The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-24 00:00:00

country ?

But we must reduce the question to a still more
simple issue. The great, the overwhelming majority
of the population of Great Britain are undoubtedly
attached to the Church of England. This is a fact
which we believe few will have the temerity to dispute.
A reference to statistical details would irrefragably
Prove the correctness of our opinion. Of course, we
include the Wesleyan Methodists in our calculation,
for, although not actually members of, they claim alli-
ance with, the Church
of England. Here, then, we
have the groundwork for a
system of national educa-
tion, including religious teaching, which shall "meet
with the approbation (lithe majority." All we have to
do is, to make the doctrines of the Church of England
the basis of such a system. If this be done, and if
adequate means be furnished for carrying it into ope-
ration, we have no hesitation in saying
nerations that many
ge not • pass away, before such a system
of religious teaching would obtain " universal appro-
bation." Its. fruits would be too visible and too pre-
cious to admit of any. cavil, excepting from the scoffing
reprobate or the blaspheming infidel.
We trust that. the editor of the British Farmer's
Magazine not, so regardless of the moral character
and spiritual interests of his countrymen as to advo-
cate a system of national education its character. Purely secular in
The experience of all ages proves that
such a system is productive of nothing
evil. Know led but unmitigated
ge, unsanctified by religion, is a curse
rather than a blessing.. • Learning, elevated and digni-
fied by association with religious principle, constitutes
the only true nobility of our nature. " the Lord is Me 'BEGINNING OF WISDOM."The fear of

_ .
We are glad to find that the Bishop of Exeter has
iven notice of a motion in the House of Lords on the
subject of Socialism, With a view to the suppression of
that pestilent and demoralising s
ter of ystem. It is no mat-
surprise to us that the dandified ex-dictator of
Ireland, who now presides over the Home Department,
should treat the subject with indifference. wbe
wonderful, indeed, if any minister,
rt Owen and acting
his filthy pub-
es under ould e-
ma pr
ier that introduced Robe
lications to the Queen, should feel or evince any anxiety
on the score of public morals. T
tnanby he Marquis of Nor-
was quite consistent in treating the questions of
the Bishop of Exeter with supercilious contempt.
What is it to him that Socialism should spread its
baneful poison throughout the land ? What is it to
hits that a fatal blow should be struck at the very foun-
dations of society? Has he not the example of the
premier to plead in justification of his contempt of an-
tiquated prejudices in favour of
Nortna morality;' But let Lord
nby know—let Lord Melbourne know—that
English fathers will. not allow their wives and daugh-
ters to be blackened and maligned by such a wretch as
Robert Owen.
.Let them know that a system so utterly
subversive of
..morality, so destructive of natural affec-
tion, so beastly in its character, as Socialism is proved
to be, shall and must' be crushed—if not by the force
of public feeling, by the resistless arm of the law. So-
cialism must be suppressed; this is demanded b
tice, virtue, and, even common decency. y jus-

" The pear is ripe." The day has
becomes the imperative d arrived when it
uty of the Conservative party
in the House of Commons to endeavour to drive out
of office the present imbecile, corrupt
servin,truckling, time-
s, self-loving, hypocritical, and most thoroughly
degraded administration. In this matter, we are happy
to say, endeavouring is all that is necessary on the part
of the Conservative phalanx in the House of Com-
mons. They constitute, it is our sincere belief, a
numerical majority of the House of Commons, if the
ministers holding seats in that House be left out of the
calculation. The leaders of the Conservative party,
among whom it is a source of pride to enumerate such
men as Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, and Lord
Stanley, are a host in themselves. The House of
Lords is ready to second the efforts of the Conservatives
in the Commons, and to aid them in crushing the
present unworthy ministry. Above all, the country is
impatiently waiting some decisive effort on the part of
the friends of the constitution in the House of Com-
mons. The people of England are utterly sick and
disgusted with .the misgovernment,trea-
chery, and double-distilled knavery of Lordeculati Melbourne
and his associates in office. The people of England—
We mean the loyal, the peaceable, the Protestant, that is,
the overwhelming majority of the people—are eagerly
Panting for an opportunity of throwing off the incubus
that now presses upon the springs of this country's
Prosperity. That incubus, that paralyzes the body
Politic, and holds • its energies in thraldom, is none
other than the present pro-Popish, anti-English, and
desperate administration. To doubt the prevalent
anxiety for the.downfalkof the. ministry "would argue
4 man to be either a fool Or.a,reckless postponer of the
troth. We beliere:there is' hardly an individual within
the three kingdomi,:thatlwould 41eny 'the triumphant
eendancy of ConsethativeAjrinciples, 'excepting the
°''eat liar himself,:,(eyet 4-not -Mean: :Satan hut O'Con-
-11:11), whose denia3voulthiottly :he construed as the
te/i
4°llgest evidence.:of the -fact fOr which we are con-
h
\lre have sailthathiPtat The country
‘liting for some movement which shall imperil the

existence of the present ministry. We rejoice to add
that that movement will take place on the 28th instant.
On Thursday a motion will be made in the Commons,
declaratory of their want of confidence in the administra-
tion, unless, indeed, the Whigs. should determine upon
a dissolution in the interim. Sir J. Y. Buller's motion
will, unless it is baulked and shirked by the expedient
to which we have alluded, bring the strength of the
ministerial party to the test. We are glad to find that
the leaders of the Conservative party are determined
to support the motion which will be brought forwards
on Friday next. This is as it should be. The Fabian
policy has been pursued long enough. The country
has been brought to the verge of a fearful revolution.
All our national interests are fast approaching ruin.
England, under the rule of Whiggery, has been
degraded in the scale of nations. The time has come
when the vessel of the state must be rescued from the
hands of the present crew, before it is dashed to pieces
on the rocks of perdition. There must be no shrink-
ing from the impending contest. If the leaders of the
Conservatives are found at their posts—and of their
disposition to be so we have every assurance—it is no
less the duty of every other Conservative member in
the House of Commons to record his vote in favour of
Sir J. Y. Buller's motion. We shall narrowly examine
the list of the division, and point to it as an infallible
test of the sincerity of those who have been returned
to the House of Commons, on the strength of their
Conservative professions. That list will be of incalcu-
lable use at the approaching general election. From
it the Conservative electors will know their men, and
know how to act when any of them again claim their
suffrages. We may be accused of -expressing ourselves
strongly on this question. We do so because we feel
strongly. We feel that any dereliction of duty on the
subject of Sir J. Y. Buller's motion would be an act
of treachery—treachery towards the Queen—treachery
towards the constitution—treachery towards the Esta-
blished Church—treachery towards the vital interests
of the country.
• Until the results of the pending elections are ascer-
tained, it would be premature to speculate upon the
probable majority on the division which may follow
Sir J. Y. Buller's motion. The elections now in pro-
gress will. in a great measure, determine the majority.
We do not, however, forget that there have been defec-
tions from the ministerial ranks. We do not forget
that Lord Howick and Mr. Wood are now sitting, in
sullen silence, on the cross-benches. But, whatever
may be the result of the approaching struggle, the
Conservatives must not quit the field, after once
throwing down the gauntlet. They must worry Lord
Melbourne out of office, as the Whigs worried Sir
Robert Peel. They must compel them to dissolve Par-
liament, and then—the country will look after the
rest.

The case of Stockdale versus Hansard, about which
so much time has been lost in the House of Commons,
has assumed additional features of interest since our

last publication. The sheriffs have been committed
into custody by the Commons; while the Court of
Queen's Bench has fairly thrown down the gauntlet, by
making the rule absolute for the payment of the money
to Stockdale or his assignees. The House of Com-
mons and the Court of Queen's Bench are thus in
open collision. The whole circumstances of the case
are painfully humiliating. What have the sheriffs
of Middlesex been committed for ? The plain and
unequivocal answer to this question is, they have been
committed for refusing to disobey the Queen's writ, and
to violate their oath of office! This is the plain matter
of fact. Again, we would ask, what is the privilege
set up by the House of Commons, under cover of
which so extraordinary a committal has taken place ?
The direct answer to this is, the House of Commons
have claimed, and, as far as lay in their power, asserted
the privilege of giving its own arbitrary will the force
of law, and of superseding the constitutional tribunals
of the country! Such is the construction put upon
the proceedings of the House by the whole Conserva-

tive press of Great Britain. Such is the view taken
of the matter by the great majority of the most learned
lawyers i❑ the realm. Such is also the opinion of the
Judges of the Queen's Bench.

The more we reflect upon the recent proceedings of

the House of Commons, the more satisfied are we that
our original opinions on the subject were perfectly cor-
rect. The privilege claimed by the House is diametri-
cally opposed to the principles of the constitution, and
utterly subversive of the liberty of 'the subject. Well
might Lord Denman exclaim that " the opinion of the
House of Commons, whatever it may be, and however
it may he expressed, could form no ground whatever for
arrestiny the course of justice, or preventing the Court
of Queen's Bench from rendering, through the means
of the Queen's writs, that justice which they were bound
to render to every one of their fellow-subjects." This
language is worthy of the unsullied, uncorrupted, and
independent character of the British Judge. The Jus-

:ices of the Court of queen's Bench have done honour
;o themselves by the unflinching manner in which they
Have asserted the supremacy of the law and the dignity