The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-23 00:00:00

A NIGHT ATTACZ ON THE ENEMY'S POSITION.

tions of Heaven's bounty to man, become compo-
nent portions of native feeling, if he will only give
that sway ; and these are features invariably pos-
sessed of grace and beauty. When the field of
operation is extended, and the range of observation
widened, it does not always, or even generally
follow, that the narrative acquires additional value
or the incidents assume a greater degree of im-
portance. In the case before us we have illustra-
tion of the above remark. Its author, who has
long been known to the readers of newspapers as
the writer of spirited articles which appeared from
time to time in different journals, under the signa-
ture of " One who has whistled at the plough,"
was the son of two very honest and industrious,
though very poor, Scottish peasants, who, through
frugality and management, contrived, in spite of
the pinching poverty of their lot, to bring up and
so far educate a numerous family, of whom the
hero of this narrative was the eleventh and last
born. The early portion of this volume is devoted
to his personal and family history, the incidents of
which are narrated with a painstaking fidelity, re-
minding one forcibly of the elaborate manipulation
of the Dutch painters, where every truth is told
and laboured with such an earnestness of purpose,
and such a carefulness of detail, as would serve for
the delineation of the most important scenes, or
for a display of the most exalted virtues ; yet all is
done with such an air of simplicity and truth, that
the very tedium of its manipulation becomes in
some degree a beauty. When leaving the simple
occupations of rural life, and exchanging the bois-
terous hilarity of rustic mirth for the more formal
and pretentious, as well as more dangerous occu-,
pations of the political demagogue and the demo-
cratic adviser, Mr. Somerville, although infinitely
more ambitious, is considerably less interesting,
and, although ostensibly more didactic, is by no
means so instructive, as when narrating, in homely
phrase, his experiences and cogitations among the
woody ravines and bosky dells of the Lammer-
m.uirs. It is indeed true, that having been taken
by the hand and petted and flattered, and made a
tool of by more skilful and not less mercenary
idols of popular favour than himself, and having
now ceased to be useful to them, he has been cast
aside with the contumely and heartlessness which
characterise upstarts in general, and which, of all
upstarts, is most repulsively and recklessly dis-
played by the democratic political charlatan. Re-
senting this scurviness of treatment, Mr. Somer-
ville proclaims " war to the knife" against the
misleaders of the populace whom he formerly
helped to elevate and maintain above the level of
their fellows. This, no doubt, is only the natural
course of events in so hollow a system of combina-
tion, and in adding an exposure of it from personal
experience to the knowledge of it possessed by the
world, the author of this autobiography renders
some service to society, and makes the best atone-
ment in his power for the injuries he has aided in
inflicting. In its pages he gives convincing illus-
tration of the knavery and folly in which strikes of
workmen generally originate, and of the misery
and disappointment in which they invariably end.
Those who wish to understand the nefarious
schemes covertly nursed and secretly matured by
the " people's leaders" under pretext of opposing
tyranny and resisting oppression, would do well to
read the experiences of Alexander Somerville,
where they will find the hateful hypocrisy exposed
with skill and diligence. The work now before us
forms an excellent supplemental corollary to his
masterly exposure of the " Cobdenic Policy."

Irish Tourists' Handbook. _ Compiled by W. H.

Peat. Liverpool: Edward Howell.

The publication of a " tourist's" handbook pro-
vokes at once the thought of summer rambling,
and is, like the notes of the cuckoo, suggestive of
the sound of music sweet
From birds among the bowers.
In the handbook before us we are treated to a
succinct, though not unambitious, set of hints, re-
commendations, and descriptions of many charming
and celebrated scenes in the sister island, inter-
spersed with anecdotes, historical and personal,
the whole arranged in such a manner as to be
readily consulted and easily understood. It is
given in the form of prescribed routes, which are
generally those most readily and easily followed ;
but for those who may wish to traverse other
lines, the information given is equally available.
Prefixed to the volume is a condensed and useful
map of Ireland, and a scale of hotel charges in
most of the principal towns of that country ; and
it is published at a very cheap rate.

The Church of Scotland Magazine and Review.
Edinburgh : A. C. Moodie. Liverpool : W.

Thomson.

The May number of this periodical sustains the
reputation which its predecessors had achieved. It
contains a varied collection of well-written papers
on interesting subjects. Opening with a capital
essay on " Sectarian Discord and Christian Church
Union," in which the principles and dangers of
sectarianism are thoroughly exposed, it proceeds
with a paper on the " Prospects of Turkey,"
chiefly consisting of an essay written " by a Greek
of great literary eminence, and high in the confi-
dence of King Otho," an authorship not likely to
increase public confidence in the paper or its re-
commendations. This is followed by an admirable
essay on " The History of Gold, physically, geolo-
gically, and economically considered." It forms
the concluding portion of a series of papers on the
same subject, and is devoted chiefly to a considera-
tion of the commercial and economical view of gold,
and to a brief resume of the whole subject. In
this, after taking an elaborate view of the gold
statistics of the ancients, as these are unfolded in
the Sacred Writings and in profane history, the
writer proceeds to a consideration of the gold sup-
plies in various countries of Europe, and passes on
to glance at the localities in which the auriferous
deposit has been found in our own country. In
this, while clearly proving from historical data that
gold has been found in considerable quantity in
different parts of England and Scotland, he demo-
lishes the theories of these sanguine speculators
who would persuade us that golden treasure is to
be met with in almost every clod we tread upon.
In the geological abstract, which closes the paper,
we have some beautiful sketches of scenery, the
value of the pictures enhanced by the skilful accu-
racy of the scientific geologist, and enlivened by the
glowing fancy of the poet. As an instance of his de-
scriptive powers, take the writer's delineation of

THE LOWTHER, OR LEAD-HILLS.

The Lowthers, in which the lead mines are situated,
form a continuation of the Lammermuir chain. They
constitute one of the finest and most remarkable groups
of mountains in Scotland, combining all the verdant
smoothness and richness of the pastoral plain with the
broken outline, deep ravine, rushing river, and elevated
dome-shaped peak of an alpine region. The glens and
passes to the summit are steep and narrow, and as you
wend their slow length along, in your upward zigzag path-
way, you may gratify your taste in innumerable ways.
As a botanist, the field is inviting, tempting you every
moment to seat yourself by some mossy dell, and pick
some rare wild alpine plant. As a mineralogist, the
streams in the yesterday floodings have strewed the road
with bright sparkling gems of all textures and colours,
the crystal and the metal, and the rougher matrix of their
setting, and at every footstep becoming more abundant
as you near the scene of operations. As a geologist, you
have in admirable contrast, on the very verge of the
mountain pass, two systems of rocks presented to the
view, the fine-grained horizontal beds of the red sand-
stone which fills the valley of the Nith and the lower
districts of Dumfriesshire, and the dark grey coloured
slaty silurian masses of which the surrounding hills are
nearly all composed, upheaved and twisted into every form
and position, and crossed at various intervals by dikes of
felspar, porphyry, and other intrusive rocks. As a sports.
man, and every sportsman should be a geologist, the
grouse and the blackcock greet you at every tutu, and
salute your ear with their sharp startling whir—and now
your feet are on the unstained heather, and you have
breasted the sides of Glen-Mennock or Glen-Gonnar, as
an artist what more can your eye desire or your pencil
love to sketch, than all that rolling sea of hill and moor-
land, and town and river • Tintock heading the Pent-
lands on the one side, and eorstoncone standing sentry to
Ayrshire on the other ; Hart-fell guarding the twin
fountains of the Tweed and Clyde, and fenced by all that
lofty slatework of rock through which they take their
separate courses to the ocean ; Criffel and Skiddaw look-
ing as near in the distance as if their tops were united ;
and the far distant main on the west, studded with innu-
merable islets, and the clear outstanding peaks of Arran,
and Jura, and Mull, and all " that guard-famed Staffa
round." The land, too, is the land of Burns, the land of
the poet, sanctified by so many memories, linked to so
many associations, and echoing through every stream and
grove the music of his immortal song.
The number contains likewise a capital memoir
Professorohfonzie,and t iseoenu
beauties
ti
e his boundless
sfhis b
writings,on
are fondly insisted on.

The British marched in even ranks, and commenced the
action with a brisk fire of artillery at a distance of about
a mile from the enemy. The Sikhs made a gallant defence.
The British artillery advanced steadily till they were
within a few hundred yards of the entrenchment ; but the
Sikhs kept up an incessant fire from their heavy guns ; in
consequence of which our infantry were ordered to advance,
and, in the face of a murderous fire, to take the batteries.
Night put a stop to the carnage, but not to the awful state
of confusion which prevailed in the British camp, which
arose partly from the severe losses and the scattering of
the different regiments, with the uncertainty as to whether
any advantage had been gained, and partly from the inces-
sant firing kept up during the whole night by the Sikhs
upon the wretched soldiers who were lying wounded upon
the field of battle, or who were cowering around their
scanty fires, worn out with cold, fatigue, and excruciating
thirst. * * The village of Ferozeshah appears to have
been held during the night of the 21st of December, partly
by the British and partly by the Sikhs. One of our divi-
sions under the gallant Major-General, Sir Harry Smith,
kept up a fire during the greater part of the night. The
other divisions bivouacked at some distance, no one knows
where. Had a concentrated movement been necessary, it
would have been quite out of the question ; for, by some
mistake or oversight, no place of rendezvous had been fixed
on. I am told that the men belonging to two or three
of the European corps got clubbed together, and were so
found the next morning - nay, even the whereabouts of the
Commander-in-Chief hiniself could not be found. A cer-
tain Major-General was anxious to communicate with him,
and an engineering officer, who had just been with Sir
Hugh Gough, offered to show him the road ; but, to his
surprise, he could not find it; either his Excellency had
moved his position, or the night was too dark to enable
the officer to trace his way back.

-- -
Every one is aware that the Sikh campaign was •
one in which much blood was poured out and an
immense quantity of treasure sacrificed, the exact
amount of which has probably never been revealed.
Of the former Captain Humbley gives up some idea
when he tells us, " We lost 10,788 men killed and
wounded, and 1,899 horses, in seven battles and
one siege, viz., Moodkee, Ferozesha,h, Aliwal, So-
braon, Ramnagur , Chillianwallah, Goojerat, and
the fort of Mooltan."
In his sketches of civil life in India, Captain
Humbley is sensible and judicious, as well as smartly
observant; and his volume contributes much addi-
tional knowledge of our actual position and wants
in India. It is written in a fair spirit, and dis-
plays no inconsiderable amount of information and
ability.

The Autobiography of a Working Man. By
Alexander Somerville. London :R. Hardwick.

------ ---
Few varieties of, literary composition are *more
instructively interesting than a sensibly written
and unostentatious autobiography. In even the
humblest walk of life, and from the most secluded
individual scintillations of divine origin and indica-

The Leisure Hour. London : Paternoster-row.
This periodical, published under the auspices of
the Religious Tract Society, is
amusement, a happy endeavour
and to
to combine instruction with
unite sound morality with both.
In the part for
April attention is particularly
arrested by a
-execuwted
suc-
cinct and interesting description of our,,
ar
screw-steamers," illustrated by a well-executed
sectional view of one of these first-class ships, the
Duke of Wellington. The engraving is cleverly
executed, and the descriptive letterpress is Athul,
rably explanatory,

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

PROPOSED CHURCH IN LIVERPOOL
FOR DAILY PRAYERS, 4e.

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE COMMITTEE
AND THE LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER.

IT will be seen by the subjoined, that a correspondence
has taken place between the Lord Bishop of the diocese
and the Committee for building the proposed new church
in Liverpool. The correspondence will he read with con-
siderable interest, and we have given it in extenso, in
order that full justice may be done to both parties. As
will be perceived, the chief ground of his lordship's objec-
tion to consent to the scheme is, his " sincere desire to
preserve the peace of the Church ;" but the space which
the subject occupies in our columns precludes us at present
from offering any comments upon it.

The Committee, after expressing their " deep regret
that they have met with au unexpected obstacle to the
progress of their undertaking in the opposition of the
Bishop of the Diocese," and that "they feel bound, in their
own justification, to place the correspondence before all
who are interested in this work," go on to say :
"Having succeeded in obtaining subscriptions to a very
considerable amount, and having secured a site in a most
favourable situation, it was considered advisable to lose no
time in making the usual application to the Bishop and the
church commissioners for permission to build and endow a
church under the Ist and 2nd William IV., chap. 38, which
vests the patronage in trustees appointed by the-founders.
As the Diocesan is necessarily a party to all arrangements in
which the division of ecclesiastical districts is concerned,
Mr. Wray was deputed to wint upon his lordship, to explain
the objects of the committee and to obtain his concurrence in
this application to the commissioners. At thd; interview
(March 2nd) Mr.- Wray stated his desire to consult the Bishop
as his Diocesan, declaring his willingness to answer any
questions as to the intentions of the promoters of this church,
and to be guided by his lordship's advice. The Bishop, how-
ever, positively declined to receive the application, and re-
'fused all conversation up:di the subject; persisting that lie
would entertain no communication except from the Rector of
the parish, even though his lordship was informed the
Rector's sanction had already been obtained.
"It was evident, however,. that against the whole scheme
of a free church for daily service, weekly communion, &c.,
the expenses to be in part defrayed by the general offertory,
the Bishop entertained strong prejudices, and he incidentally
declared his determination to consecrate no such church with
the usual endowment of .elOOO.

wlrmay be as well to state here, that the original intention
was-to build a church entirely free throughout, in which the
rights of the poor, and of the labouring classes generally
might be vindicated, their rights as Christian hrethren to the
free enjoyment of the front and best places in the House of
God, and'the loss of which rights in our town churches is
the main,cause of the alienation of the masses of the people
from the• Church of England. The endowment,., in the first
instance. Was to consist of .elMo,•inv,,sted in a parsonage
house, witira• proportion of the offertories; and is was pro-
posed also tn invest further sums to secure, as far as possible,
the perpetual services for which the church was built..

" It now became necessary to modify this original intention
as regards the endowment, in order to satisfy the Bishop's
objections; audit was accordingly proposed that one half of
the church should be rented, and theother half, from east to
west, including an entire half of the best seats, should be
free and unappropriated.
" With this proposal, after a format leiter bad been sent to
the Bishop by the Rector giving his consent, a deputation of
four gentlemen frOm the committee wasted upon the Bishop
on the 13th of March. The Bishop's reply at this interview
was simply that he must decline acceding to their request,
and upon their humbly begging for his Itrdsiiip's reason for
so unexpected and-Unusual a refusal, the Bishop made them
a low bow, dismissing them without even affording an op-
portunity of presenting the memorial which they held in their:
hands.

"This will explain the occasion of the following letters, ie•
thefirst of which, to'avoid repetition, one or two paragraphs-

areomitted."

Liverpool. March I 6th, 1854.
MY Loan,—The gentlemen who waited upon your lord-
ship ass deputation upon the subject of the proposed church
in Toateth-park, having-informed me of the unsatisfactory
result of that interview, I conceive it to be my duty as a
clergyman to press this matter no further upon your lord-
ship, with whom now entirely rests the responsibility of the
failure of this work, and the disappointment that will be
largely felt in consequence. * * * * *
As regards my own shave in this proposal, it is proper that
I should add, that I have no personal nor interested object
whatever to serve in the erection of this church, and no other
motives-than the following :71. To afford to several former
members of my congregation,. highly valued friends, who
have removed to the neighbourhood of loxteth-park, those
advantages which they enjoyed of frequent services at St.
Marlin's Church. 2. To afford the privileges of 'daily prayer
and weekly communion to a large number of; churchmen,
who would, I.know, thankfully accept them. 3. To offer to
the poor, and to the labouring classes generally, the rights of
Christian brethren in the free enjoyment of an equal share
in the front and best places-of the house of God..—l am, my
Lord, your lordship's faithful and obedient servant;
The Lord Bishop of Chester. CECIL WRAY.

25th March, 1854.
MY Loam—The committee for promoting the erection of
a church in Liverpool, on the plan described in the enclosed
papers, appointed, a shorV.-time ago, a deputation to wait
upon your-lordship, to solicit yourconsent to an application
to the Church Commissioners for liberty to proceed with the
project. In accordance with a kind intimation from your
lordship, the deputation had the honour of being admitted to
an interview with you, on Monday, the 13th instant, in the
vestry of the Church of the Holy Innocents. It was with the
most painful concern that the committee and subscribers
learned from the report of the gentlemen composing the
deputation, that your lordship, to their deep surprise and
sorrow, declined at the very outset to accord:your, assent,
and terminated the interview without hearing the explanation
which those gentlemen were prepared to offer.
As it has-no less been the ardent wish than the manifest
duty of the committee and subscribers to act in every re-
spect under the favour of your lordship's support and sanc-
tion, and with ready sabinission to your lordship's authority,
they cannot but confidently hope that they may respectfully
appeal to their bishop for a considerate hearing of their
statement. The committee most deferentially venture to
surmise that your lordship must have had your determina—
tion accidentally biassed by some misconception or misre-
presentation of their object. With reliance, therefore, on
your lordship's impartial judgment, they commend, for their
own justification, the enclosed documents to your perusal,
assuring your lordship that the subscribers-to this undertak-
ing are actuated by no other motives than &desire to promote
and extendin this town the public worship-and the common,
prayer of the Church of England.
The committee will only add that they anxiously wait a.
reply, whenever it may suit your lordship's convenience, and.
they have the honour to remain, &c. (signed on behalf of
meeting of committee-and subscribers),
CHARLES P. PHIP,PS, Chairman..
To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Chester.

Memorial forwarded with the above letter.

"The. gentlemen-whose names are- given belcvv,, are de-
sirous to aid in building a church and-endowing the same, in
the township of West Derby, in the parish of Woolton,on-
the-Hill, under Ist and 2nd William IV., chap. 38.; and
request the consent of the bishop of the diocese to the-appli-
cation they are about to make to the Church Commissioners
for permission to undertake the work, and to have a district
assigned, according to the provision of the said act.
"A site has been secured upon 14. spot conveniently,situated
for the aubscribers, in a locality where church accommoda-
tion is very much needed, and where the population i&rapidly
increasing.. The site is a considerable distance from existing
chin ches. being a third of a mile from the nearest in the
same parish, namely, St. James's ;- and a circle- round the
site, with a radius of one quarter of a mile, wouldocontain no
less than 20,800 inhabitants. .

"The endowment propose .el,ooo, invested. in a par-
sonage house, for which land has, been secured, and the rents
of one half of the pews. The consent of the rector has been
already obtained, and that of the patron promised."
[To this were appended the names of thirty gentlemen,
residents in Toxteth-park, Walton, and Liverpool.)

Chester, 28th March, 1854.
SI R,—l beg most respectfully to acknowledge the receipt
of the letter which you have addressed to /138 " on behalf of
the committee for promoting the erection of- a church in Li-
verpool," on a plan described in two papers, the one printed
and the other written. with which your letter is accompanied.
The first communication that was ever made to me on this
subject was very recently,, by the Rev. Cecil Wray, for the
Purpose of enabling ram to answer a question, proposed by
the Church Building Commissioners, whether the project for
the erection of the church had the consent of the bishop of-
the diocese. As the district which is attached to Mr. Wray's
church is in the parish of Liverpool and as the site desig-
nated for the intended new church is far distant from that
district, and not within the pariah of Liverpool, but in that
of Walton-on-the-Hill ;* I told Mr. Wray that, under such
circumstances, I expected the application to be brought be-
fore me through the rector of the parish in which the church
was proposed to be built.
A short time afterwards I received a request that a deputa-
tion, on behalf of the committee for building the proposed
church, might have an interview with me at Liverpool, on
the day on which I was to go there to consecrate the Orphan
Asylum Church, recently erected by the liberality of Mr.
Banner. After the ceremony I met the deputation, and
their representation to me was this, that they had waited
upon me to ask whether I gave my consent to the erection of
the new church, of which the particulars had been already
submitted to me. To this I replied, I hope respectfully, (for
whatever pain I might feel at having to make the reply; I
entertained none but feelings of respect for the deputation,)
I replied, that I wished it to be distinctly understood that I
did not give my consent. It was then said, on the part of
the deputation, that perhaps they might not inquire into the
reasons of my reply; and in return, I expressed my desire
to be excused entering into the question further.
I must still, respectfully, beg to excuse myself from enter-
ing into particular explanations; because, though there are
several distinct objections on my part to the project, which
could be stated without any difficulty, yet there are others,
arising out of the form in which the project has been an-
nounced, which I fear might produce unpleasant, and, if I
may judge from former experience, ineffectual discussions.—
I •beg to remain, Sir, with sincere respect, your obedient
humble servant, J, Caasrza."
C. P. Phipps, Esq.
[a It is necessary to explain to strangers that part of the
town of Liverpool is in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill ; and
that the site proposed is on the Walton side of Parliament-
street, which is the boundary between the two parishes.]
Liverpool, 12th April, 1854.
MY Loan,—The committee for promoting the erection of a
new district church in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, have
directed me to respectfully acknowledge the receipt of a letter
which your lordship has been so good as to address to Mr.
Charles P. Phipps, the chairman of a late meeting of sub-
scribers, which, on the occurrence of a most unexpected
obstacle to the undertaking, the committee thought it in-
cumbent on them to convene.

The committee desire me to express their sense of the
courtesy of tone in which your lordship has treated the sub-
ject of their application, but at the same time to request
your lordship's attention to one or two considerations which
they feel bound to press upon your notice.
Your lordship's allusion to what you would seem to look
upon as a scarcely usual circumstance, namely, that the first
communication on this subject was made to your lordship by
the Rev. Cecil Wray, the immediate sphere of whose labours
is situated at a considerable distance from the district
designated for this church, renders it necessary to state, that
that gentleman has withdrawn from the committee, which
has consequently been re-organised. In making this an-
nouncement the committee are too sensible that the measure
of unexpected success which this project has obtained, is due
to Mr. Wray's energetic assistance and to his influence among
English churchmen, not to feel most acutely the sacrifice he
has made in deference to his view of the relations in which he
stands towards his Diocesan.
The Committee are aware of the necessity (?) of obtaining
the consent of the incumbent of the parish and beg to remind
your lordship, that the Rector of Walton has, in writing, de-
clined to offer any objection to this project.
With the consciousness, therefore, that their feelings of
fidelity to the Church, and of respect for your lordship's
office, would restrain them from undertaking anything which
they thought could in any way meet with your disapprobation,
the Committee wish to state, that the duty they owe to the
subscribers and the numerous individuals who are deeply
interested in this scheme, will not permit them to desist
from any effort to ascertain the nature of, and, if possible, to
remove the scruples which may have hitherto withheld your
lordship from sanctioning its prosecution. They have every
desire to act openly and frankly, and will therefore state, in a
few words, the aspect in which this matter presents itself.
A number of laymen have long felt the want of an opportu-
nity, both for themselves and for others who are unable to
express their want in more than words, of worship more fre-
quent, and more in accordance with the order and spirit of
the Church of England, than this town at present affords.
For the attainment of this object, they are willing to devote a
proportion of their substance, aßking ; B—Py for the permis-