The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-17 00:00:00

POLL BOOK

We are glad to find that a complete list of the voters
polled for the election of Sixteen Councillors for this
Borough, on the 2d of November, is already in the
hands of the printers, and will be immediately pub-
lished. It will skew the duplicate qualifications of
the voters, and the wards in which they polled. The
list has been examined with the polling papers in the
possession of the Mayor. It will be found of great
value as a book of reference, and will prove of great
service in carrying on the canvass for the ensuing
year.

Ebe XiberPoot A)tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 17, 1840,

By the arrival of the Great Liverpool, from the Me-
diterranean, we have received files of Bombay papers
to the 30th of September, of Malta papers to the 31st
of October, and of Gibraltar papers to the 26th of
October. Their contents have, however, been antici-
pated by the arrival of the overland mail from India.
The London mails of the 30th of September and the
sth October, for India, Egypt, and Syria, still re-
mained at Malta waiting instructions as to their dis-
posal. We copy from the Malta Times of the 31st
ultimo the following account of the operations of the
combined fleets of the allies off the coast of Syria.
Beyrout, 22d October, 1840.

DEAR SlR,—Since closing my last, Tripoli, Tortosa, and
Latakia, have been quietly evacuated by the enemy, the three
castles of the first named place were mined and fired, but one
only succeeded in exploding. A report having reached the
admiral that Acre had been evacuated, the Phoenix was de-
spatched to ascertain the truth, and on the 20th having com-
municated with the Revenge, at anchor off Kaifa, and taken

on board Captain Waldegrave at 4 p.m., proceeded to recon-
noitre the place, which was very soon ascertained not to have
been evacuated, as on the approach of the steamer to within
a mile of the town, the whole of the batteries opened on her,
to which she quickly replied, and after half an hour's smart
cannonading, and the service having been fully performed,
she returned to this place yesterday morning. Acre appears
to be strongly fortified, as from 50 to GO guns were engaged
by firing on the Phoenix, and appear to have been well served,
as many of the shot passed over and near, and, but from her
lowness in the water, she must have been hulled repeatedly.
The Talbot and one Austrian steamer arrived from Constan-
tinople yesterday with troops, and the Hastings sailed for
Malta, and this morning the Vanguard arrived. 3,000
Turkish troops (part of which have arrived and the com-
mander on their passage here) make the first detachment of
the 10,000 coming. The whole coast from Latakia to Cape
Bianca near Acre is quietly in our possesion. The marines
belonging to the ships are all re-embarked, and only the
supernumeraries remain on shore, and are divided between
this and Sidon. The squadron still continue very sickly ;
Lieut. Penny of the Gorgon is dead, and was buried here
yesterday with military honours. Lord Fred. Kerr is ap-
pointed to the Gorgon in his stead. Sir C. Smith has
established his head-quarters here, and all are busily em-
ployed in organising the Turks. Most of the Egyptian
prisoners are embarked in transports, and will shortly leave
for Cyprus.

The following is the present distribution of the fleet :
At Beyrout.—Princess Charlotte, Powerful, Edinburgh,
Bellerophon, Vanguard, Talbot, Gorgon, Wasp, Hydra,
(since arrived at Malta), Phoenix and Confiance, Austrian
and Turkish admirals and squadron, a Russian schooner,
and Brilliante French corvette.
At Sidon.—Thunderer.—Thunderer, Pique and an Austrian

frigate.
At Tortosa.—Carysfort

At Scandaroon or thereabout.—Benbow, Zebra, Magicienne,

and Stromboli

Off Acre.—Revenge.
Off Alexandria.—Asia, Ganges, Implacable, Cambridge
Daphne, Dido.
At Tyre.—Castor, Hazard, and an Austrian corvette.
Gone to Malta.—Hastings, Cyclops.

We learn from the same journal that on the sands
outside Acre there was a cavalry camp of about 1000
strong, and that from appearances they seemed to be
making additional works in the town. It was not pro-
bable that any attempt would be made upon it for
some time, as the weather had already begun to be
somewhat boisterous.

The pitched battle with Ibrahim Pacha afforded
an excellent opportunity to show the bravery and
fidelity of the Turks. Ibrahim had taken up a very
strong position near Beyrout with 3000 men. Four
thousand Turks were sent against him, under the com-
mand of Selim Pacha, assisted by General Jockmuss,
Commodore Napier, and Col. Hodges. The attack
was so impetuous that in a few minutes Ibrahim was
completely routed. One thousand Egyptians were
made prisoners, and the rest were killed and wounded,
or took flight. With respect to the general war, it is
stated that the Egyptian army, at the most moderate
calculation, has lost 20,000 in killed, wounded, pri-

soners, and deserters.
The Malta Times furnishes us with the following
extracts of a letter, dated the 18th ultimo, from one of
the ships stationed off Beyrout, which will be found

interesting

Since my last we have taken Sidon, Tyre, Kaifa, and in
fact are in possession of every place, except Beyrout, between
Tripoli and Sidon, Ibrahim, they say, is retiring on Bal-
bee ; and Osman Paella got driven back by the mountaineers
and left with only 1,000 men. Soliman Pasha has retired
with a few men to about three hours distance, and considers
his cause almost desperate.
At Sidon, the Thunderer, Austrian Prince's frigate,
steamers Cyclops, Hydra, Gorgon, and Stromboli, battered
away for about two hours, then landed the troops at different
places to charge simultaneously. The Turks numbered
about GOO, the Austrians 100, and the English GOO. They
met with a sharp resistance, and had not the colonel com-
manding the besieged been killed, our troops would have been
nearly all destroyed ; for they had manned the houses, and
bulleted our men with a fearful advantage. However, they
all laid down their arms when the colonel was killed, and we
became masters of the town. It was a hazardous affair, but
it succeeded well. The commodore led the shore-going at-
tack, and of course:it was done in a sailor-like style. I re-
gret to say the town was sacked, but not by the English.

We too had a little affair. A deserter came off and told us
he had been present at the placing of a train of 200 barrels of
powder beneath the old Venetian castle, to blow it up. Com-
mander Worth, Lieut. H. C. Schomberg, with three mids.,
and a mid. of the Hastings, volunteered to go and take it up,
andbring away the powder. They manned a barge, pinnace,
and gig, set off at daylight, and within pistol-shot of the ene-
my, succeeded in bringing off 30 barrels of powder, and pitch-
ing 70 overboard. In this daring exploit we lost only the
midshipman, Mr. Luscombe, and one seaman ; one seaman
and the deserter were slightly wounded. Whilst on shore,
our ships continued throwing shot to keep away the enemy,
and so admirably were they directed, that they passed within
three feet of our people's heads, who, however, knew there
was nothing to fear from such gunners as ours. The attempt
to remove the powder was renewed in the evening, but they
were better prepared, and kept up a tremendous fire, which
the balls from our ships little checked ; but they had the
effect of frightening the enemy, so that they could not take
aim, and no one was killed, though the boats were riddled.
The Edinburgh's boats assisted on this occasion and had
one man wounded. We got out 11 barrels more, and threw
some into the sea, then cut off the train, which led over a
bridge communicating with the town and castle. The same
night the mine was fired; indeed they blew one part of it up
before our boats left. This affair cost the enemy the loss of
sixty men, besides officers. The mine was intended as a sa-
lute to us, when we should get into the town, and immor-
talize us in its ruins.—The Benbow has been unfortunate.
She sent boats to land marines to take Tortosa, a castle near
Tripoli ; the boats grounded, with deep water between them
and the shore, and they encountered a heavy fire from be-
hind a wall, by which eight of the crew were killed and
eighteen wounded—a greater loss than at the taking of Sidon,
where we had only six killed and twenty wounded.
Mr. Cumming, mate, who led the Turks in the attack on

Sidon, and carried all before him, behaved so manfully as to
elicit the warmest commendations of Commodore Napier,
who has given an account of his conduct to the Admiralty
cud recommended his promotion.

We have received a file of the Sydney Gazette to the
14th of May. These papers merely. supply us with
intermediate dates.

By the royal mail steamship Acadia, Captain Mil-
ler, we have received New York papers to the 31st ul-
timo, Boston papers to the Ist, and Halifax papers to
the 3d, all dates inclusive. The Acadia arrived here
on Sunday, having accomplished the passage from
Boston in 13 days and 20 hours. Owing to the pre-
vious arrival of the Garrick, in little more than 15 days
from New York, the news brought by the Acadia only
extends over the space of four days later.
The principal topic of discussion in the American
papers is that of the election frauds. Our contempo-
rary of the Journal has not found it convenient to en-
ter at length upon this subject. He merely remarks
that the charge " seems to rest on the sole authority of
the New York Herald." So far is this from being the
case that the charge rests solely upon a mass of docu-
mentary evidence, in the shape of affidavits, which oc-
cupy about six closely printed columns of the Herald.
A letter on this subject appears in the city article of the
London Times, which seeks to invalidate the statements
put forth in the New York Herald. The writer, how-
ever, does not attempt to rebut the evidence upon which
the whole case depends. He merely deprecates the
violent language in which the Herald indulges while
writing on the subject. The exaggerated tone of our
transatlantic contemporary has nothing to do with the
real merits of the case. The facts disclosed in the
evidence to which we have referred are quite sufficient
to satisfy any unprejudiced mind that frauds of the most
scandalous character have been committed in the
United States in the cloak of the ballot. The repub-
lican party in this country would be highly delighted if
they could obtain similar facilities for influencing our
general elections. They would not, for a moment,
hesitate to resort to the same tricks as those which have
been recently exposed in the United States. We
know the principles of the party too well to justify any
more favourable opinion of their political morality than
that which we have expressed.
The latest returns of the state elections appear to be
generally in favour of General Harrison, although the
faiends of Mr. Van Buren are still confident of suc-

The commercial and monetary intelligence from the
United States will be found in another column. The
rate of exchange upon England remained at 10S to
109.

The commissioners appointed by the United States'
Government to survey the disputed boundary had
completed their task, and were on their return. They
assert that the line claimed by the United States is the
true line.

There is no news whatever in the Halifax or Cana-
dian papers which have reached us.

The election of a Socinian to fill the office of mayor
of one of the most thoroughly conservative boroughs
in the kingdom has, as we anticipated, excited the re-
probation and disgust of a great majority of our fel-
low-townsmen. The members of the Church of Eng-
land feel it as a studied and gratuitous insult, and will
resent it accordingly. It is one added to the many
outrages which the council has already directed against
the established religion of the land. But in the minds
of a large and influential class of Protestant Dissent-
ers who, although liberals in politics, do not happen to
be enamoured of the Socinian principles of Mr. Tho-
mas Bolton, the election of that gentleman has raised
a strong suspicion that a principle on which they have
hitherto existed—viz., the principle that religious opi-
nions form no test of fitness for political privileges—
may be carried to an extreme length. Coupled with
this feeling is the consciousness that claims equally as
strong as those of Mr. Bolton have been overlooked in
the persons of individuals of their own religious opi-
nions ; and that the direct tendency of this ultra libe-
ralism of the council is to establish as an axiom that,
in Whig-radical estimation, the worst religionist the bet-
ter politician, the better magistrate, or the better mayor !

We are ourselves quite of opinion with our dissent-
ing fellow-townsmen. Had a Socialist been in the
council, he must, on this principle, have been preferred
to the Socinian, Mr. Bolton ; had an open Infidel been
within their reach, the tyrant majority of the couucil
must have been delighted at the opportunity of dis-
playing their inordinate liberality in his election. Away
with those shackles:which the practical decency of our

forefathers has imposed upon us ! We live in an era
of enlightenment; and provided he have the ordinary
faculties of mankind, and is of right liberal principles,
what matter if the man of our choice be a Musseltnan
or a Hindoo. The nearer to the church the further
from any chance of Whig-radical preferment !

We must repeat our confident expectation that this
appointment is one which cannot but be advantageous
to the cause of true conservatism. It is high time that
professing churchmen and Protestant dissenters should
see the tendency of their alliance with popery and infi-
delity in political matters. In the abstract it may be
easy to argue that religion and politics have no con-
nexion with each other; but in practice it will one day
or other be found that their connexion is intimate.
There are few men who would boast of their connexion
with a community of which an Infidel is the elected
head ; and between Infidelity and Socinianism the
choice is only one of degree. The point of the wedge
admitted, the entrance of the entire instrument will be
matter of easy accomplishment.
As a whole the proceedings of the present session of
the council, so far as it has gone, will, we trust, not be
lost upon our fellow-townsmen. We ourselves were
quite prepared for this, and are prepared for further
outrages upon decency. Whig-radicalism, although
still supreme in the council, is at the last gasp. The
head of the incubus is bruised, but the tail is still lively
as ever ; and it is the nature of all venomous things to
sting with the more deadly effect the nearer they ap-
proach extinction. We fully anticipate from the ma-
jority of the present council a more marked disrespect
for public opinion and a more insulting tone towards
their political opponents than has distinguished the
party in their more " palmy" days ; and we are there-
fore the less surprised at the various impertinencies
which characterise the proceedings of Monday and
I Tuesday's council.

The Mercury of Friday last has a long, dull, and
verbose article on the subject of the corporation
schools, in which the writer endeavours to prove that
the Bible neither is, nor ever was, excluded from those
schools. This question lies in a nut-shell, and may be
disposed of in a very few words. The Education
Committee, some five years ago, decided upon adopting
the Irish system of national education in the corpora-
tion schools. This system notoriously excludes the
Bible from its schools, and only permits an hour to
be set apart for separate religious instruction, not under
the schoolmaster's inspection, but under the voluntary

superintendence of the various ministers of religion.
The resolution adopting this Bible-excluding system
has never, to this day, as far as we are cognizant of
the matter, been rescinded by either the Committee or
the Council. Let that resolution be first rescinded,
and then we shall be prepared to enter into an argu-
ment with the Mercury. Until that is done, all the
assertions of the Mercury are not worth a rotten nut.

We dare say that our readers have occasionally met
with some male or female tabby, whose on dits have
passed invariably for law—whose jokes have been re-
peated again and again to admiring circles—whose
pilfered wit has always met with the ready laugh—and
whose superhuman displays of learning have furnished
a theme for the wondering comments of gaping auditors.
Woe to the unfortunate wight whose daring tongue
should venture to disturb the complacency of such an
oracle—to question the correctness of her word—to
doubt the originality of her witticisms, or deny the
accuracy of her note-book !
We ourselves are unluckily in this predicament. We
have offended the nice sense of delicacy which distin-
guishes the respectable old lady whose editorial lucu-
brations adorn the pages of the Liverpool Mercury.
We have rudely impugned the verity of her oracular
wisdom ; and are not to be honoured with more of her
sweet conversation until we have learned to clothe our
remarks in more gentlemanly language. Mercy on us !
How are we to survive under so lamentable a depriva-
tion ?

Sad, however, and cruel as we feel it to be, we are,
nevertheless, bound to submit. In the performance of
our duty to the public we cannot avoid being sometimes
cruel, but are never willingly rude. On the occasion
which has given such heavy offence to the Mercury we
convicted that veracious print of having presented to
its readers a mass of senseless misrepresentation, pur-
porting to be a report of the proceedings of the late
municipal election : and, in proof, we particularized an
instance in which the reporter had studiously omitted
the details of a judicial inquiry, in order that he might
be able to falsify the result. We did this in plain lan-
guage certainly. Our object was to shew, and we did
shew pretty distinctly, that, however ingenious its quips
and cranks, its riddles and charades, the reports of
passing events which that paper contains are rendered
utterly worthless by being distorted, and even falsified,
to serve the pnrposes of party.

It was matter of difficulty to rebut what we had ad-
vanced, and therefore it is that our contemporary takes
refuge in—his gentility ! Even in that refuge, how-
ever, we shall be compelled to disturb him, by bringing
before his notice an instance of gross and flagrant lying
in his last publication. In a leading paragraph, headed
" North Toxteth Ward," after alluding briefly to the
melancholy decease of Mr. W. W. Currie, the writer
goes on to say, "The tories, with their usual disregard
of decency, on the same day, and almost immediately
after the melancholy intelligence was known, called a
meeting, organized their canvassers, and commenced
at once by sending out thirty of their body, who were
at work until one o'clock in the morning !" Now,
reader, what "taffeta words"—what silk-paper phrases
can we possibly find to characterize such a statement as
this ? We have the authority of the candidate himself,
and of a numerous public meeting of his committee
and friends, for declaring that, from first to last, the
Mercury's statement is the very reverse of true. The
disregard of decency spoken of was evinced by Mr.
Rathbone and his friends, who were busily engaged in
convassing the ward before Mr. Smith's friends took a
single step to secure his return
We will not he so uncharitable as to say that our

contemporary was aware of this fact. It served the
purpose of his party, however, to circulate the slander,
and to do this the Mercury is the ready and servile
tool. The lie is now in every tap-room and beeihouse
in the ward ; and, on what Mr. Thomas Bolton would
term the authority of an anonymous editor of a news-
paper, Mr. Alexander Smith and his friends are to be
twitted at every step of their canvass with inhumanity
and indecency. The sole end and aim of the slanderer
will thus ever be answered whilst conservative supine-
ness allows this locomotive register-office for clerks
and servants out of place to boast of its "extensive
circulation," and to poesess the power of scattering its
venom so widely.

The alarming frequency and the fatal consequences
of railway accidents, within- the last few weeks, loudly
demands the interference of the legislature. The public
will not rest satisfied unless something is done in order
to obviate, as much as possible, such lamentable ca-

tastrophes

It must be evident that the paucity of accidents on
the Liverpool and Manchester, the Grand Junction,
and several other lines, when compared with what has
taken place on the lines on which so many lives have
been recently sacrificed, must be taken as a proof of
superior care and management on the former lines.
Culpability must, therefore, rest somewhere in con-
nection with the recent accidents. There must be some
lack of judicious management, some imperfection in
the regulation and superintendence of certain lines, to
account for the great disparity in the number of acci-
dents to which we allude. It behoves the directors of

those lines which have of late been so much prejud

with the public, to institute the most rigid inquiries
into the subject. Amidst the conflicting statements
which have been published respecting the causes of the
late accidents it is frequently difficult to point out
where the blame rests ; but that blame does attach in
some quarter, we feel justified in assuming, from the
circumstance that accidents are of such rare occur-
rence on some of the old-established lines. The

directors of the lines which have obtained so melanc

a notoriety within the last few weeks may rest satisfies
that a material loss of public patronage will eventuall3
result, unless they adopt some better regulations fo:
ensuring the safety of their passengers. Justice am
humanity, as well as the dictates of common sense
loudly demand an inquiry into this subject.

The frightful and heartrending casualties reco
in our paper of this day afford additional reason

pressing this subject upon the minds of railway dire

tors. From the particulars which we have elsewher
furnished it is quite evident that there has been a gross
neglect of proper precaution displayed. Whether the

engineers, or the machinery, or the general superin.

tendents, are to blame, we do not pretend to say; but
we do sal' that a culpable degree of inattention to the

, ._
ordinary means of security has been manifested ; and

we (16 not hesitate to affirm that the interference of th

legislature, for the prevention of such accidents in
future, will be imperatively demanded by the public
voice during the next session of parliament. The rapid
multiplication and extension of our railways, and the
consequent great increase of travelling by this mode of
conveyance, render it still more necessary that parlia-

it should devise some more stringent regulations
any at present in existence, for the public protec-
. But, first of all, we repeat, let the directors of
various companies see what may be done by irn-
ving their regulations and mechanical arrangements.

We rejoice to learn that the cau

of conservatism

•er presented a more' triumphant aspect than it does

wesent throughout the whole of North Waits

remendous efforts were made previously to the late
.vision by the radical faction in every county in that
irt of the Principality. Those efforts have, however,
roved utterly unsuccessful. In the county of Denbigh,
Tecially, the conservatives have gained materially on

the last registry. Many cases occurred in which the
radicals had neglected to pay the shilling with their
claims to the overseers. In one parish, near Denbigh,

8 objections made by the conservative agent were sus-
lined on that point. At Llanrwst the whip party
ejected to all the conservatives indiscriminately, most

f are gentlemen of the greatest respectability,
Sin number. The objections were served by a coin-
non bailiff, who went to their residences at the last
aoment. It so happened that this bailiff, either from
[rink or some other cause, forgot to serve any of the
Iverseers until it was too late, so that, notwithstanding

attetnpt to annoy the electors by giving them the

Duble to attend the court to support their votes, (being
•eviously on the register,) the objection taken to the

ervice on the overseer by the conservative agent pre-

ed. If any thing could induce an elector to exert
isellit would be such conduct as this

N very im-

)octant objection was taken by the conservative agent
,o the objections made by the Whig party at Chirk,
Ruabon, and another parish, viz., that Mr. Morris, a
?rincipal tenant of Mr. Biddulph, and the general ob-
ector in those districts, died some weeks before the
registration, and that the objections must therefore fall
to the ground, there being then no objector in law, no
Dne to authorise the advocate to support his objections,
no one to withdraw an objection, no one liable to costs
in case the objections were frivolous and vexatious,
and that at law, if a party, during the progress of the
cause, died, there was an end of it. These objections

were very numerous, particularly at Ruabon, which is
a populous parish. The learned revising barrister
stated that he had looked into all the books, and there
was no case of the kind, and decided on reserving the
point until the last day of the registration. He ulti-
mately gave judgment at Ruthin, and stated that the
objection taken by Mr. Home, the agent of the con-
servatives, must prevail, and that all the names would
therefore be retained.

The success of our Denbighshire friends is, however,
not greater than that which has attended the efforts of
the conservatives in the adjoining counties; and we
have no hesitation in saying that radicalism has sus-
tained its death-blow in North Wales.

The return of the aldermen and assessors of Mr

ackburn as the representative of Lime-street Ward,

Las suggested one or two questions very proper to be
lut to some of the leading supporters of that gentle-
man. The first is, whether a person of independent

olitics was not engaged by the Reform Association,
he day before the election, to act as poll-clerk ?—the
,ext, whether the chairman of the Ward Reform As-
ociation did not, upon his own authority, on the

)rning of the election, dismiss this person, and ap-

point instead a clerk in his own service ?—and,
whether it was not in the book kept by the individual
who had been so appointed that the errors were de-
tected, by which the principles of the burgesses were
misrepresented, and Mr. Kilshasv wronged

The contest for the election of a councillor to re-
sent North Toxteth Ward, in the room of the late
lamented W. W. Currie, Esq., is likely to be one of
the most severe that Liverpool has for some time wit-
nessed. Both parties have had their public meetings,
and both candidates are now formally introduced to
the notice of the electors. The sensible and energetic
speech of Alexander Smith, Esq. will be found in ano-
ther column, and amply justifies the choice which the
conservatives have made. Mr. Rathbone's address 15
also before the public, and must be pronounced one of
the most flippant and insolent productions that ever
emanated even from the pen or the lips of this virulent
traducer of his fellow townsmen. By way of compli-
ment to the electors he asserts that he is " well aware
of the cruel intimidation, the undue influence, and the
corruption that have been made use of in some of the
wards." These complimentary terms, we feel assured,
will be appreciated as they ought to be by the inde-
pendent electors of North Toxteth. They will cast
them in Mr. Rathbone's teeth on the day of election•
If the charge of intimidation and corruption be ap-
plicable in any quarter it is so in reference to the recent
proceedings of the radical faction in almost every ward

in the town.
The electors of North Toxteth will do honour to
themselves by the rejection of the rejected of Pitt-street
ward. They will, we trust, teach Mr. Rathbone that
they are not to be insulted with impunity. They will,
we hope, prove that bribery, corruption, and intimida-
tion cannot induce them to give the preference to a
man whose political character has been already con-
demned by a large class of the electors of Liverpool.
We hope that three hours from the commencement of
the election will not elapse before Mr. Rathbone re-
ceives demonstrative evidence that he is the rejected Of
North Toxteth.