The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-23 00:00:00

LORD STANLEY'S IRISH REGISTRATION BILL. GREAT MEETING AT THE AMPHITHEATRE (From our Second Edition of F 2 This morning, at half-past eleven o'clock, arr took place of the inhabitants of Liverpool to petition in favour of the Irish Registration Bill which has been introduced by Lord Stanley in the House of Com mons, and in opposition to the bill introduced by go vernment. It must be fresh in the memory of all, that at this period last year a meeting to a similar ef fect took place, which was most brilliantly attended. Although the present meeting has not, perhaps, been quite so numerous, yet it must be borne in mind that the time of day at which the meeting was convened was most inconvenient, not only to the mechanics, shipwrights, and others, who, it is notorious, are en thusiastic supporters of all that appertains to the Con servative cause, but also to the gentlemen connected with the trade of this port. In consequence of the oc cupation of the Amphitheatre by Mr. Cooke's com- pang, the arrangement was unavoidable Amongst the gentlemen present we noticed the following on the platform : Sir T. Brancker ; Revs. H. M`Neile, W. Falloon, J. R. Connor, W. Maynard, H. E. Prior, Allen, T. Gregg, C. W. Richards, and W. Badnall; C. S. Parker, Esq., James Aspinall, Esq., J. S. Leigh, Esq., N. Robinson, Esq., Bushby, Esq., J. Rigby, Esq. C. Grant, Esq., S. Holme, Esq., T. T. ' Glazebrook, Esq., C. Boutflower, Esq., Daniel Ledson, Esq., P. Leather, Esq., Jas. Pownall, Esq., Nicholl, Esq., Robertson Gladstone, Esq., Shepherd, Esq., D. Hogan, Esq., M. Edwards, Esq., D. Hodgson, Esq. On the motion of Mr. NICHOLAS ROBINSON, seconded by Mr. J. S. LEIGH, Sir THOMAS BC,ANCKER was called to the chair ansidst tremendous applause. The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings in the following words :—Gentlemen, you will all of you remember that during the last sp r i ng we met i n t hi s b u ildi ng f or t h e purpose o f etitioning the legislature in favour of the bill brought in by petitioning St an l ey for the improvement of the system of Irish registration—in other words, the putting down of fraud, and the protection of the honest voter. (Cheers.) That bill was thrown out of the House of Comm s oris not by argument, but to use an expression attributed to Mr. O'Connell, "by the clock." (Hear, hear.) In consequence of this, Lord Stanley has again brought in this bill during the present session; ,and we now meet for a double purpose, inasmuch as the government, beginning also to find at last that the sys tem of Irish registration wanted amendment, have brought in a bill of their own (hear, hear), for which they claim pre cedence over Lord Stanley's. (Hear.) We, therefore, meet for the double purpose, as I said before, first to petition against the bill brought in by. 'Lord Morpeth, and in favour of that brought in by Lord Stanley. (Cheers.) Last year the result of the meeting was the adoption of a pe tition, which received upwards of twenty thousand signa tures. (Cheers.) I think I need scarcely call upon you to repeat those signatures—(hear)—and to present a petition this year still more numerously signed if possible, in order that the result may be the adoption of the measure which Lord Stanley has now before the House of Commons. (Cheers.) Sir Thomas concluded by saying that the time allowed for the meeting was so limited that he should not de tain them by any further remarks, but call upon Mr. Aspi nall to move the firstlesolution. (Loud cheers.) Mr. JAMES ASPINALL rose to move the first resolution, and was received with loud demonstrations of respect. Ad dressing the chairman, his brother conservatives, and the gentlemen present, he said that the first resolution having been placed in his hands, it was a duty he owed to them and to himself, not to shrink from coming forward to give it his cordial support, and he claimed their indulgence while he offered a few remarks on the subject before them. When they last met in that place, it was (as stated by the worthy chairman), to give their support to the admirable bill of Lord Stanley, which had for its object the real be nefit and prosperity of Ireland. (Hear, and cheers.) Lord Morpeth, one of the members of that imbecile admi nistration which had very properly been denominated by Lord Stanley, " the thimble rig ministry"—(cheers and laughter)—had since brought in a bill in opposition to that of the noble lord, at the instigation of a man who found that ministry ever subservient to his uses and ready at his will— a man who, by agitations, kept Ireland in a continued state of trouble and confusion. This thimble-rig mi nistry had, in obedience to that individual, brought in a bill; which they well knew would never pass for the purpose of defeating Lord Stanley's excellent bill of last session. This reprehensible line of conduct opened out a fresh discussion on one of the most lamentable mea sures that had ever received the sanction of parliament. He meant the Irish emancipation bill, by which, as they would be aware, the forty shilling •freeholders of Ireland were dis franchised. The bill, however, brought in by Lord Morpeth, made still'greater inroads on the purity of registration ; and would give (which they could not too fervently oppose), still greater power to the priests over the inhabitants of that country. To aid in the defeat of so nefarious an object had brought them together that day, and he trusted they would do their duty manfully. He could not persuade him self to delay the meeting, however warmly he felt on the subject, by lengthened re - Marks Of his own, after what had been announced from the chair. There was, however, one amongst them whose gigantic powers of mind enabled him to grapple with this or any otherquestion that might be brought before them ; one whose splendid eloquence had often re sounded within these walls. (Loud and repeated cheers.) He should, therefore, leave the subject in his hands ; and he felt assured that they would be delighted to hear what he should advance on the important question before them. (Loud cheers.) He concluded by moving the first resolu tion, namely : " that this meeting, deploring the present defective state and demoralizing tendency of the existing registration laws for Ireland, rejoice to find that a bill has been introduced in the House of Commons by Lord Stanley to supply the ac knowledged defects, to remove the proved abuses, and to ra r sv ov l l e a rem e dy f or th e var i ous ev il s o f t h e sa id registration Mr.'C. S. PARKER said, that owing to the indisposition of the ge n tl eman who had undertaken to second this resolu tion, that duty had devolved upon him ; but he would not occupy the time of the meeting by speaking to it at any length, p ar ti cu l arly under those circumstances which now rendered it desirable that their proceedings should not be protracted. He would not, however, sit down without re turning thanks in his own name, and in that of his brother merchants, to the Protestant operatives, to whom they were indebted for this great meeting. (Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN then put the first resolution, which was carried amidst tremendous cheering, without a dissentient voice. • The Rev. II tro M'NEILE then rose amidst very animated applause, He said—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the re solution I have been requested to move, is this— " That this meeting desires to express their conviction that the bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, by lowering the qualification of voters, will open a fresh door for corrupt and fraudulent practices, such as the other provisions of the bill are designed to prevent, changing the nature without di minishing the amount of the demoralizing operations of the present law." We are assembled to perform a solemn duty, for the con scientious discharge of which we are all, I conceive, reli giously responsible. It is an universal maxim,inseparable from the great law of moral retribution, that privleges in volve corresponding responsibilities. This is true of every description of privilege, and therefore it is impossible for men to enjoy the political privileges which we enjoy, without being called to the discharge of corresponding political duties. If it be the duty of the representatives of the nation in par liament assembled to deliberate dispassionately on all mea sures brought under their notice, and to record the result of their deliberations by their votes, it is equally the duty of their constituents to deliberate on every great national arrangement proposed to be made law, and to record the result of their deliberations by petition. I said, on every great national arrangement proposed to be made law, because on minor matters of detail it is advantageous, as well as convenient, to leave the management, without comment, in the hands of our representatives. (Hear, hear.) When once the law is passed, it is the plain duty of a christian citizen to acquiesce in its provisions, and to do his part, whatever his station may be, towards their practical operation ; and the man who rebels, or threatens rebellion againSt the law of the land, should be accounted and treated as a traitor to the state. (Loud cheers.) But when a measure is proposed which has not yet Become law, the proposal, the repeated parliamentary discussions, and the delay inevitablf consequent thereon, form a consti tutional appeal to the nation, to ascertain the prevailing opinions of the people, and the grounds on which those opinions are formed. Such an appeal was made to the nation last year, and is now repeated, upon the subject of the registration of voters in Ireland. Our attention is now called, relatively as well as positively, to the merits of Lord Stanley's bill, because that bill has to contend, not only against existing abuses which it seeks to remedy, but also against a rival bill which seeks to supersede it. Last year it became our duty to prove the existing evils, which were loudly denied ; aid not only to prove their existence, but to exhibit their operation in a way intelligible to all classes of time people. This we endeavoured to do, by tracing the history of a vote, which by an easy con trivance was made to survive the voter. The evils com plained of are now admitted on all sides. I am happy to be able to quote the grave words of her Maiesty's Chief Secre tary for Ireland, in full illustration of my popular sketch of the family of the Cassidys. (Laughter and cheers.) On the fourth of this month, Lord Morpeth, in his place in the House of Commons, is reported to have said—" It would be sufficient on that point, to admit, as he freely did, that great facilities for fraud existed in the present system of registration in Ireland; and it could not be denied by any who had seriously considered the subject, that many instances of such frauds had occurred. Those frauds took Place in the . system of certificates, in personating d ea d or a b sen t regis tered voters. Here is the nobl e secre t ary ' s o ffi c i a l admis sion of what I told you about living Michael voting on the qualification of dead Tom. (Hear, hear. Lord Morpeth does not, indeed, describe the master spirits from Maynooth, who preside over the system of personation. This would, in all probability, be unparliamentary, as certainly it would be uncourteous, towards some of the noble lord's colleagues ; but it is our happiness out of doors—as they call every house except their own (hear, and a laugh) —not to be under any of those embarrassments when we tell the truth ; and as there are no effects produced without adequate causes, it is philosophically as we ll a s politically wise to n o ti ce t h e mov i ng Power which manages the puppets. For power read priest hood, and for puppets read personifiers of dead and absent registered voters, and you have clearness and precision given to the statement of the noble secretary. (Loud cheers.) To put an end to such digraceful frauds, Lord Stanley proposed an annual revisio n of the registry, i ns t ea d o f allowing all the names once placed upon the list to remain there without any opportunity of a rectifying revision fqr eight years. On this point Lord Stanley proposes to trans fer to Ireland the system now in operation in England. You know what that system is, and that no practical inconveni ence is found to 'arise from time annual liability to revision of every name on the list. The names of those who are known to be the same persons, and to have th e same qualifications, remain unmolested, on the simple paym ent of a shilling an nually, which i s charged regularly by the collector of taxes, and the honest bona fide voter has no trouble whatever. The The names of those who have died, or whose qualification has in any w a y l a p se d, i n th e cou rse of the year, ar e removed from the list, while the event is of recent occurrence, and matter of notoriety among the attendant listen ers and wit nesses in the r ev i s i ng barrister's court. This is an ordeal t,l_e . ough which dis'honesty on a large scale c annot live, michael ma Years ba • may pass for Tom at an election, after three o r four e passed, without inquiry, but Michael can never osuccessfully pass for Tom, if there be a rectifying scrutiny ( nee a Year, and o f course within a year after Tons's death. (Loud cheers.) Anproai nr of effectual p - the straightforward, honest, and as we think in favour :,,;( I ) . p . osal of Lord Stanley, we petitioned last year supported tr _i,t and we had the gratification of seeing it mons. yol n r affirmed by a majority of the House of Com has retarded i t f rom all aware of the species of opposition which 'And now we becoming the law of the land. (Hear.) said when haveintrodu cing ntlie bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, who " As to th e periodscts of it revision, he was willing to let it be once a-year, as in ley) has proposed in hiscbintry, and as the noble lord (Stan- So far vreill Mere is the ministerial adoption, in name at least, of one of the important provisions of Lord Stanley's bill—an annual revision—but we are compelled by what fol lows to declare that the adoption is in name only and not in sub stance ; because the limitation which Lord Morpeth proceeds to propose would go far towards neutralizing the benefit. His lordship says—" When a voter, was once on the registry, he (Lord Morpeth) proposed to have his claim reviewed for any change made in his tenure or his franchise ; but if no thing occurred to disturb that—if it remained the same as when he registered—he would not make his right to vote sub ject to any further disturbance. He did not go with his noble friend (Lord Stanley) in rendering the voter liable to be dis turbed, year after year, upon a point which had been already decided and settled, and thus to go on to the end of all re corded time.'! The limitation here described leaves an open door for frau dulent personation. Lord Morpeth proposes an annual revi sion where there has been any change in the qualification; but where the qualification remains the same, he refuses an annual revision of the persons claiming to vote upon that qualification. He refuses to subject the living Michael to the annual embarrassment of passing himself for the dead Tom. The qualification upon which Tom voted remains the same, but Tom himself is dead, or gone to Australia for life. (Loud cheering and laughter.) Michael calls him self Tom, and claims to vote on the same qualification, and where the qualification is the same Lord Morpeth refuses to allow the voters to be liable to be disturbed from year to year, by an inconvenient scrutiny. Here is a fruitful source of fraud ! The tenure is the same, and the noble secretary's bill contains no provision to give security that the voter shall he the same. Certificates are not necessary for personation. Personal identity is a thing easily manufactured in foro eeclesi&. LOrd Morpeth's bill leaves the platform for the puppets untouched ; the secret wires and springs of the priesthood unbroken. (Loud cheers.) Hence, the Agitator calls it a blessing to Ireland. (Continued cheers.) But Lord Stanley, by opening the whole list annually, and making the persons liable to be disturbed, if they turned out not to be the same persons, aims a deadly blow at the craft. Hence the rage and fury of the demagogue, who, after all, is but the puppet of fhe hierarchy on a more elevated stage. (Hear, hear, hear.) Hence his pent-up venom gathering a characteristic title from within, and applying it, in the reck lessness of a seared conscience, to the intrepid adversary whose skill has pierced the core of the corruption. The monster of Romish usurpation and tyranny is stung, and, therefore, the champion of British liberty and independence is Scor , ;(in Stanley. • (Loud cheers.) 1 would gladly go into a consi ;oration of the double appeal, and the comparative merits of the two bills with reference to the appellant juris diction court; but I must haste to what is more specifically the subject of my resolution. The point deserving attention, and the gravamen of the ministerial bill, is the proposed change of the qualification from a £lO to a£s franchise. This would add amazingly to the number of the puppets, and greatly facilitate the manu facture of personal identity. This is much too serious a matter to be slipped in, under the fair title of defining the franchise. To define how £lO should be understood as en titling to the franchise, is one thing ; and to change it into £5 is quite another thing. True, it is accompanied by a de scription of how the £5 is to be understood—namely, as the value on which a rating to the poor law is to be paid ; but this instead of supplying any compensation for the sweeping change from £lO to £5, deteriorates the qualification below, much below, £5 otherwise understood. It extends the fran chise to a class lower, much lower, than the old disfranchised forty shilling freeholders. (Hesr, hear.) At the risk of being tedious, I wish to give you a slight sketch of how this would work. Michael Cassidy lives in as neat a little cabin as ever was excavated out of a bog. Three sides of it are the original bog faced with furze bushes, the fourth is made of sods piled one over another, and pressed together with a few large stones at the top. The roof is of scraws. Perhaps, Sir Thomas, you don't know what I mean by scraws; but as I have no time for definitions in detail, I am glad to perceive that many of my friends in the meeting are acquainted with the phrase. (Loud cheers, arid laughter.) The apartment is six feet by four, and contains a bed or shakedown of heather, two stools, and a fair-sized potatoe pot. (Hear, hear.) Michael has the use of the surrounding mountain, i.e., he has liberty to run about upon it,. and his fine family of chil dren have liberty to play upon it ; but all that he can call his own is a little potatoe garden about three times as big as his house. (Cheers.) • Soon after the 'passing of Lord Morpeth's bill, the priest pays Michael a visit. " Well Michael, have you heard that the law is changed ?" "Is it, your reverence?" "Yes — Have the poor-law valuators been here?" " No, your re verence." `• Well, I'll take care that they shall pay you a visit. You consider this holding of yours worth £o. don't you, Michael ?" " Five pound, your reverence ! Och, it's myself wouldn't give- it for fifty, for what would I do without it ?" (Loud, cheers.) " Well, Michael, you are very right to set a high value on fatherland, and to speak your mind freely to me ; but you must not speak so free to the poor law valuators. All you need to tell them is, that your place is worth five pound—leave the rest to me." Michael, with a knowing shrug and wink, says, " I take—your reverence: may depend upon me." (Loud cheers, and laughter.) In due time the poor-law valuators visit Michael, who then feels all his importance as a negotiator to carry out the priest's plan, which he supposes he understands. (Hear.) " Well, friend, ypu seem to have but a small place here." " Yes, your honour, she's small ; but she's good." "What do you consider this place worth?" " 0 then, is it a poor man like me that your honour would ask the value, you that is paid for taking values ?" " I suppose, friend, that you consider this place worth five pound ? ' Michael looks know ing and considerate, and then says—" Your honour's a real judge—five pound is just the value. No one with his eyes open could say it wasn't worth five pound, if he saw me and my wife and the four weans lying down to sleep in it ; and I am sure no one that considers the oppressions of the poor, as I am sure your honour does, would put more upon it." (Hear.) I will not venture to say whether Michael's eloquence, or the priest's influence, or both together, or some other in fluence connected with the personal interests of the valuators, have prevailed ; but I will venture so say that in nine such cases out of ten, the name of the mountaineer would be entered on the list, and rated to the poor-law. But how is the rate to be levied ? It is a small matter to be sure. At sixpence in the pound, it would amount to half-a-crown a year. But every thing is comparative, and he would be a clever fellow that would get half-a-crown out of Michael. He and hundreds like him would be troublesome customers in the county goal, and all his goods and chattles would not cover the expence of selling them. What is to be done ? His name is on the list rated to the-poor-law: There are no payments entered opposite his name, and thus matters -stand when the time for registration comes. Then comes another visit from the indefatigable Maynooth man : " Michael, why but you go down and register your name as a voter for your church and country ? Meet me to-morrow at the court." " I will your reverence." Down comes Michael and claims the franchise. The priest is the asses sor's assessor, and against any demur arising from Michael's appearance, his reverence points significantly at the poor law list. Here he is rated to the poor-law, and therefore fully entitled to the franchise. In vain a conservative attorney urges that Michael has never paid a rate. He is referred to the act of parliament, which only requires that the man shall be rated, dad does not throw such vexatious difficulties in the way of the franchise, as to require that the rate should be paid. To do so would be a very great hard ship, and could not possibly have been the intention of an enlightened, liberal, and paternal legislature. (Loud cheers.) Michael is registered upon the potatoe garden and hut in the mountain (the name is Clogheen-top); and so long as the qualification remains the same, he is not to be liable to be disturbed year after year. Michael Cassidy, of Clogheen top, is a standing qualification. Clogheen-top remains the same tenure. in compliance with the requirements of Lord Morpeth's bill, and we have already seen that the priest is not absolutely confined to one and the same Michael Cassidy. (Roars of laughter, and loud and continued cheers.) No man, with a moderate knowledge of Irish affairs in de tail, can doubt that the measure proposed by Lord Morpeth amounts to a new reform bill. It is a repeal of a measure substantially a part of the emancipation bill. It is an open-, ing up of the Roman Catholic question. It is a formal re moval of some of the securities to the institutions of the country enacted in 1829. (Hear.) In that fatal year the King's speech upon the opening of parliament, after recommending a review of the laws which imposed civil disabilities on his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, contained these words : " You will consider whether the removal of those disabili ties can be effected consistently with the full and permanent security of our establishments in church and state, with the maintenance of the reformed religion established by law, and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their charge " these are institutions which must ever be held sacred in this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and the determination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate." (Cheers.) Of course, for the attainment of this desirable end, some securities were to be taken, in compensation for the conces sions made. I will not trouble you with the oath required as a security from• Roman Catholic members of parliament, and which is likely to redound to the credit of the sagacity of British legislation about as much as the trial of the Earl of Cardigan will redound to the credit of the gravity and solemnity of the highest court of British jurisprudence. (Hear, hear.) The oath was no security whatever. In point of fact,. the only real practical security taken, and that which has retarded the progress of Romish domination, was the disfran chisement of the 40s. freeholders. Sir Robert Peel opened the intended measure, as part of the general plan which the go vernment had formed for the renovation of. Ireland, in the same speech in which he introduced the emancipation bill. The two measures were to support each other. The minister told the house, that he would not ask for disfranchisement, unless emancipation were granted •, and that if emancipation were granted, then he could not dispense with disfranchise ment. He developed in detail the object and the necessity of the measure. He shewed that from the period when the franchise was granted to Roman Catholics in 1793, 40s. free holders had been manufactured to such an unnatural amount as clearly proved they were not the fruit of any constitutional growth. (Hear, hear.) He compared the number of votes polled at the contested elections of 1820, in different coun ties of England and Ireland : " In the county of Bedford, 4,000 voters • in Berkshire, 2,270; Devonshire, 6,296; Durham, about 3,800 ; Glamor ganshire, 1,264; Middlesex, 10,000; Sussex, 5,500; and Westmoreland, about 4,370. In many of the Irish counties there were polled from 10,000 to 18,000. Never was such a concurrent body of testimony brought to bear upon one point as was given before the committees of both houses in 1825, respecting the evils arising from the state of the franchise in Ireland, by every Ivan who wasexamined, Roman Catholic or Protestant, 1 lyman or ecclesiastic. The genefal opinion of the witnesses so examined lur i d been in favour of raising the fran chise to £2O ; but so great a rise he would consider too vio lent an alteration, and was inclined to be satisfied with £lO, as affording a reasonable presumption that the character of the voters would be raised. It would be necessary to deter mine upon some specific mode of ascertaining who were £lO freeholders,—some tangible method of ascertaining the real character of the freehold. For this purpose it was proposed, that after the passing of the bill a day should be fixed in every county in Ireland, for opening a bond fide registration of £lO freeholds." The avowed spirit of this bill was to place the elections beyond the control of the Romish priests, and it is obvious that without this bill the emancipation could not have been passed. Surely, then, if these two bills passed together, as parts and parcels of the same measure, and if they have hitherto stood together, it is no more than fair play to de mand that they shall still either stand or fall together. (Loud cheers.) Sir, a few faithful and zealous Protestants in the country have been branded as madmen for speaking of the repeal of one of these bills. What then shall be said of her ma jesty's secretary for Ireland, who proposes the repeal of the other ? Does he not open afresh the whole Roman Catho lic question Is lie prepared to say that the conduct of the Roman Catholic members of the House of Commons has been such as to entitle them to further. concessions ? Has the sincerity of their g ratitude been so great ; has thei r sworn respect f or the rights and privileges of the b isho p s and clergy, which th e King declared it his duty and his determi nation to preserve inviolate, been so delicate and scrupulous as to remove all honest arehension as regards th e safety. of our Protestant institutions ? Has the conduct of the Popish priesthood been such as to justify the removal of a restriction which was designed to place the elections beyond their abso lute control ? Is the country prepared to go with her majes ty's ministers in such a measure as that now proposed ? Is the country prepared to repeal the only security of 1829. without repealing the concession of 1829 ? lam very much mistaken if the growing convictions of disappointed English ' men be not tending, and tending rapidly, in the opposite di rection. (Cheers.) What, for example, are the obvious t en dencies in our own important town ? (Hear, hear.) When I had the honour of 'addressing- yon or, the subject of my ord Stanley's bill last year, the attention of the town had been already called to it by the giants of Clayton square, and it only re mained for ns petty men to direct that attention into the right channel, which we happily succeeded in doing. This year we seem to have it all to ourselves. Is there any harm in asking in a good natured way (and to mingle our business with a little amusement) where are the giants gone? What has become of them? Have they been stain by a good old English sling and a Glad-stone at Walsall ? or has the Cathedral at Canterbury fallen upon them and smothered them? or have they departed from the arena of politics to the tune of " Morgan-rattler" on the Monmouthshire harp? or, in these days of cocks has all their crowing shared the fate of Alcock in East Surrey? Or, though last, not least, have they so much good feeling, so much integrity, so much of ingenuous de. testation of corruption of all sorts; thaw, even crowned with mo mentary victory, they hide their heads in honest shame at the name of St. Alban's ? (Cheers.) Whatever may be the proximate cause or causes, certain it is that since the opening of the present session of Parliament, and the occurrence of the events alluded to, our good old town has not been frighted from its propriety by any demonstration of the sublime and beautiful, triumphing over the last impotent struggles of "an expiring Tory faction." (Cheers.) But they are coming. I have here their organ of this morning. (Loud and vehement cheering.) It announces a meeting, in the square, for Monday, to adopt a petition in favour of Lord Morpeth's bill. The scribe who introduces it to the notice of his readers, says, " Two things at least are certain ; that Lord Stanley, in his 'attack on the rights con ferred on Ireland by the reform bill, is the most potent ally of Mr. O'Connell in his repeal agitation; the second, that hi s success will almost infallibly lead to the dismemberment of the empire." I wish you to notice the judgment here pronounced upon Mr. O'Connell, and his threatened mil lions, by their radical coadjutor in the press of this town. The dismemberment of the empire is their object, and the success of Lord Stanley's bill will so exasperate them as to induce them to accomplish their object by violence. The success of Lord Stanley's bill is another name for an act of the imperial parliament . ; and here is a scribe, professing great loyalty to the Queen, and great attachment to the Irish Roman Catholics, who gravely tells his readers that, if the Queen and the two houses of parliament dare to pass a certain measure into a law, his dearly beloved friends on the other side of the channel will manifest their loyalty by open rebel len and forcible dismemberment of the empire. (Loud and hearty cheers.) I will read you a part of the petition to be submitted to the meeting on Mull do} " That the of Ireland have just cause to complain of the laws whi, regulate the right of voting for members to serve in parli n:ent for that part of the United Kingdom. " That the el. :.toral qualification is not only higher than that required fo English voters, but the proof of the quali- ficationis tedious, complicated, and often expensive; in ad dition to which the qualification is in itself uncertain, some c Irish judges holding that the qualification must be not merely a ten-if:mild qualication, but a qualification based on a beneficial interest of ten pounds,--making, in fact, a twenty poundqualitieation " That as the law now exists, it is obvious that the people of Ireland have not a sufficiently extensive right of voting at elections, awl that it is dangerous as well as unjust to withhold from t Irish people rights which they ought to enjoy in common with ourselves. - We know no good reason why the representation of Ireland should not be as exten sive in all respects as our own." Now as to the amount of qualification for Ireland, it is abso lutely requisite that it should be higher there than it is here, and that for the reasons given by Sir Robert Peel at the time of the passing of the einancip;ition act But if there be a doubt as to the meaning of the £lO qualification, why not de fine it—why not give it precision by a bill introduced spe cially for that purpose ? The judges in Ireland have differed about its interpretation ; but that difference does not justify a total change of qualification. Definition of an existing franchise is a very different thing from the substitution of a new one. We object not to such definition as will put an end to all ambiguity, but we object most strongly to a bill professing to define and regulate the franchise, while in reality it makes an essential change in its character. (Loud and continued cheering.) Her Majesty's ministers have been disclaiming all inten tion of changing the reform bill, and moderate men have given their support, on the faith that they would not go be • yond it ; but now they are virtually introducing a new reform bill under false pretences. They calculated upon the com placency and quietude of the English character, and hope to deceive you by dealing with us softly •, but if they rouse you, you will show them what you are. (Cheers.) The bill now attempted to be palmed upon us, is a new reform bill, though it is not convenient to its framers to call it so. We, however, like plain speaking, and shall call things by their right names. (" Hear," and cheers.) But recurrin ,, again to the article in the radical print to which I have' al _ _ . . ready adverted, I find we are threatened with the most terrible consequences if Lord Stanley's bill be perse- vered in. " Looking to our foreign relations," says this Writer, " considering the risk of a rupture with America, and the threatening position of France, the present is hardly a time at which we can afford, supposing it politic or just at any time, to insult and outrage the people of Ireland." But, I say, there remains spirit enough in the people of Enzland not to be put down by threats. (Loud cheers.) The Popish . . . agitators have held out a menace that in case of war they may possibly unite with France, instead of England—and this is _ _ copied by the provincial papers here, to be read by classes over whom it might possibly exercise an evil influence ; but England will - not give way so easily, nor yield under any ap prehension of treachery in Ireland: If frish traitors shew themselves so ready to take advantage of our difficulties and embarrassments, we shall take care to tie their hands in time, and render_them harmless in the event of such contingencies as they look for (Loud cheering, and applause.) Is it safe e event of hostilities with America * Or France that the representatives of Great Britain should be overborne by mem bers who are but the representatives of the Romish priests in Ireland Should we allow such a control to exist Over both our legislature and executive councils ? Would it be safe in time of war ? And if not, then I ask, is this a time to con- fer new favours, and enlarged privileges on such persons? (Loud cheering.) Now, sir, for all this, I know I must expect to be well re-rated as one of that most nauseous and noxious class of reptiles, called political parsons—troublesome, I grant, and dangerous in the otherwise flowery path of radicalism. A political parson is a species of animal, whose natural history has not yet been fully explored by our reformed philosophy, One thing is clear about him, without much erudition or research, and it may have operated strongly in keeping philosophers of a certain schoOl at a respectful distance, and that is, that he has the free gift of his tongue, and a most annoying acquaintance with the low instincts and habits of his assailatits But what after all is to be properly understood by this expression, a political parson ? If it be intended to designate a Christian min ister who sets a high value on civil liberty, and on those scriptural institutions, both civil and ecclesiastical, by which that liberty is protected and perpetuated : a Christfan minister who detests slavery whether of body or mind, and who has intelligence and perception to discern the frauds and perjuries by which the emis- sarie; of the great apostate tyrant seek to undermine the citadel of freedom and reduce his country to the servile condition of a feof of the supreme Pontiff: a Christian minister who feels it his duty to use the talents entrusted to him,_ for the warning of his fellow citizens and the exposure of the conspirators . a Christian min ister who for the love be bears to the tender and gentle exercise of a scriptural shepherd's care of the flock, is willing to gird him, self to the needftil battle against the thieve ann robbers who would break down the fences of the fold: a Christian minister who in giving and publishing such exposures and en- ;uch warning: Las, has recourse to nothing but the legiti- mate weapons of - convincing argument, historical facts, sound reasoning, eloquent persuasion, and that rod of rods for a fool's back, indignant irony : a Christian minister who seeks to enlighten the public mind in the great principles of religious duty public and private, in order that men may act freely and intelligently, exercising political privileges' npon Christian principles, but who never dreams of coercing any man's actions by violence. (Cheers.) If this be a political parson, then we may glory in the title, and we trust that many of our young brethren in the ministry of the church will sit for this picture, and endeavour by every legitimate effort to exhibit a good likeness. (Enthusiastic cheers.) But, sir, if by a political parson be meant a minister of religion who carries as ee , ',lcmatical of his discipline, a loaded horsewhip, thereby assistir he Assessor in the Registration Courts, or as - cending the hr gs at elections, or standing as a sentry at tile polling booth , flouncing excommunication here, and damnation hereafter up; i who dare to give their votes in opposition to the priest's candi and laying-on a present and feeling earnest of the stripes to bL ,eurred by political heresy: a minister of religion who forges, fro Lhe fertile mint of his breviary, or well stored arsenal of old v we's fables, the chains of abject superstition for his ignorant mt titudes, and fastens the manacles around the ter rified conscieences of his slaves in the confessional—if this be a political parson, then we cordially join with all unprejudiced men of sense and liberty and letters in repudiating the nauseous and noxious reptile. (The reverend gentleman resumed his seat amidst the most tumultuous applause from all parts of the house.) Mr. SAMUEL HOLME rose, amidst much applause, to se cond the resolution. He confessed that he felt considerable embarrassment in presenting himself to the meeting, inas much as he laboured under a severe cold, so that he feared he could scarcely make himself audible ; and he felt the diffi culty of following a speaker like the last, who had made so heart-stirring and convincing an appeal to, those assembled. That gentleman had laid before them a variety of details, from which he (Mr. H.) would but endeavour to deduce a few arguments. When he considered the manner in which the men of Liverpool had come forward on this and other recent occasions, when their dearest institutions were attack ed, and the general burst of feeling against the destructive principles of their opponents, manifested throughout the kingdom, he, for one, would not despair of defeating every attempt that might be made against them. But seeing that these institutions were so threatened, it became them no lon ger to act merely on the defensive, but to buckle on their armour, to hoist the glorious standard of conservatism, and boldly advancing, to drive from their posts a ministry who were unfit to hold the reins of government. (Hear, bear.) The principles they (the conservatives) contended for were the same for which our forefathers had bled; the same for which Nelson had died at Trafalgar, and Wellington had fought at Waterloo. It was not until the passing of the fatal bill of 1829, which gave a lodgement in the legislation to the enemies of the country, that the Protestantism of the constitution was assailed. That measure inducted into par liament Catholics, who went there on a promise that they would not disturb the Protestant establishments of the country ; but these men, and their coadjutors cut of doors, now made a determined effort to put down those admirable institutions. To the eternal shame of the present ministry, they, too, had entered into a compact with the agitator of Ireland to assist in the unholy work. He considered Pro testantism the best anchor of the constitution, and if that were removed, the ship would drift from her moorings, and be wrecked upon a lee shore. (Cheers.) The faction to which he alluded, attempted to make Ireland the arena for the pro pagation of the destructive opinions, a mere appendage to the Romish empire. At the Catholic dinners, the toast was always drank of " civil and religious liberty all over the world ;" but this was a mere mockery on the part of those who drank it. In Rome the Pope was supreme, in temporal as well as ecclesiastical power. There liberty was but a name, and no one dare attempt to freely follow the dictates of their conscience, to educate the children of the poor, or to act in any respect with that freedom which the people of this country enjoyed. If they looked to Spain and Portu gal, they would there, too, find the withering effects of popery. It was impossible, such was the state of those countries, to travel in safety without an escort. If, too, a catholic voted otherwise than for the nominee of his priest, the thunders of the Romish church were launched upon his head. Mr. Holmes here read the following extract from a speech of the Bishop of Exeter : " What he (the Bishop of Exeter) was going to read was a speech by Mr. O'Connell when Father Tyrrell was by his side as his great eider and supporter. The words of Mr. O'Connell were, Boys, the names 1 call your enemies, do you call every friend of theirs you meet in the street. Girls and women, when you meet the Bruenites, spit on them, spit in their faces, particularly if they are Catholic conservatives. Write traitor on their doors with chalk, and tell your friends at home to do the same. You who are wives of the Catholic electors, if your husbands do not vote for their religion, bless yourselves, and then swear on your prayer books to separate from your husbands if they don't obey your commands ; you who are their daughters, I tell you if your fathers vote against you, spit in their faces, and call them the names I taught the boys to call them !' " Now, when they heard of Roman Ca tholic priests drinking the toasts of " Civil and religions liberty," they ought to pause and look at their acts, taking care not be carried away by their professions. (Hear, hear.) The bill introduced by Lord Morpeth—and which, he trusted in God, would never pass—(loud and continued cheers)--that bill gave additional power to an overgrown priesthood. But the mind of Ireland was already too much enslaved; and Lord Stanley's bill was introduced for the purpose of relieving the Irish from their debasement. The Irish priesthood were strongly opposed to that bill, for they well knew that if it passed, their occupation of deluding the people, would in a great measure be gone. The present registration system of Ireland, involved a vast and deplora ble amount of p er j ur y ; an d why should not such iniquity be put down. Wh y did the priests fear a law, having that end in view. Laws were made a terror only to evil doers, not to those who did well. (Cheers.) Nearer home they had in stances of the malignant influence of popery. He alluded to the Protector Society, which was another link in the great chain that was intended to bind down and destroy Protestant.. ism. Then, h( would ask, did not popery sanction Sabbath desecration ? lad the voter seen bills affixed to the Roman Catholic chape ; announcing meetings to be held on Sunday evenings for t mad of the union—(hear, and cries of " Shame l")—and to the shame and disgrace of the magi strates of the borough they had permitted that desecration, —at least if they knew of the circumstance. He was not certain, however, that they did know ; but, if they did, it was their duty not to stand idly by, hut immediately to take the parties so acting into custody. He had something further to say, too, in behalf of Protestant Liverpool. They all knew that they were heavily taxed by the parish autho rites. He, himself, had a large annual amount to pay, and he might state that fifteen out every twenty shillings went to the support and relief of the poor Irish. Many of the Irish too were suffered to vote who had no more right to a vote here than he had in Kamschatka or Nova Zembla. (" Hear," and laughter.) He would relate a fact that had come under his own notice, illustrative of the system pursued at the Parish-office. On the 26th of October last, a man named Charles M`Manus, thirty-six years of age, and living at No. 43, Hodgson-street, paid 4s. 6d. a week as rent of a lodging-house, and let off a room for 2s. a week, thus leaving him to pay only 2s. 6d. a week ! He applied for relief, and stated that the cause of his distress was hurrying for two weeks to prove his right to a vote. He added, that he had two children and a wife to support. The magistrates offered him a pass to go to Ire land, thinking that the best plan to get rid of him. (Laugh ter.) If such were the practices in this town, how much worse must they be in Ireland ; and it was to put an end to the evil of such parties having a vote that the bill of Lord Stanley was introduced. (Hear.) With respect to the pre sent ministry, they would, he believed, go on, if they had even a mjority of only two in the house. They clung to office, indeed, with surprising and persevering tenacity ; and he verily believed they would never relinquish their hold until they were either smoked out, or kicked out. (Loud laughter.) He was of opinion that unless they were driven out, and a new system of things introduced, the happy days of England would be at an en d. (Cheers.) They had gone on from time to time, conceding and conceding, until theconstitu tion of the country would be given away, and a revolution would ensue. He had been told that there was no danger to he apprehended from them, inasmuch as several of them were churchmen ; but he apprehended greater danger from the covert than the avowed enemies of Protestantism. The ava lanche might be dislodged by the breath of the sweetest music floating on the air, as well as by the influence of the storm, and its effects would be equally destructive. The ministers had opened the floodgates, and the devasta ting stream would rush in if they were allowed to retain their position and their power. It was fallacious to suppose that such men would direct and calm the storm which they had recklessly called into existence.— What they had done was in part payment, on their part, to the agitator and his tail for past favours. (Cheers.) It re dounded greatly to the credit of the mechanics and working classes of Liverpool, that the petition had originated with them. The operatives were in fact in this instance as in others the very bones and marrow of the community. But for them the elective-for. Monmouthshire would have been lost, and Tracey would have walked the course. But they protested he should not, they cut the " traces" from the ministerial mule, and he trotted off to the place whence he came. (Laughter.) Every man should know that he had a personal interest in this matter—every man who loved his country, and who was firmly and devotedly attached to that church, which was the great bulwark of the country—every man who was'a reasonable human being—every man who en joyed the blessings of true religion here and looked forward to a blessing hereafter, had an interest in this question. Seated on the ocean, England was the fountain of freedom and civilisation, giving laws to the whole earth, sending her manufactures abroad, and giving work to her citizens at home, and she had been the means of sending the gospel of Jesus Christ to many lands ; but the priests wished to cripple the energies, and then destroy the vitality of England. (Hear, hear.) He would have them to stand forward and say, " It shall not be—England shall be governed on the good sound principles of Protbstantism," which Protestan tism was connected with their liberties. They should not put a sword in the hands of Rome, wherewith to destroy their country ; but they should pause when they heard the doc trines that were now being propagated in this country, and remember " he was a freeman whom the truth made free, and all were slaves besides." (Tremendous cheering.) He had very great pleasure in seconding the motion so ably proposed by his rev, friend, and he hoped the whole of the meeting would give it their sanction. (Mr. Holme here resumed his seat amidst loud and enthusiastic cheering frona every side.) The motion was put from the chair, and carried unani mously. . . . Mr. DANIEL LEDSON baying been called upon by the chairman to move the third resolution, rose, and was received with loud cheers. He said, I have just had placed in my hands the third resolution, and I feel great pleasure in mov ing it. At this advanced period of the day, and more espe cially after the able and eloquent speeches of the Rev. Mr. M`Neile and Mr. Holme, it would be an act of presumption in me to attempt to add to the impression which they have produced upon the meeting. (Loud cheers.) I am sure that when the petition is presented by our representatives, Lord Sandon and Mr. Cresswell, to the Commons House of Parliament, it will meet with due effect, as emanating from the most intelligent and respectable portion of the inhabitants of this town. (Hear, hear.) As chairman of the Operative Conservative Association—(cheers)—l beg leave, on behalf of that body, to return Mr. Holme their sincere thanks for the remarks he has just made. I trust that, every day, they will increase in numbers ; and I am sure that they will ever be found ready to defend those institutions which every honest Protestant is bound to protect. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Ledson concluded by moving the following resolution, after which he sat down amidst renewed cheering " That the following petition, which has already been adopted at a previous meeting on Monday last, be trans mitted to Lord Stanley and Mr. Cresswell for presentation." Mr. GLAZEDROOK briefly seconded the motion. The petitition was then read by Mr. Crisp. The CHAIRMAN then put the motion to the meeting, and it was unanimously carried. Mr. GEORGE H. LAWRENCE proposed, in a highly-com plimentary address, the thanks of the meeting to the chair man, for his admirable conduct in conducting the proceed- This was carried by acclamation. Three enthusiastic cheers were then given for Mr. Neile, three for Lord Stanley, and three groans for O'Connell. The meeting then separated. MEETING OF SHIPOWNERS.-QUALIFICATIONS OF CAPTAINS AND MATES A meeting of shipowners took place yesterday, at two o'clock, in the Committee-room of the Underwriters' Asso ciation, for the purpose of considering the propriety of co operating with the Glasgow shipowners in presenting a peti tion to parliament, for an act sanctioning the formation of a commission, or association, requiring masters (in particular) and mates of merchant vessels to undergo•examination by properly qualified persons, and, in the event of their passing, to be furnished (after the manner of surgeons) with certifi cates of their nautical abilities to undertake the management of a ship; the object being the protection of life and pro perty, which the originators were of opinion were often placed in jeopardy by the appointment to commands of incompetent persons. There were between 20 and 30 shipowners pre sent, including a few gentlemen delegates from the society of Glasgow. Mr. Nickol, chairman of the Underwriters' As sociation of this town, was called to the chair, and opened the business of the meeting. Mr. Johnstone, of the Ship owners Association of Glasgow, entered into a variety of interesting details (which we have scarcely room to touch upon), showing the opinion of the shipowners there in favour of the object stated. They proposed, he said, to apply for the appointment of a Marine Board in London and Liverpool for England ; in Edinburgh for Scotland ; and in Dublin for Ireland. Some of the shipowners of Glasgow were in favour of having the controlling inspector appointed by government; others, that they should decline all immediate government interference. They proposed to raise the funds necessary to carry the object out by a small levy of 6d. a ton on each vessel when first registered only, and a small amount for certificates, and calculated that this would be amply suffi cient to defray all expenses. By car the greater number of the meeting were in favour of the proposition, as an • advantage to respectable shipmasters as well as shipowners ; and with reference to old captains of established reputation, it was understood that there was no necessity for their un dergoing the ordeal of examination. Amongst the gentlemen who delivered their sentiments on the subject were Mr. Pot ter, Mr. Chapman Mr. Brocklebank, Mr. D. Gibb, George Grant and Chapman, M‘Dougal (of Glasgow), &c. Mr. Brocklebank stated that he had long been on owner of ves sels, and had never lost anything material through the in competency or neglect of his officers, though that might occasionally occur. He considered that owners of vessels wer e the best judges in choosing their captains, and were perfectly competent to manage their own affairs, without the interference of parliament. In this opinion he was joined by Mr. Chapman. The majority of those present, however, argued differently ; and the result was the appointment of the following gentlemen as a committee, to confer with the delegation from Glasgow upon the subject, and report to a future meeting—viz., Messrs. Potter, Grant, Rankin, Hig gip, Whitehead, Henderson, Watson, and Rotherham. As the subject will ere long be brought before the public in a more tangible shape, we the less regret that we have been under the necessity, in consequence of a press of matter, of reducing our notice of the meeting to a mere paragraph. We shall recur to the subject. •,..,....... 11 . A FEW THOUGHTS BY A THINKING MAN, TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. S tn ,—l am just r e t urne d from the meeting in Clayton square, and if you have no objection 1 will be your " think ing man for " this one day only. / think, if Mr. Baring, our clever Chancellor of the Exchequer, had been there, he would, aft er see i ng th e h an d s held up, in passing the resolution, been inclined to take the tax off soap:. think" two of the speakers told falsehoods, when they said the meeting consisted of about 12,000 persons.. " I think" a friend and myself measured the ground outside the mob, and it measured about 35 yards by 25 yards, but the whole might have stood in about 20 by 20 y ar d s , if they had stood six persons to th e yard, which is generally computed. " I think," that reckoning the most, and f ar more th an there really was, say 35 by 25 yards, and six persons to the square yard, there would only be about 5250 ; and rec k on i ng more correctly, say 20 by 20 yards, there would be about, what there was, 2400. " I think," a l so , that if the persons, f r i en d s to the pass i ng of Lord Morpeth's bill, bad stood uncovered, and others against it had remained covered, there wou ld h ave b eer , far the greater proportion covered , there certainly was not one. halt favourable to the meeting. " I think" the speakers thought it much easier to abuse the Rev. H. M`Neile than rebut his arguments. if h t stranger had visited the meeting, he " I think." would have thought it was called to pass a vote of censure on Mr. M•Neile, and not called about the passing of Lord Morpeth's bill. sley t o ld an untruth, or a " I think" Sir Joshua Walm " genteel invention," when he said 7 or 8000 persons had signed their petition, and nearly all this morning. " I think" they were hawking the petition up and down the dock side on Friday, getting it signed, and signing it for those who could not write. —I remain, your obedient servant, 20th Feb., 1841. A THINKING MAN. Queen Adelaide's Church, at Malta, for which her Ma is advancing f ast to completion : her jesty gave £lO,OOO, Majesty is going to endow a bishopric there. TERRIFIC EXPLOSION' OF GAS AT STOCKPORT.—An ex plosion of gas, of a very alarming nature, occurred in the manufactory of Mr. Charles Axon, of Heaton-lane, Stock port, yesterday evening. It chars that a leak had taken place in the service-PiPe vinci, l supplies the mill with gas ; g down with a light to the and on some of the hanas gain lower story, where the pipe enters the mill, a considerable quantity of gas having escaped, a most terrific explosion im mediatelytook place. loud,, was the repor t t h a t it was heard all over the tovvu , and for' near a mile b e yond it, and the utmost consternation was excited in all parts of Stock port, some attributing the report to an earthquake, and all being seized with an undefined sort o f a l arm and apprehen sion. The building, which is four stories high, was shaken in a most violent manner;, nearly every window was shat tered to atoms ; all the lights were extinguished ; a great deal of the machinery was disarranged ; and the effect was described, by the hands who were at work in the upper stories, as similar to their being suddcnly lifted up about two or three feet, and then thrown down again. So far as we have heard, no lives were lost, nor has any serious injury been sustained by the hands in the mill, except by one boy, who was severely hurt. The shock was felt, more or less, in all the buildings near to the spot. —Manchester Courier of Saturday. AWFUL SHIPWRECK BY COLLISION IN THE IRISH CHANNEL INSTANTANEOUS SINKING OF THE "GOVERNOR , FEN NER," WITH ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO SOULS ON BOARD We have the melancholy duty to furnish a narrative of a calamity at sea, more awfully sudden and disastrous in its results than any we have had to record since the commence ment of our editorial labours—not even excepting the dread ful losses by the storm of the Gth and 7th of January—the instantaneous sinking, off Holyhead, of a large ship, in con sequence of collision with a steamer in the night, with at least one hundred and thirty-two souls on board, two only of whom, the captain and mate, were, saved—the whole of the others, men, women, and children, the greater part of whom were in their beds, being at one fell swoop, hurried from the slumber of this life into the eternal sleep of death. The news of the disaster reached this port on Sunday forenoon, by the steam-vessel with which the ship came in contact, and which, being in a shattered condition, with her en gines rendered unfit for use, was towed into port, from a spot a short distance from the scene of the fatality, by the Graueuille, a steamer from Droghec.:a, belonging to the Drogheda company. The intelligence rapidly spread in the neighbour hood of the docks, and excited a painful inte res t amongs t a ll who heard it—and (it may well be believed) shocked the feel ings of no inconsiderable number of individuals, relatives or acquaintances of some of the unfortunate beings who had but recently taken leave of them in health and spirits, and had now met a watery grave, beyond even the hope of their re mains being recovered for the performance of the last sad rites of humanity. As an event accompanied by so great a loss of life naturally leads the public mind to an_ enquiry into the cause of the collision, and the possible attachment of blame to one or other of the navigators of the respec tive vessels, and as that cause will probably, from the nature of the circumstance, never be accurately ascertained, the only impartial course we can ,adopt, without imputing blame to either of the officers or crews, is to furnish the details we have been enabled to obtain of the loss from the parties themselves. These are, in our opinion, by no means incon sistent with the supposition that no wilful neglect is attribu table to the one or to the other—particularly as such neglect would equally jeopardize both vessels ; and we cannot, there fore, but incline to the supposition that the calamity arose from one of those unforeseen accidents which human foresight cannot always avert. It appears that the ship, on seeing the steamer approaching, put her helm a-port, according to the established rules of navigation when vessels approximate each other. Whether the steamer did the same, which might (if done in time) have prevented the collision, does not clearly appear. The ship, however, had no light up, and ran on board of her ; and as the night was dark and drizzly, the most justifiable conclusion seems to be that both got too near each other before the danger was sufficiently apparent to em ploy effectually the usual means to avoid collision. In pro secutino. further enquiry into the subject the public, too, should 'bear in mind the fact that each party will naturally endeavour to exculpate themselves, and that on one side we have but the captain and mate of the ship ; the former was part owner ofthe vessel, the latter lost his wife by the disaster, and both were at their posts in the hour of danger. On the other side we have as witnesses the whole of the passengers of the steamer who happened to'be on deck, happily none of whom were lost or injured. With these introductory remarks we submit the following particulars, to which the public (be fore they pronounce their verdict) will doubtless give due and unbiassed consideration which the serious nature of the sub ject demands. We twice applied yesterday at the office of Mr. P. W. Byrne, American passenger agent, for a list of the unfortu nate passengers on board, and were twice refused, on the ground that he would himself write to the relations of the parties, and that he would not supply it. We had no inten tion of undertaking the painful task of writing to any of the friends of the deceased ; but we have a duty to perform to the public, in furnishing the names of those who perished, and we cannot account for Mr. P. Byrne's refusal to accommo date us. The public will, of course, make their own deduc tions from the fact. All we shall say is, that Mr. Byrne's refusal will not, in our opinion, add anything to the respect ability of the class of traffickers to which Mr. P. Byrne be longs, or to the confidence which the public may attach to then) as agents. Through the politeness of Lieut. Lowe, of her Majesty's Emigration Office, in Union-street, where a re gister of all emigrants is kept, we readily obtained the following list, and have appended such particulars as we have gathered from authentic sources elsewhere, of the condition in life of several of the ill-fated parties. It should be remarked, that notwithstanding the frequent repetition of the occupation " labourer," the passengers generally were superior in cir cumstances to the usual run of similarly numerous bodies of emigrants, many of them being respectable farmers and tradespeople, and a few in easy circumstances; the name " labourer" being for the most part technical, some desig nation being required in law. PASSENGERS William Toms, aged 40; Philip Duffy, 28; and James Tay lor, 30, farmers. Benjamin Whitehead, 27; Patrick Gibney, 19 ; John Ashworth, 29 ; James Needham, 33 ; Henry Ryal, 34; John Sinclair, 22; Patrick Halley, 36; David Boyd, 24; Bernard M'Evoy, 23; Thos. Garside, 28; Emanuel Hague, 33; John France, 26; Robert Miller, 32; James Johnson, 50; John Chiswell, 21; Stephen Kavanagh, 35 ; John M'El rov, 26; Gordon M'Elroy, 22; Patrick Doyle, 18; Patrick Egan, 26; William Corgan, ]3; Henry Watts, 27; Quayle, 32; John Quayle, 20; Patrick M`Veigh, 31 ; John M'Evoy, 21; George Twells, 32; John Stokes, 22; John Reilly, 28 ; Josh. Schollield, 35 ; Edward Redmond, 30 ; Richard Faller, 24 ; Andrew Mercer, 23 ; John Kelly, 21; Patrick M`Nally, 26 ; Owen Finnalty, 30 ; William Fitzpa trick, 30 ; Philip Tully, 21; Dennis Brennan, 26 ; Michael Murphy, 28 ; John Maher, 23 ; Charles Feeny, 27 ; John Ryan, 28; James Dolan, 22; Patrick Burke, 30; George Burgess, 35 ; Abram Wilkinson, 30 ; John M'lntyre, 30 ; John Kelly, 30 ; and Patt M'Avoy, 21, labourers. Michael M'Cormick, 36, and Henry Wood:—Mrs. Ryal and infant, 30; Elizabeth Ryal, 6 ; Mrs. Halley and infant. 30 ; Mrs. Boyd, 21; Mrs. Miller, 26; Ellen Quayle, 17; Jane Quayle, 16 ; Mary Ann Quayle, 15 ; Mary M`Veigh, 20 ; Mrs. Red mond and infant, 30 ; Joseph Redmond, 4 ; Mrs. M`Nally, 22 ; Mary Tinnan, 26, spinster ; Mrs. Fitzpatrick and in fant, 28 ; James Fitzpatrick, 4; Jane Fitzpatrick, 50; Mary Tully, 20; Catherine Grandy and infant, 24 ; Margaret Feeny, 21; Sarah Ryan, 16 ; and Mrs. M`lntyre, 26. RECAPITULATION 52 Male adults. 3 Ditto children. 18 Female adults. 1 Ditto child. 4 infants. 78 Souls ; equal 714 adults. Several other passengers, making, it is said, 107 in all were taken on board after the above list was handed in. It appears from the Captain's certificate, dated the 18th instant, and deposited at the same office, that 'them were on board twenty-three casks, containing 6,050 gallons of water, for the supply of the passengers and crew. The greater number of passengers were Irish. The fol lowing are a few particulars of their condition and pursuits : Mr. Henry Woods was from the neighbourhood of Lan caster, in which place he has a wife, and some relatives in, we learn, the iron trade. He was a fine young man, and embarked merely with a view of visiting the United States, and returning with an early vessel to his native country. He had considerable property on board, in clothes and money. He had taken a berth in the steerage, but preferring better accommodations in the cabin, be had a few hours before the disaster paid the captain an additional sum for the use of a state room, which was being prepared for him when the steamer came in sight. He was asleep when the collision took place. There was another genteel young man, whose name we have not obtained. _ _ . . A young man, Mr. John Sinclair, (not in the list,) from the neighbourhood of London, nephew to Mr. Cooper, of Lord-street, in this town, was amongst those who perished. He had purposed going out in the Siddons hue-ship, but did not arrive till she was under weigh. . --....—....,.... ~ William Thorns, a house carpenter, was on board. His wife accompanied him to Liverpool, and saw him on board. Amongst those on board was also a respectable person named Lynch. . . . . _ . The family of the Quayles (four in number) were from the north of Ireland. The head of them had before been in Ame- Wm. Fitzpatrick, an agricultural labourer, had his wife, and another female, and two children (one of them an infant) with him. Philip Tully, who had with him his wife, (both young peo ple) and a child, had been previously five years in Boston. Mr. Johnson, from the county of Hereford, a practical farmer, had also before been in America, where, we learn, he was in possession of about 200 acres of land. Collins, one of the crew, sailed a few weeks ago in the ship Robert Benn, which came into collision with a schooner in the channel. He escaped. He re-embarked in the Gover nor Fenner, and was lost in her contact with the Nottingham. David Boyd, in the list, (and his wife, not in the list) be sides Bernard !4'Avoy, in the list, were of the same party. There were nine young men—mechanics, from Oldham, who took each a steerage passage. Owing to the respecta bility of their appearance, they were, after embarkation, ad mitted, without additional cost, into the second cabin. There were also on board a family of the name of Rey nolds, of England, from a district near Oldham, consisting of the father, mother, and two children. The passenger named Scholfield was with them. John Kelly (in the list), had with him his sister Sarah, (not, it appears, in the list). Catharine Morgan and Evan Morgan, who had embarked, left the vessel before she proceeded to sea. We are politely favoured by Messrs. Powell and Travaskiss, shipping-masters, with the following list of TIIE CREW. William Shiletone, second mate, of Bristol; Caleb Fra zier, cook , William Reid, John Smith, John Webb, Frede rick Selkeld, John Munroe (late second mate of the Belvi dere), William Collins, John Smith, David Pidgeon, George Duncan Clark, and John Davies, seamen. Four men, who had intended to go with the vessel, left her at the pier -head—from what cause we have not learned. The reporter from our office who attends to the nautieal department in the town, bad, yesterday afternoon. a separate interview with the two sole survivors from the ship. Both were naturally deeply affected by the disaster ; but furnished the interesting details which will be found below. The Governor Fenner was a ten -years-old ship, built at New York, and recently repaired at this port, and strength ened, at an expenditure of 8000 dollars. with a number of iron knees. She was of about 500 tons burthen, and was considered in every respect one of the best and most sea worthy of the vessels of her class. She was the property of Messrs. Andrews Brothers, and Co., of New York. The commander, Captain S. E. Edwards, was of the firm, and owned a quarter of the vessel. Captain Edwards said, in effect :—We left the river about noon on Friday, with a S.S.W. w i n d. The crew consisted of 18 individuals, and the passengers, to the best:of my know ledge, of 107. We had a full cargo of manufactured dry goods, also some heavy articles. There were amongst the passengers a considerable number of smallchildren. On Saturday morn ing about two o'clock, the wind then blowing fresh, and the ship under double-reefed topsails, we saw a steamer on the larboard or weather bow. I instantly ordered the helm to be put hard a-port, to give her as wide a berth as possible. The steamer rapidly neared us, and crossed our bow, and before we could bear aw a y, we s t ruc k her amidships a little abaft the starboard paddle-wheel. From the force of the collision, it became evident that the ship, or the steamer, or more probably both, would instantly sink. The whole was the work of a moment. 1 felt at once that the ship, the bows • f which were stove in, was sinking beneath my feet. All the passengers were in their berths as well as the crew, with the exception of the watch then on deck. I called out to the men to save themselves if they could, and told them to come forward—our apparent only chance being to get on board the steamer, w hi c h did n ot n ot then appear to be in a sinking state. Through some misappiehension, they ran aft instead of forward, and cut off their chance of getting on board the steamer. My anxious wish was to save all on board ; but the ship sank so rapidly that this object could not be accomplished. I remained forward, and the mate was near me. The ship rapidly filled and sunk, and I tried to jump on to the steamer. I failed in my first attempt, through a momentary faintness. I made a second attempt, and as the ship reached the water's edge succeeded in getting hold of the rope that was hanging over the quarter. The mate saved his life by jumping from the foreyard over on to the steamer's deck. In about one minute, so near as I can tell, the ship sunk with all her passengers. and sixteen of her crew, the whole amounting to 122 souls. The steamer's re maining boat on the larboard quarter was lowered, to en deavour to save some of the people, but she unfo r t unate l y swamped along-side. The steamers starboard p a ddl e -b ox was smashed and her machinery injured, so that it would not work. The funnel was also carried away, and she did little more than lay to till next day at five in the evening, when she was taken in tow by a Drogheda steamer that eame up to her and towed her into this port. During the interim the steamer did not make good above a mile or two from the spot where the accident occurred, and my opinion is that had not the weather been moderate all on board of her would also have perished. Mr. Carter, first mate of the ship, furnished to the ques tions of our reporter, the following painfully interesting ac count of the disaster—th oug h at the time labouring under great depression of spirits After corroborating the captain in his account of the sail ing, &c.—about five minutes past two o'clock on Saturday morning we saw the lights of a steam boat. It was my watch on deck, and I immediately called the captain. The steam-boat came up at about a point and a half on our weather-bow--we havinr , at the time our larboard tacks on board. We thought she was coming on head to us. We had no light but that of the binnacle on the quarter-deck ; and, I believe it is not considered necessary or prudent for sailing vessels clear of the land to carry a light.* We waited as much as 5 or 6 minutes, to find out what way the steamer was really coming, and then the captain ordered the man at the wheel to put the helm hard a-port, so as to give her a clear berth. If the steam-boat had done the same we should have gone clear of each other a long way, perhaps a mile. The captain, as soon as he ordered the wheel to be put up, went forwards to look out. I then looked over the larboard side, abaft the main rigging, and saw the whole bulk of the steamer. I said to the man at the helm—" She is on board of us." I luarter-past two o'clock. vessels came in contact, notwithstanding our ship paying off. (Our informant here approved of a diagram of our reporter, showing the position of the ships, a copy of which we shall probably furnish in our next publication.) When the crash took place, I heard tl captain call out several times—" For God's sake save yourselves, the ship is sinking." The jib boom of the ship struck the funnel of the steamer, and her bowsprit afterwards rested upon her. On the third surge she gave, I believe, down she went, bow foremost. The taffrail was the last thing we saw of her. She filled very quickly. She had on board a heavy cargo, including a quantity of iron and other heavy goods. The watch on the deck at the time consisted of 7 men, the captain and myself. All the others on board were asleep below. The captain also sang out to the man at the helm to leave the wheel. His name was Munroe—he was formerly mate of the Belvidere, came on board to work his passage to America, and we intended to make him second mate of the ship next day. All the men at fist went forward with me to the captain, who was stand ing between the night-heads, but they afterwards went aft as the ship sunk, to be, as I suppose, on the higher part of her hull. I stood some time, and attempted to go aft with a view of endeavouring to save my wife and others by lowering a boat. She, however, sunk so fast, that I was obliged to give up the idea in despair. I left the captain, and went to the starbord side. I stood there a feW seconds, till the water was perhaps 2 feet deep, as far aft as the mainmast, and was fast gathering still further aft, her head being then nearly under. I scarce know what afterwards occurred. 1 got up somehow into the foie-rigging ' and thence on to the larbord foreyards, which then crossed the steamer. When the ship sunk so far that I was from six to eight feet from the steamer's deck, I let go, and dropped down amongst some sheep. I lay some time ra ther confused, and did not attempt to rise, as I thought I might become entangled in a rope which passed over my shoulders, and as I thought, was part of the bowsprit run ning rigging of the ship. I then got up. The cry on board the steamer was that she was sinking, and I believe a passen ger on board lowered the boat left on the davits on the lar bord side ; but she unhooked from the tackles when she touched the water, and the painter not being fas::, she drifted away from the vessel. All the lights they could muster in the steamer were lighted for some time. The engineers and others then went below, and found that though she was leaky they could keep her free. She had her fore and aft sails, and foretop sail set at the time. I was on board about three quarters of an hour before I found that the captain of the ship was there. I had seen my wife, who was a little sea-sick, about twenty - minutes before, in her berth, and gave her a drink. The captain, when I first saw him in the steamer, was without his hat—and on seeing him (informant) he said --"Good God is this you—is there any of the crew saved ? " I said "I do not know. I did not know what became of you after I missed you off the ship's bow." Her hull was under water before I got off. The foreyard from which I dropped, was broken on the steamer as she was going down; and also, I believe, the topsail yard, as our foretopmast stud ding.sail-boom, which was rigged out at the time, (the wind having been for some time fair in the evening,) was left on the steamer's deck. I afterwards looked, but could see nothing of the ship or her masts. The last time I observed the watch on deck, they were on the starboard side of the quarter-deck. One man sung out, " For God Almighty's sake save me!" I did not hear the others. I had a quan tity of my wife's and my own clothing and other articles on board, worth about £5O. All were lost. [The wife of the informant was a daughter of Mrs. Morgan, of Queen Anne street, Brunswick Dock.] The captain had on board two valuable chronometers, charts, and other property, and all was also lost. We were at the time of the aecident 17 or 18 miles, as I reckon, to the northward and westward of Holy head.::: We were steering upon a wind, at the time, W. by N. ; and the steamer about E.S.E. The second mate's name was William Shelston, and he was below at the time. The captain was as cool as possible at the time ; and ex tremely anxious that as many as possible should be saved. If we had chanced to go aft instead of forward we should also have been drowned. A few of the cattle in the steamer were thrown overboard, and also some of the sheep, at the time it was thought she would sink. When it was found that there was no immediate danger the rest were kept on board. One of the black cattle was injured, and was afterwards slaught ered on board. Ido not think the steamer got ten miles from the place where the collision took place all next day, and she was taken in tow at five o'clock in the evening by the Grans Uile, a fine vessel belonging to the Drogheda Steam packet Company. The foreyard of the steamer Nottingham was carried away, which, I think, shows that the ship did not run directly into her. We now come to the Nottingham steamer, which our reporter visited on the evening of the day of her reaching port. She was brought into the Clarence Dock, and was so much shattered on the starboard side that hundreds of persons con gregated on the quays to see, all absorbed in the melancholy event which had caused the destruction. Her paddle-box bad almost entirely been carried away, and part of the " skeleton" ou the wheel—the cast iron work of the " spokes" being broken in pieces, and the beaten iron rings of the wheel crushed up, almost close to the vessel's side. She presented, indeed, the appearance of a wreck; in the effecting of tsich is extraordinary that no person on board was killed or tffriist overboard and drowned. Much of the upper timber was reduced to mere match-wood by the collision. A boat cn the starboard quarter was cut in two, and one part of her only remained on deck. The after paddle-beam, a balk of hard wood, of about twenty inches square, (and which was a main support of the box and wheel,) is broken close to the ship's side, and turned, in a diagonal direction, aft—held by the toughness of the fibres from falling off, and even yet of sufficient strength to support the weight of seve ral persons upon it. The strong iron stay or pillar, support ing it in a downward direction to the side, some feet below, is also driven sternward from its position. We are glad to say, however, that the vessel's hull appears to have sustained little or no material damage—a prima facie proof of the ex cellence of the materials and workmanship. It is the general opinion of practical men, (and our reporter, who has expe rience in such matters, concurs in it,) that had the ship, heavily laden as she 'was, and sailing at about three and a half to four knots an hour, struck her a yard or two further aft, she, too, would have disappeared, and no one would have been left to record the fate of either vessel. As it was, seve ral circumstances in the point of contact contributed to save her. In the first place, the jib-boom of the ship struck her camel, which afterwards fell, though strongly stayed by chains, froth a joint about twelve feet from the (leek. The bob-stays and bowsprit rigging probably next came into contact with the gunnel and paddle-box, which were carried away ; and finally, the stem of the ship probably afterwards first touched her side with a weakened velocity at a part where a sort of plat form runs aft from the outward corner of the paddle-box. All these opposing, but, in a great degree, elastic materials coming in contact, found a sort of fender, preservatives of the steamer, thoughTatal to the ship. The breaking of the paddle-beam and the general shock broke and deranged por tions of the machinery, which put aside the further applica tion of steam ; but the vessel was not left in danger of foundering—unless, indeed, in the event of a severe gale of wind and a heavy sea, which she, happily, bad not to en counter We abstract from the Albion' necessarily shorter, but, generally, accurate account, the following of the disaster as given by the passengers on the deck of the Nottingham when the collision took place : " About a quarter past two o'clock, on Saturday morning, when about 15 miles to the westward of Holyhead, the wea ther calm, but rather thick, one of the men of the watch saw a ship bearing down upon the Nottingham : she had no light at her mast, while the steamer bad three lights. He re ported the fact to the second mate, who was then at the wheel. The second mate hailed the ship, and was answered. He desired her to starboard the helm. This they thought was not done. A voice from the ship, which was supposed to have been that of the captain, requested the steamer to starboard her helm, as he could not bring the ship over, she not answering her helm. At this instant the Governor Fen ner struck the Nottingham amidships. In less than five minutes, the ship filled with water, and disappeared. The steamer became quite motionless after the shock, and the people on board of her were unable to make the least at attempt to succour those on board the ship, which sunk bow foremost. The screams of the people on the wreck were heart-rending, but they soon ceased, and all was still. The steamer's starboard side was completely stove in : the pad dle shaft and wheel were shivered in pieces : the starboard engine was broken, and the funnel carried away. Seventeen cows were killed : seven more and 78 sheep were thrown overboard, and 11 died before the vessel reached port. On Saturday evening the wreck of the Nottingham was fallen in with by another steamer, and towed into the Mersey. " Tile opinion on board the Nottingham was, that the Governor Fenner's helm, instead of being put to starboard, as it ought to have been, must have been put to port, fin', if it had been put to starboard, the ship would have cleared the steamer." All decision on the matter in dispute between the parties, to stem off responsibility, we leave, as before stated, to more competent judges, not doubting but that the fatality will in duce some inquiry into and revision of the laws affecting vessels on the high seas, as to steering, light, signals, &c., when danger of collision may arise. We hope that a general regulation will arise from the investigation of which no com mander of a ship can justifiably plead ignorance, and that the result may be the salvation of lives and property em barked on the perilous deep. We are informed, from good authority, that it is admitted (by the evidence of the mate and others) , there was not any light on board the Governor Fenner, and that the people on board her saw the lights of the Nottingham from 15 to 20 minutes before the collision took place, and that if the sail vessel had shown a light, it might have been prevented, as there only elapsed about one minute and a half between the steamer seeing the sail vessel and the latter running on board her. FURTHER REMARKABLE PARTICULARS The following communication received from Mr. Perry, agent of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, pos sesses a painful interest. It would appear that the bottom, or lower works of the ship, had, alter her sinking, given way, and that the greater portion of the heavy goods had fallen out of her, so that the upper part of the ship again floating up. Should this prove to he the same vessel—which in all probability it is—many of the bodies may yet be recovered , is the unfortunate parties were all between decks:—" Bir mingham steamer, hence at Dublin, yesterday morning at seven o'clock, about sixteen miles to the westward of the Skerries, fell in with the wreck of a ship apparently split in two, with her stern gone, and cargo all out; boarded her, and found two men dead in the rigging, took from the wreck a trunk, containing watches and other things.—Meg. The above is supposed to be the wreck of the Governor Fen ner." * We have not yet ascertained whether our informant is correct in this point. INDEPENDENT AND WEST MIDDLESEX ASSURANCE OF PICE.-It is said. that one of the greatest sufferers by this gang of swindlers is the Marquis Wellesley, who had pur chased an annuity from this pretended company with the £30,000., which was recently given to him by the East India Company for the noble lord's eminent services in India, the whole of which is thus lost.—Aberdeen Herald. BRITISH ASSOCIATION.-At a meeting of the council of the British Association, held recently, it was finally deter mined that the meeting of this body, which is to take place a t Plymouth, the next summer, shalicommence on Monday, the 12th July, and terminate on Saturday, the 17th July and the council will meet on Saturday, the 10th July, to make the necessary arrangements. THE CLAYTON-SQUARE DEMONSTRATION. Pursuant to noticeby placard stating that a public meeting would be held in Clayton-square, " to consider the propriety of adopting a petition to Parliament in favour of Lord Mor peth's Irish Registration Bill,"—the " giants" thereof as- sembled yesterday in full force—a motley multitude of would be legislators. Their numbers varied from about 1,200 at the commencement of the meeting to between three and four thousand, whose ready voices willingly responded to the tor rent of invective and vulgar abuse which was levelled by nearly every speaker at their talented and patriotic oppo nents, the Rev. Hugh 11`Neile and Lord Stanley. There were about seven or eight females present, three in the up per story of one of the hotels, and four or five in the crowd : how different from the meetings in the Amphitheatre, the importance and respectability of which the various speakers sedulously endeavoured to depreciate—meetings in which our fair townswomen dare to make their appearance, and blush not to countenance! We noticed among the " giants" as sembled in the balcony of the 'Union Hotel, for the purpose of addressing the mob beneath—Sir Joshua Walmsley, Col. Williams, Messrs. Alderman Evans, William Rathbone, Rosson, Duffey, Earle, Aikin, Molyneux, M'Enteer, Atkin son, Charles Holland, R. V. Yates, Shell, Booth, Slater, &c. • Sir Josntra WArArsLEy, having been voted to the chair. thanked the meeting for that honour, for he considered it a great honour to preside over a meeting like the present. He eulogised the " statesmanlike measure of Lord Morpeth," and felt surprised that their opponents " were not satisfied with doing all in their power to oppose this measure, but in timated their intention to repeal the Catholic emancipation bill. Could political bigotry and fanaticism lead them far ther?" They were asked " Where were the giants of Clay ton-square ?" (Shouts of "We are here.") That meeting was an answer to the question. He launched into a tirade against Lord Stanley's bill, and viewed with satisfaction that of Lord Morpeth, which set at rest the assertion that the reform bill should be considered a final measure. He called upon Col. Williams. Col. WILLIAMS moved the first resolution—" That the people of Ireland have part cause to complain of the laws which regulate the right of voting for members to serve in parliament for that part of the United Kingdom." After great perseverance they got a House of Commons which pleased them, but in two years that house was dissolved. This put him in mind of the Apostle casting out certain un clean devils ! The house was swept and garnished ; but by and by the devils came back, and the last days of that house were worse than the first. (Laughter.) Such was the pre sent state of the House of Commons! (Uproar.) He told them to watch the bill up to the House of Lords—Day.—will it ever get there?]—and see if the fellows would give judg ment somewhat after the manner of the Cardigan affair. They had had enough of that house! (Great nois e .) He concluded by telling them not to go asleep, when Mr. Rosso :: came forward to second the resolution, and concluded an unmeaning speech with a flourish :—" Let them improve the people without, and they would soon make an impression which Lord Stanley and his followers could not resist within." Mr. Durrt came forward amidst great uproar. Ho first alluded to the ministerial abortion, and then to the measure of the "noble lord who rejoiced in the name of scorpion Stanley," and the rev. gentleman who took a pro. minent part in political affairs. Here followed a sophistical defence of the conduct of the Catholic clergy, and a wretched attempt to vilify the character of the rev. incumbent of St. Jude's. " Did he (Mr. WIN:elle) think the honest working men of Liverpool would bow before the influence of the base, bloody, and brutal party which he represented ?" [The great Agitator would not have relished this quotation from his former abuse of the whigs.] He calculated that there were 12,000 present on that occasion. (This last as sertion created some laughter, in the midst of which three cheers were given for Lord Stanley and Sir Robert Peel.) Mr. Flolme now. came in for his share of abuse. He con cluded by saying that unless they obtained what they wished for—" with nine millions they would beat down the scorpion bill and Lord Stanley" [Fudge!] ; and by repeating O'Con nell's worn-out quotation -7 " Great, glorious, and free, First gem of the earth, and first isle of the sea." The resolution having been carried amidst great tumult, Mr. EARLE, in his usual sarcastic strain, told the meet ing that Mr. was quite as great au agitator as Mr. O'Connell, whom he abused ! that the late meeting at the Amphitheatre was a hole and corner meeting, and that Mr. M`Neile's conduct was alla humbug. (Rapturous applause.) He said he never saw so large a meeting as the present, and concluded by moving the second resolution—to the effect that the electoral qualification in Ireland was too high. Mr. FAWCETT seconded the motion. Carried tumultuously. Mr. AIKIN drew their attention to the two bills. The bane and antidote were before them, which would they choose ; one would ensure them peace and content; the other discord and bad feeling. [Well said, Mr. Aikin.] He should not compare the intelligent countenances in that meeting—con sisting of some thousands—with those of the few hundreds who met in the Amphitheatre. [lt was politic not to do so.] Orangeism was the curse and bane of Ireland. Mr. M'Neile was not only the propagator but the fabricator of mi:.repre sentation ! He moved the next resolution—to the purport that the people of Ireland have not a sufficiently extensive right of voting at elections, and that it would be dangerous to withold from the Irish people anything they wanted. [Very pleasant.] Mr. Alderman EvANs, who was nearly inaudible, seconded the motion. The resolution was carried. Mr. WILLIAM RATHBONE came forward and was received with terrific uproar. (A Voice—Put on your hat.) He said he was in a fever—[no doubt : he generally is]—and that he would keep his hat off. He made a classical allusion to Mrs. Glass's cookery-book, " first catch a hare, and then cook it ;" and enlightened the populace by telling them that cream rose to the top. He was not going to tight with a shadow ; but he moved the next resolution, in effect that they had seen with great pleasure the bill which Lord Morpeth had introduced to Parliament. Mr. MOLINEUX seconded the motion. Mr. WENTEER took a ramble by France to Russia, thence to our East India possessions, and eventually landed in America; told them of the strength and powers of the right arms of millions ; abused the aristocracy ; and concluded by " tipping the blarney" to his frienis on the platform. The resolution was then put and carried. Mr. ATKINSON folloWed up the strain of invective against Mr. M'Neile. It was possible Lord Morpeth's measure would not pass the Lords. [Very possible.] He moved the adoption of the petition. Mr. CHARLES HOLLAND seconded the motion. He re joiced a great many times that Lord Stanley again met them upon Irish ground—the theatre of persecution and crime. [Too often, indeed, is crime committed by the reckless and cowardly assassin.] They had gained a bloodless triumph in the emancipation bill, and were they going to fail the n ? (Cries of "No, no.") That was but the beginning, for England as well as Ireland: it was only the forerunner of further enfranchisement. (Great shouting.) This motion having been carried, a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the mob dispersed. The provineial annual meeting, for 1842, of the Roya Agricultural Society will be held at Bristol. The London correspondent of the Dublin Monitor states that the 6th of April next is the day appointed for the ac celeration of the London and Liverpool trains. On that day also the mails will be conveyed from Crewe, via the Chester and Birkenhead lines, by which a further saving of twenty: fire minutes, as compared with the present route of the Grand Junction Railway will be effected. NEWSPAPER STAMPS.—In the House of Commons, on Thursday night, Mr. O'Connell gave notice that on Thurs day, the 4th of March, he would move for a committee to inquire into the frauds practised in the number of stamps purported to be issued to newspapers in England and Wales. SUICIDE.—On Tuesday morning, a person named Agnew, residing in Cowgate, Edinburgh, cut his throat with a rasor, and afterwards threw himself over a window two stories high. Agnew was an itinerent musician, and had been in low spirits for some time. ANOTHER " LADY" THlEF. — Several contemptible acts of imposition and theft have been committed of late by a person having the appearance of a respectable female, in something after the following polite mode of proceeding : She calls at a milliner's, well dressed, and with a reticule over her arm, gives an order for mournings, with pressing injunctions to have them finished at a certain time; and as the mistress of the establishment is noting her instructions and measurements, the pretended customer applies herself to the filling of her reticule with such " unconsidered trifles" as may be most inconveniently secreted without the ob servance of the other party. But this lady, it would further appear, has more than one system to practice upon, as the following account of a transaction which took place on Saturday morning will show :—About half-past five o'clock, a medical gentleman was roused by a loud and impatient knocking at his door. On opening the door, there stood a respectable dressed female in great apparent agitation; she asked if the doctor would visit immediately her sister, who was said to be dying—that she had been delivered of a baby the night before, about nine o'clock, but she was fast sinking, and the , midwife declared that she could do nothing, and that it would be necessary to obtain the assistance or a . doctor. On hearing this statement the doctor answered that he would attend immediately, taking a particular note of the address. So soon as he could dress, which did not occupy ten minutes, . . he proceeded to the address, not three minutes walk from hii hotise. When he arrived there, and knocked up two dif ferent families in the land, he discovered that some unfeeling wretch had played off a pitiful hoax upon him, as there was no person of the name in the land, although a person of the name had lived there a few months ago. In this instance there was no theft committed, as far as we could learn; but on the Tuesday morning preceding, a similar trick was played upon another medical gentleman, and in that cpse the doc tor's great-coat was slipped off the pin in the lobby. The description of the female corresponds with that of the per• son who is known to have duped the milliners in the manner described, and there is little doubt that there is some bold and ingenious person at work, and acting upon measures preconcerted, with a view to plunder and defraud. We ob serve that similar dealings have been detected in Edinburgh of late.- 1 -Glasgow Courier. THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER IN FRANCE.—The first of September is not looked forward to in France with such in• tense anxiety and anticipatory glee as with us. Why this is I know not, for a finer bird country, in every sense of the word, is not to be seen. The abolition of the law of primo geniture in France is, I suspect, the primary cause. A French. man, unless he happen providentially to be the file unique of rich parents, can take no pride in his inheritance, and feeling no interest whatever in his strip of acres, looks upon shoot ing partridges more as a matter of every-day occnrrence than as an amusement of an all-engrossing and enthusiastic nature. The Sportsman in France. A masonic emblem has been found in a stone wall at Ghia nee. It is rr.erely the five points, with an inscription in Per sian round it. The translation of which inscription is, " God grant me what I want." During our campaign through Aff ghanistan, a strong resemblance to the customs, dress, and manners of the ancient Jews, was very prevalent among the Affghans. Indeed, at Candahar, they acknowledge their di rect descent, and called th em selves " the children of the Jews." No doubt many more masonic emblems might be traced, and if due examination were made, we should pro bably elicit those sc i n till at i ons , embers of the masoniclight _ itself, which might b e en ki n dl e d i nto p r i s ti n e power a n d beauty.—Freemasons' Quarterly. • LONDON.—London in length is nearly eig ht _ __ ntains breadth three, and its circumference twenty-six. andlg co more than above 8,000 streets, lanes, alleys, and darts , hs ad chapels, 207 63 different squares. It has 246 churc els e miles, its for foreigners, and meeting-houses for Dissenters, ,13 0, cha the sitting of parliament 6 synagogues for Jews—making The number of inhabitants drn places i of public worship. I t h is vast city there are up_ is estimated at 1.250,000. for education, 10 institutions for wards of 4,000 seminaries d e s s ciences 122 asylums for the indi gent, lame, lidispensaries, 704 charitable. sick an d g p e ro n m t. o l t of justice, 4,040 professional men COB institutions, 58 courts departments of the p ed with the venous . . law. There are; waggons going and returning to the 7infgorththeesrCsa n 13 e 300 vessels trading to the river Thames in the course of ac metro polis in the same period, . includinc , otheir repeated voyages amounts of exports and imports to and from the Thames. The estimatedi y s ear ar d4o 7t £66,811,922 sterling annually, and the pro perty floating in this va s t c i ty every year is £170,000,000 sterling. These circumstances may be sufficient to conviziela us of the amazing extent and importance of the capital of the ' British empire.