The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY.

The annual meeting of the trustees of this institution and
Lunatic Asylum was held yesterday, in the board room, for
the purpose of transacting the business of the house, and for
electing officers for the ensuing year. Mr. T. B. Horeflll,
M P., the president occupied the chair. Amongst the trustee
present were Messrs. Gibbon, J. Cr4pper, W. Grigson, A'
North, J. W. Cropper, Caine, Langton, J. Gerrard, and Mr'
Hutchison, the Treasurer.

After the chaplain of the institution had offered up a prayer'
The President said that he was not aware that any busineng
of particular importance had to be transacted, with the exception
of two paints, of which special notice had been given—the one
was a motion to appoint Mr. J. P. Hilton a consulting surgeon
to the infirmary, and the other a proposition to make an
alteration in law 111., whereby out patients may be receive('
whose cases require surgical operations. These motions would
be submitted to the trustees, and he had no doubt but tbll
they would receive every attention.

Mr. R. Hutchison, on being called upon to read tbd
annual returns and statement of accounts, said he was sorry
say that the balance against the institution, which last Ye°'
was rather more than £5OO, had been increased to upwards °f
£9OO during the present year: This had been occasioned bl
repairs and enlargements made to the building, and for esti'
furniture, which would not be the case another year. The total
receipts for the past year waa £8,279 15s 4d, while the expends'
ture had been £8,692 Os ld, leaving a deficiency of £41215334
which, added to a deficiency of last year of £524 2s 7d,made th°,
debt now due £936 17s 10d. Mr. Hutchison then directs
the attention of the trustees to the patients relief fund, whi°b
had been found of such benefit to the patients when leaving ti°
'ration, and also to the desirability of having arrangemerild
it,"'- ion with Southport Strangers' Charity, where pitieo°
in c0ti0q.....
could fie geriN to when partially recovered. He concluded
;
reading the'foltd" ... "iz returns, from which it appeared that ti°
number of patients
infirmary
,were as
y
follows : —ln tb
h°
; admitted during the yep'
10,9u500, January 1, 1850
; t0ta1,2.126.D, a..
isciiaegth.' Cured,. relieved'
483 902 lieve°'
22
483; made out patients, 349; irrelrix..ar, 11C1 died, 1 ;
'remains in the house, 160 ; total, 2 125. Average dais
number, 163; admitted out patients, 351 ; surgh il easualtie
638.
IN THE LUNATIC AadmittedS—Patients admitted
discharged for the same period :—Number of patients in t°:
house, Ist of January, 1856, GI ; admitted, 34-; total, 91
Cured, 17. Friends' request :—Relieved, 7 ; do. o°,,
,:
improved, 5; died, 4 ; total, 33. In the hour, 6"
Average weekly number in the helve, 61.
Patients admitted and discharged from the Lecx
from Ist January, 1855, to Ist January, 1856 : --Patients 15
the house (1856), 46 ; do. admitted during the year, 439:
total, 485. Discharged : Cured, 319 ; relieved, and at Oa
request, 82. Sent to infirmary, 1 ; do. workhouse, 2," do.
Benevolent House, Penitentiary, and Magdalen Asylum. f 6)
irregular, 17 ; dead, 2. In the house, January Ist, ISS"
485 ; average weekly number, 45.
It was then moved and seconded that the repot t and retud°4:
&c., just read, be printed and circulated among the subscribe
as soon as possible. _

Mr. J. P. Halton was elected a consulting surgeon to °-
Infirmary, and the Earl of Derby as the president for the enl
ing year. It was then, unanimously decided that the thi
law of the institution should be altered to the following 06,
—" That those patients only shall be received as out pada'
who may require surgical operations, or whose cases at th°
time of application it may be considered advisable to enter ei
the hocks with a view of their afterwards becoming in pada,
and those whose d;seases may not require a lengthened cons
nuation in the wards. Mr. Gibbon and Mr. Cropper explain
that the committee had considered the alteration, and recotu;
mended its adoption, but as they had no power of afteriri
law, it had been decided to recommend that the tensor
should do so.

Votes of thanks were passed to the late president, ttf
physicians and surgeons of the institution, and all the oth'
officers were re elected,for details of which see the advertiseine°t
in another column.

In again accepting the office of treasurer, Mr. Hutchfo
thanked the meeting for this renewed expression of their cos
fidenee, and remarked that when the list of officers for the
ensuing year was proposed, he at first felt some hesitation I
accepting an office where he'was necessarily the custodian ;
so large an amount of property, in the shape of securititel,„
belonged to this institution. Not that ho had any questw;
of his own integrity, or intentions with regard thereto, It
there might possibly be some amongst the 1800 subscribers
co",
this charity who would think that the most ample parse
was not given to them for the security of their property tbl
might. When, however, he reflected upon the plan adoPt,..i
at this institution for the custody of their deeds and securitiv"
he felt no hesitation in again undertaking the duty of treasu::
if it were the wish of the trustees to re-elect him. For: t
information of the trustees at large, he would state that all tk,
";
deeds and securities belonging to this charity were deposited
one of Milner and Son's fire proof safes, seeured•by two WI
of different patterns, the keys of which were retained, one 5
by the chairman, and the other set by the treasurer. By Dui,
an arrangement, and periodical revision of the securities!L
thought the trustees bad the best guarantee that could be PT?
for the security of their property. He might mention, i°o
dentally, that preliminary to the meeting of to-day, the va,,
deeds and securities had been checked over, and found to '

correct.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the busioe
of the meeting.

FREE CHURCH LECTURES.

The topic of Sunday morning, by the Rev. A. Macdol4,
was "The Right and Duty of Free Enquiry." We e.ta ,
pil
the trustvvorthiness of our faculties, but we cannot prove - ' •
logically. We are to enquire freely, because our est
faculties are competent to find the tenth. As the out
eye is fitted to the outward light, so the intellectual eye is fit
to the intellectual light. Next, every one of us must peg; j
ally take the consequences of his own thoughts and acts ; I.i
therefore, every one has a right, personally, to investigate
himself. Third—There is no infallibility anywhere on earther,
~
and we have no means of discovering truth, other than 15
freest and fullest exercise of our faculties. Only falsebn
dreads in7estigation, and truth is bound up with the individ'
bt
and social welfare of the human race.—ln the evening, t I
subject' was, " The Star in the East." The Gospelso,
Matthew and Luke were compared on the subject of the Ii .4
fro,
nunciation of the birth of Christ. To guide the Magi '4O
the East, the star must be seen in the West. Singular, ripi,
this star should have escaped the wise men of Jerusalem, 8,1
that it should be left to the false science of astrology to red
the True Messiah. It was the belief of the age, and the P'ebi
Testament contains the errors as well as the till!,
of old time. After advancing westward to Jerusalem, the 8,
must have changed its course and proceeded southward 05
Bethlehem, in order to " stand over where the young Chef
was." Then how could a star indicate any particular house ,
spot? To say that it was a meteor is to deny that it ass is
star, and contradict the text of scripture. Still the star, 'fo
was meant as a conductor, did only half its work, for the wit, 1
men have to ask their way at Jerusalem. Why not at 00,
conduct them to Bethlehem ? Were the wise men Rh,
in proposing such a question to Herod—" Where is i 1
that is born Kie! of the Jews ?" especially consider:,
the temper of the man. Then where can we place
flight into Egypt, of which St. Matthew speaks, but "bill 1
St. Luke entirely ignores. For the scene passes off euielo
and prosperously in Luke which ends disastrously in Matehelf,
The narrative of St. Luke is altogether different. Re ke
cr,
nothing of Magi and a star, a flight into Egypt, or a maotire.
of the innocents, but the Annunciation was made to shepbe 0
near Bethlehem, by a choir of angels. We know not srbe
or how to place the flight into Egypt ; for if Jesus wag Poi
sented in the temple on the fortieth day, it was easy for ffer.„o
to have pounced on him there, and no flight into Egypt sce`_4
have been possible. Yet Luke, giving no indication of dalico
says, chap. 2, verse 39, " And when they had performed
_I,
things according to the law of the Lord, they returned 07,/
Gallilee, to their own city Nazareth, and the child g rev/ 7
and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grste,g
God was upon him." The New Testament is not through'.
a reliable record : it contains unhistorical elements.

"LOOK TO THE HALE MARK."—TWO years ago the°
was an alteration made in the quality of gold markeu of
Goldsmiths' Hall, it being represented to the President
the Board of Trade that it would be advantageous alike'
the manufacturer and the public ; the consequence
the standards were altered, and, instead of there be
only two different standards, there are now five, viz.,
.A
18, 15, 12, and nine carats. Now, sir, I will shoo
how the public are benefited :—/t. lady or gentleman W'so
into a shop, and asks to be shown a gold watch; 10
pattern pleases, also the price, and coversation sonaetb;d I
like this ensues. " I hope this is a gold watch, an„o.
hope the cases have been marked at the London (o',,et
smiths' Hall? " to which questions the seller can ans:o4
in the affirmative, " I assure you the watch is a gTop
timekeeper, and the cases bear the stamps of the LOUL,IO.
Hall." He is right, the cases were marked at the Lop
Hall,
uto
all, but, here is the swindle; the chances are—as ip
case of a friend of mine, who called on me to show 00-
geld watch he had purchased—the cases, instead of be
D 0
ing the mark of " 18 carat," the gold of which weeidtif
worth. 67s_per oz, were marked "12 carat," consequeLo
the gold was only worth 45s per oz; so that he has 1.14
legally robbed of the difference, being 335, the elf/
weighing loz 10 dwt. Now that I have shown what
dune, I wish to tell the public how to guard against
~00
legal swindle. The remedy is simple and in their 101
hands. When they are purchasing a gold watch see 1,00
the cases are marked "18, carat ;'' if they are 11°'
marked do not make the purchase.—One of the Trade'

._~

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CHURCH. OF ENGLAND SCRIPTURE
READERS' SOCIETY.

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64°,

The annual meeting of the members and friends of this
useful society was held last evening, in the Hall of the
Collegiate Institution. The platform and body of the hall
Was well filled by a most attentive audience.
Tho Lord Bishop of the Diocese occupied the chair on
the occassion, being supported by Archdeacon Jones, Revs.
De. M'Neile, W. Pollock, C. Lawrence, W. Felloon,
gerbert Jones, T. Cowan, W. H. Wright, G Read, J.
Bardsley, T. L. Pain, W. Hunt, W. Leveson. J. L. Pain,
P. Spillers, J. Butler, T. Lester, H. Baugh, G. Burton,
Dr. Hume, T. Leslie, H. Pain, H. Marlin, G. Ireland, T.
0. Powell, D. T. Barry, T. Moore, T. Matthias, W. H.
Danny, and J. Crump ; Messrs. A. Hodgson, M. Collett,
C. Bushell, D. Hodgson, M. Gregson, R. Wilkins, H.
Webster, J. Eden, J. Rounthwaite, W. Tomlinson, H.
'fathead, R. A. Payne, Thomas Irven, and Major Greig.
The business of the meeting was commenced by the
bishop cal'ing upon the secretary to read the usual opening
Prayer, after which,
The President said : Before he asked the secretary to
read the report, he begged to be allowed to aoress the
Pleasure he felt at meeting them in support of the Scripture
Readers Society, and he also begged tea be allowed to express
his grateful thanks for the kind Teener ill which the people
of Liverpool had supported the society during the past
year. He was sure they all felt that the society was
deserving of their support, for it gives help to the ministers
of the churches, ails', was one way of most effectually
strengthening tLei-e hands : and he was sure that the
tainiesters deserved that support at their hands, for the 7
tould all bear witness that they were not an idle set of men
that he was then asking them to support, but they were
a hardworking set of men, who gave up their time and their
hearts to the work they had to do; but really they were a
set of men who had more to do than they could possibly
aeheive, unless they were supported by the people of
Liverpool. There were many ways of rendering those
ministers assistance. One mode of helping them
them an additional curate, but in
that by giving
they were provided for by the Church Pastoral Aid
SaafetY, which society was well supported in Liverpool ; and
he could only hope that it would continue to be supported,
for its good effects had already been felt. Another way of
strengthening the hands of the ministers was by doing what
that society was doing, providing a staff of Scripture
readers, who visited the houses and dwellings of the poor,
and who read ti them the Word of God. Now, he wished
th.tt all the people did go to the churches, and that the
churches were large enough to hold them all, and that the
People could be persuaded to go to them, but if they could
not reach that, the next best wish he could make was that
they might be enabled to send the Word of God to the
dwellings of the poor. It would, indeed, be, a great thing
If they could place the. Word of God in the hands of the poor,
Most of whom, with their children, thanks be to God, were
able to read it. The object of the society was to send well
educated and seriously inclined men to the dwellings of the
Poor, with the Word of God in his hand, and thus, he hoped,
Po instrumental in bringing them to Christianity, and in
thMaking them Chl'Estians. But the foundation of all this is
e extension of the Word of God—that being the one and
foundation of all their faith and all their happiness
IS the only thing they had to rest upon, the written
Ford of God, as it was the word of truth. It was on the
.oundation of the Word of God that they rested all their
faith and all their happiness. In that book there would be
o mistake—no theories—for all its promises were God's
truths, and on that rested the salvation of
the
world, as the scriptures contained the
O Word of God, the word of inspiration, and the words of
which nothing on earth could ever shake. That was
"le great object of the society, the annual meeting at which
they had then met. He rejoiced to see so many Christian
frieeds around them on the occasion, and he did trust that
their effirts would not in the least slacken, but would
-continue to increase as the population increased, and its
l'equirernents were wanted. He was very much pleased to- say
that the society was so prosperous, which mainly rested on
!the fact that it was under good management—it had a good
ptornittee and a most experienced and good supe-inten-
uent, the Rev. Mr. Bardsley, who had year by year well
performed the labours committed to his charge. But there
1:.4:8 one thing at which he did rejoice at, and that was that
had never yet heard of any jarring among the scripture
readers themselves—not one jar had taken place to cause
any
ae separation in the society—all, by God's blessing, had
snon harmoniously and prosperously, and he hoped that
',l,a.eY would continue to go on in the same way. The Lord
131 shop then concluded by saying, that he would not further
Who
their time, as there were several other gentlemen
wile would address them, and who would make appropriate
addresses.
The Secretary then read the following motet :
tare The committee of the Liverpool Church of England Scrip-
Readers' Readers' Society desire to offer their thanks to Almighty
that' after fly°
years of labour among the poor of Liver-
a re ey are enabled to present to their friendsand subscribers
port of an encouraging kind. The treasurer's account shows
ant ncome for the year of £2,353 is 9d, and an expenditure
.2,402. The deficiency on the year is therefore £49. By
drawing on the balance sheet which remained from 1855, the
nrietY 132 is left free from debt, but with only the small sum of
It is in their favour, instead of £609, as in the year 1852.
do gratifying, however, to announce that the church conce-
os have increased from L 372 Hs 6d to £468 78 9d, and
at the
Yeargeneral subscription list is also a little above that of
Jast
But far more important is the fact that largo sub-
:criptions from individuals to provide for the whole or part of a
de'''s salary are becoming more numerous. Two of our
x,":l"eribers support a reader between them, two more a reader
rea,,b! ;rioters
a. reader and a half,
.and one no less than three
by his own single subscription of £2OO a year. At the
queStrs of this last generous friend, a particular district has
eee selected in which to try by practical experiment what the
et of ft,iilay agency would be if labourers were supplied to the
rta.eextent of.the people's need. The number of our scripture
if al ,Fader has again increased. In 1855 it was 31 ;it is now 34,
were occupied. During the past year they
li:6, haedegr7a,nst2s6 visits to the sick; 17,422 to Roman Catho-
ofe;.: ,and 74,185 of a general kind. Altogether the number
bia,„, 'lt' has been 99,193. The following are a few out of
"Y testimonials to the character and usefulness of
~'l,eaderii from the clergy in various parts of the town :-
4,4%115. has fulfilled his duties very zeah.usly and effectively ;
reader ?urs are highly appreciated by the. people." . "The
'werk„4 a truly pious man, and a very efficient labourer. in the
'Nero " S. still continues as zealous, energetic. and
certain] ever ; I cannot speak too highly of him." " I am
active 7 well satisfied with both my readers; they are zealous,
tatibf:ai a.nd truly useful." " I wish to express my entire
m'2"an, nn with the reader in every resect ; his quiet, arnest,
nn , Christian walk has won him our esteem and thee respect
tthbeeieniafidaence of the people." These satisfactory accounts of
re wor accompanied by equally satisfactory notices of
this k- It is unhappily true that the readers' journals of
drunykear, as of all the preceding, contain innumerable cases of
enati !aneas and immorality of the most frighJul kind—
ed
and and naoreshan enough, to show the necessity for sustain-
er increased exertions on the part of the society. But details
of large
kind have been so often given, and the degraded state
It
rge numbers of the people is so well undd, tht
,itee:a. been thought more useful on the present occasionerstoo to omiat
toperfilnions of the disease, and to confine our attention to the
ul application of the remedy. The effectiveness and
Pronei,tin
g character of the society's work will be moat clearly
she a 43' a few extracts from the returns of the readers
towntown
" I am glad to be able to slate that this year there
att been l•
very gratifying improvement in the district in the
beie,"anee at the means of grace, which I have reason to
~'`"'e in many instances has resulted from house to house
_oisitatioiss,
_2. r, The new church is getting on well, the
,cw.agregation increasing every Sunday. I may safely state
.e:celth confidence that there is no congregation in Liverpool,
ept in the workhouse chapel, which consists so entirely of
see poor. geople• of our own palish. Our Sunday evening
ongreiratio'n is most satisfactory, and it is the best test that
We can have, to see the poor coming in • their working clothes
to hear the minister in God's holy temple. The number of
310er families brought to church was, in March (1856), 234 ;
.rsul
,Augut, 320 ; in October, 342 ; in December, 457."
l'lrcoorn the south end of the te:fen returns of an equally
encouraging kind have been received : " I. There has been a
e erable increase in the number of working people attending
f_na
uerhur.ch, more especially of late. There is one striking
j,ct , °in the attendance of the working people of this dis-
n that is, that a large proportion of them are men." 2.
,rO-awho Y, very many, poor persons are now coming to church
ere strangers to it previously to our holding social
vetin.B
kit s among them. Indeed, I may say we have now a
welt church
att; and the meeting in the school room is remarkably
de
ended, chiefly by the poor of the district, who take a
e_reaicnterest in the preaching of the minister." These few
e
r_a ninny
will be sufflcient to show the prosperous appearance
gett'tnaY parts of the town under the present system of lay
ounlb, What would the results be if we had the whole
to do"! of 111 readers, which would be requisite thoroughly
servi:r work in Liverpool ? If even half that number were
year die how great an advance might the report of next
eeinteenseluse ? The committee, therefore, venture to.
eerati__ a this important subject to the serious consi-
er,oth`_'a of every one who has the ability to add
The ,e,r.reader to the little band already engaged in Liverpool.
the valuable services of the superintending clergyman,
appreaepre„ie • J. Bardsley, are generally known, and are fully
ciated ;lted by every rneinber of the committee. It is with no
toe the
,easure they take this opportunity of announcing, that Testa,..l4th of November last a handsomely bound Greek
the d'"isent was Presented to him by the working men attending
ileietsptienasßien class in St. Barnabas's Schools, with this
f " small token of personal esteem, of admiration
ef e 01114
oppos Y and kindness with which he has met the arguments
f"r the !I's and the difficulties of enquirers, and of gratitude
i),
3 148trOet.
elpo,it lon which they themselves have received from
tons of Chr:stiaa truth." The committee- have to

discharge a far less pleasing duty in communicating the resigna-
tion by the Rev. W. Pollock of both his offices as secretary and
examiner to the society. They rejoice, indeed, at his well
deserved promotion to the vicarage of Bowden, by the discern-
ing kindness of the Lord Bishop of Chester ; but at the same
time they are deeply sensible of the loss which this society, in
common with many others, will sustain by the removal of so
wise, so active, and so faithful a fellow-labourer and minister
of the Gospel, It only remains to add, that the Roy. W. M.
Falloon, Incumbent of St. Bride's, has been appointed to the
vacant offices of secretary and examiner.
Mr. Gregson rose to propose a resolution, to the effect
that the report be printed and eirculated, and in doing so
he said that he was sure all would agree with him in saying
that the report showed most gratifying facts, and that all
would agree with the report that the readers had worked
efficiently and energetically; and this was proved by the
fact that ninety. nine or one hundred thousand visits had
been made during the year by the readers. (Hear, hear )
These were statistics, not of a blue book, but one of great
Moral statistics, which had thrown light upon the dark
portions of the town. The men avho had been employed
were men of zeal, discretion, judgment, and piety, and acted
accordingly ; they did not strive nor contend with any man;
they acted in the spirit of truth and of the apostles; and was
not the work they had to do difficult to perform ? They
went from house to house, and from room to room, end
there they met with a variety of characters. Some received
them with coldness, and some not at all—(hear, bear)—but
still they persevered, and he was glad to say that generally
they were well received. (Hear, hear.) Bat it was in the
time of sickness and death that the good results were made
manifest. There was another and the greatest difficulty
that the readers had to contend with, and that was the
abomination of drunkenness. (Hear, hear.) That vice
was common to men and women, but it stood not alone, for
it carried other vices along with it. The woman who was
a drunkard sacrificed honour and virtue to the vice; the
man sacrificed honour, fame, frugality, and all domestic
ties and economy, to the demon of drunkenness. He was,
however, most happy to .say that the scripture readers ware
successful in combatting the horrible sin of drunkenness.
(Rear, hear.) And he would, out Of many, give one in-
stance where success had crowned their efforts. This was
a young man, of delicate constitution, who fell into the
vice and then into a consumption. The reader called on
him—spoke and reasoned with him, but he paid no attention
to the admonition. Ha called again and again, but to no
purpose ; he read to him, but he seemed to take no notice,
and at last the reader went away almost in despair,
He called in two or three days afterwards, and found
the effects of his reading ; for, although
the young man seemed not to have paid
attention to him, yet so deeply had his lessons impressed
themselves on the young man, that he had moved his bed
to the window, and there he was found piously engaged in
reading the scriptures. (Hear, hear.) Oae of the young
man's drunken companions called on him, and the sick man
exhorted him to repent and return to God, and said he had
received the greatest consolation from the scripture reader ;
although at first he did not appear to pay any attention to
him, yet so deeply did the exertions of that reader work on
him, that he confessed, when dying shortly after, he had
benefitted by his exertions. The young man ied soon
after in full faith and hope. The readers had another
difficulty to contend with, and that was the ignorance of
the people, many of whom were found not to have entered
the house of God for ten years, and there was great difficulty
in overcoming such persons. However, by the exertions of
the Rev. Mr. Bardsley, the society was in a more flourishing
state than it was two years ago, and all that was required
was sufficient means from the public to meet the wants of
spiritual destitution which prevailed. These wants would I
be supplied by a sufficient number of scripture readers, if
the society had the means of providing them. The
temporal wants of the poor of Liverpool were al-
ways readily provided for—(hear, hear)—and in sup-
port of this the speaker showed that, at a
recent meeting, upwards of £2,000 was subscribed for the
benefit of the wives and families of the men who lost their
lives a few days ago at the Point of Ayr. He argued that
as it was most excellent to supply the temporal wants of
those in necessity, that it was better still to contribute to
the spiritual wants of the destitute. He then dwelt on
some points of the report, and contended that the sociel
was most especially entitled to the bounty, the sympathy,
support, and prayers of the Christian public. He then
proposed the resolution, and sat down amid loud
cheering.
The Rev. W. Pollock then came forward to second the
resolution, and in so doing said he could not but feel some
embarrasment in rising to second the reception of
a proposition for the adoption of a report in which
his own name wes mentioned, far too far, promi-
nently. He could but say that such kind expression had
disarmed him from the power of expressing his thanks,
therefore he trusted that they would permit him to refer to
the claims of the society. For the past year, as it had been
from the beginning of the institution, all had gone on
well with the society, and he was disposed, in rthe
first place, to place its claims for pub'ic
confidence and support on a very modest basis.
It cannot be said, that it bad ever done any harm. They
had had no unhappy jarring within, nor had they had any
angry collisions without, they had not violated a single
canon—they had not committed a single violation of con-
science, nor had they provoked a single breach of the
peace, nor bad they ever received thanks from any
community for having made a single Raman Catholic, or
even one Dissenter ; and he thought that his lordship's
presence amongst them was a sufficient guarantee to tin;
public, that they had not done any act to slacken the
establishment of the episcopal throne. (Hear, hear.)
It was of importance that he should say all that he had
said, as he was in the habit of meeting people, people of
respectability, and very excellent people, and better
churchmen than his lordship or himself, who were still
persuaded that all the scripture readers' associations
were nothing more than one vast engine of disorder and

confusion,—that there was something bad at the bottom
of it, if it could only be found out what it was, and
that wise, modest, and right-minded men had no right
to have anything to do with it. (Hear, hear.)
The plea against those allegations were the facts he had
admitted. They had no jarring amongst themselves ;
they had had the support of all, or nearly all, the clergy.
men of the Church of England, and of the right-minded
Christian laymen of Liverpool. They had a plea—the
good they had done, for he could not think that God
would bless them with the support they had received it
they had not done some good. Those, he said, were
some of the negative results, but there were
some positive results that the society could rely on
for support—one positive result was the encouragement
the society had received, and the amount of good it had
done. From the report they had heard of one muni-
ficent friend, who in September last addressed a letter to
him, saying that he had so much love for the society that
he dare not, if he would, refuse to support it. What had
that gentleman done? Why, he had, at his own expense,
employed three scripture readers at a cost of at least
£2OO per year. Mr. Gregson had spoken of the efforts
which had been made, and recommended that the numbers
of its supporters should be augmented. He could also
mention instances when exertions had been made, and he
regretted that he could not mention more, but that he
was not bound to do ; but he knew where a benefit had
arose to a person on a sick bed from the visit of a scrip-
ture:reader, and after he had recovered and returned to
his work, he was continuing in making his efforts to
increase the number of readers. One gentleman had
promised to employ five scripture readers next year, and
a friend of his had promised two readers and a half, and
had pledged himself in less than a twelve month to make
up the whole five, so that by the exertions of two indivi-
duals alone they would have ten additional readers. The
rev. gentleman next alluded to the anxiety that was
always manifested by the society on behalf of the working
classes, and he would say that if those classes only knew
what passed in the meetings of the committee—the prayers
that were offered up for them—the sympathy that was
felt for their sorrows—the efforts- that were made for
their peace and happiness, and the steps that wel e taken
to secure their lasting welfare—if the working classes
knew all that, he felt persuaded that they would be
indisposed to believe in any wrong suspicions against
those who were placed in a position higher
than themselves. They would think more of
religion, and of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and
become persuaded that there was peace on earth and good-
will towards man. (Hear, hear.) But that was not all
the positive results that would accrue from the society in
which they were engaged. Another objection had been
urged against the movement to which his lordship. had
alluded—it was, that the clergy were supposed by some to
be an idle class. It had been said that they were the most
idle; indee-t, if the question was asked as to who was the
idle man in the parish, the answer would be, the clergy-
man. Such an assertion arose from ignorance, and would
not require to be denied, but he thought that something
might be said—that some little rebuke might be made as
to its heartless cruelty. He would ask, was the merchant
an idle man ? He who leaves his home about nine o'clock
in the morning, and does not return until between five and
six o'clock in the evening, and is, during all those hours,
engaged at his business in his counting house—was he an
idle man? Was the solicitor an idle or lazy man. who
spends about the same number of hours in his office? Was
the barrister, who was engaged from morning until night
in the courts, an idle man ? He would ask the
same question of all other professions and trades, and he
would answer firmly, although respectfully, that after
some experience in the life of a clergyman, in Liverpool
and other populous districts of England—after 20 years'
experience—he would say firmly, but respectfully, that
there was not one, out of all those professions or trades,
that he could not, at times, have willingly and gladly
exchanged with. The work' of a clergyman began in the
morning. When did it end ? He was almostabout to say
it never ended. As soon as men were stirring, their work
commenced, and with calls, correspondence, their congre-
gations, the sick, attending public meetings, it scarcely
left them any time to prepare themselves for the pulpit.
The rev. gentleman then said that, at the present moment,
there was; a Smatter of great and deep importance
presented to the attention of the public, andnhat
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