The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-18 00:00:00

imminent—if wild speculations, such as distinguished
the railway mania, were rife, and if also the Bank re-
serve were less than half the present amount, there
might be some ground for putting on what is called
" the screw," and alarming capitalists into withhold-
ing their resources, so as to produce the evil pretended
to be remedied. As it is, we have nothing but an in-
crease of the minimum rate of discount by the Bank
of England, a measure which will not have much
influence on discount operations, should money become
more plentiful, and which was, no doubt, justified on
the part of the Bank Directors by the demands for the
loans, a great part of which will be restored into cir-
culation for the payment of materials. It will be quite
time enough to raise the note of alarm when there are
circumstances to justify it ; but at present there is
nothing more in these Bank changes than what may be
legitimately accounted for.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

PROTESTANT REFORMATION SOCIETY, AND
SPECIAL MISSION TO ROMAN CATHOLICS.

MEETING LAST NIGHT.

Pun annual meeting of the Liverpool auxiliary to the above
society was held last night, in the Clayton Hall, the Rev. H.
Carpenter, M.A., in the chair. The hall was crammed, and
amongst those upon the platform we noticed the Rev. W.
Clementson, secretary to the Parent Society, Revs. W. F.
Taylor, L.L.D., S. Minton, J. Blakeney, James, Matthews,
Ffolliott, and Messrs. J. K. Rounthwaite, P. F. Curry, B.
Derbyshire, &c., &c.
After the meeting had been duly opened by a prayer from
the Rev. J. BLAKENEY,
The CHAIRMAN made a few observations with respect to
the object of the meeting, and the principles of the society it
was designed to support, which, he said, were the principles
of the Bible itself, and must necessarily be salutary in their
influence and saving in their efficacy. The foundations of
civil and religious liberty were in Protestantism. (Hear, hear.)
Yet, there were many who were ready to receive the liberty
which was secured by Protestantism, but were also ready to
make light of Protestantism itself. (Hear, hear.) England
as well as Spain and Sardinia were instances of this. These
latter countries were at present in a state of transition, but
every step which they took towards civil and religious liberty,
was a step towards Protestantism. (Loud applause.) Speak-
ing of the operations of the society, he said, that one of the
objects it pursued was the dissemination of Protestant truth
in this and other towns, by means of lay teachers, books,
tracts, &c. He regretted that there was not a depOt in Liver-
pool for the publications of the Protestant Reformation Society,
but he hoped, from his mentioning it in the presence of the
Rev. Mr. Clementson, that such would not long be the case.
(Hear, hear.) He then called upon
The liev. W. F. TAYLOR, LL.D., who was received with
loud cheers. He commenced by observing that he was always
ready, upon all occasions, to speak in support of Protestantism,
to the prevalence of which in this country he attributed the
possession of all our national blessings. Referting to the
largeness of the meeting, he regretted there was not a larger
'show of what the world would call " greatness" on the plat-
form. Where, he 'asked, were our great merchant princes of
Liverpool? He saw but one or two amongst them, and he
judged from that circumstance that the great majority of them
were not philosophers—that they did not look to moral
-sequences; for 'if they did, they would come forward and sup.
port more earnestly the cause which secured them so many
privileges. ,(Hear, hear.) [The speaker then made a slight
digression ',,0 refer to a contradiction made by a Roman Ca-
tholic wording-man at one of their controversial meetings,
that Milner—an acknowledged Raman Catholic authority—had
admitted that there were at ,cne time 'three rival popes. The
rev. -gentleman read the message from Milner confirming
the existence of the rival popes, and invited the attention
of the person in question (who 'sat below the plat-
form') to it. A short ,discussion 'took place, but eventu-
ally.the Roman Catholic was compelled to admit that he had
been mistaken, and lie then sheltered himself under The
sirgument that the three rival Popes had not been acknow-
ledged as Popes at Rome. The rev. gentleman advised him
to attend and state'his 'views at-the next controversial meet-
ing.] Mr. Taylor then proceeded to expose the delusion
'ander which the latmembers of the Roman Catholic Church
were labouring. As an instance of this, he prodneed some
powder which he had obtained tfrom a poor Roman Catholic,
who assured -him that 'it ,was part of the ashes of a
certain Father O'Hanlon, wh3 was buried at 'Olendalough,
and was "a \ certain •cure for all the ills that human flesh
is heir to." (Laughter.) 'To prove the pernicious influ-
ence of the Romanist. priedhood, he quoted largely from
the parliamentary digest of the evidence =given before
the Maynooth commissiolsers, using the very words spoken
by some -'of the witnesses, to prove his point. He showed
how the priests; according to their own volunteered evidence,
held a power of influenoing voters at elections in Ireland, and
he quoted the words of Lucas, editor of The Tablet, to
destionhrate that the constituency was really and virtually in
the hands of the bishops and Roman • Catholic priesthood.
Referiing to the doctrine of reservation, he maintained that,
according to the views of Romanist writers, it was quite im-
Fossil:le to administers binding oath to a.Papist. Therefore,
Romanists were unwisely trusted with political franchise while
tilerremained 'under the influence of their Church. He did
net "wish to deprive them of the franchise, but he wished to
freethem from the influence which he had point out. With
this.view he cordially supported this society. 'Me resumed
his:seat amidst loud cheers.)

'ale Rev.- Mr: .EMENTSON text ri'ddressed the meeting.
He said the Churdh of Rome might 'be regarded in two at-
ipects— as a 'Polite. organisation =l as a religious system-
ll?, one affecting -man as a creature of time, the other,
:'the religious .sect of Popery,..affecting him as one des-
,"tined to enter thcluture life which would endure for ever-4nd
'ever. Both of *these were important aspects, the last, of
:course, most , important. The reverend gentleman' then
proceeded to -dilate upon this —*epic, maintaining that the

treachery of .the Church of one was an erroneous
.one—a teaching of doctrines mat of salvation but of
',damnation—send:mg souls, riot to leaven, but to helll As
:such doctrines.:he viewed. the. interdiction of the useolthe

Bible amoiwst.the laity, by the liriests of the Roman Catholic
Church, and`the doctrine of the immaculate Conception—a
doctrine wkiolv. Ind not dared .to be promulgated until the
loth of Deceirtber, in the middle of the 19th century. To
_ _

'prove that.the-Bible was interdicted, he read from a painphlet
written by Cardinal Wiseman. • lie then maintained that
the RomanCathalic Church, as -a.church, had never published
:a Bible for the,nee of its lay members. It had only a Latin
-version.. The-Thmay version•was. not an authorised•one—at
least it was,not aithorised by the- clmfeli, and was not relied
-upon forargument. . True, the .Romanist. was "allowed" to
'read the Bible, :but he dared not interpret its soul-solacing
-truths for himself. This. was like a father when his son
.asked him for a:fish, giving him,a,serpent—when he.. Ezked
for bread. giving him a stone. (Aptplause.) He dared any
'one to stand :up and • say that the Church of Illome '
'encouraged her people to read the Holy Scriptures ! •(Cheers.)
While we hateiTspery we love, ,Roman Catholics. It is the
!principle, and act the people,.Whioli is and ought to.be the
:object of our Appodilion. The,Sodietylad twenty-four Missions.
'There are many- ofthem in London, ',but she had them also in
.tdifferent lociliti, as in Birkenhead, in Liverpool, in Hull,
Birmingham, Bradford; Leeds, .Leicester, Preston, Northa-mp-
, and other places. The labours.cf the servants of Christ
in those places have been manifestly blessed.' In Liverpool
Above a hundred •Reanan Catholici -lave openly renounced
!Romanism, and many others are now proposing to take that
..step. The snissiionary meetings and .lasses are ;attended by
Jorge numbers of inquiring Ronianists. In the course. of.his
address-, the speaker gave numerous illustrations .of .the
benefits which have:attended the (4-Aerations of these mis,sion-
zaries. The Protestant character. of. liverpool has been,long
and well established; and the .list of zontributiona to the
:auxiliary branch of figs society proves that that character has
ti,en
,uct been unworthilr 'bestowed. , (The .conclusion of the,Rev.
..gentleman's address.,was received with the Kentish fire and
,doers.)
..A hymn was Wig` dining which the collection was made.

;.The Rev. S. lizszoN,,on, rising, was •received with cheers,
,ctrt these subsiding, he proceeded to remark on the singularity
of the resistance which .eras offered to the liberation of the
Medal, and narrated &story which showed that the liberation
was,,in.l, great degree brought about by the: intervention of a
woman whose husband kept horses for , hire, who having at
one -time been a servant-U.:a French .nolikeman. To this
noblemen she applied for liisAssistance. The nobleman was
rousedhy her, and he appealed.again and again to the French
governMent, till the liberation of the ;was obtained.
The Rey. speaker then proceeded to ,explain the nature and
objects of the society, which he ,said had .within-the last four
years established a special nusion to Roman Catholics of
Englandinftise same manner as :the
.Irish missions. In this
point of view the society, he sax{,
,is eminently deserving of
support. The Rev. gentleman concluded an, appropriate ad-
dress add loud cheers.

A vote of thanks to the chairman was then carried by ac.
clamation,and the meeting separated.

AT the Bankruptcy Court, yesterday,:before Commissioner
Perry, James:Pottiblate a brick-maker at Crewe, in Cheshire,
passed his last examination, and the lett.of October was faced
for the certificate meeting.

CAUGHT I,N ,THE ACT OF HIDING 'AIRE PLUNDEH.—
Thomas Connor, aged(r, was brought up at the police court
yesterday, by officer-7.18. The officer said thatabout a quarter
to eight o'clock on Sunday morning, he saw the prisoner
hiding something in a-pile of rubbish in a field between the
.canal and Love-lane. tHe at once apprehended the prisoner,
-and discovered what,he atlirst thought to be a pile of nuggets.
-"-All is not gold that glitters," however, and on closer "nspee-
,tiqa the "nuggets" turned out to be nothing more than 158
perfectly new brass doorknobs and washers to match. It was
subsequently discovered that Messrs. Owen and Williams's
foundry, Horatio-street, had 'been broken into on Saturday
night, by means of skeleton keys, two of which were left
'behind by the robbers, and (Nadia the yard. The property
whichgonnor was caught in the act of concealing was part of
What had been stolen. He was sent to prison for a month,
THE ,COTTON ROBBERIES.—MichaeI Dunne and James
Westhead were brought up on remand at the Police-court
yesterday, charged with being concerned in the recent cotton
robberies -from the office of Messrs. Postlethwaite and Co., of
Exchange-charabers. The details of the ease were given in
the Standard ,very fully last week. The facts briefly are
these :—Some weeks ago an entrance was effected into Messrs.
Postleth-waite end Co.'s office, through a window in the court
of Ezehange-cliamters, and a quantity of .cotton samples
stolen. On the morg of Saturday week, a precisely similar
,
robbery was tommitted. Westhead, on the morning, engaged
a cart to convey some cotton from Exchange-ctainbers to a
cotton store in Macvicar-street, belonging to Dunne, who also
keeps a beerhouse in ortiand-street. The store was after-
wards searched and taken samples resembling those stolen
were found concealed in a ,quaotity of almost worthless Surat
pickings. Westhead was apprehended that afternoon at
Dunne 's beerhouse. Dunne himself was in the house at the
time, but he escaped, and was not captured until the fol-
lowing Monday. Yesterday both prisoners were committed
for trial at the sessions. Bail was refused for Westhead, and
the bench deferred a similar application made on behalf of
Dunne.
CONDITION OF THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.—The Pictures
of the late Alderman Case, Sir Thomas Braneker, and Mr.
W. Wallace Currie, have been removed from the walls of the
Council-room, in the Town-hall, for the purpose of being
revarnished, under the direction of Mr. Westcott. We under-
stand there is no order of the Council to paint the Council-
room ; and anything more discreditable than the present
condition of the walls (which look as if they had not come
in contact with the brush for some twenty years) it is scarcely
possible to conceive. The aperture for the ventilator is also
visible, now that the picture of Mr. Currie is removed. On
the scientific character of this contrivance, we will only re-
mark, that, in point of originality of contrivance, it is vastly
inferior to the usual operation of the open window. We would
suggest that the Town-hall Committee should give imme-
diate instructions for the painting of the Council-r000m; and
inasmuch as six weeks, at least, must transpire before the
room could be again habitable, we would propose that the
next Council meeting be held in the new Concert-room, at
St. George's-hall, which, we believe, is admirably calculated
for such a purpose. Indeed, we are informed, that a motion
is likely very soon to be brought before the Town Council,
for the purpose of holding thcV meetings
in St,
--(Communicated.)