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Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 87, 4 September 1852, Page 7

To the Editor of the Lyttelton Times. Sik, —The tone of a letter signed " An Old Shagroon," which appeared in your last number, is hardly such as to invite, or deserve, friendly explanation. One who professes to write in the sacred cause of religious charity, should have written in a different spirit, more reverently, more charitably ; without scoffs or sneers. But my business is not with him. The Church Trustees feel that the subject of'part of his letter is one on which it is desirable that the public should be fully informed. They have accordingly requested' ma to give such in formation upon it as the circumstances appear to admit ofj aud require.

The principles on which the custom of the " Offertory" rests are these ; that it is the duty of every Christian to offer a certain proportion of his substance to the immediate service of Gob ; in other words, to pious and charitable uses: and that the most ancient, natural, and approved mode of offering it, is by confiding it to the hands either of the Clergy, or of officers appointed by the Church' for that purpose. The objects on which such offerings have usually been expended in modern times, are— the relief of the poor, the erection and decoration of Churches, with the maintenance of the services, the support of Ministers, and Missions to the Heathen. In this place the distribution is, of course, affected to a certain extent, by provision for some of these objects from other sources. Now the plan on which the Church Trustees of Lyttelton have proceeded, is to make the maintenance of the Church Services (such as providing for the lighting and cleaning of the Church, Sexton's salary, &c.,) the first charge on the Offertory; the relief of the poor the second; Missions the third; and contributions to Church Building the fourth. As to the amount which the poor ought to receive, there will, almost inevitably, be differences of opinion ; nor is it possible to lay down an exact rule. The Trustees can only say that they have endeavoured not to leave any case of real destitution unrelieved, and that they are always thankful for being made acquainted with such cases. But I think even your correspondent will allow that it is necessary to exercise great caution in this matter, and that to introduce into a new Country the habit of relying on Eleemosynary aid, would be anything but a kindness to the recipients, or the class to which they belong. But, as I have said, it is impossible to lay down v rule; each case must be tried on its own merits. I will, therefore, examine the one which your correspondent has belected for animadversion as a peculiarly hard one. The family to which he refers, is that of a journeyman shoemaker. He is undoubtedly not a strong man, but he was, at the time spoken of, and still is, in regular employment, earning not less than 18s. a-week. Moreover, he occasionally receives lodgers, and his wife takes in washing. I should add that he has paid no rent for his house for many weeks. What we gave him within ten days was, as your correspondent states, 4lbs. of" meat, and 81bs. of bread, i. c. food to the value of 4s. 6d. This, together with the man's earnings, not counting his wife's, amounted to £i Us. 6d. for that time. I think, after reading the above statement, your readers will be more likely to accuse us of over-indulgence in giving at all, than of neglect and inhumanity in not giving enough. In conclusion, I must remind him that the precise mode of expending the Offertory Funds, has been published every quarter with scrupulous accuracy. Tt was unnecessary for him, therefore, to warn the public as to the manner in which those Funds are applied; the public knew all about it perfectly well already, and have long had the remedy in their own hands, if they were dissatisfied. Your correspondent, or anybody else, who may wish to have his contribution to the " Offertory" expended in a particular way, has only to notify his wish, and it shall be attended to. Many are now in the habit of doing this, and their contributions are invariably applied according to their wishes.

I had intended not to notice that part of your correspondent's letter which is irrelevant to* the main subject. I must, however, make one exception—he speaks of " Fast days dedicated to St. Barnabas and St. Bartholomew, or some other of the eminently pious selected from the catalogue of the Lady who sits enthroned on the Seven Hills." It is my duty to inform him, in the first place, that the days so dedicated, are not Fasts but Feasts /and, secondly, (what, I would fain hope he has forgotten",) that the^ objects of his scoff were not "merely saints of the Roman Calendar, but the Apostles of our Lord. It is,_ perhaps, hardly worth while to contradict his singular assertion that there is a crucifix worked on the Offertory bag, as anyone may see on any Sunday that such is m>t the case. I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, B. W. DCDLKY, Chairman of the Board of Church Trustees.