The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-28 00:00:00

liament as
Catholic
" Humbly

and liberal Pr
sheweth,—•

" That whereas certain cruel, unfounded, and illiberal ca-
lumnies and slanders have been, and are being circulated
among various classes of Protestants, impeaching the Roman
Catholic hierarchy and priesthood of Ireland, and especially
the principles taught in the Roman Catholic College of May-
nooth, and in the conferences of priests, with the view of pro-
curing petitions to your honourable [louse to withdraw the
grant.of public money from that college.

" Thai it has been stated that ordinances of idolatry and
superstition, doctrines subversive of the obligation of oaths
when the utility of the church requires it, principles inculcat-
ing intolerance and persecution of heretics, invasion of the
settlement of property, disloyalty to a Protestant Sovereign,
and gross and revolling obscenity to be used with females in
Confession, form a part of the instruction of students trained
for the Roman Catholic priesthood in that college.
" That it has been stated that after they are ordained
priests, similar principles are instilled into them by their
bishops in their diocesan conferences, to teach them to di-
rect the consciences of the people ; that the bishops have a
certain standard for this purpose, to which they have added
certain Papal laws, and that these alleged facts are sufficient
to account for the crimes and miseries of the Roman Catho-
lic population of Ireland.

"That petitioners arc well convinced that these are the
calumnies of base and interested individuals, itinerant sowers
of discord and disturbers of the public peace,—that they have
no foundation in fact, that such principles as these are neither
inculcated in the class-books and standards on the students
of Maynooth, nor subsequently on the priests by their bishops
in the standards of their diocesan conferences, that there ex-
ists no such wicked code of laws in Ireland,but that the Ro-
man Catholic hierarchy and priests of Ireland are most loyal,
moral, upright, chaste, pure, and exemplary men:
" Petitioners therefore most Inm:bly pray that your ho-
nourable House will be pleased to investigate the class-books
and standards of instruction used in the College of Mavnooth,
and the standards for the ebocesan conferences of the Roman
Catholic priests, and all the alleged charges : that your ho-
nourable House will thus vindicate this excellent institution,
and the justice of the Parliamentary grant to support it; res-
cue from calumny this roost venerable and loyal class of her
Majesty's subjects ; put illiberal slanderers to silence; re-
Move a cause of discord ; disabuse the minds of the credu-
lous; inspire Protestants with confidence and good-will to-
wards their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects ; promote peace
and Christian charity in Ireland ; and petitioners confidently
expect that your honourable House will see ample cause not
only to continue, but to increase, your grant to the Roman
Catholic College of Mavnooth.

" And petitioners
Mr. M`GrrEE, resuming, said—Now this was as fair and
as liberal a petition as I could draw--(hear)--so I think you
will say. I enclosed a copy of this petition to each of the
Roman Catholic priests, the rectors of the different Roman
Catholic churches in Dublin. Having done so, I wrote to
them a public letter, stating that I had enclosed them a copy
of the petition, and calling upon them, if they knew that the
charges I had advanced in the petition against Maynooth
were false, to demand of their congregations to get up a
counter petition, or to sign this counter-petition to parlia-
ment to investigate Maynooth, and disabuse the public mind
of those charges against the priests. Truth must lie on one
side or the other; if these charges be true an investigation
into the books of Maynooth must prove their truth, and if
these charges be false an investigation into the books of
Maynooth must prove their falsehood. Truth, as I ob-
served before, must lie either on one side or the other ; and
what can be done more to promote the cause of truth than
investigation. I leave it to you, Mr. Chairman, and to this
Meeting to say. (Hear, hear.) Having enclosed this [Pro-
testant] petition to my rev. brethren who signed the pledge
which I have read, and requested them to select any item in
it, they have selected the sixth item. (Hear, hear.) The
names of those who signed this pledge, I feel highlyl honoured
in the privilege of reading out : at the head stands that of
our most respected Chairman, T. Tattershall, D.D., Incum-
bent of St. Augustine's ; Hugh M`Neile, Incumbent of St.
Jude's; Thomas Nolan, Incumbent of St. Barnabas' ; John
Connor, Minister of St. Simon ; Fielding Ould, Incumbent
of Christ Church ; Walter Butler, Perpetual Curate of St.
Thomas'; Andrew Knox, Incumbent of Birkenhead; Fre-
derick Parry, Incumbent of St. Clement's ; Joseph Baylee,
Incumbent of Trinity, Birkenheae; Charles Maginniss, Mi-
nister of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

Ly," &c,

(The reading of these names was received with cheering by
the meeting.)

It by no means follows, though these gentlemen have signed
this pledge, that the rest of my reverend brethren upon this
Platform have declined to sign it. Many of them, perhaps,
May not have seen it, and many of them, perhaps, may desire
to wait for the evidence I shall produce upon the subject ;
but I trust, if I am permitted to lay before them that evi-
dence to-day, they will feel it is the duty of every minister
Of the Church of England to pledge Winself to stand forward
to investigate the doctrines of that church, which are—l bor-
row the words which my reverend brother has read from the
charge of the Bishop of London—" unchanged, unmitigated,
unqualified." (Loud cheers.) The item which my reverend
brethren selected for me to prove to this meeting was this :-
6. " THAT IT IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE PRESERVA-
TION OF TRUE
TAIN A COLLEC

ALLEGIANCE TO OUR SOVEREIGN TO MAIN-

DR EDUCATING MEN AS PRIESTS, WHO

ARE TAUGHT THAT THEIR S