The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-08 00:00:00

CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Bishop of Oxford, on representations made to him
of the injurious effect of his connexion with the Sterling
Club, in consequence of the sceptical opinions enter-
tained by its founder, the late Rev. John Sterling, has
withdrawn his name from the society.
TRINITY CHURCH, PENN, BIICKINGHAMSHIRE.—This
beautiful church, which has been built and endowed at
the sole cost of Earl Howe, was consecrated on Tuesday
by the Lord Bishop of Oxford. The living has been pre-
sented by the noble founder to the Rev. Edward Bicker-
steth, M.A., formerly curate of Holy Cross and St.
Giles's, Shrewsbury.
NEW SEE OF HONG KONG.—Dr. Smith, the Bishop-
designate of Victoria, has issued a prospectus of his plans
for the benefit of the Chinese. He proposes to avail him-
self of the aid of native Evangelists, and to employ the
press for Christian purposes. His present object is chiefly
to collect £5OOO, in order to complete a college which is
already begun at Hong Kong, and to set it in operation.
Mr. Maskell, who was lately examining chaplain to the
Bishop of Exeter, and who it would seem is determined to
run over every obstacle to his favourite doctrine, that there
is no salvation without baptism, in speaking on the sub-
ject the other day, in connexion with the crucifixion, said,
that " when the thief was on the cross, when our Lord's
side was pierced, and the water came out from the
Redeemer's side, it was thrown over the penitent thief, and
therefore he was baptised and redeemed from his sins !"

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE
JEWS.—The usual annual meeting of this society took
place on Friday, at Exeter-hall, and was remarkably well
attended, the large room being crowded in every part.
Lord Ashley presided, and among those present on the
platform were the Marquis of Blandford, Lord Claude
Hamilton, the Rev. Lord Arthur Hervey, the Rev. Dr.
March, the Rev. Hugh Stowell, Lieutenant-General
Lutter, Major Satheby, Captain Layard, Dr. Macgowan,
and an immense number of the clergy. The children be-
longing to the society's schools were also arranged on the
platform, and sang a hymn, in which the meeting joined.
THE BISHOP OF LONDON AND THE WESLEYAN MIS-
SIONARY SOCIETY.—The Rev. Mr. Jordan, Vicar of En-
stone, was engaged by the Wesleyans to preach a mis-
sionary sermon on Thursday evening for the society at
the Rev. T. Mortimer's chapel, Gray's-inn-lane. A few
days since, however, the Rev. Mr. Mortimer received a
letter from the Bishop of London, forbidding the use of
his chapel for such a purpose. Mr. Mortimer wrote a
letter in reply, urging the claims of the Wesleyans, their
attachment to the Church, their many missions in heathen
lands, where no Church missionary had set his foot,
and begged his lordship to reconsider his decision. The
reply, however, was peremptory, and the sermon was not
preached.
THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.—One circumstance invi-
ting remark, at this particular season, is, the remarkable
increase of pecuniary means, in the aggregate, with which
God has been pleased to aid and bless the efforts of the
various societies which are labouring to support his glory.
The Church Missionary Society, after raising a Jubilee
Fund of £53,000, finds its ordinary income—not dimini-
shed, which might reasonably have been expected,—but
actually increased by a further £2,000. The Jews'
Society, we believe, reports about an equal advance. The
Church Pastoral-Aid Society about £6OOO more than last
year; the City Mission about £3,000; the Scripture-
readers' Society, and the Ragged School Union, both, a
considerable increase. And to all these must be added
the large contributions to Mr. Close's new Training
Schools, and the £9,000 raised for the London Society
having a similar object. Bringing all these into one view,
we may calculate that very nearly £lOO,OOO was raised
last year over and above the ususal sums raised year by
year for such purposes.—Record.
THE BISHOP'S LEAD MINES IN WEARDALE.—When
Bishop Barrington was promoted to the see of Durham,
the agent for the Beaumont family waited upon him, as
is usual under those circumstances, to agree for the sum
to be paid in lieu of the ninth bin of the ore to which he
was entitled under the lease for three lives on which the
lead mine was held. The bishop told the agent that he
was ignorant of the value of the lot ore," but was ready
to agree to whatever price he said it was worth. The
agent estimated the value at £BOO a year, which was about
the sum paid to the former bishop ; but he afterwards
v ,lued it at £9OO, which sum was agreed upon as the rent
to be paid during the bishop's incumbency. lf, however,
turned out that the " lot ore " was worth £4OOO a year ;
and the bishop having been advised by his friend, Sir
Samuel Romilly, to file a bill in Chancery, he obtained a
decree for a rent of £4OOO a year, and for all the arrears
(£70.000.) He laid out about 10,000 of the arrears in
building and endowing a school at Bishop Auckland.
Other portions of the money were applied to increasing
the living at St. Andrew's, Auckland (which was very
small), and to various charitable purposes. The rent for
the mine continued at £4OOO a year during the late
bishop's incumbency, but it is now increased £3750; and
the rector receives £3750 for his tenth bin.—Church
Leases.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOLS.—The Committee of
the National Society for Establishing Schools in connexion
with the Church of England, have, in their present
monthly paper, made an appeal for increased support,
and have brought out some important statistics on popu-
lar education. The result of an inquiry instituted by the
society is, that in the Church of England schools there
are 1,422,659 children, 955,865 of whom are under daily
instruction. The rooms in use are 21,904, of which 16,715
are regular school-rooms. A fact regarding these rooms
is mentioned, to which the parties concerned would do
well to pay instant attention, namely, that one-third of
these regular endowed rooms "are neither virtually nor
legally secured for the purposes of education." A remedy
should be devised for this defect. The salaries of the
teachers, of whom 9853 are males, and 10,352 females,
appear far from satisfactory, the whole sum being but
£621,362 yearly. Awarding, as the usual proportion,
two-thirds of this to the males, and one-third to the fe-
males, the sums will only average £4O yearly to the
masters, and £2O to the mistresses, or less the 16s.
weekly for the former, and less than Bs. for the latter.
Suppose a residence to be added, this sum is not the
price of properly prepared teachers. At the end of 1847,
the daily schools in connexion with the society were
17,015, and the pupils are now considerably above one
million in number.

THE SCENE AT BRISTOL.-Our readers are aware that
at a recent meeting in Bristol, to hear from the Rev. F.
Close a statement relative to the Training College at
Cheltenham, the proceedings were unwarrantably inter-
rupted by Archdeacon Thorp. Every effort has been
used by the Tractarians to justify this dignitary's pi-weed-
ings, but we incline to the opinion that the opposition
from that quarter acquires an additional sting from its
being directed personally at Mr. Close, as well as in prin-
ciple against the Training Schools. It will be in the re-
collection of our readers that about four years ago no
little sensation was excited in religious circles by the con-
duct of Archdeacon Thorp, in reference to the repairs of
the Round Church at Cambridge, against the wish and in
opposition to the protest of the Rev. R. R. Faulkner, the
incumbent. Dr. Thorp and the Camden Society decor-
ated the sacred edifice in all the idolatrous glitter of a
Romanist Cathedral. They erected a stone altar, and
committed several other Anti-Protestant extravagancies.
Against these innovations the Rev. F. Close publicly pro-
tested, and warmly espoused the cause of the injured in-
cumbent. The stone altar was removed—the decorations
left incomplete or also removed—and the Cambridge
Camden Society, with its venerable president, was beaten
out of the field. This little circumstance may probably
furnish some key to the extraordinary—and we may add
outrageous—proceedings of last Thursday.—Cheltenham
Journal.
THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.—The
annual meeting of the friends of this society was held
last week at Exeter Hall. The Marquis of Uholmondeley
was in the chair. Among those on the platform were the
Marquis of Blandford, Lord Teignmouth, Mr. Plump-
tre, M.P., Mr. Heald, M.P., the Rev. Hugh Stowell, &c.
The chairman said that he occupied the chair on the
behalf of his noble and much respected friend Lord Bex-
ley, the president of the institution, who he regretted
to say, owing to his advanced age and delicate state of
health, was unable to be present to-day, but he (the
chairman) could confidently state that he (Lord Bexley)
was present with them in spirit, for his lordship was never
more warmly attached than now to the cause of this
society. He (the chairman) sincerely felt the honour of
his present position. He considered it an honour to any
man to he called on to preside over such an assembly,
though whilst he felt that honour, he unfeignedly also
felt humbled by a sense of his own inability to perform
the duty of chairman in the way he would wish. The
British and Foreign Bible Society had now, under the
blessing of God, proceeded in its good work for 45 years,
I and during that period there had never been a time when
the exertion of its energies was so imperatively required
as at this moment, when owing to the extraordinary
political events that had taken place, the barriers which
had so long existed to the circulation of God's Word had
become suddenly and unexpectedly broken down. En-
gland had been most mercifully excepted from the troubles
that had fallen on other nations, and for what purpose
had such tranquillity been permitted but that we might,
by our influence, extend the knowledge of the Word, and
thereby promote the welfare of mankind.—The report of
the society's proceedings for the past year was then read.
It detailed the successful exertions of the society in cir-
culating the Scriptures in France, Germany, Holland,
Sweden, Italy, and various other parts of the world. The
receipts for the year amounted to nearly £lOO,OOO. The
report was adopted, and several eloquent appeals having
been made in behalf of the society, a vote of thanks to
the chairman concluded the business of the day.
TRACTARIAN DENIERS OF INSPIRATION.-Mr. J. H.
Newman's denial took this form—that if we would not
believe the most monstrous fictions of the Breviary, we
had no right to believe the miracles of the Bible ! That,
logically, Ne had no better ground for crediting the re-
surrection of Lazarus, than for believing in the discovery
of the true Cross ! And Mr. Froude has since informed
us, that Mr. N.'s instructions to his pupils were, that
Campbell and Paley were annihilated in argument by
David Hume. Mr. -Fronde himself took the shorter and
plainer course of common, vulgar infidelity, upon the
common, vulgar grounds. He could not and would not
believe that there could be such a place as Hell, or that
the Son of God could or would descend upon earth, be-
come incarnate, and die. The hero of the Sterling Club
never distinctly declared his creed ; all that we know of
him is, that he rejected Christianity, and became an ad-
herent of Strauss and the German neology. Mr. F. W,
Newman is a mild and seductive follower of Froude. He
does not shock the reader by such bold declarations of
unbelief. He is more of the cast of thought of the Ster-
ling Club; of which we have some recollection of hearing
that he is or was a member. He thus speaks :—" There
is no book in all the world which I love and esteem so
much as the New Testament, with the devotional parts
of the Old," &c. " Yet I protest against the attempt to
make it a law to men's understanding,.conscience, or soul ;
and am assuredly convinced that the deepest spiritual
mischief has occurred to the Churches, from taking the
Bible (or New Testament) instead of God himself, as our

' source of inspiration." " The interpretations of the Old
Testament given in the New are very frequently fanciful
and mistaken ; and the expectation of Christ's speedy
return in the clouds of Heaven, to bring about the gene-
ral judgment, is a manifest error which pervades the whole
New Testament." Here, then, is a fresh ally in the cru-
sade against the Bible. From Exeter College comes Mr-
Froude, from Baliol Mr. Francis Newman, and in London
a club is formed of which the very symbol and designa-
tion is the name of one of like opinions. We said, three
months since, that Infidelity seemed likely to be the next
foe that would try the Church's strength and constancy ;
and assuredly the signs are daily growing plainer, that a
struggle of this kind is very near at hand.—Herald.
CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.—The fiftieth annua
meeting of the society was held on Tuesday, in Exeter-
hall. The Earl of Chichester in the chair. The veport
' stated that the ordinary income of the society had not
, fallen below that of last year, notwithstanding the extra-
ordinary efforts which had been made to raise the jubilee
fund. The following was the statement :—General fund
paid to the parent society, £89,767 7s. sd. ; special funds,
£1826 Os. 10d. ; local funds raised and expended on the
missions, £9410 Os. 2d. ; total, £101,003 Bs. sd. The
first head of income, out of which the general establish-
ments of the missions were supported, exhibited a small
advance upon last year. The expenditure out of the
general mission fund had amounted during the year to
£87,441 Bs. 2d., which exhibited a surplus of income over
expenditure to the amount of £2325 19s. 3d. That
amount would be carried to the credit of the capital fund.
The precise amount of the jubilee fund was not yet known,
as it was still open, and additions to it continued to be
made. When the accounts were made up, it amounted
to £53,127 10s. The report proceeded to speak of the
state of the society's missions in North-west America,
China, Western Africa, North India, South India, Ceylon,
East Africa, New Zealand, and other places. In many
of these the successes of the missionaries had been great,
but in others they had failed in making way amongst the
native population. The committee had deliberated with
much seriousness as to the manner in which the jubilee
fund should be disposed of. It was intended that
£20,000 should be added to the fund for the relief of dis-
abled missionaries, and for the education of their children.
H therto the amount required for that purpose had been
£5OOO a-year, which was taken from the general fund.
For the future, this expense would be defrayed out of the
£20,000, and the annual subscriptions and donations
towards the fund. In the second place, a sum would be
devoted to providing a home for the missionary children.
where they might be educated. Thirdly, £lO,OOO would
be devoted to the endowment of native Christian churches
in Tinnevelly, Kishnagar, New Zealand, Sierra Leone,
and other places. The surplus would be devoted to minor
objects. The society would be enabled to send out during
the present year ten missionaries. The institution at
Islington, however, could not supply more than the cur-
rent wants of the society, so that an appeal must be made
to the universities and to the church at large for men im-
bued with sound Evangelical and Protestant principles.
To such men they could offer posts of importance, where
the highest intellectual attainments might be exercised.
In 1847 the committee placed before the society some
alarming facts with reference to the appearance of Popery
amongst some of the congregations at their various sta-
tions. Such appearances had not wholly passed away, but
there had been no fresh eruptions. At Kishnagar it had
been entirely withdrawn. In New Zealand it was wan-
ing ; and if they looked to Europe, they found that the
College of the Propaganda was prostrate and inactive. Still
there might be a tremendous recoil, and now, therefore,
was the time for increased energy. in order that the ground
might be pre-occupied. The report was unanimously
adopted. The meeting was addressed by the Bishops of
Norwich, Winchester, Cashel, and Hong Kong, and by
the Earl of Waldegrave, the Rev. H. Stowell, the Rev.
W. Smith, Mr. Gurney Hoare, and the Rev. Mr. Towns-
end. At six o'clock there was another large meeting of the
society in the same ball, the Marquis of Cholmondeley
presiding.