The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-07-28 00:00:00

IMPORTANT TO MUNICIPAL VOTERS

To secure a vote at the next municipal election, the
following is the necessary qualification, namely :
" The occupation on the ensuing 31st August, and
during the two preceding years, of a house, warehouse,
counting-house, or shop, within the borough, for which
the occupier is rated, and on which all rates due thereon,
except those becoming due within six months before the
31st, have been paid before that date."
The occupier must also, during the whole of that pe-
riod, (say two years and nine months) have been an in-
habitant householder within seven miles of the borough.
The day on which claimants' qualifications must be
completed, and the last day for payment of rates, is the
31st of August. The sth of September is the day on
which the overseers are required to make out the burgess
lists, and to deliver them to the Town-clerk, who is to
fix a copy of them on the Town-hall, during the week
preceding the 15th of September.
A person succeeding to the occupation of ouse,
by descent, marriage, demise, 4-c., is entitled to reckon
as•his own the occupancy and rating of the person by or
through whom he succeeds.

Ely. tiberpool &tanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, JULY 28, 1840

By the packet-ship Patrick Henry, Captain Delano,
which arrived here yesterday, we have received New
York papers to the Sth instant. They are extremely
barren of news. We have given, in another column,
all that is worth extracting from them. Great excite-
ment prevailed throughout the union in reference to
the approaching election of President. General Harri-
son appears to he the popular favourite.
There was every promise of an abundant harvest,
both in the United States and Canada. In trade and
commerce, however, there were no indications of im-
provement.

As the session of 1840 draws towards its close, people
arc beginning to enquire what have been its results.
Beyond the mere routine business of the House of
Commons, the exposition of our financial prospects,
voting the usual supplies and passing a few private or
unimportant public bills,—the business of legislation
has been at a stand still; and the only boast which the
ministerial members can carry home to their constitu-
ents is, that they have succeeded in staving off for a
few months their final lealle-taking of Downing-street,
and secured for their patrons at least an additional two
quarters of pay and patronage.
This " Most lame and impotent conclusion" is all
which has resulted from the interminable debates of the
present session. The reform ministry of Lord Mel-
bourne—a ministry which, upon his lordship's own
shewing, holds office whilst deprived of the confidence
of the people, as expressed through the voices of their
representatives in the House of Commons—has proved
its utter inefficiency as a movement administration, and
its unworthiness and instability as an engine of defence
against the encroachments of democracy. Substantial
power it possesses none. It can carry nothing which
it originates, except in a state so miserably mauled that
it is difficult even for its parents to recognise it ; and it
originates nothing with a bona fide intention to carry
it into a law. Its measures are mere demonstrations,
produced and shelved as best suits the purpose of that
tyrant influence by which it is coerced; and when it
has a serious object in view—when some blunder of a
former session calls imperatively for correction, or some
accidental circumstance creates a necessity for legisla-
tion, it can only effect that object by a lachrymose ap-
peal to the humanity of the house, or by throwing the
functions of government, pro tempore, into the hands
of Sir Robert Peel and the conservative party.

In the House of Commons, then, it is past dispute
that the ministerial faction have lost ground during the
present session ; and to a serious extent. They can no
longer depend upon the thick and thin support of the
great bulk of their party; and we are firmly convinced
that there exists a large and important section of the
pseudo reformers who are prepared to fall away from
them on the first occasion which offers a colourable
pretence. During the present session even, it has re-
quired all the tact of Lord John Russell, and all the
energy of the ministerial subs, to preserve an unbroken
front and prevent desertion. The ur. blushing avowal
of the alliance with the member for Dublin—the open
coquetting with the all but republican section of the
house, and that fast and loose policy with respect to the
interests of protestantism, by which ministers seek to
become " all things to all men"—have startled not a
few of the hitherto staunch friends of reform, who are
at the same time the friends of order and of the consti-
tution ; and it is not improbable, that should the present
parliament (contrary to general expectation) endure
another session, this party will return from their con-
stituents with views so materially modified by their
observation of public opinion during the recess, that
government will no longer be able to drag its members
through the same impure and dangerous paths which
they have done during the present session.
Without the walls of parliament the prospects of the
ministerial party are, if possible, still more disheartening.
A vast and important change has been gradually taking
place throughout the country. Sober and reflecting
men, who during the reform mania were induced to

Our Whig-radical contemporaries are in extacies with
the success of their attack upon the register. Our
grandam of the Mercury, in particular, has contrived,
by some extraordinary effort, to shake the dust from
her eyes—we were about to say her wings—and to
raise a chuckle of triumph loud enough to lead the
uninitiated to suppose that her silly noddle had some
share in the direction of this last struggle of the faction
in Liverpool. It won't do, however. Our Mercury is
a very respectable old lady, but a little too much dis-
posed to indulge in tittle-tattle to be entrusted with the
secret movements of the Protector Society, or allowed
a voice at the conclave which holds its sittings in Clay-
ton-square. Go to sleep, old lady ! You will be roused
in time to mingle your howl in the "wake" which will
be duly held, before the Protestant voters of Liverpool
consign finally to the earth this political Frankenstein
which " one John Rosson" has created out of very
sorry materials, and over whose cradle you are just
now sounding your fivepenny trumpet.
We did venture, some week or two ago, to hint to
our conservative friends that his worship, Sir Joshua,
possessed one essential qualification as a candidate for
the " most sweet voices" of the liberal party in Li-
verpool. We thought that he would " bleed well."
Either he or some one else has already bled very freely,
as the denizens of Orange-street, Bachelor-street, and
other equally respectable and savoury localities can tes-
tify. There is scarcely an Irish Catholic or an Irish
pig in Liverpool, this blessed moment, that cannot turn
up the tip of his nose with perfect contempt at the ap-
proach of the tax collector. No fear of driving, either
the biped or the brute, for rent or rates. The knight
and his " proctectors" have lifted many a porker out
of a shaking fever; and, as nothing promotes feeding
so much as fresh air and a quiet mind, it is fully anti-
cipated that this year's bacon will be fatter and firmer
than has been known for the last generation.

It will be admitted then that Sir Joshua—how
euphonious that name !—has fully answered our' ex-
pectations in the matter of bleeding. But though
ready and willing with Brutus, to " coin his heart for
drachmas," in order to obtain the object of his am-
bition—a seat in the house of Commons—we are
afraid that the worthy knight will be compelled to chew
the bitter cud of disappointment. 'We have heard,
within the last few days, very ominous hints of a dis-
inclination on the part of sundry good Whigs, who hap-
pen at the same time to have good coats, to herd with
the new levies. It is not, on this occasion, the knight
himself who refuses to march through Coventry with
his ragged regiment, but the regiment which refuses to
walk with the knight—the grenadier with the light
companies—the light companies with the awkward
squad. It is not on this occasion the knight who has
sworn to " leave off sack, to purge and live cleanly"—
but the very drummer-boys shrink from the pollution
of bad habits and worse company; and we do greatly
doubt whether Sir Joshua, aided even by the Jesuitical
tact of his Protectors, will ever be able to introduce
anything like unanimity amongst the ranks of an army
composed of such incongruous materials.

In the meantime, however, and before the truly
liberal candidate has time to get his eyes opened, we
are told that his Irish friends are to be put in imme-
diate requisition. The parish office is to be " swept
out"—or, in other words, the present efficient servants
of the town are to be discharged, in order that their
place may be supplied by incompetent and inexperienced
persons, who happen to be either Irish catholics or
English republicans, passing under the various deno-
minations beneath which such characters now-a-days
contrive to hide themselves. The Church too—the
fabric of our Protestant Church—is to be handed over
at the next Easter vestries to the safe keeping of an
Irish mob. Mr. Sturges Bourne's act is to be shelved,
in order that numbers may carry the sway over pro-
perty—in order that an alien population, which in a
year or two will be found burdening our poor•rates,
may dictate terms to the resident gentry, merchantS,
and tradesmen of Liverpool, by whose enterprise arid
capital they are alone enabled to earn the potatoes and

the oatmeal Ivan which they and their children are fed.
We are not displeased that these insolent threats are

held out by the faction during its temporary_ hour of
They will serve to shew to the lukewarm

triumph

fleeting amongst our fellow-townsmen the
true character of modern liberalikn, which, with liberty
ever on its lips, has tyranny and despotism in its
heart. Bow down, Protestants of Liverpool ! bow
down your necks to the yoke which is now held over
you, and you forfeit for ever that character which it
has ever been your boast to bear in the estimation of
your countrymen. Resist that yoke—trample upon it
—spurn it ; and for that noble example, inestimable at
a crisis like the present, you will earn anew the grati-
tude and admiration of every loyal and true heart.

and the unre

On Wednesday last the state of our commercial re-
lations with foreign countries was brought before the
House of Commons, by Lord Sandon, in an able ad-
dress, .evincing, on the part of the noble lord, a com-
plete acquaintance with the subject
.in all its details.
The object of Lord Sandon was to procure for the great
mercantile bodies throughout the kingdom an expla-
nation of the policy pursued by the Foreign Office,
with respect to the settlement of various questions by
which our commerce has for the last few years been
interrupted, and to ascertain the probable 'period at
which those impediments are likely to be removed.
he'l reply of Lord Palmerston—if it could be called
a reply—was distinguished by the usual flippancy of,
that contemptible personage. With respect to all
these questions, her Majesty's government was getting
on very satisfactorily. Protocols,' representations, and
other instruments of a diplomatic character, were go-
ing and coming with a most laudable regularity; and
although his lordship could not on any one individual
matter hold out expectations of immediate arrange-
ment, yet his lordship " confidently hoped" and "fer-
vently trusted," and henfd,, and pulled up his cravat,
with an energy sufficient to convince all the world that
his lordship was very much in earnest.
Having got over, for the moment, the awkward part
' of his catechism, by the aid of that dependence upon,
chance and the " good sense and enlightened views of
foreign governments," for the indulgence of which his
lordship has become the laughing stock of every diplo-
matist in Europe, Asia, and America, the Foreign Se-
cretary turned, with all the confidence in life, to the
official tables of our exports and imports, to prove to
Lord Sandon and to the country that, under his foster-
ing care, the commercial interests of Great Britain are
in a state, generally, of great and growing prosperity.
True it was, admitted his lordship, that in some parti-
cular countries impediments to our commerce were
offered ; but, upon the whole, the amount of our ex-
ports and our imports both had
.sustained a consider-
able increase, and for this increase his lordship, with
the greatest bon hommie, claimed credit to himself and
to her Majesty's government.
We are afraid, however, that the country will scarce-
ly be accommodating enough to place much weight
upon the increase of commerce paraded in the official
papers of government, and still less to give any credit
for that increase to the sagacity or exertion of the Fo•
reign Secretary. The increase in question is far from
being evidence of increased :prosperity to the trading
interests ; and, if even it were so, might with great
propriety and truth be used to show that the commer-
cial energies of Great Britain are of so elastic a nature,
that not even the leaden weight of even Lord Palmer-
ston's incapacity can seriously check their expansion.

THE ACADIA STEAM-SHTP.---We noticed in our last paper
the arrival of this beautiful vessel from Glasgow on Thurs-
day evening, and have since taken a cursory view of her hull,
cabins, &c. She so closely resembles in almost every point
her sister ship the Britannia, (both intended to convey the
mails hence to and from Boston and Halifax) of which we gave a
detailed account in our paper of the 3d instant, that any
lengthened notice of her would be superfluous. She is of the
same capacity,—namely, of about 1,200 tons, and was built
by Mr. John Wood, of Port Glasgow. As she was high and
dry on the grid-iron in the Queen's Dock Basin for a short
time, we had an opportunity of seeing her bottom, and must
say she is, in our opinion, one of the finest models of a
steamer ever yet turned out, being particularly sharp below,
yet with ample top bearings. The engines, of 440 horse
power, precisely similar to those of the Britannia, are also by
Mr. Robert Napier, of Glasgow, and we learn that the vessel
on coming round from that city, though under some disad-
vantages, made good 13 to 13/ knots an hour, a speed which
she is expected yet to exceed. The cabins are planned like
those of the other ship, and are fitted up in the Elizabethan
style, in groined oak, carved and empannelled in a similarly
elegant style. The salloon is on the deck, and is lighted by
six windows on each side. There are separate staircases to
the ladies' and gentleinen's.respective_retiring cabins) and
light, ventilation, and comfort have been especially attended
to. We need scarcely add that the furniture is of -corres-
ponding elegance. The Acadia is commanded by Captain
Miller, a gentleman of much experience. She will sail on
the 4th of next month, and a considerable number of her
passengers have already " engaged places" by this second
Transatlantic " Mail." The other two new vessels, to com-
plete the four engaged by government on the station between
this port and America, are the Caledonia and Columbia. We
understand the Acadia will make a short trial trip on the
river this day.

BILLS OF FARE OF THE PRESIDENT STEAM-SHIP.—The
following transcript of two of the bills of fare of the dinners
given on board this vessel—Mr. Hough providore—on her
recent trip to Cork and Dublin, (taken at random,) will con-
vey some idea of the general quality and abundance of the
repasts provided :—July 15th. First Course.—Green pea
soup, giblet ditto, mock turtle, turbot, salmon, soles, pota-
toes, &c. Second Course.—Haunch of venison, fore quarter
of lamb, boiled fowls, tongues, calves' heads, boiled round of
beef, turkey pullets, sweetbreads, cutlets, vol-en-vent, curried
chickens. Third Course.—Goslings, ducks, college pud-
ings, jellies, pyramids, ices, &c. July 18th. First Course.—
Gravy, ox tail, and mock turtle soups, salmon, haddock,
heike, brill, soles. Second Course.—Roast beef, roast veal,
tongues, stewed beef, roast chicken, roast ducks, beans and
bacon, peas,
stewed veal and lamb's head, mince veal, olives.
Third Course.—Bread and butter pudding, raspberry tartlets,
currant pies, custards, jellies, blanc mange, raspberry cream,
currant-water ices, &c. Side Table.—Round of beef.—When
we add that the wines and other liquors were in proportionate
abundance, and of the choicest description, we need not add
a word on the good fare on board of the President.

THE SWELL MOB AT THE REGATTA.-At the close of
our account of the regatta on Friday, we noticed the appre-
hension of a fashionably dressed young man, and his com-
mitment to Chester Castle, after an examination before the
magistrates at Birkenhead on the following day, for pulling
a gentleman's watch from his pocket in the lobby of the Bir-
kenhead Hotel. We now correct some slight inaccuracies aris-
ing from mistakes on the part of our informant, and supply some
additional particulars. The young man, after being appre-
hended, gave several names as his own, but finally that of
Alfred Easthorpe,—not " Samuel Easthorne." The gentle-
man from whom the watch was taken, Geo. Foster, Esq.,
resides at: Toxteth Park, not " Everton." About £ll in
sovereigns and silver were found on the defendant, and there
appears to be no doubt but he has been connected with a
formidable and moneyed gang, a large sum having been of-
fered to one of the police officers as a bribe for his release.
which was of course refused. The case against him was ably
conducted by Mr. Swinnerton Cudlipp, who happened to be
present when the delinquency took place. At the close of
the examinations an enquiry was made whether the prisoner
had any friends in court. It was remarked by a gentleman
present—" Yes, there is one here who calls himself his con-
sin,"—alluding to another well-dressed young man in the
body of the court. Mr. Cudlipp remarked, " Another, of
the swell mob, I suppose." The " cousin" thereupon ex-
claimed from the crowd, with apparent indignation, " Do
you mean me ?" but he chose to pocket the affront, if such
it were, and finding his way out of court, was not afterwards
seen.

BEAUTIFUL PLAN OF LIVERPOOL AND ITS ENVIRONS.—
We have received a plan of our own town and its vicinity, by
Mr. Wyld, geographer, of Charing-cross, who is now exhi-
biting, in London, a series of maps and plans of the principal
operations of the British army in the Peninsular campaign,
that have acquired him a high reputation for accuracy and
perspicuity. The present production is one of the most
beautiful we have yet seen. Within a space of 28 inches by
184 only, we have the whole of Liverpool and its environs,
in 'Lancashire and Cheshire, over an extent of nearly 13
miles from north to south, and 84 from east to west. Every
street in the town, public building, &C., is beautifully shown :
the banks and soundings in the river are all marked, and the
townships, roads great and .small, railways, gentlemen's
seats—even the very fields, with their boundaries, in the
vicinity, are exhibited with great minuteness, and in distin-
guishing colours. A perfect stranger may by this plan steer
his way with facility to any point within the space stated
without asking a question ; and a glance at it will suggest
many an agreeable walk, ride, or sail, to those who are in
search of recreation.
AN IRISH " SWITCH."—One of the passenger guests by
the steam-ship President, on her recent trial-trip to Ireland,
left Cork one morning (during the stay of the vessel at Pas-
sage) on a pedestrian ramble to the far-famed Blarney Castle.
Being in the habit of carrying a walking-stick,—which, how-
ever, was, on this occasion, like the Dutchman's anchor, left
" at horse,"—he felt, when he had got a mile or two along
the road (which is called Blarney-lane), the want of his ac-
customed hazel; and thinking he could accelerate his jour-
ney if provided with a " shillelah " of some sort, he inquired
of a stout, smiling native, who was standing at the door of a
cottage, and who wished him " the top o' the morning," if
he had such a thing as a walking-stick in the house, that he
would sell, as he (the inquirer) was rather in a hurry to
" kiss the blarney-stone. " Arrah ! yer honour," quoth
Pat, " since it's that same ye re afther, sorry am I that I
have nothin' at all at all desarvin' the name iv a walking-
stick for a gintleman ; but may be I may find you a bit of a
sthwitch just !" Saying which, he turned on his heel with
that fling peculiar to the " boys " when they are in a
hurry to do a favour, and disappeared into the house. In
a , short time he returned, with a cudgel as thick in the
middle (by which he grasped it) as one's wrist, and
withal scorning attenuation at either end. It looked, in-
deed, like the better half of a flail, and showed sundry
wounds and defalcations of skin, the result, doubtless, of
honourable service at fairs and forays.—" Here it is, yer
honour!" cried Pat; " here's the sthwitch,gintale, light, and
sunder enough in all conscience ! and yer wilcum to id, with
it at the same time a twirl over his
all my heart !" giving
head, and then setting it with one end on the ground, to
show that it "could" be walked with. Our friend had much
to do to keep his gravity. Had he looked or said anything
in disparagement, he would have given mortal offence to poor
Pat ; so he took the proferred timber (which, indeed, felt
as ponderous as lignumvitte), and offered the man a small
sum by way of return; but he stoutly refused to accept of
anything, exclaiming, as if in some degree affronted—" Bad
luck to the day I'd not give a gintlernan a bit of a sthwitch,
to help him along the road." One friend could therefore but
.thank him, and went on his way, with the log in his hand; but
finding that it made his wrist ache, he was soon fain to dispose of
it over a fence, otherwise be would certainty, have brought it
home in the President, and deposited it in the exhibition of
the Mechanics' Institution, now open in Liverpool, as a ge-
nuine specimen of "an Irish gintleman's sthwitch."

THE REGISTRY.

,---RADICAL EXULTATION

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SlR,—Our radical friends, and their popish allies, seem
once more to be waxing courageous. Like spoiled children,
one moment they are seen brooding in sulky depression, and
next they are in senseless raptures. Strange, that the bare
prospect of possessing a cake or two should make so great an
alteration. But the registry is now to contain 1200 Irish
papists, whose taxes have been paid up. by our modern purity
men ; and no wonder they are in extacies. The moral so-
cinian, the sleek quaker, the sanctimonious political dissenter,
can form an alliance to subscribe and place papists on the
registry to crush the church, and to hurt their orthodox
brethren, who are her friends. " Oh, shame ! where is thy
blush ?" It is true they admit that, as their shirtless allies
have now gained a settlement, our parish must find funds to
keep them in winter, and but then this will only double the
parish rates, and what is that if the pride or ambition of a
"liberal' is interested? Nay, more, we should be bound,
according to the modern sense of the word " reform," to
thank our local patriots, who place men on the registry to
nullify our votes, and then, by way of recompense, ask us to
keep them.

Men of Liverpool ! mark such base proceedings with vir-
tuous disgust. What, are we quietly to pay an intolerable
parish rate, because, forsooth, one'vain individual possesses
measureless assumption, and another matchless impudence ?
And are our voices, as independent electors, to be overborne
by the influence of a hireling mob of retainers ? You will
not, you cannot, submit to this degradation. Come forward,
then, unanimously, and with firm resolve ; read the lists
which will be exhibited upon your church and chapel doors,
mark the names, reflect upon the character of the streets the
parties reside in, and say whether the garbage which it is
attempted, next election, to foist upon our town shall be left
without molestation. Purge the registry. Give notice of
any who have not proper qualifications as householders, or
who have lately, by themselves or families, received parochial
relief, and watch the removals. Shame on the recreant sons
of the early puritans ! Would their fathers have joined Rome
against their maternal church ?

-Thank God our countrymen are still, nationally, as loyal
to their God and their church as ever, hence (mark the con-
sequence) none but the taxes of the Irish subjects of Rome
are arranged ; and I glory in my name as Briton, that the
enemies of our institutions were compelled to find baser ma-
terials for their execrable purpose than my countrymen could
afford.

With such an honourable attestation as to the character of
our country, let us meet the enemy with determination in the
revising courts ; and seeing that the affections of the people
still entwine themselves round the altar and the throne, we
may rest satisfied that

" Naught shall make England rue,
If Briton to their God prove true
I am, sir, yours, &c.
Liverpool, 25th julp,,lB4(r.

R. G. .1

LIVERPOOL WOOL SALES.—FRznAy

The first importation of the new "Wools from New South
Wales was brought forward to-day, by auction, and the whole
were sold at fully as high prices as could have been expected
from the extreme depression which has prevailed in our Wool
market for three months-past. We should quote the redue-.
tion at fully 2d.• per lb. on clothing Wools, and 3d. per lb. on
combing descriptions since last sales in March; but, at the
same time, we consider them inferior both in quality and
condition.

In Germanized Odessas, Spanish, and Portugal Wools we
quote the reduction at fully 3d. per lb.
East India Wools maintained full previous rates. The
small quantity brought forward on this occasion, and the large
amount of Australian and other Wools advertised for sale in
London, during next month, have prevented the customary
attendance of many influential buyers, and had a material in-
fluence on the result of our sale.

PRICES CURRENT.—Australian and Tasmanian, 934 bales :
—Fair combing Is. 6d. to Is. Bd., low ditto Is. sd. to Is. 6d ;
fine clothing is. 51d. to Is. 71-d., low ditto Is. 4d. to ls. sd. ;
lambs is. sd. to ls. 8111. ; scoured Is. 4d. to 2s. ; skin 11d.
to ls. 3d. ; locks and unwashed 91d. Is. Id. ; Spanish, 184
(tales, R. Is. 4d. to ls. 7id., F. 11d. to Is. 3d., S. Is. Old.
to Is. 21d., A. Is. 11d. to Is. 31d. ; Portugal, 137 bales, R.
Is. Id. to Is. lad., F. 10d. to Ild., S. 10d. to 101-d., A. 11d.
to 111 d. ; Odessa, 134 bales, (Germanized) Is. 41d. to Is. 6d. ;
Austrian, 177 bales, Is. to Is. 1 d. ; East India, 182 bales,
white 84d. to Btd., yellow 61d. to ad., gray 3111. to 44-d.,
black 41d. to sd. ; Smyrna, 145 bales, withdrawn , Mohair,
37 bales, Is. Id. ; Sundry 89 bales, Os. Od. ; t0ta12,019 bales.
DAWSON and HANCE, Wool-brokers.

DESTRUCTION BY FIRE OF A LARGE COTTON
FACTORY AT HEATON MERSEY.

(From our Private co? respondent.)

MANCHESTER, JULY 27.—Last night the extensive factory
of Messrs. Samuel Stocks and Son, situate at Heaton Mer-
sey, six miles from Manchester, on the north bank of the
River Mersey, was totally destroyed by fire. It appears that
the fire was first discovered about nine o'clock in the even-
ing; at that time it had made considerable progress in the
interior of the building, and shortly after burst out in the
most vivid flames. Stockport, which is distant about a
mile and a half, being the nearest place at which engines
could be procured, an express was sent there. Four engines
were speedily on the spot, but from some cause, certainly
not the want of water, a very considerable delay took place
before they could be got to work. The flames had by that
time obtained so completely the ascendancy, any attempt to
save the building in which they had originated would have
been perfectly chimerical. All the firemen could do was to
protect the engine-houses and the bleach-works, which are
only separated from the mill, and from each other by a party
wall. In this they were successful, so far as regards the
bleach-works, but the engine-houses, which immediately
adjoin the mill itself, suffered considerably. Vast quantities
of goods were removed from the bleach-works and the
finishing rooms, but the whole of the goods in the mill, and
of course the machinery, were totally destroyed, the fire
having made such progress before it was discovered, as to
preclude any attempt at saving this property.
The building destroyed is a very extensive one : it is up-
wards of 40 yards in length, about 12 or 14 yards wide, and
seven stories high. The next building, the engine-house, is
considerably lower, being only four or five stories high, and has
materially facilitated the exertions of the firemen in cutting
off the progress of the flames. The next building, which is
wholly free from-injury, is six stories in height. Of course
nothing like an accurate estimate of the loss can yet be
formed; I have heard it variously stated at from £15,000 to
£36,000. The insurance on the whole of the works amounts
to about £20,000, and is divided among the six following
offices :—the Sun, the Manchester, the Guardian, the
Phoenix, the Royal Exchange, and the Atlas.
. .

The origin the fire is wholly unaccounted for. It is
true that some of the hands employed in the weaving depart-
ment had joined in the strike which recently took place at
Stockport, but beyond this simple fact nothing whatever has
transpired to lead to the conclusion that the origin of this
destructive conflagration has been any other than accidental.
Still its occurrence on Sunday night renders it difficult to
understand how it could be produced by any of the causes
to which accidents of this kind are usually attributed. An
intelligent manufacturer from Stockport, with whom I have
this morning conversed, inclines to the supposition that it
may have arisen from a spontaneous combustion of waste,
which would smoulder for a length of time before bursting
into flames. If so, it seems odd that the watchman employed
on the premises did not discover it at an earlier period of the
fire.

So strong was the illumination of the atmosphere caused
by the flames, that the red light was distinctly visible nearly
all over Manchester, and for miles beyond it, up towards the
hills. Many people in the north of Manchester, and in Sal-
ford, imagined the flames to be at a comparatively short dis-
tance,—in Greenheys or Victoria Park,—and set out to walk
thither ; but, after proceeding a mile or two, without appa-
rently approaching it, they gave up the task. The flickering
of the flames continued to increase until near twelve o'clock,
when it suddenly disappeared, owing to the roof, &c., of the
building having fallen in.
A. little before eleven, an alarm was given at the Manches-
ter Fire-police Station, by one of the night-police, and soon
after an express was sent for the Manchester engines. Had
this been done two hours earlier great part of the building
might have been saved; but from the account brought to
Mr. Rose, the conductor, of the progress of the fire, he saw
at once that it would be perfectly useless to take an engine
to the spot. He therefore rode over and, by his great expe-
rience in these matters, and the judicious directions which
he gave to the firemen, contributed materially to the pre-
servation of the adjoining buildings.

It was not until between five and six o'clock this morning
that the fire was so far subdued that the adjoining premiies
could be considered out of danger; and the engines are still
playing, at intervals, on the smouldering embers.

At Stockport the utmost consternation was excited by the
fire, and crowds ran to the place to witness it. This was a
source of great inconvenience to the firemen, and, with the
delay noticed above, rendered their exertions less available
than they otherwise might have been—the police not being
sufficiently numerous or active to keep off the crowd.
Messrs. Stocks are what is called general manufacturers of
cotton goods, all the processes being crrried on in the diffe-
rent parts of the prem►ses.. The finishing-rooms are in the
building which is saved, and it is therefore hoped that the
more valuable portion of the goods will have been preserved.
It is matter of deep regret to know that between 600 and 700
hands will necessarily be thrown out of employ for a con-
siderable time.

THEATRE-ROYAL—Friday night was the last appearance
of Madame Vestris, Mr. Charles Mathews, and Mr. James
Vining. Amidst the novelties introduced during their en-
gagement none have been more remarkable than the Duenna
and the llferry Wives of Windsor, both of which we have
already briefly noticed. The music of the latter was delight-
fully executed by all the vocalists, especially the celebrated
duet, " I know a bank whereon the wild flowers dwell," by
Madame Vestris and Miss Grant. The exqusite harmony of
the voices, and their raultleSs execution, elicited a rapturous
encore from a crowded house. Last evening Mr. J. G.
Vandenhoff made his first appearance this season in the ar-
duous character of " Hamlet." He acquitted himself very
creditably. This evening he plays " Morcutio," in Romeo
and Juliet. Mr. Anderson, who is also engaged, will repre-
sent " Romeo."

THE Scorrisa UNION SociEry.—The annual dinner of
this excellent and thriving society took place on Wednesday
last, the 22d instant; at Mr. Gildert's, in Ranelagh-street.
About forty gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous dinner, pre-
pared and served in Mr. Gildert's accustomed style. The
society,' though a benefit association, was instituted chiefly
for the purpose of commemorating the union of England and
Scotland, on the anniversary of which the annual dinner is
held. On this occasion a celebrated piper, belonging to the
19th Highlanders, now lying at Haydock Lodge, was pre-
sent, by permission of his commanding officer, and-enlivened
the meeting by playing many appropriate " springs." After
dinner, many of the members, some of whom were splen-
didly attired in tartan, as chieftains of various Highland
clans, crossed the river, and walked in procession through
Woodside and Birkenhead. They presented a very gay and
characteristic appearance, and were preceded by the piper,
whose strong instrument formed no inconsiderable band of
itself. The whole of the members afterwards re-assembled
at their club-room, in Ranelagh-street, and passed the even-
ing in the most lively and agreeable manner.

EXHIBITION AT THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.—We
beg to remind our readers that the present is the last week
during which this splendid exhibition will remain open. Sa-
turday next will be the closing day. Very little time remains,
therefore, for a detailed inspection of the numberless curiosi-
ties which it contains. An early visit is strongly recom-
mended, as we feel convinced that every one who goes through
the rooms once will not rest satisfied without a second visit.
We understand that, independently of the 16,000 children be-
longing to the charity schools, and the military and police
forces, who have been admitted without charge. upwards of
50,000 peisons have visited the institution within the last.
five weeks. This is an undeniable proof of the popularity of
the exhibition.

THE TRANSATLANTIC STEAMERS.—The British Queen,
which sailed from Portsmouth for New York, on the after-
noon of the Ist instant, was spoken, on the 11th instant, ten
days out, in lat. 46 26, long. 35. The Britannia, which
sailed from Liverpool for Halifax and Boston, on the after-
noon of the 4th instant, was spoken on the forenoon of the
14th, nearly ten days out, in lat 46, long. 48. She would
reach Halifax on, probably, the 17th, and Boston on the 19th
instant, and make the passage under fifteen days. The
British Queen would scarcely, from the longitude she was in
on the 11th, reach New York earlier than the 18th instant.
Bets have, indeed, been offered, that the arrival of the Bri-
tannia at Boston would be announced at New York before the
British Queen arrives at the latter port.—Albion.

SKETCHES OF THE JOLLY CLUE

(Written for the Liverpool Standard.)