The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-01-08 00:00:00

A SQUALL ON THE AFRICAN COAST. We were progressing fairly in our work, when an en-:'' the shape of the elements began to appear. It was a bea starlightlnight, the moon shone brilliantly, the wind was , and the sea as smooth as a duck-pond: about ten o'cl" small black speck in the east soon extended - itself into an thunder-cloud; it seemed an instant only, and the whole ho was darkened—" The sky was changed; and such a ch. , The brightness of the night had passed away like a dream, a tornado was about to supply its place. We knew not the of the foe; but the cheering cry of Bear a hand, lads, the squall comes !" indicated too certainly the presages of officer's mind. It fell to my lot to be ordered to land, the po in the yawl, 'having as few hands only as were absolutely r site for the labour required. My orders were to place it i' empty house which the crew of the brig had inhabited; and ing that the darkening cloud increased apace, and was ra approaching, I was anxious to get clear of my charge, or at rate, to rea ch the shore before the squall burst. We had hundred yards to go, and scarcely had we "shoved off," • the forked lightning began to show itself in quick and flashes, while the loud roar of the thunder increased in fo it neared the ship. We had a tarpaulin in the boat to cove powder-barrels; but this was no security against the ligh The boat appeared not to move. No sooner did I look eager eye to the shore, than an anxious glance was cast at coming enemy; then would I double bank an oar, and pull tug with all my strength, whilst I cheered my little crew t , additional exertion. We landed the very moment the s burst. Heavens ! no poetical imagination could convey the ried and varied feelings of that moment! To secure the was our first endeavour, which we effected by placing her fi on the beach, and taking the painter to a neighbouring The trees groaned as the whirlwind whistled through the 1 , branches; and the rain fell, or rather came from the clouds, the force of water ejected from a fire engine. The long co nut bent like a bow its branchless trunk, surging about its 1, head in the storm; and the lightning, which flashed around n horribly quick succession, onh showed us the wreck of which surrounded us, leaving us in tenfold darkness. The s' which we saw through the momentary flame of fire, appear '' mass of ropes the yards were hanging in different directly the fierce wind swung her about with the ease that a crash moved; and the flash, which showed her broadside - on, would succeeded in the moment by another which showed her boo the shore. The instant lull, before the loud wind and ho roaring of the elements resumed their fury, only bore upon wings the confusion on board the ship and the brig;- and succeeding flash exhibited its own power, as it rent the mains mast from top to bottom : a prolonged existence of a mOmi:s light showed us the fishes of the mainmast rent from their i fastenings. The tithe elapsed 'since the commencement of squall was about ten minutes, when a calm, as tranquil a infant's sleep, succeeded the storm..The.sky assumed its fo serenity, the moon and stars again shone, and few could gine, who had not witnessed a hurricane, the desolation ruin of an African tornado. We imagined our miseries at end, and cheerfully resumed our labours. Delusive hope! soon, too soon, we found the evil had but commenced, and Fortune, already unkind, only smiled for the moment, to her frown more severely felt. In the mean time we availed ;elves of the calm. The negroes still worked at the pump, sun nautical term of "Spell oh !" gave way to some eleg word in the black vocabulary. A party of hands were emplo y ,o thrumb a sail—a process by which canvas is converted inf° nat; and this was intended to be hauled under the ship's bott o stop the leak, or at any rate to be so far sucked up into soles as to block up in some degree the unwelcome apertili t , the quarter-deck guns were transferred to the brig ; the vas made a little more snug aloft, and the launch despatcht vith ten men and a lieutenant to Sierra Leone, to desire v Itendance of anyman-of-war there, and to urge them to use $ ,ossible despatch in coming to our assistance. The powder 0 ' afely landed, and we returned to the ship as wet and as tired ain and labour could make us. Every man in the ship vi' arned to some use; the servants were taken from the lieutenol nd midshipmen, and all on board put their shoulders to v iheel in good earnest. . _ _ Our men worked hard and in silence; but the blacks sill ome of their outlariclish songs, as they laboured at the plus) nd kept the winches at a rapid rotatory movement. This slot ig soon gave way to fatigue; and from their surly looks a$ iiky dispositions we argued no very flattering degree of ob g ience, it they were at all oppressed by labour. Every thin as going on favourably : the different requisite works WO rogressing towards a termination, and we anticipated solo ours sleep, notwithstanding our misfortune. At one o'Clock in the morning, another black cloud showed it cad above the horizon, and soon spread its sable wings over a 6 hole sky. 'We knew what was coming, fast enough: the othe 3wer and sheet anchor were let go, the ropes alt properly be yed, for nothing can impede work more than wet ropes etq illy dabbing in one's face. The main-topmast, ortather rt reek, had been struck, and the fishes of the mainmast remove(' .e quarter-deck guns had been hoisted into the brig, and id done prodigies in the way of labour. The instant the sqn as observed, the brig was cast off; towed some small distant id 'well secured, as far as anchors could secure her; and ic ?.re soon prepared for the coming squall. It came howling an iistling in all the fury of the former one, accompanied by tb in t thunder, and the lightning; the wind moaned through ;ging, coming from all quarters at once, and heeling the shi st on one side, then the other, like boys on a see-saw. Tb icks, who seem rather partial to a squall on shore, began inifest considerable uneasiness when they heard the unusual ar of strange sounds; and it was with some difficulty and geo; violence that they were made to continue their work. led sullenly and silently, until a flash of lightning struck the ip, and ran along the decks. The fatal flash left three we ad at the pumps; the blacks hid their faces in their, handl d threw themselves on the deck, roaring and howling as illy as the wind, creating a confusion quite beyond descriptioP report that the lightning had gone through the ship bele° :asioned an instant search: the monotonous sound - o f tbg ter, as it bubbled through the leak forward, was audibl Pugh; but we could not trace any further damage, or discove r other mischief. During this interval the leak gained up( ) ; for the blacks disregarded all threats of punishment or 3 ' 'raises of reward: the removal of the dead operated like am ; it is quite "out of sight, out of mind" in Africa; so th e as forgot the danger in the removal of their friends, and' rt to work again. Our men were kept at work, as-many al sible, on the sail, and the rest were sent to their hammock° ;teal a few hours' sleep, for we had plenty to do, without inter sion, for at least a week. The squall passed over us, and le , he same calm and beautiful night which had preceded id ling. Day dawned, and what a sight presented. itself! N.,_" ger the dashing Arethusa , in all the trim neatness of a wer ered ship ! No longer the tall mast and the squared yarof, tight rope, and the man-of-war's appearance. She was altered in one night, as the face of a beauty after an attae*, mall-pox. A wreck — a palpable wreck; the crew jaded and pied; the blacks nearly exhausted; the rigging more like $ ;sian frigate's under repair, than the boasted neatness of ars ;fish man-of-war; around us a scene of desolation and dr ction, without a prospect of further assistance;. and with s$ ican sun rising, to scorch us into sickness and fever. Front shore, the ship's appearance was by no means flattering' mainmast was standing; but here and there were piece° by the lightning : the long fish in front of the mast woe gin the booms, with its end on the quarter-deck. It was $ t to humiliate any pride such, as Nelson felt when his fleet dispersed in a gale. One night had reduced us from the t powerful adversry the French had on that coast, to tb° lof the most insigificant cruiser. Alas ! our suffering' but begun, for hitherto the rain had kept us cool; but hest thirst, and sickness and feYer, were yet to follow up the dis; r; and theie is no calamity like a hot sun and a parched at whenfatigue and indisposition are to be endured. It wa s rss prognosticating misfortunes; it was the business of mol l officers to remedy what had befalen us. The sail was cal; 'd and placed under the bottom, and it afforded no snow.' ification to find it answered its purpose effectually: it so fal, ved he men, that the hand-pumps kept her free, and we go' f a great part of our black assistance: had they not been on d, the Arethusa would have sunk.—From the Life of a Sailor' r. STANLEY has removed from his residence in Whitehall' to the spacious mansion in Carlton-gardens, lately ° col' by the Count de Salis. The house heretofore tenanted lit fight honourable gentleman at Whitehall,' was not se' 'y capacious for his establishment. —Courier. LE REVENUE.—WC understand that the probable deficienel e Quarter's Revenue, as compared with the correspouden' wf the last year, will be about £250,000. The deficiency ;° ipally in the excise, owing to a large amount of cane which was received in the quarter ending sth Jan. 183 1 ; not in the present corresponding quarter. The custool materially improved, probably £200,000 on the, quart& of the taxes are deficient owing to an arrear of wile', which of course will add to the amount of a sub Sequel) In the stamps there is a trifling deficiency, but•tve ha! e n to believe that the receipt on the year, as compared wi th ear ending sth Jan. 1832, may possibly show animproc e , of £400,000. The prospects for the future aie i!pon 1 1 , flattering, and it must be remembered that as the ineresr . , A quarter was about £700,000, it was expected that so" :erbalancing deficiency would occur in the present one. CORRESPONDENCE. THE JAMAICA QUESTION. **! Although it is rather a violation of a rule generally re cognised by the public journals of this country—not to reprint a communication addressed to, and published in a particular paper—we yield to the wishes of friends whom we are anxious to oblige, in copying, from the Times, the following letter, on a subject in which our readers in general take a lively interest. TO THE EDITOR OF TILE TIMES. SlR,—Your paper is understood on many occasions to speak the opinions and the intentions of the Ministry, and, whether such be or be not the fact, it cannot be denied that many per sons implicitly follow in the wake of your political course. Knowing your power, it is not surprising that the West Indian colonists have read with alarm your journal of last Tuesday, which contains two articles on the subject of the difference be tween the Government and the Assembly of Jamaica. 1 who have had opportunities of being intimately informed on the proceedings of the Jamaica Legislature for more than 20 years, venture to offer a few remarks, which 1 hope will convince you that the Assembly have advanced no new pretensions in claim ing the right of internal government; nor have they stopped in the work of melioration, which alone can afford an excuse for the bitterest enemies of the planters to call on the imperial Parliament to interpose between them and their slaves. I will not now enter on the question of the omnipotence of Parlia ment; it is enough to express my fervent hope that the House of Commons will never set up a claim which will unite our West Indian and North American provinces in a bond of union on the broad and intelligible principle of resistance to a most extravagant and monstrous assumption of power, which can only end either in the reconquest of the colonies by force of arms, in their final separation from the empire, or in the pass ing of laws without machinery to give them effect,—laws which cannot be enforced, because to enforce them would be the de struction of all law. You assert, that the "difference between the Jamaica plan ters and the Governor is but the out-break of the unextin guished fire which smoulders beneath the whole surface of the West Indies." I agree with you that the colonists are at present, and have long been, in a miserable state of agitation and alarm. If your metaphoricallanguage has that meaning, I agree with you that the Assembly of Jamaica regards with suspicion, and, perhaps, with fear, every proceeding, both of the local and imperial Go vernment, that bears relation to their affairs. The Assembly has not heard without concern of the resolutions of 1823, of the subsequent adoption of those resolutions by the House of Lords, of the speeches of influential members of both branches of the Legislature, of the claim of interference set up, and of motions made in the Commons' House,—all having reference to the compulsory manumission of their slaves. No reasonable per son can be surprised that the colonists are terrified at the pros pect of being brought to trial before a tribunal that has already condemned them in the most unmeasured language. I beg to ask you if, amongst the vast crowd of enemies raised up against the colonies by self-interest, false humanity, and fanaticism, there is one to be found who has not resolved to believe, at the very starting-post, that West India slavery is an aggregation of unfeeling tyranny, persecution, and insult, on the one hand, and suffering, unhappiness, and hatred, on the other ? When slavery is spoken or thought of, the idea conjured up thereby is that of perpetual labour, lacerated backs, manacled limbs, whips, chains, and dungeons. So long as the English people believe their countrymen abroad to have laid aside all those feelings of humanity and justice which distinguish themselves, and to pass their lives in tormenting their fellow-creatures, so long will the West Indians refuse to acknowledge the repro sentatives in Parliament of this portion of the empire as the I l judges of their conduct and disposers of their lives and fortunes. I can inform you, Sir, of one obstacle which will for ever defeat the designs of our enemies, unless supported by a fleet and army, and possibly even then,—and that obstacle is, the feeling of not having deserved the infamy to which our country men think proper to condemn us. If it can be shown that the condition of the negro in Jamaica is a condition of ease and happiness hitherto unattainable by the labouring classes in any part of the world,—if it can be shown that he has been making progress to this state, even before 'the abolition of the slave trade, and that there is nothing to prevent his arrival, in the course of time, at perfect freedom,—and if, also, it can be shown that his premature emancipation will be equally injurious to himself, to his master, and to the nation, I trust you will admit that for these reasons, if for no other, it will be the safest way to leave the question in the hands' of the local Legislatures, Who have hitherto—for I confidently assert the fact—so success- L e , fully and humanely treated it. I know the value of your space, and that probably even this 'short essay will not be admitted. If, however, lam agreeably :liistaken, I shall proceed to adduce proofs innumerable of the truth of my statements. Before I could despatch this writing to your office, I have 1,11 den your paper of Saturday, containing the letter of " Marcus," ;tad your editorial comments thereon. It is true that 1 i. 1 Marcus" gives too wide an interpretation to the act of 1778. 1 e British Parliament by that act only abandoned the claim tO levy internal duties; but if the Imperial Parliament cannot tawfully take from the colonies a portion of their income, in the I , gape of taxes, how can it deprive them of the cultivators of their lands. If emancipation means anything except a mere change name, the negroes will have the choice of labour or idleness; they will certainly choose the latter, and the planters' lands ll return to their original forests. It never can be asserted that the self-denying ordinance of 1778, while it surrendered 4 e right of taking a small part, retained the power of dispos- 41 g of the whole of the colonists' possessions. if this mighty kd dangerous power be contended for, then, I say again, the I lispicion and jealousy of the designs of the tritish House of olarmons entertained by the Jamaica Assembly are well found- 1 and reasonable. I must be excused if I do not give much 'eight to " the most solemn resolutions of the House of Cora !or's," which you refer as sanctioning the claim of the British 4liament to omnipotence in colonial government. I cannot llow that the Commons are the best judges of their own rights, I ld especially when the case in which they assume to judge 1 : 1 s been already considered and decided by King, Lords, and l loamons.* L l ' Marcus," in reply to your statement that the Local Legis ‘tores would do nothing to raise the social condition of the l ikve, invites your attention to the proceedings of the Jamaica tislature. You refuse to afford a serious answer to your cor- Pondent's assumption, that Jamaica has spontaneously done ell to ameliorate the character of slavery, and you even , lent that a serious answer would appear ironical. You have , Iten on this matter lightly, and without your usual consider -4- It surely is a substantial boon to the slave that the right holding personal property is extended to him by law, and tfor small sums be can recover property by summary pro i,i; while for larger he may, in the name of his owner, be a ' 3l ' in the upper courts. However imperfect the protection fat this new law seems to give to the negro, yet it is a great tovement on the ancient system, and in practice, combined 0 4he customs of the colony, it effectually secures him from Ndeprived of his peculium. If, however, the law for guard- L 3. negro property is imperfect, the same charge cannot be t 7 .4 1. against the clause which admits his evidence in all courts, rkinal and civil. The negro slave may now accuse his mas t .„, 0 121 further support Lord Mulgrave's doctrine of the transcendent r of Parliament by referring to " the highest legal authorities." ~ &rune to request you to name these " highest legal authori .. 1 may consult thpn for the information on the subject 1 ter before a competent court; he is protected in his own person, and in the persons of his witnesses, before and during the trial; he can summon his fellow slaves on his behalf; and, in one word;those horrors which the anti-slavery people love to dwell on,—those tortures, lashings, and mutilations, which their ima ginations luxuriate in, have become as difficult to commit with out instant and exemplary punishment, as they are, or have ever been in well-governed and moral England. This amend ment in the law is not the fitting subject of irony ; but, permit me to say, of serious gratulation to all good men. The apprehension that you will not find room for this hasty dissertation obliges me to conclude here. I wil only add, that 1 desire nothing more than to be occasionally permitted to ex_ plain in your columns such portions of the conduct of the _ Assembly and people of Jamaica as may appear bigotted or ambiguous ; and I am certain that, humble as my labours are, I shall be enabled' to clear up many a misunderstanding, and allay many a heart-burning, which now threaten ruin to the colonies, and vast losses to the parent state. B. THE CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SlR,—The purpose of a religious establishment being to regulate the conduct of men in society, by adding the moral influence of religion, to the coercive influence of the temporal law, it is evident that compulsion is contrary to its very nature. Persuasion is its only lawful instrument. And here was the great mistake of former times. Men looking to the early parts of the Jewish history, when the Almighty was the temporal as well as the spiritual sovereign of his people, saw that idolatry and blasphemy were condemned to death, and persuaded them selves that heresy and schism might be punished by fire : or in later days, by the tender mercies of imprisonment and confis cation. Men of all persuasions thought this, Papists, Church men, and Puritans. Calvin caused Servetus to be burnt for heresy. During the reign of the Puritans, the use of the book of common prayer, even in private, was prohibited, under severe penalties; 7000 clergy were ejected from their benefices, for non-comformity, and nearly starved; and the toleration of episcopacy was declared to be the establishment of iniquity by law. The church of England shared in the general delusion, and her otherwise spotless garments were sullied with blood. Nothing could be more contrary to the spirit of christianity. The duty of a legislature is simply to provide its people with the means of religious instruction, leaving them at liberty to accept or reject it as they please. And how is this to be done ? By a body of men employed for the purpose. And how are they to be paid ? By a national tax no doubt, if necessary. But is not it unjust to make dissenters pay to the support of a religious institution from which they cannot derive any benefit? Not more unjust than to make them pay for the maintenance of roads and bridges over which they do not travel, or of public ornamental buildings and works of art which they do not see. " The legislature of every state," says the American Dr, Dwight, "has not only a right, but is obliged to pursue every lawful and expedient measure for the public welfare. To this great purpose religion in every country is not only useful but indispensable. But religion cannot exist without public worship ; as every man therefore ought willingly to contribute to the support of whatever increases his own prosperity, he is obliged to support religion, which, by increasing the common prosperity increases his own." I dont know that any thing need be added to the reasoning of this transatlantic republican, to prove, that when a legislature lays a tax for the support of religion, the people are as much bound to pay it, as they arc bound to pay any other. The legislature, which is supposed to represent the majority of property and intelligence in the country, is the supreme judge; and when this legislature has decided that a tax is expedient, it is, generally speaking, a duty of conscience to obey. A member of the Society of Friends, may, therefore, at least, as conscientiously pay to the support of a religious establishment, as he can to the pomp of a regal court, or the expences of a foreign war. In this country, however, this difficulty is obviated; the religious establishment is not supported by a tax, but by its own property, held by a title, antecedent to that of any estate in the kingdom. All the titheable estates in the kingdom have been subject to that payment from time immemorial ; their estimated value was deducted from the purchase-money in every sale, and is allowed for in every lease. Tithes were generally, if not universally, granted by the owners of the land; the patronage of the living remaining in the family that endowed it. The assertion—that one-third of these parochial tithes was reserved for the poor, and one-third for the fabric, is utterly groundless and untrue. Such being the case, I do not see how any man can gainsay the proposition of Dr. Chalmers, that tithes as a tax are a burthcn on no man. That by their means, the property of the nation has only descended to its present proprietors more diyided than it would otherwise have been; part being in pos session of public functionaries who do something for their money, instead of being wholly owned by men who in return have nothing to do, but to "eat, drink, and be merry." "This," says he, "is the real state of the alternative ; and when so viewed, we may fearlessly commit the question of our literary and ecclesiastical establishments to its trial." But' it will be said, if tithes are not a tax, surely church rates are. I am-not prepared to admit even this without qualifica tion. In the original endowments of families, the owner built the church ; appropriated the'tlebe and tithes to the support of the minister and the repair of the church, and charged the maintenance of the body of the church, with the other expences of public worship, upon the- tenants. Property has changed hands subject to this payment; and if it has been overlooked in the purchase-money, it has been so because it was too trifling to be valued. Suppose, however, that it is a tax, let us inquire into its amount. From a parliamentary return of this year, it would appear, that from Easter 1830, to Easter 1831, the churchwardens of England and Wales, spent in repairs of churches £248,125 165.; in organs, bells, &c. £41,710 155.; in books, wine, &c. £46,337 195.; in salaries to clerks, sextons, &c. £126,185 175.; and in fees, dinners, travelling expences, &c. £183,523 25.; total £645,883 9s. ; of this about £176,076 was front estates, pews, and other voluntary sources, reducing the compulsory rate to £469,812. The payments for bells will not probably be grudged by Dissenters, neither the substantial repairs of churches, as they would not wish to see our parish churches tumble down. Salaries to rectors and clerks could hardly be remitted, without a substitution of salaried officers, to register marriages, births, and funerals ; and if the dinners, fees, tra velling expences, organs, books, and wine, were abated, the compulsory rate might easily be reduced to nOO,OOO a yea:,— and if this were all the tax that the English Dissenters hadlo pay their proportion of, I dont think they need wish for the abolition of the church on pecuniary grounds alone. Let u s proceed to inquire how the church rate operates in Liverpool. It is sometimes three-halfpence, and never exceeds two-pence in the pound. When it is Three-halfpence, a rated ten-pound householder pays fifteen-pence a year; when it is two-pence, he pays one shilling and eight-pence. Of this larger sum about one fourth, or five-pence; goes to the clergy, in compensation be it observed for ancient.`' rights, which if they had not been sur rendered, would have greatly exceeded what is now paid. Part of the remainder is spent in hell-ringing, which is a sort of public amusement, and in providing cemetries and other requi sites for the decent burial of the poor. The rest ,is spent in keeping up the parish churches, and providing for the decorous celebration of the national worship, which latter expellees can ~~. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. hardly consume more than half of the whole ; and to which, therefore, the Dissenting ten-pound householder only pays about ten-pence a year. The tax, therefore, is not very grievous to be borne, and perhaps he need hardly contend for the aboli tion of the church establishment, for that reason alone. He derives, though not conscious of it, sufficient benefits from a national establishment for the religious education of the people, to reconcile him to.the payment of ten-pence or twenty-pence a year. Having considered the objections against religious estab lishments in general, I will consider in my next those which are urged against the church of England in particular.—Yours, &c. PRESBYTER. A RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL ST.INDARD. MR. EDITOR,-I have this moment heard that an unfortunate rencontre had taken place last week, between the publisher of your paper and the Editor of the Albion, attended by Mr. Thos. Bean, in which the unfortunate Editor of the Albion was shot dead upon the spot; but that Mr. Thos. Bean escaped with a slight wound. It is further reported, that the unfortunate Editor, in falling, caught hold of a twig of Birch, which proving rotten, he fell to the ground. I trust this is not correct, as in the words of a celebrated author, " I could have better spared a better man." . Do, Sir, if you please, in your next paper, ease the fears o f the public, who are, on this'occasion, in great alarm. Your's, very truly, QUIZ. *** We have great satisfaction in being able to Assure our Correspondent, that the result of the meeting in question, is not likely to prove fatal to the Editor of the Albion. We are given to undeista:nd, that the symptoms are highly favourable to the hope of his progressive improvement, and that we may shortly expect to find him much better.—En. Liverpool Standard. LIVERPOOL EPITHANY SESSIONS, 1833. Yesterday these Sessions commenced at the Court House, in Chapel-street, before the Worshipful the Mayor, CHARLES HORSFALL, Esq. the Bailiffs, Recorder, Aldermen, &c., of the Borough. The Calendar is rather lighter than usual at this season, the felonies foi trial amounting to 108, and the cases of assault and misdemeanour to only 27. The following gentlemen . were called on the Grand Jury, viz : J A MES COCKSHOTT, Esq. Foreman, Messrs. John Aspinall, Edward Ledward, Joseph Ackers, William .Lowe, George Aspinall, James Molyneux, Harwood Barnes, Robert Morris, It. Crosbie Dawson, William Mather, F. NV. H. Dawson, William Nevett, John Holmes, Thomas Stavert, H. W. 'Turd, Henry Robertson Sandbach, R. Houghton, jun. Charles Stubbs, Matthew Jee, ' Joseph Thompson, Lee Kidd, Richard Ward. and after they had been sworn, 1 he RECORDER proceeded to address them as follows: GENTLEMEN OF THE GRAND JURY Your labours at the present Session will not be heavier than usual, and nothing would have gratified the court more than to have found them considerably lighter. Nearly the whole of the crimes committed within this town are now brought under the cognizance of this court, and the alterations in the criminal code have greatly increased the business of the Sessions, both here and elsewhere. From a long and intimate knowledge of the care and attention you give to the cases which are brought before you, I am satis tied you can well be trusted with the increased responsibility which is now cast upon you, and were it possible to doubt this, I know of no other persons to whom it could be better con fided, either on the score of intelligence, or of high moral cha racter. It would be to practise a delusion, to hold out the least pros pect of a decrease of crime from any farther alteration, or, to speak in the language of the day, any amelioration of the criminal code. The amelioration must now be of those who owe obedience to' the Law. 'l'o check idleness and pauperism; to bring about an improvement in the morals, th e h a bit s a n d circumstances of the poor; to promote a love of order and stability; to discourage every doctrine which would dissolve or-weaken the obligations growing out of one of the most im portant relations in civil society—that of master and servant, — a relation which has, of late, been grievously disturbed; and crowning the whole of these endeavours, by promoting a sound and religious education (for any system of education which excludes religion is absolutely destructive,) will be found the safest means of overcoming evil. The crimes committed in this country limn, as you must know, one of its heaviest afflic tions, and, if we could materially lessen them, and the heavy burdens they entail upon property, it, would be such a relief as would indeed invigorate the whole country, and, by elevating its moral character, give it a very different aspeit from what. it now bears. The efforts of the next Parliament will, doubtless, be directed to this great business, and the last interesting reports respecting secondary punishments made the basis of future proceedings. This subject does nit belong to that class of 4uestions which may be safely delayed, or, perhaps, better laid aside altogether; it involves the hi g h es t considerations, and, as it affects the general happiness of the country, of which no good government will ever lose sight, I speak advisedly when I say it deserves the earliest consideration. As you may be well assured that no efforts will be left un tried, to give to this Town the benefits of a - vigilant Police ;. yet let me recommend the salutary precaution of leavin g a s little property as possible in the various Counting-houses of this great Town, for they will always, to a certain extent, be most exposed to the attacks of skilful depredators, some of whom are, at this season of the year, exercising their knowledge but too successfully, at the grievous expense of others. I feel it unnecessary to make any further observations. The following are the principal cases decided yesterday : John Murphet, 19, and James Hall, 17, for stealing money to the amount of £lO, from the counting-house of Mr. B. Bre therton, were sentenced to 14 years' transportation. Samuel Clarke , 26, for stealing fourteen fowls from the pre mises of Mr. Charles Lane, in Rake-lane, to be transported 14 years. Patrick Donolly, 35, for stealing six pigs, the property of Mr. John Brown, to be transported seven years. Wm. Edwards, 22, Grace Read,l9, and Jane Graham, 20, were found guilty of assaulting Was. Thomson, and stealing his hat. Edwards to be transported for life, and the two women for 14 years each. John Thomas, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge of having sto len 12 bushels of oats, from the warehouse of his employers, Messrs. Thomas Booth & Co. He had been nine years in their service, and was a favoured and confidential porter; but had been some time in the practice of robbing them before he was detected. To be transported for seven years. - - George Robinson, 19, was found guilty, of having,. in company with two otherrs, assaulted Wm. O'Brien, with au intend to rob him. Remanded for sentence. W,n. Laverty, 22, and his wife Hannah Laverty, 21, were in dicted for having stolen a truss of linen from the premises of Messrs. Watson & Pim. Hannah Laverty was acquitted, as it appeared that she acted jointly with her husband, and under his influence : the latter was found guilty, but . not sentenced. The KING is expected to open the reform Parliament in person. There is much speculation on this point.—Their Ma jesties having been pleased to invite his Excellency, Namik Pacha, ambassador extraordinary from the Ottoman court, to dinner on Friday at the Pavilion, his excellency, accompanied by his secretary and interpreter, with the Earl and Countess of Albemarle and Lord Palmerston, arrived. There were no apartments vacant at the palace with which they could be ac commodated. The dinner was served in the banquetting-room, where there was one table laid, extending nearly the whole length,, covered with a magnificent service of gold and silver plate, interspersed with candelebra. The company assembled in the drawing room, and on dinner being announced, their Majesties, accompanied by his excellency, led the way to the banquetting room, the band of the 3rd dragoon guards, who were stationed in an adjoining room, playing " God save the King" as the company passed.—The Queen entertained a large circle of fashionables in the evening, including most of the nobility and gentry of rank at present here. The company assembled in the grand music room. At twenty-five minutes to ten o'clock, her. Majesty, attired in a black velvet dress, richly embroidered with gold, with a splendid head-dress to correspond, entered the room, accompanied, by the ladies in waiting and the Lord Chamberlain, the band playing " God save the King," Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cumber land and Prince George continue in the enjoyment of gem], health at Hastings, • LOCAL. W. Tophanx Hobson, Esq. scholar of Corpus Christi College. has been appointed head master of the grammar school of Rochdale. ag ilmlvateee ndtunderstandi o fn LANCASHIRE tehreo D Robert James Shuttleworth, Esq., (eldest son of James Shut tleworth, Esq., of Barton Lodge), to a eaptaincy in the Ist re giment thatl eL Saturday .Lordship -l eft a r rived earlyt e t h o t t n i. the following morning. We are informed that a number of his Lordship's Liverpool friends went ont to see him on the left without their pernsission.—We think his Lo Sunday, and were saaly digappointed, when they found he had lucky escape. . rdship had a ROBBERY.—We are sorry to hear that the counting-house of Messrs. Thos. and J. D. Thornely, Goree, was broken open on Wednesday night last, and property to the amount of several hundred pounds, principally in Bank notes and bills, stolen therefrom. Amongst the money taken were a Bank-post bill for £2OO. We have not heard whether any clue has been obtained, likely to lead to the apprehension of the thieves. LIVERPOOL MEDICAL GAZETTE.—The first .number of a monthly publication, under the above title, has just made its appearance, edited by Dr. Hunter Lane. It 'is intended as a permanent record of the many highly important facts in medi cinefession for want of such a medium of communication in this and the collateral sciences, which are now lost to the pro district, and with the advantages which this town affords, it will reflect lasting disgrace on the resident practitioners if this pe riodical do not equal in ability . and interest either , o( the medical Tf i L:da MILI TI A.—Th e dr Lancas ter e that gao h r oa d in. Lieutenant has appointed journals heretofore published in London. EXTENSIVE THEFT AND FORTUNATE DISCOVERY.—VII Satur day se'nnight, Macvey, one of the Glasgow. cite porters, was employed by a man to convey a large trunk from a house in Broomielaw to the quarters of the Kirkintilloch carrier in Old Vennel. In consequence of the person who employed the porter having no more money than six ponce to pay the car riage, a quarrel arose betwixt them, and it' being whispered that the trunk contained dead bodies, a crowd was soon col lected, and the police attracted t o th e s p o t. Th e i n di v id ua l i n whose possession the trunk was, now attempted to make his escape, but he was seized and taken to the office along with the trunk. It' was afterwards discovered that there Was another large box at the Broomielaw, consigned to the same individual, which having also been brought to the police mike they were opened, but instead o f d ea d b o di es , t h ey were Lind to be crammed with silk shawls and scarfs, velvets, gros de Naples, silk stockings, satins, laces, and other valuable articles, the private marks being carefully effaced from all the parcels, and leaving little doubt that they had been stolen from some exten sive haberdashery warehouse in Liverpool, as it was known the trunks had been brought in a steamer from that place some dairs before. After consulting with a respectable dealer in town, who valued the_property . at no less than three hundred pounds sterling, Mr. Denovan immediately wrote to the Mayor of Liverpool, giving an account of the circumstance, and in two or three days one of the partners of the house of Messrs. Limbert and Son, silk-mercers in that city . arrived, and iden tified the whole of the property as belonging to . their house, and which had been feloniously abstracted therefrom. The fellow in whose possession the goods were found, turns out to be a hawker in Kirkintilloch; and it is alleged that he had a friend, who, having access to the establishment of Messrs. Lim bert, supplied him as an opportunity occurred, and certainty there could not have been a more convenient market for the travelling merchant laying in a stock of the new es t f as hi ons; and the public of Kirkintilloch would have been duly adver tised, that as " he had purchased the goods with cash at one of the first houses inEngland, he was enabled to dispose of them for ready money at 20 per cent. below prime cost."--Glasgowlierald. —The individual thus apprehended at Glasgow, turned out to be a person of the name of James Starke Horne, who lately worked, we believe, as a journeyman shoemaker, in this town. His brother, William Horne, was a shopman of Messrs. Lim bert's, and lived in the house. It would appear, that William secreted the goods, as opportunity offered, an d conveyed them to his brother, who, atter accumulating a handsome stock, amounting in value. at the lowest calculation to £3OO, set off with the goods, by one of the steam boats to Glasgow, where be was apprehended under the remarkable circumstances above detailed. The Mayor, on receiving the letter referred to, from the Glasgow police, handed it over to Mr. Parlour who insti tuted immediate inquiry. It was th en discovered tliat the pro perty had been stolen from Messrs. Limbert and Son, who, up is this time, were not aware that they had been victimized to so serious an extent. We understand that about six week's ago, they had begun to- entertain some slight suspicion of William Horne's honesty, and had observed to him that the silks disap peared very fast. Horne, however, attributed it to the rapidity of their sale, and thus for a tim e allayed their suspiciiins. Ou the arrival of the Glasgow letter, lie was immediately appre hended, and lodged in the Borough gaol, and on his trunk be ing searched by Turner, the officer, a quantity of gloves, and a pair of silk stockings were found, and a check book of the Sav ings' Bank, containing deposits to the amount of £l2, iu the• name of his brother. Mr. Limbert was at Leeds when the dit covery took place, but being written to, he set off f or Gl aseow, and identified the property. The prisoner at Gl asgow was Th en sent off to Liverpool, accompanied by an officer, Mr. Limber:, and the porter, as a witness. They arrived here by steam, on Thursday last, and both prisoner s w ere on Friday brought up before the Mayor, and underwent a long exam in a ti o n , _ which resulted in their being fully com m itt e d f or t r i a l . at the Borough Sessions, novelsolding. '1 he father of the pri so n ers res id es at Kirkintilloch, to which place James Starke Horne was proceed ing when he was so opportunely arrested. The stuff trade of Halifax and Bradford is not so lively as it has been, but the general opinion is, that more business is doing than is usual at this time of the year.—Halifax Guardian. The silk weaving of the ' different towns round Manchester was never known to be so brisk at Christmas before. Wages are very low; but there is an expectation of an advance in the spring.—Leeds Mercury. The Rev. R. Hardy, vicar of Stoughton, near Chichester, at his tithe-audit, returned, unsolicited, to his tenants, 25 per cent. BIRTHS. On Wednesday, the 26th ult., at a farm-house, Beckenham, Kent, on the Bromley road, a poor woman, named French, aged about 33, was safely delivered of two girls and a boy. The mother and her trio progeny are all alive, with every prospect of doing well, inasmuch as the charity (query, curiosity ?) of their opulent neighbours has them to pay many a visit at the house, and they rarely de part without leaving some substantial memorial behind them. On Christmas Eve, the wife of Mr. R. Lander, the celebrated Afri. can traveller, of a son. On the 3d instant, the lady of the Rev. J.H. Stafford, of a daughter. MARRIED. On the 2d instant, at St. Luke's Church, Mr. Samuel Robinson, of Manchester, to Mrs. Sarah Haguenir, of this town. On the 2d instant, at the Church of St. George, Hanover-square, the Hon. Captain Hope, to Miss Charlotte Tollemache, daughter of Adniiral and Lady Tollemache. There were prekent at the cere mony the Countess of Aldborough, Lady Emily Stratford, Mr. and Mrs. De Burg, &c. On the 27th ult., at Backford Church, Major Lee Porcher Towns.. hend, of the 49th Regiment, eldest son of Edward V. Townshend, Esq., of Wincham Hall, Cheshire, to Emma Johanna, eldest daugh ter of Lieut.-General Clegg, of Backford On the 25th Ult., at Blackburn, Mr. Charles Tiplady, printer and bookseller, to Miss Heaton, both of Blackburn. On the 27th of October, at Pernambucco, .by Henry Cowper. Esq., H.B.M. Consul, Mr. James Halliday, of Manchester,late of Halifax, to Senora Victoria St. George, daughter of Signor Antonia St. George. late of Lisbon. , On Thursday last, at St. John the Baptist's Church, Mr. John Owen, currier, of this town, to Miss Sarad Bradley, of Cambridge. DIED. On Saturday, the sth instant, after a lingering illness, deeply re gretted, Anne, the much-beloved wife of Mr. Richard Griffith, broker, Brownlow-street. On Sunday last, in Hamilton-square, Birkenhead, Mrs. 'Woodward, wife of Robert Woodward, Esq., merchant, and sister t o th e l a t e T . Jay, Esq., Derndale , Herefords - hire. Lately, at the advanced age of 103 years, John Harding, one of the members of the True Blue Beneficial Society, in Chester, who has received from three to ,four hundrd pounds out of the society's funds. Last week, at Slindon, Mrs. Wilcox, in the 103 d year of her age. She has, through the long period of her existence, practised the art of midwife; and it is calculated, that she haS attended the birth of more than five thousand fellow-creatures. She retained her facuties, but slightly impaired, to the last.—Brigbfon Herald. On the 25th ult., at Wrightington, near Wigan, Mr, Thomas Mtn. som, joiner and builder, aged 80; a man universally respected by all who knew him. He was carried to his last earthly tenement by his four sons, and has left 160 descendants. _ On the 24th ult., at his resignee, Bruce Grove, Tottenham, after a protracted illness, the Rev,George Whitfield, aged 79 ; upwards of 50 years connected with Wesleyan Methodism. He was, at one time, the travelling compaction of Mr. Wesley. On the 23d ult„ suddonly, Mr, Thomas Robinson, Haymarket, aged 39, universally respected, On the 13th ult.., at ANT - est Cottingham, near York, aged 69 the Rev, Joseph Mitchinson, of pre-ersinent talents as a preacher of the Gos pel, formerly curate of - Long Preston, in Craven. Murclerodby pirates, off Idramayo; on the coast of Java, on the nightiot the 26th of March last, on his way from the shore to his ship, the Alexander, Captain Wm. Henry Browne, eldest son of Mr. Wm, Browne, formerly of this town, aged 26. Lately, Sir Charles Macdonald Lockhart, brother to Lady Foulis. Ingleby Manor, Yorkshire.