The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-25 00:00:00

• l'ulst teach him in it. Since theh the fashion hail been
Bibles to the schools; and they alt knew tur what. ob )
celebrated Mr. Locke was opposed to using the. as a
sebool-h,iiik. If key wade so cheap the Vi of God. they
P,,,,ced the same ;is ensued nom making oaths cheap,
Ile.was glad government had interfered to take a waythe sys-
- tem of iunhs. But a word about mutilation. clad the gentle-
" -met, nr the Education Coni nit toe brought simiethinz into the
• s,olool-roion,, and called it a Bible, and passed it oil is such,
• they would have ty,en guilty of the moral turpitude, which the
r. 111Ihee stands guilty of, awl who would never
purify .hun'self as long as he li-ved: The Bible was never
• . read. in the Church at alt; it was 'selections. alone that
were read; and, to certain instances, chapters were divided.
.Thtly.tui,,;lit call this a mutilation with as much propriety as
they. called their selections a Mutilation. They might-as well
• say ilia; the. Jews-inutilateil-the book which was theirs

-par exeeltence—a book by which they swore, whilst we only used
the. New Testament. - But they even did not encourage their
yowls; men to read the Bible till they were thirty years of age.
A little time ago, there had been a gentleman, a Rev. Mr.
Jones, who had -omitted a certain part of the lesson in the
church sereice, (a member,- '• Nu, no, -his curate,") but, beiug
admonished On this subject, he had made a -public apology—
said he wes extremely sorry, and should never do so again.
AL teat time he had-'met a very orthodox clergyman who had
said he thought it extremely inexcusable to take any liberties
with with the text, except in the passage—(here Mr. Smith quoted
1. Samuel, 25th chap., '22,lverse.) He had rendered it " Every
one that turned to the wall," but the word made use of was only
a proper word in iv proper place. What would he hive said if
he had come across such -a passage as this, which he would read
to then ? (Cries of " No. no.") He begged their pardon, it
wife the Bible, end- be would read it. (Mr. S. then read several
passages picked out of the 23d chap. of Ezekiel. and connected
together its one verse.) If a man would shriek about the.
former passage, whet would he do about such a pessage al this?
(Loud cries of " What part of Scripture?")
Mr. Councillor
Mr. Councillor Rusteroe (rising and ensineig, epparceely
in great excitement, into the middle of :'iv esuiteil-Soont,) sae,
Iterated a number of times, "-Read your Bibles!"
Mr. Councillor SMITH continued.—ln regard io public
op niuu, he could wish there was an opportunity of teking that
crpiuion ; and, if they did not precipitate the decision, he would
venture to say that before that day six months the) should More
such an expression of public opinion as should settle the ques-
Rau entirety, whether the schools were to be abandoned:or con-
tinued. Ltt them not give up the supesodeodence of these
schools. There could nut be any such gnu. erotinds fist their
continuance as the voice of the Common Council in their favour,
who were sent there by the pubiic ; and if they shruuk from
that trust he thought they would be shrinking trum their duty.
Mr. Councillor ilone. as one somewhat acquainted with
seripteral reading, denied that any such passage. as that quoted
by Mr. Smith existed id the Bible..
Mr. Councillor W. Itesierox. running, as before, into the
middle of Ora council-reom in great excitement, reiterated "ICS
correct. I have nn doubt it it."
Mr. Js s. evweern said he felt constrained, from the im-
portance of this subject not to give a silent vote, but to express,
thoneli very feeble, and perhaps, in the opinion of some, very
futilely, the sentiments which he entertained its to the most pro-
persystem of religious education for the children of the poor.
He wished to divest the subject entirely of political associations.
It bed grieved bins much, in the course of the discussion, to find
that retlitics had been so mixed up with it. Education, he
Ottni•eSet, was better freed from politics than associated with
them-!—(hear, hear.) A food deal had been said with regard
to the clergy, as being politically opposed to the schools, and to
the system of education practised in those schools. Surely
geutlemen might be permitted to eatertain a difference of
opinion on that very important subject,—to feel amid to express
a regard for the advantage of the corer classes of their fellow-
countrymen, without having tlieir motives maligned and their
conduct misconstrued. (liear.t It was a very singular fact,
that telly nue clergyman of the Established Church seemed to
natroniee the present system It was net very likely that all the
cheesy of Liver:viol shosld simu!taneously be actuated by political
mstises, or unsound views or education, audit was singular that
see e:ergynistu alone should be the advocate of that which
(es's' considers! the best. Without entering intodetail he would
tele, the liberty to remark, that had he lived a hundred miles
trim i,iverpool when the new system of education was intro-
duced ;lite the Corporation Schools, and all the clergy— taking
tete consideration the wide diversity of characters, and the
mule' circumstantials in which they differed, the many points
of dote: ine on which they were riot agreed—if he had been
told that they had simultaneously deserted the system, and
one alone remained behind to sustain the• whole burden upon
his *tinele shoulders, he should certainly have concluded,
without much need of investigating into detail, that that one
clergyman was wrong and the others right—(Hear, hear.)
Had he judged otherwise, he must have considered Mr. Aspi-
null to be, something more than man. However unsupported he
might stand the opinion, he maiutained that the Bible was
the only standard book on which the religious and moral edu-
cation of any class could be safely founded. It was a book
which ought to be used as a schol-book during school-hours;
and -he believed, if this single concession were made, in rela-
tion to tae Corporation Schools, it would be received as a heal-
ing measure, and the community at large would at once coalesce
and agree in the beneficial character of an education so admin-
istered: (Hear, hear.) Under the old Corporatum the Bible
was, he believed, read as a school book. What was the conse-
quence? . That the human Catholics could nut avail therusel-
.
• Yes of the benefits of the education so supplied The Roman
tee. - 'Catholic children, therefore, did not attend. Here a principle
lestee",' justiee seemed:involved. The funds, by virtue or which the
educatien was ciesimunicated, had been contributed by the
lee • whole. of the community,—Catholic as well as Protestant; and
fie ' it- Was thOught only fair and right that all who contributed 'te
else.'
, those funds should. in their appropriation, derive a common be-
4{), ne;it from theM, whether in the mode of eine:oton or any other.
sehl"d "''Bits were Runyan Catholic childrea debarred from attending?
) By-what law? By what rule? He supposed
eueoi;i their conscientiens scruples prevented them. Was he right or
.6,4'l4:wrong ? (Cries of ' Right !" " Wroug!".) If he- was wrong
kieTqqlY- he teethed to be corrected. If there existed any rule whereby
:fee ',7; 3' • the. Roman Cetholic child was prohibited entering those schools,
eeee .Z"'' he itswas eniaquitous "(.Hear,:hear4 •',He believed •
sso;; e lie eivasS kept out by the circumstance of his scrupulously and
.411hee1ak-e-,cirtisCietitieusly he Hew it wrimg to go into a school where the
777.3 tillage' Was real. (Hear, .
hear.) . They had been at
..ee
ee"aimAre • rilitine tO',rectify this, end to give a •broader . basis to
of the poor;—(Hear ;)—arsd- iii -order to" cons•
leo ciliate the RoMan Cetlielic—to give himelueopportisultv'ef at-
eel-4'mb ',lenttingitiose:Selieets by removing the obstacle presented by his
seseinecienitinti;-:scrupleie they. had taken away the.. Bible as a
`-'11.14 bleitchiitel-liepk -during school hours. (Cries of .1, No! .tto !" and
" Yes"! es 1") The Catholic had, in consequence, come in ;
ler•but.:what" had thePtidestant children done—ur rather the Pr0.19-testant
.19-testant parent on 'behalf of his children ? Ile had said. " I
r4htr',th ese cannot permit my child to be taught in the schools, now that the
-as .-a'Schiiitisbeek, has been taken away.; and I cannot
airasseenreive that the whole necessary course of religious education
.11111.-ean be accoMplished and fulfiiledby Scripture extracts." The
11C111enaltireleliect had been, that (he Protestant children hail retired
)Ilc"ttsitti theis'e'echools. How stood-the Council then? -Could they
,
ar:esty•that their fiinds were itieulied to the general use? True, the
ati 41intestant had excluded himself, by not accommodating his
• principleS to the rules. True, the Roman Catholic bad duce the
Y,it• *erne. They were in the very same dilemma still—just in the
'ad satriepo'sition in which they had been. ( Hear, hear.) With
';'regard to Bible education, he thought, without any reference to
• politics, save those politics taught by the Scripturee themselves,
c;-that it was a very
,proper book for the purpose. and the only
solid-basis on which a religious education could he grounoesi or
'promulgated. Reference hail been made to Lecke—a greet
authority. he admitted ; he had been quoted as disapproving; 5r
get the Taniiliar use of the Bible as a school-book. But whet did
Locke say of the Bible ? He gave it this eminent character:
" It-has God fur its author, it has truth, without mixture of
'4l; "'error for its matter—and it has the filial and eternal salvation
'ism of man for its end." (Hear.) Now was this a true description?
6,11'•-• Was this a book to be repudiated from their schools ? He
Plll thoeght net. He did not see how they were to extricate them-
selves from their dilemma, without placing the Bible as a seheol.
stook in their schools. If they did so he thought Protestant and
deuce Catholic ought to be well satisfied. He was sorry to have trou-
bled them even with his few remarks. He hoped he had not
:given offence to any. He could have wished the question or-
cut': Rued without reference to Toryism or Liberalism, municipal re-
C.?. firm or any other measure, but with a simple desire to consider
the hest Mode of education to be adopted in the schools, and
• with an earnest and anxious wish which they ought to feel for
the promolion trf the temporal and eternal welfare of the chil-
dren of the poor, without soy regard whatever to sect or party.
—(Hetre)
Mr. Councillor Boteros said there were two causes why they
could not, as conscientious parents, send their children to the
former scheebi; the one was, they were constrained to hear the
reading of the authorised version of the Scriptures ; in the next
place, they were instructed in the Church Catechism. He was
not quite sure that they were expected also to attend church.
These, he thought, were satisfactory answers to the questions
which had been esked. They had also been told on a former
occasion of the nuniiitilated word or, God. What was the pure
and :unadulterated word of Gird ? That was the question.
What-were the Scriptures? The Scriptures were taken from
manescripte (,r;,trie'L.-.at date. The authorised text.was derived
from shell- collation. There were about this time about 150,1)00
versions of the Scriptures—essentially the same in shbstence—
but-vilisYiogevery on, or them in small perticulars. • The Ca-
. thohies had as much' right to assume they Duuay version to be
correet 'as V 6 have the authorised version; and the manuscripts
on which it is founded are, in the opinion of learned men, the
;hest ant horisisd froth which the: Dimas version is made. He
'idaestnerely etated'thitelact—liel,entered into ,ezO,Particulore,, it was
k nirtyret that tnithy of the clergytnen'Ssr :the. Church of Eng,-
ihoiesSland had feßaedifficultv in - the version we, have, and,had, by
';'11r;• their own learning, produced malty net* versions, 'lberia was a
gentleman who had examined 30,000 matfuscopteeand hack
• published a new version under the: late BishopeorS.,(exferd?s•
•• ..sanction. Thee knew that Archlsishep Newsome and the cele-
brated Mr. Wakefield had done the same. Therewas hiliffers
t
ence of opinion on what was the versions and theiefore Catho-,
t. • lies were as much justified in their version as we were. „It was
.e.• • also known that there was much question about the authenticity
• of the Scriptures. • Many had denied the authenticity of 11:9
Gospels and the Revelation ; and a gentleman of the Church of
i 4 England and- others had contended that all the Scriptures were
contained. in the GospelS and in the Acts-. The statement, thins,
teiethout the unmutilated word etc God, svae an unworthy app.eal to
.Ilie passions and prejudices of the people. Ha should now re-
turn to a :few observations of Mr. Birch's. He confessed he
▪ *as not prepared for so great a preposition as he: had made.
l'hey, had done away with exclusiveness in the schools.. They
lied Admitted. all parties. Formerly they were only admissible
• one partve--a section—the Church of England party; and he
would say, there was a peculiar propriety in introducing this
4. system; which was called the Irish system. from the great num-
her of Irish with which the town abounded. Mr. Birch had
itskerl.why Protestant Dissenters died net go to these schools.
They heel schools of their own, and he was glad to find that the
Church of England were going to do what the dissenters had
dune fitly years ago. The Irish were the poorest classes in the
town, amid there was a greater necessity for making ample pro.
vision for the education of the rank ; and the people attending
these schools must be chiefly Catholics. (Hear, hear.)—
'filer had alert had much boasting of what the Church had
--- now dime. They had dots- a laudable act, because it was
att act dose with their own =um It was not like the appro-
Isriation of the public money—of the corporation funds, for the
endowment of the church. (Hear.) There was not a dissenting
--Place of worship in Liverpool which had not expended two or•
three tunes the money. He did not mean to disparage, but he
had heard it described as a wonderful act Of munificence. But
..!AOsfact was, they were the wealthiest people in the town; and
Ite would say, that, comparatively speaking, they had done
lutle. Mr. Councillor Birch proposed to have schools on the
"pr Inc iples formerly practised. He was surprised at this. En-
inrci92 the leeching of the catechism. and going to church, west
a system which a correct view of a fair and hoteaurablv
thdistribution of the funds of the corporation would suggest; and
e:arifi:ned thnee (a,'" very
much surprised to hear him maintain it.
i;a:0,171::,,,,e.e,‘,,,,,e,„1„ti5p05ed to think that the schoolsninst
still ho had never entertained the piestion that.
in, the s • • A sufficient time had not elapsedefor eiv-
ystem a fair trial. The system of education ire these
'wheels founded. .
h..,ii,pe;ifeiiitendequal principle of justice; the sys-•
le'rn•ownes.rl h .
was febeded on injt4tice,. pad if
oi.ir schools were to he added us the old principle- he,
fu
would ePpos.e. their erection, and such Ali unjust appli-