The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-23 00:00:00

THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.

A meeting of this bodying held•last night in Hope--
hall. The proceedings were opened by the singing of a
hymn, appropriately selected for the occasion. [he Rev.
Dr. Lowe occupied the chair, and there' was a large
attendance of clergymen and laymen on the.platform and
in the body of the hall.
The CHAIRMAN said that he felt it no small honour to
have the privilege of presiding over the meeting on that
occasion, which he was glad td see was very Well
• attended.:, Re.felt that,no meeting hovieVer large cold&
adequately eipress the imhortatice of the object. for, Which
they hdd met tii,i'ether. felt;.oo•Wre, Ili°
Ilie iniPottatice, tli4distuleVe
Abject4ttie Evanelical Alliance. The principles on
hlch the alhartee was founded, and which they had con-
trived tO ttlaintain, apPeared to hini to be, in the first
place, evangelical orthodoxy in contrast with latitUtli-
narianiiin 'and indifference, and, in the licit place,
evonge.lioal oomprehen,stvenees of fellowship iii,contrast
yith higOtil and eicitisiieriesrl; .4 other Woi'ds of thd
without hirrotry, ~and eemillit9Psll7 ess .7/1.11P14t
thattot.e,y whim hilt that
wAS riot it latitudinarian organisation ; on the
edntrary, they repudiated such a spirit. They heldlby,
and asserted the distinctive principles of their common
Christianity : they would not give up the fundamen4ds
of the holy religion fur any consideration whatsoevfer
They tbfild not compromise the great truths concerning the eiisteiide,,tiqtoio,4.l.ll4qo 344 tixd. ri24tf.'6loiis
fhAritelf God! they I.,child licit• up the great{dtti.
the Mode 'of their salvation, and their
adeeptanca by the Most Hiah. They
,Maintained the
great doctrinal dogma of the mediation and atonement,
ny the great High Priest-4kb co-equality •With the ,
Diety of the second person—the Grid-man. • ' They also
t. believed in all the great
,doctrinal degmas.npen which
▪ Ohristitnity was hese&
,These, 844 smite; Of;
the, great pt:itieiFdesiTipor. which the tirganisntion,:titey
_ , had, met
.that. efening, to further. Jim" promote;. iTas
• • , founded; and ,which sheuld. jre 4ear,,te.cyerY.
Christian. J;te, clid.,not Mean to Day that all Christians
. . at,rl7l7:d With the members of the Alliance on
eycq peint, tied forbid it. They were not endeavour-
ing td constitute a church, or to lay down a new system
bf salvation, or to make new articles of faith, but merely
to manifest the distinctive principles of their" common
Christianity, and they invited all•persons who agreed,with
'them as to thq irttpottande ths•iatikeiltdi:iff(thinietit
. to corribine With WM id dssittiilgg Wid niabitainingthese
principles. And while the 3; thus uplrel eranoeli&il orthoz
• dozy of opinion, they should he au.' ions to cherish. Wren-
gelical comprehensiveness of fellowship. Siirelyi •if it
were possible dr compatible with the present state 9f things
that all these whO:professed the faith sf the,Ler,d Jesus
Christ ilidUld atgcee flie.tpitli ot 144 holy hotel; ttifti
meow teliallinm, lie tildiktflit tteio was not
. g Christian heart that would not rejoice and bless. God
for the iiianifestation. They all sighed more and mote for
union, and they all felt more and more the great desirable-
ness of mairitainino•thatnnity and he thought there was
7, no better way of bringing about this much to be vlished
.-•! for consummation than by joining the Evangelical
ance. This was the object the members of the Alliance had.
in view, namely, to bring the children of Christ's church
into closer friendship and unity, the importance of which-
object could not be overrated. lie,dWelt at consider,
able length.. on the necessity, of the various clenorriind-
tions of the Protestant diiiircli rileroing their minor
differences for the common Weal' of the whole Christian
body. It might be asked Mi bond, what object have
You. to serve—what good, will you effeCt by the various
sects joining the AlliariCe Ito answered,
that a great deal 8t
..geed would be attained by the
The organisation had been started
tith flint feeling that, in the 'first place, it wasre. very
useful thing to maintain the union to which the had'
already alluded; secondly,' it was a very useful thing
by the maintenance of that union, to cultivate it and
• increase and enlarge it. Next, it, was •a very, iseeful-,
thing to combine in the maintenance end the aafertion-
of the great prineiplea of evangelical religiorti and
fourthly and lastly, was it not a most useful thing to
combine in the support and propagation of the principles
• and in co-operating for every evangelical work in which
it was possible for them to engage ? He then alluded
to the hindrances which tended very! much'; to prevent
unity amongst the Christian denominatiOns, ehief,smong
which,was the question of church-rates, but he hoped.
that a mere 'question of temporalities like that, would_
not be allowed to interfere with the principles of the
'gloriekii and everlasting gospel of tho Lord SCsns-Qtrist,
that. they would join in one common bond of unity; and
join the Evangelical Alliance. (Applause.) •
Dr. GEE, the secretary, then read letters from the
Rev. Georga Seott and Mr. David Rowlands (member
Of the 'committee), who .ipbite in via4ni terms of the
excellence of the Alliance, and more specially illifstrated
1"" the great good that had been effected by the recent
•!! -Nottingham Alliance Conference.
The Rev. Sa..liont, Misroil addressed the meeting and
said that he felt every dal, convinced of the great
penance. of ; Christian union, and of .the value of the
Evangelical .Alliance .as a means of promoting that
union, both by extending the spirit of union and afford-
. ins opportunities for the exercise and'maintenance' of it.
Ile felt that he could speak in tob high terms of the
scriptural character of the alliance and the importance
of the work in which they were engaged, and he thought
it somewhat inconsistent that any clergyman could stated
aloof from it. He believed the importance of the
society Woad' be seen by calling to mind tiy, beautiful
expression of their Heavenly master--" By this shall all
men know that von are My disciples, if You have love one:
to whither." Now, they should reinark that this was a
!' ditty not merely laid down, not merely insisted upon,
but it was assigned a prominence and a position which
was assigned to no other duty--ne Other Christian duty
whatever, lie pointed out how necessary it was that
every appearance of true genuine charity should exist
between members of Christian communities, and esneci.;
ally amongst the pastors of the churches. He concluded
a stirring address by calling on the ministers of the
gor e! to join the Evangelical Alliance.- •-• • -
the Rev. .I.43tzs DAVIs (one of the secretaries of the
parent . society) spoke on the importance of the
- Alliance, and detailed Many interesting particulars ,of
the great success which attended the operations of the
sociotria the British Empire, as well as on various parts
of 'the Continent.
The Rev. C. M. BIRREL also addressed the meetirig,
and'apoke of, the united prayer meetings. He moved a
• . vote of thanks to the Chairman and the, two gentlemen
who had already spoken.
Dr. 'WHITE seconded the resolution, which was carried
unanimously.
- . The CHAIRMAN returned thanks, and . the meeting
"all closed with the singing of the Hundredth Psalm.
A collection was also made.