The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-06-04 00:00:00

ADDRESS OF THE CLERGY OF LIVERPOOL
TO THE RIGHT REV. THE BISHOP OF NEW-
FOUNDLAND.

A meeting of the Clergy of Liverpool and its neigh-
bourhood was held yesterday, in the Board-room of the
Blue Coat Hospital, for the purpose of presenting to the
Rt. Rev. Dr. Field, newly elected Bishop of Newfoundland,
an address of greeting previous to his setting out for the
scene of his future arduous and important labours. At the
appointed hour a number of the leading clergy and several
of the laity were present to receive the Right Rev. Pre-
late; and on his arrival the Rev. Senior Rector Brooks
rose to address him, on behalf of his reverend brethren,
and to present him with the address which had been agreed
upon. The rev. gentleman said that the clergy of the
town had availed themselves of the present opportunity,
on the eve of his departure for the scene of his future
important labours, of testifying to his lordship their sin-
cere wishes for his welfare and his successful performance
of the duties upon which he was about to enter. They
felt convinced that the connexion of the Established
Church. with all our —lonia' possessions was a great move,
and one of the surest means of extending Christianity
to that distant and most destitute portion of our subjects
over whom his lordship would shortly assume a pastoral
care. In undertaking such an office, he would require
from God assistance and a blessing upon his labours; and
he (the rev. rector) could assure him that, in approaching
those labours, he carried with him the best wishes and
the fervent prayers of his brethren in the ministry, who
had endeavoured to embody their sentiments in the ad-
dress which he held in his hands. The rev. gentleman
then read the following address :
" My LORD,—We, the clergy of Liverpool and its
neighbourhood, gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity
offered by your lordship's presence among us, of express-
ing the satisfaction we feel in your advancement to your
high station, and our cordial wishes for your welfare. To
refrain from so doing at a time when you are on the eve
of leaving behind you your most deeply cherished friends
and connections, with the certain prospect of encounter-
ing no ordinary toils and dangers in the distant diocese to
which you have been called, would, indeed, mark a great
indifference in our common master's cause, and a great
lack of Christian charity towards yourself.
" The reflection, my lord, that you are proceeding to
one of the colonies of our gfeat empire, there to exercise
your episcopal functions, naturally claims from us a de-
claration of the interest we feel in the future prosperity
and advancement of the infant colonial church. When
we consider the advantages derived to our country from
her colonies, as they form both a considerable stay of her
power, and an abundant source of her wealth, we cannot
but acknowledge the deep importance of binding them to
us by an inseparable tie of amity and affection. And on
what foundation can this be based with such complete se-
curity as on religion ? Whatsoever tends to give stability
to the profession and practice of religion, tends, in an
equal degree, to rivet the connection between this country
and her distant possessions. In this, then, we find a
cogent argument for confirming and extending to our co-
lonies the perfect framework of our ecclesiastical system ;
a system divinely constituted, the three orders of bishops,
priests, and deacons, and affording the best safeguard for
the preservation of Christian truth, and the performance
of Christian duty. But further, my lord, the interest we
take in our colonies is in no small degree enhanced by the
fact that their population consists for the most part of
persons, who, forced by the pressure of the times, have
gone from our own shores to seek elsewhere a subsistence
denied to them here. In so doing they have, of necessity,
abandoned the religious advantages and privileges they
possessed at home, without any power on their own part
of procuring them in the land of their adoption. To sup.
ply this want by any means which we in England possess,
does certainly seem a claim of no common urgency, as it is
a work of no common magnitude. For this end we should
unite our contributions, for this end combine our coun-
sels, for this end offer up our prayers. Fortunately there
has long resided in this country a society which has de-
voted all its energies to the task, and in co-operating with
the society for the propagation of the gospel, we shall best
promote the object we have at heart. Possessing as it
does the confidence of all our bishops, directing its efforts
mainly to the advantage of our own countrymen, and
proved in its fidelity to the principles of the chutch by a
service of nearly a century and a half, it demands, as it
deserves, the countenance and support of all the members
of our national church. You, my lord, may already have
bad reason to testify to its zeal for the good of your own
particular diocese, and may have still further cause to ac-
knowledge its prompt and liberal assistance in all your
undertakings.
" In conclusion, my lord, we beg again to give expres-
sion to our sincere good wishes for your welfare, and shall
not be wanting in our pt avers for you, as well that you
may meet with safety in proceeding to the scene of your
labours, as well as with success in the discharge of them.
" Jona. Brooks, Stephen Cragg,
Augs. Campbell, Henry H. Higgins,
Cecil Wray, Richd. Appleton,
John B. Monk, 'William Badnall,
Frederick Iliff, James North,
Thomas S. Ackland, J. C. Prince,
Thomas Hornby, J. G. Headlam,
Cyrus Morrall, J. Jones,
Prince Crawford, Wm. Mulleneux,
Charles T. Wilson, C. W. Lawrence,
Thos. Halton, Thos. Bold,
William Wells, Robt. Leicester,
Abm. Hume, T. J. Leigh,
R. L. Townsend, Joseph Baylee,
Fielding Ould, George Dover,
Thomas C. Cowan, Thomas Carter,
Ellis Ashton."

At the conclusion of this address his lordship proceeded
to reply, evidently under feelings of strong emotion, in a
speech of which we regret our inability to give more than
a very brief sketch. It was impossible, he said, for any one
who had studied the apostolical Epistles not to have been
convinced of the advantage of having the prayers of his bre-
thren. If the great apostle himself sought their prayers,
how earnestly ought he to desire them, and what comfort
would it be to him, when engaged in his arduous duties,
to reflect that he had the prayers of his brethren in the
ministry now assembled ! They knew the serious nature
of the difficulties which he had to encounter; and he
trusted they would be earnest in their prayers, not for the
sake of himself personally, but for the cause in which he
was about to engage.
The colonies were objects of great regard and infi-
nite value to this country ; and it was the bounden duty
of the country to extend spiritual aid to the colonies,
many of whose inhabitants bad been compelled by their
circumstances to remove themselves away from the spiri-
tual advantages which they had enjoyed when here. It
was also the duty of the colonies to repay the obligation,
which, as recipients of our bounty, they incurred, by
availing themselves heartily of the benefits thus placed
within their reach. Every country, he felt, ought to do
all in its power for the support of its own church. Ulti-
mately he doubted not that would be the case with the
colonies ; but at present the colonial church was in its
infancy. Ile had that day received a letter begging him
to urge upon the colonial church this duty, which he
would do. In the mean time, however, until that church
had passed its infancy, he trusted that his brethren would

persevere in their efforts for its support.
The address with which they had presented him spoke
of the best cement between country and country being
that of one common religion. The events of history bore
out that statement. The whole of our original colonies
would have been secured to this country, if we had taken

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valuable portion of the British empire, if we had acted
thus towards her; and he hoped that in future it would
be considered our duty as a nation, wherever we extended
an empire, to extend also our church. Newfoundland,
the scene of his labours, had derived great benefits from
been Episcopal
an
the exertions which had been made for her. The number
of missionaries established there had trebled within the
last four years. A friend in the ministry had told him
that on his first going there were only six mission-
aries, and a short time previously there had been
but two. Now, by the munifirence of the society for the
propagation of the gospel, and the society for the promo-
tion of Christian knowledge, there are twenty-six mis-
sionaries actively employed. His lordship proceeded to
remark upon some prejudices which he thought existed

against the society fOr the propagation of the gospel, which
he said had the unanimous approval of the colonial
bishops, and was warmly sanctioned by the Lord b shop

ofthis diocese.

Nearly half of his own- income was pro-

vided for by that society. His lordship concluded by
thanking his reverend brethren for their great kindness.
Whilst passing over the deep waters, upon which he was
about to embark, lie should remember with gratitude the
comfort which he had derived from that meeting. The
right rev. prelate was deeply affected whilst uttering his
closing words, and having pronounced a blessing, the
meeting broke up.