The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-28 00:00:00

(o,be Eiberpool ittanbarb. FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 28, 1832. THE brave Chasse has, at length, surrendered the cita del of Antwerp. We refer our readers to another co- lumn for such particulars as are before us. It appears that the Parisians are overwhelmed with joy,—and at what ? That a French army, consisting of seventy-five thousand men, with upwards of 150 pieces of cannon, have succeeded, after 24 days', siege,• in reducing the ci tadel of Antwerp, with its handful of men ! It does well for those to glory in ,such a triumph, who, are unaccus tomed to victory. If, however, honour and valour, dis played in the cause of his king and country, entitle a man to the respect and esteem of his tellow-countrymet, then the name of Chasse will be long and justly endeared to all who know how to appreciate the noble, gallant, and determined stand which the garrisen of Antwerp has made against the overwhelming force which . was arrayed against it. And what, after all, does the victory amount to ? Nothing,—absolutely nothing, in the attainment of the professed object of this sanguinary proceeding. The navigation of the Scheldt is no more free than it was two . months ago,.and we repeat the question, which is so universally asked both in England and France,— " What next ?" We wait an answer from those more competent to dive into the mysterious labyrinth of ne gotiations, which are said to be still pending. THE DUTCH WAR.—New light has been thrown on this question, by the lately published correspondence be tween Earl Grey and Baron Van' Zuylen de Nyevelt. We lament to say, that it exhibits England in a still more humiliating point of view. ..... " It appears that there were two points in dispute : lst,—Holland demanded a toll:of three florins per ton on the navigation of the Scheldt, ,while'Belgium agreed to one ; 2nd,—Holland demanded a greater toll on passage by the road through Limberg than was sufficient to keep the road in order, and Lord Grey, in consequence, suggested finding a new territorial line, which would give Belgium the means of making a road for herself, Will it be believed ?—lt must, .for it will be read in these indisputable documents,—that Holland had accepted Lord Grey's suggestion on the latter point, and had agreed to (thole of their demand of three florins, inviting farther discussion as to the point at which the toll should ultimately be fixed, vvben our 'minister replied—" No it, is too late now;—you must yield Antwerp, though you have consented to depart from your ground, as re gards the points in,dispute." . .These matters cannot now be viewed in their proper light ; but a day will come when justice will triumph. THE LIVERPOOL ELECTION.—The charge of bribery is freely brought against the friends . * of Lord Sandon, by certain parties in this town. We look anxiously for the evidence .to support it. In default of its appearance, these parties will stand in an awkward predicament ; its awkwardness, however, we doubt not, has been mitigated to them by use. . . We execrate bribery, come it from whom it may ; and we 'ridicule the idea of any reform being final, which leaves untouChed this crying sin of our political system. But does the radical faction hate bribery, independently of the quarter whence it is supposed to come ? or, only on account of the quarter whence it is supposed to come ? Let.the reader peruse the following extracts from Mr. Shepherds speech, at the meeting of Mr. Ewart's friends on the tenth of November, and judge for himself : No one; he trusted, would suspect him of ever having re ceived a bribe; but he must confess that his purse was lighter from his interference". in' election nutters (a laugh ); he had subscribed inOney, and he had some suspicion that that money was administered in bribing others. Having done this, how could lie put on an hypocritical face, and come forward to ac cuse his brother freemen ? Having done this at the time of Mr. Itoscoe's election, having done tide at the times when it was attempted to retuy'n' Mr. Brougham and Lord Molyneux, how could he turn round Upon the freemen of Liverpool and say, " I will disfran chise you for receiving bribes ?" He scorned to do so ; instead of xloin,g so, he would himself assume the humble• station of a pe nitent along with them.—(Laughter and applause.) ' On these grounds,—on the ground of public eonsistey;_., 79g. the ground of strict attention to the local interests of the borough,—on the ground of his attention to the interests of all his constituents, Loth of the old .class and the new, he . felt great pleasure in moving.. the first resolution.—Re-printed from the Liverpool Courier.. - • Now judge, reader, of the feelings with which the moral offenceof bribery is contemplated, even by the reverend radicals of this town! Peruse here, a bold and brazen avowal of that which most workers of the iniquity in question have the grace, at least, to conceal ; for, though they are bad enough to do wrong, they are not impudent enough to glory in it. Remember, now, by what means support was given to Mr. Roscoe, Mr. Brougham, and Lord Molyneux, in order to enable them to go to the House of Commons and preach purity- of election. Re member, that this orator not only disowns, but holds up to scorn and ridicule those feelings of contrition with which he ought to look back on a dishonest act. And remember, that the public contumely, poured so merrily by this inveterate buffoon upon the principles of virtue, was received by the assembled reformers of Liverpool,— how ? with disgust ? No.—With contempt ? No.—With' indifference, then ? No,L---with "laughter and applause." Fools make a mock, at sin. THE Irish elections have now terminated, and what an appalling result do they present ! , Some of the most patriotic - and enlightened men in the community signal ly defeated, or necessitated quietly to give place to ob scure and unprincipled agitators, whose only qualification is a Sworn pledge to dissever and destroythe integrity of the empire. To see such men as Lord Killeen, (son of Fingal, the Premier Baron of Ireland,) Sir Henry Par nell, Mr. _ Jephson, Mr. Wyse, and many others, who have all theii lives been the devoted advocates of popular rights, indignantly rejected, is no inean evidence that the present ascendancy party in Ireland, aim at far more than at this 'moment they durst avow. How bitterly disap- pointed must now be the hope (if ever it were enter tained) that the reform bill would satisfy and quiet Ireland ! The becoming. gratitiide which is felt in that country for • the framers of the . measure, is well manifested by Mr. O'Connell in • his speech at an election in the South. Speaking of •the repeal of the Union, he says— `• I could prove to you that a reformed parliament is worse of the two for this country. The Whigs are beyond measure worse enemies to Ireland than the Tories; it was they enacted the penal code, and it was in spite of them that we obtained legisla tive independence in 1782. .The whigs treat the people as some do their cats—they give them as 'little as they can, and get at their skins as soon as they can." • . . His attack upon that respectable body of men, the Qua kers, is really disgusting— " Why are those envenothed bigotted Quakers, why, I de mand, are they arrayed against the people ? 'the sleek knaves. they have got rich, the miscreants, by means of the people, and now they turn on the people." From 'one end of the country to the other the watch word is, "hatred to thegovernment, down with the whigs." If we mistake not, our vise ministers actually employed this same Mr. O'Connell to frame the Irish reform bill. It appears that he has succeeded to hisutmost desire. No less than six of his own family, and about twenty directly nominated by himself have been returned, not to mention that in every quarter, to be approved and patronized by the "LIBERATOR," was a first and essential qualification. At no time has the bigotted and burning zeal of the Romish priesthood been so conspicuously exhibited. Reckless of all consequences—the severing of thebonds of social order—the violation of every honourable engage ment—loss of human life—in short every description of outrage and crime perpetrated. if not at their instigation, at least without any effort at prevention. The people harangued from the altar on the sabbath, and those who would vote to preserve Ireland from becoming a prey to ruffian demagogues, denounced as objects of vengeance. There is no people in the world who are more apt at learning such lessons than the Irish; and, accordingly, there has been no lack of the most sanguinary yutrages. In the county of Cork, one of the most pious and ex emplary Clergymen of the Establishment, has been dia bolically assassinated in open day. Not a shilling of his tithes had he collected for the last three years, and he is said to have been remarkably kind and inoffensive, yet he was a marked man. That there are exceptions amongst the Irish priests - we freely admit, and would rejoice to have it in our power to rank more of them amongst the loyal and well affected; but in the South the exceptions are few indeed. It is, however, gratifying to know that many of the most leading and respectable Roman Catholic gentry, are de termined enemies to the existing reign of terror, and have given the strongest proofs of their hostility. The Marquis of Anglesey has been a bad chief gover nor; this is admitted on all hands. We believe his in tentions to have been good, but he is a conceited, 'intem perate, and short-sighted politician. His despicable truckling to the worst passions of the worst party--apar ty which experience has shown it is impossible to propitiate—has lost him the respect and confidence of every sound and well-judging man in the community. His Excellency's memorable advice— • "Agitate, agitate, agitate ! ! ! " has been too well adopted. It is written in blood, and is even now causing a crisis which 'we shudder to contem plate. NEXT to the praise of wise and good men, the abuse of those whose pretensions lie the other way, may be esteemed as a substantial and valuable compliment. It is indeed the counterpart and correlative of the former, and serves to give it finish and completeness, as shadows enhance the effect of lights. Not therefore without feel ings of inward satisfaction did we perceive, that some passages in our paper, on the subject of Church Reform, published a few weeks ago, had been so fortunate as to incur the unqualified disapprobation of the editor of the Albion. But we reaped a higher and more sincere gratification, from the direct testimony which was rendered to the truth and justice of our sentiments, by many of those per sons, to whom they were more immediately addressed. To earn the continuance of that testimony will be our endeavour,—to receive it, our pride. It may suit the editor of the Albion to allege, that we assail all dissenters under cover of an attack on the Unitarians ; that we continue to promulgate sentiments such as, on one occasion, unhappily and accidentally, found a place in this paper, and, for the promulgation of which, their author was peremptorily dismissed. With honest and candid men, these charges need no refuta tion : with dishonest or uncandid men, no refutation would avail; because truth is not, to them, the end of controversy. And we hold it an attempt, alike ignomi nious and unprofitable, to chop logic with writers that cannot reason, and to waste sentiment upon writers that will not feel. We divide Dissenters, as regards their political cha racter, into two classes. The Wesleyan Methodists, principally, fill the ranks of one; the Socinians head the other, and are followed by a portion of the Independents and Baptists, not large we believe, if taken in reference to the entire numbers of these classes, but prominent and influential, because chiefly consisting of such of them as are thrown into considerable masses, by residence in large towns, enjoying great facilities for the loud ex pression of opinion, and gifted with ample readiness to take advantage of those facilities to the uttermost. • The first of these classes is generally actuated by a spirit :of friendliness to the Established Church. They admire her services, sympathize with her spirit, coincide in her creed wholly, or almost wholly; and they desire that she should exist as an Establilisment:— ,Firstly,—because they _consider, that she affords the best security fur practical, as well as legal toleration. These two things are wholly distinct; legal toleration says, "hands off." But practical toleration likewise checks, not only the outward act, but the inward im pulse and desire of unwarranted interference with the conscience of another man. And the gentle ascendancy of the National Church, in this country, operates most effectively, to foster this tolerant, liberal, and charitable spirit, and particularly to soften the . feeling with which difirent sects among the Dissenters regard one another. If this be denied, we say, look to history : remember the time of Cromwell ; Secondly,—because they regard her as a living shrine and oracle of the truths of God, which cannot be driven from her fixed and public documents, although they have unhappily, in process of time, from the want of these precautions, been lost among other bodies of Christians. It is thus that she effectually condemns and excludes Unitarianism ; Thirdly, because her influence goes to check and moderate all extremes in doctrinal opinion, and to mark strongly the difference between the most active and vi tal piety on the one hand, and fanaticism on the other. If this be doubted, again we say :—Remember the time of Cromwell. It is by her operation in this particular thatshe crushes the active hopes of Popery, which always expects a reaction in her s own favour, after a period of great religious extravagance; and, on this principle, is now playing the game of the foes to the English Church, in this country ; or, we should rather say, they are playing her game ; Fourthly,—because the nature and duties -of govern ments are religious ; and must assume some particular form. If the present form be corrupted, restore it : if too exclusive, enlarge its basis ; if thoroughly bad, over throw it, and erect a better; but, on none of these ac counts, sacrifice the principle of a church establishment. So long as our King receives his crown at the hands of the ministers of God, as the delegates of the Most High, so long those ministers must be appointed upon some peculiar form. So long as it is admitted to be a duty of our rulers to extend our religion along with our commercial enterprise, their efforts must be governed by the rules of some particular system. It is not for the present church establishment, but for a church establishment, that we now contend ; Lastly, because by an Establishment alone can spiritual instruction be provided for destitute and remote districts, as the melancholy experience of America sufficiently proves. . . We would state as secondary, but still important, advan tages attaching to a Church Establishment, first, that it is the best ally and prop of government in promoting order and peace—which are essential to the success of the operations of her ministers in their own peculiar sphere : .secondly, that it affords perhaps the easiset, com monest,, and least objectionable channel by which talent raises men and families out of the lower into the higher ranks of society. These, be it observed, are all grounds on which the Wesleyan Methodists and many of the Dissenters are averse to the overthrow of the Establishment. • A higher one than any remains to us, as Churchmen : which is, that we believe the National Church to be the most effective instrument of diffusing general religion throughout the land. We have, like America, the ad vantages arising out of the zeal of. Dissenters in large towns: but we do not, like America, leave our poor bre thren in villages, who cannot find religious instruction for themselves, wholly destitute of that inestimable be nefit; nor do we delegate the performance of this pri mary duty, to the• uncertain, unsystematic, unsustained efforts of private benevolence. As Churchmen, we do maintain that all dissent is an evil: but in candour we must likewise admit, that a portion at least of this evil has been owing to the very defective operation of the Establishment itself: while, as Christians, we are bound to be grateful for the exten sive good which dissent has been made the instrument of producing. We have said, and we repeat it, that the Church, as a sect, might gain more active adherents and brighter eclat, than even she posseises at present. This is no reason for making her a sect : IF her indirect influence for good over the community at large—over those who but for her would be almost wholly destitute of any religion, and over the general tone of feeling, and her usefulness as a shield to all minor bodies against the intrusions of Popery and Socinianism, be such as to render it more de sirable for the entire nation, that she shorild remain what she is, the National- Church—bound to consult, as far as she may, the interests even of those who prefer other forms of worship, and, happily, owned by many among them, as a friend and protectress. Narrow-minded, and half-informed men- will forget, that there are not only the particular interests of sects, differing •on minor points, to be considered: but the ge neral interests which they hold in common, against their common foes—Popery; the grand corruption of Christi anity, which might be mitigated and healed if it would ; and Socianism, that more deadly adversary, which is essentially incapable of mitigation, and admits only of excision. Now, as regards the second politicalclass of Dissenters, we can easily understand why the Unitarians hate the Church far more than any other Christian body : because she is the only one among them all, that boldly and per petually condemns them. As to their followers, we lament rather than blame the course they pursue: but as practi cal and safe reforms proceed within the Church, and as wrath increases around it, we doubt not that many among them will see the corruptions they have hated, were her accidents, not her essence—her blemishes, not her body; and we shall be enabled to number them, too, amongst the friends of a Church based upon the word of God, and watered by the blood of martyrs. Such are our. sentiments : let them be fairly judged. Reader, are they fairly described as attacks " on the whole body of Dissenters, under cover of an attack on the Unitarians ? " (See the Albion of Monday, Dec. 10.) IT commonly happens, that the termination of a con tested "election is the signal for a cessation of those eva nescent animosities which are inseparable from the oc casion. Heretofore, this has been remarkably the case in our town, and it has been gratifyin g t o e ver y man o f good feeling to observe how. quickly the keenest excite ment has subsided and disappeared. Some of our con temporaries- seem determined that the late election, for this borough, shall prove an exception. They first grossly misrepresent what has been said by a political opponent, and then, not content with being set right, they assail their victim with charges of inconsistency, apostacy, &C- We allude to the repeated attacks which have been made since the election, upon Mr. Sandars. He has very pro perly treated the aspersions with deserved contempt ; and it is not our purpose to undertake to defend a gentleman who needs no defence, and to whose intelligence and en terprise Liverpool is so largely indebted. Our object is merely to exhibit his liberal assailants in their true That Mr. Sandars, at an early period of life, took a prominent part in politics is quite true; and that, more over, he was a whig, is also admitted; but where or when did he ever avow the slightest recognition o f an nual or triennial Parliaments,—vote by ballot,—spolia tion of the Church, the robbery of one class of the com munity,—a system of national education devoid of reli gious instruction, making the mass of the population fitting instruments in the hands of unchristian and un principled demagogues ? Mr. Sanders . was always are • former, just because he desired to improve and preserve our inimitable constitution. Could he then consistently continue associated with those with whom he ceased to have any identity of principle or communion of feeling ? No doubt his assailants laud the consistency of such a man as Mr. Ewart, who sets out as a Canningite, and after contradicting, by his parliamentary career, every profession he had made, comes to the hustings, avowing himself the supporter of a ministry who are pledged to oppose all his leading political principles. This may, indeed, be consistency ;—a thirst for change,—a desire to disturb whatever is established,—an implicit adoption of the dictation of factious partizans may be so called, but we deny that it is independence. And who are the leaders who are to direct and govern the multitude Men ambitious of power, and yet incapable of its right exercise ;—inliated with a puerile vanity, they elevate themselves to a " bad eminence," and thence are ever ready to adopt the maxim of the arch-fiend— " Better reign in hell, than serve in heaven." To differ in opinion from such men, to think patrioticallY and independently, to regard social order, and to reve rence our national institutions, have ever been held to be high crimes and misdemeanours. Of such an offence has Mr. Sandars been convicted, and for this, we are told by the organ of the party, "he is not to hope to be for given." The dinner, this day, in celebration of Lord Sandon's election will, we have reason to believe, be one of the most triumphant displays which has ever been made in this town. Sir Howard Douglas, Bart., the Honourable Stewart Wortley, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. for New ark, andseveral distinguished visitors are expected to be present; and, we have no doubt, the effect of this enter tainment will be, to cement, in a closer bond of union, all that is loyal and respectable in this community. We understand, that Lord Molyneux entertained about 90 gentlemen, at Croxteth, on Wednesday last, to dinner, in cele bration of his lordship's election to the Southern Division of this county. Amongst other distinguished guests were Charlei Barnard, Esq., W. P. Frcme, W: W. Currie, Joseph Langton► and W. Earle, jun., Esqrs., of this town. SHOCKING ACCIDENT.--It is our painful duty to record most lamentable accident which happened on Wednesday even ing last, to Mr. Francis, of Babington, late of the Rock Ferry- He was returning from Birkenhead, where he had been to re cord his vote in favour of Grosvenor and Wilbraham, and when about half-a-mile from home he fell from his horse. Th e Bris tolt mail was unfortunately passin g a t th e ti me on its wa w K. ch Chester, and the wheels passed over one o f his thighs , was broken and terribly lacerated. Some of his ribs were like wise broken, his shoulder put out, and his head 'severely cut; and when we last heard of him, he wa s i n a ve ry hopeless con dition.—Chester Courant. have much pleasure in record ing that although the Conservative candidate for this borough' Thomas Helps, Esq., has not been the successful candidate/ the manly and straight-forward mode in which he has avowd his sentiments, and the honesty of purpose he has displaye d during the contest, have gained him the esteem and friends h'l 3 ,. of all parties, and secured his return for A s ht on a t th e Ile" election. A public dinner was given to Mr. Helps on M o ab)" evening, at the Globe Inn, as a testimony of the respect hi which he is held, and the same opportunity was taken to poosee t to him a handsome silver cup, which had been p ur chased by a subscription 'amongst all parties. TIMELY VALL.—On Tuesday morning the keeper of the Sessions blouse, in Chapel-street, discov ere d that the larg o bronze gag -chandelier, suspended over the barristers' table, 'lt the Courtt.room, had fallen during the preceding sequence hf the luting of one of the joint s i n Ib ri e g d h e t ; tube having given way, and was brok en i n pi ece s. w " - „h en , tremely fortunate that this accident h a pp ene d a t a time g the court was closed, as, had it occur re d d ur i n g the sesslea' killed can be little doubt that thr ee , a t l eas t , o f the gentlemet! of the bar, occupying the central sea t s , mus t h av e been on the spot. THE LADIES' CHARITY BALL—We understand, the B all to be held at the Townhall, on th e 31 s t i nstan t, the proceeds of which arc to go in aid of the fund s o f th a t exc ellent institutiog! the Ladies' Charity, is likely to be p ar ti c ularly well attend ed The number of Tickets already s o ld b e ing unusually larg o. and, in addition to the inducement whi c h the statue of Mr' Canning, seen by gas light, holds out to the public, we are 10- c i L i n d c formed the presence of' Lord Sandon, and Sir Howard, Dougla.s, and many strangers is expected. We are told also, that the funds of the charity are in a state to require every assistan ce, . the committee having lately been under the painful neeessity ot curtailing the relief usually afforded to the patients; so that w e e, hope, and are confident, the appeal made this yea r in beha lf of the charity, will be met in the way which a Liverpool rho never fails to meet the call of want and dist res s.—Goro's ch real RATIONAL EVENING'S AMUSEMENT.--There is SO mu and Doi entertainment, as well as solid instruction, in Smith TMr. ier's m lecturesSmith hin education,teonnds during the present holidays, in the comfortable little lecture: room of the Lyceum,. The terms and the hours he has fixed repeain g th t a h t em we in ar t e hi g s latodwtno several e ti t in h e a s t upon are such as will induce parents to treat themselves, the ir children, and their domestic instru c t ors , with the opportunity" receiving many valuable suggestions, and of enjoying we innocent mirth; for it is Mr. Smith's successful plan to ow' bine very effective instruction with laughable illustrations prevalent errors, by which he secures the lively attention persons of all ages and pursuits to the important subject of 1 _ discourses. The last paragraph of his announcement do' . great credit to Mr. Smith.--See adv. TO CORRESPONDENTS. W let e thank a nameless correspondent would fbr hardly ng be of sulfides : ' n terest to our readers. We are obliged by the letter of A BROTHER ELECTOR. On t i z / j ference to a previous number of our p a p er; h e will percei ve his remarks have been anticipated. We The thank re s pecting Mr. TIGATOR T for HORNELY becoming his communicatio. a candidate Devon, may be correc t, b u t we d o not ta k e so muc h interest ire the sublect as Socnius appears to do. .'s etter is under consideration. F. D. will perceive that we have inserted one of his fao ers ' the other two are hardly suitable to our columns. • ‘ns, The STANZAS relating to CAPTAIN Ross and his Companu, sn our next. J. M. reached us too late for perusal. a LivEupooL ; —Printed in Union Court, Castle-street, and Pub li t e r. at N 0.7, High-street, Exchange, by Saatl'Et: FRAISCRYE, Stati ° re , of No. 7, Anson-street. Orde rs and Advertisements are ak w i re, eeived in London by Messrs. NFIVTON, & Co., Warwick - A u a rr. ; and Mr. 154axutt, 33, Fleet-street. 10 113 to ,0 THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.