The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-01-08 00:00:00

the poor body," &c. Of course, air, you would take care that
e poor innocent Hindoo children should be taught to be-
lieve these absurdities
no matter to what abominations and
idolatrous practices they eventually would lead them. " Be-
'. g trustees of a fund to be managed for the benefit of all,
).1.311 would be bound to respect equally the religious peculiari-
ties of 0u.,,
Nen co
be rnes a poor Turk or Arab, a mussulman. Suppose
_broughto his children requesting that, during the hour of
roef"g: us instructron, they should be initiated in the doctrines
reti,ie ICOR Ar,, you would, of course, " respect equally his
ti,!ous peculiarities," and give orders that his request
o'tl,°_,!(l be carried into effect, and some master or monitor
t2log orders would take the children in hand and teach
the",?„ravely to believe that " Mahomet was the prophet of
st High, that he was inspired to instruct and reform
hi'"l"r",,"d, and placed above all the prophets, and even Jesus
, God and v having made him the great restorer of truth
that virtue— the sword is the key of heaven and hell—
vsena dry p of blood shed i te cause of God, or a night
t jo arms is of more anvaihl than two months of fasting
yiUeprayer_
that whosoever falls in battle, his sins ate for-
"in the day of judgment, his wounds shall be resplendent
Wuv,!rniillion, and odoriferous as musk; the loss of his limbs
4:46be supplied by the wings of anels and cherubim."
b tUetanisna in many things hears tg
estimony to the truth,
lie ling founded on imposture, " it is intended to propagate
town-• But that could not make any difference wih toysou and
Iliae council ; for, " being trustees of a fund e ma-
n Red for the benefit of all, you would be bound to respect
earlot the religious peculiarities of all"—of Buddhists and
s al
fiahe Jew presents himself next. We have many Jewish
a Jill" in Liverpool; and one of these days you may have
ew bringing his children, and expressing his wi•sh that
110 should be instructed in the creed of the synagogue, the
that,
article of which That Messiah is yet to come," and
consequently, Jesus of Nazareth must be looked upon
to
readceceiver. In these cases you would authorise some one
h these descendants of Abraham to reject Him, " who
ns declared to be the Son of God with power by the resur-
retion from the dead," though it should be to the eternal
,r,'_uo of their souls : for it is written—" He that believeth not
loe 4on, shall not see life' but the wrath of God abideth on him.
:„euts l 41) 36. But what would that be to you? Let the
—ook to that. You, "being trustees of a fund to be
lualusged for the benefit of all, would he bound to respect
equally the religious• peculiarities of all"—be they pagans,
124olicten, or unbelieving ngJews.
he papists come next under consideration. And in this
instance we shall see what you really have done in carrying
Jrt Your principle. Popery is the western form of apostacy
Orn 'purity and truthof the,,Christian faith, just as Mo-
mis the eastern. And there is very little to choose
• "'eon the two systems. The former is as much an engine
Psthe hand of the devil to•destroy souls as the latter. There
15 In the religion of the papist the idolatry of the pagan; the
lurk of human actions and the self-righteousness of the mus-
%%Luau, the virtual displacement of Christ from his office of
oaviour by the creation of angelic and human mediators,
°pre-spot:Wing to the actual rejection of the Messiah by the
• °yrs : acconapartied by a multitude of other absurdities which
cuounon sense ought never to admit, and impieties which
conscienee ought always to reject. But no matter with you
ftud the liberal town council how absurd and impious. The
experiment has been made, and not in vain. The Roman
atholics have brought their children to your schools, request-
'ug that they should be instructed in the religious peculiarities
the.ir creed. You have aceeded to their iequest. The
..°°2lsh catechism' is taught daily to the children in the alb-
of the priests by the authorities of the schools. This is
'ape under your sanction, in conformity to your regulations,
and positive and practical proof to the public that you
are quite sincere in saying, that, " being trustees of a fund
° managed for the benefit of all, you are hound to respect
etrallY the religious pcculiarities of all." It is therefore clear
at, so far as "you and- your liberal friends are concerned,
ane do not care whether the children be taught to worship the
living and true God, or to worship an idol—to believe in
•hrist or to belieVe in Mahomet—to seek salvation by the
,',tt"ling death of Immanuel, or by the merits of penances
posed by an apostate priest. So far as you are concerned,
Fie
bas given a law to distinguish between right and
rnfig between virtue and vice, between the religion that
arsessay rig
and a religion which destroys, in vain. Your schools
converted into nurseries of idolatry and superstition, and
madeseminaries of "blasphemous fables and damnable here-
iitoes." This, of course, you cannot avoid, proceeding as you
°ou cubes iti theesof principles of "respecting equally the religious pe-
In analysing this principle, I find in it the following in-
Rredients :—firstly, a determination not to interfere with any
manes religion, be it what it may, good or bad, moral or im-
-1,--you resolve to let it remain as you find it. Secondly,
?k, toleration of all forms of religion; however barbarous and
"grading to the human mind: the good shall not take pre-
cedence of the bad. The code of truth shall not be preferred
to the popish catechism. Thirdly, and this is the climax of
acirtioe; a provision is made for teaching the bad, the immoral,
e barbarous and the heretical, as well as the " pure and un-
siefited.,.
Now, sir, let us proceed to test this principle by the word
or God. The instances I shall adduce will go to show that
the just and holy God admits of no religion but that which is
scriptural, and approves of kings and magistrates employing
the power and influence with which they are invested to root
up,ldestroy, and banish all false religions, that the only true
scriptural one may take their place.
ln
, e
" And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of
Lord his God: for he took away the alters of the strange
gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and
cut down the !groves : and commanded Judah to seek the
Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the com-
Maudrnents." 2 Chron. xiv. 2-4. This was an act of un-
ceremonious interferance on the dart of the king and chief
magistrate with the religion of the land, set up and patronised
2y previous monarchs; nevertheless, it was approved of
tied. If, therefore, the principle on which Asa proceeded
was right, that on which you proceed is unquestionably
serong—" you respect equally the religious peculiarities of

"And Jebu, the son of Hanani the seer, said to Johosa-
Phat, King of Judah, sbouldst thou help the ungodly, and
lore them that hate the Lord Y Therefore is wrath upon thee
'rout before the Lord. Nevertheless there are good things
-band in thee, in that thou host taken away the groves out of
the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God."-2
Caron. xix. 2, 3. Jehosanhat was so liberal as to help the
. fdolators of the kingdom of Israel; for this, wrath from be-
fore the Lord was upon him—he was so illiberal, as you
Would say, as to interfere with the religion of his own land,
and remove the groves in which its idolatrous rites were per-
formed. For this he was comintailed....." Ana the_Lurl was
*ith-Jehosapis.a, and ...ttibliiitied his kingdom in his hand,"
According to your principle of nut interfering with any
,Man's religion, but "respecting equally the religious pecu-
liarities of all," Hezekiah did wrong when he made a great
te.formation, not only in Judah, but also in Ephraim and
Manasseh, provinces belonging to another king, and he a
'confirmed idolater. " For Hezekiah removed the high places,
'and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake
An Pieces the brazen serpent that Moses hau made, to which
'the chilmen of Israel did burn incense." But what is the
'testimony borne to him by the Spirit of God for this unex-
Anspled interference with other men's religion, being not the
Icriptural one? "He did that which was right it the sight of
Lord; and the Lord was with him, and he prospered whi-
t ersoever be went forth."-2 Kings xviii.
if your principle of non-interference with, and equal tole-
tatil° of, all religious peculiarities be right, then our blessed
he
eTeenser was au intolerant bigot, and acted most unchari-
Y, when he commissioned his apostles to go forth "into
nlf i. the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;
"king disciples of all nations; baptizinethem, and teach-
lf them all things whatsoever he hau commanded." In
carrying out this commission, the religious peculiarities of
„_ waole world were to be interfered with and overthrown,
that .
woe' place.
the alone scriptural religion, might take
%j'r place. Had Christ acted on your principle, Christianity
._uuld have expired in Judea; and the whole heathen world
would have been left to perish in ignorance, idolatry, and
B,,uPerstition. Paul would have never gone forth into Asia
superstition.
Europe preaching Christ crucified as the only Saviour,
u declaring against every form of worship that was not in
a„..ereOrdance with the Word of God. In most of the towns to
r"onatrch he and his companions went there was a stir, an up-
hes s a tumult. Christianity was not palatable—it was op-
pl to the religious peculiarities of the people—it tolerated
• Wheorrnof religion except its own. The people, sir, every-
th_ re thought, just as you and your liberal associates do in
th° Present day, that these servants of Christ, as they styled
tte7oselves had no business to interfere with their religion
an religious prejudices; they were satisfied with their own,
yr' wanted no other. And was it not very unkind and an-
' Zious in tbe apostles not to let them alone?
iastruoliag the truth of your principle, all the religious
hay tutions and missionary societies of our country, which
aei° for their object the dissemination of the word of God,
141,., the sending forth of Christian ministers to proclaim
,st:i',tion through the blood of Christ iu all lands, have been
thes,,lished and are supported in vain. What a contrast to
har- noble and beneficent institutions is presented in the
the••uaFter of your schools! The former labour to destroy
I,,,nil,ngdoin of darkness—your schools, to uphold it. The
strce: Persuade the nations to forsake image-worship as de-
the to the soul—in your schools the great majority of
crut`:7,ilclren are taught " that it is allowable to honour reties,
ca,i,),,es. and holy pictures as memorials of Christ and his
th,,t The former endeavo.ur. to convince the gentiles
lestn,e.re is no merit in the religious acts of men, that
It ~:dlotte did or could satisfy for sin—the Romish children
„, Urc schools, on the contrary, are taught to believe, that
.(1,4,,,",'L5t-tng they may satisfy God for their sins; and that
that 6 "0 Penance imposed by the priest is satisfaction, and
111
sins are forgivers through the sacrament
titrai „'ce•" The former point out to the pagans in every
thildr"ie absurdity of praying to their deified heroes—the
Arab inn in your schools, on the contrary, are instructed to
4., the Virgin, to angels and to canonized saints. I
-at,aopr‘9ceed no fui !her.
tatiitie4onian catholics themselves never expected that men
Of k themselves protestants—protesting against the errors
Owe religion would be so inconsistent and treacherous to their
Itweae'lgion as to become the patrons and teachers of. the
teetehtuis catholic cathechistn. There is no picture of pro-
°so 11 fo which the eye of a foreigner inquiring after truth
ehrimaiduirected, so unfavourable and scandalizing to the
or Live faith, as that presented by the liberal town-council
A
'Pool. Nut only you avoid interfering with idolatry,
hat iworship, worship-ping of angel and Christian heroes—
teach You tolerate, but von actually make provision to
I'lll4 tolahrie.se abominationsy.. to -the childre.ri of the poor Irish in
have
inoaudehasvhei
,pwurteacvska,y, conscience, and concerning
„45 Plea f • •
ti,Q-r strait having all parties to please means nothing.
strait Course should have been to ascertain which was
migt and pure, and simple form of Christianity, and make
e basis and theprincipal part of the system, come who
Liiii:ett%talr schools, stay away who would. The Bible,
eitotrhecirirri7e.nt, was at hand : this ought to have
have Your
ave standard by which to stand or fall. You ought to
tile 4-44 Princi I incipal class-b:mk, and the sole judge of
tr world pes and practices. The moral Governor of
tie to.erates no religion, or form of religion, except the
scripturalht4"4lBt one, neither should you, either as parents
raoW
hekrttes, as trustees, or in any character whatsoever:
4,1,1 d pe,>e7. less teach a false religion! For as protestanttsm
Ale d
.a!e diametrically opposed to each other in prowl-
'st adr3ra(-tice, and you teach both in your schools, you
tt,eatchhat,:fhtehreetoin,e, be true, the other must be errone-
• 8° tinia,° that, if the one be true, the other must be erroneous;
rith th
retie you e one case you teach "sound doctrine," in the
~ teat
4nd retrace It is not too late, sir, for you to
tot he the e our.stepsdown in a hod.'y to the.schools
I oe wie,,_noe of popish heresies and Christianized idolatry
9tt th`.s.--, replace it with the Holy Bible, and take an oath
PI Ab
peti;''n or will never depart from the Christ ain faith and
ha Ito the "roan
again.
ging of a fund for the benefit of all," which
tioci4vee
,u_sed.,na4nnd do use as an argument in defence of the
right.uo_a_hhich you act, a very few words will serve to put
nt of di..,llVe atever funds are employed for the propoga-
aßed f" troth and religious knowledge, are necessarily
he benefit of all • but such as are used for the
c°titrar
name are heretieal doctrines or error under any name or
Tenoaed for. the the benefit of none; but, on the
t:il
eirnisapplied to the present and eternal injury of
arlds Neseet :or necessarily leads away from God, and en-
ahPrtete future misery on the soul that believes it
?Ont it. Of course I am speaking of fundamental
te%reveruitt
pithier and religious truth—does good
Le_ t.f a ~,_'?)tads admission. Your duty, therefore as trus-
malajait „r and general fund, " toy be managed for the
4%1 i2*ls is very plain and easy ; not to einploy a single
ri`,i!•hingerror of any kind. but to lay out as lar,ely
.10.! g,„"e!.plst in the tinu purely scriptural eduction of the
he.,s4ou have he
ase I,era., 4de a very serious mistake in suppositig, that
theal N 4,1 of a., religious creeds contribute to the cor-
eape s. Y•at nits bound to satisfy the conciences of all in
Lo religion int:lnure, and sell your own into the hargain. Where
fiacr '"nv'rned there •
te, ri acecor , is but one course betere you, viz.,
'vi
,ance via the
word and will or God. You are
e hara for t use ytru make of the funds,