The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-07-23 00:00:00

what this man says or does. It would have been far
better if our contemporaries had some years ago acted
upon the principle of the Manchester Wesleyan Me-
thodists, and had passed by, with the silence of cont
tempt, the speeches and actions of one so bankrupt in
character, and Billingsgate in mind as Daniel O'Con-
nell. He would then possess as little influence with
his own countrymen as happily he does on this side of
the Channel. We direct attention to these resolutions
for the sake of the admirable spirit which pervades
them—a spirit breathing peace and charity to all, but
firmly opposed to any attempts made to tamper with
the foundations of Christian faith.

After denouncing the impertinent letter of O'Con-
nell as "false and calumnious," and declaring his cha-
racter to be such as compels the committee, " for the
sake of their own reputation, to refuse the usual cour-
tesy of a reply," they go on to state their conviction,
" that, under the existing circumstances of the country,

it is inexpedient to adopt any new system of national
education ;" and they declare their willingness to sub-
mit, for the present, to the disadvantage of entire ex-
clusion from all national educational provisions, rather
than to the evils which any immediate alteration of the
'former system appeared to this committee to involve.
But the most important part is that where the distinc-
tion—the plain and intelligible distinction—is pointed
out between compulsory payment towards the support
of a national and christian church and a state endow-
ment of every sect and creed which the perverse in-
genuity of any fanatic or knave could palm upon
ignorant and deluded followers. The passage is so
true, and at the present juncture so important, that we
shall give it entire :—" The committee equally denies
any sympathy with those sentiments of opposition to
the principle of national religious establishments which,
in utter disregard of the clear and cautious terms of
the recent memorial, have been imputed to the Wes-
leyans of Manchester. That memorial placed the
opposition to the then project of her Majesty's govern-
ment, " on the strong grounds of conscience, and of our
right to full religious liberty." It then proceeded to
show how that project violated the principles of religious
liberty by its seeking to tax the Wesleyans "for the
teaching and maintenance of systems of religion which
they, in common with a vast majority of their fellow-
countrymen, believe to be false and injurious." This
committee still maintains its protest against an exaction
so unrighteous. But the Wesleyans of Manchester
never expressed any objection to be taxed for the
teaching and maintenance of any system of religion
which can present to them the two characteristics :
first, of concurring and propagating those great views
of christian truth which all orthodox Protestants unite

to hold—and, secondly, of commanding the general
support and sympathy of the majority of their fellow-

countrymen.

This is as it should be. John Wesley would not be
ashamed of his followers in Manchester. That pious
and exemplary man never dreamt of an opposition to
the Church of England emanating from his laborious
exertions. He went forth into the nooks and corners
of the land to preach the Gospel where the Church
had neither ministers nor places of worship, and he
always avowed that his efforts were only supplementary

to those of the venerable Establishment, from whoge
communion h.; did 'not withdraw himself. Very dif-

ferent conduct this from the rabid virulence of modern
Dissent. Of the Wesleyans we can make only ho-
nourable mention, and say of them, with all the since-
rity of truth, " cum tales sunt utinam nostri essent."

We look forward with much curiosity to Lord
Brougham's motion on the administration of justice in
Ireland, which stands for next Monday week. He
says that he intends to make no criminatory Fharge,
but the facts will speak for themselves; and, judging
from the manner in which Lord Normanby and his
friends wince from the approaching castigation, and try
to cajole the noble lord into a postponement of his
remarks until the Greek calends, i. e., the next session,
we expect to see a flagellation administered which will
be anything but agreeable to the ex -Lord Lieutenant.

The steamship 'Liverpool, Lieut. Fayrer, R.N., ar-
rived here on Saturday afternoon, at five o'clock, after
a fine passage of fourteen days from New York. She
had on board upwards of seventy passengers, a list of
whose names will be found in another part of our pa-
per. They all speak in terms of the highest admiration
of the bravery, skill, and polite attention of Lieutenant
Fayrer. The Liverpool brought home the news of her
own arrival at New York, as did the Great Western on
the occasion of her last voyage. The Liverpool made
her passage out in fifteen days and a half, having ar-
rived at New York on the 29th ultimo.

The Liverpool has brought New York papers to the
6th instant, inclusive, and Montreal papers to the 4th
instant, also inclusive. We have to express our grate-
ful acknowledgments to Lieutenant Fayrer for his kind-
ness in forwarding to our office copies of the latest
journals.

The New York papers are chiefly occupied with the

visit of the President to the city, which appears to have
created a great sensation. The Weekly Despatch of
July 6th gives the following description of the reception

which Mr. Van Buren met with. " The whole city
seemed to have turned out on Tuesday on the occasion
of the arrival of the President. Thousands joined in
the procession, and tens of thousands, impelled .by
mere curiosity, thronged the streets and covered the
house tops to witness the splendid military and civic

pageant. The shipping were splendidly arrayed with
flags of their respective nations, and the aquatic pro-
cession in the harbour had a gorgeous effect, being
composed of a fleet of steam-boats, decorated with co-
lours and streamlets of various hues, and accompanied
besides by hundreds of boats, and other descriptions
of water craft." Several addresses were presented to
the President, to which suitable replies were made. We
extract the following passages from one of his ad-
dresses :

" The views which you have taken of particular points in
our foreign relation, which recently presented a very unfa-
vourable aspect, are conceived in the same just and enlight-
ened spirit. The :long-contested question between Great
Britaini and ourselves, in relation to the northeastern bound-
ary, there is reason to hope, is in a fair way for a speedy and
amicable settlement, and the troubles on the Canadian bor-
der have, I am persuaded, passed their most dangerous crisis.
" To cultivate a spirit of liberal concession in our public re-
lations, and, at the same time, to mantain, with every power,
our national honour unimpaired, are properly regarded by
you as trusts of the highest nature. Experience has shown,
that these can be best discharged by invariably demanding
justice ourselves, and as invariably pursuing the same line
of conduct towards others. A momentary forgetfulness of
the latter and great duty by a small number of our citizens
on the northern frontier had well nigh broken up the peace-
ful relations of two great nations, and exposed to irreparable
injury the dearest interests of.millions of people impelled to
the most amicable intercourse by the strong ties of reciprocal
interests, a common origin, and a common language. The
njurious consequences of a war between them, not only to
the particular interests of each, but to those also of mankind,
could not well be exaggerated. It may, indeed, be safely af-
irmed, that there are not two nations in the world, a war be-
tween whom would sever so many ties, or who are capable of
inflicting upon each other such complicated and diversified
evils. Although these considerations have no weight, and
would probably receive from neither more than a passing re-
p-et, in respect to the prosecution of a war rendered indis-
pensable byt due regard to the national character, they could
;got be cont7mplated without the deepest sorrow as the result
of a contest brought upon the two countries without neces-
sity.

" That the steps that were taken to preserve the public
faith, and to suppress disorder in that quarter, produced in
the then state of public feeling on the frontier, dissatisfaction
even with those persons entertaining, in other respects, the
most correct views, did not disappoint me. Trusting, how-
ever, to the good sense and ultimate just feeling of my coun-
trymen, I was persuaded that those unfavourable impressions
would be of short duration ; and even if I had thought other-
wise, I could not, I humbly hope, have been deterred from
the performance of an obvious duty by personal considera-
tions. All well-disposed persons now see the matter in its
true light ; all feel that the obligations which public law im-
poses on civilized nations, and of which republican govern-
ments should be most rigidly observant, were for a moment
lost sight of, and that to an extent which, if persisted in,
would have rendered war inevitable. It affords me pleasure
to learn, that the course taken was, in your opinion, the best
that couli, under the circumstances of the moment, have
been pursued, and that the country has been saved from a
great calamity by its adoption. The danger of a hostile col-
lision arising from this source having, as I hope, passed away,
the asperities of the moment in a great degree been allayed,
and an opportunity for cool reflection afforded, we may, I am
sure, count with confidence upon a vigilant support, by our
citizens, of those great principles of international justice, the
maintenance of which is alike indispensable to the preserva-
tion of social order and the peace of the world. In doing so
it does not follow, that we are either to surrender the right of
opinion. to suppress a solicitude for the spread of free goTeru-