The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-03 00:00:00

DISSENTING MO c,E3IENTS.

One might almost suppose that these sectaries fri.4 dis-
covered it to be a Christian duty to confess everybody's
sins but their own ' • that humility and retiring modesty
had been expunged from the catalOgue of Christian vir-
tues ; and that to secure the world's esteem and applause
was the only thing a Christian church ought to labour
after. And, as if all this were not 3ufficient to indicate
sectarian zeal, and foster the sectaria;a, spirit, other means
for the purpose, still more objectionable, have been• re-
sorted to of late years. The pulpit has been perverted
into a rostrum, from which ecclesiastical demagogues may
assa 1 the character and pervert the motives of better men
than themselves ; and God's own Sabbaths have been pro-
faned by being made the chosen season on which itinerant
lecturers, notorious for their exploits on such occasions,.
may expatiate on the charms of voluntaryism. All thisis!
melancholy enough in a religious point of view, but is per,
fectly characteristic of our Scottish dissent. Our sectaries
are never at ease unless when emitting a testimony. me,
public must at all times know they are Dissenters, and
why they are so. Strange infatuation r. They act as IL
their denominational crotchets were the eery essence ar.d;•
marrow of the Gospel, and are not a whit-wiser than the
child who shades his eyes from the sun, and thinks t 1.43.
while, that that little hand of his is bigger than the great-
luminary of the heavens."

While the above temperate reproof is adminis-
tered to the professors of dissent in Scotland, we
cannot disguise from ourselves the general applica-
bility of its censure in respect to many of the most
obtrusive forms and particulars of sectarianism, as
that is to be met with nearer home. This, the first
number of the Church. of Scotland Magazine
which we have seen, impresses us favourably, both
as regards the talent which it displays, and the
dispassionate tone it manifests in the.various ar-

tides it contains. -
The Chemistry of Common Lift. By J. F. W.
Joluiston,_lll.A._ Edinburgh and Edon::. W..

BlackwoOd.and Sons.

The plan of this work, the first part of which is
before us, appears admirably arranged.-. It seems
intended to be eminently popular and practical in
its nature, the first part being devoted to the che-
mistry of " The air we breathe and the water we-
drink." From the simple and popular mode in
which the subject is treated, and the well-known
celebrity of Professor Johnston, the work must
prove both successful and useful.

s Journal. London : William Spooner.
The number of this journal for December main—
tains the place the publication has long enjoyed in.
public estimation. Its contents embrace miscel-
laneous reading of a pleasing and instructive kind*
They are devoted to a wide variety of subjects, are
generally distinguished by good sense = and good
taste, and are well suited to excite a. desire for
knowledge, no small amount of which is also con-
veyed in its pages.

Liverpool and Isle of Man Almanaek, for 1854.
This will be found a very useful repertory,, con-
taining, as it does, much minute information
relative to the tides and navigation of the Mersey
and the Irish Sea and Channel. It, is published at
a cheap rate by R. Fargher, Douglas,. Isle of Man.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

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