Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-04 00:00:00

RETIREMENT OF COMMANDER HIGGINS.

We regret to learn that Commander Higgins, for me.ny
years one cf the government emigration officers of this
port, has retired from the emigration service. In him the
department will lose one of its most efficient officers, and
the many firms engaged in the emigrant trade one v rho.
while rigorously exacting the fulfilmont of every oblilga-
tion which the law demands at their hands, yet ever per-
formed his duties in no discourteous or captions spirit. It
is a difficult task, it is admitted, to please all parties, and
yet this Commander Higgins did, and in a departm, tnt of
the public service where temper, impartiality, and sense of
duty, are hourly tested, and where the most conflicti az in-
terests are to be reconciled. Bred in the navy, which he
entered in early life, he was a genuine type of the old
school of navel men, rough and ready, blunt an,d out-
spoken, but yet full of true kindness, and a gently :manly
spirit, which rendered him incapable of that petty of scious-
nees which too often overshadows the merits of public
officiale. He had seen long service, had travelled much,
and was possessed of a fund and variety of information
little suspected by those who only casually met hi m, and
recognized in him but the bluff and burly seaman. Those
who knew him more intimately were sensible of his merits,
and admired him, not more for his upright and impartial
conduct as a public officer, than for his social and warm-
hearted disposition. We are not surprised, then, 'to learn
that it is the intention of his friends to avail of this oppor-
tunity to testify, in a substantial manner, their sens e of his
services, character, and conduct; and, albeit we are disposed
to think that in many presentations which we have chro-
nicled, the duty would have been " more honoured in
the breach than the observance," we shall be surprised if
in this case, where a substantial mark of public apprecia-
tion for public services was never more worthily earned,
the tribute be not of a character fully commensur ate with
the merits of the gentleman who is to receive it, and of the
spirit of those by whom it is to be presented.

FREEMIVONET IN INDIa.—In the Brahnainical initia-
tions of Hindostan, which are among the earliest that have
been handed down to us, and may be almost considered as
a cradle of all the others, the ceremonies were performed
in a vast cavern, the remains of some of which at Salsette,
Elephanta, and a few other places, will give the spectator
but a very imperfect notion of the extent and splendour of
those ancient Indian lodges. More imperfect remains
than these are still to be found in great numbers through-
out Hindostan and Cashmere ; their form was sometimes
that of a crass, emblematic of the four elements of which
the universe was composed, but more generally an oval,
as a representation of the mundane egg, which, we all know.
was in the ancient systems a symbol of the world. The
interior of the cavern of initiation was lit by innumerable
lamps, and there sat in the east, the west, and the south
the three principal hierophants, or explainers of-the myste-
ries, as the representasives of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.
Now Brahma was the Supreme Deity of the }Undoes, bor-
rowed from the Sun-god of their Sabian ancestors, ; and
Vishnu and Siva were but manifestations of his attribute=.
And we learn from the Indian Pantheon that when the sun
rises in the east he is Brahma ; when be gains his meridian
in the south he is Siva, and when he sets in the west he is
Vishnu.—Masonic Mirror.
LIFE: ON TeX FRONTIER OF INDIA.—An occasional con-
tributor has been so good as to place the following extract
of a letter recently received at our disposal. It is from a
most trustworthy source, and yet we can hardly trust our-
selves to repeat that part which relates to the deliberate
shootiag of an Affghan without some misgivings as to
distinct accuracy. If there be any grounds for modifying
the report we shall be much obliged by any friend on the
spat setting ns right. Bat to the extracts :—Every body
here, high and low, goes armed. The houses of all the
more distinguished European inhabitants, especially those
of the civil officers, are sarreunded by military guards at
night. Nobody goes beyond the limits of cantonments.
It is even considered hazardous to go into the town. It
ler-A4in& regarding
him. Without saying a word he rose from his seat, and
stepped back a few feet to the place where a Sepoy sentry
was walking up and down with his loaded musket. This
the officer took from him, and then deliberately shot the
Affghan dead. Tae same officer has never out of reach in
his own house three loath d revolvers. A few days ago a
party of Afreedes came down to within a mile or two of
cantonments to some water mill, made the miller and his
men carry all the flour up to their village, and then sent
them home " with more kicks than halfpence." It is a
constant practice with these fellows to came down into the
mpany's territory, and carry off the Hiodoo Buneas, and
then hold them to ransom. Blood seems to be as cheap
with them as water.—Puwabee.
THE DUNMOW FLITCS OF Bacorr.—The Essex Herald
published a long report of the proceedings on the occasion
of the award of the flitch of bacon at Duemow, on Thurs-
day, June `.2sth. The town presented a much gayer
appearance than in 1855. At the entrances from Chelms-
ford, Thanted, Stratford, and elsewhere, triumphal arches
were erected, bearing on one side the word " Welcome,"
and on the reverse some loyal motto. A line of banners
of various hues stretched across the street at the Town-hall ;
flags waved from many houses, with inscriseions indicative
of goodwill to the claimants, Of commemorative of the olden
custom, The Town-hall, to which the charge for admission
was 2s. 61., was w.,11 filled with a very respectable company,
inc'udine many ladies, "some of whom had come long pil-
grimages to the shrine of conjugal bliss, and there sat con-
ning with critical eye the fetniuine.curios;ties who had borne
for a whole year the perplexities of a married life without
a murmur." The walls were hung with banners, with
finelyeenecuted armorial bearings, "reminding us of
stalwart warriors who, whatever may be said of the days
of chivalry, were so often in the habit of knocking over
their lady loves with a tap of their mailed hands, that
it was found necessary to institute this prize for the
non-observarice of the habit—of sleek abbots, too, like
those who fattened and enjoyed their joke in Dunmow
Priory in olden ti:ne." Mr. Harrison Ainsworth was
present. The jry consisted of six maidens and six
bachelors. The claimants were Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins,
Victoria-piece, Regent's-park, and a Mr. and Mrs. Heard.
Mr. Heard drat ascended the witness. box, to depose to his
own telicity, and was severely cross-examined by Mr. Dudley
Costello. The other claimants went through the same
process ti the great amusement of the company Wit-
nesses were examined and letters read. Mr. Costello said
it would be difficult for him to make any state-
ment to the prejudice of either of the prisoners at
the bar—(latiginer)—he begged pardon, but prisoners
they certainly were in the holy bonds of matri-
mony;, and, as he could not carry his case further, he left
the ,question to the intelligence of the ladies and
gsutlemen he saw smiling ou him from the jury-box,
who would no doubt he able to come to a just deci.
slot]. The Presideut, thought both el :fins had been made
out, but left the jury to decide which would be preferred.
The maidens and bachelors laid their heads very close
together--rather closer in some instances than beseemed
legal eansultation, when they decided in favour of the
Hoards. Hats waved and handkerchiefs fluttered at the
result, and in the full enthusiasm of three cheers the court
bieke up. There was then a procession through the town
to a meadow, where the presentation of the flitch took
place. This ceremony over, Mr. Barlow, the former
recipient of the flitch, came to the front of the platform
and said—Ladies and gentlemen, it is with the mast
p'easur:tble feelings that I once again meet you on so
joyous an occasion as this; and it gives me still greater
pleasure to meet such a number of happy faces as I see
around me, notwithstanding the unpleasant remarks and
the disagreeable letters that have appeared in the local
papers since I had the happiness to claim the flitch. Since
that time I have had a great many unpleasant knocks, and
a considerable deal of taunting banter, or what is com-
monly called chaff. As taPthe latter it has given me pleasure,
and as to the former I have not, and do not care a fig,
as I know by experience that the goo.l opinion of right
thinking men and women is with us. (Applause). I have
been asked what motive I could have in running into the
expense and trouble I took in claiming the flitch ; was it
a pecuniary one I answer No,—because I well knew the
expenses would far outweigh the value received, Then was
it a love of notoriety ? Again I answer, No,—because I
am well-known, anti I may say, without boast, respected
in the small orbit in which I revolve. Then what could
be the motive? I answer,—my motives were these, first
to do honour to the wife it has pleased God to give me,
and I had an ardent wish, as far as my humble means
would allow, to revive and keep up one of the good old
customs of my country, merry England. (Applause.)
Archery and various rustic games succeeded, nod were
continued until dusk.

POLICE COURT.-YESTERDAT.