The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-09 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL YOUNG MEN'S ESTABLISHED
CHURCH SOCIETY.

The half-yearly general Meeting of the members of this
useful and praiseworthy society was held in the Music-hall,
Bold-street, on Friday evening. There was a numerous and
highly-respectablesiuditory.
On the motion of Mr. Rowere, seconded by Mr. MAT=
THEWS, T. B. Horsfall, Esq., was called to the chair.
The Rev. Mr. JAMES having supplicated the divine bless-
ing on the procedings,
The CHAIRMAN then rose and said, that however long he
might be disposed to occupy the attention of the meeting, he
felt that he could not state the objects of the meeting more
clearly than they had been defined in the excellent address
which was issued by the committee in October last, wherein
it was stated that the grand object was to disseminate -
amongst our young men information upon the principles of
national establishments for religion, and thus make them
intelligent defenders of, as well as devoted believers in, the
faith they profess to hold. • He was convinced that the more
this information was disseminated, and the more the princi-
ples of our church were known, the greater would be the
number of its defenders; and he felt assured that many who
were now amongst its most inveterate enemies would thus
become, as some had already done, its warmest and most
devoted supporters. When he said this, he alluded not to
those lay members of dissenting congregations who, could
pass unobserved from the chapel to the church ; but he spoke
of those dissenting ministers, some of whom had already
joined, and others were in course of joining, our national
church'. (Cheers.) And he believed that he was at liberty
to state the fact, that during the past year no less than four-
teen or sixteen—he was not certain which—dissenting minis-
ters had applied to our own excellent bishop for episcopal
ordination. (Much applause.) He felt that, in a meeting
like the present, consisting chiefly of the members and friends
of the Young Men's Established Church Society, it were
needless for him to dwell either on the propriety or the
principles of the national establishment; but, as a general
principle, it was desirable at all times, when endeavouring
to get others to co-operate with them in any undertaking,
to show them the advantages to be attained ; and he thought
that it would not be a difficult matter, at any time, for the
members of that society to point out to others the advan-
tages of a national establishment, the first of which, that
he would allude to, was the union that existed between
church and state. (Hear, hear.) And in looking at this
question, they ought to look at it in a double point
of view. They must look at it as churchmen; they must
look at it as patriots ; and while they might not acqui-
esce in the extravagant statements of the benefits said to be
derived from the state by the church, yet, as patriots, they
must acknowledge the great benefits which were derived by
the state from the church. It carried out the great object of
the union, as had been admirably and clearly stated by an
eminent statesman, which was not to make the church poli-
tical, but to make the state religious. (Cheers.) Another
advantage which he thought existed in our national establish-
ment, was that the church compelled her ministers to hold
fast the form of sound words ; and although the most unfaith-
ful minister, or the most designing nmn, might by possibility
find his way into the church, yet they had their beautiful
liturgy by which to test his conduct and his preaching. An-
other advantage of our national church was, that her mem-
bers united in prayer, Sabbath after Sabbath, for our Queen,
our country, and our church, thus keeping alive the princi-
ples of loyalty, of patriotism, and of churebmanism. (Cheers.)
And although it might be an easy matter to enlarge on this
subject, he should only mention one circumstance, to show
the desirableneas of keeping these feelings alive. It was a
fact, already publicly stated, that in the recent insurrection
in Canada, there was not found among the prisoners, or
among those known to the rebels, a single member of the
national church. (Cheers.) It was not, however, sufficient
to be satisfied with knowing and making known the advan-
tages
of the established Church of England; but he trusted •
that it would ever be the object of that society to make
known, as opportunity offered, the destitution of many of the
poorer members of the church, in different parts of the coun-
try. On a former occasion, in that room, he took the op-
portunity of pointing out the want of church accommodation
and pastoral superintendence in that part of South Wales where
the recent Chartist disturbances took place, and although such
statements might be out of the provipce of the chairman of that
meeting, he begged for its indulgence while he referred for a
moment to that part of North Wales where the Chartist dis-
turbances took place, in order to substantiate the opinion he
then expressed, and in which he had been more and more
confirmed, that the insurrection and insubordination arose
in a great degree from the want of church accommodation
and pastoral superintendence. In the two parishes of North
-Wales where the Chartist disturbances took place, Llanidloes
and Newtown, there was a great want of church accommo-
dation and pastoral superintendence. In the former, a pa-
riah 'l2 or 13 miles in length, by four or five in breadth, and
containing a population of about 5000 souls, there was but
one clergyman, and one church capable of holding but 500
persons, with but 30 free sittings. (Hear, hear.) In the
parish of Newtown, with a population of 9000 souls, there
was also but one church capable of containing 500 persons ;
and although it,was in contemplation to erect another in that
parish, yet in neither one nor the other parish was there a
national school. (Hear, hear.) If they wished to come
nearer home, and ascertain the state of things, it was only
necessary to refer to the statistical documents which had
been issued, showing the state of the population in this county.
It was said that in the 130 years antecedent to the last census,
which was taken in 1831, the increase of population in England,
including the agricultural districts, had been at the rate of
135 per cent. ; in the mining and manufacturing districts,
the increase had been 300 per cent. ; and in Lancashire, our
county, 800 per cent. New, with such an increase of popu-
lation as this, lie should like to know what they had all done.
voluntaries and churchmen, in providing for the spiritual
wants Of the people ; and it ought to be borne in mind that
since then (1831) the population had increased one million
and a half. How could they be surprised at insurrectionary
movements, or anything else, taking place in any part of the
country, while such a state of things as this existed ? It was
not his intention, however, to dwell any farther on this sub-
ject. (The speaker sat down amidst loud applause.)
The Rev. WILLIAM FALLOON move the first resolution.
In the absence of those who were better qualified to advocate
the cause in hand, he had consented willingly, a regarded
his holy office in the establishment, but unwillingly as re-
garded himself individually, to take part in the proceedings
of the evening. So long as he found it written in his Bible,
" Quit you like men and be strong ;" so long as he found it
-written upon the pages of.inspiration as a commission for
those who stood upon the walls of Zion, to "•cry.aloud and
spare not, lift up thy voice like. a trumpet,' and shew my
people their transgression ;" so long as he found it written in
aa_ a- • I 13V3V,•‘..t ...1...A. nf
and my word in this sinful and adulterous generation, of him
also will I be ashatned when I come with my father in great
glory ;" so long as he found these words in the pages of his
Bible, so long must he consider indifference to be desertion
from the banners of Christ. (Hear.) It was upon these
grounds and these alone that he had consented to speak to
the first resolution, which was " that this meeting, loving the
Church of England because of her scriptural character and
the national pledge which she offers of our adherence to
christianity, and considering she has been, under God, the
means of securing to England the unexampled prosperity en-
joyed by her for the last three hundred years, cannot but feel
surprise (the rev. gentleman read regret) and sorrow at the
incessant efforts of her enemies to injure her." He gladly
responded to the sentiments of this resolution. It contained
several facts—first, that it was a scriptural church, founded
upon the word of God alone, being so founded it must be a
national blessing, and being so established upon the basis of
the scriptures, it could put forward no other pledge but a
pledge of security to the nation. Now, the pledge our church
offered was a pledge of national adherence to christianity.
The next fact was that a church so founded, offering such a
pledge must, by maintaining the doctrines upon which she
was based, by maintaining the glorious gospel of the grace of
God,—that church, so maintained and established in any
country, must secure prosperity to that country. Therefore,
in the words of the resolution, we acknowledged our belief
that, under God, the Church of England had been the means
of securing the prosperity enjoyed by this country for the'
last three hundred years. Feeling, then, our hearts embued
with love to our glorious establishment, loving her not for the
sake of the loaves and fishes, but because she had the princi-
ples of eternal truth enlivened and preached within her walls,
we could not but feel regret and sorrow at the incessant ef-
forts made by her enemies to injure her. To give a brief
sketch of the history of the church. We found that, imme-
diately after man had apostatized, a witness for truth sprung
up in the person of Abel, and the character of Abel was the
character of the church from that moment to the present. 'lt
was by faith that he was enabled to offer up a more accepta-
ble sacrifice than Cain. Abel, in his experience, exhibited
a feature which had characterized the church to this
moment. He was persecuted and condemned ; he was
murdered by Cain the apostate, thereby embodying in
his own person the Christian character of the church,
and in his experience and final end, the circumstances
of an apostate church, which was always unscriptu-
rid. A church that stood fast upon its principles and to the
gospel must always be persecuted. (Hear.) From that
moment the principles of truth were carried forward by indi-
viduals, each individual being a link in the chain ; they spread
it into families. There were witnesses for God even in those
times, and so the worship of God spread on from family to
family, till the family which had it most eminently within
them were made bond slaves in Egypt; in the metropolis of
idolatry. There a great number apostasized, but there were
a few witnesses for Jehovah among them •, anti after enduring
slavery for five hundred years they cried to God; he heard
their cry, and sent help to rescue them. He sent them help
by Moses ; and after bearing with them through the wilder-
ness, and with their ingratitude, he at last brought the seed
of Jacob into the possession of the promised land. There
they flourished ; the heathen were driven out ; the worship of
God became the established religion ; and so long as the
worship of the true God was maintained, so long prosperity
rested with that nation. Herein we saw the Old Testament
instructing us, and upon this ground we stood now in de-
fence of an Established Church. Whilst David was their
king the; might -have vied with any nation in the world,
though at first they were but a handful,'because they main-
tained their allegiance to God, and because they worshipped
only the true God. But woe unto apostacy! David was •
gathered to his fathers, Solomon, his son, reignedin his
stead. For a time he stood fast, but strange women were
brought in ; they were idolatrous women, and brought
idolatry into the palace : the king became infected with
idolatry, the nation caught the infection from the king ;
idolotry was maintained, temples were built to idols, the
worship of the true God declined, and from that moment
away went the nation's blessing. God gave them up to their
enemies ; the nations around eatue and carried them into
captivity. Thus the nation became captive and enslaved
when idolatry came in. (Hear, hear.) This history was in-
' structive to us. Paul said. " what is written aforetime is for
our instruction," and these things were written that we
might read and understand. (Hear, hear.) When that
people were in affliction they began to seek their God again ;
they sighed for the days of their fathers, for the glorious
times of liberty, for the glorious temple wherein they had
worshipped the God of their fathers ; they felt the thraldom
of a degrading superstition ; their sighs ascended to God ;
the Lord heard them, and he put it into the heart of an
earthly monarch that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, and free-
doom given to the Israelites to return to their own land.
They returned; the temple service was renewed ' • but after a
short time hypocrisy in worship succeeded. There was
nothing but the outward form of worship ; nothing but the
coldheartedness of discipline. The spirit of love was not
there. Here and there were some few witnesses for God, but
in general there was nothing but coldness and heartlessness,
till at last the time for the change of dispensation caine,
and then the truth was to go forward in brightness and glory.
It was amidst this universal darkness that the star of
Bethlehem arose. The meeting knew how he and the apos-
tles were insulted and despised ; they had the whole Jewish
priesthood against them ; they had the rulers of the nation
as their enemies; in the latter days the whole Roman power
leagued itself' against them, and the neighbouring nations,
forgetting their differences, joined with the Roman power
against them, so that the whole world was opposed to this
little band, who were anxious to maintain the truth. Ott
they went. They protested against the errors of the day ;
they broke through the craft of hypocrisy ; they maintained
that the light had gone out, and that they had come to re-
kindle it. They were, in consequence, brought before kings
and rulers ; they bore imprisonments and inflictions without
number, yet on they went maintaining their opinions, con-
sistently protesting against the errors of the day. They
preached the Gospel, and the word of God prevailed. Now,
although it began with such a small beginning, yet the power
of truth overspread the country ; there were many faithful
witnesses for the truth ; and atter the lapse of four hundred
centuries paganism was banished, and christianity once again
appeared dominant in our land. But, as usual, after all these
revivals, there succeeded a calm, christianity. became languid
and seemed to die away. There were a few witnesses for
truth here and there; gross darkness seemed to enshroud

the land. Pagan Rome became papal Rome ; the Pope took
the chair ; he ruled' the victory, and once again the light
seemed io.be Put out. " But a monk in 'his cell met with a
dusty folio. It was the Bible, and it was Luther who was
reading it. (Cheers.) He found by it how far the nations
had departed from God. He raised his voice in words of
power; be spoke against the idolatry of the land, and against
the coarse superstition -that had put out the truth. He
revived the doctrines of the cross ; he declared that all
'
images should be cast down, and the Lord alone be exalted ;
he maintained in his latter days, that he who sat upon the
chair at Rome, was a usurper and Auto-Christ. (Cheers.)
That voice increased ; the mighty echo swelled, for salvation
was upon it, and men felt the comfort of the liberty of the
gospel : they felt the thraldom of papal Rome; the little
band swelled into a multitude ; the voice of the gospel
reached England, and Rome tottered to its base at its pro-
clamation; (Loud cheering.) Then came a noble band of
men forward in defence of the truth, they watered the plains
with their blood ; they gave their bodies to be burned in
Smithfield. (Cheers.) The blood of the martyrs proved
the seed of the church ; the seed flourished • it rose and
bkught forth fruit; and the word of God, and the gospel of
Jesus Christ became once again established in this kingdom.
(Hear.) But, again, after all this trouble and exertion,
there came a coldness. The violent protesters fell asleep,
and again coldness began to gather, Rosnanism remained
quiet for a long time—for so long as the truth prevailed,
popery was dormant—but its evil workings were going
forward ; as the gospel declined in the pulpits, so cold
morality succeeded ; and as many seized upon livings for
the sake of the loaves and fishes, more than from the love
of souls, Roinanism began to usurp its place. The church
became fractured in her powers, and popery seemed to
flourish for a season. Now he dated the progress of all
dissent from the moment that coldness succeeded the
doctrines of Jesus Christ. From that moment Arianism,
Soeinianism, and all the various forms of dissent began
to take the place the church should have held. We
.could not wonder, so long as the church did not take her
place, that dissent should spread ; but the church having
slept her sleep, she seemed to have awoke as a giant re-
freshed with wine. Our Zion seemed to have put on her
beautiful garments; she was now appearing in her strength,
and could we be surprised that these upstart sects—and tins
whilst she slept—should start forth in opposition to her?
We could discover the spirit of sonic of this opposition ; it
seemed not to be an honest desire for the glory of Jesus
Christ, or for the spread of the gospel, or else why did they
not protest against the established church whilst she was
asleep? (Cheers.) Then they were all quiet; they were
gathering their own strength. The church was at peace,
doing little good or little evil, she was not exerting herself as
she ought, he grieved to say ; but was it the part of a true
friend to hide her faults ? But now when she did take her
place and boldly stood forward,as,the national bulwark, when
she entered her most solemn protest against the. usurpation
of a foreign tyranny—for the Church of England was the
protesting church of this land. (Hear.) When she seemed
to raise her voice preeminently (he would not say exclusively)
against the beast ;_ all their energies were roused against her,
and they cried " Down with her, down with her even to the
ground." (Cheers.) In all this we saw it was not the love
of the truth that actuated them. or why not join the Church
of England in the noble fight? Here we saw the lurking
jealousy that existed againSt the establishinent. In all this
he saw nothing good. (Hear.) He saw nothing but that
restless spirit of democracy which would exalt itself above
God himself, and which would establish itself; he saw not
in it the spirit of truth, or an honest desire to spread the
knowledge of Jesus Christ. They put us upon our defence :
we were therefore obliged to band ourselves together and to
form these societies, to maintain the principles of the church
by which we would stand, or by which we were determined
to fall. (Cheers.) It was not because the church was esta-
blished that we defended her, but because she contained
within her the pearl of great price. Upon these grounds
alone—upon the scriptural character of the Church of Eng-
land, we loved her, and belived that she had been the means
of giving to England the unexampled prosperity she had en-
joyed. The rev. gent. concluded by moving the resolution.
The Rev. Dr. TaTrEasium. rose to second the resolu•
tiou. It was with much pleasure that he came forward to
take some part in the proceedings of this evening. He felt
it a privilege to have this repeated opportunity, after havii g
expressed his sentiments with reference to the design ar.d
constitution of the society at a former meeting, of giving ut-
terance to the same approbation, and of declaring to them
again how grateful he felt to Almighty God that he had put
it into their hearts to associate together for the purpose for
which the society had been established. He could indeed
have rejoiced greatly had there been no occasion for any as-
sociation of this nature, and had the cause not arisen which
made it necessary that they should associate as a society in
defence of the Established Church. Such occasion, however,
had arisen. We were not the aggressors. Other associa-
tions had been formed with a view of assailing the Esta-
blished Church with, as we believed, so little reason in their
nature, that it became a sacred duty which we owed to our-
selves, to the Church, and to the Great Head of the Church,
our Lord Jesus Christ, not to be backward to defend that
sacred institution of which He was the Head, and which was
constituted upon the model which He had handed down,
through the instrumentality of His inspired servants, to us.
(Applause.) It would not be necessary to go in detail
through all the particulars of the resolution which had been
so ably commended to their attention, but he would venture
to make one-or two remarks with regard to some of those
particulars. He might, however, observe, that he felt
strongly, and was gratified to hear, the remark of his reve-
rend brother with reference to a clause at the close of the re-
solution. He had intended to have made a similar remark
hlinself; but he was happy to unite in the views just ex-
pressed, and to approve of the alteration of the word " sur-
prise" to " regret." He did not feel surprise, though he
might feel sorrow, at the endeavours of the enemies of the
Church to injure her. His surprise was that any who called
themselves Christians, and who professed to be actuated by
the love of God, and by zeal for the salvation of souls, should
be the enemies of the Church of England. (Cheers.) But,
being enemies, he was not surprised that they should endea-
vour to injure her; he was only sorry they should continue
to walk in that enmity against the church, and, as he believed,
against the interests of religion, which was so much in ac-
cordance with the interests of the adversary who " goes about
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." The re-
solution said, in effect, that they (the Society) loved the
Church of England. They had good reason to love the
Church of England. But love was sometimes established
upon very different principles. There was love founded upon
prejudice, arid love from impulse; but neither of these were
of great value, as they had in them little or nothing of the
principle of permanency. We were commanded to love God
<< with all our Mart-, with all- nth- &oal, and with all oar
strength"—with an intelligent as well as
,a fervent affection.
We ought to. know the reason why we loved the Church ;
and in proportion as our love was founded upon settled and
well-understood grounds, we had a pledge that that love would
be permanent and efficacious. • Now there were assigned in
the' resolution good and sufficient reasons why they should
love the Church of England. In adopting -the resolution
they declared they loved her for her scriptural character—
that was, he supposed, for her scriptural doctrines, and her
scriptural constitution. These were very weighty words.
(Hear, hear.) To say they loved her for her scriptural cha-
racter and doctrines was to convey a great deal of meaning ;
and he hoped, therefore, that, the adoption of these words
would be felt to have a great and a strong meaning. (Cheers.)
They were not mere words of course. If they loved the
Church upon account of her scriptural doctrines, let them re-
member that those doctrines were not flattering doctrines.
We were reminded in the doctrines of the Church of Eng-
land of our own fallen condition by nature, and of the utter
impossibility by any process of our own of turning ourselves
to God. {Hear.) The doctrines of the Church of England
were not deceptive doctrines : they did not teach us to look
to any works or. righteousness of our own as the ground of
our acceptance with God. The doctrines of the Church of
England were designed distinctly to point out exclusively the
Lord Jesus Christ as the
.only source of righteousness and
strength. The doctrines of the Church of England directed
us to look for the.spirit of holiness as the only source from
- which we might derive that grace by means of which we
might walk before God holy and acceptable all the days of
our livei." To, say that they loved her upon account of her
scriptural character, was to say that they loved her because
they loved her teachings, because they loved to be faithfully
and plainly dealt with, because they Wieved her to speak ac-
cording to the oracles of truth, and able to direet them safely
into the way of holiness and into the way of hemien. (Hear.)
If such were really the ground and basis of their love for the
Church of England, he need not say there was in it an assu-
rance that their love would be permanent, and that as day
by day they appreciated the benefits of her spiritual influence
and services, so day by day would their love of the Church
of England increase, and with it their desire for her per-
manency increase also. (Cheers.) The resolution also
said they loved the Church of England on account of the
national pledge she offered of our adherence to christianity.
He would venture another slight correction upon the phrase-
ology of this part of the resolution. lie felt strongly that a
distinction should be drawn between christianity and every
mere preterice to christianity, and therefore he would beg to
insert the word " pure" before the word " christianity."
(Cheers.) They loved the Church of England then because
she offered a pledge of our adherence to pure christianity, to
primitive christianity, to christianity unalloyed, and to chris-
tianity unmutilated. (Cheers.) Reference had been ably
made to the corrupt forms of christianity. it waa not neces-
sary he should go over that ground again; but he must say
that it was the glory of the Church of England that she stood
forward as the bulwark of pure christianity. (Hear, hear.)
When we considered ourselves as an established church, it
was the glory of our country that we held our position as an
established church upon the very ground of protesting against
all the corruptions of christianity. (Hear.) The very rea-
son why we were an established church was because we
protested against the errors of the Church of Rome ; and if
it had not been for that we should not have been an esta-
blished church. (Cheers.) Before he sat down he would
beg leave to mention one thing in which this Young Men's
Society might shew in a practical and useful manner their
regard for the Church of England. There was a society, a
branch of which was established in this town, which if any
other deserved that character, might be well described as
purely a church society—a society for distributing the prayer-
book and homilies of the Church of England, and especially
for distributing those-formularies of the Church of England,
among a class of individuals difficult to reach, and to whom,
it was to be feared, but very little attention was paid—he
meant the seafaring population of the port, to whom, it was
needless to say, this town was very much indebted. The
Prayer-book and Homily Society had had an auxiliary in this
town for some years, although it had not attracted the notice
or received that support which its necessities required and
its objects deserved. (Hear.) There was an agency in this
town to visit the shipping, and dispose of copies of the prayer-
book and homilies to as many seamen as were willing to pur-
chase them at a cheap rate, but its efforts were greatly
crippled by the want of sufficient means. Now he could I
scarcely imagine any object more completely in unison with 1
the spirit of the Young Men's Established Church Society,
than to take that society in hand, to help it forward, and so
practically to shew their attachment to the formularies of the
Church of England, in fact, in this respect as well as in a
more solemn one, to shew their faith by their works. (Hear.)
Most happy should he be if the Young Men's Established
Church Society would consider this hint. If that were the
case, if they resolved to take that society by the hand, and if
each individual member would make it convenient either to
contribute or raise by contributions among their friends only
five shillings a year, they would benefit the funds, and promote
the efficiency of the institution to a very great extent. (Hear.)
With these remarks he begged to second the resolution.—
The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.
The Rev. THOMAS IVPGILL moved the second resolution,
" That this meeting, feeling grateful to Almighty God for the
success lie has been pleased to vouchsafe to the attempts made
by this and similar societies to rouse the energies of church-
men, pledge themselves to increased exertion in the sacred
cause they have united to support." He was very glad to
discover so wise a sentiment in the hearts of this society, as
an expression that the blessing which God had conferred
upon this and other similar institutions, was not to be the
cause of lukewarmness on their part, but of increased and
renewed exertion. There was in this a good scriptural feel-
ing, namely, that we should show forth our gratitude, not in
in our words, but in our works. Some kind of apology had
been. made by the gentleman who had preceded him for com-
ing forward to support this society. He called it apology,
because although, as ministers of the church, they, of course,
every must belong toery institution which had for its object the
support of that church, yet for himself, and for his reverend
brethren, he might say that nothing would induce them to
appear on that platform if they did not see in the object the
means of promoting the knowledge of that glorious gospel of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which was committed to
the care, the custody, and to the protection of our venerable
church. (Cheers.) All political triumphs, all polemical
achievements, all party victories, must ever sink in compari-
son with that great victory which it was the chief end and the

chief glory of every Christian minister to attain. (Hear,
hear.) He felt, however highly they might vindicate the ho-
nour of the church, however highly they might recommend
her to the affections of the people, all would fall short if they
failed to win, by those victories, many souls to the allegiance
and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Hear.) Let not the
meeting think they were altogether without danger of fall-
ing into some error like this. We lived in days of agi-
tation, of excitement, of strong party feeling, when. we.-
were apt to mistake sentiment for principle, and enthu-
siasm for right-minded working; we were apt to be car-
ried away by these kind of impressions, and consequently
they made him more anxious to win souls to Christ, more
anxious to extend the boundaries of his kingdom. His
young friends, therefore, must not find fault with their mi-
nisters if they occasionally ventured to remind them that
there was great responsibility attaching to them and to
their body, by associating themselves together for so high a
cause as the protection and support of the Church of Eng-
land. In that object was enshrined all that ought to be most
dear to them as immortal beings ; the- salvation of souls,
their present and eternal welfare were indissolubly connected
with the Church of England. (Hear.) He beseeched them
then, by the tenderest recollections, to remember that they
professed and called themselves Christians; he beseeched
them by the remembrance of their fathers and mothers who
had departed, and who were now bending an anxious eye
upon the children they had left; he beseeched them by the
waters of baptism, to be true first to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and then they would be true to the Church of England.
(Cheers.) They were placed in a peculiar position. Whilst
they had associated themselves together for the maintenance
of the highest principles of man, they were necessarily placed
in some sort of opposition to many of their fellow subjects.
It was wise for them to consider that some of their fellow-
subjects to whom they were now opposed, were for a long
time distinguished for their faithful adherence to the true
principles of the Gospel—he meant the Protestant Dissenters
of England, who for a long time fanned the flame of truth in
this country, and who kept alive the spirit of true religion
when it was neglected by churchmen. (Hear.) Although
now this society was politically opposed to them, let us look
back at what they had done in England, and learn therefrom
what we had to do. (Hear.) The meeting wculd remember
that for a long time the church was -lukewarm and cold, but
there was throughout England kept alive a true evangelical
spirit among the dissenters. (Hear.) In their attachment
to the church let the society never forget this—that what
rallied round the dissenters multitudes of our fellow-subjects
was, not the antiquity, not the sanctity, not the outward cir-
cumstances in which they were placed, not any authority
delegated to them, or the recognition of them by the state,
but solely the pure preaching of the word of God. Let them
• remember, too, that the church defined in her articles what
she meant by the term church—" a congregation of faithful
men, in the which the pure word of God is preached and the
sacrament duly administered :" they would observe also, in
looking over the history of the country, that we never progressed •
as a church but when we had the pure word of God conjoined
with the due administration of the sacaraments. Now the.
dissenters preached the pure word of God,_ but they could not
duly administer the sacraments. (Hear, hear.) The church
of this day represented, in the most perfect manner, the actual
form of a Christian church as laid down in her articles ; in
her the pure word of God was preached and the sacraments
duly administered, and so long as these two things were kept
together she must prevail. (Cheers) She had what Popery
pretended to have, the right to administer the sacraments ;
and she had, what popery never yet had, a pure preaching of
of the words of eternal life. (Cheers.) But we never were in
the midst of any prosperity or great blessing, but God tried
our activity and watchfulness by bringing evils along with those
blessings ; we were never allowed to sleep whilst things were
going on well, lest we should become careless in our remem-
brance of Him who is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
At the present time, when we rejoiced in seeing our church
maintain the character of a Christian church, many of its
ministers were giving an undue weight to the administration
of the sacraments, and, he feared, neglecting the preaching
of the word. He made this remark with caution, but he felt
it imperatively necessary to make it for the guidance of the
society, as it was among the young that there was an active
attempt being made to disseminate these prinejples. He had
sometimes of late had an opportunity, or rather he had been-
called upon, to enter into some churches which he had after-
wards left with deep sorrow, and for which he had most fer-
vently prayed God that he would be pleased to look upon them
with compassion, and that he would kindle as with a coal front
the altar, the true spirit of love to our Lord Jesus Christ:
where at present all was coldness, dullness, and death. 0,
he felt his heart sink within him, when he entered into one
of those gorgeous temples, originally dedicated to the worship
of God and the service of Christ, where there was a drowsy
preacher, an insensible reader (not prayer) of the prayers,
where there was none of that heart touchine. melody Well
rose upon the wings of grateful praise antrthanksgivingto•
God, where all was insensible and lifeless, and where the
hungry sheep were- looking up in vain for the preaching of
the words of eternal life ! He prayed with them, but when
he left that place of worship he felt inclined to write upon
the door—" Great is Diana of the Ephesians—by this
craft we live." There was a great deal of that in it.
He could not think he was in the Church of England when
be went into these places ; and when he looked into her li-
turgy and articles, he found reason to believe that there the
Word of God was not preached, though the sacraments were
duly administered. There was the authorised minister of
Christ; there was the due celebration of the sacraments;
there was the due performance of public worship—he begged
pardon for calling it " the performance," but the term ap-
plied in this case ;—and there was not that heartfelt, heart-
searching appeal to the hearts of sinners, upon the subject
most near and most dear to their immortal souls. This had
been the case for a long time ; there was nothing new in it,
he was sorry to say ; but the persons he mentioned a short
time ago, as endeavouring to put the administration of the
sacraments above the preaching of the Word, found support
in these places. Those lukewarm people who took upon
themselves the name of high churchmen jumped at these
Oxford doctrines; they said, "To be sure we hold apostolic
doctrine—we have always held that ;" and thus the old
party, who were by degrees becoming evangelical, had gone
back. They had found supporters in high places. Do not
let them find any supporters among this society. (Hear,
hear.) If the society lent them their support, they would
flourish : if they discountenanced them, they must fall to the
ground. (Hear.) They looked to the people for support,
and, if they got support from the people, the evil which had
• _ been introduced among us now would be perpetuated for
generations to come. But if the young men, the forlorn
hope of this generation, should withstand all attempts to
foist upon them these old, musty, mouldy principles, we should
get rid of them for ever. (Cheers.) Much as we might la-
ment that many of the old ministers were renewing their
youth in this respect, it was still more deplorable to know
that many of our young divines, now coming forth as autho-
rised ministers of Christ, were very fond of these doctrines.
He was sorry to find this the case, because he had studied
and knew what the articles of the Church were, and how
much these men must differ from them upon the all-weighty
concern of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. He
did not, however, wish the meeting to run away with the
idea that there was nothing good or nothing worth in the
opinions of these men. NO, we must read and consider ;
and lie had no doubt they would be led themselves after-
wards to confess that many of the points they had advanced
they had carried too far. Thus we should get rid of the
chaff, and secure the wheat. The resolution mentioned that
• they had pledged themselves to increase their energies ; sod
' Dr. Tattershall had taken some of his ground away from
• him, for he intended to have suggested their union with that
excellent society whose object was the dissemination of the
Homilies and the Book of Common Prayer. He would only
add a hope that every member of this society possessed a
• copy of the Homilies. He knew that some of them did not,
but they ought to do. The Homilies were the text-book of
the church. There we got' our strength when we wished to
know the church's doctrines; we were sure to find them in
the Homilies, arid it we read those Homilies with a desire to
understand the mind of the church, lie was sure we should
• find it. They were without excuse in not having copies of
them, for they were sold at a very low price indeed. The
rev. gentleman then concluded by moving the resolution.
Mr. JANIES MATTHEWS seconded the resolution in an
appropriate speech, in the course of which he pointed out
• the evils of popery and socialism, and called upon the meet-
ing to be earnest in supporting the church. One of the ob-
jects of the society as expressed in the original address, was
the formation of a library. He was happy to say that a
library had now been formed ; and he had been requested to
state that it would be opened in the course of next week. It
would be lodged in Mr. Crisp's office in Church-street.
The resolution was carried.
Mr. MOORE moved a vote of thanks o the Chairman.
In that gentleman the meeting saw the sufflessful 'opponent
to an attempt made in this town to promote the public dese-
cration of the Sabbath. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. Bowl= seconded the, resolution, and it was carried
by acclamation.

Mr. HORSFALL assured the meeting that he felt deeply
grateful for the mark of their kindness which had been just
exhibited. lie would rather avoid any reference to himself
further than to say, with regard to what had fallen from the
gentleman who moved the resolution, that in doing what he
had with regard to the desecration of the Sabbath, or in en-
tering his protest against what he conceived to be an act of
desecration, he only did what he conceived to be his duty.
(Hear.) He only did what he was sure, from the expression
of feeling he had just witnessed, every other individual in
that room would have done had he been similarly situated.
The hour was now late ; there were yet some details of busi-
ness to be gone through, and lie would only detain the meet-
ing one moment further, just to remind them of the substance
of the two resolutions they had adopted. The first was an
expression of love and attachment to their church. He hoped
that upon all occasions when we felt called upon to express
our love and attachment, we should be careful of exhibiting
any want of love towards those who were not members of our
church. (Hear.) The second resolution was a practical
one, and they had pledged themselves by it to increased exer-
tions in the sacred cause they had united to support. Dr.
Tattershall had stated one way in which they might exhibit
their increased exertions, and that was by giving aid to a
most valuable, and useful, and scriptural establishment in
this town—the Prayer Book and Homily Society. (Hear.)
He would only add to that the expression of his earnest hope
that the society would. most cordially respond to that call,'
and that they would, as churchmen and as members of society,
not only give their support to that society. but to every so?'
ciety in connection with the established church of this land.
(Cheers.)
The meeting then separated.

Several persons in Ennis have suffered from using flour
(thirds) with which it is supposed rye was mixed. They at
first complained of dizziness and partial loss of vision, in some
instances vomiting, &c., followed. Flour adulterated in this
manner might lead to serious consequences, which could not
be too cautiously guarded against.

GLASGOW, PAISLEY, GREENOCK, AND AYR RAILWAY''
—The tunnel at Arkelston, is now sufficiently excavated to
allow a passage for a locomotive engine. On Saturday last,
the one built by Messrs. Barr and M`Nab, and placed a few
months since on the railway to the eastward, was pudic a
through, and on Tuesday arrived at the depot here. As this
was the first time a locomotive engine had crossed the Cart,
and reached the centre of the town, her appearance excited
rather a sensation among the spectators. She has since been
'employed daily, and facilitates the work to a great extent'
The building for the various offices is nearly at its fu"
height, and will be ready for the roof in a few days. It Is
altogether a very handsome building. It is of the sal
turreted style of architecture as the County Buildings, wIL
which it agreeably harmonises. The Directors, we under-
stand, are sanguine as to the opening of the communication
between Glasgow and Paisley very early next rnonth•--
Paisley Advertiser.

ELOPEMENT.—Wednesday night an elopement took Place
~
from the quiet and ancient town of Caerleon. Thus r,t.!°'e
the tale :—A certain master-builder, of soft and persua-,'1,,
manners, had long paid his devoirs to one of those you!!
and beautiful damsels who bloom so plenteously in the iplea-
sant town of Caerleon. The fair beauty, captivated by
,teet
blandness and affection of her swain, reciprocated the ss!...ty
passion, and vowed to he his only. But " fathers have t!o,_
hearts." The wooings of the enamoured lovers were l'-
di'sthe
vered, and a careful restraint placed over the actions of _
young lady. Being driven to determine, since paren!alau-
thority was so rigidly interposed, the gallant Lothario'-
pro-
cured a stolen interview with his inamorata, and Frr. stance
her to elope ; and having got possession of a hun.°.
en she al-
ladder, it was fixed against the window, down whirl'
most flew from her chamber, and fell breathless. into
ihsis into her
lover's arms, who bore her triumphantly °
yet been disco-
by, and bade the post-boy drive like wind,t:oBwards the Old
Passage, beyond which no trace of them
vered ; but there is no doubt that " the youngh'i rovin. lovers"
have, ere this, pledged their vows of deathless conbtancy at
the altar of Hymen.—Merlin.