The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-16 00:00:00

THE STEAM SHIP " COLUMBIA."

This vessel was anxiously looked for during the whole of
yesterday, but up to the time of our going to press, no
tidings had been received of her. It will be observed,
from our shipping intelligence, that the Queen Victoria,
from New Orleans, remained at anchor between the
Floating Light and Ormshead front the 9th to the 14th
instant, and could not get up owing to the fog. It is
not improbable that a slight detention may have been
experienced by the Columbia from a similar cause, or
she may have been kept for a short time at the other
side of the Atlantic, in order to bring some despatches
for the British government. Of course no anxiety is
manifested respecting her, as she cannot yet be con-
sidered overdue. We are ready any moment for a
second edition.

Ethrrpoot &tattbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 16, 1841

When the Popish member for all Ireland blesses
Heaven for any extraordinary gift, one naturally feels
alarmed as if some evil tidings were to be expected, or as
if some public calaMity had happened. It will be recol-
lected that but a few evenings since he gave Heaven
thanks that the doctrines of the Oxford tract school of
theology were " very close to the ancient Catholics,"
and spreading widely in our church. Now if this
statement were true, and also one that sincere members
of the church could have reason to rejoice in, we sup-
pose it will be pretty generally admitted that Mr. Da-
niel O'Connell would never, in reality, " bless Heaven"
for being enabled to make it.

The statement consists of two parts—the first refer-
ring to the nature and character of the doctrines
taught, and the second to the extent to which they
have been disseminated. Were we to examine it mi-
nutely, it would obviously lead us into a theological
discussion in the first instance, and into an inquiry of
fact of considerable difficulty in the second ; but with
neither shall we trouble our readers at present. We
enjoy the pre-eminent and decided advantage, in con-
nection with the Church of England, of having settled
articles, creeds, and formularies, which render it un-
necessary for individual members of her communion,
whose churchmanship has been once settled, to make
themselves uneasy about new teachers, commentators,
and .expounders who may start up within her pale. We
do not say that errors in this kind ought not to be
combated in a suitable place and mode; but we main-
tain that the church, settled as it is in doctrine and dis-
cipline, by articles, canons, and prescriptions, affords a
bond of union to her children without exacting perfect
unity of sentiment upon all points ; and that those
who wish for peace within her walls are not called upon
to prove the goodness of their churchmanship by sub-
scribing to the Oxford Tracts, or any other unautho-
rised publications pretending to be expounders of her
doctrines, or indeed to trouble themselves about such
productions at all either in the way of acceptance or
refutation unless under some peculiar circumstances of
provocation.

Whether the Oxford Tractarians, in case of meeting
with all that success to which their unknown ambition
may aspire, would leave the church in possession of
her gloricus Anglican liberties, and. admirable forms, is
a point that certainly does not admit of conclusive de-
termination. Judging by what we have seen of their
writings, we should, for our part, say that they would
not.

There is too evident a leaning on their side to the
Judaising formalities of Romanism for a modest con-
tentment of this sort. Rome is, in their sympathising
view, of near kindred with us—our " elder but erring
sister," as they say ; and, according to their interpre-
tation, we have seen that our church is " not to be
considered as condemning purgatory, image, and relic
worship, invocation of saints, masses, and so on, as
they are taught authoritatively by the Church of Rome,
but only absurd practices, and opinions which intelli-
gent Romanists repudiate as much as we do."
We have heard, and indeed know it to be a fact,
that a learned and pious divine of the Church of Eng-