The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-03-16 00:00:00

FORM OF APPLICATION FOR SHARES,

TO THE PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE GREAT MADRAS
JUNCTION LAILWAY COMPANY.
Gentlemen,—l wish to become a Subsrciber for
shares in this undertaking, of per Share, the Deposit tr-on
which, or any less number of Shares that may be alloted to me,
I agree to pay, and I also undertake to sign the necessary deeds
when required to do so. —I am, Gentlemen, your obedient
servant,

Name
Address
Date

Reference

No Application for Acres can be received after March
1547,

THE BIRKENHEAD DOCK COMPANY.
ASPECIAL GENERAL MEETING of the PRO-
PRIETORS of the BIRKENHEAD DOCK. COMPANY
will be held, at the Offices of the Compa yrin-Cathcart-street,
in Birkenhead, on TUESDAY, the ay of April next, at
Twelve o'clock at Noon, for urpose of having submitted
to them the Draft of the • now before Parliament, to Conso-
lidate the Birkenh and Herculaneum - Dock Compauies.
Dated the first day March, 1847.
MACGREGOR LAIRD, Secretary.
THE HERCULANEUM DOCK COMPANY.
A SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING of the PRO-
PRIETORS of the HERCULANEUM DOCK COMPANY
will be held, at the Offices of the Birke Dock Company,
in Cathcart-street, in Birkenhe UESDA , the 6th day of
April next, at One o'clock • e Afternoon, for the purpose of
having submitted to tl the Draft of the Bill now before Par-
liament to Consoli " the Birkenhead and Herculaneum Dock
Companies. Dat the first day of March, 1847.
• MACGREGOR LAIRD, Secretary.

BIRKENHEAD (COMMISSIONERS') DOCKS.
THE COMMISSIONERS of the BIRKENHEAD
-I- DOCKS HEREBY GIVE NOTICE, that on or before the
sth day of April next, the first portion of the said DOCKS
WILL BE OPENED FOR BUSINESS.
Shipping frequenting these Docks will 'ect to Tonnabe
Dues only, the Acts of Parliame authorising the Com-
missioners to levy any Rates n Goods.
Full particulars as to Rates, Rules, and Regulations of
the said Docks will sl ybe issued ; and, in the meantime,
information may ad on application to Mr. RICHARD HIND,
at the Commissioners' Offices, Argyle-street, Birkenhead.
AMBROSE WALN, Clerk to the said Commissioners.
Dock-office, Birkenhead, 7th Jan„ 1847.

THE FOOD QUESTION ON THE CONTINENT.

The Moniteur of Saturday announces that the quantity
of foreign grain imported into France during the second
fortnight of February amounted to 391,811 hectolitres ;
viz. :

In the Atlantic harbours
In the Mediterranean
By the land frontier

81,472
293,193
17,146

Total..
The Imports during the first fortnight
were

Total in February
~ January
„ from July to December 2,542,220
Total from the Ist of July, 1846, to the
28th of February
The imports continued with the same activity since the
Ist of March.
The Moniteur publishes the following letters :
" ST. PETERSBURGii, FEB. 24.—1 t was never contem-
plated here to impede in any manner the exportation of
grain. The tendency was quite the contrary • and! the
most positive assurances enable me completely to rea.lsure
merchants in that respect."
. .. • _

" RIGA, FEB. 20.=-The merchants of our city have
lately made extensive purchases of grain. We expect to
receive by boats when the ice in the Duna breaks up,
50,000 lasts of rye, (the last contains 30i hectolitres,)
from 5,000 to 6,000 lasts of wheat, and 20,000 lasts of
barley, which will be shipped immediately. It is calcu-
lated that about 1,000 vessels will be required to export
that quantity of grain. French vessels would find it very
advantageous to come here and load corn."
" HAMBURGH, FEB. 26.—Upwards of 50,000 hectolitres
of wheat, destined principally for France, were lately pur-
chased in our market, to be delivered at a later period,
and numerous orders on the account of French merchants
have been received. The quantity of wheat lying in the
bonding stores amounts to 33,000 hectolitres, and that of
rye and other grain to 23,000."
The Commerce publishes a letter from Toulon, which
states that the steam corvette Titan had sailed from that
port for the Dardanelles, where she is to be stationed to
take in tow any vessels laden with grain which may require
the assistance.

The Reforme announces that wheat has risen If. 66e.
the hectolitre at Senlis ; at Sens, lf. 750. ; Saucerre, lf.
66c. ; Charleville, 4f. 66c. ; Epihal, 85c. ; Gisors, sf. ;
Mamers, 4f. ; Strasburgh and Nancy, lf. 50c. ; Luneville,
if. 30c. ; Nismes, If. ; Gallardon, 3f. 50c. ; Houdan, 4f. ;
and Orleans, 2f. I4c. Some fears being entertained by
the authorities of Elbuf for the tranquillity of the town,
which was menaced by thousands of workmen thrown out of
employment, the minister of the interior had placed 300
muskets at the disposal of the municipal administration,
to complete the armament of the National Guard. The
Journal de la Yonne announces that the same Minister
bad authorised the armament of the National Guard of
Auxerre.
The Journal de Lille of the 12th instant states that, at
the commencement of the corn market, on the preceding
day, a slight tendency to a decline in prices was perceptible.
Wheat, however, was scarce, and towards the conclusion
of the market it rose 2f, 19c. the hectolitre. The Metz
Gazette states that the number of starving peasants who
are flying from the Prussian and Bavarian Rhenish pro-
vinces to take refuge in France has become so great, that
the French authorities have been obliged to establish
pickets of cavalry on the frontier to repulse this new
species of invasion. The Reforme states, that in conse-
quence of the excessive dearness of provisions in Rheims,
mendicity has assumed an alarming character in that city.
Able-bodied men frequently enter the shops, and refuse to
quit until they are relieved either by donations of bread
or money.
The Independence of Brussels states that considerable
agitation prevails in that city in consequence of the high
price of bread, increased by the small supply of potatoes
brought to market, and which are sold at the rate of 13
francs for 2001 b. weight. A strong demonstration, how-
ever, on the part of the police has hitherto prevented any
disturbance. At Ghent the municipal authorities have
decided that when the price of rye bread shall exceed 30
centimes (3d.) for 21b. weight, and that of wheaten bread
40 centimes, the overplus is to be paid by the city. A
similar arrangement has been made by the municipal
council of Mons, and tickets to procure cheap bread are
distributed to the most indigent, besides a weekly pay-
ment in money. •
The Aressager de Gand confirms the accounts of the
pillage of a boat laden with grain on the Lys. The cargo
was intended for France, but 130 sacks were carried off by
the peasants. At Wavre a riot was commenced in the
market-place, and some sacks of potatoes were spilled on
the ground, but the appearance of a police force restored
order.

SPAIN.—A. Barcelona letter of the 7th states that Tris-
tany, one of the influential partisans of the Count de
Montemolin, had made an attempt on the small town of
Tarrasa, situated in the mountains eight leagues to the
north of Barcelona. At the head of three hundred men,
he had gained possession of the place by a coup de main,
but a detachment of the Queen's troops coming to its
rescue, drove Tristany again out of the place, notwith-
standing a vigorous resistance. The Montemolinists lost
fifteen men, and fled in disorder to the mountains. The
Queen's troops had an officer and five men killed.
EXTRAORDINARY SPEED AND POWER ON THE BROAD
GAUGE.—The greatest speed that has ever been reached
by the locomotive engine, was attained on Thursday last,
by the " Great Western," with the usual twelve o'clock
up express train from Exeter. The train from Didcot
consisted of six passenger carriages, with nearly every
seat filled, and the load, exclusive of the engine and
tender, was about 65 tons. The engine was driven by
Mr. Daniel Gooch, the locomotive superintendent of the
Great Western line, accompanied by Mr. M'Connell, the
locomotive superintendent of the London and North-
Western line. On arriving at the 30th mile-post, the
speed of the engine, which was merely her working time,
was found to be 64 miles per hour. The engine at this
time was working with the steam cut off at about nine
inches out of her stroke of 24. She was then allowed
to work with her steam cut off at 151 inches, and her
speed for the next quarter of a mile increased to the rate
of 69 miles per hour. The next quarter of a mile was
performed in rather less than 13 seconds ; and the fol-
lowing quarter of a mile in 12 seconds, or at the rate of
75 miles per hour. The gradient was a falling one, of
four feet per mile. After attaining this speed the power
of the engine was reduced to her ordinary working rate,
but there is no doubt that had her full power been put on,
a speed of 80 or 85 miles per hour could have been at-
tained. While working with the steam cut off at 131
inches, a speed of 691 miles per hour was reached on a
level. The fire box and the heating surface of the " Great
Western" locomotive are considerable below the capacity
of the broad guage, and we are quite satisfied that with
the road properly laid and in good order, and with some
general improvement in the "points" of railways, a velo-
city of 90 or 100 miles per hour may be reached on the
broad gunge line.—Morning Herald.
SCENES OF HORROI2.-Commander Caffin, of her Ma-
jesty's ship Scourge, has just published a second letter,
detailing some of the scenes he has witnessed in Ireland
recently. At the extreme south point of Belmullet,
county Mayo, is a village which, he says, " is seldom visited
by anybody, called Surgeview ; it has about 150 or 200
inhabitants. At this place they had been living upon
horseflesh for three weeks past. I rode there in order
that I might be able to bear testimony to their extreme
state of destitution. It was the fact, and on entering one
of the cabins, and being shown a piece of horse, my
heart sickened, but a moment's reflection led me to com-
mend these poor people to bring themselves to this rather
than allow themselves and their large families to die; some,
however, preferred death, or a miserable existence upon
limpets and sea-weed, which may be said to have kept
them in a state of existence during the winter, together
with a little fish which they catch when the weather per-
mits them to venture out in their frail boats, which are
only made of open basket-work, covered with horse hides
or canvas. In one cottage they had a quantity of the
horse flesh salted, and some of it smoked. I asked them
how they obtained this meat ? They said that the horses
died of starvation, and the owners of them skinned them,
and then allowed the flesh to be taken ; in some cases
taking a portion for their own use. In this village
lived an old lady with her two daughters—in fact the
village belongs to her. She says she cannot get the
rents paid, and the people impose upon her sadly. The
poor creature, with tears rolling down her cheeks,
told me she went to bed last night supperless, and cannot
tell how one meal in advance of the other is to be
obtained. She is the only Protestant in this wretched
village, and appears well prepared for that end which must
shortly overtake her. Her manners and those of her
daughter's are quite ladylike, whilst their dwelling is more
wretched than you can conceive—a mere hovel, clean as
far it could he. There was no sickness in this village, and
the looks of the people bespoke a better state of things
than we found. On our return we visited other villages ;
at Fallmore we found them eating horse-flesh, as in
Surgeview. Everywhere the poor creatures with their
children barely clad were to be seen searching for pota-
toes ; and ground which had not been cultivated for two
years, on account of the failure, they were now turn-
ing and returning, and had done this three and four
times over, still looking for some ; those that they got
were no larger than marbles. Their principal support
during the winter, as throughout this narrow neck of
land, was seaweads and limpets,"

THE FAMINE A ROD OF GOD; ITS PROVOKING
CAUSE-ITS MERCIFUL DESIGN.*

This is the title of a sermon just published by the Rev..
Hugh 111`Neile. Any profits from the sale will be added to
the funds entrusted to the St. Jude's Relief Committee in
aid of the destitute Scotch and Irish. The author, in an
excellent preface to the sermon, gives, " for the defence
and vindication of the Christianity of his own patriotism,"
a forcible and appropriate extract from a sermon preached
by Dr. Sherlock, Bishop of London, in 1716.
At the outset of the discourse, the reverend getilleman
calls on his hearers to do their part, "in personally
humbling themselves before God, each for his own share
of the sins which have brought wrath upon the realm ; "
and for their instruction and guidance in so doing, enun-
ciates the three following propositions, on each of whick
he makes some very powerful propositions

" First—God himself personally directs all the affairs of
this our world. Therefore, plagues, pestilences, wars,
ought to be considered as God's agencies, and not merely
as arising out of second causes, whether of the state of
the atmosphere or the ambition of men. Who hath ap-
pointed the rod ?

" Second—Plagues, pestilences, famines, wars, are used
by God as national punishments for sin. Hearthe rod.
Third—The immediate and merciful object of such
punishments, is to call the inhabitants of the suffering•
nation to repent, to acknowledge their transgressions, to
admit that they deserve the punishment, and to implore
pardon and peace through Jesus Christ. The man of
wisdom will look to this name, which is above every name
—even Jesus Christ, in and through whOm it is a right-
eous thing to receive graciously sinful men."
The argument as to the first proposition is conducted
in the author's usual pointed and argumentative style, and
is demonstrated by the production of a very large body of
scriptural truth.
In the course of the argument on the second point, we
find the following seasonable and just remarks as to the
provoking cause of the calamity under which, as a nation,
we at present suffer :

" Upon the authority of Holy Scripture, (the only au-
thority I am careful to claim,) I have now shewn that the
cause is to be traced to the sins of the nation. If we at-
tempt to say what sins, we must of course specify one sits
after another. In so doing, we do not mean to ascribe the
calamity to any one sin particularly ' • still less to any one
sin exclusively. Ai, on the one hand, we dare not say
concerning any one sin, that it is the entire cause ; so
neither, on the other hand, dare we say concerning any
one sin, that it is no part of the cause. Even the inspired
prophets assign the same calamity to many and different
sins ; and the fair application of the scriptural principle
cannot, of course, carry us any farther.. In immediate
connexion with our text,t Micah specifies, not only the
keeping of the statutes of the idolatrous Omri, but also
the scant measure, the wicked balances, and the deceitful
weights, as provoking causes for the wrath of God.
If we begin with idolatry, it is because God's law-
begins with forbidding idolatry. If we say, e. g., that it
is a sin in this nation to encourage the use of images in
worship, by educating and supporting, at the public ex-
pense, teachers who avow that they do, and will, and must
command the people to how down before images ; it is
because the law of God expressly, and in so many words,
condemns the practice, and in connexion with it threatens
to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation..

" This naturally, and indeed inevitably, suggests to the
mind certain public acts of this nation ; and, so far as it
goes, associates the calamity with those sinful acts. But
only, so far as it goes. He who would enumerate, must
specify ; but he does not close his enumeration, when he
has specified one particular. Who has ever ascribed the
calamity to this sin exclusively ? And who, I would ask,
on the other side, will venture to assert that this sin has
had no share in provoking the calamity ? If such calami-
ties be, as we have seen, punishments for sin, upon what
principle is it, that this sin in particular shall be exculpa-
ted ? Has God become partial in punishing some sins,
and'not all ? If he who bows to an image, and prays to a
creature ; or he who encourages these iniquities by his
advocacy or his sufferage, may plead that the cala-
mity is not for that sin, and that it is "untrue, and
unchristian, and impolitic " to say it is : then, the blas-
phemer may with equal justice plead, neither is it for my
particular sin ; and the Sabbath-breaker may say the
same ; and the undutiful child the same ; and the mur-
derer the same ; each will of course pleid excuse for his
own : and upon the principle in question, how can any
one of them be gainsaid ? "
We have then indignant rebukes of many of our other
national sins ; and the last which the author enumerates
is remarked upon as follows :

" And what are our statesmen doing in the meantime
They, too, have refused to hear the rod. God is not in
their thoughts, nor in their speeches, nor in their acts.
They avow their inability to determine the right meaning
of his divine revelation ; and, instead of boldly causing
the light of Christian truth to shine before men, they are
paralysed by the inquiry of Pontius Pilate, tauntingly reite-
rated by the idolator and the infidel, ' What is truth?'
Either their incompetence to decide on a true interpreta-
tion of Scripture, or their wilful determination to seek a
present hollow peace among men, in preference fo the in-
convenient but obvious duty of obedience to God, has led
to the dishonouring of his Sacred Word in their only at-
tempt at national education. Of course, true religion is
treated as a very little thing in their public assemblies :
and although some few among them are manifesting a
willingness to attend to what they are pleased to call reli-
gion—to wit, the baptised paganisms of the dark ages,
recently resuscitated under the glozing title of Catholic
traditions—it is plainly not as helps, but as substitutes for
genuine Christianity. The voice of anything like the gos-
pel of the grace of God is a strange voice among- them, a
voice from which they turn away, with faintly disguised
disgust, as from something vulgar and antiquated, retained
indeed in old and truly Anglican state papers, but alto-
gether unfit for modern fine gentlemen. The wisdom of
man, the foresight of man, the talent and taste of man,
the alculation of man ; these, and such as these, are the
themes which, when handled skilfully, lead the hearers
captive, and cause the speakers to be extolled ; _but God
is forgotten; and no wonder, then, that he pours con-
tempt upon the wisdom of the wise. Every department
of the vessel of the state is attended to, except the helm ;
and no wonder, therefore, that although the hulk be well
made, the rigging all sound and suitable, and the crew all
activity ; no wonder, we repeat, that the vessel reels, and
tosses and trembles. It is the presiding management of
the hand at the helm, that gives smoothness in the storm;
and that hand being neglected, the unwieldy bark totters
like a drunken man, the sailors are infatuated, and the
ignorant passengers are at their wit's end. And where is
the remedy sought for ? From the men at the pumps, so
to speak, labouring in vain to lessen the evil ; from the
men at the ropes, drawing and redrawing to see where the
mischief lies ; from the men in the rigging, our master.
spirits at the head of affairs, who sit in judgment upon the
ropes, and write pamphlets, and speak speeches, which
atheists might write and speak. I say not that the writers
and speakers are atheists, but that men who are atheists
might be the writers and speakers. Thus is help sought
for everywhere, except from the Great God at the helm,
who alone can rebuke the winds and the seas, and make a
great calm."

The reverend gentleman improves the subject by prac-
tically remarking on the third division of the subject, in
the course of which he enlarges, in the tenderest and most
affectionate language, on the condescending expostulations
of Almighty God with a guilty people, inviting them to
repentance and amendment.

Appended to the sermon are the author's letters on the
Irish distress, and published here at the request of the
St. Jude's Relief Committee. The first, our readers will
remember, was published on the sth January, and ad--
dressed " to the merchants, bankers, gentry, and trading
classes of the town of Liverpool ; " and the second was
published in our columns on the 16th ultimo.
*The Famine a Rod of God; its Provoking Cause—its Merciful
Design. A Sermon, preached in St. Jude's Church, Liverpool,
on Sunday, February 28, 1847, by the Rev. Hugh M‘Neile, Hon.
Canon of Chester. Published for the St. Jude's Relief Com-
mittee. London: Seeley and Co.; Liverpool: A. Newling.
t Micah, 6 c. 9 v.

GUN CorroN.—The other day, a successful experiment
was made with this element of destruction, in Auchlee
quarry, Aberdeenshire. The necessary boring having
been made previously, the gun cotton was introduced in
the usual manner, and the communications of the wires
with a galvanic battery (which was the means taken to
ignite the cotton) being speedily and easily effected, due
precautions were used for the safety of the onloOkers, and
orders given to proceed with the charge. The
,effect was
instantaneous. Nearly 20 tons of rock were displaced by
the concussion. - Compared with the effects of gunpowder,
the result was far more satisfactory ; there was less frag-
menary destruction, but a greater extent of rock loosened,
while the danger to bystanders was much lessened.
Tux NAVIGATION LAWS.—MEETING OF SHIP-
OWNERS.--A public meeting of " owners and commanders,.
and tradesmen connected with the building and equipment
of British ships, and others interested in the prosperity of
British navigation, as an indispensable element of national
security," was held on Thursday evening at. the Eastern
Institution, Commercial-road, London, " for adoption of
the most energetic measures for averting the evils threa-
tened by the proceedings now pending in parliament on
the subject of the Navigation-laws." Mr. Dunbar, the
chairman of the General Shipowners' Society, of London,
presided, and, in introducing the business of the evening,
said that nothing would have induced him to present him-
self to the meeting were he not deeply interested in the
question they were met to discuss, nor would he have
been present were it not that they were demanding a right
to which they were justly entitled. He maintained that
the constitution of the committee of the House of Com-
mons was an unfair one, inasmuch as most of the gentle-
men who composed it had already made up their minds
on the subject, and expressed them in their Writings and
public addresses. Mr. G. F. Young then addressed the
meeting, and after arguing on the necessity of maintain-
ing the Navigation-laws, under which the nation had
risen to its present maritime pre-eminence, 114 moved tine
following resolution :—" That an inviolable adhesion to
the principles on which the Navigation-laWs of Great
Britain are founded, is indispensable to the maintenance
of an extensive national marine, as a nursery for the navy,
and as a source of supply of national artisanS; and that
in the defence of those laws, when attacked, it is conse-
quently the duty not only of those who are interested in
maritime commerce in its various branches, but of all who_
estimate duly the importance of providing for the national
security, cordially to unite." The resolution was unani-
mously adopted. Several other gentlemen addressed t , h
meeting, al
morialised

given for

up.
The mini
and has bee,

with this
time is now

Majesty,

aiidiiwail;e;iii;ii parliament should be me-
ion the subject. A volley of the . • • • then
the Navigation-laws, and • , , ... r. 4
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