of the Church of England have not received a fraction from the public funds, nor a single vote of money towards the erection of any of its eccelesiastical edifices. And yet, church extension has gone on at a rapid rate during that very period. The exact amount of voluntary expenditure it is next to impossible correctly to estimate. But take for example the case of one of the 17 societies, and it will be found that it has made grants during the last forty-five years to the amount of £712,143, which, however, have been met on the part of churchmen by a voluntary expenditure of not less than £4,937,847,-making a total sterling, voluntarily contributed in one department only, of upwards of FIVE MILLIONS-AND-A-HALF.

Or take an illustration from the very flourishing and important diocese of Ripon. During the eminently successful twenty years episcopate of the now most reverend Archbishop Longley, there were consecrated no fewer than 137 churches, being at the rate of 6 per annum, while during the not less successful episcopate of the right rev. the present lord bishop, between 40 and 50 more have been added to the number. So that" in the space of 27 years, the number of churches under the supervision of the Bishop of Ripon has increased nearly 50 per cent!" Since 1838 the Ripon Diocesan Church Building Society has made grants to the amount £83,612

Primate Boulter left £30,000 for the augmentation of small livings, and for the purchase of glebes. Archbishop Bramhall almost re-established the church in Ireland; and the late Primate, Lord G. E. Beresford, in addition to re-building his cathedral, at an expense of £30,000 from his private fortune, gave £2,000 a-year to the support of poor clergy in his diocese."-Vide Report of the Church Congress, in Manchester, 1863.

12s. 2d., which have been met by a further expenditure voluntarily made on the part of the public of not less than £342,790 7s. 10d., making a total of £426,403. Take note, moreover, of what is being done in Bradford alone.*

Since this was written, another magnificent example of local Church voluntaryism has been marshalled on to a most gratifying and triumphant issue by his Lordship the Right Rev. the Bishop of Ripon. As early as April, 1864, his Lordship in his Triennial Charge, delivered to the clergy of the diocese in that month, more or less prepared us for what was coming. After speaking of the Bradford Church-Extension movement and its results-his Lordship adds :-"I am not without hope that a similar movement will shortly be inaugurated in the still more important town of Leeds. In the course of November last, acting upon representations made to me by the clergy of that town, I felt it my duty to address a circular letter, for the purpose of calling public attention to the inadequacy of church accommodation in Leeds. During the ten years which elapsed between the census of 1851 and that of 1861, the population of Leeds underwent an increase of 35,000 souls. Little or nothing was done, during that interval, to extend church accommodation. The appeal has been responded to with great liberality, and I trust that within a short period a practical scheme will be fairly organized on a scale somewhat commensurate with the existing necessity."And how after so able and influential an initiative, what was the result? The following extract from the Leeds Intelligencer of the 12th November, of the same year (1864) will abundantly show. In a leader the editor says:-"If any have entertained doubts that the subscription of the LEEDS CHURCH EXtenSION FUND of £50,000, would be completed within the assigned limit of six months those doubts are now happily set at rest. The amount has even been exceeded by £3,327 besides a further sum of £424 offered for kindred purposes, but outside the objects con. templated on the institution of the fund. Yet the names upon the subscription list are not more in number than six hundred." Here are deeds done quietly—with none of that Barnum bluster, to which if we may believe the Rev. Baldwin Brown, Dissenters have the vicious propensity to have recourse. Here is an instance of magnificent voluntaryism on the part of a state-church, and a statechurch which dissenters are much too ready to abuse and

In 1860, the "Bradford Church Building Society" was established, when it was proposed to erect ten new churches. Now, what is the voluntaryism which such an effort has evoked? Let the facts answer. "Five have already (1864) been completed and consecrated, having districts assigned to them with an aggregate population of about 24,000. Another, All Saints, is in the course of erection at the sole cost of F. S. Powell, Esq., M.P." The seventh, Holy Trinity, has been commenced. Sites have been given by E. B. Wheatley Balme, Esq., for St. Stephen's, and by F. S. Powell, Esq., M.P., for St. Thomas's, and special donations to special churches." And exclusive of these items between £14,000 and £15,000 has already been subscribed. Then further to meet grants from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, (not parliamentary grants!) to the amount of £14,809 towards the augmentation of the Endowments of 26 poor benefices in the same diocese, there has been raised since 1857 by voluntary effort no less a sum than £18,167. In fact the voluntaryism of the church is evident at every turn of the enquiry. Take the grants of the Pastoral Aid Society-grants originating in the first instance in voluntary munificence, and they will be

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vilify. These are the deeds of a Church, which, the late Rev. John Angell James says:-" Withers the energies of benevolence and restrains the efforts of beneficence !" All we have to say is that Dissent would like such a withering." We can point out with pride to Bradford, Leeds, and other portions of the Diocese of Ripon, and in other dioceses, to Sheffield, Gateshead, Birmingham, and London, and can say to each of those factious, self-divided, clamorous, Dissenters who are so apt at the abuse, traduction, and calumniation of the Church of England.-"Go thou, and do likewise."

found to have been met in many cases by not less munificent local contributions. The same is also true of the grants from the Additional Curates' Aid Society. In 1862 this society made grants in the Ripon Diocese alone to the sum of £3,120; which sum was met, however, by contributions "raised locally" amounting to £1,263. And in addition to multitudinous other details of voluntary giving, parochial, and charitable, of which the statistician can take no cognizance, the Diocese sends up annually to different societies between £15,000 and £20,000.*

* In the charge of his Lordship the Bishop of Ripon,-certain important statistics extending over a period of three years, from December, 1860, to December, 1863, have been furnished, which accordingly we shall here subjoin :

Erection of Parsonage Houses." The number of parsonage houses to these 422 benefices is 345, of these 17 have been erected during the last three years at an aggregate cost of £24,245 12s. 8d. This sum has been raised by local contributions, assisted by grants from our Diocesan Socety, from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty."--TRIENNIAL CHARGE, pp. 7, 8.

Baptisms." The whole number of Baptisms during the last three years has been 70,012 giving an annual rate of 23,337 to a population it should be remembered of 1,167,288. This number is far below that which the population of the diocese might lead us to expect. Although it shows a higher average as compared with previous returns." p. 11.

Confirmations." During the three years, which ended with December last, I was permitted by the providence of God, to hold 90 Confirmations as against 77 in three previous years; the numbers confirmed were 4,801 males, and 7,987 females, making in the aggregate 12,788 as against 11,702 in the former cycle of three years."-p. 11.

Education."I find that upon the roll of the scholars belong

And this it must be remembered is only part of the actual voluntaryism of one of the thirty-six dioceses in England, Ireland and Wales. Indeed, so far is it from

ing to the Church Schools, there are in the Daily Schools, 34,551 boys, and 27,542 girls, in addition to 12,319 infants, making an aggregate of 74,412 scholars, receiving instruction in connexion with the Church. In addition to these in as many as 104 parishes, there are adult schools in which the clergymen take an active part. These schools number 3,929 males, and 2,077 females. Nor must the Sunday schools be omitted from this enumeration, although I take it for granted that the scholars which they contain belong for the most part to the daily schools as well. In the Sunday schools there are 33,046 males, and 36,098 females. Omitting the number of scholars in Sunday schools, it therefore appears that there are 80, 418 scholars belonging to the Church schools in this diocese, or about 7 per cent. of the whole population. These figures at all events evidence that the Church is taking an active part in the work of education."-pp. 15, 16.

Church Building, etc.—In the same period I have consecrated 18 new churches. Of these, 4 are churches rebuilt and enlarged." pp. 17,18. "Meanwhile, the work of Church-building and churchrestoration is being vigorously prosecuted in other parts of the diocese, (i.e. than Bradford and Leeds). Ten new churches are rapidly approaching completion; in seventeen other cases works of extensive restoration are being carried out; five out of the seventeen involving an entire rebuilding of the sacred edifice."pp. 20, 21.

Contributions to Home and Foreign Missions.-"The diocese has contributed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts during the past three years, the sum of £8,849 19s.8d; to the Church Missionary Society, during the same period, the sum of £12,305 19s. 1d.; to the Colonial and Continental Church Society, in the same period, £840 10s. 11d. ; to the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, in the same period, £1,005 9s. 5d.; to the Church Pastoral Aid Society, the sum of £5,240 5s. 8d.; and to the Additional Curates' Aid Society, the sum of £3,628 1s. 3d."-pp. 27, 28. This will be found to make a total for not more than Six Societies of £31,870 6s. Od., voluntarily contributed during three years terminating in December 1863.