The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-07 00:00:00

A STRANGE STORY.

(Abridged from the Manchester Guardian.)
On Thursday afternoon last, considerable excitement pre-
vailed in the neighbourhood of Cooper-street and Dickinson-
street, by a report that the voice of a man had been heard as
coming from one of the soughs in that vicinity, imploring
help and rescue from his noisome and perilous situation. Be-
tween two and three o'clock, an Irish labourer, as he was
emptying a bucket of sludge down the privy of a house in
Dickinson-street, which is under repair, heard, or fancied
he heard, a voice somewhere below calling to him. At first
he thought some one was playing him a trick : and as there
was a sort of dunghill at the other side of the wall, on the
next premises, he supposed some one was there. However,
on emptying the next bucket of sooty puddle, he again heard
what seemed to him to be the voice of a man, calling to him
from below, beseeching him not to throw any more sludge
down, as it was choking bim. The man was a good deal
alarmed ; and the painters and charwoman also, (as they
say) heard the voice.—The labourer asked what the man was
doing down there ; and the answer was, that he did not
know, but that he had lost his way, and could not get out ;
and he entreated the man to get a rope, and let it down to him.
The labourer got a cord, and fastening a lighted candle to it,
lowered it down a small aperture ; but then the voice was
silent. Subsequently, however, it was heard again ; and the
labourer and one of the painters asked, how the man had got
down there. The voice replied, that he had fallen down the
main sewer somewhere in Deansgate the day before, and had
been a day and a night wandering about in the sewers and
soughs, but could not find any way to get out. They then
asked him his name ; and the reply was, " Bill." " What
is your other name ?" " Gregson." On representation
being made to the authorities, after some deliberation, it was
determined that men should open the sewer at the corner of
Dickinson and Cooper-streets, and descend and search.
This was done ; the men and woman in the house still de-
claring that they heard the voice at intervals. By about six
o'clock, the sewer was opened sufficiently to allow the des-
cent of three men into it ; and they proceeded to explore it
in different directions for some time, but without success.
Before the street was excavated to the sewer, one of the men
stated that he heard the voice from the grid to the eye, ex-
clain, very faintly, " Make haste ; I'm done.'' After keep-
ing the sewer open all night, the authorities began to suspect
that they had been hoaxed by a trick of ventriloquism, and
suspicion pointed to two of the painters who had been em-
ployed in the house, who were taken into custody, but dis-
charged upon giving bail for their appearance.
Our readers may remember a scene in one of the recent
numbers of " Charles 0' Malley, the. Irish Dragoon," in
which one of the personages of the story, an Irish Co-
rinthian Tom," named Frank Webber, is made to conceive
and execute this very device of leading people to suppose
that some unfortunate creature is down in a sewer in one of
the great thoroughfares in Dublin, and to laugh heartily at
his having so far worked on the ardent feelings of his ex-
citable countrymen, by means of a little dexterous ventrilo-
quism, as to induce them to pull up the pavement, and block
up the street, in their fruitless endeavours to Lind the ima-
ginary being whom they supposed to be dying of suffocation
in the sewer. Such, no doubt, will prove to be the real na-
ture of the Manchester story, in all probability, suggested
by reading that in " Charles O'Malley."

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

(From the Glasgoto Courier.)

LETTER FROM THE REV. DR. COOKE, OF BELFAST, TO THE
MEMBERS AND ELDERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

Fathers and Brethren,—When first requested by one of
our presbyteries to convene, at an early day, a meeting of
assembly, to consider the position of the church of Scotland,
I took the liberty of publishing my reasons for declining
such immediate call. Since the publication of these reasons
several presbyteries have requested me to call a meeting,
either " at a convenient day," or " at such time as I might
judge best and most convenient;" or, " at a convenient
time, previous to the meeting of parliament ;" or " an early
day in December." Now, with every respect to these seve-
ral presbyteries, I beg leave to say that my mind, as ex-
pressed in my former letter, remains totally unchanged. And
I now feel it my duty to submit such of my reasons as are
of a public character.

1.--My confidence in Sir Robert Peel, as stated in my for-
mer letter, remains altogther unshaken. I believe him to be
the sincere friend of the church of Scotland—willing and
able to extricate her out of her present difficulties, and to
reinstate her on the basis of her imperishable constitution.
But, did I believe him indifferent, or an enemy, he is the last
men upon earth against whom 1 should direct the artillery of
public meetings and of platforms. He must be dealt with on
other terms. I believe him to be the most reasonable, but
at the same time, the least "squeezable" politician that ever
stood at the helm of the state ; and I therefore still think
that, instead of appearing to obtrude our opinions, which he
already full well knows, through our representatives, our
petitions, our deputations, and public resolutions, we should
wait the development of the government plan, and see whe-
ther it satisfy or dissatisfy the church of Scotland. If it
satisfy, as I believe it will, all is well; and if not, the forms
of parliament are not so electric as to deny us time enough
to arm for the rescue—should that danger occur, which, I
confess, I neither dread nor anticipate.
2.—My declining to call an immediate meeting of assem-
bly has been fully approved by those in Scotland best quali-
fied to judge, and most deeply interested in the result. And
for this assertion, I shall produce, at the proper time, the
most satisfactory evidence.

3.—1 cannot even attempt to fix any time for calling the
assembly, because I do not know what specific proposal the
church of Scotland has at present before government ; and
until I be explicitly informed upon this subject, I shall con-
tinue to decline calling any meeting of assembly ; but the
moment I receive this information I shall hold myself pre-
pared to consider the various applications I have received, or
may yet receive, for a (then) early call.
4.—Presuming that, through some channel, I shall in due
time receive this information, I shall be guided by it in se-
lecting the time for calling the assembly. In my present
state of ignorance, joined, however, with hope of early in-
formation, my own opinion is, that soon after, and not be-
fore the meeting of parliament, is the proper time. The rea-
sons for this selection I shall not argue ; but if the brethren
be not satisfied with such delay, I shall not attempt to exer-
cise the discretionary power of refusal with which my office
is invested. Let such presbyterians as are anxious for an
early meeting, join in a requisition for a specific day, when
and where they please ; they will then have done what they
believed to be their duty, and I shall do what I believe to be
mine.—l remain, fathers and brethren, your servant in the
Lord. H. CooKE, Moderator.
Belfast, 26th Nov., 1841.

George Wall, the postmaster of Cheltenham, has under-
gone several examinations before the magistrates there, on a
charge of embezzlement. According to the evidence of the
chief clerk of the post-office, the prisoner has been detected
in altering the numbers of the paid letters received at the
post-office, and accounted to the post-office authorities in
London for a smaller number than had been actually paid
The
for. examination took place on Monday, and was ad-
journed till Tuesday, when the magistrates decided on com-
mitting all for trial at the sessions, but agreed to take bail
for his appearance if he could find two sureties to the amount
of .X 250 each.