5001.; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 500l.; Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 500%

BAMPTON. On the 31st July, the first stone of the church at Aston, near this town, was laid. In the morning, the children of the National Schools of Bampton, Aston, and Cote, assembled at Bampton, and after singing the national authem, proceeded to Aston, to wait the arrival of the clergymen and gentlemen who were to form the procession. At one o'clock the procession was formed, advancing in order as under :—

Gentlemen from neighbouring Towns and Villages.

On arriving at the ground, they were conducted within the square, formed for the clergymen and others connected more immediately with the ceremony. The service commenced by the children singing the 84th Psalm, old version, and the Prayers, selected from the Liturgy, were read by the Rev. C. L. Kerby. The Rev. Dr. Winstanley then gave an excellent address, and, at its close, three coins of the reign of her Majesty were presented by the Rev. Mr. Kerby to the architect, who duly inclosed them in the stone. The band, during the time occupied in securing the coins, performed Haydn's "Hymn to the Emperor." The stone was then suspended, when Mr. Hippisley guided it to its destination at the north-east angle of the building. It was then levelled and properly bedded, after which he (standing on the stone) read the inscription as under :

The first stone of this Church,

Dedicated to Saint James,

He then returned the implements of architecture to the architect, with a proper and suitable address. The Rev. D. Adams offered up a thanksgiving for the accomplishment of the ceremony; the children sung the Old Hundredth Psalm, and the Venerable Archdeacon Berens pronounced the benediction.

NOBLE BEQUESTS.-The late Rev. William Richardson, for fifty-three years the respected vicar of St. John's parish, in the city of Chester, has left the sum of two thousand pounds to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; two thousand pounds to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts ; and two thousand pounds to the Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlarge-* ment, Building, and Repairing of Churches and Chapels. He has also bequeathed the sum of six hundred pounds for the erection of an organ in the venerable church belonging to the parish, over which he had been for so long a period the worthy vicar.

The Lord Bishop of London will commence a Visitation of his Diocese at St. Paul's Cathedral on the 8th of October.

Births, Deaths, AND MARRIAGES.—Believing that amongst many, there exists a partial misapprehension of the law for the registering of births and baptisms; and as we are of opinion that the principle of the new Act of Parliament for the registration of births, deaths, and marriages may cause a neglect of the Holy Sacrament of Baptism, and consequently an indifference to the Christian religion; we beg to state,

First, That the law relative to the registration of baptisms by the Clergy remains precisely as it was previous to the passing of the new Act for registering births, deaths, and marriages.

Secondly, That we have examined the new register for births at the Register's office, and we cannot find there any evidence that the children who are thus registered have been made Christians.

Thirdly, That we are forbidden by law to read the service for the burial of the dead over any person who shall happen to die unbaptized.

Every Clergyman therefore is bound, by his canonical oath, to refuse Christian burial in all those cases where he is not satisfied that the children have been duly baptized with water, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

During the last month, the Lord Bishop of London consecrated two new Churches in the populous parish of Stepney; which will give twelve hundred free sittings to the poor.

The first stone of Tipton Church, in the parish of Ottery St. Mary, was laid on the 9th of August, by the Venerable the Archdeacon of Exeter. The Rev. Gentleman was attended by a large party of clergy and laity; and the arrangements on the ground were so good that the whole of the ceremony was witnessed by upwards of 1,500 persons, whose deep attention and serious demeanour gave additional interest to the proceedings.

The Rev. Dr. Huntley has presented 5007. as a donation to the Charity School of the parish of St. Marylebone.

ORDINATIONS.-1838.

The Lord Bishop of Norwich will hold his next Ordination on the 23d of September. The Lord Bishop of Lincoln will hold an Ordination at Buckden on Sunday the 23d of September.

The Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells intends to hold a general Ordination on Sunday, October 21. Candidates are required to send their papers to his Lordship's Secretary, Mr. Brookes, Wells, on or before the 22d of September.

The Lord Bishop of Exeter will hold his next Ordination on the 28th of October.

THE REV. J. GARDINER, D.D.-In his 82d year, the Rev. John Gardiner, D.D. of Wadham College, for more than fifty-seven years Rector of Brailsford, in the county of Derby, (patron, the Earl of Ferrers;) and upwards of forty-two years Minister of the Octagon Chapel, Bath. He was a Magistrate for the county of Somerset. He proceeded M.A. July 8th, 1796; B.D. and D.D. July 16th, 1796.

John Gardiner, D.D., was educated at Tiverton, whence he went to the University of Glasgow, where he studied the civil law. He then entered himself of the Middle Temple, with a view to qualify for the bar. An irresistible impulse induced him to exchange the Law for the Church, and for this purpose he repaired to Wadham College, Oxford. In 1781 he took possession of the vicarage of Shirley, and rectory of Brailsford, in the county of Derby, the presentation to which had been purchased by his father, with whom he afterwards resided for some years at Wellington, performing gratuitously the duty of curate of that parish. In 1789 he undertook the same office at Taunton, where he continued till his father, in 1796, purchased for him the Octagon Chapel at Bath, where he has ever since regularly officiated. His publications are:-A Sermon preached on the Fast-day, 1793: 4to. A Sermon on the Duties of a Soldier, preached at the consecration of the colours of a regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry. Brief Reflections on the Eloquence of the Pulpit, occasioned by a pamphlet, entitled "Remarks on a Sermon preached on the Fast-day, 1793;" by J. Gardiner: 8vo. 1796. Sermons on various subjects, preached at the Octagon Chapel, Bath: 8vo. 1802; 2d. edit. 1806. Causes of the Inefficacy of Fasts: a Sermon. 8vo. 1803. The Faith and Hope of the Righteous; a Sermon on occasion of the Death of the Rev. Dr. Maclaine: 8vo. 1805. A Tribute to the Memory of Lord Nelson; a Sermon: 8vo. 1805. A Sermon on the Duties of Public Worship: 8vo. 1808. Reflections on the Shortness of Time; a Sermon, suggested by the Mourning for the Princess Amelia: 8vo. 1810. Thoughts on our Abuse of the Sabbath, extracted from a Sermon delivered at the re-opening of Laura Chapel, Bath: 8vo. 1811.

THE REV. J. P. FISHER, D.D.-Aged 81, the Rev. Jonathan Parker Fisher, D.D. of University College, Sub-Dean and Canon-Residentiary of Exeter Cathedral, and Rector of Farringdon, Devonshire, (patron, the Bishop of Exeter.) Dr. Fisher, son of the Rev. John Fisher, of Peterborough, was matriculated May 7, 1774; proceeded M.A. Oct. 10, 1780; B.D. May 22, 1802; and D.D. grand compounder, May 14, 1807. He was brother of the late Dr. Fisher, of the Charterhouse.

"The death of Dr. Fisher will occasion the first vacancy amongst the dignitaries of the cathedral of Exeter since the passing of the Acts 6 and 7 William IV. c. 67, and 1 Victoria, c.71, reducing the number of canons, &c. The first Act was passed for one year; it recites the recommendations of the Church Commissioners, among which is one, that the chapters hereafter consist of a dean and four canons only.' The Act states that all future appointments to any ecclesiastical dignity referred to in the above recommendations be subject to certain conditions named; and then provides 'That no appointment, presentation, or collation, be made to any canonry, prebend, or diguitary, in any cathedral church in England, &c. which is now vacant, or which may hereafter become vacant during the continuance of this Act.' The 1st of Victoria confirms the former Act, and extends its operation till the 1st of August, 1838, and to the end of the then Sessions of Parliament."

THE RECTOR OF EXETER COLLEGE.--At Oban, Argyleshire, the Rev. John Collier Jones, D.D. Rector of Exeter College, Vicar of Kidlington, and an acting magistrate for the county of Oxford. Dr. Jones was the son of a highly respectable medical man at Plympton, in Devonshire, where he was born on the 7th of October, 1770. He was, educated under Dr. Cardew, at Truro school, and in 1788 entered at Exeter College, being matriculated as a Commoner of that Society on the first day of Michaelmas Term. On the 6th of June, 1792, he took the Degree of B.A. and was shortly after elected to a Petrean Fellowship in his College. Entering into Orders, he became for some time Curate of Mortlake, in Surrey; but was afterwards induced to accept a Chaplainship on board the Namur, Capt. Whitshed, and was present in the action off Cape St. Vincent, in 1797. He proceeded M.A. June 30th, 1796, B.D. July 1,