The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-03 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL DOMESTIC MISSION SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of the Liverpool Domestic Mission
Society was held last night in the school room attached to
Hope street church. The chair was occupied by Mr. W
J Lampert ; and among the other gentlemen present Were;
Rev. J. Martineau, Rev. W. H. Channieg ; Messrs. G .
Holt, H. A. Bright, G. IVlelly, W. Rathbone, C. Melly, P.
Rathbone, C. M. King, H. Booth, T. Avison, T. Theruly,
T. B mlt, Rev. John Robberds, Dr. Alfred lligginsou, Rev'
M. Steinthal, S. M. Bully, Bce., &c.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that they
were met to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the
Liverpool Domestic Mission Society, which had now came
to one of those periods common to the history of all
societies dependent on voluntary efforts, when the loss of old
supporters rendered needful the advent of new ones. It
would be bis happy duty in the course of the evening to
present to them the Rev'. Mr. Steinthal, whom they had
elected to the office vacated by the Rev. Francis Bishop.
(Hear, heat.) He was happy to say that they would also
hear the voices of some of those friends whose voices th(Y
were always delighted to hear. It Would be for them and
not for him to interpret the thoughts witiela a glance at
the twenty years past must present to their minds 3 but
there -Was one remark he might be allowed to make, and that
was that a glance at the past would, he believed, disclose
little else than encouragement. (Hear, hear.) Even
amongst the passing supporters of their society the changes
had been very much fewer than might have been
Medted. They were guided still by the mature wisdom
of him by the impulse of whose early enthusiasm the mission
was inculcated; they wore encouraged still by the presence
of him who, twenty years ago, first filled the chair which
he (Mr. Lambert) did but usurp. It Was tiue they missed
the features of some they were accustomed to *nark ; but
solemn memories came to them not always from empty
chairs, but from the earnest faces of younger men, in whom
the hearts were not more changed than the name. (Ap-
plause.) In conclusion, the chairman called on Mr. Wilson
and Mr. Jones, missionaries, to read their reports for the
past year.
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jones then read their reperts. They
'contained very graphic descriptions of the scenes which
cime under the notice of missionaries in large towns, and
were most interesting.

The Rev. Mr. Channing, who was loudly applauded,
proposed the first resolution, which was " That the repoceS
of the missionaries now read be accepted with much
eatiefeetiotl, and that the thanks of the meeting be pre-
sented to the missionaries for the energy and faithfulness
with which they have conducted the Various works and
institutions of the mission during the half peat, in which its
labours wholly devolved upoh them." He said : I present
this resolution with very great satisfaction, especially.
because I think the words of commendation are well
deserved, yet more because the faithful labours of these
friends are now to be supported, fulfilled, and encouraged by
the counsel and the aid of a brother. The last time we Met it
was with a feeling of much sorrow, because we were part-
ing with our friend Mr. Bishop, who has gone to a work
needing him more perhaps, because more difficult, than the
one he discharged ear long and so well here, This evening
we meet to congratulate ono another anon welcoming
another Bishop to fill his place. (Hear, hear.) It dea
not fall to my agreeable task to give him a welcome,
because it seemed in all respects more appropriate that that
wel.come. should be given by ore who has earned the right
to be a representative of religious sentiment in Liverpool
by faithful services for many years, and by one tee whose
words I know will fall upon the ears and into the heart of
our friend much more deeply than' any of my own, because
as his teacher he early learned to prize him. Still perhaps
I may be allowed to say one word of encouragement to my
brother Steinthal, and it shall be in'the for le of an anecdote
of what was an experience of my own. A very admirable,
earnest, devoted preacher of the city of Boston said to me
just as I was leaving the Divinity school at Cambridge :
" Come and talk to my sailors." I, a college-bred boy,
who had lived among booke, felt aghast at the thought of
this sudden contact with life in its rudest and most real
form. My answer was as you might expect : " Sir, I dare
net." He looked at me with his flashing eye, and said : "How
young man, do you dare to tell me that the sword your
master has given you is a sword of lead, which will turn at
the first stroke. Try it—it may prove a Damascus blade,
which trims a feather or cleaves a bar." (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) That was a great sword, brother Steinthal, and if
ever you have any feeling of discouragement about meeting
the stern realities of life, just please to remember the/
once again r want to say to you here in priblic what I said
in private when we met, your very name brings to me a
most blessed and glorious lesson. You know the story of
the venerable Saxon father of religion, Bede, whom, when
he was blind, a boy, to play him a trick, led him into a
rocky valley, and then said to him, when they were there
alone among the stones—" the people are waiting for your
words, oh father"—and Bedo poured out his soul, and then
after the preaching raised his voice in prayer —and
from the rocky valley came on all sides " Amen."
(Applause.) Your name is Steinthal. That means,
I suppose, a rocky valley, and if that spirit leads you, please
to remember that wherever you stand, however hearts may
be hard and stony, under the influence of that spirit there
will always come an Amen. (Hear, hear. and applause.)
The Bev. Mr. Channing then proceeded to consider the
natnre and aims of a domestic mission• society, both as a
palliative and as a remedial measure. He urged that the
charity of such a mission should be both of a spiritual and
of a social kind. He denied that the vulgar acceptation of
the declaration " the poor you have always with you,"
which rendered that statement a prophecy, was the real
interpretation of its meaning, and emphatically declared
his belief that pauperism was not a normal condition of a
Christian nation,.but an abnormal condition of barbarism.
Pointing out some of the modes by which poverty might be
taught and helped to elevate itself, he dwelt upon the
importance of providing fit dwellings for the poor,
and proper means of recreation by out of door
and in door sources of healthful amusement. Was
Liverpool, he would ask, doing what a great commer-
cial port of its maguitude and wealth should do in regard
to parks? There was the Prince's Park—did they not
carry all the strangers that came to Liverpool to visit it ?
Ile might speak of it now without reserve, because, alas !
the honoured man who was instrumental in laying it out
was not present " to blush and hear it fame—(applause)--
but was not that park one of the boasts of Liverpool?
There were many other places around Liverpool which
could with advantage be turned into parks, and he prophe
cied that if the opportunity were let slip they would mourn
it for ever. Liverpool needed parks; for if they would have
healthy and vigorous people, they should give them the
opportunity to expand their lungs, to allow their hearts to
beat freely, and where their children could breathe the pure
air. (Hear, hear.) There were several things about
Liverpool which delighted him much, but that which
delighted him most was the step which they
had taken in advance in regard to public
amusements. It was an omen of the good
things that were to come, but he should repeat that the
subject of public amusements was one on which they should
concentrate public attention and expound it everywhere. Ho
believed that one of the good things to bo remembered in
regard to that half drivelling idiot, half-wise king, James
the First, was his love for public sports, but at the present
day he believed it was actually needed to have read from
all the churches the duty, the religious duty of public
sports. (Applause.) Had they read the terrible exposures
made in regard to Liverpool life during last year? What
was the explanation of the horrors as exhibited in that life ?
The explanation was that God made human beings to play
as well as to work, and that if they could not play in a
legitimate and refined form, they would play in a very coarse
and degraded form. (aear, hear) Tito rev, gentleman
then spoke of the advantages of guarantee and mutual
insurance societies among the people, and argued that to
encourage those societies, and to see good management in tro-
ducedinto them was one of the duties of a domestic mission.
He believed that when they took up this matter of domestic
Missions truly, they could not avoid considering the final
problem of all in regard to pauperism which was that of
labour. What a tremendous fact was that which was stated
in regard to the number of criminals thrown loose upon
the communities every year. It was stated that 75,000
criminals were annually disgorged from the prisons of
Great Britain ! What was to be inferred from that tre-
mendous fact ? Fair), that a surplus population, not
productive but destructive in their communities, would
react inevitably by a law as strict as that of gravitation
upon the poor in all their cities everywhere, (Hear, hear.)
As he understood the position of England it was designed
for her among all the leading nations to solve the problem
of pauperism, and seeing the wonderful progress that had
been made towards it during this half century, he believed
that she would succeed in the task. (Applause.)
Mr. Avison seconded the motion, which was unanimously
adopted.
The Chairman then read the following report of the
committee : •

REPORT.
Tho full reports given by the ministers to tho poor have
always had the effect of reducing the formal report from the
committee to a bare record of facts and finance.

The past year has been marked by Mr, Bishop's retirement