The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-26 00:00:00

for this country than for Ireland: Popery we know to
be the bane and curse of that country--the true per-
turbed source of all its crimes, poverty, degradation,
and misery—the real exclusionist of the Irish, or of so
large a proportion of them, from political privileges;
and yet English Protestants, men who have been hap-
pily delivered from the gripe of that foul apostacy, re-
fuse to tell the deluded Irish • their mind on the sub-
ject—shrink from endeavouring to rescue them from
ruin lest they should hurt their feelings—speaking de-
licately and mincingly of the affair as one of mere
opinion—and, worse than all, absolutely vote away the
public money in order to maintain a Popish college for
the education of Popish priests in the heart of the
kingdom. This is really too bad=most mistaken
kindness.

What is it, let us ask, that Lord Stanley would by
his bill legislate in effect against ? or what that which
Lord Morpeth seeks by his to indulge and pamper?
In both cases it is one and the same thing—Popery.
And yet, in other respects, men who well know the
evil to be guarded against treat this same Popery as if

there were no favours too great to bestow upon it—no
crimes against the committal of which it needs any

restraint

Our readers will find in another column a letter from
the Rev. H. M'Neile on the subject of Maynooth Col-
lege, in which, we are happy to perceive, he demolishes
that rhetorical artifice of Mr. Sheil's, whereby he suc-
ceeded in proving, last year, to the satisfaction of some
persons too easily convinced, that to touch that Popish
institution would be a violation of the articles of union
between the countries. Those who regard its main-
tenance as a foul blot upon our history will be glad to
find that the supposed violation is all mere moonshine.
There is fortunately no such contract in existence as
that attempted to be set up by our Popish Vice-Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade ; but there is a contract in
existence—a contract by which every Protcs.ant ought
to feel himself bound, not to maintain, but,

soon as

possible, to dissolve that connection by whic

stand
:3, and

nationally in the relation of institutors, guar(

supporters of one of the chief nurseries of

,ry in

the sister island

The late dreadful catastrophe off Holyhead has ar-
rested public attention, as one might expec., an occur-
rence so extraordinary and so fatal would do. Some
of the circumstances connected with it are curious,
and some almost inexplicable; but taking the transac-
tion as a whole, it suggests the necessity there exists
for some better understood, or better defined, regula-
tions with regard to two points, namely, vessels carry-
ing such a number of passengers, and putting up lights
by night.

On this occasion the steamer had lights up, whilst
the lost vessel had none—a fact which chews the un-
certainty that prevails as to the practice, and serves
also, we conceive, fully to account for the calamitous
accident. It is true that the collision might have
happened even though both the vessels had carried
lights ; but the chances of avoiding it would have
been multiplied thereby. The Governor Fenner might
have seen the steamer; and actually did see her, in
time to prevent a collision, had she been able to put
about; hut it is not at all conceivable that the steamer
saw the Fenner with similar advantage, or she would
have made use of it.

It is something curious and interesting to consider,
that neither vessel altered her course in the slightest
degree up to the moment of the fatal rencountre, and
that if we look at a chart we may mark, by the inter-
section of two lines, the spot where it took place, just
as if it had been pre-ordained, when each vessel left
her respective port, that there they should meet—that,
wide as is the ocean and roomy the way, there they
should cross each other's path, and there, in the twink-
ling of an eye, the " one should be taken and the.
other left." Scripture assures us that a " sparrow
cannot fall to the ground" without the permission of
Omnipotence ; but the necessity in which all things are
thus involved is benevolently kept out of sight, because
it was not intended that our knowledge of that truth,
in the abstract, should abate our energiesin:tho
motion or employment of secondary causes.i.: tet oc-
casionally the providential ordainments of Omnipotent
power—the express appointments, as it were„of the
Almighty Ruler of events—are brought before us in a
most striking and impressive manner, serving imme-
diately to remind us of the lesson so forcibly inculcated
by the apostle :"Go to now, ye that say, to-day or
to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue
there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain ; whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow for
that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live,
and do this or that." The instruction is for all; but
it surely ought to reach with especial application those
who " go down to the sea in ships."
With regard to the almost instantaneous disappear-
ance of the Governor Fenner, it is difficult to account
for it. Had she been perfectly sea-worthy, it can
scarcely be conceived that the concussion with the
s.eamer would have sunk her under the surface of the
deep, with all her cargo, with a rapidity so terrific and
destruction so complete. On this point, however, there
are extreme opinions both ways. A London contem-
porary asks, "if there had been any examination into
the sea-worthiness of the Governor Fenner before she
sailed from port, crowded with those ill-fated emi-
grants ;" and argues on the hypothesis that it was
imperative on any emigration superintending officer,
appointed by our government, to inquire into the
matter. It is on this very point, however, that we ap-
prehend there is some deficiency in our r^gulations,
and that an amendment is called for.

It is a matter of every-day experience ti. 'he self-
interest of owners and other parties concert is not a
sufficient gu rantee to the public against or even
desperate experiments being made. The d :e of gain
is not unfrequently stronger even than that of self-
preservation, and requires the constant exercise of a
controlling power over its enterprises when the public
welfare is concerned. Upon the whole, we trust that
good will result from the attention which this calamit-
ous occurrence has drawn to the points adverted to,
and will eventuate in regulations conducive to the
safety of ships and voyagers on the seas.

Since the above remarks were written, we have re-
ceived the following letter from the Captain of the
Governor Fenner :

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

" SlR,—Observing in this day's Liverpool Mail a letter
from Captain Stewart, of the Nottingham steamer, com-
menting upon my letter addressed to Messrs. North and
Orred, I beg to state that I am prepared to establish, when
necessary, what I therein asserted. Anxious as lam that
the public should be acquainted with every fact connected
with the collision, yet I cannot, consistently with my duty
to the owners of the Governor Fenner and of the goods on
board her, go into a detail without their permission, as by
so doing I may possibly prejudice their interest; and I must
content myself at present by saying, that I have neither pub-
lished nor authorised any one to publish in the public prints
any account of the collision, and that those statements which
have appeared in the public prints are in many essentials in-
correct. Amongst other things it is said that the Governor
Fenner was not seaworthy. To rebut this assertion I refer
to Lloyd's agent, and Messrs. Graysons, the shipbuilder's,
of this port. Even Captain Stewart says, in his letter, that
my crew saw the Nottingham lights from 15 to 20 minutes
before the collision ; but he does not say from whence he got
the information, and appears to have overlooked the fact that
my crew were, with the exception of the mate, all unhappily
lost. I advert to this simply to chew the vague and incor-
rect statements which have appeared.
" Your obedient servant,
" S. E. ANDREWS.

" Feb. 25th."

We observe that many of our contemporaries have
expressed considerable doubt as to the seaworthiness
of the Governor Fenner; and though we have no
wish to make any remarks which the circumstances
of the late melancholy disaster do not justify, we
deem it a duty we owe to the public to call the at-
tention of the legislature or other proper authorities to
the facts connected with the collision, in• order that
some steps may be taken to prevent, if possible, a repe-
tition of such an unfortunate occurrence. The Morn-
ing Herald of yesterday justly remarks—
" IF blame in this instance exist anywhere (and that ques-
tion we cannot pretend, at present, to determine,) then is
the responsibility in official quarters most tremendo us. If it
do not, no harm CAN ensue. Much good NAY fol low from
a determined and strict investigation into all the pa rticulars
and relations of this melancholy catastrophe. We w ere, for
our parts, very unwilling that the passing excitemen t of po-
litical questions should withdraw public attention from a
matter of such deep but of such mournful domestic interest."

It is laid down by a Whig journal of this town—fa-
mous for its discovery of mares' nests—that Tories