The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-04 00:00:00

the part of the Established Church,-or anything novel or

intereeing

readers

Payment shall be punctu-

lc made for all such papers

You would further oblige me

them to be sent as early as possible,

and in case

of anything of great importance, perhaps you would favour
me with slips. It will afford me pleasure to mention the name
of your journal as authority for anything taken from it.—l

am, sir, yours respectfully,

EDITOR OF THE PATRIOT.' "

This letter was forwarded in a printed form: and
was, no doubt, as conjectured by our excellent contem-
porary, the Greenock Advertiser, " one of a number of

circulars sent about the country to newspapers which
are supposed to be of the right stamp." We rejoice
to find that it has been made public, as it will serve to

show the indefatigable exertions made nue of by the po,
Weal dissenters in order to bolster up their charges
against the Established Church. There must, how-
ever, be a most deplorable want of grievances when
such practices are resorted to. It is somewhat amu-
sing to find " instances of bigotry and intolerance on
the part of the Established Church" characterised as
information " novel and interesting to religious read-
ers "

The " religious readers" of the Patriot must
have a peculiarly morbid taste if they find such infor-
mation "interesting." We cannot but infer that it
would be highly uninteresting to this " religious pub-
lic" to hear of the good and charitable deeds of the
clergy of the Established Church. This gives us a
very unfavourable opinion of the Christian charity of
these " religious readers." Such conduct savours
very strongly of " bigotry and intolerance': of the most
repulsive character. If the editor of the Patriot finds
it to be so indispensable to cater for the depraved ap-
petites of the grievance-mongers, let him turn his at-
tention to the " bigotry and intolerance" of the Popish
priests in Ireland. Or let him institute a few inquiries
into the proceedings of certain liberal town councils
nearer home, and we venture to say that his meek-
spirited, amiable, and most truly " religious" readers,
will find ample gratification in the "interesting" disclo-
sures which he will be able to make. To assist our
distressed brother in his laborious search after " in-
stances of bigotry and intolerance," we will just men-
tion one which has fallen under our observation. It
has always been a custom, from time immemorial, for
the newly elected mayor of Liverpool to attend the
Parish Church, in his official capacity, on the first
Sunday after his election to the civic chair. This year
we happen to have a liberal mayor, who is also a Uni-
tarian of the first water. The " bigotry and intole-
rance" of this gentleman would not permit him to
comply with the custom to which we have alluded ;
and the annual collection made on the occasion for the
support of the Blue Coat Hospital, showed a conside-
rable diminution, in consequence of the absence of the
usual procession. Let the editor of the Patriot duly
chronicle this piece of intolerance.

Our contemporary the Albion, who may be consi-
dered the especial organ of the dock warehouse clique,
affects to treat the remarks which we offered on Friday
last as emanating from the warehouse-owners, and our-
selves as the advocate of their individual interests. In
this capacity we are said to have "hypocritically" pro-
fessed an interest in the welfare of the dock bondhold-
ers which we do not feel, and endeavoured to excite
their alarm, with the view solely of advancing the self-
ish objects of those whom, it is presumed, we repre-
sent.

With all due deference to the Albion, we cannot see
any discredit in representing the views or advocating
the interests of this particular body of men--the ware-
house-owners,—obnoxious though they may be to
some of our exclusively " liberal" fellow-townsmen;
and we are not at all offended at being deemed their
representative. We can see no reason why the parti-
cular species of property in which their interests and
capital are embarked should be excluded from any
protection which the press can afford, and why a mo-
nopoly should be erected at their expense without re-
monstrance.

We dare say that it is a little inconvenient to the
advocates of the warehouse scheme, that the subject
should be agitated at this particular moment. It
would be unfortunate if the creditors of the dock es-
tate should commence just now to distrust the spe-
c;ous representations of Mr. Alderman Evans and his
friends, and to examine for themselves the tendency
of those concessions which our contemporary makes
so light of. The opinions of the constituencies of Li-
verpool on the subject have already been demonstrated
with sufficient plainness ; and we dare say that it would
be an awkward contretemps, if a body of men, whose
claim to the consideration of the legislature is so great
as that of the bondholders, should step forward to
throw the weight of their influence and their position
into the same scale.

And what has our contemporary advanced to shew
that this should not be their course of proceeding ?
Has he attempted to refute one of our arguments ?
Not one. We are now coolly told that the claims of
Runcorn are to be conceded as a matter of necessity,
and that those of the landowners must follow; that
the present dock estate is to be embarked in the race
of competition ; and yet the creditors of that estate
are to look on, as unmoved and unconcerned specta-
tors, whilst their interests are thus penned ! The
Albion congratulates them on the fact, that their secu-
rity is at present ample. But will he or any one else
tell us how long it will continue so ?

This question, we repeat, is now no longer a ques-
tion of conflicting individual interests; and the sneers
of the Albion and his party at the warehouse-owners
are, therefore, thrown away. It is not merely ware-
house property which will be wantonly and fraudu-
lently injured by the bill itself, but the entire property
existing within the borough of Liverpool will be dete-
riorated by the clauses sought to be introduced in it.
Admitting all the advantages claimed for it by the
most strenuous advocates of the scheme, those advan-
tages would result only to a small portion of the com-
munity; whilst, by the concessions which we are asked
to make in return, a principle will be established which
must ultimately he prejudicial to the existing property
of the town.

Surely, then, when it is admitted that the measure
can only be obtained at such a price, it is time for our
fellow-townsmen to ask whether it is not proper to
pause, and rather to compel the abandonment of the
bill than allow it to proceed against such an opposition
as it is now threatened with. At any rate, let the ob-
noxious features of the bill be struck out. Let the
dock trustees go to parliament for such powers as are
strictly and absolutely required; let them present a
measure which shall have the hearty support of their
fellow-townsmen—which has not political jobbery
upon the face of it. Let them go before the legislature
with such a bill, and they will be able to pass it, as
they have done former bills, without the necessity of
submitting to encroachments which would never be
attempted except against a party weakened by divi-
sion, and by the notoriety of their dishonest views.

Since our last publication, in which we offered a few
remarks in reply to'Mr. Briarly Browne's letter, on the
subject of the Pastoral Aid Society, we perceive that
the Rev. C. \V. Lawrence, the secretary to the Liver-
pool Association in aid of that society, has published,
in the columns of our contemporary the Courier, a
defence of the line of conduct pursued by the society
on the recent occasion. We intended, in our present
number, to follow up our preceding remarks, but, on
reflection, we think it best to transfer into our own
columns the whole of the excellent letter of the local
secretary, and here let the matter rest. Mr. Lawrence's
letter so completely and triumphantly vindicates the
policy pursued by the Pastoral Aid Society that, had
it appeared a few days earlier, we should not have felt
called upon to write a single word, on the subject.
We earnestly intreat our readers to peruse Mr.
Lawrence's letter. They will there find laid down the
principles upon which the Protestant Aid Society is
based—the plan of its operations—and the regulations
which it has adopted, as well as the application of
those regulations to the case of Mr. Browne. Mr.
Lawrence very justly remarks that, in Mr. Browne's
case, " there was want of delicacy, at all events want
of judgment, in being ready to receive pecuniary sup-
port from a society whose principles he disliked."
There is also another passage in Mr. Lawrence's
letter which we recommend to the notice of our
readers. lie says—" It is evident that theme are dif-
ferent views of church principles existing among
churchmen. It is not possible to hold either class of
principles, and yet be at peace with those who think
differently 1" Our readers will bear us witness that
we did not commence the attack. We merely stood
forth in defence of the Pastoral Aid Society, when it
was most needlessly and ungenerously assailed.
One word, however, in parting with Mr. Browne.
He has amply proved, under the authority of his own
signature, that we did 1-um no wrong by calling him a
Puseyite. He has voluntarily acknowledged his belief
in some of the most obnoxious doctrines and dogmas
of the Oxford Tractarians. He has ratified our as-
sertion that he excluded from the benefits of the cove-
nant of mercy all who do not belong to what he and
the Tractarians call the church. According to his
views, the members of the Church of Scotland, the
Wesleyan Methodists, pious dissenters, yes, and the
great mass of the Protestant community, in all parts of

the world, are not entitled to any part or portion in do
" covenanted mercies" of God. We ask, therefore, in
conclusion, have we not his own evidence in support
of the charge of Puseyism ?

It is necessary that we should warn our conserva-
tive friends of the exertions which the radical faction
are now making in preparation for the next munici-
pal election. Stung and mortified at their recent de-
feat, and trembling for their future, fate, they are de-
termined to try every possible expedient, legal or ille-
gal, in order, f they can, to regain their lost ascend-
ancy in the administration of our local affairs. We
hear of immense sums of money already subscribed or
promised—of an astonishing degree of activity among
the agents of the Reform Association and the Protec-
tor Society--of an application to Parliament for a bill
to legalise the practices so recently condemned in the
Court of Registration—and of a grand attack that is to
be made upon the Parish-qffices at the next general vestry
meeting. Our conservative friends must narrowly
watch the doings of the faction. They ought to be
immediately in the field, with candidates chosen, and
committees organised, in preparation for the grand
struggle which will take plaCe -next year. The Poll
Book, which is just published, will be of very material
assistance in carrying an an active and persevering
canvass. The conservatives of Liverpool much also
watch with scrutinising eyes the progress of any act
that may be introduced, during the next session of
Parliament, for the amendment of the Municipal Cor-
porations Reform Act. There is a deep plot laid, which
we hope, in due time, to expose to public scorn.

We learn, with equal surprise and disgust, that Mr.
Quayle, in defiance of the opinion pronounced against
his right by the Court of Queen's Bench, has deter-
mined to retain his seat as member for Everton Ward,
or, rather, to withhold that seat from Mr. Shand, to
whom it rightly belongs, until an issue is sent for trial
at the next assizes. This line of conduct reflects no
credit upon Mr. Quayle or his advisers, and can only
serve the purpose of entailing upon himself and Mr.
Shand additional expense. We feel confident that the
jury who will have to sit upon Mr. Quayle's case will
pronounce against him, and that he must be ultimately
unseated. Mr. Shand will be the sitting member long
before the first of November next. We leave Mr.
Quayle to reflect whether he might not now walk out
of the council with a much better grace than he can
expect to do after he has been ousted by the verdict of
a jury.