The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-09-21 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS

We .are again compelled to postpone our first notice of the
exhibition of paintings, which was prepared for to-day.
The alteration in the letter from one of our correspondents
was received too late to be attended to.

EIR ...itnrpool ,tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 21, 1841

The Watchman of Wednesday contains some obser-
vations on the supposed difficulty of Sir Robert Peel's
administration—the government of Ireland—which
have struck us as being important and just, and in the
spirit of which we entirely concur. Our contempo-
rary enters into the very marrow of the question of
"justice to Ireland," and concludes by intimating that
however plausible, or however seductive the encourage,
ment of Rotnanism in that country may be, it is-alto-
gether incompatible with that strict and constitutional
JusTrcE which would be conducive to the true and
permanent interests of the people. That which con-
stitutes the real difficulty of governing Ireland, con-
' sists in having so large a Roman Catholic population
to deal with ; it is Romanismn which creates the nodus.
This portion of the people are entitled to toleration in
the exercise of their.religious worship; and, as to civil
rights, the law has scarcely left any distinction between
them and Protestants of the Established Church. Jus-
tice then clearly requires that they should be treated on
these principles—that they should not be disturbed or
harassed on account of their religion, or debarred time
enjoyment of any civil rights which the laws of the
empire have given them. The course of the govern-
ment is thus far plain ; their negative duties are obvi-
ous; they 'tamest not be persecutors,; they must not seek
to deny or abridge those privileges practically to the
people which the law has conferred upon them specu-
latively. On the other hand, the creed which the ma-
jority profess, though tolerated, is clearly condemned
by our laws. The Sovereign cannot profess it without
incurring a forfeiture of the throne; certain high offices
of state cannot be held by those who maintain it; the
Homilies, of the Church (to which the laws give au-
thority) anathematise it in the strongest terms, and se-
veral acts of the legislature describe its profession as
dangerous to the soul, and derogatory to that perfect
and unreserved loyalty which should characterise a true
British subject. A government then which would act
in the spirit of these laws must not encourage Popery.
A. bare respect—an almost literal deference to constitu-
tional law—ought to prevent them from falling into this
error. Scarcely any other check should be necessary;
but, in point of fact, there is almost no end to the.con-
siderations should serve to deter a Protestant
statesman from sliding into this most mistaken and in-
jurious line of policy. On the other hand, to foster
Protestantism is every
and encourage way just, consti-
tutional, and laudable. For, in the first place, Protes-
tantism, as taught by the Church of England, is THE
TRUTH in religion ; and its promulgation is therefore
desirable for its own sake. Secondly, it 'is the religion
of the State, and to disseminate it is necessarily to har-
monise the mind of the people with that form of go-
vernment under which they live. And, lastly, to Pro-
testantise Ireland would be to remove all difficulties
from its government at once; to pluck up all
the
weeds, nettles, and brambles, as it were, by the root,
by one great act, and lay the foundation of lasting
peace, civilisation, and order.
See then how the case stands : Justice to Ireland
plainly demands the encouragement of Protestantism:
and, as the corelative propositiOn, the discouragement,'
To be or, at least, the non-encouragement of Popery.

. .
different en the subject may be taeral, according to
the conventional use of that term ; but it is to be nei-
ther wise, just, nor constitutional, There may be some
difficulty in carrying out this theory of an " impartial
partiality," which sounds paradoxically ; but there is
no impossibility. It is only to adhere strictly to the
Spirit as well as the letter of the constitution; the
more closely this is done, the more fully and perfectly
will the theory be realised.
It is not Justice to Ireland to treat Protestantism and
Popery alike; and we do expect that it is not the sort
of justice which a Conservative ininist4.. :. will deal out
to her. It is indeed what he Roma' want, and
something besides; but it isv Jiat a constitutional mi-
nistry—an enlightened ministit will never inflict upon
her. Popery has never conduct l to the happiness or
prosperity of any country, and it cannot do so in Ire-
land. No efforts heretofore made —no measures
passed—for the purpose of making Popish Ireland
peaceable and contented, have fully, if at all answered
their purpose. What is the cause of this ? Simply
because Popery is a system of religions error which
inculcates insubordination and disaffection towards a
Protestant sovereignty, and because it does not teach
even a common regard to morality and truth as be-
tween man and man. It is not possible for Sir Robert
Peel, nor for any minister that ever existed,
nor for any yet to be barn, to make Ireland what
England is, whilst Popery prevails to such an ex-
tent in it. Let no such delusion enter any man's
mind. Truth would not be truth, nor falsehood
falsehood, if such a thing were possible. It is
very well to proceed on Alie system of firm and equal
government such as Sir Robert Peel, doubtless, pro-
poses to himself; it will be a vast improvement on the
system of his predecessor; but it can only mitigate—it
cannot of itself reach the radical disease of the country.

Sir Robert Peel cannot but be aware himself of this
truth ; he must be convinced of it; and the probability
is, that he regards an equal and just system of admi-
nistration, though good in itself and most valuable for
its own sake, as still but means to an end. We have
been repeatedly assured, and we are persuaded of the
fact, that there are thousands of professing Romanists
in Ireland who would gladly quit the profession, and
become Protestants, if the laws were strong enough to
protect them, or if even the government showed a
willingness to shield them from pexsecUtion. What
may not then a good 'Conservative system of govern-
ment effect ? Let only Popery be kept at arm's length,
and the teaching of Protestantism in every Niray pro-
moted, and to equal govetnment will be superadded a
sound Conservative policy 'calculated to do for Ireland
all that judicious government can effect.

When we adverted to so much of the morality, or
rather the immorality of this great town, as comes
under the immediate cognisance of the police, we re-
ported observations that we conceived entitled to the
more attention as coming from the prompt suggestion
of casual visitors,—and we did of course connect the
evils complained of with the inefficiency of our local
government. • A liberal contemporary, the Liverpool
Journal, we perceive, has undertaken their defence, and
it consists, not in a denial of the facts which formed
the subject of observation, but in an allegation that
things were worse under the " old regime," and that
now they are just as " well as could be expected."

The first part of this allegation it is the business of
our contemporary himself to prove ; the statement is
his, and not ours; and we acknowledge that, for our
part, we do not possess the materials which would
enable us to establish a comparison ; all we shall say
therefore is, that if things were worse under the old
corporation than they are under the new, they must
have been very bad indeed ; but it rests with otir con-
temporary to establish that'position
With regard to the other branch of his pleading, that
namely which contends that affairs are at this moment
in as high a state of moral and police perfection as they
are capable of being, we must allow him, in the first
place, to speak for himself. He reasons as follows :
" The existence of vice every one must deplore ; but it is
always a very nice mitestion how far the mere keeping " nui-
sances out of sight, tends to abate the enormity. In a very
large town, with a numerous maritime population, with a
constant influx of strangers and young men, to have the
same decorum as in a country vil:age, is manifestly impossi-
ble. On the judgment with which the effort is made,, it,
success very much depends; and it is extremely doubtful
that anything is really gained in virtue by too official inter-
11,renee. In no town in the kingdom has the effort to repress
4
public exhibition and all secret encouragement of vice
been successful. The rich sinner can never be reached, and
to declare war exclusively against the poor ones would be
OdiOus and profitless. The police have acted under orders,
and we believe their orders are to repress anything like an
open outrage to decency, and to obtain evidence against dis-
orderly houses, for the purpose of founding indictments,
of which many are found every. sessions. But this is not
such easy work as the Standard imagines. The most des-
potic governments have found themselves under the necessity
Of conniving at vices which it is out of the power of man to
extinguish. The police are alWays ready to apprehend any
one who violates public order, and the watch committee to
listen to the representations of any householders who _have
good reason to complain of their neighbours, and to indict,
if evidence can be found."
Now, the beSt reply which we could give to this rea-
soning would be a reprint of the report of the police
committee for the last year, in which the number of
unfortunate females, and disorderly houses, is set forth;
and a statement of the numerous robberies and out-
rages which have been committed in consequence of
the acknowledged toleration of these evils; a list of
parties fined or committed, and such other statistical
tables and statements as might serve to show to what
extent the licentiousness and immorality complained of
exist. But any evidence of this kind which we could
adduce would necessarily come short of the reality ;
the very proposition to be established involves the
assertion that the offences and vices referred to
are suffered to pass without notice, and conse-
quently that -no record remains (of mortal registry
at least) of their occurrence. It has been calculated,
we are informed, that property to the amount of

X 25,000 per annum changes hands by robbery in
disorderly 'houses in this town. During the last win-
ter there were numerous cases of spoliation, in which
the sums of money or _articles of value, or both,
abstracted were considerable ; but we shall not attempt
to "make out a case." We have put forward no state-
ment which would bind us to such a proceeding; and,
in fact, that which we have given currency to, is not
disputed, and therefore requires no evidence to support
it. The question raised by our Liberal contempdrary
is, whether, upon a certain known and admitted state
of facts, all improvement must not be hopeless: We
have reached, according to his view, the very highest
point of perfection. We are as moral and decorous as
so large a community could be expected to be : he
believes the police have orders to repress " any thing
like an open outrage to indecency ;" and as—" the
most despotic governments
,have connived at vices
which it is . out of the power of man to extinguish"—
what more or what less could be expected from the poor
" Watch Committee" of our reformed Town Council ?
We do not look upon the matter as one belonging
exclusively to the " Watch Committee ;" but what we
have said, rd do uow say, is, that from a Conservative
Council
we would expect, generally, results and con-
sequences more favourable to the cause of order,
morality, and decorum than we have seen under Whin'
Administration. Our contemporary thinks that this
is an extremely amusing reason for turning out the
"
Liberal Councillors." We are glad it amuses him,
and we only wish he may find as much amusement in
it when the Liberal Councillors are actually " turned
out" on this very ground. And, may we ask, what
better reason could there be for dismissing the pack ?
Surely, men that " connive" at public licentiousness—
men who are afraid to enforce the laws against vice
and debauchery—men who 'are so much the slaves of
a false popularity that they durst not interfere for the
repression of the most open and offensive profligacy,
are not fit to fill the office of Councillors either in the
Watch Committee or any other department. Weak-
ness of this sort is a natural vice of Liberalism, and
we entertain no hope of its amendment; we turn,
therefore, to Conservatives and to Conservatism, and
from them we naturally do expect a different class of
results. We might refer to this head a large amount
of Sabbath desecration, against which we might reason-
ably expect that the voice and influence of the local
government would he raised ; but here also, as else-
where, we find our reformed Council totally destitute
of moral force. And what is the cause ? It is liberal,
anti therefore necessarily constrained to silence; it is
liberal, and therefore a mere nonentity, which can
produce nothing, or nothing good, for ex nihilo nihil
fit— liberal, and therefore a mere incutnbrancC or
nuisance, which ought to be removed with all conveni-
ent dispatch. •

Mr. Ashworth, having the fear of the Manchester

Guardian before his eyes has, we perceive, addressed a
second letter to, the editor of that journal, apologising
for the dreadfully illiberal act of the magistrates of
Rochdale in committing a man, under the- statute of
Elizabeth, for not attending church on the Lord's Day.
Mr. A. establishes a triumphant case ; he shews that
the magistrates acted properly ; that they had a dis-
orderly, drunken fellow to deal with, and that the
sentence pronounced upon him was by no means
greater than his misconduct deserved ; and yet he so
far coincides with the liberal party as to say that
"fining for neglect of church is not suitable to the
present age." He leaves in doubt the question to
which side the unfitness is discreditable. In our
opinion it is to the age that it is so ; the law is a good
law; but the spirit of the age has receded from, and
now revolts at it; we are lesi religious than our
ancestors, and require to have the law liberalised to

our views.

But the Guardian harps on a different String ; he
insists that " whether the law does, or does not want
amending, it is exceedingly improper for a magistrate
to usurp the functions of the legislature, and to inflict
a punishment which the law does not warrant." It
happens, however, that the law does warrant the
punishment inflicted by the magistrates in this case.
The lawfully warranted the punishment for the simple
offence of not attending public worship; the magistrates

put it in force because in addition to that breach of
duty, the offender was also guilty of profane and dis-
orderly conduct on the Sabbath day. The.man not
being able to pay the fine and costs, remained in prison :
the particulars were these :

" William Carlton, committed Jane 29th, 1840, by Clement
Rcyds and William Chadwick, Esquires, for neglecting to
attend divine worship at Butterworth. Imprisoned until he
paid Is. penalty, and 14s. costs. Discharged by an order
from the Secretary of State.
September 12th, 15:40."

The severity of the punishment then arose from the
inability of the party to pay the fine, and from no
limitation being prescribed to the imprisonment in con-
templation of that event—a contingency which might
have happened whatever was the nature of the offence,
and might have arisen from an oversight of the
magistrates, or an omission in the laNi. But was this
the original ground of complaint, or was it not simply

that the non-attendance of public worship should beat
all the subject of statutory animadversions ? Whether

the fine were one shilling, or one penny, and whatever
consequences might attend the non-payment of the
penalty, the (Puce to the liberal party would have

been all the same, for it would have been a penalty for
neglect of church, and therefore, as Mr. Ashworth says,
" not suitable to the present age." It was in reviving
such a statute that the Rochdale' bench so highly
offended the dignity of liberalism, and not in assigning
to one delinquency, the penalty due to another, as the
Manchester Guardian stupidly persists in saying.
Really what with free trade, and perpetual twist, the
learned editor of that cheap-bread journal does some-

times appear to be a little beside himself. We could
not avoid saying so much on a subject on which he
labours so hard to stultify himself.