The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-01-08 00:00:00

and afterwards to men. You should therefore labour to have,.
first, " a conscience void of offence towards God," and never
sacrifice this for the sake of pleasing men. Contributors to
the fund can have no lawful ground of complaint against you,
so long as you confine the application of that fund to the
teaching of truth and pure religion; and if they should. find
fault; your answer is ready—" We ought to obey God rather
than men."
Let me also add, in conclusion, that parents are strictly
enjoined in the Bible to " bring up their children in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord." When they, there-
fore, through ignorance, or otherwise, attempt to educate
them in a creed or form of religious worship that is unscrip-
tural and antichristian, it becomes your immediate and seri-
ous duty to remonstrate with them, and certainly in nowise
to assist them to ruin their offspring for ever.

On every ground, sir, your conduct in this affair is indefen-
sible. You have " erred, not knowing the scriptures." That
God of his goodness may convince you all of your error, and
bring you into the way of truth, is fervent prayer of my heart.
1 am, sir,
Your most obedient servant,
D. JAMES.
Kirkdale, Jan. 4, 1839,

SPURIOUS BARK.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—ln a letter addressed to the editor of the Liverpool
Standard of the 25th ult., by a writer under the signature of

" Oh !" it is stated that " several serons of bark, of some
thousands of pounds weight, were lately offered for sale in
the Liverpool market, but were rejected by the respectable
houses in the trade as a spurious article. It nevertheless
found purchasers; but as a great law authority has decided
the greater the truth the greater the libel,' perhaps those
sturdy champions for uenuine drugs —the doctors—will save
me the risk of an adios, by informing the public who it was
that made the purchase, and where this identical spurious
stuff is dispensed, at the moderate profit of full two hundred
per cent." The letter from which the above is quoted, is
headed " The Liverpool Apothecaries' Company," and as
the whole of the arguments contained in it :end to establish
the injurious effect of monopolies upon the honest efforts of
individual competition, the above fart appears to have been
introduced to show that the public are less secured from im-
position by joint-stock trading companies, however plausible
their pretensions, than by a system of trade wherein integrity
of dealing and the sale of a good article can alone insure a
good reputation. Cinchona bark is a drug of such impor-
tance in the materia medico, that the public have a right to
call upon the "Apothecaries' Company" to clear themselves,
if in their power, from t,he insinuation.apparently iiii.cted
against them in the letter of .':Oh • For myself I must
acknowledge, that, until ttis is cleared up, I shall be mote
than usually scrupulous, not only of whom I purchase bark,
but every other description of drugs and medicine.
" Some thousands of pounds weight" of one spurious article
only, in a place like Liverpool, is a serious thing. The
health of the public is not to bo trifled with, and they ought
to know who were the purchasers of the "spurious stuff," and
where it " is dispensed at the moderate profit of full two hun-
dred
.per cent." JUS'IITIA.

THE SCIENCE OF ARCHITECTURE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sin,—lt has become a practice lately, with the gentlemen
of the public press of this town, to insert notices in the form
of critiques on buildings that have recently been erected
here for public purposes. Of course Ido not mean to find
fault with the medium through which these critiques come,
but it is the matter contained in them that 1 object to.
These, in many instances, have evidently been written by
persons not conversant with the true science of architecture,
either as regards the distinguishing characters of the styles,
or the laws of composition peculiar to each; but whose
pseudo-pretensions are sufficient to obtain for their lucutira-
lions a place in the columns of the public papers.
These critics should, before obtruding their opinions on
the public, study. the elements of composition in those parts
which characterise the different styles of architecture, and
.at the same time acquire (where Nature has not precluded
the possibility) a correct taste for the beautiful, with a true
knowledge of the complete adaptation of these to the pur-
poses for which they are intended;—then we may expect the
science to be benefited, and the public taste improved, by
their criticisms : but, in the present imperfect state of their
knowledge, the science itself is degraded and demoralised
almost as much by these criticisms as by the buildings criti-
cised; and the tastes of the uninitiated corrupted by the libe-
ral but ignorant application of cant terms, such as " ele-
gance of design," " chastity and purity of taste," "magni-
ficent effect of touts ensemble," &c. &c., which they bestow
indiscriminately on buildings of fictitious character and me-
retricious taste, as well as on those of pure character and
classical elegance.
That these effusions, from the pens of men incompetent
to judge correctly of the merits of such productions, should
be allowed to pass current as true coin, through the news-
paper columns, without being checked, or at all events ex-
posed, is much to be regretted by those who take an interest
in the advancement of that noble and useful science in our
town ' • and I consider the gentlemen at the head of the press
here have a heave responsibility on their shoulders, by the
indulgence thus granted, for the consequences that are likely
to arise, not only to the public, but also to the truly profes-
sional men, who have probably spent half their lives and
much money in the acquirement of a competent knowledge
of their profession, to enable them properly to discharge
their duty to their employers,—and, above all, the conse-
quences which are certain to arise to the town itself.
I have been induced to say this much, on account of the
fulsome and ignorant panegyrics that have appeared from
time to time in the papers, on some of these buildings lately
erected and recently opened in Liverpool, which, in my opt-
nion, are as complete failures in true architectural compo-
sition as ever came from the hands of men professing a
knowledge of that dignified science.
At a future time, perhaps in a series of letters. if you will
have the kindness to grant them a place in your columns, 1
shall point out the incongruity that so much abounds in these
"magnificent structures,"_ and also trace the misapplication
of spurious imitations of parts that have been taken from
the works of more skilful masters: and in doing so, I pledge
myself to praise or censure the works, without any reference
or personal feeling whatever to the authors of them, who I
do verily believe are most exemplary members of society,
although not quite so much so of the architectural profes-
sion.—Yours, &c. VIGNOLA.

ON THE ADULTERATION OF MALT AND
SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL ST.AND..4RD.

Sta,—Among the various subjects which su loudly call for
reform, it surprises me that no one exerts himself to obtain a
reform in one which intimately concerns a very large pro-
portion of her Majesty's lieges, and which stands in greater
need of reform than any other which can be mentioned: 1
allude to the frightful extent to which the adulteration of
malt and spirituous liquors is carried on. Ido not suppose
any law could be enacted which would altogether prevent it,
but still it is very evident that the existing laws are very in-
adequate to the purpose. I would, therefore, earnestly re-
commend to the people of England to petition the legislature
to pass a new act, to be intituled,. "An Act for the better
preventing the Adulteration of Ale, Porter, and Spirits." I
think there can be but one opinion in the country, that such
an act is rendered highly necessary. The only question that
remains is, in what manner it should be framed. The first
thing, then, I would advise, is, that the fines which the law
now inflicts on conviction of a brewer using deleterious arti-
cles in the brewing of ale, be altogether abolished. A fine
is a very inadequate punishment. A brewer carries on a
system of adulteration by which he realises some thousands:
he must be indeed an unlucky dog if he be found out before
he clears a few hundreds. He therefore plays a sure game.
If convicted, (an event which may never occur, and which
will seldom occur but once in a man's life; for whatever cir-
cumstances may have led to it, he will take care to steer
clear of them in future,) he pays a sum which, compared to
the sum he has ;rained by it, is as nothing. If a man meets
you on the highway, and robs you of a few pounds, he is on
conviction transported. Now only reflect for a moment on
the consequences of the brewer's conduct. He in the first
place cheats you, inasmuch as he sells you a spurious article,
and charges as much as be ought to charge had it contained
its due proportion of malt and hops. But, what is still worse,
he secretly undermines your constitution—robs you of that
first of blessings, your -health—and lays the foundation of
those diseases which render life a burthen, and consign you
to an early tomb. And will any one say that the man who,
for the vile and selfish consideration of private emolument,
thus deals out misery and death to hundreds and thousands,
should not at least be as severely dealt with as the midnight
thief, or the highwayman who robs you in the open face of
day? But as prevention of crime is always better than
punishment, allow me to suggest a few hints, which may
tend, if adopted, to lessen the evil. I would then, in the first
place, enact,—chat sixpenny and eightpenny ale should con-
tain respectively a certain quantity of malt and hops, and
that no brewer should sell them under a certain sum per
barrel. Every brewer, on taking out his license, should be
solemnly sworn to adhere to this rule, and should also be
made to take a solemn oath that he will not put, or cause to
be put, any deleterious drug in his ale or porter. We will
charitably suppose that many would be prevented by this
alone from adulterating their ale. The punishment, how-
ever. which I would inflict for a violation of this last oath,
should be, on a clear conviction, transportation fur life. If
convicted of substituting sugar, molasses, or any other inno-
cent article in lieu of malt, 1 would then punish him by a
fine at the discretion of the excise. By compelling him to
put the due proportion of malt into the number of barrels he
brews each time, he would lose the advantage to be derived
from the coculus indicus, and the many et ceteras with which
the brewer's druggist furnishes him. There is also anther
circumstance which requires to be amended. The publican
receives a vast deal more than an equitable share of the pro-
fits arising from the sale of his ale. A barrel of ale ought to
run 32 gallons, which, at 6d. a quart, makes 64e. Now it is
a well-known fact, that many brewers sell their ale as low as
40s. a barrel, and allow 2s. discount out of that, which leaves
the publican a profit of 265. Now if the publican receives
a profit of 13s. from the sale of one half barrel, what profit
must the brewer have who sells it for 195., and what profit
can he have if he brews it solely from malt and hops ? It is
easy, then, to see how the public are abused, in order that
the publican may grow rich at their expense. The publican
who gives 19s. and the publican who gives 245. for the half
barrel, both sell it for 6d. a quart. Now this is a monstrous
imposition. The original price of all ale, and the quantity
of malt and hops used in the brewing of it, ought to be regu-
lated by a fixed standard, and the publican ought to be re-
strained in the exorbitance of his profit. By this means the
public would be protected, and they would stand a fair chance
of obtaining an unadulterated article for their money ; and
the honest brewer would be protected from the unprincipled
conduct of those mercenary wretches who care nut what
poison they vend, so that they can tempt the still more mer-
cenary publican to purchase from them their cheap but per-
nicious mixture. It is to that mighty engine, the press,
which, when rightly conducted, and guided by the energies
of intelligent and honest men, may be indeed truly called
the palladium of our liberties, that we can alone look for the
redress of those grievances hich, like a noisome pestilence,
hover over and corrupt our land. Let me, then, entreat you
to take up this matter as it deserves, and being once con-
vincer! of the alarming extent to which the adulteration of
malt liquors in particular is carried on, endeavour to rouse
the public mind to a sense of their wrongs, and to the misery
which is entailed on them in the dreadful shapes of paralysis,
insanity, &c. &c., through their daily consumption of that
spurious article which is too often vended under the name of
a wholesome and salutary beverage.

Allow me now to mention one more circumstance which
loudly calls for reformation. We are a nation of nominal
Christians. Would we were such in reality! Our rulers,
therefore, ought to be Christians; and though it would be
too much to expect that they should have arrived to the
" fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ," yet it is
not too much to expect that the doctrines of our holy religion
should form the basis of their deliberations, and that nothing
should be sanctioned by the laws of our land which brings a
discredit on our holy religion. Now, while the sale of every
other arti,'le is prohibited on the Sabbath day, why should
that of ale and spirits be allowed? If it be a disgrace to a
pious Christian to be seen in a public-house on the Sabbath,
it must he a disgrace to a Christian government to allow that
public-house to be. open on that holy day. " But," say
the advocates of the system, •` Sunday is the day on which
the publican derives his greatest profit; and if vou close his
house on that day, you would do hiut a serious injury. Sun-
day is also the only day which the nuechithic and the labourer
have for recreation, and it would be hard to deprive them of
it." It would indeed be hard to deprive any man of any
gain or of any recreation which he can enjoy consistently
with his hapes of heaven; hit, inasmuch as the soul is of in-
finitely mare value than the body, it cannot but he considered.
charitable and humane in any government—and more espe.