The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-08-02 00:00:00

be littnrrool Al-nbarb. FRIDAY NORNING, AUG UST 2, 1833. It Would appear by the following accounts from Oporto, t ha t Slarshal BOURMOST had made an attack upon that 'itY, and had for the present failed. The assault, how "er, it Will be seen, was expected to be renewed the nest day .: Falmouth, half-past two, a.m., Tuesday, July 30. wth rhe A frican stetaner arrived h ere a ve ry s h or t ti m e since, advises from Oporto to the afternoon of the 25th instant, Uti the morning of which d a y, at sun - r i se, a most d e t erm i ne d a ttack Was made on that city under the direction of Marshal Bourinont, and with such consummate skill, sustained by the the dalost determined bravery on the part of the troops, that little oubt *as entertained of the most complete success attending great exertions which were made by every one engaged. Pedroites, however, having the advantage of pretty good co ve ,. the , oi to 3 geth er - w i t h the intense heat of the weather, prevented tr ‘ o s of Dora Miguel from accomplishing their object, al though two-or three - times within an ace of a successful issue. 4arshal 13 ourMont, th ere f ore, d eeme d i t pru d ent to d raw o ff thhisatfiohyrcees, for the purp ose o f g i v i ng t h em t i me to , recru it, so might renew the a tt ac k on th e f o ll ow i ng mo rning, ;the they it was confidently expected that the Pedroites, what suf 'rerl an immense loss, would be compelled to yield to the su perior skill of the French General Admiral N ap i er was off the Bar of the Tagus with a consi qeahle naval force, but he did not, it seems, venture to enter river. A. report prevailed that St. Übes had fallen into the r a nds of th e P edroite party, but this seems to want confirma ," ; and such was the faithful disposition of the city of Lis "; that the major part of the troops had been dispatched against the Pedroite forces to the south of that city, who, it I °u1(1 a ppear, make but small progress towards the capital, " showitik that the i n h a bitants of Portugal generally are Perfectly indifferent as regards the contest now carrying on be tween the brothers. I , have omitt e d to state t h at t h e i n h a bi tants o f O por t o were i n a dreadful state of alarm, from a full conviction that Pedro could not withstand the skill, bravery, and determination of the Miguelites. , ro (ere was sharp skirmish in the House of Lords on of s(lay evening, in which his royal highness the Duke Sussr.x cut a very sorry figure. It is always reluc talitlY that we sp ea k di sparag i ng ly o f an y m ember of the ro y al family, but , on th e presen t occas i on, w h e n we per ceive the illustriou s d u k e se tti ng th e exam pl e of bringing she IC ING's name, the royal declarations, and the profes °lts of poor Lord G REY i n t o con t emp t , it i s ti me to take him, not by the nose, a-la-Jackson, but by the skirts, and p s uilli ito back into the seat of decorum. The Duke of eh csst x is never so muc h at h ome as w h e n he the air-- four feet b y th ree—a t th e F reem ason's Tavern,— the decanters i n hi s f ront, an d t h e t oas t -mas t er b e hind,— the. Win e in and the song up,—there, we confess, the duke th itt eq• But h e i s out o f hi s e l emen t i n th e R o use of te rd s , and he is quite at sea when lie assumes the gravity afa a stat esman. Lord G REY places his royal highness in it ver y irksom e an d unp l easan t position . when he calls 13°11 him to defend the measures of his MAJESTY'S mi. It will be recollected that when the news of Captain 41 "IER's victory ar r i ve d in England, Lord G REY took the earlie s t opportunity to pronounce an i n fl ate d eulo eli 1141 u p i on the bravery of that officer, which he concluded expressing his regret that circumstances had compelled e governme n t t o di sm i ss N APIER f rom hi s M AJESTY ' S service. In doing this the noble premier exposed him se lf - to a c h arge of inconsistency, in lauding an officer who had t °Penlv vi o l a t e d th e K ING ' S d ec l ar ation of strict neu trality. Th e D u k e o f S ussEx wen t still further than Lord GREY, and actually presided at a meeting called together for the purpose of extolling the merits of NA PIER, and rejoicing over the defeat which the Port u g uese ( eet had sustained from British valour, called into action b y French money. Had this been done by any of the It°elt-jobbing rogues who are interested in the contest, We should not have expreised any surprise or taken any notice of their conduct. But such conduct on the part of the brother of WILLIAM the FOURTH is, to say the least of it, in decent. His royal highness must have known that t he House of Lords had only a few Weeks previously ad dressed the crown on the subject, and had prayed his MAJEST Y to adopt such measures as should ensure the /strictest neutrality on the part of his MAJESTY'S subjects kith respect to the civil war raging in Portugal. The /Coro, on that occasion, informed the peers that he had determined to adopt and enforce the strict neutrality prayed for. deliver! We have always argued that masters had little to do with this affair, compared to the public at large. Why, if these demands are not resisted to tholast, the next thing will be, that no respectable individual will under take a contract, and our rail-roads, docks, and public edifices may be let to individuals unable to give bond for the execution of the work, and without the means of ad vancing a single week's wages—the idea is preposterous! A pretty fair estimate may be formed of the intentions of the trades' union, by the fact to which we slightly ad verted on Tuesday last. Mr. ORRELL, of Heaton Norris, a highly respectable gentleman, who had engaged with a bricklayer named BARLOW to erect him a factory, on finding that the trades' union subjected BARLOW to an annoyance in COns9finentze, which must have ruined him, actually released hitn from the contract, vainly supposing that by so doing he should satisfy the union. This con cession, however, emboldened them—first the brick layers, and next the hod carriers (who, it must be recol lected, are also in the union) ! turned out for an advance of wages ; and, after obtaining • it, fifty-two bricklayers and fifty labourers contrived to murder time by setting in the whole week thirty-seven thousand bricks, or about eight hundred each man, their conduct during that time being insubordinate and insulting beyond all description. The clerk of the works stated on oath that they had charged seven and a half days' time, and that they ought to have set the whole in one day. We have taken some pains to ascertain, from an intelligent and practical sur veyor in this town, how many bricks a man ought to set per diem, to earn his wages. He stated to us one thou sand, which he says is commonly, done, and which set about twelve square yards of brickwork. At the highest price given a man must set this number in a day to earn his own and labourer's wages, and yet we find, that in lieu of each man at Mr. ORRELLS'S factory having set seven thousand five hundred bricks in the seven and a half days, he had only set eight hundred, and . at advanced wages too ! One poor fellow, more conscientious than the rest, had got on a few courses before the others, when they threatened to flog him; and a great deal of their work was so bad that it has been necessary to pull it down altogether. We have been told since, by a gentleman from Man chester, that Mr. ORRELL has made another attempt to complete his factory, with no better success; and des pairing of completing it during the present fever, he has been obliged to cover it up, and there it stands half erected ; and he has determined that in that state it shall stand until the next winter has passed. We are glad to find, however, that. a breach has been made by four of Messrs. FOSTER and §TEWART'S men, who have quitted the bondage of the union and resumed their work. A few other cases have also occurred in this town, and no doubt many will be 'glad to avail themselves of the breach thus made. If the masters acted in the same spirit as the men, they would make theth pay by a reduction of their wages for the loss and inconvenience they have suffered; but the winter, which is.fast approaching, willbe the best punish ment. • Neutrality, indeed ! There never was a poor word so Misused; there never was a king's pledge so little re -BPected ; there never was a show of sincerity so beset with idle pretension and glaring duplicity. Ships were Etted out in the Thames—arms were supplied from Bir ntingrham—powder was procured from Dartford—the I :INTG's subjects were enlisted: in all parts of . the country, °Penly and undisguisedly, and commanded by British officers, in the receipt of British pay, for the notorious and avowed purpose of making war upon the de facto and .14 wful King of P or tu g al. A more fl agra nt violation of in ternational law never was committed. The KING'S de claration was treated with scorn by the KING'S of kers. • The armament sailed in defiance of our boasted neutrality, and it engaged Don MIGUEL'S fleet in the pre 3,e,nee of and a c t u ally s u rroun d e d by B r iti s h s hips of war. but th ese circumstances the victory was an easy one, I : v ut it was also an inglorious victory. The laurels t h ere o n were dyed in the blood of an unoffending people. It will for ever be signalised as a robbery and a murder .eonunitted on the high seas by British seamen. It was a I ti l lo re unwarrantable outrage than that done at Navarino. f act, Captain NAPIER was not only a mercenary, he 1 :a8 also a pirate. He was receiving British pay when e embarked, and for some time after he had embarked, 'n this piraticaf cruise. He and his crew were inspired, n o t by a l ove of fame or renown, but by a love of money, t do the robbery. The shirtless vagabonds who manned 118 fle e t f ought for money and the spoils of victory. Ho ilool*, bra very , patr i ot i sm , l oya l ty, h a d nothing to do with the enterprise. this was th e v i c tory which the D u k e o f S USSEX ex tolled, and th ese th e h eroes w h om h e h e ld up as examples , British seamen, and the more deserving in his muddy r 7e B , perh a p s , f rom th e ver y f ac t th a t th ey h a d openly s reg,arded th e so l e mn declarations of his mo s t grac i ous i l ' 4 •AJEsTy the King of England. It is extremely disgust ing to mark the pains which some men take to make themselves ridiculous. Many of the public works, and much that is private, are now put a stop to for this year; and as no person will be so foolish as to go on with new buildings now, the union will be whipped by its own rod; and if the parish officers should relieve any member of this union, brought to want by his own stupidity, we trust they will not complain if the inhabitants at large should object to any increase of the poors' rate. When men are unfortunate or oppressed, they are ob jects of commiseration; when they are fools and mad men, they ought to be confined ; when they are brought to want and poverty 'by their own stupid and rebellious conduct, they make themselves objects of universal con tempt, and the honest and industrious ought not to be taxed to relieve them. The bill is passed, and ten bishops are cut away at one slash, and rooted out of our national church as incum brances, cdionsin the eyes of the college of jesuits, the Visit hedge priests, and the honourable order of libera tors and repealers; This is.pretty well for a beginning. It has followed the' emancipation bill—the first healing measure—as rapidly as the most sanguine or sanguinary demagogue and agitator could have expected. The catholic hierarchy must be'delighted to . observe that the heretics of this stupid country—this "beast of a nation," as the ministerial journal calls it—are hurrying back to holy mother church with an alacrity which indicates an intense love of mimes and munimery—of wooden'saints, wax candles, and incense pots. The bible, as Mr. Benson of the Temple used to say, has been lifted in the tongs by the Irish priests and flung into. the fire. It is an offence against modern liberality to allow the word of GOD to be read in the public schools of Ireland. It has therefore been interdicted . by Act of Parliament. This is a part of thebeginning.. The.extinction of the bishops is a step further in advance. Put out the light first, and then smother the instructors, •is the maxim. Thelight is outtlie bishops are swamped—the mansions of the church will soon be' tenantless---the church itself will soon be in ruins, and then will come the reign of darkness, and the revival of the tyranny of the middle ages. It is impossible that the popular appetite for innova tion can rest satisfied with this plunder of the church in Ireland. Like the tiger that has once tasted blood, the priests will not be content with a limited number of vic tims and sacrifices. They will continue to howl on against all the institutions of the country ; and in this conviction we are anxious to know what is to be the next object of attack. The West Indies are irretrievably lost, and therefore there is no use in talking about them. There is nothing more in that quarter to pillage. The East Indies remain, it is true, but they are too far off for bombardment. It is clear that the jaws of the revo lutionary monster must be kept going, and we are anxious to learn who or what is to be his next prey. Our readers ma; , probably accuse us of paying more at tention to the subject of trades' unions than they really merit, and if it was only a local struggle now going on b etween the men and their masters, we should not have Placed it i n th e prom i nent view we have done. But ev ery fresh o ccas i on o f i n t e lli gence we receive, every stranger we converse with, and almost every journal we Peruse, convince us that these unions are as wide spread " they are dangerous,—arbitrary as they are insolent, and as insulting to common sense and decency as they . are destructive of every social compact. It is scarcely after a perusal of the infamous letters dic tated by the officers of these unions, and after being made acquainted with the real facts of the case, that there are persons found, who actually submit to the unions, succumb lo their demands, and employ their members. Now, coma personal knowledge of m an y more c i rcums t ances bonnected with the unions than we think fit As YET to lay efore th e public, we must say that whoever employs any an conoected with them is a traitor to his own interest, an enemy t o his ow n , family—to his own friends—to the w ell-being of society to the welfare of his country! Do ns not-their demands dest ro y a ll goo d f a ith ?D o th e y no t theythem not profess to ta e smash the man who dares to oppose and, at thi s moment, are they not clinging to bgether with a pertinacity almost astonishing, and in num ers truly alarmin g ? in w ork When it is known that every man contributes 35., and sometimes 4s. a-week to the r n neral fo o d ,—that other trades not connected with build g, such as ironfounders, sawyers, cabinet-makers, cot ,°4-sPinners, wool-combers, &c. are all aiding them for Po rpos es b est known to themselves, it must be seen that whoever employs an unionist is adding fuel to the flames Thof r ebellio n , an d causing a protraction of the struggle. , er e i s one important fact whi c h must not be overlooked n this case, and the public, and especially the trustees of Public bodies must take cognizance of it. for eight Will it be the fundholder ? What a mine of plunder >•67WA weeki hive inany . hun&eds of been walking about is in . that, one word ! Seven hundred and ninety. millions in a state - of idleness, and have been receiving 10s. a- of debt to pay off in a night is a task of far greater mag= week from the club . . As they are easily known in the nitude than the cleansing of the Augean stable. Six street, and as they are tolerably communicative to thPse years ago he would have been set down as a madman, who are not supposed to be engaged in building, we haVe who should have foretOld that ten Protestant bishops lately had (what any gentleman 'may have if he chooses) , would be abolished in 1833. Six years ago no ministry a good deal of conversation with them. We have been 1 would have dared to interdict the reading of the bible. surprised at the high tone assumed. They have told us Six years ago no man could have dreamt that we should that they get money in abundance, and that they can live have a House of Commons containing two hundred of upon 10s. a-week till next March, and that every man at the most ignorant and inexperienced legislators that ever work pays 3s. to 4s. to support those who are idle. Now it assembled in any convention, congress, or Parliament. has struekusforcibly that ifthesernen and their farniliescan Seeing, then, what has occurred in the short space of subsist upon Bs. a week, and that if men in every direction time above-mentioned, need we be surprised at the ap can spare 4s. a week as a subscription to the clubs, then prehensions which are entertained that innovations of a it must follow that there is neither the scarcity of employ- still more important nature are in contemplation and ment nor the actual misery in the country which are ge- . about to follow in the wake of that pernicious bill which nerally supposed; that the wages of the working classes, rece i ved the sanction of the peers on Tuesday last? The instead of being , too /ow, are positively too high. W e plunderer does not now leap over the fence, or steal in are not advocates for low wages—far from it : we like ,to at the window, under cloud of night. No ; he either see the artizan well, and liberally, and punctually paid ; walks in boldly at the door, or lie levels our ,walls and but as they are now showing the public upon how little fences with the ground, and commences the work of pil they can live, and how much . they can spare as a contri- lage in broad clay-light. The church is spoliated in this bution to the club funds, and still keep their families re- . manner; and what security has any other kind of pro spectably, they may depend upon it that, combine as they perty at the present moment which the church did not will, the public will i - risit their. present inconvenience upon also enjoy only a few years ago? The property of the the heads of those who, by madly combining, have caused Bank of England is not more secure than the church lauds it, and theywill visit it in the most efficacious manner,by belonging to the see of Waterford were six years ago ; refusing to pay high wages for the future, whil s t th e su- and what right have we to assume that bank property perabuudance is used against.their interests. We know will not.be confiscated in six years to come ? The inte well that all reasoning is vain with these club members, rest on the national debt is a heavy, and as some think a who form what is called the committee, who sit guzzling grievous and intolerable burthen. To think so, we fear at the Garrick's Head, or the George.ihe Fourth Tavern, f is, in these times, to will its removal and its extinction, arrayed in turbans, and bands with their*sentry parading by fair means if possible, but by any means rather than before the door with a drawn scimitar to keep the poor not at all. "The wish is father to the thought," as King and honest men from corning to see what these fellows Henry is made to say. It is time, therefore, for the fund are doing with their money ;. but we. recommend to the holder to keep a sharp look out. great body of thdse who are deluded to go no more near these pestilential haunts, but to leave the noisy brutes "alone in their glory," and we venture to predict that they, too, will quit when the.tap is stopped. Let no man think that by standing, of terms will ever be made with him.' Difference of rank - in -7 1de is natural, consequeritly it is providential,_ and canna be destroyed. The public are alive to the encroachments made upon their privileges, by being told that they are not to be allowed to lay out their money how and where they will. There is only another step, if this is acceded to, and that is—stand and A meeting of the burgesses and other inhabitants of Liverpool took place yesterday, at which resolutions were passed expressive of the gratitude of the meeting for the. able .and disinterested manner in which Mr. NiCuoL,• M.P. for Cardiff; and the nominee of the House of Com mons, conducted the defence of the vilified freeinen before the select committee appointed to inquire into alleged acts of bribery and corruption. On this occasion the large room at the Golden Lion was filled almost to.suffo cation, there not being present fewer than from ten to twelve hundred persons, consisting for the most part of tradesmen and operatives, but bringing together also, all animated with the subject, some of the most respectable and intelligent merchants, bankers, brokers, and private gentlemen to be found in this great and opulent town. A full report of the speeches and resolutions will be found elsewhere. It was finally agreed, in the most enthusi astic and unanimous manner, to enter into a public sub scription to enable the burgesses to testify their sense of Mr. Nicnoes services by presenting that gentleman with some more enduring acknowledgment than a simple vote of thanks. In another part of the paper will also be found the re- port of the select committee which has thus aroused pub lic indignation to a pitch which it has seldom reached in. Liverpo6l, and gave rase to the above meeting. That other meetings will follow we are more than confident. Energetic means must, without a moment's unnecessary delay, be had recourse to in order to administer an anti dote to that measure of injustice concocted by a faction, and sanctioned by a parliamentary committee, partially formed, and politically favourable to all those innova tions which mark the present times. The report recom mends, not the total 'disfranchisement of the freemen, for that would have been too barefaced—not the robbery of the corporation, for that would have been candid—not the disqualification of the poor from the privilege of voting at elections, for that would have divulged the secret ob-. ject of those aspiring liberals who estimate a man's use fulness by the weight of his purse, and the value of his brains by the amount of his Credulity :—no, the report does not, in set terms, recommend fraud, or plunder, or positive injustice; but it recommends the house " to in troduce a bill to restrict the franchises, and to alter the whole system of elections in. the borough, as well for members to sit in Parliament as for the municipal oh Reader,, mark 4he. mords, ‘..restrict the franchises." , What do these wordi mean ? The franc:rise at present is restricted to ten pound renters ; but do they mean to say that the qualification should be raised? Do the re porters complain of the three-and-tenpenny voters; and would they raise the franchise to £2O householders Their language is so loose and jesuitical that we defy any man to tell precisely what they mean. We are not quite sure if they know their own meaning. We shall assume, however, that they do not mean the £lO house holders, and, if this be the case, then it follows that they mean the freemen. In other words, they recommend the disfranchisement of the old constituency of Liverpool. These enlightened members of the reformed Parliament, —these huge sticklers for purity and liberality,—these Solons from Manchester and Aberdeen, weavers of sys tems and spinners of morals,—these select particles of the collective wisdom of the nation would restrict the franchise to the shopocracy, to the puritans of the gi n _ shop, to the new beer bill constituency, to the respectable venders of tripe and dogs' meat, and exclude every opera tive mechanic, and every industrious and well-disposed labourer in the united kingdom. Their recommendation amounts to this, or it is a tissue of nonsense from begin ning to end. It proposes to deprive the mechanic and labourer, being freemen, of their political rights, or its language is beyond all human comprehension. These men do not all live in houses rated at ten pounds. Some thousands of them inhabit houses of a lower rent, a n d these would be totally and for ever disfranchised if the recommendation of the committee were carried into effect. Now, was this the 'intention of the reform bill ? Was it for this that the working classes were induced to join the " base Whigs" in their yell against the Tories ? Was it to degrade the burgesses in towns that the brick_ bat system was devised, and a roar , l ike the breakin g up of a thousand icebergs, was raised from Kent to the. Orkney isles? It' was contended that that bill of reform would exclude the working classes. " No," said • the simpering Lord JOHN RUSSELL, " we preserve all th e present voters—we give the freemen a life rent vote —we only extend, we do not restrict the franchise." All this was believed, and it would have been held sound doctrine to the present hour had these free burgessess, these life rent voters, these working men, not turned their influ ence and their votes against the base Whigs and their servile dependants. This is the whole secret. The freemen had sufficient sense to perceive who were their real and who their pretended friends. Theylsoon became_ acquainted with the selfish intrigues and the heartless policy of the Whigs, and they voted against them ; and for this they will never be forgiven. But then, say our opponents, the freemen are venal and corrupt. We 'deny it, and call for the proofs. " Oh, look at the election for 1812," they respond, " and at other elections down to 1830." It is in vain that we retort that there is a difference bet Ween what Was done previous to, and what was done after the passing , of the reform bill. The freemen were corrupt, kind gentlemen, if you please, but that is no proof that they are corrupt. The same committee which recommends their disfran= chisement have already reported that at the last election for Liverpool bribery was neither extensive nor sys tema.tic,- nor general. In fact there was no bribery at all. Those witnessess who spoke of seeing bank notes and sOiereigns and other sums of money passing from one unknown hand to another would not be believed in Liverpool on any matter resting solely on their credibi lity. The committee were so sensible of this that they then, though never so well disposed, did not recommend disfranchisement at all, or any alteration whatever. This being the case, the ground of the present recom mendation is bribery of an old date—bribery committed by men, many of whom are dead—bribery with which a majority of the present burgesses are not mixed up, and are not tainted thereby. Here then begins the iniquity' The burgesses are to suffer for the delinquencies of :the dead. They are to suffer for the vices and corrupt prac tices of the very men who have originated these disgrace ' ful proseedings. Mr. HARVEY is one of the petitioners and expediency substituted by the friends of that church, to procure a temporary relief to its clergy from the pro longation of tlieit sufferings and vet this, and nothing short of it, we feel convinced, can have oporated upon the minds of many noble lords to sanction, by their votes, the first step to the eradication of the Protestant faith from the sister isle. God grant we may be mistaken in our views ; but expediency, as applied . in the 'present case, we fear menaces nothing less than such a consum mation. for disfranchisement, and he is proved to have been a wholesale agent of bribery. Eighteen hundred pounds, are admitted to have passed through his hands. Mr. EWART was guilty of bribery, and he is permitted to go unpunished. In fact, these men, after having encou raged bribery for years—after having made a trade of it —after being the shameless and unprincipled seducers — after playing the part of the fiend in the political Eden, they turn round as accusers, to betray those whom they Seduced, to expose those whom they tempted, to convict and condemn those whom they first corrupted and polluted. With respect to the invidious partiality of the select Committee, Mr. T.B. HORSFALL, at the meeting of yester day, remarked that the committee state in their report that bribery and corruption on the part of the freemen had been presented by the Grand Jury in 1827 as a nui sance, but they altogether, and most unpardonably, omit to state, continues Mr. HORSFALL, that the Grand Jury in 1833 presented the proceedings against the freemen, and the petitioners themselves, including RATHBONE, THORNELY, HARVEY, and Co., as a nuisance also! Of ha two, • the last nuisance was the worst. The same gentleman made some observations upon the conduct of Mr. EWART in this business, in which we entirely concur. Mr. EWART was guilty of bribery. There is not a shadow of a doubt upon this head. The recommendation of disfranchisement rests in a great measure upon Mr. EWART'S misdeameanours and political delinquencies. This being the case, any man of generous feelhigs, or unvitiated principles, or correct notions of honour or pro priety, would have clashed fearlessly into the midst of this factious combination and come to the rescue of the bur gessess whom he had assisted to corrupt and degrade. But Mr. EWART had not a soul for any thing so noble or generous. He stood by, a silent abettor of the prosecution. We do not accuse him of positive injustice, but we accuse him of negative cruelty. We do not affirm that he had a vote to condemn, we only assert that he had a vote to save. His conduct was not openly vindictive, it was only hypocritically mean and dastardly. What ! bribe ? bribe poor-men, and yet stand by and see them punished and degraded for accepting it ? Oh, -Mr Evart ! 13ut Mr. EWART is not the only hondurable member who has taken part in this conspiracy against the bur gesses of Liverpool with unclean hands'. There is Mr. BENETT himself, the patron saint of this inquiry—the foster parent of several committees—the ministering angel of political purity and integrity. What of Mr. BENETT, think you, curious reader? Read the speech of Mr. YATES, himself a sort of Whig, or what is more respectable, a sort of Radical, delivered at yesterday's meeting. Mr. YATES accuses Mr. BENETT of spending sixty thousand pounds in corrupting the electors of Wiltshire ; and yet Mr. BENETT is an honourable man, and pure as unsunned snow. If therefore the freemen of Liverpool be guilty, the electors of 'Wiltshire are equally guilty of bribery ; if the former are to be disfranchised, so must the latter. But these exceedingly pure gentlemen are all alike. There is one JOHN, WALTER, who spent forty thousand pounds in buying the suffrages of the electors of Berkshire. Is this to. be allowed to pass? Is it a crime no where but in Liverpool to give bribes? Mr. HUME, not many weeks ago, and in the House of Commons too, accused Sir FRANCIS BURDETT and his committee of having carried on a system of bribery in Westminster for' nearly twenty years. Are the electors of old Westminster to be spared ? When Sir J. KEY contested the Mayoralty of London with Sir P. LAURIE, the most open treating and bribery was carried on by the former; and are the li very of that den of corruption, London, to go scot free? In short, if past offences are to be raked up to substantiate a charge against any body of electors, there is not a borough nor a county in the whole kingdom which might not be convicted and disfranchised. This shows the folly of the present proceeding. The absurdity of it is laughable enough; but the animus of the men entrusted with the inquiry evinces something beyond either ignorance or folly ; it is downright tyranny, setting at defiance all the rules of law, and all the maxims of the constitution. They recommend - that the innocent should be puniihed for the sins of the guilty. After this it would not surprise us if a committee of re formers, with MARK PHILIPS, the Manchester statesman, at its Mead, were to recommend that all the descendants of the who witnessed the execution of StRAFPORD or Lord RUSSELL should be hanged at the Old Bailey. This article however is already too long, and we stop for the present. • Months ago we recorded our opinion, that the ques tions then at issue placed the union between Great Britain and Ireland in a situation of great. jeopardy.. Mr. O'CONNELL had given notice of motion di rectly to repeal . the union. His MAJESTY'S ministers had brought into Parliament the Irish Church Spoliation Bill. The question with us, then, was " whether we were to have the repeal of O'CONNELL Or of ministers." The wily representative of alt Ire'land soon found that, without the odium of the act, the game was playing most effectually into his hands, by those of the alternative. So it has proved in the result ; and once again we say, that, if the present bill, divested though it be of its worst features, become the law of 'the land, it can only become so by the violation of the KING'S oath; that violation 'being coincident with the rupture of the fourth and fifth articles, and the two supplementary arti cles of the 40th Geo. 111., c. 67, commonly called the "ACT of UNION;" which rupture of the leading articles of the union will, to all intents and purposes, whenever it may suit the purposes of faction so to construe it, be argued upon as tantamount to its repeal. Here we will leave the question. The bill must go back to the Commons for their acquiescence in the amendments made by the Lords. Should it happen that the lower house coincides in those amendments, the last stage in the upper house, the final words "That this bill do pass," Will place the whole issue on the oath of the KING. Upon this most delicate and solemn point we will make but one observation, and that shall be a repe tition of our words five months ago : "Whether the ministers of the crown sire or ale not pre pared to violate their own oaths, the future alone can tell us; we sincerely hope for the negative of this position. But we would intreat them, by all that is slue to their fellow-subjects and to the crown, to pause before they incur the awful respon sibility of placing their Sovereign in a situation, with the sole alternative before him of violating his oath—that solemn com pact between his God, himself, and his people—or of being again subjected to the revolutionary assaults of Political Union' rabbles." • Notwithstanding the pruning which it has undergone in committee, we still attach the title of Irish Church Spoliation to that Bill which was on Tuesday night read a third time in the House of Lords. How and why it has been permitted to go tliough the final stage in that much calumniated branch of the legislature will, perhaps, be best understood by a reference to the Duke of WEL LINGTON'S remarks on the subject. After protesting against the repeal of the assessment for church pur poses,—declaring his belief that the conspiracy against the church and its property, although not now manifested in overt acts of disturbance, by reason of the check im posed Upon the people in the provisions of the. Coercion Bill, still existed unsubdued,—and urging that many other objections of a serious character remained upon his mind, his Grace thus concluded his observations : That the latter would bestir themselves for the salvation of ministers from utter destruction we can no longer imagine; but not an iota of the responsibility of minis ters on the main question is thereby removed. On their heads be it—We wash our hands of every thing short of unqualified opposition to the course they have thought proper to pursue on this and many other questions. The Commons may give us the opportunity of rediscussing the question. From such a course, come how or when it may, we shall not shrink. GREAT MEETING OF THE LIIERPOOL FREEMEN. • Pursuant to a notice, placarde , l through th'e town of Liverpool, calling upon the Burgesses to hold a meeting for the purpose of expressing their gratitude to John Nichol, ESti4" Mal. for Car diff, for the great services he has rendered them 'in defending their rights and privileges before a Select: Committee of the House of Commons, a meeting was held yesterday' at the Golden Lion Inn, Dale-street. Immediately on the doors being opened, the room was filled to repletion, principally by the tradesmen, operatives, and poorer freemen, who evinced great anxiety to further, as far as their most cordial assent could do it ; the object of the meeting. There were in the room a considerable number of the leading.merchants, bankers, and gentlethen connected with Liverpool, who attended to support the resolutions ,and express their sentiments, without any reference to party or politics. On the motion of C. S. PARKER, Esq., seconded by JOHN FOSTER, Esq., JOHN Moss, Esq. was called on to preside over the meeting, and on his taking the chair, this gentleman was greeted with a long and loud cheer. In opening the business of the day, the chairman briefly informed the meeting that they were assembled to take into consideration the great services rendered to them by their intrepid advocate, Mr. Nichol, and on this subject, whatever difference of opinion might exist on the subject of politics, there could be no conflicting opinions; all who had seen the unwearied industry of the honourable and learned gentleman bore ample testimony to the value of his services, and to the ~r eat debt of gratitude that was due to him from the freemen of Liverpool. (Loud cheers.) Mr. THOMAS TOBIN then stepped forward, and proposed the first resolution :—" That in the opinion of this meeting, John Nichol, Esq., M. P. by his manly and generous conduct in coming forward to d;fend the Itkrgesses of Liverpool,_..on, the recentinquiry before a - Committee of the Hotise of COMniens; and by the persevering zeal and ability which he has displayed in their behalf, has justly merited the gratitude and admiration, not only.of those whose cause he so promptly espoused, but of the other inhabitants of this borough who are desirous of pre serving the ancient and important constituency." As soon as he had concluded reading the resolution, the meeting gave three rounds of applause. Mr. ALEXANDER SMITH, in seconding this resolution, said that be was oue.of those who had attended the committee of the " He could not but feel that this measure, in the variety of its details, was exceedingly injurious to the church, and he had ,p.o doubt whatever, that sooner or later some measure' must be proposed in order to relieve the church from some of the bur 7 dens imposed on it; but, notwithstanding that he highly disap .proved of these provisions, it was impossible for him, with the gpinion he entertained of the necessity of some measure of this description, to concur in any vote against the third reading of this bill. He could not avoid seeing the difficulty in which the church of Ireland was placed, and the more he considered it, the more he was convinced of the necessity of agreeing to this measure. It was quite clear that for some years the church of Ireland hail received no tithe. At this moment it depended on the government whether they were to receive any subsist ence or not. On the other hand, the Bishops had not received their fines, which formed two-thirds of the amount of their in come.. No church assessments were paid—none could he col lected; and, in fact, if something of this description was not done to relieve the church of Ireland from the difficulty in which it was placed, no church of Ireland would exist. With this prospect before his eyes, .and being thoroughly convinced of the facts, he did not think it his duty, as a member of the house, to object to the third reading of this bill. Their lordships would ask whether this measure was likely to give security and tran quillity to the church ? He did not take upon himself to an swer that question—it was impossible to say whether it would give security and tranquillity to the church. Of this he was cer tain, that, sooner or later, this measure must he altered for the benefit of the church. In the mean time, it would give the church a certain breathing time, and enable its ministers to continue their labours some time longer for the benefit and ad vantage of the country. Many noble lords contended that if this measure did not produce all the benefit contemplated from it, they ought to oppose it : his opinion was, that he ought to do that which would keep the church in existence." House of — Commons to disprove the infamous charges brought against the freemen of Liverpoal, and,could from personal ob servation bear ample testimony to Mr. Nichol's great and in defatigable services in their cause. (Cheers) On the resolution being read by the chairman, Mr. J. B. YATES addressed the meeting. He had only just heard of the placard that announced this meeting to thank Mr. Nichol for his able and disinterested services. Simply to do this was not doing all that they ought to do; for if they would preserve their birthright he would tell them that they must do a great deal more. (Cheers.) If a city were about to be stormed and ransacked, what Would be said of. the inhabitants, if, instead of resisting the enemy, and defending its towers and bulwarks as men, they basely and cowardly consented to open its gates? What would be said of them, (the freemen of Liverpool) if, in a crisis like the present, they quietly retired to their parlours, and supinely, ingloriouslyk, awaited the result ? (Loud and general cheering.) 'they were now called together to express their sense of the services .rendered them by Mr. Nichol—this meeting was called specifically for this object, but he would tell them that this was not the 151gEruNG that they ought to hold, for they ought to have'orie Vake measures in the general defence of their rights and privileges, and if such a meeting were not called, if they did not unite for that object, they would be like the son of trieliatriarch of old, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. (Cheers.) They had heard much of the corruption of Liverpool, 134 he, would ask their accusers, was this crime confined to Liverpootalone? Corrup tion no doubt had taken place here and elsewhere:. (A mecha nic at the lower end of the room exclaimed, " in Wiltshire for instance.".) Yes, (continued Mr. Yates,) in Wiltshire, where Mr. Benett„ their accuser, spent sixty, thousand pounds in one single contest for that county, and yet. Mr. Benett, the man who had thus corrupted electors in another place, was the man who still intended to bring forward a motion in the next session of Parliament for the disfranchisement - of his (Mr. Yates's) fel low-townsmen. 'There was no - one but must tea a deep sense We do not presume to question the sincerity of his Grace's attachment to the united church of England and Ireland—we know that he has fought earnestly for the protection and preservation of her rights—we concur in that part of his address which declares his conviction "that, sooner or later, this measure must be altered for the benefit of the church"—but .we must confess that, with these admissions, our opinions do not go the length of those which hedeelares influenced his vote for the third reading of the bill. It is doubtless a cruel case that the clergy of a branch of our national church should be re duced, by the criminal conduct of his Majesty's ministers and .others to a state of great Privation, and be dome dependent, for their actual soppoi t, in no small degree, on the contributiois which public in dignation against their oppressors has drawn from the purses of their friends as a general fund, or the more private but not less extensive aid of those whose neighbourhood brought under closer observation the suf ferings of that injured body. That sacrifices would gladly be made by every friend of the establishment to limit the extent and abridge the duration of those sufferings, is not questioned. But of what a disgraceful kind is that reproach upon the rulers of the country, which is justly brought down upon them by the conviction that they have tolerated, for so long a period of time, the most scandalous frauds and robberies of the property of the church, as to make it a matter of question, on the score of humanity, whether principle should not be sacrificed, of shame and humiliation at the recollection of the acts of bri• •- bery and corruption that had been practised here, but from whom did these practices emanate? Did they emanate from the freemen? (Cries of No !) In every instance it was the wealthier classes who had corrupted the poorer, whose poverty had been taken advantage of in the purchase of their votes. - Was there to be no forgive ness ? They read in scripture of the joy that pervaded Heaven over the repentant sinner as being greater than over ninety and nine just persons who needed no repentance. Since the elec tion of 1830, against which he had uniformly lifted up his voice and condemned both before Parliament and the court of Mayor and Bailiffs, since that period, he repeated, there had been no corruption.. He was a reformer, and - would yield to none in his wish for reform, both in Parliament and Corporations ; he there fore had a right to acknowledge, that since the passing of the reform bill the freemen of Liverpool had given evidence of their sincere determination to resist the a llurements of the wealthy, and he thought that they 'ought •to be left to Heaven and to those thorns which in their bosoms lodge to• prick and sting them. He had formerly given his opinion upon municipal matters at the Music 'Hall, and he thought that reforms were wanted in corporations (here he was interrupted by the Chairman, Mr. Thomas Tobin, and others, Who thought him out of order). The Chairman considered that he (Mr. Yates). was not in order, in adverting to the state of the corporation of Liverpool, (great confusion) but he considered himself perfectly so, as the investigation had, diverged into Municipal matters.. He thought the two questions should not he mixed together; and at a meeting at the Music-hall had expressed himself to that effect, and if his advice had been followed none of this would have happened. Corporations must be reformed altoge ther, and. although their corporation was the best, (laughter and cheers,) an investigation was then taking place before Parlia ment into all corporations, and it was nOt likely that a town of such importance as Liverpool would be left out ; then what was the use of their agitating the question when it would be taken up by the House of Commons? As to the borough it had al ready suffered sufficient punishment in the suspension of the writ. He wished here to observe the effect of the present state of things. The CHAIRMAN again reminded Mr. Yates that this meeting was held for a specific' purpose, and that ha was, in going into the general question, out of outer. A short conversation en sued, after which Mr. Yates resumed. If the object of the pe titioners, the disfranchisement of the freemen• of Liverpool, be carried into effect (a cry of "Do you'lltink ( it " ) it would be if the hurgesSes did not exert theiriselVeS and shew, that now, no bribery would be tolerated. The - effect of their dis franchisement would be to deprive the poor man of his all; silver and gold he could not be robbed of, because of these things he had none. Those who were the petitioners, and sought to de stroy them, were the householders,'Whb hadlirst corrupted and now sought to destroy them: and if • they Attained their object the guilty would be rewarded by an extension of the franchise taken from the poor but deluded freembn. Perhaps in the course he was pursuing he was giving satisfaction to no one (a laugh.) • He (Mr. Yates) had friends whom he highly valued that belonged to all parties, but he would use every effort in his power to support the burgesses in the maintenance of their just rights. The chairman had inform4d him that the disfranchis ing bill was put off till the next session. In the interim he would give his best services indefence of the burgesses, and, in conclusion, advised them to be nu the alert, and, in the language of Milton, told them that they must "Awake, arise, or be fir ever fallen." (Loud cheering.) Mr. T. B, HORSFALL said he had been called upon to move the next resolution, and he did so with tha most sincere plea sure, because he cordially participated in the feelings which animated this great community in testifying their grateful sense of the disinterested conduct of Mr. Nichol, who had come for ward as the nominee of our noble representative (Lord San- A UGtST 2, 1833. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. doll), to defend the burgesses of this town from the base—the unfounded calumnies which had been cast upon them. (Cheers.) Those alone who, like himself and mans- whom he saw around bite, had witnessed the able, zealous, and indefatigable exertions of Mr. Nichol, could form auv adequate idea of their eaten:. He (Mr. Nichol) had attended - all the meetings of the com mittee during this tedious awl- vindictiie investigation, and had watched over the interests of the burgesses with the most un slumbering anxiety—and lie (Mr. II.) should' wrong his own feelings—he should Wrong the cause in which they were engaged, and he should deeply wrong the inhabitants of this town, did he not give this public testimony to. the great exer tions of distin guished individuals. (Cheers.) If Mr. Nichol had not succeeded in obtaining all that could have been wished, it was not (coutinued Mr. II.) Leon want of zeal in. the undertaking—it was not from waist of ability to plead our cause—it was not for want of having nobly fotr4ht our battle, but for reasons which pitidence forbad hint to mention. Let any man in that room read the evidence which hail been adduced, and he felt perfectly con vinced, he never could conscientiously adopt the report which had beenpresented.hy .the committee. Fi e wou ld not trou bl e the meeting with going into the details of that report, but would content himself with • just adverting to two pests of it, which would sufficiently show the spirit in which it had been drawn up. The report stated, that the bribery was become se notorious that it was presented in open court as a nuisance in the year 1827. It was so presented. But, (continued Mr. H.) had - the committee, if they had wished to act with candour, no other presentment which they could have noticed ? He (Mr. H.) would tell them of a more recent presentment, which had been made so late as the present year; it was a p eessa t mee t,h y t h e Grand Jury, not for bribery, but of those very proceediegs which certain parties were now taking against the freeineal. - These proceedings were presented in open cowl not five or six years ago, but in the present year, and he knew that the presentment was placed in evidence before the committee of the Ilouse of Commons, y et suffered to remain unnoticed.. (Ch e e rs .) Th e other point to which he would allude was the statement " That the elections of Chief Magistrate frequently continue several days; and'according to the custom of the borough, when Sr. Luke's day falls on a Sunday, the election for Mayor commences on the morning of that day, and has been known to conti nue unt il twelve o'clock at night." Now be was sure every indiVidual in that large assembly would agree with him as to the. impropriety of the elections taking place on the Sunday, (Yes, yes,) alth oug h he understood that the charter of the town required it. Now the committee professed only to have enquired into the elections of the last ten years, but he held in his hand a document, of which they were welcome to the benefit, which went back for the last fifty y . ears, and he (Mr. Horsfall) positively asserted, in contradiction to the report, that there - had never been an instance during the whole of that period of any election having lasted on the Sunday until ten, twelve, or even till eight O'clock at night. (Cheers.) That during the whole of that period he believed there had hot been more than three contest* for the mayoralty on the Sunday, all of which were over in a few hours. (Cheers.) It was bad enough to be compelled by the law of the land to have elections on the Sunday at all, but he did hope that when such language of exaggeration was,pre sented in a report, some hon. member, wisuid pot be want ing to stigmatise it, as it deServed, as a fraud upon the house. (Cheers.) The statement that any election on the Sunday had lasted till twelve at night was most unfounded,—(an individual in the room said they meant Saturday night. Loud laughter.) The speech of Mr. Nichol had so ably gone into the evidence, and had so admirably laid bare the motives, the principles,. and the characters of the petitioners, that he (Mr. Horsfall) would not dwell upon it further than to say that it had most clearly proved, that, when corruption had existed it was not the humbler classeS of freemen who were most to blame, but those indivi duals who, if the disfranchisement bill were to pass, would still remain electors under the reform bill (cheers.) He could not tell how €hose who called themselves " the friends of the peo ple" could support such a bill—a bill so despotic, so unjust in principle, which would punish the poor and let the rich, who were the more, guilty of the two, remain unpunished. Ile could not tell how they would dare again to appear before their con stituents and still call themselves the friends of the people. (Cheers.) He had already stated that Mr. Nichol appeared on the committee as the nominee of Lord Sandon. He would beg to ask if they had but one representative in the House of Commons ? Where was Mr. 'Ewan? Where—when our rights, our privileges,' and our very existence, as freemen, was endane gored ? (Confusion and great cheering.) He' was seen in constant communication with Mr. Harvey, Mr. Rathhone, and Daniel O'Connell. (Great cheering.) He would not further trespass on the attention of the meeting, but trusted they would join hand and heart in carrying the resolution into effect. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Horsfall then moved "That the public thanks of this meeting be offered to that Honourable Gentleman for his valuable and distinguished services, and that some lasting tribute ief the esteem and gratitude of the Bur gesses and their friends .- be forthwith presented to him." Mr. Lowe briefly seconded the resolution, which was carried amidst great cheering. , Mr. SAMUEL Hotsia apologised for trespassing upon the time of the meeting on this occasion, and regretted that such an urgent call had been made upon hint when he saw so many in dividuals around him of greater influence and capability. But feeling deeply on this subject, he should be wanting in duty , both Co himself and the burgesses if he hesitated on e mome nt to obey the call made upon him. (Applause.) He was free to admit that on one or two occasions corruption did exist ; and he hesitated not to say that he deprecated as much as any man the principle of offering or taking a bribe. But he had been twice or thrice sent to London on this inquiry, and he had paid - great attention to the evidence of bribery given before the com mittee; and he felt bound to say that that evidence generally was such as any honest and independent jury would have thrown out with disdain. It was a well known fact that the in quiry was more directed against the corporation than the bur gesses. The corporation of this town were too well known to need any feeble efforts of his to be exerted on their behalf; but he would venture to ask the numerous individuals he saw around him whether its respectability or usefulness would be materially increased by the infusion of' such men as Messrs. Rathboue, Harvey, or \Vason. (Loud cheers.) Was it not Mr. Rathbone who so far forgot himself as to thrust. his head into the carriage of that old and faithful servant of the town, General Gascoyne, and offer a most un g entlemanly insult to a venerable and aged man? And could Mr. Harvey, who was spoken of as "the apostle of purity," go with a clear conscience into the House of Commons, and seek the disfranchisement of the freemen, when his own hands were yet filthy with the £lBOO which so lately passed through them in bribes ? (Cheers.) With what show of reason could these individuals seek to disfranchise men who have obtained their freedom since the last election ? And why . are the apprentices now faithfully serval.. their time to be included in the general sweep? (Cheers.) serving was the pride and the boast of this happy country - that the poorest individual in the land might rise by merit and intelligence to the highest offices of the state. (Loud cheers.) Was not Sir Robert Peel the son of a cotton spinner, and Was not his present exalted sta tion a source of credit to him ? And now that there was every probability of the East . India trade being- opened, who would venture to say that many of the children of the respectable in dividuals he saw around him might not, at some distant period, become merchants of influence and respectability, a hen an exemption from town dues might be of the greatest importance to them? (Great applause.) The resolution which he held in his hand was highly complimentary (and deservedly so) to Mr. Nichol. He had witnessed his diligence and assiduity, and if he wished to plate him in a stronger light before the burgesses, whose cause he had voluntarily espoused, (like the artist who uses a dark back-ground to give effect to the outline of a pro minent object,) he could hardly do so more effectually than by contrasting his conduct with that of the three individuals before named. It was not his desire to mix up politics with the objects of the present meeting, but he had looked- well to the conduct of one of their representatives when in London, and instead of find ing him in communication with Mr. Nichol as the friend of the burgesses, he regretted to say that he, at least, did not seem to be their friend on this occasion ; for his communications seemed to be generally confined to those whom, in consistency, he ought to have avoided. (Cheers.) But he had observed tfirough that those men who professed the greatest liberality. and were the staunchest advocates for it in theory, were always the most destitute of it in practice, and he could bear testimony to the truth of those well-known lines of the poet Cowper— " And who hut learns in riper years, • That man when smoothest he appears, Is most to be.suspected." (Loud cheers.) Mr. Holme then proposed the third resolution, and concluded by expressing his hope that, to make use of a well-known phrase, these would be made "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether," in the preservation of those rights which were as dear, as valuable, and of as much importance to the poor, as they were to the rich. (Loud and long-continued cheers.) Mr. ROBERT RUSSELL having had an opportunity of witness ing the skill, ability, and zeal of Mr. Nichol, in conducting their affairs in London, seconded the resolution with the great est pleasure; and he trusted that all whom he saw around hint would add their subscription, however small, as the object would be to show how generally the services of Mr. Nichol a ere app_roved of by a large majority of the inhabitants of this town. The CHAIRMAN then took the opportunity of stating that a large number of names would be a more giatitying compliment to the individual who had so elicited their approbation than the, richest present they could devise; after which he put the reso lution, which was unanimously carried. Mr. RICHARD DOBSON was requested to be the treasurer. Three cheers were then given for Mr. Nichol, after which three others were enthusiastically given for Lord Sandon and Sir Howard Douglas; and the thanks of the meeting were voted to the Chairman on the motion of Mr. John M`Canimon, seconded by Mr. Rd. Dewson, and carried by acclamation. STEAM BOAT ACCIDENT. On Monday last, Captain Burley, of the KM! Cre:na steam packet, of Waterford, was summoned before Sir-Thos.Brancker, at the Public-office, by Mr. Parry, the owner of the Seacombe steam-boat, in consequence of a serious injury which the latter received whilst passing over the river with a large partv l front the careless conduct of the persons in charge of the _Nora Greina, in not having any person on the look-out. The consequence was, that, notwithstanding every exertion on the part •of the captain of the Seacombe boat, she was run on board, and re ceived considerable damage in her bows. The captain of the Seacombe boat stated his case, which was corroborated - by ,a number of most respectable witnesses.' The Bench, after hear ing the evidence on both sides, awarded damages against Captain Burley - , of the Nora Creina, £1 Os. 10d. he damages in this and similar cases appear to us the least important part of the question ; for, according to the opinions of the parties on board the Scacombe boat, had-the Nora Creina struck her rnidships there would have been.little ch9xice of her surviving the shock. and a fearful loss 'of lite might have been the consequence. We believe that nearly every acc ident of this kind results from not having careful people on the look-out a-head while coining up the river. SWIFT PASSAGE BoATs.—For more than two years swift boats have. been employed upon the canals iu the neighbourhood of Glasgow, for the carriage of goods and passengers, with' complete success, and in March last the Lancaster Canal Company com menced running a Light Boat, upon the improved principle, between Preston and Lancaster. Ilk succeeded to their most sanguine expectations, and they haVe since staged boats of the same c onstruction, between Preston and Kendal ; the whole distance, which is 57 miles, is performed in seven hours (includ ing stoppages) with great ease and the most perfect safety.— We hear from good authority, that the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company, are making the necessary arrangements for the introduction of this cheap and delightful mode of travelling upon their canal, and we are informed that the Graud Junction and other Canal Companies ate preparing similar means of public accommodation, so that there is not the least doubt but that this system of conveyance for passengers will very soon be general upon all the principal canals in the kingdom. Orders have been issued for all unmarried Chelsea pensioners, under 45 years of age, to hold themselves in readiness to serve in the Coast Guard Revenue Establishment. Owing to the depressed state of their trade, the hackney-coach -owners, of London, it is said, mean to petition the legislature against people being . allowed to walk; assigning, as a reason, the probability of their being run over or knocked down by the cabs and omnibuses. The College of Surgeons, it is said, mean to present a counter petition. . . The General Steam-Navigation Company's mail-packet, the Columbine, from Ilamburgh, arrived off the Custom-house at ten o'clock a.m. on Monday,---nnes,