The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-07-12 00:00:00

if he can show that in some respects one clergyman
is not precisely of the same opinion with another, he
has proved the two men to be at variance. Thank
God, this is not the genius of our liberal and tolerant
church. Whoever thinks there must, or there can, be
entire uniformity of opinion " tendit in Latium." Call
himself what he will,—Liberal Socinian, Latitudina-
rian, he is wearing the weapons and fighting the battles
of Rome.

O'Connell, after having lavished his abuse and vi-
tuperation on every other class of Englishmen, has, at
length, fallen foul of that estimable body the Wesleyan
Methodists, to whom he has addressed a long, crafty,
and most jesuitical epistle. We are not in the least
surprised that the noble stand made by the Methodists
in defence of the cause of scriptural education should
have provoked the indignation of the wily demagogue.
It is to the immortal credit of the followers of John
Wesley that they have incurred the displeasure and
secured the abuse of such a man as O'Connell. It
would have been equally a matter of deep disgrace if
they had entitled themselves to the degradation of his
praise. As an attempt at argument O'Connell's letter
is an utter failure. It is replete with low cunning,
plausible sophistry, and confident assertion. As an
attempt at a narration of historical facts, it is even a
still more contemptible failure. No man possesses a
higher talent than O'Connell for garbling and distorting
history to suit his own purposes, on most occasions :
but on the present, his utter disregard for even the
semblance of truth is too transparently evident to mis-
lead the most cursory observer. It would be an utter
waste of time to enter on a minute analysis of the
trash contained in his letter. O'Connell is too well
known among all classes of Englishmen for his reckless
hardihood of assertion to render it possible for him to
impose upon even the most ignorant and unreflecting.

We are glad to find that the subject of Poulett
Thompson's Bill " for the warehousing of foreign goods
in inland towns" has been taken up with great interest
upon 'Change. A petition, of which a copy will be
found in our advertising columns, has been prepared
in opposition to this very obnoxious bill. It lies for
signature in the Exchange Newsroom, and as it will
be sent off to-night, we trust that no time will be lost,
by those who feel interest in the welfare of the "good
old town," in appending their signatures. The refusal
of a factious majority in the Town Council to take
those interests under their protection, will, we have no
doubt, cause a considerable accession of names to this
petition. The conduct of the "liberals" in this mat-
ter is appreciated just as it deserves by all who have
any regard for the prosperity of Liverpool.

We are extremely happy to learn that it is in con-
templation to found in Liverpool an institution for the
education of all classes, based upon such fundamental
religious principles as must secure for it the cordial
support and zealous co-operation of every denomina-
tion of Trinitarian Protestants. The proposition has
received the warmest encouragement in the most
wealthy and influential circles, and been hailed by all
who have heard of it with the utmost enthusiasm and
delight. Such an institution has long been wanted in
the town, and, if well managed, will become a bond of
union between the members of the Church of England
and those Protestants who believe in a common creed.
Whilst the artizan will be enabled to obtain at this in-
stitution solid information and instruction for himself
and children, at a rate suited to his means, ample pro-
vision will likewise be made for the middle and upper
classes upon the most reasonable terms. The most
talented masters will he engaged in every department,
and lecturers of the highest eminence procured; and,
from the peculiar facilities and resources which will be
possessed by the directors, it is not too much to expect
that, in a comparatively short period, this institution
will rank amongst the first collegiate establishments in
the kingdom.
We are confident that adequate funds will be forth-
coming to promote this great undertaking, the moment
they are required. The inhabitants of this town have
already manifested a laudable sympathy for their poorer
brethren, in providing them with spacious school-
houses, in which their children may receive a sound
Scriptural education, without the risk of becoming
tainted with any fatal doctrines ; and they surely will
not look on and permit the children of those in a
higher sphere to imbibe latitudinarian opinions of a
most dangerous tendency, when they have the means
to prevent the evil by becoming the patrons and direc-
tors of their education themselves. Besides, if the
projected institution be as well supported as we antici-
pate, the surplus income which must arise will in a
few years become available in promoting Scriptural
education amongst the poorer classes, if not for de-
fraying the entire expenses attendant upon the existing
Church of England schools.
We shall return to the subject, but trust, in the
meantime, that what we have already said may pre-
pare our townsmen for the contemplated movement.

We rejoice to find, from the Abstract of Marriages,
drawn from the returns made to the office of the Re-
gistrar-General, that the people of England still conti-
nue to hold in the highest reverence the hallowed
forms of the Established Church. Our predictions
on this subject have been verified to the letter, as will
abundantly appear from the comparative statement
which we now lay before our readers. It appears that
the total .number of marriages which had taken place
last year throughout the United Kingdom was 111,481.
Of this number 107,201 were solemnised according to
the rites of the Church of England, whilst only 4,280
had taken place according to the provisions of the new
Act The following is an analysis of the returns to
which we have alluded :

Marriages solemnised according to the rites of the

Established Church :

By license
By special license

13,677

By banns
By superintendent-registrar's certificate 493
Not stated by which of the foregoing forms 24,612

• Total 107,201
Marriages which had taken place not according to the

rites of the Established Church :

In registered places of worship 2,976
In superintendent-registrar's office
Between Quakers . 76
Between Jews 135