The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-10 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

able to bear the pressure—they had proclaimed themselves
unwilling or unable to know what the truth was. They
had declared that they did not know what was the truth,
and they asked with a taunt and a sneer, " what is
truth?" There were advocates of all shades of falsehood
associated in one assembly, namely, the parliament of
Great Britain. Socinians, Papists, and others, as well as
Protestants, were united in the great assembly of the na-
tion. Then they were told by noble lords and honourable
members that they avoided raising any religious questions.
It was easy to talk of sending petitions. They could get
petitions prepared, and they could be numerously signed
by honest men, fully convinced of the errors of the Church
of Rome. And what became of the petitions when they
went up to the house ? Our reformed parliament paid
precious little attention to the petitions of the people, un-
less those petitions happened to agree with their own no-
tions of what was proper and right. What, then, was to
be done, and why bring those exposures forward ? He
turned to the second instrumentality. He said that un-
less the people of this country were instructed in, and de-
termined to maintain the reformed religion, the blessing
of a reformed church would very soon be taken from us.
How were the people to be instructed ? it might be said.
In answer, he would say, that he believed mostly in the
Church; but such meetings as the present were calcu-
lated to extend Christian instruction. He believed they
had arrived at that crisis, at which one of their very best
services was to give Christian instruction at such a meet-
ing, direct and indirect, positive and negative ; to teach
the audience what they hoped some knew, what none
knew enough, what they all ought to know—true religion,
real Christianity, and to teach them what was that false
religion which was aiming at universal supremacy over
the world. Objections were made to talking in a serious
tone at such meetings as the present. It was said
that that was preaching. And why should it not
be made preaching? They were commanded to preach
the word in season and out of season. And he be-
lieved that they were not to take for granted that the peo-
ple knew that word. He was also of opinion that the
heresies of the few were made dangerous by the ignorance
of the many. Romanism was a corruption which the devil
had introduced, and which was delighted in by the carnal
or natural man; while true Christianity was a religion
which God had revealed, and was delighted in only by
spiritual men. True religion must be confined to spiri-
tual men, because it was a spiritual thing. The natural
man would not receive the things of the spirit of God ;
they were foolishness to him—he could not know them be-
cause they were spiritually discerned. True Christianity
must be confined to spiritual men ; but the profession
of Christianity had never been confined to spiritual
men, neither had the profession of carnal men been al-
ways insincere. Then how was it possible for uncon-
verted men sincerely to profess Christianity ? Only by
mixing what they called Christianity with some or more
elements congenial to the natural man. In such a case
reasons were not sat up for renouncing Christianity, and,
therefore, the only way to manage was to corrupt Chris-
tianity. Then they could profess it, and could profess it
sincerely when it was corrupted. For instance, the grand
subject of Christianity was Jesus—Christ himself was
the son of the system—in everything he had pre-eminence.
In his Godhead, however, he was invisible, and in his
manhood he was absent. How, then, was he to be pre-
sented to man ? He was presented by the word of our
faith. That was quite sufficient to the spiritual man, but
what were natural men to do with that ? They had no
faith. Christ was preached to them. It was music, but
they had no ear for it. Then what had the carnal man
done? He had recourse to corruption, be bad managed
to do without faith by presenting images of Christ in
wood, stone. and other materials. Was not that a pal-
pable instance of the manner in which the Roman Ca-
tholic Church had degraded Christianity into a matter of
sense? The Christianity that is unseen is out of her
reach. The true glory of spiritual worship was its
spirituality. But what had carnal men done ? They had
corrupted it. The rev. gentleman then commented at some
length on the pomp, splendour, and music and services of
the Romish church, which her members called Christian
worship. He also sheaved at great length, and with much
force, huw she bad corrupted the most vital doctrines of
Christianity. He then referred to a subject brought for-
ward by Dr. Pusey in a sermon which he was recently per-
mitted to preach at Oxford, grounded on the well known
words of our. Lord to his disciples, "As my father hath
sent me even so send I you," and showed that the simili-
tude did not apply absolutely in every respect, but as the
Father sent Christ to bear witness of the truth, so he
would send the Holy Spirit into the Apostles to bear wit-
ness of the truth. In that respect they did go and bear
\ witness to the truth—they spoke the truth infallibly,
because the coil forter was in them. It was true of their
word, as it was of our Lord's—" The word I speak unto
you the some shall judge you at the last day." When the
apostle Paul was about to finish his course, he gave a
charge to his successor in the church what he should do.
What did he say to him ? He said, " I charge you preach
the word." Christ to the inspired apostles said, " Even
so send I you ;" the apostle Paul to the uninspired Timo-
thy said, " Preach the word." The word was preached,
and was written by the apostles. And having caused such
writings to be produced, Almighty God had caused them
to be preserved. And without continuing plenary inspi-
ration in any man, God had continued truth in the church.
The commission Christ gave to the apostles the clergy
had not—the commission of which Paul gave to Timothy
they had. Mark this further difference ; when Christ was
sending out his apostles, he told them not to premeditate
what they were to say. But when Paul wrote to Timothy,
he said "Give yourself to meditation—to reading." The
difference was marked. The words " even so send I you,"
were cut off with the apostles. If the commission were
continued, then the clergy had the power of adding to the
scriptures; for they to whom Christ said, " even so send
I you," spoke as infallibly as Christ spoke. And practically
that was Popery, for the Rornanists had an interminable
bible. The rev. gentleman then urged on the meeting to
be guarded against the doctrines of "development." If, said
he, that doctrine be true, antiquity was done for, and vice
versa if the claims of antiquity were good, the doctrine of
developmenwas done for. He then argued at great length
against the claims of the Church of Rome to infallibility,
and again pressed upon Protestants the necessity of be-
coming thoroughly acquainted with the grounds on which
their great principles rested, that they might be prepared
for the coming struggle, which was not then to be dreaded.
He then described the terribles system of the confessional
as it prevails in France, from the details of M. M chelets
book, and concluded his eloquent and powerful speech as
follows :—" This was what they had in France, and what
we should soon have in England if the English people
presented no more resisting front than the English parlia-
ment had presented of late ; and oh how John Bull would
cry out when he was under the lash of the Jesuits. They
had long wished to have the thumb screws on. England
had long been an eye-sore to them. England had been
far away from mother church—far from the supremacy of
St. Peter ; it was the black spot on the map ; they were
praying for the conversion of her inhabitants. Universal
sway was the object of Rome. England alone stood in
the way, and if she could subdue England, the world was
at her feet. The colonies would soon follow the example
of the mother country; the small congregations of Pro.
testants on the continent would become an easy prey ; the
disorganised churches of America would offer no resist-
ance, and soon there would not remain one single citadel
unstormed—one single voice to protest against even the
murder of the last of the heretics. If England stood in
her way, they might fancy what would be the anxiety and
what the practical efforts of Rome would make to gain her
over. They were sending money over-to England, they
were building new churches—churches where there were
no congregations—to entice, and catch, and raise up con-
gregations ; they were making huge efforts, they were
making small efforts. They were sending their beggars
from door to door, for only the other day six young fe-
males of the ages of 15 or 16, came to him and asked him
for a shilling, and he discovered that they had been sent
out to a distant part of the town, where they were un-
known, with orders to visit every house, and if possible
obtain a shilling for the repairs of their chapel.
The Manchester Courier, in remarking on the pro-
ceedings of this meeting, says, " that they are pregnant
with interest to the friends on the church and constitu-
tion, and make it clearer than ever that a decisive stand
must be taken, and that soon, if true English Christianity
is to be maintained in this country."

INQUESTS BEFORE Til F. BOROUGH CORONER

ON SATURDAY.

On view of the body of Mary Davies, who resided in
Parr-street, and was 35. years of age. On the Bth Decem-
ber last, deceased was at the Salthouse-dock, when she
stepped down into the hollow into which the gates swing,
and fell down on the stone-work, a height of five or six
feet, by which her right thigh was broken. She lingered
until Tuesday last, when she died from the injury, which
was a compound fracture.
On view of the body of Elizabeth Jones, eight years
old. Deceased lived with her parents in Frank-street,
Toxteth-park. About three weeks ago, she was left alone
in the house, and her clothe:3 took firc, burning her no pc-
verely that she died on Friday.
On the body of Terence Mulligan, a labourer, aged 44.
On Wednesday last he was eng,aeed with others in taking
down the wall of a warehouse in Love-lane, and were un-
derpinning it. Deceased was asked to put some loose
bricks under it, but refused, and it fell upon him. He was
taken to the Northern Hospital. Both arms were broken,
and he died on Friday. •
On the body of Penelope Alovsia Jackson, aged 73.
Deceased lived with her son-in-law and daughter, Mr.
and Mrs. Potts, in Windsor-street. On Friday night she
went to a party at a friend's house, and returning at an
early hour in the morning, went to bed, where she was
found quite dead. At eight o'clock deceased had been
dancing at the party. Mr. H. G. Harbord, surgeon, who
made a post mortem examination, found the cause of
.death to be syncope, consequent on ossification of the
valves of the heart. Verdicts accordingly.