The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-15 00:00:00

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TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 15, 1853.

THE WEEK.

FOREMOST in the events of the week was the cele-
bration of the Centenary of ROSCOE, on Tuesday
last, a day which was distinguished by the realisa-
tion of that happy idea—a public Breakfast in the
Philharmonic Flail, and the opening of the Derby
Museum. It is true that all the invitations to dis-
tinguished literary characters at a distance re-
sulted in apologies for absence ; but the towns-
men of ROSCOE responded to the appeal to do
honour to his memory, and there was a goodly
gathering. The worshipful the MAYOR entered
warmly into the spirit of the affair, and showed his
appreciation of the claims of poetry by an elegant
soiree at the Town-hall.

The weather, since our last, has been very vari-
able, the days being, alternately, bright and dull.
Yesterday (Monday) there was a continuous fall of
rain, and, during the forenoon, so heavy a cloud
of vapour hung over Liverpool, that lights were
burning in the various public offices, and the ap-
pearance was that of a dull November evening.
The dry and sunny days have, however, done much
good, and farming operations have been actively
carried on in the neighbourhood.
A great object of interest in the vicinity of the
ferries was the noble ship Marco Polo, which came
out of dock early in the week, and anchored be-
tween the Landing-stage and Seacombe until Sun-
day, when she bade farewell to England. Her
symmetrical form, the fine proportions of her hull,
and her tall and taut rigging, made her an object of
much attention, in addition to the interest which
she excited from her ivell-earned fame.
The Select Vestry have cooled in their wrath
towards Mr. MANSFIELD, the Stipendiary Magis-
trate ; for a Select Committee, to whom his charges
were referred, have reported that he was wrong in
his assertions—so that the Guardians can afford to
be magnanimous. One of the Magistrates has had
an unseemly war of words with an attorney, in
which it is difficult to say which showed the most
want of sense.

POLITICAL IMMORALITY.—There is a growing
cancer in our constituent system; corruption pre-
vails to a frightful extent amongst the poorer voters
in nine boroughs out of ten ; and whenever there
is a tolerably even balance of parties, money carries
the day. Cambridge and some other places have
been " found out :" in that consists their special
guilt. Practically they are not one whit more cor-
rupt than scores of places which have heretofore
escaped exposure. The evil is a system of low
franchise. Reduce the franchise to £5, and there
will be 400 purchaseahle votes in Cambridge at
about £4 per vote. This is perfectly understood
by every man who has taken a part in borough
electioneering. You may declaim as you like about
purity of election; it is a myth, which nobody be-
lieves in except gentlemen and ladies in easy chairs.
And so it will remain so long as we have Liberalism
prating about extended franchise. Amongst the
lower order of voters, the franchise is becoming to
be almost universally regarded as an article of
commerce. " I have no particular principles," said
a Canterbury voter before a committee the other
day; " I am open to anybody, and do not see why
I should not vote for anybody who makes it worth
my while." Give these men the ballot, and a bag
of sovereigns, to be distributed upon the success
of a certain candidate, and every borough in Eng-
land will be bought every election, without the
chance of subsequent inquiry, for ballot and elec-
tion committees, of course, cannot co-exist.—
Cambridge Chronicle.

MINISTERIAL PROTESTANTISM.--The English
ministers from time to time care nothing at all
about Protestantism. They are utterly indifferent
about it. Catholic emancipation was granted in
palpable derision of the principle by which England
professes to be governed, and the endowment of
Maynooth is a savage onslaught on the same. Eng-
lish statesmen in general are infinitely superior to all
religious considerations, unless they can have an
opportunity of injuring the Church. There is suffi-
cient proof of this in the speech of Lord John
Russell the other day, when he advocated the admis-
sion of Jews into parliament. The difference be-
tween him and the Jews was so exceedingly small
that it was not worth while to keep them out. That
difference being only this—they differed about the
.value of the Gospels. Thus, when it suited the
ministerial convenience—that is, conscience—not
only was Protestantism thrown overboard, but
Christianity itself. The writer of the Durham let-
ter sees no harm or sin in Judaism, but he cannot
bear Catholicism. The Four Gospels are of no
moment in his eyes when he pleads for the Jew;
but, if there be a question of justice to the Catho-
lics, then he becomes an intolerable Protestant, and
stands up for the purity and simplicity of his Faith,
and denounces the " mummeries" of Popery.—The
Tablet.

THE SIXMILE BRIDGE AFFAIR.--There was
something far more manly in the refusal of the late
government to prosecute at all, than in this con-
temptible compliance with the base and hollow form
of an arrangement, followed by the contemptible
farce called a `trial,' from which the spirit of justice
had evaporated while the skeleton was held together
by the gibing machinists of the Crown. A jury
havingbeen sworn without challenge, which included
" nine magistrates" of the county, Mr. Attorney-
General made a very long speech " for the prosecu-
tion," and ended by producing " no witnesses." A.
jury of magistrates, without a challenge, and a pro-
secution without witnesses, constitute a novel mode
of giving effect to the inquisition. But they ren-
dered all the effect ever desired or contemplated by
the government, and that was the discharge of the
prisoners, and the public justification through the
farce of a " trial," and a verdict of acquittal of the
whole proceeding at Sixmile Bridge. This is jus-
tice—justice for the Dooleys and their dead bre-
thren of Sixmile Bridge, whose sacrifices brought
the present government into power I—Dublin Free-
man's Journal.

CANADA CLERGY RESERVES.—The majority
upon the second reading of the bill was not ex-
pected to reach forty, and exceeded eighty ! The
government had, of course, all the Infidels and
Rornanists to a man. But they had, beside, a large
section of Conservatives, who used to follow Lord
DERBY'S lead. But that ought not to astonish,
however much it may annoy, their former chiefs.
What sort of lessons have the late government
taught their followers on religious questions ? The
ex-cabinet ministers, one and all, walked out
of the house on the recent Maynooth division.
Upon the subject of Irish education, too, the late
government, while in office, grievously disappointed
their Protestant party, and Mr. DISRAELI voted
against his friends on the Jew bill ! Is it any
wonder, then, that the disorganization of the party
should progress pan passe with the disappointment
of the public.—Dublin Evening Herald.

" THE DRYING UP OF TIIE EUPHRATES" IS
a sign of the times. The Turks encamped in Eu-
rope many centuries ago, and enslaved Christian
people without profit to themselves. They are
bankrupt and powerless. nemesis is approaching
for them, and the hour is at hand for the fulfilment
of their own prophecy, as well as ours, when they
shall be driven back into the Kara Khoum, or
~
_
black dust" from whence issued the tribes whose
boast it was that, where their chief's. horse. set his
foot, the grass would
Turkey never grow again. It is a fact.
that Europeanhas withered beneath their
sway : and it is clear that England,. Russia, France,
and Austria, are
in the name of civili-
zation each to get what she
procuierecan of the spoil. Our
great interest is to
apermanent right of
the interest
way to India. It isof other powers, at
least they think so, to deprive us of that right.—
Church and State Gazette.

THE GOLD DISCOVERIES.—Happy continents !
who reap all the benefits of our commercial system
without risk, and gather fruits while they churlishly
refuse to support in any degree the burden and heat
of the day. Surely, if nations could be grateful to
foreign benefactors, the statue of Sir Robert Peel
would occupy a conspicuous place in every city of
continental Europe, and adorn the slave-marts of
Virginia, of Cuba, and Brazils. He bequeathed to
them the gross profits of all our gold discoveries ;
and now the furnaces of the Royal Mint are heated
day and night to meet their leche-like cry for