Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-24 00:00:00

DINNER TO SIR JAMES ANDERSON,. M.P,

A dinner was given to Sir James Anderson,
M.P. for the Stirling Burghs, at Stirling, on
Thursday evening, the Provost of the city in the
chair. On the health of the guest being pro-
posed,
Sir James Anderson, after a few introductory remarks,
said : In taking a retrospect of public affairs in this country
for a few years past, we see that many important events
have occurred. and while there has been much in some of
them to mourn over, there have been others of a cheering
and inspiriting kind. We have to deplore the dreadful
wars in which we have been engaged, in which so many
precious lives have been lost, and so much treasure ex-
pended. We have witnessed our country pass through a
commercial crisis unexampled for its severity, but we
have also seen our arms triumphant, and our influence
for good extended over regions of the earth hitherto
unkown. Our commercial prosperity is gradually but
surely. returning, and I think we can contemplate our
present position with pride and satisfaction. I believe
the conviction grows in the community that we- enjoy
more true liberty in this country than we could do in any
other part of the world ; and while we seek for further
changes, and strive to bring about further improvements,
we should carefully guard the blessings already procured.
When we look at the agitated state of continental
nations at the present time, and contrast it with our own,
we must surely congratulate ourselves on our superior
position. So long as we are surrounded by despotic coun-
tries, it is true we are forced to waste much money on
fleets and armies ; but that is small compared with that
which they suffer under. During the time I have been
your member I have had the happiness to see many
measures carried through Parliament, and been privileged
to give my aid in support of them, which are acknow-
ledged on all hands to be productive of great benefit to
the country. The most important of these is that of free
trade, which I should be sorry to see tampered with in
any way ; and yet I connot view without some alarm
the agitation lately got up by a portion of the shipping
interest, complaining of the want of 'prosperity with
foreign nations, and urging us to enter with them into a
battle of tariffs. I look upon the proposal of these gen-
tlemen as neither more nor less than an abandonment
on our part of the principles of free trade, and I
sincerely hope the country and the Government will
give it no countenance. We are on the eve of a
new session of Parliament, whose proceedings cannot
fail to be watched with much interest. It is an awkward
state of things to have a Conservative Government, and,
at the same time, a Liberal House of Commons. It
remains to be seen how it will work, but I confess I
have no
.great faith in it. The country may mean-
while derive some benefit by two parties bidding for power;
but it is an unnatural state of things, and cannot last.
I regret the sudden defeat of the last Government,
but I do not see how it could have been avoided.
Lord Palmerston, to whom I believe the country is
largely indebted, and who is an able and energetic
statesman, was at the head of a large and powerful party,
and had he managed rightly he might have been there
still ; but he seemed to forget himself, and on more
than one occasion did violence to the feelings of the
country by his appointments. The bill which caused
his downfall I considered as a great error, brought
forward at the time it was, and calculated to degrade
us in the eyes of the nations. Had it - been
successful, there is no saying to what further demands we
might have been subjected by the despots of the Conti-
nent. The great question of the session is expected to
be Parliamentary Reform, than which there can be none
of greater importance, or requiring more careful or calm
deliberation ; for the discussions which have taken place
throughout the country have, it is gratifying to observe.

a tone of moderation, and a disposition not to urge
extreme views on either side, which make one think it
a suitable time to obtain a settlement of this great
question. I have always been in favour of Parliamentary
Reform, deeming the peace and welfare of the country
largely bound up with it ; and, seeing the good re-
sults of the former bill, I believe that the time is

am opposed to
universal suffrage so -long as we have so many
ignorant and degraded men amongst. us, I would lower
the franchise. and adopt every practicable means for
having placed on the electoral roll every intelligent
and well-doing man in the country. I care not which
plan be adopted, so that this end be attained, and also
that he should be protected by the ballot in the exercise
of his privilege ; and then as to the present distribution
of seats in Parliament, I hope few will stand up for a
system so arbitrary and unjust, but that we shall fix
upon a plan more consonant with reason and fair dealing.
Mr. Bright's mode appears to be very like the thing,
although I have not examined it very particularly, yet
one thing in it I highly approve of, that this good town
of Stirling should in future have to itself the benefit of
whole representative.

WHAT THE BRITISH PEASANT HAS ,TO BE THANKFUL
FOR.—A Wiltshire clergyman writes :—" The extent of
the parish in which I live is nearly 5,000 acres, without
a single butcher in any of the villages; and half-a-dozen
other parishes in the neighbourhood are similarly situated,
for the simple reason that the labourers in those parishes
are unable either to feed pigs or to patronise the' butcher,
in consequence of the low rate of wages they receive from
the farmers. I reside in a parish (which ought not to be
the poorest in the county, inasmuch as it is justly
celebrated for the finest cattle-breeders in England, as
well as for skilful and wealthy agriculturists) where the
regular labourers are receiving only 7s a-week. When
the father of a family has to maintain a wife and three or
four children, all unable to work, paying is weekly for
house-rent, and is 4d for a cwt. of coal, he ha 4 no spare
money to buy either bacon, mutton, or beef; and as the
wages are the same in the parishes referred to, the
butcher is seldom seen, unless "at the parsonage or the
pure's."

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.-BANQUET TO
PROFESSOR THOMSON.

On Thursday evening a public dinner was given 1.11,.tad
Queen's Rooms, Glasgow, in honour of the At.n
Telegraph Electrician, Professor Williant Thomson, .31.:
LL.D. Covers were laid for about 150 gentleme.l
ameng whom were most of the scientific and cowmen,
men of the city. The chair was occupied by the $l,
the Lord Provost, and Walter Buchanan, Esq., 31'
acted as croupier.
After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had been
given and responded to,
The Lord Provost, in a highly complimentary speec,l4
proposed - " The health of our respected guest, Profess"
Thomson."
Professor Thomson replied at great length, and
able address detailed most graphically the mishaps :0
anxieties attending the execution of the noblest enterP
of modern times, concluding as follows :—Sooner .°t
later, we alLbelieve, another Atlantic cable will be lei
but will it last any longer, will it do any more ic°ls,
than the one which has ' raised and cast down
many hopes ? Will another experiment be allotnta
gigantic failure, and will material locomotion f,
again fallen back upon as the only means of 9°"t
munication between the Old and New Worlds ?
the next trial will not be a failure, no man living c
say is more than probable, although on no one point c.„
it be said that there is any insurmountable difficult''' 310
least of all on that which has proved the cause of rub
the present case. Increased caution in the manufaetw3
and preservation, even without improvements in the 11.1 d
terial, of the insulating cover, with a more searen
system of detection for faults, might, I believe, n 136
very sure against any recurrence of such a failure,
The great risk which the enterprise undeniably invellio
depends not on any one source cf danger, but on tv
multiplied chances of accident inseparable from t3t
exposure of so great a length of cable to so gr,ee
a variety of contingencies. You have spoken
sacrifices I made to give my assistance in the un",,,„e".
taking. If I have made sacncfies, so have all the Ati';
tic Telegraph Company. The cheerful and uncompleii
ing spirit with which an apparently total loss of eaPl.O
and interest has been met by subscribers to the Atlauttof
Telegraph, forcibly demonstrates the high character
the motives under which they have entered on an unde,:i
taking, the success of which would have been of 8%
large benefit to mankind. It is true that the birru,,e
has been borne by those who have been most closely c'9,
fleeted with the work. I shall always esteem it as
honour to have belonged to the board or directors, 3rlo
in,this capacity to have acted along with men ``a
have devoted themselves with so much earnestness, are
at so great personal sacrifices, to carry into execution
project of such high national importance. Under circnol;
stances of the greatest discouragement, the directors h°`
persevered with an untiring energy and undaunted rep,'
lution, worthy of the great enterprise. Many of the;
continued day after day, and month after in°ll,tis
sacrificing their own convenience, and setting aside tu,ebo
own business avocations, to promote the interests of
company. The unremitting daily attention given by %,
executive committee, the zealous co-operation ot t j
general manager, Mr. Cyrus Field, and the able 9ell
energetic services of the secretary, Mr. Seward, may 'ics
be remembered with gratitude both now and when
final and complete success is attained.
Mr. Buchanan, M.P., proposed " The Health of t 11.06
Directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company,"
the course of his remarks said, look upon telegrante
coinmnnication as an achievement well worthy of tof
science of the age, of the philanthropy of the age, an u,:
all who wish to see unity between one nation and anothe,,,"
and I shall hail the day —as I think we all shall---101""
that electrical communication is completed. If 1
right in what I have said, I think you will agree with Ot
that those directors, who have had the mana,gone/1,6
of the affairs of the Atlantic Telegraph Company 1"0
entitled to our best thanks. (Cheers.) There are lii
in that company whose services in the cause of seietce
,
and commerce have been most valuable. The right
gentleman at the head of the 'company—l mean *tb.
Stuart Wortley—has shown himself to be endowed 01,4
a noble and philanthropic spirit; and notwithstanalZ
tke want of complete success which has attended
company's undertaking, he still devotes all his ability to
promoting the ultimate attainment of their grand objeey
and he has avowed his determination again and agar
,„ii'
that without any prospect of personal gain, to work se 1,-
as in him lies to assist the company in ultimately reach
ing the successful termination of their labours. rehe
Mr. James Stirling proposed the next toast, " '-
United States - may. the old and new worlds soon bar
united by telegraph ! " coupled with the name of Profess°
Rogers.
Professor Rogers returned his most sincere thanks f°l.
the honour done him and his native country. lle 11,6
:1
the more willing to accept the opportunity so kindly
him of stating his sentiments on the influence of

electric telegraph in uniting together the two countries
which fringe both sides of the Atlantic, as it afforded
a chance of doing an act of justice to the people of the
United states in the matter of the Atlantic Telegral)
and of recording his appreciation, as well as theirs, of dr
talents and the excellent services of his friend and it
league, Professor William Thomson. (Loud cheers.) ;le
was a subject of mortification to him to find, that Ns'LL
the ingenuity and the exertions of the Amerieallj
who were engaged in the operations conneci
with the telegraph were so enthusiastically lauo e
in America, neither the name of Professor Wheatston ;
the first successful telegrapher by land, nor of Profess°,l
Thompson, the first successful telegrapher of the brow
Atlantic, where spoken ofin the United States. This singe
remissness and apparent injustice on the part
i°,/
the people of the United States was, -however, caused .i.f
the silence of the people of Great u.
if
themselves. `a
his country had been unjust to Professors Thomson old
Wheatstone, it was only because the English people all
the English Press were so ? and it was to Britain aloof
almost that America looked for intelligence. England'
w
on the,contrary, obtained her intelligenceithout diffictilte
from all parts of the globe ; and, in accusing the porfll,
of the United States of injustice towards the Britli,s
scientific men engaged in the laying of the telegraph'
the English people should remember that

The moon looks on many brooks,
The brook can see no moon but this. a
Professor Rogers then alluded to the kinship of Engles
and America, comparing the one country to a graft urr,,
the ancient stock of the other—growing up with all tier
traditions, her ideas, her literature, her language,. be
ancient laws, her religious thoughts, her moral doctrines'
but still having distinctive characteristics of her 011'
(Loud cheering.)
Several other toasts havir
I pang separated

been disposed of, the COtr

A RAPE OF THE SABINES.—From time immemorial,
Old Handsel Monday has been the winter holiday ill
Dunfermline and its neighbourhood. Of late years, how;
ever, an attempt has been made by a few parties, 13(1
natives of the town, to substitute New Year's Day, all
this year the manager of the largest factory in the tovit,
employing 500 or 600 young women, rendered himsey'
particularly unpopular by arranging the factory holidait
for New Year's Day and making a working-day
Handsel Monday, on which balls, concerts, and soirees I°`
the million are held. The consequence has been that all
attempt was made on Monday morning, by about II
hundyed young men, forcibly to abduct their sweetheartS
.1

rrom tne-racrory—tne tactory-yard being the battle-Ile'
—the manager and tenters pulling one way, the lads the
other—the lasses, nothing loth, rather inclining to be
forcibly abducted. The result was that, after some ha%
blows, the manager lost his hat and temper, and had 111.'
coat considerably damaged, when he retired within 1114
castle with a goodly remnant of the female workers,
whom, after coming to a better
rated at an early part of the day

Scotsman

MELANCHOLY- —At the extreme part Oil
Woodhall, which, from the badness of the roads en'
other circumstances of locality, bears the name " Arne:
rica," Mr. Coroner Hitchins was called upon on Monday
last, to hold an inquest on the body of Charlotte Oldfieint
whose death took place on the Saturday previous, under
most distressing circumstances. The deceased, as stated by
Mrs. Roberts, the nurse, had suffered from the prevailing
disease, diptheria, which was attended by fever and 11,1
severe affection of the head, which on Friday product
symptoms of delirium. She was attended by 311.'
Boultou and Mr. Jallands, of Horncastle. Mr. Jallanag
had seen her on Saturday about noon, she being at the
time out of her bed,. and sitting on a chair, after having
been wildly dancing on the floor and frantically knocking
her head about with a short broom. About five o'clock'
whilst the nurse was standing at the door, the decease'
jumped from her bed and rushed past the nurse, having
nothing on but her nightdress, and being without she°
or stockings. She was instantly followed by the nurse'
but was too fleet for her. The sister of the deceased then
followed, but the deceased ran across a field and was woe
out of sight. As the sister described it, all was like 3
mist, and all efforts to stop the poor creature failed. The
night was intensely cold. On the.return of the husband
lie instantly went in search, but it was midnight before
the deceased was found in a pond or clay pit skimmt
over with ice.. The coroner said there could ne no doubt
as to the cause of death, or of her having, while suffering
from severe delirium, destroyed herself. It was, how"
ever, much to be regretted that, after the symp;oms of
the mornin,,.; further aid to the nurse had not been
procured. Had the warning been taken, the probabili-
ties were that the unfortunate event would not have taken
place. Verdict, "That the death of the deceased was
from drowning herself whilst suffering from temporary
—Stamford Mercury.

insanity