The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-05-18 00:00:00

:~,. -. ~~, all their energiesare directed : while the Marine that they are assailing isdescribed, in their own words, as the most . flourishing in the world—demanding no interference of Venal"' r , unmeription: theirs to improve it, and provoking no complaint but from au Aldriancz. t%91. ain Credit, 15s. grasping foreigners and their advocates in England. On 7. , .. _- _ - = - such grounds is the destruction of the Navigation system TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 1847. : sought ; nor is the shipping the only one that must fall before the cottonolatory that wevails. In proportion .as DISAPPOINTED, for the present, in their mad the task of forcing cotton into foreign countries i 3 hemmed ernsade against the native agriculture of the coun- in with difficulties on every side, will the demands of the b 7 in their attempts to force their . manufacturers, for the sacrifice of their interests, inerease products into thole foreign countries already sup in boldness and in number ; and if one portion of the - . commercial community is contented to look calmly on at plied by the cheaper industry of their own popula- , the demolition of another, while the paradise of calico is Lion,—the manufacturers and free-traders are bent - as distant as before, they must be contented to perish in Amon a fierce effort to advance their own selfish in- detail, for terestss - at the expense of other bodies of the corn- "'Dam singuli pugnant omnes vincuntur.' munitv . ; and the first, marked for destruction, are" But it is not the commercial classes only who are in terested. in. this matter. In the present position of the shipowners of Great Bidtain, already suf- {fairs in Europe, the question of national defence occu fering from former tampering with their inte- pies the first place in the minds of statesmen; and how res.ts. •A committee, moved by Mr.' Ricardo, and are national defences to be maintained if we take a step Seconded by Mr. Flame, is now sitting to inquire directly calculated to reduce the condition of our marl into the operation and policy of the navigation marl . Hers, drive.the younger men into the service of America, and deter others fromentering ours ? We are informed laws, with a view to their removal; and it may he b y Al ison , in his profound and statesmanlike ' History of well, in drawing the attention of the public, and of Europe,' as welt as by other authorities, that some thirty those most materially interested in this movement; thousand of the seamen .who manned the fleet of Amerca in the late war were British ; and that, too, at a time when to lay before them a few arguments and statistics which will serve to show the ruinous effect which the men in our Navy were receiving unusually high wages. lf, then, we are prepared now to reduce still further the would follow its 'success. In this task we shall be condition of our mercantile seamen, we cannot expect to materially aided by a pamphlet * now before us, in have them at command, even if we should adopt the the - which the whole suthiect is very luminously treated, policy of waiting till the outbreak of a war before ' seek and the fallacies of the free traders ably exposed. in!' for their aid. It is easy, indeed, to say that; whatever The principle of our navigation lawS, it is suffi- the condition of the Mercantile Navy, the advantages offered to seamen will keep them in the Royal Navy; but is it ciently.known, was first introduced in a rude form,our policy, a lircy,s will thator of any other nation, to - keep up such am at the period when England,. tired for awhile ofrequire no additions in a time of expending her strength upon continental wars, war ? To this absurdity, or that of expecting to depend began to witness the gradual development of her on the chivalry of foreigners, or the enthusiasm of our commerce. Previously to the fifth year of Richard own seamen, for a country which year by year makes their c ti o le ndiAo r 2 hlwer, are the advoc ites of a Repeal of end, the carrying trade between England and about zs o re t du ov ce e d ri_. But suppose foreign countries had been exclusively in the l ii v‘ ti e le f d u iffi ri culty bands a foreign shipowners ; and it was with dif- foreign seamen trustworthy, g or ou g r u o l Tv o n s c ' ontented . , under ficulty that that monarch or his predecessors had the new syAtem, where would be the naval artizAns that : now occupy the dockyards of Britain ? Are they to re been Ole to collect the means of transport for , m i ain:he t n h their w ,ges have erto fallen i two-thirds, and em _ their troops engaged in continental wars. Withthe I c i n t r t n i a n .n fo ta ri l n p s or u t:? . It the view to rear a navy, and to give an impulse. to v‘P-a)sYtiheetworatdserof passed the ov world, , with commerce, an act was passed which enacted, what alacrity in her chargeable war with England, Holland " That for increasing the shipping of England, of late built and fitted out shipping ; but we would present a much diminished, none of the subjects shall hereafter wonder to the world of another kind—a country once pus ship any kind of merchandise, either outward or home- sessed of the greatest naval resourcesof any in the universe ward, but only in ships of the king's subjects, on for- rendered powerless by her own act. Are not these con feiture of ships and merchandise, in which ships the siderations sufficient to make the country pause and con greater part of the crews shall be the king's subjects." sider whether or not the theorists are guiding 11.3 safely ? This very stringent enactment was subsequently It would he little consolation for us to know, once a fierce steam warfare in the. channel had commenced, how accn relaxed and modified, losing the greater portion of rarely political economists could prove that we ought not its effectiveness, until, in the 24th year of Eliza beth, the entire commercial shipping of England tthorolawvedotsttleonuar v 7 g aae m n s a y n s d tem naval w %r tihzaa,nes our history ov e t r - amounted to only 135 sail, whilst the low coun- point to in support of the rules that have hithert ? o pre o v r a y ilel tries, on the authority of Sir Walter R sleigh, —ground sufficient to refuse to enter on a new career, bad as many ships and vessels as eleven kingdoms while even a doubt of its success could be whispered ; but how muc . h de mo u r e e d fi hy rma ground for refusing to adopt a in Christendom had, let England be one. Theyits ownwkig and r„ r con e attempted, iniene built every year near one thousand ships, although the i' y 'lrs e opinions of the most experienced, all their native commodities did not require one I only by the facts that it is theoretical and new. hundred ships to carry them at once. The low countries, in fact, and the other powers which fostered their own marine, had possessiorkpf the 71.1 bit i-nanbarb. Steadily the results of the measures, which have thrown us into dependence upon foreign countries for a supply of the staff of life, and for the employ ment of the industry of the country, are developing themselves, notwithstanding the influence which circumstances beyond the control or the fore thought of legislation have had in modifying them. Cheapness we have not had, owing to the circumstances in question. The home grower has not suffered, therefore, as was anticipated by the advocates of protection, the loss of the potato root having created a demand beyond the power of the foreign agriculturist, in his unprepared state, to supply. But every other evil predicted as likely to flow from the withdrawal of protection is precipi tating itself'up - on us. The foreigner, who is doing his best to inundate our markets with bread stuffs, is not taking our goods in return, but is rapidly abstracting bullion from the country, crippling the power of the Bank, and deranging all the opera tions of our commerce. The speculator has hold of the stocks, both of the raw material of manu facture and of the supply of food; and the manu facturing operative, the artisan and the tradesman, are placed in a position between the selfishness of the capitalist and the necessities of the manufac turer. Our export trade, which was to have been enormously increased, is diminishing—is prostrate ; whilst our imports are increasing only to be hoarded in our warehouses ; for the demand for them is becoming daily more circumscribed. We are, in short, as a nation, in the position of an individual, who is expending beyond his means of payment, and ordering beyond his means of con suming. It is a well known fact that one of the objects of free trade measures in the manufacturing dis tricts was the reduction of the wages of the work people employed by them. Cheap bread was to pro duce cheap labour. But cheap bread we have not as yet succeeded in procuring. The stars in their courses have fought against our philosophy. The process of reduction of wages, however, has al ready commenced. We have recorded a com mencement of the movement, which we now tell the working men of England will progress until they are ground down to the dust. Three cotton factories in Manchester are now turned out to resist the imposition of low wages, with the neces saries of life extravagantly increased in price ; and wherever we are destined to see the means of living brought down to the low rates originally calculated upon, we shall see further and further reductions proposed and insisted upon. It was a sad delusion which led even a portion of the working classes to listen to the professions of those who assured them that cheap bread was intended to be to them the assurance of abundance of bread. That free trade would be synonymous with a great trade. Experi ence has shown us that foreign nations are not desirous of taking more of our goods than are re quired to meet their absolute necessities, however largely we bribe them by receiving their products. It has shown us moreover, that whenever a defi cient harvest at home drives us to resort to a foreign market for our supply, we shall find that market raised upon us, and the foreign grower aggrandized by the pressure of our necessity. Flour, for in stance, was at the date of the last advices from New York worth eight dollars per barrel, which is almost precisely the price in this market, deducting freight and charges of transmission. Other circumstances—good harvests throughout Europe, and the absence of the potato blight — would undoubtedly have produced results very different to those at present witnessed. We should have had breadstuffs lower, and wages in further course of being lowered ; for, in decency, the ma nufacturers have been compelled to abstain to a great extent froni the adoption of measures of re duction. But that our foreign demand would have been better is not by any means a certainty ; and the demand from our agricultural population. (which has aided in keeping up machinery operations), could not have been materially greater. It exer cises little influence upon the power of the agricul turist to consume, whether he has 1000 quarters of wheat to sell at 355. a quarter, or 500 quarters at 70s. The labourer may have less to spare out of his earnings for the purchase of clothing ; but be yond that the low price of food, accompanied as it will be by reduction of wages, will do little for us, certain as we now are that no great increase of fo reign demand is likely to follow our increased im portations of foreign food. Of course, we are well aware that in these few observations we are outraging the notions of poli tical economists and perhaps we may be called to account for so doing. Our object in making them is, however, to elicit truth. We are not' disposed to dogmatise ; and if any kind friend amongst our contemporaries will oblige us with any satisfactory solution of the present state of things in the Manu facturing Districts, we shall he happy to confess our shortcomings and to make any amende within our power. carrying trade of the world. In 1650, the Commonwealth passed the famous act of ,navigation, which was confirmed by Charles 2nd, and termed by many writers Charta Maritimes." " The. prompt effect of this act upon the Dutch com merce fo England," Mr. Browne reminds us, " was tes tified by the embassy which Holland immediately de spatched to Cromwell. Mr. Mc. CulloCh is of opinion that its effects were' not of the nature so long attributed to it ; but De Witt, the pensionary of Holland, and a man well Skilled in the nature of commerce: says, .at that time the English settlkd their rates of custom and convoy money so well, to favour their own people as much as possible, and to buOhen all foreign merchants and masters of ships, that it is to be feared'the English merchants may in time bereave the Dutch of much of their trade.' Here then, the great officer of the state, against which the navigation law: were levelled, not only sees in them the bereaving of Holland of her trade into England, but also of much of the general trade which she had mono polized. Now this latter object could be accomplished in no, other way but by the groWth off - an English marine ender the fostering influence of the navigation system, for a special exclusion of Holland from English ports could at best but give England that portion of trade which the Dutch had theretofore caviled' on to Holland, while De Witt might well see in a system, which, tended . to create a great commercial navy, the foundation of that mnaritinic power which finally swept away the commerce of the Dutch." This inakitime power, increasing with the growth of commerce, until the latter part of last century, when the navigation laws were first• tampered with in favour of America. It is well known how rapidly the commerce and shipping ,of that country had grown so long as she enjoyed as colonists the protection which they afforded,: until we withdrew that protection from her in favour of our home shipping, when they suffered a partial :decline as the result. In 1784-5, however, we relaxed the navigation laws partially, and in, 1804 they were suspended altogether, with the following result, which '.we_ give from Acheson's "Encroachments of America." _ _ British ships employed in the direct trade with America : 36575 tons 11347 Li 1786 „ 1806 Entered inwards 216 ships 53 „ Entered outwards. In 1786 213 ships 39651 tons „ 1806 3 9 ~ 8731 „ Again, in 1794, we began to relax these laws as between the British West Indies and our North American possessions, and in 1804 we suspended them altogether with the following result, as given by Mr. Brown. Ships belonging to the British West India Islands, ex dtisive of captured colonies, and employed in the trade between those islands and the United States, including their repeated voyages. Ships. Tons. Men. In 1791, when the Navigation Acts began to be relaxed In 1804, in consequence of the sus pension of the Navigation Laws 67 7,629 626 Decrease in ten years .. 639 78,381 4,486 Ships belonging to the British North American provinces, and employed in the trade between those colonies and the British West India Islands, including their repeated voyages. Ships. Tons. In 1794, when the Navigation Acts began to be suspended In 1804, in consequence of the sus pension of the Navigation Laws 100 11,906 734 Decrease in ten years 129 12,994 718 Decrease of Ships belonging to and employed in the trade of the British West Itplia Islands in ten years Do.—The British North American colonies 129 12,994 718 Total .decrease in the employment of plantation ships in ten years, under the suspension of the Navigation Laws 768 91,375 5,207 Between the latter period, however, and 1815, these injudicious concessions were withdrawn, ex cept as to some kinds of provisions and flour, which were still permitted to be imported in Ame rican bottoms. To this source Mr. Brown traces " the total destruction of the provision trade, pre viously so profitable from the west and south of Ireland to the West India Colonies," with a great portion of the distress, and utter absence of pro fitable industry which afflicts those provinces. The effect of the further encroachments made by the reciprocity treaties upon the prosperity of the shipping interest is too recent to require referring to here. In no one instance has our liberality been met with a return from those foreign countries to whose shipping it was extended ; and it is equally certain what must be the effect of the entire re moval of protection now sought. The following concluding remarks, by Mr. Brown, upon the whole subject ought to be sufficient to arouse not only our shipowners and shipwrights, but all those who. have the interests and the integrity of the in stitution of the country at heart. ".in the speech of Mr. Ricardo, who moved the com mittee that is now sitting,tiievigation Laws were charged with doing injustice and injury to the English manufacturer, whowisestocompeto with such countries as Saxony. Has the English manufacturer a right to de mand that every inlerest.th shall be prostrated, lest he he outstripped in p t e lle e p o i l a n c t e rY of competition with nations where the working t. are ra at the lowest ebb of wretchedness ? Must the conside or l is of national population that de fence, as well as of the interest of our wi j ; o to the s t ru undue ggle is employed in marit ime affairs, give way " P AOTECTION" and fostering of manufacturers in a in which success is utterly u n at t a in able ? Our seamen s hi pwr i g hts are certainly not more comfortable or and better pa id than the people of the e m p ire desire to s ee them, and' if ma nufacturers require them to be reduced to the standard of the Finlanders, it is surely time to in quire the advantages that Manchester offers us in return for all these unconscionable demands. The defence of the Navigation Law is talked of as the defence of a par ticular interest. If the trade of the nation—the naval supremacy of the nation—the position of the nation amongst foreign kingdoms be questions important only to particular interest, then such are the Navition Laws. But the repealers have declared, by the mouth of Mr. Ricardo, that they are fighting for one interest—for Man chester. The injury of the manufacturers is their watch word, and the exportation of cotton is the object to which * The Navigation Laws: their History and Operation. By J. Houston Brown, Esq., L.L.B. of the Middle Tempe. Smith, Elder, and Co. T . Kaye, Liverpool. ~-- -~~-- THE TOWN'S MEETING ON WEDNESDAY. The proceedings of the meeting, held on Wednesday, in the Sessions-house, "to take into consideration the best means to be adopted to relieve the rate-payers from bur dens likely to be entailed upon them by the influx of Irish paupers, and to guard against the spread of disease," will be found, notwithstanding the fears which some gentlemen conscientiously entertained against its being held, to have done good in a two-fold way. It will have proclaimed to Government, to Parliament, and to the public at large, far more forcibly than through the lips of deputations, the injustice of the position in which Liverpool has been and is still placed, as the recipient and compelled supporter of the pauper emigrants of Ireland. The very intelligible . hints given, however much to the distaste of some influ ential speakers at the meeting, that we are not disposed tamely to submit to be thus burthened, without an effort, at least, to give to Parliament and the landlords of Ireland themselves, a few specimens of the materials, of which the burthen is composed, may not prove without its useful effect. 'One great effect of the meeting, however, and that directly in the teeth of the objections urged against the meeting being held at a ll— v i z . : th a t i t wou ld h av e the tendency to allay unnecessary alarm in the public mind— will accrue. The lucid speech of Mr. Rushton will con vince the public and the legislature that the authorities of Liverpool have not been unmindful of their duties in the crisis in which they have been placed ; that they have spared no pains or expense to meet the emergency which THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. has been thrown upon them ; and that, in their endeavours to do all that was necessary, they have been thwarted only by the stringency of the law, and—we must say it—by the tardiness of government to afford them the aid reasonable which they asked, and which government had it within their power to give at first as completely as when, without the grace of giving, it was at length extorted from them. Whilst saying this, and giving the Vestry and the au thorities due credit for such efforts as have been made to protect the ratepayers of Liverpool from most onerous burthens, so far as the expenditure of money is concerned, and from still worse evils so far as the introduction of pestilence amongst our population is concerned, there was one sentiment expressed by some of the speakers, and particularly by Mr. Rushton, which strikes us as quite un called for. We refer to the censure cast upon persons out of doors for having created " unnecessary alarm by dis cussions about the fever sheds," and otherwise by ex pressing doubts whether the authorities were sufficiently energetic in their proceedings. Whether Mr. Rushton, or the other gentlemen who have thus complained, referred to any portion of the press of the town, we know not. We may fairly presume, however, that, in part, they did so. is it the fact that any alarm, which has proved to be " unnecessary," has been attempted to be created ? The reverse has proved to be the case, presuming that proper and energetic steps to provide for the possible and too probable spread of fever were not being. taken in time. There was alarm. We ourselves expressed it ; and months before any fever, more than is ordinary, approached the town—when members of the Select Vestry were debating upon the proper sites for the erection of additio-al fever sheds—we urged the selection at once of 'proper buildings already erected, or the erection of temporary wooden sheds in salubrious localities for the reception of the immigrant poor, or to be convertible, if required, into fever hospitals. Were we wrong in doing this ? Let the fact that those immigrant poor have since set the sanatory act at defiance by the occupation of the condemned cellars and court houses, be the reply. At the same time, and long before the subject had been mooted from any other quarter, we urged the fitting up of the quarantine hulks as fever hospitals ; and, subse quently, the enforcement of the quarantine laws them selves towards infected vessels. We were met, from the very parties who are now congratulating themselves upon the late adoption of these very measures, with the diffi culties with which we would be met in carrying them out, and the same fears, which we now hear, of their adoption creating " unnecessary alarm." Yet, we ask, would not prompt steps in tnis direction, taken at the moment when we urged them, have saved to the parish an outlay of thousands of pounds, to our immigrant Irish poor thou sands of cases of disease and death, and to the inhabitants of Liverpool the loss of many most valuable lives ? At the same time the community would have been satisfied that their representatives were doing their duty, and that both in purse and in health they were being sufficiently protected. EXPERIENCES OF A LIVERPOOL SURGEON. LIVERPOOL MAY SESSIONS. The Court of Sessions for the trial of prisoners con fined in the Liverpool Borough House of Correction, com menced yesterday, before Gilbert Henderson, Esq., the Recorder. There were in the calender the names of 119 prisoners, of whom 106 were charged with various felons, and 13 with misdemeanours and assaults. Of the whole, 10 can read and write ; 43 can read and write imperfectly —none superiorly, and 15 can neither read nor write ; 15 can read imperfectly. The usual proclamation having been read, the following gentlemen were sworn in as the GRAND JURY, Richard Wheeler Preston, Wine Merchant, Water-street, Foreman William Bowman, Merchant, Fenwick-street James Bold, Merchant, Water-street George Campbell, Jun., Merchant, Water-street William Rushton Coulburn, Merchant, Brunswick-street George Cram, Shipbroker, South Castle-street. _ . Edwiid Finch, Jun., Met Chant, Sir Thomas's-buildings John Francis Goodwin, Corn Merchant, Lower Castle-street Edmund H ore, Corn Merchant, George's Dock Gates Thomas Irlam, Broker, Dale-street Ho' ace Jee, Broker, Exchange-street East Edward Tertius Kearsley, Merchant, Shaw-street . . Thomas Littledale, Jun., Broker, Exchange-buildings Jaines Greensbield, Merchant, Water-street. The RECORDER, addressing the Grand Jury, said that the calendar on this occasion contained the names of 119 persons, who had been sent for trial within the last nine weeks. The enquiries they would have to make into the several cases, would naturally draw their attention to the state of crime in the borough ; and he should therefore offer a few remarks . on the subject founded upon the police returns. Before the end of 1845, he had observed symp toms of an increase of crime, which had been diminishing during the two 'previous years, and the apprehensions he then entertained, appeared from the returns to be well founded ; for the number committed for trial to the assizes and the sessions had increased from 643 in 1845, to 852 in 1846. Impressed with this view of the subject, that court had taken every possible means, by preventive ex ertion and adequate punishments or conviction to prevent any further increase of crime. He had rea son to believe that the flood of crime had reached its height in 1846, and doting the last three or four months, it had become stationary, if it had not, in deed, subsided. The number of prisoners committed to that court from the 18th of December to the 11th of the present month was 313, whereas 344 were com mitted in the 'last corresponding period ending in the yi.ar 1845. This diminution of crime, of about 10 per cent, was the more creditable, as we had had a greatly increased population in the town during the latter period, and, moreover, a season of great distress and destitption. But he more particularly placed dependance upon further amendment from the returns of the number of persons charged with drenkenness. In 1845, the number of per sons so charged was 8,888, and this number MI to 7,599, in 1846 The number of men charged with intoxication in 1845 was 5,821, and that was reduced to 4,876 last year. The number of women was, in 1845, 3,067 ; in 1846, 2,723. He did not, therefore, think that it was too much to assume that this change indicated an improvement in the morals of the lower classes. The subject was, it was true, a trite one but he could not help reverting to it, as he con sidered that drunkenness was always one of the parents of crime. From what he bad stated on the diminution of crime, he did not mean that the magistrates would re lax in their.endeavours to diminish it; on the contrary they would go on; and he adverted to the facts to show that they had cause for encouragement, and might yet hope for further success. The calendar, he proceeded to say, con tained the names of several strangers from Ireland, from Manchester, Glasgow and other places ; also of several thieves, who went prowling about the country for ,the purpose of committing depredations. It might be that several of the cases had arisen from the influx of the swarms of Irish who had recently taken refuge in this town, from famine and pestilence in Ireland. But they ad reason to be gratified that the parochial officers had, by great exertions, so far relieved and dis posed of them, as to have tended to prevent the com mission of crime that would otherwise have become manifest.' Nevertheless, he looked to the matter with some degree of apprehension. If the Irish who came to the town brought with them some capital, or skill and industry, or any of those elements that' would be useful to society, and enable them to earn a livelihood, the case would assume a different aspect. But he feared that few of them did so ; and if any large number of them were to remain, they would retard the progress of im provement amongst our own working population,- by drying up (as we understood him to imply) the resources of native exertion ; the calender in that court, would also, he apprehended, be lamentably increased. In fine, if some decisive step was not taken, he feared that we might experience severely the ill effects of the immigra tion to which he had adverted. He then requested the grand jury to retire to their duties, without referring to any particular cases in the calendar, the whole being of the ordinary kind. Several true bills having been found, the trials of pri soners were proceeded with, but no case of general inte rest occurred during the day. BIRKENHEAD DOCK BILLS. Mr. Abernethy's report to the Admiralty upon the Bir kenhead Dock Bills, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, was issued on Saturday. Mr. Abernethy finds fault with the commissioners for having turned all their attention to the little Bridgend Dock, which, he says, is made the dock, instead of proceeding with the great works of the 150 acres of float and tidal basin. "The works," he says, "are almost suspended, and a pas sage excavated tlirotigh the red sandstone, between the Bridgend Dock and the Woodside Basin, equal in area to its own extent, as a temporary passage. Much valuable time is spent and money expended on this work, the consequences of which were soon felt. The temporary cut is then surrounded with quay walls, furnished with gates, and all the necessary expensive and certainly most substantial masonry. The work is all but completed. When completed, according to the evidence, it will amount to .4'78,000 expended on this uniegalized work, and, it would appear, up to December last, .t'263,967 on the whole works. "All that has been obtained, since the bill of 1844, is the Bridgend Dock of 3i acres, with a lock opening into a channel not yet formed, and which cannot be preserved, when for Med, without the aid of sluicing from the great float, except at a great expense; and the temporary cut, now a dock of 3i acres area, and of such a width that no Ordinary sized steamer can wind in it. "To sum up all, instead of dock accommodation for some i,poo vessels, there is provided insufficient accommodation for some fifty or sixty at most, and that partly at the expense of the coasters." "'the argument used is, that all has been done for the pur pose of exhibiting a revenue, so as to be enabled to borrow money to carry out the great works." Mr. Abernethy is of opinion that a more comprehensive plan would have proved more effectual even in enabling the commissioners to exhibit early revenue. Mr. Aber nethy is opposed to the plan of building the walls round Wallasey Pool in portions as landowners may desire and furnish means, the rest being supported by timber piling. He thinks the walls should be built " cautiously by the commissioners as they may be from time to time required." In the end, Mr. Abernethy submits the following con clusions : " That the intended dock, being nearly constructed, at a considerable expense, it is expedient to legalize it ; that, if per mitted to be used as a passage dock, it should only be for a certain time: on the completion of the entrances from thegreat tidal basin, it should at once be closed ; that, for the present, the construction of the necessary circular basin, and one grav ing dock at most, should be granted; that no powers should be granted to erect a custom-house or other works not absolutely necessary for the accommodation of shipping? that it is expe dient to extend the cuivei t beyond Woodside Ferry Her; that after the works before mentioned, all the moneys that can be raised by existing acts, or to be raised under the proposed bill, shall be devoted exclusively to the carrying out of the great and important works of the great float at Wallasey Pool, and tidal basin." THE . STEAM-SHIP " ORION." A beautiful new iron steam-ship, called " The Orion," has been added by the Glasgow and Liverpool Steam Company to their line. She arrived here on her first voyage, on Thursday, after a remarkably quick passage of only fourteen and a quarter hours, from Greenock to the Rock—a distance of about two hundred and sixteen statute miles, or about fifteen miles an hour throughout. The ship and engines were designed by Mr. James T. Caird, of Greenock, of the firm of Caird and Company, the builders. The following are her dimensions, &c. : Length over all, 234 feet; breadth beam of the hull, 28 feet; burthen, about 897 tons •, engines, 450 horse power; diameter of each cylinder, 74 inches; stroke, 6 feet; effective diameter of each paddle wheel, 29 feet. The vessel has a fine rakish appearance on the water, and may be truly termed a beauty. The figure-head is a full length figure of Orion, the celebrated giant and hunter of the palmy days of Greece, with his bow and quivers. On the trail-board, raised in alto in the carving, are representa tions of hunting scenery—the hound an stag, woods, &c. Thestern and quarter galleries are appropriately embellished with the carvings and emblematical figures—the former enriched by gilded ornaments on white wreath work, with a general black ground. The paddle houses are also deco rated with star ornaments, the centre one diverging into gilded rayons. She has a flush deck, presenting an unin terrupted promenade. One great improvement is a regular stair, with strong brass rails, from the paddle-boxes to the deck. The companion-way, or stair leading to the cabins is a fine piece of architecture. It is pannelled and ornamented in oak, with a central circular top light, of one sheet of glass, representing the sun with gilded rays on the roof, on a circulean ground, enclosed with florated ornaments in alto. The Saloon is a gorgeous apartment, about 40 feet in length, of the semi-circular and wider form abaft—state rooms being taken off at the sides of the main body. The general style of the architecture bears in some re spects a resemblance to that which prevailed in the days of Louis XIV, but from the variety of ornament may be classed amongst the composite or fanciful. The pilasters, styles, and general ground work are of solid polished rose wood, the upper panels filled in alternately with beautiful pictorial decorations and perforated-work in rosewood, backed by plaited crimson silk. Mr. James Ballantine, of Edinburgh, the poet, and general genius, designed the whole, and painted the views and figures on the stained glass—derived from the most approved illustrations of Grecian literature, and (in the stained glass) impersona tions of the twelve months of the year, and the twelve hours of the day ; as well as two designs illustrative of the life of Orion. The paintings are on slate, chiefly two views, within foliated gilded circles, two on each large upright panel, and surrounded with floral work, and out side that by raised work, both gilded, resembling fine picture frames. The capitals of the pilasters are burnished gold, and terminate in gilded, rays, shooting down wards. There are eight stern windows, and one large deck light, which is divided into three compartments, the middle one forming a dome, and all fitted up with painted glass, containing figures of white enamel, on a gold diap ered ground, being illustrations of the Odyssey. The personages of the month are figures in white and gold, on a blue diaper ground, as are those representing the hout;s. In the pictorial ornamental panelling are many beautittil views in Greece, executed on slate with great beauty of ' colouring and admirable effect. No papier mach6 paint ings exceed these in fineness, and the material on which they are executed is superior, being a resister of damp, and not liable to be warped or broken. The carved work, consisting of bows, arrows, quivers, and other implements of the chase were cut by Mr. Kay, of Glasgow, as well as a large number of stars, emblematic of the constellation Orion, and other devises having reference to incidents in the life of the beatified giant. The furniture is all of fine solid rosewood, and includes side hoards, mirrors, &c. The ladies' and gentlemens' retiring cabins are both fine apartments, also decorated with painting in oblong ovals. The roofs, which are lofty, are throughout beauti fully panelled in compartments with raised groining taste fully carved. The state rooms are elegantly fitted up. All the subsidiary arrangements correspond in taste and good arrangement, so that the whole vessel may be said to be a palace afloat. The Orion is commanded by Captain Hugh Main, who has been many years on the station, and is universally re spected both as a seaman and a companion. FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—About nine o'clock yes terday morning, a young man, unmarried, named Patrick Sweeney, a labourer, was run over by the " Owl railway engine, on the railway near Wavertree Gate, Edge-hill, and wan killed on the spot, his body being dreadfully ma tilated. No blame was attributable to the driver of the ehgine. • INQCEST.—Yesterday, an inquest was held before the borough coroner on view of the body of John Quick, aged 5V years, who lived with his parents in Gofrs-court, Par liament-street. Deceased went to bed opparently well at half-past eight o'clock on Friday night, with an elder brother. Julia Quick, his ste p mother, soon afterwards took him up some te a and bread, w hich deceased took. About six in the mornin g , the br other was awakened by hearing deceas ed grinding • his teeth. He was asked what was the matter with him, but did not reply, and he appeared to be very ill. He kept getting worse, and died about eight o'clock the same evening. No surgeon was called until after his death. Mr. A. M'Clellan, surgeon, said that deceased died from fever combined with disease of the bowels.— Verdict accordingly. There was not the slightest founda tion for a rumour set abroad in the neighbourhood, that there had been some foul play. titAtf/ iN A COURT. I was called upon one morning, in the absence of a friend, a Dispensary surgeon, to attend a case of Fever in his district, which I may remark et the outset is one of the most unhealthy and filthy in the town,—the neighbour hood of Vauxhall-road and Marybone,—abounding in close courts and cellars, principally occupied by the low est class of Irish, or used as common lodging-houses for the accommodation of tramps, street beggars, and labour- ers. The place to which my direction led me, was a court in a street—which, for obvious reasons I do not particu larise by name—leading from Marybone into Vauxhall- road ; and, as it may afford to the reader a general idea of the sort of localities and habitations, too frequently to be found provided for the use of the poorer inhabitants of our town, I must briefly describe it, although I am afraid that I shall thereby render myself liable to the imputa- tion, from some, of exaggeration. The approach to the court in question is a low covered archway, with a step descending from the street into a passage, containing at the period of my visit,—and I have no doubt being frequently, if not generally, in that state, _ _ —an overflow of dirty, half-putrid water, caused by the imperfection or choking up of some drain. The court itself contained six or seven houses, inhabited densely from the cellars to the upper rooms, and was of the des cription called a" close court,"—i.e., it had no thorough way or means of ventilation, the only approach to it, for air or for its occupants, being the filthy passage described. By a recent local act, such courts are no longer allowed to be erected; but many still remain in various parts of the town, slightly improved of late it is true, but still most unwholesome. My patient I found occupying a front room on the ground floor of one of these houses, — a room of very small dimensions and in an almost ruinous state of repair, but which nevertheless served as a sitting, eating, and sleeping apartment for the whole family, con sisting of a man, his wife, and two grown-up girls. The cellar underneath I found was occasionally tenanted, only, as it was subject to a similar. overflow of drainage water to that noticed in the passage ; and at the time of my visit was in a most filthy state, the smell from it, rising through the chinks of the flooring and affecting the at mosphere of the room over. The furniture of this wretched room consisted of a low truckle bedstead, on which my patient—a man apparently about forty years of age,—was laid, scantily covered by an old blanket, and what had been, in its better days, a horse rug. A common deal table, very tottery in its condition and not too clean, one broken chair and a stool, or two, with a few cracked mugs and pans, made up the rest of the collection. Some straw in a corner appeared to be the only bed for the two girls. . The case presented to me I found was one of the fre quent ones which occur in such localities, during periods of epidemic and malaria,—a fever of .the extreme conges tion kind, accompanied by the usual symptoms of ap proaching collapse, and which, therefore, unless arrested by prompt treatment, would in all probability hurry off the unfortunate sufferer very rapidly. I must confess, however, that when I glanced round the apattment in which the patient lay, and inhaled the impurities around me, I felt little confidence in my chance of combatting at once the disease and the continued action of its accessories. To afford him air, the window had been opened ; but alas, if air had been wanted, it was not to be had in that pent-up court, which far more frequently drew down the dense and vaporous smoke of the neighbourhood than the pure breath of heaven. Had the treatment and good ventilation of an hospital been at my command, I migh have hoped for a successful result ; but they were not to be had at that sickly period • and if they had even been within reach, I found th a t the strong prejudice, frequently existing amongst our poor, against such institutions, would have prevented my availing myself of theth for his benefit. He had requested, at the commencement of the attack—and his wife had every disposition to indulge his request—to be allowed to die. if such was to be its issue, in his own home—poor fellow, his home ? I had, there fore, only to do my best with the means at my disposal, and they were little. My prescription was at once writ ten and despatched to the Dispensary, whilst I remained to give some directions about his diet and general treat ment. The family of the poor man, I have said, consisted of his wife and two daughters, whose ages might be respec tively 15 and 17 years. The former, whilst I was engaged in examining the symptoms of the sufferer, sate upon the edge of the crazy bedstead ; now looking uneasily in his face, and then fixing her eyes upon my own, as if she sought by her basilisk look to drag from me my most hid• den thoughts. His gaze would insensibly diminish in in tenseness and then suddenly brighten afresh, like the shooting of an expiring lamp. Again it would grow dim and dull, as if her evidently enfeebled mental and corpo real powers were unequal to any continuous effort ; and, in a while, she would resume the swaying motion of body and dirgelike moaning, peculiar to the lamentations of the Irish, which she had probably caught from con tinual association with the natives of that country, who form the principal portion of the population amongst which she was living. The two girls sate aloof upon the floor, leaning over the few embers in the worn-out grate, and maintaining a stupid indifference to what was passing around them. I had subsequent opportunities of noticing minutely the dispositions and habits of this wretched farni y and, at the same time, of learning some little of the r past history ; and certainly a more striking examile of the depressing and demoralising influence upon the human character, produced by bad sanatory regulations and constant exposure to the contaminations, both moral and physical, which abound in the densely-populated and filthy streets and courts of our large towns, never presented itself to my observation. The wife and mother—of the patient himself I shall have to speak when describing the medical features of his case—was still, although a wreck, far from unpleasing in her general appearance and features. In early life she must have possessed that kind of robust beauty, which is the characteristic of the middle farmer class of onr northern and midland counties, and she still had in her manner something which placed her above the squalid-looking and slovenly beings, amongst whom she was located, and from whom perhaps she had con tracted habits very foreign to her early training and cha racter. Her mental powers, I have said, bore the ap pearance of having been enfeebled. Trouble had doubt less done much ; but, alas ! the use of intoxicating stimu lants had done more. And let it not be set down as an unpardonable crime in the poor woman that, such as her lot had been, she had resorted to this means of dissipat ing memory and recruiting her failing or flagging corporeal powers. The recording angel will assuredly erase many an accusatory line from his many-paged volume, in the case of one so situated, whilst he will retain, in all its damning strength, the crime—it is a harsh word, but I cannot withdraw it—of those, whose selfishness and avarice produce in their fellow beings such sad results. Twelve years before this period of her history she had been, although in her worldly circumstances unfortunate, still an industrious, sober, and stiring wife and mother. Now she was a drunkard—a confirmed one almost. Her life was an alternation of sorrow and self-reproach for her failing, and inebriety, in which all feeling was' drowned. Yet still, in all her moods of mind, she loved, with a first fond love, the sufferer in that desolate hovel—the husband of her early affection ; and, to his credit it will be re corded that he bore with her, whilst he grieved over her ; although perhaps; to his unawakened intellect, any con ception of the full weight of misery, which continually drove her to renewed lapses from propriety and tem perance, never presented itself. As she sate by him now in his illness, devoting herself to the duty of providing for him the little relief in her power, an experienced eye could detect the existence of the worm, which was tortur ing her almost to the verge of delirium. What is so 'awful to human nature as the consciousness of its fall? Yet this woman was weighed down under that conscious ness. She dared not look in the face of the suffering partner of her trials, whose fevered and restless eyes she I thought reproached her for her many offences. She dared -not rebuke the sullen behaviour of those two heartless `daughters, before whom she knew that she had stood so often committed and degraded. There was a restlessness I in her every motion—a kind of 'spasmodic eagerness to escape from reflection ; and, alas, when she could avail her self of any little opportunity—any pretence whatever to escape from the eyes, which she thought were watching her very soul, and mocking at its weakness—she would snatch at it to procure the temporary solace of renewed excitement, and to pour fresh oil upon the fire, which was consuming and degrading her. Whence arise such sad phases in the human character? The cold-hearted philosopher, who assumes and preaches "to us that reason is supreme as our guide upon earth, will tell us that they spring from faulty education. The Christian minister, more sincere, will tell us that they spring from the want of vital Religion. The medical man however has his tale to tell ; and it is a startling one. He argues from his own practice and his knowledge of the principles and conformation of the human frame—that complicated machine, acted upon by so many sympathies both from within and without. He finds that when he meets with certain states of that machine—depression of the corporeal and mental powers, hypocondria, low ner vous fever, &c.,—he is compelled to resort to the use of stimulants. When you plunge, therefore, a large portion of your population into unhealthy hovels, and unventi lated streets, and subject them to the influences of a vitiated atmosphere, with no adequate supply of water for the purposes of cleanliness, and scarcely light itself, you induce that very depression of spirits and of the body, as a remedy for which the unfortunate victims of your neg lect resort to the dram-shop, as the medical man does to the stimulating articles of the pharmacopeia. The latter, however, when the symptoms which call for such treat ment have passed away with their immediate cause, allows nature to resume her sway ; but, with the former, the depressing causes--the vitiated atmosphere, &c.,—are never removed. The influence of the dram over—the the temporary effort of stimulation exhausted—there is no natural state to fall back upon. The stimulant is therefore again demanded ; becomes a necessity, a habit , and ultimately a vice, growing upon those using it until at last it debases and destroys them. Education—mere mental training—can do nothing, or nearly nothing, here. Religion itself ton often strives in vain to overcome the opposing power of bodily or mental illness, combined with influences such as those with which our town poor are surrounded. (To be concluded next week) Otnt rat zfl..licirrilanD. The crops in Lincolnshire, although backward, are de scribed as looking very promising. The Edinburgh Stock Exchange has petitioned govern ment for the suspension for six months of the Bank Act. The Taunton Courier states that the crops of apples will be abundant. The trees are literally covered with blossom. There is not a nettle, or a bit of water cress to be found nearD ungarvon—the starving strangers consumed them all. A monument to the memory of Caxton, the first Eng lish printer, is about to be erected in London. Lord Morpeth approves of the plan. POST-OFFICE ORDERS.—Measures are in contemplation for still further reducing the charges of commission on money orders issued by the post-office authorities. A few days since, when three wheat stacks were removed at Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire, on a farm in the occu pation of the Duke of Manchester, six bushels and a-half of mice were killed. On Wednesday, the London bakers again raised the price of the 4th loaf Ad. so that the best bread is now sold at 3d. a pound, while bread of an inferior quality is sold at the rate of 10A. tire 4lb loaf. At Banff, on Sunday, an attempt on the life of the Earl of Fife was made by a servant, who was on the eve of be ing discharged. The villain was ultimately overpowered, and his Lordship sustained no injury., Henry Adamson and Bridget Adams, each between 30 and 40 years of age, are in custody at Hull, charged with having obtained about £lOO from Lord George Bentinck, by false pretences. The male prisoner appears to have been an accomplished begging. letter impostor. A high price is demanded for provisions of all kinds in Stamford at the present time. The 41b. household loaf is 101 d., fine 110. ; mutton 74d. and Bd. per lb. ; beef 7d. and 71d. ; bacon 9d. and 10d. per lb. ; potatoes is. Bd. per peck.—Lincolnshire Chronicle. On Sunday last, the town of Nottingham was visited by a tremendous hail and thunder storm. The electric fluid entered a shop by the chimney, played round the apart ment, and escaped through the window, two panes of which it broke. Fortunately, the inmates were uninjured, but the walls were covered with soot. A few days since, some sheep died on a farm near Coventry, and seven lambs were left without their parents. About the same time, a large bitch, of the shepherd breed, had a litter of whelps, which were immediately drowned, and the lambs were placed under her care. The bitch immediately adopted her new charge, and now suckles and nurses them with the greatest fondness. The Vice-Chancellor of the University and the Mayor of the City of Oxford, being deeply impressed with the distress among the poorer classes of our fellow country men, occasioned by the scarcity of provisions, have issued an earnest recommendation to all families to cause a re duction in the consumption of bread and flour, as far as practicable, in the present emergency. One day last week, an Irishman named Nowlan, was charged at a London Police-office, with having stolen a pair of shoes. It appeared that he had seen a man with two odd shoes, to whom he offered twopence to give them to him and tell him where they had been stolen. The thief accepted the offer, and Nowlan then proceeded to the owner's shop, in the hope of receiving a reward for returning the shoes. To his surprise, he was given into custody, but was discharged by the magistrate. GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE QUEEN.—The following order was issued on Thursday by the Lord Steward of the Queen's Household :—" Her Majesty, taking into consi deration the present high and increasing price of provisi ons, and especially of all kinds of bread and flour, has been graciously pleased to command that from the date of this order no description of flour except seconds shall be used for any purpose in her Majesty's household, and that the daily allowance of bread shall be restricted to lib. per head for every person dieted in the palace." THE CII ARTIST ESTATES.—Active operations have been commenced on the estate at Redmarley, purchased a short time since by Mr. Feargus O'Connor. A number of cot tages are being built containing four rooms upon one floor, with four acres of land attached to each. These will of course be occupied by those persons professing Chartist principles, who have subscribed towards the expenses of the purchases. It is announced that Mr. O'Connor con templates purchasing the Verzons Estate, near Ledbury, now advertised for sale. POISONING OF A FAMILY.—Tbe family of Mr. William Rouse, agricultural implement maker, of 56, Eastgate street, Bury, consisting of the wife and four children, sat down to dinner, on Saturday week, some dumplings, pre pared from some dough which had been left after making the bread in the morning, forming part of the meal. A:Jout ten minutes after dinner, all who had partaken of the repast, were seized with severe pains and violent vo miting, and, of course, from the fact of their all being attacked in the same manner, suspicion was aroused. A surgeon was immediately sent for, and soon ascertained that poison had been administered.' By the skilful treat ment adopted the sufferers were soon recovered so far as to be beyond the reach of immediate danger. Mrs. Butler (Fanny Kemble) in her last work, A Year of Consolation. draws the following pleasant picture of French politeness :—" While losing the graces of their (perhaps superficial) politeness, the French have acquired none of the decorum and decency of deportment, the absence of which was always severely felt in the midst of their most courteous demonstrations ; and while acquiring something of the morose selfish carriage of our own people, they have failed to adopt one particle either of their clean liness or propriety of person, language or manners. Thus, a Frenchman hawks and spits close to your cheek, blows his nose like a trumpet in your ear, and yawns and coughs under your nose. Their language is frequently positively exceedingly indecent, and the tone of it always more or less borders upon what Englishmen would consider un warrantable freedom. Ido not wonder Frenchwomen do not travel much, but I sincerely hope that before long they may be induced to do so, as nothing else, probably, will render Frenchmen tolerable travelling com panions to the women, who at present have the misfortune to be thrown in public conveyances into their society." May P, ISTY. SIR CULLING EARDLEY SMITH, BART.—The late Lord Saye and Sele having died without issue, a portion of hie estates descends to his cousin, Sir. Culling Eardley Smith, from their maternal grandfather, Lord Eardley. Sir Cul. ling is required, in order to inherit this property, to aban don his paternal name of Smith, and to assume that of Eardley, and will, therefore, in a few days be gazetted as Sir Culling E. Eardley, Bart. THE WEATHER, 1846 AND 1847.—1 n the present year the primrose flowered 33 days later, the hazel flowered 16 days later, the sweet-brier scented 22 days later, the ches nut leaves expanded 26 days later, the cuckoo flower was out 24 days later. On the other hand, the butterflies' first appearance was only 9 days later, the bats came out 12 days later, the willow wren appeared, and in song, 11 days later, the swallow returned 9 days later, the cuckoo was heard 5 days later.—Norfolk News. MONOPOLY.—A correspondent at Stockton writes— Potatoes are selling at the present time at Stockton at the extravagantly high price of two shillings per peck, when in the immediate neighbourhood, it is a well known fact, there are thousands of bushels in the possession of a few wealthy individuals, kept back till the prices get to a more exorbitant rate. In the river too the ships are loaded with grain of all descriptions, and the granaries crammed to excess with every necessary of life, while hundreds of people are, literally speaking, absolutely dying for want. There can no longer exist any doubt as to the fact, that Parliament will be dissolved this year. The preparation* for it in the shape of addresses from new candidates and old members, meet us on every side ; and as some of these addresses are from individuals whose connection with the late or the present government affords them the opportu nity of knowing the intentions of ministers, we may safely conclude that there is no time to be lost in looking out for good and true men to sit in the next Parliament. The watehword must be—PROTESTANTISM ! Secure a sound and loyal Protestant House of Commons, and all will go well. Fail in this, and we shall enter upon a struggle of disastrous omen. USE OF FLOUR IN MANUFACTURES.—A correspondent of the Times very properly suggests that in the present increasing scarcity of food it appears to be an object of great importance that the government should interfere to prevent the use of flour, and other farinaceous substances suitable for food, in the various processes of the cotton manufacture. Thousands of sacks are annually used in the manufacturing districts for the purpose of stiffening calicoes and in other ways. Now, as this stiffening is _of no real value to the consumer, but is, in fact, employed only to deceive him, no on e would stiffer by the' Prohibi tion, and the waste of so much valuable provision would be prevented. The Hereford Times informs us that the iron districts in that part of the country have been for some time in a most fearful state; at all the works one or more furnaces have been blown out, while at one or two there is not one now in Hest. At Nantyglo the men agreed to go to work fora month, as it was decided by th magistrates that their former notice was informal; the month has termi nated, and we are most happy to learn that they intend continuing in work. At Cwm Celyn and Coalbrook Vale the men are nearly all standing out, and there seems as little likelihood of their returning to work now as two or three weeks ago. At Ebbw Vale the colliers struck on Friday last, and one furnace has been blown out. REMARKABLE ESCAPE.-011 Tuesday week, the water broke into a colliery at Audley. Ten men ran to the shaft, and clung to the rope till they were drawn up. A young man, named Pointon, was left three days and three nights in the mine, hemmed in by a regular mass of water. His death was so generally believed certain, that his friends even provided a coffin for his interment, in the event of his body being recovered ; yet, providentially, he was got out aliVe ' unhurt, and without having suffered m a te r i a lly in health. He had crept up into one of the headings, and resigned himself to his fate; but had the satisfaction to observe the water gradually diminish. He had slept much, and could with difficulty believe that .he had been more than one day and one night in the mine. PRAISEWORTHY STEP.—The following pledge has been signed by the subjoined noblemen.—" We, the under signed, deeply impressed with the distress which prevails among a great number of our felloww-countrymen in Great Britain and Ireland, from the want of necessary subsistence, and observing that the' prices of food are rising, think it our duty to pledge ourselves to reduce in our families, as far as may be practicable, the consump tion of bread and flour; and we invite the cooperation of all those who may concur with us in our estimate of the present emergency. (Signed), Dukes of Norfolk, Rut land, Grafton, Bedford, Marquis of Exeter, Earls Fortes cue, Fitzwilliam, Radnor, Spencer, Viscount Falkland, Lords Lyttelton, De Manley, Brougham, Clinton, Ste phen Lushington, D.C.L., Sir Rt. Harry Inglis, Sir Robert Price. May, 1847."—After this, we presume no , one will be ashamed to put down profusion in his house hold. ANTE-MACASSARS.—The great amount of taste and skill evinced in the construction of these modern articles of decorative (ladies say useful) furniture have rendered them a favourite, and almost indispensible attendant of the couch, the sofa, and the easy chair. A lady in for warding a parcel to an acquaintance in a modern city in the "far west " of America, enclosed a few Anti-Macas sass, as a present-. No such articles had ever been seen beyond the mountains, and so great was the interest ex cited among those to whom they were shewn on their arrival, that, on the news spreading of a new article of tasteful manufacture having reached the city, almost ess ry lady in the place came to view them, and their fairy finger were quickly at.work to-produce others for a bazaar about to he held there. Before the ac k now l e dgment of _ t receipt was se n t o ff, scarcel a benediet could takean tic afternoon nap with out being disturbed to have the Anti macassar " straightened, a n d their manufacture was pro ceeding at such a rate that it was quest i ona bl e w h et h er i they would not soon become an article of export. FOOD RIOTS IN EXETER.—Serious disturbances have taken place in this city during this day (Friday), but we have not, yet heard of any extensive destruction of pro perty having been committed. From the information we have gathered, it appears that attempts were made to forestal the market by purchasing the potatoes brought in by the farmers, and that several cart-loads were from time to time taken to one of the warehouses at the corner of Exe Island, in which several hundred sacks were deposited with the intention, it is said, of being exported. On the arrival of one load, between eleven and twelve o'clock, it was observed by two women, who commenced an attack on the man, in which they were soon joined by others. The sacks in the cart were emptied of the potatoes, but no robbery was committed, as the whole of them were allowed to be gathered up and taken into the warehouse. Shortly afterwards the man was observei in Fore-street-hill, when he was assailed by shouts and groans from a numerous as sembly, out of the back streets, consisting chiefly of wo mers. The man took refuge in the shop of Mr. Buckland, miller and baker; but this only tended to make matters worse, and in the confusion several windows were broken; but worse consequences being apprehended, the shutters of this and the neighbouring shops were closed. The mob then proceeded to the Corn Exchange, which was soon taken possession of by women and children, the few indi viduals who were assembling vacating it with the loss of hats, neckcloths, &c. The Corn Exchange is still in pos session of the mob, the only restraint to which is the small body of day police.—Three o'clock At this moment the streets are filled with thousands of people, and most of the tradesmen's shops are closed. The greatest excite ment prevails.—Exeter Gazette. [Subsequent advices state that several of the ringleaders have been arrested and committed tnr trial, but not until the windows of several other bakers' shops had been smashes. Many special constables have been sworn in, and on Saturday night the town was assuming its wonted quietude.] RIOTS.—At Nottingham, the distressed poor assembled in thousands, on Monday, parading the streets and asking at every baker's shop for bread, causing the greatest con sternation among the inhabitants. The guardians met on Tuesday, and resolved upon affording every relief in their power to prevent the recurrence of such scenes. — At Walsall, on the same day, the labourers lately em ployed on the South Staffordshire Railway, owing to the jealousy created by the employment of a number of Irish men who, is is said, worked under the prices paid to those who had " turned out," assembled to the number of many hundreds, and, collecting a formidable body of miners, armed themselves with bludgeons, many of which they had torn from the hedges and trees on the road side, and proceeded to Walsall, where the Irish labourers are located. They commenced a furious attack upon the windows and doors of the Irishmen's houses, and before the inmates became aware of the objects of their assail ants many of them were most severely beaten. The Irish party gathered together a strong force, and were about to retaliate upon the " turn outs, when, had it not been for the timely interference of the magistrates, backed by the police, serious, if not fatal, consequences must have ensued.—ln Worcestershire the distress is very great, and the poor people are scarcely able to keep body and soul together. The alarming rise in the price of food, the influx of Irish paupers, and the growing dread which is entertained by the poorer classes that things have not yet reached their fearful climax, have induced some seri ous apprehensions for the peace and order of the district around Birmingham.—On Wednesday some disturbances occurred nearWillenhall, but these were speedily checked , and are traceable to the same cause which led to the dig' • turbances at Walsall. HORRIBLE MURDERS.—One of the most awful murders ever committed was perpetrated at Mirfield, near Dews' bury, Yorkshire, on Wednesday. The victims are Mr' James Wraith, his wife, and servant. Mr. Wraith was formerly and for some years book-keeper to Mr. Ingbasat the extensive coal proprietor of Mirfield, hut has, for circumstances lime past, been livin g i n i n d epen d en t circustance' at that place. Shortly after noon . on W e d nes d a y, 2. 11 ' . Wraith was seen near his own house, but in consequen ce of something which occurred about one o'clock, the sn s picions of the neighbours w ere exc it e d, an d on trying the door of the house, it was found to be locked. On an en trance being effected, the most horrible scene was in e `; sented.—Mr. Wraith, his wife, and servant, were lYi dead on the floor, each having their throats cut in the , most awful manner, and their heads and bodies dreadfu l q wounded and bruised. A razor was laid across the br e a 3 s , of Mr. Wraith, and it was, at first, supposed that ho the perpetrator of the murders ; but, from inquiries oi?L e ", spot, it appeared quite clear that he could not have D u o ) , the murderer; because his head and face had evid en been severely beaten by some heavy bludgeon. A rn l' o g who is employed as a hawker of pots, was seen coniito away from the house about the time the murders 'ldea, have been committed. He has since been apprebe t n t he and he has stated, that he was at the house ab out t hat time named, that he knocked at the door twice , an told after the second knock a person opened the door an" or ae him they did not want anything. He says he say' r ,, c i not blood on the floor, and heard dreadful groaning ; 0 There is e e ao inform any one, but went about his business. be little doubt but the three unfortunate victins,sa;iog been murdered by some one for the sake of °curs this I for the pockets of Mr. Wraith had be,,,n, t his I sacked, and his drawer where it is supposed, he KS; bo n money had been opened, but whether' a nything 11 , au an d a His key' ( Is taken cannot be at present ascertained. , ss soup knife were laid on a chair near where his bodT Irk Ifor M Lay ?this r ;sailed Tat Fra Ho 'from • the sc ' minus Sr. Liver ' has di dams ' tion. Altß —Agn Rodrh Sherri rietta, Va'et oA II —Judi Uranii Brook _cutta— Bueno Ip,r Ith Jai Cole . E. 11 ARA Ertn's Pricha Sauna( Minh; SAIL Qbebe( Ga.otz burg—, 14th At Clinu wood, Douce Peter Morgan wind; 1 Malone (screw Lord E Ballard sell, M`Fillei Ellen. Albania (late Ti Idalabal Pend.et Mason ; vius, Co Epatn fin; On ;rooks, *.Fairfit .of the 1. Robert .Chariest John Cork, in Ann, Hutchm - hence as David, several i Carolii den, Buil . more. Alabar Phi!atiell The 17' be got of I'he Pa Jan , ant. \Vhite Corinth': A sere' Scio, '. Harteq • Joseph Aibanii Jim Cr Rehule The (7r, off the S.' Orleans. The M, Pte Mishi 111 and 2,100 It. at di 111( littu lie Lv Ch pairt tom! rieue Ma Pig Gat Eli: au-1 - 1 Pin Alm Oth A He Lagu SA I Bosto Cope: Ball, Taylo field, Thou St. TI Car Cot Wewli at St. Cot Ilee sailed 10th 1 34th Eli; Eta Em Ref Ma lan de ThE 25, 10 , Tries Mexi( CAI for IA Plasn Lo: Liver] bows! ing to