The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-24 00:00:00

THE CORN LAWS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SIR,—My attention has just been called to the following
paragraph in the Liverpool Mail of this day :
" It is rumoured and generally believed, that the Mayor
horreeelired an official letter Amu London, intimating that
itis.not the intention of ministers to introduce any measure
for the ,alteration of the corn-laws in the present session of
parliament/'
I deem it due to myself, and to the public, to state that
there is not the slightest foundation for such a statement.—
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSHUA WALMSLEY.
Town Hall, January 23, 1840.

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.--Every night the Amphitheatre
is crowded, to see the " Tournament ;" and we believe that
every one who goes is convinced that nothing has ever been
produced equal to it out of London. We strongly recom-
mend our friends to lose no time in seeing it.

The Prince, contract mail-packet steamer, from Kings-
town to Liverpool, was honoured with an illustrious company
of passengers on her last voyage to this port. She brought
on Wednesday 52 cabin passengers, including Lord Clements,
Lord Lismore, Lord C. Hamilton, Lord Hawarden, Lord
Brabazon, Hon. O'Callaghan, Sergeant Jackson, Sergeant
Curry, Sir M. Chapman, Sir D. Roche, Sir J. Norreys, Sir
P. Ross, Sir R. Bateson, Sir W. Somerville, Col. Connelly,
Col. Percival, Col. Vernor, Major Humphreys, Major Cros-
daile, Mr. H. Grattan, Dr. Stock.

THE PACKET SHIP SYLVANUS JENKINS.-It appears that
the packet-ship Sylvanus Jenkins, which sailed from Liver-
pool on the sth of October, after having been driven about
at sea for seven weeks, was compelled to take refuge in the
Danish island of St. Thomas, many of the passengers being
in a state of utter destitution. We copy from the Morning
Courier the following statement, dated St. Thomas, Nov.
28, 1839 :—The ship Sylvanus Jenkins arrived in this port
on the 22d inst. from Liverpool, with 270 passengers on
board, bound to New York. Owing to bad weather, the
provisions of said passengers were damaged; consequently,
a fresh supply was necessary. Among the number of 270
souls on board, there were one hundred and eighty absolutely
pennyless and in a state of starvation. The moment these
said passengers were landed, hunger obliged them to ask as-
sistance, and the public in general contributed to their relief.
They were amply supplied in their immediate wants. Inde-
pendent of which, a committee, by permission and consent
of Governor Oxholm, consisting of three respectable mer-
chants, volunteered their services to realise a sum necessary,
by subscription, towards the purchase of provisions for the
sea store of these passengers, to continue their voyage to
New York, which was largely done. A sum of three hundred
and forty-one dollars was subscribed, and the amount em-
ployed in provisions for the distressed passengers without
interest.

" THE HINDRANCES WHICH CIVIL ESTABLISHMENTS
OF CHRISTIANITY PRESENT TO THE PROGRESS OF GE-
NUINE RELIGION."--ThIS is the title or subject of a public
lecture, delivered on behalf of the " Liverpool Young Men's
Voluntary Church Society," in the Rev. C. M. Birrell's
chapel, Pembroke-place, on Tuesday evening, by the Rev.
John Kelly, a preacher of the Independent denomination.
Au outline of the doctrines laid down might not be unin-
teresting, as shewing the members and friends of the Esta-
blished Church how their opponents, whilst professing the
greatest liberality and candour, can stoop to distort her
principles and cavil at her practice. After singing and
prayer, Mr. Kelly commenced reading his lecture from a
rather bulky manuscript, from which we infer that it is in-
tended to be published. A copy of the Holy Scriptures lay
open before him, but, contrary to our expectation (founded
on the fact that the usual form of worship had been previ-
ously followed), he did not avail himself of them for a text.
The subject, he said, had been chosen advisedly : he had
considered the effects of civil establishments of Christianity
upon religion as a practical man, and his settled conviction
was expressed in the title
of the present lecture. After de-
fining the term " genuine religion,
to the accuracy of which
we offer no exception, Mr. Kelly advanced the following
propositions :—That civil establishments of Christianity
hinder the progress of vital religion, by the encouragement
they give to an unconverted and inefficient ministry ; that
all civil establishments of religion are so constructed as to
render it impossible for the apostolic regulation to be ob-
served in the selection of men for the ministerial office ; that
the theory of a civil establishment of religion is destructive
of church organization upon New Testament principles ;
that the emoluments and status in society which an esta-
blishment confers, constitute a feature operating in the same
direction ; that another feature of the same tendency is the
way in which the appointment of a Christian minister to
a particular field of labour takes place; that another objec-
tion is the character of the tenure upon which these emolu-
ments are secured—namely, by law—without any reference
to the manner in which the duties of the clerical office are
discharged. These propositions constituted the first division
of the lecture. In the second division he undertook to es-
tablish the fact, that civil establishments of Christianity
hindered the progress of religion by exerting an injurious
influence upon Christian character and. duty. First, he ar-
gued that secular establishments of religion rendered the
formation of Christian churches impossible ; next, that they,
in effect, relieved the. Christian mind from the necessity of
attending to a most important Christian duty incumbent
upon it, and by so doing they tended to repress the grace
which the performance of
that duty gave—the duty of pro-
pagating the Bible ; and, in the next place, he asserted that
civil establishments prevented, nay destroyed, the grace of
Christian liberality. In the third and last division, Mr.
Kelly advanced the proposition that civil establishments of
Christianity are essentially sinful and schismatical. The
arEuments and illustrations by which these propositions were
enforced, will for the most part be found most ably answered
in the Rev. John Baylee:s sermon recently published, and
in a spirit which, we are inclined to think, Mr. Kelly would
do well to endeavour to imitate. All the evils which he
contended attach to establishments, he fixed upon the Church
of England; whilst he sedulously abstained from any expli-
cit acknowledgment of the benefits she has accomplished.
Such arts as these may lead some of those who have not the
means or the industry to investigate for themselves into a
belief that the Church of England answers Mr. Kelly's re-
presentation of her, but they cannot deceive those who have
knowledge and experience. The lecture, which occupied
nearly two hours, was but thinly attended, although large
placards inviting the public had for a week or ten days pre-
viously been extensively posted on the walls of the town.