The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-23 00:00:00

TIM SEDUCTION BlLL.—This bill, brought in by Mr. W.
Miles and Mr. Sotheron, proposes to enact, amongst other
provisions, that women who, under promises of marriage.
shall have become the mothers of bastard children, &c., or
their parents, guardians, or mistresses, &c., shall be em-
powered to make complaint against the putative fathers to
justices of the peace, and that such justices may, if the charge
be proved to their satisfaction by one credible witness at
least besides the plaintiff, convict the defendant in a certain
penalty, to be paid in cases of breach of promise of marriage
to the plaintiff for his own use, &c. ; and that if the tine be
not paid, the said justices may issue warrants of distress, or
commit the defendants to prison, with or without hard la-
bour. This arbitrary and unconstitutional measure can
hardly be denounced too strongly, as it takes away entirely
from the defendant th#l privilege of being tried by a jury, be-
sides subjecting him to false and vexatious accusations on the
part of worthless and profligate females, who may constantly
perjure themselves with a view to obtain the fine which may
be levied against the defendants, whilst, as a means of pre-
.... .

vention agU'inst vice and profligacy, the bill is likely to prove
a decided failure. It was rejected by the House of Corn-
mons, we believe, last session, and we trust that it will ex-

perience the same fate this year

DESPERATE ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE. —Yesterday morn-
ing, about twelve o'clock, a woman named Gage, about
30 years of age, whose husband has been in the employ of
Messrs. Stevens, law-booksellers, in Bell-yard, Fleet-street,
for many years, residing in Little Shire-lane, made a despe-
rate attempt at self-destruction, by cutting her throat with a
table-knife; but whether from the instrument not being
sufficiently sharp, or failing in her resolution, she threw open
the window and precipitated herself to the pavement be-
neath, having no other clothing on but her chemise
was immediately removed to King's College Hospital

, where,

in spite of the severe nature of the injuries she received,
hopes are entertained of her recovery. It appears that the
wretched woman is of very dissipated habits, being always in
a state of intoxication when she can procure the money for
that purpose, and the previous day had been very drunk,
and was during the night found by a policeman sitting on
the step of a door, when he removed her to the station-hoase,

and afterwards knocked up her husband, who went and took

her home. Little doubt can be entertained that drinking
has destroyed her reason ; and some time since her husband
was obliged to put her in the workhouse in consequence, and
she has been considerably worse since the death of an only
child, about twelve months ago.—.Zferning Herald.
A CANINE POSTBEAREIL—A very interesting scene may
be witnessed any day on the road to Derby. It appears that
the Derby mail is met every morning, at ten o'clock, by a
dog from an extensive ironworks at orksop, waiting to be
the bearer of the letter bag for his master, which is regularly
dropped by the guard without waiting. If, however, the

canine messenger is not somewhere about at ten, the horn is
sounded, and the dog is immediately observed in the distance
cominz alone the road with all sliced to meet the mail at the

lane-end ; btit this is very seldomr the case, as the dog usually
seats itself upon the walls adjoining the works, listening for

the approach of the mail. When the bag is thrown down
the faithful creature, without delay, invariably takes the
nearest way home through the hedge and over the fields.
Later in the day the empty bag is brought back by the dog
to meet the same mail to Derby, but, in consequence of the
guard not getting off his seat, it is necessary to send a person
with the bag, who can throw it upon the mail while it is
going. The dog, feeling his inability to supply the deficiency,
denotes his anxiety by barking and howling. With this ex-
ception the animal performs all the duties of a letter carrier
for his master " with punctuality and despatch."