The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1876-11-14 00:00:00

THE CHURCH PASTORAL All) sociEry.

LORI/ SHAFTESBURY ON THE CONDITIoN
OF THE 4:Hylton OF ENULAND.
The Church Pastoral All Soeietv's Winihorite ancillary
held its annual meeting at the Town Hall on M a liy
afternoon, ,vhen the tinusident of the society, the Iti..ht
Hon. the Earl of sn‘t-rrmsurtr. Sm., was in the chair.
There was a large attendanee.
An extempore prayer WM offered hy the Rov. C. P.
Minn. and a hymn basin.; been suns, the Rev.
Watson read a portion of a psalm.
The annual report, which Mai read by Mr. Gecze
Chislett, showol that the total amount colleeteul dernis
the year had been 1.. W Us. ILL Mr. I lifsurrr said le. had
received lvtters of apology front the iltevS. F. Trotin el, G.
V. Garland, an.l R. Smith.
The Depittation, the Rev. W. A. IrOIIt‘WILL. of Guth.
first addressed the meeting at smite !Louth. and vii•l the
rneirty might very properly he called a Ilium+ Pruserva•
tion Society, for be .li.l not know how the Church e.. 114
have existed aud intiutained her title of the Church of
Eng Land,
.hut for the aid which she haul received from
. . .

this society. The rev. gentleman proreedal to point to
the need which had existed for this society and to the
e.
need which still existed for it awl for increas' I exertions.
He spike of the marvellous increase in the rendition .4
the country, and of the populations of some of our large
centres of indwitry, and he asked was it not obvieu- that
sotue effort must be made to meet the spiritual wants of
the people. He showed that the number .4 cliiirehe. and
tees in our large towns and centres of industry as
far (ram adequate to the requirements, and it do
pointed out that any effort to meet this one mu.. le 1
voluntary one. The laity must come forward awl pre ilt
additional ministers and lay agents and appliane., f e:ie
wants of the people or grievous would he 111.1 Ile
appealed to them not merely to sustain but to dre.L.then
the hands of the society. lie explained the work:lg of
the society and said it respected existing order,
existing arrangements, and it sought to strm c:lsr. the
hands of the ministers of the Church. The rev .....loon
also combatted the objection brought against it. cvisty
on the ground that its committee have the powr of
putting a veto on men brought before them awl who hare
been ordained by the bishop.
The Rev. C. J. GIN!, also spoke, and in the e sta.' .4
hi s speech alluded to the question of the ...easetter's
veto, and said they must take care that the men wh,wzre
sent out were men who would preach the pure .:4‘esi "f
the truth of God, not keeping back anythiug. men who
would go forth to save souls, and who wonl.l think more
of this than of the Church, for the Church of Christ was
above every other consideration. lie combatted the ides
that they should not preach doctrine. ael showed that
this was the soul of Christianity. What, he asked, coati
he stronger doctrine thau that which christ uttered, "I
am the atty, the truth, and the light I.su '''""eth
unto the Father but by Me." He 1.111.1.111 sal believed
that the society would maintain its greet'''. 143 it 1004
do so upon its doctrine and its principles.
The Earl of Snawrranunr said the cause of the Society
had been well and amply put before them by his tt'svi
friends who hail spoken, and were it wit the endow at
Meeting* of that kind that the president should 'ac ante.
thing at the end with a view of summing tie ere",inig
speakers, he certainly should have Warned without
uttering a single syllable. list after what they hallimrd
and what was propounded the other daily Mr. Gladstone
he would say • few words. Mr. 1311.14.11.: the otherdai,
in an article in the Cmatemp,,rary Review, propounded the
.vestion. "Is the Church .if England w..rth preserving!
The subject, apparently as for a* Mr. ;13.1stone ea. coon-
cerr.e.l, was a were phantom, and hi. f0110w.,1 it out et a
very brilliant and fusile air, and came to cenclusions
which were not conclusive. Ile sail. "You have laws
ecclesiastical, don't enforce them Yeti have rourtS"'le
siastical, don t appeal to them." Bid he (the Chairman)
would take up this qurition and deal with it ups
another footing and deal with it practically. Ile said that
up to the present time the Church was worth preserving.
and if they would look at her past history, her prewnt
condition, and what she was enabled to .1... and
If they would in some degree contenudate
the future, he held that the I 'Much was
worth Preserving. But they must readier! a Church, an. 4
particularly the Chureh of F.tielawl, consi.ituw"i as she is
by Acts of l'arliament, and resting in in free ...nearl
upon the affections and will of this people was not hke a
Church in a despotic land, and COUlli Dot )11.1.111111.01 111
spite of herself. If the Church of begland his
to 110 preserved she must submit to.. ani. not onV
submit to, but she need of her .own 111111.1 in:me:rate
orms that still't
angieinto far better working order, that should adapt her toffs,
t:rt.:riiti‘t.iie..else'oanfandt'ht fegeutuaicireltwih.;;ri:e'lfs
Wattle, go deeper into their hearts. sttivrid wviee
ti
affections, and prove hi them that the t hureh ot
is not only intended for their spiritual but
temporal welfare. Ile was SIWIIIiIIII.I to hear
It
friend on the right—the Rev. W. A. Com wall re!".
of that old story about the veto on the Puri
committee ; he hail thought it was e!.tivt` a'. yr when
heard of it for years. It certainly was AV!"
I . reeei
the society was founded 10 years ag! ,
laded meeting with some friends in a suss!'
in Fleet-street and agreeing upon the seeletrl
veto
after it came into operation arose the questina
Certain very high Church pastors, with great ecelon.
distribute large funds for which we are P•stetfi.-04e •
a"d thing in owpoirnliS.w4Thsedirthaetrswhia..ri
fund* are given by men of evangebeal religtoti
given for the diffusing of Christ's
determination to advance the knowledge '4
Ti that we must have mom° knowledge tue.iel..
whom we are alsnit to sanction. We call upon the cisr,4
men and say • You make the selection. let tie' nVe...,
known to its, and we will institute suck inquirtes
lar made, and if approval the men tiny for"w°,..
bishop." lie wished them to mark that MeV .1"
reverse any decision of the bishop: the men weni.fir°_,
them to the bishop ; the bishop hail the power o•i:
their decree., but they hind DO power whatever rever.r."
hi They went on very harmoniously ; tenets.
vhs
a
bishops by degrees catne into the society, awl manl
had been opposed to them came in afterwards• I°,l
t-hee
Bishop of 'Litton, who afterwards 1101.11111., ..fr .liii
Canterbury, was for •Coalo time ti"."f
afterwards wrote to him and said, "I have bre!, '
long time a great opponent of the Pastoral Alit4osety:;
gospel, and web tux
have now been two years in the diocese .4 Ittnet. sue.'
• I lu
tell you in the moat solemn manner, before 1,51. •a.
is
deeply impressed with the value of the eocieti, the
which it has confirmed the feeble hands and ortrenitthe7,
the feeble blues. that I request you will allow law;
append tat name to it, and become one of our
presidenta. This had been the owe with a greet nu—tol
of the bishops. lie had not heard of any who now •-,b,
objection to their society, and he was quite 'Off. pot
bishops presiding over the most populous dioceses .`"
look the gift horse in the mouth. They hat heard 4i .
great necessity for the society, owing to the pectfliar.
ditions of our large populations, and they 11111.11
that it had been owing to the neglect of our ancestor' W'
thaw preceding us that the country was now brought oi
its present condition. Trade had been springing t
the only object of the people of the day was to
that trade to any extent they could ; large
were sucked into the large towns, without ani Ps`lo.
lions ecclesiastical or municipal for them. In tur
things had gone on, and they now had to meet this s'7,
defect. The great difficulty was the increase that
still going on, and they only kept down the increaslt.D.e,',;
was some time ago. The necessity that *Auto,' 50100 wr,
tinee ago was twenty-fold greater now, and under o_.l
influence of the penny post, railways, and the Uvess..73
opinion in men's minds that wealth is always to b,
In large places, hundreds of thousands of pee*
being sucked into OW lane towns. sad the remit Woe '—
Warless of tmovel in these towns. Let them take
fog Jubilees. A. Issis ember of persons went to Low"