The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-27 00:00:00

POLL BOOK.

We are glad to find that a complete list of the voters
polled for the election of Sixteen Councillors for this
Borough, on the 2d of November, is already in the
hands of the printers, and will be immediately pub-
lished. It will skew the duplicate qualcations of
the voters, and the wards in which they polled. The
list has been examined with the polling papers in the
possession of the Mayor. It will be found of great
value as a book of reference, and will prove of great
service in carrying on the canvass for the ensuing
year.

Kibtrpool •-,ttanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 27, 1840,

We have received our files of the Sydney Gazette
and of the Sydney Commercial Journal to the 4th of
August. These papers supply us with the melancholy
details of an engagement which took .place in the
Island of Tonga, between the crew of her Majesty's
sihp Favourite and the heathen inhabitants of the
island,;and which ended in the repulse of the forme r-
The particulars of this engagement will be found in
another column.

The papers before us give a very unfavourable ac-
count of the financial concerns of the colony of New
South Wales. It appears that the real excess of ex-
penditure over income, during the past year, amounted
to £102,365, and that the gross excess, which includes
several items not properly chargeable as government
expenditure, was £140,598. The estimates of charge
for the next year are stated to be £397,300, the de-
ficiency of all the available resources of revenue to
meet which is set down at £32,000. This deficit it Is
proposed to cover by raising the duty on West India
rum to 9s. per gallon, that on other spirits to 125., and
to fix the ad valorem duties thus :—On wine 15 per
cent. ; on other goods, tea and sugar excepted, to per
cent. ; on tea and sugar, as at present, 5 per cent.
On the whole, notwithstanding the financial em-
barrassments of the colony, the prospects of the colo-
nists appear to be very encouraging.

The London papers of Wednesday contain the im-
portant announcement of the taking of St. Jean
D'Acre by the allied forces. This information was

!onveyed by a telegraphic despatch from Toulon to

Paris, having previously been brought to Malta by the
Phamix British steamer. The Paris correspondent of

the Times intimates that an insurrectionary movement
was expected to have taken place at Cairo, which Ivo
likely also to extend to Alexandria, and put an end al-
together to the power and the reign of Mehemet
ind perhaps to his life. Whatever foundation there maY

be for these surmises, it appears highly probable that
the fall of Acre will be immediately followed by the
evacuation of Syria by the troops of Ibrahim
and by the immediate settlement of the eastern (Pe'
Lion. It is alleged that M. Mounier, who has been de-
spatched by the French government on a mission to
the British Court, is authorised to make a definitive
proposition to the following effect :—That the allied
powers obtain from the Sultan for Mehemet Ali a grant

of the hereditary government of Egypt, on condition
that he withdraw his troops from Syria and submit
forthwith. It is, however, further to be agreed on,
that Syria be erected into a Pashalic, tributary to the
Porte, but under the protection of the five great Powers
of Europe. This will, most probably, be the ultimate
arrangement which will be agreed upon by France and
the allied Powers.

The Liverpool Times of Tuesday last, avails itself of

the opportunity presented by the birth of the Princess
Royal, to offer a deliberate and gratuitous insult to one
of her Majesty's illustrious uncles. Our contempo-
rary remarks that " in the present circumstances of
the empire, the birth of an heir or heiress to the
throne is a political event of great importance. It
gives us the additional security of another life against

the king of Hanover, a prince whose outrageous vio-
lations of the rights of his German subjects shows
what he is capable of, and how severe a trial his acces-
sion to the throne of England would have been to our
monarchical institutions." Such language, applied a°

In our publication of Friday last we called attention
to the hostile aggressions with which the privileges of
the port of Liverpool are threatened ; and we now
proceed to point out more in detail the injurious con-
sequences which must result from their concession to
the creditors of the Dock Estate and to the owners of
property within the borough.
It is well known that the Dock Estate is at present
encumbered with a heavy debt, the interest of which
absorbs yearly a considerable portion of its revenue.
To carry into effect the object of the Dock Trustees,
and enable them to consummate their warehouse job,
large purchases-are required to be made of property
now vested in the Corporation ; and for this purpose
further and considerable sums of money must be bor-
rowed. It is true, we admit, that the security—the
estate itself—will be increased, together with its debt;
but it may become a question for the serious conside-
ration-of the present bondholders whether the produc-
tiveness of the estate will be increased as well as its
extent, or whether the powers required to be conceded
to the landowners and to the port of Runcorn may
not diminish its productiveness so far as to affect ma-
terially the value of their security.
Were it certain that the exclusive privileges now
enjoyed by the trustees of the Dock Estate would be
preserved from being encroached upon, we would then
readily grant that the property sought to be acquired
would, in their hands, and if converted to useful pur-
poses, afford ample security for the purchase money.
In that case the proposed new docks would themselves,
no doubt, bring in a revenue sufficient to reimburse
their cost, without trenching upon the general revenue
of the whole estate. But this, we fear, is not to be
the case. Whilst seeking the most sweeping powers
to extend their estate, and to enable them to afford the
requisite accommodation to the increasing commerce
of the port, the Dock Trustees, we fear, are about to
concede the very power which alone constitutes the
value of their property—the power which they possess
exclusively of levying dock dues within the estuary of
the Mersey.
That such a concession would be seriously injurious
to the prosperity of the existing docks there cannot be
a doubt. A great portion of our coasting vessels, if
emancipated from the charges which are at present le-
vied upon them, would at once embrace the opportu-
nity of discharging their cargoes nearer to their final
destination. The port of Runcorn would then form
the depot for vast quantities of produce consumed in
Manchester and the manufacturing districts around ;
whilst a large portion of the trade of Liverpool herself
would be accommodated in new docks formed beyond
the control of. the trustees, and exempt from any con-
tribution to the present estate.

It may be told, indeed, that, even allowing this con-
cession to be made, the existing docks, from their con-
venient location, will always command a preference
and defy competition. To some extent we allow that
this will be the case. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that the advantage of central position has not
operated to exclude the Brunswick Dock, at the south
end of the town, or the Clarence or Trafalgar
docks, at the north end, from their fair share of pa-
tronage. Many branches of our shipping trade, it is
well known, could be carried on as advantageously a
mile further north or south of these docks as in the
centre of the town ; and if accommodation is there
offered at a cheaper rate than is exacted by the trustees
of the present docks, a little inconvenience and extra
cost of cartage, &c., may be submitted to. The power
sought by the promoters of the warehouse scheme, of
laying down railway lines along the quays and high-
ways for transporting merchandise to and from the
docks, may readily be used at some future day to give
to more distant localities on this side of the Mersey
facilities nearly equal to those of our present central
docks ; and, provided a sufficient draught of water
can be obtained, we see nothing to prevent a line of
independent docks being formed extending up to the
Dingle, connected by a railway communication which
will bring them, within a few minutes' transit, to the
centre of the town.

We must not pass over the claims put forward by
the Cheshire landowners. The daily increase of steam
navigation will shortly render it imperative that addi-
tional facilities should be provided to accommodate
that branch of our shipping trade. The Cheshire side
of the river is now furnished with a railway to the me-
tropolis; and it may become, at no distant period, a
question whether a great portion of our large passen-
ger steam ships may not be as conveniently and ad-
vantageously located in docks upon that side of the
river as within the boundary of the Dock Estate.
These extensive changes, we are well aware, cannot
within a day or even a generation be fully developed.
The present race of scheming and unprincipled jobbers
may not retain power long enough to experience the
embarrassments which they must create. But the day

will come nevertheless, and the consequent embarras-
meat and ruin will be felt. It requires but little fore.
sight to predict, from the present aspect of things and
guided by the experience of the leaning of the Corn-
lions' committee last year, that no bill, presented to
that house under similar circumstances to the present
dock bill, will be allowed to pass without having en-
grafted upon it the clauses sought by the landowners ;
and from the day in which such a bill receives the
sanction of the legislature the struggle of competition
will commence between the proprietors of the present
Dock Estate and the various owners of the strand of
the Mersey.

Let the bondholders then enquire what must be their
position in such a struggle. Can the Dock Trustees,
heavily encumbered as they are with debt, and relying
solely upon their advantages of location, retain sufficient

of their present revenue to enable them to support their
necessary expenditure and at the same time keep faith

with their creditors ? We imagine not. A very little
experience will tell us that to compete successfully

With their opponents a serious reduction of the present

_ .
dock rates must inevitably be resorted to; and, how-

ever grateful such a measure would be to the commer-

cial interests of the town, we fear that for the interest

of the bondholders it would be far from being desirable

or safe,

If it is found difficult now to bestow such a

boon upon the trade of the port, how can it be practi-

cable to do so when the monopoly which the Dock
Trustees possess shall have been broken in upon and
the sources of their revenue diminished ? To an ex-

tent correlative with the surplus income of the Estate

reduction may indeed be made. So far the 'Trustees

may bid for supremacy. But those improvements
Which our increasing commerce demands, and which
that surplus income ought to assist in providing, must
then stand still. The debt, which is now but a feather

weight, will then be found to be a millstone round the

it is to one of her Majesty's nearest relatives, in quite
in keeping with radical notions of loyalty. The charge
conveyed in the preceding extract is not only indecent
but utterly false. We defy our contemporary to prove
that the king of Hanover has, in any degree, violated
the rights of his subjects. We happen to know that
he has lately bestowed upon the people of Hanover a
constitution with the provisions of which they are in
raptures, because it secures to them a larger measure
of rational and substantial liberty than they ever en-
joyed at any previous period of their history. We
know also that he is universally beloved by his subjects
—that he familiarly intermingles with them in the
public streets and sqUares, unattended by any military
escort—that he incessantly exerts himself to promote
their happiness and national prosperity—that he is the
munificent patron of all their public institutions—and
that there is not a monarch in Europe whose throne or
life is in less danger from any popular outbreak. Of
these notorious facts our contemporary appears to be
profoundly ignorant.
The Times assumes that the accession of the king
of Hanover to the throne of Great Britain would be
" a terrible event." It would only be terrible to the
enemies of our monarchical institutions. It would only
he " dangerous" to the prospects of " that incarna-
tion of religious bigotry and political absolutism," the
Romish hierarchy. We trust, however, that, in the
course of Providence, the line of succession may be
handed down through her present Majesty, and that,
by the continuance of the House of Brunswick on the
throne, this country may long continue to enjoy its
present freedom and prosperity. We would also add
the wish that her Majesty may speedily find it neces-
sary to call to her aid a ministry which will act up to
the " liberal and enlightened," because they are PRO-
TESTANT, principles of her illustrious uncle, to the
confusion of all her secret enemies, and to the joy anc
gratitude of a PROTESTANT PEOPLE

necks of the trustees; and eventually that noble estate
of which they are the.guardians must fall into dilapida-
tion and ruin, and its creditors be doomed to put up
with the loss of their money and to witness the grow-
ing worthlessness of their security.

It may, we are aware, be objected to us that we are
advocating the interests of the few in opposition to
those of the many. Why, it will be asked, allow the
interest of the bondholders to stand in the way of the
public who must be benefitted by the competition which
a breaking up of the present monopoly will create ?
Our reply is short. We never knew the public really
benefited by a measure of spoliation and robbery. The
prosperity of Liverpool has grown up with and is co-
existent with the prosperity of the Dock Estate. Those
parties, who have advanced their money on the faith
that the monopoly—we know the word is distasteful—

enjoyed by the Trustees of that Estate should be pre-

served, will be defrauded if that monopoly is allowed
to be bartered for an insane and worthless scheme by
a dishonest faction. 'We ourselves should be glad to

witness a reduction of the present dock rates, and to
see an increase of accommodation afforded for our
shipping; but we do firmly believe that both these ob-
jects could be accomplished without injury to any in-
dividu2l interest, if the people of Liverpool would but
be true to themselves. If we throw away our privileges
we throw away the only power we possess to foster the
growth of our commerce, and to reduce the charges to
which it is subject, without being compelled at the
same time to commit a gross and scandalous robbery.
It is time then, we think, that the creditors of the
Dock Estate should look fairly at this new feature
which the question between themselves and the Dock

Trustees presents. They ought no longer to con-
fine their views to securing their rights by clauses in
the proposed bill. They must no longer be deluded

by the idea that the promoters of the warehouse scheme
are aggrandizing the Dock Estate at the expense of the
burgesses, and thereby improving the security upon
which theiranoney had been advanced. The attempt
to fortify themselves from within will be vain indeed, if
they allow the destroying waters to break loose and
encircle them in the attempt. Their enemy now is no
longer a tyrant faction in the Town Council, but a
strong and numerous body out of doors, which seeks
not to diminish merely but to annihilate their pro-
perty ; and unlees a combined effort is made now by
the Corporation, the Dock Trustees, and the people of
Liverpool—unless the obnoxious features of the bill
before Parliament be expunged, and dissension thereby
put an end to—the gradual ruin of the Dock Estate is
but too certain.

We had intended to point out the effect of the pro.
posed changes upon property within the borough o
Liverpool, but our confined space warns us at presen.
to conclude. We shall, however, resume the subject

Stung and mortified at their recent defeat in North
)xteth 'Ward, our radical contemporaries have beta-
m themselves to the customary expedient of charging
eir ignominious defeat upon the " corrupt influence,"
Bribery," and "intimidation" of the conservatives.
is scarcely necessary to add that these charges are

Itterly untrue in nineteen cases out of twenty. We
lo not deny that a degree of " influence" was brought
.o bear upon the election; but it was of a purely legi-

_ . ...
mate character, and such as was resorted to by the

opponents of the conservative candidate. For one
case of bribery or intimidation that can be substanti-
ated against the conservatives, we engage to prove ten
against the radicals.
While upon this subject we may as well remind our
radical contemporaries that the charges which we
brought against them after the 2d of November remain
unanswered to the present day. We mentioned cases

of distinct bribery and intimidation which cannot be
disproved, especially in Everton Ward, Scotland Ward,
and St. Paul's Ward.

May we venture to whisper a word of advice to our
radical opponents before we conclude ? Let them keep
silence on the subject of electioneering trickery until
the Poll-book is examined. They will there find some
disclosures which reflect but little credit on radicvl
honesty.

In our second edition of Tuesday last, we exclusively
announced that the rule for an information, in the case
of the Queen v. Quayle, had been made absolute, his
return having been founded upon personated votes.
This is decisive as regards Mr. Quayle's right to occupy
his seat as member for Everton Ward. It now re-
mains to be seen what steps he may take in the matter.
If he follows the example of Mr. Harvey, he will imme-
diately vacate his seat in favour of Mr. Shand. He
has no reasonable or legal ground for occupying it any
longer. His further resistance of Mr. Shand's claim
will only serve a temporary purpose at the best. In
short, the only course left open to him, in order that
he may stand well in public estimation, is that of
immediate resignation. We trust that he will see the
propriety of adopting this manly and straightforward
course, and that he will not listen to the advice of inju-
dicious friends, who may, in order to gratify their party
spleen, wish him to involve himself in additional ex-
pense.

In reply to our observations in defence of that ex-
cellent institution, the Pastoral Aid Society, a conser-
vative contemporary of yesterday has an article which,
had it appeared in the columns of the Mercury or the
Chronicle, would have excited neither astonishment
nor alarm in the mind of any true lover of the PRO-

TESTANT Church of England. Such an attack upon
the zealous exertions now made by the clergy of the
established church, towards providing for the spiritual
destitution of our increasing population, would have
been quite in character with the furious and offensive
tirades of the Popish Mercury, and would have
excited no surprise in the mind of any one : but we
must confess that it is astonishing to find a conserva-
tive journal thus impugning the motives and ridiculing
the conduct of the most pious, devoted, and laborious
of our clergy. Such an attack from a Popish or radi-
cal journal would have caused no alarm in the bosom
of any true churchman : but, coming as it does from
an organ professing attachment to the church, we
confess that we cannot view it without the deepest
concern for the interests of the established church.
We may be asked the reasons why we are thus alarm-
ed. We shall briefly state them. It is no secret that,
as long as the clergy of the Church of England re-
mained apathetic and inert with reference to the spi-
ritual destitution which pervaded the land—as long as

they did not trouble themselves about the errors of
Popery and the spread of infidel and revolutionary
principles—as long as they contented themselves with
that spurious sort of liberality which is so much
praised in the radical prints, and which allows every
man to go on undisturbed in the path of error—as
long as they did not. act up to their ordination vows,
by seeking to extirpate heresy and schism,—so long
were the Papists and Dissenters comparatively quies-
cent : but as soon as a different spirit was apparent
among the clergy—,as soon as they began to preach

against error, and to warn the people of the dangers to
be apprehended from the ascendancy
of Popery—as
soon as they began to declaim against that spurious
liberalism which is so nearly allied to scepticism, and
which has been the bitter source from which so many
of our national calamities have sprung--as soon as
they entered with zeal and energy upon. a course of
missionary enterprise —as soon as they started Church
Building and Pastoral Aid Societies—as soon as they
raised the rallying cry of " the Bible, the whole Bible,
and nothing but the Bible,"• as the basis of national
education—as soon as they set Protestant Associations
on foot—as soon as our churches, previously almoGt
deserted, began to be crowded, and the conventicles
began to display a. beggarly show of empty seats—as
soon as the people became acquainted with the abomi-
nations of the Papacy,—then the Papists began to
howl, the dissenters; to abuse, and the infidels to scorn
and ridicule, because " their craft was in danger."
Then commenced t he rabid and virulent attacks of the
radical press, and e very clergyman became exposed to
persecution in exact proportion to his zeal in maintain-
ing from the pulpit the great and distinguishing doc-
trines of the Reformation. How can we, therefore,
hesitate to express our alarm when we find writers
professing an attacl anent to the church joining in the
cry against the revi .val of true religion and high Pro.
testant principles a mong a great body of the clergy ?
This is certainly n .ot the way to subserve the interests
of the established church.

Our object on 7 Friday was simply to defend the Pas-
toral Aid Society; against the charge of obtaining money

under "false pretences," and to justify the conduct of
the committee in reference to the appointment of Mr.
Briarly Browne. We have the satisfaction of knowing
that our defence was based upon right grounds, as will
abundantly appear before we have done with the sub.
ject. The reply of our conservative contemporary, tc
whose previous attack upon the society we advisedly
abstained from adverting, does not, in the least degree;
touch upon the real merits of the question at issue.
Nearly one-half of the article is devoted to a jocular
parallel, of a character too trifling to be noticed in
connection with so grave a subject. Our contemporary
lays great stress upon the testimonials which were
signed on behalf of Mr. Browne. We never im-
pugned the respectability or the piety of the clergy who
signed those testimonials ; but we contended that they
were not sufficiently explicit to satisfy the committee
of the Pastoral Aid Society. Because the latter were
not satisfied, the society is charged with "arrogating
to itself a sort of papal supremacy, and sitting, as a
court of review, upon the Bench of Bishops of the
Church of England." The society arrogates nothing
of the kind. It is composed of a number of the bi-
shops, clergy, and laity of the Church of England,
who, seeing the spiritual destitution which has been so
long prevalent throughout the country, have associated
themselves together, with a view of providing addi-
tional curates, in those populous districts where there
are no adequate or available funds for the maintenance
of a sufficient number of clergymen to minister to the
spiritual wants of the population. In voting its sup-
plies for the maintenance of these curates the society
does not arrogate the right of nomination—that is left
to the incumbent—but it requires to he satisfied as to
the " Christian character and qualifications " of the
candidates for its aid. No reasonable man can surely
object to a regulation so simple, so necessary, and so
prudent. Upon this straightforward principle the so-
ciety acted in reference to Mr. Browne; and if it had
not so acted it would have been guilty of a departure
from its own rules. What, then, becomes of the charge
of "obtaining subscriptions under false pretences ?"
Our contemporary, following up his ungenerous
attack upon the society, says that " it must be obvious

to every observer that the Pastoral Aid Society is a
combination of certain clergymen and laymen against
the Church of England in its purity and discipline, as
an apostolic church, and in favour of oratorical dis-
senters, chiefly of Irish extraction, within her pale. and
who have left their own land of darkness to seek fortune
and distinction in this." We fancy that our readers
will exclaim—" Surely this cannot be the language of
a conservative journal ! Why, it is a mere echo of
Mr. Rosson's speech to the Protector Society ! " They
may well so exclaim, particularly when they reflect
that the Pastoral Aid Society is one of the most power-
ful and successful auxiliaries which the Church of
England possesses in the present day, and when they
consider the assistance which the society has so gene-
rously afforded towards relieving the spiritual destitu-
tion of this town.
But bad as is the language which we have already
quoted, it is nothing to compare with the following :
" Had Mr. Briarly Browne been possessed of what is
called pulpit power,' that is to say, had he proved
himself capable of reading the beautiful, and pathetic,
and soul-subduing service of our church with unseemly
haste, and could have thrown himself into ecstacies for
one hour and twenty minutes in the delivery of an
extemporary discourse of disjointed trash having nei-
ther beginning, middle, nor end, and which ' pulpit
power' is doing almost irreparable harm to the church,
lie would have been received into the embraces of the
pastorals, lauded in their innumerable journals, and,
if unmarried, given as a conquest to some lady worth,
from £2OOO to £6OOO a-year." How our radical con-
temporaries will chuckle over this paragraph! How
closely does it resemble the trashy verbiage and the
sly but significant inuendos of the Mercury, the Chro-
nicle, the Journal, and the rest of the radical press !
There can he no mistake as to the parties alluded to in
the sentence which we have quoted ; nor can there, if
we know anything of the people of Liverpool, be any
mistake as to the manner in which such sentiments
will be received and appreciated by all true churchmen.
We are next taken to task for characterising Mr.
Browne as a Puseyite. The term was obviously se-
lected for the purpose of showing to what school of di-
vinity Mr. Browne belongs. We are aware that the
Oxford Tract writers repudiate the designation. With
equal propriety might their predecessors of a similar
school disclaim the appellation of Laudites. We see
nothing " unchristian, dishonest, malignant, or cow-
ardly" in thus designating Mr. Browne. We have
before us, at this moment, a letter which we have just
received from that gentleman, and which we shall pub-
lish on Tuesday, which fully justifies us in identifying
him, as we did, as a disciple of the Oxford Tract
writers.
We have no reply to make to the fulminations of our
contemporary against " the glowing and flashy oratory
—dramatic effect—and pulpit thunder," which are
" particularly in this locality, with nine churcli-going
people out of ten, especially those of the softer sex," so
exceedingly popular. We leave our contemporary to
enjoy the full benefit of his bitter declamation. He is
much mistaken if he imagines that it can be pleasing
to "the nine church-going people out of ten" whose
intellect he seems to hold in such low estimation. Our
business is, simply to defend the Pastoral Aid Society
which, our contemporary alleges, "has denuded itself
of every claim to public patronage." How far this
assertion is likely to prove true we have the means of
showing by a reference to our notices to correspon-
dents, where our contemporary will find the names of
two fresh annual subscribers to the society, who have
expressly desired us to state that they have voluntarily
come forward to contribute to the aid of the society, in
consequence of the attacks recently made upon it. We
have no doubt that the example will be speedily fol-
lowed by many others, and we trust that the societ),
will not have to complain in future that the support
which it derives from the town of Liverpool is so dis•
proportionate to the amount of its grants in this 10.

We pass by the threat of our contemporary to "shake
more pulpits, shorten more sermons, and send away
more empty begging boxes, than have yet fallen under
the scrutiny and calm consideration of public opinion,"
as a mere bag of moonshine. He may forge as many
thunderbolts as he chooses, but we can assure him that
they will fall as harmlessly upon the heads of the in-
tended victims of his vengeance as the snow-flakes of
winter, or the films of gossamer.
Before we conclude, we may as well direct the atten-
tion of our readers to a letter which we have copied
from the Times, illustrative of the fearful practical ten-
dency of the Oxford Tracts. They will there find that
the principles advocated by the Tractarians, if followed
to their ultimate results, must lead to Popery, and this
Dr. Wiseman, in the Popish Quarterly, long ago pre-
dicted.