The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1832-11-27 00:00:00

Zbt. tibtrpool ,fetanDarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 27, 1832.

WE regret, not -a little, that the first number of our
paper should have contained sentiments which some of
the warmest advocates of our National Church- are
anxious to disavow, and by which a large body of Chris-
tian Dissenters have had reason :to feel themselves ag-
grieved. It may be satisfactory to our readers, as it
assuredly is to ourselves, to know that the pen which has
thus offended shall offend no more. _ _

In the article alluded to, it was assumed that the
.oppo-
sition to Mr. Thornely sprang from the fact of his being
a Di. venter. Strong remonstrances have been made to
us against the truth of 'this assumption; .but, it must
be obvious, that the opposition arises from a loftier
and a nobler principle. We are iesured that many most
respectable Dissenters, believing that a man's religi-
ous sentiments are of essential importance in the
question of his fitness to represent them in Parliament,
are determined that they will not support a candidate
who denies the Deity of Him on whom depends the
brightest and dearest hope of every Christian through-
out the land. We hail this assurance with heartfelt sa-
tisfaction, and we rejoice to know• that, while Churchmen
and Dissenters may, and do conscientiously differ on
forms of Church government, there are points of higher
moment on which they cannot disagree.
If anything could lessen our regret at having been
made the medium of publishing remarks so objectionable
as those to which we have adverted; it would be the fact,
of which. we were before uncertain, that there is a large
and faithful band of Christian Dissenters, in Liverpool,
who are deterniined to oppose, on Christian grounds, the.
pretensions of Mr. Thornely to represent them in Par-
liament.

NOTWITHSTANDING the assurances which have been,
from time to time, so confidently Tepeated by the friends
of the administration, that the refusal of the King of
Holland to, yield to the demands of •the London Confer-
ence, or, more properly speaking; Of a minority of that
body, namely, Great Britain and France, was only a
piece of stupid obstinacy and perverseness, without any
intention On his part to hold out till the last extremity,
it is now evident to the most sceptical, that war is inevi-
table, and, that that Wive and noble-minded monarch,
relying on the justice of his .cause and upon the
support of- his patriotic people, is resolved to resist the
unjust and humiliating demands made upon him on be-
half of his rebellious' subjects; by those two powers united
in a most. unnatural and unholy alliance. Holland, one
•of the oldest and most .devoted lalliCS of this country,
united td us not merely by political ties, but by those'
-of our common religion. A country, from- *hence upon
our deliverance from the thraldom of Popery, we called,
a Protestant Prirree'tO reign over us ;. that country is to
be sacrificed to the restless grasping ambition of France ;,
and Great,.Britain (we blush for our country whilst we re-
cord the disgraceful fact) is the willing accomplice
act of.unprincipled spoliation. Grevious as are the cala-
mities of war, under any circumstances, and heavy as are
the burdens which it must entail 'upon Our country, we
have no doubt, that for a just and, righteous cause, taose
calamities would have been endured, and those burdens
would have been submitted to, not. only without murmur-
ing, but even cheerfully; but what insult has been offer-
ed-to our national honor, what injury has been inflicted
upon our national interesrs, to call for this mode of seek-
ing. redress ? We call upon the warmest admirers of our
peace ful, reforming, economical, Ministers, to shew a
single instance of insult or aggression on the part of that
power we are preparing so unrighteously to, crush., On
the ccatrary, with a forbearance and magnanimity,
which must bring a burning blush into the cheek of every.
Englishman, when the subject is mentioned, our embar-
go, and the detention of Dutch shipping iu our ports,
and orders to seize and detain all vessels sailing under
that flag on the high seas, have been followed, not by
reprisals, but by a notice of three days to all British sub-
jects, to remove themselves and their property from the
dominion of Holland; and if any British vessels, in ig-
norance of hostilities, should approach the Dutch ports,
they are to be warned off. Far be it froth us to wish dis-
grace or discomfiture to the arms of our country, in any
case; but we ask, and we do it with feeling of the deep-
est mbrtification—ls there a man in the country who could,
on the present occasion, pray for the blessing of the Al-
mighty on our arms, in the persecution of a most just ,
and necessary war. s Is there a man.in. the country, who
could, in such a cause, say from his heart, "God defend.
the Right," and expect our fleets and armies to be vic-
torious ?

,If. such be the character of the contest in which we are
about to engage, what ought to be our opinion of the
men who have ins wantonly and wickedly involved us
in such a quarrel ?—Men who took office upon the de-
clared basis of " Economy, Reform, and Non-interven-
tion."—Retrenchment at home and the maintenance of
peace abroad. Of their Economy, .the only proofs we
have, are, that the revenue is confessedly.inadequate to
the•expenditure of the country, and that to such an in-
credible extent, that by the issue of Exchequer bills, up-
wards of forty millions, or nearly the whole amount of
the ensuing year's revenue is anticipated—a pretty
prospect, truly, at the commencement of a war. When
the charge of the army and navy must of necessity be
prodigiously increased, and when Ministers must come
tua reformed House of Commons for totes 'of credit and
loans. Of Reform, we are about to ascertain experi-
mentally, the' good or ill effects, and .as the proof is so
near at hand, we may be excused for declining to enter
upon a theoretical discussiop of its merits--hitherto, our
fears exceed our hopes,—may we he mistaken! Of the
Ministerial principle of non-intervention., this deplora-
ble war is about to afford us a practical illustration; and
from an attentive perusal of all the protocols and state
papers which have been issued relative thereto, we feel
bound to declare, however humiliating the. avowal may
be to us as a nation, that a more uncalled for, a more
unjustifiable, and a more disgraceful:proceeding never
stained the page of English history.—That barrier which
was, raised to the insatiable ambition of France, by the
annexation of Belgium to 1-Tolland,- -under the confede-
rated title of the kingdom of the Netherlands, and by
the erection of fortresses which cost this country upwards
of four millions sterling, has been razed to the ground,
in two short years of whig misrule; arid that object for
which, frdni 1803 to 1814,' the best blood of Europe was
shed, and its treasure expended, mustagain becomethe
subject of deadly strife, in 1833. Tlie worst feature re:
mains behind: England,-which was; for a quarter of a
century, the last stay and , refuge of hie.eding liberty, is
now leagued' with all-ambitious, infidel France in a
wqr of unprovoked aggression, against, her own ancient'
and faithful Protestant ally; and she will have arrayed
aoainst her, not only the armies of the.other great Con-
tinental powers, but the both loud and• deep execrations
of her best and worthiest sons.
Such are our opinions, such our fears, upon this mo:
mentous question. We may be told that they are un-
reasonable and exaggerated--that the die is -not yet ir-
revocably cast, and that war may, still be arrested. Well
oecsed, Indeed, shall we be to find ourselves in error, to
find that by some means, which we cannot now surmise,
this national calamity and disgrace may be averted; but
until Rich a. desirable result' shall be consummated, we
can bppe.agamst all firotab;lAy, coufe..ssing- that our
Sears s‘,ll o.4poudet ate.