The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-12-28 00:00:00

aritainnitarp la rorettaiio. HOUSE OF LORDS.- -MONDAY After the Royal assent had been given to the Crime and Outrage (Ireland) Bill, the house adjourned to the 3d Feb. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—Mommy Lord J. RUSSELL brought in the Jewish Disabilities Removal bill. It was read a first time; and the second reading was fixed for the 7th February next. Lord J. RUSSELL then moved, that the house on rising do adjourn until the 3d of February next. Mr. SPOONER regretted that his lordship had moved so long an adjournment, and observed that, had he attended to the petition which he had that evening presented, on the subject of commercial distress in the iron districts of Warwickshire and South Wales, he would never have thought of letting parliament separate for so long a period. Nothing effectual had been done to remedy the distress of the country., and he moved that the house meet again on the 15th of January. Mr. NEWDEGATE seconded the motion, and after se veral members had spoken, . Lord J. RUSSELL said that he could not deny the ex istence of distress at present in the west of Ireland ; but, every account which he had recently received from that district concurred in stating that great exertions were now made, and were continued to be made, by the resident gentry to relieve the distress by the employment of the people. Before he could hold out to the gentry of Ireland any expectation that aid would be given them by the imperial parliament, he must have proof that every exertion had been made on their part to carry into effect the provisions of the Irish poor-laws, and to collect the rates payable under them. He did not regret the grants to which the parliament had last year assented, out he could not conceal from himself that those granst had im posed a very grievous burden on the population of the other parts of the empire. As a proof of it, he called the attention of the gentlemen who represented the counties and boroughs of Ireland to the statements which had been furnished to the house that evening on the subject of dis tress in England. As no person had asked, or was likely to ask, that the operatives in Great Britain who were out of employment, and who were now sustained out of the poor -rates, should be maintained out of the Consolidated Fund, the public could not propose to maintain the desti tute people of Ireland out of the imperial treasury until it saw that all other means of maintaining tbern had been exhausted. He could not promise Mr. Gla,stone that he would introduce a measure on the navigation laws imme diately after the recess. He must reserve to himself a discretion upon that question, but he was ready to declare his earnest wish to bring in his measure at such a period of the session as would give ample time for its discussion and for its passing through both houses of parliament. Ile intended, immediately after the recess, to bring for ward the various measures for the amelioration of Ireland of which he had already given notice. The Earl of Cla rendon was prepared to carry into effect, with the vigour which belonged to his character, the law with which par liament had recently armed him for the suppression of crime and outrage. He trusted that the views of parlia ment and government would not be frustrated, and assured the house that the government would give Lord Clarendon, in executing the law every support in its power. In re ply to the question which Lord Lincoln had put to him on the subject of colonisation, he observed that, if the noble lord had previously given him notice, the inform ation which he asked for should have been laid at once on the table; for he had no objection to produce it. He was sorry, however, to say, that in North America and es pecially in Canada, a great prejudice existed at present against emigration, a prejudice which had arisen in con sequenCe of the lainentable condition of the emigrants who had recently arrived from Ireland. He would present the paper's forthwith. The amendment was withdrawn and the original motion carried. The New Zealand Government Bill was read a second time, and the house adjour❑ed until the 3d of February. FOREIGN zj- COLONIAL INTELLIGENCI THE OVERLAND MAIL Despatches have been received by express from Mar seilles in anticipation of the Bombay mails of the 15th of November. India was tranquil. From Lahore we learn that the Dussora festival had passed over in quiet. Sir F. Currie was named to succeed Colonel Lawrence on the departure of the latter from the Punjab, where he had performed the duties of British Plenipotentiary. The Sikh soldiers were behaving well under the guidance of the British, and had defeated a refractory tribe in the mountainous districts near Peshawur, who refused to pay their regular tribute. From Affghanistan we hear that Dhost Mahomed was eager to have heavy guns; and had enticed some of the gun-founders from Peshawur to gratify his wishes. With heavy guns the passes of the mountains would, it is said, be rendered impregnable. From Scindithere is no news of interest. The Gover nor of Bombay was expected there in December, and will, it is stated, traverse the whole of 1 hat country. The only sickness complained of on the banks of the Indus is the small-pox. The Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, arrived at Meerut on the Ist of November, and proceeded to Cawn pore on the 2nd of that month. Hia lordship was to remain at Cawnpore some days, and to proceed thence to Lucknow, where the King of Oude was making prepara tions for iris reception. A number of robbers had col lected under a native rajah, and were about to plunder the Oude districts ; but they were routed by Captain Magness, with some of the native forces The Nizam' The Pi s country continued in its usual disturbed .itne Minister had tendered his resignation in consequence of his inability to govern, while the Sove reign was labouring to paralyse all, the efforts made to arrange.the. finances. The Goomsoor districts remained in their former unset- tied state Large quantities of rain had fallen in the south and west of India, which had produced flushes in the rivers. The late crops would derive considerable benefit from the The intelligence or the numerous railures in Europe during the months of August, September, and October, had produced much alarm in India. The Calcutta Star, on the receipt of the mails to the 24th of September, asserted that 30 Lacs (X 300,000) of bills had been returned to that city, in consequence of the failure of Reid, Irving, and Co. ; but it subsequently mentioned that only a very _ small amount had come back accepted by that firm, and that though a considerable amount would be returned Within the next ten months, confident hopes were enter tained that no material loss would eventually fall on Cal cutta. The alarm in Bombay continued, in consequence of more failures in England being apprehended. The Scinde prize money was expected to be paid as soon as orders came from the Supreme Government for the purpose. __ Ailvii;es from Hong Kong are to the 30th of October. At Canton all remained quiet. Sir John Davis had left Hong Kong in her Majesty's steamer Vulture, on the 6th, for Cochin China, on a special mission to that court, accompanied by her Majesty's ship Ringdove, and only returned just before the departure of the mail. Sir John had not succeeded in obtaining an interview with the King of Cochin China, or admission to the capital, Hue (about eleven miles up the river) ; but nothing could exceed the civility and attention, amounting almost to servility, shown to him by all the high authorities. They were 'evidently under great alarm, the cruel treatment of the French in April last being fresh in their recollection. His Excellency spent seventeen days in endeavouring to open negotiations. The markets for imports had been dull at Canton during the month of October, and the prices of most of the staple articles had either receded or were quite nomi nal, front the difficulty of effecting sales, except in barter. Money vas becoming scarce, and the rate of interest high. Teas had advanced in price during the month. Green teas were arriving, and high prices paid in consequence of a short supply. Several ships had left since the 20th of October. The export of teas from China to Great Bri tain, from the Ist of July to the date of the mail, was — black, 18,227,710 lb. ; green, 1,136,960 lb. : total, 19,364,670 lb. The export of silk would amount to 10,500 bales on the 30th. There is so much ice floating on the Rhine that the bridge of boats at Coblentz has been removed. Blankets of good quality are now made in New south Wales, and the manufacture of Tweeds and other light woollen goods has also been commenced. The Presse announces that the Emperor of Russia has sent a considerable ium in gold to Hamburgh to be vested in the new Belgian loan, to be contracted with the house of Rothschild. The statement given by the Morning Post, to the effect that the King of the French proposes to abdicate in fa vour of the Count de Paris, that his Majesty may give to the Duke de Nemours the benefit of his advice in the Re gency, is not confirmed. Many of the Parisian restaurants have lately been robbed by thieves who enter, hang up their hats, order a dinner or breakfast, and then hurry out bareheaded, after telling the waiter to serve the meal directly ; but they take care not to return, as they contrive to slip into their pockets a fork and spoon, worth twenty times the value of an old hat. CAPE or GOOD HOPE.—The gratifying intelligence has been. received that the Kafir war, in so far at least as it affects the frontier districts, may be regard as terminated. Sandilli, the chief leader of the ICaffirs, has surrendered, on the sole condition that his life should be spared. About SO of the rebel's chief followers, with his principal coun cillors, have also surrendered. SWITZERLAND. — The provisional (government of the Valais have pronounced decrees expell ing the Jesuits from the canton, convoking a constituent grand council, and imposing a contribution of £BOOO on the parties who were the chief instigators in the late war against the Federal Government. Among these the most prominent are, the monks of the Great St. Bernard, the Abbey of St. M an . rice,and the Bishop and Chapter of Sion. BEET-ROOT SUGAR.—A letter from Germany, published by the Economist, states that beet-root sugar has entirely superseded cane-sugar. " In our district good strong loaves manufactured from cane by the refineries et Stet tin and Berlin cost eighteen dollars per cwt. ; a quality in every respect equivalent in colour as well as strength, and, being of a pure taste, made here from beet-roots, sells here at seventeen dollars, or from five to six per cent. less ; and with such a price, which leaves a clear profit of twenty per cent., our establishments here are found to answer exceedingly well. The progress made in this branch of indtistry is astounding." JENNY LIND AT HOME.--Mdlle. Jenny Lind has signed an engagement with the Royal Opera of Stockholm, sti pulating that she should sing once a week in December, January, and February, on condition that half of the whole receipts, on every night of her appearance, should be given to her, and of a half bein g a dd e d t o th e prices of places, On the eve of Jenny Lind's first performance, the newspapers published a note signed by the renowned cantatrice, in which she stated that in order to give her native country a souvenir that might last beyond her exist ence as an artiste, she had determined on devoting the whole profits of her performances to the establishment of a school for poor young persons of both sexes, born with happy dispositions, in which they should gratuitously be taught music and the dramatic art. AT HARD CASE.—John H. Winston, a coloured man, who left this city last spring as a fireman on a steam-boat, was committed, for want of freedom certificates to the jail of Henderson County, Ky. He was expected to be sold into slavery for his jail fees. We are informed his evi dences of freedom have been forwarded, and we trust they will reach their destination in time to relieve him of the calamity which threatens.—Pittsburg Gazette, 1847. " This,' adds the Courier, " is well styled a hard case. Even the old Roman laws required, that in cases where persons were claimed as slaves, the presumption should always be that they were free ; and they allowed their freedom until it was proved that they had no good title to it. One of the most touching tragedies of Roman legen dary history, that of Virginia, grew out of the violation of this wholesome law by a magistrate whose tyranny was made the pander of his lust. It certainly seems reasona ble that Southern citizens should enact laws at least as favourable to liberty as those of ancient Rome." THE COURT Notwithstanding the coldness of the weather, her Ma jesty and the Prince Consort walked for some time in the Home-Park, both in the early part of the morning and again in the afternoon of Thursday. The royal children also took their accustomed exercise on the lawns, and in the sequestered paths of the Home-Park. The Duchess of Kent visited the Queen and Royal Family at the Castle, and remained to luncheon. UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL NEWS • Dr. Hampden was last week on a visit to the Arch bishop of York. The students of St. Bee's College have applied for a government grant to erect suitable buildings for college purposes,_ the present lecture room being, what was doubt less once the chancel for the church. THE PLURALIST DEAN OF HEREFORD.-A corres.pou dent explains the use of the plural •' we" in the memorial _ _ _ of this reverend personage, by stating that: Dr. Mere wuther is not only Dean of Hereford, but Rector of Madley and Rector of New Radnor.—Morning Chronicle. The Bishop of London has addressed a pastoral letter to his clergy on the subject of the cholera. He assumes the certainty of the cholera speedily making its appear ance amongst us again, and at great length advises his clergy as to their duties in preparation for it. It appears that Dr. Hampden, whose name is now for the second time awakening so much conflict in the field of theological discussion, is a descendant of John Hamp den, who received his death-wound on Chalgrove-field, Oxfordshire, on the 18th of June, 1643, whilst fighting on the parliamentary side. Archdeacon Hare considers Dr. Hampden's publications (especially the Bampton Lectures), on which the charge of heresy rested, to be most sound and learned, and the author one of the most able and thoughtful theologians of the day. The Archdeacon is about to publish his opi nion and the reasons for it without delay. At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute on the 3d instant, Mr. R. Hussey communicated a plan of remains of the Norman choir of Chester cathedral, brought to light during recent restorations. Mr. Hussey remarked I that the usual proportions of the earlier Norman struc tures lind there been observed, and that the eastern apse was semi-circular. The plan also illustrated the form of the present cathedral of Chester, as first built, but subse quently modified. The Rev. Thomas Walker, vicar of Belfast, died on the 18th instant. He was well known in this town, and is justly described as " earnest and yet unobtrusive in the fulfilment of his pastoral duties, dignified and yet conci liatory in his walk and conversation, uniting the virtues and zeal of God's ambassador with the kindly charities of the Christian gentleman; and in a very difficult position he so maintained the even tenor of his way as to give none offence, while he maintained with inflexible integrity his own cherished convictions. As a preacher, he was elo quent, impressive, and evangelical, a faithful pleader with his people, a shepherd ever vigilant of his flock. DR. HAMPDEN AND THE SEE OF HEREFORD.—The Times says that the Bishop of Oxford, in consequence of a formal charge of heterodoxy having been brought against Dr. Hampden, by some clergyman of his lordship's diocese, has intimated to the reverend gentleman that proceedings must commence against him." The Morn ing Chronicle, in alluding to a report that some such step was in contemplation, states that " the accusers are said to be Dr. Pusey ; Mr. Sewell, of Exeter College ; Mr. Marriott of Oriel College, the friend and advocate of Mr. Macmullen, when he, though a Roman Catholic, sought to compel a B.D. degree : and Mr. Mosely, of Oriel College.". SINGULAR CASE OF CHURCH PREFERMENT.—The Bishop of London has instituted the Rev. Thomas Wall, M.A., curate of Chiping Sodbury, near Bristol, to the vicarage of Edgeware, under somewhat peculiar circum stances. Some time since the benefice became vacant by the death of the Rev. T. Smart Hughes, 8.D., on which occasion the patron, Dr. Lee, convened a meeting of the inhabitants, and gave them the names of six clergymen, with full permission to select one as the future vicar. At the meeting of the vestry, theitev...l-L.-Ilere.ye i meo p osed, and Sir. S. Tootal zrt.onded, the appointment of Dr. Tat tam, Archdeacon of Bedford. William Phillimore, Esq., proposed, and F. Balmain, Esq., seconded the nomination Of the Rev. Mr, Wall. For Eli% Tattam the votes were 28 ; for the Rev. Mr. Wall, 75. Mr. Wall was, therefore, presented to the Bishop, and by him instituted to the benefice DEPARTURE OF THE BISHOP OF CAPE TOWN.-otl Tuesday, the Bishop of Cape Town embarked on board the Persia, on his way to the distant field of his labours. The ship had been detained several days, both in the Downs, and afterwards off Portsmouth, by adverse winds ; but the weather clearing on the morning of the 20th, he was summoned in haste from Gosport, where he had been waiting the departure of the vessel. Several of his near relations " accompanied him to the ship." and it was a deeply interesting scene, when, as some of the crew were shaking out the sails, and others labouring at the capstan, the Bishop retired with his friends to his cabin to take leave of them with prayer. Portions of the second lesson for the morning service, (by a singular coincidence, the 95411 of +k.. A ^4,31 RIM., Senn A . " kneeled down among them all and' prayed," he gave the episcopal blessing. The bishop was accompanied by his chaplains, the Rev. Hopkins Badnall, his late curate, and the Honourable and Reverend Henry Douglas ; also by his late churchwarden, a solicitor of considerable ability, together with his wife, and several others destined here after for the office of catechists. WHAT IS THE OFFENCE OF PREMUNIRE ?--It IS Con tempt of the Queen and her Government, and it is so called, says Blackstone, from the words of a writ prepa ratory to the prosecution thereof. It is enacted by the 25th Henry. VIII., chap. 20, " that if the Dean and Chapter refuse to elect the person named by the Sove reign, or any Archbishop or Bishop to confirm or conse crate him, they shall fall within the penalties of the sta tutes of prcemunire." The punishment for this offence is thus stated by Coke—" That from the conviction, the defendant shall be out of the King's protection. and his lands and tenements, goods and chattels, forfeited to the King; and that his body shall remain in prison at the King's pleasure, or (as other autho r iti es h ave it) during life." So odious, says Coke, was this offence, that a man that was attainted of it might have been slain by any other man without danger of law; because it was pro vided by. law that any man might do to him as to the King's enemy, and any man may lawfully kill an enemy. If any Archbishop or Bishop be contemplating the com mission of this offence, it will be as well that he should understand that it is no longer lawful for individuals or the mob to inflict summary punishment. The statute sth of Elizabeth, chap. 1, provides that it shall not be lawful to kill any person attainted in a prcemunire, any law, statute, opinion, or exposition of law to the contrary notwithstanding. But still such delinquent, says Black stone, though protected as a part of the public from public wrongs, can bring no action for any private injury, how atrocious soever, being so far out of the protection of the law that it will not guard his civil rights nor re medy any grievance which he as an individual may suffer. And no man knowing him to be guilty can with safety give him comfort. MISMANAGEMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL ESTATES.—AS an instance of this, we may refer to the Paddington estate. There, in the immediate neighbourhood of London, an estate, formerly belonging to the dissolved monastery of St. Peter's; Westminster, and consisting of more than 600 acres, was given by Henry VIII. to the Bishop of London and his successors. Had that estate been properly ma naged, its revenues at the present time might probably have amounted to more than £50,000 a-year, with the prospedt of :an enormous increase. But it was a custom more selfish than apostolic in its origin, to grant renewals of the ancient lease from time to time, on payment of heavy fines, which went into the private coffers of the bishops. The result was, that in the year 1795, Bishop Porteus found himself in possession of an estate producing only £43 6s. Bd. a-year, but with the prospect of a fine receivable for the renewal of the lease, as each of the three lives for which it was granted, happened from time to time to drop, and be supplied by a substitute. To show how improvident was this arrangement, it may be added, that between the years 1776 and 1795, no life had dropped, and that £43 6s. Bd. a-year was all that this splendid es tate had, during that period, produced to the bishopric 1 In 1795, an act of parliament was obtained by Bishop Porteus, for the better management of the Paddington estate, and for the purpose of promoting building; but so many difficulties occurred, that it was not till the year 1826 that another act of parliament encouraged builders to proceed with confidence, and erect that magnificent pile of houses which now overspreads the bishop's estate. It is estimated that, on a moderate calculation, at the expira tion of the present leases, the houses now erected (2000 in number) will be' worth at least £300,000 per annum. What a revenue for a metropolitan bishopric ! How might the destitution of Bethnal-green, Spitalfields, and Hor ton, be suppli e d ou t o f t h e wea l t h o f Hyde Park-gardens and only Wenetisttibeodurto on e - third ! But, alas ! the bishopric is of the income of its own pro perty. The system of renewa l s an d fi nes ren d ere d it impossible to deal with it advantageously, without a final surrender of two-thirds of the whole estate to its lessees ! The rental is only about £20,000, and the bishop's present income out of this estate probably under £7OOO. The prospective revenue to the bishop is therefore only £100,0430 instead of £300,000 a-year. We name this as an instance of past mismanagement , and of the evil of permitting the wealth of the Church to be absorbed by its own dignitaries. The same tale, in a modified form, might probably be told of the Fulham estate, the Lambeth estate, and other property, which the piety of individuals, or the munificence of kings, designed for the instruction of the people and the maintenance of the clergy.—Recood. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. IRELAND. On Sunday, Mr. Talbot, of Mount Talbot, Roscom mon, was shot at on his own demesne while returning from church, but escaped unhurt. The Irish privy council sat on' Thursday at the Castle of Dublin, the Lord-Lieutenant presiding, when the pro clamation bringing the Coercion Act into immediate ope ration in the disturbed districts was adopted unanimously. COUNTY RoscoMMoN.—The Packet has an account of another attempt to murder in the neighbourhood of Strokestown. The time selected was when the intended victim was returning from church on Sunday. A GOOD PRECEDENT.—The late Lord of kilwarden, at the Summer Assizes of 1802, in the county of Meath, held at Trim, committed a Roman Catholic prieat for the con tumacy of not revealing the confession of a criminal. So violent was the storm of Friday last i❑ the counties of Tipperary and Limerick, that the driver of the Dublin mail coach was blown off the box near Nenagh, but for tunately escaped any severe hurts. On Sunday night week, as Major M`Lean, late of the British Artillery Legion in Spain, was returning from Shannon Harborn to his residence, he was fired at from behind a wall. He escaped, though he heard the ball whiz past his head. AWFUL MURDER.—On the night of Monday. a most brutal attack was made on a carman, named Hennelly, near the bridge, in this town, by some ruffians, who lay in wait for him. Together with fracturing him in two places, they broke his jaw in pieces. The assassins were pursued, and two or them were taken. The poor man soon died of his wounds.—Casllebar Telegraph. Dr. Maginn, (Bishop of Orthozia) has written a mon ster letter to Lord Stanley, in reply to the no - Jle lord's speech in Ireland. With respect to denunciations from the altar, the honest doctor is, of course, very indignant. He, however, does not deny them ; but confines himself to enquiring of Lord Stanley where he acquired his infor mation of the existence of things so incredible. THE RELIGIOUS THUGS.—In the case of " Boyle v. Matlaughen," which came before the Irish King's Bench in Easter Term. 1810, excommunication was issued by a Roman Catholic bishop against one of his flock on a most frivolous cause ; but in cases of deliberate and cold blooded murder, thes dignitaries have not— 37 years later —moved a finger against the murderers, or the accessa ries before or after the fact. - -rue arendetteonry of Elphin is now vacant by the nomination of the Rev. L. H. Strean to a benefice in the diocese of Chester. He is considered truly fortunate in his promotion to an English benefice, particularly in these times, when many of the clergymen in the diocese he now takes his leave of would deem themselves most fortunate were they to receive ap pointments to benefices in England, even of moderate income.—Dublin Herald. CURIOUS FACT.-A few days ago as the Castle Freke hounds were running, they pup up a covey of sixteen par tridges, and immediately after an immense flock of them rote, over fifty in number. They were on the edge of the cliff just over the sea; and it was remarked that not a partridge was seen this year or the last about this country. Could these be migratory ? It seems likely and that they came from a distance, and were going to undertake their sea voyage to some southern climate.—Cork Paper. _ LAMENTABLE SHIPWRECK AND Loss OF LlFE.—lhir ine-, the storm of Friday night last, the schooner Ida, of Newry, John Bannon, master, bound from Runcorn to Newry with a cargo of rock salt, was driven into Dundrum Bay. The violence of the gale drove the hapless vessel on a sand bank, opposite to Tyrella, where she capsized, and the master and a crew of five persons were drowned. The schooner has since gone to pieces, and two of the bodies been washed ashore.—Newry Telegraph. REPEAL ASSOCIATION.—The usual meeting took place on Monday, Mr. Timothy O'Brien, M.P., in the chair. Mr. John O'Connell was present and made some half dozen speeches—he abused the traitors from the Repeal camp who voted in favour of the " coercion bill," appealed to the ever-to-be-humbugged people of Ireland, to sup port the association by contributions to its funds, and praised John Reynolds for his efforts in the cause of his country since he entered parliament. The rent for the week was, at four o'clock. announced to be £l9 17s. 4d. QUEEN'S COUNTY,—The agrarian conspiracy is extend ing. The Queen's County is now infested. One of the best landlords in Ireland, Sir Charles Coote, has been served with a threatening notice, which was followed by a friendly caution not to remain in Baliyfin-house, but go off and spend the Christmas beyond the reach of the bul lets cast for the purpose of destroying his life. His agent, Captain Sandes, has also been served with a notice to quit on pain of death. It appears that the crime of Sir Charles is his demanding rent from tenants well able to pay. THE REIGN OF TERROR !—SIR RICHARD O'DONNELL DENOUNCED BY THE PRIESTS AND THE ASSASSINS.—It is a most humiliating duty to have to record the degrading fact that one of the best landlords in this benighted country has—after being denounced from the altar !—been threat ened with death and the destruction of his property. The Mayo constitution tells us that Priest Grogan denounced Sir Richard two days prior to the receipt of the threatening notices, and at a time when the worthy baronet was absent in Dublin, applying for a loan of £12,000, under the Drainage Act, for the purpose of extending his operations. . AWFUL DEPRAVITY.—TweIve men have been arrested on a charge of being implicated in the murder of the late Rev. Mr. Lloyd. The boy who was in the gig has posi tively identified a man named Donohoe at the actual mur derer, and it appears that this man was hired for the pvrpose; seven pounds were subscribed by the tenants of the deceased rev- gentleman who lived on that part of hia property that he bad only a life interest in ' • that sum, or five pounds of it was paid beforehand to the murderer, and, it is said, in presence of his wife. How awfully de- prayed such a person must be to take the life of any per son, and particularly a man of whom he knew nothing, for such a sum—or for any sum. AN INFANT BURIED ALIVE BY ITS MOTHER.—On the 7th instant, Bridget Nolan, lately a nurse in the Carlow Lunatic Asylum, was committed to gaol on a fearful charge of infanticide. It appears that on the evening of her arrest she left her lodging, with her infant child, about six weeks old, late in the evening. Suspecting her design, a woman, who lodged in the same house, follo w ed her as far as Graigne, where she heard the infant crying, and, of course, alive, but lost sight of the mother. She returned about an hour after without the infant, and was arrested by the police on information. She stated that she had drowned the child, but, on a closer examination, she confessed she had buried it in a field, to which the po lice proceeded, and found the body.—Carlow Sentinel. SHIPWRECK.—On the 17th instant, an East Indiaman, the Charlotte, Captain John Hawkins, from Bombay, for Liverpool, laden with cotton, gum, &c., made the Crook haven Light ; but owing to the violence of the gale, and the haziness of the weather, the light was seen but indis tinctly i it was, hOwever, unfortunately, again mistaken for the Old Head of Kinsale, and the channel course steered accordingly, when, in a short time, land was dis- I covered a-head. The captain endeavoured to wear the ship, but in vain ; he then had no resource to save the vessel and the lives of the crew but to cast anchor and cut away all the masts and rigging, which, in going over board, injured the deck of the vessel. She fortunately cast anchor in good holding ground between Long Island and the Western Calf. The coast 'guards attempted, in the course of the day, to board her; but • owing to the violence of the gale were obliged to put back, one of the boats from our fishing establishment also got so far as Long Island, but there being a tremendous sea outside, it could proceed no further. The poor fellows, how ever, being encouraged to persevere in their endea vours to give assistance to the vessel and crew, succeeded about 12 o'clock at night—though at the peril of their lives—in getting on board, and after some time the Capt. came on shore and stopped the remainder of the night at a cottage. Four boats and twenty men from n tlieg a is n li n e e r i y . are now towing the Charlotte into Long la It is s hi t fa h t. Nt e c r ao a rs s ,t i e n ap g sh u tei l .in a e r Rock l coincide nceWhitney, Islandne t L h e i a r g t h s t t z I tw i ft a YEC r d i a ° 4:3. p t u tee Capt.lliekaer Hawkin's chart, which is another proof—if proofs were required—that the Cape Clear Light is useless, and the Rock Island Light much worse. The Charlotte is a vessel of 450 tons burthen, and belongs to Messrs. Eggington, Sons, and Co., of Hull ' • she sailed from Bombay on th e 31st of August last, and had a fine passage until within the last day or two. Another vessel, the Mary Jane, marked on her stern, but from what port unknown, laden with deals, railway sleepers, and staves, went on shore yesterday morning, at. GAM Lemcon, and be— came a total wreck.—Cork paper. DENUNCIATIONS FROM THE ALTAR. (From the Times.) John, Archbishop of Tuam, has at length come forward as the apologist of the denouncing priests of Ireland. When such is the excuse offered in their behalf, what must not have been the conduct of the Roman Catholic clergy ? Dr. M'Hale has artistically put his points toge ther. He has permitted his own consciousness of the real state of the case to slip out. He has stamped out of our minds the last lingering suspicion that perhaps the accu sation against the Roman Catholic priests had been over charged. " If, religion," says the reverend gentleman, " were entirely out of the question, good taste and a sense of propriety should check the use of language of which the awkward fashion is sometimes as reprehensible as the idea which it may convey." There is nothing like an ex ample. Let us apply this canon to the instance of Mr. M`Dermott. We quite agree with Dr. M`Hale in think ing that good taste and a sense of propriety should have induced the mild divine to abstain from denouncing Ma jor Mahon from the altar. We must, however, entirely dissent from the position that Mr. M`Dermott is as open to criticism on literary as on moral grounds. The ana thema was well thundered out. Sharp, clear, and effect ive, it went home to his hearers' hearts. " This man is like Cromwell, and he still lives." Could Victor Hugo or Alexander Dumas have made a better point ? The priest did his work right well. There is a trick in Dr. M`Hale's writing which be shares in common with most of his countrymen of modern times either as writers or as speakers. He begins by lay ing down such a doctrine as this :—" Of course no provo cation can excuse the hideous crimes of some of the pea santry." There is the whole quintessence of ethics in phrase. But next follows a string of propositions like these :-1. Murder is abominable. 11. Murder is hate ful. 111. Murder is disagreeable. IV. Murder is not quite right. V. Murder is justifiable. VI. Murder is praiseworthy. VII. Murder is the very thing that Ire land wants. Irish peasants have vivid imaginations, and when a man like Dr. WHale is set over them to exhibit such a moral kaleidescope as the above, who shall wonder at such results ? The position of the clergy in Roman Catholic Ireland and Protestant England is a subject of contrast in the Archbishop's letter. This, in fact, is its staple. The end of either is, or should be, the same,—goodwill, charity, and peace amongst mankind. See, however, the awkward position in which a Roman Catholic priest is placed. A Protestant clergyman in England can afferd to indulge his feelings and inculcate the softer virtues. He can just venture to insinuate into his hearers' minds that the mart of vi:l;:ht heart and bloody band Will find no favour in the sight of Heaven. He may hint at humanity and suggest resignation to the Divine will. Not so the Roman Catholic priest—always according to Archbishop M'Hale, be it understood—their flocks are like 'their country's post-horses. If the parish priest would urge them up that path which is represented to us as both steep and thorny, and get them to make a fair start, he must adopt vigorous measures. He must give them a burn with the poker, or they won't budge. They are all sores under the collar, and will not advance with out a strong inuendo. He must take his congregation by their heroical weaknesses. He must diet them on hard theology, as younc , Spartans were nurtured on black broth. There is no chance of rendering them invulner able, as Achilles was of old, but to dip them into the infernal stream. Hear Archbishop M'Hale : " It is not to extenuate crime •, that is out of the question, but within the range of lawful regimens it might as well be said that the ordinary dietary suited to.a sound man is also fitted for one in the last stage of sick ness and exhaustion, as that the same course of instruc tion and discipline adapted to the well-adjusted relations of English society would be equally efficacious in restor ing the shattered form of society in Ireland. All I can say is, that from all your Lordship could read and hear of the cruelties, endured by the Irish peasantry, and indicted by those from whom position and education some huma nity should be expected, you would have no idea of the state of Ireland, or the difficult and anomalous position in which the Catholic clergy are placed." We very heartily concur with the next sentence of the Archbishop's letter. He prays that we may belong igno rant in England of such a state of things as renders necessary the lofty tone of Roman Catholic pulpit oratory in Ireland. We should, however, feel much more obliged to his grace if we supp ose d hi m to be quite in earnest. This wish for our welfare amongst Celtic rhetoricians implies its opposite. It is like the whining salvo which would salute you as you were departing from Tuam on Bianconi's car. Archbishop M'Hale knows best how soon the blessing is converted into a curse if charity refuses the blackmail levied upon her by idleness and mendicity. Ills grace tells us again that he is Fut following the ex ample of the great St. Gregory. The reference to. St. Gregory is perhaps not the least curious feature in the archbishop's composition. As he would be sure to say we misquoted him, if we gave merely the actual substance of his remarks, we will give his very words : . . " No, my lord; in these reflections I am only feebly copying those precepts of wisdom to which the ancient fathers of the church, and especially the great St. Gregory, gave expression. He tells us that the mode and topics of address suited to one may not be applicable to another. He illustrates this judicious and seasonable variety of treatment by a reference to the different state of the human constitution, and the same may be said of different states of society." Now. with all due submission, it appears to us that this clinical theology is "pessinzi exempli." Fancy lodging in a priest's hands the indefinite power of allegory, when his ignorant hearers take the images for facts. " Ah, boys," says a reverend gentleman from the altar, "the squire up at the big hoUse, that turned Mike out of his notato patch, is like a man in a fever, and they say cold steel, or a slug or so, is good in that disease." Another landlord is com pared to a dropsical patient who requires tapping. The intestinal arrangements of a third are represented as hav ing fallen into disorder, and leeches are suggested. If this really was St. Gregory's way of treating his subject, we can only say. the more it is avoided in modern times the better, especially for the sake of those who are the reality of the tropes and figures of the pulpit orator. Take, in fact, this letter of Dr. M`Hale, from first to last, and a more damning sentence upon the proceedings of the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland it would be im possible to imagine. Conceive this burly controversialist having recourse to paltry subterfuge and sidewinds if he had a leg to stand upon. "My Lord Archbishop"—says Lord Surrey and Arundel—•` where is the boasted disci pline of the Catholic Church ? How is it that men so im prudent, if not so wicked, are not suspended from their spiritual functions ?" This point has certainly struck very many men as well as Lord Surrey. Here is the Archbishop's answer :—" Vague charges, originating with the bitter calumniators of the Catholic Church, and widely circulated through those adverse organs, cannot be deemed accusations on which any canonical proceedings can be founded." The rest of his letter is occupied in palliating the denunciations which the Archbishop would thus affect to doubt. The man in the three kingdoms who is more fully aware than all others of the truth of the accusation against the Roman Catholic priests, is probably the present correspondent of Lord Arundel and Surrey—Archbishop M` Hale. LAW INTELLIGENCE, The celebrated trial of Bunn v. Jenny Lind has been postponed till February. Mr. George Hayter, - M. P., has been appointed Judge Advocate General, in the room Mr. Charles Buller. The Lord Chancellor is getting better, but it is thought will retire. Mr. Baron Rolfe, Chief Justice Wilde, Mr. Pemberton Leigh, and Vice Chancellor Bruce, are named as his successor ; the two latter are conservatives. The Birmingham Guardian Society has memorialised the Secretary of State on the subject of the " heavy fees charged in all the stages of the several suits in the county courts under the small debts act." In the Common Pleas on Thursday, Mr. Bennett was awarded £2OO damages, in an action brought against the Peninsular and Oriental Steam. Company, for licit...lug to take him as a passenger in one of their vessels. In the Insolvent Debtors Court, on Friday. two deci- sions were given, to be acted upon as precedents, laying down the law, that petitioners who have previously taken the benefit of the act are liable to have their old debts placed in their schedules, and by thus raising the amount of their liabilities above £3OO, be excluded from the bene fit of the act. POLITICAL MISCELLANY. THE. STOCKPORT ELECTION.—The inquest on Bown, who was murdered at Stockport, came to the verdict of manslaughter against John Hurst and four others, after a consultation of between three and four hours. SANATORY BILL.—The government bill for improving the public health—a deviation from the title of the last measure—is to be brought in by Lord Morpelh on the 10th February, just one week after the re-assembling of Parliament. The House of Commons is about to order that the Chairman of Ways and Means examine all private bills. Mr. Bernal will, therefore, be the Lord Shaftesbury of the House of Commons. The private bills last session were 339 ; in 1846 they were 456, precisely treble what they were in 1839. Sir Robert Peel has " let in" a Whig,—Captain Towns hend,—for Tamworth. The ex-premier revengefully voted for the Radical candidate for Warwickshire, at the general election, in opposition to Messrs. Newdegate and Spooner, and thus placed himself in a false position. Tamworth is " Peel all over." WELLS ELECTION.—Two candidates are in the field, viz., Mr. R. C. Tudway, of that city, on the Conservative interest ; and Mr. W. G. Haytet, the new Judge Advo cate General. In the event of a poll, the government candidate will no doubt be defeated by a considerable majority, the feeling here being decidedly adverse to Whiggery. JEWISH DISABILITIES.—We incline to think that there i good r understanding out of " Parliament. consider able degree, with the Liberals n in n win themselves. The yntimerasytanhdeinegxpoencttehdis.tponia,leasnedo,tihata thec nd Symptom. of this are daily sa Trac tarian a g n o o p l al o e s n t ce p on the Jewish question, or, like the Tunes, have prominent Tractarian journals have either kept advocated "emancipation." In Liverpool, the journal which vehemently advocated Lord John Manners claims in July last, now warmly supports the "Jewish claims." —Record. Lord George Bentinck, in the House of Commons, on Monday night, exposed some shameful errors in some parliamentary returns relative to shipping, which threw the most grave suspicion upon the whole case attempted to be made out against the navigation laws. Four Steam ers, 111 tons each, and manned by 52 men in all, figure in the returns, in consequence of their having made 548 pas sages across the channel, as representing no less than 61,444 tons, and as being, in point of fact, of superior im portance to 60 great East Indiamen of 1000 tons each, and manned by - 3,000 seamen. This is some of the evidence on which the navigation laws are to be attacked. OF WHAT RELIGION ARE THE HOUSES OF PARLIA MENT ?—ln the debate on the Jewish Bill, Mr. Drummond said, " In that house they had all one common mouth piece and organ. As a private gentleman, the Speaker had, of course, his own opinions •, but as Speaker he could not have any. Indeed it appeared to him that the Speaker was much in the same position as a lady who was asked by counsel what her age was, and who replied, No par ticular age ; the same age as other people.' (Laughter.) He conceived that if her Majesty were to summon the Speaker of the House of Lords, and to ask what was his religious creed, the right hon. gentleman must answer— not as a private individual, but as the mouth-piece of the h er o u se— ' No particular creed, but the same creed as the r.' " SUNDERLAND ELECTION.—The polling took place on Tuesday, and terminated in the return of Sir Hedworth Williamson, by a larger majority than even his friends had calculated upon; the numbers at the close of the poll being, for Sir Hedworth Williamson (Whig), 725; Mr. W. A. Wilkinson (Radical), 595; majority, 130. At the general election in August last, Mr. Wilkinson polled 569 votes only. The result in favour of the Moderate Liberal candidate is on all hands justly attributed to the Conservatives ; and, so far as the parties who decided the fate of the contest and secured this result are concerned, it may certainly in this light be regarded as a Conservative triumph ; but we are very far from claiming for it that character in regard to the candidates whom their votes have placed in the representation. It must, therefore, be taken simply and solely as a decision in favour of Sir Hedworth Williamson as the advocate of the navigation laws, and as a decision against Mr. Wilkinson regarded in the capacity of an opponent. LIBERALISM V. RELIGION.—It has been said that the adoption by Parliament of the motion to admit Jews into the house would complete the triumph of Liberalism — that it would remove the last remnant of bigotry from the statute-book. Yes, it would be the triumph of Libe ralism ? but what was Liberalism ? The antagonist and the opponent of religion. Religion was the principle Which taught man to reverence God ; while Liberalism was that which set him free from all obligation to God. Liberalism left a man at liberty to make, from his imagi nation, his own God, and taught him to despise the dog mata of the Church. Liberalism taught a man to deny what the Church told him—that everything that was called God, but the God incarnate, was a false god. Liberalism was just egotism ; it led every man to seek his own inte rest, and that of no other person. That was the religion of France. This country had gone a long way in the same direction. It has been made a matter of boast that there were D . .; longer I:artiv,9 144 cQuiltrY, H E GOVERNMENT AND THE WEST INDIAN PLANTERS. We believe it is admitted on all hands that the London .Times may be regarded as the organ most in the secrets of Government, and the most frequently permitted to foreshadow their policy. .It is, therefore, gratifying to find that, with respect to th e p ro p er po li cy o f Government towards our unfortunate Colonial fellow-countrymen, the Times is completely at issue with those reckless free-tra ders who would off r up the British West Indies to the national love of cheapness. The article containing the views of our contemporary was addressed in reply to the flippant remarks of Mr. Cobden, on the subject of West Indian interests, delivered at the election for South Lan cashire last week. We quote the passage : " Now it does to appear to us, with every reverence for the principles of free rade, that if ever there was a body of men harshly dealt with in the world, these men have been the West Indian planters. They have been made the subject of a compound experiment. In their persons the world was to be edified with an exemplification of sanctity in the suppression of the slave-trade, and the commercial advantages of free-trade. The two principles are utterly at variance. You cannot say to a British sugar-grower, You must sell your produce at the same rate as the rest of the world, and at the same time pay a higher price for your labour.' What is the cost of a slave's labour in the Brazils, all charges of transport and keep included ? What must you pay for a freeman's labour in Jamaica for the same time ? The price paid by the British planter is just about double the cost incurred by his Bra zilian rival. Do you wish, then, to restore slavery ? God forbid ! What we wish to effect is, to open the eyes of the public to the glaring inconsistency ofendeavouring to turn a sugar plantation under the Tropics, from which apt labour is excluded for humanity's sake, into a free-trade Paradise. The first conditions of the experiment are clearly wanting, There can be but one result of such a proceeding. The sugar islands will go out of cultivation. The land of stars, slaves, and stripes lies at no great distance. American sympathy will become strong as British interest grows weak. The Antilles will be taken into cultivation again on the slavery principle, and restored to their former degree of productiveness. Free-trade will ruin colonists exposed to competition so unequal, and slavery will follow in the steps of free trade. Let not the men of buckskin breeches and vegetable minds, the Tyrells, the Bucks. and the Knightleys, conceive there is any admission in this as affects their own corn and turnips. Sugar stands apart from other produce, from the nature of the climates in which it must be grown, as well as from the conditions on which we have prescribed its cultivation. We have always considered even a moderate degree of protection to the 'West Indian colonists utterly indefensible on the grounds of economic science. It was a tax levied on the British empire for the suppression of slavery. England voluntarily made herself poorer every year that the slave trade might be put down. There was reason at least in this method of carrying out her views. It was a very dif ferent principle from the maintenance of the Coffin Squa dron in the midst of the dark vegetation and foul mias mata at the mouth of an African river. Meanwhile, as it appears to us, the result of our present West Indian po licy will be as follows :—the ruin of the planters; the abandonment of the islands; the seizure of them by the United States ; their renewed cultivation by a slave po pulation; and our own ultimate dependence on our for mer colonies for slave-grown sugar—a sad termination of all our labours —the fruit of the expenditure of so much blood and treasure." We have expressed precisely the same views again and again ; and we are especially gratified to find this great free-trade organ at length discerning the proper light in which to regard this important question. THE JEWISH DISABILITIES BILL Our readers will ask from us no apology for presenting to them the following address from a true fri constitution and religion of England " - Weldon, Dec. 18, 1847. " Fellow Countrymen,---To those amongst you who have not been imbrued with the falsely-styled Liberal, but truly Infidel principles of the present day, and who still value the inestimable blessings which Christianity has comerreu upon our country—to those amongst you who still regard it as your highest duty, and your most exalted privilege, to uphold that blessed religion which our cru- cified Lord and Saviour bequeathed to us as the most in valuable of all earthly possessions, I call upon you at this hour of national apostacy and infidelity (by every duty which you owe to yourselves, your children, your country, and to your God, and by that awful account which we shall all have to give before His tribunal) boldly and firmly to declare to the majority of the nominal professing Christians of the lower house of parliament, who, by their votes last night, have placed Christianity and Judaism upon the same footing within the walls of that house, that you are prepared to bury yourselves under the ruins of your country, rather than suffer the Christian charac ter of the legislature to be destroyed, and the foul unbear able stigma to be attached to our land, that England has become a Christ-denying people. " I have the honour to be, with every respect, " Your most obedient faithful servant, " WINCHELSEA and NOTTINGHAM." RAILWAY AFFAIRS OPENING OF THE BERKS AND HANTS EXTENSION RAILWAY.—This railway was opened for public traffic on Tuesnay. The portion thus brought into work is 257,- Beading Lord Yarborough, the chairman of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, purposes to throw open his house and grounds at Rocklesborough to visitors by the From official returns it appears that the amount of traffic for the last week, on upwards of 3,237 miles of railway, was £150,900, thus accounted for :—£70,753 for the conveyance of passengers only, £45,099 for the car riage of goods, and a remainder of £35,049 for passengers and goods together, not respectively apportioned ; being an increase of £17,875 over the corresponding week of last year, when the mileage was about 2,525. The aver age earnings per mile for last week were £46, whilst in 1846 they were £52. OPENING OF THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.—The open ing of this important railway, as a through line of commu nication between London and Edinburgh, may now be announced as an event on the very eve of consummation. On Friday, the 17th instant, Mr. Addison the resident engineer of the company at Carlisle, accompanied by Mr. Mould, chief agent of Mr. Stephenson and Co., the con tractors, and a party of their friends, performed the journey between Carlisle and Edinburgh in one of the London and North-Western Company's first-class car riages, which had arrived from Euston-square; the only interruption experienced having proceeded from the work men on the line; who had assembled at some points to " cheer them on their way," which they accordingly did, in good style. THE MIRFIELD MURDERS.-CONFESSION The trial of Reid and M`Cabe, for the triple murder at Mirfield, occupied the court three days last week at the York Assizes. Reid was very composed, and respectably dressed. but 111`Cabe appeared careworn. After a a very gfoubnedhitniembibm7whgliiiptyla,ced. and th e a b n u x t i o fo u r s a en t u q r. u t i i r k y e , y t e t a .i n u d r i y n sensation. Whilst Mr. Justice Patteson was passing sentence. M Cal?e fainted, and would have fallen, sentence, when owfhenpro,nounced. against M abe, excited a upon a chair. Immediately after the sentence of death had been passed upon the prisoners, Mr. Robert Dale, the attorney of Reid communicated to Mr. Matthews, (M`Cabe's coun sel) a confession made to him by the prisoner Reid pre vious to his trial. Mr. Matthews thereupon communi cated with Mr. Justice Pltteson the purport of that con fession, which, we understand, is to the following effect : That on the 12th day of May, Reid went to Mr. Wraith's house, about 25 minutes to one o'clock, that he conversed with the servant girl, Caroline Ellis, about five minutes, that he then took out the soldering iron he had that day borrowed of Kilt', and had concealed in his basket, and struck Caroline Ellis, a severe blow on the back of the head. She shrieked out and staggered to the back door, when he struck her again, and felled her to the ground, and Mr. Wraith coming at that moment from the cellar into the passage, which connects the kitchen with the two front parlours, with a silver pint containing beer in his hand, he (Reid) struck him a violent blow on the head with the iron, -in doing which the iron flew from the handle, and Mr. Wraith staggered into the parlour. Reid then returned and got the kitchen poker and ran to the parlour, and met Mrs. Wraith running out to the front door. He then struck her two or three blows on the head, and felled her to the ground, he went into the parlour, and Mr.' Wraith was then laid bleeding on the floor in sensible. He rifled his pockets and took his keys out, and opened the drawers with them. He then heard a knock at the kitchen door. which he thought was Caroline Ellis getting up. He went to the kitchen and found her per fectly still, and again returned. He then got some money out of the drawers, took the watch from Mr. Wraith, and the ring from Mrs. Wraith's finger, and heard another knock at the door. He thereupon went to kitchen door, and slightly opened it, when he saw the other prisoner, M`Cabe, who inquired if they wanted anything in his line, and he (Reid) replied " No, sir," and thinking M'Cabe was a stranger, and would not recognise him, he shut and bolted the door. He then returned and ransacked the drawers, and found in them a razor case containing two razors. He took one and cut the throats of all the three parties, and then washed his hands and wiped them upon the towel. He then quitted the house, locked the kitchen door, and threw the soldering iron and key into the well near the back door, and then hurried towards his own home. Measures will be taken to procure M'Cabe's liberation. Since the trial, Reid has, in the presence of the chaplain at the Castle, and other persons, corroborated the state ment he made to Mr. Dale. Reid evinces great calmness and resignation to his fate. M'Cabe appears greatly affected by his position, and un able to bear up. Of course nothing can yet be known as to the ultimate fate of M'Cabe. The case will doubt les s undergo further investigation, and it is not improbable that his life will be spared, and that he will be dealt with as an accessory after the fact, and subjected to a term of transportation. The verdict of the jury was clearly justified by the evidence ; and it will remain for the secretary of state to determine can be relied upon. The ali n ° , lna a s f b t b e yr r ißen the murder must have been ge h t l he two prisoners together, eiwnvhi close r e the coof n 3v e fe o ar n r ys f a e r s i o s committed ; and there are oth er important portions of evi dence irreconcileable with th e ent i re innocence of M'Cabe, es p e cially that given by B en j am i n M or t on , w h o swears to seein g both the pris oners w i t hi n s i xty yar d s o f each other, p ro ceeding in a dir ec ti on t owar d s W ra i t h' s h ouse. On Thursday, the prisoner Reid was visited by his fa ther ; and, as may be supposed, the interview was most Dee. 28, 1847. FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL SUMMARY. The broken character of the past week, so far as busi ness is concerned, is sufficient to account for the limited remarks which we shall have to offer under this head. The only two events of importance which have occurred are the reduction of the rate of interest by the Bank of England to five per cent., and the arrival of the Overland Mail, with accounts of the impression produced in India by the receipt of news of the first of the series of commer cial disasters which have occurred in this country. The prudence - of the policy of the step taken by the Bank, in offering increased monetary facilities at this precise moment, in the face of the call which will be made upon it for the payment of the January Dividends, is doubted by some parties, as affording an additional proof that the action of the Directors is prompted more, on al most every occasion, by a desire to promote the profit of the holders of Bank Stocks rather than to protect the public from improvident speculations. It is remarked that the position of the Bank, as shewn by the weekly returns, is by no means such as to warrant any considerable in crease in its operations. The private letters received from. India represent the shock produced in Calcutta by the an nouncement of the early failures in England, as very se vere. Bills on this country had become quite unsaleable ; and produce was recommended as the only safe medium in which to make returns. Our cotton market has been very dull throughout the week, and prices lower. The sales up to Thursday evening have been 15,500, chiefly to the trade. There is an improved feeling in the cotton manufacturing districts► but with little doing. The corn markets remain firm, being operated upon by the fact of the communications with the countries of the Baltic being expected to be closed by the frost. The following is the comparative weekly return of the Bank of England:— Public deposits.. Other deposits 8,606,276.. Increase, 169,600 Rest On the other side of the account, — Government securities, £10,998,214.. Increase, £51,620 Other securities.. Notes unemployed . 7,551,140.. Increase, 1,102,360 The amount of notes in circulation is £17,758,254 being a decrease of £562,650; and the stock of bullion in both departments is £11,991,376, showing an increase of . £565,200, when compared with the preceding return. The fallowing is from Messrs. Gibson, Ord, and Co.'s Circular, dated Manchester, December 23,1847 :—" Not withstanding a reduction in the minimum rate of interest by the Bank of England, from 8 to 6 per cent., and the continued influx of specie, we regret to say it is not in our power to report a more favourable state of business this than last month. Prices of almost every commedity, both in imnorts and exports. have receded, and the general aspect of commercial affairs is gloomy in the extreme; nor can we look for any material or rapid improvement under our present prostration of credit, the natural con sequence of the severe ordeal we have been, and now are, passing through. True it is, that there are many impor tant elements which, combined, induce a belief that, at no very distant period, we shall experience our wonted activity, and also a gradual advance towards a time of prosperity : but to effect this, we must have fresh spring opened to supply capital for that which has been destroyed, and a filling up of the vacuum created by the suspension of so many of our leading firms, through whom our pro ductions have found their way to foreign markets. This will apply more particularly to India, with which market and China our trade, as regards exports, has virtually been suspended for several months. As the most promi nent feature, tending to the prosperity of this district, we e rank the low prices ruling fo r co tt on , b ase d on the eer • may of 'our receiving a most abundant supply from the United States. The present crop is now estimated by some as high as 2,800,000, down to 2,300,000 by others, whilst a general opinio n p reva il s th a t it w ill reac h 2 , 300 , 006 bales. The transactions in our market during the last month have been on the most limited scale : for India and China scarcely a purchase has been made, and our home trade houses have bought very sparingly. With the exception of a good demand for the markets of the Levant, we have little or .ning doing for any quarter, and we have every prospect of closing the year in a more depressed and gloomy state than at any period during our present troubles." We are not aware that any failures of shareholders in , the Ayrshire Iron Company have taken place in Glasgow, in consequence of the insolvency of that company; but, indeed, the shareholders have been urged not to allow themselves to become insolvent, as the company could prefer claims that would carry off seven-eighths of their estates, and so leave nothing to private creditors. In Ed inburgh, the caution to avoid the Gazette has been made too late, as several shareholders there have been declared insolvent. Other failures have also taken place, and more are expected amongst writers to the signet. accountants, &c. extensively employed as agents for landed proprietors, who have been in the habit of borrowing for or lending to their clients. These casualties tell directly on shopkeepers. and tradesmen. and have caused a stagnation and distrust exceeding even the panic of 1826. The failure of a house in Glasgow is reported, Messrs. Mitchell and Co., Canada merchants, with liabilities stated at £150,000. It was understood that they were very large holders of bre:tel.-tan - , .t r.r.i.a tained ; it was attempted at the time to sustain them, but this would appear to have been ineffectual. We are very sorry to find that the commercial letters received from China give a much more gloomy account of the state of business than the report in the public papers- • . The sacrifices made on manufactured goods of every de scription were ruinous in the extreme, and the prices paid for every article in the shape of returns, we know from the existing state of affairs at home, will be still worse. As an example, we are informed on good authority that a lot of Penang sugar was sold on Monday, duty paid, at the rate of 21s. per cwt., and gunpowder at the rate of 11d. per lb. the colonial duty on the sugar being 145., and the actual freight 75., and the other charges about 35., making in all 245. per cwt., whilst the tea was purchased at Can ton at 2s. 3d. per lb. These must not be taken as the current rates in the market, but as s p ec i mens o f t h e prices that can be obtained when sales are forced to raise money LIVERPOOL FESTIVAL CHORAL SOCIETY. The thirty-eighth public performance of this society was given on Friday evening, in the Music-hall, Bold-street, the music selected being Handel's Oratorio, " Messiah," with Mozart's accompaniments. The principal vocalists were Mrs. George Holden, Mr. Ryalls, Mr. George Holden, jun., and Mr. Armstrong. The orchestra, whiclk was full and effective, was led by Mr. H. F. Aldridge. Mr. G. Holden conducted on the occasion, and Mr. J. Richardson presided at the organ. This fine composition is too well known to most of our readers to need any , very detailed notice here. It will be sufficient to say that it was most effective throughout, both the choruses and fihw t ti h eoe e rfea s wi o trh l h o pi s ,ccwrhh h o a wh vi e n d g o, ,d e tFeh y so i ee d rr e nv n uean t dt l it y looyn b isai been studied studied well, and their full meaning appreciated. Amongst b tcl y l he MI gems b A oo r rf m nt ' l st e' ro ae n nv g a , ntih b ne o g t heartily encored. THE TEA DUTIES. The following circular has been issued : " The national importance of an immediate reduction of the duty on tea, on which depends greatly-increased employment and comfort to our operatives, and the well being of the community at large, has suggested the neces sity of a Conference of all parties interested in the welfare of the manufacturing districts ; and arrangements have been made to hold a Meeting in the Town-hall, Manches ter, on Tuesday, tne 28th December, at Three o'clock, at which the Mayor of Manchester has kindly signified his intention of presiding. " The Members of Parliament, the Mayors, the Mem bers of Council, and Justices of the Peace of all the Ma nufacturing Districts, will be invited, and we very respect fully solicit your attendance also at the meeting." The circular is signed by the Chairman of the Liverpool Association for the Reduction - of the Duty on Tea, the Chairman of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the Chairman of the Manchester Commercial Association, the Chairman of the Liverpool East India and China Associa tion' the President of the Hull Ch am b er o f C om merce and Shipping, and the President of the Blackburn Com mercial Association. If the maintenance of the trade with China, and the employment of the masses of operatives conse quent thereon, be an object of n a ti ona l importance ;—if the promotion of habits of temperance, of the discharge of social duties, of the cultivation of domestic virtues, of the acknowledgement of moral restraints and responsibi lities on the part of the labouring classes, be an object of national solicitude—if the maintenance of the revenue at its present amount, independent of any consideration for its future increase, be an object of national anxiety —we have the authority of this Parliamentary Committee, for asserting, that the present tea duties interfere with, and frustrate all these national considerations ; and, that which was but the result of accident, becomes, if con tinued after this time, a . known, acknowl e d ge d, an d wil fully maintained impediment to our national progress in industry, in wealth, in social virtue, and moral goodness. In vain has the Legislature decreed that commerce shall be free from the trammels which have hitherto, some of SY, and without cause, fettered it, if the Exchequer be allowed to maintain a fis calhich as effectually debars us from an ex tendedta c h nh e aE m rneac u s et n lt i r ie tr s dooe i g nfaw n "ih e wtdehl monopoly. the Chinese, as did the iron fetters of of the country been exerted, its peace endangered, in vain In vain have the best energies have statesmen recanted the cherished political creed of a life time, in favour of more enlightened commercial views, if the loaf of th e p oor man appears at h i s frugal b oar d untaxed, while tea, its universal accompaniment where there is the means to obtain it, appears by its side as if in mockery, taxed from 200 to 400 per cent. The Duty on Tea is exorbitant, in comparison with the cost of that article as imported ; disproportionate, in re ference to the impost on any other commodity of general and necessary consumption ; unjust, in depriving a large portion of the community of the use of a wholesome and exhilarating beverage; impolitic, in limiting the revenue by excluding a tax-paying article from the daily consump tion of myriads of poor families,—in restricting our com mercial intercourse with China,—and in debarring our manufacturing population from ample employment, in the production of those exports which would be required in exchange for an enlarged i m p or t a ti on o f T ea . It is inju rious to personal health an d c h arac t er as it i s t o social or der, by encouraging the use of intoxicating stimulants, in place of "a wholesome and domestic beverage. Experience has proved that low duties produce larger revenues." week art PostaE delive his pc a regi " Ric Th( for th Russe said i had e 818 Green under Comn towns lad ag the w coals, cask, tied h On gentle of MI stand his w( the SI Conne was 0 -chape tists, built 1 in By: the LI Mr. memo honor becom contet not tc says, mired worth the to , to pro us, ' ti upprec This i Heave MAI delight the ab, the co presen All till studio: condui and ya expres childr€ genera mistre: in Arai vinced to any and rei buted I the Ch CH u nation on Tut the Re P...A. next 3 Power Bowes graphy Next, L at the they w, Higgin had se where 1 present scared' had be; been a afldresE singing Mr: club or the am tradesr the fati plied w rooms duped wish th dinner the woi resourc Dignan ley, till may sal a club ( Yestc piercing those t 1 while I those • such a i Ireland creased in the less ex t a mann daily pr which e Price! 0 ixerally, previou wick were He d Th tousl studi :Acute .Reyl a tea; that On in thl pose able N Toxf last b of ten Chris On advan he die NE from bed. -been a defe II; On floatit lowini Ta the c but n neigh to Qu at sea now On -died f She 1 Wedr door, HE diCal to th