The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-17 00:00:00

FRIDAY MO RNING,. DE CEMBER 1.7; 1841

l'he Procureur-General of France, in the opening of
his speech upon the trial, before the Court of Peet*
of Quenisset and his'accomplices—(who, it will be re-
membered, are the parties implicated in a late murder-
.ttack made upon the sons of Louis Philippe,
whilst entering Paris at the head of the' troops re-.
turned from the African campaigns)—remarked that
" in all similar criminal aggressions which during the
last ten years had called for the interference of justice,
one and the same principle predoMinated—one and
the same object was constantly revealed. The motives
which inspired all these impotent attempts could not
possibly be mistaken. It was no other than the over-
throw of the political and social order of the country
and the downfal of the constitutional monarchy."
There can be no doubt of the perfect correctness of
this remark. There can be no doubt in the mind of
any man who has paid ,ordinary attention to the deve-
lopement of popular opinion in France, and especially
in Paris, during the last ten years, that a strong under-
current of revolutionary feeling of the basest and most
bloodthirsty description-7unmingled with one particle
of generous enthusiasm—not elevated by one virtuous
and ennobling aspiration—L-runs deep below the en-
forced and deceitful calm which is spread over the sur-
face of society in that kingdom.. The heart of France
is black with suppressed passion•, throbbing with wild
longings for blood and outrage. Her feelings are
those of the dragon chained down until the venom
with which it is surcharged threatens to shoot forth
from its glaring eyes, whilst its scaly form swells in
vain and agonizing efforts to break asunder the iron
links which bind it to the earth. The struggling ele-
ments of a volcano are within her breast; and the oc-
currence of a clay or an hour may enable them to burst
forth in a torrent of headlong crime and slaughter, and
once more to strike a blow for the mastery over the
devastated and prostrate kingdoms of Europe.
And to what must we attribute the existence of this
monster passion which animates the great mass of
French society ? From whence this " wild unrest"-'---
this feverish longing- of a nation to rush into that
blood-stained path whose horrors in time past drew
down upon her the execrations of the whole world,
and entailed upon her own children so fearful a weight
of retribution ? The spirits which of old goaded -her
into action—the warriors who held up before her eyes
the trophies of her countless battle fields, which
dazzled and intoxicated her with the vision of her uni-
versal supremacy—the theorists who deluded her with
the dark whisperings of their false philosophy—all
these, or nearly all, Time has hurried from the scene of
their Mingled infamy and glory. A few old men are all
which remain of her scarred veterans and of her
younger heroes. 'The record of its disastrous eclipse
is all which remains of the glory of " the empire ;"
and the charity which allowed him a grave within the
bosom of the land which he once lorded over is the last
memory entwined with the name, of the Chief whose
genius alone conferred a transient splendour upon that
revel of blood from which he awoke the ensanguined
myriads of France to turn their frantic energies against
the thrones of Europe• What can there be in the
its crimes, its glories, or its humilia-

past, per se---

—to excite the spirit which is smouldering in the
breasts of this, a new generation ? Nothin

lutely nothing

It is no longer the fever of those fearful and mad_
dening.days which is burning beneath the surface of
French society. A quarter of a century has glided
away, and the past is now history—a dream. We
look, therefore, to other and less tangible causes
as the source Of the present " unrest " of thisexcita-
ble people. And to what does the authority which we
have above quoted point ? " With all," remarks the
Procureur-General, " that is calculated to ensure the
happiness of a great people, France has in her bosom
torturing sores ; and as long as they
*to Ike can. never. rely .upon a coritinuan,ce of .public.

two for

P 44 4iti;

tTiri

1:-f,

wl.gt Lira these 4544 044 evito.,,tbtau
`corroding and torturing sore." which taint to foul,
ness the heart of society in France ? Why, tha exist-
ence of secret societies and of a corrupt anti-social and
anti-monarchical press ! The toleration of these by
the government of Louis Philippe is the cause of the
oft-recurring outbreaks and the sour,e of the danger-
ous feeling which they develope ! Can blindness, we
ask, be more blind, ignorance be more ignorant, than
that of the man who can deliberately propound such
an absurdity ?- Why, these two" 'corroding sores "
these secret societies and this traitrous press are but
themselves the outward excrescences thrown up by
the rank disease within. They are but the blotches of
the fever—the smoke and ashes emitted by the labour-
ing volcano. At the root is a thing more deadly far—
an evil which has once before plunged France into
anarchy and blood, and which is destined, we fear, to
do so again, and within'a brief period.
France possesses amongst her people no vital reli-
gion I The minds of her people are either sunk in in-
fidelity, open and avowed, or in practical infidelity
glossed over with false philosophy or hid behind the
folds of Popish superstition. She cast from her, in
the reign of her arrogant philosophy, amid the splen-
dours of her Revolution, all that was solid and practi-
cal along with the external adornments of the religion
which she possessed, and she has received nothing to
supply its plaCe. She threw from her that religion and
its teachers not because of their errors, but because
she prided herself in being able to stand alone by the
unaided lights of reason and vain philosophy ; and now
a generation has grown up to maturity upon the soil
which was thus prepared, has been nurtured in merely
secular knowledge, has been fed with philosophy, has
drunk only from the fountain of reason, and has never
been led to that spring from which alone can be im-
bibed the vivifyirig waters of the living truth.

Yes, France in her present condition, teeming with

the elements of social disorganization, outrage, and re-
volution, is a living example of the effects of mingled
" Liberalism " in politics, Voluntaryism in Religion,
and of S.III,AR EDCUATION ! The existing gene-
ration of Frenchmen is- the _natural fruit of the com-
bined working 'of these --baneful principles ; and the
present insecurity of the social institutions, the peace,
and the monarchy of France, is the effect produced.
And yet it is to the adoption of such a system, based
upon such principles, and which must produce such a
state, of society, that the Whig and Radical faction
would most gladly hurry the government and the
people of this country !

There is a reciprocal action between the political and
the religious influences of the Romish church, and
they assist each other most essentially. The religion
creates a political party ; the political party, feeling its
dependence on the religion, is very grateful, and gives
its aid to the religion in return. This is one of the
main pillars of the Popedom. The political influence
acting this'kind part, is not confined within the pale
of the church; it goes far beyond it. Thus you find
Protestant Dissenters who have gone to the antipodes
of Popery, religiOuift, throwing a shield over its doc-
trinal errors, and deprecating an exposure of its inhe-
rent vices, merely because, in a political way, they find
a convenience in its support, and a support in its alli-
ance. Its political support is at least valuable enough
to neutralise the odium theoloyium of Dissenters of this
class, and if they cannot defend its theology, they will
not allow,others, so far as they can prevent, to attack
it. Some, indeed, will even go farther, and would
grant away money for engrafting its errors on the
youthful mind, or for endowing colleges, or remune-
rating priests for teaching it. Ask these men, do they
approve themselves of the lessons which they would
so'generously have others taught ? and they reply at
once that they do not; that their conduct does not
imply anything. of the sort; that on this point they
suspend-all judgment; and all that should be inferred
from their acts is, that they desire to live on good
terms with their neighbours, and gratify their wishes
to the utmost extent irk their power, without entering
into any nice inquiry as to the nature or character of
those wishes, or the results likely to fellow from their
gratification:. Thus it is that political Popery enlists
so many Protestant Dissenters on its side, and that un-
happy Romanists who groan beneath the thraldom of
their church, and long to cast it from them, can enter-
tain no hope of being encouraged in such a step, or
protected iii't4e performance of it, by politically-bound
serviles of this order. Such vassals of the Popedom,
though calling themselves Protestants, would be very
sorry to involve ,themselves in a quarrel with Roman
Catholic priests, or influential laymen of their party,
by showing favour to deserters from their camp. The
tyes of temporal interest are stronger with them than
those of futurity,,and converts to the true faith must
expect- no patrOnage at their hands.

With those who are actual members of the Romish
communion; the political affiliation must necessarily be
still more influential; Protestant confederates would
not dare to countenance converts from Popish error,
but Romanists, would persecute them, and think they
were " doing God service."

Truly the state of men in whose minds some rays
of the light of truth have penetrated, but who are still
kept outwardly in bondage—we speak chiefly of the
humbler classes of Roman Catholics—is sufficiently
deplorable.
We have been led into these reflections by a special
service which was held at St. Jude's Church on Wed-
nesday last, for the purpose of receiving into the com-
munion of the Church of England some converts from
the Church of Rome. ,A crowded congregation as-
sembled to witness the interesting ceremony, and the
Rev. Mr. M'lsleile preached, as he usually does, a
highly impressive discourse on the occasion. He ad-
verted to the topic at which we have been glancing,
and spoke more expressly of the hardships and perse-
cutions to which converts are exposed, even in this
town, on making an open abjuration of the creed of
Pope Pius IV. He mentioned also the fact, that of
eight persons who expressed their anxiety to be re-
ceeived on that day, into the ancient Catholic Church
as by law established, and of whose sincerity and in-
telligence he had been satisfied by careful exami-
nation, three had been wrought upon by some
means since a late hour on the preceding even-
ing, arid had failed to witness that good confes-
sion which, up to so recent a period, they had appeared
both well prepared and anxious to do. The reverend
gentleman did not allude to this circumstance, cer-
tainly, as a proof of the extraordinary power or acti-
vity of the persecuting influence ; but it strikes us very
strongly as being corroborative testimony to this effect.
It is scarcely credible that these defaulters acted upo'n
the dictates of their own unbiassed judgment, when,
after having previously gone such lengths, they were
found at last wanting at the solemn moment when
they were called upon to appear. We have no hesita-
tion in expressing our own conviction, that they were
either terrified or tampered with by some of the many
scouts which Romanism keeps perpetually on duty to
prevent such desertions from its ranks. Such a " spi-
riting away" of individuals is quite an ordinary prac-
tice in the Pope's Church, when their perfect freedom
of action would be likely to cast upon her the intole-
rable stigma of abandonment; and it is therefore, in
our mind, a strong and incontestable proof of the great
amount of undue influence which a convert from Ro-
manism must overcome before he asserts his freedom
of action, and makes a public recantation of his erro-
neous opinions, even in such a locality as Liverpool.
Is there no remedy, then, for this evil ? Can no help-
ing hand be given to persons thus struggling with
conscience, and endeavouring to emancipate themselves
from the yoke of error, and the tyranny of their fellow-
men ? We say, Yes ; we say, that as it is party com-
bination which gives so much baneful efficiency to the
persecuting spirit, so it is a party combination of the
generous and good, which can mar its power, and
defeat its machinations.

It would be the greatest possible blessing to Ireland
(and to England also), if many of her people could be
delivered from the merciless slavery in which they are
hound by the fetters of priestcraft ; but, highly as we
esteem the religious, and what we would call the intel-
lectual, means put in operation for this purpose, we do
not think, in all fairness, and with due regard for
Allman weakness, that they are enough. Popery is a
louble system, and must be encountered with a two-
.dged sword. We say, then, strengthen Conserva-
; let us extend and consolidate not only our reli-
gions, but our • political, Protestantism and party, in

orie n'ty itf3

tiforw Ihvito
ri-mni2ts tp 'join Fankct ct c 1 yroteo, thim gfrocifia!

when they do. I?ilJeralizioi, we may perc.pive, is nc,
friend to real freedom : it ip a poor, canting, cringing,
hypocritical professor—eaten up with selfishness, in
the midst of much hollow pretension; it would not
move a finger to rescue a fellow-creature from destruc-
tion, if the effort would occasion the slightest risk to
itself. It is a poor bending willow ; Conservatism, on
the contrary, is near akin to your true Old English
oak, and may be relied upon as a support under all
difficulties.

The Irish government has instituted a prosecution
against a man, named Connor, for the use of seditious
language—and the fact is taken as ominous of impend-
ing damage to the rebel party. It is a symptom of
vigour on the part of the executive which we hail with
the greatest pleasure ; and we sincerely hope the blow
will be followed up, till gentlemen In red cloaks and
cocked hats are duly impressed with the conviction
that the game of treason is one which .they cannot by
any means play at with impunity under-a Conservative
administration. It has been seen that Repeal of the
Union is but another name for a declaration of inde-
pendence, and that the foul deformity of treason is but
flimsily covered by the pretence of seeking the rescind-
ment only of a legislative enactment. The act of
union was, it is true, but an act of parliament ; but it
was, at the same time, one which gave a new settlement
to the constitution of the kingdom—a great charter of
incorporation which can never be cancelled without
tearing the kingdom to pieces. It has been suggested
that a supplemental act ought to be passed, making it
a misdemeanour for any one to propound such a ques-
tion for debate as the repeal of the great statute ; but
we are not disposed to such an infringement upon the
liberty of the subject. The question might be dis-
cussed innocently, and yet in such a way as to offend
against the letter of the law; and it is not liberty of
thought, or of speech in the abstract, or in the detail,
which we wish to abridge, but the base designs and
practices of a disloyal faction, These intents may be
discovered through the veil of an ostensibly-legitimate
purpose; and an honest jury would unquestionably feel
itself bound to convict that man of treason, whose ac-
tions (whatever might be. his words), they saw clearly
tended to shake the allegiance of his fellow-subjects,
and inspire them with a hope of throwing off the au-
thority of their Sovereign. On these grounds we
should hope that the existing laws against treason
would be found sufficiently strong to take some of the
more obnoxious of the repealers within their meshes—
and that no other will be required.
The necessity for a wholesome exertion of au-
thority on this subject has been made particularly.
evident by the extraordinary, and, we must say,
presumptuous and most offensive " sympathy " exhi-
bited by certain Americans towards the Irish sedition-
ists. The Times has noticed this matter in a very
powerful article, and speaks of the remonstrance which
it is incumbent on our Minister to make with the
American Government on the intermeddling of its
people with the affairs of other countries, and the
direct encouragement both by money and promises—
not to speak merely of sympathy—which they give to
the disaffected within them. But from such a remon-
strance we expect far less than we do from the activity
of the law-officers of the crown on the immediate scene
of action. Has it been demonstrated to the Americans
that we-do really hold this repeal agitation in Ireland
in that decidedly criminal light in which it is now de-
sired to represent it to them ? Certainly the \V higs
gave them no reason to think that we were much in
earnest. on the subject; on thp..contrary, their close
and intimate alliance with the arch4aitor might have
led them to quite an opposite conclusion. We must,
therefore, commence the work of amendment at home.
After a few of the domestic seditionists have been
gagged, our remonstrances will tell with far better
effect on the mind of the republican sympathisers.