The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-12-19 00:00:00

Dec. 19, 1848. LIVERPOOL PROTESTANT AND REFORM- ATION SOCIETY. ount ,ther vIF, amt— old tired e :of ling hese the can log an 364 daft elect lent uref enCe our, she, 1 for On Friday evening the annual meeting of this society was held in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson-street. The hall was crowded to excess, and notwithstanding the assertion to the contrary by one of our Saturday's con temporaries, the great majority were males, and a large body of the most respectable class of society. Another pleasing feature in the meeting was a revival of that en thusiasm which manifested itself with such powerful effect a dozen or fourteen years ago, and before which a •government, disposed to foster and encourage Popery, was compelled to quail and shrink into deserved contempt. There must have been nearly three thousand present, and multitudes more would have been present if the hall would have contained them. The chair was taken by the Rev. Dr. M'Neile, and amongst those present we noticed the Revs. Dr. Carpenter, D. James, F. Parry, Mr. May nard, Mr. Thomas, F. Barker, S. Fenton, Mr. Councillor Tyrer, Mr. ex-Councillor Glazebrook, &c. &c. On taking the chair, the rev. doctor called upon the Rev. T. Nolan, who opened the meeting with prayer. The Rev. CHAIRMAN then rose to address the meeting, and was received with loud cheers for several minutes. When silence was restored, he said,—My Christian friends and brother operatives : It is with sincere satisfaction that, as your President, I meet you once more in this good cause : the cause directly of true religion as it has been graciously revealed from heaven ; the cause, indi rectly and by consequence, of true liberty, both civil and .religious, upon earth. (Hear, hear.) We have all along had sound argument on our side, when we represented Protestantism as the genuine foundation of liberty. We have now facts, great and important facts, not of ancient history, but of daily and weekly occurrence in these our own times, all on the same aide. (Hear.) For three centuries, the distinguishing characteristic of England, as compared with the great bulk of the Continent of Europe, has been Protestantism ; and now, the distin guishing characteristic of England is her combination of authority respected and liberty enjoyed. True it is in deed we pay for our blessings, as I was told by a French man a few days ago : when in conversation I said to him that here in England we have tranquillity and liberty and true fraternity, he cut the enumeration short by saying abruptly, " You pay well for all this." We do so, and willingly. (Applause.) For what better treasures, I would ask, can money be given ? Our taxes are high : our rates are high : our luxuries are dear, compared with the Continent. Be it so. I am not one of those who have learned in the new school to idolize cheapness. (Cheers.) I do not see that it is a real improvement either to poor or rich, either to wages or rents. The labouring classes in England were in a better condition when everything was dear, very dear, than they have been since everything bas fallen to comparative cheapness. There is one article, however, in which I do delight in cheapness ; and in this we have the advantage of the Continent again, for in this there is no such cheapness in the world as in England. The article I allude to is one of great importance—of greater importance, in a national point of view, if all were duly known and duly considered, than our public men seem ever to have dreamed of. I mean the article of Bibles in the language of the people. (Loud cheers.) The Pope has indeed solemnly affixed his infallible anathema on that bright star of England's prosperity, our noble Bble Society ; and wherever his anti-Christian authority is paramount, Bibles are scarce. One of the most conclusive and triumphant proofs of how little authority he has in England, is, that Bibles are plenty. Compare these facts with other facts. Different minds will draw different inferences from the same facts ; but I now speak of the facts themselves, and, taken sim •ply as coincidences, they are sufficiently remarkable. In Spain Bibles are scarce, and have long been scarce; and Spain has long been degraded, and is now distracted by civil war. In Austria Bibles are scarce; and Austria, disgraced by bloodshed and cruelty in her capital, and handed over to the Imperial sway of a lad of 18, is endea vouring to spell out a free constitution for her diversified population. In France Bibles are scarce ; and France is a proverb of revolutionary madness, recklessly and re peatedly staining the streets of her metropolis with the blood of her citizens. In Italy Bibles are scarce ; and in Italy democracy is in the ascendant, not sparing even the Pope himself, who is dethroned and a fugitive. (Applause.) In England Bibles are plenty; and in England we have tranquillity, and liberty, and true fraternity,—authority duly respected, and freedom richly enjoyed. We have indeed exceptions to deplore, we have offences to record in England, but they are the exceptions and not the rule, and some of them are of a most instructive character. Witness the following, which has just occurred in Bir mingham, and is thus made public by the clergyman of the district. [The rev. gentleman here read the letter which we gave last week from the Rev. J. Greaves, rela tive to the burning of the Bible at Birmingham by a Roman Catholic priest, and which has since been acknowledged by the priests of that town.] It is quite clear that if we would preserve plenty of Bibles in England, we must preserve England from Romanism. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) And why did I omit Ire land in my enumeration ? Ireland, which presents in hereself a most characteristic and instructive sample of both Romanism and Protestantism ? In the south and west of Ireland Bibles are scarce, and in the south and west of Ireland you have a Romish population disaffected to the Crown of England, and not to be trusted with the administration of the laws of England. During the re cent state trials, her Majesty's Attorney-General, though himself a Romanist, yet being put on his mettle as a law officer of the Crown for the due administration of public justice, felt called upon to exclude from the juries the members of his own rebellious church. In the north east of Ireland Bibles are plentiful, and there you have, in a most salutary proportion, a Protestant population, the Morn defenders of the British constitution, as condensed and ratified in the Bill of Rights, passed under William of glorious memory (tremendous applause), and accepted with public solemnity at the coronation of every British sovereign since. It is in the face of these facts, and such as hese, that the public mind has been excited by rumours, which grow in urgency from week to week, that her . jesty's ministers intend to propose to parliament a bill for the national endowment of the priests of Romanism in Ireland, and of course, by consequence, in England and Scotland. Every constitutional opposition which the Protestants of the empire can offer to such a disastrous measure, ought to be instantly and efficiently offered. (Hear, hear.) Already the movement is in progress, as the recent elections in Devonshire and Yorkshire, as well as public meetings in different places abundantly testify. Such a meeting has just been held in Manches ter, where my reverend friend and namesake, our noble fellow-labourer in this noble cause, gave utterance to such spirit-stirring appeals on behalf of our national Protes tantism, and in such a strain, or' rather such a torrent of fervid eloquence, as those persons can form very little ides of, who have never heard Hugh Stowell. (Cheers.) And this evening in Liverpool, I have no doubt sentiments and arguments, well deserving the most serious consider ation of our people and our rulers, will be uttered by those gentlemen on this platform who have been invited by your committee to address this meeting. On this question of the proposed endowment of the Romish priests, two questions are very frequently asked. By the friends of the present government we are asked, what mo tive can her Majesty's ministers have in desiring this ar rangement, if they do desire it, except the general good of the country : and from their position and the information they possess, were they not better qualified to form an opinion of what is indeed best for the country than any individual, however intelligent he may be, who moves in the more circumscribed walks of private life ? And then, not only by the supporters of the present government, but also by a large class of despairing politicians, who think everything else has been tried in vain, we are asked what is to be done, what can be done for Ireland if you don't do this ? With regard to the objects which her Majesty's ministers may be supposed to have in view, I do not think that they can be fairly accused of any abstract love of Romanism as such. On the contrary, I believe that the noble lord at the head of the government very much prefers Protes tantism every way, and that if he saw his way to govern, and to continue to govern—(hear, hear)—the coun try, without any further concessions to Romanism, he would gladly adopt it ; but it must be remembered that concessions have already gone so far that the noble lord is in a serious difficulty. With parties so balanced in Great Britain, that it is no easy matter to secure even a working majority in the House of Commons, how can any noble lord or right hon. gentleman who wishes to carry on the government, dispense with tne thirty or forty votes of those Irish members who are neither more nor less than the nominees and mouthpieces of the priests ? (Hear, hear.) And how can he secure those votes on an emergency, except by compact with their reverend masters ? Is this enough to account for the non-prosecution of known offenders amongst the priesthood, a measure tending to rivet on the minds of their ignorant followers the disastrous superstition that their priests bear a charmed life, or, at least, are not amenable •to the jurisdiction of heretics ? (Cheers.) Is this enougt to account for sop after sop, in the hope of at last drug ging Cerberus into quiescence, if not into friendship ? Doubtless her Majesty's ministers possess extensive infor mation, and are so far in a favourable position for forming a sound judgment ; but we know that a straight stick thrust obliquely into water, will look like a crooked stick, and we know that information, viewed through the denser medium of love of place and power, will look not what it is, but what it is wished to be. (Hear, hear,) But who are to blame, that the executive government of our Pro testant Queen are in such a humiliating dilemma as to hold their places at the mercy of the Romish priests of Ireland. for it really amounts to this, when stripped of all subterfuge and special pleading ? Clearly and undenia bly, the blame is with those electors of Great Britain who have allowed secular considerations or personal in terests to prevail with them at the hustings to the dispa ragement or neglect of our national Protestantism. If the Protestant electors of Great Britain had done their duty, the Ministers of the Crown of England might have been in a position to govern with dignity, instead of being obliged meanly to court the priests of the Roman schism in Ireland. This reproach falls, I will not say on any of you who are here present, but certainly on many who pos sess the elective franchise in this borough. By preferring Peelisns to Protestantism, and by so fraternizing with Tractarianism as to divide their strength, they played into the hands of their opponents, and so managed or misma naged as to send members to Parliament on whom no really Protestant Minister of the Crown would place any confident reliance in any great Protestant struggle. mention this in honest plainness, because this, and pro ceedings similar to this, here and elsewhere, consti tute the real root of our national disease. If the electors of Great Britain returned a Protestant House of Commons, we would very soon have a strong and -effective Protestant government. (Loud cheers.) But what then, it is asked, could be done for Ireland ? I will take the liberty of answering the question, first, ne gatively, by saying that the endowment of the priests would do nothing for Ireland, in the sense intended by the question. The endowment to any practicable amount would have no effect whatever in either attaching the south and west of Ireland to England. or in tranquillising those districts in themselves. The priests would take the Saxon money, and act the Celt just as before. The grace of the grant could not be damaged by the insulting con dition of the subsequent good behaviour of the recipient; and if it be supposed that gratitude for a free and una lienable gift would attach the priests to the government, I venture to suggest that an attachment to their own system in which they have been brought up, and the operation of which is to invest them with more than hu man importance and 'dignity in the eyes of their fellows, will prove stronger than any new-born attachment pur chased by £2OO or £3OO a-year. Endow Romanism in Ireland to-morrow, and you will still have there—nay, you will have strengthened and consolidated there—a church which, as has been well and truly observed in the London Standard of last Monday— " Delegates the power of the Deity to man—which proclaims itself exclusive and infallible—which grants indulgence to sin, and guarantees salvation, and both for money—which surren ders reason to the priest, and shuts up revelation from the paople—which substitutes the sens s for the understanding— which trades in miracles, and se Is impunity, and discounts transgression—which consecrates human merits and human bones and man made idols, and gives its sinful populace of saints a Gospel mediation ! Is this a fiction ? We appeal to Ireland. That Ireland in which Rome loudly boasts a pure unbroken hierarchy from St. Peter. Was earth ever before defiled with more living pollution in the shape of man? See what priestcraft does ! But they pray. Yes, through beads! But they hear prayers. Yes, in Latin. But they have the Bible. They have not, and if they had, they could not read it, and if they could, they dare not ! (Cheers.) But they have their chapels. And what have been the lessans from the altar? The truth is, they have the church in place of the gospel. And that church, what with its saints days and holidays, its confes sional tyranny, its vendible indulgencies, its mock miracles its exclusive salvation, its assumed infallibility, its dispensing power, and all the mummery of song and paint, and images and relics, the working tools of priestcraft, have made them what they are—a filthy, idle, lazy, ignorant, importunate, and restless compound of mendicancy and treason. (Hear, hear.) This is the seventeen century work of Rome Papal in Ireland. Does any man doubt this? Let him visit the "green island.' This is Romanism in the nineteenth century ! Still the question remains, what can be done for Ireland ? First, make burning a Bible, or insulting or molesting a preacher or teacher of the Bible. felony ; and let any man who is guilty of the foul offence, whether priest or pea sant, be transported or incarcerated, without favour or partiality. (Loud cheers.) Secondly, establish, endow, and protect, an efficient Christian mission, for the con version of the idolators of the south and west. Let sta tions for missionary preaching be appointed by authority, and punish instantly and severely any man who attempts by any violence to prevent any other man from attending. Thirdly, let an act of Parliament be passed, declaring that no man who professes any allegiance. spiritual or temporal, to any foreign potentate, prince or prelate, shall be eligible to serve on juries in any part of the United Kingdom. (Hear, hear.) Let Great Britain shew herself Protestant in good earnest, and Protestant boldness will assuredly be crowned with Protestant suc cess. Let Popery be thought of and spoken of, as a thing to be got rid of—a darkness to be dispelled by the light of the Gospel—and not as a branch, though a corrupt one, of Christ's Church, to be preserved in secula seculorum. I am happy to see the rise and progress of movements in the right direction. Only this day I find in a London newspaper a letter from an Trish clergyman, the Rev. W. Digby, containing this announcement — "The diocese to which the writer belongs is actually taking measures to recommence forthwith an aggressive missionary movement more systematically and comprehensively than ever in order to rescue our countrymen `out of the hands of those who have served themselves of them,' and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.' Some of our friends in England have proffered to us their pereonal help in this matter. But we deem that we ought to be fitter in our place according to our bounden duty, for the work that is to be done ourselves than any strangers, however able or zealous they might be. And when we have first raised the standard from our church towers and nailed it to the mast—' No PEACE WITH ROME,' we can, then, with a better grace and more effect, accept of, or even solicit the help of our brethren from without. But we. begga red as we are, shall want money from our English friends to work the press, and, above all, we shall want their prayers." The Gospel, and nothing but the Gospel, can meet and supply the real wants of Ireland. " Concerning all the secular efforts of Great Britain on be half of Ireland during the last half century, it is only necessary to say, that while they have supplied themes for interminible controversy, both in and out of parliament, their practical fail ure is notorious to a proverb. In vain has a conciliating go vernment and a compliant legislature passed every measure that could add to the political influence of Roman Catholics. In vain have political privileges, national and municipal, been followed by poor lac s for their relief, and large grants of public money for their employment. In vain has the legal property of the Established Church been reduced one-fourth, and the remainder changed from a tythe payable by the occupier, into a rent charge payable by the owner of the land. (It should be remembered that while in three provinces the occupiers are chiefly Roman Catholics all over the kingdom the owners are chiefly l'rotestants.) In vain has the national education of the country been uncbristianised to meet the prejudices of Roman Catholic priests ; and a national endowment made and consoli dated for the more enlarged support and instruction of those priests. In vain are facilities given for the sale of encumbered estates, and laws devised to fetter or coerce landlords in their bargains and arrangements with their tenants. All in vain. For now, after all, wherever Romanism prevails, the due ad ministration of British law is impracticable, and disaffection and disorder, tumult and crime, are the characteristics of the district: whereas, on the other side, as if to leave no excuse to the inquirer, wherever Protestantism prevails, law is para mount as in Great Britain, and the government can dispense with military intimidation, the people themselves being the champions and defenders of loyalty and order, industry and peace. Of an army of occupation now amounting to forty thou sand men, only two regiments are in the large and populous province of Ulster. And why so? Because of the two millions and a half of Protestants in Ireland, nearly two millions are in the province of Ulster. Facts themselves can make nothing clearer than this—that Romanism is the bane of the United Kingdom, locally,in its social and moral mischiefs, and nation ally, in the prodigious expense thereby incurred. On these grounds, independent of the still higher considerations which ought to actuate Christians for the everlasting welfare of their fellow-men, we deem it the obvious, urgent, imperative duty of the Christian churches in Great Britain and Ireland, to make conscience of a decided and determined effort for the conver sion of the Roman Catholic population. There is nothing chi merical in such an attempt. To think so would be to harbour an unworthy want of confidence in our divine religion. What the glorious gospel has accomplished in England and Scotland, it can accomplish in Ireland also, if zealously and prayerfully administered. Already, from conspiring coincidences, political and social, and by the operations of the Irish Society, a great and effectual good is opened; and although there are many ad versaries, yet an unprecedented willingness exists amongst the Roman Catholic people to give ear to the Word of God, if read or spoken to them in their native language." The crisis is favourable. The head of the Papal system, supposed to have been infallible, has made a great mis take. (Cheers and laughter.) He promised last year what he was unable to perform, and now he is dethroned and a fugitive. The existing eovernment at Rome has pronounced a rescript of his Holiness to be of no value, and continues its proceedings in defiance of the impotent man. His rescript in condemnation of the Irish colleges founded by our Government, has in like manner been treated as a document of no value. All things are conspiring_ to deliver men's minds from the prostration and thraldom of this overgrown superstition. But political events however they may open favourable opportunities for the advancement of the gospel, are not to be depended upon in themselves for any permanent and useful change in men's minds. (Hear, hear.) Wo must bring the light of truth to shine into the dark den of the man of sin. And truly he provokes the contrast. Even now he proclaims to the world the astound ing blasphemy against the cross of Christ, that his present misfortunes are endured to make an atonement for his sins and the sins of his people. But I must now release you from this long address. Tt is said of us, " Why have meetings of this kind at all ?—why say things that create prejudice or irritation in the minds of Roman Catholics ? ' I should like to answer this ques tion by asking another. Why should public agitation be all on one side ? (Hear, hear.) Why should the advo cates of conciliation—the advocates of treating all creeds alike as equally beneficial in a national point of view— why should they have it all to themselves? (Hear.) Why should it be commendable zeal in them to propa gate their principles, and narrow-minded bigotry in us to propagate ours ? I ask you—as Cobbett used to call you —the honest, thinking people of England—why should they have it all on their side ? (Hear, hear.) You have something in the Mercury from week to week opposed to our principles : why not have something in the Standard, in accordance with them ? (Cheers.) We don't object to their meetings —we don't cry them down, and say, " Look at those bigots—they had a fine soiree last night." (Cheers.) I think we owe something to our poor Protestant people as well as to Roman Catho lics. We must take means to have a tone of Protestant feeling in England ; and if those in high places will not listen, those in low places must. (Hear.) We say nothing and think nothing unkindly of them, and why should they so think of us ? (Applause.) I should like to have these questions answered fairly in the liberal papers, as they are called. I don't say that with any unkindness towards them. It makes people think, and the more we think the less Popery we shall have. (Cheers.) But still there is a duty due to Protestants—to inculcate hatred to all falsehood, by whomsoever told, which is opposed to the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe that properly administered it may be done with out any indecorum or violence to the Sabbath from the pulpit, and must be maintained from the pulpit. The Reformation was won by the pulpit. (Loud cheers.) But at that time the people did not read near so much as they do now, and as I would not have the reporters to break the Sabbath by reporting what we say from the pulpit, I think we ought to come sometimes to meetings like this, and say things that will get into the newspapers, and so give a tone to our countrymen. That tone should be maintained—the tone that sustained the labours, day and night, of Wickliff whilst he toiled in the translation of the Word of God into the English language—the tone that fortified the voice and heart of Lord Cobham when he stood in Westminster Hall, and addressing his judges, said—" My Lords, these right rev. gentiemen, so long as they knew me addicted to blas phemy and debauchery, never issued any summons—never addressed to me any remonstrance, but so soon as they knew I was reading and translating the word of God by Wickliff, they have brought me here to be unjustly con demned by this tribunal." The tone that sustained La timer, Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, and others, who, amid burning fagots, would call out—" None but Christ, none but Christ." The tone that sounded most royally in the Queen's English, when Elizabeth said—" Let no Popish Legate come nearer England than Brussels." The tone calmly, but firmly, uttered by the seven Bishops who preferred the Tower to any compromise of their Protes tant principles—the tone thundered through the kingdom on the acquittal of those Bishops—the tone that, recog nising a desperate necessity for change, yet retaining a high - principle of legitimacy as far as the higher interests of true religion would permit, invited the Prince of Orange, excluded the Stuarts, and established the house of Brunswick—(cheers) --the tone, finally, that was re echoed with emphasis, on the day of her coronation, by our gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria. (Loud and continued cheers.) The Rev. F. PARRY rose to move the first resolution, and was received with loud cheers. He was happy in again having the privilege of attending a meeting of the Protestant Association, for their opponents had been ready to conclude that it was defunct, and not a few who bore the Protestant name would have been quite glad to say of it requiescat in pace. For his part, however, he would mucli rather say esto perpetua, as long as the times re quire it. (Cheers.) The chairman had mentioned Wick liff, the morning star of the reformation, which reminded him of an anecdote told of him. In his boldness in the cause of truth, Wicidiff caused great consternation in the minds of the friars, and on one occasion he was very ill when a number of them surrounded his bed. He lay for some time in such a state that it was believed he was dead, and those near were congratulating themselves on the removal of their great opponent, when he suddenly opened his eyes, and said with fervour, " I am not dead, but live, and shall confound the lies of the friars." (Cheers.) So he hoped would the Protestant Association. He trusted it would awake to life, and, like a giant refreshed, prove too strong for the enemy. (Loud cheers.) He was quite aware that sneers had been cast upon our Protestant meetings, not only by enemies but by pretended friends to the rause, and he thought such friends, if they disap proved of them, would have done well to have pointed out a substitute for them as a means of defence for our common Protestantism. (Cheers.) For his part he could not understand the great tenderness with which it was wished they should regard error, and he was glad this state of things was not to continue, but that these meet ings were to be revived. (Loud cheers.) The resolution which he had to move pointed out a very plain duty—the duty of contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints,, and in the performance of this duty much obloquy had been thrown upon them, and in proportion as a man would be faithful as a soldier of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the same proportion must he expect obloquy and derision from the world around. (Hear, hear.) Efforts and strenuous efforts were, however, required, for Popery was making great strides and receiving great encouragement even in this country. It was very strange that the experience of the past was lost upon us. What had they been told when protesting against the Roman Catholic Emancipation bill ? Why if this were only granted, Ireland would be tranquillized—that all would be sweat peace, serenity, and sunshine, where turbulence, storm, and anarchy had reigned. But what was the result ?—this healing mea sure as it had been called, had produced no healing effect in Ireland, but just the reverse. Our legislature had gone on making concession after concession, and instead of rendering popery inoccuous it was ten times more turbu lent than ever. ( Hear. hear.) What then was to be done for Ireland ? Why take away popery and they would very soon find the beneficial effects of such a measure. There was great reason for the duty inculcated in the resolution, because it was a duty we owe to ourselves to maintain the protest against popery by every legal, con stitutional, and Christian means—it was a duty-we owed to our children, to our country—because real liberty is bound up in , our Protestantism. (Loud. cheers.) The rev. gentleman then referred to Macaulay's History of England, and to the lives of the Queen's of England, by Miss Edgeworth, a Protestant lady, but who bad distorted facts, so that he felt it his duty to administer the caution that all therein stated should not be taken for granted. In truth, she was very little to be relied upon where a Popish or a Protestant Sovereign was the subject. (Hear, hear.) The rev. gentleman concluded by moving the resolution, and resumed his seat amid loud cheers. The Rev. Dr. CARPRNTER rose to second the motion, and was most enthusiastically received. In proposing the resolution, they professed to be guided by a certain pre cept in the Word of God, i.e., that we should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. This command they would find in the general epistle of Jude, and the circumstances under which it was given were very remarkable. It was thus, as described by the apostle : " For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation—(He was not applying this to Romanism)—ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." He was only stating this to show that in the days when Jude wrote, there were men in the visible church who had crept in and were corrupting it—they, therefore, re-echoed the words —" Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints," and especially when that faith is assailed. He repeated—it was now their duty to contend for that faith which is founded on the Word of God, because men have departed from it and would lead many more to follow their pernicious ways. (Hear, hear.) It was far more congenial to his feelings rather to confine himself to his district—it was contrary to his taste to come forward on the public platform and take part in public meetings, but there were times when it was necessary to deny oneself and do something not altogether agreeable. (Cheers.) He had come forward at the mis sionary meeting to manifest his love for missions, and had he not then appeared some might think he was no Pro testant ; but, (added the rev. Dr.) my friends, the longer I live, the more Protestant I become, and I hope it will continue to grow with my growth, and strengthen with my strength, and I hope to die as I live—a Protestant. ( Loud cheers.) He was there, then, to manifest his Pro testantism, and he trusted he should induce them to agree with him that they ought to protest against the principles and practices of Rome.. There was another passage from the Word of God to which he wished to call attention. When Paul, the Apostle, was before King Agrippa, Festus said,—" It seemeth to me unreasonable to sencha prisoner and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him," and it would seem to him ( Dr. C.) illiberal to ask them to condemn the principles and practices of Rome, without showing the grounds for it. (Cheers.) When a number of men were lately put upon their trial for high treason in Ireland, though every one in the world knew they were guilty, they pleaded not guilty. This was an old Irish trick, for hundreds of times he had heard papists charged with practices contrary to the Word of God, and they had uniformly and invariably denied it. (Hear, hear.) lie bad frequently heard members of the Church of Rome charged with praying to God through the merits of saints, and he had as frequently, he might say, heard that charge denied, and he did not remember a single instance in which they had pleaded guilty to that charge. They have said they prayed through the inter cession of saints just as they would ask them to pray for one another, but they never asked for the mediation of saints. The Rev. Dr. then produced a Roman Missal, published by Rockliffe and Duckworth, for the use of the laity, at page 18 of which was the following prayer : " We beseech thee 0 Lord, by the merits of thy Saints, whose relics are here, and of all the Saints, that thou wouldst vouchsafe to forgive me my sins." (Hear, hear.) If any doubted there was the book to read for himself. (Cheers.) The Rev. Gentleman then quoted another prayer, offered through the merits of blessed Osmond . and a third, " that the glorious merits of our blessed Mary Magdalene may make our offerings acceptable" to God. He asked would they protest against that, or would they stand by the Word of God ? (Yes, yes.) Again the Church of Rome had often been charged with leaving out of her catechisms the second command ment, which prohibited the worship of images, or the bowing down to them, though it was found in the Bible, and found too in the Bible of the Church of Rome—(hear, hear)—but in the catechism he held in his hand, which was that of Dr. James Butler, revised by the Bishops for the use of Ireland, it was omitted al together. Was it, therefore, too much to protest against that sort of dealing with the Word of the living God ? (Cheers.) The rev. speaker next produced a book enti tled " An Abridgment of Christian Doctrine, with proofs from Scripture, revised by the Rev. J. Doyle, for the use of Maynooth," from which ho quoted as follows : " When is theft a mortal sin ? A. When the thing sto len is of considerable value, or causeth considerable hurt to our neighbour." And the Scripture text referred to was I. Cor. vi. 10. But he confessed he saw no distinc tion between mortal and venial sins. From the same book the speaker produced other proofs showing that the Church of Rome worships saints and angels, and garbles the Scriptures to countenance her idolatry in that respect. In the catechism she asserted, in answer to the question " What is the Mass ? " that it was the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, which are really present under the appearance of bread and wine, which are offered to God by the priest for the living and the dead. Against this he quoted several passages from the Bible, proving that Christ was once offered for the sins of the world — that he was not to offer himself often—and that, having made one atonement for all, he has sat down at the right hand of God. The rev. gentleman concluded a powerful speech with the relation of several most inte resting anecdotes, illustrative of the effects of the truths of the Bible when pointed out to Roman Catholics, and resumed his seat amid loud cheers. The resolution, having been put from the chair, was unanimously carried ; after which a collection was made for the purpose of defraying the expense of the meeting. The Rev. D. JAMES rose to propose the next resolu tion, and was greeted with loud applause. He said, after all, the question had to be argued, and he was prepared to argue it, if time permitted, and would show the great value of Protestant truth when brought home to the hearts and consciences of Roman Catholics. (Cheers.) The resolution he had to propose commended the estab lishment of the Christian religion as a blessing to the State; whilst it condemned the establishment of Popery as one of those sins which would be a reproach to any people. The rev. gentleman then referred to a pamphlet of Dr. Wiseman, on the supremacy of the Pope. This was the point behind which the Romanist, when beaten in argument, generally sheltered himself—behind the supremacy cf the Pope as successor of St. Peter, and the assumed infallibility of the Church of Rome. They were prepared to meet them on their own ground, to attack their citadel, and show that the supremacy of ,the Pope was a fiction, and that the infallibility of the Church was without truth and reason in the Scriptures, i He was prepared to show that even f they ad mitted the Church of Rome to be true in her tenets and pure in her principles, that after all she had not the least right to exercise any authority over the subjects of Queen Victoria. (Cheers,) When they looked at the subject, they found this to be the fact, that the first Christian church was established at Jerusalem by our Saviour himself, and superintended by his Apostles, and especially by one called his brother, i. e. St. James. On the Day of Pentecost, in the year thirty- three of our Redeemer, when the spirit was poured out, and thousands were present, not less than fifteen dialects, or languages, were mentioned, and amongst the rest strangers from Rome, who, having received the Holy Spirit and in struction through the preaching of the Apostles, went home and established a church. After that, Philip went to Samaria, and introduced the Christian religion, to whom the Apostles sent Peter and John on a visit. They would afterwards find Peter went to Antioch, and if at any time he did go to Rome, and sat there as President over the Christian Church, which was maintained by the Church of Rome, he (the speaker) still contended that that did not give the Bishopof Rome any supremacy, for whoever succeeded him at Samaria or at Antioch had a superior claim to have the keys, if keys there be, to open the Kingdom of Heaven. (Hear, and cheers.) If, however, the Church of Rome had any apostolic authority at all, it was derived. from St. Paul, and not Peter; for when St. Paul writes to the Romans in the year 60, he mentions no less - than twenty-six eminent Christians, tw) of whom had actually a church in their THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. o wn house; but no mention is made of Peter. (Hear, hear.) He then proceeded to contend that the Christian religion was introduced into Britain long before Austin, the monk, visited the country—that the venerable father of the celebrated Caractacus, who had been detained for seven years a hostage at Rome for his son's loyalty, re turned in the year 59, along with four missionaries, one of whom was Aristobulus, mentioned by St. Paul—that they established the Christian church—that bishops were established and consecrated—that in the second century there was an Episcopal Church in this land—that this church was represented at the Council of Arles in 314, nearly three hundred years before Austin's arrival in the country. The Church of Wales never wholly submitted to the Church of Rome. It was often obliged to give way to it, but at last again regained its entire independence, and now claims its descent, not from Rome or St. Peter at all, but from the great Apostle of the Gentiles. ( Loud cheers.) The rev. gentleman then, in eloquent terms, showed the peculiar advantages of Protestantism as compared with Popery, and appealed to his audience to be prepared for the coming struggle between the two principles, if they valued genuine liberty and pure Christianity, and sat down amid loud cheers. The Rev. T. NOLAN, on coming forward to second the resolution, was received with enthusiastic applause. He delivered a most excellent address. The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously. The Rev. CHAIRMAN, in closing the business of the evening, strongly urged his hearers to be prepared for the coming struggle between voluntaryism leagued with Po pery, and the friends of established order—to hold fast the truths of religion ; and in the exercise of their oppo sition, to do it firmly, unitedly, but in quietness, sobriety, and without offence. A vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, by accla mation, after which the meeting separated. THE LYING-IN-HOSPITAL.—The seventh annual meet ing of this valuable institution was held on Thursday, and was respectably attended. The Mayor presided. His worship remarked on the admirable manner in which the institution was conducted, lamented that in but two places of worship bad collections been made during the year, and recommended an application to the Council for aid. The report showed that during the past year 155 patients had been admitted; and 110 attended at their homes — total 265. But one child had died, and eleven were still born. The receipts had been £2BO, and the expenditure £320. It was hoped the public would liberally come for ward to support so excellent and humane an institution. THE HEALTH CommerrEe.—At the sitting on Thm.q.. day, there were only five members present—Mr. Tinne in the chair. The report was favourable as regarded the health of the town. The increase of deaths in the past week had been 12 over the previous week, but 15 fewer than the week before that. The three cases of Asiatic cholera in Carlton-street—a man, and his wife and child —have proved fatal. They arrived on Monday from Dumfries, via Annan, where the disease was prevalent, and the man and woman died on Tuesday and the child on Wednesday. No case of the same disease bad origin ated in Liverpool. The inspector of nuisances made his usual report, showing the number of nuisances removed, and the number of cellars not fit for habitations cleared out, &c. The Health Committee have taken every pre caution in the neighbourhood where the fatal cases of cholera have occurred, with a view of preventing the spread of the disease. All the courts and passages near have been thoroughly cleaned. WEST DERBY GUARDIANS, WEDNESDAY.—A letter from the Poor-law Board was read, sanctioning th e appointment of Mr. Morley as collector of poor rates for the township of Everton. An injunction, signed by the Commissioners for administrating the laws of relief of the poor in England, had been sent to the Board, ordering the dismissal of Peter Arrowsmith from the office of assistant overseer of the Great Crosby district. Mr. Sidney, in accordance with the notice given by him a fort night since, moved that a suitable building be obtained to be used as an industrial school, and that the present workhouse be enlarged, so as to meet the present require ments. Some discussion ensued, but no one having seconded the motion, it fell to the ground. It was how ever agreed that the law clerk should write to the Poor law Board, for an answer to -a motion for enlarging the house, proposed by the Rev. Mr. Badnall in June last, and forwarded to them, but to which they had not yet replied. In answer to a question from the Board, the Poor-law Board stated it was quite sufficient for the sub stitute of a medical officer, were he duly licensed, to prac tice as a medical man within the meaning of sec. 109 of 4 and 5 William IV. DOCK COMMITTEE, THURSDAY.—A resolution of the Shipowners' Association, on the propriety of deepening the Queen's Dock, was referred to the Sub-committee of Works.—A presentment of the Grand Jury at the Quar ter Sessions was read, complaining of the furious driving of spring carts, and of the great inconvenience and danger which resulted from the practice of landing and embark ing passengers, in sea-goinc , boats, at the stairs appro priated to the Seacombe and other boats. The receipt of the presentment was ordered to be acknowledged, but the committee did not consider the matters complained of came under their jurisdiction.—Mr. Poole was appointed a member of the Marine and Master Porters' Sub-com mittee.—lt was resolved not to fill up the vacancy in the Warehouse Sub-committee until after the present com mittee had presented their report. recommending reduc tions to the extent of nearly £2,000 a-year. Mr. Aikin was glad to find that his idea of the possibility of saving £l,OOO a-year was likely to turn out not so very absurd. —Mr. Holme referred to the erroneous opinions which prevailed as to the rate of interest derived from the Albert Dock and warehouses, and proposed that a correct and clear statement should be furnished, in order to set the matter at rest. It was stated that the accounts would be brought before the committee in a week or two, and if they were not in a satisfactory state, an order on the sub ject would be then made. THE SELECT VESTRY.-At the meeting on Tuesday, Rector Campbell in the chair, a deputation waited from the inhabitants of Abercromby Ward, who had held a meeting, and were averse to increasing the fever sheds in Brownlow-hill, so that they might be available in case of cholera breaking out. The deputation suggested that the sheds should be removed to a distance outside the town. A long discussion ensued, and the Chairman said he did not think cholera patients would be sent to the sheds, but no pledge would be given.—Mr. Shimmin was called in, and reprimanded by the Chairman for tampering with the register, and advised to be more careful in future.—Miss Parry was appointed mistress to the Workhouse, at a sa lary of £25 per annum.—Premises were ordered to be obtained in Christian-street azd Moorfields for additional dispensaries.—The committee resolved that all medical appointments should be annual.—ln answer to a question, it was stated that cholera patients would not be removed, but houses of refuge would be established for the recep tion of healthy persons from infectious neighbourhoods. —A letter was read from Mr. Rounthwaite, of the City of Dublin Company, relative to some remarks made by Mr. Ferguson on the charge made for paupers to and from bublin, but the subject of it was not entertained. — Mr. Bennett said he considered some remarks made in last Friday's Mercury, in reference to Mr. Earle, were totally without foundation. Mr. Earle said he was quite careless of anything written in some of the newspapers. He had, in days gone by, appreciated the opinions ema nating from the Mercury, but he must be compelled to state that the profligate and reckless character of the pre sent emanations of that paper were quite undeserving of notice.—There was no further business. CORRESPONDENCE, THE MORNING CHRONICLE AND THE BANK CHARTER OF 1844 EVIDENCE OF WILLIAM BROWN, ESQ., M.P. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SlR, — Many of your readers are doubtless aware that the editor of the Morning Chronicle has recently favoured the public with a series of articles respecting the evidence given before the Committee on Commercial Distress. Whether the object of this writer be to display the extra ordinary power inherent in Sir Robert Peel's Bank Char ter, to maintain the convertibility of bank notes into gold, or to prepare the right hon. baronet's supporters with a few hints for the coming session, I must leave your readers to determine for themselves. The writer of these essays has exercised considerable ingenuity in attempting to expose what he considers to be the fallacies of those who are opposed to the principles of this act, including Mr. Glyn, Mr. Gurney, and Mr. Tooke. Having, as he terms it, " grappled with the tenets" of these gentlemen, he has now commenced an attempt to analyse the evi dence of Mr. W. Brown, the member for South Lanca shire, and that of Mr. Wylie, a merchant in Liverpool. We find also on the 9th instant that he has stepped out of his course to utter his denunciations against the " Li verpol Currency Association," which he styles a " con clave," and the " putative child of that Financial Asso ciation whose fiscal discoveries have lately enlightened the public." Without being called upon to adopt the separate opi nions of each of these parties, it may not be altogether useless to examine how far the views of this writer have any claim to public attention. He begins by paying his compliments to Mr. Brown "as a merchant" ; but he is " compelled to pronounce his notions on currency and banking to be crude, ill-digested, and contradictory"; and further, that he " cannot identify Mr. Brown's opi nions, on monetary questions, with any distinct school or theory"; that Mr. Brown " qualifies his assertions, upon any definite point of doctrine on which his opinion is desired, with a ' sometimes', an occasionally', or a ' much to be said on both sides'." Now a thorough examination of the evidence of Mr. Brown entirely falsifies these assertions. It. is true that Mr. Brown has not advanced his opinions upon any sub ject with a dogmatical assurance, that is frequently as- sumed by men of far less experience than himself in 'com mercial transactions ; but in the whole course of his exa mination his answers to questions " upon any definite point of doctrine" are given in language unqualified and unequivocal. He is called upon by that committee to give evidence as a merchant, and not as a banker ; and it is only when he is called upon for his opinions on ques tions connected with the latter that he has expressed him self in qualified terms ; but whenever he is called upon to express an opinion on the commercial transactions of this country, he does so in the most decided language, and with a degree of confidence which can only be possessed by a person of his long and extensive experience in the mer cantile world. We may therefore deny, without hesita tion, the imputed contradictions of this gentleman's evi dence. It was not to be expected that Mr. Brown would be called upon to form a new Direction for the Bank, or establ;sh a new mode of issuing paper money. I have alraedy stated that he was called upon as a merchant, to give his evidence ; and as a witness who has lived through all the commercial panics which have occurred during the last half century, both in war and peace, his opinions upon the operations of an act which, if permitted to exer cise the extent of its power, would have prostrated the commerce of the country in ruins, and left the Bank in a state of insolvency, are invaluable. By comparing the remarks of the writer in the Chroni cle with the evidence of Mr. Brown, it will be found that man confines his views to facts—such as the separation of the bank and issue department, the amount of notes in reserve for discounts, and the small proportion of specie to the amount of liabilities in the bank department. Also the "absurdity" of maintaining so large an amount of bullion in the issue department, while the liabilities to depositors is not secured by a shilling in the pound. On these points the evidence of such a NI itness as Mr. Brown is of the highest importance, and his opinions are unanswerable. The first charge brought against this witness is, that he condemns the " facility for discounting ;" and on the other hand "he regrets that the bank had not power to enlarge its issues." Now in the question referred to by the Chronicle—(2,244)—Mr. Brown makes no such • , charge against the bank. He is asked, " might it not have been possible that the ministers of the Crown might have thought that that restriction of discounts (meaning in April 1847) ought to have commenced two months earlier, while the directors of the bank were of a differ ent opinion ?" "It is very probable, if it had commenced two months earlier it would have saved a great deal of difficulty to the country." It is on questions like these that Mr. Brown qualifies his assertions, simply because they concern the operations of banking, more than of mercantile pursuits; and must be left to the dircretion of the bank directors. Why the writer has brought in op position to this part of his evidence the answer to ques tion 2,222, we cannot discover. The remarks of Mr. Brown respecting " a larger amount of specie in their vaults" is solely referable to the bank department which is fully proved by his answer to the next question, (2,222) " when you speak of the specie in their vaults, &c., you mean the reserve in their banking departments."— I speak of the whole spcie held by the discount depart ment, assuming that the specie in the bank of issue is also available for them." We must remark here, that in the evidence of Mr. Brown be does not condemn the Bank for not having suf ficient amount of specie at their command, but that what they do possess is so separated by the act of 1844, that the Bank has no power to relieve the discount department in the time of great pressure. It is impossible for any but a caviller to put any other construction upon this part of his evidence. When Mr. Brown says the Bank might have reduced its specie to two millions, it is in reply to a ques tion, whether the Bank had ever found " eight millions of specie in their vaults on any similar occasion previously ?" The question is a very natural one ; and we may imagine no small degree of stupidity would have been attached to the advocates of such a system of banking by foreigners, when they learned that the Bank of England had become insolvent with £8,000,000 of bullion in its coffers ; yet such would have been the case in the space of one more week, had not the act itself been suspended, notwithstand ing the assertions of Mr. Jones Loyd to the contrary. We can pity tke writer for not being able to compre hend the difference to the Bank between a commercial and a political panic. It is a tact well known, that in al most every instance of a commercial panic in this country it has been paper, and not gold, that has been requires ; and there is not onaecord an instance in which paper is sues have not been the remedy of the Bank to recover its position. It is the sudden withdrawal of this means of accommodation to our merchants that has brought them into difficulties, which have terminated in their ruin. We cannot help thinking, on a review of the evidence of Mr. Brown, which occupies 23 folio pages, that the Chronicle has by no means done justice to that gentleman by collecting here and there a few passages, on subjects which are not easily decided by any single individual ; while, on the other hand, he has kept out of view the more important points of the subject on which he is called to give his opinion. _ Before closing these remarks, we shall notice the re ference of the Chronicle to the mode of issuing notes by the Bank. " Has Mr. Brown never read the act of 1844, or has he never heard that this very government debt forms the main part of the basis upon which the Bank is authorised to issue its fixed amount of £14,000,000 of notes, UNREPRESENTED BY BULLION ? " He then ex plains it in government language :—" We will continue to pay you interest at 3 per cent. on that £11,000,000 which we owe to you ; but besides that, you shall virtu ally have the use of that sum, as if it were repaid to you, in being allowed to issue notes to that amount upon the securities which you hold on account of it." We are then informed that the other " three millions form the residue upon which the issue of the fourteen millions is based, and they too are represented, pound for pound, by an equivalent amount of Bank paper issued to the public." It would not be necessary to enter into any investiga tion of this theory of creating paper money, were it not for the vindication which is here boasted of by the Chro nicle : nor could we scarcely imagine, that within two days from this period, the same journal should have pub lished, in its remarks on the " Liverpool Currency Asso ciation," the following : " In the first place, it is to be observed, that the 'basis' on which the Association propose to found a national currency', is the National Debt. They are pleased to call it capital, mis led, perhaps, by the equivocal term Public Funds': but no one surely needs to be informed that the -*500,000,000 referred to has, as capital, no existence: it is sunk, spent, dispersed to the four winds; the debt, i.e. the obligation to pay, alone sur vives. To talk of a capital of £800,000,000 being guaranteed by the property of the British nation, is mere moonshine The writer then adds : " Now, what these gentlemen propose is the debt the bath and guarantee of a new lit [ctually to make Doubtless both M. Brown and the " Liverpool Cur rency Association" will both feel themselves under an obligation for such enlightened views. Here we find a writer vindicating one chw what in two days after he ut terly condemns. He tells Mr. Brown, that " the govern ment debt forms the main part of the basis upon which the Bank is authorised to issue its fixed amount of £14,000,000 of notes !" He laughs at the " Liverpool Currency Association," and exclaims, "These gentlemen propose actually to make the debt the basis and guarantee of a new liability." He says, " they are pleased to call it a capital." Now, in the very quotation printed in the Chronicle, the association says nothing of the kind ; but that " Consols represent a bond fide amount of capital," or, in the language of the Chronicle, " Debt." We make this digression to show how the advocates of the Bill of 1844 are driven to a course of reasoning which is contradictory and delusive. If the evidence of Mr. Brown cannot be reconciled with any " distinct school or theory," or with any '` fixed principles," of this much we are certain, that he has clearly shown to the committee of the House of Lords, and to those who have read his opi nions, that the theory of the Bank Charter Act of 1844 has been propounded, acted upon, exploded, and con demned'by every sensible merchact in the kingdom. It has been proved, by the evidence of Mr. Brown and many others, that it can neither bring gold to the Bank nor keep it when there. It is, in short, in the language of the committee, an act which has " to be repealed the moment it comes into operation, and is, therefore, good for no thing." FABRICHJS. December 13th, 1848. TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS On Wednesday an adjourned meeting of the Town Council was held at the Town-hall. Mr. S. HOLME, in moving the confirmation of the pro ceedings of the Improvement Committee, stated that that committee had decided upon expending some money upon the improvement of the east side of Lime-street, and that afterwards they intended to improve Elliot-street and Dale-street. Proceedings confirmed. The Education Committee reported that there were 1019 children in the North School, and 722 in the South. The Town-hall Committee recommended that Mr. Wharton be appointed keeper of the Town-hall, in the room of Mr. Solomon, at a salary of £2OO per annum ; that Thomas Edwards be appointed keeper of the Judges' lodgings, at two guineas per week ; and that John Jones be appointed Mayor's servant, at £5O per annum. In reply to a question from-Mr. H. Hornob_ _ The MAYORstated that Wharton and Edwards had each promised to allow out of their salaries £3O a year to Mr. Solomon, and £l5 a year to Mrs. Solomon, during the lifetime of the latter. This promise was considered unsatisfactory ; and upon the motion of Mr. Hornby, the whole subject was referred back for consideration, with instructions that no allowance be made to the outgoing officers by the incoming ones. The proceedings of the Water Committee gave rise to a very animated discussion, in which the Pike scheme was again discussed, and the probability of the income meet ing the expenditure was commented upon by Mr. Nicoll, Mr. Bennett, and Mr. Harbord. Eventually the proceed ings of the Committee were confirmed. The Committee on Local Rates recommended that the Corporation bear half the expense of promoting the bills through Parliament, for the rating of the Corporate and Dock Estate. This recommendation caused a long and somewhat angry discussion to arise.—Mr. T. B. HORSFALL opposed it strongly, and with great eloquence and ability ; so also did Mr. AIKIN.—Mr. S. HOLME supported it, and eventually an amendment, moved by Mr. HORSFALL, that the subject be referred back, was lost by a majority of 30 to 15.—A memorial from the operative porters was laid on the table.—There were four motions on the paper; but, at half-past five o'clock, there not being twenty-two members present, the Council were counted out, and the Mayor announced that, if these motions were to be revived, due notice must be given of them for the meeting in January. CIRQUE NATIONAL DE PARIS, ROYAL AMPRITHEA 'rm.—To-morrow will take place the last two perform ances of this season ; and the public cannot do better than avail themselves of the only opportunity left of witnessing the unrivalled artistes of this celebrated troupe. We feel quite certain that M. Dejean cannot fail to receive in the metropolis that full reward which it is in the power of London to compensate him with. In comparison with last year, the attendance at the Amphitheatre to witness these performances, has only failed so far as the boxes are concerned. The pit and gallery have been equally as well attended as before. We remarked that the Earl of Sefton and his family were in one of the private boxes on Friday evening. Several novelties have been introduced during the week in addition to the usual routine of the perform ances. The comic Pas des Grosse Vies is a highly divert ing scene, and the expression of the huge masks is most admirable. M.M. Newsome and Andre acted their parts capitally and kept the audience in a convulsive state of laughter, and the whole of the effect was so droll upon the young children that they seemed struck dumb with d Wcoerpisl,a anve and he h to as ta o lc ur e l h e e a s y t e th afi an M ha . D fe e r je th an e, TO Sl :ll ,— E l .l3 h D a l v T e Oß rea o d F A T ir l7l: Dt l n T n 'E ps ß e P o O m O m L un S i T ca A t N io D n A w ßD ith s an s t d on h i i s s h ta m l e e n n t te . gratifiaation.he has afforded us. ; very great pleasure, and L hope his problem will be tho- GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF LIVERPOOL. rcughly discussed in your columns, on sound practical. gra unds. - Mr. Dunn is personally unknown to me; but judging from his occasional communications to the Mining Jour nal, his opinions demand every consideration and respect. I have long entertained an opinion that the plain be tween Bidston and Kirby is a coal field, independent of the Dee field ; and I did commence an examination of the district, with a view to satisfy myself, as far as possible; but my design was frustrated by engagements requiring me elsewhere. I fear I have lost the notes and sketches I made; but if 1 can find them, I will give them to any re spectable competent person, who may be inclined to make use of them. A bore, I have been informed, was made in some part of the district; but the party who made it, for reasons which can, I believe, be satisfactorily ex plained, abandoned operations. Perhaps some of your readers know the party, and may be able to induce him to make known any particular facts he may be in posses sion of. I have a dou'A in my mind, whether the red stone on the Liverpool side of the Mersey is not of that thickness, that coal seams lying under it would be so much com pressed as not to be worth working. I would, therefore, suggest that an endeavour to obtain an approximate esti mate of the thickness should he made, before a boring is determined. Mr. John Formby, I believe, made a bore in the red stone in the vicinity of Aintree, and he is a gen tleman very likely to have kept a good record of his pro ceedings. Is not Mr. Dunn in error as to the coming in of the throws at Torbock and Ness ? He says they come in south and north. I should have expected the seams to have been cut by the red stone coming from the west in one place, and from the east in the other, or nearly so. Indeed, I do not see that the principle of his diagram can be correct on other conditions. Your local geologists have now a very excellent oppor tunity to display their talents on a really practal point of geology, and, consequently, t o l a y th e comm 'nity un der great obligation to them. Mr. Dunn, as well as Mr. Gladstone, deserve especial thanks for the trouble they have taken; but certainly priority of publication gives the merit of the suggestion. to Mr. Dunn. As this matter has been discussed so far under real names, I do not think it right to address you anony mously. I am, yours very obediently, Glanadda, December 15, 1848 B. DONBAVAND. P.S.—lt occurs to me to ask if a pit has nDt been sunk with success, recently, some distance east of the Old Ness collieries ? TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. have had my attention drawn to a paragraph in the Liverpool Albion, copied from the Manchester Guardian, which is calculated to mislead the public, as to the conduct of myself, and certain of the committee of the Liverpool Stock Ilichange, in reference to a member of that P and I }- association ; Deg, with their unanimous con currence, to make known, through the medium of your paper, some facts as a justification of the line of conduct which I and these gentlemen have thought proper to adopt. The party in question has failed twice as a mem ber of the Liverpool Stock Exchange. On the occasion of his last failure, in October, 1847, the committee, as the guardians of the interests of the association, deemed it their duty to institute a strict investigation into the character and extent of the dealings of the defaulter, shortly prior to and at the time of his declaring himself unable to meet his engagements. In the course of the investigation it came to the knowledge of the committee, that with a capital, on the 30th of September, 1847, of under £l6OO, which capital, according to the insolvent's own statement, consisted of cash, shares, houses, &e.. (the house property being overvalued at £l2OO, and un available) he had an open account in the Liverpool and London markets of upwards of 5000 shares of . paid-up London and Midland stock of the value of £Booo—of 65,000 consols, and 5000 Mexican bonds. It was also ascertained that the party in question had a balance sheet drawn up for him for each account, and although with this document before him, and a constantly falling mar ket, he continued to increase his liabilities by opening further contracts with fresh parties. Under these cir cumstances. the committee, so far from (as stated in the Manchester Guardinn) reporting favourably of the honour and commercial integrity of the insolvent, very naturally came to the decision, thrt any one dealing in so reckless and unjustifiable a manner, on such very equivocal means, was not worthy of reinstatement as a member of the asso ciation, and they accordingly declined to reinstate him. The f _cove statement, together with the As that the last composition of ss. in the pound, accepted by the creditors a year ago, is still partially unliquidated, and that the defaulter had never for twelve months applied to be reinstated, or tendered the necessary securities as a member, will, probably, disabuse the public mind of the impression which the article alluded to is likely to pro duce, as to the implied harshness of the committee to wards the defaulter, or of their inconsistency in retiring from office when their decision was reversed.—l beg to remain, yours, very obediently, D. NEILSON. Eitstrat 4 , 10x5. The directois of the " Lind " concerts for the Manches ter Infirmary have already lodged £2OOO in the bank. The British Archaeological Association have finally de termined on holding their next Congress at Chester. A YOUTHFUL DRUNICARD.—A lad named John Wil liams, who stated his ago to be fifteen years, was charged at Manchester, on Wednesday, with being found " drunk and incapable." NOTICE TO BEER RETAILERS.—At the Borough Court, Manchester, on Friday, whilst hearing the summonses against beer-house keepers, Mr. Maude stated that the magistrates were about to take steps to prevent beer re— tailers from coming before the court so many times. They were going to keep a register of the offences, and any be dii- beerseller offending more than three times, would qualified from keeping, a beer-house. THE CHARGE OF SwINDLING.—The family of swind lers, Maria, Ann, and Joseph Whitehouse, otherwise Green, whose exploits at Chester, Birkenhead, and else where, having rendered them so notorious, were again brought up at the Borough Court, Manchester, on Mon day. Mr. Maud discharged the prisoners on the ground of non-jurisdiction, leaving Mr. Reay, of the Guardian. Society, Liverpool, to pursue his own course in again hav ing them apprehended. Mr. Reay had the daughter again taken into custody. On Friday week, a man named Parry was poaching on lands in the occupation of Mr. Jones, farmer, of Poulton, when he observed a hare in the hedge, which he made an atcempt to shoot, but the gun hanging fire, he resorted to the butt end, with the view of striking it dead—the muz- zle of the gun necessarily pointingin the direction of himself. While in the act of raising the gun, it acciden tally went off, and the charge passed through his groin. He was found shortly after in a helpless state through loss of blood, and he lingered until Tuesday. ..•. . _ _ A JUDICIAL LECTURE.—At the Chester Assizes, Mr. Baron Alderson, in sentencing the chartist named Mantle, said, " It was you who made seditious speeches, and were a party to the conspiracy and riot. It is true you were not at the latter in body, but your spirit was there. You sounded the trumpet, but you were not in the van; and it is always so with people like you, quacks leave their dupes to suffer. You are a young man with a very voluble tongue and an empty head—just such stuff as mob orators are made of ; with enough of plausibility to make what you say dangerous, but not enough of wisdom. to make it safe. I advise you to study more and speak less—to know, if you can be made to know, that a boy of twenty-two is not the person to alter the constitution of this country. You must be made to feel that burning brands are not to be tossed about with impunity ; that our towns and cities must not run the risk of being placed in flames; that society at large must not suffer from the acts of a madman, a child, or a fool." -- AFFRAY WITH AND CAPTURE OF POACHERS.—A desperate affray took place on the grounds of T. F. Brockholes, of Claughton Hall, near Garstang, on Sun day morning week. The visit the poachers intended to make had been anticipated, and keepers to the number of ten had been employed. A little before 3 o'clock that morning, it being known that the poachers were at hand, immediate pursuit and attack were determined upon. The poachers took to flight, but their retreat was cut off, and they made a stand in a lane. and armed themselves with stones, which they threw at their pursuers, and. severely wounded two of them on the head. They then presented two guns, and threatened to fire ; but the keepers closed upon them, and three of them were secured ; a fourth, who ran off, was afterwards caught in a ditch. They were taken to Claughton, and the guns were found to be loaded. On them were found nets for taking hares. They had two hares and a rabbit. Orr the Monday they were taken before the magistrates, and proved to be all Preston men. One of the watchers had five wounds on his head, and others were badly hurt. They were committed for trial. ROBBERY, AND RECOVERY OF THE PROPERTY.—OIt Saturday week, M. Gregson, Esq., of Liverpool, arrived in Lancaster, and at seven in the evening started for Caton, in a phaeton. A portmanteau containing valuable property was placed under the back seat. In Bulk, a lad was seen to get up behind, but no notice was taken, as those who saw him thought he merely wanted a ride. On arriving at Caton the gentleman found that his port manteau had disappeared. The Lancaster superintendent of police was apprized of the loss, and bills were printed offering rewards for the recovery of the property. The articles consisted of gentlemen's and ladies' clothing, a sum of money in notes and gold in a bag, books, &c. Nothing was heard of them till Sunday afternoon, when, about four o'clock, several lads, of ages varying from 8 to 12, were amusing themselves rat-hunting in a field at the back of the Lady's Walk, close to Dalton Dam, when a dog that was with them was observed to be snat ching and shaking at an object, which, on being examined by the boys, was found to be a canvas bag—the canvas bag, in fact, which had been described as being in the pocket of a dressing-gown. This bag contained at that time £475, viz., two paper packets sealed up, each containing 10G sovereigns, one paper containing 15 sovereigns, and ano ther containing 10; besides £250 in Bank of England notes. The boys ran off to the Aqueduct, and got into a hollow to divide the spoil. The notes they considered of no value, and some of them were torn and thrown about; but the sovereigns they divided, taking them for bright farthings or medals : one got 43, two 30 each, one 44, one 21, one 454, and one 30 ; and amongst them they had also one £3O note, ten £5 notes, two £2O notes, three £lO notes, and half a£s note, all in good preservation. O ne of the boys, on going home, exhibited his share to hie mother, who sent for his father out of church, and he gave information to the police. Other boys, hearing of the affair, went and gleaned up fragments of notes, which, when put together with gum on tissue paper, made up au additional £45. Out of 225 sovereigns, 212 were reco vered; and with the notes restored, Mr. Gregson is less annoyed at his loss of money than the loss of his account books. Persons were sent to watch the spot where the bag was found, in hopes that the thief or thieves would return, but without success.