The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-10-13 00:00:00

TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS

In consequence of the length of our report of the speeches
at the anniversary of the Protestant Association the
publication of the STANDARD of Friday last was
unavoidably deferred for several hours. Though we
regret much the inconvenience occasioned thereby to
our subscribers, both in town and country, the delay
enabled us to present our readers with a report such
as we believe has never been equalled in Liverpool in
the same space of time, and with " the excellence and
accuracy of which," we are glad to say, the principal
speaker on the occasion has expressed his gratification.

TO CORRESPONDENTS

Mr. Stuart's Lecture on Richard the Third has been
received, and will be noticed on Friday.
Mr. George Holden's " Church Music." We have re-
ceived a copy of this admirable collection of Sacred
Music, and shall notice it in our next.
We shall furnish "A Conservative" with an answer in our
next.
We must request our correspondents to exercise a little
patience, as we have very heavy arrears to bring up.

Ziberpoot A,tanbarl3.

TUESDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 13, 1840

In the present critical state of our foreign relations
it is impossible to contemplate the progress of the re-
peal agitation in Ireland without feelings of deep anxi-
ety. If this country should be involved in a war with
France and her allies, it will become a matter of the
most serious consideration whether internal commo-
tions are, or are not, likely to augment the difficulties
of our position. It is on this account that we conti-
nue to watch the proceedings of Daniel O'Connell and
his traitorous associates. The mysterious, but not al-
together unintelligible hints, which have dropped from
the lips of the arch-demagogue, in reference to the
part which the Popish population of Ireland are pre-
pared to take, in the event of a war, render it impera-
tive upon us to scan his language and to mark his
movements from week to week. If we do not greatly
mistake, there is a storm brewing in Ireland which
nay be attended with far more serious consequences to
this country than even a continental war. An alliance
with France is almost openly avowed as the ultimo ra-
tio of the repeal agitation. O'Connell has more than
once publicly vaunted the advantages which Ireland
presents to a foreign power for carrying on warlike
operations against England. He has dilated with great
apparent glee on the ease with which, aided by the dis-
affected Popish millions of Ireland, France might secure
the future independence of that country. These threats
ought to be carefully marked.
It would appear that no sooner had Lord Ebrington
avowed himself to be an enemy to repeal—though the
avowal was made in such a milk-and-water sort of
style as to convey an impression that there was nothing
hearty in his enmity—no sooner, we say, had this
avowal been made, than O'Connell came forth once
more from his seclusion to enter with more zeal tha
ever upon his career of agitation. He laughs at the
disapprobation expressed by his minion, the Lord.
Lieutenant. He is on his march through Ireland
rousing the population in all directions, and exciting
them, by the most inflammatory language, to disaffec-
tion and rebellion. He expresses his open contempt
of all authority, and dares the executive to interfere
with his proceedings. The principal topics of O'Con-
nell's harangues, as on all former occasions, are, the
" millions of fighting Irishmen," who are ready, at his
beck, to plunge the empire into all the horrors of civil
war, and the prospects of an alliance with the Popish
governments on the continent, and especially with
France.

In the meantime, it is not irrelevant to ask, in what
manner has Lord Ebrington followed up his hesitating
protest against the repeal agitation ? Our paper of
this day will afford the answer. It will be perceived
that he has literally " run away" from the enemy who
has hitherto exercised so tyranical a sway over him,
and over the ministry of whom he is the representative.
He has left O'Connell a clear field for carrying on his
agitation. Instead of manfully showing by his actions
the sincerity of his professions, he has basely deserted
his post in the hour of danger, and preferred the in-
glorious retreat of Castlehill to the discharge of his
duties to his sovereign and to his country. Such is
Whig courage ! Such is Whig principle !
We may be accused of exaggeration. Those who
may feel disposed to indulge in such an accusation
must possess a marvellous degree of ignorance respect-
ing the language indulged in by Mr. O'Connell. Let
such individuals read his speeches delivered, on Wed-
nesday last, at Limerick. In one of those speeches he
makes the following boast :—" I perceive I have the
game in my own hand, if I put know how to play it. I
perceive, if there be no false step taken, that we, I re-
peat it, have the game in our own hands, and the union
we shall see repealed. This is no idle boast, no vain
anticipation. Did I not see to-day 60,000 Irishmen,
with physical force capable of overpowering any that
resisted, with spirit and daring capable of setting at
defiance any power ?" This appeal to the "physical
force" of the Papists of Ireland is a constant staple of
all the speeches of this truculent demagogue. He
harps upon this question incessantly. His allusions to
Kosciusko and Washington are all of the same charac-
ter. They are all accompanied with a glowing descrip-
tion of the "struggles for independence" which marked
the career of these " great leaders of the people." His
reference to the case of Belgium is of the same charac-
ter. REBELLION is the grand end at which O'Connell
is aiming. It is necessary, therefore, that his proceed-
ings should be narrowly watched. It may be soon
found necessary to arrest the hoary ruffian in his wild
career.

" Another great amphitheatrical display of bigot: y,
intolerance, and all uncharitableness !" were the words
which our eloquent townsman on Thursday last sug-
gested for the use of his Whig-radical commentators.
We suspect, however, that the text will not, on this oc-
casion, lee so easily seized upon. The day is gone by
in which protestants were to be driven from their posts
by the shafts of ridicule. We are no longer to bg

scared by a name or turned aside by a light laugh or a

mocking sneer,

It has indeed been the fashion of this liberal age to
associate with the terms bigotry the proceedings of
meetings similar to that of Thursday last. We have
heard names such as those of M‘Ghee, Stowell, and
M`Neile, stigmatised as fanatics and agitators ; and
this too by professing churchmen—by Protestant En-
glishmen. We have lately seen one of these illustrious
men dragged into a court of justice and amerced for
giving expression at a public meeting to a fact, the
occurrence of which has never been and cannot be de-
nied. But are we therefore as Protestants—as liberal
Protestants—to suppose that we are justified in with-
holding our sanction from efforts so nobly and fear-
lessly made for so noble and righteous a purpose ?
No. The slave of Rome, who fears an exposure of his
iniquitous and blood-stained creed, may deprecate the
expression of Protestant truth ; the lukewarm church-
man who allows his religion to succumb to his worldly
interests, may deprecate the expression of that truth ;
but the earnest and sincere Christian will regard a de-
monstration such as that of Thursday last, as one of
those redeeming passages which the recording angel
will select to brighten the history of an age dark with
apostacy and political error.
It is not however in the light of mere demonstrations

—" displays " of Protestant feeling—that we now re-
gard the enthusiastic assemblies which crowd our am-
phitheatre at the invitation of these champions of our
reformed religion. It is not because at these meetings
Protestantism is strengthened in the hearts and in the
judgments of thousands of our fellow-countrymen that
we are anxious to award to them our approbation ; but
because they strike at the root of that blinding supersti-
tion which has been too long permitted to overshadow
the land—because the searching exposition which they
afford to the iniquities of popish doctrines and practice
are thus presented in a popular form to the eyes of
Roman Catholics themselves ; and the great truths of
the reformation offered to their dispassionate consi-
deration, clothed in tke fervid and impressive language
of sincerity, and freed from the casuistry in which they
have been studiously hidden by Romish theologians.
It is because such is beginning to be the operation of
our Protestant meetings that they are regarded with
terror and jealousy by the priesthood and the advocates
of the Roman Catholic religion. They feel that the
temple of the Juggernaut which they have erected is
about to be cast down ; that the secret springs and ma-
chinery of the superstition which they impose upon
mankind are about to be unveiled. They see a hand
stretched forth to break the rod of iron with which they
have tyrannized for long ages over their duped and de-
frauded victims ; and they shrink with guilty fear from
its crushing grasp. The truth is hateful to Rome. The
free expression of opinion, in which Protestants love to
indulge, she shrinks from with affright. She dreads
to hear her mysteries, her mummeries, and her im-
postures grappled with by the keen intellect, and de-
tailed by the glowing eloquence of a M`Grhee or a

Stowell. She would gladly stifle, were it in her power,

every expression of Protestant truth—every exposure
of her own fraud and falsehood ; but the effort she
knows now would be fruitless and mad. She has tried
alike sneer and sarcasm, and, lastly, she has even ven-
tured upon persecution. But the attempt has recoiled
upon her own head. The truth will not be stayed, and
shall not be stifled !
We owe it, then, as a duty to our Roman Catholic
fellow-countrymen, to encourage, by every means within
our power, the efforts now making by our Protestant
associations for their enfranchisement from the thral-
dom of mind and body under which they are bowed
down by their tyrannical priesthood. Bigots do they
call us ? It is against bigotry that we war. Are we
intolerants ? Far from it. We seek to put down and
trample upon intolerance. We are striving to gain for
our fellow-christians the privilege of approaching the
throne of mercy in their own persons, without the ne-
cessity of prostrating themselves at the confessional, or
satisfying, by degrading acts of penance, the tyrannical
requirements of a brother worm. We seek to open to
our fellow-christians the Book of Life, and to enable
them to drink of the healing spring from its fountain.
Are we, then, uncharitable ?
But there is another and an important light in
which we must regard the proceedings of the Pro-
testant Association. It must be borne in mind that
England is no longer a purely Protestant state. The
Protestant bulwarks of our constitution have been
yielded up to the insolent demands of treason. Popery
sits in our high places—in our houses of parliament,
and in the council chamber of our Sovereign. An
insolent priesthood—nursed in bigotry, and bloated
with the spoil wrung from the hard hands of an igno-
rant and enslaved people—dares to intrude even into
the levees of royalty. Mass-houses and convents
spring up throughout the land ; and beneath the very
walls of the palace, the cowled priest shakes hands
with the infidel, the Socinian, and the Socialist, as
they plot together new fetters for the minds and con-
sciences of freeborn men. Shall we, then, tamely and
basely submit our necks to the yoke of the enslaver ?
Shall we yield up without a struggle the little that is
left us of our once-glorious constitution ? No : we
will not be so degenerate—so cowardly—so unwise.
We will fight the battle of the constitution by striving
to raise up that strongest bulwark of Protestant liberty
—a sound Protestant democracy. We will oppose to
Rome—to her falsehoods and her serpent wiles—the
stern determination of an industrious, intelligent, and
convinced population—the middle and humbler classes
of Great Britain, whose minds and judgments neither
the jesuit cunning nor " the pomp and circumstance"
of Papacy can turn from the loyalty and the faith of
their fathers.

It is for such a purpose that we regard as invaluable
the efforts of our Protestant champions and the pro-
ceedings of our public meetings: Let the liberal
churchman sneer at those efforts ; let the sectarian
denounce them as uncharitable; let the shallow truck-
ler to expediency babble upon the fancied evil of min-
gling religion with politics. They cannot—they ought
not to be separated. A state without a religion can no
more exist than a body without the soul; and it is the
duty not only of the legislator—not only of the patriot
—but, more than all, it is the duty of the Christian
clergyman, to watch that the softening influence of
religion be not excluded from the government of a
Christian people.

And in this duty we trust that our clergy and our
conservative laity will steadily persevere. If the cause
of good order and good government is to be promoted,
by what means can that object be better attained than
by the dissemination of scriptural truth amongst all
classes of our population ? If liberty of conscience is
still dear to Englishmen, what course is so likely to
enable us to preserve it as a constant and unshrinking
exposure of the falsehoods of that tyrant church which
is hourly striving to introduce in its stead the slavery
of superstition ? In this favoured land we do still en-
joy that liberty of conscience. The homesteads and
cottages of merry England are still illumined by the
unpolluted light of gospel truth. With us the Bible is
yet permitted to remain a household book; and surely
there is no u ncharitableness—no bigotry in striving to
procure the same solace for our Roman Catholic fel-
low-countrymen. We may in doing this disturb oc-
casionally the self-complacency of some very liberal
and sensitive people ; we may occasionally disturb the
dreams which haunt the dark cloisters of Maynooth ;
we may occasionally drag to light the mysteries of the
confessional; or the trenchant and unanswerable testi-
mony of a McGhee may fasten a charge of treachery
and perjury upon the Romish hierarchy. We may
occasionally do things that " make even drowsy pre-
miers start upon •their couch ;" but we have the con-
solation remaining that the cause itself, in which we
are engaged, is one from which no good man and no
sound Protestant nc ed stand aloof, from any dread of
moral pollution.

The " meeting of Welsh Reformers," (as it is some-
what facetiously desi€ mated by the wag of the Chronicle,)
which took place on Friday night, at the Music Hall,
was one of the most laughable failures that we have
witnessed for some time. By some means or other a
report was spread, a day or two before the meeting
took place, that the Welsh residents in Liverpool were
not likely to respond to the call made upon them by
"Thomas Lloyd, Esq." and his clique, and it was
found necessary to pack the room with Protectors—
yes, with Irish Papists of the lowest class—in order to
intimidate tl le really Welsh portion of the auditory.
Accordingly, on our entrance into the room there was
scarcely a W elsh face to be seen among the central

The " Welsh Reformers" had ensconced them

selves behind the barriers of the platform. The side
seats were chiefly occupied by Welsh Conservatives.
The entrance of a number of gentlemen, connected
with the commerce of Liverpool, who were known to
be Conservatives, was the signal for general acclama-
tion from those of their countrymen who were stationed
in the body of the room. This movement seemed to
have greatly chagrined the Reformers on the platform.
Their confidence was, however, partially restored by
the entrance of Mr. John Rosson, the Popish barrister,
and chairman of the Protector Society, whose entrance
into the room elicited great applause from the Irish
" hereditary hodmen," who had generously come for-
ward to " protect" the " honest Welshmen." Mr.
Rosson occupied a conspicuous station on the platform,
and acted as fugleman to the Protectors during the
delivery of the Welsh speeches, waiving his handker-
chief as a signal when the cheers were to be given.
What a farce it is to call this a Welsh meeting !

In commencing the proceedings the chairman took
especial care to intimate that no opposition or interrup-
tion would be permitted, and that if any parties present
ventured to propose an amendment to any of the reso-
lutions, he should be handed over to the custody of the
police. He then proceeded to state that the object of
the meeting was, the formation of a Welsh Reform
Association. Why was not this object avowed in the
placard ? Why was the approaching municipal elec-
tion exclusively mentioned as the subject of discussion ?
It is plain that the greater number of the Welshmen
present went to the meeting expecting to hear some
reason for reserving their votes until the meeting was
over. Our object in going there was to oppose any
recommendation to the Welsh to vote on the radical
interest. We found this also to be the feeling of a large
majority of our countrymen present. When the chair-
man was requested to give an explanation, and to per-
mit those Welshmen present who were adverse to the
alleged " object of the meeting " to retire, protesting
against the proceedings of a meeting so constituted, as
expressive of the opinions of the Welsh rate-payers of
Liverpool, the attempt to obtain a hearing was responded
to by a wild Irish howl, such as caused no little aston-
ishment to a few strangers from the principality who
happened to be present. This howling silenced every
remonstrance. Among such ruffians there was no chance
whatever of a fair hearing. Amidst the confusion, the
chairman contrived to pass the first resolution, which
he had the audacity to declare to be " unanimously
carried," without deigning
.to ask the non-contents to
hold up their hands. It was, in truth, carried by the
Irish Protectors, of whose alliance we wish Mr. Lloyd
and his tail much joy. We hope to see many more such
Irish-Welsh meetings, for the fun of the thing.
But the meeting of Friday has done good in one re-
spect. It has roused the Welsh ratepayers of Liverpool
to a sense of the indignity offered to them by the pre-
sence of a horde of Irish repealers at a meeting of
Welshmen, We understand that arrangements are in
progress for the formation of a "WELSH CONSERVA-
TIVE ASSOCIATION "in this town. A meeting for
this purpose will be speedily convened; and we have
no doubt that such a society will prove more than a
match for the mongrel society which has just been
formed under the distinguished auspices of " Thomas
Lloyd, Esq.," Mr. William Rathbone, Mr. Irish-Welsh
Alderman Evans, Mr.Fuglemanßosson, and the howl-
ing worthies of the Protector Society.

The proceedings in the municipal revision court have
almost ceased to excite any feeling of general interest.

We may, indeed, say that they are chiefly regarded
with ineffable disgust. This disgust has been created
by the appearance of the ragged and beggarly hordes
of Popish ruffians who have been placed on the registry
through the instrumentality of the Protector Society

and its " aristocratic" patrons—by the flippant and
even audacious manner in which these " mushroom"
voters have forsworn themselves—by the discoveries
which have taken place of the disgraceful tricks re-
sorted to by the agents of the Reform Association to
invalidate the objections made by the Conservatives—

by the obstacles which have been daily thrown in the
way of a fair and impartial investigation of numberless
cases brought before the court—and, more than all,
by the outrageous insults which have been offered to
the law, to justice and equity, and even to common
sense, in the strange and unprecedented decisions to
which the court has so frequently, but not so unaccount-
ably, arrived. A salutary regard for the' consequences
of an infringement of the formidable law of libel pre-
cludes us from treating, with a requisite degree of se-
verity, the language of certain parties, who have been
but too conspicuous in their efforts to frustrate the
ends of justice, from the moment that the court was
opened. If we could but venture to write " a true and
circumstantial account" of the proceedings and prac-
tices to which we allude, we could unfold a tale that
would make England blush for Liverpool. However,
the people of Liverpool are sufficiently cognisant of these
proceedings to render our allusions perfectly intelli-
gible. Those who have attended the court of revision
have taken care to give publicity to the strange prac-
tices on which we dare not venture to animadvert. The
day of retribution is not far distant. This is no trifling
consolation.

The expulsion of Mr. John Rosson, the fugleman
of the Protectors, from the court of revision, was one
of the most remarkable incidents of the past week.
This gentleman (we hope that he will not consider the
application of such an epithet offensive) has been re-
markably assiduous in his attendance on the court.
Day after day was he to he seen in " amiable contact"
with one of the assessors, ever ready with his advice,
and strongly reminding us of another great personage
when pouring his " leprous distilment" into the listen-
ing ears of Eve. We are not sorry that he has met
with his deserts.

On the whole, we think the Conservatives have no
reason to be dissatisfied with the position which they
occupy, even on the lists which have been nearly gone
through. Let them be equally vigilant and punctual
in their attendance during the remaining period left for
the revision, and we feel assured that they will achieve
a signal triumph on the second of November. Hun-
dreds of voters who have hitherto been found voting
on the liberal side will then either abstain from voting,
or will openly join the ranks of the Conservatives. In-
deed, the respectable voters are almost universally dis-
gusted with liberalism.

It has been suggested that a favourable opportunity
will present itself, on Friday week, for paying a just
tribute of respect to our excellent and indefatigable
representative, Lord Sandon, as be will then, for the
first time, preside over a public dinner in Lancashire.
We cordially concur in the suggestion, and trust that
some arrangements will be made for thus giving expres-
sion to the feelings of attachment and admiration
which are so generally felt towards his lordship.
Would it not be well if a meeting were immediately
convened for this purpose ? We shall probably have
more to say on the subject in our next.

We heartily congratulate the inhabitants of Liver-
pool on the successful arrangements which the com-
mittee of the Collegiate Institution have made for laying
the foundation-stone of that long-desired establishment.
The twenty-second day of October will, indeed, prove
a proud day for Liverpool—a day to be remembered
when the dust of those who have contributed towards
calling into existence so noble an institution shall have
long reposed in the grave. We do sincerely hope that
the inhabitants of the town generally will join in the
tnteresting ceremony which will take place on Thurs-
day week, and thus testify their attachment to the
cause of scriptural education.

LIVERPOOL COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION.—We have much
pleasure in directing the attention of our readers to the ad-
vertisement relative to this institution, which appears in ano-
ther column. It will be seen that the foundation-stone will
be laid by the Right Hon. Lord Stanley, M.P., on the 22nd
October, after a sermon at St. Peter's church, by the Right
Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester. A dinner will be given
to Lord Stanley, in the evening, at the Amphitheatre, Lord
Francis Egerton, M.P., in the chair, at which Lord Sandon,
M.P, the Hon. R. Bootle Wilbraham, M. P., Sir R. H.
Cunliffe, Bart. C. Cresswell, Esq. M.P., J. Ireland Black-
burne, Esq. M.P., and G. Cornwall Legh, Esq. High Sheriff
of Cheshire, have promised to be present, and the attendance
of other distinguished friends of scriptural education is ex-
expected. The 22d October will be a most important day
for Liverpool, and we trust that every friend of the esta-
blished church will be at his post.
Mn. HASSARD'S TABLEs.—We are glad to inform our
readers that these splendid specimens of art have been pur-
chased by the Duke of Wellington, at a price which not only
sufficiently remunerates their ingenious contriver, but also
testifies the approbation of his grace of such elaborate and
delicate workmanship. Our Protestant friends will be pleas-
ed to hear that such a zealous advocate of their principles has
at length met with his deserts.