The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-05-11 00:00:00

:lasses had experienced much innocent er

After vis

ing the sacred well, in the neigh-
bourhood. the company returned to the Museum, to pre-
pare for the first excursion, and here we got the first

collected vie

,iv of them

I From Warrington itself there were, the Mayor, the
I_

Rector, the Town-clerk, the Rev. Messrs. Bostock, Green-
all, M'lver, and Kirkman ; Drs. Kendrick and Stokoe ;
Messrs. Perrin, G. Rylands, P. Rylands, J. Robson, B.
Cooke, W. Fell, Beamont, Artingstall, Pierpoint, Hutton,
Wilson, W. Robson, Nicholson, Stubbs, Hardy, M‘Min-
niss, Geddes, Ryder, Cooke, Gaskell. From Hale, the Rev.
W. Stewart ; from Rock Ferry, Mr. Harden ; from New-
ton, Rev. Mr. Veitch, and Messrs. Mercer, Howarth,
and Leigh ; from High Legh, Egerton Legh, Esq. ; from
Hawarden, Dr. Moffatt. Manchester was represented by
the Rev. Thomas Corser, Dr. Smith, Messrs. Crossley,
Langton, Jordan, Bradbury, and Morris. The Rev. Mr.

Massey had come from Chester, with Messrs. Hicklin,
Ayrton, Harrison, Blackburne, and Haworth. From
Liverpool, there were the Rev. Dr. Thom, Vice-President
of. the Historic Society, and Rev. Dr. Hume, Secretary;
Mr. Heath, Treasurer of the Literary and Philosophical
Society; Dr. Turnbull, Dr. Parr, Dr. Edwards, Rev. Jon.
Robberds, Messrs. Ed. Higgin, Jas. Harvey, F. Blosam, E.
Harvey, Robt. Shute, R. W. Ronald, J. H. Johnson,
C. B. Robinson, and S. Richardson.

At twelve o'clock, carriages were in readiness, provided
by the committee at Warrington, by which the whole
party proceeded southwards to Stretton to visit the Roman
road recently discovered there. Beautiful sections of it
had been laid open for the occasion by Thomas Lyon,
Esq., of Appleton Hall ; and further discoveries on the
line had been made, in a field adjoining the Stretton par-
sonage, by the Rev. Richard Greenall. The whole facts
were explained by Mr. Robson, of Warrington.
At two o'clock, about sixty gentlemen sat down to an
elegant collation in the Lion Hotel, the Mayor in the
chair; and near him were the rector and Mr. Wilson, the
celebrated naturalist.

At half-past three, the carriages were again in readi-
ness for an excursion northward, to visit the Crstle-hill,
at Newton, the Roman road at Haydock, and Winwick
Church ; some of the party who were most pressed for
time taking leave at Newton for Liverpool or Manchester.
Precisely at seven o'clock, the town-clerk, J. F. Marsh,
Esq., began to receive the company at his own house at
a conversations, and, by a little after eight, those who re-
mained together with the clergy and gentry of the town and
neighbourhood had all arrived. Mr. Marsh received them
in his magnificent library, which runs the whole length of
Fairfield-house, and is said to be " the pride of Warring..
ton, and the envy of the neighbouring districts!' Mr.
Robson gave a short history of the country through which
they had passed, noticing in chronological order the
principal events from the earliest times, and pointing out
their scenes on a large map,
A few minutes before ten, it was necessary for the
Liverpool party to retire, in order to return by the special
train ; but, More doing so, the secretary of the Historic
Society formally expressed, in the name of himself and
his companions, the gratification which had been afforded
to them by the whole arrangements and occurrences of
the day. Several gentlemen from a distance, who had
made arrangements for staying all night, remained till
a late hour and separated with regret.

PECULIARITIES OF AN OLD MAID.-011 Thursday, at
the Prerogative Court, in the business of proving the will
of Harriet Parkin, late of Rodney-street, Pentonville, who
died on the Bth of May, 1850, bequeathing the whole of
her property, about £27,000, to her sister, it was alleged
on the part of the Crown, in opposition to the will, that
in 1934 the deceased resided alone in a house in Corn pton-
terrace, Islington, until April, 1843, during which period
she was exceedingly dirty in her person, and her conver-
sation and actions were most disgusting ; that she kept
12 and sometimes 14 dogs of both sexes in her house, two
of which constantly slept in the same room, and one, which
was blind, in the same bed with her; that she lived in the
most miserable and penurious manner, her food being of
the worst description, and her dress made of old rags ; that
she took every means in her power of annoying her next
door neighbour, the Rev. Mr. Hambleton, against whom
she entertained a great antipathy, and for the purpose
frequently sat up all night hammering the stairs and
knocking an old tea-board ; that she was generally known
by the name of the mad lady of Compton-terrace ; that in
the month of July, :1842, her house became a public
nuisance and affected the health of the neighbourhood, in
consequence of which the trustees of the parish were
called upon to take the necessary steps for its cleansing ;
that on entering it they found it in a moat filthy condition,
and in the drawing-room there were several dens, or dog-
kennels, about four feet high, with bars in front, and from
the top of the stairs there was a covered trough to allow
the dogs to go into the garden without passing down them ;
that in the front drawing-room on the second floor there
were two or three cart loads of beans, peas, and green
vegetables, no portion of which was fit for human food ;
that some of the boards had been taken up and cabbages
planted between the joists ; that on removing to the house
where she died she refused to take off her clothes for
months together, and that her dress generally consisted
of an old petticoat and a piece of old drugget sewn round
her neck, with just room to put her head out ; that in 1818,
Mr. Gray, barrister-at-law, went with his family to the
adjoining house; that she declared to various persons that
Mr. Gray was a kidnapper, and when people went to his
house he used to stand behind the door with a stick and
knock them down, put some stuff in their mouths, boil
them, and send their bones and oil abroad, so that it
should not be found out, and that he only did it to those
who had got money. The court reserved its judgment.

THE AGAPEMONE NEAR BRIDGEWATER.—Some curious
stories are current respecting this place. It is said that
Mr. Prince, the founder, on a recent occasion drove up to
the Castle Inn, at Taunton, in the carriage-and-four
which belonged to the late Queen Adelaide, and which he
has purchased for his own private use, A servant at the
door of the inn warned off some idlers standing in the
way with the words, " Take care, here's Mr. Prince com-
ing." He overheard the expression, and on alighting
from the carriage said to the servant in a solemn tone,
" Mr. Prince once—Jesus Christ." He then entered the
inn, consumed a cigar and a bottle of wine, and returned
to tha Abode of Love. Among other strange regulations
observed in the institution is the election of "Mrs. Prince,"
or " the bride." This is a distinction which every week
falls to the lot of one out of 15 women, who, with their
husbands, are members of the sect. A large stage is
erected, on which is placed a number of seats according
with the number of candidates for the espousal. This
stage revolves round a chair, in which Mr. Prince seats
himself. At a given signal the husbands of the womon
enter, and each stationing himself at the back of his better
half begins to force the stage round. This is continued
until it has attained a pretty good speed, when, at a sign
from Mr. Prince, the husbands retire and the stage is left
to itself; when it stops the woman opposite to Mr Prince
becomes the " bride" for a week, at the end of which
time the ceremony is repeated. On one occasion Mr.
Prince happened to catch a " bride" as she was being
kissed by her husband. As a punishment for this un-
faithfulness she was divorced from her; heavenly consort
and put to menial labour, and the peccant husband was
sentenced to wheel a barrow full of stones up and down
the yard for three days. Once a " bride" was discovered
to be in an interesting condition—an offence that could
not be tolerated by the laws of the Agapemone, and she
was dismissed as a traitress in whom no further confidence
could be placed, Several expulsions of this nature have,
it is said, occurred lately, a fundamental law of the Prince-
ites being, that no children are to be admitted within the
institution. It is rumoured, however, that the founder's
influence is on the decline. Some time ago he assembled
the saints, and informed them, that he bad been com-
missioned by the Lord to take a long journey, for the ad-
vantage of his own soul, as well as the interests of the in-

stitution. In order that the latter object might be fu
gained, he_suggasted it would be necessary to let him to

all the cash and papers, but fading to show in what pa
ticular this could conduce to the prosperity of the raen
hers, they, having less faith than of old, declined adop
ing his suggestion, and he did not_en.ter on the journey,
dispensation, the d

sciples believed, being procured frc
rd countermanding it, About the same time,
[gated and carried into effect a decree, whereby t.
of heaven—i e. the Agapemone—were to be sh
it all applicants on a certain date, when the out

Id be consigned to
nted the reception of several devo
ranks of life, and the farmers in t

cree has not
from the hunt

al perdition

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fforts made to int— cneir
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