Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-16 00:00:00

OPEN AIR PREACHING.

Metropoli•an Police-office, 4, Whitehall-place,
B,h May, 1857. -

Sir,--I have to acknowledge thu receipt of a memorial by
yourself and several resident householders, iu the viciniry of
the Obelisk, St. George's, Sau hwark, • cornp!aining of the
nuisance caused by preaching and immoral discourses there on
Sund,qs, and the opportunity given to thieves and pickpockets
to commit crime ; and I have to acquiint you in reply that
inquiries shall be nude as to any necessity for the police inter-
ferenco.—l am, sir, your obedient, RICHARD MAYNE.
To Mr. Lock.

His worship would see that the date of the letter was
the Bth of May ; and though the nuisance had not only
contineed, but had moreover, as could be provel by
gentlemen who accompanied him, increased ; yet no
decided interference had been made on the part of the
police to check it. Mr. Solly, a medical gentleman,
residing in the Crescent opposite the Obelisk, stated that
the nuisance for many weeks past had been of the most
intolerable description ; and said the inhabitants were fre-
quent y disturbe t by the uproar there carried on to as late
as twelve and one o'clock in the morning. Other gentle-
men present corroborated there facts, and represented
the language of some of the preachers to be of the most
impious and blasphemous character. Mr. Elliott ex-
pressed surprise that such proceedings should be allowed,
and at such a place, when the constable ThomEsoa
explained that some months since the Protestant clergy-
man of a neighbou hing parish, had applied f,r per-
mission to the commissioners of Police, to preach a: the
ObeLsk, and the permission was granted; so long as the
public highway was not impeded, and disturbances were
avoided. This led other preachers to the same place, and
the result was, that the former discontitued his labours,

and the litter remained, th) bcsna then wire vazy
noisy, and the language improper. Mr.Eiliott wa3 of

opinion that such proceeding 9 apald not b 3 allowed, and
thou& that on a proper representation to the coat-

missroners of Police of the nuisance, they would give
directions for its removal. Mr. Lock said he should

P I:lgges t that a deputation of the inhabitanta should wait on

Sir Richard Mayne, to point out to him the extent of the
evil ; and asked if such deputation w.mid be at liberty to
mention to him (Sir Richard) the opinion expressed by his
worship. Mr. Elliott replied that they might ; upon
which Mr. Lock having expressed bis thanks to the

magistrate for his courtesy and kindness, left the court
in company with the gentlemen who attended with him.

BOYS' CLOTHING If ADE WITH GREAT TASTE, at LEWIS and
COMPANY'S, Ikar.elagh street.

FIVE /LURE LATE.-4, morning cotemporary wr;tes
" The telegraphic despatch so long exliected arrivEd at
the Fortign-Dffice at hail past five, p.m. By Lord
Clarer.don's impar ial and bi4h-minded arrangement it
reached U 3 five hours and a ha't titer due time; a more
direct and expeditious transmission of it would not suit
The ideas of ju3tica and promptitude which diltinguish
this zealous but feeble upholder of the g eat Ctrcumb-
cution order."

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT. —Oa Monday an ingnest was
held by J. Broxmrigg, Esq., C roner for the county Wex-
ford, and a respec;abie jury, in the town of Ferns, on the
body of a fine young womanotgel 26. _named Hannah
Caldwell. D ceased, it appears, after the hour of truss', and
while the Protestant inhabitants were attending divine
service, at the cathedral on S inday, pissed by that building,
and entered the ruins of the ancient abbey which adjoins
it. -There she ascended the- beautiful old round tower,
accompanied only by her brother. In his eviieece, he
stated that his sister having reached rile top of the tower,
climbed up and sat upon the parapet wall which surrounds
the summit. In a few mornsnts she lost her balance, and
fell to the ground fr -An a height of about seventy feet !
But although she sp ks for a short time, and was not
aware at first that death was so near, in less than half art
hour from the time of her fall she was in eternity. The
jury returae4 a verdict of "Accidental Death."-Carlow
Sentinel.

At the Lambeth police court, on Monday, Joseph Thew,
a middle egad man, a tronemason by business, was
charged with creating a disturbance at the Obelisk, near
the eurrey Theatre. Joseph Thompson, 19 L, deposed
that on the preceding evening, about four o'clock, while on
duty, he heard a great- disturbance at the Obelisk, at the
end of the Blackfriara-road, and on approaching the place
he found a mob of from 200 to 300 persons, and this crowd
was momentarily increased by the loud and violent abuse
addressed by the prisoner to another man. He was told
by the crowd that the parties had quarrelled in conse
quence of a religions controversy, and their language
was anything but of a religious chara2ter. He tola both
they must go about their business, and the other man
did go away, but the prisoner remained, and continued
so violent and vociferous in his largusgs, that he was
compelled to take him to the sta'ien-house. Th 3
witness added that the scenes at the Obelisk almost
every night, and more particularly on a' Sunday, were of
the most noisy description. Police constable Revel], 175
L, corroborated the testimony of the last witness as to the
cmduct of the prisoner, and the general disturbances at
the Obelisk caused by the controversialists. Mr. E liott :
Was the prisoner perfectly sober at the time ? Thompson :
No, sir ; he wa4 a good deal the worse for liquor. Mr.
Mr. Elliott, to:the prisoner : Well, what have you gat to
say to this improper conduct of yours? Prisoner: Well,
sir, I went to the °bask to bear the preachers, and in
the course of the discourse the name of Onrist came up,
and a man that was there sa'd he was an impostor. I told
him that he was no impostor, and that he deserved tO be
kicked for saying so, and I don't know of anything else I
did. Mr. Elliott: Was there a great disturbance caused
by these proceedings ? Thompson : Oh yes, sir ; and the
scenes there are very disgraceful. Mr. Elliott ordered the
prisoner to find bail for his good behaviour for one
month. Mr. Lock, a vestryman of the parish of St.
George the Martyr, Southwark, in which the Obelisk
is situated, and who was accompanied by Messrs
lolly, Hinckley, and Goswell, respectable inhabi.
tants of the vicinity, here addressed the magis-
trate, and said that for years the residents of the
neighbourhood had been subjected to considerable
annoyance by assemblages drawn together by preachers
and different controversialists, but the evil during the
recent and present fine wea-her had increased to such an
intolerable degree that it became absolutely necessary to
abolish it. With this object in view, some of the inhabi-
tants had requ.red him (Mr. Lock) as a vestryman, to
move in the matter, and in April last he had a memorial,
numerously signed, presented to Sir Richard Mayne,
praying that the pol ce would interfere and remove the
nuisance ; and he soon after received the following answer
to the memorial from Sir R. Mayas, which he begged to
hind to his worship :