ned in
diction, but they are at least worth as much as he gets for them.
Any man able to sermonise better, or rhapsodise more cheaply, or
beat the bush of divinity more energetically, can occupy the pulpit
tomorrow. It is open to all England, and possession of it can be
obtained without a struggle. Who bids?

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH.

There is a touch of smooth piety and elegance in the name of St.
James. It sounds refined, serious, precise. Two of the quietest and
most devoted pioneers of Christianity were christened James; the
most fashionable quarters in London are St. James's; the Spaniards
have for ages recognised St. James as their patron saint; and on the
whole whether referring to the "elder" or the "less" James, the name
has a very good and Jamesly bearing. An old English poet says that
"Saint James gives oysters" just as St. Swithin attends to the rain;
but we are afraid that in these days he doesn't look very minutely
after the bivalve part of creation: if he does he is determined to
charge us enough for ingurgitation, and that isn't a very saintly
thing. He may be an ichthyofagic benefactors only--we don't see the
oysters as often as we could like. Not many churches are called
after St. James, and very few people swear by him. We have a church
in Preston dedicated to the saint; but it got the name whilst it was
a kind of chapel. St. James's church is situated between Knowsley
and Berry-streets, and directly faces the National school in
Avenham-lane. "Who erected the building?" said we one day to a
churchman, and the curt reply, with a neatly curled lip, was, "A
parcel of Dissenters."

Very few people seem to have a really correct knowledge of the
history of the place, and, for the satisfaction of all and the
singular, we will give an account of it, in the exact words of the
gentleman who had most to do with the building originally. Mr. James
Fielding deposeth:- St. James's was erected by the Rev. James
Fielding and his friends. The occasion of its erection was this--
Vauxhall-road Chapel, in which Mr. Fielding had been preaching four
or five years, had become too small for the accomodation of the
congregation worshipping there, and it was thought advisable to open
a subscription for a new and larger building. The first stone of St.
James's was laid by Mr. Fielding, May 24th, 1837, and the place was
opened for divine worship in January, 1838, under the denomination
of "The Primitive Episcopal Church,