Society For Promoting Chr...
The Times, 1824-10-09T00:00:00

WU s ruo.ay.ists. pursuaikt to notice giveii by 'byzirculatrs, a public meeting aof jhe nmMbe'rs:a4nd'friends of this -soclety 'was held in the Chapter-house Of the VP-th`QJrUyof C0hester. *ItgiYza us9grcatp1easure tos syitrwasypry ueoayali~ eartainY was3 themost Tep 9'able.asseiriblyg weaver'sawv in Chester, - ovnd under simailar citcunistance34 and with. a: similhr object in view. Amongst tha noble -andl 'd4ittlg1he4gitiilap The Lojrd Blishop'of, the Diocess, the Riglit floil; thie Lord Rev, the Vice-Dean,. lr. Vard; thelRev. the Chancellor, .U.l- PaN. Itins'n; the Rey. Unwin Clarke, 'Archdea-con of Chester-; th e Rev. Dr. Trevo; Rev. P5rebendary Mladdock; the.Rev. Mlessrs. Armit.. stea~d,i! del, P. IV. Hamilton,. AyckbGwmn,.dlyt.ton, Eaton, Cassonm A!. Davies, Mlassie, 'W. Chrrie,>W. Richardson, Lyon, Baris6an, Edwards, Pearson, 11L-D. Taylor, Lleweflly Lloyd, El-le c .R aitn,Eq;'dra ire Dr. Thack. cray. Dr. Llewellyn Jones; Thomas Dixorn,Bsq.; John-Fletcher, Es.(eorge,fHarrison, Esq. T homas Bagnall, Esq.; 'Williamn Wr,Esq.', W. H. Polliate, Esq.- W. Hl. Worthlingion (Sandi. way), Esq. ; Richard Richardson 'EsPq.; J. Finchet..Medaock, Bag.. ; Robert Baxter,. - Esq. -0. B. Granv-ille, Esq., Mir. J. Waliter; .Mtr. I.ceet; kr.W Vard, &c. Soon after 12 o'clock, the BEsuaop rose, atid said, that. as the pree. sent was a meetiug.of the Committee of the Society for Pronaeting Christiall, Knowledge it beeame him to open. the proceedings withi the usual players- to the Almnighty 1 hr its prosperity 4nd his protsec- uns. His Lordship then resul the prayera in a very impressive miannes-. all present kneeling; after which, 2lielishopof CUESTEIt addressed himiself ~.i: the audience In 'words to the follo-mingVuirport :-He said, he felt a lively aatlsfac.. tic -a satisffictiOn which he hadl not words to e,rpress..-to behold alrr-bmmeetiu!F4-2onumerouesand so truly respectable. rt was Mghaly grot o~ngi itnasmch as it convinced him , that there was also ~ of ovelY the SPirit of zea In supportof our hsoly teligion, but atn otloyto heestalellshed church, which was the best instru. raen~ under Dil Providence, of propagating9 true religion. As. rcr- Ld25 illrmae withi a particular object in view,. he felt It his ilOty to OEe i5atheir notice a few observatione. He would -be ats '~107 h le coald in explainiing to them his senitiments ; firstly, be. ~tlii5e Tirabahly~ a greater part of those he had the honour of- ad- dresin wee wllacquaLinted with the principles of Society and sccenly,bea~5~e disliked from his. heart, the ostentation of being proinet i spakn' on pablic occasions. True chlarity Is unob- trusve nd etied;shle courts not public gas6, inor does, she seek publc aplase,anyfarther thian may be requisite to attract the notie, nd o cnciiate the regard of those whio wouild otherwise reman i igorace of her exersldns and deserts ; and lie wvoild theefoe onfnehisrearks within the shortest liniis which the execuion f thetaskhe had unidertaken wouldI permiit. Glad TMa h to obev ttemeig so great,.a numnber of the clergy ofth neighorho; u till more rejo ced was he to scee to zumeroas and esctbeaasermblage of the laity; because it sh-awed that the support anld welfare of thie Society for prc6moting Christian Knowledge ivut not confined to ministets of the gospel. He saw around him many old and valued friendsi ef that venerable Institution, numbers of wl4or, no doubt, were better acquainted with the suibject than himself; but he vould observe, that when, he (the Bishop) took on himself last year. in the very centre of tIne metropolis, to forward the oh- etsof the Society, he found hundreds- wyho actually didi not Mroof fts existence! He was aware, somermight say, that this ig- r,orancre was owing to the inertne.ss of the Society, but there lhad been no inertneses but what arose fromn the want of support; and if this hadl been the cas-e it certainly was not so now. That there bad been a di-ceedital.:e indifference, lie was not prepared to deny ; rand he even found amongst his parishioners inany warm friends of 'the Churchi, who, strange to say ! supposed the Bible wats never dis- tributed by the Societyr unls it was bound tip with the book of Common P?rayer. This error, it wArm pretty, obvious, had originated in the misrepresrntttion of some one; but he viould not inenlire Zint that.We he seught the contributions of his parishioners, it asfailystaedto them, that the appropriatioli of the money 'trul..b cefied xcusively to the Society for promoting Christian Knowldge, hich as strictly in its principles a Church Society ; nade 'as ladtosay, that although his parish was situated in that past~,fLondn aouning with seccedler from the church, he fouxnd thmwogladly contributed towards so good a purPose. Pat~i'~n issmblng hefact, we ought to avow with pride that thisIs Chuch f Egland Society, and we should cordially co-opert in ordrt disseminate the pure principles of thlat c'hurch of whic we profess ourselves members. The Society first otipinated in the year 1699-a period when this king. dum was threatened on one hand with the danger of Popery, and %ith atheismz and, infidelity on the other. It was formed to coanteract thieir operation, and was soon afterwards divided into two branches; the One cafled the Society for the propagation of the Gos- )pel in fordign p2rta, the othier calle the Society for the Promioting Chlissiran Knowledge. 22he principal object of the latter was the fboundn'tions of charty schools, generally confined to the metropolis, a*a the formae.-on of parochial catechetical libraries; that of the ?O5ym!sosc!uli~g outtnisi.sionaries abroad. Let not the splendourof later and 7nore extensive charities so dazzle our eyes, as to make us ~ilindto4liecear-ly and effectua- itbours of thisSociety. So e-arlY as 44,there weree no less thea 2,000 charity schools founded by this i,..icietyl directly or indirectly ; and at present the metropolis exhi- Wiits to our view the great meeting of' the different charity schools in ceonrieion with the establislhment, holden before this society-a sight -tlre gendest and mos-t afibeting that could be conceived !-.to behold fromn 10,000 to 12,0(10 children assembled together in the Temnple of the Lord what could ha so impressive ?.-what could oewner touch tle sensibilities of our -nature!I (His Lordship at this period appeared to feel the-.importnce of the 4abject to which *he adverted, and was genierally cheered.) He must apoidgixe for being carried away by his feelings, hut he did bhope to scean annual neeting of therchildren simtilarly educated at Chester, in that Cathedral. (Hear, hear.) He trusted he-shosild be excusRed trespassing on their timne a little longer; a:nd he could not filrbear adverting to the lamientable deficiency of gelsuc sc al in thlis citz. There was mot one which gave public instruction oni the Sabba -day; so that, when children, imperfectly educated, hadl ar- rived at an:age in which they could earn something for themselves, they were Wten away from their present schools, and the conse- equence was, thAt instead of having a schiool connected withi the esta. blirthment to avail themselves of on the Sabbath, they were obliged -to talke shelterc in the seminarics of seceders; so thiat, in point of fact, we wereactually educating children for Dissenters from the schools of thechunrch. Did it not,then, become usto establish similar schiools'? (Erear:)Atthe present moment there wereiupwards of 300,000 children receiving the blessings of a church education, but that could not be done (as his noble and excellent friend, L-ord Kenyon had, just ob- served) were it not for the assistance of the Society For Promioting Christan Knowledge. This fact alone would establish itg indefea- sible claim to support from the friends of the church. But the oh. ject and inthience of the Society did not end here ; it was always ready to give its'ossisr,ance,and disseminate its instructive books,not only to children but to adults. The great Increase of schiools had of course given a-great increase of readers, and unless the church of Engand suppliedl themn with the books they requiiredl, the Dissenters undoubtedly would. The second great obh3ect in view by theSociety 'was the general distribution of the Word of God. His Lorrdship was aware that till within the last few years, the opeations of~ the So. ciety were comparatively limited ; but a stimulus was given to it, -the smembers of the church rallied rounld it, Its funds became ex- tended, and it was now enabled to dispense its blessings in a larger sphere of action. There wvere more than 15,000 suxbscribers on the Sociiety's books, and they were yearly and monthly increasing-irs progessWas api. He would not stop to enumerate the laboiv-rs of ':is erller eas. uffce t,therefore, to say, that within the last fouee.m yars atleat fften millions of books have been distribut- ed ~'te Sciey,of which a very g-reat groportion was the Com- ~no~Prayr, ad te remnainder useful and siniple manuals of devo- tio fo thpooerclasses. At thepresent time, theCommittee were emplyedin creflly revising the general tracts of the Society, in ordr t mot te rros ad wntsofthe times in the most ample wray necessary, so ta,iashrtme, he had great plea8urein stat.. ing, many more excelln trcsad vtional books wouxld be ready :for circulation. Hemst not, however, forget to melition the Fa- mnily Bible publishdb the Society for promoting Christian Know- ]Iedge-a workcetil in some degree expensive, and calculated mot exactly for the means of the lower orders of society, but rather fur1b'e middling and higher classes. It was a very able and much ap- ,proved work, and of this not less than 24 000 copies had bees, sold. In this neighbourhood it might beeof some inter,est to state, that withini the last century upwards of 130,000 Welsh Bibles and Prayer-hooks, had been distributed by the Society; and that the blessed word had already been translated into mnost of the modem, and som-e of the Oriental languages. In 1819, when it was permitted, for the In- iscrutable purposes of that Divine Providenc-e which ruleth all things, and for the trial of His chuirch,, that atheistical and ir.fiel publications should spread abroad the poison of uinbelief, not fewver than one mnillion tracts, &c., were issued by the Society in order to counteract =md refbLte such dangerous principles. About 30 of thiese tracts were wr-itten by pious and learned membersR of the church; and, tha-nk God ! we have since seen the good effects of their exertions. The B3i8hop hoped he nmight he excused saying-and he adverted to it wit gaiuetGo-that there never was a time when the work of infidelity was less busy and bold thani at present;, and proud was he to say, that onie great cause of this was owing to the activity and influence of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. (Lear Jear.) Lastly, another object which thie Society lied in view was thie distribtution of the Scripture to suchi unhappy members of trise clhurch, who, strayipg from the paths of rectitude and virtue into those -of vice, offended agaiNst the laws of their country, and wvere imprisoned.; aind not ony to prisons werfe the beneficent views of the SoitIiece,btaso to those suffering under the band of affliction in publie hospitals and infirmuries. He was fearf'ulhe was trespassing too muchi on the time of those who heard bim, but be could not rtmfrain fiom statinf the principal features of the views entertained by the Society. Ter was et one point un- touched1 ,and that was as to the progress of the S1ciety iir'f'orcigrs parts,-andparticularly in the EastlIndies. The Society forthe pro. pragation of the Gospel had long a-o supported mnissionaries in the East, as it di d at present, andI he coul~d not but admire the devotion of those venerable andl apostolic imen, who would thus volutntarily forego the blessings and comforts; we enjoyed in this Ihighily favoured land, In order to preach to those wilo sat in darkness, the truth as it is in Jesus. Illeir exertions had recently been redoubled, and were most materially aided by the nrd?in 5---- . - ,. ,-- e~~~~~~~- -" 141I noteEs Ilndes or an ePlscopal e-sltablishment- District Commrieeso 'we-re tiere, formed, societies instituted, and large daepts for books were established at Sincapoxe, Cailcuitta, Mfadras, rend o0ther places. It was particularly ..gratifying to obrerve, th at these books were called for by the natives foster thlan the could be supplied; and it was a most iinportault fact, that the book of Com- moen Prityer-.that ecelnt o atinof the Scripture3_..was princi.. pally sought for. rnodr~l"ute to aid the glorious, prospect which presented Itsl itatqrer of the world, a grant had latoly been made b001. for the foundation of a college at CAlCUtt, underth ad tronage of the Bighop, in order to prepare preachiers of the Goe ecording to the disci. pline and doctrineof the established cuc.He(theBislsop) would forbear to dilate on this interesting sujc,but be must observe, that the avidity with whieh the Scriptrs taslated Into the Ta- moul tongue, were sought for at Tanjore, was most gratifying. He hoped and believed be should not be deemed guilty of a breach of confidence in stating, that he had been favoured. with a recent com- maunication frojn that learned and excellent' Prelate (Dr. Hfeber) who now filled the See of Calcutta, in which he adverts to the anxity aniestd bythenatvesto send their children to the Missonay Scool, wich erepartallsun rted from the funds of te Sciet 1h theProotin of C risslan Knowledge. Befoe heconlude, th Bihop bsered,that oeyasg,a but it was exclEisively coniined to those who were MYembers of the Parent Sodcety, who paid their annual guinea. Now in the present instan'ce he did notmean to propose that such a qualilfcation.should be indispeasable on the contrary, the Committe.sfeuld .be happy to receive-t'e mites. of all those who were disposed to6 costributo IP aid of a Society formed for such really Christian purposes..frormnthe poornas rell as frot tite rich in testimiony of tbeir. good-V4illtowards the holy cause in which therh. ad embarked. He .w6uld hev, propose, ihat rione could 'be Members of the Cemmitteei.who.di(i not contribute half-a-guinteanalnWly, -He waa of opinlon; A150, that It would be expediest to calloccasionalmeetings, when a-speetch or two mighi be made in iDustration of the progress of the Socie;y, aind for the infomiation of those unacquainted with the tnagnitudeef its ob cct 4 but Be was satisfied the views he entertained could riot beNetlfeently supported, unless by the individual exertions .of the 'Aenibersi, and partictlarly of the Clergy, who might peri6nully ietk the assistance of their parsh ionets; asd !le .wps persuaded1no Mlnister of the Gospel could be ashanied of Interestihs'&tniself in a' cause in which charity was tinlted iith 'Chl stbmalty. In his own parish in town (St. Nary's,Botolphh he called,a meeting for. the saxiie object for which this was convene ;- it was very, tbuAl attended, and nothing &cmparati7ely was done. Hp drew' up'Da few resolutions, ciatried them with him round tie. parish, Waited,` pr- sonally on his psrishitdners, and the consequence was, be had one refusal. In 10 days he collected about 2001. ad ba:he not done so, the probability vwsa that the receipts would not haf exceeded 101. He hoped, from the nukmeroas ach highly raspeetale attendance that day, that mnuch woould be done inaid6f the Sdctety's wants (hear,) that :ts objects might be enlarged, and its opcxotions ex- tendea. -PBore lie sat dovrn he must express hi unqualified thanks to his noble and excellent friend (1Lord enyou), whowasalways-fore- .most in the cause of charity and religion, fbr his attendance that day, and who had purposely travelled a considerable distance at .great personal Inconvenience to himself; nor could he omi. nam- ing another gentleman of great sank and influence in the coun- try, (Sir R. W. Vaughan, Bart.,) who, although not connected with this fmmediate neighbourhood, hal nevertheleas attended as frendly to the establishment asid to the new Bishop of the ditociss (dear, hear.) Je had almost forgottel. to statethat a letter had been sent by that highlv respected noblenian, the Earl of Stam- foro and Warrington, LordLieatenant of the county, to his friend MA. Pearson, in which his Lordship expresses great regret that businass-alone prlvents hisbeing present; and he (the Bishop) had also received one .of the- handsomest and kindest letters from Earl Grosvenor, at Leaamington, in %vhich his Lordship observes, that be delayed till the last hour writing, in the hope that the health of as4y Grosvenor might be sufficiently rastored to enable him to be present en the occasion; unfortunately it was not so; but his Lordship expressed his warmest wishes for the welfare ofthe Society. The Bishop here congratulated the Rev. Dr. Parkinson; his Chan- cellor, who had just artived In the roam, and whom he described as an ola and valuable servant of the diocess; and then proceeded to read the resolutions, and recapitulated the niumber of books, &c., is- sued uy the Society. Lord KExYOx then rose. It was not his ibtention to have ob. truded himself on the meeting by any observations; but having been called upon by the highly respected diocesan to propose the re- so]ltions prepared, he shoald not shrink fronm the task. The object of the meeting was one for theprosperity of which he liad ever enter- tained the greatest anxiety, having ihad the honour to be a subacriber to the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge for a great num- ber of years-nearly as long, he believed, as the worthy Bishop lad hinself. (The BxsHop.... Longer, my Lord.") The committee in Chester had been established by the right reverend prede. cessor of the rigbt reverend prelate who then sat on his right hand-whose actifity and exertions In its cause-whose desire to forward the welfare of the diocess intrusted to his charge, as well as the general interests of society, had excitd uni- versal satisfaction, and the particular gratification and gratitude of the clergy of Chester, and those of every other place in. the dio- cess; and in every other situation, politically ia well as religiously considered, his conduct claimed the tribute of public approval (HHear, bear.) In thus expressing hii sentiments as they respected the late Bishop of Cheter, lie could not but have the most pleasing sensations, in poticing that the see was now possessed by one, in whom we h4d the assurance of having ita most important duties ex- ecuted with enlergy, activity, and ability (hear, hear), at the smen time tempered with piety and benevolence. The subject upon whioh they had assembled was one which called upon -them all for their undivided assistance, and knowing well, as he did, the temper and liberality of the inhabitants of this high-spirited. county, lie had no doubt whatever but that it would be most strenuously supported. (Cheers.) Being full persuaded, that to the exertions and influence of the Society for Promoting Christrian Knewledge, the church was indebted fdr the very extensive diffusion of its apostolic principles, he woald therefore propose that the resolu. tions which the company had heard read be adopted bv that meeting. The Very Rev. elhe DEA seconded the motion, which was una. nimously agreed te. Subscriptionis were then catered into, and the meeting was dis.. nolved about half-past one o'clock. SOCIB7 FOR PROmOTJIVU CISrI47 KxOW. LED&B. Idl-PTINGOP THE CHESnTV.tln': t-