The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-10-26 00:00:00

THE GOVERNMENT STEAMERS.

Some time ago a memorial was presented to the Lords of
the Admiralty by our excellent member Lord Sandon, which
was signed by upwards of 300 of the merchants, shipowners,
underwriters, and brokers, praying that in case of shipwreck
on the adjacent banks, the steam vessels belonging to her
Majesty may be despatched and employed in assisting to save
the lives of the crew or persons on board. In answer to that
memorial the following letter has been received :
" Admiralty, 18th September, 1838.

My T,„d,_Havinglaid before my Lords Commissioners
of the admiralty the petition of the underwriters, merchants,
and other residents of Liverpool, transmitted to your lord-
ship by Mr. Rowett, together with that gentleman's letter,
relative to her Majesty's mail steam-packets being allowed to
render assistance to vessels in distress, I am commanded by
my Lords to acquaint you, for the information of the petition-
ers, that the object they have in view, of assisting to save the
lives of persons in shipwrecked vessels has already been
accomplished by their lordship's orders to .the officer con-
ducting the packet service at Liverpool ; and it appears, by
reference to him, that her Majesty's packets have always
been accustomed to render their best assistance towards the
preservation of human life when it could be done.—l am, my
lord, your lordship's most obedient humble servant,
" JOHN BARROW.
"The Viscount Sandon,

NEW PICTURE AT THE CHURCH FOR THE 131,IND.—We
understand that at length a new picture has been painted for
this elegant little church, to keep up the uniformity of its
interior decorations. We understand that the painting is a
very beautiful one by 1-laydon, but we have not yet had time
to visit it, and judge for ourselves.

DR. SLEIGH'S LECTURES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL SMNDSRD.

Ste,-1 may safely say that Liverpool, and indeed no town
in the kingdom, has ever had the opportunity of gaining so
clear and correct a knowledge of the principles and practices
of Republicanism as we have at the present time. Dr.
Sleigh is a man possessed of extraordinary talents, which,
combined with principles based upon "the rock of ages,"
renders him a giant in argument, and impervious to the
attacks of his most bitter foe. During his sojourn in America
he was a close observer of the state of the country, he mi-
nutely investigated the working of that tyrannical govern-
ment "Republicanism," he saw the misery entailed by uni-
versal sufferage, and viewed the corrupting influence of vote
by ballot with disgust.
But, sir, he does not wish his audience to take his word for
these things. In showing them that in America—(that glo-
rious country of liberty and freedom)—tyranny and persecu-
tion under the garb of justice are practised to such an extent,
thet the bare recital of a few cases snake his audience shud-
der. In proving that wretchedness and poverty, misery and
crime abound in this glorious land, where there are no tithes,
no taxes, no church rates, and, I was nearly adding no
churches. No, sir, he does not wish his audience to be satis-
fied with his authority alone, but evidence uncontrovertible,
proofs undeniable, support his statements, and the man who,
after having heard him, will say that his assertions are false,
must be either an idiot, or totally devoid of the principle of
truth. Dr. Sleigh not only brings forward proofs from those
who. have suffered under this accursed rule of Republicanism,
but evidence from the very men themselves, who, with all
the powers they possess, eulogize and laud this glorious go-
vernment, which evidence not;only convicts and condemns
that which they advocate, but further proves in detail
.the
misery. wretcheduess, and want it produces.
With regard to the Doctor himself, I may safely say that
it was with the greatest disappointment, as well as sympathy,
that the audience, who anxiously anticipated a similar treat
on Wednesday to those of the two preceding evenings,
learned that he was severely indisposed, in consequence of
which the remaining lectures are postponed. I may, also,
confidently assert, that every indiv►dual who attended on
Monday and Tuesday evenings were delighted. His fearless
assertion of truth, and bold exposition of error; his elegant
diction, and above all, the clear and simple manner in which
be elucidated his subject, was such that it could not fail to
carry with it a lasting impression to every hearer.
To those who wish to obtain a thorough knowledge of Re-
publicanism, as well as of those " two twins of vice," univer-
sal sufferage, and vote by ballot, I most earnestly advise
attendance; but it ,will be as well to remark, that the infor-
mation to be derived from these lectures is snore valuable,
not only in regard to the political subjects, but also the state
of America generally. From the applause manifested during,
and satisfaction expressed after the lectures, by the ladies, as
well :IS gentlemen, who attended, I may safely predict, that
should the hall be crowded at the concluding lectures, there
will be few, very few indeed, who would not experience much
gratification in hearing a repetition of then,.
Trusting the conservatives and their friends will not miss
this opportunity of acquiring much valuable informatiun
upon so important a subject.

1 am, sir, yours respectfully
Liverpool, Oct. 25, 1838. S. 1-1

PRESENTATION OF PLATE TO THE REV. JAS.

ASPINALL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STAND.,IRD.

Sirs,—ln your last. publication ?on promised again to call
the attention of the Christian public to this Judas-like piece
of business, viz., " the selling of the Word of God, by the
Rev. James Aspinall. for a piece of plate!"
To those whom it is your privilege to address, the parallel
between this modern Judas and his arch-awetype will appear
not a little striking; though I would fain hope, that, in the
blacker shades of character, the devil has not so fully taken
possession of the former. It is, however, lamentably evident,
that this gentleman is in league with the enemies of the
Bible—(ergo, with the enemies of Christ)—with men who
either reject altogether, or so dilute or curtail it, as to render
it anything but "TH E Word of the Most High." With the
infidel, the Papist, the Unitarian, and the Nothingarian, has
he formed an unholy alliance, having vaunted "peace and
goodwill to men" upon traitor lips—kissing the " Word of
the Most Iligh" but to betray it!
In forming this union, there is no question but that such
pleasing, fulsome fustian as the Chronicle has slavered on
" this enlightened and liberal gentleman," was dazzlingly
resplendent before him ;—no doubt he already saw, in fair
perspective and in imagination, "impiyer transit apurnantem
pateram," which was to cheer and flatter him at many a
" feast of reason and flow of soul;"—assuredly the " piece
of plate"—" the price of that which he bad resolved to sell"
—had its tempting influence to encourage him to stand
" alone," like another Goliah, to defy the armies of the
living God! Lo! he has his reward! His fond visions are
realised! But, now he has " taken the sop," and before he
proceed to the commission of more flagrant wickedness, I
would entreat this weak, rash gentleman to pause, and con-
sider how he stands in the eyes of the Christian community
over which he was appointed to watch, and in the eyes of
his Master, whose minister he was ordained, to uphold the
glorious Gospel in all its integrity, without "adding thereto,"
or " taking therefrom"! I would have him to remember,
that the Holy Catholic Church cast off Popery when her
temporising and worldly spirit—her curtailing and clipping
of the Bible to meet her heretical and idolatrous notions—
aroused the bold Protest of a spiritually enlightened people !
The descendants of those Catholics are still the same;—still
jealous; for the honour of the Giver of all good gifts ;—still
zealous for the propagation and spread of His Word in its
unity;—and still possessing that moral courage of fearlessly
protesting against the introduction of error or deceit into
their camp, come it from what quarter it may.
Does the Rev. Mr. Aspinall not see, in the very, circum-
stance which his eulogists have hit upon for panegyric, a
powerful and (to a modest man) constraining reason for
" coming out and being separate" from the unscriptural
confederacy with which, in an evil hour, he connected him-
self? The arrogant impudence of eight presumptuous peda-
gogues leads them to say—" When nearly the whole of the
clergy, actuated by prejudice, or the worse motives of self-
interest, crimivally neglected the performance of duties
naturally connected with their profession, and arraying
themselves." &c. &c.

What, Rev. Sit ! " When deserted by nearly all" your
brother clergymen, (who " dared" not to embark in promo-
ting a system incompatible With sound Scriptural education,
as well as with their solemn oath,) have you had the hardi-
hood not only to tread on this unhallowed ground, but also
to receive with complacency the fulsome nonsense of a pack
of ruthless and wicked blockheads, who would lead you to
believe that you, forsooth, are the only enlightened divine
in our town, when men, immeasurably your superior in
every sense of the word, are, with the same fetid breath,
(exalted, because aspersed) by such despicably base instru-
mentality? Can it be possible that such presumptuous
vanity as this has " darkened your understanding," and
quite put to flight common sense ? Even so it would
appear;—for you "assume the god, affect the nod," and
condescendingly " thank them" for bedaubing you with
praise, not merited by a manly adherence to the truth, but
by a cowardly compromise of it! Where rests, then, the
charge so flippantly brought against "nearly the whole of
the clergy," of "being actuated by prejudice, or the worse
motives of self-interest, criminally neglecting the perform-
ance of duties naturally connected with their profession ?"
Was it not—is it not the duty supernaturally connected with
Mr. Aspinall's sacred profession, to uphold "the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth," through evil report
and good report, and not by being unequally (?) yoked with
unbelievers, vainly to attempt to reconcile and amalgamate
what the Bible declares to be impossible—viz., righteousness
with unrighteousness—light with darkness—Christ with Be-
lial—the believer with the infidel—the temple of God with
idols? How stands the "self interest ?"—"circumspice,"
gentle readers, and judge for yourselves. Mark the scurril-
ous, lying vocabulary that is ransacked to find terms black
enough for the pens of the scribes of the Journal, Chionicle,
Times, and Mercury, to vilify and traduce the honest, fear-
sless, and uncompromising champions of the Bible! Doubt-
less, there is great "self interest" in gentlemen standing to
be pelted by blackguards with rotten eggs, rather than relin-
quish a positive duty!
But the very veritable—the " very noble and approved
good
masters" of the corporation schools would lead Mr. As-
pinall and the public to imagine, that "nearly the whole of
the clergy" had sat down in a sullen sulk of idleness, and a
dogged disregard for the best interests of the rising genera-
tion, when they withheld their co-operation from a system
which they, as conscious and zealous Christian ministers,
could not sanction. Mr. Aspinall's not reproving, strict ions
the foul calumny; but the enlightened, argus-ised,
Bible-
loving public, hurl back with triumphant disdain, such a
"refuge of lies," while they point to the true National
Schools, which, by the indefatigable exertions of "nearly all
the clergy," have on all sides arisen around us!
I confess I tretnbie to see a minister of the Catholic
(Protestant) church stand associated as Mr. Aspinall, and
still daring to officiate at an alts: which he has desecrated.
It is natuaal for man to err; but woe to that man who shall
continue, from a false shame or a worse motive, to uphold
what his conscience and his Bible assures him to be "error."
I. am, Sir, yours. &c.,
-A
PROTESTANT.
Abercromby Ward.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL

CHRONICLE

Stn,—On taking up your paper of Saturday last, I was
somewhat surprised to find that you had not taken warning
by the lashing bestowed on your very charitable and consis-
tent contemporary, the editor of the Albion, in a letter ad-
dressed to that individual in the Standard of Friday last.
As you have had the fool hardihood to expose yourself to a
similar infliction, you must not shrink from it.
In the first place, Sir, I accuse you of stealing and appro-
priating to your own use the principal leader of your radical
contemporary of Monday last; and I hope the owner will
rate you soundly for your delinquency in his next number.
To this accusation you must plead voilty; for, (excepting
the last paragraph) assuredly the thing may he sworn to.
The same spirit of charity, and the same lack of any thing
like argument ; nay, there are the very same expressions, the
very same extracts, and the very same comments upon them.
The only perceptible difference is, that you have merle a few
miserable attempts at wit, and have given your stolen article
a sprinkling of that blackguardism, with which you are in
the habit of seasoning the radical olios which you hebdoma-
dally serve up -to gratify the intellectual appetites of your
radical supporters.
Such being the case, I refer you to the letter of " A Bur-
gess," in last Friday's Standard. It contains a sufficient
refutation of the falsehood and slander contained both in the
Albion's original article, and your parody upon it. I must,
however, have a word with you upon your concluding para-
graph, which I may safely say you may call your own, with-
out much fear of exciting the envy of your brother editors.
I have read it over and over again ; but its reasoning is alto-
gether too high flown, too fine drawn, for my dull powers of
comprehension :

"'Tis vain to scan by ordinary rules
The subtle logic, or the wit, of—fools."

So far as I am able to understand the matter, you seem to
he in a considerable state of alarm lest charity should have
the effect of destroying all good feeling between the rich and
the poor. You say man is a suspicious animal, who gives
no credit for pure and unadulterated motives; and then, by
a process of reasoning which, as 1 before said, I am unable
to understadd, you come to the logical conclusion, that it was
a most abominable thing for the Abercromby Ward tories to
prevent Dr. Carson's having an opportunity to test his cele-
brated and never-to-be-forgotten theory of the action of the
gastric juice on the empty stomachs of a few hundreds of the
poor inhabitants of the ward. Truly, Mr. Editor, you should
condescend to write intelligibly; if you had written as fol-
lows it would have been easy to understand, and to believe
you too:—" There is another point of view in which the
subject must be looked at, and one upon which we found a
strong protest against the line of conduct which the radicals
pursue in all matters. • Man is naturally suspicions, and this
tendency is stronger in proportion as experience has opened
his mind to the deceptions practised by those who bawl most
loudly for liberty and reform. An untutored mind cannot
detect the motives which induce such men to profess so much
interest and anxiety about those in the lower walks of life,
and consequently they fail to attribute any radical exertion
in their behalf to its actual selfish and interested object.
Credit is given for pure and unadulterated motives. Patri-
otism is too often assumed as a cloak to cover some ulterior
purpose. The open and truly liberal conduct of the Aber-
cromby Ward conservatives will do a world of mischief to
the radical cause, by leading the burgesses to inquire what
good Win. Earle ever did to any one, either poor or rich, in
the ward. It will help to destroy all confidence between the
reformers and their dupes, and have a powerful influence in
overturning all their sinister measures. It will make the
poor suspicious of such men as the whig-radicals generally;
and, by a natural reaction, it will lead them to repent of
their ingratitude to the conservatives, whom they will find

in the long run to be their real benefactors. In short, this
Abereromby Ward affair, in all its bearings, is one of the
worst works that could have happened to the radical party:
and they feel it!"

There, Mr. Editor ! By the alteration of a few words only,
1 have put your paragraph into plain, honest, straight-for-
ward English, and I shall be happy to perform the same kind
office for you on any fuiure occasion.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
Abercromby Ward, Oct. 24th. A BURGESS.

P.S. Wm. Earle and two other gentlemen drove up to my
door in a barouch today, and most politely requested the
favour of my vote. On expressing my surprise that Mr.
Earle should stoop to a personal canvass, after repeatedly
declaring that be would nut do so, he declared, with much
seeming honesty, that he was driven to perform the unpala-
table duty by his opponent, Mr. Gladstone, who had cad-
vassed the whole ward in person. I have since ascertained
that this statement is utterly false: MR. GLADSTONE HAS
NOT CANVASSED A SINGLE VOTE.

WESLEYAN ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Si n.—l perceive, by your last number, that the `• stubborn
facts" which I had inserted in last Friday's Standard, have
provoked three individuals to reply ?—but such is the nature
of their replies, that truth demands an answer to them.—l
hope that this will be considered a sufficient apology for again
appearing before the public.
It may be seen that Mr. Sharp, who is one of the writers,
does not attempt to refute any of my statements on Friday
last, viz., "that a member was expelled from the society by
a leaders' meeting, without notice, without charge, and without
trial— without precedent. And that these leaders were forced
to acknowledge, at their last quarterly meeting, that they had
done wrong by expelling the member alluded to above; and
that they had not the common honesty officially to inform the
expelled member of it—while they were in breathless haste,
officially, to inform him of their fiat of his expulsion." But
be refers to a transaction which took place some months be-
fore the occurrence of those "facts," but in order to disabuse
the mind of the public, I am quite prepared to meet him on
his own ground. The "official document" which he has in-
serted, lam prepared to prove is an illegal one. I shall now
give an extract of some "communications" which appeared
in the Standard in August last, (which they did not attempt
to contradict).—

" At this la'st June quarterly meeting, there was some very
importaut business to be brought forward ; the officials were
about to alter the constitution of the quarterly meeting, and
to cram down something they call rules "for our people."
We were aware of all this, and were preparing to meet them
in the " regular channel" by endeavouring to bring the pri-
vate members forward to maintain and obtain all their right-
ful privileges; and we thought it a very favourable circum-
stance that the appointed quarterly meeting fell on the coro-
nation day; and the more effectually to remind our people of
it, these little papers were printed for distribution among the
members, viz.,—
"Liverpool Wesleyan Association.—All the brethren are
particularly requested to attend the quarterly meeting, to be
held in the Committee-room, at the Music-hall, on Thursday.
28th June, 1838, (the coronation day,) commencing at one
o'clock, on special business.'
And it would appear that they gave an alarm to the other
party, for they were taken to the leaders' meeting, and there,
we understand, read and discussed, and the result was, the
postponement of the quarterly meeting, for no other purpose
but to keep the private members out of that meeting. And
this opinion is confirmed by the very time they had chosen
for this postponed meeting to be held, viz., the very time fixed,
according to the preachers' printed plan, for our monthly
missionary prayer meeting, when the missionary collectors,
in all from 60 to 70 of our own members, meet to pay in the
monthly subscriptions, consequently they could not attend
the quarterly meeting ; and I am prepared to prove that this
was not an oversight but a design; for that day or evening
two months they had fixed for another illegally adjourned
meeting to alter the constitution of the quarterly meeting.
I then wrote to the chairman, Mr. Peters, reminding hint of
the circumstance, and wishing him to get their adjourned
meeting put off till the following evening, but it was not done.
Now when we were informed that the leaders' meeting had
postponed the quarterly meeting, we saw at once theirdesign,
and the injustice and cruelty of it; that the members should
have had such a favourable opportunity snatched out of their
hands, for we conceived that ten to one might attend that
day; it beings general holiday; and we were not singular in
these views, for other parties had embraced that day as a
favourable opportunity for special business; even at our own
place of worship, the Music-hall, Mr. Bowes and his brethren
fixed that day to meet on very special business relative to
their church. But to decide the legality of that postpone-
ment we referred to their own law, and found that they have
no control over, and no more right to postpone the quarterly
meeting, than they have to postpone the meeting of parlia-
ment, or the Annual Assembly.
They should have called a special meeting for that pur-
pose, (see in their own rules, page 11 and 12, and section 13 ")
" If in the interim of the quarterly meetings, any of the
following parties are agreed upon the necessity of calling a
special society, or circuit meeting, they have the right to call
such meeting through the chairman of the circuit, viz.:—
" Ist. The leaders' meeting.
" 2nd. The local preachers' meeting.

" 3rd. The chapel stewards and trustees.
" 4th. One hundred male members of the society, of 21
years of age and upwards, having been members of society
at least twelve months."

Let it be observed, although the word postponement is
not in the above rule, yet the postponement of the quarterly
meeting was a special occasion, and should have been regu-
lated by that law. "Therefore, by their own law, that post-
ponement was illegal; consequently, the regularly appointed
quarterly meeting would remain legal, and that meeting was
duly held, and of course all the business done in that meet-
ing is legal."
It may now he perceived that the origin of this very serious
and much-to-be-regretted dispute may be viewed in a very
small compass. Prove to me that the "leaders' meeting"
had no right to postpone the " quarterly meeting," and you
prove to me that the quarterly meeting which was held on the
28th June was legal; consequently, the rules then adopted
are to us, as a church, our only legal constitution; therefore,
to these rules alone should we submit. But, on the other
hand, prove to me that the "leaders' meeting" had a right
to postpone the "quarterly meeting," and you prove to me
that what I have been doing is wrong; consequently, I will
not only cease at once from agitation, but, so far as possible,
will retract all I have said and dune in these matters : but—
never till then. But Mr. Sharp would appear to be of a
different temper, for his opposition, at least before a discern-
ing public, is just a beginning and ending ; his first is to be
his " final reply," and for a very good reason—he has no
other to make. But to his party where is the advantage of his
first and last effort? The advantage, it may be perceived,
is all on the. other—on the right side, as truth invites inves-
tigation. It matters not as to the number being present at
any regular meeting; a quorum is formed for all purposes;
when any meeting has been regularly adjourned or called,
those who do attend are competent to perform the business
of that meeting. There were 300 circulars printed for dir-
trihution among the members, giving them notice of the
time and place when and where the June quarterly meeting
would be held, and every member in the society, according
to the rules, was eligible and at liberty to he at that meeting;
whereas, at the meeting which produced Mr. Sharp's " doeu-
'tient." about one half of the members of the society were
excluded, which rendered it illegally constituted; and also it
was illegally convened according to the rules. But their
insinuation that the June quarterly meeting was conducted
by one individual, is altogether false; and that is a sufficient
answer to it.

I shall now conclude with Mr. Sharp for the present, by
repeating my intentions of last week. "At my leisure and
convenience I intend fully to expose them and their system,
by a series of public lectures, to be open to all the Methodist-
ical sects."

In reply to Mr. Shirley's must unaccountable letter, I have
a correct copy of those statements, to which he affixed his
name, as the clearest and strongest evidence against himself.
I again give a copy of them :