Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-02 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN 'rimEs WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1859

was to be hoped, he added, " that the attention of
the public would be directed to the subject, in order
that as much as possible might be done to bring that
worst part of the population under the influence of
education and religion." Such, we have no doubt,
is the benevolent Rector's most anxious deiire ; for
he takes the warmest personal interest, we know,
in the matter. But we are persuaded that the
Police regulations might be so directed as to
accomplish the object in view, without any fear of
being considered as acting inconsistently with the
liberty of the subject. With the " juvenile vaga-
bonds that infest our streets," we must not be too
squeamish on such a score as that—a " free
country " though it be. This was the course pur-
sued in a northern city, where more, perhaps, has
been done than in any other place in the kingdom
for the reclamation of such young scamps, in pro-
portion to its population : we mean the City of
Aberdeen. The Police had orders to carry off all
the vagabond boys and girls they met with, day
by day, to the Ragged Schools, where, however,
they were fed, as well as instructed,—and also
taught certain trades. And the plan was most
successful; crime having been to a considerable
extent lessened, juvenile vagrancy prevented, and
the children of the poor properly educated, and
trained in liabits of order, morality, and industry.
The author and promoter of that good work was
the Sheriff of the City ; and we believe that a full
account of his system, and its practical results, Ijas
been publiShed, and may be found in the catalogue
of the Reformatory publications of the day. It
would be a great thing for a town like ours to have
such a system introduced here; and we therefore
take the liberty of commending it to the considera-
tion of the Liverpool Reformatory Committee.

" That armaments and arsenals did not contribute
to the welfare or the happiness of States must be
evident to every unprejudiced observer, for they
had only to cast their eyes over Europe and they
would see that in those countries where there were
the largest standing armies there was the greatest
amount of debt, and the greatest distress, while
the liberties of the people were crushed under the
power of the sword." Now a flat contradiction is
given to this by the circumstances of our own
Country. It is their complaint that we, here in
England, have so large a standing army; and yet
can it with any truth be said, or insinuated, that
under our free institutions "the people are crushed
under the power of the sword P": Imore

unscrupulous exaggeration, nay, a more gluing
misrepresentation, could scarcely have been put

For our part, We should rejoice as ardently as the
most enthusiastic of the peace-at-any-price party
could ever do, were it possible to do away with
the necessary evil of a standing army. But when
there are so many enemies to peace astir in all
directions around us, without such a defensive
force at hand, in case of need, our country would
be exposed to dangers which might bring down
upon it the direst calamities, and create and
perpetuate evils, in comparison with. which the
evils of a score of standing armies would be real

blessings

him at the Liverpool Assizes, in an action fo r
damages, by one who had sustained a great
loss by the failure of the Bank, on the
ground that this Director had been a party to a
statement put forth to prop up the Bank, at the
time of the panic, which contained a gross mis-
representation of its actual condition. One part of
the defence was that the defendant had opposed the
statement going forth ; yet he eventually concurred
in it. And the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE remarked
that he had acted on the principle,
" Video meliora proboque,
Deteriora sequor,"—
which means, that he saw and approved better
things, but he followed out the worse which he
condemned. It virtually amounts to a sentence of
self-condemnation. It is the case of a person
whose conduct is directly opposed to his avowed
sentiments. And such, the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE
held, was precisely the Bank Director's situation.
He had therefore involved himself in a legal
inculpation. The principle which rendered it

unlawful, was a very ancient one. OVID,
.who
flourished before the Christian era, had embodied
it in his immortal verse.

Such, then, are some of the uses of the ancient
classics. We live in an age when such resources
are too apt to be disregarded, if not despised—when
what is ancient is too much considered to be
obsolete. It is an age, indeed, which people are
too prone to think is in everything superior to
what has ever been before ; and more especially to
anything there could possibly be in the eyes of
antiquity. It is a time when, as a modern writer
has observed, "we are now free from the yoke of
pedantry ; and a man may say that envy is a tor-
menting passion, and love an agreeable one, without
'OVID or SENECA to prove it." But there are axioms,
there are general principles, and leading truths,
to be found in the ancient standard authors, which
have been held to be unerring maxims, and stand-
ing precepts for well nigh two thousand yearn ;
and though time may have mellowed their cha-
racter, it has not impaired their fore e.

THE GOVERNMENT are purchasing largely of teak
wood in Liverpool, and appear to be requiring in haste,
as it is immediately despatched per railway, the Great
Northern, to Woolwich. Chiefly purchased through
Messrs. Duncan and Ewing, and Farnworth and Jardine.
UNIVERSITY Horrouns.—We understand that the
Upper Collegiate School, which re-opens to-day, has two
of its pupils in the list of mathematical honours at
Cambridge. Mr. L. Middowson is among the wranglers,
and Mr. PeIICSV Arthur among the senior optimes.
GARSTON LOCAL BOARD OF HEALTH.—The monthly
meeting of this board was held yesterday, at the board-
room, Garston, J. G. Morris, Esq., in the chair: The
other members present were —Alderman Cooper, Messrs.
Chaloner, Heald, Watts, M'Entyre, and Chidson. Mr.
Lloyd, the law clerk, read the minutes of the last meeting,
which were confirmed. The reports of the finance and
works committees were read and confirmed. The report
of the health committee was also confirmed. The
routine business was then transacted, and the board
adjourned.
THE FIRE AT WEST DERBY.—A correspondent writes :
"Your account in yesterday morning's paper, concerning the
fire which took place at the premises used as school-room
and institute at West Derby was not correct. The true
statement is as follows : The fire was first seen on Mr.
Stephenson's premises ; and when the stable door was
broken open, the horse was found dead ; and that was
before the stables and tarred sheds were destroyed. The
schoolroom was the last place that was caught by the
fire. The premises do not belong to the Earl of Sefton,
they belong to Thomas Toulmin, Esq., and occupied by
Mr. Alexander Westmore."
LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.—The first con-
cert of this session of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society
took place last night, and Madame Viardot Garcia, Miss
Eyles, Miss Arabella Goddard, Signors Giulio Regondi,
Luchesi and Dragone, together with J. Hatton as
accompanyst, formed a strong party, and a very good
selection having been made, a large audience was
gratified with a first rate concert. Mozart's symphony in
D, the overtures to Preicosa and the Crown Diamonds
were the orchestral pieces. Miss Arabella Goddard
played Mendelssohn's concerto on the piano-forte, and
Thalberg's "Last Rose of Summer," and " Com'e
Gentile." Giulio Regondi played two exquisite pieces
on the concertina, and the choir were very successful in
their four part songs. The principal vocalists were all
very successful, the ladies especially, but we have not
space to particularise.
HOPE HALL LECTURES. —Yesterday evening, a lecture
was delivered in Hope Hall, Hope-street, by P. E. Dove,
Esq., of. Glasgow, subject, "The Story of Robert the
Bruce." The me eting was opened by prayer, after which
R. Al Macfie, Esq., took the chair, and introduced the
lecturer by a few appropriate remarks. Mr. Dove
commenced by showing the relation that his last lecture
on " Wallace " had to the one he was about to deliver,
and then proceeded to trace the geneaology of Robert
Bruce, showing him to be of Norman extraction. He next
went on to say that Bruce had been bred up in such a way
as to justify him in holding the opinion that Edward of
England was his rightful king, and that would account
for his wavering so much in the early part of his history—
one day swearing allegiance to Edward, and the next
fighting for the Scot,s. Wallace had been fighting for
the cause of John Baliol—not being able to trust a
man who was every day changing his way of work-
ing, such as Bruce was in the habit of doing at that time.
The lecturer followed Bruce from the day in which he
had killed the Red Comyne, on account of his treachery,
to the end of his days, giving all the various troubles to
which he had been subjected to, and the many and valiant
actions in which he had been engaged. He concluded
by reminding his audience that Bruce's conduct, at last,
was worthy of the imitation of any people. Though he
had been a man as changeable as the wind in the first part of
his life, at the last he had become as stable as a rock in
his purpose, He was at last, the man who fought the
battle of Bannockburn, rather than break his word. At
the close of the lecture, which was a very able and
interesting one, the benediction was pronounced, and the
meeting separated.
TOXTETH-PARK BOARD OF HEALTH. —Yesterday a
meeting of the Board was held in the Board-room, Park-
road. The members present were—Messrs. Alpass
(chairman), Hughes, Walker, Wainwright, Rogers,
Woodhead, Smith, Darsie, Boult, and Siddeley. On the
recommendation of the secretary of the committee,
Grove Park was adopted as a public highway. A
memorial was read from the inhabitants of Aigburth-
road, praying that that street might be put
into complete repair and so kept. It was
found that a number of the memorialists were
not resident in the district. The memorial was
referred to the executive committee, who were to report
on it to the board. The chairman then moved, that a
person be appointed to act as inspector and collector of
taxes, at a salary not exceeding 1501. a year, and that
his whole time be given to their business. He said they
had had a gentleman under Mr. Newman, who had
given entire satisfaction—he meant Mr. Moikhouse.
That gentleman had shown himself to be qualified
to fill the situation, as he was a practical
man, and when the day of appointment would come, he
would have great pleasure in recommending him. The
board would see the necessity of having such a person
from what had already been done. The question for
making bye-laws for building houses, had been referred
to the executive committee, and without such a person
to see that these matters were properly carried out, the
bye-laws would be of no avail. Mr. Hughes thought
that they should not fix the inspector's salary
at £3 a-week. Mr. Walker held the opinion
of Mr. Hughes. He went into a statement of the financial
outlay for the past year, which he thought was too high.
Mr. Darsie explained that his view was not that they were
to fix the snm at Ll5O a year, but at a sum not exceeding
that. A question then arose as to whether they would
advertise in the newspapers for an inspector, or refer it
to the Executive Committee to select and recommend a
person to the board. There was an apparant difficulty
about the committee being able to recommend the most
suitable person to fill the office. The Chairman put the
question—Would they leave the matter to the executive,
or have an advertisement in the papers ? On the votes
being taken, it was decided that the matter should be left
in the hands of the executive committee. Mr. Hughes
moved that the board be furnished with the particulars
of the receipts and expenditure of all the rates, keeping
each rate separately. Mr. Rogers seconded the motion,
which was agreed to unanimously. This concluded the
business, and the meeting separated.