The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-12 00:00:00

THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIES.

On Sunday forenoon, the Lord Bishop of Cape Town
( Dr. Grey) preached at St. Barnabas' Church, and made
a powerful appeal in aid of a fund now raising with the
view of enabling an efficient corps of clergymen to accom-
pany his lordship to his newly formed diocese. The
Bishop stated that there were, within the limits of our
colonial dependencies, many millions of souls whom the
English church, as the natural mother and guardian, was
suffering to perish through lack of knowledge. These
souls were the legacy of the Saviour to his church, and as
they were, in vast numbers of cases, allied to us by no
distant ties of consanguinity, we were bound to strain
every nerve to recover and lead them back to the true
fold. Hundreds of thousands of the poorest of our people
had of late emigrated from this land. To whatever part
of the world they had gone, whether to southern
Africa, America, or Australia, they were for the most
part, carried to untrodden and desolate regions. The
vast extent of country over which they were spread
rendered it impossible that they could combine to have a
settled ministry among themselves ; and it had invariably
been found, that where their spiritual wants were not
provided for by the mother country and the mother church,
they were never provided for at all. Could it be matter of
astonishment, then, that in one colony alone 35,000 of
our brethren who went forth from this land, or the
descendants of those who went forth, had returned them-
selves as having no religion whatever ? No adequate
effort bad ever been made to instruct religiously the
thousands of convicts who had been banished to our
penal settlements ; and yet these men had never, pro-
bably, forsaken the right path had the church at home
provided for their religious training, instead of leaving
them, as thousands are still left, entirely without pastoral
superintendence. We had had possession of an impor-
tant territory at the extreme point of Southern Africa, for
half a century. We found it populated by heathen tribes
and a considerable number of Dutch, from whom we bad
taken it. We had since been pouring into it hosts of
emigrants, and we had peopled the coast for several
hundreds of miles with a superabundance of our own
population. What effort had we made, meanwhile,
for the propagation of the faith ? What had we done to
provide our poor settlers with the ministrations of reli-
gion ? For the English settlers we had provided three
clergymen ; for the troops whom we were compelled to
maintain there we had provided two clergymen, while the
colony itself had appointed eight clergymen. For the
heathen—the aborigines of the laud—we had done nothing.
The result was, our church was a byword, and our people
had, to a great extent, foriaken their only faith, or sunk
into indifference of all religion. Whilst the Church of
England had not a single convert to boast of in Southern
Africa, the followers of the false prophet bad won over to
Mahomedanism 8,000 souls, and were making 300 con-
verts at least every year ; and considerable numbers of
these from among the professing Christian people.
To remedy this evil, the Mother Church was now
sending forth a missionary bishop, telling him, at the
same time, that neither from existing societies, nor from
any other quarter, had she funds to place at his disposal,
but appealing, through him, to the liberality of British
Christians for the necessary aid. Not fewer than from
forty to fifty ardent and earnest ministers of the esta-
blishment had volunteered to recruit the missionary
ranks of Cape Town ; but to sustain these, and to erect
churches, schools, and other educational institutions,
funds were required, and must be obtained, if considera-
ble numbers of the members of the church were not to
be left utterly destitute. in the evening, the Bishop
preached another sermon, in aid of the mission at St.
George's Church, Everton, and to-morrow evening his
Lordship preaches for the same object at St. Mark's.

TERMINATION OF THE TREATY WITH THE
DOCK COMMITTEE FOR THE PURCHASE OF

THE BIRKENHEAD DOCK ESTATE.

We believe we may now state with tolerable certainty,
that the negociations between the Dock Commissioners of
Birkenhead and the Liverpool Dock Committee have ter-
minated without any arrangement being come to, or any
apparent probability of such a result. The terms offered
by the Birkenhead party, as stated to us, were such almost
to preclude their being seriously entertained. The Liver-
pool Dock Committee were asked to assume all the Ha-
hilities, bonded debt, &c. of the Birkenhead Commission-
ers,. along with the Acts of Parliament by which the latter
have felt themselves so seriously trammelled. This of
course would include any expenses which may arise out of
the deviations from the provisions of the acts in question,
in the construction of the present works ; and the pur..
chasers would also have to submit to the complications
formed by the conflicting bodies on the Cheshire side, in
whom at present the trust of the interests of the Birken-
head property is vested, and to take upon themselves the
collection of the assets improperly lent to the Town Com-
missioners and the Warehousing Company, from the want
of which the works are now stopped. Of course upon
these terms nothing could be done by men, who wish to
preserve a reputation for sanity.
We heard it stated yesterday that one of the largest
creditors of the estate (Sir I. L. Goldsmid) had expressed
his intention of himself undertaking the completion of the
works. What truth there may be in the rumour we
cannot pronounce upon further than that it came from a
trustworthy source. Sir Isaac may, perhaps, change his
mind when he comes to understand the magnitude of the
undertaking. It is well known, however, that he himself
and a few other parties are so involved with the works
that they would not be indisposed to sacrifice a trifle more
for the chance of extricating themselves from their present
dead lock.

ST. SILAS' ScnooLs.—We perceive that on Sunday
next, two sermons will be preached in St. Silas' Church,
for the schools in connexion with the church, by the Rev.
J. Jones, and the Rev. Dr. M'Neile. We are gratified to
find that these schools have been productive of the very
greatest blessings to the district, and the number of scho-
lars has continued to increase from the commencement.
BIRKENHEAD AND THE IRISH CATTLE.—A paragraph
is going the round of the Irish papersv,fiinertiiian;iiizrtgooimby-
porters of cattle from Ireland tht, as Birkenhead is now
a free port and market,_paltieAmitial
We should not notice this but for its being calculaigdlo
deceive. There is no charge upon coasting vessels entering
this port ; and although we are not anxious for either the
pigs or their drivers to come here, we cannot allow them
to be misled by the idea that they can save a farthing by
going to any other place than Liverpool.
CAUTION TO POLICE OFFlCERS.—Yesterday, several
cases came before Mr. Rushton, in which police officers
had apprehended parties in the streets on suspicion of evil
intentions, and consigned them to bridewell. In all these
except one, it appeared that the officers had no just ground
to imprison the parties, as they were not known as having
previously committed felony. The magistrate said they
were not justified in taking up parties on mere suspicion,
while walking out at night ; they must have done, or be
about doing some flagrant act before such a step could be
justified, and by taking it in these cases they subjected
themselves to actions for false imprisonment. In one of
the cases, two lads, against whom no ill was known, had
been taken into custody so early as half-past six in the
evening. The prisoners were all discharged, and a note
of the names of two of the officer's who had been over-
zealous in the highest degree was ordered to be taken by
the superintendent.
THE ALBERT DOCK.—We have before us a copy of a
letter from a commercial house to the committee of the
Albert Dock, complaining 'of some unnecessary trouble
and delay in regard to some wine and fruit landed at the
Albert Dock. The parties, it appears, were required to
make a deposit for the charges before the goods were de-
livered, as the amount could not then be ascertained.
This was done, but three different papers of the charges
were sent in from the dock office at different dates,—the
last, a week after the goods were sent off,—before the
parties could send the charges. They are of opinion that
one paper of the charges would have answered every pur-
pose, and saved the clerks much writing, and themselves
much trouble, and several journeys from place to place,
to get a sum of 9d. returned. They urge for simplification
of the system, the use of one statement of charges ; but
it is probable that the inconvenience does not rest with
the system, but we feel assured that the Dock Committee
will look into the matter, and remove all grounds for
future complaint. From other quarters we hear nothing
but praise of the despatch and accuracy experienced at
this dock.

ST. JOHN'S PHURCH.—This well known, and venerable
place of worship has, during the last six weeks, undergone
a thorough interior cleansing, repairing, and (in Lan-
cashire parlance) " beautifying; " and we rejoice to say
that the work has fallen into hands who, in doing it
ample justice, have reflected great credit on themselves.
The wood-work of the church has not been disturbed by
the painter's brush for twenty-one years ; and it may
well be conceived that the renovation, in this depart-
ment, was not determined upon before it was fully re-
quired. Next to the support of the ministry of the
church, stands, assuredly, the preservation and renewal
of the materiel of its fabric, a point which involves not
only the comfort and convenience, but the health of the
congregation. The Corporation have, therefore, shown
a wise discretion, in redeeming St. John's to its pristine
neatness and, we may add, elegance; for though the ex-
terior assumes not a highly classic 1, or florid character,
it is nevertheless one of the most approved, plain, ecclesi-
astical structures in the town, especially as regards the
tower. The whole of the wood-work and walls, the en-
tire painting, indeed, has been accomplished in a mas-
terly manner by Mr. Richard Edwards, of Fontenoy-
street. The wood-work represents the finest oak, or
wainscoat, beautifully and variously watered, so that
every panel round the gallery forms a specimen in itself
of the choicest feathered wood of that description. The
styles are equally in keeping, and the whole, finely var-
nished, presents a rich, beautiful and chaste appearance.
It might be well mistaken for the real material, highly
polished ; and all who have seen it accord with us in opi-
nion. The pulpit, to which moveable stairs were before
attached—the drawing out of which was attended with a
noise annoying to the congregation—has been greatly im-
proved in appearance and convenience by a light spiral
fixture stair, and here the painting, if possible, excels that
of the other parts of the building, the whole being of a
similar general tint, an appropriate medium between the
lively and the grave. The walls are painted in oil, of a
light stone colour, and the general effect is most pleasing.
The gas has also been fitted up in an improved manner,
giving ample light beneath the galleries, which were be-
fore in the shade. The church has also been fitted with
ventilating apparatus on a new and approved principle, by
Mr. C. Lloyd, which we shall notice at length on a future
occasion. The ventilating openings are in the roof, at
each side, over the gallery, forming trefoils, filled in with
perforated castings. We congratulate the numerous con-
gregation on the great improvements made in their place
of worship, and not less so their respected pastor, than
whom there is not a mere deservedly beloved minister in
the town. The church will be re-opened for divine ser-
vice on Sunday next, :the 17th instant. The only regret
we entertain is, that the church is, though pretty large,
far too small for the accommodation of the thousands who
would fain attend.