The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-04-21 00:00:00

hants, in their memorial of the 17th of January, that the "deficiency in the last year's crops, in Demerara alone, exclusive of Berbice, was shown to be no less than £930,000," remarks that " some part of this de ficiency may be owing to the lateness of the season; but no doubt can exist of the fact of a remarkable falling of in the quantity cf produce during the first year of freedom." What we have already adduced is sufficient to stamp Mr. Scoble as the most reckless and inaccurate speaker that ever ventured to stand before the public. W e have before us a variety of documents which most flatly contradict his sweeping assertions, the force of Which he has been himself compelled to acknowledge. We regret that want of space compels us to defer un til Friday a full and complete refutation of the false hoods to which he has had the hardihood to give ut terance. In the mean time, we would particularly di rect the attention of our readers to the letter addressed to the Morning Chronicle, which we have inserted in another column. It will be some time before we have done with Mr. Scoble. There is no saying in what dirty puddles your real party man will not occasionally grope, or with what strange bedfellows he will be content to sleep. The most confirmed blackguard that ever outraged com mon decency may be elevated to the dignity of a mar tyr by refusing to pay a threepenny church-rate, and respectable men will walk through Coventry with a drunken hodman, or the sweeper of a crossing, if he happens to profess the peculiar morality of the liberal school of politicians. On these grounds we have never been surprised at the favour with which certain of our Whig-Radical contemporaries have regarded the sayings and doings of Lord Melbourne's protege; Robert Owen. AVe were not aware however, of all his claims to consider ation. The founder of Socialism, we find, is a Corn law Repealer—one of the League—a brother in the faith of the Gregs, the Philipses,. the Smiths, and, " last, not least," of our own Aiken. A "great gun," however, the Socialist is not, inasmuch as he borrows his thunder—we beg pardon, his rain—from that dis tinguished ornament of civilized society, the Mayor of Manchester. We have to express our thanks to the proprietors of the Liverpool Journal for raking this gratifying fact from amongst the impurities of Friday's Social orgies —a scavenger's occupation truly. " The Mayor of Manchester, before the Premier, had said" —we quote from our contemporary's report of Owen's address—" that, for the last two or three years, he had lost £150,00; he had still remaining a large fortune, but (lid not know how long he might have it, for he had a g reat nu m ber of working people Whom he could not relieve; and, bursting into tears, seemed overwhelmed what to do" . 1 And again : " Here mrs the Mayor of Manchester crying like a child, not knowing how to prevent his workpeople from starva, ti"" ► ! Horrible ! The Mayor of Manchester crying like a child—Cannon-street flooded with tears—High street in hysterics7-and the Infirmary-pond trans formed into a salt lake ! Sad picture ! Thomas Pot ter "overwhelmed what to do" ! Prodigious ! And that, hard-hearted old profligate, Lord Melbourne, absolutely impenetrable The tears of a Mayor—a veritable Mayor—not able to move him ! Oh! could w e Paint the sobbing Mayor led out by the deputation to breathe. the pure and reviving air of Downing-street, a nnd the waving of pocket-handkerchiefs and the Bni ffling of the sympathising Cockneys, how beautiful a Picture we should have of the intensity of human fee ling ! Rachel weeping for her - children was nothing compared with Potter weeping for his workpeople; a nd, alas ! Potter's tears were equally thrown away. He cast his pearls before swine ! There are, however, one or two features about this new version of the deluge which seem to us rather apocryphal. We do certainly know some little about the weeping Mayor of Manchester, but were not pre viously aware that he had any large number of working People to support. Our impression always was, that hie " shop" was something in the nature of a slaughter 4"se, a kind of purgatory for small traders, of which the ultimatum was the Gazette. We can just fancy, too, that bad. times may..be the harvest season of some men ; and if our memory serves us right, our old ac quaintance the:Mayor of Manchester has been al- Ways considered to glean from other.rnen'sscattering. from his own account he has gleaned to some reason- I thle amount, all things considered; and we would, with.every due diffidence, exhort him to moderate his tears and leave well alone. A man who, in the prime of life, can boast of having realised a splendid fortune, has no right to kick down the ladder by which he has , ri sen. A man who, under our existing system, has become gr ,, at; has no right to complain if he encounter a little loss now and then. And, beside.s, consider the danger which might arise from the mode of entreaty Sorted to by the Mayor of Manchester. Downing street might be found some fine day in the Thames, a nd all the little pet projects of Ministers floated out of their fingers ! The clock at Whitehall might be rusted with tears, and quarter-day never, never arrive ! May Fortune and the Mayor of Manchester avert so di re a catastrophe ! The truculent Agitator of Ireland is labouring earn estly in his vocation, and the venom with which his black heart is. surcharged seems to rise up almost quicke r than the lying lips can give it utterance. A . r abid fury seems to p o s s ess him at the very mention of the name of Stanley, and he evidently writhes be neath the consciousness of declining power and ap- Proaching retribution. Our readers will perhaps pardon us for transcribing the following very characteristic effusion, uttered by t his - fercicious madman on Tuesday last, at the Corn- I txchange of Dublin ; and remember that to the tender Mercies of such a monster the peace of eight millions of our Irish fellow-subjects is at this moment coin /flitted " Stanley left his sick parent on the point of death—he left the chamber of sorrow and sadness—he left that duty which he ought to he performing towards his afflicted and d ying relative—he gave up the sacredness of sorrow and all the gratification that sympathy has in it—he gave up all that i 8 dear to the human heart and binding of the human affec ti°lla—lie trampled under foot the coffins of his deceased re latives, and, I declare to heaven, he would have trampled on t heir dead faces sooner than refrain from, or stand back fr °'n, attacking Ireland. Was not what I said a fact? Were they not dying ? I merely hinted at it ; I said he ought to be elsewhere, and a ruffian yell of malice, a malignant, Paltry, scoundrelly shout was raised, and I was interrupted in my d e f enc e for Ireland by a howl and screech from those Who are opposed to everything that is noble or calculated to benefit the human race. (Cheers.)" Is there, we ask, on the face of earth, another man capable of giving utterance to such disgustin g and infamous language ? The passage which we have printed in italics surpasses, for its gross and reckless profanity, anything which we have previousy noticed, . even from the lips of O'Connell himself. The object of the meeting at which this gross attack was made upon a nobleman so infinitely superior to him in every relation of life—as a son, a husband, and father--was to organise a system of terror calculated to overawe the deliberations, and to coerce the judg ment, of the British House of Commons, upon the question of Irish registration. The standard of repeal is to be unfurled, and three millions of tee-totallers to by ranged under its folds. A National Association' , Is to be formed, to demand for Ireland " full and prompt justice or repeal" ; and, as is inseparable from e very project *of this profligate ruffian, another drain is to be made upon the people for funds to supply the means of corruption. And what, it will be asked; is the measure of justice Which this " National Association" is organised to (letnand ? First, then, the revenues of the Irish Pro testant Church are to be appropriated. Secondly, the e tlrpor a t e property i n I re l an d i s t o b e pl ace d i n t h e i la nds of the Popish priesthood and their ignorant ; 14 VeS• Thirdly, the franchise is to he lowe re d. ro urthly, the number of representatives for Ireland is to be increased. And, fifthly, she " shall obtain an adequate number of representatives in the Com lii°ns' House of Parliament, to place her on a just , k 3,. e quality in this respect with the Parliament of Eng ili4;.l.,!Tul and Scotland" ; or, in other words, to vest i n . (11 8 .„"PishIreland in a greater degree that effectual and abso 410d,:tte control o v er the Governm en t o f E ng l an d a nd Scot -I:4' and which virtually she already possesses. " Such," et,. 6l elaims this new association, " is our definition of the wo rds JUSTICE TO IRELAND.' We demand this justice, and we demand it speedily. It must be l'rurnpt—it must be full and satisfactory. Ireland is no longer to he trifled with, and cannot be deluded." For these wild and unattainable objects, which no thing but the brain of a madman could conceive, the entire framework of society in that unhappy land is to be convulsed, and the torch of incendiarism, the blud geon of the murderer, and the knife of the assassin, are to be placed in requisition. England must submit to be trampled beneath the feet of Popish Ireland— must surrender her religion, her liberties, and her rights to the keeping of a ruffian priesthood; and her proud nobility, her spotless hierarchy, the unsullied honour of her gentry, her loyal yeomanry, all of which England is justly proud,—must be made to lick the dust beneath the reptile form of this ruthless de magogue, or—what is the alternative ? Repeal ! The dismemberment of the empire. There is one obstacle, however, to the success of either of these alternatives, which the infuriated bully who prescribed them will find, to his cost, has been left out of consideration. England herself is now aroused. She will put in her claim for justice. Eng land will no longer be trifled with, even to appease rebellious Ireland. We have had enough of this trashy vapouring—this artificial thunder. We have crouched long enough—conceded long enough—for borne long enough. We must now have justice. Ireland shall enjoy her just share in the representa tion, but shall have no more. Ireland shall have her just share in the Government of the empire, but shall not be allowed to control every measure, and to absorb every function, of that Government. The people of England demand a just, an equitable, and an honest system of registration for Ireland ; they demand the passing of Lord Stanley's Bill, and the transfer of the power now exercised by the priesthood of Ireland into the hands of those for whose use it was intended ; they demand protection for their Irish brethren from the perjtired assassin whose foot is upon their necks, and whose knife is at their throats; and they will not rest until each and all of these just demands are granted. ISLE OF MAN AND LIVERPOOL JOINT STOCK BANKING COMPANY. It may be in the recollection of many of our readers, that a dissolution of the Isle of Man and Liverpool Joint Stock Banking Company took place some time ago, since which a return of about ninety-nine per cent. of the paid up capital has been made to the shareholders. On Wednesday, the Ist of April, a deputation from the directors and shareholders of that company presented Mr. John Davies a purse of sixty guineas, with the following address : " Dear Sir,—ln presenting you this testimonial of our re spect and esteem we are happy to have an opportunity of expressing our grateful acknowledgments of the courtesy you have displayed as Chairman of the Isle of Man and Liverpool Joint Stock Bank, of the great care with which you have watched over our interests, and of the sound judg ment with which you have brought the accounts of the concern to a satisfactory close. " From the experienc'e we have had of your integrity, and of the ability you displayed in settling affairs which had un fortunately been rendered extremely intricate, we venture to indulge a confident expectation that in your new business of accountant you will prove eminently successful, and with every wish for your prosperity and happiness, " We remain, dear sir, " Your obedient and obliged friends and servants, (Signed) " JAMES PROCTER, WILLIAM CLIFF, JAMES IRVING, J. G. SNOWBALL, JAMES JOHNSON, N. C. BOND, JAMES PARKER, " And about 50 more Shareholders." THEATRE ROYAL. The engaging star of attraction at the Theatre-Royal is Miss Romer, assisted by that finished musician, Mr. G. Stansbury. The Love Spell and other popular operas will be produced during Miss Romer's engagement, backed by tragedy and piedes of serious interest, in which the acting strength of the company have an opportunity for practice. We hope Charles Kemble will play to us here—before he is knighted. The popularity of such au engagement would not be confined to " Sir Charles" or the management : it would be the note of preparation all through Lancashire for parties to defer their summer rambles, and seaside doing on ship ; and would benefit Liverpool and Manchester by the influx of visitors drawn by the occasion. As to the honour of knighthood, we will say this most conscientiously ; that whether or not the Queen confers the honour of knighthood on the last of the Kembles—a wonderful family—and to defeat which " gracious intention," hundreds would give their ears and go upon their bare knees—the honour has been thrown away upon men in humbler and less significant walks of the Fine Arts. Charles Kemble has worked hard, and had no easy fight for his professional reputation. Greatness was riot thrust upon him, and in a pursuit for marked suc cess in which the resources, not of one, but of all the branches of the Fine Arts, are in necessary requisition. Let the gentlemanly old gentleman be knighted by all means— but not till we see him in Liverpool. MAGNIFICENT HISTORICAL PICTURE OF THE CORONATION. We had yesterday the gratification of viewing the large and beautiful picture of the coronation of Queen Victoria, by Mr. George Hayter, historical and portrait painter to her Majesty, and - now on view at Mr. Burland's, in Church-street. The picture is of ii very large size, and most beautifully and elaborately finished. It contains upwards of 70 portraits of the most distinguished personages present at the august cere mony, all of them admitted to be admirable likenesses in countenance, figure, and costume, from the Queen, to the pages or trainbearers. The scene is in Westminster Abbey, and the precise time chosen by the painter, is that immedi ately following the placing of the crown upon the head of the youthful Sovereign, by His Grace, the 4rchbishop of Canter. qury, when the latter has resumed his Place at the altar, and commenced the exhortation to his future monarch. The cheering, and enthusiastic cries of " God save the Queen," have scarcely subsided, and many of the Royal Family and nobility appear yet in the act of resuming their coro nets. The first sight of this picture is calculated to strike the beholder with wonder, but requires some time, such are the number of persons grouped together with admirable effect, to appreciate its merits in detail. The The Gothic work over head, of the Royal box is a splendid specimen of architectural minuteness of execution, as are the other portions of the abbey. These, however, are but secondary to the individual portraits, and their grouping and position in the perspective. The observed of all observers" is, of course, the Queen, who is seated on the ancient throne or chair o f Ed war d th e Confessor, in Dalmatic attire of gold, lace, and jewellery, and holding a sceptre in either hand—one of which is surmounted by the dove. Her Ma jesty is seen on profile, and the likeness is admitted to be the finest yet achieved. The robes and jewellery are splendidly delineated, and excite surprise that the semblance of diamonds, pearls, gold and silver of the richest hue can be conveyed by the skilful application of paint. There is much of ease in the numerous portraits, most of which are entire figures, but we have not space to particularise more than a comparatively few. On her Majesty's right stands the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, his countenance only seen from the throne intervening : a little in advance of him, is Lord Melbourne holding the sword of state, and. in the act of replacing the coronet. Two beautiful pages, the Marquis of Stafford, and the page of Lord Melbourne, are near. In the Royal box are seated her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Princess Augusta, the Duchesses of Gloucester and Cam bridge, and behind them the Royal Dukes and several foreign dignitaries. The Duke of Wellington (a yet un finished portrait in the group), the Dukes of Devonshire and Sutherland, the Marquises of Westminster, Lansdowne, and Stafford, and others. also prolong the group on her Majesty's right. The most prominent figure on the left is that of the Marquis of Conyngham with his back turned, and dressed in robes of velvet and ermine. The most interesting group, however, is that immediately behind the throne, consisting of a bevy of English beauties that may well give challenge to the world. The Countess of Sutherland is in front. Behind her are Lady Fanny Cowper, Lady Caroline Lennox, Lady Mary Grimstone, Lady Barham, and many others. These portraits, beautiful in themselves as likenesses, would seal the triumph of the limner, were the other portions of the picture obliterated. Each is thrown out, as it were, from the canvas, like a veritable, rotund, and animated creature ; and the drapery and ornaments are magnificent. The velvet robes, with the long and richly-trimmed train of the Duchess of Sutherland, are so admirably pourtrayed that one is led to fancy that the folds might be drawn aside. The bust of Lady Barham, and the countenance of Lady C. Lennox, if viewed through a roll of paper appear like wax-work. But we must conclude our notice with an announcement that a splendid engraving is to be executed from this fine picture, in the first style of the art, and that subscribers, who will have an advantage in an early order, are now received by Mr. Burland, at the exhibition room. The picture has been seen and much admired by all the members of the Royal Family. PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION AT LANCASTER.—We are glad to find that a Protestant Association is to be formed this day at L ancas t er , wh en D r . Gill y , th e Rev. H. M' Neile, and the Rev. H. Stowell will advocate the cause, and aid in the formation of the society. We beg leave to refer our readers to an advertisement in the first page of our paper, relative to the opening of the Egerton Dock, fro m w hi c h it w ill b e seen that there i s no foundation whateve r f or th e rumour that it is intende d on behalf of the Bridgewater Trustees to dispose of the Duke's Dock. BLUE COAT HOSPITAL.-It will be seen by an advertise ment in another part of this day's paper, that a sermon will be preached in St. Nicholas Church next Sunday morning, by the Rev. Rector Brooks, and a collection made for this excellent charity. COMMITMENT TO THE SESSlO NS. — Yesterday, at the Po lice Court, a young man named John Stowell was placed at the bar, under the following charge :—Mary Fairbrother, the wife of a roper in Caddell-place, New Gore-street, said that on Thursday she hung up two shirts and other things in the court, and shortly afterwards missed the shirts, which were wet. One of them was afterwards traced to a pawn-shop kept by a person named Richards, and were claimed by the woman. They were pledged in the name of the prisoner, who was known to the witness. He was afterwards found, and the other shirt was on his back. When apprehended he had with him some aprons, which he took from under his jacket and gave to a boy, who ran away with th em , an d escaped ; but " stop thief" being called, he threw the aprons away, and they were claimed by another woman named Hatch. They had also been taken from the line on which they were hung to dry. The prisoner said he never pledged the shirt, but owned to the aprons. He was committed for trial. DEAF AND DUMB IMPOSTURE!—A woman, calling her self Catherine Walters or Waters, and representing herself to be a widow (whose late husband was a builder), having several children, two or three of whom are deaf and dumb, has by some means obtained a printed form of appli ca ti on f or candidates for admission into the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and for some time past has been soliciting sub scriptions from benevolent individuals, in behalf of one of her girls, whom she wishes to be admitted, stating that " the Committee will not receive her until she has raised forty pounds! and which must first be all laid down at once." She has thus collected between £5O and £6O. Now, the above institution has not, and never had such a law as the above, and the terms for the admission of pupils may be seen by consulting the report just printed : it is, therefore, much to be feared and lamented that the above case is altogether a gross imposition upon the benevolent, especially as the child has not made her appearance at the above institution. SKETCHES OF LIVERPOOL AND ITS VICINITY. No. 2. ---- (Writtenfor the Standard) THE CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY. One of the largest and most interesting works now in pro gress (and drawing towards compl e ti on ) in this neighbour hood, is the railway from Birkenhead to Chester. As this line will add a new and important feature to the country through which it passes, and as, by its joining at its southern terminus, the Chester and Crewe railway, now amalgamated with the Grand Junction, it will bring railway traffic and communication from the south of England by a continuous route, to within a mile of our port on the opposite shore. Its completion is looked forward to with considerable interest and anxiety, not only by the commercial community, but by those who anticipate an occasional rapid trip " on the wings of steam" to the ancient and unique city of Chester. Hav ing recently visited a great portion of the line and the works upon it, a brief sketch of the progress made, of the views that will be obtained by the "flying" traveller, blended with (for the satisfaction of your more scientific readers) a few statistics derived chiefly from the recently printed half-yearly report of Messrs. Stephenson and Dixon, the engineers, ruzy be acceptable, particularly as it is hoped that should the in termediate weather be favourable for the operations yet to be performed, the opening will take place in a few months—pro bably in August. The line, moreover, passes through an interesting and in some parts a romantic country. Premis ing that the work has been considerably retarded by t!te rains of the past winter, which, however, have done no material injury to the cuttings or embankments, by causing the sides to slip or otherwise,—l shall for the sake of arrangement, notice the respective portions of the line separately contracted for under separate heads : THE FIRST OR BEBBINGTON CONTRACT. This length commences at Grange-lane, in Birkenhead, and,extends a short distance beyond the turnpike-road lead ing from New Ferry to Neston, which it crosses, being an extent of 2 miles and 32 chains. The total amount of earth work in this division was computed at 263,000 cubic yards of excavation, the whole of which was required for the formation of the embankments, the principal and longest of which is the Tranmcre embankment, commencing near the north side of Tranmere Pool. The greater part of the earthwork is completed. A wooden bridge, the height of the embank ment, of six divisions or arches, raised on piles, crosses the pool, and has a very neat appearance. From the embanking against it having commenced at the south end or abutment, the piles or pillars lean a little to the northward ; but this is a matter of no importance. The object of this bridge, in place of a simple culvert, as at first intended, is to permit the passage of a barge or boat when the tide fills the pool, a proviso required by the owners of the land, and the Liverpool Town-Council, now the proprietors of the Birkenhead estate. There are several substantial bridges under and over this part of the line. They arc chiefly of rusticated ashler. That under which passes the road from Tranmere Ferry-house to Holt Hill, a single span, has rusticated piers and abut ments, with an arched passage for pedestrians on each side. It is topped by horizontal massy iron beams, on which rests the railway, which is here about sixteen feet above the level of the road crossed by the bridge. Several of the bridges have skew or oblique arches of well-constructed masonry or brickwork. A neat fence wall of stone runs along the bottom of the slopes of this first or Tranmere embankment. The permanent rails are laid for about two miles to the south, and a few weeks will complete the masonry in the deep cutting on Derby Hill, which is about two miles from the terminus. Here, at the close of last summer, about 300 men and 17 horses were employed, but, as in the other divisions, this number was necessarily reduced during the winter months. The road rises gently to the southward in this length ; but this is not perceptible to the eye, the rise com mencing with only 1 in 330, and terminating with 1 in 600. The Tranmere embankment forms the principal feature of this northern part of the work. It runs about south by east, and being of considerable average height, and, moreover, on the face of the rising ground the traveller will obtain from it a delightful and extensive view, particularly to the east ward. Immediately below, and seen to great advantage from the southward, is the township of Birkenhead, with its neat gothic church, its dilapidated and ivy-covered priory; its terries, its handsome, streets extending towards the east, its detached villas, chapels, &c. The estuary of the Mersey is seen to its full extent. Liverpool, with her long extent of sea-walls, crowded docks, and lofty buildings, forms a con spicuous and interesting portion of the picture, and the great basin of the river, extending far to the south, studded with numerous sailing and steam vessels, in continual motion and mutation, and surrounded by the wooded shores of Lanca shire and Cheshire, comprises a combination of marine and rural scenery, not perhaps to be surpassed in richness or ex tent in any country in Europe. As the traveller proceeds southward, the Rock Ferry and the New Ferry, thick with villas on the left, and the village of Higher Tranmere, and further to the south Bebbington, with its ancient church and spire, on the right, claim attention, while the general aspect of the country is cheerful and inviting. To a stranger coming by the railway from Chester, the first view of this great and busy part, and the scenery around it, in land and water, can not fail to impart a feeling of wonder and delight. THE SECOND, OR BROMBOROUGH AND EASTHAM CONTRACT. This division extends from the termination of the last, to Plimyard Brook,—a length of three miles and thirty-seven chains. The cuttings and excavations were computed at 288,000 cubic yards, and a small portion only of earthwork and dressing remains to be accomplished. The masonry and brickwork is also nearly completed. Here a large length of permanent way, about two miles, has been laid, with the exception of a piece of cutting near Greenfield House, which is daily reduced from both ends. The sleepers here employed on the new formations, as well as on other parts of the line, are of English or Welsh fir of a large size, a durable timber in earth or sandwork, on which stone sleepers cannot be laid down, until the made ground becomes sufficiently settled and compacted. These sleepers are all subject to the process of " kyanizing" to preserve them from decay. The post-and rail fences are all erected, and a great portion of the road is in a beautifully level and finished state. The ballast is chiefly a light coloured broken free-stone, approximating to sand, and the drainage is excellent. Towards the close of last autumn, upwards of 400 men and 45 horses were here em ployed, and active operations are still going forward to com plete the contract. The principal work in this portion of the line is the culvert, or bridge, and embankment, across Brombro' valley, and a brook running to the eastward. This valley is about three miles from the northern terminus of the road, and is well worthy of a visit by those who delight in romantic scenery. The distance spanned is not great ; but the depth of the dell or ravine is considerable,—the embankment, though with a cutting at either end, having to be raised over the meadows below to a height of apparently 50 or 60 feet. At the bottom a greater depth of alluvial deposit or " silt" was met with than was anticipated, so that the base of the embankment sunk about fifteen feet, and a greater quantity of earth was required to fill it up. The unequal settlement and partial slipping of the embankment, also retarded the operations, and rendered it necessary, to a ceatain extent, to strengthen the bridge from its foundation upwards. it is now, however, the opinion of the engineers, that the embankment has sunk to the solid substratum, and that consequently no fnrther difficulty will be experienced in completing it, the whole being now within a few feet of its required height. The views from this portion of the line are not so extensive as on the former, a great part of it being, from the extent of the cuttings, under the general surface of the contiguous country. The Brombrow valley is, however, a beautiful and interesting spot ; and the feathered inhabitants of the before secluded woods and coverts skirting it, though they will finally remain unmolested, have doubtless been surprised and alarmed at the invasion of their beautiful haunts, by the en crolchments of the noisy workmen, and the echoing din of their waggons. The valley is spanned at the point of confluence of a brook running from the westward down a deep dingle or ravine, and an inconsiderable rill from the northward. Here is exemplyfied that " sweet variety of hill and dale," which, according to Milton," earth derives from heaven ! The valley is winding ; and is so " walled" in by steep heights, covered with trees of luxurient growth, that it is not traceable to any great extent by the eye of the passenger on the em bankment. The bottom is composed of rich and nearly level meadow ground, extending into little bays and curvatures formed by the irregular bases of the enclosing high ground on each side. Brombrow Pool, in which this valley termi nates some distance to the eastward, is accessible when the tide is up by small boats to a considerable distance inland, and is exceedingly romantic, being diversified by precipieces, rocks, fantastic oaks, &c. From the southern extremity of Brombrow embankment, the line of railway penetrates the fine wooded country towards Sutton. The rise of the line in this length is from 1 in 600 to 1 in 7566 at its termination at Plimyard Brook. THE THIRD OR SUTTON CONTRACT. This contract extends from the termination of the preced ing, at Plimyard brook, three miles and seventeen chains, to near the southern boundary of the township of Ledsham. The excavation was computed to be 200,500 cubic yards, of which upwards of one-half had to be cast upon the adjoining land in spoil banks, and the remainder to be carried to the Plimyard embankment. Here a continuous road is carried to Sutton-Hall-lane, an extent of two miles ; the bridges are all built, and a considerable portion of permanent way laid down. A short length of cutting only remains. Beyond Sutton-lane there is about a quarter of a mile of cutting done last year, but full of water for want of drainage, the country being here very flat. An arrangement has, however, recently been made with a landowner, for the accomplishment of a drain to a brook, so that this obstacle will be overcome. The masonry and brick-work, computed at 4,340 cubic yards is nearly finished. Until latterly there were heavy cuttings to accomplish, and 400 men and 50 horses were for some time employed. In this division the road still continues to rise slightly (1 in 686), and attains its maximum height at its crossing of the Capenhurst road, in the parish of Shotwick, ,in the next contract. Beyond Plimyard brook, the remainder of the length is below the surface of the fields, so that there is little to remark upon in the way of prospect, though the country on each side is occasionally interesting. [Wire are compelled, from the length of our report of the meeting yesterday, to postpone the remainder of our corres pondent's sketch, including the Mostyn contract, until Friday.] FlRE.—About two o'clock on Sunday morning, flames were seen issuing from the roof of Mr. Thomas Gregory, grocer, Ormskirk. The inmates were in a state of the great est alarm, and a female was on the point of precipitating herself from the window had she not been prevented by Mr. George Hancott, who with a few others was promptly on the spot, and by dint of the greatest exertions, at length suc ceeded in getting the fire under. Had it not been for this gentleman's activity, it is impossible to foresee what ravages the flames might have committed, breaking out at an hou when all the respectable inhabitants had retired to rest. THE TEA PLANT IN BRAZIL.—The tea plant was im ported from China into the Brazils about twenty years ago, and is cultivated very extensively in some parts, particularly near St. Paul, about eighty leagues from the capital. One proprietor possesses 60,000 feet of tea plants, some of which are six or eight years old. The tea is commonly gathered in October, November, December, January, and February : a good workman can collect nearly sixteen pounds a d a y. Th e leaf is afterwards dressed and dried. The youngest leaves form the " imperial tea," while the less tender constitute the " hyson" and other varieties. 1,500 feet of tea plants have been recently placed in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris ; and M. Guillemin, who imported them, is of opinion, th a t certain parts of France, from their analogy to the Brazils in climate and soil, are well fitted for the cultivation of the plant. ROMANCE IN HUMBLE LlFE. — About five years ago, when the weaving trade of Paisley suffered considerable stagnation, a middle-aged female, who had been thrown out of employ.. ment, left Paisley with a small stock of coarse towelling, to hawk the same through some of the towns in England; and her brother, should she succeed, was to furnish fresh supplies. Time went on, but no accounts reached Paisley of the sub ject of this notice till her friends gave up every hope, think ing her dead, unknown and unnoticedin a strange land. The week before last a native of Paisley happening to be journey ing through one of the northern towns of England, at the house where he put up heard a story of a countrywoman of his, who, about five years ago, had been struck with a para lytic stroke, depriving her at once of the use of her limbs and the power of speech ; in this affecting state she had been con veyed to the county hospital, where she still remained. The mind of the individual who listened to this story immediately recurred to the singular disappearance of his townswoman, and lost no time , in visiting the place, where, to his astonish ment, he found her enjoying apparent good health, but men tally quite hors de combat. A letter was instantly de spatched to her brother, who, a few days ago, went up and claimed her, and both arrived at Leith on Friday afternoon in one of the steamers from Hull, and left the same evening by the canal boat for Glasgow.—Caledonian Mercury. SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was incorporated by a charter of King William the Third, in the year 1701, for the purpose of " maintaining. clergymen and providing for the worship of God in the plan tations, colonies, and factories of England beyond the seas." These dependencies of the British crown have since grown to an unexampled extent in each of the four quarters of the world, and are now spreading over a territory thirty times as large as England, with a population of 100 millions, three fourths of whom are idolaters. The society has on its list 273 missionaries, of which number there are stationed— In the diocese of Newfoundland • l5 Nova Scotia Montreal (Lower Canada) 3B Toronto (Upper Canada) 43 Barbadoes. 33 LI Jamaica. l9 Calcutta... Madras . lB Bombay 1 Australia. • At the Cape of Good Hope. The Number of Catechists and Schoolmasters is 183 The annual expenditure of the society on these accounts amounts to £54,728 0 0 whilst its annual income is only 30,046 0 0 leaving a deficiency of £34,682 0 0 For supplying which a most urgent appeal is now being made to the Christian beneficence of English churchmen. On Sunday morning a sermon was preached, in St. Peter's Church, by the Bishop of Nova Scotia, in aid of the funds of the society. His lordship entered into an ela borate detail of the society's operations since its establish ment in 1701, and plainly showed the great amount of good done, and which might yet be done, in the west and eastern hemispheres, if the society was but properly supported. His lordship is an excellent preacher, and was most attentively listened to for upwards of an hour. He preached from the second verse of the sixty-seventh Psalm, " That thy way may be known upon earth ; thy saving health among all nations." The collection amounted to £3O 3s. In the evening his lordship preached in St. Augustine's Church. Yeseterday, a public meeting was held in the Music-hall, Bold-street, for the purpose of the objects and design of the society being advocated before the public of Liverpool. The meeting was numerously attended. Amongst those present were the Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia, the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, J. Wilson, Esq., E. Spencer, Esq„ Sir J. Salisbury, Revs. W. Badnall, Dr. Tattershall, D. Anderson, J. Has sail, G. Stokes, 0. P. Vincent, C. T. Gladwin, H. M`Neile, R. Marshall, D. James, Mr. Bibby, R. Wilson, W. M'lver. T. L. Park, Mr. Boulton, T. Hornby, C. L. Townsend, T. H. Stafford, R. Appleton, C. March, T. S. Bowstead, Mr. Gordner, R. Leicester, T. Bold, R. P. Buddicom, R. Went worth, Mr. Bates, C. Lawrence, B. Banning, W. Hesketh, J. H. Stewart, J. North, F. A. Marriott, F. Barker. The Rev. JONATHAN BROOKS having been called to the chair, the proceedings commenced by the Rev. C. WRAY reading the appointed collects. The CHAIRMAN then said his first duty was to call upon the secretary to read the report. Most of those present were already aware of the nature of the society, though, he was sorry to say, its merits were not known so much as they ought to be. It was the oldest missionary society now in existence, connected with the established church ; it was one which had been. producing considerable effect; it was one which had been working silently but still actively, and it had been the means of conveying to numbers of our country men who had emigrated from this island to settle in distant parts the word of God, of which without its aid and assis tance they must have been deprived. (Hear.) He begged to call upon the secretary to read the report. The Rev. Mr. WRAY then proceeded to read the report. " REPORT. • " The committee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, feel that they would be wanting in the duty they owe, not only to the subscribers in Liverpool, but also to churchmen generally, did they neglect to im prove the present opportunity of putting forth a brief state ment of the success that has attended their exertions since the establishment of a branch in this town. A district com mittee was first formed in Liverpool in 1827, and we find that in 1835 (eight years after) the annual subscriptions amounted to only £B7. This sum was thought so unaccount ably disproportionate to the claims the society possesses upon all churchmen, and especially upon a wealthy community in timately connected with the colonies, that the majority of the clergy determined to make a united appeal to their seve ral congregations, with a view to increase the number of an nual contributors, This appeal had the effect of doubling the subscriptions, as appears from the report of 1836. But what was £l7O or £lBO for the population of such a town as Liverpool. It was evident that the society was as yet un known, or its claims unappreciated even by that limited number of individuals by whom the local charities are mainly supported. _ "The committee, at this period, turned their attention to the formation of branch associations in connexion with the different churches, whiich they have ever since regarded as of paramount importance. The vast and increasing population of Liverpool rendered such a plan absolutely necessary, in order to bring the society generally before the people. In Liverpool we have a population equal to that of many coun ties, and which in other parts of England would be divided idto perhaps two hundred parishes. And it stands to reason that such a vast mass of people cannot be effectually in fluenced by any two or three clergymen who may form the working portion of a single district committee, even should they devote themselves to the task to the neglect of their proper duties ; nor is it to be expected that with such in adequate means the claims of an important national society can be fairly represented. " The committee have felt another difficulty, which has also made them anxious for the voluntary co-operation of the clergy in the formation of district associations. They have felt a delicacy in organising any active system of per sonal solicitation for subscriptions anuThg those over whom they have no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and with whom, therefore, they have no right to interfere. To each indivi dual clergyman belongs the privileg e of recommending this society to his own congregation. ie, and not this commit tee, is responsible if his people's charities are not directed into the proper channel ; and therefore, though none of the clergy can be thought indifferent to the value and importance of a society, which from , time to time is prcfsed upon the notice of all by the highest authorities of the church, still where it is not cordially recommended from the pulpit to the continued support of a congregati on (which is the only sup port that a missionary society can rely upon), the commit tee certainly feel reluctant to step in, and assert what appear to them its paramount and irresistible claims. " It was therefore, with unfeigned satisfaction that the Committee hailed the formation of two branch associations in 1837, one in connexion with West Derby chapel, the other with St. Ann's church, in the same neighbourhood, which produced an addition of £5O a-year to the income of the society. The report of the following year (1838), notices the establishment of three additional branches, Saint Martin's, Saint Catherine's, and Saint Mark's. In this year, too, a fresh impulse was given to the cause, by the powerful ad vocacy of the Rev. Archibald Montgomery Campbell, the secretary of the parent society, at a public meeting held in October; and the total receipts by the Liverpool committee, amounted in that year to more than £4OO. This large in crease, however, was to be attributed to various accidental circumstances, and a like sum was not to be calculated upon for the next year. From the report of 1839, there appears, indeed, a greater difficiency than might have been expected, after making these allowances, but this deficiency is rather apparent than real, and the average receipts in Liverpool may now be reckoned at little short of £350 a-year. The most satisfactory proof that the society is gaining ground, is the fact that two more district associations were established during the last year, viz., at St. Luke's and St. Andrew's churches, and three others have been organised since the commencement of the present year at Woolton, at Evertos, and John the Baptist's, with the revival of a fourth, the work ing of which had been for a time interrupted ; and besides these, it is confidently expected that three more associations will be added in the course of the year to the number already formed, since there appears every disposition on the part of the clergy with whom the committee have been in communi cation to carry out their suggestions, and to aid the society by every means in their power. " The committee can assure such of the clergy as may con template the formation of associations, either seperately, or in conjunction with other kindred societies, that such a step will not be attended with any inconvenient loss of time. An annual sermon is all that is necessary with the distribution of the quarterly papers, now regularly furnished by the society. In general some active individual is found in every congregation who will cheerfully undertake the office of treasurer, while the district visitors will gladly receive the weekly contributions of the labouring claases. Among the various blessings and kindly sympathies that will naturally fcrm the establishment of these charitable associations, none are more important than the opportunity they offer the mechanic of contributing his weekly penny towards an ob ject in which he has as deep an interest as the richest person in the land. " There is quite as much high and honourable feeling among the poor as the rich, as those will find who go among them, not in a proud and uncondescending manner, but with the frankness flowing from a feeling of Christian brother hood to ask their co-operation in a holy cause in which all are equally concerned. Belonging to that class of society, which furnished the largest proportion of emigrants, they are keenly sensible of the privations to which the settler is subject, and will contribute with far greater willingness and liberality than their wealthier neighbours. And are we jus tified in neglecting to afford to the poor members of Christ's body the blessed opportunity of giving somewhat towards the religious wants of their brethren in foreign lands, or propagating the gospel in heathen India ? Surely not. The poor man's penny is as acceptable as the rich man's pound, and as worthy to be deposited in the treasury of God's house hold. " Fully alive to this duty, the parent society has prepared collecting-books adapted to the dffierent classes of subscri bers, and strongly urges upon the district committees, the expediency of encouraging the smaller tradesmen, also to en rol themselves subscribers of ten and fifteen shilling annually; thus to gain the support of a numerous class of persons, who, because they are unable to afford their guinea, have hitherto been too generally passed over altogether. " Such is the partial measure of success which has of late years attended the exertions of the Liverpool district com mittee. That ten branches should actually have been formed in the space of three years, is surely a pledge of a far more extended patronage than the society has hitherto received, and it is a cause of thankfulness to the Allwise disposer of events, that this town is at least beginning to acknowledge its duty. But in any other point of view there is little cause for congratulation ; for what is £3OO or £4OO from such a town as Liverpool—a town which now takes the lead of all other sea-ports in its commercial connection with the Canadas. At present we hardly defray the charges of two missionaries. Surely if the country at large is deeply guilty of neglect in this matter, no one place is more chargeable with the sin than our own town. And in truth it may be said that as a nation we are now propagating infidelity far and wide, as well as giving direct encouragement to idolatry. In India £5OOO is annually paid towards the worship of Juggernaut, and in our different settlements to which our countrymen are encouraged to emirrrate by thousands, we are suffering villages without number to spring up with no provision for the worship of God, or the maintenance of his truth. And who can contemplate without horror and alarm the future condition of these unhappy people, unless some thing be done for them in their present helpless state. What the penal settlements of Australia are now (plunged into an abyss of moral degradation too horrible to think upon) we may expect our other colonies to become, if left to the un corrected working of our coarupt nature. England is engaged in laying the foundations of mighty empires, but she is care less whether these be Christian or infidel empires. Nay, as a nation we are guilty of having withdrawn the support which had been pledged to the missionaries sent out by this society, and are doing all in our power to prepare the way for an infidel anti-Christ. And let it be remembered that the people whom this nation is neglecting, are they whom, of all others, she is bound to support and aid. The colonies are connected with the mo ther country by every tie that can endear one people to ano ther. Of the same language, and habits, and kindred, and, above all, children of one common faith, how can it be other wise than a bounden duty to aid in establishing among them a branch of the same holy catholic church to which it is our privilege to belong, and in whose fold they and their fathers were nurtured. It is antler a solemn conviction of this duty that all the operations of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel are conducted. Its guardians have ever aimed at being led rather by God's providential hand than by their own will or fancy ; and this must be the apology for one unpopular fea ture in the character of our society, viz., that its missions among heathen nations have not been more multiplied. But its principle of action has always been to follow where God leads, and in that orderly course which the church marks out, through the means which the church provides. And, there fore, while the society would gladly respond to the call of the Divine Head of the church, in the literal sense of the words, and " go into all nations, and preach the gospel to every creature," still it is obvious that this work cannot be accom plished all at once, and with limited means, and that those places claim the first and chiefest attention to which the finger of God appears most directly to point. Now, where is there a clearer and more definite call than to provide for the worship of God's name in the colonies which lie has given us in every quarter of the globe? and how would the society be justified in taking the children's bread and casting it to strangers, while the children are left to starve? And where is there a clearer and more definite call than to propagate the gospel among the hundred millions of pagan India, whom, doubtless, the God of Battles has subjected to British in fluence, not for mere national and individual aggrandise ment, but for their conversion to our own pure faith ? To these places, therefore, and wherever else, in the providence of God, an opening is made by British arms or commerce, the society's operations are mainly directed ; not, however, to the entire neglect of other countries where our influence is less felt, and the call of God less plainly discernible. The committee, in conclusion, are called upon to defend another unpopular feature in th^ constitution of the society, which, with that just noticed, was mentioned to them in a letter from the clergyman of a neigt touring town, as forming the ground of objection his people felt to the society, when he recommended it to their notice at the instance of this com mittee. This objection was, that the " subscribers had not the privilege of a voice in the appointment of all the officers," as in other societies. To this charge the society must plead guilty ; but we trust that it will be rather a recommendation than otherwise to the self 4enyiiig Christian. The object of this society is to act on church and scriptural principles. It is not merely a voluntary institution, in which a person sub scribing a certain sum, has a voice in electing a committee in which he can c onfid e t o ex p en d th e f un d s as he thinks right and best. No ; we read in the scriptures that the early Chris tians placed their contributions at the feet of the apostles,_ in full faith that they w ould b e r i g htly ex p en d e d. S o by this society we are called upon to place our contributions at the feet of the successors of the apostles—the bishops of the church, and the persons they have associated with them—not doubting that they will be directed, by the special grace of God, so to expend them as to redound to His glory and the extension of his kingdom. This may be unpopular. But the aim of the society is not to be popular, but to obtain the sup port of true Christian hearts—the hearts of those who will give their money gladly, and at the same time pray to God to put it into the hearts of his servants—the bishops—to expend it properly. To those, therefore, who duly estimate the value of our beloved church—to those who rightly appreciate its charac ter as a true branch of the one holy church, and who are zealous to extend the blessings of its invaluable Liturgy over the wiiole world, and especially, as we are most bounden, through the colonies and dependencies of this empire ;—to those, who, after the universal pr ac ti ce o f th e pr i m iti ve church, desire to send out not presbyters only, but MISSION ARY BISHOPS, who may superintend and regulate the mis sionary labours, confirm the unsettled converts in their newly-acquired faith, and secure to them the church for ever by ordaining the natives to be ministers of the word and sacraments to their own countrymen ;—to such persons the committee confidently appeal on behalf of the incorpo rated society, being persuaded that they will esteem it not a duty only, but a blessed privilege, to aid the church in pro- , pagating the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Rev. Dr. BYRTH had great pleasure in rising to move that the report be received and adopted as the expression of the opinions of the meeting. Although he did not mean to trespass upon time he should be sorry not to give utter ance to his cordial approbation of the sentiments which the report contained. At the same time, there were one or two sentiments in that document to which he might be allowed for a few moments to call special attention, not that they were not placed with sufficient force in the report itself, but be cause he felt they would bear to be reiterated and to receive additional recommendation. He could not but think that the persons who drew up that report, and the inhabitants of this town—not more they in particular than the members of the Church of England throughout all the land,—had been, up to the present mome-t, culpably indifferent to the support of a society which was peculiarly a Church of England society. and he could not but think too, with regard to another sen timent expressed in the report, that very little energy was required to move their respective congregations to make the financial statement in another year far exceed its present amount. He could not but believe that in a day, especially marked for exertions in Christian philanthropy, an appeal would not be made to our truly evangelical church, more awake as he believed she was to her responsibility, without meeting with an adequate response. Perhaps there never was a day when we were more bound to ascertain what were the real foundations of those principles upon which the church was founded ; perhaps there never was a time in which it was more incumbent upon every individual minister of our venerable establishment to be able to state truly, strongly, and clearly, what were the rea sons that had made him a member of that establishment. And yet, at thesame time, it would be in vain we should be able to reason the cause carefully out, if we did riot combine it with the great cause of Christian philanthropy, making our princi ples actual motives, and reducing all our speculation to real and powerful energies. Now it was well known, that the humble in dividual who at present had the privilege of addressing that meetin g , was a bold and unflinching friend of missionary exer tions, by whomsoever those exertions were made. He would wish it to he equally well known he was nevertheless a friend, more especially, and by distinction, to missionary efforts, if they were made by the venerable church of which he was a minister. He would wish to see the Church of England put forth her energies —and among these, the attaclunent of her people to her name was one of the mightiest. He should long, he said, to see the Church of England put forth her energies, and to do her duty in supplying our colonies with spiritual instruction ; then the blessing of the Lord would rest upon her, and she would find nothing to bind her efforts till she had made the Gospel known as the Gospel which was faithfully preached by her ministers. This was a con summation devoutly to be wished : and he believed there was not an argument by which an establishment could be sup ported, and that not speculatively, but by just reasoning, which did not appear to him to bear with redoubled force upon the great duty to provide religious instruction for our colonies. If it were in obedience to the command of ' Christ to erect churches at home and supply the people with an apostolic ministry, surely the same com mand held good with regard to the people abroad, for their wants, must be increased by their distance from home. If it were true that we could not expect to retain our empire abroad—if it were true we could not expect to retain it long at home, unless it were based upon Christian principle, how could we possibly be indifferent to the great subject of send ing our people abroad as emigrants, without sending minis ters also with them, in order to keep them from falling away ? He asked them to respect those who really did express themselves upon some occasions in the strongest possible language—and they never could express themselves too strongly to satisfy him—and put forth some active powers, at least bearing some proportion to their sentiments and their feelings, and then the Church - of England would be what she ought to be. Ile contended she was not whilst it could be said in the report and not denied, that there were colonies all over the world destitute of religious instruction, because our own established church did not send it forth. He would take the liberty of saying, that the movement we were now engaged in was a voluntary movement ; and he honoured the church that she had so come forward, now that the govern ment had withdrawn the annual grant. Let us redouble our contributions, if the government had ceased to be Christian ; let us show that we were willing members of the Christian church, if the government would not ; if the government sent people abroad, let us remember those people in the wilds and in the wilderness ; let us go after them • let us seek them out in the wilderness, and prove that tile church of England was the most missionary church upon earth. He could prove this from her formularies. She was a mis sionary church acting in strict obedience to the divine command ; but the present was not so much a missionary movement as an actual debt we owed to the colonies. Talk not to him of sending missionaries to the Hindoos ; it was our duty. Talk not to him of sending the gospel to the un fortunate savages of African wilds ! Before appealing to his feelings or his conscience prove to him that we were under no obligation to do this. (Hear.) We were committed to it as an Established Church (hear) • and 'because the go vernment had failed to d o it s duty, let us put the govern ment to shame by doing these things. (Cheers.) The Rev. Doctor concluded by moving the resolution. Sir JOHN SALISBURY seconded the resolution, and it was carried. The Lord Bishop of NOVA SCOTIA was then introduced by the Rev. Chairman, for the purpose of moving the second resolution. The right rev. Prelate said he had very great pleasure in attending to the call so kindly made by the Chairman, and that so far as he was able he would endea vour to make the meeting acquainted with a part of the claims preferred by the society upon all members of the church for that support of which she now stood greatly in need. He had been appealed to as one who had personal knowledge of the acts of the society, of the fields for its ac tion, and of its grievous wants, as well as of the destitution prevailing in the colonies, which made it imperative upon the society, lest she would be contented to give up her good work, to make a most solemn and urgent appeal to the mem bers of the church in this highly favoured kingdom. He rejoiced to be able in the discharge of this duty to call their attention to subjects thus deeply important. The chairman was right in stating he was intimately acquainted with a por tion of the field in which the society had long laboured. Indeed his knowledge might be regarded as hereditary, for eighty years had passed since his father went out from this country as a missionary in the service of this society. It pleased God that he should be called to a higher station in the church, that he should become the first colonial bishop, and it had also pleased God that lie (the speaker) should be called upon to follow him, with unequal steps, through the field. More than thirty years had elapsed since he followed him in the missionary field, and 15 years ago, by the Provi dence of God, he was called upon to labour as a missionary bishop. He only mentioned these circumstances to shew that he had had opportunities of making himself intimately acquainted with the circumstances he should bring before the meeting; their feelings would ensure such a reception to the recital as they must all desire in order to further the cause which, under the heavenly blessing, it was the object of this society to promote. The resolution stated that the spiritual destitution under which the inhabitants of the colonies and dependencies of the British empire were now suffering was a subject of deep concern and alarm to the religious people of this country, and made it incumbent upon every member of the church to contribute something towards the support of a society whose efforts were now crippled by the withdrawal of the government grant. In the infancy of the society the field of its labours was limited in extent. Encouraged by the government it set upon the work of sending the gospel to the colonies, although, he believed, there never was a period in its history in which its means were so ample as they ought to have been. It had sometimes been objected that the society had not been so ostensible as she ought ; but all who heard him would understand that there was something of the Christian character in the retirement which she sought. She was willing to conceal from her right hand what her left hand was doing, and probably she would have continued to proceed in her quiet course, if the circumstances by which she was surrounded had not become so greatly changed. She would have been wanting in her duty to the great cause she had at heart if she had not then made known the calls upon her, and entreated others to share the privilege which she no longer wished to confine to herself. He need not make an appeal to that meeting on behalf of the truth, that it was the primary duty of a christian nation to extend to the remotest parts of its possessions the greatest of all the blessings which it enjoyed —the blessing of peace and undefiled faith in the Redeemer of the world. This, indeed, was a self-evident proposition, and it had been acted upon in every part of the world's his tory. Among the ancient nations of the world there was no want of diligence in sending forth such religion as they pos sessed to the colonies which they had founded, and there had bee n no part o f t h e worl d more remar k a bl e for this than the Rom an emp i re. I n i ts ear l y d a y s those people sent forth to their col on i es th e reliion which they possessed , esteeming it not t beenhei r deficient duty; and initthat might respect.b knowne Thereth at er wasmodern a Rome hadcolony n which i thha great, re a t, adopted and he e h the oChurchstsay, considered commendableof Ro me a , b i l n e s v: p • annigcnhsa,tshheo carriedmh aed . out that religion which e r n C a in n a e d n a t s in ? a When h a e n n possessed early and 200 and What M of 7 h ti a le t m c m a s na t d h a e s e , x t a b i o n sufficient provision foli r i e e s t i d e' T l c l t e w h h rs e l i l s tr g h u t e oh p r le p - v support ei of so thew instruction betweenhur c h 3 w o was parisheso th consequence well suppl conse quence of what the French government then did, and in ad dition, a single order in the Romish Church there had a pro perty which now produced not less than £30,000. a-year, owing to the temporal care of the French government : and when the country was ceded to England it was made a per sonal request of the King of the French to the King of Great Britain, that the people no longer under his care should be tolerated in the enjoyment of their religion. He mentioned this to show how different our own conduct had been, but he need not go so far. There had been a new colony founded on the coast of Africa, and the government of the French had sent her church thither. They were in earnest, and in the right, but we had to lament that our nation had never yet done its duty in this respect. In touching upon this topic, he was aware of the risk he ran of being supposed to mingle politics with the question now before the meeting : let him therefore, in the first instance, disavow any such intention. Their objects were of a nature too high and holy to be mingled with politics, and they had no complaint to make against any government which did not apply to all. He spoke of the nation having neglected its duty, and what was the conse quence ? There were hundreds of thousands of people cut off from all means of religious instruction ; and millions of heathens, with no means of knowing God but through the instrumentality of this and other societies. He would guard also against another misapprehension. Although intimately and personally connected with one portion of the field in which the society laboured, he had but little to say that did not apply to all parts. There was not one portion of the earth whither the society sent her missionaries where the destitution was not great; there was not an instance in one for which a parallel might not be found in every other por tion of the society's labours. He should, therefore, state, that the wants of the society must be considerable, in as much as it had five distinct portions of the world in which it laboured. The North American Colonies he placed first, because there the society commenced ; the East Indies ; Australia and the Convict Colonies ; the West Indies ; and then, detached and separate portions of the earth, such as the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius,. Ceylon, some in the Mediterranean, (for even there the society's labours were needed,) and some in Africa. The meeting might judge of the destitution that must prevail when he stated that in each of those parts there was a demand for more assistance than the society had yet been able to extend to the whole of them ; therefore, unless her means were increased five fold, she could not discharge as she ought the duty she had taken upon her self. This might be startling, but be under no apprehension. They had examples before them; and if the one now set should be generally followed in all parts of the kingdom, the society's hands would be so strengthened, that under the divine blessing she would be competent to the discharge of all that was incumbent upon her. An allusion was made in the resolution to the withdrawal of the government grant to the society, and he would explain how that happened. He had mentioned that the government actually, prompted her to supply religious instructions where it was needed in the colonies : she got to work, and where she was found failing for want of means, she was assisted by government. This went on till the year 1813, when the destitutions in the colonies, owing to emigrants having been greatly increased, the society appealed to government, and it was agreed the government should ask parliament for a grant which should enable the society to give a competent allowance to as many missionaries as were required. This went on till the grant amounted to £16,000. After it had amounted to that, fearful of the difficulty of earring such a vote through parliament, the government gave notice that they must gradually with draw it. The meeting would be surprised to hear that this had been done after the emigration for this country had arrived at an unprecedented extent, for that year alone there were no less than 60,000 emigrants to Lower Canada. The distress of the missionaries and their innocent families was great and deplorable. He knew one instance of a very valuable missionary being compelled to sell his library to buy food for his children, (hear, hear) ; and whilst this distress came upon the church abroad, it operated as a great discouragement to many who would otherwise have been willing to devote themselves to the missionary labour. The society finding its means stopped, determined upon that plan which had been brought before the meeting that day ; and he rejoiced to tell them that there was no part of Eng land in which an appeal had been made in behalf of this so ciety, in which it had not been responded to in the most en couraging manner, and be doubted not that Liverpool would not be an exception. He had already mentioned the aggre gate of the destitution in the colony. To the North Ameri can colonies alone, no less than 500,000 emigrants had gone within the last few years—and this was but a fifth portion of the society's fields, but he would return to it by and bye. He would request their attention to the East Indies, where a miserable field lay open to the society, and where, until of late, she had but little encouragement. This encouragement had been felt most essential, since, under the heavenly bless ing, the church had been sent out in all her integrity to those extensive possessions. . For many years it was the reproach of our settlements, that the lives of the professing Christians living there were the greatest bar to the progl•ess of the Gos pel. He feared that all ground of complaint had not yet been removed, but there was hope in the circumstance, that the influence of religion was now seen and felt by our own peo ple, and thus this impediment was greatly narrowed. We found too that idolatry had greatly decreased, that the influ ence of Christian love was producing its proper effects upon the natives : and the details from that portion of the world spoke of numerous villages within the view of several of our professing christians in which the natives had adopted the faith of the Redeemer, and were showing in many instances a life corresponding with that profession. The Bishop of Calcutta said, " I must have a thousand additional mission aries to do the work (hear), but he (the Bishop of Nova Scotia) was reminded that he must not dwell too long upon a single portion of the society's proceedings. He would therefore proceed to tell them that in Australia the call was more urgent still. There, many thousands of our country men were without God in the world—he meant of those who voluntarily emigrated in order to better their worldly condi tion ; but what must be the state of the convicts who, after pursuing a course of iniquity here, had been sent to that distant land without the means of religious instruction, both for their present state, and for their recovery from the depths of iniquity into which they had fallen here? What had been the result ? Why, that they had gone deeper and deeper towards perdition. The details of the enormities of these individuals in those distant colonies were such as he could not venture to repeat; they were so debasing and so degrad ing to the character of man, that no lip could utter them without pollution, and no ear receive them without the deepest offence. Now, whether the society were right or wrong in determining on their present course, - it was their bounden duty to endeavour to meet this deplorable case—a case not known till the Bishop of Australia made it not only known but felt; and in answer to the urgent demands which lie made from year to year, the society had sent out upwards of 30 missionaries for his assistance alone. He would now beg the meeting to travel with him across the ocean to the West India islands. There a field of a different character had been opened by that great act which had liberated the African from his chains. For a long time the society had been reproached for being the holder of an estate in the island of Barbadoes which had slaves upon it. The reproaches were unjust, because the estate was held for very important objects—for the foundation of a college in which persons were to be educated with the special view of educating the negroes. Had.the society refused to hold the estate, this important object would have been lost, had they at that time liberated the slaves thef would have deprived the estate of its value : and to have 'Old them would have been worse. What did they do ? They allowed any in dustrious black to purchase one day after another by extra labour, and having done that, his progress to the remainder of the term would have been easy. But ahabough they con sidered this a great duty, they believed it a greater duty to prepare the blacks for emancipation, by a regulk course of Christian instruction in that holy faith, by which alone they could see any prospect of freedom for their souls. He would now call attention to the effect produced by this course of the society. It was well known that a large portion of the planters in the West Indies were afraid of their slaves being instructed: some thought they would be spoiled for labour, others that they were unfit for instruction, and others again, that they would become idle and demoralized. But the emancipated slaves upon the society's estate had ex hibited an example of industry, carefulness and cleanliness, and corresponding conduct which had the effect of pro ducing a change in the opinions of the planters who were now calling aloud for the religious instruction of the whole mass of the slaves. There were 800,000 in the condition of wanting it ; but unless the society's hands were strengthened, it could not discharge this duty. It was however going on, and had sent out many missionaries, catechists, and school masters, and built many chapels and schools for their in struction, He could now state the case of a similar slave colony which until of late had been under his own jurisdic tion—he alluded to the island of Bermuda. In that island, from the period of its settlement some regard was paid to religious instruction, and the blacks had their full share of it. When the act passed for emancipation, the masters readily gave up the full period of apprenticeship, under the conviction that from the religious instruction they had received they would be found not to abuse their liberty. Still as some apprehensions were entertained, an act of assembly was passed for the speedy punishment of offences on the part of the newly liberated Africans. What was the way in which they received it? Not as an encouragement to scenes of licentiousness, but as a religious festival; and the anni versary of it was constantly observed with as much religious feeling as an anniversary could be observed any where. It had been his happiness to be there a year after the liberation of these men, and from the chief justice of the island, he had the gratifying statement, that during the year in which that act had been in operation, the catalogue of smaller offences had been diminished, whilst there had not been a single instance of any capital offence. H e would now turn back to that portion of the societies' field with which he had been most intimately acquainted from a very early period of his life ; and it was important to draw attention to that portion of the society's labour, because there we were to see the effects of her first efforts. It was well known that those efforts were first directed towards those colonies which now formed the United States of America ; and it was everywhere there acknowledged, that they owed to this society the existence of a pure branch of the apostolic church, from one end of the States to the other. He was old enough to remember the time when no Nprotestant bishop had ever v i s i ted the shores of America. ow see the fruits of first labour—there you had now the pure branch of the apostolic church of Christ, with its twenty bishops, and thousand priest and deacons : and the society humbly thanked God, and took courage when it looked at this result of its earliest endeavours. There was something very much in point with this meeting in another portion of the history of that church. They thought it their duty to take up labour in distant parts of the world ; and they formed" a society to send 'out missionaries to the heathen. They were led to believe that, in order to do this work effectually, the church must be a missionary society ; and the church therefore now sent out, as a portion of her work, missionaries who were now labouring in different parts. And as this had sprung from the church in the United States, and that church had sprung from our own, he thought we might acknow ledge the relationship. There was another circumstance connected with that country, encouraging to those who would assist the society. By some mistake it had been imagined that, because the society undertook, as far as it was able, to supply religious instruction to our own colonies, therefore that in the propagation of the gospel, it was to be limited to our colonies. Having explained this point, the bishop said he now came to that part of the subject which in one respect was of most im portance to us. We all must admit that as the claims of our own families must be stronger upon us than those of any member of the nearest community, so the claims of our own community must be greater than those of the ,most distant. In like manner the claims of our own kindred and colonists must be more urgent than those of any foreigners. The bishop then proceeded to lay before the meeting a variety of details showing the spiritual destitution of the emigrants from this country, and to relate several affecting anecdotes of their desire to have the offices of the church of England. His lord ship—whose interesting speech we are obliged from want of space to curtail—concluded by making an eloquent appeal to the meeting on behalf the society. The Rev. R. P. Bunnrcolvt, in seconding the resolution, ex p r essed the satisfa c ti on h e felt at the statements just made by the Bishop of Nova Scotia. He could not but feel that in his address we had heard one of the most strong and strik ing arguments for the necessity of increasing the number of Bishops of the Church in the destitute parts of the empire. He believed it was only by this' that there could be that mea sure of prosperity, e cc l es i ast i cal and spiritual, which was the result of order arising o u t o f th e operation of that branch of the ministry of the Church of Christ which was the deposi tory of the principles of the church as instituted by the apostles themselves. He acknowledged that we had to a very great extent neglected our duty to our own colonies ; and we seemed to have considered the ships which left our shores freighted with emigrants, as having taken from us some excresence which it was our duty to abandon and for get. He called upon the meeting to support a society the main object of which it was to provide for the religious desti tution of the colonies and of the emigrants to them ; and having enlarged on this obligation at considerable length, the reverend gentleman concluded by seconding the resolu tion. The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, and the meeting adopted it, The. Rev. Mr. JONES moved the next resolution to the effect that the meeting earnestly recommended the formation of parochial and district associations as the most effectual means of bringing the society before the population of large towns, and as the only method by which general interest to wards it could be excited amongst all classes. After a few preliminary remarks on parochial and district associations, the Rev. gentleman proceeded to say, that the very name of the society ought to recommend it in public support. Our attention had been called to the moral and spiritual destitu tion in our colonies ; and was it not very affecting to hear that there were thousands of individuals who scarcely noted the arrrival of the Sabbath day, except as a day of greater idleness—a greater dissipation than any other. The church going bell was never heard in many a tract covered by a large population who were living without God in the world. This was a very affecting thought; and we could not look upon such a state of things with indifference. Mr. Jones then proceeded to contend that in order to pre serve the true faith after it had once been planted in these colonies, the episcopal form must be adopted , and h e refer red to several portions of ecclesiastical history in support thereof. The great point, however, would be for all to set upon the work with zeal, relying upon the blessing of God for the increase. The Rev. A. WATSON seconded the resolution in a long and able address, in the course of which he eloquently 'de scribed the benefits arising from the formation of disteict associations. He strongly impressed upon the meeting, the fact that this was an individual business, in which all were interested. The CHAIRMAN said in putting this resolution he would mention that in urging the principle of it he was strengthened by the opinion of our own respected diocesan. In a letter to the secretary his lordship said he was much gratified that his clergy should feel themselves at liberty to recommend to their respective congregations the formation of these asso ciations. His lordship said they would thereby be enabled to relieve the spiritual destitution of the heathen and their expatriated covntrymen, and to provide for a regularly in creasing demand by a regularly increasing supply. The resolution was then carried. The Rev. Mr. GLADWIN moved the next resolution, which thanked the Bishop of Nova Scotia for his attendance in Liverpool to advocate the cause of the society. He had a deep int eres t i n th e di ocese over wh i ch his lordship pre sided, having in one of the settlements of it a brother who had a numerous family, and also a son, who did not for the twelve month s roun d exper i ence t h e bl ess i ng of hear i ng the ministrations of the gospel at the hands of those whom the great head of the church had appointed. They were obliged to depend upon his brother's reading the prayers of the church and a sermon, in order to supply themselves with that instruction which could not otherwise be provided. He thanked his lordship, therefore, for the interest he had taken in behalf of those.over whom he had been placed. The Rev. Dr. TATTEESHALL secondqd the resolution, and added a few remarks expressive of the interest he felt in the success of the society. The BISHOP of Nova SCOTIA said lie received this vote as an earnest that the work of the society which he had this day put into their hands was not left in the hands of inactive or fearful agents. He would add a few words with regard to district and parochial associations. He had been particularly requested by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make it a pro minent object in every place to secure the formation of these associations ; and had conferred with a large majority of the Bishops in England, and every one of them was equally strong in recommendation of the measure. That it would be the most effectual mode of obtaining the necessary relief they were perfectly convinced ; but there was another important consideration which had weighed with the and the testimony to the fact he himself had heard in every part of the kingdom, that these associations had been found to operate very strongly in favor of all the objects of the church at home, as well as to the prosperity of the church abroad. They formed a bond of union between the clergy and the laity, and between a clergyman and his flock upon an object strictly of a church character, and one in which their best feelings were likely to be exercised. In proof of this, the Bishop related a fact which occurred in the county of Warwick, where a gentleman, after hearing of the religi+ ous destitution of the colonies, gave £5O towards removing it, and £lOO towards a new church at home, although he in tended in the first instance to give no more than £5O towards the church. The right rev. Prelate having again thanked the meeting resumed his seat. The Rev. R. L. TOWNSEND proposed a vote of thanks to the Rev. Rector Brooks for his conduct in the chair ; and the motion having been seconded by the Rev. J. H. STEWART, it was unanimously carried. The Rev. Mr. BROOKS, in reply, said he was very far from thinking he had any claim to the thanks of the meeting for presiding over it ; on the contrary, the obligation was from him to them. He hoped that after he had visited the different parts of the kingdom, the Bp. of Nova Scotia would return to his spiritual charge in the colonies with an assurance to the destitute objects there of the christian sympathy of the people here, towards them and towards the society. He was happy to find that the cause it had in view was meeting with the support that was expected, for at a meeting held in the Man sion House a few days ago, no less than £l,lOO. was received in the room, and since then it had amounted to £BOOO. The BISHOP of NOVA SCOTIA then pronounced the bene diction, and the meeting separated. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Ballast Board, are about to take means for providing in creased accommodation for steam vessels in that port. We are sorry to hear of the increasing distress among the operatives of Barnsley, arising from the numerous failures which have taken place in that town of late. SINGULAR FOOT-RACE.—The 6th instant, R. Bennett, who bore upon his back tho heavy weight of 85 years, under took to run 30 yards while another man, with the quicken ing blood of youth in his veins, and his limbs unstiffened by rheumatics and all the other ailments which old age is heir to. ran the distance of 100. Galleyvvood Common was the ground selected, and there a considerable number of persons were congregated, various bets depending on the result ; but youth prevailed, and twenty tripped over his 100 yards be fore eighty could measure out his 30. The spirit of the venerable pedestrian, however, was not broken ; and he has offered to back himself for £5 against any man of his age in the county. POTATOES.—In the course of a conversation with our old friend, Mr. Barker, of Arnside, a few days ago, we were led to understand that of all the varieties of the potato, that known by the name of the Old Dun, is the least liable to failure. Indeed Mr. Barker informs us that with him it never did fail. With another and more popular sort—the Flat Red—he found that one of two lots sown the same day failed, whilst the other succeeded ; so that it is almost im possible to account for the occasional failures we have wit nessed. If this Old Dun, however, is so certain, we cannot too warmly recommend it for general use. It is the lilac flowering plant and not the white one that must be selected. Lancaster Guardian. HARKAWAY.—At Gloucester assizes much interest pre vailed in the expectation that an action by Mr. Ferguson, owner of the celebrated harkaway, against the steward of the Cheltenham races, last year, to recover the amount of the stakes in the Tradesmen's Cup (of which Harkaway was the winner) would come on for trial, and many of the sport ing gentlemen of Cheltenham and its vicinity were in atten dance to give evidence as to the liability or non-liability of the steward. The action, however, was compromised, the Turf Club of Cheltenham undertaking to reimburse the steward upon his paying over the amount claimed by Mr. Ferguson. DEXTEROUS SWINDLING.—One day last week a young man from the country went into a bank in Glasgow to get small notes for a £5 note, and, having £4 in notes and £1 in change, he had been observed by a sharper, in corning out, counting the money. When a little way from the bank the sharper tapped him on the shoulder, and said he had just come from the bank to mention that a mistake had been com mitted, in giving him wrong notes, and if he would come back with hint he would get the right ones. The simpleton ac companied the swindler, and, when approaching the bank, the latter requested him to give him the notes and to remain outside, and he would go in and get the right ones. The fellow did walk into the bank office, and in a few seconds came out, and told his dupe to go in, and the teller would now give him proper notes. The reader must have antici pated the result. LEGACY DUTY.—A return has been made to the House of Commons showing the amount of capital on which the se• veral rates of legacy duty have been paid in Great Britain in the year 1839, and also an abstract of the total amount of le gacies which paid duty since 1797. The latter amounts to the enormous sum of £1,081,461,000; the total amount of capital on which legacy duty was paid in 1839 was £42,052,297, and of that more than four millions sterling paid the ten per cent. duty, and £21,604,065 paid the one per cent. duty ; the former being the per centage payable by distant relatives or strangers in blood, and the latter by children or parents, or any lineal descendant or ancestor. The total legacy, pro bate, and other duties of this description paid into the public treasury since 1797 was about fifty-eight millions sterling. NOVEL REASONS FOR DISCONTINUING A PAPER.—The Picayune tells us that an editor of a newspaper in Virginia recently received a note from a distant subscriber, running nearly as follows :—" Sir, You will please discontinue my paper at the expiration of the year, as I do not find in it that species of information I was anxious to obtain when I sub scribed. I have looked over it carefully for six months for the death of some individual I was acquainted with. but as yet not a single soul I cared for has dropped off. You will therefore please have my name erased." Poor fellow ! How ill-natured in his acquaintances not to furnish topics for an obituary !—The New World. t: t e l is ton with , iti DEATH OF THE DOWAGER LADY L i : rr aro E n L e r s o: D .— y a sincere feeling of sorrow thut we have to publish in o ur weekly obituary the death of Apphia, her 97th year. She was the widow of Thomas the second Lord Lyttelton, who died in 1779, and whom she has sur vived GI years. The deceased lady died universally respected and regretted by the inhabitants of Great Malvern and the neighbourhood, amongst whom she has so long resided. With means comparatively slender, she was eminently cha ritable. The charity schools founded by her, the public walks laid out and improved, the House of Industry, are standing monuments of her beneficent disposition. In all acts of charity, in all plans for the amelioration of the con dition of the poor, her ladyship led the way. In her the working classes of Malvern have sustained the loss of a boun teous and justly liberal benefactress. Her love to God was amply evidenced by the good she did to man. The power of words is too poor to speak her praise. —Worcester Chronicle. MORTALITY IN PRESTON.—We are sorry to say, that no favourable abatement seems yet to have taken place in the unusual degree of mortality which has prevailed here for a short time past, the deaths still continuing to average about ten daily. In the week before the present they even exceeded this, the total being eighty, and the births but sixty. Since the Ist of April, we understand that among the deaths that have occurred, between eighty and ninety have been caused by measles, at least that is the disease alleged as the cause of that number of deaths. The sufferers are, of course, children, and almost in all cases, of the lower classes. Now as a corn plaint of a similar nature, has in many instances visited the families of the more respectable classes, and in very few cases only has it proved fatal, it is much to be feared that the extraordinary drain which is being made on human life in the lower classes of society in Preston, is caused, not so much by the invincible nature of the disease by which it is made, as by the want of proper names and treatment to resist it. And if this be the case, it is high time that the benevolent among us should be up and doing,—that so the poor may not be thus unnecessarily deprived of their offspring. We heartily wish that some of our more eminent medical gentlemen would at once undertake the lead in devising some remedial measures to meet this very serious visitation, and we doubt not in the liberality of the charitable to support them.—Preston Pilot. - - - THE SWALLOW TRIBE.—The swallow is one of my favourite birds, and a rival of the nightingale ; for he glade my sense of seeing, as much as any other does my sense of hearing. He is the joyous prophet of the year—the harbin ger of the best season ' • he lives a life of e n j o y men t a mongst the loveliest form s of nature : winter is unknown to him ; and he leaves the green meadows of England in autumn , for the myrtle a n d orange groves of Italy and the palms of Africa :—he has always objects of pursuit, and his success is secure. Even the beings selected for his prey are poetical, beautiful, and transient. The ephemerae are saved by his means, by a slow and lingering death in the evening, and killed in a moment, when they have known nothing of lift., but pleasure. He is the constant destroyer of insects,---the friend of man ; and, with the stork and the ibis, may b e regarded as a sacred bird. The instinct which gives him hi s appointed seasons, and which teaches him always when awl, where to move, may be regarded as flowing from a divine source ; and he belongs to the oracles of nature, which speak the awful and intelligent language of a present deity.—Sir H. Davy's Sahnonia. ■