The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-03-07 00:00:00

GENERAL INTELLIGEYCE.

THE SECOND REDUCTION of the duty of 4d. per pound
on tea will come into effect on the 6th April.
Tnn SWEDISH chamber of nobles have declared rail-
roads to be "things unfit for Sweden."
WAGNER, the German composer, is writing an opera,
which wilbit is said,occupy three nights in the performance.
TnE BISIIOI, OP SeiwatTny was seized with a bilious
attack on Wednesday doming, which assumed a rather
alarming character. On Thursday he was somewhatbetter.
LORD Demsousin is endeavouring to establish verna-
cular schools throughout India for the instruction of the
masses of the people.
'rum CITY OP LONDON committee for the erection of a
statue to Sir IL Peel have decided that it shall be•placed
at the west end of Cheapside.
A "BEARD UNION" is in course of formation at Edin-
burgh, its object being "to forward by all legitimate
means the cause of the beard, and by union to overcome
the foolish prejudice against that manly ornament."

LAST WEEK a couple were married in Scotland whose
united ages amounted to 152 years, the blooming bride-
groom having seen seventy-two summers, and the buxom
bride eighty ! Neither had previously been married.
A PERSON in London, known as " Old Sandy Forman,"
has just died, leaving between £15,000 and £16,000.
Failing heirs (although he seems to have a brother alive),
all the money is to go to the town of Sterling to support
old people.
ONE OF THE FORTUNATE DIGGERS in Australia is an
Irishman, named Loftus, who was discharged penniless
from the 99th regiment, about four years ago. He has
now £42,000 in bank at Victoria, besides a rental of £950
from landed property.
A NARROW-GAUGE PROJECT is said, by the Bristol
Mirror, to be under the consideration of influential parties,
for connecting Bristol with South Wales and Liverpool
direct, crossing the Aust Passage, and falling into the
Monmouth, Hereford, and Shrewsbury line.
AT THE CHARTERHOUSB SCHOOL, according to a cor-
respondent of the Times, a boy who had been twice flogged
by a monitor, drew his knife in resistance to a third inflic-
tion, and has been expelled.
A FEW DAYS AGO a joiner, residing in Newcastle, re-
ceived an order to make a child's coffin, one of the condi-
tions being that it should have a lock and key. The
father wished to preserve some tangible memorial of the
last resting-place of his child, and his intention was to
wear the key of its coffin round his neck !
THE SOAP PLANT.—The Vienna journals announce
that a firm at California has sent to that city some seeds
of the soap plant. It grows wild in California, rising to
the height of about a foot. The plant fades away in the
month of May, and inside each is a ball of natural soap,
superior, it is asserted, to any tbat can be manufactured.
THE RUSSIAN PAPERS gravely relate a miraculous
appearance of the blessed virgin during one of the recent
conflicts on the Asiatic frontier of Turkey and Russia.
She is said to have been seen by the combatants on both
sides in the attitude of blessing the Russian soldiers. The
consequence was that they wet e inspired with supernatural
and irresistible valour, and that a number of the infidel
Moslems were converted to " the orthodox faith."
A PARISIAN gentleman is said to have discovered a
new mode of producing artificial light, by which, with a
glass, two-thirds filled with water, a little powder, and a
few drops of another liquid, he can illuminate a room for
four hours, at the expense of less than a sou.
PRECAUTION IN FIRES.—A correspondent of the Boston
Journal (U. S.) writes :—" By simply wetting a silk
handkerchief and placing it over the face, a person can
go through a dense smoke without inconvenience. I saw
the statement about twenty years ago, and shortly after
tried it, saving thousands of dollars by knowing where
the fire was."

IscirrENT WAR.—One of the Bristol pilots reports
that there is a Turkish barque and a Russian barque in
the Penarth roads, ready loaded, and each bound to their
respective countries ; that the captain of the latter fears
to proceed to sea, as his antagonist has nine guns ready to
play upon his enemy, as soon as he can catch him clear of
the roadstead.—Shipping Gazette.
A BOY named Thomas Speight, belonging to one of the
parochial schools of St. Clement Danes, was committed for
trial from the Marylebone Police-court on Monday, for
placing eight bricks upon the rails of the London and
North-Western Railway at Camden-town. An officer of
the company had but just time to kick off the bricks from
the rails and secure the boy, when the express came up ;
and the consequence, if the attempt had not been detected,
it is fearful to contemplate.
ORDERS have been received at Woolwich dockyard
to prepare for launching the Royal Albert, 131, screw
steam-ship, on the 15th of April, the day after Good Fri-
day, Her Majesty, Prince Albert, and several of the
junior members of the royal family will be present on the
occasion, and the ceremony of naming the steamer will be
performed by the Princess Royal.
PAtxn.iNs' Guxs.—The Moniteur pnblishes a long
letter from General Paixhans, in which he suggests that,
instead of building ships to carry 100 or 120 guns, and
crews of 1,000 men each, it would be well to spend the
money which such a ship should cost in the construction
of two or three frigates armed with this new and destruc-
tive artillery.
MAKE-BELIEVE " WORRING-MEN."—A class has risen
up among you (the working classes) who get their living
by agitation and organization. - The beershop is their
factory and home. The plough and the loom know them
not, yet they always affect to speak in the name of the
working classes. Their harangues glitter with pikes and
smell of gunpowder, although they generally contrive to
keep their person out of harm's way. They drill you to
clamour, and would drill you to blood and plunder, could
they do it safely. They fawn on your first fault, and yelp
and snarl at all other classes, and on those of your own class
who resist their dictation. They are led by your own enemies,
or pretended friends, to make tools or fools of yoU for
selfish purposes. Through them the demagogue cajoles,
the aristocrat bribes, the adventurer plunders, and the
spy betrays you; and they are a ready agency for any
scheme, however preposterous, criminal, and disastrous.—
W. Fox, M.P.

TITS SUPPLEMENTAL ARMY ESTIMATE.—The supple-
mental army estimate has been laid before Parliament.
It will be remembered that• an increase of 10,694 of all
ranks has been already voted. The supplemental estimate
states that Parliament will be asked to vote a further
augmentation of 15,000, raising the number of all ranks,
officers and men, to 127,977. The total increase is dis-
tributed thus :—Officers, 65; non-commissioned officers,
1729 ; rank and file, 23,910. The additional charge for
this second increase will be £500,000, and for the general
and medical staff required for foreign service, £70,000.
This additional charge, which is now to be voted, £670,000,
added to the increase already voted, £262,470, will make
the total increase £832,470, and raise the charge for the
ydar to £6,857,486. In the previous year, the year just
closing the*charge was £6,025,016.
A COMMON ON FIRE.—On Wednesday afternoon, be-
tween one and two o'clock, some persons set fire to the
furze plantation between Feltham and Twickenham. Be-
fore any assistance could be obtained the flames had
travelled with lightning speed over some acres of ground,
destroying, in their progress, many hundred valuable
furze trees. At one time the flames were rising many
feet in the air, and presented a singularly grand spec-
tacle, which was witnessed by hundreds of persons
travelling by the London and South-western Railway. A
great many farm labourers having been obtained, they
went to work, and with the aid of shovels and hand poles
they managed, after some hours' labour; to cut off the
further extension of the destructive element, but not
until some acres of land had been swept clean of what was
growing upon them an hour or two before.
ROMANIST DIETARY DISPENSATION FOR LENT, 1854.
—The following dietary dispensation for Lent has been
promulgated in the metropolitan districts by the " Lord
Bishop of Southwark," from which it will be seen that
certain modifications are to take place in the practice
formerly adopted. The notice is as follows :—" 1. Flesh
meat is allowed at the single meal of those who are bound
to fast, and at the discretion of those who are not bound,
on all days except Wednesdays and Fridays, Ember Satur-
day, and the last four days in holy week. 2. On Sundays,
even those who are bound to fast may eat flesh meat at
their discretion. 3. Eggs are allowed at the single meal
of those who are bound to fast, and at the discretion of
those who are not so bound, on all days except Ash Wed-
nesday, and the last four days in holy week. 4. Cheese,
under the same restrictions, is allowed on all days except
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. '5. Dripping and lard
is permitted at dinner and collation' on all days except Ash
Wednesday and the Fridays during Lent. On those days
(Sundays included) whereon flesh meat is allowed, fish is
not permitted at the same meal. N.B. The Easter Com-
munion must be made between Ash Wednesday and Low
Sunday, both days included.—Tnomes, Bishop."
The following is an. extract from the Lenten pastoral of
Archbishop Cullen, vhich was read at all the Romish
mass-houses in Dublin on Sunday :—" Never engage in
those improper dances imported from other countries, and
retaining foreign names, such as polkas and waltzes, which
are so repugnant to the notions of strict Christian morality,
are condemned by many of the highest and most respecta-
ble members of society, and are at direct variance with that
purity and modesty of the female character for which Ire-
land has been ever distinguished."
- -- --

A VERY INTERESTING SITITATION..—The other morn-
ing a girl in the service of the Rev. Thomas Drake, of
Barrow-upon-Soar, rose about seven o'clock, and having
kindled a fire, went into the yard; while there the door
blew to, and there being a French latch to it, she could
not open it again. The other inmates of the house were
not up, and rather than arouse them from their slumbers,
the girl resolved to obtain ingress by climbing upon the
roof, and making a descent down the chimney. With
the aid of a piece of timber she mounted the roof, and
succeeded in getting into the chimney, but, having de-
scended two or three feet, her petticoats prevented a
further descent, or, what was worse, an ascent either.
In this unpleasant situation she had to remain some time,
being unable to extricate herself, or (although her cries
were heard) to make any one understand where she was
confined ; and when she was discovered the upper part of
the chimney had to be demolished before she could be got
out. Fortunately the girl was not injured, further than
the abrasion of the skin upon ascertain part of her person,
and the discolouration consequent upon such a singular
adventure.
AN ITEM FOU COTTON BUYERS AND SELLERS.—There
is now before the legislature of Georgia a bill " for the
protection, in certain cases, of planters and cotton sellers,"
which effectually settles for that state the disputed ques-
tion whether, in the sale of a domestic staple, " cask"
means ready money, or money that will not be ready until
seven days after the article is sold. The first section of
the bill provides, that " after the passage of this act cotton
sold by planters and commission merchants shall not be
considered as the property of the buyer, or the ownership
given up, until the same shall be fully paid for, although
it may have been delivered into the possession, of the
buyer, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwith-
standing." Section second enacts, " that any person
engaged in the business of buying cotton, either on his
own account or for others, who shall buy or engage to buy
cotton from a commission merchant, and shall fail or refuse
to pay for the same at the time agreed on, or if no time
shall have been specified then when required, and
shall make away with, or dispose of any cotton purchased
and not paid for, shall be deemed guilty of fraud and
embezzlement, and shall, be liable, on, conviction, to be
imprisoned in the penikntiary, not less. thou one nor more
than five years, at the discretion, oftl* jury trying the
case."— Georgie,.W3.),Nscin

Sin FlEsny YOUNG, in his report on the navigation of
the River Murray, in South Australia, just issued, says
As regards soil, climate, and other natural advantages,
there can be no doubt that the vast basin of the Murray,
equal in area to seven Great Britains, is well adapted to
sustain a large population ; while in no part of the world
can the extent and facility of internal communication by
water be surpassed."
THE PRINCESS LIRVEN gave a grand soiree in Paris a
few evenings before her departure. She announced to
her friends that, although she had not received the
slightest intimation . either from the Russian embassy or
the Czar, that party would doubtless be her last. The
Russian princess manifested a desire to return to Brussels.
M. de Rothschild, who was present, replied to her,,,
" Madame, if that is the case, no change will take place in
our habits ; we shall come and see you at Brussels as we
do in Paris. We will organise pleasure trains on the
Northern Railway. It will be, besides, a good affair for
the company."
A BLACK NEWSPAPER.—The report of a newspaper in
Liberia comes to us like a sign and an omen. A few
years ago, a dark jungle grew down to the water's edge,
where we now see aZ' republic—rich, free, im-
proving—a society tho y organised —a government
active, strong, and liberal—trade, industry, manufacture,
arts, intelligence. All this the newspaper, the Liberia
Herald, tells us by itself and by report. Its very
existence is significant of hope, of change, of progress.
Editors, writers, printers, compositors—all are neg,roes;
and we are bound to say that the articles, the reports of
meetings, the comments on news, and the select matter
would do no discredit to a provincial or colonial journal
of the white man.—Athenerum.

ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.—A vessel was towed down
the Thames, on Tuesday week, in charge of a Gravesend
pilot. On reaching Gravesend the vessel was left at an-
chor, and the surgeon of the ship accompanied the pilot
on shore, and went home with him. The pilot, it ap-
pears, bad at home two fair daughters of Eve, both in a
state of single blessedness ; and the gallant surgeon, struck
with the sudden thought that his bachelor state during a
long voyage to Sydney, whither he was bound, would be
very lonely, proposed for one of the daughters, and was
accepted. There was no time for courtship or doubt; the
ship sailed the next day. The license was accordingly
procured, and the next morning, at eight o'clock, found
the gay Lothario, with his bride, and her sister as brides-
maid, at the door of the parish church of Old Milton.
And now comes the most interesting, or rather the most
ludicrous, part of the story. The service had proceeded as
far as that very important but very short response, when
the lady had to, say " I will," when she looked up with
the most perfect innocence into the face of the priest and
clerk, saying, " I think you have made a mistake ; it is
my sister that is to be married." The sacred edifice itself,
the solemnity of the performance, the grave and solemn
tones of the priest, all combined together, nearly failed to
repress the growing risibility upon every countenance,
except that of the bridegroom elect, whose blank aspect
portrayed his dismay at the mishap so nearly consum-
mated, and which would have shortly been irrevocable.
However, the ladies changed places, and the service hav-
ing been again gone through, a few minutes served to tie
the indissoluble knot, and the happy bridegroom having
imprinted a kiss upon the forehead of his youthful bride,
the party left the church. We understand the same even- '
ing the ship sailed, carrying with her the newly-wedded
pair. We wish them a happy and prosperous voyage.—
Maidstone Journal.

IMPROVEMENTS IN SAVINGS BANKS.—France is not
the country from which we would expect to receive useful ;
information for the improvement of any scheme having
for its object the cultivation of the provident habits of the
people; yet, judging from some communications with
which we have been favoured by Mr. Bridges, the able
Secretary of the Friendly Society Institute, we are glad to
find that the French Government are now actively and
successfuly engaged in endeavouring to make provident
societies (so ci6tes de secoure mutuels) safe and useful
schemes for the preservation and improvement of the
periodical savings of the industrial classes. A letter of in-
structions from the Minister of the Interior, and an
elaborate report upon the present situation of the French
savings banks, addressed to the Emperor, are full of
valuable information. The best mode of forming and
managing these banks, and appropriate checks to prevent
malversation, are there clearly pointed out and explained.
Mr. Scratchley, who has devoted much valuable time to
this national object, has presented an interesting report to
the Friendly Society Institute, the result of his examina-
tion of the French system, made by him last Autumn in
Paris, which he had been requested by several members of
Parliament and trustees of saving banks to undertake.
Mr. Scratchley appears to be fully impressed with the de-
sirableness of having one uniform system of book-keeping
practised by the managers of all the English savings banks,
and we learn that the attention of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has been drawn to the expediency of a clause
being inserted in the new Savings Bank Bill to authorise
the issue, by the National Debt office, of a circular letter
of instructions similar to that issued by the French Go-
vernment, to render compulsory the adoption of a uniform
system of books and accounts. It is well known that in
this country, and it was so in France, the endless diversity
in the books and mode of keeping them, is found to be the
great obstacle in the way of a systematic inspection of sav-
ings banks' accounts, by which alone fraud will be sus-
ceptible of detection, and, what is still more important, of
prevention. Mr. Scratchley, whose opinion on this subject
is of the greatest weight, found that much benefit had re-
sulted from the French regulations, confirming him in the
view he had taken in his.work on saving banks, as to the
necessity of a uniform system of account keeping. The
Friendly Societies Institute took measures in the summer
of last year, for collecting the views of the leading savings
bank officials respecting the recent bill, and they appear
without exception to have considered, that if passed it
would have produced mischievous results. On one part all
parties appear agreed, that a system of frequently recur-
ring audit (to be made without previous notice) by
auditors delegated by depositors or by Government in-
spectors, together with the requiring of proper security
from the savings bank actuary (or other official who is
authorised to receive the subscriptions,) would do much to
prevent the occurrence of frauds. The fear of an unex-
pected visit from one of the auditors or inspectors would
act as a very efficient check. It has been attended by the
most salutary effects in reference to private lunatic asylums.
If Government inspectors be appointed, their reports
should be addressed to one chief inspector in London, who,
under control of the Comptroller General of the National
Debt Office, could collate them as a guide for fresh in-
structions, where required, and they ought to be presented
in the form of an annual report to Parliament. Whether the
Government should insist upon receiving security for the
sake of the depositors, as to which there has been so much
discussion, Mr. Scratchley reports, that he does not con-
sider it of so great importance as is imagined ; although
he admits that where such security is not given, proper
measures (in the shape of notices in the banks and on the
deposit books) should be taken to disabuse depositors'
minds on the subject. Mr. Scratchley is led to this con-
clusion by the experience of a large number of friendly
societies and other similar institutions ; which, without
Government security, meet with no difficulty in obtaining
the confidence of members, when the auditing of their ac-
counts is intrusted to delegates from among the members.
It is well known that English industrial societies more
unfrequently fail from errors in the principles upon which
they are founded (which is not the question at issue in the
matter of savings banks) than from the effects of pecula-
tion or fraud. The delegated committee of auditors of a
friendly society are pleased with the power of being able
to call for the books for inspection, and they exercise it
with energy.—Assurance Register.

A SEA or TROUBLES.—Seven years ago, Villiers Pearse,
a reporter to the public press, and the son of an officer of
rank, in circumstances of the deepest distress, was con-
victed of forging the signature of the Marchioness of
Queensbury to a cheque, which he presented for payment
at Messrs. Coutts' bank, and, being at once detected. was
ordered to be transported for ten years. Five months
ago he was found by the police in a wretched hiding-place
in London, living with his wife and children. He was
then apprehended on a charge of escaping from confine-
ment, and brought up finally, before committal to the Old
Bailey, on that charge, at Clerkenwell, on Saturday. On
being asked by the magistrate if he had anything to say,
he requested, in an agitated manner, to be allowed to
detail what he had suffered. He said :—" At the period
of the offence for which I was convicted. I was in the
most acute pecuniary distress, with a wife and a large
family of children. A series of misfortunes—the most
heavy was the death of my second wife, by which I lost
an annuity of £l5O, with a great falling off, notwith-
standing all my exertions, of my occupation as a reporter
to the public press—brought about mainly my distress.
Previous to the commission of the offence, I had through
life borne an irreproachable character. In early life,
from 1818 to 1822, I held some most responsible appoint-
ments in Jamaica and other West India islands ; and from
1829 to 1834, in New South Wales. I was convicted in
October, 1848, was three months in Milbank Penitentiary,
in solitary confinement, subsequently three years and two
months in the Warrior convict-ship, at Woolwich, and I
was sent abroad in March, 1850. At Milbank, and at the
hulks, I had the best possible character. On my arrival
at Hobart Town I had a ticket of leave, which I retained
until I left the colony, never having forfeited the same for
a day by any insubordination. My motive in leaving Van
Diemen's Land, was to proceed. to the gold diggings, in
the hope that I might be successful, and better the con-
dition of my family at home, who are in very impover-
ished circumstances; but although my exertions were
great in California, Victoria, and New South Wales, I was
unsuccessful. It is true I made, occasionally, some
money, but I was robbed of. it on the roads
_by bush-
rangers, and was frequently illused and robbed at Mel-
bourne and Geelong, by the worst of characters. I was
shipwrecked twice, and once burnt out at sea; the first
time in Torres Straits, between New Holland and New
Guinea, on a reef of coral rocks. Upon this occasion I
lost between £7O and £BO, and all my luggage, eleven
of us only getting ashore. out of a ship's company of
twenty-seven. After thirty days of great suffering and
privation, we were picked up by an American whaler, and
ultimately reached Sidney. I was subsequently wrecked
in a brigantine, called the Titon, going from Melbourne
to Adelaide, and then lost all I possessed in the world.
having had another narrow escape of my life. In return-
ing from San Francisco to Melbourne, in a vessel. called
the White Squall, she caught fire, and we were obliged to
abandon her and take to the boats ; but a great number
of the crew and passengers perished by fire and water,
the survivor's in the boats reaching Tahiti in about eight
days, in a state of great exhaustion, many of whom after-
wards died from the effects of the same. I again reached
Melbourne, and, after recovering my health in the
hospital, I went to Forest Creek, and many other
dig-
gings, where I obtained some wealth, and in returning
with it to Melbourne, the last time from Forest Creek,
I was attacked by bushrangeras,d ro armbbed of all led with revolvers,
most cruelly beaten, stripped n had.
Eventually, while in Auckland, I saw a barque, bound for
England, in want of hands. The temptation was too
great, for I had long mourned to reach my dear family,
and I shipped myself as ordinary seaman and assistant
steward, and we left the settlement in July, with a miser-
able crippled ship's company, and made a very severe
passage round the Cape, losing masts, sails, rigging, boat,
bulwarks, and many of the crew from the yard-arm, and,
finally, we reached England in September last, after a
most awful passage of four months and twenty-six days."
Under these circumstances, the unfortunate man entreated
the humane consideration of the legislature for his great
sufferinp.. The. statement was placed on the depositions,