The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-31 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

INFIDELITY PUT TO THE TEST

On Monday, October the 16th, the Rev. J. H. Ruther-
ford, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, commenced a course of
lectures on Secularism, and in reply to Mr. Joseph Barker's
attack on the Bible, in Clayton-hall, Clayton-square, Liver-
pool. As Mr. Barker was lecturing in another hall, at the
same time, and had previously offered discussion to Mr.
Rutherford in inadmissible terms, which would have
exposed both to the charge of venality, a communication
was sent to him offering him equal time and advantages
for reply, on the evenings of the 19th and 20th, when he
appeared to have no public engagements ; and proposing
to hand over the surplus proceeds to any benevolent pur-
pose he might name. This the infidel lecturer did not
condescend to answer. _

that he should leave town without his boast-
ful challenges being more fully tested, Mr. John E. Ley-
land kindly guaranteed to raise the expense of the hall for
one night, in order that the public might be admitted
free of charge, and Mr. Barker allowed on that night to
defend his position against Mr. Rutherford, to whom he
and his chairman had refused a hearing for three minutes,
on a personal charge of misrepresentation at one of those
meetings. At the close of the lecture, on the 19th, it was
put to the meeting, and unanimously resolved, " That Mr.
Barker should be invited for the 26th, or any evening
that he might name, more convenient to himself." This
resolution the chairman communicated to him, in writing,
on the 20th; and not till the 25th received a reply
declining the offer, on the ground that he wished first to
discuss the supernatural origin and Divine authority of
the Bible.

On Thursday, the 26th, as intimated, the public meeting
was held ; the large hall was densely crowded in every
part, and many could not secure admission. Nearly two
thousand persons were present. It was unanimously
voted, that Mr. Gabriel Thomson, London-road, should
preside." After prayer, the chairman commenced the
proceedings of the evening by reading the correspondence,
and calling upon any one who wished to defend Mr.
Barker, or represent the Infidels of Liverpool, to come to
the platform, that arrangements. might be made to secure
not only a fair but a full hearing. After waiting a few
minutes, and no one appearing, the chairman called upon
Mr. Rutherford to address the meeting, which he did in a
speech in defence of the Bible, in comparison with Infidel
suestitates, which drew forth not only the frequent and
prolonged applause, but the enthusiasm, of the vast
audience. At the close, as no one appeared to reply, the
following resolution was proposed by Mr. Bathgate,
Scripture Reader, seconded by the Rev. J. D. Hirsch, Ger-
man Chaplain, supported byMr. Kent, Lecturer on Health,
" That this meeting regards the professions, the policy,
and the principles of Mr. Joseph Barker, the Infidel
Lecturer, from Ohio, America, as unworthy of public con-
fidence ; looks upon his challenges to discuss with any
influential minister the Divine origin and authority of the
Bible, as part of a money-making system ; considers his
refusal to debate, on condition that the surplus proceeds
should be devoted to a benevolent end, as evidence that
God is with him in higher consideration than the enlighten-
ment and welfare of the people; deem his refusal to con-
front the Rev. J. H. Rutherford, on the present occasion,
proof of his fear to subject his substitute for the Bible to a
just and reasonable test ; views his treatment of some of
his opponents, at his lectures, last week, as showing how
false are his professions of free thought ; and regards his
attack on the Bible as worthy only of his connection with
a society which, in its placards, masks his position, as
an Infidel lecturer, by calling him theßev. Joseph Barker;
conceals its Atheism and opposition to Christianity, by
assuming the name of the Free Protestant Association,
and under a pretended advocacy of pure Moralism, hides
principles that are subversive alike of religion, morality,
and order."

Before the resolution was put, a citizen of Ohio
begged to say, that he hoped the people of England
would not look upon Mr. Barker as a representative of
the opinions and principles of that State, as they utterly
disclaim any connection whatever with such a man.
The resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried
almost unanimously, every person voting for it, except two
or three. _

....
After several rounds of most enthusiastic cheering, both
for the resolution and Mr. Rutherford, the immense
audience joined in singing the. Doxology, and dispersed
in a most orderly manner.