The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-29 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STINIIARD.

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.-LIVERPOOL

AUXILIARY,

The adjourned meetinz was held in the Collegiate Hall,
the Rght Rev. the Bishop of Chester in the chair. The
right rev. prelate looked exceedingly, and appeared to
have completely recovered from his recent indisposition.
He was warmly received by the auditory, by whom the
hall was well filled.

The Right Rev. CHAIRMAN, in opening the business,
said—He hoped it was considered no matter of surprise
that they now presented themselves again at the end of
six months instead of twelve months; for as he had
already stated, the jubilee meeting was an extraordinary
one, .held out of the usual course, and the collection,
liberal as it was, was devoted, as, perhaps, they well knew,
to objects altogether distinct from the general operations of
the society. The present was the regular meeting of the
society, held at the usual time, and any collection which
might now be made would be applied in support of the
great and permanent operations of the society. He was
well assured that all of them would regret that the opera-
tions of the society should in any way be curtailed. He
had said that this was an ordinary and usual meeting;
but it was, at the same time, marked by one circumstance,
which be was sure they were aware of as well as himself,
and which gave to it unusual interest. They had the
pleasure of seeing amongst them many of those who had
rendered great service to the missionary cause, and he
was sure h was only giving utterance to the feelings of
all present when he said that they rejoiced to see one
amongst them who had recently been appointed to a colo-
nial bishopric, and who was about to take his departure
from this country. (Cheers.) He made these observa-
tions with a greater confidence because he was told that
the gentleman to whom he had alluded was no stranger
there, but that in former years he was an active member
of the ministry in this neighbourhood, and that. during
that time, by his Christian character and conduct, he
drew around him that respect which was market by the
expression of kindly feelings from all classes. (Applause.)
He understood that he was shortly about to take his de-
parture from this country for his distant sphere of duty.
As they now bade him welcome, let him say—and he was
sure he was but speaking the feelings of them all,—(ap-
plause)—that when the day came for him to quit these
shores, he would carry with him their kind wishes and
prayers that God might bless his labours. (Low! cheers.)
The Rev. H. CARPENTER read the report, which com-
menced with an acknowledgment of gratitude to God, and
an allusion to the Ist of November last, when the jubilee
of the society was held. It appeared that in England,
Holland, Switzerland, and the missionary stations, the
jubilee bad been warmly kept up, and valuable exertions
in advancing the pecuniary cause of missions had been
made. The jubilee fund was £53,000 in the aggregate.
Liverpool had shown an increase in its annual subscrip-
tions to the society's funds. In the past year the work of
God had been progressing in the society's various fields of
labour. The report alluded to the bishop (designate) of
Prince Rupert Island, and his important labours in that
locality, with the expression of a hope that he might be
more successful than ever in the good work. The report
concluded by stating, that more missionaries were wanted
to carry the Gospel to India, to China, and other places,
to spread the Gospel of Christ. " The harvest was plen-
teous, but the labourers few : pray ye that the Lord of
the harvest will send forth more labourers into His har-
vest."

A NEW CURB FOR REFRACTORY REPRESEN-

TATIVES

A rather awkward question was brought before the
House of Commons on Tuesday evening, in the shape of
a motion, by Mr. D'Eyncourt, for leave to bring in a bill
for shortening the duration of. Parliaments. We have
'atown the day when the sympathy of Lord John Russell
and his friends would have been in favour of such a mea-
sure. His lordship, however, like other sensible and
prudent beings, is disposed to " praise the bridge he gets
over." He has in the present Parliament a subservient
majority ; and he and his friends are in office. The con-
sideration is a decisive one; and septennial parliaments,
therefore, are the height of human_ perfectibility. His

reasons for finality, in tl.is particular, are so amusing
that we wonder how he could have uttered them with a
grave face. His lordship says—

" if parliaments were triennial, it would he found that, in the
first year, much time would be lost through the inexperience of
new members; and, in the third year, there would he an indis-
position on the part of the house to decide upon great ques-
tions, which might exert an effect upon an election."

in what the inexperience of new members, which is to
lose time, consists, we are in the dark. It is to be pre-
sumed that men returned to the responsible office of le-
gislators have previously formed opinions of their own ;
that they know something of the various interests of the
empire, for which they have to legislate; that they have
read a little ; that, in these days of extended information,
the daily or weekly columns of the press have occasion-
ally been studied. If inexperienced merely in the art of
catching the Speaker's eye, and spinning long yarns about
nothing, we could thank such inexperience; or if it were
extended to a want of accurate perception of the proper
moment to drop in, from theatre or club, at the call of
the whipper-in, to record a vote upon a subject which
they have never heard debated, we should anticipate from
their inexperience more honesty, although it might be
blundering honesty. A little such freshness is, in our
bumble opinion, rather desirable than otherwise. With

respect to the indisposition which would exist in the
house on the third year to decide upon " great questions
which might exert an effect upon an election," we should
be happy to see it displayed every year. Under the pre-

sent sisiem men seen to think is-little of deciding one
of these great questions, which may unsettle the affairs

as of d is

His lordship was compelled a-little to qualify the con-
tempt of the principle of representation implied in his
reference to the fear of constituencies :
"He admitted that the advantages attending the present law
would be dearly bought if the opinions of the constituency and

the public did not influence the conduct of the members of
that house; but his opinion was, that since the Reform Act
general attention had been paid to the wishes and opinions of
the constituency and the public on the part -of the representa-

fires (!), upon whose conduct and votes they had as much in-
fluence as they ought to have."

We can imagine his lordship, whilst uttering this piece of
cool impudence, winking at certain honourable gentlemen
amongst the Peelite section of his supporters, whose re-
gard for the opinions and wishes of their constituents and
the public has certainly not been very exemplary.' Both
Lord John Russell and the gentlemen in question knew
at that moment that never have political perfidy, violation
of recorded promises, and betrayal of constituencies, been

so unblushingly displayed as " since the Reform Act" ;
and they must not be surprised if those constituencies
should begin to think of protecting themselves by short-
ening the duration of parliaments.

A HAPPY SUGGESTION

Sir James Graham has never been noted for the pos-
session of great wit or sprightliness. It is not striking,
therefore, to find him, whilst attempting the unusual
feat of a piece of liveliness, running his• head against
an idea to which, in his more deliberate moments, he
would not willingly have given utterance. On Friday
evening, during a debate upon a motion by Colonel Sib-
thorpe for a reduction of the salaries of the Members of
the Board of Admiralty, the following little incident
occurred :

" Mr. SPOONER admitted there were no peculiar reasons why
the Board of Admiralty should be reduced any more than any
other board, but there were ample reasons why every depart-
ment of Government should share in the loss and rßdection to
which the whole nation at large was subjected. Ile did not

the sacrifices which every one else was obli
T. GRAHAM.—Put them u.

pon corn rent

was a very good suggestion. As he would vote for e
tion which could be made with safety to the countr
support the motion of the hon. member."

" Put them upon corn rents
though the joke is mat apropos, coy
~
Both the members of her Majesty's Government, and
some other parties hesides, may be nearer losing a slice
of their incomes, and sharing the reduction forced upon
the agricultural classes, than they at present imagine.

The idea is good, al-