The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-10-23 00:00:00

BIRTHS

On the 15th July, at Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, the lady of
Lieut.-Col. ROBERT ROSS, Bengal army, of a son.
On the 6th instant, at the vicarage, Winclicomb, the lady of the
Rev. J. R. HARVEY, of a son.
On the gth instant, at Dingwall, Scotland, the wife of Mr.
KENNETH MACKENZIE. sheriff's officer, of two daughters and
a son. Honest Kenneth is said not to have been at all prepared
for such an influx of strangers. A waggish gentleman in Dingwall
had determined to get the three new members of Kenneth's family
named after the Queen, her mother, and her husband; but Ken-
neth's religions scruples stood in the way, for, one of the infants
haviag been taken suddenly ill, he ran to the minister and got them
orherwise named and baptized. They are all well and thriving.
On the 13th instant, at Crover, county of Cavan, the lady of the
Rev. JOSEPH DRUITT, of a daughter.
On the 16th instant, at Milland-place, Liphook, Hants, the lady
of the Rev. FREDERICK VINCENT, of a son.
Yesterday, at Bedford-terrace, Low-hill, the lady of Mr.
GEORGE FREDERIC FAIRCLOUGH, solicitor, of a son.

MARRIED.
On the gth ult., at Mount Vernon-plaTe, Baltimore, ISABELLA.
only daughter of GRANVILLE S. OLDFIELD, Esq., to JOHN S.
WALKER, Esq. of Rio de Janeiro.
On the 30th ultimo, at the Parish Church, Dean, Mr. WILLIAM
WHALLEY to Mrs. MARY ANN TAYLOR, both of Holliwell.
The bride is about fifty and the bridegroom seventy-two years of
age. This is the fourth time the former has vowed to .• love
honour, and obey" : the latter has thus, for the fifth time, led a
blushing bride to the altar.
On the Ist instant, Mr. JAMES FORSHAW to Mrs. M. A.
BREILLAT.
On the 6th instant, at Moffatt, by the Rev. Mr. Johnston, Mr.
BRYCE JOHNSTON BLACK, of this town, to JESSIE, fourth
daughter of Mr. GRIEVE, Moffatt.
Same day, at Cilciom Church, Carmarthenshire, Mr. W. F.
JEFFREYS, of this town, to ANNE, eldest daughter of the late
DANIEL PRICE, Esq., Provost Marshal of the island of Mont-
serrat.
On the 7th instant, at Bolton, Mr. RICHARD SHARPLES, to-
bacconist, of this town, to MARY, only daughter of Mrs.. SHEP-
LEY, brush manufacturer, Bolton.
On the Bth instant, at St. Mary's Church, Nottingham, by the
Rev. M. Wilkins, Mr. W. KEMP, of Mr. Holloway's company of
comedians, to MATILDA, daughter of Mr. HOLLOWAY.
Same day, at St. Werhurgh's Church, Derby, by the Rev. R.
Evans, Mr. HENRY KENT, of Liverpool, youngest son of Mr.
Joseph Kent, Alrewas, near Lichfield, to ELIZABETH, °DIY
daughter of Mr. JOHN HACKETT, Derby.
On the gth instant, at St. Paul's Church, Mr. HENRY HARRIS,
of Llanrwst, to ANNE ELIZABETH, eldest daughter of Mr.
MATTHEW WILLIAMS, of this town..
Same day, at St. Bride's Church, THOMAS, fifth son of Mr. WM.
POLSON, St. Mungo, Dumfriesshire, to ELLEN, daughter of Mr.
BARDSLEY, hatter, Stockport.
On the 13th instant, at West Derby Chapel, by the Rev. John
Jones, Mr. WILLIAM HENRY FITZHUGH to HARRIET
GEORGE, daughter of the late BENJAMIN HATTON, Esq.
Same day, at St. Bride's Church, by the Rev. John Stafford._
'
ROBERT ELLIS, Esq., of this town, to ELIZABETH, daughter of
N si
instant, a
Great ort f o
Bristol,r st s ie e
the "
Rev. WILLIAM Pgi fp.
MrOsn. 14th
APPLEFORD, of Toxtetli-park, to LOUISA, eldest daughter of
J. H, CHAPMAN, Esq., of Fremantle-square, Kingsdown,
Bristol.
On the 14th instant, at St. Philip's Church, by the Rev. T.
Bowstead, Mr. EVAN ROBERTS, grocer, to Miss MARY EVANS.
On the 15th instant, at the Collegiate Church, Manchester,
EDWARD, second son of Mr. WALKER, tanner, of Whiston, to,
ANN, eldest daughter of Mr. HOBSON, silk-manufacturer, 01
Cheetham.
On the lath instant, at Cheltenham, HENRY WRIGHT,
of Knutsford, Cheshire, to SARAH, daughter of the late JOHN
HARDMAN, Esq., formerly of Windsor-place.
Same day, at St. Michael's Church, by the Rev. H. Carpenter,
A. 8., Mr. JAMES ABBOT!', to Miss ALICE JONES.
Same day, at Hawkshead, by the Rev. Joseph Harden, the Bee.
F. BARKER, of St. Mary's Edge-hill, to JANE, the eldest daughter
of JOHN HARDEN, Esq., Field-head, Hawkshead.
Same day, at St. Helen's, by the Rev. Mr. Dunn, Mr. WO'
PENDLEBURY. of Bolton, to Miss WESTON, of the former place.
On the 20th instant, Mr. JOHN NICHOL, jun., Edinburgh. to
MARGARET, eldest daughter of DANIEL M'NEILLEDGE, En"
of H.M. Customs.
Same day, at St. Michael's Church, Mr. CHARLES GATCLIFF
to Miss JANE TAYLOR, both of this town.
Same day, at St. Philip's Church, by the Rev. T. S. Bowstead,
Mr. J. BELLIS, Queen-street, Chester, to Miss R. EVA.NS,
Holywell.
Yesterday, at St. Philip's Church, by the Rev. T. S. Bowstesd
M.A., Mr. GEORGE HENDERSON SMYTH, to MARY I.lllf
THOMPSON, daughter of the late Joseph Thompson, Esq., both
of this town.
Same day. Mr. FRANCIS SMITH, of Dublin, currier, to Mid
MARGARET ROBERTS, eldest daughter of the late Mr. Roberts'
of Storehouse, Cemmaes, Anglesea.

THE LIVERPOOL
YOUNG MEN'S ESTABLISHED CHURCH

SOCIETY.

On Wednesday evening, the first annual meeting of
the above society was held at the Amphitheatre. This
society, it will be remembered, was called into existence
in consequence of the strenuous efforts made by the
" Voluntary Church Association" against the Esta-
blished Churches of England, Ireland, and Scotland.
That association had been for some time organised in
Liverpool, and numerous lectures had been delivered
at the various dissenting chapels in town, in defence
of the voluntary principle, as applied to the mainte-
nance of religious worship. In consequence of these
systematic attempts to bring the Established Church
into disrepute, and to deprive this country of even the
very semblance of national religion, the Young Men's
Established Church Society was called into existence.
The meeting on Wednesday was the first anniver-
sary meeting of this society. It was announced that
the chair would be taken at half-past six o'clock, but
long before that time the magnificent building was
crowded in every part. At as early an hour as five
o'clock, parties were waiting for the opening of the
doors. The boxes were chiefly occupied by ladies,
whose presence at such meetings we are always glad
to-recognise. The pit, the platform, and the galleries
were densely filled by gentlemen. The pit was boarded
over on a level with the stage, in preparation for the
dinner of yesterday. Over the platform were nume-
rous flags, chiefly of a national character, including
the ropemakers' flag, containing a beautiful painting
of the death of Nelson, and the spirit-stirring motto,
" England expects every man to do his duty." The
stage was occupied by the principal friends and sup-
porters of the society, the objects of which are well
explained in the appeal and declaration in the circular
forwarded to the subscribers, from which the following
are extracts :

GRATIS.]

ablished Church of England." (Hear, hear.) How changed.o
a picture is this ! (Hear, hear.) Is this the result of pure
religious feeling ? I confess, gentlemen, I cannot conceive
that even the warmest charity can attribute it to such a feel-
ing. (Cheers.) They tell us now, that it is the very princi-
ple of all dissent, that no church establishment should exist,
I differ from them in opinion upon many points, but when
they make assertions as to facts, I may say that the facts they
assert are historically false. (Hear.) Dissent was not founded
on this principle. It is principle of a few years' growth. The
original principle of dissent was this—a difference of opinion
upon certain of the rights, ceremonies, and discipline of the
established church ; and the dissenters from the Church of
England, at that time, were as anxious as the warmest mem-
bers of the established church of the present day, that there
should be an established church ; the only point on which
they differed was, what should be her rites, her ceremonies,
and her discipline. (Hear, hear.) In an assembly like this
it is hardly necessary to enter into an argument to prove the
point ' • but we would ask them historically when this princi-
ple of dissent was first asserted ? Do we find it among the
Puritans of the time of James the First? Do we find it among
those who took possession of the livings of the Church
of England duiing the Commonwealth, whether Puritans
or Independents ? (Cries of hear, hear.) Who complained
of it as the greatest grievance and injury that ever was com-
mitted, That they were driven from those livings, which, by
their own account, no dissenter ought ever to possess ? When
was it that this principle was ? Was it during those nego-
tiations which took place, after that time between the dis-
senters and the church of England, for the purpose of ascer-
taining whether there was not common ground upon which
they could agree ? (Hear.) The questions at issue between
them were questions as to discipline, rites, and ceremonies :
and by the negotiation into which the dissenters entered at
that time with the church of England, they proved it was not
as an establishment that they quarrelled with her, but be-
cause of differences of opinion as to certain rites, ceremonies,
and discipline which the establishment supported. (Cheers: )
But I would ask, were these the opinions of the great lights
of the dissenting churches among themselves ? Were these
the opinions of those they look up to as the fathers of their
churches? Were these the opinions of Owen, of Flavel, of
Mathew Henry, and of Dowton—men to whom all Christians
look up with esteem ? All these men looked up with affec-
tionate reverence to an established church, and thanked God,
in their own words, " that the church establishment was most
irrevocably interwoven with the very constitution of our
country." (Loud applause.) It was not then the principle
of dissenters that churches should not be established ; they
became dissenters only because they differed on some points
from the church of England as it was established. But, as
to the opinion of dissenters themselves at the present mo-
ment. If it is their opinion that there should not be any
established church, it is not their practice. (Hear.) I
should like to know in what part of the British dominions
you have found dissenters declining an endowment where
they can get it. Take the Roman Catholics—they are dis-
senters from the church of England—they are dissenters
from that pure and apostolic church—(great applause)—from
that church from which we are lineally descended, and
which, I hope, we properly represent. (Hear, hear.) But,
gentlemen, looking at the Roman Catholics, where do they
decline endowments ? Who do we find now in the very van
of this attack on the establishment? Who do we find now
asserting, in the very broadest terms, that every man ought
to pay for his own religion, and that the government ought
to have nothing to do with it in any way, and that every man
ought to provide his own clergyman as he provides his own
doctor when sick ? Why, the Roman Catholics. And who
are the Roman Catholics? (A cry in the gallery of " Dan
O'Connell," and hear." Why, the Roman Catholics them-
selves, who have establishments all over the world where
they can get them, and whose bishops have an establishment
within the British dominions, and in every British colony
where they can persuade the government to grant them one,
and whose college at Maynooth, for the education of their
clergy are a proof. (Loud cries of " Hear." Do they de-
cline endowments ? (Cries of " Shame.") I have not heard
of one. Do dissenters decline endowments ? You are
perhaps not aware that the dissenters are endowed in almost
every part of the empire, more or less. They are endowed in
the first place by private endowments. I should have thought
that the same objections against endowments would have ap-
plied to private as well as to public endowments. But sup-
pose private endowments so differ from public endowments,
let us see if they are not paid by the state at this very
moment. (Hear, hear.) You are not, perhaps, aware, that
every year a consideable sum is voted for the maintenance
of presbyterian dissenters of Ireland, and that every year a
a sum is voted as pensions to aged and infirm dissenting mi-
nisters of that church ; and an allowance to the dissenters of
Canada and New Holland. The only quarrel there is, not
that government do not give them any endowment, but that
the government do not give them as much as they want.
These are the abstract haters of all endowments ! who say
that all endowments are unscriptural—that every man should
be left to provide for and pay his own parson as for his own
doctor, and that the Church of England is evil root and
branch, because she is tainted with this hateful plague spot
of endowment. (Hear.) I am however tempted to believe
that it is not hatred of endowments, but jealousy of endow-
ments that is the cause of all this. (Loud cries of " Hear,"
and applause.) Gentlemen, but I do not fear this crusade
against the Church of England. (Hear, hear, and great ap-
plause.) If I at any time, when at a distance from Liver-
pool, am afraid, that fear disperses the moment I put my
foot within its walls. (Cheers.) When I know how in the
cause of the church every class of this community is roused ;
when I know how public meetings can be assembled at the
call of the ministers of the church, whether in defence of the
church herself, or in carrying out any of the great objects for
which she was established ; when I hear the storm raging in
the distance, tremble as I may, when I enter the walls
of Liverpool, I feel I am not entitled to entertain any
apprehension. (" Hear hear," and applause.) Is it not
the peculiar honour and distinction of this country, that
whereas the title of " Youth," of" Young France," of " Young
Italy," of " Young Germany," is appropriated, as dissemina-
ting everything that is riotous, everything that is wild, every
thing formed of innovation, everything that hates what is es-
tablished, everything that is most inclined to embark in every
new experiment in politics or religion, England, " Young
England," may be considered as pre-eminent for her vener-
ation for everything that is established, for everything that is
respected, and what gives the greatest hope for the lover of
his country to look to? (Applause.) When I see the young
and the old banded together—the wisdom of the old and the
energy of the young ;—when I see high and low mingling to-
gether in this sacred cause—when I know what is done within
the walls of Liverpool—when I know that in the cause of
scriptural education thousands after thousands are raised in
a week—when I know how church after church is raised at
the bidding of our venerable diocesan, I feel that there is not
only hope for the Church of Englaud as established by law,
but that we have no reason to be apprehensive. (Cheers.)
And I cannot think that the dissenters have wisely chosen
their ground here. I cannot think that they have wisely
chosen to attempt to shew the attachment of this country to
our venerated establishment. They themselves, in fact, con-
fess it. In their published declarations they avow that, when-
ever they have come in contact with the church, there their
arms fall paralysed to their sides, and their weakness is con-
fessed. (Cheers.) They talk largely indeed ; but the fact is
so. (Hear.) I read an account this morning of what passed
at what is called a meeting of the " Young Men's Voluntary
Association," and one of the reverend speakers on that occa-
sion spoke of the Church of England as " a small minority."
I was struck with the assertion. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
I confess it was not my impression. I thought I remem-
bered a few facts, not quite in accordance with this very
bold assertion. I looked for a pamphlet which I thought
contained the facts I was in search of. I found it. It
was rather a curious return to parliament. In the year
1830, a return was moved for in the House of Commons, of
the number of places of worship of the Church of England,
and also of places of worship not of the Church of England
in Lancashire. That return was also moved for for all Eng-
land, but by some singular fatality I suppose, Lancashire
was the most favourable to dissenters, it is the only one
which has as yet seen the light. (Hear.) I believe the other
returns of this kind perished in the flames which consumed
the houses of parliament ; but happily for us the accounts
for the county of Lancaster were preserved. And what is
the result ; I think, when we choose the county of Lancas-
tar, we shall say that we do not choose the field of inquiry
the most unfavourable to dissenters and Roman Catholics.
We have notoriously the largest Roman Catholic population
in this county that exists in any part of England : and there
is also, in this county, an immense number of manufacturing
towns, and a larger proportion of dissenters than is to be
found in any part of England. Therefore we take the expe-
riment in a field as unfavourable to ourselves as any field we
could select in the whole empire, except Ireland. The result
is this. I find that in the year 1830 there were returned in
the county of Lancaster 590 places of worship, and 255,411
dissenters of every class, and at the same time the population
in the following year of this same county was 1,366,854. Let
us analyse this return for a moment, and see what proportion
the dissenters bear to the population of the whole county.
If we take all not members of the Church of England, and
compare them with the population, we find that the dissen-
ters in this way taken, form one-fifth of the population of
the county. (Hear, hear.) Thus, in the most favourable
field for them in all England, this " undoubted majority"
form one-fifth of the population taken in that way. (Hear,
hear.) But who are these dissenters ? We have perhaps a
right to look into details. We find amongst these 255,000
dissenters, 144,000 Roman Catholics. If we were asked to
look to any other parts of England except the county of
Middlesex and the county of Stafford, we should find the
Roman Catholics almost a non-existing minority. We may
throw out then the Roman Catholics which help to swell the
balance of the dissenters. Let us set aside, therefore, for a
moment, the Roman Catholics in this county, and we find
111,000 dissenters only out of a population 1,366,000. And
let me ask what are these dissenters? Why, more than half
of them are Wesleyans. (Applause.) Including the Wesleyans
they are only one-twelfth of the whole population of the
county, and one-half of them are Wesleyans—ardent friends,
attached friends of the established church. (Loud cheering.)
They rank like the ancient dissenters whom we look up to
and venerate ; they strive to advance the common cause we
have at heart. If they differ from us in minor points, they
see minor points of difference only between us and them,
and they see major and impassable points of difference be-
tween themselres and those who are opposed to the esta-
blished church. (Loud cheers.) Now, then, what comes
in this most advantageous field in all England, putting aside
the Roman Catholics, who would hardly enter into any other
calculation, of the " majority of the dissenters ?" We this
nd
55,000 dissenters in a population of 1,366,000, making
boasted " majority over the Church of England" one-twenty-
fourth part of the population of the county. (Loud cries of
" Hear, hear.") Then, I think, from this one specimen
you may learn the value of the general assertion • for if this
assertion is not true in the county of Lancaster, I defy them
to choose another field in all England in which their asser-
tions can have an approximation to truth. (Cheers.) Gen-
tlemen, having disposed pretty satisfactorily of the question
of the state being called in to support the religion of this
" small minority," I think we may dispose equally satisfac-
torily of the other assertion which they rely upon the most,
namely, that an establishment is unscriptural. I think I
have already stated enough to show that if it is unscriptural
in the Church of England, it is unscriptural in the dissen-
ters ; for although they are not so much endowed as the
Church of England, they are as much guilty of a breach of
the principle, for they are endowed as much wherever they
can. (Cheers.) But what do they mean by an establish-
ment being unscriptural ? Do they include in the Scriptures
the Old Testament or not ? If they do, the question is at an
end ; for we know that the Old Testament is entirely com-
p oesreed
soof theot i ios
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theyich t hwee
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onadl,state
one being lost and confounded in the other. Passing over
that, if they reject the authority of the Old Testament, what
do they mean by unscriptural, if they refer to the New Tes-
tament or to the Christian religion ? Do they mean only
this, that we do not find a church establishment absolutely
in so many words recognised in the New Testament ? Do
they mean that everything we do not find expressed in words
is the Nov Weatiumut it ie not lawful for ua to adopt? I

sla44:like to ask where they find Bible societies recom-
Hmended in the New Testament, or whetea " Young Men's
Voluntary Anti-Church Association"lris mentioned in the
New Testament, or where a " Voluntary Anti-Church-rate
Society" is mentioned. (Loud cheers.) We do not blame
them for these things, and say they are unscriptural; but we
say they are wrong, because we can point out how and why
they are not in accordance with the spirit of Christianity.
And if they can prove to us that a state taking upon itself a
charge of the highest interest, namely, that every subject in
these dominions shall have the opportunity of learning his
duty to his king and to his God,—if they can shew govern-
ment, in undertaking this duty, is acting contrary to the spirit
of the New Testament, then we will abandon the cause, and
say it is indeed unscriptural for a state to meddle with religion.
But they will find it a difficult task indeed to prove that it
is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, that men, when
they become governors, and assemble together to form a
common legislature, having charge of the greatest interests of
the people to whom they belong, and whom they are appoint-
ed to govern, lose all that responsibility which they had in
their individual capacity, and are bound as governors, to ne-
glect the greatest and the highest interests of those they have
to govern. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, I have gone rather
further into the general question, being led on by the spirit
of the subject, than I had originally intended. But, at the
same time, it is one so fearful in itself, and which interests so
deeply the feelings of every man who has at heart the welfare
and good of his fellow-creatures, that when once embarked
in it it is difficult for a man to put those reins on himself
which he ought. (Hear.) I can only say, for you, go on
and prosper in this great cause ; go on, the young men of
Liverpool, and show to the country a bright example which
shall encourage others in many other parts of the empire to
show a bold Christian front to those who would overturn the
Christian institutions of our country. Encouraged by you,
the rest of the country will rouse itself, and we shall find the
youth of Britain united in one common heart and spirit, under
the guidance, as you are here, of the clergy of your town, in
defence of those interests which are the most important and
the dearest to our hearts. (Applause.) You will now allow me to
call upon the secretary to read the report, by which you will
be made acquainted with the proceedings of the association
for the past year. (The noble chairman then resumed his
seat amid loud cheering.)
Mr. WATTHAM, the secretary, here read the
REPORT.

Your committee, in presenting to you the following brief
review of the first year's working of your association, feel
that they have a very gratifying duty to perform. They have
reason to hope that, under the blessing of God, it has been
instrumental in spreading that information on the subject of
national establishments for religion, which has tended to
confirm the faith of many of our brethren, and to strengthen
their attachment to the grand ~bulwark of our civil and reli-
gious liberties—our glorious established church.
It may perhaps be desirable to take a hasty glance at the
causes which led to the formation of our society. The atten-
tive observer of passing events cannot fail to have noticed the
gradual growth of that reckless desire for change which has
characterised the politics of the country for the last fifty
years. The unhappy results of the French revolution were
not confined to France. That distaste for existing institu-
tions, and that craving after novelty, which were manifested
in the movements of onr Gallic neighbours, soon extended
to our own land, and it became the fashion for the sedate
Englishman to ridicule the boasted wisdom of his ancestors,
and to demand the remodelling of that constitution which
had been for so many ages the wonder and admiration of the
world. This demand was obeyed—concession after conces-
sion was granted—but with each concession the demand for
innovation became the more clamorous, until at last a cry
was raised for a renunciation of that pledge of our national
allegiance to Christianity which is contained in our national
church. This cry was at first confined to those who were
either opposed to, or indifferent about, all religion, but ulti-
mately the ranks of our enemies became swelled by indivi-
duals who styled themselves, par excellence, evangelical
Christians. The descendants of Baxter, Owen, Matthew
Henry, and other dissenting worthies ; men who, while
they conscientiously differed from us on points of doctrine
or discipline, contended most zealously for a national church,
became the loudest in denouncing our establishment, and
the most industrious in demanding its separation from the
state. Sermons were preached, pamphlets were written,
to prove the unscriptural character of our church, and asso-
ciations were formed all over the land with the avowed ob-
ject of exciting hostility towards it, with a view to its final
overthrow. Oneof these associations was formed in our own
town. It was not destined, however, to remain long unop-
posed. To counteract its efforts, the Young Men's Estab-
lished Church Society was called into being. The object
aimed at by our society was, the spreading of that informa-
tion among our young men, which would make them, to use
the words of our address, " intelligent defenders of, as well
as devoted believers in, the faith they profess to hold." In
furtherance of this object, very valuable lectures have been
delivered by the Rev. J. Baylee, Rev. Dr. Tattershall, and
the Rev. Dr. Byrth. The lectures of the two first gentlemen
have been printed and extensively circulated. Dr. Byrth's
is now in the press, and will be published in a day or two. A
regular course of lectures in defence of establishments is now
in preparation, and will be delivered during the ensuing win-

ter.
An excellent library, consisting of works connected with
the principles of the society, has been formed for the use of
the members, but it is too limited to effect all the good that
we desire to see accomplished. We therefore respectfully
solicit our friends to aid us by donations, either of money or
books, to render it more efficient. Towards the close of last
year, a challenge was conveyed by your committee from the
Rev. J. Baylee to the Rev. J. Burnett, to discuss the merits
of our establishment. This invitation Mr. Burnett did not
think fit to accept.
[The account of the income and expenditure of the society
for the past year was introduced in this part of the report.
The total expenditure including a balance of £9 19s 9d in
hand, was £B3 16s 6d. Several handsome donations were
announced, and it was stated that the society owed about £l6,
but there was something to be placed to its credit.]
Your committee, deeming the subscription for members too
high, particularly for the working classes, many of whom
have expressed a desire to join the society, have agreed to
recommend that it be reduced to 2s 6d annually, instead of
5s as at present.
In conclusion, your committee earnestly urge the young
churchmen of Liverpool to rally round their own institution,
and render it worthy of our truly protestant town.
The Rev. Dr. BYRTH, rector of Wallasey, rose to move
the first resolution amidst loud applause. He said—My lord,
ladies, and gentlemen, I rise to propose " That the report
which you have had read to you, be printed and circulated
under the direction of the committee. ' And neither your
lordship nor any individual of this vast assembly will suppose
that, when I propose this resolution with all cordiality, 1
stand here committed to every sentiment and statement which
that report has contained. It must be obvious to your lord-
ship that there is at lsast one particular which it would not
be for me to stand here to advocate. I refer especially to
the allusion which is made !n that report to my own humble
services. (Hear.) The resolution which I hold in my hand
was sent to me before 1 knew what the report itself would
contain, and therefore it cannot be supposed that I stand
committed to anything but the general purport of the docu-
ment. After having read that document—after having heard
it again this day, I wish this large assembly, my lord, to
know that I do feel that there are very few things in it, even
as to the letter and the words, which do not meet with my
complete approbation. I cannot, even at the commencement
of this address, pass by the opportunity I enjoy this evening
of standing before you, without speaking of the person from
whom I believe the report which your lordship has heard has
emanated. This is the Young Men's Established Church
Society. And if we do well this evening, it appears to me
we shall press upon the great population of this town the duty
of young men, who profess to be members of the established
church, to study why they belong to that church. One of
the great advantages which our common enemy has availed
himself of, is the ignorance which has been found to exist
within our own community. It is wonderful that there should
be so little knowledge of the reasons why young men should
be members of the establishment : at the same time, when
we contrast their ignorance with the painstaking of those,
who are opposed to all established religious institutions. And
I would say, with regard to the secretary of your association,
—that report, I believe, being his own work,)—that he is an
example which other young men in the same station of life
would do well to follow. And I feel that Ido him no injury ;
because his modest, unassuming conduct, so far as 1 have
marked it, is that which really may be distinguished at the
same time, that it can only be for his good that it should be
told, that he never, in any of his entire course with those
with whom lie has had to do, usurps anything like a station
which does not belong to him. (Hear, hear, and applause.)
When I said, my lord, that I did not stand here committed
e
for every statement and every sentiment contained in tli
report which has been read to you, I nevertheless feltthate_
there were many statements and many sentiments to which
sen-
tencehih in the document itself. I can repeat the words my heart most sincerely responded, especially
report and say—" May ve that
the
edls of that
that it is no prejudice which makes
they appreciate it, show
round the refigiousinstitt
institution
a young not; t
hme
iern
country,of i vrooo 1 ral y
them churchmen, be ready to give unto every one a reason
why they belong to the great establishment of the country,
and while they look with every feeling of kindness towards
others, at the same time show, that they value their own
privileges in being members of the Church of England.
(Hear, hear, and great cheering.) My lord, it is, indeed, to
me, and has been for many years, a matter of deep surprise
that it should have been possible that this question should
have been brought before the public in the way in which we
are now obliged to treat it. 1 believe that at the present
day, at least, the expediency of the church establishment is a
proposition which would be all but universally admitted.
Your lordship has by anticipation robbed me of my own
argument, and taken out of my mouth the very names I
intended to use. The names which your lordship has given
utterance to were upon the notes which I had written in
preparation for the address which I am now delivering.
They had no notion of the beggarly, miserable, most con-
tracted, selfish, base notion, that because men differed in
politics, that therefore other men should be deprived of the
bread of life. The 2500 persons who, by the passing of the
act of uniformity—(with regard to the nature of that act I
say nothing ; perhaps there were things in it with regard to
which I then would have said much)—the 2500 persons who
left their livings in consequence of the proceedings of St.
Bartholemew's Day—the fathers and ancients of the modern
school of non-conformists—knew nothing of this little beg-
garly policy. Every one of them would have been an advo-
cate for the church establishment. (Applause.) There was
not a man of them who did not retire from his parsonage
weeping, not merely because he and his children were reduced
to absolute beggary, but because the land had been deprived
of his instrumentality as a minister of the word of life. They
were not so wise. It was left for us in these days of the
" march of intellect" to discover—(applause)—that a nation
might prosper when it actually and nationally renounced
the duty of teaching its subjects their duty towards God.
My lord, you have mentioned the names. They were upon
anythingplze tim eon
fd ar
es
loingoe.n",
my paper, and will bear to be mentiened again, and therefore
this assembly shall once more hear them : they were Owen,
e.a.n"Nl\'VLlTOMiknnaoiNPV:a
(Applause.) Every
and eloquence, must know that they were
and Baxter, anEdvl-elroywm•
non-conformists ; but they were men for an establishment—
every one. And so were Watts, and Henry, and Doddridge;
there was not, in any of their pages, the leprous spot that
would have condemned them to the flames. Had they been
tried by the spirit of the sanctuary, they would not have sa-
crificed the interests of the establishment to mere selfish,
wretched, political prejudice. (Loud applause.) But, my
lord, we stand upon higher ground. God forbid that we
"
should argue the question of religious establishments upon
the mere principle of expediency. Ido not believe that any
of the names which your lordship has brought before this
large assembly could have been quoted for, what 1 cannot
hesitate to call so ungodly an opinion as expediency," with
regard to the instruction of the nation—that which might be
suitable to the circumstances in which a ruler would find him-
self placed. (Hear.) Christianity might be an exceedingly