The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-08-20 00:00:00

THE MONK'S FERRY.

PIM AND OTHERS, 27 CURELL AND OTHERS.
The above cause was once more decided yesterday at the
Chester Assizes, and a verdict given against the defendants,
the directors of the Monk's Ferry Company. As all the evi-
dence in this case has been previously reported at considerable
length, and is in itself devoid of interest, we abstain from
giving a more extended report.
The whole of Friday and part of Saturday were occupiod
with the plaintiffs' case, consisting principally of ancient do-
cuments, to establish the exclusive title of Mr. Price, to the
right of ferry across the Mersey. Mr. Serjeant Wilde, for
the defendants, delivered a most elaborate address, but only
called one witness, whose evidence merely related to the ser-
vice of a summons on a particular part of the river. This
gave the Attorney-General, who appeared for the plaintiffs,
the opportunity of a reply, which he commenced yesterday
morning, and continued for three hours, when the judge pro-
ceeded to sum up, and went over the whole of the evidence
very minutely, dwelling with great patience upon each point
which required remark. The Jury retired for about ten
minutes, and, at four o'clock brought in a verdict for the
plaintiff—damages ls.—which, of course, confirms Mr.
Price's claim.

At the late battle between the Egyptians and the Turks
a body of the former twice retreated, when Ibrahim Pasha
killed only twenty-seven of the recreants with his own hand !
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INHABITANTS OF MOUNTAINS
AND PLAINS.—On the road to Augsburg, which is flat and
uninteresting, but favourable to quick driving, in spite of its
roughish exterior, I could not help remarking, as I had often
done before, the striking difference which existed between
the appearance of the men and women inhabiting level coun-
tries, and that of the dwellers of the mountain region we had
just quitted. Their clearer complexion and handsomer phy-
siognomies show how much more favourable are plains to the
development of the human form than mountainous districts ;
for in almost all of the latter description which we had tra-
versed, the human face, of the women in particular, was
sadly disfigured. The city of Stuttgardt, which spreads on
the flat level of a valley, offers the same contrast in the ap-
pearance of the female part of its population—fair, v'ell
made, and in a great many instances good looking—and that
of the women of the highlands by which that capital is sur-
rounded.—Dr. Granville's Spas of Germany.
FRENCH LANGUAGE.—The following anecdote, related by
Dr. Moore, affords a fine specimen of the inferences that are
formed, and practice that is directed by mere empirical ex-
perience. " A French student of medicine lodged in the
same house, in London, with a man in a fever. This poor
man was continually teazed by the nurse to drink, though he
nauseated the insipid liquids that were presented to him. At
last, when she was more importunate than usual, he whis-
pered in her ear, " For God's sake bring me a salt herring,
and I will drink as much as you please." The woman in-
dulged him in his request ; he devoured the herring, drank
plentifully, underwent a copious perspiration, and recovered.
The French student inserted this aphorism in his Journal :
" A salt herring cures an Englishman in his fever." On
his return to France, he prescribed the same remedy to the
first patient in fever to whom he was called. The patient died ;
on which the student entered in his Journal the following
caveat : "N.B. Though a salt herring cures an English-
man, it kills a Frenchman."—Physic and Physicians.
INQUISITIVE TRAVELLERS.—I found an amusing contrast
in the manners of some western travellers, who were cast in
a rougher mould : they were not satisfied till they had found
out who 1 was, where I came from, why I came, where I
was going to, how long 1 meant to stay, and, in addition to
these particulars, how much my umbrella cost, and what was
the price of my hat. This last inquiry was followed by the
party taking it up from the bench, and putting it on his head,
which was not very cool, neither did it appear to have suf-
fered much annoyance from water or from comb ; luckily the
hat did not fit, and after giving it two or three stout pulls in
a vain attempt to draw it over his scalp, he returned it to me.
Another fellow saw me smoking a Cubanos cigar ; he asked
me, " Stranger, have you got another of them things ?" I
will give you a cent for one" (a halfpenny). I immediately
gave him one, saving, in perfect good humour, " I will not
sell you one, but I shall be very glad if you will accept this."
To my surprise he became irritated and angry, and tried two
or three times to force the cent upon me. I refused as
stoutly ; and at length told him, that if he was determined to
buy, and not accept the cigar, I should charge him half a
dollar for it. This view of the case induced him to take it
gratis, but he seemed annoyed, and by no means grateful.—
Murray's North America.
POPERY AND THE BIBLE.—At the last anniversary of
the British and Foreign Bible Society, the following state-
ments were made by the Rev. T. S. Grimshawe:—" During
the time I was in Rome, but a fey months ago, there were
two Augustine Friars who had received Bibles, and the
effect had been, that their minds had been enlightened ; the
character of their preaching was immediately changed; and
(on the principle that, when a man once perceives the value
of Divine truth himself, he feels a desire to communicate
that blessing to others) these Augustine Friars went through
different parts of the country, as we should say, preaching
the gospel, and producing a powerful effect. At length they
were checked by the power of the Church of Rome, and
lodged in the castle of St. —, and there I left them, im-
prisoned for the great crime of reading the Bible, and
preaching according to its Divine contents. And further to
show what the degree of persecution is, I would beg briefly
to mention that a Swiss minister, distributing the Bible in a
part of Italy, the name of which, perhaps, it may be more
prudent not to disclose, was in consequence visited by the
police, and commanded to leave the country in 48 hours. I
may also state that though he had distributed only a small
portion of his. books—l think about 23 Bibles and Testa-
ments—those that had received them were actually inzpri-
soned, some for six weeks, some for seven, and one for ten
weeks, in consequence of having a copy in theirpoteeeelon."

Clic Etinrpool ittanTiarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1339.

We received with unfeigned pleasure the news of a
Reprieve having arrived at Warwick for the Birming-
ham rioters. We are well aware that many severe
observations will be made upon the Government for
this step, and that many very valid arguments may
fairly be urged against them. But we shall not join
in such a cry. We think Lord John Russell has faults
many and virtues few enough, when weighed in the
most favourable balance ; and on this occasion we are
clearly of opinion he has acted rightly.
There are, as we have said, many very powerful
arguments on the other side. On the whole the
balance was decidedly in favour of mercy. The Law
had justly seized its victims, and upon every principle
of mere Law the severest sentence ought doubtless to
have taken its course. But no man can disguise from
himself that this was not a question of mere Law, but
had many purely political considerations intertwined
with -it. The wretched men who fired, were not the
incendiaries who had laid, the train. It could not be
just that the deluded instrument should be dragged to
the scaffold, while the moving cause was suffered to
go unscathed, or was perchance promoted. We have
no doubt that these considerations have weighed with
Lord John Russell, and we think he does no more
than discharge a paramount duty in saving these mise-
rable wretches from the hangman's hand.
We suppose the example will not now be lost upon
the Chartists. Transportation for life to a penal colony
is no joke : servitude of the worst and most degrading
kind is no light premium for a political crime : forced
companionship with the worst of felons is a punish-
ment to the mind of a zealot and a firebrand next in
severity to death. Time and cause for repentance are
before the wretched incendiaries of Birmingham.
We adverted at some length, in the last number of
this Journal, (it was the 16th August—the twentieth
anniversary of the Manchester Massacre, as the Whigs
of that day were pleased to call it,) upon the contrast
between Whig tenets in opposition and Whig tenets
is office. They fanned the flame while it served their
purpose, and they cared not at whose cost. They may
extinguish it now, if they can ; and certainly it is much
more likely that they should do it than the Conserva-
tives. With Sir Robert Peel in office, there cannot be
a shadow of a doubt, the Whig doctrines of 1819
would be the Whig doctrines of 1839; and Lord John
Russell would be the willing confederate of some mo-
dern Hunt.
We shall return to these considerations at some
future occasion ; but we are anxious to avail ourselves
of the present opportunity, to point out to the hot-
headed and misguided men, who devote themselves
blindly and obstinately to the reckless work of faction,
how idle, how worse than idle, is the course they fol-
low. We have no reason to flatter ourselves that these
lines will ever, meet the eye of the practical incendiary,
who actually holds the torch. We do firmly believe
that the day is approaching when every class of Eng-
lishmen will (as all the wealthier classes, and very many
of the poorer, already do) acknowledge the Conserva-
tives as their firmest and surest friends,—who never
flatter, and who never betray them. But then we shall
live in peaceful times, and Law and Order will prevail.
There will be no Chartists then to write for in the
columns of the public Press.
We believe our observations on this subject may
fall into the hands of many an honest but most mis-
guided man,—trained from his youth in the obnoxious
deceits of Whiggery,—following freely at first, but
now tardily and reluctantly, in the train of faction,—
and eagerly desiring a fitting opportunity to come out
altogether from among them. Why, we would ask
them, wait ? What crime is there that the Whigs
have not (we will not say committed, but) suborned ?
What disgrace is there they have yet to bring upon
this distracted country ? What principle is yet left
them to abandon—what pledge to forfeit ? What
good have they ever achieved—what credible promise
can they yet hold forth ? What history of meanness
and treachery and sordid cupidity can yet be written,
to exceed the annals of modern Whiggery. Come
out then, at once, from among them.
Where are the Waverers now ? Pride, and preju-
dice, and inborn obstinacy are strong enemies to the
force of conviction and the power of truth. But the
good sense of England will and must prevail,—aye,
and it is daily and hourly prevailing. The rising tide
of ocean does not more surely bear down every obsta-
cle that threatens to impede its course, than the grow-
ing waves of public opinion are throwing down the
already frail bulwarks and supports of Whiggery :
and as in the natural tide the indications are gradual
and the progress sure, so in the great stream of sound
and honest feeling the change is not made violently
and at once, but constantly, gradually, and surely.
Since the passing of the Reform Bill, the prosperity of
the Whigs has 'constantly declined, and the good sense
of the English people has reverted to its natural chan-
nels. How great has been the change within the last
few years, the next Dissolution will decide : or, rather,
the fear of Ministers—who, when beaten, dared not
-dissolve—has plainly and clearly decided.
For why should any man trouble himself to serve
this doomed and devoted Ministry ? Their own sup-
porters cry shame upon them in Parliament for having
abandoned their principles. (This is not quite true,
because, never having had any principles, they could
not abandon them.) No two men who advocate their
cause profess the same sentiments. Mr. Macaulay at
Edinburgh differs more widely from Lord John Rus-
sell at Stroud, than his Lordship's modern speeches
do from his older writings. The Cabinet is a chaos—
a wreck of principles and professions and unhallowed
practices. There is a place said to he paved with good
resolutions : but there is no pavement, nor foundation
of any kind, to Whiggery. It is mere " instabilis tel-
lus, innabilis unda :" it is neither fish, nor flesh, nor
good red herring. What is there, then, to fight for ?
Quarter-day for the Ministers—Commissionerships for
the unfledged Lawyers. For the country and for the
world, nothing.

And yet there are zealots who have gone through
fire and water, and loss of reputation t-- -

cause (if cause it can be called) of these purposeless
and abandoned Ministers !
" When a man has no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours :
Let him think on the glories of Greece and of Rome,
And get knocked on the head for his labours.

" To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited :
Then battle for Freedom, whenever you can,

And (if not shot or hanged) you'll get knighted."
Common sense is doing its work very satisfactorily
among the constituencies of England. Meanwhile,
we care not that the doomed craft be suffered to scud
a while longer with bare poles before the wind.

We have observed, with great regret, that some of the
journals (particularly the Newcastle Papers,) have al-
lowed themselves to comment upon the conduct of the
Judges in the discharge of their high official duties.
Now, this (with all our respect for the Fourth Estate,)
is, we think, exceedingly reprehensible, it is an example
set, we believe, by the London Examiner, and deserving
to be held in the esteem which properly belongs to that
most disingenuous Journalist. Faction has done enough,
in all conscience, for England : it has poisoned the
fountains of public principle, and of private harmony :
we think it should, at least, not be permitted to assail
the Queen's Judges on the seat of justice. If any one
objects to an appointment, let him urge his objection :
this is matter of fair canvass;' but, whatever be the
opinion entertained of the individual, his conduct on
the Bench should be shielded from criticism. This
is due, not to the man, but to the solemn office. And
this rule should never, in our humble judgment, be in-
fringed, except in some scarcely conceivable case of
wickedness and corruption, such as has not for cen-
turies been attributed to a British Judge,
While we are on the subject of the Courts of Justice,
we may be allowed, in passing, to congratulate the
Electors of Liverpool on the admirable display of ability
and eloquence afforded bytheir excellent Representative.
It is a subject of just pride to the members of this great
community, that distinguished individuals are willing
to come forward from the head of a laborious profes-
sion, and to devote no small portion of their time and
talents to the effective discharge of their duties in pub-
lic and private business. We suppose the merest
lobby-lounger of the House of Commons, the man of
Jobs and Private Bills has no just ground of complaint
against Mr. Cresswel„ who seems to find time and
übiquity for all his avocations. The sterling men of
public principle, the real friends of Liverpool, owe him
a deep debt of lasting gratitude.

The Liverpool Mercury driven (no great distance) to
his wits end for some spiteful remark to make upon
the harmonious co-operation which so happily subsists
between the Established Churches of England and
Scotland,—and has frequently been the subject of
grateful observation in the columns of this journal,—
wonders whether his pious and orthodox Contemporary,
the Standard, is aware that the Scottish Church is
Presbyterian.
In the plentitude of his compassion for our want of
learning, he goes on to communicate to us some in-
formation on this head, of which we were certainly not
aware before. For instance, he avers, that almost within
living memory, the Presbyterians have endured bitter
persecutions at the hands of the High Church Tories,
whose representative he rather gratuitously assumes
that we aspire to be. What the precise meaning of
this phrase may be, we do not venture to decide, but, ad-
mitting (as we do most cheerfully), that this learned
writer's memory does him far more strvice than any
other quality of his mind, we can scarcely imagine it
carries him back either quite, or almost, to those dark
days of our History when the Scottish Kirk was perse-
cuted. Giving the word almost its evident meaning,
and admitting the sagacious critic to be very, very, old
indeed (a:circumstance which the general tone of his
observations would certainly have led us to conclude),
we can scarcely suppose he comes within the range of
Claverhouse, and remembers the persecutions of the
Presbyterian Church. And we entreat him to be care-
ful how he advances any claims to such remote anti-
quity, lest he should find himself bound up in the
" trammels of the seventeenth century," instead of
being regarded (as he now very justly is) a characteristic
specimen of the " talent and merit of this enlightened
age."

He wonders if his pious contemporary, &c. Vene-
rable man ! We do not doubt he wonders. We should
imagine from the lucubration before us, that he is one
of that very respectable class of persons, who are always
wondering, whose outward and inward man is stereo-
typed (like the common-place phrases in the Mercury)
in one fixed, vacant gaze, and who are thus described
by one of those " trammelled" writers, (the poet Dry-
den) with whom our very experienced antagonist makes
himself out to be contemporary,—

" The fool of nature stood with stupid eyes,
And gaping mouth, that testified surprise,
Long mute he stood, and leaning on his staff,
His wonder witnessed with an idiot laugh."

Rendering all due thankfulness, however, for this
attempt to enlighten our dull comprehensions and
dark ignorance, by shewing us who are Presbyterians
perhaps we cannot better repay him for the pains he
has thrown away upon us, than by describing to him
certain persons who are not Presbyterians.
There is a sect in England, who have a vehement
objection to all Church Endowment of every kind.
whatever, and whose sentiments, moreover, are dia-
metrically opposed to those of the orthodox and Evan-
gelical Presbyterians. Yet these persons may be found
in town and country, snugly ensconced in certain com-
fortable chapelries, which were founded (about the time
when Dryden and the Editor of the Mercury were in
the vigour of their age,) for the propagation of Christian
Truth, and the pure worship of the Holy Trinity. The
occupants of these chapels used in our younger days
(much posterior to the time of Claverhouse,) to be
called Presbyterian Ministers ; since the agitation of
Lady Hewley's question, they have been more generally
known by their proper designation of Socinians.
It was to persons such as these that we applied the
very irreverent designation of imposters : and we shall
be greatly indebted to our antiquarian opponent, if he
will enliven his next dissertation upon chimney-pots,
by considering, how far it may be owing to the accom-
modating temper of these usurping sectaries, that cer-
tain iron chimney-tops, which are made to turn round
with the wind, have obtained, in popular language, the
title of Presbyterians. We submit to him with all re-
spect, that such •
investigations are better suited to his
calibre than the graver questions of Theology and His-
tory.

Notwithstanding the mighty note of paeparation the
" sacred month" has turned out a complete failure,
though not altogether without disturbances on the part
of the infatuated victims of Chartism. In this town,
of course, no demonstration whatever was made. The
Chartists form a contemptibly insignificant proportion
of the population of Liverpool. The proceedings at
Manchester and Bolton we have elsewhere recorded.
In the latter place, we regret to find, a somewhat
serious collision was anticipated. The appearance of
the military, however, soon succeeded in restoring
tranquillity, At Macclesfield also the symptoms of
disturbance became so manifest as to render it neces-
sary to read the riot act, and to call out the yeomanry.
Several prisoners were apprehended on charges of
assaults and misdemeanours. At Wigan the Chartists
did not venture to make their appearance, though con-
siderable excitement was manifested in the town, last
week, owing to the threats held out by these reckless
anarchists. Stockport seems to have enjoyed a week
of uninterrupted tranquillity. Rochdale was likewise
undisturbed throughout the week, probably owing to
the presence of the military stationed in that neigh-
bourhood. At Middleton, and in the adjoining town-
ship of Tonge, the operatives seemed anxious to make
up for the time which they had previously most
foolishly lost. The mills were in full operation. At
Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, &c., which, a few
months ago, were the very hot-beds of Chartism, there
was very little excitement or disturbance throughout
the week—most of the factory hands being at work as
usual. At Bury all has been perfectly peaceable since
Wednesday, and the only excitement in the town has
arisen from the difficulty which some of the spinners
have experienced in getting back to their employment,
which, in some cases, was not permitted until t}.
made the most ample concessions to 0-
Some of the latter, under who-
ing from 30s. to 4l'

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