The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-07-24 00:00:00

RISLEY CHAPEL.

L'HE IRISH TITHE BILL.----INCREASE OF PRO
TESTANTISM.

• (From a Correspondent.)
If the debate of Monday night upon the Irish Tithe Bill,
n our reformed House of Commons, exhibited no one more
knportant feature than that of the miserable state of subser-
viency and vassalage in which the Cabinet of England is
now prostrated to the power of an Irish demagogue, it must
be entitled to deep, and we would hope creative, reflection.
It must appear strange to say, that the present government
have any pretension to honour, or honourable feeling; but,
nevertheless, such is the fact. Lord John Russell makes ❑o
secret of his motice—his original postulate, we may call it—
in legislating for the temporalities of the Irish church. He
has avowed that his tithe bill is "a peace-offering"—in other
words, that it is a morsel of political food extended to a
hungry and impoverished nation, which the providor anti-
cipates may satisfy- the cravings of the people for the present.
It is an ingenious fraud upon the credulity of a nation. THE
SWINDLERS of THE EMPIRE imagine that they can draw
upon the sanguine temperament of a naturally credulous
people for the requisite supply of a bankrupt hope. In truth,
this measure is nothing more nor less than a compromise
between principle and duty, in which the latter makes a bar-
gain of its integrity for the consistency of the former—a kind
of moral pawnbroking, in which the deposit of principle gets
a per-tentage upon expediency.
If this be not the case, why else should we have the minis-
terialists, whether orally or scripturally, expressing the
"hope" that the present " tithe bill" may (" aye, there 's
the rub") prove satisfactory. Satisfactory to what party, we
would ask? For the Protestants of Ireland? That would
indeed be a bitter mockery ! Well, then, to the Popish sec-
tion of that country? Yes, there is the quarter from whence
the echo of the realisation of the "may" is expected to come.
Oh ! degradation upon an English Cabinet, which thus places
itself as the puppet of an Irish showman—an IMPOSTOR, who
is inferior to a travelling hurdygar,lyman, for he makes men-
dicancy wear the aspect of an honest calling, and converts
the credulity of his country into the staple commodity of his
individual aggrandisement.
People may doubt such a degradation of the official legis-
lators of the people of England; but what is the fact? We
have (and let the fact make its due impression on the minds
of Englishmen) the Home Secretary of England—the leader
of the British House of Commons—in his utter dependency
querulously admitting "that Mr. O'Connell will not guaran-
tee the present 'tithe bill' as a final or satisfactory settle-
ment" of the question. Can there be anything more truly
distressing or irritating than this? What! are the legislative
functions of a British Minister to acknowledge the will of an
Irish demagogue to be their Lord Paramount? We repeat
the question in another form: can there not be laws enacted
for a section of the empire, without a positive reference to the
governor of its mob? Or we should rather say—can nothing
pass current through the Excise office of an English Govern-
ment, without the permit of the NATIONAL COLLECTOR—MR.
O'CONNELL ?

The answer to these questions lies in the declarations of
the very men who are responsible for the consequences of
their peculiar mode of legislation. They glory in their na-
tional, as well as individual abasement. They are not con-
tent to wear the evidences of their bondage, unless they rattle
the links, so that those who have not eyes to see, may have
ears to learn the misery of their slavery.
But it would be well if the mischief of the measure ended
here. The axe of political power, which the ministers are
at present wielding, is striking deeper at the root of the tree
of Protestant ascendancy than can be generally supposed.
In the many and multiplied discussions which have taken
place, as well upon the leading and operative cause, as upon
the subsequent details and deductions of " the hill," there
has been one great and fundamental truth and principle left
out of consideration altogether, viz., the growth, and spread,
and eventual security and triumph of Protestantism in Ire-
land. In all the clauses, pro Visions, and amendments of the
measure, there is no reference to, or ever, recognition of this
principle—this primary and moral ground or motive of action.
The present Ministry ale legislating for the Protestant
Church as if its connection with the State was to be station-

(try, not progressive. As it would appear, they shut the
" toll-gate" of Ascendancy to every one who does not wear a
Popish signet in his hat.
The measure of the Ministry is a pound-shilling-and-acre
consideration. We would weigh them all in the scales of
principle. But even if we were to meet them on their own
e
grounds, what is the superstructure of conjecture we can
therefrom? We defy the boldest of the advocates of
Popery to give satisfactory proof " that the present income
of the Protestant clergy of Ireland" is even xeoet, to the
demands, wants, wishes, and necessities of such a body. Let
us analyse the measure. The average income from 1,422
parishes does not exceed £250 per annum. In one halt' of
such incumbencies there is both a necessity for the provision
and services of a curate. There is then to be considered the
amount of population. This may be calculated in the ratio
of 600 to each parish. WE MEAN PROTESTANTS.
Well, here is the fact we would wish to lay before our
readers! The average income deducible from these 1,422
parishes, as referable to the incumbent, is about one hundred
and twenty five per year. Now %That is the taxation pro-
posed to be levied upon such an income by the present "tithe
bill ?" We will classify them for the benefit of our readers.
Tax to EcciesiasticarCommissioner
Allowance to landlords, reduced by Mr. Shaw
from 30 to 25 per cent
Curate on average lO JP
Poor-rates and revision
gj thus in truth making a per-tentage of r.:,0 per cent., not1 upon
the tangible, but upon the available income of the Protestant
clergy of Ireland. And why is such a sacrifice made? It is
nothing more nor less than a sacrifice offered to the landed
interest, as an equivalent for the security as well as facility
only l
oyft
the
cn,jeu-
.t
infr oftyl t. then l,
the
sn,
pockets
of of a "rent-charge." We defy contradiction to the fact we
are about to state. It is this--that the present amount of
o tithe,n e-sixe even
hij
fcotlhleectiel
rdo,
d is
eu
whichbe,it
i s one-tentho the collection of tithes originallyaonges e o
ti,
eae
oofs being
and
is
ONE-TENTH,stiII
asserted
to
of the landlord.

We leave these important facts to the consideration of our
Protestant readers, and we promise them that we shall return
to the subject again.

GALLANT REPULSE OF PIRATES

We have been politely favoured with the following extract
from a letter, giving an account of an attack made by two
piratical prows on the ship Mary Dugdale, of this port, Capt.
Harrison, i❑ the Straits of Comback, on her voyage hence
to China. The writer, Mr Robert Woodnorth, is mate of
the vessel, and son to Mr. Peter Woodnorth, of 33, Paradise-
street:—

• " WAMPOA, CHINA, MARCH 2, 1838.
" I take this opportunity of writing a few lines to you, in-
forming you of our safe arrival out here, after a long passage
of 104 days, and some danger. You will most probably, ere
this reaches you, have heard of the skirmish we had with
sonic piraticarvessels, while coming through the straits of
Comback. There were three of them, and a narrow escape
we had of it. We were, at the time, but ill provided for such
a dust. I think there could not have been fewer than 70 men
on board of each of the proas, and much better provided with
fire arms than I expected such a set of savages to be. Two
of them had each a large brass piece, from which they dis.
charged some shot about six inches in diameter, with three
or four small ones, and musketry. However, to it we went,
for there was nothing but do or die for it. We had two of
them at one time, within twenty yards of us, and I fully ex-
pected they would have boarded us; but there seemed to be
an interference of that undeniable power—the Almighty, fot
they did not succeed, though I am sure that one-third of their
numbers and force had done much more on many occasions.
They sent their shot pretty thick, without killing or wound-
ing any one. Twenty or thirty musket balls went through
the sails and bulwarks, and a large piece of stone (about
seven inches in diameter) went over the poop and through
the spanker. All this time we fought in a very exposed and
disorderly manner; hut one shot was allowed to tell a tale,
for we raked one of them fore and aft with a ball and canister
shot from one of our swivels, which caused them to haul off
to a more respectful distance, yelling like so many devils :
we then worked out two heavy guns, when we could get them
to bear upon them. Soon afterwards a breeze sprang up,
and we got clear of them, after being engaged with the
scoundrels for two hours, and expending nearly half of our
ammunition."—Mercury.

FEMALE INTREPIDITY.—On Wednesday evening, just
before locking up time, Mrs. Jones, the wife of the governor
of the Warrington Bridewell, discovered Edward Boys (a
prisoner in custody upon the charge of stealing a silver
spoon from Mr. H. Clare's house, at Sankey) sitting upon
the outside wall, and in the act of lowering his shirt, which
he had made into a rope, over the outerside, in order to effect
his escape. Mrs. Jones, with a presence of mind well be-
coming her situation, ascended to one of the upper rooms of
the Bridewell, and with a long pole gave " my gentleman"
two or three awkward taps on the head, threatening at the
same moment to knock him off the wall if he did not imme-

diately descend. This he unwillingly did. Mrs. Jones then
gave him a " good thrashing" with the keys of office, and
locked him up in the strong room for the rest of his sojourn
at her house. The walls of this prison are i❑ a very defective
state.

POCKET-PICKING EXTRAORDINARY. —A correspondent
says, "Returning on foot from the races on Wednesday even-
ing, between the hours of five and seven o'clock, when the
road was crowded with vehicles of every description, and the
causeway crowded with pedestrians like myself, I observed a
gig- with a lusty gentleman and lady i drive past, (the horse u
full trot.) On the back on the cross-bar stood a prig, evi-
dently in the act of rifling the lady's right hand pocket; half
his body was bent down into the gig, and his right arm ap-
peared in the lady's pocket. The crowded state of the road,
and the rapid motion of the vehicle, prevented any alarm be-
ing given to the inmates. How far the villain succeeded it
is not for me to say ; but as this is a novel way of picking
pockets, I think it my duty to caution the public against it.
The hurry and bustle occasioned at those times, and the atten-
tionit requires to drive through a crowd, are favourable to
the thieves' designs, and it would be at the risk of any per-
son's life to attempt to arrest them amongst so many violently-
driven vehicles."—Mercury.
WARRINGTON FAIR.—The fourteen-day fair held in this
town commenced on Tuesday last. The show of cattle was,
perhaps, one of the worst ever witnessed in Warrington.
They were for the most part Irish. The few fat beasts of-
fered fetched from 5.(.1 to qd per it) on the average, sinking
the offal. Milch cows were in good demand. The horse fair,
on Wednesday, was well attended by dealers. There were
several excellent strings of cart horses, which realized fair
prices.

(From a Correspondent.)
A solemn and affecting act of restitution was accomplished
at the Hamlet of Peasfurlong, in the parish of Winwick,
Lancashire, on Thursday last, by the surrender of the pos-
session of Risley Chapel, and the property attached to it,
about ten statute acres of arable land, a farm house and four
cottages, situated in the said parish, on the part of the Uni-
tarian trustees, into the hands of new trustees, professing
orthodox principles, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Ralph, and
the Rev. Mr. Park, of Liverpool, the Rev. Mr. Munro, of
Manchester, and certain laymen resident in these towns, all
of them members of the established Church of Scotland.
This arrangement origicated with, and was conducted to its
termination at some expense and no small trouble by a very
few persons, some of high rank and some in humble life,
all of them members of the established Church of England.
The ex-trustees, with incredible contumacy, had refused to
show the title deeds; but when a bill was filed against them
by her Majesty's Attorney-General, in the Court of Chan-
cery, they could not answer it. The Unitarians had no more
right to the possession of Risley Chapel than Of Westmin-
ster Abbey. We mention this for the encouragement of
others to follow the example that has been set them. It has
been often publicly asserted, and never contradicted, that
there are in England more than a hundred chapels, many- of
them with rich endowments, which were, like Risley Chapel,
erected for the maintenance and diffusion of the doctrine of
the atonement, which chapels are now unjustly and unlaw-
fully held in possession by the Unitarians.
The trusteeship of Risley Chapel was unsolicited by the
parties who now bold it, but when it was offered to them
free of all debt and clear of every incumbrance, they could
not, from a sense of duty, decline it. They have accepted it
voluntarily, and we trust that they will act faithfully. As
soon as the legal forms were concluded the new trustees
repaired to Risley Chapel, and there one of the clergymen,
in accordance with the religious principles of its pious foun-
ders, offered up prayer, and praise, and thanksgiving to Al-
mighty God, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus
Christ, within those walls where for many a year His holy
name as the Saviour of the World had been suppressed, in
flagrant violation of a sacred trust.