The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-05-18 00:00:00

ANNIVERSARY MEETING or TILE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, AT EXETER-HALL. (From our London Correspondent.) Well, thank Heaven, there is one rank imposture less in the world ! The Society of Mawworms, who, for the last half century, have exhibited periodically at Exeter-hall, and elsewhere, their overflowing benevolence towards " the poor children of Africa ;" whose itinerant members have startled the ears of the rustics in our country towns with horrible stories of negro suffering in our West Indian Islands; who have deluged " meeting-houses" with the tears of sensibility, wrung from the hearts of philanthropic ladies and maidenly bachelors, and extracted half-crowns and half-sovereigns by the hundred, from most exquisitely fashioned purses, to be expended in printing reports and other incidental expenses" —(an item this, by the bye, which generally bears about the same proportion to the really useful expenditure of any hum bug of this kind, as the two gallons of sack to the halfp'orth of bread in Sir John Falstaff's tavern bill) ;—who have paint- ed the woolly-headed negroes of our plantations as so many Apollos and Venuses ; and the planter himself as some mon- ster and " chimaera dire," fit only to be invoked to frighten children in the nursery, and to excite pretty shudders from misses in their teens ;—TIiE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, with Thomas Clarkson at its head and John Cropper at its tail, has blown up like any other soap-bubble of the kind, and will no more be able, by its tales of horror, or by its rank and loathsome hypocrisy, to " fright the isle from its pro priety"—to extract pounds, shillings, and pence from the befooled and bamboozled people of this easily gulled nation ! It has always been my opinion, I must confess—and a week ago I ventured to express it in the columns of THE STAN DARD—that the professions of humanity to the negro, indul- ged in, " usque ad nauseam," by the mock liberals of this country, were a little tinged with-a spirit of inveterate hosti lity—political hostility—towards the West Indian body. From the Anti-Slavery Reporter—the great organ of the humanity-mongers—down to such " small deer" as your own Mercury, the columns of the anti-slavery journals have been devoted unceasingly to the propagation of slander and misrepresentation of the character, and to the depreciation of the property, of the planters of our colonies. To put down slavery has been the ostensible, but to ruin the West Indian proprietor has been the real object of these canting conspi rators. And yet I attended the meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society yesterday, with the idea, I must own, that however spotted with the leprosy of hypocrisy might be the general mass of the body—that with whatever alacrity its Liverpool, its Manchester, or its Roclidale committees, composed of such pure materials as I know them to be composed of, might be ready to turn round with her Majesty's incapables, and follow any dirty course which would put the fraction of a farthing in their pockets—such men at least as Clarkson and Gurney, Fowell Buxton and Allen—men who have made the, mitigation of the horrors of slavery the professed business of a whole life, and who are acquainted with the working of the system in all its branches, would not allow themselves to be blinded by the same flimsy pretences=the same shuffling so- phistry, which has been doled out during the past week, to bewilder the addled intellects of " liberal" members of the House of Commons. From the lips of such men I expected to hear the indignant resolution proclaimed, that it was not a slight thing—that it was not to afford a temporary support to a falling and a desperate ministry—that they were pre- pared to peril the fruits of years of exertion and millions of expenditure—to crush the growing prosperity of that new race of freemen they have created—to rivet the fetters upon millions who are still enslaved—and to give power to the Juggernaut which is to trample upon millions who are yet unborn. But I heard no such gratifying and elevated senti ments at this meeting. The business of the various speakers, with one exception—(that of the son of Powell Buxton, who, in his own name and that of his father, repudiated the minis terial propositon)—appeared to be to disclaim any wish to embarrass the government in its attempt to introduce slave grown sugar. The attention of the meeting was studiously led away from the consideration of the probable working of that measure to that of slavery in the East Indies, slavery in America, in Texas, in all the world ; but not a whisper was there of slavery in the Brazils or in Cuba—not a word of that devastating traffic in human flesh—not a word of that " using up" of living beings in the cultivation of the sugar with which (as a boon indeed !) Great Britain is about to sweeten the food of her manufacturing population. Not a word of all this was uttered yesterday ; but of abuse of the West Indian body and of the tory party we had ample mea sure, intermingled with not a little of the clap-trap of cheap bread and free trade ! The most ineffably disgusting exhibition of the day, how ever, was the exhibition of Mr. Daniel O'Connell as the apologist, "ex officio," of her Majesty's ministers. He forsooth, was about to save harmless the reputation of the whole fraternity of philanthropists by moving in the House of Commons that foreign free labour sugar should be admitted at an equal duty with the produce of free labour in our colo nies. Foreign free labour s-ugar Where can such a com modity be found ? The immeasurable vagabond had the cool assurance to put forward this transparent fraud upon the credulity of a British public ; and the meek and saintly mem bers of the anti-slavery society sate quietly by and counte nanced the fraud. Nay, more ; these pure and pious gentle men, who had just previously expressed such a holy horror of the introduction of anything of a political nature at their meeting—whose objects were restricted solely to the sup pression of slavery throughout the world—sate by and cheered and chuckled whilst this "miscreant" demagogue, amidst the disgust of nine-tenths of the meeting, interlarded the mingled blarney and blackguardism which forms the staple of his diatribes, with the most reckless and unblushing falsehoods directed against the West Indian body, and the most delibe rate perversion of the real object of the great measure of emancipation, which was ever uttered by any thing in the shape of humanity. It needed not the aid of O'Connell, however—and his ad vocacy would damn any cause, however seemingly righteous —to convince the world that the humanity-mongers with whom he is associated are in the mass as rank a set of hollow imposters as ever palmed themselves by saintly and hypo critical pretences upon the credulity of a country. Well, indeed, has Lord John Russell proved that he at least esti mated in its precise degree the immeasurable virtue of those straight-haired philanthropists—that he knew a charm which could effectually lay the "spirits, white, blue, grey," and drab, which he had evoked to aid him in his emancipation fraud—(for as coupled with his present proposition that mea sure is a fraud, and an expensive one.) A cheap loaf—the annihilation of the agricultural interests—oh, what a magic effect has such a view in prospect upon the sensibilities of some How suddenly the echoes of Mark-lane and Brunswick-street became filled with lamentations over the sufferings of white slaves in the manufacturing districts—of overworked factory children and starving weavers ! Give us foreign corn, cheap corn ; let the food of the ,people of Great Britain be locked up in our warehouses, imported in our vessels ; give us bro kerage, and commission, and storage, and cartage, with what little else we can make by operating upon markets and hoard ing up supplies, and we will burn all our "free labour sugar" tickets, for we can no longer bamboozle the sweet-toothed humane thereby. We cannot in our consciences (!) permit the poor to be taxed to support " class intereals”—to main tain the free labourers of Jamaica and Guiana; we cannot persevere in our " great experiment," for we can buy slave grown sugar cheaper ; and we want besides to secure a monopoly in the supply of slave colonies with cotton gar ments, cartwhips, iron fetters, bowie knives, and branding irons. We are very humane people still, but we are about to be humane at home from henceforth ; for black humanity is a very costly commodity. Ave, so it is. A very costly commodity y ou would make, if suffered, which I trust, however, you will not be ; for let it be whispered in your sensitive ears that from henceforth the people of England have taken into their own hands the working out of that great experiment—which is their expe riment—for they have paid for it. The people of England know now the length and depth and breadth of that pseudo humanity which has prompted all your whining diatribes— which has afforded a theme for the display of your sickly sentimentalism for the last 50 years. They knowyou and it ; and they distrust and despise you accordingly. Perhaps, too, those " poor white slaves," who are so suddenly become the objects of your affection, will not quite so easily as you imagine be deluded into placing confidence in a party who never'yet strove to abate one throb of misery —who never yet aimed to add one unit to the sum of human happiness, when any an y dirty pocket interest stood in the way ! The anti slavery imposture is defunct ; may all similar impostures go with it. London,lsth May. STEALING WATCHEs.—A. man named Richard Williams, was, on Friday, charged at the police-court, with steali ng 2 watches, and some other articles, from a h ouse where he had found gratuitous lodgings when he was in want. Charles Davies, a warehouseman, said he resided in Springwood terrace, Everton. On Saturday week the prisoner went t o his house, and as he had known him from a child, he told him he might remain until nl he got something to do. On left the house, and he (witness) Saturday last, he suddey missed his watch, and alsoan eye-glass, now pr o d uce d. A lodger in the house named Elijah Williams, also mi sse d, on the same day, his watch, and some other articles. Informa tion was given to the police, and the prisoner was apprehended in Chester. Elijah Williams, s aid the prisoner slept in th e same bed with him, at Davis s . house. •On Saturday morn ing, he left the prisoner in bed. Same night, he discovered in a hadtch and that the lock of his box had been pick ed, The prisoner a lid his w other articles, produced, were gone. Chester.He was at tempted to pawn one of the watches committed for trial THEFT OF MANILLAS FROM A W A B r HOUSE.—On Fri day, at the poli ce - cour t, a man named Martin Welsh, was charged as one of th e parties who, some tim e a g o, entered a warehouse, and a b s t r acted a quantity of manillas, p i eces of brass-coloured metal, in the form of folding-down-drawer handles, arerawer handles, which p ass as coin in some parts of Africa, a manufactured in this country. A warehouseman, named Brennand, stat e d th at he was in the employ of Messrs. Ha milton and Jack son , o f Table street. They had a ware house in Hurst- street, and amongst the goods th?re were several casks of manillas, which he saw safe there on the morning of the Ist F e b ruary. On the follow i ng d a y, on i un locking the premises, he found one of the casks broken open , and a quantity o f the manillas missing. He gave informa tion to a police-officer, and showed him the cask. The ma nillas produced were similar to those missing. About 1 cwt of them were gone, and they were worth about 755. A man of the name of Kelly, who keeps a marine store in Spading street, spoke to seeing the prisoner on the 3d Feb., offering some manillas for sale, which were purchased. More of them were brought afterwards, but he refused to purchase them. The prisoner was committed for trial. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY The services connected with the celebration of the twenty first anniversary of the Liverpool and West Lancashire As sociation in aid of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, commenced on Sunday, when sermons were preached on behalf of the society, and collections made in many of the churches of this town and neighbourhood. Yesterday, at eleven o'clock, the annual meeting of the subscribers and friends of the association was held in the Music-hall, Bold-street. The attendance was highly respec table, and the room during the greatest part of the proceed ings was almost full. The platform was tilled with clergy and others interested in the welfare of the society. Among them we observed the Reverends H. Carpenter, W. W. Ew bank, Professor Scholefield, E. Sidney, A. Knox, R. Davies, W. M`lvor, W. Maynard, W. H. Woodward, J. H. Stew art, J. Jones, C. J. Hamilton, F. Parry, C. Maginnes, W. Falloon, J. Baylee, C. Townshend, F. Barker, J. N. Peil, Orme, Chalmer, France, J. E. White, D. James, H. Jones (St. Jame s 's), Jeffery Davies, R. P. Jones, Gardner, Lang, J. G. Green (Knotty Ash), W. Rawson, F. Ould, H. Bunbury, G. Mansfield, Dover, H. M`Neile, Jackson, B. A. Marshall, Dr. Tattershall, J. Dodd ; and Messrs. A. Hodgson, John Rigby, John Howard, Henry Sherlock, W. Brocklebank, C. Inman, and C. Boutflower. Mr. ADAM HODGSON, treasurer of the association, wai called to the chair. The Rev. H. CARPENTER, secretary, having implored the divine blessing upon the proceedings, The CHAIRMAN said it had been a subject of great disap pointment to the committee, and he was sure it would be a source of great regret to the meeting, to have been deprived of the presence of the Chancellor of the Diocese, by severe indisposition. We had had so many opportunities of know ing the kindness of disposition. and of appreciating his pecu liar qualifications for the duties of the office he had under taken to perform, [those of chairman] that we should all deeply sympathise in the loss and deprivation. We had al ways found in our meetings that his very presence had a ten dency to diffuse over them a tone of feeling best in harmony with the subject, that it was calculated to produce a spirit of seriousness and simplicity best accordant with the deep con sciousness of the magnitude of the object and enterprise in which we were prepared to embark, and the utter inadequacy and disproportion of all human means and instrumentality to effect them, unless blessed in a special manner by spiritual influence from above. (Hear.) It was quite unnecessary, at this time of day, for he was present at the anniversary held twenty years ago, and they had become as familiar as a house- hold word, for the chairman in opening the proceedings of these meetings to explain the nature and objects of this so ciety. He would state, however, that the object of the pre sent meeting was not simply to record the proceedings of the past year, but to deepen the sense of our individual respon sibility, and of the exceeding responsibility which rested upon us individually to promote the objects of the society by every means in our power. (Heir, hear.) After these observa tions, he would proceed at once to the business of the day, by calling upon the secretary to read the report of the last year's proceedings. The Rev. H. CARPENTER then read the annual report, which is as follows : " In presenting their annual report to this meeting, the committee of the Liverpool and West Lancashire Church Missionary Association desire, in the first place, to ascribe devout praise to the God of all grace for the blessings be stowed of late on the labours of this society in heathen lands. Never in the history of the society's proceedings were its missions on the whole in a more healthy condition, or bore more manifest tokens of being acknowledged by the Lord. To multitudes among the heathen the gospel preached by our missionaries has proved to be the power of God unto salva tion. The progress which divine truth has made among the natives in some of our missions must animate the faith, and cheer the hope of every Christian mind. From Western Africa, from India, but, above all, from New Zealand, the happiest tidings have been recently received of the rapid spread of gospel truth among the natives. In the last of these, New Zealand, a mission on which so much obloquy _ was heaped, an unexampled measure of blessing has been granted to the faithful labourers of this society. The gene ral consistency of conduct on the part of the converts there— their eager desire for spiritual improvement—their devout observance of the Lord's day, and their serious deportment in the house of God have been confessed by numbers, and often presented a painful contrast to the conduct of Europeans visiting or settling in that island. The numbers now attend ing public worship in New Zealand far exceed those of any past period in the history of this mission. By the returns received in 1839, the natives composing the congregations in our churches there amounted to 2,203 ; in 1840, they had increased to 8,760; and now, in 1841, they have grown to 30,000 souls. It is true some of these may have been under the instruction of native teachers in former years, and from their remoteness from our principal stations may have been omitted in the returns of those years; but be that as it may, the happy fact is ascertained that our churches in New Zea land are now frequented by 30,000 natives of that country. " Have not the friends of this society, in this single fact, a subject for grateful praise to their God? Instead of re buking them for their feeble efforts on behalf of the heathen, He has condescended to bless these unworthy labours, to en courage all to enlarged zeal in this great work of Christian love! " With respect to the society's progress at home, its funds this year have fallen short of the preceding by about £lO,OOO. The - Liverpool Association, the committee regret to add, has shared in this deficiency. But whilst the committee would express their regret, that in both cases the income did not reach that of the past year, they rejoice to be able to state, that this deficiency does not indicate any failure of love or interest for the society on the part of the church. This will be evident, if we analyzethe sums respectively contributed . . in each of these years. It must be boriie in mind that spe cial efforts were made in the last year to supply the deficiency of the year preceding. By deducting the sums raised thus, we shall find that the society's income is not decreasing. Thus, in Liverpool, for example, last year the association re ceived £2584: this year £2247: exhibiting a decrease of more than £3OO. But let it be remembered that last year an extra special collection was made in St. Jude's Branch, of £126; there came also from Wallasey an anonymous dona tion of :100; and St. Helens Branch, which formerly sent its contributions through this association, has forwarded them direct to Loudon this year. And thus another £lOO does not appear at this time in the report of your association. " In conclusion, the committee would commend this so ciety and the work in which it is engaged to the sympathy and support and prayers of all its friends. God has been pleased to meet this society with his blessing, let us meet Him with our praises and our prayers. He has blessed it: labours abroad—He is blessing its labours at home. During the past year seventy-seven new associations were formed throughout different parts of the kingdom, and between one and two hundred pulpits were open, if preachers ac quainted with the society's proceedings could be had to oc cupy them and plead its cause. The committee are thank ful to add, that a correspondence is at present going on which promises to secure to the Church Missionary Society the unanimous support of the bishops of our church, without any compromise of those principles on which the society has from the first been conducted. Those principles your committee believe in their consciences to be based on the sacred volume, and in accordance with the expressed doctrines of our scriptural church. They are the prin ciples which our Reformers stood for, even to the death. And it is the conviction of your committee, that by maintaining these principles in all their integrity, the so ciety can alone look for that measure of favour from God and his servants on earth, with which it has been so signally favoured and blessed in times past. To these principles your committee would contribute in particular that cordial sup port the society has met with in this town for a period now of 21 years. And though year after year they have had to mourn the loss of older friends; some called away by death, some moved to other scenn,— still the number of the society's friends has not declined. While, therefore, your committee would testify their grateful recollection of the help received from old and valued friends in years gone by ; they desire to bless the great head of the church , that othrs are provided to supply their place. They ass cheered by the thocght, that no work of christianity shall ever fail for want of support ; and that amidst the changes and chances of this mortal life, our Lord Jesus Christ ever liveth—` the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' " Mr. JOHN HOWARD said he had been called upon to move the first resolution. It was always a pleasure to him to take any part, though it be only that of a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, in such a cause as this. He regretted he could not do more; but were he to attempt to speak from the abundance of his heart he should not know where to cease. When he looked around him and saw so many gen tlemen prepared to takt part in the day's duty who were so much better able to address the meeting, with benefit and edification, he was satisfied he should but ill occupy time with any extensive observations. We had to lament in the report just read, and to record, a diminution in the contributions compared with the amount received last year. In a commer cial town like Liverpool, the means of individuals, however hearty their wishes might be in the cause, must occasionally fluctuate. We must not therefore despond; all we had to do was, if it should please God, to persevere, and another year make up the deficiency. (Hear, hear.) A little self denial, and a little more exertion, might perhaps readily ac complish this object •, at all events all must put their shoul ders to the wheel, and endeavour to carry on this excellent society with increased vigour, every year seeking the blessing of God upon our labours, and upon the silver and the gold which were his. (Hear, hear, hear.) He begged to move— " That the report now read be printed and circulated, under the direction of the committee; that the Rev. Dr. Tattershall and the Rev. W. Rawson be added to the number of vice-presidents," &c. The Rev. J. H. WOODWARD, incumbent of St. James's, B hi r m is s t e ol lf , t h s e a coded o o n f de t en d a t s h h e e r h e a s d o ü be t e i n o n e a . l e H d e n p c o o n u l t d o a t d r d u r l s s s a m y e for et ings on behalf of this great society, the oftener he was called upon to do so, the more he felt his own deep responsibility. le felt more than ever the necessity of wisdom from above a speaking on behalf of an institution which he did not hesi- tate to say, now that his official connection with it had ceased, was one of the mostimportant rallying points, not only abroad, but also in our own dear native land, for pure Bible evan gelical religion. He was sorry to hear, and we must all be sorry to hear, that the funds of the society were falling off in this place, and likewise that the funds of the parent so ciety had fallen off, he believed, to the amount of £10,000.; but at the same time, if we looked at the income of the so ciety, we should find in what might be called the ordinary sources of income, viz. the channel of associations, that there had been a decided increase. He was sorry to hear that one or two of the collections yesterday [Sunday] had fallen off, but he trusted something would be done by the meeting to day and by that to-morrow night, to aid the funds of this great and glorious institution. (Cheers.) Upon a compari son of the abstracts of last year with those of the present year we found that the society had been maki ng grea t a n d gratifying progress. Last year it had 95 missionary stations, in the present yeat it had 97 ' last year it had 95 mission aries, this year 102 ; last year it had nine native missionaries, this year it had ten. (Hear, hear.) Under the head of catechists and other British laymen labouring abroad there was, he knew not why, a defalcation, last year it had 82 cate chists, this year only 76 ; last year it had 634 country boy teachers, this year 970. He found that whilst there were 3050 communicants last year, there were this year 4603 ; that last year there were 43,586 attendants upon public wor ship, whilst this year there 66,493. (Hear, hear.) And finally, that last year there were 28,849 children within the walls of the schools of the society, there were this year 85,396. (Loud applause.) Every missionary report, even the excellent one the adoption of which he most cm dially seconded, would be found to contain some circumstances of sunshine and of shade. We heard of 77 new associations : all of these must have added to the funds, but where were the old associations—what were they doing? He feared the secretary of the society, if he were asked, must be obliged to state that those associations—most of them, at all events —in some degree had fallen off. He trusted, however, we should not find old faces removed from us, or old friends falling off, but that there would be a revival in the midst of years of the old associations, and that they would welcome with increasing funds the addition of new ones. (Hear.) We were often inclined to wonder at our forefathers not doing more for missions than they did; for his part, he could say, that that man was much more to be wondered at, who having all the facilities which the present day afforded for spreading abroad the Redeemer's kingdom, gave only the kind of contributions which were too frequently given. He remembered once hearing a very extraordinary and a naval man say, that one great evil had arisen from the division of the Bible into verses: he conceived it had given ignorant men an extraordinary facility of controversy, for men who had not duly studied the context, to find verses for the pur pose of proving any theory. Something like this was the case with regard to our money. If you took up any of our missionary lists, you found men considered by all as having £lO,OOO or £5OOO a year subscribing their guinea; others of £3OO or £4O O a year their guinea. Now, he ventured to say, if men's incifies were laid before the public, with their con- tributions to such causes as this, there would be found a most extraordinary disproportion between them. There was one topic adverted to in the report, which to his mind was one of the most important, and, at the same time, one of the most delightful and powerful interest. He alluded to the notice given, not only in the local report, but in the annual report of the parent society the other day, that there was some plan now on foot which it was hoped might end in all the bishops of our church joining the Church Missionary Society. (Applause.) He was glad to hear that cheer, because it showed, what indeed he had no reason to doubt, that there was in Liverpool a warm, strong, and deep attach ment to the religion established among us, and which we all believed to be an apostolical one. But there were difficulties in the question ; there were features in the case which called for our earnest prayers that the society might be guided by the wisdom from above; that she might have grace given her not to abandon one iota of the principles upon which she had been established. And what principles did he mean ? He meant those principles which a Scott, a Newton, and a Pratt upon their knees prayed she might be kept in; those were the principles in which alone he desired to see this missionary society go forward, and if she swerved one iota from them, he feared we should see " Ichabod" written upon her proceedings. He did not mean to say, far from it, that there were any web-grounded apprehensions that the matter might not be so wisely and so specially ordered as to com bine the junction of every bishop in the church with this society with a firm, uncompromising, undeviating adherence to her old original principles. He trusted he should not be deemed tedious if he just directed attention to one or two points contained in the missionary records for the last year. By the way, let him take the liberty, as an old secretary of this society, to say he really almost doubted whether he heard one passage of the report just read correctly. He thought he heard the secretary read that there were between 100 and 200 pulpits open to the society, provided—he really forgot the exact words used—clergymen could be found to occupy them who had a tolerableor sufficient knowledge of the proceedings of the Church Missionary Society. That was a statement which ought not to be made. In his own parish they had monthly missionary meetings ; they received the missionary records every month, and the only difficulty was to get through them in the time allotted for the proceedings. In fact they never did get through them. He ventured to say, that any clergyman who would pore over for eight or ten hours—say one hour a month—the last volume of the records of this society, would be able, so far as information -went, to preach as many sermons as he might be asked to preach on behalf of the Church Missionary Society. (Hear.) He had spoken of the original princi ples of the Church Missionary Society. The only point to which he would direct attention was this. Upon his way from London the other day, in one of the railway carriages, which among other excellencies allowed one to read comfort ably as one went along, he took into his band the Mission ary Records, and he found that the point always put before the heathen, was salvation through the blood of the everlast— ing covenant—that this society proclaimed in every one of her missions, and the Lord God forbid she should ever cease to do so, the glorious doctrines of the Bible, and the glorious doctrines of the reformation. (Cheers.) The rev. gentle man then read from the Missionary Records extracts from letters from missionaries in Western Africa, Egypt, North India, Ceylon, New Zealand, and the West Indies, all of which were exceedingly interesting, and corroborated his assertion, that Jesus Christ only was preached. Oh, said he in conclusion, these are principles which I do most earnestly trust, and I do most entirely believe, that the Church Missionary Society will never swerve from—that nothing w,ll ever tempt her, wilfully or knowingly—for she is liable .to mistakes and infirmities—to send abroad one single missionary who will proclaim any other truths but this. (Cheers.) The rev. gentleman concluded by second ing the resolution. The CHAIRMAN, after explaining that Dr. Tattersall and the Rev. Mr. Rawson had been added to the committee, and that the name of the Rev. Mr. Buddicorn would be conti nued, put the resolution. It was carried unanimously. The Rev. J. A. WHITE moved the second resolution : " That the progress of Divine Truth in the missions of this society, especially in Western Africa, India, and New Zealand, be acknowledged by this meeting with devout gra titude to Almighty God, and be hailed as an indication of His favour, who has commanded His church to preach the Gospel to every creature,' with the encouraging promise that ' He will then be with it even to the end of the world.' " The Rev. gentleman, after a few appropriate introductory remarks, touching the character of the present anniversary, and a brief contrast of the original dimensions of the society with its present magnitude, stated, that at one of its early annual meetings, the late Mr. Wilberforce said he should not be surprised if it one day attained an income of £lO,OOO a-year. Instead of £lO,OOO a-year it had now a steady in come of £90,000 a-year for spreading the Gospel in distant lands ! Even this was by no means a large sum to be de voted to such an object, when we considered the vast wealth of England. The agricultural income of the country was at least 150 millions per annum ; and the commercial income more than double that sum ; who then would say that £90,000 a-year was a large sum to apply to the sending of. the Gospel to distant lands ? (Hear.) He would refer for a moment to the proposition made to the society by the Lord Bishop of London, that a council of bishops should be appointed to which every matter touching the ecclesiastical power of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and of the Church Missionary Society should be re ferred. The bishop said, and no doubt he spoke with the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, that all the bishops would sanction the proceedings of this society, if the society would consent to it. He (Mr. White) rejoiced at this prospect, and it would be delightful to every son and daughter of the church to see all our archbishops and bishops sanctioning the proceedings of the society. (Hear.) It would have another effect. In travelling through the country he had met with clergymen who had scruples about opening their pulpits, or making collections in their churches, for this society, on the ground that their bishop did not exactly approve of it; but when all the bishops sanctioned it, there would be no such objection ; it would spread through the length and breadth of the land, the clergy preaching sermons, and forming associations. (Applause.) But, whilst he re joiced at our bishop coming forward to sanction the society, he had not the least fear in the world of its principles being compromised by such patronage. (Hear, hear.) There was :he assurance of the committee, and the Bishop of London 'greed to it, that there should be the same management of affairs, the same selection of missionaries, the same careful ness in choosing men of evangelical principles, the same superintendence of missionaries abroad as before, and that the missionaries should continue to preach, as they had, the Gospel preached by Cranmes. by Latimer, by Ridley, and by all the martyrs and confessors of our church, (Ap plause.) Its missionaries would go forth preaching the sim plicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the dark and be nighted regions of the earth. (Hear.) He would now in vite attention to a few details, to show what cause of thank fulness there was for the progress which the society had made. Last year it had only 643 native teachers; this year it had 970. His rev. friend Mr. Woodward, could not ac count for the falling off in the number of English lay teachers. Here was the way to account for it—the society had now got native teachers, which was a very great advan tage, inasmuch as they had ?sotto learn the language, they had not to become habituated to the customs of their coun try, they had not to endure the climate, often so unhealthy to foreigners, but they could preach among the natives in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God. (Applause.) The resolution referred to the progress of the society in Western Africa, in India, and in New Zealand. He should not now speak of Western Africa, as he hoped to enter most fully upon that subject to-morrow evening, but he should speak briefly about India, and very briefly about New Zea land. In India the gospel had made most wonderful pro gress during the last year. Not only had the society been working, but the Bishop of Calcutta had been working by means of local clergy, and the gospel had made such pro gress, that he had actually consecrated two churches in the midst of the Himmalayan mountains. (Hear, hear.) Such was the opening for missionaries there, that those now on the spot were worn out ; they were hardly able to proceed ; the bishop was calling for a fresh supply' of labourers ; and indeed, if a thousand more missionaries could be sent from this country, there would be active employment for them all. (Hear.) The rev. gentleman then described the pro gress of the gospel in Kislinaghan, Tinnevally, and Benares, and recited an admirable hymn, the first composition of a Hindostanee youth at Benares, who was being educated in the seminary there for a preacher of the gospel among his own countrym&i. He then referred to New. Zealand. How our hearts rejoiced, and thanked' God when we recollected that here was a beautiful colony added to England, and an extensive country opened to British enterprise, by means of the Church Missionary Society ! (Cheers.) it had been truly said, that this was the first instance upon record, of territory won to England, not by the sword or by the broadsides of our ships, but by the sword of the spirit, which was the word of God. (Cheers.) Not only that, but the society's missionaries had opportunities throughout the length and breadth of the land, of preaching the truth of the gospel to all the inhabitants of it.—Having read some accounts of their proceedings and success, from missionaries Henry Williams and William William s , he rev. gentleman stated that at the present moment there were no less than 30,000 natives in New Zealand under the Christian instruc tion of the Church Missionary Society. The friends of the society had heard much last year of the land held by its missionaries, and much abuse had been directed againSt it on that account. What was the fact now? Government had sent out their own commissioners to apportion and sell the land, and they had fixed the price of land in New Zea land at precisely the same amount as that which had been paid for it by the society's missionaries ! (Hear.) That was a sufficient refutation of the charge so often made, that they had purchased land for tin kettles and looking-glasses. (Hear, hear.) But the society was now charged, not with being landholders, but with being place-hunters there. (Hear.) This charge arose from the, fact that the govern ment had appointed George Clarke one of the society s catechists, the protector of the aborigines. (Hear.) Why not ? Government wanted a fit, honest, and christian man to be protector of the aborigines in that rising colony, and where did they go ? They did not go to England, or to the colony of Sydney, but they came to one of the society's mis sionaries, who had laboured in the country for years, and whom they could trust. (Hear.) He (Mr. White) consi dered this a striking proof of the value of the labours of the society's missionaries. Mr. White concluded his address by a strong call upon the meeting to aid the society by pecuni ary means, as far as lay in their power. Mr. CHARLES INMAN seconded the resolution. On being put by the chairman, it was unanimously carried. The Rev. Professor SCHOLEFIELD moved the next reso lution, which is as follows : " That the present crisis in the history of the Churcl Missionary Society's proceedings at home and abroad, calls for earnest prayer on the part of all its friends, that the Di rectors of the Society may be endued with wisdom from above, and thus be enabled through good report, and evil re port, to adhere steadfastly to those great principles of evan gelical truth, which have hitherto distinguished this society, and received so large a measure of the Divine Blessing." The leading point,to which his resolution referred was a cer tain great import and recognized crisis. That crisis was one which called especially for the exercise of wisdom, and as that wisdom could only be obtained from above, it must be sought for in the way which the inspired writings pointed out, by prayer to him who gave to all men liberally, and upbraided not; and that wisdom, when so vouchsafed, as he trusted in answer to prayer, it would be vouchsafed, was to be exer cised by the directors of the society in adhering to the great principles of evangelical truth, upon which the society was established. (Hear, hear.) The crisis here referred to was one which every member and friend, as well as director of the society must be prepared under the Divine blessing to meet; and he was glad to find that his dear friends in Liverpool were prepared to meet it in the same way as they had been endeavouring to do in Cambridge, by having t wo mee ti ngs instead of one, by adding this morning's meeting to the eve ning's assembly, which of late had been usual. He recog nized himself the existence of the crisis. He felt we had ar rived at a crisis in the history of the Church Missionary So ciety, whether he looked at the peculiar position of affairs at home, or upon the vast extent of the missionary field abroad, he thought it must be felt by all, that we were not now stand ing upon the same ground upon which we had hitherto stood, but that we were called upon to look at the past, to review and ascertain our portion for the future, and to ask for fresh supplies of wisdom and strength to enter upon our duty. (Cheers.) We could not, we dared not, doubt from past ex perience, the gracious blessing of our Divine Master, whom it was our honour to serve ; that same blessing would still be continued to us, and we should go forward with increased energy and unction in the prosecution of one great and im portant object. (Applause. The principles referred to in the resolution were of paramount importance. They were those upon which the Church Missionary Society was first established, and of which she had never for an instant lost sight. But in connection with this, it was impossible to be lieve that there were not certain other principles of subsidiary Importance to which we were called - upon to direct our at tention. Who did not know that it had been made some thing like an invidious and ill matured charge against the so ciety. That she had been deficient in certain other princi ples—" Church principles," they were called—because she was not established to carry forward any measures, in pro ceedings similar to those of certain other institutions. — Now like her, hold fast to one, and while so doing, not un dervalue the other. (Hear hear.) What did his suggestion amount to ? To nothin g more than this—that we should go on as we had done hitherto ; and he doubted not but, by persevering in that way, we should still have the Divine blessing resting upon the society. (Cheers.) Permit him to glance a little at the past history of the society, after hav ing just touched upon those great principies of evangelical truth to which the resolution adverted. It seemed as if, in *the framing of the resolution, something like an apprehension had been felt—he knew it had been expressed by some—that we were beginning to stand upon that slippery and dangerous ground of temptation, by which we might be induced, for certain considerations of immediate and worldly advantage, to be content to lose sight of the great and prominent prin ciple which the society had, held fast from the beginning. No : we were not so forgetful of our own principles, or so unfaithful to the members of the society, and to that God who had hitherto so blessed us. (Hear.) What was it that had established this society in the hearts of the great mass of British Christians, and called forth towards it the praises and blessings of the world ? What was it that had entrenched it so fast and deep in the spiritual affections of Christian hearts, that had bound it up with the prayers to God of praying people in every part of the world? He could not hesitate for a moment to reply, it was the strict, and deter mined, and zealous adherence to that great, and high, and holy principle of evangelical truth, which had been already largely adverted to this morning. (Cheers.) At this time of day, were we to relinquish those principles? Were we to change the character of the society, to begin upon some new speculations, losing sight of, or undervaluing, the blessing of the Master whom we now served ? Were we to court and look for support in other quarters, as a substitute for that which we had foregone? He said, God forbid. (Applause.) In the nature of things, it was impossible. The society must not dissolve itself, and be re-constructed and re-modelled upon new, false, and most dangerous principles. (Hear, hear.) He thought he might take it for granted that such a change as this never could take place ; but when, he said that, he would not speak in the unhallowed confidence of human presumption. He recognized the importance of that to which the resolution referred to, namely, the necessity of having wis dom from above, and the necessity of asking for that wisdom by prayer. And he hailed it as an omed, he could not say pleasing and satisfactory, but he was justified in considering it something in the way of encouragement, to find those very persons who were so zealous for what they called church principles, and who, in his humble judgment, were so fast verging towards the very confines of popery—(loud cheers) —he hailed it, he said, as lei timeu for 'good that this dear society, which we loved so much, was met by perfect loath ing by those men, because they felt it was one with which they could neither sympathise nor amalgamate. (Hear, hear.) But whilst he said this, he did not say there was to be an array of opposite principles, that we were to take Chris tian principles, and leave church principles to them. (Hear, and cheers.) He maintained, on the contrary, that the so ciety had held church principles all along, (hear, hear,) but that a new state of things had arisen, which, he trusted, would give us the opportunity of entering more fully, or rather he should say, more visibly, more palpahly, and unequivocally, into the carrying out of those great principles. (Hear, hear.) What was the state of things and the matter of fact with regard to the Church Missionary Society, in reference to church principles? Simply this—we were now, thank God, about to have, as the result of ~a great and influential meet ing recently held in London. under the presidency, and called by, the Archbishop of Canterbury, a complete, or almost complete, system oaf colonial episcopacy established in all our colonial possessions. (Hear.) To whom were we indebted for this? He answered, without the slightest hesi tation—to the Church Missionary Society. (Cheers.) To prove this, he would briefly trace the history of the whole proceeding, which was simply this :—So long ago as 1807, when this society was about to send, or had just sent, its first missionary to India, one of the best friends of the Church Missionary Society, of the Church of England, and of the Church of Christ—he meant the great and good Dr. Buchanan—published a book, proposing a scheme of a whole episcopal frame-work for all the colonial possessions of our country. (Hear.) The book was written, drawn up, and published, at the suggestion of the great and good Bishop Porteus ; and now, in the year 1841, just thirty-four years after the publication of that work, we were about to have an episcopal system generally established throughout our colonies. And let it be marked, too, that if you turned to Dr. Buchanan's book, you would find we had not either in possession or prospect one single bishopric which was not regularly laid down and dotted out in the scheme propounded by Dr. Buchanan. (Loud applause.) When the society's missionaries went forth what did they find ? In some of them they found British commercial speculators, and British sub jects resident from various causes s they found a civil esta blishment for carrying on the civil affairs of the place, and those relations in which the country was bound up with others, but they never found a bishop. (Hear, hear.) Was the so ciety, then, to be sneered at by these men, because when they went to preach the gospel of the great bishop to the hea then, they found no under-bishop there to whom they might refer their proceedings, and to whom they . might defer in point of authority? (Hear, hear.) How, indeed, did they act? They carried with them as much of the discipline and system of the Church of England as it was possible ; they carried with them the church liturgy; they conducted all their proceedings in strict conformity with the principles of the church ; and the men who went out to those countries, as soon as regularly qualified persons could be procured, were ordained by the Bishop of London. (Hear, hear,) He defied the enemies of the society, if it had any, to prove that it had ever acted in any particular, in a manner incon sistent with ecclesiastical order. (Applause.) Nay, he would )roadly declare, to the honour of this society, that she was ,he first instrument of winning the affections of heathen :onverts to the beautiful liturgy of our church, that she had ed the way to a system of introducing our liturgy into the :ongregations of heathen converts, which had since been fol. , owed by the converts themselves—for the society believe d ;hat, next to God's own word, there was no book to be com pared in usefulness or importance with the prayer book of the Church of England. (Loud cheers.) Then, in course of time as the result of that attention which was called to this subject, first, by Dr. Buchanan, and indirectly by the Church Missionary Society, bishops were appiliated for the West Indies, and one bishop was appointed to gg aml.saek a grave, sinking under the burdens of the vast'diocese of the East Indies. But now, by God's blessing, the work had gone forward, and there were three bishops in India, and he hoped there would be soon others for Ceylon, Malta, and New Zealand, to give the society's missionaries that epis copal superintendence and direction which they were not only ready to receive, but which the _society had all along earnestly desired. (Cheers.) Such a transition state as this, as were all things in a state of transition, was accompanied with certain inconveniences, dangers, misapprehensions, and a danger of one part of the society falling in with another without open and unpleasant collision. Perhaps the Church Missionary had had but little of this ; but if they had not had it in the practical working of the society, they had at least felt in the unkind insinuations of thoseswho bore them no good will at home, and who thought if they could find no other fault, they could in this distinct particu lar. The society, however, had gone on ; they had sought for wisdom from above, and be trusted that it had been given ; and they were now fallen into that state of *things with regard to ecclesiastical relations, which was ably described in a letter addressed by the Bishop of Barbadoes to his clergy. The rev. gentleman read the pas sage, which was to this effect :--s" We are members and ministers of the Church of England. Whether a minister be regularly supported by the colonies, or by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, or by the Church Missionary Society, or out of parliamentary grants, this in no wayaffects the clerical character he possesses ; he still bears the com mon name of a minister and member of the Church of England, is subject to the same corrections, acting under the samelicense, using the same liturgy, bound by the same rubric, ministers alike in the one same branch of the Church of Christ for the salvation of the souls of men. We may receive support from other societies, but the permanent jurisdiction of bishops must ever be practically acknow !edged." (Hear.) He rejoiced to think that if we looked back through the whole history of this transitory state, este had called it, we should find these principles carried out just as far as there had been opportunity of doing it. Look now at the line of succession for bishops in India. Every one of them, with a single slight exception. which he could advert to—Middleton, Heber, James, Turner, and Wilson, and the other, too, of Madras and Bombay had been cordial friends of the Church Missionary Society. (Hear.) He had spoken- of an exception—ghat exception was Dr. Middleto, the first bi s h op of Calcutta, b ut i t was not an invidious' exception. He had the same feelings with regard to all missionary eiertibn. He felt that he was sent merely to superintend the English church. and English residents ; but he (Professor Scholefleld) was able to state, on unques tionable authority, that i n one of the last, if n' not the very last letters which he wrot e b e f ore hi s d eat h , h e spd k e of the Church MisSionary Society in very remarkable terms. He said of its missionaries "they have been more religious men than I, for th'ey have ever been ready to second and further m y plans, while I have regarded them with something like susptcioft and unkindness.' (Hear.) This letter was received in England at the time Bishop Heber was going to set sail for India, and it was shown to Bishop Heber, in com mon with two frie n d s o f hi s, ( Professor Schol efields',) one of whom had been removed from this world, but the other still lived, and from which their mouths conjointly he received this testimony. (Hear.) He thought, therefore, if we looked back at the past there was nothing for which this society could be found fault with with regard to church principles. (Great applause.) Let him go one step further. Many present, as he was, were old enough to remember that ritical period in the society's history, when an Archdeacon n Bath came forward at a meeting like the present to protest against its being held, declaring that he as Lrchdeacon was the ecclesiastical head under the bishop, and hat without the partronage of archdeacon and bishop the :lergy had no right to be present on suchen occasion, and for inch a purpose. When this took place, a friend of his (Pro fessor Scholeffeld's) in the couuty adjoining, that in which he resided, brought forward a proposition at a diocesan meeting in the county of Huntingdon, to send up a requisition to the Society for:the Propogation of the Gospel, calling upon them to enlarge their missionary efforta. Dr. Tomlins, th e bi s h o p of the diocese, highly approved of it, and said to hi s (P ro f ess sor Scholeffeld's) friend, " Whatever letters you h av e t o write to the clergy of my diocese upon this subject, send them to sae, that I may frank them, in order to show how entirely I countenance the project." (near, hear.) The re quisition was sent up to the society in London, and an an swer was returned, in substance " We are not a missionary society." It was very true. They were missionaries now ; they were not then incorporated as missionaries ; but the Church Missionary Society—and he mentioned it to show she was not content to live under suspicion, to exist upon a kind of suffrance, as if a ll h e r proceedings were carried forward in opposition to our priuciples as churchmen—(hear, hear, and loud cheers) —was the only missionary society that ever was originated in the bosom of our church. (Hear, hear.) Every one knew that the Society for Propagating the Gospel was originally incorporated and chartered for sending out chaplains to the colonies to preach the gospel, and keep alive the religion of their forefathers among the British residents there ; and that form ere than a century it never assumed the character of a missionary society. (Hear.) But before this period, by one of those accidental turns in human affairs which were under the regulation of Divine providence, the Danish missionaries came into the hands of another society, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, or if you liked, as trustees for a missionary society, but they were not originated as a missionary society in the church. The So ciety for Propagating the peaGosl was then driven by the - voice of the coun try to do tha hich they declined to do upon the application from the county of Huntingdon ; they assumed the character of a missionary society, one of the old societies transferred the missions he had named to her, and from that day t o the present, the Propagatio n S oc i e ty h a d been a second Church Missionary Society in the bosom of the church. (Cheers.) Surely for such societies the world was large enough. We were not going to kidnap their converts if he might use such A phrase, but we l e f t them to carry on their work uninterruptedly and wish e d t h em God speed. Surely our thurch f ight well support two such societies as these, and he strongly deprecated those collisions, objections, and misrepresentattons which were brought forward either 1 directly or indirectly, the real practical meaning of which was that the Church Missionary Society was not a cherch society. (Hear, hear.) As the meetin g ha d heard already we had sr- . rived at that crisis in the society's history when we were to take up that position, and assume that recognized character, after which, he supposed no member of our church would venture any,l ong er to charge it with not b e i ng a c h urc h so ciety-, ( eth%) He did not attach very great importance to our escape from these ill-natured taunts; he did not think they had hurt us much yet, and to be candid he did not think they would hurt us at all. The great danger in connection with them was that, under the influence of such taunts, men might be irritated either to do or to speak things which might savour of something like want of respect to episcopal authority. This society had never been animated by such a feeling, and, while from the bottom of his heart he thought, it had been enabled by God's grace to take deep root throughout the length and breadth of the land, he earnestly hoped, and trusted, and prayed, and believed, that in receiving, if he might so call it, which he did very unwillingly, something like an accession of church principles, it would never be tempted or misled to a betrayal of what he must call, after all, the higher and holier principles which animated us as members of the holy catholic church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (Loud cheers.) He felt, indeed, that we did want wisdom from above, as at all times so in every rising crisis in the society's history in particular, and cer tainly not the least at this particular and special crisis. (Hear.) He would only add, that what he must consider the unmeaning misrepresentations'which had gone forth re specting the society, upon the ground of its church princi ples, had for a limited season, and to a limited extent, operated to its prejudice. He had not the shadow of a doubt of this ; therefore, he called upon his friends, as attached members of the society and of our beloved church, to en large their efforts and their contributions. In conclusion, let him with all reverence quote the words-of inspiration : " Abound in the work of the Lord, inasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (Loud cheers.) The Rev. EDWIN SYDNEY in seconding the resolution, enlarged upon the pleasing prospect there was of the whole of the Eastern Churches, which like ours, were protesting altogether for want of lauful episcopal superintendence, they had fallen into error, being united with the Church of England. _ _ _ The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. The doxology was then sang, and the proceedings were ad journed at half-past one o'clock, till half-past six this even ing, when the place of meeting will be the Amphitheatre. MERCHANT SEAMEN'S HOSPITAL FUND A public meeting was held yesterday in the Sessions house, Chapel-street, for the purpose of taking into con sideration certain parliamentary measures in contemplation, materially affecting the Liverpool Merchant Seamen's Hos pital-Fund. The meeting was convened by the Mayor, in compliance with a requisition from the shipmasters' asso- dation The MAYOR having taken the chair a few minutes after twelve o'clock, opened the proceedings by stating that he had convened the meeting in accordance with the wishes of a highly respectable deputatioa of gentlemen, who waited on him to request that such a meeting might be called, in order to concert mEasures for opposing a change contemplated in .the management of the Merchant Seamen's Hospital Fund, which fund was at present, he understood, managed in Li verpool by a committee of masters cf vessels and owners in terested in the command of those vessels ; and in such an excellent manner, as that little or no expense at all was in curred, so far as that management was concerned. It was apprehended, however, that it was in contemplation to have the management changed, and to have it placed over all the ports in the kingdom under the direction of a board in Lon don, which board would necessarily have paid officers, who, from their non-residence, could only be imperfectly ac quainted with the wants of those who had a fair claim on the fund. Under the good management of the existing law, the fund had been not,merely well distributed, but a very large 'sum had accumulated in the hands of its managers; and though it was not, as be believed, intended to take the sur plus amount out of Liverpool, but to change the management to London, the matter was one very generally affecting the widows and children of master mariners, that the manage ment should continueas it at present existed. (Hear, hear.) Sir J. WALMSLEY proposed the first resolution. He had been instructed by the Shipmasters' Association to commence the proceedings of the day ; but, in thefirst place, he hoped he would be permitted to thank the mayor, in their name, for the promptitude with which he had called the meeting, and to express his own assurance that there was no man in the community who felt a deeper interest in the welfare of the seamen of the town than did his worship. (Hear and cheers.) The mayor would be gratified at knowing that re cently an establishment had originated in Liverpool, called the Shipmasters' Association, an association, he (Sir Joshua) was proud to say, which was rapidly progressing, and likely to become all that its originators contemplated. It was cal culated to diffuse information among masters and seamen — a class of men who had hitherto, he was sorry to say, been too little cared for. (Hear, hear.) It would be necessary to state, for the information of some present, though there might be others in the meeting well acquainted with the fact, that the Seamen's Hospital Fund was originated a long dis tance of time back. He found acts of parliament in refer ence to it in the reign of Queen Anne. The last act on the subject had come into force on the Ist January, 1835, the previous one was the 20th Geo. 11. The object of the two latter acts was to empower the appointment of fifteen trus tees, to be elected by the merchants, masters. and owners of vessels in the port from which the vessels hailed, and their duty was to see that the funds were properly levied and dis tributed. Under the first act, the levy on the muster roll was 6d per month on seamen and is per month on masters. Under the second, which, as he had already said, came into operation on the Ist day of January, 1835, the levy on the muster roll was increased from 6d to is on seamen, and from is to 2s on masters. The first provision of the latter act was, that each seaman who had subscribed to the fund for twenty-one years should be entitled to a certain amount of return on the amount subscribed ; the second was, that the disabled seamen who bad subscribed to the fund for five years should be entitled to a benefit : and the third was, that the widows and children of seamen, killed, slain, or drowned, should be entitled also to a benefit, so that it seemed to con template all parties connected with the marine service. Ac cording to the act, it appeared that there existed a central board in London, which managed thirty-eight outports, and there were trustees also appointed in seventy-four other out ports, including Liverpool. Those trustees were appointed on the 26th of December in each year, and were elected, as he had previously informed the meeting, by the masters and owners, of vessels. Sir Joslkua having here read the names of the present trustees, which included those of Mr. Charles Horsfall, Mr. Sandbach, &c., proceeded to say he was sure he need only read the names in order to satisfy the meeting that they might repose full confidence in their honour, zeal, and ability. (Cheers.) The amount collected under the act for the whole country appeared, according to the report laid before the House of Commons, to be about £54,000 per annum, and the money expended £42,000 per annum. The muster roll in Liverpool amounted to £4,500 per annum, besides which there had been an accumulated fund of £45,000, a large proportion of which consisted of wages which bad lapsed during the African trade. Upwards of £17,000 of it consisted of lapsed wages. The interest on the accumulated fund amounted to £l,BOO, which, added to the muster roll of £4,500, made a benefit of £6,300 per annum fur the seamen of Liverpool. Last year the sum of £5,100 had been ex pended. The expenses of a clerk and office, &c., amounted only to £3OO a year. The trustees received no benefit from the fund ' • they did their work gratuitously, and made no charge whatever. The salary of a clerk and the rent of an office had to be paid ; and when he (Sir Joshua) informed the meeting that' the'whole of the expenses, including that clerk's salary, the office rent, the expense of printing and other in cidental charges, did not exceed but were actually under £3OO a-year, he .thought they would be satisfied that the funds had not been very wastefully expended. (Hear, and cheers.) The distribution of the fund in Liverpool at the present moment absolutely exceeded the amount of the muster roll; in other words, the sums paid to the seamen were greater than the amounts received from them, but the excess they were able to meet by apprOpriating thereto a por tion of the interest out of the accumulated fund. In the year 1836 the number of persons receiving benefit from the fund in Liverpool was 940 ; at present 1100 ; so that the •meeting would see the numbers were rapidly increasing. (Hear.) •ln the next place it would be necessary for him to state the manner in which the fund was distributed. Ac cording to the old act, the relief was, for widows from ls.' to ss. per week, and for children ls. each—that was while the seamen were paying 6d.iand the masters is. under the new act, after.five years had elapsed from the Ist of January, 1835, the trustees were empowered to increase the rates of distribution to their present amount, namely, masters' widows 2s. 6d., and children 2s. ; seamen's widows Is 6d., and children ls. each; and worn-out masters ss. each. It might be proper to state that at present some of the masters widows were receiving 15s. and 16s. pet week in Liverpool, being a much larger sum than was received by them in any other port, and that some of the seamen's widows with their children were also receiving from 9s. to 10s. per week. According to the parliamentary re port it appeared that She distribution in Liverpool was larger than in any other port, in the kingdom. In two other ports it is stated the amount did not exceed 10s. per week ; in ten other ports that it did not exceed .£2 per annum to the widows and orphans ; in 'ten others £3 ; in four abets £4 ; in 'five others £5 ;in two £6; in three others £8 in Bristol it did not exceed £lO ; in Hull £l2 10s. ; and, in Liverpool £l3 'per annum. (Cheers.) It further stated that 139,230 'seamen 'and 1300 masters received relief it Liverpool. As regarded the expense ofthe management of the various'funds, he would just state that the amount distributed in pensions in London, for London and 38 outports inclusive, amounted to £12,000 per annum, and that the expense 01 the management of those outports was upwards of £l6OO per annum. In the other outports the whole amount of ma nagement was £3673. per annum, and the amount paid , it pensions was £33,200. In. Liverpool, the amount expendet was £5,150. per annum, and the expense for the entire rha nagement was £3OO. The meeting had now before them the whole of the expenses of the various outports, London and Liverpool inclusive, with the various pensions distributed in proportion to the sums given out, and from the statement it appeared that the expenses of all the outports taken together were somewhat under 10 per cent., that those of London exceeded 11 cent., and that the management of the Liver pool funds at home amounted only to 5 per cent. (Cheers.) He (Sir Joshua) might well say that he rejoiced to see an association such as the Shipmasters' Association raised in the town, because he was satisfied that it would, from the consonant parts of that association, take care, not merely of its own interests, but of the interests of those for whom it ought especially to care—the seamen. (Hear, hear.) The association viewed with much alarm the attempt about to be made to remove the management of the funds to a central -board in London, and, from what he had stated, the meeting would at once perceive that there was not, as regarded ma nagement, the slightest reason for so doing. The parties favourable to the removal had given as one reason for taking the management out of local hands, that the amount made available for the purposes of the institution was less than it ought to be, and that it was improperly distributed ; and; in proof that the amount was not made available, the report stated that apprentices had not been included: To his (Sir Joshua's) mind, it was questionable whether apprentices, considering the wages they received, should be called on to subscribe to the fund, but it was for the meeting to con sider whether that opinion was right or otherwise. The next reason stated, had been, that the crews of pleasure yachts did not contribute ; but both those cases, if wrong, might, he thought, well be rectified by an act of parliament, without removing the management of the funds from Liverpool. -(Hear, hear.) He had now laid before the meeting the plain, straightforward view of the case ; and the proof that the Liverpool trustees were able themselves to manage the funds was, that they were giving t o th e ' pensioner a much larger sam than was given by any other port in the kingdom. Be sides, from the respectability of the names of the trustees, the meeting would have the fullest confidence in their inte grity, and perceive at once that there was no necessity to transfer their local fund to London. (Hear, hear.) If he (Sir Joshua) understood the spirit of the municipal reform act, it was intended to enable any large place to manage and regulate as much as possible its own affairs. The system of centralisation, as now recommended, he must therefore utterly condemn, because he had yet to learn that the prac tice and intelligence of London merchants were in any one respect superior to the practice and intelligence of those of Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) He thought he made out a good case. He had at least given the meeting a plain, unvarnished tale, taken from the report of the House of Commons, and it was for the public to judge what steps they ought to take for the maintenance and preservation of their own funds. He had endeavoured to *how that the change would be an unjust one, inasmuch as it would take from the Liverpool seamen that to which they were entitled, and by reducing the amount of their funds, expend it on others who had not contributed one farthing. Feeling, therefore 4 that the mer chants and shipowners of Liverpool were fully capable of managing their own affairs, he had great pleasure in moving the first resolution.—[For the six resolutions unanimousl3 adopted on the occasion, we refer .to our advertising columns.] Mr. ROWETT seconded the first resolution. It had been, ADJOURNED COUNCIL MEETING An adjourned meeting of the town council was held on Saturday at one o'clock, for the further consideration of the bill for amending the mode of revisions of the burgess lists. The Mayor presided. HE INLAND BONDING BILL Mr. EVANS wished, before entering upon the business for which the, council had been summoned, to ask a question and to make a few remarks upon the proceedings in the case of the inland bonding bill. He was absent when the proceed ings of that committee were read, upon corporate business elsewhere. The MAYOR said no proceedings had yet been read. Mr. EVANS wished, then, tb know whether or not the pe tition which had been drawn 'up by the committee on that bill would be read to the council before it was sent off, for he had reason to believe, that it was a petition which ought not to receive the sanction of the mayor or the council. lie would move, if it were regular to do so, that it should be read before it was sent away. He would next ask, whether it was intended to go to any expense in opposition to the bill, either by deputation, or witnesses, or engaging lawyers in a regular parliamentary contest? He had reason to know, that the sanction of the council was obtained against the will of the majority, by the mere casualty of the absence of a few of the members. Mr. BIRKETT.—IS this in order Mr. Mayor? The MAYOR said Mr. Evans had arisen on a question of order, and he (the mayor) would answer him in due time.. Mr. , EVANS , gave these as the reasons for not incurring any expenses, for he was sure that corporate influence in London would not have the least effect upon the side pro posed, but, on the contrary, would be very injurious ,to it. He hoped, therefore, that the measures of the council, if not altogether retraced would be limited to the mere petition and nothing else. _ _ _ .. The 'MAYOR said, the subject came before the council on Wednesday week, when it was moved, that the bill be op posed, which motion was passed by a majority of the council, and an addition was afterwards appended to the resolution, that the mayor's signature and the corporation seal be ap pended to the petition. The committee had since met, and had adopted a petition, which he (the mayor) signed and sealed on Thursday last, and he believed it was sent off. He did not recollect an instance of any former petition framed by a committee appointed for the purpose having been sub mitted to the council previously to being sent off, nor did he know that the mayor was to scrutinize such petition. Mr. JORDAN asked whether the committee were em powered to send off the petition without first submitting it to the council ? The MAYOR.—Certainly. Mr. JORDAN.—I only ask the question, but Ido not think they ought. , Mr. EVANS said, he should move, that the petition be read, because there was an allegation in it which many of the gentlemen who were parties to it did not know was at vari ance with fact. He should wish also to have an expression of the opinion of the council, that it was not expedient to go to any great expense with a deputation or otherwise, as they were not able to give the government the • slightest informa tion on the subject. Mr. JOHN HOLMES said the counsel were met for a spe cific object, and Mr. Evans had no right to speak on any other. Mr. HORNDY said, no doubt the introduction of the sub juct was irregular, but he thought the petition ought to be read, for undoubtedly the council should know what went up to parliament with its sanction. Mr. HODGSON said, it was unfair to call before the council a subject which had already been decided. The gentlemen who wished to see the petition knew where to apply, and they might go and see it. It appeared that the petition had not yet been sent off. Mr: BIRKErr said, be did not wish a farthing of expense to be incurred. He gave regular notice of his motion : it was brought forward and passed by a majority. The MAYOR said, he could not 'allow any further discus sion : the petition was accessible to all the members, and the council must now proceed to the business for which they were called. THE NEW REGISTRATION SILL. The resolutions of the special committee were considered separately. Those passed at the meeting of the 9th March were first submitted. The first resolution was for confining objectors to the grounds put forward by them as the grounds of objection. It was agreed to. The second resolution gave a discretionary power to the court to award costs and compensation to an amount not ex ceeding £lO for loss of time, against any party whose ground of objection, or grounds of objection, or any of them, should _ _ be deemed frivolous or vexatious : the costa to be recovered by distress or sale. Mr. BIRKETT moved, that the words "ground of objec- Lon," and the words " or any of them," be omitted. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE seconded the motion. The council divided, when there appeared for Mr. Bir kett's motion 17, against it 29, majority 12. Mr. H. HORNET expressed a strong opinion that the sum of £lO was too much. He moved that it be 40s. Mr. COOPER seconded the motion. Mr. EVANS proposed that the sum be £5. On going to the vote, the proposition of Mr. Hornby was lost, and that of Mr. vans carried. _ _ Mr. ROBINSON proposed that any person whose objection was found frivolous and vexatious, and who was unable to pay the costs, should be disfranchised, and Mr. JOHN SMITH moved, that in lieu of that the offender should be subjected to seven days' imprisonment ; but, on the representation by the TOWN -CLERIC, that Parliament would not be likely to sanction such introductions, both motions were ultimately withdrawn. Mr. BIRKETT objected to the Mayor sitting in the court for the revision of the lists, as it might happen that he might revise the very lists under which he would seek to be 're elected. He moved, therefore, that it should be a recom mendation to the promoters of the bill to introduce a dense, enacting that, in future, the presiding officer of the Revision Court be a barrister of not less than seven years' standing, and not being a resident in or within 20 miles of the town. Mr. HODGSON seconded the resolution. As coming evehts cast their shadows before, it was easy to see that his party would soon be in power, and, therefore, they might give him credit for perfect disinterestedness in wishing to remove the power from the Mayor. He must be blind who did not per ceive, that what he mentioned was• coming to pass, and he must be doubly blind who did not see how those who had been in power had acted. Mr. EARLE wondered that persons who were filled with such expectations should so anxiously desire this alteration, for it certainly looked as if they were afraid that some of those who were coming in would not act honestly. Mr. EVANS would be no party to casting such a slur as that which was attempted to be cast upon the whole com munity. The election of a gentleman to be Mayor was a test of his honour, and if they were to carry out the principle here introduced, they ought not to have one of their magis trates a Liverpool man. The Mayor was the proper person of all others to preside in the Revison Court. All'eyes were upon him ; he was acquainted with the community ; and it was most ikely that the same frauds would not be attempted upon him that would upon a barrister. Mr. Hodgson seemed to be occupied with nothing but party considerations. Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE said he had no excessive confi dence in barristers of seven years' standing, and he wished the Council to do its own business as much as possible. He thought the Mayor was the most proper person. Mr. BLACKBURN expressed an opinion, that the Mayor, of whatever party, would do his duty honestly. He chal lenged the party to produce a single instance of a Mayor having been suspected of acting unfairly, which was more than could be said of revising barristers, for they had acted most unfairly. Mr. HENRY LAWRENCE defended the barristers, but agreed that the Mayor was the most proper person to preside. Several members having spoken against Mr. Birkett's motion, lie Council divided, when there appeared for Mr. Bir 's motion, 5 ; against it, 39 ; majority, 34. 'he third resolution was then read, to the effect, that pry person objecting to more than six persons shall de- Jsit for each case, beginning with the first, the sum of 405., abide the event of any order of the court as to costs and compensation. Mr. CASE, 'seconded by Mr. BENN, moved, that the resolution be passed. Mr. COOPER, seconded by Mr.'H. LAWRENCE, moved, that, in every case, the person deposit the sum of ss. Mr. CASE objected to the alteration. He thought the sum named was by no means too much, as the resolution was intended to stop the evil so much complained of, which was that of single individuals objecting to masses. Mr. HORNEW said, the resolution was intended to super sede the provision in the 7th sE ction of the general bill for requiring a deposit of 25..6d. for each objection. Mr. BLACKBURN moved, that the resolution should be altered to a provision, that any one objecting to more than two persons in the list should deposit 20s. for each. Mr. H. LAWRENCE said, he felt inclined to agree to Mr. Blackburn's proposal as better than that which he had seconded. Mr. Cooper withdrew his motion, and that of Mr. Black burn was agreed to. The fourth resolution, for applying costs to frivolous and vexatious claims to go to the Borough Fund, and the fifth, for declaring any objection or claim not supported by the appearance of the party or his agent frivolous and vexatious, were agreed to. Some formal resolutions for farther amendments, passed at a meeting of the committee held on the 20th April, were agreed to. The Town-clerk altered the resolution in the 19th section of the bill, so as to ensure that no quibble could arise as to the' meaning of the clause, which some members feared might be construed as giving power to out going aldermen to vote for their successors. PAYMENTS OF PAROCHIAL RATES. Mr. EARLE wished to know if something could not be in troduced into the bill to prevent the clerks in the Parish offices from receiving rates from persons without the know ledge of the parties owing such rates. He had sat, as a magistrate, hearing appeals, and he found that many of the poor people who appealed cnew nothing of the rates of the preceding year having been paid. Mr. SHIEL said, he objected to any new subject being en tered upon. The business upon which they had met was closed. (" No, no !" from Mr. Birkett.) The TOWN-CLERK said, that no clause to remedy what Mr. Earle complained of could be introduced. It was impossible to say that a clerk should not receive money that was owing when it was tendered. Mr. BIRKETT said, he had called out " No, no !" when Mr. Shiel was speaking of the business being finished, be cause he had something to bring forward. Mr. HARBORD said, the 15th clause of the bill, which enacted, that persons having more than one qualification should make their selection beforehand, affected him person ally, and he should wish to have it altered. He had a greater number of qualifications than any man in Liverpool, and this clause would deprive him of his privileges. All his qualifi cations except one might be struck off. The MAYOR: That is only in default of vour making a se lection for yourself. The bill provides, that those who do not make such selection are to have it made for them by the Mayor and revising assessors. Mr. EARLE : I stand in a similar position to Mr. Har bord, and I say I shall be most happy to see the clause carried. The TOWN-CLERK : The bill will only have the effect of compelling individuals to do that which, by the present act, they were morally bound to do. Mr. MELLou said the clause was one of the very best in the bill, for it would do away with all that finessing which had been practised to such an extent at municipal elections. Mr. HARDORD, seconded by Mr. JOHN SMITH, moved, that the Town-clerk be instructed to endeavour to induce the Legislature to alter or expunge the clause alluded to. Mr. BIRKETT, amid loud cries of " Adjourn !" moved, that an endeavour should be made to insert a clause giving the old freemen the right of voting at municipal elections. There was great confusion at this moment. It being close upon four o'clock, most of the members had risen and were moving towards the door. The MAYOR begged them to remain, and Mr. BIRKETT claimed a hearing. The MAYOR said, he had received a notice to call a Special Council. Mr. BIRKETT said, as his measure was very important, and as he did not like to bring it before such a scanty council as that, he would bring it before the Special Council. RE-CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSITION FOR OPPOSING THE INLAND WAREHOUSING BILL. The MAYOR read the following, saying, it was the com munication to which he had alluded : " The undersigned request the Mayor to call a meeting of the Council, to consider and determine as to the proceedings to be taken in opposition to the Inland Bonding Bill, parti cularly in respect to the petition to the Legislature in the name of the Council, and the expense to be incurred by the Corporation.''—(Signed Eyre Evans, Robert - Bean, Thornhill, Daniel Mather, Thomas Morecroft, Thonuo Blackburn, and Sheil.)—Adjourned to Wednesday. he said, his intention to go at length into fiftibiliiirr.ef-the; Seamen's Hospital Fund, but Sir Joshua havineoititeppgd him so ably in that respect, he should be pardoned friirklitt:i tering upon the task. The speaker then referred to the report, briefly commenting upon it as he proceeded, and sat down amid applause. _ Mr. T. M. GLADSTONE said the second resolution bad been confided to his care, in consequence, he was sorry to say, of the absence of their respected townsman, Mr. Aikin, whose advocacy of seartitn's claims was so well known and so justly appreciated in Liverpool. (Hear, hear.) He could wish to have seen the meeting more numerously attended, but at the same time he was glad to have that opportunity of advocating the good and well-being of those who were so interesting a class of her majesty's subjects—the British sea men. (Cheers.) As it was the case of the sick, the widow, and the children, he was sure there was no ground that a public man of any kind, however humble he might be, could occupy with greater satisfaction to himself and the commu nity than the pi esent. It was not for him to go into details, that having been done by Sir Joshua Walmsley; but taking the groundwork of the report of the committee of the House of Commons, he would say that they could not justly act on that report unless they could bring forward better evidence in favour of a change in the management of the funds, as re spected Liverpool, than they had hitherto done. It was ra ther surprising, after the present principle had been acted upon for so long a period of time, and after Liverpool had been taking care of itself, merely applying to the central board in London in a ministerial capacity, that any change should be thought advisable. Where the funds had been misapplied or distributed wastefully, it was quite right some change should be effected ; but where the system had been properly worked, matters should not be disturbed. In London itself the parties had exceeded their income to the extent of .Z 25,000, a fact which showed that that care was not evinced which ought to have existed. He defied any one to charge the Li verpool trustees with indiscretion in the management of the funds. Men better qualified to discharge the duty imposed upon them it was impossible to find. (Hear, hear.) It ap peared by one of the last clauses in the report, that an im mediate bringing in of the bill into parliament was not re- commended. - It appeared, therefore, that the parties were afraid they should do more harm than good by effecting a change, and that it was a feeling of this kind had induced them to tell the legislature to pause. Their whole report, however, went to say, that London was to be the central point to hold the reins, and that the provincial communities were not to govern themselves. There was a common say ing in France that Paris was all France; and according to certain parties in England, London was to be all England. (Hear, and laughter) _ _ Mr: CLINT - seconded the resolution proposed by Mr Gladstone. Mr. SPENCE proposed the third resolution. The question, in his opinion, required no great argument, it being one of common sense. Mr. JOHNSON seconded the third resolution Mr. YATES proposed the fourth resolution, and in doing so addressed some cautionary observations to the meeting. Mr. MELLOR seconded the fourth resolution. The two other resolutions were moved and seconded by the gentlemen to which their names are attached, after which thanks were voted to the mayor, and the meeting se parated at two o'clock. LOSS OF THE WILLIAM BROWN The following account of the loss of the ship William Brown, is given by the crew saved in the boat and taken on board the ship Crescent, and it supplies a few painfully in teresting particulars in addition to what appeared in the Standard, of Friday. It is dated April 28, 1841 : " The passage was very rough, accompanied by squalls and loss of sails. On the 19th of April, in lat 43 30 N., and 49 39 W long., making all sail in open sea, and running ten knots an hour, the larboard side of the vessel struck upon an iceberg, which stove her in. At ten minutes past nine .at night we struck upon another. I then proposed to the cap tain to take in sail as quickly as possible, which we did ; and sounding the pump, found two feet water in the hold. On going below I found that the vessel was rapidly making wa ter. All hands set to work to disengage the boats, and at eleven o'clock they were alongside. I descended into the longboat, with eight of the crew and thirty•three of the pas sengers ; the captain, lieutenant, a lady, and five sailors, embarked in the jollyboat, and we fastened the boats to gether. At midnight the vessel sunk, carrying with her thirty-three persons. We remained alongside each other until five o'clock in the morning. Captain Harris then in formed us of his intention of leaving us, and making the best of his way to Newfoundland, and advised me to do the same. " My boat being full and heavy, I could not manage it; to pursue that route was impossible : I therefore directed my course south. In the afternoon we fell in with a large quantity of ice. Throughout the night the wind blew with violence from the north in squalls, with rain and hail, and a very heavy sea. Finding that the boat was literally sur rounded by small and large masses of ice, that the water was gaining upon her, I thoughtit improbable she could hold out unless relieved of some of her weight. I then consulted the sailors, and we were all of opinion that it was necessary to throw overboard those who were nearly dead, until we had room enough to work the boat, and take to our oars. Tl.e weather becoming worse it was almost impossible to keep the boat afloat and disengage it from the ice. At daybreak we were still surrounded by icebergs. On counting the passen gers sixteen were missing, and the rest were in a desperate state and almost stifffrom sold. At six o'clock in the morn ing we perceived to the westward a sail steering an easterly course. We exerted every effort to approach it. The cap tain being aloft in order to steer his ship through the ice, saw our boat, and, notwithstanding the danger to his own ship, made sail fOr us. On Thursday morning at seven o'clock we were alongside of her, and before she had received us all on board, was struck by the ice, which stove in the boat. We, however, succeeded in saving her. Banks and islands of ice were in sight as far as the eye could reach. I then ascertained that it was the Crescent of Portsmouth (New Hampshire), Captain S. J. Ball, bound from New York to Havre. We met the kindest reception on board, and assistance in the way of food and clothing were lavished upon us. Signed by the crew saved in the boat, and two passen gers :—Francis Rhodes, mate ; Lemarchal, steward ; H Murry, cook ; James Patrick and James Black, passe dr • _ Joseph Stretton, Alexandria Williams, Charles Smith, James Northon, Isaac Freeman, and William Miller, seamen. __ The above is a correct statement of the loss of the William Brown, which I have been able to _learn from the mate and passengers (Signed) S. J. Ball, Captain of the Crescent ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.-Mr. Atkins purposes exhibiting at this fashionable place of resort, during the summer months, the bombardment and capture of St. Jean D'Acre, in which Sir Charles Napier bore so distinguished a part. The first representation takes place on Monday evening next. A celebrated pyrotechnist will be employed. These gardens, if fine weather smiles upon them, will doubtless be well attended. The following animals have been presented to the proprietor of the gardens since last season :—J. M. Ashford, Esq., Norton-street, a white dove ; G. Armstrong, Esq., Abercrombie-square, a cockatoo ; Atherton, Esq., South Castle-street, a South American squirrel; J. Appelby, Esq., Park-road, a pair of Carolina deer ; D. Buchanan, Esq., Everton, an Indian sheep; Mr. I'. Brooks, ship Eng land, a falcon; Mr. C. Belay, Crown-chambers, a pair of Maltese pigeons ; Capt. Cumming, ship Penang, a beg deer ; Capain Crosbie, Toxteth-park, a. macaw ; Captain Cawkett, ship Cordelia, several specimens; Mr. Cook, Upper Hill street, 'a Pennentian parrot : Captain Green, ship Columbus, a tiger cat ; Mr. Greetham, Ranelagh-street, a monkey ; Mr. R. Gardiner, Bold-place, a green parrot ; Messrs. Har ris and Smith, Wavertree, a macaw ; Mr. Henry, chief officer of the Hesperus, an alligator; G. Hall, Esq., ship North America, a rattlesnake ; Mr. Howard, barque Air, a macaw ; Mr. P. Mings, ship North America, a pair of quails ; Capt. M'Phun, ship Marchioness of Bute, a ringtail monkey : Capt. M`Millan, barque Thomas Hughes, a young lama ; Miss Mark, Cornwallis-street, a peccary; Captain Mathewson, Archer, a ring-tailed monkey; Captain Petre, ship Eliza beth' Johnson, a coatimondia, W. R. Preston, Esquire, Mosely-hill, a peccary ; Captain Rimmer, barque Isa belle, a .monkey ; Captain Robinson, ship Nelson Wood, a grey squirrel ; Captain .Rickerty, ship Livingstone. a king parrot; Captain Smith, street, a pair of parroquets ; Captain Simpson two turtle ; Captain Stickney, ship Mountaineeer, two red Virgenian nightingales ; W. C. Towuly, Esq., William-street, a mon key; Cptain Winfield, barque Air, a currasow ; C • Williams, ship Mountaineer, a peccary; Captain ship Haywood, a monkey ; R. Zwilchenbart, Esq., peafowls; Captain Corbett, ship Ellen Stewart, a lar; *tailed ape. DEFRAUDING THE EICISE.-'-At the Police Court, yes terday, Holiday Flewker, Esq., Collector of Excise ferred informations against Daniel Denny, an auct for making an untrue declaration of sales effected in Liverpool, by which the revenue was defrauded to a siderable amount. Mr. Hodges appeared to defend tile pri soner, and took a preliminary objection to the notice, which he contended should have been served fourteen days before It appeared, however, that 'by a more recent act than ti requiring fourteen days notice, a notice of only t days was required, and this had been complied wit much as the 'summons was served on the 6th instan James Young, Excise-officer, proved the receiving notices from the defendant in the usual way. These particularized a number of sales of books, spreading over great part of October and November of last year ; they were signed by the defendant, who had also made returns for all of the sales to correspond. The offence, therefore, was that he had accounted for a much smaller amount of duty than he ought to have done,—the defraud in all amount ing to £6 14s 61id. He was proceeded against on only one of the counts,—or in other_ words for the amount received by him, and withheld on sales that had taken place from the 27th to the 31st October inclusive. Mr. Holt, collector's clerk and cashier, said that defendant bad delivered the account sales produced, and on the 9th January had paid £2 93 44d for auction duty, from the 12th October to the 7th November. The collector said that on the 9th of January, Mr. Denny made a return of these sales, and settled the amount he had put down as due. He (the collector•) sus pecting that the declaration was untrue, warned him to be careful, but he made no amendment in it. Mr. Thomas Johnson, bookseller, said he had employed Denny to sell books for him in October and November, at the shop No. 60, Byrom-street. He sold for four weeks, and the gross amount of the sales was £lB5 17 6, from which about 5.£ should be deducted for sales by private. The duty was paid by the purchaser. Thomas Rodgers said he er employed by Mr. Johnson to receive the money for the veral lots as they were sold, which he paid over to hi , the morning following each sale, and Mr. Johnson entr in his book. The several sums paid daily from the 31st October inclusive were then read, and amounted to £46 ss. Od. The collector stated that the sales accounte , for by the defendant during that period was only £l2 3s. 0 Mr. Culshawsaid only 12s. 9d. of duty were paid, in plac £ a 2 e 4 e s o 0 , n 9i d d t .i time. o e r . that The week. other h. 1 IN iwl I lae r y . es t e H i on o d d Ei n g ng e g s loa t nn o d o t h k aen a d n o r o sd l ce , j ro e t Iva _r that the informations s. .To -night i should sfixedo h fao a tr v is e s i rt o b ß e s e .a n yH, I .u a pl i d ntgo i l l it i sh i l d te r 10 aI brim act of 32d Geo. 3d : but he was set right ' point, there being a subsequent act which 1. complied with—the Ist and 2d Willim IV., Chapter 4 Denny entered into a statement of his pecuniary dita. and prayed for mitigation under the circumstances. i. Rushton.—l do not see any ground for such an application. Here are no fewer than four false returns, and you received the money. The Collector.—This is quite a frauduler transaction. I even gave him an opportunity of rnakin , supplementary sheet ; but he declined to do so. .The fendant.-1 hope, Mr. ' Rushton , you will make for the circumstances in which ' I have been placed. M Rushton.—l cannot. if the court make recommendation in improper cases, such as this, to the commissionel m s , in t en .? will pay no attention to cases which it is proper to . r n ec t c, ,is case ! for mitigation. The Collector.-1 must defendant press for conviction in the full amount. Th_e_ v b i e o i u n g al y gone convictedinto, i n to Rsiumsihlatornoffthenetcnet.e.The other counts not RAILWAY TRAFFIC. — . the sum of £lOO, in terms of the stat! fined thediefeedasilitifiet: period to which themeveranveed:llowing eluding passengers, Par row 5 8: e sßa : npr i ogds : lhus 6 tt l iEes, o o',, . TH E HOUSE OF COMMONS. —T 11 R 1 n Ar bnu o i tars evening inconsequence of the protracted debate on ti of traffic on the several rat (29 in all) for the amount of passenge " tration of . F and the P is the total amonn last week, lr are calculated, co e n els: an 222,210. Total reeeir carriages, horses, mere: ~ (Engl d) Bill, the Right of Votir- i shment of Death Bill, stood for discussion I a ; tit is doubtful whether they would not be a;7,i f orwa rd his motion for church extension, &c ; and to.mor• Lord Stanley's Irish Registration Bill is to be read for discussion this week are oleo very numerous. 2tith to 4, Sec. 1 is