The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-04-02 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, AND COUN-
CILLORS OF THE LIVERPOOL CORPO-
RATION.

Gentlemen,—l perceive that one of your body has
given notice of a motion for Wednesday next upon the
subject of your schools. His object is to have the Bible
excluded from the class teaching. This will be called the
old calumny, but it is indeed the old truth. The preamble
to his motion sets forth that the system at present adopted
in your schools excludes the children of Roman Catholics.
On this ground he desires to have it altered ; or, if it can-
not be altered so as to remove this objection, he wishes
the schools to be sold.
Now, what part of the present system is it that excludes
the children of Roman Catholics ? The teaching of spel-
ling, or reading in the classes ? No ; this is not pretended.
What then ? The teaching of arithmetic or geography in
the classes ? No. What is it then ? The teaching of
writing, or history, or natural history in the classes?
No. The hon. councillor will not so libel the Roman
Catholics as to say that any of these things exclude their
children. What then is it, I ask again, that excludes
them, if they be excluded ? Is it the use of the Bible in
the classes ? Yes, clearly so. And how then can the
system be so altered as not to exclude them ? Only by
the exclusion of the Bible from the teaching of the classes.
That is plain, however ingenuity may evade it, or elo-
quence mystify it. Depend upon it, Gentlemen, a large
majority of the constituencies of the town see the matter
as it is here stated, and feel that they have done their
duty in entrusting the municipal government of the town
to gentlemen, a majority of whom have declared that the
Bible shall be used in the classes of the Corporation
Schools. They have long since seen clearly through the
flimsy objection to the Protestant translation, and the
plausible pretext about a Roman Catholic translation.
The Roman Catholics have no translation without notes.
Their guides cannot trust the Word of God without com-
ment among them in any translation.
All their versions have notes. That is to say,—they
have no Scriptures uncontaminated by Popery.
But, Gentlemen, it is a libel against the Roman Ca-
tholic people to say that the Word of God, or any thing
else in your present system, excludes their children. In
point of fact, it is falsified by your rolls, which contain
many names of Roman Catholic children, and would con-
tain many more if the Roman Catholic people were free
agents. But it is true, most true, that so far as the
knowledge and influence of the priests extend, the chil-
dren of Roman Catholics may not, must not, come in
contact with the Word of God unbiassed by the comments
of " the church." It is curious to see how Dissenters,
whose religious boast is the Bible without note or com-
ment, are made the unconscious tools of the Roman
Catholic priests, under the plea ofliberality.
Gentlemen, if you will take an old friend's advice,
you will not open this discussion again,—but by an extin-
guishing negative show the town that eausa finita est,
and that you will not consent to waste your valuable
time by refuting refuted objections. If it were a
matter of improvement in detail, reason would that
you should discuss again and again, and continue to im-
prove ; but this is a question of principle, rest-
ing on a foundation, which among all the fluctua-
tions of human opinion remains the same. It is not
for the word of man, however enlightened, that you con-
tend ; but, believing in the genuineness and authenticity
of revelation, you hold, and I trust will hold, the paramount
claims of the Word of God.

I have the honour to be,entlemen, with much respect,
Your faithful friend,
• FIDUS ACHATES.
_ .

Liverpool, Ist April, 1844.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SIR,—My name having appeared in your paper of last
Tuesday, in the list of persons who attended the late
Fancy Dress Ball, I trust you will permit this note to
appear in your next publication as a refutation. I consi-
der such amusements light and frivolous, and not void
of contingent evils ; in addition to which, I denounce the
practice of late resorted to for the support of charitable
or religious- institutions. because two-thirds of what is
expended on such occasions is devoted to the god of this
world, leaving only the remaining small portion (one-
third) for the object which is made the plea for such as-
semblies ; such practice cannot, therefore, be acceptable
(in my humble opinion) to Him whose call we profess
to obey. With these remarks, I leave the serious con-
sideration of the subject to others; remaining, sir, yours
faithfully, RICHARD HARBORD.
Upper Parliament-street, 30th March, 1844.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAW-STREET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SIR,-It was with great pleasure I saw, in your paper
of last week, an account of the proposed pleasure-grounds
in Shaw-street. Allow me respectfully, through your
means, to call the attention of the individuals engaged in
this laudable undertaking to the fact, that there is at the
north-east corner of this land the artificial mound on
which Prince Rupert's battery was placed, and which is
the only visible relic of the siege of Liverpool remaining
to the present day. It is to be hoped that this mound,
which is evidently cut, and of the usual form used in
fortifications, will not be' sacrificed, but preserved un-
touched as it has remained from 1644 to the present time.
Yows, respectfully,
W. G. HERDMAN.
6, Lansdowne-place, Everton, March 30, 1844.