The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-11-19 00:00:00

ST. ANN'S WARD.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
Sir,—We have read the address of Mr. Joseph Mascn,
the late member for this ward, inserted in the Albion of the
4th instant. We have also read the leading article on " TORY
RE-ACTION" in this ward, contained in the Liverpool Chro-
nicle of the 9th instant ; and have also read the speech and
memorial of Mr. Alderman .Benn, delivered to the Town
Council, on Saturday last, upon which we proceed to make
the following comments.
We begin with Mr. Mason's address. In this document,
that gentleman insinuates that many of the voters were in
a state of intoxication when they came to the booth ; in
reply to which we state that there were TWO instances, and
no more, of any voter being in liquor, and the men in these
instances were considered by the aldermen and assessors in
a fit state to vote, otherwise their votes would, without
doubt, have beenrejeqed. Mr. Mason need not imagine
i
the " re-action" ▪ n this ward has been brought about by
treating. Another and more cogent impulse has actuated
the electors, as is exemplified in the conduct of a certain
Doctor in this ward, who, on all previous occasions, has voted
for the reformer, but on the present tendered a vote for each;
and upon being told he could not do so said, " Then I will
vote for neither. So much for Mr. Mason and his insinu-
ations. Now for the calumny contained in the Chronicle ;
it is as follows We need not be surprised at their (the
tories') success, i▪ f they would descend to the unheard
of baseness of putting one of their faction under false
colours, upon the liberal committee, and so not merely ob-
taining his own vote, which was unblushingly given to them
on the day of election, but also all the secrets and plans of
the reformers. This is stated to have been the case." The
editor of the Chronicle is base enough to insinuate that the
tories have been guilty of conduct such as this. We admit
that a man residing in the ward, who has at all previous elec-
tions supported and voted for the reformers, and in Novem-
ber, 183 S, voted for Mr. Coglan, and at the election on the
Ist of this month, was on the REFORM COMMITTEE, did
vote at the last election for Mr. Jones, the conservative can-
didate ; yet we are not, however, aware that he ever belonged
to the conservative party. The editor of the Chronicle will,
therefore, see that the tories have not descended to any such
act of baseness as above alleged, and that the statement
made by him is without foundation. The man was one of
his reform party, but, for reasons best known to himself,
became attached to the conservatives, and voted in their in-
terest. We now observe on the speech and memorial of Mr.
Alderman Benn. At the meeting of the Council of the 9th
inst., Mr. Berm is reported to have said in his speech, that
a person, of the name of John Bond, tendered his vote ; but
circumstances occurred which induced him to believe that
this was not the same John Bond who was on the register.
" The usual questions were put to him, and replied to in the
affirmative; but still BELIEVING that he was not the man
who had a right to vote, he caused him to be taken into cus-
tody."
In the memorial, Mr. Alderman Benn says, " he still in-
sisted that the vote should be recorded, and that being con-
vinced he was not BOND, he caused the paper to be retained,
and the person tendering it to be taken into custody."
On these assertions of Mr. Alderman Benn, we shall
merely observe, that they are one and all of them mistakes ;
and that the inducement, the belief, and the taking into cus-
tody, were all the acts of Mr. Reyner, the Reform Assessor,
and not of Mr. Benn. We next come to the speech of Mr.
Coglan. This gentleman says " that he has been instructed
by a respectable portion of his constituents, who considered
it a disgrace to the ward as it was to the council, that the in-
dividual personating Bond, was brother-in-law to the suc-
cessful candidate, who was present in the poll-booth when
he voted."

In reply to this charge we say, that the man may be re-
lated to Mr. Jones in the way supposed, for anything we
know to the contrary, but that Mr. Jones was present in the
booth at the time we deny, and it has been so stated on OATH
before Mr. Rushton, by one of the ex-candidate's friends,
and we believe in the presence of Mr. Coglan, who was in at-
tendance at the adjourned hearing of the case ; moreover, as
Mr. Rushton refused to permit the ex-candidate (who was
the Advocate on the hearing) to put any questions tending
to inculpate Mr. Jones in the personation of Bond, unless he
intended to bring a specific charge against Mr. Jones ; and
as Mr. Jones has denied that he was in the booth at the time
of the personation, and Mr. Coglan refuses to retract his
assertion to the contrary, we think Mr. Coglan has not ex-
hibited those feelings towards Mr. Jones, which should cha-
racterise a gentleman and a man of honour. We should not
have felt ourselves called upon to notice these misstate-
ments, had it not been that they have become the subject of
frequent remark, and much surprise having been excited
that they were not contradicted.—Yours, &c.,
J. C. GROCOTT, one of the Assessors of the Ward.
G. H. CORLESS,I Burgesses at the Booth on the part
JOHN DAVIES, I of Mr. Jones.
Liverpool, Nov. 18,1839.

On Saturday next will be launched, from the building-yard
of Mr. Peter Cato, west side Brunswick Dock, a fine strong•
built vessel, intended as a Light-ship, on the Formby Station :
she is supposed to be a superior model and well adapted for
riding,

INQUESTS.

DEATH FROM APOPLEXY.
On Friday, an inquest was held on view of the body of
Mr. Thomas Dove, partner of Messrs. Rigby and Co.,
boiler-manufacturers.

Joseph Rigby being sworn.—l am a boiler-maker in Stan-
hope-street. Deceased, whose name was Thomas Dove, was
my partner. He was in the habit of sleeping in an apartment
over our office. I saw him last on Tuesday evening, about
five o'clock, and he was then qWte well. He went out and
returned. The deceased was in the habit of locking the
door inside before he went to bed. About ten o'clock next
morning, on my coming to town, I found the office door was
not open. I knocked at the door, but, receiving no answer,
I had the lock picked. On getting in, we found the deceased
lying dead at the foot of the stairs, one arm resting on the
stairs, and the other on the floor. I had the body removed
to the inner office, but did not call a surgeon, as the body
was quite cold. He was a moderately temperate man, but
used sometimes to get over the line. When I last saw him
alive, he was perfectly sober. When he did drink anything,
it was rum.

[lt was here stated by the coroner, that Mr. Cooper, sur-
geon, had actually detected the smell of rum in the brain of
the deceased. Mr. C. said it was the first time he had no-
ticed such a circumstance, and that its possibility had been
denied by the faculty generally ; but in this case there could
be no doubt of the fact. This Mr. C. repeated in his
evidence.]
William Hignett said I am book-keeper at Messrs. Rigby
and Co.'s, Deceased was my father-in-law, and was about
63 years of age. On Wednesday last I was informed that
he was dead at the office. I had the body taken to my house
in Phythian-street. He sometimes drank a little.

Mr. James Cooper, surgeon.—l have made a post mortem
examination of tke body of Mr. Thomas Dove, and, from the
diseased state of the brain, I am of opinion that the deceased
died in a fit of apoplexy brought on by drinking. I dis-
tinctly perceived the smell of rum in the cavities of the
brain. (Other parties also smelt it.)
The jury returned a verdict to the effect, that the deceased
died from apoplexy, produced by drinking.