The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-03-20 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDA Y.

In the commons there were ballots for committees to try the
merits of election petitions regarding Kingstuu-upon-Hull and
Shaftesbury.
Mr. Msck INNort, afterwards brought under notice the resigna-
tion of Lord Grosvenor, and the appointment, in his stead, of
Mr. St. John MildinaV, as chairman of the Carlow county elec-
tion committee. He submitted that another appointment could
not take place without the release of Lord Grosvenor being sanc-
tioned by the house, agreeably to the clauses regarding illness or
death.

Eventually Lord R. Grosvenor was excused from further at.
tendance on the committee.

The Speaker stated that he had received a petition complain-
ing of the return for Tipperary.
Mr. GILLON deferred his motion regarding the report of the
committee "on internal communication taxation, with a view
to.the reduction and equalisation of the duties."
Mr. PEASE inquired whether the government contemplated
any other measure on the subject of municipal boundaries.
Lord J. itussELL answered indistinctly, but observed that
the government had already brought forward a measure on the
subject, which, however, the house had not countenanced.
Sir R. PEEL instituted further inquiry respecting the ilif9r-
motion heretofore sou& regarding the adjustment of the Ameri-
can boundary question.
Lord J. Ru ssk Li, said that Lord Palmerston had, he believed,
given information on this subject on a former evening.
Sir It. PEEL admitted that information had been given, but
it was not exactly what was sought,
Sir F. Bui(DETT inquired whether it was known when the
poor laws committee were likely to make a report on the evi-
dence taken by them.
Mr. FA ZA KERLY said that the committee would proceed with
the receiving of evidence so long as any was preffet ed that ap-
peared to further the objects of the inquiry; the committee
would not think of making any report of their own opinions till
then.

Mr. VILLIERS moved that the house resolve itself into com-
mittee to consider the act of the 9th Geo. IV., c. 60, " relating
to the importation of corn."

Sir w:NIOLESWORTH seconded the motion

The Marquis of CHANDOS resisted the motion, maintaining
that the corn laws were only just protection of ►he farming in-
terests.

Sir H. PARNELL said that they were useful only to the land-
lords, though the farmers were put forward as the parties bene-
fited.

The Earl of DARLINGTON expressed his astonishment at Sir
H. Paruell's change of opinion, as he had supported the corn
laws iu 1813, naming 80s the quarter as the protecting price—a
change that appeared to have accompanied the representation
of Dundee.

Mr. CLAY condemned the corn laws, but said it was useless
to persevere as they had "so little support from the public
of that house:" a sentimPn, that
After an extended, but desultory and rather noisy discussion,
the house divided. The numbers were, Ives 95, noes 300. Ma-
jority against the motion, 205.

Mi.. Sergeant JACKSOII intimated that be should not press
any further proceeding on the Registration (Ireland Bill until
after the Easter recess, in consequence of the .attorney-general
for Ireland having brought in a bill on the subject.
The house adjourned before 12 o'clock.

HOUSE OF LORDS-FRIDAY.

After the presentation of several petitions, the report of the
Sodor and Man Bishopric Bill was brought up and agreed to;
after which their lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF. COMMONS—FRIDAY.
Lord PALAIERSTON, in answer to Sir Robert Peel's inquiry on
a former evening, stated that the papers regarding the Ameri-
can boundary question were in the hands of the printers. His
lordship afterwards, it will be perceived, in Lord Eliot's inquiry,
admitted that there had•:been an interruption of our friendly
relations with the government of Persia, in consequence of out-
rageous conduct towardi our diplomatic authority in that coun-
try, but that he hoped,•ou- reflection, that the Shah of Persia
would afford adequate redress for such a tyrannous proceeding.
Sir S. CANNING having made inquiry on the subject,
Lord PALMEHSTON said that he had been in communication
with Austria regarding the occupation of Cracow, and that the
answer was, that it was only temporary.
Mr. PEASE inquired whether there had been received a me-
morial numerously and respectably signed, for a mitigation of
the sentence pa..sed upon two men for murder at the late Hert-
ford assizes? and whether the statement was correct that the
jury, in finding their verdict, modified it by saying they did nut
think the prisoners intended to commit murder?

Lord J.' RUSSELL answered that the information received re-
specting the alleged statement of the jury was totally incorrect.
He received a memorial on the subject, in consequence of
which he bad an interview at the Home-office with the judge
who presided, and who assured him that he perfectly agreed
with the verdict; and, after fully considering the circumstances,
his lordship said he felt it to be his duty not to recommend the
convicts to her Majesty for mercy.
Sir G. GREY, in answer inquiry made by Lord Stanley, ad-
mitted the receipt of memorials from the Island of Grand Cay-
man, for participation in compensation for slaves, and added,
that the law officers of the crown had given their opinion that
the slaves there were free on the passing of the Compensation
Act; at the same time he had no objection to produce the pa-
pers.

Sir R. PEEL again called attention to the case of some pro-
vision for the Bishop of Quebec, but as no specific and satisfac-
tory answer was derived front the Chancellor of the Eichequer,
it was understood that the subject would be again brought for-
ward on the moving of the colonial estimates.
Lord J. RUSSELL proposed an alteration of the resolution of
23d June, 1833, regarding the proceedings in election com-
mittees on votes unduly omitted from the register, &c.; but,
after considerable conversation, the change was deferred for the
purpose of amending the terms of the resolution, and until the
present election committees had gone through their labours. It
is to be proposed to suspend the resolution of 1833 as it respects
Ireland and Scotland.

Mr. C. WOOD (in answer to inquiry) said that the prome-
nade at Somerset House, fronting the Thames, was opened to
the public under certain restrictions.

Lord PA LMERSTON stated, in reply to Lord Ingestrie, that
the order in council continued in force for intercepting all stores
being conveyed to Don Carlos.
The house then once more resolved into committee on the Poor
Relief (Ireland) Bill, which, as usual, occupied nearly all the
remainder of the sitting, but making no very great progress,
only about half the clauses being yet disposed of by the cool-
mittee.—Adj ourned.

The new coinage of Queen Victoria bas been struck. The
effigy of the queen is without any emblem of sovereignty, quite
plain : the reverse is a shield.

The Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells has presented the Rev.
Edward Wilson, Principal of King William's College, Isle of
Man, to the Rectory of Weston Super Mare, in the county of
Somerset, vacant by the resignation of Archdeacon Law,
LOFODEN ISLES.—THE MALSTROEM.—The most extensive
group, as well as the most valuable for their commercial impor-
tance, are the Lofoden Isles, renowned from the earliest ages as
the great fishing-station of the north. Their appearance is
rugged and dismal; resembling piles of rocky mountains heaped
upon each other, covered with snow, and rising abruptly from
the bosom of the deep ttl an4levation varying from 100 to 4000
feet. Hindoe, Langoe, Andoe, and Senjen, are the largest;
but East Vagoe is the•central point for the fisheries, and it has
continued so since the dawn of Norwegian history. They
are separated from the mainland by the tempestuous chan-
nel of West Fiord, at the entrance to which, between the
lower point of the group and the small island of Moskoe, is the
celebrated Moskenstroem, or Malstroem, so terrible in the an-
nals of northern navigation. The ancient belief of its being a
subterraneous abyss, penetrating the globe, or communicating
with the Gulf of Bothnia, has, among other fables, been lout;
discarded; and the true cause of this dangerous whirlpool is the
conflicting agitation of the waves, as the tide rises or falls,
against the rocks which confine the sea to a narrow passage.
These straits do not afford a sufficiently quick outlet to the im-
mense body of water which presses like a wedge between its
shelving barriers; the ebb returns with prodigious force; and
when their motion is opposed by high winds, the struggling bil-
lows mount into the air, and precipitate themselves in cataracts,
or whirl into eddies, whose powerful suction draws down fish,
boats, and every thing that approaches it, to :e bottom of the
vortex. Large pines, absorbed by the current, have re-appeat ell
after being chafed in the rocky caverns_until their trunks were
bruised and torn as if covered with brisites. In calm weather,
the furious turmoil nearly ceases; but in slot ms, the dashing
and roaring of the waves are heard at a great distance, and the
wary mariner dreads to approach within seven miles of this de-
structive collision of the elements. Altliough exaggetated de-
scriptions have been given of the Malstroem, its real dangers
are unquestionable. But it is not the only phenomenon of the
kind in these seas.—Saltenstroem, near Badoe, is equally
perilous, and no less fatal to the natives.—Edinburgh Cabiitet
.Library. Scandinavia, Ancient and Modern.