The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-05 00:00:00

THE CHAIRMAN'S RETIREMENT

The ordinary business of the committee having terminated,
Mr. Alderman Benn retired from the chair, which was taken
pro tem., by Mr. Aiken.
_ _

Mr. CHAPMAN then said the committee ought not to
separate to-day without recording their sense of the manner
in which their worthy chairman had performed the duties of
his office since he had been appointed to preside over the de-
liberations of the committee. He (Mr. Chapman) believed
this was the last occasion on which, as a body, the present
members of the committee would meet together; but before
separating he could only say for himself that during the
whole time Mr. Benn had occupied the chair, his entire con-
duct had been marked with strict impartiality, mid with the
greatest desire, whilst providing every accommodation for
the trade of the port, to promote the welfare of the dock estate.
He therefore begged to move that the warmest thanks of the
committee be presented to Mr. Benn for his valuable services
as their chairman, and that the same be recorded upon the
minutes of their proceedings.

Mr. RIPLEY said he quite concurred with Mr. Chapman
in the observations he had made with reference to the con-
duct of the chairman, and he had, therefore, great pleasure
in seconding the motion.
The motion was immediately adopted.
Mr. Alderman BENN then came forward, and with consi-
derable emotion said, he thanked the committee sincerely for
the honour they had just done him. This was the last occa-
sion on which he should have the honour of meeting the com-
mittee, and he could only say that he had always experienced
the greatest pleasure in meeting them. The greatest kind-
ness had been shewn to him upon the part of every member.
He had endeavoured to do his duty, and devote as much
time as he possibly could, to the efficient working of the
docks. He derived great pleasure from the reflection that
he had been in the committee, and in the chair, during the
obtainment of a bill, which he had always thought was much
wanting—that was the act to make a dock with warehouses
upon the quays. He did not regret he was leaving the com-
mittee now, for it was at a time when it had a great deal of
work to do ; but he had the satisfaction of knowing that he
was leaving behind him many gentlemen much more compe-
tent to carry out the views embodied in that bill than he
was ; and he hoped he should live to see the completion of a
work which he was confident would be productive of much
advantage to the port. He had one favour to ask. Having
taken great interest in this bill, he should be glad if he
might, after retiring from the committee, visit occasionally
the works without being considered an intruder—that he
might have permission to look within the palings while the
works were going on. He begged to thank the committee
sincerely for the honour they had done him in recording this
vote in his favour. It had been his object to conciliate all,
and he had the satisfaction of reflecting that during the time
he had been in the chair there had not been any discord, nor
one angry word • there had always been in the committee an
unanimity of feeling, and a general desire to promote the in-
terest of the dock estate. Mr. Benn then retired amidst
much applause.
The committee then separated.

LONDON MONEY MARKET AND TRADE

REPORT.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.—The increased demand for
money stocks, with purchases on account of Chancery, has
further improved the English funds to-day. They now pre-
sent a very firm and stable aspect. Consols for money closed
881, and for the Account, 89 ; Bank Stock, 164 to 165 ; In-
dia Stock, 244 to 245 ; Three per Cents. Reduced, 871 ;
Three and a Half per Cents. lieduced, 67i ; New Three aup
a Half per Cents, 98i ; and Long Annuities (expiring Janu-
ary 5, 1860), 12 7-16ths.

The foreign securities were not extensively dealt in, but,
nevertheless, the better aspect of things in general rather
improved. Spanish Active closed 211 to I; Portuguese
Five per Cents., 291 to 30; Dutch Two and a Half per
Cents., 514 to i; Brazilian, 55 to 57 ; Danish, 78 to 79 ;
Colombian, 19 to ; and Mexican, 25* to
TEA.—The market continues firm. Company's Congous
Is. 101 d. to Is. 16 1. per lb. cash.
TALLow.—The price on the spot is 465. Gd. to 475., and
for the spring 475. Gd. buyers, with very little doing.
SUGAR.—The market is very quiet, and the sales of Bri-
tish plantation under 100hhds. No sales of Mauritius or
Bengal took place.
COFFEE.-30 casks Jamaica sold at 50s to 755. ; GOO bags
and casks Ceylon fetched GBs. to 68s. Gd. ; and for fine West
India kind 85s. to 945. Gd. ; 220 bales Mocha were chiefly
taken in at 101 s. to 107 s. for good to fine ordinary ; 200 bags
Singapore and Java sold at 425. to 50s. ; and in foreign 4bo
bags very good St. Domingo were taken in at 41s. Gd.
RIM-1,300 bags Bengal sold at 12s. Gd. for good mid-
dling white, which is about 3d. dearer.

Pipritn..-2,900 bags Malabar partly sold, ordinary
shrivelled, 31(1. to 3-0.; good heavy taken in at 4id. to 4d.

EXTENSIVE ROBBERY OF WATCHES.—On Sunday even-
ing the following robbery was committed at the shop of Mr.
Keyzor, 77, Upper George-street, Portman-square. It ap-
pears that Mr. Keyzor, who is a watchmaker in an extensive
way of business, has shops in various parts of town, and at
the one in George-street a confidential person is placed
to look after the business. On the evening in question
a respectably dressed young woman knocked at the door,
which was opened by a female servant (the only person then
on the premises), and delivered a message, to the effect that
Mrs. Keyzor was taken suddenly ill, and that she (the ser-
vant) must go down to her immediately to her master's shop
in Tottenham-court-road. Without loss of time she repaired
thither, and to her great surprise discovered that her mistress
was in her usual good state of health. She then returned
home, when it was directly ascertained that during her tem-
porary absence, the front door had been opened by means
of a skeleton key, and that between 70 and SO silver watches,
valued at nearly £3OO, had been stolen from the shop. It is
imagined that while the thieves were engaged in their work
of plunder, they were disturbed, as a great number of gold
watches and valuable articles of jewellery, &c., were left un-
touched.—Times.

TRIAL OF 112 MEN FOR MURDER.—The correspondent
of the Illinois Free Trader gives an account of the trial of
the persons charged with the murder of the Driskalls, John
and William, from which we make a few extracts. He says,
" The September term of the Ogle Circuit Court has just
closed, and its session has been marked by a trial which, in
the number of the accused tried in one indictment for the
crime of murder, is without parallel. ' 112 men were indicted
for the murder of John Driskall and William Driskall, in
June last, near Washington Grove, in this county. About
100 pleaded not guilty, and were put upon their trial. Judge
Ford, whatever might have been his feelings, (the accused
were his neighbours, Judge Ford living in Ogle county,)
exhibited upon the bench a stern determination that the
accused should be fully and fairly tried. However, the very
fact of the great confusion occasioned by so many names in
the indictment, left the accused without any evidence to
contend against. The two or three first witnesses whose
names were endorsed upon the indictment, (and by the laws
of this state none, except those whose names are so endorsed,
can be called to prove the substantive part of the acuusation,)
only knew some of the preparatory steps taken which led to
the supposed offence." The case was submitted to the jury,
who, without leaving their seats, returned a verdict of " not
guilty." This verdict was given partially from a want of
evidence, and from what the jury considered the absolute
necessity of the case.—New York paper.
GALLANT CAPTURE OF 'A BRAZILIAN SLAVER BY RER
MAJESTY'S BRIGANTINE DOLPHIN.—A despatch has been
received at the Admiralty from Captain Tucker, senior officer
of her Majesty's ships on the coast of Western Africa, en-
closing a duplicate letter to himself from Lieut. Littlehales,
of the brigantine Dolphin. The latter officer describes a
most dashing capture of the Brazilian slaver Firme, by fifteen
men and officers in a small gig and cutter of the olphin, in
the open sea. These gallant men were despatched on Sun-
day, the 30th of May, and after a harrassing pull of two hours
and a half's duration, in a squally, rainy morning, under a
vertical sun, and without breakfast, they came up with the
chase, which bore down upon them and opened a brisk fire
of musquetry, which was quickly returned, and, after steadily
reloading under the slaver's continued fire, the men cheered
and attempted to board on each quarter. Mr. Murray, mate,
was the first to board, but was quickly knocked with the butt-
end of a musket, which broke his collar bone, back into the
boat ; he immediately clambered up again, and in spite of
two cutlass blows, one of which nearly severed his left hand
from his wrist, and by the assistance of Mr. Rees from
the other aide, who had fortunately gained the deck
with his party, and who at once cut down one of Mr.
Murray's opponents, that officer was then also enabled to
get fairly on deck. The party thus on deck consisted of the
two officers and four or five men. Before them the crew of the
slaver showed no continued assistance, but ran below, dis-
charging their muskets as they scampered down. Two sailors
of the Dolphin's boats were, however, unfortunately shot in
the attempt to board. The boarding was one of uncommon
difficulty, the sweeps of the slaver being rigged out, which
prevented the party boarding by the chains, and only allowed
the boat's crews to get up the sides singly, or at most in pairs.
The resistance lasted twenty minutes, the shots from the
Firme falling in every direction among the British boats and
men, killing two, and wounding one severely and six slightly.
Within three hours of the time when the boats made the
slaver, their gallant crews rejoined their own vessel with their
prize. She proved to be a newly-built Baltimore clipper, of
179 tons, from Bahia, and had on board the regular official
papers and the Brazilian flag ; she had an unusual number of
passengers and several slave agents on board.—The Admi-
ralty has, we are glad to observe, promptly evinced their ap-
preciation of this display of British naval skill and valour, by
promoting Mr. Murray to the rank of lieutenant, Mr. Rees
to that of master, and John Smith, a first-rate seaman, who,
when his right arm was disabled, continued to fight with his
left, to be boatswain.
BIRMINGHAM, MONDAY—FATAL GUN ACCIDENT.—
Considerable consternation was created in the western part of
this town this morning by a report that a boy named John
Swan. residing with his parents at the Cup public-house, in
Smallbrook-street, had shot his mother while sitting at break-
fast. Such, however, were not the dreadful facts of the case,
although the event, afflicting as it is, cannot be otherwise than
universally deplored. It appears that an elderly woman,
named Snape, was in the habit of daily going to the Cup to
assist in cleansing the house. She was so employed for some
hours this morning, and at 10 o'clock sat down to breakfast
in the club-room up stairs, in company with a servant girl
named Mary Hartland. The woman and girl were joined by
John Swan, a lad about 15 years of age, and the son of the
landlord. During the time of breakfast he went into an ad-
joining room, separated by a removable wooden partition,
and brought out a fowling-piece in a woollen case. The boy,
evidently ignorant of the piece being loaded, took it out of
the case, placed a percussion-cap upon the nipple, and after
saying, " Look out, or up, Snape, I'll shoot you,. put the
gun to his shoulder. The woman, nothing alarmed, ex-
claimed, " You may, it will not hurt me." Young Swan
then pulled the trigger, bat the gun missed fire. He then
placed another cap upon the nipple, and again taking aim at
the woman pulled the trigger ; the gun went off, and the un-
fortunate woman fell dead upon the floor. The unhappy
youth, as as he saw the dreadful consequences of his
rashness, darted down stairs exclaiming, " Mother, I've
shot Mrs. Snape." At the door of the house he met his
father, (who in the street had been alarmnd by the discharge
of the gun,)to whom he made similar exclamations, and then
ran off to fetch Mr. Wilcox, the- surgeon, with whom he re-
turned. On entering the room in which the occurrence took
place, Mr. Wilcox found the woman quite dead. One eye
was completely blown out. The shot had entered the fore-
part of the head and mutilated the cheek in a moat shocking
manner.

IS THE " PROTESTANT QUESTION TO BE LAID

ASIDE

A few weeks ago we were asked, even by men professing
Conservative and Protestant principles, " Why agitate the
Protestant question now why keep up any longer your Pro-
testant Associations, when a Conservative administration
holds the reins of power, and the O'Connell influence in the
cabinet is prostrated for ever ?" Our answer was, that, not-
withstanding the check which it had sustained, the evil spirit
of Popery is still busy in its vocation, and that an unrelaxing
watchfulness is, therefore, still the duty of every Protestant
community. True, it may be, that the great prizes of the
government are, for the present, withdrawn beyond its reach.
It has no longer judgeships or commissionerships wherewith
to feed the rapacity of its followers. It sits no longer at the
council board of the Sovereign. It can no longer infuse its
dark poison into the stream of national education. It is
maimed, and shorn of its beams ; but it has not, therefore,
become innocuous, and requires to be watched with, perhaps,
even greater vigilance, since its path is no longer in the sun-
shine, and its seat in high places.
The position occupied by the Church of Rome in Great
Britai❑ is not one from which she can be dislodged in an
hour, or by any single effort. Her power of damaging Pro-
testantism is not one which the mere possession of a parlia-
mentary majority will enable us to put down ; for although
we may reduce that power so far as to prevent her from pur-
suing, in a direct course, the cherished objects of her ambi-
tion, yet indirectly, and perhaps with even greater certainty,
under the mask of some popular delusion, she may still be
advancing towards their achievement. That, at the present
moment, her influence is lent to the fomenters of anti-corn
law agitation in the manufacturing districts, is indisputable ;
and it will scarcely be denied, either, how powerful that in-
fluence is. That Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Stockport,
&c., with one-third of their populations composed of Irish
Roman Catholics, and, to a man, voting in accordance with
the dictation of their priesthood, return exclusively anti-corn
law candidates to parliament, is to be attributed solely to the
power which Popery has erected for herself, even here, in
England. Nor is that subtle spirit to be satisfied with thus
controlling the return of representatives to parliament only.
There are local prizes as well, in the bestowal of which she
has a more direct and immediate interest, and for the power
of controlling these she has been for years past, and is still,
assiduously working. There are municipal constituencies to
be overborne, and municipal prizes to be carried off; and for
none of those prizes is Rome more assiduous in her efforts,
than those vhich attain for her the power of grafting her own
dark and debasing superstitions upon the minds of the chil-
dren of our labouring poor.
Can we then, we ask, or aught we, merely because we have
put down the influence of popery iu the government, cease
from the pursuit of any and every means to decrease that in-
fluence in the community? The answer is before us practi-
cally, at this moment. We eannot, consistently with the
safety of our Protestant institutions, and with the preserva-
tion of protestantism in the state and amongst the commu-
nity, lay aside for one moment the watchful-attitude which
the concession of 1829 has imposed upon us. We must con-
tinue to agitate the Protestant mind of the empire, while
popery continues, either openly or covertly, her system of
aggression against the national faith. Let popery confine
her turbulent waters within their own banks—let her cease
from the struggle for political supremacy—and protestantism
will cease to agitate against her. But, until she do so, we
must cease—never ! She has not done this. She will not
do this. For upon what ground, we ask—upon what quar-
rel—was the contest fought which has just been brought to
issue, within our own borough ? For what has Rome lent
her powerful aid to liberalism at the late and in former muM-
cipal rtruggles ? The answer is obvious. Her reign in the
town council—her reign in the education committee—her
quasi monopoly of the corporation schools was threatened.
A conservative council will not cut down the religious edu-
cation of the children of the poor of all persuasions to the
precise pattern which it may please popery to dictate ; and
hence the inundation of the municipal registers with her ser-
vile adherents. The defunct thing, whiggery, may indeed
plume itself that it has still sonic participation in the direc-
tion of the army by which protestantism is assailed, and that
it will share in the spoil. Its shallow and flippant philoso-
phers may spout forth their free trade dogmas, and prate of
their economy, their liberality, or their surpassing wisdom,
but the p-esiding genius of the field is the Church of Rome
herself. It was her hand which set the battle in array ; and
it was her banner which was designed to wave over the heads
of the vanquished, if the energies of protestantism had not
been put forth to avert so dire a calamity.
With such practical evidence before us of their continued'
necessity, are we to be told that our Protestant associations
should be discontinued ? No, no ! To the spirit aroused
throughout the land by those associations we owe it that
popery has been cast out of the high places ; that it no
longer raises its truculent hopes to the throne itself; and
that spirit must riot be crushed—the voice of Protestant
warning must not cease to agitate the heart of England—so
long as vitality enough remains in the noxious thing, to dese-
crate and render impure even the humble stream, from which
the children of the poor come to be filled with the waters of
saving knowledge.

CORRESPONDENCE

A RADICAL DISAPPOINTMENT,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

Sllt,--1 understand that a certain radical alderman, who
anticipated the honour of filling the civic chair for the ensu-
ing year, and of course reasonably expected to be made at
least a baronet, took a house in Shaw-street, Everton, and
actually invited a titled female relative to do a graceful pre-
sidency for him at several contemplated festive banquets and
balls. His disappointment is great—his ire beyond bounds.
He must console himself as do Cato and Cincinnatus Ash-
croft, who exclaim that

The post of honour is a private station."
A VOTER

PRINT SHOPS

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE LIVERPOOL ST.4NDARD

Sin,—Among other nuisances demanding the attention of
our conservative council, and which it is hoped they will be
successful in promptly removing, is the public exhibition of
indecent prints and books. These do not meet the eye so
frequently as in some other towns ; but if any one doubts
the existence of a case calling for magisterial interference, a
look at a shop in Park-lane will be sufficient to convince him
of its necessity. The foot pavement before it is frequently
so crowded with gazers at the obscenity in the windows, as
to obstruct the thoroughfare.—Your constant reader,
Liverpool, Nov. 3. A FATHER.

NUISANCE

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

Sirt,—l wish through the medium of your excellent jour-
nal, to call the attention of those of our public authorities
whom it concerns, to a very great nuisance now prevailing in
the neighbourhood of Abercromby-square, and Oxford, and
Bedford-streets. It is that of the firing of guns or the
noisy ignition in some other way of combustible materials at
late hours of the night. The sounds produced are so loud
and alarming as in several instances that have come to my
knowledge, to interrupt the repose of sleeping children, or
most painfully disturb suffering invalids. Such an evil can
proceed only from foolish and idle, or rude and mischievous
persons ; and a material benefit would be conferred on many,
by its being arrested and put a stop to by the interference of
the competent authorities.—l am, sir, &c.
Oct. 30, 1811. VERAX.

THE PROTECTORS