The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-12-10 00:00:00

THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SlR,—The notice you have taken of my last communica-
tion will prepare you to expect from me a rejoinder. In
lifting up my voice in this important matter, I am quite
aware of the practical disadvantage of my position. The
leading article from the editorial chair, freely usinr, the em-
phatic we, and presented with all the assistance of conspi-
cuous type and handsome paragraphs, must possess a mani
fest superiority over the humble letter of an unknown cor-

respondent. but, however lorded over, or for a time out-
shone, the truth ultimately prevails ; and if I had entertained
any doubts as to the soundness of the views I have adopto,
the perusal of your notice would have dissipated them, and
confirmed me in the course lam pursuing. The article in
question is the elaborate compositioh of a well-intentioned
writer, labouring to convince not only his readers, but him-
self—proving nothing but the badness of his cause, and ex-
hibiting the very poverty of defence. lam not surprised
that the pen which I have so often admired when advocating
the cause of truth and right, should only be weak when
wielded in the cause of error.

If I have used harsh terms, I trust they were proportionate
to the importance of the subject I was dilating on ; and if a
painful conviction of their truth has inflicted a pang upon
any heart, it has been done on my part " morein sorrow
than in anger."
The vital principle is sacrificed, and all the special pleading
that can be brought to bear will not alter the startling fact,
or weaken the force of my position. The mere withholding
of the Catechism in certain cases is not alone the question.
The point is given up. Conciliation has taken place. Amidst
the many arrows so long thrown in vain, one at last has
struck—the barb has entered. And though all the teachers
must be churchmen, and no forms used excepting those. of
the Established Church, they will be able to do little more
than prevent the spreading of the laceration. Instead of
attacking the fortresses of error, they will be wholly occupied
in repairing and guarding the breaches in their own. Look
to the practical working of the scheme. The child of a dis-
senter comes into the school; and while the principal scho-
lars are learning what they are taught to believe concerns no-
thing less than their eternal welfare, that child is excepted.
Will not the simplest mind inquire the reason ? What must
be the answer ? That his father tells him it is wrong to learn
it. Nay, further, that he is so convinced of its falsehood,
that he will not permit the master to teach it him. Will not
this in the first place beget strange doubts as to the general
truth of what they are taught? and next a sense of injustice
done them, in being made to learn that which Master
So-and-so is excused from doing. This is supposing the ob-
jectors to be few in number. But has it never occurred to
the projectors of this institution the probability of the ob-
jectors being a majority ? How then? lam not aware that
the youthful mind is -ever over anxious in the pursuit of
knowledge beyond what it is competent to acquire. Some
parents " are unwilling to orerburthen their poor boy's
brains ;" and " therefore, gentlemen, and heads of the in-
stitution, though I respect you all as members of the Esta-
blished Church, and ani glad you use nothing but the reli-
gious exercises of that church : I think it quite useless in
you to persevere in teaching that at all, which the majority
are not only indifferent to, but positively resist. Where are
the words for a reply ? 'What the weapon of resistance ?
Where the ground for a defence ? The mouths of all the
professors of the Established Church have been shut up.
The weapon has been wrested from their grasp. The ground
of their defence has passed from under their feet. Concilia-
tion .has been admitted. A compromise has taken place.
The vital principle has been sacrificed.
Nor is the probability of a majority of objectors a mere
groundless apprehension ; for I cannot do so great an injus-
tice to the understanding of a numerous meeting of the so-

ciety, as to suppose that, after " grave and dispassionate con
sideration," they should decide that one of the most impor
tent lessons of the church was to be, in certain cases, dispen
sed with, if they in their own consciences believed in th,
necessity, truth, and everlasting importance of the lesson
they rejected. If, on the other hand, they insist on the truth
of the lesson, and yet in any case withhold the teaching in
their own school, I again repeat they have, to use a mild
phrase, allowed a crotchet to seat itself in their minds, which
it behoves them instantly to displace by the sound exercise
of their better judgment.
But you inform me, sir, that the institution will be also
" auxiliary to the Church of England." This is, indeed, a
new view of the subject, and one on which I at once confess
my "ignorance." Only an " auxiliary ?" Why, to answer
the end we have in view, it must be identified with, and be
the Church of England. So completely and entirely must
they be merged in one, that a dissenter should be as little
justified in requiring the smallest of her precepts to be given
up on his account, as he should be in entering the church
during the performance of divine service, and desiring the
officiating minister to withhold, out of respect to his peculiar
prejudice, the second lesson for the day. " Such men as
the bishop of the diocese and the worthy rectors of Liver-
pool" have sanctioned this important step. "Et to Brute?"
Then, in the most respectful language a deep and firm con-
viction can assume, I must tell that learned prelate, and
those reverend divines, that they bade done that they have
no right to do. In their hands has been placed, by the will
of God and the laws of man, a trust the most sacred that
can be hel3,—the guardianship of our religious liberty, ne-
cessarily involving a portion of our civil rights. The laws,
doctrines, and principles for their guidance have been trans-
mitted to us by our Saviour Jesus Christ himself. They are
to administer those laws, doctrines, and principles : but on
no account, or for any " plausible pretence," are they em-
powered, on their own mere motion, to pervert, withhold,
or alter. The society have no right to make the strange de-
mand, because the concession is far beyond the power of the
clergy. The treasure is not theirs to barter. It is mine ;an
inalienable inheritance for me and my posterity. With as
much shbw of right could the bench of judges give up
any portion of the trial by jury, as the bishops and clergy
direct that the ritual lessons, or any part or parcel thereof,
' belonging to the established church should, in our schools, be
under any circumstances dispensed with. And for what pur-
pose are we about to tamper with that which is most clear to
us as christians and as freemen ? For the purpose of con-
verting our enemies into friends. Away with the delusion.
The entire history of conciliation proves that it never :did
anything but mischief. In matters of truth it is not possible
there can be conciliation. Those dissenters who are inclined
to enter the school, will not, and ought not, to do so, from
the conciliation made, but from the overflowing conviction
of the truth upon their minds. Concil: 0-ion will not con-
vince, it will induce contempt. And those who are now
inclined to meet us in the noble field of mental conflict, will
the only hp aptitioil tolnuph nt It is not, fact that
students are admitted as dissenters into t universities o
Oxford and Cambridge. The test act is repealed, but in
every other particular, the children of dissenters who go to
the universities are educated in the strictest forms of the
Church of England, and nothing is withheld on their account.
How, by this course of reasoning do I bar the doors of the
church against the return of dissenters to the sanctuary ?
The reverse is the fact ; for, if a dissenter comes and receives
our lessons, he enters into the sanctuary ; but if the lessons
are withheld he cannot possibly become a churchman, but
remains a dissenter still.
Let no man entertain the notion that this compromise will
be the only one that will be made. The principle once ad-
mitted, the main point of our opponents will be gained ;
they will return each time with increased demands, and addi-
ticnal strength to insist on their concession, until at last, we
shall have the melancholy satisfaction of knowing they can
ask no more, because, we shall have nothing left for them to
covet. I fervently pray that my humble voice of warning to
my townsmen will not be raised in vain. Let not the people
of Liverpool be the first to permit the smallest breach in that
holy fortress, which they have always been the foremost to
defend. It can benefit none; it must injure all. Pause,
then, while there is time. And if the prospectuses have been
issued, embodying this most mischievous principle, and
money been received thereon ; let the projectors have the
moral courage, instantly to return the money, and scatter the
prospectuses to the four winds of heaven, simply assigning
as their reason, what is indeed the fact, that the congrega-
tions of the Church of England will not permit the sacrifice
of their catechism. On the ruins of the present disastrous
scheme, an institution will rise, consistent, and unalloyed in
all its integrity ; possessing the unshaken confidence of
every member of the church, and exacting, at least, the
respect of our opponents. The funds will not be wanting,
for those who, under present circumstances, have been pre-
vailed on to contribute will, under the wiser system, willingly
give more than double.
To those faithful few, who have signed a protest, bearing
conviction in every line, a boundless debt of gratitude is due
from us and from our children. Certainly God will comfort
them in their own hearts, and let the consoling approval of
their countrymen urge them on to renewed exertions, until
they shall have the satisfaction of seeing the enemy effectu-
ally repulsed from whatever quarter he may make the attack,
and-the banner of their church floating in proud triumph—
the blessed guardian of our English liberties.—l am, sir,
obediently, A FAT ER.

LIVERPOOL COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Sin,—l write for the purpose of correcting an error into
which you and some of your contemporaries appear to have
fallen from misinformation. In an Editorial article of last
Friday you say, in reference to a Correspondent—" Is he
aware that dissenters are admitted into the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge," &c. Now, sir, in neither of our
universities can dissenters graduate. At Cambridge it is true
they can matriculate and reside without professing church
membership, but before taking a degree, they are required to
subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles. In the mean time they
are not excused attendance at chapel, &c. At Oxford no
one can even matriculate without assenting to the Thirty-
nine Articles on oath, which course, with an additional
security, must be repeated before a degree is conferred. So
that dissenters are not admitted at Oxford as dissenters at
all. Besides all this, Ido not know a more compendious
method of getting " plucked," than a betrayal of ignorance
of the Church Catechism ; and an answer to a theological
question given in the precise terms of the Catechism, is well
known to be particularly acceptable to the examiners. You
may remember that the admission of dissenters to our
universities, formed a prominent topic of debate in parlia-
ment, a year or two ago, when it received such a quietus as
will serve for some time to come.—Yours, &c.,
OXONIENSIS.
I believe that very few dissenters avail themselves of an
university education, even at Cambridge ; at Oxford, nor.•e.

INQUESTS.

(Before Philip Finch Curry, Esq.)
CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN.

On Saturday last, on view of the body of John Morley.
Edward Murrow, a police officer, stated, that on the- fore-
noon of the 29th ult. the deceased walked past him, and ap-
peared to 'be almost starved with cold. He appeared to be
an idiot. The witness went up to him, and spoke to him,
and he made some sort of muttering in Irish, which was not
intelligible. Seeing him in such a condition, witness took
him to the general bridewell. He was so overcome with
cold, that he was scarcely able to walk. An order was pro-
cured for him to be received into the Workhouse, and he
was taken there in a coach. He was then in a state of stu-
pefaction, his pulse being scarcely perceptible. Every atten-
tion was paid to him, but he never rallied, and died on Wed-
nesday last. On a post mortem examination of the body, a
patch of ecchymosis was found on the frontal bone, on turn-
ing back the scalp. On removing the skull cap, similar ap-
pearances were found underneath and near the same spot,
and evident traces of concussion of the brain, from the ef-
fects of which, in the opinion of the surgeon, he no doubt
died. These injuries could not be the effects of extreme
cold, but of internal violence.—Verdict, " Died from con-
cussion of the brain."

DEATH BY BURNING.
On the same day an inquisition was held touching the
death of Mary Rimmer, a girl of 17 years of age. On Fri-
day, the Ist of last month, the deceased was left by her mo-
ther in the cellar where they lived, in Bispham-street, when,
being subject to fits, she fell upon the fire during an attack,
and was much burnt from her hips downwards. Her screams
brought some neighbours to her assistance, and every atten-
tion was afterwards paid to her at the Infirmary ; but she
was so dreadfully burned that she died on Saturday morning.
—Verdict, " Accidental death."

DEATH FROM A BROKEN LIMB.
Same.day an inquest was held on view of the body of Sa-
rah Langley, a female of 80 years of age. The deceased,
who had become feeble, had fallen on the floor at her house,
in Comus-street, and received a fracture of the left thigh
bone. She was taken to the Infirmary, but died in conse-
quence of the injury she had received.—Verdict accordingly.

A man in Bangor, U.S., has a telescope of such power
that he can see
.a wart on the nose of the man in the moon,
and a hole in his trousers.