The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-01-11 00:00:00

of which no one can be saved ! No power off earth could
induce me to sign them with a clause such as this, which you
sign in the creed of Pope Pius. But being required to subscribe
the thirty-nine articles, as being in themselves agreeable to
the word of God, and in their effects consolidating and guard-
ing from heresy the English church, I do so most cordially.
Here, then, is an essential difference between the two cases.
The twelve articles of Pope Pius are a creed to you, and very
awfully pronounce them, and require your converts to pro-
nounce them necessary to salvation : our thirty-nine arti-
cles are not a creed to me, I neither think of then►, nor say
of them, nor write of them, that they are necessary to sal-
vation : neither are any of our converts required to do so :
but we use them for the avoiding of unnecessary and extreme
diversities of opinions in the English church.

Concerning the Anthanasian creed, I answer, that we re-
ceive it, not because of its authority ; but because of its
scriptural contents. This is consistent in us, seeing that it is
only on this ground we receive any creed—not because the
Council of Nice defined; or because the council of Ephesus
approved ; but, as it is expressed in our article viii„ because
" they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy scrip-
ture."

But now let me ask, upon what principle do you receive
the Athanasian Creed? you who deny that any thing can be
proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture? You
cannot plead authority in this case. You cannot show for
the Athanasian Creed the authority of any one general coun-
cil; neither can you show for it the authority of consent
sooner than the seventh or eighth century. It is highly
inconsistent, then, in you to receive it, seeing you refuse to
plead the authority of Scripture. Not so in us ;we most
consistently receive it because of its scriptural contents.
I must here conclude. I truly rejoice that you have at
last come out with your remarks on a speech of mine. It
was high time. If you think proper to vindicate your re-
marks against these observations of mine, and to grapple
with my argument, now that you have it in a more correct
form than a hasty report of an extemporaneous speech could
be expected to present, 1 shall be happy to see your further
remarks.

I hope you will not now retire behind yob!. "natural
antipathy to controversy," as it would look like having
availed yourself of what you fancied was a slip of mine in a
speech ; but inability to maintain your ground, now that you
have my argument more closely and correctly in a letter.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
HUGH M'NEILE.
St. Jude's, 10th January, 1842.

POPISH SCHOOLS AT PRESCOT,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SIR,—I see in your paper of Tuesday last an excellen
letter on the subject of the applications lately made to Pro-
testants to aid in establishing Popish schools in Prescot.
Allow me, Mr. Editor, to ask the Protestants of Prescot
how it is that there is so much room for this application to
them. Do they support no schools to which the poor, whe-
ther Protestants or Romanists, can have access, and in which
the simple TRUTH (not a Popish per-version of it) is offered
to all ? Alas, no. It is true there are Sunday schools ; and
a free school, established by the liberality of bygone times,
accommodates a limited number only of the Protestants ;
but there is unhappily no national school, no infant school,
no attempt to make the instructions of our national church
commensurate with the wants of the rising generation, in
this centre of a most important parish, from which the church
derives an income of sonic thousands annually. This is the
reason why Popery demands schools in Present ; and, in so
doing, she cries shame on the Church of England, which has
not anticipated her.
Other questions might be asked respecting the Church of
England's duties in Prescot. Why are there so many dis-
senters there—Unitarians, Independents, Methodists old and
new, to say nothing of Romanists ; and all, except the first-
named, apparently flourishing? Why are so many of the
lower orders chartists ? Can it be expected that one elderly
clergyman, however respectable, can make head successfully
against such a host of active enemies, even though he be as-
sisted from time to time by a deacon, who is always removed
as soon as he becomes tolerably acquainted with the field of
labour.

Let the college which derives so much from Prescot be
invited to give liberally towards the erection of a national
school there; but whether they will hear or whether they
will forbear, let the Protestants there do their duty, and call
on their neighbours to help them, and they will find help ;
and before the year is out, -they may have both a national
and an infant school adequate for the wants of their own
poor children, as well as those of their Romanist brethren.
A FELLOW-CH URC H MAN.
Jan. 7, 1842.

THE PARISH BURIAL GROUND

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SlR,—Every one possessing the feelings of an Englishman
who read the account of what took place at the Police-court
on Saturday last, in the case of an unfortunate man, who
was found dead in Dublin. street, must have felt the greatest
disgust at what was then disclosed relative to the mode of
burial at the Workhouse burying ground; and I think this
case should not be allowed to pass without further remark or
comment.

It appears, by the evidence, that the body was conveyed to
the place of burial and put into the ground without the
burial service having been read over it, as that would be per-
formed the next day; and further, it would appear that this
is the custom when bodies arrive after the service is over.
I ask, is this in accordance with the rubric? Is it in accor-
dance with the dictates of our blessed religion ? Or, rather,
is it not an insult to some of the holiest feelings of our nature?
I will now say a few words respecting the graves. Mr.
Dowdall stated, that 350 bodies, or thereabouts, were put
into one hole ! That such a thing should be allowed in a
civilised country almost surpasses belief; but such is the
melancholy fact. I trust, however, that the disgrace as
regards Liverpool may immediately, and without loss of time,
be wiped away by discontinuing such a system ; but the slain
will long continue. Harassing, indeed, is it to every one who
has the feelings of a man and a Christian to think that the
unfortunate should be treated in such a manner,—that the
sailor who has met with a watery grave and been cast on our
shores,—that the stranger who has died friendless and penny-
less in our streets,—that those who have not a friend to shed
a tear at their graves,—should, after all their misfortunes in
this world, and when death has put a period to their suffer-
ings, be treated in a manner so revolting, and be denied the
last boon which man confers on his fellow—a decent burial.—
Yours, respectfully, R. P. B.
Everton, ilk January, 1842.

-.eliftr..--

SCRIPTURAL EDUCATION AND THE MERCURY

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Six,—The Editor of the Mercury will not allow that there
was either argument or reason on the conservative side in the
debate on the school question. Permit me, through your
columns, to ask him these questions :—Which of the two
schemes does he think the devil would prefer, supposing he
was obligated (as in this day he is) to choose between the
two ? Would he not prefer the national ? If so, how can
Christians conscientiously support it? If he cannot com-
prehend such an argument as this, I give him up as wooden-
head indeed.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant.
PHILO JUSTICIA.

40.
FOREIGN LETTERS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Six,—Permit me to call your attention to a great incon-
venience which merchants and others have to contend with,
and which might be immediately remedied at a very trifling
expense ; it is this. that although we have receiving boxes in
almost every part of the town, yet we have no place for the
posting of foreign letters except the General Post-office. The
Exchange box for the stamped letters has been a very great
convenience to the public, and if a person was either placed
there or somewhere very near to receive the postage of foreign
ones, what a very great deal of trouble it would save us and
the community at large. One hour in the day would be
quite enough, say from 4 to 5, p.m., as the time for these
letters leaving the general office is either with the London
mail or in the middle of the night. I sincerely trust you as
well as the other newspaper editors will use their endeavours
to the furtherance of this desirable object.—l remain, &c.
A FRIEND AND A MERCHANT.