The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-02 00:00:00

SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE
GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS..

MEETING LAST NIGHT.

TILE ANNUAL MEETING of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was, held in the lecture-hall of
the Collegiate Institution, last night. The chair was occupied
by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester, and on the
platform were also the following gentlemen :
Right Rev. Lord Bishop of Melbourne; T. B. Horsfall,
Esq., M.P. ; Revds. R. Caldwell, India ; Dr. Taylor ; Dr.
Carpenter ; J. Tobin : T. L. Pain ; G. W. Warr ; J. Crump ;
J. Hassall ; J. North; W. T. Newenham ; J. H. Jones ; Dr.
Hume • J. Haggitt ; A. Knox ; T. C. Cowan ; D. Browne ;
J. Welsh ; J. W. Kewley ; T. Tomlin ; Briton ;
Gilmour ; - Charles W. Lawrence ; T. Bowman ; F. Wal-
iond ; H. Vernon ; Thos. Moore ; T. M. Lester John Stew-
art ; J. Dandy ; J. Blakey ; R. V. Sheldon ; T. Leigh ;
Lingard ; Titterton ;H. Jones. Charles Groves, Esq.,
Edward Jones, Esq., J. K. Rounthwaite, Esq., H. J. 'Webster,
and R. A. Payne, Esq.
The meeting was attended by a numerous assemblage of
ladies and gentlemen. The proceedings were commenced by
prayer, by the Rev. G.W.Warr, the local secretary, after which
The LORD Baum. of CHESTER rose, and afterreferringto the
feelings of pleasure with which he usually presided at the meet-
ings of this society, he said, but on this occasion those feelings ,
are mingled with sentiments of a very sad and deep regret, in
which lam sure that all of you here share,—l refer to the loss
that we have all sustained by the death of the Venerable
Archdeacon of Liverpool. I say all sustained—for I cannot
but look at his death, even at his great age, as a great public
loss. No doubt it was a loss, a heavy loss to his own family;
it is a loss to the circle of his private friends. I myself have
lost a most kind personal friend, and a most valuable assistant
to me in the superintendence of the diocese. But beyond
those narrow and limited relations in which he stood to dif-
ferent parties, I am sure you will feel that it is nothing more
than the simple truth or case without exaggeration, when I
say that his death is a loss to the whole town of Liverpool.
It has been felt to be so already. The public demonstrations,
the public sense of respectful sorrow that were made in every
part of the town, as soon as ever the sad event of his death
became known, are in themselves a full proof of general esti-
mation in which his public services were so deservedly and pro-
perly held. And let me say that that tribute of respect which was
paid on Saturday so spontaneously to his memory reflects honour
both to the old man who has gone to his rest full of years and
full of respect, and reflects honour on the good and kind
people of Liverpool, who have shown in so marked a manner that
they know how to estimate and valne a character of solid and
sterling worth, and of the genuine English stamp. (Murmurs
of applause.) My friends, this is no time for any expressions
of eulogy. I know your hearts go with mine ; neither is it
the time to describe his character in detail, in its various
bearings and relations, or else I might delight to speak of the
genial and mellow kindness there was in all the intercourse of
his private life, and in his hours of social ease. I might like
to speak of the constant and zealous attention which he gave
to all charitable institutions of your town ; and the ability with
which he exercised the important functions of a magistrate
for several years, respected by all the magistracy of the county,
who were pleased to appoint him to preside at their meetings
for the administration of justice—and, above all, I might speak
of his unaffected piety, sound principles, and benignant spirit
as a minister of the Church of England. I love the
Church of England for many things—for nothing more than
for its benignant spirit ; and I know not in what minister in
all itsrange the benignant spirit.shoneout morebrightly than in
our lamented friend. (Hear, hear.) All those various duties
that I have glanced at, he was, through God's blessing, per-
mitted to continue to perform—to perform all of them ; to
perform them ably to the very list. Venerable by the official
title which he bore in the diocese; but venerable also by his
age, and venerable by his intrinsic, genuine, sterling charac-
ter. But still I feel this is not the time; there may be some
more fitting time, perhaps, for some voice at least to be lifted
up to speak of those things. I will confine myself to what
relates more strictly to our present meeting here, and only
remind you further, that he was one of the most consistent
supporters, judicious advocates, and warmest friends of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. (Hear,
hear.) It was his intention, if he had been spared,
to have been here this night amongst us, and to
have taken some part, as he has often taken, in our
proceedings. My friend, the Bishop of Melbourne, was to
have been his guest, as so many advocates of religious societies
have been his guests before. He was also proposing to have
received me with his usual kindness in his house to share, as
I have often done, his hospitality ; but it has been ordered
otherwise by the Almighty God, who orders all things for the
best—His will be clone. Let it be our prayer that God may
raise up many ministers to follow the steps and example of this
His good servant, whom He has now permitted to depart in
peace. (During the delivery of those observations his lord-
ship was affected to tears.) The cause (he continued to say)
for which they met survived all the trials of generations of
mankind ; and God be thanked, as one good man sank
into the grave, others were raised up by Providence to
pursue the same course of piety and usefulness. But to
turn to the direct purpose of our meeting, our last meet-
ing was one of more than ordinary interest. On the
last occasion of our meeting we had with us the Bishop
of New Zealand, who bore interesting testimony to the state
of his diocese. We have now among us another Australian
bishop—the Bishop of Melbourne,—whom I have much plea-
sure in introducing to the meeting as my friend. (Cheers.)
He has left behind him at the University of Cambridge valu-
able memorials of his worth, his scholarship, and of his piety.
We have also among us the Rev. E. Caldwell, the able and
energetic missionary to Tennevelly, in the East Indies, who
will lay before you an account of the state of Christianity in
that country. We will also lie addressed by two other gen-
tlemen—Mr. Horsfall, our respected parliamentary represen-
tative. (Cheers.) He is the kind patron and tried friend
of every good and religious object. The other is the
Rev. Dr. Taylor, one of my own clergy, and one whom
it affords me the greatest pleasure to meet with on
all occasions. (Cheers.) I have had the pleasure of meeting
that gentleman on points of interest to both of us and to the
community, and I have always been delighted to feel the
courtesy and kindness, the earnestness, and the true
religion which he has always exhibited. (Cheers.) lam
gratified to know that you approve of this expression of my
sentiments, because I feel assured that Dr. Taylor is entitled
to your and my esteem and regard. I shall not longer stand
between you and the object of the meeting, but will call on
my friend the Bishop of Melbourne, who will move the first
resolution.

The Lord Bishop of MELBOURNE moved the first resolution,
which was to the following effect :—That this meeting desires
humbly to record their thankfulness to Almighty God for the
continued and increasing blessings which he appears to have
vouchsafed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts, as a great instrument for promoting
throughout the world the saving knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ." He said the field of the society's
operations were the foreign provinces of the British
empire, which might well be called the world. They
extended to every part of the world, and in extending
the knowledge of the gospel to them, they were extend-
ing it throughout the world. The provinces of the