The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-05-20 00:00:00

Lord Sandon has been appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Stafford. ACCIDENT TO THE REV. HUGH STOWELL. — We regret to state, that the Rev. Hugh Stowell was thrown from his horse on Monday last, and severely bruised ; but we understand, that he was better yesterday ; and it is hoped, he may be able speedily to resume his duties.—Manchester Guardian. SIR THOMAS HESKETH, BART.—We regret to learn that this gentleman lies at Rufford-hall in a very declining state of health. We believe his symptoms during the last few days have assumed an appearance alarming to his friends. THE ACCIDENT AT THE DUKE'S DOCK.—We are happy to state that the poor man, Murphy, on whom the load of iron fell last week, and by which he was so shockingly crush ed. is not dead as reported in last Friday's STANDARD. Dr. M'Carron, of Russell-street, was immediately sent for, and by the timely administration of stimulants revived him ; his attention since has Leen unremittiLg, and the man is now out of danger. ACCIDENT AT QUEEN'S DOCK.—Yesterday morning, as a porter was backing his horse and cart on the quay of Queen's Dock, he unfortunately made a false step, and both were precipitated into the water. The horse was drowned im mediately. After considerable exertion the cart was re covered, but much damaged. IMPORTANT FOR THE DESPATCII OF VESSELS.—If any goods or produce are not entered within three days after the report of the vessel, the law gives the power to the owner or agent to enter and warehouse the same, and all charges at tendant thereon to be paid by the consignees of such pro perty. THE SESSIONS.—The Sessions, which commenced on Monday, terminated at half-past three o'clock yesterday afternoon. An interesting case which occurred on Wednes day is reported elsewhere. Nothing of interest occurred in the proceedings during yesterday. SUSPENSION OF A POLICE-OFFlCER.—Officer 198 was ordered by Mr. Rushton, on Wednesday, to be suspended, for having, on Tuesday night, pushed about the wife of a man, who keeps an exhibition in Great Howard-street, and who was quietly walking homewards at the time, in com pany with another female. (The Tea Trade.) Further 130thiction upon good Me dium qualities.—ln consequence of the present unexpected abundant arrivals of Teas from China, we are now prepared to invite the attention of lerge Families,—Proprietors of Hotels,—Schools, &c.iiz i f to our FINE S TOUT C ONGOU , at 4s. per lb.—particu I recommended. In sin g l e p oun d s , 61b. Bags, and small Ch ts. ROBT. ROBERTS and Co. Royal Bank Buildings, May 16th, 1842. SERIOUS ACCIDENT.—We regret to state that an accident of a very serious nature, occurred yesterday morning to Mr. John Harley, the son of Mr. Hartley, surveyor to the trus tees of the Liverpool Dock Estate. Mr. Hartley was with his father on No. 1 Pier-head, superintending the erection of a pair of " sheers," a kind of temporary crane, when from some carelessness on the part of the workmen the upper part of the erection fell and struck Mr. Hartley to the ground. He was immediately taken up and conveyed home, when it was found that he had received a very serious injury in the spine and lower part of the body. No bones, we believe, were broken. Mr. Hartley was extremely unwell last even ing ; but we understand that unless inflammation intervenes he may ultimately recover. BAIL FOR COPELAND.—On Wednesday, at the Police court, David Bird and James Simm appeared for the pur pose of becoming bail for Samuel Martin Copeland, who it will be recollected was committed on a charge of having de frauded Miss Crellin of the sum of £250. The former stated that he lived at 29, INlarybone, and had occupied the house for three years, paying £26 per annum for it. His business was a veterinary surgeon, and he also bought and sold horses and carriages. His property consisted of five horses and eight or nine carriages, new and second hand, and some household furniture, the value of which articles Mr. Bird could not estimate until they were sold. The bail was rejected. Mr. Simm said that he was a coal-merchant, and that his property consisted of his stock in trade, two houses and a boat. He had in business about £3OO. His house was in Mill-street, and his office, 47, Oldhall-street. He had not received any promise of indemnity in case Copeland ran away. Mr. Rushton consented to take his bail. The parties then retired. THE FUNDS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.—In the first part of the day there was a decided tendency towards a fall in the Funds, but in the afternoon a rally took place and Consols, the barometer of the Funds, became more firm, and closed at 921 to for money, and 92g- to for account. Bank Stock 167 to 8. India Stock 249 to 50. Exchequer Bills 37s to 39s premium. There was a demand for money, but to nothing like the extent reported in some papers. A decline took place in Mexican, although not of great extent. The Bonds closed at 3'3* to 7. Colombian 27 to 1. Peruvian, so little dealt in, started suddenly to 191 to 201, upon the faith of some trumpery story that the export duty on Guano dung (in the morning paper in which it appeared, ignorantly called Guiana) was to be specially appropriated to the pay ment of dividends on the foreign debt. Spanish Five per Cent. Active with the Coupons were 23 to I. the Three per Cent. capitalised Coupons without the dividends 23 to I. Portuguese Five per Cents 371 to t, the Three per Cents. 221 to Brazilian 67 to 8. Dutch Two-and-Half per Cents. 52 1 ,t- to -1, the Five per Cents. 1001 to 11. Belgian 102 to 3. SMUGGLING TOHACCO.-At the Police-court, yesterday, a sailor named Samuel Brown, who had been remanded from Monday, was brought before Mr. Rushton, on a charge of smuggling a considerable quantity of tobacco. Mr. Brooks, solicitor for the Customs, attended for the prosecution. It appeared that on the 13th instant, soon after the arrival of the " Siddous" packet-ship from New York, a chest fastened up, and which was found to contain 871 b. of foreign manu factured tobacco, was found on board, and for which no owner could at first be found. The prisoner seeing the offi cers seize it, at length claimed it as his own, stating that he had bought it for the purpose of selling it to the passengers on the outward voyage hence to New York. He gave the same account of it yesterday, and said he was a Welshman. Mr. Rushton said the case was clearly one of smuggling, and was not only a fraud on the revenue, but on the captain and owners of the ship, who by such practices were put to great anxiety and trouble. Ile then imposed a tine on the prisoner' (under the act) of . - CIOU, and as he could not, of course, pay any part of it, he was committed to the Borough gaol. MEETING OF THE DOCK COMMITTEE.—The weekly meeting of the Dock Committee was held yesterday, when the following members were present :—Messrs. Sands, (chair man,) Horstall, Barclay, Holt, Holmes, Sandbach, Mellor, Aikin, Evans, Tobin, Bold, and Ripley. At the request of the surveyor, the erection of the sheds ordered to be placed at the east end of Waterloo and Victoria Docks was postponed until the railway, now in progress from the new dock works to the north shore, be completed.—A letter from the sur veyor, relating to the transit sheds, suggesting that application be made to the customs to allow them to become bonding s heds, was referred to the Harbour Masters' Sub-committee. The accident at Queen's Dock, and that to Mr. John Hart ley, as described in another column, were reported to the committee. A memorial from Mr. Matthew Tiernan, agent for the herring smacks fishing off the coasts of Ireland and the Isle of Man, praying to be accommodated in George's Dock, was referred to the Harbour Masters' Sub-committee. The committee then proceeded to the t ransac ti on o f s ome fi na ncial business, after which they separated. NEWTON HORSE FAIR.—The Lord of the Manor of Newton, ever anxious to promote the prosperity of that town, has this year revived the horse fair heretofore held with the cattle fair, in the month of May annually, and a spirited subscription having been entered into by the inha bitants, a variety of premiums were offered to the horse dealer bringing for sale the best string of cart horses, or riding horses. For the best brood mare. For/he best three year old colt or filley offered for sale for farming use. For the best farmer's stallion ; and for the best team of farm horses shown in the fair, being the bona fide property of the farmer. Unfortunately, Tuesday, the day on which the first horse fair was held at Newton, happened to be that on which similar fairs were held at Ormskirk and other neighbouring towns, and in consequence the show of horses offered for sale was scanty. There were plenty of buyers in attendance, and they were evidently disappointed at not meeting with a stronger muster of dealers. There were no entries foe the two first premiums. The judge, Mr. Brady, of Lyme Park, steward to Thomas Leigh, Esq., awarded the premium for the best brood mare, to Thomas Leigh, Esq. The premium for the best stallion, was given to Mr. Thomas Ashton, of Burton-wood, for a black horse four years old. To Mr. Thomas Peters, of Lowton, was awarded the prize for the best team of farm horses. There was a large show of cows and yearlings, which fetched rather high prices. In the afternoon the tenantry of Mr.-Leigh dined together at the Leigh Arms, where an excellent repast was provided by Mrs. Wilcox, the landlady. Mr. Woods, the deputy stew ard, presided, and the remainder of the day was spent with the greatest hilarity. 'J NEW AMENDED POOR-LAw.—Our attention has been called to a clause of the " amended"new poor-law, now be fore the House of Commons, as proposed by Sir James Gra- Liam. We allude to the bastardy clause. tinder the present law the power given to justices to enforce payment of orders for the maintenance of illegitimate children is too much cir cumscribed. The clause in the new act professes to give them the requisite power,—but the advantage is nullified, by the restriction at its close,—by which it is proposed to be enacted, that no order whatever can be made for the support of a child if it be not in the workhouse! The clause con tains no reference whatever to the mother, so that the in ferenee is that a child may, under this humane law, be taken from its mother's breast, and placed with strangers in the 3voikhouse, apart from all those who might naturally pay it more attention that it can possibly receive in such an es tablishment, Sir James Graham, moreover, not contented with seeking to establish such a law with respect to cases yet to arise, purposes that it shall have a retrospective effect, for the clause goes on to state, that no order already made shall hereafter be enforced except for the support of the child in the workhouse. The gross impolicy, not to say cruelty and injustice, of such a law is to us quite ob vious. It is, we take it, an emanation from the tender - hearted , an d considerate trio of poor-law commissioners. In place of softening down the rigours of the present law, as affecting illegitimate chil dren, such a clause would render it doubly severe, not only on the mother, but the unoffending offspring. We can state, from authority, that it would not be practicable in Liverpool. The workhouse has no accommodation for the reception of one half of the children who would thus be driven into it — and they cannot b e accommo d ate d w ithi n it s wa lls, they must, it appears, starve without—an alternative too prepos terous to be for a moment entertained. TREATMENT OF EMIGRANTS.—THE SHIP " MERSEY. " In our last, we mention e d th e arr i val here o f the Mersey, from Liverpool to New York, which put back in distress a vessel se cond time. This sailed from Liverpool, the first time, on the 30th December, and again on the 24th March. The passengers .are wander ing a b out our streets in a state of destitution. Lieutenant the government agent we are informed, brou gh t here, has, Procurator -Fiscal. The followinu t d their case before the nished by some of them:—The gsh• etails have been fur register, left Liverpool for New YorIT Mersey, of 722 tons under the command of Captain Williaomn i t t he 30t h December, tow ed out about three miles by a steamer • but , ea.f She was state of the weather , . she could not proc'eed fr om the foggy to anchor after having nearly got foul of anoth er ' ad had to come following day she weiged anchor and proceeded sh ip. The till the 6th of February, when she encountered a vi o lent her voyage storm, which continued till the 14th, when one hundred and seventy of the passengers signed a petition to the captain praying - him to return, which request was complied with • and Mersey reached Liverpool on the 2 5 th February, 'With he main mast sprung, and bulwarks, tiller , and roundhouse car ried away. For the fortnight previous, the passengers were short of provisions, and they Co mplain much of the prices charged for such articles as were sold to them. The vessel lay in the Liverpool docks till the 17th March, the whesh ee went out into the river, where she was examined by rn agent. She sailed again on the 24th of that month, and on the do.. following she put back from stress of weather. She remain. ed again till the 3rd April, when she set sail, and had a pros perous voyage until the 17th ultimo, when she encountereda strong gale of head wind, in the cours e of ct was &- covered that the vesse l ha d' sprung a l eak ; Mi c h o i n the 18h she put about for the purpose of making for the nearest pol .. ; but, when they got near the Cove of Cork, they were agan blown out to sea. On the 4th May they were boared a Clyde pilot, under peculiar circumstances. A passe n ger s d hung up a shirt to dry, which got entang led with one of the ropes ; and when the mew were hauling,bit got hoisted tcthe top of the foretopmast, and was seen by the pilot at adls tance of seven miles, and he instantly made for the hip, boarded, and brought her to Greenock, after she had been 46 days out in her second attempt to cross the Atlantic. She had 285 passengers on board ; three bad died , an d onebeen born, on the voyage.—Greenock Advertiser. MAYNOOTH PETITION PROM MANCHESTER.—We are delighted to find that the Protestants of Manchester have again nobly done their duty, by sending a petition for pre sentation, signed by above 30,000 persons. If the hon. member for Dungarvon continues his office of Maynooth petition inspector, we guess he will find it rather an arduous office shortly. For ourselves, we would challenge inquiry into every petition presented from the Protestant party in this town. THE WEATHER.—This town and neighbourhood was visited yesterday with showers of fine seasonable rain, which must have been gratefully received by the thirsting vegetation in the grazing districts around. The country, we are glad to state, exhibits a verdant and delightful appearance. INTERESTING TO WELSH PROTESTANTS.—Perhaps the most interesting feature in the forthcoming anniversary of the Liverpool Church Missionary Society, to the Welsh in habitants of the town, will be the delivery of a sermon in Welsh by the Rev. Joseph Baylee, of Woodside, which will be preached in St. David's Church on Sunday afternoon next. The rev. gentleman has acquired a perfect knowledge of the Welsh language, and has now, we are informed, service for the Welsh population of his district every Sunday afternoon. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHURCH SCHOOLS, NAYLOR STREET.—On Friday night or Saturday morning last some mischievous persons broke into these premises, and though they were guilty of some wilful damage to the rooms, there was fortunately little property worth the trouble of carrying away—the books, &c. being so stamped throughout as to be easily identified. PRAISEWORTHY CONDUCT.—On Monday night last, a boy accidentally fell into the Brunswick Dock, and by his cries soon attracted a crowd of persons near the spot, amongst whom was a dock gateman, of the name of Williams, who, on perceiving the poor creature in the water, immediately jumped in, and at the risk of his own life, succeeded in saving that of the boy, though the little fellow was evidently strug gling in the agonies of death. We believe this man, some little time ago, was the means of rescuing a poor woman under similar circumstances. We shall he glad if his meri torious conduct does not go unrewarded. THE " WHITE CAT" NOT MR. FOPJOY'S.—OUT friend Mr. Popjoy, having been catechised upon the subject in many circles, begs of us to deny, most emphatically, that the puns contained in the amewsing " extravaganza" re cently introduced under this title at the Theatre-Royal, were supplied directly by him. Many of them, he admits, may have been first purrpetrated by himself ; and he " could a tale unfold " with respect to the mode in which they have been pilfered. The idea, however, that such a catalogue of catterwauling should be identified with his mews, has almost driven him cataleptic. CONTROVERSY.—The Reverend J. Baylee, Incumbent of Holy Trinity Church, Woodside, is at present engaged in the delivery of a course of lectures proving the falsity of the Romish system, in reply to that wily, reasoner in behalf of Popery, Dr. Butler. On Tuesday,ovening the reverend gentleman delivered his second lectikc to a most respectable and attentive congregation, who appeared much pleased with the display of learning, piety, and pure Scriptural argument brought to bear out his statements. Perhaps no controver salist of the present day has made himself so thoroughly acquainted with the peculiar tenets of the apostate church of Babylon, and at the same time puts them so closely to the test of divine revelation as Mr. Baylee ; whilst his intimate and profound knowledge of the languages in which that reve lation was originally made known to man, give a weight and authority to his statements which all candid persons acknow ledge, and none can truly gainsay. MONSIEUR LAFONTAINE IN DUBLIN.—We perceive, by the Dublin papers, that this gentleman has been highly suc cessful in his lectures and experiments in that city. The Dublin Evening Packet states, that his conversazione on Friday last " was attended by a distinguished and scientific audidence ;" and by a successful experiment upon a young gentleman well known to the assembly, and admitted to be perfectly above suspicion of leading himself to collusion, the scepticism previously entertained by the professional and scientific gentlemen present was entirely dispelled. At a subsequent lecture given on Tuesday last the same subject was experimented upon, and in about three minutes and a half rendered perfectly cataleptic and insensible, although the usual tests were applied. Another gentleman—a more difficult subject, however, was attempted, and although not so successfully as the first, yet, after a lapse of fifteen minutes, was compelled to acknowledge the usual sensations of incipient somnolency. HER MAJESTY'S BIRTHDAY.—GRAND DINNER AT THE TOWN HALL.—The anniversary of the birth of her Majesty was celebrated in this town yesterday with becoming tokens of loyalty and affection. The Custom- house, the Excise office, and all the other public offices, observed the occasion as a holiday ; and from all the churches and principal build ings the Royal Standard of England was displayed. In the evening, the Worshipful the Mayor gave a splendid banquet to a select party, in the magnificent dining-room of the Town-hall. Fifty invitations were sent out, and about forty gentlemen were present. The Mayor, of course, presided; and amongst the guests we noticed all the officers of her Ma jesty's army and navy now in this port, the foreign consuls, Mr. Haggerty, the newly appointed Consul of the United States of America at Liverpool, the Rev. Dr. Tattershall, the Rev. Fielding Ould, the Rev. Dr. Raffles, &c., &c. Mr. Schuyler, the late American Consul, was invited, but we un derstand that pressing business connected with his approach ing departure prevented him from accepting the invitation. The dinner was of the most sumptuous character, and the wines called forth special admiration. The toasts relating to her Majesty, and the circumstances of the occasion, were very appropriately given by the Mayor, and elicited the warm est applause. The party broke up about ten o'clock, after having spent a most agreeable evening. ENGLISH SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE RELIEF OF THE DISTRESSED SUFFERERS BY THE GREAT FIRE AT HAM BURG.—It is most gratifying to observe how liberally Eng land, at this comparatively early stage of the appeal to her generosity, has come forward to relieve the unfortunate poor of Hamburgh, who have been reduced to utter destitution by the conflagration of that city. For instance, the city of Lon don has subscribed upwards of £20,000, Manchester has al ready sent £2OOO, and will remit as much more in a few days, and Liverpool, although the subscription only commenced in reality yesterday, has furnished upwards of £llOO. On the other hand the port of Havre has at present only contribu ted 8000 francs (not 1:400), and Paris itself has only given a little more than £3300. We do not mention these facts by way of invidious comparison, but to show that it is our na tional characteristic to be ever foremost—whether in arms, commerce, or that which Shakspere says—" Droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven "—mercy. As far as Liverpool is concerned, the national characteristic will certainly be up held, and with that confident expectation we beg to recom mend the sufferers by this unexampled calamity to public sympathy. ASSAULT ON A CAPTAIN.—Two sailors of colour, named West and Jones were put forward at the police-court, on Tuesday, on a charge of having assaulted their captain, Mr. F. W. French, of the American ship Cornelia, under aggra vated circumstances. Mr. French deposed that he was master of the ship in question, and that she was at present lying in this port. The prisoners were part of his crew. Aboot 12 o'clock on the previous day, Jones came to him and demanded money, which he refused to give, having previously given him some. He then took hold of complainant and said he should have it, and on the latter attempting to go on shore he took hold of him and endeavoured to throw him off the rail. Not wishing to have any disturbance on board the ship, complainant requested a friend who was present to fetch a policeman, and when the latter had arrived on the spot, a good deal of altercation took place, and Jones refused to go to prison. The other prisoner, 'West, then interfered, became very noisy, took hold of complainant, either acci dentally or designedly, and pulled him off the water-cask. The police-officer having told complainant that it would be necessary for him to accompany them to the station at the docks, he went there with them, and while there West struck him on the eye with his fist, and severely cut and otherwise injured him. This statement was corroborated by two per sons who witnessed the outrage.—Mr. Rushton ordered the prisoners to pay a fine of £5 each, or be imprisoned two months, and said that for their brutality they should lose all their wages and clothes, regretting that the powers of the magistrates were limited to the infliction of an inadequate punishment for the offence which the prisoners had com mitted. FIRING IN THE MOUNT GARDENS. — On Wednesday, at the Police-court, Mr. Joseph Nicol preferred a complaint against two gentlemen, one a member of the Town Council, for having illegally discharged fire-arms in the Mount gardens. It appeared, from the evidence, that Mr. Nicol was roused from his slumbers about seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, by the loud report of fire-arms in the gardens, contiguous to which he resides, and that on going thither he saw the two gentlemen firing a kind of spring gun at some rooks which were in the trees. They were reluctant to give him the authority by which they were enjoying the sport, but said that another member of the Council was cog nizant of the fact of their having entered the place for such a purpose. They appealed to the keeper of the gardens to interfere on their behalf, but he declined to do so, because one of them was a town-councillor and a member of the gardens' committee. A policeman also refused to interfere for the same reason. Neither of the defendants appeared in court, but a young gentleman attended for them and stated their willingness to pay any fine which might be imposed. They were ordered to pay each a fine of 40s. and costs, not for shooting at the rooks, against which it appears there is no law, but for having illegally discharged fire-arms within the borough. [The rooks complain, and not without caws.] THE SISTER OF BURNS.—A sister of Burns, the last sur vivor of his father's family, still lives. She is now a widow, at an advanced age, and resides at the village of Tranent, in Haddingtonshire, with two unmarried daughters, who endeavour to support her by the exercise of their needles. She is a decent-looking old person, with a good deal of the poet's physiognomy, and particularly his fine dark eyes. The youngest of William Burn's children, she was twelve years old at the time when he died at Lochlea, a broken-spirited man. She was one of the household at Mosgiel during its occupancy by Robert and Gilbert Burns in succession, and she afterwards married a person named Begg, who, for ten years, conducted the business of Gilbert's farm, of Dunning, on the estate of Sir Charles S. Monteath, of Closeburn. Since the death of her husband, her sons being all removed from her, and unable to assist her, she has been dependent upon her two daughters, who , though active and most respectable young women, are barely able to keep house for themselves and their venerable parent. In short, the sister of Burns has fallen, in the course of providence, into poverty, the dread of which is the theme of so many of her brother's verses. —Correspondent of the Inverness Courier.—[There must be many . admirers and countrymen of the bard of Scotland resident in Liverpool who would be glad to administer relief to his widowed and poverty-stricken sister. We have seen a letter from the minister of the parish in which she lives. He speaks of her in the highest terms of commendation ; and we shall be glad to receive any con tributions towards her relief, and will immediately hand them over to a gentleman in this town, who has generously inter ested himself in the matter, and who will see to the right appropriation of the money.—E. L. S.] So distressing are the accounts from tne manufacturing districts generally that the Privy Council have come to the determination of the issue of " Queen's Letter, inviting contributions in the several places of worship throughout the kingdom, for the purpose of affording more adequate re lief to the industrious population of the manufacturing dis tricts than local subscriptions can be expected to yield." it is not known generally that the Affghanistan territory is mentioned in Scripture. It occurs in that chapter of Kings which relates the life of King Solomon, chap. 9, v. 13. " And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not. And he said what cities are these thou hast given me, my brother ? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day." DESPERATE CONFLICT—•TWO POLICEMEN WOUNDED AND ONE OF THE ATTACKING PARTY KILLED.—It be comes our painful duty to have to record in our present number, a most desperate conflict, which occurred on Wed nesday night last, within three miles, at this side of Mitchels town. We subjoin the particulars Which have just reached us, and w hi c h are as f o ll o w :—As three policemen of the Ballindenny station were on patrol on W ed nesday night last, wereof their hbeateneir recovery in ch they fell i n with an armed party of ten men. The police plenveyy boldly en d eavoure d to arrest some of the party, hope su. u of u tt_ha em m imultaneous attack was made upon them, and two T a h e third dreadful policemanm n r a s to leave no escaped, and in the confusion, took off one of the fellows' guns in stead of • his own which be the - • the gang. The yet may means of detecting distant from body of one of them was found about a mile caused by a where the conflict took place. His death was another, in bayonet wound, inflicted by the police. This is addition to the many instances, which shows the danger of ,permitting so a country where the small a party to patrol the roads in stitution. peopl e are so lawless.—Tipperary Con- GREAT FIRE AT HAMBURG. In accordance with a requisition, signed by a great number of the principal inhabitants of the town, a public meeting was held in the Sessions-house, Chapel-street, on Wednesday, for the purpose of adopting measures to relieve the numerous sufferers by the late awful conflagration at Hamburg. The meeting was attended by a most numerous and respectable auditory. The MAYOR took the chair. The MAvon opened the proceeding; by saying that it was almost unnecessary to have presented him with a requisition for a public meeting to be convened upon so awful an oc casion, and when such a lamentable event had taken place as the late fire in Hamburg, but that he had nevertheless re ceived a requisition, signed by numerous and respectable parties, to convene the meeting, a copy of which he would read. Having read the requisition accordingly, he proceeded to say that he was sure the occasion to which the same al luded was very familiar with the gentlemen assembled, as it had appeared in all the pape►s, and that it was fresh in all their recollections. He believed a more awful calamity had never occurred to any city in the world, and that it must have been a subject of deep consideration to all who lived at Hamburg. He thought, if they could only suppose a similar occurrence had happened to themselves, that they would look to parties at a distance to relieve the unfortunate people who would have suffered in such a calamity. He, therefore, urged the meeting most strenuously to contribute towards . . the alleviation of the distresses - ofa j n - im;;;erTlTe number of persons who had suffered by the conflagration in Ham burg, and who had thereby been deprived of assistance, and to relieve the wants consequent upon that awful visitation. He would conclude by calling on Rector Brooks to propose the first resolution; but previously, he knew not but it might be prudent to read a letter he had received from Messrs. Roade and Boden.. On reading the first line of the letter in question he thought the su b scr iptio n it inclosed was to be applied to the purposes for which. the meeting had been _ . . . convened, but at the conclusion it terminated differently, and seemed to him to have been written with the view of giving an excitement to the inhabitants of Liverpool to con tribute largely towards the alleviation of the distress in Ham burg. He had been in hopes that the subscription was ap propriated to the present purpose, and he had called at the residence of the gentlemen who wrote with the intention of learning from themselves something more explicit on the subject, but they were from home at the time. His worship having read the letter, again expressed his belief that it had been written for the purpose of exciting Liverpool " to do to others as they would be done by." It inclosed thirty guineas, to be distributed among the charitable institutions Of the town of Liverpool, according to the discretion of the Mayor. _ The Rev. JONATHAN BROOKS rose to move the first re solution. lie said he had great pleasure in complying with the wish expressed by the gentlemen who had presented the requisition to the mayor, to move the first resolution, which was to the effect that the town of Liverpeol deeply thised with the inhabitants of Hamburg tinderthe a swfiil ca- 'amity which had befallen them—a caramity that must have reduced a large number to destitution, and which, from its nature and extent, must have impaired the ordinary means of local and national relief in such a way as to justify an appeal to the whole civilised world. (Hear.) He conceived that what had been expressed in the resolution would meet with the hearty concurrence of every gentleman assembled at the meeting that day. It was seldom, thanks to the care of a , o , superintending providence, that visitations so extensive and so awful as the one in question took place in the world. They had but few and rare instances of cities having been destroyed to the extent which had taken place in Hamburg , . They ought to be thankful for this ; but when such calami . ties did happen, they should all be agreed that they furnished .. . ~ strong claims on the Christian sympathy and feeling of every body to whom the sad tidings were borne. (Hear, hear.) He had been told that the property destroyed in consequence of the late fire amounted to no less than £7,000,000 ; but he conceived with regard to this, that the present meeting had nothing to do—that its object was not to attempt to replace the property—he meant the mercantile property—destroyed, but that the only thing in the power of this town, or indeed of this country, to assist, was the destitute state of the num ber of persons who had been cast houseless on the country at large without the means either of subsistence or a roof to shelter them. (Hear.) He had been told, upon authority on which he could rely, that the number of houses, perfectly independent of warehouses, destroyed by the fire amounted to 2000, and that the number of inhabitants rendered house less amounted to 30,000, of which number 20,000 belonged to the labouring classes—persons who, from their situation and means, being driven out of their houses, had nothing but the canopy of heaven to shelter them. They had been hos pitably received, as far as their means allowed, by the other inhabitants. They had taken shelter in the churches. Many of them went to sleep under the roofs of the churches be.. cause they had no other place. Others slept in tents which had been placed round the city to receive them in a tempo rary way ; and those were people, be it remembered, who had no resources to which they could go, and who had no means whatever except that which, thank Heaven ! was not a bad resource—the kind feeling and benevolence of their fellow creatures. (Hear, hear.) It would appear that that sympathy had been exerting itself to a very considerable ex tent, not only throughout the immediate neighbourhood of Hamburg, but throughout a great part of the continent of Europe, and, he was happy to say, through a great part of England also. (Hear.) He had seen in the newspapers that a meeting of the British inhabitants of Hamburg had been held, and that they had drawn up an appeal to the be nevolent people of this country to assist the destitute people of that city. What a delightful thing it was for the public here to think that England had stood forward before the ap peal arrived! (Hear.) H e believed the city of London had sent no less a sum than £lO,OOO to their relief within three days after the calamity had become known, and before the appeal reached. (Hear, hear.) The people of England, therefore, had not waited to be instigated by the appeal, however proper and deserving of their regard such an appeal might be, but that feeling of generosity, kindness, and be nevolence which every Englishman felt proud to say was one of the great characteristics of his country was not wanting upon the occasion. (Cheers.) The amount at present sub scribed in London amounted to £20,000. Frankfort had subscribed £30,000. Manchester, beforehand with its money thougknot with its intention, had subscribed £3,000 •, and he vvas'lluite confident, from a forty or fifty years' residence here, that Liverpool would not be behind the rest of the country. (Hear, hear.) It was quite unnecessary for him to say any more ; he had detained the meeting longer than he intended ; and he could not think it necessary to say any thing further but move the resolution. The rector concluded amid loud cheers. Mr. LEWIN MOZLEY said, he had only been that moment called upon to second the resolution which had been moved by their worthy rector, and though his expressions would be brief, they would be given with sincerity. He sincerely.ex pressed his desire, in conjunction with the rector, that the sympathy of the inhabitants of Liverpool might be carried out to the fullest extent on the present occasion. In second ing the resolution, he could assure the meeting, that there was not a word in it which he did not feel the fullest import ance of, strongly worded though it had been; and in feeling the importance of it, it was in the full conviction, that whe ther they viewed themselves as a commercial town benefiting by a reciprocity of interest with other commercial places, or called on by a deep feeling of gratitude for the favours they were daily and hourly receiving from Providence, they should, under any circumstances, step forward to alleviate the in describable misery and the dreadful distress, which a fire like the late one must have inflicted upon all classes of so ciety. There was scarcely any one point upon which he could touch that had not been briefly but forcibly alluded to by the worthy rector. He would not, therefore, take up their time longer than by seconding the proposition already submitted, in the fullest conviction that it would be successful, and in the fullest hope that all they could desire would be accom plished by the kind and cordial feeling of the inhabitants of the town of Liverpool. (Cheers.) _ . . The first resolution was then carried unanimously Mr. HARDMAN EARLE said that the very feeling address delivered by the proposer and seconder of the first resolution had so completely exhausted the subject, and anticipated, in so much better terms, what he had to observe, that he would content himself by simply moving the next resolution, which, after all, embraced the important business of the meeting. it was to the effect, that a subscription be opened to relieve the distresses of the suffering inhabitants of Hamburgh, and that a treasurer and other officers be appointed to receive and remit the same. [Both the resolutions will be found at length in our advertising columns.] Mr. Earle concluded by saying he was quite sure the present appeal would be re sponded to as all similar appeals had been responded to in the town of Liverpool. Mr. SHIPLEY seconded the resolution. Mr. JAMES MULLENEUX begged, before the resolution was put, to address a few words to the meeting. He was aware that he placed himself in a very ungracious position in offering to the meeting any reasons which might be considered as opposing the resolution moved and seconded; but though such might be the case, and though he might incur the risk of being charged with a desire to restrain benevolence, still he did not hesitate to avow, with all due deference to the gentlemen who had signed the requisition, that the present meeting had been called rather hastily, and before any esti mate had been made of the sufferings of the people or of the capability of the more fortunate inhabitants being able to afford relief. He had ever been a supporter of the words of Mr. Canning—that he distrusted that generosity which over looked its own and extended its care to distant objects. They had a mass of misery and distress aroundthem sufficient to ex . ercise and excite their benevolence. At the present moment their people were without the means of support, and even in a worse state than those in Hamburg, which had been described by Mr. Brooks. The sufferings of a great portion of the poorer classes were very severe. To meet this distress, the parish authorities doled out what they called relief, which amounted to about 2s. 4d. to 4000 families, or 7d. a-week for each individual. They had, moreover, 2000 individuals in their poor-house, and all the charities in the town were in a languishing state. Their Infirmary, their Hospitals, and the District Provident Society, were applying to them for relief: and the Dispensary, last, though not least, bad been obliged to narrow its operations, and if the appeal which had been made to the public were not quickly responded to, it would have to be given up altogether. This institution relieved 50,000 individuals yearly, and if this state of things were not sufficient to excite their benevolence, he knew not what would. The Pry of distress was reaching them from almost every town in the kingdom ; so much so, that the prime mi nister had recommended the Sovereign to issue letters, call ing on the inhabitants to subscribe for the relief of the poor and wretched. He yielded to no man in sympathy for human suffering, in whatever part of the world it existed ; but he maintained, that before they went to a distant land to seek out objects of distress, they ought not to overlook the wretch , edness at their own doors. (Hear.) It was not his wish to move any counter resolution, because the feeling of the meet ing would not, he believed, be with him if he did ; but if he thought it would, he certainly should do so ;—contenting himself by simply expressing regret at the calamity which had befallen the inhabitants of .Hamburg, and not calling upon the town for that support which they seemed either un able or unwilling to give to their own countrymen. (Cheers.) Mr. MACARTHY (a chartist) rose next, and said he was desirous of offering a few remarks having strict analogy to the present subject. He believed that, however much they might be desirous of expressing their sympathy for the suffer ings which had been entailed through the visitation of Al mighty Providence on Hamburg, they ought to act on the were r i s i n g daily without k now i ng whence the p r i n ciple of justice prior to generosity, an d t a k e a ll means i n their power to alleviate , if i t were impossible to remove, the distress at their own thresholds. While 9000 of the inhabit ants of Liverpool, ac cording to the authority o f M r. L awrence Heyworth, breakinc , of their fast was to come , it came with a bad grace to expect ' that that sympathy should be extended to other shores which was so much needed at their own thresholds. He moved an amendment to the resolution, to the following effect :—That the meeting, sincerely sympathising with the deplorable misfortune which had visited the town of Ham burg and the distress resulting from the conflagration whi c h had there taken place, towards the inhabitants, and adhering to the principle of justice prior to generosity, would take steps to alleviate the distress in this country and extend all the assistance possible to Hamburg after the removal of their own distress at home." He quoted an extract from a spee c h delivered by Mr. Duncombe, in the course of a recent debate in the House of Commons , for proof of the deplorable condi tion of the great body of the working classes, and said that there were objects sufficiently strong in this country to call for the exercise of benevolence on the part of the public, and that such benevolence could not be spared for other places. The MAYOR said that with all due deference to the gentle at present was — Whether they should not contribute towards men, whom he had not the pl easure of knowing, the question the relief of the people of Hamburg ? He (the mayor) re gretted as much as any one that the condition of many of the ' people of this country was as just described ; but the present ' was not the time to discuss that subject. The question now w as—whether they should not contribute to the relief of the people who bad suffered from the recent conflagration? and, though the subject introduced by the last speaker might be properly mooted at another time, that time did not then exist. Mr. MACARTHY denied that he had come to the meeting for the purpose of carrying on a factious opposition. ' The MAYOR said he had not charged the gentleman with anything of the kind. The present meeting, however, was confined to one 'subject , and th a t not the one which Mr. Macarthy was pressing. He (the mayor) thought, with all due deference to others, that the present meeting would not be without actual interest to the port of Liverpool, which was so largely concerned with the interests of Hamburg. He thought it would be attended with advantage, and that the interests of the poor of Liverpool would be increased by the inhabitants contributing in some way to the relief of the poor in:Hamburg ; in other words, if they restored the port of Hamburg, the trade of Liverpool would be increased. (Cheers.) Mr. MACARTISY said he should not have been fulfilling his duty to the great bulk of the suffering people if he had not attempted to move the amendment. He could assure the meeting that he stood unprepared with a seconder ; but, of course, if the amendment were not seconded, it would fall to the ground. No person baying volunteered to second it, the resolution proposed by Mr. Earle was declared to have been carried. Mr. THOMAS TODD said he had to propose a resolution for the adoption of the meeting, which he believed would not meet with any dissentient voice—it was a vote of thanks to his worship the mayor for convening the meeting, and sanc tioning the object by presiding at it. (Cheers.) ' With all due deference to the last two speakers—Mr. Molyneux and Macarthy—he thought that what they bad been doing that day was calculated to make the British name still more be loved and respected. Admitting the validity of much that Mr. Macarthy had advanced, yet he thought that no more proper object for their sympathy, or one having greater claims upon them could exist, than a suffering community like that of Hamburgh, whose ptirsuits were so congenial to their own. The mode of conferring an obligation often materially enhanced it, and was remembered even when the solid advan tages derived were forgotten. It, therefore, would be grati fying to the feelings of the people of Hamburgh to be in formed that the meeting called in Liverpool for their relief had been presided ove r by the chief magistrate of that im portant town. (Che ers .) ) Mr. WILLINIC seconded the vote of thanks to the mayor, which was carried by acclamation. The meeting then separated. DISTRICT PROVIDENT SOCIETY. The annual meeting of the District Provident Society was held on Tuesday, at one o'clock, in the large room at the Savings Bank. The Worshipful the MAYOR presided. The audience was principally composed of ladies, of whom a large number were present. The Rev. Mr. APPLETON read the report, which com menced by expressing the satisfaction of the committee at the amount of good which the society bad been enabled to effect, and their regret at the still continued failure of , their appeals to the publi; for a larger amount of annual subscrip tions, which, during the past year, had been only £1,031 10s. The committee acknowledged, with much satisfaction, the readiness and liberality with which their application for tem porary aid was met by the public during the lengthened frost of last winter, when their relief fund was entirely exhausted, and that department of the society must consequently, with out such assistance, have been closed. At the same time they lamented that their certain resources remain so inade quate to supply the extensive and rapidly-increasing demands upon the society, and that they still have to depend so much upon the precarious supply of occasional contributors. From this source had been derived, since the last annual meeting, the sum of £1,341 14 The increase in the number of fa- mules relieved during the past year over that of the prece ding one had been beyond all precedent. The number of families relieved in 1840-41 was 14,506, at a cost of £1,236 Is. 2d.; that for 1841-42, 25,877, at a cost of £1,667 12s. Ild. Of this large number 16,036 were Irish, 7,958 Eng- lish, 1,342 Welsh, - and 403 Scotch By this large measure of relief the balance in the treasurer's hands was reduced to £25 9s. Id The report expressed the grateful acknowledg. ments of the society to the soup establishment for their larie gratuitous supply of tickets during the last winter. Those tickets had been found of the greatest value. The commit- tee, taliing into consideration the rapidly increasing number of applicants for relief, and the very limited funds at their disposal, feel the necessity of adopting some material changes in that department, and they recommend the subject to the careful consideration of the subscribers at large. They were of opinion that if the society were m ore genera ll y ma d e t h e channel for conveying relief, much imposition, which could only be detected by such personal investigation as the society employs, would be prevented. There has been an increase in the deposits, during the last year, to the amount of £3Ol 14s. 10d. The amount of deposits returned during the past year was £13,176 Os:Bd., with a pre m i um o f £ 334 1 7 s. sd . The committee had the satisfaction of recording an increase of nineteen in the number of visiters. It was hoped that this important department would receive a still greater accession of assistance. Mr. T. RATHBONE read an abstract of the accounts. The Rev. Rector BROOKS moved that the report, &c. be adopted, printed, and circulated, and he hoped its dissemi nation would have the desired effect of improving the condi tion of the institution. He knew, from experience, much of the generous and benevolent inhabitants of the town, and he should be doing them great injustice if he did not say, on all occasions of pressure upon the poor, the rich hastened to re lieve it. They had heard from the report that when the pres sure did come last winter, a large sum was poured in upon them to enable them to meet it. He would be sorry, how ever, to see this society degenerate into one of mere tempo rary relief, for that was a matter that was already attended to in other quarters. This was a provident society ; it was not one to dispense the bounty of others at . a moment of pres sure, but to teach the poor to be provident to themselves. That department seemed to be going on in a properous way, and so far as the permanent relief was concerned, for those who were accidentally in distress, through want of employ ment or any other cause, they ought always to have funds ready. It must be evident to all that, with such a popula tion and such a mass of wealth, £lOOO a year was a very small income. He wished, therefore, that those perso ns , w h o were present and heard that their balance was reduced to £36 in the treasurer's band, with which they had to conti nue operations till September next, would use their utmost exertions amongst their friends to induce them to become subscribers and visitors to the institution. There was no 'so ciety through which they could do a greater amount of good. They would see this if they looked at the principle—which was to teach people to be provident. They c ou ld s h ow in stances innumerable in their books of individuals who had money in the savings bank, whose habits of saving h a d com menced, been encouraged, and carried forward by i that soci ety. He hoped the truths would be sufficient to induce the public to come forward. The society was not adequately supported. £lOOO a year was not enough. Looking at the wealth of Liverpool it was nothing. It was a very paltry sum indeed. He hop e d by the exertions of the individuals present, in urging their friends to assist, that it would be very greatly increased. Dr._ FRECKLETON seconded the resolution, which was passed. Sir EDWARD C UST said he felt that it was somewhat pre sumptuous in him, the youngest subscriber on the list, to stand forward to suggest some improvement in the practice and system of their society. He found that the first rule of the society set forth its objects to be the encouragement of industry and frugality, the suppression of mendicity and im posture. and the occasional relief of sickness and unavoidable misfortune. In this rule were two principles : one a consi deration of their own poor, the other for strangers. Such was no doubt the general selfishness, even of generosity, that the benevolent were inclined to afford assistance to their own poor even before they gave it to the stranger. A moment's consideration would show that the resident poor were the subjects of legal provision ; that they were probably sur rounded by relatives, friends, or individuals who knew them and their wants, while the stranger was far from home, had no legal claim for relief, and if the helping hand were not ex tended to him he must perish. There was no question, how ever, that in order to assist strangers there was one great difficulty to contend with—that of ascertaining that the ob ject of charity was one who deserved it. The disproportion amongst those claimants for relief who did not deserve would be well known to those who had opportunities of observing, though it would not strike another. He held in his hand a report of the society for suppressing mendicity in London, and it appeared thereby that, in the course of 18 years, no less than 20,646 individuals, who were worthless, had been taken up in the streets as vagrants by the officers of the so ciety, and a large proportion of these were so glaringly so that they were convicted. It was certainly hard to have even a doubt that we might be turning our back on some one who was destitute, while there was not one of us but would feel gratified and pleased at the idea that we had been made in struments in the hand of Providence in relieving the distress of a fellow-creature. Sir Edward read from the report an account of a poor female, a native of America, who, in a state of destitution, sought the aid of the society, and he asked what would have become of her if she had not had such a society to fly to. On the other band, he read of a woman who was taken from the streets in an apparent state of desti tution, importuning at the door of a carriage, on whom was found no less than £25. The re s olution which he had to pro pose was, that tickets should be given by all members of the society to individuals soliciting relief instead of money. If all the benevolent could agree to this system they would be enabled to effect what was so desirable—to suppress mendi city, to relieve the distressed in the proportion to their ne cessities, and to give support only to the deserving. This, however, he was aware was impossible. Much, however, might be done, and he hoped the members of the society would g ive the subject serious consideration. One other systemhe would recommend—it was that to all applicants the test of labour should be applied, as it had been found most effectual in detecting imposture. The Rev. Rector BROOKS seconded the resolution, and would not allow the opportunity to pass without thanking Sir Edward Cuat for his kindness in giving the society the really of his experience. Xt was well flown that one of the pri mary objects of this society was the suppression of menda city, but the truth was they bad not the means. He hoped the public would not allow this reproach to remain. It was admitted that it was most desirable to get rid of mendicity, and here was the means of doing it with a diminution of the sum of human misery, if the public would but support it. He made it a rule at his own house not to relieve till he made the proper inquiries, as to the reality of the alleged distress. He was pained to say that nine out of every ten were cases of imposture. If all others did so, what a mass of money would be saved, and to how excellent a use could it be ap plied. If a man wanted food, God forbid that any one should have so cold a heart as not to give it to him whatever might be his undeservings. If he hungered and was in want, no matter what his misdeeds. God forbid that any one should forbear to administer to his wants. If the man were really in want, give him bread whatever his character might be. The rain of heaven falls alike on the just and on the un just, and it was not for man to hold his hand when his fel low-man was in want. Put bread into his mouth, relieve his necessities, and you will have a better chance of amend ing him after. The object, however, was to discover the re ality of the distress. Most of the mo ney g i ven away in in discriminate charity wa s wasted, for mo s t o f t h e i nd i v id ua l s who solicited it were impostors. The res olution was pu t and car ried. Mr. JAMES MULLENEUX, seconded by a gentleman whose name we did not learn, moved the next resolution, which was put and carried. The Rev. Rector CAMPBEL!. proposed thanks to the visi ters, and passed warm encomiums on the individuals filling those offices, particul arl y the ladies, who comp ose th e ma jority of them. To them. he said, th e society mainly owed its influence, and he hoped to see their numbers increased. Mr. RICHARD RATIIBONE seconded the resolution, and backed the Rev. Rector's commendation o f the ladies, who had wrought great good ny r influence amongst the wives of poor labourers. bone adverted t o th e su bj ec t o f premiums, and said h e had lon g been of o pi n i on that they ought to be done away with. If. they could i n d uce the peo ple to lay aside the premiums, the society wo u ld save £ 3OO a-year, and he need n ot all ude to the amount of good that could be done with such a sum. Mrs. LAN s made many judicio us an d f orcible remarks on this subject. She did not concei ve th e di scontinuance of the premiums as at all a hazardous experiment, if it were ju diciously effected. The proper mode would be to give three or six months' notice of the intention, and she felt confident once fair y established, there would not that the principle ultimately be one depositor the less. The evil was at present that some received the premiums and some did not, so that without a general rule to affect all equally the visiters could not do away with the s ystem, which sh e h a d always been of opinion w a s a very bad one, and a gre a t waste of money. The Rev. Mr. API' LE ToN moved a resolution, in accord ance with Mrs. Langton 's wishes, to the effect that the com mittee should be instructed to take the subject into con sideration. The thanks of the assembly having been voted to the _ Mayor, the meeting separated. THEATRE-ROYAL The present plan of trusting to the strength of the stock company, adopted by the new lessees, has been greatly ob jected to by some of the playgoers ; and really, by the thin attendances, one would suppose, on the first blush of the matter, that the object had failed. That the plan will even tually answer, there is little doubt; but just ae present it is not fashionable amongst certain circles to patronise the drama, and an excuse perhaps is set up that those who take the lead in modish matters want to be stimulated by the engagement of stars. But the stars, we fancy, will have to shine, if they can, elsewhere—we say " if they can," because some of the metropolitans who periodically vagabondise at this season of the year, are dimming their pale and ineffec tual fires " at some of the provincial theatres to £3, .£5, £lO, and £l5 houses. We have been told that Mr. Farren, Mr. Harley, and Mr. Somebody-else, have been honoured with several " rushes of two to the pit" during their present tour. That they might do well at Liverpool, there is No doubt ; but the rapacity of these metropolitans has closed the doors of the Theatre-Royal against them. They ask such terms, that the management had better be content with half houses without them, than three-quarter audiences with them. " Why don't they engage Miss Kemble ?" has been the cry. Miss Kemble wants, it is said, £lOO a-night for herself and troop. Of course, the orchestra must be aug mented, supernumeraries taken on, and much additional expense incurred. Would the public guarantee a bumper house whenever she played ? Take the starring system of the past season : what did Vestris draw ?—Macready ?—that horrid set of vulgarities, the Adelphi-company?—what the German company, or Cerrito ? The Germans drew good houses, it is true; but look at the expense attendant upon them !. Cerrito at first was attractive, but, after her quarrel with Guerra, her influence was lessened. We see that she has been feted, and followed, and almost worshipped, during her late trip abroad—flowers thrown everywhere in her path, bands of music attending her, and all sorts of nonsense be sides. Taglioni too—she has been drawn through the streets at St. Petersburgh in a carriage, with silver-spoked wheels, and entertained by the Emperor of Russia, and made a still greater fool of, than Cerrito elsewhere. There is no account ing for taste ; but how the magnates of any land can lower themselves by countenancing so absurdly those who, in the scale of intellect and birth, are distant from them " far as the poles asunder," is surprising. A man starves and rots in gaol, whose mental wealth and intellectual riches have given amusement and instruction to thousands and thou sands ; while here we have a woman with a strong muscle in her toe, and who can lift' up her leg as high as her nose, is feted, petted, and golden-calfised, until it makes a sensi ble man sick to read or think of—to see such thin kill him outright. The drama in Liverpool is at a discount ; it is not fashion able with the intellectual classes ; while tumbling, mounte banking, and rubbish are only appreciated by those who have small means and less good sense. But a change must surely come. The spectacle of the " White Cat," produced on Monday last, for the amusement of the Whitsuntide holiday people, is a very gay, showy, and amusing production. It is well done, and exhibits the usual care and attention to stage effect that distinguish all dramas got up under Mr. W. J. Ham mond's direction. The plot is taken from the old nursery ballad of the King who had three sons, and who were sent to seek their fortunes. After a twelvemonths' absence, the one that returned with a dog small enough to pass through a thumb ring was to ascend the throne, the old gentleman abdicating in his favour. The three sons (Prince Paragon, Miss Gardner ; Prince Precious, Miss Homier ; Prince Placid, Miss Chaplin) depart. We are only favoured with the proceedings of Prince Paragon and his friend Jingo (Mr. W. J. Hammond). While they are talking of their journey, the scene sudde aly changes to a deep forest, (capitally ma naged, by the way): a portion of this opens, and the portals of the White Cat's palace are discovered. An invitation to the wanderers in search of the bow-wow is given. They are waved forward by hands the possessors of which are invisi ble. A gorgeous scene of fairy land is next exhibited, being the interior of the White Cat's castle. Here the prince is hospitably entertained with feastings and dancing. The White Cat (Miss Webster) favours him with a minuet, danced by herself and Herr Grimalkin (Mr. Jonas). A pretty Chinese dance and a pas de deux (" paddy ducks"), by Mons. and Madame Schmidt, are also performed, very much to the satisfaction of the prince, as well as the audi ence. The prince is warned to depart home. Previous to his departure the White Cat gives him an acorn, in which a dog is enclosed. He returns to his father's kingdom, and finds his brothers assembled there also, each with great quantities of dogs. The old King (very humorously .and cleverly played by Mr. Baker) is now unwilling to abdicate, therefore adopting the advice of his minister, as other so vereigns do—to temporize with his son who has fulfilled the command given him, of bringing a dog of " immense small ness,"—sends his children' on another errand, to bring back the "most beautifullest of all beautiful ladies ;" on the production of whom a real abdication should take place in favour of the possessor. The princes again depart. Prince Paragon and Jingo visit the White Cat once more. The Prince tells her the object of his present journey. She desires him to cut off her head and tail, and, by cutting off her ends, his own would be gained. This the gallant Prince refuses to do at first, but at length consents to per form. On doing " execution to Cawdor," a beautiful prin. cess appears in the person of pretty Mrs. Barton. With a fine retinue, the Prince returns home, and " cuts the big figure" before his revered parent, who is told that he has no necessity to resign his kingdoms, because the " White Cat" has a great quantity of her own, some of which are bestowed upon her husband's brothers, while the rest are annexed to " Neverminditsnamia." The dialogue of this extravaganza is full of pleasant hits and capital puns, some of which told very well, and were taken up instantly by the audience. The scenery is very pretty, and the transformations are rapidly performed. The interior of the White Cat's palace is a gor geous hall of Fairyland : the last scene is also splendid. Mr. Baker, as King of Neverminditsnamia, dressed like ." Richard," and created immense laughter by his occasional imitations of a well-known tragedian. Miss Gardner plays the Prince extremely well ; shows her pretty legs, and looks a sweet little sprig of royalty. She sang the pathetic willow song, " All round my Cat," and obtained an encore. Miss Webster danced with Mr. Jonas the Cat's minuet very neatly. Miss Chaplin and Miss Hon ner have too little to do, as the Prince's Brothers, to need comment. The " White Cat" has plen will please those who honour the theatre with a visit " The Soldier's Daughter" has been performed this weel excellently. The Widow Cheerly of Miss Bennett is the gayest of the , gay. Mr. Baker's Governor Heartly is one of his best specimens of old men. We like Mr. Baker in this ,ty of fun in it, and line as well as any one on the stage. In some characters he outrivals all competitors. Since writing the above, the following statement of theatri cals in the provinces has come under our notice. We copy it from the Morning Herald of yesterday :—A curious ex- posure of the state of theatrical affairs in the provinces was made a few weeks since at the Plymouth theatre.' Mr. Hay, the manager of that circuit, has just resigned the theatrical nanagement at Plymouth into the hands of the corporation, rom whom he had leased it ; and they, in consequence of its ion-success, are about to use the building for other than theatrical purposes. In taking his leave of a Plymouth audience Mr. Hay entered at length into the particulars of his manage ment. He had, he said, come to Plymouth under the auspices of the late Earl Morley, of General and Mrs. Ellice, Sir Geo. and Lady Whitmore, Major Palk, Sir H. Blackwood, and others, who had absolutely canvassed the town in his behalf, and taken every step in their power to secure his success. He brought to the theatre an admirable company. including Phelp and other actors now on the Drury-lane boards ; he had an orchestra competent to perform operas, and Col. Hamilton Smith gave him his gratuitous services as a designer of scenery and embellishments. He also secured at different :lines the assistance of various actors, including young Kean xnd Macready, who, he said, drew plenty of money, but un- Fortunately took it all away with them. But despite of all these miliaries, of few of which provincial boards can make boast, Mr. Hay sustained a los's of from £3O to £4O a week, during several successive seasons. Mr. Hay entered into particulars of this loss. " I brought out," he said, "in this theatre a favourite opera, not only for the first time here, but for the first time in the provinces, and the receipts only amounted to £2 25., while I paid X.,5 extra for an efficient orchestra alone. Hamlet has been played here to a house with 10s. in it, while the gas which is now glimmer ing around you cost me 275. a night." These direful losses Mr. Hay attributed to various causes. "In olden times (he said) the drama flourished, for our forefathers were accustomed to go abroad for amusement; now music is most generally cultivated in our own families—our sons and our daughters play the best productions of the first masters ; this operates unfavourably. The same with danc ing, and the late hour of dining. The excessive coach hire in winter evenings is also a great tax to those who would visit the theatre, and in the summer the attractions of this place and the charms of the neighbourhood tend to render the theatre deserted, for few are inclined to shut themselves up in a warm building and lose the pleasure of the many natural charms without. lam afraid, ladies and gentlemen, (said the manager, in conclusion,) I have given you rather a tedious history. I know that in the present day some make a joke of these things, but in faith it has been no joke to COURT OF PASSAGE The Court of Passage, for the trial of causes within the borough of Liverpool, commenced yesterday in the Nisi PI ius Court, before Charles Crompton, Esq., the Assessor. The cause list contains fifty-nine issues, and two writs from the superior courts,—total, sixty-one. The following are the most important cases which were tried yesterday,— THOMPSON V. HOWARTII This was an action to recover a sum of £57, alleged to be due to the plaintiff by the defendant for work and labour done in the completion of six new houses, in the neighbour hood of the Zoological Gardens. Mr. Henderson appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. James for the defendant. A great number of witnesses were called on both sides, and after a tedious enquiry of three hours duration, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff,—damages £4O. NEGLECT IN DELIVERING UP A CANAL BOAT.- JONES V. C.kItRINGTON The plaintiff in this case is a coal merchant in Liverpool, and the defendant is the captain of a boat which plies on the canal. The declaration stated that the plaintiff delivered to the defendant a certain canal boat to be taken care of and kept safely, but that the defendant neglected to take proper care of it or keep it safely, or return it to the plaintiff, where by it was considerably damaged. Mr. JAMES, on the part of the plaintiff, stated that the action was brought to recover compensation in damages for the expense he had incurred in repairing the damage which the boat had sustained through the neglect of the defendant. The plaintiff was a coal merchant in this town, and the owner of various flats. The defendant was at that time the captain of a flat; and, according to a common custom, the plaintiff entrusted him with the boat to carry coals from the several collieries, and he was to pay the plaintiff after the rate of 10d. a ton for the use of the boat. In February last the de fendant, instead of handing over the boat to the owner, aban doned it entirely, leaving no one in care of it; and, after some days, it was found knocking up and down in the mid dle of one of the canal basins, during which time it had sus tained damage to the amount of from £2 to £3. Several witnesses were called, after which, at the sugges tion of the Court, a juror was withdrawn, the plaintiff agree ing to take a verdict in his favour of 305., without costs. PICKERING V. MACKAREL This was an action to recover £7 2s. 6d., the balance of an account for work and labour done in excavating the founda tions of three houses in Everton-road. Ihe plaintiff failed to prove that the order for the excavation had been given by the defendant ; and the jury, therefore, returned a verdict for the defendant. WHITBY DA COSTA V An undefended action, brought by Mr. Antonio Julio Da Costa against Mr. Whitby, of Roscoe-lane, to recover £l4 10s., the value of certain rice dust and bags supplied to him. Verdict for the plaintiff. ACTION AGAINST AN EXECUTOR. -GUEST AND OTHERS V. MACINTOSH AND ANOTHER. The plaintiffs are Messrs. Guest, Ross, and Poole, w i ne Xi merchants ; and the defendants are Messrs. acintosh and Bowskill, executors under the will of a publican, deceased, named Macintosh, who resided in Circus-st reet. The action was brought to recover £ 45, the value of goods sold and de livered, to t a o nd the lotestthaatotrm. The i J h eliv hd ea acted as executor ; rY of th e goo d s was against the other defendant no acting was proved. Th e j ur y returned a verdict fo r the plaintiffs against Macintosh, da mages £45; and a verdict in favour of the defendant Bow skill. LONGSDEN lY . lIINDLE. An undefendedplaacintitlffn t t o o r t e h co e v d e e r fe t n h d e a v n t e supplied by the °f Verdictcer certain i for nla t t l i l l e s plaintiff £3 ls. 2d. The court adjourned at a quarter to five o'clock, till nine o'clock this morning. CORRESPONDEATCB. FLEETWOOD DOCK DUES TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD: Six,—ln addition to the error pointed out by you in the Standard of this day in the comparative charges on a ship of 500 tons, from America, at Fleetwood and this port, I beg to notice another inaccuracy . under the head of Light house Dues. 124 d. per ton is said to be the rate at Liver pool, and a less sum is put down for Fleetwood. whilst the fact is, that the charge made here amounts to 124-d. per ton for an American voyage, and 121 d. is the claim for the port of Fleetwood.—l am, &c., PHAROS. Liverpool, May 171 h. 1842, THE LIVERPOOL TIMES AND THE CORN LAW TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. SIR,—In the Liverpool Times of Tuesday last I noticed an article on the corn laws, in which it is stated that since the new law came into operation there has not been enough of corn released to supply Liverpool alone with a single breakfast. Now, sir, upon reference to the Customs Bill of Entry for this town, you will find that the following was released the first week that the new law came into operation, viz.:— ...._ . 7,289 sacks of flour, weighing 31,843 barrels „ ,; 100 „ oatmeal, ~ A quantity of flour direct from the ship, the number and description of packages not 4,731 „ given, weighing . ..... . ...... ....... 11,398 quarters of wheat 20 „ oats 1 weighing about .. • • 48,000 „ 25 „ peas Total weigh 133,665 cwt Now, sir, taking the population at 295,000, your contem porary being one, he must have a very capacious stomach to swallow half a hundredweight of flour at a breakfast, which would be his share ; but I hope, sir, that if he has so rave nous an appetite, you will at least vindicate the remainder from so gloss a calumny. Only fancy the people of Liver pool eating one hundred and thirty-three thousand six hun dred and sixty-five hundredweight of flour to breakfast ! What a gluttonous idea !—I am, sir, yours, &c., Liverpool, 18th May, 1842. MODESTY. LORD ASHBURTON'S DINNER AT WASHINGTON (From the New York Herald.) Lord Ashburton's first official dinner came off April 25, at six p.m. This functionary is a very plain, gentlemanly man, with a face somewhat careworn, and a complexion which belongs to those who have lived long and well. His suite are fine young men, generally bald, but with intellectual heads, though not very remarkable countenances. The pri vate secretary of his lordship is said to be the cleverest of the legation. In manners they are all self-possessed, somewhat stiff in the movements of their bodies, and few or no gestures escape them while speaking. How different from the others of the foreign ministers here ! Why, a lively Frenchman will gesticulate more in one minute with the phalanges of his dexter hand than Mr. Mildmay could in the whole course of his natural life. The dinner was served up soon after the hour of dining ar rived. Late hours are, of course, in fashion everywhere among the diplomatic givers and eaters of dinners, and this one was to take place at six. The table was one of the lon gitudinal character, and there were present about 16 guests. Among them were the foreign ministers generally, the heads of departments, and some of our leading men in Congress. There was no ceremony in entering the dining-room. The guests " stood not upon th,e order of their going, but went at once." Lord Ashburton took the centre of the table. On his right was John Quincy Adams ; on his left, John C. Calhoun; opposite him sat General Scott. Mr. Fox was not present ! It has been rumoured that Mr. F. feels a little sore at this mission extraordinary. He per haps supposes the business might have been better entrusted to him. But while we think very well of Mr. Fox's abilities, we imagine that the length of time he has been in public life has somewhat case-hardened him—that he takes no interest in public affairs beyond what his instructions require of him ; in short that he has more hand than heart, and that a nego tiation, controlling the destinies of two great nations, affect ing every cottage in remote England, and every log hut be yond our mountains, is no more to Mr. Fox than any other negotiation, and that he would conduct it on the same cold, F. kilful, and gentlemanly manner which he would a game of ecartl, and in no other way. Lord Ashburton is rather a man of the people—is identi fied with the prosperity of the commercial classes—would be unhappy, truly unhappy, to see mother and daughter at variance, and he would rather sacrifice the 25 townships he owns in the state of Maine, but to which he has scarcely given a thought for many years, and that of which now, for the first time, he learns the real value, than involve us in a war—the scourge of nations and the desolation of mankind. The table was beautifully laid out; but as all his lordship's plate has not arrived, there was no plateau in the centre, and no vases, elaborate in art, and perfuming the saloon with the choicest cullings of the conservatory. But it was still very elegant, and displayed the skill of an accomplished major domo. There are 21 servants in the house, and the reader may well imagine what a god-send a score of beef eaters must be to the cattle-graziers in this city. Indeed, the out-go of his lordship's establishment will be so large, and the profits so immense to the retailers here, that we should not be surprised if they proposed, in the course of a few months, to purchase the claim of England to the dis puted territory, and present it, as a mark of their gratitude, to the people of Maine, for being so much the cause of the present mission. _ _ . As his lordship has three cooks of the utmost talent, artists whom Tide himself would not have blushed to take by the hand, the dinner was not•only superb but magnificent. The meats were all nicely carved, and handed round, as is now the fashion; and the game, of which there was a great va riety, was all cut up and divided by the cooks before it was served up; then reinstated in form and figure, ready to drop apart at the touch of the first fork. Cours succeeded, delicious to the palate and agre the wines were rich and soft and h after course _ Me to the eye ; h flavoured, having the v and strenzth which belc g to the English cellar Champagne was passe,. round, but no other wines of France, and none from the Rhineland met our eyes. If diplomacy expresses its feelings at the dinner table by its preferences for meats and drinks, when we say to Germany and France, England likes not the Zoll Verein, nor the back ing out from the quintuple treaty for the right of search. No ! no ! hard cider and Monongahela which stoutly repre sent the apples and the cornstalks of Brother Jonathan, shall find favour on the festive board of John Bull, when Chateau Margeaux and Vin de Grave shall be forgotten. The conversation it would be improper to divulge. We do not believe it right, though it may be fashionable, to retail conversations and steal correspondences. 'We will only say, that the remarks were all of a friendly spirit, now and then approaching the confines of rigid propriety, when they related to the quality of our steam-ships and the differences of our discipline. The dessert, among other things, exhibited a large number of the choicest fruits of England, beautifully preserved, fair to the eye and delightful to the taste. They were much ad mired by the guests, and produced a round of encomiums on the garden from which they were brought. In due time coffee succeeded, and then the guests departed, much pleased with this first of a series of entertainments with which the new envoy commences his mission. For some years the " meteor flag" of England has not floated very gaily in Washington. Mr, Fox is a man of retired habits, somewhat peculiar, and does not care for popularity "with the natives." The boundary line is to be adjusted on the dinner table in streams of sherry, the right of visitation is to be exercised in diplomatic hospitalities, and the loss of the Creole is to be made up in black and white. In taking our leave, we did not forget that the 14 servants in livery—blue coats, black velvet shorts, and striped waist coats—had done their best to fill our plates with the dainties of his lordship's table. 11M',,.......,.!'..1111Q...,.,MLW1111M EXTRAORDINARY CREDULITY The following case was tried at the Chelmsford Quarter Sessions on Tuesday last, before Mr. Disney, chairman : Louisa Dalton, aged 30, wife of Frederick, was charged with having obtained from Hannah Guiver, by false pre tences, two sovereigns, three half-sovereigns, 15 half-crowns, 40 shillings, and 5 sixpences, with intent to cheat and de fraud her, at Ugley. Prisoner was one of the Gipsy race, and not the most lovely specimen of the tribe. Mr. Rodwell appeared for the prosecution, and, in opening the case, told the jury that the circumstances were such as they would hardly believe, if they were not clearly proved by the evidence. The principal witness, Hannah Guiver, was a young woman who had been in an ill state of health, the cause of which he could not precisely state, but he believed that it arose from unrequited love. Prisoner, who travelled the country, got access to her, and induced her to believe that she was spell-bound, and proposed, on the payment of a cer tain sum of money, to perform certain magical ceremonies, by means of which she would be relieved from that spell. The learned gentleman then detailed the facts of the case as stated in the evidence. Hannah Guiver, rather a good-looking girl, was then exa mined.—l live with my mother at Ugley Green. She keeps a shop there. On the 26th of March prisoner came into the shop. She told me that she would tell me a few words that would be a benefit to me. I was not in a good state of health. I gave her Is. She had a book with her, and looked into it. She said by the book I must give her another shilling, which I did. She said I was poorly, and that I was under a spell; if I would give her a half-sovereign, she could and would break the spell in nine days. She gave me a piece of fools cap paper. It was folded up, and there were two pins stuck in it. across, and I was to burn it at the end of nine days. On the Ist April--(laughter)—l saw her again. She said she had been working the things beautiful for me. I said— " Well." I saw her again on the 4th April. She took a bag from her pocket and asked for a handful of salt. I was in the shop, and she asked to speak to me privately. I took her into the keeping-room. 1 put the salt in the bag. She asked for as much gold as I had to put in the bag. I was not willing to do this, but she said she did not want to take it out of the house. I fetched down two sovereigns and three half sovereigns. They were my mother's. She said that was not enough, and I could make up £7 or £8 if I liked. I then brought her down 15 half-crowns, 40 shillings, and 5 six pences. I put them into the bag. She said she must have it till II o'clock next day, and then the spell would be broken. If she did not bring the bag and the money by half-past 11, or a few minutes after, I was to have a very sharp knife, and when I saw her again to cut her throat. (Laughter.) I did not see her again till the 20th of April. She was then in the station-house at Newport. She was to have taken the money to a neighbour's, Susan Smith. The condition on which I parted with my money was that she should return it, or that I should cut her throat. Of course I thought I should have that knife. I should not have cut her throat. 1 can't tell what she meant by working things beautiful for me. I had been ill some time, but there was not a bit of love in the question. She said it was a spell, and that I should be obliged to sip sorrow by spoonsful if it was not taken off. It is immaterial to any one here whether there was any love in the case; but there was a young man I had a regard for. 1 was under mental anxiety. lam 21 years of age. I attend the shop for my mother. I gave the prisoner the money with the idea of getting better. Mr. Dowling addressed the jury on behalf of the prisoner. He said this was a case in which the party had no right to complain of the consequence of their own folly. If people c hose to go and buy advice, such as it might b e , th e y could have no right to turn round in this manner on the person of whom they bad bought it. The jury, without hesitation, found her guilty. The Chairman, in passing sentence, observed that the law must protect the weak in mind as well as the weak in body, or it would be no law at all ; and he sentenced the prisoner to 10 year's transportation. On Thursday there were no less than six vessels lying at Greenock, with full complements of passengers for various ports in America. THIBETIAN THEORY OF EARTIICLUAKES.—Mr. Bell, fir eminent traveller, who accompanied an embassy to 14:ulatil:ii the emperor of the Thibetian empire, being in con with the Lama, the latter inquired of Mr. Bell t c h of the learned in Europe relative to the subie; what attributed quakes. The traveller replied they were n ir e: s e P a l n r t i h w I to subterraneous fires, and asked in retursge : o untrymen. The traordinary results were attributed by hi : such ea to informed Lamas Lama answered, " that some of the had written that the Almighty, after be b h e a s d formed .. the earth, placed it on a golden frog; and whenever this prodigious frog had occasion to scratch his head, or stretch out his foot, that part of the earth immediately above was shaken." BIRKENHEAD POLICE COMM...YESTERDAY (Before the Hon. Sir E. CUST, J. D. CASE, and -- MADDOCK, Esqs. ALLEGED OUTRAGE BY A POLICE-OFFICER. An information was laid against Groves, one of the Police officers, for having assaulted, used violent language, and taken into custody three persons named William Johnson, Elizabeth Adams, and Mary Kelley, at Rock Ferry, on Sun day afternoon, the Bth instant. Mr. Clay, of the firm of Clay and Swift, solicitors, of Li verpool, attended on behalf of the complainants. From the evidence of Mr. Duarte, merchant of Liverpool, and the comp l a i nants, it appeared that on the day in ques tion, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the defend ants knocked at the door of Mr. Frozar, who was then lying dead in the house, and on its being opened by Adams, he asked if she was the housekeeper. Being answered in the affirmative, he then enquired who was in the house, and was told that another servant was there and Mr. Duarte's warehouseman. He then said he was sent there by Mr. Duarte, took Adams into custody, and said she must go with him to bridewell immediately. She then called the warehouseman and her fellow-servant, and on the former appearing, Groves took him by the shoulders into the parlour, said he was his prisoner, and attempted to convey Kelly to the same place. He enquired what property had been removed from the house, and was told none, on which he swore and used very abusive language to the com plainants. Adams ran out of the house to call in assistance, and during her absence Groves went away.--Mr. Duarte de posed to being left executor by the late Mr. Frozar, that he died on the 6th instant, on which day he had taken an in ventory of all in the house, and had placed the property in the care of the female complainants, who were old servants of the deceased and legatees under his will. He had given orders to his warehouseman to sleep there at night. Since the matter happened the property had been compared with the inventory and found correct. It appeared that on the Saturday the desk of the deceased had been sent over to Li verpool by order of Mr. Duarte, as it contained the de ceased's private papers, and that on the day in question the knife-tray had been given to the milkman to clean the knives, but he had returned it the same day. The defendant said as he was on his rounds on Sunday, he was called into the house of a gentleman who lives opposite that of the deceased, and was told that several bundles had been removed from the house in the course of the day, and as there were no friends of the deceased iu the house, there was a suspicion that all was not right. On this he went to the door, knocked, and, after some time, was answered by Adams, from whom he civily enquired whether any goods had been removed from the house, informing her that be was a police-office, on which she behaved very impudently, and called the other servants who were also abusive to him. After telling them they deserved to be taken to bridewell he left, but he solemnly declared he did not lay bands on any of them. _ _ Mr. Parkinson was called by Groves, and he swore that the defendant behaved very civil, and did not take any of them into custody, or go into any room, though the com plainants were very saucy.. Mr. CLAY having replied to the evidence for the defence, the magistrates, after a short consultation, reprimanded the defendant for his conduct, and cautioned him to be mote careful for the future. THE HOP QUESTION From the Kentish Gazette.) The hop question is assuming a very formidable position. The growers of Kent are not inclined to rely upon the groun less assertion of political empirics, that Ministers were only courting populaaity by delaying to announce their intention with regard to the amount of the rumoured decrease in the importation duty of foreign hops, and that they purposed to make no diminution at all. A numerous meeting of parties interested in the matter has been heid at Maidstone, at which any interference with_ the existing protective imposts was deprecated. The interview of a deputation from this meeting has been followed by the proposition of the Minister to reduce the payment upon the foreign article to the customs from £8 Ils. to £4 10s., a proposition which, however much it may be disliked by the planters, is certainly a boon to them when looked at in comparison with the wholesale abolition of prohibitory imposts upon other articles of foreign produc tion. We cannot remove from our minds the impression that the hop-grower, in the late discussions and agitation upon this question, has directed his attention almost exclusively to the least injurious branch of the tariff as affecting him self. It is well known to practical and inquiring men that a severe dearth of hops has scarcely in any season in the memory of man been limited to one country alone. When ever the crops (taken as a whole) have sufferad from blight or any other destructive visitation in England, the foreign plantations have not passed the ordeal scatheless. They have been equally, and in some instances, the greatest sufferers ; and this is incontrovertibly proved by the fact that, whilst in many years we have largely exported our native growth to the foreign market, the duty upon the im ports has bee❑ only a few hundred pounds. Besides, there is scarcely a plantatio❑ abroad that produces so good an ar ticle as the Sussex rank hop, which would be a drug in the hands of the English factor, whilst a good sample was to be procured. We repeat our opinion that the grower is losing sight, in the alarm which he feels for the salvation of his hop-grounds, of what will prove the greatest detriment to his interests. Experience teaches us that when our own crops are short, little alarm need be entertained of an overwelming supply from across the water, and the price which the foreigner is now giving at Dunkirk affords ample testimony of his ina bility to export to a large extent even in good average seasons. Hops at Dunkirk are realising at this moment £4 ss. per cwt. Let our reader add to this amount the expense of carriage, the £4 10s. proposed duty, and the charges and risks incidental to the transit of such an article as hops, and he will at once be convinced that no man in his senses would attempt to deluge a country with rt description of produce which was to be obtained at a far cheaper rate and of a very far superior quality of its own growth at home. No, the evil is not in the reduction upon the main article ; it is the opening presented for the easy ingress of quassia wood, which will ultimately affect the grower. limit the de mand for hops, and reduce the profits upon the cultivation : the value of his produce will not be lowered by the introduc tion of foreign hops, or by the high price the consumer may have to give in times of scarcity, but the universal substitu tion of the deleterious drug, no longer a prohibited article in the breweries of the metropolis and the country, will really work the end which the planters fear from a reduction on the import of hops. A county meeting is convened by the High Sheriff of Kent for Thursday week, on Penenden-heath, to determine upon an address to Parliament on the subject. We hope that in the interim the question, in all its ramifications, will be fully discussed by the leaders of this public demonstration, in or der that when the representation is made to Parliament of the injuries certain parts of the tariff will entail upon the cultivator of the hop-ground, the real grievance may be pointed out, and a remedy sought where a remedy is vitally and alone demanded. A. Neapolitan journal states that some severs shocks of earthquake were felt, on the 11th and 12th ultimo, at Cotrona, in Calabria. They had been preceded some days previously by shocks of a less violent nature. An old lady. named Dosson, is now living in Bridgewater, who is in her hundredth year. She has all her faculties about her. and can see to read and sew without the aid of spectacles.— Western Luminary. A few mornings ago about 300 tons of rock on the south side of the river Wear, above the bridge, fell down into the river, and now assumes a very dangerous appearance. Pro videntially no injnrious effects resulted to life or property, as no vessels of any kind were near the place at the time.:— Newcastle Journal. " WANTED A GOVERNESS."--It has recently come with in our knowledge that nearly . 100 appli ca ti ons h ave b een rec eived, in of two mstances, by gentlemen in this neighbourhood, in reply to single adve r ti sements, announcing the want of governesses in their families.—Sherborne Jour nal. BARIC.—We understand that the price of bark for the eur rent year is fixed at £4 15s. per ton, being the same price as last season.—Worcester Journal. THE BISHOP OF LICHFIELD.—We are truly sorry to state that no improvement has taken place in the state of this ami able prelate's health, and that but faint hopes are entertained of his recovery. We understand that prayers have been daily offered up in his lordship's behalf in the cathedral church of Lichfield for the last three weeks.—StafordshireAdvertiser. ULSTER CANAL.—We are informed, upon authority, that the Ulster Canal was, on Thursday last, fully opened into Lough Erne ; and that, therefore, the means of communica tion between Belfast, Newry, and that lake is now complete for the purposes of trade.—Northern Standard. - - The weather is cold and uncomfortable, but refreshing rains have fallen just at the time needed to nourish the crops and assist the grass lands.—Enniskillen paper. The Sheik of the Druses has left Mivart's Hotel for Wool wich, in order to be instructed in the artillery practice ob served in the British service. LONDONDERRY ELECTION.—The election for this county is fixed for Thursday week. - Her Majesty will . give a grand concert , for which upwards of 300 invitations have been issued , this evenin g , at Buck.. ingham Palace. A similar calamity to the fire at H ambur gh is announced to have befallen the Austrian town of Stei j e r , not fa r f rom Lintz, where 400 houses were consumed and three. fou r th s o f the in habitants, who were celebrated for their iron anu. factures, were left rn without shelter. Rumours are afloat in Well-informed circles that the French Cabinet has at length received proofs that G enera l Cass, the American minister i n Paris, in protesting against the ratification of the slave-trade treaty, was only an instru ment in the hands of De Tillers a n d t h e opposition. The evidence is said to be so irresistible as to have induced the French government to forward a statement thereof to the Washington cabinet. The greatest indi gnat i on, i t i s a dd e d, has been expressed at the circumstanc e in the highest quar ters. COPY OF AN OLD RECEIPT.--" ffeb : the 17 1600 and Eighty two Recived of Will: Knight the sum of two shillings in full for halfe a year s duty for two Fire-hearth s l in his house in Kentisborw, due and end at St. Mit / last past. I say received by—Fol. 71 L. Rob. Harr i ! n in Collector." In the original the words writing, the rest in print. It appears that in thorn t he i r.p. i they were obliged to pay a tax for lighting a fire Luminary. lculating the Great difficulty is often experienced i n ca heavy letters. number of stamps which should_ be placed e a °highest number The best way to do this is to ascertain th double the next of ounces a letter exceeds, and tber;_, ch w ill give the in italics ea higher figure above that number, aid postage number of pence which is charged {Or w b g above four ounces, lettersblnwhich is chargeable on five, it gives the o a f nd th u at nd l e e r tte fi r ;e Thus,ounce ounces lebtyterd:ueif g in the more than an e r m e P s s: l dt : bg3PlenniThe anticipation of evil i s very " /l ot weig hin g correctsuch a l a e n t r e u n n t T o h f e p p o o s s ta ta g g e e , 10 than a half-ounce is one V not weighing more fi v e, seven, or ninepenny, ounce, 2d. in arithmetical prcl res a s i ; o dd number . Thus scion. No t ; c s r soasbuomv above s a n acbi l ounce advances dfor rost. three, ostege 88 • an y suppose reality, and it is probable that the talig e e e . r, that postage,'rs t 2 i d i i . o s such eTxP e THE FROPERTYb.; .. it the"rsintcome tax will not be so extremely disa greeablepoint more especially dwelt upon as a which much good may arise. No al je,—(of which it has not a few)—repre sent.oopf t e e r n at much naso f its tihseenoenr: There gr eat hardship, de for debts unless • ' to be ma it can be shown that lo mince a 1 means have been adopted to ob • tam payment. proper or le i ta inre, be absolutely necessary to establish the It will, thement of accounts in ru le of fina lity • thi s respect is one of of ee- c • h tradesmen have to the most ser i ous ev il s w ith wine dto the system contend, and anythi ng w hi c h pu ts an en h _ must be hail e d w i t h satisfaction by the j u st and honoura ble of all cla H sses.— ereford Journa l . FLORENCE, MAN 3 ' —Ye sterday the newly-born Prince was baptized in one of the apartments Pitti Palace, the of the ceremony being perfby the Archbishop of Florence. The Prince received treednames of Ranieri, Salvatore, Maria, Stefano, Guise G . Pe, Giovanni, Filippo, Giacomo, Antonini, Zanobi, Luigi, Go n • Highness the Arch bishop Ranieri, Viceroylmperial f the Lombardo.Venetian kingdom, was sponsor to the ronyalninfant. He was represented by his Imperial Highness the Archduke Stephen. In the evening the cupola of the cathedral was illuminated. The royal in fent fant, together with its illustrious mother, continue as well as can be wished.