L I E. RAR.Y OF THE U N IV LR^SITY or ILLINOIS LOWER HOUSE OF CONVOCATION OF CANTERBURY. EEPOUT OF COMMITTEE* ON DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. On March 28, 1872, a Committee * was appointed " to consider ■what deficiencies exist in the amount of spiritual ministration provided by the Church of England for the people of England, j* and the means by which these wants may be best supplied ; and also to report on the safeguards and conditions which seem most desirable for securing the effectual appropriation of funds applicable for the purpose." After the dissolution in February, 1874, this Committee was re- appointed, and now submits the following^ Report to the House : — In order to ascertain what deficiencies exist, it is necessary to have some standard by which to measure the amount of spiritual ministra- tion that ought to be supplied by a National Church. Such a standard must be sought in the history of the past, rather than in each man's ideal of what an Established Church should be and should do. Your Committee would therefore briefly review the manner in which the existing provision was made, and what was its amount at a few marked points in our history. Without attempting to describe the Ecclesiastical arrangements of *The Prolocutor. Canon Argles. '^ Dean of Bangor. )i Butler. „ Hereford. 5J J. R. T. Eaton Archdeacon of Canterbury. JJ Gregory {Chairman). jj London. JJ Hinds Howell. jj Bristol. JJ Sumner. ,, Ely. JJ Williams. ,, Essex. Chancellor Lewis. 5, Nottingham. Treasurer Gibbs. 5, Sarum. Prebendary Edwards JJ Sudbury. Mr. Campion. JJ Surrey. Mr. Knight. t A petition from the Society for Promoting the J^mployment of Additional Cm-ates praying the House to examine into the provision made for the spiritual wants of the people, and the amount of further assistance needed, led to the appointment of the Committee. \ A short previous report was published, the substance of which now forms Appendices A and B. [ 8 ] • A Z COMMITTEE ON the Early British Church, your Committee begins by stating that the division of England into dioceses was the work of the Anglo- Saxon period ; at first each kingdom of the Heptarchy constituted a Diocese, except that of Kent, where the See of Rochester, as well as that of Canterbury, was founded by Augustine. Under Archbishop Theodore, (668 — 690,) a more complete division was made, several new Sees were founded, and the number of Bishoprics was raised, before the close of the lOtli century, to seventeen, increased to twenty-one in the 12th century by the addition of Carlisle, Ely, Bangor, St Asaph, and at which number it remained stationary till the Reformation. The same Archbishop is said to have commenced the division of Dioceses into parishes ; the lords or owners of lands were encouraged to build and endow Churches. This parochial division of the country was com- pleted during, if not before, the reign of Edward the Confessor. The population at the time of the Conquest is supposed to have been about two millions, for whose S23iritual wants it is estimated that there were from 7,000 to 8,000 Churches, with at least that number of Parish Priests, and seventeen Bishops.* During the middle ages there was no personal census, and it is only now and then that, in consequence of some taxation or general muster of the men able to bear arms, we can find data for an estimate of the population. In 1377 London had nearly 35,000 peoi:)le,f and 17 other towns had each more than 3,000 inhabitants ; but in that year the population of England was very little more numerous than at the time of the Conquest, though trade and other causes had considerably added to the number of urban residents. In 1483 the population had grown to 4,689,000, and the attraction of towns had apparently increased; the Church had to deal with several towns which, though they appear small to us, were then relatively large. To provide for these more populous places a different plan was sometimes pursued from that which had prevailed imder the Saxon Kings. During the period intervening between the Norman Conquest and the Reformation the number of Parish Churches grew considerably, but to an extent that was small, when compared with the divisions at the earlier period ; whilst the greater portion of those previously erected were rebuilt, and probably enlarged, as the existing structures testify. But though the number of Churches was not jn'oportionately in- creased, the Clergy became much more numerous. The four great Orders of Friars having been introduced, from their ranks proceeded the popular preachers and confessors ; whilst in the Monasteries were found the learning and the educational appliances of the time. The Friars in the 1 3th century filled the Professorial Chairs in nearly all the Universities of Europe. The Parochial or Secular Clergy were much weakened by the prevalence of pluralities, by the non -residence of Rectors, and by the alienation of their endowments to purposes different from what was originally intended. Benefices and * Godwini de PrcesHlihus Anglice. t Chalmer's Co7)i2mrativc Strength of Great Britain (1804) p. 16. ,UIUC 1^ DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 3 dignities were heaped upon Ministers of State and other servants of the Crown, and ordinarily constituted the principal part of the income they enjoyed as remuneration for the secular services they performed for the State ; foreigners in large numbers were appointed to English Benefices which they never visited though they received their revenues ; whilst Monasteries, Hospitals, Colleges, &c., were endowed with the tithes of Parishes for whose spiritual oversight they provided ill-paid Vicars. On the other hand the Parochial Clergy were strengthened in many Parishes by the erection of Chantries, and by Priests being provided to minister in them ; for these Chantry Priests were frequently bound by their foundations, and in all cases they were required by Canon, to assist the Parish Priest in his cure of souls. In some few cases the Chantry Chapel was a Church at a distance from the Mother Church and was intended to serve as a Chapel of Ease, whilst in others it was only an addition to the Mother Church. In towns there were numerous guilds, all of which placed foremost amongst their objects the furtherance of religious and charitable works ; each guild having its Priest who had special charge of the brothers and sisters of the guild. Moreover in the fifteenth century every country gentle- man and even many wealthy tradesmen had a chaplain in their house- holds. And in addition to these there was a large number of Priests unattached to any Church or Chantry Avho earned a precarious liveli- hood by saying masses for the dead, &c. For the support of this large number of Clergy there were considerable sums derived from fees, offerings, mortuaries, and legacies, in addition to the fixed income derivable from endowments. There is hardly a will of the fourteenth or fifteenth century which does not give some small legacy to the Parish Priest, in lieu of forgotten tithes, or to the Clergy of the town for attending the donor's funeral, or for mortuary masses. At the Reformation, many episcopal and capitular estates were confiscated, tithes were to a large extent diverted from religious uses, whilst voluntary offerings must for a time have almost ceased. Chan- tries were suppressed, and the services of Chantry Priests, who had greatly assisted the Parochial Clergy, were therefore wholly lost to the Church, and there was nothing provided to supply the void. Guilds, with their regular organization for purposes of charity in more populous places, ceased to exist, and no new organization was founded to discharge the benevolent offices they had fulfilled. The Mo- nastic Clergy of all orders were suppressed, no general provision was made for the performance by others of the duties which they had dis- charged ; and comparatively few grammar schools were founded to carry on the literary and educational work which some of them had fulfilled. Five new Sees, Oxford, Gloucester, Bristol, Peterborough, and Chester, were founded ; but for the spiritual oversight or religious training of the then increasing population nothing else was attempted. The hand of the spoiler and destroyer pressed heavily upon the Church, and there was no power able and willing to construct a system that would care efficiently for the spiritual needs of the people, whilst it avoided the A 2 4 COMMITTEE ON superstitions and abuses which had caused the destruction of what had previously existed. Individual selfishness triumphantly appro- priated to its own uses what had been solemnly dedicated to the advancement of God's glory and the general benefit of the people. And so, when the excitement had passed, it was found that, though much superstition had been got rid of, many gross scandals suppressed, much that had degraded religion in the eyes of the people removed, there had at the same time perished institutions and offices that could easily have been amended without being destroyed, and that no new provision had been made for the sufficient instruction of the people in the future, and for their being trained in the Christian faith. The whole body of supernumerary helpers were, at one blow, swept away at a time when their labours were greatly needed : and with an increasing population, at a period of great religious excitement and revived mental activity, a very insufficient number of ill-paid and ill-educated Clergy were left as the only body available to discharge the public offices of religion, and to train up and edify the people in the principles of Christianity. The Reformation period therefore diminished very greatly the number of the Clergy, and alienated a large proportion of the endowments and other sources of income by which they had been sustained. During the exciting period between the Reformation and the great Rebellion, the work of reconstruction proceeded very slowly, if it was not completely at a standstill. Few Churches were built or new parishes formed. Perhaps the most noteworthy effort was that made in 1628 to form a voluntary society for raising contributions, and dis- posing of them in the purchase of impropriations, to be restored to the maintenance of the Clergy. Of the need for their work. Fuller says " There are indeed in England of Parish Churches 9,284, endowed with glebe and tythes. But of these 3,845 were either appropriated to Bishops, Cathedrals, and Colleges, or impropriated as lay fees to private persons."* Unhappily this scheme failed, partly because the promoters neglected to obtain a charter of incorporation, but chiefly because " they kept the impropriated tythes and glebe invested in themselves and settled no part, nor so much as any pension, on the poor vicars ; but, receiving the rents and profits into their own hands, they disposed them to ministers and lecturers in those or other places at their own discretion." In this way this good design fell through, some of its promoters seeking to turn it to party purposes. The two great religious parties within the Church were struggling for ascendancy until the troublous times of the great Rebellion for a season crushed the English Church. After the Restoration in 1660, it was found that the Church had been still fm-ther weakened. For many years no Clergyman had been ordained ; Church benefices had been filled with Ministers whose ordination could not be recognised ; whilst the endowments of the Church had been still further diminished by forfeitures and alienations * Fuller's CJmrch Histo)-// of England, Book XI. p. 137. Published in folio, 1655. DEFICIENCir.H OF SPIRITUAL >riNI.STRATION. 5 fliiriiig the period of the Commonwealth, many of which were never re- covered. At this time the aggregation of considerable masses of people into towns received a still further development, and in some few places l^rovision was made for their spiritual welfare. Thus at this period we have, at all events, one example (at Falmouth) of the proprietor of an estate devoting a tithe, not only of the income of his land, but of the houses which might be built upon it, for the endowment of a Church. But at the same time we have melancholy evidence of the poverty into which the Churches had fallen, by the provisions of an Act of Parlia- ment* authorising the union of parishes in towns and boroughs when the income fell below £100 a year. At the time of the Eevolution we have information concerning the location of the people of England upon which we can depend, and we find the tendency of the population to accumulate in towns steadily on the increase. The Metropolis then numbered about half a million inhabitants; the other cities and market towns about 850,000 ; and the villages and hamlets had a population of more than four millions ; in all there were in England and Wales about five and a half millions of people. f In 1871 the population was found to number 22,704,108; whilst in the Metropolis there were 3,265,005 inhabitants. At this last Census there is no summary giving us the number of towns above a certain population; but at the Census of 1861 we were told that there were then 468 towns, each with a population of 3,000 or upwards, and that of these 35 had more than 50,000 inhabitants. For the provision of the spiritual wants of the Metropolis after the Revolution, we find what might have been anticipated. In the City, where there were ancient endowments, the people were well cared for ; the 72,900 people living within the walls were divided into 97 parishes; whilst those living beyond these limits shewed how little new provision had been made to train them as Christians. In the 16 parishes without the walls there were 149,500 people, or nearly 10,000 in each ; in the 15 out-parishes in Middlesex and Surrey there were 154,000, or more than 10,000 in each; whilst in Westminster and its Liberty there were only 7 parishes and 103,200 parishioners, or more than 14,500 in each.f Scarcely any new churches were founded at this time ; and nearly the only Church endowments by which the period from the Reformation until after the Restoration appears to have been marked were the foundation of lectureships "to be filled by godly men " in City Churches. During the reign of Queen Anne efforts were made to increase the number of Churches in the Metro- polis. In 1710 an Act was passed directing fifty new Churches to be built, and the sums required for their erection to be supplied by a coal tax. Of these fifty Churches only eleven were ever built. The poverty of the Church at this period must have been very great, and perhaps nothing could bring it more home to us than what is * Car. II. cap. 3 (1665). f Natural and Political Observations, by Gregory King. Edited by George Chalmers (1810), pp. 34—36. b COMMITTEE ON stated by Southey in his Colloquies, '' An increase of the Clergy pro- portionate to the increase of the people is still wanting Something has been done towards training up a supply of Clergy for those remoter parts of the country where the Cures are miserably poor and the peasantry the only inhabitants. Such Cures were held in these northern counties by unordained persons till about the middle of George the Second's reign, when the Bishops came to a resolution that no one should officiate who was not in Orders."* Moved by the evil that such inadequate care was inflicting upon many parishes and upon the cause of religion, and rightly regarding the miserable in- comes provided for many of the Clergy as the cause of it, Queen Anne sought to make some better provision for the most necessitous of the Clergy, and for this purpose founded the Bounty which bears her name, and endowed it with the first-fruits and tenths which Incum- bents before the Reformation were required to pay to the Court of Rome, but which Henry VIII. had diverted to the use of the Crown. The following statement, made by Sir William Scott (afterwards Lord Stowell) in the House of Commons on the 7th April, 1802, will show the condition of poverty to which many parishes were reduced if "When the first-fruits and tenths were granted by Queen Anne for the augmentation of small livings, the returns made to the Exchequer showed that there were then in Eng- land no fewer than 5,597 livings of which 844 were of the value of between £40 and £-50 per annum; there were 1,049 under £40, 1,126 under £30, 1,467 under £20, and 1,071 which did not exceed £10 a-year. Some were of the value of not more than 20s. or 406t. On the whole, of about 11,700 livings, the entire number in England and Wales, about one-half were under £50 a year, and under £23 on an average. Even still, after all that has been done by Queen Anne's fund, and by the bounty of private benefactors, in the course of nearly a century, it was calculated that there were 6,000 livings which did not exceed an average of £85 a year, and that a very large proportion were still under the annual value of £30." J Upon the Church thus circumstanced was thrown the charge of a population which had mul- tiplied itself fourfold since the commencement of the seventeenth century, and considerably more than doubled itself since the beginning of this. To add to the difficulties, during the quarter of a century which succeeded the breaking out of the French Revolution, and when * Southey 's Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, vol. II. ^Q. t Knight's Pictorial History of England, VIII. 597. X We may quote, in confirmation of this, the following statement from the report of the Carlisle Diocesan Church and Parsonage Building and Benefice Augmentation Society in 1863:— "In the diocese of Carlisle there are 267 Incumbents, of whom one-fourth are without parsonages. Of these 2 have less than £40 per annum, 6 less than £50, 4 less than £60, 6 less than £70, 4 less than £80, 10 less than £90, 14 less than £100, 6 less than £110, 3 less than £120, 6 less than £130, and 3 less than £150 ; 103 Incumbents of the diocese have less than £100 per annum. Of these, as appears above, 46 have no parsonages; 73 exceed that sum, but fall short of £150 : of these, as also appears above, 18 have no parsonages." DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 7 population was commencing that rapid increase which has been since experienced, the feverish state of Europe, and the almost incessant wars which were being carried on, rendered it doubly difficult to attract public attention to the neglected spiritual condition of large jDortions of the people. We should have an inadequate idea of the difficulties with which earnest Church people had to contend during the earlier half of this century if we failed to bear in mind the legal hindrances that had to be overcome before a new Church could be erected or an overgrown parish sub-divided. So many persons could throw obstacles in the way of Church extension that it needed great patience as well as liberality to extend the parochial system of the Church and adapt it to the altered condition of the country. By the Church Building Acts and a series of supplementary Acts many of the powers for obstructing really needed work have been taken away. After this glance at the past we will examine what the Church is now doing to meet the spiritual requirements of the nation, and it may help us to realise what these are if we remember that during each decade in this century, except the first, the country has added to the number of its inhabitants as many people as constituted the whole of its population at the time of the Conquest, and for about three centuries later, and that during those centuries the Church regarded* 21 Bishops and from 7.000 to 8,000 Parish Churches, and at least as many Clergymen, to be required for properly ministering to the people. It is not easy to state accurately the number of Churches, Chapels, and licensed buildings used for purposes of public worship by the Charch at the beginning of this century. At the census of 1851 returns of statistics relating to religious worshijD were obtained by the Registrar-General, but these were not based upon official returns ordered by Parliament, and have in some important points been proved to be very inaccurate. Possibly with respect to the number of Churches, &c., they may be correct. In them it is stated that of the 14,077 f then existing Churches, Chapels, and other buildings belonging to the Church there were built — Before 1801 .... 9,667 Between 1801 and 1811 55 „ 1811 „ 1821 97 „ 1821 „ 1831 276 „ 1831 „ 1841 667 „ 1841 „ 1851 1,197 Dates not mentioned (but previous to 1851) 2,118 * The see of Ely was founded in 1109 accordiug to Godwin ; Bangor in 1092 ; St. Asaph a few years later; Carlisle in 1133. There were no further additions till 1.510, when Westminster had its one Bishop assigned to it ; in 1511 the sees of Oxford, Gloucester, Peterborough, and Chester were founded ; in 1512 Bristol was founded. The next change was in 1839, when the see of Bristol was united with Gloucester, and that of Ripon founded. In 1848 the see of Manchester was founded. f P. 14. 8 COMMITTEE ON These figures do not represent the nnmber of Churches consecrated between these periods, as a comparison of them with the list of Churches consecrated during this century, and which will be found in Appendix (A), very clearly shows. It is probable from what is thus stated that at the beginning of the century the Churches and Episcopal Chapels would have sufficed to seat nearly one-half of the inhabitants of England and Wales. But then it unfortunately happened that many thriving hives of industry found their home in small villages or Churchless hamlets ; Ihese rapidly became towns, numbering their population by thousands, and for these places years often elapsed before any spiritual j)rovision was made by the Church: consequently no law of averages can at all accurately represent what was being done by the Church or what was required at her hands to secure proper care for the spiritual wants of hundreds and thousands of people hastily gathered together. An early effort to meet the more urgent cases of spiritual destitution was made by grants by Parliament* for building Churches. These sums however went but a little way to supply the need ; and then earnest self-denying exertions were made to arouse Christian liberality. This has been done with ever increasing success, as will be seen by reference to the Appendix (A), where will be found the number of Churches consecrated each year since the beginning of the century. For the information contained .n this Appendix, and also for that in Appendix B, we are greatly indebted to the Registrars of the different Dioceses. A further effort to provide accommodation in Church for the great masses of the people was made by rebuilding or enlarging Churches ; in some comparatively few cases this was done so completely that the new Churches required consecration, and of these we have the number in the table | already referred to ; but in a very much larger number of cases no new consecration was needed, and no complete record appears to have been kept in any Diocese of these restored, enlarged, or partially rebuilt Churches. Great as have been these efforts, there can be no doubt that they have fallen very far short of the requirements, and we shall not be far from the truth if we estimate that the Church does not now provide for the simultaneous worship of more than one-third of the population. If we turn from the material fabrics to the Clergy who are to minister in them we find a very similar state of things. There is increased activity on all sides, but a very inadequate sujDply of clergy- men to accomplish what is required ; and as a consequence we must expect to hear from parishes where the Clergy are not endowed with * In the religious census of 1851 referred to above, it is stated that between 1801 and 1831, about three millions were expended in erecting about 500 Churches ; and that of that sum £1,152,044 were furnished out of public funds, and £1,847,956 giA'eu by voluntary contributions. In the succeeding twenty years, 2,029 Churches and other buildings were provided, whilst the whole sum furnished out of public funds was only £511,385 (p. 14 of the Census lleturns). t Appendix (A). DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 9 exceptional zeal and physical strength that very much work ■which ought to be done is left undone. The following comparative view drawn from the Census Returns will convey a tolerably accurate idea of the position of things in this i-espect : — No.* of Clergy. No. of Churches. N( to ). of Lay People each Clergyman. 1841 U,527 13,318 1,095 1851 17,320 14,077 1,035 1861 19,195 14,731 1,045 1871 20,694 15,522 1,097 Even when looked at in the mass, it will be seen that these figures are far from being what we could wish, as they show that the supply falls somewhat short of keeping us in the unsatisfactory position in which we were thirty years since. But to obtain at all an accurate idea of the number of Clergymen employed to evangelise the people, we must divide the parishes into town and country, and see what is done for each of these great divisions. Separating the parishes then into those which contain more and those which contain less than 2,000 people, we find that in the towns dwell about 15,500,000 of our people, and in villages about 7,500,000; and that whilst there are 10,500 country parishes each with its own Incumbent, and not unfrequently assistant Curate, there are only about 3,000 town parishes ; so that whilst in the former each parish has upon an average 760 persons, in the latter the average number of parishioners is 5,000. When we look at the pro^dsion made for the support of the Clergy, the case is not improved. For of tlie endowments of the Church the rural In- cumbents possess about £2,700,000, whilst to those in towns there is assigned onlyf £750,000; or, if we divide these sums equally, each country Incumbent would have £257 a year, and each town Incumbent £250. Perhaps it may be supposed that the masses of people in towns can readily provide an income for the Clergy Avho minister to them, which the few and comparatively poor residents in most country parishes would be unable to do. There is no doubt some truth in this, but as yet Church people have realised to a very small extent that any obligation rests upon them to provide for those who minister to them in spiritual things. They rely upon the endowments being sufficient, and if they are not, then all they think is that it is so much worse for the Clergy. And beside this, it unfortunately happens, not unfre- quently, that rich and poor dwell apart, so that one parish is peopled almost entirely by the well-to-do or wealthy, whilst another has only the poor dwelling within its borders. * For the number of Clergy ordained, see Appendix (B). f Literary Churchman, July 4, 1874. 10 COMMITTEE ON The chief efforts for increasing the income of the Incnmbents of large and populous parishes have been made by, or in connection witli, Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Comndssioners.* From the revenues of suppressed Canonries, or from the rearrangement and diminution of Episcopal and Capitular incomes, the Eccle- siastical Commissioners have received large sums, which have been devoted to founding new parishes, augmenting the incomes of the poorer Clergy, and assisting them to provide parsonage houses. In this way the Commissioners have furnished an additional revenue of about half a million per annum for a number of necessitous parishes, and have expended a further sum equivalent to about £60,000 a year in the erection or improvement of parsonage houses. Beside this, liberal benefactions have been made by pious Churcbmen, to meet the grants of the Commissioners, which have amounted to not less than £1,800,000. But how much remains to be done will be seen by reference to a table in the Appendix (D). To provide an additional number of Clergymen to labour in poor and populous parishes, the Church Pastoral Aid Society was commenced in 1836, and it now furnishes the whole or a portion of the stipends of 589 Curates and of 221 lay readers; the Society for Promoting the Employment of Additional Curates was founded in 1837, and it now assists towards raising the stipends of 646 Curates ; to help on the work of the Church in poor thickly peopled districts the Church of England Scripture Readers Society was set on foot in 1844, and it now contributes towards the stipends of 123 lay agents; and the Parochial Mission Women's Association was commenced in 1860, and now liberally aids towards sustaining 207 women who work amongst the most destitute of the poor. Side by side with what has been done during this century by the Church it may be well to place the results which have been achieved by the Protestant Nonconformist bodies, so far as we can obtain reliable information concerning them. Perhaps at first sight it may seem as though these should not be recorded in a report of the amount of spiritual ministration provided by the Church of England for the people of England ; but so much has been done by Nonconforming bodies during this century that any return of this kind would be felt to be incom- plete if all reference to what they have accomplished was excluded. The " Religious Census "f of 1851 states that " in 1812 there seem to have been 1,024 Independent Churches in England and Wales (799 in England and 225 in Wales). In 1838 an estimate gives 1,840 Churches in England and Wales." The Census of 1851 makes the number 3,244 (2,604 in England and 640 in Wales). "The * The Ecclesiastical Commissioners require benefactions from private sources at least equal to the amount contributed by themselves when the patronage is in private hands. The extent to which this affects their power of helping poor benefices will be best learned by reference to Appendix (C), which contains a summary of the patrons of all the benefices in the Church. •j- Page 19. DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTKATIOX, 11 Congregational Year-Book" gives the number of " Indei^endent Cliurclies" in 1875 as 2,226 in England and 898 in Wales. The same Census report distributes the Baptists in England and Wales into six divisions — the General Bai3tists (Unitarian); the General Baptists (Xew Connexion); Particular Baptists (Calvinistic); Seventh Day Baptists ; Scotch Baptists ; and Baptists undefined — and gives the number of their congregations as 2,349* in England and 440 in Wales— 2,789 in all. In the Baptist Hand- Book for 1875, published under the direction of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and L-eland, the statistics are given -without distinction into these several bodies, and therefore may possibly not include the whole of them. The figures there given are 2,480| Churches, 3,191 Chapels, 1,805 Pastors in charge, and 245,645 members. The "Religious Census" tells us that in March 1851 the Old Con- nexion Wesleyan Methodists had 6,57 9 J chapels in England and Wales, and that there was in them accommodation for 1 ,447,580 persons. The Wesleyan Methodist Connexional Record and Year-Book for 1875 § tells us that there was then accommodation for 1,676,695 persons in AYesleyan Methodist Chapels in England and Wales connexionally settled and other preaching places. The number of members was 347,199. In 1853 we are told by the same ''Religious Census,"|| that the Methodist New Connexion had 301 chapels and 21,384 members; their official year-book for 1875 gives the number of chapels in that year as 417, and of members as 22,127. With respect to the other bodies of Methodists, it is difficult to obtain accurate data. The " Religious Census" first inserts^ a " table furnished by the Conference itself," in which the number of chapels is given as 1,789, and that of rented rooms, &c., as 3,565. It afterwards says, " the number of chapels, &c., returned by the Census officers was only 2,871, so that many of the above must probably be small rooms, which thus escaped the notice of the enumerators." Such statements afford no basis for comparison. Beside these more general statements with respect to the spiritual provision made by the Church and by some of the more numerous Pro- testant Xon-conforming bodies for the people of this country, we have thought it desirable to obtain what information we could from parishes having each a population of more than 2,000 souls, and from a few others where the population was much scattered. We sent out papers of questions to 2,800 incumbents of parishes so circumstanced, of whom 2,764 ** have most kindly and courteously favoured us with replies. For these numerous answers we are much indebted to the Archdeacons, who, with one excejDtion, have most kindly assisted us. We find that within the limits of these parishes there were at the last census 15,489,995 inhabitants, or upon an average 5,604 in each ; that, in * Page 21. t Baptist Haud Book, p. 269. X Religious Census, p. 29. § Pages 112, 106. II Religious Census, p. 31. % Pa^e 32. *♦ See Appendix (G). 12 COMMITTEE ON addition to the Churches, there were 393 unconsecrated buildings used exchisively for public worship in connexion with the Church of England, and 988 used partly for this and partly for other purposes. In these parishes the income provided for the Incumbent is for the most part very inadequate to furnish stipends * for the Assistant Clergy who are absolutely needed, if any pastoral care is to be bestowed upon the people ; whilst the amount of Church f accommodation is not less disproportionate. In 2,017 of them there are good habitable Parsonages, whilst 592 are without this first requirement for the efficient oversight of a parish ; in the other cases the answers are vague, but it is probable that in most of them there is a Parsonage House, but not a sufficiently good one for the Incumbent to reside in. Beside the Incumbents, there are ordinarily working in these 2,764 parishes 3,155 Assistant Curates; but 331 curacies are now vacant from inability to find men to fill them. In these large parishes, there- fore, each Clergyman has spiritual charge of 2,617 persons. But this fails to give a complete picture ; for of these 2,764 parishes 1,181 have a population not exceeding 4,000, whilst 1,583 have more than that number of parishioners. In these 1,583 more populous parishes there are 12,089,177 inhabitants, and ministering amongst them there are 3,519 Clergymen, so that in them each Clergyman has to care as best he may for 3,435 souls. Or, extend the calculation a little further : there are 496 parishes, in each of which the population exceeds 8,000 ; in these are massed 6,019,236 people, whilst to them 1,339 Clergymen have to minister, giving upon an average 4,495 to the care of each. And yet once more: there are 288 parishes, in each of which more than 10,000 souls are found ; these parishes contain an aggregate population of 4,185,185, whilst 902 Clergymen labour in them ; so that each one has to look after 4,639 people as best he can. It is difficult to say how many persons should be assigned to the care of each Clergyman. If we look at country parishes and take them for our standard, we should have to report an enormous deficiency; for whereas, upon an average of the whole country there is one Clergyman to 1,097 persons, there is in 10,000 parishes upon an average one Clergyman to 650. To secure for every parish as many Clergymen as are now found in these smaller ones, we should require 34,925 instead of the 20,694 we now have. Such a supply would no doubt be greatly in excess of our wants as we at present venture to measure them. But if we allow 1,500 as the largest number of persons that can be properly cared for by one Pastor, we should then need for the 2,764 parishes to which we are calling attention 1 0,327 Clergymen, or 4,739 more than now minister in them ; if we allow 2,000 souls to be overseen by the same Clergyman, we should then require 7,745, or 2,159 more than are now labouring in them. * See Appendix (E). f See Appendix (F). DEFICIENCIES OF tsrilllTUAL MIMSTRATION. 13 Nor is tliere less difficulty to be faced on the financial side of the question. We have already shown how unable the Church is with her existing endo\Muents to provide stipends for a larger number of Clergy- men The nominal value of the Church's benefices remains stationary, whilst the value of money is diminishing, and the burden of rates to be paid by the Incumbent has been more than doubled through an unintentional mistake of the Legislature with reference to the Parochial Assessment Act of 1836. This has never been rectified, whilst its burden has been greatly increased by the many new^ rates imposed since the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act. It therefore follows that the Clergy have less ability than they had formerly to provide what may be needed for the stipends of additional Curates, whilst the universal increase in the amount of work to be done is ever crying in louder tones for a larger supply of men to perform it. It would appear from the returns we have received from the parishes already referred to that the stipends of the Curates employed in them are as follows : — £80 and under Over £80 and not over £100. Over £100, and Over £150, and not over £150. not over £200. Over £200. 173 776 1,969 143 23 The sources from which such stipends are derived will be best gathered from the following table : — i.i ft P 1 8i c 1 1 2 i Oat Ph < Ch wo " ^ «M ° Number to whom entire payments are paid . . 763 103 101 8 162 95 16 13 42 39 Number to whom part of stipends are paid.. 607 393 242 535 317 228 20 14 i 135 218 Of these Curates 184 hold some other appointment, such as chaplain to a workhouse, in connexion with their curacies, and in 72 of the parishes there are endowed lectureships, of which only 9 have an income of £100 a-year or upwards; whilst 15 have less than £100, and more than £50, and 44 less than £50; for 4 the value was not 14 C0M31ITTEE ON To assist the Clergy in the parishes from which our returns have been gathered, there are 722 male and 425 female paid helpers ; their salaries are as follows : £50 and under. £100 and under. Over £100. Not given. Total. Men Women 119 3^0 505 28 4 94 62 722 425 These salaries are derived from societies whose valuable help is extended to large parishes, such as the Parochial Mission Women's Society, Church Pastoral Aid Society, Scripture Readers' Society, whilst a considerable amount of the necessary funds is contributed by the Incumbents, local subscriptions, offertory, &c. Another portion of our enquiry was into the cost of sustaining the fabric, and the amount of other Church expenses, and into the manner in which this has been met since the abolition of Church rates. We found that in 169 parishes, the expenditure on these objects was less than £25 a year; in 401 it exceeded £25, but fell short of £50; in 764 it was more than £50, but less than £100; in 721 it exceeded £100, but did not amount to £200 ; whilst in 283 it was more than £200. The sources from which these sums were derived will be most conveniently seen by the following statement : Voluntary Rate . . .120 Pew Rents . . .125 Rate and Endow- Collectious .... 908 Pew Rents and Col- ment 5 Endowment .... 49 lections . . . 203 Endowment and Col- Rate and Pew Rents. . 7 Rate, Collections, lections .... 185 Pew Rents and Endow- and Endowment . 13 Pew Rents, Collec- ment 10 Collections and Sub- tions, and Endow- Subscriptions .... 173 scriptions . . . 312 ment 16 Rate, Collections, and Rate and Collections! 14 Various 517 Pew Rents .... 7 We also enquired about the places of worship not connected with the Established Church, and the denominations to which they belong. We found that in the 2,764 parishes there were 9,337 places of dissenting worship, ministered in by 3,467 resident ministers; the returns about the amount of accommodation provided by these means were so imperfect that it would be only misleading to quote them. They belonged to the following denominations : — Independent, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Baptist (of various kinds), Nevv Connection Methodist, United Free Church Methodist, Reformed Methodist, Unitarian, Plymouth Brethren, Roman Catholic, Quaker, Lady Huntingdon, Inghamite, Socinian, Presbyterian, Irving- ite, Jewish, Calvinist, Bible Christian, Peculiar People, Bryanite, Bethel, Swedenborgian, New Jerusalem, Mormon, Moravian, Welsh Calvinist, Welsh Union Methodist, &c. DEFICIENCIES UE SrilUTUAL MINISTHATION. 15 The Incumbents of the parishes about Ayhich Ave sought for infor- mation assure us that very much is needed before they can hoj^e to he in a position to care for their parishes as they would wish to do. We are told by them that there is urgent need for 596 additional Churches; for 579 mission rooms; for 1,118 additional Clergymen, and for 289 lay helpers. These demands will seem very moderate, and less than is really needed, if we realise that besides 496. parishes, containing more than 8,000 people each, there are the following extensive country parishes, with outlying portions, urgently needing more care and attention than can be conveniently provided for them from the Mother Church. Hamlets containing Population : — Distance : — Under 2 miles Over 2 miles Distance not given 1 50 and 500 and 1,000 and Over Population under. under. under. 1,000. not given. 209 254 125 82 129 100 103 41 25 65 25 52 45 35 25 799 334 182 Total 1,315 These statistics with respect to the spiritual condition and needs of the country, and the efforts which are being made to supply them, necessarily fail to give an adequate and complete idea of our actual position. For such statistics, however useful they may be in giving a broad general view of the extent and outlines of the subject, would only mislead if unaccompanied by a scrutiny of individual cases. The statistics only show us that the average number of parishioners as- signed to each Clergyman is about 1,100, and we may be tempted to conclude therefrom that all is fairly well ; but when we look more closely into the matter we discover that the average is made up by throwing together a number of town parishes, each containing from five to fifteen thousand souls, and a still larger number of villages peopled by a few scores or hundreds of inhabitants. Again, the statistics may tell us that the average income of each parochial Clergyman is about £300 a-year, and it may thus seem to us that all have a modest competency, but in like manner a closer examination will show us that the average is made up by a few large incomes and many small ones ; whilst the statement wholly ignores several thou- sand Curates whose annual stipend would not very much exceed £100 each, and it may be the case that the larger portion of what is paid to them is included in the income supposed to be enjoyed by the Incumbents (see p. 13). The tabulated returns therefore given above must be taken only as affording a general view of the parislies from which they have been furnished. 36 parishes * simikirly circumstanced to those included in the returns have sent in no * Sec Appendix (G). 16 COMMITTEE ON reply to our questions though repeatedly requested to do so; their wants are probably at least as great as are those of the 2,764 parishes from which we have received reports. Moreover, in addition to the exigencies of these more populous parishes from which we have received returns, it must be borne in mind that in many parishes with smaller populations there is much to be done, not only in regard to funds but as to other material circumstances, before the work of the Church can be considered to be fully organised and administered in them. The agency by which the amount of Church extension already effected during this century has for the most part been accomplished has been the zeal and energy of the Incumbents of the several parishes. Consequently, an earnest and able Incumbent ha^ entirely remodelled a parish here, whilst the neighbouring parish of an Incum- bent less able or less fortunately circumstanced has remained un- touched. The remedy for such partial action seems to lie in Diocesan organisation ; the Bishop, as the head of the Diocese, has a still greater right to appeal to the laity to supply the deficiencies by which the spread of true religion is hindered in any part of the territory placed under his control than has the Incumbent to solicit what is needed for his parish; whilst the Bishop's personal influence and sym- pathy should do much to counteract the evils that arise from the apathy or want of skill of those appointed to the charge of particular cures. The overwhelming size * of many Dioceses renders it impossible for the Bishop to do much more than administer them and attend to the more pressing calls for personal help. The many instances in which a great development of Parochial machinery, f as well as a more efficient Pastoral oversight, is needed, pass unobserved, because it is simply impossible for the Bishop with the many calls he has upon his time to take personal cognisance of them. In numbers of places the Church fails to do its work, and there is no one to reprove him who is responsible for the neglect, or to incite him to a more diligent dis- charge of his duty. The Bishop has not time personally to investigate, and nothing short of this will be of any avail. We are satisfied that the most crying want in the Church of England at the present time is such an increase in the number of her Bishops as would enable them to become in reality what they are in name, the overseers of the Church. If this were secured the Diocese might be the basis on which the Church's wants were estimated, and not the parish, as at * See Appendix (H). t As an illustration of the impetus which the division of an overgrown Diocese gives, it may be mentioned that when Ripon was separated from York in 1836 there Avere in it 297 Incumbents and 76 Curates ; in 1874 there were 469 Incum- bents and 250 Curates. During the same period there has been an enormous increase in all the Dioceses, the whole of this increase cannot therefore be attri- buted to the division, but the proportionate increase has been greater than else- where, and this may be fairly assigned to an additional amount of Episcopal oversight. The Colonial Dioceses give the best illustration of the advantages accruing from a multiplication of Bishops, in many of them with a new Bishop the church work has quadrupled or quintupled itself in a few years. DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 17 present. And -with the more immediate supervision of a Bishop it would be possible to obtain an amount of general co-operation which is oat of the question so long as the extension of the religious and philanthropic work of the Church is practically left almost entirely to the initiation of individual parish priests. If it were known that the Bishop had personal knowledge of all the wants of his Diocese, that he was anxious to supply at once the more urgent of them which were enumerated and described, that he was assisted by a Diocesan Board, with whose members he consulted about the works he proposed, and on whose co-operation he depended for bringing his plans to maturity, a general confidence would be inspired. The liberal laity, now bewildered by the conflicting ajDplications of energetic parish Priests, would gladly entrust large sums to the ad- ministration of a Board presided over by a Bishop, who was able personally to examine and compare the various general and local wants of the Diocese, and was prepared with well-considered plans for their supply. The less willing laity would be drawn into the support of measures recommended by such an authority and recog- nised to be of general utility. By the better system which would be introduced by the living con- trol of a central authority much more might be accomplished by a better use of existing means. Thus, e. g., if adjoining parishes in large towns mutually agreed to have such a system of school fees that the upper divisions of the working classes paying a higher fee might be educated in one set of schools, and the poorer divisions of the same classes paying a lower fee might be educated in another set, both might be made really more efficient. If Episcopal oversight could be such as admitted of the Incumbents of neighbouring parishes working under the immediate eye of their superior, then it might be possible for some system of co-operation between the Clergy of ad- joining parishes to be introduced, but we fear not otherwise. And then if the Clergy could once be so drawn together as to work upon this principle, it would be comparatively easy to persuade their flocks to enlarge their sympathies, and to care more really and effectually for their brethren living within the larger area. It is very much to be desired that Churchmen, both lay and clerical, should be led to realise more clearly than they do that they are members of a corporate body ; that new life and vigour should be infused into the corporate organisation of the Church in the parish, the Diocese, and the Convocations ; and that all should take a wider view of their responsibilities. Now if this were attempted, there might be difficulties at first from party feeling, local jealousies, &c.; but these would not be fostered as they are now l)y separate and isolated action, by each man regarding his own parish, his own estate, or the particular region with which he has some local connection, as the sphere within which his efforts for the spread of true religion must be bounded ; after a time we might hope that a fuller appreciation [8] 18 COMMITTEE ON of their privileges and responsibilities would be kindled ^ in all, and without diminishing the enthusiasm and self-sacrifice which are now happily seen at work for the good of special localities, Churchmen might be led more generally to embrace all the wants of the Church within the scope of their sympathies. How such an increase of Bishops as has been advocated should be made is a question of great difficulty. On the one hand such a sub- division of Dioceses as would enable the Bishops to fulfil adequately the duties required from them would endanger the Church, being left without that proportion of officials of high authority and great social position which is of importance as helping to secure for re- ligion an influence amongst the whole body of the nation. On the other hand, every great town, including the suburban parishes in which its wealthier inhabitants live, is a social and civil unit ; it has a general organisation for its civil government, and it ought to be a religious unit with a general organisation for its ecclesiastical insti- tutions. The problem might be solved in two ways. There might be the requisite increase to the Episcopate, and with the exception of London, Durham, and Winchester, all the Sees might be placed upon an equality, with revenues considerably less than those now enjoyed by the Bishops, and then, in addition to the revenues of the See, there might be a sum left in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to be paid to the Bishops who had seats in the House of Lords, so as to bring their incomes up to the amount now generally received by the Bishops. Supposing the number of Bishops with seats in Parliament to remain what it now is, whilst the Episcopate was greatly enlarged, it would be undesirable for the Bishops to succeed by seniority, as that would probably cause the Church to be represented by very old men ; but instead of that, it might be possible to allow the Bishops, or better still the Convocations of the two Pro- vinces, to fill up the vacancies in the Episcopal representation in Parliament by election, or possibly there might be an election of Spiritual Peers to each Parliament as there is of representative Peers for Scotland, and if such election were made by the Convocations the Bishops would represent the Clergy in Parliament much more than they now do. The advantage of such a plan would be that no loss of dignity would be incurred by the Bishops enjoying the smaller incomes, which might seem to be the case if the holders of such Sees were necessarily excluded from seats in the House of Lords. More- over, the Bishops of these Dioceses might at any time be selected for the more dignified positions, and so there would be no temptation to seek a translation to another See, which there would be if social and pecuniary advantages were assigned to certain Sees which were denied to others. The other method would be to have Bishopricks differing in the amount of their endowments. First, to make a very small sub- division of some of the larger Dioceses, such as London, Exeter, and Rochester, and to leave their Bishops with all the social and political DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 19 importance derived from their historical position, their larger incomes, and seats in Parliament. Then to consecrate the Rectors or Vicars of great to^yns such as Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Liverpool, &c., and to give them Episcopal control over the Clergy residmg within cer- tain limits. Such a plan would give unity to the work of the Chnrch in those great towns which would be invalual^le, although the adjust- ment of details would not be easy. As very intimately connected with this subject we would call attention to the painfully insufficient supply of Clergymen. With the annual increase of Churches we need a corresponding addition to the numbers of those who are to minister in them : but this want is very far from being supplied. Between 1844 and 1874 more than 2,000 additional Churches were consecrated, but nevertheless upon an average the number of Clergymen annually ordained between 18G4 and 1873 was sixty-six below what it had been between 1844 and 1853. Li 1874, when the number of ordinations showed a considerable in- crease over the years immediately preceding, it was ten below the average during the earlier decade just named, whilst last year (1875) the number was only 614, showing an alarming diminution. The Bishops in ancient times appear to have accepted as part of their responsibility the making provision for a due supply of candidates for ordination, and no inconsiderable portion of the scholarships and exhibitions at the universities, of which the Church has recently been stripped, were given by Bishops for the express purpose of training candidates for ordination. If the Bishops were less overwhelmed by the routine duties of their office they would no doubt be able to use personal influence to attract men to the work of the ministry, and we are satisfied that without such attraction there must always be some uncertainty in obtaining the necessary supply of men to serve God in the ministry of the Church, weighted as that office is with onerous and responsible duties, and ill-rewarded as it is with the prizes and ad- vantages for which men naturally seek. In several Dioceses colleges have been founded by the zeal and exertions of their respective Bishops to carry on this important work. Beside this, in connection with the Church Pastoral Aid Society and the Society for Promoting the Employment of Additional Curates, societies have been estab- lished for collecting funds to assist men in prosecuting their studies with a view to their entering Holy Orders. We understand that the number of applicants for the assistance furnished by these societies satisfactorily proves that there are many men eager to be ordained, but unable to procure the education necessary to fit them for ordina- tion ; and that the applications for assistance far exceed the ability of those societies to provide for them. We have given this great prominence to an increase of the Episco- pate because, in our oiDinion, a large portion of the difficulties which have to be faced cannot be satisfactorily removed until such an addi- tion has been made, A vast increase in the number of Churches, B 2 20 COMMITTEE ON Mission-rooms, Schools, Chapels, &c. &c., is urgently required ; a still larger accession to the ranks of living agents of all kinds — Clergymen, Lay Readers, District Visitors, Sunday School Teachers, &c. &c. — is demanded by the pressing wants of our populous and scattered parishes. How all these are to be obtained, and in what manner they can be so obtained as most efficiently to supply the wants of the Church as these now press themselves upon us, are questions that demand anxious consideration. It seems to us that much might be gained by a careful and systematic organization of lay agency, and by lifting it out of the anomalous position in which it is now sometimes found. On the one hand, complaints are very rife of the impossibility of procuring a sufficient number of Clergymen and of funds to sustain them : on the other hand, we have great numbers of lay men and women willing to work for Christ in His Church, and to do so gra- tuitously. It does therefore seem very desirable for some plans to be adopted by which the Church may most effectually avail herself of the only assistance which at the time seems available. Probably some reluctance to use the agency of laymen on a large scale arises from the fact that many of those willing to work are untrained, and from the fear that voluntary lay helpers might be found difficult to guide or control. But we submit that with real Episcopal oversight and due care taken in the selection of laymen as helpers, the advantages to be gained outweigh all the probable difficulties and possible dangers which may have to be encountered. The use of women in Church work is one of the most important features in the present spiritual revival ; the value of their loving, able, orderly ministration is uni- versally recognised ; all that remains is to organise their work on a large scale, and to introduce it into every parish where it is needed. The country parishes and the towns present two very different pro- blems. The difficulty of the country parishes is the dispersion of the population, often in outlying hamlets at a distance from the parish church. If a little* chapel could be erected in each of these hamlets, and these chapels could be served on Sunday afternoons and even- ings by zealous educated laymen, coming with the Bishop's authority, under the guidance of the Incumbent of the parish, this, with period- ical visits from the Incumbent for the celebration of the Sacraments, and occasional instruction of the people, would make the machinery of our country parishes nearly complete. In town parishes the great want is living agents, who, by the personal influence of their own holiness of life and conversation, may induce the masses to listen to the * The Incorporated Church Building Society in its organ, the Church Builder^ for April and July 1875, gave plans and drawings of a hamlet Chapel " to keep out the cold in winter and the heat in summer, to be wind and weather tight at all times, and to look like an ecclesiastical building, with a sufficient sacrarium and proper space for lectern and prayer desk, without crowding to hold comfortably a regular congregation of 50 adults, and to be so substantial as to last 100 years at least," complete with all suitable furniture for £100, or more substantially build for £120. i>EFlGlE]s'ClES OF tiriiilTUAL MlNISTllATIUN. 21 teaching of religion, and bring tliem within reach of the means of grace. It is in this that the worth of Sisters and Deaconnesses has been so blessed. A solution of the difficulty might possibly be found in making the Diaconate a permanent Order in the Church, instead of its remaining little more than a stepping-stone to the Priesthood. If there were Deacons permitted to discharge the Clerical functions appertaining to their Order, and at the same time occupied in some secular work on which they chiefly depended for their maintenance, the Church might have many useful assistants added to her ranks without any great additional strain upon her finances. The present interest in religious matters, the present outburst of zeal and liberality, cannot reasonably be expected to last for ever; the history of the past warns us that such periods of revival are occasional, not permanent, and that they give opportunities which, if wisely used by the rulers of the Church, both elevate the spiritual life of the people and strengthen the Church : but which, if neglected or timidly handled, alienate the more earnest and enthusiastic, and give life and vigour to religious bodies outside the pale of the Church. It is therefore a matter of urgent necessity that the Church should really grapple with the difficulties by which she is surrounded, and not simply seek to palliate them. And as the time may be short during which the opportunity afforded by the present zeal and enthusiasm of her children may be given her, it is most desirable that she should really bestir herself to reorganise and give permanence to the spiritual agencies on which she relies for the conversion and edification of the people com- mitted to her care. Signed in behalf of and by Order of the Committee, ROBERT GREGORY, Chairman. February 1876. 22 COMMITTEE ON APPEIS APPEI^ CHUKCHE^ rH O 00 1— I 1802 1803 o 00 1—1 o cc T— ( o GO o 00 r— ( 00 o oo T— ( C5 o 00 r-i o »— ( oo 1—1 Canterbury . York . London Winchester \ Durham Bangor Bath and W( Carlisle Chester Chichester Ely . Exeter . Gloucester and Bristol . Hereford Lichfield Lincoln Llandaff Manchester Norwich Oxford Peterborough Kipon . Bochester Salisbury St. Asaph St. David's Worcester . Wine Surre ills Chicl Lewe hester y • lester 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 ___ 2 See See 1 1 2 1 not not 1 1 erect erect 1 1 1 1 ed. 1 ed. 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Total Churches rebuilt 4 1 2 2 2 4 5 4 2 5 1 8 4 5 1 6 2 Additional Churches 3 — 2 4 1 2 4 4 4 4 DEFICIENCIES OF bPIKITUAL MINISTRATION. 23 DICE s. DIX A. CONSECEATEE , rH - CO Oi o 1— ( (N CO ^ »o (M sq Ol (M CO CO CO CO CO CO oo 1—1 00 1—1 00 T— 1 oo 1— ( 00 T— 1 oo 1—1 oo I— I GO r— I i—l Canterbury . 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 York . . 6 4 3 5 10 8 2 4 1 2 London 4 3 9 6 7 7 8 5 4 4 Winchester Winchester 1 1 4 3 2 5 4 2 3 2 Surrey — — 3 2 — 3 1 — — — Durham 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 Bangor — — — — 1 — 1 — — — ' Bath and Wells . 1 1 1 1 3 3 — 1 Carlisle 1 __ 3 1 __ Chester 5 7 2 18 3 9 6 6 11 6 Cluchester i ^^^'^^^^tev { Lewes 1 3 1 3 1 — — 1 — 2 — Ely ... . — — — — — — — — — . — Exeter .... — 1 5 2 — — 1 5 2 3 Gloucester . 1 _ 2 2 1 __ 1 ^_ and Bristol —. 1 1 1 1 Hereford ___ __ __ __ 1 2 __ Lichfield 1 2 2 3 5 3 7 5 5 5 Lincoln — 1 »^ 1 1 __ ' Llandaff __ 2 __ 1 1 1 __ Manchester . , See not erect ed. __ Norwich __ _^ __ , 1 1 2 . __ Oxford 1 1 __ _^ ___ 1 Peterborough — — — — 1 1 — — — — RilDon .... — See not erect ed. __ Rochester __ 1 1 __ ^_ .>_ _ Salisbury _ 1 —^ ___ 2 4 __ St. Asaph — — __ __ — St. David's . _- 1 1 ___ __ ^^ __, 2 __ 2 Worcester . 1 — — 1 2 — 1 — — 3 Total 25 27 42 47 37 51 48 35 35 33 Churches rebuilt . 6 19 7 8 15 4 10 13 9 8 8 Additional Churches 20 84 32 33 41 35 26 27 25 DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 25 CONSECRATED. CO 00 CO 00 CO CO 00 T— ( C5 CO 00 o 00 I— 1 00 00 1 CO "<* 00 CO 1-4 00 00 1—1 CO 1—1 00 00 C5 oo I— 1 o 1— t 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 .„„ 2 2 3 5 1 1 1 — 6 3 3 3 2 5 3 2 9 4 4 3 5 10 9 4 11 13 2 12 6 7 7 7 5 13 4 4 8 5 1 6 2 6 5 7 6 3 5 4 3 3 2 6 5 3 4 7 3 4 2 3 2 7 3 3 1 2 4 3 4 2 9 2 5 2 7 4 1 3 5 1 __ 1 __ 3 2 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 7 1 6 3 1 2 6 5 4 3 1 — — 2 — — 2 2 — 1 1 6 1 1 4 1 IJ 13 24 30 14 21 11 10 14 8 13 6 5 14 5 1 — — — — 1 — — 2 — — — 2 2 2 1 4 3 3 ^ 1 1 2 1 1 1 — 2 1 __ — 1 2 1 1 — — — — — — — — 6 __ 5 3 2 1 8 1 3 7 5 — 3 3 4 1 3 — 5 3 4 2 — 4 1 1 3 1 1 — _ __ __ _ __ __ ^_ 2 1 1 ___ 3 1 1 .^ __ 2 ___ _>_ 2 2 1 4 2 4 _ — _ _ 11 9 2 7 6 9 5 12 8 8 5 8 11 7 1 4 — 3 4 3 1 3 6 3 — 3 3 2 4 ___ 1 1 1 — 1 1 1 1 1 — 3 __ — See not erect ed. — — — — 13 6 11 2 1 — 1 1 — 2 2 1 3 1 1 — — 2 3 — 5 2 1 6 2 4 3 6 5 3 8 5 .^ — 2 6 1 2 — — 1 2 2 1 1 1 _ 2 7 5 10 9 10 8 3 10 8 7 16 3 4 ___ — - — 2 — 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 ___ 1 2 1 8 5 3 3 5 7 5 3 2 2 4 2 2 6 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 — 3 — — — _ — — 2 1 1 1 — — 1 3 — 3 2 3 4 3 7 9 4 6 8 2 4 2 1 5 2 1 45 64 100 91 98 111 99 72 106 91 92 70 102 94 92 i ' 6 7 9 8 11 18 8 18 23 20 16 26 16 14 37 58 93 82 90 100 81 64 88 68 72 54 76 78 78 26 COMMITTEE ON CHURCHES 1-H CO 00 CO »o CO I— ( 00 I— 1 QO CD 00 1—1 CO rH CO CO as 00 T— 1 098T Canterbury . York . , . . 1 1 6 3 2 2 9 2 4 2 4 1 3 4 5 1 3 2 4 London 3 8 8 7 6 10 5 8 11 7 .TfT- 1 J. (Winchester Winchester jg^^^.^.^^ 2 1 1 1 6 1 4 2 7 3 1 2 2 4 9 3 2 2 4 4 Durham 1 3 3 3 — 1 4 3 5 4 Bangor 2 — 1 — 1 4 1 2 1 — Bath and Wells . 2 2 — 1 3 4 1 1 1 2 Carlisle — 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 — Chester 10 3 8 11 7 6 4 7 9 4 n\ ' -u + f Chichester Chichester j^ewes . 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 4 — 1 3 1 Ely ... . 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 2 Exeter 9 2 2 2 5 1 5 3 2 1 Gloucester . 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 — 5 and Bristol 1 1 1 1 6 — 2 — — 2 Hereford — — — — — — — — — Lichfield 9 8 5 7 10 5 5 5 5 3 Lincoln 1 2 — — 1 4 1 4 1 3 Llandaff 1 1 5 3 2 3 — 2 1 Manchester . 2 4 5 6 8 5 2 6 6 8 Norwich 1 1 J 1 — — 2 1 1 Oxford 4 5 6 7 5 2 4 4 3 9 Peterborough 1 1 — 2 4 1 — — — 1 Ripon .... Rochester 7 5 4 9 4 7 3 3 9 4 4 3 1 4 1 4 6 5 1 Salisbury 4 2 4 6 — 4 4 9 5 7 St. Asaph St. David's . 2 1 — 5 1 5 2 2 3 2 2 1 1 Worcester . 2 3 2 5 4 2 2 1 1 4 Total 72 70 79 97 101 80 64 91 80 86 Churches rebuilt . 13 11 13 17 23 17 11 27 12 22 Additional Churches 59 59 66 80 78 63 53 64 68 64 i DEFICIENCIES UF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 27 CONSECRATED. T-H CO oo cr; ■CO CO CO CD 00 »— ( CO 00 CO CO 00 l-H CO 1— ( 00 CO 00 t— ( CO 00 o T— ( 1 CO 00 rH 00 •3 ^ ^ 1 4 2 3 1 2 2 4 6 1 t 4 1 2 9 4 4 2 107 4 4 5 3 5 5 4 6 9 3 7 2 3 8 2 233 11 8 9 13 17 14 18 6 11 13 12 12 9 11 9 437 2 9 7 7 8 6 9 2 3 9 4 4 4 8 4 236 ' 4 2 5 4 4 5 2 7 3 4 3 6 1 6 7 167 3 4 3 6 3 8 5 9 9 5 4 5 5 5 4 205 — 2 — 6 3 1 — 1 — 3 — 1 2 55 3 1 2 3 2 4 4 — 2 3 2 — 1 2 1 104 4 1 — 6 5 4 5 5 2 4 4 2 2 3 88 4 3 7 5 5 8 1 11 9 8 10 12 4 8 7 505 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 2 — 1 — — 1 1 — 28 — 2 4 4 1 2 2 1 4 3 3 — 3 2 2 82 2 1 — 2 3 5 1 5 5 1 2 2 5 2 2 50 8 2 3 4 3 5 2 3 2 2 7 1 1 4 3 165 3 3 4 2 2 3 3 5 1 5 — 2 1 — 3 101 2 3 1 1 2 __ 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 51 2 1 1 2 1 — 4 2 1 — 2 1 38 6 1 5 2 5 1 5 4 — 6 4 5 2 8 3 283 1 3 4 5 2 4 4 5 6 4 7 5 5 2 3 131 1 1 3 1 1 7 1 1 2 2 2 — 1 3 2 65 2 7 6 9 18 6 1 4 11 9 12 7 8 8 7 197 1 1 3 2 6 1 1 — — 1 ] 1 47 4 4 6 8 10 6 7 4 6 2' 1 2 3 4 2 176 — 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 49 7 2 9 11 4 2 4 11 7 10 6 7 4 3 4 244 1 5 3 2 1 2 7 3 5 8 7 8 2 4 8 115 4 12 3 2 3 10 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 165 — 1 4 3 1 — 2 1 2 — — 1 3 — 1 62 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 4 50 ^ 3; ' 4 5 4 3 8 10 4 6 7 2 ^ 7 178 92 91 102 114 121 124 104 121 121 120 116 107 81 107 97 4414 j 20 28 63 32 38 38 45 28 24 26 40 37 25 28 23 39 1015 72 70 7G 83 ! 79 1 76 97 95 80 79 82 53 84 58 3399 28 OOMMITTEE ON APPENDIX B. NUMBER OF DEACONS ORDAINED. 1834 to 1843 1844 to 1853 1854 to 1863 1864 to 1873 1874 1875 Graduates from Q i 1 I. II If ^ 1 1 6 i i < 1 1 5,350 2,076 2,307 219 83 565 535 6,656 2,188 2,596 537 290 1,045 665-6 6,009 1,771 2,207 382 246 1,403 600-9 5,990 1,829 1,995 331 198 1,637 599 655 192 230 28 11 194 655 614 195 184 29 13 193 614 APPENDIX C. PATRONS OF BENEFICES. Benefices population under 2,000. Benefices population between 2,000 and 5,000. Benefices population over 5,000. Total. Lay Bishop Dean and Chapter Incumbents of Mother Churches Trustees Colleges Crown and Chancellor 5478 1534 656 599 497 760 698 484 419 138 311 203 63 152 235 319 66 264 273 20 93 6,197 2,272 860 1,174 973 843 943 Total 10,222 1,770 1,270 13,262 DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 29 APPENDIX D. AVERAGE VALUE OF BENEFICES. In public patronage. , . . . The two classes In private patronage. combined. Population : £ £ £ Under 300 223 198 206 800 and under 600 ... 315 234 257 600 and under 1,000 369 342 355 1,000 and under 2,000 302 351 328 2,000 and under 5,000 371 283 319 Over 5,000 434. 478 462 From th( i " Church and her Curates," p. 104. APPENDIX E. ixco:me of benefices with large populations. £200 Income : and under. £300 and under. £400 and under. £500 and under. £800 and under. £1,000 and under. Over £1,000. Not given. Total. Population : 4,000 and under 393 314 144 112 130 38 33 9 1,173 8,000 and under 133 497 144 93 111 23 34 5 1,090 10,000 and under 19 94 38 23 23 3 6 1 207 Over 10,000 ... 24 117 58 21 45 8 21 294 2,764 Of the parishes included in the above return, 2017 have good habitable parsonages, whilst 592 are without them ; the answers from 155 make it difficult to know under which head to include them, probably the greater part of these possess parsonages that are not habitable by the Clergyman of the parish. 30 COMMITTEE ON APPENDIX F. CHURCH ACCOMMODATION IN POPULOUS PARISHES. Church Accommodation. S3 o ^ ^1 u O 11 3 Free. i or less. or less. ■3 Population : 4,000 & under 17 298 581 164 1060 Ch. accom- modation : 200 & under 18 1 1 3 23 8,000 & under 8 108 524 376 1016 500 & under 222 31 61 56 370 10,000 & under 1 7 91 96 195 1000 & under 391 99 354 281 1125 Over 10,000 . . 1 8 72 192 273 Over 1000 il21 1 76 314 187 698 I NTotg iven 220 ill' Not given . . . 548 2764 2764 APPENDIX G. The following are the only large Parishes from which returns have not heen received — Province of Canterbury. Diocese. Parish. Canterbury... Milton. London . . . Poplar, Parish Church. St. Peter's, River Lane. St. Augustine's, High- bury. St. James - the - Great, Bethnal Green. St. John, Paddington. Marylebone, Parish Church. Marylebone, Christ Church. St. Paul's, Great Port- land Street. St. Thomas', Regent Street. St. John's, Whetstone. Winchester... Fordingbridge. Southampton, All Saints. Dorking, St. Paul. Gloucester & Bristol ... St. Clement's, Bristol. Swindon,Parish Church Diocese. Parish. Lichfield . .. Drayton-in-Hales. Tipton, St. Mark. Willenhall, St. Ste- phen. Tipton, St. Paul. Norwich .. Walsoken. Oxford . . Reading, Grey Friars Rochester . .. Frindsbury. Gravesend, St. James. Greenwich, Parish Church. Greenwich, St. Paul. Sydenham. St. Asaph . .. Bistre. Worcester .. Worcester, St. Peter. Rugby. Province op York. York ... .. Hinderwell. Kirby Moorside. Chester .. Wigan, St. George. Ripon .. Elland. Hunslet, St. Mary. Laister Dyke. DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. 31 .a li ^ ^ 5i o lt: t- :j CO ' C0e000C0CC-O'*t^^(M-H-:t^t-OG0>M O lO CO C^^OO CM^OJ^lr- ^_^r -o" CO CC do" O r-T rt" COCJOOCOwC^C^^C^^CD^lCO'— 1 CO-^rlicOC^ COCslCr ic" ■>* GO (M 'M lO r-H (M (M rH CO -M iM I— 1 5 1 S3 o CO ri -+i •-C ^ t^ O 1 oorso)^^ coeoci'*iot-cocooc5 (MCCC50GO |»010-^00-*10>-HOC005 CO t- CO CO O CO Ti^ UO ^ .-1 o (M (>; i-H o CM rH (?^ (M (M CO 1 g (MCOOO-*CCrOOOOOO^'!t.i>-coo-^-*<^ Oi— l!^^c^^.-HOo«^>0305(^^Cil>- r-l^coc>olot^T}^cct^oo^<^ccc5;o>o^I-lcc-*co-* CO o ^ OCO-+lt— -+l-:t— 1 X O -* O ^ CO U-; 3V1 t- CM UO CO Ci ^ CO lO ■^^ ^"^c, ^l '^r- ^- ^^ "I ^"^^ "^^ "^ "^^ "^^ t^ ^„ "-"v, ^^ cT o" co^ O^ c^f i>r :£■ -jT o o" iO^ t>^ c>r cT ocT h-^ CO— it^'^ric^ci-^rsoo^cocot-ocsco o o^c: t- co^t^ CM crs^co^cM^o^o^'M co o o oT CM 00 (M i-O ^ O CO 1 t^ CO CO C^ -+I C» CM o -M CO -o: :r. CC cc cm i- -c^ c>) c. co r-i to co co^ ^^ — ^ '-^^ "v ' ~^ "-. ",, *•": ^- • V — ^ ^^ S. ^^ ^^ ^f tC tC —' i-T c-r -oT co" cm' -m" — " L- o" co" co" o" --0 CO CO uo Lo — >--: --o LO CO c; lo o co ^ co ~. --o c>) CO t^ LO co__^ CO iO uo c:;^ CM 'Tt- CO »o^ cr; rn" C-l" -"T r^ CM CO^ t>^ CM l^ CO 2^ CO cm" CO CO C5 oi CO o; CO GO — 1 CO -^ io -n t>. i^ t-^ ic^ lo^ o^ o^ co^ '^j^" i-T t>r co" t>r ^" o" CO lO t- C5 lO UO CO co^^o^:»co^ O^ CO CO II C5.-IO'*'COt^OCiGO'-HOCiGO-*— i-^'*it^ .-H_:r^cOi-i;co-^->ccociCMu';t-N-*co--HOcNcO'*i •o" -o" tc" ic~ — " rT r-T cT o" <>f c-l r-Hr-H.-l (M.-H cOr-l,-,,-HrH C<1!M »0 Oi CO 0^ >* CO t- uo" O" co" -r" lo" Cs" t>r CO CO t- t- O C5 CM rH CO CO ^ CO (M m Is < o w o ^; > o p? Ph OS c 1 > o «'::::::: ^ fe :::::: : o a o !^ :::::: : > i 2 . S « Jh S SiJ c3 o .B H l . . . '. X '. '. '. lliL pqpqoow "s CO :«:::::::::::::: i ^ 1 iiililiiiiaiii 32 COMMITTEE ON DEFICIENCIES OF SPIRITUAL MINISTRATION. RESOLUTIONS to be moved when this Report is considered by the Lower House : — (1.) " That in the opinion of this House the many urgent wants that press upon the Church of England cannot be efficiently pro- vided for without a division of the larger Dioceses, and a consequent increase of the Episcopate." (2.) " That the Prolocutor be requested to take up a copy of this Committee's Report and of the foregoing Resolution to the Upper House." 1