The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-31 00:00:00

ii 434

hitherto opposed, and which is fraught with fraud and
Injustice.

The motion, when divested of its Jesuit's bark and
laid bare to ordinary apprehension, means this. The
84rPlus revenue of the protestant church, " when not re-
quired for the spiritual wants of the church," is, for the
first time since the revolution in 1688, to be placed
at the disposal of parliament, and be, by parliament, ap-
Plied to the " religious and moral instruction of all
lasses of the community." Parliamet, or in other
words, the House of Commons, is to decide as to the
necessities of the church, and the "spiritual wants" of
its members. Lord JoHN RUSSELL, JOs'EPH HUME,
JOHN GULLY, Dr. BOWRING, Surgeon WA&LEY, and
the sainted "tail," are to have the power of determining
the "wants" of the protestants of Ireland, of augment-
,:l3g "Iminishing the supplies of the church, of sitting
In Judgment upon its labours, of approving or disap-
Proving of its ministrations, and of extending or cur-
tailing its powers at their sovereign will and pleasure ! !
If this sort of popish and infidel inquisition is to be
established in England it will inflict upon the people
many humiliations, and perhaps lead to bloodshed and
Confiscation. But the evil does not end with the vast
and inquisitorial powers demanded by Lord JOHN Rus-
SILL He requires that parliament shall have the
Power of distributing those funds, which parliament may
declare to be surplus funds. In other words, parliament
is to determine the amount of revenue to be subtracted
from the income of the church, and have the privilege of
distributing it in aid of such religious and moral pur-
Poses as it may think fit to direct. For instance, the
funds called surplus by an omnipotent and irresponsi-
ble body may be appropriated to support some arrogant
and upstart advocate of infidel or unitarian principles in
some deserted but usurped chapel. A portion may be
given to a few of O'CorsrtELL's priestly impostors in Ire-
land- A few pounds, in shape of largess, may be given
to some political hireling who has denounced an honest
voter from the altar. The proposition ot Lord JOHN
linstrELL has no other object than to provide Vund, de-
rived from the church, to destroy the church itself, con-
fer Power upon the enemies of religion; encourage hos-
tility to the institutions of the country, and undermine
and ultimately destroy the monarchy.
We feel satisfied that the intelligent and respectable
Portion of the people of England have only to reflect for
Very few moments on the crafty designs of Lord JOHN
RUSSELL to see that they aim at spoliation—that they
are founded in a malevolent hatred of the church— and
that they are framed in a spirit of deliberate fraud.
Can any thing be more monstrous than to assume, as
the basis of this plundering proposition, that the church
of Ireland has or can have any " surplus revenue." If
by any unforeseen changes her revenues could be in-
creased, surely they cannot be increased in the ratio of
the Wants of Ireland. Is no difference to be recognised
between popery and protestantisin ? Is it of no con.
sequence to give to the Roman Catholics of that island
a spiritual education ?—to disinfect their depraved minds
Iron) the thraldom, the helplessness, and the desolation
of idolatry ?—to raise them in the scale of humanity, and
snake them more amenable to law, reason, and the max-
ims of christianity—maxims they have never been taught
*--law they disobey—reason they do not comprehend ?
If this moral and spiritual revolution be not ruled to be
desirable, we give up our case. But we contend that
the first duty of an enlightened christian is to make all
the available revenue of the Irish church applicable to the
extension of protestant principles and christian duties.
The statesman who asserts the contrary may be a block-
head. but he is also an enemy of peace, charity, moral-
ItY• and real religion. He may simply be a candidate
for place, but still he is a firebrand in a peaceful country.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL is a disappointed man of a very
;mall mind, but yet he is capable of doing much mis-
chief. He may not see to what terrible extremities his
Principles lead. But it is no excuse for our apathy that
he is destroying the house of RUSSELL. The revenues of
the church of England were secured to her for the pur-
pose of propagating the principles of the reformed faith.
Tile property of the dukedom of BEDFORD was given to
the house of RUSSELL, avowedly in recompense of its ser-
vices in the cause of the reformed religion. Parliament,'
therefore, has no more right to touch the one descrip-
!i°4 of property than it has to touch the > other. The
'ands and revenues of the church are the property of the
church. The lands and revenues of Tavistock Abbey and
Covent Garden were the grants of royalty ; and the
frequent invasions of their charters, for the sake of profit,
17 the RUSSELLS, particularly in regard to the "seven
acres." where the most wretched part of the metropolis
now stands, were violations of law. Had the house of
RUSSELL been restricted to the conditions of their origi-
4141grants, they would not have been worth one hundredth
Pan of their present income.
This, however, by the way. Lord JOHN RUSSELL has
not yet reached the dream of restoration. He is only
Playing The part of one of the Gadshill robbers in the
Present parliament, " Pethee, lend me thy lantern,"
says Lord JOTIN. " 11l see thee hanged first," answers
Sir ROBERT PEEL. The noble lord, flattered by very
Sorry purse-takers, fancies himself qualified to be prime
minister and the leader of the House of Commons.
vow- poet ! He forgets that Lord STANLEY has higher
claims, and that he is only endured beciuse his ambition,
being turned into a channel of party annoyance, gives no
?ffence, simply because it can create no jealousy. He
111 a respectable faggot; he is an useful drudge ; but as a
*tar, or as a leader, if there were the slightest hope of
range, Lord JOHN would be kicked into the first conve-
nient horse-pond, and there extinguished and forgotten.
But the question comes—what is Sir ROBERT PEEL to
4° in the event of his defeat by a majority of the house
"Pon Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S motion ? We do not fear
eueh defeat; but still having, in common with the nation
generally, reason to repose the utmost confidence in the
Professions, the measures, and the talents of the right
honourable baronet, we are most anxious that his inde-
Pendence as a minister, and the ultimate success of his
conservative and enlightened principles, should not be
thwarted or compromised by any factious vote of the
;Ouse; of Commons. Sir ROBERT PEEL is the only man
a whose hands the interests and institutions of England
are safe. He is disposed to make large and liberal con-
cessions—and to the utmost extent of liberality and con-
le:liation we are prepared to follow and support him; but
on this question, involving the very existence of the
church and the preservation of the supremacy of the pro-
tatant religion, he should succumb to the majority of the
goose of Commons, led by men who are the ene-
kalies of the church, we frankly tell the right honourable
'armlet that, come what may, we cannot, we must not,
We Will not support him !
Re has with him the hearts of all good Englishmen.
see has, in case of defeat, a sure, a noble, a glorious re-
la,,edY in his own hands. The country is delighted with
"'s yet immatured but initiated measures. His tithe
eetnamtation bill—his dissenters' bill—his Irish comput-
e° rY commutation bill—his legal reform bill—have gained
,lint the cordial, grateful, and harmonious approbation of
the People at large. He must not therefore make any
eatnpromise with Lord JOHN. He would sink incalcula-
u
kIY in public estimation if he did. The House of Corn-
:a °us underwent a wholesome purgation at the last elec.
"It• Taking all the Whigs, quacks, infidels, and
Unitarians into account, there were at least one hundred
That
fifty members who were dispossessed of their seats.
tat was a large blessing. Still there are from fifty to
114e1enty members—we do not include the " tail"—who
i"
no pretensions whatever, either on the score of
talent or respectability, to sit in that house. A new
lection would rid us of these worthy patriots, and send
Uteri) back to pursue, if not a more honest, atleast a more
Useful calling in the country. In carefully looking over
the
`nits we find room for at least forty conservatives that
Telt have been returned in January last if they had had
silmie courage -to offer themselves. Lord JoHN RUSSELL
tioiLl most effectually destroyed every remnant of repute-
h° which might have belonged to the whig party.
:1 coalition with O'CONNELL and HUME has convinced
hierY intelligent man that his motives are factious, that
steiews are selfish, that his whole conduct in opposition
Ju%se and malignant. There was a time when Lord
' 1,7 RUSSELL was held in high estimation by a large
of dissenters, but he has most deservedly lost their