The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-04-20 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE.

" THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF
THE GOSPEL," AND " THE YOUNG MEN'S
CHURCH OF ENGLAND SOCIETY."

TO TILE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SlR,—Reference was made, by several of the speakers at the
late annual meeting of the Young Men's Society, to the charac-
ter and conduct of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos-
pel. By one of the rev. gentlemen it was afhrmed, through the
medium of plain inference, that the venerable society only re-
quired from the candidate for a missionary appointment the
testimony of his college, the proof of his ordination, and the
evidence of his having subscribed to the articles of our church.
I shall content myself with proving, that this is far from
being the whole truth. I readily admit that the society does
institute an inquiry into the educational qualifications of her
missionaries ; and I have yet to learn that she either acts an
inconsistent or an uncalled-for part in doing so.
Had the clerical speaker taken the smallest pains to inform
himself on the subject, he would have known from the papers
of the society that a list of queries must be replied to by the
candidate in the first instance—that those queries refer to
vastly more than the mere fact of his education, ordination,
and subscription—that lie is required to appear before a board
of examiners in London—that lie is obliged to give a reference
to at least three beneficed clergymen—and that those clergy-
men are requested to state explicitly their opinions as to the
qualifications of the applicant. I submit the followin.” as an
illustration of the society's practice, and I believe it to be a
• fair specimen of the course taken under all similar circum-
stances :—A gentleman applied to the committee of the society
in the year 1843, for an appointment to one of our colonies.
The form of which I have spoken was forwarded to him, and
the names of three unsuspectedly orthodox clergymen were
inserted by him as those to whom lie was best known. They
were forthwith written to by the secretary; and, in addition,
a private note was sent to a fourth clergyman, who was consi-
dered the leader of what is now generally known as the evan-
gelical party in the parish where the candidate resided. The
society corresponded with this excellent man in the clearest
and most confidential manner, as to his opinion of the candi-
date in question, and received from him both ample and satis-
factory information. The preliminaries having been complied
with, the applicant was requested to appear before the board
of examiners; and I have it upon the best authority, that ques-
tions of the most searching character were put to him touching
the Tractarian controversy. Such, then, is.the practice of the
venerable society; and although it wisely declined entering
into any pledge further than that which has been deemed suffi-
ciently stringent to guard the entrance to the priesthood at
home, yet, in its secret and unobserved movements, it will
bear comparison with any of its kindred institutions, in its
endeavours to maintain the purity of the faith and the unity of
the spirit.
The Rev. Wm. Chave, who appeared at the meeting as a
deputation from the parent society, stated that the Propagation
Society had refused to give any pledge that it would not admit
known Tractarians to the list of its agents—that this refusal
had been made to the Rev. Messrs. Close and Bickersteth—
and that it implied so much positive unsoundness in the body
making it, that it became absolutely necessary to form a new
and, as I think, rival society. It was rather remarkable that
the speaker should have omitted to add, that, in the judgment
of the rev. gentlemen who made the demand upon the society,
its refusal to comply with their request was so far satisfactory
to themselves, that they declined leaving its ranks; and that
at least *one of them (the Rev. Mr. Bickersteth) to this hour
continues a parochial patron, and personal subscriber to its
funds!
I own, sir, that I am not an admirer of the spirit which
could lead a brother to bring such grave accusations against a
society upon whose existence the church in our colonies is
suspended ; and. although I hail with gratitude to God every
effort to enlighten the minds and convert the souls of our poor
Settlers in the dense forests of our remote possessions, yet I
am free to confess that I am suspicious as to the propriety of
new societies appearing, when the church possesses an institu-
tion hallowed by age, and living in the esteem and confidence
of her own faithful bishops. I object to such societies on ac-
count of the additional expense incurred by their management;
because they arc calculated to produce a spirit of hostility and
mutual distrust at home; and because the existence of so many
separate societies has a most unfavourable influence upon the
minds of the classes amongst whom the respective missionaries
labour.
Will you permit me to say, in conclusion, that I most heart-
ily subscribe to the following invaluable testimony of our
venerated and beloved diocesan ' • and I cannot but think that
hi 4 sentiments will command the confidence of all who wish,
in the language of our truly eloquent Canon M'Neile, " to
maintain evangelical truth with New Testament order."
The Bishop of Chester writes—" Though I have not been a
regular attendant on the meetings of the society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel, I have seen enough of its proceedings to
he satisfied that the committee, in regard to the clergy engaged
by them, have a single eye to their fitness, both as to personal
and ministerial character, for the duties entrusted to them.
And if, at the present moment, the resources of the society
should be contracted, which require so much addition, conse-
quences must follow which it is lamentable to contemplate.
Our colonies must be reduced to a state of spiritual destitu-
tion, a zealous body of clergy be withdrawn from the work for
which they have left their native country, and a check be given
to the progress of Christianity, at the very time which, in the
providence of God, appeared most favour able for its extension."
Yours, &c., G. W. W.
EXCISE INFORMATIONS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
Sia,--Having, as a Shopkeeper, been put to a great deal of
inconvenience in my business, either through the injustice of
the existing laws of my country, or by the unwise administra-
tion of those laws, by parties in whom is vested the powers of
execution, I feel that I have a claim to the notice of the public
Journals of this town, and I therefore hope you will permit me
to make public, through the circulating medium of your paper,
the following statement of facts, which in their character are
most oppressive.
On the afternoon of the 22nd of March last, a supervisor of
Excise, and two officers, entered my shop, and immediately
commenced a strict search over every part of my premises,
and after tasting, smelling, burning, and examining through a
microscope upwards of thirty samples of Snuff, these men pro-
nounced them to be highly adulterated, and informed me that
they must effect a seizure of the whole, and that they acted in
consequence of an information lbdged against me. Not being
the manufacturer of the snuffs about to be seized, I immediately
handed to them an invoice, (which I received that morning,)
of a parcel of snuffs then on its transit direct from the manu-
facturer in Glasgow, and which was at that moment on board •
the Commodore steam-ship, and offered to give them an order
to obtain possession of that parcel also; but this they at once
declined ; and I having no other method to clear myself in a
moral point of view, and to prove, (if the snuffs were impure,)
that I sold them just as they came from the manufacturer, than
by giving up that parcel, I wrote a note to the Excise authori-
ties, acquainting them that I expected the delivery of that par-
cel that evening, and requesting that officers might be sent to
take possession of it on its arrival; but not the slightest notice
was taken of my communication. The parcel arrived, and I
got a gentleman, who happened to be present, to seal it up,and
I sent the next day to the Collector of Excise, who sent an
officer to take the parcel away.
Samples of the snuffs seized were despatched to London, to
be analyized, and in a fortnight afterwards I addressed a letter
to the Commissioners of Excise there, in which I requested a
speedy decision in my case, and on Friday, the 16th ultimo,
I received their reply, stating, that the supervisor had been di-
rected to restore my snuffs. But he, previous to doing so, pre-
tented an account of expenses, amounting to 13s. ld., said to
be incurred consequent on the seizure, and which amount I
• was compelled to pay before my snuffs were returned to me,
but this I only did after taking legal advice on the subject.
This last appears to me to be as galling
.a part as any in the
whole transaction. A shopkeeper is
quietly endeavoming to
gain an honourable and honest subsistence; he is, at the in-
stigation of an informer, who may be interested in his downfall,
pounced upon by three excisemen, who tell him that his snuffs
are highly adulterated. They seize and carry off the whole,
and detain them for twenty-seven days. His business during
that time is partially suspended ; his rent, which is heavy,
must be paid; and the quarterly term is in this way nearly
one-third expired; and all this is occasioned by the machina-
Lions of an infamous informer, whose charges are not only not
substantiated, but are proved to be totally unfounded. He is
screened, and his name concealed; lie suffers not for his base
conduct; his false accusation costs him nothing; while the
falsely accused shopkeeper is victim iied by the shock which
his business receives—by not being allowed by law to obtain
compensation by an appeal to a jury of his countrymen, and
by being forced to pay the expenses attending the unjust sei-
zue T of his goods.
From the whole it appears that in England there is no law to
render these men responsible, and prevent them, a month
hence, from entering my premises, and subjecting me to the
same unjustifiable treatment and liability. I am, Sir, yours
very
llrespectfully,
S i A. MILEY.
2, Price-street, Liverpool,
19th April, 1847.