The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-11-20 00:00:00

CONSISTORYCOURT, CHESTER

THURSDAY, Nov. 15.
Johnson and Donald, promoters, against the Rev. Mr. Masters,
Vicar of Runcorn.

•
The Chancellor of the Diocese this day gave judgment in
this protracted suit, at great length. He first recapitulated
the proceedings, stating that the articles exhibited charged
incontinence on the vicar, and that the female with whom it
was alleged he had illicit intercourse, had given birth to a
child, &c., and the promoters prayed that he might be cano-
nically corrected and punished. The allegations in reply
went ►n total denial of the charge, and alleging that the
principal witness had had intercourse with several vounu
men. The Rev. Judge recapitulated the evidence, weighing
the adverse parts with great nicety. He said the case rested
o►► the direct testimony of only one witness, Mary Hindle,
herself particeps criminis ; and that the corroborativeevidenee
was so weak, that he could not allow it to weigh in support
of so grave, so criminal a charge, in a case which, if decided
adversely, would blast the vicar's prospects. He slated in
conclusion that under all the circumstances he dared not
give sentence against the vicar, nor pronounce him actually
guilty of the offence charged against him. He felt that he
should act at variance with the highest authorities in the land,
if he ad►pitted the charge was proved. At the same time the
conduct of the promoters was entitled to the respect and
acknowledgment of the court; and the same feeling ought
to be entertained by the vicar. They bad been actuated by
the purest of motives, the vindication of the church from
what was injurious to it; and in doing this, they had shown
every consideration for the feelings of the vicar, and had
acted on no otherprinciple than a deep sense of public duty.
Therefore, in dismiss►ng the defendant from further attend.
ance on the court in respect to this suit, be should do so
without making any order as to costs.

THE WESLEYAN CENTENARY MEETING IN

MANCHESTER.

(From the Manchester Guardian.)

In the Guardian of Saturday last, we briefly 'noticed the
holding of a meeting of the Wesleyan Methodist Society.
preachers and lac men, in this town, during the Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday, in last week, and the fact that nearly
£30,000 had been pledged as donations, by parties present, to
the great fund for celebrating next year the centenary of
methodism by founding institutions, and in other ways contri-
buting to the extension of that form of Christianity promul-
gated by John Wesley and his followers in the ministry. We
also st e±d a few of t dau.,,,r4e—n-avees-einti tt.c amuutrts given;
eing a 1 that could be then ascertained for public‘tion. As
the circumstances under which such large amounts were
given may excite some curiosity, especially as this meeting
was to be followed up by others held in Liverpool, (this week)
in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Hull.
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Dublin, we subjoin a few particulars
relating to it, which we derive from the published resolutions
of the Manchester meetings, and from other sources.

The meeting was in Oldham-street Chapel, commencing
on Wednesday, the 7th inst.: the Rev. Thomas Jackson,
president of conference, in the chair; the Rev. Robert New-
ton.officiating as secretary of the conference. There were
present no fewer than seven ex-presidents of conference, viz.,
the Revs. Richard Rece, Joseph Entwistle, G. Morley, G.
Marsden, Dr. Bunting, Joseph Taylor, and Edmund Grim-
(trod; and about 250 other ministers and gentlemen con-
nected with the societies and congregations in London, Man-
chester, and Salford, and all the neighbouring towns, Liver-
pool. Leeds, Birmingham. Bristol, Sneffield, Newcastle-
on-Tyne, Hull, York, Dublin, &c. &e. The resolutions
of a previous committee of ministers and gentlemen held in
Bristol in July last, on the subject of a proposed celebration
in 1839 of the centenary of Wesleyan Methodism, and als6,
the subsequent resolut ions on the subject of the conference
recently held in Bristol, having been read and considered,
the meeting, after some discussion, chiefly as to the several
modes of application of the fund, passed a series of twenty-
six resolutions, of which we now proceed to give an ab-
stract :

- The Ist expresses cordial approval of " the proposed cele-
bration, in 1839, of the formation of the Wesleyan Methodist
Society in the year 1739, under the providential instrumenta-
lity of the ever-to-be-revered and venerated John Wesley;
and deeply feels that the primary object of such celebration
should be the religious and devotional improvement of the
centenary, by solemn public services in all our chap els,
both at home and the various missionary stations abroad."
The 2d, on the motion of Mr. James Wood, expresses the
opinion "that it is eminently right and expedient that there
should also be a general pecuniary contribution, by means
both of individual and family donations, and of public collec-
tions, through all our societies and congregations at home and
abroad," as "a practical thank-offering to Almighty God,
for the personal, oomestic, and public benefits derived, by his
blessing, from the labours of Mr. Wesley, and of his coadju-
tors and successors, during the last hundred years, and from
the direct and indirect influencesof the various ministrations
and agencies of Wesleyan methodism, not merely on our own
relia"ious community, butes() on the Christian church at large,
and on the spiritual interests of the world." The 3d concurs
in the judgment of the Bristol committee, unanimously sanc-
tioned by conference, that the connectional fund, to be raised
on occasion of the centenary, should be applied; 1. to the
erection and preparation of premises for the accommodation
of students in the Wesleyan theological institution ; 2. to the
provision of commodious premises in London for the use of
the Wesleyan missionary society. [These objects are stated
to be recommended by their monumental and connectional
character.] The 4th, on the motion of the Rev. Dr. Bunting,
declares, that, while concurring in the pre-eminent claims of
these two objects, the meeting is "satisfied of the duty and
disposition of the members and friends to raise, on this special
and extraordinary occasion (which to them can never again
occur,) a much larger sum than that which these objects alone
will require; and pledges itself, individually and collectively,
to the most zealous exertions for that purpose." The sth, ou
the motion of Mr. G. R. Chappell, of this town, gives the fol-
lowing "conclusions:"—" 1. That the sum of £BO,OOO is
considered as the very lowest which must be raised, by the
universal effort now contemplated, for the centenary fund.
2. That, after a liberal reserve for the purposes of the theo-
logical institution and for the new mission 'sense, the remain-
der of the £BO,OOO should be employed as follows:—(l.) In
providing a Wesleyan missionary ship, for the purpose of
forwarding missionaries and missionary stores from New
South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, to our- mission sta-
tions in New Zealand, in the Friendly Islands, and in other
Polynesian grouper. (2.) In finally liquidating a building-
debt of about £5OOO, yet remaining on the premises of our
two connectional schools at Kiugswood and Woodhouse
Grove ; • thus liberating, for the use of the Methodist
Preachers' Annuity Society, a cousiderable sum now an-
nually payable for interest on that debt, and for its gradual
reduction, and restoring such sum at once to its origi-
nal and proper use, as part of the income applicable to
the support of preachers compelled through age or infirmity
to retire from their regular labours in the ministry, and of
the widows of our deceased ministers and pastors. (3.) In
placing at the disposal of the chapel loan funds committee
which committee, we understand, in conjunction with cha-
pel trustees, have been the means of liquidating £150,000 of
debt upon various chapels] a considerable sum, sufficient to
enable it to continue, without material interruption, its most
beneficial and important operations (which must be otherwise
for a while wholly suspended, owing to the entire exhaustion
of its present resources), and thus to relieve many cases of
distressed trustees and over-burdened chapels from the pres-
sure of debt and difficulty, and also to enable that committee
to accelerate, by judicious arrangements, the period at which
the interest, and eventually the principal, of the loans al-
ready so usefully expended, be fully discharged; so that
the annual income of the regular chapel fund may become
inure speedily available." [ln a note, it is stated that the
five appropriations above enumerated e ill ropti se t hat at least
the minimum 01E80,000 should be provided.] The 6th reso-
lution expresses the hope that that minimum may be very
considerably exceeded, and declares, that whatever surplus
shall be actually realized, shall be devoted to some one or
more of the objects named above (under the direction of a
committee, to be appointed from among the principal sub-
scribers), in such proportions as the claims and necessities of
each particular object shall seem to require. 'rhe 7th, that
the subscriptions be now commenced, and that James Wood,
14:sq., of Manchester, be appointed the general treasurer of
the Wesleyan centenary fund. Bth. That, to meet the wishes
and convenience of some classes of subscribers, the donations
of those who desire it shall become due by three annual in-
stalments; namely, in the week immediately preceding the
conferences of July 1839. 1840, and 1841. 9th, That a gene-
ral centenary sub-committee be appointed, to meet from time
to time in Manchester, to promote the contribution, and take
measures to engage the co-operation of all the preachers,
trustees, class-leaders, and people, in every circuit of Great
Britain and Ireland. The 10th gives the names of the com-
mittee, including the treasurers, a number of ministers, and
gentlemen -of Nlanchester, Liverpool, and Stockport, with
power to add to their number. The 11th names five secrete
ries to this sub-committee, one minister and four gentlemen,
all of this town. The 12th recommends the appointment of
local sub-committees and sub-treasurers in every circuit in
the united kingdom. The 13th recommends that one or more
public meetings of friends be held in every circuit, as early
in 1832 as convenient, for the purpose of obtaining donations
in each locality. 14th. That the varuable help of the ladies
be solicited, by the formation, in each circuit, of a ladies'
committee; 1. to promote the private and family donations
to the general fund; 2. to carry into effect the recommenda-
tion of Bristol cominiitee, that local arrangements should
be made for enabling the children of the Sunday and day
schools and the poor members of the society to participate
and enjoy the pleasure and benefit of the intended eele;
bration, on one of the days set apart, but so as not to in-
terfere with-the public religious services of the occasion.
15. That the missionary committee and secretaries be re-
quested to adopt early means for obtaining the concurrence
of societies and congregations at the foreign stations, in the
religious celebration of the centenary, and in the accompany-
ing contribution. The 16th recommends that the volume
which the president of conference is preparing, on the occa-
sion of the centenary (on the rise and progress of Methodism)
tie published as speedily as practicable; and that a eheap
edition, as little-abridged as possible, be printed tot sale or
distribution among the poorer members, and in the Sunday
and (lay schools. The 17th approves of the resolutions of con-
ference as to the time of celebrating the centenary, viz.:—
That the official discourse to be -delivered before the con-
ference at Liverpool, in 1839, .by the Rev. Thomas Jackson,
shall be considered as the centenary sermon ; that one day
he set apart during the session of that conference, for religi-
ous services; that, in all other places, the month of October,
1839, is deemed the most suitable period for the centenary
services; and in consideration of the universal congregational
collections then to be made fur the centenary fund, no col-
lection for ordinary local purposes to be made in that month;
and the school collections usually
_made in October, be next
year made in September. The meeting recommends that
conference should direct, that, on Friday, the 25th October,
1839, meetings be held in every chapel, early in the morning,
and also in the evening, for united prayer and thanksgiving;
and that, where con-lenient, the same day be selected for
public discourses and worship in the congregations; and,
where local circumstances prevent this, the 25th to he uni-
formly adopted for the early morning and evening services.
The 18th approves of the appointment of special deputations
from conference, to visit ten large towns at the time of the
centenary, in order to assist the preachers stationed there, in
the religious services of the occasion ; and recommends that
Dublin- and Edinburgh be added to ,the list. The 19th re-
commends'an arrangement at the next conference by an' ade-

quate increase of the auxiliary preachers' fund, for the regu-
lar and perinatient provision for the hetter support of minis-
ters.on theimriernurnitry list, and of the widows of deceased
ministers. The '2oth appOints a sub-committee to sit in Man-
chester, in Order to carry out the object of the 19th re,olu-
tion. The 21st ierpreSts.three ministers and six gentlemen
(several of the latter ship-,bailders) to meet the treasurers and
secretaries of the WeAleyan Missionary Society in Liverp,ol,
some day in the week preceding next conference, as a sub-
committee to consider the best method of providing and ma-
naging the Polynesian missionary ship. The 22d declires
the adjournment of the meeting to the following times and
places, for making known and explaining the plans adopted
in reference to the centenary, and of obtaining general sup-
port in aid of the centenary fund :—Liverpool, Wednesday,
November 21, 1838: for the Liverpool, Macclesfield, North
Wales, and Isle of Man districts.—London, Friday, Decem-
ber 7; for the Southern and South-eastern" districts.—Bristol,
Monday, December 10: for the West of England and South
Wales:—Birmingham, Wednesday, December 12; for the
contiguous midland districts.—Sheffield, Friday, December
14; fur the Sheffield and the Nottingham and Derby die-
tricts.—Leeds, Monday, December 17; for all the West.
Riding districts.—Hull, Wednesday, December 19; for the
Hull, Lincolnshire, York, and Whitby dist' icts.—Neircastle-
on-Tyne, Friday, December 21 ; for all the northern districts
nits.—Dublin, Wednesday, February 27, 1839; for
all andl ceirla cnd.
Th
e president and secretary of conference, Dr.
r
Bunting, Mr. James Wood, a number of other gentlemen
named, and as many other members of the committee, both
ministers and laymen, as conveniently can, are requested to
attend these meetings. Further adjournments to be fixed, if
necessary, at any future /meeting in the course of the year ;
and the final adjournment for business, to be fixed for Liver-
pool, in connexion with the ensuing conference on such/day
as the president may appoint. The 2.3 d resolution is expres-
sive of 'most devout thanksgivings to Almighty God, for the
extraordinary tokens of his presence and blessing;" and of a
firm persuasion "that the approaching centenary will obtain
a permament memorial from Heaven,—the memorial of a
great and extensive revival of pure and primitive Christi-
anity." The 24th is one of thanks from the members from
distant places, to the friends in Manchester and its neigh-
bourhood, for their great hospitality and Christian kindness,
and for their exemplary zeal in promoting the important ob-
ject which had brought the meeting together. The 25th re-
cords the sense of the lay members of the committee, of the
valuable services rendered to the centenary cause by the
Rev. Robert Newton, secretary of conference, and by the
other respected ministers in attendance.—The Rev Thomas
Jackson, president of conference, having vacated the chair,
thanks were voted to him, "for the distinguished ability,
affection, and piety, with which he has conducted the various
business of' this most happy and interesting week; and for
his very edifying and acceptable communications, connected
with the history of Mr. Wesley and of- methodism."—The
"three days" of this great meeting terminated on the Friday
evening, at a late hour. '

At and since this meeting we understand. that eleven indi.
viduals or families have subscribed £l,OOO, or 011 Q thousand
guineas each, and among them, we are informed, thera are
three ladies; about fourteen have subscribed five hundred
guineas each, and a great number one hundred guineas each.
The total amount of subscriptions, up to yesterday, was
£36,04445., averaging about £lOOO per day since the termi-
nation of the meeting yesterday week.

The first of the adjourned meetings commenced at Liver-
pool on. Wednesday last; but hitherto we have not beard
aay thing of its procejgings.

A CRUSTACEOUS TOUR.
BY THE IRISH OYSTER-EATER.

(From Blackwood's Magazine
.for November.)
I arrived at Belfast, which boasts no indigenous bivalve,
but adopts for her own the gigantic oysters of .Carrickfergus,
which, as I am informed, is the name of a city, nut of an
oyster-bed. Procuring a guide, I requested him to precede
my steps to those Cimmerian regions " where oysters most
did congregate," and presently arrived, guided more by the
nose than by the other senses at one of the retired emporia
of shell-fish in the Athens of Ireland.

The place was a study ; —soft unresisting mud formed-the
unplaned and rough, elevated upon
a pile of bricks, simulated a divan, while the table was supplied
by two of the divan boards tacked together, and extended from
end to end of the " salon." A rushlight flickered in. an old
iron candlestick, and " a most ancient and fish-like smell"
pervaded the apartment. Forthwith appeared a hideous crone,
whose breath, redolent of whisky and tobacco, was expended
in the business-like enquiry, " Wud ye be for oysters, my
man ?"

This interrogatory was replied to by an order for half a
hundred of her very primest Carrickfergus natives—to begin
with. " Half a banner—a hail half-hunner—Oh! oh! oh!
the man's a haveril—a hail. half-hunner o' Carricks—save
us!" With this ejaculation my hostess, having clutched the
rushlight in her palm, decamped, leaving me in a state of tri-
bulation that may be imagined, as the saying is, but beggars
all description.
In a few minutes, however, Alecto returned with the rush-

light stuck in a trencher of the largest size, upon which were
half a dozen of the most magnanimous oysters I had ever seen.
They were. natives to be sure, but natives of Patagonia;—the
least rivalled in circumference the largest saucer I ever saw,
while the biggest equalled the periphery of a soup-plate.
What a vision fur the immortal Dando! What would not
Louis des Huitres have given fur the dish ? For my poor
part, I never relished making two bites of a cherry, or of an
oyster either. Like humble friends, oysters do not take kindly
to cutting. Every fish-ought to be no more than a mouthful,
lAA it ought to be no less. I leave to more enterprising gour-
mands than myself the task of a critical analysis of the Pati-
gouian bivalves of Carrickfergus.- I ought to obserVe, in
justice to Belfast, that at the excellent tavern of M'Allister,
in Graham's Entry, where the best supper in supper-eating
Ireland may be had, there is to be found occasionally a sup-
ply of the teal Carlingford oyster. This joyful event, how-
ever, is rare, and I lament to obsirve that the metropolis of
the north of Ireland is so debased 'hj, tt tut prmiPertius-trade,
so absorbed in the grovelling concerns of her thriving manu-
factures, that the breeding of oysters is shamefully neglected,
and no pains are taken to awaken a patriotic enthusiasm on
behalf of native Irish oysters in general, while the " Poldoody
Association," lately established for the constitutional redress
of ostracerial grievances, is here regarded by the very oysters
themselves with silent contempt! With a sigh I ascended
the " Fair Trader" day drag, at five o'clock in the morning,
en route to the next town of crustaceous interest, passing
along the great Dublin toad, through a country of amazing
fertility and beauty,• inhabited .by a sober, industrious, and
religious people, watered by bubbling gravelly streams, shel-
tered from the cold north wind by hills, whose acclivities
were seen white with the bleaching linen, sometimes con-
founded by the stranger traveller with virgin snow upon the
ground, sometimes caught through circling groves like lakes
gleaming in the sunshine. To an indiffe rent person a sight
like this might be worth the remembrance; but to me it was
a desert. My impatient soul bounded onwards to Newry,
where I knew the " real Carlingfords" were to be had. illy
no less impatient stomach, clogged with. its material tunics,
and sadly embarrassed with its serous, mucous, and muscular
coats, gave vent to its ill-humour in awful rumbling noises,
such as vex the intestinal canals of Vesuvius or Stromboli.
But, lo ! at the brow of the hill we pause—in the valley
before us lies Newry-=beyond, in the far distance, are seen
the blue outlines of the Carlingford mountains—beyond the
mountains lies the bay—at the bottom of the bay lie the
oysters. " Coachman leaves here, sir." We-are in Newry
—and before us, .on the .breakfast table, in a huge wooden
bowl, behold the gelatinous objects of our affections—the
real, the undoubted, unsophisticated Carlingfords, and no
mistake!

Newry is dear to my remembrances—l have heard it called
an odious hole, and so forth.—to me it was everything that
was delightful, for then oysters were in season. The waiter
at Black's (for your own sake go to Black's, the Shakspeare,
and order your oysters in Edmund Kean's favourite room)
talked about patty squabbles and religious squabbles. I saw
nor heard nothing of either, foi the oysters were of the primett.
The disaffected grumbled, it is true, about the decline of
trade, and taxation, and such stuff; crops, they said, were
never so bad—when, may I ask, were oysters better ? Thus
is it ever with perverse human nature the vice to neglect the
blessings we possess, and hanker after the blessings which
we possess not, to complain of the unavoidable contingencies

of sublunary things, and forget, in ever-wrought anticipations
of unattainable felicity, that much whereof the happiness of
life.is made up is still within our grasp, and that whatever ills
oppress us, and whatever cares corrode, still there remains
for us the consolation that we have oysters of the best, and
that our oysters are in season !
1 have always been prone to a belielf in supernatural', and

a circumstance occurred while I was opening an acquaintance
with the natives of Carlingford, at Newry, that by no means
diminishes the Rosicrucianitv of my notions of the spiritual.
It was near the midnight hour—the candles down almost to
the socket—l had supped sparingly on some three quarters of
an hundred, more or less, of my favorite fish, scalloped,
stewed, and au naturel, kept down by half-a-dozen stiff tum-
blers of hot brandy and water, less or more—a sort of sopori-
ferousness laid hold of me—the full length of the immortal
Kean, presented by himself to his friend mine. Host of the
Shakspeare, reeled in its gorgeous gilded frame—the cham-
ber was locomotive—if I had exceeded in any way I might
have supposed myself a little " how came you so?' Be that
as it may, however, a rustling noise was heard outside the -
door, as if a barrel of oysters had been tumbled on the spot,
which I verily believe to have been the case, for on a sudden
the 000 r oprit.etl ...rar sea of oysters, rolling heels
over head, in waves a confusion to my very feet. 'it -was, in
fact, a deputation from Carlingford, sent by the natives there
to invite meto a public dinner. Think of that, Master Brook !
By one of those legerdemain tricks that occur so frequently
at-public meetings, the entire deputation got, somehow or
other, upon the table, where,'having wriggled thems-elves into
something like order, a venerable bivalve, grey with barnacles
and age, advanced to the front, and having opened his shell,
delivered himself nearly as follows:—"Sir,—The natives of
Carlingford having heard, to their cost, of your arrival in this
neighbourhood, and being well aware of the deadly interest
you take in their affairs, have resolved to sacrifice a number
of their choicest inhabitants to your judicious palate—(` hear,
hear!' from a - little fat oyster;) —and accordingly, fur the
honor and reputation of the natives of Carlingford—(` bear !'
from the fat one)—a sufficient number of volunteers have ge-
nerously come forward—(bravo !)—to die gloriously for their
compatriots. Hear, hear!' and clattering of shells on all
sides.) We, the deputation in this matter appointed, do
therefore respectfully solicit you to name a day—(`hear,
hear!' from the corpulent bivalve)—when we may expect the
pleasure of your company at the oyster-beds, for which pur-
pose the Mayor and Aldermen of Carlingford have gener-
ously placed an oyster boat and diving-bell at your disposal."
(Great and enthusiastic clattering.) What answer I might
have made to this hospitable. proposal 1 know nut; for, hav-
ing taken umbrage at the eternal " hear, hear !" of the little
bloated native (there always is in deputations, if you observe,
one greasy little abomination nicking his lungs as prominent
as his befly,) I watched my opportunity, and, catching him
between the jaws with my oyster-knife, while in the act of
ejaculating a "hear, hear!" I opened him in a twinkling, to
the evident consternation of the surviving crustacea, who see-
ing me bolt their obese colleague, retreated in the same dis-
order in whirls they had arrived ! I might have treated the
whole affair- as
_the natural result of a scanty supper and
limited supply of .grog, had I not discovered a paper which
the deputation left behind in their precipitate retreat, and
whirls is so well considered and temperately expressed, that
I do not think it unworthy
,a place in the records of my pere-
grinations.
" To the Most Honourable the Marquis of Anglesey, K. G ,
K. St. P., G. C. 8.. a General in the Army, Colonel of the
.7th Light Dragoon Guards, Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey-
shire, &c., &c., &c.
" The Petition of the Natives of Carlingford humbly and -re-
spectfully showeth,
That petitioners and their ancestors have been, from time
immemorial, submarine inhabitants of the oyster beds in the
bay of Carlingford, whereof your Lordship is Lord: of the
soil.

" That they have enjoyed for centuries a reputation for fat-
ness and flavor second to none, superior to most, equal to any.
"'That they bring higher prices, and are more in demand
than any other description of oyster in Dublin and elsewhere.
"That they regret to state. that, of late years,owing to the
poverty of the fishermen, or'the system of too frequent dred-
ging, or front indiscriminate and rapacious abstraction of the
inferior fish, they have suffered in character, are less in de-
mand, and sold at a lower price per hundred than formerly.
" That whereas in personal appearence your petitioners
were formerly invariably as round as a ball, white as a nut,
and full as a tick, they latterly have become little better than
so many bits of slate, owing to the operation of some or other
of the causes above stated—.
" In tender consideratiOn whereof your petitioners, regar-
ding the Poldoody Asso'ciation' lately established, in com-
mon with other inhabitants of the North of lieland, with
sovereign contempt, turn- to your Lordship, as their landlord
and natural protector, in the hope that, without injury to the
interests of the fishermen' of Carlingford, some legislative
enactment may be adopted, to preserve from further deteriora-
tion the Carlingford oyster-beds.
" And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
" Signed, on behalf of the petitioners,
"XtoTtlEits.-of-PEAttr.s."
I take no credit to'inyself tortheannouncementof the fact.
Which I state from utidoubted.authority, that owing to my ex-
ertions in this matter a Commission has been appointed to
enquire into, and report upon, the state and prospects of the
oyster-beds, generally, while six and thirty Assistant-Com-
missisoners, with a sufficient supply of biscuits, oyster-knives,
and bottled stow, have already been appointed, and have
actually set out to prosecute their enquiries on the spot. It
is supposed that in twenty years'. time there will be sufficient
data accumulated to frame the first report, and that not more
than thirty thousand pounds will be required annually for this
Commission. Indeed it- is generally supposed that our pater
nal government, actingon the principle embodied in the Rail-
way Report, will discourage oyster eating generally, except
under'Government auspices. it has already been calculated
that no oyster-cellar under extra-Ministerial management
will pay more than three and a-half per cent. on the sunken
capital, and it is predetermined to recommend a "Central
Metropolitan Oyster Emporium," to be established in the
Castle of Dublin, of which the celebrated Mr: Dando, the
oyster-eater, is intended to be resident Stipendiary Com-
missioner!
Leaving Newry and the North, we cross the Carlingford
mountains into Eolith, passing on our way many towns and
villages remarkable for beggars and dirt, and one sweet little
spot (Castlebellingham), notorious for cleanliness and hum-
ming ale—good ale, rare beverage in this alcoholic clime!
Oysters are not cultivated between Carlingford Bay and the
Hill of Howth ; the country may therefore be as well oblitera-
ted from the maps in future.

'On the 29th of June a scion of the house of Timour was
hanger, at Dolhi, for having brutally murdered his wife be-
cause she refused to give up half her jewels to his paramour.
The poor woman was young and beautiful, and eight months
gone with child. The wounds made by the rufhan's sword
cut her up, and the child fell at his feet.

ON THE WICKEDNESS OF WOMAN.—The wickedness Of
women is a subject upon which the stronger sex among the
Arabs, with an affected reeling of superior virtue, often dwell
in common conversation. That women are deficient in judg-
ment or good sense, is held as a fact not to be disputed even
among themselve4, as it rests upon the assertion of I he. Pr-
ophet ; but that they possess a superior degree of cunning is
pronounced equally certain and notorious. Their general
depravity is pronounced to be much greater than that of men.
" I stood," said the Prophet, " at the gate Of Paradise: and
10, most of its inmates were the poor ; and I stood at the gate
of hell; and 10, most of its inmates were women." In allu-
sion to women, the Khaleefeh 'Omar said, " Consult them
and do the contrary of what they advise." But this is not to
be done merely for the sake of opposing them; nor when
other advice can be had. "It is desirable for them," says a
learned Ituttin, " before he enters upon any important under-
taking, to consult ten intelligent persons among his particu-
lar friends; or, if he have not more than five such friends,
let him consult each of them twice; or he have not more
than one friend, he should consult. him ten (lines at ten dlr.,
firent visits; if he have not one to consult, let him return to
his wife, and consult her; and whatever she advises him to
do, let him do the contrary; so shall he proceed rightly in his
affair, and attain his object." 4 truly virtuous wife is, of
course, • excepted in this rule: such a person is as much
respected by Muslims as she is (at least. according. to their
own account) rarely met with by them.—Notes to Lane's
Arabian Nights.

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