The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-07 00:00:00

TESTIMONIAL TO CAPTAIN GILL.

• We are indebted to the politeness of Mr. Court, the secre-
tary of the Underwriters' Association, for a copy of the fol-
lowing excellent letter, which has been received by the Ship-
wreck and Humane Society from Capt. Cxill, of the Mona's
Isle steamer :

TO THE LIVERPOOL SHIPWRECK AND HUMANE SOCIETY.
GENTLEMEN,-With feelings of heartfelt gratitude, I ac-
knowledge the handsome compliment you have paid me, at
your meeting of the 31st January last, by your vote of thanks,
accompanied by five guineas for myself, and a similar sum
for my crew, for having, on the morning of the 27th ultimo
(when in charge of the Mona's Isle steam-packet), taken in
tow the Magazines life-boat, and in being thus a means, in
the hands of Divine Providence, of assisting in the rescue of
the crew and passengers of the barque `• Corsair."
I feel conscious, gentlemen, that although I have been con-
sidered worthy of the flattering mark of approbation you have
paid me, I only did my duty, and in doing which I felt amply
repaid in having been instrumental in the rescue of my bro.
ther sailors. I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obliged
and obedient servant, WM. GILL.
Douglas, Isle of Man, 4th February, 1840.

ROYAL EPITHALAMIUM.

Written for the Children of the Caledonian Free School,

-
Liverpool.
BY AN EX-PRESIDENT OF THE CHARITY.

Air.—Rule Britannia.
BOY—Solo.
Victoria, hail ! thy bridal day,
With loyal hearts and gladsome lay,
We greet, and pray that Heaven may shower
Its blessings on this nuptial hour.
CHORUS.
Hail! Victoria! our Queen! all hail! all hail !
Queen ! Prince! Royal Pair ! hail! hail! hail !

GIRL—SoIo.
Prince Albert, hail ! young stranger, hail!
While merry peal, o'er hill and dale,
Tells loud thy joy, may Heaven shower
Its blessings on this nuptial hour!
CHORUS.
Hail ! Prince Albert ! Fair Prince ! all hail ! all hail!
Queen ! Prince ! Royal Pair ! hail! hail! hail !

The chorus to be sung• by the boys and girls alternately,
and then with united voices.

THEATRE ROYA L.—The season at this establishment, we
understand, will commence on the 23d of March.

COURT OF PASSAGE.—This court was held yesterday,
before Charles Crompton, Esq., Assessor, but nothing oc-
curred of any public interest.

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. A very splendid pageant
founded upon one of Napoleon's greatest achievements has
been announced to he produced next Monday. We are con-
fident it will be most faithfully and ably represented, and
would strongly recommend it to public notice.
LIVER THEATRE.—FuII houses and capital performances
are to be seen at the Liver Theatre every evening. Mr.
Rice and Mrs. Raymond are extending their popularity by
their representations of the characters named in our last.
We refer our readers to the advertisement.
BROUGHAM INSTITUTE.—We understand that a tea party
and ball will be held at this institution, on Monday next, in
celebration of the Queen's nuptial day.
RECEIPT FROM SUNDAY TRAVELLING ON THE GRAND
JUNCTION RAILWAY.---According to the report of the di-
rectors, presented to the shareholders at the half-yearly
meeting on Friday last, the receipt from Sunday travelling
on the Grand Junction Railway is equal to 9s. MI. per share,
and 3s. per half-share.

EDUCATION AMONG THE PRISONERS TRIED AT THE
BOROUGH SESSIONS.—The calendar of the intermediate
sessions, which have been held this week, contained the
names of 29 persons for trial on charges of felony, and two
for misdemeanours—total, 31. Education amongst these
unhappy persons " seems to have been totally omitted, or
most negligently attended to. Only four are able to read
and write well ; nine, or one more than twice that number,
can read and write in a very imperfect manner; whilst there
are twelve, or three times the first number, who have never
been taught either. There are six who cannot write, but
who are able to read a little.

SOIREE AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION.—The fourth of the
Soirees in connexion with the Royal Institution took place
on Monday night. The attendance was more than usually
numerous, and we observed amongst the company several of
the most wealthy and fashionable families belonging to Liver-
pool. The company, as usual, began to assemble mostly he.
fore seven o'clock, and spent a' considerable portion of the
first hour in promenading through the spacious rooms of the
museum, &c., seeking amusement and instruction in con-
templation of the various curiosities of nature and art spread
before them. Several novelties were, as usual, provided for
the purpose of relieving the entertainment from the character
of sameness. They consisted principally of some capital
pictures,, selected mostly from the older masters of English
painting. There were also on severarof the tables portfolios
of fine and rare engravings, from the works of the most es-
teemed artists. As eight o'clock approached, the lecture-
room, in due course, became the scene of resort. It was soon
crowded, and as the company was more numerous than usual,
those who could not find accommodation in the body of the
apartment had to betake themselves to the gallery, the
benches of which was soon filled. The chair was taken by
Dr. Freckleton. who was supported by Mr. R. V. Yates, and
Mr. Harmood Banner. The lecture, which was on the ar-
chitectural remains of ancient Rome, was delivered by Mr.
H. R. •Sandbach, one of the representatives of Vauxhall
\% in the Town-council,, and eon of Samuel Sandbach,
Esq.

LAMENTABLE EFFECT OF INTOXICATION. Another
proof of the fatal effects of drunkenness occurred at Thatto
Heath, near St. Helens, on Sunday last. At an inquest
which was held on Monday last, before Mr. Heyes, the
coroner, it appeared that the deceased Esther Harrison, was
about 67 years of age, and had been cohabiting for the last
ten years with a man of the name of Smith, at Thatto
Heath. On Sunday night she went to the Elephant and
Castle, but the landlord refused to give her anything as she
was then intoxicated. After staying in the house about half
an hour, she left, and was found, in a pit not far from the
house, quite dead.—The jury returned a verdict of " Found
drowned."
Womnivst.L's MExAcrntE.—Having paid a visit to
Wombwell's splendid collection of animals, now exhibiting
in the New Haymarket, we can say with confidence that
those who will follow our example will enjoy a very rich treat.
To the juvenile members of families the menagerie offers an
excellent opportunity of studying natural history in the most
advantageous way, that is, from living specimens. The
elephants, the rhinoceros, the polar bears, the zebras, and
the lions, attracted much attention from the visitors. They
are all remarkably fine specimens. We were particularly
struck with the intrepidity displayed by one of the keepers
in entering the caravan in which the five lions are confined.
Those who have not seen Van Amburgh's bold performances,
may now see, at a very small cost, an exhibition equally
surprising. The keeper has the lions in perfect subjection,
and causes them to go through a variety of evolutions, such as
leaping over a whip, lying on his body, &c. We recommend
our readers to pay an early visit.

A PLEASANT PROSPECT FOR THE WHIGS.—It is evident
that the whigs themselves think that they have had a very
lucky escape. People don't throw up their hats, and dance
and shout like helots, except under the intoxication of some
very agreeable surprise. That the glorious majority of 21
came upon them unexpectedly is manifest from their sudden
burst of triumph and delight. With one voice they cry, "who
would have thought it ?" Who would have thought that the
Humes and the Wakleys would•have turned out such trumps
when it came to the odd trick ? By all that's wonderful, we
are as firm on our pins now (for another session at least,) as
a three-legged stool!" Now all this exhuberant joy arises
from a shabby love of place, without the slightest reference
to the public respect which ought to accompany its tenure ;
just as we see a reprieved criminal in ecstacies at his life
being prolonged, without regarding that loss of character,
which, to an honourable mind, would render life intolerable ;
and the vote of Saturday morning is only a reprieve after all.
Whig loungers may shake hands and cry Capital, by Jove !"
or they may scribble from their clubs to the Chronicle such
stuff as " the spirit of peace seeming to have gone out over
their disorganised ranks, and to have breathed its benign in-
fluence upon the hearts of those who stand in high places ;"
but the public know a great deal better. They know, that
although the Humes and the Wakleys may prefer a whig
Ministry to a tory Ministry, they will not help a whig Mi-
nistry to carry on the Government upon whig principles. The
whigs may depend upon it that Lord John, so far as the radi-
cals are concerned, has, like a young bear, all his troubles to
come. The radicals have, in their own opinion, conferred an
inestimable favour on Lord John, and they will not fail to
remind him of it. Whatever may be the degree of opposi-
tion (or " obstruction," if the word suits them better,)
offered to the Ministry by the conservatives, the caprice and
presumption of the radicals will be their greatest torment. In
truth they have a pleasant prospect before them ; something
like that of the gentleman who married a cat metamorphosed
into a lady, and found, the first time that a mouse scratched,
that she was in heart and manners only a cat after all.—
Morning Herald.

THE NEW PRISON ACT.—The sage who does the Man-
chester Guardian's legal matter has stumbled upon a mare's
nest in the Act of last Session for the better ordering of
prisons. He says that by the sth, 7th, and Bth clauses of
that Act prisoners confined for debt are to be treated pre-
cisely in the same manner as prisoners committed for crime
—that on going into gaol their persons are to be searched—
all letters opened and read—their money to be taken from
them and deposited with the keeper—and whatever corres-
pondence takes place between them, their creditors, relatives,
or friends, during their remaining in prison, is to be sub-
jected to the strictest surveillance. To crown all, the seer
of the Guardian says " The duty of this delicate investigation
devolves upon the chaplain !'"l'he reader will, perhaps, be
surprised to learn that all this is sheer fudge. The 2.3 d sec-
tion enacts that unless the context shall require a different
construction, the word" Prisoners shall include persons com-
mitted for want of bail or sureties, as well as persons charged
with or convicted of any offence, or otherwise detained by
legal authority." The words we have printed in italic are
the only words that can extend the provisions of this Act to
debtors, but such a construction is repugnant to the context;
for the sth section, to which the Guardian has referred, di-
rects that " debtors" shall compose the first class ; that the
second, third, or fourth classes shall be constituted of " pri-
soners" committed for trial, convicted and sentenced to
hard labour ; or convicted or sentenced without hard labour
and the fifth class is to include " prisoners" not included in
the foregoing classes. The seventh and eighth classes men-
tioned by the Guardian appear to have no reference to the
subject whatever, as they relate only to the appointment of
deputy keepers, and the allowance to discharged prisoners,
&c. The ith and Bth regulations, established by the 6th
section, do not bear out the Guardians' case, for the 14th
regulation in section 10 of the Gaol Act, 4 Geo. IV. c. 64,
expressly says that persons who shall not receive any allow-
ance from the county, whether confined for debt, or before
trial, &c. any food, bedding, clothing, or other necessaries,
subject to the regulations of the Visiting Justices. But
enough for the present. The Guardian promises more fun
next week.—Leeds Intelligences.
WHIG REASONS FOR NOT TURNING OUT.—As an illus-
tration of Irish naivete" (which O'Connell takes to be good
French for that mixture of cant and impudence of which he
himself affords such striking specimens), Joe Miller tells us
of an Emerald flunky, who, when desired by his master ty
look out for a fresh place, replied, " Is it me, yer honour?
the the divil take me for a soger if I do the like ; for if you d 9,,,
know when you've got a good sari ant, I know when I
mg,ohticahgtohoed
wmhai
gstmerin! 'i'strryf hhiasv
the
they have sb
been igsie‘liYn
after year ; to every intimation hitherto th4thy;
they have cried, Oh ! that's quite
a mistakeitti and that is pretty
don't suit the .place the place sults•us,r,
giving the
sort
country
eravan answer
a little closer by
much the same thing." Pressed,
howelopeoved upon the
dbount'tiafuvrite,
Sir John Buller's motion, they har
go
a ott master : " You
Irishman's reason for not" leaving
.. iii.turn, .6 a do-nothing,
may call me," quoth each of weasy(), please ;but I've such
good-for-nothing servant asr longoerests that I can't think of
a mighty concern for your interests my opinion you are vrovided
!earring your serrire
with abetter!" Doesot this beat Joe Miller's Irishman
hollow ? and is itiotthe only reason which the whigostas
have
the modest assurance to
?-211orning Herald.o allege at last for not turning u
tke country
desres them