The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-03-01 00:00:00

FEMALE ORPHAN SOCIETY

The second annual general meeting of the subscribers and
friends to the Liverpool Female Orphan Society was held at
two o'clock yesterday, in the lecture-room of the Boyal In-
stitution, Colquitt-street. The Rev. Jonathan Brooks, the
senior rector of Liverpool, and chairman of the committee,
presided. On the side benches in the lecture-room the in-
mates of the charity were ranged. They were each attired
in white caps, dark dresses, and white aprons, and their pre-
sence imparted great interest to the proceedings.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the meeting, said, lie had
great pleasure in meeting the ladies and gentlemen who were
present upon this occasion, but he would not, by any intro-
ductory remarks of his, interfere with the able report of the
committee further than to state, that the Orphan Institution
was now formed, and that forty-two children had been ad-
mitted. Mr. Banner would read the report, and it would be
only in anticipation of that report if he (the chair man) were
to state the proceedings of the last year. The committee had
obtained a piece of land from the common council, who had
been kind enough to present them with it ; and they hoped
before another year was over to have began, if not completed,
a building which would contain a considerably larger number
of children than could at present be accommodated. And
there would be no difficulty in filling it, for they had now se-
veral applications to be admitted, and it was only by means
of the greatest exertions on the part of the ladies' committee
that they were able to meet the claims which pressed upon
them. The present building was as full as possible. (Hear.)
Mr. HARMOOD BANNER, the secretary and treasurer,
then read the report of the committee, of which the following
is a copy :
" The committees, in submitting the second annual report
of the proceedings of the institution, congratulate themselves
and the guardians generally on its steady and satisfactory
progress. The utility, or rather the necessity of such an
institution, in so large a population as that of Liverpool and
a circle around it of seven miles, is fully proved, and the
anticipations of its promoters have thus far been rewarded
with cheering encouragement. It is, however, a growing
establishment, and requires increasing support.
" The number of orphans in the house by the report of
last year was 19, and is now increased to 42. There are also
several candidates for admission, eligible in other respects,
waiting till they attain the proper age.
" For proof of the healthy appearance of the children, they
are offered on this occasion to your notice ; and of their im-
provement in their home and school duties, the friends who
frequently visit, and those who were present at the recent
examination at the asylum, have been pleased to express
their approbation. This is gratifying to the committees, and
also a pleasing testimonial to the care and attention of the
matron and teacher.
" The present dwelling can afford very little further ac-
commodation, without great inconvenience and risk of health.
It must also be taken into consideration, that the children
now in the asylum are young, and it will be about three
years before vacancies can occur by any of them being ready
to go out ; consequently, with scarcely room for another
child, the institution will be expected to provide for the de-
mands which are certain to be made upon it during the next
three years.

" The attention of the committees has, under these cir-
cumstances, been directed to the erection of a suitable build-
ing. A petition was presented to the town-council for land
for the purpose, and a lot containing 2372 square yards has
been kindly granted by the corporation, on the site of the
old Botanic Garden, fronting Myrtle-street. On this land
it is proposed to build an institution worthy of the town and
neighbourhood—not a work of grandeur and extravagance,
but intrinsically worthy by its capability to accommodate a
large number of children ; in outward appearance exhibiting
a handsome elevation, and in its interior to be plain, com-
modious, and useful. Its magnitude and character, however,
must depend upon the measure of bounty bestowed.
" There is now in the bank, arising from donations, £l6OO.
A large additional sum will be requisite, for which the coin-
' mittees make their urgent and respectful appeal ; and, in so
righteous a cause, they cannot but entertain hopes of com-
plete success.
" There can be no question as to the utility and real cha-
rity of sheltering and protecting poor children who require
shelter and protection, and fitting them for stations in life
appropriate to their condition ; and, of all who stand in need
of such assistance, none can be so entirely free from the risk
of imposture as the case of a poor female orphan.
" We are enjoined to do good whenever we have opportu-
nity, and it pleases God to appoint opportunities of exerci-
sing our benevolence in various ways. It is His dispensation
that parents are removed, and their offspring left in a state
of helpless destitution. Thus he affords to us an opportunity
of testifying our love to Him, by visiting the fatherless in
their affliction, by taking under our care the objects of so
sad a visitation, and so becoming willing instruments for the
display of His mercy to this interesting portion of our fellow-
creatures.

" Earnestly, then, are all entreated to join in this labour
of love, by availing themselves of the opportunity thus vouch-
safed of promoting so excellent a work. Successful in our
appeal, we may then hope that, under the blessing of God,
our united endeavours will prosper, and that we may be able
so to extend the benefits of the institution, that the affecting
wish expressed by the children at the close of one of their
hymns may be realised :
And may the helpless, who remain
Exposed as we before,
Be gathered in the Saviour's train,
The Saviour's name adore.' "
The reading of the accounts followed. It appeared that
there is a balance in the bank of upwards of £l6OO.
Mr. TURNER said he had great pleasure in moving the
first resolution,. which was, that the report be received,
adopted, and printed, together with the list of subscriptions.
The Rev. AUGUSTUS CAMPBELL said that, in seconding
the adoption of the report, and in directing his attention to'
that which might be considered the most important part of
it,—namely, the claim upon the public for pecuniary aid,—
he did not see how, as a minister of the Gospel, and an au-
thorised preacher of the written word, he could take any

other ground than that which the written word described, or
speak from any better text than that which was provided by the
apostle I—" Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the
Father, is this : to visit the fatherless and widows in theii

iction, and to keep himself unspotted froin---t

al proof of Christian sin

ity was to be found in the

exercise of charity and holiness. No other, he believed,
would be acceptable on the day of judgment. Orthodox

belief would not avail, however necessary orthodox I

might be. because we were told that the devils themselves
believed and trembled. Belonging to the true church would
not avail, however necessary communion might be to secure
us sacramental graces and Christian covenant, because we
were not told to rejoice. because we were enrolled as members
of the visible church upon earth, but because our names were
written in the book of life. And we could not expect accept-
ance from the Great Judge, unless, when we. appeared before

him in the last great d
thee an hun

❑d said, " Lord, when saw we
s.ered, and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee

drink ; when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or
naked and clothed thee, or when saw we thee sick or in pri-
.

son and came unto the?,"—he was enabled to reply to us,
" Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto

one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
ice." He knew not how it was possible for us to pretend,
and confess, and call ourselves Christians, if we denied the

necessity for Christian charity. He was sure it was worse
than mockery to acknowledge the necessity of Christian

charity, and not to live iu Vthe practical exercise of it
in the giving of alms. The
_rich, man who wasted _ his

money hi idle splendour,. or hoarded it in covetous ido-
latry, surely could not expect salvation at the hands of
the great Redeemer who suffered for us, leaving us

au example that we should follow his steps, and whose very
character it was that "he went about doing good." Let us
not, therefore, suppose that it was possible to profess and
call ourselves Christians unless we lived in the exercise of
alms-givin

and if he were met with the excuse that people
could not afford to give., he was bound to admit the validity
of it when they really could not afford, but nothing but ne-
cessity ought to prevent a man from living in the exercise of
Christian charity. When a man had spent money upon
what the wants of his family required, and what his de-
cent position in society demanded as a membJr of so-
ciety, lie was bound to give, to render to the poor, for his
own sake, and for the sake of Christ. And when he heard,
as he did hear, so loudly, the moan of national distress and
commercial embarassment, and when he looked around' im
and saw such excessive expenditure in dress, in 'equipage, and
feasting in " purple and fine linen and sumptuous fare," he
hardly knew how he could reconcile the apparent contradic-
tion ; still less was he able to account for the contradictory
walk, the contradiction between the practice and the pro-
fession of those rich men, who would not spare even the
crumbs that fell from their tables, and who contemplated with
seeming unconcern that great gulf which was fixed between
the rich man and the beggar in our Saviour's parable, and
who still professed a hope a everlasting reward. 'ley might
depend upon it that the duty of aims-giving was imperative '
upon all Christians, and that alms could not be given to a
better object than that before the meeting. We could not
imitate our blessed master in a better or more effectual way
,than by visiting-' the fatherless children, and . affording
them an asylum in which they could be kept, unspotted
from the vice of a corrupt and corrupting world. Let
us, therefore, consider that if we rescued these children
from vice, we were contributing to the salvation of their
souls. There was one other subject to which he would al-
lude. It was rather a delicate one, but still, perhaps, it
would be proper in the way he should do it. There were
some who objected to this charity because it was exclusively
of one religion. That objection had been well met by one
who was a great and firm friend of the charity who did not
belong to the communion of the Church of England, though
he regretted it had not his full concurrence and adherence.

He said, and justly said, that these children must be taught
to worship God after some form, and he was sure that such
a measure of toleration could be afforded towards the esta-
blished church, that they might be brought up in the
principles of the Church of England. He (Mr. Campbell)
trusted that this was an objection which would not weigh
seriously with any ; but that all would contribute cheerfully,
and that the whole community would think it their duty to
assist this admirable institution to the best of their power.
He spoke now in the presence of those who, if they used
their influence, would do it a great deal of good. Unhappily
there were very few gentlemen present. They were not in
the habit, unfortunately, of attending these meetings, having
other avocations which required thir attention, but if the
ladies would undertake the task they might greatly promote
it by their influence, and he could not help hoping that the
interest they took in the proceedings of the day would send
them forth as able missionaries in the cause which they had
met to support. (Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, and it was unani-
mously carried. . . .

The Rev. THOMAS .BOLD moved the second resolution, to
the effect that immediate exertions be made to raise funds
for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for the re-
ception of the Qbjects of the institution. The merits of this
asylum for female orphans were so universally appreciated,
that he did not feel it necessary to enlarge upon them; and
therefore he should content himself with moving the re-
solution.

The Rev. J. H. STEWART said he had very great pleasure
in seconding the resolution. If there was any one cause
which should come nearer to the heart of a Christian man,
than another, it was the cause of the fatherless and the wi-
dow ; for it was one of the most pleasing characters which
God had taken to himself, that he is the Father of the father-
less. When one of the prophets would encourage those
who were at the greatest distance from Him, he says, " and
in Thee the fatherless find mercy;" and when onr blessed Sa-
viour was counselling his disciples, he did it in these words—
" I will not leave you comfortless:7 or, us it might be pro-
perly rendered, " I will not leave you orphan.s.7 What a
delightful opportunity did this institution afford us of tread-
ing in the steps of our Divine Master ! We might here meet
in perfect unanimity. We all agreed that there were no per-
sons so destitute as a poor fatherless and motherless child ;
and those who took such under their protection, might be
said to be following the steps of our Lord, when, upon the
cross, he was providing for his mother. He did not know
of a more beautiful trait in our Saviour's character than when
he was upon the cross. When the women (for he might say
as the Rector had said, that when the men were absent, the
holy women were there) were near, Jesus saw his mother and
the disciple that he loved standing by. He said to her,
" Woman, behold thy son," and thn, looking at John, he
said, " behold thy mother"—thus giviqg the high honour
and privilege to the disciple he loved of taking care of his
widowed mother. We were then following the steps of our
Lord when we were providing for those who had not even a
mother to take care of them. There was a very dear friend
of his, a clergyman, who paid great attention to a society
established in London for the orphans of clergymen. There
was a little child who attended his church, and one day when
he came out of the church, the clergyman said to the little
boy, " Well, my dear little boy, I suppose you are going
home to your mother ?" He said, " Sir, I have no mother. '
The clergyman. replied, " Then yon are going to your
father;" but the boy answered, " No, sir, my father
is-just dead." " Where are you going, then ?" was the
next question of the clergyman. " Why, sir," answered
the little boy, " I have heard you say that God is
the father of the fatherless, and that when our father
and mother forsake us, then the Lord will take us up, and I
have prayed to the Lord to be a father to me." (Hear,
hear.) That poor child's prayer received an answer ; for the
next day a kind lady, who had heard of these circumstances,
sent for the boy and three others of his fatherless and mo-
therless sisters and brothers, took them all, and provided a
home for them. (Hear.) We were now called upon to
follow the steps of this good christian. He thought it quite
unnecessary to enlarge upon the pleasure and the privilege
there was in joining to aid such an object as this. He did
hope that by the blessing of the Lord, the hearts of all pre-
sent would be inclined to this work, and that they would bear
in mind what the rector had quoted—" Inasmuch as ye
have done to the least of one of these, my brethren, ye have
done it unto me." (Applause.)
The resolution.was then unanimously adopted.
The Rev. FREDERICK BARKER moved the third resolu-
tion, which presented the thanks of the Meeting to the ladies
and to the gentlemen's committees. After having spuken of
the valuable services rendered by each committee, and par-
ticularly by the ladies', the rev. gentleman said it afforded
him great pleasure to testify to the efficiency of the religious
instruction communicated to the children in this institution,
as evinced by the manner in which they had answered the
questions put to them at the annual examination. He
.was not preient at that examination, but a friend of
his who was, and who took great interest in the
charity, had assured him that the answers of the children
to the religious questions put to them, were most sa-
tisfactory, and that this part of their education had been
carefully attended to. This, after all, was that part of
their education which was, to them, the most important. It
was the seed-time of their life ; and however necessary it
might be to teach them to be good servants, and to make
them valuable members of society in that station of life to
which it had pleased God to call them, we should not dispute
that it was of still greater importance that they should be
brought up in the fear and the love of God, and be taught to
keep themselves unspotted from the world. (Hear, hear.)
This, he trusted, would ever be the object of the committee
to be appointed at this meeting, and of their successors ;
remembering that if they sought merely to make them useful
members of society, without teaching them the fear of the
Lord and without genuine religion, they would wretchedly
fail in their duty towards them. But it was impossible they
should do this. The reverend gentleman, after some further
remarks on the efforts made by the ladies' committee, paid a
high and deserved tribute to the exertions of Mr. Banner in
this cause, and concluded by,moving the resolution.
The Rev. Mr. CARTER seconded the resolution ; and after
the Rev. Rector CAMPBELL had eulogised the efforts of Mrs.
Aikin in support of the charity, it was unanimously carried.
On the motion of Mr. WiLLiNic, seconded by Mr.
BROWNE, the thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Ort,
the surgeon, for his professional care and attention to the
children of the institution.
The committee of ladies and gentlemen for the management
of the institution for the ensuing year was then appointed
on the motion of Mr. BANNER, seconded by Mr. WILLINK.
Mr. JOSHUA EDwARDS said he had the greatest pleasure
in moving the next resolution, which was that a vote of
thanks be presented to Mr. Harmood Banner, for his zealous
exertions in behalf of the charity as treasurer.
Mr. BUCHANAN seconded the motion.
The CHAIRMAN said he could not put this motion without
adding his testimony to that already given of the value of
Mr. Banner's services in the cause of this institution., He
had done a great deal individually for it. It was principally
through his, means that the large sum in the bank had been
collected. (Hear, hear.) No doubt he would continue the
same exertions in future, for he had the welfare of the insti-
tution much at heart; and he was sure the meeting were
only doing a gratifying thing to themselves, and the best they
could for the charity, in requesting Mr. Banner again to
accept the office of treasurer. (Applause.) The reverend
chairman then put the motion, and it was carried amidst
great applause.
Mr. BANNER, in reply, said, that so far from there beini
any difficulty in his mind to meet the wishes of the meeting.
they had only done him justice, for he felt so warmly inte•
rested in the objects of the institution that he would gladl3
continue his services. He should be very glad—aud ht
would not detain the meeting long—to explain one mistake
which had got abroad with regard to the institution, widel
he was afraid had operated in some measure to its prejudice
He had heard it once or twice mentioned, and after the com-
mon council had been kind enough to grant the land, one o
the newspapers in commenting upon the grant said, that i
was not only exclusive (which Mr. Campbell had answered
therefore he need not touch upon it) but that it was intended
only for the children of respectable parents. It added—
" aye, that 's the word—' respectable.' Now the fact was,
that the only qualification on the part of children for admis-
sion into this charity was destitution. Children who
had not only lost their parents, but, (and the
greatest possible care was taken to ascertain that)
who had no friends, were the only objects of ito core.
Destitution was the only qualification required ; and he
could not better illustrate this principle than by stating the
circumstances of the two last cases which had come into the
institution. Mr. Banner then described thuditanceist
of these cases, which were most affecting, afrom.rcum t
was evident that the only qualification for admission deice_
tlltiOU. In conclusion, he urged upon the mte_eutngittsohceoin
cessity for exertion, in order to obtain sufficient f
plete the new building. It would co 21000., of which
nearly one half was in hand ; and surely, in a town like this,
there would be no difficulty in raising the remaining £2OOO.
When it was completed it would be an ornament to the town.
He congratulated the meeting upon having obtained a grant
meeting
of land upon the principles arid terms which the committee
laid down, a result which was mainly owing to their excellent
chairman, to whom lie moved a vote of thanks.
Mr. BROOKS briefly returned thanks, and the proceedings
terminated about a quarter-past three o'clock: