The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-07-28 00:00:00

THE BANQUET TO PRINCE ALBERT.

We publish with pleasure the following correspondence
upon a s_.bject which has excited much interest amongst
all classes of our fellow-townsmen. The letter of the rev.

gentleman, who has been so unfairly made the subject of
Whig-Radical attack, will be read by hie numerous friends
and the entire Protestant community with heartfelt pride,

not a few of his persecutors. It is calm and dignified—

worthy of the

that he can affind to forgive, though he may scorn the
puny efforts of his enemies to sting him.

TO THE REV. HUGH M'NEILE

—We, the Committee of the
have heard

AND DEAR SIR,
ono! Protestant and Reformation Society,

nut to invite you to the banquet to be given to his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, on his approaching visit to

Liverpool

We cannot but regard this as a direct insult to your-
self, and to the Protestants of Liverpool general!

y, who

representative on the approaching- joyous occasion, to
have given expression to their loyalty to the parson of our
beloved Sovereign, and their firm attachment to those

principles which she is called upon, in the providence of
God, to defend. We feel confident that we express the
sentiments of thousands of our fellow-townsmen when
we assert, that there is no one in Liverpool who has done
more for the temporal and spiritual good of the town than
yourself, or more entitled to the honour of being present
at the approaching banquet.
But though we regret that the Council have overruled
the wish of our worthy chief m,:gistrate that you should
be present, we are rot much surprised. We know the
parties who raised the objection. We know the enmity
which lurks in the breasts of some against you, because
of your bold and faithful protest against popery, and the
other abominations of the day.
No, we don't much wonder, for you know, dear Sir,
who hath said, " If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own : but because ye are not of the world, but I
} h-ive chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hated] you." But though we are not surprised, we feel
it our bounden duty to express our sympathy with you,
and to assure you of our unshaken attachment both to
your person and your principles; and the more you are
evil spoken of, and slandered by the enemies of the truth,
the more earnest shall be our prayers for you, that your
" hands may be made strong by the hands of the mighty
God of Jacob."

Remember, dear sir, the language of the Lord to the
prophet Ezekiel, and take courage, " And thou, son of
n on, be not afraid of thorn, neither be afraid of their
words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou
dust dwell among ::corpions ; be not afraid of their words,
nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebel-
lious house. And th-u shalt speak my words unto them,
whether they will bear, or whether they will forbear ; for
they are most rebellious." _ _ . .

May the God of all grace bless you with all spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus, and long spare your valueble
life; an ornament to His Church. and a blessing to thou-
sands.—Signed on behalf of the Committee,
By the Chairman.
Liverpool, July 171 h, 1846.

TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE LIVERPOOL PROTESTANT

AND REFORMATION SOCIETY

Mr DEAR FRIENDS,--I have received your chairman's
letter. I have read with lively interest your address. As
a testimony of your feelings towards me, it is highly
gratifying. To be so esteemed by a large portion of the
Protestant 'population of such a town as Liverpool, is a
high and honourable distinction—a distinction which it is,
I hope, allowable for a Christian minister dearly to prize.
I call yourselves to witness, that, in this case, it has been
won by neither fhttery nor faction, but simply and ex-
clusiytly by the discharge, without fear and without
favour, of those duties to which I consider myself solemnly
pledged as a clergyman of our reformed Episcopal Estab-
lished Church.
To you who bear me so often, and know me so well, it
would be what we all protest against, viz, a work of
supererogation, for me to sly how cordially I coincide in
your sentiments of devoted loyalty and respectful affection
towards the person of our beloved SOVEREIGN, and of
attachment to those Protestant principles which, as you
remark, SHE is called upon, in Divine Providence, to de-
fend; and, on condition of which alone, as I may add
for your remembrance, SHE holds, as the law still stands,
the crown of th-se, realms.

So feeling, we would, as a matter of course, gladly avail
ourselves of any legitimate opportunity to give outward
manifestation to our heart-stirring loyalty ; and I am not
surprised by your eager and jealous anxiety (evinced in
your address) with reference to the approaching auspi-
cious •isit of His Royal Highness Prince Albert.
Amidst all the decorations of costly magnificence, and
all the demonstrations cf loyal attachment, by which His
Royal Highness will be greeted in our good old town; no
flag will be inscribed with more unfeigned affection, no
acclamation of welcome will arise more intelligently from
the principles which, under God, have made England
what she is, than the flag and the acclamation of our Pro-
testant Society.

Unavoidably absent from home since the commence-
ment of the month, and not having seen the Liverpool
newspapers in the interim, my information as to the
preFent posture of affairs in the town, is nec, ssarily de-
fective. So far as it goes, however, I believe it is correct ;
and you must bear with me, while I proceed to point out
what I consider your mistake in this matter.

I fully appreciate the personal kindness of some mem-
bers of the Committee of Council, who wished me to be
honoured with an invitation to the banquet at the Town-
hall ; but I cannot wonder at the objections made to it by
others ; neither can I agree with you, that the rejection of
the proposal was any insult to me personally, or to those
Protestants who like yourselves "are wont to regard me
as their principal leader." I think, indeed, that the de-
tails of conference in Committee as to who should be in-
vited, ought not to have been made public.
Of absolute necessity, the numbers invited to such an
entertainment must be limited, very limited. And bow is
the selection to be made ? The only ground of distinction
free from all invidious preferences, is that of office: a
ground which, as Britons and Protestants, we cordially
recognise. You will remember, then, that the official re-
presentatives of our Established Church are invited. Our
bishop is unable to attend, but the rectors of the parish,
and the chaplain of the Corporation will, I understand, be
present. No other Church, as such, is recognised in the
room; and no objection, as far as I am informed, was, or
is, made to this arrangement.
This is a lingering homage, which Englishmen of all
denominations continue to pay to Christian truth, not-
withstanding the progress which modern legislation has
made in confounding truth and falsehood. In this we
rejoice. _

However parliaments and governments may deal with
them, truth and falsehood must be for ever distinct. The
Pcstem of the Church of England, and the system of the

essentially antagonistic in their most fundamental prin-
ciples. Not their interpretations only of a given standard
of truth, but their standards themselves, are wholly op-
posed. If the on? system be true, the other must be
false, and what is false cannot be Christianity. We are
firmly convinced, with the writers of our Articles and
Homilies, that the system of the Church of England is
true, and that the system of the Church of Rome is not
Christianity : neither is it in the power of any one or of all
the Governments of Christendom to make it so. Kings
and statesmen may favour it as they please, for present
shortsighted convenience, but the KING OF KINGS has
condemned it to an everlasting overthrow. That it is not
to be intruded in our town upon the notice of our illus-
trious Prince, is matter of sincere satisfaction to us, and
with the arrangements for the banquet, as it now stands,
we ought to be abundantly content.
That your affectionate prayers on my behalf may be re-

turned an fiundred-fold into your own_ bosom

and patience, is ti