The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-03-16 00:00:00

-..,.--

We have had the opportunity of perusing a letter which
reached Liverpool by the Brazil mail yesterday evening,
dated Bahia, Feb. 17. It contains a short notice of
very late advices from Sydney. They are to the follow-
ing effect :

" We have dates here from Sydney to the 15th Dec.,
per Hannah, which vessel made a splendid run of 55 days
from port to port. Provisions exceedingly dear, though
not scarce. Manual labour scarce, and women getting as
much as 10s. per day for discharging vessels. The place
seemed quite deserted, so many people gone to the
gings,' where gold exists in great abu

THE KAFFIR WAR

The following is an extract from a private letter re-
ceived in Liverpool yesterday, and written by a merchant
formerly of Liverpool, who has been travelling in the
interior of South Africa for some time, and possesses

good means of as

taining the opinions of the colonists

of all countrie

Cap F 3, 185.
" It is currently reported heretown e
that, there isebruar
aprobability
of the Kaffir war being speedily brought to a close, two
or three of the principal men have been suing for peace,
and there are certainly negociations going on between
them and the governor. Of course the Kaffir is deter-
mined to sit still,' as he calls it, if possible, when he sees
a chance of his losing the cattle lie has already stolen..
These negociations are. giving great dissatisfaction on the
frontier as also here ; for they say, if peace is now patched
up, it will only last for four or five rears, if even so long,
until those farmers who intend continuing in the colony
again increase their herds and flocks, and then down come
the Kaffirs on them again. Many will leave if not effec-
tually protected, for they say it is no use being here at
the risk of their lives, merely to breed cattle and sheep
for the Kaffirs. It would certainly be very foolish of the
Governor to make peace now that he has had some little
advantage over these scoundrels in the Trous-Kei expe-
dition; but he appears, as well as all the officers and
troops, quite tired of the war, and will gladly bring it to
a close almost on any terms."

YORK ASSIZES.-FRIDAY.

LUCAS V. BLAKE
Mr

.—BREACII OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.
. Atherton, 0.C., and Mr. Pickering were for the
plaintiff; Mr. Serjeant Wilkins and Mr. Riley for the
defendant.
Mr. Atherton, in stating the case, said the plaintiff was
a young woman 22 years of age, of considerable personal
attractions. She resided at Lockwood, near Hudders_
field, with her mother, the widow of Mr. Lucas, a house
AT the last meeting of the Town Council, the Library painter. The plaintiff carries on the business of a, milliner
and Museum Committee reported progress ; and from the on her own account, and the defendant is a cloth finisher,
statement it appears that the books already in hand at Huddersfild. The action was brought to recover
damagese fromln t
Llem springde fen defend or ant
1849 f() r aA breach
Lucasof prreosriindiess ofhave been arranged and catalogued, while measures
have been taken for the purchase of a large number of Dock-street, Huddersfield, and it was then that the de-
additional volumes. The treasurer of the association fendant first began to pay attention to the plaintiff. He
for procuring books and subscriptions has also handed applied to Mrs. Lucas for her consent to pay his addresses
over to the Committee about £1,400, after the payment of
to the plaintiff, which, on her making some inquiries, she
granted, the defendant having declared that he was sin-
all expenses. The thanks of the Council were voted to sere, and that in seeking a wife he did not want a slave.
the members of the Association who had contributed but a companion ; he was not in quest of a fortune, and
money or books. had more than once declined the opportunity of marrying
While the tam buildi with a fortune, He continued to pey his addresses to the.
porary ng is in course of alteration, plaintiff from May, 1819, down to November in last year,
in order to afford space for the Derby Museum, and other and in the latter month he, in a manner that appeared to
collections, the Committee would do well to look out for aggravate the_ character of his conduct and its injustice,
suitable accommodation elsewhere. Last summer, a cog- without making
o communication Miss
enrwleiaftexer
to the plain-
respondent sugeested, through the columns of a contem- tracted marriage with a Miss Lister ; and he did not dis-
porary, that the Mechanics' Institution might be turned close that fact until, when it came to the knowledge of the
to valuable account ; and the Annual Report, which has plaintiff,
defendant
andee writteni m ent s
ebreecra letterslon g e impossible.
to t, Thet
appeared during the past week, ha s pressed this subject first of which was dated June 15, 1849 : he
on our attention again. It appears that the distinctive " Dearest Hannah,—You will think I have forgotten
feature of the institution, which from the first was nominal you altogethert but I assure you, love, I have not ; for,
more than real,has now scarcely an existence. The institu- with the can
makes
aeexclaim—
Absence actir heart grow fonder."'
tion is not for the benefit of mechanics more than of other (Laughter.) In another letter he wrote :
classes. The lectures, which drew many people round " Never was the sign of an inn more welcome to a weary
the building, and attracted annual subscribers, are abo-
traveller than your letter, which I received on Sunday last,
was to me. As I traced its charaers, I could almost
lished ; the library is in part a news-room ; the two daily imagine that I heard your sweet voiccte repeating the words
schools have lost almost entirely their public character, it
) "In a third l
contained, the sound of which still echoes in my ears
though efficiently conducted by their respective head l(iicAeoudclstlaanugtimlteursic..
tatter
him t
adne defendant dociwnnt stated
masters; and in a single year seventy-eight annual sub- that the plaintiff was dearer o
scribers, or one-fourth of the whole, have fallen off. It ence, and signed himself " Your affectionate lover Wil-
-1 may be possible to pare a public institution down to aiam." These were specimens of the defendant's letters
shaving, so that there may be no loss by it ;but that is an in prose, but he afterwards found that he could not suffi-
ciently express himself without indulging in the sublimi-
acknowledgment that its mission is an utter failure, and ties of poetry. Prose became too grovelling and mean,
that the avoidance of liability is the object rather than the and he seemed to feel that he could not rise unless he
promotion of public good. It is possible also to increase attempted to soar upon the wings of poetry. So he ad-
fees so as to cover expenditure ; but this is an avowal, in
dressed the plaintiff in the acrostic style, the first letter of
each line forming, when put together, his own Christian
another shape, that it has practically ceased to be a public and surname :
institution. It is worth a thought, therefore, whether "iv hen wilt thou return, my love?
I nnocent as a turtle dove,
the Library and Museum Committee might not treat sue- I, ike the lambkin full of play,
cessfully for the transfer of it, with or without purchase L ightly skipping on the way.
n the groves where warblers sing,
They would carry out purposes akin to those for which A
II harmonious to the spring,
the institution was founded, and they would carry them May we join the joyful ring.
out with uniformity and success, instead of changing B lack as winter would all be,
some important point every six months. On the one L ost and irksome, without thee;A II confused by love's alarms,
hand, the Directors would no doubt rejoice to be loosed K indest, come into my arms.
with credit from a position which is hourly becoming F vermore I would be thine,
more anomalous and not less responsible ; while the grand Yes, my love, and only thine."
intention of their labours would be carried out a thousand (laughter.) After this the defendant returned to prose
times more effectually than they can now pretend to do. On writing again for a few letters, but subsequently made
the other hand, the town would secure a site vastly more another attempt at the sublime in verse:—
advantageous than that of the Royal Institution ; and one
which presents unusual capabilities for improvement.
The present buildings are extensive, and there is no
reason why two large playgrounds should remain unoccu-
pied. From a rough measurement on the map, we find
an area of 3611 square yards, bounded by three streets ;
and if to this Mr. Thorneley's house were added, the plot
of ground would form a distinct " block" surrounded by
streets. It is sufficiently central, yet bordering on the
elevated portions of the town ; it is neither a private pro-
perty nor a chartered institution, like the Royal Institu-
tion; and its Board of Directors has frequently included
prominent members of the Town Council.
At the annual meeting, a suggestion was made which,
had it not come from one of the teachers, we should have
said was ironical ; it was, that the High School in the
Mechanics' Institution should be connected with the Uni-
versity of London. That school, which nineteen months
ago contained 92 lads, has risen to 143 under one master
and his assistants. In its palmy days, about ten or twelve
years ago, it had eight principal masters, representing de-
partments ; yet even then its highest grade of scholarship
was very far below the minimum of admission at any col-
lege in the kingdom. We should undoubtedly have some
branch of London University in Liverpool, but that should
be for young men who have passed beyond the classes in
a common day-school, and who aspire to education which
no institution in the town at present pretends to impart.
There is a clause in the Library and Museum Bill, at pre-
sent before Parliament, which will enable the Town
Council to realise this object in a way which will be at
once respectable and useful. It enacts that the Council
may provide lecture-rooms, and establish lectures on sub-
jects of art or science, in the following words :
" It shall be lawful for the Council to provide, in the build-
ing appropriated for the Public Library and Museum, suitable
rooms for lectures, and to cause lectures to be given on sub-
jects of science or the arts in such building, and to make such
reasonable charges for admission to such lectures as to the
Council may seem fit : Provided that the surplus of any money
received for admission to such lectures, after defraying the
charges incident thereto, shall be placed to the credit of the
rate by this Act authorised to be levied."
The omission of the word " literature" from the clause
is evidently unintentional; and the only additional autho-
rity required would be that of the Secretary of State au-
thorising the students to present themselves at the matri-
culation and degree examinations.

" ilt thou, my dearest, be so kind.
I n love to ease my tortured mind?
L est by delays my reason fly,
ove longs its object to enjoy.
I n thee is centered all my care,
A nd all my joys, thou charming fair.
M ust I be left to black despair?
" B lest is she whose beauty fair
L inks with such charms a virtue rare.
A II I want is, may I be
K indly loved, fair one, by thee!
E lee life's a blank, I do declare.
Yes, I must love thee, charming fair."
(roars of laughter.) The defendant having thus acted
towards the plaintiff, without any fault on her part, after-
wards married another woman, and the shock to the
plaintiff's health was so great that she had been in deli-
cate health ever since. The learned counsel concluded by
urging that this was a case in which the jury ought to
give such damages as would mark their disapproval of
such conduct.

There was only one witness examined on the part of the
plaintiff, viz., her mother ; and after the letters had been_
put in and taken as read,
Mr. Sergeant Wilkins proceeded to address the jury.
He said be was not going for one moment to cast any
aspersions on either the plaintiff or her mother. He ad-
mitted there could be no doubt the defendant had behaved
ill—had broken his promise—and the plaintiff was entitled
to a verdict. But what were the circumstances ? Why,
the defendant, at 22 years of age, was proved to have
fallen over head and ears in love at the first moment, and
he would say to the young ladies in court—" Never give
heed to the young men who express themselves in poetry."
(Laughter.) The defendant had done wrong, but what
had the lady lost ? For that was the question. She had
lost a silly young man, who, instead of telling her in plaits
terms that he loved her, broke out in a rhapsody—
"My lady fair,
I do declare,
Your grace and air,
Are beyond compare"
(roars of laughter). Let the jury then judge of the extent
of the loss she had sustained, and give such damages as
twelve honest men ought to give.
His lordship told the jury the only question was, how
much the defendant ought to pay for the breach of his
fporrTo
tmhheies jepostaywi
n,hatlifteceh.—rhaDe
sdahmi
od
ra
ge consultation,
y 5 returned a verdict

THE ALLEGED MUTINY ON BOARD THE QUEEN OF
THE WEST.—The whole of the men belonging to this ship,
who received such severe injuries during the affray which
took place between the captain and officers, and crew, on
Saturday week last, have been discharged from the
Northern Hospital, with the exception of one sailor. This
man, named James Regan, it will be recollected by the
report in the last week's Standard, had his arm nearly
severed just below the elbow joint, by a cutlass blow, al-
leged before the magistrates to have been given by the
captain (Capt. Mors,) or the first mate. The poor fellow
still lies in a very dangerous state at the hospital, and on
enquiry last night we learn that even should his life be
preserved, he will never recover the use of his wounded
arm. Another of the crew also cut severely by a similar
weapon, though discharged,. is yet attended by the medical
men as an ont-patient.

LIVERPOOL cArrLF, MARKET.—NIAn. 15.
To-day's market was barely supplied with both beasts
and sheep. The quality of the former was inferior,
and as the dealers and butchers were pretty well stocked
from extensive purchases made on this day se'nnight, the
demand was sluggish, and any advance on the rates of
that day was obtained with extreme difficulty. Sheep
also being scarce, sold at the rates last quoted. A few
beasts, as well as sheep, remained unsold at the close of
business. We quote prices, as follows :—Beef : prime
heifer, 41d to 5d ; second class ditto, and fat bullocks,
4d to 4 d ; half fat bullocks and cows, 3d to 31d.
:Button: prime wether sheep, 6d to 61d; second class
ditto, 54d to 51d ; old ewes, 5d to 51c1, per lb, sinking the
offal. The numbers at market to-day were 1,585 beasts.
and 4,107 sheep.