The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-08-01 00:00:00

NOTES

NOTICES, AND OPINION

T-

BY ZOKANNES RIISTICUS

XSVIII.—THR CHURCH SERvlcEs.—The important
suggestions of the Bishop of London, for a modification of
the Church Services, must commend themselves so entirely
to the understanding of every Churchman located in a
large town like our own, that we may hope some general
movement will be made to give speedy effect to his plans.
Shorter and more frequent services are greatly needed to
enable children, who are soon wearied, and servants, whose
assistance is needed, to avail themselves of a privilege now
in a multitude of cases unattainable. A special service for
children would also be a delightful variation, and would,
no doubt, be as rich a blessing to thousands of our adult
poor as to the children themselves. We have the testi-
mony of many of the old divines to the benefit derived by
adults from listening to the catechising in the good old
days, when that duty was performed by the clergy, and
not turned over to a heartless and often irreligious school-
master. And another great desideratum, which the Bishop
proposes to supply, is a selection of Psalms and Hymns, to
be put forth by authority, so that whatever church we may
chance to enter we may know what is to be sung, and
where to find it. Churchmen are not much in the habit,
it is to be hoped, of roving from church to church, but the
variety of collections of Hymns now in use is so great as
to be a serious nuisance ; scarce two churches in ten using
the same book. No doubt, the Bishop of London's plans
will meet with considerable opposition. The liberal press,
which is always anti-church, is trying to sneer him down,
and to raise the cry of Puseyism against him and it is not
improbable that many sincere Churchmen will be misled
by such a cry; but it behoves moderate and earnest Church-
men to examine his proposals candidly and closely, with
especial reference to the wants of the people ; and, if they
do this, it will not be long before we shall see these sug.
gestions adopted, and the Church rising up in a strength
and glory such as she has never yet exhibited to modern
eyes.
- .

—Row' CATHOLIC CRIMINALS.—Mr. Lucas, in
a recent debate in Parliament, quoted it as an admitted
fact that "the larger portion of juvenile criminals of the
United Kingdom were of the Roman Catholic religion.,"
and urged this as a reason why Roman Catholic teachms
should be provided by the State. Surely the honourable
gentleman proved far too muck for his argument. If the
Roman Catholic religion, professed by about one-fourth
orthe population of the United Kingdom, yet supplies
more than one-half of its juvenile criminals, there surely
'must be some great moral defect in its teachings, •and the
sooner its juveniles are turned over to Protestant-teachers
the better for the country and for themselves. If Mr.
Lucas wishes Protestants to believe in the moral 'toaching
of his church, he wotils do well to obtain from Cardinal
Wiseman and Archbishop Cullen, and her other dignita-
ries, an open and unqualified condemnation of certain
doctrines inculcated at llaynooth, such as, that a theft is
not a mortal sin artless the amount stolen be considerable,
and that equivocation and mental reservation may be
used in taking, an oath—with a variety Of similar pre-
Above all, let Mr. Lucas and his -co-religionists
respect the oath they so solemnly took on entering parlia-
ment—then, and not till then, Protestants will, perhaps,
entertain soine'llttle respect for their *religion.
xxx.—Tut Incoms Tax.—The papers for levying this
delightful impest are again in the hands of the public,
who will now'be in a position to appreciate this boon of
Free Trade. 'We have just witnessed a sailmakers' strike
—mcn 'earning £3 and £4 a-week have thrown up work,
demanding more I. What do these men pay to the income
tat? Why'should they not pay as well as the clerk who
earns ElOO -e
-year ? Free Trade has taken all share 6f
the 'burden 'from their shoulders, and laid it on others
less able to bear, but too respdteble to complain. 'rho
journeymoi mechanic may now 'work three days, get
drunk -three days, and pay neither rate nor tax•-the

in
erchzut 's clerk must ecOnornise, work incessantly, `live
frugally,-ry rates and taxes, mid-maintain the mechardes
familyiinthe poorhouse, as soonzes a reverse falls *Whim.
Is this:jcst ?