The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-22 00:00:00

INDIAN MAILS.—The Post-office has issued a notice, that as the 31st instant will fall upon a Sunday, the mails for India will be despatched from London, via Falmouth, on Saturday the 30th inst an t. . .—Mr. Sloan is starri Kennt the Bolton Theatre ' in a ran ge o f I r i s h c h aracters, —ig in " The Heir at Law," O'Callaghan in " His Last Legs," Looney M'Twolter in the " Wags of Windsor." THE ATRE, BOLTON "'' -- 'curl condescends to copy MISQUOTING.—When the from our columns, we shall feel o, We object to matter taken from our paper neini, our contemporaries. ibfiged by behi .g quoted ;cribed tc THEATRE ROYAL.—It will be seen by our announcement elsewhere, that Mr. Clarke will commence the season at the Theatre Royal very shortly. We wish him success in his undertaking. On Tuesday morn. wild goose was capturt,.. Pier, by George Edward Harrison, a custom-house officer, coming off duty. He knocked it on the head with his tarred hat. It was a very beautiful bird, and had doubtless been driven thither by the inclement weather to seek for food. THE SHTON MURDER.—The prisoners Paxton, Row botham, Irving, and another man, supposed to be implicated in the proceedings which led to the late combination murder at Ashton, were examined before the magistrates there on Monday, and evidence having been given to implicate them in an illegal conspiracy, they were ordered to find bail, them selves in £lOO. and two crerafico ,etween one and two o'clocii 1, at the north end of the Pr indictment at ti each, to answer an gt assize , for that offenc. pAIDGEWATER V.t collection of painti ngs kl we ship's new mansion in B, to be r ays in th removal ned to-day to It will occupy se- part of the ing will immedi a t e l y b e pulled down ;a and the mansion to be erected on the site, we understand, will not be completed for six years. We learn his lordship intends having a gallery built for his pictures, which, for extent and decorations, will excel any similar apartment in this metropolis.—Globe of Monday. The Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes have directed the Surveyors throughout the country to obtain from the seve ral Assessors an account of the number of houses and cot tages in their districts not already assessed, from their being less than eight windows ; and also of the number of farm houses at present exempt. It seems from this that there is an intention to extend the operation of the Assessed Taxes to houses hitherto exempted.--Spectator. SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS. —The last concert for the sea son will take place on Tuesday next. The singers announced are Miss Rom er , Mi ss Stott, Mr. J. Harrison, and Mr. ackin. Mrs. St. Albin will perform on .the piano forte, and Herr Koenig, from Drury-lane, on the cornet a piston Mrs. St. Albin is one of the first pianofortistes,of the day, Herr Koenig may equally lay claim to the same standing on the cornopean. The house will be extremely full : the ap plication for tickets has been very numerous, indeed almost unprecedented. stes,of the day, w bile HUMANITY REWARDED.—The King of the French has just presented[Captain Cotton Symonds, of the brig Plum stead, now in this port, with a very handsome gold medal, as an acknowledgmpffi of _ of a French brig in maue in rescuing the crt, great distress, which he fell in with off Cape Horn. Although it was blowing a hurricane Lt the time, he succeeded in sav ing seven out of the twelves The rest were unfortunately drowned, owing to the boat being struck by the counter of the sinking vessel. FAILURE OF JOINT-STOCK BANKS.—The following is a list of the joint-stock banks which have failed :-1. Northern and Central Bank, Manchester ; 2. Imperial Bank, Man chester; 3. Commercial Bank, Manchester; 4. Central Bank, Liverpool; 5. Phoenix Bank, Liverpool; 5. Borough Bank, Birmingham ; 7. Leami ng t on B an k, L ea mi ngton; 8. Staffordshire Bank, Walsall. • --- THE MURDER ON THE GLASGOW RAILWAY —APPRE HENSION OF ONE OF THE SUPPOSED MURDERERS.—It Will be remembered that, an the 10th December, a " ganger" employed at the Crosshill cut, on the line of Glasgow Rail way, at Calder, in Lanarkshire, was fired at and barbarously murdered by some person or persons then unknown. Sus picion fell in particular upon a man named Denis Doolan, an Irishman, who had been. discharged from the works the day previously, and also on two other men, and a reward of £lOO was offered for the apprehension of the former, or for such information as might lead thereto, in an advertisement describing his personal appearance and dress. In consequence of information given by the police of this town, constable Samuel Lloyd succeeded in apprehending a man answering the description in material points, at a house in Harper street, Toxteth-park, where he lodged. He gave his name as Denis Hart; has apparently had his whiskers shaved off, and his hair dressed differently from the manner in which he used to wear it, supposing him to be Denis Donlan. His dress is also different. So confident, however, were the police of his identity, that it was determined to send him to Glasgow ; and he was accordingly taken on board the Actaeon steam ship (to sail last night), in custody of Lloyd and another of ficer, who will deliver him to the authorities in that city. STEAM-SHIP CALEDONIA.—The following was sent us by the passengers, and we publish it with pleasure :—" This vessel has again crossed the Atlantic main from Boston in fourteen days, remaining out of that period one entire day at Halifax. She brought upwards of eighty passengers, all of whom were delighted with the attention, courtesy, assiduity, skill, and politeness of her able commander, Captain Clel land. During her passage there was not an interruption to a single meal, the utmost regularity was observed, and the most perfect harmony prevailed. The dinners were sump tuous, served in three courses, and even this was continued during a severe gale. So greatly were all persons gratified with their accommodation, that on the day they breasted Holyhead, Colonel Isaac Davis, of Massachusetts, proposed, and John Matthewson, Esq., of Montreal, seconded, and and :t was carried with rapturous enthusiasm, That the sincere and grateful acknowledgments of the passengers on board the steam-.hip Caledonia are due, and are hereby given, to Captain Richard B. Clelland, for his courteous, kind, and persevering efforts to make the voyage from Bos ton to Liverpool as agreeable and comfortable as possible.' During the passage a sailor fell overboard, having slipped from the paddle-box, when, in a few minutes, a sum of £4l was collected by the passengers for his widow. He was a Scotchman, from Dundee, named M'Llellan."—Courier. second part of the Engravings taken from the best pictures of the Great Masters has just ap pPared. The subjects are—Thomyris with the Head of Cyrus, painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, engraved by Thomas Dick ; Landscape, Roman Edifices in Ruins, painted by Claude Lorraine, engraved by William Miller ; The Daughter of Jairus- restored to Life, painted by Rem brandt Van Rhyn, engraved by Robert Bell. The first is a gorgeous print—th e magnificent painting of Rubens is ad mirably engraved. It represents Thomyris ordering the head of Cyrus to be put into a dish full of blood. The groups around are beautifully arranged. The queen is at tended by her court, the different members of it giving ex pression to their feelings in various ways—some of fear, others of repugnance, and others of exultation. The figure of the slave is very fine. The second print is a lovely land scape from Claude. It is a perfect gem of art. This is one of the loveliest prints we have ever seen. The perfect repose which pervades throughout, and the warmth of the landscape, is delightfully imparted. The third subject is an equally fine print. This work, when completed, will be one of the.most valuable extant. MRS. RAYMOND'S BENEFIT, LIVER THEATRE.—This season Mrs. Raymond issues forth a strong bill indeed : she has a right to expect the frequenters of the theatre will put off'all other engagements on the occasion of her benefit, but wisely and discreetly, knowing what an obstinate sort of per sonage John Bull is, says—" will you come and see me ?" instead of—" you must come and see me." Her bill is a loadstone of potent influence, and we fully anticipate that two nights will not clear off all those who wish to be present. The evening's entertainments commence with a new drama expressly adapted for the theatre, entitled the Maid of Ma drid, in this Mrs. Waylett and Mrs. Raymond both appear. The interlude is entitled The Mayor in a hfist, in this Mrs. Raymond will personate several characters. The afterpiece of Blue Jackets. which has been so much admired, will con clude the evening's amusements. In this Mrs. Waylett sus tains the parts of Fanny Trunnion and Lieutenant Firefly. In the course of the evening some very pretty songs, trios, quartetts will be sung. If all these do not draw, and the be - nificiare being young, handsome, clever, and a general fa vourite, we will confess ourselves bad prophets.l During this week some highly amusing pieces have been played; Trans formation is a short but smart piece, in which Mrs. Waylett assumes the character of a " Somersetshire" lass, to deceive her brother, and induce him to become a Benedict—Mrs. Waylett plays the little part with great naivete: In Wooing a Widow, Tilbury, Higgie, Marshall, and Mrs. Waylett, pull well together, and make Selby's little farce go off capi tally. The Valet de Sham is an exceedingly laughable farce, the plot is as follows :—Mr. Tweezer (Mr. Tilbury) wishes his nephew, Captain Trivet, (Mr. Higgie) to marry Miss Marchmont (Mrs. Barton), whom he has never seen, but Trivet does not like to accede to the arrangement. By the persuasion of Wigler (Mr. Marshall), his valet de sham, he assumes Wigler's livery, for the purpose of seeing the lady without being recognised ; the lady on the other hand as sumes the part of a hoyden to deceive the Captain, and some most ludicrous scenes ensue; the audiences have been con vulsed with laughter. Tilbury's Tweezer was inimitable, his "you know what I mean" was equal to Farren. Mr. Til bury is a clever, and very amusing actor. Mr. Higgie's Trivet was dashing and offhand. Mrs. Barton's personition of the hoyden was a rich bit—while Mrs. Raymond as her maid, was droll in the extreme. Her scene with Trivet dis guised as a footman, and the interview with Wigler was ad mirably played. Peter Wilkins has concluded the perform ances each evening : the piece is got up very effectively. Mr. Mungall dances a hornpipe, and Miss de Blaquiere the high land fling, between the pieces. The Liver has been crowded every night. The light laughable farces prove very attrac tive. Mrs. Waylett's engagement will close next week AMPHITHEATRE.—On Monday evening a new meh,- was produced at this theatre, written by Mr. Henry Beverly, jun., the subject of which is taken from the late war in Syria. It is entitled " Mehemet Ali." Mr. Beverly has' availed himself of all the most striking incidents that took place during the war, and worked them up into a piece of much interest. He has adhered very closely to the various circum stances detailed in the publid prints, and has put int( mouths of the dramatis persons what the originals really oi say on sundry occasions. The melodrama is in two acts ; the first terminating with the siege and capture of Beyrout, the second with that of St. Jean d'Acre, and the blowing up of the arsenal. !Mehemet Ali is personated by Mr. Emery, who seems to have paid som e attent i on to the accounts y of the valourous old chieftain's manners and habits. His sentiments are actually those of Mehemet, and the account he gives of his life is strictly true. Mr. Beverly, amongst other incidents, introduces the attack of the Tater courier, which gives Mr. W. Cooke an opportunity of showing the sagacity of one of his horses. The pictures formed at the close of each act are very beautiful. In the first scene a Circassian ballet is intro duced, in which Miss Gates dances a pas seal. Miss Gates is improving, and will become a good dancer, but she must " snatch a grace beyond the reach of art." Ibrahim Pasha (Mr. Howard) addresses his army in the last scene of the first act in a most dignified manner. The protection of Me hemet Ali afforded to the overland mail, which arrives by the Great Liverpool, is very well introduced. Mehemet Ali's words are given verbatim. Our friend Captain Engledue does not escape a representative in the scene. The serious por tion of the drama is relieved by the introduction of an Irish man, of the "Mickey Free" school, and a Mr. Eugene Aram Kangaroo, reporter to the " Evening Trumpeter and Univer sal Hold-fast-and-Stand-up-for-the - ancient - faith Town and Country Journal." Mr. Kangaroo is in quest of the latest intelligence f for the London press, and especially the " Trum peter, which "gives away a wood-,cut and an almanac every week." The enterprizing reporter, in his endeavours to gain the fullest paiticulars, gets into all sorts of scrapes. m i .. Weston burlesques the gentleman of the press with much humour, perpetrating horrible puns, as "gentlemen of the press" generally do. This piece is uncommonly well got up, and we hope it will repay the manager for his enterprize and. outlay. The appearance of old Napier is enthusiastically ap plauded, while the audience take up most cordially all allu sions to the British army. Mr. Beverly promises to become a good melodramatist. In the circle the scenes have been very amusing ; one act particularly so, entitled the " Duchess of Puddledock," in which little Miss Cooke personates her ladyship with great gravity and propriety, and with all the airs and gracs of the antique. Mr. James Cooke's " 011 a Podrid a " ise an extremely clever _performance ; his rapid change of characters is astonishing. A very extraordinary performance takes place on the stage, by a number of per sons who f orm t h emselves into all sorts of devices—as arches, t emple , screens, &c. The posturing of the two " Non descripts," Messrs. Seal and Steward, is really wonderful. They appear to be Completely without joints. The farce of "Amazeme n t" and Missti e. as Molly Daly,concludes, in which Hammond, as Scrapeall, broad buries Ginger, cut the big figure with the 7.ident m the in the I, has Fames is, the n the imself s with its at- i from tution Id de selves .rality thaw, tichd. L. J. , and ,st re after )f un! e 20th ed at rcum- medi he old broke astaut cauSe ppear, whel maw nd p in yes% o' by its npur' Wine 6abeth mrdaY f Mrs. child Lop of lfrey's vas no --- lfre y, 9 3th on Lquest, ;hter i trial s, one ►m the hose ince's A the ;trot* )f the ', this ration :scued and a abeth le bar len a rge of tolen. Pitt ity of ming value rsday ;after said, [lees, cord cask 0 the -row. a the 1 hint back irrel. with load. ode , and ind; to it leli kin- low, ,heir tEPLY OF DR. BUCK TO THE CHARGES PRE FERRED AGAINST HIM BY CAPT. WILLIAMS. (Continued from our last.) DR. BUCK'S REPLY TO THE ECOND SERIES OF ACCU- S ATIONS Gentlemen,—lt is with mingled sensations of pleasure and pain that I now appear before you. Pleasure, in the reflec tion that the former charges have been deprived of all their sting by the defence which I was permitted to make ; pain, in that having fully replied to nine distinct accusations, 1 now find you deem it needful to hear my reply to four in addition. I trust, however, that without needless depression, either from a sense of my own weakness in mind or body, I-may yet be able to surmount every difficulty, and receive, in ad dition to the consolations derivable from a conscience void of offence, the reiteration of the former resolution of the magistracy of Liverpool, that my continuance in my present office is believed by them to be for the good of the public service. It may appear to border on presumption, or mad ness, to expect to pass through such an ordeal as that through which I have been called to pass, scatheless. What man, unaccustomed to public pleading, can reason ably expect to avoid the effects of a multiplication of charges, each one of which affects his reputation, and in consequence all his future earthly happiness ? Who can expect full ac quittal, when tried by forms of which he is entirely igno rant?—denied a specification of charges, to the establishment of which evidence is about to be produced ; informed that he must consider it a favour that he is allowed to be present while such evidence is being taken ; is denied the privilege of hearing the verdict guilty or not guilty pronounced as to former accusations ;—but on the contrary, when he attends his judges, according to appointment, fully expecting that his suspense is now to be ended, suddenly, without preparation or previous notice, learns that he is again upon trial, on new charges, (time to take advice being refused,) and further in formed, that when he has replied to these new matters, i f cannot be promised that a third set of accusations will no t have to be answered. These, gentlemen, are very discouraging circumstances they would break down many a stouter heart than mine and yet I have a hope, a strong hope, the full assurance that strength and wisdom will be given me to prevail, to con vince my judges that they have, during these proceedings, formed very erroneous impressions of my character; and that it might have been better for the interests of those con fined, or to be confined, in the borough prison, had he been looked upon as one able to give useful information, rather than as an individual whom it was expedient to disgrace, iu the eyes of every turnkey in the_gaol. . . . I purpose attempting my defence exactly in the order in which offences to be repiied to ar e specified on the resolutions which were read to me by the chairman of the committee. REPLY UCK TO THE TENTH CHARGE, RELATING tVING IECOMMENDED A SERVANT NAMED '0 MR. BItOWN Although 1 may be deemed tedious in giving a detailed ac count of my intimacy with the man Macstay,.yet without such a statement, it will be impossible that you should be able to arrive at a clear judgment, as to whether I have acted Droner], or i,,,oroneri, in relation to the charge which I am .itea to answer. oout the 28th of June, 1837, I arrived in Liverpool, 'g been appointed to the curacy of St. Matthew's Church. Never having been in this part of the kingdom, I knew not an individual in the place. I brought no recommendatory letters, and was, in fact, an absolute stranger. Early in the following month, Macstay introduced himself to me in my vestry, desiring to speak to me about the state of his mind, on religious matters. I was so pleased with the artless tale he told me of his fearful views of sin, and its consequences, that, (my wife being in the vestry) I introduced him to her, and she was perhaps more powerfully struck than I had been with the apparent work of God upon his soul. He conti-' nued his visits to the vestry, and at my private residence, for a considerable period, the persons connected with my church forming as good an opinion of bim as I did ; and at an early period, he became one, of the few, who were permitted by me, as a clergyman, to communicate at the Lord's table. In fact, I, in common with those individuals, with whom I chiefly associated, believed him to be a true and sincere christian. Learning that he was out of all employ, and at the time supported by a sister, who was a member of a Wesleyan chapel in this town ; a gentleman, at that time a member of my church, obtained for him a situation in Chester ; where he remained some months, receiving a guinea per week. He became a constant correspondent, and most of his letters abounding with sentiments expressive of genuine godliness, contained also lamentations of being separated from my mi nistry, and dislike of the nature of his present office, (as sistant in a spirit vaults.) This all appeared natural, but I recommended him to remain until some of our friends might hear of a more suitable situation ; contrary, however to this advice, he threw up his service, and returned , to Li- verpool; having in the mean time ingratiated himself into the favourable opinion of the minister, at whose chapel he had attended for public worship in Chester. Some part of the wages he had earned, was expended, as he said, in pay ing debts contracted while out of employ : upon the residue he supported himself, while I and other persons friendly to him, were endeavouring to obtain for him another situation. Some considerable delay occurred, and he suffered much from poverty. I should here state, that during the time Macsty was at Chester, I was appointed chaplain of the Borough prison, and lost the curacy I had held. Many persons, however, who regretted my removal from a public ministry, continued to attend at my private house on Sunday evenings, and on one or two week day evenings regularly. Macstay on his re turn at once joined himself to this p - arty, and was received by them as a christian : his circumstances of poverty also becoming known, a small weekly provision was raised for him, which he received, apparently with great reluctance ; and which at a subsequent time, when his circumstances had improved, he wished to repay ; he did, in fact, repay one sovereign. In July, 1838, I was obliged to change my. residence. Macstay was employed in packing, carrying, unpacking, and arranging every valuable I possessed. Books, wine, plate, bijouterie, and, in fact, all the property of the house, was within his power. No article was lost, and it was with great difficulty Mrs. Buck could induce him to receive the slight- est remuneration. He said he was under such obligation to us as he could never repay, and on this' ground resisted our importunities. He eventually received three shillings only, being that much indebted to his sister, who'll he was desirous of repaving". Later in the same year, I succeeded in obtaining for him, through a friend, a situation. I should observe, that his at tendance at our religious meetings was most punctual; and, from private conversations with hini on religious subjects, it was evident that he read his Bible much, and that he was one who loved prayer, and profited by the ministry. In this place, which was one of great confinement, under ground, he suffered much in health. He also continually re presented it as one of a most disagreeable and painful kind, from the intemperate habits of his mistress. He was, there fore, in fact, during the few months he remained there, on the look out; and enquiry, for another place, His health eventually became so evidently impaired, that neither Mrs. Buck nor I wondered at his leaving his place, and being once again a wanderer. - In July, 1839, I had again occasion to change my residence. Macstay being then out of place, and extremely poor, I em ployed him, as I had done the y ear b e f ore , t o p ac k, remove, unpack, and arrange all my property. Again, nothing was lost, the strictest fidelity was displayed. So satisfied was I of his sincerity as a Christian, and honesty as a man, (against which indeed I never heard a whisper) that seeing his poverty, and supposing him to be the object of daily sarcasm and per secution at his sister's house, I offered him a bed-room in my new dwelling, which he occupied, performing all the offices of a servant fully trusted, until Mr. Archer, your sur geon, requiring a man-servant, engaged his services ; and he, in consequence, left my abode, after a residence of nearly seven weeks ; no act of dishonesty being imputable to him. In fact, he would have been engaged by" me long before as a regular, confidential, servant, if I had required one. Macstay entered Mr. Archer's service on the sth of Au gust, 1839. Mr. Archer has told'you on oath, "That Mac stay was honest whilst in his service." He continues, " But I never could place the least reliance on his probity. I had him only for about four months. He left my service on ac count of ill health. He entered Mr. -'s service two or three weeks afterwards." Hence, then, it appears, (for I have no certain means of fixing the day) he entered Mr. -'s service at the end of 1839, or very early in the month of January, 1840. The means by which he gained the situ ation, I shall afterwards advert to. I will here only add, that up to quarter-day, in September, 1839, Macstay con tinued, as regularly as his avocations would allow him, to meet the friends assembled at my house for worship ; and that from that time, when I ceased this practice, and myself attended a public ministry in the town, Macstay attended the same place of worship nearly to the day of his apprehension for robbery, frequently calling at my house, for the purposes of religious conversation and instruction in the scriptures. Now, gentlemen, I would call to your remembrance, that Macstay remained nearly five months in Mr. -'s ser vice, without one imputation on his character. His conduct was such as to induce no suspicion, and I can even now have no doubt, that had not temptation of a most extraordinary kind intervened, had not a degree of negligence, on the part of his master, occurred, which can scarcely be accounted for, this unhappy man might still have been a faithful and a good servant. His master (the evidence taken on the trial proves the, ex traordinary fact) placed the sum of sixteen hundred pounds, in gold and notes, in a great coat pocket; threw that great coat negligently across the back of a chair; there allowed it to remain several days ; a man-servant having, iu the honest performance of his duties, free access to the room, and his duty requiring him to brush that coat; and thus putting it (with all innocence as to previous intention) within his know ledge that sum of money was within his grasp ; a sum of mo ney which would have proved a strong bait, a powerful temp tation to many persons exalted in station far above that which this wretched being occupied. Whatever character I may have given to Mr. - of this man, cannot affect the case or my conduct. The sin arose out or overpowering temptation ; it had nothing to do with the man's previous life, with his previous character, which must have appeared to you, from the statement made, and the facts adduced, at least from July, 1837, to May, 1840, unimpeachable as to honesty. , Gentlemen, the animus with which the prosecution has heen conducted against me by toy unknown accuser, has evinced itself in so stating the different charges, and in so endeavouring to sustain them, as to make very trivial and unimportant circumstances reflect as much as possible against my private character. Hence falsehood, fraud, deception, have been imputed with an unsparing hand. • Any remark made by a witness, which at the moment (when explanation on my part could not be given) appeared to press heavily, has been rapturously received. " Put down the words, put down the words," has, as you know, been a very constant cry. Witnesses who have been thought to have spoken very powerfully against me, have been complim en t e d f or t h e i r very clear evidence, &c., &c. I had hoped for very different treat ment at your hands, especially after having so fully over thrown the first set of charges to which I was called to reply. When evidence was being taken in reference to the charge against me now under consideration, it was attempted to be shewn, it was most broadly insinuated, that a prisoner, nam ed Macsty, had been imprisoned for felony, in the Borough Gaol ; that I, being chaplain of the prison, and, of course, fully aware of the fact, gave a false and wicked character, by which I obtained for hith a situation in the family of a gen tleman, whom he (as might have been expected) immediately robbed ; thus using my office, as chaplain of the prison, to enable a discharged felon to obtain a place at the cost of his employer. So; let us inquire how the case really stands. You per mitted (at my desire) the record of Macstay's first conviction to be put in as evidence. It appears from this recor d , that i n October, 1836, Macstay was tried for a felony, a n d sentenced to six months imprisonment, not in the Borough Gaol of Liverpool, but in Kirkdale. He therefore left the house of correction at Kirkdale in April, 1837, at which period I was living at Croydon, in Surrey, never having seen this place. My arrival in Liverpool I have shewn to have been during the month of June, 1837. My first interview with Macstay was in July, 1837, and you know that my first connection with the Borough Prison was in the month of February, 1838. It was therefore morally and physically impossible that, as chaplain of the prison, 1 became acquainted with the man ivfacstay. All attempts therefore to fix official guilt must be abandoned, the venom of the charge must, though perhaps very reluctantly, be extracted. I really thought that when I had fully and most clearly shown this to you, you would have dropped, nay, in truth, I thought, by you r om i tt i ng i t from your first ed i t i on o f ac cusations, that you had discarded this matter entirely from your minds. I fear, however, that the overthrow of the first charges may, by some unhappy fatality, have led to the in troduction of this second series. - •Jv av•,. The past three years of , the life of the unhappy being, through whom I am now involved in disquietude, could it be faithfully written, would certainly be most interesting, as it is most marvellous. 1 will only lead you back as far as Au gust sth, 1839, when at my strong recommendation of him, Mr. Archer trok him into his employ. On Tuesday, August 20th, about nine o'clock in the evening, two persons waited on me at my present residence; they enquired for Macstay, one of them saying, he had seen him in the neighbourhood of Renshaw-street, and had traced him to Mr. Archer's resi dence ; that he intended to call on his master, for he was de termined to have him out of Liverpool ; that a policeman had told him Macstay bad at some former period been convicted of felony ; and, that having missed some goods from his shop, his suspicions now fell upon Macstay, and that he would at once give him in charge, and take him forthwith from Mr. Archer's residence. I asked him if he really had evidence to substantiate a charge of robbing. He said he had not; but, that he had missed property since Macstay had left his service, and had now learned thot Macstay had been pre viously in prison ; it was to his mind clear that he had robbed him. I spoke to him of the hardship of such a judgment, of the unfairness of such a proceeding, against a man who, I knew had for more than two years borne an irreproachable character, and who must be ruined by such a proceeding. My wife was present when this communication was made to me, and is ready, if you will take her testimony, to verify it. The man became more tranquil, and I arranged with him that he should take no steps in the Business until I had in quired, by the records in the prison, whether Macstay had ever been in confinement. The complaining party eventually dropped the matter, finding he could substantiate no charge. Early next morning I mentioned the whole circumstance to the governor of the prison, and , requested him to assist me in my search through the prison books. The governor and the turnkeys had, on very many occasions, seen Macstay when he has come to me at the prison on business. No one re membered him. The governor said distinctly, he had cer tainly not been in confinement during his (the Governor) being at the prison; and that he had no knowledge of him as bridewell keeper. On looking over the books, however, we found that John Macstay, aged 27, had been in prison, await ing trial at the October Sessions, 1836, and bad been sen tenced to six months' imprisonment at Kirkdale. The entry, however, would make his present age 30, whereas I knew, from his constant statements, that he was only 22 years of age. We were therefore in the dark : no one could show that John Macstay, now 22 years of age, was the identical Macstay who ought, by the entry, to be 30. Still my suspicions were aroused. My sense of duty and honour towards Mr. Archer were so much alive, that on the next following day, (I now speak from an entry in Mrs. Buck's private diary,) or as Mr. Archer, in his evidence, says, on that very day, I called upon and told him all I had heard. Gentlemen, allow me here to appeal to your best feelings, to your knowledge of the ways of men. Can you readily give way to the belief, that a man who could act in this upright manner, where he had been the cause of a servant's introduc tion into a family, should at a 'subsequent time declare to a police=officer, that upon his word of honour as a gentleman, he did not, at the time of recommending him to Mr. know that the man had been in prison. With all the advan tages of what Mr. Dowling called his mechanical memory, he has sadly erred, sadly mistaken, in imputing any such words any such sentiment to me. As to the several circumstances of recommending Macstay to Mr. Archer as a servant, of making known to Mr. Archer the supposed previous guilt of the man, without delay, and of my favourable opinion of his character, I entreat you to consider well the following testimony. That I should not be very ready to believe him capable or guilty of felony, the statement of my acquaintance with him, which you have already heard, will readily account for. Mr. Archer examined : At whose recommendation did you take him—Macstay ? . 'At Dr. Buck's. What was the nature of the recommendation ? He said he was a trusty man, and that he could have confidence in him. He spoke very highly of him in every respect. How long ago is it since he entered your service ? About sixteen months. After he had been some time in your service did not Dr Buck call upon you ? Yes :—and he said he had heard certain reports respecting Macstay, which he thought it his duty to make me aware of. Did he state anything to you ? Yes :—he said he had been a prisoner in the Borough Gaol on a charge of felony,—that after trial, he served six months in Kirk dale. Did he ask to see Macstay in private ? Yes :—and he saw him. Did you afterwards see Dr. Buck ? if you did, state what took place. Dr. Buck told me Macstay denied being guilty of the charge. Did Dr. Buck express to you his opinion that Macstay was not guilty ? He did. Did he continue in that opinion for some time until after conviction, wheh Mr. 's money was found ? I ::E s. xamined ley Dr. Buck : You state that' Macstay came into your employ in conse quence of Dr. Buck's recommendation as to his trustworthi ness ? Yes :—the character was—he had been in my employ, and I had trusted him. Have you any occasion to suppose that when I gave you that character, I had any suspicion he had been in prison ? I do not think you had the most remote suspicion. Do you remember my stating that I had obtained a situa tion for him in Chester, from which he had returned with credit ? I believe I do. Do you think this man had great hold of my feelings on a religious ground ? rbelie;e you considered him a sincerely religious man. When I told you he had been in the Borough Gaol, did I speak as if I had known it, or that it was just brought to my knowledge ? It had only come to your knowledge that day. Were you, on enquiry, satisfied of the man's guilt ? I was,—but you thought more favourably. Do you remember my saying Mr. asked me if I would trust the man myself, and that I told Mr. had trusted him ? I do. Have you reason to think I at that time doubted his pre vious guilt ? I think you did not think him so completely guilty as I did. Do you know that the man to the last moment denied to me his guilt I - You told me so. From the above it will be most evident to you that in re commending Macstay asu servant to. Mr. Archer, I thought him to be a man of excellent character. I had no suspicion tbat he had ever been accused of crime. That when state ments had been made to me to his discredit, I at once spoke to his master. That Mr. Archer, on enquiry, arrived at the conclusion that he had been guilty of a felony, but that I, as the consequence of a long intimacy with the man, believed him to be innocent of the charge for which he had suffered. Thus far, I apprehend, no one action has appeared to my discredit, as chaplain of your prison. Now, observe Mr. Archer's dealings towards the young man, he being thoroughly persuaded that he had been guilty of a felony : and I beg you distinctly to understand that I do not introduce his name, in any other way than to shew that he, as an honourable man, acted in an honourable, upright way, without imputation being cast upon him, and that I, not inferior, I hope, in every sound feeling, have acted in the same way as he has done, yet have now laid to my charge an imputation of the most discreditable kind. For if I under stood the charge in its new form, it is, that I did not, when applied to for the character of a certain individual, say—' but sir, though I speak favorably, from an intimacy of more than two years duration, from knowledge of his conduct in differ ent situations he has filled, from having myself repeatedly trusted him, and although you have not asked me concern ing his character for a period antecedent to my opportunities of judging of his disposition, yet, I must add, he has been, in his earlier days, convicted of felony. It is true I thought certain circumstances, attaching to his prosecutor, so greatly withdrew from the weight of his sole testimony against the man, that I really believe him to be innocent ; yet, sir, after trial by jury, he has been declared guilty.' The not having made such a statement, is deemed creditable in one officer of a prison discreditable in another, both of them by education and station in life being considered by many persons, though perhaps not by all, as gentlemen. Now as to Mr. Archer's dealings towards this young man, when he had become, as he thought, certain of hig guilty conduct, Mr. Archer says on oath, " when I went home I stated to Macstay my con viction of his being justly found guilty of the charge, and that he was properly punished ; but that in consequence of the strong recommendation Dr. Buck had given him, and to give him an opportunity of retrieving his character, I would retain him." (Obser ve h ere, M acstay entere d Mr. Archer's service August sth, 1839, and that this conversation took place August 22d or 23d.) He continues : " but that if I found him guilty of any dishonesty, [should have him im mediately punished. He was honest while in my service. I had him only for about four months. He left my service on account of his health." Not, you will observe, from any fault, but on account of his health. Indeed I well remem ber Mr. Archer telling me that Macstry had given notice; that of course he could not ask him to remain ; but that he was sorry to part with him, he was so good a servant. I feel satisfied that Mr. Archer, called upon by you, will acknow ledge that he has so expressed himself. Mr. Archer's examination continued : Did either of the Messrs. ter? Yes, the elder Mr. _ Did you recommend him as a servant ? I did not; but said that he had been but three or four months with me, and I could only speak of his conduct while at my house. Did you tell him that he was not to be depended upon? I said I could not depend on his word, he did not speak the truth. Mr. asked me with regard to hisservices, of which I spokefaVorably: He asked me if I could recommend him to be taken into a family ? I said I could not speak of him on that point, that I spoke merely of the way in which he conducted himself while in my service—that he was quarrelsome with the o ther s e rv a n t, and ,for other information he must apply to Dr. Buck. Why Dr. Buck was to be applied to, it might perhaps be difficult to say, however such is Mr. Archer's testimony. The following was elicited on cross-examination : . _ Notwithstanding your unfavourable opinion of Macstay, you did not think it incumbent on you to say he had been in prison ? I did not. When you had heard the particulars of the first robbery, you still retained him in your service ? I did—though firmly convinced of his gnilt. Do you remember my telling you—l told Mr. how 1 had trusted Macstay ? I do. Do you remember• my aaying—Mr. asked me if I would trust the man myself, and that I told Mr. Brown I had trusted him ? I do. Have you reason to think I at that time doubted Macsty's previous guilt ? I think you did not think him so completely guilty as I did. And yet remember, gentlemen, that Mr. Archer when expressly called upon for the character of this man, as his last master did not think it needful to make known to the gentleman applying to him, the fact, that he had been tried and punished for robbery ; he believing the man to have been absolutely guilty. Was it then to be expected that I, who believed the reverse, and was not his master, should, un asked, have volunteered such a statement. Mr. Dowling, in his examination, was asked by the inspec tor of prisons. Did Dr. Buck say he believed Macsty to be a religious man. His reply was yes ; he said be was, and that he had lived with Mr. Archer the surgeon, who I also understood thought very highly of him. There surely gentlemen, on Mr. Archer's mind, must have been some secret motive, of the most praiseworthy kind, to induce him to deal thus leniently. He did not think that two years of apparently sincere penitence, was to be disregarded ; he therefore retained him in his service, during three months, and eventually parted with him, at the man's own request, on account of his ill health. He did not think it just, after the lapse of so long a time, passed in an honourable and honest course of conduct, in several different situations, to expose his former weakness, to blacken a character apparently reclaimed, and thereby cut off the possibility of his ever again finding employment ; perhaps also the consequences of the law of libel, might have led him prudentially to keep back that, the knowledge of which could do no good, could only lay bare a wound which had been healing for years. If the man once guilty of an offence however penitent he may become, is to be fol lowed through life, with the brand of felony so indelibly marked, that all may know it ; then is the removal of the punishment of death for robbery, an evil, rather than a good. Tis doctrine acted on, would fill our streets with blood, would render every habitation in the land the witness of most dreadful horrors. Mr. Archer acted the part of a feel ing, an upright, and honourable man. He thought Macsty a guilty man, but a penitent ; who had evinced his penitence by a long course of good conduct,—he therefore withheld the knowledge of former guilt. Your chaplain puts in his claim to the same character ; for, he believing the man to have been guilty in the eyes of man, but innocent in the sight of God. did but feel it his duty as a minister of religion, a minister of mercy, unasked, to proclaim infamy, which he thought to have been urnigserved. I proceed to state • the circumstances attending Mr. ---'s calling on me.‘ Mr. -- called at the prison, and conversed with me, for perhaps three minutes, standing between the gates, in e x t reme ly co ld weather. I have had said Mr. a good character as a servant, of Macsty, from Mr. Archer, but as he has only been in his service three or four months, and I understand froth him you have known him much longer, will you do me the favour to state, whe ther you would yourself trust him, and how long he has been under your observation. I told Mr. that I had known Macstay intimately, as a clergyman, during two years and a half ; that I believed him to be a sincere christian •, and that I had, on more than one occasion, trusted him with all my property, and that I had always found him strictly honest ; that he had been with me during seven weeks, before being engaged by Mr. Archer ; and that if I required a man servant for myself, I should have no hesitation in engaging him. Mr. was satisfied, and at once settled with . • I beg to add, that although Mr. - called upon me at the prison, spoke to me within the prison, and knew I was its chaplain, he did in no sense whatever propose any ques tion as to Macstay becoming acquainted with me throuzh intercourse at the gaol. If he had, my path of duty would have been clear, however painful to my feelings. I certainly, however, did not feel that I was called upon, in honour or in honesty, to say more than I personally knew of his conduct; much less could I feel that 1 was called upon to volunteer a statement of guilt which I did not then, nor do I now, be lieve to have been true as against him. I speak, of course, only concerning the first felony laid to his charge in 1836. I might very properly terminate my reply to this charge now ; but, as I am quite unwilling that it should again be imputed to me that I have purposely omitted to answer any portion of the voluminous evidence brought against me, I think it right to say a few words on Mr. Dowling's testi mony. I beg, however, in any remarks I may make, to be distinctly understwd, that I do not, when denying his statement, impute,ln the most remote degree, wilful misre presentation to him ; he can have no hostile feeling against me ; he may, however, have much of that desire to be effec tive, against an accused party, which is discernible in so many of a police force. It will always appear suspicious, when a witness can decidedly 'swear to particular words de trimental to an accused person, but is unable to swear to equally remarkable circumstances when they may be thought favourable to him. 'To suppose that any man, who has to do with many hundreds of different cases within a single month, should be able to swear certainly to particular words uttered, in the midst of ali the hurry incident to the Ses sions-house at the time of trial, months ago, is absolutely absurd. No degree of habit, no technicality of memory, can insure certain results. To ruin, therefore, a man's cha racter on the testimony of one such unsupported testimony, would be most unfair, most unjust. I will examine the whole of this testimony with care, not wilfully omitting an iota. Youhave a great deal to do with police cases ? Yes, with a great many cases. Is it possible, considering the number of cases that occur every day, you can remember the words that passed on the occasion you have described ? I should say it was, as nearly as possible ; for this reason —it is a part of my duty to exert my memory in that way, and keep things of this kind in it ; and therefore the recol lection of such matters becomes, as it were, mechanical with me. . Now, gentlemen, allow me to say, that a mechanical me mory is as likely to err as the machine for grinding loga rithms—just as likely to mislead, and to disappoint all fair expectation. You know that many apparently successful attempts have been made to impel carriages by steam, on common roads; but when put to the proof, they have failed. You know that Mr. Babbage made his machine perform wonders, but that when it became the property of the coun try, and an attempt was made to test its powers, it was laid aside. So a mechanical memory may happen to be very cor rect for a time, but be found eventually to err most egre giously. This robbery of Macstay's was a striking robbery ? Yes ; and all the circumstances coming so shortly one upon another, fixed it impressively on my memory. We have here, therefore, clearly a case in which Mr. Dow ling implies, that he can fall into no mistake : he has a full remembrance of all the particulars ; he can commit no griev- ous error. Examined. Macstay was convicted at the last sessions. Cross-examine4:— I now see that he must have been convicted at the last sessions but one. Here the memory is out of order, for the man was con victed in July. Examined : Were you aware that Macstay had been previously con victed? Certainly not. Cross-examined : You were not aware that Macstay had been previously convicted ? NoMt.was not in my observation. The opportunity I have of seeing prisoners is very short. Here you will observe an utter failure in the machinery, although all the former circumstances of I'lacstay's case must have passed in review before Mr. Dowling as commis sioner of police. Examined : It struck me that Dr. Buck had acqui red his knowledge of Macstay as chaplain, and I asked Mr. Batcheldor, and he produced a calendar showing there had been two of that name, and the individual Macstay had been previously sen tenced to six months' imprisonment. The memory here failedin two points—first, that Macstay had been sentenced many months before Dr. Buck's arrival in Liverpool—secondly, only one John Macstay was in the calendar, not two. Observe, I beseech, how readily it occurred to the com missioner of police, to suppose that Dr. Bucli,gained "Vico wiedge of Macstay, as chaplain of the prison—a suppo sition which, if true, must have militated greatly against him. Examined : Had he served his imprisonment in the Borough Ga of ? Yes. The record of conviction says no, but in Kirkdale ; but remember, if the latter were true, Dr. Buck had committed no offence as chaplain of the Borough Prison. Examined : Dr. Buck said he had recommended him, that he had been his own servant, and upon his honour he did not know at the time he recommended him that he had been in prison. Now, this may have been said, because it was strictly true, in reference to my recommendation of Macstay into Mr. Archer's service, but I utterly deny any such language being used in reference to Maestay's entering Mr. service. It could not have been said, as Mr. Dowling's mechanical memory leads him over and over again to state, in relation to Mr. ---- —seeinz that I had (as Mr. Archer tells you on oath) informed him of that fact the moment it came to my knowledge, namely, ten months previously. I will only observe on this point how easily a mistake on this point might arise. I well remember that the sessions house was particularly full of persons. A defended case was under enquiry. Many people were pressing at my back, leaning almost upon me, as I was taking notes, when Mr. Dowling made his way through the crowd, in the passage, and arrested my attention from the notes I was taking to himself. He was evidently hurried. He spoke as a hurried man of Macstay's case, it being one of very great importance. Nothing could - be more likely than that he should mistake an answer, or I a question, interrupted as we were by the pre sence and pressure of others. I feel satisfied that no one statement altogether unsupported by likelihood, or by con curring testimony, will he allowed, by impartial judges, to have any weight as against me, after I have, as I fully know, removellevery charge of moral evil attempted to be proved against me. But I proceed to consider other facts of the treachery of a mechanical memory. Examined : M`Donald had said to him that Dr. Buck had been to him to make enquiries respecting the former robbery, while Maestay was under confinement for it. Re-examined : You state M`Donald said that Dr. Buck had called on him while Macstay was in the prison ? Yes. It was in the Borough Gaol prison? Yes, that was my impression. Can you say when this enquiry was made by Dr. Buck of Mr. M'Donald? N o . My impression is, as I have already stated, that it was when Macstay was in prison. Can you positively swear that M'Donald made use of the words "during his imprisonment." That was my impression, but I cannot swear to the exact words. Now, gentlemen, you well know that, notwithstanding the excellent mechanism of Mr. Dowling's memory, he must be necessarily in error in each of the above declarations, as at the time referred to Dr. Buck had never seen Liverpool, and had no connexion with the Liverpool Borough Prison, until two years subsequent to the time in question. The man also was confined in the Kirkdale House of Correction, not in the Borough Prison ; and, therefore, Mr. Dowling must h ave perfectly misunderstood, or forgotten—what he had really been told—last July. You have said you do not know which of the Messrs. it was who spoke to you? Yes, I do remember the person, but not the Christian name. Have you reason to believe Macstay was in Kirkdale or in the Borough Gaol? From information I have reason to believe he was in the Borough Gaol. You, gentleman, know from the record that he was in Kirkdale. ou state you saw me in the court ; was it a casual meet ing, or did I appear to be engaged ? You were sitting on the bench, near the Recorder. You, gentlemen, know that I ne ver s i t on the bench near the Recorder, but in a distinct seat provided for my accom modation, apart from the Recorddr. I have, I believe, replied to every li ne o f Mr. Dowling ' s testimony : I have not wilfully omitted the slightest portion of it. Allow me to assure you most solemnly that I do not impute to him wilful misrepresentatio n , for I believe him to be a most excellent officer, as commissioner of police. My remarks have been made to shew, and that by proofs which cannot be gainsaid, how evidence intended to be most cor rectly given may vary from the real state of things; and, in consequence, how utterly unjust it would be, in a case of offence affecting, not criminal conduct, but the character of a gentleman and a minister of religion, to act upon any unsupported testimony. I believe from my soul that Mr. Dowling would not willingly utter one word which he knew to be in the slightest degree removed from truth : yet of thirteen statements depending upon memory, we have seen that in twelve there are assertions contrary to clear matter of undisputed fact, and only one remaining which from its very nature is incapable of positive disproof, although it is clearly contrary to common sense, to common honesty, and to evidence of a directly contrary tendency. My remarks, in reply to this charge, have necessarily been very extended ; you will, therefore, permit me to lay before you a summary of the argument employed. My religious acquaintance with Macstay commenced in July, 1837, and continued without interruption until the moment of his being imprisoned for c r i me i n M ay, 1840. I had reasons, from personal knowledge of him, and from the opinions of others well able to, arrive at a correct judgment, to suppose that he was a truly godly man. His conduct, as it regards honesty, appeared to be good in various places where he had obtained employment. I had also trusted him in the fullest possible manner. He was eventually, after a few months' servitude, through the power of sudden and great temptatio n to which he w as k exposed through great negligence t erougut to commit an awful crime, which any man, who had not before consented to evil, might have fallen into under similar circumstances. In August, 1839, he was charged with crime, which his ac cuser could not prove ; but this accuser, from motives of revenge, brought to light the fact, that in the year 1836 he had been imprisoned for felony. His then master, from the belief of his penitence, and lengthened good conduct, retained him in a place of trust, though he believed him to have formerly been guilty of the crime for which he had suffered : and when, on leaving that service, at his own suggestion, not from fault, but from ill health, his master was called upon to .give him a character, that he might obtain a new situation, that master stated that he bad performed his duty well, and only declined to give him a character for a longer period than the three or four months he had known him, on the ground that Dr. Buck had know!' him much longer, and could give a better answer ; in no way, however, thinking it his duty to hint, that the man had carte years preVAlruo., of Dr. Buck, when, in consequence of this reference, he was applied to, answered cypenly and honestly every question put to him ; but sincerely doubting his former guilt, imitated his late master, in not volunteering a statement which he knew must assign pne whom he believed to be a worthy man, to utter destruction. The man, to all human appearance, committed the crime for which he is now justly suffering, after an honest, upright, and diligent servitude of 5 months, —simply under , the power of tremendous temptation, most indiscreetly put in his way ; not from depraved habits, or from any circumstances over which Dr. Buck could have control. a ccnvictec To spew that Dr. Buck had not recommended the man by virtue of his office as chaplain of the prison in which on a for mer occasion he had been confined, it has been proved that his imprisonment was undergone in Kirkdale, two years be fore Dr. Buck had any connexion with the Liverpool Bo rough Gaol, and whilst he was, in fact, residing at a distance of 200 miles from Liverpool. It has appeared also that the moment he heard of an accusation against the person he had recommended, he made search in the prison records, and gave information to his master, that he might not remain in igno rance of so important a fact. I have—not indeed with the tact an advocate might have displayed—shewn you the many palpable errors meeting in one piece of evidence, affecting not the case itself, but arising out of it, and evidently adduced with the charitable hope of proving me guilty of falsehood : the weakness of the attempt —nay, its utter failure—l cannot doubt you will acknowledge. Allow me, gentlemen, in concluding my reply to this chargo, to say, I cannot envy that person his feelings, who has con - cocted such an accusation against a minister of Christ : who has thought it needful, after the charge had been broken down, on the mere cross-examination, to insist on a reply. It may be needful to investigate alleged evils, but it can never be proper to press charges, merely to weigh down by oppres sion, an unoffending, an innocent man. (To'be continued.) ORDINATION AT RIPON. The following gentlemen were ordained in Ripon Cathe dral on Sunday last, by the Lord Bishop of that diocese. PRIESTS. Thomas Atkinson, A. 8., Lincoln College, Oxford. Alexander Bean, A. 8., Pembroke College, Oxford. George Wm. Brameld, A. 8., Lincoln College, Oxford. John Fearon, A. 8., Queen's College, Oxford. Thomas George Graves, A. 8., Trinity College, Dublin. John Lewis, A.M., Trinity College, Cambridge. Wm. Layton Metcalf, A. 8., St: John's College, Cambridge. John Heaton Micklethwait, A. 8., Trinity College, Cam bridge. Sutcliffe Sowden, A. 8., Magdalen College, Cambridge. Herbert Trimmer, Literate (by letters dimissory from the Archbishop of York. DEACONS. Thomas Briarly Browne, A.8.,' Trinity College, Dublin. Thomas Hervey, A. 8., Clare Hall, Cambridge. Samuel Pagan, A. 8., St. John's College, Cambridge. Benjamin Luke Poyntz,.A.B., Trinity College, Dublin. Louis Alexander Beck, A. 8., Jesus College, Cambridge (by letters dimissory from the Archbishop of York.) Wm. Montgomery Beresford, A. 8., Trinity College, Dublin (by letters dimissory from the Archbishop of Dublin.) Alexander Leeper, A. 8., Trinity College, Dublin (by let ters dimissory from the Archbishop of Dublin.) Henry Smith, A. 8., Trinity College, Dublin, (by letters dimissory from the Archbishop of Dublin.) Thomas Woodward, A. 8., Trinity College, Dublin (by letters dimissory from the Bishop of Cashel.) The new census will be taken on the Ist of July next. Pro vision is made for taking the number of persons who shall sleep in every house on the night of Wednesday, the 30th of June. During the past year the Wesleyan Methodists have erected no fewer than 130 chapels, at a cost of £BO,OOO, being a larger number than in any other year during their existence as a body. Sir Woodbine Parish and Major Chartres, the commis sioners appointed by the British government to conduct the claims of the British merchants engaged in the Neapolitan sulphur trade, for indemnity under the treaty, have arrived in Naples. RAILROADS IN IRELAND.—An address has been pre sented to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, requesting his lordship to convene a meeting to take the subject of railroads into consideration. The present project for constructing railroads is upon a most comprehensive scale, and contemplates the expenses being borne in the first instance by the govern ment. A cabinet council was held on Tuesday afternoon at the foreign office. The ministers present, were, Viscount. Me lbourne, the Lord Chancellor, Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl of Clarendon, Marquis of Normanby, Viscount Palmerston, Lord John Russell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl of Minto, Viscount Duncannon, the Right Hon. H. Labou chere, Lord Morpeth, and the Right Hon. T. B. Macauley. RUGBY.—The thaw on Saturday and Sunday has caused the banks of the river Avon, near Rugby, to be so overflowed, that the turnpike road adjoining was flooded to such a depth as to reach the body of the mail-cart, on its way from Rugby to Lutterworth, on Monday morning, and it was with con • siderable difficulty and danger, in consequence of the strength of the current, that the driver could get the horse through. RESIGNATION OF MR. JUSTICE LITTLEDALE.—It is con fidently stated in Westminster Hall, that Mr. Justice Little dale sent'in his formal resignation on Friday last, and that his lordship retires from the bench immediately after the present term. Rumour gives the vacant seat on the bench to the Solicitor-general, and names Mr. Dundas, Queen's counsel, as the learned solicitor's successor. • We believe, however, on this point nothing has been decided.—London Standard. HARE HUNTING EXTRAORDINARY.-011 Sunday last, a hare having domesticated itself among some straw, near the farm stable of Aquhorties, where she was aroused, in the afternoon, by the_grtintiog,of some .pigs that were prowling about the premises, seeing herself surrounded by carnivorous quadrupeds, she deemed it prudent to shift quarters : but, in attempting this, one of the pigs seized her by a hind leg, while its companions attacked her on every side, and speedily devoured her !—Aberdeen Herald. THE RUMOUR OF YESTERDAY.--We have heard a report, which we blush to record, still proof, abundant and satisfac tory proof, we fear, exists : it is a story that will involve the best and noblest in sorrow, in sackcloth, and in ashes. The evidence is, alas ! complete to moral conviction, though it may not pass the ordeal of a court of law. Two soldiers— the one a culprit, the other an evidence—have for two years hush-money. A brawl superinduced crimination and re crimination—the secret they had both kept was divulged— and the name of an M.P. spread abroad as a principal in the contamination. Fo; the present we forbear saying more. — Era. REPRESENTATION OF EAST SURREY.—The death of Cap tain Alsager has made a stir in this county. We learn, from an authentic source, that altluktgh the whigs are on the qui vine in behalf of the Hon. Locke King, (who was defeated before on the same ground, and is, moreover, an unpopular man,) their candidate has no chance. A conservative alone can stand for East Surrey with any prospect of success. Se veral gentlemen have been named ; amongst them Arthur Kitts Barclay, Esq., of Norbeton, and Newman Smith, Esq , of Croydon Lodge; but we perceive, by an advertisement in our columns of to-day, that Mr. Antrobus, the son of Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart., has offered himself as a candidate. —Morning Herald. FLOOD IN THE SEVERN.—In consequence of the rapid thaw which began on Saturday last, added to a subsequent fall of rain, the river Severn rose on Monday, in a very short time, to an almost unusual height. The suburbs of Frank well, Coleham, and Abbey Foregate have been inundated by the water, as well as most of the houses in the lower part of the town—a circumstance that will cause much inconveni ence to many of the humbler classes from the damp state in which their dwellings must for some time remain. Fortu nately many of them have received a timely supply of coal from the subscription now in progress for the relief of the poor. The flood, we are happy to state, is fast subsiding, and no particular damage has been sustained in the vicinity of the town.—Salopian Journal. HIGHWAY ROBBERY, WITH VIOLENCE, NEAR WIGAN, DESPERATE CONFLICTS, AND FINAL CAPTURE OF ?HE ROBBER. - A highway robbery, accompanied with consi derable violence, was committed in the neighbourhood of Wigan, during the night of Thursday last. Mr. Coupe, bleacher, of Haigh, after spending the evening with a few friends, at the house of Mr. Ogden, publican, in Scholes, quitted that house between twelve and o n e o'clock, to pro ceed to his own residence at Haigh, distant about two miles. Mr. Coupe, though somewhat under the influence of liquor, was by no means deprived of his faculties of observation or recollection. While pursuing his way up Roger-lane. which is situated between a public-house called the " Von Blucher" and his own residence, a man suddenly rushed upon him, and instantly knocked him down, but by what means he could not tell. The man then fell upon him with great force, and proceeded to rifle his pockets, which, however, contained only a few pence. Mr. Coupe, on recovering from the stun ning effect of the blow which had felled him, resisted the robber, and a desperate struggle ensued, which lasted for some time; but at length Mr. Coupe was overpowered, and completely deprived of sensibility by his murderous antago nist kicking him in the most savage manner repeatedly on the head and face. On recovering from the state of insen sibility, induced by these brutal injuries, Mr. Coupe was discovered by a man well known in the neighbourhood under the cognomen of " Sam ;" who, knowing Mr. Coupe, con ducted him to the " Von Blucher," that being the nearest house. Here Mr. Coupe discovered that his neck and face were covered, and his shirt and clothes saturated with blood; of which he must have lost a considerable quantity. As his hat had been knocked off, and lost in the struggle with the highwayman, Mr. Coupe requested Sam to go back to the spot and search for it. Shortly afterwards, while Sam was absent, a knock was heard at the door ; and this, not being attended to, was repeated ; on which Mr. Coupe desired a lad, the only individual left up in charge of the house to open the door, supposing that Sam had returned. On the door being opened, a man entered, taking off his hat, and deposit ing it somewhere in the lobby, while he went forward to the fire where Mr. Coupe was seated. One glance at the in truder was sufficient to assure Mr. Coupe that he again saw before him the villain with whom he had but a few minutes previously been engaged in deadly conflict. With the natural feelings which such a recognition might be expected to awaken, Mr. Coupe sprung upon the fellow ; and, notwithstanding he was again assailed with severe blows and kicks, inflicting additional wounds, he succeeded in keep ing his hold of the ruffian, until some of the inmates of the house, roused from their slumbers by the noise of the con flict, came to his aid, and the man was secured. The hat was then brought from the lobby, and proved to be that of Mr. Coupe, the lining having been torn out of it subsequent to the highway robbery. The prisoner threw a handkerchief into the fire which he had had wrapped round his body ; but this was snatched from the fire before it was materially da maged, and was identified by Mr. Coupe as his own. A po liceman was then sent for, into whose charge the prisoner was delivered, and by whom he was recognised as a fellow of bad character, a native of Wigan, named James Bolton. Though apparently not more than twenty-one years of age, he is said to be old in crime, having repeatedly been in cus tody, and not only summarily convicted before the magistrates of various petty offences, but also indicted at the sessions for more serious felonies. Indeed, no longer ago than the last Wigan Borough Sessions, his father and he were placed at e bar together, indicted for felony ; the father was found guilty, and he is now undergoing his sentence of three months' imprisonment. The young man was then acquitted in consequence of the evidence not being sufficient legally to warrant his conviction. Some seven or eight years ago, he is said to have received sentence of transportation for life ; but that sentence, in consequence of his youth, was subse quently commuted for one of " twelve months' imprison ment.' ,On Monday last, the prisoner was brought up be fore the sitting magistrates at Wigan, John Lord, Esq., the mayor, and D. WlCeillie, Es, when the facts w e h ave stated were given in evidence. During the examination, the prisoner exhibited the utmost indifference ; his demeanour throughout being extremely insolent, callous, and offensive. The magistrates, after hearing the whole of the evidence, committed the prisoner for trial on the charge of highway robbery. We are glad to hear, that Mr. Coupe is in a satis factory state of progress towards recovery from the effects of the injuries he received in his double conflict with the pri soner.—Mancheater Guardian. DEATH OF A CHILD FROM AN OVER DOSE OF A MIXTURE CONTAINING BELLADONA. An inquest was held on Tuesday last, and, by adjournment yesterday, before P. F. Curry, Esq., touching the death of m, _ case, coupled with the recollection of the recent fatalities amongst children from the administration of potent drugs, excited very considerable interest, and a considerable number of professional gentlemen were present at the inquest. The case, however, differed materially from those we have re cently, had occasion to notice, inasmuch as the medicine given to the child was made up by the druggist in accordance with the prescription of a regular medical practioner, Mr. Bainbrigge, surgeon. As the evidence tends to show the danger of administering antimonial wine that has not been recently prepared, and that, too, with distilled water, in place of sherry wine, as directed in the m o d ern p h arma - copce i a, as well as of belladona, we give the principal part of the evidence. • Elizabeth Arnold said that she and her husband lived in Robinson's-Place, Lower Grafton-street. The deceased was their son. Mr. Bainbrigge, surgeon, who attended a female in the house, was consulted on Wednesday last, as to the de ceased, who had the hooping-cough. He wrote a prescrip tion, and gave directions that half a teaspoonful of the anti monial wine, which was to be given every 20 minutes until he was sick, and a teaspoonful of the other part of the prescription every six hours. She took the prescription to a druggists oppo site St. James' church, and next morning sent a woman for the medicine, who brought it in two bottles, each of which were labelled; the larger, " Balderston, chemist, No. 1, Mill street : a teaspoonful every sixth hour;" and the smaller, " J. Lowther, chemist and druggist, 1, Mill-street, opposite St. James's Church : antimonial wine." On Friday morning she gave the deceased two doses of the antimonial wine, as directed ; and about ten the same night, a teaspoonful of the ,dark mixture. The deceased commenced screaming imme diately after ; lie continued screaming until about five o'clock in the morning, when he was seized with a dreadful fit, and one fit succeeding another until eight o'clock, when he died. The deceased had previously been quite well, excepting having the hooping cough. He screamed out immediately after the dark mixture was put into his mouth. She afterwards went to Mr. Balderston, and told him that the child was dead ; and in reply to her question, whether it was the proper me dicine, he said, it was all right. William Henry Bainbrigge, surgeon, said, he was one of the surgeons to the Ladies' Charity, and was attending a female at the house of the deceased's parents, when he was requested to prescribe for him, he then having the hooping cough. He recommended antimonial wine and a mixture he had generally added for hooping cough. (He stated the dose of each, and the times at which each was to be given.) The prescription produced was his, and it contained carbonate of soda, one scruple ; extract of belladona, six grains ; ipecacu hana wine, one drachm ; six drachms of mucilage ; and barley water, one ounce; and which prescription he had always found to have a good effect for the hooping cough. Antimonial wine is generally made from sherry wine and antimony. This medicine is sometimes made with common pump water and spirit, and when so made, the emetic tartar becomes decomposed, and is liable to become highly injurious when given to infants in such a state, as the least speck of oxide of antimony adhering to the coat of the stomach would produce death to so young a child. On a post mortem examination of the deceased, he found three distinct patches of circum scribed inflammation on the inner coat of the stomach. The remaining part of the stomach was apparently in a healthy state. He had no doubt that inflammation of the stomach was the cause of death. The pupils of the eyes were con tracted ; the white part of the eye was in a natural state. He was satisfied that the patches of inflammation were not pro duced by any narcotic poison. Antimonial wine, decomposed in the way stated, might have done so ; and the specimen produced does not appear jn a pure state, and has not been made in the present form recommended by chemists. He considered a teaspoonful of the dark mixture to be a common dose; but in spasmodic affections it would be better to com mence with a smaller quantity. The inquest was then adjourned to yesterday. Mr. P. Wright appeared for Mr. Balderston, and ably con ducted the case so far as it related to that gentleman, or to Mr. Henderson, the young man who is his assistant, and who made up the articles according to the prescription. Mr. Bain brigge, Mr. Harbord, surgeons, and Several other professional gentlemen were also present, and made some remarks in the course of the inquiry ; but, as their observations did not bear upon the cause of the deceased's death, they were not taken down in evidence. Richard Hargrave Brett, Professor of Chemistry, and member of the College of Surgeons. I have made a careful analysis of the two bottles which were handed to me at the adjourned inquest One contained about a fluid ounce of a dark-coloured mixture : the other about two fluid drachms of a colourless mixture. The dark fluid I evaporated to dry ness. The substance that remained I examined, for the pur pose of ascertaining if it contained any mineral poison. I first satisfied myself that it was free from arsenic, or any mineral poison. The remainder was then burnt to destroy and drive off the votatile portions. What remained proved to be, by chemical analysis, carbonate of soda, phosphate of lime, traces of oxyde of iron, with alkalis, chlorides, and sul phates, and I was unable to detect any mineral substance commonly classed under the name of mineral poisons. The bottle containing the colourless mixture contained about two fluid drachms. The result by analysis led me to conclude, that it contained tartar-emetic, oxyde of antimony, and a small quantity of oraanic matter, in all probability resulting from the decomposition of a portion of the tartar-emetic from long keeping. Ido not think that in this state the last men tioned would be more injurious than the tartar-emetic itself. From the experiments made during the analyzation, I should say that the preparation was not made from common pump water. The medicine called antimonial wine is now made from tartar• emetic and sherry wine, and even if so made, is more liable to decomposition than if made from mere spirit and water. If a small quantity of the oxyde of antimony were for a length of time in contact with the inner coats of the stomach, it might produce inflammation such as described. By Mr. 13ainbrigge.—A few hours would be sufficient. This might happen without the antimonial wine being im properly made by the druggist. I consider that pure narcotic could not produce such inflammation as would cause the death of the child ; but belladona is not a pure but an acrid narcotic. I have examined the prescription, and I would not myself prescribe so large a dose of belladona, from my know ledge, and recorded experience of its effects upon the system. I think it possible that belladona might produce such detached patches of inflammation on the stomach as those described. I never have myself prescribed it. Mr. Thomas Henderson said—l am assistant at the shop of Mr. Balderton, Mill-street, and have served nearly four years of my apprenticeship, but not to Mr. Balderton. I remem ber two females bringing the prescription now produced, and which I made up of the quantities and of the materials therein mentioned. The coroner then summed up the evidence with great per spicuity ; and the jury in a few minutes returned a verdict of chance medley. MEETING OF THE DOCK COMMITTEE The usual weekly meeting of the Dock Committee was held yesterday. The following members were present : Messrs. Benu, Barclay, T. Holt, H. Holmes, Booth, Hors fall, Mellor, Chapman, Evans, Tobin, Middleton, Aikin, G. Holt, and Sands. Mr. Benn, deputy-chairman of the committee, presided. The weekly bills and other accounts were passed without eliciting any remark. The Sub- , committee of Works presented a report, recom mending certain alterations to be made in the shed on the west side of George's Dock, and the north end of the shed to be boarded up, in order to protect the goods placed within from the severity of the weather. The committee confirmed the recommendation. The same Sub-committee reported that they had received a letter from the Dublin Steam Packet Company, suggesting that lights be placed at the side of the shed nearest the water on the east side of Clarence Dock, and offering to pay the expense. The object of these lights was to prevent accidents in the night to passengers, and to facilitate the loading and unloading of steamers. The recommendation of the Sub- committee was, that the application be granted, provided the lights be placed to the satisfaction of the Surveyor.—Con firmed. A letter was read from Mr. J. S. Leigh, consenting to take ss. a year as a nominal rent for the site of the intended sea mark on Grange Bill, and offering to supply the stone for th• erection, and also approving of the design. The column is to have the following inscription—" This column was erected by the Trustees of the Liverpool Docks, by permis sion of John Shaw Leigh, Esq., Lord of the Manor, who also granted the stone for the erection, in the year 1841, as a beacon for mariners in the vicinity." The Secretary was directed to address a letter to Mr. Leigh, in the name of the committee, thanking him for his liberality. The MARINE SURVEYOR, in cotnphance with a wish of the committee, that he should consider the subject, reported that it would be injudicious, on many grounds, to remove the Telegraph Station on Hilbre Island to Grange Hill. Two portable cranes were ordered to be erected on the north-west quay of George's Basin, of the power of three tons each, for the use of vessels paying dock dues, free of ex pense, but subject to the regulations in force as to other cranes. The Sub-committee of Finance reported that they could not' recommend any abatement in the Graving Dock dues, charged for the American ship Rob Roy, noticed in our last. The CHAIRMAN stated that the committee would have to authorise the chairman to affix their seal to the petition to the House of Commons for the dock bill; but the chairman being absent, it was necessary that the seal should be affixed by the senior member of the committee, being a member of the Council. The Town-Clerk had been requested to state upon whom this duty would fall ; his reply had not yet been received, but when it had the seal would be affixed. Mr. TORIN.—I shall object to its being sealed by any of the rejected of the people. (Laughter.) The Sub-committee of Finance reported that they had made certain arrangements for an improved method of keeping the books in the treasurer's ilepartment, which would shew the constituency under the dock acts, and give the other infor mation which had been spoken of at a former meeting, as be ing very desirable. The three clerks in the office would be put to some extra trouble by it, for which it was proposed to increase their present salaries by an addition of £5O to each. With the exception of fitting up a vacant room for an office, this was described as being the only expense attendant upon the introduction of the improved system. It will commence on the 25th June next.—The report was confirmed. The CHAIRMAN reported that the Marine Surveyor (Lieutenant Lord, R.N.) had received a letter from the Ad miralty, requiring him to prepare for service, or his commis sion would be forfeited. This letter had been laid before some members of the committee, and it had been suggested that Lord Sandon should be written to with a view to use his interest with the Admiralty to procure the order to be rescinded. Mr. MELLOR observed that the committee could not dis pense with Lieut. Lord's services. Mr. HORSFALL thought that Mr. Creswell, as well as Lord Sandon, should be requested to use his influence with the Admiralty. Mr. G. HOLT inquired at what period Lieut. Lord was re quired to be ready for active service? The CHAIRMAN replied on the Ist bf April next. The matter then dropped, it being understood that the members for the borough should be written to concerning it. This being all the business on the paper the committee separated. INFLAMMABLE AIR FROM ALCOHOL.—Pelouze and Mil lon, by passing alcohol over anhydrous barytes, elevated to a dull red temperature, found that carbonate of barytes was formed, and carburetted hydrogen given off., This is the first instance in which this gas has been form9d artificially ; when formic acid is heated with an oxide, it is decomposed into carbonic acid, which unites with the oxide, and into pure hydrogen. In this case, the half of the hydrogen comes from the water which has been decomposed by the carbon of the formic acid under the influence of potash. This action it occurred to the chemists mentioned, might also extend to alcohol. They passed carburetted hydrogen procured from alcohol over hydrate of baryt es , an d o b ta i ne d hydrogen in large quantities. Naphthaline disengaged the same product. The anhydrous oxaltes, when heated with barytes, afford, as is well known, carbonic oxide. By sub stituting hydrate of barytes, hydrogen is procured; carbonic oxide, also, under the same circumstances, affords pure hy drogen ; even charcoal itself does the same. Pelouze and Millon have drawn the following conclusions :—anhydrous barytes takes up from organic substances all the carbonic acid which their elementary composition permits them to furnish ; hydrate of barytes extends the decomposition fur ther, and tends to burn all the carbon, while the hydroge n which proceeds from th e decomposition of the water is dis engaged in a free state.--Athenceum. CORRESPONDENCE, IRELAND (FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.) Dublin, January 20, 1811. The agitator's visit to Belfast has turned out to be a greater disappointment to his hopes than his bitterest adversary had reckoned upon. It has proved more clearly than any a priori reasoning could possibly do, that the repeal is an object of desire only with a religious sect in the country—the sect to which the agitator himself belongs. In the south and west, where the religion of Rome is predominant, and where the agitator is confessedly the man of the people, repeal operates ai a charm, and exerts an influence exactly co-extensive with the spread of the Roman Catholic religion, but no farther. For the Protestant, it has no attractions,—over him it wields no power. Our liberal gentlemen of this profession, who are in general ready enough to go the entire swine with the Ro manist party, have drawn back on this point. There was something in it demanding such a complete coincidence and identification with the " animal"—to the very snout and ears —that they could not bring their courage to the sticking place sufficiently to attempt it. Consequently, even where Protestants are few and far between, and sorely beset and co erced by Popish neighbours, they took leave to keep aloof from this particular move and agitation. As to the true con servative Protestants or Orangemen, as they are invariably designated by the enemy, the.agitator had early found them to be impracticable, and when he discovered, after stooping to the lowest acts of sycophancy and meanness, that even pledging King William of glorious memory in the pure wa ters of the Boyne, produced no effect on their flinty hearts, he returned once more to his congenial habit of pronouncing upon them every species of anatheina. He has lately " turned" again —for Daniel can t urn an d t urn a d i n fi n i tum, an d b e a ' false knave" still • and in the strength of a s illy p resum pti on , he persuaded himself that he might go down amongst them to the black north in one chain of continued orations. But the result proves how egregiously he deceived himself. The bare announcement of his intention caused an electric shock to be felt through every fibre of toryism ; and the government be coming alarmed, judged it necessary to take strong measures to guard against evil consequences. The infection of alarm spread even to the breast of the intrepid Daniel himself, and the papers have already told you, how instead of passing the barrier, in southern fashion, with horns blowing, and repeal flags ying, this man of the Romanist populace thought better of it, and stole down incog, desirous of nothing so much as that he might escape all notice whatever. And well it was that he chose this " better part of valour ;" for it now appears that the " Orangemen" were fully prepared to give him a reception of a much warmer kind than could have been at all pleasing. On reaching Belfast he remained a close prisoner in his hotel, and did not venture out even to his chapel on Sunday. On Monday he continued still in confinement, and in fine departed without venturing to ascertain for himself the progress of ruin in that locality, brought into operation of course by that terrible scourge of Ireland—the act of union. And perhaps it is as well for his own peace of mind, as for his personal security, that be was thus cribbed and confined ; for assuming it as an axiom that Daniel never tells truth but when it is his interest to do so, he would have found that nothing but the most enormous lying would carry him through in any reference he might hereafter make td the flourishing capital of the Protestant North; for Belfast supplies a flat contradiction to all his theories and declamation touching the impious effects of the union. Belfast is a great and prosperous town, and the union has not in the least impeded its advancement; how would the agitator reply to that stubborn fact ? But a truce with his extravagancies. It would be an insult to the com mon sense of your readers to notice them. With regard to this northern campaign of his, I can only say that the man seems to me to have been infatuated when he undertook it. Quos Deus vult perdere, pries dementat, saith the school boy proverb—and perhaps we arc now come in earnest to the " beginning of the end. From certain preparations making in the neighbourhood of Leeds, I doubt if our agitating Quixote will meet with a better fate in that quarter than he has just experienced here. It is surely fair to hope that desert may meet with its just reward under all circumstances. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL:ST.4NDARD. SIR,--T beg to enquire by what act of Parliament or au thority a fair is now holding in the very heart of thig town? If any one doubts this, I beg they will step down to the Custom House, and in the open ground opposite they will perceive an assemblage of all the ragtag-and-bobtail that usually attend such places. It may be very well for the publicans and tobacconists in the neighbourhood that there should be nightly an assemblage of the refuse of the town, to frequent the twopenny shows and other rubbish there exhi bited; but to the peaceable and quiet-loving inhabitants the scenes that take place are most disagreeable, and call for the interference of the authorities to disperse the temporary tenants of the vacant• ground. If the corporation let this land to the persons assembled, the Council ought to be in dicted for a nuisance. —Yours, &c., 19th January, 1841. A HOUSEHOLDER. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—A dish of very ill-cooked materials was served up in the Courier newspaper of Wednesday last, by some party styling himself " A Friend to the Pilot who weathers the Storm," wherein I was sorry to discover an over-spicing of invidious reflection upon certain suggestions made by Capt. Gowan, of the steamer Falcon, for the purpose of inducing a reduction in the rates of pilotage under peculiar circum stances. Ship-owners, however, feel very much obliged to Capt. Govian for his valuable remarks upon the subject ; and the reasonableness of the same is so completely obvious, that no doubt occurs to my mind but the Pilot Committee will see the necessity of modifying the scale of rates without loss of time. For what can be more fair than that when a ship takes steam the owners should have some reduction made in the charge for pilotage, proportionate to the risk and trouble from which the pilot is relieved in consequence. It is to be hoped that the worthy commander of the Falcon will survive the vulgarian attack made upon him in the Courier, and I feel perfectly assured that it will not render him less effica cious in the sphere of his usefulness.—l am, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, H. W. H. THE PROTESTANT ALMANACK AND THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, Sin,—My attention has just been called, since I returned from London, to a very high commendation of my Protestant Almanack, from the Editor of Fraser's Magazine, for which I beg to return him my sincere thanks; and also to some scurrilous abuse of my Protestant Almanack, from the Edi tor of the Liverpool Mercury, to whom I beg also to return my sincere thanks; considering radical abuse quite as valua ble as conservative praise. I would not say more than this, were it not to shew the utter recklessness of truth in our radical papers. I must not complain of the Rev. Hugh W.Neile being mixed up in this abuse, which is due to me alone, knowing, as I do, that the Mercury would not sell unless the continued attacks upon that reverend gentleman were persevered in ; therefore, however grovelling this may be to contemplate, it is his living, and this is his excuse. The Editor complains that I never hint at the fact, " that during the reign of Elizabeth hundreds of Roman Catholic priests were hung, drawn, and quartered, and that of the laity many were subjected to torture, and some to death." I never stated this, certainly, because it is false. What says Sir Edward Coke on the subject?—" It may be noted, from the authority of the celebrated Sir Edward Coke, that in the five years' reign of Mary I. there were put to death about three hundred persons for religion; whereas, in all Elizabeth's time, the space of forty-four years and upwards, there were, for treasonable practices, executed in all not thirty priests, nor above five receivers and harbourers of them ; and for religion NOT ONE."—Reformer's Library, vol. 5, pace 553. But, really, some minds are so habituated to slander, vi tuperation, and abuse ; lying seems so much an infirmity of their nature, that truth in any shape becomes altogether un palatable to them. And why so much beating about the bush ? why not name these hundreds of priests who were hung, drawn, and quar tered ? Let us have matter of fact, Mr. Mercury. And because I will not deny that Protestants have committed crimes which the present generation would not attempt to justify, " I have no great faith in the challenge which I have given." It is because lam determined to uphold truth that I make such statement; and I know, from the corruption of human nature, fallen man is prone to persecution ; and I should as much expect to find a nation without crime as the Mercury with nothing but truth. But the difference is here. If Protestants persecute, it is in direct violation of their re ligion; when papists persecute, it is in strict►conformity with theirs. Respecting the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the Editor of the Mercury says—" If his present Holiness were monster enough to approve of that barbarous massacre, he could not be fool enough to avow it in this manner." lam prepared to prove that the medal in commemoration of that awful massacre was recast in December, 1839 ; is the Editor of the Mercury prepared to disprove such fact? If not, he has stamped his Holiness a monster, and I doubt much if he will approve of this Mercurial anointing. Will the Editor of the Mercury, or any popish priest in Liverpool, point out to me any of their works of authority in which the massacre of St. Bartholomew is condemned as a barbarous slaughter ? I will leave them to this research, and remain, Sir, your obedient servant, JOSEPH CRISP. Mr. Thompson the gun maker of Birmingham, who was found guilty of, and imprisoned for, supplying arms to the chartists in the north, has beenliberated, upon entering into his own recognisances for good behaviour. Extensive stabling will be erected shortly in the immediate vicinity of the course at Ascot-heath, for the express accom modation of the horses of her majesty, when the court pro ceeds from Windsor to the course. MYSTERIOUS PROFESSION.—" Now, Tom," said the printer of a country newspaper, in giving directions to his apprentice, " put the ' foreign leaders' into the galleys, and lock em up—let Napoleon's remains have a larger head— distribute the army in the ease—take up a line and finish the British Ministers'—make the young Princess' to run on with the Duchess of Kent'—move the Kerry hunt' out of the chase—get your stick and conclude the horrid mur der' that Joe began last night—wash your hands and come in to dinner, and then see that allithe pie is cleared up. DAGUERREOTYPE PAlNTlNGS. — lmprovements on the new art invented by M. Daguerre are in progress. M. Grehoff, of Moscow, has written to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, that he has succeeded in rendering Daguerreotype drawings ineffaceable, and sent plates possessing this pro perty. He has succeeded in obtaining drawings on copper and brass plates, and annoEnces that he can transfer an en graved plate on copper, and engrave it afterwards, whether in relief or in taglio. M. Hubert, architect, has also pre sented the academy with plates, prepared Recording to the method of M. Fizeau, with chloride of gold, in order to give more tone to the drawing. He is now applying this process to old plates, as well as to the most recent. By a process, which he has not yet communicated, he has succeeded in colouring these plates, and has already obtained white, blue, and yellow colours. ETON.--It is more than merely rumoured that Dr. Haw trey, the head master, has given permission to Count Bat thyany to send his two sons to Eton College. The Rev. Doc tor has likewise given them permission, as they are Papists, to attend (upon their arrival, at the termination of the pre sent vacation) the Romish chapel, at Ciewer-green, about a mile and a half from Eton, instead of the Protestant chapel attached to Eton College. We give this report as we have heard it. Whether the Provost of Eton, who is of very strong church principles, w ill allow the Protestant r eligion of the ecclesiastical establi s h m e n t over which he pres ides to be, in this instance, entirely set aside, remains to be proved, for it rests with the provost to permit or disallow the absence of a scholar from the religious exercises of the school.—Cor respondent of the Times. - , MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.—COACH ACCIDENT. — The Lon don and Aberystwith mail. on its way to Kington, was over turned on Monday morning last, near Strethough, going at an extra pair of .. and horses, Mr. andiio Monk house, th e . the foot of Plinlimmon. In consequence of the snow-storm the coachman had provided postilion missed his way in c: p •o Hr s e s uc i g n iii) g lietsa th ieE e d r s: jo_athde, wwhheoriee,tournnoinneg side, is a ravine of considerable depth, into which the coach both gentlemen miraculously i ry g jee h t t scratches and bruises ! rite h a n o and s t e w , o o i f n s A id b e er p y a s s w se it te w rs e and yet themselves off, and were not h e'.3° „ :ace r acr t h,Pteamwdnailti with c'sd p nlij o rgY s i uc t eaa i li f o dea n wnt received w in as a situation.zoisittepde,railnodusproeeedea on its the journey. ty sury coun In a few hours the coach, & c . It is a singular Mr. II coincidence that Hughes is eyor.--Ifere ford Times.