The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-06-08 00:00:00

such of our friends as have access to the Dublin papers
the pirticulars of the controversy must be familiar; and
We confidently appeal to them whether Protestantism
has not aultie‘ed a splendid triumph in the person of Mr.
Gregg, over the errors of Popery, as represented by the
wily champion of the Romish church. The discussion
has more titan realised the most sanguine expectations
of the friends of true and unadulterated Christianity.
Day after day did Mr. Gregg meet the cavils and demo-

lisp the sophistries of his crafty opponent. The word of
truth has proved indeed a powerful weapon in the hands
of the admirable champion of Protestantism. Fears
were entertained when he entered the arena with so ac-
complished a logician and so eloquent a speaker as the
doughty priest Maguire ; but we are proud to say that
Mr. Gregg has proved himself, in every respect, more
than a match for his opponent. In closeness of reason-
ing, in clearness of illustration, in vigour and perspicuity
of style, and in tact and self possession, he has proved
himself to be decidedly superior to his antagonist. The
following passage from the letter of a gentleman who
was an eve and ear witness of the protracted discussion
will serve to show how greatly the victory is appreciated
on the spot. He says, Popery, since her intrusion
into England, has never received such a blow as she has
in the course of the past week ; in fact, the monster has
been nearly decapitated. She has been attacked in a
right way, and in a. night spirit, and in the Lord's
strength. Let all the ministers of the Gospel tread in
these steps, and use the weapons in season and out of
season, in their public exertions and private intercourse
and exhortations, and I venture to predict that ere many
years pass away, the beast with ten horns will not have
one of theni in Ireland."

This language is amply corroborated by the conserva,
tive press of i)ublin. Speaking of the effects which are
likely to be produced by this discussion, the Dublin Re-
cord remarks—" Out present conviction is, that the Rev.
Mr. Gregg has, by God's permission, struck, a blow in
Ireland which will be felt in its remotest 'corner-4
deadly blow at the head. of the beast, which it will be
easy to follow up, and whiCh, if followed up with only
the slightest degree of..vigOur, will be the means or ulti-
mately producing- the most important and blessed effects."
But the strongest proof of the damage which Popery
has sustained in the conflict is, the circumstance that Mr.
Maguire's chairman, the Rev. Mr. Macnamara bad actu-
ally announced the premature intention of closing the
debate yesterday. This is certainly no proof of confi-
dence on the part of Father Tom. The Rev. Mr. Nan-
gle, Mr. Gregg's chairman, has distinctly declined the
overture, and insisted upon having " the claims of the
rival churches fully, freely, and searchingly investi-
gated.

We sincerely hope that the proceedings of this trium-
phant discussion will shortly be published in a series of
cheap tracts, so as to be accessible to all classes in the
community. We are sure that much good may be done
by their dissemination, in England as well as in Ireland.

TIM LATE FATAL AFFRAY IN KENT.—The particulars
of the late fatal encounter in Kent are too generally
known to need any extended comment on the nature or
the origin of the disturbance. The whig-radical papers
seek to charge the affair upon the poor-law agitators ;
and it has been malignantly insinuated by the leading
organ of the ministry that a noble peer, long known for
his able advocacy of the rights of the poor, had con-
nived at the mischievous proceedings of the maniac
Courtenay. We have not been able to discover, in any
of the accounts which we have perused, that there was
the slightest connection between the recent outburst of
fanatical frenzy and any systematic opposition to the new
poor law. The whole affair %vas, from beginning to end,
the isolated work of a raving madman. His deluded
followers, over whose passions this frantic enthusiast
seems to have obtained the most complete ascendancy,
do not appear to have any definite object in view, be-
yond that of realising the splendid promises held out by
their infatuated leader. It is perfectly absurd to mix up
the question of opposition to the poor law with the
less acts of such a maniac. If his proceedings were
characterised by resistance to the opeiation of any spe-
cific law, it was, undoubtedly, the law for preventing
smuggling rather than the poor law.
In dispassionately reviewing the melancholy details
of the recent catastrophe, it is impossible to exonerate
the government, or, at all events, Lord John Russell,
from the moral responsibility inseparable from the fact of
sending forth from the surveillance of a lunatic asylum
a man so dangerous as Courtenay. The facility with
which the Home Secretary seems to have listened to the
representations of those who sought for his liberation is
any thing but creditable to his prudence. But in dis-
charging this wretched madman, and sending him forth
to organise an insurrectionary force, the government
seem to have acted upon precisely the same principle as
that which has too fatally characterised the administra-
tion of Lord Miilgrave in Ireland. There we have re-
peatedly found the gaols nearly emptied of their inmates
at the solicitation of the friends of the condemned felons,
or at the instance of their priestly advisers. Yes, the
greatest malefactors have frequently been let loose upon
society, perhaps to imbrue their hands in the blood of
fresh victims, and that before a tenth part of the term of
their. incarceration had expired. The recent interference
of Lord John Russell on behalf of Courtenay was just a
parallel instance of the exercise of uncalled-for cle-
mency. That it was far from being a singular instance
of such clemency we may readily imagine when we call
to mind the mysterious manner in which the sentence of
Miss Newman was set aside. It is unnecessary for us to
enlarge upon the mischief which such a line of conduct
is calculated to produce. Its effect upon the morals of
the country may be easily appreciated.
Viewing the tragedy of last week as the result of pure
madness, the inquiry naturally arises, why were so many
lives sacrificed in quelling the disturbance? Could not
the local authorities have devissd sonic means for captur-
ing the maniac without bringing a detachment of 100 of
the military to oppose. a small band of 40 or 50 labour-
ers, armed only with stakes or bludgeons ? To us there
appears to have been a culpable degree of recipitation
manifested in all the proceedings against these deluded
fanatics. The only one of the whole party who appears
to have had fire-anus was Courtenay himself. After his
fall, where was the necessity for mowing down the pea-
santry by a discharge of musketry ? Might they not
have been prevailed upon to surrender:without having
recourse to such extreme severity ?
Indeed, it appears to us that if the misguided peasantry
had only been made acquainted with the proximity of the
military—if they had only been allowed a little time for
reflection—if care had been taken to inform them of the
dangers into which their rash conduct was leading them
—and proper exertions had been used to get hold of
their leader, there is every probability that the effusion
of blood which took place might have been avoided. This
is the more probable when we consider that many of
those who were captured said that they had been com-
pelled to enroll themselves among the followers of Cour-
ten a v.

IDOLATRY IN INDIA.—On Tuesday next a public
meeting will be held in this town, for the purpose of
aiding the praiseworthy efforts
induce
in progress, in va-
rious parts of the kingdom, to our civil authori-
ties in the East Indies to abstain from giving any fur.
the' patronage or encouragement to the idolatry of the
natives. The subject is one which ought to engage the
serious attention, and command the most strenuous and
persevering exertions of every sincere Christian. The
evil of which we complain, and which will be brought
under the notice of the meeting is of the most flagrant
character. We believe that the facts connected with this
abominable practice only need to be more extensively
known to become the theme of universal reprobation.
We are glad to find that the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland have taken the matter into their
consideration, and that they have cordially and unani-
mously recommended the immediate agitation of the
question in the northern districts of Great Britain .The
following documents, illustrative of the nature of the
complaints made by the Christians of India, and which
were submitted by Mr. Lorimer to the notice of the As-
sembly,- will be perused with interest :-
"In August, 1836, a memorial, containing the following