The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-01-05 00:00:00

Jan. 5, 1841.

THE GIPSY FesTrtrAe.—The eighteenth anniversary of
reclaimed wandering gipsies was held on Tuesday, at the
residence of their old friend and missionary, the Rev.
James Crabb, at Spring-hill House. There was a number
of respectable visitors, and many groups of the swarthy
tribe had assembled on the occasion. A great number of
gipsies have been reclaimed by the institution ; many
have been apprenticed or put out to service, and educa-
tion extended to numerous children ; but a much larger
amount of good has been effected by the example ana
success of the establishment at Spring-hill having induced
the formation of other kindred institutions. At this
anniversary there was divine-service, with a very interest-
ing address to the gipsies, and another to the visitors,
embracing the report, which contained-a variety of details
connected with these people past and present. After the
meeting a capital dinner was given to the gipsfes, and a
supply of blankets, clothing, Bzo. The appearance of these
wanderers, in all their variety of costume, in the ground,
was a very curious and interesting sight.—Dorset Chron.
A LADY PIG-DRIVER.—A lady connected with the
establishment of a gentleman, as governess, not one hun-
dred miles from Edenbridge, being about to visit her re;.,
lations in the vicinity of London on Wednesday last, a:
few days previously remarked she should have no objec-
tion to one of the gentleman's fat pigs to enjoy her Christ-
mas with. The offer of one was immediately made by the
gentleman, if she would drive it to Edenbridge station
herself. Early in the morning of Wednesday, she had.
one, weighing from 30 to 40 stone, secured by a cord to
its leg, and having equipped herself in a dress suitable
to the occasion, she drove the animal to the station, with
the view of taking it with her to London ; but was in-
formed that no truck could be attached to the passenger-
train for the purpose. She was, however, furnished with
a ticket, with an assurance that it would be forwarded by
the goods train in the evening, and on application being
made at the Bricklayers' Arms station on Thursday morn-
ing, it would be delivered to her. On her arrival at, the
time appointed, lo and behold ! instead of the pig being
delivered up, according to Promise, a policeman took
charge of the lady, and placed her in durance vile. A,
gmeenstreunnganer,wraei
squlikrienwgis his
e daesttpeantdchanedce in London,totheresidentcoesoay
ftille
the authorities of the truth of the lady's statement, and,
the pig was ultimately restored to her.—Maidstone Gaz.
MATCH MAKING.—In a street,—not a yard and a half
distant from Salt-house-lane; stands a Registry or Adver-
tising Office ; among the many curious " wants " the
notices in the window proclaim to passers-by, might have
- been noticed until very recently the following : A.
WIFE WANTED, by a person of respectable address, and
possessed of a little property. The female must be from
the age offrom twenty to thirty, and must be prudent,
and respectable character." Well this notice has beers
withdrawn, and it will be a matter of no slight import-
ance to the interested in this subject to know that the
person of respectable address " who took this original
and business-like method of making known his desire for
a " help-meet," has been eminently successful, and that
he has not only obtained a partner for life, but has had
" two pledges of affection' thrown into the bargain. It
seems there was no lack of competition for the hand and
heart of the now thrice happy advertiser, no scarcity of
damsels fair and widows buxom. The first candidate '
honoured with an interview was (in his opinion, though
probably not in her- own) " ower young tb marry yet ;
the seeend was equally unsuccessful ; but then cattle the -
lucky third—a blooming widow with two charming babes;
a glance, a word, was quite enough • resistance was no
longer possible, and the hand and hearf, thee" respectable
address," and " the little property " were. all )lelded up-
at once. " The marriage followed hard upon ; and the
" merry Christ Church. bells" rung a lively peal, (or
would have done, no doubt, had Christ Church any bells
to ring,) in celebration of the indissoluble union of the
advertiser and the buxom widow of his choice. We have
only to add, that if any person doubts the truth of our -
story, he (or she) has only to go to an Inn we wot off in
this town, and in the persons of " mine host and hostess"
he will see this same fast wedded pair."—Hull Packet..
FEARFUL DESTITUTION IN SCOTLAND.—At a public
meeting in Edinburgh, a few days ago, to devise means
of mitigating the distress in the Highlands and Islands of
Scotland, at which the Lord Provost presided, the Rev-
Norman M'Leod, of Dalkeith, thus described the con-
dition of the people :—" Taking, round numbers, there
were 430,000 souls, who, strictly-speaking, inhabited the
eight Highland counties. From statistics furnished front
different parishes, this number were divided in the'follow-
ing manner : those in comfortable circumstances, and
who could not be affected much by the failure of the
potato crop, amounted to 100,000: those who only de-
pended for three-fourths of the , year upon potatoes, to
200,000; those who depended upon the crop for the whole
year, to 130,000. • These numbers were an approximation
to truth. Mr. M'Leod read several other figures; of
which the result was, that in the Highlands and Islands
of Scotland there were 330,000 persons deprived of the
usual means of subsistence this year. Of these, 200,000
required assistence to enable them to live over the season..
If they (lid not assist them immediately, these poor per-
sons would have to sell their cows and eat their seed-corn,, -
and thus utterly destroy the prevision for the future-
The other 130,000 required food immediately to keep
them from starvation. The Rev. Dr. Candish stated the
substance of a,communication from the island of Ulva :
He did- not suppose that the whole of Skye could fur-
nish twenty barrels of potatoes free of disease. The
population numbered 4,000 souls. Of these, nearly 2,000 "
occupy small crofts, which have not yielded sufficient to
support them for three months. The other 2,000 were is
a state of absolute destitution. But the whole 4,000 •
would immediately be left destitute. The proprietor was
Lord M'Donald ; who had already made such arrange-
ments for relieving the people as would involve au expen-
diture greater than the rental of the island. It was there- _
fore plain, that unless the proprietors were- assisted the.
people could not be supported. The letter, concluded by
statinn-. that frnm •

liarcd to that • impifttlir;-

at present

13trirt grius.

The cotton waste spinners o

commence working four days per week.
The statement that Mr. IVlott is now confined for debt
in Lancaster Castle is incorrect, as he was admitted to
bail a fortnight ago.
At a meeting of fifty-six short-timA hplrl ;iv

Manchester, On Sunday week, a resolution, in favour of
Mr. J. Fielden's bill, which provides for a limitation to ele-
ven hours on its passing, and to ten in 1849, was carried.
The Manchester Examiner says that Lord Lincoln has
about as much chance of becoming M.P. for that bo.
'l, as he I —f succeed;-

roug, aas of . —ing the urand Sultan. [Man=-
chester will not be over Bright, either way ; but the
broad-brim cotton lord is said to be in danger of being
worsted.l

The Earl of Derby has distributed his usual gifts of
warm clothing, blankets, &c., to the poorer residents of
the districts for some miles round Knowsley. All the
labourers on his lordship's estate had the opportunity a

tertainnient given to them.
THE REGISTER FOR NORTH LANCASHIRE.—The
regis-
ter of electors for the northern division of this county is
now printed, and as it will in all probability be the register
upon which the poll will be taken at the next general
election, it may be interesting to know that it contains
1100 more names than that of the preceding year, or,
, 0

An extraordinary meeting of Irish Roman Catho"lics wag
held at Manchester on the subject of the removal of Father
Hearne. Resolutions were passed rescinding those passe
at a previous meeting, which were considered an interfe'l',
rence with their spiritual rulers. The rescinding of t'
resolutions was not, however, relished brinany in tuel
meeting.

BLACKROD.-

In this village

it has been usual at
he scholars attending

Christmas for a treat to be given to
_l_

year, in conaegn,

Crto
the distressed state of the neighbourhood, it has been
deemed prudent to distribute amongst the poor a quantity
of soup and bread instead. Accordingly, 100-sixpenny
loaves and a quantity of soup were yesterday dispensed
amongst the poor residents of the neighbourhood, under
the directions of the esteemed minister of the place, the
our readers PaderßsrwowilnlBM remember.M.A.--Bolton
thisßl I;
e—[Many
of the curates of Christ Church, in this town. 3
A MELANCHOLY FACT.—The .Rev. C. F. Bagshawe;
chaplain of the New Bailey Prison, in his report to the.
magistrates of the Hundred of Salford, thus speaks of then
lenient sentences and fines inflicted in cases of drunken-.
gentlemanljcie.
ness :—" I am bound to say that the effect of such sen-
tences and fines, amounting to five per cent. upon the
cost of the drunken debauch,ls to teach the :prisoner to
make a mock of a sin which is at the root of a large por-
tion of the poverty, misery, and crime of the country—at. .

sin which calls forth a large part of the poor, police, prison,
hospital, lunatic asylum, and other county rates. Their
sojourn in prison, in many cases, barely suffices to wash
and describe their, and then they are turned out literally
to go like the dog to his vomit- again, or the sow that hal
been•washed to her wallowingiahe mire-"
MASONIC FESTIVAL, IN CHESTER.—
Brethren of the Cestrian Lodge of Fly

Johnsto