The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

SKETCH OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE, Aivp PARTICULARLY OF THE SEAT OF WAR. WITH A VIEW OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE DISPUTE THAT HAS LED TO THE SUSPENSION OF BRITISH INTERCOURSE WITH CANTON. (Accompanied by a Chart of the Canton or Tigris River, which will be presented gratuitously to the Purchasers of the STANDARD of Friday nest.) The Chinese empire has long been regarded, in this coun try, as an important and interesting portion of the globe, not only from its valuable productions, and the singularity of its people, but from the lucrative trade pursued with it, on suf france, by our Asiatic, merchants, and, above all, from its supplying us with an article of extensive domestic consump tion, which has almost become a necessary of life amongst ns, and the importation of which, moreover, yields a large annual revenue to the government. The interest with which China has so long been viewed from these causes, has receiv ed additional excitement from the recent disputes between the superintendent of British trade and the Chinese auth ties at Canton, which have resulted in the stoppage of the opium trade, and unhappily in some hostile encounters at the mouth of the Tigris, attended with loss of life, and which will, in all probability, prove preliminary to a war between the'two nations, and render Canton, or Pekin, or both, the objects of attack by the British forces now assembling in India. At such a time, therefore, a sketch of China, its ex tent and population, and particularly of the more immediate scene of the recent disturbances —the point in which our commerce With China has long been concentrated—together with some account of the rise and progress of the dispute which has placed the two countries in a hostile position, can not, we think, fail, although brief, to be acceptable to those of our readers whose pursuits do not permit them to study the subject in detail --especially as the result may involve considerable changes in our national and commercial rela tions in that quarter. Without, therefore, entering into mi nutiae. we shall endeavour to supply, from the most authen tic sources, as much explanatory information as our limits will permit, and the question atissue—the declared or threat ened war—may seem to demand. THE CHINESE EMPIRE, comprising the dependencies of China, is the most ancient state in the world, and second only to Russia in extent of dominion. It extends from Segalien, the eastern extremity, to Turkistan on the west, a length of 3460 miles, and from north to south—from the Stanavoy mountains, in Sibe ria, to Luy-Choo—about 2000. The whole is computed to contain 1,298,000 square miles. - A large proportion of this immense area, however, consists of colonies, unproductive nortu n-c.a..r,Rt deserts. extending from China Pro p L er to the though these are far mo re ex t ensive t Cl u .frs ; • and are vastly inferior in value, and are but thinly peopled , by predatory tribes, over whom the di s t an t governm ent . can scarcely maintain any effectual control. The entire popula tion of the empire is computed at nearly 400 millions. Lying between lat. 20 deg. 30 min. an d 53 d eg . north, this vast ter ritory is much diversified in climate, as well as in the produc tions of the soil. On this subject the Rev. Charles Gutzluff, one of the most distinguished historians of China, eloqutntly remarks : "The Chinese empire presents the greatest variety in its possessions. Let us compare the dessert of Cobi, with the fertile plains of Keang-nan Province ; the inhospitable regions of Mantchouria, and Mongolia, and the sultry tracts of Kwang-tung, and Zun-na n , w ith the bare Steppes of the northern and western parts, where scarcely a shrub grows, and the southern provinces, overgrown with jungle and abounding in primitive forests. There are extensive flats, where not a drop of water is to be found, where not a grain of corn grows ; and there are swampy regions of great extent adorned with verdant fields, richly irrigated, where not a sin gle spot is left uncultivated. The productiveness of the cen tral provinces exceed all belief; but in other parts, despite of perseverance and hard labour, nothing can be produced. We meet with plains several hundred miles in extent, and again with mountainous territories, which strongly remind us of Switzerland. Whole provinces exhibit nothing but the habitation of man, one house joins another, hamlet follows hamlet, village runs into village, and long cities spring up as by enchantment ; whilst in other parts scarcely a hut of a solitary shepherd is to be seen, villages and cities are entirely unknown, and the footsteps of a human being is scarcely to be found. Here we see the unwearied husbandman, inces santly employed in the cultivation of his ground ; there we perceive thousands of boats covering the surface of rivers, and numerous junks plying backwards and forwards on the coast and crowding the harbours ; and in other parts we find the lazy nomades driving their cattle and substituting the camel for the junk and river boat. In some districts we may observe the hardy mountaineer gaining a scanty subsistence by hunting and delving in the bowels of the earth ; or dis cover the roving Mantchoo, in search of the Gin-seng ; whilst in other districts a wild beast is unknown, and sport is as little practicable as skating in the Indian Archipelago. Such are the varied features of the " Celestial Empire," which, however, (we allude more particularty to China Pro per,) is perhaps the most fertile of all the Asiatic countries. But though the climate is diversified and the productions numerous, the latter are inadequate to supply the wants of a superabundant population, notwithstanding the industry and skill of the peasantry, who constitute the greater number, in the cultivation of the soil, an art in which they are scarcely surpassed by the most advanced nations of Europe. On this account, a war with this country, which has hitherto supplied China with a variety of requisite articles, would in all probability be of short duration, as his Celestial Majesty, who is not unconscious of the advantages of commerce, though he hedges it round with restrictions, would find him self compelled to yield to expediency what he would other wise feel inclined to refuse. We now come to the most im portant, the commercial and sea -board portion of the empire. CHINA PROPER, NEWSpApEig 5.....,,, I?. :,:::,,,,,.,.,,,_,-..... ,--, ) -4`3 7 - . 1 - 1 - - -::: - Er 1 - - , ..- .-....,_,..,.....\•;.47,,,,,w an' Vtl V 1 - ,E ()(14: 1 ,tr't V Is situated between the 18th and 41st parallel of north lati tude, and the 98th and 123rd of east longitude. Its length, in a northerly and southerly direction, has been computed at little short of 2000 miles ; its breath is irregular, and is stated to be about 1500 miles, and its area 1,298,000 square miles. The population is about 360,442,000, upon an arable area, according to the latest calculations of about 141,622,860 English acres. It is bounded on the north by Mangolia and Mantchooria from which it is separated by the Great Wale ; on the south by the Chinese sea, Birmah and Laos ; on the east by the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the Eastern Ocean ; and on the west by Thibet, Little Bukharia, and Turkestan. It presents a sea coast to the eastward of about 3000 miles in extent, including gulphs, bays, &c., and has many . fine harbours and available creeks. Wherever the coast is mauntainous, the proximate ocean is studded with islands, which appear barren at a distance, but on a nearer approach are found to be verdant and productive. The eastern parts of the country are much lower than the wes tern, from the inland altitudes, sloping gradually towards the sea, and it is truly remarked by Gutzlaff that " no country is so admirably adapted, from its situation, climate, and soil to feed so many millions of men." Notwithstanding the great diversity that exists, in some points, in the Chinese empire, in no country is there so much - sameness as in China. Proper. There is one language, one character to express ideas, —similarity of manners, rites, pursuits, and thoughts." He adds, that the sameness of the Chinese mind extends to all their work. Cities, temples, fields, &c. are, with slight alterations alike over the empire:" Yet he remarks : " The grandeur of the natural scenery is, in many parts of China, as striking as in any country in the world. Mountains, crags, rivulets, and valleys, both picturesque and romantic, are found in most of the provinces." It is remarkable that, not long after the deluge, the cele brated founder of the Hea dynasty surveyed and engraved the maps of the nine districts into which he divided it upon nine brazen vessels, which were kept in the palace, as a pal ladium of the empire. The map is still extant, though rude and imperfect; and, from the course of the rivers and the outline of the coast differing widely from their present posi tion, it is supposed that China has undergone considerable changes during the lapse of 3,000 years. The Chinese, it is supposed, (and there are historical re cords to bear out the supposition,) are branches of the Mon gols, who, as population extended, spread themselves over the vast regions now distinguished by the name of China.* From an early period they carried on an intercourse with foreign nations. It is recorded in their annals that 2,000 years B. c. islanders brought, as tribute (or gifts), flowered garments to the court of China. There are many other re cords of its antiquity which are deemed authentic by histo rical stude n t s . A mongst ot h ers, i t i s state d b y t h e l a t e ex cellent Dr. Morrison, in the Chinese Repository, that 121 L ea t ln d .. c. " the Emperor of China sent able ambassadors tilifferent mercantile countries." China was then pro bablyworl • the greatest empire in extent and civilisation in the but while the western nations have advanced, she has almost stood still, if not in some points retrograded. We, however, concur with the Rev. Mr. Reed, the editor of " China 0 i f e says : in the conclusion of his introductory re marks.(Weighing all the good and bad quali ties of the respctive ' we do not hesitate to award nations in an impartial scale, t 9 the Chinese the palm of supe riority over all other Asiat ics mass with the inhabit ants of but comparing the whole Europe in the present age, we of look with veneration to the spiritimprovement which constituted the latter the umpires of the world. Once they has were upon a par ; they even fell beneath the Chinese ; but now they have risen to a height almost to dazzle the Asiatic Of the interior topography of the country less is known re l s d as ente than of the sea coast. A large portion is c mo untainous and sterile; there are va s t alluvriali' a lso fertile vallies watered by noble rivers. ThePlanngs,- tand ze- Keang is considered the largest river in A s i a . It has a course of 2,281 miles, and there are many cities, towns and vallies on its banks, which are of rich alluvial deposit. It disembogues itself some distance to the eastward of Nan- King, and is, at its estuary, from 15 to 20 miles in width. This river is, by means of canals, connected with nearly the whole empire, and is the quay to China and Central Asia. We find it remarked in " China Opened," a most valuable work—" If there had been as much attention bestowed upon the Yang-tsze-Kang, as there is upon the Nigro, (in Africa) we might already have discovered, by means of this river, a passage to Bengal and Birmah. When China is open to European enterprise, steam-boats will ply on its surface and transface the blessings of civilization throughout all China." The Hwang-ho, or Yellow River, is next in magnitude, and higher in celebrity, it being held in the same veneration by the Chi nese as is the Nile by Egyptians. It is further to the northward than the Yellow River, and its length from its source, (whi c h i s not yet satisfactor il y d e fi ne d,) is computed to mense el9Bi miles. Both these rivers have thrown out im alluvial banks into the sea to a distance of many miles, some of th em forming islands ; and bot h frequently, in spite of the erect i on of immense embankments, inundate the lower levels of the country. The Cheo-Keang, whicrtdri;e. the southern coast, takes its disembogues itself at Canton, in is computed at 600 miles. ris e Therein Yun-nary, and its length are also several other rivers, minor, yet of great magnitud (one f them of 220 miles in circumferenc e ) and many large lakes of which vegetation is luxuriant. The C hinese on the borders have (we learn from Gutzlaff and others) greatly improved the a d van tages furnished by thei r rivers for irrigation and Great nu inland navigation, by the form a ti on o f canal Canal is about 660 'miles in length —a l . The o ai lasting m t went of Kublais' enterprise and perseverancen is River. called Yun-ho, Transit River, or Yu - ho, Imperial crosses two of the principal rivers named, as we ll as oihers, it and serves as a highway for all sorts of riv er b oats, b eing connected with smaller canals. Its sluices and dykes are admirably constructed. By means of this canal and the junction of two small rivers, a water communication is made good between Peking and Canton. The whole empire is thus connected, and both transportation and the irrigation of the rice fields is greatly facilitated. It is rema r k e d, i n " China Opened," that the climate of China in general may be said to be salubrious, without the vigour of northern regions, and the enervating influence of the south. China Proper is divided into eighteen provinces, and these are again s u bdi v id e d into counties, districts, &c. The fol lowing are the ldi p t r i i s n s c i i ro a a l, ted wi : t_h their extent and population. In the first Pe Pechelee ............. Bgu.a s r o e ,7 m oo iles. Inhabitants. 27,990,871 Keeang-soo Keang-see ........... 27,000 30,426,999 Fuli-keen 57,150 14,777,410 Che-Keang Sze-Chuen ...... Kwang-tung, (Canton) 97,100 19,174,030 Hoopih, Honan, and Shant ung are also rich provinces. The others are but little known to Europeans. The general pro duce is tea, rice, (the common food of the inhabitants,) silk millet, vegetables, &c. The most valuable a rt i c l e , for ' fo reign export at least, is the first, which has gi ven employment for a long period to the finest ships in our mercantile marine. The tea plant, called by the Chinese " Cha," is a shrub of from tour to five lief high, resembling our myrtle, with flowers like white roses, but smaller, and bearing a small oily fruit. Only two species are known to our botanists, but the Chinese, its almost sole cultivators, count at least two hundred—probably by a stretch of their hyperbolic genius. It grows, according to Gutzlaff, (in accordance with several other writers,) on the most sterile ground, on the sunny ridges of hills, principally between 25 degrees and 30 degrees of latitude, in the provinces of Fok-een, Che keaneg, and Keang-soo ; but almost all over the empire. The tender leaf, gathered in the spring, has a superior flavour to the older leaves. "To produce a luxurient foliage, (says our author) the shrub is reg ularly and carefully pruned, the l ea ves are gathered when it is about three years old, but old shrubs beyond the age of seven or eight years are good for nothing. The trunk is cut, and the sprouts shoot out a-new, to supply the place of the old stem. There are three gather ings of the leaves,—the first early in the spring: the second at the end ; and the third at the commencement of summer. They are carefully manipulated, dried in various ways, and then packed. In foreign trade, two different kinds—the Weo-e, or black tea, and the Sung-10, or green tea, are prin cipally in demand." The same writer states that the black tea derives its name from the Woe-e hill, a romantic spot in Fokien, and the green tea from a hill in Keang-nan, in lati tude 30 degrees. To the Tartars the Chinese sell the coarsest leaves, which are beaten into cakes, and go under the name of Kaiel Cha, or brick tea; and with this commodity a trade is carried on extending all over Central Asia. A small quan tity of this, pulverised, and thrown into hot water, makes good tea. We may add to this portion of our sketch that a trial is now being prosecuted at Assam, in British India, which will, ere long, solve the question whether this plant, which has failed in Java and the Brazils, may not be grown extensively in our o wn territories, and thus supersede the necessity of a total dependence upon the Chinese. Those employed upon the plantation in the cultivation of the shrub are principally Chinese labourers, and the small samples al ready sent home have been much approved by London bro kers. A further experiment is, however, requisite, before extensive speculations in the culture of the plant can be pru dently pursued. The silk fabrics of China, of which, amongst the higher classes in that country the consumption is considerable, have long been in much esteem in Europe and America ; but have, of late years been rarely if ever imported into this country,— the duty being excessive, and the dye being considered gaudy, our own manufactures have superseded them. Russia and the eastern states of Europe have, however, drawn large sup plies from that country, while our principal and almost sole article of purchase has been tea. Of the customs, manners, and pursuits of the Chinese, little need here be said, save by way of reminiscence to the historical reader. The government is essentially despotic, but necessarily mild in its sway • the people, from long habitude, and example handed down from generat i on to generation, being throughout the whole or the civilisea httt..dermlys in habited part of ,L tia,eußtry . of one depart from the settled and beaten track of their toreralriers. The celestial monarch arrogates to himself the supremacy of all the powers on earth, whether Christian or Pagan. He styles his own " the middle kingdom," all others being deemed and designated " barbarians"—whom. however, he does not trouble himself either to " instruct" or molest ! Separated by natural barriers, and the impracticability of the profitable invasion of a country so peculiarly and densely peopled, and so extensively cultivated, China has been enabled to maintain an integrity, and a sort of exclusive but advantageous commercial intercourse with the more potent states, altogether unparalleled in the history of nations. The hive might be assailed, and the bees possibly dispersed by a combination of European powers ; but the question is, would the experiment be worth the cost, were ir even justifiable, (which we deny,) and would conquest secure a larger quan tity of the honey ! We think not. Let the Chinese—beyond an occasional check, when they overstep the limits of com mercial forbearance—be left to pursue their industrious avocation as agriculturists, and the mutual intercourse with Europeans and others, will be mutually more advantageous, and finally, perhaps, wear out the jealousy and prejudices that now pervades that people, and place them in a position to advantage themselves by the mechanical, scientific, and general improvements of the western world. The officers of state, in imitation of their imperial master, assume exceeding consequence in their edicts and proclama tions, the language of which is not only egotistically assump tive, but frequently, (as we shall shew with reference to the present dispute), bombastic and ludicrous. By far the greater portion of the inhabitants are farmers or rather cottagers, who devote their whole attention to the cultivation of the soil. The empire is divided into plots of one or two acres, separated by ditches which serve as drains, or by narrow ridges of earth, which are used as footpaths. These arc in most cases, cultivated by the owners themselves, who raise simply what supplies their own wants, without regard to pro ducing anything for the use of others, and for their own profit. This system is not, of course, pursued in the neigh bourhood of large towns; but it is general, so that the mass of people may be said merely to vegitate in their respective little gardens, in which, with the exception of a few flowers, nothing is cultivated if we except tea, in the districts where it is grown, but what is immediately useful as food. In case of failure of crops in one locality, no assistance can therefore be derived from another, and hence partial famines are not uncommon. They have but few cattle, or domestic animals —and prefer living on vegetable diet, chiefly rice, (which they season with onions or herbs,) or, if they can procure it, a small quantity of pork. Their implements of agriculture are rude, but they manage them with ingenuity, and are skilful in manuring and irrigating their land. Their cottages are generally built of bamboo. The peasantry are considered morally superior to the inhabitants of towns, the former being an artless race, the latter given to indulgence and licen tiousness. We now come to notice the two principal cities. PEKIN. It has been remarked by travellers that a great sameness prevails in all the cities of China, Those of the larger size contain a few streets well paved, in which there are shops. But the streets are for the most part narrow, and full of hovels. The suburbs are in many instances larger than the cities themselves. We learn, too, that the villages and ham lets, though they have a beautiful appearance at a distance, are little more than a heap of houses irregularly thrown to gether, with a cheerful exterior appearance, but without ade quate furniture or comforts, and withal filthy as a stable. Pekin, the principal and northern capital, stands in an ex tensive plain, in lat. 38 deg. 55 min., lon. 116 deg. 45 min. east of Greenwich. It is about 60 miles from the great wall, and 100 from the sea. At some distance to the east of the city flows the Pe-ho, but a water communication is ob tained by canals with another river which flows into the former. The city was founded in the reign of Han, the founder of the Leaon dynasty, generally called King-too. By the natives it is considered the nearest portal to heaven. It has undergone great changes, and is now divided into the old and new cities. The latter, built by the Tatars, contains the imperial palace, and is called the " inner city ;" the lat ter, which lies to the south, is called the " outer city." It is said to occupy an area of 27 miles in circumference, with out including the suburbs. " The wall," says Gutzlaff, " which surrounds it, is thirty feet in height, and of the enormous thickness of twenty feet. Nine gates lead through it, which reminds one very strongly of ancient Babylon. A ditch around completes the fortifications, which, in the eyes of the Tartars, is impregnable. The streets leading to the nine gates are very spacious, but lined with low houses, and not being paved, are in wet weather almost impassable. In entering no capital will the traveller be so much disappointed as in entering Peking; for having eyed the city wall with wonder, and passed the gate, the romantic fairy land vanishes at once. If, however, he can content himself with gaudy shops, and a promiscuous crowd continually thronging the streets, he may still be reminded that he is in the capital of China. The northern city is built in the form of a paral lelogram facing the four quarters of the globe, and consists of three enclosures, one within the other. The innermost contains the imperial palace, where his Majesty and his royal family live; the next, though designed for the immediate officers and attendants of the palace, is now occupied by the industrious Chinese ; whilst the third constitutes the open city. The wall which surrounds the imperial sacrum is laid over with yellow bricks, mounted with high towers, and built very regularly, so that the whole has a neat appearance. All the walks which lead to the principal halls are paved with large slabs of white and gray stone. The Wao-mun, or meridian gate, is the most splendid of all: the Emperor alone can pass through it by means of the southern avenue, and when ever he honours it with his presence, a yong and a bell, hung in the tower over the gate, are sounded. Here he distributes presents to foreign ambassadors, views the captives, whom his invincibles have taken, and shows himself whenever he has to dispense money. The Emperor receives congraula tions and visits of ceremony in the Tac-homun, (the gate of great harmony,) which is a splendid Chinese edifice 110 feet high." There are also two other halls of ceremony, one of which is called the Keen-tsing-kung, signifying the palace of heaven's rest. A palace is set apart for the Empress, who has also a flower garden. Adjacent is a library stocked with most of the books that have been published in the empire. Six palaces are occupied by the imperial females, and one by the Emperor's stewards, and there are others besides. These buildings are represented as gorgeous. The second enclosure is six miles in circninference,'and surrounded by a wall twenty feet in height. Here are many temples, and an altar in honour of the gods of the land and of grain —the most sacred of Chinese idols. Close by is an arsenal, where munitions are prepared for the defence of the country. The Emperor (says our last named authority) spends his leisure hours in artificial parks, gardens, and summer-houses. Several of these are well contrived. Amongst the public buildings there are no fewer than 200 palaces, but some of them would scarcely serve for stables. The National College, however, reflects honour on the city. Here all Chinese learning and literature are concentrated. " Muntchoo, Chinese, and Russian learn ing flourish in it; all religions, though some of them are pre scribed, share the honour of being sanctioned in its precincts. A mosque, a Greek church, a Roman Catholic church, pa godas dedicated to different idols, are here mingled, as if there were no religious distinction." The great hall of au dience is said to be a splendid apartment, 130 feet long, and nearly square. The throne is also grand, but plain, with the simple inscripti on , " Shi ng -h o l y ," or sugr. The Emperor annually ploughs a field himself ! and the grain produced by his manual labour is considered superior, and is therefore used " to m a k e co k es for the sacrifices offered up to heaven !". hf an t st were e rn n i ed / s / it would The inhabit ants of Peking, including the suburbs, number about trade, Fi l s d he ' be herelt still i sgreatertsays carryGutzlaff, business.E ‘ u r a o greatp eanT place einn eo r or. c twelve miles f rom th e capital • are the imperial pleasure gar dens, of which Yuen-nung-yuen is the They occupy an e x t en t o f twe l ve square miles s t imsortant. an are so arranged as to co m bi ne na t ura l b eauties with '- art . jungle and gardens regularly laid out,—waste tracts and well-cultivated fields are so interchanged, as to give the whole an of infinite varies. It is said that about thirtyappearance palaces are built upon this spot, which, if we form a proper idea of a common Chinese palace, will not appear wonderful. The principal hall of audience, where the English ambassador was admitted, stands upon a platform of granite, surrounded by a row of wooden columns which support the roof. The hall within is 110 feet in length, 42 in breadth, and 20 in height. No decoration, no tinsel distinguishes this hall ; the greatest ornament here is the imperial presence." About 30 miles up the river Pe-ho stands a town called Teen-tsin-foo, or " The Celestial Ferry." It extends f or miles on the right bank, but its breadth is but sma ll. several As the emporium of the capital this is the richest trading kingdom, and the river opposite to it is crowded place in the. . for miles with junks, rain, from variousparts. The g &c. the . is salt, in transportation The staple article of the place thousand s of boats are era. of which to the interior many ioyea. [We are compelled here to close our description of this in• teresting country; in our next we shall supply a sketch of the ri se and progress of the dispute with China, together with an account of Canton and the adjacent country, which will be accompanied by a beautifully-executed map, yresented gra tuitously fo the purchasers of the STANDARD.] Government has raised the interest on Exchequer Bills from lid. p er d ay to 21d. per day. KING JAMES'S OPINION OF TOBACCO.—" Tobacco," says King James, " is the lively image and pattern of hell ; for that it hath by illusion, in all the parts and vices of the world, whereby hell may be gained ; to wit—First, it is a smoke ; as so are all the vaniti es o f the world. Secondly, it delightet h them that take it ; so d o a l l the pleasures of the world delight the men of the world. Thirdly, it maketh men drunken and light in the head; so do all the - vanities of the world, men are drunken therewith. Fourthly, he that taketh tobacco cannot leave it, it doth bewitch him ; even so the pleasures of the world make men loath to leave them ; they are, for the most part, enchanted with them. And further, besides all this, it is like hell in the very substance of it, for it is a stinking loathsome thing ; and so is hell." And f urt h er, his majesty " were he to invite the d ev il to a dinner, he professed should havetha tt, three dishes—first, a pig ; se con dl y, a poll of ling and mustard ; and third , apipe of tobacco for digestion." ~,~` ~.-~ CHURCH EXTENSION. A very numerous and highly respectable meeting of the members and friends of the Liverpool Young Men's Esta blished Church Society, was held on the evening of Friday last, in the Music-hall, Bold-street, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of petitioning the legislature in favour of a public grant to extend the usefulness of the Church of England. Amongst the clergymen present we noticed the Rev. FieldinOuld, the Rev. B. Marshall , the Rev. G. Mansfield, th e Rev. D. James, the Rev. C. W. Richards, the Rev. W. Falloon, the Rev. H. S. Joseph, the Rev. A. M'Conkey, the Rev. F. Barker, &c. &c. ; and of the laity we observed Robertson Gladstone, Esq., Samuel Holme, Esq., R. Griffith, Esq., W. Howard, Esq., W. Rowett, Esq,. &c. A number of ladies were also present. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE Esq. was unanimously called upon to preside ; after which prayer was offered by the Rev. G. MANSFIELD. The CHAIRMAN then proceeded. He trusted he might be permitted, before they entered upon the business of the even ing, to express his grateful acknowledgments to those gen tlemen who, from motives of kindness had placed him in the honourable position of president of this society. For him self, however, he could not but regret that their selection had not fallen upon one who had stood more prominently forward than himself in the defence of our Protestant church, and our Protestant institutions—of whom, he rejoiced to say, there were already so many in Liverpool. (Applause.) He was well aware that their claims were much stronger than his, and that they would have been able to confer upon the society infinitely greater benefits than be feared would fall to his lot ; but at the same time lie trusted he was alive to the advantages to be derived from the formation of the society, one of the objects of which, in a great degree, was to bind together, with a perfect cord of union, the rising protestant youth of the present day—(hear, bear, and applause)—to bind them together in a spirit of love and veneration towards our Established Church, and in an ardent desire, not only to perpetuate but to extend its general sphere of usefulness. (Cheers.) Nor was it a less important duty, that the mem bers of the society should turn their serious attention, their most devoted exertions, to counteract the unfortunate and misguided opinions of the present day—opinions for the pro mulgation of which it was with the deepest regret that all those who wished well to our Established Church must have observed that a society had been formed in this town, under the name. and upon the principles, of the voluntary system. (Hear.) The meeting would hear froth those who were about to address them, matter which he had no doubt they would find highly interesting upon this subject ; but be could not refrain from noticing one or two points which deeply concern ed us all. Those who were in the habit of perusing the public press, must know, that the walls of that room might be said to be still warm with the echo of the opinions of those who had there assembled to petition parliament to withhold any - • - fn., the ?Ince of church extension, thereby holding out, in the mosiiireminani.,..., nigunbt rcb.ii,i in for the. omulic of infidelity. ((sheer,.) And 'yet, ssib v‘ i ti l ist the very men who had figured upon the spot, perhaps, on which he now stood, were prepared to give an apparently reasonable reply for the faith that was in them, we saw them associated with those, who had but the one common object in view, of destroying the church establish ment, and levelling her walls to the dust of the earth, (Cheers.) It was against the promulgation of such opinions, and against the dissemination of the evil that those opinions were likely to create, that this society would, in part, devote its most serious attention. Certainly, this was a matter that we could scarcely reconcile with the progress of civilization on the one hand, and the progress of religious opinion on the other. We could scarcely believe, that men could be found, who from an embittered and deeply rooted hatred to the church establishment, strove, with the dawn of each day, to find some new mode of attacking its existence, and for pro pagating those opinions, which he regretted to say, even with some of those who called themselves members of our church, received with open arms. Was it not matter, in deed, for surprise, that there should be those in the present age who could boldly come forward, and advocate, as bad been done, the cause of opposition to church extension? Were the advantages confined to the few, or were they not such as every one was freely invited to partake of—such as every one had the same opportunity of participating in, and such as were calculated—the best calculated—as experience had proved—to secure to every class of society, that happi ness—the greatest of all happiness—which sprung from sound religious principles ? Well then, the objects, he presumed, of this society, for he regretted not having been present at the meeting called for its formation, were first of all to coun teract, as far as they bad the power, the voluntary system, which in itself involved the question of a separation of church and state ;—(cheers)—to support the cause of church ex tension—and the duty of the government to provide sound religious instruction for the people, (cheers) to support a system of national education, on the principles of the Esta blished Church—and with these important objects in view, he could not but hope, that whilst the society daily increased in numbers, and whilst it would endeavour to unite within itself the rising youth of the present day, it would at the same time, by its good example and by its influence, open its arms widely to receive all—to receive those, who could " This fair mountain leave to feed, To batten on the moor ;" and that it would, under God's blessing, prove in its sphere of usefulness, a society, to which the best interests of the in habitants of Liverpool might become deeply indebted. With these remarks, lie called on the gentlemen appointed to move the resolutions. The Rev. F. BARKER rose to move the first resolution. It was the observation of a very learned critic that all reli gious dissension had its origin in the ignoranee of verbal cri ticism—that if persons only knew rightly now the meaning of the original terms in which the Word of God was written, there would be an end of religious discord. He believed that this observation, with some qualification, was true ; but we must not keep out of sight that the heart, as well as the head, was engaged in religious error, and that some would sooner disbelieve the Word of God altogether than believe certain truths contained in that Word—that if some of these persons were to have the alternative presented to'them of believing or rejectir b , the doctrines of the atonement or the eternity of punishment, they would rather prefer to disbelieve that por tion of the Word of God which set forth such truthsthan,the doctrines themselves. He thought it admitted of an applica tion to the objects of this society, and that it would be found on most occasions that power was the result of knowledge — that if persons could only be made clearly to apprehend the nature of the question at issue, if they could be made to see the whole truth and not have their minds fixed upon some half-truth, if they could be made to see the reasons why this and why every truth was so pOwerful, there would be an end of dissension. (Hear, hear.) It was in this light that he desired to regard this society this evening. Its end was a very lawful and a very scriptural one, for it was to promote religious truth and religious union. True union could only be based upon truth, and in order to have the truth there must be an acquaintance with it. If, then, there should be any persons there not fully acquainted with the truth of this question, certainly their wisest plan was to attend such meet ings as this, in order to become acquainted with the truth (hear, hear). He trusted that the proceedings of the society would ever be conducted in a calm, quiet, and dispassionate manner; and that whilst they did take a leaf from the pro ceedings of their adversaries in one respect, namely, as to the mode in which they conducted their operations, they should be aware of following another part of their proceedings, namely, as to the manner in which they were conducted (hear)—that they should avoid all personality, seeking only to know what was the truth, and having once attained to that knowledge, in all cases and at all hazards, cost what it would, adhere to it (cheers). The necessity for meetings of this kind had arisen from a somewhat new feature in men's opi nions in the present day. The novelty of those opinions was expressed in some such terms as these—that now, in this en lightened age, men had discovered that it was not by any means the duty of civil rulers, of the chief magistrate, or the government, or of the state, to further religious knowledge among the people by the instrumentality of a Christian mi nistry ; that the state was not bound to further its highest interests by taking into connection with it the Christian Church. That this was a novelty would be very easily seen, if he read an extract from the writings of Dr. Owen, one of the most celebrated Independents during the period of the long parliament, and subsequently—one who might be termed, as he certainly was, one of the formost of the fathers among the Independents, the present somewhat noisy advocates of voluntaryism. In preaching before the long parliament, ha said—" If it comes to this, that you shall say you have no thing to do with religion as rulers of the nation, God will quickly manifest that he hath nothing to do with you as rulers of the nation. The great promise of Christ is that in these latter days of the world he will lay the nations in a subser viency to him : the kingdoms of this world shall become his, that is, shall act as kingdoms and governors no longer against him, but for him. Surely those promises will scarcely be ac complished in bringing commonwealths of men professing his name to be of Gallio's frame, to care for none of these things. Certainly it is incumbent on you to take care that the faith which you have received, which was once delivered to the saints. in all the necessary concernments of it may be pro tected, preserved, propagated to and among the people which God hath set over you. Then he (Dr. Owen) sheaved that the notion of a paternal government was not an absurdity, for he added—" If a father, as a father, is bound to do what answers this in his family, unto his children ; a master, as a master, to his servants ; if you will justify yourselves as fa thers or rulers of your country, you will find this to be in cumbent on you." (Hear, hear.) Extracts of this kind might be multiplied from the works of Baxter, Flavel, Matthew Henry, and others, who represented the Indepen dents and the Nonconformists of the early Puritan days. It was, then, this novelty which we found ourselves constrained to combat ; and although the arguments brought forward on the occasion of this meeting could not in the nature of things have much of novelty in them, yet as all instruc tion, for the most part, consisted in the repetition of sound truth, he did not suppose he should weary them if he brought before them truths which had the merit at least of being old, and which might have some specific application to the times in which we lived. He believed that in this question, as had been said of Phrenology, " all that was new was not true, and all that was true was not new." (Hear.) That which was true had been true from the begining. He must first set before the meeting the former part of the reso lution, that it was the duty of the state to provide for its peo ple sound religious instruction ; he conceived this proposi tion to be formed on every true idea of what a state was. A state, considered in its largest sense, was a community of in dividuals bound together by certain laws, seeking the highest good, and the greatest liberty of the greatest number: a Christian state was one which sought the highest good in seeking to have the people ruled, in the words of one of the prayers in our admirable Liturgy, " in wealth, peace, and godliness." Now the rulers, or the government of the state, were said to be the representatives or the personality of the nation, in order to do good for the nation ; they were said to be so "for good," to the nation—they were the ministers of God for good. Then, if we knew what was good—and when we went to the revealed will of God, and asked there what was good, we found that the knowledge of God, through Jesus Christ, which issued in the salvation of souls, was the highest good to men. (Hear.) To put men off with lectures upon political economy, to give them an education which fitted them only for skilful workmen, or useful mechanics, or wise only for this present life—to do this, and to neglect that which was the true man, the immortal soul, was not to do t i e o y u l dh highest osuelpda good, rnaotte tt but the greatest evil. (Hear, hear. He did not state n f hesitate ignorance,to a ffir m th i a t n w t o n u g l i d va be the fa m r b as e s t a te d r un to at l i e n a n ve wh m i e n n h should (Cheers.)hheerfru this,hererulers entirelyofthen,t fer wereo n the a h higher ghe and t g.o dofmen,immortal ought to seek this highest good of me it, because they themselves were men well be asked, why .; country they e k yv viet oughtm It et no m ls i oe g ne h kg t n w tnt ould tell the meeting why they and re beforetheyt hey a e r c e a b m o e u n r d c u 0 1 a e n a rs i , and long after they were rulers; d o t v G i d n u d a f l o s r , a t e thingsresponsible do n e beings, relation of life which they might hereafter to give an ac as accountable in every flesh, surely they must be considered the day, if not a father, was not fill. The prime minister of fa ther ; but if he entered into the marriage to God as a ae state hed and to hbiemca.melna parent, new and great responsibilitiensaagtet the same manner, before he became a' minister of state, the re sugi c i but surely was no responsibility attached t o him a he was not to go from his own hou se to h s ia o in irresponsibility as a man, and when h e entered iii residence iii ii offi cial residence and became a minister, then to c ease his is respon sibility as a man who was a minister ? If h e was tobeac countable to God for the things he had done as an individual, for every thing he had done towards his family, his servants, and his neighbours, who should say he was not accountable to God for the things he had done towards his sovereign an d towards his nation ? (Cheers.) • In the same manner he (Mr. Barker) conceive d the state was bound to seek the high est good of all w ithin its limits, because the state itself was, in the sight of found in the holy attached to a state, as we frequently word God, as a person, the idea of personality being of God. " Righteousness," it w as said, ",exalteth a natio n , but a people that sin are a reproach to any people ;" and when God addressed the prophet Jeremiah eoticerning the sins of Israel, he spoke of that nation as accountable to him for the things done by their rulers as their representatives. In the same manner we found, in ordinary converse, that the faith and honour and state of a nation were continually spoken of. The nation was said to have faith, and was said to sin ; unless, indeed, we were in the practice of that state of things to which some would lead us, when national faith should be but another word for humbug, which it had been asserted not long ago these men considered to be the case ; so that we must acknowledge, and no right thinking man would doubt, that nations were dealt with as persdns, and as having a personality in the sight of God. (Hear.) That per sonality was combined with responsibility. If an individual were responsible to God, the whole collective individuals, having a personality, were also responsible ; and if the indi vidual were responsible to God for the right using of the means God had placed in his power for doing good. in the same manner must a nationbe considered as responsible before God for seeking the highest good of all in its limits. (Ap plause.) Then he came to the immediate question, how was this to be done? Was it to be done by a voluntary expres sion of feeling upon the part of the few a upon the part of the majority ? It never could be done in this manner, be cause as had been well said by one whose treatise on this subject had thrown great light upon it—he meant the excel lent treatise of the brother of the chairman, William Ewart Gladstone, Esq.—(Loud cheers.) " The will of a nation, or the duty of a nation, can never be expressed by the voluntary desires of a few, or even of a great number, or even of the whole nation itself as individuals, because the whole nation can never be pious persons, because the whole nation will never be doing the will of God, and the act of all the indi viduals of a nation can never be the act of the nation till sanctioned by law, and become part of the constitution of the land." (Cheers.) Then, could it be done by voluntary ex ertion ? Would the voluntary exertions of individuals comply with the demands stated in this resolution of the duty of the state to provide the people with sound religious instruction? He said, then, that voluntary exertions could never accom plish this end, because they were insufficient. - Where the need and destitution were the greatest there the exertion was the least, and precisely in proportion to the destitution would he the insufficiency of the means put forward by voluntaryism to supply that destitution. (Hear, hear.) Very little reflec tion and appeal to facts would show this. For nearly the three first centuries of Christianity, a portion of the people living in a professedly Christian country were called Pagans, the destitute of Christianity, and they received their name Pagani because they inhabited the villages and rural districts. The persons inhabiting those districts were so generally, if not universally, heathens, that the word by which their dwell ing places was defined came afterwards to be used to denote heathens ; the word Pagan came afterwards to be used to describe heathen men because of the insufficiency of voluntary exertion to meet the destitution of such persons. And it was only when the church of Christ had been protected, cherished, supported, a nd t . ,rengthg . ned t px_v ii grtr a rip t ig V , Vole at iiolidacg e b r e i 2Em" u v iTgtet„ t li2 Then he might, without exciting any improper feeling, and certainly . without having any, appeal to facts iii our own immediate neighbour hood ;—(hear)--and if 'it shotild'be found that a chapel had been removed from a densely populated part of the town be cause it was encumbered with debt, and because it was sur rounded by poor people only, and could not pay its way, and carried up to a part of the town where there were few poor people, yet where there was 'a sufficient supply of church ac commodation, there being no less than three churches—he alluded to Leeds-street Chapel, which had been carried into Great Homer-street, for these reasons, what was the inference ? Why, that they did not contemplate supplying the wants of the poor. (Hear, hear.) And again, if there should be found one of those almost necessary consequences of the voluntary system, a division; and if the building should be placed in a destitute and poor part of the town, in a place where there was real destitution, and which at this moment was only supplied by the Church Building Society ; and if, further, that chapel were carried to a part of the town within a stone's throw of one church and a hundred yards of another; if it was evident, therefore, that this new chapel was built not for the accommodation of the poor but of the wealthy, what should we say of such an instance as this ? Why, that they did not contemplate supplying the wants of the poor. (Ap plause.) He would again quote the words of Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet. Having read the extract, the rev. gentleman pro ceeded, In fact, as we read of some who were mad upon their idols so we must say of these persons, that they were mad upon their free trade notions; and that they acted upon those notions, without ever taking into account the disturb ing influence of the depravity of human nature. (Cheers.) In like manner, if you wished to increase the consumption of ardent spirits, it was an admirable plan to go upon the free trade system, and let the public-houses and gin-shops swarm' through the town as they had been lately ; but if you wished to increase religion you must not leave it to the volun tary exertions of individuals—it must be done by a party com petent to do it, having the authority and means, Moreover, he affirmed if you took into account the quality of the religious instruction given under the voluntary system, it would be found as insufficient to supply the wants of the people, or to provide them with sound religious instruction, as it had been found inefficient if you regarded the quantity of instruction given. (Hear.) He affirmed then that under the voluntary system the nation could not be instructed in sound religion for this reason—welfound that the teachers must frequently be opposed to the views, feelings, prejudices, and wills of the taught. As parents they (the meeting) must know that if they left their children to learn what they would, and how they would, they would learn xery little, and that little would be of a very meagre . quality ; and in the same manner if the taught were permitted to dictate to the teacher what he should speak, what he should teach, and how he should teach—if 'if they were to interfere with him in his ministry, there was a distraction and a continual unworthy precariousness in his ministry. He could not read the charges given to Jeremiah or Ezekiel, how they were sent to a stiff-necked people, 'without feeling, that those prophets needed all the authority that a divine commission could give to them, or they never would have been able to go on with their work. "I am weary," said the Lord, " with repenting ;" and he promised to Jeremiah that if he separated the precious from the vile, he shduld be as his mouth and would deliver him. And it was only as he was strengthened by this feeling that he was enabled to carry on his most ungrateful work of separating the precious from_the vile. How, it might be asked, would this be found to apply to the instruction given under the vo luntary system? A part of that system was that the taught should be the persons who paid the teacher. Now it would not be assuming too much if, knowing what human nature was, we should suppose that when the instruction communi cated by a voluntary teacher was going counter to the feelings and prejudices of the voluntary hearers, that they who paid, conceiving they had a right to have an article most pleasing to them, would request the voluntary teacher to change his tone. (Hear.) And that this was no imaginary, case, the testimony of Mr. James in the second edition of his book upon Church Membership would bear him out; he mentioned the second edition, because in subsequent editions, when it was seen what wicked use most wicked churchmen made of its concessions, there were sundry emendations and altera tions made, and a person turning to the subsequent edi tions would look in vain for that awful picture which was to be found in the second edition. (Hear, hear, hear.) But he would mention a fact which had lately occurred. It might be in the recollection of many there, that their dear friend Mr. M'Neile (three cheers were here given for the rev. gentleman), and Mr. M`Ghee went to Sheffield to form a Protestant and Reformation Association, which was in tended to include all protestants and protestant dissenters, favourable to the Established Church of England and Ire land. Among the persons who presented themselves as can didates for admission upon the committee, or who had been chosen upon it, was a gentleman who seemed to be one of those rare aves, a genuine descendant of Owen, Baxter, and Matthew Henry, Mr. Richard Millar, the minister of Queen. street chapel in that town. He was in the habit of visiting with some of the clergy ; and upon one occasion he had com municated on Good Friday, and hive ille lachrinue. When it was found that Mr. Millar had joined the association, and was in communication with such bigots as Mr, M'Neile and Mr. Al' Ghee,—(loud cheers)—he received an intimation from his tour deacons that he must tender his resignation as mi nister of the chapel. Mr. Millar had taken his own ground, and as he was wise and independent, in the ordinary sense of the word, and not in the sense that some one quoted it—who said, truly sir, though I am an independent, I am the most dependent man in existence—and having opinions of his own, told the deacons they were welcome to resign, but he should continue a member of the Protestant and Reformation So- ciety. (Hear.) The deacons, however, had no intention to be put off in that way. They appealed to the church ; the . church sided with the deacons, and the contest grew so very warm that—and he (Mr. Barker) mentioned the fact with very great sorrow—when Mr. Millar celebrated the Lord's Supper, the only persons who went to receive it out of a church of two hundred, were, one man and sixteen females ! (Hear.) The remainder of the church sat at the bottom of the chapel ; and one of them, a leading man, when Mr. Millar gave out the hymn, said, " Do not rise." (Hear.) The church did not rise, and an anonymous correspondent in one of the newspapers—but he (Mr. Barker) must say the fact was denied—affirmed that he heard hissing upon that occa sion. (Hear.) What was the consequence? Mr. Millar said, " I am here ; I have a right to be here ; but I cannot retain my present position ; therefore I give notice that upon the Ist of April I shall give up my church." (Hear, hear, hear.) This, it might be perhaps said, was a history to be found only in the columns of one or two provincial newspa pers, and which occurred at Sheffield only ; but he asserted it was the necessary result of the system of voluntary teach ing. He believed they would find, if they went no further than Warrington, instances of one minister being locked out, of another being starved out, and of another who only saved himself from being turned out, as he (Mr. Barker) had heard the history, by marrying the deacon's daughter. (Hear, hear.) He thought therefore that these statements proved this important truth, that voluntaryism, whether we consi dered the quantity or the quality, was not very likely to im part sound religious.instruction. (Hear, hear.) Then, who was to provide the people with this sound religious instruc tion ? Now, he affirmed that the state conld do that which voluntaryism could not do. (Hear, hear.) When he spoke of the state, he spoke of the establishment ; and those who used it in a different sense could not do better than procure Coleridge's ideas upon the connection of church and state. The state could do these things—it could divide the whole country into suitable districts, it could supply the means for propagating true religion, for building churches, and paying ministers ; and whatever dissenters and others might say with regard to money defiling religion, of its defiling the hands of those who.louchestit, yet they had shewn no un willingness to receive the reyium donuts, nor were they un willing to get hold, as they were trying at this time, of .the clergy reserves in Canada. (Hear, hear.) The state could also give to religion a perpetuity, by associating it with the law, and giving to it the sanction of public authority. (Hear.) This, then, wa s th e pro p er duty of a state, to divide the coun try into districts, to supply the means of perpetuating true religion, and giving it permanence by associating it with the law, and giving it the sanction of public authority. These were not spiritual acts : the state, in doing this, did not per form the spiritual duties of the church—it merely performed its own civil acts ; and the statp was paramount in ability to do so. It had been asked, " What king or number of kings is able to choose for me a religion ?" Why, if government was representative of mind and intellect, of authority, and of the proper legitimate influence of wealth in the country— if government was this, it was the most suitable power to ad vise the people at le as t ; to say, " this is the form of Christi anity which Ni e sanction with our authority, and round which we entwine the law." But if the state could do this, and he had shewn the inducements it had to do it, it was necessarily defective in certain sanctions, which belonged only t o th e Church of Christ. The state, for instance, could say to in dividuals, " You shall not kill, or if you do, you shall be hanged ;" but it could not reach to men's souls—it co u ld not say, " If you do you shall perish everlastingly." It was therefore necessary to call in the aid of Christianity, and to give it that kind of support which he had mentioned, i n or d er that it might receive from Christianity the sanction of future rewards and punishments. (Hear, hear.) But, mo reover, the state should do this because religion was the great instru ment of giving to man his proper station , of enlightening his mind, of informing his conscience, and of educating him. Men could not be properly men without religion. More over, religion did not give a law of its own, like the law s o f government, which became binding upon the individuals, but gave the sanction of its laws to the laws of the country. Then, having this inducement and this power, the great objects of the state must be to give to these principles a fixclness and a permanency. Now, setting aside the abstract view of the question, suppose a statesman were at this moment brought into this country, and required to choose that form of Chris tianity which would give the greatest fixedness and perma nency, and perhaps perpetuity, which religion bestowed, where was he to go ? Would he go to those who had no creed, no ar ticles, n o sacraments no m i n i s t ers ? Would he go to th e So ciety of Fri en d s , who, no within them a light which caused the S cr i ptures to be to every man that which he thought them to be, he must see in their notions that they no security for the perpetuity of their principles, finless they made George Fox their prayer-book, and the writings of their early founders their articles and their homilies. (Hear, hear.) They held out to the state no inducement to sanc tion their notions, because there was neither fixedness nor perpetuity in them. (Hear.) Would he go for instruction to those who might have sacraments, but had neither creed, articles, nor ministry—whose ministers were speaking lay men, one day in the pulpit and another in the counting house, or in the senate? Would he go to the Independents, who could shew no authority for their form of Christianity nor antiquity ? Should he go to those 'who dated their ori gin no higher than 1647, as the Baptists or Independents ; or would he go to those poor men, whose form of church government, whether judged by antiquity or by the Scrip tures, was false? (Hear, hear.) He must go higher. If he went to the Church of Scotland or the Presbyterians, he (Mr. Barker) must say he could not follow them; that, how ever they might refer to their form of catechism, they could not be fixed upon. Where, then, could he go but to the Church of England? (" Hear," and applause.) If he wished for a church that offered to him the plainest evidence that its principles would be permanent—that they would last so long as the state itself lasted—if he'sought for a church of this kind, be would find it nowhere else but in the Church of England. (Cheers.) He would put it in another light ; if the church was looked upon as an integral portion of the state, there was no other pody of individuals to whom a statesman could go who wished to give perpetuity and permanence to sound religious opinions. It was a narrow view of the question to regard the state as opposed to the church, and not regard the church, as an integral portion of the state. Whether this portion of the church of Christ was planted in these realms early or not, was a matter of little importance ; but it was certain that in the second century there were Christian thishops here, and other proofs that Christianity was settled here long before the papacy had assumed the form in which it now appeared. And though, about the year 600, the monk Austin came over, and, after sundry distresses, succeeded in destroying the remnant of the ancient British church, and there was a period of utter darkness till the Reformation, yet that church being now restored to its primitive purity, existing as it did an integral part of the state, and interwoven with the habits and affections of the people, where would a Christian _ statesman go for an institu . iiori to give perpetuity to sound religious - principle save to the Established Church ? (Cheers.) Moreover, there were certain rights connected with the church, as a portion of the state, which proved that it would be an act of the grossest ,njuitice to go anywhere else. If any one of our dissenting friends could shear a title of a thousand years for his proper- ty, would he not conceive it to be wrong and unjust if some one should attempt to deprive him of it? It was well known that our Alfred did, in the year 800, with the consent of his nobles and bishops, and of two of the neighbouring kings, the Kings of Mercia and of the Angles, set aside one-tenth of all the property of England for the use of the church ; `• - ^Lurch ennhi chew such claim as this, what in justice could tie more Migrant - than to perty, or to say the state should not secure to her that pro perty which had been so long her own ? (Cheers.) The rev. gentleman then suggested a verbal alteration in the re solution, to the effect that sound religious instruction could only be administered by the Established Church, and con cluded, amidst loud cheers, by moving it. Mr. JAMES MATTHEWS seconded the resolution in a very long and able speech, in the course of which he entered upon a great variety of details. The resolution was then carried. The Rev. FIELDING OULD rose, amidst reiterated ap plause, to move the next resolution. He rose, he said, with peculiar pleasure to obey the call made upon him to move the resolution. Among the many associations of this asso ciating age, he knew of none that more warmly commended itself to his feelings, to his judgment, and to his conviction, for the simplicity and purity of its objects, the character of its machinery, and the necessity fo r it s ex i s t ence , th an th e Young Men's Established Church Society (hear) ; to which, therefore, he pledged himself, from this day forward, to give whatever support, encouragement, and co-operation might be within his power. (Cheers.) We lived in strange times ; and among the strangest of the anomalies of these times was the unnatural confederacy, the unholy alliance, between those who professed the truth of the Gospel, and the patrons and disciples of every heresy by which Christianity had been caricatured and deformed—a confederacy and an alliance for what object? For the overthrow of a 6urch whose founda tions were laid in the holy hills of truth, its enemies them selves being judges, and whose only fault and whose cardinal vice in their eyes was, that it was legally connected with the state, and supported by national endowments. We read in God's blessed Word of a solemn warning given to his ancient people by the mouth of the prophet,—" Woe unto them who go down into Egypt for help ;" and if the alliance to which he had alluded were not an exemplification of this going down into Egypt, he did not know where to find it. Among the first instances of dissent in the Bible was the separation of Lot from Abraham. We were told of a circunistance which sttikingly characterised that separation—that " the Canaanite and the Perrizite were then in the land." When Lot parted from Abraham, where did he go ? We were in structed that he " pitched his tent towards Sodom ;" and had we not a melancholy following of this example in the conduct of the dissenters of the present day, who, in fatal approximation towards those whom they knew to be the enemies of the Lord and his truth, were, as plainly and as perversely as men could be, " pitching their tent towards Sodom ?" (Hear.) What was the spectacle lately exhibited in that room in connection with the subject they were then met to consider? He held in his hand a placard convening that meeting. The placard stated it was to be a public meeting ; this appeared in large letters ; but lest any indivi dual should presume to go to this public meeting not dis posed to concur in.the objects of it, we found the following very convenient intimation at the bottom of the bill, in small letters :—" All persons f riendly to the objects of the meeting are invited to attend." (Hear, hear.) One would have imagined that a public meeting would have comprehended all shades of public opinion. It was certainly to be pro nounced a public meeting, but if any one dissented and went to move an amendment, lie was told that none but persons friendly were invited ! (Cheers.) He (Mr. Ould) found, upon looking at the signatures to the requisition, the follow ing classification—three Roman Catholic priests, one Inde pendent minister, two Socinian ministers, three Quakers, sixteen Roman Catholics, sixteen Socinians, twelve Inde pendents, and three Baptists. This certainly was a most heterogeneous mixture. (Hear, hear.) We had, then, these men, disagreeing among themselves upon every point the most important and essential to the salvation of the soul, and agreeing in one point only—the overthrow of the constitution as established by the Act of Settlement. Having principles of repulsion more numerous than it would be easy to calcu late, they had one attraction of cohesion, and that was the desired destruction of a Church which, they well knew, if it were destroyed, would leave .the largest portion of the com munity absolutely destitute of all means of religious instruc tion (hear, hear). When he looked to the constitution of that meeting, and saw orthodox dissent represented by an Independent chairman and an Independent minister, hetero dox dissent represented by a Socinian minister and a Socinian merchant, Popery represented by a Roman Catholic priest and a Roman Catholic barrister, he seemed to see before him TRUTH crucified between two thieves ! (Three cheers.) It was an awful day in Jerusalem when Herod and Pontius Pilate made up their differences and shook hands together over the crucified body of the Lord; and just as awful a spec tacle was it to see men agreeing with each other upon no pne point connected with the salvation of the soul, consenting for a while to forget all their differences, and combining to over throw a Church, whose rules of faith i s th e Bibl e , an d w h ose constitution is based upon the principles of God's everlasting Word ! (Hear.) The resolution entrusted to him was to this effect : " That owing to the rapid increase of the population throughout the country, particularly in the manufacturing and mining districts, there are many places either entirely destitute of, or inadequately supplied with, such religious in struction ; and that to this may be attributed, in a great measure, the attempts recently made to disturb the peace of the nation." The meeting would at once see the two points for their con sideration in this resolution. One was the prevalence of re ligious destitution, and the other was the necessary conse quence—danger to the public peace. He should apply him self, in the few observations he was about to address to them, to bring forward evidence to sustain these two propositions. He should, then, first shew the prevalence of religious des titution. He quoted from the Rev. Baptist Noel's Letter to the Bishop of London : " In London and its suburbs, including the parishes on either bank of the Thames, there are four parishes containing an aggregate of 166,000 persons, with church-room for 8200. Taking halt as the proportion which ought to attend church, according to the estimate of the Committee of the Metropo litan Church Fund, the number of persons provided with the means of public worship in these four districts, is 16,400, and 149,600 remain unprovided. Twenty-one others, with a population of 739,000, afford church-room for 66,153; and, therefore, on the same supposition as before, leave 606,694 unprovided with the means of public worship. Nine others, with a population of 532,000, and church-room for 27,327, leave 177,346 unprovided. And thus thirty-four parishes, with a population of 1,137,000, and church-room for 101,680, contain 933,640 unprovided. But from this number of per sons represented as without church-room, some deduction may be made, since about 25,000 may find sittings in pro prietary chapels connected with the Establishment. The whole number, therefore, for which the Establishment has made no provision whatever, is 883,000, instead of 933,000. As these 883,000 are unprovided with church-room, so are they, for the most part, destitute of Christian ministers. For, the whole number of clergymen in these parishes is 139, and since no one of these can take effectual charge of more than 2000 persons, there are only 278,000 persons provided with ministers, and the other 859,000 persons, who are des titute of church-room, are also without Christian ministers to instruct them." Another extract— " In several dioceses, the want of churches is not much less. In the diocese of Chester, thirty-eight districts, with 816,000 inhabitants, and church-room for 97,000, contain, therefore, 622,000 unprovided. In the diocese of York, twenty districts, with a population of 402,000, and church room for only 48,000, contain 306,000 unprovided. In the diocese of Lichfield, sixteen districts, with 235,000, and church-room for 29,000, contain 177,000 unprovided. Thus out of a population of only 1,453,000, eleven hundred and five thousand are left by the Establishment without the pos sibility of public worship, and without Christian teachers." (Hear, hear.) It was upon such facts as these he based the case he pre sented to them. These extracts, which it would be exceed ingly easy to multiply, shewed the prevalence of religious destitution ; but he would read one short extract more : " In the diocese of York, twenty parishes or districts con tain a population of 402,000, with sittings for 96,000, that is provision for 192,000, and, therefore, 202,000 are destitute of all instruction. In the diocese of Lichfield, sixteen par ishes or districts contain a population of 235,000, with 58,000 sittings, provision for 116,000, and, therefore, 119,000 are living without instruction. And thus in the whole seventy four districts, 749,000 persons are living without instruction. We have thus come to the painful conclusion, that in 108 districts, containing 2,590,000 persons, there are from 1,383,000 to 1,470,000 persons without public prayer, or preaching, or Sacraments ; of many of whom it is to be feared that they are 'also without the Scriptures, without family prayer, and without any open recognition of God whatso ever." Now in order to meet this melancholy state of things, the church, after having made voluntary efforts, unparalleled since the days of primitive Christianity, had come forward, in the present day, to petition the legislature for help. How bad this movement been met by many, he did not say by all, of the dissenters of this country ? (Hear.) He believed there were many dissenters who were secretly sighing over the conduct of their brethren, but, being fettered by their own peculiar habits and discipline, were altogether unable, though not unwilling, to come forward against the conduct of which we complained. But he referred to those who were leagued with the notorious enemies of all religion, in their conduct upon this question, and he asked them what was the spirit by which they were influenced whilst they saw these faithful efforts making to supply this lamentable state of things? (Hear.) 0 ! what a spectacle it would have been in primitive times to have seen a believer in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, united with a blaspheming Jew and an idolatrous heathen, to petition Constantine against establish ing Christianity in his empire, and to forbear the exercise of his imperial influence for the erection of churches.! (Hear, hear.) But let him examine now the arguments advanced by the enemies of church extension. So far as he had been able to ascertain them they were three. The first was that it was unjust to tax the public for the benefit of a sect. Now, lie denied that the Church of England was a sect. (Applause.) He said it was a great national institution as fitting to demand and receive national support as the army, the navy, or the courts of law. (Cheers.) The republican might just as well object to pay for the support and dignity of the crown as the dissenter refuse to pay for the support of the national church. (Hear, hear.) If there was to be a state religion at all, all must be made to pay for its support, unless we were to hold out a premium for dissent, and enable infidels to save their pockets, and to cheat the state by pro fessing to be dissenters. (Cheers.) Therefore, to petition as dissenters did against church extension and against church rates, was to pray for the overthrow of the church altogether. (Cheers.) But then, they said it was unjust to tax dissenters. He answered, we did not tax them or seek to tax them as dissenters, but as members of the state. (Applause.) We did not oblige them to dissent, but left them at perfect liberty ; and it was rather too hard that in return for our complete and thorough toleration they should seek to deprive us, ungratefully, of the privileges we enjoy. (Hear.) But then it was unjust ! Well ; he earnestly desired they would carry out their own principle to its legitimate extent. (Hear, hear.) He would ask was it just to pass the marriage and registration acts for the benefit of dissenters, which cost the country £70,000 a-year ? (Hear.) Churchmen did not complain of being taxed for that. (Hear.) Again ; was it just that we should be taxed to pay a regium donum of £30,000 a-year to the dissenters of Ireland? (Hear, hear.) Was it just we should be called upon to pay £9,000 a-year for the support of that sink of -depravity, that moral pesti lence, Maynooth college—(loud cheers)—whose disci ples were trained in the polluted doctrines of Dens, in hatred of the pure doctrines of God's blessed word ? (Renewed cheers.) But he could not avoid showing that many dissenters really did not so much object to the emolu ments of the church, as to their not having any share in those emoluments themselves. (Hear, hear.) Of this we had had abundant proof. We all knew the strenuous efforts, the persevering, active, and zealous measures they took, in order to obtain possession of Lady Hewley's charity. (Hear.) That lady left a considerable sum for the endowment of " poor ministers of Christ's holy gospel," chiefly among the Presbyterian body. In lapse of time those Presbyterian churches fell into the hands of Socinians, and Socinian mi nisters were found to retain possession of the endowments. An effort was made by those to whom they rightly belonged to have them set aside, according to the original bequest, for the " preachers of Christ's Holy Gospel ;" and what was the conduct of the Socinians, of the m.m who professed to tell us of the unscriptural character of endowments ? (Hear.) Why, they took advice and chased the matter through the Court of Queen's Bench, through the Court of Chancery, and even into the House of Lords itself; and it was not until all these tribunals had given their decisions against them, that they forebore their efforts to retain an illegal and unrighteous possession ! (Hear.) He asked again, if it was not a fact that dissenters had exerted themselves to obtain grants of money and land both at home and abroad.? (Hear, hear.) If the Roman Catholics came here and said they were volun taries, and were opposed to endowments, he would ask them if they had not, in various of our colonies, sought and ob tained endowments of land and grants of money ? In New foundland and Australia had they not received, rich endow ments for their bishops and clergy, and were not dissenters reserves in e n t. clp.mouring loudly for a share of the clergy Caada fleat. l +hat. large sums of money had been given by the Board of Works in Ireland, for the repairs, enlargement, and rebuilding of the Roman Catholic chapels in that country ? (Hear, hear.:) These facts were not to be gainsaid, and they justified hi conclusion, that it was not to the principle of endowment s they objected, but that their sole uneasiness arose from th e fact, that they did not participate in these endowments then I helves. (Hear.) Their next argument was a very comic al prie—the principle of endowment imposed a restraint upon conscience —(Hear.) Oh, the tenderness of a voluntary co n science ! He always suspected the healthy tone of a cons ence, that buttoned up and closed the purse in the pod :et against the demand of religion and law ; he always doubted the conclusiveness of the logic which employed the argum en tum ad crumenam. What said our Lord and Saviour upon this point of conscience ? He was applied to on one occasion to pay tribute, to whom? Why to Cesar, an idolatrous king, who sustained an idolatrous worship ! (Hear.) Did the S n of God plead " conscience" as an excuse for refusing to I ,ay ? Was not his answer " render under Caesar the thing that are Caesar's," and was not his act the working of a miracle to find money to pay the tribute? (Hear, hear.) Did not the same Lord inspire the apostle when he gave direr dons to his followers, " that they must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake? (Hear.) N.ow to a truly Christian conscience the .difficulty would be how to avoid the force of such a plain command. He deni,ed that the church sought to coerce the conscience of any a lan. It left the conscience perfectly free, but if any man 4:hose to dissent, let him not expect to do it at the expere3e of the church or state. (Hear.) If this plea of conscience were carried out to the full legitimate extent, it would bring the country to a state of anarchy and confusion. The Quaker objected to the principle of war, but if he object 4 .al to pay a war tax in time of war, would he be tolerated his refusal? The republican might plead that he objected t , ,) the principle of monarchy, and refuse therefore the tax w hich supported the dignity of the crown, but was he to be t dlowed to plead conscience in the matter ? No ; therefore ti ,e dissenter had no right to bring forward any such plea—a , Ad when he did, it could only cover him with the ridicule q f all rational and reflecting men. (Cheers.) But there was : mother argument urged by the dissenters on this subject. They said it was impolitic and unnecessary to extend the c hurch because the existing churches were not sufficiently fi ill to warrant any public grant of money for that purpose. I low, if they would petition for working ministers to fill eir partially filled churches, we would willingly join them, and tell them too that if every church in Liverpool was as f all as it could hold, there would be accommodation provided •for only 40,000, out of a population of 200,000. Wherever there were working ministers there would be full churches. (Cheers.) Churches were moral hospitals ; and let there only be sent into these hospitals wise, faithful, and well-skilled physicians, and there would crowd the lame, the maimed, the hilt, and the blind, to receive spiritual cure. Churches were moral lighthouses ; let only the sacred fires be kept trimmed and bright, by ex perienced watchmen, and numerous souls would he preserved from the perils of moral shipwreck, according to the beauti ful exhortation of St. Paul—" Be blameless and harmless, the sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world — holding forth the words of light." (Hear.) Now he had another notion upon this subject. He greatly feared that it was not because the churches were imperfectly filled, but because they were too well filled that the complaint arose. (Hear, hear.) It was not the inactivity but the activity of the church that galled them. (Hear, hear.) It was well known that the Church of. England never was in so efficient a state, that its churc'nes were never so well sup plied with active and zealous pastors, as in the present day. (Cheers.) In days gone by, - when there was a larger measure of inactivity and supineness upon the part of the established ministry, the dissenters were perfectly quiet. Just so in Ire land ; when a degree of deadness prevailed in the church, tithes were well paid, and popery was quiet. But the mo ment the clergy started up as one man into a attitude of faith ful testimony againut the heresy of the man of sin, then up started the enemy 'to denomfee 'and persecute them, to call for the overthrow of the church ! (Hear.) - Precisely such had been the conduct of many of the. dissenters in England ; whilst we were asleep, they nodded too—(cheers) --but the very moment we awoke they awoke also—(renewed cheers,) — and it was because we were active, and because our churches were too well filled, and because dissent was at a discount, that the noisy and disgraceful clamour against church exten sion had arisen. The rev. gentleman here related an anec dote, or rather gave a detailed statement of facts which had occurred in a certain place, exactly corroborating this view of the question. This, he thought, accounted for a great deal of the prevailing opposition to church extension. But let him ask, what there was in dissent, that it should commend itself so warmly to our feelings and judgment, and why we should allow it to overthrow the establishment, in order that the voluntary system should take its place? He must tres pass upon the patience of the meeting, whilst he gave them a little picture of dissent. . The artist was one that knew his subject well ; he was himself a respectable dissenting minister, and thus he described the system which he and they would force upon us.—He quoted from Mr. James's " Church Mem - ber's Guide :" " Distraction and division frequently result from theelec tion of ministers." " Secret canvassing," " cabals, in trigues," and " the most disgusting exercise of the most disgusting tyranny," take place. " A defective education not unfrequently prepares a minister to be the cause of much uneasiness." " One half of our church quarrels which take place, originate in lazy, loitering ministers." It use d t o b e , that the church had only had lazy, loitering ministers " but Mr. James found them among the dissenters. What followed ?—" Many ministers spend one half their time in running about the country to attend public meetings, and the other in gossipping at the houses of their friends ; the na tural consequence is, that their sermons are poverty itself." " Some ministers plunge themselves in debt, or involve them selves in politics,"—oh, he (M r . Ould) thought church ministers had been the only political parsons, " or marry unsuitable persons ;" " others are of a bad temper,"— " so that a fire of contention is soon kindled, and the whole church is enveloped in flames." " Others are immoral," " yet attaching themselves to a party, they intro duce the greatest disorder and confusion." " It does not un frequently happen, where two or more churches of the same denomination exist in a town, that a most unhappy, unscrip tural, disgraceful temper is manifested towards each other." " The affairs of religious societies have been carried into chan cery ; and strife, ill will, confusion, and every evil work, have sprng up in the church." " Some deacons make kindness and assistance a cloak for their own tyranny, or a silken web to wind round the fetters they are preparing for their pastor." " W hat is the deacon of some of our dissenting communities ? The patron of the living, the bible of the minister, and the wolf of the flock; who, upon the least symptom of opposi tion to his will, frowns like a tyrant upon the spirit of rising rebellion upon his slaves." " It is not unusual for the pulpit to be converted into a source of the most disgusting adula tion." The members of dissenting churches " are frequently hasty in the choice of a pastor, and soon grow tired of the man they choose." " They love their minister dearly with their lips, but hate him as cordially with their pockets." Oh, the liberality of the voluntary system ! How we should be in love with it! He recollected an Independent minister also in speaking of this subject, said, " if a minister is inde pendent of his people in purse or talent, or in both, he may get on well, but it he be dependent in purse or talent, God have mercy upon him for the most dependent of human beings is that minister." (Hear.) But to proceed with the picture— " They trait him like wild beasts, who are kept humble by being kept poor." " In many of our churches the pastor is depressed far below his level." " He may flatter like a sy cophant, beg like a servant, or woo like a lover, but he is not permitted to enjoin like a ruler." f` His opinion is re ceived with no deference his person is treated with no re_ spect, and in the presence ;If some of his lay tyrants, he is only permitted to peep and mutter in the dust." " The relaxa tion of discipline may be mentioned as another source of evil. For the sake of its glittering exterior, many a dissenting church has taken a serpent to ,its bosom." "Many pro fessors do not scruple to devote a part of the sabbath to tn. , yelling." " Some betray their Master for a less sum than Judas set upon his blood." " Alas ! alas ! how many of our churches present at this moment the sad spectacle of a house divided against itself!" " Church meetings have exhibited scenes of confusion little recommendatory of the democratic form of church government." " Opposition commences ; a church is divided into factions ; the minister becomes ire fi vo n l i v sh ed es in the enthscedeisp,, "Lamentable l a d m is e t n r t a a c b t l i e sta onf t o e llows ; and division GOD IT RARELY OCCU RRED ! !" of things! WOULD Now, in contrast to this, what was the position of a minister of the Church of England? No man who aspired to be a re ligious teacher was so truly independent as he. He stood before the people with the commission of God his Saviour to teach " the truth as it is in Jesus," and he was in no respect dependent upon the people as regarded the doctrines that he preached. (Hear.) He was accountable to his Saviour for preaching the doctrine of His gospel ; he was accountable to his bishop for preaching the doctrines of his church ; but when he stood before the people he was in no respect ac countable to them, or placed under their controul, or in fluenced by their approval or disapproval ; so that he was then neither "wooing like a lover er flattering like a syco phant," to announce the high message of salvation and to preach the precious gospel to their souls. (Cheers.) It was a beautiful sentiment of Baxter. which, indeed, it would be well for our dissenting brethren to remember---" the state cannot stand secure without the church, nor the church without unity, nor unity without uniformity." Upon this point, in order to corroborate what he had said, he would read a short extract, showing the value of the church ; for the church not only preserved the truth, but it excluded error, it not only, by a judicious discipline, repressed disorder, but it secured independence. If any minister of the church began to embrace heresy he must at once leave the church ; but among dissenters what security, had the people against error ? (Hear.) They had no creeds, no articles,. no liturgy, no for mularies; every thing was left to the minister ; he mi g h t be true and sound and faithful, and the people might have the privilege of being well taught ; but if he should forsake the truth, fall into error, and pass over those portions of the Bible which taught the truth, what protection had the people ? (Sear, hear, hear.) What had s taten place ? " We need not travel beyond our own town td,find an in structive illustzations of the practical working of such an ecclesiastical system. The present Socinian chapel, in Crosss street, was originally Presbyterian; in which Christ's Gos pel was faithfuls , preached. Whence came this change, so - diametric and so fearful ? It was the merging of the Pres byterian into the Congregational system, that broke down the securities for purity of faith and wholesomeness of disci pline. In shirt, the cancer of Democracy set in, and in two centuries the whole system has nearly disappeared. It wanted neither learning, wealth, nor power, but it wanted _Apostolicity, and, therefore, permanence. It is stated that the one hundred and seventy-six chapels which, in this coun try, belo n ged to the Puritans, have fallen into the hands of Socinians. The pulpits of Baxter, Owen, and Matthew Henry, are now the strongholds of Heresy."—Burton's Let ter, p. 13. Yes ! it •was a fact that the chapel, in which Matthew F enry preached at Chester was at this moment and had been long time, a Socinian meeting-house ! (Loud cries of hers, hear.) He now came to the second point in the resolution—the danger to the peace of the nation from a state of jeligious destitution. The wild delusions of the chartists, and the awful blasphemies of the socialists, had arisen chiefly from the want of religious instruction in the mining rind manufacturing districts. Hear a statement, how ever— " We have, particularly in the manufacturing districts, very large masses of people who have growu.alp in a state of society, which it is both lamentable and appalling to contem plate. They have not grown up amidst the usual concomi tants of an ordinary state of society, under the hand of early instruction ; with places of worship to attend; with their opinions of property moulded by seeing it devoted to social and c'naritable objects : and with it a fair and gradual sub ordination of ranks. But it is, in many cases, a society necessarily composed of the working classes, with a few per sons to employ their labour, but with whom they have little or no connection ;—and, unhappily, neither receiving in schools nor in places of worship, that religious and moral instruction, which is necessary to knit together the inhabi tants and classes of a great country. I,Vho said this? Why no less a person than the Right Hon. Lord John Russell, in the month of August last, whilst moving for an increase of the army. How was this destitu tion to be supplied ? It was not possible that it could be cdnstitutionally supplied in any other way than through the arency of the Church of England. (Cheers.) He had al luded to socialism. He held in his hand one of the most •a wful publications he had ever seen issued by those infidels ; it was called " The Holy Scriptures Analysed." It was a liook replete with awful blasphemy, and he had brought it in order to read the motto which they had selected for the title page—" The Bible contains details of ATROCITY at which human nature shudders. Parts of the holy writings consist of history, and of the narration of facts of a kind that can not be mentioned in the presence of a virtuous woman Iwithout exciting horror. Should a woman be pernittte d to read in her chamber what she would tremble to hear at her asssaatie board ; could she con over and revolve what she had rather at. than utter ?" Now whose sentiment was this? It was the recorded oninion of the right honourable the vice-president of the board of trade, Richas . d Lalor Shiel. (Hear, and marks of surprise.) Here was a man who talked of the atrocity and horror of parts of the Bible; who had said he would not allow his wife and daughters to read them ; but he would let them read his own tragedies, and especially his Evadne, the most disgusting and obscene dramatic pro duction he had ever read ! (Hear.) This book [" The Holy Scriptures Analysed,") was largely circulated in the mining and manufacturing districts ; lie had procured his copy in Manchester, and it would be found that wherever the popu lation was the most poor and .ignorant, books like this, of the most awful character, did the most mischief. And what must these poor people think when they heard such senti ments ns this issue from a privy icillor of the empire, and from a man placed in the sit of a minister of the crown? (Cries of shame.) It w plain to him that the connection between cause and effect was never more clearly exhibited than between the religious destitution complained of, and the disaffection and discontent of the manufacturing districts. Let him, therefore, again read from the statement of a minister of the established church in one of these dis tricts,. where church extension was most required : " THE MORAL CONDITION OF TIIE PEOPLE IS PnEetiELY WHAT MIGHT BE ANTICIPATED. A mass of human depra vity has been suffered to accumulate, and vices of every kind luxuriate amidst the stagnant waters of corruption. Intem perance is the master of sin ; but I fear that even St. Paul's catalogue of the vices of the heathen might find, in our po pulation, many to appropriate its particular sins. I will n ot, sir, enter upon the painful detail of facts, which, as a minis ter of religion, have come under my own observation. I will not even hint at scenes of which my eyes have been reluctant witnesses, and which have offended the light of heaven. Suffice it to say, that early contamination , from the association of the sexes ; an intemperate We of malt liquor; a disregard to the social tie; and consequent desertion of wives and families, are fearfully common, and, to adopt the words of the noble Lord already qt • :ed, exhibit a " state of society, which it is both lamentable and appalling to contemplate." Who can wonder that, in such a soil. the seeds of every error, moral and political, ger minate, and attain a vigorous growth ? Can it be surprising , that the profane doctrines and licentious practices of the So cialists, so congenial to the animal appetites of the ignorant , find numerous abettors ?—lt is quite natural to suppose, that in such a population, the demagogue and political firebrand will find abundant materials for sedition, treason, and re bellion. And alas ! supposition has given place to certainty. There is indisputable evidence, that the ramifications of the late Chartist conspiracy were deep and numerous, in this district. Two, at least, of the class-meetings of those unhapPY and infuriated men were statedly held within its precincts. Nor, has a month elapsed, since blood was shed, by armed rebels, within little snore than a bow-shot from my own he' bitation ; and the town, as in the case of Newport, was onlY saved from the horrors of pillage and conflagration, by the interposition ofa gracious Providence. The outbreak lies bee's mercifully suppressed ; but the feelings, passions, and opinions. which caused it, still ex.st, in active though concealed, ope' ration, awaiting a favourable opportunity, for a more tre mendous explosion. What may be the issue, is known only t 0 the great Author of Events ; but to me it appears certain, that the present state of society cannot long exist. If there h e not a powerful reclaiming influence speedily exerted, the downward progression, towards anarchy and civil disorgain' nation, will be rapid and irresistible. In these statemen ts I ant not a willing alarmist. I describe with reluctance state of society which I know to exist around me, in my own sphere of ministerial labour. And I fear it is but an averag e sample of the general condition of the operative classes, i" populous manufacturing towns." There was a state of things ! The voluntary gentlemel neither would nor could supply this deficiency. If they coal", not, why did they prevent us flora doing it; a n d if th e y coul" do it, why was it not done? (Loud cheers.) They lino° this state of things existed ; they saw it ; they heard it ; was around them on all sides ; and when we came forward,' after having made voluntary efforts to meet it unparallele d , he repeated, since the first days of Christianity, these gentle . men met in most unholy league, to petition government t° refuse a single shilling of the public money for the eatensin° of the church in the destitute districts ! (Hear, hear.) —T he length of our report, together with a pressure o f o ther 11 0 ,; ter, compels us reluctantly to give only a summary o f th e concluding portion of Mr. Ould's admirable addres s. rev. gentleman next referred to the resolutions a d o pted at the meeting against church extension, and exposed the falls , " cies of the principles upon which they professed t o be foun t, ed. The speeches of several orators on that occasion uncle' went the same process, the true nature of the shoemak er Thorogood's voluntary " martyrdom" being shewn to th e meeting. Mr. Ould also spewed, in answer to Mr. Th oll '' from the Rev. Mr. James's able letter, published in the le i !: verpool Standard of Friday, and from other sources, that t h e charity of the dissenters bore no comparison whatever to th e A benevolence of churchmen, and he concluded his able 801 ' interesting address amidst loud cheers. Mr. S. HOLME being called upon to second the resolii" tion was greeted with general cheering. He said—Not being aware until I entered the room a few minutes before my reve; rend friend commenced his address, that I should be callsl on to take any part in the proceedings of the evening , must confess myself in a great degree unprepared to do as I have only been able to pencil a few scattered ideas amid,,; the delightful interruptions I have had from his splend"; speech, and I shall best suit the convenience of the mee,t lll l at this late hour by being brief, so as not to weaken the 0 6 ' already produced. When a French bishop once asked a Pe,,s sant how he liked his sermons, the man replied,—They ai ; very good but too long, and your lordship might recollect : that we peasants are like our own wine vats, when once fill e d ' it is of no use pouring more in, for it would be s pilled, 7 y, though it was the best liquor in the world. (Laughter.) 1 : s / a reverend friend has just told us of a Romish priest who stu'd on this platform a few weeks ago, as the advocate of civil a l !„ religious liberty. Is there liberty, either civil or religions , 1- that country where his master the Pope is the temporal g o ' vernor ? No ! And lam enabled to testify, by my own e 3v perience and observation, that whilst the Romish hierarchy is living in princely splendour and ostentatious masnificence4 the mass of the priesthood in Italy is i gnoran t, an d manY;, them semi -infidel, and the people su n k, b o th i n t e ll e ctuln"; and spiritually, to the lowest grade. Talk of civil and religinu liberty indeed ! Why who can find in the Pope's dominions 1 ; berallaws, or seminaries for popular public instruction ? are the scientific societies, the mechanics' institutions, t he s societies for expanding t h e human mind, spreading kiln"' ledge, and improving the condition of man? Not in WO; where the Pope reigns—not in Spain or Portugal where 111 influence is paramount, but in protestant Scotland—(chee r ' —in protestant England—in protestant Germany. (Chee,„lt e , Protestantism is favourable to liberty, Popery is not. 'l l - one flourishes in the soil of liberty, the other fades. It is, tl , absurdity and hypocrisy then for a Romish priest so to tis for where the Pope is Sovereign there is only the of the slave. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) But, s ir, we oug% to be thankful that we yet live under a better system, a s ,, let us rejoice that by the wisdom and piety o f ki ngs a nd se,n 4 ; tors a purer church than that of Ro m e was es t a blishee s ' e this kingdom long before the mo n k A ugus ti ne i n t ro d uc ed t ' s/ dogmas of papal Rome into B r it a i n; an d w h a t ever m ay n tl ys be said on the subject, it is a ma tt er o f hi s t or y th a t pePe'; is a foreigner in England—that it is a novelty, and that pure and Gospel church existed in ourlandlong before f a t gustine set his foot on our soil. (Cheers.) And had it I] , i ; e been for the piety of our f ore f a thers, who endowed ' O , Church of England, hundreds of parishes would at this O r , meat have been destitute of religious instruction, (I - le s hear.) Far be it from me to decry the voluntary s y s teol an auxiliary. I can admire the principle which actuated °I still actuates many pious dissenters to make pecuniary pt crifices that the Gospel of Christ may be preached through°o the land : bitt after all their praiseworthy exertions, I 8 1t com pelled to ask what has the vol un t ary sys t em d o ne? s s h a s left 80,000 persons in Man c h es t er d es tit u t e o f chil l... i ll and chapel accommodation—in Leeds a b ove 40,0 0 :, - 1 0 Birmingham.6o,ooo—in Hudde rs fi e ld an d o th er l arg e to p. a proportionate number—in the metropolis above a ruillioo ) and in the town of Li verpoo l a b ou t 60 , 000 . (H ear , In Glasgow, where the voluntary system has had fair Ic,;,s the most appalling spiritual destitution exists; and such "AK been its effects on the morals of the people, that Ms. She s , - Alison has stated before a committee of the House of e s c ' s ", - ; mons that every tenth house in that city is a spirit si_ l ; i : (Hear, hear.) If, therefore, I understand aright the ark , ments of those orators who spoke in this room on the ° e s s i l - e sion to which my reverend friend has alluded, and has facetiously termed the voluntarious soiree, it is UP - t he necessity c u e e s , s i t t h y o u n s o a w n d systems existing— true, are is p u e n r peri shing for o fo as r u t tp h hp e ol bread of life—true; the voluntary supply the d s em oul a s nd are al itt ill e passing into eternity in Great Britain alone —true, thB"strf majority of the dissenting chapels are plunged in pent ll3 ;sst difficulties, and steeped in mortgages ; but it i s better ` l l,l these thousands should perish, th an th a t we s bcl ' i se lose the opportuniti es w hi c h this su bj ec t a ff or d s, o f striki be heavy blows against the church, which we secretly feel t l i ) , 1 1- a valuable national institution, and which is the strong bich wark ofthose constitutional and monarchical principles " . t i o g we hate and detest. (Vehement c h eer i ng .) At th a t m eet sir, th e y were all opposers, but none of them werepenP°ool (Laughter.) They opposed th e c h urc h, b u t th e y Pr?P-as' nothing in lieu of her, unless indeed it be that theoreti c 'or, tem which has so utterly failed. L e t th em d o their 11° ,,; ( 11 the Church of England is rising —she is the casket 7';', 0 3 contains the invaluable gem of our Protestant faith. (r,O cheering.) She is the citadel in which scriptural trilta cio ; been securely lodged and handed dow n i n sa f e t y till this and let us preserve that citadel from destruction, t ha t may hand down to our posterity, unextinguished, the serl s at ral light which has been bequeathed t o us by o ur Pra t ' t be ancestors. (Cheering.) I admit not the charge that o f- Church of England is unfavourable to the spread of kn o rl ledge. I, for one, am desirous of seeing knowledge to science extended far and wide ; and' I can rejoice in th e stY umphs of our mechanical skill, Fih 41x I g a H conquer the Wig os o ocean, can give wings to our vessels, and make those 0 1 0 our neighbours from which Oceansepinketis• (Hear . ) t o l. in common with that .chur c h : Which:we are met to de' . . ;.:1/4‘14,45c