The Building of a Cathedral.
The see of Liverpool was founded in 1880. There was little difficulty in raising the endowment fund, thanks to the personal exertions of Mr. Torr, M.P., and Mr. Arthur Forwood, but the selection of a bishop was a matter for grave thought. Liverpool contained many low churchmen and many Orangemen, and it was also recognised that the high churchmen had done most excellent work. The views of the evangelical party, however, prevailed, and Lord Sandon and Mr. Whitley were instructed to use every influence with Lord Beaconsfield to secure the appointment of an evangelical churchman. In this they were successful. Lord Beaconsfield appointed Dr. Ryle, whom he had but recently created a Dean, as the first Bishop of Liverpool.
The proposal to erect a cathedral was first made in 1887. A committee was formed; a site on the west side of St. George's Hall—where St. John's Church stood—was selected, and a design by Sir William Emerson was approved by Mr. Ewan Christian, the architectural assessor. I was appointed one of the treasurers to the fund, and at once began an active canvass for donations. There was, however, a great lack of enthusiasm; many objected to the site chosen, and the Bishop did not help the cause, for though he was in a way anxious that a cathedral should be built, he freely expressed his opinion, both in public and in private, that additional churches and mission halls would be more useful. We received promises of only £41,000, and then we had to allow the scheme to drop, for it was quite impossible to make further headway. I think the Bishop was disappointed. He was an earnest, good man, and during his episcopate great progress was made in church building in the diocese, but in his heart I do not think he was ever enthusiastic in favour of the cathedral scheme.
No further steps were taken towards the erection of a cathedral during the episcopate of Dr. Ryle. When his successor, Dr. Chavasse, had been consecrated bishop the scheme took shape again, and shortly after he had been installed at his suggestion a small committee was formed to formulate a proposal. The Bishop was good enough to ask me to become the treasurer. I had so ignominiously failed in my first attempt to collect money that I declined, but his lordship was very pressing, and after thinking the matter well over I said I would make an attempt to start a fund, provided no site was selected and no general committee formed until we had received sufficient promises to make the scheme a success; and I added that if my conditions were accepted I would give up all other work for six weeks and devote myself to working up a cathedral fund. I made those conditions because I found on my previous effort the selection of a site and a design was a serious hindrance, as they afforded reasons and excuses for not giving. The Bishop agreed to this proposal. I wrote six or eight begging letters every night and followed them by a call on the day following, and I wrote a series of articles in the daily press, and managed to arouse a considerable amount of interest and enthusiasm in our scheme. We started our list with a handsome donation of £10,000 each from Lord Derby, Sir Alfred Jones, and others. Canvassing was hard work, but Liverpool people were very good and very generous. In my daily rounds I met with much kindness, but with some disappointments. Only one man, whose father made his millions in Liverpool as a steamship owner, was rude and unpleasant, but even he in the end relieved his conscience by sending in a small donation. At the close of six weeks' work I was able to announce to the Bishop's Committee that we had promises amounting to £168,000. We did not, however, stop at this. The ball was rolling and must be kept rolling, and before we called a halt we had promises in meal or malt amounting to £325,000. In this amount are included special donations for windows, organ, etc.
The Earle and Langton families most liberally gave £25,000 towards the cost of the Lady Chapel, and ladies of old Liverpool families were most generous in their contributions.
This success would have been impossible of achievement if it had not been for the wonderful influence of the Bishop. Everyone recognised his saintly character, his arduous work, and the statesmanlike manner in which he ruled over his diocese. Perhaps the Bishop's strongest point in dealing with men is his power of "enthusing" others. He always looks upwards, and in the darkest days is full of brightness and words of encouragement.
The next step was the selection of a site, and this aroused considerable discussion. There were many advocates for what was known as the London Road site, at the junction of that thoroughfare and Pembroke Place, a very commanding position; but as the cost of the site alone would have been £150,000 it was placed on one side. The sites of St. Peter's and St. Luke's were considered and pronounced too small. Eventually St. James' Mount was decided upon as being central and commanding, and having picturesque surroundings. The fourteen acres comprising the Mount were purchased from the Corporation for £20,000.
It was decided to advertise for designs and give premiums for the two best, and Mr. Norman Shaw, R.A., and Mr. Bodley, R.A., were appointed assessors.
Many designs were sent in and exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery. From these the assessors selected the design of Mr. Gilbert Scott, a young man of only 19, a grandson of the great Gothic architect, Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A. It was a design which did not commend itself entirely to the committee, and Mr. Scott being a Roman Catholic it was feared some objection might be taken, and the committee very wisely decided to link Mr. Bodley, R.A., with Mr. Scott as joint architects—a very happy combination, for while we secured the genius of Mr. Scott, we also secured the ripe experience and exquisite taste of Mr. Bodley.
We elected the Earl of Derby as our president, and I was made the chairman of the executive committee, a position of much honour and of absorbing interest, but involving considerable responsibility. We were fortunate in having on the committee Mr. Arthur Earle, who has rendered yeoman service both in collecting funds and finding donors of the windows. We have also received great assistance from Mr. Robert Gladstone, the deputy-chairman, and Mr. F. M. Radcliffe.
We had some difficulty with our foundations, as part of the Mount was made-ground, and the rock when we reached it was very friable. The consequence was that on the east side we had to go down forty, and even fifty feet before we obtained a satisfactory foundation. The foundations for the Choir, Lady Chapel, Vestries, and Chapter House cost £40,000.