The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-04-26 00:00:00

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE LIVERPOOL TOWN
MISSION.

The tenth annual meeting of the above institution was
held, at the Music Hall, on Tuesday evening last. The
object of this society is to remove the moral and religious
ignorance existing amongst the dense population of this great
town, by means of the visits of pious and devoted men, who
go about, from house to house and street to street, circulat-
ing Bibles and urging parents and adults generally to attend
public worship, and to send their children to some of the
numerous Sunday and Day Schools which are open for their
reception. The labours of this association, though conducted
in the most unostentatious manner, have had the effect of
bringing before the public detailed and accurate statements
of the actual condition of the great mass of the population.
Owing to the unfavourable state of the weather at the time
appointed for commencing the business of the meeting, the
numbers present were not so great as was expected, but, in
a short time after, as the evening turned out more favourable,
the hall became densely thronged by ladies and gentlemen
who took an interest in the promotion of the objects of the
mission.
At half-past six o'clock, in consequence of the unavoidable
absence of Mr. Sands, who it was expected would preside on
the present occasion,
Mr. JOHN CROPPER was called upon to take the chair.
The proceedings having been opened with a prayer by the
Rev. Mr. Fisher, the Chairman rose, and briefly addressed
the meeting. 'He regretted that the absence of the gentle-
man who was to have taken the chair rendered it necessary
for one so little qualified as he was to be called upon to do
so; but as he had been thus honoured, he would endeavour
to perform the duties of the office to the best of his ability.
The objects of the society which they were then assembled
to .support were Most iinportant to the town of Liverpool,
inasmuch as it employed men to carry information into
districts but little known to the meeting, as the most mo-
mentous subject that could engage the attention of man.
Abundant proofs would be submitted to them that hitherto
the society has not laboured in vain ; and the knowledge of
the success that has attended its exertions, and or the great
good it hes already conferred upon the community, would, he
was convinced, 'act -as a strong encouragement to them to
co-operate 'with the society, and still further t•prOnipte the
objects which it was designs...At°, accomplish. Xige,reportof
the committee, which would be read to the meeting., would
w ,sho to the ladies and gentlemen present how much Ilsbeen
done, but he would beg to remind them that still much re-
mained to be done ; and though he was sorry to have this
statement to make, which he did from the, expesience he had
of the extent of the society's labours, and the disproportion
of their means to the end they sought to effect, he still, how-
-ever, felt no apprehension for the result, as he was confident
that those he addressed would make exertions commensurate
with the difficulties they had to surmount. The chairman,
in conclusion, referred to the thinness of the meeting at this
period, which he attributed to the circumstance, that a
meeting had been recently held for the same purpose, in the
Music Hall. At that meeting, although some interesting
statements had been made, the annual report of the state and
progress, and prospects of the society, had not, been prepared
by the committee. It was now in readiness, and he therefore
called upon the secretary to read it to the meeting.
REPORT.
" In presenting the tenth annual report, your committee
rejoice to say that the Liverpool Town Mission is still gradu-
ally extending its labours, and that they have reason to hope
the Christian public are becoming increasingly convinced of
its growing importance. Several measures have been adopted
during the past year which your committee believe have
greatly improved the working of the society. At the last an-
nual meeting, the Town Mission had twelve stipendiary agents,
who were employed by the society for half their time only.
Experience proved that this was not an advantageous arrange-
ment, as it necessarily involved the agents in secular business,
and thus prevented them from devoting their undivided
energies to the religious improvement of the poor. Your
committee have therefore engaged the full time of nine agents,
who now give themselves wholly to the work ; and in sonic
cases _this has been done at a pecuniary sacrifice on the part
of the agents, which has evinced that it was with them a work
of faith and a labour of love. Your society has lately lost
the services of one diligent and useful missionary, Mr. Wm.
Davies, who has been obliged by domestic circumstances to
resign his office as one of your agents. Two new agents have
however been appointed during the past year, and are now
employed on full time. The present number of stipendiary
agents is therefore thirteen.
" Another improvement is the appointment of a superin-
tendent. As the number of agents increased, the necessity
for this appointment became more and more urgent. Your
committee are happy to state that they have secured the ser-
vices of the Rev. Thomas Griffith, under whose superin-
tendence they trust the society will be rendered an increasing
blessing to the town. These new appointments, together
with the employment of the full time of most of the agents,
is attended by a considerable increase of expenditure; but
your committee are decidedly of opinion that they will be ac-
companied by a proportions.- e inc ease in the efficiency of the
society, and its adaptation to carry on the great work of
evangelising the town.
" From the monthly schedules of the agents, it appears
that since the last annual meeting they have made upwards
of 49,300 domiciliary visits to the, poor, of which nearly
10,000 were visits to the sick. They have held 2326 meet-
ings; the aggregate number in attendance being 44,114.
They have conducted four adult schools for teaching scripture
reading, and have been the means of sending 488 children to
day or Sunday schools. They have distributed 38,055 tracts
and short papers in their districts. These returns show a
considerable .increase above the returns of the preceding
year, although only eleven months have elapsed since the
last annual meeting. This brief enumeration of their labours
will, it is hoped, be sufficient to show the friends of the society
that its simple machinery is able to carry on a mighty work,
were its claims to general support more fully acknowledged
and more faithfully met.
" From the treasurer's accounts it will be seen that, on
account of the increased number of agents, the sum paid for
salaries in 1838 was more than double the amount paid in
1837. This sum has been met by donations, and increased
annual subscriptions, so that at the close of 1838, there was a
balance of £139 17s. lid. in the hands of the treasurer. On
estimating the expenditure of the present year, it appeared
that, notwithstanding this balance, there would be a defi-
ciency of about £3OO, even if no addition should be made to
the number of agents. To meet this deficiency a public tea-
party was lately held in this place, when the collection
amounted to upwards of £lOO, in addition to a donation of
£5O from Wm. Kay, Esq. While your committee would
gratefully acknowledge these liberal contributions, they would
earnestly request an increase of annual subscriptions, for
upop the amount of permanent subscriptions your society
must mainly - depend for support. At present the t annual
expenditure is more than double the amount of annual sub-
scriptions.
Your committee-have peculiar pleasure in adverting to the
steady progress of the Ladies' Association. The sum re-
ceived from this association for the year 1838, amounted to
£67 7s. 9d., being upwards of £3O more that the sum collec-
ted in the preceding year.
" Your committee have also, as on former occasions, to
acknowledge the kind assistance of the Liverpool Religious
Tract Society, by their very liberal grant of 29,400 religious
tracts, and 4900 short papers, and of the Liverpool-Auxiliaiy
Bible Society, by a grant of fifty Testaments for the adult
schools.
" Considerable attention has been paid to the moral statis-
tics of the poor in Liverpool. A tabular view of the state
of twenty-four streets has been prepared, and will be printed
in the report, from which it appears, that in these 24 streets
there are 2064 families, containing 6138 adults, of whom only
737 regularly attend public worship, and 3992 wholly neglect :
1761 adults are unable to read, and 1195 families are desti-
tute of the scriptures. The number of children is 4368, of
whom 1014 attend day schools, and 230 more attend only at
Sunday schools, while there are 2249 children, exclusive of
infants, not attending any school.
" Such are the statistics of 24 streets, noti n some half-
civilized country on which the glorious light of the gospel
has but lately dawned ! Such is the state of 24 streets in
Liverpool, and that, too, in the year of our Lord 1839 !
Startling as these numbers are to the reflecting mind when
taken in the aggregate, the more we examine the details, the
more gloomy and affecting does the scene appear. The fol-
lowing statements are extracted from the agents' journals,
and many similar extracts might be brought forward :
" In one small house in a court, I found that they had fif-
teen lodgers, the whole of whom sleep in the top garret. In
several cellars I found large families with only a little dirty
straw to sleep on. In this one court there are 141 immortal
souls, of whom only two individuals profess ever to attend
the house of God, and there are in the whole court but two
Bibles. In general they received me very kindly, but never
in all my labour have I been so much cast down—never have
I met with so much ignorance and wretchedness.
" In 98 families visited in L street, not one indi-
vidual goes regularly to worship, and there is but one Bible.
One man in this street informed us that he never was in a
place of worship.'
" Your committee trust that it is only necessary that- these
painful facts should be known to rouse the Christians of Li-
verpool to the determination that something more shall be
done for those who are thus perishing around them for lack
of knowledge. Your committee deeply regret that while the
Dublin City Mission has about twenty agents, and the Glas-
gow City Mission employs forty agents, and the Manchester
Town Mission employs forty-four agents, the Liverpool Town
Mission should scarcely be able to support fourteen, andthat
on account of their limited funds they have lately been com-
pelled to reject several applications from persons wishing to
be employed as agents. The harvest truly is great, and the
labourers engaged are few. Other labourers are waiting to
be employed. Surely it cannot be that the church of Christ
will withhold the means.
" The rapid spread of infidelity, under the name of social-
ism, which has recently taken place among the poor in some
of our large towns, loudly warns us that it is no longer safe
thus to neglect our home population ; but that if we are still
to be distinguished among the nations for our religious privi-
leges, we must enter into the spirit of our Redeemer's last
command, that repentance and remission of sins be preached
in his name throughout all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
" Your committee would beg especial attention to the
agents' reports, and extracts from the agents' journals, which
will shortly be read, as containing abundant evidence that the
divine blessing is resting on the efforts of your society. In
some parts of the town, hitherto notorious for vice, the agents
appear to have had unusual encouragement."
Mr. GRIFFITHS then read copious extracts from the re-
ports of missionary labours, sent in by the agents of the
several districts to which they are appointed and into which
the society has divided the town. They confirmed the ge-
neral statements contained in the report, but, though inte-
resting, the details into which they enter are too minute for
publication in a newspaper.
Mr. JOHN JONES, (the treasurer of the society,) read the
report of the accounts, as audited by the proper officers, for
the year ending the 31st Dec. 1838, by which it appeared that
there is a balance in favour of the society of £139. 17s. lid.
The statement, as far as we could collect from the hasty
manner in which it was read, was as follows :
Agents' salaries
Printing, advertisenients, &c.
Rent of the society's apartments lO 0 0
Expenses paid for repairs, &c., of same 10 14 3
Sundry expenses lO 10 8
For the institution
Paid to Mr. Radcliffe & ano-1 16 6
ther, for expenses incurred 611 0 10 7 6
by them for the society..

Balance in treasurer's hands

As far, therefore, as the resources we have in hands will
enable us to go on, we need not entertain the least apprehen-
sion of embarassment for some time, and he fervently hoped
that the result of the appeal now made would justify the ex-
pectations he formed of having a hundred pounds contributed
to-night. The meeting could not take any other course than
adopt the report, that had been read to him—the tenor of it
was of a most satisfactory nature, and he trusted all he had
the honour of addressing would manifest their confidence in
the committee of the society, by contributing so as to enable
them not only to keep their ground, but to advance further,
'and by employing more agents, to afford the means whereby
the gospel would be preached to all the poor of Liverpool.
(Cheers.)
The Rev. H. CRICHTON then rose and moved, that the re-
port just read by the secretary be adopted, printed, and cir-
culaied. He made this motion with the greatest willingness
and pleasure, for the report was well prepared, and reflected
great credit on the taste, judgment, and religious feeling of
the individual who drew it up. It was impossible to advert
to all the topics it embraced, but there were three prominent
subjects treated of by it, which they must consider carefully,
before they could be induced to doubt of the qualifications—
of the efficiency of the society to carry out the objects which
it was instituted to promote. In the first place, the report
set forth the great evils that the society had to contend with ;
next, the adoption of suitable means to reduce, and finally re-
move, those evils ; and thirdly, the success that had already
attended its operations. The great evil was ignorance, dark,
dense, appalling ignorance, with all its concomitant evils—
namely, irreligion in all its hideous and revolting forms,
from perfect indifference, up to open, wild, and uncontrolled
infidelity, and, as a consequence, vice in each and every of
its odious features, and wretchedness, personal, social, and
doinestic ; and what is the most lamentable reflection of all
is, that this guilt, and misery, and darkness prevail amidst
the surrounding light, amongst a population, that turn their
eyes whither they may, must behold those splendid churches,
and sacred edifices, that are on every side raised to the wor-
ship of the Great Creator, and in which ministers, and
!preachers, every where abound. This was a fearful aggrava-
,tiOn of the mischief they were called upon to lessen and abolish,
and which could not be affirmed of the heathen in the most
distant lands. It was clear, from all that they had heard, that
they had no adequate conception of the evils that surrounded
them—ministers, were not aware of the extent of those evils,
although they were sometimes witnesses of the most revolt-
ing instances of sin, but these were generally amongst per-
sons who had some knowledge of christianity. The ministers
of the church could not be acquainted with the evils in which
this town is involved—they could not guage, or form an esti-
mate of the length and depth of them, without plunging into,
and actually, inspecting the sources of this irreligion, at the
contemplation of which every moral feeling of one's breast
recoils. Even the excellent agents of the society have not an
adequate conception of the amazing amount of the immorality,
ignorance, and crime, that degrade an immense proportion of
the population of Liverpool. Those:who were incredulous on
this subject, would do well to accomphny the agents, in order
to know the enormity of the evils they had to grapple with.
It was impossible to tell the extent to which God was dis-
honoured in the town they lived in—how his Majesty. was in-
sulted, his name profaned; his authority contemned, his mercy
abused, and his justice outraged—how the sabbath was de-
secrated, the sacred word made a jest-book of, the ordinances
of religion despissd, and the threatened justice of divine power
dared and provoked. They should go into the crowded lanes
of this town, into the courts and alleys, and witness the de-
solation that every where presents itself to the eye, and then ask
the inmates of those wretched hovels, while bent over their
half extinguished fires, as to their condition, and they will
give you a narration of the cold pinching poverty they endure,
that their squalid and ragged state, and their nakedness, would
render unnecessary, which is sufficient to make the heart of
the most callous ,shudder within him. The moral statistics
of every town ought to be published, for without it, no man
can comprehend the extent and enormity, to which wretched-
ness and misery prevail,—and which, he regretted to state,
would too truly show that the great mass of town's peo-
ple, were very few degrees removed from a state of actual
savageism. If any doubts were entertained on this head, let them
but look to accounts of murders and other atrocities, that are
daily published in the public journals—of parents murdered
by their own children, and of children 'murdered by their
parents—of wives murdered by their husbands, and husbands
by their wives. These were crimes, the commission of which
was totally unknown to the savage state, and as he lamented
he was obliged to admit, they now disgraced civilized life,
they were the more imperatively called upon to adopt the
most effectual means of remedying a state of things under
which such appalling offences were perpetrated. Such ob-
jects this society had in view,—such was its nature, as was
indicated by the name of a Town Mission, the business of
whose agents was—as the wretched beings whose state it pro-
posed to ameliorate, would not come to the light, to employ
themselves in carrying the light to them. This is the end the
society aimed at—to send those excellent individuals, its
agents, to explain to those people, not the duties or advan-
tages of civil life, nor of social morality, nor of domestic
peace, (for 'those would be all the results of their labour),
but what was a much grand and more important object, the
salvation of their immortal souls. (Cheers.) They would
not be sent to descant upon the good effects of observing the
precepts, of orality—nor to demonstrate that excess is
ruinous to health, that it blasts the reputation, and destroy
peace of mind, but, to impress the great truths of the gospel
with all their force upon their hearts. If by the blessing of
God they succeeded in accomplishing this object, all other
blessings would follow in its tram—the means they had taken
to gain that, and was sanctioned by the word of God, and
conformable to the practice and character of the primitive
Christians—the duty, as it was the habit of the society's
agents, was to explain and read the sacred scriptures to the
poor and uninformed—to diffuse moral and religiotts tracts
and other publications amongst the community generally, to
teach children their duties to their parents, to collect them in
their day and-Sunday schools, and communicate to them the
true principles, of Christian faith, and to persuade men to
await the means of God's grace, and to pursue the way to
salvation. Such means as these must be effectual—they are
approved of by God and adopted by his followers, for the re-
generation of the human heart ,• they were successfully em-
ployed by the primitive apostles, and will always prove
successful. The rev. gentleman having thus far enlarged
upon the object of this society, then considered the suitable-
ness of the means to the end, as adopted by it. With the
truths of the Gospel, by the communication of religious
counsel and advice, by the force of religious example, by co-
operation, by union, (for the exertions of two were better
than those of one) the society could not fail to reap the re-
ward of its labours. What is it that an active and zealous
agent could not effect for this glorious cause, who had prayer,
truth, good example, and religious admonition, as his co-
adjutors? He would prove as a dew that fertilizes the spot
on which it falls, as a shade unto which the fatigued could re-
pose as a stream from which the thirsty could drink and be
refreshed. of such advantages can be anticipated from the
labours of one individual, (and their report has shown that
more than this has been accomplished) what might not be ex-
pected from a number of individuals acting in union ? It
was in this way that the Church of Christ gained its mighty
triumphs over the empire of Satan—it was by institutions
-like this, by societies constituted as ours, that this noble
structurewas raised. The rev. gentleman, in illustration of
the success which has attended the efforts of the society, re-
ferred at much length to the statements of individual con-
versions detailed in the reports of the committee and agents,
—and asked, that if such results were produced by the
agency of only fourteen individuals, what might be calculated
upon if they had fifty agents employed ? Generally speaking,
he said, Liverpool exhibited much more commercial spirit
than Glasgow, yet in this latter place they had fifty agents,
students of divinity, or belonging to the different halls, who
were actively engaged in " this work of faith and labour of
love." Taking t'ne present and past as a pledge for the
future, he anticipated that in the course of a year or two, a
similar demonstration of energy and zeal in this good cause
would be made in Liverpool. The rev. gentleman thanked
the ladies and gentlemen present for the-patience with which
they had heard him, and sat down amidst much approbation.
The Rev. J. LYSTER seconded the resolution, he re-
joiced at the increase of a society with which he had been
connected, and which he took an interest from its beginning.
Why, he asked, should he not take an interest in its progress
and prosperity? They called it a Town Mission. What was
a town mission, but an exhibition of the christian feelings
that pervade the inhabitants of it? It was a missionary so-
ciety, and such he had no hesitationin statingwas the society
that Christ and he apostles formed for the propagation of the
Christion religion. They confined their personal labours to
the perishing Jews around them, and when He gave them
their commission to " go and preach to all nations," it was
not to be forgotton that he added the words " beginning at
Jerusalem." They were wiser now than the primitive
Christians were, for, forty years ago, they established foreign
missionaries, and he had, in consequence, on former occa-
sions( in his own pulpit, and in other pulpits, and on this
platform too, felt himself constrained to say, while he ad-
mitted that foreign missions ought not to be neglected, they
had been placed by the people of this country in a wrong
position. (Hear, hear.) They should take lessons from
their active and ever vigilant adversaries. At all periods, in
the-corruptest times, the Catholic Church had their home
missionaries engaged. All who were acquainted with church
history knew that what they called the secular clergy, were
their archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, &c., and that
their regular clergy were them belonging to the monastic
orders of various denomination, which were an essential
part of the machinery of the church, whose duty it was to
look to the management of their foreign missions—so that
the fact could not now be questioned, that their foreign mis-
sions were conducted on a larger scale than all the foreign
missions of Protestants put together. In Rome, the depart-
ment under which foreign missions were regulated, expended
upwards of one hundred thousand pOunds a year in its sup-
port, and what, he would ask, were the monks in this country,
but home missionaries of Popery—they itinerate the kingdom,
spreading their noxious principles. Let us take a lesson
from them, they have no particular living or situation to con-
fine them, and thus they can independently travel through
every district of the country, proclaiming their views of
divine truth. The same system is persued by them on the
continent, as in England, and such was the system acted
upon here when the Reformation was first commenced—
itinerants went about proclaiming the truths of the gospel,
and the principal of those was John Knox, the great reformer
of the Scotch Church. In Scotland, they system also
prevailed, and ministers were employed to itinerate and
,diffuse the glad tidings of salvation through the Redeemer.
He rejoiced at the design which he had learned from a tract
recently received by him, hail been broached by the Chris-
tian Tract Society, (which was the Metropolitan Mission) to
re-establish and carry out the system of eminent men going
forth and proclaiming the truths of the gospel in the open
air. He read a resolution agreed to by the society in a
public meeting, at which Sir Eardly S. Cumming, Bart.
presided, recommending the measure, and referring, in sup-
port of its efficacy, to the example of the Rev. George
Whitehead, who, in the year 1739, now a century ago, first
attempted to preach in the open air, in the-neighbourhood of
the metropolis, and also to the example of the Rev. C. Wes-
ley, whose successful effects, to promote the diffusion of
gospel light, ought to stimulate all to imitate his conduct.
The reverend gentleman gave an appalling picture of the
misery, and vice, and ignorance that afflicts the lower orders
of society in Liverpool. No one could imagine, no concep-
tion could form an estimate of the state of the people in
many of the lanes and back streets, but by actual visitation
—all that the meeting heard was merely the superfices of
their miseries—one must enter their cellars and see the con-
dition of the men, women, and children in them to under-
stand any thing of the extent of the misery, the poverty, the
wretchedness, the irreligion,the drunkenness, the impurity
that prevails in these dens f immorality. In conclusion he
lamented that this society by its agents could not reach the
higher and middle ciasses, amongst many of whom, he re-
gretted to say, there was much indifference to the spirit of
gospel truth. They had not the same poverty and distress
to plead in extenuation'of their absence from divine worship
as the poor people had, to whom he had referred ;—the
greater, the more terrible, then, was the responsibility they
were placed under.
The resolution was then unanimously adopted.
The Rev. GEORGE SMYTH, of Plymouth, rose to propose
the second resolution, which was an humble and devout ac-
knowledgment to Divine Providence for the prosperity the
society had hitherto experienced in its labours during the
past year, and fervently praying that, under the influence of
the Holy Spirit, • the same success would attend its future
operations. In support of this resolution the rev. gentleman
made a very long and eloquent speech, in which he took oc-
casion to notice some observations of the preceding speaker.
He first expressed the astonishment that a stranger must feel
on coming into Liverpool, and beholding the Numerous splen-
did churches, dissenting chapels, and other house of divine
worship, and then be informed of the great extent of im-
morality, the gross licentiousness, and deplorable ignorance
that exist amongst out popidation, as he-feared was too truly,
too accurately described' in the committee's report. It was
consoling, however, to reflect that the evils, the existence of
wilich could not be denied, were in some measure abated by

the laudable exertions of the society, and that, as the attend-
ance at the present meeting denoted, more favourable pros-
pects of removing those evils were before them. As to the
censure indirectly cast upon the support given to foreign
missions, he said he should never desire to exalt the home
missions by depressing the foreign missions, and he believed
it would be found to be the fact, that those who decried fo-
reign missions, and said that charity should begin at home,
were not very ardently inclined to support missions any
where, and that their charity, *hen called upon to support
any object, was limited to home, indeed. He denied that the
conduct of the Primitive Christians, which was employed as
an argument or example to enforce the necessity of confining
their exertions to home conversions, was such as had been
described. They did not wait till they had evangelized all
at home, before they went forth to preach the gospel to all
nations ; in proof of this, the rev. gentleman quoted several
passages from the New Testament. With respect to the
higher and middle classes, alluded to by his respected friend,
he (Mr. S.) entertained a different opinion, and was confident
that the labours of this society would reach the rich and in-
fluential through the poor and helpless. He illustrated his
views, in supporting this position, at much length and with
considerable effect, and then concluded by exhorting the
meeting to be generous in their support and contributions to
a society instituted for the advancement of such important
objects as that of the Liverpool Town Mission. (Cheers.)
Mr. D. ROWLAND seconded the resolution, and it was
unanimously agreed to.
As the evening was getting advanced, it was thought
advisable that a collection should be now made. The plates
were accordingly sent round, and a handsome sum was
contributed.
The Rev. JOHN PETERS proposed the third resolution,
which was expressive of the meeting's approbation of the
operations of the society, and recommending that subscrip-
tions, donations, and collections should be made to enable it
to accomplish its objects. He advocated the cause for which
the society was formed at considerable length, and with much
energy.
The TREASURER, (Mr. Jones,) in seconding the resolution,
stated that the collection which had that evening been made
was nearly three times greater than that of any former
; collection. (Cheers.)
On the motion of Mr. EDEN, seconded by Mr. Ald. JONES,
, the officers of the society for the ensuing year were nominated
• and appointed.
• Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meeting
3 separated at a quarter to ten o'clock.

ON THE COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS OF NA.
TIVE & ARTIFICIAL CARBONATE OF BARYTES

TO MR. SAMUEL TAYLOR, OF SEDDON-STREET, PAINT

MANUFACTURER AND CHEMICAL TYRO.

SIR,—As you have lately been kind enough to illuminate
the ignorant respecting the composition of the above useful
substance, allow me to inform you that you are incorrect in
every particular. You state that the native carbonate of
barytes contains only 20 per cent. of carbonic acid, and is
for that reason unfit for the purposes to which the artificial
carbonate is applied. And you most learnedly use the names
of chemical authorities in support of your statement.
Now, sir, permit me, in the first place, to recommend that,
before you cite the works of Rose," `: Thompson,"
" Brande," and " Turner," to make yourself somewhat
acquainted with their contents, as you are evidently pro-
foundly ignorant of the whole of them, when you state that
they all bear out your assertion, " that the native carbonate
of barytes contains only 20 per cent. of carbonic acid." In
the first place, " Rose," in his manual of analytic chemistry,
translated from the German by Griffin, the only work of his
yet published in England, instead of stating that the natural
carbonate of barytes contains less acid than the artificial
substance, does not, in any part of his book, give the com-
position of carbonate of barytes at all " Thompson," in
his " Outlines of Mineralogy, Geology, and Mineral Analy-
sis, 1836," his last work on the subject, states distinctly,
that " the native carbonate of barytes is composed of

1 atom of carbonic acid
1 atom of barytes

12 25"
These numbers, multiplied by 8, will give the common
standard, or
Acid
Base.

98 0
" Brande," in his last manual, published 1836, gives the
following results, by Dr. Withering's analysis, (the original
discoverer :)—" The native carbonate, since called ' Wither-
ite,' was found to be composed of 21.4 acid, and 78.6 base,
in the 100." By Brande s Analysis, it contains 22.3 per
cent. of carbonic acid, and 77.7 base ; and, in his third
edition, published 1830, vol. ii. page 290, he distinctly states,
" that the composition of the natural and artificial carbonate
(of barytes) is similar." And last, though not least, my late
talented and respected friend, Dr. E. Turner, of the London
University, in the sixth edition of his " Elements," pub-
lished 1837, since his death, by his brother, gives the
composition of the carbonate, 76.7 base, and 22.12 acid,
making its equivalent 98.82, which is closely coincident with
the results of Berzelines. . _

I have to apologise for thus troubling you with so many
bookish references, which you no doubt will think very dry,
as you are evidently unused to them ; but I have, however,
confined myself to the authorities cited by yourself, and trust
this lesson will induce you to be cautious how you again
make use of them when disputing the professional statements
of others.

As the subject is one on which I_ felt much local interest

I some months since.took the trouble to analyze a specimen.
The mineral in question I obtained from the Pennant barytes
and lead mine, in Flintshire, which' mine I visited, and
brought away the specimen in question, which was a fair
sample of " first-class carbonate," as picked and washed at
the mine._ The results of my analysis were,

Carbonate acid
Barytes

. ▪
77 8

100 0
and, as you have disputed the truth of this analysis, I will
now state the mode by which I obtained the above results, 1
in order to afford yourself, or any of your more advanced
chemical friends, an opportunity of pointing out any inac-
curacy in the process, (if they are capable of doing so.)
The mineral was first broken into small fragments, but not
powdered ; and having been cautiously heated to incipient
redness, to deprive it of moisture, 100 grains were weighed
out. I next took a small German glass matrass, and having
filled it one-third with pure nitric acid, diluted with cold
distilled water, which had been recently boiled, to expel any
carbonic acid it might contain, the neck of the matrass was
loosely stopped by a plug of lamp cotton, and having accu-
rately counterpoised the matrass and acid in a balance, sus-
ceptible of the 1-40th of a grain, it was removed from the
scale 1?y a pair of wooden tongs, and placed on a small sand
bath, moderately heated by a lamp ; the cotton plug was then
removed by a pair of focuses, which were retained in the
hand, the cotton plug never being laid on any substance ;
then, with another pair of focuses, a few fragments of the
weighed mineral were dropped through the neck of the ma-
trass into the dilute acid, and the cotton plug quickly re-
placed ; when these were completely dissolved, another
portion was added in the same way, repeating the operation
till the whole was perfectly dissolved. The cotton plug
was now removed by the focuses, as before, and by
means of a small quill glass tube, air was blown into the
matrass, to expel any remaining portion of carbonic acid
gas that might remain in it. Afterwards, the air was with-
drawn by inhalation through the tube, so as to cause a cir-
culation, through the body of the matrass—the cotton plug
being now replaced—the matrass was lifted by the wooden
tongs, and the bottom being freed from any minute adhering
particles of sand by a dry feather—the matrass was returned
to the scale (never having been touched with the fingers)—
when I found it had lost 22.2 grains of carbonic acid. A
fresh portion of the mineral was now dissolved in dilute
muriatic acid, (to ascertain its purity (and when completely
dissolved, the solution was divided into four portions. The
barytes was precipitated from one portion by hydrofluosilicic
acid, and after subsidence was separated by filtration, and
was washed with distilled
.water—the supernatant solution
and washings, having been reduced by evaporation was satu-
rated by carbonate of ammonia, and the precipitate being
examined by the blowpipe gave a transparent, colourless
glass, when with soda, on charcoal, and also on a platinum
wire. The same result was produced with borax, and the
beads being dissolved in a watch glass, with a drop of pure
nitric acid—evaporated to dryness, and redissolved in dis-
tilled water were found by a powerful lens, to have deposited,
the silica, which could not afterwards be dissolved in nitric
acid. Another portion of the solution of muritate of barytes
was largely diluted with distilled water, and dilute sulphuric
acid carefully added as long as precipitation was produced—
and in slight excess, the sulphate of barytes being separated
by the filter (the first portion of the liquid being refiltered)—
the supernatant liquid was evaporated to dryness, and I found
it had left no residue—except a very minute trace of sulphur,
which could only be ascertained by heating it in a small glass
tube, the top of which was partially closed by moistened
Brazil paper—and Litmus paper—the minute particle placed
in the • tube completely volatilized, and the colour of the
Brazil paper was slightly discharged—and the Litmus slightly
; reddened. these experiments the absence of strontian
and lime in the mineral was demonstrated. Another portion

of the muriatic solution of barytes, was tested with a solu-
tion of hydrosulphuric acid (sulphuretted hydrogen) which
produced no discoluration ; a few drops of caustic ammonia
were superadded without any effect. To the fourth portion
of the muriatic solution a few drops of a solution of ferro-
cyanureta of potassium were added without effect, to which
a small portion of " gmelins" ferrid cyanuret of potassium
(the red prussiate) were superadded without procuring any
effect. By these experiments the total absence of iron, or
any other metal was proved, the sulphur and the silica being
derived from the precipitants. The original solution of
nitrate of baryta, from which the carbonic acid had been
expelled was now transferred to a porcelain capsule, and
gently evaporated to dryness by a small spirit lamp, the ma-
tress being well washed with distilled water and the washings
mixed with the nitric solution—the dry salt thus obtained,
was carefully placed in a Berlin porcelain crucible, the
capsule being washed with distilled water, and the washings
evaporated down to ascertain if any residue was left in it
(the cover of the crucible having been luted on from the out-
side—the nitrade of baryta was kept at nearly a white heat
for two hours—and when cool, the cover was removed, and
the pure baryta on being weighed gave 77.8—this being after-
wards digested in a percelain crucible, in pure carbonate of
ammonia, and afterwards gently ignited, on being weighed,
gave 100 of pure carbonate of baryta—the original quantity—
thus proving the identity of the natural and artificial sub-
stances.—l am, &c.
CHARELS FLUDE, Practical Chemist.

FEES ON PROSECUTIONS.-At the Leicester quarter ses-
sions, after Mr. Halford had repeatedly expressed his sur-
prise at the vast number of prosecutions from Lough-
borough and its neighbourhood, the Rev. Mr. Dudley let the
cat out of the bag, by saying that the Loughborough officers
" subsisted on the fees allowed in prosecutions!' Whilst
this readily accounts for the number of bills ignored, the
number of prisoners acquitted, and the number of unhappy
wretches convicted of stealing property under the value of
sixpence, we must protest against this dear mode of paying
officers, few Loughborough prosecutions being conducted at
less than £l2. But the expense, extravagant as it is, is
nothing to the amount of injustice perpetrated to maintain
the system.—Leicester _Mercury.
LOTTERIES.--The ingenuity with which expedients are
found for the circulation of tickets and shares of foreign lot-
teries in this country, in the face of an express law against
the practice, which imposes a penalty on any newspaper
which may advertise them, is very remarkable, and calls
loudly for some means of obviating its effects. Circular let-
ters from the agents or contractors for these lotteries all over
the continent have long been in use and an annoyance be-
sides, to every respectable person in England whose name
and address could be procured through the court circulars
and directories. They are shipped to this country in bales,
and sent through the twopenny post, which is of course never
paid. Latterly a new expedient has been adopted, which is
that of enclosing tickets to parties residing in London, with a
request either for a remittance or for their return by the post.
This has become a far greater annoyance than the other prac-
tice referred to, for as no foreign letters, with the exception
of those to France, can pass through the post-office without
payment, many conscientious or timid persons, who were un-
willing to risk being pressed for payment of the value of the
tickets if they retained them, have submitted to a tax of 4s.
or ss. to get rid of that responsibility. If no check can be
devised to these practices, and it is difficult to imagine a very
effectual one, it would be as well, as far as the morals of the
people are concerned, that lotteries were introduced at home,
and the glorious days of" Hazard" and "Goodluck" restored.
—Tintes---City. Article. , -
, ,