The Press.
London, England, 1854-05-13 00:00:00

anh Omni.

FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF THE CLERGY.
THE bicentenary celebration of this festival took
place on Wednesday last in St. Paul's Cathedral.
The first anniversary of the association was held in
1055 on the same site, though notin the same edifice,
the cathedral of that day having been destroyed in
the great tire eleven years later. At that date cer-
tain zealous members of the Church, moved with
compassion for the privations of the clergy, suffering
under the calamities of the times, formed themselves
into an association to alleviate their distresses. This
private association was followed by the establishment
of a public body, incorporated by royal charter from
Charles 11., which became commonly known as the
Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy. The funds
are impartially administered to claimants from all
the dioceses of England and Wales, and annually
assist about 1,200 persons, of whom 700 are widows
and aged single daughters of deceased clergymen.
Wednesday's festival, in commemoration of the two
hundredth year of the existence of the charity, was
celebrated upon a scale of unusual magnificence. An
assemblage of from 5,000 to 0,000 persons, all belong
ing to the wealthier classes, filled the vast space under
the dome and a large portion of the central nave of
the cathedral. The choirs of the Chapel Royal, of
Westminster Abbey, of St. George's, Windsor, of
Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Ely, Hereford, Lincoln,
Norwich, Rochester, and Winchester Cathedrals, of
the Temple, and other churches assisted. His Royal
Highness Prince Albert, the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs,
and Aldermen, together with the civic authorities of
other cities and towns, were present. The interior of
the sacred edifice had been fitted up by Mr. Newman,
the architect, so that full service might boperformed
with the effect of 300 voices under the dome.

The anthem was composed especially for the occa-
sion by Mr. Goss, the organist of St. Paul's. The
sermon was preached by the Archbishop of Canter-
bury from St. Matthew's gospel, x, 41.—" He thatre-
ceiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall
receive a prophet's reward." And the collection
afterwards in the cathedral amounted to 6901.

In the evening a splendid banquet took place, ac-
cording to custom, in Merchant Tailors' Hall. The
Lord Mayor presided, sud among the guests, who
numbered 450, was the Prince Concert. During the
evening his Royal Highness, who was the steward of
the year, made an effective speech to the assembly.
He said :

" I am highly gratified to have been a witness to the
200th anniversary of this festival, testifying as it does that
the people of this country do not relax in efforts which they
have once undertaken, and do not forsake the spirit which
animated their forefathers. (Loud cheers.) When our an-
cestors purified the Christian faith and shook of the yoke
of a domineering priesthood, they felt that the keystone of
that wonderful fabric which had grown up in the dark times
of the middle ages was the celibacy of the clergy ; and
shrewdly foresaw that their reformed faith and newly-won
religious liberty would, on the contrary, only be secure in
the hands of a clergy united with the people by every sym-
pathy—national, personal, and domestic. (Loud cheers.)
This nation has enjoyed for 300 years the blessing of a
church establishment which rests upon this basis, and can-
not be too grateful for the advantages afforded by the fact
that the Christian ministers not only preach the doctrines of
Christianity, but live among their congregations, an example
for the discharge of every Christian duty as husbands,
fathers, and masters of families—themselves capable of
fathoming the whole depth of human feelings, desires, and
difficulties. (Cheers.) While we must gratefully acknow-
ledge that they have, as a body, worthily fulfilled this high
and difficult task, we must bear in mind that we deny them
n equal participation in one of the actuating motives of
life—the one which among the ' children of this generation'
exercises, perhaps of necessity, the strongest influence—l
mean the desire for the acquisition and accumulation of the
goods of this world. (Cheers.) The appellation of ' a
money-making parson' is not only a reproach but a con-
demnation for a clergyman, depriving him at once of all in-
fluence over his congregation. Yet this man, who has to
shun opportunities for acquiring wealth, open to most of
us, and who has himself only an often scanty life-income
allotted to him for his services, has a wife and children like
ourselves, and we wish him to have the same solicitude for
their welfare which we feel for our own. (Cheers.) Are