The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-08-03 00:00:00

CHURCIIMANSHIP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD
Sin,—To raise up the barrier of defence, perchance to
buckle on the armour of attack, and to advance against the
avowed foe, are comparatively light and easy offices. Bat
when we are called upon to defend ourselves from the good
intentions, to detect the imprudences, and to restrain the in_
temperateness of friends, the duty becomes peculiarly painful,
and somewhat dangerous. Still both are duties, and equally
imperative; and as we boldly perform the one, however arda--
ous, we dare not shrink from the other' hoWever unpleasant.
And, indeed, the errors of a friend may be more obnoxious to
the safety and welfare of a cause, than the attacks of an enernyt
and when the mistaken or dangerous position taken up and
avowed by an ally is counted as the sentiment or intention of a
party, the matter wears the aspect of misrepresentation, and
approaches to betrayal. An article, or the portion of an article.
written, I regret (I had almost said I blush) to say, by a clergy-
man of the English Church, and copied into your paper of
Tuesday: (20th June,) entitled " The Objects of Protestants,"
bears this appearance. I beg, in the first place, respectfully to
deny that the wild statements contained in this article express
the objects of Protestant Churchmen. I must beg, in the name
of Protestant Churchmen, to disclaim these principles, and
earnestly tot rotest against them. 1 protest against them, in-
asmuch as they are founded on a fiction, cannot be prosecuted
without treachery to the Church, and, if carried out, will lead
to disorder and ruin ;—inasmuch, too, as they would finally
swamp the Church by equalising it with dissent, and destroy
the dearest interests of Protestantism itself. The writer dis-
avows, or the part of Evangelical Churchmen, any sectarian
spirit. In the letter of his remarks, I most cordially agree
with him ; but I do not consider it necessary for a Churchman
to make the disclaimer, as his character as a Churchman is
sufficient guarantee : I leave that to the individuals Who, in
their "
their misguided wisdom, or in their " fleshly lusts," have, by
sectarian" divisions, broken the unity of the Church.
But I cannot repeat this profession in the spirit of its reverend
author. He exclaims that we (Churchmen) are actuated by no
sectarian spirit," by which he means " Church of England-
ism." What., then, is the Church a sect? When I stand by
my Church, in opposition and in contradistinction to the cor-
ruption of Popery and to the disorder and irregularities of
Dissent,—when I refuse to support a Romish candidate for
senatorial honours and power, because he would root up Pro-.
testantism and support tyranny, and a Dissenter because he
pants to destroy my Church and institute faction,--am l a
sectarian? I have been taught that my Church is a branch of
that Catholic Church built upon the foundation of the Apostles
and Prophets, instituted by Christ, and invested with perpetual
power direct from himself; I have been taught that my Church
is the only divinely-authorised safeguard of God's religion in
England, and that she contains in her all the principles of
Christianity, and therefore of Protestantism ; I have been
taught that whilst I adhere reverentially and faithfully to her
teaching and doctrines, I adhere to the Churchmanship of the
New Testament, theChnrchmanship of the Apostles and Bishops
of the Primitive Church, of James at Jerusalem, of Timothy at
Ephesus, of Titus at Crete. What, then, when I inscribe on
my banner Churchmanship as my rallying point,—when I
wrap myself up, on truly Apostolic and New Testament
grounds, in my Churchmanship—tolerating, but a determined
opponent of, Popery on the one side—discountenancing, but
willing, as far as consistent, to aid, or not to oppose, Dissent
in defence of Christianity on the other,—whilst, in declaring
myself a Churchman, I profess myself a Protestant and a (pro-
fessing) Christian, determined to stand by the Protestant in-
stitutions of my country, and to resist the encroachments of
Popery and the schismatic exertions of Dissent,—do I act in a
" sectarian" spirit? Surely not. I rejoice when I see an
faithful opposition to the advances of Popery, and I should/W
willing to assist any attempts in this direction where expedi-
ent, whoever or whatever be the actor; but I esteem it nothing
short of treachery to send an avowed opponent of my Church's
rights with a carte blanche into the house, providing he is do-
termined to discourage the progress of Popery. Carry out the
principle of the reverend gentleman's remarks, and what is it
bat to say, " If you will only avow a determination to oppose.
Popery and to uphold Protestantism, whenever the former
endeavours to insinuate herself, and whenever the latter is;
assailed; go. You may be actuated by feelings of the direst
hatred and envy of our Church •, you may be determined to
rob her of her rights, to enfeeble her existence, to tread her in
the dust ; you may vote for her divorce from state connection,
and seek to deprive her of state educational provision ; you
may carry out your own views (however misguided in their
formation, and however fatal in their effects) of her need of
reformation—though your reformation may be deformation,
and your improvement destruction; only tell us you will vote
against Romish endowment, then you may depose the Irish
Church ; only tell us you will resist Popish aggression, then
you may put down Protestant (Church) ascendancy; only ob-
struct Romanism, you may do what you will with theChurch"f
What ! is this Protestantism? It may be the Protestantism of
those who view our own Church but as a mild 'r developement
of Popery, and with the same hand would deal destruction to
both ; it may be the Protestantism of Dissenters, but it is not
my Protestantism, nor -can it be the Protestantism of any
faithful and consistent Churchman. It is such intemperate
and, 1 should hope, unweighed declarations of sentiments, that
have at last rendered the very name of Protestant in some
minds odious; it is this that has caused many an English
Churchman unwisely and unwittingly to disavow the name,
whilst he still retained the principles signified ; and, indeed,
such Protestantism as this is nothing but a decoy to unsus-
pecting Churchmen, and a snare for the betrayal of their
Church. How difficult a matter it seems to be, to steer clear
of dangerous extremes, and preserve the middle path, the
"golden mean," where only safety lies, and which is alone the
course of dutyl
" Hac urget lupus, hac canis."

The principles of the Churchman are indeed dissimilar in their
spirit, and conservative in their tendency. Pursuing the even
tenor of his way, his Protestantism is opposition to Popery
indeed, but it is conservation if it is never-dying allegiance to
his Church. He duly appreciates the danger that awaits him
from either side, and escapes the snares of both. Though he
is a Protestant, vet he is not a Dissenter: though he is not a
Papist, yet he is a Churchman. To some indeed of our own
Church, the very name of Church seems to be a bugbear; and
it is left to vaunting Tractarians to monopolise a title in a high
sense which they cannot claim. But let me press upon Pro-
testant Churchmen what has been often said before, that whit;
is wanting now is " well-principled Churchmanship ": for it is
that only which cnn guide us aright through all the uncertainty
and all the disruption that surrounds us on every side; it is
that only which is able to bear us aloft above the tide that
everything seems to run in, and find a dry place for our feet;
that can protect us from the glozing wiles of Dissent, and arm
us against the fury and vigoUr of Popery. I glory in the name
of Churchman : for if I look into the New Testament, I And
that St. Paul was a Churchman, St. Peter a Churchman, St.
James a Churchman, St. John a Churchman ; and if I look
into the records of history, I find all those champions of the
" faith once delivered to the saints," all those bishops and
martyrs who lighted up a flame and spread the glorious gospel
in the purest ages of Christianity, were all Churchmen; and I
believe also that my own Church holds the same doctrines, is
endowed with the same powers, and has the same claim, as the
Church eighteen centuries ago. God forbid, then, that I should
ever be ashamed of the title of Churchman, or that England
should ever lose her brightest jewel, her Church. It is only In
my Church that I find a refuge from faction, and safety from
the claims of priestcraft and oppression. It is the Church
only that I recognise as the " ark " of Christianity, and the
citadel of Protestantism, where, ensconced behind her pro-
tecting front, I can vigorously march in hostile resistance to
the aggressive attacks of Rome, and where, by her.scriptural
orthodoxy, I can reasonably assert her own authority, and
discourage the blighting hands of schism and dissent.
Ist July, 1847.
ipur correspondent's letter ought to have appeared went
weeks since.)

THE "MAIL" SLANDERS ON THE CLERGY.

TO TILE EDITOR OP THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
you allow me through your columns to reply to a
portion of a letter which appeared in . the Mail of Saturday,
signed
a‘lat Col; utve r The h
letter
. '
which I allude to is that which relates
to St. Simon's Church and the Rev. J. It. Connor.
I pronounce the paragraph from first to last to be a series of
unmixed falsehoods. 1 will particularize them, they are as
follow—implied and direct:—
Falsehood No. I.—Mr. Connor plumped for Sir Digby Macts7
worth.
2.—Mr. Connor exerted himself. among his
congregation.
3.—Mr. Connor aspersed Lord John Manners.
4.—Mr. Connor called separately and indi-
vidually on every one of his people to
canvass them.
5.--Mr. Connor pledged them to Sir •
Mackwortb.
6.-11 f. Connor pledged them to withhold
• their votes from Lord John Manners.
7.—Mr. Connor is an Irishman.
B.—Mr. Connor is a fanatic.
9.—Mr. Connor displayed ignorance, Ste.
10.— Mr. Connor malignedone of the staunchest
Churchmen in Fngland.
The facts are these :—Mr. Connor bad no vote, and he never
interfered with his congregation one way or other.
Mr. Connor is a clergyman who has been labouring most
energetically for nearly ten years in this town, in some.of the
worst localities ; and while other clergymen have been living
on the fat of the land, lie has been supporting himself on his
private fortune to benefit our town—his income from his ehnreh
having never been sufficient to support a gentleman and his
family. Mr. Connor is an Englishman, being born in Kent
It is my opinion, that instead of slandering his character,
theMai/shouldlaudhim to the skies, for no man, (speaking coat-
paratively) has done more for the town than the Rev. Mr.
Connor and no man is a higher, a better, or a truer churchman;
and therefore, I would advise the Editor of the Mail and Ida
correspondent to take sittings in St. Simon's Church and learn
their Catechism, especially the 9th commandment, and that
part of their duty:to their neighbour which teaches them to
keep their tongues from evil speaking, lying and slandering.—
Respectfully yours. A REAL CHURCHMAN.
Liverpool, 31st July, 1847.

A BOY CARRIED OVER NIAGARA FALLS.—We leant
from Col. John Fisk that a melancholy accident occurred
at Niagara Falls on Sunday last. A fine lacl, Of the name
of John Murphy, aged 13 years, in the employ of Judge
Porter, in crossing to Chippewa in a canoe, was drawn
into the rapids, on the Canada side, and into the Great
Horse-shoe Fall. When he was first discovered ho was
beyond the reach of all earthly assistance ; and, although
the little fellow did all that courage and strength could
do, holding his slight canoe for nearly twenty Minutes
almost stationary, and, when tired nature gave up con_
tending longer with the wind and current both against
him, the little fellow plunged overboard, and with the,
courage and perseverance of a man for sometiftonuenbare.owftet
the current. But, alas ! too late ; though within lea
yards of the shore, he %VW in the embrace of the rushing
cataract, which never releases its victim. The broken
fragments of his frail bark were all that was
little mariner. A widowed 1414firc Vinchildren
lament
t theo loss
fate of
of aas
nobleonnd e Rot . lict
cahnegsterers
Adverlier.
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