The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-14 00:00:00

U t. emselves, hat name be donee rrauge it Lauri with genet -3 the pre the diree %lanchei. he Trent the most •ms. Flo oat were' ension as ijourned. ininuteS. Counsel ce of SiC Jo riter !on for s tee of the. the har ed in Mr• e learned the other the diffi ig a Cri- ssued og 20th No" seed £26 ;. Whets Ise. The I July, or prom and ayable to f 2d. per iitors not n making hereof to !d. Any oney en )epositor s not ex- Where .;re wills, roey may le effects misters, iesses.— eposit of les to be py to be r;ommis— tion of (resent is Ma ich /AI May 14, 1844. CORRESPONDENCE. R. COLVILLE'S MEASURE AND THE LIVER- POOL BUILDING SOCIETIES. A People of proprietors may be governed by gentle laws. Where ric n.proprietors compose the greatest part of a nation it .1.5 different. They can be governed by harsh laws only." HELVETIUS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. • SIR,—I n the point of view from which the remarks in flay last emanate, it is impossible to pass by unnoticed Smother numerous class of owners—that supplied .by Building Societies. I have no hesitation in stating that eve suffer more from improvidence than has ever been Imagined. What is it that peoples our gaols, swells our e police reports, and crowds our workhouses?—the lack of theality and industry—to what may be traced much of mmorality and vice which abounds in society ? doubt less to the same cause. Improvident youth and strength glide away with the velocity of a meteor, and when the dream of life is nearly over, the dim perspective of the future becomes pregnant with portentous clouds, atid evil terminating in crime or the purlieus of a workhouse. Row many in the evening of life are obliged to revert with Pain to the sunny days of youth, and to reflect upon what th ey might have been—how they might have avoided the quicksands of life, and secured for old age those comforts wbich were once at their command. They terminate an I:IT-Provident life in sorrow and dishonour. Now the end of all good government is the promotion of virtue among rthe People, and virtue must be encouraged by induce ments. And I maintain that Building Societies afford the i ee ?st Powerful inducements to the provident and indus -""s• The plan of building funds has not only been con ceived, but it has also been tested in practice, and it has succeeded, and the legislature has Ondorsed it w.th an act for the protection and encouragement of such societies, declaring in the preamble of that act that it was expedient so to do. How then has this been regarded by the people—have they availed themselves of its advantages? ----let " the number of Building Societies in this town an. Soci't- There are in Liverpool upwards of fifty of these eties, in the whole of which there cannot be less than Ch e e' — `' m embers, two-thirds of which n u m be r are pur owners ase m embers, and conse q ue n tly no m i na l o r fi c ti t i ous me 0. property, and that of course cottage property. ghat th e h a cannot then but suppose, nay it is beyond q ues ti on , bits of frugality and industry to whi c h th ese institutions are accessory, must have an almost otnni• -Potent influence upon the condition, moral, social, and *Political, of the people. While party spirit has been run l'ing high, political empiricism, rampant and professing Patriots pouring forth their desolating lava against what they term the corrupters of the people, these institutions have, like gentle spring showers, been producing silently Comfort. happiness, virtue, arid morality throughout the land. In them the fondest anticipations of a benevolent legislature have been exceeded. But let us glance at the constitution of these societies : the members comprise chiefly mechanics and labourers, or in other words, the Working classes, who may be divided into two sections, the tiny capitalist and the one without capital. To the former, Building Societies afford the best facility for the acquisition of a little property, and to the latter, they present all the advantages of a saving bank, as regards security, with a much greater rate of interest upon deposits. I shall now demonstrate the manner in which Mr. Col tiille proposes to frustrate the benevolent intentions of a Paternal legislature; in fact, the virtual repeal of the 6th and 7th Wm. IV. cap. 32. The success of a building society is of course dependent Upon that o f each individual member. A " break down," as it is vul gar l y termed, is not less embarrassing to the sWhit ociety than it i s ru i nous to the i n di v id ua l . N ow, upon mainly depend s th e success o f th e i n di v id ua l mem , l • It is up on the precision and accuracy of his calcu ations in his undertakings. The points for his conside ration are —the number of shares he will require to com- Itle his purchase of property, the periodical payments to d i fferenc e he will be liable in respect of those shares, and the e between the aggregate amount of the rents of IcalchuPr"ertY and the subscriptions to the society. These lations made, the member's purchase, or rather its c ,o t n t e ent f , i s :gOverned by his resources. Well, a member of of ththese societies has purchased property, and having eed from the society nearly as much as the amount sub !ppsutoliorocfenhaiosse, money, fohi the rents obtained from that pro ,Ptertysen :purse insufficient for the payments of his The deficiency, however, is not greater purchase was made to keep within than nr his its: but then he has nothing in reserve. Sup- Pose, en, a ZAtive. A. poor -rate upon owners were to become ope uneenee,"P ! he would then he ruined. An extra and Would ;F e " &Wand upon his fund, increasing his deficit, gtrneeslifootriisable him in his engagements to the society ; the societ n i - Paernent would increase in geometric pro s Property would fall into the hands of the Industry is little capital—the fruits, perhaps, of years of t aa and retrenchment—alienated for ever; and he c Y a en mourn over his loss, break his heart, and die, uF,. use he had not brain enough to anticip ire Mr. Col "le's Ph . l Col of e I Osoph-. Y Silly man ! Upon the faith of an act Pas - se a e r ' a s atn eut, the preamble of which sested that it was his all ;or hi% encouraeement and p ruin e his rceectien, he embarked for d t he legislature break their truce, and he is undone uns uspecting credulity. But this is not all : this he si ro an remains a s a warn i ng to others, who will not petty ow to benefit by his history. The purchise of pro ' an d with that the purchase of shares in the society, Z. The sources of profit dried up, the society, which per adventure may not have seenits second year, becomes extinct. Thi s i s the Colville mode of repealing parlia etteelharY enactm ents , w i t h out the a id o f t h e o ld -fash i oned 7:ulttrsoublesorne course of roy a l assen t. W e are cer t a i n l y 1 . In an age of imp rovements ! But, independently of its this impost upon owners would be most unjust in Principle towards the member of a building society who Izight be unfortunate enough to be the nominal owner of Property. A member holds cottage property, say, to the amount of £5OO, but he has borrowed the amount from the society for its payment,, and having paid it may be only twelve months' subscription in liquidatio n of the loan, his beneficial interest in the property is a mere mockery. Is that man, so circumstanced, a fit object for parochial assessment—to be rated as the owner of property ? It is more than absurd—it is monstrous ! Corporal Trim said to my Uncle Tobv, " This man shall surely die." That is the language of Mr. Col% e's Measure as respects building societies. But let u , c range t he point of view from the landlord to the tenant. It may be said in reply to what I have advanced, that the effect= Which I have stated would be maternity qualified by an Increased rental, that the owner would reimburse himself the.raising his rents. Now without committine myself to !Ines areument, I shall enquire what it is worth. Why, if assertion be true, the measure would be a mere farce, for would be inoperative ; and in the next place, the ar obje:t amounts merely to a removal of the burden. The o‘ e shit character of the scheme is increased if the s suer shift the burden from his own shoulder to that of 11 ,1_ Psoor tenant —its effects would be intensified, as the ruetsfnure would descend upon those least able to hear it ; Prob e - 1 ;••Y own part, however, I think it much nearer to : a h g e eeen i t i . RY to say that the owner would attempt to raise whit, I doubt that he could obtain it. Rents in cot t°hPertY have reached their maximum point, beyond the rent a l l ' cannot go. The effects of an effort to increase fo herd t physicl;4on the domicile of the poor would be injurious morally. They would be compelled to t:"ett and enittees;, ier several . families in one house . : health d com e°ul then be sinecures, and building acts passe Politi health of the people a dead letter. lam a tyro in t h e ea or I should have made scene observations upon f nc irahise, whi c h wou ld b e mater i a ll y a ff ec t e d by th e ,tion of this m easure. I can, t h ere f ore, mere ly make to intlendo. Thus have I endeavoured (feebly it is true) eu r "Pose the mi sc hi evous tendency of this proposed mea • e ; and in the language of the present First Lord of the m trl ' ea sury I w ou ld ask " - Where is the necessity for such tteleasure—where its polscy ?—i n pr i nc i ple part i a l and ea, 4ust antagonistic to the B r i t i s h Constitution in ope `loo—a drag upon the wheel of industry, sacrificing 'ei but benefitti ng none — a measure engrossing into P lf all that is and misery unjust and o di ous i re principle, with pau er m,in its train ; virtue and morality, and 41 1 the noblest sentiments of humanity, join in its condem nation." Liverpool, 11th M a y, 1844 . ILLAUDATUS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. S IR ,-1 had an idea of sending this letter to your op ponent the Ilfercury, but as I th oug h t that the great blodesty for which he is so notorious (and which is inva riably the conccmtitatit of merit) would prevent . him from blowi ng b lowing his own trumpet, I have altered my mind, ''''esidered you would also have it in your power to show t /our good turn. tnagnanimity towards one who deserves so well a Vl)ur hands, by doing him a T he facts are as follow :--- I have been suffering for 11° tne time past from sleeplessness, and my medical mar, patience, by trying itli! exhausted his ingenuity and l } t somniferous effects of the m v y arious drugs in the Arr nla coPeia," as he expresses . himself. However, all t , ,, e , 1 ,Pd of no avail, until a kind neighbour, on a Friday ei,:iing about three weeks ago, before I took nay medi zs e ' br°lltht me in the Mercury of that day. I com therne,"l4 to read his leader, and before I had got through be ea - vn d"B I began to feel drowsy ; after tenththe h line I triir former slie-eP lit 'e feu"erPawered • and ere I had gone . halt'-dozen L ours. ru ler . , ~ , hardly for some afterL was fast asleep. I remained so . Cau se s 7" waki g and supping, little suspecting the fore ot. mtleirstinissed the fore resu med , I took up the paper, but h h a the remainder of the leading artic l le h vee 11°N° I. Wa ' s fast a 'leep, and slept fi e nd that " doctor," and find that a small dose leadiap.eurY, especially a leader, has the desired e h ec t I . Renerail are to .1. . ' ,I , e 1),• I must, however, admit t a I I hav,,Y.-ceeP much better on a Friday. 111. 0 1 ~,,,- "1011:ht it only due to the Mercury to state this re : 4 littl e " I d also state that I believe if the Mercury wt 4 ' doct o ll ° re read by the operritives of Liverpoo l , t h e would have less influence over them. I have to subset ibe myself, GRATEFIII:, PATIENT. _ A I : l 4 r i e r use, !ianh?Ca ri : h l ) e i t I c 4 in had b'morn infant, portions of whose mutilate ng 1 i r c e u s tana MURDERas n c h e eA s l Td attendant beforeiiAm Pl‘TiO o r N n . W the 7CaOk d d ul e eß a Y r T t e h t f o ti ? f l it : n a: /44 10 7: fonnd in and near to the sewer belongi adverted to ha ve 1: Court Palace. The particulars already INRas no ...e.." oar.ated, Mr. Wakley observed,dthhaett there a ej;.:(!of that this child had been murder, °lved by'4:ealment of birth took place, and that was fol ould he t 6„. horrid acts of mutilation, the inference ehite,': it had been killed, lie was of opinion that w this throWrici ."t co merem the Palace at all; . but had someheen Persori _aro . the drain, and very likely . by tat,,d min from a distance. The jury having ktlrclerr 4 few minutes, returned a verdict of '` ( Wilful against some person or persons unknown. CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES, On Saturday, pursuant to previous public notice, a meeting was held at Willis's rooms, St. Jamrs's, of a Society "fur the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring Classes." There was a very large attendance of highly respectable persons, including a considerable proportion of ladies. Among the gentlemen on the plat form were Lord Ashley, the Bishop of Salisbury, Viscount Chelsea, R, v. R. Burgess, Sir George Rose, Rev. H. the Rev. Mr. Bull, Mr. Colquhoun, M.P., &c. Lord Asn LEY took the chair, and opened the proceed ing.; by an appropriate speech. The Rev. HUGH M'NEILE, after some introductory observations wth reference to himself and the circum stances which required his almost immediate departure for Liverpool, said, with reference to the object which had brought the meeting together, that she poor had feelings as well as wan s, and this lay at the root of their real work, if they would accomplish any real benefit. They were engaged in forming a society for the improvement of the condition of the labouring classes--a noble project, but att-nded with serious difficulties It required no ; ai b m ut a i t t arned dmeos desire t t h h a e n a a cc c o m m n s n h m c h e r n i s t t o i a f n s h u e: h e ‘ a • o n l e o n e b j e e t c o t ow u uired the mu d c „ l s t i m re or w e i t t r h ) a e i m ffec a t t . w prlt r e e c q i u si i o re n d , awnd wisdom — ar h r e y scrupled not to say worldly wisdom—a quality which was not always found combined with piety and benevolence. In the prospectus which had been printed preparatory to the formation of this society there were three objects digs tinctly laid clown. His lordship had already enumerated them ; they referred to the dwellings of the poor, field gardens or the allotment system,and friendly loan societies. He apprehended the last would be found the easiest to be carried into effect, because they would not be embarrassed here by any consideration of property, which would meet them in both the other instances. It might, per haps, sound strange if he referred to some places in Ire land as models for friendly loan societies; nevertheless, he did so, and he ventured to say that inquiry concerning the operation of friendly loan societies in some districts, especially of the north of Ireland, would be attended with an amount of information, both as to the details of the working of those societies and the rules by which they were to be set agoing, which could not fail to be highly beneficial. On the other points they would at once meet with the difficulty arising from property. He presumed it was not the design of this society to confer upon land lords any increased rental. Yet the condition of the poor man relatively with his landlord must be taken into ac count before they could wisely proceed to make any im provement in his dwelling ; for, how could they prevent the landlord from demanding more rent than was formerly paid if he found his tenant dwelling in a better house than he formerly inhabited ? They might not increase the generosity of the landlord. The landlord who would stand by and allow them to make improvements on his property, rather than make these improvements himself, would, he thought, not improbably avail himself of the improvements effected ; and thus, although the poor man might have a better dwelling, be would never theless be compelled to pay a higher rent for it. This must also be considered in the allotment system. It struck him that, before any plan such as was sketched in the prospectus of a model for imitation by the country could be carried into effect, the society should pur chase an estate ; they must become themselves the landlords. This would be an excellent mode of com mencing ; an es'ate should be purchased, its present cir cumstances accurately noted—the number of acres, of dwellings, of population, and rent should all be clearly stated and published ; then the new system should be in'roduced, and after it had had fair operation another statement should be published, showing the increase of cultivation, the increase of population, the increase of rent, the increase of happiness, the increase of all the ele ments of present prosperity and future happiness to the people of the country. (Cheers.) Yet even here the manner of proceeding demanded great care, for, as he said before, they must remember that the poor had feelings as well as wants, and all their efforts to relieve the physical wants of the poor would prove in vain unless they were administered with an enlightened regard to their moral feelings. (Cheers.) Bounty would be misunderstood and abused if it were administered without sympathy. In vain would they improve the cottage garden or the small farm,—in vain would they improve the arrangements and drainage of the dwelling, thereby increasing its con venience and salubrity, unless at the same time they made personal friends of the inmates. (Cheers.) The enemies of good order were perniciously active in poison ing the fountains of moral feeling, especially with reference to the bounty of the rich, in the bosoms of th e p oor; an d there was too much truth in the caustic definition of in gratitude which was given by that noble philosopher, Lord Bacon :—" Ingratitude is a keen insight into the motives of benevolence." A still higher authority had said that " He who would have friends must show himself friendly." This was the point —the poor must be made friends. (Cheers.) They could not improve them as they im proved machinery—an outlay of money was but part of what they required—there must be an outlay of care, of kind atterition, of brotherly feeling, a manifestation of regard for them as fellow -creatures, for whom Christ died. (Cheers.) If noble lords, and right hon. and hon. gentlemen, the proprietors of land and the proprietors of factories, would give themselves the trouble to make themselves personally acquainted with the poor under their charge—if they would spend hour after hour amongst their labouring poor—not grudging the interruption in the labourer's time necessary to make a friend of the la bourer himself (cheers)—if they would go from farm to farm on their estates, and from room to room in their factories, manifesting an interest and culti vating a confidence, the best results might confidently be anticipated. (Cheers.) It was only in this way the thing could be done. He was bold to say that the greatest outlay of money without the outlay of sympa thy and personal kindness would never attain the object they had in view. (Cheers.) How was this to be at tained? It was easy to sign a check for a subscription to a society for the benefit of the poor, and think no more about the poor for whom that money is to be expended; but that would never do. There must be a manifestation of kindly feeling, and in order to this there must be an appreciation of the poor man's character. The poor, he repeated, had feJ ngs as well as wants. He claimed res pect for the poor man's character as well as pity for the poor man's condtion. (Cheers.) All squalid as he looked, bowed down under toil, what was he ? He was a rnan ; arid what had he ? all ruined and penniless as he appeared, he hid reason, conscience, immortality. Com pared with these, what were mines and lands? what were stately mansions and gorgeous furniture? what the luxu ries of toe palace? what the rivalries of the Senate-house? what the dignities of the Cabinet ? what all the conten tions and cold-blooded theories of an abstract philosophy ? (Loud cheers.) Behold the labouring man—his brow was furrowed, yet he seemed not careworn—there was an air of serenity about him. His eye was sunk—perhaps his nouri.hment had not been sufficient—perhaps his home had been a home of sorrow—yet he did not seem d:scontented. Tiler, was an expression of satisfaction about him. He had not only reason, conscience, and im mortality, but all these were sanctified—he was a Christian. God the Holy Ghost dwelt in him as in a tem ple—God the SO'n deigned to call him brother—God the Father had adopted him as a child. These composed tile true dignity of man—these would stand and shine in everlasting, glory, when stars and honours among men, if dissociated from piety, would shrink into everlasting con tempt. (Loud cheers.) But he was obliged to toil, he was obliged to labour for his bread—he was so, but did this make him less respectable? His object was to ele vate the poor man's character in their estimation ; they must have a good opinion of his character—an opinion not based upon the representations that were made continu ally of the wretchedness inseparable from his present con dition, and the crimes which perhaps were inseparable horn that wretchedness—an opinion not gathered from the statistical returns which represented the poor in a disgusting point of view, but derived from their own sense of what they owed to their fellow -creatures—to those whom God delighted to honour, for he called the poor of this world, " rich in faith, and heirs of the king dom ;" and one of the peculiar characteristics of the ever lasting Gospel, the basis of all our happiness was, that it was preached to the poor. (Cheers.) He must toil—be it so ; did that diminish his respectability? There had gone abroad a most unaccountable infatuation, that the necessity of constant labour was an evil ; and that they were the favoured sons of Providence who were not under any necessity to toil for their li‘.elihood. There could not be a greater mistake; for industry, independent of the blessed results that arose from it, was in itself most sweet and satisfactory. Industry relieved the mind from that distraction and that want of point and object which rendered the slothful males path a hedge of thorns. In dustry was the guard of innocence ; it was the daily check against those tendencies to vice which would otherwise manifest themselves to our fallen nature. And who was he that looked down on the man of toil ? Who despised the man who was obliged to labour for his bread? Who was lie who, traversing the wide domains of his own estate, it might be, and looking from hill to hill, exulting in the pride of his possessions— " Views the simple rustic hind, " 'Whose toils uphold the glittering show, " A creature of another kind, " Some coarser substance unrefined, " Placed for his lordly ease far, far below ?" (Cheers.) Who was he? It might be the slothful man —infected with the leprosy of wealth—the bane of those who had no employment they must attend to, and had no nobleness of mind to make an employment for them selves. Sloth was detes able, mischievous—worse than useless. The slothful man was a disgrace to his species. The powers of mind and body which might be used to the glory of God and the good of our fellow-creatures were frittered away, morning after morning, upon a pro longed toilet, which, when made, only made the wearer of it ridiculous ;—(loud cheers)—and evening after even ing upon eating and drinking and pleasuring, which served but to rivet on their votaries the chains of selfish ness and vanity. (Continued cheers.) The man of toil was the man of the highest respectability. The man of daily, diligent, industrious toil for his family, who, by the sweat of his brow, under the solemn curse of our first parent, continued to produce materials for the support of himself and family —compare that man, returning with his stained person and his weary sinews from his toil to his home in the evening —compare him with the youth of fashion returning from his idle lounging ride or walk—which was the more respectable ? which was more an object of affection—on which would they lavish more attention—which would they have more respect for? (Cheers.) He claimed respect for his poor friends' character. He asked the affection of their hearts for them ; and then they would set about im proving their dwellings and their condition, not with a cold attention, but with a warm heart. (Loud cheers.) It was in this way their object was to be gained, and in this way alone. Tue poor must be visited, not with the ostentation of condescension, which would barely wait for a reply to questions put with scarcely civility, and which, instead of good, inflicted a double evil—evil to those who TOWN COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS. On Wednesday the adjourned monthly meeting of the Council was held at the Town-hall. COURTS OF LAW COMMITTEE. From the proceedings of the Courts of Law and St. George's Hall Committee, it appeared that a correspond ence had taken place between Mr. Aspinall and Dr. Wes ley respecting a suitable organ for the hall, and that the Doctor had kindly consented to undertake the superin tendence of the instrument. The committee recommended that, instead of stone, red granite columns (a specimen of which was placed on the Council tahle) should be ordered for the interior of the hall. Mr. Elmes, the architect, was of opinion that smokeless fuel should be used in the building, with the view of doing away with an unsightly stack of chimneys. Mr. H. LAWRENCE. in moving the confirmation of the proceedings, said the cost of the 20 granite columns had been estimated by Mr. Tomkinson at £4,989, but from this sum several reductions would have to be made. For instance, the cost of plain stone columns would be £l6OO, which would reduce the expense to ..£3,380. Then, the Council had contracted in such a manner already as to save £2,500, which would reduve the excess to £BBO. After a few words from Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE, touch ing the state of toe finances, and the constant demands which were being made, the proceedings were confirmed, with the understanding that the committee should order the columns on receiving the authority of the Finance Committee on financial grounds. EDUCATION COMMITTEE. From the proceedings of the Education Committee it appeared the average attendance at the schools, from the 27th of March to the 24th of April, was as follows :—North School, boys 242; girls, 204; infants, 161 ; total, 607.-- South School, boys, 191; girls, ; infants, 161 ; total, 488. Tne number on the books was reported to be—at the North School, 744; at the South, 621. Mr. Mor.v NEux, in moving the confirmation of the proceedings, gave notice of a motion for the next meeting, that Mr. G. G. Hornby be a mem b er o f t h e comm i ttee i n place of Mr. Boutflower, deceased. The proceedings were confirmed; so also were those of the Improvement, Market, Church Expenditure, and Fire Committees. GARDENS COMMITTEE. The proceedings of this committee having been read and confirmed, Mr. TURNER complained that the Mount Gardens were closed at an early hour of the afternoon, when the poor might otherwise go there to enjoy the fresh air, and see a green tree. He had gone there on Saturday evening last, before his dinner, and found all the seats on the Mount locked up. The Cemetery was also locked up, so that a person had to walk three miles before he could get a little fresh air. He thought the gardens ought to be left open until dusk. The MAYOR.—The shutting of them up will tome peo ple to go to Mr. Yates's park. (A laugh.) Mr. BIRRETT.—I suppose the gardener has followed the example of the merchants on 'Change, and closes bu siness at two o'clock on Saturday. (Laughter.) Mr. THORNHILL promised to bring the complaint be fore the committee. OBSERVATORY COMMITTEE. It appeared from the proceedings, that the chronometer makers who objected to the rating of chronometers at the Observatory, were requested to submit their objections, in writing, to the committee. HEALTH OF THE TOWN COMMITTEE. The proceedings of the committee having been read, Mr. PARKER called attention to what he considered a great and crying nuisance in the town,—he alluded to dry wells or cess pools, were suds were pumped out and ob noxious smells created. He thought the Council ought to possess a power to compel every owner to put a drain in the pooh, and to empty into the soughs. Mr. JOHN HOLMES said a Sewer was being made in Church-street at present for the purpose of removing the nuisance. Mr. BLACKBURN said that Mr. Aspinall, himself, and other gentlemen, had visited the slaughter-houses, and that every attention appeared to be prod to cleanliness there that the nature of the case admitted of. He thought that if the shughter-houses were flagged ins►ead of paved, and that it Tr,rwbridge-street was covered with a wooden pavement, it would be a great advantage. Mr. J. HoLmas said the street in question was about to be macadamised. Mr. BIRKETT gave notice of a motion for the next meeting, that Mr. Kaye be added to the committee; and the proceedings were confirmed. THE MARKET DAY. The MAYOR presented a memorial, signed by between 1700 and 1800 persons, praying that the market-day be altered from Saturday to Friday. He was afraid, from what the Town-Clerk had stated privately, that however desirable it might be to make the change, yet that there were some difficulties in the way. The TOWN-CLERK thought it might be taken that the legal objections could be got over, if the Council approved of the change. Saturday was the day in which it was de clared in their local acts that the market was held by pre scription. Mr. H. LAWRENCE was of opinion, that although some might be in favour of the change, others were opposed to it, and that if they altered one market-day, they should alter the other also from Wednesday to Tuesday. The TOWN-CLERK said Wednesday was named as the market-day in the charter of Queen Anne. Mr. G. EL LAWRENCE suggested the propriety of hav ing it earlierconsidered o nh teSaturday whether t the markets night. might not be closed a little Mr. BLACKBURN said great evil arose from keeping the markets open so late on the Saturday, and that if the hour for closing could be altered to eight o'clock it would be a great credit to the Council. - Mr. Aldermen LAWRENCE said the subject bad been frequently considered by the committee, but that the peo ple in the markets had an objection to early closing, as they said, if the markets were shut, the public would re sort to shops in the town. Mr. BLACKBURN observed, that if the markets were closed it would lead to the closing of the shops al-o. Mr. KAYE understood the Town-Clerk to say that the legal objections might be got over with reference to Sa turday, but that it could not be got over with respect to Wednesday. The TOWN-CLERK repeated that Wednesday was named in the charter of Queen Anne, but that he should not de. spair of getting over the difficulties in both cases. The memorial wa s re f erre d to the Markets Committee, with an understanding that they should re-consider whe ther the hours for closing the markets on Saturday night might not be altered. SMOKE NUISANCE. The MAYOR next presented a memorial from the te nanted the in Gill- os street Mark e t, comp l aining that they expe ls of property and cust om b y the dense masses of smoke which issued from some neighbouring cement works, and which rendered the provisions, in some cases, unfit for use, and caused the windows on the wes tern side of the market to be kept constantly closed. rent free. Th e same It was referred to the Finance Committ ee ; so also was a memorial from the Instit u t ion for reclaiming unfortu re utpraayinhgorised for a house to nominate a p erson to the seer-bailiff, vacant b y the death of the late c constable of e a eA l i s sworth. THE CORONER'S ACCOUNTS. These accounts, amounting to £72 13s. 6d., were re ferred to the Finance Committee for payment. Mr. PARKER said he had been told that a man was lately killed by the falling of a hogshead of sugar, and that a surgeon was paid two guineas by the coroner to know what he died of. (A laugh.) Mr. BLACKBURN.—To know the immediate cause of death, I suppose? Mr. PARR`ER. — No; but whether the hogshead of su gar killed him. (Laughter.) Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE said that 35 inquests had been held within the month, in 17 of which surgeons had been examined. In 14 out of the 17 post mortem examinations had been held. _ Mr. PARKER said the expenses of the coroner's office amounted to £l,OOO a year, and that that was a large sum. The conversation here dropped. THE CORPORATION SCHOOLS. At twelve o'clock, Mr. BLACK BURN rose for the put. pose of bringing forward his motion relative to th e Cor poration Schools, which was seconded by Mr. Alde rman EVANS. We shall not weary our readers with even an analysis of his statements ; for the opinion of the Council, and that of the town at large, have already been frequentl y ' expressed upon them. As Mr. North's speech did not profess to be an answer to Mr. Blackburn, but to be merely an indignant remonstrance against the perti nac i ous obstinacy of the radical faction in the Council, we will give the principal portion of it. Mr. North's remarks are as just as they are well merited. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD indulged in such conduct, because it ministered to their own vanity and self.importance, and evil to those visited with it, because it provoked a reply of repugnance and hostility. Iles , must be visited leisurely and kindly. The stories of their domestic troubles—their contentions and quarrellings with their neighbours must be listened to —their regrets must exciti- neither sneer nor smile—their wants and troubles must not tie derided as insignificant— their failings must not be rudely as-ailed—nothing could justify rudeness to any man, however poor—they mu-t be attended to kindly and affectionately, because, he re peated, the poor had f•;-lings as well as wants, and bounty must be accomeaniel with sympathy, or the grand object they had in view would never he acc nnolished. (Cheers.) The reverend gentleman concluded by moving the follow ing resolution !—" That it appears, from various Parlia mentary and other inquiries, that the labouring classes in this country are placed in circumstances which call for the efforts of an enlarged and weal-directed benevolence to produce a perrnantnt and effectual improvement in their condition." Mr. Colquhoun, M.P., seconded the motion. ' The following resolutions were subsequently passed : "That the recent Parliamentary reports on the pottage Allot ment System, on the Sanatory Condition of the Dwellings of the Poor, and on the Loan Funds of Ireland, suggest the means by which such an improvement may be attempted with a reason. able prospect of success." That a society be now established, under the designation of ' The Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring ( lasses,' which should embrace the above-mentioned objects—the improvement of the dvi`zllings of the flo r, the ex tension of the cottage allotment system, the formation of friendly loan s , cieties. and the consideration of other matters involving the general and perm anen t we lf are o f the labouring classes." A committee of noblemen and gentlemen was then formed to carry oat the objects of the meeting, and up wards of £lOO mtb collected on the spot. [lt xs worthy of remark fiat, though the Rev. H. M'Neile took such a prominent part at this meeting. and at the meeting far promoting the missionary eJterti 'ns of the Church of Scot. land on the previous day, he preached two sermons at St. Jude's Church, as usual, on Sunday.] Mr. BIRKETT.—An hour and three quarters. Mr. NORTH.—Yet, the result was its affirmation, by a majority, he believed, of more than two to one. From that, the decision of the Council, Mr. Blackburn appealed to the public—at least if he might trust to his recollection of having seen in the window of the Mercury-office, in scribed, " Substance of a speech of Mr. Blackburn, de livered" so and so. The effect of that speech so delivered and so published, and the influence of the party whose views it expressed, might be inferred from the fact next in succeranou in paint ni_tima, snail, La gni:posed Jae might say, in importance, to that vast display of oratory and zeal—the Municipal Election, at which the party opposed to Mr. Blackburn's views on the education question, and in virtue especially of that opposition, succeeded in car rying twelve out of fourteen contested wards. (Hear, hear.) And, notwithstanding all this, Mr. Blackburn repeated his attack that day, upon precisely the same grounds which had been refuted a hundred times in argu ment, and twice within one year, by the unanswerable and overwhelming evidence of the public opinion to which he had alluded. (Hear, hear.) Now, how were they to deal with such pertinacity as this? If the sense of any body of electors was ever determinedly and decisively mani• fested—if the duty of an elected body was ever well and faithfully discharged, it was by the manner in which the Council dealt with the question last year. And were they now, faithful yet, and therefore, and only therefore, ex ulting in increased strength, —were they now to submit, at the bidding of Mr. Blackburn, to re-argue the whole case with a view to a reprisal of their own judgment ? Were they, under the circumstances, to condescend to debate it at all ?—for that was the question which he was anxious to put—the only question that he would conde scend to speak to that day. And, assuredly, they were not to do so. Mr. Blackburn had, unfortunately, the power to visit them with this infliction, and he might repeat it ; and it was precisely because they could not help themselves that he (Mr. N.) for one would submit with civility, and all possible patience. But they were in no way called upon to reply to him—to renew a struggle into which they had been so often dragged, or, by any act of their own, to bestow upon an ebullition of this nature the character of a debate. His earnest counsel, therefore, was, to listen, now that Mr. Blackburn had explained, with perfect tranquillity to any other speeches which might follow his on the subject, and, without offering a word in reply, to proceed as quietly and as quickly as might be to the sole ; for so, he was persuaded, should they best discharge their duty to those who sent them thither —so, at least, would they prevent discomfort to themselves, waste of time, and a disturbance of their peace, and so much more effectually quench and disap point the authors of this strife, than by ministering, by any show of opposition, to the display and agitation which was sought. He hoped the motion would be negatived ; and if there were any form by which, more emphatically, that could be conveyed, he should be happy to move it. (Hear, hear.) Mr. EVANS said he had heard many speeches in his time, but never one that carried his imagination into Jerusalem to hear the Pharisees the re — never one so Pha- risaical as Mr. North's. (Hear, and a laugh.) He had not the slightest idea of opening his mouth on the sub ject; and, if he did, it had been extorted from him by the speech which they had just heard—a speech contain ing as much misrepresentation, (oh !) as much injustice, SA as much arrogance and scorn, as he had ever heard. Mr. NORTH.—I beg to ask what you mean by such language ?—language to wbich I shall not submit. Did I utter scorn? Mr. EvANs.—Yes, you heaped scorn on what Mr. Blackburn said. Mr. NORTH.—Aye! on what he said. Mr. EVANS.—WeII. and what did I say more? (Se veral voices--" Arrogance.") Mr. CHALMER.—I think your expression was perfectly well warranted. The MAYOR.—I don't think Mr. North said anything incorrect, and I know not that Mr. Evans is out of order. Mr. NORTH.---I hope he will restrain himself. Mr. EVANS.—I should rather be reguNted by my own ideas of propriety than yours. With regard to sense, argument, justice, or charity above all things, he was sure that of the two speeches he would infinit.-ly rather he the speaker of the one that Mr. Blackburn uttered, than the one delivered by Mr. North. To tell the Council that they were never to re-argue any Question after a fallible resolution had been passed, was one of the mo-t prepos terous things imaginable. He concluded by sayinc that the slave-trade had been suppressed, and Catholic Em,in ciliation achieved by means of agitation and rei eration of argument, and that the conservative party had sought safety by cot replying to arguments which were unan swerable. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE thought that the education question had done an infinity of mischief to the Council and town, as it had impaired the efficiency of the former, interfered with their more proper municipal functions, consequently following and prevented ma n y goo d men f rom entering the cham ber. He had never l oo k e d b ack with satisfaction to the education debates, a n d h e th oug ht t h e re f orm party had much to answer f or b ecause o f h av i ng i ntro d uced the Irish system o f e d uca ti on i n t o t h e sc h oo l s. Mr. PARKER and M r . C HALMER f o ll owe d , a f ter w hi c h Mr. BLACKBU RN b r i e fl y rep li e d. The Council then di v id e d, w h en th ere appeare d—F or the motion, 8; The was members voted in the minority : Messrs. Blackbu rn , Th orn hill , H . H orn b y, B arclay, Holt, Chalmer, Preston, and John Holmes. The Council adjourned at ten minutes after two o'clock. nISSENTERS' CHAPELS BILL.—The Bishop of Exeter has entered a protest against this bill, because usage has never before been suffered to prevail against the purposes of a charitable trust ; because the bill disregards the in tention of founders of charities ; because it introduces an ex post facto law, subverting the rights of the proper beneficiaries ; because the alleged reason of the measure ill accords with its provisions; because it is introduced to quiet the titles of persons who have usurped meeting houses; because it is of avowed favour to persons who deny the divinity of Christ; and because the violation of principles for such an object may excite in the people an apprehension of the readiness of the legislature to sacrifice the most approved rules of law and the most sacred TATE CHURCH CONFE intsecreasAtfirsofFrßeolimgioTunsEt r u A t hN, ANTI-STATE. ItENcE.—This remarkable gathering of 500 delegates held a three days session last week, and then adjourned until 1847. On the first W. S. Crawford, Esq., the M.P. who presented the petition anent hanging, declared " There can be no security for religious or political liberty while the connexion between the Church and the State remains." Another M.P. (Dr. Bowring) said, " I have travelled in many countries — l have seen people of every colour and clime—l have looked at and studied the working of State Churches at home and abroad—and I am firmly persuaded that the separation of the Church from the State would be for the advantage of both." Dr. Cox (who has been for years a distributor of the regium donum or state endow ment of dissent) waxed so superlatively wise on his own inconsistency as to declare that "he who touches the regium donum as much insults the principle of dissent, as he who withholds the Bible violates the principle of Protestantism." By parity of reasoning, he who distri butes it is unclean. On the second day, Friend Sturge declared—" I have never been able to distinguish between my political and religious duties. I believe the distinction is one drawn by priestcraft !" The first resolution agreed to by the Conference declared " that the union of the Church and State was the largest, the most specious, and the most fatal obstacle which Christianity in these realms had to encounter! I" It was moved by Mr. Shoe botharn, of Dundee, who said " they had been taunted by the charge of belonging to the movement party. He, for one, did not deny it. Change was the law of the universe ; everything changed but Jehovah, and as to belonging to the movement party, he gloried in it, and forward they would proceed in their course until they succeeded in ob taining the full triumph of the Gospel." On the motion of Mr. J. E. Giles, of Leeds, seconded by Mr. King, of Cork, a resolution was put to the meeting and carried with but two dissentients. This circumstance was occasioned by some reflections on the Unitarians, but the remarks objected to were eventually struck out by mutual aeree ment. Of course it forms no part of the creed of these men that "Jesus Christ is God." The next resolution declared it the duty of Dissenters to petition for the abo lition of all State endowments, and for their appropriation "to purposes strictly national and purely secular." On the third day, " The British Anti-State Church Asso ciation" was formed, and a hint was given that the great battle which the Dissenters would have to fight would be in the election of proper men to advocate their interests in parliament ; and effectually to carry on the operations of this society an annual sum of, at least, £lOOO would be necessary. So that we are to have another League inter ference in elections; and what with Anti-Corn Law can didates and Anti-State Church candidates the electors of England will really have nothing left to do. Mr. NORTH said he did not intend to answer Mr. Blackburn, because he could scarcely do so without seeming to testify a respect for that gentleman's inten tions, and a deference for his arguments, which, under the circumstances of the case, he told him candidly, he did not feel. For he had no sympathy with any one who sought strife for its own sake, and a perseverance in it without any attainable object or even hope of success, merely for the love of dissension, and with a full know ledge that it must be barren and fruitless. (Hear.) To annoy and weary an opponent, without any possible ad vantage to our own cause, was no legitimate, no manly object of party strife. if the occasion of the present strug gle were even less calculated than it was to suggest very different feelings; and he could not but think, and there was comfort in the thought, that it would he proved that day, and that Mr. Blackburn would find, that he himself had done his own cause some discredit by his very unne cessary breach of peace and charity, losing thereby, as he (Mr. North) thought he would, the supp in of same who, under other circumstances, might have been inclined to vote with him. k Hear.) But he had said that he would not answer Mr. Blackburn's speech, and neither would he be provoked to more than this very brief comment upon it, intending to confine himself, and recal to the attention of the members present the resolutioa of the Education Committee, which the Council confirmed by a very large majority last year, and th en t o s t a t e w h a t course, as it appeared to him, it became that large, or perhaps still larger majority now, to adopt, under the circumstances of this repeated, but in no other respect new, attack. He would not detain the,Council by having the resolution of December 1842 read, although he might perhaps do so with considerable advantage to his own argument. Suffice it to remind the Council that it stated somewhat elaborately the views of the Education Com mittee on the question, and the grounds on which they had formed and were prepared to maintain it: Now, that resolution was not at all intended for their guidance for a year and a day, but was the permanent and unalterable record of the determination of the Council as then and still constituted. (Hear.) Against that resolution Mr Blackburn was patiently listened to for an hour and a half. LOCAL NEWS. FIRE PREyENTTON Thursday, and `iird time on , vent'on bill w as read a t.... BILL.—The Liverpool fire pre passed. The profits on the W.ndside I,e. -ry during the year have been upwards of £5OO monthly, the total sum to the im provement to £6,132 8 1. 2d. The profits go provement of the t ownsh i p. On Monday last John Entwistle, aged twenty-three, OI Manchester, plunged suddenly into the water on the North Shore, from a bathing machine, and was killed by the shock. LIVERPOOL NEW GAS AND COKE BILL. --The price of gas, in Liverpool. which was reduced to 6s. per 1,000 feet on the Ist of April last, is. by this bill, which received the royal assent on Friday last, made the maximum in future. THE LIVERPOOL FIRE AND LIFE INSURANCE COM PANY.--.At a meeting of the direc ors of this company, held on Tuesday last, T. Stewart Gladstone was elected a member of the board, to supply the vacancy occasioned by the death of Nathan Cairns, Esq. The John O'G rant, Capt, Ribertson. sailed from Li verpool for Hong Kong in the middle of July last, was re ported at China in December and January, and was tele graphed off this port on Sunday last, having performed the entire voyage in less than ten months. NEW CHURCH AT WEST DERBY.—We Underfftalld that the first prize for the. best design for the intended new church at West Derby has been awarded to Mr. Clayton, and the second prize to Mr. Edward Welch, of this town, Both designs are said to be very elegant. HILL COOLTES.—A communication has been received by the West India Association of Liverpool, to the effect that a despatch has been received from the late Governor- General of India, expressive of his lordship's entire ap probation of the transfer of Hill Coolies from India to the West Indies for the purpose of agriculture. PUBLICANS AND BEERSELLERS FlNED.—Fifteen pub licans and beersellers were charged at the Police-court on Friday before Mr. Rushton arid Mr. Hardman Earle, for various offences under the late act. The cases were en tirely destitute of novelty or interest. The result was that four were acquitted, one was postponed, and the re mainder were fined, in amounts varying from Lo to ss. CAUTION TO PUBLICANS.—The excise officers of the Runcorn division have lately been making a rigid inspec tion of the publicans in the district. A considerable quantity of rum has been seized, under the provisions of Act 6, Geo. IV., cap. 80, sec. 130, which provides that spirits shall not be sold of less strength than seventeen under-proof. NEW MARKET AT BIRKENHEAD.—This spacious build ing is progressing rapidly ; already the brick-work is abeve the ground, the first story having so far been raised. Jndeing from present appearances it will be built muchon the plan of the Liverpool markets, for size it will be infe rior to none, St. John's excepted, whilst for general con venience it will be equal to any. We understand that it is .the intention of the Mayor to lay the foundation stone of the new Northern Hospital in Great Howard-street, at one o'clock to-day (Tuesday). The Senior Rector and the members of the committee will accompany the Mayor from the Town-hall at the time, and we hope that a good attendance of the friends of this valuable institution will be present on so interesting an occasion. FIRE AT BIRKENHEAD.—On Thursday evening last, about eight o'clock, a fire broke out in a small house situated in Carpenter's-row, at the back of Chester street, Birkenhead. Assistance was promptly given by the neighbours, which happily had the effect of putting it out in a snort time. We are sorry to add that a child, two years old, was so dreadfully burnt that little hopes are entertained of its recovery. LIVERPOOL Docx BILL.—Sir Howard Douglas moved, on Thursday, on the bringing up of the repo t from the committee on the Liverpool dock bill. that the bill be re committed to the former committee, for the purpose of considering the system of cleansing the Liverpool docks, and of amending the bill as regards the clause relating to the land tax and poor's rates ; and that the committee have leave to sit and proceed on Monday next, at twelve o'clock. Motion agreed to. INQUESTS.—On Saturday two inquests were held be fore the Deputy-Coroner. The first was on view of an illegitimate child, two years of age, named Lewis Penier, who, about three weeks since, accidentally fell into a pan of hot water, which was lying on the floor of his mother's house, in Bennett-street, and was so dreadfully scalded that he died of the injuries on Thursday last.—The second was on a child, twelve months old, named Ellen Wild, who died of convulsions in the Workhouse. Verdicts to t,,ese effects were returned in both cases. PRESENTATION OF PLATE.—DR the shop window of the manufacturers (Messrs. Wordley and Mayer . Lord street), an elegant piece of plate has been exhibited within the last few days. It is intended as a present to the late curate of St. Anne's Church, and contains the following inscription Presented to the Rev. William Dickson Blundell, by a part of the congregation of St. Anne's Chirch, as a token of respect, and as a memorial of the high estimation in which his services were held during the fifteen years he officiated as curate of that church. Liverpool, 1844." FIRE AT THE LIVERPOOL THEATRE ROYAL. —While the " World of Dreams" was being performed at the Theatre Royal yesterday night week, part of the light coloured hangings used in the piece, and which were suspended contiguous to one of the side lights, acci dentally caught fire, and burned with great rapidity. The audience, supposing the blaze to have been necessary to give due effect to the representation, and not by any means the result of accident, fortunately sat still, and manifested little, if any, symptoms of alarm ; and the fire having been speedily extinguished, the performances pro ceeded as if nothing had occurred. RuNcon.N.—The committee appointed at the last Easter meeting, for the re-building of the parish church, met at the Town-hall, on Tuesday List, to consult the architect, Mr. Salvin, who came from London on purpose, on the best means for eff ec ti ng some a l terat i on in the plan sub mitted by him for the new church. Several alterations, considered by the committee as improvements, were adopted, such as elongating the spire, and so constructing tee church as to erect at any future period a gallery. These met with the approval of Mr. Salvin, and the com mittee will now endeavour to obtain the necessary funds, and proceed forthwith with the building. STEALING A WATCH. — WilliamArmson,a respectably attired person, said to have, till lately, a waiter at Chester, was brought up on Thursday before Mr. Rushton, charged with steatng a watch. It appeared that, on Wednesday evening, the prisoner went to the house of Mr. Edward Taylor, market constable, Denton -court, Roscoe-lane, and asked to see a female who lived there. Whilst in the house Mrs. Cowan, a lodger, looked at Mr. Taylor's watch and then placed it under the sofa. The prisoner soon afterwards was observed to take the watch and place it in his pocket. When charged with the theft, he denied it and ran off. He was pursued ; when in Berry-street he dropped the watch upon the ground, and was then apprehended. lie was committed to the sess'ons. DEATH FROM DRINKING SPIRITS OF TURPENTINE.— On Wednesday last, Mary Ann Williams, a child two pears and a half old, who resided with her parents in M'Kee-street, came by her death under the following circumstances. The deceased's sister had sent for a pennyworth of spirits of turpentine for the purpose of cleaning some trousers, when, having laid the bottle on the table, the child, by means of a chair, obtained access to it and drank a portion of the spirit. She was taken to Mr. Ackerly, surgeon, where the usual remedies were applied, but without effect, and the deceased died early the following morning. The immediate cause of death was inflammation of the glottis, arising from taking the turpentine. An inquest was held on the body on Thurs day, and a verdict returned in accordance with the evi dence. DOCK COMMITTEE. THURSDAY.—PreSeet, Messrs. Molyneux, Barclay, Holt, Smith, Royden, Kendall, Bold, Sindhach, Middleton, Tobin, and Evans.—A letter was read from the surveyor, who is now in London, request ing the secretary to inform the masters of the George's. Salthouse, and Canning Docks, and the Pilot's Commit tee, that although the gates of the Canning basin would not be made for some time, yet the basin might be used to pass the shipping through in and out of the docks im mediately.—The Marine Surveyor reported the breaking adrift of the Formby light-ship in consequence of a col lision, but stated that the vessel had been again re moored.—John Chessworth, one of the police-officers, who has been in the force since its formation, was ap pointed assistant keeper of the transit sheds at a salary of 255. per week.—An application from W. B. Jones & Co. to become the tenants of a yard adjoining that of Mr. Cato, was deferred till the return of Mr. Hartley from London. ESCAPE FROM TRANSPORTATION.—A. middle aged man, with marks on his forehead and chin, who gave his name as James Gazon, was charged with returning from transportation before the period for which he was sen tenced had transpired. The prisoner had been appre hended at five o'clock in the morning, by Mr. Superin tendent Quick. Shaw, sergeant of the metropolitan po lice, said he knew the prisoner, and bad bad him in custo dy several times. In the year 1839 be took him into cus tody for a burglary. He was tried at the Old Bailey, and sentenced to fifteen years' transportation. A copy of the conviction, certified by the Clerk of the Arraigns, was produced. The prisoner at the time of his trial, gave his name as James Punt Borritt. When asked what he had to say, the prisoner insisted that he was not the man. He was committed to take his trial at the next assizes. We understand the prisoner, in conjunction with Sullivan and Jordan, the parties transported for their participation in the celebrated Custom-house robbery at London, es caped in a boat from the place where they were employed, in New South Wales. CAUTION TO OMNIBUS-DRIVERS. —On Saturday the driver of Mr. Blunt's omnibus to Wootton was sum moned, before Mr. Rushton, to answer a complaint, lodged against him by a police-officer, of having taken up a greater number of passengers than he was licensed to carry. It was proved that there were twenty-three pas sengers counted in Pembroke place, ten in and eleven outside, and that he was only licensed to carry ten inside and eight out, including the driver and guard. The dri ver of Honit's omnibus to the Old Swan. was also sum moned to answer a similar complaint of having conveyed twenty-three passengers, when he was only licensed to carry nineteen, nine outside and ten in, including the driver and guard. Mr. Rushton said he was determined to put a stop to the overloading of the public convey ances in and out of town, as the practice at present pur sued was dangerous to life. He believed the only mode of effecting an improvement in this respect was to impose the full pe nalty of £5 in every case; but, a t present,he w ould only order the defendants to pay a fi ne o f £ 3 4s 6d' each, in the hope that it would have a tendency to check the evil. The fines were accordingly paid. MISSIONS OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.—On Fri day a interim, took place in the Great Room, Exeter Hall, to receive the report of the Lay Association of the Church of Scotland, on the state of its Home and Foreign Mis sions, together with an explanation of the causes of the recent secession from the Established Church of Scotland. The Rev. Dr. M*Leod, the Rev. Dr. Barr, the Rev. Dr. Muir, and the R-v. J. Cumming, attended as a deputa tion. The Marquis of Bute was in the chair. The speech of the Rev. Hugh M`Nelle was roost effective, and as the arguments of the Rev. gentleman are of peculiar import ^ N at the present mome n t, we s h a ll g i ve, in our next, net as , Dineb as possible of his clea r a nd f orc ibl e a dd ress. It a ppers that about £5OOO have b een a l rea d y su b scr ib ed for the Irpo se o f tu cse missions. HONESTY i." '—Many men the r e are wh o , f or t h e world, would not take a nurse, yet who would steal wh a t i s o f f ar higher value a n d ipt;. , •tance. An instance has just reac h e d m us, whe re a firm of long st' "riding' Messrs. ROWLAND an d SONS have ac qu i re d a high rt_lnutation—a "good n ame ," in short, for the value of those at ..`toles which they have discovered and prepared for the toilet. Learning the suc cess which M essrs. R OWLANDS had actjeved, and the reputation which attached to their product:;.ms, other parties by a new and despicable species of fraud, buve concocted some trashy compounds, resembling those pre pared by Messrs. ROWLANDS, and by adopting the very same names, and closely copying the advertisements, coolly en leavour to pass off their trash as "true MACAS SAR OIL," " real KALYDOR," &c., though a glanc e a t the signature, which i s n ot t h at of essrs. ROWLANDS, at once convinces the putchaser that he is buying not the real products, but a spurious and trashy imitation, which may he, and in fact is, of the most pernicious nartat.— See advt. THE WAVERTREE HALL DATE.—We regret to find ,hat a circumstance has arisen to pot, for the present, a stop' to all further proceedings, prenaratory to commene ing (he erection of the new gaol on the site of Wavertree Half. The corporation deposited the - money agreed upon in Heywood's Bank, pulled down all the' buildings, and disposed not only of the materials, hxt of the growing timber, when suddenly a claimant, not previously heard of, appeared in the form of a mortgagee, whose demand is increased by a long arrear of unpaid interest. , It seems that the property was twice mortgaged, the first one not appearing when the contract was made to purchase the land. He is in a condition greatly to embarrass - the cur poration, but not to any final injury, for the lawn-clerk's legal caution has obviated any loss except that which must arise from delay. Mr. John Shaw Leigh,, we•be lieve, had from the first some suspicion of this &win - the title, and the owners of property in the neighbourhood will not be sorry if it put a final stop to the invended erection. They are ready to become the purchaser's of the property themselves, not only from a conviction omits real value, but from an apprehension that the presence-of a gaol would depreciate their property, by rendering ate vicinity less eligible as a suburban residence. COMMON INFORMERS.—Some curious disclosures touching this class of persons were made on Wednesday week, at Guildhall, before Alderman Kelly and Alderman Copeland. A common informer, named Birch, has caus ed a Mrs. King to be summoned for selling brandy with out a license, whereby it was alleged she has forfeited: £2O. It has been stated by the officers that the informers. were in the habit of cornprom , sing cases in which sitnilar charges were made, and of receiving regUlar annrasl: sti pends from pawnbrokers and others, to refrain from harassing them with informations. Birch denied this-and time was given for inquiry, but the informer now failed to appear either to he:,r the result or to prosecute his information. The case was therefore dismissed, and Birch was adjudged to pay £2. 2s. cost. Eviderwe was then produced to show that the gang ofinformerscompro mised cases of large sums, and that they received annual payments or subscriptions as a sort of black mail, in return for which the parties who paid ann-e. saved from annoyance. A Mrs. Roberts put in a list of sums she has paid to informers named M ann i ng , W ya tt , H owe ll , MCallan, Birch, and Brown, to the amount of £25. The city solicitor was directed to indict the parties con cerned in this nefarious business. We ale requested to caution the public against a set of men connected with the same gang who are now in Liverpool. COMPLAINT AGAINST INSPECTOR AND/MS.—Rohm Chappel appeared to prefer a charge against Inspector Anders. He said that passing along Exchange street East, he saw a crowd. The inspector had a boy in cus tody, and when he (complainant) went to see what was. doing he asked him to stand farther back. He did, obeli, back, "but as he was doing so the inspector drew his night protector and struck him on the arm. ' telling him tom and tell Mr. R us ht on , f or w h om h e said be did riot care a , d—. Complainant added that the inspector called him a;_ thief. Mr. Anders said the bay he had in custody for . stealing sugar, fastened his hands to- the railings, and he• could not get him away. A crowd of about 150 persons gathered round him, and he found it impussible. to get the' prisoner away without assistance. He asked one wan to assist him ; and he was about to take the boy's hands from the rails when the prosecutor called out and asked him what he had to do with it. The crowd then pressing in upon him, he drew his staff and struck the prosecutor to m.:ke him stand back. He added that he might, whilst exasperated, have called the complainant a thief, but he did not recollect doing so. Mr. Rtrshton said Mr. Antlers was a very good officer, and he (Mr. R.) , having seen part of the transaction alluded to, approved of every thing he bad done except using the language he did, which he ought not to have done ; as to the other parts of his conduct they were correct. Mr. Rushton then cautioned the inspector not to use such language, which he de scribed as extremely improper, and dismissed the case. SOUTH LANCASHIRE.—NTIMBER OF COUNTY ELEC. , - TORS ON THE REGISTER.—We understand that the total number of county electors on the register for South Lan cashire, at the close of the revision of last year, was 18;666; but, as there are many duplicates in this list, and there have been many deaths, as well as removals, and other dsqualifications from voting, is is not likely that more than 15,000 electors will vote, in case of a contest. There have been three contests, four elections, since the county franchise was given to this division. At the first, in 1832, 10,039 el ec t ors were on the register, and 9,850 voted. At the third, in 1837, 17,352 mere on the register, and 13,967 voted. At the last election, in 1841, there were 18,148 registered electors, but there was no contest. The present register exceeds that of the last contested election (1837) by 1,314 names. The numbers polled for each candidate at the three contested elections may be in teresting to our readers, at the present time, and we there fore subjoin them : 1832.. G. W. Wood, Esq. 5,694 Lord Molyneux.. Sir T. Hesketh 3 OB2 1835.. Lord F. Egerton 5 620 Hon. R. B. Wilbraham........ 4,729 Lora Molyneux . 4,62 g G. W. Wool, ksq ... ... •• 4,394 1837.. Lord F. Egerton 7 822 Hon. R. B. Wilbraham. 7 645 Edward Stanley, E,q .. 6,576 Charles Townley, Esq . . 6,044 DESTRUCTION OF THE THEATRE - ROYAL,, MANCHESTER, BY FIRE. From our Fourth Edition of Tuesday last. We regret to state that the Theatre Royal., Cooper street, Manchester, was this morning destroyed by fire; but with, happily, no loss of life. We have been enabled as yet to obtain but a very imperfect account, the parties who arrived by the last railway train having learned little more than the simple facts. It appears that last night " The Christmas Carol" was presented, in the second actof which a rocket is sent up from the stage. The inference is that part of this combustible projectile had lodged in the canvas of the scenes, or wood- work, above ; and remained , smoul dering and unnoticed during the night. Be this as it may, smoke was seen to issue from the building at about six o'clock this morning, and on a door being opened, the. air rushed in, and the building was soon in a complete blaze—defying all control. By seven o'clock it was entirely burnt down. The firemen it is said directed their attention tothe saving of the valuable property, warehouses, &c. adjoining, which however, suffered considerable damage. Half-past One o'clock p.m. The fire, at the departure of the last train, was quit& subdued, and all dan g e r t o th e a dj o i n i ng premises was at an end. The walls of the 'Theatre were still standing- As to the origin of the fire, nothing is known beyond what has already been communicated. It is fortunate that, owing, perhaps to the peculiar f oimat i on o f t h eatres, i in which th ere i s little to burn beyond scenery and benches, the conflagration was confined within the build.. ing, which is surrounded by a mass of the most valuable property in the town. At one end of the Theatre, which is situated in Fountain -street, is a calico warehouse, which was formed a few years ago by taking away a portion of the box lobby. At the back, divided from it only by a narrow street, were several valuable warehouses, the Assembly and Club Rooms, facing Mosley-street; and at the front the Parish offices, and the extensive silk mills of Messrs. Occleston and of Messrs. Tootal, adjoin ing to which is a mass of buildings, very . elosely packed, which, if ignited, must have resulted in a vast sacrifice of property. The Theatre itself belongs to a company of proprietors, and, we understand, is, with the proprietors' scenery, &c., frilly insured ; and, not having been a paying concern of late, will, in all probability, never be rebuilt. The site, which is of grea t va l ue , w ill most likely be in a short time covered with warehouses. The Manchester Guardian says :—" The loss which this destructive fire will cause is not easily calculated. We believe the building cost about £10,700. it was a property held in shares; and besides the building, the greatest part of the scenery, machinery, &c., belonged to proprietary, who insured them to the extent of £7600, of which £4OOO was in the Imperial, and £3600. in the County Fire Office. We fear this insurance will not cover the loss of the proprietors. We may mention that the theatre has been insured in these offices since the year 1810, a period of thirty-four years. Mr. Roxby, the lessee, was unfortunately uninsured. For the Christ mas Carol' considerable expense had been incurred in preparing new scenery, dresses, and decorations ; and a slider, for exhibiting the visions of Old Scrooge, alone cost about £4O. All the new scenery has been consumed. The foundation of the Theatre-royal was laid in 1806, and it was opened on the 12th• of June, 1807, under the management of the late Mr. Macready, (father of the tragedian,) who agreed to give a rent of £l6OO a year, increased, by taxes and parochial rates, to £2OOO. The house was too large, and underwent reductions about 1814; and it subsequently held upwards of 2600 persons, lone= fortably seating about 2000,) at the usual priceoadlu4.- ing to about £220 receipts. We believe the fecent - rent% , v has been £BOO. Th e company will, for the pieshat,per— k , form in some oth er b u ildi ng , C oo k e ' s Ci rcus it Thev ;•1 . get it. It is do u btf u l if th e th ea t r e will ever be r ebiol t ,l - i- -1,4" fr. v .c ;Cr R. lesseS is re— !ssary ency; d are con vever tently Wan. but !d by there thick thus con any ities, ainst ation only The es to