The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-18 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

ORIGIN AND BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF

TITHES

(From the Rev. H. .I.llWeite's
.opening Sermon at St

Paul's, Prince's 'Park.).
The first mention of a tenth in Holy Scripture occurs in
the history of Abraham, when, returning from victory, he
met and gave a tenth part of his spoils to the King of
Salem. the King of righteousness, the priest of the Most
High God, of whom it is written, that He ever liveth,
" abiding a priest continually." (Heb. vii. 1-8.
In the subsequent history, a tenth is adopted and in-
sisted upon, by the high and authoritative command of
Almighty God himself, as the proportion of all property in
Israel to be devoted to the support of the ministers and
ordinances of religion. (Levit. xxvii. 30.) Abraham of-
fered, and Jacob vowed, by the secret guidance of the
same Holy Spirit of wisdom, who afterwards dictated the
mind of God to Moses. It was clearly under the sanction
of these Divine precedents, that, in the Christian Church,
a tenth of the produce of the land was dedicated to reli-
gious uses. Whatever may be said, whether dispassionate
argument, or party prejudice, against the wisdom of its
adoption under the New Testament dispensation, or
against the management or mismanagement of it when
adopted, there can be little doubt that such was the origin
of tythes.

This peculiarity connected with land in our own coun-
try ought in all fairness to be borne in mind, when the
comparative burdens on various descriptions of property
are discussed. At this time such a discussion is carried on
with great animation. Landed property, with all its per-
manence of value from generation to generation, is con-
trasted with professional and other life incomes, with all
their brevity and uncertainty ; and on this ground it is de-
manded that taxation should press more heavily on real
property than on income. The principle is fair; but, in
the application of it, it should not be forgotten, that al-
ready land is taxed ten per cent. for the maintenance of a
great public institution, from which the nation is deriving
public benefits of the highest order. Yes, the nation ;
for the benefits conferred by the Church of England are
by no means confined to her own avowed members. Di-
rectly or indirectly, by the communication of instruction
in righteousness, by the mitigation of misery, bodily and
mental, by the prevention of crime, by an extended and
extending influence in favour of order, loyalty, and peace,
the Church is a national benefactress.

No such proportion as a tenth of any other species of
property than land, is systematically devoted to the pub-
lic good. Ido not deny, or wish to conceal or disparage,
the noble liberal contributions made voluntarily to the
highest objects. There are many such, I trust very many.
Occasions of special mercy draw forth, as in the case of
Jacob, vows of special liberality, which are frequently
followed by munificent performances. To such an occa-
sion we are in a great measure indebted for the " House
of God" in which we are this day assembled. A merciful
deliverance from the imminent peril of sudden death,
caused a Christian gentleman to feel afresh his many
obligations to Almighty God ; and the expression of that
feeling was a free-will offering of two thousand pounds,
sent to me through the post-office. It is true, a Church
in this district had been contemplated and several liberal
donations appropriated to it; but still, I believe I may
with strict accuracy say, that but for the free-will offer-
ing of grateful love here referred to, we would not at this
time have had a church In this place, or at least not such a
Church of this.

But all voluntary contributions, whether from Church-
men or Dissenters, are desultory. They are not to be
calculated upon. They form no charge on incomes, as
tythes do on land ; and this is the special point to which
I thus briefly advert, not of course as embracing all the
merits of the controversy, but simply in mitigation of the
animosity with which it seems in some quarters to be
conducted.

-..,...•-•.---..

THE COLD WATER CrRE.—We never had so much
reason to admire the efficacy and appropriateness of this
prescription, as in its application to the disease of red-hot
rebellion, in a case where M. De Lamartine administered
the cold-water cure with wondrous effect to the rabid.
Irish deputation, who went over to Paris thirsting for fra-
ternity, and who got their thirst quenched in a most un-
expected manner. The French orator, poet, and states-
man, deserves the thanks of Europe, and, indeed, of hu-
manity at large, for the unmistakeable hint he has given,
that Mr. Smith O'Brien, or any other foreign rebel, is a
proper goose if he expects to find in France any disposi-
tion towards propagander.—Punch.
COMPARISONS.—In the common language of former
generations there were many proverbial, or stock compa-
risons, that were considerably obscure, such, for exam-
ple, as, " like the bairns of Falkirk, ye mind naething but
mischief," or " like Macfarlane's geese, ye ha'e main mind
o' your play than your meat ;" but the present age, above
all others, is that of extraordinary comparisons. We have
heard, for example, of an old gentleman " singing like
bricks," and have seen a vessel in full sail, which, accord-
ing to some one standing at our side, was " coming into
harbour like a hatter.' Now, al hough we have long
been aware that bricks have had an ear for music ever
since the days of Orpheus, who turned the circumstance
to account in building the walls of Thebes, we always
considered them merely as amateurs in the science, and
never knew that they had 'made any proficiency in its
practical departments. We must confess our ignorance,
also, with regard to the peculiar capability of rapid motion
attributed to our respected friends the hatters; although
we believe that any one who should make free with one of
their best Paris short naps at sixteen shillings would have
reason to entertain a very high idea of their locomotive
powers ever afterwards. If he intended to escape their
pursuit, he would require, to use another unintelligible me-
taphor, to "run like the mischief."—Hoyy's Instructor.
LAW.—The Law of England forms the most remarkable
characteristic of the country. The law is the spirit of the
national liberty, the guardian of the national religion, and
the foundation of the national government. Britain has
the proud distinction of being almost the only country
on earth where no act of arbitrary power can be suffered—
where no man's person, power, or conscience, can be sub-
jected to insult with impunity—and where every man has
rights, and all are alike under the safeguard of Law. It
is singular that the most intellectual nation of the an-
cient world--Greece—has not left us any system of law.
Cicero speaks with professional scorn of all jurisprudence
e‘cept the Roman. He would not have spoken thus of
the Mosaic law, if he had known it. But one of the most
extraordinary circumstances of the Hebrew common-
wealth, is the general ignorance of its incomparable insti-
tutions, which prevailed among the most active inquirers
of the northern world. But law existed from the earliest
periods in Greece, though its name was often and curiously
changed. In the time of Homer, the name of law was
Themis, or establishment. In the time of Hesiod, the
name was Nomos, or distribution. In after times, it was
Dik, or justico. The cause of the Greek want of system
was said to be the number of judges in their courts, which
rendered the decision rather a matter of sentiment than of
fixed rule. The systematic nature of the Roman law
arose from there being in general but one judge in each
court. The two prtetors—the one for the city, and the
other for the external jurisdiction—were annually ap-
pointed, and were accustomed, on entering their offices,
to state the rules on which they intended to act. Those
rules became gradually embodied, and finally formed the
groundwork of the Roman law. In the language of Rome,
Law was Lex, from Lego, as the proposal of the rule was
read by the magistrate to the assembly of the people.
The Anglo-Saxon name was Laga, from Legen, to lay
down, from which comes our word Law.—Blackwood.

TALE PLAGUE OF BEGGARS.—Say we not well, " the
plague of beggars" ? " Good lady," " Kind gentleman,"
whether on foot, on horseback, or in carriage,—say we not
well, " the plague of beggars" ? What greater nuisance
can be conceived than to have one's footsteps tracked,
one's path beset, one's door besieged, by these übiquitous
masqueraders ! We take a solitary walk, occupied by our
own thoughts. At every crossing an impudent urchin
trails a dirty broom before us, and would fain levy upon
us a tax, which we resist, on the ground that the sweep-
ing of streets and crossings ought not to be the work of
beggars, but of honest labourers, fairly paid for work
fairly done. In the short intervals we must encounter
the whining interruption of the sturdy Irishman who is
always starving, or of that wretched girl, who takes God's
name in vain more times a-day than the most profane of
profane swearers. Before our walk is half finished we
have run the gauntlet of almost every form of pretended
distress, and borne, as best we may, the fretting interrup-
tions of every variety of ragged and dirty falsehood. We
enter a pastry-cook's for a modest luncheon of biscuit or
bun, a whole family of ragged vagabonds are watching
every mouthful we eat ; firm in our resolve not to encou-
rage these things, but forced to witness with mingled
sorrow and anger the misplaced liberality of men, unjust
to labour, who have not, like ourselves, learned the true
philosophy of mendicancy. We order out our carriage

_
and go a-shopping. The footman cannot dismount be-
fore there is a beggar at the door, with a lying story of
distress, or some false pretence of work for sale. Or we
are at home writing in our study ; in comes a woman
with a petition, and a man, who pretends to be a dis-
tressed member of one's own profession ' • and no sooner
are these despatched with an accustomed negative, than
that accursed hurdy-gurdy, imported for the express pur-
pose of driving literary men mad, puts our teeth on edge,
our amiable temper out of tune, and all our best and
brightest thoughts to flight. This is a sad state of things ;
but there is no help for it. We are a beggar-loving and
beggar-making people ; and we must bear our just punish-
ment. But we will not submit to our fate without a mur-
mur and a protest. Perchance it may be our good fortune
to gain a few converts to what we consider to be true hu-
manity—an absolute repudiation of beggars ; perhaps we
n-.ay contribute something to the growth of that whole-
some feeling which points to the encouragement of honest
industry as the first duty of a good citizen, and indiscri-
minate almsgiving as a folly and a crime. In this strong
protest against mendicancy, we shall accomplish more
than we anticipate if we obtain a few converts. We know
that we are about to broach doctrines unpalatable taeasy,
goodnatured, thoughtless people; and, unfortunately, that
large class who suffer most by beggars (the honest labour-
ing people of this country) are not to be reached by any
arguments of ours. But the truth'will ere long descend
to them, after it shall have been received and acted on by
the more educated and thoughtful classes. Here and
there we perceive cheering indications of the dawning of
a better era. Not long since we were gratified to tee in
the subscription list of a public charity the encouraging
entry,—" Rescued from the beggars !' it was the sum
of half a sovereign saved from the gin-palace, to be ex-
pended in the hospital. We hope to see this good exam-
ple extensively followed. A mere fraction of the money
squandered in our streets, in creating and sustaining a
squalid army of mendicants, would suffice to support all
the hospitals and dispensaries in the metropolis. What
the sum thus wasted may be, we know not; but it is con-
fidently estimated at one million two hundred thousand
a-year. Judging by the number of beggars, it cannot
but be very considerable; and if the accounts we have of
the jolly life these wretches lead, the costly food they
contrive to purchase, and the money some few of them
are known to save, it is not a few hundreds of thousands
that will support them in their gnilty aftiunce and filthy
lu ury,—Froe r's Magazine.