The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-10-23 00:00:00

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eloquent, the liberal, the enlightened, the absolute Demos-
thenes of dissent—that is what they call the Rev. John Bur-
nett—" the Demosthenes of disseut," and that such a man
as he should, by the fiat of his genius, and the power of his
eloquence, have classed together—remember it, " infidels,
papists, chartists, and all other bad ists." (Hear, and great
laughter.) This, surely, my lord, is the triumph of truth
over party. He was raised. His genius was raised. There
is truth in genius wherever found, and the man of genius—
and Mr. Burnett is a man of genius—when he warms in his
subject, rises above the petty distinctions of party, and
ggainst the expectations of his partisans. In such cases
talent and genius rise to truth. They rise above the party
and he speaks out like a man; and just such it was in this
case, when Mr. Burnett was defending the true eternal
word, he forgot his party, and he put them all in their right
company—" infidels, papists, chartists, and all the other bad
ists. And this reminds me of a passage we heard from ano-
ther man of genius this evening, and to which, with your
permission, my lord, I shall call the attention of this meeting.
I said he was another man of genius, and a man of genius he
is, but I do not yield to him in his hatred of the foul princi-
ple, and the consequent foul practice which has been brought
into Christendom by the hierarchy and priesthood of the
Romish system. I detest it ae cordially as any man, and
when I say I detest it as cordially as Dr. Byrth, I need say
no more ; and it is because I detest it, I take the liberty of
referring to his speech, inasmuch as I am thoroughly per-
suaded that speech will be misunderstood or misrepresented,
or both. He smiles, as if he did not care about either, and I
know he doesn't much, but he will excuse me if I allude to it
briefly. (Hear, hear.) He said popery was a spirit. Raising
your hatred with his own against the evil and falsehood of
that system, he called it a spirit, and then he said, " Oh !
that it was a body, that,we might kill it." Now, I say with
him it is a spirit of evil, but we meet it with the weapons of
truth—we meet it with the gospel of God—we meet it with
the manifestation of Christ, and we proclaim the majesty of
our Redeemer, to the utter ruin of all which Romish mum-
mery has erected. But if, it were a body, what would our
corresponding treatment be ? Not the knife of the assassin.
No. If it were a body we should prepare an hospital and
physicians ; we would have the diseise of that body examin-
ed; we would then have medicines administered, and healing
plasters applied, and we should long for its cure, and try
every means for its recovery. (Cheers.) By the propaga-
tiOn of truth we would endeavour to effect a recovery the
hospital would be our church, and the physicians our preach-
ers. This is the way in which we would administer, not to
its death, but to its recovery. (Loud cheers.) I have been
invited by the committee to second the resolution which it
was proposed that the hon. member fir Kilmarnock should
move. The hon. member, however, in the overflowing of
that eloquence which staid this assembly into a stillness more
gratifying even than applause, forgot to move the resolution
altogether, and I must therefore take the liberty of both
moving and seconding it—moving it in the soft tones, if I
could imitate them, of the hon. member, and seconding it in
the rough notes of your humble servant. The resolution is
as follows :--

" That, under the present circumstances of the country,
the defence of the national institutions devolves in an especial
manner upon the middle and lower classes of the commu-
nity, and that the Young Men's Established Church Society
is peculiarly adapted for defending the most important of
these institutions, the national establishment of religion."
There is a reference here to the present circumstances of the
country, which have thrown the defence of our institutions
mainly on the humble and lower classes of society. The
circumstances here alluded to are those of that progressive
legislation—l will not say whether progressive for good or
for evil—but progressive certainly, which have thrown the
turning point of power, the executive of the country, into
the hands of the franchised voters of the country. This has
so enlarged their number, it has made candidates for seats
in the House of Commons so dependent on their will, and
it has made the tone they take, that it has absolutely made
the defence of our institutions rest on them rather than on
the individuals selected to be their representatives. It has
so changed the state of affairs that the members of parliament
have scarcely more liberty—you will pardon me, my lord,
when I say it—than dissenting ministers. (Hear, and a
laugh.) You are at the mercy of your deacons, your elders,
and your congregations—your constituents they are. (Hear,
hear, and cheers.) I speak now to a great many electors; I
speak to the middle and lower classes who have votes in the
elections, and who have, therefore, much to do in the form-
ation of the House of Commons. The House of Commons
have to do with keeping in place, or moving from place, any
administration, and thus, by a short process, you, and such
as you, in the country—the classes mentioned in the resolu-
tion—are retainers, or rejectors of her Majesty's ministers.
(Cries of " hear, hear," and loud cheers.) It must, there-
fore, depend on you whether our institutions shall be defended
or destroyed. In order that you may acquit yourselves
as becomes men so greatly privileged, you should have in-
struction. You should know what you are about. You should
have right information concerning the great questions to be
agitated in parliament. The middle classes in England have
clamoured for such political privileges as statesmen enjoy,
and the possession of such privileges demand from those who
have the enlightenment and information of statesmen. If
you claim the former, I call on you to get the information
necessary to make a right use of it. The power is given, and
we are to get the right information. This is what we are
driving at. The clergy of the established church are giving
the required information. They are communicating the prin-
ciples by which the people can exercise their responsible du-
ties. (Hear, hear.) If, then, this be so, this society is well
calculated to defend that noblest of our institutions—the es-
tablished church ; but the members of this society should re-
collect that it is one thing to establish a society with a good
intention, and that it is quite another thing to carry it ontin
a manner suitable to its proposal at the outset. I would
avail myself of an opportunity like this to give a word of im-
proving advice to our members—(hear. hear)—and I will take
the liberty, in the first place, of saying to our young men,
that much of the character of this society—much of its influ-
ence in the town, and much of its influence throughout the
kingdom—for you see we are watched in other parts—l say
that much must depend on the personal conduct of those
young men. (Hear, hear.) The institution is youug. It.is
but a year old now. It is watched with considerable jealous),
by many, and watched with great affection by more—its cha-
racter begins now to develop itself—its members now will be
responsible for their conduct, and I would avail myself of
this additioaal pledge, that you will not disappoint our best
hopes, but show yourselves superior in all the departments
of life, whether conducting your business or serving your
various employers. Show your superiority in those stations
of life which your enemies cannot gainsay. Prove that you
know what it is to appreciate our church, which teaches
every man in his vocation to minister and do whatever he does
iu the name of the LoM Jesus, and to the glory of our God.
My lord, I would affectionately and earnestly say to our dear
friends present in such vast numbers, that they must be at-
tentive as churchmen to all the details of their moral con-
duct. I would remind them that the church teaches every
man, in his family, in his shop, in his forge, or wherever
else he may be, respect for authority. It teaches him res-
pect for delegated authority, delegated from God ecclesiasti-
cally to Christ, and through him to his ministers, and that
all who hear them should hear them as ambassadors for
Christ. Civil authority delegated from God, who is the
head of both, to the king who is supreme—to all in authority
under the sovereign—the judges, the sheriffs, the magis-
trates, and police—that all these have their avocations and
ministry of delegated authority, that we may be peaceably
and godly governed—that in the family there are the same
links of authority derived again from God, and running
through the father, the mother, the children, and all the ser-
vants of the household, and that in every place there is an
immediate superior in whom the delegated authority from
God is to be recognised. The child is to recognise it in the
parent—the servant in the master—and both parent and
master are to recognise it in the practices of society, as dele-
gated and appointed of God—and parent, master, child, and
servant, are to recognise it in the minister of the church as
appointed of God. These are the principles on which your
establishment must rest. (Cheers.) I would warn my
young friends that it is possible, in the prosecution of a good
object, to get into a bad state of mind—that it is possible,
while you aim at the advance of our church, to be indulging
in a tone of habit and in a want of respect to your supe-
riors, under a self-deceiving spirit of aiming at the advance
of this society, which will go far to dissipate all our best
hopes. 'What, for example, could I say, suppose one
of the merchants of this town, under whom one of you
were employed, came to me and said, " You have got
a Young Men's Established Church Society in Liver-
pool ?" My answer would be " Yes." And suppose he
should then say, " I wish you would tell them to pay atten-
tion to their superiors in the office, and that the best way in
which they ,can show love to the church is by obeying her
rules, instead of clamouring. in her praise at public meetings."
Now I do not object to public meetings, provided they act
as impulses to what is right ; but it would be one of the
worst features of the Papal system if it were otherwise. if
we are to have a regenerated country—if we are to have a
church population—and if we are to have stamina to resist
the encroachments of our enemies, we must have a popula-
tion patient of delay and submissive to authority. I know
the value to your own souls of what I am taking the liberty
of saying to you, and I thank God for the manifest willing-
ness—the quiet, affectionate willingness—with which I see
some near me listening to these remarks. I entreat you, as
you value the cause, to give no man a handle against your
moral character, and not only be submissive to authority,
but pursue a course of strict integrity in all your dealings.
Do not be guilty of the embezzlement of one farthing in any
transaction, and I would say, one peculiar feature strenu-
ously demanded of you in this cause is, that you shall be a
society of chaste young men. (Hear, and cheers.) Yes, it
becomes me well to inculcate this on you, my dear young
friends. All that is pernicious in the world is represented
in Scripture under the appropriate expression of a " strange
woman." All that is pernicious to your present peace—
your peace of mind, your health of body, your respectability
of character, your property and prospects in life, your reli-
gious character, and your usefulness to your country—all,
all is associated with keeping your persons chaste. (Hear.) I
beseech you, by the mercies of God, to be a society of chaste
young men. Refrain from the embrace of the destroyer as
you would from the poisoned cup of the assassin ; and let me
remind you that yours—l don't speak personally—yours is
the fault, yes, in nineteen cases out of twenty, that there are
such destroyers abroad—yours is the fault that the town is so
polluted by so many ruined, undone females—yours is the
fault in the first instance—and when I say yours, and look at
you, I am almost tempted to retract the words and transfer
the observation to a class higher than you. Ido not wish to
accuse in your presence, but I shall tell the truth, that it is
the young men in the higher classes, who have money to
give and promises to make, who, by a foul, an unspeakably
foul and abominable system, leave the wrecks behind them
that afterwards become destroyer to you. Yes, if there be
any such young men present—members of a higher class—if
therebe a young man present whose conscience tells him he
has thrown off a wretched creature, whom he has robbed of
all that is valuable, with my heart's
st affectionsl would
beg of him to think that even for that crime
there isforgive-
ness by the blood of Christ, and that there is no allaying of
the disease that is in him but. by the blood that procures par-
don. 1 would ask him to reflect. Suppose he were brought
under the stings of remorse, what would he give, what would
he not give, to be able to end the abominations of which he
has been guilty ? But, suppose that when his remorse had
risen to the highest, he wasppdriven to search for the object of
his cruel crimes, in order to make her some reparation, and
that he found the same consequences of his crime bad sunk
her from one degradation to another until now she was dead
—dead of disease—dead in destitution—dead without one to
speak to her of her soul. I ask him of the unspeakable
agony with which he would be tortured, and how, again and
again in the dark recesses of the stillness of the night, the
sound would recoil on his ears—" Oh ! she's dead—alas
dead, and I cannot do anything to help her soul, ruined by
my sin I" If you would avoid this, I would entreat you in the
presence of all here, in the presence of your noble represen-
tative, in the presence of Liverpool, in the presence of
England, in the presence of the holy angels, in the presence of
our Lord Christ, and in the presence of blir glorious God, be
a society of chute young znen, (Bear, hear.) It id thus