The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-08 00:00:00

ceedings, respecting which they must consult their own legal adviser. _ Mr. COOPER said it came rather hard upon the " willing horse." A MEMBER remarked that Mr. Cooper did not appear a very " willing horse." MARKET COMMITTEE. In the report of the market committee, a resolution ap peared, authorising the sale of hay and straw in the London road, on payment of the usual toll. It was also set forth that it had been resolved to erect sheds for the protection of produce in the North Haymarket. Mr. GLADSTONE wished to know whether it was intended to raise the rents in St. John's Market. Mr. JOHN SMITH said, what was intended was to make a general revision of the rents. Mr. GLADSTONE thought they were not bound to exact to the uttermost fat thing for the rents in the market, and especially at a period when business was known to be in a very depressed state. He urged this as one reason against any change ; but there was another and a still more import ant one, namely, that in proportion as the rents of the stalls in the markets were increased, a direct premium was offered for the removal of the business of those stalls, to shops in the streets; and, therefore, to that extent manifestly injuring the property of the corporation. He trusted, therefore, that no change would be made. . • ~ repared to justify Mr. EVANS was, if it were in ord the raising of rents in St. John's Market The MAYOR said, this question was not before the council Mr. EVANS said, he would content himself with observing that a butcher had given to another in the same trade £lOO for being allowed to go into one of the shops in the market. With respect to Mr. Gladstone's observation, if the public wanted shops in other places, they had no right to do any thing that would prevent it. Mr. THORNHILL expressed strong disapprobation of the scheme for allowing hay and straw to be sold in London-road After expending £20,000 in the formation of new hay-mar kets, such a measure was preposterous. They would have to drive away a stand of coaches; and, after all, they could not find room for many loads of hay or straw. He did not agree either with the erection of sheds for housing hay or straw. Produce ought to be brought to the market to be sold, not to be stored ; and if they offered facilities for doing so, they would enable the farmers to raise the prices. Such sheds would be a losing concern ; for they would cost £6OO, and they Would not bring in £l5 a-year. As to the London road project, it was the most preposterous scheme that ever was heard of. Mr. PARKER agreed with Mr. Thornhill that the notion of permitting hay and straw to he sold in London-road was most. preposterous. They might, with equal consistency, allow those commoditi es t o h e so ld i n L or d -street. With respect to the erection of s h e d s , he did not agree with Mr. Thornhill. He thought they ought to provide means for the protection of agricultural produce from the weather. EVANS said, that having had something to do with this preposterous scheme of bringing hay to be sold in Lon don-road, he roust claim the privilege of saying a word or two on the subject, especially as Mr. Thornhill had opposed it, and had, no doubt, made his usual impression on the council. (L aug ht er .) M r . P ar ker had likewise spoken against it, and, no doubt, with his usual effect. With respect to the south market it was not now in existence. This ex periment was recommended in default of the South Hay market. Mr. Evans proceeded to state the course of pro ceedings in council touching the formation of the two mar kets, with a view of showing that lie had been an advocate for only one market. The markets were at length brought into action, and the north took all the business from the south. It was difficult to say why this was, but if they found that both buyers and sellers crowded to London-road this would solve the difficulty. He bad an opinion that this was the position for a market for Liverpool, and they had evi dence enough that a much larger place than this would not support more than one hay-market. He knew of Land in the neighbourhood of London-road that was exactly suited for the purpose, hut he would not say too much on the sub ject at present. He hoped, however, to see the markets con centrated in that neighbourhood. They had purchased the land on certain provisos, it was true, but they would have no difficulty in arranging to compensate the persons with whom they had entered into conditions. Mr. BUSHELL said, Mr. Evans spoke of the failures of the other markets, and he wished to remedy thoze failures by snaking them still greater : he wished to draw the business from them to London-road. Why should not the markets be held at the north and the south on alternate days ? It would be a system of reciprocity which would carry with it much more justice than any other experiment. By the proposition of Mr. Evans the property of both would be endangered. If sheds were erected at the south market, farmers would be induced to take their produce there, and in time the market would be established. _ . Mr. EARLS said was most extraordinary that the south market did not answer, as the great bulk of buyers were at the south. Mr. THORNHILL differed with Mr. Earle. The great bulk of buyers were at the north. Mr. EARLE thought otherwise. He believed nearly all the buyers were at the south. He thought favourably of holding the market in London-road. Mr. SANDS was like Mr. Earle, at a loss to know why the south market did not answer. He had sent hay of his own to be sold there, and his farmer was obliged to take it to the north because there were no purchasers Mr. JORDAN said they ought to ere market and then it would answt ds at the south Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE thought that however good in itself, before Mr. Evans's plan was agreed to, it was the duty of the council to try every means in their power, to make the South market, on which so much had been already expended, answer the object originally contemplated. If a shed would have this effect, he was decidedly of opinion that the attempt should be made ; and it was time enough, when such experiments had failed, to talk of abandoning it and establishing another. Mr. JOHN SMITH said the great complaint against the south market was that it was too cold and exposed. The farmers did not like, for this reason, to send their cattle there. They ought, therefore, to build a wall round it to protect it from the wind. Mr. PROCTOR said he hoped the counsel would agree to build both a wall and sheds. If they did this the market would answer. Mr. KiLsnaw said if they did build a wall it would answer no purpose, as that place was so much exposed. The wind would come over the wall, and it would be as bad as ever. Evans in his tient situa• Mr. COOPER agreed entirely with Alderm views respecting London-road, which was an exce tion for a market. Mr. H. HOLMES, seconded by Mr. THORNHILL, moved that the proceedings be referred back to the committee, for reconsideration. _ Mr. PLATT said the farmers were not likely to attend the south market till they had some accommodation. Let sheds be erected, and there would be some attraction, and they would go to the market. He wished to know what accom modation they were likely to get in London-road, A very few carts would fill the space there, but the crowd which would appear would not prove anything. Mr. RIGBY had been in the habit of conversing with farmers for some years, and he approved entirely of the Lon don-road scheme. As to the land of the South Haymarket, it would be no loss to the corporation, as it was worth all that it had cost. Mr. BOLTON objected to the erection of the sheds and the holding a market in London-road. He moved that the erection of sheds should be suspended. Mr. EVANS said the notion of the holding the market on alternate days, of shutting up• one market in order to force people to another, was one of the most utopian that he had ever heard of. By going to London-road, they broke no es tablishment, and they might, if it did not answer, discon tinue it in a week. Their object was the public convenience, which ought to overrule all other considerations. Mr. BUSHELL said there must be some reason why people did not go to the south market, and it must be on account of the situation. If they built a wall about it and erected sheds, they would make it applicable to what was required in all respects. Mr. LLOYD supported the London-road scheme. The council divided on the amendment, when there ap peared— For the amendment 17 Against it The amendment was consequently lost. The following gentlemen voted on the division : For the amendment Messrs. Thornhill, Preston, H. Holmes, J. Holmes, Bolton, Yates, Robinson, Gladstone, Bushell, Parker, Proctor, Brassey, Jordan, Platt, Holt, Moon, and Turner. Against it—Messrs. Shaw, Shand, Houghton, Copeland, Mellor, Sands, Rae, Bright, Priestley, Aspinall, J. Law rence, Cooper, Wood, Birkett, Lloyd, Rigby, Kilshaw, J. Smith, G. H. Lawrence, Bulley, Prune, Evans, Barclay, Earle. R. Houghton, Nicol, Bramley-Moore, Molyneus, Crook, and the mayor. The proceedings of the committee were confirmed, it being understood that the erection of the sheds was to be post poned for the present. EDUCATION COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS. The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK read the proceedings, resolu tions, and reports of the Education Committee. It appeared that at one of their meetings the committee resolved that permission be Continued to the Northern Mechanics' Institu tion to use the ground floor of the North Corporation School, between the hours of six and ten o'clock each evening, except on the evenings of Saturday and Sunday, for the purposes originally declared in the memorial to the Council of the 7th of February, 1839, and terminable on six months' notice. Mr. Alderman MOLYN E UX moved the confirmation of the proceedings. Mr. SANDS seconded the motion. Mr. Alderman BARCLAY begged to trouble the Council with one or two remarks in relation to some observations which fell from Mr. Sandbach (whom he was sorry was not in his place) at the last meeting of the Council. Mr. Sand. baeli then stated that the Education Committee had deter mined to give up the apprenticeship system ; and he added, as a reason for . it, that the apprentices did not attend, and there were no means of making them attend. He (Mr. Bar clay) was surprised at this assertion, but, being taken by surprise. he said nothing, although ie was aware that the apprenticeship system was generally considered, in Germany and Prussia, as the best mode of getting assistance, and that it was recommended by the Committee of Education of the Privy Council. The question, however, was, as to the beha viour of these apprentices; and considering that they were serving their time, and were looking forward to the profession as a means of support, it was of some consequence, at least to them, that their characters should stand right. He, there fore, made some inquiry, and in the course of it he had re ceived a letter, written by a former mistress of the South School, which was so much to the' purpose that he would. take the liberty of readine it. Mr. Alderman Barclay then read a long letter from Mrs. Buchanan, formerly Miss Har rison, who, for a period of eight or nine years, had been mistress of the South School, but was now removed to In verness. It stated that the writer had read, in the Mercury, the report of a Council meeting, in which it was stated that the apprenticeship system was to be abandoned, at which she expressed her surprise and astonishment, because, during the whole time the girls' school was under her management the apprentices behaved in the most exemplary manner, and were exceedingly zealous in the discharge of their duties. So at tached were they to their duties that she could seldom prevail upon them to go home to their dinners; and she had even been obliged to force them from the school. As to the supe rity of monitors and apprentices, there was not the slightest comparison ; by the monitorial system it was impossible to secure a reaular attendance. but by the apprenticeship system the cleverest pupils were brought out, and their services extensively promoted the utility of the schools. The other parts of the letter consisted of a warm defence of the female apprentices, and a statement of the writer's opinion, pretty clearly expressed, that the committee did not know what they were about when they took upon themselves to change the system. Mr. SANDS asked to whom that letter was addressed ? Mr. Alderman BAnCLAY replied that it had been addressed to a member of the Ladies' Committee, from whom he re ceived it, and that it was at the service of the council. Mr. GLADSTONE said it was very well to read this letter of Mrs. Buchanan's, but one story was always good until ano ther was told. Mrs. Walsh, the mistress of the North School, for instance, was decidedly of opinion that the system of ap prenticeship was bad. (Hear, hear-) Mr. BOLTON said, then, there was the experience of one who had been a teacher for nine years, against that of ano ther who had been a teacher eighteen months. Mr. GLADSTONE begged Mr. Bolton's par don : he was Under a mistake in this respect. Mr. BOLTON replied that Mrs. Buchanan had been mistress and under-mistress of the South School for nine years. Mr. GLADSIONE admitted that was so, but she had not had nine years' experience of the apprenticeship system, for it had not been anything like that period in operation. Mr. Alderman EARLE, after some reference to Mrs. Bu- g.anart's opinion, said he also should have a letter to read, and as it was not in order to do so without requesting its production, he should be obliged by the production of a let ter from Mr. Stone, the superintendent of the schools, from the file of the Education Committee. The MAYOR asked the Council whether they would au thorise the production of the letter? Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE.—What letter is it? Mr. Alderman EARLE.—It is a letter from Mr. Stone, and it has peculiar reference to a memorial which I have to present. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE.—Who is it addressed to? Mr. Alderman EARLE.—To the Education Committee, Mr. BOLTON.—It is public property. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—It is public property, and I will take care it becomes more public if it is refused here to-day. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE.—It is not refused. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—I may read it then? Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE.—Oh, yes; read it. Mr. Alderman EARLE then read the following letter : " North Corporation School, " Liverpool, 10th March, 1842. " GENTLEMEN,—In order to carry out the intention of your committee, and my own uesire, with regard to the schools over which you have been pleased to place me, I beg to observe that I am decidedly of opinion, and experi ence bears me out in the assertion, that, as long as the ap prentices remain in the said schools, and under the impres sion that they may absent themselves therefrom during the time of prayer and religious instruction, thereby giving a license to those other children who may have precisely the same objection as they themselves seem to have, it will be utterly impossible to produce that regularity and attention which is most desirable at the present time. I have taken the opportunity of addressing the children and apprentices upon the all.importance of a sound religious instruction, and at the same time pointed out the necessity of every indivi dual's attendance during prayer. It appears, however, from a memorandum which I hold, that five out of the seven in the North, and three out of the four in the South, School, object altogether to join during this time. I stated to them That if they remained, they would be compelled to attend in the schools during that time ; if not, there could be only one alternative, that of cancelling their indentures. They prefer the latter. .This being the case, I feel convinced that your committee will see the urgent necessity of deciding at once on this matter; -and from the circumstance which occurred this morning in the South Schools, of which Rector Camp bell is cognizant, and mentioned to me by the rector, the best course now to be adopted would be, to have their in dentures cancelled. Ocular demonstration is not to be got over ; and the rector has requested me to state, that his firm coe,!:!tion is, that until these boys are out of the schools, it will Le quite impossible to set the same at work with any credit, or to form any criterion of your present proceedings. " I am, Gentlemen, " Your most obedient servant, " ROBERT STONE. " To the Education Committee of the town of Liverpool." In the course of reading this letter, Mr. Priestley being called out of the room ; Mr. Alderman EARLE said—l really hope you are not go ing away, for you are an important member of the Education Committee. Mr. PRIESTLEY.— I am called out, sir. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Then I hope your call will be short. Mr. ASPINALL, in explanation of that part of the letter which refers to Mr. Campbell, said, Mr. Campbell had been insulted in one of the schools, on which he made a complaint to the master. Mr. Alderman EARLE said the explanation came mal apro pos. He could hardly think that Mr. Campbell would have made such a request as that attributed to him, because in every indenture of apprenticeship there were two sides to the bar gain ; the council were to do justice to the apprentices, and the apprentices were to do justice to the council. He could not believe that Mr. Campbell had asked such a question, because everybody, and particularly a minister, who wished to act properly, would first say to himself, " How should I act in such circumstances ?" If he had a child apprenticed under particular circumstances, which child was compelled to do certain things against its conscience, would he, as the fa ther, approve of that sort of thing? If Mr. Campbell ap proved of it, he would have acted rightly ; but he (Mr. E.) could not imagine he would have said these things ; he would rather have said—" this is not the way that I would wish others to do unto me." Then the idea of such a man as Mr. Stone talking about the importance of religious instruction, and so forth 1 It was absurd. He begged the Town-clerk to ring the bell for a glass of water, for really the long sentences in Mr. Stone's letter had made him quite thirsty. Mr. SANDS thought the letter very fair. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—" Middling fair," Mr. Sands, I suppose ? Mr. SANDS.—NO, I think it very fair, indeed. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—" Very fair, indeed," for the superindendent, par excellence, of the corporation schools of Liverpool. This, too, from a member of the Education Committee ! Mr. BUSHELL.—Can you point out a grammatical error in it ? Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Yes, I can. Mr. Bus tiELL.—Where are they? I cannot discover any. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Oh, you are a very great autho rity, Mr. Bushell, because all your own sentences are so remarkably well turned. Mr. Busum.e.—But I cannot speak so well as you. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Oh, yes, you do. I think you speak remarkably well.—He hod a memorial to present on this very subject of the turning away of the apprentices, which he thought would be received with peculiar satisfac tion by the council, because the first person by whom it was signed was a tory, and he bad voted with the tories at the late election in St. Ann's 'Ward. Mr. Earle then read the memorial, which was of extreme length, occupying eight closely-written folio pages. It professed to come from the fathers of the apprentices who had been " turned out " of the corporation schools. It stated that when they were bound it was agreed they were not to receive peculiar re ligious instruction, and they had continued in the schools up to the present time on the understanding that no inter ference in this respect should take place. They had, how ever, been required to go to church, and they were not taught algebra, Latin, and other matters as formerly; and they complained that they were required to be transferred from Mr. Nelson to Mr. Stone, who could not teach them these branches of learning according to the terms of their indentures. They had received notice from the Town-clerk that unless they consented to the transfer they must not again attend the schools ; and since this they had been twice driven from the schools : however, before taking legal pro ceedings they wished to throw themselves on the high honour and gentlemanly feeling of the council.—He did not know whether the memorialists had vet taken any legal steps ' • but whether they had or not he trusted that justice would be done to them. As he had said before there were two sides to every question; and although the apprentices had done their duty to the corporation, it did not seem as if the corporation had done their duty to the apprentices. He did not think that it was exactly the duty of the Town-clerk, although he entertained the highest respect for his integrity and honour—(he should be very sorry to think otherwise of him)—to try to get gentlemen out of a hobble when once they had got into it. The Education Committee were at present in a difficulty, and the Town-clerk seemed to be trying to get them out of the mud. He (Mr. Alderman Earle) would let them flounder in it. He would not, how ever, let them be a party to an unjust action. These appren tices were bound to a man of talent, for whom the public had a regard, because he wes capable of teaching the chil dren; but he would appeal to any gentlemen, whether Mr. Stone was a fit person to whom they ought to be apprenticed ? His own letters condemned him ; but perhaps Mr. Bushell had not seen them all ;—[M r. BuSHELL—Yes, I have]—and Mr. Stone would have acted wisely if he had not written them. He did think that the apprentices would be very ill used if they were forced either out of the schools or to cancel their indentures, unless there was some person to whom they could be indentured able to teach them what the corpo ration had agreed they should be taught. These poor chil dren hail left other lines of life ; they had been singled out for the purpose, as possessing peculiar talent, and he was sure, from what he bad seen of them, that they were well spoken, genteel boys. They bad been at his house last night. (Laughter.) Mr. Sands laughed, but— Mr. SANDS—I laughed, because I thought there was some investigation going on somewhere. Mr. Alderman EARLE—An investigation going on some where ! Why all he knew was, that these two lads called at his house last night with the memorial, and requested him to present it ; but he had never seen either of them before. He had certainly seen a boy named Slack, whom he had wished to have taken into his counting-house, in Hoyle-street ; and the father of one boy once called upon him at his counting h9use, and spoke to him u po n the sub j ect ; but he said to him, " What do you come to me for, sir? You have voted far those gentlemen who have brought this to pass ; you voted for Mr. Parker and Mr. Brassey, in St. Ann's Ward, and what do you come to me for? If you disapprove of the sys tem which they have established, why do you vote for them ?" " Oh, but," says he, " I voted under protest." Mr. BRASSEY denied this statement. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—So much for " the investigations" which Mr. Sands spoke of. But Mr. Sands had already in sinuated things for which Mr. Barclay had called him to ac count, and he must recollect that he did not come off on that occasion with a very good grace, and now he was insinuating things in which he would have equal difficulty in coming oil with a good grace. Mr. SANDS.—I shall be very glad to answer you. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Oh ! I like to speak my mind openly. Mr. SANDS.—I was going to speak mine openly. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—AII I say is that I will do all it my power to see these lads righted. Mr. SANDS.—There is no wish on our part to see them dtherwise than righted. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—There is the point. There is no wish but to see them righted. Indeed ! Then I should be glad to have the Town-clerk's explanation whether these pro ceedings are legal—whether the education committee can compel these indentures to be cancelled ? The TOWN-CLERK.—If the parties had furnished you with My letter of the 29th March, which they have not, you would have had the whole case. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—I have nothing but these. The TOWN-CLERK.—Then you are deficiently supplied with information. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Then it is your bounden duty to us, Mr. Town-clerk, to give us your explanation. Mr. ASPINALL.—The Town-clerk will do so. Mr. HARBORD.—I think that Mr. Earle is himself in the mud, and that he ought to be allowed to flounder a little longer. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—I t is absolutely necessary that we should have the Town-clerk's explanation. The TOWN -CLERK.--At the proper time I shall be pre pared to give it. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—WeII ; I hardly know how to finish this. (Loud laughter.) It is no laughing matter, gen tlemen. You are doing a great injustice to people bene ath you in station and life, but that is no reason why you should do so ; although you wear good coats upon your backs, you are not to treat the poor in this way. We are not sent into this room for that purpose. The TOWN -CLERK.—I think, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Earle should finish his case before he calls for evidence. (Hear.) Mr. M ELLOR.—I think, on the other hand, that Mr. Earle ought to have the letter of the 29th March read before he finishes his case. Mr. HARBORD.—I differ from that, inasmuch as Mr. Earle stated that the Town-clerk had no right to help to get the Education Committee out of the mud. Now Mr. Earle has got himself into the mud, and I think the Town-clerk ought 'to leave him to flounder a little there. • Mr. Alderman EARLE.—That is a very smart and clever repartee, Mr. Harbord ; but coming from you it doesn't hit very hard. Mr. BOLTON said, that if fair justice were given to Mr. Earle he ought to be put in possession of the letter of the 29th March, in order that he might found thereon a resolu tion which he intended to propose. Mr. LLOYD did not think so; but he thought that both Mr. Earle and his proceedings should be referred back for information, for it was very clear that he was floundering in the mud in all directions. He had not got above one - half the, correspondence ; but the Town-clerk's exp l anations , like the Duke's" despatches, would make everything satisfac tory. Mr. MELLOR must say this was not satisfactory to him. In the first place, Mr. Earle should be put into possession of the Town -clerk' s letter before he finished his case—(cries of " No, n o ") ; and further, some explanat i ons s h ou ld b e g i ven to the co unc il why that letter had not appeared among the proceedings of th e E ducation Comm i ttee- Mr. Alderman EA.RLE said there were other points. There was this point—the resolution forcing these children to do what they were not bound to do, against their conscience; and, whether or not, the original indentures were not to the masters who had been compelled to leave. It was an awk ward situation into which the Education Committee had got. Mr. JAMES LAWRENCE thought the indentures were made to any master that might be substituted for another, and if that were the case that was not interfering with the opinions of such masters. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—They are indentures to be taught certain things, which Mr. Stone does not intend to teach them, either from incapability or some other reason. The TOWN-CLERK. — That is not my construction of the indentures. Mr. PARKER had not yet seen the indentures. He had applied for a copy. but he could not obtain one. They were talking about the indentures, whilst he believed there were four-fifths of the corporation who had never seen them. Mr. Alderman EARLE here moved that the memorial be referred to the Education Committee, and that they be in structed to report upon the allegations it contained. Mr. BOLTON seconded the proposition. He thought that though the Town-clerk had not produced his letter of the 29th of March, Mr. Earle had made out a case of apparent injustice, fraud, and oppression. Either Mr. Stone was in capable or unwilling, or perhaps both, to instruct the ap prentices in those branches of knowledge in which they were entitled to be instructed ; hut whatever the result of the proposed enquiry might be, it was due to the character cf the committee who directed the schools to see that the apprentices received no injustice. Mr. BUSHELL said the labours of the Education Committee were already very considerable, and it would be hard to increase them unnecessarily. If the letter to which the Town-clerk had alluded would throw sufficient light upon this matter to prevent the necessity of sending the memorial to the com mittee, it would be unnecessary to occupy their time with it. Mr. CROOK was quite sure the Town-clerk's letter would explain everything. The M A YOR (the Town-clerk having retired for a moment) said it was his intention to explain everything. Mr. PARKER said the memorial read by Mr. Earle was to have been presented by himself, as Mr. Fergie, by whom it was first signed, and who was a member of his constituency, had requested him to do so, and he said he would. He was much delighted, however, that it had fallen into the hands of Mr. Earle ; at the same time be bad not pledged himself to support it. He had, as he said before, gone to the Town clerk to obtain information as to the terms upon which the apprentibes were bound to the corporation ; the Town-clerk, however, told him that they belonged to the Education Com mittee, and without an order from the chairman he could not give him a copy of the indentures. He did not go to the chairman because he thought that, as a member of the coun cil, he had a right to see the indentures; therefore, under these circumstances, he could not tell what the conditions of them were. Ile was extremely sorry that Mr. Earle should have cast insinuations upon one of the rectors in the manner which he had, for the rector, he was sure, wished to do nothing but what was right. He hoped, indeed, that no member of that council would impute to any clergyman a disposition to do anything but what was right, and still less to the rector. Before this matter was decided upon, he sug gested that each member should have a copy of the inden tures. He had told Fergie he was satisfied that justice would be done to him if he would only let the thing come fairly before the council. Mr. Alderman EARLE disclaimed having said anything disrespectful of Mr. Rector Campbell. The TOWN-CLERK said the time had now arrived when it was proper he should state what he knew of the subject brought before the council by Mr. Alderman Earle. First of all he would explain that he had always considered that if lie held papers on behalf of any committee, he held them as not to be disposed of at his discretion, but under the direc tion of the committee, unless any of them were called for in that council chamber. The subject in question underwent considerable consideration, at a time when a member of the council applied to be present at the proceedings of the watch committee ; and the subject of the papers was taken into consideration at the same time. The gentleman applying was Mr. Cooper. On a subsequent occasion Mr. Isaac Holmes applied to take some part in the proceedings of the Education Committee—he thought in the schools themselves. On both these occasions he (the Town-clerk) was called upon, and he gave his opinion against the parties who were applying for privileges to which they thought themselves en titled. The first application made to him for a copy of the indentures in the present case, was brought to him by one of his clerks, and the party who applied was Mr. Ald. Earle. He directed an explanation to be given why it could not be furnished • subsequently, however, it appeared that Mr. Earle had applied in behalf of one of the apprentices, and had the apprentice along with him. The case was then altered, and it clearly being an application for a party, a copy was furnished. The councillor, Mr. Parker, then applied, and he explained to Mr. Parker that he would have nothing more to do than to obtain an order from the chairman of the com mittee, and to that order he (the Town-clerk) should pay im plicit and prompt obedience. The first directions he had from the Education Committee to prepare transfers of the indentures of apprenticeship, or, if the apprentices did not wish to remain under the new head master, to cancel them, were on the 25th of February, as follows : " The Town-clerk to prepare transfers of the indentures of the apprentices to the head master, Mr. Robert Stone; and should the parents or guardians of any of the appren tices be desirous to withdraw any of them from the schools, the Town-clerk to cancel their indentures. And that the like course to be pursued with regard to the female appren tices and their mistresses." Of course, the committee having given him these directions to prepare the assignment without any controul as to the terms of the transfer, if there was any error in the assign ment, it rested with him and not with the committee. The directions being given, he addressed a note to the parents of the several apprentices, on the 28th of February, stating— " I have received from the Education Committee of the Council the instructions copied on the other half-sheet, and I have now to acquaint you, that the draft of the assignment will be ready for your perusal at twelve o'clock to-morrow, when it can be delivered to yourself or the apprentices, with any explanation that may be desired." And with this note he gave a copy of the directions of the committee. At a meeting which took place the following day, he received from the apprentices named in the memorial and their parents a demand by them, taken down as follows : " Before agreeing to an assignment of the indentures to Mr. Stone, the head master, the fathers of the apprentices wish to know whether the Education Committee will not undertake that their sons shall be instructed in the rudiments of Latin, and the elementary branches of the mathematics, as taught by Mr. Nelson." The next step he took was to lay this demand before a meet ng of the Education Committee for their instructions thereon; .nd the answer which they directed to be returned was as ows "The corporation are ready to execute an assignment in the terms precisely of the existing indentures ; but the corn- , mittee are of opinion that these terms do not comprise in struction in the rudiments of Latin, or the elementary branches of the mathematics. However, the committee have no objection to the head master, or any of the masters, giving instruction in those branches if they chose to do so ; but the committee cannot make any order upon the subject." This, at a further meeting with the apprentices and their parents, was read by him to the parties ; and this was the re solution referred to in the memorial read by Mr. Earle, as stating "that the committee would not burden the master with the teaching of Latin and the mathematics." At this second meeting, Mr. Fergie, the father, read a letter, which he had addressed to the Chairman of the Education Committee, and concluded with expressing his determination in these words : " I will not cancel the indenture nor execute the assign ment unless the corporation engage a proper person to teach my son exactly as Mr. Nelson taught him ; Mr. Stone is not that person ; he is not capable." This determination being taken down was read to Mr. Fergie, and confirmed by him. Mr. Fergie then applied for a copy of the draft of assignment. The other parents and the ap prentices, (with Mr. Fergie's son, six in number,) all stated "We will abide by what Mr. Fergie has said." Thus as to these apprentices the meeting ended. Drafts of the assign ment being ordered, then the letters read by Mr. Earle, in the memorial, were written by him to the parents. On the 19th of March he wrote to the parents as follows : " You have been distinctly apprised that the corporation have been (as they still are) willing to join in an assignment of your son's indenture of apprenticeship to the new head master, Mr. Stone, which deed would be prepared in the terms of the original indenture, and according to the proviso therein for such assignment upon a new head master being appointed by the council. As your son, acting with your approbation, has declared his refusal to be assigned to Mr. Stone, I am directed by the Education Committee of the Council to state, that it necessarily follows that your son's attendance at the school cannot, under these circumstances, be continued." Here he might have stopped ; but, as copies of the draft of the assignment had been applied for, and he wished to give the parties time for repentance upon the subject if they should be so advised, he wrote them this note : "As you have requested the draft assignment of your son's indenture, I send it herewith, willing to give every informa tion, though, after your son's refusal to be assigned to Mr. Stone, it cannot be of much value, unless that determination be altered." He thus showed that the door was still open for accommoda tion, if they thought proper. He had supposed they had thought better of it—at least he then thought so ; but he did not know how this might be upon a consideration of what now appeared. The assignment which was prepared was drawn, according to his opinion, precisely in the terms of the original indentures. The original indentures were different from ordinary indentures of apprenticeship, which in their nature were personal ; the apprentice personally bound to the master, and the master personally bound to the apprentice ; and if there was during the term of apprenticeship any change, such change could only take place by the agreement of both. That was the case with ordinary indentures of ap prenticeship ; but the indentures in question, very properly considering the apprentice bound to the establishment rather than to the master, contained the following proviso : " Provided, that if the said Robert Jacob Nelson shall, during the said term, cease to be the head master of the North Corporation School, or if the said Robert Jacob Nelson shall die during the said term, he the said Robert Jacob Nel son, or his executors or administrators, shall and will forth with legally assign the said apprentice, for the residue of the said term then unexpired, unto the person who shall be ap pointed by the council of the said borough to succeed the said Robert Jacob Nelson in the said office." Then the undertaking of the master was certainly in these terms : " And the said Robert Jacob Nelson, doth, hereby, for himself, his executors, administrators and assigns, covenant, promise and agree, with and to the said Charles Fergie, and the said apprentice, that he the said Robert Jacob Nelson, his executors, administrators and assigns, shall and will, dur ing the said term teach, inform and instruct, 'or cause and p r o c u re sbo by b tNe e ah eN t e al teacherbso u oor g nst h h tat, in w , n t.lionyw f s o t r pah me Corporation or eade d various nipractises, and instructed, asso,csoh rho branches rdl eauaan rsncinhhiduring t the thhohee l e e saars s itad a io i dt d ap prentice re educationirotmoo c b taught u er p t at j ' :n o o b t f h shall practise the same." This stipulation seemed very proper. It was 'tot different from the ordinary stipulations in common indentures. The ' effect of the proviso which he first read was decidedly this the choice of a new master was given to the council a c ti ng by their committee ; the apprentice parted with the power which, under the common indenture, he w ould have had,of con senting to the release of th e old T ast er. In common in dentures the master was bound, durin g all the te rm , to fulfil his engagements; but here all that was parted with, and the apprentice submitted to be bound to the new master who, upon the removal of the old, was to b e a pp ointed by another party—the council. Upon that appointment being made, he (the town-clerk) read the en g a g emen t , on the part of the ew master, to teach and instruct, to be just the same, precisely, as that on the part of the old master ; where you th en rea d " Nelson" you shou ld now read "Stone.' The moment th e n ew master was appointed everything applying to Nelson was changed and applied to the new head Taster ; that is, Stone is himself to teach as Nelson was himself to teach,—with reference to the branches of e ucation, from time to time taught by him to the generald s cholars. The new master was bound by the assignment to teach those branches which, from time time, were taught by him (the n ew wouldmaster) come to this, that any i n the one apprentice If it could all the necessary changes in the m anagement of the schools. What was referred to in the indentures was the mode of teaching the apprentices, with r eference to the teaching of th e general scholars in the s chool. If it were, that there was a control of the kind contended for on the part o e ap p Greekrentices , to-morrow, t m would orro w come o t o o t ol h s s — t g 1 o y oountaught o Latin ati o n - and d a or y Greek. however bad you found t re he e.ticpehang xeinnent to be ; or you m ust ask the consent of t he appn to change the system. It was impossible that this could be the law. This was his honest opinion upon the indentures, and he was bound, as he was unrestricted by the committee, to exercise his honest opinion upon the subject ; and he trusted he had done so, without having occasion, or giving occasion, to get himself or the committee out of the mire. There was not one of parents or the apprentices who would not say that upon every occasion when they met him, they were treated with the greatest courtesy—time was sacrificed in explanations, temper was, under trying circumstances, controlled. He defied them to say that he had used one unpleasant word to wards them, or that they had not been treated with as much respect as if they had been a deputation from the core-mil of education acting on the part of the legislature. (Hear.) The next thing he had to refer to was this; he received a note, for the first time on this subject, from Mr. Berry, a solicitor in Liverpool, after the draft of the assignment had been in the possession of each of the parties for some days. was delivered on the 19th, and on the 23rd he received the note as follows : " Fergie to Stone. " I return this draft, approved with a slight alteration, making it agree with the terms of the original indenture. I am instructed also by Mr. Cunningham, Mr. M`Avoy, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Stock to act on their behalf in this matter, and to inform you they are quite willing to enter into an assignment on the terms in the original indenture. As all the cases are, I believe, similar, it will save trouble if this draft be considered as approved on behalf of all. I conclude the original indentures are the same in all the cases; if not, I shall be obliged by copies of such as differ from Mr. Fergie's." He referred to the draft, and he found it was altered to this effect—that the new head master should be bound to teach the apprentices in the art or mystery of a teacher in the va rious branches of education as fully and as effectually as were taught by the said R. J. Nelson in the said North Corpora tion School. That, in his opinion, was quite contrary to the terms of the original indentures. He, therefore, on the 24th, wrote the following reply to Mr. Berry : " I have given every possible consideration to your altera tions in the draft assignment of Thomas Francis Fergie to the new Head Master of the North Corporation School ; but it appears to me that these alterations, instead of making the draft agree with the terms of the original indenture, make that draft materially to differ from the terms of the original indenture. I think the draft, without the alterations, cor rectly expressed those terms. " I cannot, therefore, approve of the alterations ; and I again transmit the draft that the subject may have any fur ther consideration that you may deem proper." Now here, at the most, was a difference of opinion between two solicitors. Mr. Berry thought he was right, and he (the town-clerk) thought he was right. Mr. Berry, how ever, did not reply to his opinion on the alterations given in that letter ; and up to this moment, the 6th of April, he had had no communication with Mr. Berry on the subject of the assignment. But he did receive subsequently a letter from Mr. Berry, which called forth the letter of the29th March. in which he gave an explanation, that in a short compass would put the council in possession of all the facts. The letter he received from Mr. Berry on the /gni March was as follows : " Fergie to Slone. "I am informed that the apprentices have been this morn ing forcibly turned out of the school by Mr. Stone's direc tion. I cannot imagine this proceeding can be taken by your advice, although you are, I presume, and have been, acting on behalf of Mr. Stone in this matter. Mr. Fergie, and all the others for whom 1 act, have signified their wish to have the indentures assigned on the terms in the original inden tures, which are the terms proposed by you on behalf of the corporation and Mr. Stone. I shall be glad to know from you if it is Mr. Stone's intention to persevere in excluding the boys from the school. They are quite willing to give their attendance at all reasonable times." He did not understand from this that his original draft was agreed to ; but nothing beyond this had been received con taining a syllable of answer to the opinion he (the town clerk) gave upon the effect of the alterations of the draft. That letter being received, his Teiiiy on the day following (the 29th March) was as follows: " In answer to your letter of yesterday, I have to state that, when Mr. Fergie and the other parents, with the appren tices, met me by appointment, on the 18th instant, Mr. Fer gie, for himself and his son, declared, I will not cancel the indenture, nor execute the assignment, unless the corporation engage a proper person to teach any son exactly as Mr. Nel son taught him, and Mr. Stone is not that person; he is not capable.' This was carefully noted down at the time, read over to Mr. Fergie, and confirmed by him, and afterwards it was adopted by each of the other apprentices and his parent. " Upon this the committee came to the resolution, that the attendance at the schools of the apprentices who had re fused to be assigned to Mr. Stones should be disallowed. " This I communicated, by a letter, on the 19th instant, as follows : " You have been distinctly apprised that the corporation have been (as they still are) willing to join in an assignment of your son's indenture of apprenticeship to the new head master, Mr. Stone; which deed would be prepared in the terms of the original indenture, and according to the proviso therein for such assignment, upon a new head master being appointed by the council. " As your son, acting with your approbation, has declared his refusal to be assigned to Mr. Stone, I am directed by the Education Committee of the Council to state, that it neces sarily follows that your son's attendance at the school cannot, under these circumstances, be continued.' " As however a draft assignment had been applied for, one was at the same time transmitted by me to each party, with a note as follows : " As you require the draft assignment of your son's in denture, I send it herewith, willing to give every information, though after your son's refusal to be assigned to Mr. Stone, it cannot be of much value, unless that determination be altered." " On the 23rd instant, you returned to me the draft assignment, with alterations which I could not approve of, and the 24th 1 returned it to you as follows : " ' I have given every possible consideration to your alter ations in the draft assignment of Thomas Francis Fergie, to the new head master of the North Corporation School; but it appears to me that these alterations, instead of making the draft agree with the terms of the original indenture, make that draft materially to differ from the terms of the original indenture. I think the draft, without the alterations, cor rectly expressed those terms. " I cannot therefore approve of the alterations; and I again transmit the draft that the subject may have any fur ther consideration that you may deem proper.' " Under these circumstances, the relation of master and apprentice stands, at least, at present repudiated by your clients ; and this state of things, until it is altered by an as signment in terms correctly settled, must continue ; and pending it, it is neither proper, nor can it answer any good purpose, for the young men to attend the school, and it cer tainly will not be allowed. But to relieve you and them, you are quite at liberty to consider such attendance as daily ten dered and disallowed, and that no omission therein shall pre judice the rights of any party. This letter would show that every pains had been taken by him to put the whole case before the parties, and that by re turning the draft the door was not yet closed against their reconsideration. Mr. Alderman EVANS complained of its being now set up that the apprentices were bound to the establishment and not to the master. The TowN-CLERK.--That is with regard to the education to be taught them. Mr. Alderman EVANS.—And therefore the young men go and make the demand upon the establishment. The TOWN-CLERK.—Put it so; but who is to receive the demand of the young men? The committee are not to be there for the government of these young men ; but my observations as to their being bound to the establishment were made with another view. Mr. Alderman EVANS.—The young men go there to make a legal tender of their services. The TowN-Ceen.K.—You will see how I deal with that. I say " Go on, if you like, but I will relieve you from the trouble of going there every day : we will consider the tender as made every day, without prejudice to the rights of any party." Now, if it should b e f ou nd that he was wrong in his law as to the effect of the assignment he could not help it : but he thought that if Mr. Alderman Earle had been pun in possession of his letter of the 29th of March it would have altered his apprehension of the case. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—I do not agree with you, Mr. Town-clerk. Mr. ASPINALL here suggested an adjournment, as it was past three o'clock, but it was overruled. Mr. YATES said it often happened that the state of the law was one thing, and justice another, and he thought there was a singular example of it on this occasion. He did not mean to dispute the law of the Town-clerk, but he would say this, that it was agreed, when the apprentices were bound, that they should be taught mathematics, classics, algebra, and geometry. Mr. GLADSTONE said it never was. Mr. YATES said at all events it was agreed that they should receive an education to fit them for ushers in any school iu England ; and it was a great injustice that they should be prevented from learning those things and be taught only the very ordinary education given in the corporation schools. But suppose he said nothing further upon the subject, there were laws far higher than the laws of England ; there were the laws of God, and those laws had, in this instance, been grosslya nd voluntarily infringed upon. (Hear.) Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Certainly they have. Mr. YATES, in continuation, said, he did not know what were the opinions of the gentlemen of the Education Com mittee respecting the laws of the Almighty. Let them judge for themselves, as he was there to judge for himself, what in fluence those laws had upon them : but it was agreed on all hands that when they were bound, as stated by the Town clerk, to the corporation, that their liberty of conscience should never be violated. But instead of this they were told that they must learn the protestant catechism, although they were Roman catholics. (Cries of " No, no.") It was as serted by Mr. Fergie that his son had been told they must teach the catechism to other boys. (" No, no.") Well, let that be disproved ; he was merely referring to the docu ment read by Mr. Earle. He knew it was a rule that they should not be compelled to go to church ; but the children had been told that although they were Roman catholics, they mush teach the Church Catechism. Now this was not fair, and it was contrary to their rights. ' Mr. BIRKETT said Mr. Yates was speaking rather to the assignment than the memorial. Mr. Alderman is the whole memorial he is speaking to. Mr. YATES.—It is to the whole memorial I am speaking. Mr. MOLYNEUX said, Fergie, the father of one of the ap prentices, had told him that he was a churchman. Mr. YATES said, the motion was that the memorial be re ferred to the Education Committee, and that they report thereon. He was therefore perfectly regular in referring to what it contained. He then proceeded to eulogise the con duct of the apprentices in refusing to violate their consci ences ; and said they had even been driven from the schools with violence. (No, no.) But it was not to he wondered at that what was commenced in injustice should terminate in oppression and tyranny. _ The TOWN-CLERK said, the violence" used was just such gentle violence as was usuarin such cases. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE did not wish to provoke any oppo sition, but his own opinion was that the Education Com mittee had, very properly, acted upon the indentures, which former apprentices had entered into. They only wished to substitute one man's name for another man's name; beyond that they did not, and had no wish, to go ; and it was rather too much to say, that because a former master had taught the a pprentices algebra, and s o on, (which were not in the inden tures,) the committee were bound to te ac h t h em alge b ra, an d that, too, in a charity school. They should teach them as much of the trade and occupation of a teacher in such a school as that they were learning in, and no thi ng b eyon d could be necessary. But he really believed this seas not the great difficulty now. The apprentices, when brought before the committee, were asked whether they would con tinue in the schools, and they one and all declined to do so. They had a sense of the difficulties which surrounded them ; they did not know whether Mr. Stone understood algebra, and so on, but they knew that the system of education was so changed, that they would have great difficulty in agreeing to it, and they therefore said they would rather have their indentures cancelled. But out of doors they fell in with other company. They were told that this would be a de lightful handle and occasion for display in the Town-coun cil; that it would be a fair source of perpetual embarrass ment and annoyance, and enable them to go on, week after week, and month after month, frustrating the views of the majority of the council. It was upon this ground alone that the memorial which had been read was brought before the council. There might be some little difference in Fergie's case; but even if the children were accepted, and the inden tures were transferred, the next step would be one of the greatest difficulty, and he really thought it would be far wiser for the committee to compensate them and cancel their indentures. The children felt that, and the council never could pass any rule that should enforce a restraint upon those who were Roman Catholics. But he did beg and pray the minority not to go on with this continual annoyance of the majority of the council; he did beg and pray that they might have a little rest—a little peace. They knew, as far as he was concerned, that he approved, as a whole, of the course of education now in course of establishment, though he had endeavoured to engraft upon it some relaxation which he thought would enable them to give some little instruction, however slight, to the Roman Catholics who most needed it. It was his wish, and it was also the wish of Mr. Gladstone, and he had intimated it to the council, that if such and such events should not happen, he was prepared to come forward and say that others should be prepared. But how could either he or Mr. Gladstone, who wished to open the doors to the public generally, goon if they were harassed in this way ? Give the schools a fair trial—let the committee have six months' trial of them at least; hut if they were to have, day after day, this eternal system of annoyance, he was sure the other side would not answer their own end. They would do more to perpetuate the schools upon their present system than to suppress them. Mr. BIRKETT would not have risen if it had not been for the remarks of Mr. Lawrence. If Mr. Liwrence had taken the same course upon the first occasion when the opposition was offered to the wish of the majority which carried out the declared wishes of the inhabitants, they would not have had this sort of work. These sort of proceedings were encou raged by reason of the lukewarmness of tl►e friends of this question. Mr. Lawrence had alluded to Mr. Gladstone. Now he (Mr. Birkett) thought that Mr. Gladstone was widely mistaken in what he said at the last meeting. How ever, if these sort of proceedings were to go on, he would take the sense of the council upon it by a direct motion, for he would move a vote of confidence in the Education Com mittee, and that their proceedings be not brought before the council for six months. (Hear, hear, and " Oh, oh.") Mr. Alderman EARLE.—Oh, put a hundred such notices upon the book. Mr. BIRKETT did not expect that Mr. Earle would thank him for saying what he had. If ever he did, he (Mr. Birkett) should begin to think himself much mistaken. He stood how ever upon this, that the town of Liverpool had, by a large majority, sent a large majority into the council, mainly upon this question—upon the question of protestant principle. (Cries of " No, no.") Who said no? Mr. MELLOR.—I do. Mr. Alderman EARLE.—And I say " No." Mr. BIRKETT was surprised at the exclamations of Mr. Mellor in contradiction of him, (Mr. Birkett,) because, hav ing been once or twice returned by the casting vote of the alderman, it could not be said that he represented any body; and especially as there were only about 13 of his opinion in the council, whilst there were 34 or 35 who held the opinions that he (Mr. Birkett) held. Mr. PLATT must express his gratification at what had fallen from Mr. Lawrence. It was in consequence of the allusions he had made that he had entered the notice which he (Mr. Platt) had given on the paper. (Laughter.) He would wait till gentlemen had done laughing. They must all acknowledge that the education question had been one of exceeding great difficulty ; it had given the council great anxiety and concern ; and although he was an advocate for the former system, yet he felt convinced that as long as reli gious instruction was to be given it never could be given to different classes in the same school. Finding that the Roman Catholic children were virtually excluded by the present rules, he thought their priests had no alternative but to advise them to withdraw from the schools. They ought to be com plimented for following that advice instead of being found fault with; seeing that they maintained their principles, which many, from their poverty, might be induced to abandon. In conclusion, he did hope that some arrangement would be made on this question which would embrace the views of all parties. Mr. BOLTON asked the Town-clerk whether any of the apprentices referred to were Roman catholics? His reason for asking the question was that if any of the Roman catholics were required to attend church and teach the cate chism it was an act of injustice. The TOWN -CLERK had not thought it necessary to ask the question what religion they were. One, he believed, was a Roman catholic. Mr. LAWRENCE said that no such thing had been required. Mr. MoLYNEux said the reading of the authorised version of the scriptures would be expected from all; but none were expected to attend church whose parents had a conscientious objection to it. The parents of the children knew that re ligious instruction was administered to them. Mr. EARLE asked if dissenting ministers were allowed to attend to administer such instruction? Mr. MOLYNEUX.—No. Mr. YATES asked why the returns of the number of chil dren attending the respective schools were not given as usual ? Mr. PLATT replied that the omission was acc►dental. Some discussion ensued as to whether Mr. Earle had moved an amendment, and whether he had any right of reply. Mr. BOLTON expressed himself satisfied with the Town clerk's explanation, and said he would withdraw the motion, so far as Ile was concerned. Mr. EARLE did not make any reply, and it appeared to be the general opinion that the amendment should be put. The council then divided, when there appeared For the amendment ll Against it The amendment was consequently lost. The following members voted on the division : For the amendment.—Messrs. Thornhill, Preston, Mellor, Bright, Priestley, Yates, Jordan, Freme, Evans, Barclay, and Earle. Against it.—Messrs. Shaw, Shand, Copeland, Edwards, Sands, Bolton, Rae, Aspinall, J. Lawrence, Cooper, Wood, Birkett, Gladstone, Procter, Lloyd, Parker, Jones, jun., Brassev, G. H. Lawrence, Platt, Harbord, R. Houghton, Nicol, Bramley-Moore, Molyneux, Crook, and the Mayor. Mr. ASPINALL, seconded by Mr. LLOYD, moved an ad journment. Mr. YATES said he would move that that part of the pro ceedings which related to the apprentices be referred back to the committee for re-consideration. Mr. EARLE seconded the amendment. Mr. AsriszotA. pressed his motion for adjournment, upon which, after a brief conversation, amid some confusion, Mr. YATES withdrew his motion. The council then adjourned at a quarter to four o'clock till eleven o'clock this day, (Friday). ANTI-MONOPOLY TEA & CAKE GATHERING Last night the members of the Anti-Monopoly Association had a tea party at the Music-hall, in Bold-street, for the pur pose of being enlightened upon the effect of the corn-laws and other laws, and for some other purpose which at this moment we are unable to explain. The room •,gas—we cannot say tastefully—decorated with flags, bearl , l the usual anti-mo nopoly mottoes, the most conspicuous of which was in front of the platform—" The corn-laws are opposed to the laws of God and the happiness of man." The meeting was fixed for six o'clock, at which hour, however, the muster was very thin, and consisted principally of members of that emi nently liberal society who delight in free trade, buttonless coats, and mouse-coloured bonnets, looking unutterable things at the piles of cake and the empty tea-cups. By seven o'clock, however, the drab was tolerably sprinkled with more lively colours ; and when the tea equipages came upon the table and the work of destruction commenced, we feel bound to admit that a fairer and more orderly assemblage never met to demolish sweet cake and buttered biscuits. The latter, we may remark, (and we paid some attention to them) it would be a misnomer to denominate " buttered." They had been smeared with something of a greasy nature, no doubt; and we half suspect that in their composition was the identical " spoilt grease" imported as lard by a friend of our Bolton " friend '—Henry Ashworth. Mr. Laurence Heyworth was chairman on the occasion; and amongst the distinguished people uppn the platform we noticed Mr. J. Finch, of the Hall of Science, Mr. J. Brooks, of Manchester, Colonel Thompson, Mr. C. Holland, &c. In front of the chairman, girt round with gold bands, was the me morial of the ladies of Liverpool to the Queen, signed by 63,140 names ! ! After the usual quantity of material of all kinds—liquid and solid—had been despatched, " the King of the Teetotallers" rose and delivered himself, in his usual style, of a sermon upon the corn laws, the landlords, the sugar duties, free trade, and things in general. We shall not weary our readers by reporting the mawkish and miserable rubbish in question, as we have no doubt the illustrious in dividual would be happy to give a priyate repetition of it to any gentleman or lady who may have a curiosity to see to what a deplorably wishy-washy state the con stant drenching of a -man's stomach with weak gruel and green tea, and the constant perusal of temperance tracts and anti-monopoly pamphlets will reduce an intellect which, in its best state, was never fitted for any more arduous occu pation than to " chronicle small beer." Mr. Lawrence Heyworth was followed by Col. Thomson, in a speech which we regret that we have not space to report fully, and we will not mar it by curtailment. The gallant colonel, despite his violent radicalism, is decidedly the most talented man of the anti-corn-law party. We can readily and honestly afford to say thus much in his behalf. And yet, whilst we admit his talent, we are not blind to the fallacious grounds upon which the superstructure of his arguments against the corn laws are founded ; and shall probably, on a future occasion, return to an examination of his display of yesterday. Pass we therefore the gallant colonel for the present, and next — But how shall we describe thee—most inimitable of orators, most rare of grimacers, most profound of financiers, philo sophers, calico-printers, and pirates—John Brooks ? A diamond in the rough art thou—a Cicero—a Socrates—a Liston ;—but language cannot describe thee, and thy speech the pen of a short-hand writer cannot report. How could it, when the face speaks so much more than the tongue can utter, and when the breeches pocket speaks more than face and tongue combined? We can neither describe nor report, then, this cotton phenomenal ; but we can offer him, most respectfully, a word of advice. " All the world's a stage," says Shakspeare ; and he knew the world and the actors in it. " All the world's a cotton factory," is the opinion, however, of John Brooks. " Motley's your only wear," was the opinion of Shakspeare's melancholy Jilcques ; " calico," cries the honourable member for High-street—we beg his par don,—the ex-mayor of Manchester. Do—do—good kind gen tleman, when you next adventure to enlighten the people of this benighted village—when you bring down upons the profundity Of your own great city—leave thecounting-house behind you. Leave at home "the shop"—the print works—Cobden—the league ; and remember that although we have not here, in our reverence for the pocket, laid aside the old bigotted no tions of toryism or whiggery—(few, by the bye, of that creed will you find just now amongst us)—we have ;not as yet debased ourselves to the level of Chartism, and made com mon cause with the rabble of the streets as has your mill ocracy, Mr. John Brooks. Upon one subject—the concluding one in your multi farious speech—the subject of wages—and your notice of a rev. gentleman, who has, it seems spoken out too plainlyifor your peace, we may perhaps have a word with you anon ; and we may at the same time have a word with your Guardian upon the same subject. Meantime farewell— " And when you next do ride abroad, May we be there to see!" The next gentleman introduced to the meeting was Mr. Charles Holland, who said many wisethings, no doubt, which those who like to peruse that gentleman's vapid mouthings will, we dare say, meet with in the columnsof whichever of our contemporaries may think them worthy of the trouble of re porting.—Mr. Rawling followed Mr. Holland, and the meet ing broke up, previous to which, however, the National An them was sung, the solo parts by a female singer from Mr. Aiken's chapel, Mr. Russell presiding at the organ. DEPOSITION OF A 'MINISTER OF THE SCOTCH CHURCH. —At the meeting of the Edinburgh Presbytery, last Wednes day, the clerk, Dr. Gilchrist, read a letter from Mr. Hay, of the Dean Church, addressed to the Moderator, making the acknowledgement that he had been guilty of the sin of fornication. He was aware of the consequences of this ad mission; but he felt still more deeply than these the scandal he had been the means of bringing upon the name of religion. He trusted that God had given him graco to repent of his sin, and he threw himself upon the Presby° -ry. This gave rise to a very affecting scene. The letter read by the clerk in a solemn and almost inaudible vc . . and was followed by a dead silence in the Presbytery .or some minutes. Mr. Balfour then rose, and though every sound but that of his own voice was hushed, we could only hear art indistinct sentence, intimating that from all he had seen, and from what he had heard, he believed Mr. Hay to be deeply peni tent—nevertheless, the Presbytery had no alternative but to proceed, in accordance with the rules of the Church, to depose him from the office of the holy ministry. A s il ence of a still longer interval ensued, broke only by the occasional whisper of one member to another. After the lapse of of several minutes, the Moderator (Mr. Bennie) addressed the Presbytery—" Fathers and brethern, is it your pleasure to proceed with this bitterly painful case or to delay it? ". No one spoke ; and, after a pause, he added, " If we must proceed, it is usual in such a case to begin with devotionel exercises ;and I have to request our Re v . F a th er, D r, B run tor i , to engage in prayer." Dr. Brunton offered up a fervent and impressive prayer, after which th e M o d erator : pronounce d the solemn §enteuce of deposition, — Witness. NOTHER FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION.-TWO MEN KILLED. (Prom our own Correspondent.) MANpiESTER, THURSDAY.—The village of Pendleton, near this place, has been the scene of anot h er di stress i ng fatality, occasioned by the bursting of a steam-boiler. The accident occurred on the premises of Messrs. Gisborne and Wilson, calico printers, Whit-lane, Pendleton. It appears that three boilers are employed on the premises, two of which are worked together, and one separately : the latter one is the one in which the accident occurred. The engineer hav ing, on Saturday, discovered a small leakage in the bottom of the boiler, it was emptied, and two smiths were employed to repair it on Sunday. A crack about ten inches long was visible, which they repaired by putting on what is called a welt. This being supposed to be sufficient, the boiler was set to work as usual, about four o'clock on Monday morning ; it continued at work till about nine, when sud denly a rent of between four and five feet in length took place at the line of rivets along the lower margin, and the steam and hot water rushed through with such violence that all the brick-work in front of the boiler was completely torn away. There were fortunately only three persons in the boiler-house at this time, Daniel Canraven, the fireman, and John Diggles and Samuel Hulme, who were employed as hangers-on of pieces in the drying-store. They were literally covered with bricks and mortar, and were scalded from head to foot. The utmost attention was immediately paid to them, and they were conveyed to the Manchester Infirmary. Can ravan, the fireman, died the same evening : he is 52 years of age, and has left a wife and seven children. Samuel Hulme died the same evening : lie is a single man, 19 years of age. Diggles still lingers in a precarious state : his age is 18. The plates of the boiler where the rent was made were about three-eighths of an inch thick, and seemed perfectly sound. A rent about ten inches long was also made iu the centre bot tom plate of the boiler. The rest of the premises received no damage. INQUEST ON THE SUFFERERS. Yesterday, W. S. Rutter, Esq., the coroner, held an in quest on view of the bodies of Canravan and Hulme, when, after rather a lengthened investigation, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death. QUALIFICATIONS OF SHIPMASTERS & MATES TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, Sin,—ln consequence of your request, I postpone till Tuesday next die insertion of my arguments in favour of the proposed measure, but as there are some very erroneous ideas afloat respecting the constitution and powers of the proposed boards, perhaps you will permit me a few lines, in order to disabuse the minds of many gener ous and disinterested gen tlemen whose views at present are biassed from misinforma tion ; for instance, it has gone abroad that the bill will be a retrospective one, hence a very strong feeling of opposition has been created. Now, sir, how utterly at variance this is with the spirit of the proposed enactment, let the following extract from it provisions speak :—" 2. That any master or mate, who shall have been employed in such capacities for not less than six months before the passing of this bill, shall be exempt from its operation." Again, sir, it is generally believed that there will be periodical examinations into cha racter; but so far from this being the case, there is only one instance in which certificates granted are to be deemed null and void till after due examination, and that is in case of shipwreck ; and where, sir, is a shipmaster to be found that will not hail with delight the opportunity this board will afford him of preserving an irreproachable character ? Why, sir, in the midst of difficulty and danger, how consoling will it be to him to know that, though the fury of the elements may baffle his nautical science and experience, yet there is an honourable board of brother seamen ready to preserve his tame, and appreciate his zeal and ability. On Tuesday next, sir, I purpose discussing the subject, as it stands connected with mercantile welfare. am, sir, your obedient servant, B. W. TItACEY, Lieut., R.N, Mates' Association, 11, Duke-street, April 711 i, 1812. PRIZE ESSAYS ON MISSIONS. From a Correspondent.) The three prize essays on missions to the heathen being now published, the following information regarding their origin will be felt interesting The want of a comprehensive and spirit-stirring work on the present bearings of this transcendantly important object had been regretted by pious men of all countries. It was from the proposal of Dr. Conquest, of London, for a prize essay on Covetousness as a prevailing sin of the Christian Church, that the idea was borrowed of supplying the desideratum by means of public competition. The distinguished success of that estimable physician's offer of a prize of one hundred guineas, in calling forth the able essay of Dr. Har ris, animated _a few private individuals residing in Glasgow, Edin burgh, and Greenock, (part of whom were dissenters, the rest members of the Church of Scotland,) with a strong hope that, by a similar offer, a treatise equally, or still more, popular and stimu lating alight be obtained on that nobler theme, " The duty, lege, and encouragement of Christians to send the gospel of salva tion to the unenlightened nations of the earth." They accordingly issued a manuscript prospectus privately, stating their views, and soliciting their intimate friends to join them in subscribing the money that would be required. A clergyman of the Church of Scotland, to whom the proposal was first communicated in writing, applauded the purpose, but suggested that a more urgent theme was Christian union, the present discordant condition of the churches being, in his view, such as to prevent any great blessing of God on missionary efforts. Important as was the subject he . . recommended, the subscribers felt convinced that facts give daily proof that the efforts of Christians are honoured of God in despite of these unhallowed divisions, and that no more effectual antidote to the evil, and preservative from the sin, of disunion could be de vised, than the infusion of an evangelistic spirit. They were, how ever, ere their scheme was matured and publicly announced, ap prised that Sir Culling Eardley Smith was seeking to direct the church to a sense of its duty in respect of " union," by offering a " liberal prize for an essay on this very subject. At this stage that philosophic and devoted missionary, Dr. Duff, whose' grand project of instructing the youth of India and raising up an educated native ministry is row so well known and appre. ciated, providentially heard of the design, and sent unsolicited a contribution to the toads; and being requested to favour the pro moters with his valuable caunsel, he henceforward not only encou raged them with his countenance, but lent his accustomed energy to the accomplishing of the object. It is to his enlightened judg ment that the catholic spirit and admirable arrangements, which distinguish the proposal as it was made known to the world, arc in a great measure due. A managing committee was now formed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. John Muir, the Rev..l. G. Lorimer, (his torian of the Protestant Church of France,) the Rev. Dr. Buchanan, respected ministers of the Church of Scotland, some elders and laymen of that church, and a lay Episcopalian. A prospectus, offering two prizes of two hundred guineas and fifty guineas re spectively, was then widely circulated throughout Great Britain and Ireland by the obliging intervention of several literary publi cations, authenticated by the signatures of the late Rev. Dr. Mac gill, professor of theology in the University of Glasgow, of the great Dr. Chalmers, and of Dr. Duff. The earnest desire of all concerned was to divest the design of every sectarian limitation, and to engage in competition the best qualified writers of all orthodox Christian denominations, and thus finally to procure treatises which might be read with confidence, and consequently prove influential, in every quarter where in God's providence they should find their way. Accordingly the ad judicators were selected from among the most eminent living names in the several British churches and societies, who have re cently prosecuted the missionary enterprise with the greatest vi gour. These were—the Rev. Dr. Welsh, professor of church his tory in the Metropolitan University of Scotlaud ; the Rev. Dr Wardlaw, a Congregationalist, whose theolditical works are of the highest esteem ; the Rev. Henry Melvin, chaplain of the Tower, whose co-operation was calculated to ensure the scheme cordial acceptance throughout the united Church of England and Ireland ; the Rev. Dr. Bunting. whose name is a tower of strength among the Methodist brotherhood ; and the Rev. Thos. S. Crisp, president of the Baptist College, Bristol, who, for his eminent qualifications, was suggested by the Baptist Missionary Society. The manner iu which these divines have discharged their most arduous duty, lays the Christian community under inexpressible obligations. There was no restriction as to the language in which the essays should be composed, or the country whence they should proceed. As might have been expected. they were all written in English, though it is not unlikely some of the authors were American. While the subscribers took little or no active part in circulating their prospectus in the United States and British North America, it is understood the document was reprinted there, and so made known to our transatlantic brethren, certain cf whom applied for an extension of the period up to which competing essays should be received, a concession which the committee, notwithstanding their anxiety to carry out the original catholic spirit of the design, and to enlist in this service the piety and talent of America, felt them selves precluded from granting in consistency with the published prospectus, which necessarily regulated their procedure. Circumstances which have not been intimated retarded the de cision on the essays (forty-two in number) that were submitted to the adjudicators. It has now been announced for a few months, and the missionary cause is at length in possession of the successful essays, is handsome volumes, viz., First,—" The Great Commission ; or, the Church of Christ Constilseed and Charged to Convey the Gos. pel to the World," by the Rev. Dr. Harris, President of Cheshunt Col lege. the celebrated author of " Mammon" and " Britannia" (prize essays on " Covetousness" and " The Claims of British Seamen") and of other works. To this essay four of the five adjudicators con curred in assigning the first prize of '2OO guineas. Second,—"Mis sions, their Authority, Scope, and Encouragement," by the Rev. Richard Winter Hamilton, of Leeds, author of several works in prose arid verse, which have gained him a high reputation as a man of let ters. To this essay was awarded by a similar majority the second prize of 50 guineas. Third,—" The Jubilee of the World," by the Rev. John Macfarlane, Parish Minister of Colegsie, Fifeshire. This essay was so highly commended by the adjudicators, who variously ranked it in the first, the secons, and (if we may so speak) the third place, that the committee resolved to assign it an extra prize, and to have it published under Rica* sanction. Regarding this third essay, it is perhaps worthy of notice that, though desirous of bestowing on it an honorary distinction, and of ascertaining who was the writer with this view, the committee returned it to the place where it was to be called for without opening the sealed letter which contained his name and address, rather than violate a secresy which they were only at liberty to dissolve, in the case of the first and second, in order. It is not known how many of the other essays are destined to pass through the press. There is reason to hope there may be several, as the adjudicators have declared they received " a consi derable number, of sterling excellence." Already the lion. and Rev. Baptist Noel, one of the most distinguished ornaments of the Church of England, and Dr. Melson, a physician, who takes an ac tive part in Wesleyan Missionary Societies, have favoured the church with their treatises. Considering how well calculated the missionary enterprise is to rouse youthful enthusiasm, the laurels of victory in this literary competition might have been expected to fall on brows hitherto unknown to fame; it is the more gratifying, therefore, to find that the prizes have been won by men of age, cha racter and station. NV hen our leading spirits do not hesitate to con tend on such an arena, who can resist the conclusion that the churches are in a hopeful state, and who will charge the warmest advocates of missions with extravagance of zeal and expectation ? It is a good that the church possesses such works ; but, to be use ful, they must be circulated and read. The friends of missions -a class which, we are bold to say, includes every consistent Chris tian—(for what are missions but the exercise and expression of love to God.and to man ?) have, therefore, a duty to perform with re spect to the works in question. They ought to strive to give cur. rency to these several animated appeals by promoting the circulation as widely as possible. The missionary enterprise receives a direct pecuniary benefit from the sale of the first prize essay—the half of the copyright of that of the 'Jul having, been, by the concurrence of both authors, reserved for the institution of some object (not yet determined) " promotive of the great cause of missions." In con clusion, let Christians offer " an united and fervent prayer for the success of this endeavour to advance the glory of God and the haps piness and salvation of men—a prayer, in which 'the adjudicators' invite their fellow-Christians of every denomination to join," that all the essays which shall pass through the press " may contribute to the further excitement of His people's zeal in this highest and best of causes." ANIMAL MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM Monsieur Lafontaine's second lecture upon animal magnetism was delivered, on Tuesday evening, in the theatre of the Medical hall, Mount-pleasant, and was attended by a numerous audience, principally consisting of gentlemen connected with the profession. A few ladies also were present. Amongst the medical gentlemen we noticed Dr. Carson, jun., Dr. M'Kenzie, Dr. Watson, Dr. Suther land, Dr. Anderson, Mr. K. Ellison, Mr. Nottingham, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Currie, &c, Upon the platform were the lady from Manchester, who was magnetised at the former meeting, and two female servants from the George Hotel, upon whom we witnessed the experiment tried for the first time on Monday evening. Mr. Nottingham was called upon the platform to superintend the experiments. In opening the proceedings, M. Lafontaine briefly detailed the course which lie should pursue, which was the same as described in our notice of his former lecture. Ile then commenced his experi ments upon his first subject, the young lady from Manchester, and in less, we should think, than a minute, succeeded in putting her into a state of somnolency, and afterwards cataleptized her legs and arms. Whilst in this condition she was subjected to the test of be ing punctured by pins in the forehead, eyelids, hands, ankles, &c., which she bore without betraying the least symptoms of sensibility. In the commencement of the proceedings Mr. Currie, surgeon, who on the last occasion manifested a somewhat insulting suspicion. inquired if the suldect was this evening in perfect health,— (on a former occasion she was not so)—and was informed that she was in a proper state, bodily, so far as the lecturer knew, to test his powers. When the lecturer was pricking her forehead, &c., the de mand of the same gentleman, to be permitted to apply the pin, was met with a very decided " non" by M. Lafontaine. The test, how ever, was allowed to be tried by Dr. Nottingham. At this stage of. the experiment the pulse of the lady, which, before being magne tised, tised, (although after some excitement might reasonably produced,) had been 100, was declared by Mr. Nottingharnlt'eaovbee 104. su bject A strong aromatic was then applied to the nostrils of t t h o sev _ raz for about 30 seconds—(having previously been hande aitl d ioug h resPi• medical gentlemen to ascertain its strength)—and , application, ration was fully ascertained to be going on during its was o bjectad the effect produced was slight, though perceptiblen an iL ec....i . un. by Mr. Currie that any person—he himself, fo a r t t ibis nostrils for half magnetized state, could endure the aromatic th The a minute; but, on the appeal of the lecturer t this gentlema n, it was admitted that he could only do so by holdirt ftha br a e p a p l i c . ation. lady. we may repeat, breathed the whole time erY Pain" test, was applied v A singular, and, we should think, a Of paper under the eye. by Mr. Nottingham, by introduci n g fd a Mr No Nottingham annotMeed lids, and running it round that organ c) ._ uced by tho gyplication to tilt that no sensation appeared to be pr White; but that she appeared to he slightly effected by its applic , . thin to the transparent part of the pupils. The lecturer then proceeded to the application of the galvanic bat tery, and proposed that some medical ger tleinan should first receive the same shock which the subject would receive. Mr. Currie ob jected to this arrangement, and offered himself to receive the shock with the lady. This was declined by M. Lafontaine, on the ground that it would not be a fair test, and that by the contact of the mag netized person with one umnagnetized, the power of the former to sustain it would be weakened. It seemed to be the general opinion, too, that the power of endurance of a strong person, like Mr. Cur rie, was scarcely to be received as the test of that of a female. Mr. Currie having declined, Dr. Watson offered to receive . the shock, and, when it was admiristered upon him, was greatly affected by it. When applied to the lady (we may mention that the battery was managed by two professional gentlemen, prepared with philosophi cal apparatus to regulate the strength of the shock) she was per ceptibly affected, and gave utterance to a smothered scream. After being more completely magnetized, the battery was applied a se cond time, and, although the arms of the lady were drawn up and the muscles of the neck much contracted by the power of . the shock, no symptom o f sens i bil i ty to pain was elicited. The effect, it was observed, was no more than would be produced upon a corpse. The lecturer then demagn e ti ze d th e l ower j aw , the lips, cheeks and a portion of the back of the head, and proposed that his subject should sing, and that, standing behind her, he would by magnetizing passes stop her when required. This was the most pleasing experi ment of the evening. Having succeeded in restoring partial con sciousness to the face, M. Lafontain e whispered audibly in the ear of his subject, " Sing, Marie, sing—sing a song." A reply was whis pered which we could not hear. On repeating his request, how ever, she commenced, in a low and drowsy tone, " Upon the bill— he turned —to—take—a last — fond—look"—and stopped and re lapsed into her former trauced state. On demagnetizing the face, throat and breast, more completely, however, she got through four lines of the same song, when, on a sign given by Mr. Nottingham, she was stopped instantaneously by the lecturer magnetizing again the back of her head. 011 a repetition of the experiment, another air was commenced with a similar feeble and apparently half unconscious effort ; and the experiment of stopping the singer, by passes made from behind the chair, was perfectly successful. An attempt was then made to decrease the pulse of the female, which was now at 114—and, upon trial, after a few soothing passes had been made, it had fallen to 110: it was again tried after a few more passes. but was still 110. The lecturer was then required to augment the pulse; but he did not succeed in producing au acceleration to more than 114. This experiment M. Lafontaine explained was one in which he was not always successful, and, front the small difference produced, he did not think he had been so upon the present occa sion. The two girls from the George Inn were then magnetized one after the other, and the arms and legs of one and one arm and one leg of the other rendered cataleptic. Neither resisted the efforts of the magnetizer above two or three minutes. We may mention that whilst this experiment (which was the most satisfactory of the evening, from the circumstance that no collusion could here exist) was being performed, th e fi rst su bj ect, w h o h a d prev i ous l y b een partially demagnetized, and who was still seated on the platform close to the two other girls, relapsed into the magnetic sleep, in which she continued up to the close of the evening. The same tests were applied (with the exception of the galvanic shock) to these as to the first subject, alth oug h not o f so v i o l en t a na t ure, and a result little differing was elicited. One of the girls, how ever, showed a little sensibility to the effects of the aromatic ap plied to her nostrils. Whilst being restored to sensibility the sub jects (the lady from Manchester in parti cu l ar ) seeme d t o b e a ff ecte d n by violent shuthlengs. e may mention that Mr. Nottingham atteiffpted to demesmerize cue of the girls from the George Inn, but after persevering for some time with little apparent effect (al. though at first some effect was visible) he gave up the attempt. At the close of these experiments a young gentleman who pre sented himself, and who was preferred as a more likely subject than Mr. Brett, who came upon the platform for the purpose, was attempted to be magnatized, M. Lafontaine, however, declaring that from the fatigue induced by his previous exertions he was not sanguine of success. After about five minutes the subject closed his eyes and his head slightly dropped, but he recovered himself, and after persevering for about five minutes more the attempt was given up, the subject acknowledging to having experienced at one time a disposition to sleep. It was then concluded that, its being nearly 12 o'clock and no conclusive result which could satisfy the profession having been arrived at, the experiments should be con tinued on Thursday evening, at seven o'clock. The first subject, we may mention,was kept partially magnetized, and her legs in a cataleptic state extended without any support un til the close of the proceedings for three hours and a quarter ! The lecturer, in reply to some sceptical suggestions as to the pos sibility of the legs being supported by some unseen contrivance, intimated his willingness that she should retire under the care of two medical gentlemen and submit to an examination. Mr. LAFONTAINE'S LECTURE. Mr. Lafontaine gave another lecture last evening at the Medical Hall, Mount Pleasant. From the lateness of the hour at which it concluded, we are unable to give a lengthy report of it. We shall merely mention the principal features. The lecturer after describ ing the effect of applying the magnetic influence, explained his mode of treating the various diseases incidental to the human frame, such as fever, rheumatism. He next described his manner of operating on the deaf, dumb and blind. The young lady who has appeared on former occasions was again brought forward, and put into a magnetic sleep. Mr. Nottingham having been invited, stepped on the stare, and interpreted and assisted the lecturer. He stuck pins into the legs and arms of the young lady, and she did not show the least inconvenience. _ . Mr. Lafontaine then offered to thrust a pen under the thumb nail, to show how completely the feeling of pain was absent in the case. The meeting having objected, Mr. Lafontaine said that the Liverpool peo ple were rather hard of belief, therefore required strong evidence. He assured those present that there was a total insensibility. The pin was inserted—Mr. Nottingham having drawn it from the young lady's nail, stated that it had penetrated three-quarters of an inch. Not the least symptom of uneasiness was apparent. Mr. Lafontaine said, that legs and arms might' be amputated without the patient suffering any pain. A case of cancer in Paris was mentioned as evidence of this. The woman who had undergiue the operation was in a magnetic sleep—in all, 17 days. The test of ammonia was next applied. This also had no effect A pistol was next snapped at the patient's ears—she slightly bent her head. This, it was remarked, she always did under this opera- The nose and eyes were next tickled without effect. The galvanic battery was then brought into operation, two gentlemen having previ ously tested its strength and demonstraated its effects. The young lady shrieked rather loudly on the battery being charged, and was shortly afterwards dememerised M. Lafontaine stated that she was in by no means so favourable a state to operate upon as on Tuesday last. In reply to a question, M. Lafontaine said the paws of cats and dogs had been cut off while they were in a magnetic sleep without their ap pearing to suffer pain. A young woman from the George Hotel was next magnetised, and exhibited the same effects as on a former occasion. A young gentleman stepped on the stage, and was thrown into a mag netic sleep, but not in a cataleptic state. The gentleman who was mag netised at the George on Monday, as stated in our last, was next experi mented upon. He exhibited similar symptoms as then occurred ; his head fell back, his chest heaved, and his breathing was veryhard. Ano ther gentleman was operated upon, but M. Lafontaine was not success ful. A ftcr some conversation, the meeting separated. Several ladies were present. MESMERISM OR HYPNOLOGY Mr. BRAID'S SECOND LECTURE. On Wednesday, this gentleman cave a second lecture upon his iewly discovered science of " Ilypnology '' to a numerous and lighly respectable audience, comprising a considerable number of ladies. Amongst the professional men on the platform, and in the body of the hall, we noticed Drs. M'Culiock, Carson jun., Suther land, M'lntire, Grindrod, Scott, O'Donnell, Messrs. Nottingham, Bainbrigg. Cripps, Higginson, Currie, &c. At the commencement of his lecture, Mr. Braid commented with much severity upon the discourtoous and ungentlemanly manner in which he had been received upon his last appearance. It had been his intention to have, instead of a lecture, a conversazione ; but a few individuals had come to his former lecture, and in their anxiety, to court notoriety, had converted the place into a bear garden. He should, therefore, confine himself strictly to giving a lecture, and illustrating it with experiments, and he trusted that he should not receive interruption. The lecturer then proceeded to explain the points of difference between hypnology, as practised by . him, and the animal magnetism of Mons. Lafontaine and others, and detailed the mode in which he first arrived at his conclusions, and his reasons for bringing them before the Public in the present form. Before commencing his experiments he demonstrated, by submitting his own servants and two other gentlemen to the test, that the effect of merely extending the arm for two or three minutes, with a hat or an umbrella in the hand, could not, as had been asserted by a professional gentleman at his last lecture it had had in his own case, the effect of raising the pulse to JDO a minute. The highest pulsation which he succeeded in producing in the course of these experiments was 110 per minute. - The first subject upon whom the effect of Mr. Braid's system was tried was his own man servant, who standing in the front of the platform and fixing his eyes steadily upwards was in the course of about a minute in a state of somnolency. His arms were then raised and became rigid. Upon being requested to follow the lecturer a few paces from the platform, and having been afterwards laced upon a chair, he snored loduly, and his legs and arms were so perfectly cataleptic that an attempt to move either moved his whole frame. On account of the violent oppression of his breathing, the subject w•as in a few minutes roused by sharp blows upon the arms and legs, and passes with a glove upon the face. Mr. Braid ex plained that his reason for selecting his own servant first was, that having been previously experimented upon, he was more susceptible of being speedily affected. In the course of this experiment, the turer detailed the effect of mesmerism upon a patient of his who had been afflicted with epileptic fits three and four times a-day, and who after being mesmerized a few times, had a recurrence of the fits only once in five days. He detailed subsequently the effect produced upon a patient, whose head was drawn down by spasmodic contraction, until it rested so close upon the shoulders that a card could not be passed between. After being mesmerized for about three minutes the neck was straightened, and the patient left the room holding his head perfectly erect and free from pain —and, added Mr, Braid, what is bettar he continues so ! _ Two young girls were the next operated upon, and both were reduced into the usual state in about a minute. They were made to walk backwards and forwards—to kneel down, and one of them sung very prettily " She wore a wreath of roses," and told the form of an object placed behind her back. This experiment, the lecturer explained was not derived from any effect upon the organs of sight, but from the extreme sensitiveness of the skin close to which the object was placed. It did not touch, however. Two deaf and dumb boys were next brought on the platform, to one of which Mr. Braid had taught the Lord's Prayer in English and Latin , of which he repeated a portion word after word. Mr. B. repeating them in his ear. He afterwards submitted close to the ear of each a musical box, which they signified by signs of pleasure that they could hear. . Whilst this experiment had been going on, an attendant was desired to request one of the subjects, an interesting young girl about twelve years old to hypnotize herself in an outer room ; and she now apeared with her eyes closed, her head slanted with the car towards the platform, and her hands extended making her way slowly and cautiously to the upper end of the room, directed by the Lecturer's voice. The attitude of this girl was more beautiful that can be conceived, and would have been a perfect study for the sleep.walking scene in Macbeth. If it was acting, it was the best acting we ever remember to have witnessed. On approaching the platform she was blindfolded, and in that state made her way, —a somewhat difficult one—up the steps of the platform, and over it to the Leturer. She was then tested with respect to the quality of clairvoyance, and told the shape of articles placed behind and over her head, and the metal of which a pencil case, placed over her closed eyelids, was formed, mistaking however gold for silver. Whilst in this state, a very disgraceful attempt was made by a few gentlemen upon the platform to agitate her by repeated noises, to which she manifested extreme sensitiveness, moving violently each time in the direction of the noise. Notwithstanding their being cautioned by the Lecturer that such interruptions were dangerous to the somnambulist, a form or a chair was knocked over by the same party, which almost caused her to rush over the edge of the platform. The marked indignation of the audience was evinced at this hartless ruffianism. _ _ . A dozen boys, pupils from the Mechanic's Institution School were then introduced upon the platform ; and upon the whole of those who were tried, the state of somnolency was in a short time produced. One hardy youth, however, appeared to resist it with some success. Those who were affected were very briefly deinesinerized ; and on leaving the platform declared that they could have put down their arms at any moment. We may remark that they were not permitted to fall into the advanced state of rigidity itz . c., which may account for their own opinion as to their power of volition. They were, h owever, evidently in a sta te of incipient if not perfect somnolency. carrier Two subjects then presented themselves, who were labouring' under the effects of confirmed paralysis. The first, a 'wstcoaraise named John Cook, residing at 17, Fleet-street, was unable his arm his arm above his head. After being hypotonized. and worked a little by Mr. Braid, whilst in the catale n Pthirmstraighten could, on being awoke, lift it above his head, and near i Y , d 0 at Nn. 1, it. The other an elderly female—Mrs. M`Nally. remst o aths in the Hare-place, Scotland -road, had been for ei ghtderahle relief, her Northern Hospital, where she had received con,s,lo i us to being' mews whole side having been at first affected. Praed above the e a li d .io or , merized, however, she could not raise her ha tiand to her h ri e ments state, he but subsequently she could easily raise her these ~ p o o , the audienceale put it behind her back. The result patient seemed to stagger the sceptical portion of The fe rn received with loudly expressed P laPacqhuired p - °wet :friend of Mr. seemed highly elated with her lie Y liwwe understood) a • " a e nd were „ a dafter a brief et - A gentleman—(named Marsha ted uP ° "' b oke up at half Braid's, was then successfully opera ieet l n g r lecturer, the n pression of thanks from the • past 11 o'clock. f two --""""..----"--.2"'"-------_ death of Sir The overland mail brings intelli . chief justice of New South Wales. Forbes, for man e hear, to be The Marquis of Tweeddale is, w the new governor of Madras. y years lk, has been conferred upon his Graee the hoeubkleueofrisbaonrdfo, which became vacant by the death of the I I RUN UPON THE RENFREWSHIRE BANK.-011 Tuesday last orders were received from head-quarters at Edinburgh, the branch of the Royal Bank in this city, to decline re ceiving the notes of the ltenfrewshire Bank of Greenock. I n consequence of this being acted upon, several of the course, and con other banks in this city adopted similarawen be supposed, in thebe e been esta blishment.telt b al y cle tiTe b l i fol u d a g ai o n f es n a o b te a s s, and illay i others interested b e i n g applied to, stated that he e h n a t d 're %; e s e h e i i r N e ed Bank his uhseurael, ad viceson The agent of the As,however th Wednesday morning, and that he wasn f o r t n a m w G ir r e e u en p o o c n k wohtlat grounds the Royal Bank were pro ceeding. in G?eencek, in exchanging themfO hret e hd n oi rsof the Renfrewshire Bank were payable quantity do wn to theof the not t other upon the bank there notes were, in the course of the day, sent principal establishment at Greenock, and a run but we have h took place in the course of yesterday ; Royal B an k eard no precise account of the result. The acted Edinburgh......... as the agents of the Renfrewshire Bank at ( ilasVolf• Argus.