The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-07 00:00:00

4 ,
east, and the day was fast breaking, and all things pro-
claimed that Christ ,was coming, and with him judg-
ment, and after judgment eternity, and after that bliss
or woe for ever and ever. His lordship then alluded to
the hindrances- which preventei the Christian froM
&flitting ;tb.d favour Mad Niorshili. of God,
amongst Whidh might be classed sloth :and lethargy in.
. religious matters; lby rhese, baneful inflyenee the Chris,
tian,soul ,slumbered in entire rinconsciousiie.s•s,..Of the
solemn duties it Was called upon to discharge. No Man,
no matter how 'arduously and Continuously he might
work and labour, and devote his time and energies to
his wordly matters, could urge the plea that he had not
time or opportunity for the service of God. Man was.
not like the beasts that perished, and lived to eat, drink,
and 'sleeP, regardless of the future, or the higher and
more imp,ortant claims Which his immortal sort' deneanded
from him, and Anconscidus nt. ari
.spirittial life; A
man might not altogether disbelieVe, fdr he, might not
take that tioiible,, but still his l'ethargy.)6s,alMpst tant-
amount to that sad condition: His lordship referred to
'other .eaSeS of thiS 'dikegard pf.spiritnal and: religious
activity, andeufbrd.,that the C,hristiaii sifOnld rouse
hiriiself from such a state of tory:4', and acquire a know-
ledge of the spiritual world around him.. His lordship
concluded an eloquent,
,earnest, and impressivediseourse
by roma4,in „6. that thp church h4d,heen.huilt hy yolun-
tarx, subscripOons, from those gentlemen,,wbo had an
interest a b stake in the c;i4at Property that afforded em-
ployment to the people,for whose rAnement'thectittrch
was built; and:he hoped tbat the sum which was neces-
sary to complete the church would be subscribed in a
short time, and towards this charitable object he called
upon the congregation to contribute with a liberal and
Christian heart.

The-collections weremade; then and the communion
service haVing been Concluded, his lordship proceeded to
-cortOciate the burial-eotind:.
The berenibliial,bonfleeteel, with the eqiiSeCritioif of the
church arid burial-grotuid haing beell concluded; 'his
lOrdship, attended by many clergymen and gentlemen,
repaired, to the school-room (which is adjoining the
'church), where a sumptuous, Wjepter
,was provided.
The banquet-room was tastefully decorated for the occa-
sion, the walls were gracefully hung with crimson cloth,
and from the ceiling were dependent globes,_ crOWns,
and other insignia, composed of the most rare and
blooming flowers that could be'procured at this, season.
At the luncheon the chair Was oCenpied by the Thshop
of Oxford; suppofted on the right By th 6 :MArqUis of
ghandos, and on the left by his chaplain. Many ladies
were also present, and added not a little grace and
enlivenment to the brilliant" scene.

The Marquis of Cnitinos, 'addressing the audience,
said he should call on them to join him in thanking the
bishop of the diocese, not only for being present there that
dab but also fox his, lordship's great kindness In attending
the previous night at Wolverton, and gitieg..a leeture to
Vv the orkmeti dofirlbbtdtl. With the place; (Hear, hear.)
Siiibe the eoiiimencement of the foundation of that little
settlement-in Statttonbury, they had then arrited.at-one
of the most important .stages of their progress in it.
They had completed the schools, and that day the bishop
Mid put, not perhaps quite a finishing stroke, but he
-had 'completed one of the 'nest important stages by con-
secrating the new church erected for the persons con-
nected with their railway company. H 6 was sure that
all connected with the company, as well as those present,
would agree most cordially in thanking the bishop for
the great kindness which he had shown in darning the
previous night to their little settlement sit Wolverton—
(applause)—and in bringing together so large a number
of their Woilinien, and giving them such good advice and
such influential instruction as he had given on that
occasion. (Continued cheering.)
His Lordship the Bishop rose amidst loud applause,
and thanked the audience for the very kind way in
which they expressed their, sentiments regarding. him for
his having perfergied shat he believed his official, ditties
ih that Plaie. (Hear, hear.) It was a special pleasure
for him to come in answer to the invitation that he
received, and address as he did, some two thousand of
the workmen of that great settlement, in one of the
buildingsboOnging to the London and. Nprth-Western
COMpany ; and a more interesting assemblage it Was
impossible for man to have before him,—none more
deeply attentive,- none pervaded by a greater amount of
intellectual, activity in their rank and position in life,
and hone mote ready to hear Words of kindness from the
bishop of the diocese, cOniim),' down and speaking to
thanl it his Master's name. (Hear, hear, and applause.)
thanked them cordially foi the kind Way in which
they had received- the attempt on his pert to do his
duty. lie.would observe that there were other gentle-.
men to, be thanked as well as himself on that occasion.
He believed that the.interests of this great county were
bound up in the settlement of this question, whether or
not teeming manufacturing populations—abounding in
energy, abounding in intellectual activity—whether
or not that great teeming population should
or should not be thorthighly pervaded by these
Christian' principles, which alone could enable them to
make those intelleetual gifts and that vast 'activity bles-
sings to themselves, to their families, and to the coun-
try. (Hear, hear, and eheers.) He had no doubt that
it was the question of the day, and that all others were
swalleWed up by it=-(Bear, hear) -and in a certain ince-
aure radiated from it.. All the influence of Great Britain
fully depended upon it, for if the heart of the country be
rotten, the sinews and muscles must also be subject to
the same corroding influence., If the sun's body, instead
of shining forth in its brightness and splendour, be eaten
up by spots of darkness, what became of all the distant
bodies that depended upon the effulgence of its radiance ?
(Loud applause.) Now, if that was, as he believed
it .to be, really the question of the day, it was
of the utmost importance and moment that an
example should be set where numbers of men
who gathered together by any of ?hose manufacturing
proceedings, example should be set by those who were
willing to provide for the intellectual, and still more for
th'e spiritual, benefit .of the population they so called
into existence. (Loud applause.) He said that example
should be set for this reason,—he believed that there
was a general and cordial readiness among those great
capitalists and employers of labour to do their duty in
this matter. (Hear, hear.) , He was sorry to say that
many evils followed in the train of bad example,
innumerable instances .of .could be. recorded. .He then

alluded to the building of tbechurch,of New Wolverton'
and the schools attached to the benefice, and the good
it would promote amongst all classes of ,the community
resident in the district, especially the young men. He
pointed out the incalculable benefit these schools
woad confer on the neighbourhood;:: and implored
the blessing of the Most High on the holy project:
He then proceeded to say, Was it not reasonable to sup-
pose that some fifty years ago such a thing as that which
had been witnessed - that day at -Wolverton. wild
have been altogether' looked upon as the most visionary
dreams Of the most Utopian idealist that could possibly
be ?
,(Hear, hear.) Well, he, might say the, whole
truth, and observe that in twenty years hence people
would even do more for the advancement of learning•
and religion' than was done even now: (Hear, hear.)
He then called upon them not to let the £1,500 that'
was yet wanted to complete the new Church be long
without being contributed for that purpose. All
honour to them that set the good example, and all
honour to them that carried out that good example.

(Hear, and laughter.) And also all honour to- but
he would not flatter the' directors of the North-Western
Company. (A laugh.) But he should say that they,
had done their duty. (Applause.) His lordship again
referred to the-subject of diffusing sound moral and reli-
gious instruction amongst the rising generation, and
denounced the fanatical manner in which some enthilsi-
asts gave vent to their religious feelings, working them-
selves up. into. ,a perfect fret*, such as the unseemly
scene lately witnessed at Exeter Hall. He then alluded
to the great exertions made in behalf of the Wolverton
working classes by that excellent nobleman, the Mar-
quis of Chandos, whose noble name, wonderful talents
for business, and unsullied character, in the conducting
of the magnificent concern of which he was the head,
he extolled in high terms. The mechanics would have
had no echo& in which their children could be educated,
and no church in which they could worship the living
Goclovere it not for the munificence of the noble marquis.
(Loud applause.) He had set an example which._ it
would be well had been adopted by all noblemen
throughout the country. His lordship terminated his
able speech by calling on the audience to give the noble
marquis a cordial vote of thanks for his attendance on
that occasion and his generous deeds towards the work-
ing classes of the district, a request which was heartily
complied with.
The noble Marquis returned his most sincere thanks
.to the audience for the way in which they had so cor-
dially acceded to the request of the lordships, who spoke
in such flattering terms of the exertions made by him
(the marquis) in connection with the schools and church.
He alluded to the peculiar difficulties that surrounded
this object when it was first mooted, by reason of the.
Objection raised by an Act of the Legislature, -which
had oome effect in retarding the accomplishment of the-
work. He said that the company felt it was their
duty to afford every facility to the employes and those
connected with the works for acquiring suitable religious
and educational instruction. (Hear.) He trusted that in a
short time sufficient means. would be provided, so that
the, other aisle could be added to the church:* He could
not but feel that the church and schools which they, that
day solemnly inaugurated would be of peculiar and
immense advantage to the parish and to the company,'
and that it would tend to the religious advantage of the
inhabitants of the place. He was quite certain, also,
that it would tend to the advantage of the, company by
giving greater inducements to many intelligent and
enterprising men to settle in the -village. He found the
words of a local author, who bad often rambled through
the fields and -meadows of the village of 'Wolverton,
applicable to the present csse,• when he said " that
everything we do which had for its object the ameliora-
tion and bettering of our fellowman tended to the greater
glory and honour of God." lie thought, however,
that it was not altogether to himself as chairman of the
railway company that praise was so much due, 'as to
the members of the company generally, for he could
assure them that it had; been, was, and would be, the
intention of the company to do all in their power to'
forward the interests of their officials. (Applause.) He
i• believed that no person connected with the management
of a large company, or any large establishment such as
that of the railway company, but would admit that not
only is it laudable, but it is largely for their own advan-
tage, to provide such buildings as they were assembled
in that evening. (Applause.) Two years last Whit-
suntide they had commenced the school building, and
he trusted and felt very confident that before two years
more they wouldhave the tower and spire of their new
church finished. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) His lord-
ship then alluded to the great question of the diffusion
of education amongst the working classes, and concluded
an able and excellent speech by proposing 'a vote of
thanks to Mr. M'Connell, which was responded to with
a hearty good will by all present, as well as a cheer for
Mrs. M'Connell
that day. and the baby that had been baptised

Mr. M'Connell returned thanks.
Votes of thanks were proposed to the 'directors and
shareholders of the London and North-Western, Com-
pany, Archdeacon Bickersteth, and the Rev. Mr. Ranell,
after which th
ing well pleased and satisfied with the joyous festivity
e proceedings terminated, every one seem-
in which he had. taken part.
,
The collection made at the church door realised the
handsome sum of £l4O. .

MERCANTILE MARINE BoAno.—Captain
Benjamin
Sproule, Chairman of the Mercantile Marine Association,
was yesterday, on the nomination of the Liverpool Ship-
owners' Association, elected without opposition a member
of the Local Marine Board, in the place of S. R. Graves,
Esq., who, as Mayor, becomes ex_opio a member of the
board.
A new opera, in four acts, by M. Itanssens, the clever
conductor who was some years ago in London, is about
to be produced in Brussels •