The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-04-28 00:00:00

centralists at all hazards. The fort at Laguna had been taken possession of by a handful of federalists, and the port declared free to all nations. A military force of 300 to 400 men (federalists) was daily expected at Laguna, from Ta inaulipas, which, it was believed, would put to flight all who ...dared to oppose their principles. Texas dates received are to the 18th ult.—Branch T. Archer had been appointed Secretary of War. Eighty-five thousand dollars in blank treasury notes had been stolen. No further accounts of Mexican movements had reached the capital ; and it was generally believed that no invasion of Texas would be undertaken. A serious accident occurred at Austin, at the anniversary celebration on the 2d. A cannon went off while Col. Thomas W. Ward was loading it, and so shattered his arm that it was necessary to amputate it near the shoulder. This gentleman lost a leg at the storming of St. Antonio in 1835. According to the Houston • Star, a large party of traders lately came from beyond the Rio Grand, and pur chased nearly all the goods suitable for the Mexican market in the town of Bexar. The Texian ship Zavala is to be laid up. General Hamilton had not left for Europe. (From the _Dail!, Express of April 7.) MONEY MARKET —CITY NEWS. Mori DAY, P.M.—The Notes of the City Trust and Banking Co. payable on demand, are no longer redemed. The packet ship Baltimore, for Havre, took 320,000 dollars. In the Senate of Pennsylvania on Saturday last, a resolu tion was passed to a third reading, authorising the Banks to issue smal! notes for one year, as also an additional re solution, suspending for one year the operation of an act of 1828, imposing penalties for the circulation of notes of a less denomination than five dollars. The St. Louis Bulletin learns from a source to be relied on, that the information has been received by the Fund Com missioners of Minos, that the money, a million and a half, for the bonds sold in Europe by them, is ready for their draft, and the whole amount of their certificates issued by them on account of public works will be reduced in a few weeks. Flour was selling from boats at Cincinnati, Ohio, on Tues day last, at 2 dollars 6 9 1 cents per barrel. Monda STOCKS. y.—A very heavy business was done in North Ame rican Trust to-day, and at a decline of 7 per cent. The other descriptions of stock remained pretty firm. United States improved 1- • Dela ware an d H ar l em rema i ns firm ; 871 offer ed ia for Man hattan, but none -sold ; Exchange o n Philadel ph 95. The prospect of a war with the United States is be coming so imminent as to call for the serious conside ration of the British nation, and more especially of the mercantile community who are so largely involved in their various transactions with that country. There can no longer remain a doubt that a feeling inimical to England, and which the occurrence of an hour may rouse to open hostility, pervades and has long pervaded all classes of the American people ; and, in fact, the existence of such a feeling is scarcely attempted to be concealed by the American government itself. It is, therefore, time for us to inquire to what extent we are, prepared for the impending contest, and what are the probabilities that we shall come out of it with honour to our character as a nation and advantage to the immense nterests involved in its result. But let us first consider whether any chance exists of our being able to avert a calamity so serious as a war with America must, under any circumstances, be deemed. We are told that the feelings of bitter hosti lity manifested owards us by the American people are not inherent, but have been produced by the insults levelled against them by the English press ; that the vexata questio of the boundary between the state of Maine and New Brunswick may still be arranged sa tisfactorily to both countries, and when that object is happily accomplished, that the minds of our transat lantic brethren will become more settled, and the kindly feelings which ought to exist between us will, on their part, be assiduously cultivated. We deny the correct ness of each and all of these premises. - The feeling of hostilitytOwards.England is inherent in the American people. They hate us with their whole souls ! The boundary question may be prolonged —may be allowed to wait its time—but will never be settled except upon terms 'dishonourable to England or at the point of the bayonet. America, as. a nation, does not wish for its • final settlement on any other terms. She will accept of concession; she will temporise and negotiate; but so long as Canada presents her fertile plains, her broad lakes and her noble rivers to the contemplation of the restless cupidity of American ambition, the boundary question will remain, morally and really, as much a disputed point as if the genius of Lord Palmerston had never mystified a protocol. We have said that America hates us, and her hatred prompts the wish to injure us ; but even that feeling, hitter and deep as it is, might be innocuous if she had not also been taught to despise us. Her conduct and the tone of her negociations With us, upon the question of the disputed boundary with Maine, has been marked throughout by evasion and a disregard of faith which no great nation has ever displayed so openly ; *even, evasion and want of faith could never have been pushed so far had it not been accompanied by contempt of the power towards which it was manifested. We referred the settlement of the boundary question to an arbiter, chosen mutually by the two countries, and by the terms Of the arrangement it was agreed that "the decision of the arbiter, when given, shovld he final and conclusive, and be carried, without reserve, into immediate effect." Could anything he more binding, we ask, than the sti pulation here laid &Nil ? Yet the American govern ment, when an award was at length made, found a loop hole of retreat, and a British minister was found want ing in the necessary courage to -enforce compliance. The government of America was fornially invited to .proceed to the fulfilment of the terms of the award; bnt the diplomatic agent by whom the invitation was conveyed is told by that British minister—by Lord Palmerston —that he was " nevertheless authorised privately to intimate to the American minister, upon any suitable occasion, that his Majesty's government would not consider the formal acceptance of the award by Great Britain and the United States as necessarily precluding the two governments from any future modifi cation of the terms of the arr«agemtut prescribed in that instrument !"—in other words, the American people were informed that the award was so much waste paper, and that England would not, and durst not, enforce it. Need we wonder that America has learnt to add contempt to the hatred with which she already regarded us? We cannot, then, but view a war with America as inevitable. It is madness on the part of the English people to doubt it, and wicked for a British govern ment to attempt to conceal it. The materiel has long been prepared, and all that is now wanting is the word, and the hand to fire the train. The day is perhaps not distant when that word will be given, and we shall better meet the onset by boldly contemplating its ap proach. But let us not be misunderstood, or supposed to regard with an eye of welcome a calamity so fatal, as a war with America might be, to the interests of the whole human race. We have no hostile feeling to wards the people of America, and we repudiate the malignant slander which has attempted to fasten such an imputation upon our conservative brethren. We denounce the weak and vacillating policy which has hastened the crisis at which we are now arrived; and, as public journalists, it becomes a duty to warn our countrymen against the evil results which a continua tion of that policy will entail upon them. We do not advocate war, but we wish to see England prepared to meet it ; and the first step towards such a preparation must be, to spurn from power the imbecile ministry whose cowardice and negligence have precipitated its approach. We do not advocate a war with America, but neither do we fear its results. The temporary stoppage of our commerce with tint country will produce, we are aware, serious inconvenience. Our financial position is not so favourable as to invite the outlay of money which such a war must cause; neither are our rela tions with other countries so satisfactory as to be re garded with complacency. We arc well aware of the strength of America, the number and efficiency of her navy, and the spirit which animates her militias and volunteers; but at the same time we know that Ame rica has her points of weakness as well as England, .and we firmly believe that the result of a contest, come when it may, will be productive of more serious evils to the American people than they would wish at the present moment to contemplate. Such a contest might cause to England the loss of her Canadian pos sessions ; but it might also result in the separation from the Union of the Southern StatQs, already suffi ciently disposed to murmur at the policy which sacri . fleet; their interest for the benefit of New England and '!.• • Massachusetts. The nullification cry is not yet be *Si,; come so weak as to be roused again with impunity. We freely admit that England is not at present so 51, 4 4,4 . 1 ),!t,, fully prepared to meet the hostilities threatened by .•America as she ought to have been. Eternal disgrace t i ;'srn , to the wretched policy whi c h h as ren d er ed her so de y 13, 1, LC, 14tz 4%.3ft." i re . nee leSS ! But let not the American people im ag i ne Ahat she has not left virtue and en er gy sufficie nt to ,„, 4 "rf 'iThcriable her still to assert her proud supremacy. We • . laugh to scorn the inflated vanity which pictures her to itself, and parades her before the world, as sunk in drivelling dotage, and doomed to mumble prayers for mercy at the footstool of republican insolence. We have still hearts amongst us bold enough, and arms strong enough, to hurl back the defiance even of the citizens of the model republic. America must not depend for ever upon the memory of past triumphs. She achieved her independence .against the arms of England; but she has not, in the contest which is approaching; the same cause to animate her sons. She has not the same motive to induce unanimity of action and feeling; and, above all, America has now something to lose. She has a large and profitable commerce; she has a large mercantile marine ; she has a market for her valuable produce, to lose. And what has she to gain ? Canada—a source of strength to England, which would be a source of weakness to her; for extended dominion must ever be a source of weakness, unless cemented by community of interest. In another column we give insertion to an able article on immigration into the West Indies, which we have copied from our metropolitan contemporary, the Jour nal of Commerce. We rejoice to find that this subject is creating such a warm interest in all parts of the country. In a little time we expect to find the provin cial press joining with us in agitating a question so fraught with immediate and prospective benefits to the manufacturing and mercantile interests.of this country. We regret to find that the editor of the Journal of Commerce is disinclined to advocate the engagement of Africans and Hill Coolies : as free labourers in our West India colonies. We believe that a more mature consi deration of the subject will satisfy him and others that these classes constitute the most eligible labourers that can be selected for field work in those colonies. In dependently of their physical adaptation for the climate of the West Indies—which is, of itself, a most impor tant consideration—we have the most abundant evi dence of their having proved a valuable acquisition 'to the planters on all those estates on • which they have already been engaged. In proof of this we subjoin an extract of a private letter, received from a gentleman of the highest respectability at Berbice, who expresses hiMself in the following terms, while speaking of the Hill Coolies :—" I have seen with pleasure the efforts making to get the restrictions withdrawn at present preventing our getting Coolies from the East. They are the people best adapted for the colony. Those lo cated on Ilighbury now perform as much work in a day as the Negroes did in former days, and in the qua lity there is no comparison. They are seldom sick. I lave seen them lately throwing out old canals, and they are most expert at it. In fact, there is no de scription of work required on a sugar estate which they do not set about cheerfully. On the copper wall boil ing sugar they are quite at home. Next to them the African is most likely to suit us." This testimony, emanating as it does from a party who is not personally interested in the matter, is invaluable. It is, however, amply corroborated by the statements of Governor Light, in his despatches to Lord John Russell. He has expressed a strong opinion in favour of the intro duction of the Hill Coolies into British Guiana. The position which he occupies has enabled him to enter fully into the details of the constitutional adaptation, the willing disposition, and the general treatment of the East Indian immigrants ; and the result of his in vestigations, as deliberately expressed in his recently published despatches, has been a formal recommenda• tion to the Colonial-office to remove the existing re strictions on the introduction of this class of labour- ers. We trust that the editor of the Journal of Com merce will consult the despatches to which we have re ferred. A candid perusal of those documents cannot fail to convince him that the interests of our West In dia Colonies will be most materially promoted by the extensive and unrestricted introduction of Asiatic la- bourers, especially on the sugar estates, for the work on which they appear to be so admirably adapted. The extract which we have given above will afford another answer to the false and unfounded statements of Mr. Scoble, who has ventured to designate the immi gration of the Hill Coolies as "a revival of the slave trade." The documents which we published on Tuesday must have satisfied our readers that Mr. Scoble is a man on whose opinions or statements very little reliance can be placed. The truth is that this itinerant anti-slavery agitator is an inflated-coxcomb, who is just as compe tent to form an opinion on matters of business as the inkstand before us. He began life, we believe, as a dissenting preacher at Woolwich. In that capacity, owing to the mediocrity of his talents, lie stood no chance whatever of rising into any degree of eminence; but, having an excellent face for a grievance-monger, he was fixed upon by the Anti-Slavery Society as one of their travelling agents. Since lie entered upon this new career he has been indefatigable in his exertions to malign the planters of the West Indies, against whom he has published an enormous catalogue of calumnious libels. The exhibition which he made of himself at the late meeting in the Music-hall was pitiable in the extreme. In every important particular Mr. Semple, who spoke from experience, met him with with a com plete refutation of his statements—a refutation which will serve as a testimonial to Mr. Scoble's character wherever he goes, and prove to every audience which he meets his utter disregard of facts, his impudent as sumptions, and his reckless propensity for slandering men who have never done him an iota of injury. We have received a letter signed William Bevan, in reference to the remarks made by us, in our paper of Tuesday last, on the proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Meeting held in Liverpool, at which Mr. Scoble com mitted himself by some misrepresentations and inac curate statements which called from us the strictures alluded to in Mr. Bevan's letter. We give it a place in our columns with much pleasure, as it affords us an opportunity of putting Mr. Bevan, the party he is con nected with, and the public generally, in possession of our views with regard to the extinction of the Slave Trade and Slavery throughout the world, and at the same time, keeping up the productiveness of the British West India Colonies, where Slavery has been abolished, and where every negro is as free as the winds that blow around him. We are no advocates of Slavery, far less of the Slave Trade, and our humble aid will at all times be afforded to assist in carrying out any well digested plan having for its object the abolition of both. We cannot, however, agree that this is to be done by ca lumniating, vilifying, and violently abusing any class connected with either. Let us, rather, by sound argu ment, an adherence at all times to the truth, and by pointing out the sin of Slavery and slave dealing, en deavour to get them to go along with us in carrying out the object of universal liberty to all men, rather than make them our enemies, and strengthen their op position. The ostensible object of the meeting was, as we un derstand,—" to take into consideration the duty of the friends of the negro, with reference to the present state of Slavery and the Slave Trade throughout the world." This was all very well and very praiseworthy, if the proceedings of the meeting had been in strict accord ance with this declaration. But what was the real nature of those proceedings ? They consisted in an attempt to vilify and abuse the Planters of the Mauri- ties and British Guiana —and to get up a petition to Parliament to deprive one class of Her Majesty's sub jects of freedom of labour, and of the power of improv ing their present wretched and miserable condition by emigrating to other parts of Her Majesty's possessions, better able to afford them employment as well as ample sustenance, which they cannot get in their own country. Mr. Seoble justly deprecated some restrictive laws in operation in Barbadoes, which amount, he says, almost to a prohibition on the emancipated negro emigrating to British Guiana or Trinidad, or elsewhere, and re commended the friends of the negro to exert them selves . to get such laws abolished. This is all very proper and just, and if such obnoxious laws do exist, we advocate their abolition; but this we doubt, and we believe they exist only in Mr. Scoble's own fabri cating brain—as the Demerara papers lately received state, that it is expected that from five to six thousand Barbadoes labourers would arrive there during the present year, and two vessels had arrived with labour ers from that island. We believe the only law on the subject is made to prevent the strong effective people leaving the island without taking with them the aged or infirm part of the family, or making some provision for them, so that they may not become a burden on the public. What was Mr. Scoble's consistent proposition in the very next sentence, after advocating the abolition of the restrictive laws of Barbadoes ? He proposed to the meeting a petition to Parliament to prohibit the natives of India from leaving their own country, to deprive them of freedom of labour, and prevent them from emigrating to British Guiana, which he himself so eloquently describes "as the most splendid appendage of the British crown; so extensive, so fertile, so rich, as to be able of sustaining no less than forty millions • of people," nearly double the number of inhabitants of England, Ireland, and Scotland; although at the pre sent moment there are not more than 100,000 inhabit ' ants, and where, be it remembered, he says, " the planters allow a guilder (the third of a dollar) for a tariff or task of work," which it is notoriously well known can be performed in from four to five hours by industrious labourers; in addition to which, they get good houses, as much land as they choose to cultivate, with provisions for their own support, and which leave a surplus for market, medicines and medical attendance, religious instruction and tuition, gratis. For this libe• rality in wages, allowances, &c., Mr. Scoble vilifies and abuses the planters of Guiana, instead of holding them up as an example for others less liberal to follow, and he would only allow the BarbadOes and American negro to participate in the advantages to be derived by la bourers in this land of promise, although they are a class well off, and amply provided for in comparison with the Hill Coolies. Would it be believed that, in the nineteenth century, the pretended friends of liberty openly agreed, in a public meeting, as the citizens of Liverpool, to petition the Parliamebt of the kingdom to deprive one class of her Majesty's subjects of the right to the free disposal of their own labour ? As well might they petition Parliament to prevent the English, Irish, and Scotch, from emigrating to Aus tralia, New Zealand, or the Wilds of Western Ame rica. Fortunately for all classes of Her Majesty's sub jecis, Lord John Russell, in the name of the Govern- . ment, has declared that " freedom of laboUr must be the principle, restriction the exception ;" and we shall do all in our power to see the principle carried out to the letter. Mr. Scoble laid great stress on the rate of wages in Guiana, and wished to impress the meeting with a belief that a guilder was all a negro could earn in a day, when a gentleman who knew better put him right. In confirmation of that gentleman's assertion that they could earn three guilders, we quote the fol lowing from the Berbice papers of December last : " The inducement to labourers is very great, when the wages given are so high, and particularly so in a coffee plantation. We understand from very good authority that it is no unusual thing for an active man and his wife to pick four and five bushels of coffee a day, and in some cases their children pick two or three, accord ing to their number or strength, which at a guilder a basket, is equal to ten or eleven shillings a day, and its with no more effort than thousands of families in England must make to earn three shillings a day. These are truths worthy of consideration with persons desirous of emigrating to our shores." Mr. Scoble never touched on the rate of wages the poor labourer in our own country obtains. his our duty to record that omission, that the public may con trast the condition of our own countrymen with that of the emancipated negro in Guiana. Be it known, then, to Mr. Scoble and his friends, that in many of the ma nufacturing towns, the poor labourer, after toiling ten or twelve hours a day, from Monday morning until Saturday night, finds he has probably earned six shil lings, and in many cases not so much, out of which he has to pay house rent, provide food and clothing, pay for medicine and advice when needed, and for the edu cation of his children if they get any at all !!! And what are the wages of the labourer of India that they wish to deprive of freedom ?-1 zd. and 2d.per day, out of which they have to provide themselves with all they want. Would it not be a blessing to them and to all others situated' ike them, to have the means of getting access to a Colony which Mr. Scoble so eloquently described at the meeting, but whose description falls short of that given by the able, intelligent, and honest philanthropist, Sir Andrew Halliday, in a work pub lished by him on the "West Indies," after his return to this country in 1837. In speaking of the extent of British Guiana, he says, " I may safely affirm, that this Colony embraces many more acres of land than are contained in Great Britain and Ireland combined; and is a far more valuable possession than either Peru or. Mexico, with their gold and silver mines, or even the Brazils, with all its. diamonds to boot. Here we have . a very different soil froMthat of Barbadoes, a rich alluvial compost, 147 feet in depth, and quite inex haustible, both as regards quantity and quality; and which as to cultivation and colonization, has limits that I may truly say are boundless. As yet a few patches only along the sea coast, and the banks of its three great rivers, have been subjected to colonization; and such are their productiveness, that the exports of Colony are already nearly on a par with those of the large island of Jamaica with its labouring population of nearly 300,000. If cultivation and population pro ceed and advance in anything like the ratio they have lately done, it would be a matter of little import (in as far as sugar, rum, molasses, and coffee, and even cot ton are concerned) a few years hence though all the Islands in the Carribean Sea were returned to the bot tom of the great deep. British Guiana could furnish a supply of these articles for the whole world, and for 10,000 years, and still have fresh soil to bring into cultivation. It is of the utmost importance to Great Britain, that the attention of Government and of the whole community, and more especially of our ' mer chant kings' and adventurers, should be drawn to and fixed upon this rich and invaluable Colony ; for were its resources truly known, its advantages duly appre ciated, and its capabilities fully examined and explained, it would indeed soon become a wealthy state ; and Georgetown, already a crowded and flourishing sea port, would rival, if not surpass, New York. Great capital is not even necessary, IT ONLY requires labourers to till the ground ; and, I am happy to have to state, that, since the galling fetters of slavery have been removed, and the negro is allowed to bring his free services to the best market, many are flocking to this land of promise, where not only mere comfort, but even wealth may be speedily acquired." Would Sir Andrew Halliday, if he were alive, have believed that in 1839 the productions of this magnifi cent colony had fallen off one half, with the prospect of a greater diminutionin 1840—that the emigration set on foot by Sir J. C. Smyth, the late Governor, had been checked by the Government of England, and openly opposed by some of that body of which he was a member—and that they were pursuing a course, which if persevered in, must end in the free negro retrograding in civilisation, and becoming the com panion of wild beasts in the forests of British Guiana ? If emigration is opposed, and the crops continue to diminish, where are the planters to obtain the means of supporting the immense church and school establishments to which they have for many years so munificently contributed ? When Mr. Scoble was vilifying the planters of Guiana, he never alluded to this important subject. Mr. Latrobe, the government commissioner, furnishes this omission of Mr. Scoble's, which it did not suit his purpose to disclose. We do not blame the anti-slavery body for continuing to watch over the progress of the measure of emancipation, and seeing that the negroes' rights are secured; but is this to be accomplished by vilifying the planters, tra ducing the characters of Governors, judges, and ma gistrates, or by sending hired spies to the colonies to excite discontent amongst the negroes ? No, let them send honest, upright, and impartial judges, of whom, we confess, we do not think Mr. Scoble is one, to re port on their condition ; and if the report we have heard of Mr. Scoble be correct, we are fully justified in coming to this conclusion. It appears he made cer tain communications to the Colonial-office against the Governor, High Sheriff, and Government Secretary of Demerara, which Lord John Russell had investigated, and found to be false, and ;his lordship very properly desired that Mr. Scoble should be denied access to the Colonial-office. If this is correct, and our informant says it came from good authority, we think Mr. Bevan. Mr. Cropper, and Dr. Raffles will gain little credit by their associate. If a planter commits mur der, let him be hvnged—if he commits any offences against the laws, let him be punished, but donot abuse a whole community for the acts of a few. Murders, robberies, and many breaches of the law are of daily occurrence in England, but the English are not set down as a nation of murderers, robbers, and law breakers. We believe these gentlemen are not opposed to emigration, or to the successful working of the colonies with free labour; but they are deceived by Mr. Scoble, and we would, therefore, recommend them (unless they wish to see England reduced to the necessity of having recourse to Brazil and Cuba for slave grown sugar and coffee, to supply the home market, and thereby affording the means tor continuing the slave-trade), rather to join than oppose Government, and devise the best means and proper regulations for carrying out the measure of immigration of free labourers on a scale commensurate with the wants of all the colonies, so as to render this country perfectly independent of all foreign slave countries for the tro pical productions. We would remind them of the words of a celebrated writer on this subject, who says " Emigration is like an overflowing fountain, it may be guided but -cannot be stopped." Mr. Scoble must now see that the nation at large is now sensible of the justice, humanity, good policy, and the necessity of emigration on a gigantic scale to the West India colonies ; and he might as well now try to stop the waters of the Niagara, as stop emigra tion to the mighty rivers of Guiana. If he does he will be carried away by the torrent. Neither Mr. Bevan nor Mr. Scoble can make us believe, or the public either, that there has been but a slight diminution in the production of sugar since the period of emancipation. The writer of a letter in the Morning Chronicle, which we transferred to our co lumns of Tuesday last, clearly proves that the produc tion of British Guiana is just about one-half of for mer years ; and taking all the colonies in the West Indies, the import of sugar alone has dwindled from 252,000 hhds. to 178,000. Mr. Bevan talks of foreign nations yet tolerating slavery, following the example of England, and abolish ing the system. How absurd ! Foreigners are reap ing a golden harvest at our expense. They see our productions are falling off one-half, and they are ap plied to to make up the deficiency. When we can prove that by free labour we can raise sufficient pro duce for our wants. and have some to spare for foreign markets (which formerly was the case), we may expect them to do so, but not till then ; and this, we tell Mr. Bevan, can only be done by keeping up a constant stream of emigration to the British colonies, that the planters may always have as much labour as they can employ. So long as we give the countries referred to a market for the produce raised by their slaves, so long as we keep our refineries going with slave-grown sugars, and export it to all the British possessions —so long as we supply the home market with their coffee, imported either direct or via the Cape, of Good Hope, so long will slavery be continued and the slave-trade be followed up. They see that our productions are only one-half what they formerly were,—many valuable plantations abandoned to the weeds of a tropical cli mate, many others on the eve of being given up, many planters totally ruined, all of them struggling to keep their heads above water, many going to foreign colo nes in despair, our ships seeking cargoes in their colonies, which they formerly got in our own, and the whole colonial interest embarrassed. Truly, it would be strange, with such an example before them, if they did abandon slavery. Would Mr. Bevan, under these circumstances, recommend such a step? We have no doubt Mr. Bevan means well, but he has not gone deep enough into the question, and has trusted too much to the stories of Mr. Scoble. When the latter was telling him of the bad yielding. of the canes last year on many estates, why did he not give the reason for their yielding so badly, viz., because the canes were not attended to when cut the previous year ? The weeding, &c., have been entirely left undone, altoge ther for want of labour, as the planters could not get even sufficient to take. off the growing canes ; so that the deficient yield of the crop is entirely attributable to the indolence of the negroes, and not to the seasons. It is true there were three months of drought last year, but this did not injure the growing canes : it retarded the making of sugar a little, but not to such an extent as to affect in any degree the amount of crop. Governor Light has been himself sadly deceived in the working of the system. Having written to the Colonial-office, in the outset, that the system was working well, he is now compelled, seeing the crop of 1839 is reduced to one-half of former years, to resort to every shift to try and make it appear that the planter is not ruined, although he only gets half the usual crop, and bolsters up a bad case by saying that the price of produce has risen. What would have been the condition of the planter if the price had fallen ? Governor Light and Mr. Scoble know well that the expenses of an estate, whether WO hhds. or 500 hhds. are made, as far as regards the salaries of attorney, manager, overseers, doctor, &c., are the same;—the keeping of buildings, machinery, punts, feeding of cattle, &c., are all the same ;—the capital invested and interest are the same ;—and the only difference is in the amount of wages. It is, therefore, an absurd ar gument to make use of by Governor Light, that if the negroes do rot work there is no outlay of wages. If the work is not performed, what becomes of the culti vation, and from what source are the other expenses to be paid.? Mr. Scoble seems particularly careful of the eman cipated negroes in Guiana, but he neglects others more deserving of his care. He said nothing to the meet ing about the thousands of captured Africans that have been taken by British cruisers for the last thirty years, and located in Cuba, Brazil, &c., under inden tures. Are they substantially free, and what rate of wages and allowances are they receiving, or have they merged into the slave population of those countries ? Did Mr. Scoble, when he was in the West Indies, visit the captured Africans in Surinam, under the care of a British commissioner ? If so, why did he not inform the meeting of their condition, treatment, and the rate of wages they were receiving ? Why was the meeting not informed of the treatment, condition, and rate of wages of the captured Africans at the Bahamas and Sierra Leone ? These poor people are beneath the notice of Scoble and his party, and it is only Bri tish Guiana that is to be persecuted, because Mr. Scoble has some personal enemies there, and the whole colony must be ruined that he may have his revenge on them. On Friday next that distinguished warrior and statesman, the Duke of Wellington, will have attained his 71st year ; and we may be excused for suggesting the propriety of paying his Grace on that day some public mark of the esteem in which his name is held amongst his grateful fellow-countrymen. It is seldom that a great public character has been permitted to outlive the calumnies and disarm the hostile feelings of his enemies ; but we do think that the Duke of Wellington has so fully done this that men of all parties and of all creeds would be found ready to join in paying respect to his charac ter on that occasion. That such a manifestation, coming from a great community like ours, would convey a feeling of gratification to the heart of the veteran, we cannot, knowing the noble qualities of that heart, entertain a doubt ; and we have as little hesitation in saying that a portion at least of the honour, which we should thus endeavour to confer, would revert to those who confer it. We shall not attempt to dictate the mode in which this tri bute should be conveyed ; but when we remember that twice during the past year the public mind has been racked with the fear that Death had fixed his palsying hand upon that iron frame, and that the lofty spirit which sustained the Bri- tish ranks amid the carnage of a hundred fields was about to be extinguished, we cannot but feel how appropriate any tri bute, however humble, would be at the present time, as a mark of our satisfaction that England is yet spared from the visitation of such a calamity. The authorities of Liverpool would not misuse their powers by directing them to the ful filment of an object which would afford gratification to such an immense majority of its inhabitants. THE LATE S I R W. BARTON'S RESIDENCE.—We direct attention to an advert i sement in another column, which an nounces that the above mansion has been taken by the Misses Perkins, and fitted up by them in the most splendid manner as a private boarding-house, for which purpose its noble suite of rooms and its contiguity to the principal places of business admirably adapt it. FANCY-BALL DRESSES.—The costumes brought down by Mr. Hart, from Regent-terrace, London, and now on view at the rooms over Messrs. Blackwell and Robinson's shop, in Lord-street, are exceedingly varied, rich and splendid in quality, and in perfect order. We never before saw so gorgeous and extensive a wardrobe. Amongst the rich er dresses we noticed a splendid costume of the " Earl of Lei.. tester," of maroon velvet,trunmed with gold lace : a " Fra Diavolo" of green silk velvet, trimmed with gold; a green silk velvet and gold, slashed with white satin, a co r re c t cour t dress of Charles IL ; an original Persian Prince's d r e ss o f extremely rich gold and crimson silk brocade in stripes, with gimp bead and pearl decorations of great minuteness ; this is one of the richest tissue in the rooms. A real court dress of Charles I.—dark olive velvet, trimmed with silver, with lace at the wrists. All these are complete in suits, and many of the vests are very rich. A dress of a chieftai n o f th e nioun tains of Caucasus, is also very rich and charact er i s ti c. In regimentals and uniforms of this and other nations the col lection is very splendid—from field-marshals an d aid-de camps to subalterns. A splendid suit of the Scotch Royal Archer's Brigade Guards has been muc h a d m i red, as also one of a Captain of Yeomen of the Guards, very rich and rare. Naval uniforms are equally abundant, including the Lord Nelson style ; and in the Scottish costume, the drepes and accoutrements are splendid, the dirks, &C., being o f su perior workmanship, and set with precious stones. There are several real dresses that have been worn by kings, princes and celebrated men, and many rich ornaments, in lace, epati: lettes, &c.,—but we must conclude by recommending an early inspection, a considerable number of the dresses being already engaged. OUR CONTEMPORARIES. The amusing old lady who bestows her weekly tediousness upon us in the columns of the Mercury appears to be a little galled at the course pursued by the majority of the Dock Committee, in excluding the reporters from their meetings. The opportunity, however, of letting off a little of her bottled wit, presented by our publication of the correspondence be tween • Messrs. Gladstone and Leathom, was 'not to be re sisted ; and accordingly we are favoured with half a column of vapid impertinencies, which have just as much relation to the matter in dispute as the lucubrations of our venerable contemporary usually possess. The great fault of Mr. Robertson Gladstone, no doubt, is that he is a Conservative. It is gall and wormwood to the Whig-Radical party,, that a really liberal proposition should have emanated from one of that party, and that it slictedd be opposed by an alderman of our mock-liberal corporation. We are sorry, however, to see that even Whig malice can find no greater fault with Mr. Gladstone's manly reply to an insidious attack than that it occupies " eight closely-written pages." We should think the worthy Editor of the Mercury has himself written, in the course of his life, pages heavy enough to sink a three-decker, and dull enough to convert a whole year into one long November. :We should not be sur prised, some of these fine days, to hear of the'suicide of some unfortunate 'wretch being attributed to the weariness pro duced by wading through his vapid columns. Certainly the only chance he will ever have of thinning the ranks of the socialists will be achieved on this principle. It is truly a pity that the old gentlewoman is not relieved from the necessity of exposing herself weekly to the con tempt of the world. How much better she might be em ployed in ironing her night-cap or tweedling a spindle. The Journal is angry with us for impressing upon the minds of Churchmen the importance of recording their votes in favour of the church-rate at Walton. We were really not aware that we had used the slang of the prize-ring, or any other slang, in the few remarks we made upon the subject of the vestry proceedings. We do think, however, that the party to which the Journal belongs, and especially the gentle men who exhibited themselves on the occasion in question, have no right to skew themselves . so very squeamish either as to the manner or matter of a controversy, and we shall cer tainly never adopt the Liverpool Journal as our pattern in manners. PORTRAIT OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. We were much pleased, yesterday, by an inspection of this beautiful portrait, (now to be seen at the Lyceum, in Bold street,) and which is not only replete with numerous gratify ing associations, but derives peculiar interest, not only from its being considered an admirable likeness of " the noblest Captain of the age," and one of the most straightforward and upright statesmen who ever honoured the House of Peers, but from its being recently taken after repeated sittings by the gallant original, painted expressly for himself, and pre sented by him to the University of Oxford,—and, above all, from its vraisemblance to the Duke, venerable as he now is, and his known declaration that it is the last for which he will sit. The portrait was painted by John Lucas, Esq. It was commenced at Walmer Castle, in November last, and finished at Apsley House, in February. It is a picture which was wanted. Good portraits of the noble Duke, as a warrior and as a statesman, have already appeared ; and we have now a likeness of his Grace in a character not less honourable, that of chancellor of the first university in the kingdom. The portrait is full length. The noble Duke appears in the in terior of an apartment in the college, lighted by a small oriel window, as if just risen from an antique oak chair, after read ing a book. He is in the gorgeous costume of " chancellor ;" but the limner has judiciously softened down the richness of the gold lace, &c., by the disposition of the robes, so as not to distract the attention from the principal object—the like ness itself. As a work of art, the picture is rich, harmo nious, the colouring goody and the whole in admirable keep ing. The smartness of touch of the artist is conspicuous. The, countenance of the noble Duke bears so strong a resem blance to all we have ever seen of himself, a few years ago, or of subsequent portraits, that we at once concur in the universal opinion of some distinguished individuals (including a military officer of high rank, who saw it on Saturday), that it is a veritable likeness. At the request of the members of the University, a fine en graving is to be taken from the portrait, by S. Cousins, Esq., the highly-successful engrave• of " Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time," and other tine pictures. We strongly recom mend a visit to the portrait, in the assurance that few will in spect it without being induced to become subscribers for the plate. PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION AT BIRKENHEAD.—We call the attention of our readers to an advertisement in another column, announcing a meeting to be held at Birkenhead, on Friday evening next, for the purpose of forming a Pro testant Association for the town and neighbourhood. The meeting was originally intended for this evening, but has been postponed iu consequence of the fair which takes place at Birkenhead to-day. Pun); WATER.-It is surprising what nauseating liquid is often imbibed under the name of water. Let the master of every house but inspect the interior of his cistern, and it will not be long, we suspect, before he becomes the proprietor of one of Robins's Royal Filters.—GazEtte of Health. LIVERPOOL INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. —An appeal was made on behalf of this institution, on Sun day last, at St. Andrew's Chnrch, by the respected minister, the Rev. J. Jones, when the handsome sum of seventy pounds was collected. This is a very seasonable addition to the funds of the charity, and we hope the example will be generally followed throughout the other congregations of our churches and chapels. EMIGRATION AGENT. — Lieutenant Henry, R.N., the go vernment emigration agent, has been transferred to Liver pool, vacant by the death of the late agent there ; and owing to the paucity of emigration from this port, consequent on the late disturbed state of the Canadas, the office here for the present to be closed.—Bristol Standard. SUICIDE BY,A LUNATIC.—On Friday an inquest was held on the body of Joseph Ford, who lived in the Old Ropery, Fenwick-street. It appeared from the evidence that the de ceased had been of insane nsind upwards of seven years, four of which he passed in the Lunatic Asylum. He was in the habit of having his meals taken to him in his bed-room. On Thursday, about noon, the servant took up his dinner at the usual time. About four she saw his legs suspended from the railing leading to the attic, the story higher than his bed room. His wife was informed of the circumstance, and pro ceeding up stairs, accompanied by her daughter, they found him quite dead, hanging by his neck, to which was attached a cord. A surgeon was sept for, but life had become extinct. A verdict of insanity was returned by the jury. COUNTY CONSTABULARY ACT.—Steps have recently been taken in several of the large towns in the eastern division of this county, to prevent their being brought under the opera tion of the county constabulary act. On Wednesday even ing last the police commissioners of Salford held a special meeting on the subject, and determined on getting up peti tions, and sending a deputation to London, with the view of obtaining the insertion of a clause in the amended act now before parliament, to except that town from the operation of the act. On Thursday noon a meeting of delegates from Salford, Oldham, Warrington, and Rochdale, was held at the Town-hall, Salford, on the same subject, when resolu tions to a similar effect were adopted. NUPTIALS AT FRODSHAM.—On Thursday last, the town of Frodshim, in Cheshire, and its adjacent village of Over ton, were the scene of more than usual gaiety and rejoicing, occasioned by the marriage of Edward Fawcett, of the Inner Temple, Esq., Barrister at Law, with the second daughter of the Rev. John Collins, an old and highly esteemed resident of Frodsham. At eleven o'clock the churchyard presented an animated and imposing appearance, being filled by well dressed persons, of the middle and lower classes, assembled to manifest respect for the worthy father of the young bride, and having the walk conducting to the entrance door - lined, on either side, by girls of the Sunday School, waiting to con gratulate, on the most interesting of events, a faithful and affectionate teacher. As she passed from her carriage to the church, flowers were scattered in her path, a beautifully decorated arch held over her head, and every indication given of lively interest in her happiness. The church itself was not less striking in the mark which it afforded of respect and joy, containing a very large number of spectators, all of whom behaved with the greatest propriety, and seemed deeply interested. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the bells struck up a mery peal, flags were hoisted, and the whole town was stirring. Whilst the bridal party partook of a luncheon, the children of the parish schools were treated with buns and a glass of wine each, in the National Schoo room. At four o'clock, the happy pair took leave of their friends, and set out for Leamington.—From, a correspondent FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Saturday night, between seven and eight o'clock, a fatal accident occurred at Eccleston Lane End, near Prescot. A man, of the name of John Rother ham, was driving a cart belonging to Mr. Brown, nail manu facturer, of Cowley Hill, hear St. Helens. The cart was laden with two tons of iron. When he had got through Prescot there was a caravan in the road, which the deceased was attempting to pass, and his horses going quicker he made an effort to take hold of one or the horses, either for the pur pose of keeping up with them or of leading them safely past the caravan, but Unfortunately, being in a state of intoxica tion, he missed his hold, and helplessly fell under the horse's feet, the wheel of the cart passing over the lower part of his belly. Several persons were instantly on the spot to render him assistance, and a messenger was despatched for a sur geon, who arrived in a few minutes, but not until the un fortunate man had breathed his last. He died almost imme diately after the wheel passed over him. The person who first went to him did not apprehend anything very serious, as the cart appeared to be empty, and it was thought the wheel had gone over the deceased's thighs, but he was soon undeceived; when taking hold of the deceased to look in his face he saw his eyes fixed in death ; he exhibited no signs of consciousness, but without the least struggle, without uttering a word, or scarcely a groan, after breathing a few times, he resigned his life, adding one more to the innumerable host of victims which are sacrificed at the Jagarnautic shrine of Bacchus. M. FAUC HER'S PATENT PUM PS.—At noon on Friday, there was a very interesting exhibition of the power of M. Faucher's patent pumps on board the Alonzo in Prince's Dock, in the presence of several ship-owners, captains, and others. The construction of these pumps includes various improvements or inventions for which letters patent have been ;fronted to M. Faucher. The principal feature in this invention are, the simplicity of the machiner a new metallic packing to supersed e th e use of leather for rendering fluid tight the movable surfaces in the construction of hydraulic machines which is also applicable to steam engines, and a new nozzle, called a fan-jet, which spreads the water like a shower, and which may he applied to any length of hose pipe. By means of M. Faucher's mprovements the hydraulic apparatus to which they have been applied may be used either as a double acting lifting pump, or as a force pump of superior durability, power, cheapness, and simplicity. We under stand these pumps have been adopted by the City of Dublin Steam Navigation Company, the Pacific Steam Navigation , Company and others, and that they are highly approved by the most scientific and practical men in the kingdom. Amongst these we may men ti on M r . F a i r h urn of Manchester. The exhibiti on gav e the h i ghest satisfaction to i a l l a l who nde rs witnessed it, and Captain Engledue and other e complete one o r more that o r e o n f o l‘ v i e . ssel could Panther's p be:cmnolplnss.idered ACCIDENTAL DEATH.—On Sunday afternoon, about five o'clock, a fine little boy, the son of a working man, was seen trundling his hoop close to the edge of the canal, near Eaton street, when he and another child were ordered away by a man sitting on some timber near them, and who apprehended that they might fall into the water. Soon afterwards some suspicion arose that the deceased had fallen in, but it does not appear that an yo h n o e ob s s a e n r - y t e h d e a ac i c m id b e b n li t lia searchAonthew, ;eras, made by two men, w and after a second attempt the deceased was drawn out by means of a boat-hook. He sobbed once , and was carried t o a public-house in Vauxhall-road. A surgeon was instantly called in, but life was extinct. The deceased h a d not b een in the water above seven or ten minutes. An inquest was, yesterday, held on the body, before M r . C urr i e, when these, facts transpired. SKETCHES OF LIVERPOOL AND ITS VICINITY. No. IV. (Written for the Liverpool Standard.) ST. NICHOLAS'S TOWER. I was sauntering on the Egremont pier-head (the first to the northward of George's dock entrance) waiting the de parture of the steam-boat, and on looking at the clock of St. Nicholas's tower, I could not help admiring the taste dis played by the architect in that truly elegant structure. The stone-work of. the turrets and lantern, with its flying but tresses and rich open carved work, all in good preservation, is beautiful; and the gilded ship, which surmounts the whole as a vane, is appropriate. I was reminded of a quaint de scription given of this tower by a local bard whom I have before quoted. In a satirical, digressive, but humorous de scription of the town, he says : Not far from George's dock, but where there's less stir, St. Nicholas' and its Gothic tower appear : The last designed by Harrison of Chester. ('Tis well to have such clever neighbours near, For here they care not with such piles to pester— They'drather build of cotton bags a tier ;) And thus are we indebted, I conjecture, To Cheshire both for cheese and architecture. Upon the tow'r, magnificent and tall, Rise lantern top and turrets laborate ; (There once a steeple stood which chanced to fall, And crushed some hapless beings 'neath its weight;) The windows of the church are rather small (St. George's being too large makes matters straight): Here vestries meet for poor-rates to beseech us, And make their annual officers and speeches. By the way, Mr. Editor, thought I, how does it happen that the clock of St. Nicholas's church is so well illuminated after dark (forming a pleasing and useful object to parties on the river), and that the clock of St. George's church, facing at its respective sides some of the finest streets in the town, is generally half-eclipsed, or so bedimmed apparently with smoke that the hour is not distinguishable ? It may be said that such matters are scarcely worthy of the pen of a " sketcher;" but in this I do not concur, inasmuch as it is the due attendance to each that makes up the aggregate of those ornaments and utilities which are pleasing to the eve and creditable to the town. But I was called from my di gression by the hissing of the steam from the ferry-boat, and the cry of the boatman—" Now for Egremont.' My pur pose was a ramble to the Rock battery and Light-house, and a peep at New Brighton, and I regretted that my friend Alfred was too much occupied to accompany me—the more so as he would have entertained me, no doubt, with a recital of a tradition relating to this point of the Wyrall peninsula in olden times, and which I once heard him allude to as be ing entitled, " The Legend of the Black Rock." I shall, however, obtain it from him some of these days, Mr Editor, for the entertainment of your readers. EGREMONT. The forenoon (Saturday), I need scarcely remark, was ex ceedingly fine, and inclining to sultry, with, in the earlier part, a light air, from the south, a cloudless sky, and a con sequently ardent sun. It was yet scarcely noon. A number of passengers crowded the boat, and we started to the tune of " Rule Britannia," on a couple of clarionets and an equal number of French horns, though sooth to say, there were no " waves" to rule. The river was, as usual, enlivened by sailing vessels of all sizes and sorts, slowly moving do wn un d er sa il, against the risi ng tid e, or drifting up along with it. The smoke of the town was carried in murky clouds down Bootle Bay, and almost shaded Everton from view. The Cheshire shore showed to comparatively greater advantage, the wind from those points of the compass on which there is some westing being alone favourable for a distinct view of our noble port from the river. In about a quarter of an hour we landed at Egremont. Here there is a pier run out ; but the water is too shallow when the tide is not up to admit of the steamer's running close to it. A small vessel is consequently moored a short distance out, alongside of which she lies, and thence the pas sengers are landed in a large flat-bottom' boat, simply and effectually worked by a winch and rope at each end. The end of one rope is attached to the stationary vessel and that of the other to the pier, so that one of the winches being turned (by two men) and the other let loose, the boat is al ternately warpedjbackwards and forwards without the aid of oars. The Egremont hotel is a large and handsome building. Leading westward from it is a spacious street or road, on each side of which are a number, of modern built detached houses, with small gardens or shrubberies in front. At the top of the street, which diverges on the right towards Liscard, stands Egreemont church, a handsome and spacious building in the Grecian style. The front, or east end, facing the street noticed is of stone, with a projecting collonade of four-flated doric columns, surmounted by a handsome boldly-corniced pediment. The windows are large, and the whole with a surrounded yard is neatly enclosed. There is a road thence through Liscard to New Brighton ; but I preferred going along the sands below, for the sake of the river scenery. At first on leaving Egremont pier, the footing is loose, and walk ing somewhat laborious, but as the pedestrian draws nearer to the Rock, the sands become firm and smooth. A good deal of the land beyond Egremont, on the shore, is of a clayey nature, and large masses of it Dave, from time to time, fallen down in a puddled state, after heavy rains in the winter, and more particularly after frosts. In several parts strong stone walls have been built at its base to preserve it, but much yet remains exposed to these periodical dimi nutions. Just above one of these mural erections, where there are two inclined planes or slips, laud is advertised to be sold for building on ; and a little to the westward, and facing a road laid out for a street in that direction, a hand some pavilion-roofed house is already completed. From every eminence in this quarter, pleasing and extensive pros pects are obtained to the eastward ; from the basin of the river above the Dingle point and the town, along the whole extent of coast northward as far as Formby. The white houses and villas of Bootle, Seaforth, Waterloo, &c. have a lively, and though apparently much exposed to the sea-breeze, a warm appearance. It may be remarked that, whether from the saline particles borne on the winter's gales or other causes, neither there nor at New Brighton, the site of which is for the most part of greater altitude, is the temperature inure severe or attended with greater vicissitudes than 'in parts of the county situated in vallies, or presenting an ap pearance of shelter. It m a y b e a dd e d, that along the north shore too, where the soil is light and sandy, spring scatters her earliest garlands, and even winter reluctantly nips the tenderer flowers, and seldom leaves the pasture without some cheering floral mementos of the comparative mildness of the climate. On walking along the beach on a s till d ay th e nove l ty i n sound of modern times is the frequent dashing or thudding of the water by the paddle-wheels of the steam-vessels that are continually passing to and fro. This is peculiar, and, like bells in the distance, falls upon the ear in varied modu lation, as it is borne more or less distinctly on the wind or current of air. Passing northward, a handsome brick-built mansion is seen on the eminence, overlooking the shore, with a fine sloping lawn, diversified by shrubberies, and a wood of considerable h e i g ht on t h e nort h . T he southl front is entirely covered with a fine pear tree, now in full leaf, and rich with blossom. At the east front there is a veranda, affording a shady walk. This is " Sea Bank," the seat of Mr. Maddock, a magistrate. The gardens are said to be fine. There are several neat houses built contiguously, a little to the north, with hanging grass:plots and flower-gardens in front. Near there is a small inn—" The Half-way House," with a green in front, on which there are green seats, for the accommodation of those who prefer sitting out of doors. On a sign -board swinging in front there .1; a picture of a fat kitchan-maid, following her vocation. On this are inscribed two homely couplets, inviting those " on pleasure" to par take of the ham and eggs and ale and porter provided within. While I was passing this spot the wind, which had for some time inclined to calm, chopped round to about the N.N.W., and gave some diversity to the vessels on the river. A vast number of small fishing boats, which had been shrimping in Bootle Bay, now made their way up the river. Many of these have tanned or pointed sails, which gives a variety to the scene. Several large vessels lay at anchor a little to the eastward ; one of theta, a bark, gaily decorated with flags. The pedestrian now reaches THE MAGAZINES, a hamlet, at the back of which is the gunpowder manufac tory, from which it derives its name. There are here some neat cottage-built houses, with little gardens, on the sides of the bank and on the eminence,. Below the inn, or " Maga zine Hotel," is the Life-boat House, a substantially-built shed, in which a large life-boat is kept in constant readiness, in cases of danger to crews in the neighbourhood. There is an inclined plane in front of it, by which the boat, mounted on wheels, may readily be launched when the tide is thrown up by gales. The spot is marked by a lofty flag-staff on the high ground behind. Here considerable improvements are going on for the protection of the land from the sea. A little further on stands " The Royal Hotel," a fine large building lately erected, but unoccupied, with a piece of ground in front strongly walled in from the river. North of it there is a coppice, and a little glade or valley, at the top of which stands a handsome two-story cottage facing the south, and partly secluded from the shore. From this point Bootle Landmarks, two slender and lofty pillars, painted white and black perpendicularly, to render them more conspicuos from the channels without,—and Bootle, Seaforth, and Waterloo churches form prominent objects on the opposite side,—while the villages themselves form 'a continuous line of lively cottages and marine villas. Proceeding nothward, the pedestrian reaches the freestone rock which is continued hence all round the Rock point, with the exception of some little intervening sand. Coppices overtop the rock, which here forms the natural sea wall, and through which are cut entrances with steps leading to several villas above. The sand hills, commence at a short distance further on. The pedestrian has now reached New Brighton pier, an erection of wood of considerable length and elevation, and affording a generally good and commodious landing from the steamer. Near the top stands th e " f erry h ouse ;" and here may he seen ladies, and boys and girls riding along the sands on asses, and occasionally ponies, a number of which is here kept for hire. Passing on I soon reached THE ROCK PERCH BATTERY, A. structure of no little interest to excurtionists. It com mands the mouth of the Mersey, and was built for the pro tection of the port against any possible aggression from abroad; but in all probability will never be called into warlike requisition, the difficulties of the outward channels for foreign vessels, being almost insurmountable. The battery, to which I was politely admitted by Mr. Oliver, the master gunner, who has charge of it, is of an irregular triangular form, with a straight side facing the landward 'or south, terminating in two round towers. It is built of red free stone, in large blocks. The approach to the entrance which is in the centre o f the sou th side, is by an inclined plane raised on three arches of increasing size, and terminating iii a draw bridge. The foss is o f no great depth, the battery having frequently a b e tt er s ubstitute in the sea that washes round it and isolates it from the shore. The gateway has two ionic pillars on each side with a surmounting en tablature over which is the Royal Arms in alto relievo, cast in iron, and painted in immitation of stone. The esplanade or interior space is spacious and well tlaged. In the centre is the magazine, partly sunk below the surface, and strongly arched for greater safety under the slated roof. There is a cordon round the towers, and a lso round the battery. On the interior of the gateway i s the followin g inscription, re markable only in the estimate having exceeded the actual cost:-- "PERM ROCK BATTERY. r Estimate Expense t Actual cost Commencement 31 s t M arch, 1826. Date of { Completion.... 30th April, 1829. Superintended by Captain Kitson, Royal Engineers." The battery mounts 18 guns in all, namely, 16 thirty-two pounders and two eighteens. The two last are in the inside or middle of the tower, in which are port-holes; and there are two of the thirty-twos on thei r t ops. The carriages are of the traversing platform kind, of the best description. The guns were cast at Rotheram, in Yorkshire. The carriages are by Messrs. Barclay, of the same county. There is an infantry platform, rai se d over the houses built against the south side, for the soldiers, and from each room there are horizontal loop-holes for musketry, in case of an attack from the landward. This platform is covered with asphaltum, and a fine view is obtained from it. I remember, Mr. Editor, seeing the foundation stone of this battery laid with great ceremony ; and the s ubsequent fate of C a pt a i n Ki tson; the able and gallant su perintendent, forms a painful reminiscence. He went out in the employ merit of the government to Honduras, in South America, where he died soon after of a malignant fever. Lamentabl e to relate, hi s l a dy an d f am il y em b ar k e d for this country after their bereavement, but the vessel was lost, and all on board perished ! Round the battery, to a considerable extent, the ground is composed of free stone, which is for the most part wash e d clean by the sea. On the north there is a landing -place, near the light-house, for small boats, and parties of pleasure, here frequently debark, and, seated on the shelving rock, partake of the viands and other refreshments they have brought, in the cool of the sea-breeze, while the ythingsters amuse themselves catching crabs, in the pools left by the re tiring tide. THE ROCK - IS continuous to the battery LlGHT on the HOUSE north-west. It is a strong circular building, of a peculiar light-coloured Welsh limestone, of great durability. Its height is about 92 feet from the base to the middle of the ball at the top. The foundation is sunk six feet in the rock. There is an admira ble, brilliant, and changeable light (red and white) at this light-house; and at the top, which is surrounded by a cop per railed balcony, there is a bell which is rung during hazy weather, as a warning to vessels to keep an offing. The building is wide at the base, like a bell, for the purpose of additional strength; and it is of solid masonry up to the door on the south side, or about half its height. The ladder is of brass, and is let into the s t one . Th e upper part is in the form Of a round pillar or monument. I have heard it stated that the cost of the whole, including th e revo l v i ng ap paratus, was upwards of £34,000. The view from the bal cony is beautiful, the spot being the key to the navigation of the port. No vessel of any considerable burthen can either enter or depart without passing near to this light-house, which is an excellent substitute for the clumsy perch, with a bell to be rung by the wind, that previously occupied its site, and which was known as " The Rock Perch." There are many pleasing, and some melancholy associa tions connected with the Black Rock, so called probably from the sea-weed growing upon it—the stone itself being red. "To round the Rock," whether outward o r homeward bound, is equivalent to leaving or entering the boundaries of the port. Seamen's advance notes become payable so long after the ship has passed the Rock outwards. Insurances, too, I am informed, h a ve fr eq uent reference to the R oc k, as to the hour or date of passing it. Parties who have friends or relatives going to sea not unfrequently convoy the m as far as the Rock, and return in their boat. Others, looking anxiously for vessels, in the cargoes, crews, or passengers in which they are interested, gaze from the quays towards the Rock, as the first point at which a vessel from the westward becomes fully visible ; and if telescopes fired cannon-balls, as well as assisted eye-balls, the Rock battery, though recently erected, would long since have been battered down. The Rock is a joyous sight to the returning mariner. To those who adventure themselves for the first time on board ship, it rouses some apprehensions of the advent of watery sick ness, for the waves on the other side of it are no respecters of persons,' and toss their snowy crests with all imaginable haughtiness, on the impulse of the gale, which has there free ingress. lam here reminded of my quaint friend's allusion to this fact, with which I shall " pass the Rock :" 'Tis sweet to sail upon the Mersey's breast, .Not when the sluggish wave is asleep, But when it lifts its living snowy crest, To kiss the summer ;ales that o'er it sweep 'Tis sweet on de c k, when the full'sail is press'd. And wings the bark all foaming through the deep ; All this is well till round the " Rock" you go,— Then you'll get sea-sick - , and must go below. NEW BRIGHTON. To the south of the Battery, and near to the base of the sand hills, on which New Brighton stands, there is a valuabl spring of fresh water, in the sand, which is frequently covered by the tide. Two barrels, one within the other, are here inserted, to prevent the sand from falling in upon it, or, in other words, to deepen the well and keep it clear. The water is quite fresh and pellucid, and may be seen at the bot tom forcing up little bubbles of sand to the height of an inch or two. The overflow, which is not great, runs a few yards in a furrow, cut in the sand, by which it is immediately afterwards absorbed. In summer time an aged female gene rally attends at this well to keep it clear, and receives, on serving water from it, any trifle which visiters may choose to bestow. Close by, and near the beach, there is a range of houses, known as Union-buildings, from their having been built by a building company. Leaving these on the right, the pedes trian may mount the sand-hills, towards a hotel on the south side of the principal street or road leading from the ferry house. The whole of these heights are irregular, being full of hill and dale. They are covered for the most part with the wiry grasses common to such ground, including star grass, much of which has been planted of late years. The sand is thus bound, and the blowing or drifting checked, so that an earthy superstratum may in time be established. This has been effected to a great extent in this quarter, and ' there are even amongst th e b ares t o f th ese hills, patches of pretty thick grass, In a few years, w h a t with fencing in, forming, and forcing gardens, turfing, &c. the before arid appearance of New Brighton will be completely changed. I know of no place near the town more salubrious and cheerful in passable weather. The hills rise to a consi derable height, and there are detached houses perched even on some of the highest peaks, around which verdure has al ready been taught to afford its shelter and its shade. The views, particularly of the river and the whole expanse of sea northward and westward, are superb, affording au ever changing panorama. A little above the inu, on the west, a rude seat, made from a plank of an old - vessel, is placed against an old thorn bush. There seated, I witnessed, within an hour, the sailing, or rather towing out by steam vessels, of several large vessels to variou s p ar t s o f the world, down the Formby Channel, and many more arrived both by that and the Rock or Horse Channel. Two of the crack Glasgow steamers also came down the river, and stood direct to the north, one following the track of the other. They appeared tollbe antagonist, but of equal and great power, neither gain ing any apparent advantage for a succession.of miles. The smoke they sent forth, drawn in trails by the now easterly wind, darkened the ocean for a long distance to the west ward. The Actaeon, another fine Glasgow steam-ship, also passed up the river from the north in gallant style. Nume rous vessels were seen indistinctly on the distant horizon, and as the evening proceeded many of them came up under sail, of large and small degree. Late in the afternoon a number of steamers, bound to various parts in Ireland, fol lowed each other in rapid succession round the Rock, tor turing the water with their paddle wheels, and holding their course to the west. On the higher ground on the north side of New Brighton there are or seven large houses or buildings, forming se veral houses each, including a hotel, with frontages both to the north, overlooking the houses below, and also to the south. The 4irst house in the lower street or terrace is a neat pavilion roofed cottage, the property of Mr. Rocvson, with ground both on the north, where it is one storey in height, and the south, where it is of two stories. Next to it are two conjoint elegant houses, in the tasteful English Go thic or Elizabethan style. Beyond are several handsome villas on the cliffs or eminences immediately over the preci pitous rocks, known as THE RED NOSES. To view these romantic rocks I descended to the sands below, which here extend in a beatiful smooth surface for several miles, from east to west, between the Mersey and the Dee. These sands are a favourite and healthful resort of parties in search of health or recreation ; and here, when the wind is high, " the lone enthusiast" (to use the words of Beattie) " oft will stray Listening with pleasing dread to the loud roar Of the wide weltering wave." The Red Noses are points or promontories of freestone rock, between which there are numerous indentures or little bays, into which the tide frequently rises. The action of the water, for ages, h as worn th e stone , w hi c h varies in its quality, into small s hel ve d caves an d cav iti es , and having undermined a great portion of it, it has left it in an abrupt and fantastic overhanging masses and ledges. The first part of this formation, going westward, is of a mouldering yellow ish sand stone, and the strata throughout inclines slightly to the south. Further on, where the " Noses" are, the stone is red, with light streaks, and being more resistible frOm its hardness, has maintained its position in promontories. One immense mass appears to be outwardly supported from fall ir g by two little points or knobs, worn to almost a point, where they rest upon the shelving stratum below. One of the caves, opening from a fissure in the rock, might give shelter to a dozen or fifteen outlaws, if they did not aspire to stand erect. This is four or five feet above the level of the sand. There are several handsome villas just above, and from these the owners have, in two instance, formed romantic footways to the level of the strand through the rock, termi nating in iron gates. In this work nature has been the principal and whimsical artificer. Behind these mansions there are several smaller dwellings in the Elizabethan style. The smaller caves are accessible to their recesses only by children. Westward, the rock is streaked with white coloured stone, and assumes many fantastic shapes. The largest cave re sembles an arched alcove, and faces the north. It is about nine paces in length, and four to five in depth. This was once much larger, and more covered in; and is I presume " the ruins" or remains of the cave alluded to in a tale in the Lancashire Literary Musevnz, entitled " The Fisherman's Daughter." A short distance further to the west, the rock gradually decreases in bulk, drawing towards the land, and terminates in an abrupt point of yell ow i s h stone, north of a furze preserve, beyond which all is again a range of sand hills to nearly Leasowe Castle. I here turned southward from the shore, and enloyd a plea sant walk through the fields to the ancient village of Wallasey, and thence by Liscard to Woodside, which present scenes worthy of notice ; but my sketch has insensibly so much enlarged upon me that I must bid you farewell—merely adding that there are several fine mansions at New Brighton on the brow of the hill facing Liverpool, and on the road leading thence to Liscard. Cider is selling from' £5 to £lO the hogshead, more than double the usual price.— Worcester Journal. A recent letter from Lord Brougham says that he will not fail attending the house on the day that parliament recom mences its sittings. Fanny Elssleris to receive the sum of ?0,000 dollars from the manager of the Park Theatre for six months' engage. ment. LoRD LYNDHVRST.—A correspondent at Brighton writes —" Lord Lyndhurst will be in town by the 2d of next month. if not before. The noble and learned lord is rather weak, but in other respcctS is quite recovered from his severe illness."—Standard. NOVEL ENcLosuaE.—A gentleman of this town, a few days ago, received through the Post-office, from a friend at a distance, a bird, of that rare species called the nutcracker, ready prepared for stuffing, the postage being only fourpence. A short time previously, another gentleman received four birds, ready stuffed, in one parcel, the postage of which was eightpence !—Preston Chronicle. We understand that the Lords of the Treasury have fixed the 6th of May for the day when the postage stamps are to come into use. The issue of the stamps will, in the first instance, begin in London, and be extended as speedily as practicable throughout the whole of the kingdom ; but let ters, properly stamped, posted in any part of the kingdom, will pass free.—Morning Chronicle. A. remarkably fine oak was a short time since felled in the park belonging to Sir T. E. Winnington, Bart., M.P., and on Saturday week it was removed towards Liverpool, where it is to form part of the keel of a vessel. It contained 370 cubic feet of timber ; was 50ft. Gin. long, 10ft. Bin. in cir cumference, when trimmed; and took 23 horses to draw it up the bank at Stanford, on its way to Stourport.—Worces ter Journal. THE WALSALL AND SOUTH BANKING COMPANY. A new issue of notes took place yesterday (Friday), distinguish able from the old notes by being printed in blue ink. This step has been rendered necessary by the recent abstraction of notes, and the subsequent legal proceedings against Mr. T. F. Wood, the late manager. No re-issue of the old notes has taken place for some months past, and the amount now out is consequently very small; the directors thinking it ad visable, under the circumstances, to conduct the business of the bank in gold until their arrangements for a new circula tion were fully completed.—Sta f fordahire Gazette. The Water Witch, revenue cutter, has arrived in the Shan non, with the diving-bell apparatus, and is to proceed round the coast of Malhay, to endeavour to raise the guns, chains, and anchors, of the Marten, sl oop o f war, wrec k e d on that coast about 24 years ago. Mr. Deane, the inventor of the diving helmet, attempted this feat in the summer of 1837, but from the unsettled state of the weather, and insufficiency of his assistance, was unable to bring up any of them. There is every reason to hope the present attempts will be attended with success.—Cork Constitution. A CALF.---Recently Messrs. Carlisle, of Wigton, and Briggs, of Bassenthwaite, were called upon to perform the operation of embryotomy, on a cow, the property of Mr. P. Robinson, of Isalgate, near • Bassenthwaite, and produced a dead calf which had two heads, eight legs, and nine feet ; one of the hind legs was club or double-footed. It had two spines or backbones, and a double number of ribs ; also two tails, one at the termination of each spine ; the ribs met at the sides, and formed one cavity for the internal organs, of which some were double. Mr. Robinson gave the calf to Messrs. Carlisle and Briggs, and we understand it is their intention to present it to the British musasur,e ag lig e Patriot.