The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-07-26 00:00:00

se and the arena of political controversy.
The variable state of the weather, which has alter-

e-hou

I between wet and dry, rain and sunshine, has

drawn more attention to the approaching harvest,
as future prices will depend, in a very material de-

Tree, upon the next few weeks' weather.
Considerable interest was excited as to the pro-
ceedings of the Dock Committee on Thursday, with
reference to the proposed alteration of the name of
the Bramley-Moore Dock. It was evident that we
expressed the general opinion of the most intelligent
men of all classes, when we condemned the pro-
posal. Only one or two members, of extreme

cal opinions, spoke in favour of it, while the

most influential Conservative gentlemen were op-
posed to it; and Hr. BOLD had the good sense to
defer to popular feeling and withdraw the motion.
As the whole affair is now at an end, it isunneces-
sary to make it the subject of further remark, than
to express our satisfaction at its being so concluded,
without putting the Dock Committee to the dis-
agreeable alternative of coming to a vote upon the

subject.

At the meeting of the Select Vestry on Tuesday,
the Rev. Chairman referred, with dignity, to the
impertinence to which he had been subjected at the
previous meeting; and expressed his determination,

on all occasions, to use his own discretion as to
voting on any question brought before the Board, a

...ourse which he is fully entitled to pursue without
f)ein, insulted by expressions of ignorant surprise.
,-,

The care which some members are so studious to
express for the i nstruction of the children of Romanist

are.nt, 1-

by Romish priests, is strangely at variance

with the avowal of their being themselves Protes-
tants. If being in error is a reason for being taught
to continue in it, then infidel teachers—for such
are to be found—may be admitted to instruct in
infidelity the children of infidel parents. There is
little difference in principle, it is a mere question of

The increase of steam navigation from this port
is progressing most satisfactorily. On Thursday, a
new steamer was launched for the Brazilian trade,
and on the same day the screw-steamer Sarah
Sands sailed for Quebec and Montreal with a
goodly number of passengers. It is somewhat

strange that, while we have been so eminently
successful with steam navigation to almost every

of the world, Australia, where it is so
much needed, should prove the exception, the
quickest voyages to and from that colony having as
yet been performed by sailing vessels, to one of
which we are now indebted for the latest intelli-
gence. The Great Britain will, however, soon be
ready to start on her second voyage, and as the latest
improvements in sciencQ have been applied to her
with liberal hand, and the most ample precautions
taken for abundant supplies of fuel, there is not the
slightest doubt that she will accomplish the quickest
passage which has yet been made. Her trial trip to
Ireland proved her to be an admirable ship, either
with steam or under canvass, and she may now
fearlessly defy competition, until some new discovery
be made in the science of navigation.
The sailing-match which took place for Her
Majesty's plate on Monday, and the regatta on
Tuesday, for the splendid prizes offered by the Royal
Mersey Yacht Club, constituted the great attraction

of the week, and drew together thousands of spec-
tators. It was not merely the gratification of making
a holiday, but the sports were peculiarly

appro-

plate to a great commercial sea-port, and this cir-
cumstance considerably heightened the enjoyment.
The races between the several yachts were well con-

tested, and the appearance of the Mersey, studded
with their numerous white and well-filled sails,
presented a picture not often witnessed. Liverpool
has facilities for yachting possessed by few places,
while the patronage of Royalty gives a character to
the Mersey Yacht Club which must render it equal
to any in the Kingdom.

The annual election to supply the vacancies of the
members of the Dock Committee, who retire by
rotation, will take place on Wednesday next week.
Of the four elected by the dock ratepayers, Mr.
I\ICOL will permanently retire; and the candidate
proposed to fill his place is Mr. J. P. PALMER,
chairman of the Shipowners' Association and Un-
derwriters' Association. The three other members,
Messrs. STEELE, BOLD, and HEALING, will be
proposed for re-election. It will be difficult to find
a gentleman more eligible than Mr. PALMER for
the responsible office to which he has been proposed;
and we have no doubt that the dock ratepayers will
ratify the nomination.

It has been confidently announced that the
Radicals of Liverpool, under the auspices of Mr.
ROBERTSON GLADSTONE, have ventured upon a
petition to the House of Commons against the late
election. Whether the statement be true or false
is not of the slightest consequence, as it is well
known that no two members of Parliament hold
their seats on a safer tenure than do Messrs. Hons-
FALL and LIDDELL, even if it had,to undergo the
ordeal of an adverse Committee. The existence of a
triumphant Conservative majority in a popular con-
stituency is no doubt gall and wormwood to our po-
litical opponents; but the fact—which is a credit to ,
the town—will remain the same, despite the angry
feelings of the defeated, and the more so because it
is not the less a fact that the last election was won
without the slightest appeal to any other motive
than political principle. We have been informed
that the Radical petition is not directed against the
sitting members, but that it prays for a Commision

to inquire into certain alleged corrupt practices of
the Freemen, the evidence to be relied on being an
offer of a large number of votes said to have been
made to the agents of the Radical candidate on the
day of polling. This is mere moonshine, not only
as to the alleged fact, but also as to the consequences.
Parliament never grants a Commission of Inquiry
into corrupt practices except upon the report of a
Select Committee unseating the members returned,
and specially recommending the issue of a Com-
mission. There has been some little talk about town
as to who is to bear the expenses of this hopeless
enterprise. The heavy cost of the last crippled all the
radicals who were foolish enough to have anything
to do with it, and there is not sufficient patriotism
left for any private purse to be again drained for
such an object. The present petition is under the
fostering care of Mr. ROBERTSON G LADSTONE,
and owing to his consanguinity with the
~HAN

CELLOR Or THE EXCHEQUER, Some people
cannot be deterred from attributing more weight
to the circumstance, in accounting for the disposal
of the secret service money, than perhaps it de-
'We, however, acquit the Minister of all

serves.

participation in such dirty practices.
The excursion trains by the various railways are
bringing crowds of operatives and country people
into Liverpool and Birkenhead, and the ferries
across the Mersey are reaping rich harvests every
fine afternoon. There are few cheaper and yet

more healthful pleasures than are afforded by the

Itrips to Egremont, New Brighton, Seacombe, Bir-
kenhead Park, Rock Ferry, where the Chinese
junk is lying, and Eastham, with its exhibition of
the Catageloseum. To extend the journey, the
pleasure-seeker should visit the picturesque city of
Chester, with its complete circle of ancient walls,
its quaint buildings and singular rows, and the
Roodee, which forms a natural amphitheatre.
Liverpool, however, has many objects of interest to
the stranger, in its magnificent docks and shipping,
its handsome public buildings, of which St. George's
Hall is unrivalled in Europe, and the attractions of
the Zoological Gardens.

Adelaide is more than two months overdue, and even her
successor, the Victoria, is a week behind her time.

Paris, &c., sf. 121 c. to sf. 131 c., sixty days ' •
(From and 5` lOc.
to sf.lllc,,_short sight; Harr!ourzh, 361 to 3 "
the York Shipping List, Y. July 13.)

COTTON.—During the past three days the sales reach
5,000 bales, made up chiefly of two large lists, and as
there has been no general buying the tone of feeling has
consequently been that of dulness, with the tendency of
prices rather in favour of the buyer. We quote
Atlantic
Ports. Florida.
Inferior .... nom. nom.
Low to good ord.
Low to good mid. 10 lli 10
Mid fair to fair lli 11 111
Total import since Ist instant..., j 3 bales.
Export from Ist to 12th July, 1853, 8,925; 1852, 7,020,
RECEIPTS, EXPORTS, AND STOCKS OF COTTON.

Other Gulf
Ports.
nom.
9 to 9i
10i 11*
12 13

- Ili
- fl
15,51

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

Tweddle as a suitor, and yet no complaint was made—no
proceedings taken until April, 1850, when the letter put
in was written, and he replied to it in a manner anything
but discreditable to the young lady; for he imputed no
blame to Miss Tweddle, but referred simply to the cir-
cumstance which it was easy to conjecture was happening
about that time. And then again, from the date of that
letter to the 17th of March, 1853, a period of nearly three
years, not a syllable was addressed to the defendant upon
the subject, to lead him to suppose that he was still con-
sidered bound to the intention which he had at one time en-
tertained. The contract, he submitted, was clearly put an
end to in April, 1850, in terms on the part of the defen-
dant which could not be misunderstood, and in a manner
most creditable and honourable to him. He ridiculed the
idea of the young lady's illness being caused by the breach
of this contract, and informed the jury that Mr. Ramshay
had been engaged to Miss Lacy long before he married
her. But there was an incident in this history which
afforded a key to the whole, viz., the discharge of the
aunt from the farm she had occupied for some time rent
free. This was the key to all the disappointment, angry
feeling, and craving for revenge which had led to the pre-
sent action, which ho submitted was not likely to be put
an end to by the letter of the Rev. Mr. Bell to the defen-
dant, which sounded to him (the learned counsel) so much
like a threatening letter for the purpose of extorting money
that he could scarcely distinguish it from one of the epistles
they sometimes heard of in courts of justice of that de-
scription. Tn October, 1852, the defendant married his
present wife, and five months had scarcely been allowed
to elapse after that event before a word was whispered of
these people's intentions to attempt to destroy his domes-
tic peace. He implored the jury, therefore, to send Mr.
Ramshay back to his own county with his reputation un-
sullied by this conspiracy against him for the most sordid
of motives.

His Lordship, in summing up, told the jury that the
questions for them to consider were—first, was there a
contract of marriage ; and if so, secondly, to what damages
was the plaintiff entitled ?

The jury retired, and after an absence of about a quarter
of an hour they returned into court with a verdict for the
plaintiff—Damages £3,000.