The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-12-11 00:00:00

BISHOP OF CHESTER'S CHARGE.

Two or three passages in this document, just published,
maybe considered to be of general interest :

"Many subjects present themselves, towards which I might
be tempted to direct your thoughts. One more especially
concerns the Church at present; because it is daily assuming
a more serious and alarming aspect, and threatens a revival
of the worst evils of the Romish system. Under the specious
pretence of deference to antiquity, and respect for primitive
models, the foundations of our Protestant Church are under-
mined .by men who dwell within her walk, and those who
sit in the Reformers' seat are traducing the Reformatiom. It
is again becoming a matter of question whether the Bible is
sufficient to make man wise unto salvation ; the main article
of our national confession, justification by faith, is both openly
and covertly assailed: and the stewaras of the mysteries of
God are instructed to reserve the truths which they have
been ordained to dtspise, and to hide under a bushel those
doctrines which the apostles were commanded to preach to
every creature.
" It is not from any feeling of favour towards these new
doctrines that I do not add my voice to the warnings which
have been already raised, and ably raised, against them. 0)
It is rather because I sincerely believe that the voice of warn-
ing, however needful elsewhere, is little needed here. We
may regard it as a compensation for urgent and laborious
duties, that the business of a diocese like that of which we are
members, leaves no time for fables and endless genealogies,'
and questions which are not of godly edifying.' We have
too much to do with realities to be drawn aside by shadows.

"Addressing you, my reverend brethern, I have no need
to insist on this as the primary object of education. We, at
least, are all agreed that this object must be the knowledge
of 'the only true God, and of Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.'
And before we abandon this object, or are diverted to any
other, it must he proved to us that man is not an immortal
being: or it must be proved to us that the nature of that im-
mortality, its happiness or misery, does not depend upon his
conduct and character in this present life; or it must be
proved to us that the interests of this transitory state are of
inure importance than the welfare of the soul for ever. Till
this be proved to our satisfaction, we shall make religion the
primary object of our concern : because we hold that the
nature of the education should be determined by the nature
of the being whom we instruct; and that the being whom we
instruct is to be educated in the knowledge of God, because
on the knowledge of God his eternity depends.
"We cannot, therefore, descend from this principle. Our
practice, however, would be the same, even if it were not
grounded on such high reasons. We should still make reli-
gion the basis of education, if our first object were merely to
improve and enlarge the mind; for we know not how this
purpose could be effected better than by exercising the mind
upon those great things which the Bible discloses : the things
pertaining to the dealing of God with man : the things which
extend the sphere of mental vision, and carry us beyond what
is seen to what is unseen. There are those who talk as if the
Bible depressed the mind, and fettered the understanding.
They seem to have forgotton that the greatest intellects which
our country has known, those who have reached the highest
degrees of what may be termed worldly knowledge, have also
been most conversant with the Bible, and soared the highest
in spiritual contemplations.
"But, indeed, we may go further still, and meet the pro.
moters of secular education on their own ground, the ground
of personal advantage and general usefulness. Still I make
religion the basis of education, and maintain that thein-
struction which prepares man for eternity is also the instruc-
tion which is most profitable for time. We desire to make
men useful to themselves and their families; useful to the
community in their several stations. Let it be supposed for
a monient that we have this object, and no other. They are
not made so because their heads are stored with knowledge,
unless their minds are also brought under regulation. (2) And
we have no secret for regulating the mind, except that dis-
closed in Scripture; no other way of providing against those
vices which are alike pernicious to the state and destructive
to the individual, except through the operation of those great
truths which, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, govern
and guide the heart. The passions are not controlled, the ap-
petites are not brought into subjection, because the mind is
made acquained with literature, or with the arts, or with arith-
metic. Have these that power over the man, as to withdraw
him from the haunts of vulgar dissipation, or overcome the
allurements of profitable companionship? If such were the
effect of these pursuits and this sort of knowledge, we should
witness it in that higher class of society which is universally
conversant with them. Unhappily, we know that the fact is
otherwise: we know, by sad experience, that the greatest in-
tellectual strength may exist together with the most grievous
moral weakness; we know that it is no uncommon case to
find transcendent talents accompanied by pre-eminent depra-
vity, and superior mental powers only rendering more con-
spicuous the corruption of the heart. It is indeed an km-
miltating fact, though a fact too important to be concealed,
that when we have succeeded in obtaining the most cultivated
or intellectual man, we have no security that we have ob-
tained the man who is an useful member of the society to
which he belongs. He may be as little what, as lovers of
mankind, or as lovers of our country, we desire him to
be, as the very man who has been least raised above the
ground he treads upon through the process of education;
he may be as much a slave to debasing vice ; he may
be as neglectful of those whom he ought to cherish; he
may be reckless of any moment beyond the present; he
may be improvident, dishonest, cruel. And with this unde-
niable fact before us, how can we close our eyes against the
truth, that it is in vain to give men knowledge, unless you
also give them the qualities which make knowledge valuable,
such as industry, prudence, temperance, and that in order
to make men industrious, and temperate, and provident, you
must supply them with the motives from which such virtues
spring ;—such motives as really influence and affect the
heart. For the man who is wise in the things which Scripture
teaches, he has also that wisdom which is really to be desired
for this world. He may be deficient in secular acquirements,
but his moral understanding is enlightened, and he is raised
above his fellows by qualifications which are alike accepta-
ble to God, and approved of men ; he is sober, and diligent,
and prudent, and upright, and affectionate.

" Three years ago it was my duty to represent the great
exertions which were required, that, instead of being over-
whelmed by the swelling tide of population, we might be
prepared to receive it as our own. 'l hat call has not been.
made in vain. In every part of the diocese, according to the
degree of exigency, it has been nobly responded to. One
spirit seems to animate the whole. The result has been
already seen, and 4he words of the prophet are already veri-
fied--' In the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not
my people,' there it has been said unto them, 'Ye are the
sons of the living God.' (Hos. i. 10.)
" During the last three years, in that important district
which lies between the Ribble and the Mersey, the erection
of more than 50 churches has been undertaken, of which 32
have already received their ministers and their congregations,
and the rest are fast advancing towards their completion. (31
The neighbouring county of Cheshire is actuated by the same
spirit. In the parish of Mottram, where, till lately, there has
been but one church, there will soon be four, Four others
have been commenced in the same populous district; whilst,
in the agricultural parts of Cheshire, attention has been
directed towards the smaller, but not less neglected hamlets,
and 18 chapels already attest the anxiety of the incumbents
and the land proprietors to supply those spiritual wants which
had been formerly remembered only to be deplored.
" To whichever side we look, we find here what must gra-
tify It is gratifying that we are thus recovering our popu-
lation to the Church. It is equally gratifying that so many
should be engaged in this object, and that the sums which
these churches have cost, have been provided, with only two
exceptions, through the private bounty of the community. (4)
If the leaven which we desire to spread, the leaven of Chris-
tian principle, had pervaded the whole mass, it would not
be left for individuals, for a portion of the country, to do that
which is the business of the whole. The privilege of honour-
ing God with our substance would not be deprecated, but de-
sired. It would be treated as an essential part of national
duty, that the whole people should be furnished with the
means of public worship and scriptural instruction. And if
the allotted means were proved insufficient, as is notoriously
the case, through the result of perversion or alienation, other
means would be cheerfully supplied. But the summit cannot
be reached at once. That which has been gradually lost
must be gradually regained. The importance of an adequate
establishment for religious instruction must be proved: it
must be shown by experience that no magistrate is so effec-
tive as the minister of the Church; no force so available as
the force which religion actuates; no laws so influential as
the laws of God.

" On turning to the more favourable side, we have further
ground for consolation in remembering that the spirit which
has so brightened our prospect here at home, is not confined
to a single district, but is felt throughout the land in all its
length and breadth. A sense of common interest has been
awakened; a conviction that the destitution of one province
is the concern of others; thab when one member of a na-
tional church suffers, others suffer with it. And this has
been no barren, inoperative sentiment; but has expanded
itself in the formation of two societies which have ministered
to our aid in the crisis of our exigency. The Pastoral Aid
Society is furnishing to this diocese fresh means of grace to
more than 30 places, each containing an average population
of nearly 8000 souls, and each possessing, before, the services
of only a single minister. The Additional Curates' Society,
following the same useful course, has already given assist-
ance to 20 other districts; thus supporting the Church in the
quarter where she in herself was necessarily weakest, and
without foreign aid was incapable of bearing her own bur-
then.

^"
The result of these various measures has been the acces-
sion, since last we met, of at least 100 labourers to the field;
and in the most needy districts of Lancashire the effective
force of the church is more than doubled. God grant that
the harvest may be proportionate! We dare not boast; we
dare not anticipate effects which we are totally unable to
command. But we are justifiect in forming sanguine hopes,
from the manner in which the people on their part have re-
ceived the benefits intended for them; from the willing at-
tendance given to schools and lectures, from the readiness to
learn, which seems to follow, or even to precede, the oppor
trinities of instruction."

(1.) "See especially, 'Revelation, not Tradition,' by Dr.
Shuttieworth; `Capes on Church Authority;' `Charges by
Archdeacon Browne and Mr. Townsend'

--(2.1 "Appendix 111.
(3.) "Not included in the enumeration are the churches
of Ashton, South-Shore, Thornton, Freckleton, and Out-
Rawcliffe, in that district of Lancashire called the Fvlde ;
which, together with those of Yealand, and Levens, and
Milnthorp, and Grayrigg, and St. Thomas's, Kendal, in
Westmoreland, and Brathay, near Ambleride, have a!1 been
consecrated during the same period.
(4.) " The churches of. Scotland, near Rochdale, and Ha-
bergam Eaves, in Burnley-, were built by her Majesty's
Commissioners."

It is probable that the military force in India will be forth-
with augmented to the full war establishment.

BREAKING MACHINES.—We are sorry that the practice,
which prevailed to such an extent in the county of Norfolk,
and succeeded by stack burnings, prosecutions, and execu-
tions, in 1832, is again commenc►ng in the same part of the
country. In this ueigbourhood, no less than three threshing
machines were cut to pieces and destroyed in the night of
the 26th of November. They had been put down at the
barn doors ready to be used the following day. On a former
occasion these things were generally done in open day, and
by large gangs of men. On this occasion the perpetrators
are not known, coming as they did in the night, and getting
away without detection.—Sujolk Chronicle.

CHARTIST'S DEMONSTRATION AT MOTTRAM.-- On Satur-
day night a "grand demonstration," by torch light, at Mot-
tram, was expected to have " come off;" but, owing to some
cause, it dwindled down to a meeting in the small room of the
Pack Horse in that place. Placards had been liberally
posted a few days before, headed "Englishmen assert your
rights," and calling upon the radicals of Ashton, Dukinfield,
and Stalybridge, to meet at eight o'clock, at the above place,
where they would be addressed by Messrs. Deegan and other
known friends. Deegan was very lately a spinner at Staly-
bridge, but now is a delegate to represent Hyde and neigh-
bourhood in the " national convention" at London.
Stockport Advertiser.