The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-08-31 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL
STANDARD.

Sin,—l here send you notes of a speech deliverd by Mr.
E. Ratcliffe, on Monday evening last, at the meeting of the
Operative Protestants, held in Hackin's-hey School Room.
Should be glad if you can spare them a place in your next
publication.—Yours, &c., A CHURCHMAN.

MEETING OF OPERATIVE PROTESTANTS.
SPEECH OF MIS. E. RATCLIFFE.
At the meeting of Operative Protestants, held on Monday
evening last, in the Hackin's-hey School Room, Mr. E. Rat-
cliffe delivered the following speech :
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen}, if ever there was a
time in the history of our country when Protestants were called
upon to be "up and doing," that time is the present. It can-
not be denied that Popery is progressing, and threatens, ere
long, unless checked in its progress, to overflow our native
land. She has put on the mask of charity, in order that she
may deceivethe unwary ; for we have a Popish bishop in Ire-
land who writes to the Protestantsof England, and calls them
"beloved fellow christians," at the very time that he is circula-
ting the atrocious, abominable, and persecuting doctrines, of
Dens in Ireland•—(Loud cheers.) And we have in our own
town a Popish priest, who has sworn to the decrees of the
council of Trent, which anathamatizes you and me as here-
tics; yet goes up into the pulpit in St. Patrick's Chapel, and
says to his audience, "It is a charge brought against our
church that we condemn to everlasting perdition, all who do
not belong to our communion. I should blush for myself and
for you. my dear friends, if such sentiments could finds place
in our hearts. No, we believe that many out of every creed,
Protestant, Methodist, and Quaker, will be saved." This
was uttered by a man who has sworn to the decrees of the
council of Trent, which anathematizes all Protestants as he-
retics.—(Cheers.) Thus Popery is deceiving the unwary,
and making progress through the land, building her chapels,
founding her nunneries, and establishing her schools. There
are, I believe, at the present, 18 nunneries, those dens of ini-
quity, and about 500 mass houses, those temples of idolatry
and superstition, scattered over the lands of once Protestant
England, and, unless we arouse ourselves, and raise one uni-
versal cry of " no popery"—loud cheers)—from east to west,
and from north to south, popery will regain the ascendancy,
England will again become the slave of Rome, and the idola-
trous mummeries ofthe papacy, will be substitute for the beau-
tiful, scriptural, and soul-cheering services of our church.—
(Cheers, and loud cries of never, never.) She will never be
satisfied with any thing less than the ascendancy, at that she
is aiming, and towards that, I am sorry to say, she is advan-
cing in Ireland. There has been, within the last three months,
52 Roman Catholics appointed to places of trust in that un-
fortunate country, through the influence of O'Connell and his
tail.—(Laughter and cheers) But popery finds the Church of
England a barrier in her way; for the Church of England has
been, and may she long continue to be, the bulwark of Pro-
testantism.—(Cheers.) In order. therefore, that she may gain
the ascendancy, she will endeavour to sap the foundation of
the church.—(Hear, hear.) I know they will not avow this
at present, but, indeed, there are some who are beginning to
speak out on this subject. I have before me an extract of a
letter written by Dr. M•Hale, a Popish bishop, to the Bishop
of Exeter, which proves my assertion. In speaking of the 10
suppressed Bishopricks in Ireland, he says, " It is some con-
solation to reflect that the legislative axe is laid to the root
of the establishment. The pruners of the ecclesiastical vine-
yard have not read the Roman history in vain, and already,
ten of the lofty plants which poisoned by their narcotic influ-
ence, the wholesome vegetation arc laid low. This, doubtless,
is a prelude to a further and more enlarged process of expur-
gation. With every successive measure of Reform, existing
abuses will be removed until it is to be hoped not a vestige
of the mighty nuisance wilt remain." Now this Is speaking
out. He calls the Church of England a " mighty nuisance,"
and hopes, that ere long "not a vestige of it will remain."
Now this is rather a curious document.—(Laughter.) He
calls the Radicals "the pruners of the ecclesiastical vineyard,"
and he speaks of " the legislative axe laid to the root of it."
Now, I think, that it would be rather a novel way of pruning
a tree, to take an axe and strike at the roots of it.—(Laughter.)
He speaks also of "reform" and "a process of expurgation."
Now these papists are very fond of purgatory, and I have no
doubt whatever that Dr. M'Hale would be very glad if the
Church of England was there undergoing a "proof of ex-
purgation." (Loud laughter and applause ) And I verily
believe, that if the Church of England was to be in purga-
tory to morrow, neither Dr. 111`fiale, nor Father Maguire,
nor any other popish bishop or priest would conic forward to
say a single mass to get her out. (Continued laughter and
cheers.) Again, be calls the Church of England " a mighty
nuisance." Yes, Popery found the Church of England a
" mighty" bulwark against her innovations, and, therefore,
she is considered a" mighty nuisance," and long may she
continue to he a mighty nuisance in the estimation of every
papist and every revolutionist. (Loud cheers.) But I tell
Dr. M`Hale that it is not the Church of England that is the
" mighty nuisance," but the Church of Rome. The Church
of England is a mighty blessing, carrying the waters of life
to every corner of our land. edifying by her heavenly doc-
trines every spiritual worship far withinrher happy enclosure,
directing the heavy laden sinner to cast his exclusive depend-
ence for salvation on the sacrifice of Calvary, and cheering
the weary pilgrim with the prospect of a glorious immortality
beyond the tomb. (Loud cheers.) But the Church of
Rome is the " mighty nuisance," keeping her deluded
votaries in darkness and superstition, and unless merciful
Heaven interferes, she will lead them down to the regions of
eternal death—(hear, hear)—yes, I repeat, the Church of
Rome is the " mighty nuisance," and I tell you what else
she is. I tell you in an acrostic what she is. She is the
Prolific source of every woe!
Of all the numerous ills that flow :
Produced by sin, and nurs'd by hell;
Enthroned within thy bosom dwell
Revenge; and fire and sword attract
You, mark thy footsteps to their end!
(Cheers.)
Yes, the Church of Rome is the mighty nuisance, for upon
her forehead is written, "Mystery, Babylon the great, the
mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth." (Tre-
mendous cheering.) And ere long, " not a vestige of this
mighty will remain," for the vengeance of Heaven shall fall
upon her, and the cry shall go forth through the length and
breadth of the universe, " Babylon the great is fallen, is
,fallen!" (Loud cheers.) But this may not be yet. The
Lord may for our lukewarmuess and unfaithfulness suffer
popery to become predominate in this land. But some may
say, we see no danger, no cause for alarm; and if it should
be the case, it will not come in our day, therefore we have no
reason to be concerned. But, oh! should we not endeavour
to preserve inviolate the blessings handed down to us by our
forefathers, and cemented with their blood—blessings gained
for us by the death of a Ridley and a Latimer,'a Cramer
and a Hooper, and transmit them unimpaired to our children,
for where is the christian parent that can bear the thought,
that perhaps at some future time, when he is gathered unto
his fathers, the children whom he loves as his own life, may
be initiated to bow down before a crucifix, to attend at the
idolatrous sacrifice of the mass, or be subjected to the ordeal
of the dark confessional. (Loud cheers.) Our duty to our
children demands that we should exert ourselves. So does
our duty to our country, the land of our nativity—the land
that welove—for popery, wherever it comes, brings national
calamities in its train. And our duty to our God demands
it, for popery dishonours God, by stripping the Saviour of
his glory. (Cheers.) And we have a duty to perform to
our poor deluded Roman Catholic countrymen. We should
do all in our power to bring them out of the darkness of
popery into the light of God's eternal truth—for they are a
benighted and priest-ridden people. Look at the Roman
Catholics of Ireland, a more enslaved and priest-ridden
people are not to be found on the face of the earth. This I
can prove from the testimony of the Rev. I. W. Dixon, for-
merly a Roman Catholic priest, in an impoverished parish
in the County Mayo. I have here a list of dues exacted by
the priest of the parish alluded to, published by Mr. Dixon
which with the chairman's leave, I will read to the meeting
They are as follows:

£. s. d.

Charge of 2s. 6d. on each house yearly: gross total
of families, 800 100 0 0
Collection of corn worth is. 3d. from each house 5O () 0
Collection on Christmas-day and Easter-day, by a ,
rule in the parish, 6d. each time from each house 40 0 0 ,
Collection from young people in the parish, making
an average of two in each family, at 6d. each, at
Christmas
Do. do. at Easter 4O 0 0
150 baptisms, at 3s. 4d. each
-10 marriages, at £1 Bs. 2d. each 56 6 8
Legacies on deaths, average 40, at 10s. each, inclu-
ding the price of a mass to remove the soul from
0 0
purgatory
Charge for anointing, Is. H. each time—average,
200 times .
Private masses for private intentions, price varying 15 0 0
Making offices for sick cattle, at ls. Id. each—ave-
rage number, 150 8 2 6

Total • £405 5 10
£lOO paid out of this to the Bishop, for holy oil and other
expenses of the parish, leaving a balance of more than
£3OO as the emolument to the priest.
(The reading of the above caused considerable laughter.)—
The speaker continued :—When I first read this, 1 did not
exactly understand the meaning of these " offices for sick
cattle." I thought that the priest must be a farrier, or cow-
doctor, (loud laughter,) and that this item of £8 2s. fid. must
be the amount of charges upon the parishioners for attend-
ance and medicine for their sick cattle. (Continued laugh-
ter and cheers.) But I recollected having read in the Pro•
testant Penny Mayazine—edited by that man of God, the
Rev. Edward Nangle, who was Mr. Gregg's chairman in
the late discussion—something about cattle hearing mass,
(laughter,) and I will now read it to the meeting. Here it
is: the article is headed "Cattle hearing Mass," and is as
follows :—" It was a fine Sabbath morning in summer, when
all nature seemed to unite with the sacredness of the season
in inviting God's intelligent creatures to holy and joyful
meditation, that M— heard the noise of some cattle passing
at the end of his house. He at first supposed that it might
be his own cows, which he had driven out to graze in the
mountains, returning to seek refuge under the friendly roof
from the oppressive heat of the sun, and the annoyance of
the flies. On going to the door, however, be discovered the
son of one of his neighbours driving several cattle before him,

Where are you going with the cattle at this hour of the
day ?' said M—. lam driving them,' said the boy, with
that careless gravity with which a common-place question is
usually answered, I am driving them to mass.' (Laughter.)
To mass!' exclaimed M ' Yes,' continued the boy,
without taking notice of the surprise which his extraordinary
announcement had excited, to mass; the priest is waiting
yonder for them.' Fhe little boy pursued his way; the cows
were assembled, and the priest said mass for them." (Laugh-
ter.) Mr. Nangle continues—" We pledge our veracity for
the authenticity of this story. Indeed, the circumstance to
which it relates is one of common occurrence, and by no
means limited to the mountainous and secluded district
which was the scene of the particular transaction described
above." " They offer masses," writes the Rev. Mr. Nolan,
in his second pamphlet, " for the prosperity of houses, lands,
cattle, and various other appendages of property." Oh!
does not all this prove my assertion, that the Roman Catho-
lics of Ireland are a degraded and priest-ridden people?
We should pity them—we should pray fur them—and be-
seech them, with earnest affection, to flee out of Babylon.
(Loud cheers.) And let us do all in our power to resist the
tide of Popery in our own land, and, if possible, to drive it
back to Rome, its native place ; and let not " the Bishop of
Rome ever have any jurisdiction in this realm of England."
(Loud cheers.) But it may be asked, "What can we do ?"
I will tell you one thing that. I think we ought to do, and
that is, to form an Operative Protestant Association in this
town. (Loud cheers.) I have thrown out the hint, and I
hone it will be acted upon. I shall now, at this late hour of
the evening, conclude, and, like Father Maguire when he
was beaten by Mr. Gregg. gather up my books and run
away. (Loud laughter, and long-continued cheering.)