The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-27 00:00:00

THEI,TRE ROYAL.—The Theatre Royal was extremely full last night, to welcome Mrs. Warner and Mr. Charles Kean. Macbeth has been got up in a style seldom, or pe 7 haps never yet seen in the provinces. By the Shinandoah which left Philadelphia on the 3d in stant, papers have been received to that date from Phila delphia, and from New York to the 2d inclusive, being one day later than the last arrival. In neither journals do we find any intelligence worth communicating. PROTESTANT OPERATIVE MEETING FOR EXCIIANGE, CASTLE -STRE ET , AND ST. PAUL'S DISTRICT. — Th e quar terly meeting for the above district was held yesterday even ing, at the Moorfields School-room, Mr. Joseph Crisp iu the chair, for the purpose of promoting signatures to the petition to Parliament, praying for an inquiry into the col lege of Maynooth. The meeting was addres§ed by Mr. Parsonage, Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Barrow, and others. THE PRESIDENT. — We are once more compelled to state that no intelligence has been received of this vessel. A cor respondent of the London Times, under the signature of " offers some suggestions which are - worthy of attention, emanating, as they are alleged to do, from a dis tinguished naval officer of great experience. According to that competent judge it seems to be quite possible that the President, even if she had been steering for Bermuda, might have missed that island, (not an unusual occurrence,) and then made the best of her way to the West Indies, in which case there has yet not been time to hear from her. Prior to our next publication, in all probability we shall have the In dependence, British Queen, and Acadia, the last of which would leave Boston on the 16th instant, and if she conveys no intelligence of the President, the hearts of the stoutest will be subject to very melancholy misgivings. REGISTRY or Suirriwo.—An advertisement in another column convenes a meeting, to be held this day,. for the pur pose of considering the best means of establishing a registry book of shipping. Why such a step has been so long de layed is the more surprising, since our merchants, under writers,. and shipowners have been compelled to submit to a grievance which has long been felt and acknowledged as such. The London Registry of British Shipping contains not, confessedly a faithful representation of that which it affects to report, and we therefore anticipate that our com mercial gentlemen, now that the subject is brought practi cally before them, will hail the opportunity of rescuing themselves and their fellow-townsmen interested in such matters from a bondage in which they have too long been held. The proceeds of the Liverpool surveys are devoted to anything rather than the benefit of the shipowners, and we call upon them resolutely to second the praiseworthy efforts which are now making to reform such an abuse. The metropolitan self-elected committee may oppose such a step, but that only furnishes another reason for unwearied ex ertion on their part. EXTENSIVE ROBBERY.-At the Kirkdale Sessions on Saturday, Sarah Pugh, Robt. Jones, and Ann Jones, were placed at the bar, before the Rev. Rector Brooks, chairman, Charles Birch, Esq., Adam Hodgson, Esq., John Formby, Esq., James Heyworth, Esq., Richard Alison, Esq., and other magistrates, to take their trial for felony. Dr. Brown appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Wilkins for the de fence. The indictment charged that Sarah Pugh, late of the township of Walton-on-the-hill, being servant to Mr. Ro dolph Zwilchenbart, did, on the 4th day of January last, fe loniously steal seventy-four pair of stockings, thirty-two pair of socks, forty-one handkerchiefs, twenty-three caps, thirty four frocks, nineteen night caps, sixteen petticoats, seven teen napkins, fourteen shirts, seventeen pair gloves, twelve shawls, eleven towels, eleven neckerchiefs, seven gowns, se ven tippets, nine collars, eight pair drawers, five pelises, four pair stays, five scarfs, four habit shirts, five pockets, four singlets, twenty-one pair trousers, four vests, eleven pair boots, twenty pair shoes, five umbrellas, twenty yards diaper, twenty yards satin, ten yards muslin, ten yards lawn, ten yards linen, twenty yards ribbon, ten yards calico, a watch, and many articles of valuable jewellery, with a vast number of other things.—Robert Jones, and Anne his wife (sister of Sarah Pugh) were charged with having feloniously received the abovepoperty, knowing it to have been stolen. All the prisoners pleaded not guilty. After the trial bad proceeded to a certain length, the prisoner Sarah Pugh withdrew the plea of not guilty, and pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, and hard labour. The other prisoners, who were charged with receiving the goods, were acquitted. The value of the property stolen was from £2llO to £3OO. As the details of the case were published a few mouths ago, it is unnecessary to give any further par ticulars. KIRKDALE COUNTY SESSIONS.-YESTERDAY THE OVERSEERS OF TARVIN V. THE OVERSEERS OF PARR. Mr. Hulton appeared for the appellants, and Dr. Brown for the respondents. This was an appeal against an order made by Richard Edwards, Esq., and Charles Orrell, Esq., county magis trates, for the removal of a pauper, named Job Lee, from Parr to Tarvin. Dr. BROWN stated the case for the respondents, and called witnesses to prove that the pauper, Job Lee, had ob tained a settlem en t, by bi r th, i n the township of Tarvin. John Leighton, governor of the workhouse of Sutton, said, that previous to the removal of Job Lee to Tarvin he was of unsound mind, and, was not able to give any account of his place of settlement, and that he was much the same now. Mr. HULTON said—His learned friend had proved a sort of prima facie case of settlement in Tarvin ; but, although the birth and christening of the pauper had been proved, he still doubted that the cottage was really and truly in the township of Tarvin. It might be in the parish of Tar vin ; but as there were several townships in that parish which supported their own poor, the question to be decided was, whether it was in the parish of Tarvin or one adjoining. If the court was not satisfied that the respondents had proved that it was in the township of Tarvin, then its decision must be given in favour of the appellants. But the settlement on which he (Mr. Hulton) should rely was stated in the notice of the appellants, and he would read it to them—this was a settlement on Haydock Green; and the grounds were, that Job Lea married a woman named Ruth Weave, then a yearly tenant in a cottage on Haydock Green, and resided there some years after the marriage. This the parties did not deny, but he would call before them a person, the daughter of Ruth Gleave by a former marriage, to prove this fact. It did not depend upon the payment of a rental of £lO a-year. if his learned friend endeavoured to prove that it did, he would refer to a decision upon an appeal against an order of two justices for the removal of a pauper, in which the order was confirmed at the sessions. The pauper's wife, being at the time a widow, took a house and garden in another parish at a rental of £3 per annum, went into the house immediately after taking it, and married the pauper, who continued to re side there. Lord Tenterden and Justice Bailey had decided that this was a class of cases which were not ruled by the statutes requiring a certain amount of rent to be paid by ,7nants, to obtain a settlement ; but that " a man marrying %woman, then a yearly tenant of premises under the value ° E XlO, gains a settlement." If he proved in this case that the woman took leasehold premises—of whatever value he Cared not—if her husband married her after becoming such tenant, and resided there forty days afterwards, then the ease must be quashed. In this case, however, there was some little difficulty as to the means of proof. A subpoena had been served upon the daughter of Ruth Gleave in that r oom ; but lie understood that, at the time the subpoena was served upon her, some party—he believed the overseer of P arr —endeavoured to persuade her she was not bound by it, and the consequence was that she was not then in court. However, if he called " spirits from the vasty deep," and they did not answer, he hoped the court would grant a res- Pite.—He then called Thomas Gardner, who proved the serving of. the subpoena. Shortly afterwards Ann Riley came into court, and, do being called to the witness-box, was examined by Mr. Hut, T ON. — Her mother had lived in a cottage in Haydock two years previously to her marriage with Lee, and seven years subsequently. Did not know Mr. Leigh, the landlord. Did not know what rent was paid ; believed very little. Did not know who was Mr. Leigh's steward. Never saw the rent paid, and did not know when it was paid. A desultory conversation followed, as to the exact locality of the cottage occupied by Lee, which ended very unsatik factorily. Dr. BROWN contended that his learned friend had failed in establishing his case. The CHAIRMAN said that an occupation by the widow Gleave had been proved for two years, and after her mar riage with Lee for seven years ; but that the appellant had failed in proving a tenantcy. The court, therefore, confirmed the decision of the magistrates. JOHN BALL V. THE MAGISTRATES OF LANCASHIRE. This was an appeal against the decision of Richard Ley land and Christopher Lawson, Esquires, by which the ap pellant John Ball had been convicted of encroachment on the highway, under the 63d and 69th section of the highway act. Mr. Wilkins appeared for the appellants, and Mr. Hulton for the respondents. Mr. HULTON read extracts from the highway act, specify ing that no building, fence, or ditch, should be constructed within 15 feet from the centre of the road. He then stated that Mr. Ball was the owner of a house at the distance of 11 feet from the centre of the road ;' and put in several plans shewing the position of the house, and the enclosure, which he contended was an encroachment. This had been impro perly enclosed for a long time, probably 20 or 30 years. Mr. Ball had b een i n the habit of placing his dung in such a po sition as that it sometimes overflowed into the road; this was complained of, and in consequence lie erected a new en closure, which, even supposing the ditch to be the boundary, had encroached over what was not in a line with the highway, and which was marked in the plan by the increased width of ditch. The learned counsel concluded by saying that Mr. Ball had come 6 feet further into the road than he ought to have done ; that the law of the case in the words of the sta tute were very precise ; and that if the jury were of opinion the appellant had done so, the conviction must be confirmed. Mr. Richard Sumner, surgeon, of Formby, examined.— Was one of the surveyors of highways last year. The width of the road opposite the encroachment was 18 feet. Enclosure was put up in October last. Between this and the house there was a dung-heap. Two loaded carts meeting in this particular place could not pass. Cross-examined by Mr. Vl' ILKINS.—He could not say who was carrying on the case for the respondents. Was not there On subpoena, but at the solicitation of Mr. Miles Formby. During 15 years that he had known the premises in front of Mr. Ball's house, they had always been used by Mr. Ball's tenant for manure, but further. The road was not benefitted by the fence being put up : there was not sufficient width. He considered the road reached up to the building. The fence was not in a line with the termini of the ditch. It came further out than the old take-in. It came further into the road than the old ditch, but not to the full ex tent. This encroachment was made in consequence of a former complaint, in order to prevent the filth from the dungheap getting into the road. The encroachment made by Mr. Bond, the tenant of Mr. Ball, made the road narrower. Did pot know whether the road had been en eroaehed upon by Mr, Marshall on the opposite side. Thos. Marshall and himself hillyfied up the ditch at th e nort h end a few inches. During ear of office he had rep a i re d t h e s roads, Did not recollect the road opposite to Mr. Ball's house being repaired before be did it in February or March last. The complaint was laid against Mr. Ball on the 6th March. The alteration or ditch was not made to su i t t h e purpose of this information ; he did it to better the road. By Mr, HULTON—The ditch for 8 or 10 yards is ra uch wider than at other parts. The water from the dung-heap runs out, and as it is considered good manure, the farmers clean it out, which widens the ditch. The old encroachment is the garden opposite the house. Robert Sutton examined — He lived in Formby. Was 70 years of age. Recollects the road in question for about 60 years. Did not recollect the garden being taken in. Mr. said that was the case. Mr. I.Vnittris.—My learned friend says that is his case. With all deference he has made out no case at all. The conviction against which we appeal is, that the appellant en croached upon the carriage-way, by making a certain fence within 15 feet from the centre. He contended that the act specifying that " if any person encroach by making - or causing to be made any building, hedge, ditch. or othe r fence the carriage-way, within fifteen feet from the cent" re of the road, should be subject to a penalty of 40s. and su forth, was not applicable in all cases, inasmuch as it implied a necessity that all roads should be 30 feet wide, He proved that the old ditch was part of the appellant's pro perty, and not part of the highway ; that in consequence of a complaint having been made, the fence had been raised, and that the appellant had not gone a single inch beyond his own land. Mr. HuLTON then endeavoured to prove that the new enclosure had gone beyond the old one. The CHAIRMAN was of opinion that this was not the case, If he wished to build a wall to his land, he should build it outside the ditch. With regard to the old encroachment, it had been for 50 or 60 years as it is, and he considered the appellent entitled to it. Conviction quashed: Mr. Witicuvs applied to be allowed the costs, which were, how ever, refused. FOREIGN AID SOCIETY Yesterday, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, a public meet ing was held in the Music-hall, Bold-street, for the purpose of the designs of the Foreign Aid Society, for promoting the objects of the European Societes Evang6liques being laid before the public of Liverpool, and an auxiliary society fcrm ed... There were present the_Rev.4. H. Stewart, the Rev. H. M`l•Teile, the Rev. W. W. Ewbank, the Rev. R. Bur gess, rector of Upper Chelsea, who, with Captain Layard, was a deputation from London, M. Edwards, Esq., C. Bout flower, Esq., —. Sherlock, Esq., &c., &c. On the motion of the Rev. H. M'NEILE, the Rev. James Haldane Stewart was called to the chair. The Divine blessing having been supplicated by the Rev H. WNEILE, The Clia IRMAN said the object for which the meeting had been assembled was of a peculiarly interesting character. It was to form an association in aid of a society which had lately been commenced in London, called the Foreign Aid Society. That society did what it was the delight of every Christian should be done, in its measure attempting to accomplish the prayer of our Lord, when he said, ` That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee ; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." The Foreign Aid So ciety was formed of two other societies—the Continental So ciety, which had lately adopted the name of the European Missionary Society, and the Societes Evangaiques for France and Switzerland. The objects of these societies being the same, it was thought they could better carry on their plans by union, union giving strength. In the month of November last, therefore, there was a meeting of both societies, when it was agreed they should be united into one. The Conti nental Society had for years carried on their objects upon the continent by themselves, employing missionaries ; and the Soci6tes Evan4liques were societies formed for aiding th e French and Swiss Missionary Societies. The Foreign Aid Society adopted the latter mode in order to remove every jealousy that might be upon the minds of Frenchmen against it. We might conceive that if a body of French gentlemen, with whom we were totally unacquainted, were to send per sons into our parishes to instruct our people, we should not feel the same confidence in them that we should if the per son who came to teach us was one not only of our own coun trymen, but one who was sent by those whom we personally knew. It was, therefore, the object of this society just to be the Foreign Aid Society ; and as we had lately done, by the goodness of our Lord, the Pastoral Aid Society, in which we were collecting funds, which were to be sent up to that so ciety, and distributed to aid the different clergymen in pro viding instruction—so now the funds collected by this so ciety would be sent out either to Paris or Geneva, or to dif ferent parts of the continent where aid was needed, in send ing forth ministers to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. His dear friend and brother, Mr. Burgess, who had been for a time chaplain in Geneva, and then in Rome, was the honorary secretary, to the society. He yesterday had done him (the chairman) the favour to preach from his pulpit, and he had given a very pleasing idea of its na ture in mentioning that our Lord had directed his dis ciples, when they needed power from on high, to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, then in Judea, and then in Sa maria and the uttermost parts of the earth; thus pointing out the order in which our blessed Saviour directed his gospel to be preached. First it was to be preached at Jerusalem ; as often as we heard this, love to our Saviour burned in our hearts, and it would kindle in us a holy flame. Oh, those three words could never be repeated without bearing it in mind, that " the chief of sinners" was then in the mind of our blessed Redeemer! After they had gone into Jerusalem th6y were to go through the country of Judea ; and then into Samaria, before they went to the uttermost parts of the earth—to that country which was in the neighbourhood of Judea, and which was a constant rival to the Jews. He (the chairman) need not speak of the beautiful application of this to ourselves, when it was borne in mind that France was our neighbouring country, and at the same time for a season our great rival. He was now reminded of a very delightful circumstance that occurred in one of the meetings of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in London, at which he had the pleasure of being present. The French admiral, who had gone forth in battle against the British admiral, Lord Gambier, was there, and one was sitting on one side the chair, and the other upon the other; and instead of meeting as they had formerly done, to destroy each other's life, they were then in brotherly love, shaking hands together, animated with a mutual desire to send out into all parts the word of God, that every creature might hear of his wonder ful works in his own tongue. (Hear, bear.) This, then, was the delightful object in which this society was engaged. Here were 34 millions of Frenchmen divided from us only by a narrow sea, out of which 34 millions there were only 1,200,000 nominal Protestants. (Hear, hear.) All the rest were sunk, either in papal superstition, or in modern infidelity (hear, hear) ; and it was the desire of the committee of this society to be instrumental in sending to those who were thus in darkness the light of truth. That appeared to be an object which was more peculiarly our duty at the present time ; for we must bear in mind the words which were spoken, "Come out of her my people and be be not partakers of her sins." This gave us encourage ment to believe that there were in the Church of Rome many of the Lord's people ; that as in the city of Corinth Paul was directed " be not afraid for I have much people in this city" —although that city was at that time a city of gross idolatry and wickedness—so we were encouraged to hope that the Lord might have many of his people now sunk in popish su perstition, and we knew not how soon that period might ar rive when the voice shall say, " Babylon is fallen, is fallen." In this intermediate space, therefore, we were to use every means in our power for saving the souls of our fellow sinners.—After a few more observations, the rev. and vene rable chairman said he should have the pleasure of introducing to the meeting the Rev. R. Burgess, who attended with Captain Layard as a deputation ; but previous to that the first resolution would be moved by the Rev. Mr. Ewbank. The Rev. W. W. EWBANK, incumbent of St. George's, Everton, rose to move the first resolution, which was to the effect that " From the increased facilities which it had pleased the great head of the church to afford for diffusing upon the continent of Europe, and particularly in France, the religious principles of the reformation, the meeting earnestly looked forward under the divine blessing to an adequate increase of means to be supplied for this duty for carrying forward the great duty of evangelization among the European nations, and hailed with satisfaction the union lately effected between the European Missionary Society and the Central Committee of the Societes Evangeliques, under' the name of the Foreign Aid Society, whose object is to promote the religious principles of the reformation upon the continent of Europe." This resolution spoke particularly of two things. It spoke to the general object, which as christians ought ever to be dear to our hearts—to promote the evangelization of the world, by spreading over it the knowledge of the glorious gospel of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ; and it spoke also , particularly to the means by which he now recommended them to use that power, and in fluence, and money, which God in his mercy might have put it in their power to use, in consequence of the union of those two societies which were formerly used for bringing about this great and holy object. Now, he must confess, that there was alloys something which at first seemed rather discou raging in addressing a meeting upon this subject. It was, they saw, a Missionary Society; but it was also a society for the purpose of reviving christianity, which had become either lost altogether in ignorance, or deadened by the in fluence of false and erroneous doctrines. There was some thing, upon the contrary very inspiriting, when we spoke with regard to the general diffusion of the light of christi anity over those regions of the world which had never yet re ceived it, which had always lain in darkness and iu the shadow of death. He knew that there we had no prejudice of this nature to encounter, we knew that the parties to whom we preached the grace of God had been brought up from their infancy in a false and idolatrous religion, and we pictured to ourselves with something of delight and encourage ment, what a pleasing revulsion of feeling must ensue, as we humbly hoped and trusted, when the knowledge of this only way of salvation should be made known to them for the first time—when, in short, the sun of righteousness should rise at once with all his glory upon them and with healing in his wings. But here our object was al Christian people ; we had to argue the matter among those who pro fessed to have examined it already for themselves, and who were content with what they professed to believe the way of salvation. Nevertheless, we ought not to allow any feeling of discouragement to operate on our minds so as to prevent us from entering with heart and soul upon such a high and that holylyth e a gospel i t sy i a n s t t h h e e officeowfotrhke. blessed r , spirit ) 0 f We e d k to ne a w pp with the knowledge of the Bible, so we knew it was the office very first instance to the heathen w ho had never been blessed of the same blessed spirit to counteract all those prejudices which the power and the corruptions of man have raised against the purity and the simplicity of God's holy word. This therefore, was the object in which that meeting was called upon and invited to assist. It was not to sendthe gospel to the heathen, but it was to send it in its purity, in its reality, in its effectiveness, and in its simplicity, to those who had already corrupted it, and were walking in darkness which they themselves had created. Oh, what a blessed thing it was to speak upon such a subject as this with regard to our neighbour France, because having English spirits within us we had been constantly accustomed to look upon Frenchmen as enemies, because in reading history we found this had constantly been the case ! (Hear.) We had been rivals ; we had had opposing interests ' and, therefore, instead of meeting each other with th e cordiality which ought to exist between such near neighbours, our neighbourhood had only increased our hate. (He ar .) We hailed, therefore, such societies as this as a blessed commentary upon the text " And there shall be one in Christ, but neither Jew nor Greek ;" we bailed it as the anticipation of that glorious period when all those distinctions shall be completely done away, and we should meet every one in brotherly love as subjects of the same divine king even Jesus Christ—influenced by the same spirit of holiness, urging us to manifest that great sign by which our blessed Saviour has told us to know we are Chris tians—" that we love one another." (Applause.) What then had this society to perform? It had to fight two bat tles. It had to argue upon the one side against men who would believe every thing, and it had to argue upon the other against men who would believe almost nothing ; in short, it had to fight against popery on the one hand, and against Socinianism upon the other. (Cheers.) How was it to effect the glorious change which we trusted it would in some degree be able to effect, and which we knew it had already effected—that was these two societies working hitherto hand in hand, though not actually joined ? He had just been in formed by his friend Captain Layard that in consequence of the operations of such societies as this, where some years ago there were only ten ministers who might be truly called ministers of the gospel--who preached to their congregations Jesus Christ and him crucified—there were now as many as two hundred preaching the gospel of our Lord and Saviour. Thisought to be an encouragement to us. It might appear to day to be a small thing.but we must remember that God does not despise even the feeblest anticipations of his future glory. (Hear, )rear.) The second portion of the resolution spoke not only generalily with regard to our duty, and what the societies together had to perform, but it spoke of the union of the two societies. "We bailed," the resolution said, " with satisfaction the union lately effected between the European Missionary Saciety and the Central Committee of the Societes Evangelques under the name of ' The Foreign Aid Society,' whose )bject is to spread the religious princi ples of the Reformation upon the Continent of Europe." He had therefore to met before the meeting the claims of the Foreign Aid Society. We knew that, abstractedly, union was a good and a cesirable thing, because union itself was strength; but nevertheless, we were not always anxious to see societies united tsgether, because it could not always be done without a comrromise of essential principles. For in stance, we had two spcieties in England professedly for one object ; we had the Pastoral Aid Society and the Additional Curates Society. is as much as there always would be shades of difference between men, we were not sorry to find that there were two societies working professedly for one ob ject. All we had to do was to attach ourselves to that society which we might thick, in the presence of God, likely to be best calculated to efect the greatest amount of good for the object in view. are was an union between two societies having the same obPct in view ; therefore we enquired whe ther or not this union had been formed upon those principles which we approved. He thought there was an answer to that question in the reolution ;—(hear)—they were united to gether because ther object was to promote the religious principles of the Rlormation upon the Continent of Europe. (Hear, hear.) If, herefore, it could be shewn that their ob ject was to promote something which might especially , be called the chracteristic principle of the Reforma tion, then we cord see n o reason why t h ey s h ou ld not act h a rmoniously together, and therefore gain strength by the union. (Bar.) But w h at was " the re li g i ous prin ciple of the reformition ? it was not for instance, episco pacy, though we oirselves had retained episcopacy, because we believed it to b the most perfect form of church govern ment; yet we shad be wrong in saying this was the prin ciple of the reformation, by which God had sent his renew ing light through he European world. (Hear.) The real an , pa] eta art principles of the reformation was this—justification by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Hear, hear.) This was what Luther called the article of a falling or a standing church. (Hear, hear.) Whatever errors the church might have held still, as long as she held this great and fundamental doctrine, there always seemed to be within her something which even tually would bring her right—in short, it ought to be said that if the church would hold this doctrine, she would always have so much of Christ's cross within her, that she could never sink. (Applause." This then was the principle of these two societies, therefore they had a principle of union. The more we considered this great and important subject, the more it seemed that this blessed doctrine was the only armour by which we could hope effectually to subdue the powers of darkness, and all the arts of false religionists. It was right we should use arms of every lawful nature ; it was right that in opposing Roman Catholicism, we should speak of the absurdity of transubstantiation ; of the utterly unte nable nature of the Pope's sovereignty, and so on with regard to all the false doctrines which popery had introduced into the church of Christ ; but he believed that nothing could be really and effectually done until we set forth, openly and clearly, to those who had been deluded by those doctrines, the unsearchable riches of Christ, as contained in this grand article of our religion. (Applause.) We knew we were ap pealing to men's consciences when we did this ; we knew man had something within him which made him look earn estly tor romething that would appease his conscience ; therefore, by preaching that doctrine, we gave him some thing that had real power over him. If false religion had obtained power over the affections of men, it was because it professed to them that peace which the world could neither give nor take away, and it must fail in the performance ; therefore we spewed that that was what the bible promised, and that it could only perform it. The great object of these united societies then was to go forward in the simple strength of God, and wielding that arm—even the plain and unvar nished gospel—which was to the natural heart foolishness — and which might be despised as too deep and recondite by the Socinian, upon the one hand, who believed nothing but what he thought agreeable to his reason, and which might be despised, upon the other hand, as too simple, and as not having in it sufficient to recommend it to the notice of him who attempted to work for his own salvation. It was, therefore, with the greatest satisfaction that he was now de sirous of recommending this society, upon these two several accounts—first, because it was not only to send out the gos pel to those who had never received it, but also to attempt to awaken those who had fallen into a state of spiritual dark ness and next, especially because it was most agreeable and satisfactory to see that two societies, at any rate, in the world, had found they were acting so entirely upon the same great and leading principles, that without the slightest com promise of religious principle, they were able to go hand in hand to preach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ. (Ap plause.) He had great pleasure in moving the first resolution. The Rev. R. BURGESS, Incumbent of Upper Chelsea, and oue of the deputation from the London Society, second ed the resolution. After a few appropriate introductory ob servations, the rev. gentleman said it was very remarkable that the history of the French Protestant church should have occupied so little of the attention of christians in this coun try. Lately, however, the subject had been taken up, and several excellent histories of the reformation in France had been published, and he held in his hand a little book which contained some interesting documents upon its suppression, many of which had never before been published. The sub ject, therefore, was beginning to engage the attention of the christian public in this country, and he felt persuaded that when the object of this society, and the state of the French Protestant church, were known, it would have many sup porters. He would begin by calling attention to a few dates. In 1559 the first Protestant synod was held in France, and the Protestants continued to enjoy a kind of precarious tole ration from that time till the year 1598; during that time, however, they were subject to many vexations, till at length they obtained in their favour the celebrated edict of Nantes. They enjoyed toleration under that edict from 1598 to 1605, when it was revoked, and they were then left without any protection in France. He did not think that the people of England had any idea of the sufferings which the Protestants of France endured after that ; few people were aware of the extent to which persecution was carried on in that country. There was the very high authority of Jonathan Edwards, who had taken exceedingly great pains to ascertain the facts, that during thirty years of persecution which followed the revocation of that edict, there were murdered of Protestants 39 princes, 148 counts, 234 barons, 147,518 gentlemen, and 760,000 of the common people. (Hear.) In 30 years the church of Rome succeeded in accomplishing this immense slaughter ! Fifty thousand Protestant emigrants, who were banished from their country by persecution in 1605, found refuge upon our shores, and it was for the descendants of those 50,000 Protestants that ten churches were about to be built in Bethnal Green. (Hear, hear.) He did not bring forward this persecution to excite indignation against popery, but rather to excite the sympathy of Protestants. The rev. gentleman then read from one of the documents collected by Mr. Dundas Scott, an account given by an eye witness of the atrocities committed during this persecution in Berne, and urged that as the descendants of those men were now raising the standard of truth and calling upon us for assist ance, they were entitled to our support. The expiring re mains of Protestantism were almost put out by the first re volution ; and in 1814 it came out either in the shape of a cold neology, or in the shape of Socinianism. In 1814, or rather in 1815, a species of toleration was granted to Pro testants, by the charte constitutionelle, but it was toleration merely in name ; in fact, it was persecution. It was written by the charter that all religions were to be equally tolerated, but when a few Protestants in a town or village desired to have a meeting, they must apply to the mayor for permis sion ; and the mayor knowing it would be acceptable to the government of Charles the Tenth refused his permission, therefore the toleration which was called liberty amounted to nothing. During the time from 1815 to the last revolution in 1830, the religious state of the continent attracted attention here, and a society was formed so early as 1818, called the Continental Society—concerning which his friend Mr. M`Neile could tell the meeting more than he could, for he had dedicated his vast powers to it for a con siderable time. After a time that society finished its work ; it could go no further, as it could not send agents out, as they were not received. Then it changed to another society, called the European Missionary Society; and now, the Continental Society, the European Society, and the So ciaes Evangeliques were gathered together and condensed into the Foreign Aid Society, which he had the honour to bring before the meeting. As there had been but little toleration till 1830, he might date the epoch of true Protestantism in France from that period. He had made these preliminary observations in order to enable the meeting to understand the objects of the ForeigniAid Society. In 1830 the charte con stitutionelle was renewed, under the protection and guarantee of which the Protestant Church of France was tolerated. One article of that charter was, that all religions should be equally tolerated and equally supported. A member of the Chamber of Deputies proposed to insert an article in the charter that the Roman Catholic religion should continue to be the established religion of France, but that was overruled, and the established religion of France now named in the charter was the religion of the majority, Suppose, for in stance, the majority of the French should become Mahome tans, or Jews, or Heathens, any of those would become the established religion, thus showing the absurdity of a govern ment attempting to have no fixed state religion,—(bear)— id the inconsistencies into which they fell when they de irted from true principles, and shrunk from erecting the andard of the gospel. (Cheers.) Under this extraordinary tide of the charter Protestantism had its share of liberty ; and whenever there was a sufficient number of Protestants in a place, suppose 400 or 500, and they appealed to the go vernment, they could have a pastor of their own selection, confirmed by the minister of public instruction, and paid by the state a salary equal to that of a,Roman catholic priest. There was an appearance of fairness in this, but how did it operate? It happened that Protestantism in France was thinly scattered ; in many of the rural districts there were only two or three, perhaps in the adjoining village there might be only half a dozen ; in the whole province altogether you might perhaps collect 200 or 300, but as these were not sufficient to satisfy the provisions of the charter, they were left without any spiritual provision. This article con sequently operated to the entire extinction of Protestantism everywhere except in the great towns. This society, then, was intended to supply those Protestants who were not in sufficient numbers to receive the government aid, with the means of spiritual instruction. It was in that way that the descendants of the Protestant martyrs were brought together, churches were formed, and the word of God was mightily prevailing in forty-one departments of the French territory. (Hear, hear.) The mode in which this work had been ac complished was worthy of consideration. The reverend gentleman then entered into an explanation of very great length of the system of employing colporteurs adopted by the Socie'lls Evangaiques of Geneva and Paris, the princi ples of which he elaborately detailed. He also mentioned several instances of the " sly opposition" of the church of Rome." He next entered into some interesting statements respecting Belgium and Portugal, which we deeply regret we cannot find room for, as they referred to the conversion of several Roman catholic priests, their ordination by the Bishop of London about a fortnight ago, and their return to Portugal to preach the posp.el. He next described the progress of Protestantism in some of the Italian states as most gratifying. The reverend gentleman concluded a speech of surpassing interest as follows :—These are great encouragements ; and although there be opposition, yet I trust we are not so weak in faith as to think or suppose that He who is for us is not more than all who are against us. (Cheers.) I have passed a considerable portion of my life upon the continent of Europe. I was for ten winters chap lain to the English congregation at Rome, and therefore I have some little acquaintance with his holiness the Pope. (Laughter.) I was also the chaplain in the summer season —for there is no congregation at Rome then—at Geneva for a succession of years, and that may account to the meeting why I come to take so prominent a part in promoting the objects of this society. lam resolved, if the Lord give me strength, at least for one year, to dedicate as much time as I can spare from the labours of a large metropolitan parish, to call the attention of the Christian people of this country to this most important society. (Cheers.) Having lived upon the continent of Europe, and seen that the working of the re ligious system there is fatal to all liberty, both civil and reli gious, I may be excused if I say that my experience of the continental nations perhaps exceeds that of any one now present. (Hear, hear.) It is like a heaving volcano, in which there appears something ready to burst forth, but it cannot find vent; in fact, I have come to this resolution, in looking over the present state of Europe, and in considering the history of its nations, that there exists there two things which are totally incompatible, and that they never can go on—that is, constitutional liberty well understood, and the establishment of the Popish religion. (Cheers.) You have only to look at the present state of Europe to prove this thesis. if you look into Italy, there Popery reigns tri umphant ; and what is the measure of liberty there ? It is literally nothing. (Hear.) Every country in it is despotic ; the press has no freedom ; if a man attempt to speak a word, or to think for himself, any thing against the Church of Rome, there is the prison for him ; he is put away and you hear no more about him. At Rome it is not possible for a Roman, if he is a Protestant, to say anything ; but if he is a Roman Catholic he is bound to show a certifi cate from the priest, once a year, that he has been at con fession. He must either give a satisfactory reason, such as absence, or else he must answer for his conduct to the tribu nal at the Inquisition, which is a large ugly building, that I have often seen, near the Vatican. If you look at the Penin sula you now see something of toleration ; but whatis the rea son ? It is because the Scriptures are beginning to find their way there ; and it is a remarkable fact, thatjustin proportion as the lights of divine truth is proclaimed in those countries in the same degree have civil and religious liberty risen up. (Cheers.) Put out the one and you will not have the other. (Hear, hear.) If you look at Germany you see the same thing ; wherever you elevate the gospel and the scriptures there you have liberty. (Cheers.) I appeal to Prussia ; what has taken place there ? That is a remarkable instance of a German power having propagated the scriptures and reformed faith : and it is almost the only country in Ger many which has constitutional liberty. The king has already given them liberty ; they are ready for it and know how to use it; and thus you see how civil liberty keeps pace with knowledge of the scriptures, or what we designate in one word, and that is the very good word Protestantism. (Loud cheers.) If you look in France there is liberty ; there is the charte constitutionelle. There they cry for liberty. They have it, but where is the Roman Catholic religion. It is now no longer the religion of France, for it is the religion of the ma jority—and in proportion as you saw the power of the Roman Catholic religion fall, in proportion you saw constitutional liberty rise. So it is in all other countries; and so it is wherever you open the page'of histoty. (Cheers.) We may apply these facts and these arguments to a certain island which I not long ago visited, and they will solve the problem —you must there have either constitutional liberty abridged or the power of the priesthood abridged. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Burgess concluded by an - appeal to the meeting tui support of the society. The resolution was then carried unanimously. Captain LAYARD, the other member of the deputation from the Parent Society, rose to move the next resolution. It was, in substance, that an auxiliary society be now formed in Liverpool, for the purpose of collecting funds towards carrying forward the object in view. The gallant officer en tered into a variety of details connected with the union of the two societies, and mentioned that auxiliaries had just been formed in Bath, Brighton, Greenock, Edinburgh, Hereford, Chester, and Shrewsbury, and were in vigorous operation. He described the feeling upon the continent as decidedly favourable to the objects of the society, and gave several instances of the funds of the Paris committee having been increased in consequence. He concluded by moving the resolution. The Rev. Hunn M'NEILE rose amidst loud cheers to second the resolution. He did not think, he said, it would be necessary for him to urge this matter by any argument, for, if he apprehended rightly from what the meeting had already heard, the society which had been called a " Foreign Aid Society," a " Pastoral Aid Society," and a " Reforma tion Society," might as well be called a " Protestant Asso ciation." (Loud cheers.) There were some persons who did not like Protestant Associations, though they had no ob jection to join other societies which were doing as well as they could the Protestant work. (Hear, hear.) In this country, he was free to confess his own strong conviction, that but for the movements occasioned seven or eight years ago by Protestant Associations, some of the very useful soci eties now at work would never have been called into exist ence. There was not the readiness in the public mind to meet the proposals to form them, until the people were taught the position in which they were placed relatively with the Church of Rome. (Hear, hear.) He had thought with regard to a period to which Mr. Burgess had alluded, for some years that the best movement of Protestant asso ciations would he a continental movement, and he had then done what he could in support of a continental society, for he was always friendly to Protestant associations. (Cheers.) But since the year 1829 the matter had been brought very near home ; and he felt that the Protestants in Ireland de manded our sympathy quite as much as the Protestants in France—that they were exposed to what Mr. Burgess had very properly called the sly persecution of the Papacy. (Hear, hear.) Since '29 a new feature had appeared in our own country ; and it was in vain to say we were to carry on this work without reference to politics. Christianity had never been carried on without reference to politics. (Hear, hear.) Christianity had upset the government of pagan Rome; Christianity had upset the dogmatism of papal Rome; and Christianity would upset the neology of the nineteenth cen tury also. (Cheers.) How was it to perform this great work but by grappling with the spirit of the age, whatever that spirit might be ? It was not by s h r i n ki n g back timidly and very amiably certainly—it was not by shrinking back gently and moderately, or with as much gentleness as could be af forded from the touch of secular contact; it was not so that Christianity was to triumph ; it was not by fearing to grapple with the mischief's of the day, whatever those mischief's might be, that Christianity could triumph. (Hear.) He knew that the still small voice of Christianity to the inner man was a delightful and a blessed thing which had no immediate connection with politics ; it survived the pressure of politi cal opposition, and sung the praises of God in the inner person—in the stocks—as sweetly as in the cathedral, in the quire. (Immense applause.) But God worked by means ; and with regard to the outworks of the Christian church, we should soon have the road cleared of the men who neglected the outward testimony of God's truth. Ex cept the shell be preserved the kernel would not be spared. In proportion as Christianity as an outwork grappled with the world, and maintained its position in the world, and drove back the opposition of the world, in the same proportion there would be behind and within the enclosures so defended, a multitude of tender and delicate, and sweet, and peaceable enjoyments of that Christianity in the hearts of them that loved God. But who should defend the citadel if all were to be in the interior of the tabernacle? Were all to be ever more dwelling before the mercy seat, then who should defend the encampment? Who should keep secure the encampment from the incursions of the Philistines, if all Israel were in the tabernacle? (Hear.) Nay, then, this would not do. It was an easy thing to talk and to say, what a sweet thing was Christianity, and how unhallowed it was to mix up politics with it. No, it was the absence of politics which had ruined us, or would have ruined us ; it was this sort of shrinking from the contact of the world which had made men of the world fancy that Christianity could not grapple with them. (Hear, hear.) He said Christianity could grapple with them —that Christianity could overthrow the rationalism of the age, or the infidelity of the continent, and of our own country, as easily as it had the tyranny of pagan Rome, and the su perstitions of papal Rome, only let it have fair play. (Hear.) Let it take the truth which it found in all the systems of error, for there was some truth in every system of error, but it was overladen with mischief; there was some truth in the great movement of the age we lived in—the march of mind — was christianity to shrink from it? Were christians to lift up their eyes and hands in astonishment at the world, instead of grappling with it? If they saw what a fearful thing it was that religion should not be supported by the govern ments, were they not to assail that government which would not maintain the church ? No. (Cheers.) He begged to say that christianity, as an outward system, was capable to meet the activity of the world, and that it was not such a simple, soft, tender thing as a statesman might drive into a corner at any moment he pleased to suit his own conveni ence. (Hear, hear.) The statesmen of England were beginning to find that the Church of England would main tain herself in spite of them—that she would do for our overgrown population what they had refused to do by a vote of the House of Commons—that the government would find there was a vis inertice in the church; a power about christianity which they wondered at, and they were astonished to see what the church was doing. The government of France was finding out the same thing. There was a " sly opposition" going on there. (Hear, hear.) He was very much struck with an article which he had read in Black wood's Magazine, describing what was going on there, and the manner in which the government were attempting to persecute the protestanls against the existing laws. Mr. Burgess had referred to the charter. The fifth section of that charter said, " Every individual is free to profess his religion with equal liberty, and will obtain for his worship an equal protection." The Protestants imagined that this covered them in the free exercise of their worship, and accordingly, " a little more than a year ago, two indi viduals, by name Doine and Lemair, wt.re charged at Montargis, with having held a religious meeting, con sisting of more than twenty persons. The Lel horities of that town insisted that this act was contrary to law, and the accused were condemned to several months' imprisonment." Here was au interpretation of the law of the charter ! The charter said that every individual was free to profess his re ligion with equal liberty, and would obtain for his worship equal protection. Two Protestants in a provincial town had a religious meeting, consisting of more than twenty persons ; the authorities of the town declared it contrary to law, and they were condemned to imprisonment! " They appealed, however, against this sentence to the Cour Royal of Orleans, which reversed the judgment, and pronounced a verdict of acquittal. Against this acquittal another appeal was mad e , at the instigation of the Ministre des Cultes, to the Court of Cessation, when, on special grounds, the latter sent ence was con fi rme d, whilst the legal view of the case, taken by the Montargis tribunal, was de clared to be the right one. This view is, that French reli gionists disconnected with the state, or not having the per mission of the civil authorities, have no right to assemble more than twenty persons, and that they violate positive laws in so doing." This matter was referred to the Court of Cassation, and M. Dupin laid down a strange position. Referring to the char ter which gave equal protection, he said that "The equal liberty promised to all religions is a restricted liberty ; hence he argued that the restrictions which are ac cepted by any specific body of religionists must apply to them all!" As some bodies of religionists in France had entered into a compact with the governm en t they were under restrictions voluntarily incurred. M. Dupin argued that others, who had never entered into any Compact, would, nevertheless, be brought under similar restrictions, enforced against their will. Upon this interpretation of the charter, he pronounced that the Protestants of France were not at liberty to have any religious meeing containing more than twenty persons ! The Protestants of France he (Mr. M`Neile) hoped were not going to give up their religious meetings upon that account. There, however, we were safe ; and very respectable Protestant in England were going to send them money to encourage them ; thus doing in France what some of them felt a repugnance to do in England ! He was glad they were doing so. He considered this Foreign Aid Society a great acknowledgment of the rectitude of our Protestant Associations. (Applause.) Only that he knew how Mr. Burgess was situated, and his engagements, he would have proposed an adjournment of the meeting till seven or eight o'clock to_night, in order that he might have an opportunity of repeating his interesting statements to the assembled operatives. (Hear, hear.) Those were the men for pushing true religion through the world now, and he could tell the meeting how th ey f e l t t h e power of the gospel without being under the trammels of the etiquette of society. (Hear, hear.) We had gentlemen who felt also the power of the gospel ; but then there was such a thing as losing caste ; and they did not like to lose caste for prudence, and judgment, and discretion ; therefor e , although he believed many of them wished us h eart il y God' speed in the agitation of the public for Protestant purposes, yet they would not come and join us. But those honest Operatives came by thousands in all the large towns in the kingdom. (Hear.) And if they wanted help for the Foreign Aid Society, it must come front the Operative s of England, (cheers,) who were inoculated with true Protestantism.—After some eloquent observations, strongly enforcing the objects of the society, and calling upon the ladies to exert themselves in its favour, the rev. gentleman concluded by seconding the resolution. The doxology was then sang, and the meeting separated about two o'clock. OUR HEAD AND EARS IN DEBT.—A hatter in New York gives a definition of the common phrase, " over head and ears in debt." He says in his advertisement, it means a man who " hasn't paid for his hat." THE PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION.—It will be seen from an advertisement, that the claims which this association has upon the support of the Protestant public will he laid before them to-morrow evening, at Christ Church. At no period have these claims been more pressing than the present, and we fervently hope the statements of the reverend gentleman will be attentively listened to, and his urgent appeals for their pecuniary assistance liberally seconded. EARLY GOOSEBERRIES. —AS a proof of the great mild ness of the season, and the forward state of garden produce, it may be stated that Mr. Matthew Dalby, of Li nton, near Wetherby, yesterday wee k, gather e d i n h i s garden some " crown bob " gooseberries, of such a size as were never before plucked at this early period of the year in this neigh bourhood. Seven years ago Mr. Dalby had gooseberries similar to the above on the 21st of April. CHURCH RATES.—A summons for a church -rate having been lately dismissed at our Public-office, on the ground th a t the churchwarden had not made personal application for the rate, we having been requested to give publicity to the law on this point, by copying the opinion of Dr. Philliunore, an eminent civilian, on a case laid before him last year by a gentleman residing in a neighbouring parish.—Opinion : " I am of opinion that the ch urchwarden i s no t b oun d to re ceive the rate in person, and that any parishioner who may , be satisfied that the person demanding the rate has compe tent authority to receive it, cannot be legally justified in withholding the payment of the sum for which he may have been duly assessed. JosErn putummonE.--Doctors' Com mons, 21st March, 1840.—ffermingkanz Advertiser. On last Saturday, private Robert Shaw, of the 20th regi ment, came by his death in the following manner :—On ac count of the disturbed state of the Silvermines and its local ity, a party of the regiment was detached from Nenagh to the village named. Shaw, who was one of the party, in company with another soldier named Russell, went to view the machi nery and other works of the mine, whence the village takes its name. An immense water wheel attracted Shaw's atten tion, and as he had been for some time employed in machi nery at Manchester, he e xplained some o f it s powers and properties to his comrade. He then mounted the wheel and performed on it twice an evolution which is vulgarly called " turning the wild cat." N ot satisfied w ith this he attempted the exploit a third, and, fatally far himself, a last time. While entangled in the wheel, it, from the impulse of his weight, suddenly began t o move, at the sa me t i me dragging him with it in its downward course. Conscious o f th e immi nence of his danger, be made a plunge at one of th e arms o f the wheel, and then made a bound at one of the embankments, but the poor fellow missed his footing, and was immediately precipitated between the wheel and its guard wall, where he became so entangled that his neck and one of his arms were literally crushed to murotoY• His last Word s were, " Oh ! I'm done for }" "The Lord have mercy on m e !”.....m orning Herald. SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT.—No. 3. (FOR THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.) DEBATE UPON THE COMPENSATION CLAUSE OF THE COURT OF EXCHEQUER BILL-DE FEAT OF MINISTERS. APRIL 23D. It is not always a great debate which furnishes the most interesting study for a spectator in the House of Commons. On set occasions it is too much the custom, even with some of the leading members, to come down to the house with speeches ready conned and got by heart, like school-boy ex hibitions; and the natural result, which cannot but strike a stranger, is a lamentable want of energy and earnestness in the manner of the speakers. In the casual conflict% of party it is that genuine parliamentary talent is elicited ; in the epi sodes, as it were, of the great legislative drama, we can best arrive at a just estimate of the real merits of the actors. Such an episode occurred on Friday evening, during the committee upon the bill of the Attorney-General for abolish ing the present Court of Exchequer and creating in its stead two new Courts of Equity. The clause in the bill upon which the debate arose, was one providing, as usual in similar cases, compensation for deprivation of emolument to the judges and officers of the court. This clause the Chancellor of the Exchequer—and why this public functionary, who will perhaps find enough to do with his BUDGEI in a few days, should step so far out of his department as to interfere with the details of a legal mea sure, is best understood by himself—proposed to omit ; and to substitute for it one enacting that compensation should be made to every officer of the court with the exception of a single marked individual—the son of the Lord Chief Baron, Lord Abinger. The pretext, upon which this invidious proposition was made, was that the honourable Mr. Scarlet —the gentleman in question—received his appointment from the Chief Baron subsequent to the introduction, last session, of a bill similar to the present. The position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as the mover of this shabby proposition—for shabby it was, as well as unjust, when stripped of its covering of plausibility—was not one calculated for the display of any great talent ; but I could scarcely have imagined it possible that so important a functionary as the Chancellor of the Exchequer could have exhibited so miserable a spectacle upon any occasion. He hem'd and stammered—advanced to the table and then went back again —shuffled with his feet—made dog's ears in a copy of the statutes, from which he had selected a case in point, (which was not to the point after all) ; and finally sat down amidst the ominous silence of his party, leaving only the im pression behind him that, unless he had submitted on the occasion to be made the catspaw of the ministry, some paltry petty spite could alone have induced him to embark in a cru sade against an individual, in justification of which he had not been able to produce one precedent or one valid argu ment. It is scarcely possible to describe the strong contrast of manner and person presented between this gentleman and the honourable member who replied to him—Sir William Follett. The member for Exeter is possessed of a noble person, a manner full of dignity and ease combined, and, — what is of essential value to a speaker—a fine manly voice. In the compass of about a dozen sentences, Sir William de molished utterly the flimsy sophistries of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, upset his law, overturned his case of prece dent, and—unkindest cut of all—threw back upon the shoulders of the ministry a clear case of attempted fraud. Sir William showed that the vacancy which the Lord Chief Baron had filled up, was occasioned by the death of its for mer occupant. Ergo : there could be no imputation of col lusion, no shuffling of offices, no changing of nests, such as had occurred on some other occasions to create vacancies, for the purpose of creating claims for compensation. The office, which was a judicial one, could not remain vacant without the entire business of the court being suspended; and with respect to filling it up, the Chief Baron had no choice. The act of parliament rendered it imperative upon him to name a successor, who must be a barrister of ten years' standing at the bar; and Sir William clearly showed, that after having drawn such a man from the exercise of his profession, for the purpose of holding a judicial situation, it was only a bare measure of justice to grant compensation. The Chancellor of the Exchequer attempted a reply to Sir William, and evidently not in the sweetest temper possible. At this period of the debate the honourable member for Tamworth, in that " forcible quiet" way which he occa sionally assumes, proposed a very simple question to the puzzled Chancellor of the Exchequer, which a little in creased his bewilderment. " The honourable gentleman," remarked Sir Robert, " has informed the house that certain individuals, who have purchased offices in the Court of Ex chequer since the bill was introduced last session, are never theless to receive compensation ; upon what principle does the right honourable gentleman propose to grant compensa tion in these cases, and refuse it in the case before the house ?" The explosion of a ten-pound rocket could scarcely have created a more astounding effect upon the Chancellor than this simple query. By this time affairs were beginning to look rather ominous Two or three of the ministerial party had announced their intention of voting against the Chancellor of the Exchequer's proposition ; and a diversion was therefore found advisable to be effected on the part of the baffled ministry. Accord ingly, a remark of the member for Ripon—Mr. Pemberton— that " although a bill had been introduced, it was not con clusive that it would be passed—that many bills introduced by ministers were abandoned, or were perhaps rejected in The house," was forthwith seized upon by Lord John Russell, and the allusion in it to the possibility of the House of Lords rejecting a bill which had passed the commons was at once tortured into a ground for a tirade from his Lordship against the powers and privileges of that house. "Is the House of Commons," exclaimed his Lordship, with all the dignity of which so small a man is capable, to be told that it dare not pass any measure of compensation—any money question —without the house of Lords dictating the terms ? Are we to resign into the hands of that house our power of dealing exclusively with money questions, and become the mere re gistrars of the imperious will of that house ?" whereupon sundry raw statesmen cried " Hear ! hear !" with great fer vour, whilst the " older hands" indulged in a smile. The " ruse" was too transparent. The attempt of the pigmy lord to fan himself into a democratic passion was too evidently a mere part of the " tactique ;" and it was unsuccessful ac cordingly, and like other similar dishonesties, when detected, damaged rather than advanced the cause it was meant to Sir Edward Sugden succeeded to his lordship, and admi nistered a pretty severe rebuke to the demagogue lord, whom he shewed to have not only perverted most grossly the mean ing of the honourable member for Ripon, but to have even misrepresented circumstances connected with it. The con cluding portion of the debate contained nothing very striking. Attention was called to the fact, that Mr. Scarlett actually resigned two important offices (one as counsel to the mint) upon his appointment in the Court of Exchequer ; and Mr. Cresswell reminded the house that, viewing the question as one of patronage merely, the salary of Lord Chief Baron, to whom that patronage of right belonged, had been restricted at the time of his appointment expressly upon the condition of its existence; and that no compensation was to be made to, or sought for by, him upon its deprivation. After a few attempts by the ministerialists to prolong the debate, whilst effort was made to " whip up" their supporters, the house divided, and the ministerial trick was defeated by a majority of 3—the numbers being, respectively, 73 and 70. It was impossible to avoid remarking during this debate— in fact, during the whole of the preceding debate as well— that the great bulk of the legal talent in the house, at any rate, is to be found upon the opposition benches. With the exception of the Attorney and Solicitor-General, not another man of any great or rising talent, at the English bar, can be found amongst the ministerialists, whilst a whole host of talent crowds the ranks of their opponents—amongst whom not the least are such men as Mr. Cresswell, Mr. Thesiger, Sir William Follett, Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. Pemberton, Sir Edward Sugden, &c.—men whose talents are calculated to adorn any station, or to honour any cause. It may be said, indeed, that legal talent is not what the people want in that house ; but how preposterous is the objection ! Can such men as these, who from their avocations necessarily be come acquainted with the most minute details of the com mercial and social relations of the community, by any possi bility fail in carrying some portion of their acquirements into that house, to be exercised for the benefit of their vatious constituencies, and of the community at large ? THE DOCK GATES TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SlR,—Allow me, through the medium of your valuable paper, to call the attention of the pr o p er p ar ti es to a serious inconvenience felt by myself and the public at large, yester day morning at nine o'clock. I went down to the north end of George's Dock, and found the flood-gates and bridge both open, and in consequence I made the best of my way to the south end, and there found the bridge and flood-gates, at each cud of the passage, which separates the George's from Canning Dock ope n , an d crow d s o f persons wer e detained there for twenty-minutes ; now, there was not the least occa sion for the south bridge to be open, as, during the entire time, not a vessel was even attempting to come from the Canning to George's Dock, and this must have been clear to all parties, including the dock-gatemen and the police. I hope this will have attention from the proper quarter, and the public not inconvenienced when there is no absolute ne cessity. By inserting this you will oblige yours, &C., AN OLD FRIEND TO LIVERPOOL. LIVERPOOL HOME MISSION TO THE EDITOR OF 2'HE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—As superintendent of the Liverpool Home Mission, in connexion with the British Christian Church Home Mis sionary Society established at London, &c., I have deemed it my duty to refer to a paragraph in your paper of the 23d instant, headed " Be ware o f Impostors," and signed J.T. B. I believe there were two persons from a distance, who had no connexion with us, or any other society in Liverpool, collecting for an institution of similar name, very recently ; but have been given to understand they have left the town ; and I am of opinion that the article referred to may partially prevent our home institutions receiving that support which is essential to their prosperity. jro instance, 1 with some of our friends) was unanimously requested to wait upon the merchants, &c., on behalf of its funds; and having taken one of the missionaries with me, in the discharge of this duty, we might, by such as do not personally know us, be supposed to be the individuals alluded to in your paper. I therefore beg you will have the kindness to give these lines a place in the next copy of your much -respected journal. I am, dear sir, your humble, obedient servant, JOSEPH PEART. Slanley-crescent, April 23, 1841. OUR PORTRAIT GALLERY. No. V. JOHN ROSSON, ESQ. The subject of our present sketch is one of a fraternity with which we have not as yet had to do ; one of the chickens of Mother Jezebel—indeed " the" veriest " Roman of them all"—and although he might, without any great detri ment to society, have been made to wait until he had been a little better fledged, yet we are unable to resist his pressing importunities of late to be honoured with our notice. Stand forward, therefore, most illustrious king of the Protectors ; and allow us to transfer thy " ambrosial curls" to our im mortalizing columns. Let the reader, who has not bad the felicity of attending any of the recent gatherings of Whig-Radicalism in Liver pool, picture to himself or herself, a rosy-cheeked personage, about five feet three inches in his stocking feet, with a knot of fuzzy red hair—some very polite people might call it au burn—" steeling" in graceful curls from beneath his hat ; light blue eyes, which remind us of the " sweet sky blue" liquid, which, at such seminaries as Dotheboys Hall. they are in the habit of calling " milk ;" a rotund form, cased in somewhat gentlemanly garments, a neatly tied cravat, or an elaborately folded stock, and as many rings and chains of gold or gilt, as would set up a pedlar in a tolerable way of business. Place such a man in the balcony of any decent dwelling, with one hand, cased in unsoiled kid, upon the railing, whilst the other, in the most affable manner pos sible, " saws the air ;" send round the tee-total, or any band of similar excellence, by Vauxhall-road, Tithebarn street, Orange-street, and other equally delectable localities, playing " Patrick's Day in the morning," to secure an au dience of " the boys ;" and you will forthwith have before you, in all the " pomp, pride, and circumstance" which be fits him, the sucking demagogue—the agitator "in petto"— the man, in fine, of whom Dame Nature swears that " Her prentice han' she tried on Dan, And then she made John Rosson, 0 !" Yes, reader ; you would see in that individual the man who, at some future day, is destined to carry—not the wallet, perhaps, but the " Tail s ' of the illustrious mendicant of the present day ; to be borne into Parliament upon the RODS of his fellow-countrymen, and to proclaim there the wrongs of " nine millions"—by that time they may be twelve mil lions " of hereditary bondsmen." We have ourselves had many opportunities of appreciating the lofty talents and the rare eloquence which distinguish this extraordinary man; but above all these, we have been charmed with the humility and modesty of demeanour by which they are attended. As an instance of his great kind ness of disposition, need we remind our readers of the un wearying assiduity with which he—a lawyer, without the bare prospect of fee or reward—attended the last Burgess Regis tration Court; and with what delicate zeal he endeavoured to inject a little of his own legal profundity into the ear of a certain whig functionary of that court ? Need we recall to recollection the suavity of manner with which, on that occa sion, he intimated to a certain learned barrister that he was " a bully," or with what calm dignity he subsequently walked out of court, with the amicable intent of saving to his wor ship—the then Mayor—the trouble and fatigue of ordering him to be put out I None of these circumstances, we are satisfied, are forgotten. They ought never to be so, but combined with his noble exertions as a " protector" of the rights of the " cellarocracy" of Liverpool, and his efforts to raise the hod and the lumper's barrow to the same level in the scale of respectability as other implements of art, ought to hand down his name for ever as a patriot—a philanthro pint and a philosopher. The style of oratory adopted by Mr. Rosson, is one pecu liarly the favourite, with the lower classes especially, of his countrymen—the " flowery" style. He deals largely in trope and metaphor, wisely remembering, no doubt, that the most loudly applauded passage in all the addresses of this great prototype is that, commencing with " great, glorious and free," and concluding with " first gem of the earth and first flower of the sea" ;—which our readers will bear in mind is the Irish version of a passage of one of our poets, which reads somewhat differently in English ; but as the sound is all, it is no great matter. Perhaps, indeed, the Irish version is the more imaginative. The most " flowery" portions of Mr. Rosson's speeches are, very wisely, borrowed. It is far better, when a man has an inclination to soar aloft, to borrow a pair of wings, or a ladder, which has been used be fore, than to experimentalize upon new materials at the risk of a break-down. There :is one habit, however, which we wish sincerely Mr. Rosson would lay aside. Ott the eve of any of his great displays he has of late got hold of some musty book or other with an immense Latin or Greek name, and learnt a page or two by heart, which on the succeeding day he introduces to his enlightened bogtrotters, as a " very ap posite illustration of the principles for which he has been contending"—and so forth. Now with all due deference to Mr. Rosson, the very clap-trap itself is not original. It is an ingenious device to secure a reputation as a man of exten sive reading, adopted years before he was born by the worthy old lady of Lord-street; and a man of Mr. Rosson's exten sive acquirements ought not surely to require the same bolstering appliances by which that venerable antique is held together. We feel bound before taking leave of our subject, to warn the public against misapprehension, into which they might possibly fall. There is a common adage—noscitur a sociis— (which, as it is in Latin, our printer's devil has instructions to translate for the enlightenment of any whig-radical mem ber of the council who may honour him with a call); but this test cannot be with justice applied to John Rosson. We must not judge of his talents and his character by those of the worn-out hacks of whig-radicalism, amongst whom he herds. He is evidently out of his element when amongst brawling and ruffianly mobs, whilst they are as evidently in theirs. He will never become very great as a demagogue, because he lacks the most essential requirement—vulgarity; and it is only the strong hold which Rome exercises over her sons, which induces him, under the supposition that he is advancing her interests, to bend to his present unclean avo cations. Yet, after all, we don't imagine that he will ever set the Mersey on fire or enact any other similar prodigy; and we would back a tom-cat of ours to carry in his mouth all the briefs he has had or ever will have—provided no wicked wight tempts him to lay down his load with the prospect of a " chop," for which he has an almost Chinese negociator's appetite. THE ERRORS OF POPERY. The following correspondence has just taken place between the Rev. J. Baylee, incumbent of Trinity Church, Wood side, and Dr. Butler, whose controversial lectures, now de livering in a Popish chapel in this town, have been duly trumpeted forth by the radical journals. It will be seen that the doctor, as is always the case, shrinks in a shabby manner from any reply to the modest request so delicately intimated by Mr. Baylee. (No. 1.) Parkfield, Woodside, April 20, 1811. SlR, — Having heard from various persons that, in your public preaching, you had declared your readiness to meet any clergyman of the Church of England, to discuss the Roman Catholic doctrines protested against by us, I beg to be informed whether you have given such a challenge. I remain, sir, your obedient servant, JOSEPH BA LEE, Incumbent of Holy Trinity Church, Birkenhead. Rev. Dr. Butler. (No. 2.) St. Anthony's, 21st April, IS4I. beg to observe, that I do not consider myself under the necessity of replying to your note of the 20th inst. I do humbly hope that the tender mercies of Heaven may draw you to hear me, and give you grace to profit by the example of several who, on hearing from me the pure Gospel of the blessed Jesus, have renounced the errors of Protes tantism, and joined our Holy Catholic church. I remain, sir, your obedient servant, THOMAS BUTLER, D.D. Rev. J. Baylee. (No. 3.) Stu.,—l duly received your note of the 21st, dated from " St. Anthony's," and, with reference to the invitation to hear from you " the pure Gospel of the blessed Jesus," I beg to observe, that a person who could mistake a Roman chapel for a Catholic church could not possibly know, much less preach, the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Common report, from credible persons who have heard you preach, declaies that you challenged any -Church of England clergyman to meet you in discussion. I now accept that challenge, and am ready to prove publicly 1. That the Church of Rome has apostatised from the true faith of Christ. 2. That Romish priests, exercising their ministry in this country, are schismatics. 3. That the Church of England is the only branch of the Catholic church existing in England. If, sir, your addresses to the congregation of St. Anthony's can bear the light of Scripture, you can have no objection to bring them to the test before an audience too well instructed in Catholic truth to enter a Romish chapel. I beg to add, that, as it has been publicly reported that we were challenged by you, I purpose to make this letter public. _ . . I remain, sir, your obedient servant, J. BAYLEE Parkfield, Woodside, 23d April, 1811 Rev. Dr. Butler. NEW CHURCHES.—Three new churches were last week consecrated in the Archdeaconry o f Gloucester. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT.—On Wednesday, Mr. Cooke applied, on the part of Mr. W. J. Hammond; corn median, and lately the lessee of Drury-lane Theatre, for permission to give bail in a smaller sum than is required in ordinary cases, on the ground of special and peculiar circum stancesr The judgment debts against the insolvent were about £1600., and bail must be given in double that sum. Mr. Hammond's debts were about £BOOO. Mr. Commis sioner Bowen, under the circumstances, said Mr. Hammond might be admitted to bail on two sureties for £2OOO. MYSTERIOUS RAVAGING OF A FLOCK. — On Tuesday, the 14th ult., the shepherd of Mr. T. Cooke Burroughes, of Gazeley, on ent er i ng the sheep-yard in the morni ng found nine sheep and twenty eight fine lambs had been destroyed during the night, and left lying in heaps one upon another, in one corner of the yard ; the wool and skins of some were torn in places, but no flesh taken off nor the blood d rawn, and many o f th e l am b s we re much bruised, and a p peare d upon being flayed as if they had received a blow front a stick, although it is supposed that some of the bruises might have been produced, and some of the lambs killed, by the sheep in their fright trampling upon and smothering them. None of the remainder of the flock in the yard were mangled or otherwise injured. Several shepherds who were a f terwards present, from examining the skins, and from other appear ances, were all of opinion that ono or more dogs alone had not effected the mischief . The case i s a t present involved in mystery ; but the circumstances, seem strongly to indicate that some evil-disposed person or persons were concerned in it. The Newmarket association has offered a reward for the discovery of the offenders.—Cambridge Chronicle. SECOND EDITION. Standard-office, Eleven o'clock MOST APPALLING OCCURRENCE We are often compelled, as public journalists, to detail circumstances of the most heartrending character ; but we have rarely been called upon to detail a more melancholy narrative of facts than is involved in the following brief statement of an appalling occurrence which took place in this town this morning. We have made every effort to col. lest the most authentic particulars, and we believe the fol lowing may be relied upon : About six o'clock this morning the family of Mr. Jenner, a cotton-broker of this town, was thrown into the greatest consternation by an attempt made by Mr. Jenner to take away the life of his two children, his wife, and it is feared his own. The unfortunate gentleman has recently been ob served lately to recal to his recollection several circumstances in his past life, when he was in a more prosperous condition, and the remembrance appeared to prey greatly upon his spirits, and, latterly, even to affect his mind. So much was the case, that, in a fit of despair, he this morn ing discharged a pistol at one of his children, which, unhappily, took effect, and the poor boy is no more, He almost at the same time discharged another at his wife, the contents of which lodged, we believe, in her head, but at the moment we write the lady is still alive, and it is the opinion of Mr. Ackerley, the surgeon, that she may possibly recover. The wretched man then endeavoured to bring his other boy to him, by speaking in the most affectionate terms to him ; but the poor fellow, was too terrified to do so, and immediately fled from the house and gave the alarm to the police, who took his father into custody, where he now remains. Mr. Jenner gave himself into the possession of the police in the most quiet manner, and a double-barreled pistol was taken from him, and another was found at the back of the house. He (Mr. Jenner) has been noticed by all who knew him as a most affectionate husband ; and the only reason for the steps he has taken is to be found in the expression which it is stated Mr. Jenner has been heard to utter,—that he would rather see his wife and family dead than afflicted by poverty. Mr. Jenner was noticed last evening, about five o'clock, by a gentleman with whom he was in company, to be in a very excited state of mind, and talked much of his reduced circumstances and disappointed prospects, which were more likely to make a deep impression on his mind, from his having been many years since engaged in a very lucrative line of business in Liverpool and Manchester. Subse quenity to this he became unfortunate, and commenced business in Charleston, where he realised a considerable sum of money, which was lost in the panic of 1825. He then established himself as a cotton-broker in this town, with considerable success, until his health gave way, and his con sequent inactivity in all probability caused the gradual loss of his connections. About three years since he went to Glasgow to prosecute the same business, but met with little or no encouragement, and about six months since returned to this town and took up his abode in Portland-place, and has since been strug gling with difficulties, under which it would appear his mind has been impaired. He has often expressed himself to those about him as a deeply injured man, and become so excited in the recital of his wrongs, whether fancied or real, as to produce an irritation of mind bordering upon insanity. As we previously noticed his great and devoted attachment to his wife and children (two boys, the younger twelve years of age, deceased, the elder, about 15,) has induced him to commit this rash act, in preference to seeing them reduced to starvation and want. Mr. Jenner appears to be about fifty-five years of age. If any examination takes place to-day before the coroner, we will give it in another edition. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-LAST NIGHT PARLIAMENTARY VOTERS (IRELAND) BILL On the motion of Lord MORPETH the house went into committee on the parliamentary voters (Ireland)ibill. Mr. Bernal in the chair. Lord Howicic rose to move the following amendment, after the words " no person " in line 11, to omit all the words to the end of the clause, and to insert, " Claiming under any act or acts now in force, to be entitled to be re gistered, and to vote as a parliamentary elector for any coun ty, in respect of any freehold or leasehold property in his actual occupation, shall be deemed to have a beneficial inte rest herein, of the clear yearly value required by such act or acts, except as hereinafter provided." The noble lord said, he considered many and serious objections must be raised against the clauses in the government bill. (Hear, hear.) He wished the value of property to be ascertained by assessment, and what it ought to be rated at for the poor. (Hear.) He did not think the solvent tenant test could be safely followed, and he intended to propose as an amendment that the party claiming a right to vote should should have " a beneficial interest of £5, after deducting rent and other charges." The noble lord was addressing the house when we left. MEETING OF CONSERVATIVES One of the most numerous, important, and unanimous meetings of Conservative members of the House of Com mons assembled at the residence of Sir Robert Peel, in Whitehall Gardens, yesterday, at twelve o'clock. Nearly every Conservative member was present. All the proposi tions of the right hon. baronet were cordially responded to. Sir Robert, after stating his objections to Lord Morpeth's measure, said he did not wish their opposition to be confined to the details of the measure, whether they should consent to an XS or a £3 clause, but at once take their stand upon an ob jection to the principle of the measure. The right hon. baronet (we are informed upon authority on which we can rely,) after enforcing on the members present the necessity of being as punctual in their attendance in the house as they were on that occasion, as an early division might be expected, said he did not think it would be dignified to propose amendments to the ministerial bill, but at once boldly oppose it on its principle, and throw so objectionable a measure out alto gether. This announcement was received with great cheers. DEATH OF THE BISHOP OF WORCESTER This estimable prelate died at Worcester at about half-past nine on Saturday night. The right rev. lord (Dr. James Robert Carr) was consecrated bishop in 1824, and translated in 18.31, and has left behind him a character for sincere piety and the most amiable personal qualities. THE NOTTINGHAM ELECTION The nomination at this election took place yesterday. Mr. Walter was proposed by W. Roweth, Esq., ex-Mayor, and seconded by T. W. Charltor, Esq. Lord Raneliffe nominated Mr. Larpent, and Mr. Hart seconded the nomi- Almost the whole assembly held up their hands in 'avour of Mr. Walter, and our correspondent informs us here is not the slightest doubt of his return. EXECUTION OF BARTHOLOMEW MURRAY, FOR THE MURDERS AT OVER-PEOVER. CHESTER, Saturday night.—The last sentence of the law was carried into effect upon the body of this unfortunate culprit at the city gaol this morning. He was locked up every night in the condemned cell by himself, and is stated to have enjoyed up to Thursday night sound and unbroken sleep. On Friday morning, the holy sacrament was administered to him by the Rev. J. Carberry. He then appeared quite resigned to his fate, and deeply im pressed with the urgent necessity of making his peace, with God. On Friday afternoon he expressed a wish to see the prisoners who (up to the day of his condemnation) had been confined in the same yard with him. He bade all an aflec tionate and affecting adieu, and on shaking hands with the man in confinement on suspicion of shooting a gamekeeper at Huxley, near Tarporley, he said lie hoped he would avoid that fate which so soon awaited him. He made no other allu sion to his situation, further than a general expression of his feeling both well and happy. Between eight and nine o'clock in the evening he was revisited by the Roman catholic clergy man. He then went to bed, and taking his prayer-book - in his hand, with the exception of some short intervals, read the contents with marked devotion throughout the night. He dressed about four o'clock, and partook of a hearty break fast. The county authorities next conducted Murray to the lobby adjoining the outer gate of the Castle. lie was there hand cuffed, and the city sheriff and his officers being announced as waiting for the culprit at Glover's Stone (the city boundry mark), Mr. Dunstan conducted his prisoner on foot in that direction. The unhappy man walked by the side of the priest, still repeating the prayers, and the gaze of a crowd of some thousonds did not appear in the least to affect him. On th arrival of the county procession at the boundary, a black railed cart without springs (provided by the city authorities) was in readiness to convey the culprit to the city gaol. He was lifted into it, and manacles having been fixed to his legs, the Rev. J. Carberry took a seat in the cart by the side of the culprit, both riding with their backs to the horse, s%bleb after the true Tyburn style was led by the hangman, a prac titioner from Staffordshire. The governor of the city gaol headed the procession, and the sheriffs, under-sheriff, and a, large body of officers brought up the rear. The crowd was. was exceedingly dense, and the police constables had great difficulty in keeping them back, so as to make a passage for the cart. The number of females (many of them well dressed) present was in a majority of at least two to one of the male sex. The procession reached the gaol as the clock struck five. The cart was taken to the back door of the prison, and Murray's manacles having been removed, he was conducted through the chapel in which his coffin was lying, to the cell at the foot of the fatal platform. The sight of neither the nor drop appeared to affect him in the least. On en- - tering the c e ll h e di rectly knelt down, and continue d hi devotions. The various services of the Roman church were continued throughout th e morn i ng a l m ost unceash i Murray at no time lost that confidence for which he h a} s }t ean was so remarkable. On the arrival of the sheriff the ce court prison, cleared of all persons except the chaplain of thetle the Rev. J. Carberry, the schoolmaster of the public the officers of the gaol, and the representativesan_ d by the time of press. The Litany was then repeated, and his preparations. its conclusion the executioner commencedduring of county g aol, The culprit remained firm legs, and his arms pinioned, no fetters were adjusted to hi t s ble , i his countenance, and lie and unmoved the time the visible change was P continued fervently engaged in prayer during the whole cere_ moray. doend theth e drop.s c a fft)l d A w i lt e l: a few minutes s p ent in prayer, the executioner proceeded to g i u w e s tion declarationfrom il I t r e . E rn a a t k o cu. ~, M He o r a was aast oncethen replied In ans . %e l r h to av a e v C i n a g r b a e s c r e r n y a c o h ti r tl m nci st e e d p to li e t b k e e d e I T drop, and th m h r a . adjust the rope round the neck of the culprit. His panto. then administered the sacrament of extreme unction, arid i n an instant the drop fell, and he died with scarcely a perc eptible struggle. He was in the 19th year of his a,,,,