The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-16 00:00:00

tion in point of form, and therefore he would now turn to ' the amendment. (Hear.) Mr. BLACKBURN hegged permission to say one word. It was his intention to withdraw his motion, and merge the Whole question in the amendment, which he conceived • was substantially the same as the motion. (Cheers.) lie sub mitted, however, to his worship's judgment in the matter Whether it was proper; but, as far as be was personally con cerned, he had not the slightest objection to Mr. North commenting upon his (Mr. Blackburn's) motion. The MAYOR said, then there was nothing before the council but the amendment of Mr. G. H. Lawrence. Mr. NORTH was extremely happy to hear Mr. Blackburn make this announcement. The general principle of admit ting children of Roman Catholics and dissenters to secular instruction only was common to both these motions ; and he would therefore now ask the gentleman who moved the amend ment, what be could expect as the issue of such a proposition ? He could not expect, and he would almostsay he could not wish, to succeed ; for he (Mr. North) was quite sure that success there, in that room, would only place the unfortunate objects of all their discussion at a still greater distance than they now were from the benefit of admission into the schools, by ex posing them more ostensibly than they now were to the in terdict of their priests. (Hear, hear.) The MAYOR begged pardon for the interruption ; but it was still his duty to inform Mr. North that he was out of order. (Cries of " No, no," and " Yes, yes.") He under stood Mr. North to be now discussing the merits of the motion which stood upon the paper as to be proposed by Mr. Blackburn. Now that was not before the council. Mr. NORTH explained, that he bad distinctly said he was not discussing that motion. He admitted the error in point of form, but the principle, he contended, was common to both. . The MAYOR.—You are not only wrong in point of form, but you are substantially wrong, because you are speaking now upon a motion which may come on hereafter. Do I understand that you are discussing the subject of Mr. Black burn's motion ? Mr. Nmern.—Certainly not. Mr. LACE said he had heard Mr. North say distinctly that he should confine himself to Mr. Lawrence's amendment. The MAYOR. — Then it is a misunderstanding, and I beg pardon. Mr. Coopea said, Mr. Blackburn could not withdraw his motion without the consent of the council, Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE. — Yes he can, because it is not before us yet. Mr. BLACKBURN said he had withdrawn his motion, because, as he humbly submitted, the motion and the amend ment were precisely the same. He might be wrong, but he really thought they involved exactly the same principle. Sir Taos. BRANCKER said it was not necessary to go into that question. Mr. NoRTu had said in substance that if the present amendment, to say nothing of the motion, were carried, it could do no good to the objects who were intended to receive the benefit, for this reason—that it would expose them more to the obstruction of the priests, who would never, under any pretence whatever, allow the Roman Catholic children to attend the schools. (Hear.) It was with reference di rectly to this pbjeet that the Education Committee had, very judiciously as it appeared to him, discontinued the obnoxious practice of reporting the comparative number of Protestants and Roman Catholics — Mr. EARLE. — It is not yet confirmed, Sir. The MAYOR. — Order, order! Mr. NoßTll.—Very well, it was not confirmed, but it was recommended. (Hear, hear.) It was no answer to him to say that the priests did allow the attendance of the children at the schools under the late system, because it was unde niable that under that system the schools was essentially Roman Catholic and not Protestant. (Hear, hear, hear.) The Education Committee were of opinion that to inculcate mere secular instruction, without religious knowledge, would make them the vehicles of a curse and not a blessing ; and surely all history, all experience, and even reason itself testi fied to this truth. (Hear.) What could avail all other know ledge if they taught not how to live and how to die? (Hear. hear.) What was such teaching but to give a power without the means of directing it? (Hear, hear.) What was it, but to build and rig the ship, and set every sail, and yet leave out the rudder? (Applause.) What as it, but to add a giant's strength to the drunkard's folly ? What was it, but to put arms into a maniac's hands? (Loud cheers.) Why, in their case, the folly would be greater than even doing all these, for this wretched system would, he verily believed, not only ruin its own direct objects, but be most perilous by its example to others. Let him suppose this amendment carried ; let him suppose the remonstrances of the committee silenced by their dismissal—for they could only be so silenced—all minor diffi culties got over, and the new plan in operation. Let him then suppose a boy religiously educated pointing to the no religion class, and to ask his master this question—" Why do you so carefully instruct us in the principles of our duty, and in the religion of our Bible, if these, my companions, can do without either ?" Was there any one in the council who did not see the inevitable inference from such a question? Was there one among them who would not shrink from a rebuke so bitter, so withering, so unanswerable as that? Why, if they were to propagate this wretched system, the very children they taught would laugh them to scorn—(hear, hear) ;—nay, if they held their peace, " the stones of the wall would cry out, and the beam out of the timber would answer it." (Cheers.) If anything could be devised which, without compromising principle,could give them better than by their own plan the hope of attracting Roman Catholic children to the schools, God knew that no one would be so delighted to adopt it as himself, for truly he had no prejudice against them to overcome ; on the contrary, much as he abominated their superstitions and deplored their errors, he could never forget that with them they held all the essential doctrines of Christianity (hear, bear) ; and that there was much to be revered, both in their worship and practice. (Hear, hear.) He belonged to a religious party who were accused of leaning too much to Roraanism ; and though he knew the accusation to be groundless, and though he believed, on the contrary, that party were the best bul wark the church ever had, against Romanism and all other error; yet for once he hailed the accusation, for it might at least serve his turn in this respect. that it would relieve him from all imputation of uncharitableness towards the Roman Catholics. (Hear.) Sincerely did he wish they were as honest as we were, by repudiating the aid of political dissenters with whom they could have very little feeling in common. (Cheers.) Thus far he had addressed, and no doubt very fruitlessly, those who were always opposed to him upon this and most other public principles; but as respected them, he should have done all he wished and intended if they did him but the bare justice of believing that he acted conscientiously. (Hear, hear.) Something, however, he would say before he sat down, to certain members of his own party, who, as he presumed to think, from a mistaken sense of liberality, and without due reflection, were wavering upon this momentous question : and were half expected, in the -struggle. to side with the common enemy—at least, to the extent of gracing their defeat. He did not know that he could better illus trate his meaning than by referring to one or two of the argu ments by which, both in that room and elsewhere, he had heard these sadly loose and unsettled notions justified. The first was so singular a fallacy that he (the Mayor) would scarcely believe, as the tact was, that it was the lapse of an acute mind and an eminent man, strong in the good opinion of his fellow-townsmen, and whom, therefore, he (Mr. North) was the more anxious to answer. That gentle man had said in his (Mr. North's) hearing, " I go the whole length of the Education Committee ; I believe that all they have done I would myself do, exactly the same, if the question was the education of my own children at my own expense ' • but, as a member of the corporation , I hesitate to act upon the same rule with the public purse." Now, that gentleman, evidently acting most conscientiously, did not see, and his might be the case of many—that no man had two duties, the one public and the other private. (Cheers.) On the contrary, the most pure and elevated exercise of public duty must always be to act in office under the direct influence of all those principles, and with that strict re ference to conscience which is our guide in private life. (Cheers.) And if our office were an elective one the duty was even more stringent upon us, for then it was obvious that we were elected upon the faith and trust, and with the very intent that we should act in office upon precisely the same principles the exhibition of which in private was the cause of our election. (Cheers.) Any other course ap peared to him a sort of fraud upon the constituency. (Hear, hear.) Another argument urged both in that room and else where ad nauseam, was this—" Surely you may sacrifice something even of principle, rather than see all these poor destitute children let loose upon the world." But here again the whole question was begged twice over. In the first place he denied the fact ; lie did not believe there were those crowds which were stated of Roman Catholic children run ning about the streets ; on the contrary, he believed they were reasonably well taken care of by those of their own per suasion—and if they were not it was their own fault, not the fault of the council. (Cheers. But suppose the evil to be as vast as it was alleged to be, he firmly believed that it would not be dimi . wished but rather increased by the success of the amendment. (Cheers.) Surely gentlemen calling themselves tories—he should have said, for once, conservatives, as more appli cable to his present subject, but somehow or other that bastard word always stuck in his throat (laughter)—surely he said, gentlemen professing those principles would not de ceive themselves, strengthen their opponents, divide their own party, and " make shipwreck" of all that was valuable in their public profession, by voting upon such mise ble sophistries as those in favour of the amendment. (Cheers.) If they were inclined to do so, he had but one more argument to press upon them, and as it was the unworthiest it should be the last. Let them beware of again meeting their constituencies ! (Loud cheers and some laughter.) Some of them might love martyrdom for its own sake, but which he did not—more of them, with him, might think that in happy as well as in evil times, " the post of honour is the private station," and therefore be indifferent. But none of us liked to be treated with contempt, of reproached for broken faith. (Cheers.) Good almostalways came obt of evil; and out of that mass of evil, the Reform Act, some good might be extracted. (Hear.) And surely it was a refreshing spectacle a new and a most encouraging sign of the times, to see at the last election two constituencies rejecting their members because they had broken faith with them upon a religious question. (Hear, and loud cheers.) He had now done, and to one and all he sincerely apologised for having obtruded himself so long upon their time ; but his heart had long bee;} deeply engaged vfith the subject, and it was difficult to restrain the feel inge which ran away with him. (Applause.) Earnestly did be wish that they could all regard that subject with? his feel ings, retaining their own better powers of judgment. (Hear.) He could not adequately express his sense of the importance, the solemnity of the duty which they were now about to discharge. They were going to decide between truth and error—(hear,) —between a hollow, specious pretension to philanthropy on the one side, and the demands of duty, under the unerring guidance of religious principle, on the other. (Hear, hear, hear.) Could they hesitate? Strengthen, then, he beseeched them, the hands of the Education Com mittee in the sacred trust they had confided to them, by affirming the proposition of peace and usefulness with which they come before them to-day—a proposition most certainly true, because drawn from the very book of light and life itself • —a proposition which was in the name of humanity charitable, and in the name of GOD, just. (Great cheering.) Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE wished to say one word in ex planation, just to purge himself from the charge of want of courtesy towards the Education Committee in having brought forward the amendment without giving, that body notice of it. He was not present on the occasion when the committee agreed to that " manifesto." That certainly was an omission which he could not avoid ; but the moment he heard of it— the moment he saw it—he communicated in writing to the chairman that he should feel it his duty to bring forward au amendment. He really thought. therefore, that he was r'estified in the course he had taken. Then, the honourable rafernan (Mr. North) had asked him to retire from the Education Committee. Now, it was very well known to , All y how anxious he was, when he was appointed , to be re lieyed froi? dig Cgincpittee; told them at the time what they 'knew very well, that he differed from them ; and he differed from them as much to-day as he did last year. He thought a little relaxation—a little compromise—necessary then, and he thought a little relaxation and a little compromise necessary still; but he begged to say that he did not intend to retire from that committee until the council should be pleased to compel him to retire. He had been one of those members of the committee who had attended to the schools personally, and he had done more, he was justified in saying, at the South School, in the way of attendance, than any other member of the council. He knew of huw little value those services might be; yet still, having rendered them, un thete was .... nf the council, urging him to retire, he should nut feel himseu from the committee. (Hear, hear.) Mr. EVANS said there was one consolation, from that la chrymose, laboured speech of Mr. North, which had threat ened every instant to rise into a psalm, that it smelled so much of the lamp, and appeared to have occupied so much of what was no doubt valuable professional time, that it was not likely its author could afford to bestow upon them many more such inflictions. As the speaker had said of Mr. Hornby's speech, it was full of sickly sentiment. When it was asserted that the schools had been filling, he would ask how many had been emptied ? One large school, they had learned, had been given up. Why was it given up ? To save money. Mr. North had echoed the old cry that the schools were open to all who came. This reminded him of the old song of Mrs. Bond, who went to the pond and invited the ducks to come and be killed. The Catholics were with held by the principles of their religion, from sending their children to the schools conducted on the present system. And their religion was the religion of our great and good allies, who were formerly so much lauded. Mr. North was a professional gentleman, but he never said one word of go vernment having acknowledged the rights of the Catholics, of their having conferred upon them all the civil and religious privileges possessed by others. Gentlemen who would deny these privileges were going against the laws of the realm as well as against those of humanity. Mr. Evans went on to contend against the alleged danger of giving knowledge to the poor. Crimes, he said, were committed by the ignorant. e was assured that every fanatic and ignorant speech uttered, either there or in parliament, helped the liberal cause, and, therefore, he was well pleased with the address of the member for Everton Ward, at the last council. That gentleman com menced by saying that he had intended to give a silent vote. Personalities were repudiated, yet the late members of the Education Committee were stigmatised as having introduced abomination and idolatry ! Was not this personality ? The Corporation Schools stood in high relief on the canvas, as the work of the only community which repudiated the laws of parliament and the will of the country. Lord Stanley was the author of this system, which was called abominable and idolatrous. He said that the system was adapted to Ireland, but not to England. His acute mind was not directed to Liverpool, or he would have seen that Liverpool waa in the same position as Ireland. The poverty of the Catholics had been urged, but he had frequently shown that this was their title-deed, and that this was what gave them a right to education gratis. The schools were not open to the rich any more than the workhouses. It was impossible to bind men down to one religion, though that was what had been sought to be obtained; many shades of religious difference were necessary. and had been indeed ordained, as they all inculcated the same morality, in order to promote a healthy competition. Ai r. SHEPPARD felt, that under the circumstances in which he had been returned to the town-council, he could not give a silent vote, upon the momentous question now before the council. He should not, however, detain them long, seeing that many of the gentlemen around him were anxious to go to the vote. Conciliation and concession had been again brought forward in support of the amendment of Mr. G. H. Levi/fence ; but he would ask, in all humility as an indivi dual, but boldly as one of the representatives of the people who had sent him there, what had the Protestants of this mighty empire gained by following that most mistaken line of policy? (Hear.) Had they not in Ireland conceded first £60,000 of church cess? Had they not next conceded £130,000 per annum of the church's tithes in that country ? Had they not further, at the suggestion of Lord Stanley, struck off ten of the bishoprics of that land? (Applause.) He (Mr. Sheppard) well recollected what Lord Holland said in the 3 ear 1827, in writing to Dr. Shuttleworth, the warden of New College, Oxford :—" You ask (said his lordship) it the Roman Catholics would be contented, or promise to be contented, with being placed on the same footing with other dissenters. Again, but will they abandon all designs of sub verting the Protestant church ; and will they say so dis tinctly ? To this I can answer, that for these last twenty years they have been saying so distinctly, solemnly, and, I believe, sincerely, in every petition, in every declaration, in every oath, and in evidence upon oath before parliamen t. " He (Mr. Sheppard) would now read the oath they swore on going into parliament : " I do swear that I will defend, to the utmost of my power, the settlement of property within this realm, as established by law ; and I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present church establish ment, as settled by law, within this realm • and I do solemnly swear that I never will exercise any privilege to which I am or may become entitled to disturb or weaken the protestant religion or protestant government in the United Kingdom." Mr. PRIESTLEY asked the Mayor whether Mr. Sheppard was in order in reading these documents? The MAYOR replied that he was perfectly in order. Mr. SHEPPARD would now turn to an assertion of Mr. Sheil when he entered parliament in the year 1825. That gentleman repeatedly spoke and voted, both in and out of parliament, for the repeal of the union and for the appropria tion of the property of the church to other than its legitimate purposes. On the 23d of July, 1835, he spoke in parliament as to that church, according to the corrected report of his speech, as follows : " The church on which a faction fattens, by which a nation starves—the church from which no imaginable good can flow, but evil after evil in such black and continuous abun dance has been for centuries, and is to this day, poured out —the church by which religion has been retarded, morality has been vitiated, atrocity has been engendered.' Mr. Shell, on the 15th of December, 1835, addressed an appeal ' to the people of Tipperary,' urging attention to the registration of voters. He says—' I appeal to all, but above all to the clergy. Priests of Tipperary, on you I call at this juncture. Invoke your flocks, and tell them that at this great crisis everything is at stake. Let them pour in their notices, let them appear in hucdreds at the quarter sessions, and let the conserva tives see that the virtue of the people of Tipperary is not to be corrupted—that their courage is not to be daunted, and that their strength can never be subdued.' " The council would next permit him to read the following ex tract from a speech made by the Rev. Mr. Hughes, a Roman Catholic priest, who addressed a meeting in the town of Clanmorris, county of Mayo, in September 1840, and which the Mayo Mercury stated was most numerously and respect ably attended. The Rev. Gentleman was reported to have said :—" 1 have to inform every Protestant in the land, that no Roman Catholic who is conscientiously attached to his religion, from the king to the peasant, or from the pope to the humblest curate in the church, can ever lose sight of the establishment of the ascendancy of their religion." (Hear, hear.) Now he would ask the council whether such statements as those did not make it incumbent upon us, the Protestants of this mighty empire, numbering twenty-eight millions, to stand by the Protestant clergy, and assist them by every legal and. constitutional means, in giving to the rising generation a sound scriptural education ? (Cheers.) In corroboration of what he had stated, he begged to refer the council, with great respect, to what the dignitaries of our own church, in Ireland, had stated on the subject of the school question. He need not tell the enlightened Englishmen whom he saw around him, that the churches of England and. Ireland were by the act of union made properly and pre cisely the same ; they had the same rites, the same pri viliges, and the same immunities, He would here notice what the Primate of Ireland had said on this subject. In a charge delivered by his grace the Archbishop of Armagh to the clergy at the visitation of his diocese, on the 15th of Sep tember, 1842, at the close of his 20th year of presiding over the diocese, the venerable prelate said— " The schools which we and our predecessors in the mi nistry of the church established in our parishes, were founded on this great leading principle, that religious instruction was the chief and essential part of education, which ought not therefore to be separated from it." Again :—" But, at the same time, making allowance, as far as in our power, for the conscientious scruples of those who dissented from our com munion, we opened our schools to all who chose to attend them, provided they would receive instruction, in common with our children, in the Word of God. Had we allowed them to attend in our schools without receiving any religious instruction whatever, we should have violated the great prin ciple on which our schools were founded, namely, that in struction in religion is the chief and essential part of educa tion, and ought not to be separated from it." In the year 1831 government proposed in Ireland a new scheme of national education ; and upon the working of that system, hear what the venerable Archbishop said : " The Established Church could not approve of the na tional system ; they had strong objections to it. A child might be sent to the schools connected with it, and receive secular instruction, while at the same time he received no religious instruction at all. A volume of scripture extracts had been prepared for the use of the schools, but no child was compelled to read it ; these extracts were in themselves faulty, and such as the church could not sanction." As to the working of the system in Ireland, the Archbishop of Armagh proved , by refe rence to returns recently made to government, that — "There was less union in the schools now than before the national system was established. The Protestant children were rarely found in the national schools. In the whole of the county of Cork there were not ten Protestants attending them, and most other places were in nearly the same circum stances. The Church Education Society had established their schools for the purpose of giving religious instruction to the children belonging to the Established Church, as well as to all others who might choose to attend, and they had been successful. A large number of Roman Catholic dis senting children attended these schools." He now called attention to the language held by the Lord Bishop of London, at a public meeting on the 28th May, 1839 : " I need not," said his lordship, " employ many argu ments in confutation of those (if such there be) who hold that religion is not an important part of education. There are few who are found to avow this principle in terms. We have to deal with opponents of a different stamp. The per sons with whom we, at this time of day, have chiefly to con tend, are those who, whilst they admit, in words, that religion is an important and advantageous element of educa tion for the people, yet do not speak of it as if it were essential—as if it were the ' one thing needful.' I allude to persons who have been exceedingly active during the last three or four years, in disseminating their doctrines through out the country. I speak of persons who, when they would construct a system of popular education, divide it into two different and distinct branches, the one secular, the other re ligious ; making the one, the substance of education, and the other its accident. I speak of persons who would provide one uniform system of secular instruction for the people, leaving the people to superadd (if they desire it) the religious part; or they themselves will provide a system of religious teaching, in some cases uniform, even as the barren surface of the desert:is uniform; in other cases taught with such vagueness and generality, as to deprive it of those specific qualities, which make it an instrument of sanctification and of truth ; or, stilt farther, leaving it to the casual and the desultory inculcation of teachers, who are to bear no part in the main process of education. Against all projects of this kind we strenuously contend, and we hold, that education for the people of a Christian country should be an education uniform and undivided ; that is to say, uniform as to its dis tinguishing principles, and its great leading features, though not as to all its minute details ; an education, of which in struction in all those branches of knowledge which fit man for the duties and occupations of active life, should form an important part, but which should make ' the one thing need ful' to be instruction in the will of God, and in the means of its performance ; the training of an accountable being, destined for immortality by ways and methods of God's own appointment, for the enjoyment of his glorious inheritance. Entirely to separate religious instruction from all other kinds of instruction—to make the latter the substance and the basis of education, the one subject of common consent, the one ob ject of common interest; and to thrust the former (re ligion) into bye places and corners, leaving it to be (as I before said) inculcated by the desultory efforts of separate teachers, not bearing a part in the main process of edu cation ; what is this, I would ask, but to deprive religion of her due honour, to degrade her from her just supre macy ? what is it but to depreciate the worth, to disparage the excellence of ' the pearl of great price, and to teach those, who are the objects of instruction, to regard the best, the most valuable instruction of all, with indifference, if not with contempt? No; we hold that religion, the religion of Christ Jesus, is to be intimately inteywoven with the whole tissue of education ; that it is to be the one guiding, regula ting, sanctifying principle—that around which the whole sys tem turns, moving in beautiful uniformity and order, each luminary of knowledge and of truth revolving in its own proper orbit, religion being the centre, from which a genial and holy light may be diffused throughout every part. We protest then against the doctrines, and we are bound to re sist the efforts of those associated friends of education, to whom I have before made allusion, who argue for the entire exclusion of religion from the regular cycle of intellectual instruction. We protest against the objects of all those who assert (for it has been asserted in express terms), that the exclusion of the Bible from what they term the secular school, is a sine rad non to the establishment of any gene ral system of national education." One extract Inure, and he had done. The London Times of December Bth , 1812, remarking upon the refusal of go vernment to accede to the wishes of the Lord Primate and clergy of Ireland, respecting a change in the national system of education in that country, said : " This is, indeed, that very system, and nothing less, which in 1839 Lord Stanleydenounced as ' one which would, however unjustly, induce a general belief. that in the minds of the legislature, it is a matter of perfect indifference in what creed the population of this country shall be brought up ; which would speedily sap the foundations of all faith; and, what constituted, in his estimation, the strongest ground of objection to the measure, would gradually lead to general scepticism, and from general scepticism to national in fidelity.' " He thanked them for the attention with which they had heard the remarks he had deemed it his duty to offer upon the sub ject now under discussion. He trusted he had confined his observations within proper bounds ; if he had not done so, no doubt the Mayor would have deemed it his duty to have called him to order. lie should conclude by asserting, that he had been returned to the council chamber unfettered and unpledged. (Cheers.) The constituency of North Toxteth Ward knew well his opinions upon the school question. They returned him by a most triumphant majority, and he deemed it his duty to declare, that under all the circum stances of the case, he believed that the system carried out at present by the Education Committee to be the best, and therefore he should support it, and give most decidedly his vote against the amendment of Mr. G. H. Lawrence. (Cheers.) Mr. BLACKBURN, in a speech of nearly two hours length, supported the amendment. He commenced by complaining of the mode in which Mr. G. H. Lawrence had taken the measure out of his hands; but, he said, the question was the same as would have been before the council if he had intro duced his motion, and this had been brought forward as an amendment. He was glad, however, that this course had been taken, and he willingly withdrew his motion. He objected to the pledge that had been spoken of, that parents should take children to their own places!of worship. He grounded all his arguments on this subject on the fact that the children of alt denominations might claim an equality of instruction as a civil right. They had not the power or authority to dictate what religion should be taught; to admit one party and prevent others from coming in ; nor was it competent in them to hinder individuals from receiving religious instruc tion according to their own views. If he understand cor rectly what was stated at the last council, it was said that the parents were required to take the children to their own places of worship on the Sunday. In the case of the children of Catholics, this was taking upon themselves directly to sup port Popery. (No, no.) Mr. SANDS said, at the proper time he would give an ex planation of this. He was in error in making a statement to this effect at the last meeting. Mr. BLACKBURN resumed. He opposed the proposition of the committee. He dissented from the tenets of the Ro man Catholic Church, as contrary to the Word of God, and dangerous to the souls of men, and he would not give them any sanction. He would ask if the children of Protestants had any privilege. now which they had not under the former system. ? He explained the former system in operation at the schools, and contended that conservative gentlemen were not correct in supposing that the whole Protestant body was opposed to that system. The Catholic had the same right to prefer the Douay version of the Bible that he (Mr. Black burn) had to prefer the authorised version; the same right to punish him (Mr. Blackburn) for his preference that he had to punish the Catholic for his preference. The children were not excluded; but they were not permitted to enter the the schools merely because' they were not permitted to tram ple on the consciences of others. The party who had intro duced the present system might boast that they had swept idolatry out of the schools ; but it was the proud boast of the reform party that they had swept persecution out of the schools. There was then a large attendance of Protestant children, and parents took their children in such numbers that they could not be all accommodated. There was no thing inconsistent in the proposition of the member for West Derby to give the Catholics a secular education; and the system could be arranged, by separating the children during the time devoted to the religious instruction of the Protes tants. It would be perfectly well understood by the latter, that it was not from any indifference in the teachers to the religious welfare of the Catholic children, but that the pa rents of the latter did not approve of their joiuiug others in worship. Dr. Cooke, an Orangeman, a tory, and a member of the Synod of Ulster, was an advocate of a similar system, had joined in framing a similar system, which was now in extensive operation throughout Ulster and worked well, and the application to government for the formation of that sys tem was approved by three distinguished prelates of the English Church, who said that no Protestant could reason ably object to it. He noticed Sir James Graham's exposition of theplan which government had pledged itself to introduce into the parish schools, and contended that it was precisely the system now taught. The committee had taken great pains to put down this system here, but in the immediate neighbourhood it would start up like Banquo's ' ghost,' " with twenty mortal gashes on its brow to push them from the stools," and it would start up too, established by those Conservative ministers. They would soon find them selves in a minority, for the government was decidedly against them. One gentleman was horror-struck when he saw his (Mr. B's) proposition in the notice-paper. Let them look this goblin in the face ! The fact was they averred all the other blessings of education would go for nothing if the children were not allowed prayer in the morning and even ing, and the reading of the authorised version of the Bible. Could any man say that a child would be better without any instruction at all, than with merely the secular instruction which was proposed to be given ? He would admire the chi : valor of the man who would stand up and say so. Mr. HODGSON.-1 say so. Mr. BLACKBURN. -1 thank you, sir. I admire your chi valry. He next drew a picture of a child left to itself tolearn all the depravity of the evil companions which it would pick up in the streets, and to imbibe wickedness amongst the pro fane at the docksides. After showing what such a child would be likely to turn out when grown up to be an ignorant man, with nothing but animal instincts and passions, he con trasted it against another picture of a child educated as they wished to educate the children of the Catholics. Religious instruction would not be neglected, but in the very les sons there would necessarily be much religious truth taught, and much religious principle inculcated. If they could not do all the good they desired, let them at least do all the good they could, The question might be asked would the Catho lics attend ? It had been said they would not, but he had put himself in communication with the Catholic priests, and be was assured they would. He concluded by making an appeal to the council in fauour of the amendment. He agreed. however, with Mr. Turner in anticipating present failure and ultimate triumph. Mr. SAMUEL HOLME commenced by observing, that he begged to assure the council that on ordinary occasions he should ever be unwilling to trespass at any great length on their attention, and should most gladly abridge any observa tions which in future he should feel it his duty to make, lest they should militate against the convenience of gentlemen, to whom time was necessarily valuable. The common routine of business brought before the council might in general be adjourned or delayed, and they might amend their former decisions, without subjecting themselves to the imputation of inconsistency, or without the public business materially suffering by the delay. But the question then before the council was of an extraordinary nature, and formed an ex ception to the general rule. it was of paramount impOr tance, and had agitated the town so long, and with such fearful violence, that it became the solemn duty of every member of that body, honestly, openly, and fearlessly, to express his sentiments upon it; to vindicate his opinions, and to justify his vote; and be thought that every consti tuency had a right to demand that their various representa tives gave utterance to the opinions of the electors as well as their own, and that they did not shrink from a candid and fearless avowal of those opinions which they were sent into that room to express. (Hear, hear.) It was his desire to argue the question in the fairest and most open manner, and with courteous deference for the opinions of those gentlemen who differed from him, and who were, no doubt, as consci entiously convinced that they were right, as he, on the contrary, was conscientiously convinced that they were wrong. Disguise it as they might, however, this ques tion involved a most vital principle, for it was part and parcel of that mighty struggle which ever did exist; and which ever will exist, between truth and error. It was a part too of that struggle which ever did, and ever would exist, be tween the reformed Church of England, and the unreformed, and the unreformable Church of Rome. (Loud cries of " Hear.") He, therefore, would not condescend to debate it on the low and swampy ground of expediency ; but he should treat it as he had observed, as involving a most im portant principle. No man could debate it as its importance deserved, unless he could divest it of the semblance of per sonal triumph or party victory: and, unless he could view it on the lofty ground of its own intrinsic merits. (Hear, hear.) It bad been looked upon as a triumph, that Mr. Blackburn had again been returned to council, to astonish, as it was said, thehigots and intolerants. (Laughter.) He for one did not re gret the circumstance, because, in the continued discussion of the question. truth would be elicited, and would rise on the surface. That gentleman, in the spirit of chivalry , o f which he had himself just spoken, and like a knight-errant of old, had boldly placarded on the walls of the town, that he should never cease to denounce the system of scriptural in struction at present in use; and, although he (Mr. Holene) would not use such harsh language as denunciation, yet he begged to tell him that he should beready at any time to join issue with him on this question ; and, he should always be ready to defend that system now in operation, based upon, and interwoven as it was, with the word of the Most High. (Hear.) He bad no desire to introduce theological topics into that room, although he w as of opin ion that to place the question on a proper basis, some reference to it was necessary. He trusted that he was not addressing one gen tleman who did not cheerfully admit that the Bible was a divine revelation, because it would be a gratuitous insult to every man who had entered that chamber making a Christian declaration, if he could for a moment even, suppose the con trary. What, then, did they find in the Bible on this sub ject? Did they not find that, in the Jewish dispensation, it w as read one-fourth part of the day, not to a section merely, but to the whole of the people ? Was it not to be made known to all, whether they would hear or whether they would forbear? Were not teachers, masters, and fathers commanded to make it known to their children and de pendents, not only in their private, but in their judicial and relative capacity? Were we not told that all Scripture was of divine inspiration, and was profitable for all? Were we not commanded to carry it into all the world, and make it known to every creature ? And was not a fearful denuncia tion held out to any man who should presume to add to, or take from, the words of that book? It appeared, therefore, to him, that the question resolved itself into this :—Was the Bible true, or was it false? If we believe it to be true, let us act up to its dictates ; but if we do not believe it, then let us at once honestly avow our disbelief, and cast it out of our schools altogether, for that is the only consistent course to adopt. If a monarch issued a proclamation to the whole of his people, and any man, or set of men, to please their own fancy, suppressed the whole or part of such proclamation, would it not be a fraud upon the monarch who issued it, as well as upon those to whom it was sent ? But the presump tion was increased when it was remembered that in this case the proclamation was from the Eternal; and he solemnly declared, that he dare not lend himself in his legislative capacity to do that which he dare not do in his private capacity ; and he should be guilty of a lie to his own con science if, with this belief, he supported the amendment of Mr. George Hall Lawrence. (Hear.) If man was merely an intellectual being, and religion itself was fabulous, then lie would admit that the cultivation of the intellect was of para mount importance ; but if they admitted his immortality — if they admitted his eternal destiny—they must also admit that his education, to be complete, must be identified with the things of eternity. as well as of time. (Cheers.) .He knew it was urged, " You have nothing to do between man and his maker, and yog violate a man's conscience by forcing down that which is unpalatable." Then why is our ecclesi astical establishment a recognised part of the constitution, and why, as a nation, do we profess any religion at all ? Why does the government provide for religious instruction, and sanction the erection of places of worship ? But he denied the premises. It was the duty of the state, in its legislative capacity, to provide for the religious education of the people—to stand in loco parentis to those who could not provide it for themselves ; because the public would be bene fitted by the inculcation of such knowledge—because the education of the present generation was to stamp the cha racter of its successor; and if the government paid more attention to this, and would aid in establishing schools, such as the old Scriptural grammar schools, they would have need of fewer gaols. (Hear, hear, from Mr. Birkett and others.) But he contended that the Education Committee did not violate any man's conscience, more than God him self did, who had commanded that his word should be made known to all ; and he could not join those who went contrary to that command. They provided a sound and excellent education, based as all education ought to be, on the Word of God—they threw open the doors for the adtnis siou of all—they invited all to enter, and if parties from pre judice refused to avail themselves of such education, they had at least done their duty, an d the blame of rejection must rest on them and not on the council. They surely ought not to be required to lower their standard to suit the prejudices of every man who differed from them, because that was ask ing them (the council) to violate their consciences to satisfy the scruples of others, and they would fall into the very error which they called on them to avoid. They might rest as sured that if they departed from the present system, they would get to sea without a chart, a compass, or a rudder, and education itself would eventually founder in the ocean of la titudinarianism and uncertainty. (Loud cries of " Hear.") So far as he knew, the only malcontents were the Roman Catholics. But let them extend their ideas. Society was composed of others as well as they. When the late Educa tion Committee was in power, and introduced the Irish ex tracts for genera] use, how could they consistently ask the Jew to subscribe to the New Testament extracts ? The chartist and tbe soc i a li s t, what did they do with them ? God forbid that he should ever defend their doctrines ; but as much had beers said about tests, it might happen that there were men amongst these who were conscientious, and he pre sumed that in their case, their consciences must have been violated by refusing to countenance their pernicious doc trines. He would give a familiar instance, that those who decried tests sometimes applied them, and, indeed, lie was not frightened by such a bugbear as the word test, for men were obliged to resort to tests in almost every transac tion of their lives. When the first council was chosen after the passing of the reform act, it became their duty to choose a number of gentlemen to act as magistrates. Now, he thought that every candid mind would admit, that the seat of justice ought to be placed above all political considerations—(hear, hear) ;—but what did the gentlemen in power then do ? They seected men who were all of one political creed, and they excluded all who differed from them in opinion. Their political opinions alone were made the test by which they were judged, and by that test gentle men were excluded from occupying the magisterial chair. (Hear.) The same test was applied in the selection of aldermen ; and yet he hesitated not to say, that the town of Liverpool contained numbers of gentlemen, equally respect able, equally intelligent, and equally fitted to fill the offices of either the ma g istracy or the aldermanship, as any of those who had been selected, so much for the consistency of those who talked about tests. (Laughter.) Let us, however, be just, as well as generous. Have the poor Protestants of the town no consciences to be consulted on this subject? (Hear, hear.) They seemed to have been forgotten entirely. In the name of his poor Protestant brethren, a loyal and maligned body of men, he protested against the alteration of the present Scriptural system, not, he solemnly believed, to please the great body of his poor Roman Catholic townsmen—many of whom would gladly send their children to the schools, if they were permitted to exercise their own discretion—but to please a knot of priests who had, he doubted not, received their instructions hot from the Propaganda, an institution which had done more to hoodwink mankind, trefetter the energies, and to enslave the human mind than any temporal despot had been able to accomplish, (hear, hear,) and he asserted that it was a violation of the conscience of the poor Protes tants to be compelled to send their children to schools where the Bible was considered so unimportant that it might be dispensed with, leaving their children to draw those infer ences. which children are quick enough at perceiving, and creating in them a distaste for religion, by finding others possessing exclusive advantages not conceded to them, of coming half-an-hour later arid retiring earlier, and the poor Protestants might justly say, as it was said of old. "So shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord." (Hear.) But lie contended that if they were to le gislate according to the wishes of the people, the man was inconsistent who admitted the premises, and denied the con clusion. Did they want to know the opinions of the Electors on this question? Let them look at the result of the late Elections. For his own part, he had acted honestly by his constituents. Every body knew what his opinions were on the subject of popular education, and yet in a ward styled by one of the brightest of its inhabitants the Gihralter of Reform, (loud laughter,) the result was before them. Were gentlemen really blind on this question ? They might de pend upon it, that the Electors would not look with favour on any man, who conceded where a vital principle was con cerned, and they might go on conceding till they had nothing left that was worth preserving. (Hear.) Let them as in this case, yield the outwarks, and it will only be to give an advantage, by which the citadel may be the more easily stormed. (Loud cries of hear.) Let but the papal chureh get in the point of the wedge, oiled as it is by liberalism, and in a short time they would find thousands ready to drive it home, and the conservative party will be split up amidst the contempt and derision of its bitterest foes. (Hear.) He knew a little of the under ground work. Mr. Alderman Evans. —I am sure you do. (Laughter.) Mr. Hoeme.—Well then, of the under current, and if they now made the concession, other demands would soon be made, and the concession will not bring the peace they ex pected. But he contended that mere secular education was not beneficial to society unless united to moral culture. As Mr. Blackburn had occupied some time in reading extracts, lie should do the same. And first in reference to crime. Mr. Boime here read an extract from a work by Mons. Guerry, quoted by Mr. Bulwer, in his Monarchy of the Middle Classes, in which it appeared that in France the greatest number of crimes are committed in those provinces where there is the greatest amount of education, and the fewest where the people are comparatively ignorant; and Mr. Bulwer makes the admission, that all the nine pins are bowled down with which so many writers had been amusing themselves; and lie again sets up many of the old notions which had gone out of vogue. From statistical tables it ap pears, that in England and Wales, from 1812 to 1832, crime had doubled, while the population had only advanced in the same period somewhat under a half. In America Mons. de Tocqueville, himself a liberal, and a great advocate for instruction, laments that in Connecticut, where there is far more education than in New York, crime increases with a terrible rapidity ; and he adds, if one cannot accuse know ledge as the cause of this, one is obliged to acknowledge it is no prevention. Mr. H. adduced the testimony of Dr. Beattie, Mrs. Caroline Fry, and also of the Rev. James Carlile, one of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland, who had observed, that " education might be con sidered infidel which rejects the use of the Bible, and would tolerate in school, no religion but that of reason, and no morality but that of nature." The returns fi our Coldbath fields Prison in 1835 were — Prisoners educated Uneducated. In Glasgow Bridewell in the same year, educated Uneducated And the chaplain of Coldbath Fields Prison draws the con clusion, " That it is not the want of education, but the absence of principle, which leads to crime." It men wanted a proof of the effect of education without moral culture, they had it in France. Previous to her revolution, she was flooded with the labours of the encyclopaedists and philosophers. She sowed the serpent's teeth of mere secular instruction and she reaped the harvest. They might differ with him in his views, but let them consider where a latitudinarian spirit led them. A few years ago they viewed education by the light of the materia medica. The homoeopathic was then the newest and most fashionable system, and they came to the determination of giving Scripture in infinitessimal doses by Irish extracts. (Loud laughter.) A newer system was now to be introduced—the hydropathic ; and the children of the poor Roman Catholics were to be drenched with cold water only. (Renewed laughter.) Who did not know that the Roman Catholic church refused to give the Scriptures to the people ? God has said his word shall be made known - to all. The pope says it shall not. Which, then, would they obey? He would give them the opinion of one of the most enlightened of the popes on the subject, that of Pius VII, who, on the 29th of June, 1816, issued a bull to the Primate of Poland, and which he would read to them. It was this— " Venerable Brother,--In our last letter, we promised shortly to answer your letter, in which you earnestly desire instructions from the Holy See, as to the manner in which you should conduct yourself as to what are commonly called Bible societies. We have long abhorred their abominable doings, by which the very foundation of religion is under mined. It becomes the duty of the episcopal office to expose the wickedness of this abominable scheme. Indeed, ex perience has proved that the Holy Scriptures, when circulated in the vulgar tongue, have, through the temerity of man, been productive of more injury than advantage." This was the opinion of Pius Vii, and he, therefore, thought that the question before them was this—Should they in their legislative capacity join the papal church in a crusade against Scripture ? And in defending truth, he could not join in the distinction drawn by Mr. George Lawrence between a man's duty in his public and private capacity. If religious and secular instruction was disunited, the result would inevitably he the total neglect of the religious portion of instruction; and he contended that according to Mr. Lawrence's amendment, it would be absolutely requisite for every Roman Catholic parent to attend on the Monday to certify that his child had been taught Popery on the Sunday. (Hear.) But what security had they that these poor children would be taught any religion at all? Those who were acquainted with the habits of too many of the lower orders—who had visited their dwellings, and made themselves familiar with their habits — unhappily knew that blasphemy and intemperance were un happily too prevalent amongst them ; and it was highly probable that the school would be the only place where to many of these children any religion would be taught. (Hear.) Connected with this topic, he hardly knew how it was pos sible for gentlemen to send the Bible abroad, and still refuse it at home. The London Missionary Society, of which he believed Mr. Blackburn to be a most efficient member, and he honoured him for it, for he did not hesitate to avow pub licly that he was the decided friend of missionary societies — this society had sonic time ago sent a vessel along the coast of China to distribute Bibles among the Chinese, contrary to the commands of the Chinese government, and contrary to the wishes of their Mandarins ; and he was at a loss to know why gentlemen should be at the expense and trouble of send ing the Bible to the antipodes, when they yielded to the pre judices of those at home who refused to receive it. He also agreed with Mr. Blackburn, that in discussing this question all personalities ought to be avoided—and he hoped he never should be guilty o f offending in this respect. But he would avail himself of that Opportunity of observing that persona lities were not all on one side. (Hear,) He agreed with him that personalities were a proof of a low and vulgar mind ; but some months ago a work was issued from the press in weekly numbers, probably not much read, in which he found the following choice selection of phraseology, which for his advantag e he would read. Alluding to the decision of the council on the education question, the author thus expressed himself—" The whole scheme is mean, selfish and dishonest : I denounce it as a great social crime. There is involved in it the fourfold guilt of cruelty, tyranny, injustice and meanness." He then observes "that all religious de nominations are, in the eye of the muncipal law, on a footing of perfect equality." The town-clerk says they are not, and the municipal act says they are not. He (Mr. H.) merely quotes the remark that lie may observe, that the municipal hill was not framed by the wicked tories. (Hear.) It was framed by the whigs; and if they have by that bill excluded all but the members of the Church of England, let the blame of such exclusion rest with those who framed it, and not with those who had no hand in it. (Hear.) The author then goes on to charge the tories with " unblushing menda city," and asserts that they are " unprincipled traducers, some wearing black coats, some blue"—speaks in a lofty way of " blood -thirsty and tyrannical priests filling the gaols with victims," and likens the members of the town-council to Archbishop Laud. He then alludes in the choicest phraseology to members of the council " stiffing their con victions in fumes of tobacco and libations of gin," and does not forget to notice the " pots of Mr. Parker's strong ale." A COUNCILLOR :—Who is the author of it ? Mr. House :—You will hear soon enough ! The writer continues, that "from time immemorial the drunken, the profligate, the profane, have always been the main bulwarks and buttresses of that worldly corporation of priests, which glorifieth itself in all Christian lands, (except America,) un der the names, style, and title of the Church." (Loud laugh ter.) But not content with all this, he goes on to observe, (of course, this is not personal,) " We, David Hodgson, Thomas Sands, Christopher Bushell, James Parker, Richard Harbord, Wm. Birkett, James Aspinall, John B. Moore, and others, are the only persons in Liverpool who are enti tled to have their consciences treated with respect. More over, it is our bounden duty to adopt and act upon our opi nions, and if any refuse to do so to punish them for their wicked obstinacy and contumacy to the utmost extent of our power. But so fettered are we by oppressive laws, that we cannot even cut off men's ears, or slit their noses, or put them in the pillory for the good of their souls. We shall make it evident, by going to the utmost length of our power, that we would go further if we could.." And then, after more of the same sort, the writer, who is evidently a man of peace and charity, consigns the above gentlemen to a place which ; —but he shall speak for himself :—" All persecution for con science sake is, emphatically, the work of the Devil ; and all who aye engaged in it , whether they be good men or bad, are to the extent in which they are so engaged, his vassals and slaves. Ile cannot, indeed, force men to do his bidding, contrary to their own wills, but when, by the criminal indul gence of their own prejudices and passions, they voluntarily surrender themselves to his machinations, he never fails to fan the natural depravity of the human heart into a flame, until it breaks forth in deeds of violence and wrong. The instruments he employs are very various; at one time he su bordinates to his own purposes the terrific energy of Wide- brand, at another the consummate ingenuity of Loyola, and at another the ignorance and folly of a Town Council." The writer also asserts that " the system pursued by the late rulers recognized the right of private judgment." The Church of Rome recognizes no such right, and they might, therefore, leave them to settle that point between them. Did not all this shew personality ? And did it not prove that it was hos tility to our established Church—(hear)—rather than love of truth and peace which caused the writer to overturn this bucket of bilge wateron gentlemen quite as sincere andas much actuated by Christian principles as he was ? He believed the work was itself out of print, and it had not, as far as he recollected, any title. He would, therefore, give it one, and would designate it the Garden of the Soul. The author dated from Camden-street, and signed himself Thomas Blackburn. (Loud cheers and laughter.) He would not trouble th , :! coun ell much longer, but there was one subject on which he must say a few words. The battle of scriptural education must be fought in Liverpool. (Hear.) It had been stated that her Majesty's government were favourable to the new-fangled system of education. Attached as he was to his party, no thing should prevent him from boldly and independently speaking out on this subject. If Sir Robert Peel should, unfortunately, have such a leaning, then he begged to say, that neither Sir Robert Peel nor a thousand governments should influence him contrary to his own feelings and con victions. (Cheers.) He did not consider the argument worth a straw. If any member of the government chose to fight a duel, was that a reason why he was to fight one ? Was that a reason why he was to countenance the system of duelling, by which a man ran the risk of living in the world an assassin, or going out of it a voluntary suicide ? The government were favourable to the Poor-law Bill. Was that any reason that he should be enamoured of a bill, many clauses of which he considered inhuman and detestable ? He could conscientiously support Sir R. Peel's government on general grounds, and yet preserve his own independence and integrity by opposing them when he believed them to be in the wrong. (Hear, hear.) He was not so wedded to party as to look on Sir R. Peel as a conservative pope, whose decrees were infallible ; and it was his decided conviction — and in this conviction he should be borne out by hundreds of his fellow-tradesmen, and by thousands of his operative brethren, that if Sir Robert Peel, in an evil hour, should venture to inoculate this country with the virus of the so called neutral system of education, the fall of Sir R. Peel's government will be as speedy as, he knew from the temper of the public mind, that fall would be certain. (Loud cheers.) In all the discussions that had taken place on this subject, there were several of the dissenting ministers who had pre served a cautious silence; and that vast body, the Wesleyans, made no objection to the present system. He did not know of one of their ministers who had condemned it, but he knew of many who had supported it. If, indeed, a broad foundation was laid on religious teaching, they might safely build upon it the luftiest superstructure of speculative science ; but if they did not lay such a foundation—that genei'ation might not live to see it, but their children pro bably would—the popular tempest would hurl it to the ground in irretrievable ruin. (Hear, hear.) He loved the established church, and would never see her injured ; and he believed that, Protestant as she was, and based on Scriptural truth, she was the sheet-anchor of the British constitution. He implored every one of her members to lend no helping hand to her enemies to lift that anchor from its moorings, nor to weaken its hold on the affections of a religious people ; for if they did, the vessel of the state itself would be driven high and dry on the shore, and nothing would be left but a mighty wreck, to display to future ages her former magni ficence and glory. (Cheers.) He might be taunted with the charge of bigotry and intolerance for expressing his sentiments. He despised such charges—for those who made them were generally actuated by the same feelings which they so loudly condemned in others. Mr. Blackburn had con cluded his speech in a solemn manner, and he should in this respect imitate him. He called, then, upon all who heard him, to resist Mr. Lawrence's amendment; and in that awful hour to which they must all soon come, and of which he was forcibly reenined by the memento before him, ren dered, to his mind, doubly striking by the absence of the canvas, it would plant no thorn in the dying pillow of any man, that in his public life, as well as in his private capacity, he had been found a consistent supporter and a willing advo cate of that system of popular instruction which is based upon, and interwoven with, the will of the Eternal. Mr. SANDS begged to make an explanation. He had stated last week that lie believed that the parents of the children brought to the schools were asked if their children went to the church. No such pledge was given ; but it was understood that the parents took them to some place of worship on the Sabbath. The council then divided, when there appeared For the amendment 2O Against it Majority in favour of Scriptural Education For the amendment—Councillors—W. Thornhill, T. Blackburn, W. Preston, H. Holmes, H. Hornby, J. Holmes, J. Aikin, J. Priestley, 11. Lawrence, G. IL Lawrence, A. Lace, J. Platt ; Aldermen—T. B. Barclay, T. Bulley, W. Earle, J. H. Turner, W. P. Freme, 'J. Moon, E. Evans, and the Mayor-20. Against the amendment —Councilors—F. Shand, T. Shaw, D. Hodgson, J. Holmes, H. Copeland, J. C. Thompson, J. Edwards, R. B. B. H. Blundell, J. North, T. Sands, S. Holme, E. Rae, T. Toulmin, T. Royden, J. Lawrence, J. Cooper, J. N. Wood, W. Birkett, C. Bushell, J. Procter, R. Rigby, J. B. Lloyd, J. Kilshaw, R. Jones, J. Parker, Brassey, J. Plumpton, J. S. Leigh, S. L. Trotman, J. Sheppard, A. Smith, jun., A. Harbord ; Aldermen—R. Houghton, Sir T. Brancker, R. S. Crook, W. Nicol, J. Bramley-Moore, E. Molyneux, T. Chilton-39. Absent.—Councillors Houghton, Fawcett, and Aspinall; Aldermen Griffith and Holt-5. The MAYOR, in giving his vote, said, " My own vote (and I beg to say that it is my own vote, though an allusion has been made to the contrary) is for the amendment." Mr. HODGSON supposed the proceedings were now con firmed? Mr. EARLE said they were not, for there was something more to talk about yet. Tiae MAYOR said the original motion now was for their confirmation. Mr. EARLE had no objection to their confirmation, but he wanted to know why the returns were to be discontinued of the numbers of each denomination of children? It had been remarked that it was an obnoxious distinction ; but it had been first made by Mr. Hodgson's own party. The reformers did not object to it, and why should it be discon tinued? The MAYOR.—Do you move an amendment? Mr. EARLE.—No ; it's of no use. Mr. H. LAWRENCE thought it would be favourable to the views of those who wished the Catholic children to go there, that the numbers should not be published. The MAYOR said the proceedings were now confirmed. The council then rose at four o'clock, and adjourned till Wednesday week, for the despatch of the remaining business on the paper. ROYAL INSTITUTION SCHOOL, The annual examination of the pupils under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Iliff, in the Royal Institution, Colquitt-street, took place on Tuesday last, before the President of the Institution, J. B. Yates, Esq., the Mayor, Robertson Glad stone, Esq., and a very numerous assemblage of the most respectable families of the town. The following is a programme of the examinations :- 1. Poole. Death of Edipus So phocles. 2. Saxon. Translation of Ditto. Dale. __ 3. Iliff. The Voice of Spring. Mrs. Hemans 4. Stewart. Cataline's Address to tho Conspirators. 5. Boutflower, Venice. Cambridge Prize Sallust Poem Hector's Farewell to Andro mache. Homer 7. Crowder. Translation of Ditto. Pope. 8. Laird. Cardinal Wolsey. Shakspeare Brockhurst 6. Craig 9. Lightfoot. Laudes Drusi 10. Chilton. The Mummy, Horace. Anonymous 11. Fletcher. Paradise and the Peri, Moore 12. Petty. The Wizard's Grave. Scott. We were really much gratified by the chaste and culti vated style in which these talented young gentlemen ac quitted themselves in the recitations. Great credit is cer tainly due to Dr. lliffe and his able and rev. coadjutors, for their watchful care over the pupils ; and at the same time a very high degree of praise must be accorded to the scholars for their industry and generous emulation. Scarcely a fault could be detected either in measure or accent ; and without an exception each of them elicited loud applause. The Death of Edipus, both the original and the translation, was marked by correctness of attitude and propriety of declama tion ; and the same praise is due to Mr. Stewart for his re citations of Cataline's address. But the universal favorite was the Prize Poem of Venice, recited by Mr. Boutflower. This composition is elegant and feeling, the description of events are striking, and the interest is continually increasing, till by a rapid transition the scene changes from Venice to England, and the poem ends with some complimentary lines to oar beloved land, which could be the production only of a born poet and a genuine patriot. Mr, Boutdower seemed inspired by the genius of the author, and did his splendid composition every justice, The other young gentlemen were, in their respective parts, equally good. The proceedings terminated with the delivery of the prizes. UNITED STATES The United States packet-ship Roscius, Captain Collins, which sailed from New York on the 25th ult. arrived at this port on Wednesday. The papers do not contain any intelli gence of importance. The cotton market was rather more active than at the date of the last advices. Prices, however, were heavy, and rather in favour of the purchaser. The receipts of flour had been unusually light, and holders, generelly, were demanding an advance. Good brands of Gennessec were held at 4 dollars 50 cents, and Ohio and Michigan 4 dollars 44 cents to 4 dollars 50 cents per barrel, Southern kinds were dull, with scarcely any sales. Foreign exchanges were firm, and the supply of bills moderate. The rates were on London 1061, and on Paris 5.40. From Havana, we learn, that Mr. Turnbull, the ex-Consul, had pleaded insanity as an excuse for his demand of liberty for the slaves. The plea was admitted, and he was shipped by the steamer Thames for Nassau and England. At a late railway steam explosion, the stoker was blown so far from the place, that he was completely out of danger. A friend said to another, seing a handsome equipage waiting in the street, "I should like a drive out ; shouldn't you?" " Get in," replied the wag ; " and I'll be bound for it they'll soon drive you out !" THE CASE AT HARROW.-Mr. P. H. Stachan who was committed a few weeks ago, on a charge of the most atro cious nature, has forfeited his recognizances and it is believed that he is in France. His trial was to have come on at Lon don on Tuesday but when called upon the prisoner did not answer to the call. THE FIRST BOOK AUCTION IN ENGLAND.—The first book auction of which we have any record in England, was the sale of Dr. Seaman's library, which was brought to the hammer, A.D. 1676. The address prefixed to the catalogue ran thus :—" Reader, it bath not been usual here in England to make sale of books by way of auction, or who will give most for them; but it having been practised in other countries to the advantage of both buyers and sellers, it was therefore conceived (for the encouragement of learning) to publish the sale of these books in this manner of way." USE OF " ITALICS."—A controversy has been going on between the Times and the Chronicle as to whether the re cent successes in China are to be attributed to the late or the present ministry. Both parties appeal to the same passages in one of the dispatches of Sir Hugh Gough. The Times prints it in this way :—" The movement up the Yang-tze- Kiang (with the interruption of all. commercial intercourse by the imperial Canal) suggested by the British Government. strenuously advocated by the Governor-General of India,. and which was fortunately undertaken by Sir W. Parker and m y s elf previous to the receipt of these instructions, has thus led to an earlier adjustment of the differences between En gland and China than could probably have been effecti.sti by any other line of operations." The CAnnicie prints it thus . "rhe movement up the Yang-tw-Kiang (with the inter ruption of all commercial inWcourse by the Imperial Canal) suggested by the British Government, strenuously advocated by the Governor,General of India, and which was fortunately endertaken by Sir TV. Parker and myself previous to the receipt of these instructions, has thus led to an earlier ad justment of the differences between England and China than could probably have been effected by any other line of opera tiou." LIVERPOOL SESSIONS.-TUESDAY, ACQUITTAL OF JANE FARRAR The trial of Jane Farrar, on a charge of having stolen two pairs of stockings and other articles, from the shop of Messrs. Jeffrey and Morrish, came on this morning, and resulted i❑ the acquittal of the young lady. The prisoner pleaded not guAt ducted the prosecution. and Mi. CHEATING AT CARDS stating he had not done so for a - considerable tine, nor was the witness (Sweetman) aware of the fact, as it had not been done during toe time he had been in the witness's service; nor had he (witness), before nor since the examination before Mr. Rushton, intimated, directly or indirectly, that any re ward would be given to the young man. The police-officer having stated the circumstances neces sary to make out the case, he was cross-examined by Mr. Henderson. Ile denied that he said to the lady who accom panied Miss Farrar, that if she were not a thief she was something worse. He did not recollect that he said she was an old offender. He did not as he was going with the two ladies to bridewell, meet a police-officer, and observe to him, " Here I am, a flat between two sharps." Mr. HENDERSON spoke at some length in defence of the prisoner, with very great address and ability. The compa nion of Miss Farrar on the occasion was a lady of high re spectability, and they had heard, in the course of the evi dence, that she was the wife of a respectable gentleman of this town. Mr. Henderson animadverted in severe terms on the conduct of the police-officer who had taken upon himself to characterise the lady as an old offender, to insult her by an insinuation, that if she were not a thief she was something worse, and to take her into custody. This lady, there was not a doubt, was most respectable, a lady of high character, and as there was not a shadow of a charge against her, she was at once dismissed by the magistrate. Was it to be sup posed, that if Miss Farrar had been desirous of committing a felony she would have chosen for her companion a lady of acknowledged respectability, of high integrity, who would instinctively shrink from such a proceeding? Was it to be believed that she would have sought, had she been inclined to purloin property, to do it under the very eye of a person who would have been the first to cause detection by her very horror of the crime ? But he would show that she was her self a person of the very highest character and integrity, that up to the present period the slightest breath of slander had not sullied her reputation. He would call before the Jury, persons of opulence and standing, including a banker and a county magistrate, who had known her from chilldhood, who had the highest opinion of her character. Not a shadow of imputation had ever been cast upon her till she unfortunately fell under the suspicion of that young man at the shop of the prosecutors. She had now lain one month in prison, and there was no doubt if even she had swerved ever so little from the paths of integrity, the instance would have been raked up against her in the day of her misfortune. But no. The thing had been talked of; it had unfortunately obtained no little notoriety, but not one instance of misconduct had been brought to light even by the severe scrutiny of malevo lence ; on the contrary, there were numerous friends who were willing to come forward in this trying hour, some of them from a distance, whose confidence was unshaken, and who would bear testimony to her excellent conduct and spot less character. The learned counsel remarked with some emphasis on the system established in the shop of giving bo nuses on detection, and he could not help thinkin g , that the prospect of reward had influenced the young man to be more sharp-sighted than was necessary. Ilewas on the watch face to face with the young lady. It was not pretended that she had exercised any extraordinary adroitness as if she had really in tended to steal, but she had taken the things from the counter before the face of the young man, and from under his very eye. The conclusion, that she took them with a felonious inten tion, was, with this fact, sworn to most absurdly. The learned recorder saw this, and questioned the witness parti cularly to this point, and the jury heard that he confirmed the statement. He would submit to the jury that they could scarcely come to the conclusion that a young lady, who had hitherto maintained so high and unimpeachable a character, as he should prove belonged to Miss Farrar, could at once forfeit it by such an act ; that in taking the articles mentioned from the counter in the presence of another lady, and under the watchful eye which was observing all her motions, she could not have had the intention of stealing them. The true statement of the affair was, that she did indeed take up the stockings, as had been alleged. Her intention was to become a purchaser. She had on a cloak, the same which she then wore. She put down her hands, and they naturally went beneath her cloak. Where else could they go ? If she put her hands down they must go beneath her cloak. If a gen tleman, having a cloak on, in examining books which were ticketed for sale, placed one or two of them under his arm for a moment while he examined others, would it be inferred that he was stealing such books? Was it because a lady suf fered her hands to drop beneath her cloak that she must be accused of stealing? Was it because Messrs. Jeffrey and Morrish's shop was sometimes frequented by another descrip tion of persons, and because the young men were enjoined to watch, that all ladies who happened to put their hands beneath their cloaks must become objects of suspicion? The handkerchief was put into her hands by one of the young men, and when Mr. Jeffrey went round, he took it from her. Was it to be said that she was stealing that handkerchief ? The handkerchief was called a cravat, but it was presented to her by one of the young men who offered it as a suitable article to make an apron. She had it in her hand, and when Mr. Jeffrey, having been whispered, as it appeared, by the young man, went round, he took it from her, and hence it was inferred that she was stealing it. Mr. Jeffrey civilly invited them into the back shop, and her impression was that he was going to show them some winter goods. She followed hire, but instead of taking her into the back shop he led her down some steps into the warehouse. He exhorted them here to consider the case with some degree of delicacy. They were men with strong nerves probably, and the courageous dispositions of men. Here was a female of nervous temperament and timid disposition, as he should prove, and it would be necessary to bear this in mind, for it accounted for the circumstances. When Mr. Jeffrey tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to go with him to the back shop, she still held in her hands the goods which she had se lected for purchase. Mr. Jeffrey's expression to her was, " Let me feel in your pockets." Then it was that she lost her self-possession. She had in her hands the things which she had previously taken up—she was astonished at the ques tion—at all that it implied, arid the construction which might be put upon the articles which she held, and she was unable to reply. The articles dropped from her hands, for she was overwhelmed by the words which she had heard. The learned counsel expatiated on the effect which some sud den shock or suspicion may produce oo a timid or nervous female, causing them to act sometimes in a manner the most foolish and unaccountable. Of this he gave an illustrative instance in the case of a young lady, who, stepping across a street as a mail-cart was advancing at a furious rate, and being warned, first stood stock-still in apparent consterna tion, and then just as the vehicle was rushing past her, step ped forward, so that the wheel passed over her instep, and crushed it so severely that she was probably a cripple for life. Mr. Henderson also gave an instance drawn from his own experience of the frequent fallacy of judgment from appear ances, as there might he strong apparent reasons, arising out of his or her own conduct, for believing a person guilty who was in reality entirely innocent, a fact which Mr. Hender son's anecdote fully proved. Mr. HENDERSON called the following witnesses : Mr. Alfred Harris deposed, that he was a banker residing at Bradford. He had known Miss Farrar nearly twenty years. He had at different times had opportunities of judg ing of her character. A year and a half ago he had entrusted his daughters to her tuition. He considered that she was a young lady of excellent character, of an ingenuous disposition and exalted piety. She was exceedingly timid, and of a ner vous temperament. She was very retiring in her habits. He had come from Bradford purposely to bear testimony in her behalf. Mr. Joshua Pollard stated, that he resided at Bradford, and was a county magistrate. He bad known Miss Farrar from childhood. She had lived in that neighbourhood during the greater part of her life. Her conduct had always been most exemplary, and she had always endeavoured to make her life as useful as possible. He believed her, from know ledge of her character and disposition, totally incapable of committing the crime imputed to her. She was of a timid and nervous temperament. Mr. Tolson, solicitor, of Bradford, stated that he had known Miss Farrar from her childhood. She had always I borne the highest character, and he believed her incapable of committing a dishonest act. Mr. John Smith, of the Liverpool Mercury, stated that he had known Miss Farrar fifteen years. He bad known her by meeting her at houses of the highest respectability, where she was an esteemed visiter sometimes for months. Her character was most excellent, and she had rendered her self exceedingly useful to more than one of the parties to whom he had alluded. Their opinion of her was most high, and it continued unchanged to the present hour. The Rev. Mr. Livesey, of Sheffield, stated that he was in cumbent of St. Philip's church in that town. Miss Farrar had resided there, and her conduct came minutely under his observation. She was decidedly under the influence of Chris tian principles, and, he was convinced, incapable of commit ting the crime alleged, He knew nothing but good of her. Mr. Blackburn, merchant, of Lancaster, stated he knew Miss Farrar, and gave her a high character. The Rev. Mr. Barker, minister of Edge-hill church, stated that he had known Miss. Farrar during the last eighteen months. She haft made herself exceedingly useful in varioth ways and was highly esteemed.. He always considered het of a timid and nervous disposition. Mr, M'Cinnis said, he had known Miss Farrar for soul., time, at Birkenhead, most intimately. She was there highly esteemed and was frequently held up as an example to others, She possessed a high character and he believed her to be in. capable of any crime. Mr. Henderson said there were other witnesses who were anxious to come forward, but he believed he need not trouble the court with further testimony. The learned Recorder summed up the evidence, calling the attention of the jury to its chief points, an d part i cu l ar l y t h a t of the prisoner having taken the goods from the counter un der the eye of the young man. Th e j ury mus t b e sa tisfied that when the prisoner took the goods she had an intention of stealing them. The Jury, after a few minutes' conversation , re t u rned a verdict of Nal Guilll/. A slight outbreak of applause fol lowed, which was immediately suppressed. The Recorder ordered the prisoner to be discharged. YESTERDAY PERSONATING A DECEASED VOTER. John Feeney 5 9 , was indicted f or wilfull y making a false answor to 0 00 o f the questions directed to be put to voters under tho niunicipal act. It will be remembered that at the last ele c ti on f or Castle-street Ward the prisoner brought a voting -paper to the booth, in favour of Mr. Hugh Hornby, in the name of John Grimshaw, of Sir Thomas's-buildings, and on being asked if he were the person so named in the note, replied in the affirmative. Messrs. Haynes and Fletcher, burgesses, who were present, knowing that John Grimshaw was dead, had him taken into custody. In the preliminary investigation when he was brought before Mr. Rushton, at the police-court, it appeared that the prisoner and some other men had been taken into a room in Cagle- At the last sessions, a man who gave his name as Thomas Rule, but whose real name is Davies, was, it will be remem bered, tried, convicted, and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, for having conspired with another man to rob a joiner and builder, of Cheetharn-bill, near Manchester, of a sum of £6l, by cutting at cards at Whitley's public-house, Manchester-street, in this town. The case, which vie re ported at the time, showed, even to the excitement of laugh ter, the extreme weakness of the prosecutor, in listening to the improbable story of one of the conspirators, who repre sented himself as an ignorant country man, but who was not then in custody. Since the trial of Rule, that man, whose name is William Humphreys, was apprehended in Manches ter, and was yesterday placed before the recorder. The pro secutor repeated his former testimony, and fully identified the prisoner as the man with whom lie had gambled, with a view to save the money of his antagonist in the contest, and to restore it to him when he was sober, but in which attempt he (the prosecutor) lost his own, with which the prisoner decamped. Mr. H ENDERSON made a very ingenious defence for the prisoner, contending that the indictment could not be sus tained, inasmuch as the statute required it to be shown that some game at cards was played, whereas, in this case, the re was no playing at ca r d s a t a ll, the act of the parties being merely cutting them and betting on the result. The RE CORDER, however, overruled this objection—holding that the cutting was in reality playing. Mr. Henderson was very happy in his address to the jury, in which he did not spare the prosecutor for conniving at extracting the black cards from the pack to win the prisoner' s mone y, but io which he was wofully disappointed. The case was, however, too palpable to admit of ar.y other verdict than that of guilty, and the prisoner was sentenced to undergo the same punish ment as his comrogue—namely, eighteen months went, without hard labour CHARGE OF AN ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN MONEY UNDER FALSE PRETENCES James Dixon and Thomas Crisp, both young men, were charged with having attempted to obtain the sum of four shillings, from Mr. Perry, druggist, of this town. We re ported the case when itcame recently before the police-court. Crisp had, it appeared gone to the prosecutor's shop, and obtained leave to send a box, which he represented as con taining valuable clothing, and which he did not like to send to his lodgings, lest it might be seizM for rent due by a com panion ou the premises. He also mentioned that it came from Stockport, that the carriage was 45., and that he would feel obliged if the prosecutor would advance that sum for him on receiving it. He was told that on seeing the box the favour would be granted. Dixon took the box afterwards to the shop, by request of the other prisoner, and was told to call again for the money. Ile said it came by his father's cart, who was a carrier. Meantime the prosecutor smelt a rat, uncorded the box, and found it to contain nothing but a quantity of rags, an old Virgil, and other old school-books, and several bricks. Dixon on returning for the money was detained and given into custody, and the other prisoner was afterwards apprehended. The prosecutor was cross-examined by Mr. Ramshay for the defence ; and having lost temper under his drilling, that gentleman assailed him in humorous terms with much effect—finally showing that the whole was a joke or trick by Crisp and another persolt, with whom Mr. Perry had been drinking shortly before, and that Dixon was an unwitting partner, he not being - put in possession of the secret. 'Witnesses were giving the prisoners good characters, when the jury stopped the case and pronounced them not guilty. They were forthwith discharged. After !mother unimportant case the Se,ssions' closed. CORRESPONDENCE. THE M'NEILE TESTIMONIAL . TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,--I suppose I ought to feel highly honoured by the notice which your contemporary of the Chronicle has deigned to take of my humble letter (which appeared in the Standard of the 29th of November,) by occupying near a fortnight in its consideration, and then devoting near a column and a halt of his valuable space, as a leading article, to his import ant lucuhrations upon it. His observations, however, are so far satisfactory, that, although coming from an avowed ene my, he is compelled to acknowledge that the object in which we are engaged is nothing more than an act of justice to Mr. M`Neile, and that so far from our having been too precipi tate in our movements, we ought to have performed it long ago Hear his own words : " There is nothing in the idea of such a thing either to ex cite astonishment or to awaken ridicule. We have long wondered at what has appeared to us to be the backwardness of the Low Churchmen and ultra Tories in raising some such evidence of their regard for their mighty champion." But what must we think of the principles Or consistency of this writer, when, after thus admitting the call for the duty, and blaming us for our tardy performance of it, the mo ment we set about it, he tries to awaken an ungodly jealousy in the rest of our clergy, as if we, by paying a just compliment to an individual amongst them, were thereby attempting to de preciate the rest, in the public estimation! Sir, the ministers of the established church, generally, I am happy to say, and especially the highly respectable body of clergy in Liverpool , are by tboir birth, eduaation. and habits, of tll° zciatleroauly minds and dispositions, to be influenced by such base and degrading feelings. So far from it, Sir, they have them selves been frequently amongst the foremost, in availing themselves of, and doing justice, to Mr. M`Neile's services, particularly on various occasions connected with Scriptural Education and the Church Building Associations; when our worthy Rectors have alternately occupied the chair, and have gladly sought and acknowledged his powerful advocacy—so that we do not say of Mr. M`Neile, (in wishing to show him the proposed mark of our esteem, as the Chronicle "slan derously a f firms") that " ALONE he did it;" for we thank fully admit that, on many occasions, the clergy, as a body, were " fellow workers together with him ;" but what we do say, and thankfully claim for him, without fear of contradic- tion, is, that he was the "Instrument", raised up by " THE AUTHOR and GIVER of every good and perfect gift," at the time these questions required to be publicly agitated, to stir up their pure minds" (2d Peter, 3c. 1) to engage wills him in the contest, in the hearty manner, which enabled them to achieve the glorious triumph, which, through God's blessing, was at last so nobly won. Away, then, with all these base and grovelling notions of the Chronicle! . This writer further endeavours, in the outpourings of his spleen, to revive amongst us the foolish cry of " high and law church ;" to which it must be confessed that the Tracks rian party, at Oxford, has of late given but too much encou ragement. But 1 have searched THE BIBLE in vain, Sir, for any such distinctions there: on the contrary, I find it ex pressly written, in that blessed book, that " whosoever ex alteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth him self shall be exalted ;" and that" God resisteththe proud but giveth grace unto the humble ;" all that I can further say on this subject, therefore, is, that as MY MASTER was " meek and lowly of heart," so, if such vain and unscriptural dis tinctions are still to be kept up, t ov ex and divide the church, I pray that my lot may be a l wa y s cast with "the humble and the lowly, , both for time and eternity. As to the chronicle's attempts at wit, (although he admits that there is nothing in the subject to " awaked. ridicule,") we will let that pass. It is enough for our encouragement, in the work in which we have engaged, that it is admitted, even by our enemies, that " SOME TESTIMONIAL IS CER TAINLY DUE TO MR. WNEILE•" Whether it shall be car ried out by founding a PRIZE ESSAY (as I ventured to sug gest), or to whatever other object the funds may be applied, is a matter of perfect indifference to me. I merely threw out that hint, because it seemed the most likely mode of permanently connecting Mr. M`Neile's name with the town of Liverpool and the Collegiate Institution, as well as with the Protestant cause, of which he has so long been the fear less advocate. But, of course, that is a matter which will be most properly left to the judgment of the committee. My only desire is, that whatever it may be, the subscribers may he able to say, individually, whenever it shall be accom plished— " Exegi monumentum cere perennzus." Yours, &c., A CATHOLIC (BUT NO ROMANIST). P.s.—The Chronicle's sneer at the poverty of our opera tive friends, and his shrewd question, " Don't you wish he may get it ?" were best answered by the hearty manner in which so many of them came forward, with their ha'f sove reigns and crowns, immediately after the late meeting on Monday. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—I shall feel much obliged by your inserting, in your laper to-morrow, the following simple statement of facts, n answer to the remarks that fell from Mr. North, in his peech in council, on Wednesday last. Extract from the committee-book, page 183, October 25, .841: — Average attendance at the schools during the past month. North. South. 386 • • 235 284 • • 191 205 • • 164 Girls... infants. 875 .. 590—T0ta1..14 65 Extract from the committee•book, page 242, November 30, 1842: Boys.. . Girls.. , Infants Average attendance. North. South. ..252 .. 212 ..207 .. 133 ..181 .. 180 525—T0ta1.. 1168 JOHN ,PIO • . I am , Sir, your most obedient servant, Rodney-street, December 15, 842 H. TURNER . there had r n o n n t e h r e e e f l e i r a s must ttthhaet schools efirst after extract the in his [Mr. Turner letter applies to the attendance opera tiontn tofthe stagth e s o y f s t th e m e trial of the present course of instruction ; f s o a r in s i: echoearosl,s whenan 7iialfs'o be borne in mind, that from the moment it determined to adopt scriptural education, to the present was there has been the most sedulous exertion on the part hour, opponents of that education to keep the and it must of the attendance at t he schools as low as possible ; whilst it is a well-known fact, that the Popish priests have issued a command for the withdrawal of all Roman Catholic children. The number of children has, we believe, gone on progressively increasing since the present system of instruction was commenced ; and after it has been in operation for the same period as the former course, we anticipate a much more gratifying state ment than our opponents were able then to exhibit. The number of children on the books at the schools, on the 27th January, 1842, was only 536, whil s t on the 30th ult. it amounted to 1,581, or an increase of two-thirds in ten months. Surely this is satisfactory and encouraging.—En. L. S.] STRANGE STORY.—Th e f o ll ow i ng strange story appears in the ./ouria/ de Maye nne :--" A l a d y. f as hi ona bl y d resse d, and speaking with th e greatest propriety , descended from the Laval diligence, at Mayenne, and, with a light parcel in her hand, proceeded to the station of the Gendarmerie, and besought the office r i n comman d t o a rrest her as a vaga b on d, without papers, and unknown. The officer, who was much embarrassed at such a demand, at first tried to persuade her not to act so strangely; but, as she insisted; he took her to the Procureur du Roi. That functionary complied with her de mand, and she is now in one of the rooms of the prison, where she appears perfectly contented with her situation. She declares that her name is Bretagne, and that she comes frgrn Brest.". fir. Lawrence con leuderson the defence. 1 - 00 court was exc, —. int: young lady, who frequently shed tears, was allowed to sit at the bar during tin t of the trial. .lively crowded greater p M. Swee'tman, one of Messrs. Jeffrey and Morrish's shop men, proved the facts as they have already been detailed in our columns Mr. Jeffrey said, that on the. information being given to him, by the last witness, that the prisoner had put into her pocket two pairs of stockings and a bundle of purse twist, he was particular in asking the young man if he were sure the party had the things in her pocket, as she was a very re spectable looking person, and it was a serious charge ; last witness said he was quite sure. Witness then desired last witness to point out which of the two was the delinquent; he pointed to the prisoner. Witness then asked her to walk with him, as he wanted to speak to her. On taking her into the warehouse below, he said he had a most unpleasant duty to perform ; but the young man who had bee❑ serving her stated that she had something in her pocket that did not belong to her; would she oblige him (witness) with the sight of the contents of her pocket. Prisoner said, " My pocket ?" and objected. Witness then said he must send for an officer, which he did. The prisoner then asked what the young man said she had. Witness said, " He tells me you have some stockings," which she denied. Witness here stated that he did it as delicately as he could. The RECORDER said, witness had acted in a delicate and gentlemanly manner, and could have acted in no other way. Mr. Jeffrey, on cross-examination, said, when the officer arrived he related to him what had occurred. He (the officer) asked if there was any charge against the other lady. Mr. Jeffrey said " No." The officer said to that lady, " You are an old offender : I know you of old." Mr. Jeffrey gave the prisoner in charge. The officer took them both. Mr. Jeffrey admitted that he. had given rewards to his young men for vigilance in discovering thefts, but explained by street, while the voting was going on, and that the prisoner had been induced to personate the deceased individual. The prisoner pleaded guilty to the charge. Mr. PAGET counsel for the prosecutors (the mayor, alder men and burgesses of the borough) said, that it appeared that Ready, who had given the prisoner drink, and suborned him in that state, was the principal culprit, and ought to have been within the bar iu place of Feeney ; and that the prose cutors, therefore, did not press for any but a nominal pu nishment. The RECORDER said, that much as he respected the re commendation, he could not altogether comply with it, although he should be as lenient as possible. The judges, he said, had expressed their determination to put down such disgraceful practices, and the prisoner must, therefore, be imprisoned for Fl days. ROBBERY OF GOODS FROM MESSRS. CROSSFIELD The prisoner Spooner, who was indicted for selling a large quantity of rice, raisins, &c., belonging to his employers, (as stated in a report of the ease in our paper of Tuesday,) was brought up on Wednesday. There were four indictments against him, to two of which he pleaded guilty, and the others were not proceeded with. lie was brought up this morning to receive judgment, and the sentence was that he should be transported for fifteen years.