The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-04-03 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

gunpowder one, remains to be seen. The French are
placed in an awkward dilemma. They are menaced by
the government of America, and we cannot see how
they can legislate upon the question, and at the same
time satisfy themselves that they are not doing so under

the influence t,f a threat. On the other hand congress
has declared that it would be inconsistent with the
honour of the
_United States to negociate any further
with France in regard to the claims. This itself is tan-
tamount to u declaration of hostilities. The hostile
feeling is openly avowed 'and clearly proved. France
must feel this; and yet under the agony of wounded
pride the deputies are called upon to vote 25 millions of
francs in order to avoid a rupture. It amounts to this—
" Monsieur, deliver your money, or be shot!" This is
very ga,ling, and we mistake mush if it will be endured.

At the time we write this we are unable to speculate
upon the result of the momentous contest in the House of
Commons. But whatever the result may be, enough has
been said and done to prove that all the argument, rea.
son, justice, and expediency, is in favour of his majesty's
ministers and the protestant church in Ireland. The
speech of Sir JAMES GRAHAM alone has settled the
question. In his hands Lord JOHN RUSSELL is what a
barber's apprentice, professing the art of phlebotomy,
would be in the hands of a first-rate surgeon. We have
sometimes spoken rather disparagingly of Sir JAMES
GRAHAM, and we considered ourselves fairly entitled to
do so, inasmuch as his connexion with Lord GREY'S ad-
ministration had the effect of swamping his avowed sen-
timents in relation to important monetary measures.

We always regretted to see a . man of superior ta-
lents, as the honourable baronet undoubtedly is, silenced
by the fetters. of office from doing his duty to his mum-
'try; Had the whigs had any respect for the serviceable
abilities of .Sir JAMES :GRAHAM, they would have plaCed
him in'an office where he would have been eminently
uSeful;and-where he would have bad full scope .for-the de
velopment of his conservative views on the subject of the
circulating medium.
,They, however, although they could
not dispense with his services, contrived that he should
preside over a department the least suited to his experi-
ence and his abilities, and where, to use a homely expres-
sion, he was "quite at sea." The honourable baronet
was consequently of little use to the Whigs; and he da-
maged his character, and his consistency, and the regard
in which he had been held, by. filling an appointment
alien to all his habits and prepossessions.
But we sink these unhappy circumstances as a free-
will offering of admiration and gratitude on the present
occasion. Sir JAMES GRAHAM is now separated from
the factious whigs for ever. His speech on Monday night
in the House of Commons is a masterpiece of eloquence.
Nothing approaching to it in force or argument has been
heard for many years. It was a manly ebullition of the
feelings of his heart. It breathed in every line a deep
sense of religion. It-was a protest, under the most so-
lemn forms, against popery and idolatry, and against
concession in any shape to the arrogant claims of the

priests and demagogues of Ireland. It was such a speech
vVould have done honour to the prime minister of
.WILLIAM 111., or to that gracious monarch himself, after
the battle of the Boyne. - He was ready to go all lengths,
like an honest Whig of the olden time, in favour of libe-

rality and toleration. He was willing that popery should
have its representatives in parliament. But, standing
upon the elevated mound of the constitution, Sir JAMES
_ _ .

GRAHAM contended that it would be a perjured violation

of our trust if we, the protestants of England, were to
allow one single penny of the revenues of the church to
be diverted from the purpose originally marked out by
our forefathers. They gave us, said the honourable ba-
ronet, in words more eloquent than we can command, a

certain income in trust to be applied by us for the put
poses of our reformed religion—in support of that faith
for which the martyrs perished—in support of that which

our ancestors hailed as the dearest of all earthly bless-
inzs, and without which life would be misery ; for a

compulsory faith, besides being an insult to the AL-
MIGHTY, would be a curse. Sir JAMES GRAHAM ended
his most admirable and heart-stirring appeal in these

words

. He-thought that the property-which had been set apt I,y
our ancestors to maintain and propagate the protestant religion
was sacred, and ought to be applied to sacred uses. More than
that—he said that those who ministered to the altar ought to
live by the altar. (Cheers.) THAT PRINCIPLE IS HIGH AS
HEAVEN, AND* YOU CANNOT OVERTURN IT—IT IS STRONG AS
THE ALMIGHTY, AND YOU CANNOT REACH IT—IT IS FAST A,S
THE ETERNAL; AND YOU CANNOT UNFIX IT. (Cheers.) It is
"binding on you as a legislature composed of Christian men, and
acting upon christian principles and christian considerations; A NO,
AS FAR AS HE FOR ONE WAS. CONCERNED, THERE WAS NO CON-
SIDERATION UPON EARTH WHICH WOULD LEAD HIM TO COM-
PROMISE AND DESTROY IT !"

This leads us at once to the principle which we corn:
bated on Tuesday.. Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S proposition
is, in downright defiance and contempt of all his former
principles, and the avowed principles of his family, to
make the surplus revenues of the protestant church of
England and Ireland subservient to the cause of popery,
unitarianism, and infidelity. Disguise it, as he may, this
.is the real object of his motion. On this ground alone
,is he supported by O'CONNELL as. a papist, by MARK
PHILIPS as an- unitarian, and by at least a dozen mem-
bers who, if not avowed infidels, are freethinkers of the
'most unequivocal order.
Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL, who spoke after Lord JOHN
RUSSELL, let in a blaze of light upon the connexion of
his lordship with O'CONNELL. The member, by present
sufferance, that is to say the corrupt and illegal member
for Dublin, has kindly taken under his foster protectiOn
a notion which aims at the integrity of our national cre-
dit, and which, under the pretext of relief, is a scheme of
fraud, bearing most ruthlessly upon the far.rdholder. In
order to relieve the country O'CONNELL proposes that
a half per cent. should be deducted from the interest of
the national 'debt. He assumes that whatever can be
plundered from the widow and the orphan would be a po-
sitive gain to. the nation. , If we understand the treaty
at all, it amounts to this—O'CoNNELL is to support Lord
JOHN RUSSELL in robbing the church, on condition that
Lord JOHN supports O'CONNELL in pillaging the national
creditor.

Some softheaded people will stare at this unprincipled
compromise; and, assuming airs beyond their station,
and not reponcileable with their intellect, will perhaps go
,the length of questioning its truth. .It is the misfortune
of the country that we have too many people of this,
class. The dishonesty of one section, and the foolish-
ness of another, are, however, perfectly reconciteable.
Whatever destroys pratestantism is an auxiliary in fit-
your of the papists—whatever embarrasies the. crown, Or.
tends to produce a change, gratifies the factious Whigs.'
If parliament, or rather the House of Commons, can in-
terfere with church property, and apply the revenues of
the establishment to purposes_never contemplated by the
founders of the church, - what is to prevent parliament
from interfering with other descriptions of property in a-
similar way ? From St. Paul's to the Bank of England
the way is tolerably clear, and the distance conveniently
short. Surely it is not more sinful or less expedient to
rob the fundholder than the minister of the gospel. If it
be disagreeable or inconvenient to pay tithes, it must be
equally so to pay the interest of an enormous debt, con-
tracted for by a corrupt parliament, which. has, to the
delight of the whole nation, been reformed. To pay
£500,000 per annum for the support of the Irish clergy
may be a grievance ; but to pay £27,000,000 per annum
to dowagers and soldiers' widows, to silly children and
useless Old people, is a much more grievous one. We
do not say that this-is what Lord JOHN RUSSELL aims at,
.or that he meditates the robbery of the fundholder to any
Serious extent ; but that such would be the consequences
of his present measures, if carried into force, we have no
doubt whatever. As to the faction represented by
O'CoNNELL and SUM, their designs are as clear as day.

They seek the destruction of the church and the extir-
pation of. the protestant religion in Ireland ; and we may
imagine the extremities .to which they are willing to go
when we call to mind that theyseek to obtain the pre-
sent limited concessions by conduct whiCh is an open and
profligate violation of their oath. SHELL and the Ro—
man Catholic members have sworn as follows:—" 1
will defend to the utmost of my power the settlenient of
property within this realm as established by the laws;
and I do solemnly swear that 1 will never exercise any
privflege to which I am or may become entitled to DIS-
TUR B or WEAKEN the protestant religion, or the

protesiantgovernMent in this kingdom. And Ido
solemnly, in the pres-encc of God, profen, testi.fyi.and
declare, that I do make the declaration, and every part

thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of
this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental
reservation whatever."

Mr. Snit;, we say, has sworn the above awful oath on

the canons of the living GOD, declaring in the most so-
lemn manner that he will " never exercise any privi-
lege," as a member of parliament of course, or otherwise,
to " disturb or weaken the protestant religion or the
protestant government in this kingdom." Mr. SHIEL has
called Heaven to witness that he will do none of these

things; and yet, look at his speech in the House of Conr
moils on Tuesday evening, and reported by himself in
theilforning Post of Wednesday last. He does not yet
openly go the length of avowing that his object is to ut-
terly destroy the church, but he admits that he is desirous
of lessening•her revenues, and impairing her outworks
and power. He says :
"That you.should persevere in sustaining with abstract prin-
ciples those ideal buttresses, the tottering and crumbling pile
of antiquated abuse, and declare that you will listen to "no ar-
gument, attend to no expostulation—this course offends and
irritates, and mikes us demand more than if you were reasonable
we should be disposed to do ! !"
- - - - - - -

This is a plain confession of his wishes and intentions.
This is the seal to deliberate perjury. In flagrant viola-
tion of his solemn oath Mr. SHELL says, we "DEMAND
more than if you were reasonable we should be disposed
to do." Demand what? To cut down the revenues of
the ,protestant church to the lowest sum cn which its
ministers could subsist, and apply the residue of its in-
come to secular purposes. And who makes this demand?
A man who has sworn that he will never exercise any
privilege to "disturb or weaken" the religious system
which he assails. •

Alas for our country when such men are found in the
high places of trust, sitting among the representatives -of
L4e- people. W.4ere such counsels prevail, and such con-
duct is endured;-without exciting a loud burst_of indigna-
tion, there must be much to suspect and everything to
fear. Error is excusable, ignorance is pardonable ; but

this bold contempt for deeenCy and the most sacred obli-.
sations must excite horror and inspire disgust in every
well-regulated mind. a'lle priest may apply a salve to
the conscience of weak and wicked men, and Mr. SIIEIL

is welcome to the benefit of it ; but we do not envy the
license which popery gives, nor the remedy it provides.
As neither Lord STANLEY nor Sir ROBERT PEEL have
spoken in the debate it is hard to say when it will ter.
.minate. 'The best speeches of the second night were
those of Mr. W. GLADSTONE and the SOLICITOR-GENE-
RAL. The Times has pasSed a well-deserved compli-
ment upon . the talents of these gentlemen, which we
subjoin. The forcible argument of Mr. W. GLADSTONE,
that the principles of an established church ought to be
those of the majority of the representatives of the nation,
is unanswerable, and We have infinite pleastire in ac-
knovvledgipg that by his splendid effort on Tuesday last
Mr. W. GLADSTONE has. established his reputation, and
realized the hopes which his very early promise had
raised in his friends.

" Mr. W. Gladstone, inAspeech of considerable eloquence
and force, opposed the resolution. Agreeing that the distribu-
tion
of church property was, under the control of parliament, he
denied that the state had the power altogether to alienate that
property, and said that as in dealing with pr.ivate property there
was-recognized a sacredness of persons, so in dealing with trust
property of every description there was recognized a sacredness
of purpose. It was proposed that they should give up the pro-
testant church in Ireland because the catholics did not like it;
but were they prepared to act in a similar way with regard to
civil matters, and dismember the empire because the Irish Ca-
tholics disliked the union? The whole of Mr. Gladstone's
speech deserves an attentive perusal, but particularly that part
ofit in which he demonstrated how grossly the supporters of the
resolution had exaggerated the revenues of the. Irish church.
" The speech of the Solicitor-General made nearly as great
an impression upon the house as that of Sir James Graham on
the preceding night. The learned gentleman showed that
Lord John Russell bad said what was tantamount to an exhor-
tation to the Irish to clamour for the repeal of the union, and to
an assurance to the population of Ireland that they could gain
nothing from the legislature but by working upon their fears.
Alluding to the argument that the church property had been
given for the support of the church of Rouse, be asked the
gentlemen who admitted that argument whether they were pre-
pared to concede its legitimate consequence, namely, that the
protestant church in this country should be put down and a ca-
tholic church established in its stead ? He contended that the
property was left in trust for the support of the established reli-
gion, the authority of the state being that which should decide
what the religion should be. The Solicitor-General concluded
his speech by an eloquent description of the miscarriages of the
whigs, and a fervent warning to the house of Use consequences
I-Which would result from entering on the eourse to which Lord
John Russell had invited them, which must infallibly end in 'the
triumph of the destructives."

In another part, of our paper will be found under the
head of " Chester Trades Unionists," an important de-
cision as to the right of workmen to combine against
their employers, or,—which is still more important—
to combine against each other. To this case we take
leave to direct the particular attention of such of our
readers as are either masters or journeymen.

.The third section of 6 George IV, chap. 125, is very
ample in its provisions against any. and every species of
intimidation, whether arising from threats or acts of
direct personal violence. The arbitary custom of some
trades as to the number of apprentices employed at par-
ticular workshops has virtually taken from the master
the exercise of his own discretion ; on this subject
he has not been permitted to consult either his own
profit or convenience. This assumed right on the part
of the tnen•bas been so long insisted upon and so tamely
or ignorantly submitted to by the masters aS,;to have
given to the custom almost the force of a positive law.
But it will be seen by a reference to the case of the Ches-
ter Unionists, that •" if any person shall by violence
tO the person or property of another, or by threats or
intimidation, or by molesting or in any way obstructing
another, force or endeaYour to force any manufacturer,
.or person carrying on any trade or business, to make
any alteration in his mode of regulating, managing,
conducting, or carrying on such manufacture, trade, or
business, or to limit the number of his apprentices, or
the number or description of his journeymen, workmen
or servants; every person so offending, &c., &c., shall
on conviction tl.ereof be imprisoned for three calendar
Months with or without hard labour."

From this it appears that the law against illegal com-
binations only requires to be put in force.

LONDON LATEST NEWS.

City, Half-past Seven o'clock, Wednesday Evening.

It is not expected that the division upon Lord John Russell's
motion will take place before Thursday • and whatever the
result may be' there will be no resignation of the administration,
and that before the King and country are given up to the blight
'of faction, au appeal will once again be made to the people,
witn'a view of 'ascertaining whether the " reform".representa-
tires,.as they style themselves, are really acting in consonance
with the wishes and the interests of their constituents..
In consequence of this our Money Market has, as regards
English securities, been very firm, while most of the Foreign
Stocks have been on the advance. Consols for Money to-day
nave been at 92, and for the Account at 92k, closing at per
cent. below that quotation.
In the Foreign Market the settlement of the account took
place yesterday, and it passed over without any defalcation.
There was a scarcity of Portuguese Bonds in the market, as
many of the parties purchasing for the account took the stock.
Among these may be noticed that Mr. Thornton, a previous
hOlder of no less than £555,000, who on the settling day took
an additional £45,000, thus making himself a holder of £600,000
of-stock. These securities have advanced, and closed at 95i ;
and Spanish Bonds left off at 65X, the Scrip closing at 83 N.
There has been a great improvement in the bonds of the trans-
atlantic republics. Chilian have risen to 47 Columbian,
421, and Mexican to 44i. The dividends on Brazilian, Danish,
and Dutch (5 per Cents.) are now in course of payment, and
the prices given in our list are with the dividend deducted.
A notification has been issued by the Postoffice this afternoon
of the detention of the American and West Indian packet, and
that letters will be in time for these mails on Saturday.
, 'There has been confirmation of tbe intelligence we communi-
cated in our last of the departure of Lord Eliott to negotiate
fur the termination of the civil war in the Peninsula.
We have a file of the Gibrdliar Chronicle to the 22d ult. The
only article of interest they contain is an account from Seville
of the arrest of no less than nineteen persons in the convent of
St. Paul in that city, accused, it was understood, of political
offences. These arrests had excited considerable interest.

CLOSING PRICES.
3 per Cents 92 lii . Danish 77
New 31 per Cents 99",', Dutch 5 per Cents WI
India Bonds - 19 21 Dutch 21 per Cents 55
Eichequer Bills 38 40 Mexican 44
Consols for Account.... 92i 2 Portuguese • 9st
Belgian 10232 3 Russian 108 t
Brazilian Bli 85 Spanish
Chilian 471 Scrip Bl i
Columbian • 421

DEATH OF MAct.xeri OF MACLEOD.—We are sorry to an-
nounce the death of this much respected gentleman, which
mournful event took place on the night of Wednesday the 25th
inst., at Altyre, the seat of Sir William G. G. Cumming, of
GOrdonstown, &c. Baronet.—Elgin Courant.
-What has become of Lord Durham's threat at the Glasgow
dinner, to meet Lord Brougham in the House of Lords on the
charges brought against him ? And what of Mr. Silk Bucking-
ham's promise, on the same occasion, to bring some tempeyauce
measure before parliament, specially quoting the excesses of the
Glasgow festival, as evitlence of its necessity ?—Dundee Guar-
dian.