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Mr . Alderman Bridges said a few words in support of the grant . Mr . Evans observed , that as £ 500 , 000 was a sum so much below what was required for the purpose , it might be fit , if possible , to devise some other mode of supplying the remainder . He was also in favour of some provision to regulate the choice of the officiating minister .
Mr . W . Smith said , that the fact of the increase of Dissenters had been taken for granted , but he had neither yet seen nor heard any proof of it . In a countryparish with which he was well acquainted , although there was no Dissenting meet * ing-house within a considerable distance , the Church was entirely abandoned , for
no other reason but because it was badly served . On the other hand , in the city he represented ( Norwich ) there were 37 Churches , hut a greater number of places of worship belonging to Dissenters than perhaps in any town of equal population . They were large , and better filled than the Churches , but not because there was any want of the latter . He did not mean
to say that the snmllness of the congregations in the Churches was at all owing to the defects of the Clergy of Norwich , who were , in fact , a most respectable body . He believed it arose from accidents belonging to the place . On the subject of elections , and the assertion that they were innovations on the Church , he could not help saying that he apprehended that it was a mistake . An
Hononrable Gentleman on a former night had spoken of the degradation of the Clerg-y of the Establishment by elections ; but their utility was far more important , and their true dignity depended upon their utility . He ( Mr . S . ) thought that a portion of election ought to enter into the appointment of the ministers . No such
thing as election by canvas from house to house was known among the Dissenters ; they were chosen without any such degradation , and if this mode of solicitation were adopted with regard to the Lectureships in the Church , it arose from the parties not knowing how to set about their task in the be 9 t way . With respect to the sum required , he ( Mr . Smith )
complained that no means had been taken to ascertain whether the money could not be properly obtained from other sources ; and when it should appear , after due inquiry , that the Church property could be better employed , he would vote for the gratit ; till then he should think that the £ 500 , 000 ought to be applied to the relief of the burdens of the people .
Sir K . Ferguson referred to the course that had been pursued in a part of Scotland with which he was acquainted . The Church there was too small for the grow-
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ing population , and first one Chapel of Ease , and subsequently two others , had been raised by subscription among the inhabitants . Mr . Birch opposed the grant , referring to the state of Liverpool as far as related to Dissenters and places of worship .
Sir I . Coffin . I shall rote for the grant of £ 500 , 000 , for this reason—I have seen such an increase of devil-killers in this country—1 mean the Methodists — that unless we keep those Methodists out of our chapels and out of our houses , the
Church will be overthrown . These Methodists are such rooting fellows , that they get into our very cellars , and the consequence is , the prostitution and dishonesty of our servants . I have seen it from experience .
Mr . Butterworth rose , amidst cries of Hear ! and said he should vote for the grant , not on account of the increase of Dissenters , but on account of the increase of infidelity . He was sorry to have heard
the other night a most respectable Society—he meant the Home Missionary Society—spoken of in a harsh way by an Honourable and Learned Gentleman ( Dr . Lushington ) whom he did not then see
present . He knew that Society to be a most useful and meritorious body . He knew that it sent missionaries to instruct the people , into hamlets where there were no Church of England or any other ministers * He was most sorry to hear the ridicule with which religious subjects had been treated . If the Bible were
true , ( and if it was false , all they were doing was a farce , ) nothing connected with it should be treated with ridicule ; for such a tone taken by persons of weight and character in that House , did more harm than the publications of Carlile and
people of that description . He should support the vote on account of the increasing population of the country , and because lie approved of the Liturgy ot ' the Church of England , which he thought was founded on the doctrines of the
Bible . He thought , however , much more good might be done if they gave the subscribers to the erection of Churches some share in the nomination of the ministers . He knew a friend of his who had subscribed £ 1000 to the erection of a Chapel , and was now unable to enter it , because the character of the minister
was not what that of a Church-of-England clergyman should be . The Hoti . Member for Muihiirst ( Mr . J . Smith ) had said , he thought the money would be better applied to increase the number
of Schools than that of Churches . He was as zealous a friend to schools as the Honourable Member could be , and certainly every suggestion that fell from that Honourable Gentleman ( Mr . Smith ) was
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506 Intelligence . —Parliamentary : New Churches' BilL
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1824, page 506, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2527/page/58/
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