The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-07-06 00:00:00

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Lord John Russell has offered Mr. Sheridan Knowles,
from the royal bounty, £lOO a-year.
The authorities in Edinburgh are about to erect tents
in a park for the reception of fever patients.
Ten casks of Russian potatoes have been imported into
Bristol from Odessa. _ _

A public entertainment was given to Sir Henry Smith,
on Wednesday, at Ely, his native place.
The yearly amount of insolvency in England is no less
than £50,000,000.
" A practical man," writing to the Morning Chronicle,
suggests that the best monument for Caxton would be a
" Caxton Hospital" for decayed printers.
At a late meeting of a London Antiquarian Society, one
of the members produced, for general inspection, the heel
bone of Edward VI., pilfered from his coffin.
The Queen, on the advice of Lord John Russell, has
settled on the widow and family of the late Dr. Chalmers
a pension on the civil list of £230 a-year.
A parliamentary return gives the cost of the Yeomanry
Corps in Great Britain for the year 1846 as £87,948 ; the
number of officers was 884, and of men 13,818.
The quantity of alpaca and llama wool imported into the
United Kingdom in the year 1846, was 1,554,2871 b., and
the quantity re-exported, 112,1281 b.
The Eleven (Ten) Hours Bill came into operation on
Thursday ; and in several mills, consequently, the wages
of the hands are about to be reduced.
Fever is raging in Scotland. A Scotch paper says :
" From all parts of the country we hear of the prevalence
of fever, and of the steps which are taken to stay its
progress."

A
large porpoise, or sea-hog, measuring about 12 feet
in length, and weighing 120 stones, was caught in the ri-
ver Ouse, at Kilpinpike, near Howden, on Thursday, the
24th ult.

Mr. Leigh Hunt has received a highly-complimentary
letter from Lord John Russell, with the announcement
that the queen had bestowed a pension of £2OO a-year on
the veteran author.—Douglas Jerrold's Newspaper.
Six new companies will be immediately added to the
corps of Royal Marines, and fully officered with a captain
and two sabalterns in each company. Two field officers
will also be added to the strength of the Royal Marine
forces.
The bricks charged annually with duty in England and
Scotland alone (in Ireland there is no duty on bricks) are
upwards of 150,000,000, yielding a revenue of £440,900.
Tne malt tax alone yields a net duty of £5,000,000: paper
yields a net duty of £7,000,000; soap yields upwards of
£950,000 ; and British spirits upwards of £5,000,000.
HEALTH OF TOWNS BILL.—The House of Commons
determined on Thursday night, by a large majority, to
proceed with the bill in committee, and some of the
most important clauses were afterwards agreed to. Several
members expressed their regret that the metropolis had
been excluded from the operation of the bill.
FALL OF A GRAIN LOFT.—Some days ago, one of
the lofts of a granary at Craigie gave way, and fell to the
ground floor with all its accumulated treasures, in one
promiscuous uproar. We believe more granaries through-
out the country have fallen within the last six months
than during the previous sixty years—certainly no proof
of the scarcity so loudly asserted to exist in the land.—
Perth Advertiser. . _

The daughter of a surgeon residing in London was ac-
cidentally poisoned on Tuesday last. She was in the ha-
bit of taking ginger-beer and soda-water, which she fla-
voured with essence of lemon ; but she unfortunrtely mis-
took a bottle containing essential oil of bitter almonds for
the phial containing the essence of lemon, and expired in
a few minutes after she had swallowed the poisoned
draught.
A singular mode of preparing medicines appears to
have been recently adopted in France, by covering the
most nauseous descriptions of them with sugar in a con-
fectioned and highly-finished state, so as to represent su-
gar plums and comfits, and to deceive any person as to
their exact quality and real substance. Quantities of
medicines thus distinguished have been imported for use

into this country.
THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.--Mr. C. R. Vold, a con-
nexion of Sir J. Franklin, states that all the alarm which

;1 created respecting the Arctic adventurers is
,ss. " Sir John, he says, " was provisioned for
,er of 1848, and when he sailed no one contem-
;rig from him earlier than October or Novem-
- some unforeseen accident should compel
' succeeded in passing Behring'E

earlier

s at the end of August, or in Sentemb

ise as ye

to his rE

Lbsence hai nc

not, in fact, exist at the present moment more reason fo:
Apprehension than there was when the expedition sailed
mrd from Sir John is to be looked upoi
t of success than of failure."

as more an ear

July 6, 1847.

Her Majesty's royal assent has been given to the nett/
Enlistment Act ; and, from the 22d instant, recruits fot
the cavalry are only to serve twelve and the infantry tel
y ears.

- A quantity of horse flesh, salted and picked so as VI
resemble ribs of beef, has lately been seized in Birming-
ham. The house where it was found has long been
famous for cheap and savoury meat. The ingenious ptd-
prietor has absconded.

AN UNEXPECTED DIEFICULTY.—The Weekly Times
states, that Mad'lle Lind has found herself involved In
some difficulty with respect to practising at her house in
Brompton. It has been impossible for her to give free
vent to her vocal energies without attracting a crowd of
persons about her dwelling ; and consequently, to remedy
this inconvenience she has been compelled to take a house
on Wimbledon Common, in the centre of a deep garden.
Thus she hopes to avoid the uncourteous inroads of John
Bull upon her privacy.
NEW POSTAGE BILL.—A bill has been introduced b'
government empowering the lords of the treasury to pre,-
vent packets of unweildly bulk from being sent by post,
by fixing the maximum weight; to reduce the rates on
any letters exceeding one penny ; and to allow printing:
or writing on newspapers or their covers, besides the
direction ; also to extend the privilege of the 3 and 4
Vict. to seamen and soldiers' foreign letters ; to enable
any person to require a receipt for a letter delivered to the•
post-office., at a regulated charge ; to compel the senders
of letters rejected or addressed to persons not to be found,
to pay the postage; and to` authorize the sending of
mails by railways without a guard.
A CIDER DRINKER.—An old man, named Abraham
Hillard, approaching fourscore, who has lived in the
family of the Holmans, large farmers, at Glastonbury,.
for the last forty years, as farm bailiff, has had through
the whole of that time one gallon of cider daily allowed
for his own drinking, from his master's stores, and
though he is now too aged to work, he is still seen going
for his favourite beverage. The father of the present Mr.
Holman, at his death, left in his will Bs. per week, to be(
given to this faithful servant as long as he lived. This
he (the old man) regularly has been paid, and his daily
potation of cider drawn for him also. During that forty
years this man must have received 14,600 gallons, or 270-
hogsheads 20 gallons, which, at 40s. the hogshead, would
have realized £540 and upwards.—Sherbourne Journal.,
A NEW WAY TO TAKE A COLD BATH.—Two sailord
were taking a walk the other day on the lower footpath to
Duddington ; and when opposite the Loch, one of them,
evidently the worse for liquor, suddenly broke off from
the other and dashed into the water, his friend following
him ; but the latter, it is supposed, seeing the other swim-
ming so well, and thinking no suicide was intended, re-
turned to the shore and sat down on the bank, waiting the
event. The tipsy man swam for the nearest island, which
he reached in safety, and coolly lay down to rest himself
beside a swan on its nest; and after remaining for a few
minutes, again plunged into the Lock and swam ashore..
Having rejoined his companion, they returned again to
town, arm in arm, as if nothing in particular had occurred,
dripping like two Newfoundlands after a plunge.—Edin-
burgh Weekly Register.

AN INNOCENT CONVICT.—A highway robbery was com-
mitted in the early part of 1846 by four persons, near
Hertford, and three were taken into custody and tried at
the February assizes held there, and being all found
" guilty," were sentenced each to 15 years' transporta..
tion. William Bowers, one of the persons convicted, de-
clared his innocence of any participation in the crime
after sentence had been passed upon them ; but the tes-
timony of his fellow-convicts was of a doubtful nature,
owing to their silence on the subject previous to convic-
tion. Another of the guilty parties having been recently
taken, confessed to the chaplain of the Hertford Gaol
that William Bowers was innocent of being a participator
in the crime of which he was convicted, and named the
other person, still at large •; and it having now been satis-
factorily established that Bowers was really innocent, a
free pardon for him was received from Sir George Grey,
Secretary of State, by Mr. Masterman, Governor of the
Warrior convict-hulk, at Woolwich, and the prisoner was
immediately liberated a faw days ago.
Ivy ow CHURCHES.—The paper of inquiries to church-
wardens, issued by the archdeacon, always contains the
question, " Is there any ivy growing on the walls, &c. ?"
A rural dean has appealed to the Archdeacon Ormerod,
on his primary visitation, to consider before he issues his
fiat for the removal of this ornament of many of our
churches. He contends that, so far from the ivy render-
ing the structure damp, and so hastening its decay, on the
contrary, nothing so effectually keeps the building dry, as
may be seen by examining beneath the ivy after rain,
when it will be found that the walls are dry, though every-
thing around is deluged with wet. And further, he con-
tends that " its exuberant and web-like roots, issuing, as
they do, from every portion of the branches, and running.
all over the surface on which it grows, binding everything
together that comes within their reach with such a firm
and intricate lace-work, that not a stone can be removed
from its position without first tearing away its 'protecting
safeguard." In proof of this, he refers to our ancient
castles and abbeys : " for while in those parts of the struc-
ture that have not had the advantage of this protection all
has gone to utter decay, where the ivy has thrown its pre-
serving mantle, everything is comparatively perfect and
fresh, and oftentimes the very angles of the sculptured
stone are found to be almost as sharp and entire as when
first they came from the mason's yard.—Bury: Post.
AN IMPRISONMENT OF 23 YEARS !—Jeffrey Harvey,
a miller of Wedmore, in Somersetshire, in February,
1805, mortgaged his lands for £3OO, and in 1812 further
mortgaged them for £3OO to William Barrow, of Wed-
more, the clear annual value of the property being £BO.
In 1817 W. Barrow took possession and received the rents,
and Jeffrey Harvey has not had a penny from the property
since the death of W. Barrow in 1830. On the 4th of
September, 1824, J. Harvey was arrested at the suit of
W. Barrow, for £7OO, for principal and interest alleged to
be due on the mortgagee, and was lodged in IlcheSter
gaol. The cause having been tried at the Lent Assizes in
1825, a verdict was given against Harvey for £826 10s.,
and he has ever since been retained a prisoner, although
the judgment has never been revived by any of the repre-
sentatives of the deceased plaintiff. In Easter term last,
Mr. Edwards benevolently moved the Queen's Bench.
Court for Harvey's 'discharge, there being no legal detain-
ing creditor, and on the 25th of May the rule for his dis—
charge was made absolute. Thus, after 23 years' impri-
sonment, during 19 years of which he had been a recipient
of the gaol allowance, this unfortunate man is now at
liberty ! It is alleged that upon a fair account, a consider-
able balance would be shown to be due to Harvey from
the representatives of the mortgagee, and proceedings are
to be adopted accordingly.
DEATH OF A NOTORIOUS ENGLISH OUTLAW IN
AMERICA.—Recent Vermont papers chronicle the death
in the village of Brattlebro, in that State, under rather
curious circumstances, of one of the most reckless and
successful highwaymen that ever ranked in the annals of
crime, and upon whose head the English Government,
thirty-five years ago, set an enormous price. Doherty
alias Captain Thunderbolt, was Irish. During his last
illness he refused to have his clothes removed, and when
he was sensible that his recovery was impossible he bar-
gained with two men to bury him in them. The curiosity
of the neighbours was aroused by this singular request.
Desiring that their fellow-citizenshould
ease and on
have
removingdecenta
burial, they interfered after his
the clothing from the corpse they discovered at once the.
cause of his singular desire. .A withered leg exhibited
shot marks, and his neck a scar, which together with a
cork heel, identified him as being the notorious highway-
man Thunderbolt. On his person a loaded pistol and' a
dirk were found; among his effects, carefully packed
away in sawdust and concealed, arms,
watches, diamonds,
rings, and other jewellery to an immense value ; and it
appeared that, in order to make his person more portly'
so as to prevent recognition, he had worn for years three
suits of clothes at the same time. The shrivelled leg was
covered with cloths to increase its apparent size to that of
the other. The discovery of the far-famed robber, say
the Vermont papers, in the person of the individual who
had for some thirty years resided quietly in their midst,
and who had been known to many as the " eccentric
Scotch doctor," in whose prescriptions they had the most
exalted faith, made a considerable stir among the people
of the village in which he had so long lived.—American

paper.
A WEALTHY AND EXTENSIVE FARMER OF WILT-
SHIRE.—Near to the town of Mere, Wilts, we were struck
at beholding the fine crops, the excellent order the fields
appeared to be in, the low neat cut hedges or fences, and
the immense quantity of oxen, cows, and sheep grazing
in the meadows : and this led to an inquiry to whom
those rich, broad fields belonged. To Sir H. R. Hoare,
the rich banker of Fleet-street, London, was the ready
reply, whose seat is about three miles from Mere, and
seven from Wincanton, who himself has the following
seven farms in his own hands :—Shirton, Knoyle, Colcat,
Hill grounds, Brenham Lodge, Top Lane, and Search.
Farm ; altogether containing between three and four
thousand acres of land, once so poor and considered so
unproductive that every farmer in the old school failed in
getting their living from the farms they occupied ; hence
Mr. Hoare, one after the other, was driven to make the
best of such land, or suffer it to be still less useful if over-
run with weeds. He therefore hired farm-bailiffs, pur-
chased horses, and every necessary implement of hus-
bandry : employed at least 150 labourers, keeping between.
seventy and eighty horses, giving constant work to wood-
men, carpenters, bricklayers, and thus more than 200
men through him have constant emplopment, winter or
summer, wet or dry, at good wages; the lowest amount
paid to labourers is I2s. per week, some having 21s. at
the present time ; no reduction in the cold and short
days. His cottages are let to his labourers at from 30s.
to 40s. per annum, with large givdens, right of common
or pasturage, enabling some to keep a cow or two, and in
the winter fatten two or three pigs. Mr. Hoare himself
has as many cows in milk at one time as yield him twice
in each week fourteen to sixteen pounds of good butter,
has seventy calves weaning and fattening at one time, and
in the winter at least fifty beasts stalled ; when fat they
are sold generally to beast-dealers in the neighbourhood,
some of these beasts frequently reaching the enormous
weight of from sixty to eighty score pounds each. About
one third only is grazing land ; he has never less than
1000 sheep and 600 ewes for breeding, of the pure South-
down breed ; nearly 1000 acres of this very land was never
considered to be worth more than is. per acre for rent
Os annum. When Mr. Hoare had it first in his posses-
sion, the occupiers then thinking_ three to four, sacks per

acre of wheat a good field, now, 1
and manuring, it would let for 30

'el five hundred

last year on this very land pro-
from ten to eleven sacks per acre.

clueing on an av(
This gentleman lets off a lato
in the neighbourhood, giving every encouragement and
to those who will follow in his plans, by lending
ilex, and rendering every as-
lv ask, and even more than

breadtl

assistan

Once they ma

they expect

.ent as extra management
ng long leases at the olden

ds some to adopt, but gr

low terms to induce the
not blinded to prejudice

self-willed tp.cl

vertiser,