The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-19 00:00:00

convince you, that f,and such a's I, are your real friends.
But to your priests I openly proclaim no quarter;' they are
not entitled to the compassion one feels for blind leaders of
the blind. They-are not blind. They are wide awake to the
gross' and- fatal errors of their system. No one knows its
deep iniquity half so well as they do themselves ; but it is
.eir trade ; therefore, when any are so bold as to invade it,
and re-echo the cry of the Apostle at Ephesus. They be
no • gods which are made with hands,' immediately feeling
that their craft is in danger, like Demetrius, who gained his
living by makinc, silver • shrines for Diana, they strive to
drown the voice of truth with loud shouts of ' great is Diana
of the Epliesians.'
Now, my lord,•by every word of that statement I am wil-
ling to abide ; and without entering minutely into its proof,
which would far exceed the limits of a letter, may 1 venture

their trad

to ask, have we no evidence of the treacheri and perfidy of
Romish ecclesiastics in modern times, which will go far to
establish my assertions? Your lordship cannot be ignorant
of the conduct of the Irish bishops of that church : that it,
has been proved to demonstration, that whilst they were repu-
diating in the most solemn manner, and upon their most
solemn oaths, the doctrines of intolerance, disloyalty, trea-
chery, and persecution, they were 'privately teaching those
very same abominable tenets both to the clergy and the peo-
ple. Your lordship cannot be ignorant of the facts connected
with Dens' Theology, and the papal laws, arid the notes of
the Rhenish Bible, which facts now proved beyond the pos-
sibility of refutation, stand recorded against them in the page
of history, and all the original documents connected with
their discovery and development, are lodged by my Rev.
brother, Mr. M`Ghee, in both the universities. Your lord-
ship, I say, cannot be ignorant of those facts, for your lord-
ship acted a conspicuous partin the transactions connected
with them, by volunteering a public defence of DoCtor Mur-
ray, as to his sanction of Dens," which however only tended
to sink him still deeper, as it indelibly fastened on him the
Bth volume, which contains principles, if possible, more atro-
cious than the preceding seven. Is it therefore, my lord, in
the face of such proved delinquency, too much to say, that
the Romish ecclesiastics are not deserving of the pity one
feels for " blind leaders of the blind"—,-that they are wide
awake to the gross iniquities of their system ? The iniquity
iis plain to be seen by any one, n their own standard books ;

and if they were not conscious of it, why should they try to
conceal it, and by denying, in the most solemn manner, even
upon oath, that they hold principles, which they must know,

they both' hold and teach, add the guilt of hypocrisy and
falsehood, to the crimes of intolerance, disloyalty, and per-
secution ?

3. As to the third charge which your lordship has brought
against my papers, viz., my asserting, as I did, in my chal-
lenge to Mr. Abbott, that the " books of devotion of the
Romish Church are full of lying fables," I know not what
your lordship may think of them, but in my humble judg-
ment, if such stories as " St. Denis carrying his head under
his arm," and " St. Raymond sailing on his cloak," and " St.
Antony on a millstone," and " Pope St. Nicholas refusing
when an infant to suck more than once on Wednesdays and
Fridays," and a multitude of others of a similar, and many
of a much more demoralising nature, with which not only the
Breviary, but all their books of devotion which I ever seen,
are more or less filled, be not lying fables, then I know not
what are lying fables.

Your lordship is displeased at my saying, in my last letter,
that " your lordship had taken the part of the Romish priest ;"
but, my lord, had I not just cause to say so? The very same
objections and accusations, almost in the same words, which
Mr. Abbott alleged against me, have been advanced by your
lordship. Mr. Abbott accused me of violence, your lordship
of violence, abuse, and offensive language ; Mr. Abbott of
falsehood and lies, your lordship of (what is little lass cri-
minal (misrepresentation and exaggeration. Mr. Abbot has
told me repeatedly, that I was serving his cause (though if I
was, he would hardly be so foolish as to say so ;) your lord-
ship has said the same. Mr. Abbott has accused me of
" ribaldry and fanaticism your lordship, of acting in a
manner inconsistent with the character of a Christian minister
and a gentleman. Mr. Abbott's object evidently was, to
silence, if he could, my testimony against the abominations
of his apostate church ,• I hope, my lord, the Roman Catholics
of Norwich are mistaken in asserting, as I understand they
do, that your lordship's object is the same. When I found
such a coincidence in the charges brought against me by Mr.
Abbott and your lordship, I could not help thinking, and
assailed as I am on all sides, 1 think I was justified in com-
plaining, that your lordship had taken part with a Romish
priest, in endeavouring to run down one of your own clergy,
for only doing what he conscientiously behaved to be his
sworn duty. My lord, I hound myself, in the presence of
God and man, at my ordination, by a solemn vow, equivalent
to an oath, to be ready, " with all faithful diligence, to banish
and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines, and con-
trary to God's word." How lam to fulfil that vow, other-
wise than by preaching, writing, and speaking against them,
I cannot imagine. That this ought to be done in a proper
spirit, that is, in a spirit of fervent zeal for the glory and the
truth of God, tempered with a spirit of meekness and Chris-
tian love to the souls of the unhappy victims of Satan's delu-
sion, I most willingly admit; and both have prayed, and do
most earnestly pray, to the Giver of all grace, that he would
be pleased to animate me with such a spirit. But, my lord,
your lordship's objections and observations, if followed out,
would lead to renouncing this. holy warfare altogether, to
surrendering the souls of our fellow-sinners, and the interests
and prosperity of our beloved country, an undefended prey to
the ruthless destroyer, and would leave the " rooting out" of
Popish " errors and superstitions" to " chance."
Your lordship has given permission for the publication of
this correspondence, but clogged with a most inconvenient
condition : for were I to publish all the papers to which your
lordship alludes, together with Mr. Abbots, which would be
necessary to make them intelligible, and for which I have no
authority, it would be of most inconvenient length. As your
lordship has however selected such parts of my papers as ap-
peared to your lordship most objectionable, and 1 have now
given those parts in full, I presume I may consider myself at
liberty, without further troubling your lordship, to pnblish
the correspondence as it is.
Your lordship says, in conclusion, that the papers and
speeches of myself and others of the Protestant Association,
appear to your lordship " inconsistent alike with the charac-
ter of a Christan minister and gentleman, and with the spirit
of the scriptures and the church of England." What other
members may think of so severe a charge, I know not ; but
so far as I am myself concerned, I am not conscious of de.:
serving it. If to be zealous according to the measure of my
ability, in exposing error and defending truth, and in doing
so, to use the very language which the holy scriptures, and
the standards of my own church, to which I am pledged and
bound in the most solemn manner, have put into my mouth,
be " inconsistent with the character of a Christain minister,
with the spirit of the scriptures and the church of England"
then I must of course (but not otherwise) plead guilty to the
charge. And if repudiating and detesting from my inmost
soul, the sickly liberality of the present day, which can put
bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter ; which can see no.diffe-
renee between truth and falsehood, and which, if our Divine
Redeemer and blessed Lord and Saviour himself were nosy
upon this earth, would lead men to reject and despise him,
because his language and manners would not come up to the
modern standard of politeness and refinement, to speak my
mind openly, and honestly, and call things by their proper
names, be inconsistent with the character of a gentleman,
then, my lord, most unfeignedly, and from my heart, I thank
my God that lam not a gentleman. I have the honor to be,
my lord, your lordship's most obedient, and humble servant,
WILLIAM KER.
The Lord Bishop of Norwich.