The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-01-27 00:00:00

Pope could change kingdoms, and

bestow upon a

and literatun

whose mental influence

'ates through

ago. Dr. C

mplished debater that the Irish

ave produced, is associated with this
gar, the apostle of temperance

for many

years previous to Father Matthew, was born here; so was
Dr. James Thomson, whose successful cultivation of ma-
thematical science was only excelled by his success in
imparting to his students a love of the subject.
The people are, with few exceptions, of English and
Scotch origin ; as is shewn in their surnames, their dia-
lect, their habits, their religion, &c. In the troublous pe-
riods of England and Scotland, many of the oppressed mi-
nisters found a ready sanctuary here, as well as the Sau-
rins, Doubourdieus, and Coulsons, from France ; and it is
Ea too much to say that th,c skirt of their mantles still
rests on the inhabitants. In the mountainous districts,
there is still a strong remnant of the native Irish ; and
hence the unfortunate affrays of Lisnagade, Ballyroney,
and Dolly's Brae. But on the whole, no county in the
island is more decisive in its tone than this ; and on the
31st of October, 1834, at least 20,000 assembled in Hillsbo-
rough, at a Protestant meeting. There are entire families
who might rival the Duke of Northumberland's go-
baths, that attended the Exhibition last year. From the
statistics appended to the ethnological chart in " John-
son and Berghaus's Physical Atlas," it appears that in
strength and ocher physical characteristics, Irishmen excel
the natives of any other part of the United Kingdom. But
those compared were students at the University of Edin-
burgh ; and nearly all from Ulster, many being natives
of this county.

The peerage families are of course the highest in rank,
but they are not the most illustrious in descent ; for
many of the middle classes claim an honourable descent
from the extinct thanes and princes of old, whose deeds
formed the materials of history for centuries before the
lords of the plantation were known. The 24Iacgennises
(literally sons of the island), whose collateral ancestors
were the ancient lords of Iveagh, still survive ; and an
ancient branch of the O'Neills has for centuries been
resident here. Of those that are comparatively modern,
the Montgomcries claim a common descent with the Earl
of Eglintoun, from a hero of Chevy Chase; they possessed
the title of Earl Mount Alexander and Viscount Mont-
gomery. of the great Ards. The Hamiltons, of common
ancestory with the Duke and the Marquis of Abercorn,
and of whom was Archibald Hamilton Rowan, held the
Earldom of Clanbrassil, Viscounty of Limerick, and
Barony of Claneboy. Among the male descendants of
the celebrated Sir Moyses Hill are the Marquis of Down-
shire, Viscount Dungannon, and Lord Sandes. Viscount
Castlereagh is Lord-Lieutenant of the County, and the
title, through his illustrious uncle, is known throughout
the world.

" Mee dim maminisse juvabit."

With thy back against the ancient land, thy bosom to the tide,
Like a gallant ship at anchoring, triumphant thou dost ride ;
from Warrenpoint to Hollywood, each hill and valley smiles,
And Lough Strangford bathes the margins of three hundred
fairy isles.
Dear to my heart thou still shalt be, let fortune smile or frown,
Home of my joyous infancy—my own County Down.

Beside thy ancient castles, I have sought the earliest flowers;
Along thy lovely bleaching-greens, I've whiled the summer
hours ;

I've launched me for Ram's Island shore, adown the river Bann,
And in an Ardglass fishing-smack have reached the Isle of Man.
from Newry to Belfast I've strayed, by farm and market town,
Thro' the highways and the byeways of my own County Down.

I've scaled the lofty Donard's side, to meet the rising sun;
I have cleft the waves of Lagan, when my schoolboy task was
done;
With blood as pure as mountain breeze, I've snuffed thy
mountain air,
And proved, in boyhood's golden years, what boyish hearts
will dare;
And now a vig'rous heart and limb such youthful pastime
crown,—

Thy sons shall be a wall of fire, my own County Down

From many a graceful hillock's top, the gladden'd eye surveys—
[n Ards, Lecale. or Dufferin, Kilwarlin or the Maze—
The snug and sheltered cottages, the fields of waving grain,
The marks of peace and industry, throughout the fruitful plain;
The ivy on the village church, that wraps its turrets brown,—
'Ti‘ a country well worth fighting for,""—my own County
Down.

rrifere long to tell the great and good of these and other days,
Montgomeries, and Hamiltons, and Hills, and Castlereagbs :
Here sleeps the great Apostle of the island of the West ;
Here ruled the " proud De Courcy"; here Percy sunk to rest;
And hundreds more, by lofty deeds, have nobly won renown,—
Yet the soil is not exhausted, of my own County Down,

With Saxon blood in every rein, they trod thy Celtic soil

They won it by their own good swords, they use it by their toil.
Ten thousand hearts are beating yet, ten thousand arms are

strong,
To guard the weak and innocent, from wickedness or wrong :
When demagogues would separate the people from the Crown,
Oh ! a loyal shout has echoed from my own County Down.

But loftier themes have stirred the heart of peasant and of peer,
For heavenly truths have borne their fruits, through many a
circling year.
A century has passed, since first a pious grandsire came,
To speak the words of life, which still a brother's lips proclaim.
Oh ! still may peace and love prevail, in country or in town,
Around the hearths and homesteads of my own County Down.
_ .

Brave Scotland was my father's clime, Old England 's now my
own,
For nature's noblest citizens have trod the landmarks down ;
Yet, when the latest change wall come,—and years are fleeting
fast,—
Winn the green churchyard at Hillsborough receives my bones
at last,
slay Heaven, in bounteous providence, with choicest mercies
crown
The minstrel's quiet resting place,—h:s own County Down.

. The exclamation of William HI. before the battle of the
Some.

A TOWN KILLED WITH KINDNESS.—DroIIy enough,
Bedford is an example of a town killed with kindness.
It has been pauperised by the number and wealth of its
charities. A mechanic or small tradesman can send his
child, if it be sick, to a free hospital ; when older, to a
free school, where even books are provided ; when the
boy is apprenticed, a fee may be obtained from a charity ;
at half the time of apprenticeship, a second fee ; on the
expiration of the term, a third ; on going to service a
fourth ; if he marries, he expects to obtain from a charity
fund " a portion" with his wife, also educated at a charity ;
and if be has not sufficient industry or prudence to lay by
for old age—and these are virtues which he is not likely
to practise—he looks forward with confidence to being
boarded and lodged at one of Bedford's 59 almshouses.—
Sidisey'r Rtries fn Railway..

ther, as supreme
if the same should he necessary to the
He could also enact and frame civil

- • jaws, anu annul cne laws or princes, as ne flows supreme
e Navy, and the Church, the list of power in disposing of the temnorals of all christians. The
mid there are not a few connected reason these principles have not been acted upon in this
Sir Hans country, and some others, of late years. is explained by
.... isallileagh, the parish Bellarmine's famous canon—" When heretics are strong,
ector, one of the most eminent we commit them to God ; when weak, to the executioner."
United Kingdom. The amiable The learned Doctor then showed the nature of the idola-
''op in succession of the two dio- trous teaching at Maynooth ;—the adoration of the con-
,.-tapd : and the accom- secrated wafer, and the worship of images • and proved
from the class books of the College the pollutions of the

for the use of the priests being too grossly immoral and
indecent to be rendered into English. The system was
one which ought not to be fostered by Englishmen with
their Bibles in their hands. He next stated that he had
written to the parliamentary representatives of Liverpool,
requesting to know their sentiments on the subject. Mr.
Cardwell, in reply, had recommended them to pause be-
fore opening a question of so much excitement ; as re-
newed agitation would diminish the disposition of the
catholics to receive the truths sought to he imparted to
them ; would not advance the interests of the Irish
church ; hut would tend to disturb the harmony which,
in critical times, ought to subsist between good subjects
and good christians. The answer of Sir Thomas Birch
was to the effect that, as the question will he submitted
to the consideration of the legislature early in the ap-
proaching session, he could not take part in a previous
discussion of its merits ; and as that meeting seemed to
be called for the purpoce of declaring and recording opi-
nions already formed, he should, he feared, by being pre-
sent, forego the privilege of exercising a free and unfettered
judgment. Dr. M`Neile concluded by advising them to
look for sound Protestant men, who would take care that
the great town of Liverpool, of which the President of the
Board of Trade on a recent occasion had spoken slight-

ingly, was not again misrepresented. He would empha-
tically conjure them all, in the name of fair play, of rood
sense, of kind feeling, in the name of legislative justice,
sound religion and Christian honour, to wash their hands
by every constitutional act within their reach of the en-
dowinent of the Church of Rome (enthusiastic applause).
The motion was seconded by F. SHAND, Esq., who
said that he held Protestantism, founded on an open Bible,
to be the vital principle of our existence as a nation, the
basis of our internal strength, and the true secret of our
external influence.
The resolution having been carried,
Dr. M'NEILE appealed to the sincerity of the meeting
by the test of the pocket, and a collection which realised
£lOO was immediately made.

The Rev. C. M. BIRRELL moved, " That, as a matter
of policy, the continued and increased sunport of the
College of Maynooth has proved an utter failure; whether
the object in view were the attachment of the priests and
people to the Imperial Government, or the pacification
and improvement of Ireland itself. And not only nega-
tively a failure, but that this part of the policy of the
British Government has tended seriously and substan-
tially to aggravate existing evils." He argued that it
was always improbable that such a measure as the endow-
ment of Maynooth could succeed. Whatever was wrong
was inexpedient ; and whatever rested on a basis of guilt,
though it might stand for a time, must come to ruin.
Assuming that the Romanists were honest, it was not in
their power to be cordial subjects of a constitutional and
free Government. In proof of that he pointed directly to
the axiom on which the whole system of Romanism is
founded, viz., that there is one power in the universe—
God ; and that He, with respect to this particular globe,
has delegated His power to one man—the Pope. There
was, therefore, no room for individual judgment ; nor was
it possible, even at the expense of £30,000 a-year, to
convert Romish priests into English patriots. He then
took a survey of the history and operations of Popery on
the Continent of Europe, and in Ireland ; and concluded
by protesting against the compulsion, by means of a Go-
vernment grant of money, of assisting the Popish priests
in their work of mischief. (Applause.)
Mr. EDWARD CROPPER seconded the motion, which
was carried amid loud cheers.

The Rev. Dr. NEWTON moved, " That, as a matter of
principle, the national endowment of the College of May-
nooth is at variance with the spirit of the British Consti-
tution, opposed to the laws of Almighty God, and, there-
fore, dangerous in the highest degree to the best interests
of the State." He (Dr. Newton) was a friend of freedom,
civil and religious, and not an advocate of coercion ; and
therefore he would have every man to possess the unfet-
tered liberty of worshipping God, in the way which he
honestly believed to be in strict accordance with the de-
clarations of God's revealed truth. But he contended
that there was coercion in granting annually £20,000 to
endow a college in which young men were fed and trained
as priests of a religion hostile to our own. That was as
contrary to the spirit of the British Constitution, as was
the worship of images by the Romanists to the express
commandments of God. Aggression had been begun, not
by Protestants, but by the Papists themselves, who were
seeking to undermine and eventually to overthrow the
Protestant Constitution of these realms. He was glad to
see that Britons were aroused, and rallying round their be-
loved Protestant Christianity ; and he believed that God
was for them, that truth would triumph, and error fall to
rise no more. (Prolonged cheering.)
Mr. SAMUEL HOLME seconded the motion, deeming it
as competent for the legislature which had made the grant
to Maynooth, in defiance of the opinions of the people of
England, to alter and withdraw it, as to alter the Reform
Bill if they thought fit to do so. It was, indeed, their
duty to retrace their steps, and do right, regardless of
consequences (applause). He then showed that the Pope
had done nothing to improve either the physical or spiri-
tual condition of the Roman people over whom he ruled;
and in other countries his influence had retarded improve-
ments ; and in Ireland the prestige of Dr. M'Hale and
the priests was fast waning. It was an appalling fact that
the population of that country had decreased a million and
a quarter; but he rejoiced to say, from inquiries he had
made, that it was not so much the Protestant as the Roman
Catholic population who were leaving ; and he had grounds
for saying that many Irish emigrants, when they got on
board the ships, blessed God that they have got rid of the
priests (cheers). He concluded by contending that a bold
sthit:;iae:slaid:llteaving the inference to be drawn by
hislTi achuyedwri resolution ehdenhisseat amid cheers.
put by the Chairman, and car-
ried unanimously.

Mr. T. D. ANDr.n3ox moved the adoption of a petition
to both houses of Parliament, embodying the ,übstance of
the previous resolutions, and imploring them with all the
earnestness compatible with unfeigned respect, to free the
country from an endowment at once anomalous in our
history, disgraceful to our
Policy, and revolting to our
Christian principles.
The resolution was seconded by Mr. J. CAMPBELL,
and carried.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman was then moved by
the Rev. J. B. LowE, which was carried by acclamation.
The compliment having been acknowledged, three