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

CORRESPONDENCE.

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

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
Sia,—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 affirmed, 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 he is required to appear before a board
of examiners in London—that he 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 following 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 he 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 an 1 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
tahned,ratherth
ata theremarkable
judgment
that
speakeras I think,
should
of the rev. gentlemen who made the demand upon the society,
its refusal to comply with their request was so far satisfactory
yit.tedlttowaasdd,
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 aersonal 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 are 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
his sentiments will command the confidence of all who wish,
in the language of our truly eloquent Canon " 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
be 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 favotmi able for its extension."
Yours, &c., G. W. W.