The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-22 00:00:00

Feb. 22, 1848. Etttrature. VARIETIES temperance puts wood on the fire, meal in the barrel, lour in the tub, money in the purse, credit in the country, con tentment in the house, clothes on the bairns, vigour in the body, intelligence in the brain, and spirit in the -Whole constitution. CURIOUS FASHION.—In 1612,10 James 1., Mr. Edward li awley, of Grey's Inn, coming to court one day, Maxwell [a Scotsman] led him out of a room by a black string Which he wore in his ear, a fashion then much in use ; but this had like to have cost warm blood. Not only Clay's Inn Society, but all the gentry in London, thought themselves concerned in the affront ; and Hawley threat ened to kill Maxwell whenever he met him, if he refused to fight, which so frightened the king, that he sent for the benchers, and made up the quarrel.—Tindal. NATIONAL CRARACTERISTICS.—A German, an Eng. lishman, and a Frenchman, each received an order fora d rawing of a camel. The Frenchman went immediately to the Jardin des Plantes, and the next day produced a skiif ullY-drawn, if not quite a perfect sketch of the camel. aThe Englishman set off on the first steamboat for the f can desert, an d there observed and sketched the animal, nd, after a few months, made a picture true to the life. Meanwhile, the German withdrew into his studio in order to construct the camel out of the depths of his own moral setoinusethioente.sness. Accordin g to the latest accounts, he is —North Amer ican. THE CHOLERA AN IMPORTED DISEASE IA which I have drawn but a faint outline, was not known in this country till the autumn of the year 1831. There aisrtedpearstooontsig, InasT onlyaware, who hold that it has always ex not in such numerous instances as at that period ; and they appeal to Morton and other ZIY writers on the diseases of this country in support of their opinion. But the malady was too strikine to be seenlioverlookedi.ti.t. or ever forgotten by any one who had once tainly till that year I never saw anything many 'robe sure I had not at that time been very however, years in practice here. The late Dr. Babington, for a very told ow that it was quite new to him. He had Parts o e f ryl° ng Period been in extensive practice in those th e rn 4 choler that gear he had the raged h : d e : °Polis and its vicinity where the epidemic _.most ; and when it first came among us he whether e curiosity to ask every medical man whom he met answer w as Year th e a y es e T any case of the . cholera ; and if the , he went on to inquire whether before person had ever met with the same com paint ; and the reply was a l ways , without a single excep tlonn' N o. Yet I say there were and are a few practi thaers who de n i e d, an d d eny, t h at i t was any thi ng more n the common and well-known English complaint r aging with unusual frequency and violence.—Dr. Wat so n . a.REPEAL.—We have already repeatedly stated that th e f -Qq of Repeal, " die illa," 'the may come, without any o T a e agencies by which it is at present ostensibly sought for. .c may be, not wrung from E ngland, but forced upon Ire 'and. As to the " bubble, bubble, toil and trouble" of the faction by whom it is at present aimed at, vv!hold thorn of little account. Before a steady course of w ; rigorous policy, they would dissolve into 1-1- —The disease et - preterja niliii." - The humbug of Old Ireland:and the fierce, impracticable extravagance of Young Ireland, ;alight be equally disregarded by the statesman who took his stand upon constitutional principles ; and while he re- t nediedeve r ry real grievance, resolutely determined to Maintain the articles of the Union. But the minister who, for party objects, makes an alliance with the faction • of the country against the landed interest, and the super stition of the country against the Established Church, is tRe he most dangerous enemy to the integrity of the empire. it is who gives importance to the Repeal movement. He. it is who by unwise concession, dimi n ishes th e centri petal, and increases the centrifugal force—by the due ee quilibrium of which an harmonious connexion between th e two countries can alone be maintained. And should t he hour of separation come—as come, assuredly, it will, if our course of policy be not altered—such a calamitous result will not be ascribable to O'Connell or the priests, or Young Ireland, or Old Ireland, but to the deree in which faction shall have triumphed over principle g ; and the very system of government become itself the machi nery of agitation which can only find its perfect consum mation In the dismemberment of the empire.—Dublin University Magazine. THE KING OF B AVARIA AND THE INNKEEPER.— Amonge the uned ucated of Munich a habit prevails of using th third person singular of the past tense of the verb to be, to answer for all persons, first, second, and third ; and for tenses,—past, present, and future. We have no par allel in England for this habit ; but the re i s some a p proac h to it, in those persons who, wishing to be supe r - correc t, always say " I were." Now it happened that there was a gastwirth, or innkeeper, who was landlord of an establish ment much frequented in the outskirts of Munich, an cl„r i g i nal, and w h o was n ot or io u s f or hi s perseverance in Luis habit. One morning, the king, in his usual daily ratnble, found himself in this place, when, of course, Herr Gastwirth came out to salute him, with that mixture of familiar bonhommie and respect for his station which cha racterises the Bavarian people. " Well, Herr Gastwirth," said the king, "and so you are ths laadlord of thewas Gart er , ?, " Yes, I was, your majesty !" This of course, what the king wanted to hear. " But are you not sat the landlord, ?" "Yes I was, your majesty," again you answered unconscious gastwirth. 4, But when were Ara n a ;'7, ?" I was a long time, your majesty. thank ' s uPPose you hope you will be !" " Yes, could Ynosurt:tynatihiessty,s d I hope I was " The king questio'goo goodness, . bear it no lo He had been often baffled in his th with one of his e as t , n sfu er Pid habit of some of his subjects. peculiar and forcible gestures, which made ished landlord fear he was about to receive a royal con fished the king replied, in his laconic style, " Then, an as err Ga stWirth, I can tell you, you were an ass, you are th e s , and you always will be an ass !" And with that liesn rate uttegrarly i ian rried away, laving the oor üb migmnoarrant in hu what he had e offended his usually o°,l-natured king.—Fraser'z Magazine. PRE SENTIMENTS.—I have heard of several cases of l'eokrl)l..e hurrying home from a presentiment of fire ; and h • of Calderwood, was once, when absent from tithotne, seized with such an anxiety about his family that, out being able in any way to account for it, he felt ti l i te self impelled to fly to them, and remove them from house they were inhabiting, one wing of which fell down i mmediately afterwards. No notion of such a mis tfortune had ever before occurred to him, nor was there o ll' reason whatever to expect it, the accident originating e , lll ,sotne defect in the foundations.—A circumstance, gia i et'Y similar to this, is related by Stilling, of Professor ou'Llm, teacher of mathematics at Marburgh. who being let t - eve ning in company, was suddenly seized with a con very'"'en that he ought to go home. As, however, he was Suchcomfortably taking his tea, and had nothing to do at e, he resisted the admonition ; but it returned with but eaching his r force that at length he was obliged to yield. On house he found every thing as he had left it ; corn he now felt himself urged to remove his bed from the stoor the which it stood to another; but as it had always resistancere, he res i sted this impulsion also. However the do it. w as Vain, absurd as it seemed, he felt lie must so h e the I ) su mmoned the maid, and, with her aid, drew bed to the other side of the room • after which he felt quite at ease, and r e t urned to spend the rest of the evening , 1,1 1 his friend s . At ten o'clock the party broke up, and he retired home and went to bed and to sleep. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a loud crash, and mg looking out he saw that a large beam had fallen, bring -8 g Part Of the c eiling with it, and was lying exactly on the oase_pot his bed had occupied.—One of the most remarkable s o n presentiment I know is that which occurred, not lyingem3ng Since, on board one of her Majesty's ships, when er . off Portsmouth. The officers being one day at the .1 8 -table, a young Lieutenant P. suddenly laid down his :Land fork, pushed away his plate, and turned extremely . He then rose from the table, covering his face methhis hands, and retired f rom th e room . Th e pres id ent e mess, supposing him to b e ill, sen t one o f t h e young sw il ling to inquire w h a t was the matter. At first Mr. P. was uw illing to spe a k ; b ut on b eing pressed, he confessed prthat he had been seized by a sudden and irresistible im ession that a brother he had then in India was dead. 0 ,c lo ße died," sa id h e, " on the 12th of August, at six ck ; I am perfectly certain of it !" No arguments could overthr ow thi s conviction, which, in due cours e ' o f at Post, was verifi e d t o t h e letter. The young man had died Cawnpore, a t th e prec i se period mentioned.—The ght Side of Nature, by Mrs. Crowe. p. s t/R. HOWLEY'S FAITHFULNESS AND MUNIFICENCE.— •the late Archbishop of Canterbury had difficulties With which to contend, and many painful duties to per form. He had baptized the Queen ; he had solemnized her marriage ; he had placed the Crown upon her head ; he was the first ecclesiastic in the realm ; and when it appeared to him, as well as to other distinguished mem bers of the hierarchy, that, in the palace of the Sovereign, Sunday was observed in a manner rather in accordance with the gaiety of continental tastes than with the quiet Irbeserve of Engli s h an d P rotestant h a bi ts, he did not he -1 ate to call h er M a j esty ' s attention to the subject ; and hes been stated that more than once during the Mel ,r 1 e Ministry he respectfully tendered to the Crown Vice not quite in accordance with the wishes of those s _uo at that time surrounded our then youthful and in lz,lerieneed Sovereign. Though a man of remarkably ;l e nd and unassuming manners, he was by no means defi sett'Vn moral courage, nor likely to be deterred by any c. co urtiers from dis c h arg i ng a d u ty d ue t o hi s Sove , DTI- 3 11 or it is a to t of which that Sovereign is the remarkable fact that the grandfather of the frouinell, George instead of requiring similar advice His ih.,eesPlimate of his day, was himself the remonstrant. torit s Q i t Y orate of during the incumbency of Archbishop uen .,„_ s, addressed to that prelate a very grave letter, aid praying the ,:` routs and revelries" of Lambeth Palace, la s ca os n p d ita al b i e - 7 good L o o p rd Primate , " to terminate tbe .. an Y e o ther But Archbish Howley though cheerfully t o ever exposed himself to such a rebuke,. nor species of animadversion ; for, notwithstand- Z a diate taLth aPPlirent simplicity of his character, he was gene- Yeasilrot in avoiding awkward situations. Unlike his successor in the see of London, he usually ma naged to keep out of trouble, not so much by genuine 44° 1 4' and elevation of soul as by the possession of pru- No r aiyi the absence of vanity. He had sufficient sym skill toeelin th e ii rth his fellow-men to understand on the whole gs as well as their prejudices, and sufficient avoid as their self-love ; he therefore ob e';'tr the reputation of being very amiable, without 1 4' ee ut! s g_ the fame of extraordinary benevolence. As mu tetra I ,i s s other Archbishops he certainly was, but withal his eiellu!Y,methodical and perhaps too well regulated in as ; almost every deed was done apparently 4 limited of his routine duty • and though it is, within genoited circle, well known that he often gave way to a„.7 is impulses. yet the world at large underrated the u e 72 l tit which he expended in good works ; and as he was tors'ZiiiPposed to be a man of facile dispo, impos wont not victimize him so extensively as co t is their by P - 11 mn of his rank ;he therefore, won no pro 7 asion , e nor by parsimony incurred any reproach.raise 1848. PRIVY Arches Coot .e, of Bridg e i he Church ie a dissent' the deell in purelial l , Exeter, e' punisbn 3e .Bi tth Victo o pel or bil,'" y to the Lished to a' 'e. The sr 3ceedingsel uch as he An from cons; of Engherr r. The Pr (/ ' . Fust) 811 ' 1 ' L ask periet Aordshipe ning, that —A sPef,„ l° ; ~ankrUP lister, 0", f of the * , Mr. )., was ,! ransactl o er, Wasi 'Hemel -0 1 0 m i ght, fr ° Mr. Me` ) e arnica 0! he dates., s the P r ied be efec", oment $,, 11 1 1 ; 'any on's arsons, e ed as to L.dr 3el he until o fte b un t about 1 'on and C O L; (1 , rid High `' • to A. de , were• e reeely've n that til), lie day of ?t. the 0 00 nany e what t .t In Is, the Rl Instance. a an in ter' Office...o resenta ttu health• e p ' has plow. • last,-..tie !dared '`,"; I r res ti 7 e d o ill i i i 6 , C 0 one 00 place med bl re, cil o f e meinbeF e o f CO a Bent il r e ) lour 3try P , f tf that P' port• its coa ling r 0 to roe gth t te I lly 0 0 De , whop) Con s tit Sh eil mmts"": - ,4 el WillY 0 be c° Mint, :0d tutioo. alteratl° red theA f just so c f e ", ' n be t T oro o pt thdril too which ,1) al thou., A. be mein hbif tee ort J. 13r 0 p' 11 G. 13 4 , 1 Aw l).- 0 , na— t oOs ro thew it A N 1-110,?, HOUSES IN A MOORISH Tows.—The houses of Yahndi were most of them extremely well built, and consisted of various apartments round a series of courts, the principal entrance to which, being the usual open reception-room, faced the street. The lower and outer portions of these rooms were constantly washed with red ochre ; the upper were covered with the most elaborate patterns, formed in relief with pliant wood, and washed over with white clay. The roofs, supported by square pillars, were sloping, made of palm leaves, and having rafters of bamboo inside, which were blackened and polished. The street-rooms were halls of audience for men of consequence; the doors within were richly carved, and coloured with various pig ments, procured chiefly from vegetable substances.—Mrs. Lee's "African Wanderers." EQUANIMITY OF TEMPER OF THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.—Sydney Smith—not the Admiral, but the late Canon of St. Paul's—was accustomed to say that he had known the Archbishop from his childhood, and had never seen him, save once, betray the slightest mani festation of anger. It is perhaps the only case upon re cord of any mortal man being able permanently to endure the banter of Sydney Smith. The single instance referred to occurred when the canon and prelate wer schoolfellows at Winchester ; the former had won from the latter several games at chess, and, exulting in his success, was by no means sparing of "his quips and cranks and merry gibes," until at length the future Primate, losing all self-control, seized the chess-board, and dealt out such a blow as ut terly floored his adversary. From that time forward Mr. Smitn allowed him to win more games than he lost. GYPTIAN DIICATION system of education pursue damental one, which cannot by Muhammed Ali, is a fun however, be expected to be remedied by a Muhamtnedan ruler. It is the exclusion from the seminaries of that Christian instruction which alone produces that righteousness which " exalteth a na tion." "It has been well observed," says Col. Howard Vyse, " that the mcient system of Egyptian superstition survived the repeated conquests to which the country was subject, and at last yielded only to the Christian dispen sation ; and it may be doubted whether the present de graded and miserable condition of these people can ever be effectually improvecfrexcept by the same beneficial in fluence." The knowledge and belief of Christianity is higher object than that of national reform and advance ment. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life," said Christ ; "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." —Dr. Wilson's " Lands of the Bible." INACTIVITY OF THE NEGRO.—The negro is perhaps more fully alive than any other class of mankind to the luxury of undisturbed idleness. He has few wants, and those few are easily supplied in such a splendid island as Jamaica, where his provision ground, with the smallest possible amount of cultivation, will afford him every ne cessary, and some of the luxuries of life. What h e canno t raise for himself must, of course, be obtained by labour; but a very slight portion indeed of the primal curse now lights upon the emancipated negro, who has no ambition, and consequently no motive to persevere. Nor, indeed, can we wonder at this, if we only reflect seriously on the scenes which are visible at home. Do we not all know how difficult it is to rouse the western Highlander to any tmng nke active exertion How many thousands of the Irish are there at this moment who will not work, prefer ring to depend for life itself upon the precarious existence of a miserable root, which, of all articles of human food, while such things happen among Christians, in a land where the severity of the climate ought to be of itself a sufficient inducement to exertion, wonder that the negroes, who have neither the same advantages, nor the same cogent motives for labour, should abandon themselves to a life of lazy sensuality, and look upon the naked cane-fields, and choked coffee-plantations with an eye of utter indifference ? —Blackwood. A LAUGHABLE TRICE.—A few days ago an old farmer entered a town not twenty miles from Stourbridge, and put up at the Blue Pig Inn. After taking some refresh ment, he entered into conversation with some gay young sparks, who had been cracking their jokes at the old old farmer's unsophisticated and country manners, and who now equally enjoyed his numerous platitudes and simple observations. Having ascertained that it was his intention to walk through the town, to which he was a stranger, they expressed their fears lest he should be un able to regain his inn, and while so engaged one of them affixed a placard to the farmer's back, which he had on the instant printed and pasted, bearing this inscription— " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn." The old gentleman, perfectly unsuspecting the trick that had been played him, immediately took a stroll through the town, and as he passed along the streets became " the observed of all ob servers." A gentleman stopped and read the inscription aloud, " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn ;" to which the farmer replied, "Do you ? so do I." A second gentle man met him, and read, " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn." " Doyou:though, really ?" said the farmer, rather surprised at the coincidence, "so do I." A third came up, and seeing the placard, read out, " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn." "Is it possible ?" exclaimed the farmer, now quite bewildered ; "so do I." A fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, and at last a whole crowd of persons stopped to read the inscription, and simultaneously shouted, " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn." " The d—l you do !" cried the old farmer, now completely obfuscated, " then the whole town lodges there, and if I don't make haste back, I shan't get a bed." Saying which, the old fellow scampered off towards his hostelry, pursued by a multitude of voices. crying at their utmost pitch, " I put up at the Blue Pig Inn ;" to which from time to time, the old farmer, per fectly unconscious of the meaning of the iteration of the fact, replied, " Very well, I tell you, so do I. Do you think I'm deaf, you confounded simpletons ? What are you grinning at, hey ?"—Ten Towns Messenger. M. GutzoT.—A fatality ! , hangs over this once-honoured statesman. Whether he is coerced by a superior influence, or whether it is from preference that he pursues his tor tuous course, every act in which he exhibits himself to the world tends to the demolition of his once high and pure political fame. As though he had been at the head of the strongest government in the world, he commences by flinging down the gauntlet unnecessarily to his oppo nents. M. Guizot has, or affects to have, a horror of the Reform movement in France. It is natural to a man of his caste that he should fear a transfer of electoral power from a manageable few to the less corrupt many. But, more probably, his dislike of the movement arises from its being made a anal de bataille by his political rivals. Whether or no, he has provoked animosity in a party who, at present, have derived their chief importance from his hostility. By introducing the words " blind and hostile passions," in reference to an agitation perfectly legitimate, he has given that party at once a strong motive and a political weight. Stormy discussions in the Cham ber of Deputies have sufficiently ahewn what are the feel ings of the Liberals, although the government, by the force of its majority, was able to prevent an amendment being carried. * * The Reform movement in France is differently regarded by different persons ; but by the ministerial party it has hitherto been treated much as the movements of the Anti-Corn-law League were treated in England until their organization became formidable. Not long since, however, M. Guizot began to perceive that there was danger in the distance from the Reform meet ings. More especially he grew alarmed at them when he found them tolerated, and, in a negative sense, patronised by M. Duchatel. A large portion of the Conservative party begin to admit that the concession of reform may avert a demand for revolution • and this opinion has of late transpired in Paris. It ha s produced a singular re sult. The committee for the Reform banquet in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris, the holding of which was forbidden by the police, publicly intimated that the banquet will be held notwithstanding. This was a bold and significant step. The tone of the Opposition in the French Chambers has grown daily more bold, and coupl ing their increased activity with the resolution of the banquet committee, we are inclined to agree in the opinion entertained by reflecting Englishmen resident in Paris, that there is in fact no real reform party in France, though the natural wishes of the people are made the stalking horse of a faction.--Eraser's Mag. IRISH ETYMOLOGY.—The assignment of etymologies inthe oldlrish treatises,is generally fanciful,and little to be relied on. The old derivations of Bangor and Rathmore, may be advanced as examples of this school of etymology. Thus Brasil Brec, king of Leinster, returningwith a prey of cattle, out of Scotland, landed at Bangor, "and slaughtered a great number of cattle there, so that a great number of the beanna, i. e., the horns of the cows, were scattered over the plain, so that the place ever since bore the name of Maigh Beanncoir." The tradition which assigns the origin of the name of Rathmore is still more romantic: " Rathmore of Moylinny was first called Rath-Rogrin, and, until the reign of Breasal Breac, son of Brian, king of Uladh. He went on an expedition (a submarine adven ture) under Loch Laidh, and remained there fifty years. Mor, daughter of Rither, son of Geanlamb, his wife, re mained all that time in the rath; and at last she said, I think Breasal's absence too long.' And a certain woman said to her, It will be long to thee, indeed, for Breasal will never come back to his friends until the dead come back to theirs.' Mor then died suddenly, and her name remained on the rath—Unde Rath Mar dieetur. Breasal soon after returned to his house, one evening, as related in ' Breasal's Expedition.' " We cannot refrain from ex tracting a passage from " Cormac's Glossary," in ex planation of the word Corryvreekan, which, our readers will probably remember, is the name of a great whirlpool off the western coast of Scotland. The name really ap pears to have the signification assigned to it, and the force of Cormac's description is nothing lessenad by the inabi lity of our best Irish scholars to translate some of his si milies :—" Coire Brecain, i. e. a great vortex between Ere and Alba to the north, i. e. the conflux of the dif ferent seas, viz. the sea which encompasses Ere at the north-west, the sea which encompasses Alba at the north east, and the sea to the south between Ere and Alba. They rush at each other after the likeness of a luaith rinde, and each is buried into the other like the oircel taireelda, and they are sucked down into the gulp so as to form a gaping cauldron, which would receive all Ere into its wide mouth. The waters are again thrown up, so that their belching, roaring, and thundering, are heard amid the clouds ; and they boil like a cauldron upon a fire. Brecon, a certain merchant, the son of Maine, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, had fifty curraghs trading be tween Ere and Alba, until they all fell together into this cauldron, and were swallowed up, so that not one sur vived to hear the tidings of their fate : and their fate was unknown until Lughaidh Dall [` the blind'], the poet, came to Benchair, when his people going to the strand of Inver Bece found the bare skull of Bece, and having brought it to Lughaidh, et interrogaverunt earn mita esset ; et ille eis dixit ; place ye the head of the poet's wand upon it. They did so, et dizit Lughaidh Eigeas : " 'The waters of the great sea, The waters of the vortex, Drowned Brecan. This is the head of Brecan's dog, And little here remains of greatness, For Brecan and all his people Were in that vortex drowned..' " —Dublin University Magazine. TAR LIVERPOOL STAIiOARD: THE .CAUSE OF IRELAND'S SUFFERING. The Earl of Dundonald preferred a claim for the arrears of pay of which his lordship was unjustly deprived during seventeen years, which the Lords of her Majesty's Trea sury have refused to listen to. The superb service of ornamental plate which has been presented to the Earl of Ellenborough by his friends in India is now finished. It consists of a grand centre-piece, two' candelabra, four ice-pails, four dessert stands, and two ornaments for the end of the table. On Thursday, the Rev. Mr. Wrottesley, rector of Knoyle, near Salisbury, committed suicide by tying his handkerchief tight round his neck, as it was so found. The deceased was an aged gentleman, and very much resyected. (p rom Sermon by the Rev. H. Melville) I dwell not upon this—l go on, and I wou ld t e ll y ou yet further, that pestilence, the twin sist er o f f am i ne , h as laid her hand on that unhappy districts; fever, and that too of the most maligizant character, boils in the veins of the starving peasantry—.and thus it is daily becoming the lot of multitudes, in a land most romantic in its loveli ness, and most luxuriant in its natural resources, to lie down hopelessly, the victims of raging hunger and raging disease, and there is none to minis ter to the sufferers ; for where famine and pestilence are holding carnival, who shall give to another what he is demanding for himself ? Alas ! alas the frown of the Almighty seems to rest upon Ireland. Nature has done much for her—there is fertility in her soil, and majesty in her scenery—the navies of empire may ride in her harbours—the commerce of the world might float on her rivers and her lakes—yet despite those advantages which appear to mark her out as worthy to share with England the diadem of the waters, Ireland is still but a degraded and half-civilized territory, and there is no bringing out a development of her in ternal resources, and violence is the atmosphere in which her children live, and human life too often nothing but their plaything. God forbid I should hesitate to state that I believe the prevalence of the Roman Catholic religion lies at the root of all this wretchedness. There is nothing of bigotry in affirming that it is the very genius of this religion to keep a rude population still rude, just because it keeps them still ignorant—and whilst the Irish population con tinues unhumanised, and unhumanised it must continue until a moral influence has been introduced among its tribes, the landlord will have his excuse for absenteeism, that curse and drain of the land ; and the capitalist will will have his excuse for not embarking his property in schemes for the improvement of the country; and thus the springs of national prosperity will remain choked and dried up ; and all for want of that moralinfluence amongst the people, which can only be produced by diffusing the knowledge of the true religion of Jesus. It is because Ireland is morally benighted. that she is physically de graded ; and the energies which must be turned to her to raise her to her due rank in the scale of nations are re ligious rather than political; she can be thoroughly civi lised only by being thoroughly Christianized. hP PARISH EMIGRATION,—The owners of property and ratepayers of the township of Bradford, Yorkshire, have agreed to appropriate the sum of £2OOO from the poor rate towards a fund for defraying the emigration of poor persons having settlements in the township. CusTorus.- - The number of porters and persons hold ing subordinate situations in the department of the Cus toms in the receipt of not more than 3s. a day is 3108, of which 1890 are employed in England, 415 in Scotland, and 803 in Ireland. DIMINUTION OF THE ROMISH CLERGY.—In 1757 there were in Prance alone, in priests and friars, more than 300,000. In 1829, there only 108,000. The papal clergy of Europe have been greatly reduced by a variety of causes. The total diminution of Romish ecclesiastics in Europe amounts to 855,000. A Kendal paper mentions, that on the 31st ult. one of the Low Wood powder mills exploded, but happily no person was injured, and the damage was confined to the destruction of the mill and of the powder which was grinding at the time of the accident, for which no cause can be assigned. A husband has been committed to gaol for the murder of his wife at Lictleport. The name of the accused is John Crabb, who was for many years steward on the Bar ton farm, Ely, to the late J. Page, Esq., and for the last few years has been keeping a small shop, and farming a little land at Littleport. The prisoner is about 60 years 'old, and his deceased wife was about the same age. A few days since, some hot water was applied to dissolve the ice in a pump on the premises of a farmer at. Haugh, in Lincolnshire ; but a vessel which had previously con tained arsenic was incautiously used ; and when the water from the pump was given to thirty bullocks on the farm, the poison was so virulent that twenty of them died on hese remarks are in no sense irrelevant to the cause which has gathered us together. The physical distress of the Irish I believe to be closely connected with their moral destitution ; and if you would, God helping, pre vent the recurrence of the one, you must labour assidu ously at the removal of the other. The legislation which is required for Ireland is heart-legislation. And oh, if her people could be rescued from the thraldrom of spiritual despotism, and if they could be brought to take freely into their hands the words of the everlasting Gospel, Ireland might, in deed and in truth, rise up as the green isle of the ocean, and plenty mantle her valleys, and the music of peace bei heard in her mountains—the withering frown of the Almighty would rest no longer upon her and beneath the clear sunshine of his countenance she would become the home of civil order, and the seat of piety and happiness. the following day, and seven others shintly afterwards. About twenty little carvings in ivory, which were dis covered lying on some of the bassi-rilievi brought to this country from Nineveh by Mr. Layard, have been added to the national treasures in the British Museum. They are well carved in low relief, on a small scale, about four inches by two and a half; and the greater portion of them resemble strictly Egyptian types rather than Assyrian. On Monday night, while some men were emptying a puncheon of whisky that stood before a shop at Glasgow, a boy observed that some of the spirit was flowing from the bunghole, and applied a lighted paper to it. The whisky instantly caught fire, and the cask exploded with a loud report; but happily no one was hurt, though seve ral panes of glass were broken in the neighbouring houses. The Rev. J. Lee, Vicar of Thaxted, who is 71 years old, has been committed to gaol in default of sureties to keep the peace towards Marian, the wife of the Rev. T. Harvey, curate of the same place. He had assaulted, or rather threatened to assault the lady, who with consent of the Bishop resides with her husband in the vicarage house, and was fined £5 for so doing, which he paid. The Bishop of Oxford has commenced a subscription and formed a committee for establishing an agricultural school in his diocese. At a meeting at Cuddesdon Palace last week, when Lord Barrington, M.P. J. W. Henley, J. H. Langstore, C. G. Dupre, and J. Walter (M.P.'s), and others were present. Preliminaries were agreed upon, and £llOO subscribed on the spot. WO SIDES TO A STORY (Prom the Times.) It has been said that Protestants are eager to catch up and repeat stories to the discredit of the Roman Catholic priesthood. Is it not somewhat striking to find the ec clesiastical demagogues of Ireland as often as not at war with those of their own faith ? We recommend the cor respondence between Sir John Nugent and the Rev. Mr. Mullen as an example of this position. Sir John Nugent is a Roman Catholic Baronet of the highest character. On the 3d of January last the Rev. Robert Mullen re lated the following instance of the cruelty of landlords to the deliberative assembly at Conciliation-hall. We shall give the ipsissima verba of Mr. Mullen as they were printed in Sanders's Newsletter of the 4th instant ; and, as the whole story would appear to do credit to the ima ginative powers of the relator, we will call it, with old Chaucer, A poor old Irish woman named Ellen Gray, nearly 80 years old, died last week at a filthy lodging-house in Gloucester. The immediate cause of her demise was a bad leg, but her end was hastened by the want of proper nourishment and attention. The jury expressed an opinion that there ought to be more comfortable accommodation for casual poor. At a meeting of the Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire, at Huddersfield, the Rev. W. Thorp produced a new lamp, which will effec tually remedy all the defects in the lamp of Sir H. Davy ; affording five times more light, and being, it is said, per fectly safe in every condition of the coal mine. The lamp received the unqualified approbation of a great number of persons, nine of whom were coal owners, or viewers of collieries, and more conversant with fire-damp than, per haps, any other persons in Yorkshire. Jullien, the grand quadrille maestro, is stated to be in pecuniary difficulties, and a meeting of his creditors was lately held, when his liabilities were estimated at £16,000, to pay which, his creditors granted him twelve years. His embarrassments are attributed to his having taken Drury-lane Theatre, for the purpose of producing operas on a scale far exceeding anything which had been before attempted in England. Besides this, he laid out an incre dible sum of money in rendering his music shop in Regent street a most superb saloon, paid high for copyrights of many things that never sold, &c.. &c. DEATH FROM POISON.—'An inquest has been held on Mrs. Jones, of Tycalch, Llangristiolus, who committed the fatal mistake of introducing arsenic, in lieu of carbon ate of soda, into some light cakes. The unfortunate de ceased, together with her two daughters and a son, and two step-daughters, partook more or less of the cakes, and all of them were taken ill shortly after. Mrs. Jones died next day, and the other members of the family con tinued in a precarious state for several days, requiring the utmost medical care and attention. Verdict—" Accidental poisoning." NORTH OF ENGLAND JOINT STOCK BANK.—A gene ral meeting was held at Newcastle on Tuesday, Mr. John Henderson in the chair. A report was read, shewing that the liabilities were reduced to £444,232 7s. 3d., being a reduction of £134,367 3s. 3d. since the 30th of September last, and of £1,420,623 19s. 11d, since the stoppage of the bank; also, that £89,301 3s. sd. had been received for calls, and that the deficiency now to be met by the share holders amounts to £87,373 ls. 6d. A subscription was determined on for raising £lOO,OOO by loan from the shareholders, and it was promptly responded to. An establishment, termed a " Training Institution for Nurses," is about to be founded in London, under the auspices of the Archbishop of York, several bishops and many of the most eminent physicians of London. This institution will be based on the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and will be placed under the im mediate superintendence of a clergyman. The inmates are to consist of three classes :—Those who are under training as probationers ; those who, after passing through the period of probation satisfactorily, are admitted as nurses for a period of five years ; and a class of " sisters," who will devote their attention to the sick and poor. A RICH PAUPER.—A remarkable instance of pro pensity for hoarding has lately come to light in the case of a woman who died last week in Macduff. The indi vidual in question had been for years a pauper on the roll of the parish of King Edward, and her outward appear ance at all times bespoke the deepest poverty. After her death, the person who had waited upon her in her illness found, rolled up in separate pieces of paper in a cupboard, 23 one-pound notes, six sovereigns, £7 in silver, mostly in half-crowns, besides a bank check for £5O; the entire amounting to £B6. The money has been paid over to the inspector of poor of King Edward, that parish being entitled to it, to indemnify themselves for the sums they had paid to the deceased.—Banifshire Journal. CONFLICT AT SNIG'S-END.—An unpleasant reconoitre, which threatened the most serious consequences, occurred lately at the " People's Estate," at Snig's-end, between Mr. Dewhurst and Mr. Fergus O'Connor. Mr. D., it seems, who was formerly a schoolmaster at Leicester, had so much confidence in Mr. O'Connor's allotment-system: that he gave up his academy, and placed £4OO in his hand for the purchase of the old farm-house, which he (Mr. Dewhurst) now holds, together with a quantity of cider, &c. Thinking tkat Mr. O'Connor meant to "do " him out of the purchase, Mr. D. one day entered the room where he was sitting with a hatchet, and under violent excitement was about to commit a murderous assault, when Mr. O'Conner knocked him down, and the in truder was borne off amidst the reprobation of the other inmates, without having inflicted any injury. Mr. Andrew Doyle, late editor of the Morning Chron icle, has been appointed one of the Inspectors under the chief commissioner of poor-laws, and part of the extensive district now under the superintendence of Mr. Austin, who resides in Manchester, has been assigned to him. Mr. Doyle is the son-in-law of Sir John Easthope, Bart., who retired on Saturday from the- or the Morning Chronicle. Who the new proprietors of that journal are is not known ; but it is certain they are eminent in political and mercantile stations. Mrs Doyle has been succeeded in the editorship by Mr. Cooke, a dis tinguished writer, recently connected with the Times, whose brilliant productions have obtained for him the highest honours of the metropolitan press. He was for merly a parliamentary reporter. With Mr. Cooke is as sociated the elder Mr. Delane, who retired from the Times along with the late Mr. Alsager, and a staff of coadjutors of tried ability. A daring outrage was committed on Sunday at the house of the Rev. Mr. Strickland, Great George-street, Bristol. Between seven and eight in the evening, two men called at Mr. Strickland's house, and asked if he was at home. The servant requested them to walk in, and wait till Mr. Strickland (who was officiating at Christ Church), should return. The men went into the kitchen, and as the servant was putting chairs for them, one of them struck her a violent blow upon the head with a mallet, which he had hitherto concealed. The blow felled her to the ground, rendering her insensible. The other female servant, walking down stairs at the time, saw the blow struck, and immediately ran up stairs and into the street, and cried " murder.' The villains quickly fol lowed her, and escaped, leaving the mallet, a formidable weapon, behind them. Their object was evihntly to rob the house. The poor servant has suffered concussion of the brain, and lies in a very dangerous state. " THERE'S MANY A SLIP," &c.—The daughter of a son of St. Crispin (i. e., we presume, a grand-daughter of the saint), residing in the vicinity of King-street, was very nearly converted into a Countess, yesterday morn ing, by a certain young and noble earl, formerly a mem ber of Trinity College, in this University. The tale is, that matters had proceeded so far that the expectant bridegroom had an interview with the Clerk of Trinity parish on Thursday afternoon, and all needful prelimi nary arrangements were.made for the celebration of the ceremony yesterday morning. We are not in the secret as to the bride's dress, the magnificence of her trousseau, the beauty of her bridesmaids, or any of those other little matters which are usually chronicled in the marriages of the great : nor are these things now of much consequence, for, alas for human hope ! not long before midnight on Thursday, the servant of the noble earl presented himself before the elated functionary of Trinity parish, and coun termanded everything : there was to be no wedding after all. It is supposed that the friends of the noble earl suc ceeded in dissuading him from forming so degrading an alliance.—Cambridge Chronicle of Saturday. LOCAL MEETINGS, LIEUT. BOWEN.—We have been assured that there are man parties in Liverpool and the neighbourhood who distinc‘ 'Y recollect seeing Lieut. Bowen (who is charged WEST D ERBY G UARDIANS. —O n Wednesday, the usual with forg -ery,) on the 2d instant, the day on which he is weekly meeting of this board was held at the Workhouse. stated to 13 Ave been at Doctors' Commons in the disguise From Toxteth-pa r k th ere were no fewer than 204 appli .. of a sailor- cations for relief, which occupied the board five hours. A eorresponsient of the Morning Post says that as soon Thirty-eight cases from Toxteth-park were ordered to be as the news o f the Archbishop of Canterbury's death ar- adfnitted it s ltq . the workhouse. Th e Ch a i rman read the rived at Hereford, " sweeps" were established at sever a l fever - hospital reVitt ! from Yelleil it A.,r2resred that there of the inns, same le sae manner as for races, but w ith th e were i n th e h ouse l ast wee k 94, admitted during the week, difference that the names of all the bishops were substi- 8, dismissed cured, 12, died, 4, remaining in the lions , - tuted for those of the horses; and the proceeds will of 86. Mr. Johnson was elected medical officer for Wr' course be paid to the ticket-holder who may have drawn district, in the place of Mr. Hanning, deceased. the name of the bishop who is promoted to the vacant Roskell brought forward the resolution of Jan. 26th, re primacy. lative t o th e separat i on o f T oxteth-park from the West MR. MACREADY . ,-HIS CONTEMPLATED RETIREMENT Derby Union, and moved that the - FROM THE STAGE.—On Friday night Mr. Macready took sioners be requested not to entertain tb his benefit at the Theatre R o y a l, N ewcas tl e . L ong b e - a show of hands being taken, twelve m fore the regular time-of opening, the doors were besieged— your of the motion, hut the party as early as six o'clock hundreds being about the doors. vote, contending that the motion When they were opened the rush to the pit and gallery posed of. was fearful, and in a sheet time the house was crowded in LIVERPOOL GASLIGHT COMPANY.—TII every part. The receipts were £145. and it is calculated ing was held on Tuesday, Mr. W. R. Sandi), that above three hundred individuals could not gain ad- chair. The report recommended a dividend of £5 per mission. The pieces Mr. Macready appeared in were a share for the half year ending 31st December on the £lOO Irv- sharec 12c Ad ',pi- _ :;paration. On held up in fa- ual meet- h in the 4‘.00. kru. buare On the quarter shares paid up scene in onaKspeares play et _Henry v., ane tne couituy of the Jealous Wife. At the conclusion of the comedy on the Ist day of October last ; and 4s. 2d. per share on Mr. Macready was called in front of the curtain, and on the quarter shares paid up on the Ist of December last, making his appearance was hailed with loud cheers, which the dividend on the quarter shares being at the same rate were again and again repeated. Mr. Macready thanked as the dividend on the £lOO shares. It was stated that the audience very sincerely for their kind expression of the amalgamation bill had been read a second time, and regard to him. The next visit he should pay them would, was waiting a committee. Their bill would be laid before in all probability, be his last ; he would then have to say the shareholders at a special meeting on the 16th of March. the word " Farewell," a word always painful to utter, but The amalgamation was on terms of equality, on the prin to him on that occasion doubly so. He proposed retiring ciple of preserving to the proprietors in each company from the stage at an early day, not because he felt age their property as it now stood. The proprietors of the creeping upon him, or his faculties or energies impaired, •-1 shares in the old Gas and Coke Company were but becaus'e National Drama How THE POOR LIVE.—The following report from a visitor of some of the districts of St. Giles's, London, °mina entitled to ( Il.lle they bore an additional price i n th e market ; , but all the stock would be alike except as to those particular shares. Mr. R. Earle, Mr. G. H. Lawrence Mozley, and Mr. the houses there. It is said to be by no , means the worst case that might be selected. The house to which the re port refers is situated at No. 4, Church-lane. On the ground-floor there are two rooms, one 14 feet long by 13 feet wide, and 6 feet high; the other 11 feet 2 inches long 9 feet 4 inches wide, less than 6 feet high. Num& families in these two rooms five and Mr. ( uprising 4 mates aoove 20, 9 females above 20 , thre e of them single, 2 males under 20, 4 females under 20, total nineteen ! Number of beds, six. On the first floor, one room, 17 feet long, 13 feet wide, 8 feet high. N um b er of familiesjour. Five males above 20 ; five females above 20 ; 4 males under 20 ; 2 females under 20 : total, sixteen. Number of beds, one. Two of the single women were 25, and one of the boys was 18. Sixteen persons, with only one bedstead ! On the second floor, one room, 17 feet long, 13 feet wide, 8 feet high. Number of families, five, Five males above 20, 6 females above 20 ; 9 males under 20, 3 females under 20; total, twenty-three. Beds of shavings and rags, no bedsteads. A back room on the stairs, 12 feet long, 12 feet wide, 5 feet 6 inches high. One family of three per- sons. Thus in this miserable house of five rooms, sixty one persons slept every night. HORRIBLE OCCURRENCE.—Abont half-past 12 o'clock on the night of Thursday, a house occupied by Mr. Med way, a small grocer, of Wellington, in Somersetshire, was discovered to be in flames, and there being at the time no less than seven persons asleep therein, it was soon evident that life as well as property was in jeopardy. Mr. Medway was away from home at the time, but Mrs. Medway, her brother, and her child, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards and their little girl, and a person named Pearce, were sleeping in various rooms. An alarm was raised, and the engines brought as speedily as possible to the spot; but owing to the rapid spread of the flames, Mr. Edwards, his wife, and his - child were unable to effect their escape, and, mel ancholy to relate, the whole family perished in the flames. Fortunately for the safety of the adjoining houses, there was no breeze at the time. The town engines were early on the spot, and rendered very considerable service. The house burnt down and the adjoining one belonged to a person named John Holley, a retired builder, and both were insured in the Sun, fire-office, the one burnt in £l5O, and the other, which is considerably damaged, in £lOO. The goods of Medway, who carried on the grocery business in 9. small way, were insured in the Union Fire-office, in £100; and the goods of the poor man, Edwards, who lost his life, were insured in the County Fire-office in £5O. The origin of the fire is certainly enveloped in a great deal of mystery, and every exertion will be made to sift it to the bottom. THE SERPENT AND THE FARMER.—The inhabitants of a place called Greens, situated about half a mile from Bacup, have recently got plenty to laugh at in the adven ture, which a worthy old farmer had with a terrible looking animal, in his barn, the other morning. At an early hour, while it was still dusk, he had gone to look after his pits, and when just entering the barn, he thought he saw a monster serpent lying on the ground, one of its extre mities being coiled. Recovering from the terror which the sight had induced, and feeling himself still free from the embraces of the hideous reptile, he took to his heels, and told his neighbours such a tale as induced a general desire for a fierce assault upon the unwelcome intruder. Several persons instantly armed themselves with various weapons, such as spades, pieces of wood, and evideatly resolved to rid the neighbourhood of the formidable viper, and bring back his dead carcase as a trophy of their cou rage. The farmer himself led the way, armed with a hay fork, and boldly entering the barn, attacked the serpent, and forking him through at the first blow, held him aloft. In this position the farmer's valiant friends banged at the serpent most powerfully till they were satisfied that the life, was out of him. They then carried his carcase to a house not far distant, where more knowing sort of folks resided, who, as may be imagined, enjoyed no little amuse ment and laughter at the rediculous mistake of the clowns, the said serpent being nothing else than—a lady's boa. CHLOROFORM.—No slight amount of discredit has been cast upon chloroform by the recent case of death at New castle, in which the coroner's jury found a verdict of " Death from congestion of the lungs from chloroform inhalation." Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, seems, however, to have removed the imputation. In a lecture delivered last Monday, in the Edinburgh University, he clearly showed that the patient had been destroyed by ar tificial choking, or asphyxia, and not by the chloroform ; that in fact, her mouth had been filled with brandy and water for the purpose of reviving her, while she was yet in a torpid and lethargic state, and consequently unable to swallow; and that death was thus produced precisely as by drowning. He concluded by stating that he had the satisfaction of believing that, by saving much human suf fering and agony, chloroform had already saved much human life. Such a case as the present was well calcu lated to teach a salutary degree of caution ; but it would and could do no ultimate injury to the general adoption and spread of a practice of festhenasia. With reference to Dr. Simpson's Lecture, Dr. Meggison, of Edinburgh, in a letter dated Whickham, February 14, states that it might be expected that the professor should endeavour to attribute the death of his (the writer's) unfortunate patient to some other cause than the inhalation of chlo roform, and after complaining that Dr. Simpson did not write to him before he assumed that so much brandy was given—asserts, first, that the patient only took a tea spoonful of brandy which she swallowed, though with some difficulty, yet without the slightest indication of choking. Secondly, the brandy given could not have produced the enormous congestion of the lungs as was found. Some of the most eminent surgeons who bad seen the body had never seen such lungs as those of the unfortunate girl, except in the cases of animals poisoned by chloroform. He finally again denies that the patient was choked with brandy. _ _ PETITIONS IN FAVOUR OF THE JEW BILL. ----We have heard some curious stories both in and out of parliament respecting the mode in which petitions are obtained in favour of the Jew bill—signatures being contracted for, at so much per score. And Lord John Russell can conde scend to present such petitions by the bushel, in support of his election bargain with the Baron. On Thursday night, the Earl of Ellenborough laid eleven of these pre cious bits of parchment on the table of the House of Lords, from Baptists, Unitarians, Independents, and Pres byterians, with the following account of how they came into his hand :—" The prayer of all these petitions (said the noble earl) was precisely in the same form of words. The petitions of all noticed that a bill had been intro duced into pariiament for the removal of the Jewish dis abilities, and prayed that those disabilities might be removed. He totally dissented from the prayer. These petitions were brought to his house by a person who was represented on the card which he left as coming from the TT. IT ...A 111..1.--, ' was not surprised at this, as he always considered the Jewish Disabilities Bill as a Whig civic job. The abuse of a valuable public right had occurred before ; but he knew of no abuse calculated to be so injurious as the shameful abuse of the right of petitioning which had taken place on this and many other occasions." We firmly believe the noble earl simply stated a fact when he said the " Jewish Disabilities Bill was a Whig civic job." The Baron would never have come forward if the minister had held back. It was a compact—with conditions which we prefer leaving to the reader's imagination. INDIGESTION CURED, AND WEAK STOMACHS STRENGTHENED, BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLS, which are the finest stomachic and invigoratin: ► edicine ever known. Even in very bad cases af• o oses will wonder fully improve the tone and stre of the weakest sto mach, and induce healthy • • •stion ; and as they never fail to promote an excelle ppetite, those of weak and delicate habits are enab • . to take such substantial food as is necessary to g• up their strength. By means of this astonishing m • • cine persons have obtained a state of health and vigo they never anticipated. These Pills may be taken • all times with the greatest freedom and safety. The are purely a herbal preparation.—See advt. CULTIVA ON OF THE BEAUTIFUL.—It has been the fashion with prudes and pedants, time immemorial, to run down the advantages of external appearance—thus the phrases " Outside show," and " Skin-deep beauty," had obtained a sort of currency which gave them,and others of similar import, an appearance of gray • ..thority. The present age is bold enough to quit t. • dictum, and even to go as far as to extol the study . externals as a duty to society, which should have • esented to it agreeable objects, and now contends at the cultivation of the beautiful holds a place econd in importance to the promotion of the good This is it which holds out en couragement to tho- who labour to put the public in possession of mea • • to this end. Oldridge's Balm of Columbia, as the . ost effective preservative or renovator of that most beautiful ornament the Human Hair, takes first rank, an. as long as its valuable properties continue to be know . and appreciated, must take the precedence of every production intended for exterior improvement in this direction. C. and A. OLDRIDGE'S BALM OF COLUMBIA causes the Hair to curl beautifully, frees it from scurf, and stops it from falling off, and a few bottles generally restore it again ' • it also prevents greyness.— 3s. 6d., 65., and lls. per bottle. No other prices are genuine. Ask for OLDRIDGE.'S BALM, 1, Welling ton-street, Strand, London. Sold by all respectable Chemists, Perfumers, and Stationers. THE PRIEST'S TALE " He" (Mr. Mullen) " had seen a strong, healthy man, a mechanic, who earned a respectable livelihood by making shoes, perishing for lack of food. He and his family were in great distress, so he went to his landlord, and asked him for assistance, and the reply was, If you give me up the house I will give you a pound.' The poor man took the pound, to preserve his hfe for the time. This incident reminded him of the sale of Esau's birth right for a mess of pottage. (Hear.) The unfortunate man lay upon the road-side, with his wife and family. He (Mr. Mullen) got some straw from a charitable neighbour, and made a shed for him, where he and they lay. They took fever. In number they were eight or nine. They had no covering but a coverlet bought for them by a clergyman, and he saw the wife, who was pregnant at the time when she died of fever, cast upon the road-side, and left there till her children removed the corpse. Might God grant that he might never again witness such a sight—a sight that scared away the pas sengers upon the road-side. That inhuman landlord sent his bailiff, his fowler, or his gamekeeper, and the man swore, by his Eternal God, if they did not leave the road side, he would shoot them. If they did not denounce such conduct, they would be unworthy of the priesthood and the sanctuary," &c. This little anecdote was of course as good as a dose of slugs, to be repeated as often as required, for poor Sir John Nugent. The worthy knight, however, has smelt powder, and did not care to retreat before such an adver sary. When he failed to obtain redress, first from Mr. Mullen, and then from Dr. Cantwell, his bishop, Sir John Nugent published the real version of this pathetic anecdote. which, it would seem, runs thus : THE KNIGHTS TALE "A mechanic (if a poor cobbler can be called such) came, from I know not where, to reside, without my knowledge, consent, or wish, on my land, under one of my tenants, to whom he paid for his dwelling £2 yearly. This man went away of his own accord, although I assured him I would not permit him to be disturbed. His house was then pulled down. He did receive £1 from me ; that is, he swindled me out Of it. Having deposited his family on another estate, he deserted them there. After some months he returned, and built a hut on the road-side, close to his former dwelling. I did send my bailiff or gamekeeper to him and to my tenant, to say that I could not permit the hut to remain there ; but, being told that the man had a fever, I gave orders that he should not be disturbed, and sent the doctor to him. He remained there until he recovered. His wife and two of his chil dren took the fever, and it pleased the Lord, but not me, to take them away. This man abandoned again the rest 'of his helpless young children to their fate, and has not been seen now for several months. His children have been taken into the poorhouse, and a warrant was issued for his apprehension. Is it not a scandal that power of life and death, and that death of the most terrible sort, should remain in such hands ? For ourselves, we have little hesitation in ad mitting the truth of Sir John Nugent's story, and pro_ nouncing that of Mr. Mullen to be untrue. All who will read the correspondence at length will come, we think, to the same conclusion. If the spiritual superiors of the series which runs—M`Hale,—Cantwell,—Mullen— wan t to form a correct idea of an Irish priest's denunciation, there is an example. The family of Major Mahon might follow up the tale. etntrat liaWellanv. The Morning Chronicle, under its new management, has resumed its old price, sd. _ The Durham Toin Council has agreed to petition in favour of the Health of Towns Bill. It is reported that Lord Hardinge succeeds the Duke of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief. The average quantity of coal used at the Dowlais iron works is estimated at 1503 tons per day. 600,000 quarters of wheat are‘waiting shipment in the Baltic to this country as soon as the ice breaks up. The next meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England will be held at York in the week in July com mencing on the 10th. Barber, the convicted will forger, has arrived in France, having received a free pardon on condition that he does not set his foot in England. Some of the leading dissenters are about to adopt mea sures for raising a monument to the memory of Oliver Cromwell. NEW POTATOES. — EarIy (forced) potatoes were exposed for sale in Edinburgh market on Tuesday. They were kidneys and had a healthy appearance. — ll4Fruleifilt7=-In - London the number 01 deaths Froth influenza alone, during the last fourteen weeks of 1847, was 1161. The Scotch Banks have agreed to discount in future London Bills at four and a half per cent. and Local Bills at five per cent. _ The Royal Italian Opera at Covent-garden will open on the 21st of March. The band will consist of 85 first-rate performers, and the chorus of 94 efficient voices. It is a singular fact that no class of Dissenters is at present on the increase in the United Kingdom. The Methodists are particularly on the wane, many having gone over to the Established Church. On Monday evening, a woman named Halien, wife of a travelling chiropodist, was murdered at Birmingham, in the public street, during a quarrel with a navigator, who escaped. It is said with as much truth as epigram, that if the Duke of Wellington gained the battle of Waterloo, it is also to be remembered that he appointed the Bishop of Exeter. _ _ _ A verdict of " Manslaughter" has been returned by the coroner's jury against the captain and crew of the Alice, steam tug, of North Shields, for having run down a boat containing seven men, and occasioning the death of f our . Edinburgh, on Saturday week, was signalized by one of those not very creditable outbreaks, which have of late seldom disturbed the quiet city, but which were rife enough in old time—a riot of University students. A Norwich paper mentions that stockings are now knitted at Tpswish by machines, driven by steam, which perform this work with admieable accuracy. One young person can attend three machines, and each machine can make a stocking in three hours. A highway robbery was committed on Monday last, be tween twelve and one o'clock, on Southwark-bridge, by two men, who knocked down a gentleman with a life pre server, and rifled his pockets of two five pound notes and four sovereigns. The robbers managed to escape. THE LATE CASE OF ALLEGED INFANTICIDE AT BATH. —Julia Stickland, the young woman against whom the coroner's jury lately returned a verdict of infanticide, was on Saturday last removed from the house of her father to the Bath gaol, to await her trial at the next assizes. An inhabitant of Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, is now in possession of a fine hen, which began to lay when she was sixteen weeks old, and which has laid an egg every successive day for the last three years, during which time she has consequently produced 1095 eggs. Mr. L ; Mozley and M r . S. S t itt were appoi Lee tednted tors were re-c auditors for the ensii ng year DOCK COMMITTEE, I RURSDAY.—A letter was re., George Evans, the acting conservator of the river Mersey, conveying the thanks of the Lords Commissioners to Lieut. Lord, the marine surveyor. fm• hiq act also expressing their high approval - of the zeal, ability, and in. telligence exhibited by Lieutenant Lord in the discharge of his arduous duties as marine surveyor of the port of Liverpool.—Edward Ward, landing clerk at the Albert Dock, was dismissed.—The tenders of Mr. M'Corquodale for stationery, and of Messrs. Harris and Co. for printing for twelve months, were accepted. Mr. Mann said these were the lowest tenders, except that Mr. M'Corquodale tendered also for the printing, and was the lowest ; but, as it was understood that none but bond fide printers should be employed, the tender of Messrs. Harris, which was nearly as low, was accepted for the printing. The Chairman said that some of the tenders were nearly 100 per cent. more than those which had been accepted. The saving would be enormous, if the work was executed satis factorily. It was ordered that a clause should be inserted in the contract, inflicting a penalty in case of the non performance of the stipulations. Samples of every article had been kept; and all goods supplied must be equal to them.—A letter from Messrs. Preston and Watson, corn.. plaining of the want of shed accommodation on the north qua' of the King's Dock, was referred to the harbour master's sub-committee, the chairman remarking that any shed erected there could only be temporary, as it would have to come down again as the works at Wapping Dock progressed.—A letter was read from James Hutchinson, complaining that in consequence of one of the stone ves sels belonging to trustees having been improperly moored too near the entrance to the Clarence Basin, the steamer Hercules, in proceeding to sea on the Bth instant, came into collision with her, and was considerably damaged. It was also stated that the stone vessel did not ethibit a light which could be seen from the Clarence pier, and that she was not seen either by the pierhead master or the captain of the vessel till too late to prevent the collision. Referred to the harbour masters sub-committee.—A let ter from Mr. Dowling, complaining of the conduct of one of the dock-gatemen, was referred to the harbour master's sub-committee. LIVERPOOL AND LONDON FIRE INSURANCE COM PANY.—The annual meeting of this company was held on Tuesday ; W. Earle, Esq., in the chair. The report stated that, by a further issue of shares, the capital of the company had been increased to £188,097. of which the sum of £69,093 was represented by the shares on which £2 10s. per share had been paid. The fire business of the company had been larger in 1847 than in any previous year, as had also the life department. In the latter, 181 policies, insuring £124,878, and producing in premi ums a revenue of £3,687, had been issued during the year. In the shares issued during the year, the premium s amount .. ed to £3,557 10s. ; and this sum added to £355,901 55., the amount of the reserved fund at the end of 1846, gave £129,458 15s. as the present reserved fund. There re mained to the credit of the profit and loss account a sum of £67,408 10s. 2d., as a balance from which to take the dividend. From this there had been already taken a di vidend of ss. per share, which was declared for the first half-year, payable on the Ist September, and subject to the approval of that meeting. The directors now begged to declare another dividend of ss. per share, deducting income-tax and interest at the rate of 5 per cent. in the case of those shares on which the -X2 10s. had not been paid; when those deductions had been made, the balance of £31,029 4s. 2d. would form the guarantee fund. The report concluded by stating, that the directors would have had pleasure in recommending the payment of a bonus, but having reference to the circumstances of the times, they were of opinion that a due regard to the in terests of the institution required that the fund retained as a guarantee against existing liabilities should not be diminished.—Mr. J. B.(Neilson considered, that under the existing circumstances of the company, the utmost economy should be exercised, and the directors ought to take into their consideration the Airopriety of making some reductions in salaries, &c. He proposed a motion to that effect, but on being put to the vote it was lost, only one or two hands being held up in its favour.—The report was then adopted, and the dividend, as declared by the directors, agreed to.—The following gentlemen (retiring directors) were re-elected :—Messrs. W. Earle. G. Holt, Hornby, G. H. Lawrence, L. Mosley, W. Nicol, and H. Stolterfoht. Messrs. James and Blackburn were) appointed auditors. The sum of £BOO was voted for dis tribution amongst the directors. SELECT VESTRY.—The usual fortnightly meeting was held on Tuesday. Mr. Ferguson complained that Mr. Gray had so often to attend at the Police-court. If Mr. Rushton had any complaint to make, the overseers should be sent for and not their servants. He referred to the remarks made by Mr. Rushton relative to the case of a man to whom relief had not been given, and which were reported in our last. He would wish to pay honour where honour was due, especially to the stipendiary magistrate of this borough ; but he really thought that if Mr. iiush ton would communicate directly with the parochial au thorities, it would be very much better for those parties ; and he certainly disapproved of the uncourteous treat ment on his part. Mr. Avison did not think there was any ground to bring a charge of discourtesy against Mr. RUshton. Who did he send for ? He sent for the as sistant-overseer of the poor, a person appointed by the Vestry themselves, and whom they had authority over, and whose duty it was to relieve the poor. The case re ferred to appeared to him to be a very gross one. A poor cripple applied for relief. Mr. Gray did not give it to him ; but, although lame, he was given an order to break stones ; and had broken a window in order to be sent to bridewell. He was sure Mr. Rushton was perfectly right, in sending for Mr. Gray. Mr. Steains thought Mr. Rush ton quite justified in his remarks, if the case had been reported truly. If such a cripple was sent by their over seers to break stones, a task for which he was incapacitated, it was evident Mr. Gray or his servants were to blame, or the report was very false. The Chairman said if it was understood by Mr. Rushton, that it would be more con venient for the overseers themselves to attend, it would be better for all parties. It did not appear that Mr. Gray had denied the facts.—Mr. Cafferata called attention to the necessity of having the workhouse yard flagged. He likewise complained of a deficiency in the supply of water, and he hoped that the new building would be provided with adequate bathing accommodation for the inmates.— Mr. Woodruff asked whether the fever-sheds in Great Howard-street were yet dismantled, now that all the patients were gone. Mr. Ferguson replied that the fur niture was now removing, and he hoped the Vestry would Urquhart opened a short discussion on the question of interference by the Privy Council in the recommendation of masters to the Industrial Schools, and moved the adoption of the minutes read, " with the exception that it was the opinion of that board, that it was inexpedient to place schoolmasters under the pay of the Privy Coun cil, and under the superintendence of Government In spectors." The Chairman briefly explained, and as no one seconded Mr. Urquhart's motion it fell to the ground. —From statistics read, it appeared that a total of £175 4s had been expended in bread and soup from the 7th till the 12th February. The Chairman expressed his conviction that there was more distress at present amongst our local mechanics than last year. He knew many, once respect able parties, who had not now the means of getting bread.—A letter was read from Mr. H. S. Taylor, and Mr. Thos. Challoner, jun., requesting to know what the Vestry had done respecting the vaccination fees to which they were entitled, for the six months ending September last. The Chairman suggested that the gentlemen should be requested to wait upon the Finance Committee at their next meeting, that the true nature of their claim might be investigated. GOOD WRITING.—Mr. Thompson, of Clayton-square, has made more good writers than any in England. We are certain that he has reformed numerous bad hands in an incredibly short space of time.—See adv. RUNCORN BONE WORKS. — It will be observed by an announcement in another column that the Runcorn Bone Works Company have extended their establishment, and (in addition'to bone dust and bone sawings) have become manufacturers of buttons, size, animal char, lamp black, &c. &C. SUICIDE.—On Saturday an inquest was held before the borough coroner, on view of the body of John Murray, who. was about 33 years of age. Deceased was a waiter, and lodged, with his wife and two children, in Livesey's place, Shaw's-brow. Shortly before ten o'clock on Sa turday morning, his wife left the room in which they lived for a short time, and on her return found him lying on the floor, and a pool of blood near his head. A razor without a handle was found near his head. The two children (the youngest three years old) were in the room when the act was done. A surgeon was sent for, but he died in about an hour, after moaning heavily, but not speaking. It appeared that deceased was about eight months ago sent to the lunatic asylum, he being insane, aad for the last fortnight he was observed to be in very low spirits.— Verdict,—temporary insanity.