The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-12 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE -DOCK COMMITTEE.

The general weekly meeting of the Dock Committee was
held yesterday in the Dock-office, Custom-house. The fol-
lowing members were present :—Messrs. Beim, Barclay,
Yates, Thos. Holt, Holmes, Smith, Horsfall, Ripley, Tobin,
Dixon, Martin, Gladstone, Segar, and G. Holt. The de-
puty chairman, Mr. Benn, presided.
The SECRETARY read a letter from Mr. Richardson, con-
taining a description and specification of a new life-boat which
he had invented. A model of the boat was also placed on
the table, and it was stated that the inventor considered it a
very suitable vessel for the Hoylake station.
Mr. TOBIN thought the present life-boat establishment
could not be improved. There were already nine life-boats,
and there was no occasion for any addition.
The MARINE SURVEYOR, having been called in for the
purpose of giving his opinion on the boat, said lie was de-
cidedly of opinion that it could not be properly managed by
the crews of the present boats. If it were adopted it would
be necessary to keep it afloat, and in heavy seas he thought it
would be unmanageable. One great objection to it was
its great draught of water.
Mr. YATES enquired whether it would not be desirable to
have a life-boat afloat?
The MARINE SURVEYOR thought not.
Mr. G. HOLT said the first question to be considered was,
whether the present system could be improved, and the next,
whether the adoption of Mr. Richardson's boat would afford
the necessary improvement.
The MARINE SURVEYOR did not think that the present
plan could be improved. The great object was to have such
boats as the men could easily manage, but this could not be
managed without great difficulty.
Mr. YATES had great respect for the opinions of the Ma-
rine Surveyor, but must say that there were some advantages
about Mr. Richardson's boat not possessed by those on the
life-boat establishment. It was a deck boat ; there was a
small cabin in which persons in a drowning state might be
placed and assistance comfortably administered to them. If
it accomplished this object, he contended it would be worth
while trying whether the difficulty arising from the size and
weight of the vessel could not be overcome. It was surely
worth laying out £2OO. to ascertain the practicability of sav-
ing life and property. As to the sailing qualities of the boat,
he had said to Mr. Richardson—" You will never sail this
vessel against a storm ?" and his reply was that he intende
her to sail only where a pilot-boat would sail.
The MARINE SURVEYOR pointed out a variety of techniea
objec'ions to the boat, and ultimately the discussion termi-
nated by the subject being referred to the Life Boat Com-
mittee.

The SECRETARY reported that he had received a letter
from the owners of the New York packet-ship, dated Green-
ock, 9th June, relative to the damage to the Queen light-
ship, by the collision which we reported in our last. The
letter stated, that as the New York was in charge of a rezu-
lar pilot, they bad written to the Pilots' Committee, by whom
all the circumstances were being investigated, and they re-
quested that no legal proceedings might be taken until the
decision of that committee had been pronounced. The letter
was ordered to lie on the table.

The NORTH HARBOUR MASTER reported that Robert
Smith, a gateman at the Waterloo Dock, was drowned on
Sunday night. It appeared that he had gone down the steps
for some purpose, and that he had accidentally fallen into the
water. Policeman No. 25, who was on duty, dived twice after
the unfortunate man : the first time he brought the body to
the surface of the water, but was unable to retain his hold,
and the second he was totally unsuccessful. In consequence
of this accident a vacancy had occurred.
Mr. HoRsFALL asked whether The committee had power
to award any gratuity to the police-officer for his praiseworthy
conduct?

The SECRETARY replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Twin/ said, in that case it would be better to give the.
man something now, than wait to be asked for it.
The CHAIRMAN said application should be made to Mr.
Whitty on the subject.
' The CHAIRMAN read a letter from Mr. Porter, requesting
the loan of a 15 fathom chain, for the purpose of testing its
strength against his own, or of trying some experiment of
that nature. _

After a desultory conversation, the application was refused.
Mr. GLAnsToNE.--Are you in a position now to report to
this committee the state and progress of the dock bill We
have never had any report upon it yet.
The CHAIRMAN.—We have nothing now to report. No-
thing more has transpired since the special meeting at which
the report was read. The committee met on Friday last, but
in consequence of some misunderstanding about the business
to be proceeded with on that day, they were not able to go on,
and they adjourned till Monday.
Mr. GLADSTONE.—With regard to the expense of the bill
—is there any way of ascertaining it, or can you give me
any information ?
The CHAIRMAN.—I am not aware of the expense. I can-
not say what it has been.
Mr. GLADSTONE.—I presume you must have some idea of
what amount has been expended already. Can you tell how
much ?

The CHAIRMAN.--I have no idea at all. I cannot tell
indeed.

Mr. GLADSTONE.—Perhaps you can, Mr. Mason ?
The SECRETARY.—I cannot indeed.
Mr. Tosix.—lt can be furnished; can it not?
Mr. HORSFALL.—Yes ; the treasurer may tell what be II"
advanced.

The conversation then terminated, and the committee ad-
journed.

TIIE ARCHIMEDES STEAM YACIIT.—This vessel, having
on board Captain Chappell, R.N., and Mr. Smith, the in-
ventor of her mode of propulsion. sailed yesterday morning
for Glasgow, whence she will depart for the continent, hav-
ing first shewn her powers at Newcastle, Hull, and the other
ports on the eastern coast of Great Britain.
It will be observed that the anniversary sermon of the
Church of England Schools will be preached this year by: the
Rev. R. W. Evans, rector of Tarven, and fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge. Most of our readers are probtalY aware
that this gentleman is the author of that beautiful and P°P
lar little work entitled" The Rectory of Valehead." dwith,
a hundredth part of the persons who have been delighte
.te
the rev. gentleman's writing should seek to become acquainted
If ol
with the character of his delivery, from the
P
venture to promise the patrons of these schooulisP pulpit,
material
addition to their treasury upon the occasion.

ANATOMICAL VENUS.
TT his already been announced, that TUESDAY and Far-
a DAYS are exclusively for LADIES. A wish having been
expressed by several Ladies, for a longer explanation of this
truly wonderful production of Art, the Proprietor announces,
that a competent person will deliver a LECTURE, provided
he obtains a sufficient number of names for the purpose, on
FRIDAY next, June 12th. The Lecture commences (for
Ladies only) precisely at Half-past Seven.
Admittance, as usual, Is. ; for the Lecture, 2s. Gd.
53, Bold-street.

Vie Zibtrpool cttanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 12, 1840.

'We are sorry this day to have to lay before our rea-
ders the particulars, so far as they have transpired, of
an atrocious attempt.to assassinate our gracious Queen
anti her illustrious Consort. A merciful Providence
has happily averted the calamity which the success of
this meditated crime would have brought down upon
our country; and to that over-ruling power it is the
bounden duty of every British subject to offer up the
grateful homage of a thankful and adoring spirit.
We have at present no clue to the motives which
have impelled the assassin to the perpetration of the
foul deed which he has unsuccessfully attempted.
From his age and his station in life, he could have no
personal enmity to the illustrious objects against whom
he has raised' his hand; and we would fain hope that
the inciting motives will be found to spring from no
deeper a source than the perverted feelings of a male-
volent disposition, at war for the moment with all that
is great and good in human nature, or from the diseased
promptings of incipient madness, attracting to crime
of the deepest die as likely to confer the most lasting
notoriety.

Whilst this attempt is fresh upon the minds of
the Royal Pair, we trust that some sincerer friend of
the monarchy, and of her in whom its powers are con-
centrated, than can be found amongst the greedy
sycophants who surround the Court, will impress
upon the mind of the Queen the danger to which she
is daily, presenting her Royal person by her too fre-
quent appearance in the crowded thoroughfares of the
metropolis unattended by the usual appendages of her
regal state. We admire the feeling which prompts
our Sovereign to rely for protection upon the affection
of her people. But there is a limit beyond which such
trust should not be extended. Her Majesty pos-
sesses, we have no doubt, the fearless and chivalrous
character of her race, as her undisturbed demeanour
on this lamentable occasion sufficiently evinces; but,
although in her bosom when amongst her people, fear
is a stranger, yet it is the duty of her ministers to pre-
vent the frequent exposure of the Royal person in
Places of indiscriminate resort, and to check the too
confiding spirit of a young and joyous heart, whose
beating, the weapon of a traitor or a madman, might
in an unhappy moment be enabled to still for ever !

We have received a file of the St. John's (N. 8.)
Weekly Chronicle to the Bth of May, inclusive. We
do not find in any of them a single paragraph contain-
ing any news of importance.

In another column we republish from our second
edition of Tuesday the most interesting portions of
the news brought from China and the East Indies, by
the overland mail. It will be seen that the Chinese
had made two attempts to burn tie British fleet in
Tongkoo Bay. Both these attempts were, we are
happy to say, unsuccessful. They would serve, no
doubt, as cautions to the officers and crews of the se-
veral vessels stationed in the Bay to be more on their
guard.

A memorial had been addressed to the Emperor by
Tsang Wang-yen, recommending the total stoppage of
the foreign trade, and suggesting a general massacre of
the British. The preamble of this document says—
" seeing that the disposition of foreigners is fickle and
wavering, I beg hereby to propose that the ports be
shut against them—that egress from our shores be
prohibited—and that a plan be laid for the utter ex-
termination of offenders ; thereby to cut off the greedy
views of foreigners, and cleanse the impure fountain
of evil." One of the suggestions contained in this
extraordinary memorial is, that the Chinese war
cruisers should entice the " barbarian" enemies to
enter the inner waters, and that, in the mean time
several hundreds of the people living on the sea coast
should be got ready—those who are the stoutest and
bravest, and the best swimmers and divers—and that
these should be divided into groups to go diving
straight on board the foreign ships, and taking the
said foreigners unawares, massacre every individual
among them. A very cool proposition, truly ! but
somewhat more difficult of performance than this
functionary would seem to imagine. Another of his
.propositions is, that several hundreds of fire-ships
should be fitted up, and sent among the shipping of
the foreigners.
Another document from the same officer suggests
the propriety of placing additional restrictions on the
trade with the Portuguese at Macao, compelling them
to become security for all the other foreigners.
It will be seen that a spirit of discontent, and re-
bellion had become very prevalent among the inhabi-
tants of Pekin and Moukden. An imperial edict had
been issued in consequence, advising increased vigi-
lance on the part of the magistrates,
From India we learn that the preparations for the
expedition to China had been carried on with great
activity. Most of the vessels destined for this service
had sailed, and the remainder would follow in a few
days.
From letters which had been received from Sir Alex-
ander BurneS it would appear that a Russian army of
24,000 men, infantry and cavalry, with 70 pieces of
artillery had reached Khiva. Another account states
that the Russian farces were only on their march
thither, with the intention of further advancing on
Bokhara, and that the cholera had broken out in the
Russian camp.

At the time when the various government registra-
tion bills were introduced, we denounced them as
forming part of the tricky manoeuvres by which Lord
Melbourne's shabby administration were attempting to
defeat the measure framed by Lord Stanley to purify
the registries of Ireland. For taking this view of the
case we had the very best authority—viz., that of the
greatest scoundrel of the Whig party, who, in one of
his truculent harangues, delivered at the Corn Ex-
change .in Dublin on the 14th of April last, and—mark
this, reader—previously to any public intimation as to
the nature of the bills in question—congratulated the
people of Ireland, the John Malonys and Tom Cas-
aidys, that they " had the government with them on
the subject of the registry," and that Lord John Rus-
sell, the most contemptible lickspittle that ever bowed
his venal person before the menace of a bully, had in-
troduced a sham bill for England, which would " give
the house the legitimate excuse of postponing the Irish
bill until the English one was settled." Such a post-
ponement, the mendicant well knew, was one likely to
extend to a sufficiently distant period. O'Connell him-
self, doubtless, sat at the council board at which the
government measures were framed—not in his own ob-
scene person, perhaps, but in the form of the serpent
which of old " squatted like a toad" at the ear of our
first mother; and the impostor was perfectly aware
that the poison which he had infused into them was
quite sufficient to ensure their rejection by the people
and the parliament of England.
We have since been confirmed in our opinion by the

farther proceedings of the ministry with respect to
these SHAM BlLLS—these "obstructing" measures.
A few days only before the adjournment of the house
for the Whitsuntide vacation Mr. Pigot obtained leave
to bring in his two bills on the subject of Irish regis-
tration, with the view, avowed by Lord John Russell,
of taking the sense of the house upon the comparative
merits of Lord Stanley's and his own measures. We
will for a moment suppose, in the teeth of all proba-
bility, that such was the sincere object of ministers ;
that they had at the time a bill framed to meet the ob-
jects contemplated by Lord Stanley's bill ; that, in
short, they were, for once in their lives, bent upon
ho-
nestly consulting the true interests of their country,
and not merely seeking by a subterfuge to postpone
altogether the consideration of the question, and to
leave untouched the perjuries and measureless frauds
upon which their existence as a ministry is solely de-
pendent. In such a case what would have been their
anxious endeavour ? Already the principle of Lord
Stanley's bill had been twice affirmed, and, on the last
occasion, by a house unprecedentedly numerous, and
after one of the most strenuously fought contests since
the passing of the reform bill. Already the principle
and the details of Lord Stanley's bill had been fully
discussed in parliament and throughout the country.
Ought it not then to have been the anxious study of
ministers to allow parliament and the public the fullest
time and opportunity, previous to the renewed discus-
sion and division,. threatened to prevent the measure of
Lord Stanley from proceeding in committee, of exa-
mining carefully the principles and provisions of those
measures which were then to be placed in competition
with that of his lordship—with that measure which had
twice received the sanction of—the House of Com-
mons ?

An honest ministry, seeking an honest object, would
undoubtedly have courted the full light of day upon
their roceedings.and their measures ; but the ministry
of Lord Melbourne is not permitted by the demagogue
whose tools and slaves they are to pursUe so honest and
so manly a course. The weapons of a British states-
man—truth and fair discussion—are not thoSe in favour
with the perjured assassin of his country's weal. The
stab in the dark or the bullet fired from behind a pro-
jecting hedge are the modes of warfare by which the
,raitorous projects of that licensed ruffian are worked
The supporters of Lord Stanley's bill, will, there-

out.

fore, have to grope blindfold for their antagonist ; to
seek in the vague generalities, with which whig crafti-
ness and fraud contrive to fling into their diatribes, the
features, the form, and the power of the enemy with
which they will have to grapple during the next furious
onset which perjury and fraud are preparing to make
upon constitutional liberty and truth !
Yes,- such is, in effect, the position in which this
contemptible
.faction have, studiously and dishonestly,
placed Lord Stanley and his supporters. The compet-
ing measure of the Solicitor-General for Ireland is
divided into two bills ; the one restricted to the mode
of registration, and the other defining the franchise.
Yet, although the motion for going into, committee
upon Lord Stanley's bill is fixed for this evening, (we
write on Thursday,) the - first has only been printed a
few days, and can be but imperfectly known to a great
portion of the House of Commons, whilst the second—
that which defines the franchise, and which, judging
from past experience, is the most important of the two
—was only printed on Tuesday last, during a recess,
and delivered to members so as not to allow above
a few hours for perusal, previous to the house being
called upon to discuss and decide upon its princi-
ples ! The bill declaring the mode of registry, which,
after all the cavilling of the whig faction, is not
very essentially different in its provisions from .Lord
Stanley's bill, has been allowed to be a few days before
the members of the House of Commons and the public ;

but the vital part of the measure, the declaratory bill
by which the franchise is to be virtually lowered, the
decision of the judges of the land to be fraudulently
reversed, and the suffrage in Ireland to be approached,
as near as an accommodating conscience can bring it,
to a household suffrage, is craftily kept in the back-
ground until the last possible moment, although deemed
such an indispensable portion of any change, that no
measure will be allowed to pass which is not accompa-
nied by such an enactment !

We have all along maintained that the true Whig ob-
jection to Lord Stanley's measure was, its honesty. It
was framed to effect the object which it professes to
have in view. The measure of the Irish government, on
the contrary, only throws a veil o.zer the external evil,
whilst it opens fresh ground for corruption to work
upon. The measure of Lord Stanley cauterizes and
eradicates the malady. That of ministers only skims
over the outward and revolting sore, and allows the
malady to fester more deeply into the vitals, and to
gather added strength in its more hidden workings.
The acknowledged evil of personation of voters, and
its consequent perjury, arising from the eight years'
registry and the certificate system, is alike attempted to
be remedied by both parties ; but the government pro-
poses to substitute for this another and a greater evil,
because not so capable of detection ; and to open a
new source of perjury and fraud, by allowing the
claimant to put his own estimate of value upon the
qualification which is to entitle him to a vote !
We have no fear that this contemptible trick will
succeed, or that the House of Commons will so far
defy and outrage public opinion, as to allow themselves
to be dragooned into a blind submission to so gross a
fraud. The short period which has elapsed since the
last division upon this vital question, has added two
staunch supporters to its noble champion, from the
filling up of vacancies in Ludlow and Cambridge.
Before another division Radnorshire will have re-
turned a Conservative in the place of a ministerialist,
and the glorious majority of three be thus converted
into a still more decisive majority of seven. To a man
we trust to see the Conservative' party at their posts f
and, although it is evident that the whip, and that
alone, is the weapon with which ministers hope to
convert past defeats into victory, we cannot think that
their supporters—hitherto servile enough it is true—
are very well satisfied that on this question their con-
stituents are prepared to sanction their degraded sub-
mission to the detestable ruffian in whose behalf it is

to be put in requisition.
Readers, Electors of Liverpool, Conservatives,
PREPARE FOR A DISSOLUTION ! The whig party
never resign anything, and least of all their places.
They will not GO OUT; be prepared to KICK THEM
OUT ! YOUR SONS AND YOUR SONS' SONS WILL