The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-08-02 00:00:00

before us contains several excellent tales, among which
we would enumerate the following :—" Married and
Unmarried." " The Good Man of Dry Field." "The
Imprudent Marriage," and " The Economist." Many
of these tales are of a very superior order, and all of
them convey a practical lesson in manners or morals.

The Parthenon. Journal of English and Foreign
Literature, Conservative Politics, Science, the Fine
Arts, and the Drama. _ _

This admirable weekly review and m;scellany is con-
ducted with great tact and ability. Many of its articles
display considerable originality of thought and vigour
of style. The tone which it assumes in its political
disquisitions is strongly conservative. The Parthe-
non ought to find its way into every conservative news-
room in the country.

A Tract on the Second Coming of Christ, His Peace-
able Reign with His Saints, and the End of the World.
By Samuel Kent. Liverpool : S. Kent and Co.
This tract comprises, in a very short compass, a
scriptural statement of the doctrine of the Millenium.
We recommend it to the perusal of all who feel an
interest in studying the subject of unfulfilled pro-
phecy.

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

IRISH JOBBING.
From the Spectator.

The Shannon bill has passed through the committee
of the House of Commons, but not without an, ex-
posure, most unwelcome to Mr. Spring Rice.. It was
intended to smuggle the job through parliament ; hut,
thanks to Mr. Finch, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. William Wil-
liams, who manfully resisted the leading men of both
parties, that design has been defeated. Mr. Rice was
compelled to undertake a formal defence of the mea-
sure for improving his own and his neighbour's pro-
perty. He confessed, that for two good miles his broad
acres are washed by the Shannon, into which all the
money is to sink ; and, that several thousands are to be
appropriated to a pier and quays in his own sweet town
of Tarbet, to which, by the way, it was intended to
have carried a railway at a public cost. Mr. Rice's
estate is, doubtless, a good one ;_ and, if it be capable
of improvement, why does he not improve it, as an
English gentleman would, at his own cost ? Is it not
enough that he is Chancellor of the Exchequer, his son
a Commissioner of Customs, his daughter one of the
Queen's maids of honour, all with handsome salaries
paid by the public ? Must the nation also expend
thousands in raising the rents of the family property ?
So it appears : and on the direct personal application
of the finance minister himself ! So much for Mr.
Rice : now for the public grounds on which this job is
defended.

Seven millions, 'said the Chancellor, had been granted
for public works in England ; and how can you refuse
half a million to Ireland ? You have thrown away
millions, exclaimed Mr. O'Connell, in England ; and
yet you grudge this paltry, stingy grant for a great na-,-
tional improvement in Ireland ! Positively an inno-
cent or idle M.P„ trusting these sincere gentlemen,
would suppose, that the Shannon claim was a first and
solitary demand—that poor Ireland had never yet
touched a shilling of the public money, while seven
millions sterling had been advanced for public works in
England. But what are the facts ? Studiously kept
back, they have at last been brought to light. On
Monday evening a set of returns, repeatedly inquired
for, but, on various pretexts, delayed for months, were
laid on the table of the House of Com Mons : they
exhibit the amount of public money advanced to Ire-
land from June, 1800, to June, 1839: and what does
the reader suppose is the amount ? Eight millions
eight hundred and twenty-seven thousand pounds !
We subjoin an analysis, which explains the order of
arrangement adopted in the return, the gross amount
of public money advanced under each separate head of
account, and also serves as an index of reference to the
whole details.

Amount advanced under
General and Special Heads each special head
of Account. of Account.
Arts and Agriculture— X. s. d.
The Cork-street Society, Dublin 923 1 6
The Royal Dublin Society 285,438 8 4
The Farming Society, Dublin 87,132 16 . 6
The Linen Board, Dublin
Bogs and Waste Lands
Buildings—
Bridges.
Chapels
Churches
Docks... 923 1 6
Gaols and other Prisons 486,995 15 3
Infirmaries and Hospitals
Law-courts and Sessions-houses
Lighthouses.
Record Offices • 6,975 310
Round Towers of Defence .
Schoolhouse,: 33,648 16 9
,
Workhouses
Fisheries 7,914 15 4
Harbours and Ports 1,285,660 9 9
Inland Navigation.
Mines 32,859 11 8
Poor Relief
Post Roads..
Public Works of a Miscellaneous character 1,743,136 2 4

Total advance from 1800 to Ist June, 1839-£8,827,141 4 1
Add to this the amount proposed to be advanced
under the Shannon bill, and the total will be very
nearly nine millions and a half. Nor let it be for-
gotten, that it was the intention of the Irish party in
the government to have procured two millions and a
half more for railways; and, had they succeeded, the
charge against Ireland would have been raised to the
enormous sum of eleven millions. Seven millions,
says Mr. Rice, have been advanced for public works
in England, and thereupon a profit has accrued of
£370,000. Ireland has received nearly nine millions;
why did not Mr. Rice state the profit on that account.
It is yet possible that this job may be stopped. The
lords are under no obligation to feed the Irish leech,
which incessantly cries "Give, give." _ They are not
bound to pacify O'Connell and the Irish members with
grants of the public money. They would find this a
safer interference with a money bill of the Commons,
than the contemplated stoppage of the penny post.
The Shannon bill should be thrown out, not because
the public are averse or indifferent to the improvement
of Ireland ; nor because they deem it unfit or impolitic
that England, a rich country, should assist Ireland, a
poor country—one, too, which has suffered much
wrong at the hands of the other; but because these
advances have always been jobs (and what better are
they now ?)—because they corrupt members of parlia-
ment, and corrupt the people.