The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-06-12 00:00:00

rbr v.iberpocl g-tanbarb.

TUESDArAIOIINING, JUNE 12,1838.

g:". The Publication of the STAN DA e n commenced this morn-

log, at 5 ()'(•10,4;

MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL:Mhr: usual monthly
-meeting of the. COuncil was. held on Wednesday last.
Aniongsta ya-rietv of subjects Which engaged the atten-
tion of this august body, that relative to the approaching
coronation possessed the most interest, and led to a :iery
protracted discussion.

Our readers mar not be in possession of the fact,: that'
for a considerable time past the- most active preparations
have been in progress for giving 'due- eclat to this i•m,
portant event. At a, private meeting of the "select few".
who direct the proceedings of the Connell, and on Oar...
ticular occasions furnish the members with instructions
how to Note, it was unanimously re,olved that a• public
examination' of the children :in the Corporation Schools
should take place at •an early day, the better to prepare
them for the part they are designed to take iptile ap-
proaching, procession. Mr. Wilderspin has accordingly
received instructions to repeat.hisnovelties at the Town-.
hall, this day, to-mot row, and Thursday. We have no
doubt that the fareb will be more profitable to himself
than either useful to the children or amusing to_ the an-
dience. Of course a very liberal grant mill be-voted for
his " unWearied.exertigns in promoting the welfare of
the rising generation." The self-styled " Education
Committee"—that is, a body of men chiefly Unitarians,
Papiets, or polit:cal Dissenters, whoseprofessed.objectit
is to,mutilate the sacred Scriptures so as to suit the pre-
judices of every creed and Sect—will doubtless recom-
mend OAS quack to the-favourable consideration of the
Council; not fo'r his faithful , expesineof system Ivhiall,
relaxes the motels -and confirms the prejudices of the
children entrusted to his care, but.simply because he en-
deavours to.conceal the truth and mislead the public by
substituting a series of questions which cannot possibly
either improve or instruct the rising generation. His
charity teaches him neither to condemn a vice nor ap-
prove a virtue at the exPense of another's feeling* Be
the subjects of his examination
:Papists,. infidels, Sod-
nians, Churchmen, Methodists, Ranters, or Jumpers, his
system adapts itself With a- ready facility to the feelings
and prejudices of alt. But to our subject.—N't a have
made theSe remarks simply to
_introduce a very protnis-
ingpiipil of Mr. Wilderspin, who was specially engaged
to introducea motion, relative to the appropriation of a
°nth of money from the Corporation Fund for the pur-
pose of celebrating the coronation of her most gracious
Majesty We allude to Mr. Alderman Barclay,. of
courSe,.anaiderMan or the modern school ; and it is but
justice to add that he acquitted himself in a manner-
worthy his great master.
In introducing' the subject, Mr. .Alderman Barclay ob
served that be rose
'n pursuance of a motion to call
the attention of this
ICotulun,ithoughts,ci.l to a subject which is, no
doubt, some
tghts, and in,Nvhich he
_operation and support. The ,
felicity of n
hoped for theirticmove-cliiiaatlgrc co-operation
not to mention its grammatical
accuracy,
a,edoubt not, go far to remove the pie-
judice wh7c:illitt°l: long been entertained against the sa..;
pient comn
But being himself in exceeding doubt
whether or not the
Council could understand him, he
observed, that " he alluded to the coronation of her Ma-
jesty Victoria., This explatton, of course, elicited some.
applause, '
which evidently disturbed the equanimity of
the alderman's mind. Thus fer his wishes and explana-
tioili,; now for a matter of fact. Mr. Barclay assured
• theCouneil "that it had been the custom, invariably, in
.
ancient borough, to celebrate such an event in the
best:mariner in which 'it has been in the power of the
individuals composing it ;" and having got cleverly
through this matter:of history, the alderman again ven-
tured an opinion "that it would be admitted that no oc-
casion of' kind
thi(namely, the coronation of her Ala-
jesty...Yietoria)
'Ng hitt their recollection, had appealed
more warmly to their f ee trrni or Called upon them more.
for their exertions."
-The gallantry Of the, worthy. al-
derman, proverbial seems also in his immediate neighbourhood,
Chamber. But.
t° have elicited applause in the Council
m now the difficulty commenced. The
'alderman's
ernory failed him, arid a short pause was the
the natural result. What was to be done? The mo-
tionhad been on the books fora considerable timethe
• guriosity of the Council had- been excite&—the public
'were 'in earnest expectation of some effusion worthy of
the. position which- . the alderman occupied in the Coon-
. ,cil--and, above all, some Means must be adopted -for
getting to Loodon et'the public expense, and now forhis
mettiory to fail him it was indeed vexatious. Well, gen-
tle reader, as our sides have ached with laughing, we
may as well add to your merriment by. informing you
what the Alderman did. Poor .man! He actually
prayed to be excused from saying a single word in jus-
tification. of his own resolution, on the ground that
he was not in the habit of addressing public
coMpanies." The cheering which followed this absurd
request was of the most deafening character. But relief
came at last. A meteor flash passed rapidly actors the
Imagination of the worthy alderman, and in the pleasure
of the moment, he ventured upon an aphorism, without
reflecting that it was possible to begin well without the
probability of ending well. His success,
-however, will
be better understood by adoptinghis own words, " allud
mg► sir, to the illustrious personage who is now suc-
ceeded to the 'honours of her ancestors, and who is about
to assume the diadem of these realms. I do not mean as
I as been the custom occasionally, when it has been con-
ceived that the character of individuals has not been suf-
ficiently'defined by time to allow
fora a proper estimate to be
led of the real featutes of 'their character—l do not
Paean to refer to the.4,,iriliefi abe may have been supposed'
2140145 e inherited from jiet predecessors; and by the poi.:

vessicm of . But here came another and more.
serious,Cheek.: The. thread of the argument was lost,
and how. to
.regain it was a question of great difficulty.
But at length Mr. Alderman Barclay conceived he had
utidertaken a task for whibh tie was unequal, which opin-
ion he immediately, communicated to the Council. The
greater .part, howev,:r, enjoying the confusion of the
alderman; cheered hint to a further attempt, and recol-
lecting at the moment that he had a voting card jn his
pocket. containing some vety important memoranda, he
composed himself for a study, which the mayor noticing,
very cruelly requested him not to trust to his notes, but
to go on tvithout, as if he had said yon have proved your
memory bad, no.* try your brains. But the advice was
easier to be received titan acted upon, and consequently
the alderman pursued. his own way. After refreshing
his memory the worthy alderman observed that what he
had said he -had not intended to say, and now he was
about to say what he had intended to say. The sum-
mary of this was, " that as the present Queen' had
evinced a 'spirit and understanding far above her years,
was so young.and yet so steady, so attentive to the duties
of her station, and yet so mixing with the amusements
of the passng hour—so fair in form and feature, and vet
so devoid of affectation, the people would energetically
shout, " tong live the Queen." But here came the
cream of the joke—the Council had been witnesses of
the repeated failures of the alderman, and yet, with
modest 'assurance, he tells theta that "it were an easy
atilt a pleasant task to
.dilate on a subject so interest-
The resolutions •were then read, that the sum of
£750. be appropriated for carrying into effect proper
measures ,for celebrating this great national event,
and that. a committee be appointed to prepare an
address 'to her Majesty, &c.. Having now completed
his task, Mr.. Alderman Barclay reviewed the whole,
and forMallY announced that. "he had performed his
duty in sothe':sort, but had it fallen into better hands, it,
would have been better performed, with which self-evi-
dent truth we. must take our leave, simply remarking
that Abe peroration of the speech was delivered with
mere of eMphaSis and confidence than the preceding
part. The motion being duly seconded by Mr. Conn-
Houghton; some discussion arose, which we shall
very briefly notice. The Mayor very properly observed,
ihat shoUld the Council
.place any suns of money at his
disposal, he should consider it in the hands of the com-
mittee: Such conduct is highly praiseworthy, and
affords a very striking contrast to our late Mayor, whose
higgling propensities in the purchase of vegetables and
muffins had brought the office of chief magistrate into con-
tempt. A further communication was made by his wor-
ship, that he himself intended to give a lecture on Geo-
graphy, assisted by a magic lantern, to the children of
the various schools. This cannot fail to attract a fash-
ionable audience. The speech of Mr. Walmsley was
characterised by a more liberal spirit, and in every way
worthy of the occasion which called it forth, and as Mr.
Jordan highly approved of the generous feeling, we must
give .him equal praise. Mr. •Alderman Barclay again
ventured a= remark, of course,.tAeri from the minutes of
the Council-relative to theinode of celebrating previous
coronations.. Mr. Earle thought £750 inadequate, but was
unwilling-to-subscribe himself. He, however, recommend-
ed the tradesmen to give public dinners to their own ser-
vants, but for his own part he should keep his pockets
buttoned. Such conduct is by no means a novelty.
Set;eraf councillors spoke in favour of the grant whilst
others approved its increase. Dr. Catson objected to
any grant whatever. This sapient councillor appears to
,e-a-rtertairrawgreat an hatred to coronations as we do, to
his physic. Which of the two might be dispensedavith
with -greater advantage, we leave the public to judge.
The Tdwn-clerk conceived there was a legal difficulty in,
the way of granting any allowance for the public
charities. The Deputy is, of course, of the same opinion.
After some-further remarks, the resolution was carried,
and a deputation appointed to present the address.
deputation to consist-of the Mayor, Messrs. Barclay.
and Hotighton.

'THE,DLSCVSSION AT DUBLIN.---As we confidently an-.
ticirated in our last,: the interestin;; discussion between
"Father Tom," and the-Rev. Mr. Gregg has terminated
in the complete tri uniph of the latter.. Never was opery
so completely exposed in any similar controversy—never
was ProtestatifiStn more nobly or More successfully vin-
dicated: The sudden and unexpected retirement of
Father Matoire from the arena, is sufficient evidence of
the utter prostration of the cause which he advocated.
He has--evidently been disappointed-in his estimate of
the Character, learning, and eloquence of his antagonist.
He thought that at least in the "tear of words" he would
have proved an over-match for Mr. Gregg. But he has
the consolation of reflecting that be has, at length,
"caught a Tartar." The wily priest. entered upon the
discussion with the flush of anticipated victory brighten-
his,countenance : he has relinguished the:field crest-
fallenßiad discornfitted. It will be a long time before this
blustering champion of Popery again. ventures to chal-
lenge -a- Protestant -clergyman to a controversy on the
relative merits of the Romish and Reformed Churches.

That Mr. Gregg has acquitted himself in the course of
thisprOtracted diScusSion with 'ideal, energy, and talent,
is evident,from the concurrent testimony of-the Irish and
Metropolitan conservative pressfrum the unanimous
expression of opinion on the part of those gentlemen who
witnessed, the manner in Which lie discharged the arduous
and important task which he had assumed—as well as
from the circumstance-that a meeting of the clerical and
lay gentlemen who attended the discussion, has been
held for the pUrpose'of signifying their decided approba-
tion of his condapt: Among. other resolutions which
werepassd at this nieeting, we find that, " on taking a
review of the late controversial discussion," the gentle-
men present felt it to be incumbent. upon them to express
their gratitude that he had been mPde so greatly instill-
Mental "in exposing- the Romish apostacy." It was also
deemed advisable to provide some public acknowledgment
(This services from the Protestants• of the united King-
dom, and; 'furtherance of this view, arrangements were
immediately entertd into to raise a subscription for the
purpose of. having the church of which he is the minister'
rebuilt on:such an enlarged scale as will provide accom-
modation foi.'aq increasing congreg-ation, as well as to
provide a Suitable residence for Mr. Gregg and his family.
All this evidently arises from :the consciousness of tri-
umph.. But who or what has triumphed ? Is it.merely
Mr. Grt!gg., that has achieved a 'victory over his subtle
and crafty opponent? Is it merely the personal triumph
of one out of two acute logicians, or accomplished schn-
lars ?. .Itis a fargreater victory than this. It is
tho triumph of the purity of.Ptotestantism over the com-
plicated abominations of Popery. It is the triumph of
truth over error, of Christian knowledge. over sottish Su-
perstition; of charity over bigotry, of the immutable word
of God over the cunningly devised fables of the Church
of Rome. The effects of this glorious victory will be felt
for a v.iry.long tithe; in Ireland .:especially; and through-
out the whole extent of the usurped dominions of the
Papacy. . A. spirit of inquiry has been already generated
which cannot but lead to the most satiSfactory results.

There can be little :doubt that the point upon which
Mr. Gregg had the greatest advantage over his antagonist
was, the abominations of Peter Dens and the confessional.
The eyesof Roman Catholic.. fathers and husbands have
been, at length, opened
,to the enormities perpetrated,
under the hallowed name of. a sacrament, by the " cor-
poration of bachelors" to Whose:Spirit ual guidance their
wives and daughters are trusted. Cordially do we rejoice ,
that this subject has been so forCibly intioduced to the I
notice of those Who are most deeply interested in the
fearful disclosures which have been atforded during the
recent discussion. The doMinion of the Popish priest-
hood will be shaken to the foundation the moment, that a
•
general investigation takes place; on the part of the it
.•
O-
man Catholic laity, into the secrets of the confessional.
It is not unlikely that such an inquiry will.be one of the
immediate consequences of the late controversy.
That the more bigotted and servile among the Papists'
of Dublin feel the deepest mortification at the issue of
the discussion is abundantly. manifest. The ravings of
the Popish press is one indication of the prevalent des•
pondericy of
.the Maguire party. But we have stronger
prOof:still; kappt.ara from the Protestant Guardian of
Sat utday last that as the Rev: Dr: Walsh and the Rev.