Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-22 00:00:00

The Rev. Dr. M'NETLE was loudly cheered on coming
forward. He said : Mr. Mayor- and gentlemen; the
resolution entrusted to me is a sort of peroration;
descriptive of all the operations projected by this society.
It is "That the machinery now in operation under the.
direction. of
_the committee of the Mersey Branch of the
Society for Missions to Seamen, Which embraces • the
visitation by appointed chaplains, of seamen on board
their oWla vesselsafloat--for, the purpose of giving:,
them religious instruction the distribution of the Scrip-
tures ; the bringing under their notice the importance
of the Sailqrs Home and Savings'. Bank ; the directing.,
them to respectable lodging-houses ; the urging- their
attendance upon religious worship ; and last, not least, •
warning them, on their• return from long voyages, of the
dangers and temptations to which they are 'exposed in
port; these, and similar aims and objects sought to be'
aecOmplished by this valuable agency, deserve, .in the
opinion of this meeting, the earnest and sUbstantial sup-
port of every eig in.this great commercial community."
Now, gentlemen, before I offer any obserVa.tiOns Upon
this resolution, allow me to call. yoUr attention to the
position in which 'you are now placed. You have, by ,
your Own deliberate act and deed this day, uninimously.
resolved,
,"that the rent. masses of our Seamen have
not hitherto been sufficiently reached." You have unani-
mously resolved; "That the Maritime strength and com-
mercial greatness of our nation are alike dependent upon
the physical and moral welfare of this important class of
the community." (Hear, hear.) You have unanimously.
resolved, " That 'the influence for geed- or for evil:of
Such a body of men has, not hitherto been sufficiently
regarded and has not, had sufficient practical con-
sideration:" (flear„ hear.) Now; you are English-
men ; know the meaning of the -English
language; you have committed Yourselves to these pro-
ppsitions, ani. I tel satisfied you won't go away from
this room saying " Ah, well ! It's ,a,ll very well, and
serves to spend an hour
.at a meeting ; we will do, no
more." In conclusion,-'you aro invited to come to.•this-
resolution, " That the agency employed by this eoCiety
deserves the, earnest and substantial support of every
class in this great Commercial community." That is
the. point---do these things deserve money or not ? Are
they worth money ? . For, after,all, that is the practical
point we have to bring it to at last. These operationS
cannot be carried on without expenses, and from whence,
then, are the funds to be deriVed ? Now, look at what
the operations are. They, are of two clasSes—one is to
give the men religious instruction, to distribute•to, them
the Scriptures, and to invite them to religious worship.
This is one branch of the operations, Now, Men- make •
Various estimates of the comparative valUe of things.
It is not the custom, I believe, of many in our great
commercial community to calculate profit and loss.ex-
tending into eternity ; they. calculate. profit and loS'§'with
reference to this world only, generally,. and they calCU-
_late the profit and loss -connected' with the* sailors by the
'safety of a cargo, the security during the voyage, and they
too frequently leave out of consideration altogether the
value of the man. Now, gentlemen, if the value of the
Men! be left out of consideration —if the Value of the
man's work alone be takeniuto-cbusideration, I beg to
remind you that (you. treat the an so considered -a •
mere machine. '(Loud' applause.) _ That is the proper
estimate,.to make of machinery. (Renewed applause.)
Machinery is valUable only' for what it ,will produce,
and after it has ceased to be productive it is thrOwn_i
on ono side as useless lumber ;7ss(applanse)--not so a,
man. And; gentlemen, We Mast not allow ourselves to
be reconciled to the idea for one.inortient, of using any
of our fellow creatures as mere machines. (Applause;)
They have immortal spirits, and the interests of those
spirits. desert e, as the resolution invites it to receive,
our practical consideration. (Hear, hear.) -Bet,
gentlemen, there' are 'Other objects connected, with this
society. which trench immediately upon secular ;profit
and loss—to bring under their notice the alvantagei•
offered by :the Sailors Home, _the advantages, of the
Savings' Bank, to direct-them to respectable lodging-
houses in town, to remind them on.their return of the
dangers and temptations to which' thy are exposed in
port. I was very much pleased ;Mcleod by the
observations made by the gentleman who last
:addressed you on this branch of the subject;
!but allow me to say that; in 'my humble opinion; those
observations admit of a valuable supplement. Our work,
cannot be done; I am persuaded, by 'act of Parlianient-H,--.
(hear, hear,)—and muchas I value the Dock Board, and
all its, operations amongst seamen in referenee to their
protection from these crimps, I believe it. will not be in
the power of the ' most watchful police' to keep the
sailors when they land from these 'most watchful men.
(Hear, hear.) It will not in the power of the police
to keepmen who have been a long, time—ninny months
perhaps--at sea, and haie just cothe ashore, from the
gratification of some of those:passions which are so strong
in everyman that.is not undertho influence of controlling
religious principles: ' (Hear.) They are as sure to gratify
'those
.passions,, as the. sun is to set in the evening, or
arise in the morning, and no act of Parliainent,% and no
DOck Board,
.and no efficient' Police,
,can • prevent the
men throwing thernselves into the hands of those who
have a ready gratification at hand for them.. •,'Aricl there
they will go, , unless the men themselves" have in them-
- selves the power of resistance- to say to the erimp, " No,
no, friend, donq come to me ,• I know better. It is
not to the P.oliceman I look for protection ; but it is
• here—here, in my own breast, by the grace of Geicl."
-.(Loud applasiSe.)' Make the men their own guardians
from the crimps, and then you have done the Work ; and
not before. And.'here is the agency. I may
,say in the ,
words of the Pailmist, "I. have been .yoUng and
now ant old," and I have liad an enthusiastic affection
for seamen all my life, arising perhaps 'irons a 'fact in
the earlyrPart of my history, that ussr not be linoWn to
all of you—hamely, that-I was rescued, when two years,
old, from the .;perils of the Irish rebellion by a -Seaman
: on board .asinack in the bay carrying -me down to 'a
little skiff, and soon board his vessel. We' had just
.0 off the grounds—about five Minutes had we left
the shore when the rebelS"toOk possession of the village.. ,
(Loud and enthuSiastie cheering.)
The MAYOR. SRici qie iniich.regretted having to leas6'
the meeting; but, as he had to preside at another one
at half-past three, he was compelled to do so. '
The Rev. Dr. 111'NEILE again rose, and, inreference,
to the letter of C. E. Rawlins, said he concurred in.
the obseriintions of the rector. The 'circular 'alluded to
had reference strictly to the business before the meeting
that day.
Mr: BysliEl4 said: I fully concur in the observations
which ' have been' made by nay eloquent friend; Dr.,
WNeile; that there 'is no law that will keep- a man
straight in this world if he has riot the law within him
self. - (Hear,' hear.) We all know that.' The man 'Who
thinks that; because no human 'eye is itpon.hhn, theres
fore he may sin, knows nothing of the' true value
of the ' law •=s of the law of right • which should
be in every man's mind. The object of this society is
to Mi
.giVe to 'r seamen' this la*; mid >I-trust the ma-
chmery which has been so well laid before you by Dr.
M'Neile prevefs, to you that..the•eOniMittee seek to act in
a practical manner, nd that both in relition to things
religions and th**nlitr the committee 'are endeavour-
ing to carry out that• object. We do not—God forbid
that We -should-wedo not for one single moment ignore
the dints' which have been Made by bther societies,. It
was because we did not wish to lengthen our resolutions
or documents, and fearing that by some omission' we
might gibe ffence to somebOdy, that 'id di judo in
general t'erms to other 'societies. That'Ve have not .
paid sufficient atteriliori to the condition' of our sea-
'men is a great fa:cq.rsihielt, 'is not more. apparentto .
!any one than it is the
,shipovirnera,theinselves. It
l'is perfeetlY: clear tha,f no Class 904 cptnittiitY has
s h
'suffered 'so much destitticok as dui s ' It
is equally perfectly,clear,•that spirifual'ilestitaticinleads
to moral destitution;'' and frequently tO physical Wane
(Heat; hear) Geritthneri, look at the' position of our,
seamen.' They are taken ate .their. earliest infancy yery,
nearly,=atany-rete, peirl4S, as soon as they leave a pie-,
paratory, sehooland are sent on board ship ; they are
plungedrin earliest' youth into 'soenes-s—which, I fear, it
cannot be denied' too often the ease on board ship—
scenee efiniquity. .They breathe an atmosOliere which,
it is! initsoisible for theinte escape from. This pursuel.,
them throughout the Yilielevoyage they landin foreign _
parts, where our sailors do not feel that: they ought to,
be tinder those restraints . which • are imposed
upon theine in our own country. •:.(Hear,' hear.)
They disgrace `'the national flag of England', by their .
heathen condief among other nations, and .they prompt
those heathens whom we wish to bringtO Christianity to
look at the seamen of thiS'nition as gYi,dencbs- of siliat
these -heathens conceive Christianity t`be. If Christi-
anity.ssere!, Whatit 'appears to be, as in too many of or.-
seamery is the case, I do' not wonder at' some of the
heathens being proud to say " Keep me from becoming
a Christian." Well, now you have heard our Objects.
How are they to be applied They are to .he applied
by a maehineq; which is. necessarily expensive. We
cannots—after making a calculation of what we require,
, for the purposes of the work—carry it on sufficiently
without a staff of at least three chaplains and a suitable staff
of lay agents. To do this we shall require a sum of 'seine-
thing like £1,260 a-year, and although the committee are
perfectly aware that small sums Make in the aggregate