The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-12-10 00:00:00

R.a, y.~....,`. ECE.MBER 10, 1833. - and meanness lurks in every line and wrinkle. A hatred of law, a contempt of authority,, and a morbid and satanic distrust of religious and mo%archical institutions, maintain a struggle with an irritable love of distinction and an excessive love of money. Such is the man, too Much overrated, too long distinguished, too long tole rated, (and few of our town readers can mistake him,) who wrote the article sent under a particular cover to the Tmes newspaper. He had not the courage to enter the court of inquiry its elf. He hung upon its outskirts gathering offal from the mere scandal-monger, and his reading has obviously been confined to those journals who, not having the means of reporting the whole, reported only the crimina tory and unanswered portion of the evidence. He dared not appear personally before the commissioners, for if he h ad , some rather pertinent, if not personal, questions would have been submitted to him. He kept aloof for reasons which nearly concern himself, and he was con tent to feast his sickly imagination with the inventions and falsehoods of others, who, perhaps, knew as little of t h e facts, or disregarded them as much - as himself. He begins by stating : " Though in this case the Tory corporators did not think it for their interest to resist the investigation of their accounts and Inan agement,—though they even affected pleasure at the .insti tution of the inquiry, and professed their willingness to meet it with every demanded disclosure,—thoUgh in no part of their conduct did they pretend to an immunity from public inspec tion or popular control,:—and though the Town-clerk, who bad stood i n the Town-hall the b run t o f more t h an t h ree wee k s ' c ombat with the enemies of corporate abuses, seemed to with draw at last from the field amid a haze of dubious self-congra tulation or unconscious defeat,—we have no heiitation in saying , that in none of the most notoriously corrupt boroughs in the king 40m have we found Stronger proofs or more striking illustrations of the evil of the close or 14-elective system of municipal govern ment." This is reckless assertion without even the shadow o f Proof. The municipal system here, he states, is as viciou s and reprehensible as in the "most notoriously 'etirupt boroughs in the kingdom." Which boroughs are the " most notoriously corrupt" we cannot tell, although we have heard of Derby, Calne, Tavistock, Bedford, Malton, and some of the other strong-holds favoured by the Whigs ; but if it be asserted that, in Liverpool, the Corporation funds are applied to corrupt purposes, or election purposes, or in any way to favour one Party to the injury of another—or that these funds are devoted to any other than legitimate objects, or to any other than the improvement of the town, then, we S ay, that such averment is a delibei ate falsehood. We flare this man to produce his evidence; we challenge him to call his witnesses and lay his proofs before the public ; and if he can show that the revenues of the town are misappropriated, or corruptly expended, or pro fusely wasted, we will not hesitate a moment in directing against the authors of such corruption as severe and un 'paring censures as the most violent of their enemies. The Writer in the Times professes to found his allega tions upon the evidence adduced before the commis- I 'l°bers. But in what portion of it has he found them ? We have gone through that ponderous and voluminous mass of evidence without discovering even a loop to han g a doubt on. Every attempt to establish profligacy; or corruption, or even improvidence, in the expenditure of money, or in the management of the corporate reve nues, has compleWy failed. An individual merchant, in conducting his own private affairs, will sometimes, by -oversight or over zeal, compromise his own interests. The officers of every company and corporation will some times fall into error. The officers of the Liverpool Cor poration are fallible like other men; but giving them credit for what they have done, and making some allow ance for the magnitude of their transactions, and the conflicting interests they have had to reconcile, they have conducted themselves for a long series of years with fidelity that is above reproach, and with an unvarying honesty of purpose, and an unity of circumspection and ability which are beyond all praise, and which none but taen accustomed to strict mercantile habits could have exercised. But the writer becomes more inflated with misrepre tentation as he proceeds. He asserts that the municipal government of Liverpool " has stood still while civiliz ation, trade, and wealth have been rapidly advancing around it." If mendacity be a proof of civilization, and the favoured . scribe of the Times be a specimen of the one as he is of the other, then we admit that civilization h as advanced in- spite of the Corporation. In no other W ay will the charge apply. It requires hardly half an eye to. see that the Corporation of this immense town have, not only been the promoters of all its improvements and commercial facilities, but they are to a great extent the authors of its wealth, its grandeur, its greatness, an d its prosperity-. In what respect are they behind the trade, or the civilization, or the wealth of the people 'who surround them ? Look at the public buildings, the new streets, the numerous churches, the splendid line of docks, unsurpassed if not unequalled in any part of tne world, all of which owe their origin to the Corpora tion of Liverpool, and then say whether that body, whose revenues are of their own creation, whether they are behind the spirit of the age ? Behind! we assert that they are before it I Their projects of improvement are for posterity. Their docks and harbours, yet but in embryo, are planned for an increased trade and a larger Population. Where is there a town in England Where so much has been done, or.a twentieth part so fluch has been done, by any company or corporate body fo r the benefit of the whole community ? Take Man chester, Birmingham, and Sheffield, happy towns, unop pressed by fiscal exactions, or a farthing per ton on alien shipping, —where there are no freemen, no exclu 'Bl7e privileges, no mayors, no common councils,—take these towns and do we find in them any approach to the Prosperity, splendour, or if you please the civilization of Liverpool? In Manchester every improvement has been do ne at t h e expense of the inhabitants generally. In Liverpool our improvements, and they are on a con siderably larger scale, have been done at the cost of the C orporation. Birmingham and Sheffield are in a state of primitive filth compared with Liverpool, and yet these are towns where the doctrines of modern liberalism, a s ure symptom of ignorance, prevail to a greater ex tent than any where else, and where the principles of infidelity and revolution have the most formidable vo taries. All this, however, is overlooked by that band of con spirators against the institutions of the country, of which we take the writer in the Times upon the present occa sion to be one. All is obnoxious and pernicious which stands between these people and their love of plunder and aggrandisement. All is foul which is not reflected in their mirror. Every artist is a dunce who has not been re ared in their school; and every independent man is either a slave or a venal hypocrite who does not drink with them at the same fountain, hoist the same colours, or apostatize from his principles in order to join in their un hallowed orgies. The liberal hack, in summing up the evidence given befor e the commissioners, proceeds thus : "It exhibits a shameful waste of the public money in sala tis, allo wances, an d jobs,—that the revenues of the borough, , " Dh ich would be sufficient f or a cons id era bl e s t a t e or pr i nc i- PalitY, have often been prodigally or ignorantly squandered,— that its extensive patronage has been injudiciously, if not cor ruptly exercised.—that there has been reason to complain of a general f avouritism in the disposal of its corporate offices, — that family connexions and hereditary influences have been 11°tued in the council or among the magistrates, to the exclu ,.Bl°ll of the persons best fitted for municipal employments,—that Z"ottlity has prevailed among the lower ranks of its officers as ITliption among the higher,—That the bribery of the dock to'Wn is r 3 in not only c h arge d b ut avowed,—that the police of the " efficient o r part i a l , — t h at the administration of justice p,: r g s : °r " or corrupt, t h at an illib eral spirit i s evinced towards from those who entertai n opi n i ons, po l itical or religious, different of the ruling clique,—and that nearly the whole body z.aliffs are 1. ) , f the burgesses who engross th e e l ect i on o f th e M ayor an d accessible to direct bribes." And he winds up as follows:- 0 _ In short, that peculation, incompetency, pro.piatrotiage, selfishness, abuse favouritism, partiality to kindred, 6r motives of I i al partisanship, jobbing, and collusion, pervade and vi atiate the wholes ystem, pollute the sources the justice, and lead to scandalous and absurd expenditure of the borough funds." We Nepect many old prejudices, but we are sufficiently liberal to give the wall to a mad dog. If the scribe who vnites the above be not rabid, he is, the most insufferable coxcomb and the most mendacious blockhead we have ever met with. We cannot understand how even the Times, characterless as it is, should have suffered its co lumns to be polluted by so many deliberate and scanda lous falsehoods. Six weeks of this sort of swagger would sink it as low as any of the penny magazines. In the first place there was no charge of venality or bribery made or sustained before the commissioners, except in the case of one of the dock masters previous to 1825, and the pat ties who administered the bribes are gentlemen of liberal principles and not members of the Corporation ! The charge of bribery, therefore, against members of the Corporation, or against the freemen generally in the elections of Mayors and Bailiffs, is unsupported by the slightest shadow of evidence. - The assertion that the " administration of justice is ignorant or corrupt," and that " jobbing and collusion pollute the sources of justice" is one of a still graver kind, which the writer, if he be not, a coward as well as a scoundrel, would do. well to follow up, in order that we May know who the guilty parties are. We affirm that the charge is an infamous libel, and we dare the Times or its scribe to point out an instance when; or a functionary by whom, the sources of justice or the administration of jus tice have been polluted or corruptly influenced. Let him do this and we will be prepared to meet him. Rabid de clamation and wholesale invective go for nothing. But the Corporation are accused of " partiality to kindred," and friends, and party, in the distribution of their patronage. This comes with an ill grace from a thick and thin supporter of the Grey administration.— The noble earl, in his place in Parliament, contended that if he found among his relations persons fully competent to discharge the duties of such offices as were in his gift, he had'a clear right to appoint them. Questionless he has the right, but it is doubtful whether the competence of the persons appointed is equally well sustained. The Corporation of Liverpool are not such gourmands in pa tronage as Lord GREY, but they have as good a right to bestow their patronage upon their relatives and friends as he has. That they have bestowed their patronage, in this way, inmost instances, can be disproved by the facts. It would be strange indeed if the Corporation of Liverpool should nominate to one of their church livings an eternal babbler against the institutions of the Church of England. It would be liberal overmuch, and, in our opinion, a vio lation of their trust, if they were to expend their funds in building chapels for Unitarians, schools for Socinians, or colleges for Infidels. It would be singularly liberal if they were to choose a Town-clerk from some obscure coterie of attorneys who court popular opinion, and gain clients by railing against Corporations. It would be astonish ingly liberal if the freemen should elect for Mayor some Roman Catholic who would carry the parapharnalia of the Corporation to the mass-house. Roman Catholics,-at least the unthinking portion of them, might rejoice at all this— the Socinian might be vastly pleased—the Infidel would be delighted; but we take it that if such extravagancies were indulged in merely to please certain ambitious persons, the Corporation would not exist six months, for the very purpose of its creation would be defeated and destroyed. Wherever men possess power, that power can only be sustained by a judicious selection of members, equally alive to the common interests of the institution. That the Corporation of Liverpool have made this judicious selection is proved by the flourishing condition of their property and the long period during which the affairs of the town have been administered with unspotted honour and integrity. The Times complains of the exclusion from the council of persons " best fitted" to be magis trates. Who are these persons ? If it be not too great a demand upon its modesty, would it be pleased to favour us with the names of these "best fitted" gentlemen ? In the churches of Liverpool there are, unquestionably, clergymen who ~are related to members of the Corpo ration. It would be strange if they were nearly related to the enemies of the Corporation, and it would be more singular still if they ;were. related to,neither the one nor the other. If the Roundheads,. or the Owenites, or the St. Simonians, or the disciples of the Rev. Robert Taylor, or any other of the mad or disgusting sects which have sprung up in these fungus times,if any of these formed the majority of the Members of the Liverpool Corpora tion, we should like to know what. kind of toleration they would prescribe, or how many of their relations they would refuse to provide for ? To cavil at this patronage only evinces a narrow and despicable disposition. If improper appointments have taken place, let our oppo nents fix upon the men, and show their incompetency. If . they cannot do this, their carping is only an idle ex penditure of breath. One word more, and we have done. The members of the Common Council, we are told in a thousand news papers, in large letters, indicating horror and astonish ment, ate self -elected! What a discovery ! Oh, long endured wrong I Hapless land, where the members of a town council are self-elected ! Hold down your hands, patriots, and open your ears for a brief space. The common council of boroughs are elected according to the terms of their several charters. It was expressly provided by these charters that they should have the power of nominating their successors. The intention was, that the executive governments of corporations should not be entirely at the mercy of the democratical body. It was a balance regulating the power within with the power without, or, in other words, a regulating check in favour of the objects of the charter, and against temporary clathour and factious innova tions. For the same reasons, the test acts and the law s against Roman Catholics were- framed. These corpora tions were adapted by William 111. for the maintenance and preservation of the reformed religion as established by law, and under the influence and blessings of which this country has flourished as no nation ever did on the face of the earth. The Infidel and the Socinian, aided and abetted by the Roman Catholics, are now desirous to pull that barrier down, in order to gain a fulcrum on which to rest their tremendous levers against the Church. Lord GREY and Lord BROUGHAM are secretly assisting these parties in their work of destruction. The corporations and the Church must now stand or fall with each other ; but enough of this for the present. If misrepresentation and falsehood are allowed to prevail, and if_the tenets of the writer whose unblushing mendacity we have exposed are permitted to havp, sway, the hour of doom for both is near at- hand. HOLMAN THE BLIND TRAVELLER. . . Since the return of this enterpris;ng traveller from his last African expedition, he has been constantly engaged in arrang ing and preparing f or publication a history of his travels in this almost unexplored part of the world. A doubt will naturally arise in the mind of most persons as to the possibility of his describing accurately what he must have seen with others' eyes, and employed other hands to delineate. To this objection it2may be answered that all-bounteous nature seldom deprives us of any of our ordinary faculties without sup plying the deficiency by rendering our other perceptions more acute—hence the deaf may be said to see words, and catch their import from the eve or gestures of the speaker; and the blind are most commonli endowed with senses of hearing and feeling so exquisitely delicate as almost to compensate for the loss of sight; compelled to rely 'on their memory, unaided by artificial helps, they are also found to possess that power in a much greater degree of perfection than those whose ordinary corpo real functions are unimpaired by disease or accident. Mr. Holman is gifted with a memory of such wonderful tenacity, as rarely to lose whatever he commits to its safe custody, to which may -be added a judgment of extraordinary soundness, that enables him to determine the degree of credit due to the representations made to him of past or passing events. For this description of M r . Holman's mental powers we are in debted to a literary friend, who has perused a portion of the forthcoming work in manuscript, and who speaks of it in terms of high commendation; we are therefore prepared to expect, in " Voyages Round the World of the Blind Traveller," a work that does not depend for success upon the extrinsic interest which its title page may be calculated to create. As some of our readers may be ignorant of the fact, we take this opportunity of informing them that "the blind traveller" is a lieutenant in the royal navy, and one of the naval knights of Windsor, anion_g whom he might have r ema ined at "Traver's (the founder's) College," in the enjoyment of ease, and an honourable independence, but for the indomitable spirit of enterprise which is so prominent a feature in his character. Be tween this gentleman and Captain Ross there are some points of resemblance—both do honour to our navy list—both have over come difficulties hitherto considered insurmountable, and both appear to have embarked in their several undertakings from that . pure love of fame that animates none but the iu „t • Iv noble • Their works, we understand, will appear about the same time. A proclamation for the further prorogation of Parliament wilt appeir in Tuesday night's Gazette, and on the following Thursday will he prorogued, with the usual ceremony, in the I-louse of Lords, and a day appointed for its meeting for the do patch of business. IMPORTANT TO YOUNG LAntEs.—Lord Prudhoe is making great improvements at his beautiful seat in Yorkshire, called Stanwiek Park, near Dariington. humour sa.s that his lord ship., by the advice. of his brother, the Duke of Northumber land, is going to take to himself et wife.—Morning Herald: THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, LONDON LATEST NEWS. Saturday Evening, half-past Seven o'clock. We have commercial accounts from Valparaiso, which state that merchandize generally was declining, iu consequence of the numerous arrivals during July and August; but there had been considerable sales, the amount of the cargoes of the vessels in the Roads, recently disposed of, being Itio,ooo piasters, at prices rather beyond the extreme previous depression; some ar ticles, however, left a loss to the importer, among which dra peries and Bordeaux wines were the most conspicuous. Silks were fair sale. It was computed that the four last vessels that arrived at Valparaiso had cargoes valto at 3,0(X),000 piasters which it was expected would depress the market ultimately. Advices from Buenos Ayres, received by one of our leading commercial houses, and bearing date the 18th September, state that the rains still continued. Manufactured goods completely glutted the market, and trade remained very inanimate. Hides were lower, being at 28 to 30. Aguire had accepted the office of Finance Minister. The Bank continued to adhere to its resolution of winding up the affairs in January next, unless the Government, of whose conduct great complaint is made, entered into the necessary arrangements. We had late accounts from Central America, which are of a more favourable character than for some time past from this quarter. It had been determined to convene a diet, composed of members of the assemblies of the different states of the union, to form a project for reforming the constitution, and, after wards, the result of such labours was to be submitted to the different states for approval or correction. It was intended to have the constitution more simple in its dispositions and more available to the habits and intentions of the people. The civil dissen -ions are said to have entirely ceased, and an universal greeting was expressed throughout each province. The pro vince of Costa Rico had not been participators in the revolu tions by which the other provinces had been distracted, and this state, although it lead suffered partially from the disasters of the sister states, had made rapid strides in agriculture and edu cation. By letters from St. - Petersburg we learn that the flax of ttie new crop, for the exportation of 1831, had been brought into the market, and was considered very fine. We find by the advices from Munich, that a body of five hundred Swiss had entered into the service of King Otho, and had arrived at that capital, on their way to Greece. - Thre . e hundred more - had offered their services, and the families of those accepted would emigrate to Greece in the spring. The money market has not been marked by any . material alteration since our last; 884 -has been the general pi ice for the account. Exchequer bills have advanced, and are quoted at 4-1 to 46 premium. India bonds are 21s. to 235.; bank stock is • 210 to 211. The foreign bonds are nearly stationary. Russian bonds are 1021 103; Dutch 21 per cents., 51 ; Danish, 722 ; and Belgian, 952 Spanish• bonds are 23 /i; and Brazilian, '661 67. There is no doubt of Don Pedro having proposed negocia tions with Don MigueLaud Colonel Hare bad gorie to - the camp at Santarem for that purpose. Up to the Atli ult. no attack had been upon St. Übes. LONDON LATEST SHIPPING NEWS. Lloy't's, Five o'clock, p.m. Saturday. By the Rio Janeiro letters to-day, of the 19th October, we learn that the Government had directed that vessels from Lon don and Liverpool should undergo a quarantine of from six to eight days, those ports being again declared infected with the cholera morbus. The Skeene, from Liverpool, has arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. The Warders, Arrens, from Liverpool to Herliugen, sunk off the Texel, 2d instant, crew saved. The following vessels have sailed from Buenos Ayres for Liverpool:--August 21, Vanguard, Walker, touching at Monte Video, which port she finally left on the 15th September; the Mary Worrall, Smith, which was also to call at Monte Video, and, on the 16th, the Abeona, Russell, for Liverpool direct. The Zoe, Dick, was about to sail for Liverpool when (he account left. On the Bth September, the Alert, Snowdon, arrived at Buenos Ayres from Liverpool; on the 17th, the, Helvelln, Boadle, and the Wave, Bell or d. The Jarrow sailed for Liverpool from Monte Video on the 26th August. The Justinian, the Liverpool, the Fama, (Hargrave,) the Robert Finnie, the William IV., ( Williamson ,) and the Forth, have arrived from Liverpool at Rio Janeiro. The John Brooks, from Valparaiso to Liverpool, was spoken on the 27th ult. in lat. 43. HOUSE AND COTI'AGE OWNERS' ASSOCIATION. A public meeting of this society, took place on Thursday evening, at the Blue Bell Inn, London-road, for the purpose of memorializing the churchwardens, overseers, and select vestry for an extension of the time for payment of the rate chargeable on small tenements, and ou the necessity of a re duction of the present assessment. Mr. Waithew, on being called to the chair, briefly stated the object of the meeting. By a clause in the Liverpool act; the churchwardens were empowered to extend to owners of small tenements the time of payment, and to take a composition, or part of the rate. The necessity for such an 'extension of time was evident from the present impoverished state of the tenantry, owing to the misunderstanding with their employers, the incle ment season of the year, and the late awful visitation, which now particularly visits this class of the community. At the present period so great was the difficulty in getting in rent, that of his own cottages, about forty in number, more than one half were considerably in arrears; and were he to enforce the payment of rent, many of his tenants would be obliged to seek an asylum in the Workhouse. He trusted that when the parish authorities were fully apprised of these facts, they would not hesitate to grant the required • extension of time for the payment of the rates, which, if immediately enforced, would be attended with utter ruin to many' of the cottage owners. He also trusted that the seine authorities would lose no time in applying, as soon as Parliament assembled, for the repeal of that unjust and oppressive act, agreeably to the unanimous vote of the last Easter vestry. Mr. Ellis, on proposing the first resolution, stated that the society was induced to come to this in consequence of the great difficulty there was in getting in the rents at this time of the year, particularly as a great number of the working class had been out of work for some time past, and were likely to conti nue for some time to conic, and the only way they had for pay ing it was by distrahaitig upon them, which would tend further to impoverish them, and cause them and their families to be come a burden to the parish. Mr. Ford showed the fallacy of the very general opinion that was entertained, that this kind of .property paid-bettcr than any other; while the fact was directly the contrary. • Mr. Knapper entered into au able and lengthy examination of the Liverpool small tenement bill, which he characterized as unconstiutional and inquisitorial—oppressive in its opera tions, impolitic in its provisions, and detrimental not only to the middling and lower orders,' but also to the true interests of the richer classes of society. The Chairman read a letter firma John Itesson, Esq., barris ter-at-law, acknowleding a vote of thanks, passed at a recent meeting of this society, for his gratuitous assistance to the de putation recently in London. • • • • Mr. Ford, Mr. Duckworth, Air. Elliot, and several other members addressed the meeting, but want of space prevents our giving more particulars, and we refer our readers to the adver tisement in another part of our paper for,the.meirtorial and re ,-solutions'adbpted.- • The deputation appointed at the above meeting, waited yes terday upon the churchwardens, select vestry, and overseers in conformity with the resolutions, when they were informed that, at twelve o'clock to-day, they should receive au answer. From the best view we can take of this questiOn,, we are disposed to think favourably of the objects of the association ; and where, as is.here shown, the effect to be produced by a favourable de termination of the authorities, will protect the landlord, and ameliorate the, condition of the tenant, whilst the rates will be more likely to be recovered than by a prompt assertion of the rights of the acting authorities, we cannot but join in the expression of a wish that the determination of those gentle men may be in accordance with ends altogether so desirable. T Jl~'.'p"~~r'o.~ v~.~_ LIVERPOOL CUSTOM-HOUSE We hope, and believe, that our humble exertions to relieve the trade of Liverpool from some vexatious regulations in this department have not been without their effect. But many, very many, remain uncorrected. It may be that in some cases time is necessary for the accomplishment of the object, where its execution is actually decided upon as a question of prin ciple.• We profess to be sufficiently acquainted with affairs of that nature to understand that such must be the fact in some in stances; but the same degree of information suffices to con vince us that there are other cases—and if we were to say they constitute the greater number we should not exaggerate — where, as the will of sub-officials sufficed to introduce the re gulations complained of, unsanctioned by the higher autho rities, so should a sense of their utter worthlessness as mea sures of precaution, and their annoying character to men of business in practice, also suffice to secure their abolition. If men have influence enough with the commissioners to obtain their sanction to the promulgation of orders for changing the practice of the port; or it', wanting that sanction, they strain the powers with which they may be invested to the manifeSt inconvenience of the merchant and broker—it would be fortu nate for the mercantile interest if they had—and it is exceed ingly unfortunate that certain persons have not—sufficiebt candour and honesty to confess that the views which they may have entertained are erroneous; when, as we contend is the case in many instances, the changes which they have in troduced are alike inoperative for any practical good— abounding -with trouble and inconvenience to the mei._ chant and broker—and continue to be, enforced for one of two reasons; either the authorities here who seek to en force their measures, notwithstanding their utter uselessness, are iu ignorance of what is their actual import; and equally so of the value of that wise commercial maxim which would remove every unnecessary restriction ;—or, not •having the power of offering even such inadequate pleas in justification of their con duct, they persevere in a wrong course, with a knowledge that it is wrong, from a kind of pride which we cannot designate in other terms than those which we are unwilling to employ. I n either case the course is inexcusable—it is productive of much inconvenience to men of business; and determined measures ought to be taken to get rid of the incubus, for such it is, and to obtain for the body Conimercial that free and wholesome respi ration, which enables the physical frame to bid defiance to its prototype, the night-mare. We will abstain, for a few days, from detailing the instances where some one or other of the causes we have above described has led to the continuance of-practices fraught with all the great inconvenience and injury to the mercantile interest of the town which we pointed out two or three months ago. We so abstain , because we still think that, if better motives do not urge the abatement of the nuisance, the apprehension of the strung ex pression of public opinion will not be without its effects. What reason can be assigned for going in the direct teeth of a Trea suiy order for the abandonment of one most annoying practice, we are utterly at a loss to comprehend ; but in these "anoma lous" days we are obliged to change the number of our noun, and talk of the imperia in imperio. We would advise certain parties to take an early opportunity of consulting Johnson, and study his definition of the word " contumacy." However, let that branch of the question pass for the moment. It is one of general interest; and whenever we call for public opinion to sustain our efforts for the general good, we shall, doubtless, have its weight superadded to those efforts. We will now address ourselves, for a moment, to other prac tices in the department of the Customs. We charge au influ ential member of that body with flagrant injustice to the indi viduals who are brought under his surveillance. We have, at the moment we write, clear and incontrovertible evidence be fore our eyes, of conduct towards many individuals,—whose misfortune it is to have a superior in office in the party now re ferred to,—which conduct is of tire most discreditable character. We have the evidence of deep intrigues, of the existence of pre determination to ruin or degrade men of unimpeachable cha racter in the service of the department ; men who have done their duty to the government whom they serve for a long series of years; and whom it is now sought to supplant, and deprive of their bread, for the unworthy purpose, as we may in fairness surmise, of introducing strangers into their places on a princi ple of favoritism. We have evidence, strong and palpable, of all this; and of the (suppmed) secret means by which the plans are intended to be brought about; and we are sorry to see some one or two of the higher authorities made—unwillingly we hope— the dupes of such practices. The men who resort to these pro ceedings in the first instance, and, if needful, those higher in power, should they sanction them, must all be taught that the character of the lowest officer in the service, if he do his duty to the government, is of as much value to himself as is the charac ter of the hardest and highest of his superiors; and, whilst we should ever be forerrost to sustain a due gradation of ranks to respect the power—and to support the authority of those who have to exercise that power, we shall never shrink from the duty of protecting those in inferior stations, however low that station may be, in the full enjoyment of their privileges. It is this feeling that dictates the expressions, strong though they be, which we have used with reference to one individual in authority in the Custom-house. Ile may purchase our forbearance at an easy rate—let himself forbear from the continuance of unjust proceedings towards those placed officially beneath him. Our terms are reasonable. It may be well if they are accepted. If not, we will deal out to him even-handed justice. It may be more satisfactory to the public than agreeable to himself ; but our course is marked out—it is as plain as it is firmly resolved, and will be promptly executed. On the subjeCt of the " Customs' Annuity and Bevevolent Fund" we are saved the trouble of any observations, by a cor• respondent who signs "Alexis," whose letter will be found elsewhere. Our correspondent hopes "that we shall be the means of calling for an account of the present state of its funds in the next session of Parliament." On this head we assure him that, if necessary, his hopes shall not be disappointed. On the Duke of Buceleugh's birthday, last. Monday week, the Dm hess caused more than sixty tons of coal to be distri- , buted amongst upwards of 160 of the poorest families in Dal- of course, the favourite with the tories. Mr. Joshua Bower, keith. And as an instance, out of nmuy, of the unbent ded unslet, is expected to be the nominee of the radical party; charitv.of this ducal famity, it is worthy of being recorded, that en ;he whigs are directing their attention to Mr. Fawkes, son since their residence at Daikeith a soup kitchen has Leen kept or th e late Waiter Fawkes, Esq., of Faruley-hall. op 9n at their expense, three Liiies a-week, at which upwari,s of Charles 111. of Spain, who was more favourable to the intro -100 poor families are liberally supplied each time with excellent due Con of reforms than the people themselves, used to say, soup. 1 " My subjects are like babies, who cry when they are washed." TO THE EDITOR 01? THE LIVERPOOL ST',I.7BII4RD Sir,—The public are greatly indebted to you for the manner. in which you have taken.up and exposed sundry matters rela tive to the regulations and management of the Customs. As an individual who regards the indefeasible prerogatives of public rights, 1 trust you will fearlessly - persevere in yourcourse of bringing out, and so far remedying the partial operation of certain vexatious laws made for the advantage, not of the many but of the few. The Customs' Annuity and Benevolent Fund, falsely so named, deserves the utmost exposure ; ' and you have dealt very fairly with it. It is earnestly hoped' that you will be the means of calling for an account of the present state of its funds in the next session of Parliament, and there can be no doubt of its standing before the public as one of those miserable jobs which has so fearfully disgraced the legislation of former times. There is reason to believe that the early members of this shame fully legalized association have long since ceased to pay any premium to it, and that they are relieved from this by au appro priation of the compulsory exactions from the officers, which ought to go exeliisively • to' the Benevolent Fund, for the ,relief of the widows and children of those who fire made to pay.into it, and for whose support and assistance it ought to have been sacredly devoted. _ This Institution, as it is now apparent, was formed to be di vertedirom its original purpose, and the sooner it can be res cued from the exclusive privilege of receiving a benefit fur those who least deserve, and who ought least to need it, the sooner will you merit the high eulogium of being a public bene factor, as you have been the first iu this case to plead the rights of the widow, the orphan, and the destitute. The office of Inspector-General of the Customs here is one which the country 'can well dispense with, anti of which the public ought to can for the immediate reduction. The manage ment in the Comptroller's department can be made that would easily obviate its existence : this situation, with its attaché, costs nearly £lOOO per annum. The history of this office is ra ther curious, and not generally knowu.—About ten years ago, a person filling an obscure situation in one of the docks in Lon don, had the good fortune to obtain the prevaleiit interest of that day, and was appointed to an office iu the Customs. Shortly afterwards he was sent down to Liverpool, and in due time was created Inspector General of his Majesty's Customs at this port; and ever since this gentleman's road to high promotion has been unobstructed. To give a colour to this transaction, it was deemed necessary to appoint Inspectors-General to the ports. of Bristol, and Newcastle, which wasaccordingly carried into effect.; but the fact of the non-importance of such offices is now deter rained; for in all these places the office has been abolished, and the persons appointed to them are now filling situations of a more necessary and indispensable character: this fact speaks volumes, and - shows that the place in the first instance was made for the man, or that the originators of it did not know that the ports in question required the functions of such an officer being applied to them. . I cordially coincide with all you have written on the subjects now - glanced at, and wish you may ever sustain the character you have fairly achieved for yourselves, of being . the conserva tors and unflinching advocates of truth and justice, the appli cation of which, to all existing institutions, a discerning public must sooner or later demand, as the foundation upon which to erect the administration of ri g ht principles and. good govern ment.—l am, &c., ALEXIS. Henry Berthold, the man whose witnesses at the Old Bailey denied the existence of a God, has been sentenced to seven years transportation. It appears that he is not the author of " The Black Book," but of a twopenny, and, therefore, a more mischievous publication, called the 331ack List. He has, how ever, been ingenious enough to place himself on the black list at last. - GRAND FLINTSHIRE EISTEDDFOD.—It is with feelings of the highest satisfaction that we direct the attention of our readers to the advertisement in a preceding column, announcing that another Eisteddfod is on the tapir , which promises to exceed in splendour .and magnificence any thing that has hitherto taken place in the principality. It is to be holden at Holywell, in Flintsliire, the original locus of the ancient Eisteddfodau, under the auspices of the Hon. E. M. Le Mostyn, of Mostyn, and M.P. for the county, the lineal descendant and representative of Richard ap Hywel ap Evan Vaughan, Lord of Mostyn, who, in 15'23, presided at a great meeting of the Bards, held in the neighbouring borough of Caerwys, under a commission from Henry VIII; the first Eisteddfod on record. The silver harp, the honourable badge, worn by the Pencerdd at these•olympies, is still in the possession of the Mostvn family. The ['resident, it will be seen, has headed the list of contributions with the munificent donation of £100; and we hope in a short time to have the pleasure of informing our readers, that the gentry of that county have followed the laudable example of their worthy and patriotic representative. . The inhabitants ofthe flourishing and opulent town of Holywell have come forward with their accustomed taste and liberality, and as there is not a suitable room sufficiently commodius for the holding of such a meeting, measures have been set on foot for the erection of a market place and Town-hall, in which it is intended to celebrate this bardic festival. . TICKET POIITERS.—In consequence of the inconveniencies to which strangers, entering Liverpool, have been subject, from those intolerable nuisances, coach-office cads, whose practice it has been, not only to annoy passengers alighting from coaches by their applications for employment, but to insult them when refused, a new and wholesome regulation is about being adopted to remedy the evil, on the same principle by which the ticket porters of London are ruled. All coach-office porters are in fa.; tore to wear a badge, on which is to be inscribed their number and the office to which they belong, so that in case of miscon duct they can with facility be brought before the Mayor, from whose court the new regulation cruana'es; and no porter will in future be'allowed to ply for hire at the coach-offices, until fur nished with a badge of the kind alluded to. Their Majesties continua at Brighton. The Queen has re covered from her late indisposition, and has appeared again in public. Letters have been received from Berlin, which contain a very favourable account of the results of Baron Graeffe's treatment of his highness Prince George of Cumberland. Intelligence has also been received of the birth of a pi incess to their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. • The office of Consul-General of Portugal at Nantes has just - been suppressed. A .stron! , remonstrance has been addressed, by the parishioners of St. Nicholas, Warwick, to the Bishop of Li c hfield and Coventry, for suffering Dr. Wade to be a non. resident at his living at Warwick. The electors of Huddersfield have sent a requisition to Mr. Blackburn, the chief corporation commissioner, to allow him self to be nominated- as a candidate, in the place of the late Captain Fenton. Mr. Blackburn has accepted the invitation. Sir Edward Sugden is said to have remarked, that it was a gre a t pity Lord Brougham did nut know a little Chancery law, for if he did he would have a matte-Hug of almost everything. Lord Fitzwilliam has announced, iu a letter to a friend, his intention of making a vigorous effort to repeal the Corn Laws next session. Captain Ross is staying at Tunbridge Wells, on a visit to the Vice-Admiral of England, Lord de Sauivarez, at Clarence Villa. We uudeistand these two distinguished individuals were formerly shipmates. We are sorry to announce the death of Mr. Majoribanks, the member for Berwickshire, at Lees, in that county, on the 3d instant. M. Sartoris, one of the principal bankers of Paris, died on Thursday last He was one of the first promoters of canaliza tion in France. The canals of the Somme, and those of the Oise, were executed by him. M. AUgustin Perier, brother of the late M. Casimir Perier, on whose death he was created a Peer of France, died on Mon day at hi s sea t at Fremily, of a n a ttack of apoplexy. He was to time 59th yet.r of his age. We learn, by letters from Ferrara, that, on the 17th ult., the statue of Armste was inaugurated with great pomp in the square of. that town, which has for a long time been called the Piazza A riostea. The whole number of journals now published in the Polish language amounts to only ten, namely, five at Warsaw. one at St. Petersburg, one at \Vilna, one at Lemberg, one at Cracow, au6 one at Posen. ItEr RESENTATION OF LEEDS.—The approaching vacancy for this Lorough has set all parties-in motion. Mr. M. T. Saddler LIVERPOOL POLICE.-SATURDAY. Hill Newell, a youth about thirteen years of age, in the ernS ploy of Messrs. Heap and Sons, wholesale grocers, was charged with embezzling the soda of 1:5 195., the monies of his employer. The clerk to Messrs. Heap stated that on Tuesday last he gave the prisoner the keys of the safe, and desired him to fetch an article he wanted therefrom, which he did, and he then sent him on an errand to Mr. Ewart's, but the prisoner did not return, and on examining the safe he discovered that £5 19s. had been stolen ; since which time, until Friday, the prisoner had ab sented himself from his hone and his emplOyinent. Witness trletovith him on Friday, in bad compauy, near Williamson square, and took him into custody. '1 he money was not found upon him. • Mr. Heap stated that he was not in the habit of keeping much cash in his safe, but this was loose silver he had placed there the night befoi e. The boy denied having taken the money, and said, in his de fence for absenting himself, that he had been reading the ship ping list in the office, and saw that some ships were going to New York, and, as he had been there betere, he thought he could go again. The Mayor said that he should remand him until he furnished some account of the money.—Remanded accordingly. HOUSE STEALING!—An idle, disorderly lad, named Williams, was brought before . the .Mayor, charged by a constable with being found in an empty house, demolishing the interior. The constable stated that it had become a practice with the idle and disorderly boys, who get their living by thieving, to break into empty houses and pull down the materials, which they carried away piecemeal, and great complaints.had been made of their proceedings by the owners of houses. Several persons who had suffered in this way, who were in court, corroborated the con stable's statement. The Mayor said lie was perfectly aware that this species of robbery was carried to a considerable extent, being himself a sufferer by it. It was only lately that a house of his, worth £l6 a-year, had been demolished, even to the roof, and carried away by these young robbers. The ease was fully proved, and the May or held the prisoner to bail, which, not being able to procure, he was committed. A Welsh butcher, named Williams, charged a ruffianly Irish man, named Byrne, with nviolent assault, committed under the following circumstances :--The butcher stated, that he was in a druggist's shop in the Vauxhall-road, when a female, out of breath, rushed into the shop, followed by the prisoner, who de manded from her a pint of ale. . Witness asked the female, a respectable looking woman, if she owed him a pint of ale, who replied that she did not, and never saw the man before in her life, but that he had chased her for about half-a-mile, asking for ale, and she was at length obliged to take refuge from his violent behaviour and threats. Witness desired the fellow,to go about his business, and took the woman under his protection down the street, when the prisoner came up and struck him a blow on the face,_ which cut him severely. He then procured assistance, and took the prisoner to Bridewell. ' The Mayor asked . the prisoner what he had to say for such unmanly and disgraceful conduct. • The prisoner said he was drunk, and did not recollect any thing of the matter. The Mayor said he would teach the prisoner that the plea of drunkenness was no excuse for his disgraceful conduct. ' He regretted to-find that drunkenness was so prevalent, and he be lieved that almost every crime that came before him might be traced to that vice. - Ile then sentenced the prisoner to pay a fine of fifty shillings, or be committed for two months. A nother case of violent assault;coininitted by a ruffian named Padmore, who was stated by - Batchelor, the gaoler, to be the terror of the neighbourhood in which, he resides, next came on for hearing. It appears that the prisoner was indecently standing near the shop of Mr. Jones, a grocer, in the - Scotland-road, when the servant was cleaning the steps. The'giil desired him to go away, when he teak up the bucket she was using and threw the contents over her. The girl then ran into the house, but was pursued by the prisoner, who began kicking her. Mr. Jones hearing a noise in the kitchen, ran in and seized the prisoner, who, hOwever, managed to get him on the.tloor, and also kicked - him severely on the side. Others shortly came to his assistance, .and the prisoner was secured and taken to Bridewell. This prisoner, in his defence, said he was drunk. The Mayor fined the prisoner in the full penalty of £5; and, in default of payment, committed him for two months to the House of Correction. MONDAY PASSING BASE COIN.—A miserable looking woman, named Margaret Sayar, who had two equally as wretched looking children by her side, was charged with having uttered two counterfeit sixpences in payment for some baeon, purchased from Susan Mitchell, provision dealer. The charge was fully oproved against the prisoner, and. Mr. Parlour, the superintendent f police, informed the magistrate. that a die, for casting the coin, and other tools for its manufacture, were found in the pri soner's house. She was committed for trial. William Hewitt, a lad about fourteen years of age, was charged with robbing a youth, named Lawton, of 3s: 9d. It ap peared from the evidence of the complainant that he was sitting upon the stepS of the Lyceum, in Bold-street, .counting his wages, when the prisoner came 'up, knocked him down, and ran away with the money. A gentleman, named Redford, who saw the transaction, pursued the thief, and took hien. into custody.— The prisoner then threw the money-into the street. Committed for one mouth as a vagabond. - A negro beggar, calling himself " Figaro," who has been about fifty times before the magistrates for begging in the streets, and who has refused an asylum in the Workhouse, was committed to the House of Correction for one mouth, for prac tising his calling in Dale,street. Mr. Ralph Nickson, a young man of respectable appearance, was placed at the bar, charged by Mr. Rogers, a manufacturer of Birmingham and Bristol, who also has a shop in Lord-street, with threatening and intimidatiug him, and putting him in bodily fear. Mr. Lowndes, the solicitor, on the part of the complainant, stated that on Saturday last, the prisoner, Mr. Ralph Nickson, went to the house of Mr. Botterill, in Bold-street, where Mr. Rogers was stopping, and, in a great rage, demanded to see Mr. Rogers, on whom he vowed to be revenged, if he was hanged for it the next moment. The prisoner did not meet Mr. Rogers, but.in consequence of the threats he held out, that gentleman thought Limper to bring him before a magistrate, that he might be bound over to keep the peace.. The prisoner had been in the - emp:oyment of Mr. - Rogers; and badre6cntly Ua:tried a young woman who had lived with Mr. Rogers : Irony the period she was twelve years of age to the present time, and - in consequence of some suspicion on the part of the complainant, that the girl and the prisoner had made free with property of his, which he had stated, the prisoner was violently determined to be revenged, and for that purpose had ;one on Saturday to seek the com plainant. Mr. Rogers stated that the prisoner . was formerly his collect ing clerk, but was now in the Custoni-house. Witness's ser vants had informed him that the prisoner had been seen with loaded pistols lookiug out for witness. He unhesitatingly de clared that he went in fear of his life torn the prisoner's threats. A solicitor for the prisoner cross-examined the complainant, and elicited that the prisoner claimed money from him which, however, he d e nied owing. He admitted having had some pre vious conversation with the prisoner's wife which had displeased her. Margaret Lowe, servant to Mr. Bottetill, deposed to the prisoner coming to that gentleman's house on Saturday night, and asking, for Mr. Rogers, and that the prisoner said he had left his wife in tits from the conduct of Mr. Rogers, and that he would be revenged if he was hanged the next moment. The prisoner, in his defence, said that Mr. Rogers owed him £6O, and that he had called to ask for him, partly to under stand whether he intended to pay him, and partly to have an explanation of some remarks made by. Mr. Rogers reflecting on the honesty o f hi s (th e p r i s oner's) wife and himself. The magistrates.told the prisoner that it was evident he had put Mr. Rogers in bodily fear, which had been sworn to, and they should therefore hold hint to bail to keep the peace to wards the complainant for twelve mouths, himself in £lOO, and two sureties in £5O each. SMUGGLING.—Mr. Coffer, one of the captains of the Dock Police, brought up a seaman named Thomson, belonging to the North American packet ship Augusta, on the charge of smug gling a quantity of tobacco. The captain of police stated that he saw the prisoner coming from the ship, and his pocket ap peared bulky, witness consequently went towards him, when he pulled off his jacket, threw it on the ground, and ran away. Witness pursued the prisoner and took him into custody. A quantity of tobacco was found concealed in the prisoner's jacket, which was o!' the same kind as that on board the Augusta. He was remanded for a week. • CORONER'S INQUESTS. FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Friday last an inquest was held be fore James Crosbie, Esq., one of the coroners for the borough, on view of the body of Mr. William Clarkson, who met with • his death by the accidental firing of his fowling-piece, on Mon day, the 18th November last. Mr. Miles Makin ' an ironfounder, residin g Redman's place, Circus-street, deposed that he and the deceased were out shooting together at Fazakerley on the 18th ult. They perceived a bird. th,ceased took his gun from under his a ru, and was in the act of putting it in the full cock, when his thumb slipped, and the r ,a-un went off, lodging its contents in the right foot of deceased. Deceased immediately fell, and witness carried him on his back until he met two gentlemen in a gig, at Club Moor, one of whom was Mr. Bullen, the brewer. Mr. Bullen's friend then got out of the gig and walked, and Mr. Bullen carried him to Liverpool, to the Infirmary. Mr. Thomas Simon, house surgeon at the Liverpool Infir mary, spoke to the deceased being brought to that institution, and - stated that the gunshot wound was the cause of death, hav ing brought on a locked-jaw. lie died on Thursday night. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death." DEATH FROM SCALDING.-011 the same day an inquest was held on view of the body of William Peter Taylor, an infant about two years of age, who met with his death by a kettle of boiling water falling upon him. It appeared from the evidence of Margaret Elizabeth Taylor, the daughter of James Taylor, a bookkeeper, residing in Cheapside, that about five o'clock on Wednesday evening she was pouring out some water into the tea-pot from the kettle, and the deceased was standing on a small stool near her ; suddenly the deceased slipped from the stool, and Feb upon the arm of witness which then held the kettle. The kettle fell, and its contents were thrown over de ceased. Deceased was instantly stripped, and oils and other medicines applied to the parts scalded, but the injuries were of so severe a nature that the child died the next day. Mr. Thomas Whitley, a surgeon, said that the child was se verely scalded about the face, neck, anti chest He applied the requisite restoration's, but without effect, and from the injuries, he reuived death ensued.—Verdict, " Accidental death." DEATH BY DaowNlNG.—Another inquisition was taken be fore the same coroner on Friday, touching the death of Mr. Robert Sanderson, a commission agent residing in Liverpool, who was found drowned on the north shore under the following circumstances. Richard Rotherham, a labouring man,•employed by Mr. La tham in building the river wall along the north shore, stated that, on Thursday last he was at his work, opposite to Mr. Bul len's public-house, on the north shore, when he saw what ap peared to be a roan lying at low water-mark. He mentioned the circumstance to his fellow workmen, and they went toge ther to the spot, and found the deceased lying partly in the river and partly on the shore, quite dead. 'they examined his clothes and pockets, and found a key, snuff-box, haudkechicf, gloves, and some copper. Deceased was well dressed; they conveyed him to the dead-house in Chapel-street. • Mr. William Bowman, an ironfounder, stated that he knew the deceased, who carried on business as a commission-agent. He saw him alive on Tuesday last, but had not seen him since, until he saw his dead body in the dead-house.—Verdict, " Found drowned." THE EXTENSIVE RORBERY AT WIGAN. — In OUrlastStandard we alluded to a very extensive robbery committed at the house of Mr. Henry Donaldson, of Wigan, on Sunday, while the fa mily were at church, who had promissory notes and bills of ex change stolen therefrom, atnounting in value -to upwaids of £S,A), besides about eighty sovereigns, and other loose cash. A reward of £5O was offered for the discovery of the robbers, and the loss was advertised in the Hue (mu Cry, and several of the London papers, since which, we are happy to state, that the whole of the promissory notes and bills ut exchange have fortunately been recovered, having been found stuffed in a hole in the wall of a public-house brewery, in Wigan; of course the money stolen was not there likewise. Payment of the bilis was stopped, whit not being negotiable, were of no use to the thieves. No clue to their apprehension has yet been discovered. TIM Da.1:11.4. "A gentleman of Liverpool" has, it seems, Avritten a dra matic piet.e on the poler expedition. which rill be performed for the first time on Monday next at our theAtre, for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Baker. As an ev•elleut comedian, w hose genuine humour must always please, Raker is entitled to a good benefit without the advantitious aid of a opt , 7'iece; and we will not suppose that such a stimulant is nece' , Fary to excite the lovers of the drama to do .justice to his acknowlcdged merit. While on this subject, we have only further to observe that, touching things theatrical, our reader's will d,aoilless credit us when we say, that we have ever been disposed to do' equal justice to the profess,rs of the histrionic art. We see no reason for making a distinction between the heads of the profession, and those whose fate it is to fill more bumble stations; and in that spirit we give insertion to the following letter of "A Play- goer: "TO THE EDITOR OP TIP? LIVERPOOL STAND:IRD." " —By the hills diSplayed in the different shop-windows thoughout the town, I perceive that next Thursday is fixed for the benefit of Mr. Davies, one of the bi:l-deliverers of the Them re- Royal, and whom I consider worthy to be supported, and pro bably too poor to advertise; a few lines in your invalu..ble would give it greater publicity, and furwaid his euthta;uurs considerably. "If my sugyystion be attended to, (of which I almost feel confident,) it will greatly oblige yours, Ike. "A PLAY-GOER." THE NEW CORPORATIONS. The inhabitants of Stonehouse, the town that connects Ply mouth and Devouport, assembled last week "fur the purpose of considering the several provisions of the new charter bill." Captain Maurice, the gallant defender of Anbolt and the Diamond Rock, during the revolutionary war, "confessed th it it was his opinion they would be far less comfortable and happy, if incorporated, than they were at present !" Mr. Murch said that, according to calculations he had made, the bill would in volve them in an annual'expence of £5000; and wanted to know from what sources these funds were to come ? If called upon to give a guess, in answer to this question, we should reply —out Or the pockets of the people of Stonehouse. Mr. M. Hambly said, " They had lived in harmony for many sears. but he feared if they were incorporated, they should speedily experience a sad reverse." A resolution was agreed to, to the effect, " That this meeting► considers the proposed incorporation of the borough as highly prejudicial, &c. Sze." This New-Corporation-phobia seems to be on the increase.— If it be not checked, we should like to know what is to become of the Lord Harry's embryo Recorders and Deputy-Recorders Alas! they Lre too old and too big for chimney sweeps. ANTI:CAT-o'-NINE TAIL SOCIETY. During the past week two grand meetings have been:held in London, to organise a society for the abolition of the " torture" which gentlemen who enter his Majesty's army, navy, or jails, occasionally have to undergo;-for this society intends to throw its protecting shield over the backs of citizens as well as soldiers. Oue of these meetings was honoured with the presidency of a gentleman of great cockney renown, a Mr. Savage, who pro nounced flogging to be savage, barbarous, and all that. At both of these assemblies Mister ex-private Somerville, of the Scots Greys, the man " wot was flogged" and dm:tamed out of that regiment, described in glowing terms how exceedingly un pleasant a thing it is to be tied up to the halberts, and operate,l upon by the drum or trumpet-major's sa-tel-li-tes. Of the other speakers we know nothing, and therefore cannot positively take upon us to assert, although their speeches are reported at length in the True Sun, that either of them ever suffered this "degrad ing punishment" from the hands of Jack Ketch. It may be so, nevertheless. • We take it for granted that our readers are nut ignorant of this extraordinary fact, videlicit, that no soldier ever was flogged who was not innocent of the crime for which he was punished, and who did not possess all the delicate and refined sensibilities of a gentleman and a man of honour. To doubt this would be to doubt the truth of the glowing descriptions of Mister Somerville, as they were chronicled in Mr. Sheriff Har mer's Rogue's Register,'where the aforesaid patriotic soldier was held up to an admiring world as a poet, a scholar, and an eru dite critic on military matters. - Questionless the civil clients of the e worthy sheriff are likewise all " honourable men ;" and we therefore think it a trial too great even for his Roman virtue, after receiving their cash through the agency of his clerks or partners, (yti facit per cilium facit per se,) to be obliged, be cause they cannot persuade an ignorant and vulgar-minded jury, that a laudable curiosity to ascertain the average amount of floating capital carried about in purses or reticules is not theft; or, a prejudiced judge that picking pockets is not a ve nial indiscretion; to stand by and witness these grievous in. flictions iS—and, what is stilt worse, if his deputy the hangman should chance to havo any qualms of conscience about the lawfulness or inhumanity of the thing, the work must actually be performed by his own worshipful hands. The idea, the bare thought of an attorney stripping his clients, except in a regular and professional way, is quite horrible ! For all this we have a remedy ready cut and dried that will, we hope, satisfy all par ties. When an officer in the army or navy is found by a court.• martial guilty of an irregularity or minor breach of discipline, the sentence of the court is frequently promulgated in words to this effectL--"That he (the offender) be severely reprimanded ; and he is accordingly hereby reprimas , ded severely." Now, as flogging is never inflicted in his ➢Majesty's nav, army, or jails, on any but gentlemen of irreproachable characters and delicate nerves, we propose that in future courts-martial shall draw up their sentences thus :—" The court finds James Scapegallows (or Dick * Bully), guilty of all the offences laid to his •charge, and orders that he immediately receive one thousand lashes on his bare back, which thousand lashes are hereby inflicted upon him, &c., &c." Recorders and county magistrates, by adopting the same phraseology in their sentences, may flog in public or in private to their heart's content. There can be no doubt that the thing will " work well;" and we tecommeirl whoever may chance to be Secretary at War when the nest Mutiny Bill is brought for ward, to introduce a clause to effect this reform. After this, who will dare accuse us Tories of being anti-reformers? There is not a Radical, or even a Whig of the day, that ever proposed a reform half so good. THE ATTORNEY-AT-LAW versus THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR. Gratefully thankful we of the press ought to be to these learned persons for giving us something to enliven our readers with in this du!' and foggy quarter of the year, when we have generally little more to record than long gazettes and " Melan choly suicides." After returning our best thanks to these legal gladiators for entering the arena of the. Exchequer, where the " tug of war" was between men of equal renown, in the courts, we have to remark upon the extraordinary coincidences of the . case. In the first place, a Chancellor was obliged to descend three steps from his lofty pedestal to take up the glove of his assailant;—the high Chancellor had to be judged by an ex- Chancellor, and one of the witnesses brought against him was an ex-Chancellor, who, it appears, could not charge his me mory with ever having done unto any man a wrong such as the attorney complained if. But, in the name of all that is won derful, what could have induced Mr. Dices, about whom the 'least said is' the soonest mended," to select the Exchequer in preference to a superior court., where Queen Caroline's go-and sin-no-more advocate presides as lord of the ascendant ? We should like, moreover, to put the same questhin to the I r ifes siou generally, with this addition;—are law and equity nu where to be found but in the Exchequer, that you run in crowds to that place, where, but a short time since, a lawyer was as great a rarity as wit in a theatre, or honesty at court? Have-you - not, elsewhere, unthinking varieis! a cheap chief, who is content with eight instead of ten thousand a-year—the superior of either the Mansfields, Kenyons, Eilenboroughs, or Tenteruens of by gone days, when you were content to wait from term to term to let your clients know when they would be cleaned out. If you cockneys turn up your noses at Whig cheap lawyers, what are we provincials to do, who are threatened - with (Leap law—and nothing bit cheap law—to be administered b y the scrapings of Westminster-halt. It is hateful to our eyes, mis well as to those of our Whig contemporaries, to see the Old Sanguinary of Pt int., ing-housa-square, day after day, filled - with column following column of law reports,- heati&l Exciirtot ha or GI; Ays' H ALL. Pray, gentlemen attornies, consider that two thousand pounds a-year is a great deal of mummer saved imm these no-tax paying-times. It will go near to pay • Messrs. Hogg and Wil kinson for their Litmus here and - elsewhere,- end, should Peninsular or other war bieak out, it wank! help us at a pinch, and perhaps once more crown us victors at another Waterloo. Lawyers and clients ! take these timings into your consideration —divide your business a tittle—do not press-the Lord of Lynd hurst so hard lest he turn round by and by, and say, "Give me better wages; why should I, who do the most work,, receive the least pay? Give me the two thousand a-rear; is not the labours r worthy of his hire?" If this reasoning' ao not couyince both. lawyers and clients of the error of their ways, nothing that we can say will convince then, and we shall set them all down as redemptionless blockheads. At THE FIRST SERVANT OF TOR late !lonian Catholic dinner,. in Dublin, the health of William IV. was given under the complimentary title of " The Fast servant of the people." The •Whios, i t .m ust be remembered, fi rs t tievi atea from the practice of toasting the King s health a3s " Tho King," and substituted the canting phra,e " The first magis trate of the people." Our Sovereign has, however, d escen d e d a step lower in the eves of Ins Popish niasteis, for so they as sume to be, and is henceforward to be recognised as only —th e first servant of the people." How long his Majesty's services may be thought worthy to he retained, it is, perhaps, nut diffi cult to calculate, from our knowledge of the rate at which the kingly office has hitherto degraded.—Se!(,i,iun , ~, , Tun DIVORCE.—A certain gorgeous batunet, wile has been separated from his lady fur nearly foulteen years, recently sent his brother to Paris to collect evidence against his wife, iLienc!- ing to sue for a divorce. The brother had formerly been the friend of the lady, and in that. character had interfered ty arrange the deed of separation; but baying now become recoil - - cited to the baronet, he was suspecten by the wife, who, on his arrival in Paris, saluted him with--" So, sir, you are conic here to collect evidence, are you? —you shall have plenty." Then ringing the bell, she directed a servant to send up Master George. Upon which a handsome youth of fourteen years of age made his appearance, of whom neither the baronet or his brother had ever heard before. "There, sir," said the lady, "there is living evidence fur you! That boy was born in Eng land before the deed-of separation was signed, and is thcreiere the legitimate heir to the baronetcy." The surprise of the geu tleinan may be easily conceited.--Aye.