the Society to aid in the enlargement of old or the building of new Churches in places which are, as we shall see further on, sadly in want of church accommodation for the working classes of the people, and who are, therefore, left in the dangerous position of either not receiving any religious instruction, or of taking up any sort of dogmas that may be placed before them, whether good, bad, or indifferent; to obviate which awful state of things the constant and strenuous labours of the Society are directed.

His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury was called to the chair on that occasion; where, also, were present the Bishops of London, Chester, Bangor, Ely, Peterborough, Hereford, and Lichfield; Sir R. Harry Inglis, M.P.; the Reverends the Dean of Chichester, Dr. Spry, Dr. Shepherd, J. Jennings, and Benjamin Harrison; Messrs. F. II. Dickenson, M.P., William Davis; Newell Connop (the treasurer), Wm. Cotton, S. B. Brooks, James Cocks, A. Powell, &c.

The Chairmen of the sub-committees having made their respective reports, the meeting proceeded to investigate the cases referred to their consideration, and eventually voted assistance to the amount of 3,130l. towards the erection of seven additional churches or chapels; the rebuilding, with enlargement, of three existing churches; and the extension of the accommodation in eight other existing churches.

The situations where the additional places of worship are to be erected are the following:-Lower Cam, Gloucestershire; Brackmoor, parish of King's Winford, Staffordshire; Languic, Glamorganshire: New Radford, near Nottingham; Mosley, in the township of Congleton, Cheshire; Hazlewood, in the parish of Driffield, Derbyshire; and at Little Metros, near Tetsworth.

The churches to be rebuilt are at

Westmeon, Hampshire; Bathwell, Nottinghamshire; and Honly, near Huddersfield.

The churches where additional accommodation will be obtained by enlarging, reseating, &c. are at Wichen, Ely; Fowley, Hants; Kirkdale, near Liverpool; Tottington, parish of Bury, Lancashire; Austrey, Warwickshire; Ugmaston, Pembrokeshire; Full Sutton, Yorkshire; and Upton-cum-Chalvey, near Slough.

The population of the eighteen parishes thus assisted is 154,615 souls, for whom accommodation, to the extent of 25,595 sittings, is now provided in thirty-six churches and chapels, of which 7555 are free. To this most scanty provision of church room 5683 will now be added, including free seats for 4963 persons; thus it will be seen that the present places contain accommodation for only one-sixth of the population, while the free seats are only in the proportion of one sitting for twenty persons.

The meeting next examined the certificates relative to the completion of new churches, enlargement, &c. of existing churches in several parishes and districts. These have been approved. The treasurer received authority to pay the grant in each case.

The provision of church room in these parishes previously to the commencement of the works now reported to be completed, was only 2832 seats, 1226 of which were free, while the population amounted to 11,022 souls; but 1920 additional sittings are now provided, of which 1182 are free and unappropriated in perpetuity.

Since the last meeting of the committee, forms of application have been forwarded to eighteen applicants, to enable them to submit their cases to the consideration of the board. Five of these applicants will solicit aid towards the erection of additional churches in populous places.

67, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

AT the General Meeting, held on Tuesday, the 5th of March, 1844, the Rev. Dr. Russell in the chair, the minutes having been read, it was moved by J. C. Meymott, Esq.,

"That the Standing Committee be

requested to reconsider the course taken in regard to Bishop Ken's Manual, and Archdeacon Hale's work, as reported at the meeting in February."

This was seconded by N. Goldsmid, Esq., and carried.

The following report from the Tract

Committee to the Board was read to the Meeting :

"The Tract Committee consider it due to themselves and to the Society at large to make the following report to the Board:

"The attention of the Tract Committee has been drawn to the prevalence of much dissatisfaction among members of the Society, with regard to the republication of the works of deceased authors, which are on the Society's Catalogue.

"The chief source of such dissatisfaction has been represented to them to be, a belief that the Tract Committee have been in the practice of making alterations as to doctrines, sentiments, and expressions, in the works of deceased authors, which had been adopted in their original state by the Society.

"Into the circumstances which may have given rise to such a belief the Tract Committee will not inquire, wishing to confine themselves to a statement of the facts with which they have been themselves connected.

"The Tract Committee was first appointed in the year 1834, a provision being made by the Board that all books and tracts should be referred to such Tract Committee, in like manner as they had been referred to the Standing Committee.

"In consequence of this resolution, some tracts which had been previously objected to at the Board, were referred to the Tract Committee for revision; and within the period which elapsed between their appointment and March, 1836, other tracts, against which objections were in like manner made at the Board, were by the Board referred to the Tract Committee.

"The Tract Committee accordingly examined such books and tracts as were so referred to them by the Board, and reported to the Board the results of their examination, recommending such changes to be made in those books or tracts as they thought desirable; and in no single instance does it appear that the Tract Committee authorized the publication of any work so altered without the express sanction and approval of the Board.

"Of the works thus referred to the Tract Committee, the following eight were altered by the Tract Committee, and with the alterations were submitted to the Board, and were afterwards published by the order of the Board; namely,

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They are not aware of any other work having been altered during that time. "The Tract Committee, having experienced great difficulty in fulfilling the wishes of the Board with respect to the revision of old books and tracts, were anxious to be relieved from this task, which was still urged upon them.

"At length, in March, 1836, they made the following communication to the Board:

"The Tract Committee regret to be obliged to report, that having endeavoured to the utmost of their power to fulfil the wishes of the Society, as to the correction of passages deemed open to objection in points of doctrine in works already on the Society's Catalogue, they feel themselves under the necessity of declining that part of the office assigned them by the Board.'

"This report was received by the Board.

"At the next Board, April 5th, 1836, the Standing Committee made a report, in which, having referred to the above resolution of the Tract Committee, they use these words:

"In consequence of this resolution, the Standing Committee think it desirable that the Tract Committee should be requested to direct their attention in future to the providing of new books and tracts, and that the duty of making such corrections in the old ones should revert to the Standing Committee.

"This duty, however, they doubt whether they shall be able to discharge in such a manner as to obviate all objections, or to give universal satisfaction.'

"The Tract Committee, from the time of communicating their resolution to the Board in March, 1836, to the present day, have strictly adhered to that resolution, and have never, except as hereinafter stated, made any alterations of the doctrines, sentiments, or expressions in the work of any deceased author on the Society's Catalogue; nor are they

aware of any such alterations having been made either by the Standing Committee, or otherwise.

"In the year 1841, it having become a matter of notoriety that changes of different kinds had crept into the Society's editions of some works of deceased authors, the Tract Committee and the Standing Committee conferred together upon the subject of providing that the old books and tracts should be faithfully reprinted; and in consequence the following resolution of the Standing Committee was reported to the Tract Committee:

Feb. 5th, 1841.

"Agreed: that the Tract Committee be requested to take such measures as they may think proper for the careful republication of the old books and tracts on the Society's List, and that they be authorized to employ a competent person or persons to revise them, when new editions are required.'

In compliance with this request, the Tract Committee have from time to time engaged the services of competent persons for the express purpose of securing the genuine text of the works of deceased authors already on the Society's Catalogue.

"Under this head may be mentioned 'Nelson's Fasts and Festivals,' and Bishop Jeremy Taylor's Golden Grove.'

"In the case of admitting on the Catalogue for the first time the works of deceased authors, the Tract Committee have adhered to the same plan in every case, adopting the edition which they believed to present most faithfully the author's own text.

"Under this head may be specified, among other works,Bishop Patrick's Consolatory Discourses,' 'Sutton's Disce Mori, and Disce Vivere,'' Archdeacon Welchman on the Thirty-nine Articles,' and Dean Stanhope on the Epistles and Gospels.'

The Tract Committee, therefore, so far from having adopted the measures which they are represented to have adopted, have been engaged, to the utmost of their power, in securing the publication, in their original state, of such works as had not been altered with the express sanction of the General Board.

"The Tract Committee desire it to be distinctly understood, that in these observations they do not in anywise advert to those books and tracts which hed, at any time previous to their appointment, been altered and adapted

to the use of the Society, and published by direction of the Board.

"The Tract Committee would willingly be relieved from the task of providing for the faithful republication of the works of deceased authors already on the Society's Catalogue; but in the case of admitting such works now for the first time on the Catalogue, they will, as heretofore, take all the care in their power that no work shall be put forth otherwise than as it was published by the author."

This Report having been read,

It was moved by the Rev. Dr. Spry, "That the Report of the Tract Committee now read be entered on the minutes, and printed in the Monthly Report."

This was seconded by the Dean of Chichester, and carried.

The Secretary stated that the above Report had been laid before the Standing Committee, at their meeting yesterday, and that they had agreed to the following resolution :

"The Tract Committee having this day communicated to the Standing Committee a report which they intend to present to the Board to-morrow, and which appears to call for some additional information as to circumstances that took place before the appointment of the Tract Committee, it is resolved,―That a statement of facts connected with the alterations made by the Society in the works of deceased authors, be drawn up by the Standing Committee, and submitted to the Board at the General Meeting in April.

"And that this resolution be communicated to the Board to-morrow."

The following memorial was then read to the Meeting :

"Memorial of certain Members of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, resident in the Diocese of Lichfield, addressed to the Chairman and Members of the Society, at their Meeting in Lincoln's Inn Fields, on the fifth day of March, 1844.

"We, the undersigned, having recently seen a publication, called, 'An Appeal to the Members of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, containing statements which appear to us very seriously to affect the character of the Institution, beg leave to submit the following observations to the General Meeting.

"It is stated in the Appeal,'-and the statement seems borne out by the instances cited,—that changes have been

gradually made in the character of the tracts issued by the Society; and in particular that the works of Old Divines, some of whom were founders of the Institution, or connected with it at an early period, have been in many cases altered,-that various doctrinal and practical statements contained in them have been omitted, and in some instances, language attributed to the authors different from that which they really used.

"We beg to express our earnest hope -and in so doing we believe we are speaking the sentiments of a large majority of members-that the sound and orthodox principles which have so long distinguished this Society, as the instrument of the Church of England in some of her most important functions, may jealously be maintained: and, at the same time, to state our opinion, that if the principles of the Society be compromised or tampered with, the result can only be the promotion of strife and dissatisfaction, and the ultimate disruption of the Institution.

"With regard to the changes made in the books of standard authors, we confess that we are both grieved and surprised-having always supposed that we were reading and distributing the genuine works of the Divines of the English Church.

We have in vain searched amongst the Rules of the Society for any authority by which the above-named alterations have been made. By the XXXIst Rule 'the Tract Committee is empowered to place upon the Society's Catalogue any Book or Tract which shall have been approved by them, and shall afterwards have received the sanction of the Episcopal Referees.' But it does not appear to us that this Rule gives any power to the Tract Committee for the time being to alter the books and tracts which have long been used for the purposes of the Institution.

"We beg that it may not be supposed that we desire to impute to the present or former members of the Tract Committee any wilful departure from the Rules of the Society; still less do we suppose that men of their high character would lend themselves to any design of misleading the public as to the views of the standard Divines of the English Church. We rather suppose that the practice of making alterations has been suffered gradually to grow up, without consideration of the very serious objections to which it is liable.

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Thirdly, Because the alteration of their language, and modification of their sentiments, and omission of their opinions, must have the obvious effect of giving to the numerous readers of the Society's books a wrong impression of the sentiments entertained by the Bishops and Divines of the English Church.

"Fourthly, Because their statements on many subjects (such, for instance, as passages on the Offertory and Festivals which have been omitted in the Society's editions) would, if fairly presented to the public, have tended to aid the exertions of those Bishops and Clergy, in the present day, who desire to restore the ancient and prescribed usages of the Church.

Fifthly, Because the Clergy and others who use the books of the Society are liable to be misled, and fall into misquotation, by referring to works which are not genuine.

"Sixthly, Because being made aware of these defects, we do not feel that we can conscientiously continue to aid in the distribution of books which are not the genuine production of the authors to whom they are attributed.

"We, therefore, respectfully submit, that the books on the Society's list should be restored to their genuine state, and that in future no alteration of the language and sentiments of deceased writers should be allowed; nor any omission, unless it be found absolutely necessary for the sake of curtailment: and that in such cases the attention of the Episcopal Referees be specially called to the omission, and the usual mark indicating omission be inserted in the text.

"In the meantime, we respectfully request to be informed, what books and tracts on the Society's list are genuine, and what are not so. And if such information cannot at once be afforded, we beg to suggest that a committee be appointed, who shall make a careful collation of the books of the Society with authentic editions, in order to ascertain to what extent the alterations of the text have been carried.

"It appears to us, that these meas res should be adopted without delay, in