The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-30 00:00:00

toms' board. Then the proposal was met by obstacles
and impediments ; now the chairman and the deputy-
chairman, and the members of her Majesty's government,
had done all in their power to meet the views of the cham-
ber. He begged to correct one misstatement as to his
views. It had been stated that he (Mr. Horsfall) cordially
supported the views expressed by the shipowners' associa-
tion as those .were represented by Mr. Palmer. This he
did not do, but, as member for the borough of Liverpool,
he cheerfully accompanied the deputation from that
body, but he did so ministerially. He disapproved
of several of the provisions in the bill as sup-
ported by them, and particularly of that by which,
if it had passed, a large portion of the shipowners
would have been disfranchised. The customs reform, so
far as he could see, was efficient and satisfactory. He
could not say the same for the merchant seaman's bill and
the pilotage bill. In reference to the latter bill, he took
the liberty of suggesting a clause for altering its provi-
sions. Failing in being able to effect that, he had sug-
gested the necessity of postponing the bill, and he wished
Mr. Cardwell had acceded to that postponement. The
bill had been introduced in April, and after numerous
postponements it was hurried through the house at the
dose of the session, when there was no time to consider
of its provisions. If the board of trade should follow out
the provisions of that enactment by licensing as pilots the
captains of foreign-going vessels from this port, con-
sidering the nature of the channel and the shifting
banks, much loss of property must ensue. As to
the shipping bill, he had endeavoured to effect the
introduction of a clause for preventing the officers
in her Majesty's service from taking seamen out of a mer-
chant ship while at sea, who had engaged for the whole
voyage. In this, however, he had been defeated. The
working of this enactment he might illustrate by a letter
just put into his hand, in which the captain of a, vessel

bound from Bahia, sags :—" Her Majesty's ship Express
has taken two of my men, in spite of my protesting against
the proceeding ; " and that at a time when sickness pre-
vailed in the ship referred to. He next proceeded to state
in detail several important services Mr. Brown had been

mainly instrumental in rendering,• but which he said that
gentleman's modesty had prevented him from mentioning.
He concluded by seconding the resolution.
Mr. Boren, in a lengthened address, gave minute expla-
nations, and entered into the details of most of the matters
alluded to in the report, after which the motion was put
from the chair, and unanimously carried.

Mr. HOLLAND, in reference to the_ progress made in

Toseeutiny the_subject of commercial lal—v reform, con-

gratulated-the Chaniber on the fact that public attention
was now thoroughly aroused to its value and importance.
No doubt difficulties had arisen in the attempts made to
carry out that desirable object, but he considered these
to be mere matters of detail which might be obviated in
the progress of the discussions to which consideration of
the subject would necessarily lead.
Mr BOULT directed attention to the subject of the Sound
Dues,which he said was a species of plunder to which British
shipping was subjected without receiving the slightest
benefit in return. The amount thus exacted, he stated,
reached the large sum of £300,000 per annum, and it was
still on the increase in an arbitrary manner.-

Mr. HEATH explained that ft had been intended to
submit a report on the subject of ship survey certificates,
the Committe had not, however, been able to mature the
proposition. It must, therefore, stand over.
Mr. BOUCH wished it to be understood that the opinion
of the Chamber was not favourable to the present system
of survey certificates.
The CHAIRMAN moved the thanks of the meeting to
the hon. member for South Lancashire, and also to the
hon. member for the borough of Liverpool, for their very
efficient services.

The motion was seconded by Mr. Bouch, and carried
by acclamation.

Bnowx and Mr. HonsrA.LL severally returned

Mr. BROWN, seconded by Mr. lionsnum, moved the
hanks of the meeting to the Chairman ; which having
)een carried and duly acknowledged, the meeting broke

CHURCH EDUCATION SOCIETY FOR
IRELAND.

Tin annual meeting of this society was held last night
in the Collegiate Institution, Thomas Berry Horsfall, Esq.,
M.P., in the chair. A considerable number of the local
clergy were present on the platform, including Dr. M`Neile
and several others. The Right Hon. Joseph Napier,
M.P. for the University of Dublin ; the Ven. the Arch-
deacon of Waterford, the Rev. George Sidney Smith, D.D.,
and the Rev. James Smith, rector of Strabane, attended
as a deputation. The meeting having been opened with

_ The Crre.fumAlf, who was received with applause, com-
menced by remarking, that the object of their present
meeting was, to assist, through the medium of the Church
Education Society, in giving a sound scriptural education
to the people of Ireland—an education in accordance with
the doctrines, and, as far as possible, with the discipline
of our National Church, and it had always appeared to
him as the most striking test of the Scriptural character
of the United Church of England and Ireland, that she
had ever been ready to place in the hands of those whom
she undertook to educate the entire, unmutilated word
of God, leaving it to those whose doctrines would no
stand the test of Scripture to withhold it. (Cheers.t
They were sometimes, in the words of an old proverb)
not to help those who would not help them-,
selves ; but, with reference to the society whose claims
they were now met to consider, he might observe, that
the proverb was not applicable to her ; for he found that
her funds during the last year amounted to £40,000.
Perhaps many might be disposed to believe, that the larger
portion of these funds was subscribed in this country, but
the fact was, that L 35,000 had been subscribed in Ireland, and
only £5,000 in England, and that he thought their friends
come before them with a good grace, and that the meeting
was now called upon not to help those who would not
help themselves, but rather to help those who had helped
themselves (hear, hear). The next thing he would refer
to, was the number of children in the schools in con-
nection with the society. The number of children
attending there during last year was 105,000, 61,000 of
of whom were members of the Protestant church, 15,000
were the children of dissenters, and 28,000 were Roman
Catholics, a very satisfactory answer, he thought, to those
who said that the Roman Catholic laity of Ireland ob-
jected to sending their children to schools in which
the Scriptures were read (hear, hear). Now, turning
from this part of the subject, he would refer to the
report which had just been published by the Government
Education Society. He found, according to that report,
that the number of Protestant children who had attended
their schools during the past year was 24,684; Roman
Catholics, 424,717; Presbyterians, 40,618; and yet we
were told that grants were made in aid of the government
system of education because it was a mixed system, under
which the children of all denominations were taught in
the same school. Now, if the report was the test, the
grant was in favour of the • Church Education Schools
rather than in that of the government. If, however, they
spoke of a mixed education as a mixed education of
truth and error, why then the grant was in favour of
the government system. Now, this government report
also named the relative number of teachers who were
trained under the government system, and from it he
found that 302 teachers were trained in the government
schools during the past year. Well, the population of
Ireland was estimated at about 6,000,000, and he believed
he did not overstate the fact when he said that of this
number 2,000,000 were Protestants ; consequently, ac-
cording to the government system, the proportionate
number of these teachers should be 200 Roman Catholics
and 100 Protestants. But what was the fact ? The
report stated that, of the 302 teachers trained during
the year, seventeen were members of the Established
church, 43 were Presbyterians, 240 were Roman Catholics,
and two were Dissenters ; thus showing that, in addition
to educating 600 Roman Catholic priests in Maynooth, we
were annually educating 240 Roman Catholic teachers in
government schools. He merely named these facts because
he thought the meeting ought to be made aware of them.
He knew it was said that there was greatdifficulty in deciding
on a system of education for Ireland; but he was one of those
who thought there was no difficulty at all about it Those
who acted upon the principle of expediency, or the princi-
ple of policy as it was called, might find this difficulty,
but he could not see that" the, man who took his stand on
this, that the Word of God was to be the basis of all educa-
tion, could find any difficulty at all. (Hear, hear.) It
was not for him to take up their time by offering any
further remarks, but rather to listen to those gentlemen
who had been invited to attend and address the meeting;
but he would say one word in favour of a bible education,
and he would appeal to those who wished to see the laws .
of God and man respected in Ireland—to those he would
say, "If you do not make the bible the basis of our na-
tional education, how can you expect the bible to be the
basis of their national conduct ?" He would now call
upon the Right Hon. Joseph Napier, on of the members
of the University of Dublin, to address the meeting.
The Right Hon. JOSEPEC NAPIER, M.P., in coming for-
ward to address the meeting was received with loud cheer-
ing. He said he had some apology to offer for obtruding
himself on their attention that night, but it had been the
habit of his colleague and himself; every year, one of them
in Ireland, and the other in England, alternately, at the
annual meetings of the Church Education Society to
attend and take part in the proceedings. It so occurred
this year that neither of them could attend in
either England or Ireland, and, consequently, he (Mr.
Napier) was asked, in London, whether he would do the
society the favour of attending a meeting in Liverpool,
and as they had time after time made an appeal to Govern-
ment and to Parliament without success, their last appeal
was now to public opinion in England, and therefore he
was desirous of setting their case fully before the people
of this country, because his experience of England told
him that the people of England were a just people—that
they loved fair play, and that, so far as they were con-
cerned, the Church Education Society for Ireland should
have fair play. His advocacy of the Church Education
Society was not a question of money. He did not come
before them asking their support for any local object.
Those present were, as Protestants, as much interested in
the question as he was, except in so far as he was bound
up with the most vital interests of his native country.
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) But the destinies of Ireland
were mixed up, under the providence of God, with the
destinies of England. All he wished was to have an oppor-
tunity of making the meeting understand their case. They
desired it, because they had fought this battle for twenty
years. The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to
explain the position in which the education of the people
of Ireland was now placed, consequent upon the system
which the government had pursued during the last 16
years. He might be somewhat troublesome, but he would
endeavour to be explicit, being reminded of the remark of
the philosopher—" Thy plainness moves me more than
eloquence." He wished them to attend to his statements,
and, mark—" I speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I
say." The principle the Church Education Society for
Ireland had laid down was this, that a knowledge of
God's word was an essential of education. Several
years ago, before the present government system was
introduced, the national system of education in
Ireland made the bible the basis of all education, and
it was provided that every child in the schools should
read God's Word. Having dwelt at great length on this
part of the question, the right hon. gentleman next al-
luded to the introduction of the present government sys-
tem of education in Ireland, by which the Bible was sup-
pressed in the schools, and a compromise made on the
quepticq cf a ScriPtuall tin gown.