The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-07-15 00:00:00

. .
tary fort arrested his progress, and he concentritted all his forces
for its destruction. A breach was made in. its walls, and the
attack was almost successful; but just then tWo- British frigates
appeared iu the offing, manned by gallant hearts, and led on
by a noble spirit. A body of British seamen with their leader
were admitted into the citidel, the garrison we,: strengthened,
the enemy were repulsed, and 'the citadel of Acre was saved;
and it drew front Napoleon the expression, in allusion to Sir
Sidney, " That man made me miss Inv destiny.": Now he
wished to observe from this, that, as the British constitution was
assaulted by a malignant toe, and that a breach had been ef
fi.,cted in her oute irks by the cowardice or cupidity of some of
her own soldiers, it was the imperative duty of all men who set
a just value upon the civil and religious institutions of time em-
pire to throw themselves upon the breach—to defend to.the last
that important city which holds the bright lamp of pure and
unadulterated truth within its walls. (Loud continued cheer-
ing.) The day was gone by for half measures; there was now
need for activity and decision • and it was the duty of the laity
to stand boldly forward and aid the clergy, and no longenthrUst
them forward unsupported to the embrasure. These were days
when the principle of expedie4y was put forwards. Just as a
man in the common affairs of life rises to the surface of society
by the display of energy and decision, does the straightforward
sitnplicity of the English character repudiate such a fraudtilent
expression. Show him on the exchange, in the shop or' the
counting...house, the man who was conducting his private affairs
on the principle of expediency alone, and he for one would not
trust that man. (Applause.) There was nothing straightfor-
ward about it. It carried upon its countenance the imputation
of fraud and dishonesty, and was alwa.3s to be suspected. It
did not belong to earth; it could not possibly below? to heaven;
and it seemed, therefore, as it it was suspended, like the fabled
coffin of the impostor Mahomet, between heaven and earth, and
yet belonged to neither. (Cheers.) In /be situation of life
which he filled, he thought it his paramount duty to protest
against the vote of the council of Wednesday last, careless of
the frowns or the ridicule of his dying fellow-men. Was it for
man, whose breath is in his nostrils, who is here to-day and
gone to-morrow, to decide upon what part and parcel of that
word is to be read and taught to the young, and what part is to
he rejected of that eternal word which was spoke by Him who
is omnipotent, and " is the same yesterday, to-day, and for
ever ?" (Cheers.) Oh, no. Did he speak strongly upon this
subject? About twenty years ago, (continued Mr. Holme,)
when I was a mere boy, a highly respected and excellent indivi-
dual, in company with a venerated clergyman of the established
church, Caine to our office when we were engaged in paying our
workmen. They wished to establish an auxiliary branch of the
Bible Society in our employ; they succeeded in doing so; and
the association existed for a considerable period. The clrgy-
man was the Rev. Mr. Buddicom. (Loud cheers followed the
announcement of this name.) After a suitable address from
him, the gentleman who accompanied hint expatiated in a feel-
ing tnanner upon the necessity of every workman not merely
supporting bible societies, but of possessing himself the sacred
scriptures, which it was his duty to teach to his children. was..
struck with.: his words, but still more so by his observing to my
father. " You have something more, sir, to do with Your work-
men than profiting by their sinews." Yes, sir, we -have more
to do with our work-men tl,au to profit by their sinews; and I
reiterate the observation to every tradesman who is present, that
he, in common with myself, may be aware of our responsibility,
and think of our workmen as immortal heiuLts- (Loud
cheers.) 'But, sir, I forgot to add that the individual to
whom I allude, and to whom I have been myself under sante
obligations, is now a member of our town council, and, with
deep sorrow I mention it, his name is found amongst the ma-
jority on Wednesday last. (Cries of " Name him;" but Mr. 1-1.
did not give his name.) How had the fine gold become dint.
He felt sure that the system sought to be introduced was an im-
portation from Ireland, that interesting country which he had
traversed from one side to the other, and which he admired Inr
the generosity and hospitality of its lively inhabitants. And
what had been done with the scriptures in countries like Ire-
laud, where popery was rampant and possessed unbounded
power ? Were the scriptures found there ? No ! he had
searched through many booksellers shops in the great towns of
Italy, but had never yet been able to discover the Bible on sale
in any one of them. On one occasion, when crossing a boun-
dary in company with a legal friend who had Biackstone's
Commentaries in his portmanteau, the officers of the Dog,ana
examined them closely, and perceiving the mention of some-
thing which they could not 'comprehend, being probably like
Mr. Blackburn not understanding much Greek, (loud laughter,)
they took his friend's books to the cure; he, like the officers,
was unable to comprehend them, and transferred them to his
bishop, and it cost his friend no little time and money before the
unfortunate volumes were again in his own possession. In
Spain, in Portugal, were the scriptures circulated? No! nor
would they ever be where popery was dominant ; for that dark
system could not bear the light of truth to shine upon it, and,
wherever a free inculcation of the scriptures was permitted, that
absurd system would soon be scattered to the winds. (Loud
cheering.) The Bible was a loyal book, and its circulation was
sometimes inconvenient to certain persons. In the same sense
which taught a man to fear God, the noble-minded apostle who
made a full manifestation of his ministry before kings and rulers,
as well as in the presence of an infuriated multitude, he, fearing
lest there should be any misconception on the point, immediately
added, honour the king. And I was much struck the otherday
with a passage which will never be, published by the Irish board
in any of their extracts, lest the aptness and acuteness of the
Irish people should make a misapplication of it. "I will cutoff
from Israel, head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The
ancient and honourable, he is the head, and the prophet that
speaketh lies, he is the TAIL." (Loud cheers.) "For the
leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of
them shall be destroyed." One word more and he should con-
clude. It was the duty of all those who now enjoyed the light
of God's word to contribute to the treasury now open for the
purpose of circulating it fully and freely. If necessary, they
ought to shear away their luxuries, and to deny themselves that
they might assist the work. Did but the members of the church
exercise half the self-denial of the enemies of truth, and show
such determination as they showed, there had been no need for
a meeting like the present. And he firmly believed that, if ever
those enemies succeeded against the establishment, the pro-
testant trinitarian dissenters would be the next object of
attack. (Cheers.) As he had alluded to Ireland he would add,
that as long as popery ever raised such a withering influence in
that unhappy land, the British legislature might pass as many
enactments as they pleased, might fill their statute book with
coercive laws, or laws of concession, and it would he all ineffec-
tual, for if she were not redeemed and disenthralied from the
dominion of popery, she would remain—with her magnificent
mountains and her fertile valleys, her noble rivers, and her
highly-interesting people—dead to civilization, and not fit to be
amalgamated to the free institutions of England ; but let her
free herself from popery, and let the word of God be circulated
freely throughout the laud, and then will Ireland become what
he longed to see her, the most brilliant gem that sparkled in the
British diadem. (Mr. H. sat down amidst loud cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution to the meeting, and it was
dona-
tions,clohnagir,liasrtnoofudnotinnag-
reatdhea
unanimously adopted.
him since After
altogether to £2,400. This will be found advertised in another
column. he which
hacl takenhe

The announcement of these subscriptions was received with
loud demonstrations of applause.
Dr. RALPH then came forwards. Ile said, "A motion has
been entrusted to my care by the lay members who have con_
ducted the proceedings of this day, from whom alone such a
request could come—a motion which could not so well be com-
mitted to the hands of a member of the established church of
England. I rise to snake that motion with the greatest plea-
sure ; I feel that it will be responded to by every individual pre-
sent in this large assembly. As you will be impatient to hear
the motion, I shall at once announce it; it is " that the thanks
of this meeting be given to the clergy of this town for having so
promptly responded to the call of duty on this occasion, and to
our Reverend Chairman for his able conduct in the chair.'s
(Chee r s . ) These gentlemen do, iiidee exdh, i
cbdaietnseedii.,vee) tol.
ofu a
thanksoa precious
raes the
i theo h e
s
hands of that large community to which we are all connected.
It has been fashionable, of late, to
doe
-n to attheucs—leitile clergy osenrlyiptthurroeusg ofh
the medium of abuses that they,
.as well as we, most sadly
groundsdl
cgepalcy
deplore; but
h(i(bciuhtisiaoasnt.cbiLtreheeanrs millianeninddiauendm
agencyis
everlasting truth. A legacy of such importance as to be re-
tained in all its integrity—not only for the generation which is
now rapidly passing away, bnt for generations to come. If I
were to select any from their number, selections, indeed, not
being the order of this day, I am sure they would permit me.
every one of them, especially to notice that most lion-hearted
churchman since the days of Luther, I mean the 11ev. Hugh
M'Neile, (loud Applause and clapping of hands,) with whose
varied powers, sustained through so long a period, we have all
been delighted. That man remains like the rock beaten by
the waves, to scorn the scorner. The question which has been
submitted to this meeting to-day is a question of principle; bes
tween the town council and we who are here present, there
is a difference of principle. We are separated from each other
far as the poles. One point has not been conceded to, many as
have been the points to which reference has been made—l mean
the tendency of this system to unsettle the inspiration of the
word of God, a point which has been held as settled by all or-
thodox denominations. Those children are presented with
these specimens as fair_ specimens of the word of God. As they
advance in years they make a comparison between the two, and
find them not to be the same, but, owing to the reverence they
have been taught towards the extracts, they come to regard
this as the word of inspiration, and not the remainder. It is our
desire that they should all appear before them Under the same
sanction. It is not for us to say what part of the word
twbeeen
appealeddaer ed opyl placed;
clrleotdoui
t;rsas
andse lavtietesgni.t, i t y .
preferable for a man over another. We knoW that a catholic
churchman was converted, under God, by reading a paSsage in
the book of Genesis which records merely a number of man"!
and of deaths.. He read again and again, " As long as etch ,
think of his"
eternal lived, he also died," and he was lead to ,thi
eternal interests. I may also mention tbat the different regis-
ters as of
ro ihyecies
of names in the word of God are usually passedover the
o t•
bGe,di s
which
I an ci"in Ireland. Yet
ibtse ex-
tended respecting
Jews, and
importance; aant
rhceee
of
fobunuti
iitinitgthyeotyfa
Christ.a
hwereolm
theo s t
fulfilmentc
lo-
gical reasons why this should be adopted
And
ought it
reason was lest we should
was likely to be so soon fulfilled. On
(Chreers.)lciriet.adlest cotland should
e.
the But
Bibleth,ev
aVory taughtof
make ourselves parties to forging
merely because there is a country where
example, under the circumstances in '
(Cheers.) It entwines itself as a
in-
stitution t
idctaount
if,
ote
ne
hl
eI il tld)
idan oppose
h poansoeu
recollectingr its
a thatrihnrtar
introduction
nltchluetr:e,sevs! into
ot
which
t(lihusli tiastnet
Iltleasti of
town.
'mitt is embodied in every
there is ample provision o education should therefore be all-
ilsmoetwodtwul
aittinheds thiswota. :is,
fc.etl_ihe
guardian spirit education. And no one l familiar ••
department t ,
without having
can be with the
literature of Scotland
there pins
high thoughts and sublime poetry have been taken from the
word of God, even from those parts which have been with-
held. I refer you to the writings of Lord Byron, and of
tpheealPedaitioshfoSichuosotlso
Sir Walter Scott, men not hiendlv to what. is called vital
religion, but men whose writings are deeply and strongly
impressed with the Old Testament. This scheme of edu-
cation has been brought here as a reform ; I am sure I
can answer for the clergy of the platform, that we love,
we admire the name of reform; it is a name ever precious
to uq ; precious to the memory of the reformed church of
England—precious in the eves of the members of the reformed
church of Scotland, and precious in the memory, I trust, of al(
orthodox denominations. Peace to thee, ashes of that refor-
mation. We approach the graves of its martyrs for the cause
of Christ with the deepest reverence; but oh England! oh my
country !—Land of Cranmer, of Latimer, and of Ridley! oh
Scotland! oh my country! land of Withals, of Hamilton, of
Knox, and of Melville! Are these the sons of such sires?
Ichabod, Ichahod, the glory of this kingdom must be depart-
ing. The men who ate foremost iu the shout of liberty, aret
hindermost in its views of liberty which the scriptures presen
(Cheers.) May God in his mercy prevent so tearful an issue.deliclte
The Rev. JAMES DIXON should feel it extremely iwn
ith acn
to detain them at that late hour of the meeting, y'
toy
lengthened observations, but he would beg a f
he should like to
give utterance to one or two opinions which,
ly. (Hear.) The
have recorded in the presence of that assemu
on them for an ex-
pressionresolution which he rose to second called . . d
' • on their parts respecting the spirit and
conduct of opinion
of the clergy of the town, and of the reverend m-