The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-03 00:00:00

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Perhaps it will be instructive to him to read the fol.
I

lowing remarks, which we quote frOm a Bristol paper
of last Saturday :

" We happen to know that great efforts are making in
Liverpool, and the Several other ports interested in the West
India Mail Station, and we therefore exhort our fellow-citi-
zens to be up and stirring in the matter. Lord Sandon and
Mr. Cresswell. the indefatigable

_ members for Liverpool,
will, no doubt, labour most strenuously in favour of that
town. The Town Council of Liverpool (now a Conservative
body) are about to commence a systematic action, in hopes
of getting the appointment conferred on their town; surely
Bristol will not allow herself to slumber, and thus forego
without a manly struggle, that which even-handed justice
should award her."

The Times may gather from the above that the peo-
ple of Bristol are fully alive to the necessity of still us-
ing every exertion ; and it would certainly be more
creditable, in any and every sincere friend to the inte-
rests of Liverpool, to aid in the attempt which she
must make to be heard, than to sneer at and misrepre-
sent our efforts, which shall be continued to the end,
although we should even tire the patience and offend
the nice " political morality" by which our contempo-
rary ever guides his conduct.

With respect to another article, which is also ad-
dressed to us, we shall not trouble ourselves to make
any serious remarks, although its dishonesty would
afford us ample ground for impeaching our contempo-
rary's peculiar morality. We can, in all sincerity, as-
sure him that the " tricky vein" in journalism will
never succeed ultimately; and recommend him, there-
fore, in future, rather than misrepresent what he cannot
confute in any article of ours, to wait until the Man-
chester Guardian, whose strictures he in general echoes,
has broken ground against us.

The debate which took place in the Council on
Wednesday, on the subject of the Schools, and its
results, have not been answerable to our expectations ;
but we entertain no doubt whatever that a conclusion
satisfactory to all good Conservatives will, after a short
time, he arrived at. For the present, we may say that
nothing has been done; and this is rather an advan-

tage under existing circumstances, inasmuch as the
non-commission of an error is the next best thing, in
ordinary affairs, to the doing of that which, after due
examination, it will appear, ought to be done.
We should not perhaps say that absolutely nothing
has been accomplished ; for the resolution agreed to
by the Committee is, so far as it goes, a step in the
right direction : it is the initiative—the preliminary
which is indispensable towards the introduction of
that sound, religion-based system hereafter to he in-
troduced, or restored to the Schools. The error—if
error it can be called—of the Committee consisted in
submitting that resolution to the Council before they
had matured the new arrangements ; and with regard
to these, sure we are that the sooner they put them-
selves in communication with the Clergy, and the
more they consult with them upon the subject, the
sooner will they be relieved from an onerous and re-
sponsible duty, and the more confident they may feel
of satisfying the expectations of their constituents. It
would be just as well if the subject were not again
broached in the Council until a complete and definite
plan shall have emanated from the Committee. Such
a course will probably prevent the exhibition of crude
or absurd opinions or proposals—of discordancy
among members who ought to be of one mind—and
of an evident want of reflection and preparedness
upon the subject, such as has been but too clearly
manifested by some members in the last and former
discussions. The appearance of hesitation, doubt, in-
certitude, and vacillation, which some gentlemen feel
no hesitation in displaying, is, we must say, anything
but advantageous to our common cause, whether as
Conservatives or religionists, and is particularly dis-
tressing to observe, as it can only have originated from
defect of study and adequate investigation of the ques-
tion at issue. We would that gentlemen would ask
themselves, do they really expect to discover some
perfect system which all parties will concur in appro..,
ving ; are they in search of a Utopia, a philosopher's
stone, or some other impossibility; or are they only
looking, like men of common sense, for the best system
they can find—that which has fewest objections, and
seems likely to do most good ? If the latter be the
case, we can confidently assure them that there can be
but one result to their researches, and that they will
find the safest and best plan to consist in simply
abiding by that system which, as Protestants and
Churchmen, they would choose for their own children,
and can have no hesitation in recommending for the
children of the humbler classes.
Are they staggered by the objection that such a sys-
tem will not comprehend every religious section—that
Roman Catholic priests will enter a protest against it ?
What could they have expected ? They are under no
obligations to follow the advice of the father confes-
sors of the Rotnish schism ; they will never be more
safe than when they are keeping such gentry at a re-
spectful distance. They are called upon to choose be-
tween Liberalism and Popery on the one hand, the
Bible and our established institutions on the other;
and will they halt between these two opinions ? It is
time for them to screw their courage to the sticking-
place, and set this question at rest. We do not quarrel
with men-for feeling great tenderness towards persons
who may be excluded from the benefits of an institu-
tion by reason of certain rules which, for the greater
benefit of the community, it has been found necessary
to establish within it, provided this tenderness do not
degenerate into culpable weakness; but there is ano-
ther and a more numerous body of persons to be
thought of, and there are certain principles by which
men are bound to abide, be the fruits what they may :
duty is ours ; consequences are God's.
The Municipal Council of Liverpool is not called
upon to establish or endow schools for education of a

merely secular character; and were they to divert the
public funds to such a purpose, the inhabitants at

large would have a just right to complain. They are
called upon to maintain institutions in which general
and religious instruction shall be combined ; and as
religions are many and various, they must make a
choice, they must come to a decision, they must give a
preference on this subject. In doing this, they do not
consult merely for a class, but for all the inhabitants

in common. It is as much for the interest of Roman
Catholics that they should do so as for any others.
They cannot establish schools for teaching Popery; it
would be a most mistaken kindness towards Roman
Catholics to do so; neither are they to be prevented
from establishing schools for teaching from the una-
dulterated and unmutilated scriptures of truth, be-
cause Roman Catholic priests enter their protest

against it. Be the consequences what they may, there
is here no wrong done to any party. In coming to
this decision, Protestants only act consistently as Pro-

;estants ; and though Liberals and Papists may rail

and slander, and talk of bigotry, intolerance, and so
forth, it will be easier to endure such reproach, than in
any degree to justify a departure from the strict law of

uty or to foresee the end thereof.

Our London contemporary, the Standard, brings a
heavy charge against the Puseyite party. which, as it
affects their moral habits and practices, they are bound
to answer, either in a supplementary Tract or some
other way. The charge is, that they have made re-
peated attempts, both by bribe and menace, to corrupt
that excellent journal, and bring it over to the evil
ways of Puseyism. " Never," says the able and well
known editor, " in all our experience, which has not
been trifling, have we been exposed to such direct as-
saults to induce us by base motives to prostitute our
columns to the support of a cause condemned by our
judgment and conscience !" Now, if such be a fruit
of Puseyism, what stronger condemnation could be
passed upon the doctrine. "By their fruits ye shall
know them"—and this is one from the new plantation
at Oxford. The virtue of other journalists and public
writers has not, we fear, proved so strong as that of
the editor of the Standard ; at all events, it is certain
that there are now two daily papers in the metropolis
who are very much the humble servants of the party—
one of them an acknowledged apostate from a better
profession—besides several others weekly and provin-
cial, and periodicals. AVe are not surprised at men
who show themselves so unscrupulous as to means,
feeling desirous of enlisting the Standard in their
cause, as it is a journal in such extensive circulation,
and conducted with first-rate talent; but we greatly-
rejoice at the same time, as public journalists, for the
honour of our profession, that there is an integrity en-
gaged in the service of the public, in this department,
which.cannot be turned aside by the suggestions of
covetousness, or the fear of an unjust revenge.