The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-07-13 00:00:00

TO THE

N EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

DEAR Stu,--There was, perhaps. never a period in the his
tory of our country when the motto of the immortal Nelson,
" England expects every man will do his duty" was more ap-
plicable than at the present important crisis : seeing we shall
shortly he called upon to exercise the political power with
which we are intrusted by the constitution of this free coun-
try—the Elective Franchise.

'in this land of freedom, the feelings and. prevailing senti-
ments of the people, duly expressed by their representatives
in Parliament, will never fail for any long period, to :act with
a degree of power quite irresistable upon those in whose hands
out beloved Sovereign may place the reins of Executive Go-
vernment. Hence the importance of the Electors forming a
correct judgement upon those momentous subjects which are
likely to occupy the future attention of the Legislature, and
upon which the prosperity of the nation may greatly depend.
It becomes then a sacred duty in the present crisis of our
National condition, that we should seriously consider the rapid
'increase and 'threatening aspect of the Roman Catholic
Church, both at home and in our colonial possessions. The
growth of any system of religious opinions, however erroneous,
or the zeal of those who may advocate them, are not in them-
selves matters to create political alarm ; they should rather
stimulate the friends of truth to greater exertions, and call
forth larger efforts of a counteractive character, but the'growth
of Popery, being in reality the advance of a great political
corporation, (the Romish Hierarchy) into power and influence,
cannot be thus revived. The Church of Rome essentially in-
tolerant, she has ever warred against the liberties of the world,
and h2r triumphs can only be secured by enslavingthe consci-
ences of men, and overthrowing the right of private judge-
ment.

We are aware that by the passing of what is generally termed
the Emancipation Act of 1829, the constitution of this country,
as settled at the period of the Revolution of 1688, was, to use
the words of an eminent, but by no means consistent, states-
man of our day; "broken in upon ;" and by that act persons
bearing spiritual if not temporal alegiance to, a foreign prince
and prelate, are admitted to the unrestrained exercise of politi-
cal power within these realms; succession to the throne, and
one or two high offices of state only excepted. The principle
upon which this admission was founded, was scarcely vindi-
cated even by the authors and supporters of that measure;
they deemed it to have become expedient, and with their expe-
diency justified its enactment without even an appeal to the
constituency of the country. Under this so far altered consti-
tution, our legislature no longer takes cognizance of truth or
error in matters of religion—all are equal in the eyes of the
law. But, as regards the aspiring Church of Rome, the evil
does not stop here. Popery first tolerated, then enfranchised,
has now become Popery favoured ; endowments have been
granted from the national funds for its support; more exten-
sive concessions and measures of an alarming character are in
contemplation, and that church will soon become a dominant
establishment; unless God, in his mercy, awaken the people of
these realms to a sense of their danger and their duty.
As then we value the great principle of civil and religious
liberty, the only real safeguard of our freedom; as we value
the free circulation of the Word of God, we are called upon to
take an immediate and determined stand of resistance against
the further progress of these evils, and to refuse to vote for any
man at the approaching election, be his party, his influence, or
his pretensions what they may, who will not distinctly promise
and pledge himself to oppose any further measure of endow-
ment or encouragement to the Church of Rome.*

I trust then, sir, that the sound-hearted Protestant electors
of Liverpool will do their duty at this important crisis; that
Churchmen and Wesleyans, Presbyterian and Baptist, Inde-
pendent and Seceder, will lay aside all their prejudices, and,
unite in returning to Parliament our sound-hearted Protestant
candidate, Sir Digby Mackworth, and any other staunch' Pro-
testant who may come forward as his colleague,—l am, sir,
your obedient servant,

A PROTESTANT ELECTOR.

- - -
July 10, 1847. -
See an important address, lately issued by the Christian

IntluenCe Society

THE BIRKENHEAD DOCKS

The following is the suppressed letter ed to in our
report of the proceedings of the Bir - lead Dock Com-
missioners' meeting on Wednesd week :

London, ,Tuly 7, 1847.

- - -
"GENTLE/VIEN,—The extrarfnary resolution which you
came to o n the 29th ult., and e extraordinary circumstances
. _ .

cery -
I was a concurring pail arid notwithstanding that your chair-
man disavowed, at the eeting of the committee on the 2d inst.,
that he bad sanctione any such belief.

" When I accepte , with your chairman? the appointment of
prosecuting the d bills in parliament, it was with the dis-
tinct understand ng that we should endeavour to get them
through as nearly as possible as they had passed the Commons,
and*that we should not withdraw them. After the second read-
ing, it was suggested by your chairman that, as there were se-
veral petiti6ns against the bills, it should be endeavoured to
have them withdrawn, and Mr. Lloyd was instructed to ascer-
tain if this object could be attained.
" This proposal met a decided refusal, Mr. Loyd having ob.
served that only two points were raised in the several petitions,

opposition to those points, We should then pr-operly pre

committee. . -
"Mr. Lloyd very soon obtained the agreement required from
the several opponents. Still your chairman declared his un-

willingness to ask for a committee, but on my pressing it, gave
a reluctant assent. At this time the session was so fast wearing
to a close, that it became difficult to obtain committees; but in
our case, with less delay than might have been apprehended, a
committee was appointed for the 25th ult. The whole of that
day was occupied with the question of title, which the commit-
tee settled by requiring the qualifying terms which had been
inserted in the first act, and then adjourned till Monday, at 11
o'clock.

" I saw your chairman on the Saturday, when he made no al-
lusion to any intention of going to Birkenhead; and I fully ex-
pected to have met him at the consultation, on Monday morn-
ing, before going into Committee.
" You know the rest.
" He appeared at your board, and obtained your consent to a

resolutioii of a most injurious character to all other interests,
and destructive of your own position, as I believe it willbe seen
in the result.

men
exist of its havi

"The resolution is so entirely in 'accordance with require•
ince made on behalf of the Woods, that no doubt can
g been preconcerted.

"These requirements are pretty nearly the same as were put
forward at an earlier stage, and were then believed by your late
chairman to be withdrawn. They are such as no honest board
of commissioners can enter into; for they are beyond their