Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-09 00:00:00

SE,,ECT VESTRY. The fortnightly meetirg of the Select Vestry wss held at ten o'clock, yesterday, in the Parish-offices, -Brownlow hill. The chair was taken by th Rev. Rector Campbell, and the other suardiins present were—Messrs: Bairstow, Owen, Whitby, Jackson, Whitty, W. Jones, LA; erellin, Mellor, Chesney, Rielardsou, Crawford, Hauct , Syred, Hughes, Smith, and Gibson. WOrilillollsZ From the minutes of this committee, it appsa.-..ed that the number of inma'es in the workhorse on the 2ud September was f,102; sick cases same de e, 549, including 31 fever, rind 20 itch cases ; vagrants relieved same date, 233 males, 72 females, and 34 children—Total, 330. Mr. BA ERSTOW moved that the proceedings be confirmed. Mr. CRELLIN seconded the motion, which was carried without any discussion. 'THE INDUSTRIAL SCIIOOLS-TIIR sztver .Ve€Tll7 AND TUE REV. DR GOSS - GRAND CONTIIOVISIRSIAL DISCUSSION. . _ . The proceedings of this committee contained the fol , lowing : Industrial School Committee.—The Bishop of Lirerpoo and the Steel Vestry. At a Epccial meetintr, of the industrial schools committee, held at the Palish-office en Monday, tho 7th instant, — Present, Rector Campbell, chairia n, and seven of the members. The minutes of this c3mm'ittee's proceedings of the 4th instant were read and confirmed. The Vcs - ry-clerk übrtlitted the foll , owing copy of a loVer addressed to the Rev. .Goss, in pur,trmco of tYs committee's directious at the last meeting, which le:ter was approve September 4, 1E57. Right Reverend Sir,—l am directed by the committee ap pointed by tat: Select Vestay for the management oftl=eindus trial Schol=, to draw your attention to a speech reported in the Zzverpool Journal, of ihe 291 Auzust, 1857. as baring he , n spoken by you in the Royal Assembly-room, Groat .George's stieet, at a luncheon immediately after the ceremonial of the opening of the new Church of Saint Vincent of Paul, in 8 ,- . James's-3 reet, in which speech you are reported to have accused the Select Vestrymen of persecutin,z poor parish childrrn. I am farther direccd to ask you whetler you ore correctly reported, and, if so, upon what facts the accusation is grounded.—l am, Right Reverend S.r, your obA;ent servant, CHARLES HART. To Charles Bart, Esq., Vestry-Clerk, Liverpool. Sir,-1 am directed, by the Right Rev. Goss, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesaerday, in which yeti inquire whether a speech made by his loidship, on the 25th of August last, is correctly reported in the Liverpool Journal, and, if so, upon wt-at facts the statement is founded. His lordship Las not seen the paper which you mention, but he has seen a report of his observations on the subject in one of the other local rapers, and has no doubt it is substantially correct. On reference to the report, you will perzeive that his li»dshils remarks rather apply to the conduct of some individual mem bers of the Vestry ; and, as regards them, it can hardly be necessary to do more than to point to the various reported speeches of Mr. Satchell, and, more lately, to those of Mr. Jones, and other members of the Vestry, to justify his lordship's observations as to the persecuting spirit displayed towards poor Catholic Children, whose miserable lot in life has placed their faith, to a great extent, at the mercy of persons entertaining such extreme opinions. There are some acts of the board, such as the. refusal to permit the Rev. Ma. Doyle the assistance of competent persons to aid him in instructing the masses of poor children committed to his spiritual charge—the change in the religion of Sarah Hawkins, in direct aiolation of one of the rubs of the vestry ; and the nearly analogous cases of Patrick Flynn and James Joseph—orlered to go to church against their will —and the cases of some children who are now being brought up as Protestants, simply because they have no relations to demand that they should he educated in their own religion ; besides others which his lordship greatly laments, and he ventures to hope that a more liberal and generous treatment cf the children iu this, the all important mutter of religion, may remove all grounds of complaint. Whilst, however, his Lord ship points with pain and regret to these occurrences, which have given so much pain and dissatisfaction to the Catholic body, lie hears willing and grateful teatimony to the conduct of many memo rs of the board, who, ri-irg above sectarian prejudices, treat with respect and impartiality the faith of the poor childre❑ committed to their charge.—l am, your obedient servant, JOHN CANNON WALX.,R, See. St. Edward's CoPege, Sept. 5, 1837. It was moved by Mr. Churehwar.len Shaw, secornltd by Mr. Overee Crellin, and iesolve,l,—" That the firegoing correspondence with Dr. Goss he laid More he Selcct Vestly at its meeting to-morrow." Mr. Owes moved the confirmation of the pro l eeerlinge. Mr. Beeeseow seconded the motion, and in doing so, said, he supposed it would be necessary for some gentleman present to make some remarks upon the speech made by the Rev. Dr. Goss. He certainly for one was sorry to see it reported that the highest dignitary of that church in Liverpool should hive made such an unwareanteble alt ck :upon the vestry. Such a speech, coming from the head of one particular class of the c .:mtnunity must havo consider able effect in undermining the influence of that vestry upon a portion of the inhabitants. He considered that language such as that coming from the Roman Catholic Bishop, and applied to the Select Vestry, must destroy the confitence of the Roman Catholic community, in the fairness and straightforward integrity of the vestry and its fidelity to the correct principles which had alw,ys been carried out, so far as he knew, during the time he had been a member of that board—the principles of civil and religious liberty—principles which were so dear to every Englishman, that it as not necessa y either for him or any other member of the vestry to vindicate them before the inhabitants of that community. (Hear, hear.) So far ae he could gather from the letter of Dr. Gems, the only charge he had to bring against the vestry was that there had been a total . absence of per ec u ti on ; an d one o f t h e instances which he made use o f to s h ow that they had evinced a persecuting spirit only amounted to the fact that they had not compelled a girl. Catiorine Ilawkine, against her will to attend a service to which she herself stated that she did not wish to belong To have compelled that girl to attend the Roman Catholic service, after she said she was not a Roman Catholic, would indeed have been persecution ; and because the Vestry, by an overwhelming insjority,—there being only two gentlemen found to advocate the contrary view of the case—would not order the girl to attend the service to which she conscientiously ohjected, Dr. Goss said the - Vestry persecuted her. (Hear, hear) Now, he contended that that was the very absence of persecution, and that instead of Dr. Goss instancing it as a case of per secut i on , h e oug h t to h ave taken it an an instance on the opposite side. ale, r, hear.) The Vestry certainly violated their rules in that instance, but they - violated them in the great and good cause of religious liberty. With regard to the other case Dr Goss instanced —that the Verery had not given the Rev. Mr. Doyle permission to have the assistance necessary to the instruction of the Roman Catholic children —his (Mr. Bairstow's) memory told him, that about two years ago the Rev. Mr. Doyle wanted to prepare Roman Catholic children for confirma ion, and applied for the assistance of two other priests to en able him. and the Commit ee of the industrial schools sanctioned by the Vestry, geve him the permission ho re quired. After the Catholic children had been confirmed, the attention of Mr Doyle was drawn to the feet that the time had elapsed during which the permission was ex tended. Mr. Doyle replied, that he collie] dispense with the attendance of other priests if he got the use of a room to have the boys and girls together. The Committee, in perfect fairness, granted the use of that room, and eter since, so far as he (Mr. Deirstow) knew, the use of it had been continued, and Mr. Doyle had instructed the children there, boys and girls together. The Committee never had any application, to his knowleOgs, from Mr. Doyle, for any adt;itional facilities for carrying on the re ligions instruction of the children. Therefore, the con clusion he came to was, that the instances given by Dr. Goes were totally without foundation, and that if these were the basis of his attack upon the Vestry for perse cuting innocent Roman Catholic children, there was no ground whatever for it, and instead of having exercised a persecuting spirit, it was in the very absence of that spirit that the Vestry had violated its rules. (Hear, hear.) Per haps it would be wise to treat the speech of the Dish- - p as an af er-dinner speech. (Hear, bear.) It been his (Mr. Bairstow's) lot again and again to listen to after•dinnen speeches, and he had sewn heard quotations in such addresses from the classic J oe Mier. It appeared the quotation of the bishop with regard to the valour and diseretis n of men, and the portion of their body on which ac me men put their sheilds, was from that book. Now, we certainly was not aware that one of the qualifications of a bishop was to be well read up in Joe Miller (laughter); but he could certainly understand that to give a zest, and an enjoyment to an after dinner speech, it wa s very use f u l to have a happy and appropriate quotation from that bock He had seen such a quotation produce vary favourable effects upon the company, and he had no doubs that the s no tation of the hiehcp. must have produced an equally appy effect upon the audience that afternoon. T a ki ng all these things into consideration, it would perhaps be better to treat the speech as an after dinner epee* and to let it go for what it was worth (Hear, bear.) Ho cen sidereel that the Vestry was above suspicion, as regards Ter ecution, and that its members w re all adyoca es to the fall extent of these great and glorious . principles of civil and religious liberty which they had maintained until sow, and which he trusted, so long as they had the privilege of representing the inhabitants of Liverpool, they should OM maintain, (Hear, hear.) The bishop said THE NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY ) SEPTEMBER O 1857, his remarks were not directed against the vestry. as a body. He thought any gentleman on reading the speech must come to the conclusion that They were directed against the vestry as a body. (Cheers) The Bishop now singled out a gen leman who had ceat ed to be a member of the vestry since lest March, and ho likewise mentioned another member of the vestry occupying the position of chairman of the Indu-trial Schools' Committee. When Mr. Jones made a speech a month age, it was distinctly understood that it was the speech of Mr. Jones in reply to Mr. Doyle, and that it was not the language of the select vestry, or of the industrial Schools' Committee ; therefore, he thought the bishop had been exceedingly unhappy in his attack upon the vestry. He maintained that the vestry stood above suspicion in that direction, and, although in some instancs they might hive done wrong, yet, he believed, that the inhabitants of Liverpool would do them the justice, in regard to their spirit of toleration and fairness, to say that there were no ju tifiible grounds for the charge which had been made against them. (Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN said, if the speech was to be the subject of discussion, it would be well to have it read. (Cheers.) Mr. BAIRSTOW begged leave to add, that Dr. Goss was pleased to compliment some members of the Vestry for Icing superior to prejudices. He for one, required no compliment at the hands of the 87.h0p or any other man when ho had the approval of his owe conscience and straightforward integrity. He did not require the applause of any man. Mr. WIIITry said Dr. Goss did hotaelenowleilge the report, although perhaps if he had seen it he would have done so. He said he had seen the report of his remark in another local paper, not the Liverpool Journal. Mr. OWEN : There was only one rep, t. Mr. Worm : How do you know ? Have you read all the Liverpool papers ? Mr. ON:VEN : .hare. Mr WIIITTY : We have no right to read the report in the ..Tournal, as the report of Dr. (loss's words. The CIIAIIDIA,N : Ile acknowledges that the zeport is substantially correct. Mr Woury : By no means—he says he has not seen it. After some discussion the nagsages in the report were red to which the correspondence had reference, and of which the substance was there contained Mr WIIITI Y said the beginning cf that discuision re mindtd him of the passage in Scripture where the woman was taken in adultery. There was an extraordinary reluctance to threw the first stone. He was surprised to find that Mr. Beirstow, who had always hitherto been an upright and impartial member of the Board, was the fiat upon that occasion to take exception to the Bishop's remarks. He would not have been surprised at the observations mee'e by Mr. Beirstow, if the Bishop had not sent his explanatory letter to the Board ; but that letter he thought was as clear and satisfactory es it could possibly be, and described the exact state of his lordship's feelings upon the occasion when he delivered the speech. For his own part he could not but express his very great regret :hat any cause should have arisen to produce that correspondence, but, at the same time, he should confess that he was not astonished at the occurrence at all The course of intolerance and the spiri' displayed by certain members of the Board from time to time, he felt confident, must some day have its natural result in the shape of dissatisfaction among the Roman Catholic population. He had freq :ently, in his place as a member of the Board, and still more frequently in his place as a member of the Industrial Schools Com mittee, urged upon the particular gentlemen that the course of policy which they tho ug ht it their duty to adopt must create deep dissatisfaction among the Roman Catholic body in the town. He had repeatedly urged that fact, as well as the unfairness of the course, upon them, withsut producing any possible effect. The foolish prejudice which imputed to every Roman Catholic, the moment he opened I his mouth, some sinister aed underhand intention, vulgarly and most improperly termed " jesuitry," and which would receive nothing from him in pod faith or good feeling, prevented any suggestion of his from carrying the weight with the Board or the committee which one coming f om another gentleman vroald have. That untsi • and unwise prejudice hid prevented a Larmonioua working at the Industrial Schools' Committee, or at the Board, upon religious subjects. There wal an assumption in law. or, at all events, the practice was in existence, which took it for granted teat .vary child who was not shown to be otherwise, belonged to the established religion of the land. Now, that assumption was practically a very g eat grievance, because it was based upon a direct falsehood. Every man in the community, and especially every gentle man belonging to such a board as that, knew very well that a number of the children who found their way into such institutions, although unsupported by any evidence to show what they were, yet, in point of fact, by parentage and baptism, were Roman Catholics, Thus, annually, in this kingdom, hundreds and thousands of Roman Catholic children were transferred to the established church of the country. There was no member of a board of guardians, or a select vestry, who did not know that such was the practical working of that state of the law. Consequently, he thought that the greatest zealot on the part of the established church ought to be satisfied with this extraordinary gain which fell into that church in the course of the year. But, in addition to that, there was a display of the most intolerant and bitter feeling of hostility against Roman Cada dies, when engaged in the sacred cause of education, and a desire to oestruct them, and prey° A them from taking advantage of all the facilities in th in power for the education of their poor. It was true that within the last year two e•cleidastics were called in by the Rev. Mr. Doyle, to assist him in his dudes. He knew very well, as a member of the Industrial School Committee, that while these gentlemen attended the schools, there were signs of uneasiness among the mein bare, and the porter at last had orders to forbid their re admittance The child Sarah Hawkins, instead of being, as represented, .a person free to act according to her con science, was a child scarcely turned ten years of age. Mr. Bout Tow : Twelve years, Mr. Whirty. Mr. WIIITTY said he distinctly recollected the fact that the child was but ten years old, and nei her her appear ance nor anything else would justify any one in consider ing her twelve years cld. She was an inmate of the West Derby Workhouse. She was there registered as a Roman Catholic She become an inmate of the Liverpool Workhouse, and was there again reg:stered as a Catholic. In January last she was transferred to the Industrial Schools at Kirkiale ; and, according to the usual practice, the officer of the inseitutihn wrote down the names of Protestant and Catholic children on one sheet of paper, marking off each denomination by including it in a bracket made with his pen. By some negligence, the name of that chill happened to occur between the termination of the two brackets, and the child was consequently sent to the schools, in a condition some- , 1 thing like Moo. e's " Irish Gentleman in search of a religion." She was there for a day or two, after which the proper officer found that she was a wanderer whhout any religion, and by the appropriation clause of the Poor law, immediately converted her into a Protestant. This came to the l:nowledge of Mr. Carr, the governor of the workhouse, who sent up a spacial note informing the officer of his error. The riot e was retained, he believed, in the bands of the chaplain, and the child was also retained under Pro testant instruction for four months. The case was brought beft re the Board, and the present chairman of the Board most properly and impartially admitted that great irre gularity had occurred, but inasmuch as the child had been four months under Protestant instruction, ha saw no way of altering the condition of the child. In other words, a great evil had bean done, and the Select Vestry was called upcn to approve of it, and to continue it. Now, nll this was done in direct violation of a re solution of the sth of May, 185 G, when it was proposed by Mr VT. Jones, ostensibly for the purpose of putiing applicaions upon a legal footing, bus virtually, to exclude die. D syle from making any applica tions on behalf of children ordering that eponsers and relatives should apply only on behalf of children. Now, in defiance of. hat resolution, the child was retained as a Protestan', and continued so still. With regard to the cesos of Jet'lll3:', Joseph, and Patrick Fiynn ; these boys were 14 years of age, \oars very well acquainted with all matters of religiose they protested strongly that they wished to be Catholics, and notwithstanding that the committee ordered them to be sent to church. One Loy showed so much fidel-ty to his religion, that he petitioned to be punished rather than sent to church. Me. W.:. °Nes : That is a bit of poetry. MR. WII ITTY contended that there was neither poetry nor over-colouring in his description but the actual facts of the case. Ali the members must reco'lact the intolerant and uncharitable displays made there, the hard names app'iad to Roman Ca holies, and the opposites shown ever in the appointment of domestic nurses on ace hint of their religion, and the means which had been used to prevent the ap pain ment of three Roman Catholic pupil teachers. These means had been particnlarly used by the vice president of the schools' committee. It was folly for the select vestry to take to itself the great credit of being free from sectari , n bias, because its history, although it did not show a manifest intention of doing wrorg, di I not show a series cf totally blameless acts upon the part of the Board. With respect to the Bishop's letter he could not but adopt every word of his tip' nation. He cenld not join in a wholesale condemnation of the Select Vestry, but the Bishop did not intend it. He had borne, on the contrary, high testimony to the integrity and uprightness of many members of the Boa. d. lie could read an extract from a pastoral letter of the Bishop's, published two years ago, in which he referred to the Chairman of that Board in very high terms. Warning the people against permitting their children to go to Protestant schools, the Bishop said — In a late case, discussed before the Select Vestry, the chair ram.--a man in whom the gravity of age has chilled the fire of l'ieotry, and whose honourable pot,i'ion iu his church has raised him above the religious rancour of young aspirants to promotion—declared that the father and mother of the boys Rico " were not parlicularly conscientious as to the religion of their children, because the father permitted them both to go to a Protestant school, where they rema7ned for two years." In the estimation of this respectable el:trgyrnan, who solemnly repud:atted the charge cf partiality, injustice, end unfairness, the fact of parents allowing their children to frequent a Protestant school, is taken as an evidence of a want of conscientiousness. No one, therefore, can justly aceuse us of a want of liberality if we urge parents to a con scientious diech age of their duty in this respect, and corrpel them to withdraw their childun from Protestant schools. It is hardly necessary to say, that with less honourable men than Rector Campbell, attendance at such schools would be made v,se of for pn-poses of proselytism. When we n fleet that there are 1:600 Catholics scattered through the various Protestant institutions of this town, we at once see the greatness of our in terests at stakr. Mr. JONES ; A very equivocal compliment.. The CHAIRMAN: I never had such a compliment paid to me before (Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. WurTrY : I believe it to be intended as a com plimeut. The CHAIRMAN : Yes, that I have grown old enough to cease to be a bigot. Mc. Wurr ry proceeded to remind the Board of the prl portion in this town of Roman Catholic ratepayers, who had all a right to feel dissatisfied with the proceedings of the Vestry, and having strongly condemned all proceedings at that Beard which tended to promote sectarian dissen sion. concluded his address. M. W. Jos as did not see why, when a few weeks ago they had swallowed the camel, there should be so much of jection to gulping down the little dose administered by Dr Goss. Too Rev. Mr. Doyle was in daily attendance at the schools. He was, therefore, necessarily acquainted with the regulations and discipline of the instituti-an. Mr. Doyle thought it his duty publicly to make certain charges against the Industral Schools' Comrnitt e and the Board. The Industrial Schools' Committee posith ely refused as a committee to take up the charges with the view of answer ing them. By way of cou tesy, he believed, it was permitted to him to make some son of reply to the charges at the General Board on the succeeding Tuesday. In the answer he made to the charges, Mr. Bairstow carefally protected the vestry from par icipating iu any part of the answer, and he repeated the caution that morning. So indifferent was another gentleman who had large influence at that table, Mr. Woodruff, that he denounced the thing as irregular. and would not condescend to take any further notice of it. Now, the charges of Mr. Della were infinitely more grave 'hail any general charges by Dr Goss. Mr. Do) le had some sort of candour, inasmuch as he selected instances. and specified the instances, which he considered intolerance, persecution, and cruelty. It is true they were in many cases false, in others misrepre sented, but still the vestry as a body permitted them to go forth to the world unanswered. Under those circumstances he could not see why there should be so much made of the ob , ervations which De Goss had thought proper to deliver in his after-dinner speech. (Hear, hear.) The CHAIRWAN : Although I am reluctant, for obvious reasons, to take any prominenl - , part in such a- discussion as this, I must express my reg-et that an individual, deriving, as he says, his spiritual jurisdiction from an infallible source, and who, therefore, ought to be con spicuous for the exercise of the highest Christian virtues, meekness, gentleness, decorum, and charity, should, when addressing himself, as he says, to " lords, ladies, and gentlemen," have expressed himself, if correctly reported, and he admits that the report is substantially correct— in language which, I think, was little suited for ears polite, was little consistent with decorum and charity, and, I am sorry to express my conviction, was little con sistent with the simplicity of truth. He has, by implica tion, called us bad men. He accused us—accompanying the accusation with a not very decerous allusion—of cowardice and persecution. Now, the word persecution comes with no very good grace from the mouth of a clergyman of the Romish Church, which, by the mouth of an infallible council, has enjoined persecution as a religious obligation. Mr. WHITTY : Certainly not ; I deny it. The Coma - nee : The fourth council of Lateran, which is called infallible, has ordered all secular princes to exert themselves to the utmost of their power, in the exter mination of heretics ; and has declared that if they refuse to do so, they shall be excommucicated, and their vassals absolved from their allegiance. The (Council of Trent has declared that all schismatics, although they have separated themselves from the church, are still in the power of the church; liable to be called to) judgment, punish d,—aud doomed by an anathema to damnation. So, that of this intelligent and highly enlightened body, which I have now the honour to address—the Select Vestry of the parish of Liverpool—only one could be possibly saved. Therefore, " persecution" comes with no very good grace from the mouth of an ecclesiastic of that church. (Hear' hear) But, surely, as used in this instance, it was a greteeque eaaggeration; even If the charges were true. What is the persecution of which we are charged with beipg guilty of? Have we shut up the poor children in prison—confined thorn to prison fare, as the Grand ! Duke of Tuscany did the Medial. for reading the Bible? Have we shut them up in a particular part of the building as the Pope shuts up the Jews in the City of Rome ? The most recent act of persecution which I f mey has given rise to this discussion, was our ordering that all the children, Roman Catholic and Protestant, should sing a hymn for grace before meals and a hymn of thanks giving after meals. Now this it appears was an offence ate offence against the ;discipline of the church of Rome. Little children are not permitted to raise up their voices together iu joint supplication and thank giving, because part of them believe. in the Pope and the other part do not ! Wnat did the committee do ? Did they proceed in this act of persecution ? No. They said the children must sing no longer and that grace must be said. Teat act of persecution therefore eas disposed of, and I think all other acts of persecution have been disposed of in a similar way. With regard to myself, I can solemnly declare, that in every investigation in which I have been engaged as chairman of the Industrial Schools Committee, my study has been to lean to what I considered to be the weaker si le.—(hear, hear)—and to give every liberty which could posibly be given to the Roman Catholic clergymen and the Roman Catholic chil iron. Ido not want to answer for my neie.bnues, but there are certain of my neighbours who had I believe the same incli nation, and I believe that everything has been conduced fairly and honestly. With regard to the other remarks of this gentleman, when he talks about the brutal Elizabeth, the cruel William, and the sottish Georges, I need not detain you by any reply. I need not retaliate his allusion to Queen Elizehe h by any reference to the fires of Smithfield under the mild, maternal dominion of that Queen who is by some called " Bloody Mary." But were that gentleman disposed, which I suppose he would not be, to take any advice from an obstinate heretic like myself, I would advise him to beer 'his faculties rather more meekly, and not to speak out quite so plainly. As St. James says, the tongue, ale hough a little member, can kindle a groat fire—" it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison." There are some persons in this country who flatter themselves with hopes of converting England to tht Romieh faith, because a few sceptical minds, have found a refuge from the agencies of doubt in the stupifying opiate of a supposed infallibility, and because some imagi- native enthusiasts have been led by se hieing spirits to go from light to darkness—from the light of the piatitive scripture truth to the darkness of mediceval tradition. My hope is, that the heart of the people of England is sound, and that they are not disposed to submit to what Lord Palmerston calls a domestic inquisition, which sub; jects their wives and daughters to the yoke of the con fessional, or to the dominion of any priesthood, whether Roman or Anglican, or whatever its denomination may be. (Loud cheers.) With respect to Dr (.loss's compliment to m- self he has said that the gravity of age has tempered the fires of bigotry, and in , ,inuAted that because I happen to have reacip.d the top of the tree I have nothing to gain by abusing my Roman Catholic neighbours. I accept the compliment fir what it is worth. I bear no ill-will to any man's religion. My motto has been, from my earliest youth, " Liberty of conscience"—the liberty to hold what religious opinion I choose, and to worship my God in any manner I choose. (Loud cheers.) And that opinion has not come upon me in my old age. I had it at the tim, when I was troubled with the passions of youth as strongly as now, when my passions are tempered by age (Loud applause.) Mr. WITTY : You have made a statement that it is taught by an infallible Council of the Church of Rome, that persecution is a portion of her policy. Now, I ven tured to deny that, and Iv. nture to deny it again. I do not want to enter into any controversy with you. It is not my place The CHAIRMAN : I can quote you the canon, if you like it. men of every creed have persecuted—of your own as well as of ours • The enairtm or : Persecution is not taught by ours. Mr. WIIIITY : And for a short period of history probably yours was a persecution with interest. lam not an advocate cf persecution at all. I feel it my duty to deny that my church has ever taught persecution at any of her councils. The CHAIRMAN The word persecution ought not to have been used, That is all I meant to say. The Bishop spoke very liiesutiously. Mr GIBSON' moved that the Industrial Schools Commit ten be requested to prepare an answer to the charges. Mr. JoN.Es moved, as an amaudinent—" That as long as the recent charges of the Rev. Mr, Doyle remain officially unanswered, it is not expedient for this board to make any reply to similar charges now m de by Dr. Goss " Mr. Witrrry : I second the amendment. (Laughter.) Mr. JACKSON suggested that the board had heard quite enough of it, and that the ehole matter remain as it was. Finally, Mn. Gibson withdrew his motion, and Mr. Bairstow proposed that the fallowing record be in sarted on the minutes. This board, having bad their attention drawn to cliarrles preferred against the " Select Vestrymen, as a class," by Dr. Goss, in a speech reported in the Daily Fost and the Journal of the 271.11 and 29th ultimo ; and Dr. Goss having since admitted that the report is substantially cotrect, adding that hie remarks apply to Mr. Satchel! anil other individual mem bers, and the circurnst.inces having been maturely considered— Resolved —That this notice of the matter bo recorded in the proceedings : —This b raid is characterised by Dr. Goss as " bad men," " persecutors of innocent and 'harmless Catholic children," for, notwithstanding the irrelevart allusion to Mr. S ttchell, the calumny was obviously directed against this vestry as a body. To the call of the Industrial Schools' Committee, Dr. Goss, out of the large number of poor children attending at the schools, has rpscifiNl three cases. His allegations, co-sidcred separately, are as follow :- Ist. " The Rev. Mr. Doyle," he says, " was refused the assistance of comment persons in the instruction of poor children commit ed to his spiritual charge ;" whereas Mr. Doyle having, in February, 1857, brought two _additional priests to th 3 schools, stating that he required their arsistanee during loot. This arrangement was sanctioned ; and the priests accordingly attended from the 10.11 February to the 25 h May. 2nd. " Patrick Flynn and James JosTli," he says, " were ordered to go to church against their will ;" whereas, these children hatirg come to the schools as Protestants, and the evidence which was at first submitted to the committee ten ling to show that they were Protestants, they were on the 15th July, - required to attend church; but at the committee's meeting, en the 4th of August, thrso boys having, meanwhile, expressed a strong desire to bo treated as Roman Catholics, nfosing to attend church, their desire was gratifi3d. lA.-Sarah Hawkins, also, would appear, from Dr. Goss's letter, to have been sent to church against her will ; whereas, on her admission to the schools, she requested to be treated as a Protestant, her one e and aunt, her brother and sister being Protestants ; and, accordingly, she always went to church of her own free will. The board, comprising members of variou3 religious pr suasiorr, throw back, with indignation the charge of being religious persecutors; nothing is more abhorrent to their feel ings ; they have ever been desirous of respecting the religious preferences of every person, whether Raman Catholic or Protestant, placed by destitution under their care. The calumny was unmerited ; and the remarks which accompanied it were grossly unbecoming, considering the quarter from which they emanated. After some further dissusiion, a division took [lace, and Mr. Bairstow's resolution was carried. _ _ The Finance Committee's proceedings having been confirmed, and some unimportant business disposed of, the board adjourned. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-YESTERDAY. STREET PRE ?CHIN(. LIVERPOOL. BEFORB AIR. DIXON. WHO Is RIGHT ? David Quinn, a wholesale oyster dealer, charted his wife with annoying and assaulting him. It appeared that the pa ties are living separate, and that the pr soner was allowed 103. a week by her husband, and it seemed that she was in the habit of getting drunk, and whilst in this state she was in the habit of abusing her husband very much. The prisoner said the complainant had taken her servant-girl, who now occupies her place in the house, that he had broken her arm and leg in conse quence of the women alluded to. He had three properties in Russell-street, as wall as his business, and he allowed her only 103. a week. She complained loudly of the treatment of her husband, which he has loudly denied. She was o dered to find bail in two sureties of £lO each, or to be imprisoned for one month. House or ILL REPUTE.—Jane Faulkner was charged by Inspector Dtwten with keening a house of ill fame in Bacon-street. The inspector, another officer, and two respectable female inhabitants of the street proved the case. Mr. Black, for the prisoner, endeavoured to show that the house belonged to another wotran ; but the evidence failed, and the prisoner was sent for tie!. Two sureties in £lO were accepted for her appearance. A Pier zoo 'linen —John Fisher was charged with having stolen a pint measure from the White Bear Hotel, Dale-street. The prisoner went into the hall leading to the bar, a portion of the window of which was open, and he put his hand round and stole a pewter pint measure, which was found in his pocket. He was sentenced to one month's imp -i , :onment. A NEW WAY TD PAY OLD Drlrrel. Jane Stewart was charged with having stolen a watch from the house of a Mrs. E. Cort, Prescott-street. It appeared that the prisor er owed Mr. Cort RI 103, and was paying it by instalments. She called on Mrs. Cort the previous day, and asked her for something on which she could " raise" 103 to pay the instalment to her husband, The complainant refusel to give anything for the " raise." saying that she had done so too much already, unknown to her husband—in fact it was her things that the prisoner had been getting far some tine to pay ho. (the complain ant's) husband. The prisoner left soon after, and a watch that was in the room where she was disappeared; there was no one else to take it. The prisoner was remanded in order to find the watch. Suopeterise —Two young women, nailed O'Brien and Greally, were charged withhaving stolen stays, and pieces of gingham, the former from the shop of Mr. Fre, Great Homer-street, the latter from the sleep of Mr. Hathway, same street. The prisoners were watched by Thompson and Scaife, of the detective police, and in Rose-hill they were arrested, with a basket in their possession, and in it the officers found the property mentioned, which was identified by the owners as 'tolen from their shops. The prisoners were sent for trial. Tits siWINDLER.—Mark Noble, who had been remanded from last Tuesday, was brought up. The details of this Case were publi lied a few days ago. Mr. Almond, with Mr. Reay, of the Guardian Society, were for the prosecution, and Mr. Hiudley for the prisoner. On the evidence given already, Mr. Almond contead d that the prisoner should be committed, on the false representations made by him about his establishment at Cabbage-hall, and on the faith of which he had obtained money and harness, his false representations regaaling Mr. Wirral, of Lower Castle street, and the other facts already proved against him. The prisoner was again remanded to produce further evidence in the case. VIOLENT 'ASSAULT. —William Smi . h, the carpenter of a ship called the Cambridge, was charged with having com mitted a violent assault on a young female named Catherine Simmons. The pfiioner was brought up on remand from Tuesday last, as the girl was not able to come forward before yesterday. It appeared that on Monday night week, the prisoner and another per...on were walking along White chapel, when the complainant accosted them, and the prisoner, without any further provocation strack her a desperate blow undee the chin, and her tongue coming be,ween her teeth the tongue was nearly cut in two. Surgeon Davis of the Northern Dispensary, said he sowed up the tongue, but she would lose a small portion of it. The prisoner was defended by Mr. Bluck, who called some witnesses for the defence, but the facts were not con . troverted, and the prisoner was fined £5 or two months' imprisonment. "Wo it KING A LADY'S POCKET.—TWO fellows, named John MGregor, and James timith, were brought np by detective officer Povey, who said he saw them in White chapsl, and as they acted very suspiciously, he followed them through several streets into Lime-street, when be s , w one of them " working" a lady's pocket, and the other " covericg" him, so he took them into custody. Tho prisoners said, if they were let go they would quit the town, and they were discharged with a caution. CORONER'S COURT. Mr. WHITTY : You have quoted the canon to me, i but I yesterday, the Coroner, P. F. Curry, Esq., held the do not think the council you hare qiuted should be i followng inquests:— included in tha list of general councils. On th 3 body of Michael Gorman, a labourer, 20 years The CHAIRMAN : Oh, yes. of age, who lodged at 39, Henry Edward-street. On the Mr. WIIITTY: It is exceedingly easy to substitute here- 10:h August the deceased was working at the ship Norval, tics for heresy. At all events, I think the practice of in the Prince's Dock, when he was accidentally struck by Roman Catholic countries would con•radict you. The the handle of the winch, and received such injuries that he teachirg of the church, I have ever learned, was that the 9 died in the Northern Hospital on Monday. Verdict— church in her councils condemned error, and left the per- accidental death." sons entertaining and spreading tha error among the people Oo the body of Patrick M'Gee, a labourer, who fell into to be dealt with by the ci v il p owe r, th e civil power itself the Clarence Gut and was drowned on Monday night. The making laws to that effect in former times. But, I trust, affair was accidental and the jary found a verdict we are no® in a more:enlightened period of time. States. accordingly. RIOTS AND LOSS OF LIFE AT BELFAST. In yesterday's "Day's News," - we alluded to the dis graceful scenes which took place in the Borough of Belfast. We are now enabled to give full particulars from our co temporary, the Belfast Drury Mercury.— On Sunday morning, at an early hour, the following placard was extensively posted in the principal thorough fares and conspicuous places in the town—" Down with open air preaching! Down with fanatic Drew, the squint ing divine, the enemy of tranquility and peace! Gather to the Custom-house on Sunday, the 6th instant, at three o'clock, and give the Orange bigot such a check that he will not attempt open air preaching again. Catholics of Belfast, Down, and Antrim, we see by the public placards that our religion is again to be assailed, our public walks obstructed, by that low and ruffianly fanaticism which has been lately got up by our Evangelical neigh hours for the purpose of awing annoyance to their Cetholic neighbours. It is now quite mans fast to all rational minds that this outrage will be persevered in for the sole purpose cf creating a quarrel, and perhaps for the purpose of shedding Catholic blood. since they have got our worthy member, Mr. Cairns, installed with the high honour of the ranter's badge, we therefore call up on all our Catholic neighbours and brethren to come and defend their rights as loyal subjects and peaceable citizens ; and we have not the slightest doubt but we shall compel these disturbers of the public peace to respect the feelings of those who differ from them in religion—who, whilst they are never the aggressors, know how to defend themselves when attacked." There was no printer's name to this placard, which was most conspicuous on the walls, from the size of its type and the colour of the paper on which it was printed. It was stated frequently during the day that the prig ste of the Roman Catholic Church had announced from their altars their wish that all their congregations should keep within doors from three till five o'clock, p.m , yester day, but the sequel showed that these orders were not well obeyed. From two o'clock in the after noon crowds, of men were seen coming towards the Custom-house from the centre of the town, and lest they might ba suapected of crncert in the matter, they filed off in different directions around the structure hi question, and met each other again on t're quay. This body of men, whoever they ware, began to mix up with another party who ware evidently residents in the vicinity of the dock; and although there did not seem to be .a harmony of feeling among them, no breach cf the peace occurred. For a time the great object of attrac inn WB4 the Custom-house steps, on which about one husdred young men had taken their stand ; but shortly after three o'clock, p.m., a body of young fellows, numbering about thirty, marched among the masses in front of the Custom-house, and passing on mixed with the crowd farther down on the quays, and which ultimately concentrates beefy° the Harbour-office, Queen's Quay. The crowd increased in - that direction, and about half-past three, it amounted to several thousands. The borough constables were marched in a body to this point, and took up a position in front of the Duncrue Salt Works office. From this time up till four o'clock the crowd increased, until the whole space, from the shed at Ciarendon-dock to Victo ia-street, was covered with human beings. Tee great maj trite , were respectable, and many women were present. At four o'oclock exactly, the Rev. Hugh Harms, carrying an umbrella, walked down Corporation-street, and into Queen's-square, and, mixing among the crowd, gained the platform erected for his accommodation at the side of the Harbour-office rails, without attracting attention. Ogee there, he speedily mounted the rostrum, and began to address his auditors, but was stopped by Mr. J. Clarke, J.P, Chairman of the Harbour Commissioners, who, as we are informed, ap pealed to his good sense whether he considered it prudent to precaod. Mr. Hanna inquired if he prehibited him, adding, at the same time, that he had a constitutional right to preach, which right, he meant to exercise. Mr. Clarke said he did not prohibit him ; bur, while admitting the right, said it might be expo ?lent not to persist at present. Mr. William Coates, J.P., (it has been also .slated,) then remarked that he would hold Mr. Hanna responsible for any consequences which might ensue; in reply to which that gentlemen said he was determined to vindicate the right of Protestants to preach the Gospel. At the conclusion of this conversation, the Rev. Hugh Hanna commenced the devotional services by giving out a Psalm, which was sung, and praying. He then took for his text the words of St. Paul, in Hebrews, Ist chapter, 3d verse —" How shall we escape if ice neglect eo great salvation ? " The reverend gentleman proceeded to deliver a temperate evangelical address from these words; but he was not long so engaged, when a whistle was given in the crowd, toward.; the Clareadon-dock, and a second iu another part of the crowd, which immediately divided, each party taking its own side. A volley of stones cme from the party next the dock, accommpanied by a cheer, which was answered, and in less time than it takes us to narrate it. the con flicting parties were fighting. Those next the docks gave way, pursued by men, who, it afterwards appeared, were princip rlly shipwrights, brandishing wooden blud geens, used in their trade. The fighting portion of the mob went up' Donegall-quay, and in a short time afterwards, about forty young men and boys ran into the shipyards at the quay, from which they speedily returned with a further supply of the weapons already noticed. In the meantime, their opponents were re-in forced, and came towards the scene cf action, driving the stragglers before them in no vary tender mode, when a ceallict ensued, which ended in their retreat in all directions. The treatment some men then received was dreadful. When the Catholic mob sought safety in flight, thy were knocked down in all directions, and brutally treated. One maim, especially, received such abuse, that if he survives, it inky be said a man's skull can resist anything. The belligerents again :rent up the quay, but were stopped about Gamble street by the constabulary, under cub-Inspsetn Bindon. The two parties were then separated, and woe to the unhappy man, whether Protestant or Catholic whose business or pleasure left him within the power of either mob. Many innocent persons of both sides, who knew nothing of the disturbance, have been the sufferers, and it will be welt if loss of life does not result from the brutality of these miscreants. While all this was going forward, the reverend gentleman was discoursing to a congregation if some three or four thousand people without molestation. At the conclusion of the service, he said that he had been in communication with several respectable men of the industrious classes, who were arxicus that the right of their ministers to opea-air preachiog should be vindicated lie had consented to vindicate that right ; and he hoped they would submit to insult or injury rather then retaliate. The authorities were their legal protectors—the authorities of the town were quite adequate to maintain the peace; and he hoped they would now let all see that their conduct accorded with their prefessioa as Christian men. He would ask them, therefore, to retie to their own homes and net to be seen on the streets, lest they might render a tumult probable. He had maturely considered the matter, and was prepared to vindicate their tights. He believed that that day would have a mighty influence He made it manifest that he would unflinchingly maintain their rights ; and he hoped they would offer no o ?position to any one that would lead to a breach of the peace, but, by their peaceable demeanour, disarm all opposi ion, and leave to their enemies no opaor tunity of finding fault. He would maintain their rights, but it was possible for men, right thinking men in othe r respects, so to act as to make thir cause such as he could not defend, and thus frustrate the objects he had in view. Mr. Hanna concluded by advising all who heard him to go home peaceably—an advice wh eh was generally taken. While this was going forward in one pinta, -the Riot Act had been read elsewhere, and the constabulary, under the supreme command of Mr. Hunt, R.M , and the military, under the command of Colonel Adair, appeared upon the scene, and measures were taken to clear the streets. But despi e their vigilance, fighting was going on elsewhere, till the rain set in. Heavy an almost incessant showers drove the ruffians under cover; but, as an obnoxious person passed a door or entry in which they were located, they rushed out and pelted' him mere mercilessly than the pitiless storm. Nine prisoners were taken for that offence. About seven o'clock, p.m., six men were marched up the quay handcuffed. and when at the corner of Victoria street, a cry of " rescue " was raised, but the hussars speedily put an end to the movement. Milled at the quays, the mob retired, and, when at Denegall-place, a young man named D etridson was brutally attacked, and beateu from the corner of Castle-place to Messrs. Lindsay's warehouse, in which he sought refuge, One fellow held hint by the neck, and beat the pool young fellow on the head with a paving stone. A ' surgeon dressed his wounds, but his life is in great danger. At this place, the rioters had the stones arranged in order for throwing along the side paths, and non-combatants were unsparing'y pelted, without respect to persons. Mobs gathered at the head of Rosemary street, and in Smithfield, but they were dispersed by Mr. Lyons, J P., aided by the police. In Don egall-square stones were thrown, but when this portion of the rioters gained their old hold of the Pond, fresh disturbances occurred, and some persons going to Dr. Draw's church were assailed. This provoked retaliation, and the Protes tants of Durham -street and Purple lane joined in the melee. The women, as usual, were busy breaking bricks, and carrying stones into the streets, which were speedily used. Ihere wasa large congregation in Mill-street, Mill field, and the districts adjoining, and here it was that the contest of the day was fought. Gentlemen who came in by one of the late trains on the Holywood line, heard the firing, and they judged that it could not have been the irregular firing of a mob, and their judgment was correct, as the result showed. A gentleman who was proceeding to his own residence. tells us that he saw Mill-stree t filled with a "good many " people, which, in his acceptation, means a large crowd; that he then saw' these people running into corners and entries, and balls ploughing th streets, knocking up the mud and stones. About this time, it is not clear whether it was be'ore or after the ball.firing, our informant heard and saw people callin g to the drivers of cars who drove by to stop lie heard the people interrogate those car" drivers ' • and, if :their answers were satisfactory, as be supposed they were, they were allowed to drive oe• It was impassible, in passing through the districts that were enfiladed, to gather anything like reliable information. Maoy risks wore run; but the search after" truth was especially difficult, and, if all the stories told were to be stated here, Their verification would be very arduous. DURHAM-STREET AND SANDY• ROW. Respecting this district, we take our information from the best sources. Between six and seven o'clock, the ells. , turbance in this piece reached its height. Mobs congregated in Barrack-street and Sandy row, and stones were thrown by both : and it is farther stated that shots were fired from both sides. Acrimony, no doubt, raged high, for the bellie gerents at both sides encountered much danger in the effort to wreak their animosity on their opponents` 0 wing, unfortunately, to the absence of the constabue lary at the Street-preeching in Corporation-square , there was not a sufficient force to repress the tumult at its opening. Mobs, always timid, become wild when license is afforded ; and the mob, last night, ran wild. Mr. Hunt, R.M., was standing in readiness with a body of police at the constabulary station, in Darhatn-street, when word came that forces were wanted in Barrack-street. The necessary aid was promptly on the spot, but just as they came up an accident occurred. Mr. Stevenson, one of the oldest and most respected magistrates on the local Bench, was present ; and into the entry into which the constae batary had retired, the mob flung a volley of stones, and one of the missiles struck Mr. Stevenson, inflicting o' cut over the left eye-brow, which bled rather freely. By a fortuitous circumstance. there happened to be actually three mounted constables in Belfast. We believe that this is owing to the happy chance that Mr. William* the County Inspector, has been nominally removed to Belfast, although on this occasion he was absent " duty." The efficacy of the mounted constables was very evident ; for they repeatedly cleared the streets, better by fir than could be done by fite.firing or by bayonets , In the localities just mentioned, and in the localities adjoitung, showers of stones, we have been told, were thrown. Some of tho local force were obliged to creep over walls to save their lives. From the entry in which Sergeant M'lntyre and his twelve men were stationed , files of three at a time were ordered out, with directionO to fire at the stone throwers. The Act, it was etaterlt enjoins that, after the reading of the Riot Act—a prelinei• minary which had been gone through previously by gr . ; W. T. B. Lyons—the guns or muskets should be fi r ed at an into, not over or around the " rio ere." The Act teas adhered to. The firing was of the most regular order, 0 0 perfectly so that it was heard a couple of miles off by the gentlemen travelling on the County Dawn Railway ; on!! nobody knows the exact number of the sufferers. OA; inqaiey at the General Hospital, last evening, we learned that several persons were attended to who required wounds to be dressed. Some had broken arms, and others had severe lacerations of the head and face. Georg° Walker, aged nineteen years, was shot in IVlill-stree t ; The ball entered the side of the left jaw, and passed out at the back of the neck—in its course it passe', close beside the great artery and vein of the ilea: either of which, if wounded, would have caused instant death. The sufferer remains in a vary precariou s condition. Captain William Verner was cat in the helid by a blow of a stone, received while driving through the disturbed districts, some time after the row on Dmegal l '• quay. The following magistrates met at the Police-offic e at three o'clock, and held a private conference :-31 5 .i° William Verner, Captain Thomas Verner, Robert Thomsnar Esq., W. T. B. Lyons, Esq., Sir Wm G. Johnson, Charles- Hunt, R.M., Wm. M'Cance, Esq . , W. Stevenson, Esq./ a ll James Macnamsra, Esq, After having arranged on th e measures to be adopted in the case of a disturbance, thew' gentlemen proceeded to the scene of the open-air preaching!, and were present at the principal scene of the disturbance' The following persons are in custody:—Bernal' Gallegher, May-street, disorderly, and throwing stones in Atbert-square ; John - Mullen, Berry street, ditto; George Mann, Townsend-street, disorderly in Donegal; quay ; Patrick MAlister, off Pound-street, do. ; Gooll Sharkey, Hamill-street, do ; William Johnston, Poim ' street, do. ; Thomas Maguire, Bond-street, throwtfr stones in High-street, and disorderly; James M.Mahoa' Logan-street, do ; Francis Magee, William-street, do i We may mention at the close, that, after the reading the Riot Act by Mr. Lyons, and the giving of the order gal load, Mr. Bindon, Sub-Inspector, who was in charge, gti the order to load merely, but refrained for some mint l l: o from giving the order to cap." The people, or 4 to mob,' were cautioned more than once that the or load had been given; and, we learn from the constabill that it was only when these cautions were disregard an the atone throwing became insufferable, 1 °,2,, the order "to cap" was given, and the order for firll'o . followed. DIABOLICAL OUTRAGE. At the Worship street police-court on Monday, Jel! Shea. an athletic young labouring man. was charged with feloniously cutting and wounding a little boy, naMet' Thomas Ballard, seven years of age. William Ballard , an excavator, living in Caroline street, Clapton, statea that on Saturday last he accidentally met the accused' with whom he had o c casionally wor k e d, an d fi n di ng that he had been drinking freely he took him home, for the purpose of sleeping off the effects of his debauchery' About an hour afterwards the witness, who had returned back to a pahlichouse close by, was called out by one 0 ' the neighbours, who told him that his infant nepheir' whom he had left fast asleep in the same room with the: prisoner, had been dreadfully cut and mangled ; and 0 hastening home he found the child in the arms of e woman, and bleeding copiously from the face and other parts of its person. The prisow'r at the time was lying 'on the bed where the child had bees sleeping; and observing that the sheets were saturated with bloods witness questioned him on the subject, but he made no reply, and instantly hurried out of the house. .WithesSe however, followed him up, and having obtained 'the . assistance of a policeman, the prisoner was ultimata taken into custody. Police-constable Francis stated that on receiving information of the outrage, he proceeded in search of the prisoner, whom ha overtook year Lis ovre, door, and at once secured hi.n. The prisoner, however. made a desperate resistance, in the course of which wit ness received a caution from one of the bystanders, which induced him to search his pocket, in which he found a clasp-knife, the blade of which was covered with fresh blood. On wresting, the weapon from him, after a severe struggle, the prisoner carelessly remarked, " That is a good bit of steel for such a job, but I'm not the man to do it." The officer added that the unlbrtunate child had sustained serious wounds about the face, hands, and neelc , and had been ever since under medical attendance The prisoner, who in general terms denied the charge' was . ordered to be remanded for a week. ACCIDENTS IN THEI UNIT , D STATES IN 1856.-11 6 ; pe:sons were kiled and 539 wounded by 142 railroad accidents in the United States. Among the killed %Fet a 26 engioeers and 23 firemen. Duri^?, 1855, there were 195 killed and 629 wcunded by 143 similar accidsnte• There were 89 fires in the United Stites in 1856, which invo'ved the 'OM of 183 lives. In 1855, there were 00 1 1, 62 files where loss of life occu-red, an d th e num b er of rArs(r:s lost was but 119. The number of fires in the United States in 1856 (4hcre the loss of property was over 20,000 dots. at each ) was 227, and the aggregate losg 21,159,000 dole. agsinct a loss of 13,049,000 at 123 fires in 18.53. Add to the abnv© the amount of property destroyed by fires, wherein each inetasco, the loss wag 20,000 dole., and the aggrcg.te would he increased to probably 27,000,000 dole. in 1856, and to 18,000,000 dole' in 1855. The cumber of steamboat accidentsoin 185 6 was 29—persons killed 358, wwityjed, 127. The number of ecuideats in 1855 was 27—k'11ed 176, wounded, 1071 Thirtr revolutionary soldiers died in the United State° . in 1856. Loss OF THE MAIL STEAWHIP ERIN. —At the Green' wick Police-curt on Saturday Mr. Trail, assisted by C,ptain Sulivan, R.N., bed an official inquiry into the loss of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation" Compeny's ship Erin, of 850 tons burden, wh'eh wrecked oa the east coat of C3llon, on the 5,1 of June last, while elnveying her Mjesty's mail, treasure, specie, and a large cargo of opium, to the amount of 200 0001., frobl thoatny to Point de Galle and China. Mr. Cumberland attended from th e B ar d o f Trade, and Mr. Stenning, the firm of APL.to'l Stenning, of Fenchurch-etreet , appeared on behalf of the company. Mr. Cumberland stated that the ship left Bombay on the let of June for Point de Galle and China, and continued her proper cours 9 until the 6th of Jane, when she suddenly struck. The main question for enqairy was now whether the proper sounding had been taken and such measures adopted as might have saved the ship. Capt. Bayley, the commander of the Erin, John Charles BayLton the third officer, an d John L. Gregory, suppl:rarn'ary officer, having been eV amiued, Mr. Traill, Capt. Sullivan, and Mr. Cumberland retired for a short time, and on their return to court Mr. Traill said, he and Capt. Sullivan had held some conversa tion with respect to the inquiry under consideration: and bad comp to the conclusion that the certificate ° E Captain Bayley with his ('ir. Trail's) report should be forwarded to the Board of Trade, when, in all probabilitYt reference would be made to the conduct of the third 011 " perior officer. Market! Buildini 1311.____stuirolzteurs fo )Potnted fkitk 'OA*? i 4 V(.14.-4t t&oi tfAvE ft ~~~. kttedia t , 1.11;(h, 65f e e . c Th lit c p44l(lareh F 4 Sq cs‘iy.„ fee .tvt_3Bs3,.(l' 81 ePle e: Ro e draft, Por fnrs %et. fur t] th ree got cb t ) r foul to 1 "WiIITL As* rg r t 4' es to all t Po th,, Xll 4 hsl't urr,. -.4 142 1) ‘IOI,6 L , I ACIc. 13 13 44 1.17, 1 tcr e4 mad In 41 e S hak( tro , tt ett h ' Clap Pals, Til s " Pa the n Eriti, Ws/ t Cele 411, 1 ,E vs the kINT qit'LG OE to r\ PLA N A T T E ER huy N I.‘ AL ell (;:• ' I PP anvi t 'enge'T''e/id„f°o S'tth tool( avjng beearnd,t At t , t 4114 Nita,e I)( 41 118 041 3 , v t n, _1; XQueivel