The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-11-06 00:00:00

and which were originally designed' to promote the
cause of Scriptural truth.
Closely allied to the Infidel enemies of the Church
we find the Unitarian. Indeed, Unitarianism has been
defined as a sort of " incipient infidelity; " for we find
that most of those individuals who have flocked to the
standard of open unbelief, have passed over the inter-
mediate and proximate ground of Socinianism. The
Unitarians are subtle and dangerous enemies of the
Church. They make up for the paucity of their num-
bers by their station in society, and by their restless
-treir dangeious dogmas::
into the minds of the superficial and half educated
among the people. It is, perhaps, not generally known.,:
that the great majority of the popular school books of
the day have been written by Unitarians, and that no
opportunity which presents itself for introducing into
these elementary works their insidious tenets is omitted.
We can state this as a positive fact from our own expe-
rience; and any teacher of yonth may satisfy himself.
of the truth of our assertion, if he will only make the.
necessary examination. We would, therefore, caution
those who are entrusted with the responsibility of in-
structing the young—a responsibility secondary only
to that of the ministerial office—to exercise a sound
discretion in the selection of school books, lest they
should be accessory to the ruin of those who are placed
under their care. This is moie particularly necessary
in the case of female teachers, as the proportion of.
books written by Unitarians for the education of females.
is much greater than those which are designed for the
tuition of boys. The poison is chiefly to be found'
where its presence would be least suspected.

It should also be borne in mind that the Unitarians
have been the most active instigators of the recent
movements against tithes, church rates, and that the
various bodies of orthodox dissenters have been almost
literally the tools of this wealthy and influential class.
In order that our readers may be in possession of
the principal grounds of objection, urged by the Dis..
senters generally, against the existence of a Church
Establishment, we shall quote the language of one of
their principal writers, Mr. Binney. He says—

"Truth cannot be injured by fair and full discussion, and. • .
by open and uncompromising statements. I have no hesi-
tation about saying, that I sin an enemy to the Establish 7
ment ; and I do not see that a Churchman need hesitate to -
say that he is an enemy to Dissent. Neither of us would'
mean the persons of Churchmen or Dissenters, nor the epic-'
copal or other portions of the universal Church; but the 1N ,s
principal of the national religious establishment, which
should respectively regard as deserving, universally,--onvot-
sition or support. It is with me, I confess, a matter of deet;t 3rl
.;
serious, religious conviction, that the Established Churai
a great national evil; that it is an obstacle to the progreilstfoir 13.
truth and godliness in the land; that it destroys more souls Inanil
than it saves; and that, therefore, its end is most devoutly,,,
to be wished by every lover of God and man. Right ur
wrong, this is my belief; and I should feel not the slightest
offence if a Churchman were to express himself to me in pre-',,n"r
cisely the same words with respect to Dissent." "oabib

In addition to this explicit declaration of hostility; v." 1":"
we subjoin an extract from a tract published by the
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, in which
the objections of Dissenters ate very faithfully repre—. •:,T;d;
sented. The following is quoted from " Six Dialogues].-!,!iAic
• .4L
on a Church Establishment—" f,t qua
• •
"My brother-in-law was a Dissenter, and
,Mr.Diekii'm„
the Independent minister, whose preaching he attended, -ntid
whom he has joined with myself in the executOrship,'Canie • •-"
back with the mourners after the solemn service. ac, •
like that Church service at all, Mr. Dickson,' said•MorwslrC,,,v,,.
young man who happened to be present; 'it is veil-
'And why, Mr. Titukins?' replied Mi. Dickson; I dorint,
myself, as you know, approve of some expreSsionSiWit,
on the present occasion I found it peculiarly solenin
pressive; it was uttered from the heart, and it Went' talkies
heart; we ought, Mr. Timkins, to be candid; my own oktilam sji
jections in these matters lie much deeper than the wqtairsin
of a service.' Ay, Mr. Dickson,' rejoined Timkiiis,'ljasow
what you mean : you object to all set forms.' 'Why'Vt,l:"
exactly so, Mr. Timkins; there is nothing wrong in forrifelt,*;
as such, whether forms of ritual, or forms of pruner and,
praise; and the forms of the Church of England arc in gent.-;.,
ral excellent, many of them eminently beautiful • and the
pious members of the Church profit in the use of beautiful;
and:
doubtless find conscientious reasons for approvirg even of''
those which to you and me seem objectionable." Yes, yes,'
returned Timkins, I see where you are: OU do no: like
men-mad•-parsons; there is no warrant for 'Bishops in ti e: .
word of God.' lam sorry, Mr. Timkiiis,' replied Mr. Dicks
son, 'to oppose you, as if for the sake of quiliti;itig; bt t the
question of episcopacy is one which )ou have not stiidi(d;
have; and though I am not myself au episcopalian,. ran
readily admit that a pious and honest episcopalian may feels
as conscientiously convinced on his side as I on mine; and 1 frssis;:,
should certainly not think this alone a reason. forAissenting,
from the Church; 1 should be very sorry to call such a ser- 9
vant of Christ as the excellent rector of this parish a man
made-minister. 1 could not in conscience frequent his •"'
church ; but I cannot doubt that he is truly calted.bythe
Holy Ghost to the office of the Christian ministry,. and-that :sfs.7?
his labours have been eminently blessed of God to .
ritual welfare of his flock.' 0 then,' rejoined TinikinS„.'r •
conclude you do not like the rags of popery fonts; ii"tsel sur'' "1'
plices, and steeples, and so forth.' No Teaionable
Mr. Timkins,' continued Mr. Dickson, 'no 'Christiana an
enlightened mind in the present day would rend- the Church 4
of Christ for scruples like this. I presume the rector attributes
no more holiness to his surplice than I to my gown. Them •-
used to be vehement disputes about the lawfulness of appoint-'
big ceremonies, not sinful, in themselves, and intended' for"
,edification, but not prescribed by the word of God; but n 0191513
bissenter in the nineteenth century dwells upon points likes:lva
these. When the basis of a church is solid there is room for;::4„,rs
amendment in the details : my chief objection to the Church
r3i
of England is, that it is established by law; I should equally -1
object to any other national Church Establishment, even--In"%
were all the doctrines sound, and all the rites scriptural. 1!;-9Xfi
lay it down as a fundamental principle, that it is the duty.otwai
every true disciple of Christ to withdraw himself from ,afna-,,t,
tional Church, and to bear his testimony against all act-of-
, ,
parliament religion.' "
!'-4' 41401
These extracts furnish us with somethinc,
tangible
—something to grapple with in the shape of argument.,
In our next we shall endeavour to prove the fallacy of
these. notions, and thereby show how utteily,:groUrid4
less are the pleas set up by Dissenters asreaSOnsioi:
leaving the Church of England, and •seeking At.s• de-
..., •
struction,

MORAL EFFECTS OF WHIG LEGISLATION.—The fol-
lowing case, which will be found detailed in another •
column, affords a melancholy instance of the moral
effects of the new marriage act.
A man of the name of William Paine, residing in
Clapthorne, Northamptonshire, married a young girl
in the same parish, about seventeen years of age, and,
after living with het three year's, died six weeks ago.
A fortnight since the Rev. Mr. M'Donald, minister of
that-and adjoining parish, was requested to publish
the banns of marriage between this girl and a youth
of the name of Taylor. Struck with the indelicacy of
the proceeding—her husband having been dead only a
month, the reverend gentleman was induced to make
further inquiry, when, to his astonishment and disgust,
he discovered that the youth Taylor was the
mate child of Benjamin Paine, a son of the afOremen-,.
tioned William Paine—that he was a minor—had been
affiliated—and that, in reality, had he complied with•
their wishes, he would have been assisting a marriage
between a young man and his own grandfather%s. wife,
who is likewise under age !
Considering that it would be a wicked and incestu-
ous marriage, the Rev. Mr. M'Donald, who is an ho-
nourable and intelligent member of the church; re-
fused to publish their banns; and the parties betaking
themselves to the registrar of the district, they have
been asked before the Board of Guardians at Oundle,
and will be married according to the rules of the new
marriage act.

A more monstrous proof of the disgraceful effects
of this blot upon our statute book can scarcely be im-
agined. It is a fact which must be known in the coon-:
try in order to open the eyes of its 'cleluded.inbab,i
tants, and point out to them the mischievous and ins;
moral consequences of the so much lauded marriage
act.

SUNDAY SCHOOL SOCIETY FOR IRELAND.—We have
much pleasure. in calling the attention of our readers
to the announcement of Sermons to be -preached in,
Christ Church on Sunday next, in aid of the Sunday
School Society for Ireland, which will be fi,und in out'
advertising columns of this date. in oideriCo recatn"
mend this excellent Institution to the support of the
friends of scriptural education, we cannot do better
than give the following extract from the evidence of
the Right Honourable Frederick Shaw, M. P. for the
University of Dublin, on the subject. of the Irish Sun-
day School Society, taken before the Select Committee
of the House of Commons, appointed to inquire into
the progress and operations of the "new plan of edit'
cation in Ireland" taken from the Report of said
Committee, ordered by the House of Conitnilis
printed, July, 1837 :—" My own opinion is,
that tl:e
Sunday School Society for Ireland is the most nserni
Society in that country connected with.the etfacatiri.
,
of the humbler classes of the people., tornting.
opinion, I refer particularly to the Simplicity of 111 E
principles and the operations of that Society.;!it e?celei-
ses no control over the internal regulations, of .'OY
School in connexion with it; it uses no interfeter.3t7e
beyond that of friendly advice; it gives no Year.lil
hook of any kind except the pure Scriptures
while it gives to none who do not ask it .assis4!)o'
when it give,, it gives freely and without annexing:
any condition to the grant. I likewise greatl,Y-ao!'?ihre&
the high religious tone of the education .whi4'llll
Sunday School Society imparts; and,f;redirCV, ,
of its most important and striking characJekl4c
relation which this institution establishc";.6oiTales
its Gratuitous TeaciTerp, betWeen:tile..-Uiffor6l;"' •