The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-09-14 00:00:00

to him, for which £7OO have been contributed,. satisfac-
tory as a compliment, but inadequate as a recompense.

SAGACITY OF THE CROW.-A few days ago., the atten-
tion of several persons was excited at St. Ives by the un-
usual noise made by a crow which had built her nest and
hatched her young in the chimney of an uninhabited
house near the Wesleyan Chapel, in that town. On ex-
amination, it appeared that a cat had discovered the young
birds, and was trying to dislodge them • but every time
puss put her head into the chimney the crow pounced
upon her hinder parts, and then flew off to a neighbouring
chimney. The crow perceiving that she was unable
singly to put the enemy to flight, flew to the tower of a
church, and brought seven others, which proceeded to
assail the cat in the way before described, until she was
so severely wounded as to be obliged to retreat, minus
pretty much of her fur, and bleeding profusely.— West
Briton.

It is stated in the St. James' Chronicle, the Church and
State Gazette, and several other papers, that the authoress
of " Oxford to Rome" is a Miss Harris, of Wallingford,
sister to Dr. Harris, author of " Mammon" and other
prize essays, and now theological tutor of Lady Hunting-
don's college at Cheshunt, Herts. She is stated to have
been formerly a member of Mr. Oakley's congregation ;
and the latter gentleman is accused of having drawn up
her recantation, which was addressed to the Guardian,
and appeared in a late number. A correspondent of the
above papers, under the initials " 11. W. L.," states that
he has proofs that the act on the part of,the lady was com-
pulsory, and that, if necessary, he is ready to give his
name. This he ought to have done at first—and till he
does, his statement is worth only so much waste paper—
although appearances may warrant his conclusions.
A gentleman, a few days since, was. bitten by a viper,
in Derbyshire. He recovered with difficulty. He mis-
took the viper for the harmless snake. The viper, when
the skin has been recently sloughed, is frequently, as in
the case above related, mistaken for the common snake,
infallible,
namely, there is one distinguishing mark which is
namely, that the harmless reptile has invariably a broad,
wdt
heri el-ad et
, fianne iynel ltohwe o‘ri
poerrant
this
ei; coi
alo uwraendti
wanting.
g Theroun a
tttheer
named reptile is seldom seen more than eighteen or twenty
inches long, while the common snake will attain the
length of four or even five feet, and is of a beautifully
tapering form throughout. It may be added that the
viper is most commonly met with in elevated and dry
situations, while the snake generally chooses low marshy

ground near the water. -
BEES.—Mr. George Sanderson,. of Richmond, who is
a bee fancier, took a hive last week, which was placed in
a garden about 200 yards from his house. In order to
preserve his bees a fumigation from dried fungus was
used, which threw the whole of the inhabitants of the
hive into a state of insensibility, and when in that state
the hive, which weighed-nearly six stones, was removed,
and a new one was plhced• over them. The bees when.
restored to animation, finding their treasure gone, took
flight in search of it :, they were seen to visit many places
in the neighbourhood, and at last, to the great surprise of
their owner, the whole swarm entered his shop. They
were supplied during the night with part of their lost
treasure, and in the morning, being found bound together,
they were placed in their new habitation, and now seem
content to settle there.
A MAN WORRIED BY A BEAR.—On Friday week, a
man, named Rawson, was attending a tea-garden at New-
town, near Carlisle, where a North American bear was

kept chained to a tree in an unenclosed space. Rawson
held out some crumbs of bread to the bear, which it took
quietly from, his hand. He then offered his hand without
bread, when, the bear, with both its fore-paws, suddenly
seized him by the arm, and dragged him within its circle,
throwing him down, and instantly commencing to worry
him. An old man courageously seized the infuriated
animal by the collar, and Mrs. Cowen (Mr. C. I

,utterer.
cceeded

from home) got hold' of its chain ; but both tl
proved ineffectual to relieve the unfortunate
Two men speedily arrived with pitch-forks, and
in forcing off the bear, and dragging the man from within
its reach. It made no attempt to turn upon its assailants,
Rawson was found to be dreadfully lacerated. He lin-
gered until Monday morning. The bear was immediately
shot.
EDUCATION WITHOUT RELIGION.—There
_is one as-

Lt the present time, to y
Duke de Praslin the 1

pect presentea
which Englishmen oub
unnoticed. We have IL,
possible evidence of the dL
gion. The mournfully inte.,—
which have been published by the French govern
ge I show that here lies the foundation of her domestic di
- - " Ala.

NOVEL MODE OF SWINDLING.—Perhaps one of the
most singular cases of swindling ever heard of was perpe-
trated at Birmingham a day or two ago. A fellow, calling
himself M. Halbert, took apartments at Mrs. Anderson's
in New street, in that town, a short time since ; having
fairly installed himself, he paid a visit to Mr. Perkins, a
jeweller, in Caroline-street, and after representing himself
as the agent of a Hamburg house, Made selections of
jewels to the value of £4O ; Mr. Perkins himself shortly
afterwards conveyed the jewels to his customer's apart-
ments, and after a little chat, Halbert begged the jeweller
to make out a duplicate invoice of the goods, at the same
time he deposited the jewels in a closet within the apart-
ment in which they were sitting ; after this he begged
that Mr. Perkins would stay and take a glass of wine with
him, and he left the wine in order to procure it not re-
turning within a reasonable time, the jeweller rang the
bell, and made inquiry after his host ; the answer was
that he had left the house some time. This gave. rise to
suspicions which were soon discovered to be too well
grounded; the closet which Halbert had deposited the
jewels had also a door which opened from without the
apartment in which- they had been sitting ; of this cir-
cumstance the swindler had taken advantage. After
leaving the room, be-by this means possessed himself of
the jewels and quietly decamped. He has not since been
heard of.

DEATH FROM STARVATION AT NOTTINGIHAM.—On
Tuesday last an inquest, which disclosed circumstances of
a very distressing. nature, was held by the coroner, Mr.
Brown. Harriet Atkins, aged 52 (the deceased), the wife
of James Atkins, of Coalpit-lane, had been separated
from her husband' six years, five of which had been passed
in the union-workhouse. During the last 11 months she
had lived with, Charlotte Sims, wife of William Sims,
coachmaker, Brook-street, where she tried to got her liv-
ing by sewing, but latterly she had not anything at all to
do. She had ls. 6d. a-week and a quartern loaf from the
parish, which is all she had to livaupon for the last two
months. She paid Is. 6d. a week, for a furnished room,
so that thc.quartern loaf constituted her whole support.
She has been confined to her bed three weeks. No ap-
plication was made to the parish.for extra relief; and on
her husband being asked to do something for her, he said,
" he could not do anything, bubwhen she died he would
bury her." Last week she bought a half.quartern loaf
for 2Ld., a halfpennyworth of butter, a halfpennyworth of
tea, &halfpennyworth of sugar, a halfpennyworth of rai-
sins, and a penny farthingworth of tobacco, towards which
Mrs. Sims gave her halfpenny. This was all she had
during the week. She objected to go into the workhouse.
Mr. Hugoe, surgeon to the union, went to see her on
Saturday ; he found her in a dying. state ; and in about,
an hour after she fell out of bed. On Mrs. Sims going up.
stairs she found her on the-floor, quite dead. Verdict,—
" Died for the want of the common necessaries of life!'
COMMERCIAL FAILURES, &c.—The London Times
gives, amongst the recent failures, that of Sanders, We-
therill and Co., of Stockton-on-Tees. The liabilities of
the firm are stated to be between £20,000 and £40,000.—
The default of Thomas Burnill and Co., previously re-
ported, did not apply,to their general transactions, but to
certain acceptances of foreign draughts, which, it is stated,
are covered by securities. The ordinary obligations of
the firm will, it is stated., continue to be duly met.—On
the opening of business in the Corn Market, London,
on Wednesday, the failure of an old and respectable firm
(Richard Harris and Son) was reported; but it was after-
wards ascertained- that arrangements made would enable
them to meet all their obligations.—The failure of D. and
A. Denny, corn-merchants, of Glasgow, was also an-
nounced. The liabilities are about £lOO,OOO, and the
assets will not realize more than 6s. 9d. in the pound. A
heavy portion• of the loss will fall on the Scotch banks,
and London discount houses.—Oczle and and Co., steam.
mill proprietors, of Venice, have failed,• with liabilities to
the amount of £30,000, and A. and C. Custo, of G
whose liabilit

are £Bo,ooo.—The Bank of England re-
government remittance on Wednesday, from
s, of £60,000, and a further sum of :P9-

.30,000 is ex

—On Saturday week the public in Glasgow were
d by a rumour of the failure of the highly respect-
e firm of Gemmell, Brothers and Co,, and of William
Gemmell and Co., of Canton and Hong

d Thom
Doz. 0

cause of the failure was the non-arrival of
China mail ; but it is hoped that ultimately the loss

of -Valparaiso and Lim

a branch of the same
a not affected by the

firmly insists on all measures that tend to uphold the ma-
ritime ascendancy of Great Britain; and, in support of his
general views, he cites the authority of Mr. Huskisson,
where that statesman remarked, 'Whenever the interests
of commerce and navigation cannot be reconciled, the in-
terests of commerce ought to give way, and those of navi-
gation to have the preference.' Commander Smith has
not approached this subject without preparation: he has
consulted the evidence given before the Committee of the
House of Commons, and quoted from the testimony of
those who are favourable to a repeal of our Navigation
Laws; certainly the abolitionists, so far as the extracts
give us a notion of their ideas, are little above the mental
standard of pedlars and bagmen; they appear to dwell on
nothing but monied cheapness, and that in the spirit of
very minor huckstering. For instance, they think a penny
a pound, for freight of wool, stowing included, is too high
a figure for conveying the article fifteen thousand miles ;
how much would be•reduced to the consumer if they suc-
ceeded in taking off the eighth of a penny ? However,
the subject of the Navigation Laws cannot be discussed in
this department of our journal; but those interested in it
will not find an hour mis-spent in looking over the facts
and arguments of Commander Smith."

AN INTELLIGENT ELECTOR.—At the late election for
the northern division of this county, an old man present-
ed himself at No. 2 polling-booth, Dunchurch, Warwick-
shire, to record his vote. Returning Officer : For whom
do you poll ? Elector : For myself. (Laughter.) Re-
turning Officer : You do not understand me, my man ;
I ask you for whom you vote ? Elector : Well, I tell'ee
for myself. (Increased laughter.) The returning officer
endeavoured in vain to explain the meaning of the ques-
tion. The " free and independent" elector still-persisted
that he came to vote for himself; and Mr. Over, who
attended as scrutineer on the part of the Hon. W. H.
Leigh, insisted that the vote should be recorded as stated.
This put the returning officer to a nonplus. He looked
in vain for a column to enter a vote given in so honest a
spirits The act made no provision for such an emergency
as a candidate presenting himself upon " free and inde-
pendent principles " at the polling-booth, and the officer
was, consequently, about to reject the vote, when a soli-
citor who attended as the representative of Messrs. New-
degate and Spooner suggested that the names of the re-
,• .
inect. ' '

..ve candidates shoidd be called over, and then leave
it,to the elector to decide for whom he would record his
vote. The returning officer accordingly proceeded to act
upon his suggestion, but he had no sooner called over the
names of Messrs. Newdegate and Spooner, than the old
man, raising his stick, cried out with considerable energy,
" Them are the men as I've come to vote for ; why didn't
ye tell me their names afore, and not give me all this
bother ? " After which he retired amidst the renewed
laughter of the spectators, the vote being recorded for
Newdegate and. Spooner, in opposition to an objection
made by Mr. Over, who contended that it ought to have
been recorded as first given.—Warwick paper.

ESCAPE OE FOUR PRISONERS FROM MONMOUTH GAOL.
—On Wednesday morni.ng.a desperate attempt was made
by four prisoners to escape from Monmouth gaol. The
names of the prisoners were Mayow, Albert, Hayes, and
Murphy. The three first, named were convicted at the
late Monmouth assizes of extensive burglaries at Valg,
and were sentenced to long periods of transPortation.
Murphy was also under sentence of transportation. He
had been convicted of a burglary with violence, and sen-
tence of death was recorded against him, which was, how-
ever, commuted

ranspor

would appear to have been the ringleader. in the matter.
He had broken. one of the legs from, the iron bedstead on
which he slept, with which he worked out the panel of the
door of his cell. In order to prevent the light from ap-
pearing through the aperture which he had made, he
hung his bedcloths in front of it. He then wrenched off
the locks from the doors of the other prisoners' cells, and

se, with se

T of education with,
sting letters of the I

_
ilure of the liome house, and will continue their busi-
ess as formerly. The Glasgow Courier also states that
rumour had obtained of another eminent house having

they secreted themselves in a vacant cell, and awaited the
appearance of the turnkeys, At'about a quarter to six
o'clock a turnkey. named Alnass. wb

duty it was to in-

spect the prisoners in the morning,- having obtained the
keys from the governor (Mr. Barrett), entered the cell of
a prisoner. He had scarcely unlocked the door when
Mayo rushed from his hiding place, and struck him a
deadly blow on the side of the head, which knocked him,
senseless and bleeding, to the ground. Mayow then sr
cured the keys, and locked Alpass in with the pris,

telling the latt
to the other. prisoner

to finish him

_ -vim.a 4LI Lll anti struck
.—On Friday, the failure of Messrs. T. Usborne him several violent blows, from which he bled profusely.
.‘. bon and of Messrs. Hastie and Hutchinson was an- They then unlocked the outer door, and escaped. They
longer' flounced. The liabilities of the former firm are under threw the keys away, and ran towards Backliolt-wood.
•to ~* £lOO,OOO, and the assets will nearly pay 20s. in the pound. By this time the first turnkey who was attacked had suffi-
n c .c of ' The suspension is mused by the stoppage of Lesley, Alex- ciently recovered to alarm the governor, and help was
d , know- ander and Co. The liabilities of Messrs. Hastie and sent for into the town. A large body of the inhabitants
ledge of the fact, and she records that "his want of firm Hnichinson are supposed to be about £50,000. The sallied forth and scoured the country in the direction the
principles of morality and religion, and his idleness of house has only been in the corn trade about eighteen prisoners were seep to take. They were all taken before
mind, have caused him to succumb to sensual passions." months, the senior partner having previously realized a 10 o'clock, and again safely lodged in the gaol. On the
It is this, we are persuaded, and this only which is mak. l good fortune as a Scotch factor. It is now said that the road to the gaol they confessed to the parties who secured
ing French society a reproach to itself and a byworo, firm of Lesley, Alexander and Co., who at first were them that it was their intention to rob several houses in
amongst nations. And in the absence of any general 'or stated to be able to pay 20s• in the pound, and then Bs., the neighbourhood. The injuries which the turnkeys
national inculcation of the principles of religion, good will not now pay even a third of the latter sum. The have received aro very great, but they are sufficiently well
ma rieet inaattteith.e
government must ever be a difficulty, and often qD impos., entire circumstances connected with this failure form a , tgoaoalttaetnatilitvoartihyeihroidiru,ttieos.maLbei
n vaigriiest;
into
os t
sibility.—HalLfax Gyarclian, tlibject of most unfavourable comment,

He then gave the signal

whom he had rel

following hira, escaped to the tohoy n.
Here they again waited until the tun
the door. They were armed with the

i, with

DI from X,

fort, and ultimately of her dreadful death.
exclaims in one of her impassioned letters. written Lux of
five years ago, " Alas ! why are you no l- ?'
And though this question would appear to imply rather
declension from religious feeling than an original war'
it ; she seems afterwards to have awaked to a true '

d, and

500,000