The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-08-20 00:00:00

FRIDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1841

We inserted in our last the Illercury's gross calumny
upon this great commercial town so emphatically put
forth in these words—viz., " that in this our native
" town, intolerance and the absence of true Christian
" feeling are more disgustingly prominent than in any
" other town in the kingdom, or any part of the world
" with the history of which we are at all acquainted."
That this most foul and calumnious charge is altoge-
ther false and unfounded, anybody who knows any-
thing of the numerous, respectable, and enlightened
inhabitant's of Liverpool will most readily admit; and,
for its own sake, we do not attempt the refutation : it
will be sufficient to say a few words touching the source
from which it springs. And, in the first place, it is
the railing of a grievously chagrined, aged, and disap-
pointed Cynic, who, supposing that he had founded a
sect sour and cynical as himself, is sorely amazed to
find that in the hour of need the themes fly from him ;
the pupils whom he had been so long drilling and on
whom he thought he could rely, scatter; and himself
left alone to roll his tub, or vent his rage like another
Timon

" Let me look back upon thee, 0 thou wall,
That girdlest in those wolves! Dive in the earth,
And fence not Athens ! Matrons, turn incontinent !
Obedience fail in children ! *
* * * * Plagues incident to men,
Your potent and infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for stroke! Thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our councillors, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their manners !"

With the defeat of Sir Joshua Wahnsley and the
Foreign Secretary Whiggery died a natural death in

Liverpool, and Liberalism is now a worn out, decayed,
and exploded fallacy. Can we be surprised then at the
crackbrain raving of a veteran who piqued himself on

being an adept in the art, and hugged himself in the
imagination that he had thoroughly befooled the world
with its mysteries ? We hear his shrill pipe whistling
in the wind, and we gather up the Sybil leaves that he
scatters about ; but we catch the echo of the one and
preserve the fragments of the other only as memorials
of impotent rage and detected folly.
He fumes and sputters about "intolerance," as if he
himself did not stand forth a living disproof of the ac-
cusation. No placid horsepond has been disturbed by
the sousing of his person ; no friendly pump has been
wedded to his ears since this saucy impertinence was
uttered ; nay, the niaiseries, lying, and stupidity of his
parte feuille are endured; and yet it is of a town and
people who tolerate so much that this brazen calumni-
ator says, they are " intolerant and unchristian ! "
Why patient and christian endurance so extraordinary
is worthy of being inscribed upon our crest, and will
pass into a proverb.

But we promised to advert to some other portions of
his tirade. And first, be attributes the reverse of for-
tune which his party have sustained in Liverpool, not
to the loathing and disgust which people everywhere
begin to feel to the false teaching and delusions of
Whiggery, but to the influence of the clergy. " Li-
verpool," says the anile railer, " is cursed with the
presence of meddling Irish Orange parsons, who pro-
stitute the pulpit to factious party purposes, and evince
their piety by inciting one portion of the Christian
community to hate and revile the other." Prodigious
preachers and most commanding revolutionisers these
" Irish Orange Parsons," who could give the Mercury
such long odds, and beat him soundly at his own game
inbeen
a:Oshort a time ! flow little stamina must there
in Liberalism to give way so rapidly, and
sink at once before the invasion of two or three simple,
unattended parsons from Ireland!! What sort of base
thing, we ask, must the religion or the policy of Libe-
ralism be, that should flee like a coward, or die upon

tha trolia such a feeble attack af,,. ? 'We
merely athl, that if the Mercury's statement be
Allowed as the true cause of that glorioU charige which
has taken place in the political sentiments of Liverpool,
it is the strongest condemnation that could possibly be
uttered against the sophistical and miserable inanities
of the mock philosophy, or, rather, mesmeric humbug
and nonsense of which the Mercury himself is so emi-
nent a teacher.

" Nearly one-third of the population of Liverpool," says
this veracious ranter, " profess the Roman Catholic creed,
which for centuries was the creed of their and our forefathers ;
and for a conscientious adherence to the religion in which
they have been born and educated they have been publicly
stigmatized, as men regardless of the sanctity of an oath,
and, of course, as men in whom it would not be safe to re-
pose any confidence."

None but a bad cause requires the support of false-
hood. It is not true that the Roman Catholics have
been stigmatised for " a conscientious adherence to the
religion in which they have been born;" but such of
them as have shown themselves " regardless of the
sanctity of an oath" have been stigmatised, and justly
stigmatised for such scandalous breach of faith. The
portals of the constitution were thrown widely open to
them upon the solemn pledge and assurance that they
would use no privilege which they should attain, to do
any injury to the Established Church; and yet on how
many occasions have Roman Catholics used their privi-
leges directly in the teeth of this pledge, and sought
to deprive the Church either of property or influence
by availing themselves of the position at which they
arrived by means of these now violated oaths and
pledges ? The men who have acted thus have been
their own stigmatisers, and have proclaimed themselves
much more than their bitterest foes, " as men in whom
it would not be safe to repose any confidence."
With regard to their creed, it has been distinctly
proved that the perjury complained of has arisen from
the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church respect- j
ing oaths—oaths especially made with those whom she j
charitably calls heretics, and oaths made against her
interests ; and, as a fomenter and fosterer of perjury,
she also stigmatises herself, and is most justly echoed
in the charge by others.

But, says the Mercury, Popery was "the religion of
our forefathers ;" true, and our forefathers did not
leave it, it is to he hoped, for nothing. They left it
then, we beg to remind him, for this very reason
amongst others, that it encouraged perjury, and be-
cause it so overbid truth with falsehood that they had
no choice but to come out of it altogether, that they
might not be " partakers of her sins and receivers of
her plagues." If others abide in it, they must take the
consequences consequences which neither we nor
others who may agree in our opinions seek to aggra-
vate, but which we would earnestly caution them
against, as well for their own sakes as for that of others.

" Our ancient" next talks of the " hell upon earth"
we should have "if the Catholic priesthood in this
town, in retaliation for the incessant insults heaped on
their creed by the bigots whose words we have just
quoted, should, in their turn, revile and ridicule the
creed of their calumniators; should they from the
pulpit denounce Protestants as men utterly regardless
of the sanctity of an oath," &c. And is our ancient
such a simpleton as to imagine that the Popish priest-
hood in this town do not retaliate in the way he refers
to ? But the difference in the case is this, that the
Protestant creed defies them, and only laughs at all
their denunciations. Fair and open contoversy
indeed the Popish priesthood are rather shy of; but
as to denouncing all other creeds, it is of the very
essence of their system, and they never omit the
practice.

But we must hasten to a conclusion, and this we
shall do by quoting one more passage from the article
before us—a passage in which the learned Editor shews
himself worthy of the chair of liberalism, and one who
by the peculiar care he takes to arrive at truth himself,
must be admirably well qualified to communicate it to
others. He says :

" The writer of this article has not visited a Catholic place
of worship half a score of times in his life, but he is on habits
of intimacy with some good practical Christians who profess
the Roman Catholic creed, and who regularly attend the
chapels, men whose bare word carries more weight with him
than would the oath of some of their clerical calumniators,
and on the authority of these worthy persons we venture to
assert that the Catholic priests never indulge in denuncia-
tion of the creeds of the Protestants, or others who differ
from them, so that in this respect the orthodox Orange
poli-
tical parsons are left ' alone in their glory.' "

Here is a remarkably fine specimen of that humbug
thing which men call Liberalism.' The writer is
certainly an admirer of holy water and the sacrifice of
the mass ; although he seldom goes to take the benefit
of either, and evidently thinks that they do by some
mysterious means produce "good practical Christians"
—and " men whose bare word carries more weight
with him than the oath of some Clergymen." He
ought then to read his recantation and go to mass ; we
cannot conceive what hinders him. But this is only a
preparatory flourish which is to usher in the important
fact that he the learned friend afore mentioned does
not believe that " the Catholic priests ever indulge in
denunciations of the creed of the Protestants !" He
would not believe it, not he; it would be quite illiberal
to do so; but by the by there is a case in point for him
on this subject. There was an Irish fellow caught
once stealing a sheep—taken as they say, "in the
manour ;" half-a-dozen witnesses swore point blank
against him, and he was asked what he had to say in
his defence. Oh, a great deal, said he ; these paltry
half-dozen fellows say they saw me doing it, but what
signifies that ? I can get twenty that will swear they
never saw me. Just so it is with the Mercury and his
" good practical Christian" witnesses. We would
recommend him to make a tour in Ireland; perhaps
that might have some effect upon his credulity, or in-
credulity rather; but liberalism is with him become so
inveterate that we would not undertake peremptorily
for his cure even by such means ; if we can prevent
others from being infected, it is as much as we may
hope for.

Whilst the Whigs have been making all necessary
preparations for their own departure, we are delighted
to say, that the weather has, within the last few clays,
given the most unequivocal token of approbation of
such a proceeding on their part. The Whigs go out,
and the Whig weather we have so long had goes out
along with them ; this is a most happy circumstance,
well worthy of national commemoration. Is it not
curious to remark, that the barometer of the free
traders should rise with the prospect of national
calamity, and that they have been exuberant in spirits
whilst serious uneasiness was felt by all reflecting and
impartial men concerning the failure reasonably to be

apprehended but a short time since in the instant har-
vest. It is a striking proof how much Liberalism
prefers its petty political, or economical principle to
the primary wants and most indispensable necessities
of the people. They were joyous in the supposition
that the " elements fought against Sir Robert Peel ;"
but their hilarity has, we trust, been premature ; in-
deed, we consider that it would have been so in any
case, inasmuch as the " sliding scale," which accom-
modates itself to the circumstances of the country,
affords a palpable. advantage over an Bs. fixed duty,
which must either be abandoned altogether, or sus-
tained as a very grievous imposition, in the event of
such a misfortune as our most patriotic free traders
have been looking for. As to that " regular trade"
which they anticipate as the result of a fixed duty, it
is almost superfluous to repeat, that such a trade can
never be established without an equally regular loss to
the British agriculturist.

Amongst the Ministerial preparatives for exit, our
of peerage,
the
new announced
creations
readers have, of course, noticed the promotions to and
are last t h
os Friday's
of
, ,
rejected
Gazette.
candidates"—Sir Henry Parnell, now Baron Congleton
—Sir Richard Hussey Vivian, now Baron Vivian—
in
Threethe
and Lord Belfast, now Baron En ' nishorven and Car-
rickfergus. All these have been lately rejected by the
electors whose suffrages they claimed. Of the other
promotions we have only to say, that they have been
bestowed, almost without an exception, not as rewards
for distinguished services in the field or in the senate,
but openly and undisguisedly as the recompense of
electioneering success, or of sacrifices incurred in the
fruitless contests against Conservative opponents. Cer-
tainly, no men have ever been more liberal in the use,
or rather abuse, of the royal prerogative than the
democratic Whigs, during their day of power; but it
is a satisfaction to know, that with all their wholesale
creations and pitchforking, they have not been able to
bear down the Conservative majority in the House of
Lords. We shall hear no more of " collision" between

bah Wing ►l&Wy in spite, cf WhiggerYi
I once tnnre l►appily of OHO mind as to Xll leading prin-

the twd ;16u

1311)ips,

The recent untoward news from China and the
American States may be looked upon as undesigned
preparatives,—but in the light of preparatives they
may, nevertheless, be regarded. In this point of view,
the Whigs may be considered as having been preparing
to go from the first moment they made their way to
power ; certainly, no men could work better for their

own downfall than they have done. If the last news
from Macao may be relied upon, the horrific destruc-
tion of tea and tea-chests therein set forth ought to sit
heavily on the souls of the Whigs, and blast their
1 reputation for ever in the opinion not merely of tee-
-1 totallers, but of all tea-drinking men, women, and
children throughout the realm. The emperor's "chops"
must absolutely command the total annihilation of all
teas by his dutiful subjects ; also of rhubarb, and
other articles necessary for " English barbarians."
Would that his "chops" could reach beyond his own
dominions ; we should have no objection, for our
part, to his chopping off the heads of blundering
blockheads who presume to undertake the management
of affairs for which neither art nor nature had given
'lem any competency.

The Conservative Parliament convened by an anti-
Conservative administration, assembled yesterday for
the first time. The swearing in of the new members
would occupy the remainder of the week, and the
opening of the session by a royal address is not to
take place till Tuesday next. Her Majesty, it is
stated, will not attend in person to deliver the speech
of her ministers—very much to their disappointment.
Their organ, the Globe, indeed assigns as the reason
for this, the interesting situation in which the Queen
is at present understood to he. We are happy to be-
lieve, however, that her Majesty enjoys most excellent
health, and that it is quite possible some other cause,
not quite so agreeable to the 'Whigs, may have in-
fluenced her determination. The Liberals have never
failed to boast that that tower of strength which con-
sists in having not only the Queen's name, but the
sovereign personally and entirely on their side, be-
longed to them, and exulted in the thought, that even

in their most pitiably degraded state, her Majesty
would continue to shed the lustre of her smiles upon
their adversity. However disagreeable it would neces-
sarily be to her feelings to deliver a speech from the
throne, containing recommendations—for such we are

given to understand the forthcoming speech will con-
tain—entirely distasteful to the majority of her hearers
—and a speech to which she must be aware that a dis-
approving answer would unavoidably be given—her
ministers, nevertheless, presumed to flatter themselves
that she would go through this painful duty, and do
even more to show her attachment to liberal opinions.
The case, in point of fact, is likely to he otherwise ;
her Majesty, it is now confessed, will not speak the
speech, and consigns the task to the ordinary com-
missioners; whether fcr the cause assigned by the
ministerial organ—or, the much more feasible one, of

dislike to so unenviable a duty under existing political
circumstances, we leave it to our readers to conjecture.
The royal speech, as we have observed, will recom-
mend to the adoption of parliament the debated mea-
sures of sugar, timber, and corn, and, of necessity,
must elicit an amended address—and that amended
address will inevitably be carried. The predicament is
an unpleas.ant one; but as it is one wantonly and in-
decently brought about by ministers, on their heads be
the consequences visited. It is a circumstance of
alleviation, however, that, as we have said, her Majesty
will not herself be the deliverer of the obnoxious
speech—and that being delivered by commissioners,
there will be the less difficulty in treating it as in every
respect the manifesto, and that only, of a beaten and
retiring cabinet.

The "all denominations" opened their council at
Manchester on Tuesday, and made a most miserable
show of it. They came flocking to the metropolis of
factory labour, it is said, to the number of GOO, and
upwards ; but, somehow, on arriving there, they ap-
peared to shy the senate house, and not more than a
fourth or fifth part attended bodily. The first day's
proceedings were quite characteristic of the assembly,
and " dissent" among the " Dissenters" was very near
bringing them to a sudden and lamentable finale.
The first point on which they debated was, how they
should begin. Some were for opening the business
with prayer, and others were against it. " Can two
walk together except they be agreed ?" This was a
difficult point to determine ; but a burly Popish priest
from Ireland whacked the table, stamped the floor,
and with many furious gestures and a voice of thunder,
entered such a protest against saying " prayers," that
the poor Independents, Quakers, Shakers, Seekers,
and other " denominations" took flight, and surrender-
ed at discretion to the reverend but irate representative
of the scarlet lady. So prayers were voted out, and
the godly men gave their attention to the order of the
day. The Rev. Pye Smith then read a written dis-
' course on free trade, which brought down the meeting
to near one o'clock—a serious hour in Manchester—
that hour, above all others, most devoutly observed
therein in the all-important business of renewing and
refreshing the inner man. It was then announced
that the assembly must adjourn for the purpose of
feeding on something more substantial than the pie
they had just had, and suffer elsewhere for their coun-
try, by reason of Tory oppression and monopoly, on
English roast beef and home-grown and made plum
pudding ; after enduring this hardship, at the expense
chiefly of the millocrats, they were to resume their
arduous labours again at tour o'clock.

And again, accordingly, they did meet at the hour
appointed ; but by this time they began to take a more
solid view of things, and finding, by experience, that
talking on a subject which people know nothing about,
is not so easy a task, they wisely brought Mr. Alder-
man Richard Cobden, M.P., and a Lord Ducie along
with them to insense them a little upon the mysteries
of political economy and free trade in grain. So ended
the first day's " conference," which certainly gives
great promise of what is to follow. The idea of men
proposing to enlighten parliament and the country on
a topic concerning which they are obliged to avow
themselves, at the first blush, totally ignorant, and to
crave some little instruction from a professed corn-law
doctor, is really so exceedingly preposterous and ridi-
culous, that we shall not be at all surprised to find the
whole affair terminate, shortly and suddenly, in broad
farce. It would be already ludicrous, if it were not in
some degree pitiable and distressing.