The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-02-10 00:00:00

Each day at half-past ten.
The CHESHIRE HOUNDS will meet on

To-morrow (Wednesday), 11, at .....
Thursday, 12, at
Saturday, 14. at
Each eay at half past ten

Kinderton
Hartford Bridge
... Beeston Halt

A SUDDEN CONVERSION

Of all the gentlemen wbo have been recently " turning
their backs upon themselves," and perplexing their con-
stituents, commend us, says the Herald, to Mr. Henry
Charles Sturt, late member for Dorsetshire I

Mr. Sturt is, we believe, a gentleman of the highest
and most unblemished character—a man universally es-
teemed in private life; but it is quite clear that he woe-
fully mistook his vocation when he ventured into public
life in stirring times like these.
So recently as Dec. 20, 1845, Mr. Sturt attended a
meeting of his constituents at Blandford ; and, ce 'the
cabinet-convulsions then going on drew every one's at-
tention to the subject, he naturally felt called upon to al-
lude very explicitly to the question of the corn-laws. It
was then well-known that Sir Robert Peel had re-assnmed
office, with an intention of modifying the existing corn-
laws. Yet Mr. Sturt was not backward in announcing
his own determination. He told his hearers, that "he
was prepared to stand by the present protection to
agriculture." His hearers cheered him; but it now ap-
pears that this noble resolution was like the" We—we,—
won't ram I" of the terrified duellist in Sheridan's comedy.
flov‘ever, encouraged by their cheers, sturdy Mr. Sturt
went on to say, that—

" Tf7hoeverl;!ought forward a mea-ure for the repeal of
the corn-laws, he would oppose it .f"
Wlrreupoo followed "tremendous and long-continued
cheering."

Such was Mr. Sturt six weeks ago. But Sir Robert
Peel has made his speech, parties begin to dtvelope their
plans and intention:, and Mr. Sturt is naturally expected
to perform in Pcbrual v what he had nroluist.d in Deem-

Instead of which, what does he d. ? Le sits down and
writes a letter to his constituents, in which he says—

" My opinion respecting the jurtic.? of the corn 1.,
undergone no change."
Well, then, what has Mr. Sturt to do, but to vote se-
cording to his own convictions, and according to the
wishes of his constituents ? Could any thing in the world
be simpler or more easy ?
But no, good Mr. Sturt cannot screw his courage up to
this point. He tells his constituents, that
"It is useless, and it is hopeless. Sir Robert Peel, the
Duke of Wellington, and the whole Cabinet, are your
opponents." I
And, accordingly, being apparently unable to conceive
the possibility of such a thing as voting on his own convic-
tions against the Government, he applies for the Chiltern
Hundreds, and leaves his constituents, in the lurch ! We
frankly declare, that, were we in Mr. Sturt's present pre-
dicament, we would sell the Dorsetshire estate, and, after
a three years' absence on the Continent, would settle
either in Argyleshire or in Galway. Assuredly, Dorset-
shire should never again behold us !
But observe, good reader, in what way the repeal of the
corn-laws is to be carried. Here is an English county
member, who declares his convictions to remain unaltered,
deserting his post, simply because Sir Robert Peel and the
Duke of Wellington have abandoned the corn-haws. Next,
the Duke of Wellington explains, that his views, remain
unaltered ; but that be yields to Sir Robert Peel's propo-
sal, merely from a fear that her Majesty might be left
n to Sir Robert Peel, as the single
without
ve
c oamg; vtehrennm
de no t.
w
individual, from whose change of opinion and of purpose,
all the other changes proceed.
And we may fearlessly ask—remembering that Sir Ro-
bert Peel, in 1842, declared that the price which he con-
sidered it desirable that wheat should be sold at in Eng-
land was 54a. to 58s.
ask,,andtha w
tthee
repeat,
pr t,
s n arse wive
re
e a
is
sm4asn Bd.,
—ngwe
ancl
maywhofearlessly seriously believes that, if there had
been no League, Sir Robert Peel would have come for-
ward, in 1846, to repeal his own law of 1842 ?
So that, in fact, the " house that Jack built" runs
thus :—Mr. Sturt, Mr. Charteris, Mr. Wilson Patten,
and sundry others, are converted by the conrersion of the
Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel:—
The Duke of Wellington is converted by Sir Robert
PC-el :—And
Sir Robert Peel is converted by the League !

RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS IN SWITZERLAND

We were favoured on Saturday, by our respected towns-
man M. Zwilchenbart, Consul of the Swiss Confedera-
tion, here, with copies of the official domiments relative
to the present ecclesiastical affairs of the Canton de Vaud,
in which, for some months past, a portion of the clergy of
" The National Evangelical Reformed Church " (esta-
blished by law) have thrown off their allegiance to that
institution, and thereby caused great discomfort to the
Council of the State—or government of tbat republic,
which is attached to the Swiss Confederation—by pro-
ducing disunion to a certain extent amongst the people,
as well as threatening the foundations of the Establish-
ment. The question is one which, to a considerable ex-
tent, interests the whole Christian world ; and we there-
fore lament that the voluminous nature of these docu-
ments—no fewer than twenty in number, several of them
pamphlets, and all of them printed in French—precludes
us from supplying more than a general outline of the
principal facts they disclose on a hasty perusal, but which
certainly appear to us to vindicate the conduct of the
Council, as having acted with patience, liberality, and
forbearance towards the dissentients, with a view to pre.
serve the integrity and true discipline of their national
Church, which has already existed for about three centu-
ries, and, above all, has a firm scriptural fotpidation.
We may state at the outset, that it does not appear from
these papers that the pastors who have withdrawn from
within her pale have set up any new or old heretical doc-
trine on their own account; on the contrary, their doc-
trinal views seem to be sound and scriptural : and of this
the government of the Canton seem to be so well aware,
that they have never, since the dawning of the disaffec-
tion, ceased by gentle invitation and persuasion to reclaim
the strayed sheep to the clerical fold, and retain them in
the service of the State.

Amongst the pamphlets we find the new " Constitution
of the Canton of Vand," declaring it (August, 1845.) to
be a "democratic republic," w;th the usual adjuncts of
such systems of government. Our readers are well aware
that we art no friends to republicanism, but in this in-
stance it has some extenuations; and, above all, the re-
deeming virtue of standintz by an evangelical church. and
upholding the state. Tbis !constitution (as our own)
permits to certain of the provinces the quiet exercise, as
it before existed, of what is there called the " Catholic
religion"—the clergy of both to be paid by the respective
treasuries of the departments in which they are situated.
We also find " The Ecclesiastical Law" of the canton,
dated December, 1839, by which it appears there were
about 144 parishes in the several arondissements,
with
about 160 pastors of the national church. Another pam-
phlet contains two speeches delivered by M. Henri Druey,
the President of the Council of State, evidently a clever
statesman and orator, at its sittings in November last,
and in which he eloquently and forcibly advocates the
policy and advantages of a national connexion between
the church and the state. The minor documents (nearly
all signed by himself in his official capacity) are letters
or addresses to the disaffected clergy, proclamations from
the council, resolutions, judgments, decrees, and con-
ciliatory addresses to the clerical parties resigned from
that body ; addresses to the council from the latter, with
M. Druey's replies. &c. The whole are from the press
(different hands) in Lausanne, (the capital,) and the typo-
graphy is highly creditable.

From the whole, it appears that the object of the die_
unionists is to render the church (in contravention of the
ecclesiastical law of 1839) independent of the state—the
whole affair bearing a resemblance in many particulars,
though by no means in all, to the recent movements of
the Free Church party in Scotland. Some of the dissen-
tients had betaken themselves to preaching in conventicle,
(or chapels). Others had bearded the government, by
continuing to conduct public worship in the state churches
after they had abrogated their right to do so, by disobe-
dience of the constitutional and ecclesiastical law.
The government, it appears, first noticed this emeute
last May, when they issued : rem nis•ni ♦ circular.
One of the last of these official papers is a circular from
the Council, dated 24th December, and addressed to the
prefects and
e d Uponmunicipalities,
ahual
lae
envailt.o7
Fo from the t
)‘
sa ta
the others, we deduce the followine :
state of the national church, and the
measures that had
beendecid
In November the Government issued a proclamation,
inflicting certain penalties cn `• pastors " and " rnin;aters'
who had officiated in "chapel houses" out of the pale of
the national church, as on those who had refused to read
from their pulpits a previcus proclamation touching the
voting of electors under the new constitution, the plea in
extenuation being that it was political. These parties are
complained of by the Government as having resigned their
clerical posts in the national church, and, without reason.
able cause, exposed the establishment to the grratest
danger. The majority of the citizens of the Canton were
in favour of the Government measures against them, and
the Grand Council of the Confederation invested the
Council of the state with extraordinary powers as re-
garded the national church, public instruction, dessenting
chapels, and other assemblages not belonging to the
Church.

The first use made of this power was to offer to all but
the most refractory who had withdrawn and shown strong
hostility to the church, an opportunity of honourably re-
turning to her bosom, and contributing to restore tran-
quillity and peace amongst the whole community, which
bad been disturbed by these dissensions. The Council
d'Etat did all in their power to induce them to accept
this invitation, by prolonging. the time given them for
consideration, &c. Even the most refractory were not
precluded from withdrawing their resignations of their
own free will, and the time in which resignations were to
be accepted was extended to the Ist of Decernbsr.
Forty pastors and tither ministers withdrew their resig-
nations on this appeal! but four of them resigned anew.
After being necess,tated to retain in pay, or to bring back
to the service of the church the greatest possible number
of ministers, the council found it necessary to re-petition
provisionally the numerous parishes, uniting some of
them under the care of one clergyman ; and they state, if
there be a lamentable want of pastoral instruction. the
fault does not lie with them, or with the pastors who re-
mained in the service of the church, but with the minis-
ters who forsook her in the hour of her need, and who for
such dereliction of duty no longer legally officiated as
clergymen in the state.

The council state that they will do all that in them lies
to render this state of things of as short duration as pos-
sible. They had appealed to ministers of Vaud out of the
country, to'students of theology, to schoolmagers, to the
laity, and others interested in the church. They had ao-
cepted of proffered services from some, and anticipated
those of others.

As an example of the kindly dealing of the government
with the malcontents, we may quote the following sen-
tence :—" -Perhaps, (says the document,) when better
enlightened by reflection, moi,ed by the national church
of their country, and touched by her patient endutance,
(soufrage) those of the pastors and ministers who hav•
withdrawn from her, and whose return is still possible,
will commune with themselves, while there is yet time to
redeem the past, and again place themselves at the service
of that church ; and not continue to expose her to diets-
ninn. by the position they have taken."
The Council appeal to those pastors who have remained
faithful, topersevere with that zeal and devotion which they
have evinced during this season of difficulty, so that they
may add to the public gratitude which tbey have already
so justly acquired. All others studying for the church, or
connected with it or its welfare even more remotely,
ars implored to. follow their noble example—including
municipalities and citizens. With regard to those who
have withdrawn from the establishment, no middle course
is left. They must either frankly and fully return to the
service of. the church, or abstain from officiating therein,
their acts, whether in administering the sacraments, in
marrying, &c., being declared illegal and void.
The prophets are enjoined to carry out the injunctions
of the Government in respect to the conformists, and to
put down illegal religious assemb:ages, but to give a lati-
tude to all meetings that do not affect the ruble tran-
quillity, and to show ❑o persecuting spirit. It is stated
that Methodism le.s done much evil in the country, and
that the assumed " ---•-

~ AAI/ parr
it go, on) can have no other result but 10w Fubjecty the
state and the people to the domination of
clergy, and precipitate the chinch into schism, and t
into anarchy.
We feel no little trxiety to It-----
unhappy differences, and -•

le dissentient
/..

with thefts

of the Vaudois who ..
for the faith and the r
fathers of the evan;:elical church

srientiously

us obseranees of their fore-

At the 611

time, we

themselves to many privations.
convenience, in holding fast to ti
victione.

and to much I ersonal in-

otious con-