The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-03-30 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

THE LATE PRIZE FIGHT MURDER.
( From tri'e Sfurning.Herald,)

We have received from various quarters communica-
tions 'on, the subject of late pugilistic murder in
Cambridgeshire -and on the conduct of certain magis-
trates in the immediate vicinity, of some of whom it is
alleged, that they sanctioned the murder passively,. by
their presence, and actively-, by betting on the result of
the contest ! •
We trust•that the conduct of the individnals to whom
has been entrusted the preservation of the peace in the
neighbourhood of the scene where the murder was coot-
miffed, will be rigorously inquired into ; anl that every
individual against whom a case of remissness-in the dis.
charge of his duty—(for we pass over the consideration
of a case so monstrous as the direct encouragement by
a magistrate of a breach of the law)—well be reinovNl
from the roil of justices:. We tru-t, moreover, that the
Home•office will, without 'delay; atone, as far as possi-
ble, for the disgraceful remissness which it has hitherto
exhibited on this subject, by taking effectual measures
for the prevention, in future, of such brutalising exhi-
bitions I •

County magistrates-may be called to account by the
Home• office; and the Home-office itself may be•corn-
pellet], by the expression of public indignation, to dis-
charge its duty, in cases like the present ; but there is
a class of persons concerned in these Outrages upon so-
cial decency to whom no official responsibility attaches,
and upon whom the voice of public opinion has little in-
fluence. We allude to the wealthy and aristocratic pa-
troris of the prize-ring. Of these an liishuvarquis, of
large fortune, and of habits disgraceful_ to a gentleman,
is understood -to he the leader.. -This person has long
been accustomed to associate with ruffians and despera
does :—and it has for years been his pride to vie with
them in the acquirement and display of their peculiar ac-
complislunents. His object of ambition has been of late
to restore the prize-ring to Abe• glories Of its condition
five- and,twenty years ago he is stated to have
been mainly instrumental in getting up the late fatal
tight—fatal, as some believe, to both the wretched _corn.,
batants! Upon a person of the tastes and pursuits of
this nobleman,-it were rank folly to expect that any ex-
pression of public opinion can have effect. If he were
not sunk below the range of public opinion, public opi-
nien would have driven him, long ago, from the.associ-.
ations in which he delights. There may, however, yet
be left modes of reaching this noble violator of public
decency. A few months at.the tread-mill would, as one
of our correspondents suggests, in all probability, miti-
gate the ardour of his disposition to appear-as an alder
aod---abetter in. the perpetration . of murder, or man-
slaughter, or whatever may bee the title, which a cow-
ner'sjury shall assign to the process which deprived
Phelps of life.
• There is, we-are aware, current a species of impudent
cant, which seeks to rank prize-fighting amongst the
manly sports of the people. When the mass of the po-
pulation in this country was much more "manly" in its
habits, than it is now, prize-fighting was utterly un--
known;—and how "manliness" of sentiment is to be
induced by the exhibition of a brace of ruffians, beating
each other to-death, in- cold blood, for the-amusement of
ruffians with heavier purses than themselves, it might
puzzle casuists to explain. The love's. and
.patrona of
boxing meet in public "Rinses, and in the lowest haunts of
depravity ; but if the mass of the labouring poor are :to
be.restored to " manly" habits, their propensity to fre-
quent gin shops and scenes of vicious excitement must
be lessened, not increased,. The acquirement and dif-
fusion of habits that, in truth, deserve the name of
manly"—might perhaps be facilitated by, a legislative
enactment that should prevent the labouring- classes in
towns from beibg subjected to excessite toil—which
should leave -them a- little time for out-door exercise—
and which should, by 'preventing the utter exhaustion of
their physical energies, save them from the necessity of
using vicious stimulants, and from the contamination of
the scenes where prize-fights are concocted.
Prize4ghting is, in fact, the. lowest and moat debasing
corm of gambling. It is gambling in human pain—it
may he, in human blood ! It is akin to cockfighting—to
bull-baiting—to do?: • fighting I If these practices .con •
duce to the growth of "manly" habits, why so, perhaps,
may prize-fighting. It remains, however, to be pointed
out by what subtle process the exhibition .of scenes of
cold-blooded cruelty is fitted to call forth in the specta-
tors any of the better qualities of manhood.
If the object -of the patrons of the priie-ring be-to
discover how large a quantity of physical pain human
beings can endure, they ought, undoubtedly, to recom-
mend the introduction of the American practice-gouging,
and of the continental habit of employing the knife. • if'
the infliction of a certain amount of bruises has a ten-
dency to elicit the " manliness" of die speCtators of the
brutality, let the degraded actors in the scene be encoo.
raged to improve upon their present customs, and boldly
force each other's eyes out, -or rip open each other's
bowels! •If there be virtue in the habits of our prize-
ring, there most be a larger amount of virtue in the ha-
bits to which we allude.
We. are astonished that the men who- advocate; a-con•
tinoance of the practice of hanging -human beings for
offences against property, have not discovered that the
practice of hanging tends to make the spectators, more
" manly !" The logic of the prize ring is susceptible of
wide application.. -
.
Mr. Martin framed an act for the protection of dumb
animals from the cruelty- of their drivers. We call upon
Loud John-Russell to inf roduce'an act for the prevention
of scenes of cruelty a thousand times more fearful in
their influences than any which.ever preceded the intro-
duction of un over-driven bullock to Smithfield.

_
THE SCOTTISH CHURCH COMMISSION.
• From the Scottish Guardian.)
-None w;11 accuse us of haste or rashness in taking up
the government proposal in reference to endowments.
We have purposely used all forbearance, in the
.hnpe that
it would turn out more favourable than some of the ac-
counts of the parliamentary proceedings- had led us to
twlieve. Even still we can scarcely persuade ourselves
that Lord Melbourne means to put off. the chnrch with
such an insulting scheme as has been announced; but in
case this should be the ultimatum, let. our readers and
the public think.for a little of its merits. It is gravely
-intended to do nothing for the large towns! The royal
com Missioners, after a•waste of. nearly three years, and
an expenditure. of £30,000, have .ascertained. that there
are 40,000 poor., perishing souls in Edinburgh, and
60,000 in Glasgow, and vet nothing. is to be done to
bring nearer to them the Wotd of Life. They are to
remain in their nroral wretchedness. 'They are to perish
still. Can anything be more absurd or monstrous ?
These are the only _ towns about which any report has
been given to Parliament. The government are not to
know of any destitution elsewhere; and vet, in spite of
all promises and engagements, the proved cases ate to be
cast aside. In-the name ofcommon sense, what was the
use of the commission ? Of what consequence were its
inquiries and results, if the prOof of a
~destitution of
100,000 was to be of no.avail ? It is a perfect farce--a
mockery of. the poor man—a fraud upon the Public.
What is• the use of the commissioners still parading
about the country, going to Stirling one day, and Dun-
fermline the next, when they must know, quite well that
their masters intend to do nothing,. and that it is the
same thing to then) whether there be a destitution of
half a million, or no destitution at all ?- We wonder
•how the commissioners have the face to en on with the
public hypocrisy any longer. Had the govetnment said
that they were voluntaries, anti that they did not intend
to give a shilling for church extension, f it her in. town or
country, we could, however base and infidel the deterli.
nation, have understood it ; hut these •same men, who
are to abandon perishing multitudes in Edinbnigh and
Glasgow to their fate, tell us that they mean in certain

circumstances to supply the destitute in the highlands
and islands.
.Wity? Where is the consistency, . Ate
the poor degraded families of the large towns not as
great objects of compassion, as load claimants for assist-
ance, as the highlander or islander? Are moral aver-
sions to what is good not as real and as hard- to over-
come as physical- difficulties to attendance on religiotis
instruction ? Why are the large towns, the very centres
of vice, and, moreover, the sources of much of the cor-
ruption which extends to the. country, to be delivered
over to helpless wretchedness? Why is the retnedy.not
to be applied where the disease is most malignant and
severe? Was there ever such medical treatment as
this.? Must plain and sensible men be driven to the ex-
planation, that this high, and .patriotic, and no patronage
administration—these friends of liberty , and the poor,
dare not do what their conscience tells them is right, for
fear of offending the dissenters, who are concentrated in
a few of the large towns, and who threaten them with
the loss.of
.their patronage ? The fears of the govern-
ment, and the vested rights of the dissenters in their
chapel debts, are to stand between the Word of God and
dying souls, and one generation may go to destruction
after another, steeped in pauperism and intemperance,
licentiousness and crime. Only let the go% eminent feel
secure in their:places for a little longer, and let the (his,
senter get his interest of five per cent. upon the chapel
debt, and who cares for the blood of souls, or the misers(
of families, or the ruin. of .a generation! What can be
more revolting to the poor—to the large towits---to the
church—to the country at large ? Will it be borne?
The government and their friends cOMPlain,, forsooth,
that the church is poUtica/,,because she opposes them in
such monstrous proposals as these. .How can she do
otherwise, if she means to retain any character at all for
sense or conscience ? Will any, man, who. deserves the
name of a chnrchman, hold up his face after this in de
fence of the government, and say that.the church should
confide in them, and beware of uttering one word against
such consistent and honourable men ? Strange, that.
men who have such tender consciences for the vested
rights of the dissenters, have so few scruples about the
civil rights of landed proprietors!

LIVERPOOL MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.

LECTURES ON GEOLOGY.

On Saturday evening Dr. Scouter delivered his Mild lecture.
If we pay the smallest attention to the different stratas of
rock which we.meet with on. the surface .of the.glubc, ,we shall
find that they may be divided into two exceedin,gl% well classi-
fied classes, which have.. been _produced in totally different
manners, and have occasioned totally different phenomena. First
of all. we perceive important series of rocks totally-destitute. of
organic remains' placed without any apparent order amongst
the o: her ocks,often giving oat prolongations, or dykes, or over-
flOwing strata, and of a highly crystalline structure. They ex-
hibit no traces of stratification, and thus.foruish decisive trots
that they were-not formed by water, but are, of chemicaforigio,
and produced by volcanic action. A second division of rocks
occurs in several beds or strata one above the other. These
beds are generally parrallel to. each, other_and. instead of being
ofa crystailiue nature have been formed mechanically of matters
which have been .about t,y the agency of the water.
Hence, therefore, the disturbances which have taken. place in
stratified rocks, have been occasioned by the upheaviug motion
of the igneous rocks which have shot .up..through the ..aqueons
rocks in this manner to such a height,.as to form mountains of
extreme elevation.

The very term stratified carries an hypothetical idea along
with it, that the rucks defined as strata have all been deposited
by water. Striate, howet,er, are great beds 'Jr masses of rocks,
whose uppermost and undermost surfaces form parallel planes,
Varying in thickness. according to the nature of the surfaces
upon which they have been deposited. It is very rarely that
We meet with horizontal strata innature, they ate generally in-,
dined in various directions at certain angles to the horizon,
which are easily ascertained. This inclination is called their
dip. The stratification of the secondary and tertiary forma-
tions which represent the newest of the ,uppermost rocks, is
exceedingly distinct, but that of hindermost rocks is not so,
owing to the influence which the heat of the igneous rocks has
had upon it. They are nut, however, so indistinct as to he un-
observable to a scientific eye. There is a: variety of undoubted
evidence to prove that the .stratified rocks were originally de-
posited in a horizontal position. That they were funned under
water; is rendered clear, for the fact of rounded pebbles, sea
shell and marine plants being found in them. and the position
of these fossils with respect to the parallel surfaces of the
st rata are such as to have no doubt of their .having, been , de-
posited when the strata were lying horizontally. That the for-
metro!' of the stratified rocks was gradual and of greater slow-
ness, is proved by the successive colonies of shell fish that we
find in the same stratum, as well as by the. ditrerent layers, of
conglomerate with which it likewise abounds. Thus, sup-
posing a river in the summer to bring dowu fine sand to thesea,
and in winter when its tempestuous current was stronger, small
pebbles, it is evident•that in the course of. years we sfiould have
successive layers of the fine sand and pebbles at the' bottom of.
those streams where the rivers deposited their contents.
France there is a deposit of wiaatis termed Indusial lime-stope,
in a .district which was formerly the site, of a fresh water
lake, the thickness of which is very :great. The forma-
don of this lime stone must have been: exceedingly slow,
as it is entirely coinposed of the skeletons of minute insects.
The formation of strata is going on at the present. period,
the ocean being the receptacle of tie materials for future rocks.
The Adriatic sea was lately. sounded by a continentaluhiloso-
pher, and its upper surface found to consist of loose fragments
of corals, shells, and crustacea; the whole mixed with fine loud
and sand. At the top this was loose and soft, but
.at the depth
of a foot or two' it was as hard as any rock. This shows that
at the bottom of the Adriatic the formation of solid rocks is
going on at the present moment. .The greater number of our
sand stones are nothing inure or less than..the remains of pre-
viously existing rocks which have beets worn down and their
detritus carried to the sea and formed into other rocks. The
various strata, however, have been deposited in a very loose
state over the channel of the ocean. They. are.merely, sand sir
clay which have been deposited by the storms. It now be-
Coutes our duty to inquire what has been the means of changing
the_soft mud or sand into the present, hard and compact rucks.
A great many causes,-have, no doubt, been in operation to pro-
duce such great changes, one of the most powerfuluf which, in
all probability, is the pressure of the ocean,. .Now in some
places, according to Laplace, the sea is about 12 miles in depth.
The . pressure occasioned by a column of water of this length
would be sufficient,.witbatt any other aid, to compress the sand'
into the hardest stones. . Of tins Bramates press affords a prac-
tical instance. Scoresby, in his account of the whale-fisheries,
gives a striking instance of the powerful pressure of water•at
a comparatively shori depth 1, om the surface. A boat engaged
in the whale-fishery was taken down by a whale in its sudden
descent, after being harpooned. Upon the subsequent capture
of the whale the boat Was recovered, but bonsai to tie totally
useless for any of the purposes to which ,wood is applied. So
powerfully was it compressed, that it could neither ftiatin the
water, be burned, or be cut with an axe. Another very power-
ful agent in solidifying rocks, is volcanic heat. Carbonate of
lime has been another active instrument in consolidating rocks,
particularly. in volcanic countries, where thermal springs are
of frequent occurrence. Calcareous depositions are common
in this country. When water contains any carbonate or sul-
phate of lime in solution, it is commonly called hard. The lec-
turer here shewed a beautiful specimen of calcareous deposition
which had been brought from Italy by.. Mr. R. V. Yates. The
carbonate of lime had deposited itself upon a number of matted
sticks which, upon decaying, had left the carbonate of lime of a
cellular structure. Silica being soluble. in water, by some pro-
cess of nature, has also assisted in uniting rocks.. Iron exerts a
wonderful power in the solidification of red:sand-stone. It is
well, when we have natural instances on a small scale before
us. of the operations which have taken place in nature on an
extensive scale, to avail ourselves of them. The lecturer here
chewed a. nail which had been immersed in the, bay of DUblin
for some time, and having corroded and oxydized in the water,
had united itself with the surrounding pebbles. so.as to convert
the whole into one solid mass. This is an exceedingly. common
and most. beautiful illustration of.the mode in which a great
many sand-stones have been cementeittoger. her. Another very
curious mode in which rocks are unites: is, one which we would
not expect. .When silica, in a ininute.state of division, meets
with clay or an oxide of iron, it combines.with it, and forms a
very bard silicate. Common- mortaris merely a silicate, of alu-
mina and lime.. If is not a ,carbonate, This. is of YelTgfeat
importance in architecture. For instance, the Roman maulers
were celebrated for their hardness. Wherever the Romans
went, they always found good mortar. The grand reason of
this was, that they procured the best and finest sand they could.
and stirred the mortar fur a loug time, so as intimately to mix
the silica and the lime. Now the same, no doubt, .frequently
occurs in nature, and although it may seem a curious fact to
notice, we find, that in the best Roman mortar, the quantity of
lime is far more thanthe carbonic acid could possibly saturate,
and, consequently, that the greatest portion of it has.heen con-
verted intria silicate, and nut a carbonate. Such, then, is an
exposition of the modesin which rocks become solidified. Some-
times only one of the Nauses may be called intouvtion, and it
is the business..of the geologist by analysis to determine what
the solidifying principle is.
Strata being thns.forined, we shall proceed to another branch
of the subject. We find a greatuumber:of strata perfectly ho.
rizontal, but this is-for from being universally the case;
in some instances they occur perpendicularly; and it has been
previously proved, that all the stratified rocks were .deposited
horizontally, we arrive at a most beautiful and important fact
in geology, that the changes which have taken place in the his-
tory of our planet have not always been slow, but violent stud
-unequal. All the stratified rocks of the Alps. the Andes, and
the Ilimala)as, were originally deposited at the bottom of the
sea in an horizontal position,ulthough they are now in nuttier-
ails instances met with upon their edges. We have in this
country instances of the• same, strata.lying horizontally on one
place, and upon their edges to another. We often find that the
strata on one side of an igneous rock would join the strata on
the other, thus showing thatthe rock has beenupheaved through
the strata.- It is perfectly clear that those strata which are the-
nearest to the lotions of the sea are first deposited. The upper-
most of the stratified rocks.are certaiuly the newest, the under-
most must be the oldest, becanse.they have been deposited suc-
cessively one above another in order.. _

Whet strata are. parallel to each other,.whether perpendicu-
larly or horizontally, they are said to be conformable to each
other, that is, to have been formed during one epoch or period
of rest. But. where horizontal strata rest upon perpendicular
strata, they.are said to be unconformable one to another, that
is, to have been formed. at different periods.. Besides these,
there have been .disturbances of another kind. hocks have
.been subjected, to a great variety of mechanical violences„ by
which the) have been curved and contorted.. They.have been
subject to what are called fractures and. dislocations.. These,
in some cases form rock faults. They occur very abundantly
in our coal mines, and perform a very important part in them.
The contortions of the .strataare accounted for by supposing
the rocks subjected at the same,period to a vriety.of pressures)
Sir James Hall ascertained, that, by putting layers of cotton
and linen cloth upon a table with a book
.upon them, andrhen
applying pressure. to each side, he could produce appearances
or a similar kind to those observed in. nature. Sometimes we
find contortions on a gigantic scale spread over the fare of a
eouttiry forming mountains and %alleys. Many beautiful in-
stances of this occur in Kent, and they are very cummuu iu the
centre of England.
Artesian wells present •a variety of useful phenomena,, and a
knowledge of the principle upon which they depend may be the
means of produciog much happiness. For instance, there arc
many portions or the world, sot b as the great desert in Aft tea,
apparently destitute of water, in which Artesian wells may in idl
probability be found of utility. These wells are formed by a
porous stratum, being included between tart impermeable ones.
Thus, suppose the uppermost and lowermost at three strata to
be composed or clay, and the central stratum of gravA the
rain would collect in tie central .later, and the strata which
.covered it being punctured, waold gush up with sionerforce, to
the surface of the earth. For instance, in London, when we

LivimpQm. Tipt TABLE.

Jim. 1 Hs. i
--- 1..--r-- I
H. M. 1 F. T. (
Tuesday 27 1 0 8.21 11 Venus rises 4h 21im morn.
Vednesilny 9B I U2B 0481 21 3 Mars rises 511 4tin: morn.
Thursday 99 1 8 1 :XI (20 0 Jupiter sets 51. Bin morn.
.Friday . ZiO 149 2,10 fl 7 9 'Length of (lay lzh 4tim.
Saturday ...• 31. 9ZO 252 i 15. 3', Length of night 1i h 10m tn.
st„id„y 1 • 3 17' 3.15 1,.? 11 sth Sunda Yin Lent.
Monday 2 416 4531ip 11 1 Venus ring 4h 12m Worn.

H. H.

AN ACCOUNT OF CATTLE.
, Imported into Liverpool, from the 21st to the 27th inst.
FROM IRELAND,
Cows. Sheep. Pigs. Horses. Mules. Calves. Lambs.
1084 558 - 434 69 0 9 178
Previously.. 12162 13295 52017 242 59 16 331

COASTWISE.

8h;;;: Horses. Calves.- Lambs.
183 257 • at 8 2 0
Previously 1245' 20780 6073 •45 ,•05

LIVERPOOI.•
Fll 1 D AY, MA RCH 30. 1838.

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