Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-29 00:00:00

1
f, 90, Ma. AND. - MR& ILOWARD .PA.UL. Thesecipopelar
:Nita hay.e returned to Clayton Hall, .whitheCthey
E ~plenform every .night-next week in their elegantdr,awing-
, ,room entertainment, " Patchwork.. Unlike many dra-
matic exhibitions of a similar class, where the develop-
ment of plot and situation. fall on the shoulders of only-
tivii persons, there is not an instant of dulness in the
whole two hours' performance. The impersonations are
not only . very complete in themselVes; . that is to say,
sharply defined, but the dialogue given to each is pointel,
, witty, and full Of epigram on events of the day, which
:gives an air of freshness Ao-each assumption. Mr.-and
Mrs. Howard Paul are both admirable performers, and
.the ladyei wonderful imitation of Mr. Sims Reeves is
enough in itself as a novelty, in a mimical point of view,
to draw a series of crowded houses. There' is a morn-
ing_performance today at half-past two o'clock.
EyERTON AND' KIRICDALE WARD.-'--A very large
and numerous public meeting of. the friends of Mr. J.
J. Stitt took place last night in the Prince 'Edwin-street
Schoolroom. The chair was occupied by Mr. Charles
Mosley, who opened the meeting in an address' of some
length. Mr. Bidwell, in moving the first resolution,
which was a vote of thanks,,to Mn...Stitt -for his services
in the Council for the past! three years, !said the'opposi-
tion was only putting Afr...;Nttittitoitrouhleland expense,
as the majority. of- the'. ward ,Kerv,in favour-.of him.
Mr. Henry Hall seconded.;the resolution:.. He said.he
thought that some pnrsun,:lmomiAtppropritte might
haVe been Selected, !too ;slo.r. ;hyped ,they
would do as he intended liikliii(44:toi :gate lot
Stitt without having t 0 btmolkitecliby a Card .being :left
at their houses, and :return him)4l thehead•of. the poll..
'Mr. Qeorge Melly Addressed, thoixneeting. at ton--
siderable length.t.:He esulegised theltness.of Mr.,. Stitt
to represent them in *le Oltincil,L, and: hoped - they would
return him by. a triumphant majonityr The resolution
.was put, and carried: by.: acelanuitior:. Mr. Stitt then,
at great length,: addretsedqtlia:Audience, repeating his
.views , with regardi to affairs, .which have
already been published, Mr. Sohn- Walker moved, and
Mr. Owen Roberts seconded, a ,resolution, pledging the
meeting to use every legitimate. effort in their power to
return Mr. Stitt to:the ;Council. It. was put to the
meeting by the chairman, mid:carried. with applause.
A vote of thanks -wasithen given to .Mr. Mozley, for
his services as chairman,. :after ; which the Meeting
broke up.
CHURCH RATES. —IMPORTANT DISTRICT

MEETING LAST _NIGHT..

• • •
•
A ireeting• of the dahabitlnts of St. Thomas's • District,
Tosteth.park, wasihehtlast night in the school=room, Grafton-
stgep4 fpr the pprpps,a,of,receiving information on the Subject
of churcli-rates. The ,Chairman the Rev.- W. Gardner, in
, openifig'tli6 ineeting; 're`marked that he considered it nothing_
more than common justice Vial meetings like, the present
should be heldc. The question of-Church-rates was a most
important one, and would, no doubt, come under the attention
of Parliament during the coming- session. The opponents of
the rate bud lie& agitating the country by all the means in
their power, :out it,.wastbub just' nud.proper that a counter ,
irritation should be prtilitC4, m,prdor J?oth sides might
be fairly heard. toncluqd 6y 241 inop the Rev. Mr.
Powell, incumbent of the eliuith, to addl. , the meeting.
"I The Rev. Mr. Powkm. said he quite agreettivith the chair-
man when he said both sides .should' be heard. One side
had already been heard through the press, and they had
met together to hear the other. He did not think that such
modern abuses, 'which might have crept into thefichurch, had
any influence uponthe present question ; and, in arguing it,
he would endeavOur not to interfere with such matters at all.
He then referred to the systems for the snpport of the church,
and clearly showed that it was only when combined they
could produce their proper effect. Referring to the voluntary
system,' he said it would be evident, from a reference to the
present state of the Church of Engiand schools compared with
those of the Dissenters, how inefficient was the voluntary
system unsupported by State or other aid. The Church of
England, in defending her principles and maintaining her
rights, had to struggle against three classes of opponents—
first, there was the Church of Rome, whichopposed them from
principle, as, she: would always oppose everything that was
without her pale. They were also opposed by the Jew, the
Turk, the Mahomedan, and the Mormon ; but there was a
class "of opponents who differed materially from the pre-
ceding, inasmuch as they act from sincere, though mis-
taken convictions. This third party was the extreme
voluntaries, who believed that the voluntary principle
was of itself sufficient, and would soon cure its own
evil. But their reasoning was evidently fallacious, as would
be seen by observing the effect of this system where it
had been tried for any length of time. Did the evil cure itself
in the case of the Roman Catholic Church ? Certainly not.
Did the evil cure itself in the case of the Mormons, the Dis-
senters, or in fact wherever it had been tried ? Experience
says No. Compare then the working of this extreme voluntary
system with that of the Established Church; look at the spiri-
tual condition of the working classes in the various districts of
this town, and inquire through whose influence this good has
been effected, the answer must always be, the Church of Eng-
land; and the Church would never have been able to accomplish
this, nor even approach to it, without help from the state.
The speaker then proceeded to detail the pa: ticulars connected
with the present agitation, and concluded by impressing the
necessity for an active part being taken by the working classes
in defence of the side of truth and justice.
The Rev. Mr. Mooaa then addressed the meeting, and in a
prolonged, speech urged the necessity of petitioning Parliament
on the subject, and concluded by requesting them one and all
to sign the petition which had been prepared on the subject,
and which has been already published, as adopted at several
meetings having an object in view similar to that of the
present. •
The meeting having adopted the petition, then separated.

CHARGE OF. PERJURY AGAINST A. *ORS-
HOUSE SURGEON.

Mr. Peter William Leather was, yesterday, charged at the
Police Court, before Mr. Mansfield, by Mrs. Weber, with hav-
ing committed wilful and corrupt perjury. Mr. Dean ap-
peared for the prosecution, and Mr. Snowball for the defen-
dant. The charge was made under the following circum-
stances :—lt appeared that Mr. Leather, who is chief surgeon
of the Liverpool Workhouse, had been in the habit of visiting
the family of Mrs. Weber, in or about the months of March
or April, 1858, for which an alleged bill of £25 19s. 6d. was
created ; and for the recovery of which, an action was taken
in the Court of Passage, for visits paid and medicines furnished.
This account was disputed by the presecutrix, who denied
that the defendant, in any manner whatever, attended her
or her family in a professional capacity, or supplied the medi-
cines referred to, although he swore to the facts before the
Assessor in the court referred to.
Mr. Snowball, on behalf of Mr. Leather, asked that the case
might be adjourned for a week, on the grounds that he had
not time or opportunity to prepare himself for the defence;
and also that Tie might have sufficient evidence to rebut the
charge so foully made against his client.
Mr. Dean had no objection to this course, but he thought it
would be better to proceed with the' examination of Mrs.
Weber, so that the depositions might be taken.
Mr. Mansfield considered this course a very proper one; and
he should hear the case accordingly.
Mr. Dean thought it would be better first to prove the
account from the entries in the Court of Passage Book, for
which purpose Mr. Josiah Hodgsons was examined.
Mary Emily Ann Weber was then called, and examined by
Mr. Dean : lam the wife of Mr. Matthew Weber. I had to
attend upon a trial in the Court of Passage on the 26th instant.
The action was brought by Mr. Leather for the sum of £29
odd, who swore that he had attended me in No. 6, Seymour-
street, for a fortnight, in his professional capacity as surgeon,
and that he had supplied me with medicines, &c. I cannot
say that he swore anything else ; but he never
was in the house in his capacity as a surgeon at-
tending upon me, • nor did he ever supply any
medicines for rne, as I did not requre them. lle also swore
that he visited me in Russell-street, which he did once, and
took his tea with the family; but he supplied no medicines.
In the Court of Passage he denied laving examined many
things belonging to me, which was untrue, as he did so, and
asked me had I any articles to dispose of in the divorce case.
I told him that I had still some very nice articles, and named
them to him. He stated at the trial that he never took tea
with my family, and he did. The only article that I ever got
from Dr. Leather was one bottle of lotion for her left eye.
Cross-examined by Mr. Snowball : I know Mr. Leather
for a long time. I was born in Cheshire, at Middle- ,
witch. In the early part of my lifetime I lived a long
time with nay aunt. I left Middlewitch when I was
about three or four years of age. I went to live with my
grandmother in Manchester. I cannot tell whereabouts in
Manchester. I lived with my grandmother until she died,
and then I went to my aunt's. My aunt was a married lady,
and I think she lived at Cheetham-hill, near Strangeways.
The house my aunt lived in was a very large one, and it stood
by itself. After leaving my aunt's, I lived with my grandpapa
in Shropshire, whose name was Lowe. I have lived in Liver-
pool about eight years. After I left my grandfather's, I
came to reside with my mamma. I cannot say what
part of Liverpool my mamma lived, but I think it was
Springfield-street. The house was my mamma's, who was
then remarried. My mother was married at Birkenhead
Church, where I was also married. We did not live far from
the church. I think the place we resided at Birkenhead was
called Woodland-terrace, and was near to Tranmere. My step-
father maintained me up to the time of my marriage, who had
then plenty of money. I had no reason whatever to keep any
strict account of the different places I lived from I was a child
until I was married, nor can I understand why Mr. Snowball
puts such a question. I never was brought up to any business,
so as to enable me to work industriously to obtain a livelihood.
I cannot imagine why such a question is put to me.
Mr. Snowball, (addressing the bench) : After this miserable
exhibition of evidence, I do not think it necessary to go
further.
Mr. Mansfield : I do not understand what you mean by the
words "miserable exhibition." You have subjected this lady
to a most unnecessary cross-examination respecting her move-