The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-01-25 00:00:00

SCRIPTURE READERS' SOCIETY,

The annual meeting of this institution was held at the
Collegiate institution, on Tuesday, the chair being taken
by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and
the platform occupied by several clergymen and gentlemen.
His LORDSHIP said the object of the society was to
spread the light of the Gospel among the poor and ignor-
ant classes of the population who were crowded together
in this immense town; and if the society's operations lay
within that narrow sphere, still it lies nearer home. The
present state of Liverpool in this respect gave rise to very
mixed and varied feelings. It was a picture that had its
bright and dark parts, its lights and shades. There were
many things to be thankful for, and there were many
things still to wish for ; there was very much that, thanks
to the Christian spirit of the place, had already been
' done; and such was the necessity and magnitude of the
case, that there yet remained much for them to do. It
was a very gratifying thing, one of the things that called
for our thankfulness, that there had been of late years
such a vast increase in the number, both of the churches
and the clergy in the place. That was a most gratifying
fact, a matter of great joy, and he hoped that through
God's blessing it had also been a matter of great benefit
to this large town. But at the same time, if we compared
the total amount of free sittings in all our churches with
the number of the poor population in this vast town, we
must be painfully impressed with a feeling of the utter
inadequacy of the existing church accommodation to meet
the exigencies of tile case. He feared there were very
many of the poor who never thought of entering a
church ; but, if they were ever desirous of doing so, there
were not free sittings in our churches to receive a tenth
part of them. Alluding to the duties which the clergy
have to perform, his lordship said that most of them had
three sermons, or even more, to preach every week, and
they must make some allowance for the tax that it was
upon a clergyman's time to prepare those discoures in
estimating the portion of time a clergyman can devote
to the pastoral visitation of the poor, in going from
house to house. He did not say that he was to omit
that last duty, but still he certainly could not, from
the nature of the case, give the whole of his time.
But he was sure all of them must feel that if each clergy-
man, in his own church, in his own sphere of labour, was
left to worked single-handed and alone, without help or
assistance, either from a curate, Scripture-reader, or dis-
trict visitor, it would not be from want of desire or heart
in him—but from the physical circumstances of the case
it was utterly impossible lie could get through his work,
or fulfil a task which would be far beyond his strength.
' Happily, through the liberality of the people of Liverpool
and the aid of great societies, help was provided in the way
of providing curates to some extent, and the especial object
of the society for which they were met that night was to
strengthen the hands of the clergy, and to give them as-
sistance, in affording them what their own stipends in
many cases could not afford, the help of a Scripture-reader
to go among the people where they themselves could not
go, and to carry the Word of the Gospel to the multitudes
of the poor in the several districts of the town, and espe-
cially that class of the poor who had not been brought up to
attend Divine service or seek religions instruction in our
churches, and to whom, if they were to hear the Word of
the Gospel at all, it must be carried to their own homes,
their own doors, and their own firesides ; and it was to
create and give machinery for this purpose that the present
society had been established ; and lie hoped through the
means of it and through God's blessing, great good might
be effected in Liverpool in this way.
The Rev. F. BARKER read the report, which stated
that "The society was first intended for the special en-
lightenment of poor Roman Catholics in scriptural truth,
but its objects were subsequently extended. The sub.
scriptions amounted to £1,311, the donations to £482,
and the interest to £l7. There were 800 subscribers to
their fund, and the balance now in the bank amounted to
£609. The committee estimated their expenses would
shortly be £1,600 annually, with' necessity for increase.
The report stated that the Rev. J. Bardsley had been ap-
pointed superintendent clergyman of the society, and gave
a detailed account of his proceedings. Amongst these
were a weekly meeting in Cornwallis-street school, to dis-
cuss the principle of Romanism, when any one who de-
sired might enter into the argument. Some Romish
champions came forward at first, but from the tenor of
the report they appeared very shortly to have exhibited
the better part of valour—discretion, many running away.
The society's readers had been very useful to the Romanist
population, many of whom are searching after the truth.
The visits during the past ten months amounted to 45,837,
of which upwards. of 9,000 had been to Romanists." The
report also stated that the Rev. Mr. Lowe had furnished
the society with a number of tracts on Romanism for cir-
culation. Amongst the remarkable features of the report
was a statement that an Irish Scripture-reader had been
reading the Word of God to many Roman Catholic
families from Ireland in their own tongue. The report
concluded by calling for further assistance to carry out
the efforts of the society, and thus extend the cause of
true religion.

The Rev. Rector CAMPBELL said, it was impossible to
think of the population of such a great town as this with-
out mingled feelings of sorrow and alarm. With sorrow
for the spiritual destitution of which so large a propoi ton
of them seem to be contaminated, and with alarm for the
responsibility consequent upon themselves. They (the
clergy) were prepared, to the best of their ability, in per-
formance of their ordination vows, " to drive away all
strange and erroneous doctrines," whatever form they
might assume. But then he thought the time was come
when it was incumbent upon them to press upon the
laity the practical recognition of that faith, that the
church did not consist of the clergy alone, but that it was
a mixed body, the clergy and laity combining, and of
which the laity, as they were the most generous, were the
most important part. If they proposed lay agency as
necessary, it was desired because, in the present state of
the body politic, it was utterly impossible for the clergy
to do the work alone. After reading an extract from the
seventh annual report of the London society, he con-
cluded by recommending the report of the committee to
the anxious and charitable consideration of all who heard
him, and having named the gentlemen who had consented
to act upon the committee, sat down amidst loud applause.
Mr. HORSFALL, M.P., said he never recollected to
have listened to a more admirable report than the one
which had been read to them. While it gave them ample
details of the operations of the society, gave them at the
same time a testimonial of their committee as to the effi-
ciency of their Scripture-readers, and also the testimony
their Scripture-readers bore to the efficiency of the laity
who acted as the committee. At a meeting held in that
building a few evenings ago, by the Working Man's
Church- Association, he read the proceedings of that
meeting with great interest, and he was struck with a
startling observation made by their excellent rector, that
it was es'imated that there were generally in circulation
amongst the population not less than 28 million of infidel
and other demoralising publications. If that were so, it
required no stronger argument to point out the necessity
of some such counter-action as was contemplated by the
Scripture Readers' Society. But it was not the infidel
publications only with which the Scripture-reader had to
contend. These publications undermined the principles
of the population ; but there were other adversaries which
undermined their practice. They had heard in the report
that they had seventeen Scripture-readers ; but what were
these when every Sabbath they had 1,452 public-houses
open ? What were these Scripture-readers when they
knew that Sabbath after Sabbath they could not pass
through the streets of the town without seeing an immense
number of shops open of every kind ? It might seem
strange for him to say that the British legislature was one
of the most powerful enemies the Scripture-reader had to
contend with. Year after year they were paying £30,000
to support a great anti-Scripture reading society. Why,
what was the fact ? They were sending their Scripture-
readers into the streets of Liverpool to tell the people to
search the Scriptures ; and the men from Maynooth, who
were enemies to British legislation, were coming to the
same streets and telling the people that the Bible Society
was a pestilence, and that the Word of God in the vulgar
tongue did more harm than good. It was by the act of
the British legislature that the money of England was
paid to enable these men to come to this town ; and when
the Scripture-reader went to tell the people that there was
hut one mediator between God and man, the emissaries
of the British legislature were coming to tell them that
there were many mediators. So long as the Constitution
remained as it was ; so long as they had the power to
protest; so long as they had the power to repeal a law, it
was their duty to do everything in their power to get the
law repealed. Upon these grounds he contended that no
law could be binding upon a man which violated the law
of God, and believing, as he did, that that law violated
the law of God, it was their duty to seek to have it repealed
by every means in their power. He believed that no law
founded upon expediency ever did, or could, conduce to
the individual, social, or national happiness of mankind.
(Loud cheers.)
The meeting was afterwards addressed by the Rev. Mr.
Bardslev, Mr. Wm. Gregson, and the Rev. Dr. M`Neile,
and a liberal collection was made.

LONGEVITY.—The decease of the " oldest woman in
the world"—Mary Benton, the well-known " old woman
of Elton," took place last week. There seems to be some
dispute as to the precise age of this wonderful woman.
On the coffin-plate it was stated to be 117, but it is gen-
erally supposed that this is considerably beneath the fact.
A correspondent states that if she had survived until the
13th February next she would have attained the unprece-
dented age of 122 years. Her form, as might be expected,
was very much bent, but her conversation was free and
lively, and her eye, though dimmed, retained much of
its former lustre, and she was able to dispense with the
assistance of spectacles to the last. This interesting per-
sonage was a native of Cockfield, in Durham, and resided
for some time at Long Newton, previous to her coming
to her daughter's house at Elton.—Halifax Guardian.
THE ARMY.—The following important notice has just
been posted up at the Horse Guards, under the head of
" Encouragement to Soldiers." It is stated that by Her
Majesty's warrant, it is provided that commissions are to
be given to deserving non-commissioned officers recom-
mended by their colonels. In appointments to the
cavalry, a sum of £l5O will be granted as an outfit; and
in the appointments to the infantry, a sum of £lOO as an
outfit. All sergeants, corporals, and privates, are also to
be allowed a gratuity for length of service or good con-
duct ; a sergeant to have £l5, a corporal £lO, and a
private £5. They will also be allowed a progressive pay
per day over and above the usual pay. It was stated in a
note that several regiments of cavalry at present offer an
opportunity for recruits joining from the age of 16 to 25.
Since the alteration of the standard of height many young
men join the line.