The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-03-13 00:00:00

TUE LIVERPOOL STANDAR&

Pressive of unabated loyalty to the Queen, said :—The
farmers had been betrayed by one Prirne Minister and in-
sulted by another, until they had determined to try whe-
ther by their own right hand and their mighty arm they
could not gain for themselves the victory. The speaker
proceeded to urge upon the meeting the duty of a more
effective organisation, and recommended the farmers to
impress upon the traders of towns that they would go to
London, or elsewhere, for their commodities unless they
returned right men to the House of Commons. If the
agriculturists combined with the shipping and the colonial
interests nothing could long deprive them of their rights.
The following resolution was then agreed to : " That
the Committee of the Central Society be directed to com-
municate with the country societies, and to request them to
take measures for calling county meetings, under the au-
thority of the high-sheriffs, and to originate petitions to
both Houses of Parliament, in accordance with the reso-
lutions now passed."

A vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was briefly
responded to by his Grace, terminated the meeting.

If Lord Ashley's motion needed any further justifica-
tion, the conduct of the Dissenters and their friends in
the House of Commons would furnish it. His Lordship
wishes to try whether some general plan or system cannot
be devised, whereby large parishes may be divided into
parishes of manageable size, without involving, in every
case, the trouble and the cost of a private bill. What
that trouble and cost may be, has been shown within the
last seven days. Mr. W. Page Wood, in supporting Lord
Ashley's motion, observed, that the expense incurred by
the unopposed bill for dividing the parish of Leeds, was
£l4OO.

Now, on Tuesday last, one of the most excellent clergy-
men in the whole metropolis, the Rector of Whitechapel,
Ipplied for an act to settle some disputed, parochial ques-
tions. The Radicals and Dissenters mustered all their
forces, and defeated the bill. So that, in this case, there
was probably an expense of £3OO or £4OO altogether
thrown away.

On Friday another case of the same kind occurred. As
one example of the strange anomalies still existing,—the
large town of Richmond, in Surrey, is only a curacy,
held under the Vicar of Kingston, another town, four
miles distant. A bill was introduced to divide these two
places into separate and independent parishes. And this
was the sort of reception it met with :
" On the motion for the second reading of the bill,
" Mr. C. Lushington said he was wholly unconnected with
the parties supporting or opposing this bill, but believing the
bill to be a gross job, and a similar bill to that of Whitecaapel,
the one being a job promoted by Brasenose College, Oxford,
and the other by King's College, Cambridge, he would move
that the bill be read a second time that day six months.
" Mr. Kershaw seconded the amendment.
" Mr. Goulbum hoped the bill would not be thrown out, as
those who promoted it were not present. The object of it was
only to divide the living, and to appropriate the pew-rents for
the maintenance of the incumbent.

" Mr. Locke King did not understand there was any oppo-
sition to the bill on the part of the inhabitants in the neigh-
bourhood.

" The house then divided, when there appeared—
For the second reading
Against the second reading
Majority for the second reading _9,,
Now here was one of the most natural and most unob-
jectionable measures that could be conceived,—promoted,
as it ought to be, by the patrons, King's College, Cam-
bridge,—yet attempted to be defeated, without notice, by
Mr. Lushington, the nominee of the Dissenters, and by
Mr. Kershaw, himself a Dissenter, on no other grounds
than that " it must be a gross job, inasmuch as it was
promoted by King's College, Cambridge !"
This dirty attempt failed ; the bill obtained its second
reading by a narrow majority. But surely, if the foes of
the Church wished to prove the absolute necessity of
some measure like that proposed by Lord Ashley, they
could not easily take a better course.

The Lords of the Admiralty have sanctioned an altera-
tion in the contract of the Royal West India Mail Steam
Packet Company, by allowing the Honduras and Central
American mails to be conveyed direct from Honduras to
Jamaica, instead of being conveyed to the latter place by
way of Havana.
MYSTERIOUS CASE OF BURGLARY.—Op Friday week,
some ruffians entered a house in the Lower Parade, Lea-
mington, which had been left in charge of a widow named
Ladnor, and after compelling her to accompany them
from room to room, while they ransacked the house, they
used her with great barbarity, and left the premises with-
out obtaining anything of consequence.
JENNY LINE'S MOVEMENTS.—MdIe. Lind has during
the past week sung at concerts at Wakefield, Sheffield,
and Nottingham, which have been attended by crowded,
enthusiastic, and brilliant audiences. We understand
that this delightful songstress is about to make arrange-
ments to give a series of concerts, principally in the pro-
vinces, during the next few weeks, which will be the last
that she will give previously to leaving this country for
some months. We are informed, on the best authority,
that Mdle. Lind has finally determined not to re-appear
again at the Opera House.
THE WORKING CLASSES.—A very large meeting of the
working classes was held on Wednesday night, at the Hall
of Commerce, Threadneedle-street, London, at which
nearly 2,000 persons were present. Mr. L. J. Hansard
was voted to the chair, and resolutions were moved to the
effect that the government, aided by the legislature, should
adopt means for establishing a system of home colonisa-
tion, self-supporting, agricultural, manufacturing, an.d
educational. It was also proposed that a " Trade and
Labour Protecting Board" should be established to regu-
late the price of labour, and prevent ruinous competition.
CHARGE OF POISONING.—At the Gloucester Assizes,
Hannah Southgate, 29, was indicted for the wilful mur-
der of Thomas Ham, at the parish of Wix, by administer-
ing to him white arsenic. Various witnesses proved that
the prisoner and the deceased lived very unhappily, and
that the former had said she wished the latter was dead,
and that she wanted John Southgate, her present hus-
band, whose little finger she liked better than her hus-
band's whole body. The principal witness against the
prisoner was her tervant, but as she did not bear a good
character, the jury discredited her testimony, and acquit-
ted the prisoner. - -
MUNIFICENT BEQUESTS.—The late Countess ofßridge-
water has left the following bequests, all free of legacy
duty :—To the Society for promoting Christian Know-
ledge, £2,000; to the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts, £2,000; to the Clergy Widows
and Orphans Society, £2,000 ; to the County Infirmary
at Shrewsbury, £l,OOO ' • to the St. George's Hospital,
£1,000; to the Charing Cross Hospital, £1,000; to the
West Herts Infirmary, £1,000; to the Bucks Infirmary,
£l,OOO ; to the St. Ann's School, £500: to the Madras
School at Ellesmere, £200; to the Madras School at
Whitchurch, £250 ; besides endowments to numerous
Sunday and National Schools situated on her Estates,
varying in sums of £5 to £2O per annum, to the amount
of £175.
FORGERY.—On Thursday, Mr. J. Cutts, a solicitor, of
Little Bardfield, Essex, and W. Evans, his clerk, under-
went a long re-examination, charged with forgery. The
facts of the case relate, among other matters, to the pur-
chase of an estate by Cutts of his own client, when a boy,
under circumstances of great suspicion ; and not having,
up to the present moment, paid one shilling for deposit,
rent, interest, or the purchase-money, which was £2,510.
although he had been in possession of the estate nearly
four years. The prisoners were ultimately discharged on
bail, themselves in £5,000 each, and two sureties for each
prisoner in £2,500, the counsel for the prosecution (Mr.
Wilkin) intimating that he was afraid, if bail were taken,
the ends of justice would be defeated.
ALLEGED MURDERS AT STONELEIGH ABBEY.—At the
Leamington Petty Sessiions, on Wednesday last, an ap-
plication, was made by Mr. C. Griffin, of that town, to the
magistrates to grant a warrant for the apprehension of a
man, named John Wilcox, upon the charge of having
committed murders at Stoneleigh Abbey. The applica-
tion was made on behalf of James Leigh, of Preston, one
of the claimants to the Stoneleigh Abbey estates. The
features of the case were similar to those disclosed on the
investigation at the Warwick County Petty Sessions in
May last, and reported in this paper at that time. Mr.
Russell (one of the sitting magistrates) expressed his dis-
belief in these alleged murders. There might have been
some death in the neighbourhood by accident. Mr. Griffin
then charged Wilcox with cutting the throat of a person
name unknown, in 1815. The bench refused the applica-
tion for a warrant against Wilcox, and said Mr. Griffin
had better go before the grand jury. Mr. Griffin com-
plained of injustice, observing that he had plenty more
witnesses to prove the alleged murders at the Abbey. He
should renew his application on a future occasion.
A QUIET COMPANION.—At Clerkenwell, on Wednes-
day, a gentleman applied to the magistrate. He said that
for some time past the neighbourhood of Tunbridge-street,
St. Pancras, had been in a state of excitemant in conse-
quence of a nuisance being discovered in the house of a
Mrs. Parry residing there. A month ago, a middle-aged
lady, a companion of Mrs. Parry, who is a person of con-
siderable property and of most eccentric habits, died sud-
denly, and a coroner's inquest-jury returned a verdict that
she had died from natural causes. Mrs. Parry had formed
a very strong attachment to the deceased ; and, labouring
under a delusion that she was not dead, she washed the
corpse, and, after bathing it with brandy, she dressed it in
her best clothes, and seated it beside the fire, where she
had since talked to it and treated it as a living object.
The nuisance had become so great from the decomposition
of the body, that it was necessary measures should be
adopted to compel the interment of the deceased to pre-
vent contagion. Mr. Combe said he could not afford any
redress, and referred to the parish authorities, who alone
could act in this remarkable matter

THE COST OF REDUCTION !-It is calculated that since
the fiat for reducing the rank and file of the army has
gone forth, about 3,000 men have been discharged in En-
gland, Ireland, and Scotland. If this number should
have to be recruited, and it is not at all unlikely, the bare
expense will be about £20,000, to say nothing of the per-
manent charge on the pension list for eligible men who
have been discharged, and the re-establishment of the
recruiting stations, and parties which have been called in ;
and so with respect to seamen for the Royal Navy. The
number of seamen that has been reduced is about 5,000
and 3,000 more are to turned adrift. At the present
moment there would be no difficulty in manning ships to
the extent of 1,500, for the regular going " man of war's
man" returns in a naval port until he has spent his last
farthing, or retires to it after his shore cruise to seek
another ship; but if an emergency should demand the
raising of an additional number of 3,000 seamen, the cost
of getting them together would be equal to at least half a
year's wages. Now ships can be manned almost imme-
diately ; for we have been reducing for the last two years ;
it will be a totally different affair should the country
demand an increase.

MR. DYCE SOMBRE.—On Wednesday the celebrated
Dyce Sombre case was again argued before the Lord
Chancellor. In the course of the proceedings his lordship
observing Mr. Bothwell to be in court, handed down a
letter which had been received by Lady Cotter ham from
Mr. Sombre, in 1847. Mr. Bethell read the letter. It
bore the post mark of the 3d of March, 1847, was ad-
dressed to Lady Cottenham, and contained Mr. Sombre's
card, on which was written in the lunatic's band, " au
allowance of £1,500 a-year fcr life, if the judgment is for
the superseding the commission, and for a divorce."
That letter, the learned counsel thought to be conclusive
of the insanity. If it was not the act of an insane man
it deserved more serious notice. His lordship said that
insanity was the best excuse for it. It was shewn that
communications had also been addressed by Mr. Sombre
to Mr. Bright, the surgeon, on the 3d of March, 1847—
the date of the letter to Lady Cottenbam ; and in it there
was the lunatic's card, with an offer of £250 a year for
life. Another was addressed to Mrs. Southey, wife of
Dr. Southey, with a card, containing an offer of the same
sum ; and a third was addressed to Lord John Russell.
having appended to it a paper with the sum of £l,OOO
marked in pencil, evidently intended to be an offer of that
sum as remuneration for the service required from his
lordship. Counsel were heard on Friday, in reply, and in
support of the lunatic's petition.

TRADE OF THE KINGDOM.—The returns of the Board
of Trade for the month ending the sth January last were
issued this morning. As regards imports, their most
remarkable feature is the large arrival of grain which was
held in bond ; the total of wheat, barley, and oats being
887,084 quarters, against 330,242 in the corresponding
month in the preceding year. The consumption of sugar,
tea, cocoa, and coffee has continued steady, but the im-
portations of the latter article were only 2,733,745 lbs.
against 11,711,894 lbs. in January, 1848. In dried fruits
there had been a considerable increase of importation, but
not of consumption. In silk manufactures of. Europe_
there has been a large Increase in both respects. Hides
of all descriptions, oils, and seeds, cotton, wool, and raw
silks, have also been largely received. In timber there
is a decrease of importation, and again a decrease in the
consumption of British description, with an increase of
foreign. With respect to exports, the return is again
strikingly favourable, and such as to confirm the highest
expectations expressed at the commencement of the pre-
sent year. As compared with the month ending the sth
January, 1848, they present an increase of not less than
£589,301. The increase in cotton, woollen, and linen
manufactures is very striking, and the continued falling
off in the exportation of machinery still shows the check
which has been given to foreign production.
THE OEFICERS SLAIN IN INDIA.—As the deepest inte-
rest will be felt to learn the military history of the British
officers killed in the action with the Sikhs, we subjoin a
few particulars respecting some of their number :—Briga-
dier Pennycuick. G. 8., K.H., entered the service in 1805,
and was formerly connected with the 17th Foot. He
served in the expedition to Java, and was in five actions,
and twice wounded. In 1814 he served at the capture of
Balli, and Macassar; in 1825-6 in the Burmese war. He
also served In the Affghanistan campaign ; was at Ghuz-
nee, Khelat, &c. In 1841 he destroyed the Arab posts in
Abahia. Lieut.-Col. Robert Brookes, of the 24th Foot,
also slain, was formerly in the 69th ; he was an old Penin-
sular officer, and entered the service in 1811. From the
latter year down to the end of the war he served in the
Peninsula, including the actions at Badajoz, Salamanca,
and, in all, 12 engagements ; he was wounded three times.
During the siege of San Sebastian he was acting engineer.
he accompanied a body of volunteers in the night attack
upon the island of Santa Clova. He proceeded to North
America with the force that embarked from Bordeaux, and
served there until the termination of the American war.
He was subsequently with the occupation army in France.
Major Harris was alsoa gallant veteran officer. He served
in America, the West Indies, and other quarters of the
globe. During his progress across the seas he several
times took part in encounters with French vessels. His
mother, we believe, resides in Liverpool. The Hon. H.,
M. Monckton, of the 29th Foot, was brother to Lord Gal,
way, M.P. for East Retford, Notts. He entered the ser-
vice in 1841. One of his eldest brothers held a Commis-
sion in the 80th Foot, and Was assasiusted wigie on, duty
at cOdu, 18.31 q