The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-07-13 00:00:00

krjrneral Ir+ltarliany.

Wigtown, in Scotland, has been constituted a bonding
port.
The Morning Chronicle has announced its intention to
reduce its price from sd. to 4d.
The Salisbury Herald mentions that a sago palm tree
is now in flower in a hothouse near that city. This tree
has only once been known to blossom in England.
The fine weather has induced many persons to take a
trip to the lakes, and the inns near them are consequently
filled with visitors.

It is stated, and said to be on good authority, that it
has been determined by the privy council to grant a char-
ter of incorporation for Ashton-under-Lyne. ^

The Isle of Man, unlike her larger sister of Ireland, is
agitating, and apparently with good reason, for an union
with England. _ _ _ _

CAUTION.—Many deaths to bathers by drowning have
been reported throughout the country, in Wales, in Ayr-
shire, in Leeds, and other parts.
PLEASANT COMMUNICATION.—The letter of the pro-
prietors of the Norwood Cemetery to its future tenants
commences thus :—Sir, your grave (No —) is now ready."
The Town House of Linlithgow was totally destroyed
by fire on Thursday week. The Edinburgh fire brigade.
with an engine, proceeded to the scene ; but on its arrival
the edifice was a ruin. _ _ _

RAPED STEAMING.—The Brighton and Continental
Steam Company's new steamers, Brighton and Dieppe,
are crack vessels. Yesterday week the former arrived from
Dieppe to Shoreham in four hours and forty-five minutes.
Ilot.-rn-EArp STEAMERS.—Two fine steamers, of 660
tons, and 300 horse power, have been launched from
Messrs. Dichburn's yard, London. One, The Caradoc, is
for the government; the other (not yet named) is for the
Chester and Holyhead Railway_Company.
_ . .

The Catholic Clergy in Leeds (as in Liverpool) have
been swept away by the Irish fever. The fifth victim,
the Rev. Mr. Coppinger, of St. Anne's, Leeds, died a day
or two back. _

MISS MARTINEAU.-This popular writer has returned
to England, having concluded her travels in Egypt and
Syria. She has already commenced a series of papers on
the Holy Land in the People's Journal.
A German lady who is now residing on the banks of
Windermere, is said to be one of the best rowers on the
lake, and during the winter she was equally distinguished
as a sportswoman in shooting wild fowl.
The Bombay papers mention that the planet Neptune
had been seen at Poonah, by Lieutenant Jacob. It ap-
pears as a star of the ninth magnitute, is distinctly visible
in a common night glass.
I\l"24l,cmintr

Vast preparations are making in Northampton and
neighbourhood for the approaching show of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. An area of nearly
thirty acres has, been enclosed on the fine race-course.
_

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.—It was on Monday
positively stated, about the houses and the government
offices, that now the prorogation of parliament is not
likely to take place until the end of this month, or the
first week in August—Globe.
The Commissioners have given notice of their intention
to apply to the reduction of the National Debt the sum
of £694,912 16s. 11d., being one-fourth of the surplus
of income, over expenditure, for the year ended the sth
of April last.
The Tamerlane left the port of Aberystwyth for Que-
bec, a few days since, with the greatest number of emi-
grants that ever sailed from that port in one vessel. The
number on board, including infants and ship's crew,
amounted to 462.
The Morning Chronicle attributes a great portion of
the increase on the Customs for the year to the duty on
the addittional " quantity of no less than 925,447 cwts. of
sugar, the consumption of which can fairly be referred to
the Sugar Bill of last year. And as the great bulk of this
additional quantity has been sugar paying a duty of 21s.
per cwt., the increased revenue from this source may be
calculated in round figures at one million sterling, or a sum
very nearly equal to the entire increase on the Customs
for the whole year."

TffE PLANT VENUS.—This planet, which is at present

so conspicuous and splendid an object in the evening skies,
being near the point of her greatest elongation, may dis-

month of July, if no clouds intervene—even at noon-day
her brilliancy i 3 not quenched in the sun's blaze. Her
place may be easily detected by the young astronomer at
any hour of the day, being nearly at the point of the
heavens where the sun might have been seen three hours

month is at 5 minutes past 3 o'clock

DESTRUCTIVE THUNDER-STORM AT GREENWICH.—
On Thursday morning, during a terrific thunder-storm
that passed over the metropolis between one and two
o'clock, the electric fluid struck the roofing of the private

dwelling in the occupation of Mr. T. Wiseman, situate in
Brewer s-lane, Greenwich, near to the Hospital, and
•-•• •

dwelling

exertions were made to extinguish the flames, but from
Mr. Wiseman's premises it extended to the extensive lofts
and store rooms of Messrs. W. and R. Huntly, mast,
block, and sail makers, Brewer's-lane, thence to the
.

warehouses oailiu au 111, vv axau. vv ca ,11 Lc.)
stored with salt and provisions, and to the private resi-
dence of one of the partners. Several cottages on the
same side of the way then became ignited, while those on
the opposite side, in Coombe's-court, caught fire. The

THE MIRFIELD MURDERS.—Government has offered a
reward of £lOO for such information as may lead to the
conviction of the murderer or murderers of the late Mr.
Wraith, his wife and servant, at Mirfield, and also stating
that the Secretary of State would advise the grant of her
Majesty's gracious pardon to any accomplice not being
the actual perpetretor of the deed. M`Cabe's solicitor
communicated to the magistrates, and it is understood
that he will not be placed upon his trial, but will implicate
one or more women in the atrocious affair.
RECEIPT STAMPS.—A return of the number of infor-
mation for offences under the Receipt Stamp Tax Acts,
'and the amount of penalties imposed by the Board of
Stamps and Taxes, which has been laid before the lower
house of parliament on the motion of the member for
Salford, shows that in 1844 the number of informations
was 304, and the amount of penalties imposed, £B2O ; in
1845 the number of informations was 237, and the amount
of penalties imposed £561 ; and in 1846 the number of
informations was 262, and the amount of penalties im-
posed £1,031.
THE MOOR'S.—A correspondent of the Elgin Courier
who dates from Rothes, writes as follows :—I am sorry to
see by the statements in the newspapers, that disease is
again prevailing among the grouse. It is said that they
are dying in thousands on the southern moors. We had
plenty of this dying the last two years, which has reduced
them very much in numbers ; I may say that there is not
above half the number of breeding birds that I have seen
on the Rothes, Birne, and Dallas moors ; but I have not
seen a dead or diseased bird this season. They are some-
what unequal, owing, I believe, to the cold in the begin-
ning of the season. We have some strong young birds
getting on wing, others very small, while others are only
beginning to hatch ; but if the season continues favoura-
ble, all will be ready in good time, and the sportsman will
have a fair show of birds in August. Partridges are doing
well. Plenty of breeding birds, but I have seen no young
as yet. Hares are also doing well, although not quite so
plentiful as last year—some leverets nearly, in appearance,
as large as the old ones.
BRITISH ARCILEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL
MEETING.—The fourth annual Congress of this Associa-
tion will be held at Warwick, under the most flattering
auspices, from the 19th to the 26th inst. The Earl of
Warwick and Lord Brooke, it is reported, give their cor-
dial support. Lord Clarendon has directed that every
attention shall be shewn the members at Kenilworth ;
Earl Craven throws oven Combe Abbey ; Lord Leigh re-
ceives them at Stoneleigh Abbey, where the antiquary of
the county, Mr. Bloxam, will meet the party ; Mr. Lucey,
on the day of the excursion to Stratford-upon Avon, in-
vites the meeting to Charlecote ; and Mr. Newdegate re-
ceives the Association at Arbury. Papers by Thomas
Wright, M.A., the Saxon scholar; one by Halliwell,
F.S.A., on Shakspeare's early life and habitation ; another
by Fairholt, F.S.A., author of Illustrations of Costumes
in England, from the eighth century ; one on Saxon re-
mains, armour, and ornaments, as lately found in the Isle
of 1 hanet, Kent, by William Rolfe, Esq. ; others of equal
interest, by Pettigrew, V.P.F. R. S., Harry Rogers, Chas.
Sandys, and Scenge Isaacs, Esqrs., on limoges enamels,
hereldry, monumental tablets, the Coventry tapestries,
&c. A paper on ancient armour, by Sir Samuel Meyrick,
on the ancient marble walls of Venice, by Edwin Keet,
with others by Bateman, of Derbyshire, Crofton Croker,
E. T. Artis, and many Other gentlemen, promise a varied
and intellectual treat to those who attend this re-union.

SHIPPING, TONNAGE, IMPORTS, AND EXPORTS.—
Returns moved for by Sir H. Douglas, M.P., show that,
in the year 1846, 7,881 British vessels, of 1,224,214 tons,
entered inwards ; and that 8,652 vessels, of 1,442,145 tons,
cleared outwards. The number of foreign vessels that
entered inwards amounted to 7,720, of 1,444,738 tons, and
the number of foreign vessels that cleared outwards, to
11,002, of 1,559,721 tons. The number of British ships
employed between the United Kingdom and the British
colonies amounted, in 1846, to about 6,238, and the num-
ber of foreign vessels to an average of 62. The declared
value of the British and Irish produce and manufactures
exported from the United Kingdom to various foreign
countries (including Scandinavia, the Hanse Towns, Prus-
sia, Austria, France, Portugal, Rio de la Plata, Brazil,
Mexico, and the United States,) amounted, in 1839, -to
£22,937,550 ; in 1840, to £19,442,987; in 1841, to
£22,178,376; in 1842, to £11,619,186; in 1843, to
£20,246,460; in 1844, to £23,514,141; and in 1845, to
£,23,332,487. The declared value of the said produce, &c.,
exported to Russia, and other parts of Germany, Holland,
Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Syria, and Pales-
tine ; Egypt, Tripoli, Barbary, Morocco; the North of
Africa, Arabia, Sumatra, and Java ; China, Cuba, the
foreign West Indies, Guatemala, Chila, and Peru, amounted
in 1839 to £13,952,261; in 1840, to £14,505,136 ; in 1841,
to £14,182,004; in 1842, to £14,940,170; in 1843, to
£16,394,998 ; in 1844, to £18,114,355 ; and in 1845, to
£19,530,371. The value of the British and Irish produce
and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom to
the British colonies amounted, in 1839, to £16,343,769 ;
in 1840, to £17,458,307 ; in 1841, to £15,274,153 ; in 1842,
to £13,821,667 ; in 1843, to £15,638,251; in 1844, to
£16,995,296 ; and 1845, to £17,348,224.
THE BANK CHARTER ACT.—The Critic, in noticing a
pamphlet entitled " The Evils of the Currency, and Ex-
position of Sir Robert Peel's Bank Charter Act," by J.
C. Wright, M.A., has the following remarks Mr.
Wright, who is a practical as well as a philosophical eco-
nomist, was one of the first to perceive and protest against
the mischiefs which have been found to flow from the
Bank Charter Act. While it was yet in embryo he pro-
claimed it " a dangerous experiment." But his voice was
lifted in vain. In the little pamphlet before us, he now
brings the evidence of the interval that has since elapsed
in proof of his previous assertions. He contends stoutly
for the substitution, to a great extent, of a paper for a
gold currency, as more economical and more readily
adapted to the varying demands of commerce. But he
would not, therefore, give unlimited power to issue notes,
nor extend it to all banks. He is for establishing a single
bank of issue, with duties defined and regulated by par-
liament, and the whole profits of which should belong to
the nation—

" `Such a bank (he says) it is conceived, might issue a paper
currency for the whole kingdom, of a twofold kind :—the one
a home circulation, as applicable to the internal wants of the
country in the creation of produce, &c.—pernament, there-
fore incontrovertible ; and limited to an amount to be periodi-
cally determined by parliament; the other, applicable to our
intercourse with foreign nations,—therefore regulated in
amount by the exchanges, and convertible at all times3—the
Bank of England giving out this portion of the circulation in
the form of bullion notes, as a matter of convenience to the
public, in exchange for gold, at the market rate—retaining the
amount in its coffers, and repaying such notes in bullion at, or
at a fraction above, the market rate. The amount of the in-
convertible, or home notes, might be taken, either at the mi-
nimum or the average of the joint gold and paper circulation
of the three kingdoms for, say, the last ten years. Fifty mil-
lions is the amount received by Government annually for taxes;
so that the expenditure of the country might be the wheel of the
domestic circulat:on. This would be a self-acting currency,
with the principie of limitation applied to one portion, and the
principle of convertability to the other."
THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO THE HIGHLANDS.—The Royal
visi will affo rd unbounded gratification to all the Queen's
loyal subjects in the Highlands, and the proposed route
will enable her Majesty to see some of the finest scenery
in the Highlands. We may anticipate for the royal party
a magnificent " gathering of the clans." Since the days
of the Fiery Cross no such rallying cry has been heard as
the name of the Queen, and from Ben Nevis to Ben More
in Assynt, the whole population will be poured forth to
cheer every step of the royal progress. It is now 285
years since Mary Queen of Scots visited Inverness, and no
other British sovereign has since penetrated into our
northern region. Mary found the gates of Inverness Cas-
tle shut against her entrance ; for the Earl of Huntley had
then organized a powerful confederacy in opposition to the
crown. Queen Victoria has fallen on calmer and happier
days. All gates will be thrown open on her approach,
and from hall and cottage—from Dunrobin Castle down
to the meanest hut on the mountain side—there will be
heard only one voice of generous" loyalty and affection.
The shooting lodge of the Marquis of Abercorn stands on
the margin of Loch Loggan, at Ardvreckie, on the pro-
perty of Cluny Mackpherson. " The scale on which this
lodge is erected," says the author of the statistical account,
" may be inferred from the fact that it is taxed for sixty
windows." The interior accommodation is of the most

splendid description, and Mr. EdwlTlandseer, in one of
his visits to the north, graced the walls of some of the
rooms with the fruits of his inimitable genius. The situ-
ation of the lodge and the whole of the neighbourhood is
picturesque and romantic in the highest degree. Prince
Albert will also have ample scope for his favourite field
sports. In addition to Laggan, the Marquis of Abercorn
possesses the adjoining ground of Glensheiro, the property
of Mr. Evan Bailie, on which there is also a handsome
lodge. The extent of his lordship's Highland shootings
_ .

may be gat--
.C 2,000 per annum, the deer forest alone being let for
£l,326.—lnverness Courier.
THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE.—A few particu-
lars respecting. the distinguished individual in whose ho-

at various of our largc

nour, and for-whose gratification, severs
demonstrations have been mad

proceec

:ond son
Grand Duchess Marie and Ogla being his seniors)
Emperor Nicholas I. The eldest son and h
perial crown is Alexander-Nicolaewitsch, C
son of Nicholas, son of the czar or rein

Nicoiaewitsch is

(the fourth child,—th(
of tiu

,witsch (i.e

was was born in April, 1818, married in 1841, and. ha
three children. The Grand Duke Constantine, who ha
just visited Manchester, was born on the 21st Septembe
(9th September, Old Style), 1
re I wants two months of completive

.s twentieth y