The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-05-24 00:00:00

CHURCH I`,IISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The anniversary of the Liverpool and West Lancashire
Church Missionary Society commenced in this town on
Sunday lust. In the morning, afternoon, and evening of
that day, sermons were preached in the churches, and by
the ministers who were named in our last, and collections
made in aid of the society. We understand that the follow-
ing is a correct list of the sums contributed by each congre-

gation :
St. Andrew's
All Saints'..
St. Bride's ..
Christ Church
St. David's ..

X s. d.
49 10 1
15 0 0
58 0 0
50 0 0
13 10 0
100 0 0
60 0 0
51 0 0
16 0 '0
6 2 0
29 0 0
28 0 0
5 9 0
40 0 0
14 15 0
15 0 0
12 0 0
12 0 0
16 0 0
4 11 10
24 0 0
.r in Music-hall

St. George's, Everton
St. Jude's
Edgehill
Kirkdale
Mariners' .....
St. Mark's
Aigburth
Crosby
Seaforth
West Derby
Knotty Ash .
St. Barnabas's
St. Clement's
St. James's
St. Simon's .....
St. Silas's
Collected at the meetin,,

£669 8 7

MEETING IN THE MUSIC-HALL.

The annual meeting of the members and friends of the So-
ciety was held at eleven o'clock yesterday in the Music-hall,
Bold-street, and it was attended by a numerous and respect-
able auditory. Among many other gentlemen we observed
the following :—" Revs. Aug. Campbell, H. Carpenter, W.
W. Ewbank, A. H. C. Dallas, T. Gardner, F. Owen, T.
Nolan, W. Maynard, E. B. Chalmers, H. Hampton, F.
Barker, C. W. Lawrence, R. Davies, F. Parry, J. Wood,
W. Falloon, J. Cordeaux, Longueville, J. Baylee, A.
Knox, C. J. Hamilton, J. R. Connor, W. Rawson,
Douglas, P. Brown, S. Cragg, J. Bush, B. L. Wilts,
Townsend, Cox, J. E. White, Baptist Noel, Bold, S.
Fenton, B. A. Marshall, j. Baylee, F. Ould ; Messrs. A.
Hodgson, J. Rigby, W. Jones, C. Inman, J. Howard, J.
Eden, C. Boutflower, and W. Maples.
On the motion of thel Rev. H. CARPENEER, seconded by
Mr. BOUTFLOWER, the Rev. AUGUSTUS CIMPBELL, junior
rector, was requested to take the chair : and the proceedings
commenced with a supplication for the divine blessing upon
them, by the Secretary.
The CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting as follows :
—As I am well aware of the interesting matter which will be
laid before you, by the deputation from the Parent Society,
and those gentlemen who have consented to address you,
I will not detain you by any lengthened observations of my
own, but content myself with a brief remark, expressing
principally the satisfaction I feel at again being permitted,
by the mercy of God, to preside at the annual meeting of the
Church Missionary Society, for this town. Having felt it
my duty to do so before, notwithstanding certain objections
which were felt by the Primate and other Bishops of our
church, under the impression that it was not necessary for a
person in my very humble station, to be deterred by the mo-
tives which influenced them, I have, of course, much higher
satisfaction in performing that duty, now that their objec-
tions are removed, and the-operations of the Society brought
into full conformity with their desires. As I conceive that
the clergy cannot act very usefully in matters ecclesiastic,
without the concurrence of their own Bishops, so I conceive,
they could not act very satisfactorily without the concurrence
of all the Bishops of our church. Unity is strength. It is by
unity of purpose and action, we have the best means of se-
curing success under divine providence ; and although no
doubt all our doings without charity are nothing worth, still
unity is a very essential part of charity, for without unity
charity runs a risk of being destroyed. It is by the principle
of unity, unity in discipline, without which unity is but a
name, that the enemy of pure and undefiled religion has suc-
ceeded in enslaving the fairest portion of the globe ; and it is,
I think, for want of unity in discipline that the Protestant
cause, both at home and abroad, has failed in ensuring that
success which its truth deserves. (Hear, hear.) And if the
dominion, the justly dreaded dominion, of the Church of
Rome is to be restored, its restoration, I think, will be ow-
ing to the divisions of Protestants—(hear, hear)—divisions
that are not only injurious to the Protestant cause, but to the
higher and holier cause of Christianity itself, a subject, the
charitable but very serious consideration of which I should
wish to invite the attention of those Protestants who dissent
from us upon matters of discipline alone. (Cheers.) I
therefore rejoice most unfeignedly that the Church Missio-
nary Society is now the society of the whole united church.
(Cheers.) I thank God that our venerable mother is begin-
ning to assume the position that she ought, and to extend her
influence in the manner that she ought, that her cords of love,
the cords of her episcopal discipline are not only co-existent
with the boundaries of that vast empire upon whose flag the
sun is never seen to set, but the isles of the gentiles hear her
voice, and that her sound is gene out into that sacred land
trodden with the footsteps and sprinkled with the life-giving
blood of the Son of God. (Cheers.) And I trust we shall
no longer permit the proud title of uatholicity to be assumed
by any church to the disparagement of our own—a church as
catholic, as apostolic, and as pure as any in the world.
(Cheers.) I will not detain you any longer, but call upon the
secretary to read the report.
The Rev. H. CARPENTER, secretary to the society, then
read the report, of which the following are extracts :
" While we rejoice, in common with all the friends of the
society, that such a blessing from above follows its missions
abroad, we have, on the other hand, cause of deep humilia-
tion and sorrow on reviewing the society's pecuniary diffi-
culties at home. So inadequate was the supply to meet the
demands, that the expenditure of the past year exceeded its
income £19,000. Not that the receipts of the society were
less in the last than in the preceding year,—on the contrary,
they were somewhat more ; but the growing expenses of the
missions, in consequence of enlarged success, have outrun
the liberality of our friends at home. In this way, the so-
ciety has incurred a considerable debt in the past year. And
this has occurred at a period when new and promising fields
of enlarged labour were opened all around in distant lands.
Urgent appeals for missionaries have come from Syria, from
the Himalayah Mountains, and elsewhere, but owing to the
crippled state of the society's finances, the parent committee
were forced to refuse every application for help, though their
refusal might peril the salvation of immortal souls. Is it not
mournful, is it not reproachful, to a Christian church and nation
that the Heathen should be stretching out their hands for the
bread of life, which we have in abundance, and that we, who
ought to be its dispensers, should withhold that of which they
might eat and live for ever? Nor is this the only evil we
have to lament as the result of the insufficiency of the so-
ciety's funds. Old fields of labour are about to be aban-
doned—our msisionaries are forthwith to be withdrawn from
stations where they and others had long borne the burden
and heat of day, and where God gave them many souls to be
their ' joy and crown of rejoicing in the day of Christ's
coming.' Our missions are to be contracted because men
will not rise to the occasion, and enlarge their gifts as God
requires them. It is true the past year was one of unusual
commercial embarassment. But who can tell how much of
our difficulties may be traced to our neglect of God, and sin-
ful withholding of that which ought to be consecrated to his
service. It is his own promise, Honour the Lord with thy
substance, and the firstfruits of all thine increase : so shall
thy barnes be filled with plenty, and thy presses burst out
with new wine," Prov. iii. 9, 10. Let us then honour God,
and he will honour us. Let us be concerned for his affairs,
and we may be assured He will be concerned for ours.
" In conclusion, your committee have to announce that
the whole amount received by this association for the past
year was £2,174 16s. lid. Compared with the preceding
year there has been a falling off to the amount of about £7O.
But we have reason to cherish sanguine hopes that, through
the divine blessing, the funds of this association will be en-
larged in the present year. New friends have been raised up
amongst us, and those who have hitherto supported the so-
ciety in this place have not relaxed in their zeal for the cause.
They are convinced that the society possesses undiminished
claims on their support. She has never abandoned her prin-
ciples, and those principles have now received, through the
Society, the sanction of the heads of our church. These
great principles of evangelical truth, on which the society is
built, are the life-blood of the body, and constitute the
secret of all its activity and success. To these the society
has hitherto adhered with firmness and consistency ; and it
is by still maintaining unadulterated these principles,—the
principles of the bible, the principles of the reformation, the
principles of our articles,—that the society can look for a
blessing on its proceedings. Only let the society be con-
stant in doing the Lord's work iu the Lord's way, and none
of its works will be lost. Such is the Apostle's declaration,
exhorting the Corinthians to stedfastness in the work of
God,—' Be ye therefore stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you
know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.'"
Mr. ADAM HODGSON said, that in the absence of Mr. Jones,
who was appointed to move the first resolution, be had been
requested to move it, having previously only undertaken to
second it. Had this been a society of which it was necessary
to state the objects particularly, and to vindicate its utility,
he should have felt some difficulty in moving a resolution
which he was not prepared to move; but he was sure that
any deficiencies in him, as the mover, would be supplied by
the gentleman who would follow him. He was sorry to find
that the subject to which the resolution specially referred,
and to which reference was made in the report, was a de-
ficiency in the funds of the society to an extent that rendered
it necessary to abandon many of those useful labours which
the society had undertaken. This deficiency was much to be
regretted, but there was nothing in it to lead to despondency.
When he looked around and saw the various churches erected
hi this town and diocese—thanks to our invaluable bishop—
and not only in this town and diocese, but in every part of
the kingdom, he could not but see new drifts open which
added greatly to the funds of this society. In connection
with this subject, he could not but strongly feel that we
knew not to what extent the Church Missionary Society had
contributed to the erection of churches in this land. (Hear,
hear, hear.) He was well aware it bad been often said,
with great truth and propriety, we ought first to supply the
spiritual destitution of our own country, before we look
forward and endeavour to supply the spiritual destitution of
those abroad. Nothing could be more true than this ; but,
at the time when missionary exertions were first brought for-
ward
hiandt
neverh is country,heeniandreu
directed
to missionarythe erection
churches atten-
tioneither
by individuals or associations in this country. It had always
been considered as resting upon the government of thecoun-
try, and properly so, to supply this spiritual instruction; and,
perhaps, through the infirmity of our nature, it was easier to enlist our sympathy, and offer our exertions, for great and
noble efforts associated with foreign scenery, savage life, and
simple :nature, than for the spiritual destitution which had
lgi rg
owuns familiar h tyo
eoxui
sr t ee yd e
fors.
f(oHr
eei
ga
nr ) a
nßdus wheitn
aonce
poous rs rhel
e
it would long remain unexcited for our own population ; it
was impossible we could attend meetings of this kind year
after year, and hear the solemn responsibilities resting upon
us to send Christian instruction to distant countries, and to
see at our own habitations, and among our own neighbours,
the destitution of our own land, without neglect ; it was im-
possible to go from meetings of this kind, where the most
feeling arguments were urged on the necessity of supplying the
destitution of the heathen, and to look upon our own popula-
tion, and sit down satisfied with the destitution in which they
had been left. When it was found, from whatever cause, that
goverment upon whom certainly did rest the responsibility,
did not supply a remedy for this religious destitution, it was
felt, from sympathy already excited, and the reponsibllity al-
ready laid upon us, impossible to contemplate the mass of
almost heathen destitution, which existed in our own land,
without feeling that whosoever's duty it WEIS to supply the
deficiency, or whatever the circumstances under which it ex-
isted, it was impossible we should remain easy, if, with means
to contribute to its alleviation, we allowed it to exist.
(Hear.) We did not know, therefore, how much we were
indebted for the spiritual instruction now scattered through-
out the land, to the early and continued exertions of the
Church Missionary Society. (Hear.) He had no hesitation
in expressing his firm conviction, that had the Church Mis-
sionary Society never been established, so far from more in-
dividuals having contributed to the erection of churches in
this land, there would have been far less • that had we ne-
glected our duty to the heathen, we should also have neglect-
population. (dear,
h.) with foreign cities,
ear'aid longer.)
An anndd
surely,more, oiuur
our
t y
itnot
eorucro
uo
we would not wish religious instruction left out. We had
many negociations with
ooblject of them all ? It was to
foreign made m
lands,
streaties,
and
what
and
was carried rt iheed
secure guarantees against the epidemic selfishness of human
nature. and to secure respect from other nations ; but
Great Britain never presented herself in an aspect so venera-
ble and generous as when she stepped forward, not to assert