The Express.
London, England, 1860-04-19 00:00:00

THE FRIEND 0.8 THE CLERGY.

Last evening the annual festival of this corpora-
tion was celebrated at the Albion Tavern, Alderegate-street•
Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. WOOD in the chair,A,
the Bishop of Chester, the DIM of Ripon,
the Rev. Joseph Brown, the Rev. Archibald Boyd,
the Rev. Thomas Jackson, and several other gentlemen,
many of whom were members of the clerical profession
amongst the toasts usually given on these comic= was
that of the Prince Consort and the Prince of Wales, in pro-
posing which the Chairman paid a passing tribute
to the circumstances under which the heir to the
British crown was about to visit the Canadian colony.
The learned Chairman also proposed "The Health of the
Archbishops and Bishops of the United Church of England
and Ire}, and this toast was responded to by the
Bishop of Chester, who took the opportunity of disclaiming,
on his own part and on that of the general patrons of this
institution, any intention to support the present charity in
opposition to another of a similar character. There was
ample scope for both institutions to do all the good
which it was hoped, on their being established, they
might be enabled to perform ,• and he was glad
to state that many who subsoribed to the one
were amongst the warmest patrons of the other.
In introducing the toast of the evening—" Prosperity to the
Friend of the Clergy"—the Chairman observed that six or
seven years ago hetpied the same position he now had
the honour to be in, and he was glad to And that
since that period e society bad so far prospered that at
the present moment (although the institution had only been
in existence ten years) 89 widows were recipients of the
benefits conferred by this charity. When they considered
the increesing number of the clergy—who now com-
prised some twenty thousand—it was gratifyin to
Imow that this and the corresponding institution (' The
Boas of the Clergy") was duly supported, and that
the funds of the present society were increasing, although
an anonymous correspondent of a London daily journal had
most incorrectly stated that their expenses had increased
in proportion as their income had diminished. The com-
mittee were most desirous of keepingthe expenditure of the
institution within moderate bounds, but it wee absolutely
necessary that they should disburse certain monies in ad-
vertisements and in other ways fur the purpose
of calling public attention to the objects and pro-
gress of the society ; and it was worthy of remark
that of seven similar institutions "The Friend of the
Clergy" stood third in regard to the low rate of their expen-
diture. Since the formation of the society they bad dis-
tributed amongst the recipients of its bounty no less than
24,47 W., and they were most anxious to obtain the mesas of
doing still more good than they had hitherto been able to
accomplish. The Chairman's appeal was so far responded to
that the secretary afterwards announced an addition of
6001. to the funds of the charity. The musical arrange-
ments were conducted by Mr. Francis, who was ably assisted
by Miss Eyles, Miss Leffler, Mr. Benson, and Mr. Winn.
Mr. Harker was the toastmaster.