The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-05-07 00:00:00

COMMITTAL OF THE REV, On Monday the R Wiley, were b charged with us terrify Doll)] Wiley. The fc T. D. GREGG T. D. Gregg, William and Thomas e magistrates of Dublin, ;e, so as to alarm and ulting Ruth Hanna t bofor be nature of tl A letter, by t ,and I sutra under thi and the other t age, who t fanaticism, no They came to to how they sl person order She was in ti had been so sue( their vile anti-CI her to feel an in wish f a visit with the u after some sho her tender age guardians held suc received as an inn] House, on Geor you the anguish and r which this discovery a Fficiently exp: RIGHT 1.31., on the late illig City NI by two gentlemen —One was the brother, lady of sixteen years of from her family—other- utnbug, of error and rn our country e, and advise with me as It appears that the young r mother, a widow' lady inploying popish servants, and these instilling into her daughter's mind principles, that they first of all led to popish ell or, and secondly, to lonastic life. Having been on ntioned, she was missed ; and s discovered that, notwithstanding horrence in which all her natural tions of darkness, she had been ) the Convent, Nunnery, or Loretto I cannot 'Clescribe to the grief and indignation with her connex'ons—being all Pro- testants. On my advice, armed with the authority of the young lady's mother, we proceeded to the convent, and after some delay, the superioress and another elderly person drew near with much air, great state, and in full pontificalibus. 1 think it right that the public should be put in possession of the sort of priestcraft which, in these places, blinds the eyes and bewitches the souls of the simple. Nothing can be more dramatic or imposing than the dress of these kidnappers — the hood, the veil, the lappet, the holy cross, the holy beads, and other trumpery to keep up the idea of superhuman piety, are all in requisition. We very unceremoniously informed the popish pair that we had come to remove Miss W from that synagogue of satan, as it was contrary to the wish of her friends that she should be brought up a votary of anti christ and of the devil. This plain language threw the mother abbess into a violent passion; she broke out into a Billings gate abuse of me, and solemnly denied that the young lady was on the premises at all, although the servant a few mi nutes before stated the contrary. We charged the lie home upon her, and peremptorily demanded the surrender of her victim. To make a long story short, she was at length forth coming ; her brother whom we had left to communicate with _ _ the young lady alone ing herself warranter' he constrained het and she was brougli her to renounce the 'ler disposed to remain ;' but feel landate of her natural gOardian, 'bode of fanaticism, Here I besought herself to the church Le' street achir of the devil, which the popish church is. The infuriated mob, however, wrested her from the arms of her brother, and reconsigned her to the tender mercies of the mother ab bess and her companions ! I was furiously assailed by the multitude, several times struck, and pelted with stones and a' la I rode were broken, and mud ; t the carman, under the pretence of further danger to his ve hicle, discharged me into the midst of my assailants. The police displayed the most philosophic indifference to the dan gers of the moment, and were not of the slightest service in repressing tumult. Ido not think it proper to detain you by a lengthened recital of all the particulars of the affair, and so hasten to a few observations. " I.—ls it to be wondered at that the simple Protestant should be drawn aside from the truth of her religion, when she sees popery countenanced as it is in high places? Idol temples rear themselves in all directions ; idol priests are the favourite guests at state banquets ; idol bishops the bishops of antichrist, are treated as brethren, and taken into councils of the bishops of Christ ; they regulate the educa tion of the people; they are pensioned as bishops of Christ in our colonies ; their subordinates are viewed as ministers of religion ; idolatrous judges crowd the bench, and idolatrous magistrates dispense the laws ; in fact idolatry is treated as religion, and the apostacy of antichrist recognised as a form of Christianity. I repeat, is it to be wondered at that our simple people should join the ranks of an apostate church so countenanced and upheld ? Not in the least. If the popish church were not the church of antichrist, the Protestants of Ireland would do right to join it. When, then, any of our rulers and our nobles treat it as a Christian church, they are guilty of the blood of the souls whom their unfaithfulness causes to be seduced, and will be held responsible for the heavy curse which the spread of idolatry entails upon the land. 9 ,-.—ls it not a monstrous evil that those sinks of supersti tion, the monastries and the nunneries, should be suffered to increase and multiply without hindrance given—that no ef fort should be made by the state to counteract their progress ? Why have not a board of commissioners to cry them down? Why not state proclamations to expose their true character? Why not insist on their doors being always open for the pub lic to walk in, and the inmates to walk out ? Is it proper to permit the existence at all of dark receptacles, in which to stow away the kidnapped children of Protestant parents against their consent ? " 3.—ls it not a solemn mockery, a contemptible humbug, to employ a popish police to protect the lives and persons of Protestants? Where were the popish policemen yesterday, when hundreds of infuriated people wrested a young girl from her own brother and consigned her to a popish bas tile ? When they crowded round and assaulted me ? The police generally congregate in numbers at the slightest con tention in the streets—here, when thousands, perhaps, were collected, two policemen alone made their appearance, and they did not act. The Protestants of Ireland are prettily served when the powers of the state are so used as to facili tate the seduction of their children to popery ; and when their own persons are given up to the tender mercies of popish bigotry, with no other protection than that afforded by popish policemen. It must be admitted that we have fallen upon evil times. It is at the w the attention of the ish of the friends of the party that I call Protestant public to this afflicting case I am, brethren, your most hum- T. D. GREGG. of wrong and aggre Me servant in Ch " Dublin, Ma I have iust seen the account of this affair given in the Morning Register and Freeman's Journal. They are both mixed up with gross falsehoods. That I told the mother abbess that her church was of the devil, her house the syna gogue of satan, and her proceeding, in allowing a young • • creature to abondon h Trent's home, most infamous, is true—to have said any thing less than this would have been to compromise truth. But she suffered no violence at our hands, as may be conjectured, although the repeated lies she told, stating that the young lady was not in the place, excited our indignation." _ _ Severtil witnesses were then called, who attributed lan guage and conduct to Mr. Gregg, which he emphatically de nied, and declared himself incapable of using. The bench, however, decided that each party should give bail in his own recognizance of £2O. Mr. Gregg then stated that he would not enter into any recognizance, and that he had been found guilty because there was an idolatrous judge upon the bench. Dr. Kelly said that they could not suffer such an insult upon their brother magistrate, (Mr. Duffy,) and they therefore called upon Mr. Gregg to give security to keep the peace towards Mr. Duffy. Mr. Cregg, however, said he would prefer going to prison to entering into any recogniza: , ce: He was glad of the opportunity of hearing testimony to the fact that a popish magistrate should not be allowed to sit upon the bench. Mr. Gregg was then committed to Richmond Bridewell, being told that he could obtain his discharge the moment he entered into the recognizance. The Messrs. Wiley complied with the decision of the magistrates, and were, of course, li berated. CHINA, INDIA, AND EGI PT (From the Times of yesterday.) By an extraordinary express, in anticipation of the over land mail, we were enabled yesterday (Wednesday) to lay before the public, in an early second edition, the heads of the intelligence, which we repeat at greater length to-day. The dates of our despatches are, from Macao to the 12th of February, Calcutta to the 27th of March, Bombay to the Ist, and Alexandria to the 2nd of April. The news, although not of striking interest, is of high importance. The leading points are China, the Punjaub, Affghanistan, Persia, and the Provinces of Scinde. The state of Persia is alarming. The present schah is The intelligence from China, reaching to the 12th of Fe bruary, represents Captain Elliot and Keshen as continuing their negotiations, but private accounts state that the Chi nese authorities, from the emperor downwards, were not dis posed to act with sincerity. Captain Elliot has ordered pos session to be taken of Hongkong, in her Majesty's name. Troops are to be sent off from Bombay immediately to take their station on that island. Great fears continue to prevail lest all Keshen's negotiations should turn out to be mere humbug. The commodore still refused to allow the trade of foreigners with Canton, as the blockade has not been de clared removed. In the Punjaub all Is confusion, for the soldiers are masters under their mock rajah, Shere Singh. The European offi cers are detained there by force. The Governor-General of India is preparing a large force on the frontiers ; for it ap pears merely a question of time whether the British army is to enter that country. The season is now too far advanced ; so that it is probable nothing will be done until October. The commander-in-chief of the Bengal presidency is about to go to the north-west provinces; but it is not known if it be to take the command of the army on its going into Lahore. The Ranee, widow of Kurruk Singh, had her paramour murdered before her eyes. She was wounded in the attempt to save him. The settlement of Affghanistan is progressing, notwith standing various petty conflicts. Schah Soojah, like other politicians, is looking out for future prospects. While some describe him as anxious to get rid of his foreign auxiliaries, there are others who fancy that he is desirous of again annex ing the Pesbawur to his dominions—a highly peobable event in case the British authorities interfere in the concerns of the Sikhs. Peshawur is considered as necessary for the con solidation of the Affghan monarchy. Two British officers— viz., Captain Douglas and Lieutenant Pigou, were killed in one of the actions. The British authorities in the midst of all the struggle do not neglect making preparations for futurity. Attock will, it is said, be speedily fortified, and also the mountain passes of Kyher, the Bolan, and Gundawa. The news from Khiva is satisfactory. Captain Conolly. who was surprised to hear the Khan expatiate on the British expedition against China, has gone to Kokhan, in order to make peace between the go vernments of Khiva and Kokhan. British influence will thereby become considerable in Central Asia, and even from the north we shall soon control the King of Bokhara. The British agents, Abbott and Shakespeare, who have gone to St. Petersburgh, via Orenburg, will be able to give correct statements about these important countries, as well as the probabilities of the movements of the Russians in that direc tion. Nothing appears to be feared now from their approach there. delicate health, and is incapable of managing his troops, who are unruly from want of pay. Russia has guaranteed the succession to the throne ; and, notwithstanding, two of the schah's uncles are ready to dispute it with his children and with each other, one of them is stationed near Bagdad, and the other on the frontiers of Affghanistan. Considerable anxiety has arisen respecting the proceedings of Yar Mahomed at Herat. This crafty vizier, who governs that country for his besotted chief, Kamrana, being eager to get a large sum of money, persuaded Major Todd, the British agent, that the Persians were going to attack Herat. H e sent a mission to Meshed. Major Todd being alarmed, and after having excited alarm by his reports in India, got leave to retire in all haste to Ghirisk, whence he entered into a parley with Yar Mahomed, who seized all the friends of the British and put theta to the torture in order to force them t o surrender their money. Major T odd's negotiations and his fears have called down the displeasure of Lord Auckland, who has displaced that officer, and sent him to do forward in n it i h his regiment. Preparations are, howeve r, g oin g order to teach Yar Mahomed that his tricks will not avail him. The Bombay army in Scinde has made a partial movement into the provinces around Quotta. Five thousand have passed through the Bolan, and four thousand remain in the Scinde provinces. In a late attack on the fort of Selobee, belong ing to the Kujjuks, the folly of despising the enemy cost the lives of three European officers and of fifty sepovs. The officers were Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson and Lieutenants Shaw and Falconer. Notwithstanding this event, the paci fication of the hill tribes of Beloochistain is advancing. The Murrees and other tribes have come in, and willingly made terms under the care of Captain Brown, well known for the Elie Etherpool atlanbarb. FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 7, 1841 We received at a late hour last night papers from Jamaica to the 31st March, and from Guiana to the 22d March. It will be perceived that our space is pre occupied, or we would have given the intelligence con tained in the papers. No mention is made of the President; but, according to Captain Fayrer's calcula tion, she could not have reached any of the West India Islands prior to the departure of the packet on the 31st March. Lord Melbourne has described the consequences of opening the corn question in parliament in a manner so racy and terse that the warmest friend of his coun try's peace could desire nothing better. The picture was drawn last year, when his lordship was in a fa vourable position and state of mind for doing justice to the task. The question was then attempted to be agitated by a third party; and the Premier, acting and speaking in the capacity of an impartial umpire, de clared, " that whether the object was to have a fixed duty, or a diminution of the present ascending and descending scale, he saw clearly and distinctly that that object would not be carried without a most violent struggle (hear, hear) without causing much ill blood, and a deep sense of grievance —(hear, hear) — without stirring society to its foundations (hear, hear)—and leaving behind every sort of bitterness and animosity—(hear, hear)—and he did not think that the advantages to be gained by the change were worth the evils of the struggle, by which, they might depend on it, the change could alone be effected. (Hear, hear.)" Such was the tableau sketched by his lordship last year, when his interest seemed to consist in telling the truth; but this year another string has to be pulled, and the same noble lord, standing as chief showman, will, doubtless, tell us to look to the right, and then to the left—to the foreground, and the back—and behold the very reverse of all this : instead of a " violent con-. test," just an amicable rivalry to see who will be first in offices of kindness ; instead of " society stirred to its foundations," society gently refreshed by a health ful agitation ; and, instead of " bitterness or animosity left behind," nothing, in fact, remaining, but affection and esteem between the adverse parties that win and lose—between those who suffer and those who inflict the suffering—the conquerers and the conquered. Nobody doubts his lordship's ability at that inesti mable and profitable game which men call humbug ; but he labours at present, unfortunately for himself and party, under the disadvantage of being suspected. The cry of " black-leg " has gone forth; and we are inclined to think that, with all his admirable skill in taking in the soft-horns, he stands just now in a pre dicament out of which he will find it indeed very diffi cult to escape. The corn-bill is the newest humbug, and is taken up for the benefit of the English mob—that which was raised touching a f 5 franchise specially for the Irish being worn out and duly shelved. It will beremarked that our scientific ministry, like all " adepts," live not upon the strength of - what they have done, or are do ing, but upon something that remains behind, and which they are to do - when time and opportunity shall concur in their favour. Thus they came into office under pretence of carrying a certain appropriation of church property, and the pretence served their purpose extremely well; but, having got into power, no other appropriation seemed to give them any concern, but the due appropriation of the emoluments of office to their own use and khoof. They at last coolly aban- late gallant defence of Kah(th, and whose gooVluct has gained the confidence of evenlhis enemies. In the interior of India tranquillity prevails. The late hostile tnovementat Napaunee, in the Carnatic, was speedily put down. In Birmah Tharawaddie still pursues his system of horrors at home, but has made no attempt at attacking his neigh bours on the frontiers. expedition - against China, There has - been a strong sensation produced in Bombay by the proprietors of two newspapers being summoned before the Supreme Court for having committed " contempts." The case is still pending. It arose out of the judges having criticised the conduct of some merchants. The British pub lic at home is likely to gain from the discussion, as the com mission now levied on the arrangement of the properties of deceased persons in India will be much reduced. Divested of the extraneous matter, the whole case is one of money : opinions vary as to the results, for some will have it that the judge is to be removed in order to please the newspapers and merchants, but the natives and the great mass of the inha bitants, who have nothing to lose or gain by the matter, sup port the conit, as tending to distribute justice without pre judice or fear to all classes. THEATRE-ROYAL, LIVERPOOL Under the Management of Mr. CLARKE, Sole Lessee THE PERFORMANCES THIS EVENING, AND DURING THE SUMMER SEASON, WILL COMMENCE AT HALF-PAST SEVEN.—DOORS TO BE UPENED AT SEVEN. FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. CHAS. KEAN, And the Last Night of the Engagement of Mr. CHARLES KEAN and Mrs. WARNER, of the Theatres Royal, Drury-lane and Haymarket. PHIS present FRIDAY, the 7th inst., will be performed the first Four Acts of Shakspeare's Flay of THE MERCHANT OF VES'ICE. Shylock Mr. Charles Kean. Portia Bassanio .... Mr. H. 8011. I Lorenzo.. Mr. G. Horncastle. Launcelot Gobbo.. Mr. Baker. I Jessica .. Miss E. Honner. To conclude with the favourite Drama, written by Sir E. L. Bulwer, Bart., called , . THE LADY OF LYONS; OR, LOVE AND PRIDE. Claude Melnotte Mr. Charles Kean. Colonel Damas . . Mr. Baker. Pauline Deschappelles Mrs. Ararner. TO-MORROW (Saturday), the Tragedy of ALEXAN DER THE GREAT. Alexander, Mr. Stuart; Roxanc, Miss Cleaver ; Statira, Mrs. W. H. Bland.—After which, the Interlude called the TWO GREGORYS.—To conclude with the popular Burletta of MIDAS. Arrangements Kaye been made with Mr. YATES, Pro prietor and Manager of the Theatre-Royal, Adelphi, for a limited number of nights, during which period the prevailing novelties of that establishment will be produced in rapid succession, in which the folloWing Performers of the Adelphi Theatre will sustain their original characters :—Mr. and Mrs. YATES, Mr. PAUL BEDFORD, Mr. WRIGHT, Mr. WIELAND, and Mr. LYON. The first Performance of the Adelphi Company will take place on MONDAY NEXT, the 10th instant, in favourite Dramas, as will be duly an nounced. GRAND CONCERTS PIONS. JULIEN, Director of the Concert D'Hiver, IV A. Drury-lane, Conductor of the Orchestra at the Casino and Opera Balls, in Paris, has the honour to anounce that he will give SIX CONCERTS at the ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, the Fifth of which will take place This EVENING, the 7th instant, and the Sixth TO-MORROW EVENING, the Bth instant, when he will be assisted by his unrivalled Band, consisting of upwardi of FORTY PERFORMERS, selected from the Drury-lane Concerts, and including the fol lowing eminent performers :—HERR MULLER, first Trum peter in the world ; Mons, Prospere, the celebrated Ophi• cleide of France, the first that appeared in England, and obtained such immense success at the Concerts of Drury lane ; HERR FRISCH, first Flute of Strauss' Orchestra, Concerts Musard, Paris, and Grand Theatre, Hamburgh ; .Mozcs. DELABARRE, first Oboe, from the Academie Royal, Paris ; MoNs. DUBREUIL, first Alto of the Musard Con certs ; MoNs. LAURENT, jun. first Cornet-a-Piston, of her Majesty's Theatre, London ; MONS. FAIVRE, first Trom bone at the Opera, Paris : SIG. BARTOLINI, first Violin at the Concerts Julien, leader at the Opera Ball and Casino, Paganini, Paris. _ _ _ _ _ Boxes, 3s. ; Side Boxes, 2s. 6d.; Pit, Is. Gd. ; First Gal lery, Is. ; Second, 6d. Tickets for Boxes to be had of Mr. CROFFIN, Bookseller, Parker-street; Mr. LACEY, 100, Bold-street; and from all the Music Sellers in the town. DAVID ROBERTS' SKETCHES IN EGYPT, SYRIA, AND THE HOLY LAND. MR. LACEY has the honour to announce that, by an arrangement with the distinguished Artist, this im portant Series of original WATER COLOUR DRAW INGS, having excited unprecedented interest in London, and other parts of the kingdom, will be submitted to Private View at 100, BOLD-STREET, during the ensuing week. Par ties possessing tickets, which are limited in number, and not transferable, are respectfully requested to avail themselves without delay of their privilege of admission, as the Draw ings will remain for a limited period only, and no further opportunity will be afforded of viewing them in one entire collection. H. LACEY. No. 100, Bold-street, ith May, 1841. TO CORRESPONDENTS Several communications which were marked for insertion, and some of which will scarcely bear postponement, we are obliged to defer until our nest publication. We beg to refer our readers to the case of the Rev. Mr. Gregg, as detailed in another column. Whilst we mean not to extenuate any indiscretion of which Mr. Gregg may have been guilty towards the conclusion of his trial, we hope to be able to show that he is merely the victim of popish malice and perjury. Amongst the many palpable falsehoods uttered by Dr. But ler in the course of lectures now delivering at St. An thony's, we were certainly not prepared for so gross an untruth as that which asserts the connection of the Rev. Hugh M 4 Neile with the LIVERPOOL STANDARD. The reverend gentleman has not and never had the slightest interest in this paper, and has never exercised the least controul in its superintendence, and has no power to do so. What a woful condition must Dr. Butler and his cause be in when he has to bolster it up by such miserable expedients as the one we have felt it our duty to deny. Dr. Butler had no authority for such a statement, and we cannot characterise his despicable manoeuvre by any suf ficiently appropriate term. No person but those whose names appear each publication of the STANDARD in their proper place, and are duly registered at the Stamp-office, has any interest whatever, pecuniary or otherwise, in the LIVERPOOL STANDARD. Oh, Dr. Butler, Dr. Butler ! where are you exhorted to malign your fellow-creatures by false calumniations ? Is such a pursuit a fitting employ ment for a professing christian minister on a Sunday evening, in a place set apart for public worship ? doned the appropriation pretext, and kicked it down ; but stuck fast, and have continued ever since to adhere firmly to, the appropriation reality. The new corn-bill is a ruse of precisely the same de scription—another produce of the same forge—and with all the family likeness strongly impressed upon it. We do not deny that it is a lever of some power;-- otherwise, indeed, there would have been little use in calling in its aid in a case so desperate ; but it is of great moment to consider whether it is likely to an swer that purpose for which alone it is now brought into play—namely, to keep in the O'Connell ministry. In the first place, we may observe that no scheme which ministers may bring forward will have the small est chance of passing in the present parliament. They are now in a minority in both houSes on questions much less calculated to provoke hostility than this Over and over again have both houses refused to dis- continue the protection of our agriculture by large ma jorities, and in these decisions ministers have con- curred. Is it then likely that such a proposition will receive any support when started by tergiversators — when set up by flying renegades who use it as a shield to hide them.from the shafts of their too potent adver saries, and as a mere cover for their disgrace ? Of course not. On this point we may make ourselves perfectly tranquil. All they can possibly do will be to bring on a discussion of the question, and from such a discussion we have nothing to fear—magna est veritas et pravalebit. We have Sir R. Peel and Lord Stan ley and a Conservative host in the Commons—the Duke of. Wellington, the Duke of Buckingham, and another Conservative host in the Lords—strong in ta lent, information, and every statesmanlike quality—, and what should we apprehend from any collision of mind on such a question ? Under existing circum stances, when there is so much misconception abroad, and so much practice in the way of delusion, it is, we think, rather to be desired than dreaded. But as to the result in parliament, our flying enemy knows perfectly well what it will be, and their calcula tions are all made not for parliament, but fur the fac tory towns—not for in-door legislation, but for out-door agitation—not for the representatives of the people, but for a portion of their constituencies. In short, what will take place in parli l ament will be but a mere rehearsal or prelude to the serious drama which is to take place in the country; for we reckon upon it that a general election is in preparation, and is immediately to follow. With regard to the corn duties, we shall merely say, that if there be any modification of them which would be more advantageous to the people than the present system, and equally safe, we are satisfied that the adop tion of it will be just as well entrusted to a Conserva tive administration as to a Whig, and that the people will be of the same opinion. The immediate question is, will the Whig proposition alter the state of national opinion as to Whig government, and restore to them that balance of power which they have unquestionably Now, in crder to solve this problem, we may just ask, what change it is likely to make in the feel ings of those who have hitherto evinced their dislike to Whig rule ? As to the Conservatives, sure we are that it will not alter them. All who are interested in agri cultural pursuits are outraged by it ; the counties, therefore, will be more resolute than ever in returning staunch Conservatives. The " firebrand " in this di rection will only add fuel to a flame already existing, and be far more likely to do harm than good to those its throwers. As to Ireland, a country solely and entirely agricul tural, we cannot certainly reason about it as we should of one whose people acted rationally and consistently for their own interest ; but this we may affirm, that withdrawing protection from their agriculture will gain over none whom popish priestcraft has not blinded with fanaticism and crassated with folly. But, lastly, as to our towns and boroughs, what change can it make in them ? Those who imagine that free trade in corn will furnish them with abun dance, will continue under that delusion still—and those who use their understanding to some better pur pose, will not be caught by Whig chaff.. In short, we think this desperate, electioneering, and popularity , hunting scheme will prove an utter failure—just the straw caught at by a drowning man—and will be the very last of the Whig performances in office, not only for this season, but, as we expect, for many a long sea son and session to come. It gives us much pleasure to observe that our Town Council has at length been induced to move on the subject of the Inland Bonding Bill, and we cannot but feel gratification in learning that we have been in some degree instrumental in bring about that consummation. Why they have been so long in awaking from their slumbers, we cannot by any means satisfactorily ex- plain ; but we have heard it assigned as an excuse that some of the members regarded the idea of Manchester entering into competition with Liverpool as a shipping port as so much like a jest that they could not prevail upon themselves to treat the matter seriously; whilst others thought that it would be only " liberal, " and show a generous enlargemEnt of mind to let the inland people have their way—that the scheme could not do us very much harm, and was, in fact, almost unworthy of notice. With regard to such feelings and opinions, we must say, for our part, that we could not coincide in them. If the project was a foolish one, it struck us that there was just so much the more reason for opposing it ; but if it were likely to prove injurious to Liverpool, that we were called upon strenuously to defend our own rights and interests, and to resist the meditated wrong, whe ther the amount of injury might be great or small, trifling or important. Under such circumstances, we own we thought it most culpable on the part of the Council to remain silent and inactive. It was quite impossible to say with truth that the bill was "no affair of ours." It was not only obviously but pre eminently the reverse, and yet we permitted the in landers to tunnel away, or come openly across our grounds, without uttering a word, or even making a sign. The result must have been that the bill would pass What should hinder it ? Liverpool, it would be argued, made no opposition, but seemed rather pleased with the idea of having her warehouses empty, her shipping idle, her brokers without orders, and her merchants whiling away the day in listless indolence. She " cared for none of these things," it would be said, and therefore her privileges and advantages might as well be handed over to others. However, we hope it is not too late to demonstrate that quite a different state of feeling prevails here. Our "esteemed contemporary," the Manchester Guardian, is, we perceive, not well pleased with the line of argument we have pursued on this question . , and takes us to task in his last number for " misre presenting" him. Now misrepresentation is a trade that we do not usually follow—intentionally never. We are, therefore, desirous to meet such an accusation, and to show that it has been made against us unjustly. It is preferred in the following terms : " We (viz., the Manchester Guardian) had exposed the absurdity of the Standard's allegation, that the proposed boon of inland bonding would be at once injurious to Liver pool and useless to Manchester, by showing that if it turned out to be useless, it would not be persisted i n ; and conse quently, Liverpool would sustain no injury. This the Stand ard represents as " a candid admission" that the experiment is of a very doubtful character ! We must say. that the mis representation is as silly as it is dishonest." Now though we are here charged with making a mis representation which is at once " silly" and " dis honest," we protest we cannot perceive even the ground of the charge in the figure and form ira which it is set out by our accuser. He says he exposed the absurdity of our allegation, that the bill would be use less to Manchester, by showing that if it were so, it would not be " persisted in." Now we ask, :is that " exposing the absurdity" of our allegation, or pt Dying the soundness or correctness of it—which? Thit ;, we think, is that mode of reasoning which was caller I by schoolmen "confessing and avoiding"—viz., first an ow ing your adversary's premises, and then showing h ow they could be gotten rid of. So far from treating tour allegation as absurd, our contemporary treats it at; a very probable eventuation, and reasons upon it .as such. The Manchester people also, he says, foresaw as well as we, and in case of such a contingency hap pening, were determined to let the act fall into disuse and become obsolete. They, consequently, did not esteem the supposition as in the smallest degree " absurd ;" but, on the contrary, a very likely and rational hypothesis; and yet our contemporary charges us with monstrous obtuseness and perversity for just insinuating the very same thing. We will not say which party is thus convicted of being the " silly" one; but this we repeat, that it does not at all become those who dwell so evidently in " vitreous domiciles" to he the first to throw stones. As to misreprentation, it is plain that we have made We said that the measure was a dangerous, most likely a mischievous experiment, and that the Manchester Guardian allowed it to be an " experiment," and reasoned about it as such; and is not that state ment, so far as it affects our contemporary at least, PERFECTLY TRUE ? Does he not speak of a contin gency ? Does he not prudently calculate on its turn ing out favourably, or otherwise? and are not we jus tified in calling that thing of unknown result, thus .launched forth, not only an experiment, but by our contemporary's own confession, and the spirit of his reasoning—a doubtful one ? Assuredly are we. Never was there a truer or snore critically correct coin- mentary on any text, nor was our contemporary ever more out in his life than when rashly charging us with being dishonest and misrepresentatious for making it. Really people who scribble nonsense, and write themselves down apes, have no right to attempt getting out of the serape by charging others with delinquencies of which it could be easily shewn they stand convicted themselves. We have anticipated the argument contained in the remainder of our contemporary's article, and substan tially replied to it ; but we have no objection to repeat the lesson—though there certainly are people of facul ties so extremely obtuse and impenetrable, that we very much fear it will be thrown away upon them. The Guardian says : " The Standard must surely mistake the object of the parties who ask leave to put their own property into their own warehouses, arid must suppose that they want to. compel the Liverpool people to send up their goods to be bonded at Man chester, or he could hardly talk about giving a preference to Manchester. The people of this town want no preference or advantage ; they only want to be put on a footing of equality with the people of Liverpool, to which, it seems, the latter object. They are willing to use the Liverpool warehouses When they want them, and to employ the Liverpool brokers when it is for their interest to do so ; but they utterly deny the justice or the propriety of being compelled to pay for services which they do not want' _ _ This is certainly precious argumentation. So Man chester does not want the assistance of Liverpool, and is made to pay for services which she has no occasion for. Why this Manchester " expositor" will tell us next that Manchester has no need of the cotton of Brazil, of the States, or of any other country, and that she thinks it hard to he obliged to pay for it. Well, let her do without it, say we—if she can. Let her make calico out of chopped straw, or any other mate- al she likes, if it be her intent so to do. Who com- pels her to use cotton, or to pay at Liverpool for ser vices she does not want ? There is just the same master, or mistress, in both cases—self-interest—and no other compulsion. What the " expositor" means is, that Manchester had rather inonopolise all the fruits and benefits of commerce herself, and not allow Liver pool c►r any other port to divide them with her; that is the meaning, though the story is so clumsily told. Again, says the Guardian," the people of this town want no preference ; they only want to be put on an equality with the people of Liverpool." Equality in deed ! What a droll equality that would be, that would put Liverpool out of the market altogether, and transfer her trade to Manchester—.-for that is the ob ject ! Well, we call that equality according to the lion's mode of partition, but not according to fair play and justice amongst Englishmen, and we confidently believe it will not be conceded. If Liverpool sought for, or even desired to retain, privileges not possessed by any other commercial port, then indeed it would be fair to talk of equality or in equality ; but to speak of putting an inland manu facturing town on an equality with a great commercial sea-port, is downright nonsense. Take from Liver pool the advantages she enjoys from situation and the skill and labour of her people, and transfer them, even in name, to some inland town, and you commence at once the work, not of equalising, but of injustice and wrong. Manchester has made the most of her advan tages of situation—and we wish her long to enjoy them. We envy her not her manufactures ; we seek no rivalry with her therein ;—her interest, and her prosperity in this respect, are, under existing relations, ours also. What we ask for in return is, that the peo ple of Manchester will leave us in the enjoyment of those commercial privileges which have been as useful to her as they have been to us ; and pending the ope ration of which both have risen to such eminence. We would calmly suggest to them the propriety, nay, the absolute necessity of abandoning an attempt which can only engender petty animosities and jealousies, and do them ultimately no manner of good. It would seem to be the mere offspring of that " hastening to be rich," whose tendency is so dangerous, and not the growth of profound and deliberate consideration. Most earnestly and seriously, then, would we recom mend its immediate and complete abandonment. We have another subject of congratulation for our readers to-day. The Town Council has resolved to profit by our suggestions in the matter of the West Indian packet station, and put forward the strong claims possessed by Liverpool to this honour. This is right—quite right ; and now if desert could be sure of its reward in these higgling, huxtering days, we should feel almost as complacent in the certain antici pation of our own good town oer-topping all other claimants, and carrying off the prize, as we do in the fact of our esteemed Town Council becoming so tract able in our hands. It is delightful to see men coming to their senses, and following good advice, when given to them honestly and disinterestedly. Positively we could embrace every member of them with the expan sive arms of our affection, so overflowing is the regard we feel for the entire body at this moment. But touching the packet station, all that can be - necessary is, orderly to array, and fairly to set forth before the committee the claims of Liverpool; and if that committee possess three grains of discernment, and do not renounce all pretence to being impartial, it must, we say, decide in our favour. Why do the Cunards, why do the New Yorkers, why do the Orientals prefer Liverpool as their station ? Why — because it is the best; and if the best for them, why should it not be the best for the West Indian steamers ? It is unquestionably the most central and convenient station for both post-office, and passengers; and are not these the principal considerations ? But in no one particular is Liverpool excelled by any other port that has put in a claim for the preference. We admit that it would be for the advantage of Liverpool that she should obtain it, and that therefore we have so far an interest in the appointment; but we can safely stand upon the broad principle that Liverpool is, above all exception, the very best port for the purpose, and we ask no more than a clear stage and no favour for the exhibition of the fact. Would that Parliamentary committees could always be implicitly relied on for an honest and impartial adjudication of such claims. By the schooner Ariel, which arrived at Halifax, from Bermuda, we have accounts from that island to the Bth April. We regret to state that the Ariel heard no news whatever of the President. We have been requested by Mr. Nightingale, the surgeon to the Workhouse, to state that the report of a police case, which appeared in the Courier, of Wednesday, is c a l cu l a t e d to convey an impression which the facts do not justify. Mr. Nightingale is there represented to have despatched, rather cavalierly, a female, who had been only six days confined, from the Workhouse, and to have refused to give the police officer, who came in compliance with Mr. Rushton's request, a certificate of her health. It seems that w h en th e officer came for the certifi ca te, Mr. Nightingale found her in excellent health, and perfectly recovered from all e ff ec t s of her recent confinement. Ile inquired how she was, and on her expressing her anxiety to leave the Workhouse and appear before Mr. Rushton, he permitted her to do so, and still considers that there was not the slightest r i s k i n h er exposure to the air, as the child only lived about two hours, and the mother, a robust, able-bodied woman, was at the time in almost her usual condition. MERCHANT SEAMEN'S HOSPITAL FUND.--A public meeting of the shipowners of this town was h e ld on Wed nesday last, at the Shipmaster's Association Rooms, Old hall-street, for the purpose of adopting resolutions con demnatory of the proposed alteration in , the man agement and distribution of the Merchant Seamen s Hospital Fund. Mr. Alston was called to the chair. Mr. Rowett, in moving the first resolution, offered some a pp ro p ri ate remarks, showing th e injurious effects which would follow (from go vernment having the control of the whole funds, a s i s pro posed) to the recipients of the charity resident in Liverpool. Mr. Weller seconded the resolution, which embodied the purport of Mr. Rowett's remarks. Captain Hunt then moved that a deputation wait upon the Mayor, with a re quest that he would call a public meeting for the purpose of taking the subject into consideration, and was seconded by Captain Ramsay. A committee was then formed to carry oat the objects of the meeting. A letter was read from Lord Sa ndon, who stated his readiness to use his best exertions for the protection of the parties in whose behalf the meeting evinced such honourable solicitude. THE LIVERPOOL GAS BILL-PUBLIC MEETING On Wednesday evening, a meeting was held at the Adel * Hotel, pursuant to notice, of the contributors to the fund for defraying the expenses of the deputation appointed to proceed to London, to oppose the Liverpool gas bill,—to receive a communication from the Gas Consumers' Com mittee, as to the present state of the gas bill now before the House of Lords. _ _ Mr. George Walker having Lee;•: appointed to the chair, the minutes of the proceedings of the committee were read, from which it appeared that the Queen-square company had been friendly to them until that moment, but were then offering a decided opposition ; and that the committee find ing the defeat of the bill (in its present amended state) by the Queen-square company prejudicial to the interests of the gas consumers, felt it their duty to oppose them. The printed report was also read, as follows : TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE LIVERPOOL GAS CONSUMERS " GENTLEMEN,—As the solicitor appointed to oppose the bill of the Liverpool Gas Company, now before parliament, it devolves upon me to report to you the progress made in carrying your objects into effect. The deputation which accompanied me to London, viz., Mr. Radley, Mr. Woollright, and Mr. Johnson, found the company seeking, by their bill, to obtain extraordinary powers—powers, which, if granted, would have tended only to the enriching of the proprietors of shares, without giving the gas consumers any chance of obtaining a reduction in the price of that article—and they applied all their exertions to prevent the consummation of that object. To enable you the better to understand the whole case, it will be necessary that 1 should give you a summary of the main objects of the promoters of the bill. lst,—They desired to be empowered to convert a sum of £140,000, (being surplus undivided profits and expended in outlay,) into capital and stock, bearing interest at 10 per cent. • 2nd,—To be enabled to raise an additional capital of £llO,OOO in shares, to be apportioned among the proprie tors themselves. 3rd,—To obtain a contingent fund of £lO,OOO. 4th,—To have powers vested in themselves to distrain for ,as rents with . out the intervention of a magistrate ; and sth,—To charge the owners or occupiers of premises with the expense of removing the pipes, &c., on their gas being dis continued. These are the principal points in the bill. There are others of minor importance, which I will not notice here. The deputation proceeded to London, and I entrusted the case to Mr. D. Pollock, a barrister of great eminence. The gentlemen composing the deputation and myself drew up a statement of facts in opposition to the bill, spewing, at con siderable length, the working of the company, and, among other things, that the proprietors had divided profits, on an average during 20 years, of £l3 2s. tid. per cent., amounting to £G362 per annum :.. Or, during the first ten years—average dividend, £6 13s. - 10d.=X3325 per annum And during the last ten years—average dividend of 33,250 £l9 12s - -=X9BOO per annum 98,000 £131,250 That the shares of £lOO each wise worth £3BO ; that the proprietors had thus made, over Aril above the dividends, a property in the present value of their works of £140,000 and upwards, composed entirely of profits, which amount they called upon parliament to convert into capital, bearing inte rest at 10 per cent., although they had in fact never sub scribed one penny towards creating it ; that the proprietors had, up to the year 1834, made their gas from common coal or slack, in defiance of their act of parliament, which required it should be made of the best coal or material; that they charged, for some time, the enormous price of 15s. per thou sand cubic feet, which they did not reduce until there was a competing company. We were also in possession of a copy of a table of calculations made by George Medley, Esq., and laid before a committee of the House of Commons in 1836, chewing the relative value of gases. This table shews, among other things, that, until the company began to burn cannel coal, the consumers paid £1 6s. sd. for that which they ought to have had (and of a superior quality) for lls. Bd. This statement and the table we caused to be placed in the hands of every member of the committee. The deputation and myself also waited personally at the residence of each member. We were unable to see them all, but we were received most courteously by such of them as we did see, and our explanations were listened to with the greatest attention. I must not omit to name particularly Lord Sandon, Mr. Wilson Patten ' Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Bolling, Sir George Strickland, Mr. Thornely, Mr. Hindley, and Mr. George Wilbraham. On the 16th instant the bill was in committee, and its pro moters proved not only the whole of the facts in our printed statement to be correct, but that, in point of fact, they had divided among themselves about £BOOO more than we had sup posed they had. 'They closed their case on the following day, and the case of the consumers was advocated by a powerful and masterly speech from Mr. Pollock, in which lie exposed the proceedings of the company, and called on the com mittee to interpose their authority in favour of the consu mers' and lay the company under such restrictions as would be of advantage to the public. In the evening of this day a deputation from the company, accompanied by their solici tor, waited upon us with the view of entering upon some ar rangement, but inasmuch as they were not prepared to make any distinct offer, and were desirous only of ascertaining what we were disposed to do, we answered them by stating that we had nothing to propose, but were willing to receive any pro posal from them on the footing of a reduction in the price of gas ; we however guarded ourselves against recognizing any sum as the capital of the company beyond the original £50,000. They were not prepared to make any offer that evening, and requested us to receive them in the morning ; in the meantime they would consult with each other on ihe subject. In the morning they again waited upon us, and offered to reduce the price to 7s. per 1,000 feet, and on our informing them they were considerably above the price which we expected to reduce the gas to, our negociation ended. On the assembling of the committee the same morning, a pro posal, very similar, was again made by them through Lord Sandon, as the chairman. That, on mature deliberation, after a consultation of about half an hour, we also rejected. The committee then deliberated for nearly three hours, and ultimately came to the following resolutions : ' The maximum price of gas, of the best quality, to be 7s. ' The capital of the company to be taken at £150,000, on which they will be entitled to divide 10 per cent., any profits beyond that amount to be applied in reduction of the price of gas. "file company to be enabled to raise £50,000 additional capital. The first £25,000 to be offered to the public, and to he sold by auction, the premium on which to be appropriated to additional works, as capital without bearing interest,—the second £25,000 to be taken by the proprietors at par. ' The profits on the additional capital of £50,000, to be also limited to ten per cent.' On the fourth day the committee went through the bill, clause by clause. Various amendments were suggested by our counsel, and the committee divided on several points. The grand result is, that the consumers have gained con siderable advantages, which I will sum up shortly under the seven following heads : lst,—The sinking of £40,000 out of the £140,000. 2rd,—The limiting of the additional capital to £so,ooo,—the first £25,000 in shares thrown open to the public, and sold by auction in lots of one share at a time : the premium to be added to the capital in increasing the works, but to bear no interest. The proprietors not to appropriate the re maining £25,000 until the first be expended. 3rd,—They have got rid of the obnoxious clause empowering the company to distrain for rent. 4th,—And of the clause which imposed on them the charges of removing pipes on their discontinuing the gas. sth,—The reduction of the contingent fund to £6,000. 6th,—A maximum of price at 7s. per 1000 cubic feet, and a maximum of profit of 10 per cent. 7th,—lf any of the land or buildings of the company be sold, the money is to be applied in the purchase of other land or building, and the surplus, if any, in extending the works of the company. It will be seen from this statement, that if the company had obtained all the powers they sought for, and raised their additional capital, they must first have divided among them selves annually £30,000, before the ten per cent. clause could have come into operation, wheteas now, supposing all the capital to be raised at par, only £20,000 could be divided as profits. But supposing the first £25,000 to be sold at a pre mium of only £6O per share, £35,000 would be raised bear ing no interest, which would accelerate the ten per cent. clause, and keep the company from appropriating the re maining £25,000. I cannot close this report without congratulating the con sumers on the success of their opposition, which has been rendered effectual in an eminent degree by the assiduity, perseverance, talent, and management of the three gentle men composing the deputation, who were unwearied in their exertions in th cause in which they had embarked, and to whom I feel much indebted for the assistance I received from the commencement of the undertaking to the close of it.—l am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 6, Lord-street, Liverpool, DAVID EVANS. 21th March, 1841. The CHAIRMAN said they had beard read the minutes of the proceedings from beginning to end—they were in posses sion of of all he knew ; and, hoping they would excuse him from addressing them, on account of a severe cold, he called upon . . . Mr. FERGUSON.—The meeting had heard the report read, and they might very well suppose that the committee were unanimously of opinion that it should lie adopted, and con gratulated themselves upon having effected a great deal for the gas consumer. They had not succeeded in obtaining all they asked for ; but in every clause of that bill, excepting one—the legalising to a certain amount, they had beedsuc cessful. With respect to the legalising the £lOO,OOO, when this bill was taken into the consideration of the Guardian So ciety, it was doubted whether the Dale-street company had expended £140,000 in works; but it had been probed before a committee of the House of Commons, that they had ex pended £146,000: it was true that it was profits set by for that purpose, but still it was money expended by them. The committee of the House of Commons reduced this to £lOO,OOO ..... as a punishment for their cot applying to parliament for power to carry on the works. The question was mooted that it should be reduced to £75,000, but it was carried that it should be £lOO,OOO by a majority of 1. The committee of the House of Commons examined the books of the Dale street company, and were satisfied of the justice of the claim, and they (the Gas Consumers' Committee) thought it right to be satisfied also. So much for the legalization. They then thought the matter settled, and called upon Mr. Car son to ask him if he would pledge himself on the part of the Dale-street company, to let the bill pass in its present state. He said that if any amendment was proposed, their (the gas consumers') solicitor should have notice of the same. They expected to hear no more of it, and that the consumers of gas should immediately receive the benefit of their exer tions—instead of which a petition was sent up from certain gas consumers of Liverpool, against their bill, which, on examination, was found to be signed by nineteen persons, several of whom were not consumers at all ; and several of those gentlemen who were consumers had written letters to the committee of the House of Lords stating that they signed the petition under an erroneous impression ; supposing they were carrying out the views of the Gas Consumers' Commit tee ; and one or two had sent letters to the committee of the House of Lords, stating that they never signed at all. The committee met, and as might be well supposed, were very much annoyed and vexed at this proceeding. It was about two months ago, at a meeting of the gas consumers, that a committee had been appointed to protect the interests of, and represent the gas consumers ; and they thought, if the Queen-square company wanted to send a petition to parlia ment, they might have asked them, " Gentlemen, will y ou stand with us in the House of Lords ?" But Messrs. Lloyd and Banner, on the part of the Queen-square company, were quite surprised to find the consumers opposed to them in this business : " they did not think they cared two straws about this bill at all." Could they think they were careless about this bill after the exertions they had made ? This report had been sent out and widely circulated ; and still Mr. Banner said " he never saw it; he had only seen some little account in the newspapers, and was quite in the dark." He said "It was the interest of the Queen-square company to be on good terms with the consumers, and that if they wished them (the Queen-square company) to withdraw, they might take his as surance as to that point, but he thought it better to have the opinion of the whole committee. They again thought Ihe question settled; and, having received an intimation that the Queen-square company were willing to withdraw, and anxious to do so,—when they met to receive their deputation on Saturday morning, they thought it was for the pur purpose of their signing a resolution to that effect ; but they then deferred their final answer. Time was thus going on ; and at last they found they were opposed to them entirely. In reply to a question put to one of the deputation from the Queen-square Company, he said, " they wished to sicken the Dale-street Company, so as to induce them to withdraw the bill altogether." It then became a consideration whether they should allow the Queen-square Company to defeat this measure. They had only four hours to spare ; if they had allowed it to remain until Monday it would have been too late. They got up a petition, obtained a few signatures to it, and sent it by post. Another petition was got up on Monday. in case of the failure of the first. It was perfectly evident that the intention of the Queen-square Company was to de feat the object they bad in view, namely, to get cheap gas ; for it was certain that if the Dale-street bill was fairly carried out, they should in two or three year, have gas down to bs. Therefore, it was for their consideration whether they would allow that opposition to go on—whether they would allow the Queen-square Company to defeat them in their just ex pectations? (Cheers.) Mr. BRIGHT said it appeared to him that the interest of the consumer was not considered by either of the companies ; and that the Guardian Society sliotild go on to the attainment of its object without regard to one company or the other. (Cheers.) Mr. .l EFFERY said, a few minutes before be entered that room a resolution had been put into his hands ; he was sure, befOre he read it to them, that every gas consumer would enter most cordially into the Merits of the resolution, and at once agree to it. It was :—" That it is the opinion of the meeting that the Liverpool Gas Bill, as amended by the House of Commons, and now before the House of Lords, will be beneficial to the consumer of gas, and this meeting pledges itself to support it." It would require very little from him to make every gentleman present believe that it was beneficial—the solicitor's report was sufficient to con vince them of that. Mr. Jeffery then very ably enlarged upon the facts that were contained in the report, and in the course of his remarks, said that the new company commenced comparatively without capital, the consumers were liberal enough to relieve them from a state of almost bankruptcy, and now that they had got all they asked from the gas consumers, they wanted to put their hands into their breeches' pockets. (Hear, and laughter.) Mr. Banner, when one of the deputation from the Queen-square company, said that they (the gas consumers) wished to make one company and ruin the other. This was not the case. Their object was not to support either one company or the other, but to obtain cheap gas. Thus, as the old company were not pre vented dividing any amount of profit, while the new com pany were prevented dividing above 10 per cent., if the bill did mot pass into law, he should support the new company ; and if it did, he should support the old company. Mr. Ban ner endeavoured r o treat the matter sympathetically ; he was told it could not be entertained with sympathy, but that they met there as men of business, to obtain cheap gas. (Hear.) They would effect much by the bill, if it passed in its present shape. In the forwarding of this they had acted in concert with the Queen-square company—their counsel had acted together; and for his own part be was puzzled at the time to account for their conduct. They wanted to go hand in hand with the gas consumers, to prevent the Dale-street company getting a bill at all ; but they were advised by their counsel to stop where they were, and be satisfied. As con tributors to the fund, he asked them whether they had acted wisely or unwisely in taking their stand when they had got as much as they could? (Approval.) If the bill were passed as it was, it would be a boon to the gas consumers •, and if thrown out, all the expense they had been at would be lost: thus, to allow the proceedings of the new company to go on unmolested would be an act of injustice to the contributors. (Hear.) In the course of five years they would have gas at 4s. 6d., if this bill passed into law. (Hear, and cheers.) Mr. Jeffery informed the meeting that there were sufficient funds in hand not only to defray the by-gone expenses, but those which would he incurred—(hear) ; made compli mentary allusions to Messrs. Radle) , Woollright, and John son, (who formed the deputation to London); and concluded by saying that after these gentlemen had given so much of their valuable time,—to be diddled out of their bill would be a thing at which he should feel much aggrieved. (Cheers.) Mr. SUMNERS would merely state that when mention was made of the consumption of gas, in the Guardian Society, it was his ardent desire, and he stated it in committee, to steer entirely apart from both companies. (Hear.) They had started, not as partisans of the one company or the other, but as tradesmen, for the purpose of obtaining cheap gas. He wished to say a word or two on what had fallen from Mr. Jeffery, from which it might be presumed, they had acted in concert with the Queen-square company. They had cer tainly acted indirectly in concert with them ; for the Queen-square company were obliged to act in concert with their deputation in order to obtain a hearing at all ; but they now acted in opposition to the Queen-square company, in order to maintain the benefit obtained in the House of Commons, since the Queen-square company, to secure their own interest, would throw the bill out of the Lords if they possibly could, the consequence of which would be to bring about the old position, with a loss of all their time and expenses, and a complete extinguisher by the Queen square company. He concluded by saying that he thought the interests of the Queen-square company would have been better served if they had acted more in concert with them. Mr. HENSHAW came to tell a plain unvarnished tale. He detailed the disadvantages under which the new company laboured until they obtained power from Parliament to make their gas of the same materials as the old company; and stated that the demands made upon them by the consumers were of so extraordinary a nature that they could not accede to them. They only wanted a clear stage and fair play. The consumers were their customers, and they did not want to run counter to their wishes. The price of gas must be the same, and it was for them to judge of its quality, and the politeness of the company. Only allow them fair play, and that was all they wished. Mr. TURNER said if the bill were thrown out of the House of Lords they must bestir themselves and have a company of their own : he thought they should bring them to their senses then. He must say he was rather grieved at the means made use of by one of the companies in getting signatures to the petition to throw the bill out of the House of Lords. If he was not mistaken, the two persons who went round were shareholders, if not directors. (Mr. HENSHAW : I was not one.—Laughter.) If their bill were thrown out, they would take the hint of the shopkeepers' assistants, and close their shops at seven o'clock. (Hear, and laughter.) Mr. WOOLLRIGHT had misgivings of the ultimate object of the Queen-square company when they first joined them ; and they only permitted their counsel to act second to theirs in order that,, In fairness, he might be heard. They soon found that the objects of the two gas companies and of the gas consumers were totally different, and objected to go on any further together ; but it was only in that room that they got at their ultimate object, when Mr. Banner admitted that their object from the first was to get them to withdraw the bill. This would drive the other company into collision with them • and it was their (the gas consumers') object not to suffer the clauses of the bill to bring the companies into collision • they would never get a reduction in the price of gas by this means. He thought they had done as much as possible for the furtherance of their wishes. He was sorry he could not accompany Messrs. Radley and Johnson, who, however, would be ably assisted by Mr. Ferguson. Mr. COOPER and Mr. JEFFERY having addressed the meeting, the resolution was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks having been passed to the chairman, the meeting separated. THE LIVERPOOL CLERGY AND THE " TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. TO THE HON. AND RIGHT REV. RICHARD, LORD BISHOP OF OXFORD May it please your Lordship, We, the undersigned clergymen of the Church of England, resident in Liverpool and its vicinity, venture most respect fully to address your lordship on a subject which we hum bly conceive to affect most materially the interests of that church, to the doctrines and discipline of which we are sin cerely and conscientiously attached. We have now for a considerable period regarded with the most lively and anxious feelings of alarm the continued pub. lication of certain tracts, entitled " Tracts for the Times," written by " Members of the University of Oxford," in your lordship's diocese. Whilst we are willing to allow that, in consequence of the imperfection of the human understanding, a certain degree of diversity of opinion must ever be expected to exist among so large a body of men as the clergy of the Church of Eng land, not only respecting questions of doctrine generally, but also respecting the meaning of some particular expres sions in the formularies of our church, which, not being inconsistent with ecclesiastical unity, may not be thought justly deserving of censure, we are at the same time of opinion that many of the statements contained in these " Tracts do not fall within the limits of any reasonable latitude of interpretation. We, therefore, cordially rejoice to see, from the charge delivered by your lordship three years ago, that those state ments had attracted your special attention ; at the same time we have regretted to observe that the characteristic mildness of your lordship's language, instead of producing the effect wVch might have been so justly anticipated from it, appears to have emboldened the authors of them to assume that they were not, in your lordship's judgment, held guilty of any departure from the doctrines of the church. Publications have therefore been continued, the general spirit and tendency of which have been so opposed, in our judgment, to the received faith of the church, as seriously to perplex the minds of many of its lay members, and not only so, but also to turn aside several of our younger brethren in the ministry from the old path" of that scrip tural course which, by their ordination vow, they solemnly engaged to pursue. We learn however, with unfeigned satisfaction, that No. 90 in the said series of Tracts, lately published, and entitled " Remarks on certain Passages in the Thirty-nine Articles," has been deemed by your lordship so calculated to disturb the peace of the church, that your episcopal influence has been exerted for the suppression of the evil. And it is not in any officious spirit that we take the liberty of presenting our respectful thanks to your lordship, but because, being alive to the deep concern which it must have occasioned to your lordship's paternal feelings to be obliged to issue such an admonition to any of your clergy, we desire to assure your lordship, that in the discharge of this painful but necessary duty you have the sincere sympathy and fervent prayers of many attached clergymen who are personally unknown to your lordship; and because we are penetrated with a sense of the duty which we ourselves owe to the church, thus publicly to avow our conviction of the unscrip tural and schismatical character of the publications in question, and the consequent necessity for authoritative interference if anything deserving the name of euclesiastical uniformity is to be maintained in the realm. We have the honour to be, my lord, With unfeigned respect, Your lordship's most obedient and faithful servants, T. Tattershall, D.D., Minister of St. Augustine's, and late Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. Thomas Byrth, D.D., Rector of Wallasey. Fielding Ould, 8.A., incumbent of Christ Church. Wm. Withers Ewbank, 8.A., Minister of St. George's, Everton. Hugh MsNeile, M.A., Incumbent of St. Jude's. David James, Mi n i s ter of St. Mary's, Kirkdale. Henry Carpenter, A. 8., Minister of St. Michael's. Frederick Barker, M.A., Incumbent of St. Mary's, Edge hill. George Mansfield, B.A. Curate of Christ Church. Thomas S. Coles, M.A., Curate of St. Mary's, Edge-hill. Robert Davies, M.A., Minister of the Welsh Church of St. David. A. M'Conkey, M.A., Minister of All Saints. William Rawson, M.A., Minister of St. Thomas's, Seaforth. Edmund Bobler Chalmer, A. 8., Incumbent of Great Crosby. J. Ellison Bates, 1V1.A., Minister of Christ Church, Crosby. Charles W. Lawrence, M.A., Chaplain of St. Luke's. Jno. Leighton Figgins, 8.A., Curate of St. Matthew's. Joseph Baylee, A. 8., Incumbent of Holy Trinity Church, Woodside. Andrew Knox, A. 8., Incumbent of St. Mary's Church, Birkenhead. • John Newton Peill, A.M., Curate of St. Paul's, Liverpool, and Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. William Falloon, A. 8., Curate of St. Jude's. Charles James Hamilton, A. 8., Curate of Birkenhead. P. Browne, 8.A., Curate of Christ Church District. A. E. Obias, M.A., Birkenhead. George Stolas, Minister of St. Saviour's. Thomas Dwyer, M.A. Chaplain of the West Derby Union. Prince Crawford, Minister of St. Saviour's. B. L. With;, 8.A., Curate of St. George's, Everton. B. A. Marshall, 8.A., Curate of St. Mark's. Alexander Orme, B.A. ' Curate of All Saints. Jno. Connor, A.M., Minister of St. Simon's. J. Picton, A.M., Incumbent of St. Stephen's. G. R. Monerieff, 8.A., Curate of Wallasey. James S. Dodd, 8.A., Curate of St. Augustine's. Charles Maginniss, 13. A., Curate of Holy Trinity Church, Woodside. R. P. Jones, B.A. Curate of St. David's., James Brierley, 8. , A., Incumbent of St. Anne's, Rainbill. Wm. J. Pardon, A.M., Incumbent of St. Anne s, Aigburtb. Jeffrey Davies, Welsh Curate of St. Paul's Church, Liver pool. • THE POPISH COLLEGE OF MAYNOOTH. IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE PROTESTANTS OF LIVERPOOL On Wednesday evenin ,, a most numerous public meeting was held in the Music-hall, Bold-street, for the purpose of considering the propriety of adopting a petition from the Protestants of Liverpool in favour of the bill brought into the House of Commons by the honourable and patriotic member for Kilmarnock, Mr. Colquhoun, for taking away the dis grace of a Protestant state contributing a large annual sum for the maintenance of the popish Seminary of Maynooth. It is scarcely possible to describe the anxiety which per vaded every class to be present at this meeting. The room was filled to excess some time before the proceedings com menced, and many hundreds were under the necessity of re turning from the doors, from the incapacity of the room to contain them. Regret was universally expressed that the use of the Amphitheatre could not be obtained for the occa sion. On the platform, besides a large body of gentlemen, we noticed the Rev. Hugh M'Neile, the Rev. Hugh Stowell, the Rev. J. N. Connor, the Rev. Orme, the Rev. J. C. Hamilton, the Rev. A. Townsend, J. Rigby, Esq., W. R. Preston, Esq., M. Edwards, Esq., &c., &c. On the motion of Mr. Ewbank, the meeting unanimously elected the Rev. Hugh M`Neile chairman. The CHAIRMAN said, we were accused of being politicians, and if the accusation were properly understood we had no objection to plead guilty. We were politicians, and politicians of a peculiar character, for we were politicians who recog nized the hand of God in the things of this world as well as in the things connected with the world to come—(hear) — and therefore in all our proceedings we asked his blessing, without which there could be no true success. (Hear, hear.) We did not engage in that species of politics which confined its view to party conflicts between man and man, but we did engage in that description of politics which entered into the conflict between truth and falsehood, between the cause of God in this world and the cause of the Devil. (Hear.) If we were correct in the views we entertained, we were en gaged now in the cause of God ; we honestly thought so, and in order to be successful we began our proceedings by asking his blessing. (Applause.) Before he offered any further observations he should call upon his reverend brother, Mr. Connor, to ask the blessing of God upon us and upon our object. (Hear.) The Rev. Mr. CONNOR having supplicated the divine aid and blessing in an appropriate prayer, The CHAIRMAN then proceeded to address the meeting. He must request of them to bear in mind the observations which he had already addressed to them with regard to the nature of our politics. We were engaged in a great conflict. We found truth and falsehood, light and darkness, God and Satan engaged. It was a permitted conflict : there could be no continued conflict that was not a permitted one. It had pleased God to permit a conflict for wise ultimate pur poses : he could, in a moment if he chose, put an end to the conflict by making truth universally triumphant, and pre venting the prince of darkness from interfering with any of God's creatures ; but he did not do so. It was his plan, for wise ultimate purposes, to allow a conflict for a time, and as he had said, no conflict could be of long continuance that was not a permitted one. If two parties were engaged in conflict, and they were nearly matched, by and by one would get the better of the other, and the conflict was at an end. It could not last long. We might see that in the contention any two men of nearly equal strength. A small slip in one of them gave the other an advantage, and the conflict was over; but suppose we saw a mischievous little child conflict ing with a man—a man with the hold of the child, just keep ing it off instead of putting it down to put an end of its little struggles by kicking it : he allowed the child to kick and fight, yet he held it ; it struggled just as much as he chose to let it, and as long as he chose, if he had a good purpose ; if he chose to let there be the least change, he might let it last as long as he pleased. He had power to stop it, and power to let it go on. (Hear, hear.) It bad pleased God to allow a conflict of this sort. He said to the devil as to the waves of the sea, " hitherto thou shalt go but no further," but he does not utterly push him back. He is holding him, but allowing him to fight ; he allows him to succeed in this way ; he allowed him to enter into the gar den of Ede.i, and to succeed with mankind for a season, only he had a reserve among men, among the members of his own Son Jesus Christ, and these he kept from the devil. (Hear.) Against these the devil fought, and these God pre served. (Hear.) Here was the conflict ; and the church of Christ kept by the power of God, in a world of which the devil is the ruler—the permitted ruler, for the time being. (Hear, hear.) Now, if we judged our own position aright, we were members of Christ's church militant here upon earth ; we were in an enemy's country ; the world lay in wickedness, the devil had dominion over the majority—God permitted it, and we were engaged upon his side iu the con flict. (Hear.) Were there no members of Christ's church at all, there would be nothing to disturb the devil's supre macy ; then all would be quiet. "The strongman armecl kept his goods in peace ;" but when a stronger than he came, and some portions were delivered from him, where there were members of Christ's church, who confessed their master, and spoke for him who delivered them, then began a turmoil. There began immediately a permissive contention. If there never had been any real religion, and the devil had had all his own way there would be no controversy ; and if there were no truth in the world, no real christian protest in the world, and the great Antichrist of Rome had had all his own way there would have been no controversy ; he would stop it all (hear, hear) ; not a mouth would be opened against him. But when there were mouths opened for the praise and glory of God, when there were hearts warmed and enlightened by the spirit of God, when the truth of God was spoken, whether men would hear it or whether they would forbear, then began the conflict. Real christians, therefore, must continue to be agitators so long as this world was under the dominion of Satan. There could be no vital religion without agitation. (Hear, hear.) What were the prophets ? Agitators at Jerusalem breaking in upon the deep slumbers of the ungodly, and awakening wicked kings, and wicked rulers, and wicked princes to a sense of the truth of the glory of the God of Israel ! What were the apostles ? Agitators protesting against the Phari sees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the Pagans ; pro testing against the stagnation to which the devil would bring the world, and stirring up . r m ea en d ' i s , ; m h i e nd p s o rcei se v r:e ri t: living God ! (Cheers.) They were agitators. And who were the reformers ? Luther w a s a grea t ag it a t or . He found a bible in his convent; h ments there that would not remain in the stagnant goo of the papacy ; he brought them out ; he spoke them ; he translated them into his native tongue ; lie printed them for his countrymen, and what a world of agitators had the bible caused ! (Hear.) There were some persons who found fault because we were agitators. Whose example he should like to know was it fit for us to follow? We took up the history of the world, and if there were three classes of men whose history stood recorded in the pages of the history of the world, whose example it was fit and proper we should follow, they were the three classes he had named—the apostles, the prophets, and the reformers. (Loud cheers.) But said our adversaries " you do harm, for you cause your opponents to combine." He was now stating what some who pretended to be upon our side as Protestants said who disapproved of our agitation. They dreamed of truth without agitation just as if this world had never fallen under the dominion of Satan ! They talked very sweet, and very plausible, and very amiable things, about kindness, and charity, and love, and they were certainly very delightful, but how are they to be won ? Were we to show our kind ness and love to mankind by allowing them to remain with out a struggle under the dominion of Satan ? Were we not rather showing true kindness to them by endeavouring to deliver them from those trammels, and bring them into the liberty of the children of God ? (Hear, hear.) We had some Protestants by name in this country who dis approved of our Protestant Associations ; they said " we are as good Protestants as you, and we hate Popery as much as you, but (there was a very significant but) by agitating in this way you combine the Roman Catholics against us—you cause them to agitate—you rouse them to activity—and you cause a recoil, so that absolutely your Protestant Associations are means of increasing Popery." That was what they said; and he (Mr. M'Neile) wanted to ask the meeting whether that was true ? (Loud cries of " No, no.") It was easy to say it, but it was not easy to prove it. (Cheers.) He would ask again were not the Roman Catholics combined before our agitation began ? (Cries of " yes.") Was there not a Romish agitation against the integrity of British liberty both in church and state? (Hear, hear.) Was it not carried on for years, and did it not succeed in 1829? (Cries of " yes," and loud cheers.) Was there not a parliamentary reform agitation, and did it not succeed after some years ? (Hear.) And had there not been, and was there not now, a Protestant agita tion, and was it not succeeding ? (Great cheers.) Compare the apathy of a few years ago with the vigour, the enthusi asm, and earnestness of these days—(hear, hear) ;—compare the state of things in this country upon the subjectof educa tion some years ago, and now look around and see our schools starting up on every side, for the Christian and scriptural education of our youth—(cheers) ;—compare the want of church room in this country some years ago, and now see the churches building in every direction, and the thou sands subscribed in town after town towards building more churches for the people—the poor man's church—(great cheering); and compare the deadly stillness which reigned all over England, whilst England was year after year paying a large sum of money for the sustenance and education of a set of popish priests in Ireland—and not one whisper upon the subject, not a remonstrance, not a petition against the col lege of Maynooth—compare that, he said, with the state of things now. (Hear, hear.) Petition after petition, meeting after meeting, why England seemed awake to this matter ; and though a certain class of persons did not come and join our Protestant Associations, he shrewdly suspected that they were very well disposed to avail themselves of the benefits of our PrOtestant labours. (Hear, hear.) There were always some persons in an army who were very glad to avail them selves of a victory although they were not very forward to face the enemy in the front ranks. (Hear, at length.) Now we had a great deal of patriotisffeabout us ; his noble name sake (Mr. Stowell) was here to-night—(great applause)— and Mr. Stowell and himself were willing to go forward into the breach in this fight, they were willing to expose them selves, not only to to the assaults of the enemy—(cheers)— but to the prudent remonstrances of our friends. (Hear.) It was necessary if an army moved at all, that somebody should go foremost. It every man said to his neighbour, " you go first," then nobody would go first, and there would be no movement at all ; but they would not quarrel with the gentle men who refused to come forward in the first ranks, if they would only bring up the commissiariat, if they would only supply the ammunition. (Loud cheers.) But it was too bad to require the very same persons who were foremost in the fight to be at the same time the persons to take care of the baggage waggons ; and therefore he had a request to make of those kind, considerate, prudent, remonstrating friends who told us they hated popery as much as we did, but who did not like fighting. (Hear, hear.) He said to them "well, if you do not like fighting, leave the fighting to us, and do you pay." (Cheers.) We could not carry on this work without incurring expense ; these meet ings incurred expense, petitions incurred expense, s a a n y d ti w ia h t wowe were i astopaL ar th v ee ney? He was, however, happy to pros perous course now. (Hear.) We were assembled this even ing, as they knew, for the purpose of adopting and signing a petition which had been already adopted at a meeting in this town, and published, so that most of those present were in possession of its contents. It was upon the subject of May nooth College. As they were aware, that subject had been discussed in the House of Commons for a considerable time. A,motioii had been made every year. for the withdrawal of the grant of about £9OOO a year made in the Irish estimates for the support of that college. That motion, however, had been negatived every year. Last year the friends of the col lege had been pressed more closely than they had ever bee n before, and they w ere obliged to put forward more strength in its defence. One of them, th e h on . an d l earne d mem b er for the county of Tipperary, brought forward an act of the Irish parliament, by which he alleged, or gave it to be understood, that the grant to Maynooth C o ll ege was gran t e d i n th e ac t of union with Ireland. That was a staggerer (hear, hear.) because the lovers of our country would be sorry to join those who agitated for the repealof the union or of any part of it. However, after in qu i ry , i t was f oun d th a t no ac t o f th e Irish parliament involved any such contract; that the act of union said nothing about such a contract, but it was found at the same time that an act of the Irish parliament, called the 35th Geo. 111., that was, which was passed in the year 1795, appointed certain government officers of state, judges in Ireland, to be visitors of the College of Maynooth. This seemed to give the College of Maynooth an union with the state, and some persons said it amounted to an union with the state ; that was a matter upon which others held a different opinion, but so long as that act was in existence, even the friends of our measure felt they could not ask for a withdrawal of the grant to Maynooth College. (Hear, hear.) For his own part he did not sec wby we might not ask for a withdrawal of the grant in spite of any such act, as it did not appear to him to involve any compact to continue the grant, Still there