The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-20 00:00:00

THE FOREIGN-AID SOCIETY.

On Viedneeday week, a meeting of the friend's of
the amsoeiation called the Foreign-Aid Society, for pro-
moting the telsiects of the Continental Societe's Eannye-
llgnes, was held in the Music-hall, and was very nume-
rously arsd respectably attended, notwithstanding its being
called together within the business hours of the day.
Amongst those on the platform were the Rev. Richard
Burgess,. &De, of Chelsea, secretary to the parent soci-
ety in Landon ; the Rev. Edwd. Bickereterie of Watton;
and many of the clergy and religiously-distinguished laity
of our own town. A considerable number of ladies were
also present ; and all, as the objects of the society became
more fully developed by the several speakers, evinced a
warm interest in its behalf.
The Rev. Hucis M'Netee. was called to the chair,and
the proceedings commenced by a fervid prayer offered up
by the Rev. 3. H. STEWART.
The Rev. CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting.
He said the immediate object of the present meeting was
to receive a deputation from the parent society, hose
object was, to cheer by manifested sympathy, and to aid
by pecuniary contributions, the poor struggling Protes-
-1 tants of the Continent of Europe. To enter into this
object with intelligent and lively interest, it was necessary
to know something in detail of the existing circumstances
of those Protestants, relatively with the laws, or the ty-
rannical disregard of law, or the ingenious perversion of
law, under which they live. (Hear.) Hitherto the chief
field of this society's co-operation has been France ; and,
concerning France, a very general idea prevails in this
country, that since the last of her revolutions—the revo-
lution of 1830, or of " the three days, as it is called—
the charter resulting from that movement, the charter
under which the present King was raised to the throne,
has secured to all classes and denominations of professing
Christians a perfect equality, not only of state toleration,
but also of state countenance and support. Such indeed
are the flattering words of the charter ; but it has been
conveniently discovered that the privileges secured by
this charter—at least the religious privileges secured to
Protestants--are conditional, beine, in every disputed
instance, still subject to the decision of the chief magis-
trate, or moire of every commune. In France there
sare
eighty-six departments or counties, each with its prefel
or lord-lieutenant. In each of these there are five aron-
dissements, literally circuits, or as we should say ridings,
each with its sous prefet, or deputy-lieutenant. And in
each of these, there are several communes, each with its
maire. The total number of maires is forty-four thou-
sand. (Cheers and laughter.) They are all appointed
by the King. In some of these communes, where Pro-
testant pastors, trusting to the charter, have proceeded
to give religious instruction in their own simple way to
their little flocks, the maires have interfered and put a
stop to it by the police. There is a clause in the 291st
article of the rode Penale, subjecting all assemblies of
the people to the surveillance of the local magistracy, that
no breach of the peace may be allowed. This is ingeni-
ously played off against the charter, and by means of this
the maires interfere to put a stop to religious assemblies
of Protestants, under pretence of keeping the peace.
(Hear. hear.) The Protestant pastors have complained
of such treatment as an infringement of their rights, and
pleaded the words of the charter. The tnaires have per-
severed, alleging that those privileges of the charter were
never intended to contravene their authority as local
magistrates, but must be held subject to that authority.
This question has been referred to the superior court in
such cases in Paris, and decided against the letter of the
charter, and in favour of the jurisdiction of the moire, to
such an extent as leaves Protestant worship absolutely at
his will. (Hear, hear.) A remarkable instance has
lately occurred, which is likely to bring the matter
for final decision before the Chamber of Deputies.
A number of Protestants in a small commune in the
neighbourhood of Versailles hired a room for divine
worship, and invited a pastor, called Russel, to come to
them and officiate. He accepted the invitation, and gave
notice to the Haire of his intention to come, under the
guaranteed privileges of the charter. The Maire did not
approve of it ; this might have been his own private feel-
ing, or possibly he might have been personally careless
about the matter but instigated by some of the priests. to
act. It was easy for them to manage to have information
laid before him that if Protestant worship were allowed,
there would be a breach of the peace ; and thereby to sat-
isfy him that in preventing it, he was acting legally under
the article above cited from the Code Penale. Whatever
may have been his motive, or the proximate influences
under. which he acted, the fact is that he gave orders to
his armed police to prevent the assembly for Protestant
worship, and when Pastor Russell arrived at the hired
room, he was turned away from the door. He appealed
against the Maire's conduct to the local court at Ver-
sailles, and the celebrated Mons. Odillon Barrot, came
from Paris to plead his cause there. In vain, the court
confirmed the sentence of the Maire, and the Protestant
Pastor was silenced. He appealed to the Court de Cassa-
tion in Paris, where the cause was again heard, and again
the decision of the Maire was confirmed. (Loud cries of
hear, and cheers.) The last appeal is to the Chamber of
Deputies, and we learn that is to be made this session.
By the decision as it now stands, the exercise of Pro-
testant privilege, the advantages of scriptural instruction,
and the enjoyment of scriptural worship, are all at the
mercy of the Maires. Where the Maire is tolerant or
Protestant (as in some few cases), the Protestants may
shew. Where the Maire is intolerant, Protestants must
hide. Thus there are communes with open doors, and
communes with closed doors : and scattered throughout,
there are little companies of faithful men and women kept
by the grace and mercy of God, from the poisoreof papal
superstition on the one hand, and from the pestilence of
infidelity on the other. These little companies are so
scattered, so separated, so disorganised, and as yet, so
incapable of centralization ; that any thing approaching
to unity of church government or ecclesiastical discipline,
cannot be expected. For their encouragement, and as
we hope for their eventual consolidation, protection, and
increase, evangelical societies have been formed in Paris
and eleswhere. (Hear, hear.) But the members of them
are, with few exceptions, poor people. That part of the
apostolical description of the primitive church, may with
strictest accuracy be applied to them " not many rich not
many noble are called ". The price of books is an object
to them, the hire of rooms is an object to them, the tra-
velling expenditure of their itinerant pastors is an object
to them. To whom earl they look for help? The great
and rich and noble of their own land are unhappily against
them. True it is, they have access by faith, to the best
of all providers, even to Him who opens his hand wide
and supplies every living thing ; but God works by means,
and even when he refers his people to the ravens as an
example of dependance, still the reference if fairly con-
sidered, will be forced to involve the use of means, means
as appropriate to man, as the use of wings and eyes and
claws is to ravens ; for ravens ate not fed by miracles
while sitting idly in their nests. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) In the use of means, the Protestants
of the Continent have uttered a cry to England,
and this society is giving the only response which
has as yet arisen to cheer their hearts, or help their re-
sources. Yet this cry so raised demands a response
from England, not merely from disinterested Christian
sympathy with fellow Christians in distress; but because
that distress arises from the operations of a common ene-
my,—(hear, hear, and cheers,)—all but triumphant in
France, and seeking to extend his triumphs over the
whole world. (Cheers.) The circumstances of this case
as they now develop themselves in France, are full of in-
' struction. The plan of attaching the priests of the Roman
Catholic Church to the state, by making them stipendiary,
has been tried. (Hear, hear.) For a time it seemed to
succeed in France: All was quiet, and the supreme au-
thority of the civil power was not questioned. But now
that Rome has had a little time to consolidate her re-
sources and bring her combinations to maturity, she is
putting forth afresh her old attempts at the mastery.
This has appeared, at what is indeed, the fountain head of
national strength in years to come, viz.,—the institutions
of national instruction. In each of these there has been
a chaplain, a Roman Catholic priest, by royal order under
the charter ; and, hitherto, the hierarchy have seemed
content with this. But some among them have now de-
clared that this is quite insufficient to secure the interests
of the church, and demanded admission for their various
orders, or what you will better understand by confrater-
nity men. This has been refused by the state, and some
of the bishops have retaliated by ordering the chaplains to
leave the seminaries of public instruction. In the instance
of the Bishop of Chalons, the case has come before the
king in council, to determine whether there has been any
abuse of their authority on the part of the bishops. The
decision has been against the bishops, and I am credibly
informed that instead of submitting himself to the royal
ordinance, the Bishop of Chalon gloried in his resistance,
and on receiving the royal communication summoned his
dean and chapter into the cathedral and sang a Te Deum !
How this will end, remains to be seen. It is supposed
that the priests have moved prematurely, and must for the
present yield. The Archbishop of Paris, it is understood,
is unwilling to resist the royal authority. The circum-
stances, however, supply a fair modern specimen of what
the Romish hierarchy is, and of what they must ever
strive to be ; as well as of the natural consequence of act-
ing on the delusion that a state support can ever make
them willingly submissive to any civil power. (Loud cries
of hear, and cheers.) This, as you may suppose, is
creating no small stir in France, and will probably be
loudly and warmly debated in the chambers. Already it
forms the theme of the leading paragraphs in many news-
papers. One editor illustrates the present state of things
by a fable of a number of foxes whose tails were tied to-
gether, while each was striving to run his own way. The
largest fox, with the longest tail, ends by dragging all the
other foxes after him. The writer winds up by assuring his
readers, what it requires but little observation to believe,
that " le renard de plus longue qune, c'est le pape." The
fox with the longest tail is not his majesty the king,
although he appoints the 41,000 maires. No ! the fox
with the longest tail is his holiness the Pope ! (Laughter,
and cheers.) The rev. chairman concluded by saying that
he had just received two notes, with no writing within,
but with contents that were highly gratifying and accept-
able. One of them contained £5, and the other £25, for
the society. (Loud cheers.)
The Rev. Richard Burgess then addressed the meeting
at considerable length, and with great force and eloquence,
explaining more in detail the objects and operations of
the Society, which extended not only to France, but had
penetrated to other nations of Europe, and had done
much with comparatively small means in diffusing the
religion of the Reformation over the continent. Like
Hannibal they had paved the way to Rome itself. He
furnished many cheering instances in point. Besides
their agents in France, they had three in Germany, who
were contented to work effectually for the small allowance
of £25 each, per annum. They had commenced in Spain
and Portugal, and had also got the wedge in in Italy.
He depicted the encroachment of popery in France and
other countries, and the dreadful prevalence of blasphemy
and Maryology in infidelity in various parts; and noticed
amongst other modern abominations the distribution of
10 millions of the pretended miraculous medal of the
Virgin. He stated that some of the Mayors of France
were favourable to their views, and some new Protestant ,

churches had been erected under their sanction. The
foreign Protestants whom the Society aided, had certainly
no Bishops—being headed by consistories, resembling the
synods of Scotland; bet the principles upon which it
acted and been, acknowledged as legitimate and praise-
worthy by many of the highest authorities of the church,
including the Bishop of London, who with reference to
slight differenues- in farm, without division of spirit had
said " If it please the Almighty to give the same benefit
to others in se somewhat different method, shall we deny
then the right of receiving it, or question his power to
give it? Is our eye evil because his is good? The most
consider the foreign protestants as churches, though not
perfect, and they ought to help them. They entertained
the same faith, ;. belonged to the same fold, and Jesus
himself was the head." He strongly advocated the policy
of cementing to us the French nation by the bonds of
Christianity, and to induce them to join us in a truly holy
alliance. It behoved them to arrest the tide of infidelity
on one hand,, and popery on the other which was rising iu
that country, and to prevent the impure tide from rolling
neon our own shores. He moved a resolution to the
effect that it was-highly desirable to promote the religious
principles of the Reformation on the continent of Europe,
and that the Foreir,n Aid Society, was calculated under
the divine blessings to effect that great object.
The Rey. Dr. BYRTH, though evidently labouring under
painful indisposition, seconded the motion in very energetic
and eloquent terms, declaring his full concurrence in the
sentiments of the previous speakers, and the important
objects of the Society.
The motion was unanimously carried.
Major THORFE introduced the second resolution by
furnishing some interesting details of the rise and pro-
gress of the Society, its connection with the continental
kSozetes Evangeleques, and the gratifying results in
various parts of Europe. He moved a resolution ap-
pointing the officers and committee for the ensuing
year.

The Rer. Ed. BICKERSTETH seconded it, warmly sup-
porting the objects of the Society. They owed a duty
first to their families, next to their immediate neighbours.
next to their country, and next to their Christian bre-
thren in foreign lands.—Tk e resolution was carried unani-
mously,

A collection was then made in behalf of the Society,
and a liberal sum was collected.

The Rev. Mr. PARRY moved, and the Rev. Mr. NOLAN
seconded in neat terms, a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man.

The CHAIRMAN ably replied, urging the necessity of
the Society having a fixed income, and stating that Mr.
W. Jones would receive the contributions of annual sub-
scribers. He concluded by an affecting appeal in behalf
of the Society. _ _

The Doxology was then sung and the meeting separated.

DOCK COMMITTEE.—TnuRspAy.

Mr. Hartley was allowed to run the Coburg Dock dry
for two tides, to enable him to make some repairs. The
Marine Surveyor reported that, on the Ilth instant, the
Magazines life-boat proceeded, in tow of the Mona and
Victoria tug-boats, to the assistance of a vessel called the
Franconia, which was in distress at the Great Burbo
Bank, near the Formby Light-ship ; the Liverpool life-
boat also came up soon afterwards; the passengers, 158
in number, were transferred to the tug-boats without the
least accident, although there was a heavy sea running at
the time, and the promptitude and exertions of the life-
boat crews on the occasion were extremely praiseworthy.
There were as many as 40 persons, besides a crew of
eleven men, at one time in one of the life-boats.
A letter was read from Mr. W. Ashley, Chairman of
the Steam Tug Company, offering to the Dock Trust the
use of a first-class steamer, to be in readiness to take out
any life-boat whenever practicable for saving life when a
signal of distress was made; she would also remain as
near as possible to the vessel requiring her assistance to
receive persons saved ; the charge for such service to be
£l,OOO per annum, or they might take the same for an
annual payment of £51)0 per annum, and £25 per trip
when they were called on to go out. When such service
was attended with injury, the compensation to be deter-
mined by the chairman of the Dock Trust and the chair-
man of the Steam Tug Company, and another person ap-
pointed by both parties.
Mr. RIPLEY thought it would be better to have one of
their own, constructed of iron, which would be more effi-
cient than any that could be supplied to them.
. _

After some conversation the matter was referred.

A letter was read from Mr. C. Lawrence, calling the
atten'ion of the committee to the expediency of appro-
priating a few quay berths in the King's Dock, opposite
the railway entrance, at Wapping, for ships having goods
on board per railway, or for the convenience of shipping
goods by railway immediately on arrival ; the adoption of
such a plan would, it was thought, be advantageous to the
commerce of the port. The subject was referred to the
Harbour Masters' Committee.

A letter was read from parties who were in the habit of
crossing the river in the ferry-boats, complaining of the
great want of accommodatio❑ and civility shown by the
persons at the north and south gates of George's Dock
when the gates were open, which often occurred about
the time of the boats starting, thereby causing great dis-
appointment and delay. Referred to the Harbour Mas-
ters' Committee.

A letter from Messrs. Wm. Dixon and Co., complain-
ing of partiality in the disposal of quay berths, for ships
at the Canning Dock, was referred to the Harbour Mas-
ter's Committee.

DOCK ACCOUNTS.

The CHAIRMAN said that as some statements had been
made by members of the committee as to the amount of
the income and expenditure of the Dock Trust, he had
requested the treasurer to draw up a correct statement for
their satisfaction. and also for the information of the pub-
lic, for he felt convinced that the more the accounts were
examined the more satisfied would parties be.
The Secretary then read the following statement :
Total income from the 25th Dec., 1842, to the 24th Dec.,
1843, £221,877 10s. id. Expenditure, exclusive of new

works :
General repairs at the different docks £24,942 3 10
Interest on old and new debt 66,172 14 11
Annuities .
Officers of the establishment, police and

dock gatemen
Lighthouses..
Floating Light vessels
Telegraphs
Life-boats..
Buoys
Lamps and lighting
Rent ..
Law and parliamentary expenses
Miscellaneous disbursements

Total
Surplus ...

28,744 3 4
2,242 19 5
6,904 7 4
1,673 14 2
1,527 12 4
1,235 7 11
2,111 13 0
172 0 0
2,802 11 11
1,711 4 7

£l-10,63818 9
81,238 11 I

£221,877 10 I

New works within the year £132,868 10 1
Property purchased do 54,916 2 0
Amount brought 140,631 18 9

Total expenditure.. ..... £328,423 10 10

The CHAIRMAN said the treasurer was i❑ attendance,
to answer any question the committee might wish to ask
on the subject.

-
Mr. H OLT suggested that tho document should lie on
the table for the consideration of the members.

The TREASURER said the accounts had been prepared
with such great care that he had no doubt the more they
were investigated the more satisfied would parties be with
their accuracy.
Mr. RIPLEY thought it was hardly fair it should go forth
to the public that they had a constantly increasing revenue
of £20,000 or £30,000 a-year. The Dock Trust might be
considered something like a mercantile body, and subject
to fluctuations. Although they were now gaining, a season
might come when they might have a heavy loss, We had
reason to believe, during the present year, there would be
400,000 less bales of cotton than last year; and as nearly
one-half of the revenue of the trust was derived from that
source-

The CHAIR/A AN interposed, and observed that he could
not permit the mere speculative opinion of a member to go
forth in opposition to a statement founded in fact.
Mr. BOLD moved that the document be recorded on the
proceedings of the committee.
Mr. ROYDEN seconded the motion, which was unani-
mously adopted.
The Secretary then read the following statement :
Amount expended on New Works, 4-c., for Act 4 Vic.,
to 12th February, 1841:
Salthouse Dock.

. £45,555 11 4

Albert Dock and Canning Half-tide Dock 96,567 3 1/
River Wall 16,809 0 6
Warehouses
Central Works, to be divided amongst } 47,283 17 10
the foregoing .
Transit Sheds..
Canning Graving Docks
Clarence ditto

£297,226 18 5
Purchase of Property.

Total .

£336,272 0 0

Amount borrowed under Act 4 Vic £430,940 12 7
Amount yet to be borrowed 450,059 7 5

Total

This was also ordered to be recorded, and the commit-
tee adjourned.

A fairOrrespondent informs us, that we should not be
doing our duty to that class of our readers of which she
forms one, if we did not intimate to them the splendid
treat which an examination of the Parisian Artificial
Warehouse, opened in the Upper Arcade, by Mrs.
Givan, would afford them.

ADULTERATION OF TOBACCO.—Henry Laffer, tobacco
manufacturer, of this town, appeared at the Police-court
on Tuesday, to answer a complaint preferred against him
by the excise, for having, on the 12th of last month,
mixed sugar in the manufacture of his tobacco. The de-
fendant was fir.ed in the full penalty of X3OO, and 1501 b.
weight of the tobacco was condemned.
ACCIDENT AT THE DOCKS.—On Tuesday last, Patrick
Casey, a labourer at the docks, was knocked down by the
handle of a winch, while engaged in discharging the cargo
of the Nimrod, lying in Waterloo Dock. He remained
insensible for a short time, but afterwards got up and
went home to his lodgings in Waterloo-road, where he
complained of injury having been done to his head. He
was put to bed, but died about two o'clock on the follow-
ing morning morning. The cause of death was effusion
of blood on the brain, arising from the injury he bad
received.