The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-16 00:00:00

VARIETIES.

TESTIMONY TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BY DR.
CgeiatEas.—l hold the Establishment to be not only a
great Christian good, but one indispensable to the uphold-
ing of a diffused Christianity throughout the land. In
spite of all the imputations and errors which its greatest
enemies have laid to its doors, we hold that, on the alter-
native of its existence or non-existence, there would hang
a most fearful odds to the Christianity of England. We
are ready to admit that the working of the apparatus
might be made a great deal more efficient ; but we at the
same time contend that, were it taken down, the result
would be tantamount to a moral blight on the length and
breadth of our land. We think it might be demonstrated
that, were the ministrations of your Established Church
to be done away, they would never be replaced by all the
zeal, energy, and talent, of private adventurers. Instead
of the frequent parish church, the most beauteous specta-
cle to a truly Christian heart, because to him the richest
in moral associations, with its tower peeping out from
amidst the verdure of the trees in which it is embosomed,
there would be presented to the eye of the traveller only
rare and thinly scattered meeting houses. The cities
might, indeed, continue to be supplied with regular
preaching ; but innumerable villages and hamlets, left de-
pending on a precarious itinerancy, would be speedily
reduced to the condition of a moral waste. Our peasants
would again become Pagans ; or, under the name and
naked form of Christianity, would sink into the blindness
and brutishness and sad alienation of Paganism.
MR. BOUNDERBY'S HOUSEKEEFER.—Mrs. Sparsit had
not only seen different days, but was highly connected.
She had a great aunt living in these very times called Lady
Scadgers. Mrs. Sparsit, deceased; of whom she was the
relict, had been by the mother's side what Mrs. Sparsit
still called "a Powler." Strangers of limited information
and dull apprehensions were sometimes observed not to
know what a Powler was, and even to appear uncertain
whether it might be a business, or a political party, or a
profession of faith. The better class of minds, however,
did not, need to be informed that the Powlers were an
ancient stock who could trace themselves so exceedingly
far back that it was not surprising if they sometimes lost
themselves—which they had rather frequently done, as
respected horse-flesh, blind hookey, Hebrew monetary
transactions, and the Insolvent Debtors' Court. The late
Mr. Sparsit, being by the mother's side a Powler, married
this lady, being by the father's side a Scadgers. Lady
Scadgers (an immensely fat old woman, with an inordinate
appetite for butcher's meat, and a mysterious leg, which
had now refused to get out of bed for fourteen years) con-
trived the marriage at a period when Sparsit was just of
age, and chiefly noticeable for a slender body, weakly sup-
ported upon two long slim props, and surmounted by no
head worth mentioning. He inherited a fair fortune from
his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and
spent it twice over immediately afterwards. Thus, when
he died, at twenty-four (the scene of his decease Calais,
and the cause brandy,) he did not leave his widow, from
whom he had been separated soon after the honey moon,
in affluent circumstances. That bereaved lady, fifteen
years older than he, fell presently at deadly feud with her
only relative, Lady Scadgers , and, partly to spite her
ladyship, and partly to maintain herself, went out at a
riotauiand
illiesrtyelsehoef wuoassenaouwd:
tibnehdeeruesledberlaelykdaeyyseb, with
the salary.
which had captivated Sparsit, making Mr. Bounderby's
feature tea as he took his breakfast. If Bounderby had been a
rSep csatpattiev
processions,
princess wbhoomc
could
ctooonkquaeborourt, aasnd l‘ a
not have made a greater flourish with her than he
habitually did. Just as it belonged to his boastfulness to
depreciate his own extraction, so it belonged to it to exalt
Mrs. Sparsit's. In the measure",that he would not allow
his own youth to have been attended by a single favour-
able circumstance, he brightened Mrs. Sparsit's juvenile
career with every possible advantage, and showered
waggon-loads of early roses all over that lady's path.
" And yet, sir," he would say, " how does it turn out after
all ? Why here she is at a hundred a year (I give her a
hundred, which she is pleased to term handsome,) keeping
the house of Josiah Bounderby of Coketown !"--Dickens'
Hard Times.

THE WAR.

BOMBARDMENT OF ODESSA.

The following are the official despatches of this affair
ADMIRALTY, May 11.—Official despatch from Admiral
Dundas. Britannia, off Odessa, April 22nd, 1854.
Sir,—l beg you will lay before the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty the accompanying correspondence rela-
tive to the fire of the batteries at Odessa on the Furious
and her boat, when flying each a flag of truce, which will,
I trust, fully explain to their lordships the exact nature of
this uncivilised act of aggression, and the false statements
by which General d'Osten-Sacken has been led to attempt
to justify it. And as, in addition to the fortress of Odessa,
the Russians were labouring day and night in strengthen-
ing the moles and erecting formidable sea defences, and
had also collected between 20,000 and 30,000 men for the
protection of this military depot, as well as for the secu-
rity of vessels seeking shelter under the guns of the
place, Admiral Hamelin and I decided on sending the
joint demand to the governor, of which the enclosure
No. 5 is a copy.
As no answer had been received up to 7 a.m. this morn-
ing, the combined steam division noted in the margin,*
with six rocket-boats, under the immediate orders of Cap-
tain Jones, opened fire on the imperial fort and mole, and
Russian vessels lying there. By 3 p.m. the magazine was
blown up, the forts were destroyed, and the ships sunk or
burnt.

The city of Odessa and the mole containing the mer-
chant vessels of all nations were not molested, vgrecably
to the commands of her Al:testy to respect private property
as much as possible.
Oar loss has happily been small—one killed and ten
wounded, and the damage to. the ships by the enemy's fire
can be repaired at sea.
It is my pleasing duty to state that between the two
squadrons the greatest cordiality exists, and that the con-
duct of the French steam-frigates calls for my warmest
praise. The Vauban was set on fire• by red-hot shot, but,
by the cod courage and activity of her captain and crew,
the fire was extinguished.
I recommend all the officers, seamen,- and royal marines
employed on the service to their lorefship's notice, particu-
larly Captain Jones, the senior officer of the steam divi-
sion, and Commander Dickson of the' Britannia, who, in
charge of the-rocket-boats, did good service'.
I enclose a copy of a letter I have received from Capt.
Jones, and a list of the killed and wounded.
&c.,
W. D. DUNDAS, Ville-Admiral.

The enclosures are—firstly, the letter; of. Gen. d'Osten-
Sacken; secondly,. of Captain Loring, of the Furious,
already published ; tliirdly, the evidence of two merchant
captains, as to the filing on the Furious and her boat ;
fourthly, a letter from Admiral Dundas to tlie• Russian
general, denying the• littter's statement; fiftlilk, a joint
letter from the Frenchand English admirals, demanding
the delivery of the Engliih, French, and Russian, vessels,
and threatening hostit.- measures in case oP• refusal ;
sixthly, report from Captain Jones, of the Samson, tb•the
admiral, in which be says--•" The ships and vesselrinTort
Imperial amounted to about 24, most of which being•sunk
or'on fire at the time of your making the recall, and. the
explosion of the battery on+the pier-head rendered hirther
operations in that quarter unnecessary."
/i.o. 7 contains a list of killed and wounded—William
Salter, able seaman, of the' Terrible, killed by splinter'
wound of neck. Four men, on board Terrible slightly
wounded. Six on board Samson slightly wounded.
Ni. 8 is a list of officers commanding rocket-boats.
*The margin of Admiral Dundas's despatch contains the'
number of steamers engaged, as'already reported.

CONOTANTINOPLE, May I.—Plince Napoleon has ar-
rived. All the Greeks not compromised, and who are
still at Constantinople, are permitted to remain.
The Duke of Cambridge, it is reported, has declined to
avail hihiself of the palace prepared for his use by the
Sultan. The duke is unwilling to place himself in any
respect above his commanding officer, Lord Raglan.
THE BALTIC FLEET.—STETTIRy THIIHSDAT.—Sir C.
Napier's fleet, after going towardi Sando, off Gothland,
was proceeding towards the Gulf ofTinland. Ten French
ships had come up. The weather was fine. Russian ves-
sels had been moving in the gulf. The Norwegian navy
was in Swedish waters. The Swedish Court was thought
to be leaning to the Western Powers: Frequent meetings
of the Council of State had taken place. Great meetings
had occurred.--COPENHAGEN, THVESDAY.—The French
fleet was yesterday evening in sight of Nyborg, in the
Great Belt. Accounts from Finland to the 3rd of May,
confirm the relative to large defensive prepara-
tions there. General Junker has been appointed Com-
mandant of the fortress of Viborg; and General Drake
Commandant of the Artillery. Four new companies of
reserve of the rowing flotilla havniken enrolled ; head-
quarters at Rothensaln, where. there.are magazines and
barracks for 14,000 men. Expect important news from
Admiral Napier in a few days.. Cronstadt reported " not
impregnable."
The Moniteur of Friday contained a despatch "trom
Admiral Hamelin, dated off Odessa, the 25th ult., an-
nouncing that the Retribution, Descartes, and Niger had
captured 14 Russian merchant ye:Awl§ destined for Con-
stantinople. Admiral Dundas had proposed an exchange
of prisoners. The French Government had granted to
the English soldiers the same reduction in the rate of pay-
ment for letters as allowed to those belonging to the
French army. _ _

The Journal of St. Petersburg,_ in, its number of April
22 (May 4), republishes from the• rnvalide Rune, two
fresh reports from General Osten-Sacken respecting the
affair of Odessa. These reports do not communicate any-
thing new ; but General Osten-Sicken adds that Vice-
Admiral Dundas had sent him, by means of an Austrian
merchant-vessel then in• the roadstead, 49 men (prisoners),
including the captains and the crews, belonging to the
Russian merchant service, together with a letter, which
we here reproduce:—
On board' Her Britannia Majesty's Ship the
Britannia, of Odessa,. April 12 (24), 1854.

Vice-Admiral Dunila; has the'honour to announce to
his Excellency Baron Osten-Sacken, Aide-de-Camp
General of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias,
that as the allied squadrons do not desire to keep any
longer than, was indispensable the small number of Rus-
sian merchant seamen (49 in all) whom they had taken
prisoners, he has placed them on board of an Austrian
vessel, in order that they may be landed at Odessa.

J. W. D. DUNDAS.

From a communication received at the Admiralty,
we learn that the following British ships were, left
in the Mole of Odessa on the 22d April, 1854, which,
it is believed, have been seized by the Russian govern-
ment:—The Richard Mount, Cohen, of London; Billow
Queen, Kidd, of Dundee; Catharine, Swanston, of Dun-
dee ; John and Eleanor, Lillmman, of North Shields ;
Swift, Hughes, of North Shields ; Sea, Dodds, of Sunder-
land ; Regina, Pratt. of Sunderland.—Shipping Gazette.
BLOCKADE OF THE RUSSIAN PORTS.—The following
extract of a letter from the German port of Rostock,
dated the 6th inst., furnishes some useful details regard-
ing the probable position both of British and neutral tra-
ders in the Baltic, when the expected declaration of blockade
shall have been made against St. Petersburg and Riga :
" Some sixty ships had got into Riga, and were loading
different articles ; freights very high-10s. 6d. per quarter
to the Firth for oats, and £lO per ton for flax to Dundee.
The Riga merchants do not know whether they are under
blockade or not ; three English vessels of war were seen
off the port, but they allowed three vessels to wind their
way and enter the harbour. From what I can learn from
good authority, the blockade will not be strictly enforced
until after the 15th inst., when it will be carried out with
all possible rigour, so that the ports not impeded with ice
will have a fair chance to get off some, if not all, of their
stocks ready for shipment. Those who have stuff at St.
Petersburg will, however, stand but a poor chance, and
many innocent persons, both British subjects and those of
neutral states, particularly in Holland, will be ruined,
which is very hard, considering that most of their pur-
chases were made in autumn, or early in winter, when it
was never supposed that war between France, England,
and Russia would actually ensue, and the British minis-
ters themselves, if their late statements be true, did not
anticipate it would come to extremes. As an illustration
of the extent of these transactions, I may mention this
place (Rostock), which, though but a small port, is inte-
rested to the amount of some 30,000 quarters of rye, oats,
and wheat, upon which advances have been paid, varying
from one-third to one half the amount. Thus, if our
merchants cannot get away their stuff, which they have
hitherto been prevented from doing by ice, and after the
15th will be prevented by the blockade, the Russians will
pocket the amount, viz., about £40,000. Hence, instead
of doing the Russians harm by strictly blockading St.
Petersburg, they will be benefited. I think that the
allied powers ought to make arrangement for granting
licenses to those parties who bought and partly paid for
their goods on or before a certain period, which might be
proved by the letters, books, and correspondence to be
produced before the magistrates of the place, and verified
by the resident English and French consuls. This would
be a boon to neutral nations, and do no harm to the Bri-
tish or French government, and no good to the Russian.
It is possible that the Emperor of Russia might prevent
ships and goods passing in and out, in order that the state
of his fortresses, &c., might not be made public by cap-
tains. If so, that would be tantamount to a prohibition
of exports, which would release the contracting parties of
their contracts, and the sellers would have to refund the
amount they have received in advance. Thus none but
the Russians would suffer, and the buyers (British sub-
jects of neutral states) would lose nothing but the inte-
rest"— Times.
We learn from Malta, under date the 6th, that the
Pride of the Ocean has just landed a part of the. 17th
Regiment of Lancers, under the orders of Major Willett ;
and that the Melbourne had also arrived with 664 men of
the 38th Regiment of Infantry, commanded by Colonel
Sparks. Fourteen other transports were in sight.
LETTERS TO THE FLEETS.—Au offer has been received
from the French government to convey the French Levant
packets the correspondence of the British soldiers and sea-
men in the East upon the same favourable terms as those
which apply to the correspondence of the French forces.
This liberal and considerate offer has been gladly accepted,
and the regulations under which it will be carried into
effect will be made public by the General Post-office as
soon as the necessary details have been arranged between
that department and the Post-office in Paris. On the part
of the British government advantages of a like nature will
be made available to the French seamen serving in the
allied Baltic fleet, as often as the communications with
that fleet furnish the opportunity of doing so.
On Friday vast quantities of ordnance stores, gun car-
riages, Congreve rockets, ammunition, and combustibles
were forwarded from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to be
shipped on board the Sydney, at Southampton, under
orders for the East.
It is believed that unforeseen and unexpected difficul-
ties have been interposed, on the part of the United
States, with respect to the convention which has been
negotiated in this country by Mr. Buchanan and the Earl
of Aberdeen, on the subject of the right of search and the
system of privateering. It is believed, also, as we stated
a day or two ago, that Lord Elgin, in his way back to re-
assume the government of Canada, will be entrusted with.
a special mission to Washington, for the purpose of ,set-
tling any differences which may exist betwecni the
governments of the two countries on the important ques-
tions to which we have just adverted.—Morrring Post.
Our cruisers continue to pick up nu' ierous Russian
prizes. The Tribune, 31 guns, scre-,v steam frigate,
arrived at Sheerness from the Tittltic on Saturday, with