The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-08-24 00:00:00

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scar,/ into the region of mere party politics, a eoalescing with
Papists, Socinians, and Infidels, merely to gain an end, has
induced a decline in spiritual life among them; and that
this decline in spiritual life has not only deteriorated their
personal and interior standing, but has sensibly and visibly
diminished their external power and influence. The very
means which they adopted to elevate themselves, and to de-
press those whore they chose to consider as their adversaries,
have had an entirely different effect. Those means have
preyed upon their own internal strength, while the alarm
they have created has roused churchmen to new and greater
efforts."

The late political conference was, we doubt not, re-
garded by most of the reverend men agglomerated as
a means of bolstering up the dissenting cause, and of
keeping the congregations of the divers denominations
together ; for Dissent, as above observed, is, religiously,
in a rapid state of decline ; but it will miserably disap-
point their expectations. Religion cannot be strength-
ened by such means, and the Church will now have an
opportunity of reclaiming her scattered sheep, and,
with the most moderate exertions, will be able to reco-
ver them.

On the other hand, what can the Liberals possibly
hope to gain by merging Dissenting preachers in the
common bucket ? They can only send it down a little
more rapidly; no more. Conservatism is too wide
awake to allow itself to suffer or be imposed upon by
80 contemptible en artifice. Our industrious and libe-
ral contemporary, the Manchester Guardian, we per-
ceive, has gathered all the trash uttered at the late his-
trionic exercitation into one heap, and filled the columns
of his Saturday's number therewith. The millocrat
who can swallow it all must have a capacious maw and
a powerful appetite. For our part, we doubt not that,
if we had time, we could cull thereout much that would
be amusing to our readers. Let us give just one spe-
cimen—the first that has come to hand—from the
speech of, we suppose, a townsman, the Rev. W.
Giles, Baptist minister of Liverpool. Here it is, with
its pious hymn, Humphty's Clock, and all :

" The corn-laws were anti-philanthropic and anti-patri-
otic. Charles Dickens—' Boz '—was his pupil, and he (Mr.
Giles) said to him, a few days ago, ' Charles, the world
thinks you must have spent all your time in a poor-house.'
No,' he replied, ' I never entered a poor-house in my
life ; but England is, throughout, a poor-house.' He
would conclude with a new version of a verse for the na-
tional anthem :

" 0 Lord our God, arise !
Scatter monopolies,
And corn-laws sore;
Confound such politics,
On Thee our hopes we fix ;
God save the poor !"
So much for the religious instructor of the author
of the Pickwick Papers, and the veracious assertion of
that author that "England is throughout a poor-
house." Some of those Manchester millocrats keep
large houses for their private residences, but we never
heard before that they were "poor-houses." Poor,
starving, hungry wretches, how we do pity them !

The last speech of the 'Whig-Ministry will this day
be delivered—not by her Majesty in person, we are
happy to believe, but by commission. To call such a
production, so honoured, of whatever parts or sub-
stance it may consist, the Queen's speech is only a
formal compliance with ancient custom, whilst the idea
suggested is completely and altogether different from
what the same words did once upon a time convey to
the mind. We shall look for the speech, however,
with some curiosity, as we feel an interest in observing
the last throes and agonies of a Cabinet the most me-
morable on record for tenacity of place. They might
well be called the " all the talons" administration, if
it were a clearly-ascertained point in history that the
adhesive power resided peculiarly or exclusively in
those members of their bodfivith which it is notorious
they are matchless at grabbing ; but while they have a
prehensile tail of such remarkable length and power,
which may well dispute the claim, there would be an
obvious impropriety in giving them this designation.
If the speech contain those certain-to-be-negatived
recommendations which we have been told it would,
it remains to be seen whether the Conservative party
will suffer themselves to be drawn into a discussion
upon them ; or whether they will not rather move such
an amendment to the address as may waive and avoid
them altogether. In the one case we should have a
debate of interminable length at a very inconvenient
season ; in the other, a very short one, and an early
division, which is devoutly to be wished for. We incline
to think that so experienced a debater, and so able a tac-
tician as our distinguished commander-in-chief, will not
gratify the party with such a discussion as they look for.
This is not the time for discussing the budget anew,
but the time for putting out the concoctors thereof.
A simple division upon the address without any dis-
quisition on the topics of the speech, would suffice to
show the state of parties in the house, and, it is to be
hoped, to compel the resignation of a ministry out-
numbered on such an occasion. The country grows
impatient for their removal, and desires nothing so
much as to see them fairly expelled. A protracted de-
bate at this moment would be more tedious and in-
supportable than the " twice-told tale vexing the dull
ears of a drowsy man ;" and therefore our hope and
expectation is, that Sir Robert Peel will do his utmost
to hasten, and not in any degree to delay the
catastrophe.

The luck of the Whigs is indeed proverbial ; it has
continued to them even after the opening of the very
parliament which will exonerate them of official labour
—as witness the election of their own Speaker—a
Speaker proposed against the principle expressly laid
down by themselves in 1835, namely, that the Chair-
man of the House of Commons ought to be the re-
presentative in opinion and sentiment of the majority.
The Whigs little scrupulous about principle, and most
conveniently oblivious of their own doctrine when it
would not be so gainful to remember it, proposed
Mr. Shaw Lefevre, and, thanks to the generosity
of their adversaries, and the steady consistency
of Sir Robert Peel, carried their point. Lord J. Rus-
sell could not repress a small exhibition of his usual
pitiful spitefulness and paltriness on the occasion, by
reviving an obsolete attack of proved groundlessness
against one of the ablest and most irreproachable men
that ever occupied the Speaker's chair—the venerable
Lord Canterbury. One is forced to regret the gene-
rosity which, however dignified and noble in itself, is
thrown away upon those who show themselves uncon-
scious of its worth, and incapable of valuing it. But
though " the luck of the Whigs" has gone thus far
even in the present Conservative parliament, we hope
it is to go no further. It is certainly past our poor
conception, at all events, if there be any more in store
for them in the way of official connection, clever as
they are at pantomime and harlequin transformations
in every variety.

Since throwing together the few general observations
which appear elsewhere relative to the ghostly men who
have been enacting a Conference at the request of cer-
tain mill-owning managers, we have had time to dip
a little into the argumentation by which they have been
attempting to mystify the subject of cheap bread.
And, in the first place, we can safely say, that even the
smallest scintilla of light beyond what we have already
enjoyed, the preachers have not been able to shed upon
it. It would seem as if they had been brought toge-
ther to play the lion's part in the MIDSUMMER'S
NIGHT'S DREAM, which Snug, the joiner would have
" written out," as he was a particular man, and " slow
to study ;" but which Mr. Peter Quince, the carpenter,
assured him he might perform extempore, as it was
" nothing but roaring." By the way, there was a
subsequent " conference" among the actors in SW-
spectre's comedy, part of which runs thus :

" Bottom, weaver.—Masters, yon ought to consider
with yourselves :to
shield us! a lion among
the
bring in, God— •
ladies, is a most dreadful thing ; for there is not a more fear-
ful wild-fowl than your lion living ; and we ought to look
to it.
" Snout, the tinker.—Therefore another prolougue must
tell he is not a lion.
.. Bola-Nay, you must name his name, and half his face
must be seen through the lion's neck ; and lie himself must
sneak through, saying thus, or to the same effect,—Ladies,
or fair ladies, I would wish you, or I would request you, not
to fear, nor to tremble : my life for yours. If you think I
come hither as a lion, it were pity of my life : no, lam no
such thing ; I am a man as other men are : and then, in-
deed, let him name his name, and tell them plainly, he is
Snug, the joiner.''
- •

The ingenious artifice suggested here, to prevent the
ladies taking alarm, was not, we are happy to say, at
all necessary in the case of the company to Which we
allude; no fair lady, however delicate or nervous,
could feel the least uneasiness at the Snugs, and
Snouts, and Bottoms who played the lion in this ex-
hibition ; no lion's skin, or lion's roar could possibly
lead to any misapprehension as to the genuine donkey