The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-05-29 00:00:00

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EPISCOPAL DESPOTISM,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
" It was the duty of the members of the Church of England,
upon leaving the territory of that church, to conform them-
selves to the laws of the church unto whose limits they passed,
if that church was a branch of the holy apostolical church.
One of the articles of the church was the right and duty of the
church to devise rites and ceremonies for itself, and those who
subscribed to that article admitted that the Church of Scotland
had a right to have its own ceremonies. Therefore, if any one
of his clergymen were to contradict that doctrine in an open
and public manner, he should feel it his duty to institute pro.
ceedings against him. (Laughter.)"—Speech of the Bishop of
Exeter in the House of Lords, on Tuesday.
Such, Mr. Editor, are the sentiments which a Bishop
of the Church of England had the audacity to propound
in the British House of Peers, and such the reception
which they met from that august assembly. It is well
known that the Scottish Episcopal Church, which his
lordship is pleased to designate the Church of Scotland,
retains some forms which are thought by several of our
bishops to savour strongly of Rornanism. Consequently,
many members of the Church of England, resident in
Scotland, refuse to enter into communion with a church
which they hold to be unscriptural in itA form. The speech
from which the above extract was taken was made by the
Bishop of Exeter in reference to a petition presented by
Lord Brougham from clergymen of the English Church
in Scotland, praying to be relieved from cc
It is, however, unnecessary to enter at present into th_
merits of the petition. Any one who reads the debates in
parliament must be acquainted with its purport ; and every
one who knows the Bishop of Exeter must expect to find
him arrayed on the side of intolerance and injustice.
Inaccuracy in the statement of facts, perversion of the
articles of our church, and tyrannical sentiments, do not
much surprise us in anything proceeding front the Bishop
of Exeter. Yet it must be confessed that, in the present
instance, his lordship has somewhat exceeded his usual
limits. The Church of England claims for herself, and
concedes to other churches, the power of ordaining rites
and ceremonies, which '" may be changed according to
the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners ;"
hat there is a restriction annexed—" So tkat noth!ng be
'ordained against tztnt's word." This it suited his lord-
ship's convenience to omit, though to some minds it Imav
seem not altogether.unirnportant

Let us suppose, however, that a member of the Church
of England goes into a country where the only Christian
church is the Church of Rome—a church which his lord-
ship will not deny to be apostolicat—then, according to
the teaching Of this ghostly father, it becomes the duty of
such a person to conform to all the usages'ef Rome—
usages which the right rev. prelate has sworn to be idola-
trous. Certainly the Protestant who could act in confor-
mity with 'this advice, though far from being " a noisy
brawler,' ' might justly be suspected of being rather " care-
less about truth."

His lordship seems to scoff at the claims of the Esta-
blished Church of Scotland 'to be considered a church at
all. Why ? Because, indeed, it has no separate order of
bishops. His lordship appears to forget that the Church
of Rome, on whose apostolicity his lordship rests the va-
liditrot his own ordination, has not, and never had, an
order higher than that of priests. In the Church of
Rome the ordaining power is delegated to one priest out
of'many, and this priest is styled a bishop, without, how-
ever, any diversity of 'order. In the Church of Scotland,
'that is, the Established Church, 'the ordaining power is
delegated to all priests alike. Now, if no church be apos-
'tolical which has not a separate order of bishops, the
`Church of Rome cannot beapostcilical, and, consequently,
'according to his lordship's old=fashioned notions about
apostolical succession, the orders of the Church of Eng-
land, being der►ved through the Romish Church, are at
once invalidated. But if a 'Church may be apostolictil
without a separate order of bishops, why deny the Esta-
blished Church -of Scotland -to be so ? Surely his` lord-
ship, who is so 'great an advocate for ecclesiastical power,
would be the last man to deny that a church may dele-
gate the ordaining power toranv proportion of her priests,
or to all of them, according to her own discretion.
His Lordship's opinions might safely pass 'unnoticed.
We have no wish to seasny good cause damaged' by his
name and approval, and, bad cause can bear with it no
better reputation. If itbe right, however, to do at.home
as Rome does, his 'Lordship might see the'propriety of
doing in England as England does. Or if he is deter-
mined to outrage propriety every where else,. let 'him, at
least, have some respect for the British Senate-house.
Let this fßolus confine'his vauntings to his own -diocese,
and there let him terrify his trembling -curates. His
" fantastic tricks," whatever sorrow they 'may cause to
his afflicted clergy, can only make their Lortithips laugh.
If he cannot be a great man, let him strive:to be a gen-
tleman. 'lf he cannot attain to eminence by his abili-
ties and-virtues,: let him rather court obscurity, than seek
notoriety as an ecclesiastical despot.
I add .my name, •merely to show that• public opinion
cannot be stifled even by Henry of Exeter. So long as
his Lordship is not ashamed to avow streli,sentiments,
so long-•the humblest-curate in the land shall not be afraid
to think of them, and speak of them, and-write of them,
as theys-deserve.--c-Inemain, sir, your obedient Servant,
ROBERT M. WOODS,
Curate of St. Simon's, Liverpool.

SCRIP'

L'URE PREDICTIOT

Mu& has been-said, and deservedly said, of the judg-
ment end skill in interpretation shown by Fleming, in
naming, in 1701, the year 1848 as probably the last year
of Papal domination. But it should not be overlooked
that other writers `besides Fleming, by,a similarly careful
study of Scripture, have arrived at nearly the same con-
clusion.

Thomas Scott; for instance, the great-commentator of
the present century, in the third edition of his commen-
tary, published inlBo9, thus wrote:—
"ON REVELATIONS XVl.—The angels-were -next ordered, by
VOiCe from the temple, to pour out the contents of the vials,
or cups, which they had received ; and which were emblems Of
the wrath of God to be poured out on the antiehristian empire,
and on all who adhered to it." " These vials mark the gradual
desolation of :the 'Boman church, and of the antichristian
tyranny of the kingdoms which support it."
" The whole passage has been interpreted of the bloody trans-
actions in France, and on the continentovhich have occurred
during.these last eighteen o- twenty years 111 9-1809). But
the stage on which these tragedies have been acted, seems not
large enough for thecoinpletion of the prophecy. France and
the countries connected with it form only part of the kingdom
of the Beast; and several countries connected with it have
hitherto been littleaffected." " I have some doubt, whether the
time for the pouring mit of the vials is arrived, or whether it
will arrive till after-TAE MIDDLE OF THIS CENTURY." "Ter-
rible calamities, -intestine distractions, and the revolt (or
destruction of cities and nations, will make way for great
Babylon to drink of the wine of the fierceness La God's wrath.
How this is to be understood the event must ,show." It is,
however, clear thab-couvulsions, revolutions, and the wreck of
nations, a degree and extent never liithertmwitriessed, are to
be expected, before the mystery of God' is ,finished."

Thus wrote Mr.*:Scott, at the opening of the present
century. Theremas every temptation, at that time, to
discover, in the French Revolution, and in.-the power of
Bonaparte. the "fulfillment of some of St. John's predic-
tions. But Mr. Scott had strength of mind enough to
resist these suggestions. and to deliver his calm and well-
considered-opinion, that not until the middle
..of the cen-
tury would the vials begin to be poured out. To that
period, the middle of the century, are we now come; and
we are beginning to perceive the opening of those awful
events which Mr. Scott indicated more than forty years
ago.

THE LATE GREAT FIRE IN GLASGOW

We have on several occasions published the most grati-
fying testimonials to the efficacy of the fire proof safes
manufactured by Messrs. 'Milner and Son, of this town,
but probably on no occasion has a more satisfactory proof
of their perfect capability-been given than is afforded in
the following document, from a highly respectable firm in
Glasgow, which certifies to the safety of some important
books and papers during one of the most iestructive fires
that have occurred in that town for many years : .

•Glasvow, 7th May, 1849.
GENTLEMEN,—We beg toinform you of the occurrence
acme of the largest fires thatlas taken place in Glasgow
for many years. We send you, however, a HPrald of this
date, which will give particulars. As you will perceive,
there have been a great many buildings burned down, in-
cluding a sugar refinery, a church, and several manufacto-
ries oftlifferent kinds, including the extensive premises of
Messrs. Charles Boyd and Son, soap and candle manufac-
turers:; they had one of your No. ,3 safes with drawers,
got from us about five years ago, and the writer, having
called upon them this morning, was.perfectly astonished at
the sight:it presented : first of all, the brass handle was
completely melted off, and the sides of the safe, at least of
the lower.part, had blistered out nearly.scouple of inches.
The heat to which this safe has been exposed must have
been tremendous ' • it fell from the counting-house on the
ground floor to the cellars beneath, and there lay for hours
exposed to the most intense heat from the boiling and
flaming oil and ,lallow, in which it was imbedded to the
depth of three or four inches. All the papers and books
with which it was filled, and also notes to a considerable
amount, were perfectly sound ; the large ledger, which
must have been touching the door, was very slightly
charred en the back, but nothing more than the binding
in the least affected, and no other book was even in the
slightest degree damaged; all of them ,however, weze pene-
trated about an inch on the edge by the steam of the oil ;
where the safe lay was beyond all doubt the hottest part
of the conflagration ; the hinges were so far gone, that
when the Messrs. B. wished the safe opened, they were
raised with the greatest ease by the point of a chisel ; all
the brass work round the lad( was melted away, and the
key could not be got into it, on account of the keyhole
being so completely put out of shape; the bolt held per-
fectly, however, and the two nobs at the back of the door
kept it fast, independent of hinges. On account of the
absence of the principal, no certificate could be got this
morning of this splendid test of the complete and perfect
resistance which your valuable safes present against the
ravages of fire ; it will, however, be procured this evening,
and duly forwarded to you for your satisfaction to-morrow.
We are, gentlemen, yours very respectfully,
DAVID BOYD and CO.,
Pro JOHN BOYD.

Messrs. Thomas Milner and Son.

NEW ZEALAND.—Auckland papers aro to hand to the
end of Derember, 1849. Advices from the Bay of Islands,
to the 6th December, represent Heki as still likely to be
troublesome; but his followers were much dispirited by
their hitherto want of success. Heki's uncle, Kawiti,
has refused to aid him any longer._ The feeling of the

tribes in the neighbourhood° of the Bay is reported to be
of the most amicable kind. In illustration of the improved
tone of feeling and sentiment, the natives are renouncing

their old 1
ordinance

nselves to Eu
anted in the

example is it
two factions, armed and ready for battle,

rife from the field to tl

xs quenci:
of gunpo