The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-23 00:00:00

HORNUNG'S DEATH OF CALVIN

Our readers may remember that some time ago we had the
pleasure of drawing their attention to a very fine' engraving
which bad been just published, taken from a picture by Mr.
Hornung,—representing the Death of Calvin. The original
painting is now in'Liverpool, and may be inspected, free of
charge, at Mr. Lacer's,—and we can confidently recommend
a visit to it. The point of time is the interview between
Calvin and the syndics and members of the Senate of Geneva
who waited upon the great reformer to take leave of him.
Supported by pillows, and propped up in bed by his friend
Beza, Calvin is perceived to the right of the picture, his face
attenuated by disease, and his features shrunken and emaci-
ated by suffering—his eye still bright and glowing with in-
Seated by the bed-side—borne down by years
and infirmity—is the venerable Farel, who had come from
Newchatel to see his dying friend. At the right hand of the
reformer is Viret—his eyes uplifted to heaven. The syndics
and members are seated or standing near the bed, apparently
listening niost attentively to the reformer's last words. The
Bible, arm chair, and table cover, as well as the portrait of
John Knox hanging against the wall—all painted from the
originals—which were in Calvin's possession, are now in the
library at Geneva. This picture is very well worthy
of comparison with the works of any of the old
masters, who painted in the style. The utmost attention
has beei paid to objects the most minute. The heads of
the figures are boldly and admirably painted, displaying the
vigour and fidelity of life itself. Manhood and old age are
depicted with a nervous pencil, and we can trace in each
figure the character and disposition of the man represented.
What a noble study is the figure of Farel ! What a head !
and how graceful is his attitude ! Observe the second figure
—what a face! How it beams with intellect! The Syndics
—what grave and venerable old men ! Then examine their
dresses—with what a finish, and how ingeniously, are the
furs worked up ! Examine the table-cover, and the high-
backed chair : they all stand out from the canvas. We have
been greatly pleased with this work of art : it is elaborately
and effectively finished : it is without mannerism and stiff-
ness. The principal figure is wonderfully painted. In fact,
look at the painting with the most severe eye, and it may be
pronounced without a blemish. It is—and we say it advi-
sedly—the most surprising work of the kind of the present
day ; and the gentleman—a true friend of the arts we will be
bound—into whose possession it has fallen, may be proud
of his property. There are few paintings of the Flemish
school, to which this may be said to class, that can exceed
it in point of conception, execution, or finish. It is in truth
a most masterly work. The artist, Mr. Hornung, is a resi-
dent of Geneva, and has produced other paintings on the
same subject, all of which have attracted an equal share of
public attention. We believe the picture must be removed
to-morrow from this town.

telligence

BEWARE OF IMPOSTORS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

beg, through the medium of your columns, to cau-
tion the public against giving anything for the Home Mission
Society to two men who are at present going about collecting,
but who are disowned by the only two societies in Liverpool
bearing a similar name.— I am, sir, your obedient servant,
April 21, 1811. J. T. B.

TEETOTALISM

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

Sts,—The editor of the Montrose Standard, whose lucu-
brations on the subject of teetotalism you have transferred
to your columns on Tuesday last, commences his observa-
tions on what he considers the objections to total abstinence
societies, by declaring that he is not a teetotaler, because he
has never read anything which convinces him that it is his
duty'to abstain from the temperate use of wine and spirits.
To this I would say, that the reason is not that sufficiently
conclusive arguments have been wanting to convince any
one open to conviction, but that it requires a species of logic
not yet discovered by the learned to convince (to any prac-
tical purpose) a man against his will.
That I am right in this respect. will, I think, scarcely be
doubted by any one who will take the trouble to read a few
lines further in the article in question, where the writer as-
serts that the more a man acts on total-abstinence principles,
he takes the SAFEST and the WISEST course—a proposition,
if capable of proof (and there is nothing easier), sufficient in
itself to decide every man who will candidly consider it,
having any pretensions to be governed by the dictates of
wisdom. If total abstinence be the safest course, it follows
as a natural consequence that the man who acts not upon its
principles is voluntarily subjecting himself to temptation,
and all the quibbling in the world will not free him from the
charge of presumption; and if it be the wisest course, it
follows also that the man who adopts not this wise course
must plead guilty to the charge of folly. The editor of the
Montrose Standard, therefore, must either become a tee-
totaller, or recant the proposition which immediately follows
the announcement of his not being one. Unless he adopt
one or other of these alternatives, I must arrest him in the
name of consistency, and fearlessly exclaim that he stands
self-convicted of presumption and folly.
As you have given publicity to the opinions of the editor
of the Montrose Standard, I hope you will do teetotalism
the justice to insert the above reply; and if I thought you
would allow me as much space in your next paper as his
objections have occupied in your last, I think I should have
no difficulty iu disposing of them.—Yours,
A LOVER OF CONSISTENCY.
Prescat, 21st April, 1841.

[We should be glad to comply with our correspondent's re-
quest, but we have not room for such a controversy as
would inevitably result from it. We hope the insertion
of this communication will satisfy him and his brethren.]

Mr. AnANt HODGSON rose to move the first resolution,
which, with the others, will be found in our advertising co-
lumns. He had great pleasure in moving this resolution,
because he concurred very cordially with the sentiments it
expressed, and because he thought the subject very well de-
serving of consideration. The question involved the com-
forts and improvement—the moral, intellectual, and religious
improvement, of a very large and a very important class of
the community—(hear)—a class who were more especially
entitred to our sympathies and our efforts, because from their
age, and their peculiar position, they were probably less
qualified than any other class to protect themselves. It was
on the consciousness of their own inability to protect them-
selves that they had forwarded their request to the Mayor to
call this public meeting=not that a public meeting could
have the smallest degree of power to control, or the smallest
right to interfere in the least degree with the contracts volun-
tarily entered into by the complainants with their masters,
or with the terms and conditions upon which they had chosen
to sell their services. He (Mr. Hodgson) altogether dis-
claimed upon his part, and upon the part of the complainants,
• of expressing the slightest reflection whatever upon
the highly respectable' class who were shopkeepers in this
town. (Hear.) But since the public was a party to the present
system, and since it was for the accommodation of the
,üblic that this system had been especially sustained, he
• the public was called upon to come forward and say

—" we do not want this accommodation, and we will not
purchase it at the expence of such inconvenience and suffering
and privation of any class whatever of our fellow-country-
men." (Hear.) He should best state the case and convey
the feelings of the complainants, if the meeting would allow
him to read very shortly a few extracts from a paper which he
had had put into his hands, and which might be considered the
brief of the shopkeepers' assistants. (Hear.) It began by
stating the hours of business kept by a few shops, but he
would mention no names. One particular shop, it stated,
was opened at half-past six o'clock in the morning, and shut
at nine in the evening, making fourteen and a half hours a
day, and the work after closing, occupied from one to two
hours, making a daily labour of from 15i hours to 16i
hours ; on Saturdays the shop remained open till ten o'clock.
At another shop the hours were about the same. There was
also another shop which opened at seven o'clock and closed
at nine, making 14 hours—and the work after closing occu-
pied from one to two hours, making 15 or 16 hours daily ;
on Saturdays the shop remained open till ten o'clock. At
another shop the same hours were kept, except that it was
not closed on Saturday nights till half-past eleven, so that it
was generally one or two o'clock on Sunday morning before
the assistants were released from their labour. Many small
shops in Paradise-street, Whitechapel, Itatielagh-street, St.
James's-street, Park-lane, Byrom-street, Scotland-road,
Dale-street, London-road, Tithebarn-street, &c., were
opened at half-past six in the morning and closed at ten,
making seventeen hours, and the labour after closing occu-
pied two hours, thus making nineteen hours daily
work. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Most of these shops
did not close on Saturdays till the clock struck twelve;
and in the same class of shops there were occasional instances
of their being open after twelve. (Hear.) The foregoing,
the document he read from stated, were instances of regu-
lations among the drapers during the six months in the year
commencing with April, and ceasing with September.
During the other six months the attendance in some instances
were one hour, and in others one hour and a half less daily,
except on Saturdays, when the hour of closing was the same
in winter as in summer. The grocers of Liverpool, it went
on, opened their shops in the summer at six, and closed at
half-past nine, making fifteen hours and a half daily ; on
Saturdays they closed at twelve, making eighteen hours.
In winter their daily labour was one hour and a half,
except Saturday. In this trade there was no labour after
the shop had closed. With the higher class of trades, such
as jewellers, printsellers, booksellers, &c., the general
rule was to open their shops from seven till nine iu summer,
making fourteen hours daily, and in winter from seven to
eight, making twelve and a half hours. During the hours of
business the assistants are required to stand beriont the coun-
ter, which was a greater fatigue than walking. For each of
their meals the assistants were allowed fifteen minutes. This
was the general rule ; but there were exceptions, where
twenty-five minutes were allowed for dinner. (Hear, hear.)
He would read one short passage more :—" The few who are
struggling to amend the system, are they who have
found light enough to perceive their own utter igno-
rance, who are depressed by a degraded feeling of
their mental condition, as compared with that of men
in other occupations, who have discovered that fustian
iets and paper caps cover better hearts and wiser heads
than are to be found in their own class decked in the finer
textures, and whose ambition soars no higher than to claim
equal advantage with the mechanic, the once despised but
now universally respected mechanic." " The remedy for
this," they said, " lies only in the good feeling of the pub-
lic." (Hear.) Such were their complaints, and we could
not perhaps estimate the case without having some such
feelings for them ourselves. Such were the facts and feel-
ings with which the complainants came before the meeting
this day. If these facts were proved—and they were capable
of proof, for they were matters of notoriety—he for one was
not ashamed to say that he sympathised warmly and cordi-
ally with the feelings of the assistants. (Hear.) For a very
long period great effbrts had been made to stimulate intellec-
tual activity in every class of the community ; great efforts
had been made to provide opportunities for diffusing informa-
tion through every class ; and could we wonder if this one
class, feeling themselves precluded by the circumstances of
their condition from enjoying the advantages held out to
other classes, should come forward and desire to express
their grievances? (Hear, hear.) It was morally impossi-
ble, if these facts were true, that the assistants could avail
themselves of the opportunities for acquiring knowledge
which other classes enjoyed (hear, bear) ; it was morally im-
possible that any person, with a mind jaded and exhausted,
and almost consumed by this toil, should be able to give any
vigorous exertion to intellectual cultivation. (Hear.) Men
of extraordinary genius and energy might occasionally spring
up who would break through such obstacles ; but any class
depressed by severe toil, deprived of the chance of mental
cultivation, and limited in the opportunities of improving their
intellectual capacity, must become a degraded class. (Hear.)
The shopkeepers' assistants saw and felt this—they felt the
light around them made into darkness, and they came for-
ward with the feelings of Englishmen ,and said , we cannot stand
this, we cannot stand still while other c!asses of our coun-
trymen are moving onwards ; we will use every legitimate
exertion in our power to endeavour to remove the grievances
of which we complain ; but if we cannot remove them, our
employers must seek (if they can find them anywhere) for a
lower class of men who will submit to the conditions that we
have been obliged to submit to. He (Mr. Hodgson) did not
regret taking this course. Lord Chatham said, when Ame-
rica began to urge her claims upon this country, that it was
impossible so many hundred thousands of men would be
willing to be slaves to this country. In like manner
he (Mr. Hodgson) was glad the assistants had come
forward in this way, not in a disrespectful or con-
temptuous manner, but respectfully, to express their sense
of their condition, and to say they could not bear to be
permanently dry, whilst the dews of heaven were permanently
falling around them. (Hear, hear.) He rejoiced they had
shown themselves sensible of the obstructions which the
present system caused in the way of religious improvement.
Upon that subject, however, he should not say a word, be-
cause he saw so many of his reverend friends present; but,
before he sat down, he would remind the meeting who were
the class whose intellectual growth and religious improve-
ments they were thus stunting. They were the middle
classes of this community ; they were the future tradesmen and
shopkeepers who were to choose our representatives in parlia-
ment, and who were to represent us in the common council ;

they were a class to whom the constitution, had recently given
a very large share of political power. It was, therefore, no
longer a question whether you should give them intelligence;
you have given them power, and you must give them intelli-
gence. (Cheers.) Whetber, therefore, we considered this
question as affecting the interests of the individuals who came
before the meeting, or that large class throughout the king-
dom at large to which those individuals belonged, or in con-
nexion with the interests of the community, he thought the
meeting would feel the subject to be one deserving of their
interference, and one calling for the serious consideration of
every gentleman there assembled. (Hear, hear, and loud
cheers.) He did not presume—he had no information
to justify him doing so—to suggest any specific number of
hours by which this end might be accomplished. He would
only say, let it be such as should meet the entire convenience
of the lower classes, who were most to be considered; but at
the same time, let it not be such as would degrade a rational
and immortal being into an automaton or a servile drudge.
(Hear, hear.) Let it be not such as would close the temple
of science to this class, whilst it was open to others, where
they might investigate the wonders of nature and the bene-
ficence of the Creator ; let it not be such as would consume
all their energies of heart, of body, of mind, and unfit
them for those sacred duties which alone could fit them
for time and eternity. (Hear.) They were aware that man
must eat bread by the sweat of Ins brow, and therefore they
wanted not to shrink from the hardships of their condition ;
but they said, " Relieve us from this incessant work—from
this position which we feel to be degrading." (Hear.) With
these feelings they came before the meeting this day, and
submitted their case to the consideration of the public—not
wishing to show any bad feeling towards their masters, the
to co-operate with them. (Hear.) If he might adopt the
words so often used by the learned gentlemen who frequently
he would say to the meeting, . Gen-
sat on the seats below,
tlemen, this is their case, and I sit down confident that you
will give a verdict in their favour." (Loud cheers.)
The Rev. Huai.' IWNEItu then rose, amid renewed
cheers, to second the resolution. He had had very great
pleasure in signing the requisition calling this meeting,
when it was first presented to him. The subject was not
new, though a requisition fora public meeting was a new
step. The subject had occupied much consideration ; and it
must, he thought, occupy
the consideration of every person
who had become acquainted in detail with the circumstances
of the parties concerned, and who was also concerned for
their best interests, both in this world and in the world to
come. But the subject was attended with difficulty. It was
difficult to effect a substantial remedy in
any long standing
and fostered custom, even though upon enquiry it should
prove to be an abuse, and an abuse of so palpablt a character
that it could not be defended by the arguments of reason
or justice even by those who continued in the practice of it.
It was difficult to convince men who seemed to be profiting
by an abuse that they would, in fact, eventually profit still
more by its abolition. (Hear, hear.) To see and feel this

. .
instances seventeen hours a-day, and in one or two cases men-
tioned in the list, upon Saturday the whole amount of their
time realized 18 hours. This the resolution the meeting were
called upon to adopt, called " an unnatural amount of la-
bour." He thought, however, that a very general impres-
sion was abroad that the young men in shops were not over-
laboured, that the work they had to perform was light, and
that the time they were occupied in it should not therefore
be so rigidly scrutinised. But recollect, it had been stated
in the paper which Mr. Hodgson had read, that during the
whole time of their employment in the shops they were

obliged to stand. (Hear.) No sitting down was allowed
behind the counter. (Hear, hear.) Those who had never
tried it might imagine that standing a long time pro-
duced little fatigue • but he (Mr. M`Neile) could answer
from experience that they were very greatly mistaken.
(Hear, hear.) Standing for a long time induced very serious
lassitude, more, he sincerely believed, than walking at a mo-
derate pace for the same number of hours. (Cheers.) Con-
nected with this was another feature—they were not allowed
to read during that period ; no book must appear in the shop,
so that during the intervals, and there must be intervals be-
tween the visits of customers, these young men were absolutely
and inevitably idle. (Hear, hear.) Nay, even their private
letters were not delivered to them, so that they should not
read them behind the counter. (Hear, hear.) It was here
stated, " instances could be given of letters for the assistants
delivered in the morning being detained by the employers till
after the long hours of business, lest five minutes should be
lost in the perusal, or the assistant's attention diverted for a
moment from his master's business; letters had even been
kept back for days to be given to their owners on the Sunday."
He mentioned this, not to create any such feeling with re-
gard to the masters as had produced the cry which had invo-
luntarily burst from a few individuals in the meeting, but
simply to put the public in possession of the facts of the
case. He believed this was the first thing to be done—the
public must be put in possession of the existing hardships of
the case, and there were hardships in the case. (Hear.)
When it was understood that these young men were em-
ployed from fifteen to seventeen hours a-day, that during
that time they could not sit down for one moment, that they
might not open a book, that even private letters were kept
back from them,—it must be admitted that there was a degree
of exaction which the business of the master in no way re -
required. (Hear.) There was a tyrant somewhere. It
was not in the disposition of the masters, for they were
kind men, and willing to ameliorate the condition of their
assistants in every way consistent with their own business.
Where was it then but in custom ? The tyrant was custom,
and they wanted to have that custom examined, in order to
its being changed. (Hear.) Their appeal was to the public, ,
but not against the masters. (Loud cheers.) An objection
would be urged, and urged very seriously, against such a
proceeding as this, which his own mind would at once recog-
nize, and prevent Jim from joining in that meeting, namely,
if this were a party movement of the assistants against their
masters—if there was any attempt at coercion of the masters.
(Hear, hear.) It required considerable caution and great
delicacy to interfere with regulations and contracts formed
between employers and the employed in any branch of trade
in our great commercial community. Where interference
was called for was where the employed were under-aged, or
were unable themselves to form contracts, and who
might be made subservient to the cupidity of parents and
guardians who did not feel for the necessities of their children,
and who allowed them to be taken into factories and compelled
to a description of labonr, which was injurious both to body
and mind. These cases admitted interference between the
children and the employers, because they could not make
contracts of themselves; but be should shrink exceedingly
from being a party to interfere with contracts between man
and man voluntarily entered into. (Hear, hear.) What
they were now desirous of doing was, not to interfere be-
tween employers and their servants, but to appeal to the pub-
lic for the accomplishment of an object in which they con-
templated the masters as willing to co-operate. (Cheers.)
He looked upon the masters as willing to co-operate, if they
could; but how was combination to be attained? How was
an universal and simultaneous movement to he accomplished ?
And without such combination and simultaneous movement,
how was fairness of competition to be kept up ? Hear,
hear.) If some shops closed at seven o'clock and
others at ten, how was the man who trafficked only
ten hours a day to compete with the man who trafficked for
fifteen hours ? The masters might very fairly say, " lam
willing to enter into this arrangement provided it is univer-
sally made, but can you expect me to do it whilst my neigh-
boar does it not, and so expose myself to the mortification and
loss of seeing my door shut to customers three or four hours
at_night, and an open door to them at my neighbours ? "

(Hear.) If customers would persevere in frequenting shops
that remained open a long time at night, the thing could not
be done by any such movement as the present ;—(hear)—
their appeal then was to the customers and to the public.
They appealed to them thus—" here is a case of hardship on
the assistants, a case of willingness in the masters, and if the
evil be continued, you are to blame. What we want you to
do is, that you should give a decided preference to those
shops that shut up at seven o'clock in the evening." (Cheers.)
They were in a condition to commence this experiment well,
because there were some high-spirited, honourable shop-
keepers in Liverpool, who, in the face of all difficulty, in the
face of all unfairness in competition, had boldly taken the
step of shutting their shop doors at seven o'clock. (Hear.)
It was a privilege to mention their names : he would, there-
fore, read their names, and implore the public of Liverpool
to give them their best and earnest support. (Cheers.)
They were Messrs. Bright and Co., drapers, Bold-street;
Mr. T. Wilson, draper, Bold-street; Messrs. Howarth
and Co. drapers, Bold-street ; Mr. Townsend, stationer,
Bold-street; Mr. Wood, carpet warehouse, Bold-street;
Messrs. Williams and Whitby, Bold-street ; Mt. Seaton,
paper-hanger, Bold-street ; Mr. Bardon, tailor, &c., Bold-
street; Mrs. Wood, bookseller, Bold-street; Mr. Anderson,
linen-warehouse, Bold-street. (Hear.) The paper then
said, " and some others." He regretted exceedingly that any
one who had a title to the distinction should be omitted.
(Hear.) He would not willingly omit one, and if any were
omitted in the list, it was because it was not furnished in the
instructions, and he was not aware of them from his own
personal knowledge. (Cheers.) Here was a list of shops
that agreed with the object of the meeting, which were willin
to accede to the desires of the chief magistrate and th
clergy.; and the magistrates of the town who co-operated

with them ; they shotsild at once be made to feel in every in-
stance, not only that they would lose nothing by shuttin
their shops at seven o'clock, but that absolutely the
would gain. (Hear.) The way to carry this measure was
for the public of Liverpool to crowd those shops to suflbcae
tion all day long. (Cheers.) He did not say this to injur-
the shops that did not enter into the arrangement, but to
induce combination in order that all shops might be shut at
seven, and all be entitled to support. (Loud cheers.)
There was one special feature in this case, which he thought
it important to notice before he passed from the subject of
time, and that was the special claim which some persons felt
Saturday had for an enlarged number of hours to work.
(Rear.) Here again came in the tyrant custom. Satur-
day was the market-day ; idle people generally went about
the streets on Saturday evenings ; and if the fine, and rich,
and glittering shops, with large panes of plate glass, and
blazing gas-lights were kept till eleven at night to get custom,
those idle people would walk the streets till that hour. What
was the consequence? There was in most of the shops, espe-
cially the draper's, the work of an hour, sometimes two
hours, for the assistants after the outside door was closed.
This almost invariably drove those young men into the com-
pulsion of working upon the Sabbath morning. (Hear,
hear.) He felt satisfied, however, that the majority of the
public of Liverpool would not sanction any system, when
they knew that it systematically violated the sabbath
by such works as these (hear, hear) ; therefore the meeting
should claim the same period for terminating the labour of
the assistants upon Saturdays as upon other days. He had
heard an objection against all this, grounded, it was said,
upon experiment, and upon certain facts alleged against the
conduct of the young men themselves. The experiment he
alluded to was the Tradesmen's Association, which was
subscribed to, and supported by, the masters, in order that
their young men might improve themselves by reading. It
was not, however, supported by the assistants. He believed
it was attended only by 150 of them out of 9000. (Hear.)
That fact was appealed to as a proof that there was no use in
giving them more leisure, for they had abused the time already
given them. Another statement was made, into the truth of
which, or rather the extent of the truth of which, he was not
prepared to enter ; but into the nature of it he was. it was
alleged concerning them that even now, in the short intervals
allowed for their meals, or in short snatches of time taken
by stealth, they ran to public-houses and drank. This was
alleged as a reason why there should be no mitigation of their
permanent period of labour. He pleaded these facts as upon
his side of the argument, because they shewed that the pre-
sent system had debased the character of these men
from the self control of human intelligence down to a mix-
ture of mechanism in business and animal indulgence in
enjoyment. (Loud applause.) It required some time to
recover from the ill effects of such a stupefying system
as this. It reminded bins of some of the arguments
he had the misf,,rtune to hear often urged many years ago by
the anti-abolitionists, respecting the negro slaves. 'They,
told us the poor negroes were so degraded that they did no
iif care
yefuo r
made
liberty,
tb thateen f
rthey
tb e
they
w preferredonld
sightl iei rt
ebondage, atnedttbheai
their
bonds.
our(He a
happy r .) He heard
shore,
had anp
instanceisa facto e ofla
one
been
made
who b yfree
land-
ing
upon ;
that notwithstanding he had been made free by landing in
England, he preferred a life of
Wshlaavterdyi,d anthdatreturned
as such to the West Indies.
It proved that the state of slavery had deprived him of
the feelings and principles of a man—(cheers) ; and if
this shopkeeping system had so degraded a act of young

ing -unanimity among the masters, which they were willing
to act upon, he was willing to believe, provided it could be
done with fairness.to themselves. With regard to this, and
in conclusion, he would mention a circumstance which,
though upon a small scale, shewed what could be axle by
combinat►on—still leaving the difficulty of combining such a
town as this. He recollected a circumstance which occurred
some years ago in a country parish in the south of England.
The clergyman found there were four grocers who kept their
shops open upon Sundays. They kept them open half the day,
and the poor people were in the habit of making their purchases.
He was anxious to put an end to this desecration of the Sab-
bath, and he called upon each of them for that purpose.
They each professed the greatest possible willingness to close
their shops, provided the other three would. Having got
this promise severally from each of them, he appointed a
time for them to meet at his house, without informing one
that he:had invited the other ; and to their great surpise they
found themselves, at the appointed time, face to face, in the
parson's study. (Hear.) `• Now," said he to them, " gen-
tlemen, you have each promised me that if the other three
will close their shops on the Sunday, you will each shut up
yours." They could not deny it. " Here," said he, "is a
paper I have drawn up, pledging you to keep your
shops closed on the Sunday ; I tell you honestly I
want to get your four signatures to it, and to fix
it upon the church-doors next Sunday." They looked
updn the paper rather suspiciously, as to who should
sign first. He said to them, " You need not mind that, for
I will give you my word, unless :vhe whole four sign it,
it shall not be signed at all." One then stepped forward.
and signed the paper ; eventually they all signed it ; it was
put upon the church-door the next Sunday, and no one was
injured by it, but everyone was bencfitted. (Cheers.) The story
was not vet finished. There was temporary inconvenience aris-

ing to the poor people from the farmers paying their labourer s
upon the Saturday night: this was brought into obser-
vation ; an immediate appeal was made to the public of the
parish ; the farmers were gathered together with the small
shopkeepers at a public meeting, and every farmer in the
parish, except one little cantankerous fellow—for such there
always would be--agreed to pay their labourers upon the
Friday evening. (Cheers.) They were paid upon the Fri-
day—their wives went to the shops on Saturday—the shops
were all shut on Sunday—and the parish wore an aspect of
moral improvement and religious attention, such as never
would have been but for the combination among the grocers
to begin with. (Loud cheering, during which the rev. gen-
tleman sat down.)

The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously.
Mr. JAMES MULLENEUX moved the next resolution, ob-
serving that the grievances and the patience of the shop-
keepers' assistants had been long familiar to his mind and
long deplored. He had been connected the greater portion
of his existence with an institution which, after exertions and
efforts of no ordinary nature, had attained a degree of pros-
perity which enabled it to diffuse the blessings of education,
of knowledge, and of rational improvement, among every
class of the community. He alluded to the Mechanics' In-
stitution. (Hear, hear.) The only portion of his fellow-
townsmen who could not claim those advantages were the
class whose interests they had met to serve, and this arose
from causes which they were endeavouring to remove. He
was aware of the formidable difficulties which surrounded the
question ' • but he sincerely hoped and trusted that the
truly public-spirited, liberal and enlightened shopkeepers
of Liverpool would surmount these difficulties, and place
their assistants upon an equality of comfort and advantages
with the rest of their fellow-citizens. (Loud cheers.)
The Rev. F. BARKER, in seconding the resolution said be
should have felt ashamed of himself as an Englishman and
a minister, if he had refused to come forward in such a cause
as this. It was a movement only in accordance with much
more that had already been done, and with much that was
still doing in the empire. We had liberated tens of thou-
sands of the sons of Africa; the legislature had been occu-
pied for a considerable portion of time in enacting laws
for the better regulation of factory children, and when
those laws were found to be not sufficiently stringent
because they did not embrace the children employed in silk
factories they were amended; the chimney sweepers had not
escaped notice; the boatmen employed on our canals had
had their case examined, and the difficulties in the way of
their moral improvement removed; and now another class
of our fellow-countrymen stepped forward. From the strong
justice of their case, he felt assured of a ready, patient, and
impartial hearing, under the auspices of the chief magistrate,
when they claimed to be set free from the bonds of this op.
pressive system. He should deem it almost an intrusion if
he were to attempt to enter upon the resolution in a practical
manner ; but he deemed it not an intrusion in a minister of
the gracious gospel of God to advance such a cause as this
by advocating those high and holy grounds whose force could
overcome every difficulty. The resolution spoke of the labour
of the assistants being limited to ten hours a-day.---The rev.
gentleman then contended that ten hours a-day was amply
sufficient for all the purposes of business, and that the only
question was the public convenience. The only sufferers by
the change, as it seemed to him, would be the labouring
classes. This consideration brought him to the other abuse,
which was the payment of wages by employers upon Satur-
day night. Let that question, too, be agitated ; let infor-
mation upon it be placed before the public mind, in order
that they might see how intimately this was connected with
the abuse which concerned this meeting. He knew it to be
the custom of many huge and influential tradesmen to pay
their weekly wages on the Friday evening ino inconvenience
arose from the practice, and he was acquainted with the fa-
milies of several labourers who regularly attended divine
worship on the Sunday, which they could not have done if
their wages had been paid upon Saturday night. This
question, then, might fairly be brought before the public.
He was requested to say that the Mayor's and several other
houses paid their wages upon Friday night.—The reverend
gentleman then proceeded to argue the question of giving
additional time to the shopkeepers' assistants, upon religious
grounds, and he concluded an impressive speech by second-
ing the resolution:

The MAYOR then put the resolution, and it was adopted
unanimously.

Au ASSISTANT here recited some verses, in which tbewhole
case of his coadjutors was described with considerable spirit.
Mr. \V. B. lioncsoisr moved the third resolution. There
were three parties in this question—the assistants, the shop-
keepers, and the public. He considered the two first as
willing to co operate for the alteration of a system which was
injurious to both; but the chief difficulty lay in securing the
co-operation of the public. If that were accomplished the
object could be attained. To effect it, that meeting as indi-
viduals must pledge themselves not to support the present
system, but keep up that which was but now begun—a con-
stant system of agitation against it.
The Rev. FIELDING OULD observed that the subject bad
now been discussed in every possible way ; it had been dis-
cussed in sober prose, and in some beautiful poetry; and the
cause had been advocated by Enzishmen, Irishmen, and
Scotchtnen. Every thing had thus been said to make out an
exceedingly strong case ; and, therefore, it was by no means
necessary that he should trespass upon the meeting except
for a very few moments. He could not do justice to his
feelings in this matter if he did not distinctly say that he
deeply sympat ►ised with those persons whose interests they
were assembled to promote, and no one could feel more
anxious than he did, or more disposed to use every exertion,
to accomplish the very reasonable objects of the assistants.
Ile had taken some pains to make enquiries and to instruct
his mind upon this subject by speaking to several em-
ployers, and he had met with none who did not deeply
sympathise with the assistants, and express most earnest
anxiety to obtain relief for them. The rev. gent. laid down
the following as their grievances :—first, that the present
system was a serious injury to their health ; second,
that it prevented them from employing their time in mental
improvement; third, that in many instances it prevented
. them from seeing and enjoying the society of their own fami-
lies; and fourth, that it prevented them from attending di-
vine worship upon the Lord's Day. Having dwelt with great
eloquence upon these positions, Mr. Ould next replied to
the following objections :—first, that if more time were
granted to the assistants, it would certainly be mis-spent ;
secondly, that the only way to accomplish the end was, by a
legislative enactment; third, that the convenience of many
persons required late hours to be kept by shopkeepers ;
and fourth, that the assistants generally did not care for the
relief now sought as only a few of them had asked for it.
As to this last objection, he had been told that many had
been restrained from interfering by fear, and from a convic-
tion that success was hopeless. At this day that was impos-
sible. Napoleon Bonapare said that in his dictionary there
was no such word as impossible—and there was nothing he
(Mr. Ould) held, which it was right and proper to be done
which it was impossible to do. He was far from thinking
success was impossible. They were making a beginning
under favourable circumstances ; they had the countenance of
the mayor and magistrates of the town which was a very impor-
tant consideration ; they had the support of the humane, cha-
ritable,and religious, and no cause so backed had ever yet been
found impossible of attainment. It was unnecessary for
him to say another word. He hoped there would other meet-
ings on the subject, for the present would riot be sufficient to
leaven the public mind. Let the mayor call them together
again and again, and he for one would come. (Loud cheers).
It was the cause of Christian charity. They wanted a ten
hours' bill, and after alittle wholesome agitation—as agita-
tion seemed to be fashionable in these times—they would
gain it. (Cheers.) The reverend gentleman concluded by
seconding the resolution.
After a few words from a Mr. WINTYRE, the resolution
was put and carried.
Mr. J. B. YATES, after expressing his hearty concurrence
in the general objects of the meeting, and suggesting that in
order to enable the shopkeepers to close at an earlier hour
on Saturday nights, the markets should be closed sooner,
(which could be done by the town-council) moved the fol-
lowing as the next resolution :

" That, in the opinion of this meeting, ten hours each day
(Sundays excepted) are amply sufficient for transacting the
necessary business of the shopkeepers, and their release from
further labour would greatly promote the moral, religious,
and social improvement of the assistants ; that the persons
now present pledge themselves cheerfully to submit to any
trifling inconvenience that may arise from the proposed re-
laxation, and to support and encourage those tradesmen who
conform to the wishes of the inhabitants, expressed through
the present meeting publicly convened for the purpose.
That the resolutions be signed by the Mayor, on behalf of
the Meeting, and advertised in each of the public journals."
Mr. WILLIAM BROWN said he had not intended to take
any part in the proceedings, but from the arguments he had
heard, and the facts stated, he did not see how it was possible
for any man to dissent from the resolution proposed by Mr.
Yates. He had therefore great pleasure in seconding it.
Sir JOSHUA NVALMSLY said he had declined signing the
requisition, because he wished first to understand the subject,
and to know whether the meeting was to be an attempt at
coercion by :the assistants against the masters. He had
heard that disclaimed in all hands, and that there was not
the slightest opposition but the contrary, on the part
of the shopkeepers to iniprove the Present system.
If that was the case, it was for the public to work
it out. No man could feel more strongly than he di
the necessity of releasing the assistants of shopkeepers from
their qoployinent at an hour sufficiently early to enable thew

CONGLETON CONSERVATIVE DINNER TO SIR P. EG'ER-
TON, M.P., AND JOHN TOLLEMACRE, ESQ.—This meeting
took place on Wednesday week last, and went off in, a style
and spirit that surpassed the most sanguine expectations of
its warmest promoters, and no one who had the gratification
of witnessitb, the proud display it afforded to the conserva-
tive strength of the once radical town of Congleton can fail
to regard this festival as an omen of the approaching eman-
cipation of South Cheshire from whiggery.
was most worthily filled by Gibbs Crawford Antrobus
Eaton Hall, Esq., ably supported by Randle Wilbrah.
Jun., Esq., and James Bateman, Esq., and the meeting
ably addressed by Sir Philip Egerton, Mr. Samuel Idol
Mr. Tolletnache and others.

The chair

It ought to be generally known, that members of town-
councils are not only exempt from, but absolutely disqualified
for, serving on juries. In a recent case tried in the Sheriff's
Court at Devonport, a Mr. Liscombe, one of the town-
council of that borough, having objected to serve on a jury,
on the ground of his being a member of the town-council.
the objection was over-ruled by the under-sheriff. After the
trial had proceeded for some time, a copy of the act of par-
liament was obtained, and the disqualification discovered.
Mr. Liscombe was therefore directed to leave the jury-box,
and another gentleman, who had been summoned as a jaror,
and had remained in court, although not called, was sworn in
his stead.

EXTRAORDINARY TRAVELLING.—Some time since a
gentleman in York undertook to perform a journey front
York to the metropolis, and arrive again in York in twenty-
four hours. The attempt was made during the last week.
The party alluded to started from the railway station at York
on Thursday morning week, at forty-five minutes past eight
o'clock, and arrived in London precisely at half-past seven
o'clock the same evening. He transacted business with one
or two parties in London, and availed himself of an opportu-
nity of visiting Covent Garden Theatre, where he remained
upwards of a quarter of an hour ; and after taking a stroll
through the market, and purchasing sundry early produc-
tions, returned by the mail train to York, where he

with comparatively no fatigue, the following morning, at ten
minutes before eight o'clock—thus completing the whole
journey in twenty-three hours and five minutes, a total dis-
tance of 450 miles.—Hull Advertiser.

We- understand that arrangements are now in progress for
raising and organising an additional number of veteran com-
panies, for exclusive and permanent service in Canada, where
they are to be employed upon garrison duty. Their princi-
pal strength in rank and file will consist of volunteers from
the regiments at present stationed in America, more espe-
cially from such of them as are under orders to return home.
The officers and non-commissioned officers will, we believe,
be taken from the full pay of the line ; and we hope that the
General Commanding in Chief will not, in filling up the
various appointments, lose sight of the merits and strong
claims for promotion of the numerous old and deserving, but
unfortunate, subalterns, who after having for a long period of
their lives devoted their best energies to the service, are
now, comparatively, unfit for any save garrison duty ; and if
not kindly patronised by Lord Hill upon the forthcoming
occasion, must necessarily soon be reduced to the distress-
ing alternative of going upon half-pay.—United Service
Gazette.

THE WIDOW OF THE GRAND ARMY.—About the close of
the last year an old woman, with all the confident air of one
who had passed her life iu camps, went to a retired officer,
and, after reviving his recollections of many battles, and in
military terms, some of them not the most refined, bore tes-
timony to his feats of arms, informed him that, being the
oldest female follower of the troops of Napoleon, she had
been invested with the title of the widow of the Grand Army;
and, in consequence of this distinction, had been allowed to
accompany the expedition to St. Helena, was present

exhuniation of the remains of the Emperor, which she z
companied all the way back to France, and followed to th
last deposit at the Invalides. She concluded her boast

narrative, by stating that the government had granted her a
donation of 3000 f, which she was to receive in a few days ;
but, in the meantime, her finances were reduced by her long
journeyings, and therefore requested him to lend her 12,1 f,
which she would faithfully repay. The worthy old officer,
giving too easy credit to her tale, advanced her the money.
A considerable time having elapsed without the re-appear-
ance of the plausible widow, he made inquiries, and soon as-
certained that the whole tale was pure invention ; but all
efforts to discover her have hitherto been ineffectual. Having'

lodged a complaint, she was yesterday condemned in default
by the Correctional Tribunal, to 12 months' imprisonment

-:-Galignani