The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-12-11 00:00:00

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TUESDAY .MORNING, DECEMBER 11, 1832

•NVE,,reter to the letter of our London Correspondent
for the latest intelligence from the seat of war; we learn
from private sources of information; that the fears which
were entertained in Antiverp, of being bombailed by the
Citadel are fast subsiding, ,and that the belief is preva-
lent that that noble city will be spared. Every thing;
indeed, indicates That the apprehensions of a general war
are dying away, and that if the sole object of the French
be, to eject the 'Outeh frOm the Citadel of Antwerp, that
,object will soon be accomplished. ...
It is obvious-, that our Ministry feel themselves very
awkwardly situated in this untoward event. They can-
not shut their eyes and their ears to the fact, that a war,
with Holland would be the most unpopular into which
this.countiy was ever plunged, and that for them to go to
a new Parliament for a loan to carry it on, would be
the signal for their dismissal from office, an event for
which we may be assured they are by no means anxious.
How to extricate themselves from the false position into
which theyhave, suffered themselves to be drawn by French
diplomacy, is the difficulty, but .out of it they must get
by some means or other; back out they must.

WE congratulate the 'country at large on the auspicious
commencement of the general election, by the success of
the Conservative candidate for Cambridge, Mr. Manners
Sutton. Mr. Lubbock, the Ministerial candidate having
withdrawn from the contest. We trust we shall soon
have cause for similar rejoicing, on the successful issue
of a contest in which we have a more immediate interest.

WE are glad to find that Sir Thomas D. Hesketh comes
forward as a candidate for the representation of the
Southern division of Lancashire. Of the return of a
gentleman so deservedly held iri the highest estimation
by the gentry of the County, and who is universally res-
pected by: the constituency at large,' we cannot enter-
tain a doubt and we hope the majority in his favour will
be so decisive, as to put an end for ever to any future
attempts of what are called oci:t and out Reformers, to
represent this Loyal County in Parliament.

THE 'radical new ers whioli, as a matter of course,
espouitittigtlanse of . Thornely, as they would that of
Mr. anybody dse w o -would consent to become their
tool, continue that whining cant about the injustice of
opposing tat gentleman's pretensions to a seat in the
Reformed House of Commons, because of his religious
opinions, and labourmostassichiously to persuade us, that
nothing can be more unfair and illiberal, nor more incon-
sistent with the advanced intelligence of the age—than
to "peritecute" a man—(that is the term now used)----on
account of his religious profession. A writer in the Chro-
nicle, under the signature of "Retlavv "—who from his
plain speaking, ought to be " Knight o' the shire and re-
present them all" thus gives us the Liberals' creed :—"lt
is a duty the Electors owe to their character for intellect,
,in the present enlightened age, not to reject a patriot
because he -is an Unitarian, and not to disgrace the nine-
tenth century, by withholding that respect which reason
declares equally due to the virtuous professor of every re-e
ligious creed." Now this is as it should be. We admir
candour and plain-dealing, and respect the man who will
thus speak out, much more than those, who, holding the
same sentiments conceal them under the flimsy veil of
Jesuitical sophistry. Here we have the return of the age
4)f reason, when men of all professions in matters of
religion, be they "Jews, Turks, Infidels, or Heretics,"
are to be deemed equally eligible to represent a Christian
community, and to assist in making laws for a people
professing the Christian faith—the constitution of whose
government is essentially Protestant, and whose King
wears the crown in consequence of his having solemnly
sworn to maintain the Protestant reformed religion in all
its purity, and to preserve to the Bishops and Clergy of
the Church as by law established, all the rights and privi-
leges which, by law, do or may appertain to them. If it,
be of .no consequence in this country what sect a man be-
longs to, who holds a seat in Parliament, then we may
as well -.declare at once, as was done- by a liberal
President of the United States; .that it is of no conse-
quence to the community whether a legislature believes
in one God, or in,twenty. Electors of Liverpool! Is it
indeed come to thii? Has the 'cry of Reform already
so clanged the. people- of England, that they are pre-
pared to vote religion a farce ? Are ye prepared to
entrust your flocks. of Lanibs to the tender mercies of the
gaunt and hungry Wolf ? Are
.ye prepared to entrust
the amendment of the constitution of tngland, to those
who are its sworn enemies ? -If not, arise in your
might, and let those who are its. foes see that you are
prepared to defend that constitution in Church and
State—that true and rational liberty, and those invalu-
luable, privileges for which your ancestors fought and
bled, and to transmit them unimpaired to your children
rs "
Away with all idle .declamatiOnabout"pe ecution," ii.
liberality," and so forth. The plain and Siniple question is:
—.Ought a Christian people to choose Christian Legis-
lators, or should they select.thqse who deny. the truth of
that Divinity which is their only warrant for assuming
the name of Christian ?, We do not 'object to Mr.
Thornely because of his belonging to this .or that deno-
• mination of Christians, but because he belongs to a
sect,. who haVe no just claim to call themselves by that
holy name ;—and the more conscientiously he holds the
doctrines of that sect, the more strongly will he feel
himself bound to do all that in him lies, to demolish the
fabric of the British constitution. . The. Political princi-
ples avowed by Mr. Thornely are,-in our opinion, no-;
thing less than revolutionary, and wcatld„ if carried into
effect, plunge the country'into all .the horrors of anarchy
and confusion; but when to this is added the conse-:
quenees which would ensile from the destruCtion of the
Church, whereby a very large proportion 'of the popula-,
tion would be totally deprived of- any kind- of religious:
instruction, and orthe _means of :publicly worshipping
their Maker, we think, nothing more need be said to pre-
vail upon every reflecting mind to reject'the evil and to
choose the good. -
Amongst the Heathens of antiquity, nothing was held
so sacred—.nothing resolntely :defended as their
altars and their household Gods : and will Christiins
show less zeal, less- courage in" defence of the altars of
their -Creator and Redeemer ? No, .we cannot think so
meanly of our townsmen; we cannot think so meanly*of
our tenon/countrymen ; and we confidently trust, that the
result of the Elections, not only in Liverpool,' but
Iltrolighout the Kingdom, will be such as to prove, that
"the' creneendenti of those who achieved the glorious re-
siniutibn of 1688, have not yet degenerated.
. . . •
As Mr. Evart has not, thought fit, -either personally or
4bi means of any of his adherents and admirers, to afford
Se public an explanation of those: political .axioms which,
in his address he declared to be the • great objects of the
Reform till, we are led to expect that when he shews
himself on the hustings he will be 'prepared to enlighten
us and others who, like ourselves, nave been endeal
souring to find out their hidden meaning. In order
therefore,
.that the Candidate may come prepared 'for
some questions upon which we are anxious to receive
information, we shall note down a feW Of those which
present themselves to us, reserving. -the right of putting
any others which may afterwards suggest themselves.
In the first place,_ tle", with respect to " Free Trade"
we should ike to know, what are the opinions of our