The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-12-23 00:00:00

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

AMONG the variov a results which "Merry Christmas"
accomplishes, one is to emancipate young and old, pupil
and teacher, in our public schools. With beating hearts
and joyous anticipations the days are numbered till the
coming holidays, by the light-hearted little fellows, idle
and industrious. Nor do the teachers require or enjoy
their liberation less, though it is desirable to subdue
the emotions, so that the period of duty may not seem to
be a time of unvarying toil. We have attended the closing
scene at two of our institutions within the..st week, and
we can bear testimony to the heartiness of the cheering
that marked the close of the respective ceremonies.
The Royal Institution School, or Schools (for there is
an indecision about the use of the singular or plural) were
established as part of the institution when it was founded
in 1814 ; and it was thought for several years, during the
incumbency of the late principal, that fifty or sixty pupils
were all that could be expected in Liverpool for a school
of that class. While public and private schools offer the
advantages of a good education on more moderate terms,
one would expect that the preparation for professional
studies would be sought in general elsewhere. Yet the
pupils of the Royal Institution have been increasing in-
stead of diminishing ; and though a good many retired
with Dr. Iliff until the subsequent success of the school
was a matter of grave doubt, it has passed by its former
limit, and, as we understood the president on Wednesday,
has not merely doubled, but trebled itself within the past
and present year.

In 1843 the Collegiate Institution was opened. At
first the intention was to establish two daily schools only,
part of a Conservative and Church Mechanics' Institution.
During the progress of the arrangements a third school
was added, greatly to the annoyance of some of the best
friends of the Institution ; for they held that this was
breaking faith with their own friends at the Royal Insti-
tution, and exciting a rivalship that should never have
existed. How well the anticipations of evil were founded
may be judged from the fact that the Royal Institution
School and the Upper School of the Collegiate Institution

now number three or four times as many pupils as were
considered a fair average previous to the foundation of the
latter. This is not the effect of mere increase in popula-
tion, though that is one influencing cause. A better

appreciation of education, is, we trust, another ; as well
as facilities for home education, the establishment of
Scholarships and other prizes, and an increased desire on
the part of parents to qualify their sons for professional
pursuits. Nor must we omit to notice the zealous exer-
tions on behalf of the teachers. The ignorant parent
may not be able to appreciate these, but may regard the
educational transaction as a mercantile one like any other,

and the young man just launched into public life may
forget the hand that moulded his intellect and principles;
but the really intelligent among the former know how
sacred the trust, how important the duties ; and in the
time of sober reflection the latter will revert to the scho-
lastic hours with pleasant and grateful recollection.
The pupils at the Royal Institution do not wear any
'uniform; but on the closing day, which with them is public
only once a year, they appear in full dress. And certainly
theyareas fine a set of boys as one could desire to look upon,
from the embryo collegian, appearing for the first time in
his toga virilis, to the tiny youngster who can with diffi-
step on the platform. The pupils at the Collegiate
wear gowns within doors ; they fill two-thirds or more of
the body of the lecture-hall ; and they represent three

classes of the community.
There is a marked difference in the closing scenes at the
two institutions. The one addresses its entertainment to
the ear, the other to the eye. At the Royal Institution,
there are recitations in various languages,French, Spa-
nish, Latin, Greek,—and the assembled parents and
friends applaud heartily, though understanding less than
they did of Gavazzi's lectures. On this occasion, only
about half the selections were in English ; a proportion
which too much resembles " saying mass in an unknown
tongue." On the branch of elocution called utterance,
the young gentlemen acquitted themselves with great
credit, the speaking being neither drawling nor hurried,
neither too loud nor in whispers ; and, in general, conveyed
the meaning of the respective authors very fairly. But on
the subject of action, there appeared to be a want of
system ; so that, in future, it would not be without profit
to direct their attention to portions of Spalding's Portal or
Austin's Chironomia. At the Collegiate Institution , rhetoric
bas never been recognised as adistinet branch of education ;
and there are no recitations. But in the long room at
the top of the building, specimens of the handiwork of
the pupils are displayed, consisting of maps, drawings,
writing and printing specimens, &c. The proceedings in the
Lecture-hall might almost as well be conducted in dumb
show ; as they consist of the mere delivery of prize-books
and medals, with a few passing remarks respecting each.
A portion of a prize essay might be read, or a report stat-
ing the prominent facts in the schools during the six
months preceding ; and it would surely be gratifying to
the assembly to hear some one or more brief addresses.
Our view is that both systems might be better com-
bined than they are, with benefit to all concerned. It
should be borne in mind that we refer only to the facts
on the closing day. For some time previous, the examina-
tions over the ordinary school work go forward, and
parents and friends are admitted to see the ordinary style
of answering. This is a much better test of proficiency
than the hollow displays by which parents are often de-
luded : but since something of display is still considered
necessary at certain intervals, it ought surely to be as
attractive and instructive as possible.

ROYAL INSTITUTION SCHOOLS: DELIVERY OF PRIZES.
—The annual delivery of prizes to the pupils took place
on Wednesday, in the theatre of the institution. The
Venerable Archdeacon Brooks, in presenting them to
the successful boys, addressed to each of them a few
appropriate remarks, impressing upon all the necessity
of perseverance in their studies, and uniform good
conduct, by which they would reflect credit both on
themselves and the institution :
thou SCHOOL.—Classical : 1, Duckworth ; 2, Abram ; 3,
WCheane.—Mathematical : 1, Preston ; 2, M'Cheane ; 3,
Abram—Divinity Essay: 1, Duckworth; 2, M'Cheane.—His-
torical Essay: 1, Abram; 2, M'Cheane; 3, Crook.—Composi-
lion : 1, Duckworth ; 2, Abram.
•S'econd Class.—Divinity Essay : 1, Jackson ; 2, Parry.—
Historical Essay : 1, H. Duckworth; 2, Jackson.—lmprove-
/tient : Booth.

French Prizes, given by Mons. de Finance.-Ist Division :
1, Jackson ; 2, J. Job; 3, Behrend ; 4, Shute.-2nd Division :
3, C. Jeffery ; 2, D. Job ; 3, W. Smith ; 4, Maxwell ; 5, Booth.
LOWER ScirooL.--Divinity Essay : Halhead.—Historical
Essay : 1, Shute ; 2, C. P. Bushell.—Writing : 1, T. Grundy;
2, J. G. Carter.—Arithrnetic : 1, D. Job; 2, J. Swainson.

Good Conduct and Improvetitent Prizes, given by Theodore
Rathbone, Esq., President.-3rd Class : Behrend, H. Kewney,
J. Dover, Quayle, G. Bird, ➢iilligan, J. Cross.-4th Class:
M'Cunn, C. Pemberton, Ready.—•sth Class : C. Booth, D.
Duckworth, A. Bald.-6th Class : J. M`lver, D. M`lver, J.
Thompson, A. Swainson, J. Seddon.
Drawing Prizes, given by Mr. Barber.—C. I. Leather and
F. Doyle.

MAMMOTH PANORAMA OF THE MISSISIPPI.--Placed
as Liverpool is in the position of the great approach for
emigrants and travellers of all kinds to the great Western
Continent, every means by which information can be ob-
tained of the features and capabilities of that land of
promise to the ejected population of densely peopled
Europe must be welcome. On this ground we are gratified
by the arrival in Liverpool of Messrs. Lewis and King's
panorama of " the Father of Waters ;" and should be still
more gratified to see it resorted to by thousands of those
—strangers in our town and native born—who are turning
their eyes towards Araerica as the natural home of the
depressed industry of this country. The information con-
veyed, with respect to:soil, location,: habits, &c., by a
talented lecturer, with a faithful picture before him, is in-
finitely more impressive than can be derived from guide
books and narratives of tours; and the gentleman, who
in this case explains the various scenery depicted on can-
vas is the artist himself, and his statements are conse-
quently verified by his own personal observation. This
panorama commences where that of Banvard, exhibited
here a couple of years ago, left off, viz., at St. Louis, and
pourtrays the course of the river upwards, through or
skirting the states of Missouri. lowa, Illinois, and others
of the grain-growing States, towards which the emigration
from this country is being principally directed. The artist,
Mr. Lea h, commenced his sketches at the falls of the St.
Anthony, the highest navigable point upon the river; and
proceeded downwards to St. Louis, sketching every settle-
ment and point* of interest upon the banks of the river,
and occasionally taking an overland course to exhibit to us
the features of the fertile prairies which abound in the
valley. The upper portion of the route is especially inter-
esting, affording, as it does, excellent sketches of Indian
life and manners. Amongst other beautiful views we have
one of the famous City of Nauvoo, once the capital of the
Mormonites, as it existed subsequently to its partial de-
struction by the surrouading natives, and a correct archi.
tectural view of the famous Temple of the Saints. As a
work of art the panorama is well worthy of examination.
It is carefully painted throughout, and parts of it painted
with a view to exhibit the various phases of the American
climate, it gorgeous sunsets and sunrises,'storm,and modn-
light. High testimonials are also in the possession of the
proprietors vouching for its correctness. We can with
great confidence recommend our readers to visit the Pan-
orama Hall, which was formerly Thom's Chapel, in Bold-
street.

We should never wed an opinion for better for worse ;
what we take up on good grounds, we should lay down
upon better.

DR. DUFF'S LECTURE ON INDIAN
MISSIONS.

An interesting and instructive lecture on these impor-
tant missions was delivered on Thursday evening, at the
Philharmonic Hall, by the Rev. Dr. Duff, a missionary of
the Free Church of Scotland in Calcutta. Adam Hodg-
son, Esq., having been voted to the chair, called upon
the Rev. Dr. Craig to commence the proceedings of the
evening with prayer; and that gentleman having com-
plied, the CHAIRMAN, in a few appropriate and eulogistic
remarks, introduced Dr. Duff to the meeting.
The Rev. LECTURER commenced by stating that it would
be altogether preposterous to go through all the details
of the subject in addressing a meeting like that ; but if
a few statements would serve the purpose of deepening the
interest already felt in these important missions, His
object would be attained. He contended that mis-
sionary enterprise was merely a carrying out of the great
purpose of mercy which God had ordained from all
eternity. At the time our Saviour gave the commis-
sion to His Apostles, this country ranked among the
heathen nations ; and when the commission came to
us, end it became our bounden duty to carry it forward,
he would not say how our forefathers had neglected that
duty. But this country had been dealt with in a wonder.
ful manner ; the increase in our colonial possessions dur-
the last century and a half was unprecedented since the
world began, and they now included a sixth part of the
territories of the earth, and a fifth part of its inhabitants.
God's purpose in this was evident, for they would find
that at the beginning of the last century the Churches
were not ready for the work, whilst at the present time
there was in this kingdom a much larger proportion of
God-fearing people than in any other nation of the earth,
with whom lay the responsibility of converting the mil-
lions of Pagans bowing beneath the British sceptre. The
lecturer then reviewed the progress of missions in India.
The Portuguese took fire, the sword, and the gallows, as
their instruments; the Dutch acted more like buccaneers
than anything else ; the French propagated infidelity ;
our own countrymen came next, and he could riot deny
that they had pursued a career of avarice and unscrupu-
lous ambition sufficient to make us hang down our heads
for very shame. But these were not fair specimens of the
British people, and God saw that a voice would go forth
demanding justice for India, that intolerant laws would be
gradually abolished, and the way opened for evangelical
instruction. This being the result, we could see the wis-
dom of God, and His goodness too. It was like the voice
of God, saying, " Go, and take possession of this land for
me." And it was an extraordinay fact that 50 or
60,000 British-born subjects should hold at the feet of
our Queen an empire so vast, that probably if you carried
England in your arms, you could lay it down in an Indian
forest. The great masses of the people were Brahminical,
or Hindoo ; seven or eight millions of British subjects
were barbarians ; and there were fifteen or sixteen mil-
lions of Mahometans. A work of inquiry was going on
among the learned Mahometans, and he hoped that men
might be raised from among them able and willing to
preach the doctrines of Christianity to their own country-
men. The great difficulty was with the Brahmins. They
carried out the pride of lineage beyond our proudest aris-
tocracy: thelast 5000 years was nothing to them; they went
back four millions of years, and claimed descent in pure
blood from the god Brahma. The learned Brahmin de-
lighted in speculations, but he cared not for modern lite-
rature, and invariably fell back on his four millions of
years; and if anything superior is shewn to him, he de-
clares that it must have been stolen from them originally,
and improved. Tell him to respect the power of the
British government, and he would say that he did so in
the same way that he respected the elephant, who could
crush him under his foot. The Brahmins were always
dreaming, and if the pantheists of the German school
would visit the fathers of pantheism in India, they would
be glad to get back to common sense. The Brahmins
had schools devoted to the study of rhetoric, logic, &c. ;
and first-rate logicians they were ;—schools of materialis-
tic pantheism, where they endeavoured to prove that there
was nothing in the world but matter, and speculated as to
how intelligence could be spun out of dead matter;
others to demonstrate that there was no matter at all, but
that all was spirit—the blazing sun itself was an illu-
sion ; and a third, that there was neither matter nor spi-
rit, and they would adduce infinite subtleties to prove
that they had no existence at all. These men were not
to be dealt with as easily as the natives of New Zealand
or South Africa. The masses of the peoplewere polytheists,
and had 330 millions of deities, which the Brahmins per-
mitted for the same reason that we gave children toys ;
and when asked why they did not endeavour to improve
them, replied that they might as well attempt to turn a
cat into an elephant, as to give a man of low caste the
intellectuality of a Brahmin. Transmigration of souls
was also a principle of their religion. If a man per-
formed his ordinary duties, he might appear the next time
much in the same form ; but if he fell short, he might be
degraded in the next birth to a frog, an ass, or even a ve-
getable, or perhaps forfeit life altogether ; in which case
there were innumerable hells provided, and when the
amount of demerit was cleared off the soul might appear
on earth again, and reach the human form some time or
ether. Hence the origin of purgatory, upon a large
scale. The Brahmins had every thing on a large scale.
A Brahmin, on seeing a vase with holy water, said—" We
have a whole river of holy water—the Ganges." On
the other band, if a BrahminAwrformed works of merit,
he would rise higher and higlifrr, until he was lifted up
from earth altogether. He would tell them what was
meant by works of merit. A man vowed to hold up
his arm all his life : that was a work of merit. He
bound his arm to a tree by a rope, until it became stiff,
rigid, and at last shrivelled up, and in this position
he remained. Others performed pilgrimages of an
extent people in this country could not comprehend ;
and some, in order to increase the merit of the
task, threw themselves on the ground, marking the spot
where their heads touched the ground, and standing up
on that spot, repeated the process, and so on continuously,
thus actually measuring the distances with their bodies.
And these were acts of merit, of which the performers
would be proud, as having worked out their salvation.
Burning widows alive was another form of meritorious
action, by means of which the poor victims expected that
themselves and their deceased husbands would be carried
to heaven. The lecturer proceeded to give numerous
other instances of Brahmin superstition, some very ludi-
crous, among which he instanced their respect for certain
animals. There were Brahmin bulls, Brahmin lizards,
Brahmin ducks, &c. •, and if a bull stood in the middle of
the street, a poor Hindoo would wait patiently until his
worship would allow him to pass. The lecturer then
reviewed the position of the missions at the present day,
and stated that there was a fair prospect now of carrying
out their objects, as all the Churches of Christendom were
contending for a share in the work of evangelisation. He
had been privileged to visit all the missions—(he could
not recognise Popery)—and wherever the work was car-
ried on steadfastly, God honoured it, and success re-
sulted. In that great scene of evangelisation, they never
asked each other about the peculiarities of their churches.
Surrounded by thousands of perishing heathens, they
cared not who saved them, so long as they were saved by
the means of evangelical truth. In allusion to the go-
vernment schools, he said that the government system of
education was almost the only great remaining evil in In-
dia—a system of instruction without religion, the Bible
being proscribed by law ; and contended that the effect of
this system was to produce infidels as regards religion,
rebels as regards government, and vicious men as regards
society. They were called sectarian ; but the man that cut
the soul in two,and left the better half uncultivated, he was
the real sectarian. It was an anomalous philanthropy
to teach a man to play well his part in life, and leave him
desolate on the shore of eternity. Upwards of twenty
years back, in Calcutta, he said he would teach all that
was taught in the government college, but that he would
teach the Bible as well, and that no boy should be ad-
mitted unless his father or guardian approved of the sys-
tem of education. After this, the numbers increased un-
til 1000 were in daily attendance, while in the govern-
ment college there were only sor 600. There was no-
thing sectarian about the institution in behalf of which
he appealed to the meeting, in proof of which he stated
that it acted as a feeder to all the missions, not a few of its
members having been ordained ministers. He then de-
scribed the sacrifices which were made by young Hindoos
who were received into the Christian faith—the forfeiture
of home, friends, and all the ties of kindred,—and yet
they were told there were no real conversions in India.
The lecturer concluded by making a powerful appeal on
behalf of new buildings for the Central Institution, Cal-
cutta, and resumed his seat amidst much applause.
T.vo resolutions were then put and carried unanimously,
to the effect that a subscription should be immediately
set on foot to defray the expenses of the erection of a
suitable building in Calcutta, and nominating a number
of gentlemen as a committee to forward this object.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman was next passed, and
during the singing of the Doxology a collection was made,
with which the proceedings terminated.

LIVERPOOL ACADEMY.—Our readers will be gratified
to observe that the Exhibition, Old Postoffice-place, is
now open to the working-classes at a low rate of admis-
sion. This is a laudable effort, on the part of the Academy,
to improve and elevate the taste of the great body of the
people, and we trust will be duly appreciated by those for
whose benefit it is intended. The Corporation and other
free schools will, we believe, be admitted free.
Cllutia's Locus.—We hear that Chubb (still holding
firm that Hobbs has never picked his lock till after he
had seen its interior) has added to it a kind of guard (pa-
tented, we believe) that must render it secure even if the
operator has a month before him to work at it, as no in-
struments can get at the bolt and tumbler at the same
time ; and unless they can do so, no lock with several
tumblers can possibly be picked.
THREATENED STRIKE OF ENGINEERS.—It is with Con-
siderable regret that we hear there is some danger of a
strike amongst the engineers, millwrights, smiths, and
pattern makers. It appears that some demands have been
made upon firms in the district with which they feel it
impossible to comply if they are to retain any control over
those employed by them. In the event of a refusal to
accord what is required, the men have intimated their
intention to cease work at the close of the year. On the
other hand, the masters have determined that, if any
strike does take place, it shall be a general one. We
refer to the matter here for the purpose of warning the
men against countenancing any absurd procedure by a
portion of their body which is likely to lead to any such
result
as that plainly indicated. We had hoped that the
superior intelligence of the present day had put an end to
the turn-out system. If the history of all such proceed-
ings could be traced, they would, in no instance, we are
persuaded, be found to have permanently benefited the
employed.—MancAester Courier.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND INSTITUTION.
LECTURE LAST NIGHT.

The sixth lecture of the present course was delivered
last evening, in the Concert Hall, by the Rev. W. R. B.
Arthy, of Macclesfield, on the very important subject of

" Dr. Newman's Theology, as developed in his recent

lectures."

The chair was occupied by Dr. M`Neile, who, with the
lecturer and a considerable number of the local clergy,
took his place on the platform a few minutes after seven
o'clock, and was received with loud applause.
The meeting having been opened with prayer by the
hon. secretary, the Rev. Thos. Moore,
The chairman, the Rev. Dr. M'NEirE, in introducing
the rev. lecturer to the meeting, spoke as follows:—The
subject for the lecture this evening is " Dr. Newman's
Theology as developed in his recent lectures." This is a

matter of some importance, because Dr. Newman occupies
a very distinguished place in the conflict now going forward
—First, as a Protestant writer resisting and rejecting Ro-
manism, on what appeared to him at that time to be very
sufficient grounds—secondly, as a half and half writer,
Romanist in sentiment, but still Protestant in position;
and by the help of a " non natural" sense of our articles,
endeavouring to prove that " to hold all Roman doctrine"
was perfectly compatible with holding all Protestant pre-
ferment ;--and thirdly, as a Romanist writer, heart and
soul, embracing the traditions of what he calls the Catho-
lic Church, alleged miracles included, on the same ground
of credibility in themselves, and of divine authority, as
that on which he embraces the truths of Holy Scripture.
It is of importance that the present sentiments of such a
man should be fairly examined, and compared both with
what he himself said before he became a Romanist, and
with what we still say and think. Dr. Newman cannot
consistently object to this course. One of the principles
he lays down in the first of his lectures, recently delivered
at Birmingham, is this, at page 9,
" No conclusion is trustworthy which has not been tried by
enemy as well as friend; no traditions have a claim upon us
which shrink from criticism, and dare not look a rival in the
face."

This is bold language, and altogether sound. We highly
approve of it. More than •ne rival has respectfully and
earnestly invited Dr. Newman to look him in the face :
among the rest Dr. Cumming, a man whose qualifications
as a scholar and a controversialist are only to be equalled
by his urbanity as a gentleman, and his meekness as a
Christian. Dr. Cumming went to Birmingham very re-
cently, and dared to look his rival in the face. But Dr.
Newman has manifested an amiable diffidence. Yet he
says in this first lecture, at page 23
". "lade alteram partem,' hear both sides, is generally an
Englishman's maxim."

Our friend Mr. Arthy takes him at his word, and will
now proceed to try some of his traditions. Before I
leave him in Mr. Arthy's hands, however, there is a
small outstanding debt between him and myself, which
I may take this opportunity to pay. You may
recollect that, at the close of last year, I intro-
duced the subject of the Confessional into a sermon,
and described some of the disclosures made in that secret
tribunal : among the rest that of an intended murder;
and that such is the fearful doctrine of what is called the
seal of the confessional, that the priest who becomes
cognizant of an intended murder, under the secrecy of
that seal, cannot interpose by apprising the authorities, or
the doomed victim himself, to prevent the commission of
the crime. I said that every priest acting so becomes an
accessory before the fact, and is as justly deserving of
capital punishment as the unhappy wretch who actually
commits the murder. I say so still. Why is he deserving
of capital punishment ? Because he is guilty of conspiracy
to murder. The plea of the seal, set up by Popes and
councils, can never be received as setting aside the laws of
God and man. Why is such a priest deserving of capital
punishment ? is it because of religion ? No, but be-
cause of conspiracy to murder. Ts it because of religion ?
No, unless conspiracy to murder be a part of religion.
If this be part of what the priest calls religion, then he
certainly does deserve to be hanged, for what he calls
religion, But this is no part of what we call religion.
I now quote from Dr. Newman's Fifth Lecture, p. 210—
" But a few months have passed since a clergyman of the
Establishment gave out to his congregation that transportation
was too good for us, and he thought we all ought to be put to
death. So far from the Protestant party feeling any real shock
at this avowal, a little while after, a second clergyman, as in-
Mien' ial in Manchester as the first mentioned is in Liverpool,
repeated the sentiment, and still, no shock, or sensation in the
Protestant public, was the result."

And again, in Lecture vi., at p. 236, Dr. Newman says,—
" I will quote to you the words of an eminent pulpit and
platf4 rm clergyman, one of the two eloquent defenders of
Protestantism, who lately gave out that every Catholic priest
ought to be hanged."

Dr. Newman is a great authority now with Romish
priests all over the country; and I find in a Sunderland
newspaper of last week the following version of this
affair, under the hand of a Mr. Philip Kearney :
" Protestantism has recourse to penal inflictions, fines, and
imprisonment; it has not yet come to banishment and death,
yet banishment has been freely spoken of, and, in this enlight-
ened nineteenth century, the ominous word DEATH—Death to
be inflicted on even/ Catholic priest ! for religion, and religion
alone (I !) has issued, like a voice from the grave, from the
Protestant pulpits; and without, I grieve to add, exciting any
very special shudder in the delicate nerves of Protestant libe-
rality. I allude, of course, to M'Neile of Liverpool, and
Stowell of Manchester."

Now, you will please to observe, that what the priests
say in this matter may be perfectly correct. What I said
was, that a priest deserved to be put to death for conspi-
racy to murder, as abovo explained. Mr. Kearney says,
it is for religion, and religion alone. Now, certainly,
they ought to know best what constitutes their religion.
If conspiracy to murder, as I have described it, and as I
described it in my sermon, be, indeed, a part and parcel
of their religion, and inseparable from it, then, in their
sense of what is meant by religion, they are right. But
as I said before, we never mean anything of this kind by
religion. Priest Kearney has, indeed, been very explicit
on this point. He says, in a letter to the editor of the
Sunderland Times (20th Dec., 1851) :

"To be sure, APNeile would visit us with capital punish-
ment for 'the dark, diabolical' confessional, and for what he
calls a certain abuse of that confessional. But the dark, dia-
bolical' confessional is an essential part of our religion ; and
the abuse' of the confessional specified by him is the sacred
duty of every Catholic priest, who, on no occasion whatever,
can reveal the secrets entrusted to him by the penitent. He
would, therefore, put us to death for religion, and religion
alone."

Here is a candid acknowledgment. The abuse of the
confessional, as I called it, is not it seems an abuse at all.
As specified by me, it is, according to Mr. Kearney, the
" sacred duty of every Catholic priest." As specified by
me, it is conspiracy to murder. Therefore, according to
priest Kearney, and he ought to know, conspiracy to mur-
der, as already explained, is the sacred duty of every
Catholic priest. If this be really so, I would have been
per'ectly justified in saying (what however I did not say)
that every Catholic priest ought to be hanged for his reli-
gion: not for anything such as we call religion, whether doc-
trine or worship. We would not have a hair of their heads
touched for religion ; but for conspiracy, for a murderous
secresy in compliance with the authority of an apostate
Church, and in defiance of the laws of God and nature :
for knowing that a fellow-creature is doomed to a sudden
and violent death ; and not interposing to avert the fatal
blow. What could soy accomplice do more? What Dr.
Newman may think of priest Kearney's candour I will not
pretend to say, but he will find in this and other imita-
tors (for Kearney avows Newman as his authority) an
edifying illustration of another passage in one of his own
lectures. It is pleasant to find something in which we
can agree, and in this good humour, I shall conclude for
the present with the following observations of Dr. New-
man, in Lecture vi., pp. 222 and 223 :
" A lie is a lie just as much the tenth time it is told as the
first, or rather more : it is ten lies instead of one; but it gains
in rhetorical influence. Let it be repeated again and again i it
matters not. The utterer has only to go on steadily proclaim-
ing it, and at length it will assume the shape of a very respect-
able fact or opinion, which is held by a considerable number of
well informed persons. This is what is meant by the proverb—
' Fling dirt enough, and some will stick.' * * * And thus,
even though a slander he perfectly cleared up, even thongh it
be brought into a court of justice, and formally disconnected
from the person who has been the victim of it, he is not what
he was. It was a saying of the greatest of the Romans, that
Caesar's wife should not he suspected.' The slander has, as
it were, stained the minds of the hearers, and only time, if
even time, can wipe it out."

Upon this principle the late Daniel O'Connell acted with
a master's skill. Disprove a calumny as you might, he
gave himself no trouble about the argument, but at his
earliest convenience boldly repeated the statement. It is
a principle, or rather a want of principle, well understood
by Romish controversialists. lam sorry to perceive that
Dr. Newman has so thoroughly embraced practical
Romanism, in all its parts, misrepresentation of an ad-
versary included. (Loud and continued cheering.)
Of Mr. Arthy's forcible and conclusive reasoning, we
regret that we have only space for the following outline :
Dr. Newman is a priest of the congregation of St.
Philip Neri, and one volume of his lectures is addressed
to the brothers of the oratory. The oratory was formed
by St. Philip, at Rome, A.D. 1551. Its chief offices were
preaching and hearing confessions, and their public ser-
vices were rendered attractive, especially to the young, by
the use of music. Hence the term oratorio. Alban Butler
relates of St. Philip, that the divine love so dilated his
heart as to break the gristle which joined his fourth and
fifth ribs together ; that his body was raised from the
ground, during his devotions, several yards high ; and that
he could detect all sinners by their smell. Dr. Newman
first introduced the congregation into England, which is
composed of secular priests, and who are, in fact, Roman
Catholic missionaries. The great and leading principle
advocated in Dr. Newman's lectures is the duty of sub.
mission to the authority of an infallible church. Every-
where his words are, " Entertain no doubt of the church's
teaching ;" " Have implicit faith in her as the oracle of
God;" "Never presume a doubt;" " Cease to examine."
His first argument is that the being of a God and the
infallibility of the (Romish) Church rest on exactly the
same foundation. An argumen' which he himself
destroys by admitting that the being of a God is
` spontaneously embraced by every one,' —is borne
in irresistibly on every mind,' and is ` witnessed to
by the experience and conscience of all.' As it is evident
that the same fact cannot be alleged in behalf of the
infallibility of the Church, since tens of millions deny
this infallibility, the foundations on which the two doc-
trines rest cannot be the same. He next urges that, as
we already believe in mysteries quite as great as any
which the Church teaches, we might as well go a little
further and believe all the mysteries of the Church. The
doctrine of the Trinity, of the Incarnation, of the Hypo-
statical Union, are mysteries which Protestants hold ;
"it is not much matter whether it is a mystery more or a
mystery less :" why, therefore, not believe the mystery
of Transubstantiation, or Purgatory ? It is obvious to
reply, that the mysteriousness of the doctrines has no-
thing to do with the question : we find the doctrines of