The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-12 00:00:00

THE MACNAUGHT CONTROVERSY,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—A writer in to-day's Courier, who signs
himself " A Believer in the Infallibility of the
Bible," makes some very unjust imputations against
the Rev. John Macnaught, which tend to brand
his congregation also with infidelity. He talks of
Mr. Macnaught's " sly insinuations" against the
Bible, and the " terrible havoc " he has male on
its pages ; and, moreover, he classes the " Mac-
naughts " with the " semi-believers and wholesale
unbelievers "—a long list of whose names are

given.
Now, sir, I believe that writer is one of those
who only know Mr. Macnaught by hearsay, and
who, therefore, is unqualified to judge in the
matter. I invite him to come to St. Chrysostom's
for a few Sundays (although every seat is crowded,
room will be made for him), and I have little fear
that he will be happy to make the amen le honorable
to Mr. Macnaught afterwards. Whatever Mr.
MaenauE.,,ht's "Doctrine of LuTiration " may be,
it cannot be denied that he inculcates by his
preaching, and enforces by his life, as much
reverence and submission to the teaching of
the Bible, as do any of its (commonly called)
othodox teachers. I have read Mr. Macnaught's
book ; and, without agreeing with all its conclu-
sions, I am convinced that none but a sincere
Christian could write it. I have heard him preach.
and "Would I describe such a preacher as Paul,"
Macnaught should guide me His sermons have
religion for their subject, and not hair-splitting
theology ; they are discourses about the realities
of life and eternity, abounding with the highest
and truest philosophy—that God is love—and not
debates with imaginary enemies about creeds an.i
articles. He dives into the secrecies of life, dis-
closing the cheats and tricks of the social and
commercial world, and denounces them with a fiery
tongue. He exhibits, undisguised, the deformities
of evil, and magnifies the loveliness of good. As I
have listened to him, I have often thought that he
may be one of those original minds that visit the
world now and then, and, being in advance of
their age, it is their fate to remain misunderstood
in their generation ; but their worth is sure to be
found out by posterity.
I do think that this whole bitter contro-
versy, so foreign to religion, originally arose
in a misunderstanding, and that since Mr.
Macnaught was expelled from the Clerical
Society, he has been grievously misrepre-
sented, and more grievously maligned ; but his
truth and candour, his zeal and eloquence, his life
and doctrine—coincident—have raised him to aposi-
tion where he can afford to look down with eon tempt
upon the low charge .of infidelity that has been
been brought against him.
Sir, truth, at the present time especially, has no
stated uniform, but is covered in such various
garbs—in terms so vague and ill-defined, in forms
so misunderstood, in customs without reasons—
that every man must ask and give concessions.
Unity is impossible, and need not be hoped for.
Therefore, let all who have a Shibboleth of their
own, think well and charitably, instead of raising
a flame for the immolation of all who say Sibbo-
leth.—l am, sir, yours respectfully, J. G.
Liverpool, Dec 10, 1856.

MR. SPURGEON AT THE SURREY GARDENS
MUSIC HALL LONDON.

On Sunday morning last we determined to bear for our-
selves the popular young preacher, and accordingly joined
the immense throng, it could not be less than from six to
eight thousand, which in spite of the temnestuons weather
filled the Music Hall on that occasion. Wishing to gain a
good view of all, we ascended by the fatal staircase to the
reserved seats on the second gallery. Many of our readers
doubtless know how imposing is the coup d'ceil fron that
position. It is obvious enough why the congregation and
preacher were for a long time not aware of the fatal acci-
dent which had occurred, since no one from within can sea
the staircase in the tower. The service was of the most
orderly kind, and such as is usual in most dissenting chapels.
The singing from so many thousand voices had a peculiarly
solemn and imprestive s°ffset. The preacher had chts n
repentance, and a very solemn text, Psalms c. vii., v. 12,
"If he turn not he wilt whet his sword," for his subject.
His prayers were appropriate to it, as were also his remarks
on the latteri part of the 25th chapter of Matthew, which
W Iti put tio, of S,b-intnro rood. It what we heard lest
Sunday be a specimen of Mr. Spurgeon's usual preaching,
there was certainly nothing at all more extravagant than
would be heard from most of the Evangelical clergymen
and Dissenting preachers in the country. There were ne
outrageous descriptions of Divine angrr and future punish-
ment, nor any wire-drawn refinements on the theology of
repentance. His sutements on the latter point were
characterised by remarkable common sense; they were
forcibly mr€ls..ed and illustrated, as were his arguments for
the necessity of repentance. Indeed, there was little in
which preachers of all creeds would not have concurred.
His voice is a noble one, filling the whole place with the
greatest ease; at a further end of the building we did not
miss a syllable. His manner was perfectly unrestrained.
but not irreverent. His command of language is very con-
siderable, but does not lead him, for an evempore speaker,
into verbosity. His style is unfettered, homely, forcible,
and abounds in pointed remarks. There was a totsl absence
of anything humerous or ludicrous, if it has been his habit
to indulge in such things. The secret of his popularity,
taking last Sunday as a specimen, appeared to us to be some-
thing very different. It was impossible not to feel that the
preacher was absorbed, not in himself, bat in his audience.
The formal separation of the pulpit did not separGte him
from his hearers. He conversed with them—he was one of
them. lie did not lecture them ex cathedra, or indulge in
disquisitions or topics out of their line of thought, but spoke
to them as he would have done on a golemn subject in
their own houses. Most of our pulpits 'f die-of dignity,"
but while there was nothing unbecoming on Sunday, the
preacher placed himself on a level with all. Of course a
vivid fancy, and considerable powers of expression, aided
by a first-rate voice, will account for much ; but we think
what we have pointed out was the chief reason why, among
54 many thousands of hearers, we could not, and we looked
a single sleeper. Oar more dignified
carefully, ate,advantage the phenomenon of
preachers might study
this youth's popularity. We can say thatt
thirst
our
part, his manner disarmed criticism, and we cout,..A tk
only of his probable usefulness to the thousands present,
who, we are confident, by their appearance, are not listeners
to our customary pulpit prosaics. Lord Chief Justice
Campbell, with his son, was present on the platform, and
seemed to take the same view with ourselves; he remarked
several times to one of the managers, after the service, in
our hearing, and also to Sir Richard Mayne, who was like-
wise present, "He is doing good, sir—great good." Lon-
don could find room for twenty such preachers ; they are
just what the populace needs.—Globe.

IRISHMEN IN INDIA.—The following narrative is con-
densed from the Freeman's Journal —" Sir 'William
Brooke O'Shaughnessy, our distinguished countryman, on
whom her majesty has just conferred the hnnnnr of
knight
hood, is a native of Limerick, and obtained the appoint-
ment of assistant surgeon in the East India Company's
service in 1830 ; nearly at the some time he became
physician to Sir C, (afterwards Lord) Metcalfe, governor
of Agra. A medical college having been established in
Calcutta for the education of nativez, he was appointed its
professor of chemistry. He was pointed out as the fittest
person to superintend the laying down of the electric tele-
graph, when it was decided to extend to India the advantages
of that discovery. Under the direction of the governor
general he has completed telegraph lines from the seat of
gosernment to all the presidencies. Sir William Brooke
O'Shaughnessy is a descendant of ore of the most ancient
and illustrious of the oLI Irish families, who possessed a large
territory in the counties of Clare and Galway up to the
time of 'William 111, but were held to have forfeited them
by their attachment to King James. Sir Roger O'Shaugh-
nessy, who held a commission in the
army of James, and
whose portrait is exhibited among their family portraits in
the gallery of the Ormonds, at Kilkenny, was the last
Possessor of the Lougleooter estates, near Gort, having left
Ireland for France after the treaty of Limerick with the
army of James, and died there. The estates were held by
the crown for some years, until an occasion arose on which
It was necessary to bestow a suitable reward. There was a
conspiracy to assassinate William at Kensington, called the
Kensington plot, which was discovered, and, perhaps,
William's life saved, by a Mr. Prendergast, whom Macaulay
describes to be a Roman Catholic gentleman of good family
in the South of England. He was rewarded with a grant
of the O'Shatighnessy estates. His son, Rho was created a
baronet, Sir Thomas Frendergast, having died without male
issue, they descended to Lord Gort, through the female line.
These estates have recently passed from that family through
the Encumbered Estates Court to Lord Gough. We under-
stand Sir Wiliam ir. now engaged in carrying out, by
direction of the East India Company, a direct line of con].
munication from London to Calcutta."

NAVIGATION OF THE TIGRIS AND COTTON
CULTIVATION.

On Wednesday a meeting of the directors of the Man-
chester COmmercial Association took place, for the purpose
of giving .an audience to Colonel Moss'oud Bey, chief of
the staff of the Pacha of Bagdad, a gentleman connected
with the effort makieg to improve the navigation of the
river Tigris, and who has come to Europe in order to pur-
chase steamers suitable to the proposed navigation. In
laying before the association the objects he had in seeking
the interview,
Colonel Moss'oud Bey said that the Pacha of Bagdad
was very desirous of ameliorating the condition of the
country over which he was placed. The Pacha was a
very energetic man, and, having been educat'd at
the Ecole Polytechnique, at Paris, he was well ac-
quainted with and had much sympathy for Euro-
peans, will whom he was very desinus of pro-
moting a commercial intercourse. Since the commence-
ment of his government, Mehemed Reshid Pacha had
devoted all his energies towards the development of the
1 natural resources, which were considerable, cf the country
over which he presided. Whilst directing his attention to
the cutting of some canals in the vicinity of Bagdad he had
decided on having a regular steam communication between
Bagdad and Bassora. In order to carry out this object the
pacha had directed him (Colonel Moss'oud Bey), being the
chief of his staff, to visit the principal commercial towns of
Europe, for the purpose of effecting the purchase of sundry
steamers which the central government had decided upon
procuring. This, therefore, was the object of his official
visit to England ; but, whilst carrying oat the especial aim
of his journey, he had thought it might be' advantageous
to his own country, as well as to the enterprising spirit of
this commercial community, were he to endeavour to direct
the public attention to the many commercial capabilities of
the country from which he had come. He had, therefore,
sought an interview with this association, and would be most
happy to answer any question that might be put to him.
Bagdad was situated on the river Tigris, about 250 miles
above its junction with the Euphrates, although the actual
distance between the two rivers in the vicinity of the
town was 25 miles. From time immemorial Bagdad bad
been a place of considerable trade. It was not so extensive
now as at some former periods of its history •, but the deca-
dence of the country was mainly attributable to the mal-
administration of the government, which was formerly too
much the fate of other parts of the Ottoman empire. Hap-
pily, however, a new era had arisen in Turkish history, and
men of energy, intelligence, and probity, were now selected
by the imperial government as the representatives of the
Sultan in the various pachalics. The soil of the province of
Bagdad, or as it was anciently called Mesopotamia, wherein
stood the capitals of B abylon and Nineveh, was of a fine
alluvial quality, extending hundreds of miles. It was,
however, from want of enterprise, so uncultivated that in
the language of the country it was called " the desert." It
had, however, nothing in common with the usual accept-
ance of the word "desert"—there were no interminable
districts of burning sand, refusing every attempt at culti-
vation ; but, on the contrary, ".the desert" of the province
of Bagdad yielded a recompense to the first agricultural
attempts. On its willing soil grew luxuriantly all descrip-
tions of corn, rice, cotton (Sea Island had been tried and
proved good), flax, hemp, and many oil bearing seeds, such
as sesame, and the mulberry. The present pacha had himself
planted nearly half a million of the latter tress, and when it
was considered how extensive was the trade in silk from
Persia, this act of the pacha showed his strong; desire to make
his country an exporting one. In order, likewi,e, to show
the diversity of soil, he (the colonel) might mention
that the apple, the pear, the date (in abundance), the
fig, and the orange, besides other European esculents,
throve well there. .The growth of wool was
likewise enormous ; but, from the lack of enterprise, it
was allowed to fall ungathered from the backs of the sheep.
He had entered into these details as to the capabilities of
the soil in the hope of demonstrating that, with the intro-
duction of fresh capital, a considerable remuneration would
result. Even with a small capital, a quick and ample
return would be obtained. Manual labour was cheep, and
the people were most willing to work if they were headed
by proper overseers. The rights of property were rigidly
maintained by the Turkish government, and contracts
between the natives and Englishmen were registered by the
consul, which gave them the same validity as if effected in
England. The Turkish government, also, were most tolerant
in religious opinions ; and the acknowledged virtues of the
Turkish character, namely, probity and word-keeping, were
well maintained in his (the colonel'-) country. At present
there was a wide field for the engineer at Bagdad. In order
to fertilise and bring under cultivation the soil of the dis-
trict, the cutting of canals and every form of irrigation must
be very prominent features. The outlay for such operations
would be exceedingly mod rate, for the ground was fiat,
unencumbered with a one and rock, and of a clayey nature'
and from the near vicinity of the two livers, the Euphrates
and Tigris, the command of water was great. Every car.al
and fresh mode of irrigation would s )on repay itself, from
the very fact of the greatly improved value it would give to
the conti,t,uous laud. in former times the greatest attention
was devoted o these branches of agricultural improvement ;
hut unfortunately they, from oun,ley o tir,eo, had bet;titt.
neglected. Still the remains of many a noble line of canal
emoted, wh:oh 000ld La rendered available in the prey: rat
day ; and Mehemed Reshid Pacha bad devoted a considerable
portion of his activity and the res mrces of his exchequer to
the extension of them. The ohj.ct which tho Sublime
Porte had in view in establishing steam cnmmtinica.i,m
between Bagdad anal Bussora was this—above Bagdad, the
produce of the surrounding districts was at prese•it c
veyed down the Tigris on rafts ; the liver, unfortunately,
not being at present sufficiently navigaMe for a deeper mode
of conveyance. Filen Bagdad to Bassora, however, the
river 3 hided greater facilities for navigation, and could
accommodate steamers of a light draught of wa er. By
the adoption of steamers, the heavy and onerous charg,s of
towage, with the serious and often disastrous loss of time,
were obviated , but, above all, security to the property
embarked on the Tigris was obtained. This was extremely
desirable, from the fact that the banks of the river were at
times subj ,cted to occasional inroads of the roving Arabian
tribes, who levied a kind of black-mail on all parties who
fell into their hands. Steam, however, would ensure safety
from all such attacks, and would promote what was the
wish of the Sublime Porte—a steady ameli-ration of the
country, and an extension of trade to India, Arabia, and
even Europe.
In the course of a conversation which followed, the colo-
nel stated that Mr. Rassam, British vice consul at Mossul,
had tried the experiment of growing cotton, and had sue •
seeded, not only in fact, but in a commercial point of view.
No company had as yet been formed at Badgad ; but all
that was required was a little capital to commence with,
and he had do doubt filet cotton cultivation might suc-
ceed, and he believed for this purpose £15,000 to £20,000
would be quite sufficient, for which a monthly interest
might be paid. This was supposing the money were
expended in irrigating the gardens and lands in the neigh-
bourhood of Badgad,
Mr. Clegg, a director of the association, put several
questions; te the colonel as to the growth of cotton in the
neighbourhood of Badgad, and the colonel stated that a
nuantity was at present produoed and used by the
inhabitants for their own consumption, but for want of
proper means its preparation was very expensive.
Mr. Clegg did not think it advisable at present that any
public company should undertake the experiment, but
thought the natives them•elves should be induced to enn-
mecca the growih of cottofi as much as possible, but on a
small scale at first, and the experiment might be undertaken
afterwards on a larger scale if they succeeded. He referred
to the cultivation of cotton on the west coast of Africa as
being on a larger scale than was generally supposed, and
thought the time was come when chambers of commerce
and associations like this should do all in their power to
encourage such undertakings. He thought it very desirable
some individual should he induced to go to Bagdad to see
what. could he done to induce tho people to cultivate the
cotton plant. Evidently what they required was not money
so much as instruction and guidance.
After some remarks from Mr. Wm. Gibb (who presided
in the absence of the president and vice-president) and
others, a vote of thanks was given to Col. Mossfouti Bey for
his attendance, and the information he had given, and the
meeting then separated.

AS MANTLES and JACKETS are so
very generally worn this Season,
J. MAC LENNAN, 36, CHURCH-STREET,
(OPPOSITE PARKER-STREET),
Has made arra-gements to have a Case of Paris MA NTLES
and JACKETS, in Velvets, Reversible Cloths, and all the
other Fashionable Materials, delivered Every Week for the
next Two Months; therefore, thoae Ladies desirous of
having the Fashions as soon as they make their appearance
in Paris. combined with moderation in prices, are respect-
fully solicited to inspect the Stock.
JUST RECEIVED, from London, Two Cases contain-
ing about 700 MANTLES, commencing at the extraordin-
arily Low Price of 46. Ild. each.

SHAWL AND MANTLE WAREHOUSE,
OPPOSITE PARKER STREET.

AM A C D I A R M ID
• TEACHER OF
NAVIGATION AND NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY,

ABLY ASSISTED, PRACTICALLY, BY

CAPTAIN A. MACNAUGHTAN,
ACADEMY,

and the
LIVERPOOL MASTER MARINERS' ASSOCIATION'S ROOMS
24, GREAT GEORGE-SQUARE, LIVERPOOL.
►.* Inquire tor full copy of prospectus at any of the Opticians,

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