The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-04 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS

" Amiens Ecclesim" need not fear such attacks as that to
which he alludes. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, in
connection with the subject of his letter, that the Bishop
of Chester has only promoted one Irish clergyman in the
whole of his extensive diocese. So unscrupulously and
perhaps unnecessarily careful is his lordship.
The STANDARD is regularly forwarded to the Preston Opera-
tive Conservative News-room, and we are unable to give
any reason why it is not punctually received. Our corre-
spondent will perhaps be surprised to hear that we some
times don't lay our hands upon a newspaper for a week
after they are posted.

The third letter of " Baptistes" shall appear, if possible, on
Tuesday.

We have received 10s. for the District Provident Society,
and the same sum for the Strangers' Friend Society.
In consequence of the great length of the advertisement of
subscribers to the Jerusalem Bishopric, we are compelled
to forego the insertion of several interesting communica-
tions.

Ebr Ztherpool &tan Darb.

FRIDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 4, 1842

Since the appearance of Sir Howard Douglas
amongst us, we are happy to say that he has more than
realized all the anticipations which we have held out as
to his reception. On the afternoon of Wednesday the
gallant candidate made his appearance amongst the
merchants on 'Change, and was greeted with the most
hearty congratulations. In the evening of the same
day he addressed the Protestant operatives of the Park,
in Toxteth-hall ; last night he met the burgesses of
West Derby Ward; and on both occasions his straight-
forward profession of Conservative and Protestant
principles—of attachment to the monarchy, the esta-
blished religion, and the constitution of the land—
were received with the almost unanimous approval of
overflowing auditories.

It must have been an object of sincere gratification
to that portion of the constituency who have in days
past supported the cause of Conservatism in Liver-
pool, in the person of Sir Howard Douglas, to notice
the unimpaired bodily and mental vigour with which
he now appears amongst them; after so long an ab-
sence. In all respects the gallant candidate is, physi-
cally, as capable at the present moment of performing
efficiently the duties of a representative of this great
commercial body in Parliament, as at any former pe-
riod of his life; and we cannot overlook the added
experience with which time, the important duties in
which, since his firlt appearance in Liverpool, he has
been engaged, and the well-known acuteness of his
observation of passing events, have matured the judg-
ment and statesmanlike abilities which he is now pre-
pared to lay before the acceptance of the constituency
of our borough.

It is the intention of Sir Howard to visit every ward
and explain to the electors his sentiments upon the
great questions which at present agitate the public
mind, previous to the day of nomination ; and we have
no fear that the result will be other than a cordial re-
cognition of his eminent fitness for the office to which
he aspires, on the part of the entire constituency. The
burgesses of Liverpool will return to Parliament by
their unanimous voice their old and tried champion
and by so doing add another to the long list of staunch
supporters of the Throne, the Constitution, and the
Established Protestant Church of the realm, who rally
round that Conservative Government which now, hap-
pily, holds in its keeping the destinies of this great
country.

This gratifying assurance is now, indeed, placed be-
yond the possibility of doubt, if such a feeling could
ever have found its way to the mind of any Conserva-
tive. The dejected and forlorn Radicals of our borough
have declared—or, rather, Mr. Thomas Bolton, in
their name, and "for his party," has declared—that no
opposition to the return of Sir Howard Douglas will
even be attempted by them. We accept Mr. Thomas
Bolton's heartwrung declaration of the utter prostra-
tion and lost condition of " his party." Radicalism
must be far gone indeed—stone-dead—when it dare
not offer one factious kick at its triumphant oppo-
nent ! We are satisfied of this fact ; but our assu-
rance is not based upon the mere word of Mr. Thomas
Bolton. We cannot take that gentleman as the repre-
sentative of the defunct thing ; for we have a distinct
remembrance that, on a very recent occasion, its car-
case was galvanised and made a terrific splutter in the
world, without either that gentleman or " his party"
being very much consulted or having much control
over the operation. Messrs. Thomas Bolton and Wil-
liam Earle may imagine that they are representatives of
Radicalism within our borough; but we bear in mind
that Sir Joshua Walmsley
°thought otherwise, when
that learned and illustrious personage reanimated its
cast-off rags, and, at the head of his assembled Pro-
tectors and Repealers, snapt his fingers at the preten-
sions of these members of our Whig aristocracy, and
obtrudelLhis claims upon that portion of the constitu-
ency of Liverpool which they fondly deemed their
own.

Upon such a question as the proposed grant of land
to an institution so beneficent in its purposes as the
Asylum for the Education and Protection of Female
Orphan Children, it might certainly have been antici-
pated that our Municipal Council would have been able
to arrive at a decision, if not unanimous, at least un-
marked by acrimony of temper and language. There
are some minds, however, it would seem, so peculiarly
constituted, that they cannot, even to promote the most
sacred object and when appealed to by the most ele-
vated sympathies of our nature, forego the opportunity
of displaying the rancorous and bitter feelings which
they entertain against the persons, the principles, or
the creed of those to whom they are politically op-
posed. To such men there is no neutral ground which
passion cannot enter—no question so hallowed, so di-
vested of party, as to be unsusceptible of being warped
into an occasion for the manifestation of party or sec-
tarian strife—no time, or place, or circumstance in
which the kindliness of humanity is allowed to get the
better of the carping spirit of the partizan.
Amongst the number of human beings afflicted with
this unhappy obduracy of temper, Mr. Thomas Bolton
stands conspicuous. In his breast a truculent secta-
rianism appears to have utterly excluded every amiable
feeling of our common _nature; and yet, offensive as
are most of his exhibitions, we never remember to have
seen that offensiveness so flagrantly manifested and
persisted in with more shameless obstinacy than at the
Council meeting on Wednesday, with respect to this
grant to the Female Orphan Asylum. In ordinary
cases it is quite sufficient to draw down the hostility of
this acrimonious Socinian upon any institution—that it
is conducted upon the principles of the Established
Church—that it emanates from or that its benefits are
shared, without their principles being compromised or
insulted, by members of that church. But that the

bereaved and destitute children, for whose protection
this benevolent institution has been originated, should
be trained exclusively in the faith of the established
religion of the realm, is an enormity which Mr. Thomas
Bolton cannot tolerate, and which called forth on this
occasion an extraordinary measure of his rancorous
vulgarity. It is nothing to him that these poor chil-
dren are without parents, without guardians, or with-
out friends. The rectors and the clergy of the Church
of England in Liverpool must not be permitted to sup-
ply to them the place of their natural protectors; and
this humane and pious personage would rather see
those children abandoned to wretchedness and infamy
in our streets, than allow the pastors of a church,
which is hateful to ;his sectarian spirit, to become the
fathers of the fatherless.

For the particulars of the proceedings of Mr. Bol-
ton, in the course which he has thought proper to pur-
sue at the Council meeting, we must refer to our re-
port. We are confident that it will excite in the public
mind unqualified disgust ; and it is with pleasure that
we notice, as contrasted with it, the conduct of the
more respectable members of his party. All are not
lost to shame—all are not insensible to the claims of
decency and humanity as paramount to the indulgence
of sectarian spleen, although Mr. Thomas Bolton is so.
In particular, we cannot but express our admiration of
the sentiments expressed and the course pursued by
Mr. James Aikin, which we may safely put forward as
a reply to the raving bigotry of the insignificant section
of his party from whom he differed upon this occa-
sion. Why does not Mr. Aikin display more fre-
quently the same tone and spirit in the Council, as an
example to his unreflecting friends around him ?
Of course the opposition of Mr. Bolton and his
small tail to this grant of the corporation is based, pro-
fessedly, upon their regard for " Liberty of Consci-
ence !" Mr. Bolton is afraid lest the education of the
desolate orphan children, for whom this institution is
designed, if conducted upon Protestant and Church of
rngland principles, should jar the feelings of their sur-
riving dissenting relatives ; and contends that each of
these unfortunates should be trained in the particular
sectarian views of religion to which their parents be-
longed, and should attend such place of worship only
as their friends—(who are they ?)—maq require. But
is that, we ask, the true ground of Mr. Thomas Bol-
ton's factious fury upon this question ? We unhesi-
tatingly answer, No.: Mr. Bolton knows that the
adoption of such a principle in the Orphan Asylum is
utterly impracticable, and would entirely defeat its sa-
lutary operation. The true ground of this amiable
Dissenter's opposition to the grant to this institution is
the rancorous hatred which he bears to the Established
Church of the realm. The very name of that church
or of its clergy is at any time sufficient to work up his
meek temper to madness, and render him alike forget-
ful of decency and of gentlemanly feeling.
On the occasion in question it will be seen from our
report, that, not satisfied with the display of his cus-
tomary truculent bitterness against the establishment
itself, he did not scruple to direct a volley of coarse
detraction against the gentlemen who compose the pre-
sent finance committee. Baffled in his attempt, as a
member of that committee, to bully it into submission to
his views, and to thwart its proceedings upon this
question by moving amendment after amendment—in a
tone of factious insolence which would be disgraceful
in any one except himself—he did not scruple to de-
nounce his colleagues to the Council and the public as
men whose actions and motives were devoid of honour
and integrity. The castigation which so gross a vio-
lation of truth and decency drew upon him would, by
any other gentleman, be remembered with shame and
confusion. We anticipate no such impression, how-
ever, upon the stolid and obdurate mind of Mr. Bol-
ton ; and we trust, therefore, that Mr. Aspinall, whose
vindication of the character of the Council was, upon
this occasion, above all praise, will persist in the course
to which, we understand, he has pledged himself; and,
at all times, insist upon an adherence to the rules of
gentlemanly and decent language on the part of this
unruly individual. _ _

We shall not say a word upon the unfortunate exhi-
bition of Mr. William Earle in this debate. We can
only pity the infirmity of temper and obliquity of mind
which lead, a gentleman, capable -of far better things,
to be content to rest his reputation as a member of the
\I Council u on the facility with which he plays alter-
nately the ch cter of the mountebank and the frenzied
tabby. Poor Aliam Earle !

Although the constituency of Liverpool have forgot-
ten that Colonel Torrens, ex-M.P. for the radical bo-
rough of Bolton, is at this moment, unfortunately, both
out of place and out of parliament—an uncomfortable
predicament for so eminent a patriot—that gallant ofh-
cer has not omitted to notice that Liverpool is just now
unprovided with a representative. Accordingly, in the
advertising columns of the London Times of yesterday,
the worthy colonel has presented us with a refresher,
in the shape of an intimation that he is willing to sup-
ply our wants in that particillar, provided any set of
gentlemen in the borough are prepared with the ne-
cessary " ready," in sufficient superfluity, to tempt
them to embark it for the purpose of securing the be-
nefit of his valuable services.

Many thanks, colonel, for the kind volunteer; but
we are provided, you see ; and, as the song says,

" 'Tis good to be off with the old love
Before we are on with the new !"
The long address with which you have favoured us,
reads " very trippingly on the tongue," and is " all
very fine ;" but conservative Liverpool is not yet re-
duced to the necessity of putting up with any battered
castaway of whiggery, merely because the kennel has
been shut against him, the carrion hung up above his
reach, and he is ready to worry the patrons at whose
heels he was so lately in dutiful and loving attendance,
as an obedient, well-fed, and well-bred spaniel ought
to be. .

Perhaps radicalism might have had something to say
to you, good colonel, but for that unfortunate allusion
to the money, which is contained in the last paragraph
of your address. They could have wallowed your
abuse of whiggery and its fraudulent schemes; but
unless you can afford to stump up, you are but a lost
colonel. The Whig gentlemen of Liverpool won't
crack deaf nuts, depend upon it.