The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-08-02 00:00:00

AN EXTRACT AND A COMMENT,

(From The Dublin Evening Mail.)
Lord John Russell is, no doubt, a bad politician ; but, as
it never was our wont to deny any man his due, we are
bound to admit that, as a writer, he has produced essays on
politics by which no honest man need be ashamed to profit.
There is, in particular, one essay by this noble author, on
the English government and constitution, printed at Lon-
don in 1823, with which we have been so much pleased that
we cannot refrain from making an extract. At page 427 of
this excellent and constitutional essay, it is thus written :
" A minister, especially if be be long. in office, may have
so engaged and corrupted the great proprietors of boroughs,
may have so distributed honours, and ribbons, and offices ;
may have so obliged the principal members of the House of
Commons, by,providing for their friends and relations in
the customs, the excise, or the colonies ; may have so fet-
tered every public man of weight and influence, by the ties
of private interest, that at last they (the ministry) shall be
able to say to the sovereign, However pernicious,our mea-
sures may be, and however unpopular oir persons, you must
maintain us in rower, for we alone can command a majority
in the House of Commons, though our conduct and our acts
are offensive to the country, and disgusting to your majesty."
Truer words never were put upon.paper. However per-
nicious our measures may be"—what though we do aim a
heavy blow and- great discouragement at the church which
your Majesty is sworn to protect —" And however unpopular
ourpersons"7-what though we have been escorted to your
Majesty's presence by a force of policemen—what though we
have been hissed, groaned, all but pelted with rotten eggs—
" You Must maintain us in "power''—you must, for our sake,
sharply rebuke your hereditary councillors—you must openly
and deliberately do your best to shake the great pillars and
ornamelitilnf'yout Majesty's throne, and that, too, Within
hearing of the remonstrances of your Majesty's faithful
people ;..".for-Vve alone can command a majority in the House
of Conimons"—for we alone are the statesmen who can carry
on the machine of government on working majorities of fires
and twos. • "Though our conduct and ouracts-are offensive
to the country"—though the vast bulk of the nation hate and
despise ns,•and long ardently for an opportunity of deprivii.g
us of even our working majority of two—though tne.disaon-•
tent of the people is even now breaking out in incendiarism
and insurrection—though your Majesty's palace walls still
echo.to the execrations which attendea our progress to your
Majesty's presence ; yet support us you will, for—and here
the parallel breaks down—for although our'conduct and our
acts ought to be disgusting to an English monarch, duly sen-
sible of the awful responsibilities encompassing the crown—
though our attacks upon the church ought to excite the
ut-
most
alarm and indignation in the breast of one sworn, as
your Majesty is, to protect that venerable institution—though
the contempt into which we have brought the Executive, and
the outrages which we have thus invited the ill-disposed to
commit with impunity, ought to excite your Majesty's most
serious apprehension for the safety and welfare of all the
people committed to your Majesty's charge—though the
flames of. Birminghiun ought to have darted some sensible
glimmering
.of light into your Majesty's eyes—yet your Ma-
jesty will support us ; for our conduct and our acts, though
offensive to nine-tenths of the nation, are greatly approved
of and quite satisfactory to one, if not all, tne ladies of your
Majesty's Bed-chamber.

THE. COMMITTEE OF CRIME-RIBBONISM.

(From the Dublin Statesman and Record.)

The digest of evidence bearing on this point, prepared by
Loid Wharncliffe, strikes us as completely putting an end to
any doubt as to the existence of a widely-spread, but mys-
terious 'association among the lower order of Papists in tnis
country, called the Ribbon Society. All the witnesses bear
unequivocal testimony to this fact. There is such a brother-
hood amongst them. It consists exclusively of Papists. It
is a secret society, and the members are bound to prompt and
submissive obedience, and to secrecy, by oath. It prevails
all over Ireland, but in some counties more than others.—
They have symbols and pass-words to know each other by ;
they hold meetings in secret, and tney are supposed to have
a centre or head somewhere.

So far as this, Mr. Rowan, Major Warburton, Mr. O'Fer-
rail, Major Browne, Mr. Drummond, and, in fact, all the
witnesses agree. But Mr. O'Ferrall, Commissioner of Po-
lice in Dublin, thinks that the Society is not a religious 6ne,
and that to destroy the Protestant religion, and set up Popery,
is not one of their objects, and he thinks so, because he has
" known of the Boman Catholic Priests denouncing stran-
gers coming into parishes in the country as Ribbonmen, to
administer illegal oaths to others, and cautioning their parish.
ioners against those people." We presume Mr. O'Ferrall
is himself a papist; but, whether or not, his reason for dis-
believing the Ribbon Society to be a religious one, is quite
insufficient in our opinion.

It is sought to make light of the results of the inquiry on
this head, because all that it might be desirable to know, has
not been brought to light. It has not been shewn what the
precise object of Ribbonism is—it has not been shewn that
it has a centre, or who or what that centre is—and much that
concerns it remains still involved in mystery ; therefore the
inquiry has failed altogether. Such is the convenient logic
of the partisan journals in this city. But we differ from
them in a small degree. And first, we think that it is a very
serious anti important thing to have it demonstrated that
there is such a secret combination—consisting exclusively of.
low Papists—spread over the whole country, with the mem-
bers bound to secrecy by oath; and sworn to obey any orders
conveyed to them at two hours' notice ! We say that that in
itself is an appalling fact. "It is not a religious society."
It is very odd then that it should consist exclusively of
Papists. We know not its purpose—no not precisely—but
we know what men love darkness rather than light, it is be-
cause their deeds are evil—that we know. We know that
crime and disorder of the worst kind, abound ; and if the
Ribbon Society does not exist to facilitate and increase
them, what does it it exist for? But we cannot connect it
with the Priests—nay, but we can. We connect the mem-
bers with the Popish Apostasy—and the Apostasy's mysteri-
ous confession-box, necessarily connects the Ribboninan with
tae Priest. " And the woman was arrayed in " purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead
was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of
the Saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of J ESUS."
Tile Priest must be as well acquainted with the mystery of
Ribbonism, as it is possible for him to be acquainted with any
thing in itself so mysterious and so iniquitous. But what
care we for all the iniquitous mysteries of Popery ? If the
LORD be for us, he is greater than all: If the LORD be on
our side, the Priests of Baal may put their heads together,
and bring all their Ribbon troops in array against us ; yet
shall we have nothing to fear—the LORD is on our side,