The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-11 00:00:00

STONOR and his Irish patriotism. Extensive as these
claims to notoriety may appear, that evening presents yet
another and a more attractive one. A re-appearing star
rose above the horizon of the Italian opera, in the person
of Madlle. Boom, as Elvira in VERDI'S opera of Er-
nani," which she " enriched, with graces not its own.!!
She was supported by TAMBEELIII, the singing of the
twain exciting quite afurore.
In the mean time, what have our friends in Downing-
street been doing, and how have they contrived to keep up
the ministerial farce of individual freedom and conjoint
dependence ? The forlorn-hope CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
CHEQUER has had the bearing of his financial load enli-
vened, if not lightened, by the revenue returns, which
show an increase of income from most of the sources of
national income on the year. It is true the increase is
not great, but
"These little things are great to little men."

and, considering the dreary field of unproductive projects
the right honourable gentleman has had to contemplate
for so many uncheeredmonths, no heart, not made of ada-
mant, could forbear sympathising in his modicum of exhi-
laration. Few rays of either hope or joy have heretofore
crossed his official path ; therefore, let no one dash his cup
of transient bliss by an admixture of diminished Excise
returns. The Easter holidays are now at hand, and these
he may find more readily convertible into days of domestic
quiet and social peace than his notable project for the
conversion of the funded debt.

The mention of the holidays brings to memory the
numerous escapes the ministry of " all the talents" have
succeeded in effecting, through a series of blunders, more
rapid in their sequence and more damaging than any
Ministry of less adhesive plasticity could by possibility
have survived. In two minorities, upon questions of such
vital importance as the Poor-law Removal, and the in-
spection of Nunneries; and subject to the exposure of
internal dissension, as indicated by the temporary secession
of Mr. BAINES from their ranks, must have proved fatal,
had the coalition not been possessed of an accommodating
vitality, to which the nine lives of a cat are as nothing.
In their prostrate and exhausted condition, even a brief
respite must be, indeed, a blessing, as it will relieve them
from the thankless task of wearing masks to cloak their
quarrels—so transparent as to deceive no one—so flimsy,
indeed, as to provoke instead of stifling inquiry. In vain
do they concoct such serio-comic interludes as the STONOR
inquiry—itself a piece of as discreditable ministerial
jugglery as every disgraced an administration. As some
of your readers may not be fully aware of the particulars
in this case, a word or two upon its merits may not be
out of place. Every one is aware, from the revelations of
the last two or three sessions of Parliament, that there
are such men as may be called constituency diplomatists
—dealers, in fact, in Parliamentary free-and-easy seats.
These gentlemen and their nefarious dealings have been
exposed from time to time—now by Mr. CoprocK, and
now again, it seems, by Mr. STONOR, and now by other
equally virtuous: and, some say, equally ill-used men. To
go at present into the nature of their exposures is not
necessary, and I shall not attempt it ; but STONOR'S case,
the one in hand, may be briefly stated thus. Mr. HENRY
STONOR is an English barrister, and had considerable
practice as a conveyancer. He is a Roman Catholic, and
is connected, closely, I believe, with a Roman Catholic
nobleman, Lord. CAMOYS, one of the Lords in Waiting to
the QUEEN ' • Mr. STONOR, it is further rumoured, is en-
gaged to be married to a sister of Mr. F. PEEL. At the
contested election for Sligo, in which Mr. TOWNLEY,
cousin to Mr. STONOR, was elected, the last-named gen-
tleman acted as his agent. Subsequently Mr. TOWN LEY
was unseated for bribery, and the committee, in its
report, did not omit allusion to Mr. STONOR'S agency
in the election. In reference to this affair, Mr.
STONOR is said to have made a clean breast of the:affair,
and to have placed papers in the hands of Government
completely explaining all the Sligo transactions. After
he had done this—but of course before his connexion with
these transactions was known—the Roman Catholic and
other influence he possessed procured for him the appoint-
ment of Chief Justice, in Melbourne; and, on the faith of
this appointment, he, on the 15th of February, set sail for
Australia. Scarcely had the revealing—dare I write
repentant—Parliamentary and Roman Catholic Agent
sailed, before the Government, affecting a distaste of
bribery, and assuming a stamp of purity, which made Mr.
SADLIER and others face about, discarded Mr. STONOR,
and recalled his appointment ; so that, while this Sligo
Agent and newly-made Judge is careering over the
Pacific waves, impressed with the hallucination that he is
Chief Justice of Melbourne, he has been stripped of his
honours, and his case is undergoing Parliamentary investi-
gation. How far this style of proceeding may be in
accordance with the policy for which the PREMIER'S
countrymen have obtained proxerbial, though, I think,
undeserved credit, that of being either behind-hand, I
shall not pretend to say. The current opinion, however, is;
that STONOR has been shabbily treated; and many say
that he has been made a stalking-horse on which the
heterogenous virtues of the Ministry will ride across the
stream of public opinion : to such sad expedients have
they, it is said, been driven. The hollowness of their
pretences, and their general incapacity, have long been
topics of discussion ; but the inaptitude, vacillation, and
imbecility they have manifested in the Russo-Turkish
business appear to have brought down the reprehension
of all classes on their heads ; and they have been this
month denounced by Blackwood and the Dublin
Magazines, the two leading political monthlies, with
a power and. heartiness such as have not been displayed
by either of those periodicals for many a day.
The name of Blackwood, and reference to its talent and
political integrity, recalls with vivid and melancholy force
the sad truth that another intellectual luminary has
waned and set. Professor WILSON, the world-renowned
" Christopher North," of Maf.,•a, died peacefully at his
pleasant home in Edinburgh, on the morning ,of 'Monday
last. For some time past his health has been in so pre-
carious a state as to be a source fruitful of anxiety to his
family and friends, and the event was not unexpected by
them or by the public. By the world generally he was
admired for if e versatile freshness of his genius, the
masculine strength of his intellect, and the rich exuberance
of his fancy. By those who enjoyed the felicity of his
friendship and intimacy he was beloved and adored for the
generous warmth of his disposition, his enthusiasm, and
his worth. The personel of such a one was not, and could
not be a matter of indifference, as it reflected in no slight
degree the mental image of the man.
" His form was of the manliest beauty."
Tall, strong, and muscular, he possessed a frame whose
broad, expansive chest and shoulders, and singularly active
limbs, conferred on him the form and the power of an
athletT, dangerous to antagonists, alike in the wrestling
ring or on the long hill-side, where, bounding like a wild
deer, he outstripped competition with the stride of a giant,
and a foot whose nimbleness and agile grace might chal-
lenge comparison with the fays and fairies of the green-
wood gay. His features, though not of the class styled
beautiful, were eminently characterised by varied yet ever
cheerful expression ; his mouth was strictly beautiful,
with lips whose delicacy of flexure and exquisitely graceful
curve rendered his countenance eminently susceptible of
displaying every variety of intellectual emotion, but of
which the natural characteristic was generous warmth of
heart. His intellect was of the highest order. In him a
wild and wayward fancy was successfully held in check by
strong good sense, and an innate delicacy of feeling. His
bodily and mental character are fully embodied in his
charming Recreations of Christopher North, of which
it is difficult to say whether the rough, homely, natural
strength of sentiment, or the polished delicacy of feeling,
with which they abound, is the most charming peculi-
arity. Of so extraordinary a man, and one so mixed up
with and so beloved by artists, of course numerous por-
traits exist, all of them displaying more or less the
energetic earnestness of purpose and restless activity of
mind which, particularly during his youth and the middle
period of his life, so strongly marked his character and.
countenance. The best of these—and lam familiar with
not a few—is a portrait painted many years ago by Sir
JouN WATSON GORDON ; but, next to his recreations,
his intellectual form and bearing are best delineated in
the noble bust executed for the Mechanics' Institution, in
Paisley, his native town. It is from the chisel of FILLANS,
now also, alas ! no more.
WILSON'S career, as a literary and public man, has been
a long as well as a brilliant one. Commencing with
Blackwood's Magazine, amidst the political tempests of
1817, he launched with gladiatorialtipirit into the thick of
the melee, and fearlessly did doughty-battle on the Tory side.
Associated with such champions as Sir WALTER SCOTT,
LOCKHART, and a host of other men of brilliant attain-
ments and lustrous fame, he sustained his position in the
foremost rank, and after the turmoil and the noise of bat-
tle were allayed, he was allowed to wear his laurels un-
grudged by even his opponents. Professor WILSON
held the chair of Moral Philosophy in the University of
Edinburgh for the long period of thirty-four years, he
having been elected in 1820. In discharging the duties
of that important office, he laboured assiduously, and con
amore ; and if his prelections occasionally diverged from
the strict scholastic form, the science of intellect suffered
no detriment—for in his hands the study of man was no
mystic page. In variety of talent and intellectual power,
the present generation will hardly " look upon his like
again."

THE DOCK COMMITTEE.—The weekly meeting was held
on Thursday. Present : Messrs. Turner (chairman),
Rankin, Robinson, Brocklebank, Shand, Gladstone, Holme,
Barber, Steele, Bigham, Holden, Rounthwaite, Smith,
Palmer, Royden, and Lockett.—On the motion of Mr.
Rankin, seconded by Mr. Lockett, Mr. Shand was re-
elected to the office of deputy-chairman ; he was also
appointed on those committees of which he Wati formerly
a member.—John Griffiths and John Benyon were ap-
pointed, at the recommendation of the marine committee,
seamen on board the lightships, in place of two men who
had been transferred to the landing-stage.—Mr. Palmer,
the newly-elected member sent by the dock ratepayers, was
appointed on several committees.—Mr. Bigham drew
attention to a matter which he said was not particularly
interesting, yet it was of sufficient importance to warrant
the interference of the committee. He had made it his
business to visit the landing-stage at George's Pier, on
Sunday evening, and he found the description given of it
in the Liverpool Chronicle to be not only correct, but
the actual facts were worse than there stated. Young
boys were travelling about issuing improper prints, one of
which he held in his hand. Those prints were given not
only to boys but to young females, and there was no
guarantee against their being placed in the hands of their
daughters when they had occasion to go on the landing
stage. What use the youths, in their desire for curiosity,
might make of them, he could not tell. He had no desire
to interfere with the liberty of the subject, but still he
thought a stop should be put to such proceedings, else the
landing-stage would only be resort for thieves, prostitutes,
and vagabonds. Perhaps a strong representation to the
watch committee might have the desired effect. The
chairman admitted the existence of the evil, which, he
said, had been mentioned some time ago by 'Mr Holine
The only mode of dealing with it was through the police : '
it was their business to preserve order on the landing
stage, and the dock committee could not make any regu-
lation. The Chairman said the committee had no autho-
rity beyond paying for the stage and keeping it in order.
He thought an efficient body of police, with two or three
superintendents who would act with discretion, would put
an end to the nuisance.—Mr. Shand said a suggestion had
been made to throw chains across the stage, forming pas-
sages to the ferry boats, and it was thought that it would
in a great measure repress the nuisance complained of.—
After some further conversation, it was agreed that the
chairman should have an interview with the chairman of
the watch committee on the subject.—This was the whole
of the general basineoul