The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-24 00:00:00

TO MR. E. RATCLIFFE

Sin,-1 beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communica-
tion, and to thank you for your condescension in being willing
to meet "an unauthorised layman." Your condition is so
modest, and pretensions so diffident, that I fail in terms to
convey an idea of my admiration. But I do not presume to
enter into a discussion with "so valorous a champion," and
so learned a divine, who is not only prepared to prove "that
the Church of Rome is not the Church of Christ," bet that
various of her doctrines are superstitious, blasphemous, and
idolatrous.

Sincerely sorry that you cannot find a " foeman worthy of
your steel,"—l am, Sir, your humble servant,
67, Combermere-street, JOHN MACDONA LD.
Toxteth-park.

THE MEETING IN CIRCUS-STREET.

To the EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sin,—l attended a meeting held by Romanists, in Circus-
street School-room, on Tuesday evening last, the 17th instant,
in consequence of Mr. Macdonald's challenge. Three persons
occupied the time of the meeting until ten o'clock, reading the
correspondence in the newspapers, and making garbled state-
ments respecting what Dr. 3.l`Neile and others had said as to
Romish priests and Romanism ; but little, very little, indeed,
upon the subject for which the meeting was called, viz., to
consider the errors taught in the Church of England. What
was stated was not of much importance, and which could easily
have been answered if fair play had been given.
A gentleman complained of the unfairness of the proceed-
ings, in occupying the time of the meeting to that late hour.
Immediately a storm was raised; all was commotion, shouting,
bowling " Go up to the platform—up to the platform." He
refused, on the ground that it was too late to begin to answer
the previous speakers ; but the storm continuing, the gentleman
was forced up, and began by noticing that the Rev. S. Minton
had offered ..-1000 to Mr. Macdonald, or any other person, who
could adduce satisfactory proof that a Romish priest was a
priest according to the doctrines of his own church. This was
received with laughter and shouts, saving it had been done,
but the money was not forthcoming. The gentleman stated
that it never had, nor could be; but if Mr. Macdonald could,
he would be one to sign a guarantee that it should be paid, the
conditions prescribed by Mr. Minton being complied with.
(Another storm.) He then stated that Dr. Cahill had been
challenged by many of the Church clergy to defend the Romish
doctrines, but had always evaded them. Mr. Macdonald had
said he could not condescend to come down from his high
position. He knew the reason. He dared not; he was afraid ;
his excuses were too flimsy not to be seen through by any one
having the liberty of using his private judgment. (Another
storm, in which there was so much confusion that a great deal
of what he said was lost.) He then attacked Mr. Macdonald's
absurd argument in favour of the doctrine of transubstantia-
tion, which he built on the fact of Christ's appearing in the
upper chamber to his disciples, the doors being shut. As it
was uncertain how he got in, it was a proof of the doctrine.
So (as he said) as Christ appeared to his disciples in his proper
person, it is a proof that he can be on ten thousand altars at
the same time, in the shape of a piece of bread. (Another
storm.) Being asked if he was a Christian, he gave a clear ex-
position of the why and the wherefore he was one, which was
received with insolence and shouts. It was, indeed, like talking
to blind men about the beauties of creation. He then called
upon them to consider what they were, how they had arrived
at the conclusion that the Romish Church was the Church of

Christ ; for, in order to ascertain that, they must have exa-
mined the Sacred Scriptures, satisfied their minds that it was
the word of God, that Christianity was true, that there was to
be a visible Church in the world, that that Church was to be
infallible, and that the Romish Church was that Church. Have
you done this ? he asked. (Great shouting and confusion.)
He then said that he was astonished at Mr. Macdonald touch-
ing upon persecution ; for, if he was acquainted with history,
he must know that the Church of Rome had murdered many
millions of the human race. (4nother storm. Cries of
" Time': up, time's up.") He congratulated the meeting that
they were in a land of civil and religious liberty;—(another
storm)—that they were not in Spain, Italy, or Portugal, as they
would as soon dare to thrust their hand into the fire as open
their mouths against the establshed religion of the country.
He was obliged reluctantly to sit down, having, as he said, (if
time had been given,) to charge Mr. Macdonald with disho.
nesty, in stating that Dr. NPNeile had said he would have all
the Romish priests who received confessions put to death. He
(Mr. Macdonald) also quoted passages which he said were in
the Protestant Bible, as also a cursing prayer, which he knew,
or ought to have known, were not true, thereby misleading the
people.

In trying to escape from the platform, the gentleman was
grossly insulted. Yours respectfully,

A SUBSCRIBER.
P.S.—There did not appear to be any respectable Roman
Catholics present, the audience being composed of the lowest
class of Irish, and they yelled and shouted more like fiends
than anything OM