The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-03-22 00:00:00

mination of the depths of the character of this extraordina:

man. He has brought to his aid, too, the fruits of an ex:ten-

sive reading which he has intertwined with bursts of

eathu-

iliastic description which are irresistibly pleasing. There is
an occasional mannerism of style—an affectation of German

mysticism extending to the verge of the unintelligible—
which will somewhat detract, in the estimation of most Eng-
lish readers, from the delight which his poetic prose excites
but the blemish is scarcely one which will be sensibly felt, and
is, perhaps, calculated to give a freshness and originality to
the thoughts which are thus set before us in an outlandish

We will endeavour to

select a specimen or two of Mr
And,

Montgomery's peculiar style. ..rst, we have a graphic
picture of Luther's mode of treating a Popish bull :
_

" But the war is raging ; on the one side, stands the
miner's son, firm and unflinching as granite, for the truth ;
and on the other,—the Pope, the Devil, and the world, with
all their poinps and braveries and threats, and arts, against
him ! And vet, listen !—how the monk will keep them all at
bay ; shaking them off from him, like a storniful Boanerges,
with indignant. bat not ungraceful, determination. "The
glory of the Pontificate is departed. The wrath of God is
come upon it for ever." "To every man lam prepared to
give way in all things, BUT THE WORD OF GOD I DARE
NEITHER ABANDON NOR DENY." Now this prepares us
for the scene that shortly followed. The Infinitely miserable
and detestable bull of the Pope, having been at last promul-
rated by Eckius, and Luther's writing being actually burnt
in various towns,—the brave Martin is determined to have a
bonfire too ; and as noble a one it shall be as ever sent up its
flaming appeal to the skies.—On the 10th of December an
invitation is affixed to a black board for the students at Wit-
temberg to attend this Lutheran firework. And, lo !at nine
in the morning, just as the chime is sounding, forth cotneth
Luther, from the Elster Gate, encircled by a goodly number
of Doctors, Masters of Arts. and Students, and there !—hark
to the rejoicing crackle of the flames as they demolish with
burning rapidity (as if they loved their work) Canon Law,
Decretals, Clementines, the Extravagants, and parts of
Eckius and Emser's work. As soon as these are annihilated,
forth steps Doctor Martin, holding the infamous Bull in his
hand, and exclaiming aloud,—" Because thou hest grieved
the saints of the Lord, so mayest thou be grieved and. con-
demned by the everlasting fire." It must have been a. heart-
shaking spectacle, this egregious bonfire : one may be excused
a desire to have warmed one's hands in the reflection of its
blaze ; or to have taken a look at the fine, craggy, and open-
fronted visage of the redoubtable Doctor, when his great
black eyes were glittering with fearless light, while his voice
rolled its solemn intonations- over the mute and admiring
assembly. But that suspended breath was soon unloosed;
and what a shout went up at the conclusion of this moral
jubilee !—The world is haunted with its echoes still
We give another extract descriptive of the
as he appeared within his domestic circle. It is beautifully
written, and presents a pleasing contrast with the style of the

treat reformer

preceding :
" When we analyse the character of the Reformer as a
man, next to the Idealism (Allis nature,—we delight to re-
cognise the exquisite sociality of his temperament. There was
no ascetism, cant, or pharisaic airs and graces about him
He hated trick, pomposity, and pretension ; and shook fror
him, with a hearty disdain, ail tL
which appertain to the mere drama of external piety, u
have nothing to do with the healthful spirituality of the
genuine Christian. At the fireside, in the bosom of his
family, or amid the circle of attached frieeds,—Luther ap-
pears to have been the very fascination of companionship.
He could laugh, and sing, and coeserse ; utter his witticisms,
and throw forth those gleams and:sparkles of innocent mirth,
which the hypocrite, or mere practiser of religious pantomime,
can neither admire nor understand. And then what bursts
and outbreak: or thrilling pathos, and poetic feeling, and im-
passioned enthusiasm were blent with all this ! Truly, it was
worth a walk of some few hundred miles to have heard Doctor
Martin hold his vivid conversations with those assembled
round his family board ; and there behold the same man,
whose unquailing heart had faced and fronted all the batteries
of Rome, subsiding into the laughing simplicity of childhood
and mirth :—after all, he has lost one of the finest elements
of a feeling manhood, both in faith and character, who retains
none of the child about him.
" But'Luther's radiant happiness arose not only from the
fervour and freshness of an' elastic temperament, but his very
religion was the divinity of joy. He was a PARDONED man ;
and felt himself to be so, on the intelligible basis of gospel
truth, and therefore had (with some intermissions) ' joy and
peace in believing.' With him, Christianity was not an 'in-
sulated act, a sacramental right, or an observed institute
alone; it was far more than this,—it was a renewal of NA-
TURE, evidenced by all the tangible experiences of a new life :
it was Christ within—the hope of glory.' He lived up to
what he believed ; and thus, there is a spiritual ease, hearti-
ness, and simplicity in all the motions of this van's religious
character. Religion was not put on him by imitative effort,
bat put into him by efficient grace. And thus the sociality
of the man was not checked or chilled by the sanctity of the
Christian ; but, on the contrary, expanded, purified, and en-
nobled by being brought into contact with it. All relations
were redeemed into him in Christ : and he had learned the
blessed science of connecting every thing with the atoning
purchase of the Saviour's blood. As to the honesty, unworld-
liness, and thorough-paced integrity of Luther,—even the
bitterest of his Jesuitical foes have admitted this. He never
defiled himself with the ` Mammon of unrighteousness but
lived, in the main, a ppor man all his days, perpetually re-
fusing imperial bounties and aid. But we must not omit to
remark, in this glance at Luther's private character,—how
strangely, and almost mysteriously, the chords of his whole
spiritual and moral being vibrated to the appeals of melody.
In fact, to him, music was almost the religion of sound ; it
hovered, and trembled, and played like a subtle and sub-
duing magic over his fine imagination, and seemed to have
an effect upon his wasted mind,—akin to that which the
balm, and breeze, and beauty of a rustic walk in the May-
time has upon a convalescent frame."

se wean accompaniment

The notes to the poem, which run on to upwards of 1

pages of closely-printed matter, contain a mass of evidence
and illustration of the leading features of Luther's career, as
well as of the eventful time in which he lived ; and are at the
present moment truly invaluable. But they are more espe-
cially so, on account of the authoritative form in which they
bring before us those doctrines and practices of Romanism

against which our great reformer so energetically proteste
On the latter ground we recommend them to the caref

perusal of ever;reader. Independent of the poem to which
they are attached, the introduction and these notes are wor-
thy a place in the library of every Protestant.
In our next publication we shall bring before our readers
the poem itself.

Since 'writing the above we have been favoured by a friend
with the following copy of a letter addressed to him by the
Rev. Edward Bickersteth, of Walton, containing his opinion

of the work in question :

" Dear Sir,--I have great pleasure in testifying that I have
been much pleased with what 1 have read of Air. Nlontgo-
mery's " Luther." 1 thinlc "
it to be a very seasonable and
poem
valuable work. In themuch important Christian
truth, and many very striking original thoughts, are
brought before us, and the notes are finte a treasury of va-
luable information, gathered from the best sources, and ex-
ceedingly th
needed at this time, when e blessed Reformers,
whom God raised up to restore to us with
immense personal
sacrifices the inestimable blessing of the P
have been so grievously undervalued, aunrd gospel of
Christ,
fully slighted. I trust that it will be extensively so ungrate-
help to diffuse in family circles, far and wide, taa, and
blessed
principles of Protestrtism, which
pare the infallible truth of
the word of God.—l ours, faithfuy,

ED. BICKERSTETH
If

Walton Rectory, March 9, 1842

A shower of little stones, or petrified rain, has lately fallen
to the south-west of Neusiedelerse, and the surrounding
plains are covered with millions of them.
HERRING FISHERY.—In the year ending sth April, 1841,
being.. fishery 1840, the total quantity of herrings cured was
.mi,262/ barrels ; the number of boats employed in the year
referred to was 12,422, manned by 53,939 fishermen and
boys ; and the total number of persons engaged 89,642.

The govern.

CHILDREN'S
went commission, which was
on the motion of Laid Ashley

..-LOYMF T
_.,,sion, which w appointed .
C°34NI
IISI:rtl-lielate ministry
...0 motion of Lard Asl•
condition, bolus of work,
in-
quiring into the moral and physical con
, 1.. I 83), for the purpose of
he children and
wages, and time allowed fur meals,
young persons (the former under thel3 and t latter under 18
years of age) employed in mines and manufactories,,
the employment
not un-
der the jurisdiction of the acts fur regulating
young people it, mills, &c., will shortly be brought
The report on mines will, in the course of a few
weeks, be presented to parliament, and that on manufactories
will follow immediately. We have no doubt that the sti-
tistics which will be embodied in the report of the Children's
Employment Cornmissioners„arnong whom we may name Dr.
Southwood Smith and Mr. Tooke, assisted by 20 gentlemen
who have been employed for some length of time. in the ca-
pacity of sub-commissioners, in obtaining evidence as to the
actual condition of thesCebilarert,.'not only in England but
in Seetland and Ireland, svilteause no little sensation among
those who have the welfare of,the rising generation•at heart.

to a close

MISCELLANEOUS

4eral r

:tber of

The Globe (radical paper) says that 14
ie.flouse of Common's have determined 'to oppose the pro- I

axing the income c
end detail.

Sir Charles F,

)f Antigua, arrived

on-the 11th February last

ent, a great mass of co nrounications from persons

'come tax, whic

t appear

'ction committees

Lewes elections

it Robert

:verul votes from the results of the
The decisions—in the Ciitheroe and

have already given him an acces

in London,

k report has obtained very general curren _
ended. it is said. on the best authority, that the Queen is

again placed in an " interesting situation

One day lately a funeral took place at Hempstead, at
which a baker's cart—in which bread is carried about—was

actually used instead of a hearse !,

Bristol Journal,

The chief

EXCHEQUER-BILLS.—New Exchequer-13i1
issued on an improved and better fabric of paper
improvement, however, is that the signature of Monteagle is

countersigned by a witness to the subscription

3y this new tax the Earl of Lime-
rick will have to pay one thousand pounds a-year out of his
Irish rent-toll, whilst residing in England. The absentees
possessing property in the surrounding counties will have to
contribute upwards of twenty thousand pounds by residinE
out of Ireland.—Limerick Chronicle
THE I

'HE PEor

r.Ty TAX

—lt is not gener

known that an

earthquake, similar that recently expected, was predicted
during the administration of Sir R. Walpole. It was pro-
ductive of as much alarm as the anticipated catastrophe of
March, 1842. When the fanatic who occasioned the disor-
der found that his prediction had not been verified, he assured
the deluded people that it had been postoned, on account of
his intercession with the Almighty.

GLOSECUTIONS FOR WHIG-RADICAL PERSONATION AND

At the Derby assizes on Wednesday eight per-
sons were found guilty of personation and perjury during the
last election for that county, when qualifying themselves to
vote for Lord Waterpark and Mr. Gishorne, the radical can-
didates. Where personation and perjury were combined,
the party was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment,

PERJURY

ith-har'd labour—in cases of personation, without perjury,

to'six months' imprisonment

MOST DARING' BURGLARY.—A robbery, attended with
savage barbarity, took place at the house of the Rev. It.
Watson, in Over Wyersdale, on Saturday morning last, about
one o'clock. The thieves had broken a pane of glass in the
kitchen window, by which, means they were enabled to open
the latch of the sash, and 'so effected an entrance into the
kitchen ; they then broke open the kitchen door, which was
fastened on the lobby side, and proceeded to Mr. and Mrs.
Watson's bed-room door, which was locked ; they called out
" open the door." Mr: Watson demanded who they were,
arid what they wanted, and receiving no answer he refused to
open the door. The next moment they shivered the door to
pieces, and three ruffians entered the room, all disguised, ut-
ring the most dreadful imprecations. Mr. and Mrs. Wat-
n asked them if they wanted money.; saying, if they did,
ey should have all the money they had in the house. Their
" Yes, but we'll murder the old ;" at the

ply was,

same time one presented something like a gun, another a
pistol, at Mr. W. ; the third began striking him on the head,
face, and arms, with a bludgeon in a most savage manner,
and seizing him by the throat with his left hand, threw him
on the be and nearly strangled him. All the while this was
going on, two of them used the most horrid threatenings
against his wife, uttering the most disgusting curses. They
then demanded that their money should be given to them im-
mediately. Mrs. Watson then brought all the money they
had in the house, consisting of a £5 Bank of England note,
and some silver. They hesitated taking the note, saving,
" bring out that bag of sovereigns, we don't want notes."
One of them espied Mr. Watson's watch, and put it in his
pocket. After asking for some rum, and being told by Mrs.
W. that there was none in the house, they hastily left the
premises as if alarmell.—Lancaster Gazette.
BANK OF ENGLAND.—The half yearly general meeting of
the proprietors of the Bank of England was held on Friday, and
the dividend for the )calf-year was fixed at 34 per cent. At
this meeting the objections to One of the details of the in-
come tax, supposing it to be levied everywhere at an uniform
'rate, were made in a definite form. There was scarcely a
dissentient voice as to the propriety of memorializing Sir R.
Peel on the subject, and indeed the meeting was dissolved

somewhat earlier than usual to allow the directors sufficient
time to prepare a memorial so important. The condition in
which the bank stands at present is of itself sufficient to
make them remarkably sensitive as to any severe pressure on
their income. A rough estimate made by one of the pro-

ietors to-day g

are the amount the bank Would have to pay,

if 7d. in the piniiid were levied on their terminable annuities,
as above £30,000 per annum, while the addition to the " rest"
for the half-year just closed does not exceed £7OOO. The
,present amount cif Abe dividend (7 percent. per annum) is
the subject of renewed complaint every half-year; and the
result of this calculation seemed to threaten a still further
reduction of the interest on bank stock. To show how
general the feeling on this subject was among the proprietors,
it should be observed that they, as distinguished from the
directors, seemed anxious to take the responsibility of the
memorial on themselves, art(' to make it visible that it was
their own act. It was this question of the income tax that
was in fact the leading feature of the meeting. Some re-
flections were cast on the conduct of the Bank of England

for -not joining with the other holders of the •" iepudiated
Exchequer-bills" in petitioning parliament, by one of the
proprietors, but this made no great impression.. and as it was
ascertained that the bank held no more than £BOOO of these
bills, the main curiosity connected with this matter was soon
satisfied. The general questions put to the directors were
even of a less searching character than usual, as the feeling
on the subject of the income tax appeared to be too absorb-
ing to admit of more trifling matters of debate.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LONDON AND DUBLIN'..—
The following is a copy of the resolution passed on this sub-
ject at the meeting of Irish and Welsh members, held in
London on the 9th inst., and since presented by the deputa-
tion to Lord Eliot, and upon which his lordship has undetz

taken to act :—" That a deputation from the present meeting
be appointed to wait upon Lord Eliot, as chief secretary for
Ireland—first,-to eadu mat tiavt.h,,..l.orachip will draw the at-
tention of her Majesty's government to the great public im-
portance of improving the communication between London
and Dublin, adverting to the present long and inconvenient
passage by Liverpool, and the consideration that the power
of steam is available for travelling by railway, in a proportion
of about three to one of the speed that can be attained at
sea; secondly, to request that Lord Eliot will have the good-
ness to communicate with the Board of Admiralty, referring
to the reports of Captain Beaufort, R.N., presented to the
House of Commons, on the 14th of March, 1837, of Lient-
Sheringham, dated the 14th of March and 17th of May, 1838,
respectively, on the harbours of Holyhead and Portdynllaen,
in pursuance of the repot t of the select committee, appointed
by the House of Commons to inquire into the existing com-
munication between London and Dublin, of the Bth of July,
1836 •, and to the report of Rear-Admiral Sir James Gordon
and Captain Beechey, R.N., of the 14th of January, 1810,
relative to the best means of communicating between London
and Dublin, in pursuance of an address of the House of
Commons, of the 12th of August, 1839, with the view of ob-
taining the opinion of the Board of Admiralty on the relative
capabilities of the ports of Holyhead and Portdynllaen for
the purpose of a packet station for such communication, or
the construction of worki suitable to a packet establishment,
for the use of steam-vessels of a class sufficient to secure, as
fas as is practicable, expedition and certainty in the passage,

at all seasons of the year."

TRIAL FOR A MURDER TWELVE YEARS SINCE.-At
the York assizes on Wednesday and Thursday, Robert Goles-
brough was tried for the murder of William Huntley, at Cra-
thorne, in July, 1830, by shooting him with a loaded gun.
It will be recollected that in August last a skeleton, sup-
posed to be that of the deceased, was found by some men
who were making a drain, and that the prisoner and another
man, named Grundy, were apprehended on the charge of
having murdered him. Grundy committed suicide in gaol,
and the prisoner manifested great trepidation on having the
skull suddenly placed before him. The circumstances of
suspicion were very strong ; for Huntley had been last seen in
the company of Golesbrough and Grundy, and when missed
was represented by them to have gone to America. The
jury were not satisfied with the identity of the skull, and
acquitted the prisoner.

MEETING OF THE IRISH SCRIPTURE READERS' SO-
CIETY.—The first of the annual religious meetings, held usu-
ally at this season, took place on Thursday at the Rotunda—
St. Patrick's being the anniversary day of the society for
diffusing a knowledge of the scriptures.' through the Irish
language. The chair was taken by the Right Hon. the Earl
of Roden—a nobleman ever foremost in the promotion of
the spiritual, temporal, and political interests of his country.
The adoption of the report was moved, in a speech of much
simple eloquence and most interesting detail, by the Venera-
ble the Archdeacon of Emily ; and being seconded by the
Rev. R. Winning, presbyterian minister of King's Court,
who enjoys the high honour, we believe, of being the founder
of the society—it was unanimously adopted. The meeting
was subsequently addressed by the Rev. H. Newman, Dean
of Cork; the Rev. R. Ratcliffe, the Rev. A. Wynne, Rev.
C. Beresfovd, &c.—and the proceedings were closed by a
luminous and most Christian address from the noble chair-
man. The approbation of a nobleman, whose life we may
say has been devoted to the creation and maintenance of a
spirit of Christian exertion, and who has taken so active a
share in the management and surveillance of the several
societies connected with the advancement of true religion in
the United Kingdom, is perhaps the higheSt proof of the
merits of this society, and the best security to the public for
the advantages it has been able, and is still labouring, to
confer upon the population of Ireland.—Dublin Evening

THREATENING NOTICE.—We have odd notions of liberty
in Ireland. Had liberalism its full swing, no one opposed
to popular opinion could venture beyond his own hall-door
except at hazards not pleasant to encounter. In any other
place the election of a poor-law guardian would excite little
interest and no exasperation ; but here, even to propose one
provokes an intimation to prepare for death. In a plight of
this kind does Henry R. Foot, of Carrigacunna, Esq., find
himself. He had the audacity, it seems, to think that Pierce
Creagh, of Killavullen, Esq., would be a very proper guar-
dian of the interests of his district, and therefore resolved to
put him in nomination. Mr. Creagh, however, though a
Romanist, has the misfortune to be in disfavour with the
priest, who prefers, it is said, a person of the name of Barry.
Into the cause of the alleged preference or the alleged dis-
favour we do not enter ; but it is, we suppose, known to
" the people," by whom the pastoral predilections are es-
poused, and not only espoused, but asserted in a way which,
whatever he the strength of his partialities, his reverence
must condemn. On Monday morning Mr. Foot found the
following notice posted on his gate :
" I tell you mot if you dont give Creagh up we will give
you a bonefire to your house and stables. No further notis.
[Here is sketched the figure of a coffin.]
Preper,
" Sined white sheet."
Peremptory enough, Mr. White-sheet. Mr. Foot, we may
remark, has the misfortune to be a liberal—we say the mis-
fortune, for we cannot but feel it to be a misfortune that any
gentleman of character
and respectability should throw the
weight of that character and respectability into a scale that
inclines against his country, and therefore against himself.—
CoTrkilECoinjAstTiEtutions.on
evidence against Huohes,thep convictednl policemen
on ei
Si
CONVICTIONIenf AT ARMAGH—SYMPATHY WITH
THE CONVICT.—
acrtiu'ord, nany
as
Catholics. They went, of the murderers of unfortunate Mr. Powell, were Reman
place of worship, unconscious that
on Sunday morning to their
ida
being ,gave
on one
the trial, in opposition to a
that they had acted, during
What was their surprise, however,nylaw, either of God or ma n.
!Alen on their arrival they
found the chapel doors closed against them ! This was not
only the case, but they were actually threatened with vio-
lence by an infuriated assemb,,la
place ostensibly for the purpose e ofpersons, come to
worshippingthe God. So ne
of the more law-fearing of the
n'
congregation,i however, shut
h
policemen
angryte c hp
paeoeg chapel-gate,
people
dkpee,eani keeping the p b
y that
means
afurther mischief was
outsidebovet,lernanodnsttrhae.
prevented. It is only just to say that the
don took place before the arrival of the clergyman, and when
he arrived he expressed his disapprobation of the proceedings
in very unequivocal terms. The policemen particularly
ob-
noxious to the chapel-goers were Head-constable DnnnY'
who gave evidence in the murd?r. cat-e,. and Constable
who was concerned in the prosecution of the Itibbontr Cox,
Newry Telegrapi.