to the very valuable Report of Horace Mann on Religious
Worship, it appears that there are, in England and Wales, 10,398,013
persons able to be present at one time in buildings for religious
worship, and that, for the accommodation of such, 34,467 places of
worship have been erected, leaving an additional supply of 1,644,734
sittings necessary, if all who could attend places of worship were
disposed to do so, the actual accommodation being 8,753,279 sittings. In
reality, however, the supply more than keeps pace with the demand.
'Returning,' says Mr. Mann, 'to the total of England and Wales, and
comparing the number of actual attendants with the number of persons
_able_ to attend, we find that, of 10,398,013 (58 per cent. of the whole
population) who would be at liberty to worship at one period of the day,
there were actually worshipping but 4,647,482 in the morning, 3,184,135
in the afternoon, and 3,064,449 in the evening. So that, taking any one
service of the day, there were actually attending public worship less
than half the number who, as far as physical impediments prevented,
_might_ have been attending. In the _morning_ there were absent, without
physical hindrance, 5,750,531; in the _afternoon_, 7,213,878; in the
_evening_, 7,333,564. There exist no data for determining how many
persons attended twice, and how many three times, on the Sunday, nor,
consequently, for deciding how many attended altogether on _some_ service
of the day; but if we suppose that half of those attending service in the
afternoon had not been present in the morning, and that a third of those
attending service in the evening had not been present at either of the
previous services, we should obtain a total of 7,261,032 separate
persons, who attended service either once or oftener upon the Census
Sunday. But as the number who would be able to attend at _some_ time of
the day is more than 58 per cent. (which is the estimated number able to
be present _at one and the same time_), probably reaching 70 per
cent.--it is with this latter number (12,549,326) that this 7,261,032
must be compared; and the result of such comparisons would lead to the
conclusion that, upon the Census Sunday, 5,288,294 able to attend
religious worship once at least, neglected to do so.'

The non-attendance appears to be greater in towns than in our rural
populations; and in this respect London is not unlike other places. It
is difficult to classify its religious de