The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-01-07 00:00:00

friend in the country.—Punch.
HER MAJES'T'Y AND MR. GIBSON, THE SCULPTOR.—
The Queen sat for a bust to Mr. Gibson a short time pre-
vious to his departure for Rome. He is commissioned to
produce a fall-length statue of her Majesty. The Queen
and her Royal Consort were highly pleased with the work
of the accomplished sculptor, whom they received and
treated with marked urbanity and consideration—with a
gracious delicacy, indeed, which made the artist at once
at ease in " the presence." Two or three slight incidents
occurred during his visits to Windsor which are worthy
of note, as exhibiting her Majesty's generous thought in
regard to the pleasures of her subjects. Mr. Gibson's at-
tention was directed to the position occupied by a statue,
the work of Mr. Wyatt. Passing into another apartment,
a place was pointed out as that originally selected for it.
Gibson saw at once that this was a site far more advanta-
geous to the production of his friend, and said so. Her
Majesty immediately replied, " 1 think with you; but if
placed here the people would not be able to see it." Dur-
ing one of the sittings the Prince of Wales was brought
into the room. Mr. Gibson said—" Your Majesty, lam
a Welshman ; will your Majesty allow me to kiss the hand
of the Prince of Wales?" The Queen looked pleased, and
was pleased, end the sculptor did his devoir as a courtier.
—Art Union.
THE NATIONAL BOARD V. THE SCRIPTURES.—Onthe
4th August last Sir R. Peel stated that " in 1,000 of the
schools in connection with the National Board the Scrip-
tures are read daily," and referred to a paper laid on the
table in the last session, that in the preceding year they
had thus been read in 944 schools, an from this the right
hon. baronet drew his conclusion for the instruction of
the Protestants of Ireland. It is evident that it must
have escaped his recollection in the hurry of debate, that
not five minutes before, in reading the statistical account
of the Board, he stated there were 2,912 schools under
the system : if in these the Scriptures are read but in
1,000, of course there are 1,912 in which they are not
read. This is on his own statement from the report of
the Board : hence the right hon. baronet concludes—
" So therefore"—that is, because the Scriptures are read
in little more than one-third of the schools, and because
they are not read in little less than two-thirds—" so,
therefore," he concludes, " the report is totally without
foundation, that there is any prohibition of the reading
of the Scriptures in these schools" Certainly a most
extraordinary conclusion ! Does the right hon. baronet
by " these schools" mean only the 1,000 schools in which
he says the Scriptures are read ? If so, he leaves two-
thirds of the schools out of the premises from which alone
he could draw such a conclusion as to the National Board.
—Jr Ghee's Letter.

THE EXPOSURE OF PRIESTLY IMPOSTURE.—We are
often told in this country, when alarm is expressed at the
growth of Catholicism, that the whole spirit of the Catho-
lic church is changed ; that it keeps pace with the spread
of knoWledge and literature. When, in answer to this,
we point to the state of popular superstition on the conti-
nent, and particularly in philosophical Germany, where
it exists side by side with Protestantism ; when we refer
. .

to the absurd legends and charm-books still read by the
common people ; to pilgrimages of not thousands, but
millions yearly to certain images and relics, we are again
told by those who profess to speak from actual know-
ledge, that the Catholic church and the Catholic clergy
are as hostile to these things as we are, and wish them
expunged from the minds of the people. We have said,
if this be the case, what hinders popes, cardinals, and
bishops, from ordering all the rubbish of old skulls, teeth,
and toes of fictitious saints to be flung out of the cathe-
drals and churches, and good sermons to be preached, and
good books to be diffused against such childish follies, and
for truth and enlightenment ? But here comes a case that
offers itself as a real test of the true doctrine and practice
of the Catholic church. Some of our readers most likely