The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-18 00:00:00

RIO JANEIRO AND BUENOS AYRES

Advices flora Rio Janeiro to the 6th of June, from Buenos
Ayres to the 20th of May, and from Monte Video to the 4th
of June, have been received. At Rio the ex-Minister of Fi-
nance had in his budget reported that there will be required
for the public service 20,564,609 Rs. 934 dollars, and the re-

venue is estimated at 14,352,000 as. 800 dollars

deficit,

6,212,609 us. 934 dollars. This deficit, it is supposed, can
lye reduced to about £700,000, by assuming the customary
increase of the revenue. The deficit is attributable to the
extraordinary expenses of the government, from the revolted
state of some of the provinces, and no reduction of expendi-
ture can be expected, on account of the necessity for keeping
up a military and naval force, and the increase of the expenses
of the government. The total national debt of Brazil is
nearly £15,000,000. In the Chamber of Deputies, a proposal
to take into consideration a proposition to repeal the law for
the abolition of the slave-trade was rejected.
The accounts from Buenos Ayres state that the blockade
still continued. A despatch from Colonel Compos to Gene-
ral Echague, dated Victoriat, ;th of May, states that on the
previous day he gained a victory over 250 of General Lavalle's
invading army, killing 80, including three officers, and taking
four prisoners. The defeated force was commanded by San-
tiago Orono.

The exchange of ratifications of the treaty between Eng-
land and the Argentine Confederation, for the abolition of
the slave-trade,_took_placeat Buenos Ayres, May 16th.

The National of the 23d of
script :

May has the foll Owing post-

" DECLARATION OF WAR, BY THE PROVINCE OF

TUCUMAN AGAINST THE TYRANT ROSAS

" We shall publish within two hours a supplement to the
National, containing the official deelaration of war by the
government of Tucuman against the tyrant Rosas. The chiefs
of the army of opezation against this filthy assassin are Gene-
ral La Madrid-and Colonels Ligones and Achr."

POPULATION OF THE EUROPEAN STATES.

(From Chambers' Journal.)

No result of geographical science is, in our opinion, more
remarkable than the different amounts of population in com-
parison with space, which are found in various countries.
The British islands, with 91,000 square miles and an esti-
mated population of 23,400,000, support 257 on every square
mile. Some of the other enlightened countries of Europe
exhibit a rate somewhat similar. In France, it is 208 ;in
Holland, 262 ;in Germany, 193. Belgium, with. its numer-
ous busy towns within a narrow space, rises considerably
higher; the rate is there 453. Switzerland, containing much
mountainous ground, but a very industrious people, gives
177. Italy, with a fruitful soil, and many populous cities,
supports 249 per square mile. On the other hand, Spain,
with its numerous sierras and its little industry, gives only
101; Portugal, 121; Sweden and Norway, with vast alpine
wildernesses, have only 17. Russia, full of desolate plains,
and with an enslaved populace, gives 35. Turkey, where
there is equally little or less freedom, but more fertility, ex-
hibits 63. Prussia and Austria, again, are at such a medium
as might be expected from their soil and climate and their
political institutions, being in the one case 155, and in the
other 165.

Europe contains in all 2,812,532 square miles, and
230,672,000 people, which gives an average of 32 to the
square mile. Now, when we consider that some parts, in no
way specially favoured by nature, and where agriculture
chiefly is depended on, contains so many as 208 to the square
mile (France in this ease), we cannot well doubt that there
would be room for many more people in Europe, supposing it
were all brought up to the very moderate point in agriculture
and manufacturing and commercial activity, which France
has already attained. If we go on to suppose a general im-
provement in agriculture, such as has taken place in Great
Britain, a still farther increase to analmost incalculable amount
might be admitted of. For four millions of quarters of wheat
grown at the beginning of the reign of Geo. 111., England now
raises 12 millions, or thrice the former quantity. By a single
improvement, the introduction of bone manure, some lands
have of late years been producing five times their former
crops of turnips. Tile draining is making one piece of laird
worth what two once were, all over the island. Of course,
there is nothing to prevent other countries from following
similar plans in tillage and husbandry, and thus becoming
capable of supporting an immensely larger number of people,
or of exporting food to other countries in exchange for useful
articles. But even Britain is by no means come to an ulti-
matum in agricultural improvement. In England there are
eight millions of acres of waste land ; in Ireland there are
five millions; all of which might be improved and made
productive, if the right methods were taken. Here there is
evidently room for a vast increase. The late Sir John Sin-
clair \vas of opinion that Great Britain and Ireland could of
themselves produce food for a hundred millions of people,
or four times the present numbers, if the soil were turned to
such advantage as even the present state of science admits of.
We have not the least doubt, when we contrast the bulk of
the country with such pattern spots as Haddingtonshire,
and consider the land which is entirely waste, that Sir John's
calculation is not beyond the mark, laying aside all conside-
ration of what further capabilities may be discovered here-
after by science, and realised by enterprise, skill, and capi-
tal. This would give us a population of one thousand to the
square mile. Now, the one-half of Europe, being equally or
more favoured by nature than Britain, must be capable of
supporting a population of that amount also, or, in all rather
more than 1,400,000,000. Take the remainder at only one-
third of the same rate, and we have as many more as makes
up the full amount to 1,868,755,000, or upwards of seven
times more than the present amount. No doubt, many fa-
vourable circumstances must be supposed before we can
expect such a result. War must cease; the minds of the
nations must be enlightened, and, as a consequence of the
lattdr circumstance, political regulations must be based, not
upon narrow and false views of the interests of nations or of
sections, but on principles of un versal justice, and with a
regard to the good of the whole. These are results which
cannot be expected soon, but which must in time be realised,
for, notwithstanding occasional oscillations, there is a ten-
dency, and a constantly increasing tendency, towards them.

MR. WINTERBOTTOM'S BANKRUPTCY.

No event has ever occurred in the town of Stockport which
has caused so great a sensation as the insolvency of this un-
fortunate gentleman, and his disappearance from the place
under circumstances and charges of so grave and appalling a

description.
It is by no means our intention on the present occasion to
enter into any formal or laboured defence of Mr. Winter-
bottom's conduct, especially before the real circumstances of
the case have had leisure to transpire. What we propose to
ourselves is merely to suggest a few of those extenuating
circumstances which may not be generally known, and of
which it well becomes every one, conscious as he must be, of
the frailties of our common nature, to allow him the full
benefit in judging of his conduct. •
Mr. Winterbottom's case is one amongst ten thousand
proofs of the same kind; that " moral courage" is one of the
rarest qualities with which any human being can be endowed.
Ten thousand men may be found who will confront death and
physical suffering, in their most appalling forms, for one who
has the " moral courage" to avow in time the embarrassed
state of his circumstances—to resign the luxuries and con-
veniences which custom has rendered necessary to him—and,
what is infinitely'rnore difficult, to descend voluntarily from
that station in society in which he has been accustomed to
move, and exchange, whilst it was in his power to enjoy
them a little longer, the respect, and smiles and blandish-
ments which are lavished upon the rich and prosperous, for
the cold courtesies which await the acknowledged bankrupt.
Considerations like these must have great weight in every
country under heaven ; but in this great, rich, and commer-
cial community, where wealth is literally everything, they
become almost irresistible.

We believe, in our hearts, that this has been the cause
which has reduced Mr. Winterbottom to his present most
unfortunate situation. This has been the true reason of his
most equivocal actions—even until it comes to those in
which if we are to believe the current reports, misfortune has
deepened into crime. In addition to these circumstances
Mr. Winterbottom has suffered severely in his pecuniary re-
sources by the political aspect of the _times. We have not
the remotest intention, on the present occasion, to touch the
angry subject of party-politics ; but it cannot be denied that
Mr. Winterbottom was an ardent admirer of the constitu-
tion of his country; both in church and state, and, in com-
mon with every person so situated, has suffered deeply for his
conscientious attachment to his principles. Ih the short
space of seven or eight years, he has been deprived of at least
three official or public situations by the mere operation of
political causes alone, and consequently has had to contend
against aggravated burdens with diminished resources.
It would be wholly unnecessary, so far at least as our
Stockport friends and readers are concerned, to enlarge upon
the excellent character which Mr. Winterbottom has hitherto
borne amongst his townmen, both in his public and private
capacity. Entering life with no advantages of birth or for-
tune, by the force of his own talents, industry, and persever=
ance alone, he had attained the, situation of principal in the
highly-respectable office in which he served his clerkship,
whilst to his friends and fellow-townsmen he was endeared
by his professional talents, his generosity, and social and
convivial qualities. As a son, a brother, a parent, and a
husband, his conduct has been most exemplary, and the poor
and destitute have lost a friend to whose generosity they

never appealed in vain.
It is deeply to be regretted that Mr. Winterbottom did
not make known the embarrassed state of his circumstances
a year or two ago, as it is obvious from the deep sympathy
expressed for him in all quarters, that almost unlimited in-
dulgence would have been allowed by his creditors; and we
know, from good authority, that he might have commanded
the pecuniary resources of his friends to almost any extent
that might have been necessary.

We abstained last week from noticing any of the rumours
afloat until they assumed some definite form, and we now
approach the painful subject with the greatest reluctance.
Sufferers though we are by his misfortunes to some extent,
we acknowledge with pride and pleasure the many favours
we have formerly received at his hands, and the extenuating
circumstances with which his case is'attended. _ Few men,

probably, in the same situation, would have had the moral
courage and resolution to have acted differently, erring and

culpable as his conduct may have been.
We attribute the -moderate and subdued tone in which the
newspaper press has spoken of his misfortunes to the general
feeling of respect for his character. We hope we should be
the last persons on earth to deny the merits of a political
opponent, and we shall conclude by saying that if our con-
temporary in Bridge-street had always shown the same con-
sideration for the sacred claims of "misfortune which they
evinced last week, much of the angry recrimination which
has passed between us on some former occasions, might have
been avoided.—Stockport Advertiser.

(From the Slpc:kport Chronicle.)

Some years ago the late John Isherwood, Esq. of Marple,
towards whom Mr. Winterbottom acted in the capacity of
agent, effected a policy of insurance on his life, to the amount
of £B,OOO, in two companies, £3,000 in the Royal Exchange
and £5,000 in the Pelican, both London offices, but having
agencies, the former in this town, the latter in Manchester.
The amount so insured. Mr. Isherwood made payable to his
daughters, after his death, from the time of which event some
twelve months and upwards have now elapsed. About Febru-
ary last, Mr. Winter-bottom, under pretence of instructions
from head-quarters, made formal application to the officers
of each company for the amount, which he received as here-
after mentioned, as the duly authorised agent of the parties.
It is needless to add, however, that not a farthing of this
money was ever received by them, and that the whole turns
out to be a complete instance of forgery. Indeed, it would
appea that Mrs. Isherwood was altogether in ignorance of
the imposition played upon her until very recently. 'The
case brought by the Pelican assurance office is particularly
striking, as evidencing the deep cunning used in the perpe-
tration of the fraud. In all cases of a like description it is
customary for the claimant to draw upon the company for
the amount at a certain date, the draft being accepted by
them. In this case a bill of exchange for the £5,000, pay-
able at seven days sight, was drawn on the company by Mr.
Winterbottom, and this document purported to bear endorse-
ment in the handwriting of Mrs. Isherwood, her two maiden
daughters, and Mrs. Bellairs, all of which are very ingenious
forgeries. The case of the Royal Exchange Co. is somewhat
different. The agent drew out the usual draft, but subsequently
at the requestof Mr. Winterbottom, a receipt only was given
by him for the amount of £3,000, a's agent 'for the parties.
The case then against him, in this instance, amounts not to
forgery, but to fraud only ; it proves, at the same time, how
much influence he at one time posseseed, and how little he
was thought capable of committing such an action. We un-
derstand that, on hearing Mr. Winterbottom had received
the £BOOO. on her account, Mrs. Isherwood made personal
application that it might be refunded, even so recently as
Friday week, or two days before be decamped, when she was
assured of its perfect safety, and that it would be placed to
,her credit with the bank without delay. On Saturday, the
lady and her daughters attended before the mayor and other
magistrates, at the residence of the Rev. Edward Hawell,
Heaton Norris, when her deposition was taken, and upon
that a warrant for the apprehension of the defaulter was is-
sued. During this inquiry, the forged document was pro-
duced by Mr. Tate, the agent for the Pelican Office at Man-
chester. Although the indorsements were executed with a
good deal of nicety and correctness, still the ordinary hand-
writing of the forger was perceptible throughout the whole.
Anothr instance of breach of trust, equally hard and unjus-
tifiable, is to be found in the case of Sir Salusbury Daven-
port, of Bramall Hall, who is reported to be a loser of some
£16,000. by the affair. Mr. Winterbottom was agent for Sir
Salusbury, and in the year 1829, he received £6OOO. to pay off
the principal of a mortgage, on some property in the posses-
sion of the latter. Instead, however of compliance with this
direction, the money was appropriated, and the interest
has since been regularly paid. Sir Salusbury was in igno-
rance of this fresh act of duplicity until called on for the in-
terest one day last week. As his agent, Mr. Winterbottom
had also very recently received £l,OOO from the directors of
the Manchester and Birmingham Railway Company, as com-
pensation for damage done by carrying their works through
his (Sir Salusbury's) estate at Braman ; this, with the other
sum, is of course lost. A considerable amount had also been
received by Mr. Winterbottom as rent, making Sir Salus-
bury's losses, in all, somewhere about what we have stated.
We might enter into numerous other cases of a similar de-
scription, but that the detail would occupy too much of
our space. We have one instance in which £B5O were
placed in Mr. Winterbottom's hands for a few days, from
the fear that the confiding party, who lives in the country,
and had been attending a sale in town, might be robbed on
his way home ;—this is of course gone. Indeed the num-
ber and amount of losses by private parties, public companies,
road trusts, &c. &c., is almost incredible. Landlords and
tenants are alike affected. Mr. Winterbottom's professional
connections throughout this and the adjoining counties
were of the very first order, and on the guarantee of his
general respectability and previously unimpeachable cha-
racter, many parties made him the sole depository of their
surplus funds. Id ence the multitude of sufferers. On the
whole, it must be clear to all, from the facts that have
now transpired, that Mr. Winterbottom must have been bad,
in a commercial sense, for some years. By one stratagem
and another, he had been enabled to stave off the evil day
from time to time ; but his difficulties becoming daily more
complicated, he has at last been compelled to abdicate. On
a rough calculation of the several sums he is known to 'have
received during the last six months, it is now generally sup-
posed that Mr. Winterbottom must have amassed a vast
amour. of money (it is reported £20,000), with which he has
absconded. This supposition is interesting to all parties,
and forms, as it we, e, a double object in his capture. Since
writing the above, we have' heard it stated, as a reason for
Mr. Winterbottom's returning to Stockport, that, on his ar-
rival in Liverpool, he discovered that he was recognized by
the captain of the President, and therefore did not embark,
but made his way out of that town as speedily as possible.
There can be no doubt that he went from thence to London,
although we observe it asserted by a Manchester contempo-
rary that he left in the Acadia steam-ship, for Halifax, Nova
Scotia, on the following Tuesday. We do not, however, at-
tach any credit to this statement, as his appearance in Liver-
pool on the day named must have proved-a certain means of
detection.— [Later information induces us to believe that
Mr. Winterbottom did proceed to London, as here stated.—
Ed. Guard.]-.

THE WEATHER AND CROPS.

LONGTON.—Our Longtou correspondent says—The late
fine weather has stopped the mouths of the grumblers. All
nature smiles, replete with promises of a most abundant
harvest, and notwithstanding the selfish assertions of a cor-
respondent of yours, that the Deity need not to be reminded
of our wants, we in this neighbourhood, both in public and
in private, still continue to offer up our prayers and praises
and thanksgivings to the bountiful giver of all good gifts.—
Preston Chronicle.
LEEDS.—Though the weather during the past week has
not been so sultry as it was in the previous week, it has been
equally beneficial to the growing crops. On Wednesday and
Thursday we had two smart thunder showers, which, of
course, lowered the temperature of the atmosphere, but as
they were succeeded by dry winds, they have been more ad-
vantageous than hurtful to the grain crops. During the
week the corn harvest has very genera ly commenced
throughout the county, and hi the course of a fortnight,
should the present weather continue, all the early grain will
be housed. It is universally spoken of as hying of excellent
quality,—wheat, oats, and barley.—Leeds Intelligmcer.
BARNSLEY.—The wheat harvest in this neighbourhood has
commenced in good earnest. The crops are fine and abun-
dant. The farmers Say that they scarcely ever saw wheat
stand so well ; there is rarely to be found a yard of wheat laid
in the whole district. We had a rich shower on Wednesday,
and again on Thursday, which has done considerable good to
the turnip and seed crop.—lbid.
On Saturday last, forty bushels of beautiful new oats were
exposed for sale in Richmond market, which brought ss. a
bushel.—lbid.
Last week new oats were shewn in Ripon market, and sold
for 435. a quarter. The quality of this is generally excellent.
—lbid.
CIRENCESTER.—Some very fine samples of new barley
were exhibited in our market on Monday ; it appeared to
have been harvested in excellent condition.
HORSHAM.—The harvest is proceeding very rapidly.
Much wheat has been cut during the last week, and some
has been carried in excellent order. The weather has, since
the Ist of August, been most beautifully fine. There were a
few samples of good winter oats in our market on Saturday
last, and one or two of new wheat. Hay is fast rising in
price.—Brighton Gazette.
DUMFRIESSHIRE.—We were shown yesterday a sheaf of
oats from a three-acre enclosure of Provost Fraser's, at
Douievale, the whole of which was cut on Thursday last.
He has another park nearly for the sickle. Both of these
varieties of the genus Avena were the produce of Siberia, and
imported from Liverpool by Mr. Waugh, grain-dealer.
The pickles are still soft, but are nearly quite ripe. The
straw is lengthy and quite yellow.—Dumfries Courier.