was in the +building at the time. The work of reparation followed, and the +chapel was deemed sufficient till 1856, when it was entirely rebuilt +and enlarged. As it was then fashioned so it remains. It is a chapel +of ease for St. Wilfrid's, and is attended to a very large extent by +Irish people. The situation of it is lofty; it stands upon higher +ground than any other place of worship in the town; but it is so +hemmed in with houses, &c., that you can scarcely see it, and if you +could get a full view of it nothing very beautiful would be observed +about the exterior. The locality in which this chapel is placed is +crowded, dark-looking, and pretty ungodly. All kinds of sinister- +looking alleys, narrow yards, dirty courts, and smoky back streets +surround it; much drinking is done in each; and a chorus of noise +from lounging men in their shirt sleeves, draggle-tailed women +without bonnets, and weird little youngsters, given up entirely to +dirt, treacle, and rags, is constantly kept up in them. The chapel +has a quaint, narrow, awkward entrance. You pass a gateway, then +mount a step, then go on a yard or two and encounter four steps, +then breathe a little, then get into a somewhat sombre lobby two and +a half yards wide, and inconveniently steep, next cross a little +stone gutter, and finally reach a cimmerian square, surrounded by +high walls, cracked house ends, and other objects similarly +interesting. The front of the chapel is cold-looking and devoid of +ornament. Upon the roof there is a square perforated belfry, +containing one bell. It was put up a few years ago, and before it +got into use there was considerable newspaper discussion as to the +inconvenience it would cause in the morning, for having to be rung +at the unearthly hour of six it was calculated that much balmy +quietude would be missed through it. Some people can stand much +sleep after six, and on their account early bell-ringing was +dreaded. But the inhabitants have got used to the resonant metal, +and those who have time sleep on very excellently during its most +active periods. + +The chapel has a broad, lofty, and imposing interior; but it is +rather gloomy, and requires a little extra light, which would add +materially to the general effect. There is considerable decorative +skill displayed in the edifice; but the work looks opaque and needs +brightening up. The sanctuary end is rich and solemn, has a finely- +elaborate and sacred tone, and combines in its construction elegance +and power. At the rear and rising above the altar there is a large +and somewhat imposing picture, representing the taking down of our +Saviour from the cross. It was painted by Mr. C. G. Hill, after a +picture of Carracci's, in Stonyhurst College, and was originally +placed in St. Wilfrid's church. St. Mary's will accommodate about +1,000 persons. All the pews have open sides, and there are none of a +private character in any part of the church. The poorest can have +the best places at any time, if they will pay for them, and the +richest can sit in the worst if they are inclined to be economical. + +Large congregations attend this chapel, and the bulk, as already +intimated, are of the Milesian order. At the rear, where many of the +poor choose to sit, some of the truest specimens of the "finest +pisantry," some of the choicest and most aromatic Hibernians we have +seen, are located. The old swallow-tailed Donnybrook Fair coat, the +cutty knee-breeches, the short pipe in the waistcoat pocket, the +open shirt collar, the ancient family cloak with its broad shoulder +lapelle, the thick dun-coloured shawl in which many a young Patrick +has been huddled up, are all visible. The elderly women have a +peculiar fondness for large bonnets, decorated in front with huge +borders running all round the face like frilled night-caps. The +whole of the worshippers at the lower end seem a pre-eminently +devotional lot. How they are at home we can't tell; but from the +moment they enter the chapel and touch the holy water stoops, which +somehow persist in retaining a good thick dark sediment at the +bottom, to the time they walk out, the utmost earnestness prevails +amongst them. Some of the poorer and more elderly persons who sit +near the door are marvellous hands at dipping, sacred manipulation, +and pious prostration. Like the Islams, they go down on all fours at +certain periods, and seem to relish the business, which, after all, +must be tiring, remarkably well. Considering its general character, +the congregation is very orderly, and we believe of a generous turn +of mind. The chapel is cleanly kept by an amiable old Catholic, who +may, if there is anything in a name, be related to the Grey Friars +who formerly perambulated the street he lives in; and there is an +air of freedom and homeliness about it which we have not noticed at +several places of worship. Around its walls are pictures of saints. +They make up a fine family group, and seem to have gathered from +every Catholic place of worship in the town to do honour to the +edifice. + +There are sundry masses every Sunday in the chapel, that which is +the shortest--held at half-past nine in the morning--being, as +usual, best patronised. The scholars connected with St. Wilfrid's +attend the chapel every Sunday. Each Wednesday evening a service is +also held in the chapel, and it is most excellently attended, +although some who visit it put in a rather late appearance. When we +were in the chapel, one Wednesday evening, ten persons came five +minutes before the service was over, and one slipped round the door +side and made a descent upon the holy water forty-five seconds +before the business terminated. Of course it is better late than +never, only not much bliss follows late attendance, and hardly a +toothful of ecstacy can be obtained in three-quarters of a minute. +The singing is of an average kind, the choir being constituted of +the school children; whilst the organ, which used to be in some +place at Accrington, is only rather shaky and debilitated. During +the past ten years the Rev. Thomas Brindle, of St. Wilfrid's, has +been the officiating priest at St. Mary's. Father Brindle is a Fylde +man, is about 45 years of age, and is a thoroughly healthy subject. +He is at least 72 inches high, is well built, powerful, straight as +a die, good looking, keeps his teeth clean, and attends most +regularly to his clerical duties. He is unassuming in manner, blithe +in company, earnest in the pulpit. His gesticulation is decisive, +his lungs are good, and his vestments fit him well. Not a more +stately, yet homely looking, honest-faced priest have we seen for +many a day. There is nothing sinister nor subtle in his visage; the +sad ferocity glancing out of some men's eyes is not seen in his. We +have not yet confessed our sins to him, but we fancy he will be a +kindly soul when behind the curtain,--would sooner order boiled than +hard peas to be put into one's shoes by way of penance, would far +rather recommend a fast on salmon than a feast on bacon, and would +generally prefer a soft woollen to a hard horse hair shirt in the +moments of general mortification. Father Brindle!--Give us your +hand, and may you long retain a kindly regard for boiled peas, soft +shirts, and salmon. They are amongst the very best things out if +rightly used, and we shouldn't care about agonising the flesh with +them three times a week. + +St. Joseph's Catholic Church stands on the eastern side of Preston, +and is surrounded by a rapidly-developing population. The district +has a South Staffordshire look--is full of children, little +groceries, public-houses and beershops, brick kilns, smoke, smudge, +clanging hammers, puddle-holes, dogs, cats, vagrant street hens, +unmade roads, and general bewilderment. When the new gasometer, +which looks like the skeleton of some vast colosseum, is finished +here, an additional balminess will be given to the immediate +atmosphere, which may be very good for children in the hooping- +cough, but anything except pleasant for those who have passed +through that lively ordeal. In 1860, a Catholic school was erected +in Rigby-street, Ribbleton-lane. Directly afterwards divine service +was held in the building, which in its religious character was +devoted to St. Joseph. But either the walls of the edifice were too +weak, or the roof of it too strong, for symptoms of "giving way" +soon set in, and the place had to be pulled down. In 1866, having +been rebuilt and enlarged, it was re-opened. In the meantime, +religious services and scholastic training being essential, and it +being considered too far to go to St. Ignatius's and St. +Augustine's, which were the places patronised prior to the opening +of St. Joseph's mission, another school, with accomodation in it for +divine worship, was erected on a plot of land immediately adjoining. +Nearly one half of the money required for this building, which was +opened in 1864, was given by Protestants. At the northern end of it, +there is a closed-off gallery, used as a school for boys. The +remainder of the building is used for chapel purposes. The exterior +of the edifice is neat and substantial; the interior--that part used +for worship--is clean, spacious, and light. At the southern end +there is a small but pretty altar, and around the building are hung +what in Catholic phraseology are termed "the stations." There is not +much ornament, and only a small amount of paint, in the place. + +The chapel will hold 560 persons; it is well attended; and the +congregations would be larger if there were more accomodation. +Masses are said here, and services held, on the plan pursued at +other chapels of the same denomination. The half-past nine o'clock +mass on a Sunday morning is a treat; for at it you can see a greater +gathering of juvenile bazouks than at any other place in the town. +Some of the roughest-headed lads in all creation are amongst them; +their hair seems to have been allowed to have its own way from +infancy, and it refuses to be dictated to now. The congregation is a +very poor one, and this will be at once apparent when we state that +the general income of the place, the entire proceeds of it, do not +exceed 100 pounds a year. Nearly every one attending the chapel is a +factory worker, and the present depressed state of the cotton trade +has consequently a special and a very crushing bearing upon the +mission. A new church is badly wanted here; in no part of the town +is a large place of worship so much required; but nothing can be +done in the matter until the times mend. A plot of land has been +secured for a church on the western side of the present improvised +chapel, and close to the house occupied by the priests in charge of +the mission; but until money can be found, or subscribed, or +borrowed without interest, it will have to remain as at present. + +The first priest at St. Joseph's was the Rev. R. Taylor; then came +the Rev. R. Kennedy; next the Rev. W. H. Bradshaw, who was succeeded +by the Revs. J. Walmsley and J. Parkinson--the priests now at the +place. Father Walmsley, the superior, who originally came from +Brindle, is a placid, studious-looking, even-tempered gentleman. He +is slender, but wirey; is inclined to be tall, and has got on some +distance with the work. He is thoughtful, but there is much sly +humour in him; he is cautious but free when aired a little. He knows +more than many would give him credit for; whilst naturally reticent +and cool he is by no means dull; he is shrewd and far-seeing but +calm and unassuming; and though evenly balanced in disposition be +would manifest a crushing temper if roughly pulled by the ears. His +first mission was at the Church of the English Martyrs in this town; +then he went to Wigan, and after staying there for a time he landed +at St. Joseph's. Father Parkinson is a native of the Fylde, and he +has got much of the warm healthy blood of that district in his +veins. He has a smart, gentlemanly figure; has a sharp, beaming, +rubicund face; has buoyant spirits, and likes a good stiff tale; is +full of life, and has an eye in his head as sharp as a hawk's; has a +hot temper--a rather dignified irascible disposition; believes in +sarcasm, in keen cutting hits; can scold beautifully; knows what he +is about; has a "young-man-from-the-country-but-you-don't-get-over- +me" look; is a hard worker, a careful thinker, and considers that +this world as well as the next ought to be enjoyed. He began his +clerical career at Lancaster in 1864; attended the asylum whilst at +that town; afterwards had charge of a workhouse at Liverpool; is now +Catholic chaplain of Preston House of Correction, and fills up his +spare time by labouring in St. Joseph's district. Either the House +of Correction or the poor mission he is stationed at agrees with +him, for he has a sparkling countenance, and seems to be thriving at +a genial pace. Both Father Walmsley and Father Parkinson have been +in Spain; they were, in fact, educated there. Both labour hard and +mutually; consoling each other in hours of trial, tickling one +another in moments of ecstacy, and making matters generally +agreeable. The schools attached to St. Joseph's are in a good +condition. They are well attended, are a great boon to the district, +and reflect credit upon those who conduct them. All the district +wants is a new church, and when one gets built we shall all be +better off, for a brighter day with full work and full wages will +then have dawned. + + + +ST. MARK'S CHURCH. + + + +Not very far from the mark shall we be in saying that if this Church +were a little nearer it would not be quite so far off, and that if +it could be approached more easily people would not have so much +difficulty in getting to it. "A right fair mark," as Benvolio hath +it, "is soonest hit;" but you can't hit St. Mark's very well, +because it is a long way out of ordinary sight, is covered up in a +far-away region, stands upon a hill but hides itself, and until very +recently has entailed, in its approach, an expedition, on one side, +up a breath-exhausting hill, and on the other through a world of +puddle, relieved by sundry ominous holes calculated to appal the +timid and confound the brave. We made two efforts to reach this +Church from the eastern side; once in the night time, during which, +and particularly when within 100 yards of the building, we had to +beat about mystically between Scylla and Charybdis, and once at day +time, when the utmost care was necessary in order to avoid a mild +mishap amid deep side crevices, cart ruts two feet deep, lime heaps, +and cellar excavations. We shall long remember the time when, after +our first visit, we left the Church, All the night had we been in a +sadly-sweet frame of mind, listening to prayers and music, and +drinking in the best parts of a rather dull sermon; but directly +after we left a disheartening struggle amid mud ensued, and all our +devotional sentiment was taken right out of us. An old man, +following us, who had been manifesting much facial seriousness in +the Church, stepped calmly, but without knowing it, into a pile of +soft lime, and the moment he got ankle deep his virtue disappeared +amid a radiation of heavy English, which consigned the whole road to +perdition. For several months this identical road spoiled the effect +of numerous Sunday evening sermons; but, it is now in a fair state +of order. St. Mark's Church, is situated on the north-western side +of the town, between Wellington-terrace and the Preston and Wyre +Railway, and was opened on the 22nd of September, 1863. For some +time previously religious services were held on Sundays in +Wellfield-road school, which then belonged Christ Church, but the +district being large and of an increasing disposition, a new church +was decided upon. The late Rev. T. Clark, incumbent at that time of +Christ Church, promoted its erection very considerably; and when the +building was opened those worshipping in Wellfield-road school +(which was afterwards handed over for educational purposes to St. +Mark's) went to it. St. Mark's cost about 7,000 pounds--without the +steeple, which is now being erected, and will, it is expected, be +finished about the beginning of March next. It will be a +considerable architectural relief to the building, and will be some +guide to strangers and outer barbarians who may want to patronise it +either for business purposes or piety. The late J. Bairstow, Esq., +left 1,000 pounds towards the steeple, which will cost about 1,250 +pounds. In the district there are upwards of 6,000 persons, and not +many of them are much better than they ought to be. + +St. Mark's is built in the cruciform style, is mildly elaborate, and +moderately serene in outline; but there is nothing very remarkable +about any part of it. Rails run round it, and on the roof there are +eight boxed-up, angular-headed projections which may mean something, +but from which we have been unable to extract any special +consolation. At each end of the church there are doors; those at the +back being small and plain, those in front being also diminutive but +larger. The principal entrance possesses some good points, but it +lacks capaciousness and clearness--has a covered-up, hotel doorway +aspect which we don't relish. It seems also to be very +inconveniently situated: the bulk of those attending the church +come in the opposite direction, and, therefore, if opposed to back +door business, which is rather suspicious at a church, have to make +a long round-about march, wasting their precious time and strength +considerably in getting to the front. The church, which is fashioned +externally of stone, has a brick interior. + +A feeling of snugness comes over you on entering; small passages, +closed doors, and an amplitude of curtains--there are curtains at +every door in the church--induce a sensation of coziness; but when +you get within, a sort of bewildering disappointment supervenes. The +place seems cold and unfinished,--looks as if the plasterers and +painters had yet to be sent for. But it has been decided to do +without them: the inside is complete. There may be some wisdom in +this style of thing; but a well-lined inside, whether it appertains +to men or churches, is a matter worthy of consideration. There is an +uncomely, fantastical plainness about the interior walls of St. +Mark's, a want of tone and elegance all over them, which may be very +interesting to some, but which the bulk of people will not be able +to appreciate. If they were whitewashed, in even the commonest +style, they would look better than at present. Bands of cream- +coloured brick run round the walls, and the window arches are +bordered with similar material. The roof is amazingly stocked with +wood, all dark stained: as you look up at it a sense of solemn +maddlement creeps over you; and what such a profuse and complex +display of timber can mean is a mystery, which only the gods and +sharp architects will be able to solve. The roof is supported by ten +long, thin, gilt-headed iron pillars, which relieve what would +otherwise in the general aspect of the church amount to a heavy +monotony of red brickwork and sombre timber. On each side of the +body of the church there are four neat-looking three-light windows; +at the western end there is a beautiful five-light window, but its +effect is completely spoiled by a small, pert-looking, precocious +organ, which stands right before it. At each end of the transept +there are circular lights of condensed though pleasant proportions. + +The chancel is spacious, lofty, and not too solemn looking. The base +is ornamented with illumined tablets, and above there are three +windows, the central one bearing small painted representations of +the "Sower" and the "Good Shepherd," whilst those flanking it are +plain. This chancel, owing to its good architectural disposition, +might, by a little more decoration and the insertion of full stained +glass windows, be made very beautiful. The Church is an extremely +draughty one; and if it were not for a screen at the west end and a +series of curtains at the different doors, stiff necks, sore +throats, coughs, colds, and other inconveniences needing much +ointment and many pills would be required by the congregation. Just +within the screen there is a massive stone font, supported by +polished granite pillars, and surrounded at the base by a carpet +upon which repose four small cushions bearing respectively on their +surface a mystic injunction about "thinking" and "thanking." + +The Church will accommodate about 1,000. There are 500 free sittings +in it, the bulk being in the transept, which is galleried, and is +the best and quietest place in the building, and the remainder at +the extreme western end. All the seats are small, open, and pretty +convenient; but the backs are very low, and people can't fall asleep +in them comfortably. The price of the chargeable sittings ranges +from 8s. to 10s. each per year. The average congregation numbers +nearly 600; is constituted of working people with a seasoning of +middle-class individuals; is of a peaceable friendly disposition; +does not look black and ill-natured when a stranger appears; is +quite gracious in the matter of seat-finding, book-lending, and the +like; and is well backed up in its kindness by a roseate-featured +gentleman--Mr. Ormandy, one of the wardens--who sits in a free pew +near the front door, and does his best to prevent visitors from +either losing themselves, swooning, or becoming miserable. In this +quarter there is also stationed another official, a beadle, or +verger, or something of the sort, who is quite inclined to be +obliging; but he seems to have an unsettled, wandering disposition, +is always moving about the place as if he had got mercury in him, +can't keep still for the life of him more than two minutes at a +time, and disturbs the congregation by his evolutions. We dare say +he tries to do his best, and thinks that mobility is the criterion +of efficiency; but we don't care for his perpetual activity, and +shouldn't like to sleep with him, for we are afraid he would be a +dreadfully uneasy bed-fellow. + +The organ gallery appears to be a pleasant resort for a few hours' +gossip and smirking. The musical instrument in it is diminutive, +rather elegant in appearance at a distance, and is played with +medium skill; but somehow it occasionally sounds when it should not, +sometimes gives a gentle squeak in the middle of a prayer, now and +then is inclined to do a little business whilst the sermon is being +preached; and a lady member of the congregation has put this +question to us on the subject, "Would it sound if the organist kept +his hands and feet off it, and attended to the service?" That is +rather a direct interrogation from so fair a source, and lest we +might give offence we will allow people to answer it for themselves +in their own way, after which they may, if inclined, communicate +with the vivacious beadle, and tell him to look after the organ as +well as the doors, &c. The singers in the gallery are spirited, give +their services, like the organist, "gratisly"--one of the wardens +told us so--and, if not pre-eminently musical, make a very fair +average ninth-rate effort in the direction of melody. They will +mend, we have no doubt, eventually--may finally get into the +"fastoso" style. In the meantime, we recommend careful reading, +mingled with wise doses of sal-prunel and Locock's wafers. On the +first Sunday in every month, sometimes in the morning and sometimes +in the evening, the sacrament is partaken of at St. Mark's church; +and, comparatively speaking, the number of participants is +considerable. The business is not entirely left, as in some +churches, to worn-out old men and sacredly-snuffy old women--to a +miserable half-dozen of fogies, nearly as ignorant of the vital +virtues of the sacrament as the Virginian old beldame who took it to +cure the rheumatism. At St. Mark's the sacrament takers consist of +all classes of people, of various ages, and, considering the +district, they muster very creditably. + +The first incumbent of St. Mark's was the Rev. J. W. Green, who had +very poor health, and died on the 5th of October, 1865. Nineteen +days afterwards the Rev. T. Johnson was appointed to the incumbency +which he continues to retain. Mr. Johnson is apparently about 40 +years of age. He was first ordained as curate of St. Peter's, +Oldham; stayed there two years and five months; then was appointed +curate of Pontefract Parish Church, a position he occupied for +nearly two years; subsequently took sole charge of a church at +Holcombe, near Bury; four months afterwards came to Preston as +curate of the Parish Church; remained there a considerable time; +then went to Carnforth, near Lancaster; stayed but a short period in +that quarter; and was afterwards appointed incumbent of St. Marks in +this town. Although not very aged himself be lives in a house which +is between 700 and 800 years old, and which possesses associations +running back to the Roman era. This is Tulketh Hall, an ancient, +castellated, exposed building on an eminence in Ashton, and facing +in a direct line, extending over a valley, the front door of St. +Mark's Church. With a fair spy-glass Mr. Johnson may at any time +keep an exact eye upon that door from his own front sitting room. +Nobody can tell when the building, altered considerably in modern +times and now called Tulketh Hall, was first erected. Some +antiquaries say that a body of monks from the monastery of Savigny, +in Normandy, originally built it in 1124; others state that the +place was made before that time; but this is certain, that a number +of monks from the monastery named occupied it early in the twelfth +century, and that they afterwards left it and went to Furness Abbey. +On the south-west of Tulketh Hall the remains of a fosse (ditch or +moat) were, up to recent times, visible; some old ruins adjoining +could also be seen; and it has been supposed by some persons that +there was once a Roman stronghold or castle here. Tulketh Hall has +been occupied by several ancient families, and was once the seat of +the Heskeths, of Rossall, near Fleetwood. The Rev. T. Johnson has +lived in it for perhaps a couple of years, and seems to suffer none +from either its isolation or antiquity. He thrives very well, like +the generality of parsons, and will be a long liver if careful. He +has what a phrenological physiologist would call a vitally sanguine +constitution--has a good deal of temper, excitability, and +determination in his character. You may persuade him, but he will be +awkward to drive. He has a somewhat tall, gentlemanly, elastic +figure; looks as if he had worn stays at some time; is polished, +well-dressed, and careful; respects scented soap; hates the smell of +raw onions; is scrupulous in his toilet; is sharp, swellish, and +good-mannered; rather likes platform speaking; is inclined to get +into a narrow groove of thought politically and theologically, when +crossed by opponents; is eloquent when earnest; talks rubbish like +everybody else at times; has a strong clear voice; is a good +preacher; is moderate in his action; has never, even in his fiercest +moments, injured the pulpit; has a refined, rather affected, and at +times doubtful pronunciation; gets upwards of 300 pounds a year from +the Church; has been financially lucky in other ways; has a homely +class of parishioners, who would like to see him at other times than +on Sundays; is well respected on the whole, and may thank his stars +that fate reserved him for a parson. + +His curate--the Rev. C. F. Holt--seems to be only just out of pin +feather, is rather afraid of hopping off the twig; and needs sundry +lessons in clerical flying before he will make much headway. He is +good-looking, but not eloquent; precise in his shaving, but short of +fire and originality; smart in features, but bad in his reading; has +a very neat moustache, but a rather mediocre mental grasp; wears +neat neck-ties and very clean shirts, but often fills you with the +east wind when preaching. He is, however, a very indefatigable +visitor, works hard and cheerfully in the district, has, by his +outside labours, augmented the congregation, and on this account +deserves credit. He is neither eloquent in expression nor sky- +scraping in thought: but he labours hard amongst outside sinners, +and an ounce of that kind of service is often worth a ton of pulpit +rhetoric and sermonising bespanglement. At the schools in Wellfield- +road the average day attendance is 310; whilst on Sundays it reaches +470. The school is a good one; the master is strong, healthy, and +active, and the mistress is careful, antique-looking, and efficient. + + + +ZOAR PARTICULAR BAPTIST CHAPEL. + + + +Some good people are much concerned for the erection of new places +of worship in our large towns, labour hard for long periods in +maturing plans for them, and nearly exhaust their energies in +securing that which is held to be the only potent agent in their +construction--money. But this is an ancient and roundabout process, +and may, as it sometimes has done, terminate in failure. A stiff +quarrel is about the surest and quickest thing we are acquainted +with for multiplying places of worship, for Dissenters, at any rate; +and probably it would be found to work with efficacy, if tried, +amongst other bodies. Local experience shows that disputes in +congregations invariably end in the erection of new chapels. Show us +a body of hard, fiercely-quarrelsome religious people, and although +neither a prophet nor the son of one we dare predict that a new +place of worship will be the upshot of their contentions. We know of +four or five chapels in Preston which here been raised on this plan, +and those requiring more need only keep the scheme warm. It is not +essential that persons anxious for new sacred edifices should expend +their forces in pecuniary solicitations; let them set a few +congregations by the ears and the job will be done at once. +Deucalion of Thessaly was told by the oracle of Themis that if he +wished to renew mankind he must throw his mother's bones behind his +back. This was about as irreverent and illogical as telling people +that if they want more religious accomodation they must commence +fighting; and yet, whilst olden history gives some faint proof that +the Grecian prince was successful, in stone if not in bone throwing, +modern experience ratifies the notion that a smart quarrel is +certain to be followed by a good chapel. + +There was a small feud in 1849-50 at Vauxhall-road Particular +Baptist Chapel, Preston, concerning a preacher; several liked him; +some didn't; a brisk contention followed; and, in the end, the +dissatisfied ones--about 50 in number, including 29 members--finding +that they had "got up a tree," quietly retired. They hired a place +in Cannon-street, which somehow has been the nursery of two or three +stirring young bodies given to spiritual peculiarity. Here they +worshipped earnestly, looking out in the meantime for a plot of land +in some part of the town whereon they could build a chapel, and thus +attend to their own business on their own premises. Singular to say +they hit upon a site adjoining the most fashionable quarter of the +town--hit upon and bought the only piece of land in the Belgravia of +Preston whereon they or anybody else could build a place of worship. +This was a little spot on the north-eastern side of Regent-street, +abutting upon Winckley-square, and freed from the restrictions as to +church and chapel building which operated in respect to every other +vacant piece of land in the same highly-spiced neighbourhood. Upon +this land they raised a small chapel, and dedicated it to Zoar. +Whether they did this because Zoar means little, or because it was +fancied that they had "escaped," like Lot of old, from a very +unsanctified place, we cannot tell. The chapel was opened in 1853, +at a cost of 500 pounds, one-fifth of which, apart from previous +subscriptions, was raised during the inaugural services. + +As to the outward appearance of this chapel, not so much can be +said. It is built of brick, with stone facings; at the front there +is a gable pierced with a doorway, flanked with two long narrow +windows, and surmounted by a small one; above, there is a stone +tablet giving to the name of the chapel and the date of its opening; +on the left, calmly nestling on the roof, there is a sheet iron +pipe; and on the ground, at the same side, there are some good +stables. These stables do not belong to the chapel, and never did. +There is no bell at the chapel; but the name of Mr. Bell, who rents +the stables, is fixed at one side of it; and in this circumstance +some satisfaction may be found. The chapel has a microscopical, +select, sincere appearance; has no architectural strength nor +highly-finished beauty about it; is bashful, clean, unadorned; and +looks like what it is--the cornered-up, decorous, tiny Bethel of a +particular people. Its internal arrangements are equally sedate, +condensed, and snug. A calm homeliness, a Quakerly simplicity runs +all through it. Nothing glaring, shining, or artistically complex is +visible; neither fresco panellings, nor chiaroscuro contrasts, nor +statuary groups adorn its walls: if any of these things were seen +the members would scream. All is simple, clean, modest. The walls, +slightly relieved on each side by two imitation columns, are calmly +coloured; the ceiling, containing a floriated centre piece, is +plainly whitewashed; the gas stands have no pride in them; the +pulpit is small, durable, unpretentious. There are 22 deep long +narrow pews in the chapel, and they will accommodate 200 persons. A +small and rather forlorn-looking clock perches over the doorway, and +keeps time, when going, moderately well. In the south-western corner +of the building there is a mural tablet, in memory of the late Mrs. +Caroline Walsh, who gave 50 pounds towards the erection of the +chapel. If she had given 100 pounds probably two monuments would +have been raised to her memory. + +Nearly all who visit the chapel are middle-class people. The average +attendance ranges from 70 to 80. There are 34 members at the place. +Half of those who originally joined it are dead. They did not die +through attending the chapel, but through ordinary physical ailment. +The congregation, numerically speaking, is stationary, at present. +Those attending the chapel profess the very same principles as the +Vauxhall-road Baptists, sing out of hymn books just like theirs, and +drink in with equal rapture the Philpottian utterances of the Gospel +Standard--the organ of the body. They have four collections a year, +and the hat never goes round amongst them in vain. Their pulpit is +specially reserved for men after their own heart. They will admit to +it neither General Baptists, nor Methodists, nor Independents; and +however good a thing any of the preachers of these bodies might have +to say, they would have to burst before the Zoar Chapel brethren +would find them rostrum accomodation for its expression. All +classes, they fancy, ought to mind their own affairs; and preachers +they consider should always keep to the pulpits of their own faith. +Although touchy as to preachers they are somewhat liberal as to +writers, and have a great fondness for several of the works of +Church of England divines. They esteem considerably, we are +informed, the writings of "Gill, Romaine, Hawker, Parkes, Hewlett, +and others belonging that church." There is a debt of 150 pounds +upon Zoar Chapel; and if any gentleman will give that sum to square +up matters we can guarantee that good special sermons, eulogistic of +all his virtues since birth, will be preached, and that a monument +will be erected to him in the chapel when he dies. + +The first minister the Zoar Chapel people had, after their +secession, was Mr. D. Kent, a Liverpool gentleman who came over to +Preston weekly, for seven years, and preached every Sunday. He got +no salary, was content with having his railway fare paid and his +Sunday meals provided, and he gave much satisfaction. In the end he +had to retire through ill health. Mr. J. S. Wesson, who evaporated +quietly from Preston some time ago, followed Mr. Kent, and preached +for the Zoar folk six years. His successor was Mr. Edward Bates, of +Darwen, who visited the chapel every Sunday for 12 months, and then +withdrew. Since his departure there has been no regular minister at +the Chapel; and whenever one does come he will have to be a "Mr." +and not a "Rev." Particular Baptists don't believe in "reverend" +gentlemen--think none of them are really reverend, and that it is +presumption in any man, however sublimated his virtue or learning +may be, to sacredly oil up his name with any such prefix. + +We have visited Zoar Chapel twice. It was exactly twenty minutes to +seven one Sunday evening when we first entered it. The lights were +burning, the blinds were drawn, and there were 23 people in the +place. In a pew on the left-hand side a little old man was holding +forth as to the "prodigal son." It was the first time he had ever +talked in the chapel, and he has never said a word since. He had a +peculiarly free and easy style. Sometimes he leaned over the pew +door, and beat time with one foot whilst talking; at other periods +he would stand back a little, push his right arm up to the elbow in +his breeches pocket, and scratch his leg quietly; then he would turn +half round, and look up; then make to the pew door again; then leave +it, and so on to the finish. He was an earnest, plain-spun sort of +individual, but he got through his parabolical exposition very +satisfactorily. We fancied he would afterwards ascend the pulpit, +which was lighted up; but he kept out of it, and nobody ever went +near it at all, except at the finish, when a man quietly walked up +the steps and put the gas out. We could not exactly see the force of +lighting the pulpit when nobody ever went into it; but others in the +place might, for there are shrewd men amongst them, and they may +have found out some virtue in lighting gas burners when they are not +wanted. The music we heard was moderate; the praying which followed +was mildly exhilarating. + +When we turned into the chapel the second time--this was during a +forenoon service--there were located in it an elderly, fatherly, +farmerly man, who occupied the pulpit; eleven middle-aged men, with +subdued countenances; six young men with their eyes and ears open to +every move; nine blushing maidens with their back hair combed up +stiffly and their mastoid processes bared all round; nine matured +members of the fair sex with larger bonnets and more antique hair +arrangements; five little girls; four small boys; and seven singers; +making in the aggregate fifty-two. The person in the pulpit was, we +learned, a Fylde farmer; but he must at some time have lived in the +north, for he said "dowter" for daughter, "gert" for great, "nather" +for neither, "natteral" for natural, and gave his "r's" capital good +exercise, turning them round well, throughout his entire discourse; +and he cared very little for either singular or plural verbs. If he +got the sense out he deemed it sufficient. He spoke in a +conversational style, was more descriptive than argumentative, was +homely, discreet, and neither too lachrymose nor too buoyant. This +preacher, we have been told, was Mr. James Fearclough, of Hardhorn, +near Blackpool, who was the original organiser of the church. + +The singers, who collected themselves around a square, conical- +headed table, in a shy-looking corner, gave vent to their feelings +without music books. They had hymns before them, and these they held +to be sufficient. Their performances were rather of a timid +character; but this might be to some extent accounted for by the +fact that the conductor was absent. When they started a tune they +sighed, blushed, held their heads down, and looked up shyly into +their eye lids; but when they had proceeded a little and got the +congregation into a sympathetic humour, courage came to them, and +they moved on more exactly and courageously. About a dozen preachers +have been tried since the pulpit was vacated by the Darwen +gentleman; but the exact man has not yet been found, and until his +advent the congregation will have to solicit "supplies," and be +content with what they can get. None of the members can preach; +nobody in the congregation can preach; and their only hope at +present consists in the foreign import trade. The congregation has a +homely, unpretentious, kindly-hearted, social appearance, and when +in the midst of it you feel as if you were at home, and as if the +tea things had only to be brought out to make matters complete. +There are no loud talkers, no scandal-mongers, no sanguine souls who +get into a state of incandescence during prayers or sermons here. A +respectable, homely, smoothly-elegant serenity dominates in it. + +Two services are held in the chapel on Sundays, and on a Wednesday +evening there is a prayer meeting. A Sunday school, opened in 1855, +is held in the building, and is attended by about 50 children. At +present, the general business of the chapel is rather dull; and +there will be no perceptible improvement in it nor in the number +attending it until a regular minister is appointed. Listening to +stray sermons is like feeding upon wind--you may get filled with it, +but will never get fat upon it. We hope the Zoarists will by and by +be successful; that, having escaped to their present quarters, they +will keep them,--an effort has been once or twice made to purchase +the building for a public-house; and that they will never, like the +party who first fled to Zoar, become troglodytes. + + + +ST. LUKE'S CHURCH. + + + +With the district in which this Church is situated we are not much +acquainted. With even the Church itself we have never been very +familiar. It is in a queer, far-of unshaven region. Aged sparrows +and men who like ale better than their mothers, dwell in its +surroundings; phalanxes of young Britons, born without head +coverings, and determined to keep them off; columns of wives, +beautiful for ever in their unwashedness, and better interpreters of +the 28th verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis then all the Biblical +commentators put together, occupy its district. Prior to visiting +St. Luke's Church we had some idea of its situation; but the idea +was rather inclined to be hazy when we desired to utilise it; we +couldn't bring it to a decisive point; and as we objected to the +common business of stopping every other person in order to get a +perplexing explanation of the situation, the question just resolved +itself into one of "Find it out yourself." Exactly so, we mentally +muttered on entering Ribbleton-lane; and we passed the thirty feet +House of Correction wall to the right thereof, with an air of +triumph, redolent of intrepidity and independence. To the left of +the lane entered we knew St. Luke's was located; but doubt +overshadowed its precise whereabouts. The first street in that +direction down which we looked contained, at the bottom, six coal +waggons and a gate. Those unhappy-looking waggons and that serious +gate couldn't, we said, be St. Luke's. Another street to the left; +but at the end of it we saw only a tavern, some tall rails, and an +old engine shed. Convinced that St. Luke's was not here, we +proceeded to the head of the third street, and down it were more +rails, sundry children, a woman sweeping the parapet, and the gable +of a mill. At the extreme end of the next a coal office and a gate +met us. Number five street showed up the fading placards of a news +shop, and the cold stillness of a Sunday morning factory. Down the +sixth avenue we peered eagerly, but "more factory" met us. The +termination of its successor consisted of pieces of timber, three +arches, and some mill ends. We had hope as to the bottom of the +next; but it was blighted and withered in its infancy as we gazed +upon 25 tree trunks, a mill, and two tall chimneys. Additional wood, +an office, and an entire mill formed the background of the street +subsequently encountered. Extra mill buildings closed up the career +of the road beyond it; ditto beyond that; partially ditto +afterwards, the front of the picture being relieved by a few thirsty +souls, looking plaintively at a landlord, who stood with a rolling +eye upon door step, anxious to officiate as the "Good Samaritan," +but afraid to exercise his benevolence. After this there would +surely, we thought, be something like the church we were seeking. +But not so; a swampy wide road and more of the irrepressible mill +element constituted the whole of the scene presented. + +It is, however, a long lane which has no turning, and at last we got +to a small corner shop, below which were two clothes props, one +being very much out of the perpendicular, an open piece of ground, +numerous bricks in a heap, and a railed round edifice rising calmly, +sedately, and diminutively. This was St. Luke's--the shrine we had +been looking for, the Mecca we had been in search of. Plenty of +breathing space has the church now: on three of its sides there is +a wide expanse; but the cottage homes of England are steadily +approaching it, and in time the building will be tightly surrounded +by innumerable dwellings, whose occupants, we hope, will feel the +spiritual salubrity of their situation. St. Luke's has a serene, +minutely-neat exterior; is proportionate, evenly balanced, and +devoid of that tortuous masonry which some architects delight to +honour. It is a meekly-conceived, yet substantially-built little +church, with a rural placidity and neatness about it, reminding one +of goodness without showiness, and use without sugar-coated detail. +A modest spire, very sharp-pointed, rises above the tower at the +western side. At the angles of the tower there are pinnacles, +supported not by monstrosities of the common gargoyle type, but by +pleasant featured angels, duly pinioned for flying. There appears to +have been a "rage" for windows at this said western end. From top to +bottom there are fifteen; four being moderately large, and the bulk +of the remainder remarkably small. + +The interior of the church is particularly plain; is stone-coloured +all round; has an unassuming, modestly-serious, half-rural +appearance; has no tablets, no ornaments, and no striking colouring +of any kind on its main walls. It consists of a nave (depending upon +fourteen arches) and two aisles. The centre is pretty high, has a +narrow, open roof, and is moderately crowded with timber. The sides +are small, but in sitting in them you do not experience that buried- +alive sensation, that bewilderment beneath a heavy ceiling +elaborated with hugely awkward prop-work and pillars, which is felt +in some church aisles. Here, as at St. Mark's, there is a strong +belief in the healthiness of red curtains at the various entrances. +The chancel is high and open, and has rather a bare look. Within it +there are three windows, filled in with stained glass, of sweet +design, but defective in representative effect. The colours are +nicely arranged; but with the exception of a very small medallion in +the centre, referring to the Last Supper, they give you no idea of +anything living, or dead, or yet to be made alive. The windows were +put in by the late T. Miller, Esq;, C. R. Fletcher Lutwidge, Esq.; +and J. Bairstow, Esq., and they Cost 90 pounds. At the western end +there are three stained-glass windows, which look well. The colours +are rich, and the designs artistic. Two of them, we believe, were +fixed in memory of the late Mrs. Winlaw. The vestry stands on one +side of the chancel, and in the doorway of it there is a red +curtain, intended to keep out the tail end of whirlwinds and +draughts in general. When we looked into this vestry, the idea +flashed upon us that its occupant must be a specially studious and +virtuous gentleman, for upon the mantelpiece there were 14 large +Bibles, surmounted by three sacramental guides. But earth is very +nigh to heaven, and when we saw a series of begging boxes flanking +the books, and a looking-glass, which must at some time have cost +tenpence, we retreated. + +From the centre of the chancel, the church looks very imposing: +indeed, you get a full view of all its architectural details here, +and the conclusion previously arrived at, through what you may have +seen from other points--namely, that the edifice is simple, bucolic, +and prosaic--is entirely changed. The reading desk is a commendable +article, and with care will last a considerable period. The pulpit-- +circular-shaped, and somewhat small in proportions--has a seemly +appearance; but it looks only a homely-built affair when minutely +inspected, and might be pulled in pieces quickly by a passionate +man. Two or three curious articles are associated with it. At the +base, there is quietly lying an aged gutta percha pipe, the object +of which we could not make out; and in the pulpit there is another +gutta percha pipe, with an elongated, funnel-shaped top, put up, +probably, for some very useful purpose--for whispering, or speaking, +or sneezing, or coughing--which alone concerns the preacher, and +need not be further inquired into by us. There is a thermometer +opposite the pulpit, which, probably, is intended to test the +atmosphere of the church, but which may, for aught we know, be +serviceable to the minister in moments of extreme mental coldness, +or in periods of high clerical enthusiasm. If he can regulate the +sacred temperature of either the reading desk or the pulpit by this +thermometer, and can, in addition, utilise the gutta percha tubes as +exhaust pipes, then we think he will derive a tangible advantage +from their presence. Near the entrance to the centre aisle there is +a somewhat handsome stone font, octagonal in shape, carved on four +of its sides, and resting upon a circular pedestal, which is +surrounded by eight small pillars. Not far from and on each side of +the font there is an official wand, carried at intervals, with a +decorum akin to majesty, by the beadle. + +St. Luke's Church was opened on the 3rd of August, 1859; the cost of +it--land, building, and everything--being 5,350 pounds. The late J. +Bairstow, Esq., was an admirable friend of St. Luke's; he gave 700 +pounds towards the building fund, and 6,000 pounds for the +endowment. The church will accommodate 800 persons. Three-fourths of +the sittings are free. The average attendance on Sundays, including +school children, is 250. Considering that there are about 5,500 +persons in the district, this number is only trifling. When we +visited the church there were 280 present, and out of this number +160 were children. We fancied that the weather, for it was rather +unfavourable, might have kept many away, but when we recollected +that we had passed groups of men standing idly at contiguous street +corners, discussing the merits of dogs and ale, as we walked to the +church; and saw at least 40 young fellows within a good stone throw +of it as we left, hanging about drinking-house sides, in the +drizzling rain, waiting for "opening time," and talking coolly about +"half gallons," we grew doubtful as to the correctness of our +supposition. If men could bear a quiet drenching in the streets, +could leave their homes for the purpose of congregating on the sides +of parapets, in order to make a descent upon places essentially +"wet," we fancied that moderately inclement weather could not, after +all, be set down as the real reason for a thin congregation at St. +Lukes. The fact is, there is much of that religion professed by the +horse of Shipag in this district--working on week days and stuffing +on Sundays is the creed of the multitude. + +The congregation worshipping at St. Luke's is formed chiefly of +working people. In summer the scholars sit in a small gallery at the +west end; in winter they are brought into 28 seats below it. They +seem to be of a rather active turn of mind, for in their management +they keep two or three men and a female hard at work, and continue +after all to have a fair amount of their own way--not, perhaps, +quite so much of it as three youths who sat before us, who appeared +to extract more pleasure out of some verses on a tobacco paper than +out of either the hymns or the sermon--but still enjoying a good +share of personal freedom, which children will indulge in. There is +a service at St. Luke's every Wednesday evening; but it is not much +cared for. Only about 30 attend it, and it is not known to what +extent they enjoy the Proceedings. The instrumental music of the +church has apparently been regulated on the Darwinian theory of +"selection." What it was at the very beginning we can-cannot say; +but towards the commencement it appears to have been emitted from a +small harmonium; then a little organ was procured, and it came from +that; then a large organ was obtained, and from that it now +radiates. Some day a still larger instrument may be procured; but +the present one, which used to do duty in Christ Church, Preston, is +a respectable, good-looking, tuneful apparatus; and it is played +with ability by an energetic, clerical-looking young gentleman, who +receives a small salary for his services. The members of the choir +manifest tolerable skill in their performances; but they lack power, +and are hampered at line ends by the dragging melody of the +scholars. + +The incumbent of St. Luke's is the Rev. W. Winlaw--a grave, sharp- +featured gentleman, who comes from the north, and, like all his +fellow-countrymen, knows perfectly well what time it is. Mr. Winlaw +was originally an Independent minister, and he looks like one to +this day. He was a fellow-student of the Rev. G. W. Clapham, +formerly of Lancaster-road Congregational Chapel, Preston, and now a +minister of the Church of England. Mr. Winlaw was the successor of +the Rev. J. H. Cuff (father of Messrs. Cuff, of this town), at an +Independent Chapel in Wellington. In 1855 he was ordained by the +Bishop of Manchester to St. Peter's, Ashton-under-Lyne. In 1867 he +came to Preston, as curate of St. Paul's, and in 1859 he was +appointed incumbent of St. Luke's. Mr. Winlaw is a slender, +carefully-organised, cute, sharp-eyed man; is inclined to be +fastidious, punctillious, and cold; is a ready speaker; talks with +grammatical accuracy and laboured precision; is rather wordy and +unctuous; can draw out his sentences to a high pitch of solemnity, +and tone them off in syllabic whispers; has an active physiognomical +expression--can turn the muscles of his face in all directions; +shakes his head considerably in the reading-desk and pulpit, as if +constantly in earnest; is keenly susceptible, and has strong +convictions; couldn't be easily persuaded off a notion after once +seeing it in his own light; seems to have smiled but seldom; has +sharp perceptive powers--looks into you with a piercing eye; cares +little for the odd or the humorous--has a strong sense of clerical +dignity; would become sarcastic if touched in the quick; is earnest, +cautious, melancholy, and felt-hatted; has good strategic powers; +can see a considerable way; is vigorous when roused, maidenly when +cool, cutting when vexed, meek when in smooth water; is generally +exact in composition, and clear in style; but preaches rather long +sermons, and has a difficulty in giving over when he has got to the +end. In one of his sermons we heard him say, after a five-and-twenty +minutes run, "In conclusion," "Lastly," and "Finally;" and we had +almost made up our mind for another sermon after he had "finished," +but he decided to give over without preaching it. Mr. Winlaw, in the +main, is a fair speaker, with a rather eccentric modulation, is a +medium, gentlemanly-seeming, slightly-inflated, polished, precise +minister, who has earned the confidence of his flock, and the +goodwill of many about him. Like every other parson he is not quite +perfect; but he appears to be suitable for the district, and with a +salary of 300 pounds per annum is, we hope, happy. Day and Sunday +schools adjoin the Church. At the former, there is an average +attendance of 180; at the latter of 400. A capital library is +attached to the schools. Orange and other societies for the +maintenance of Protestantism, and the support of "Our glorious +Constitution," exist in connection with the church, and the members, +who are rather of the high-pressure type, enjoy the proceedings of +them muchly. + + + +EMMANUEL CHURCH AND BAIRSTOW MEMORIAL CHAPEL. + + + +Preston has been developing itself for several years northwards. +There was a period, and not very long since, either, when nearly the +whole of the land in that direction was a mere waste--a chaos of +little hills and large holes, relieved with clay cuttings, modified +with loads of rubbish, and adorned with innumerable stones--a +barren, starved-out sort of town common, where persecuted asses +found an elysium amid thistles, where neglected ducks held high +revel in small worn-out patches of water, and upon which rambling +operatives aired their terriers, smoked in gossiping coteries, and +indulged in the luxuries of jumping, and running and tumbling; but +much of this land has been "reclaimed;" many dwellings have been +erected upon it; and in the heart of it stands Emmanuel Church--a +building which ought to have been opened some time since, which +might have been opened 90 days ago if two or three lawyers had +exerted themselves with moderate energy in the conveyancing +business, and which it is expected will be consecrated and got ready +for the spiritual edification of the neighbourhood in a few weeks. +The locality assigned to Emmanuel Church used to form part of St. +Peter's district; but that church having enough on its hands nearer +home, it was decided to slice off a portion of its area, and start a +new auxiliary "mission" northwards. Thomas Tomlinson, Esq., of +London, gave land at the end of Brook-street sufficient for a new +church and schools; subscriptions for the erection of the necessary +buildings were afterwards solicited; sums of money were promised; +but enough could not be obtained to carry out the entire work, so +the building committee, acting upon the sagacious plan that it is +easier at any time to lift a pound than a ton, concluded to make a +start by constructing schools. This was in 1865. After the lapse of +a short time the schools were completed, and up to the present (Dec. +1869) worship has been held in them. + +The schools are strong and good; the principal room wherein the +religious services are held has a tincture of the ecclesiastical +element in its interior architecture; but either those who attend it +or those who exercise themselves about its precincts are of too +active a disposition, for nineteen squares of glass in its windows +are cracked, and this rather "panes" one at first sight. There were +about 240 persons, 80 or 90 being children, in the building when we +paid our Sunday visit to it. + +The congregation was of the working class species. At the north-east +corner seven or eight singers, somewhat vigorous and expert in their +music, were stationed; a female who played a little harmonium was +near them; and in one corner, in a small pulpit run up to the wall +as tightly as human skill could devise, was a condensed Irish +gentleman, whom nobody seemed to know, but who turned out, in the +end, to be an Oswaldtwistle minister, who had exchanged pulpits with +the regular clergyman. He was a cute, well-educated little party; +but awfully uneasy--was never still--moved his head, arms, and body +about at the rate of 129 times a minute (we timed him with a good +centre-seconds watch), talked much out of the left corner of his +mouth; was full of rough vigour and warm blood; would have been a +"boy" with a shillelagh; and yet he got along with his work +excellently. We couldn't help smiling when we saw, during the +preliminary portion of the service, another surpliced gentleman join +him. Just when the lessons came on a stout, plump-featured, and most +fashionably-whiskered young man stepped into the pulpit, crushed the +little Oswaldtwistle party into the north-eastern Corner of it, and +poured out for about twenty minutes a sharp, monotonous volume of +sacred verses. The scene underwent further development when, during +the singing, both stood up side by side. The pulpit, would hardly +hold them; but they stuck well to its inner sides, cast tranquil +fraternal glances at each other, once threw a Corsican brother +affection into the scene, looked now and then fierce, as if feeling +that each had as much right to the pulpit as the other, and finally +marched off with a twinly love beaming in their eyes, to the vestry +adjoining, from which in a few minutes the Oswaldtwistle minister +emerged in a black gown, and entered the pulpit, whilst his +companion followed, in a buttoned-up black coat, to the front of the +communion rails, where he took a seat and became very quiet. The +sermon was briskly condemnatory of unbelief, for ten minutes, then +got immensely pungent as to Popery, and ended in a coloured star- +shower concerning the excellence of "the good old Church of +England." We couldn't help admiring the preacher's eloquence; and a +man who sat near us, and at the finish said, "Who is that fellow?"-- +a rather vulgar kind of query--seemed to be fairly delighted with +him. + +The Church, in which the services will soon be held, stands close to +the school. It is a curious piebald-looking building; is made of +brick with intervening stone bands and facings; and is something +unique in this part of the country. In the south of England-- +particularly in the metropolitan districts--such like buildings are +not uncommon; but hereabouts architecture of the Emmanuel Church +type seems odd. The edifice, although quaint, and rather poor- +looking at first sight, owing to its bricky complexion, will bear +close examination; indeed, the more you look at it and the better +you become reconciled to its proportions. In general contour it is +symmetrical and strong; in detail it is neat and compact; and, +whilst the colour of it may indicate some singularity, and strike +you as being eccentrically variegated, there is nothing in any sense +improper about the character of its materials, and as time goes on, +and familiarity with them is increased, they will cease to look +whimsical and appear just as good as anything else. The general +architecture of the building is of the early English type; the +design, &c., being furnished by Messrs. Myres, Veevers, and Myres, +of Preston. At the west end there is a rather prettily shaped tower, +surmounted at each corner with a strong stone pinnacle; the extreme +height being 100 feet. A few yards above the centre of the tower +there are angular projections--stretched-out, dreadful-looking +figures, a cross between vampires and hyenas--and you feel glad that +they are only made of stone, and in the next place that they are a +good way off. The man who carved them must have tightened up his +courage to the sticking point many a time during the completion of +these uniquely-unbeautiful figures. The principal entrance to the +church is at the western end, where there is a pretty gabled and +balconied porchway, elaborated with carvings, some of which are +being executed at the expense of patriotic youths, who pay for a +yard or two each, as they are in the humour, and expect an +apotheosis afterwards. The doors at this end open into an inner +vestibule, which is well screened from the main building, and may be +used for class purposes, the rendezvousing of christening parties, +or the halting plate of sinners, who go late to church, and hesitate +until they get desperate or highly virtuous before proceeding +further. In a corner at the north-west there is a beautiful +baptismal font, made of Caen stone, ornamented with emblematic +figures and monograms, and supported by four small columns of Leeds +stone. The font is covered up by a piece of strong calico, in the +shape of a huge night-cap, and the arrangement suits it, for however +closely covered down the cap may be, no grumbling of any sort is +ever heard. The building is cruciform in shape, and has a strong, +yet tastefully-finished, galleried transept, approached by +collateral doers, which also give ingress to the church on the +ground floor. The entrances are so arranged that everything in the +shape of that most objectionable of all things--a draught--is +obviated. It is expected that sufficient wind will be brought to +bear upon the question by the organ blower, without admitting +additional currents through the doors. + +The church has a solid, substantial, well-finished interior, and the +only fault which can be found with it is, that it is rather low. If +the roof could be lifted a yard or so higher, the general effect +would be wonderfully improved; but it would be very difficult to do +this now; and we suppose the altitude, which was regulated by the +funds in hand during the process of building, will have to remain as +at present. But the lowness of the roof may have some compensating +advantages. If higher the church might have been colder, and its +sounding properties, which are good, might have been interfered +with. At present the space is condensed, and this tends to +concentrate both warmth, and what acoustical gentlemen term, +reverberation. The roof is strongly filled in with diagonally laid, +dark-stained timber, is open and semi-circular, but looks rather +heavy and gloomy. There are no huge ungainly pillars in the body of +the building; an easy, capacious freedom prevails in it; seeing is +not a difficult business; the first sensation which increases as you +remain in the church, is calmly pleasurable and satisfactory. There +is nothing flimsey, nor specious, nor whimsical in the place; +evenness and harmony of proportion; simplicity and solidity of +style, strength and straightforwardness of workmanship, strike you +as its characteristics. The pulpit, which is made of stone, and +approached by an internal staircase, adorned on one side with open +pillars, is most durable, and handsome in style. Every part of the +church can be seen from it; and several parsons might be +accommodated in it and the balcony immediately adjoining. The +reading desk is of carved oak, and, although rather small, has a +tasteful and substantial appearance. T. Tomlinson, Esq., who gave +the font, presented both the pulpit and the desk, and has likewise +given the ceremonial books. The lectern--strong, ornamental, and +weighty--is the gift of M. Myres, Esq. The chancel is tolerably +lofty and cheerful-looking. Good windows are inserted in it; but the +main one is inferior in design to those in the transept, and that at +the western end. Passages of scripture are painted round the arches +of the chancel and transept; the expense thereof having been +defrayed by Mr. Park, decorator, and Mr. Veevers, of the firm of +Myres, Veevers, and Myres. There is a neat dado round the church, +which was made at the expense of Mr. J. J. Myres. The seats in the +church are most conveniently arranged. They are well fit up, have +good sloped backs, and are so constructed as to accommodate either +large or small families in separate sections. Emmanuel Church, the +foundation-stone of which was laid on the 18th of April, 1868, by +Sir T. G. Fermor-Hesketh, M.P., has cost, in round figures, 6,000 +pounds. It will accommodate 1,000 people, and all the seats, except +359, are free. + +The church, considering its capacity and general finish, is thought +to be one of the cheapest buildings for miles round. Some time, when +the building fund has been replenished, a parsonage house will be +erected at the eastern end of the church. The schools which adjoin +are attended, during week days, by upwards of 220 scholars; and on +Sundays the attendance, including the various classes, with their +teachers, &c., will be about 450. There is a "Conservative +Constitutional Association" in connection with Emmanuel Schools. The +members meet in a building which was once a farmhouse, near the +church; they have for ever of courage; can discuss the great +concerns of the empire with ease and eloquence; are prepared at any +time to administer remedies for all the grievances of the five +divisions of the human race, as classified by Blumenbach; and would +be willing to sit daily, from ten till four, on the highest peak of +Olympus, and direct the affairs of the universe. + +The minister of the church is the Rev. E. Sloane Murdoch; and we +dare say if the Cuilmenn of Erin, or the Book of the Uachongbhail, +or the Cin Droma Snechta, or the Saltair of Cashel could have been +consulted, his ancestors would have been found named therein. Mr. +Murdoch is a young man, hails from Derry, possesses a strong +constitution, has small, sharp eyes, and a very round head; has +remarkably smooth hair, brushed close to the bone, and well parted; +and is of a determined, active disposition. Following the example of +many other parsons, he likes a closely-buttoned coat and a walking +stick. He is sharp, quick in resenting aggressions, would soon have +his native blood stirred, is tempted to be a little imperious, +considers that he is a power in the district, has much endurance, is +systematical in thought, wary in expression, hesitates and flutters +a little in some of his sentences, has a strong Hibernian brogue, +but is precise with it; throws more recollection than original +thought into his utterances, visits his district well, is a fair +scholar, is dry and prosaic until warmed up, can feel more than he +can express, has little rhetorical display, seems as if he would +like to shake himself when at a white heat, gets 195 pounds a year-- +135 pounds from Emmanuel Church, and 60 pounds for his services at +the workhouse--and would not find any fault whatever if the sum were +raised to 300 pounds. Mr. Murdoch was originally ordained curate of +a parish in the diocese of Kilmore, the father-in-law of the present +incumbent of St. Peter's, Preston, being bishop thereof at the time; +he stayed in the parish about a year; then went into the diocese of +Derry, taking a curacy near Coleraine, which he held for three +years; got a degree at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1858; was then +ordained by the late Bishop of Killaloe; came to St. Peter's, +Preston, as curate, in the spring of 1863; stayed there upwards of +three years; and was then agreeably translated to Emmanuel Church. +Mr. Murdoch is a very useful minister in the district, has striven +much to illumine the sinners thereof, is bringing them now to a very +fair state of enlightenment, and may in time get the whole district +into a bright state of sacred combustion. + +At the bottom of Fishergate Hill, in Bird-street, there is a small, +clean-looking, pleasantly-formed building which, since the 14th of +October 1869, has been used as a chapel of ease for Christ church. +It cost 1000 pounds, was built conjointly by Mr. R. Newsham, Mr. J. +F. Higgins, and Mr. W. B. Roper in memory of the late J. Bairstow, +Esq., who left each of them several thousands; will accommodate +about 240 persons; is tolerably well attended; and is one of the +tidiest little places of worship we have seen. No effort at +architectural display has been made in its construction. It has a +brick exterior, has a comely little porch at the west end, is +surmounted in the centre by a turret, has several yards of iron +railing bending in various directions near the front, and will +require considerable protection, if its general health has to be +preserved. None of the windows have yet been broken, but we dare say +they will be by and by, for the neighbourhood possesses some +excellent stone-throwers; the Ribble has not yet flowed into it, but +it may pay one of its peculiar visits some day, for in this quarter +it is no respecter of buildings, whether they be chapels or public +houses. The edifice has a light, simple, unassuming interior. Chairs +seem to constitute the principal articles of furniture. There are +232 for the congregation, and 232 little red buffets as well, 11 for +the choir, one for the organ blower, and two for the parson. At the +top of each chair back there is a thick piece of wood on which is +plastered a printed paper, requesting the worshippers to kneel +during prayers, and to join in the responses. The paper also makes a +quiet allusion to offertory business, the defraying of expenses, and +the augmentation of the curate's salary. The chairs are planted down +the church in two rows, and they look very singular. The organ at +the south east corner is a pretty little instrument. A reading desk +on the opposite side, standing upon a small platform, suffices for +the pulpit. Behind there is a strip of strong blue-painted canvas +bearing a text in gilt letters referring to the Sacrament. Above +there is a three-light stained glass window. At the western end, +just under the doorway, a marble tablet is fixed; and upon it is an +allusion to the virtues of the late J. Bairstow, Esq., and to the +gentlemen who erected the building. The average congregation +consists of about 200 middle and working class people. The services +are generally conducted by the Rev. J. D. Harrison, curate of Christ +Church--a young gentleman who works with considerable vigour, and +never sneezes at the offertory contributions, however small they may +be. Mr. Harding, of this town, designed the building, which is a +homely, kindly-looking little affair--a bashful, tiny, domesticated +creature, a nursling amid the matured and ancient, a baby among the +Titans, which may some day reach whiskerdom and manhood. + + + +ST. MARY'S CHURCH. + + + +"And now, finally, brethren." To the "beginning of the end" have we +got. The journey has been long and tortuous. When we have proceeded +forty inches further we shall stop. Not with the "last rose of +summer," nor with the "last of all the Romans," nor with the "last +syllable of recorded time," nor with the "last words of Marmion"-- +the Mohicans are barred out--have we to deal, but with the last +place of worship, fairly coming within the category of "Our Churches +and Chapels." St. Mary's Church is situated in a huge, rudely-spun +district, known by the name of "New Preston." That district used to +be one of the wildest in this locality; "schimelendamowitchwagon" +was not known in it; not much of that excellent article is yet known +in it; and tons of good seed, saying nothing of manure, will have to +be planted in its hard ground before it either blossoms like the +rose or pays its debts. This district was originally brought into +active existence by John Horrocks, Esq., the founder of the Preston +cotton trade. Prior to his time there were a few people in it who +believed that 10s. a week was a good wage, and that Nixon's Book of +Prophecies was an infallible guide; but not before he planted in the +locality a body of hand-loom weavers did it show signs of commercial +vivacity, and begin to develope itself. Handloom weaving is now +about as hopeless a job as trying to extract sunlight out of +cucumbers; but at that time it was a paying air. Weavers could then +afford to play two or three days a week, earn excellent wages, +afterwards wear top boots, and then thrash their wives in comfort +without the interference of policemen. They and their immediate +descendants belonged to a crooked and perverse generation. Cock- +fighting, badger-baiting, poaching, drinking, and dog-worrying +formed their sovereign delights; and they were so amazingly rude and +dangerous, that even tax collectors durst not, at times, go amongst +them for money. Men of this stamp would be much appreciated at +present. The population has thickened, and civilisation has +penetrated into the region since then; and yet the "animal" +preponderates rather largely in it now. Rats, pigeons, dogs, and +Saturday night eye openers--toned down with canary breeding, ale- +supping, herb-gathering, and Sunday afternoon baking--still retain a +mild hold upon the affections of the people, and many of the +youthful race are beginning to imitate their elders admirably in all +these little particulars. A pack of hounds was once kept for general +enjoyment in "New Preston;" but that pack has "gone to the dogs"-- +hasn't been heard of for years. + +During the past quarter of a century what missionary breakfast men +call a "great work" has been done by way of evangelising the people +in this quarter of the town; and very much of it has been achieved +through St. Mary's Church and schools. For a very long period the +schools in connection with St. Mary's have formed an excellent +auxiliary of the church. Prior to the erection of the church, +scholastic work was carried on in some cottages on the north side of +what is now termed New Hall-lane. The scholars were then in the care +of the Parish Church. When St. Paul's was erected they were handed +over to it. Afterwards, when St. Mary's was raised, a building was +provided for them in a street just opposite, which has undergone +many alterations and enlargements since, owing to the great increase +in the number of scholars. The principal room of the schools is the +largest in Preston, with one exception--the assembly room of the +Corn Exchange. A little cottage-house looking place, up New Hall- +lane, constitutes a "branch" of the schools. The average week-day +attendance is about 900; whilst on a Sunday the gathering of +scholars is about 1,200. At the schools, on Sundays, there are male +and female adult classes; and on week-days a number of earnest +mothers meet therein for the purposes of instruction, consolation, +and pious news-vending. At the schools--we shall get to the church +and Mr. Alker by and by, so be patient, if possible--there is a +"Church of England Institute," under whose auspices innocent games +are indulged in, and periodicals, &c. read. A Conservative +association, established to guard the constitutional interests of +Fishwick Ward, also holds its gatherings in one of the rooms. The +Rev. Robert Lamb, a very energetic man, and formerly incumbent of +St. Mary's, gave the first great impetus to the schools, which are +the largest of their kind in Preston. Mr. Lamb is now at St. Paul's, +Bennett-street, Manchester, and, singular to say, he has worked up +the schools of that church until they have become the greatest in +the city. The late T. Miller, Esq., was a warm friend of St. Mary's +schools, and, whenever any extensions were made at them, he always, +on having the plans and estimates submitted to him, defrayed one- +third of the expenses. + +St. Mary's Church stands just at the rear of the Preston House of +Correction. That is better than standing inside such a grim +establishment--any site before the insite (oh) of a prison; and has +for its south western support the store-house of the Third Royal +Lancashire Militia. It forms one of the churches erected mainly +through the exertions of the late Rev. R. Carus Wilson; and like its +brethren is built in the Norman style of architecture, the designer +being Mr. John Latham. The first stone of the edifice was laid in +May, 1836; in 1838 the church was opened; and in 1853 it was +enlarged by the erection of a transept at the northern end. The late +John Smith, Esq., gave the site for it. The building is surrounded +by a graveyard, which might be kept in better order than it is. The +Rev. R. Lamb considerably impoverished himself in enclosing the +ground; and the Rev. H. R. Smith, one of the incumbents, afterwards +spent a sum of money in ornamenting it with shrubs, &c.; but nobody +cares much for it now, and Nature is permitted to follow her own +unfettered way in it. Formerly there was a road to the church from +the west, through some land adjoining the House of Correction; and +it was a great convenience to those living on that side of the town; +but for some reason it was closed; and one of the most roundabout +ways imaginable has been substituted for it. St. Mary's is one of +those churches which can be felt rather than seen. Until you get +quite to it you hardly know you are at it. Approaching it from the +west the first glimmering of it you have is over one end of the +House of Correction. At this point you catch what seems to be a +cluster of crosses--the surmountings of the tower; visions of a +ponderous cruet-stand, of five nine pins, and other cognate +articles, then strike you; afterwards the body of the church +broadens slowly into view, and having described three-fourths of a +wide circle with your feet, and passed through a strong gateway, it +is found you are at the building. St. Mary's has a strong, heavy, +compact appearance. Its front is arched below and storied above; it +has ivy creeping up its walls--trying probably to get to some of the +five nondescript ornaments above the tower--and has a half baronial, +half old hall look at first sight. Some years ago there was much ivy +about the general building; but the "rare old plant" engendered +dampness and had to be pulled down. At each side of the front there +is a small pinnacle, and flanking the gables of the transept there +are four somewhat similar elevations. They are mainly used by +sparrows. + +The church can be approached by a doorway at the eastern end of the +transept; but the bulk of the worshippers pass through those at the +southern or front end--three in number, and rather heavy and dim in +appearance. The centre one leads into the body of the building, and +we may as well take advantage of it. We are just within; above there +is a serious looking groined roof, with a lamp suspended from the +middle of it; before us there is a screen, filled in with clear +glass, through which you can see the worshippers who seem thin and +scattered. Formerly the back of a sharply drawn up, dangerous +gallery, for scholars, over which careless children might have +fallen with the greatest ease, occupied the place of this screen, +and a series of hot water pipes--apparently intended for warming the +doorway and the churchyard in front, for they could have been of no +use to people inside the building--were fixed there. In 1866, when +the church was renovated, they were carried about fifteen yards into +the edifice, where they may be seen to this day. We sat close to +eight of them, with a top coat on, one Sunday evening, as a +compensation for being nearly starved to death in one of the back +side wings in the morning, and felt charmingly cooked at the end of +the service. On the left side of the central entrance, and near the +glass door and the screen, there is an elaborately carved box of +Gothic design, intended for missionary contributions; but it is +fixed in such a dim corner that nobody can see it. We have +recommended the beadle to place this box in a more prominent +position, for it is worth looking at as an ornament, even if nothing +is put into it. The aperture in the lid might be closed, and the box +could then be hung up beside the doorway lamp, so that its +proportions might be fairly realised. The interior of the church is +broad and lofty, but through its Norman configuration it is stiff +and coldly ponderous in effect. Massive bare walls, high narrow +windows, and a semi-sexagonal ceiling dependent upon rather ungainly +beams and rafters, like a series of hanging frames, chill you a +little; but on looking northward, to the end of the building, the +chancel and transept arches, which are strong and elegantly moulded, +relieve you, and as you advance the place seems to gradually assume +a finer and more imposing aspect. + +The chancel has a calm, goodly look; is, in fact, the best part of +the building, architecturally speaking. At the base, there is an +archway of tablets, upon which nobody ever bestows very close +attention; above, there are three staple-shaped windows; and +surmounting all, there is a round recessed light, which can only be +seen through by people who sit in the gallery. On the left side of +the chancel, there are two windows. There is no stained glass in the +chancel. If the windows were adorned with it, and the walls more +cheerfully painted, a very beautiful effect would be produced. Five +different kinds of carpetting, all very well worn, deck the floor of +the chancel. Within the communion rails, there is a rich carpet, in +needlework, made by some of the members of the congregation, At each +side there is as antique chair, being part of the furniture in the +vestry which adjoins, and which was given by the Rev. H. R. Smith. +It consists altogether of ten pieces--including chairs, bookcase, +looking-glass, dressing-table, chest, &c., and is about 200 years +old. The only stained windows in the building are in the west +transept. They are four in number; two being of the merely +ornamental type, whilst the remainder are of the memorial order. At +the bottom of one of them there are these words--"In memory of Mary +Smith, born 1779, died 1845. Erected by Henry Robert Smith." At the +base of the other window there is this inscription:- "In memory of +John Smith, born 1773, died 1849. Erected by the church, 1855." The +deceased persons referred to were the parents of the Rev. H. R. +Smith, who, as already said, was a former incumbent of the church. +The ends of the transept are very dim, and sometimes you can hardy +tell who is sitting in them. + +St. Mary's will accommodate 1,450 persons. The pews on the ground +floor, excepting a few free ones at the entrance and at the top of +the church, are all of the "closed" kind--have doors to them. When +the Church was renovated the pews were cut down about eight inches, +were remodelled, and thoroughly cleaned. Previously they were +painted, and had a gummy, sticky influence rearwards upon peoples +clothes. One or two bits of shawl fringe, &c., drawn off by the old +gluey paint still remain at the back of some of the seats +(notwithstanding the chemical cleansing they got), reminding one of +the saying of friend Billings, that "A thing well stuck iz stuck for +ever." The gas burners hang far down in pendant clusters from the +ceiling, and with their glass reflectors, which would cast off a +better light if cleaner, have a lamp-like effect, putting one in +mind, when lighted, of some Eastern mosque. The font is a prettily +shaped article, is made of fossil marble, and was given by the Rev. +Canon Parr and the wardens of the Parish Church, in which building +it once stood. It rests upon a platform of ornamental tiles bordered +with stone, and looks well. Above it is a carved wooden canopy +surmounted by a dove. The canopy is raised by a descending ball of +equal weight. When the ball falls the pigeon rises. In ordinary life +the ball rises when the pigeon falls; but this is not the case at +St. Mary's, although it amounts to the same thing in the end, for +after the pigeon has ascended three feet the ball descends upon its +back and settles the question. + +At the southern end there is a large gallery, overshadowing the +noisiest galaxy of Sunday infants we ever encountered. There are +more infants at St. Mary's schools than at any other place in +Preston, and trouble, combined with vexation of spirit, must +consequently exist there in the same ratio. The bulk are kept from +the church; but a few manage to creep in, and when we saw them they +were having a very happy time of it. Some whistled a little--but +they seemed to be only learners and couldn't get on very well with +tunes; others tossed halfpennies about, a few operated upon the +floor with marbles, and all of them were exceedingly lively. The +gallery above is large, deep, and long; ingress to it is tortuous; +and strangers would have to inquire much before properly reaching +it. There is an old funeral bier in one part of it, and we have +failed to ascertain the precise object of the article. It is not +used when fainting fits are in season; it is never taken advantage +of in the case of people who fall asleep, and require carrying home +to bed; it seems to be neither useful nor ornamental; and it ought +to be either taken off to the cemetery and quietly inurned, or sold +to one of the sextons there. + +In the gallery there is a large organ. It is a very respectable- +looking instrument, has a healthy musical interior, and is played +moderately. The members of the choir, to whom several people in the +bottom of the church look up periodically, as if trying to find out +either what they were doing or how they were dressed, are only in +embryo. They are new singers; but some of them have fair voices, and +in spite of occasional irregularity in tune and time, they get along +agreeably. The elements of a good choir are within them, and they +have only to persevere, in order to secure excellence, saying +nothing of medals, and other tokens of appreciation. The whole of +the seats in the gallery, generally used by scholars, are free. + +St. Mary's is situated a district containing about 8,000 persons, +and as they are nearly entirely of the working class sort, the +congregation is naturally made up of similar materials. Including 14 +militia staff men, the congregation will number, on an average, +without the scholars, about 500. More people appear to come late to +this church than to any other in Preston; they keep dropping in at +all times--particularly in a morning--up to within twenty minutes of +the finish; but they are connected with the schools, visit the +church after they have done duty there, and this accounts for their +lateness. The beadle of this church has the strongest, if not the +longest, official wand in the town, and he is very modest, blushing +occasionally, while carrying it. + +The first incumbent of St. Mary's was the Rev. James Parker, a +relative of Councillor Parker, of Preston, who had to retire through +ill health. He exchanged livings with the Rev. W. Watson, of +Ellerburne, in Yorkshire, who required a more active sphere, and +found it at St. Mary's. Mr. Watson afterwards found higher +preferment, and went to the South of England. Then came the Rev. +Robert Lamb, who worked most vigorously in the district. He is now +rector of St. Paul's, Manchester. His successor was the Rev. Henry +Robert Smith, who, after staying a while, retired to St. Paul's, at +Grange, where he still labours. The next incumbent was the Rev. +George Alker, who came to St. Mary's in December, 1857. He is still +at the church; but we dare say he would be willing to leave it for a +rectory, if one were offered, with 500 pounds a year. Mr. Alker is +an Irishman, and is about 42 years of age. He is rather tall; is +genteelly fashioned, has good features, wears an elegantly-trimmed +pair of whiskers, has pompous, odorous, Pall Mall appearance, is +grandiose and special, looks like a nineteenth century Numa +Pompilius, would have made a spicey Pontifex Maximus, ought to have +lived in Persia, where he might have worn velvet slippers and been +fanned with peacock feathers, would have been a rare general +director of either fire-eaters or fire worshippers; is inclined to +run when he walks alone, and to be stately, slow, regal, and precise +when, like Fadladeen, he is in charge of Lalla Rookh. Is a man of +determination, and never sleeps with his clothes on. Is a sharp +debater, a briskly-pompous, eloquent talker, has had a good deal of +trouble at time and time in putting on his kid gloves, which used to +fit so mortally tight that he couldn't stir his thumbs in them; +stands with a fine commanding air in the pulpit, as if about to +shoulder arms; preaches extempore; says "my brethren" more +frequently in his sermons than any minister we ever heard; has a +clear, keen intellect; is dexterous, courageous, impassioned, +imperious; has a lofty, threepence-halfpenny majesty about him; has +been a hard worker, a stiff fighter, and a stinging public lecturer. +After leaving Ireland, he took a curacy in Liverpool. In 1857 he +accepted a similar post at St. Peter's, Preston. Here he organised a +class of young men, 800 strong, and whilst here he set the town on +fire with anti-Popery denunciation; and of him it might, at that +time, have been said-- + +He comes from Erin's peaceful shore +Like fervid kettle bubbling o'er +With hot effusions--hot and weak; +Sound Humbug all your hollowest drums, +He comes of Erin's martyrdoms +To Britain's well-fed Church to speak. + +Yes, he was a regular Mr. Blazeaway, and what he said was equal to +the strongest of the theatre thunder and the most dazzling of forked +lightning. Other Irish curates have tried the same game on since +then in the town, but they have not been so successful; none of them +have yet got into decent incumbencies, and we are afraid they will +have to rave on for a yet longer period ere the requisite balm of +Gilead is found. After piling up the agony for a few months at St. +Peter's, Mr. Alker left for Dublin, stayed there a short time, then +retraced his steps to Preston, and in due time got the incumbency of +St. Mary's--an event which seems to have toned down all his fury +about the "abomination of Rome," and made him nearly quite forget +the existence of Pope Pius. Paraphrasing one of his own country's +poets, we may say,-- + +As bees on flowers alighting cease their hum, +So settling at St. Mary's Alker's dumb. + +Still be has occasional spells of anti-Popery hysteria; he can't +altogether get the old complaint out of his bones; Rome is yet his +red rag when in a rage; and he has latterly shown an inclination to +wind up the clocks of the Jews and the Mahommedans. He may have a +fling at the Calmuck Tartars and a quiet pitch into the Sioux +Indians after a bit. When Mr. Alker first went to St. Mary's his +salary was small; but it has now reached the general panacea of +incumbents--300 pounds a year. He has also a neat, well-situated +parsonage, on the south eastern side of the town, a good garden, +which has been the scene of many lovely sights, and a neat patch of +ground beyond. In his district Mr. Alker has been an energetic +worker, and in connection with the schools particularly he has been +most useful. For his services in this respect he deserves much +praise, and we tender him our share. His influence is hardly so +great as it used to be, still he is the great Brahmin and the grand +Lama of the locality. There have been five curates at St. Mary's-- +the Rev. W. Nesbit M'Guinness, clever and ambitious; the Rev. John +Wilson (not of St. James's), an industrious gentleman, who had a row +with the congregation in respect to his marriage, and afterwards +went away; the Rev. R. Close, a pretentious young man, who appeared +to use much hair oil and think well of pious gammon; the Rev. E. M. +David, a Welshman, who couldn't speak plainly enough for the +congregation, and had to retire; and, lastly, the Rev. Bernard +Robinson, who has been at St. Mary's about twelve months, and is +evidently working satisfactorily in the district. We have finished: +all is over; the lime lights are burning, the coloured fires are +radiating their hues, the curtain is falling, and bidding "Adieu" to +all our kind readers, we vanish. + + +A. HEWITSON, CHRONICLE OFFICE, FISHERGATE, PRESTON + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR CHURCHES AND CHAPELS*** + + +******* This file should be named 10479.txt or 10479.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/7/10479 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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