tion of coming over to Protest antism. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHAPELS IN It appears from the "Laity's Directory" for 1827, published by Keating and Brown with the Authority of the Vicars Apostolic in England," that there are in Great Britain 403 Roman Catholic Chapels. Of these there are only 4 in Wales, and but two in Scotland. The English Chapels are classed as follows: [The Districts in which the Counties are situated, are thus desig nated: L. for London, M. for Midland, N. for Northern, W. for Western.] Chapels. London and the Vicinity ..25 Countics. Bedfordshire, L. Berks, L. Bucks, L. Cambridgeshire, M. Cheshire, N. Cornwall, W. Cumberland, N. Derbyshire, M. Devonshire, W. Dorsetshire, W. Durham, N. ... ... ... 15 The number of the Priests officiating at the above Chapels, is about 425. We subjoin a list of the Chapels in Lancashire. Alston Lane, Preston. Bedford Leigh, Warrington. Blackbrook, St. Helen's, Prescot. Bolton-le-Moors. Brindle, Preston. Brown Edge, Preston. Burscough Hall, Ormskirk. Burycum, Rochdale. Claughton, Garstang. Cottam, Preston. Fernyhalgh, Preston, 8 Formby, Liverpool. ... 8. ... ... ... 6 5 ... 14 1 4 6 Gillmoss, Liverpool. Lea, Preston. Lea House, Ditto. Leagrim, Chipping, Ditto, Liverpool, St. Edmund's. St. Nicholas's Pleasington, Blackburn. Southbank, Samlesbury, Preston, Weld Bank, Chorley. St. Mary's. Willows, Kirkham. Wrightington Hall, Warrington, Yealand, Burton-in-Kendal. The following notices from the Directory may be new and interesting to some of our readers. London Road, St. George's Fields. The Chaplains of this Chapel are obliged to attend at Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals; the King's Bench, the Surrey, Marshalsea, and the Clink prisons; at many large Workhouses, and upon a congregation consisting of about 7000 persons." "Hampstead, St. Mary's, Holly Place. This Chapel was solemnly blessed, under the invocation and in Honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Poynter, on Saturday 17th Augt. 1816, and opened by a solemn High Mass, on the day following, being the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption of the B. V. M. who is known in ancient times, to have been the patroness of this place. -God be praised." "New Chapel, Wade-Street, Poplar. A. B. The Rev. B. Barber engages to offer up the Masses of two Sundays every year, for the Benefactors of this Chapel, and likewise four masses in the year for all who lie in the buryingground belonging to it." Stratford, Essex, S. S. Patrick and Vincent de Paul. To this Chapel there are two large Schools, in which the children of the congregation, that is, of 3000 poor Irish, receive education and clothing." "East-Lane, Bermondsey. There are here near 5000 Catholics, almost all Irish labourers and mechanics. However consoling to the managers of these Schools, (the Schools of the congregation) the reflection that they have done so much good, yet it grieves them to see nearly 800 Children deprived of Catholic Instruction, some of whom go to Protestant and other dissenting schools, to the manifest danger of being perverted in their religion: there are others in workhouses, who are compelled to learn the Protestant catechism, and attend that form of worship every Sunday, or be excluded altogether; whilst many who frequent no school, must of necessity continue in ignorance of their duty towards God and to man. The Catholic public are respectfully solicited to support and patronise these charities, so deserving of public attention. Charity covereth a multitude of sins." "Northampton and Weedon.The late Rev. Vicar Ap. on surveying the wants of the Midland District, found no part of his extensive charge so destitute of places of worship, as that which extends to the East of Warwick, through Northamptonshire, onward to the Coast and accordingly he judged it essential to the interests of religion, to establish a regular mission at Northampton.-The number of Catholics in that town, their distance from a Catholic Chapel, (about 14 miles,) and that Chapel not in the district, and not a public one; the Vicinity of Weedon Barracks, where there are sometimes stationed 300 Irish Catholic soldiers, who at the distance of 20 miles from any Chapel, find themselves in a state of complete spiritual destitution: the fact too, that there is not a single public Chapel in the whole country, are considerations which appear amply to justify the general measure, as well as the preference in particular of the town of Northampton." 66 Bloxwich, near Walsall, Staffordshire.-N. B. At this Chapel there is a society for the dead, with a perpetual obligation Mass each month for the members of the society, established with the approbation of the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District. For particulars apply to the Chaplain at the Chapel." "Walsall, St. Mary's Chapel. This Chapel, which was formerly an Assembly-room, was hired by the Catholics of this town as a resource. In consequence of the very great increase of the congregation, of which the far greater proportion are converts, it has been found necessary to erect a new Chapel, with a house for the pastor. The Reverend pastor and his flock take this opportunity of returning their most grateful thanks for the very liberal contributions which they have receiv ed, and of assuring their benefactors, that they will be constantly remembered at the holy Altar, as well as in their private devotions. At the same time they humbly solicit the charitable donations of their Catholic Brethren, considerable sum is yet wanted, to complete an undertaking begun solely for the glory of Almighty God and the propagation of the true faith." as a 'Leamington Priors. Warwick shire. The Chaplain has been nearly five years in Leamington, labouring to found a Chapel, during which time the congregation, both resident and visiting, have encreased to more than double the number. A Mass is offered up on every Thursday at 8 o'Clock in the morning, for the benefactors of the Chapel both living and dead." SCRIPTURE READERS' SOCIETY. In the year 1822 a Meeting was held in Dublin, at the suggestion of an individual, whose mind had been deeply impressed with the necessity of using further exertions than had been before attempted, for improving the moral condition of the Irish peasantry. At that Meeting the following resolution was unanimously adopted, which has been the basis of all the subsequent proceedings of this Society: "RESOLVED-That further measures than any which have yet been adopted appear desirable, with a view to introduce the knowledge and practice of the Christian Religion amongst the peasantry of Ireland, of the absence of which the recent occurrences in the South afford so melancholy a proof." At the same Meeting, a committee was appointed to devise and carry into execution, the best means for effectuating the object of the above resolution. The individuals so appointed, together with those since added, were as follow : EARL OF RODEN, RT. HON. ST. GEORGE DALY, REV. DR. SINGER, F. T. C. D. REV. JOHN BEASLEY, JOHN SYNGE, and RICHARD B. WARREN, Esqrs. From these a Managing Committee was selected, to whose control a sum of nearly £4,000, then raised by subscription, was entrusted, and who have since conducted the business of the Institution. The committee determined to confine their exertions to the single object of employing pious men, of humble rank and approved character and competency, to read the Scriptures among the poor, from house to house; each reader to labor within an assigned district, and to be placed under the controul of a local superintendent, to whom the committee could confide this important trust." We regret that our limits will not allow us to insert the rules referred to, and which form a principal part of the statement. "Two principles will be found to pervade the rules upon which the committee have invariably acted: -1st, To permit no book to be used in their service except the Holy Scriptures; and 2dly, To appoint no person to the office of reader, however distinguished by their natural abilities, by knowledge of the letter of the Bible, by controversial skill, by persecutions suffered for the name of religion, or by any other recommendation, unless, upon careful enquiry into his life and habits, and a strict personal examination, they have reason to be satisfied that he is vitally influenced by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To their inflexible adherence to these principles, during nearly five years, the committee attribute, under God, their great success; and to these they are resolved to adhere, however tempted by the prospect of the more extended and rapid effects which might be expected to result from a less strict and exclusive system. The committee have abstained from any appeal to the public, while their plan might be considered as a mere experiment, and so long as the funds placed in their hands were adequate to meet the increasing expenses of the Institution. But now, when those funds are reduced to little more than one year's probable expenditure, and, when each successive week supplies new evidence of the efficacy of their plan-now, when the call for readers is urged upon them from every part of the country, and they are invited to enlarge the field of their operations to an extent which would require no ordinary means for its due cultivation; the committee feel that they owe it to the numbers in Great Britain and Ireland, who are ready to aid and encourage them-and to the far greater numbers in Ireland, who are, as "a people, prepared for the Lord," ready to receive the joyful sound of the Gospel, to come forward, and with humble gratitude make known * the principles on which they have acted, and the success with which they have been blessed. The average expense of each reader, including salary and incidental expenses, amounts to thirty-five pounds a year. In several instances, funds have been contributed by individuals, to support readers in particular specified districts; in which case, the committee have felt themselves bound, in the local appointment of readcrs, to give a preference to such places. The general income of the Institution (which has arisen exclusively from the contributions of private individuals) has been employed to maintain readers in other parts of Ireland, The committee have expended, in prosecution of their object, considerably more than the sum originally subscribed; and the future existence of the Institution must depend upon the Christian benevolence of the friends of religion. Subscriptions and donations are therefore earnestly solicited, and will be received by any of the members of the committee, or by the Assistant-Secretary, or at the Bank of the Treasurers, Messrs. Latouche, & Co. (Signed by Order.) EDWARD CRONIN, Assistant-Secretary." "Scripture Readers' Committee House, 13, Lower Pembroke-street, Feb. 16, 1827." We have great pleasure in giving insertion to the above "Statement," which we have lately received from a valued correspondent, the Rev. W. Carus Wilson, who acts as Secretary and Treasurer to the Scripture Readers' Society for the North West of England. Several towns, it appears, and private individuals in England are undertaking to support a reader who is named after his supporters, and will regularly remit to them his Journals. Thus, there is the Bristol, the Bath, the Lonsdale, the Kilvington reader. Our Friend suggests whether it might not be practicable to raise support for a reader in our neighbourhood, begging us to remit to him what sums we may be able to raise, either for this purpose, or for the general purposes of the Society. We can only express our readiness to receive any donations which may be forwarded to our publishers at Preston, and shall truly rejoice if we can in any way aid the exertions of a Society which, as our correspondent states, "has, under the divine blessing, been one of the principal means of awakening that spirit of inquiry which is now so happily prevalent in Ireland." We subjoin the following as a specimen, and shall be glad from time to time to give publicity to other facts connected with the progress of the Reformation.-"A singular circumstance took place at the commencement of the Scripture Readers' Society : -Shortly after its commencement, Mr. —, of A——, applied for a Scripture Reader to be sent to his parish. His wish was instantly complied with, and a reader came. Directly this was known to the Roman Catholic priest; he warned his people, from the altar, not to have any thing to do with this Bible man. He also selected from among his congregation a man named Q-n, a very shrewd and intelligent person, and a staunch and rigid Romanist. For three long years Q-n opposed the readers, whoever of them happened to be at A-; but behold the power of God! One morning, on coming to the contest, he said "I have done. For these last three months I have fought against my conviction. I was constrained to search the Scriptures to answer, and, as 1 vainly supposed, to refute your arguments; and in that Volume I have learned that my own principles are built on sand. The defection of the champion was known very soon to the priest; and when at last, after many struggles, he joined avowedly the Church of England, he was denounced from the altar. The next week twelve of the congregation questioned him (Q--n) on his conduct, and he stated his reasons fairly and candidly. The consequence was, that the next Sunday those twelve men also left; and I saw a letter the other day from Mr. M―― to Mr. G-, in which he says, that these thirteen, the first fruits, are now increased to upwards of a hundred." NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS, &c. "D." on "the Divine Prerogative," will appear in our next, and we beg a continuance of his favors. We have received the Circular to which our correspondent refers, and hope to make use of it in our next. We regret that the parcel has not arrived, containing the second Letter on "the proper spirit of Controversy." We hope it may reach us in time for our third number. We may possibly feel it our duty to take some notice of Mr. Halley's relapse, and of "the Act of Contrition," in a future number. The first of a series of Provincial Letters to Roman Catholics, is received.---No. 1, addressed to the Rev. Mr. Sharples of Blackburn, will be inserted in our next. We thank St. Dominic for his literary notice, of which he will see we have been able to avail ourselves, and we shall feel obliged for any future communication. |