The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

111.1=1......Mi...1 1 TT-TT TO ADVERTISERS hint ON! EWSPAPEI , n that lUD II a at all the Are I'ANDARD TUESDAY y by the thous 'fading S MARKET IN t that town and the RD IS turinq district 4 SECOND EDITION MARKETS, and s published at Half-past Mails, containing the ny news of importance that , e in the course of the morning Cirz Lthflpoot &tanbarb. TUESDAY MOR. NING, FEB. 15, 1848 The Manchester Guardian sometimes throws off some funny things, with a nonchalance and gravity of manner, which would fain indicate, on the part of the writer, a perfect conviction in his own mind that he is not joking at all. Perhaps, however, if we could enjoy a peep into his editorial sanctum during the gestation of one of these articles, we e to disc( wicked wink of his eye, with tolerable distinctness, ged in forging a few argu ments intended to cut both ways, in order, for the 3boozle the good easy public of the and subsequently to be enabled to hat g which would indicat that he was only )nce, to I new " city, which he can explai easy public the ready tact with in away positions, which more old only be enabled to destroy with a hatchet An article appeared in his publication , on Wedn headed the `Vest Indies and the sugar duties, which, if not a piece of the wicked humour above remarked upon, is one of the most injudicious and, we may almost say, impudent per petrations of which we ever knew a journalist of his standing to be guilty. After a quarter of a column of badinage introductory about things in general, and Free Trade in particular, our con temporary proceeds to twit, amongst others, the agricultural party upon the failure of their pre diction as to what would be the result towards themselves of a free trade in corn. He says : The experience of the repeal of the corn-laws. and of 'ppa imnnrtnfinn of eon • • nave proved remarkable examples of the falsification of predictions. While yet the country party' gloried in their sliding scale of 1828, agricultural distress was a ' condition' of as uniform recurrence as the other changes in the undustrial cycle of this country ; but the last few years have pre sented a period of unusual duration of agricultural pros perity tnd the ample means which free trade furnished last year, of meeting the losses and inconveniences of bad comparatively healthy and prosperous state, and dins to ward off, or at least materially to modify, the distress among farmers which has hitherto always followed con- ime complete falsification, be says, bas ect to all other classes of rnercial misfortune The si taken place with monopolists after this fasi special causes ch . he proceeds to account for T could perceive an analogy. sifted,—when free trade pro- tits, they always discovered some ron manufacturer in England sur ugh the accidental introduc- ivcd competition, only t tion of railways ; ti anents in r -Fnmu silk trade was saved by improve- , ry ; the growth of wool by the dis'covery 1 could be worked to a greater benefit in foreign wool. In like manner, agricul- tural success, during the last two years, is attributed to a failure of co-n harvests, and a rot of potatoes. There has always been some special cause to account for the success )f free trade Now, it is not very clear to us on what grounds the advocates of protection may not very fairly plead special circumstances as having warded off temporarily the injury which they anticipated from Free Trade. Take the first case put by the Guardian —the case of the farmer. That class is not ruined yet. Prices of grain have not fallen beyond a pay ing point. They are, on the contrary, just now only a shade below the average attempted to be fixed by the Corn-law of 1842; and they have touched, during the past year, a point nearly double that average. The advocate of the agri cultural interest will urge, as the cause of its being, as yet, in a condition of comparative pros,lerity, the fact that continental harvests have been de- ficient ; that Ireland, by the loss of her potato crop, has had to be fed on a better kind of food at the - late, and from private charity. Again, the vast hoards of the New World have, instead of being poured into ttese islands, b een diffused throughout the countries of Europe, whose necessities have been as great as our own; and whilst the American agriculturist and the English expense of the S. ble, by combination - and , Rtuitous circumstances, to force up prices, a large portion of our farmers, the sensible portion of them, opportunity of realising their stocks eous terms. They may also to meet the rush of breadstuffs from America enorn speculator have been a RI unusually advai urge tha s prices were paid—as much at ne time as 9s. per barrel of flour from New York, rhich can now be imported for Is. 3d. to Is. 6d. Has not the argriculturist a perfect right thus to for his temporary prosperity ? Of course In denying that he has such a right our mtemporary either forgets, or wilfully suppresses, the fact that the Free-trade party have a few little falsifications of their own prophecies and promises to account for; and that we find them adopting, in the efforts, precisely the same reference to "special causes." We all remember, during the account he has. long agitation for repeal of the Corn-laws, the pro mise, constantly held out to the working classes, a cheap loaf," "a big loaf," &c., &c. Now, e have neither had, during the average of the first year of Free Trade, either a very "cheap" or a very "big" loaf. We have neither at this moment. Of course the reply of a Free Trader to admit of this disappointment would be a recapitulation of the causes as above urged by the farmer. We were promised, as the result of our admitting the corn of other nations to consumption in the British Isles, a vast extension of manufacturing industry and of employment for the working classes—in fact, a surfeit of prosperity. We have had instead factories stopped or working short time ; the con struction of railways all but suspended ; mercantile and tradesman's bankruptcies taking place on every between man and man destroyed, and the interchange of commodities for money re stricted to the bare wants of our daily consumption. Of course, for all these sad falsifications of the pledges of our philosophers, we have, once more "special causes" pleaded. Most consistent Free Traders, in the magnitude of your offences of this sort, as compared with those of which you accuse the Protectionists, how well do you illustrate the adage, that "one man may steal a sheep, and another be hanged for only looking over a hedge !" confic With respect to one important result of our recent policy—the infliction of serious injury upon the property, and alienation of the feelings of their population,—the anticipations of the Protectionists have been proved to be in every way correct, whilst the Free-trade party are driven to whining apologies, and even misrepresentation of facts. The Protectionists stated boldly that the with drawal of adequate protection from our colonists would spread suffering, vast sacrifice of property, and ultimate ruin amongst a large class in some of the colonies, who had embarked their capital in those colonies, on the faith of the security afforded by British laws ; and that with respect to another great rising state, we should find, should we ever unfortunately have to claim aid of their loyal services to protect the interests of the mother country, that our approaches, if not indignantly and altogether rejected, would be met by coldness and the utter want of that noble enthusiasm which its inhabitants have hitherto displayed towards the country of their birth. The first portion of our colonies referred to are our sugar-growing pos sesions in the West and East Indies. The other portion is our British American colonies. The Free-trade philosophers, on the other hand, either denied, in toto, that such results would oc cur, or else hedged themselves behind assurances formed upon the data of men utterly, the hulk of . them, ignorant practically of our colonial system, and of tropical cultivation, that with increased per sonal attention to their planting on the part of the _ . vners Dnial property, combined uith econ , )- of agriculture, improved machinery, sh energy would ultimately rise victorious to which it was to be submitted. uuulv to the British consumer was We wall-important thing to which eration was to give w who went the length of d to be derived from the vpos: ivies at all; and who would fi:eely ern up to , the first powerful country osecl to take lem into its pro- in the American phrase, to "annex to our sugar colonies, we shall have to refer to them in another article. Of the almost entire ruin, however, of the West India portion of them, men seem pretty generally agreed; whilst it ircely shown that t the inefficient r iust proposed for their restoration to prosperity are less a mockery and affectation of thy, on the part of the Government, towards the West India population, of every class, from the planter to the emancipated negro, as it would be to offer to an exhausted dying man the assistance of a wheat straw to enable him to climb to the summit of a mountain. If our eastern planters are not as yet so far on the road to destruction, they are at least steadily progressing on that road. With respect to Canada, we learn by each succes sive mail that a large portion of its loyal population are already beginning to canvass the amount of advantage derived from their present anomalous connexion with Great Britain, whilst the republican French faction in the lower province are busily en gaged in sowing the seeds of an insurrection, of a similar kind to that which, a few years ago, before the heart of her mother country was turned from them, and the eyes of her legislators were blinded with the dust of the anti-national Free-trad' )hilf sophy, her hardy and gallant settlers so nobly put down, without any other than the aid of their own strong hands and determined loyalty. `ASSAULT OF ARMS" ! ! OF THE ATHEN2EUM CLUB We entered upon the perusal of a paragraph in the Manchester Guardian, under the above startling heading, with no slight wonder what an " Assault of Arms" could have to do either with the Athenaeum Club, or with the pacifically-disposed people of the city of Manchester. Remembering some little of Mr. Cobden's recent diatribes as the absence of all necessity for fortifications, arms or armies to protect our shores, whil s t we li ve un d er th e millenium of free trade, the idea of getting up a tourna ment, we thought, denoted one of the most singular changes of public feeling hitherto evinced in this Jim, Crow age. On getting through a few lines of the para graph, however, we find that it referred to an exhibition, by the pupils, of their skill in fencing and single stick, to encourage proficiency in which offensive and defensive sciences some public-spirited and patriotic citizens have presented the institution with two silver meaals, to be yearly contested for by the members. This, of course, is all harmless enough, although rather out of keeping with the opinions, as to the necessity of being taught either small sword or broadside practice, generally understood to be entertained by our neighbours ; and, moreover, pregnant with some danger of loss of valuable business time, as tempting the juveniles to convert occasionally their yard sticks into foils, and take measure of each other for suits of sables instead of measuring either ginghams or fustians. We were a little shocked, how ever, to notice that " the intervals between the conflicts were filled up with rounds of boxing." The sports of Moulsey Hurst, within the . san:ie walls , w!lich have echoed to the refined eloquence of D'lsraeli, Dickens, Lincoln, and other literati ! This is a sad declension. But the worst has to be told. Our reporter proceeds—" The meeting, which was very numerous, a great many ladies being also of the company (!) seemed highly pleased with their entertainment, and, by applause and clapping of hands, &c., encouraged the combatants in their struggles, pointedly marking any clever cut or thrust" ; and also, every case of •` first blood" or " knock doubt les or " cross buttock, The ladies, too, tat ,' king ginflicteddelight by itt such amusements ! What will come next to surprise us ? A bull fight, or on the next annual fencing and single stick match, " the intervals between each match being filled up with a round of"—Bolton purring or genuine Rochdale up and down. Fie, ladies, fie ! We had rather see you stitching or knitting PREVENTIBLE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY IN LANCASHIRE, We have received a highly important table, issued by the Health of To ocns Association, on the preventible excess of sickness and mortality, and the consequent expense, created in this county. It is founded on the returns of the Registrar-General for the year 1841. It gives the population of the several towns in Lancashire, the number of deaths and births in each town in the year, and in proportion to the inhabitants ; also, the number of deaths of infants under one year, which shows, from their susceptibility to' the influences of the atmosphere, the high ratio in which the rate of mortality is placed in many of our towns. The average length of life in Ulver stone is 41 years 8 months ; in Ormskirk, 27 years 3 months ; in Warrington, 26 years 7 months ; in West Derby, 21 years ; and in Liverpool the average length of existence is much shorter than in any other town in Lan cashire, being only 20 years and 5 months. The deaths of infants under one year are in Ulverstone 1 in 11 ; in Ormskirk, 1 in 10; in Warrington and West Derby, 1 in 6 ; in Liverpool, lin 4. Thus the proportionate loss of years of life, preventible in each district, compared with Ulverstone, is—in Ormskirk, 14 years 5 mo n th s ; i n Warrington, 15 years 1 month ; in West Derby, 20 years 8 months ; and in Liverpool, 21years 3 months. Where . there is premature death, there of necessity premature and often lengthened sickness ; indeed, for every case of death in excess, it is calculated that there is an increase of at least 28 cases of sickness, and averaging these at £1 per case, the annual cost unnecessarily incurred over that expended at Ulverstone, from want of sanatory measures, for sickness alone, is—in Ormskirk, £1,932 ;in Warring ton, £5.628 ; in West Derby, £17,752; and in Liverpool, £lOl,lOB. Th e l oss ar i s ing fro m th e d e fi c i ency o f pro ductive labour is estimated to average 7s. Gd. per week each, male and female, and the funerals £5 each, which will give a total loss on the year's deaths, in sick ness, funerals, and labour, in Liverpool, compared with Ulverstone, of £834,815; in Manchester, so compared, of £677,533 ; and in Lancashire, again so compared, of £4,080,905. The following will at once spew the urgent necessity for the strenuous exertions of our Health Committee in the promotion of sanatory regulations ; for, taking Ulver stone to be perfect—and there can be little doubt that even its condition might be improved—the expense ari sing yearly from want of drainage, want of water an d ventilation, would do much to effect the obje , t :—Total number of adults prematurely dying—in Liverpool, 2106, or 94 to every 10,000 of the population ; Ulverstone, 128, or 48 to every 10,000. Number of all classes killed by epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases—Liverpool, 1677, or 75 to every 10,000 of the population; Ulverstone, 35, or 13 to every 10,000. Deaths of all classes from dis eases of the respiratory organs--Liverpool, 2539, or 114 to every 10,000 of the population ; Ulverstone, 105, or 39 to every 10,000. Liverpool. Ulverstone Proportion of deaths to the 1839 lin 30 lin 60 population of 1841..... 1840 lin 27 lin 56 {lB4l lin 30 lin 56 Proportion of births to the j' 1840 lin 30 lin 31 population of 1841. .... 1. 1841 lin 29 lin 31 Proportion of marriages to j' 1840 lin 69 lin 159 the population of 1841.. 1 1841 lin 67 lin 161 If it be said that a town is necessarily more unhealthy than the country, may it not reasonably be asked in reply, can we not remove, or at least mitigate, the causes which pertain to the locality, and which we ourselves have ori ginated ? It was well said the other day by the Times, " Man made the city, and man can do much to improve hiA own work, and render it not less salubrious—may we say still more so ?—than the village, the mansion, and the farm." It was shown in the last return of the Re gistrar-General, that a London child of 15 is twice as likely to die in the course of the next quarter of a year as a country child of the same age ; and among men the chance of dying is increased from two in the country to three in London, and, if so, " the liability to suffer from epidemics is raised still more." The ravages of the in fluenza are described as much worse in the districts where filth abounded—elsewhere as " mild," " fatal to few ;" and again, to quote from our contemporary, " these ravages are mainly in effect the ravages of closeness, filth, and stench ; the ravages of bad sewerage, bad ventilation, bad food ; of profligacy, and other human plaguei. So it appears from the comp ar i son o f L on d on w i t h t h e country , i and so t appears further fro m a com p ar i son o f th e severa l metropolitan districts one with another. Taking London altogether, the mortality during the last six weeks of the year was 80 per cent. above th e average . L ew i s h am, in cluding Blackheath, Svdenham, and Eltham, is one of the healthiest districts of London. Here the increase was only GO per cent. on the usual low average. St. George's in-the-East is one of the unhealthiest districts, and it suffered four times as much from influenza as Lewisham. This is an extreme case, but, on a comparison of all the districts, it appears that the epidemic'—we a re quo ti ng the words of the report—' killed twice as many people in the insalubrious parts of London as it did in those less unhealthy.' Hence, whatever the origin or character of the pestilential element, its lethal force evid en tl y d epends on the local conditions with which it is combined. Hea ven speeds the arrow ; man envenoms the barb." WEST DERBY BOARD OF GUARDIANS.-At the weekly meeting, on Wednesday, Mr. Sheppard took the chair. Mr. H. S. Taylor, surgeon to the Fever Hospital, reported that fever was on the increase. Mr. Smith moved that the clerk of the board be requested to write to the Poor law Commissioners, respectfully entreating fro m them an early decision on the case of the required division of Tor teth-park from the township of West Derby, as expressed by the resolution, adopted in the presence of Mr. Austin, poor-law inspector. The board divided, when there ap peared for the resolution 5, against it 4. The motion, as proposed, was, of course carried, and the proceedings .eviiinated m , gc=aJ , cimiwlNWmizr...ZZltffMNal rnizea mo( &c.. I in the stru Cheapness TILE LIVERPOOL BifiAlibAßb. S=S22MM:E%m/ - -kLi kora{ Paps. A new steamer will commence plying on the 3rd of March between Liverpool and Ulverstone. The acceptances for the Liverpool Grand National Steeple Chase amount to 83, and for the Chester Cup, 106. Mr. Matthews, of Wakefield, and Mr. Plant, of Li verpool, have been appointed to the choir of Carlisle Cathedral. At a meeting of the Hide and Skin Market Association on Wednesday, it was decided after rather a warm discus sion not to remove the market. We understand Phillips' full and splendid Quadrille Band was in attendance, last Tuesday evening, at Sir John Gerard's, New Hall ; and, as usual, gave great satis- fact io n The anniversary dinner of the Apollo Club was held at the house of Mr. Elmes, in Richmond-row, last week, when the chair was taken by Mr. Richard Laidlaw, the president for the year, and Mr. Richard Holden acted as vice-president. At an early hour on Monday morning a malicious at tempt was made to set fire to the stable of Mr. Carr, coach proprietor. Birkenhead. A light had been intro duced through a hole in the wall ; some straw took fire, but fortunately the flames soon expired. The Caroline brig, of Liverpool, which was wrecked on the sands under Penryhn Castle, in December last, has been moved beyond the Perch at Cardigan bar, by Mr. Bremner, of Glasgow, who successfully moved the Great Britain steam vessel. ANTI-CH CECIL AND STATE SOCIETY.—A meeting of this foolish body was held in the Concert-hall, on Thurs day evening, Mr. R. Johnson in the chair. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Williams, the London secretary, Mr. Miall, and other gentlemen. The Rev. H. H. Higgins, the incumbent of St. John the Evangelist Church, having found it necessary to pro cure relaxation from his arduous pastoral duties, has gone to the continent for a short time. His pulpit, during his absence, is filled by the Rev. George Gibbon, M.A., of the Dingle. BIRKENHEAD.—There are now many inquiries in Bir kenhead for houses of the better class, and several have been let during the past week. There have also been 100 new contractors at Woodside Ferry, since the commence ment of 1848. These are symptoms of slowly reviving vitality. SPOTS ON THE . SUN. - On Thursday afternoon, two very large and several small spots, were observed on the sun's disc. At the same time the face of the sun pre sented a singular appearance, being carrugated all over, much like the ripples left on the sand, by the retiring tide. This appearance is a very unusual one. ANOTHER HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—The notoriety which this neighbourhood enjoys for robberies is still kept up. Mr. Robert Palmer, son of the late gardener to the Earl of Sefton, was, yesterday week, knocked down and robbed near West Derby village, by three footpads. The villains of course are still at large. SPECIE IMPORTS.—the total amount of specie re ceived at this port from New York, during the past week, is £63,000 which has been brought by the following ves sels :—the Waterloo, £22,000; the New York £10,000; the steam-ship Cambria, £10,000; and the Queen of the West £21,000. THE THEATRE-ROYAL.—It is said that Mr. H. F. Aldridge, the able leader of the Philharmonic Concerts, will be the new lessee of the Theatre-Royal. Various rumours have been afloat during the last few days ; but having made the necessary inquiries, we have the highest authority for stating that nothing positive can be put forth upon the subject at present. LECTURES ON PALESTINE AND THE HOLY LAND.-- We have much pleasure in directing the attention of our readers to what will doubtless prove a very attractive course of morning lectures by J. S. Buckingham, on the, to Christendom, most interesting countries in the world— Palestine and the Holy Land. They are to be given in the Royal Assembly-rooms, Great George-street, and the first lecture, we perceive. is announced for this day, Tues day. THE GAS BILL.—The inquiry before the Government Commissioners terminated on Wednesday. The general tendency of the evidence was in favour of amalgamation, upon the ground that that amalgamation would, if effected, cause a saving in the general outlay of the company, and would consequently lessen the gas rates upon the inhabi tants. There is very little doubt that the bill will be passed, almost without any opposition on the part of the House of Commons, though it seems to place a complete monopoly in the hands of the existing companies. THE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION.—The library attached to this institution, though opened only in April, now numbers nearly four thousand volumes. The first selec tion was entrusted to William Gregson. Esq., barrister, of the Inner Temple; and it is not much to say, that, for its size it is the best in Liverpool. The directors have a considerable sum of money in hand, and will very shortly increase the library to nearly double its present number of volum(4l2fiefly of works in the lighter ranks of lite rature, th other branches will not be overlooked. SERIOUS ROBBERY.—On Friday, the recorder at the sesions was oc-upied several hours in the trial of Kirby Smith, a marine store keeper. William• Bell, a carter, and James Wilson, a porter, who were charged. the atter with stealing, and the two former with receiving ten bags of cotton wool, the property of Messrs. Thomas Haigh and Co. Smith was acquitted, but the other two were found guilty, and they were sentenced—Wilson to eight months and Bell to four months' imprisonment. Nine other prisoners have been sentenced to ten years',trans portation. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE, BIRKENHEAD.—On Friday last the Lord Bishop of Chester visited this college, and dined with the Principal and several of the neighbouring clergy, with all, the students. The Right Rev. Prelate afterwards delivered an address to the students in the chapel, on several subjects connected with the clerical office. He remarked that though the church does not promise promotion to all candidates for honours, she at the same time denies not to the diligent and the learned. His lordship expressed himself much pleased at the arrangements of the College; and after visiting all the apartments of the students, took his departure in the afternoon. AGREEABLE MUSICAL RE-UNIONS. We learn that Mrs. F. E. Davies has added a new feature to her scho lastic establishment, in North Bedford-street, by opening, on Thursday, a series of practising musical soirees, where amateur ladies and gentlemen may, without over-stepping the precincts of drawing-room society, acquire, at a small expense, a precision and correctness of styl e an d execu tion seldom attained by unprofessional students. The privacy of the soirees prevents our free exercise of the editorial privilege, but we may add that, as their musical direction has been confided to Mr. H. V. Lewis and the Misses Hammond, we have the strongest assurance of their being characterised by good taste and ability.— Albion. ALLEGED NEGLECT AT THE SOUTHERN HOSPITAL.— On Tuesday night a man was brought to the Southern Hospital who had fallen into the Queen's Dock. There was some detention in receiving him, and the surgeon not being on the premises, a further loss of time occurred before the usual remedies were administered. He died. When the case was brought before Mr. Curry, he remark ed, in strong terms, on the neglect which appeared to have been manifested at the hospital. The jury recom mended that the case should be laid before the trustees of the hospital, in order to prevent a recurrence of similar neglect in future.—[We have been waited upon by the trustees, who have expressed their annoyance at the un toward event, and their determination that the repetition of such a calamity shall be avoided.] STRANGE ATTEMPTED BURIAL.—About two o'clock on Thursday morning, the wife of Thomas Hoy, a poor Irish labourer, residing in Matthew's-court, Back Chester street, Birkenhead, gave birth to an infant. It was a six months' child, and lived but half an hour. Between eleven and twelve o'clock, on the same night, a police constable on duty in the neighbourhood of the Roman Catholic Chapel, observed two women in the churchyard, scratching a hole with their hands, for the purpose of burying the corpse, which had been enclosed in a rude home-made box as a coffin. They were stopped, and an inquest held on Saturday morning, before Mr. Churton, the coroner, when the above facts were legally elicited, and a verdict of " Natural death" returned. Hay's wife had no surgical assistance during her confinement, but was attended by an old woman, named Ann Campbell, who stated to the police, that, by the priest's authority, she had herself christened the child. RELIEF TO THE POOR: MR. RUSHTON AND THE OVERSEERS.—Last week a young man named Evans, a cripple, applied to the Parish-office, in Fenwick-street, for relief. He was furnished with an order to break stones, but protested that his lameness totally incapaci tated him for any such employment. He was sent away, however, without examination into the truth of his state ment, and without further relief. The young man, des perate with hunger, thrust his crutch through a shop window, that he might be taken into custody. He wrote, when in Bridewell, to Mr. Rushton, detailing all the cir cumstances of the case. A parish surgeon was called in, who gave it as his opinion that the young man's lameness totally unfitted him for the task of breaking stones. On Saturday Mr. Rushton sent for Mr. Gray, to remonstrate with him upon the impropriety which his assistants had committed in turning away the man without any examin ation or any relief whatever. He said, " Mr. Gray, I would wish you to take official notice of what I shall read. If any more parties are brought here, having been refused relief by your subordinates ; and if you overseers do not attend here when you are summoned, I will, under the 9th of George 1., chap. 7, sec. 1, order relief myself ; and, having taken care to summon you to attend me, if you do not attend or order relief, I will indict you! There, that is in a small compass to remember ; and I will carry it out." FARNSWORTH'S PATENT BRICK-M AKING MACHINE. — We had the pleasure, a few days since, of inspecting a machine, the invention of Mr. Farnsworth, for the pur pose of moulding bricks from clay, in the state in which it is taken from the ordinary bed, thus dispensing with the difficult process of tempering, and also the necessity of drying the bricks preparatory to their being submitted to the kiln. The machine is extremely compact ; at one end there is a receptacle for the clay, in which are placed four spiked rollers, which, working at different speeds, act as cutters, and so completely separate the immense masses of clay that they pass from this mill in pieces not larger than bullets. At the other end of the machine is a large horizontal circle divided into six moulds, and as the circle passes round each compartment is consecutively filled with the small pieces of clay, which are almost im mediately submitted to a pressure of several tons, by means of an eccentric-worked from beneath, and forced perfectly into the form of a brick, which is delivered into the surface by a simple incline. Every portion of this machine is worked by one motion, and it is calculated that it will make from 25 to 35 bricks per minute, worked, by a five-horse engine. There are many advantages to be derived from this invention, but the most important seems to be the superior shape, hardness, and consequent &no bility of the bricks. kiFaIEiEEME ACCIDENTAL DEATH BY DROWNING.-At one o'clock on Saturday, John Brady, a seaman on board the ship Governor Davies, being in the Victoria dock. and two of his shipmates were passing from the quay to the vessel by a stage, when Brady happening to step upon one of the planks which was on what is called " a cant," slipped, fell down into the dock, and almost immediately sank. The body was recovered in about twenty minutes, but life was totally extinct. Sr. SIMON'; PARISH CHURCH.—The Bishop of Chester has fixed the Ist of March for the consecration of St. Si- mon's new Church. This building is the first-fruits in Liverpool of Church reform, by making the body free for the poor, and of improved ecclesiastical architecture. We regret to learn that it is still in debt. Great exer tions are now making to have all matters arranged for the reception of the Lord Bishop. who has, as well as the Rectors of Liverpool, taken a most lively interest in the progress of the building. We congratulate the minister and his parishioners on the success which has attended their efforts ; and we are sure that such an event as the consecration of a parish church (it is upwards of a century since St. Peter's was consecrated) will be welcomed by all who take an interest in religion. THE NATIONAL RATE OF TAXATION.—A good deal of conversation, and no little complaint, have recently come under notice in this town and elsewhere, relative to the rates in which the poor are now laid in various localities—some being almost exonerated from any burthen, whilst others are mulcted in a large per centage. At a public dinner given last week at Hull, to the ex-governor of the workhouse of that town, the subject was strongly remarked upon by one of the speakers. It appears that in that locality " two portions of one man's establishment (in Hull end Sculcoates) are quarrelling which is to main tain the poor. The speaker argued for the more exten sive or national system of rating; for now in settling parochial disputes, £3O to £5O are often spent in quarrel ling which parish is to maintain a pauper—to the gain of lawyers only. Why, he asks, should Liverpool be rated at upwards of ten times the amount rernired for the same purpose in many of the rural districts ? He thus prcceeds, " When the whole island of England is one and the same interest, I cannot see why one is so much more highly rated than another. It is said that a national rate would bring a more lavish expenditure. If that should be the case, it would be in favour of the pauper. I say let there be a national rate. We have been brought under the Poor-law Commissioners, and I say I don't object to it. I say that a local distribution, and a national superin tendence is good ; and if there were a national rate, local distribution, and government superintendence, it would, in my opinion, be the best thing we could have." CAUSES IN THE ASSESSORS' COURT. This court, which sits simultaneously with the quarter (or rather pe riodical) sessions for this borough, was held last week. The following were the principal causes :—West v. M`Kay, an action in which plaintiff, a porter, sought £5OO damages for bodily injury —the breaking of his thigh—by a push from the defendant. Plaintiff was in the employ of Messrs. Winstanley, auctioneers, and defendant was the keeper of a tavern in Roscoe-street. No proof of provo cation was given, and the jury returned a verdict for plain tiff, damages £2s.—Ross v. Bate : an action brought by the proprietor of the Liverpool Chronicle, to recover £B. 10s. for printing and advertising the exhibition of the whale at Tranmere. The jury, making some abatement for advertising in Manchester (not within the jurisdiction of the court), returned a verdict for plaintiff, £5 4s. 6d. — Kevin v. Jones : an action to recover damages from Mr. Jones, I iscuit baker, Fenwick-street, for bodily injury, by being knocked down by defendant's gig and horse. Da mages awarded, £lo.—Mooney and wife v. Nicholl and wife Both are publicans. and damages were sought for false imprisonment of Mooney's wife, on a charge of stealing spirits from defendant's house. Verdict for plain tiff, damages 40s.—A case for debt was decided, showing that the wife of a captain of a ship, deceased, was not liable during the life of her husband, nor until she had authentic information of his death.—Pearce v. Livingston : The plaintiff sought damages for being turned out of his situation with defendant, an earthenware dealer in Lord street, without three months notice, as agreed upon when he was engaged. Plaintiff had a salary of £2OO a year, ' but soon after entering upon his situation, absented him self on the plea of illness, although he was seen walking about, apparently well. Verdict for the defendant. THE RoscoE CLUD.—The annual meeting took place on Thursday evening last, in the theatre of the Royal Institution. Mr. J. A. Tinne was called to the chair, and there were present a large number of our literary towns men. The secretary read a letter from Mr. H. R. Sand bach, urging that ladies should not be admitted to the discussion class. A letter was read from Dr. Trail, highly approving of the Institution. That gentleman had for warded a handsome donation of books. The Report, read by the secretary, Mr. Boult, showed the satisfactory progress of the Club. The Club-room being found to be too small, steps had been taken to procure a branch establishment in the neighbourhood of the Exchange. Upon the whole of the accounts the Club were in pos session of assets, beyond all liabilities to the amount of upwards of £2oo.—The receipts of the Cofft e-room had increased from £2B weekly to (last week) £4l. To the library 600 vols. had been presented during the year. It was the opinion of the Committee that miscellaneous lectures should not be prosecuted at present, the expense being great, and the advantage questionable. "In con clusion, (the report says,) the Council wish to express their confident expectations that the Roscoe Club is destined to fulfil the high and important object of its for mation, and that it will keep the position it has already attained, of being one of the most valuable institutions of the town." Mr. Estill in moving the passing of the report alluded to the satisfactory state of the Club, and highly commended the valuable services of the secretary. The following gentlemen were elected trustees :—Messrs. H. R. Sandbach, E. Estill, T. Thornely, G. H. Law rence, J. R. Jeffrey, T. Booth, J. A. Tinne, J. P. G. Smith. R. Gladstone, S. Thornely, W. Cross, and T. Littledale. The Archbishop of Dublin was elected a member for life, in consideration of his friendship to the club, and his large donations of books. A resolution was passed recommending to the new Council such an altera tion in the laws as would exclude ladies, as the club had no means of affording any ostensible benefit in return for their subscriptions. Mr. Boult, the secretary was elected a member for life. The usual votes of thanks were passed, and the meeting separated. THE CHASE. The CHESHIRE HOUNDS will meet on Wednesday (to-morrow), at Wilkesley Village ; on Thursday, at Cholmondeley ; on Saturday, at Ravensmoor Windmill; each day at half-past ten o'clock. Sir W. W. WYNN'S HOUNDS will meet on Wednesday (to-morrow), at Erddig ; on Friday, at Carden ; on Satur day, at Bangor; each day at half-past ten o'clock. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. JUVENILE OFFENDERS.--SIOTey, the active police officer, charged Charles Turner and William Bradburn, two urchins, with having attempted to rob several shops in Pitt-street, about five o'clock on Thursday evening. Turner, the elder lad, who is a notorious thief, was com mitted to prison for three months ; the other, an ex tremely young boy, was sent to the overseer. EXTENSIVE ROSSERY.-Edward Turner, a warehouse.. man in the employ of Messrs. Sanders and Claxton, corn merchants, was on Thursday committed for trial at the sessions, by Mr. Rushton, on a charge of stealing a large number of bags, the property of his employers. Papers in possession of a witness named Brierley, of Preston, proved that the latter had purchased 3,000 of the bags from the prisoner at different times for £42, all of which were afterwards sold in Preston and its neighbourhood. DEFRAUDING AN EMIGRANT.—On Saturday, John Byrne, a middle-aged man, was charged with having been a party to defrauding, by false pretences, Pat Carley, a poor Irishman, of a sum of £2 10s. The statement of the complainant was to the effect that, on Tuesday morning, the prisoner and Mr. Jones, the second mate of the packet-ship Siddons, came - to his lodgings, and offered him a passage to New York in that vessel for £2 10s. (the only money be had), if he would consent to act as "Jemmy Duck," and feed the fowls on board ship. To this the poor fello - w consented, and the party, which also included a person named Gaskill, adjourned to a neigh bouring public-house. Carley paid the money to the prisoner, who handed it to Jones. He went on board the Siddons, was stowed away by the second mate, but dis covered, turned off, and the vessel has since gone to sea. Gaskill appeared in court to testify apparently in favour of the prosecutor. He had suggested, he said, a receipt pro duced, as a security for the money which was paid down. Mr. Rushton expressed his opinion that the witness Gaskill, who had come under pretence of serving Carley, was one of the same class as the others, and lived by plundering poor passengers of their money. The prisoner spoke up and said, " Yes ; he got 10s. of the money. I only got three glasses of brandy." Mr. Rushton, after referring to the act, ordered the prisoner to be put back, and an information to be laid against him. He indig nantly ordered Gaskill about his business, and said, " Never let me see you here again, either as a witness or in any other character." DARING ROBBERY. — OIIe of the most barefaced rob beries that has ever been committed in this town was per petrated on Thursday evening at the shop of Mr. Sewell, watchmaker, of South Castle-street. About a quarter before seven o'clock, Mr. Sewell's foreman was alarmed by hearing one of the shop windows, which are made of strong plate glass, smashed from the outside with a brick, and instantly some person in the street snatched eight gold watches and two gold cases, of the value of £l2O, or thereabouts, with which the thief made off. The shop man instantly rushed to the shop door, with the view of pursuing the plunderers, but to his great surprise he found that the door had been secured on the outside by turning the cross-bar, so that it was utterly impossible that he could get out without the assistance of some person in the street who unfastened the door. It appears, however. that some other parties had seen the transaction, and not only captured one of the thieves, but they also recovered some of the stolen property. Three men were seen lurk ing about the Belvidere Hotel, and one of them having given something to the other two, the party went towards Mr. Sewell's shop. After staying near the door for a short time, one of them smashed a window, and having stolen the watches and divided them as quickly as possi ble between them, they ran off in different directions. A. police-officer. who bad seen part of the transaction, pur sued one man named William Power, and tripped him, causing him to drop something which proved to be a gold watch. Ultimately, in consequence of the alarm, a num ber of persons joined in the pursuit, and the prisoner was overpowered and captured. Another gold watch was picked up by a boy in Gilbert-street ; a third was picked up by a little boy named Robert Price, and a person named Pickford found the case of a gold watch. The value of the property recovered was stated to be about £5O. It is much to be regretted that the prisoner's com panions escaped with the remainder of their booty. On Friday, Power was brought up before Mr. Rushton l►ttd committed for trial. LOCAL MEETINGS DISTRICT PROVIDENT SOCIETY. M firc annual meeting on Tuesday, the Mayor took fhe chair, rind urged with much force the admirable objects , • • •. • which the' institution possesses on t. public. The report first noticed with regret, large a town as Liverpool, the annual subscri he generosity of the that, in so ptions to so useful a society should barely exceed a single thousand pounds. The casual donations, inclusive of a legacy of £2 25., between the Ist of May and the 31st Deeember. were £173 13s. The total number of cases in which re- lief was granted during the past year was 32,696, at a cost of £2,607 12s. 6d. ; but the great majority of these cases was during the first four months—the number between the Ist of May and the 31st December hating been con fined to 9,663 cases, of which 3,633 were English, 5,465 9A- Sr - 2A also, z4B Scotch, 298 Welsh, ann ,4 not ascertained. The total number of cases relieved in 1846 was limited to 11,845, of which 6,003 were Irish ; and the total relieved in 1845 was only 6,646, of whom 3,567 were Irish. The committee regret that in the face of the increased demands upon the society, the number of honorary or voluntary visiters of the society should have continued to decrease, a loss of 51 having occurred during the past year, 202 names only being now left upon the books. The report next referred to a falling off in the deposit account, and attributed if in some measure to the falling off of the visiters, but more particularly to the general distress which prevailed. The amount deposited in 1846 was £8.036 3s. 2d., and there was returned in the same year £8,488 ; while in 1847 there was deposited £6.409'105. 54d. and returned £7,062 Gs. 4d. The report next noticed the success which had attended the establishment of a branch office in Bispham-street, and the consequent establish ment of other branch offices in Jordan-street, in October, and at the Church of England Schools, in Bond -street, in December. The greatest number of depositors at any one time in 1847 was 2,103, against 3,206 in 1846, and 3,545 in 1845. The committee, in conclusion, state that they have not this season deemed it necessary to make an extraordinary appeal to the liberality of the public, but if the demands upon the society should continue as heavy as during the past month, when £5OO were granted in relief, they fear that the funds will soon be found quite inade quate to meet , the necessary disbursements, and, therefore call upon the subscribers to interest others on behalf of the society, and so prevent its languishing.—The balance sheet of accounts from the Ist of May to the 31st of De cember last, shews that the balance on the Ist of May, in favour of the institution, was £1,988 7s. 51d. ; and, on the 31st December, £1,559 14s. 11d. The treasurer ex plained that this apparent decrease was chiefly owing to the extra amount of arrears, in consequence of the accounts being made up to the 31st of December, instead of the 30th of April; and he alluded with pleasure to the fact that some very considerable donations had been made to the institution since the Ist of January, amongst which was one from Mr, Moss, of £2O. Still, it must be remem bered that the balance was now materially lessened ; as, since the Ist of January, £5OO had been expended in re lief. On one day, the monetary relief amounted to £6 Ils. 6d., and upwards of 1000 sixpenny loaves were also distributed.—Among the resolutions, which will be found in our advertising columns, was one submitted by Dr. Reynolds, with a view to see whether the society had not suffered in consequence of the discontinuance of pre miums to deserving depositors. The Rev. J. Monk said be considered that with some necessary restrictions to prevent imposition, a return to the system of premiums would increase the number of depositors among that class of persons whom it was mostly the object of thesociety to assist. THE LADIES' CHARITY.—The annual meeting of the friends to this invaluable institution was held on Thursday, the Rector Brooks in the chair. The report stated that the past year had not been so favourable as the preced ing, as regarded the state of the funds. The receipts in 1846 were £1262.65. 2d., and the expenditure £lO4l 7s. 6d, leaving a balance to the credit of the institution of £220 18s. Bd. The receipts for the year just terminated, were £973 9s. 5d., and the expenditure £lO3l 10s. Bd., leaving a deficiency of £5B ls. 3d., which, deducted from the balance of £156 remaining in the hands of the trea surer at the end of the year 1847, would leave a surplus of £9B 7s. sd. The balance in the hands of the treasurer was small when the demands upon the service of the in stitution were likely to be increased by the prevailing des titution, and would probably be greater than during auy former year. ROYAL INSTITUTION.—The annual meeting was held on Friday, Dr. Raffles presiding. Dr, Raffles read a long address regretting the loss of Samuel Turner, Esq„ fellow of the royal society, who had been removed by the hand of death. Very little worthy of especial notice had taken place with respect to the museum ; but Mr. Johnson had catalogued a list of birds; and they had made purchases of specimens on conchology and ornithology. Reference was next made to the great number of persons who had visited the museum without doing any damage to the property of the institution. The state of the Royal Insti tution School next came in for a share of commendation, and the chairman said that it was in a still more sufficient state than ever, so far as regarded its adaptation to a great commercial community. He could like to see one thing done in conexion with the institution, and that was the establishment of a society for preserving and arranging reports. documents, and memorandums relating to the town and district. The treasurer's statement was next read, from which it appeared that the receipts during the past year amounted to £935 16s. 7d., and there was now, after payment of their debts, a balance in the hands of the treasurers and bankers of £333 19s. 10d.. DOCK COMMITTEE.—The deaths of Mrs. Pritchard, keeper of the lighthouse at Point Lynas, and Mr. William Williams, keeper of the telegraph on Holyhead mountain. were reported. It was referred to the marine sub-com mittee to recommend successors. Wm. Blundell was ap pointed one of the crew of the Liverpool life-boat, in the place of William Woods, deceased. In reply to the ap plication of Mr. Barber, to be allowed to discharge his vessel in the Albert Dock without weighing the cargo, the committee recommended that, in consequence of the ad ditional security afforded in keeping the accounts, the sys tem of weighing on land be continued, more especially as thatany reduction n w atio of o c u h l a d r !be e es whichvery rfl t couldtrifling : bem ad e by omitting confirmed. A let ter was read from the.,Shipowners' Association, expressing their unqualified approval of the clause proposed to be in serted in the new dock bill for the recovery of the freight of goods warehoused in the Albert Dock, and offering to supply evidence in support of the clause (free of expense to the Dock Committee) before the Committee of the House of Commons. ELECT VESTRY.—On Tuesday, a special meeting of this body was held to consider a motion submitted by. Mr. Thornely, and the necessity for which he enforced by a very able and lengthy address. The motion was for the appointment of a committee for effecting a reduction in the expense of sending Irish paupers to their own coun try—the magistrates' fees forming so large a portion of such items—and for memorialising the Town Council and the House of Commons, relative to the injustice done to the parish in this respect by recent legislative measures. Prior to 1845, said Mr. Thornely, the expense of sending Irish paupers over was borne by the county, but since then the parish has paid the expense. The cost of send ing over the paupers to Ireland, from Liverpool, for the quarter ending 23d Docember last (2,685 families) was £l6lB, of which £276 was paid for magistrates' clerks' fees. The families consisted of 4,448 persons, and among these were only 478 from the hospitals, the rest being vagrants. None of these persons had any claim on the parish, and the expense of sending them home ought to be paid out of the consolidated fund,: and the Vestry ought to petition parliament for a redress of the grievance. Mr. Thornely next alluded to the " Five Years Assess ment Act," the operation of which was, he contended, in this parish and several others partial and prejudicial to the interests of the poor themselves. The fees paid were 2s. for each summons, 4s. for a warrant, and 2s. for each pass. The sum paid for passes for the half -year ending March last, was £252, and for the following half-year £459, the fees for the former period amounted to £445, and during the latter to £Bl3. The charge for these things was lower in Manchester and Stockport, though much less bu.imtss was done. Mr. Thornely then alluded to the enormous expenses which the parish had lately been called on to pay, and mentioned as instances : £7,000 a-year to the Corporation, £lO,OOO for the erec tion of schools, £6OOO for carrying recent acts of parlia ment, a large amount for new buildings, besides the cost of the late Irish influx, and the wonder was, under such circumstances, that a 3s. rate saw us through the exi gencies. The Water Works ceased to be liable to rates the moment they became the property of the Corportion, doubtless because they were then the property of the bur gesses, and on the same ground he (Mr. Thornely) claimed exemption for the -parish from the payment of Tt n h a e e g i bs s uu t r rm a g t e e os s fs ' e£s clerks' ,6,a9n4 fees, dBht ha the d b fees burgesses been n p paid d fbeingbeingorthese e stheteh fees eesratepayersspropertynee t ho the act came into operation. Mr. Thornely concluded by re commending that the clerks of the select vestry should fill up the passes. Mr. F erguson secon d e d th e mo tion. He said that Mr. Thornely's speech had proved that the present system of assessing and levying the rates was ra dically bad—that the parishioners were called upon to pay what they had no r i g ht t o p a y, an d th a t un til a national poor -rate were adopted, justice would not be done to the people of England. An equalization of taxes was abso lutely necessary, and until the Vestry went to parliament with a very strong hand, and showed that the people of Liverpool were exceedingly ill-used in this matter, they would not have themselves righted. The motion was carried unanimously, and the following gentlemen were appointed a committee to carry it into effect : The Rev. Rector Brooks, Mr. Ferguson,Mr. Urquhart, Mr. Lewin, Mr. Poole, and Mr. Thornely. Distritt H. Brooke, Esq., of the Grange, is the sheriff for Cheshire for the present year. Sir Robert Peel has subscribed £lO towards repairing the Independent Chapel at Bellshorn near Blackburn. The assizes commence at Lancaster, on Saturday, whence the Judges proceed to Appleby, &c., and finish at Liver pool. The Chester Courant mentions that on Sunday last two butterflies were taken, one in a garden at Chester, and the other at Plas-yn-Yale. A Preston paper mentions that, on Friday, a kingfisher was found dead in Cadiley Brook, where it bad been choked in attempting to swallow a roach, which was found in its mouth. Mr. Paul Dyson, of Manchester, well known in the betting circles, wiz found drowned in a brook near the Reservoir, on Sunday week. There is no doubt that his death was accidental, his watch and money having been found on his person. The operatives in Blackburn who recently turned out on the proposed reduction of ten per cent. on their wages, have gone to work again. on the understanding that when better times male, the wasters will make up the reduc tion,: PA. 15, 184 S. E. R. Harris, Esq., of Preston, has been appointe d deputy prothonotary for this county, in the place of the late Mr. Forrest, who committed suicide. The poor-rates in Walton-le-Dale .re now after the rate of eight shillings in the pound per year. E v en that high assessment is scarcely equal to the demand upon the parish through want of employment by the factory open' tives. FOWL STEALING.—At Ormskirk, on Monday, William, Kimmel-, an old offender from North Me o l s , was charged with having stolen a quantity of fowls from Mr. WOO Rimmers, farmer, Formby. Prisoner was captured Liverpool on the 3rd instant, offering the fowls for sal e at St. John's Market, and was conveyed to Ormskir' The fowls being identified, he was committed to take ill e trial at the next Kirkdale Sessions. FEARFUL ACCIDENT.—An awful accident occurred s t Buckley, near Mold, on Tuesday. As two of the al° were at work at the colliery the roofing of the' mine fell in , and killed them both upon the spot. They were s ° firmly embedded in the fall that gunpowder woo' necessal to separate the mass before the bodies were rembved. 43 ; the same day, and in the same mi ne , one man was killed by an explosion of fire-damp. THE DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY NEAR MANEfigg i TIM —lwo of the men, named Connolly and O'Brien. con' cerned in the robbery of the' Rev. N. Germon. head' max' ter of the Manchester Grammar School, were apprefiende; on Tuesday, in a little alley in' Blakeiy-street. On Wer nesday, they were placed beforb the magistrates. 1 % 11 ; Germon swore to their identity, and' they were remand to complete the evidence. O'Brien is an Irishman. C°'' nolly was born at Liverpool, but of Irish parents. • The coalmasters in the Ruabon district, finding nos d' vantage in working at present p r i ces , h ave reso l ve d t o , , e ., notice of a general reduction of wag e *. t o t a k e e ff ec t in th e e course of this week, The Brymbo company have alrea o done so, and the men have met the reduction in a prope r spirit. The British Iron Company's men,. at Ruabea', have now been out of work since Ch r i s t m as.. Th e r ate (/' wages being quite out of proportion to the profits of trade , the company were compelled to give notice to their w ork' people of a proportionate reduction of wages: MYSTERIOUS CASE.—On Friday afternoon last, al c i agent for a house in Bloom-st r e e t, M anc h es t er , w hi c h had for some time been unoccupied, foutild in the yard 11 2 earthenware jug, covered with a lid, and within it the body of an infant. Information was given to the police , who found another jar also containing the body 'of an ni l fant. Both bodies were in a state of deco m p os iti on , an d were filled up with water. The last occupants' of the, house were two single ladies, on e o f w h om di e d i n it, and the other, it is stated is now in a lunatic asylum; Theft used to take lodgers. An inqu es t was h e ld, th e r e su lt 01 which was a verdict of "Found dead." EMPLOYMENT IN MANCHESTER. — Prospects are rather discouraging at present in the manufacturing disttio s : owing to the advance, though slight, in the price oflcor ton; the spinners will be unable, if the advance is nasitii tained, to purchase adequately to th e f u ll em pl oyme nt ° their mills, and thousands of hands will thus be throl out of employment. The numb er o f h an d s wor ki ng ru time in Manchester is nearly 1000 more, by the last than the preceding one, and there is a considerable ln; crease in the number of hands wholly out of work, whi'' about 500 hands have been added to those on short time,' Most of the mill s aro u n d M anc h es t er are wor ki ng s ho" time, and th e o p era ti ves are su ff er i ng severe l y f rom 10" , wages and the privations of the' slason. me NORTH LAN CASHIRE A GRICULTURAL SOCIETY.— ri .-1,1 annual meeting of th e su b scr ib ers to this society was he;,, on Saturday last, at the Bull Inn, W. Garnett, Esq., the chair, The accounts, it was' stated, had been erf amined, and showed a balance i n f avour o f t h e soc i e ty ° about £lOO. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year :—President, the Earl of Burlington • vic e. presidents, T. L.W. France, J. N. Farington, son, and Le Gendre N. Starkie, Esqrs. ; committee, . 1 1, Birchall, W. J. G arne tt, J. P ee l A. R. Ford, J. German, Fair , W. Lamb, A. Begbie, J. Bi nns , C. Bi r ket, .. Boagoe, T. Marsden, and W. Rhodes, Emirs. Deputatiod from Kendal and Yorkshire attended, to propose the et tension of the society's limits to those places, and theP proposals will be considered on the 12th March next."' Preston paper. A remarkable example of what may be accomplished 1 1 courage and perseverance under th e mos t di scoura gi4 circumstances is presented in the history of the "Col , mercial Bank of England," the seat of which is at M, Bl l chester, with a copy of the present directors' eigr'' annual report of which we have been favoured. This u t ir e fortunate bank was among the hotbed creations of,„A banking mania which overtook many parts of the ' 111 0 : Kingdom, and none more so than Man c h es t er , s°' , twelve or fifteen years since. At the eighth annual me l t ing, held last week, the directors were ena bl e d t o prese, s , a liquidation, all but complete, out of the ele men t s of order with which they were embarrassed. The total 1 7 0 bilities of the unfortunate bank are no w re d u ced £1,684 16s. 5d., which there are assets to covet o f £2,007 19s. Bd., leaving the small balan ce rescue d out o the entire wreck of £323 3s. 3d. • d , DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—On Friday aftern4:o as a cheese-factor, (whose name we have not learned,) walking from Adlington to Macclesfield, he'was stopr; il near the railway bridge at the former place, by two lo resembling hawke r s, eac h o f w h om presented .a p i sto l 1, 5 demanded his money. They snatched at and broke l t watchguard. A man came up and the robbers ran 0 0 The alarm being given, the landlord of a public-house at hand mounted his horse, and, joined by others, purso,f the chase, and . came up with the fellows after a roil; about three miles. One of the pursuers, named WY 8 „1 was fired at, and the ball went throu g h hi s arm , 7 0 without touching the bone. The b ro th er o f th e same magi was also fired at, and more dangerously wounded in thigh. Tl'e two robbers were finally apprehended; d surgeon succeeded in extracting the ball from the boo.f u j .the man most severely hurt, but he is still in a precati t i o f condition. The robbers are, of course, committed trial. , d p MANAGEMENT OF THE ATHENIEUM—AN Ammar"; o f DISCLOSURE.—The manner in which the loose religl e l and moral principles of one Dawson, a lecturer, embrot o . the directors of the Athenaeum with the friends and porters of the institution, will probably not have 'flw rr from the memory of our readers. If not, it will he. o o membered that in consequence of Mr. Dawson's opit', l be y becoming,known to the Bishop of Oxford and others,,L declined to take part in the proceedings of the soiree t , which Dawson was to be present. The oth er eveq o o there was an adjourned annual meeting of the menlu t o f of the Athenaeum, in the course of which the condue go Mr. Langley, as secretary, was ve r y f ree ly di sc ussed it . much so, that Mr. Langley became hard pushed for su_,, able weapons of defence. He was charged w ith incomr o f tence and neglect of duty; and, by way, we suppose , shewing his competency as the depository, amon g st ot"lf, things, of confidential matters, he let out the follos1; instance of foul play on the part of Mr. Edwards, of chairman of the board of directors. The passage is tl e f reported in the Courier of Saturday :—" Mr. Lang then read a minute, with the view of proving that he "el placed under the direction of Mr. Edwards, as cilairm t , of the board. He then read a letter to himself from Edwards, of date September the 18th, 1846. It comr°, o l ced with ' My dear sir,' and proceeded thus :--` P° o g say a word about the Bishop of Oxford's letter to one.' (Loud laughter.) Send me word by the train sc l o o leaves at a quarter past five this evening, w hether :, A t have answered him. If not, Welkin b i nd Twill cook affair—(roars of laughter)—and endeavour to place, ' (o in a wrong position, if we cannot prevail upon ho alter his mind.' (Laughter.)" This was obviousli v i , awkward disclosure for Mr. Edwards, and not over I!Aif sant, we should think, to " Watkin ;" for it very bro7ol insinuates that " Watkin" is just the kind of man to 0, 9 0 t in " cooking" a dilemma for a bishop. It is cer tain') very creditable to the taste or candour—to use a v t phrase—of either Party ; but we trust, nevertheless, the it will be put down to indiscretion and vulgarity, arid t io i the blab, Mr. Langley, w ill not h ave succeeded in ini'fb-V the institution itself. Whilst upon the subject of Ito' literary institutions, w hi c h pro f ess i n some d egree to `f e r' rate their members, (but without any disparaging r e t o' ence whatever to the Athenaeum,) let us suggest the ;Of priety of founding in this city a Collegiate Instill do ll upon principles somewhat similar to the noble institui the in Liverpool, which, among the more respectable °, middle classes, has almost superseded the Mechanic s 01,9 stitution. Some i n stituti o n of th e ki n d i s muc h Wad s and we should like to see one raised by the hen Churchmen.—Manchester Courier. EXPLOSION OF A STEAM BOILER : NINE LIVES o „, —On Friday morning last, a steam boiler, on the pre,o2,et, of Mr. Thomas Riley, spindle-maker, Medlock-sP o rtr London-road, Manchester, exploded with a loud rev and was followed by the appearance in the air of ht r or stones, iron bars, and other materials. Great const e , Ole tion prevailed in the neighbourhood. A smithy 0 ,"0 1 back was completely destroyed, and within it Mr. It" - /lif workmen and apprentices were known to be busy stand time. Strenuous exertions were made by the police others to extricate such of them as might be found coo, alive. Mr. Statham, o f th e fi rm o f Tennants atwd° happened to pass at the time, and, narrowly eselY ka himself, sent his wor k men t o ass i st. Several worfoislP and lads were ex t r i ca t e d f rom t h e ru i ns. An el d er ') 00 0 1 i named Turner, who was at work ove r th e en gine-, b oO, r was found, and but littl e i n j ure d. Th e b o il er had suddenly, and the whole building tumbled down• d e4 following were found dead : Henry Hughes, an a_PI lt . tice, about 18 years old ; Charles M'Curdy, agrao o :o Joseph Atkinson, a lad 15 years old, residing in P r "g, street • John Davies, about 18 ; Samuel Chaddertooyr i ', 10 ; Samuel and John Wadsworth. The last tw ° t ree children of Mr. Wadsworth, butcher, of Medlock -5 0 50 0 1 from the back door of whose house there is a P o e, leading to Mr. Riley's premises. The childrens i, whom was seven, the other two years and a half olu, playing in the smithy when the explosion occurrs,oo brother named Richard was with them, who esea_ A P7er t , ° ," slight injury on the head ; and also the lad Chad joa',l mentioned above. The bodies of those who we' s, :O dead were taken, some to their respective resideno e o l; others to a stable adjoining the Royal Oak, in D odo . t t. 4 street. Those who were injured were conveyer I'7 infirmary. Ten other persons were seriously hurt* / a re, e of the materials of the building, and/ many pieces e gg were thrown to a great distance, and did more or 0 0 ; jury—premises being injured and parties narrowly 4 , , d ing with their lives. Two dogs were buried eiP„otwo horse-shoe forge adjoining, but were got out, anti their gratitude from their release in a variety of o iet 4 their deliverers. The engine was f oun d t o be c°°'; efied shattered. Strange to say, no t w ith s t an di ng the ii r t iio, destruction, a Dutch clo c k i n a s h e d c l ose by, C° ';fli o be for some hours ticking as steadily as ever seemi7 o l,; d affected by the shock. On examining the rema illli t itt boiler, it was discovered (it is said) that it had b ee f ,l o' weak and inefficient condition, in parts reduced_,,,t l3 d. of an inch in thi c k ness . w i t h pa t c h es badly segn;otillp, the truth of this re p or t, we , o f course , know4o,/ , Mr. Riley, the proprietor, was apprehended on PLffer;i morning, but was liberated on bail. A... 5 005p Benson., died, after the:fatalities stated. 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