The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-02-25 00:00:00

are palpably evident on whatever side we turn our
eyes. We see everywhere conces:i )n to error, and
nowhere encouragement and aid to the truth. Does
Popery bluster; a Conservative Government admi-
nisters, as a sop, the sacrifice of some principle or
institution which Protestants venerate. Does Dis-
sent spit forth its venom, or Infidelity howl forth its
hate : some buttress of the constitution falls—some
landmark of our liberties is removed to appease
them. Yet we look on with folded hands, as if the
sacrifice concerned us not—as if the things sacri-
ficed were not our own ! A strange infatuation has
got possession -of the public mind ; and we are
unblushingly told, by men, too, who in past times
have stood the most strenuously against concession
to error, that we may now give way a little—
that Popery is not so very dangerous a thing, after
all—that Dissent and Infidelity are not so very
noxious—that, in fact, having secured the blessing
of a Conservative administration, we may " afford"
to throw from us, one by one, or at once, every
principle for which we have contended, and proceed
very quietly to the enactment of the very measures,
or even of worse, against the iniquity of which,
when proposed by other men, we were the loudest
in our protest! _ _ _

It is painful to see this sad falling off; and more
especially it is painful to have to acknowledge it in
our own town, which has taken so prominent a posi-
tion, and been so influential by the example which
it has set, in support of the Protestant institutions
of the realm. It is painful to have to ask—where
are the Conservative Associations—where are the
Protestant Associations—where are the Clergy of
Liverpool at a crisis like the present ? Alas, with
respect to one portion of the Protestant people of
our town, the wily statesman whose hands are so
filled with mischief has found a powerful instrument
for inducing them to quiescence. Sir Robert Peel
has discovered that the way to some men's hearts
is through their pockets—that financial and com-
mercial prosperity is a wonderful mollifier, of zeal
in behalf of protestantism. Humiliating enough
it is to confess the fact ; but the success of Sir
Robert's specific is too convincing a proof of the
acumen of the physician by whom it bas been pre-
scribed. A. slice of additional protection to Colo-
nial sugar, an alteration of the timber duties, the
withdrawal of the tax on cotton, a favourable ie-
port from the Railway Department of the Board of
Trade, or a flourishing business on the Stock Ex-
-change, can keep the majority of the merchants of
Liverpool in their counting-houses or by their
household comforts and luxuries whilst the cry of
their country and their religion is unheard. Alas
that it should be so !

We are not, however, utterly fallen, degraded and
humiliated though we are, as a protestant people.
The voice of some true and honest hearts amongst
us will still be heard by the legislature, in support
of protestant truth, and in protest against fatal con-
cessions, although those do fall away whose voices
and countenance in times past have animated and
strengthened the fainting spirits of thousands of
their fellow-countrymen. It is with pleasure and
pride that we have to point to the following resolu-
tions; which were agreed upon at a meeting of the
members of the Loyal Orange Institution, held on
Saturday night in the Commercial Hall, the pro-
ceedings at which, however, we regret that we cannot

give a report of owing to the meeting being held in
Lodge. Most sincerely do we wish that we could
have done so. Most sincerely do we wish that the
Conservative merchants of Liverpool, and our noble
Representative, Lord Sandon, could have been pre-
sent to witness the devotion of these loyal men
towards principles which others seem to have for-
gotten. They would have been taught a lesson,
and have had held before them an example worthy
of their imitation. At the meeting in pestion many
hundreds of the constituency of Liverpool were pre-
sent. We quote the resolutions :

" That it has been satisfactorily shown to this meeting,
that the Imperial Legislature is under no compact what-
ever, either express, or implied, to continue the present,
or to afford any pecuniary grant, for the maintenance of
the College of Maynooth ; and further, that no such grant
for maintenance was ever made by the Irish Parliament,
from whom the compact to continue it is said to be inhe-
rited by the United Kingdom.
" That this meeting therefore views with alarm and re
,gret, as pledging the country to the maintenance of an
institution hostile to our Protestant establishments, and to
the spread of Protestant truth in Ireland, the proposal of
government to increase this grant, a measure which,
though offered as one of conciliation, will never operate as
such, but will only place in the hands of the Romish
hierarchy, in Ireland, increased power and funds, to be
used for promoting disturbance of peace between the two
countries, and the ultimate severance of Ireland from the
British Empire.
" That we desire, with the utmost respect and affection
for our noble representative, Lord Sandon, to place on
record the deep concern with which we have heard that
his lordship is prepared to sanction such increased grant,
when brought forward by the British government, and we
earnestly entreat of his lordship, before so doing, to direct
his powerful mind to an examination of the validity and
existence of the alleged compact which he bas adduced as
influencing him in a course which we are convinced is not
such as his feelings would have prompted.
" That the Worshipful the Deputy Grand Master be
respectfully requested to transmit copies of the foregoing
resolutions to the Right Worshipful the Grand Master of
England, the Right Honourable the Earl of Enniskillen,
and to our respected representatives, Lord Sandon and
Sir Howard Douglas.
" That the thanks of this meeting are justly due, and
are hereby tendered, to the Worshipful D.G.M., for his
prompt compliance with the wishes of the requisitionists,
in calling this meeting ; for the courteous ability with
which he has presided over us this evening, and for his
uniform attention to the interests of our noble institu-
tion."

We make no comment upon these resolutions.
We make no comment either upon the speech of
Lord Sandon making the announcement which
prompted its being called. But we must respect-