The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-19 00:00:00

iRY ANTI-CORN LAW
IN BIRMINGHAM.

MEETING

The Anti-Corn Law Associa-
_ lie ineetingin the Town Hall
purpose of enlightening the people here
subject of the corn laws. In order to accornulish this

LSIRMING!

Birmingham held a publ

glit, for tt

object, they engaged the services of a Mr. John Curtis, of
Ohio, United States,-whose residence in America it was pre-

Allied, gay

s for forming correct
notions of the operation of the corn laws in this country.
In order to add to the attractions_ of the exhibition, it was

announced in the " bill of fare" that the Hon. C. P. 'Villiers,
M.P., and Richard Cobden, Esq., M.P., would be present,
and that the side galleries would be reserved for ladies, the
body of the building being free, the Anti-Corn Law Associa-
tion expressing their anxiety to afford " the most extended
facilities for hearing." The meeting was called for six.
o'clock, at which time the hall was about half filled, but be-
fore the proceedings commenced it was crowded to excess.
Mr. Cobden, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Joshua Scholefield, M.P.,
Mr. Sturge, Mr. Salt,-Mr. Swann, dissenting minister, and
other members of the committee, on making their appear-
ance on the platform were received with cheers and hisses ;
and on a proposition being made for Mr. Wm. Scholefield
taking the chair, a person of the name of White. a chartist,
stepped forward, and moved as an amendment, that a work-
ing man was the most fitting to preside over the proc,.ed-
lugs. The proposition of White was loudly cheered, the
ladies in the side galleries supporting the motion in the
most vociferous manner. A scene of indescribable coufusion
now ensued, !n the course of which Mr. Sturge, Mr. Curtis,
and others attempted to obtain a hearing, but the chartists
declared that they would be satisfied with nothing short of
a discussion on universal suffrage, and the other points of
the people's charter. Mr. Sturge endeavoured to compro-
mise the matter by offering to pay for the use of the hall
on any evennig the cnartist might wish to settle their griev-
ances, provided they allowed " the gentleman from Ohio'?
to say his say, but the chartists replied by a storm of yells,
hootings, and hisses, in the midst of which it transpired that
they felt insulted at a "gentleman from Ohio" being em-
ployed to expound a question of English law to an assembly
of Englishmen. This scene continued upwards of two hours,
the orator on the platform making speeches in dumb show,
the uproar preventing a word being heard, and at length the
chairman declared the meeting dissolved. A physical force
attempt was now made by the anti-corn law leaguers to
eject White, the chartist, from the platform, and a rush was
made towards him for the purpose, amidst cries of " Throw
him over 1" and it is probable that the unlucky chartist
would have bad practical experience of his favourite doctrine
of " physical force" but for the timely interference of Mr.
Sturge, who protected him till he got. clear of the gallery.
The lights in the hall were now extinguished, and the people
were left to grope their way out of the building as best they
could. Mr. Cobden, Mr. Curtis, the Yankee, and their
friends then adjourned to one of the ante-rooms of the hall,
in which they treated a,very select audience to some speeches
on the corn laws, determining never again to take tlw sense
of the men of Birmingham on " the master grievance of the
day."

POPERY

IN BIRMINGHAM
DOCUMENT

,--EXTRAORDINARY

We copy from the Birmingham Journal, of Nov. 6, the
following very extraordinary document
"At a meeting of Catholics, held at the Mechanics' Insti-
tution, Nov. 1, J. King in the chair, it was resolved—
"That though it js far from the intention of the Catholics
of Birmingham here assembled in this meeting, devoted as
they are to all the institutions of the church, to impugn the
episcopal authority, or to question the discretionary power of
the Vicar Apostolic in a missionary country, yet they doubt
whether it can be the desire of the chief pastor that such dis-
cretionary power should be exercised at the mere arbitrary
will of him to whom it has been delegated, without regard to
the wishes, the feelings, and the welfare of the people en-
trusted to his care.

" That the utmost harmony was prevailing between the
Rev. F. M. M`Donnell and a flock devoted to him ; that re-
ligion, piety, and good order were the characteristics of his
ministry; that conversions from error were always in pro-
gress ;—when, suddenly, without reason assigned he was
ordered to separate himself from a emtregation, where he
was the instrument of so many blessings ; all of which are
thus terminated. And we look in vain for the reasons
which have justified our ecclesiastical superiors in this arbi-
trary proceeding, in which the interests of religion have
been sacrificed to personal considerations. We cannot but
recollect similar occasions to the present, on the first of
which our venerable holy bishop edified his people, by
acknowledging that he had been misled by misrepresenta-
tion, and promised, before the altar of God, that he would
not again hearken to similarmisrepresentations, and that our
pastor should never be separated from us : and, on the se-
cond, he was induced by the recollection of this promise to
recal a sentence harshly pronounced. We do -now, in the
face of the church, solemnly demand the fulfilment of the
pledge thus awfully made by a bishop of the Catholic church,
before the altar of the Most High, and in the presence of the
adorable Sacrament, the violation of which pledge would go
far to teach the people that no promise whatever can be bind-
ing against the inclination of him who makes it, without re.-
gard to the party to whom it is made; and thus to destroy
that mutual confidence between man and man, without which
society could no longer exist.

" That, in addition to this grievous evil inflicted upon
ourselves, we regret to learn that a pecuniary injury of an
enormous amount has been inflicted upon the pastor of our
affections, inasmuch as he has been suffered to burden him-
self with weighty obligations for the benefit of the mission,
and to discharge those obligations by the sacrifice of his own
property ; and then, when, for the first time, the income of
the mission has become equal to his decent maintenance, he
has been turned adrift on the world without compensation,
the terms proposed to him being nothing more than a mock-
ery ; while they are, nevertheless, a practical acknowledgment
of the debt, the discharge of which is evaded.

"'That we, the Catholics of Birmingham, protesting against
the injustice of which we complain, resolve that we will not
be parties to that injustice; and that we, therefore, in default
of those upon whom the obligation primarily falls, hereby
bind ourselves to make goo the deficiency by a regular
weekly contribution.

" That one fruit of the arbitrary removal of our pastor has
been, the introduction of a system of compulsory taxation in
the name of religion, to which system, we believe, his sanc-
tion would never have been given, and against which system
it is our determination to contend, by every means consistent
with our duty as Catholics. That, in pursuance of this reso-
lution, the following protest be, and hereby is, adopted as the
act of this meeting; and that the same be published at the
discretion of the committee to be hereafter appointed.
" Messrs. King, Smith, Payne, Seally, Hare, Morris, be
appointed a committee, with power to add to their number,
to carro into execution the foregoing resolutions."

ONE OF LORD JOHN'S JUSTICES.-At a meeting of the
town-council, Alderman John Riley was declared disqualified,
having become a lodger in a two pair back, with permission
to have a key.—Leicester Herald.

EXPLOSION AND Loss OF LlFE,—Shortly before ten
o'clock on Monday morning another serious calamity, and
which produced the most intense excitement amongst the
inhabitants of the north-i:astern portion of the metropolis,
took place in the Curtain-road, Shoreditch, London, by the
explosion of a large quantity of fire-works, and other com-
bustible materials, at the fire-work manufactory of Mr.
Price, situate in Charles-street. and which not only resulted
in the destruction of the building, but in the loss of the life
of a boy employed, and the dreadful injury of Mr. and Mrs.
Price, the latter of whom was far advanced in pregnancy.
THREE MEN POISONED.—Much excitement has prevailed
at Long Sutton, on account of three men having been poi-
soned there on Monday last. On that day Thomas Johnson,
Harvey Burgess, and Whitelem, all in the service of
Mr. George Clarke, of Long Sutton, and residing on his farm
in Sutton Marsh. after partaking of their dinner, were seized
with illness. Johnson died in the course of the night, but
the other two arc expected to recover. The coroner's inquest
has not yet been held, but enough is known to warrant us in
saying that it will prove a most melancholy case of family
discord.—Stamford Mercury.

PRUSSIC ACID.—A servant maid, aged fifteen, was ordered
to destroy a cat with prussic acid ; she accordingly purchased
half an ounce of that deadly poison, and proceeded to admi-
nister a part of it to the poor animal, which it instantly
killed. But the effects upon the girl were almost fatal, the
inhalation of the vapour of this very volatile poison having
given rise to a sudden stupor, which was followed by delirium,
and a most frightful degree of prostration of the vital
powers. She was immediately placed under the care of Mr.
N. Smith, by whose exertions m the course of a few days
she was so far restored as to bear removal to the infirmary,
where she now lies in an improvingeondition, under the care
of Dr. Prichard.—Bristol Mirror.

•
FENILALE HEROISM.—On the evening of the 6th instant,
between the hours of four and five o'clock, a man, named
John Murphy, entered the bed-chamber of Mr. Peter Doffy.
of Soldier's-point; Dundalk, and took from a chest two pair
of trousers and one body coat, worth X 7 His servant maid,
who was cleaning the adjoining room, perceived the thief
tying a bundle in a handkerchief on the bed, and she instantly
seized him. He then knocked her down, but, notwithstand-
ing, she still courageously kept hold of the thief, crying out
for assistance. She was dragged from the top room down
the stairs into the hall, where she succeeded in wresting the
bundle from him, and then ran to give the inmates alarm,
who lost no time in pursuing, and succeeded in apprehending,
the ruffian, who was fully committed to stand his trial at the
next assizes.—Newry Examiner.

THE UNFORTUNATE STEAMER PRESIDENT.—The Ame-
rican papers have again taken up the subject of the lamentable
loss of the President steam-ship. It has always been consi-
dered that a vessel so strongly built could not have foundered
from the violence of the wind and sea only, but that other
Means of destruction had come into operation and caused her
destruction. The near escape of one of the frigates of the
United States, the Potomac, from total loss on the St.
George's Shoal, has led to the conclusion that she might
by possibility have been wrecked on it, and that even now
some portion of her frame may be discovered, if an expedi-
tion for that purpose be despatched, the necessity of which
is strongly urged. This shoal appears to be but little
understood ; since the captain of the vessel alluded to,
feeling somewhat uneasy as to the proximity of it, appealed
to the pilot, who declared that all was well ; 'nevertheless,
the ship, after every effort that could be made for her escape,
struck three times, and had the original course been per-
severed in, not an individual would have survived to relate
the story connected with the loss of the frigate, then only a
few hours out of port. That the President met with a
catastrophe similar o that which had proved so nearly fatal
to the Potomac, is concluded from the fact, that the severity
of the gale was such, that it was, without doubt, necessary
to keep her head to the wind, and that when she was last
seen St. George's Shoal was directly to the windward.—
Dublin Freeman.

NOMINATION OF SHERIFFS.—A brief account of this
ceremony may not be uninteresting to the public. The
Chancellor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the judges of
the various Courts, and several of the Privy Council assem-
ble in the chamber, when an officer of the court administers
to them ou oath, in old French, by which they swear not to
nominate any one from favour, partiality, or any improper
motive. This having been completed, the same officer,
having a list of the counties in alphabetical order, and of
those who were nominated the year preceding, reads over
the three names, and the last of the three he pronounces to
be the present sheriff. Where there has been a " pocket
sheriff," however,—that is, one appointed by the Sovereign,
not being one of the three nominated in the Exchequer—the
clerk reads the three names upon the list, and then declares
who is the present sheriff. If any, of the ministry or judges
have any objection to a person named, he mentions it, and
another gentleman is •nominated in his room. If no ob-
jection, however, is made one rises and says, " To the two
gentlemen I know no objection, and I recommend A. 8.,
Esq., in the room of the present sheriff." Another officer
has a paper, with a number of names, given him by the
clerk of the assize, for each county, which paper generally
contains the
names of the gentlemen upon the former list,
and also of gentlemen who are likely to be nominated, he
prefixes 1,2, or 3, to their names, according to the order in
which they are placed, which, fur greater certainty, he after-
wards reads over twice. Objections arc frequently made to
those nominated, and sometimes at their own request—such
as, that they are abroad ; that they are practising barristers ;
that they are officers in the militia ; that their estates are
small or encumbered ; and the like. The new sheriff is
generally appointed about the end of Hilary term. The
Earl of Thanet is hereditary sheriff of Westmorland, which
office may descend to and be performed by a female. Thus
Anne, Countess of Pembroke, had the office, and exercised
it in person, and at the assizes at .4,ppleby sat with the
judges on the bench.