Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-01 00:00:00

,OUNTY COURT.-YESTERDAY.

(Before J. K. BLAIR, Esq., Jiidge.)
BU.SINESS OF THE COURT. —The following iS the
arrangement for disposing of the business of the Court,
commencing on Monday :—Jan. 30th, "100 cases ; 31st,
102 eases; 'eb. Ist, 103 cases ; 2nd, 104 cases ; 3rd,
100 cases ; 6th, 101 cases ; 7th, 100 cases'; Bth, in-
solvency cases; 9th, 30 cases of £lO and upwards ; 10th,
adjourned cases. The court will sit each morning, as
usual, at half-past ten o'clock.
A CAPTAIN'S LIAB LITY : KING V. THOMLINSON.—
The plaintiff in this case is a captain and the defendant
a butcher, in Hanover-street. The claim was for
.£6 4s. the value of three pip which Mr. Thom-
linson had purchased from the plaintiff; aria the
defence set up was that, in 1857, the • defendant
supplied stores to a vessel of which the plain-
tiff was master. The owners of the vessel, whose
duty it was to pay money on account of the ship in
Liverpool, had since become bankrupt, and the plaintiff
denied his liability. The question, therefore, was, whe-
ther a captain ordering stores for a vessel at a•: port
where the owners reside in liable to pay for them. His
Honour reserved judgment till Monday next.
BROKER'S COMMISSION.—BANKS V. MuLnEn.—The
flaintiff, a shipbroker, sought to recover the sum of p
rom the defendant, the, master of a foreign vessel now
in this port, and Mr. Hime appeared in support of the
claim. It appeared the defendant, in August last had
chartered his vessel to convey a cargo to a foreign port,
and was desirous of obtaining a charter for the homeward
voyage. The plaintiff, having received, a letter from his
Ifelfast correspondents, saw the defendant, and said
that he could negotiate a charter for him back to. Belfast,
and the captain offered to agree to it if he was paid £l3O,
and a gratuity of five guineas, but this offer was declined
by the Belfast correspondents. After some further negoti-
ation Mr. Banks received from his Belfast correspondents
an offer to accept the defendant's vessel at £l2O without
any gratuity ; but as the defendant required an additional
£lO as a gratuity, the offer was forwarded to Belfast.
The reply to this offer was that as freights had been
considerably reduced, Messrs. Jasper, Macauley and Co.,
parties who wished to engage the defendant's vessel,
would not even sustain their former offer of £l2O. or
give more than £100; and a charter party signed by
Messrs. Jasper, Macauley and Co., was enclosed to Mr.
Banks. The plaintiff waited upon the defendant and
showed him the charter party, which, however, the
defendant declined to concur in, - and the negotiations
ceased. Subsequently, Mr. Banks ascertained that the
defendant, through Messrs. Hinde and,Co., 'Liverpool
brokers, had accepted the sum of £lOO and £5 gratuity
from Messrs Jasper, Macauley and Co., and contended
that having first introduced the defendant to the
charterers, -he was by the custom of the port,
entitled to the commission, and now sought to recover
the Snin of £5, the commission on the sum paid.
The defence set up was that the charter of the vessel was
not the result of the plaintiff's negotiations, bat ob-
tained 'independently through , Mr. Hinde ; and Mr.
Hinde, ort being calls d as a witness, haVing produced a
lettei fro 'a his father, in Belfast, of a date prior to the
negotiations between the defendant and Mr. Banks,
stating that a party there would probably charter the
vessel if the terms were low, and there being no doubt
that the patties referred to were Messrs. Jasper, Macaulay
& Co., his Honour thought that Mr. llinde had com-
menced the negotiations, and was therefore 'entitled to
the commission. The plaintiff was nonsuited.

LIVERPOOL POLICE. 601111,11---YEsiriFfnik

_ (Before Mr. HOITORtON.)
IN° MONEY ON FA.1.4314 PRETENCES.—WiIIiain
Lester was brpught up on remand, charged with 'ob-
taining money on false pretences; Mr. Chilton appeared
for the prosecution-, and MT. Cobb for the prisoner.
The trace was reported in. oar ,columns yesterday- The
prisonor bought a number of....e.iisks from Mr. McKenna,
in tipper Dawson-street, and resold them to a Mr.
Rock. _ The same evening he brought what he rere-
seated to be other three casks, and sold them to Mr.
Rock: or £1 13s. Next morning it was discovered they
were .three of the casks Mr. Rock had already bought.
The prisoner was committed for trial.
,(Before Messrs. Hones ToN and IluTcnrsoN.)

ROBBERY BY A WouLii,--A middle-aged Iceman,
named Bridget Gibbons, was charged with stealing a
looking-glass from Bond-street, on the 7th of December,
and 4t quantity of wearing-apparel, bed-clothes, ' ease
containing a number of articles used by ladies, termed
a lady's companion, and a work-box from a Mrs. Nolans,
13, Rose-place. Detectives .-Skaife and Laycock stated
that tlif.y apprehended the pEsoner in .a court in Stanley-
street, and found in her house a lady's companion, a
work-boa, and a looking glass, which were produced in
court. Mrs. Nolans deposed that the lady's companion
and work-box were her property. The prisoner was
remanded.

STEALING FROM A SHOP DOOR.—Patrick Gillery, a
mulatto, and apparently a seaman, was charged with
stealing a bundle of ten umbrellas, value 255., from the
shop er of Messrs. Hayes, Holdesworth and Co.,
Parker-stzeet. A police-constable caught the prisoner
in the actref lifting the umbrellas and handing them to .
a confederate. The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was
sentenced,to six months' imprisonment.
NEGLECRUNG TO JOIN A SKlP.—Cornelius Driscoll •
was charged with refusing to go to sea in the ship Duke
of Lancaster. It appeared that he signed articles on
the 24th to iDe on board on the 28th. His clothes were
put on board, but he absconded, leaving them behind
him. The ship consequently sailed yesterday morning
without the prisoner. He was sentenced to one month's
imprisonment.
CHARGE OF CRUELTY ON BOARD A SHlP.—William
Wilson, chief-officer of the barque Severn, was brought
up on remand fom Tuesday week, when.he was charged
with committing such cruelties on Robert Apsey, one of
the crew, on the voyage to Brass River, West Coast of
Africa, that he was now in a very dangerous condition,
in the Northern Hospital. A full report of the evidence
brought forward in support of the charge, has been
already given in our columns. Mr. Cobb, who appeared
for the prisoner, stated that he would place witnesses in
the box to prove that there had been no ill-usage on
board the ship, either during the outward or homeward
voyage. A note from the surgeon of the Northern
Hospital was read, stating that Apsey was still too ill
to attend court. Mr. Cobb then called the Captain of
the Severn, Jobn Alexander White, who stated that
there were no complaints from any of the crew ,through-
out the voyage, with the exception of one from a man
named Robert Smith, who complained that the mate
struck hint with his open hand. It was, however, so
trifling, that he (the captain) did not think it worthy of
being entered in the log. Apsey never complained of
any ill-usage on the part of the chief-officer, and was
able for work during the passage out. About two days
before the Severn sailed from the Brass River, Apsey
took ill with fever, and while an invalid had every
attention paid to him. He never complained daring his
illness of suffering any cruelty at the hands of the mate.
Wilson is not a man of hasty temper, and if he had
been in the habit of acting cruelly towards the men, he
(the captain) would certainly have known it. Carl
Witte was called : He was a seaman on board the
Severn, and was in the chief-mate's watch.- Apsey had
never complained to him personally, and he had never
heard any general complaints against the mate amongst
the crew. The case was remanded for another weak,
Wilson to remain at large on the same bail.
MUTINY IN THE RlVER.—Fifteen men belonging to
the Charles Horsfall, for the coast of Africa, were brought
up charged with refusing to proceed to sea after signing
articles and joining the ship. The reason alleged for
this conduct was that the forecastle was too small to
accommodate them, and that they had no beef to tea on
Monday evening. Edward Hughes, the captain, ad-
mitted that the forecastle was rather small, but he had
had more men on board than he now had, and there
were plenty of hammocks. As to the complaint about:the
beef, they would have been supplied with it if they had
had patience to wait till it was cooked. When asked
what they had to say, the men individually urged the
same objection to the size of the forecastle. One of
them, named John H. Miners, who seemed to be a
leader, and of that not very reputable profession in the
eyes of nautical men, a sea lawyer, harangued the
court at great length to the effect that they judged it
better to make the complaint and stand out as long as
they were in their native land, where they might hope
for justice, and not wait till they were subjected to the
"nigger discipline" which prevails on the coast of
Africa. The question having been put to the prisoners
if they were willing to proceed to sea, each of them
objected to do so unless some alterations were made in
the forecastle. , They were committed to prison for ten
weeks.

PRACTISING IN THE COURT WITHOUT A CERTIFICATE.
—Whilst the above case was being heard, Mr. Parker,
who had been retained on behalf of one of the men,
was proceeding to put some questions to the captain of
the ship, when Mr. Cobb entered the court and said he
objected to Mr. Parker practising in the court without
a certificate. Mr. Parker : I have satisfied Mr. Wybergh
on that point. Mr. Cobb : Well I was objected to on
the same grounds. Mr. Parker : I will take the re-
spousibilty on myself. I have a letter here from my
agent in London, intimating that the certificate will be
sent in a day or two. Mr. Cobb : Let me see that
letter, if you please ? Why, this is to Mr. Godfrey, and
is no authority whatever. Mr. Parker : I will abide by
the decision of Mr. Garnett. Mr. Garnett, having
looked at the letter, said it was the usual course never
to allow any gentleman to practise without a certificate,
and he could not see why it should be departed from in
this instance.
(Before Messrs. BENN and RANKIN.)

A CAUTION TO PAWNBROKERS.—EIizabeth Phillips,
pawnbroker, 136, Mill-street, Toxteth-paik, was sum-
moned fora contravention of the Pawnbrokers Act 39
and 40, George 111., cap. 99, sec. 21, by taking an
article in pledge from a child under twelve years of age.
It appeared that John Smith, a lad of only 9 years of
age, was lately brought up in the criminal court, charged
with stealing a dress from his mother, and pledging it
at defendant's shop. The lad was discharged ; and
desire of the sitting magistrate, the officer who brought
up the lad took out the present summons. The defend-
ant admitted the charge, but urged as an excuse that
her assistant had overlooked the age of the lad. She
was fined 10s. and costs.
A HOTEL BlLL.—Walter William Frederick Winston,
a young man of respectable appearance, summoned Mr.
William Hill, the landlord of the " Crooked Billet,"
for ullawfully 'detaining a portmanteau and a quantity
of wearinc, apparel belonging to him. The circum-
stances of the case, as stated by complainant, were as
follows :—He had been staying at defendant's hotel, and
had occupied a bed for three nights. On his asking for
his bill, he was charged £3 55., which he declined to
pay as -he considered it exorbitant. He had been
charged lOs 6d. for three breakfasts, which were very
plain. A corner of the pillow had been accidently
burnt, and this was put down at 125., allthough the whole
article' was not worth above 2s. d. On cross-exami-
nation, the complainant admitted that he had, borrowed
£1 from Mrs. Hill. Since he left he had enlisted. and
appeared under the protection of a recruiting-sergeant.
The barmaid of the hotel was called, and deposed that
complainant had been supplied with every article
charged in the bill. Mr. Benn said that the " Crooked
Billet" had always enjoyed a good reputation, and the
complainant had no business to put up there if he had
not sufficient money to pay the expense.

LUNACY.—An account of all monies received and
paid by the secretary of the commission in lunacy, and
of all charges and expenses under or by virtue, or in
execution, of the Act Bth and 9th Viet., c. 100, s. 34,
during the year ending 31st of July, 1859, shows that
the receipts were £14,301 2s, ld.; and payments,
£14,122 3s. 4d. ; leaving a balance of £l7B' 18s. 9d.
DEATH OF SIR THOMAS MAKDOUGALL BRISBANE,
BART.—We have to record the decease of Sir Thomas
"Makdougall Brisbane, who, both as a military com-
mander and a man of science, has left his mark on his
age and country. The event' took place at Brisbane
House, Ayrshire, on the 27th instant. Sir Thomas was
the son of Admiral Brisbane, and was born at Bishop-
ton, Renfrewshire, about midway between Glasgow and
Greenock, in the year :1773, and was consequently in his
87th year of his age. In addition to his military honours
of G.C.B. and G.C.11., Sir Thomas was a D.C.L., LL.D.,
corresponding member of the Institute of France, &c.

SIICARCIIIBALEO IALISON os zaz IMPORT-
ANCE OF THE NOLUNTEER MOVEMENT:

Considerable dissatisfaction has Wen created all over
the country bytthe attera.nee of somediiparaging express
sions used on a late occasion by Viscount Melville, coin-
mander of the forces in Scotland. The expressions were
to the effect that the volunteer toes would at best be
only a " loose and useless force." These disrespectful
terms, as applied to any patriotic .and great national
movement, have met with general.,condemnation; and
on the first night of the parliamentary session Loid
Granville, in his place in the House of Lords, expressed
a widely different opinion from that entertained by the
military viscount. It is further stated that the senti-
ments expressed by Lord Melville have met with
marked disapprobation from his Royal Highness
the Commander-in- Chief. Dissent from the ob-
noxious epithets have also • been heird in numer-
ous 'quarters from parties well able to judge in
such a case, and, among others, ;from the eloquent lips
of the British Tacitus. On Saturday afternoon Sir
Archibald Alison, the Great Historian of Europe, ad-
dressing the Accountants and Stock-brokers' Volunteer
Company, the members of which had come before him
for the purpose of taking the oath of allegiance, and
who' inter alit's' .appointed 'him an honorary member of
their corps, said he accepted not only with pleasure, but
with pride, the honour which Captain Auld had pro-
posed should be conferred upon him, of becoming an
honorary member of this' corps. (Applause.) He
thought it was due to the public spirit and the patriotic
feelings with whieh he knew the whole corps were
animated, that every possible encouragement should be
given to the formation, and to the organisation and effi-
ciency of these corps, by those who, though 'they might
be precluded from taking an active part in the volunteer
service by age, infirmity, or any other.cause, might be
able to render them assistance, and by other parties who
took as warm an interest in the great cause in which
they were all engaged. The Volunteer movement, at'
least that particular duty which he had discharged, and
which they had all witnessed to-day, forcibly recalled to
his mind the part whieh he took forty/years ago in
Edinburgh; in a similar movement against Napoleon.
It recalled to his mind the oath which he took in the
yeomanry thirty years ago, in reference to the distur-
bances which then existed in this country, and should
occasion arise he would be happy to take his place
in the corps of which they had just elected him an
honorary member, and share any dangers to which
they might be exposed. The Volunteer movement was
one of the highest interest and of the greatest-import-
ance to the present and future history of Britain ;
and he could not but entertain a feeling of pride at the
position•which Glasgow and Scotland, and Glasgow in
particular, had taken in this most important public
movement. He saw from the public statistical returns,
published yesterday in the newsPaperi, that in England
the average of volunteers was 3 volunteers to every 1,000
persons, while the average_ n
_Scotland, was 5 volun-
teers to every 1,000. persons. The highest towns in
England were, Oxford .and. Cambridge, where the elite
of the youth of the country was assembled, and, with
many other advantageous circumstances, showed an aver-
age of 10 and 11 volunteers in the 1,000 persons; while
in Glasgow, where there was no such advantage, the
number was not less than nine volunteers in the thou-
sand. Scotland had given the same proof that the
martial spirit of her sons had not degenerated which she
had given in every age, and which appeared again con-
spicuously in the Crimean war. He was happy at
having. this opportunity of contributing his humble
efforts in setting public opinion right in regard to the
volunteer movement. Doubts had been thrown by high
authorities upon the service that might be rendered by
volunteer corps, and he could have wished that discussion
had been confined to the ordinary channels of debate,
and that no attempt, had been made in Parliament to
crush the expression of independent feeling on the sub-
hect. He had enough of the civilian, and enough of the
abits of a British subject about him, to wish that public
matters be discussed with absolute freedom, and that a
good cause like that shouldnot be crushed by the authority
of Parliament. He entirely disagreed with his gallant
friend, Lord Melville, who expressed the opinion to which
he was alluding—an opinion which was entertained by
many other officers of high rank in the army, and he
would yield to no-man in maintaining that he was in a
great degree erroneous and that the mere existence of
such a force was safety. ,(Applause.) The existence
of such a force was.absolutely essential to the main-
tenance afterwards of the national independence of this
country. The volunteer force should not be a mere
force brought into existence by a feeling of enthusiasm
and loyalty, suggested by the progress of the French
arms in Italy, but he would wish 'to see 'it a per-
manent force like the Land-wehr of Prussia, or the
National Guard of France. He should like to see
it happen that the knowledge of arms should be a
part of every gentleman's education; and he wished
that no lady should receive any gentleman who could
not appear before her in uniform. (Applause.) He said
this in sober earnestness, because he felt•that without the
formation of volunteer corps to support the regular army
this country could not hope for any length of time to
maintain her national independence, situated as it was
alongside great military Powers, possessing five times
her military force, and who might, if winds and waves
permitted, be able to throw an overwhelming force on
her shores in the course of a few hours: Hen as not
going to say to anyintelligent assembly of gentlemen,
such as he had now the honour of addressing, that it
was possible that volunteers, whatever their zeal, their
courage, and activity, could, in a few months, acquire
the efficiency of regular soldiers.: He knew that they
could not. He was sure they would not be inferior to
any ssldiers in the world in courage, and rapidity in
acquiring discipline, and • energy in support of their
country's cause, but what they could not acquire was the
power of confidence in each other, of acting together
and in concert under fire, which no courage or discipline
alone without experience could give, just in the same
way as a young man who had but left the University
could not be expected to compete in debate with a
sergeant of the English, or a senior counsel of the.
Scotch, bar. lie said this much, in reference to the
comparative efficiency of Volunteers, because he thought
no cause gained anything by being overstated. The
Volunteers could not be expected, whatever their
talents, whatever their zeal and courage, to equal the
regular army,—but he knew they acquired the elements
of the military arts much quicker than soldiers,
and that they would acquire in three months that
efficiencyin this respect which the regular soldiers
would not acquire in-less than a year or a year and a
half. Volunteers, though they could not compete with
r?gular troops in the open field, were yet of great ser-
vice to the regular army when the country might be
exposed in any way to foreign subjugation. The use of
a volunteer force was, that it allowed every man in the
regular army to attend to the duties of that army, for
one-half of any army brought into the field was absorbed
in duties of various kinds, and which, therefore, de-
tracted from. the force of the regular army. If 60,000
Men were brought into the field, 30,000 of these would
be out of the way, in the rear or in
.garrison. Tbat was
always the case. The Duke of IN ellington, when the
muster rolls of his army were called, seldom found that
the troops he was able to take to the field amounted to
more than half the number. Hence Volunteers, which
afforded an auxiliary to the regular army, and which
nearly doubled its strength, could give the greatest
assistance by bringing out their own resources and con-
voys, and by enabling the regular troops accustomed to
battle to present a brave, strong,-and invincible front to
the-army of the enemy. The value of Volunteer corps
as an auxiliary to the regular army had also been
recognised by the greatest military commanders. Sir
Archibald then referred to the career of the Duke of
Wellington in Portugal, and to the results of the
assistance rendered by the irregular troops there to the
regular army. In 1811, when Portugal was invaded by
70,000 of the best troops of France, the Duke had not
He had
moreth
eles
st hhaen
succeeded4o,oo Oo rin4hsu,oral
hurling
gregular
tly troops,sup
ebriuotrn ebvoesx
of men out of Portugal with a loss of 30,000. -
aaccomplished
well this
Archibald) could also refer to Russia, which would not
have been able to do what it did at Borodino but for
theby worththe aid.o
:of suchof an
an i rr gul a rHersyir,
the assistance of an irregular army; and he would also-
army.
venture to assert that Prussia would never have main-
tained its independence in the war of 1813 if Marshal
Blucher had 'net brought to the support of the regular
troops the Lpilid,y,:ehr and Land-sttirm of the goutry.

He could also refer to the authority of the Emperor
Napoleon, who,- when_ France_ was—invaded- in 1814 r
issued on the 14th February of that year a proclamation
so the.Fiencli, which contained thsise:reniarkab*Nprds
---"Let every Frenchman, whatever his rani, seize a
musket, and let a devouring fire consume the invader who
had dared to violate the territory of the great nation."
These were great authorities, and showed that the regu-
lar forces must, in any serious emergency, be' supported
by an equal number of volunteers. lie had another'
remark to make, which he deemed of 'the utmost conse-
,quence in the present state of the country. They could
not rely on being able to raise such a number of soldiers,
unless supported by volunteers, as would be required to
repel foreign invasion. India would require a force of
80,000 or 90,000 men, and the other colonies of the
'country would require a force of 40,000. There would
thus be 130,000 men paid by the Treasury, and who
mast be always out of the country. It would not
be supposed that Great Britain could maintain more
than 200,000 men at home. It was impossible to
suppose that it could maintain a greater number, and
yet; in the event of there being an invasion, it
would be necessary to throw one-half of the army into
the naval forts, without which the fleets might be burned
up in twenty-four hours.. Britain.thus could not bring
into the field more than 30,000 or 40,000 regular soldiers
to oppose an army of 150,000 French. But if that
small force was supported by a volunteer force they
could, as Napoleon said, " prove a devouring fire,
which would consume the stranger who had dared to
violate the territory of the great nation." (Applause.)
In such an event he knew that the gentlemen now
before him would stand with as much gallantry as the
Spanish volunteers at Saragossa. (Applause.) He re-
garded this as a great public movement which he trusted
was to put the defence of the country in a permanent,
solid, and lasting condition. It was the duty of the
Government to take the matter into their own hands.
The nation had done its duty, and Government had now,
as Sir John Burgoyne remarked, the most magnificent
mass of materials to put into an efficient state, so that
they might be able to perform their duty properly to
their country. He trusted this organisation of voluntary
troops would be immediately effected, and that they
would combine with the zeal, activity, and talent of a
volunteer force, the bravery, skill, and discipline of the
regular army. • Sir Archibald resumed his seat amid
loud applause.