The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-03-11 00:00:00

sons, who have establisheraiiainfttl occupation at the expense
of deluded or'culitable:' lii!)iiiirep; 'Who are inclined; or easily
persuaded, to beconie eltlpes in manufacturing petitions to
your excellency, of all grie% once's, most frequently hazard-
ing'any description "ot.alitigatiens ragardless of their truth,—
a device' particularly t soSiteT:to underthe like malignant and
interested instigatioti"likkirsOns who, having committed some
offence or breaCh of dtiff art?: tanght t., expect that their chances
1.
or iinpnnity are best' sethred by themselves assuming, under
false' pretexts, the charaefer of complainants. It grieves us to
be obliged to repeat, in the sincerity of our honest but painful
'convictions, what we have been formerly called upon to express
to your excellency, that the countenance, amounting to indirect
encenragement, which has extended to those irregular and mis-
guided references, without due discrimination of their sub-
stantial merits, and the too frequent impunity which has
attended the disorders of which they have been the concomit-
ants, have a pernicious influence in confirming the audacity
and insubordination of the turbulent, and unhinging the minds,
of the orderly. and industrious, and indisposing them to, con-
tiue in the quiet performance of their duties."
" We can bear testimony to your excellency's statement of
the paucity of punishments, which is to be attributed to the
absence of laws appropriate to the state of society that has given
op, and to an undue interference with the application of the
imperfect laws which exist; but we are compelled to express
our. astonishment that, in the notorious circumstances of our
community, your excellency should have been led into a mis-
conception as to the state of crime, the melanchely certainty
being, as the general impression bears us out in asserting, and
as is attested by representations from large and respectable
numbers of our fellow-colonists lying unheeded on the table of
the court, that, if the more heinous and atrocious description of
crimes against the person are not so numerous, (though it is to
be feared in full proportion to the magnitude of population of
less than 120,0110 souls scattered over an extent. of country of
several hundred miles in length.) the utost serious description
of offences against property and other lesser offences and irre-
gularities, by the extent of which the general moral character of
the mass is stamped, are fearfully on the increase, as, indeed,
they could not fail to be under a system which, appearing
already to descry in the existing state of our social and moral
elements, the speedy attachment of perfectibility, professes to
dispense with and set at nought, as unnecessary or leading to
abuse, those safeguards and restraints of law and regulation
which the experience of all -ages and other countries, have hi-
therto found indispensable to meet and repress the' infirMities
and vices of men in society.
" Your excellency has been pleased to express your belief,
that on estates where the labourers are comfortably located and
duly encouraged the necessary labour required by the landlord
will be cheerfully afforded for moderate wages after the termina-
tion of the apprenticeship. To this-opinion we would oppose
the stubborn fact, supplied by experience, that amidst the mul-
titudes that either were exempt, or have obtained their release
frolo-apprenticeship, scarcely. an install& carr-he adduced in
this colony of any of their number betaking themselves to, or
continuing in, agricultural service. In a country. of unmea-
sured extent, where the means .of subsistence can be obtained
with little or no physical exertion, it is consistent with all expe-
rience to expect that by the preponderating mass, if left to
their own guidance, idleness will be, accounted the greatest lux-
ury ; and if it be even admitted that the desire of obtaining
artificial gratifications should induce the more industrious and
civilized portion to afford occasional services for pay, those ex-
tions will, it left to theMselves, be irregular and inconstant, and,
will afford no- basis on which to maintain so complicated an
establishment as a sugar plantation."
" We have always felt that our best interests, as well as a re-
gard to our own comfort, required that we should endeavour to
make every reasonable exertion'fo maintain a cordial good un-
derstanding witb any person entrusted with his Majesty's con-
fidence in the administration of this colony, and under the in-
fluence of that powerful feeling, nothing but a paramount sense
of duty could have induced us to raise our feeble voices in re-
Monstrance against a system. by which the best interests of
society appear to us to be perilled; but, in addition to a system
of general policy which we are compelled to condemn, we have
found that injurious representations of the views and intentions
of the, colonial popular authorities have been made to his Ma-
.lesty's,government, conveying erroneous impressions of matters
of fact. which had seriously prejudiced those authorities in the
estimation of his Majesty's government,—we have had the pain
to see individuals of great respectability and weight in our corn-
Inanity, dismissed from the magistracy. on alleged, but we
believe, untenable ground, of their ill-treating apprenticed la-
bourers under their charge, and refused all the requisite mate-
rials for their own vindication. We have witnessed occasions
sought or seized with avidity, of endeavouring to cast unmerited
stigmas on individuals engaged in the zealous performance of
onerous and most important public duties, who had apparently
the misfortune to become obnoxious to the executive from the
conscientious discharge of their other duties; and we have seen
others in humbler stations dispossessed of offices which they had
filled with constant integrity; skill, and assiduity, in deference
to the displeasure of the executive. To the exercise of autho-
rity thus severe, and apparently resentful, it is not likely that
any confiding feeling should be reciprocated.

We have received from many quarters loud complaints
of what some of our friends are pleased ,to call the
" wasteful appropriation" of our columns in reporting
the proceedings of the reformed town' council of Liver-
Pool. We plead guilty to the charge of bestowing more
attention upon them than they merit. We admit that
fiore unseemly trash, more wretched garbage, or more
intolerable nonsense ;than that which composes the
speeches of the aldermen and councillors, never was ut..
tered by the most ignorant and -illiterate -of mankind.
\Ve confess that, we, in common with thousands of our
readers, have been from the beginning disgusted with
their proceedings, and that it would be a great relief to
us if :we could be held excused. from noticing or report-
ing them at all.
But may we be pWrrniitedto-''o7rer what will, perhaps,
be an unexpected, although, we trust, not an unsatisfac-

tory reason for our conduct? 'We were desirous to show
the public how these new made functionaries, glutted for
the first time with power, would comport themselves.
Our pages were made the mirror in which all the antics
of these popular Mountebanks might he faithfully re-
flected. We drew them as we found them—we exhi-
bited them in all
.the pride of place—we retailed their
speeches as they came in the raw homespun of intuitive
intellect—we gave philosophy, liberality, candour, pa-
triotism, buffoonery, quackery, meanness, and uncontrol
!able selfishness their full swing, under the most de-
cided conviction that strict impartiality and stern justice
would carry with them the severest punishment that
could possibly be inflicted upon them.
The result has been precisely as we calculated. The
new common coancil have, by. their own proceedings,
which we have so faithfully reported, exposed themselves
to universal ridicule. It is not only at their now pro-
verbial ignorance and their gross private jobs that men
laugh. Their conceit—their petty squabbling—their_
disregard of order and decorum in their debates—their
habitual snarling and' disunion, amid which a disputed
fact is bandied ahout with all the vulgar intemperance of
angry grooms at a florse-race—it is this, now so notori-
"R, which has established far them an unenviable noto-
rietY,which will never leave them, and of which their
moderate friends are mortally tired and heartily ashamed.
In short we take upon ourselves to assert that no
Public men with sue!' high pretensions, swimming so
Proudly upon the spring tide of reform, ever sunk so
10Ws or stuck in the mud of public odium so speedily or
so fast, as these Liverpool reformers have done in the
incredibly short period of three months. They had the
ship to themselves ; but, like madmen, they steered her
directly upon the breakers. Had they been disposed
they might, by very slight sacrifices, have done much to
conciliate all classes. Had they been endued with any
fair share of moderation or good'sense, they might have
offered a plea in mitigation for reform. Had the spirit
°f faction been placed under restraint, and thetrules of
equity been subjected to the test of merit, without refer-
ence to party, they might haVe gained the approbation
instead of the contempt of the rational, the intelligent,
and the independent classes of their townsmen.
But in the frantic slake of political thirst, and in the
wild joy of sectarian triumph—the• quaker, the unitarian,
and the papist dancing together like the hags of Mac-
beth; round the, magic ,cauldrou—they at once flung inn..
•delltion, impartiality,, forbearance, conciliation, and de-
torero to the winds. They were drunk with power like
laves with new wine. • The hated term " tory" alarmed
thenalike the awful words of the wizard in SCOTT'S Lag
however
Ote last Minstrel. They 'would tolerate no talent,
superior, which,'in the person of a -candidate,
bore the brand of an adverse political party. They con-.
ceiVed that the power conferred upon them was meant.
t° be e•xclusively political. They never for a moment
!effected that they Were the representatives of a divided
interest, the preponderating scale as regarded property'
Possessed by boodholders, ratepayers, and the creditors
of 'the corporation, being in the hands of the anathema-
tised tories. Reflect ! They were too much overjoyed to '
reflect. They commenced their career as a political fac-
tion suddenly raised to power, rabid in their silly resent-
ttents, inflated to the most absurd extent, and imagining
that the confidence placed in them was the confidence of a
majority which did not try them merely but actually confid-
ed in them as the only men qualified to represent them in
'llie-borough parliament. Here was their great mistake.
hey did not consider it a trial—they conceived it to be
a victory. They did not value the votes as a question-
:l'le experiment—they deemed them an explicit declare-
10R.of enduring and unbounded confidence in their he.
oam• and their competency. They began in the spirit of
f
actigkand they have persevered in that. spirit to the
Present hour.
In
.PrOof of this we beg leave to point to the whole
letter and tenour of their proceedings. They have, like
f an, atici,.trampled upon every form and every recognised
h elneiPle of law and justice. They dismissed The town-
Clerk,r for no reasons assigned, and without accusing him

or putting him on his defence, at the expence of at least
£4OOO a year. They eiected a town-clerk wham. they
praise in words, but distrust in fact ; for they have so
little confidence in him 'that they will not allow ltik to
appoint his official subaltern in the office. They have
commenced legal proceeflings'in reference to the church
endowment question directly in the teeth of the act of
parliament which gave them, as facts prove, only the
power to challenge it. They have entered into a contest
with the Dock E4tate tvoil alleged greunds which are
diametrically opposed to the principles of the municipal
bill, which recognises popular election in all matters of
trust. They have overstepped their powers in making
certain of their members the inspectors of disreputable
houses. They have formed a police without a bead, keep—
ing the real bead in abeyance. They have driven beg-
gars and impostors from the town to the suburbs, simply
to show how far activity in the spirit of reform can ob-
trude upon common sense and the rights of property.
They have insulted the whole body of licensed victual-
lers, most of them as upright and respectable as them-
selves, by reporting them as the encouragers of vice, in
whose houses are perpetrated " the dance, the song, and
comic recitation," and they have committed acts of se-
vere cruelty upon the humble natives of the town, who
have for years served with-unblemished reputation in the
night-watch, by turning them adrift to beg their bread,
in order to make room for strangers of ,a more wilitary

bearing !
These are a few hard nuts to crack ; but.all their cen-
surable absurdities, and all their illegal and corrustprotai
-i
•
ceedings sink into insignificance before the gr4,,..a,ct,0f
folly in the appointment of the town-clerk and! his.ele-
puty. We ruler to a letter in another cajlillid,wltern
it is clearly proved that the appointment of Mr.' RAD-
CLIFFE, on condition that he is to pay the, fee arising
from his office and professional duties into the Borough
fund; is aIIILLEGACAP'P6Ii,iMiNT., IZADCLiFFE has
not the power to reduce his fees, or act as an attorney )3,y,
contract. He is liable to be struck off the rolls, and
punished by fine and imprisonment, if he should offend
in this respect: The'act,Of ParliaMent is imperative, and
makes no exceptions in,hisfavour. Mr., RADCLIFF E has
been voted £2OOO a-year, and yet can claim his fees.be-
sides. Mr. THOMAS FOSTER had, the same fees, but he
had only £IOO a-year salary. Mr.l.{Ancw*E may make
what relinquishment he pleases, but if he should die his
heirs would be entitled to recover every penny of such
fees paid into the treasury. Is the town clerk ignorant
of all this? We do not believe it. What is the infe-
rence ?

The deputy town-clerk is a young man of good address,
of fair calculation, of gentlemanly deportment, but of
little experience, and not overburthened with law. rule
most remarkable fact connected with him, and in which
he is deeply interested, is—he has £7OO a year. Now it
is said that the present corporation profeSs to engage the
highest order of talent on the most economical terms. If
this be their profession, how came they to reject the offer
of I'lr. LOWE, who was willing to perform the duties of
deputy for £2OO a year less than they have voted to Mr.
CROOK. Who is Mr. LOWE ? We understand he is Mr.
RADCLIFFE's instructor in the town-clerk's office, a gen-
tleman whom Mr. CROOK will admit is quite his equal, if
not his superior. Mr. LOWE was retained at the express
desire of Mr. RADCLIFFE, horn a good feeling question-
less, but also because he could not then dispense With'Mr.
LOWE'S services and eXperience in the office. But Mr.
LowE is no vote hunter in the radical register office,
while Me: CROOK was, which makes an essential difference.
On the whole thef.e never_ was such blundering and
jobbing mixed up together. The sum of £2700 has been
voted as salaries to these legal functionaries, and yet
they have as much right to their fees as ever Mr. FOSTER
had. There is one remedy certainly. The leaseholders
of the town are not bound to pay them any fees for pre•
paring or renewing their leases. Let not this be for-.
gotten by the public !

Twenty-one of the tviOty4seven new magistrates with
which this borough is blessed, held their first meeting
on Tuesday, when Mr. Wm. RATnnO:•IE for the third
time in a very few days,4readed his household troops in
an attempt to carry a family job. The meeting was held
to appoint clerks to the magiStrates, the two gentlemen
who have for some time held that office being candidates.
Mr. ELLis, we understand, was elected without any op-
position ;- but when Mr. SeuTTLEworyro,- his colleague
,was propoied, a new candidate %vas brought forward in
the person ofa,Mr. Hour, an attorney we presume. He
was supported' by Mr. Justice Wm. RATHBONE, ditto
THOMAS BOLTON, ditto C. LOGAN, ditto R. V. YATES,
ditto U. MAXWELL, (liHO J. C. EWART, ditto C. RAW.-
DON, and ditto H. E. HARVEY; but he failed nevertheless,
Mr. SHUTTLEWORVI receiving thirteen votes.
This HOLT, we understand, is the same youth—alas t.
unknown to fame !—who was also a candidate for the si-
tuation of deputy town-clerk.. He
.is the nephew of Mr.
Justice THOMAS BOLTON and son of Mr. Councillor
HOLT, so that, as concerns the youth and his relations,
it•is quite a family affair in the worst sense that a job
Can be called. Many of our readers will recollect the,
patriotic zeal with which theabove Mr. Tiros. BOLTON
condemned, in 1832, the appointment of Mr. CORNELIUS.
BOURNE to the office of soliCitor to the dock trustees,
on the•ground that some of his family were members of
the corporation. Uncle BOLTON, however,. .we suspect,
has forgotten all this, for we find him voting for his lov-
ing nephew on two different occasions, and for two differ-
ent offices. Disinterested uncle! Aspiring nephew
Unimpeachable patriots !
While we are on this subject we may as well apprise
our readers at a distance that this Mr. Justice, Councillor
BOLTON, is not the highly honourable, estimable, and
truly benevolent JOHN BOLTON, Esq., of Storrs; who the
other day gave two thousand pounds to the public chari-
ties of•Liverpooi. The latter is a gentleman—of sound
conservative and high church principles; the former is a
justice, and his christian name is THOMAS. This lait
bird is moreover an unitarian; and in order to prevent
mistakesin future, and distinguish him from BOLTON of
Storrs, we shall make it a •rule to call him Unitarian'
BOLTON. •

It will be seen that ministers succeeded, at four o'clock
on Wednesday morning, after, tw night's debate, in de-
featitig Lord FRANCIS.EGERTON'S motion, by a majority
of 307 to 243. This.vote' we consider as decisive of the
fate of Ireland ! So far as• the House of Commons is
concerned, it is resolved to delegate the power, political
and municipal, in that country to the priests. GOD knows
they
.but the present maS-
terofhltahvee i
satisfied with the large
share they possess. fle and they airll at,complete ascen-
dancy., the extirpation of the protestants,,and the confis-
cation of churcti property. This is as Clear,as .the sun
at noon day.. They _want the tithes first and the rent
afterwards, and both they will have unless'the peoPle of
England be roused from their slumbers, and put an end
to priestcraft and popery altogether. . -

And it is at this moment, when ruin is staring them in
the face, that theloyal,orangemen of Ireland are called
upon to suppress their societies, sever the bonds of their
union, and allow themselves to be, cut off in detail They'
are called upon to disperse when they ought. to be stand-
ing to their arms. They are denounced by star-chamber
mandates, when their enerniekare gaining fresh strength
and new strongholds.

Had the corporations been
.'swept away altogether and
no triumph given to eitherparty, we might have admitted'
the policy of. suppressing- orange lodges ; but now that
the protestants are to be deprived. of all power and in-
fluence in Ireland, we cannot see how they can obey the
resolutions of the House of Commons without committing
something like an act of suicide. This, however, is for
their most serious consideration, for we cannot shut our
eyes to the fact that the measures now in progress, if
carried into full effects : must inevitably plunge Ireland
into all the horrors of a civil war. We solemnly declare
that we cannot perceive how this great calamity can be
averted if the counsels of O'CONNELL are listened to, and
the schemes of Lord JOHN lIIJSSELL are much longer
contenanced by such totijoFiliet;

How the conservatives Cfttlle iti exhibit such A paucity
of numbers on this otedgioti ttitixt hereafter be explained
by them to their eatistitueuts, There are at least 320