The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-09 00:00:00

that certain principl Committee ; he, the G. R. Lawrence we Mr. TURNER former occasion to submit a had now great pleasui G. H. Lawrence, towa view. Although he w casion, he was so assu cause that he was conf would succeed eventu tolerate the s bigotry v tinguishe I be submitted by the Education thought that the by of Mr. regiiiar, but still it was for the had the honour upon .op - osition simil ar to this, be cling his. feeble efforts to Mr omplishini the object he had in sanguine of success on this oc id the equity of the , d of the justice t, even if they failed for a time, they )o enlightened to The last remnant of the g was almost ex- was not far distant when a better state of things would prevail—when we should have the haupiness of seeing good will and Christian charity about us, and when all should be engaged in that labour of love, doing unto others as we would have otheis do unto us. In his humble opinion, the Education Corn nconsistent. He did not think they if their views were to be carried ildren to go into the schools and 'ent far out, because they ai!owed learn religion six the most important d wherever their pleased— )urch or chapel, to conventicle ,laced before them. conducted according to the or synagogue, just to learn whatever Now,ittlesc of England alone, it was the duty of the committee to make all the children go to church on the Sunday. As an abstract principle, he would admit that education without religion was an evil ; but was it not an evil to deprive the poor children of those parents who professed different religious opinions to ourselves, and who had an equal claim with ourselves to a fair share of the advantages the Corporation Schools were enabled to give, of the blessings of education ? Was not that an evil? Was it not also an evil that those poor children should be left to run and .riot about the streets in ignorance and idleness, liable to the con tagion of evil example, and all those vices which, if not checked in youth, would at maturity cause them to forfeit their liberty. if not their lives ? Was not that an evil ? It ! the remedy in its own bands. Why had taken place in the attend t appeared from the returns made this ru principles of the Chur was, and the cc was the great falling off whic ance at the schools he preseut attendance with that of the corresponding period last year, there had been a falling off of no less than 297 children. With all these facts before him, it certainly did appear to him an act of injustice, if not of cruelty, to leave the benches of the schools empty when they might be filled. Again, as Mr. Lawrence had stated, schools had been emptied at the south end of the town, and there had also been a falling off in the subscriptions to other schools which were flourishing before, in consequence of the system now established. Surely, this was to be lamented. Surely, it was to be lamented that the Church of England schools should be emptied to fill the Corporation S. which were vacant beCause the committee would not receive the poor Roman Catholic children. This he did not call Christian charity; but he was sure that the longer this question was agitated, the more progress it would gain—that although it might be in a minority now, it would succeed eventually. Let them not be faint-hearted or he weary in well-doing. He would, in conclusion, say to all his friends, " Persevere magna est veritas et prwvalebit." He seconded the motion of Mr. G. H. Lawrence. Mr. Nicol, bad heard with interest, as he always did, the observations which had fallen from Mr. G. H. Lawrence, although he might not be able to arrive at the same conclu sions. Mr. Lawrence had spoken a great deal concerning the difficulties of the school question, the municipal and other difficulties which attended it ; and he confessed that, after having heard him say that there was a great doubt whether the borough fund was equal to the continued support of the schools ; after having heard from Mr. Turner that there was a considerable falling off in the attendance ; when he heard from Mr. Lawrence; as he had with satisfaction, that the Council could never be considered as an educational body ; that the view of the legislature in passing the Municipal Act must have been that they should not be an education body; after hearing all this, and many other circumstances connected with the question, he must say that he had arrived at a con clusion very different from that to which Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Turner had arrived. It appeared to him that instead of their motion getting rid of an unpleasant question, they were involving it in fresh difficulty, and the conclusion to which he had come, arising, too, out of their own arguments, was, that the sooner the schools were closed the better. Referring back to the Education Committee to consider such a propo sition as had emanated from Mr. Lawrence was blinking the question altogether; it was only referring that to them to which it was known beforehand they would not consent. All the arguments he had heard not only to-day, but during the whole of last year, and particularly the statement made by Mr. Turner that the attendances were falling off instead of increasing, bad brought him to the conclusion, which he would have moved as a second amendment if it was in order, that the schools should be closed altogether ; but as he ap prehended that would be an irregularity, he reserved that right after having given notice. He therefore begged to in timate that at the next Council it was his intention to move that the schools be closed at the end of the current quarter. He had nevar bound himself to any opinion upon the subject of education, hnt as he did not think Mr. Law rence's motion calculated to do any good he should vote against it. - Mr. H ARROW!), as a member of the Education Committee, begged to say that Mr. Turner was in error when he stated that the attendance in the schools had fallen off. The fact was, that since the management of them had come into the present hands, the increa tendance had every been upon the even :or one week he alluded to the average at- and it had never deem Mr. TURNER expla tendances, Mr. HARBORD, in continuation, repeated that the attend ances were upon the increase: Everybody knew that in the first excitement of the change made'in the principles of the council, the whole of the Roman Catholic children were driven from the schools by their priests. The committee, of course, could not help that; but the fact was still capable of proof, that since they had had the entire controul of the schools they had been upon the increase. He would here mention that the Roman Catholic children were increasing in numbers; and it was only within the last few days that Roman Catholic children had been brought from a Roman Catholic school, by Roman Catholic parents, into the corpo ration schools Mr. EARLS Mr. HARBORD could not say how many at that moment but he had 6 —How t Cry of He should decline mentioning the names for obvious rea - - sons. Mr. Harbord then entered into an explanation of the history of St. Michael's School being given up, in which he established, in answer to Mr. G. H. Lawrence, that it ceased operations not because the conservatives had just then ad vanced into power, and wished to fill the Corporation Schools with Church of England children, but because the schools were not supported. He regretted that such statements should be made, as they had a tendency to mislead the coun cil, and as had been just heard, they had had considerable effect upon the mind of Mr. Nicol. He complained, also, of statements having been made, particularly with regard to the attendances at the schools, which had no direct bearing upon the question before tt Mr. TURNER said books not tv numbers from the minutes before he made the statement. Mr. El ARBORD, resuming, said that Mr. Turner had very ingeniously taken the numbers at a time when the reform party were in full power, and compared them with the num bers under the present rule when the conservatives had been in office only ten months. That was not placing the compa rison in a proper position before the council. How was it possible, with all the opposition they bad met with, that the conservative party should in ten months have arrived at the maximum number of the reform party when they were in full power? He repeated, however, that since they had come into power, the numbers, instead of decreasing, had increased. The Roman Catholic children had been increasing every week in numbers, a fact which he stated on the authority of the books. Gentlemen who wished well to the cause would pause before they undertook the great responsibility, which they had, of spreading true Christian principle, not from the fear of man or to please man ; and that, he believed, was the principle which the Education Committee acted upon. He was reminded by a friend, to whom he was speaking the other day on this subject, of the motto of the corporation upon their chairs, which he translated thus for him, as he did not pro fess to be a Latin scholar :—" Our duty God has made in easy forms." Now God had made the duty of the council easy on this question. Let the council, therefore, do that duty without having the fear of man before them. Mr. EARLE.—What a classical man! (Call of " Order" from the Mayor.) Mr. PRIESTLEY contended that the Roman catholic chil dren had left the schools in consequence of the change which was made in the system by the party now in power; and it was unfair to make it appear that the Roman catholics had increased since, when the fact was it was only the children of other denominations. Mr. HORNBY was reluctant to trespass upon the patience of the council, conscious as he was that the subject was not a favourite one with many members ; but he felt extremely desirous to express his approbation of and to give his sup port to the amendment which had been moved by Mr. Law rence, because it did, as he believed, an act of justice to those poor children who were formerly educated in the schools, and who were now excluded from them. He sup ported it also because it afforded a hope of making some arrangement which would be the effect of putting an end to those virulent dissensions which had so long distracted the public mind upon this question. He hoped, therefore, the council would grant him their attention for a few moments, and he assured them be would avoid every topic likely to excite' party feeling, without giving personal offence to one single in dividual. There were several gentlemen in that room who ap peared to doubt whether Roman catholic children had been excluded from the Corporation Schools; and he thought it was Mr. Hodgson who distinctly declared at the last meeting that it was not true they were excluded. He was sure Mr. Hodgson did not wish the council to adopt any opinions which he did not himself hold in all sincerity ; but he was surprised that a person of his acuteness upon all ordinary subjects should entertain so strange an opinion. They, with whom he (Mr. Hornby) acted, had never asserted that the Roman Catholic children bad been forcibly ejected from the schools, or that the Education Committee had made a specific regulation to close the doors of the schools to chil dren of that persuasion ; but they did say that the Education Committee had attached conditions to their admission which rendered it morally impossible for any honest Roman Catho lic parent to send his children there. He believed that no one ever denied that Dissenters were excluded from muni cipal offices before the repeal of the test and corporation act, or that Roman Catholics were excluded from either house of parliament before the passing of the Roman Catholic relief bill now the exclusion in these cases rested upon precisely similar grounds to that by which the council excluded those children from the Corporation Schools—for they were re quired to take tests which they could not take, and the Catholic child here was required to perform acts at variance with the religion it professed, and, as it was taught to believe, at variance with the religion of his God. What would be their own feelings if they, as members of the council, were placed in the situation of the Roman Catholics of this town? Let him imagine that the council, instead of being composed of Protestants, was composed of Roman Catholics ; that such a council was to establish schools and invite the children of Christians of all denominations to attend those schools, re quiring that they should all read the Douay version of the scriptures, be under the guidance of Roman Catholic teach ers, and join in every act and form of the Roman Catholic church ? Would not every Protestant in the town join in ex claiming against the injustice, as well as the illegality of such a system ? Would not every one denounce such a profession of teaching Christians of all denominations as a mockery ? Would they not all unite and call upon all the Protestant clergy of the town to use all their influence to deter Pro testant parents from allowing their children to join such schools ?. if so, with_what)utice could we blame the Ro- man Catholic priests for a similar interference ? He under stood that the conduct of the Roman Catholics in keeping from the schools had been spoken of in that c o unc il as hi g hl y i m proper and reprehensible. Now, no one could be more opposed to the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith tha n h e was ; but he bad no hesitation in saying, that if the cle rg y o f that church had not exhorted their people, and used their in fluence in the way they had, supposing they believed their own doctrines, they would have been guilty of a gross dere liction of duty. He was d esirous that the council should well consider the nature of the objection of those who said that Roman Catholic children should not be admitted to the benefits of secular education. It would be recollected that under the former Education Committee, one hour each day had been set apart for the religious instruction of Protestants and Catholics who were separated for the purpose. The objection made to that was that the council was sanctioning the teaching of erroneous doc trines, of doctrines which they knew and acknowledged to be erroneous; but the proposal of Mr. Lawrence was to admit Roman Catholic children to receive secular instruc tion only, and the objection to this proposition was, that se cular education, if unaccompanied by sound religions in struction, (and sound religions instruction meant instruction in protestant doctrines, -in , the doctrines of the Chnrgh of England,) was worse than no education at all. The conclu- sion from these two objections, if both were valid, was, that education provided from the public funds must be confined to the children of Protestants, and to such Roman catholics a faith which they themselves denied. Now this was a system entirely at variance with all his notions of justice; it was not merely characterised by injustice but by tyranny — tyranny the most hateful, because it inflicted upon one por tion of our fellow-countrymen a creed in which they did not believe. In conclusion he must protest against the system now adopted by the Education Committee. He desired ardently to see all persons of the same religion as himself, but he would use no other mode to gain that end than fair argument. Mr. HENRY LAWRENCE had very little to say, because, what he had intended to have submitted had been anticipated. He should conscientiously support the amendment. He thought the Education Committee ought not to run into the fault which had been committed by their predecessors in their exclusion of—for of course a nominal exclusion was a virtual exclusion in such a case—the children of the Church of Eng land ; and if they adopted a similar course with regard to the Roman Catholics, they would be equally blameable. He was afraid the amendment was not very likely to be successful, because, he had found in many instances it had not met with the support he anticipated. There was, however, a difference of opinion • and -he should not be doing his duty to him self, or to his character, if he did not state his conscientious opinions upon this subject. He did not believe that out of doors the opinions he advocated was so little extended, as it seemed to have been insinuated in that room. He had dis cussed the question on many occasions, amongst others, with clergymen of the highest standing and respectability ; he did not whether there had been any alteration in their opinions. but he knew that the very course now advocated here, had been suggested by a most able man who, at one time, said they would be content with it. He -did not intend to give offence to those he represented. He had been one of the first conservatives returned to the council ; and his sentiments were always known, namely, that he was a conservative, with a certain degree of liberality in his views. In conclusion, he felt bound to support the amendment, and he should do so with satisfaction to his own conscience, though he had very little hopes of success. _ Mr, PARKER regretted the pro. and con. speech which the chairman of the Finance Committee (Mr. G. H. Lawrence) had just made; but at the same time he gave him credit for following the honest convictions of his mind. He had put a question, namely, supposing the legislature had had to fix a system of education to be carried out by municipal bodies, what system would it have been ? Now, he (Mr. Parker) would ask another question, which arose out of that, namely, upon what principle was the municipal act based ? It was based upon those principles which that council as conserva tives and Protestants revered, and which, he trusted, they would ever combine to support. His answer, then, to the question proposed by the chairman of the Finance Committee was, that no doubt any system of education to be carried out by municipal bodies would have been based upon the same principles. He would prefer to see professing conservative and Protestant gentlemen, instead of seeking to put a lever whereby to overturn the existing system, at once come out and boldly propose a grant of money exclusively for the support of a school in which to teach Roman Catholic chil dren. That would be a manly course for them to pursue ; but what would the Town-clerk say to such a proposition ? Why, he would tell them that, according to the municipal act, they had not the power to make any such grant. A beautiful picture had been drawn, with a great degree of talent, by Mr. Hornby, to show that the council would be wrong in refusing to assent to the amendment; but he had not told them what had been the proceedings of the Educa tion Committee during the glorious reign of reform. Why, they had effectually excluded the Church of England chil dren ; and now they should take into consideration the opinions of the vast community the council were elected to represent. Now, he hesitated not to say, that of the thirteen wards which had returned conservative members at the late election, they had returned those members upon the principle on which education in the corporation schools was carried on. He hoped, therefore, that this fact would be kept in view when the question was carried to a division. It was all very well to express new ideas, and to put forth new views upon the subject, but there could be no compro mise of principle in such a matter. The Education Com mittee were either right or wrong. It was true expediency might do much in the way of modification ; but might they not be called upon to make too great sacrifices, and too great compromises for the sake of expediency? Expediency, he had no hesitation in saying, was a word which had caused to this country evils which he scarcely dared to mention. There was a time before the principle of expediency was re sorted to, when Roman Catholics and political dissenters were kept in check; but now, since its introduction the council had absolutely been told that the Church of England herself was a sectarian church. The late member for Castle street ward had ventured to make this assertion; and he would ask the council whether that had not been caused by the giving way to expediency ? He (Mr. Parker) was much pleased to hear the compliments paid to the old corporation by the chairman of the Finance Committee, because he was satisfied that it, had beep, yichly merited by them. In the words of the late lamented Mr. Foster, if all the corpora tions of England had beim 'like - that of Liverpool, there would have been no occasion for municipal reform ; and that sentiment, he was convinced, was the pervading feeling of the town. He was also satisfied that it was intended, through the municipal acts, to aim a deeper blow at the church, and at our Protestant institutions than it had yet been able to in flict ; but he contended that the municipal act was founded upon Protestant principle, and it must be carried out ac cording to the principles on which it was based. Mr. EARLE was proud to acknowledge Mr. Hornby as a leader ; and be thought, that after the able manner in which he had addressed the council, and the sound sense which he had spoken, every man in the council would_ be glad to acknowledge him as a leader. Only put what Mr. Hornby had said in contrast with what they had just heard from Mr. Parker ! He wished the gentlemen on the other side joy of their leader, Mr. Parker, who had asked a great number of questions ; and the bulk of his speech consisted in answers to himself. The Roman Catholics, however, were not to be gulled. He congratulated the council upon the fact that many of the conservatives coincided with the views which had been expressed by Mr. Hornby. Mr. ASPINALL said, it was now half-past three o'clock ; and as there was no chance of the debate being concluded to-day, he would move an adjournment. (Cries of " No, no," and " Yes, yes.") . _ _ _ The. MAYOR said that was a question which rested entirely with the council. (Cries of "Go on.") Mr. PLATT said, he had always voted in the spirit of the amendment, on the ground of common justice. He now wished to ask the Town-clerk whether the funds of this cor poration could be' applied to the general use of the inhabi tants ? He meant the funds, not the other property. The TOWN-CLERK said, the question put to him was rather too general—whether the funds of the corporation could be applied to the general use of the inhabitants. Mr. PLATT said, his question was, whether the funds of the corporation were to be exclusively applied to the educa tion of one denomination of Christians? The TOWN-CLERK could have no hesitation in giving this opinion, that the funds of the corporation might be applied for the purposes of education according to the religion of the Church of England ; and he had no hesitation in saying that the funds could not be applied to education if it was to be accompanied with religious instruction according to the Roman Catholic faith and doctrine. He founded his opinion upon the opinions of Mr. Bacon and Mr. Tinne. The case put to them certainly applied to the appropriation of land, but the principle was precisely the same. Mr. G. LAWRENCE.—You allude to surplus income? The TOWN-CLERK.—Decidedly to surplus income; for that which is obligatory upon you, you are not at liberty so to apply. Mr. PLATT would ask the Town-clerk whether it was legal to apply to Roman Catholics and dissenters for funds which went into the borough fund? If it was legal to call upon them for funds which went into the borough fund, it was surely legal for them to be expended upon them. The MAYOR.—You mean to say that because Roman Catholics contribute to the municipal fund, therefore they ought to participate in its application ? Mr. PLATT.—Yes. _ _ _ The TOWN-CLERK must guard himself against giving any opinion upon the question before the council ; but he should say it clearly appeared from the advice he had received, that the exercise of a trust, out of the surplus income of the cor poration, in favour of Roman Catholic institutions, conducted according to the practice and doctrines of the Church of Rome would be an illegal exercise upon the part of the council, however the money might arise. Mr. PLATT said the answer of the Town-Clerk would not alter the conditions upon which he was going to speak; for he had always understood that the contributions to the bo rough fund were not only paid by Protestants but by Roman Catholics and dissenters of every denomination. That being the case, he conceived it an act of common justice, leaving religion out of the question, that the children of the poor, of all religious denominations, should have a right to receive their protection, their support, and also their instruction. He left religion out of the question, much as he admired the Church of England and her precepts. This being so, he contended that the council ought to give to those children secular education, without saving one word about religion. Mr. BUSHELL suggested the propriety of an adjournment, but the cries of " Go on" prevented the motion being made. Mr. SANDS said that he should not at that late Hour go into the general question, otherwise be might advert to the great sympathy which gentlemen on the other side now pro fessed for one portion of the children of the poor, and to their total disregard of another portion—the Protestant poor. Did they not, when they were in power, as effectually turn out of the schools the Protestant children, as they alledged we have turned out the Roman Catholics ? He must say that, in his opinion, the statements just made by his friend Mr. Lawrence and by Mr. Turner ought to cause them to suspect the propriety of their own proposition—he meant their state ments with respect to those children who were not required to go to church on the Sabbath. The gentlemen complained that those children were left destitute, as it were, on that day. Now the Education Committee took an assurance from the parents of those children, that they should be taken to some place of worship upon the Sunday. . Mr. H. LAWRENCE.—Do I understand that when a Roman Catholic parent comes, we take an assurance from him that he will take his child to his own place of worship upon the Sunday ? Mr. SANDS.—Yes ; to his own place of worship. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE.—I was not aware of it. Mr. H ARBORD said, the course was this. As to the chil dren of Protestants, the committee made it a sine qua non that they should go to the school on theZSundays, and then to church.: The schools were regularly opened on Sundays, which was a fact that Mr. Lawrence bad omitted to state, and the children went regularly from them to church. If they were the children of Dissenters, the same rule was en joined. Mr. SANDS, in continuation, said that if these assurances which were taken, either directly or by implication, that parents would send their children to some place of worship upon the Sabbath so completely failed, what was the assur ance worth which Mr. Lawrence would give that those chil dren who were admitted to receive secular education only should receive religious instruction somewhere upon the Sabbath? If the assurance in one case went for nothing, what was it likely to be worth in another case? Mr. Law rence regretted that the corporation was educational; but such being the case he could not help it, and they must deal with things as they found them. He also argued as if the School Committee required dissenters and Romanists to be taught the tenets of the Church of England. Now the fact was not so : children of the Church of England only were required to learn the catechism, but all were taught the Bible. From such an education as that none were excluded. The Bible was not now excluded—nor any children excluded ;—the committee admitted the children of all denominations, and taught them the truths contained in God's Holy Word. Mr. BIRKETT begged to ask the cauncil this question ? If they were to have schools, upon what principle were they to be conducted ? When he first saw the notice which Mr. Blackburn had put upon the paper, he must confess he felt shocked, that a man who had on many former occasions said so much on religious education should have put such a mo tion upon the paper. They might call him (Mr. Birkett) intolerant or bigot, or what they pleased, but he would never consent to any such motion; he would rather move that it be erased from the books. What, were they in a Christian land, to be called upon to educate the children of the poor without any religion at all? Did not the proposal jus tify the charges that were made against the promoters of the late system, " that they excluded practically the Bible from the schools ;" and now, the graver one, that it would exclude all means or modes of religious instruction, altogether? The council was asked to allow the schools to be opened for secu lar education only. Why the town would be disgraced by I such a system, and it would bs high time for people to get out of it to some happier abode. He felt so strongly upon this question that he scarcely dared trust himself to speak upon it ; and be _regretted much kto ,differ with any conservatives ho called ihemsel Indeed, proceedings went on by conservatives, he did not know whether he should not drop the name. It was tbo a matter of regret that he should be compelled to differ from a gentleman with whom he had been - associated, as a conservative, in Rodney -street Ward. He felt bound to say that he agreed with Mr. Lawrence so far, that he would be under no pledge, and that he would act independently; but, at the same time, he was satisfied that if it had been sup posed he entertained such opinions us were entertained by some who called themselves conservatives, he never should have bad the honour of being asked to come forward as one of the representatives of Rodney-street Ward ; and, indeed, if the burgesses had entertained su c h sen ti men t s , h e would not have been the man to serve them. He hoped the coun cil would, by a large majority, put down this unhappy but he did not know what to call it, for he had not words strong enough to express his abhorrence of such a system. He hoped the council would confirm the proceedings of the Education Committee by a large majority. • Mr. HoncsoN said he had entered the council with the intention of supporting the resolution of the Education Com mittee by a silent vote, because the subject had already been so fully discussed with regard to principle. The principle, too, had been so fully expounded, that all which he should think it necessary to say, would be one word with regard to ey were urged to establish a system some points on v of secular education apart from religion. Really, to go into such a sea of controversy as the whole subject opened, and which ought to have been settled long ago, was impossible; and therefore he h ar dly k n e w w h ere t o begin. He would, however, commence with expressing his surprise that gen tlemen calling themselves conservatives, and who acted upon those sentiments in all other respects, should be found starting with some new sc heme, , ,vhen that which was already in progress was answering the expectations with which it had been framed, when it was increasing the number of scholars, when it was establishing a wholesome discipline, which had been greatly retarded by the agitation that had taken place in that room to induce the Roman Catholic parents to with draw their children from the schools, and by an agitation among Roman Catholics from one end of the town to the other And when the town had expressed so unequivocally its approbation of the course now pursued, when the large majority of the council was decidedly opposed to any chonge really to light up and resuscitate the agitation which men had thus desired to put down, what but a desire to distress their own party could have induced them to re-open this question ? Mr. George Hall Lawrence, for whose kind and conscientious feeling he had great respect, but under whose judgment he would not willingly place him self on this question, had told the Council that he had stu died this subject; and he had studied itso hard indeed that he had become bewildered in consequence of being unable to distinguish between principle and expediency. He said he would do in public what he would not do in private. If this was .a matter of expediency; if the Protestant and Popish re ligions were mere matters of political difference ; if they were not, the one in strict conformity to the revealed will of God, and the other in opposition to it, then he could understand one gentleman who said " Here are two ways, one takes me fifteen miles round about, but both arrive at the same point." But their position was otherwise. One man said " I can stand upon principle in my private capacity, but in my pub lic capacity I can not." Then they had had a long infer ential argument as to what municipal regulations entailed upon the council. There again the gentleman was in a per fect fallacy. What did they sit there for but to decide ac cording to law, what according to their judgment would be the best appropriation of their funds? If they had been acting contrary to law, point it out, and they would willingly make the amende honourable; but as far as it appeared to him the practise was in conformity with the law. He must have strange notions of how the laws of the country were ad ministered, who said, " because I am in a minority I must have precisely the same advantages and power as you who have a decided majority, though my minor views are unjust and unfair, or inexpedient or improper." Every govern ment would be upset if that was to be the principle upon which we were acting. The council were taunted with having practised a system of exclusion ; but gentlemen who made the tannt were probably unaware that whatever might be the practise pursued now, the former body practised exactly the same. They now said "we are anxious that there should be no religion in particular, so that every man may come." We now said, "we do not teach a religion that man has framed, we are not under mere tem poral princes, but we are under the declared will of God, and we cannot teach any thing but that which he has given us to teach ; we have swept out from our house, namely, the schools, the idolatry that was within its walls, and those who are idolators will not come there." When you (look ing at Mr. Earle) were in power— Mr. EARLE.—Look at the Mayor, and not at me. Your arguments have no force upon me, and most probably none upon your friends. The MAYOR.—Order, order. _ _ _ Mr. EARLE.—I beg pardon, Mr. Mayor. He looked at Mr. HoonsoN, in continuation, said he should say some thing to Mr. Earle by and bye. Having swept the house, and cleared it of these things, they, as became true Chris tians, professing the religion of the Bible, left every man to come in who would take the Scriptures clear and unadulter ated, without note or comment ; they kept out all abomi nations from within, without excluding any body; they would not go into the temple of idols ; they would not bow down to Juggernaut—neither would they submit to pollu tion ; and if the former heresywas to be again taught in these schools, they would withdraw the Protestant children from the contamination of such contact. Now, to say they were guilty of intolerance or injustice was absurd; he denied the position in tato, and threw It back upon those who asserted it, and said, " it is you who cast the stone ; you do not ap prehend the exact similarity of your own case, because you would make your will your law to constrain us to pursue it; you enforced a system that was as objectionable to us as our's can by possibility be to you; and, mark, with this great difference—the Roman Catholic population of Liver pool is a very poor part of the population, contributing next to nothing to the public funds, and you want us to apportion nineteen-twentieths of the whole money to the education of the Roman Catholics !" True enough the schools became empty at first; but why? Because the Roman Catholic priesthood turned out the children of their persuasion; they would not adopt the pure word of God, nor come near the schools. Now he came to the question of secular education as apart from religions instruction. He dared say they should be asked, "will you not keep these children from running about the streets ? Will you not give them some good, because they cannot take all the good? Will you not_ keep them from herding in our various streets, and courts, and allies ?" In the first place, he thought the whole statement a fiction, that they were running He believed they were too much occupied to do so. The Roman Catholics, too, had built their own schools, and they would have taken them to themselves, whether we had them or not, but that might be a matter of opinion. The question, however, was secular education apart from the religion of God. He contended that it was a gross mistake—that there was no foundation for it in Scrip ture—that it had no support in history—to suppose that secular education alone was a benefit. Instead of leaving the poor and ignorant in the simple lot they possessed, and leav ing them to run riot in our alleys, supposing that position was true, which he denied—it was giving them the power of unsanctified knowledge ; and, according to their degree of knowledge, it enlarged their sphere of mischief. Mr. Hodg son then quoted passages from Plato, Bacon, Burke, and Allison, to shew the dangerous tendencies of unsanctified knowledge; that with the increase of knowledge there came an enlarged power of committing the most fearful mischiefs. He was aware that the reformers, as they called themselves, had taken a great deal of pains to teach little ragged children Latin and a great variety of things. Now, their parents in many cases when they went home had not even a potato to give them ; and in ninety-nine out of a hundred of their cases the need of the stomach must be supplied by the labour of the hands. There was false sympathy and vanity in attempting to teach them that which would not only be useless to them but a positive nuisance, disqualifying them from every occupation belonging to their position, and raising them to a station in which they were good for nothing. The great thing, be contended, was, to improve these poor children in the knowledge of the Bible, and, next to that, to give them such an education as would not disturb the course they were ordained to pursue. He was willing that every man should rise, but as he who rose would rise from superior talent, and not from this false sympathy and forced education in unsuit able circumstances, it was idle to attempt it, and worse than idle, for it was wasting the public property, endangering the public morals, and giving food for Botany Bay and the gal lows. He knew perfectly well that the gentlemen who advo cated the amendment did so in perfect sincerity, and that the opposition of the Roman Catholics to the existing system was given in sincerity likewise : they were desirous of forwarding the object they had in view, and so were all classes of men. The attempt, therefore, to conciliate, by mixing up two oppo site principles in the way that Mr. Lawrence proposed, was one of the vainest ideas that could enter into the head of any man. Further, the existing elements of the British consti tution had, by the removal of restrictions upon the Roman Catholics and other sectarians, necessarily entailed upon England the continual conflict of opinions for the rea sons he had just mentioned. Whilst under the autho rity of defined limits each man knew how far he could go ; but now the door was open to ambition each man pursued his own object with different degrees of power ; the consequence w as, that the system was disturbed, and would be so long as the present state of things lasted. The stronger party, which, thank God, were the Protestants, would keep down the weaker ; and the constant effort of the one and the other to gain their object, would end, if not timely corrected, in discontent and the disruption of society. This would cause fresh enactments, and the effect would be that all those who sought to gain power by the removal of restrictions would find they had lost power by it, that they had at last lessened their privileges instead of gaining any. As to the suggestion of selling the schools, he would go into that when the proper time came ; but he begged to say, that , when the time did arrive, be should object to any such proposal. The great battle field of religious principle was education. " Train up the child as he should go," and you trained him to that which was good ; but, if you did not he would assuredly go into error. They had been charged with intolerance. It was their bounden duty to give a sound Protestant religious education to the children under their charge ; but how could they pretend to give sound religious instruction upon a vital question, when the same children saw that they admitted into the schools, persons who would avowedly say that they need not be taught it at all? The Church of Rome was always a political church ; and if she gained this cause, she would gain a lever and a power against us, which we should not be able to gainsay. The council had another duty to perform—it was their duty to uphold the truth by their example, to preserve that truth, and to bring others to it. He would persecute no man. He did not say that the poor should not have secular education, but in the present case they were not only called upon to give secular education, but to put aside the Bible. That was a very extraordinary position ; and he thought he could refer to documents ad dressed to Mr. Blackburn, in which it was made clear that the Bible was excluded under the former system from the schools. Mr. BLACKBURN.—No such thing. Mr. HODGSON thought, however, that he could convict Mr. Blackburn of inconsistency in the motion which he had brought forward. Did he mean to say, that if the Bible was locked up in the schools, they could be said to use the Bible in them ? No. What was it, then, but an exclusion of the Bible, if the children were allowed to come in on the express condition that they might not use it? Was not that an ex clusion of it? Mr. BLACKBURN. — It is not an exclusion, but only a non enforcement of it. _ Mr. HODGSON said he had a very different notion about it, but the public would judge. Mr. Hodgson proceeded with his address at considerable length ; and he concluded with an eloquent call upon the council to maintain the present system of giving sound religious and Protestant education to the childr.ln of the poor. It being now twenty minutes to five o'clock, Mr. ASPINAL said, that as the council had been sitting for more than five hours and three quarters, they must be exhausted, and he would, therefore, move the adjournment of the debate. (Cries of " Adjourn.") Mr. BUSHELL seconded the motion, and it being carried, the debate was adjourned till Wednesday next. THE ACCIDENT ON THE VERSAILLES RAILWAY.--The important trial arising out of this awful accident concluded on Saturday last, when it was decided that the administrateur deligue, the provisional director, the chief of the Paris station, the civil engineer, the chief of the station at Versailles, and the inspector of the service, should all be arraigned as " guilty of homicide through imprudence." BIRKENHEAD POLICE COMAIISSIONERS The commissioners, under the act for the regulation and government of the township of Birkenhead, held a general meeting in the•Tov94.hali, on Tuesday. The followine mem her?: were present :—John Deane Case (chairman). Wiliam Jackson (deputy chairman), W. Cole, D. M'Nicol; Jackson, James Parker, J. H. Greene, J. W. Pritchard, C. A. Watson, A. Kerr, M. N. Raynes, Thomas Gilbertson, John Walker, D. Appleton, S. Stansfield, Joseph Pim, Rd. Fry, and J. N. Wood. JOIIN DEANE CASE, Esq., took the chair. LAST GENERAL MEETING • • • Mr. HILLIAR read the proceedings of the last general meeting. The commissioners, it appeared, had passed a resolution to the effect that steps be taken at the proper time to separate the parish business from that of the com missioners, and that such alterations be made in the several offices as might thereby become necessary. It also appeared that the Parliamentary Committee had re commended the commissioners to put themselves in com munication with Mr. Robert Stephenson, the eminent engineer, concerning the projected extension and improve ment of the pier at Woodside. The improvement rate, and the lighting and watching rate, each of 9d. in the pound, granted on the Gth of September last, had, it appeared, re ceived the requisite signatures to constitute their legality.— The proceedings were confirmed without eliciting any obser vation. LIGHTING AND WATCHING COMMITTEE. Mr. HILMAR read the proceedings of this committee. Amongst other matters there was a recommendation that 10s. be paid to constable Boughey, ss. each to four of his men, and 2s. 6d. to two other of his men, for their activity in ap prehending the perpetrators of the outrage and robbery at Capenhurst, which was described, at the period of its occur rence, in the columns of the Standard. The CHAIRMAN mentioned his opinion that on considering all the circumstances those rewards were too small, ,and he recommended that the geneFal body should order something more to . he paid to the men. Mr. WATSON said that the feeling of the committee was to do so, but they wished for the sanction of the, general body. It was then resolved that the sum of £5 should be placed at the disposal of the committee to be distributed among the officers.—The proceedings were then confirmed. MARKETS. COMMITTEE. From the proceedings of this committee, it appeared that Thomas Read had been appointed market looker in the place of Thomas Foster, discharged.—Confirmed. ROAD COMMITTEE. The Road Committee recommended the general board to order 5,000 tons of Pentnantnaur stone. to be broken during the winter by poor men resident in the township, for not less than six months. There was also a report that the com mittee had issued notices for the paving of the lower part of Claughton-road, which has already been Macadamized by the owners, or occupiers. Mr. PRITCHARD strongly objected to these notices being enforced. The road was already Macadamized, and in good order ; it was a hardship, therefore, to compel the owners to pave the road after they had gone to so much expense al ready. There was no necessity for it; and he could only characterize it as a job on the part of certain individuals. Mr. WILLIAM JACKSON entered into some details to shew that the paving was absolutely necessary. He wished to know whether he correctiy understood Mr. Pritchard to say that it was a job ? _ _ Mr. PRITjHARD said that, having been called upon, he must say that he did believe it to be a job. Mr. War. JACKSON replied that Mr. Pritchard was not justified in making such an assertion, and he could only at tribute it to a feeling of self-interest. The CHAIRMAN called for order. A great deal of discussion followed upon this matter, but there was no interest in it. The proceedings were eventually confirmed. FERRY COMMITTEE Mr. J. S. JACKSON read the proceeding of the Ferry Com mittee. The Committee stated it was with pleasure they re ported that since the last report there had been no Cause of complaint against any of the servants of the ferry ; and that the receipts of the month exceeded the receipts in November, 1841, by £5B 10s. 7d. The proceedings were confirmed. FINANCE COMMITTEE The proceedings of the Finance Committee were read and confirmed. THE LATE BOATS Mr. MALLABY read the following memorial against the late boats between Woodside and Liverpool. It was signed by 73 most respectable individuals, including all the clergy : Birkenhead, 26th November; 1842. TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF BIRKENHEAD, Gentlemen, We, the undersigned rate-payers of Birkenhead, being tho roughly convinced that great evil has attended the plying of the ferry boats between this township and Liverpool to so late an hour as twelve o'clock, midnight, feel it to be our duty respectfully to represent to you, That it affords a great facility to the ingress of vicious peo ple of every description, thereby altering the character of the residence in this township, and presents opportunities and temptations to young persons from which they would other wise be precluded. That we are persuaded the continuance of such a system must result in heavy pecuniary loss to the township, by the increase of expense ; besides exposing the lives of passengers, and the extra risk to the boats. Also that we consider the late hours thus required for the ttendancc of the servants employed to be quite unreasonable. For these reasons we entreat you earnestly to take into your consideration the propriety of returning to the former practice of the ferry. Signed by the Rev. Andrew Knox, and five other cler gymen of the ChUrch of England, all who reside in the place, three ministers of the Wesleyan connexion, one of the Church of Scotland, the churchwardens, the overseers of the parish, and a great proportion of the respectability of the township. A very long discussion followed on this memorial, in which nothing new was elicited. _ At the end of it, Mr. PARKER gave notice, that at the next meeting he should move that the late boats be discontinued. The meeting then separated WIGAN:-THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL IVIEEETIIsrti of THE TOWN. enuxerL. A special meeting of the Town-council was held in the Council-chamber, new Town-hall, on Wednesday aft ernoon last, for the purpose of adopting the customary legal mea sures in making an order upon the churchwardens and over seers of the poor, for a sum of money to be applied in de fraying the expenses of the corporation. There were present the mayor, Messrs. Ackerley. Croud son, Taylor, Fairhurst, Bullock, Holt, Caldwell, Gibson, Norris, Newsham, Marsh, Woods, Procter, Heaton, Houghton, and Lowe. The minutes of the last meeting having been read by the Town-clerk, Mr. Savage, one of the overseers of the poor for the borough, presented a return of the value of the rateable property within the borough, in conformity with the resolution passed at the last meeting. Mr. Savage having attested the correctness of the return— the required resolutions respecting the order upon the church wardens and overseers for the sum wanted by the corpora tion—were moved and seconded by different members of the council without any amendment being proposed. Resolutions were also passed, empowering Mr. Thomas Latham, chief constable of the borough, to receive the sum specified by the corporation from the overseers, in like man ner as a high constable receives a county rate; and requiring that he should straightway, on receiving the same, hand it over to the treasurer of the borough, to be by him placed to the account of, and for the use of, the corporation. Each document was signed by the mayor on behalf of the corporation, and the borough seal was also affixed in due form. A:conversation arose respecting the tolls, when the Town clerk informed the council that he had written to the lessee, demanding payment of the arrears due from him, according to the instructions he had received from the council ; but he had ndt yet received any reply. After some further remarks from Mr. Ackerley and other members of the council, the meeting was adjourned for a week on the motion of Mr. H. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Bullock. _ GAS INSPECTORS.—A meeting of the council, as gas in spectors, took place on Monday last, when it was agreed on that several additional lights should be placed in different Parts of the town, on the recommendation of the committee appointed to make the examination. IMPUDENT ROBBERY.—TIMELY JUSTICE.—On Tuesday afternoon last, two shirts were stolen from a hedge on Aspull Moor, the property of a person named Hart, near whose dwelling some clothes were drying. On the same afternoon Heath, formerly one of our active police-officers, perceived two young fellows of notoriously bad character, named Robert Topping and William Oecleshaw (one of whom had a bundle under his arm), coming towards the Scholes from Aspull. He suspected all was not right, and followed them to a house of ill-fame in the Scholes, and took them into custody. He then went, along with Smith, No. 1, of our police-force, to Aspull, and discovered the owner of the shirts. The fellows were brought before J. Woodcock, Esq., on Wednesday, and committed for trial. Occleshaw has been three times committed for felony ; and has been heard to declare that he would soon follow his brother, who was transported about four months ago, from our borough sessions. 3 [Prime legs of mutton have within the last few days been selling in this city at sd. and loins, shoulders, and other joints at 4d a pound.—Salisbury Journal. The present week has been prolific of arrivals from the eastern hemisphere. Upwards of twenty vessels of large ton nage, and containing valuable cargoes, have arrived in the docks; several of them from China, and the quantity of tea brought home from Whar . npoa, &c., exceeds 15,000 chests. The barque Elenora, of hitehaven, 319 tons register, Capt. Jackson, arrived in the St. Katharine's Dock, from Wham poa, with nearly 5,000 chests, the majority of which was Congou. THE CHINA TRADE.—As one of many instances of the improvement of business in Glasgow, a gentleman informs us that when there on Tuesday he saw one house, where little business had been done for months, close a single transaction of £lO,OOO in power-loom goods for the China market; and these having still to go through the printing process at home will yet afford some work to Glasgow hands.—Ayr Advertiser. DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF MUNSTER,.—This lamented lady has not long survived her ill-fated husband, having died at her house in Portland-place on Saturday last. Her Lady ship, Mary Wyndham, was daughter of the late Earl of Egremont, and married her late husband in October, 1819, whom she survived not quite nine months. Several children, including the Earl of Munster, who is in his 19th year, sur vive their parents. MURDER NEAR CHEPSTOW.—On Sunday last, an un married female, named Mosley, aged 36, who lived with her father at a farm two miles from Chepstow, was murdered in the absence of her father. About £2O was stolen from the house. The first discovery of the murder was made by the father, who, on the day in question,' on his return from Chepstow market, found the lifeless body of his daughter at the back door, and a hedge-stake lying beside her. A person was apprehended on suspicion. REVIVAL OF THE SERGE MANUFACTORY.—We are happy to find that the good news from India and China has had the effect of reanimating the serge manufactories in Devon, which had been drooping for some time past. The extensive factories for this article at Ashburton and neigh bourhood have been set at full working this last week; and we are informed that the inhabitants seem inspired with a new life, at the prospect of a revival of the exportation trade to the East.—Plymouth paper. ANOTHER MURDER IN IRELAND.—We are afflicted at being obliged to record another deed of blood, perpetrated near Moneygall, on Sunday last. In this instance the vic tim of the murderous fire was Lord Bloomfield's gate-keeper, who had incurred displeasure on account of some proceedings relative to land. As he was sitting at his fire-place, on Sun day, four armed miscreants entered his dwelling, and lodged the contents of a blunderbuss in his body, leaving him a life less corpse. His name, we understand, was Hill.—Limerick Reporter. EXTRAORDINARY MATRIMONIAL AFFAIR.—The love affair in Dublin, that appeared this week in the papers, will find something to do for the bar. The gallant Captain G—, of the 84th Regiment, came over from Chatham at the desire of Miss H—g, to be married. The dresses were made up, and the hour fixed, when the fair one gave the captain the slin, and went off with an old flame—a Mr. F—, whom her friends had discarded. It appears her father left her £50,000 fortune. It is said that Captain G— is about to institute a suit for breach of promise of marriage against Miss 11—g.—Limsriek Chronicle. LIVERPOOL COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION In order to gratify the to the educational arrang reprint, from the Cowie nxiety of our reade with re will be add] The course of study for the iol will comprise position and his- Latin, Greek, Mathematics, tory, geography, natural philosophy, chymistry, and writin The terms will be found in the advertisemeit drawing, and vocal music, will t French quarter eacE inotlern lam Italian, S Imv ter riptions c en in this school ; the one ratory to the univer with a view to N numt will join' t usual munificence, has car lar6hip in a universit_ will he further increased The tours, [dy for tb Latin, English comp , matics, (includinz a iplei of mensuration,,) boc singing, chymistik, again refer to tt ding, that there advertisement for t will ► D extras for branches. It is expected that this school will neutly calculated for the middle class of the c ill give a f ,e of a le law or basir I an inter .e the Pil AFFECTING STERS. r. Corr. obtain not bein e harbour ie pilots c chor v di recti - efused to .ntly taut, lent the on each ragged) the rules, or bye-laws, affecting them in the docking and transporting' of vessels under their charge ; and believed that he should on here ri c. 82, to t rson, having ;el, who shal obey the ord captair .rom tl his name p. 1 did so )f chain. T he care or c aster pilot barge of a lotions, or or every I recol- ,ed by the I know a man to room. In L nost. and way ; and ng the an th 15 or 20 to trip the ling done nothing t hawser t the proper ;el. It was place, for 3-peak, it Cross-e I don't bt re let go here St iketched er-ross ter. It was bit, and led ;ad and the t the cor —to the it made in my opinion, directions about ssist to pay her on the pond post. Ther )ier-head, and a pink the second take the hawspr up, and a generous patron of the institt for two years to the boy who r in it during the past year and consequentfy worth st The course of study fo Latin, English gramm'ar, cumpositiOn;;;(lliislo—r phy, arithmetic,writin of which wilt 1 3e taughtacc with Out an The professors and masters will houses: an( with a near relatiok or a m to the term Evening schools‘will also be provide will be given in the following subject eluding arithmetic, algeb and geometry, espec ally tf practical application,) nautical astronomy and navigation, (for the practical teaching of which an experienced master from the Royal Nautical Si gaged,) naval architecture, natural philosophy, the Ent 'cols at Greenwich has been en nechanical chymistry, 1 music These schools are considered one orthemOst tures of the institution, and the directors to spare no expense or exertion in rendering them practically useful; and from the well known abilities of the masters already engaged, we feel confident their intentions will be crowned with success. The terms are not yet fixed, but the mechanic will have no cause to complain respecting them. There will be evening lectures in the lecture-hall, on t Tuesday and Friday evenings in each week, and, fr amount of talent which will be within the reach of the tors, we expect that this department will be exceedin tractive and useful. The musical s of the alone, supported by the or lery, will, of themselv oyment For the accommodation of pug from the institution, the institution at mix captain to trip t conseq topsail 2. he is Mr. NI Mr. R 22d of ( RTANT PILOT sin and let was brou to the second post from which the ship then lay, ward. I then gave ordi ,ertorm many an evening's rational Nill daily be me distan and will, it is expected, be found well adapt ent objects which they have in view. Perio be sent to the parents. Annual examinations of ti by university examiners from Oxford and Cambrid given, the results of which will be published, and will be distributed, in the lecture-hall, in the prese pupils and their friends, by the Lord Bishop of Chester, who has kindly consented to undertake this pleasing duty. Al sion has been made to the nature of one cl previous paragraph, and there ber of valuable prizes will be the schools 1 for the differ i cal reports will is reason to hope that a num- red for competition in all We now come to a very important b namely, the course of religious training, with an e view to which, as in the case of King's College, Londc institution was founded. All the day scholars will as in their several places in the Lecture-hall, at the comi of education, 1 went of the morning business, attire to be worn in the schools, and the played at King's College, London, Archbishop of Canterbury and the be read by the Principal, all the ott doctrines and institutions of will be daily given to the different classes the English department, and also by the hi different schools, to the classes more immediately unch superintendence. In this manner, the r the student will, with the Almighty b 1( folly equal to the high secular education which cannot f be imparted under such judicious arrangements. by the The institution will commence operations on tile 23rd of January, but a formal opening, to be attended by its dis tinguished friends, will probably take place previously. THE LIVERPOOL ANTI-CORN-LAW ATHER (From the Times.) The confessions of those enlightened benefactors to their own pockets, who subscribe ..£lOO now, that they may here after realize £l,OOO, at the expense, as it of course must in evitably be, of the rest of the community, and who coolly denominate themselves the while an Anti:Monopolist League, continue to increase in intensity and delicacy. A gentleman who seconded a motion at the " Great League Fund Meeting" at Liverpool, " mentioned, with all humility and without any desire to be considered egotistical, that he had gladly given his £lOO for the next year to accomplish the objects of the League. He bad hopes that he was pro moting his own individual good to no small extent by ex tending free trade principles. He was not ashamed to avow his belief, that his £lOO subscription would bring him back a hnndred times £3OO if the objects of the League should .mith SILOC.OI:2_" How beautiful is the modesty with which this humble se conder shrinks from the ostentatious mention of his Tar , charity ! He feels perfectly miserable at thus being obliged to trumpet his own pra that he has subscribed :I nimous a purpose as that contemplated and League. But he shortly reflects that there such great necessity for being ashamed of his subscriptic his money is no gift, but only a speculation ; it will bring no small profit to himself; so he takes courage, anc how this is to t ,y that this was a particular crotch.. .id that his anticipations were of too sanguine a nature; but they should recollect that (ay, here's the rob) he was a large railway proprietor, and that, if the principles of free trade were extended, and the diffe rential duties taken off colonial produce, and corn admitted freely into this country, a double quantity of sugar would be imported, a double quantity of coffee would be consumed and a double quantity of corn would be sent from one ex tremity of the country to the other. The fact of this sugar, coffee, and corn being transmitted by means of the several railways of the country, could not fail to increase the gross revenue and profit arising from those railways to an extent which he could not attempt to predict ; but if it should raise one-half per cent. net profit on the railways, that half per cent. would give 10 per cent. additional value on the capital embarked in them, and that 10 per cent. would give him 100 times £lOO. Upon this view of the subject, therefore, he trusted the meeting would contribute largely, because the SPECULATION was the most certain in which they could be engaged." Here, then, we have it,—there is no mincing matters here —the thing is a " speculation," and " no mistake" about it. All is clear and " level to the meanest capacity." The ns might es, and to proclaim to tl 00 for so d t (!). of his own, . . "class" benefit which is proposed to be realised is calculated with most mathematical exactness. No monopoly in corn ! no monopoly in sugar! no monopoly in coffee ! and why ? Is it because monopolies are absolutely unjust and impolitic? By no means. It is because a diferery monopoly is wanted for a different class of persons. It is to be done simply that there may be a rise in railroad shares, and that the share- depreciated—other classes may suffer—bUt they right to enjoy a monopoly, so let them bear the _ that exclusive advantage formerly enjoyed by these iniqt class-men is transferred to property invested in railroads and if the privileged class of railroad shareholders gai thereby a means of turning their already existing monopol to the greatest possible advantage—this, so far from bein objectionable as class legislation, is the best of all reasons why the proposed change should be mad are no with the £lOO for the League, and rush straight therse tc the offices of the railway companies, and invest your capita accordingly. This is no foolish romance; ti bug here about the cause of humanity and i forth ; we bring you no Dissenting minis " anti-religious" influence of the corn laws the middle classes; no, we , prop( ulation certain gain ; we seek, _ and unnatural value of certain descrir raise, by equally artificial means, the vl tious of property; and we recommend _ to invest in this last-mentioned privileged class of property forthwith. " Favour the land," says the landlord. " Flow unjust," says the public carrier, " to benefit one class at the expense of another; but doubtless railroads and house traffic ought to he encouraged! This would be the best result of the abolition of all monopolies—excepting this only one." " After all, gentlemen" said the leather seller to the com mittee who were deliberating how and with what to fortify their town, " after all, there is nothing like leather." ACCOMMODA7 TO THE EDITOR OF THE parties concernec IVERPOOL STA ND RD SIR,--I observe that in your ay's number you Church, I advice or instruction of the verger of Christ willing to believe that he did not intend to act impertinently though, certainly, my ideas of civility differ, in some degre from those which he would seem to entert I may intimate that my remonstrance v apply to the minister, but to the system by which a per devoted to the reformed religion is debarred f spiritual comfort in one of the churches of our xas not d signed to being prepared to pay for it, and to the practice of the conventicle ) nearly When I wrote I was not aware the Church was a propri tarp one, and that the seats in the upper gallery were free You will do me the justice, I am sure, to insert th nation Yours; r [This explanation requires fu treatment which " E. M." h with can t 'rom receivAnglran churches o r land," is beyond Loss OF TDB HENRY DAVIDSON.—Extract of a letter inserted in the Bombay Times from the captain, dated Singa pore, Sept. 6_:- 7 " Sir,—l take the liberty of forwarding you len, wit h cotton, from Bom an account of the loss of the Henry Davidson, of London 600 tons burc leaving Singapore-roac the eastward. On the was made, the weather very hazy. Pedra Branca supposed to be about2o miles distant. At 2 a.m. aloud rippling noise was heard at N.E. close to. The anchor was cleared, the lead hove, and the ship's head turned S.W. It suddenly became calm, and in an instant the ship drove on a shelf of rocks under water. Ten minutes after there was thirteen feet of water in the hold. In half an hour the water was washing over the guns on the upper deck. Another anchor was let go, in the hope of keeping her on the reef. At 4 a.m., the sea washing over the gangways, we took to the boats, and made for the James, anchored near us, with another vessel, hound through the Straits of Ithio, all of which had drifted 20 miles out of their supposed position, and thus proving our misfortune to have been caused by an unusual current. At daylight we returned to the wreek, and were saving some sails and materials, when she swung off the reef, and, giving a heavy plunge, went down head-foremost, and carried with her a large cutter filled with sails, and two seamen belonging to London!' AUTICAL C S AND PIER c W. S. NV ught to hav shifted [' - i mushroom le to the nortt aulvards were 1 eets wer In a hu I out t under a Ltheniatics, (in- being i IMPO' The brig neve s hauled taut. If I lawser to be lered the nk the cause of the ichor being hove up too rag her anchor, the ac- When she or to cant he examined by Mr. Moss.—l did not direct the pilot up the anchor in an unskilful manner. I do not it I should myself have furled the topsail if I had If I had t flought she was lit ige, I would have taken the hawser to the outer 30 feet further to the That would not, the accident. It v_ on board. It is the duty of the pilot to give t 1....--.1 have prey the fault of Mr. Wright e nawser could only be taken 20 feet. or 30 at the utmost, further outsid e —t o th e westwar d . I ne by me !ar a timid and get the the windlass : and it cannot be done ver or is pretty firm in•the ground. The top ig unfurled had riot much to do with th chorup quickly if the lei that the pier -masters have the power to ye the orders to vessels coming in, but I have myself known this to be disputed by the pilots. The pilot in this case :Went. I consi he raised the anchoi-u-pi;o Mr. Rushton said that what the witness had just stated in the eleventh hour, was the main point, and in his opinion de cided the case He then desired Mr. Askew, the harbour- worn, and in reply to Tr. Rushton s —,uy opinion is that the hawser was never properly hauled taut, and that those on board might have filled, (the topsail) and shot her ahead. lam also of opinion that it was the duty of the pier -master to give the orders, as the flag was then up, and other vessels were expected. The . accident, I of opinion, occurred f rom t h e anc h or no t being dredged. Ir. Wright.—But the b r i g o b eye d t h e or d ers o f the pier -- it is in evidence from himself. master Mr. Rushton.—Yes ! but these orders are to be complied with in a careful and seaman-like manner. I think the orders were not skilfully executed. It was also in the evidence of the mate that the anchor ought to have been dragged. He should now hear evidence as to the amount of damage. enis Fitzpatrick, ship led in his bill for repair rpenter, was then called, and which, together with the D .t. 15 15s Rushton, on looking at it, said he always availed him- ssistance of the rd accordingly ur-master in such cases e (Mr. R.) made his lie should not make an award until that yesterday, (Mr. Wright being in the court,) Mr. Rushton stated that the vessel had been examined by Mr. Askew, and that his (Mr Rushton's) decision was that the defendant should pay the sum of £lO. Mr. Wright stated, before aving the court, that he should al to the Quarter Sessions, on behalf his iquest on the unfortunate man Brittan, who met death in an affray on the Mendip Hills, has resulted Het of " Manslaughter," against Francis Ashman. who was thereupon committed for trial CHINES PROGRES! which we can rel.: London hospitals s been )n to one of the lied to to receive ouse to to 1i him the art and mystery c THE CHURCH IN WALES.—In compliance with a requi ion from the Clergy in the Archdeaconry of Salop, the .nprnl,lp A , —•• • • •• ;he proposei: propriety of litioning union of th . DioCeses of S suppress a bishopric, as a means of Church Extension. That experiment was tried in Ireland on a wholesale scale, and what has been the result? In no part of the kingdom is dissent more prevalent than in Wales, and to extinguish a bishopric is not the way to diminish sectarianism. We think that lay as well as clerical petitions against the union of the Sees should he got up within this Archdeaconry. The mea sure of Church Spoliation, which is in every way objectiona ble, was the " handy-work " of the late Ministry. Had the opposition of that day resisted it, as was their duty, it never could have been enrolled on the Statute Book.—Salopian Tmirrel_ RETURN OF MORE EMIGRANTS.—For two or three weeks past a considerable number of weavers and other mechanics have returned from America to Barnsley. One poor fellow, roke of apoplexy, which mother person had ing Barnsley, has had a st Le says was bro een decoyed to the land Of Jonathan by a stonemason (who .1 from Old Town, Barnsley) telling him that he nn his arriving at the other side of the water, he found out that he had been most shamefully imposed upon by his pretended friend, for he himself was as badly off as it was possible for a man to be ; and after going from town to town i❑ search of work, without being able to be started back to England, and so distressed was , by long walks and hunger, that he fell down seven miles from Barnsley, completely e circumstance reaching the ears of his immediately went to his assistance, and bad him on the road, abo conveyed home. The poor man is to be pitied ; but we wish sincerely that all the Coarv4ts, and other admirers of the re l'au " world, would take a trre for we think that again, if they and " There is no plat, put they would soon retu iiisper atnor sclves, Doncaster Chronicle 1196 6; 1 e THE TRADE TO CHINA.—AII the best informed mer and manufacturers agree in the opinion that ulti mately the opening of the new ports in China will be a most important advantage to the English trade ; but they are not less clearly of opinion that there is great danger of the,trade being overdone in the first instance, and of much money be ing lost by rash speculations. It ought to be remembered that as yet the Emperor's ratification of the treaty has not been received, that we know not how soon the new Chinese ports may be opened to British commerce,—that the Chinese are exceedingly slow i evasive in their proceedings,—that nothing is kno - wn as to the duties which may be levied on our goods, or the regulations which may be imposed,—and that the stipulations of the treaty seem to contemplate considera ble delay in opening the new ports, as it is provided that the islands of Chusan and Kolangsoo shall not be evacuated " until the money-payments and the arrangements for open ing the ports be completed." Now, as the money-payments will not be completed for three years, it - arrat ents for opening the ports might be protracted to g like the same date. We hope and believe this will A be the case ; but speculators should contemplate the pos sibility. Several considerable purchases have been made in the woollen markets for China, and orders have also been put out. A slight advance in prices has been realised, and greater confidence is felt. In the wool market an improve ment is distinctly felt ; more wool has been sold within the .. . ....., ._.... ......es last ten days than within th e s i x wee k s prece di n g, an d pile are on the advance.—Leeds Mercury. THE TEA TRADE, DEC. s.—The public sales of tea con_ eluded on Friday, the firmness exhibited by the holders at the commencement not having been maintained , during the last two days of the series. PCcucliongs were hardly saleable at 2d. to 3d. decline, and young hyson receded as much, while gunpowder, imperial, and hyson might be called Id. to 2d. per lb. lower ; and orange pekoe, 3d. to 4d. ; ord. congou only receded d. per lb. as compared with the rates current before the news of peace arrived; and for fine blackish leaf id. to d. per lb. more than at the October sales. Brokers consider that the, maintenance of the present rates depends entirely on the quantity that may be brought to market for the next few months. There are but 8,396 chests of Corn pany's congou in stock, and the price has been ls. sd. to Is. 5 2 d. per lb. At the conclusion of the sales, ord. to good ord. congou was about Is. sd. to Is. 51d. per lb. ; and pekoe flavoured, 2s. 4d. to 2s. 9d. per lb. ; Pouchong, 10d. to Is. 9d. Souchong ord. to good ord., ls. 7d. to ls. 9d., and mid. to good mid., 2s. 4d. to 3s. ; flowery pekoe , 2 s. 6 d. to 4s. ; orange ditto, Is. 10d. to 4s. 6d. , twankay, good ord. to but mid., Is. 60. to ls. 7?„d. ; and mid. to hyson kind, Is. 10d. to 2s. ; hyson skin, ord. to good ord., Is. sd. to Is, 6d, ; an d but mid. to mid., Is. Bd. to 25.; hyson, good ord., ls. 11d. to 2s. ld. ; and mid. to good mid., 2s. 9d. to ss. ; young hyson, 2s. to 3s. ; imperial, 2s. to 3s. ; and gunpowder, 2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per pound. The imports of tea into London, up to the Ist instant, were 29,441,3681 b., against 16 ,358,8181 b. to the same time in 1841. The deliveries this year are 32,479,9111 b., and were during the first 11 months of last year 30,635,9631 b., showing an increase of about 13,000,0001 b. in the arrivals, and of 2,000,0001 b. in the consumption. The . • 9,1 . 72 , 1 SQ - .1 _ - _don has been 22,289,9111 b., against 21,185,9631 b. at this time last year. The exports have been 4 , 040 ,0001 b, and the qu an tity • • nnOth The /market The The_ actual home ,consumption from is quiet iveries li TRANSPORTS FROM SIDNEY.—From the Hobart Town June 17_)—Twenty prisoners, of the doubly and Courier trebly convicted class, arrived nere by the MariaaWats j on on the Bth instant. Upon their passage down they twice at tempted to take the vessel; once they even endeavoured to set her on fire. They were received into the penitentiary upon their arrival ; and, the very first night, eight of the number succeeded in freeing themselves of their irons, with the determination of effecting their escape, by rushing upon the constables at the gate, just tha Hind* TT previous to their bemgslocked up tor the nignt. Up on this occasionn a small double barrelled pistol was f oun d secreted in oue of the loaves of bread in their possession. It is supposed that,theiyn must,spite of the vigilance exercised in searching them. they into the in some way or other, have brought the pistolded to have penitentiary with them ; they, no doub t t i , ea ieten with whom they used it as an intimidation with those n ar In consequence of came in contact, as it was not loaded made by these misguided this resolute attempt to escape l Ewatched ; and Mr. Gunn, men they were still more strictly almost passed into a proverb, whose well-known vigilance ha s eNtra men on patrole during the did so ; for, on Sunday night was on the alert, and placed t he t i h n a made a still more daring effort to night. It was fortunate last, several of them a They had no ordinary difficulties to con effect their escape he strict daily search to which they were tend against •! forp - wed them of their previous tools, consisting subjected had (I , c d r t z wo knife-blades converted into saws : they of the pistol, a were, mo reove w atched by one trusty m an i n t h e .-- r _ ...e same room .v., and another outside the door. D ur i ng the pre had... made a great outcry for water ; and from ich some had been carried to them, it appears that they su cceeded in wrenching off the handle, w hi ch they broke l , With these rough to o l s t h ey commenced, as soon !' as they . were locked up for th e night, . to make a hole in f a the wall of their room, large enough for a m an t o cre ep through. They previously seized and gagged the man iri the room with them, and then worked away, in a quiet and dexterous manner, at the wall, placing the bricks noiselessly down on a blanket. They had also torn up other blankets, and muffled their irons, to prevent the clinking. In the course of the night some of them succeeded in getting through the aperture, and thus gained access to the back yard. At this juncture, the man stationed outside the door thought he heard a clinking sound, and bawled out most lustily to the one inside to know if all was right, and not receiving any an swer seized a piece, ran out into the yard, and fired it. In an instant Mr. Gunn and all the constables inside and out side were on the move. The prisoners also were not idle, for in an incredibly short space of time three or four were ob served to have gained the summit of the penitentiary wall. A constable immediately levelled his piece and pulled the trigger, but the gun missed fire ; two other constables pre sented their pieces and were about to fire, when the men who were on the wall called for quarter, and surrendered at dis cretion. They have since been very heavily ironed, and still more closely guarded, and, we understand, will shortly be sent down to Port Arthur. ILLI e vious_day,th y, rope w t ao befc would rat of the fit. I eau the got insid o ut. Wk to get he] rer on the when the the shore ts' Corn- car said ht would if he bad ourt. In !d to the nz called ) put it he heard lore," b post. The or was dro] ,ce of the'sail ng out, ' —as tight as • the topsail to be he orders. The and the pier len a vessel runs out of the way 11 be heard. the pier-master am Pier-master of the King's he vessel coming in on Saturday, the as at the Pier-head. The vessel ran ro her anchor, and brought up by it. it up, I ordered the pilot to send a hawser was sent, and was made fast the westward. In the position in , I thought it far enough to the west lers to the pilot to get the anchor up Le cap. 1 neve r the last witne 'levelly leave ;4 a r r t , vdSII.I4A, as quick as possible, and get the vessel nut of the road. I said so as other vessels of a larger size might be coming in. The graving-docks being filled, a large steamer had also to be got out that tide. I gave no other orders, and I saw no delay. was no ever told the pilot not mention made by the yard was down on never mind the topsail," as stated Such a word was never used by me. le management of the sails to the pilot's s we consider them competent to act properly in T 1,, d no objection to the sail I %mum nave or he westward. I e helpe