The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-12-13 00:00:00

REPRESENTATION OF I3IRMINGHAM.

RESIGNATION OF MR. THOMAS ATTWOOD.
BIRMINGHAM—Tuesday Evening.—Yesterday and to-
day town talk is devoted almost exclusively to one interesting
and engrossing topic—namely, the announcement that Mr.
Tnos. Attwood has applied for the Chiltern Hundreds. Of
this fact there does not appear t'o exist the slightest doubt;
and some circumstances connected with it would make it
appear that the honourable gentleman attempted to get rid
of his senatorial honours after no very honourable fashion.
The usual practices for members of late days, when bought
up by Government; "or when they found the trade of re-
presentativn less profitable than they expected, was to pay
their constituents the compliment, in the first instance, of
telling them so ; but the radical representative of Birming-
ham did' not consider the " great unwashed" worthy of this
act of courtesy, and he intended it seems, at once to con-
found them with the extent of their calamity, by accepting
of the Chiltern Hundreds, and leaving them to tish for
another candidate in turbid and troubled waters. The
honourable member's intentions, however, transpired, not-
withstanding all his care and cunning—so true it is that a
certain class of persons sometimes overreach themselves.
He went rather late on Saturday, to what he conceived, to
be the proper Government office, to give the necessary in-
timation, but not being so conversant with matters of this
kind, as some of Mr. O'Connell's Irish tail, he found him-
self in the wrong box, and before. he conld' retrieve the
Mistake whiCh he made, the proper 'office was. closed. By
some means very easily to be accounted for under a Govern-
anent.which has not many votes to spare, the circumstance
found its way to Birmingham, and on the, following day
(Sunday) a meeting of the burgesses was called to determine
the .question, " What is to be done ?" Aftersome canvass-
'ing4)f the merits of various parties, in the course. of which
.was suggested that Middlesex Joe should be withdrawn
from 'Kilkenny,• for' the purpose of supplying the vacancy,
leaving Mr. O'Connell to fill his place, it was at length
decided that Mr. Sturgc, the well-known advocate of the
abolition of slavery,.antl member of the Society of. Friends,
should be nominated in the room of Mr. Attwood. Some
gentlemen connected with the anti-corn-law league, who
were invited to attend, offered on behalf of that body £5OO,
and,an -additional sum of £5OO, if required, to secure Mr.
Sturge's return. Thus far matters have proceeded on one
side of the question ; but Mr. Sturge being out of town,
and ignorant of the political movement going forward, may
refuse the proffered honour ' • of this is friends seem, however,
to have no apprehension. The conservative party, notwith-
standing the little notice which they have had, are not idle,
and intend to proposee Richard Spooner,' Esq., a gentleman
of known eotstitutional principles, and whose talents and
intelligence will reflec the highest credit upon their choice.
There is not a doubt of his being supported, not only by
every conservative in the borough to a man, but by a large
number of
_the more respectable whigs. Committees are
already formed on both sides, and are only waiting, to de-
clare their men publicly, for the official announcement, by
Mr. Attwood, of his resignation. , That the contest will be
a close one there can be no doubt but upon this subject it
would be prematute at present. it may, however, be stated
that the conservatives never entered the field under more
favourable circumstances.—Correspondent of the Morning
Herald.

TRANSMUTATION EXTRAORDINARY:—A gentleman went
to the cupboard for a dram. Being in a state of mental
alienation, he swallowed the contents of a bottle which con-
tained oil used for turning light hair black. He instantly
commenced changing colour, and has since become a perfect
negro. The deep grief of his beauteous and devoted wife is
said to be absolutely heart-rending.
Prince Alexander Iladgeri is"about to publish, from the
imperial press of the university of Moscow, a gigantic work,
which has occupied him thirty years----a dictionary in Turkish,
Arabic, Persian, and French. During his long diplomatic
career at the Porte, he states that he, in common with other
persons, wishing to make themselves acquainted with the
Turkish language,. experienced great inconvenience from the
want.
_of such assistance,"as the great mixture of Arabic and
Persian presents one of the most serious obstacles to its ac-
quirement. The work has received the approbation of Von
Hammer, the late Silvestre de Sacy, Rosenzweig, and others,
and 200 copies have been subscribed for by the Sultan. It is
publishing at the expence of the Russian Government, and
the Emperor _Nicholas has accepted its dedication. The
ptosPectus and accompanying specimen give a splendid idea
of the progress of typography in Russia.—Athenceuni.