when such a sum was obtained, plans and estimates should be submitted to a meeting of the subscribers, for their approval. In January, 1844, the amount subscribed was 4.700l., and at a public meeting then held, the committee requested an extension of time for obtaining subscriptions-a request which was complied with, ou condition that a similar meeting of subscribers should be convened early in the year 1845. Appeals for further subscriptions to the object were immediately renewed, and the committee engaged the assistance of an efficient secretary, in order to make personal application for contributions, and to attend to the general business of the undertaking. After all the efforts made, the committee deeply regret that they are under the necessity to report that the subscriptions have not reached the proposed amount of 7,000l. by about 1,600/., notwithstanding the sum of 2,000l. was voted by the vestry, and upwards of 1,000l. has been subscribed by the committee themselves. The subscriptions obtained were solicited under a full impression that if the whole sum stated to be required for the restoration were not provided, the sum of 7,000l. (the amount which it was deemed would justify a commencement of the work,) would be without much difficulty procured; but as the committee have not been able to realize their hopes in this respect, they now feel it incumbent on them to give the subscribers the opportunity of considering the position in which both themselves and the committee are placed, and to ask the subscribers for their determination as the to course to be pursued.

"In procuring a survey of the edifice by architects of acknowledged talent, obtaining plans, drawings, illustrations, the publication of reports relative to the state of the building, the issuing of appeals and circulars, and the putting forth of advertisements, expenses have necessarily been incurred; and although the committee have observed the utmost economy the nature of the undertaking would allow, yet they find, from its attendant difficulties and the length of time over which their efforts have extended, the total amount of those expenses is considerable -being about 2007, more than was stated in the last report. These expenses will be defrayed out of the amount arising from the 10 per cent. on the subscriptions authorized to be called in by the last meeting, together with what may be produced by a further call of 5 per cent., which the committee now recommend this meeting to sanction. The necessary de

ductions being made, it is found that there remains only about 4,600l. strictly applicable to the objects for which contributions were given,-a sum, it is quite clear, wholly inadequate to the accomplishment of the design, so far as complete restoration is concerned. It would appear now, therefore, to be the duty of the committee to return to each subscriber the proportionate balance of the contribution paid by him, and to ask those who have not yet paid their subscriptions simply to contribute their proportion of the expenses. But as the residue in question is sufficient to effect much of that substantial repair most needful to be done, and would secure permanence and stability to the fabric for a long series of years, as well as a new arrangement of the pews, thereby affording increased accommodation to the inhabitants of the parish-objects which cannot possibly be accomplished by any other means the committee cannot but feel they would be wanting in their duty relative to the conservation of this sacred and venerable structure, and also the feelings of the subscribers, if they forbore to state this fact, and did not give them an opportunity to effect these truly desirable objects, by signifying their individual approval of such an application of the balance of their subscriptions. The committee trust they have now fully discharged their duty in laying before the contributors a plain statement of the facts of the case, and in recommending to them the alternative of securing the solid and permanent repair of the church. Should this alternative be embraced, the subscribers may depend on the utmost care, vigilance, and economy being observed by the committee."-Felix Farley.

HAMPSHIRE.

About 1,000l. has been already contributed towards the re-building of Bembridge Church, Isle of Wight.

HERTFORDSHIRE.

The New Church, at West Hyde, Rickmansworth, will be consecrated by the Lord Bishop of London, on Saturday, the 24th of May, instead of May the 6th, as first arranged.

KENT.

Lady Grey de Ruthyn, Lady Montresor, Miss Bagot, Sir Brook W. Bridges, Bart.; Hon. and Rev. W. Eden, Hon. D. Finch, and a large assemblage of the local and neighbouring nobility and gentry, were present at the re-opening of St. Martin's Church, Canterbury. The Bishop of Oxford officiated on the occasion. A pro

cession of the clergy, with the choristers and attendants, was formed to precede the right rev. prelate from the vestry-room, and the service was commenced by singing the old 100th psalm. The officiating clergymen were the Rev. O. Chesshyre and the Hon. and Rev. W. Finch. At the close of the service the collection at the Offertory amounted to near 701.

Proposals are in circulation for the establishment of a missionary college at Canterbury, principally in connexion with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts; and his Grace the Archbishop has given his sanction to the scheme, upon the understanding that it is to be" conducted in all respects on the principles of the Established Church, and to be under the superintendence of the Archbishops of Canterbury as visitors."

The beautiful tombs of the Black Prince, and King Henry IV., in Canterbury cathedral, are to be restored at the expense of the government.

LANCASHIRE.

On

NEW CHURCH AT LONSIGHT. Friday, the 28th of March, the first stone was laid of a new church, about to be erected, by the Manchester and Eccles Church Building Society, where the want of a church has long been felt, the only one in the neighbourhood being the small chapel at Birch, and there being no other church nearer than St. Saviour's, or St. Thomas's, Ardwick. The land has been given by Mr J. W. H. Anson. Towards the erection of the church, Miss Marshall has contributed 7001., and Mrs. Marshall, 2501; the funds to be provided by the Manchester and Eccles Church Building Society will probably amount to 3,000l. Miss Marshall also gives 1,000l. towards the endowment.-Manchester Courier.

LINCOLNSHIRE.

Two new churches are about to be built in the parish of Gainsborough, for the hamlet of Norton, and for the hamlets of Walkerith and East Stockwith, the former of which is a mile, and the latter three and a half miles from their parish church, and all three are entirely destitute of buildings for religious worship, except dissenting meeting-houses. The population of Norton is 620, and of Walkerith and East Stockwith together about 350. The sites for the churches are given by H. B. Hickman, Esq., the lord of the manor, and Mr. E. Sandars. The design has the full approbation of the Lord Bishop of the diocese, and is otherwise deserving of support, as the parishioners about two years since

built an additional church at Gainsborough which has 8,000 inhabitants.-Derbyshire Courier.

MIDDLESEX.

The Bishop of London preached on the 20th at St. Paul's, before the Judges, Lord Mayor, &c., as usual on the first Sunday after Easter Term.

TEMPLE CHURCH.-The following notice appears on the Temple Church :"Divine service will be performed daily in this church, at nine o'clock, until further notice."

THE SAILOR'S CHURCH.-A piece of ground for an Episcopal Church for the sailors of the port of London, has been obtained in the new street near the London Docks. The situation is admirably selected, as the church will be seen from the vessels in the docks, and the greater number of our neglected seamen, those who are employed in the distant foreign voyages, reside in this locality; the sittings are to be entirely free.

The Lord Bishop of Peterborough has consented to preach at the fourteenth anniversary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which is to take place at St. Paul's on May the 20th.

The Committee appointed by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury to conduct the arrangements for the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy, give notice, that, at the ensuing celebration of the festival in St. Paul's Cathedral, there will be, as last year, a full choral service, accompanied only by the organ. The festival will be celebrated on Thursday, the 8th of May, when it is expected that his Royal Highness Prince Albert will honour the festival with his presence for the second time; and after the conclusion of Divine service at St. Paul's, the friends of the charity will dine together, as usual, at Merchant Tailors' Hall, where, as well as after the service, there will be a collection in aid of the funds. The Rev. Dr. Jelf, Principal of King's College, will preach the sermon.

CHRISTCHURCH, ST. GILES'S.-This neat little Gothic structure is sufficiently advanced, towards completion to allow of its being opened for divine worship on Whitsunday next. The Lord Bishop of London has signified his intention of performing the ceremony of consecration on Friday, the 9th of May.

The Rev. Dr. Wolff, who has just returned from Bokhara, preached in Trinity Church, Gray's Inn Road, on Sunday morning, April 20, for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign

Parts.

The Committee of the Church Education Society for Ireland, have received an anonymous donation of 1,000l.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.-The porticoes of the western entrance of this cathedral are about to undergo a thorough cleansing and scraping, with a view to removing the incrustation that has settled on the stone-work arising from smoke and dirt. On Tuesday the scaffolding under the lower portico was erected, and the workmen commenced their operations. It has not, however, yet been determined whether the whole of the western front, as also the other outer portions of the building, will be scraped and cleansed, the lower part being tried first by way of experiment; if successful, the whole of the western front, which forms the principal entrance to the cathedral, and the elegant design of which has been universally admired, consisting of twelve lofty Corinthian columns below, and eight of the composite order above, surmounted by a handsome pediment, on the tympanum of which the Conversion of St. Paul is represented, will undergo the same operation.

The Rev. Mr. Benson has resigned the Mastership of the Temple.-Morning Ch.

THE REGISTRATION ACT AND CHURCH BURIAL.-On Tuesday, 25th March, the Rev. Thomas Wharton, of the Cemetery Parsonage, St. John's-wood, Marylebone, attended before Mr. Rawlinson upon a summons, which had been issued upon an information, which ran thus :-" Whereas information hath this day (17th of March) been laid before me, John Rawlinson, Esq., one of the police magistrates of the metropolis, sitting at the police-court in Marylebone, within the metropolitan police district, by Henry Pope, of St. John'splace, Camberwell New-road, in the county of Surrey, tailor, that you on the 23rd day of February, in the year of our Lord 1845, at the burial-ground at St. John's-wood, in the parish of Marylebone, in the county of Middlesex, and within the metropolitan police district, did bury and did aiso perform the funeral service for the burial of the dead body of James Holland, for which no certificate that the burial of the said James Holland had been ordered by any coroner was at any time delivered to you, the said Thomas Wharton, being the minister so officiating at the said funeral, and did not within seven days after so burying or performing the funeral service on the body as aforesaid, or at any other time give notice thereof, and that no such certificate had been delivered as aforesaid to Charles Berson Breary, who then was,

and for three months before that time, and ever since has been, and now is the registrar of the All Souls' district, in the said parish of Marylebone, within which dis trict the said James Holland died.”—Mr Gell attended, agreeably to instructions received by him from the Registrar of All Souls' district; the latter of whom was acting under the direction of the Registrar-General, to support the information. -The neglect to register in due time was not disputed by the rev. defendant.-Mr. Gell said, that in the laying of the information no other object was sought, than that of showing the rev. defendant that he had acted wrong, and that he might see the necessity of being more circumspect, as to the registering burials in future.-Under all the circumstances there was no penalty inflicted, and Mr. Gell consented to the summons being considered as withdrawn. NORFOLK.

LYNN.-On the 19th of April the Lord Bishop of Norwich laid the first stone of the new Church. There were supposed to have been about 6000 persons present.] OXFORDSHIRE.

Sir Walter and Lady Farquhar, Sir H. and Lady Willock, Hon. and Rev. H. A. Napier, and Mr. Thos. Bennett, have contributed towards enlarging Nettlebed Church, near, Henley-on-Thames, and building a Sunday-school in that hamlet. Mrs. Thomas Bennett's donation, in furtherance of that object, amounted to the sum of 300l.

SOMERSETSHIRE.

St. Stephen's Church, Beacon-hill, Bath, was opened for divine service on Wednesday, the 2nd of April, on which occasion a sermon was preached by the Rev. S. H. Widdrington, rector of Walcot, and the splendid organ which has been erected by Mr. Sherborne opened by Mr. G. Field.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

At a meeting of the general committee of the Lichfield Diocesan Church Extension Society, held at Lichfield, on the 26th of March, the bishop of the diocese in the chair, the undermentioned grants in aid were made in the following places: Burton-upon-Trent, 50%. (additional); Market Drayton, for the church, 751. (additional); Ditto for a parsonage, 50% (additional); Little Dawley, for a parsonage, 2001.; Christ Church, stone for enlargement of church, 40%.; Pensnett in Kingswinford, for a new church, 910%; Hartshorne and Ashby, a consolidated chapelry, 150%; Tansley for a parsonage, 2001,

SUFFOLK.

REMOVAL OF "PEWS." A vestry meeting was recently held in St. Margaret's Church, Ipswich, for the purpose of considering the propriety of removing the present inconvenient pews, and substituting open benches. The Incumbent, the Rev. G. Murray, took the chair. W. C. Fonnereau, Esq., of Christ Church, moved that the pews be done away with, offering a donation of 2001. to effect the change. An amendment was moved, but only five hands were held up in its favour. The present occupiers of pews are to have seats allotted them in the nave, and the rest of the nave and the two aisles to be declared for ever free, and the benches to have " Free" legibly written upon them. In all cases where the present occupiers of pews die, or leave the parish, or from any cause discontinue attendance, the seats thus vacated are also to be free. The expense beyond Mr. Fonnereau's donation is to be defrayed by subscription.

SURREY.

THE NEW CHURCH AT CAMBERWELL. -The unsightly buildings which have been so long unoccupied, but were formerly the grammar school at the east end of the church, are about to be pulled down, and the materials sold, by order of the Court of Chancery. At present they entirely destroy the view of the eastern part of this beautiful edifice and its singular tower, which, when they are removed, will be fully seen almost from Peckham.

On Sunday morning, the 13th of April, the Lord Bishop of Chichester preached a most eloquent sermon in the church of St. John, Waterloo-road, on the part of the necessary funds for completing another new church in the densely populated parish of Lambeth, at present building in York-street, Lambeth-marsh. His Lordship arrived shortly before eleven o'clock, when he was met at the middle entrance by the Rev. Dr. Doyley, the Rev. Mr. Irvine, curate of St. John's, the Rev. Mr. Johnstone, minister, and other parochial authorities.

The Lord Bishop of Salisbury consecrated a new Church at Broad Town, on Saturday, the 12th of April, in presence of a large number of clergymen and a very full congregation.

THE SWINDON STATION.-His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Lord Barrington, one of the directors of the Great Western Railway Company, recently visited the beautiful new Church lately erected at the Swindon station, from the design of Messrs. Scott and Moffat, calculated to hold about 1,000 persons. A church has been much needed at this spot, from the circumstance of its being the place where all the works connected with the locomotive department of the railway are carried on, a population of about 1,200 souls having suddenly sprung up. The Great Western Company and some private individuals liberally contributed to build a church; and it is expected that the consecration of it will take place next month, although the funds are yet deficient to meet the expenditure, and a considerable sum be required before the beautiful edifice can be completed. His Royal Highness was greatly pleased with the handsome yet chaste style of architecture, which was displayed, not only in the church, but in the unpretending mansion for the resident minister, and the schools for the children of the workmen. His Royal Highness having been graciously pleased to express his sense of the attention which had been shown him by the officers of the railway, left by a special train for the seat of Lord Barrington, who gave the same evening a ball, to which the leading gentry of the neighbourhood had the honour of an invitation.

WORCESTERSHIRE.

MALVERN LINK.-The Queen Dowager has recently subscribed 20l. towards the building-fund of the intended district church at Malvern Link, Worcestershire.

"E. W." received.