The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-03-01 00:00:00

Ebe Eiberpoot Otanbarb. FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 1, 1833. MR. EWART.—In the proceedings in the House of Commons, on Wednesday evening, we observe that "Mr. Ewart presented a petition from the shipowners and mer chants of Liverpool, complaining that a self•elected body, of forty-three s persons, had the controul of the property of the Corporation of Liverpool in lands and docks to the amount of upwards of £300,000 annually. The peti tioners prayed for inquiry and redress."—ln addition to the above extract, taken from the London Courier, Mr. Ewart, according to the Globe, says, " The Corporation had abused their power in various ways." Mr. En-art is sinking so fast into the mire, that we hardly think our readers will trouble . themselves about any Of his assertions. We take it for granted, however, that he had a petition to present, something to the pur port represented in these papers: Such being the case, we wish to know— Ist. Where this petition was signed—in Liverpool or London ? 2d. By whom it was signed—and how many signatures were attached to it ? We put these questions, because we know not one gentleman who ever heard of such a petition until it was noticed in the papers as having been presented—we put them because we have strong reason to suspect that the petition was got up and signed by certain individuals now in London—we put them because we do not believe that there were twenty signatures attached to the peti tion, either here or elsewhere. • With regard to Mr. Ewart's charge against the corpo ration of a breach of trust, for such is to be implied from what he is represented to have said in the House of Com mons, we do not think it worthy of further notice, than to beg that in whatever terms he may think proper to speak of the members of the corporation—whether he may call them rogues, thieves, vagabonds, or fools, he will be pleased to bear in mind that his own brother is one of them. . - DISFRANCHISEMENT PETITION I—ln our last Publica tion we had occasion to draw the attention of our readers to a petition which was then lying: for signature, against the disfranchisement of the freemen of this town. — We stated our conviction that that petition would be most numerously and respectably signed, and we have now the satisfaction of adding, that in little more than two days; it received no less than , 7461 signatures, of which 1392 were Bankers, Merchants; and Members of the learned professions.—The petition in favour of the disfranchisement, received only 3010 signatures after lying, we believe, nearly three weeks. In that petition it was broadly asserted that the freemen had voted at the late election under the direct temptation of bribery, or Some other equally corrupt influence.. The counter-peti tion with somewhat more of respectability to vouch for its statements, declares, that the • " petitioners have ob served with surprise and indignation, that a petition has been presented to the House of Commons from certain individuals in this borough, charging the burgesses with bribery and corruption at the last election. The peti tioners solemnly declare their belief, that the charge thus made against the burgesses is totally without foun dation, and has arisen from . feelings . of 'disappointment in the friends of the unsuccessful candidate, who have, since the said election, failed, notwithstanding much research, in procuring evidence to, ,support a petition, long threatened, but finally abandoned, against the re turn of one of the present members for this borough." — In addition to this pointed contradiction, the respective committees of Lord Sandon and . Sir ,Howard Douglas, have each addressed a petition to the House of Commons, begging to be examined on oath before a committee of the House, and have given the most. public and unquali fied denial to the charge of bribery. • Lord Sandon's committee, after denying the accusations, state " that they consider the abandonment' of the. intended petition against Lord Sandon's return, as a satisfactory proof of the FALSEHOOD of the charge." Sir Howard Douglas's committee speak even more strongly.—They say " that if the chargc,of bribery, is meant to apply, to them, it is RASE, INSIDIOUS, and FALSE." We. are Again tempted to refresh Mr. Thornely's memory,' by' quoting the words of his, valedictory address, and requesting some expla nation respecting them:—" I am assured . by my friends that cases of gross bribery can be substantiated." The counter-petition was forwarded to London on Tuesday evening, in the care of. William Heap Hutchinson, Esq. THE affairs of Holland and Belgium are at the present moment involved in some mystery. What between notes real, and notes supposed to be fictitious, the plot thickens. The ministerial journals inform us that Lord Palmerston has near}, brought his labours to a conclusion ; but whether, y this we are to understand that the noble lord is speedily to be ejected from the cabinet, or that Holland has at length accepted his terms, are queStions left to be solved by the ingenious inquirer, independent of any offi cial information on the subject. One thing is tolerably clear, namely, that there is no thing:in the last genuine note, signed Talleyrand and Palmerston, to warrant us in concluding that the settle ment of the matters in dispute is much nearer an amicable adjustment than they were before the siege. of Antwerp. We cannot see how the court of the Hague can entertain any proposals for a final arrangement, until the embargo is revoked, the plundered property restored to the Dutch Merchants, and the prisoners of peace, who are detained as prisoners of war in France, are set at liberty. These we consider to be insurmountable obstacles to all amicable negotiations of a final nature. These form the great mistake committed by the coercive powers. Their pacific war only involved them in deeper difficulties: They de stroyed the citadel of Antwerp for the sake of glory, and they closed the Scheldt for the sake of commerce. Bel gium was suffering fro m the stagnation of trade, and her loving allies proscribed the little trade that remained. Until the invasion of the Belgic territory by France, the commerce of Antwerp was uninterrupted, but after this it was entirely destroyed. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. Such blundering, when it shall be exposed in history, will be almost incredible. The King of the Netherlands was disposed to negotiate up to the last moment previous to the entrance of the French army. The coercive mea sures put an end to negotiation, and placed the parties in a new position, and one of far greater perplexity than be fore. The two conventional powers insist that the navi gation of the Scheldt shall be free ? , Holland refuses to entertain the proposition until her ships and soldiers are restored. She does not say that it shall not be free ; she only contends for the restoration of her property, unlaw fully detained, before she enters upon other propositions, and listens to fresh terms. If England and France yield, there is at once an end to the difficulty. If they are obstinate, relying upon their power, and pointing to their guns, then is this a quarrel of Might trampling upon right—of insolent dictators un influenced by the spirit of justice. If they..are obstinate, the war, or the peace, or whatever it is called, must be recommenced both by - sea and land. It is a hard case to see a brave and honourable nation not . only restrained from punishing and subduing its refractory subjects, but also compelled by foreign powers to submit to the unrighteous conditions of the rebels. Is it for justice ? is it for fame ? No, no ; there is' no equity in the case, and there is no honour in laurels won in an unjust cause. Why is Russia permitted to suppress rebellion in Po land, while England and France b.oast of being the rege nerators of Europe and the avengers of national wrongs ? Simply beimuse the power is only assumed, and the boast mere swagger. Russia was powerful, and took no coun sel from tile arrogant arbitrators of the west of Europe. She claimed the right to settle her own quarrels without their interference, and she did so most effectually. But Holland being comparatively weak, was more at the mercy of the regenerators. Fifty millions of people making war upon two millions is a . splendid instance of revolutionary heroism. It is like letting loose twentybull dogs upon one terrier. They can menace Holland, but they dare not whisper a word of remonstrance to theEm , peror of all the Russias. They can capture unarmed Dutch merchantmen upon the high seas, in the cause of the brave Belges ; but they have no sympathy, no con rageto spare in behalf of the suffering people of Poland. They can hunt the hare, but they dare not beard the lion in his den. They can make war upon such a small state as that of Portugal, and they can even condescend to the meanness of making this war by stealth, for the sake of their principles—they can connive at that which they are ashamed openly to avow—they can lend arms and assist adventurers in every pitiful contest where revolu tion is the object; but they have not the courage to carry their principles beyond the confines of perfect security, even in a just and a glorious cause. Such are England and France In the era of reform—assuming and arrogant enough, but any thing . but magnanimous! Every day renders it more obvious that ministers have undertaken far more than they have it in their power to perform. Hence the postponement, on Tuesday last, by Lord Althorp of his important motion on the tithe system of England to the 12th March. Hence, • also, the post ponement by Lord Colville, and at the request of minis ters, of his motion relative.to. the West Indies. - Ministers find that the affairs of Ireland,- seeing that a change has taken•place in public opinion within the last few days, will of themselves afford warm work for the next month, and perhaps eventually expel them from of fice altogether. The change to which we allude is this. It has been discovered by certain of their lukewarm ad herents, that the Irish suppression bill has been intro duced without any previous inquiry. They contend that such an act of arbitrary power, which places the life, li berty, and property of . every man, woman, and child in Ireland at the mercy . of a capricious. Lord Lieutenant and a few irresponsible officers of the army, should not be conceded except on the ground of urgent and imperious necessity. They further contend, that the necessity has not been proved, inasmuch as no parliamentary commit tee has been appointed to examine witnesses and report upon the evidence. The ministers have, in this case, done that which no ministry ever did before. They have satisfied themselves of the necessity, without calling for any formal or elaborate investigation, and they desire the aid of the legislature in suppressing .the disturbances, and restoring security by unconstitutional means. The hauteur of the Whigs is proverbial. They disdain doing that which the Tories, in their proudest days, would have been ashamed not to have done. They pay no regard to the sentiments . of Parliament ; but; trusting in their po- . pularity, which they cannot see• is sadly on the wane, they dethand extraordinary powers . without -being at the pains to establish an extraordinary necessity. • The question at is'sue is—we mean the question be tween them and their friends, for the Tories have nothing to do with it—the question is, are the ministerial allega tions concerning Ireland true ? The Irish members deny the fact. They insist that Ireland is not in the disturbed state which is represented. They confess to a few .hun dred murders, some thousands of acts of violence, some fifty or sixty riots about tithes, the existence of secret rebels, and bands of yet unsworn volunteers; but despite all this, they contend that Ireland is in as desirable a state of tranquillity as any honest patriot could wish, and that whoever asserts the contrary is a libeller of the First flower of the earth, and fiist gem of the sea. The confederated factions of Whigs, Liberals, and De structives, being thus at issue, Lord Althorp was com pelled to summon some 300 of them to the foreign office, on Tuesday last, in order to drill them, if possible, into better discipline and more passive obedience. The noble lord was pleased to inform these honourable members of the House of Commons, and who have hitherto been his supporters, that it was the determination of the govern ment to carry the Irish suppression bill with all its pro visions and powers untouched and unabrogated ; and that, if in this determination they should be opposed and de feated, they would, one and all, resign their offices. Cer tain modifications,. it is said, were proposed, to which Lord Althoip would not accede. It was also proposed, that the bill should be postponed for a few months in or der to enable a committee of the house to inquire into, and report upon, the facts ; but even this the noble lord would not agree to, and formally and solemnly repeated the resolution of ministers to resign if the powers they asked should be refused by the Commons. The meeting broke up without coming to any arrangement, and the consequence was, that Lord Althorp immediately went down to the house and postponed, as we have already stated, his motion which stood for that night, relative to his tithe commutation bill for England. There is, therefore, evidently what is classically called a cross, either in the cabinet or between the cabinet and its adherents. The Times newspaper, which sees how the wind blows pretty clearly, told the ministers the next morning, that if they did not consent to modify the bill, the sooner they resigned so much the better ! In some cir cles the administration is actually considered as at an end, and lists are handed round by certain speculators contain ing the names of those persons_ who are to compose the ne w cabinet, with Lord Brougham at its head, Sir Ro bert Peel Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Duke of Richmond Governor of Ireland. All this, however, we presume is premature. The Whigs are not exactly the sort of men to treat their ho nours, patronage, and salaries so lightly. But when a ministry begin to falter the trimmers are ever ready to desert them, if for no other purpose than to take credit for having ousted them, and on this to found their claims upon the new administration. But supposing the case to be otherwise, and - that the strained and cracked mate rials of the cabinet hold together for some time longer, still`this fear of falling will only induce the Irish mem bers, and the Hume and Tennyson party, to make greater efforts to kick them over the precipice. The Suppression bill, now that the Unions of Birmingham and London have declared against it, will be contested inch by inch in the House of Commons. There will be no lack of inge nuity, intrigue, vehemence, and agitation to protract and defeat its progress. Public meetings will be called to ring the changes without—motions for adjournment will sound upon the echoes within—and Lord Althorp will have more trouble in weathering the storm than any sea man experierree,d in the late hurricane. In short, we much fear that he will be compelled to press forward his Church Reform bill, before he is permitted to carry his pacification measure. .But this is not all. There is a secret source of annoy ance which the noble Chancellor of the Exchequer dreads much more than the opposition of O'Connell and of the furious harangues of the political unions. "The taxes ! are ominous words to Lord Althorp. He shudders at• the bare thought of unfolding the budget and exposing his necessities. He is called upon to repeal the house tax, - tlie window tax, the stamp tax, she soap tax, and we know not how many others, and yet, poor man, he has not a shilling to spare, —not an excuse to offer except po verty, and not a remedy to propound that will not be con sidered nearly as bad as the disease. The noble lord is certainly entitled to our commiseration. He has been placed in a situation for which nature, notwithstanding the labours of hii preceptor, has made him utterly incom petent. He is overwhelmed with promises, and the pledges of others, which he is unable to perform or re deem. The people were told that the first exertions of a reformed parliament would be devoted to redress griev ances, lighten the' pressure of the public burthens, ad just the inequality of taxation, and increase the comforts of the labouring classes. They must now see that they were either deceived by the ministers, arid the revolu tionary party, or that they deceived themselves. Wounded vanity is hard to bear. They are the dupes of their own credulity and ignorance; but the very consciousness of this will urge them to demand, in a louder tone, thoie re missions of taxation which the Government cannot af ford. tinder all these circumstances we shall be very much surprised if the present Ministers are in office this day month. BY the time our present number is in the hands of many of our subscribers, they will have learnt, from other sour ces, the details of the first discussions upon the " Irish disturbance suppression bill," in the House of Commons ; a bill which promises to be a bone of savage contention among the parties composing the present lower House of Parliament; and bids fair to call into action all those un usual practices (unusual, though certainly sanctioned by the forms and precedents of the house, when rigidly ex ercised) of calls, and divisions upon divisions, in every stage of its progress. With such a course we are, at least, threatened by the great " agitator ;" and that he should carry into execution any threat which does not involve da • his ngei to own person is perfectly and notoriously con sistent with the practice of his life. The tocsin has been sounded, and the battle has begun to rage. Whatever may be our opinion of the details of the pro posed measure, or of possible concealed motives among those which have led to its presentation, we apprehend it is needless for us.to say, that we are of the number of those who think prompt and energetic steps necessary for the suppression of those lawless and outrageous acts of which the sister island has, for so long a time, been per mitted to be the scene. Were we to speak out our senti ments more fully on this subject, we should state that, not only do we entertain that opinion, but that great crimi nality attaches to the general government, for not earlier taking decisive measures to check the evil—however in consistent such measures might have been with their pre vious general practice, of fomenting acts of a violent and dangerous character by. the ill-disposed part of the com munity, in furtherance of their own views of ambition, and for party purposes of no creditable kind. In declaring our conviction, that much of the evil with which we are threatened might have been averted, by the substitution, on the part of the ministers, of a timely dis play of just and prudent energy, for the weak dalliance which has been held with ruthless demagogues, as pallia tives—whether for their own or their country's sake is immaterial to the question—we are not disposed to ex empt from a large portion of blame, for the course pursued in, Ireland, that individual who, as the King's representa tive, is still, we fear, destined to administer whatever laws may be enacted for the government of that country. We cannot for a moment imagine that the noble Mar- Eice to bel I there 'he Wilma, rith them, tribes, Bahl each etler exits were 1 guess has, at heart, any thing short of the general of the United kingdoin ; and especially of that port it over wllich he presides. But fears will force then: upon our minds that, in the execution of the trusts io upon him, and in his personal character and conduct has been mixed up a considerable portion of weak much haste and indiscretion of manner, and, w hat more dangerous, too strong an inclination to suffe self to be guided, in the exercise of his official dot certain noble Lords, and reverend and other persol recorded acts of whose lives, as well of earlier as t times, determine them, in our judgment, to be littl fill the office of privy councillors. We fear the qt to which we have here adverted have laid the n oble guess too open to the influence of those wily advise objects other than the general good. The same influence, we have reason to believ been the primary cause of that weak and vacillatit hey which has been too appal ent in the public coil' another authority—we mean the Right Honourab cretary for Ireland. Thinking, as we do, highly attainments of that right honourable gentleman- - of him, we may say, from local consideration, countryman and one of the representatives of his county, we shall better shew our good feeling I c him by not glossing over his striking faults, (AI individual, than by bespattering him with indiscril' praise, in the manner of some of our contemp° The greatest official blunder which Mr. Stanley I' made, was'on that occasion when Mr. O'Connell,' raged by his own unresisted success, if not by ill nivance, or, perhaps, even the encouragement ministers, had fallen• into one of those traps for diaries which, fox-like, he thought he had been e° enough to evade; and when a verdict of " guilt)• recorded against him under one of the acts which I violated. To those who remember the firm and unwavering' ner in which the right hon. secretary declared it to res'blution of the government to bring Mr. O'Covi lel for judgment ; and who may have contrasted that ner with the shuffling, shifting course which succed that expressed determination,.consummated, as it sl Lord Grey's " conciliatory act"—the s ilk gow n 2 13 tent of precedence —to those in whose remedi these matters still linger,_ the subsequent con duct, e of Mr. O'Connell or of the government, cannot be c ' of great surprise. The right hon. Secretary near , that, on the occasion to which we allude, he was ruled by the determination of higher powers. 011, that he was so. But there was another act then ° t ' his own power, and over whi c h th ere was no cc itl o He might have resigned his office. Had he s° ~. when he was forced by his colleague s t o th e instill' of the abandonment of a plain and public duty, he s( have occupied a much higher station, than h e doesa t moment, in the estimation of his fellow countryme n ', If Mr. O'Connell, instead of being honoured ' cl patent of precedence, and brought, by virtue of hi s gown, within the Bar, had been a little further ad v , 3 in front of it, and placed upon the floor of the U there to have heard awarded against him that punish which his conduct had so richly me r it e d, the n l3 1 infallibity with which, in the eyes o f hi s d e l u ded f° ers, he is invested, would have been stripped frl ho alders ; and, thenceforward, i ns t ea d o f the de the law and the disturber of his country's pea° would have appeared before the world as neither! nor less than plain Daniel O'Connell, Barrister-a 0 —and the necessity for the present severe nieas d, coercion, the result chiefly of the weak, timid, ted ing, or worse policy, or imp o li c y, o f th e Govern would, in all probability, never have existed. DARING THlEF.—Robert Fitzgibbons was comui,,itit e l, trial for the impudent theft her eun de r d escr ib e d. D' i y) Parry, servant in the family of Mr. Myreer, in Falkne r i i was making some purchases at th e s h o p of Mr. Jac,o4 confectioner, in Berry-street, and w hil e tyi ng u p the ' laid her purse containing four h a lf- crowns , a shilling, pair of ear-rings, on the counter. Th e p risoner cute r shop and asked - the price of an orange, and b e i ng ansis e Miss Jackson, went out without buying anything, but re a 6/ in about a minute afterwards, he snat c h e d up the purse off with it. An alum was immediately made, and a geg passing at the time stopped the prison er i n S ee l-street , the purse in his possession. —,,e BIRTH. 0 1' . On Sunday last, the lady of William Woodhouse, Esq., park, of a daughter. MARRIED. 5 I"' ‘ On Tuesday, the 19th instant, at Manchester, Mr..TameAte Heron, merchant, of that town, to Caroline Emma, on ly (1 3 u the late Charles Lord, Esq., of the city . of New York. tol'V Same day, at Eccles, Thomas Harrison, Esq., of Bartow d leD Mary, eldest daughter of the late James Smith, Esq., of PO DIED. PI On Wednesday last, at his house, Edge-hill, deeply regret ted' vti the beloved wife of Thomas Mellor, l?sq. Jan lot On Sunday last, after a painful and protracted - illness, , , r , ~, Mr. James Judson, and only daughter of th e l a t e Ja mes Cart 0114 On Monday last, Mrs. Allen, relict of Mr. William All e n, o f rif square, poulterer. e-,, fo d Yesterday, at Altrindham, at the Rev. D. Whitles, arte ofigi" - illness, Sarah, the youngest daughter of the late Mr. GeOrgr - of this. town, aged 23. ,ill l3 ' 0- - f On the 26th December last, at T or t o li, i n the Island of the • the 40th year of his age, Lieut. J osep h Fl e tcher, form er ly i ,l hts to . Regt. and youngest son o f th e l a t e J ose ph Fletcher, E sq , o/ TO CORRESPONDENTS. Several communications, after being in type, are oecess postponed. Mercator in our next. r We thank A Subscriber, an d w ill t a k e an ear l y oPP°"ttt of referring to the letter he points out. W. M's poetry is received, but is not exactly suited to columns. The extract given in our paper of Tuesday last, relative tf o j American Indians, was taken from M r . Boardman'' " t entitled "America and the Americans," and not fro work of Mr. Stuart, as we stated. 141 T. G. is received—a press of matter precludes the inser— his letter. M. C's. order from Derby shall have our attention. a ji We shall be glad to see Tay if he will favour us w ith a c in the course of the day. Any communication from the Pigeon House will be a ccepta ble ' Felicitas came to hand too late for to-morrow's publication• A West Indian suggests, what we fear it is utterly odes; propose to the party he mentions, —we may probablY the placard to which he alludes in our next. LIVERPOOL ;—Printed on Tuesdays and Fridays, in Union Build! John Street, and Published at No. 7, high -street, SAMUEL FRANCEYB, Stationer, of No. 7, Anson-street. Ordef'f Advertisements are also received in London by Messrs. Ns & Co., Warwick-square, Newgate-street; And °' Fleet-street. It .../b 'v tail Lrtiel 1) th v • 'rice • Liak t 4. 1 ill th (i Ij4tie l '-v(!r thant toinpl For ,'ree t h 4 i ~ Le L;1 G U I 11