The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

one affecting the lives, the health, the physical and
moral welfare, of more than half-a-million of our
population, and, along with these, the security and
peace of the nation itself; and Sir Robert Peel and
Sir James Graham may depend upon it, that any
attempt of theirs to arrest its progress towards a
settlement favourable to the cause of humanity and
justice to the working classes, will be vain, if it may
not even be dangerous. -
It is with sincere pleasure that we are able to con-
gratulate our fellow-townsmen upon the noble and
manly course which has been taken upon this occa-
sion by the members for the borough of Liverpool.
It is with pleasure that we accord to those members
our full concurrence in the vote of thanks, which it
will be seen by a reference to another column, they
have already received from a numerous body of their
constituents. Such a testimony of the feeling exist-
ing in this important seat of commerce ought as-
suredly not to be without its weight with the go-
vernment itself.

It will be remembered by many of our readers,
that in the course of the past year there was held a
meeting of gentlemen who had long watched with
interest the varied and indefatigable exertions of the
Rev. Hugh M'Neile in promoting the cause of true
religion and the best interests of the country, espe-
cially in connexion with Scriptural education,—at
which it was resolved, "that the time had arrived
%vhen some public testimonial should be given ex-
pressive of the high esteem in which he is held, and
of the value attached to his eminent services."

Having thus resolved, it became the duty of the
committee appointed to carry the resolution into
effect, to ascertain in what manner they could best
do so in consonance with the feelings of the rev.
gentleman. The result has been the foundation and
endowment of one university exhibition for the
Upper School of the Collegiate Institution, of this
town, at a cost of £1,000; of two scholarships in the
Middle School of the same Institution, at a cost of
£5OO ; and of two in the Lower School, at a cost
of £l5O. The Rev. H. MeNeile has thus manifested
the strong feeling which he entertains towards the
Collegiate schools, and furnished a noble example
to the affluent, which we trust may be followed by
many amongst them.
The university exhibition in connexion with the
1 Upper School will, no doubt, have the effect of
drawing the attention of the rich towards that school;
but we maintain that the scholarships so munifi-
cently founded for the Middle and Lower Schools
are the best calculated to promote the true intentions
of the founders of the Institution, viz., the educa-
tion of the children of the middle and lower classes;
and we should be glad to see a few more endow-
ments therewith connected. We learn with great
pleasure that a generous and philanthropic alderman
has intimated his intention of permanently endow-
ing four scholarships in the Lower School. There
will be thus six scholarships to be contended for by
the pupils of that school. We hear from all quar-
ters the most decided encomiums lavished upon the
head master of this school for his judicious manage-
ment of it; and we have no doubt that in a very
short time, when the advantages which it possesses
become more generally known, its numbers—at
present 320—will extend to at least 1,000, and the
expectations of the founders of the Institution be
realized.

The directors, we learn, have been for some time
turning their attention to the evening schools,—a
portion of the institution deserving of the greatest
consideration,—with a view to render them as effi-
cient as possible for the instruction of the humbler
classes. Several public spirited gentlemen have li-
berally subscribed towards the endowment of prizes
for their encouragement, and there is every expec-
tation that the sum so raised will be materially in-
creased ; and when the preparations now making
for the establishment of a lending library are com-
plete, we are confident that this department of the
Institution will keep pace with the rest, and be
the means of elevating the character of our working
population not only in a literary and scientific,
but also in a religious point of view.
The masters of the Institution, with a laudable
desire to increase the utility of the Institution, have
founded another university exhibition in connexion
with the Upper School, the value of which will be
£5O a-year, so that when the promised Gladstone
and Canning exhibitions are added, which we be-
lieve will shortly be the case, there will be one uni-
versity exhibition to be annually competed for.

The people of Liverpool may with reason begin to
ask themselves the questions—" of what utility is a
Select Vestry ? what else but sheer mockery is tile
pretence, that the ratepayers of the parish have now
any real share in the management of their own
affairs ?" We have, it is true, a local act, which we
flattered ourselves conferred upon the ratepayers
the right of choosing their own officers, and admi-
nistering their own funds. We imagined that we
were thus placed, in some degree, independent of
the unconstitutional dictation of the triumvirate of
Somerset house. But in all this we were mistaken.
Our independence was a mere shadow; and at this
moment, although we have the machinery for inde-
pendent action in our own hands, and wish to ad-
minister our affairs in a Conservative and Christian
spirit, we are as effectually and as slavishly under the
control of the Poor Law Commissioners as any
unionised parish in England, and must submit to
whatever they may dictate.
A signal instance of this degrading subjection is
before us, in the case of Mr. Nightingall, upon
which we commented last week. The mandate has
come down from the Commissioners that this gen-
tleman must resign, or that they—the Commissioners
—will discharge him ! The very case which was
got up against him has broken down of itself ; he
stands purged of his imputed neglect in the eyes of
the majority or the vestry, the representatives of the
ratepayers ; and yet he must resign or be dis-
charged, with a damaged character, and a constitu-
tion broken by the arduous character of his past
services, at the dictation of an irresponsible body,
who cannot be presumed to have any knowledge of
the facts of the case beyond what they could gather
at the one-sided enquiry which they instituted, or
such as may, from time to time, be conveyed to them
privily by the enemies of their victim. The Vestry
—certainly the best judges—are obviously satisfied
that nothing has been done or neglected on the part
of Mr. Nightingall to call for so severe a sentence
as dismissal. That gentleman has with him, too,
the sympathies of the bulk of his professional bre-
thren. But the Vestry are powerless. Public opi-
nion is powerless. A valuable servant of the public
has offended one who regards himself as the proto-
gee of the Poor Law Commissioners.
We invite the serious consideration of our readers
to this state of things. Talk of the independence
afforded by a local act ! We possess no such inde-
pendence. Talk of a liberal and Christian treat-
ment of our local poor by a Conservative vestry !
We are not at liberty to offer such treatment. Our
poor are virtually in the hands of the Governor and
the Somerset House trio ; liable to be dragooned,
classified, dieted, and dosed at their arbitrary plea
sure; whilst the Vestry—the representatives of the
people of Liverpool—have only the privilege af-