The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-12 00:00:00

taut version of the sacred Scriptures.
Mr. Campbell said—
" The Roman Catholic clergy were consulted as to whe-
ther they would permit the use of prayer in the schools.
They said their children could riot join in prayer with other
sects. Therefore prayer has been excluded. For the same
reason the Bible has been excluded during school hours. We
are permitted to take the Bible when the schools are closed,
This is the only permission, I believe, given us by the written
law."t

Gentlemen, this subject, as you well know, has been dis-
cussed ever since. The town has been appealed to again and
again. Your clergy, your parliamentary representatives,
your candidates for municipal honours—all have reiterated
this appeal. The constituencies have responded ; and at the
earliest possible opportunity, the first retirement of a section
of the aldermen in accordance with the provisions of the
Reform Act, you find yourselves in a majority in the coun-
cil. Can you hesitate as to what you will do with the
schools ? Can you hesitate about the exclusion of the " Irish
and the introduction of the Bible avowedly and
unrestrictedly into the use of the schools? Can you hesitate
about adopting a resolution that the Bible shall be read by
all the children i❑ your schools who are capable of reading?
Can you hesitate about inviting again the co-operation of
those Christian ministers who will co-operate with the Bible,
but who cannot co-operate without it? Can you hesitate
about thus giving to the inspired word of God its lawful
place of unrivalled ascendancy over all compositions of men,
however excellent in themselves ? Can you, by putting it
upon a level with anything else—by subjecting it to the same
treatment with anything else—by allowing its use or disuse
to be a matter of discussion, like anything else—can you, by
any such hesitation, imply that you do not believe it to he,
what nothing else is, the word of God himself ?

extracts,

_.„
No, gentlemen ; I feel assured you cannot—will not. You
will be tempted, however. Your political opponents—who,
while they had the power, carried tneir measures by tyrant
majorities, without any charitable consideration of the feel-
ings of Protestants—will now adopt the soft voice of flattery,
and entice you to make a character for liberality by consider-
ing charitably the feelings of Roman Catholics.

They will say to you, " surer• you wouldn't insist upon the
children of poor Roman Catholic parents reading the author-

ised version of the Scriptures." Gentlemen, be assured
this is not the voice of affection, emanating from poor Roman
Catholic parents ; but the voice of faction, emanating from
Roman Catholic priests: I appeal to facts. The poor
Roman Catholics do not object to their children reading the
authorised version of the Bible. It requires all the authority
of their priests, in repeated exercise, to prevent them from
sending their children to schools in avowed connexion with
the Established Church. In truth, they cannot be prevented,
and multitudes of children of Roman Catholic parents are
at this moment in Church of England schools in this town ;
reading inot only the authorised version of the Bible, but
also the Catechism and other formularies of the National
Church.