The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-06 00:00:00

-

TO TAE EDITO.' OP THE, LIVELTOOL
SI o,—That Protestantism is identified with our civil libertiea
is a fact which ne man can deny, who possesses any acquain-
tance with civil of. ecclesiastical history. The spirit which
animated • our forefathers, and caused theist to unite in defetice
of Protestantism as the great bulwark of, British freedom; has
been aroused amongst our clergymen, toose tte.voted
pions of our faith; and great numbers ace now buckling on
their armour, and preparing to engage in the holy strife of con,
tending for the faith which was opce delivered to the saints.
The circulation of religious tracts, under the supetimendence
of our clergy, and treatises on the Most prominent and mis-
chievous doctrines of the Rornish'Church, has beau atteuded;
under the blessing of God, with the most beneficial res....ts, and
has caused the greatest alarm and dismay amongst those who
are appointed to defend this mystery of iniquity, and who fear
that the light of divine..truth, which is dissipating the darkness
in which their Church has, been so long enveloped, should pro-
voke a spirit of inquiry, and lead men to peruse the word of
God from a sincere desire_ to learn the way of.salvation. To
counteract the "mischievous designs" of these men, and to op..
pose the circulation of the sacred scriptures, great efforts are
beirig made by the Runtish priesthood; and the Rev. T, Ma,
guire, a Roman. Catholic priest, of some .notoriety, has been
selected to defend and uphold the doctrines of Popery. Fur
some time past this zealous and " talented -defender of the
Church" has been delivering controversial lectures on the due-,
trines of the :Rumish Church, and has at length thrown down
the gauntlet of defiance to our Protestant clergy, and expressed'
his determination cheerfully and readily to meet the revilers of
his religion, Influenced solely from motives of curiosity to hear
this " triutoPhant.defender of 'Catholicism," I visited Seel-street
Chapel on Sunday evening last. The subject of discourse wu
the Catholic "Rule, of, Faith," a subject which has excited the,
greatest interest, as forming a principal featu re in theological cone
troversy, and I indulged the most sanguine expectation that, froth
this talented defender of the Runtish Church, I should hear a'
clear, concise and satisfactory exposition of the "Rule of Faith,',
Judge then my surprise sir, whtn instead. of listening with
pleasure to this famous " scholar and lo,;ician," I encountered
a coarse and vulgar buffoon, whose discourse was destitute of
all argument, and at variance with the most simple roles of logic;
whosesole object appeared to be, to throw contempt upon the.
holy mysteries of our religion, and desecrate the altar by
culing the nature, duties, and obligation of the moral law. But,
sir, lest I should be accused of lack of charity, or of speaking
anything contrary to truth, .1 beg to lay before you some of the
remarks which this " triumphant defender of Catholicism" made
in the course of his observations, and leave you and the public,
to form your own opinion. In introducing the subject of the
infallibility of the homish church, the speaker remarked that.
the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ was not established in the
sacred scriptures, imany proportion to the infallibility
.of the
church; and for this .simple reasou,—The Lord foresaw, that
for one man who would deny the divinity of our Saviour, 5,000
would deny the infallibility of the !furnish ehurch,..and,ha4
consequently afforded the most positive proofs in its favour.
His next observation which merited attention was, that they did
not contend for the infallibility of the Pope, nor for the infalli,
bility of those men who constituted the councils, regarding
them as individuals,ibut as they were assembled to approve
articles of faith inuAr the immediate promise of the Holy
Spirit that lie would remain with them even to the end of the
world, they were infallible as regarded all their acts pertaining
to the church. Several texts of scripture were quoted to show
the prosperous and flourishing state of the church, and by e
singular chain of reasoning, this triuMphant defender of catim7
licistn, connected them with the glory, security, and prosperity,
of the Roman Catholic Church. I should refrain, sir, front
adducing any proofs iu support of a charge of contempt fur the
ordinances of religion, as such conduct, however,necessary for
the maintenance of truth and exposure of error; has a tendency,
to detract from the reverence we owe to every thing which
emanates from GO; but, sir, I feel it a duty to toy Protestant,
brethren, and especially:- to those reverend gentlemen who
are challenged to the controversial arena, to show to
them the folly of entering. upon a theological discussion
with a man who despises the law of God, makes a mockery
of sin, and burlesques the proceedings of the judgment day,
This, sir, , is a serious charge ; now for. the proof,—ln
speaking of the advantages enjoyed by the Roman. Catho
lies over their Protestant brethren, the rev, gentleman directed
the attention of his audience to the proceedings of the last
judgment, and gave the following as a plea, which he supposed
might be urged between the judge and the criuiinsl, in ex-
tenuation of the guilt of the latter. Ou the judge passing sen-
tence against the transgressors,. the criminal, if a Catholic,.
might say :—Have I not obeyed the Church ? Did you not pro...
mise you would be with the Church to the end of time? Did

you not promise to preserve it from error ? If I have done
wrong in obeying the Church, was it not in accordance with

your own command ? The Protestant, in his defence, could
not advance a single argument. He aught say I not
obey your commands ? Did I not search the scriptures? Did I.
not interpret them according to my own private judginent ?
But the judge would sav:—" Out of thine own mouth will I con,
demn thee, thou wicked servant." You are confessing your
own ignorance before me, and yet you profess to have read the
scriptures. Did you understand Hebrew? No! Did you un,
derstand Syriac? No! Then how could you ever read:Ail
scriptures, when you were not acquainted with the tongue in
which alone I revealed them? Depart, ye curved, Ste. This.
Sir, is but a poor specimen of the manner in which this "defen-
der of the faith" ridiculed the sacred and solemn ordinances of
religion, and held them up to the jeers and laughter of bia
audience. Worthy champion of such a cause! He very foci-•
bly reminded me of Rabshekah, who was sent from the Kink of
Syria to blaspheme the God of Israel, end the result will.prove
the same, the manifestation of Jehovah's power in restraining
the wrath of man. The Church of Christ, strong in the pro-
tection of their head, may take up the language of the pro-
phet, and say to this " triumphant defender of Catholicism,"
" The virgin, the daughter of Zion hath despised thee and
laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken,
her head at thee." This " triumphant defender of catholicism "
must bear in remembrance that, in inviting to controversy, it
must be on such terms as can be acceded to without a compro-
mise of the christian character. He must entertain the con-
viction also that the cause of truth is best promoted by abstaining.
from all personal acrimony, from low cunning, and from vulgar
abuse. Let him but- abide by the strict, fair, and impartial
rules of controversy—adhere to those laws which are laid,Alown
as 'the guide trt useful docnssion—advance no argument but.
what is drawn from correct prethises, and can be substantiated
by an appeal to the sacred scriptures, (for to this test most all
articles of faith be brought,) and he will find no lack or cham-,
pions to enter the lists, who will devote every talent they possess
to the exposure of error and advancement of truth. el he most

successful appeal which can be made to an intelligent audience,
and one which in the days of the apostles vanquished even Jew-
ish prejudice, is this:—" I am not mad, but speak forth the
words of truth and soberness." As I intend, on a future occa-
sion, to solicit your kind indulgence, I shall not, on the present,
trespass on your space, but subscribe myself, yours, Sze.
rrnEoPnitus.