The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-06-25 00:00:00

The expiring ministry, fully sensible that their hour

is come, begin to dispose of their effects, and to give
tokens of their affection to the few friends left them.
Jack Ketch, or whoever may have the honour (and a
high honour it will he in this case) to perform his
office, will have the robes in which they suffer; to
their successors they will leave nothing but the old red
tape in which they tied their papers. Their determina-
tion on this last point has been made evident by the
haste and sharpness with which they have been gather-
ing in, and disposing of, every thing disposable at their
command either remotely or immediately. They stop
at nothing that can avail them in this way. Knowing
that it is time to set " their house in order," they seize
and sell whatever they can lay their hands upon. " Let
us gut the establishment," say they, "and then no-
body can pretend that we have left it in disorder."
Pawnbrokers, auctioneers, and commission-agents of
every description are hourly in attendance; and the
scene going forward is extremely curious. Old Lord
Plunket has been driven off the Chancery Bench in
Ireland in the most savage and ignominious manner,
to make way for Sir John Campbell, for whom no
other berth could be found. This fact is remarkable,
because it shows unequivocally, first, that ministerial-

ists are acting on the sauce qui pent principle with all
diligence; and, secondly, that ministers are perfectly
unscrupulous as to the means they take to provide for
their followers in a route so complete. The command
given to the Irish Chancellor to pack up and depart
was sudden, unexpected, and abiolutely insulting.
He was very reluctant, poor man ! to go; and it is
admitted on all hands that he is quite equal to the
discharge of his functions. His lordship, in taking
leave of the bar on Monday, admitted these facts him-
self. Here, then, is a tolerably strong proof, that
whatever others may think, ministers are quite aware
themselves that their doom is sealed, and that if they
did not provide for Sir John Campbell just at this
moment, it may very shortly be quite out of their
power to do any thing for him. So Sir John is pitch-
forked on the Irish Chancery Bench with rude and
indecent celerity.

So much for ministerial consciousness : look next

1 their conscientiousness. They know well that they
ire going out, and that when they go, Sir John Camp-
)ell will have to retire along with them; but mark,

his elevation to the Irish bench will entitle him to a
retiring pension of £4,000 a-year, although his judicial
services should not endure more than a few weeks !
Now, is not this a job, yea, a rank job ? No wonder

that new taxes are needed—that the public treasury is
empty—that our debt is increased; what care hungry
Whigs for national affairs when their own private con-
cerns require so much attention ? or what care they
who suffer, so they obtain comfortable locations
for themselves ? Lord Plunket is now the third Irish
Ex-Chancellor on the pension list ; the other two are
Sir E. Sugden and the venerable Lord Manners.

Our readers would justly charge us with presump-
.on were we to undertake, unasked, the defence of any

discourse or doctrine put forward by the Rev. Hugh
M`Neile,—a task to which there is none more compe-
tent than he is himself. We deprecate the imputation
that it is our intention to do anything of the kind; we
shall leave that labour to the rev. gentleman himself,
if he should think it necessary to offer any reply to
the cavillers who have attacked his late speech at
the Amphitheatre. But the absurdity and falsehood of
some of the criticisms which that address has elicited
are so glaring, and especially those which have issued
from our ancient, the Mercury, that we feel ourselves
not only at liberty, but in some measure called upon,
to occupy the attention of our readers for a brief
space with a notice of them.

Mr. M`Neilc.,', having shown that the grand scriptu-
ral argument of the anti-corn-law men rested upon a
garbled quotation which made nothing in their favour,
and that a comprehensive view as well of nature as of
revelation proved that the argument thence derived was
utterly futile, proceeded to say that there was a passage
in holy writ which, if it did not contain an express au-
thority against placing our country in dependence upon
foreigners for food, afforded a forcible illustration of
the consequences which would be likely to result from
its being submitted to so unfortunate a condition. He
then quoted the 20th verse of the 12th chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, and commented on the passage
with his usual eloquence and effect. Now the passage
states a fact, and the fact stated is, that the people of
Tyre and Sidon were obliged to make submissions to
Herod, and use stratagem to pacify him—and for this
reason, because " their country was nourished by the
king's country." It was in vain that Tyre was a great
emporium of commerce and manufactures, and Herod
but a petty prince of Palestine. The people of Tyre
were dependent upon him for food, and they had no
choice but to hear with the high displeasure and lofty
airs of their bread-keeper. What would all their ma-
nufactures and trade avail them if they had no bread
to eat ? With Herod therefore they must keep terms—
to him they must sue in humble guise, because their
country was nourished by his. The force of the argu-
ment would not be lost even though Tyre and Sidon
were places of less importance than they actually were.
The FACT stated in the passage contains a warning
which this circumstance would not affect; but it cer-
tainly appears more striking when we consider how im-
portant and famous a city this Tyre was.

With a view to call up a picture of its magnificence
Mr. M`Neile used some of the very descriptive terms
of the prophet Ezekiel. " They of the house of To-
garmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen
and mules." " Judah, and the land of Israel,
they were thy merchants," &c. Yet all this availed
nothing in the eyes of a petty prince, who happened to
hold the city in his power in the important matter of
nourishment.

Can the foreign-corn advocates of the present mo-
ment evade the inference—the important lesson obvi-
ously deducible from this plain statement ? They can-
not. It should be a memorable example and warning
to us not to boast too much of our riches—not to
place too much dependence on our manufactures and
our commerce, and, above all things, not to make our-
selves subject to the caprice of foreigners for our daily
bread,—the very thing, by the way, which our insane
anti-corn-law agitators are at this mQment ridiculously
urging us to do. . .

But the Mercury, who is a capital friend at a pinch,
has made a discovery that Mr. M`Neile is all wrong
about this passage, and that he has been guilty of a
"gross and wanton perversion of scripture to serve a
political purpose" This is a serious charge, and pro-
claimed with a flourish of trumpets that might well
persuade those who did not know their man so well as
we do, that there was something awful coming forth.
Well, our labouring ancient, after all, produces only a
ridiculous mouse. He has nothing to say to the pas-
sage cited, but he alleges that Mr. M‘Neile's description
of Tyre was not applicable to it in the time of Herod.
His words are as follows :
" The description of Tyre is taken from Ezekiel, chapter
xi vii., and it is quoted as applying to Tyre at the time the
apostle wrote, whereas at that time Tyre had fallen from her
high and palmy state, and was reduced so low as to be in
fear of Judaa. The rev. gentleman
puts
then in the height of her power and
of
it
as thei fpet
Tyrety were monarch
splendour, and in so doing he not only.falsifies the fact, but
takes a gross and most unwarrantable liberty with Scripture.
His crowning sophistry was received, we are told, with `im-
mense cheering, and probably the plaudits of his ignorant
auditors may be sufficient consolation to him, even if those
possessed of ?viler heads and sounder hearts should tremble
at his audacity. '

Here the assertion is, that Tyre, in the time of He-
rod Agrippa, was no longer in the state in whicl it
was when described by Ezekiel five hundred years be-
fore; but no proof is offered of that allegation. The
city had undergone several mutations before the Chris-
tian era ; had been conquered and nearly destroyed by
Alexander the Great; but was rebuilt, and afterwards
became as great nearly as ever. From the frequent
mention of it in the New Testament there can be no
doubt that Tyre was still a great city in the time of our

Saviour. In the second century it was a bishop's see `•
and St. Jerome tells us that in his time it was the most
famous and beautiful city of Phoenicia, and a mart for
all the nations of the world. This ancient father al-
leges this circumstance as an objection to the accom-
plishment of Ezekiel's prophecy, c. xxvi. v. 14, and
replied to it that the .prophet's declaration is to be un-
derstood as intimating that Tyre should no longer be
the queen of the nations, and enjoy the same authority
and dominion that it possessed under Iliriam and its
other kings, but should be subject to the Chaldeans,
Macedonians, Ptolemies, and at last to the Romans.
In the twelfth century Tyre was taken by the Crusa-
ders, at which period, says Dr. Keith, it was " a great
commercial city." Where then is the falsification, if
not at the side of our railing and blundering ancient ?
On the part of Mr. M`Neile there is certainly none.
Tyre was a great city when Ezekiel wrote, and a great
city also in the time of Herod ; so much so as to leave
Ezekiel's description fairly applicable. Where then is
Mr. M`Neile's fault ? We will answer that question :
in the jaundiced mind of the antiquated Radical who
so rashly undertakes to correct him, and nowhere else.
He talks of his "wiser head and sounder heart," poor
old man! We really tremble for the soundness of the
one and the hopeless callosity of the other. He grasps
at straws in such a way as shows fearfully that he is
sinking fast. " Wiser head and sounder heart," for-
sooth ; poor fellow! We are really shocked at his un-
conscious ignorance. The simple truth is, that the
argument is a powerful one, and the illustration in all
its parts strong and irrefragable, and that the poor
jibbeted Radicals know not what to say in their
vexation.

Our local contemporaries of the Whig school are
full of editorial appeals. Electors of Liverpool
Every other article and sentence is a stirring gee-up to
the Electors of Liverpool ! They might as well sing
Moore's song--

Will you come to the bower
I have shaded for you?
Your bed shall be roses
All spangled with dew ;
Will you, will you—
Won't you, my dears?

"There's some men," said our coachman—the last
evening we were riding out of London—" as is above
talking to their hosses—hut 1 always do." The fellow
kept unceasingly pothering and balling at his cattle,
and as they were a bad set, and much needed to be
spoken to, he apologised indirectly for disturbing the
passengers by the above speech—which we would re-
commend to the consideration of our editorial
chrioteers of the Whig press, in case anybody should
complain of their speaking " too often to their hosses."
The conclusion we draw certainly is, that the "hosses"
have no mind to go. If they had, why all this
whipping and spurring—free trade here, and free
trade there—Walmsley for ever ! and soforth ? Why,
the pens of our Whig contemporaries will be worn to
the stump inscribing Electors of Liverpool, do this
and do that ! Brother Editors, we feel for you. The
fault is not yours. What it is in mortal men to do,
you have done, and are doing; but you cannot get
on with such a cause, and such a turn-out ; and there
be all the blame deponed. You are working your-
selves to death—but it is all in vain ; the horses won't
draw; the coach won't go; and you will just have
your labour for your pains. _

Now just observe us: we mount the box with a light
step and degage air ; the reins are handed to us with
a respectful bow by our attendant ; we take them care-
lessly; we nod to our friends; and smiles, congratu-
lations, and joyous looks meet us at all sides. Our
studs !—Lord help you, gentlemen, they don't want
to be spoken to at all. Thorough-bred, spanking ani-
mals ; they require to be held in till the proper mo-
ment, and then they only need to be let go. So when
the time is up, we just say, Gentlemen Conservatives !
—(so we call them)—please to remember Sandon and
Cresswell Queen and Constitution Church and
State—Old England for ever ! and then we go a-head
in such style as delights all beholders. But standing
by " our order," as we ever shall do. we impute no
blame to our less fortunate brethren of the editorial
box. No ; it is " the cause," the cause alone that
gives us this immense advantage, and we shall ever
avow it.

It will be perceived from our advertising columns
that the Hon. Hugh Cholmondeley retires from the
representation of Denbighshire. We are happy to
add, however, that the services of the hon. gentleman

will not be lost at the reassembling of Parliament. as
he comes forward as a candidate for the representation
of the Montgomeryshire boroughs with every prospect
of success. He is well known as an unflinching ad-
vocate of church and state, and ought to receive the
support of all who wish to uphold the interests of the
constitution.

Sir W. W. Wynn has addressed the electors of
Denbighshire on the retirement of Mr. Cholmondeley,
and we are glad to say will be elected without opposi-
tion. His amiable and charitable disposition, together
with his promising talents as a rising statesman, have
endeared him beyond expression to every inhabitant of
the county.

We revert with pride and pleasure to the speeches
delivered by Lord Sandon and Mr. Cresswell at the
great meeting of electors held at the Amphitheatre on
Msnday. They were received with every token of ad-
miration and delight by an immense auditory at the
moment of their delivery, and they have since been
read far and wide by a still more numerous portion of
the community, and, we make no doubt, with equal

satisfaction.
The noble lord drew a spirited and faithful picture
of the unhappy ministerialists—spirited and faithful,
but without colouring or exaggeration. They were
done negatively, and, metaporically speaking, in faint
lines ; but the tableau gave us the originals to the life,
and was a Daguerrotype. " Gentlemen," said his lord-
ship, " if we are to keep our trade and commerce in a
" healthy state, I think we must have a steadier go-
" vernment than we have had for the last ten years—
" (cheers)—a government upon whose pledges and pro-
" raises some reliance may be placed—who will not
" quiet any one branch of trade one year by giving
" them reason to think it will not be touched, and the
" next upsetting it root and branch. (Hear, hear.)
" We must have a government who know their own
" thoughts, who will not make pledges and promises
" and then break them. (Cheers.) You must have a
" government that will watch foreign countries more
" closely than the present—the late government, I was
" going to say—(loud laughter)—that will not allow
" British navigation to be thrown out of the trade of
" Spain, Portugal, or the Havannah—that will not allow
" a blockade of Mexico and Buenos Ayres to be esta-
" blished for two long years—(hear, hear, and cheers)—
" that will not allow the north-eastern boundary of '
" North America to remain unsettled for years at the
" imminent peril of our peace—that will not allow the
" internal affairs of the Canadas to be untouched until
" insurrection breaks out, and our finances are bur-
" denecl by the expense of an ultimately necessary, but
" in the beginning perfectly unnecessary war. We must
" have a government that will not leave the represents-
" tive of the Crown in China without instructions, al-
" though he wrote time after time for instructions on the
" great question of the introduction of opium, which he
saw would come on. (Hear, hear.) No ;we must
"
" have a government with foresight to see the cloud in
" the horizon before it bursts out into a storm. (Loud
" cheers.) We must have a foreign secretary who is
" not engrossed by the political hobby of the day, but
" who thinks it worth his while, as well as his duty, to
" watch over the interests of British commerce,—
" (Great cheering.)"
His lordship followed them into details upon those
commercial questions with which they are now seeking
to divert attention from their own manifold delin-
quencies, and upon each and all made so complete an
expose of their budget of delusions as cannot easily be
forgotten. Mr. Cresswell addressed himself more par-
ticularly to that grand crotchet of the day, the cheap-
bread-cry of the manufacturers, and upon that single
text delivered a discourse so replete with argument, so
demonstrative, so perfectly irresistible and convincing,
that we protest we should like to see the " Manchester
Dictators" once more in Liverpool just to ascertain
how they look after it ? It constituted a large draft
upon the great concern of Greg, Cobden, Ashworth,
and Co.; and if they continue to do business thereaf-
ter, ter, we can only say that they must have most forbear-
., ing creditors, If we had had the misfortune to have