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

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month. At Preston the operatives observed a partial
holiday during Monday and Tuesday last, after which
they returned to their work, convinced, it is to be
hoped, of the absurdity of the rash scheme proposed
by the demagogues of the National Convention. < From
the Yorkshire newspapers we learn that at Leeds,
Bradford, Huddersfield, &c., the most ptrfect tran-
quillity prevailed--the labouring classes being reluctant
to waste their time in national holidays. The only
places in which any disturbances took place were Shef-
field and Barnsley, At the latter place the outbreak was
of a comparatively trifling character. The disturb-
ances at Sheffield were more serious. Several parties
having been apprehended on Monday, and brought up
for examination on Tuesday, a large mob assembled,
and broke the windows of the Town Hall. The riot
act was consequently read, and the streets cleared by
the military and the police, and between seventy
and eighty persons taken into custody. Several
of the policemen were severely hurt by stones, and
one or two of the mob slightly Wounded by the
sabres of the dragoons. A number of the prisoners
have been committed for trial or held to bail- The
Chartists at Nottingham assembled on Monday, when
the riot act was read, and the meeting dispersed. Two
men were taken into custody for throwing stones at
the Mayor. Birmingham has, during the last week,
been perfectly tranquil. There has not been the
slightest symptom of any renewal of tumults or dis-
orders. In the Aletropolis there has been no further
outbreak. Throughout the West of Englanfl, and
North and South Wales, the Chartists have prudently
abstained from entering upon . the observance 'of the
" sacred month." In the North of England. and in
Scotland this absurd scheme has equally proved a
miserable failure. In the neighbourhood of Newcastle
the strike, so far from being general, has been Fonfined
exclusively to one or two collieries in the district, and
the masters have taken effectual measures for supply-
ing the places of the men who have turned out, -This
is precisely the way in which the affair should'b9 met
in all cases; for there can be no doubt that:the result
would he satisfactory to the employers, and, in the
end, salutary to the men themselves. In the town of
Newcastle not a single mechanic deserted his. employ-
ment during the week, nor have the men in any of the
extensive manufactories shown the least disposition to
follow the advice of their leaders. At Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, and the other principal
towns of Scotland, the sacred month" was treated
with levity and disregard. The hammer, the shuttle,
and the spinning-jenny have been doing their work
quite as usual. This shows that, after all, Scotchmen
are really the moral and religious people, as a whole,
which they have been represented to be.
The " sacred month," then, has proved more a farce
to be laughed at than a reality to be dreaded.- This is
just as it should be ; and we sincerely hope that the
misguided Chartists are, at length, beginning to open
their eyes to the supreme folly of indulging in such
delusive dreams as those which have been inspired by
the harangues of the men who assume the office of their
leaders.