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 L I E) RARY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N 1 VER.S1TY 
 
 Of ILLl NOIS
 
 WESTMINSTER AND DR. WISEMAN; 
 
 OK, 
 
 FACTS V. FICTION. 
 
 ■ Speaking the truth in love." — Ephes. iv. 1 5. 
 
 [Price One Penny.]
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The following sliort Statement of Facts, relating to the 
 spiritual condition of the district in which I reside, was hastily 
 drawn up, in answer to the unworthy sarcasms mth which 
 Dr. Wiseman, in his " Appeal," thought fit to assail a body of 
 men, whose conduct it would be more fitting for him to 
 emulate than to traduce. My long acquaintance wdth West- 
 minster had enabled me to appreciate the active co-operation 
 of the Dean and Chapter collectively, and of many of the 
 Canons individually, with the Parochial Clergy, and Lay 
 Members of the Chm-ch, in diffusing sound religious know- 
 ledge ; and the assertion hazarded by Dr. Wiseman, that their 
 wealth was "stagnant, and not diffusive," at once satisfied me 
 of his entire ignorance of the most important portion of the 
 disti-ict which he afiects to govern as its Diocesan. Had he 
 known what they have done, and what has been left undone 
 by the members of his own communion, as regards their uufor- 
 timate Irish brethren, he would not have provoked a contrast 
 so discreditable to the Eomanists. Certainly, any one who has 
 travelled to Rome, and contemplated its wretched population, 
 must have been not a little sm'prised at the assertion, that " a 
 large staff of Clergy, and ample revenues, suffice to create 
 around them a little paradise of comfort, cheerfuhiess, and 
 ease ;" for such. Dr. Wiseman says, was the case in " ancient 
 times" in England, and insinuates to have been the conse- 
 quence of our then connexion with Rome. But if a sti\anger 
 visit Westminster, he will not find the Irish in much better 
 plight than the Pope's own subjects, although we are told in
 
 tlie " Appeal " that Dr. Wiseman was by many addressed as 
 "Archbishop of Westminster" more than two years ago. 
 The exact resources of the Dean and Chapter are well 
 known, all the Ecclesiastical bodies of our Church having 
 made full retmiis to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Those 
 of Dr. Wiseman, and his Ecclesiastical brethren, are not so 
 well known : but in one single instance, that of Mr. Blundell, 
 a sum exceeding the income of the whole Chapter of West- 
 minster for many years was bequeathed to him ; and many 
 similar gifts have been made to Romish Vicars Apostolic, 
 as to which no trusts are expressed, but which, I believe, are 
 fairly applied by them to the purposes of their Church. 
 
 Although the subjoined Statement was wiitten in haste, 
 and in a condensed form, in order not to trespass at too great 
 length on the courtesy of the Editor of the Times, yet it was 
 substantially con'cct ; where there were errors, they were under- 
 statements of the facts. Several of the most active supporters 
 of our Parochial Charities have requested me to allow it to be 
 reprinted, with my own name attached to it ; and I do so, not 
 with any wish to add to the excitement which the Papal 
 aggi-ession has naturally occasioned, but rather with a view of 
 giving a practical direction to that zeal, with which we are 
 contending for the pure faith of our Reformed branch of the 
 Catholic Church. We have protested, and rightly so, against 
 the assumed jm-isdiction of the Bishop of Rome ; and, as St. 
 Paul " withstood St. Peter to the face," when " he was to be 
 blamed," so, I trust, will om* Church ever continue to bear 
 witness against that of Rome, when she would " build again 
 the things we have destroyed" — the corruptible things — 
 " wood, hay, stubble," with which she has overlaid the foun- 
 dation. But the sincerity of our faith will be tested by works, 
 not by words ; and the attack from without should be the signal 
 for union and exertion within.
 
 My Letter to the Times sliowed what had "been done ; now 
 let me shortly suggest what remams to be done. 
 
 We have upwards of 60,000 inhabitants in our two 
 parishes. There ought to be at least 10,000 children receiv- 
 ing education. Taking rich and poor together, there is pro- 
 bably not one-half of that number at school. The other 5,000 
 children will be found wholly among the poor, and most of 
 them running wild in our streets. 
 
 Om- chm-ches, when all the nine are completed, would 
 not hold more than from 10,000 to 12,000 people. After 
 allo-sving for the Dissenting chapels, there would not be 
 room for one-half of those who out of our population ought 
 to attend pubhc worship, even if they were willing to do so. 
 
 But without additional Clergy you will not even fill the 
 churches which you may build, — for it is the weekly visiting 
 that really "edifies" the Church as a spiritual buildmg. A 
 popular preacher may fill the seats of the material edifice; 
 but the pastor, who " binds up the broken-hearted," and 
 " carries the lambs in his bosom," can alone lead them to 
 that " table in the -wdlderness" which the Great Shepherd of 
 the flock has prepared for them, and where, partaking of their 
 common spiritual food, they may be knit together In one 
 body. 
 
 We want then — 
 
 1. Additional Schools. 
 
 2. Additional Cluu'ches. 
 
 3. Additional Clergy. 
 
 We have indeed a right to look for aid in this work to the 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners. 
 
 Six Canonries of Westminster will be wholly suppressed, 
 and one-sixth of the income of fom- others ; and one-fifth of 
 that of the Dean will be also handed over to the Commis- 
 sioners. Now, a large portion of this income is derived from
 
 6 
 
 the very houses in which our dense population is crowded; 
 and yet all that has been done for this district has been the 
 appropriation of two Canonries to the Rectors of St. Margaret 
 and St. John respectively. 
 
 Four of the suppressed Canonries have already fallen in to 
 the Commissioners, and have been appropriated by them to the 
 general purposes of their fund. Sm'ely the remaining two 
 cannot be so properly applied as in the endowment of Clergy 
 for that district whence the funds themselves are derived. 
 
 But, even with this aid, we shall fall far short of the neces- 
 sities of our poorer brethren, and therefore far short of our own 
 duty, if we, the Laity, do not contribute from our abundance to 
 their penury. 
 
 The Westminster Spiritual Aid Fund* offers an oppor- 
 tunity, to all those who are disposed to evince the sincerity of 
 their opposition to Rome, to do so in the most effectual manner, 
 by providing instruction in the truths of our Reformed Church 
 for those whom we may expect soon to be subjected to the 
 plausible misrepresentations of the Romish priesthood. Let 
 them not in this matter triumph over us ; let them not say, 
 "There, there, so would we have it." 
 
 I conclude in the words of the collect for the week, — 
 
 " Stir up, we beseech Thee, Lord, the walls of thy 
 faithful people, that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit 
 of good works, may of Thee be plenteously rewarded, through 
 Jesus Christ om* Lord. Amen." 
 
 WILLIAM PAGE WOOD. 
 
 12, Great George Street, 
 
 November 29, 1850. 
 
 * Suljscriptions to this Fund are received at Messrs. Drummonds, Charing Cross. 
 
 
 9-
 
 DR. WISEMAN AND WESTMINSTER. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. 
 
 Sir, — May I crave the favour of your inserting the following 
 statement oi facts, with reference to the present spiritual condition 
 of the city of Westminster, and the efforts of the real Church of 
 England to improve it, as contrasted with the imaginative decla- 
 mation of Dr. Wiseman, to whom the Pope has intrusted the 
 charge of such members of the Romish communion as happen to 
 reside amongst us ? 
 
 I have resided for twenty-three years in the city of Westmin- 
 stei', and have no connexion, direct or indirect, beyond that of 
 church communion, with the Dean and Chapter of the collegiate 
 church or abbey; being, in fact, one of the 750 individuals (whom 
 the Doctor designates " as some hundred members of the bar,") 
 who have thought it their duty to protest against the resuscitation 
 of antiquated Papal pretensions. It is not, however, my intention on 
 the present occasion to deal with any other portion of Dr. Wiseman's 
 manifesto, than the inuendoes contained in its laboured peroration 
 with reference to Westminster. 
 
 I will not ask whether that peroration breathe the spirit of 
 " straightforwardness" and " charity" claimed as the peculiar 
 characteristics of the "Appeal;" but I will endeavour to extract 
 from its somewhat verbose phraseology the propositions which 
 it appears intended to insinuate rather than to state. I take 
 them to be these: — 
 
 1 . That " Westminster proper" consists of two very different 
 districts, — one of which. Dr. Wiseman says, " comprises the stately 
 abbey, with its adjacent palaces and its royal pai'ks:" that to this
 
 portion the duties and occupation of the Dean and Chapter are 
 mainly confined; and there, he adds, they shall remain undis- 
 turbed. 
 
 2. That " close under the abbey of Westminster there lie con- 
 cealed labyrinths of lanes, and courts, and alleys, and slums — nests 
 of ignorance, vice, depravity, and crime, as well as of squalor, 
 wretchedness, and disease, — whose atmosphere is typhus, whose 
 ventilation is cholera; in which swarms a huge and almost count- 
 less population, in great measure, nominally at least. Catholics,"* 
 which he shall be glad to visit " as a blessed pasture." 
 
 3. " That the existence, in ancient times, of an abbey on any 
 spot, with a large staff of clergy and ample revenues, would have 
 sufficed to create around it a little paradise of comfort, cheerfulness, 
 and ease:" but that now "the wealth of the abbey is stagnant, and 
 not diffusive; and that the holders of it ought not to be jealous of 
 his making the population his cai'e, without interfering with that 
 wealth." 
 
 Now, as to the first proposition, no one will deny the fact of 
 their being two districts in Westminster — one rich and the other 
 poor, — not an uncommon case in large cities. But I never before 
 heard that the Dean and Chapter paid any special attention to the 
 " palaces and parks," to which it is said their occupation is mainly 
 confined. 
 
 The second and third propositions, however, are those with 
 which I have to deal seriously; and these are the facts: — 
 
 " Westminster propei'" consists of the two parishes of St. Mar- 
 garet and St. John, which, for the purposes of poor rate, &c., are 
 united, but, spiritually, are under the charge of separate pastors. 
 By a recent Act of Parliament, the rectories of St. Margaret 
 and St. John are respectively attached to canonries of West- 
 minster; but a portion of each canonry was, by the same Act, 
 allotted to incumbents of district churches to be formed within 
 the parishes. 
 
 * By this word Dr. Wiseman means Roman Catholics. Another kidicrous in- 
 stance of this assumption occurs in a passage where he saj-s, " The doctrine of Catholics 
 all over the tvorld is, that there is onlj' one true Catholic Church under one head — the 
 Bishop of Rome, or Pope;" although there are no less than 70,000,000 of Greek 
 Catholics, and 20,000,000 of Anglo-Catholics, who utterly reject the Bishop of Rome's 
 supremacy. 
 
 UIUC
 
 The Dean and Chapter have no spiritual charge of the parishes; 
 but they have ever evinced, since I have known them, a most 
 hearty desire to concur with the incumbents in providing for the 
 spiritual instruction, no less than for the temporal wants of the 
 poorer inhabitants; and these are the results : — 
 
 I. Churches. 
 
 Twenty years ago there were two parish churches, and one 
 chapel, without cure of souls; and as regards the edifice, it was a 
 mean brick building, in a ruinous condition. 
 
 There are 7iow, besides the two mother churches — I. A splen- 
 did church, which has been raised by contributions, in lieu of the 
 old brick building, and is now the district church of Christchurch. 
 2. A new district church of St. Mary, built on ground given by 
 the Dean and Chapter, with an adjoining rectory. 3. A new dis- 
 trict church at Knightsbridge, built by contributions. 4. The 
 splendid church of St. Stephen, in Rochester -row, with rectory and 
 schools, built at the sole expense of Miss Burdett Coutts. 5. 
 There is in progress the church of St. Matthew, in Peter-street, 
 built by contributions. 6. In progress, also, a very handsome 
 church near the Vauxhall-road, the whole undertaken by one of 
 the canons of the abbey at his sole expense. 7. A temporary dis- 
 trict church in Palmer's village, about to be replaced, ere long, by 
 a permanent building.* 
 
 In all, we shall soon have nine churches, where we had but 
 three ; and of these, five will be in the midst of the very slums to 
 which Dr. Wiseman so graphically refers. 
 
 II. Clergy. 
 Twenty years ago w^e had but six clergymen ; we noto have 
 twenty hard-woi'king zealous men, whose week-day labours are in- 
 cessant in the same slums, — excepting, of course, the Knights- 
 bridge incumbent, whose district is an isolated one. 
 
 UI. Church Schools. 
 Of these we have — 
 1. The Central National, in the Broad Sanctuary. 
 
 * Subbcriptions for this church are received by the Rev. H, James, 4, Palace- 
 street, Pimlico.
 
 10 
 
 2. Central Infant, in Tufton-street, with a girls' school above it. 
 
 3. The Free School, in Dacre-street, for St. Margaret's. 
 
 4. The Free School, in the Horseferry-road, for St. John's. 
 
 5. The Christchurch District School, in Chapel-street. 
 
 6. The St. Mary's School, near Vincent-square. 
 
 7. The St. Stephen's School, in Rochester-row. 
 
 8. The Palmer's Village School. 
 
 9. The Knightsbridge School.* 
 
 I use the Avord school in the singular; though all of these have a 
 boys' school and girls' school, and some an infant school besides. 
 
 I believe I understate the fact, when I say there are 2,500 of 
 the poorest children in these schools. But we have besides ybwr cw- 
 dowed schools for the poor, all founded since the Reformation of our 
 Church, containing more than 500 children : we have also a large 
 workhouse school. 
 
 IV. "What have the Dean and Chapter Done? 
 
 The Dean and Chapter have, for ten years, conti'ibuted at the 
 rate of nearly £8,000 a-year to the various spiritual works above 
 stated. And it will be remembered that several of the canon- 
 ries have, during that time, been suppressed, and their revenues — 
 as we think unjustly — have been diverted to other desolate dis- 
 tricts of Enghind. I have already stated that one canon is now 
 building a church, at his sole expense, near Vauxhall-bridge-road. 
 It will cost about £6,000. f 
 
 V. The Spiritual Aid Fund. 
 
 This is a fund originated by one of the present Canons, with a 
 donation of £1,000, augmented, hy his personal applications to the 
 wealthy, to £12,000, and now reaching £20,000. The Dean and 
 Chapter gave £1,000 as a corporation, and many of the Canons 
 contributed largely to it. Four curates and the rent of a school are 
 paid out of its income. Grants to the amount of many hundred 
 
 * I inadvertently omitted a tenth school, that in Old Pye-street, placed in the 
 very centre of the most degraded portion of our population; and in which, from its 
 opening, about ten years ago, the service of our Church has been celebrated twice on 
 the Lord's day. 
 
 + This should have been £10,000. The church is built on a valuable site given 
 by Mr. Thomas Cubitt.
 
 11 
 
 pounds have also been made out of it to schools, and other ap- 
 plications of it are in contemplation. 
 
 Lastly. What have the Romanists Done? 
 
 It is true there are many Roman Catholics among us, nearly- 
 all Irish, who form the most wretched portion of the poorer inhabit- 
 ants, — I mean of such as are honest. Well, Dr. Wiseman's Church 
 has provided them with one small school for boys, and one other for 
 girls. Fifty of each, I believe, would be the largest number ever 
 found there. The other Dissenters have, together with some 
 Churchmen, established three Ragged Schools; and the Independ- 
 ents have one Free School, of much larger dimensions than that of 
 the Romanists. But, Sir, the matter does not rest here. The 
 miserable condition of the Irish, in temporal as well as spiritual 
 matters, has occasioned our clergy tivice to call the attention of 
 some wealthy Romanists to the fact; but they remain as squalid 
 and miserable as ever, in spite of the contributions cheerfully made 
 to their relief by those who differ from them in creed, but regard 
 them as their brethren. 
 
 I will conclude my too long intrusion on your columns by 
 adverting to the statement, that " in ancient times the existence 
 of the abbey would have created around it a little paradise of 
 comfort, cheerfulness, and ease." Why, Sir, to the existence of a 
 superstitious observance of our ancestors (yet manifest in the name 
 of " The Broad Sanctuary ") we mainly owe the degraded state of 
 the worst part of our population. Thieves and prostitutes usually 
 frequent the outskirts of all large cities, but the Sanctuary largely 
 increased their numbers. I have an old map in which " Thieving- 
 lane" figures, where there is now an open airy space, before our 
 hospital. Since the Reformation, the Dean and Chapter have at a 
 great pecuniary sacrifice cleared many of the unsightly lanes and 
 streets, from which, - before the Reformation, their predecessors 
 derived large profits. 
 
 But do not imagine that they or I conceive we have done all 
 that we ought to do. I for one shall not be satisfied till we have 
 twice as many children at school, and have cleared away far more 
 material and moral rubbish from the " lanes and alleys." Dr. 
 Wiseman will, I hope, look after his Irish co-religionists. Let
 
 12 
 
 him "provoke us" as mucli as he can " to good works." I do not 
 think a Papal bull will remove the cholera and typhus of which he 
 speaks, but rather in that respect trust to the closing of our grave- 
 yards and the opening of our new streets; neither do I think that 
 inflated addresses and bitter sarcasm will do much to remove the 
 excitement and violence of which he complains, or to purify the 
 moral atmosphere in which we of Westminster reside; but if he 
 will keep within his proper sphere, as an ecclesiastic of a foreign 
 communion, I believe he will meet with nothing but courtesy, and, 
 if he really ameliorate the condition of our poor Irish neighbours, 
 with respect. I have no objection to give him any information he 
 may require as to their condition (for he really at present knows 
 nothing of "Westminster), and for that purpose I inclose my name 
 and address. 
 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 
 A WESTMINSTER LAYMAN. 
 
 P.S. — Dr. Wiseman speaks of his prayers at the shrine of " St. 
 Edward," and of his " paying his entrance fee." He is probably 
 aware that our Church offers her prayers to God three times every 
 day in the same building, when, if he prefer offering his to " St. 
 Edward," he can do so without paying any fee. I would gladly 
 see these payments abolished, notwithstanding the necessity of 
 caution in watching over the building when large parties choose 
 to visit it. Not long since some Romish enthusiasts came in a 
 body on " St. Edward's" Day, and wished to proceed from his 
 tomb to pray at that of Queen Mary ! but were deterred by finding 
 that she and Elizabeth repose in the same vault. 
 
 Printed by W. Blaiichard & Sons, 62 Millbank Street, Westminster.
 
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