the chaplaincy of St. George's, and receiving the emoluments, after his appointment as principal of Brazenose College; and, although he occasionally visited Liverpool, his constant residence in the town, and his discharge of the duties of St. George's Church, were impracticable. He was by that conduct the more exposed to censure as a pluralist, because, he must have been conscious, when he was elected chaplain of the church, that the congregation, and many of the Council who voted for him, had a right to expect him to perform the duties of it in person, and his residence at Oxford seems, therefore, scarcely consistent with the rule of good faith, or with his duty as chaplain of St. George's.

A terrace, raised considerably higher than the street, extended on each side of the church, forming, as it is at present, a small raised church yard; and, on the southeast corner of it, was a small octangular edifice, which was the watch-house and lock-up night prison, and which had the fire-bell over it. Another octangular edifice, corresponding to the one before described, was used for the clerk of the market, and stood at the south-west corner of the church yard; and under the south side of the terrace was an arcade, consisting of a range of six arches which extended beneath the terrace from one of the octangular edifices to the other.

St. Thomas' Church, at the lower end and on the east side of Park-lane, was consecrated in 1750; the body of the church was built of stone, and consisted, as it still does, of a rustic base and two rows of windows, having Ionic pilasters between them, and above them a cornice and balustrade terminated with a variety of vases. Its spire, when it existed, was very tall, slender, and tapering, and a beautiful object when seen from a little distance. The following account is given of it by Mr. Enfield :-" Its steeple and spire are well proportioned and lofty; it is 216 feet from the ground, of which the spire is above one-half. The pedestal which sup

ports it consists of windows and ornaments in the Grecian style, but upon four couplets of Corinthian columns the architect has placed four Gothic pinnacles, which seem to have no affinity with the rest of the structure." Upon the whole, however, notwithstanding that architectural error, the spire was very handsome. It underwent many vicissitudes; on the 15th March, 1757, in a hurricane, about 42 feet of the spire were blown down," and, on being rebuilt, it was reduced in height 18 feet; it was many years afterwards struck by lightening, and also injured by storms, and at length became so unsafe and rocked so much during high winds, that its vibrations were perceptible, even from the distance of Castle-street, and after having been much reduced in height, the whole, except the tower part of the steeple, was taken down in mischief.

1822, in order to prevent

St. Paul's Church, in St. Paul's-square, (of stone,) was consecrated in 1769; the main body is of the Ionic order, with a bold Ionic portico and a projecting pediment, on the west side. The south and north fronts have each a pediment supported in the like manner, but not projecting so much. In the centre, upon an octangular base, rises a large dome, on which is placed a lanthorn, terminated by a large ball and

cross.

St. Ann's Church, on the north side of Great Richmondstreet, was erected in 1772, several years before St. Annestreet was opened, and was consequently quite in the country.

(1) Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser, of Friday the 18th March, 1757, after mentioning great damage done at sea, and on land near Liverpool, by the storm, (from the west), states that, "about 42 feet of the lofty spire of St. Thomas' Church, (which was esteemed one of the most beautiful in Europe), fell upon the body of the church, broke through the roof, and tore down the west galleries."

(2) The Author, as well as many others, witnessed the vibrations in a storm from the great distance of Castle-street, when opposite the Courier Office.

It is a brick edifice without any pretensions to beauty, with a low tower, ornamented with pinnacles, and is remarkable for not being built according to the usual canonical rule; its altarbeing at the south end and its tower at the north; it stands north and south, instead of east and west, according to usage.

St. James' Church, on the south side of Parliamentstreet, in the extra-parochial place of Toxteth-park ;" a plain brick building, with a tower; though built in 1774, was not used for Divine service until the summer of 1775, as will be further noticed in another place.

The patronage of those churches will be mentioned in a subsequent chapter.

Besides the churches of the Establishment, there were nine other places of worship.

The Methodist Chapel, on the west side of Pitt-street, erected by the Wesleyan Methodists, was a plain brick edifice. There, that truly good and pious Christian, the Rev. John Wesley, the founder of one class of Methodists, has occasionally preached"; and as he never spared his labours in the conscientious discharge of his religious duties, he has been known to preach there when divine service commenced as early as at six o'clock in the morning.(3) The

(1) It is often called, though erroneously, in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, even in the Register Book of that Church. A large portion of Toxteth-park is now, by the Municipal Reform Act, within the Borough of Liverpool, including the part where the Church stands.

(2) Gore's General Advertiser, of 29th March and 5th April, 1776, mentions his preaching in Liverpool in April, in that year.

"Wesley's life was extended far beyond the usual term of human life, to the year 1791, and to the age of eighty-eight. He has left behind him a Journal, giving a full account of his unwearied travelling and preaching, during more than half a century, together with occasional remarks on the towns he visited, or the books he read."-Lord Mahon's History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Aix la Chapelle, v. 2, p. 385.

(3) The Author's father, actuated by a natural wish to hear so good and so extraordinary a man, more than once heard Mr. Wesley preach there, and has attended

chapel was built in 1766, but was taken down and rebuilt of brick on a much larger scale in 1800. It was the first -chapel which the Methodists erected in Liverpool, but they had a society in the town, and used to meet in temporary places of worship, prior to 1754.0)

The Chapel in Benns-garden was a brick building of unpretending exterior, frequented by a congregation who then and for some years afterwards were of the Presbyterian persuasion. It had been in use since 1727. In 1811 the congregation having much increased, they removed to the new chapel on the east side of Renshaw-street, and profess the Unitarian creed. The chapel in Benns-garden is now used by a congregation of Welsh Methodists.

Another Chapel, of which the frequenters were also originally of the Presbyterian persuasion, was on the western side of Key-street, formerly called Kaye, or Kaystreet. After it ceased to be frequented by a congregation of Protestant dissenters, it was for many years licensed, and was consequently used by the members of the Church of England, and called St. Matthew's Church.(2) This edifice is considered to have been one of the oldest, if not the oldest place of worship which had been used by Protestant Non-conformists, in the borough of Liverpool.(3)

Divine service when Mr. Wesley officiated there before breakfast. The service commenced early, probably in order to accommodate the working-classes and others who could not conveniently attend later in the day.

(1) From a communication to the Author by Mr. Thomas Crook.

(2) Amongst many other clergymen who officiated at St. Matthew's Church was the Rev. Dr. Pulford, afterwards of St. George's. He was a good classical scholar, and at one period kept a school of some celebrity. Few of the readers, who happen to have been his pupils, can have forgotten the strictness of his discipline; at all events, the Author, who was under his tuition, has a very lively recollection of it. The Rev. Dr. Tattershall, a person of great talents and learning, was another of the clergymen there.

(3) It is said that immediately after the Revolution of 1688, a chapel for Protestant Non-conformists was built within the borough, in Castle-hey, now called Harrington-street.-History of Lancashire by J. Baines, vol. 4, page 104.

The old chapel in Toxteth-park was beyond the then limits of the Borough, and

The Key-street Chapel was erected about the year 1707," and frequented by a congregation of the Presbyterian denomination; the first minister was the Rev. Christopher Basnett; the Rev. John Brekell and the Rev. Philip Taylor were also successively ministers there.

In 1777 the Rev. John Yates succeeded to the pulpit, in the room of the Rev. Philip Taylor, who removed to the Eustacestreet Congregation in Dublin, and in 1791 the congregation emerged from the Key-street Chapel to the spacious and handsome chapel in Paradise-street, which will be mentioned in another chapter. St. Matthew's Church was pulled down in May, 1849, in consequence of the changes effected by making the station of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

The Baptists had a chapel, on the east side of the lane, now Byrom-street, leading towards Ormskirk. The original Baptist congregation in Liverpool was a branch of a society at Hill Cliff, near Warrington, and came to Liverpool about 1700.(2) In 1714, they built a chapel in Everton-lane, where their burial ground yet remains. (2) From thence the congregation, about 1722, removed to the before-mentioned chapel, then newly erected in the lane, now Byromstreet. Its pulpit was occupied in 1775, by the Rev. Samuel Medley, a person of talents, and much respected. He became the minister of the chapel in 1772, and in consequence of the increase of the congregation, it was enlarged in 1773; their numbers increased, and it became necessary for the congregation to have a larger place of worship; and, in 1789, they

is said to have formerly belonged to the Church of England, but to have been used by Dissenters during the time of the Commonwealth. It is also said that Thomas Crompton, the Non-conformist minister of the Toxteth-park Chapel, was not disturbed in consequence of the Act of Uniformity. It has ever since that period been used as a place of worship by Protestant Non-conformists.

(1) History of Lancashire, by J. Baines, vol. 4, page 104. (2) History of Lancashire by J. Baines, vol. 4, page 105.