The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-09 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

voured to distinguish themselves by ridiculing every-
thing that had hitherto appeared venerable in the eyes
of mankind—reason, society, honour, friendship, mar -
riage—were the perpetual subjects of their insipid rail-
leries, until they deluged the land with discontent, de-
spair, and, eventually, rebellion !" And what produced
or indirectly led to the state of things, and to the evi
propensities so pointedly narrated by the liberal Hume ?
—simply the absence of early christian instruction in the
state generally, although not frankly acknowledged by
him, but leaving his argument in our favour on the broad
merits of the question.
And what is there to prevent us again falling into the
state and condition described by Hume, if we desert en-
tirely that restraining principle which, comprehending
the fear and love of God, as freely taught in the bible,
also teaches us to perform our duty to our fellow man ?
If the union between church and state has not, as a hu-
man institution, performed all things to our satisfaction,
at least, under it, we have attained to that degree of ge-
neral moral improvement of which no other nation can
boast, combined with intelligence at once useful to our-
selves, and useful to the whole family of mankind, if di-
rected to right ends. Under •it have we both prospered
and conquered—religious instruction has alone given a
high tone of moral feeling to all the varied elements
composing one great society. Rising with the youthful
mind to maturity, it has given• honourable zeal to our
merchants—honest industry to our tradesmen—bravery
to our seamen, and, above all, it has given us the beau-
tiful example of charity ; and though we have not at-
tained to that perfection which the christian patriot would
desire, even in the earthly progression of human infir-
mity, and the philosophers deem compatible with felicity,
we have, at least, bUilt our foundation on rational prin-
ciples—those principles which have made this country
great, prosperous, and free ; and all of which will perish
with their desertion.
Even in a word/y sense then, has our highly venerated
senior Rector, laid us under a weighty obligation, for his
pious zeal in the cause of truth and moral duties con-
nected with the welfare of the rising generation, by
urging strenuously the necesssity of maintaining sound
instruction from the unmuttlated word of God; and, in
the words of the dying martyr, Latimer, we may say
with confidence, that he has " lit up a candle in Eng-
land, the light from which will not easily be extin-
guished !" Nor must we omit the tribute of grateful
admiration to that body of Christian ministers, who have
braved the storm of Popery—the assault of infidelity,
and the envy of political dissent, by putting themselves
in the first breach, made in our church system of in-
struction, as supported by the late cbrporation. Un-
worthy, indeed, would our fellow-townsmen have been
of the blessings and hopes of a gospel ministry, had they
failed in their duty on this occasion, had they remained
passive spectators of the march of liberalism, and left to
the Socinian on the one hand, and to the worshipper of
the wafer deity on the other, the undisturbed power of
instructing a Protestant progeny, under the false and
delusive system of religious education instituted for the
Irish schools,—a; system which, if even admissible to a
Roman Catholic population, generally for purposes of
local expediency, possessed no title of affinity, and stood
unsupported by any analogy of circumstances with the
wants and the feelings of an English population, as con-
clusively illustrated in the letter of Lord Stanley to Mr.
Hodgson.
" There can be in health," says Southey, " no sound-
ness in the state, until government shall regard the
moral improvement of the people, as its first great duty.
The same remedy is required for the rich and for the
poor. Religion ought to be so blended with the whole
course of instruction, that its doctrines and precepts
should, indeed, ' drop as the rain, and distil as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass.' We are in a great degree
what our institutions make us.' " How miserably short
has our Whig reforming government fallen of this beau-
tiful description of Christian duty ? Can any truly con-
scientious dissenter, having the fear of God, and real
concern for the safety of his fellow man before his eyes
attempt the defence of its legislation, and the very
spring it has given to worldly minded views, and corrupt
notions of religious duty under the loose and insecure
method adopted ?
We assume not for ourselves a superior share of Chris-
tian knowledge ; but we are resolved to speak out boldly
our sentiments before the associated enemies of our
Christian Church, and to stand by those who stand by
her in the day of her persecution ; and we repudiate the
false assertion of being the paid champions of her inter-
ests—the sordid advocates of her holy cause; and, in
mercy, warn her shameless traducers, of every religion
and no religion, that, " when the Almighty cometh forth
to execute judgment" upon a sinful, a degenerate people,
he will be at no loss for the choice of instruments to fulfil
his pleasure, or to execute his vengeance. All their
crabbed wisdom, their modern philosophy, their liberal
reforms will avail them little, if unsustained by the full
force of his word, and unsupported by truth and justice !
Whilst, even apart from the judgments of one all-ruling
Providence, repeatedly manifested for disobedience of his
laws, there is a direct tendency in uncontrolled licentious
ness to ruin any country, however temporarily prosperous,
nor will •national welfare long survive the loss of moral
rectitude:inevitable under the encouraged decline of
religion in our own state ! In the emphatic words of
Chalmers, "we look for our coming deliverance in a
christianly moral change, and not in any of those econo-
mic changes rashly put together, which form the grand
panacea of so many of our statesmen," and we repeat,
with him, that" a thorough education, in both the common
and Christian sense of the term, forms the only solid
basis on which either the political or economic well-
being of the nation can be laid."
But we entertain the cheering, the soul-inspiring hope,
that our' Christian brethren of Liverpool have laid the
foundation of a superstructure, the ramifications of which
will extend far and wide. Our Radical puffsters have
pretended to exult at the zealous feeling displayed by the,
clergy and gentry who have so nobly combatted the de-
signs of their enemies, and come forward with person
and purse on this occasion ; but we well know that it has
been wormwood and gall to the movement party to have
been so met in the very teeth of their designs—the outset
of their levelling career. An example has been-set- to
the empire at large, •by the determination to found these
schools of Christian reading, which will go far, very far,
towards stemming the wild destructive torrent of demo-
cracy ; and a rational triumph is our due on the glorious

occasion.

We have seen assembled, on this interesting occasion,
a body of gentlemen alike distinguished for their in-
tegrity, as public men, and every private ability, render-
ing them good members of society. Such a scene cannot
but be truly grateful to the Bishop and clergy of the
whole diocese. It combines a warm, an ardent expres-
pression of devotion to religious duty; and it is also
expressive of firm attachment to the constitution of
Church and State, as founded by our forefathers. By
that union has this empire flourished and attained, na-
tionally, its high elevation and commanding station with
other kingdoms. By that union, as it has, in scripture,
been eloquently remarked, " Kings have become the
nursing fathers, and Queens the nursing mothers" of the
Christian Church ! Compare'it with that voluntary
system, where every man is left to find religion when
and where he can, and dependent upon the caprice of
human passions, ever varying and fluctuating. The
voluntary system may do very well for men who have
long purses; but, under it, what security remains for the
constant religious and efficient instruction of the poor
If there be no resident or providing minister of God's
consolation, who is to assist and comfort the widow and
the orphan, who to impart the balm of hope to the sick
or the dying ; keeping► as retained pastors of God's
word, their sacred charge pure and spotless ?
This, therefore, has not been a political display, nor
is it to be viewed as a political triumph—the nature of
that triumph is peculiar—it has claims of a heavenly
kind, whilst connected with earthly objects. It is a tri •
umph in which every true christian, churchman, and dis-
senter may conscientiously join—where whig and tory
may intermingle—where the high orthodox divine may
exult, and the evangelical minister meet consolation,

because it is a moral triumph over the united designs of occasioned by the death of Mr. Sharpies ; therefore seven-
popery and infidelity. teen Councillors will be elected on the above day.
The present struggle is a contest for our church—our Now, with reference to the performance of Mr. Hors-
religion—our altars,—but it is also a contest for our civil fall, Mr. Barton, and Mr. Sandars we would say a few
liberties, connected therewith. It is the renewed struggle words. They have done their duty to the best of their
between protestantism and catholicism, in these our power ; they have regularly attended the Councils,
days—the struggle between freedom of conscience and spoken, protested, and voted against the extravagant
conscience bound in priestly chains—between rational and injurious measures of the Council, and, what
all must
religion, combined with freedom, and superstition have been misery indeed, patiently listened to the
leagued with despotism. Well may O'Connell in his trash, nonsense, and gibberish of the
could not do. Council-room
They
since
last letter to a London journal say, that the people of the Ist of January, and more they
England have no general sympathy with the cause of (five Conservative Councillors) were as powerless as five
Ireland,—this is a moral truth in his hands—protestant men would be in a boat rowing (if it were practicable)
England can have no community of feeling with papal against fifty-nine they have done tbeir duty, and
Ireland, leagued with O'Connell as her political cham- they will be re-elected. This we fearlessly predict.
pion. We give him credit for this small share of candour. Now of the thirteen Radicals, whose services we may,
Popery in his hands is the leaven with which he is en- perchance, unhappily be deprived of. All we shall say,
gaged in leavening the whole mass—liberalism is the in- at present, is, that, with one exception. (Mr. Edward
strument, pretending to the meekness of the dove until Cropper) they have gone the whole length in working
it attains its ascendant power, which would be absolute out what they delight to call the "upsetting" principle,
tyranny, and well the crafty jesuist of Derrynane knows a principle which is the regulator of all the measures of
it—well is he aware that popery and liberty are incom- his Majesty's Government, which, in London, would
patible. Then comes the deeply-disguised oligarchy of the upset the Peers, and here has prompted the dismissal of
whigs. This party, hoping to attain their ends by the some twelve or fifteen Magistrates, who had acted faith-
united aid of the popish and radical interest, the latter fully, efficiently, and gratuitously, as the guaidians of
working under the " spirit of the age" for a republic local justice and local morals; which, in London, would
and " cheap government"—these three worthy prin- upset the Bishops, and here was put in practice to thwart
ciples or powers, each working for its own object, but the pious endeavours of the Protestant
,clergy to extend
united in one triple hydra against the real liberties and amongst the poor the blessings of scriptural, religious
the established religion of Britain instruction; a principle which also has a creative power,
in creating bankrupt judges, registrars, and thousands of
The protestants of Liverpool have, by this simultaneous
act of devotion, shown that they are prepared to stand commissionerships for hungry uncles, nephews, and
cousins, and spouting and " roaring" briefless barristers,
by their protestant King and by their protestant consti-
and here generating Stipendiary Magistrates, Inspectors
tution. • They :have shown their sympathy in the Christi-
of Police, Deputy Town-clerks, Commissioners of the
an sentiment and wish expressed by his venerated father,
Court of Requests, with many other economical requisites
George the Third, that " EVERY POOR CHILD IN ms
" Yes, the of a Town Council, all of which must be paid for, by-and-
RINDDOM MAY LEARN TO READ THE BIBLE. bye, by somebody, (the electors will discover whom,) and
protestants of Liverpool and their supporting friends
the adoption of which principle is rapidly bringing us to
have repudiated false and infidel Liberalism—they have
disclaimed the oligarchy of the Whigs and denounced as that delightful consummation, a "BOROUGH RATE."
To the particular performances of the " Thirteen " we
men, and as Christian men, the trammels of the Papacy ;
shall take an early opportunity of adverting. In the
and they have " committed their work to God" in the
meantime we intreat our Conservative friends to look
Face of the combined enemy- after their municipal votes, and to attend to the direc-
tions contained in the advertisement of the Conservative
Association, which appears in our columns this day.

The period has now arrived when it becomes the duty
of the conservative press in this town to direct the atten-
tion of the municipal electors to the next election of
councillors. On the Ist of November sixteen of our
present council will go out of office, and, if desirous of
retaining their present distinguished pre-eminence over
their fellow-townsmen must undergo the ordeal of a new
election. We have indeed, as yet, seen no addresses
placarded over our walls, nor beard a whisper of a single
public meeting between Dingle-lane and Beacon's-gutter.
The knight of the sugar-pan has not yet sounded his
tocsin in Clayton-square, nor called before him the "out-
going" councillors, his humble vassals, to give an account,
not of their stewardship, but, if faithful to him, of their
slavery. But still we cannot suppose that these worthy
and independent gentry 'expect to resume their seats sub
silentio, or believe in their hearts that the electors of
Liverpool are such stupid, blind fools as to permit them
to do so. Well, then, are we to have no addresses, no
meetings? Are not the electors to be told that all the
bright promises of December last have been fulfilled,
that the most rigid economy has been practised in every
department of the corporate affairs, the utmost patriotism
and disinterestedness in the election of public officers
constantly displayed, partisanship and jobbing scouted and
abhorred, the corporate funds employed in the improve-
ment of the town, the health of the inhabitants promoted
by the creation of public gardens and walks, floating-
-1 baths spread over the river as thick as barges on the
Thames, and one enlightened and beneficent system of
education adopted for the children of the poor—a system
the opposite of ignorance end error, priestly tyranny and
popish lying ? Shall we, then, have no such addresses ?
We think not. They would indeed be laughable
travesties of the addresses of last year ; they would be
tissues of falsehood, which could only be believed by per-
sons who had been so unfortunate as to be-blind and
deaf for ten months—who had not had the benefit of pe-
rusing such awkward chronicles as council reports—who
had not seen a learned and talented town-clerk displaced
at an enormous but only just cost, to make room for an-
other little acquainted with public business, and whose
best recommendation to the council was, that he had
abandoned tory principles and suddenly become a re-
former—who had not seen this latter gentleman supplied
with a deputy to do the real work of his office, an ap-
pointment hitherto unheard of in this department of the
.corporation, and unnecessary if the principal, as he should
do, only performed all the duties attached to the town-
clerkship—who had not seen a good natured, but cer-
tainly not very bright chairman of the Orrell-court
Committee translated into a treasurysbip involving the
controul of some £lOO,OOO per annum, and requiring a
knowledge, at least, of the rule of three, a branch of
arithmetic which we much doubt whether our simple
friend had ever practised since his halcyon days of
thumbed leaves and flagellation—who had not seen all
the old, and tried, and respected magistracy insultingly
dismissed from the bench without even a vote of thanks
for their services, and in lieu of these, intrusted with the
administration of justice, a body of individuals ignorant
from their previous pursuits of the duties they bad to
perform, political jig-dancers on balconies and hustings,
and who had never beheld a Burn's Justice, except, per-
haps, on the counter of some gossiping and facetious
alderman, a learned and witty duodecimo punster ; who
had not seen £l3OO per annum given to a stipendiary
magistrate, that individual having been also a reform
partisan, and this also a new, and hitherto found to be
unnecessary office ; who had not seen the dock estate
greedily grasped at without a shadow of title, and the
creditors of that estate placed in jeopardy and alarm, and
not at this moment knowing to whom they are to look
for their net dividend; and lastly, who had not seen the
clergy of the Church of England, in point of fact, PRE-
VENTED from instructing the poor in the reformed reli-
gion, and the schools founded by our late Protestant
Corporation handed over to Roman Catholic priests, to
be converted into hotbeds of popisit superstition, and
O'Connellish disloyalty. No, indeed, such addresses
would be laughed at by the electors, though printed on
green paper. we really think they would blush themselves
crimson, a miracle, which, of course, Mr. Councillor
Sheil need not ridicule as impossible, or as surpassing
the performances of ten thousand saints in the calendar;
or, indeed, more wonderful than the evolutions of that
renowned sea serpent, which, if we may believe our dear
friend who grins through a Cork collar, stretches his
huge length from the Gulf of Mexico to the Banks of
Newfoundland. No, no; we fearlessly prophecy that no
such addresses will be seen this year—all will he dumb
show; a card left with Mr. Councillor Humbug's com-
pliments, pushed in at the door, or slipped at " early
dawn" into the moist fingers of some slipshod damsel
scrubbing down her master's steps. The age of boast-
ing, bragging, cajoling, flattering, and promising has
passed away, the mask is off; and ye radicals of the Six-
teen, if ye would return to, office, whisper to your can-
vassers—" Mum" 's the " word."
But let us see who are the Sixteen Councillors who go
out on the Ist of November, and amongst these we do
not fear nor hesitate to enumerate three tories. On
looking to our poll-books, (with us a dear " vade
mecum," and which regulates most accurately in one
respect our little shopping affairs,) we find the following
outgoing councillors :

We are enabled to present our readers with a full report
of the proceedings at the South Lancashire Conservative
Festival, which took place at Newton yesterday. It will
be seen that the friends of loyalty and constitutional free-
dom made a grand and triumphant demonstration of their
zeal as well as their numbers upon this occasion. There
were from 900 to 1000 gentlemen present, comprehend-
ing some of the most distinguished individuals in the
county. We venture to say that very few such meetings
have ever yet taken place in this country, if we consider
the rank in life of the majority present, their wealth,
' their influence in society, their devoted patriotism, and
their sterling attachment to our protestant government
in church and state. Whatever may be said of other
portions of the kingdom, the conservative nobility, gentry,
merchants, tradesmen, and operatives of South Lanca-
shire are never found to flinch from their duty—

to falter in their support of the " good old cause."
They are determined to stand fast by their banner,
and to bestow their unslumbering energies to the
defence of their glorious constitution, which they
wish to transmit in unimpaired integrity and un-
defiled beauty to their latest posterity. The throne, the
altar, and the laws are the objects of their jealous solici-
tude ; and for the preservation of these they are resolved
to make a-stand against the factious assaults of anarchists
and republicans, infidels and papists. On the standard
under which they fight is inscribed, in characters which
cannot be mistaken, these inspiring words, loyalty, free-
dom, and right. They claim for themselves that liberty
which the great charter of our civil privileges has gua-
ranteed to all ; they pay that homage to the King, and
I that deference to the majesty of the laws, which is their
imperative duty as subjects; and they nobly vindicate
the equal rights of every class in the community—equal
in their sanctions and in their obligations.
Yes, we are proud to say, the conservatives of Lan-
cashire have hurled their defiance at the unprincipled
enemies of their country and recorded their unwavering
determination to uphold her liberties. We have no
room to-day to make any lengthened comments upon the
speeches delivered yesterday, but we shall recur to the
subject on Tuesday. We are much mistaken if the re-
cent displays of conservative feeling which have been
witnessed in different parts of the kingdom do not mate-
rially facilitate the downfall of our tottering whig-radical
ministry, and consign them to merited and lasting scorn
,nd obscurity.

In Everton Ward, Mr. Charles Horsfall.
„ Scotland Ward, Mr. Richard Sheil.
„ Vauxhall Ward, Mr. John Daniel Thornely.
„ St. Paul's Ward, Mr. John Barton.
„ Exchange Ward, Mr. James Mellor.
„ Castle-street Ward, Mr. Thomas Bailor.
„ St. Peter's Ward, Mr. Richard Bright.
„ Pitt-street Ward, Mr. W. R. Preston.
„ Great George's Ward, Mr. James Aikin.
„ Rodney-street Ward, Mr. Thos. Holt.
„ Abercromby Ward, Mr. Thos. Brocklebank.
„ Lime-street Ward, Mr. Robert Roskell.
„ St. Anne's Ward, Mr.• Edward Cropper.
„ West Derby Ward, Mr. Joseph Sandars.
„ South Toxteth Ward, Mr. Francis Jordan.
„ North Toxteth Ward, Mr. Chas. Tayleur.
And there is also a vacancy in South Toxteth Ward,