The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-01 00:00:00

gb,coo human souls in Manchester of that persuasion 1 and

right, meet, and tit and necessary it should be, surely,. that

this vast number of persons should have the due administra-
tion of the sacramenti. according to the services of their

church—that they shoithl have religious instruction and

spiritual edificatiOn, being responsible beings as we all
of us are, travelling through this world to another. There.
fore, I say the Roman Catholics have done what_ I

I hope is jreasonable service in your eyes, Besides
providing for those who are in the Infirmary of their
own people, they wait in the gaols. Besides allow-
ing the sick to be visited there, and the persons who are in
prison to be come unto, they have provided, for a flock so
large as I have described, places of worship, chapels, four in
number, I think, in the town. They have provided these
chapels with suitable ministers, for the due celebration of
the services of their church, and for carrying on, in the man-
ner belonging to their communion, divine service, to the be-
nefit of the Christian public. There may be in Manchester

. ,
and elsewhere persons who think all this very wrong, or very
vain, and of no effect whatsoever ; there may be persons who
think that, after all, this is but the blind leading the blind;
there may be persons—l hope none of us here are such—who

think that within the pale of that ancient church salvation is

not to be found, and that if you speak of a Roman Catholic
who is living in piety and faith, and good works within him,
you are speaking only of one who lives in the midst of dark-
ness, and who does not see his way at all. Gentlemen, such
things might be thought at Manchester, such things might
be said at Manchester, and they might be said and thought
elsewhere too; but the persons of that persuasion, they who
attended on the ministry, the ministers of religion themselves,
nevertheless, proceeded with their work of duty, going through

what is theirs to perform for the edification of their flock ;
and I believe, gentlemen, you will find Mr. Hearne, who is

one of those -clergymen,, has carried on, as a clergyman, the
duty of several chapels, in piety towards God, and in useful-
ness towards men. Mr. Hearne, the plaintiff in this action,

.
is, as I have already told you, one of those clergymen. He
is a gentleman who was educated at the College of Maynooth
for the Roman Catholic ministry. He came over out of that
country to Garstang, in your county, where he served as Ro-
man Catholic clergyman for a considerable time, with credit
to himself and with usefulness to the people. He removed
from Garstang, many years ago, to Manchester, and he was
appointed one of the junior priests of St. Mary's Chapel, in
that town. After some years of labour there, he was remov-
ed from that to a higher position—that which be now holds
at St. Patrick's, one of the other chapels of the town. Since
the year 1831 Mr. Hearne had officiated as one of the clergy-
men of that chapel, esteemed by all who knew him, and liv-
ing in good reputation both with the clergy and laity of his
community. Gentlemen, such is the plaintiff, with whom
you have to do in this action. I will now turn to the defen-
dant, the Rev. Mr. Hugh Stowell, who is here to answer to
Mr. . Hearne for the injury he has done to Mr. Hearne. Mr.

Hugh Stowell, as I nuderstand, is a clergyman of the esta-
blished Church of England, himself residing in Manchester
too—a person in cure of souls in that town, being the incum-
bent of Christ Church, one of the churches or chapels of the
place—a gentleman, as lam informed, of great attainments
—a person who is a most popular preacher—a man who has
a great name and following in the church—a most eloquent
man, and a man accustomed to public speaking. Gentlemen,
it is that fatal gift of eloquence which has brought him into
his present position ; for if the reverend defendant had but
governed his tongue; if he had but, upon the occasion I am
going to look to, kept in order that unruly member; if
he had only remembered that, though it is a very little
member, and boasteth great things, yet behold what
mighty matter a little fire kindleth ; . if he had but re-
membered, that if he had said what he was able to say
well for the subject be had in hand—which he had a right
to have in hand—and kept off that which he had no right
to take in hand, but which when he did take in hand he
slandered and abused—you should not have this case to try
to-day, nor he to stand in the unfortunate condition for any
clergyman of any church in Christendom to stand in—as a
person who has to answer the impeachment of evil speaking
and slandering. Gentlemen, I think I told you that the
plaintiff, Mr. Hearne, was educated at Maynooth. It is ne-
cessary for the right understanding of the enquiry we are
engaged in that I should say a word in passing upon the
nature of that establishment. You know, it is historically
true, that Maynooth is an institution in Ireland for the pur-
pose of educating Roman Catholic youth who are destined
for holy orders in that church. Before the union of Ireland
and this country it was an institution founded, and existing,
and supported by the state. It was a foundation laid in the
wisdom—l care not whether persons differ from that or not—
I am not here to defend the wisdom any more than to depre-
cate their wisdom who deny that wisdom—l am not here for
any such purpose ; but I am here to say it was a foundation
laid in the wisdom of Mr. Pitt, who at that time was the
government of the country, and it has ever since that time,
now nearly 50 years ago, gone on supported by parliamentary
grants annually and specifically given—and this not only since
the Roman Catholic relief bill, but before the Roman Catholic
relief bill passed at all, when men's minds were not favourable
in the least degree to Roman Catholic claims—but still it
was thought that the faith of the country was pledged in some
way or other to the support of that establishment. Whigs
and tories, one government after another, people in power
and out of it, with but very few and those not very remarkable
exceptions, have always continued and combined up to the
very year in which I have the honour to stand before you,
in giving by parliamentary grants so many thousands a year
for the support and maintenance of that institution. Now,
gentlemen, as I said before, whether that foundation was
prudently laid I shall not discuss. I believe it was laid from
such notion as this, that if you educated the Roman Catholic
priesthood at home, instead of sending them abroad, as upon
their travels elsewhere to find education, you could not only
ensure the making of them into quite as sound scholars and
divines, but you could ensure the making of them into better
subjects, because they would not be so likely to feel attached
to other interests, and their foreign attachments would be
made likely to cease and be forgotten. Whether that notion
was a right one, whether the scheme has succeeded, whether
it has failed, and whether it ought to be abandoned, these
are all general questions fitting for the proper time and occa-
sion to be discussed. This, however is not the place, nor is it
the occasion to enter upon that subject. It is out of a dis-
cussion respecting Maynooth that the question which you
have to decide entirely arose. Now, gentlemen, as I have
just told you, although the question arises out of some such
discussion, perhaps this is the proper time for me to lay be-
fore you distinctly such views as I have upon the subject of
bow far every free man in a free eountry like ours has a right
to discuss questions of public policy. It is our privilege, and
our birthright, as Englishmen, that every man has a right
freely to discuss all matters and institutions, men and things,
which as a subject of the realm he has a right to consider,
and that both things temporal and things ecclesiastical. If
any man, in this country, really and truly believes that
the foundation of the college of Maynooth is wrong,
if any man really and truly believes that it is improper
to have it for the support of Roman Catholics and of
the Roman Catholic religion, if any man really and
truly believes that such an establishment, so supported,
is a disparagement to the christian religion, which belongs to
this land—if he really and truly believes that the support of
such an institution as Maynooth, does, in some way or other,
compromise the safety, the honour, and the christian princi-
ples of the protestant establishment of this land—that man
is justified in doing his very best to make parliament, by
reasonable measures, to withdraw its annual support. He
may, to be sure, hold doctrines in private which he would
not hold in public respecting it ; but if he discuss the ques-
tion fairly like a man, if he use no violent or vituperative
terms at which common sense revolts, why should he not, if
he acts in fairness and simplicity of mind, endeavour to
mend the constitution of the land if he thinks it wants to be
reformed, remodelled or reconstructed—for all that is law-
ful and possible—in order to give the greater energy, strength,
and vital principle to the institutions of the glorious land in
which it is our blessing and our privilege to live. That, is
our mind ; that is all freemen's mind. I therefore believe
and think that they ought not to be judged too narrowly
who, in discussions of that kind, honestly and fairly under-
taken, make a slip here and there, provided thatthe real pur-
pose of their mind be truly and faithfully honest. But
gentlemen, such being the true principle, and being, as I be-
lieve the practice—l hope it will never cease to be the prac-
tice—there are reasonable restraints to be laid even upon a
liberty like this. No man may use this liberty as a cloak for
maliciousness. You must not go to a public meeting, and
then bear down and destroy private character, under the
guise and mask of some political disputation. You must not
go to some such meeting with any such purpose. The law
will not permit it. You must answer for it if you do. You
must not at some such public meeting or public discussion,
say what is false of a man which, if it were true, would go
to the disinheriting of him from the way in which he makes
his bread, to degrade him in the estimation of society, to put
him out of those friendships and acquaintances he loves, and
to lower him in the condition of life to which he belongs.
You must not do that. I must not, forinstance, go to a dis-
cussion on Maynooth, either about the giving or the with-
drawal of the grant, and whilst I am aiming a blow at May-
nooth in the distance, stab Mr. Hearne in Manchester behind
his back. If that is the law of the land it is consistent with
common sense and with justice; and gentlemen it is the law
of the land as far as I understand it. And, neither if Igo
to a place for the purpose of discussing some public matter,
and speak in the way of an instance of some private person
whose name or station will help my argument, to stir up the
malignant passions, or rouse up any other passion, in the
audience as I shall show the defendant did, to swell the gale
and carry all along with me. I must not say, " I have what
lam saying upon authority." I must not say a thing of a
person, and then add, " I do not know myself that it is true,
but I pledge myself that it is, because I have some person
who tells me so, and I will bring him before you publicly if
you think what I have said is false." And why ? Because
the repetition of slander is just as bad a thing as the origina-
tion of slander—nay, the person who repeats slander after-
wards is often worse than he who originated it, because it is
done with more deliberation, with more malice, as we call it,
and he may do a great deal more mischief by it. I beg you
to carry these remarks with you when we enter upon the
question which we are about to try ; but as I have found in
one of the books in our learning, a very exact passage in
point, stating more correctly than I can what is the law upon
the subject, with your leave I will read it to you, and you
shall see what it is.
The learnedgentleman here quoted two passages from a case
which he did not specify, in which two judges of the Court of 1
King's Bench ruled that the circulation of a calumny was
much worse than the invention, as the author might be insane
or intoxicated, or a man of bad character ; and the repeater
of it might give it the weight of great character, of sound
mind, and of reputation for judgment ; the bare statement
by such a person that such an imputation had been made,
might circulate it more widely and more prejudicially than it
could be even by the author.] That, the learned counsel con-
tinued, is the law. It is founded on plain understanding and
common sense, and I think that every man who hears me will
allow it is founded on absolute justice. You have followed
me gentlemen thus far in these
sporeloliumina;
hryutreumowartsw.illl am
very sorry to have detained y g
ot efrAupproiln
last, the
28i a tteh subject j e c
the t beforeh y, o
inn. t
111 ne
ethe u
imonth
oi mn
mt
heed
Manchester, there was calleda greartapthuebrl,ictomceoertriencgt toloyesoenlf:
con-
sider the question of Maynooth, or
it was not a case where there was to be discussion—which
might be very proper—they'were to meet rather to chew their
own strength and their own feeling upon the subject, which
was also very proper. It was a meeting to petition parliament
to withdraw the Maynooth grant. As I said before, that may
be, and no doubt is, a very legitimate object. Had the meet-
ing conducted itself in all respects properly, no person could
have blamed them for assembling on such a subject. They
might have said a bitter thing here, or an acrimonious thing
there, but all offence would have gone by like the idle wind ;
no persons against whom attack was directed would have
troubled their heads about the matter. The meeting was at-
tendedaa rs e I
excellentun db
ey m
r
staa nna duy
audiences—all
ee rnl stcoesnso_so—na bi
wasE y
e by eef
sut wlal
and
oedfna 1 twoeena
raasnn, ddic tohhferl
nea edn tioehtsoa—ul
lswoa
%nhv
ladies—who
tsetnodweedi ,i , atsh de i dd
eaflelntdhaenat u, dwi
was
sn caep—p
ot
ion
ttehde
csipmeiarkuel
lir
isi.
ed to speak themselves. They attended—most diligently at-
ing. His taking the chair was the signal for looufdMtahrce.cmlliameuegath:
lei iveilli
hle nhoatdi cue
ptoon st hh ei
swo
cwcha
sa ti
oann,
immense
npower all
rfeosre
goodnt , a
of arc
ftowr
and that if this highly gifted and truly eloquent man was to
choose the better side always, and never the worse. how much
real good might be done by that glorious gift, He took the
chair, and was the first to address the meeting. He spoke,
as I understand, in a very animated strain for some half-hour.
As the question before them was the withdrawal of the grant
front Maynooth, you may expect that Maynooth was the
principal object of his animadversion. I shall say nothing about
what he said except that he breathed out his threatenings
against the institution_,. he said a great deal against popery ;
and then he came to the part in question, to which I call your
serious attention. Of course a very likely topic to be argued
was the education of the persons who were to become future
priests, at the college of Maynooth. He began, therefore, by
first speaking upon that subject, and then he said he should