The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-09-08 00:00:00

Prescot, defendants. The action was one of detenu,
brought by the plaintiff to recover possession of a will
made by his sister, Jenny Thompson, under which lie
was entitled to three houses in Ben Johnson-street. The
defendants held the will as attorneys for a person named
Sally Lythgoe, who alleged that the will was made i❑
her favour. The Attorney-General opened the case for
the plaintiff, remarking that it would be much better
to have the matter settled without proceeding to
trial, otherwise the parties rnit;ht find shemselves in
the positio❑ of the litigants described in the fable, who
each of them got an oyster shell, while the oyster itself
went somewhere else. A consultation then took place,
and it was agreed to withdraw a juror, subject to a rule.
ACTION ON A BILL OF EXCHANGE.-ROBEIITS V.

FAIRHURST

Richard Roberts was the plaintiff, and John Fairhurst
the defendant. The action was brought to recover the
sum of £2B lls. 6d., being the amount of a bill of ex-
change drawn by David Cooke, and ac( epted by the de-
fendant. Verdict for the plaintiff for the amount of the
bill.

This concluded the evil business, and his Lordship,
after congratulating the jury on the conclusion of their
labours, adjourned the Court at half-past ten o'clock.
lie shortly afterwards left town for London.

THE REV. HUGH AVNEILE'S REPLY TO HIS

CRITICS.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION OF THE SERMON ON

OCCASION OF PRINCE ALBERT'S VISIT

The author heard with astonishment that exception had
been taken against the title of his sermon, on the ground
of irreverence, and even blasphemy. He was wholly at a
loss to conjecture by what appearance of argument such
an objection could be sustained, till his attention was
called to the rol:owing paragraph in a Tractarian journal.
After transcribing the title page of the sera-ion, the writer
continues thus :

" The fearful irreverence, to use the very mildest term, of
seeming to apply to the visit of an earthly prince, words wh ch
the Holy Ghost has used to describe the awful coming of the
Prince of [leaven and earth to judgment, must be apparent to
every reverend mind."

The word seeming is certainly a saving word: but under
cover of it, this writer has contrived to accuse me of do-
ing what I never thought of, and never did. It never en-
tered into my mind, nor into my sermon, nor on my title-
page, to apply or even to seem to apply, to the visit of an
earthly prince, words which are used in Scripture to de-
scribe the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
charge is purely fictitious. I am no further concerned
with the motives which have dictated this and other simi-
lar attacks, than to pray for my " slanderers," that it may
please God " to turn their hearts."

The title of my sermon is, " Every eye shall see Him."
The words are applied to the coming of Christ, and to
nothing else. What follows on the title-page is a descrip-
tion of the contents of the sermon—" Prince Albert's visit
to Liverpool used in illustration of the second coming of
Christ." And where, I asv, is the blasphemy, or the ir-
reverence, or even. I am bold to say, the bad taste of such
an illustration ? It is of the very ❑ature of illustrations.,
that comparatively low, common, familiar things, with
which men are acquainted, are used to convey instruction
concerning higher and more important things, with which
it is desirable to make them acquainted. This is the con-
stant practice of the sacred writers. Thus, to take one
book of Scripture for example, a sower sowing corn illus-
trates in detail the Son of man dispersing the good seed
of the word of God. (St. Matt. xiii.) A vineyard let to
successive bodies of husbandmen, illustrates Jehovah's
dealings with Jews and Gentiles through successive ge-
nerations. (St. Matt. xxi.) A marriage feast, the oxen
and fatlings killed, and the invitations sent to the guests,
illustrate the atonement and the preaching of the gospel.
(St. Matt. xxii.) The arrival of a Jewish bridegroom at
midnight illustrates the sudden coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. (St. Matt. xxv.) The list may be swelled to a
volume. In strict conformity with this practice, the
visit of an earthly prince to a provincial town, creating
universal interest, putting a stop to all the ordinary avo-
cations of life, and gathering the entire population into
one congregated mass of eager listeners and spectators,
illustrates, in some very important particulars, the coming
of the Prince of Heaven and earth to judgment.
To accuse such an illustration of blasphemy or irreve-
rence, betrays either a gross ignorance of Scripture, or a
wilful malevolence against the accused.

Suppose a treatise written on the subject of the creation,
and published under the following title : " Now, WE SEE
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY ;" CO. Xiii. 12;) Or,
Lord Rosse's Telescope, USED IN ILLUSTRATION of the
Immensity of the Universe. Who, I ask, would accuse
the author of applying, or seeming to apply, the words of
the apostle to Lord Rosse's trlescove ? . .

[The reverend gentleman uses one or two other similar
illustrations.]
In every such case, would it not be obvious to every
candid reader, that the enlarged description had reference,
not to the primary title, but to an illustration promi-
❑ently made use of in the body of the treatise ?
Ilad I entitled this sermon, "THE KING IN ins
BEAUTY ;" (Isa. xxxiii. 17 ;) or, Ilezekiali's Triumph
on the Destruction of Sennacherib, USED IN ILLUSTRA-
TION of the Second Coming of Christ, no exception, I
presume, could have been taken against it—none, at least,
on the ground of irreverence or blasphemy. And if He-
zekiah, o❑ a special occasion full of interest to the in-
habitants of Jerusalem, might be so used as an illustra-
tion, why not Prince Albert, on a special occasion full of
interest to the inhabitants of Liverpool ? Is there any-
thing more earthly about Prince Albert than there was
about Hezekiih ?

But, further. It has ever been the practice of the most
successful religious teachers, to avail themselves of passing
occurrences, in which the minds of men were already
engaged, and on them, by illustration of contrast, to
ground spiritual instruction. This gives a reality to re-
ligion, connecting it with present facts, as well as with past
history ' • with England, as well as with the church ;—and
this is the real secret of the hostility of those who would
confine religion, with sanctimonious hypocrisy, to canoni-
cal hours and consecrated places. Hence the outcry
against " popular Protestantism," which is but another
name for true religion, present.'d intelligibly and practi-
cally to the people ; neither disguised by heathenism in
the garb of classical refinement, nor mystified by mediae-
val superstitions. Alas! for the affectation of pious hor-
ror at the irreverence of such a title as this sermon bears,
combined with soft commendations of " Sister" Rome,
with all her real antichrist'an impieties !* There was a
generation who strained at gnats and swallowed camels !
and it is not )et extinct !

I have the satisfaction to inform these critics that this
sermon is selling rapidly and circulating widely, urged
forward, doubtless, by their attacks, which, by the reli-
gious portion of the community, are considered eulo-
giums. Within three weeks it has reached a third edi-
tion. In conclusion, I ask, will the journal which first
printed my title-page, or any of its contemporaries which
have since given currency to that accusation, have the
fairness, the common honesty, boldly to meet the ques-
tion by printing and answering this preface? Or, if they
see that-they have been hastily guilty of a mistake, will
they candidly acknowledge it ?

* Take the following as a specimen. It is fresh. While I
write, there is a great concourse of nobility, gentry, &c , &c.,
assembled in Birmingham, in attendance upon the Triennial
Musical Festival, which has been got tip upon a very magnifi-
cent scale. The object is ostensibly a very charitable one—to
aid the funds of the general hospital, The president is Lord
Wrottesley. 0,,e of the hymns to be sung on the occasion,
classified among the '• select.on," contains the following piece
of real blasphemy, in the shape of an appeal for protection in
the day of judgment made directly to a woman :

Inflammf,tus et accenstis.
Per Te, Virgo. sim defeusus
In die judicii :

Pac me cruce custodiri
Aforte Christi prxmuniri
Confoveri gratia "
This is very pardonable. It is only idolatry I It is quite free
from the vulgarity and irreverence of " popular Protestantism !"
It will occasion no outcry! It Will provoke no condemnation I
" Woe, w. e, unto them that call evil good, and good evil ; that
put darkness for light, and light for darkness !"