The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-12-28 00:00:00

DR. HAMPDEN.

As an inducement to the Queen to change her mind
with regard to Dr. Hampden, some of the modest clergy
of Bristol diocese have " got up " a memorial, in which
they say what is no doubt perfectly true :—" We are not
aware that any inconvenience will accrue by setting aside
the appointment of Dr. Hampden. It may occasion a
temporary hiatus, a momentary chasm, in the arrange-
ments of the church ; but we can assure your grace that
our church has within her bosom a thousand Curtii ready
to leap into the gulph, and that we shall not befound want-
ing in the day of need." In other words, these persons in-
timate that there are in the church a host of tractarians,
puseyites, and other waiters for the serving out of
loaves and fishes, who would not for a moment refuse to
be made bishops, in preference to being compelled to
witness the elevation of Dr. Hampden to the episcopal
throne. Can the Queen doubt their veracity in this par-
ticular ?

The address to Dr. Hampden preparing in London, and
which has upwards of six hundred signatures, contains
the names of the great majority of the clergy of Chelten-
ham, Birmingham, Bury; Staleybridge, and many other
important localities. From Cheltenham and its neigh-
bourhood upwards of twenty have signed.
In Oxford city the evangelical clergy, with the ex-
ception of one who stands in a peculiar position as regards
one of the remonstrant bishops, have protested; and yet,
withal, we are told that `• the Church " is against the
Premier's act !

At Birmingham, a number of the leading clergy have
signed an address of congratulation to Dr. Hampden.
Among these are the rural dean (Rev. J. Garbett), the
Rev. John C. Miller (Rector of St. Martin's), Rev. Sydney
Gedge (of King Edward's School), Rev. E. Garbett, and
Rev. J. 0. Oldham.

Numerous addresses have appeared in favour of Dr.
Hampden's appointment, one emanating from members
of the Oxford Convocation, another a general one, and
many others. To the first we observe appended the names
of Lords Monson, Say and Sele, and Portman, Dr. Twiss,
Mr. Garbett, Mr. Hallam, Dr. Tait, and others, about
250 in all.

The Secretary of State has forwarded an answer to the
Dean of Hereford's petition to her Majesty, in which he
says—" I have had the honour to lay the petition before
the Queen, and I am to inform you that her Majesty has
not been pleased to issue any commands thereupon."

LORD GRENVILLE AND DR. HAMPDEN.—Tho Globe
gives the following extract from a letter dated Trentham,
Dec. 18, which the Duke of Sutherland has addressed to
the Rev. Dr. Bowles, vicar of Stanton Lacy, relative to
the appointment of Dr. Hampden to the see of Hereford.
His grace, after expressing his great satisfaction with the
appointment, say s :
" I happen to have means of knowing that when Lord Gran-
ville appointed Dr. Hampden to St. Mary Hall, he was not ac-
quainted personally with him, but collected, to the best of his
power, the opinion of the University at the time, when Dr.
Ilammien's lectures had already been for some months before
the public.
"The preponderance of opinion was greatly in his favour.
"Some of those who have since been most bitterly violent
then recommended him.
" I believe that no disapprobation was expressed until the
publication of his pamphlet in favour of the admission of dis-
senters to the university.
" I have written this from feeling sure that it will he interest-
ing to you to know the opinion of such an authority as Lord
Grenville, and you may make many use of the information I a
thus able to give that may seem desirable."—Very truly yours,
" SUTHERLAND."

DR. ARNOLD'S OPINION OF DR. HAMPDEN.—The fol-
lowing passages relative to Dr. Hampden and his Bamp-
ton Lectures, are taken from Stanley's " Life of Dr. Ar-
nold," sixth edition, pp. 370 and 372 :—" Hampden is
a good man and an able one, a lover of truth and fairness,
and I should think that the wholesome air of such a man's
lectures would tend to freshen men's faith, and assure
them that it had a foundation to rest upon. Hampden's
Bapton Lectures are a great work, entirely true in their
main points, and I think most useful. * * I will add,
however, that I agree for the most part with Hampden's
views. * * But Hampden is doing what real Christian
reformers have ever done, that the Protestants did with
Catholicism. and the apostles with Judaism. He upholds
the Articles as true in their substance, he maintains their
usefulness, and the truth and importance of their doctrines;
but he sees that the time is come when their phraseology
requires to be protested against, as having, in fact, ob-
structed and embarrassed the reception of the very truths
which they intend to inculcate. He is engaged in the
same battle against technical theological language to which
you (Rev. J. Hearne) and I have, I believe, an equal dis-
like; while he would join us thoroughly in condemning
the errors against which the Articles were directed, and
holds exactly the language and sentiments which Cranmer
and Ridley, I believe, would hold if they were alive now."

ANOTHER PROTEST FROM THE DEAN OF HEREFORD.

Dr. Merewether, the Dean of Hereford, has addressed
a letter to Lord John Russell, dated the 22d instant, in
which he acknowledges the receipt of Sir G. Grey's reply to
the petition to the Queen. The dean then enumerates
the " special obligations to which he was bound " when
matriculated to the University of Oxford, when ordained
a priest, and when inducted to the deanery, and says, " I
cannot divest my mind of the awful sense of the strin-
gency of those engagements at the present exigency."
The dean then refers to a correspondence which he has
already had with Lord John Russell, and in which he
acknowledged that " he would abstain from any opinion
on Dr. Hampden's writings, until he bad again fairly and
attentively read them. That act of justice," he adds, " I
have carefully performed, and I will add with an earnest
desire to discover grounds upon which, in case of Dr.
Hampden's ever occupying the high station for which he
has been selected by your lordship, my mind might be re-
lieved from all distrust, and I might be enabled as cordi-
ally as possible to render that service which the relative
duties of diocesan and dean and chapter involve. It
is painful in the extreme to feel obliged to declare that I
discover in those writings many assertions—not merely
references to theories or impressions of others—but asser-
tions, which to my calm and deliberate appreciation, ap-
pear to be heterodoxical, I believe I may say heretical,
and very, very much, which is most dangerous, most ob-
jectionable, calculated to weaken the hold which the
religion we possess as yet obtains, and ought to obtain
always, upon the minds of its professors. I feel certain
that the perusal of several of these works by any of that
class who, " by reason of use" (in cautious examination of
such productions) "have not their senses exercised to dis-
cern both good and evil," would produce a doubt and dis-
trust in the teaching of our church, in her creeds,—her
formularies,—her liturgy ; would rob them of the inesti-
mable joy and peace in believing, and be highly detri-
mental to the spread of true religion."
The Dean then asks whether, such being his conviction,
he would not be guilty of " deliberate perjury," " of a
breach of his ordination vows," and "of unfaithfulness to
the cathedral church of Hereford," "if by any act of his
he promoted Dr. Hampden's elevation to the episcopal
throne." Dr. Merewether thus alludes to his observance
of the oath of allegiance:—c` It is not only the sense of
legal obligation which would constrain me to a dutiful re-
gard to such observance. Few men have a greater cause
to feel their duty in this respect, warmed by the sense of
kindness and condescension from those of royal station,
than myself. The memory of one who anxiously contem-
plated the future happiness and true glory of his successor,
fixed indelibly those sentiments upon my heart. And, if
for his sake only, who could to a long course of almost
parental kindness add, in an affecting injunction, the ex-
pression of his wishes for my good upon his deathbed, I
should never be found forgetful—even although I may
never have taken in the present reign the oath of allegi-
ance—of that loyalty and devotion to my sovereign which
is not less a duty of religion than the grateful and consti-
tutional homage of an English heart. Forgive me, my
lord, for the reflection on that deathbed injunction, if I
say, that had it been observed—as but for political and
party influence it would have been—your lordship, the
church, and the nation would have been spared this most
unhappy trial, the results of which, as I have already
again and again foreboded to your lordship, it is impossible
to foresee."

The Dean concludes his letter as follows :

"But, alas! remonstrance seems unheeded, and if our
venerable Primate and thirteen Bishops have raised their
united voice of warning and intreaty to no purpose, it is
no marvel that my humble supplication should have
pleaded in vain, for time—for investigation—for some re-
gard to our.conscienoo6--.0.)......441.caticm for our_nain-
ful and delicate position.
"The time draws near—on Tuesday next the semblance
of an election is to be exhibited. I ventured to assure
your Lordship that I could not undertake to say that it
would be an unanimous election ; I was bold enough to
affirm that it would not be unanimous ; and I, in my turn,
received the intimation and the caution, I will not say,
the threat—that the law must be 'vindicated. Already
have I assured your Lordship that the principle on which
this painful affair is regarded, is that of the most
solemn religious responsibility ; thousands regard it
in this light. I have already told you my lord, that
the watchword of such is this—" Whet&r it be right
in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye." I have anxiously implored your
Lordship to pause—to avert the blow. I have long since
told you the truth. 1 have endeavoured to prevent, by
every means in my power, the commotion which has
arisen, and the necessity of the performance of a painful
duty. I hoped the conge d'elire would not be issued
until a fair inquiry and investigation had been instituted.
A suit has been commenced in the ecclesiastical courts—
why not have awaited its issue ? When the eonge d'elire
did appear, I at once presumed, humbly but faithfully,
though I stood alone, to petition the Crown ; and
now, when I am officially informed, that " her Majesty
has not been pleased to issue any commands there-
upon," I feel it to be my bounden duty, after a full and
calm deliberation on the whole subject, having counted
the cost, but remembering the words of him whose most
• unworthy servant I am—" He that loveth house or lands
more than me is not worthy of me"'—loving my chil-
. dren dearly, and ardently desiring to complete the noble
work which I have for seven years laboured to promote,
yet not forgetting that there is an ' hour of death and a
day of judgment,' when I trust, through the merits of
my Redeemer, to be allowed to look up with hope, that I
may be considered by the intercession of mercy and pity
to have been faithful in the hour of trial, to have ' fought
the good tight, to have kept the faith, to have finished my
• coarse,'—believing that I risk much, and shall incur your
Lordship's heavy displeasure, you may, if you will, direct
the sword of power against me and mine—being certain
that I preclude myself from that which might otherwise
have been my lot, and expecting that I shall brit* down
upon myself the abuse and blame of some—l say, my
Lord, having fully counted the- cost, having weighed the
sense of bounden duty in the one scale against the conse-
quences in the other, I have come to the deliberate resolve,
that on Tuesday next no earthly consideration shall induce
me to Pive my vote in the chapter of Hereford cathedral
fur Dr. Hampden's elevation to the see of Hereford."

DU. HAMPDEN'S ORTHODOXY.
The following passages are from an admirable Bermes
by Dr. Hampden, preached 13:3fore the University in 1839
on the text " The Lord our r ;hteousness : "
We may without doubt r .ad in it the mind of the
Spirit revealing to us.in one ihort mysterious phrase, the
perfect divinity of our Lord, and the effectual grace of
His atonement (p. 10).
The work of man's salvation is wholly divine—divine
in the means by which it is wrought—divine in its end....
the righteousness of the Gospel is not the righteousness of
man, but of the Lord Himself, who has mercy on u 5....
the Lord Himself, Jehovah Himself, is become our right,
eousness (p. 12).
To all that we can do in working out our own salva-
tion through the grace of God giving us the will and
working with u 5.... and yet, to remember that all this is
nothing in order to our justification in the sight of dad
to feel an unspeakable comfort in the revelation of
the Lord as our righteousness ; this is the high pre-
rogative of a Gospel faith (p. 15).
They know best the labour of self-denial in its trio
Christian sense, as a denial of an intrinsic worth in human
works—as entire renunciation of self in their plea before
God—who are most actively and intensely purifying....
themselves from the pollutions of the flesh and the world.
.... They best know the preciousness of a gifted righte-
ousness ; for they have sought after a personal righteous-
ness and have not attained to it.
Repentance is necessary, but has no efficiency to repair
the ruin of sin, and reinstate man in that righteousness
in which he once stood. _ _ _

God will account none as righteous in His sight who
are not careful to maintain good works.... but be that
would hold fast to the foundation must feel that after
he has dcne all, he is an unprofitable servant, and that
the crown of righteousness laid up for him.... is not his
own, but the Saviour's, who won it for him.
What is more needful to the Christian than the divine
grace the continued and unceasing influence of the
Holy Spirit ? But shall he, therefore, derogate from the
work of Christ ? Shall he think that anything is wanting
to complete that righteousness which justifies him before
God ?

TS DR. TIAMPDEN FAIRLY TREATED
We have received a pa-nphlet bearing this title, whiek
contains the substance of a speech delivered at a meeting
of the clergy at Aylesbury, on the 7th inst., by the Rev.
J. B. Marsden, Vicar of Great Missenden, ho moved au
amendment, in favour of Dr. 'Hampden. The reverends
gentlemen, after taking a rapid review of the proceedings
against Dr. Hampden in 1836 and 1842, urges with
much force that the friends of Dr. Hampden have
always maintained that he was unfairly treated. " For
ten long years there have been men high in office and
higher in private character, within the bosom of the
University itself, who have never ceased to protest against
that decision of convocation." _

Referring to the result of the appeal to convocation iaN
1842. Mr. Marsden says :
" The sentence then was not reversed—except in a
moral sense. For when you bear in mind that on this
latter occasion twelve heads of houses voted for Dr.
Hampden, and only three against him ! and that, of these
twelve, fbur had been previously adverse ; I think you
will at once concede that the moral weight and sense of
the University was now arrayed on his behalf. Dr.
Copleston, the Bishop of Llandaff, voted in his favour;
so too did Dr. Short, the Bishop of Sodor and Man. The
Bishop of Exeter recorded his vote against him. If gen—
tlemen speak of theology, I ask them if Dr. Copleston is
a superficial or an unsound divine ? If they speak of the
respect which is due to the convocation, I ask them if
Dr. Short was ever suspected of a want of affection for the
University of Oxford ? If they speak of numbers, two
such names are in themselves a host."

The grounds on which Dr. Hampden and his friends.
protest against the decisions of convocation are, that
whereas he was condemned on the first occasion by a
party of violent politicians. he was condemned a second
time by a party of violent Tractarians; and Mr. Marsden.
gives a melancholy list of those who headed the opposi-
tion against the Bishop—designate, as follows :
" M'Mullen, Faber, St. John, J. Morais, Christie,
Ryder, Oakley, Ward. Capes, Turner, Fcroaby, Meyrick,
Northcote, Penny, Collyns, Coffin, Watts, Russell, Lewis;
and, the document I hold in my hand adds, 'some twenty
other seceders,' as they are mildly termed, now buried
one and all in the dark recesses of the Romish super-
stition ! And this, Sir. is the censure which we Pro-.
testants are invited to confirm to-day. These men are the
arbiters of sound doctrine ; these are the judges at whose
feet lam invited to sit down with meek submission. Sir,
I scorn to do so."

All our readers should put themselves in possession of
this little pamphlet, which places in a small compass the
whole facts connected with this melancholy case. We
can only here make room for the following further extract :
" And yet, sir, for myself I admit at once that there is
much in Dr. Hampden's earlier writings which does not
commend itself to my judgment. Ido not pledge myself
to the approval of all that he has written. Is there any
speculative divine to whom we can implicitly assent ? But
it is one thing to be inconclusive or unsatisfactory, and
another to be heretical. Heresy is a hard word to use;
and I am sorry it has been used to-day, and applied so
freely with reference to one who holds a place no lest!
venerable than that of Regius Professor of Divinity at
Oxford. Your Regius Professor a heretic ! I trust that
I at least have said nothing so unkind of the university as
this ! A heretic is one who depraves the truth of God,.
and does it intentionally. There must be the malus ani-
mus, I conceive, to constitute a heretic. I think Dr.
Hampden's method of treating the doctrine of the Trinity
in his early writings unfortunate. I think he fell into the
snare to which men of learning and of speculative minds
are very subject—that of attempting to simplify and illus-
trate the mysterious doctrines of revelation after the man-
ner of the schools. Such efforts always fail ; for the word
of God rejects scholastic science from all co-partnery.
But, sir, I need not remind this meeting that Dr. Hamp-
den is not the first of our divines who has made, or who
has failed in, these endeavours. The impression that I
gather from his writings, as he has since explained them,
is this, in short,—that he ever held, substantially as we
hold them, the great doctrines of salvation, and rested
his own hopes of heaven where our's repose, on the Divine
Mediator, who died for the sins of the world.
" He denies, indeed, that the sense in which these
extracts are read by his opponents is their proper
sense. He denies that he ever meant to contravene the
doctrine of a Trinity ; he wished, lie says, on the other
hand, to rescue it from human glosses, that it might shine
forth in its unclouded splendour. He is charged, again,
with asserting that only the facts of Scripture are essential
to salvation. He replies that the doctrines of Holy Scrip-
ture are facts in his sense of the word, and that he always
so considered them,—so spoke of them."

" Hampden's unfit to be a bishop!" "Why?
"I never heard he wrote the Oxford tracts "
" He has been guilty of worse heresy,
" He says the scriptures only treat of facts."
Is it for this you place beneath a ban
Him, whom the throne hrth honoured? How dare yott
Unchristian and disloyal I wrong a man
For holding that God's written word is—true!
Christ's College, Dec. 90, 184.

There were yesterday, brought up before Mr. Rushton,
at the police-court, no fewer than 206 prisoners. By far
the greater number, however, were charged with but
venial offences, and the mazistrate, as usuaal at Christmas
times, was c)rgiving in all cases arising from indulgence
in exhilarating drinks, unless the accused had been guilty
of gross assault.

Amongst the most splendid display in St. John's mar
ket on Christmas eve, not only in quantity but in quality,
we must name that of Mr. Denteth, which was not only
good, but passing excellent. The beef was hugely large,
and well fed, while the intermixing of lean and fat &noted
the care in cutting. Six or seven lambs, some of which
were bred in the vicinity, were equally fine.
NEW YORK HAMS.—The improvement in American
provisions is daily becoming more apparent. The rancid
and salt importations of prior years are now being sup-
planted by those cured by English connoisseurs who have
emigrated for the purpose of cultivating the provision
trade. Indeed, some of those advertised in our paper of
to-day, by Messrs. J. Taylor and Co., are equal to the
once singly famed Cumberland—rich, sweet, and full cif—
flavour.

MR. REYNOLDSON'S LECTURES ON MESMERISM.-,
—Mr. Reynoldson concluded a course of three lectures on
this science on Tuesday last. During his discourse he
dispelled many of the popular prejudices against its pro-
pagation, and Him-trued, by practical cases, many instances
in which the curative powers of mesmerism were vouched
for, by individuals who had received benefit from being
placed under the influence of its agency. The audiences
were most attentive, and seemed highly satisfied with that
result.

FRENCH EQUESTRIAN COMPANY.—ROYAL
THEATRE.—The performances during the past week have
continued to possess their varied and attractive character;
and the audiences have nightly increased in number, and
in respectability and fashion. On Fridayevening, we ob-
served the Earl of Sefton and a large party honoured the
Amphitheatre with their presence. Yesterday, the first
of a series of morning performances was given, and was
very fashionably attended. Amongst the audience were
a large number of the juvenile portion of the Company,
who were highly delighted throughout.
PANTOMIME AT THE THEATRE-ROYAL.--There was
a good audience to see this Christmas treat last night ;
and, considering the casualties attendant upon a first
performance of the kind, when the machinery is frequently
rather stiff, and the tricks consequently not properly -
effective, it went off satisfactorily. The manager has
evidently gone to great expense to provide entertainment
for the young holiday-keepers. His Imperial Guard o
150 children are a set of miniature heroes, and with a
little more training, will be fine fellows. The piece 18
founded upon the story of " Gulliver, or , the Kingdom
of Lilliput."
THE LOIN Or Bear.—For time immemorial the loin
of beef at Christmas was held as the choice joint ;•. but-
when a king of England visited Houghton Tower, so
pleased was he with the excellence of that fed in Lanca-
shire, and displayed at the banquet, that he momentarily
dubbed it " Sir Loin "—a title it has ever since maintained.
Could such a monarch visit the Oriental Divan, we call
readily believe we should have the honour of knighthood
conferred on sundry ether cuts. We should have the sip-
rounds, sir ribs, /on. steaks, and a string of other appel-
lations, indicatory of the superiority of the carcases they
variously represent, as a.prelude to. ordinary, names. We
were certainly surprised with viewing St. John's .Market
and its various, and . choice display of meat, the pick or
which was significantly ticketed—" For Mr. Feeny, Ori-
ental Divan," but on visiting the latter establishment, we
were perfectly esti:eluded.; for once the proprietor.moved
his stock from his 'larder to the vestibule, which.; in ap-
pearanee, almost eclipsed perfection itself—the: rudte
rounds, the thickfatted sirloin, the noble turkey ; yea,
In fine, all the "geed's" this world could posiess, are dis
played in mighty profusion. No such wan ever before
attempted, not MO Noll a aim! iIYCA' be ay.rixatet-4.—,erst
Advt.