The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-26 00:00:00

Oct. 26,1847,

A POPE'S LEGATE IN ENGLAND.—The Dublin coma.
ondent of the Times, in noticing an extra convocation of
he Irish Catholic bishops on the 19th instant, gives the
ollowing as one of the rumours why the convocation it
held a month before the ordinary period. It is to the
effect, that a communication had been received by Arch-
bishop Crolly announcing that a negotiatien is in progress
having for its object the appointment of a Cardinal Legatee
who is to reside in England, and who is to be the medium
of communication between the Court of St. James's and
the Vatican. upon questions involving the government of
the Roman Catholic church in Britain and Ireland. In
this office, it is added, the Legate will be assisted by the
experience of Archbishop Nicholson (late of Corfu), who
is to act as secretary to the legation. The project, it if
said, will, inter alia, form part of the deliberations of the
Irish prelates at the ensuing meeting; and its success will
in a great measure depend upon the course that that body
may think fit to adopt with regard to it.
AN EXCITING QUADRILLE.—M. Jullien has announced
a " Swiss Quadrille," one part of which is described by
Mtn as follows :—" A village fete is in course of celebra-
tion.—The sun sets and night comes on.—The spring, the
period when the dreadful avalanches fall, has arrived, and
the thunder-like noise in the distance interrupts tee fete,
and warns the villagers of the near approach of the awful
visitation.—The sound of the fitful wind and the drift-
ing rain, mingled with the wild cry of the eagle and
other affrighted birds, are sure tokens of the coming storm. -
—The terror of the people increases with the violenc-.? of
the tempest; and the mountain torrent bursts its bank,
threatening to overwhelm the devoted village. This con.,
vulsion of the elements detaches the overhanging aval-,
rnche, and with an awful crash it bounds down the moun-
tain side, carrying destruction in its path.—The villager
bell rings, a shout resounds through th' valley, and the.
joyous chorus of the assembled villagers announces their
escape from the threatened danger.' Truly Mr. Jullien
must hive no small idea of his powers of musical expres-
sion if he expects to effect all this by his band ; and the
question arises how, if effected, people are to find courage
to dance amid these appalling circumstances. " Nero fid-
dling while Rome was burning" was nothing to it.
THE DRAPERY TRADE.—We lately mentioned the
agitation set on foot by the retail drapers in favor of 37
inches to the yard. The wholesale houses, it appears,
have taken counsel's opinion on the legality of the pro-
posed measure, and have received the following opinion
from Sir D. Dundas, the solicitor-general, and Sir F-
Thesiger, the late attorney-general, in answer to a state-
ment submitted to• them :—" We are of opinion, that st`
contracts for the sale of goods and merchandise by ant
other than the imperial standard measure are in violation
of the sth and 6th Wm. IV., cap. 63, which repeals so
much of the former acts as allowed goods and merchandise
to be bought or sold-by any measure established 13v local
custom or founded on special agreement. Contracts to
sell by the yard of 37 inches, being in our opinion illegal,
r cannot be enforced at law. We are further of opinion,
that any combination of tradesmen, for the purpose of
compelling manufacturers or dealers to sell by any other
than the imperial standard measure, through the influence
of threats, whether direct or indirect, of withdrawing their
custom, or inducing others to do the same, is illegal.; and
that all parties engaged in such a combination, are guilty
of a misdemeanour. The statement discloses evidence of
such a combination, and we think that the parties con-
cerned have rendered themselves liable to be indicted• for
a conspiracy."
MODEL LODGING-HOUSE IN THE MINT, SOUTHWARIC.
—A new model lodging-house, for the accommodation of
the labouring classes, has been opened in Mint-street!
Southwark. It was formerly a furniture warehouse, and,
is admirably adapted for the purpose, the rooms being
spacious, lofty, and well ventilated. The interior ar-
rangements are similar to those which have been previ''
ously opened by the Society for Improving the Condition
of the Labouring Classes. Each person is provided.wrointl:
°:
a separate bed ; and the bedsteads being made I
clean
very little attention is required to keep them ia
state. On the ground-floor there is a well-assorted a-
brary of upwards of 500 volumes, to which the inmates
have access gratuitously, and three weekly newsPaPers. '
and periodicals are also provided. The establishment is
quite full, and several applicants for admission have been'
refused, for want of room. The inmates consist princi- '
pally of persons who work in the Borough and Billings-
gate markets, and at the various wharfs in Tooley-street.
Another establishment on a similar plan is in course of
construction in the same neighbourhood ; and one for the
exclusive accommodation of single women of good cha-
racter, who obtain a livelihood by needlework and other
light employment, will be opened early in the ensuing
year. This last will be under the immediate superinten-
dence of a committee of ladies.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.—On the shore about four miles
below Dunoon there is situated a lovely little villa, the
summer residence of a gentleman as amiable and generous
as the spot he has chosen is lovely and romantic. It
the only residence seen in the neighbourhood for soma
little distance. Immediately behind, the earth has bees
excavated, and the ground rises precipitously to a consi-
derable height. One evening lately the family had all '
retired to bed, without observing anything unusual
About the middle of the night the gentleman awoke, and,
feeling thirsty, rose for the purpose of obtaining a drink,
but, finding that there was no water in his room, he went
out to a spring immediately behind the house. He had
no sooner returned and shut the door behind him, than a
most unearthly noise was heard, resembling that produced
by the shock of an earthquake. He went to the door, but
found that he could not open it. In this state of matters,
having armed himself properly, he got out by the front
window, and, proceeding to the door, found that a com-
plete avalanche of earth had come down upon the house.
and that the door by which he had so shortly before en-
tered was blocked up, the earth reaching to the height of
five or six feet. Had he been but one minute later in en-
tering the house he would, no doubt, have met an iPpe"u;
taneous death. The labour of ten men were requirea
during the whole of the following day to remove the earth.
It is a fortunate thing that the house was not swept es
masse into the sea. The cause of the accifjent is consi-
dered to be the working of the water through the channel
of some old drain which had loosened the earth, and sent
it down upon the well-nigh fated edifice.—Scotch paper.
THE ALLOTMENT SYSTEM IN WORCESTERSAIRE.--*
Lord Lyttleton, as president of the Worcester Labourers
Friend Society, has issued a lengthy circular to the pro'
prietors of allotments in the county. conveying the pro--
position for concentrating the system, and bringing the
whole of the several, parcels of allotment in different parts
of the county under one control and management. To
effect this object his lordship proposes that the example
set in the Stewponey allotment system, established by.Mr-
Foley, M.P., in connection with the Stewponey Agricul-
tural Society, should be followed, by appointing an agent.
whose duty it shall be to superintend and manage all the
allotments in the county, the allotment land to be rented
by trustees of landed proprietors, and underlet by the lat-
ter to the allotment tenants, and the salary of the agent
to be paid by an assessment on the allotment land of 80.
per acre in addition to the rent, making 2s. additions!
rent for every allotment of a quarter of an acre. Lord
Lyttelton, after divulging the nature of the proposed
plan,
thus concludes his letter to the proprietors of allottneun!
land :—" The question, therefore, which I venture to
t
to you is, whether you would be Ming, instead of the
the land which you now let in allotments directly
tril!!
occupier, to let it to the society, to be by them underlet
IL
the manner which I have described to those occupiers.
We cannot ask you to do this on any plea of direct advan-
tage either to yourself or to the occupiers. I have, in.
deed, endeavoured to show that it would in no degree be
injurious to them, and that, in fact, they would be 1
about the same position as before ; and with respect tO
yourself, as landlord, I hope it has also been made clear
that while you would be circumstanced as before with re-
gard to the selection of, and control over your tenants,
you would have a better security in the persons of the
trustees of the society for the rent than the occupiers can
give, and much trouble would be saved to yourself or your
agent in the management of the land and the collection of
the rents. But Ido not mean to hold out any.such con-
sideration as the motive which we wish to set before you
for complying with this request. I address you, as $
friend to the allotment system, to comply with it as the
means of extending over the country generally the bene-
fits of that system, and chiefly in districts where there do
not exist landowners with the same active goodwill
towards it which you have shown in the establishment of
your own allotments."
SHOCKING CRUELTY BY A MOTHER.—On Monday
last, a case of the most flagrant cruelty was investigated
by the magistrates at the Hull police court. Immediately
prior to the rising of the court, a police-officer brought in
a little lad in his arms, with a chain fastened to one of his
legs, weighing upwards of 281bs. He was a fine healthy
looking lad, about ten years of age. The mother and the
elder brother of the child were placed in the dock, and
the following facts were deposed by the several witnesses-
It appears that their mother, whose name is Charlotte
Bilton, is a widow, residing in Queen's-square, Blanket-
row, and the other prisoner, who is her eldest son, is a
clerk or traveller in the employ of Messrs. Clay and
Squires of this town. About eleven o'clock this morning
a man named Pearson, who lives next door to the female
prisoner, gave information to the police that a boy was
being very cruelly treated in a house in Blanket-row.
Inspector D'Orsey immediately went to the house, in
company with Pearson, and on examining a garret, found
the lad chained to the wall in a corner of the room. He
was lying on an empty mattress. He asked the female
prisoner the reason for such treatment, and she said her
eldest son had done it by her orders, because he was an
unruly and mischievous lad, and that he had been chained
there for a fortnight. The room was in a most filthy
condition, in consequence of the poor lad not having
access to a water closet during the whole of the time.
The inspector asked the lad, in the presence of his mother.
what he had had to eat during the time, and he said he
had had nothing but bread and water, and sometimes a •
little coffee. He also stated that his mother had fre-
quently beaten him since he was chained up. The
inspector immediately took off the chain, and brought the
lad to the police court. Pearson, who had given the
information to Inspector D'Orsey, stated, that he had
frequently heard chains rattling in the next room, but did
not think the lad was chained up. He had several times
seen him let down a kind of rope from the window which
he had made by tying pieces of string together, arid hoist
up pieces of bread which the lads gave him from the street
below. On several occasions, also, he had heard the
sound of blows, apparently inflicted on the lad, and had
also heard him cry. The lad had several times told hint
through the window that he was hungry. The mother,
on being called on for her defence, admitted that her son
had chained him up by her orders. She said that he was
the worst lad in her family, and that she had no other
means of keeping him in the house. Some time ago he
had stolen nine sovereigns from one of her lodgers, and
she had tried every means of reforming him, but without
effect. The lad was asked by the magistrates if he really
did steal the sovereigns, and he stated that he had done
so, but that his other brother had made him do it. She
was ordered to find two sureties in £5 to keep the peace
for the next three months. The lad was ordered to, be
sent to the Charity Hall.—Halt Packet.