The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-27 00:00:00

THB ARCHBISHOP OP DUBLIN ON TUB FAIA3N..EITATN-

mESTO OF As TH3 aIIEI3TIAN axemaxar."

His GEACR, in moving the first resolution, said, this
was not a society merely for distributing Bibles, or for
merely telling to the heathen that their rites were super-
stitious and absurd, and that Christ brought the light of
the Gospel into the world, though sueh efforts were most
desirable when nothing more could he done. But this
society provided for the propagating, establishing, and
diffusing of the Church to which they belonged, by sending
out its authorised ministers. He felt himself called upon
to advert to accusations which had been thrown out
against this society, particularly from the part of the
country from which he came—that the society abetted
Romanising principles and supported the views of a par-
ticular party in the Church. There could be no doubt
that, so long as there were parties in the chureh, there
must be in every society more or less of an admixture of
such parties ; but as the society was not in itself faulty,
the most obvious remedy against the evils complained of
was to urge as many as they could to join and to support
the society, in order to keep it free from those infections
of religious error which they so much dreaded, and not for
them to aid in the bringing about their own prophecies
by leaving the society in the hands of those to whom they
objected. (Cheers.) He was happy to say that the sister
island's statistical documents had refuted these misstate-
ments, the authors of which had expressed their regret
in private, and he hoped they would do so in public. He
said " public," because he did not think that men who had
trumpeted forth their accusation should only whisper forth
their recantation. He believed that there was no country
which owed more to the society than did Ireland, and he
had therefore always supported and endeavoured to make
its objects and claims as much as possible known among
the inhabitants of that country. He regretted one
circumstance connected with the society, as it in some
instances tended to mislead people : it was called the
" Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts," from which some persons believed that its labours
were confined to the conversion of the heathen. God for-
bid that he or any one should be indifferent to the spiritual
welfare of any of their fellow-creatures, but, such being
the name of the society, people argued that they ought
first to reclaim those at home, as there was much to be done
in their own country. But what was meant by foreign parts?
Could they include under this category 30 dioceses abroad
in which this society exercised its functions and which be-
longed to this country, and the inhabitants of which were
British subjects? Their first cares ought to be for their own
people—not merely those within these islands, but those
included in the colonies of the British empire. (Cheers.)
He spoke of this with strong feelings, on account of the
emigration which hpii Of late year takell place from Eng-

land, and still more largely from Ireland, and the evils or
benefits which would result from the way in which these
vast numbers were enlightened or left in darkness would
bewilder the mind to contemplate. Their efforts ought,
however, to be partly directed to the conversion of the
heathen, but this was far from being incompatible with the
furnishing of means of grace to their own people, for the
two objects were most infinitely connected. Every settler
in a foreign colony was a missionary to the aborigines—of
evil, if unenlightened and irreligious, spreading and
adding the vices of civilised life to the ferocity of the
savage ; but if enlightened and religious, a missionary of
goodness and truth, which he taught in a most effectual
manner, through the influence of his own example.

CHARGES AGAINST THE COLONIAL BISHOPS MET BY

THE BISHOP OF NEW ZEALAND,

The BISHOP of NEW ZEALAND, in moving the second
resolution, said, that after twelve years' absence from this
country, he had returned to make the report of his own
diocese with mingled feelings. He would rather have
presented his report in the Jerusalem-chamber, or wherever
the councils of the church were carried on ; but, as he
owed his own appointment chiefly to a meeting which had
been held in this very room, he was not one to raise an
objection to the fitness of the locality, and hoped that the
object for which they had met would sanctify the place.
It was true that the society had not only done much
for the colonial church, but also, on account of it, borne
much unmerited reproach; and, as regarded himself,
whatever portion of reproach had been hitherto borne for
him by the society, he was now come among them to bear
it for himself. It was not without surprise that he had
seen it stated in print that the colonial bishops, with but
two exceptions, were hindering the spread of the Gospel.
For his own part, he met such charges with the most
perfect good humour, as he believed they had never been
made when there was any person present to refute them,
and he would forgive all who brought such accusations
against himself if, instead of bringing them before the
tribunal of the newspapers, they would bring them before
the authorities of the church. (Cheers.)
We shall not add a line to this straightforward and
conclusive justification of the management and operations
of a society which has stood the test of more than a cen-
tury and a half, and on the existence of which the Colonial
Church may be said to depend.

VIE SOCIETY'S PRESENT POSITION.

The following is a brief but comprehensive statement
of the society's present position:—

Though for upwards of a century the society's ope-
rations had virtually been limited to the North American
and West Indian colonies, yet, within the last thirty
or forty years, they have been extended to India,, Aus-
tralia, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, South Africa,
and Borneo, and within the same period 25 additional
colonial bishoprics have been founded, and in 21 of these,
the society has .missionary stations. The total sum ex-
pended by the society during the year 1853, for the main-
tenance, in whole or in part, of 447 missionaries, and 700
catechists, schoolmasters, and theological students (over
and above funds specially appropriated by the donors) was
£56,000.
THE SOCIETY'S FESTIVAL.

The 153rd anniversary festival in aid of the funds of
this society was held, on Thursday, at St. Paul's Cathe-
dral, and was celebrated with a full choral service, per-
formed with great effect under the lofty dome. A con-
gregation of from 5,000 to 6,000 persons was present, and
a sermon was preached by the Archbishop of Dublin, from
Philippidns, iv. 17. "Not because I desire a gift, but I
desire fruit that may abound to your account." The lord
mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen were present in their robes
of office. There was also a numerous attendance of bishops
and church dignitaries, who, with the civic authorities,
went in procession along the centre aisle of the cathedral
to their seats under the dome at the commencement of the
service. An imposing effect was produced by the cele-
bration of divine worship within the great area of the
cathedral in the midst of so large and devout a congre-
gation. In the evening the lord mayor entertained the
archbishops and bishops most sumptuously at the Mansion-
house. Among the company were—his Grace the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury and Miss Sumner, his Grace the
Archbishop of Dublin, the Duchess of Sutherland, the
Lord Bishop of London and Mrs. Blomfield, the Lord
Bishop of Winchester, the Lord Bishop of Bangor and
Mrs. Gilbert, the Lord Bishop of Chichester and Mrs.
Jackson, the Lord Bishops of Lincoln, Llandaff, Oxford,
Ripon, St. Asaph, St. David's, Worcester, Cork, Down
and Connor; the Bishops of Adelaide, New Zealand, and
Natal ; the Marquis and Marchioness of Westminster, &c.
Covers were laid for 260 guests. Ills Grace the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury responded to the toast of " The
Archbishops, Bishops, and Church Dignitaries present,"
and the Archbishop of Dublin having had his health pro-
posed as the preacher of the sermon in the cathedral, in
replying to it, spoke of his great anxiety that the immense
emigration from Ireland should be accompanied by corres-
ponding efforts to extend the light of divine truth among
the emigrants in the new homes selected by them.