The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-03 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

THE

.'..i.oft.i.looi tatibarb.

then proceed with irresistible success to protect the
Sunday from desecration." With the principle of this
we heartily concur ; and much, we think, might be
done, even without the aid of Parliament, towards
carrying it out. The force of public opinion is capable
of effecting much : let all iliose, then, who are anxious
to put a stop to the desecration of the Lord's-day,
endeavour to bring its force to bear upon the employers
of the poor. Many evils, besides Sunday-shopping,
are increased, if not actually caused, by the late pay-
ment of wages upon Saturday night : let them endea-
vour to put a stop to this ; and, if they fail, then let
them invoke the assistance of the Legislature. And
if, at the same time, they can procure the boon of a
Saturday half-holiday for the over-wrought labourer,
so much the better : and then, if they still find it ne-
cessary, they may justly apply for an act to prevent
Sunday-trading. But, as things are at present, we
agree with Dr. CUMMING, that Lord ROBERT
GROSVENOR and his friends are beginning at the
wrong end.

TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1855

PREACHING FOR THE MASSES.

A GOOD deal of nonsense, and some sense, have
been elicited by Archdeacon SINCLAIR'S remarks upon
preaching ; and as no two of the various scribes, who
have undertaken to instruct the Clergy with regard to
this very important part of their duty, agree in their
requirements, we may, perhaps, conclude that they
cannot upon the whole do better than continue in their
present course, bearing in mind that he, who endea-
vours to please every one, will in the end please no one,
and, least of all, himself. At all events, it is clear
that for many years past there has been a decided
tendency rather to exaggerate than to extenuate the
ordinance of preaching ; while manner, rather than
matter, as regards individuals, has been made the
ground of praise or blame. Witness the crowds which
hang enraptured by the hour together upon the lips of
this or that popular preacher : and why ? Not because
they are influenced by any special love for the doctrines
which he enunciates, but because he possesses a natural
talent which enables him to adorn them with all the
graces of oratory. This may seem a somewhat harsh
and uncharitable judgment, but its justice is proved
by the fact, that, not unfrequently, another preacher,
not a stone's throw from his more gifted brother, will
deliver the self-same doctrines, Sunday after Sunday,
to comparatively empty benches ; and this, notwith- ,

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

-.).•

MONDAY MORNING.
How strangely has the tide of feeling changed, and turned,
and flowed back on itself, within the last few days, in refer-
ence to the events which have of late been unfolded
in the Crimea. A fortnight ago, the worlds of London and of
Paris, of France and Britain, were so elated with success, that
they seemed to scorn the earth they deigned to tread Upon, and
would listen to nothing but tales of strife and daring, which
they looked on as synonymous with triumph. A check in the
onward flow of fortune brought them as suddenly round to
chafe at disappointment, and to throw censure on the men
whose brows they, but the day before, had loaded with encum-
bering laurels. To judge by general appearances, it would
seem as if the glorious achievements of the 18th of June had
been for ever effaced from British annals on the fortieth anni-
versary of Waterloo. Consequent on this unfounded belief,
the impatient public was not slack in giving utterance to sus-
picions and insinuations—to reproaches against the generalis-
simo into whose hands they had entrusted the fate of their
army, -and the result of the campaign, if not, indeed, the abso-
lute issue of the war. The futile worthlessness of praise or
censure so elicited has been too frequently evinced to call for
demonstration; but, in the case referred to, it has met with an
illustration so sudden and severe, as seldom falls to the lot of
ordinary dogmas. On Friday morning it was unexpectedly
announced, that even the iron constitution of Lord RAGLAN
was not proof against the anxiety and vicissitudes incident to
an arduous campaign, conducted under circumstances whose
influence, moral and physical, was most depressing. The an-
nouncement stated further, that other distinguished officers,
companions in arms of the gallant general, were so much
prostrated in bodily health, by the same debilitating influ-
ences, that their recovery was doubtful ; while it was more
than merely hinted that Lord RAGLAN'S indisposition was
something more • than merely evanescent, and that, in fact,
danger, in his case, was imminent. The effect of this into lli-
gence was stunning. It recalled to men's minds the stern
reality that we are now engaged in a conflict which will
tax our energies—for a successful issue to which we
must lay aside narrow jealousies and vain-glorious self-
Conceit, and selecting our commanders with prudent
wisdom, place in them a liberal confidence, and a firm resolve
to strengthen their hands, instead of by the expression of
illiberal prejudices and the application of undeserved censure
distracting their attention, weakening their influence, and
diminishing their authority. All this, when danger threatened,
was instinctively felt, and as promptly acknowledged; but,
alas ! the recantation came too late. Saturday, at a little
beyond noon, brought the inhabitants of London acquainted
with the fact that the spirit of the gallant commander of our
army in the Crimea had, on the 28th ult., quitted -its
mortal tenement, and gone to
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns.

standing that his very want of fluency and popular
talent will compel him to study harder, and think
more deeply, thereby in fact rendering his discourses
far more systematic and instructive than those which
are extemporised by the other. We think, then, upon
the whole, that there is far more need to teich the
people how to esteem and profit by sermons, than there
is to instruct the clergy how to compose and deliver
them.

But amidst all the discussion which has taken place,
no one, so far as we have seen, appears to have been
struck with the necessity which exists for open-air
preaching, as a means of getting at some at least of
those many thousands who can never be induced to
enter a place of worship ; and who, if they could, are
little capable of understanding and profiting by what
they would hear. Clearly, we think, the kind of
preaching suited to •an ordinary congregation of
Christian worshippers would be very unsuitable in the
mouth of a missionary addressing a number of heathens,
for the purpose of effecting their conversion. It would
be like delivering a lecture upon the higher branches
of mathematics to a class ignorant of the commonest
rudiments of arithmetic and algebra. This is a point
which, we think, has not been sufficiently attended to.
There are thousands, who, so far as any knowledge of
the true religion is concerned, are precisely in the
condition of heathens ; and to preach to them, as one
would to a well-instructed congregation, is simply to
east pearls before swine, and to expose things sacred
to the danger of profanation. The making each ser-
mon, delivered before an instructed audience, an
epitome of the gospel, is a plan which we think by no
means so well calculated for edification as the dealing
with particular topics singly and in order ; but when
employed for the conversion of the masses, who are
practically heathen, it seems absolute folly. And
hence the necessity for some such means as open-air
preaching, because it would afford opportunities for
addressing the careless and ignorant in the only
manner which is suitable to them, but which would
be generally quite unsuitable to those who ordinarily
assemble within the walls of our churches.

The sad intelligence pressed with a foreboding gloom upon
the general mind, and ingenuity was vainly racked to find
' immediate consolation for the sorrow thus inflicted—a sorrow
mingled with sincere repentance for the harsh opinions previ-
ously entertained, and not entirely unmixed with anxious
apprehension for the future. His lordship, who was born in
1788, and, consequently, was in his sixty-seventh year, had
seen a great deal of military service, having been Aide-de-
camp andllfilitary Secretary to the Duke of WELLINGTON in
the Peninsula and at the battle of Waterloo, in which engage-
ment he lost an arm. He received the appointment of Master-
General of the Ordnance on the death of the late Marquis of
ANGLESEY, in April of last year; and in the following
November was created Field-Marshal. He was the youngest
son of the fifth Duke of BEAUFORT, and was raised to the
peerage in 1852. 'Tn 1814 he married Extrr HARRIET,
daughter of the third Earl of MoRraNG-xoN, and is- succeeded
in his titles and estate by his son RICHARD HENRY Frxz-Ror
SOMERSET, born in 1817. The intelligence of the melancholy
event was immediately communicated to Her MASESTY, who
was much affected by the sad news. A dinner party had been
invited to the Palace, for the evening of that day, but it was
instantly countermanded by the QUEEN.

Open-air preaching has, till very lately, been left
almost entirely to one or two of the least important
sects, and, so far as we have observed, to the least-
instructed members of those sects. Let us not, how-
ever, be misunderstood, as if we intended to say a
word against them. Regular or irregular, we doubt
not' that many such are actuated by the best of
motives ; and we can readily believe, that, notwith-
standing all drawbacks, their labours have not• been
wholly without fruit. But that, too frequently, men
of this stamp exhibit zeal without judgment, few will
deny. We have ere now listened to such, when
addressing an audience of the lowest character, and
whose general appearance was alone sufficient to
demonstrate their ignorance and practical heathenism ;
and we have heard them speak to such in familiar
terms of the deepest and holiest mysteries, and address
to them exhortations and arguments, which none but
well-advanced Christians were at all likely to understand
or appreciate. Why, then, should not the ministers
of the Church take up this work ? We are satisfied
that they would be listened to with increasing attention
and respect ; and with common care and prudence they
might effect much.

The melancholy death of the commander-in-chief naturally
calls for a consideration, however brief, of the actual condition
of the war in the Crimea at the particular juncture when that
event occurred. The brief, yet startling, announcement has
followed with such rapidity on the repulse experienced by the
Allies in their great enterprise of the 18th of June, that we
are as yet unacquainted with the details of that sanguinary
conflict, and have not learned, except inferentially, what re-
sults have arisen in consequence of it. By the failure, so far
as can be made out from the circumstances which have since
transpired, it appears that the garrison of Sebastopol did not
gain anything, while of the Allies it is not unfit to say that,
apart from thepersonal regrets occasioned. bythe slaughter, they
merely did not gain everything they wished. The importance
of the positions assailed was such as to ensure a resolute de-
fence of them. Had they been gained,. the conquest of the
town and its other defences could scarcely have been delayed,
and it is not a common occurrence in war for such valuable
defences to fall before the first assault, The failure, however,..
on that occasion must be taken as indicative of a degree of
ignorance on the part of the allied commanders, as to the
means of defence possessed by those positions, greater than
they would willingly have admitted.. Some knowledge has.
now been gained, albeit at heavy cost, whereby more, ac-
curately to estimate the resistance to be overcome. The,
works intended for defeating that resistance, and rendering.
the success of the next attack more certain, have been steadily
pushed forward; and neither the French nor the Englishgeueral
appears to have considered that repulse as fatal to future suc-
cess in the same quarter. Had the failure of the attack on
the Redan and the Malakhoff been of such a nature. as to pre-
clude hope of capturing the town from that side,, an. altered
plan of operations would have indicated the belief. Without
further loss of time or men, the commanders would have di-
rected the alternative of seizing the heights andproceeding; at
whatever cost, with a line of investment towards the north..
but no decisive movement of this description has as yet been
undertaken, while on the contrary every exertion has been
used for completing, strengthening, and augmenting the means
of attack still at the points first indicated, and there is there-
fore every reason for believing that to the minds of those ex-
perienced warriors there has occurred no, reason for departing
from the original plan. On the other band,. it cannot be denied
that, considering the time they havabeenbeforethe place, that
with possession of such a point of observation as that afforded
by the Mamelon, some familiarity with the condition of the con-
tiguous andoverlooked batteries at the Redan and the Malakhoff
might have been attainable. If science could not accomplish
this, artifice might surely have aided in acquiring information
relative to fortifications not five hundred yards distant from our
entrenched lines ; and, if both these means had failed, experi-
ence of the men they had to deal with shßuld have shown how
severe a resistance was to be encountered and repelled.
Another and an important fact forces itself reluctantly upon
observation in this contest, and that is, the small use made by
the Allies in applying scientific invention to forwarding the
objects of the beseigers. Every day brings us acquainted with
the discovery of exploding instruments, and the destructive
secret agencies employed by the Russians ; yet, on our side, ex-
traordinary aids derived from science appear to have been
carefully excluded from our munitions of war. Under any
view of the case, the death of Lord RAGLAN has occurred at
a momentous juncture of affairs ; what effect it may
produce upon the ultimate result of the campaign, it
would be indelicate and might be impolitic to say ; but the
plans have been so far matured and worked out in concert with
General PELISSIER, that the successor of his lordship will not
likely now think of changing them. Activity, combined with
prudence—energy, with resolution and judgment in carrying
1 them out—are now what is wanted, and in General SIMPSON,
who is understood to be that successor, it is confidently be-
lieved these qualities will not be wanting. In the meantime,
let it not be forgotten, either at home or abroad, that the ener-
vating heats of a Crimean summer, and its sunshine, destruc-
tive alike to vegetable growth and inimical to animal health,
will, in all probability, be found not less fatal to our army than
were the sweeping blasts and frozen storms of its winter,
unless they are carefully guarded against.

We have been led to these remarks by the fact,
(which we recorded last week) that one Liverpool
clergyman, the incumbent of St. John's, has already
commenced the plan which we advocate : but what is
one amongst so many ? We would fain hope that
others may be induced to follow his example ; and that,
not only upon Sundays, but upon week-days also.
And if, in any cases, the Sunday labours are too heavy
to permit such extra work, we would even rejoice to
hear that the sermons delivered within the walls of
'our churches were curtailed, so that opportunity might
be won for speaking to the perishing thousands who
abide without.

DR. CUMMING AND SUNDAY LEGISLATION.

WE are no very ardent admirers of Dr. CUMMING ;
but we must say, that, with regard to the question of
Sunday Legislation, he appears to us to have hit the
Tight nail on the head,—if the letter in the London
Times of Wednesday last, (and which will be found
in another column,) with the signature of Join
CUMMING, be, as we suppose, the production of the
voluminous Scotch Doctor. The occasion of his
writing is Lard ROBERT GROSVENOR'S bill for putting
a stop to Sunday-trading, which, as our readers are
aware, has already led to an unprecedented emeute in
Hyde-park.

Even were there no such thing as religion, we
would gladly see one day in seven characterised by
a total cessation from all but necessary work, for we
believe such an arrangement to be necessary for man's
physical well-being ; and how infinitely such necessity
is increased by man's spiritual needs, we need hardly
say. We shall not then be charged with wishing to
perpetuate the desecration of the Lord's Day, if we
declare ourselves by no means satisfied that such
measures as the one in question are calculated to
produce any really beneficial results : and we are glad
to be able to quote in support of our own, the opinion
of a man so little liable to suspicion upon this score
as Dr. CUMMING'. With him we regard Lord ROBERT
GROSVENOR'S bill as well-meant ; and we would
utterly condemn the spirit which too many public
writers and speakers evince, when they charge its
supporters with cant, humbug, and hypocrisy. With
him we also regard it as calculated to satisfy no party.
" Those," (says the Doctor) " who feel deeply the
divine obligation of the Fourth Commandment, never
can admit it as either dutiful or expedient to give
national sanction to Sabbath work at certain hours,
in order to render illegal Sabbath work at other
hours :" and why it will not satisfy the masses must
be patent to all.
But the part of Dr. CUMMING'S letter which we
think most note-worthy, is the concluding paragraph,
in. which he says : "The most urgent legislation is
required for week-days, not for Sundays. As long as
man is made a beast of burden on week-days, you
will fail to make him a Christian on Sundays. Protect
matt from excessive labour on Saturday, and you may

The longest day has passed; and, with that interesting
period, the usual indications of a closing legislative session
have begun to make their appearance. Lord PALMERSTON,
the most "jaunty" of political Hsßow, has already, suo mori,

11,11

CHURCH UNIONS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.

commenced his "slaughter of the parliamentary innocents."
Many matters, no doubt, still remain, sufficient to occupy the _
LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
legislative attention for a long period, even after the virtual TO THE EDITOR OF THE
withdrawal of twenty-nine out of thirty-three government
SIR,—You printed, a few weeks ago, the report of the Lo..
measures ; but of the remaining four it is believed the ministry don Church Union ; and, with your permission, I would now
will make no very desperate effOrtto prevent one or two from refer to it as affording abundant proof of the necessity which
falling into the "limbo" of parliamentary vanities. Among exists for the formation of such bodies, and for the purpose of
the measures depending upon the exertions of individual mem-
expressing my surprise that no such organisation has been
hers, the one which at present occupies the greatest share of established in our own diocese. Church Unions have already
in this respect are crowned with
public attention is the motion of Mr. ROEBUCK, for a vote of done much, and especially towards the revival of Convocation .
censure on the government, for the share its members had and whenever their efforts
in the gross mismanagement which has been proved to have
success, as I doubt not that sooner or later they will be, the
led to such fatal suffering in the army before Sebastopol. This necessity for their own continued existence will have passed
motion, which was to have come on to-morrow, is now fixed for away. But, in the meantime, they are both useful and neces-
that day week. By its terms. the House will be called on to
nary, for the double purpose of calling the attention of Church-
,
men to such measures as may directly or indirectly affect the
declare that "Ministerial responsibility" is something more
than a theoretical phrase ; and that it cannot be evaded by Church's interests, and also of organising support or resist-
the. convenient trick of making three or four gentlemen enact ance, as each may be required.
the character and sustain the obloquy of scapegoats, while I have said, that the last report of the London Church
the demonstrates the necessity which exists for such bodies
the remaining ten or eleven of their colleagues steer clear of
as that from which it emanates. It refers to various measures
the charge and escape all blame. In this particular instance
introduced into Parliament, and all more or less affecting the
the constitutional peculiarities of Britain are indeed upon
interests of the Church ; but I need only refer to one of these
their trial—the eyes of Europe are upon them. The Parisian
i
journals already teem with speculations on the subject. Most to order to justify my assertion : I mean Lord Shaftesbury's
of these organs of opinion reiterate, less or more directly, the bill for free trade in religion, by which he would repeal the
statute which prohibits the meeting of more than twenty per-
sentiments uttered by Paicccn ALBERT at the Trinity House
sons for the purpose of worship. This bill may be good or
dinner. The Debats spoke out more pointedly than is its
bad; but that is not the question. It affects the Church most
wont on such hazardous questions, tracing in the Adminis-
nearly, and, such being the case, it seems but fair that Church-
trative Reform movement, and the Sebastopol Committee
inquiry and its concomitants, an agitation which, in character, men should have an opportunity of expressing an opinion
about it; and, by petition or otherwise,of supporting or oppos-
is the first step towards a revolution. For this proceeding
.et the Editor of the Debdts has been called before the "Direction tug it Andy I suspect that the great mass of Churchmen
de la Surete Generale," and there he received instructions not would., like myself, have remained in utter ignorance of its
to resume the subject under any circumstances; and he was unostentatious passage through the House of Commons, had
warned not to reply in his journal to remarks upon the matter it not been for the notice which was bestowed upon it by the
in any other Parisian paper. On Wednesday last, the Consti- report in question. And, even with regard to measures, the
introduction of which is generally known, as those for the
tutionel and the Pays each published an at÷:cie on the sub-
ject, taking up the defence of the English PRINCE CC/NSORT abolition of Church-rates and the legalisation of incest, the
and attacking both the Debeits and the English press. So, if Church Union may be, and frequently is, a most useful agent
in exciting opposition, procuring signatures to petit ors-, and
we cannot have a censorship at home, it appears that the
government of our good and faithful allies will accommodate the like. It is an old and true proverb, that "what is• every
body's business is nobody's business," and its truth has been
us with as much of theirs as they can conveniently spare.
In the meantime, the probable result of Mr. RoEsrcß's strikingly exemplified in the past history of the Church of
England. Deprived of her Convocation, deprived of her Dio-
motion is keenly and anxiously canvassed at home. Alost
parties believe that, through the exercise of tactical manoeuvres, cesan and Ruri-decanal Syneds,—deprived, in short, of every
body which might legally and constitutionally look after her
Lord PALMERSTON will contrive that it shall suffer shipwreck
interests; and elicit or direct her opinions,—she has been left
by a similar course of navigation to that which proved go
to the tender mercies of any ministry, or even private member,
fatal to Mr. MILNEE Casson's. motion in relation to the
Vienna Conferences. who might take it into his head to legislate in her behalf; and
Among the displays of the present as of man in many instances measures most detrimental to her wellbeing
y previous
have been passed, almost without a whisper of opposition from
sessions, in Parliamentary eloquence, of which that illustrious
C
assenibly and the nation may be justly proud, those of Lord Churchmen at large, simply because there has been no recog-
nited body, whose duty it was to take- the matter up. Being
LYNDHURST stand conspicuous. While- the attention of the
the duty of every one in general, and of mune in particular,
Commons has been in a great degree taken up with personal
-
altercation, and displays of sectarian spleen mingled with the it has been neglected altogether.
miserable jarrings of party animosity, the House of Lords The- Church Union, it is true, is but an expedient, a sort
has manfully vindicated its claim to consideration as a of provisional committee. It is an anomaly,-but the anomalous
reasoning and legislative institution of the state. On a state of the Church has rendered it necessary ; and when, if
ever, the Church's Convocation is fairly restored; and permitted
previous occasion, Lord LYNDHURST, in one of those masterly
to exercise those powers which, by an act of execrable tyranny,
reviews of state policy which he is so well competent to
have been so long. kept its abeyance, we shall. no longer need
draw up, gave such a delineation of the bearings of the
present war with Russia as extorted from the Earl of it. Not only will the limited functions, which at present it
discharges, be. more effectually discharged by- Convocation
ABERDEEN, the then Prime Minister, . a declaration of his

intention to prosecute the war with vigour. That the noble
Earl did not, in fact, redeem the letter of his promise,-was no
fault of the venerable and learned Lord ; and that the Earl
of ABERDEEN failed to exact from the CZAR " security" for
a lasting peace, cannot be charged against the convincing
eloquence under which that nobleman writhed, and, was
content to promise anything. On Tuesday last, Lord
LYNDRUBST, whose powers of eloquence appear to grow
with his advancing years, again came forth, like an intellec-
tual giant to grapple with the duplicity of Austria. The
oration he delivered on this last occasion,. so studiedly free
from invective—so cautiously stripped of exaggeration—so
scathingly courteous—so calmly descriptive of a case too-
disgraceful and dishonourable to admit of sarcasm, was, in
all respects, so powerful and conclusive- in disabusing the-
' public mind of the gross delusion practised in setting up
Austria as- a • bulwark against Russian aggression in the•
East, that it can never more be adventured upon in an
assembly of educated men. After fully exposing.this delusion,
which at one time or another influenced every member of the--
Peace-at-any-price party—Lord ABERDEEN. and Mr. GT4D--..
STONE being scarcely less its dupes than Mr.. COBDEN and
Mr. Batemr—his lordship proceeded to show the inconcht-
siveness and fallacy of the treaty with Austria ,entered into
on the 2nd of December,. and gave strong reasons for believ-
iug that even in it the Austrian Government was never sin-
cere, but calculated on its evasion by boutc- of- 41..-ncvotiating
parties refusing one or other of its conditions, while she her-
self might by this means escape out of the engagement. In
a few lucid remarks he showed how the Austrian Cabinet-had
tacked. and trimmed, till having completely hoodwinked the
English Government, and when the Austrian purposes were
fully served, that fickle power turned coolly round, and.
declared she should now fall back " to a neutrality treaty,"
and followed up this resolution by reducing. her army, and:
falling off from even pretended fellowship with the Western.
Powers. At the conduct of Austria, viewed through the clear
and searching lens furnished by Lord LYNEMITE.ST, every true
son of England must be prepared to adopt the burning.,
language which SHAKSPEARE puts into the mouth of the
indignant CONSTANCE :
War ! wart no peace I peace is to me a war.
0 Lymoges! 0 Austria ! thou dost shame
That bloody spoil; thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward...-.
Thou little valiant, great in villany !
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side !
Thou fortune's champion that dost never fight
But when her humorous ladyship is by
To teach thee safety !—thou art perjurel, too,
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou—
*ramping fool to-bray and stamp and swear,
Upon my party ! Thou cold-blooded slave,
Ilast thou not spoke like thunder on my side?
Been sworn my soldier? bidding me.depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for.sbame,
And bang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs!
Before concluding his address, " the old man eloquent/,' (his
lordship is in his. eighty-second year,) gave utterance-to the
following prophetic admonition. "Now, my Lords, what is
the policy that I recommend ? Persevere ! If you:do not
persevere, you not only fail to obtain the objects fox which the
war was undertaken, but you will disgrace yourselves•in the
eyes of the world. Character is power. If the., terms pro-
posed had been accepted, Russia would have ascended in the
scale of power. She would have been regarded_ by Eastern
nations as irresistible. No one would.have dared to oppose
her will. If you turn to the-West, the influence she has ac•
quired in Germany would have increased. a thousand-fold.
The chains of the lesser German States, would, have been
rivetted yet more firmly, and a severe blow would have been
struck at the progress of civilization." Row, toweringly noble
is the language of the High Steward of Cambridge, contrasted
with that lately used on. the same subject by the member for
the University of Oxford I

itself, but, to•agreat extentrthe very necessity for discharging
them at all- will cease. To exemplify my meaning, let me--
again refer to Lord Shaftesbury's bill. It aim- at repealing
one of the legal-or act-of-parliament safeguards of the Church.
At present no man can get up a• congregation of more than
twenty people- without declaring- himself a dissenter,. and
obtaining a licence for the room 'or building in which they
meet as a place- of dissenting. worship. Lord Shaftesbury's
bill, however, would enable any number of men to get up.any
number of congregations -in any parish in opposition to 'the
lawful minister- thereof, and yet retain the status and all .the
rights of Churchmen. Against this-the Church protests: but
give her back her Convocation, and she would cease to protest.
Give her back her own undoubted rights and means of defence,
and she would care little for being deprived of such protection
as an act of parliament can afford... Cut her bonds, let her go
free, and she will be quite capable to defend herself, and to
deal as well with her avowed foes-as - with her own rebellious
children. She will-care little, whether it be lawful for twenty
or twenty thousand to meet in opposition to her ministers ;
for she will have power to cast them out, to sever all connec-
tion between herself and them. Bat, I repeat, so long as-she
continues
,in her present -anomalous • position, so long is -the
Church Union necessary ::and I cannot but express my sur-
prise that nothing of the kind has been got up in this neigh-
bourhood. One would think that Liverpool, second only to
'....6;41d0n in ;in_pfittartely =WA 17911 y‘a.riara..E ITraloaa to
itself.—l am, Sir, Bac..,
June 29, 1855.

A CHURCHMAW..

DISGRACEFUL. CONDITION OF ST. PAUL'S

CHURCH; •

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARa

One of the great shows of the past week. has been the
second Drury-lane performance of the-Administrative Reform
Association, on Wednesday, on wliich occasion the leading
character was cleverly enacted by Mr. CHARLES DICSEN3.
The display in this, as in the former instance, was not of a
character to advance in, any degree the practical weight of the
association in public esteem. True, Mr. Dlcx.mrs, in a happy
strain of banter and good-humoured sarcasm, administered
wholesome reproof to the flippancy and audacious arrogance
of manner too frequently exhibited by Lord RinmEasrpx,
while treating subjects of grave importance in the House of-
Commons ;. yet he went bat a small way towards bringing the
egotistical vanity and gross blundering of his coadjutors. in.
the movement within reasonable bounds. So long as. the
foundation on which their case for administrative reform, is,
made to rest on such reckless assertions as those to which Mr.
LA.YARD has been so repeatedly brought to book without
improving him, or on such flimsy suppositions as Mr.
LINDSAY adventured his case upon, so long will the public
treat the movement and the movers as a popular scandal. The
scope of the Association's programme is so.comprehensive that it
can be made to include nearly everything or with equal facility
evade grappling with anything; in the one case assuming the
virtue of every graceful act, in the other repudiating
any of their fallacies which may be exposed. Recent events,
and still more recent exposures, make it quite clear that
great room exists for improvement in the administration of
ouimilitary system ; but more than his simple word for it
will be required to induce general belief in the averment that
the honourable mention of Corporal QUINN, in a late despatch
by Lord RAGLAN, was in any way brought about by the de-
clamations of Mr. LA.YARD. The exigencies of the service
show clearly the kind of men who are wanted in particular
situations, and a very moderate share of capacity will be suf-
ficient to point out to a commander the means by which such
men are excited to action. To these concurrent causes
it is not too much to attribute the mention of the case referred
to as much more likely than the diatribes of Mr. LAYMID.
The probability of a protracted and sanguinary war has
seemingly been the means of sharpening the Ministerial wits
in more ways .than one, and accordingly we find the War
Minister increasing the pay and augmenting in various ways
the consideration in which the private soldier is held; but in
doing-this we are by no means reduced to the conviction that
these concessions have been made in obedience to the behests
of Mr. LAYARD and his friends. If that gentleman is not
above the drudgery of such labour, he will find that during
the last great European war similar provision was made to
ensure the service of the common soldier; and that even
after its close a considerable gratuity was bestowed upon
the soldiers who had fought at Waterloo, long before Mr.
LAYARD could have piped a very potent note upon his showy
reed of Administrative Reform.

SlE,—Permit me, through your- paper, to draw public
attention to the state of St. Paul's-Church. Circumstances
have removed me from that part of the town, but old
associations occasionally at distant intervals draw me thither
on a Sunday morning. Yesterday was an occasion of this
nature, and whilst I was -most gratified at the solemn and
impressive manner in which the senior minister, who always
officiates in the morning, performed the services, and the
marked and decided improvement; in the attendance,. I was
perfectly shockect,at the conditioit of the building itself. If
something be net quickly done, it: will positively be in ruins.
I• shall not enter into details but will merely notiee two
particulars. The ceiling, under the portico, has in a great
measure fallen down, and the dropping of the plaster.renders
ingress or egress a matter of danger. On going- into the
south aisle, I found it flooded withwater, which had penetrated
through the ceiling of the gallery, and in the gallery itself some
pews were filled with water from the ceiling and roof. Some
grave mismanagement is here at work, and it is not too
much to ask,..are there no means of ascertaining what has
become of the hundreds of pounds voted at the Parish Vestry
for the repairs -of St. Paul's, and not only voted,,lnt charged
in the churchwardens' accounts ? Is there no tribunal before
which those in office can be-called for not applying public
money to the uses for which it was entrusted into their
hands ?—Lam, Sir, your obedient servant,
Liverpool, July 2, 1855‘

A PARISHIONER,

BRIGANDAGE AT SMYRNA..

Sarrnsa., June 16.—The abduction of Dr, M'Craith, an
English physician resident here, by a band of brigands, on
Sunday last, is now the-engrossing topic of conversation. On
Sunday a band of sonic-30 robbers, armed,to the teeth, estab-
lished themselves about half a mile from Bournabat, on the
road side, and waylaid, a number of persons, whom they robbed
of money, jewellery, &c. They also detained others. for the
purpose of obtaining ransom; but let them all escape with the
exception of Dr. 2.lfCraith, a M. Manuc,and M. Marcopoly, a
MR of a Gree,k.. merchant in Smyrna.. It- appears that two
brothers Marcopoly, with two friends named Devris and Castor,
were returning_ on horseback into Bournabat, about seven
o'clock on Sunday evening, when they were stopped at the
road side close-to a cemetery by ten or twelve Greek robbers,
armed with double-barrelled guns, pistols, and. yataghans.
While they were detained in the cemetery, they saw Dr.
M'Crrith brought in by other robbers. He had also been
stopped, on. the . road . while on his way to, attend a Mrs.
Fisher, an. English lady residing, at the neighbouring vil-
lage of Hadjdar, in her approaching confinement. All the
party were threatened with immediate death. if they did not
keep quiet, and when, on an. omnibus pass log which plies to
and from Bournabat, Dr. iii`Craith attempted to call for
assistance, he was stunned by the blow of the stock of a
pistol, After some time the robbers. appeared to think it
useless to detain Messrs. Devris, Castor, and G. Marcopoly,,
but carried off Dr. M'Craith and H, Marcopoly. After tra,
versing two fields they fell, in with four other robbers, who
bad under their care 31, Mar= and three other persons.
The latter were allowed, to depart, Dr. M'Craith, M. Manus,.
and M. H. Marcopoly being carried off across a plain some
eight miles in width to the mountains, where they arrived at
midnight, and sent M. H. Marcopoly back with letters from
Dr. M'Craith and M. Manus, saying that the robbers de-
manded £l,OOO each for ransom. He fell in at daylight with
Colonel Storks,,Hamid Bey, and a large body of armed police,
in pursuit of the. robbers, and delivered his letters, but abso-
lutely refused to act as a guide, or to give information as to
the whereabouts of the band, under fear probably of their
menaces and vengeance, and when forced to proceed, it is
now believed that he led the pursuers intentionally on a
wrong tract. Here, then, had been a band of some twenty
or thirty robbers lying perdu close to the principal place of
resort of the Smyrna merchants—the Richmond of Smyrna,
in fact—occupying themselves for some hours in plundering
wayfarers, and at last proceeding with their captives across
a broad plain unpursued. It appears that Dr. Goolden, one
of the medical officers of the Civil Hospital, was passing
the spot of Dr. M`Craith's capture a very few minutes after-
wards, and was told of it by some peasants. He instantly
galloped into Bournabat, and endeavoured to excite the people
to engage in pursuit, but all in vain. No one would join him,
so he returned to Smyrna as fast as he could and gave the
alarm. Colonel Storks at once waited on the Pasha, and suc-
ceeded in rousing him to action. The second in command,
Hamid Bey, was sent off with some 80 men in the direction
taken by the robbers, and orders were sent to the Pasha of
Magnesia to send others to take them in the rear. Nearly
all the members of the medical staff armed and started at
midnight also in pursuit. A great part of Monday was spent
by detached parties scouring the mountains in various direc-
tions, and one party came up with the robbers, but after re-
ceiving a volley which wounded one man, they threw down
their arms and fled. So much for the Turkish police. It
now became a question whether a party of English soldiers,
convalescents, should be engaged in the service. Colonel
Storks was quite ready to lead them, but the English and
French consuls, and the family of Dr. Wraith, were opposed
to any such measures. They argued that the first object was
to save the doctor's life, afterwards to pursue the robbers. It
was accordingly arranged that the Turkish troops should be
withdrawn 'on Tuesday, and the ransom sent to the robbers
by a shepherd. By that time, however, they had shifted their
quarters, and it is supposed. that the ransom has not yet
reached them. Yesterday they are said to have been seen
about seven hours' journey from hence, with Dr. Wraith on
a donkey, and his friends confidently anticipate that he will
be restored to them as soon as the ransom is received. —Cor.
respondent of Me Daily News,

411 k,

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE AFRICA.

BY the British and North American Royal Mail steam-ship
Africa, Captain Little, which arrived soon after midnight on
Saturday, we have intelligence from4New York to the 19th,
• Boston the 20th, and Halifax the 22nd ult. She brought 223
passengers, and $811,142, and £6OO in specie. The Hon.
John Ross, Speaker of the Legislative Council of Canada, was
a passenger by the Africa.
The steam-ship Asia arrived at Halifax on the 20th ult.
The ship William Rathbone, hence, at New York, had nine
deaths amongst her passengers.
The United States new steam-frigate Mirrimac had been
launched from the Charleston navy yard.
The United States revenue-cutter Washington had inter-
cepted a vessel leaving the harbour of New York, with nearly
60 persons on board, enlisted, as it is alleged, for the Crimea.
At a fire which broke out in the toy and fireworks estab-
lishment of Dunkin and Robbins, No. 10, Maiden-lane, a
terrific explosion of combustibles had occurred, and a young
man, named Philip H. Jeanneret, had perished in the flames.
A gold snuff-box, ornamented with brilliants, said to have
been sent as a present by the Emperor of France to a gentle-
man in New York, and which had been levied on for debt, was
sold by auction by the sheriff, in the City-hall, for $BOO,
The Germans of Williamsburg were making preparations to
forcibly resist the enforcement of the prohibitory liquor law.
Meetings had been held, and resolutions recommending violent
measures, adopted.
At New York, a great meeting of the Know-Nothing party
had been held in the Park, and the Philadelphia platform
adopted. The Massachusetts section had decided to call an
extra session of the State Council on the 28th ult., when the
seceding delegates to the Philadelphia Convention would
make their report.
A despatch from New Orleans stated that cholera had ap-
peared among the United States troops at Baton Rouge, in an
epidemic form, and that several deaths had occurred.
The barque Magnolia, which had been seized by the Go-
vernment and taken into Mobile, as belonging to the Kinney
expedition, had on board 3000 rifles,lBoo Colt's revolvers, 6000
lbs. of powder made up into 300,000 rounds fixed ammunition,
1000 tents, a battery of brass field pieces, all complete, with
haness, equipment, cartridges, and shot to match, lots of pikes
and sabres, a quantity of clothing, and 500 cots.
In Mississippi State. showers of veritable brimstone had
fallen. In some districts. of the State frost had been experi-
enced on the 11th ult. Mr. G. IL Griffith, the inventor of the
India-rubber cotton floats, was. at Tuscaloosa preparing, to raft
down to Mobile 100 bales of cotton.
The Lochmaben Castle, hence, with 557 passengers, and a
cargo of salt and rice, had been wrecked on the Bird Rocks,
It was expected that the whole of the passengers would be
saved.

In Upper Canada there is said; to be difficulties with the;
Saugeen Indians, who complain of having been overreached
by the Government in a treaty respecting their lands, which
they agreed, on certain conditions, tcYcede to the Crown. The
provincial newspapers say a rebellion is threatened, which
may cost both blood and treasure. kconspiracy of prisoners
in the Canadian penitentiary to murder the keepers and
escape'has been discovered. One hundred, of them were found
armed.

itthices- from Cuba state that, owing-lb-a sort of undefined
alarm of personal danger which had seized: on the mind of
General Concha, many of the offices of the public functionaries
had been converted into temporary barracks:
From Mexico, we learn that the Government troops had
vanquished the Revolutionists in several encounters, and the
progress- of the conquerors was signalised by the blood-thirsty
ferocity which is the characteristic of Mexican warfare. The
outbreak in the northern provinces seems to- have been a
spontaneous- affair,- no political plan whatever having been
promulgated by its promoters. Vigorous meastires had been
taken to quell the insurrection. The insurgents are said to
have taken possession of Guanaguto and to hive been joined
by Victoria and Saltillo. The outbreak at Rio-Grande had
resulted in the capture. of Monterey, by the Revolutionists,
on the 27th ult.

Correspondence from Central America states-, that Grey-
town had been entirely rebuilt, and a new government
formed, by formally adopting a constitution and• electing
municipal officers,