The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-11-06 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

CORRESPONDENCE

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STRNDARD.
"In England we are -so much accustomed to see characters
the most unimpeachable, nay the most venerable, assailed by
the daily press, that we account the individual guilty of folly,
who, if he be innocent of giving cause to the scandal, takes it
to heart more than a passenger would mind the barking of a
dog, that yelps at every passing souud."—WALTER SCOTT.

SlR,—That the above is a correct opinion of the public mind
in England on the personal attacks which, too often for their
own: honour, characterise the productions of newspaper editors,
wilt, apprehend, receive a ready assent from men of all poll-
tical.parties ; but it may be questioned whether au.-individual
is not bound, disagreeable though it may be to him, to vindicate
his conduct, when a dishonest attempt is made, through•hini, to
injure what he sincerely believes to be the cause, nay the very
palladium, of his counttx:Vi'-'
A few years ago, that in'previous to the memorable election
in 183 j, it was the boast of Liverpool that our fiercest political
contests ended with the poll, and all occasions of offence,were at
once forgiven and forgottenbut times are' altered, and *in this.;
particular not improved certainly. It is no longer permitted
us to pursue our peaceful avocations in privacy and retirement;
and, though years have intervened, "our tlibes and jests are not
suffered to be lost for want of gathering." Well, indeed, "if
revenge from some baneful corner shall not level a tale of dis-
honour at one, which innocence of heart, or integrity of con-
duct shall set right,"—well, "if cruelty and cowardice, twin rill-.
flans, hired and set on by malice in the -dark, shall not strike
together at all one's infirmities and mistakes, to which the best
of us lie open." •
Something of poor Yorick's fate hal' been mine, and whether
revenge, cruelty, and cowardice have been set on by malice, or
by sheer political 'hostility, or the base tempter of mankind,
lucre, I shall not stoop to inquire, my present purpose being
rather to uphold a cause which from infancy I have adhered to,
and which, as I have before observed, is attempted to be in-
jured through me, if it be possible that so good a cause can be
damaged by so humble an niclividual'as myself.
It fell to my lot, quite unexpectedly, to second the nomina-
tion of General Gascoyne at a meeting of his friends prior to the
election of 1831 ; and; as is usual on such occasions, I had to
address the assembled multitude, a task reserved for another
gentleman, but who, from indisposition, had left the room.
Now, sir, it was at this meeting, and under the circumstances
I have stated, wholly unprepared, and possessing very little of
that self-Confidence which is essential on such occasions, 1 was
interpreted to have used expressions of a sarcastic and super-
cilious import against the whole community of shopkeepers in
this great toWn—of which the whig and radical press and ora-
tors did not fail to take the fullest advantage. On the Tuesday
following, the editor of the Liverpool Times kindly permitted
'use the insertion of an address, in which I did net attempt to
eat my words,-but I denied the inference most unfairly put upon
..thea; to serve, a jprty pnrpose. The shopkeepers were then, as
now, a rich and influential bOdf-::many Of the most I-es/Wei-hie
had uniformly supported General Gascoyne—and yet upou the
occasion of again recommending him, for his long and 'tried
services, as a fit representative, I, a supporter and seconder of
his nomination, was made to hold them up to the finger of scorn.
I admit that the joke, such as it was, might better have been,
spared, but.the only persons who have a claim upon me for an
apology are the Londoners, and I assure them that the liberty 1
took with their cognomen had no individual reference, but that
they were used in illustration of the theme I had fallen upon,
viz., the unfairness of admitting strangers, mere temporary re-
sidents perhaps, to interfere with the political rights of the bur-
gesses.
And here, sir, I bring my subject to a close, and for ever. I
hope that my fellow-townsmen, be their political bias what it
may, (and I quarrel with no man for his honest opinions), will
be satisfied with the explanation—and that your readers will
pardon the intrusion upon their time and patience—but if there
shall be still any "' who halt between two opinions" because of
the part I have acted in this matter, I bey of them to reflect that
they have a country, and that their votes belong to her, and are
not to be regulated by personal dislike, or for the purpose of an-
noyance to any set of individuals. The public good is, or ought
to be, the sole object of us all, and when called upon to confide
the national interests into the hands of a representative, it is
with him and not with his supporters that we have to deal—the
one can do no harm—hut a false step in regard to the other
, may entail upon us disgrace and injury irretrievable.—l have
the honour to remain, Sir, your very humble servant,
CYRUS MORRALL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Ste,—l wish to call your attention to an error in your papaas of
this day, iu the report of the case of Richard Cross, at the pre-
sent Quarter Sessions, wherein it is stated I knew the prisoner
and his family; also that I had the property taken from him in
a house in Elliot-street, and that the watch was subsequently
found at the house mentioned by the prisoner, from which it
might appear to' the public as ifa connexion existPd between us.
To prevent any appearance or suspicion of this kind, I trust
you will state• the fact in your next publication, namely,
said, that 'lad seen the prisoner in Mr. Garduer's employ, and
through that means knew his person ; and that on his appre-
hension he would not give an answer, as to what he had done
with it. Also on his commitment, he said be had got tipsy and
the article wAs taken from him, but afterwards obtained through
a noted house in Elliot-street.—l ant, Sir, yours remectfullv,
WILLIAM YEATES.
.13, Cloiton-square, October 31, 1835.

'THE CHURCII OF ENGLAND IN IRELAND.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDAW).

Strt,--Were I to consult my own taste and feelings, I should
not trouble you with my thoughts on the present. occasion, for
both inclination and habit of life forbid sue from mitering Lyon.
that btisy scene 'in which you are most actively and usefully,
engaged', am no politician, and it is no feeling of politics
which produce this present letter : it is a deeper and more pain-
fully intense feeling than any which politics could excite within
me : it is the awful conviction that the church of Ireland totters
to its fall net more from the malice of its enemies than from
the apathy and supineness of the conservative churchmen of
ICW-brief an-itransient hare-paid to tlte-Isials:
;metropolis I have been'able to examine, it is true, but little into
the excellent charades and effects of our protestant church, and
into the, debasing deformity of the papal superstition ; but,
would.to God that all my English fell Ow-churchmen had seen
-even as much as I have; no longer then, would they consider
the ehurcbei of England and Ireland as distinct and different=,
no longer would they suffer their ears to be abused by the popish
falsehood, that the Irish church is cold nod dead—the state sell-
gion, and nothing more—and that the only zeal and activity
displiived by its ministers are shown in suing for sinecures and
distraining fur tithes. So often and so boldly have these calum
nine been repeated that Englishmen begin to believe them, and
those who would lay down their lives, if necessary; in defence
of their'church in England, can content themselves with a spi-
ritless and.reluctant.opposition to the robbery and destruction
of the same apostolical church in Ireland!
If these few remarks, and the simple facts which I am able to
adduce in their support, may have the effect of inciting any one
or two brother churchmen to inquire for themselves into the
merits of the case, richly will my labour be rewarded.
I spent last Sunday but one in Dublin. In the morning I
attended the service at Trinity College Chapel, and a cheering
and hallowed service it was. The chapel was nearly filled with
young men, whose devout and becoming deportment augured,
to my mind, a happy presage of usefulness in that ministry for
Which many of them are designed. A good sermon; feelingly
`delivered by the excellent Dr. Singer, was listened to with the
most solemn attention of the students, and appeared deeply to
impress the minds of many.
In passing by a popish chapel, not far from the College, on
the conclusion of the morning service at the College Chapel, I
saw by advertisement that a grand service was to take place
there for the benefit of some charity under the patronage of
" His grace the most Rev. Dr. Murray." Accordingly I en-
tered the place,' but my time did not permit me to witness the
whole performance. On the very threshold of this place of
worship I
.found a crowd of tattered politicians loudly discussing
the topics of the day, and in the midst of them a man selling,
copies of O'Connell's speeches in the north of England and
Scotland. Like most mass-houses I have seen, the chapel was
artificially darkened to give effect, I suppose, to the candles die.
posed about the altar. The opera singers, who were engaged for
the occasion, having arrived, the organ struck up and accom-
panied them in several flue pieces of music, the words to which
were in Latin! Of thecongregation, those who were in the part
of the floor appropriated to the rich sat quietly on their benches
—of the poor, the greater number were grouped together look-
ing at the singers, but several were praying with great earnest-
ness. Poor creatures ! they seemed as if they knew themselves
to be sinners, but there was none to show them the way to seek
forgiveness. In the sad countenances of the more earnest wor-
shippers I thought I could discern a distrust of the lying vani-
ties in which they were taught to hope, and that they felt the
want of that peace which kneelings and crossings and counting
of beads could not give. That the light of the gospel might
speedily dawn upon these sitters in darkness was the fervent
prayer with which I left the gloomy place.
1 had afterwards occasion to pass through the neighbourhood
of St. Patrick's, the very hot-bed of popery. in Dublin. Here
the streets were set out as if it was a fair;_ buying, selling,
drinking, and swearing made a dreadful comment on the Mo-
ItAi.ITY OF POPERY. Once my passage was entirely obstructed
by a general scuffle, the parties engaged in which, as I under-
Stood from what they said, had been just before attending to
their duties in chapel like good catholics. Oh, what a sobbed)!
I could not help reflecting that if the established church were
swept away in Ireland, the sa'obath would sotiii be observed, as
it is on the continent, as a day of feasting, of brawling, and of
theatrical exhibition. I have had occasion to remark in
every country in which I have travelled, that wherever popery
is rampant there the sabbath is a desecrated day. Can this
really, then, be the system with which protestant dissenters ally
themselves to attack our scriptural established church ? I ant
pained to reflect that such is the case, and yet they profess that
they are inimical to papery, whilst they tacitly aid it, and
covertly, though professedly unintentionally, fight its battles.
But let us change the scene. In the evening I attended di-
vine service at St. C 's. The congregation was numerous,
respectable, and devout; vet this parish is one of the strongholds
of popery.' People of England! bear this congregation, as-
sembled at the same time with yourselves, praying your prayers
to your God, through your Saviour—see them beset by enemies,
on every side, the enemies of your holy faith, for which a Cran-
nies, a Ridley, a Latimer, and a Russell! (shame upon his de-
generate descendant) were content to die—see these your pro-
testant fellow-worshippers surrounded by the enemies of your
beloved country—see them looking to you, under Heaven, for
the liberty of being permitted to keep up the same worship with
yourselves; with all this before your eyes, listen, if your con-
science will suffer you, to those who say that to suppress the
church will be to tranquillize Ireland! y But, vou may object,
the measure for the retrenchment of the Irish"church'svill ma-
terially benefit the church itself. Will it ?-:--who says so?—does
the church itself, speaking through its prelates ?—do the lords?
—do those much abused and vilified but devoted men who are
living,
with their lives hardly worth a week's pur-
chase,ps it were,reaching tho everlasting Gospel in the darkest and
wildest
a regions of this benighted land, I mean the working clergy
of the Irish church?—and above all do the Comniona say that
the extirpation of this scriptural church will tranquillize Ire-
land? Ask Stanley, Peel, Hume, O'Connell, the representa-
tives of the four great parties of the House, the whigs, tories,
tadidals and repealers. From all you will have the same reply
of dissent, from the former with sorrowful apprehensions, front
the latter with insolent triumph. None of these pophesy good,
but evil, to the church from the proposed changes. Who, then,
is your authority ? The ministers, forsooth, and their friends in
the Lower House, amounting to about one hundred and fifty at
the most. Think for yourselves before it is too late.
The Vicar of. St. C s, (to whose congregation I have
alluded above.) labours hard in his discouraging peat with three
curates. He has procured a disseuting chapel to be consecrated
in his parish, and supplied with a' faithful pastor, and is now
raising subscriptions for the building and endowment of another
place of worship in a very dark part of the parish. Excellent
and indefatigable as this man is, there are many like him ; de-
lightful as is his congregation, thank God there are ninny such
springing up in the church of Ireland. And shall the growing
light be quenched ? "Oh, yes," say the papists, " Twenty
years ago, when the clergy left the fold to be ravaged by our

wolves, we made no complaints; but now that these heretics
are so active, so devoted, so useful, it is time we Made a strong
pull against the chtirch, or she Will silence us, and agitation,
and repeal for ever l"• •
This is the grand secret. A bold, a fearless, an evangelical
race of men have appeared as ministers of the established
church during the last few years. The Kildare-street Society
has established.schools. The Sunday School Society has aided
them in giving to these schools a religions tendency. The Ili-
nerniau Bible Society hasturnished them with the pure unmu-
tilated word of God. The clergy have turned over a new leaf,
and amidst priviktion and suffering, of which Englishmen know
little, they have been, and are still eneaged, in holding up the
lamp of divine truth in the midst of theerdarkness of popery; and
hence the agitation, hence the outcry against the estabti:.innent
of which their devoted heroes are the members. But all will
be of no avail if only English protestants will shake off their
apathy and come to the rescue of their Irish brethren. Should
popery become dominant iu Ireland that country will become
inure than she is, the-plague spot of England, and we shall have
at our door millions in a state of mental cte.fradation ready at
the beck of au infuriated and ignorant priesthood to throw off
I what they denominate the English yoke, and join nny league,
offensive or defensive, against the protestantisni of England.
But, my fellow-charcainen, is this your ntind ? As patriots. I
call upon you to stand by the union, and the scriptttral church
which is the mainstay 'of that union ; as protestants, to preserve
to your fellow-protestants their pure form of worship; and, as
churchmen, not to suffer the enemies of order and. religion to
succeed in this their first attack upon THE OUTWORKS OP. YOUR
OWN EST-ABLIEHMENT.—YOOIS, &C., MINOR.