POLITICAL RETROSPECT. DOMESTIC.-The "sayings and doings" in the political world, since our last publication, have been of the most overwhelming importance. There is a defalcation in the Customs of 716,699l. Cambridge we blush for the degenerate sons of our alma-mater!-has poured forth her legion of matricides ; professors of astronomy and geology, botany and medicine, swaddled as they were in the Church, have unnaturally turned against their parent. The resident members of the senate, however, could not tamely see this attack upon their bulwarks without a solemn protest; and a counter-petition, of tenfold respectability, was resolved upon; on the presentation of which, the Bishop of Exeter nobly vindicated the character of the Universities from the dark insinuations basely flung against them by the Lord Chancellor. But this may be looked upon merely as the skirmishing of the light troops-the heavy dragoons, under Colonel Althorp, soon" charged with all their chivalry," and the Church rates, the funds for the repairs of the house and altar of Almighty God, were swamped in a few hours! It is true a sum of money was voted, as a compensation fund, out of the land-tax, which only plundered the Church of some sixty per cent.! but, as the grant must be annually brought before the House, the Church will be periodically subjected to the disgusting slanders of papists and heretics; and the filth of infidel tongues will be iterated by the Christ-denying Socinians, against all that is holy and venerable in the land. The abolition of tithes is another episode in the history of the Reformed House of Commons, in which the Whigs have taken an active part. The programme of the Bill, which abounds with characteristics of Whig modesty and justice, aims at nothing else than, as we think, the overthrow of the Church. For when the glosses of the sage commentators are stripped of their sophisms, this is the only conclusion at which we can arrive. The entire measure of Church Reform is, indeed, nothing more than a holocaust to the Moloch of Dissent. The pastor and his flock are set in battle array one against the other; religion being inconsistent with whiggery, and opposed to revolution, is to be voted a national evil-and the Universities, those hallowed spots, for centuries the bulwark and palladium of Christianity, are to be mixed up with the unassuming Binneys, Bennetts, and Broughams. The bill, however, is, at present, only in transitu; and, therefore, till the abomination of desolation actually pollutes our altars, we will follow the Roman maxim, and not despair of the welfare of the Church. The repealers and papists have sustained a signal defeat in the House of Commons, on the question of the Repeal of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. O'Connell's popularity is evidently in the "sear and yellow leaf." The question of the Poor Laws has been introduced in the lower house, and some judicious amendments propounded; whilst that distinguished patriot and excellent nobleman, Lord Kenyon, has, in the other house, called the attention of Government to the crying nuisance of the beer-shops—a nuisance which has encouraged arson and murder throughout the land, and tended more to demoralize the nation than all the mischievous exploits of all the radicals. FRANCE. Our readers, doubtlessly, recollect the brief notice we gave a month or two ago, that the revolutionary volcano was beginning to smoke in this unhappy country; since that time an eruption has taken place, and the lava-tide has overwhelmed Lyons, the second city of the empire! BELGIUM is the counterpart of France! and the cry of the reformers in both countries is, Blood, blood!! SPAIN AND PORTUGAL Continue a prey to civil dissensions. RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, PRUSSIA, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK.-These empires and kingdoms have adopted a strictly conservative policy. MRS. HANNAH MORE.-Our readers are aware that a monument to the memory of the late Mrs. Hannah More is to be erected by public subscription in the parish church of Wrington, where she spent by far the greatest part of her protracted life. The Rev. John Vane, the Rector, on accepting the benefice, found the church-rate burdened with a heavy debt, in consequence of the public-spirited manner in which the parishioners had restored that exquisitely beautiful edifice. He, therefore, most generously, made over to the parish the amount of all fees claimed by him for the erection of monuments in his Church. The parish, however, resolved in a most numerous and highly respectable vestry, to accept no fee for the monument to Mrs. More's memory. Here we have one more proof of the rapacity and extortion of the Clergy, in pressing their claims; and of the indifference of the people to their established religion, shewn by first repairing their parish church at very considerable cost, and then declining to diminish that cost, solely from their respect to the memory of A CHAMPION OF THE CHURCH. REV. JOSHUA LINGARD.-The Rev. Joshua Lingard, M.A. Gentleman Commoner of St. Mary Hall, and incumbent of St. George's Church, Hulme, has lately been presented with a very handsome set of robes, and a very elegant silver waiter, by the ladies of his congregation, as a tribute of respect for his public character and private worth. REV. C. T. JAMES.-A short time since, the parishioners of Luppitt, near Honiton, Devon, presented to their curate, the Rev. C. T. James, B.A. of Exeter College, a handsome piece of plate, as a humble token of their gratitude and esteem for his faithful discharge of the sacred duties of his office since his residence in that parish. MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE.-The following act of munificence of our Noble Lord Lieutenant, the Marquis of Lansdowne, deserves well to be made known in the present day. Last year it appeared to the inhabitants of Bremhill, Wilts, that additional church-room was required for the benefit of a portion of the parishioners who lived at a very considerable distance from the parish church. Under these circumstances it was proposed that an ancient chapel, the remains of which stood within the limits of the parish, should be restored and fitted up for the purpose. Accordingly, the Rector of the parish, the Rev. W. L. Bowles, having liberally consented to provide for the duty of the chapel when restored, a subscription was entered into with that view, and an application was made to the Noble Marquis, requesting his assistance as Lord of the Manor, who immediately desired them not to proceed any farther in collecting subscriptions, for that he would readily bear the whole expense of restoring the chapel himself. This chapel, it appears, had been founded some centuries back by the Hungerford family, with an endowment of 41. per annum, for the support of a minister; but, from the want of trustees, this endowment had been lost, and the building itself had fallen into a state of complete dilapidation. The chapel was opened for the celebration of divine service in the summer of last year. We should add, that a large and handsome Bible and Prayer Book, with an appropriate pulpitcloth and covering for the reading-desk and communion table, were presented by the Marchioness of Lansdowne. It is expected that the burial-ground will be consecrated, by the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, in the course of the present year. REV. B. BUDGE.-The late Rev. B. Budge, of Bath, has bequeathed the following sums to charitable purposes :-Bath General Hospital 100%.; Bath United Hospital, 100%; Bath National School, 100%; Monmouth Street Society, 100%; Bath Female Orphan Society, 1007.; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 100%. ; Gresham National School, 1007. REV. H. GAUNTLETT.-A subscription has been commenced for the family (consisting of ten children) of the late Rev. H. Gauntlett, vicar of Olney, Bucks. The Earl of Darmouth has subscribed 2007.; H. Hugh Hoare, Esq. 1007.; J. B. Praed, Esq. 251.; the Bishop of Lincoln, 107. &c. BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS.-Amongst the daily acts of benevolence and charity performed by this venerable prelate, his Lordship has granted new leases for three lives (without taking any fine or heriot) to fifteen cottagers, within the manor of Banwell. To further his Lordship's good intentions, his steward also liberally reImitted the whole of his fees on the leases. REV. HENRY HEAP.-The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently been pleased to confer the degree of B.D. on the Rev. Henry Heap, vicar of Bradford, in a manner highly flattering to him. REV. MR. LAKE.-It is stated in the Western Luminary, that the Rev. Mr. Lake has been removed from the curacy of Liskheard, by order of the Bishop of Exeter, upon information forwarded to his Lordship, that Mr. Lake had suffered a Wesleyan Minister to officiate in the desk of the parish Church. REV. MR. WEIGHT.-The Rev. Mr. Weight, assistant to the late Rev. Rowland Hill, is about to resign his connexion with the Dissenting interest, and to take orders in the Church of England. LORD FITZALLEN.-A Catholic nobleman, Lord Fitzallen, the son of the Earl of Surrey, and grandson of the Duke of Norfolk, is now a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. A short time since, Mr. Phillips, a Catholic gentleman, eldest son of the Member for Leicestershire, was a Fellow Commoner of Trinity College. NEW CHURCHES.-The new Church at Ide was opened for divine service, on Sunday, April 12th. Arrangements have been made for the erection of a new Church in the township of Broughton, the sole expense of which will be defrayed by the Rev. John Clowes; and a subscription has been commenced for the erection of a Chapel of Ease, in the hamlet of Moulsham. A new Church is about to be erected in the township of Cheetham, on a plat of land which the Earl of Derby has generously given for the purpose. The building, we understand, will cost 4,000l., the whole of which is subscribed, 2,000. being given by two individuals. ORDINATION. An Ordination will take place on Trinity Sunday, at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester. ANNIVERSARIES. May 7th and 9th-The Anniversary Meeting of the Sons of the Clergy will be held in St. Paul's Cathedral. Service to commence at two o'clock. May 14th.Adult Orphan Institution, to elect Six Contributary Wards. The Poll to commence at two o'clock and close at four. May 22d.-Examination of the Clergy Orphan School, at ten o'clock. May 27th.Anniversary Dinner of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, at the Freemasons' Tavern. June 5th.-Anniversary of the Charity Schools of London and Westminster, will be held in St. Paul's Cathedral. Appointment. Chapl. in Ordinary to His Majesty. Chapl. and Vic. of Christ's Coll. Manchester. Domestic Chapl. to Earl of Dunmore. Afternoon Lect. St. Nicholas, Newcastle. Chapl. to Lord Gray of Gray. PREFERMENTS. County. Diocese. Lancas. Freferment. Norfolk Plumbland, R. Cumb. Rynalton, R. Glam. Can. Res. in Salisbury Cath. Warfield, V. Berks Green, John Furlong, Charles J.. Gretton, Thomas. Patron. Chester Lord Kenyon Salisbury M. Windle, Esq. York { {P. of D. & Trustees of the late C.of Heref. S Northam. Peterboro' Earl of Cardigan York York Sidney Coll. Camb. St.Paul's, Stonehouse, P.C. Devon Onslow, Archd. Bocking, R. & Deanery Parry, Thomas Packlington, Roger, Skegness, R. Essex Bp. of Clonfert Vic. of St. Andrew's, Exeter Plymouth London Abp. of Canterbury Hereford Hereford E. J. Foley, Esq. Gloster Gloster Miss Master Lincoln Lincoln Earl of Scarborough |