The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-20 00:00:00

T. SIMON'S CHURCH SCHOOLS.

PHILHARMONIC. HALL.
cTIRISTMAS PERFORMANCE
OP
HANDEL'S ORA roruo OF
THE MESSIAH,
THIS EVENING (TuESDAY). THE 2(lirtt INSTANT,
AS A TESTIMONIAL TO MR. WILLIAM SUDLOW,
WHEN THE
MAJESTIC CHORD OF HANDEL
Will be brought out by the united strength of the past and
present members, numbering
THREE HUNDRED PERFORMERS,
Surpassing any. Previous Performance in this town.
Tickets to be hed at the Office, Exchange. court.

Ibtrpoot

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING.
LOAD PALMERSTON'S secession from the ABERDEEN
MmStl7, and the almost hourly expected withdrawal of
the Marquis of LANSDOWNE from the Coalitionists, who
form her MAJesry's state-advisers, are the great political
features of the week. It was not until Friday morning
that the fact of PALMERSTON'S resignation became
generally known ; but soon after seven o'clock, on
Thursday evening, the salons and library of the Reform
Club tingled with mysterious rumours of grave Minis-
terial differences. From dinner hour, as the Club
gradually became better attended, those rumours assumed
a somewhat more tangible and less visionary form ; and
at eleven o'clock all doubt, misgiving, or misapprehension
on the subject were removed, by the entrance of one of the
junior Lords of the Treasury, who was in a position to
state, authoritatively, that Lord ABERDEEN, late on
Wednesday night, had received from Lord PALMERSTON
a communication, tendering his resignation of the office
of Secretary of State for the -Home Department; and
requesting, that with all practicable expedition his resolve
might be laid before the QUEEN, with the view of obtaining
Her MAJESTY'S assent to his release from the cares and
responsibilities of a Cabinet Minister. The announce-
ment did not cause that surprise within the
walls of the old Reform mansion which one might
have expected. I happened to be in the great cen-
tral hall when the junior lord, fresh from Downing-
street, communicated to a circle of some thirty or
forty Whig-Radical friends, and one or two colleagues in
office, " the startling intelligence," as an old member of
the House of Commons instinctively characterised the
news, and, with one or two exceptions, there was no ex-
pression of astonishment at the steps taken by the suave
and crafty old member for Tiverton. Indeed, the contrary
feeling appeared to pervade the minds of.those who, tinder
the haffuence of the three hours' previously circulated
strange and extraordinary gossiping,s, hastily rallied round
the Treasury official, to learn from his Jilts an authentic
exposition of the Ministerial difficulty or dislocation. "It
is just as I anticipated," said one. " PALIMRSTON merely
went in to upset the coach," exclaimed another. "Throwing
down the gauntlet to Lord Joas," murmured a fourth.
" A repetition of the Militia-bill dodge," angrily ex-
claimed an irate peer, as he laboured to console himself
with copious potations of steaming brandy and water.
There was no regret whatever manifested at loasn PAL-
MERSTON'S sudden desertion from the ranks of the Minis-
try,—l men regret so far as affects his personal identifica-
tion with the ABERDEEN Cabinet. But some long-
headed members of the legislature evidently appeared to
apprehend that his retirement from the service of the
Crown, at a moment of such importance to the interests
of the nation, might possibly lead to most disastrous and
disheartening results.

Out of doors, generally speaking, Lord PALMERSTON",I
resignation has been regarded with exultation, but this
may mainly be attributed to the complexion which the
ministerial organs, in announcing the " blow up," gave to
the entire affair. According to the authority of those
printed conduit pipes, Lord PALMERSTON rested his ina-
Why to remain connected with the present Cabinet, and
to share in the responsibility of the measures of the ap-
proaching Session, solely, distinctly, and exclusively, on
the ground of his decided opposition to the projected
measure of Parliamentary Reform, which has been pre-
pared by Lord Joms RUSSELL, and assented to by the
other members of the Government. The cause, quoth the
same oracular organs, is unconnected with the foreign
policy of the Government; it has not arisen out of the
difficulties of the Eastern question, nor is it true that dif-
ferences of opinion on that subject have manifested
themselves with such force as to lead to the retire-
ment of any member of the administration. Lord
JOHN ha; manufactured an out-and-out scheme for
extending the franchise, disfranchising corrupt boroughs,
increasing the so-called " popular" influence, and puri-
fying the representative system. Lord PALMERSTON,
who it is now discovered never sincerely and firmly
attached himself to the principles of that Liberal party
from which he has effected an abrupt separation, is op-
posed to Reform in any shape. He takes exception to
the RUSSELITE scheme, and on this plea alone vacates
Downing-street. Now, such an explanation is unques-
tionably calculated to lower Lord PALMERSTON in the
estimation of your franchise-ft-antic middle and lower
classes ; and hence the extent of the exultation which his
secession from the ABERDEEN Cabinet has occasioned.
But the story is the merest moonshine—the veriest delu-
sion. PALMERSTON and RUSSELL differ on the details of
the Reform Bill ; but, had there been no Eastern ques-
tion, that difference would not have left the Home Depart-
ment without a Secretary of State. Thorough and un-
mitigated disgust at the cowardly policy sanctioned by
Lord ABERDEEN and his colleagues, is the actuating cause;
the Reform Bill the ostensible motive for Lord PALMER-
STON'S resignation. He said as much himself, I am assured,
on Wednesday last, before he went down to Bowood, the
Marquis of LANSDOWNE'S residence; and I understand he
will be prepared to state more in that direction when the
embarrassments of the Ministry come to be discussed before
the constitutional tribunal of Parliament. Both Sir
GEORGE GREY, Lord PANMURE, and Lord JOHN RUSSELL
are spoken of as Lord PALMERSTON'S successors. Earl
GREY'S name is also favourably mentioned; but I believe
no name has yet been selected for the QUEEN'S sanction,
each section of the Cabinet battling vigorously for their
respective favourites. Who the Peelites have put forward
still remains secret. The Council which sat on Saturday
remained in deliberation from two o'clock until six, the
Marquis of LANSDOWNE, as well as PALMERSTON, being
absent; and it is said that the conference was not one of
the most remarkably peaceful character. PALMERSTON
Came to town late that night, and at the clubs they circulated
that his resignation had not been accepted by the QUEEN,
and that he was to remain in the Cabinet until the
settlement of the Eastern question, on the understanding
that no measure of Reform, such as Lord JOHN RUSSELL
had prepared, would be submitted to Parliament so
long as he continued his connexion with the Government.
I need hardly assure you, that I don't attach the least
credence to this "latest state of the Ministerial crisis ;"
but I am well inclined to prophecy that before four
months the existence of the ABERDEEN administration
will have closed through the immediate instrumentality
of Lord PALMERSTON, and that he, the once expelled,
and the now resigned minister of the Crown, will be
Premier of England, working cordially with DISRAELI
and young STANLEY, and moving around him a compact
and formidable party, not the least interesting feature in
which will be the moderate Conservative and progressing
element.

In the centre of the obscurest and smokiest part of
London, there is a house of education and benevolence,—
it may be of charity, the latter; though Tom SUTTON, as
he was familiarly called upwards of two hundred years
ago, so chroniclers mention, meant it no charity at all.
The house I refer to is very old—older than the two cen-
turies stated. Go in and look at it; they are very civil
people there. The fine old open hall,—Norman of aspect,
—big and wide fire-place ; theyrequired more room for cook-
ing then than we do now ; for utilitarianism, like a " var-
mint," has crept into the sanctuary of our kitchens—
Cooking ox whole by gas ! oh monstrous improvement !
The house I am to speak of contains much learning, much
money, much poverty, much hilarity, wit, humour, and
all the "del ma' care" feelings which fill the silken sails
of life, contra the ballast,—sorrow,—which most of the
seniors in that old house have had their ships freighted
Withal ! That house is Carthusian, an ancient brother-
hood--Charter-house School, to ears polite ; for the " poor
scholars" of Tmomis Surrox are "gentles all." Fine-look-
ing fellows, several I have known, and good scholars. The
!ellolars are, they say, limited to forty ; they were
in the original parchment called "poor boys ;" on the
foundation there were also to be double the number of
„,Poor brothers." Now we come to realities ! Take one,
Theatre--PxoxcurEF, once the stipendiary poet of Drury-lane
Illong since blind yet Tom used to laugh at
• °jag produced a pair of spectacles at the T. R., D. L.,
Pnme Year, thoug there was a cataract in one of them.
"I referred to "the cataract of the Ganges." Poor
Carthusian brother, he has had enough of cataract sin
b2l,ehas
snow. Rebellious cßebellious sons are these same " poor
they sit at night in their rooms, talk,—how
theeyniwil. l talk ! They commune : it is pleasant to be with
7'erY• " Here we are ; the income of our house is
with",'? a-Tear : you and I and all of us have only £25,
7,a; dinner every day—barring our holidays—with a
Candles" cloak every two years ; bread and butter and
setul„(len:, hear, hear). Ah, but recollect yon were
polirer,"lloaeas. You had, the first day you entered,
nera leo° el, an
'iron fender, and a pair of bellows ! (a
.11„5/04,8
jtrassllcoft brothers, burn the bellows !'—burn
'brother% and so on for some time, until the
winded!) 4-`,te,a find their own bellows rather short-
" It is too b`a'd77 let on, a respected brother loquitur,—
have done so -117,1 n 8 petition for a little They
and LoNpol, and pv: "ad th ir 44'
_ pe.....0n. CANTERBURY,
judge CRESWELL, 4
the petition withitRE, with that meek and learned
ne or two other governors met
-..ie t,
Could not consistently with ,theiz

duty." What is done with the £30,000 a-year ? why not
make the old fellows more comfortable ? they have
" troops of friends,"— they are all now gentlemen, to " the
manner born,"—they hunger after comforts which they
have not—but shall : if the good Archbishop can't, the
QUEEN and PRINCE ALBERT, the loyal Carthusian
Brothers believe, will answer their petition in the affir-
mative. The SOVEREIGN and the PRINCE CONSORT are
the "head and front" of the Carthusians.
Let me set the reader down in the centre of Smithfield
market ; time, three o'clock on Monday morning; weather,
foggy in the extreme ; occasion, the last grand cattle show
ever to be held in Smithfield. Fact ! It was the last ;
it had an ominous look about it ; the very brutes appeared
to bellow, bleat, baa, and squeal for more room, and sorry
am I to say that worse brutes than they bellowed and
swore, in voices horrid with bad gin, and colds caught
" one a'top a' tether." Sure such a sight was never seen ;
hundreds of Enk boys running about in the narrow
thoroughfares which divide the "pens" made the. scene
visible and picturesque. Many gentlemen, at the above
early hour, were present ; several foreigners, probably
graziers from Belgium, Holstein. &c.- ' stalwart fellows
they were, looking out from a forest of hair ! I need not
state that the " beast" (always pronounced in the singular
by practical men) were of the United Kingdom breeds;
not bat that plenty of foreign " tariff" cattle had been
landed during the previous week. Poor creatures ! they
were discreetly kept out of sight; sent down among the
marshes of Essex to pick up some flesh. A sea voyage at
this season has a most deteriorating effect 'upon foreign
cattle ; many of them appear to require tarpauling to
keep their flanks together. In that space called " Smith-
field Market," in the very heart of the city, within a few
yards of an'hospital, never without its hundreds of sleep-
less patients, there were on Monday morning 7,037 head
of horned cattle, 25,830 sheep, 253 calves—a most Mused
or discontented people, if I judge from their plaints,—and
295 pigs—a merry roystering set they were • heedless, !
because ignorant, of the butcher's whittle already sharp-
-ened for -their wea.sands. Let us see, all these make a
total of 33,415 head for human food, independently of
nearly 5,000 head of foreign cattle. As Dominie Vamp-
Jon said, " Prodigious !" And this has nothing to do with
the feathered tribe now arriving, not in leashes, but in
thousands, from the tender lark —his singing at " Heaven's
gate" forgotten ; now, alas ! skewered at a shilling a
dozen—to the stately pheasant. Our club epicures are
all rejoicing at the great abundance of " small game"—the
wheatear, woodcock, teal, and so forth.
At no period in the history of our belles-lettres, since'
the leviathan of literature—the great lexicographer and.
moralist, SAMUEL JOHNSON, wrote in Bolt-court, and
there is no use going further back,—has literature of all
sorts, periodical and permanent, been in a more healthy
state in the metropolis than it is at present. Authors
and authoresses are also healthy. Mrs. °PIE, the charm-
ing novelist of the last age, like a sheaf in full season, has
been gathered to her fathers ' • and Miss MARTINEAU,
who wields a plume of another description, though thick
of hearing—thanks to " mesmerism,"—(ha ! ha !) she
says she is all right : and I think she ought to be, for she
is going to have a night not with MENDELLSOHN, but
with Doughey," the baker ! What is here meant ?
HARRIET MAE'E!NEAU is to give the journeymen bakers
a turn; for which purpose, like a judicious writer —a writer
from facts,—all writing else is fudge, fancy, or bosh ; she
has had Hotted to her for one night the bakery of a
" full-priced" master of the plastic art, to see, with her
own eyes, the modus operandi —the hardships of poor
knock-knees —the ;journeyman baker. She is to walk
into the shop without previous intimation - stay all night,
see the " sponge set," and not leave till " hot rolls" come
forth at eight o'eloek. A droll notion for a female. But
to my thread : It is a curious fact, and augurs well for
our sanitary condition, that in the memory of the oldest
secular and sacred reaper, there never, at one period, pro-
ceeded from the metropolitan press such an array of sound
religious works as at this present writing. I could enu-
merate about one hundred and twenty, either on the
stocks or launched—if the mixed metaphor be permitted.
The three great heads under which mere secular litera-
ture is usually ranged—Fiction—History—and Travel—
put together do not come within a century of the sacred
portion of works now published. They pay well too.
Bat what pays best of all is our light literature ; MA-
CAULAY gets his three or four thousand pounds sterling
for a volume of his history, This is almost the work of
a lifetime. I remember Bos SOUTHEY being paid two
hundred pounds for two or three hours' writing in a
quarterly about—the Arabs ! MACAULAY, last autumn,
had to fly to the Swiss Alps, for a mouthful of the only
air he liked, to bring him round to health ; so did not
ALBERT SMITH, who was at Chamounix at the same
time. With SMITH as an example, " pit" his in-
come,
from his easy no-thought entertainment, against
that of the great historian's terse and elegant periods. IS
ALBERT SMITH a cleverer man than BABINGTON
MACAULAY ? No, no ! but he can do half a dozen clever
things that BAB. cant : he can draw a tooth and a half-
crown at the same jerk ; play the cornet-fl-piston, touch
the piano-forte, sing a song, tell a story pretty well,—all
together. Then again, another remarkable man, SAMUEL
LOVER, living in prime style, and whose "sons and
sayings" are promised to entertain us in town at Christ-
mas. Does literature, alone, do all this ;or is it that
SAMUEL can paint the prettiest miniatures; in ballad-
writing is second only to his old friend, Tom Moons ;
sings and plays ; writes prose, as an Irish humorist only
can. These attainments, you will say, are enough to
ensure comfort and respectability—if well directed. Be
it so. Who is that rather good-looking man, neither
young nor old ? He began literature as a living, or means
thereof, little more than twenty years ago ;—look at his
equipage and those macaronies of ponies—that's HAR-
RISON AIN SWORTH. Literature has done something for
him, I warrant. I could go on in this heedless way a
long while ; but won't. Literature and literary men are
ever slatting ; some of the latter go to India. There's
young Blanchard off to Agra next week to edit a paper;
the proprietor of which just went to India, like the lad
BLANCHARD, some years ago,—made a fortune, and kept
a sound liver, and now leaves the younger to work.
BLANCHARD is to have a large sum per annum; lots of
servants at his beck ; and so on with other literary men,
not now to be named. It is said that BEN Wsesren,
late of the Haymarket, now Adelphi, has become a news-
paper proprietor. I sincerely hope he won't burn his
fingers—again. I learn that the remission of the adver-
tisement duty has done the Metropolitan papers very little
good. The fact is, as far as regards the London journals,
advertising people will advertise—whether cheap or
dear—because they find their account in it. In short,
advertising is trade's thermometer ; and withdraw £5O
only in advertising, the trader 'loses R 100; and so on in a
" sliding" or backsliding scale.
In the recent history of English husbandry, the name of
Mr. MECIII, of Tiptree-hall Farm, Essex, and Leadenhall-
street, London, has been intimately associatedwith its inte-
rests, as well in regard to the legislation which the parlia-
mentary leaders of the Agricultural party combined their
exertions to defend, as to the undoubted advantages which
spring from improved implements, and scientific processes
of tillage. For a number of years past, this gentleman
has been labouring to convert the poor land of Tiptree
into a valuable and productive soil, and the success with
which his efforts have been crowned, abundantly attested
by his balance sheets, confers upon them all the charac-
teristics of superiority which entitle them to be regarded
as constituting a system of model fanning. The impa-
tience with which (not unnatural under the pressure of
legislative misfortune) men listened to his teachings, has
now nearly died away ; and the state of the labour market,
amongst other causes, has operated wonderfully to teach
agriculturists that their only hope lies in making friends
with the machine makers, and proceeding by a better rule
than that which, in the poverty of language, has been
styled the " rule of thumb." Mr. MECHI has never
flinched from the text with which he set out, after the
experience which he acquired with a little rational enter-
prise, and he now, as strenuously as ever, urges the neces-
sity of employing larger capital and greater skill. During
the past week, he communicated the results of his
farming, during the past working year, in the shape
of a paper which he read before the Society of Arts,
on Wednesday evening last. It would be wholly
out of place to go into the numerous and minute details
which he gave on the occasion ; but, in the existing state
of agricultural matters, I have good reason to believe that
a general knowledge of his views and experience will be
useful. In the first place, he insists upon the importance
of a larger employment of steam power upon a farm in
proportion to horse power. The reason is sufficiently
obvious. A horse wastes a considerable portion of his
energy in moving his own weight, generally about 15
cwts., and the dynamometer shows that about 4 cwts. is
all that he transmits as effective moving force. Comparing
this with steam power, we have this result. A loco-
motive engine, with its tender, weighing together only
38 tons, moves an express train, to which it imparts a
moving force equal to that of 1,000 horses. If the 1,000
horses were substituted for the machine, they would weigh
collectively 750 cwts. Besides transmitting, therefore, a
much larger power in proportion to their weight, steam
engines are further advantageous in occupying less space,
and consuming no food when not at work. As regards
the great principle of his farming, it consists in liquid
manure irrigation. Liquid, in preference to dry manures,
is attended with numerous benefits, and the failure, pro-
bably within ten years, of the existing supplies of guano,
as announced by Admiral Thoresby, will hardly leave
room for choice a few years hence. It has been observed
as a curious phenomenon in the physiology of plants, that
the spongiose portions of their roots reject all particles in-
tended to assimilate with their system, unless presented to
them in a liquid state. This observation seems to decide that
in a liquid or a gaseous form the manure should primarily or
ultimately be applied to the plant. Employing liquid
manure, however, the dread of the farmer that the subsoil
will be turned up to the surface, need no longer be enter-
tained. It is a proof that dry manures are almost confined
in their assimilating action to the extreme upper surface
of the soil, that the subsoil lying at a depth of only six
inches yields no crop when brought to the surface, and
hence the farmer's fear. Liquid manure, however, by fer-
menting the superior and softening the inferior strata,
entirely removes all occasion for such apprehension. It is
important that the manure should be in a state of extreme
dilution, or the effect produced will not be good, perhaps,
even injurious. Mr. MECHI obtains his manure by the
means of a large vaulted tank, 20 feet deep by 30 feet in
diameter, having a narrow opening at the top, into which
dead animals and other refuse of the farm are thrown. A
large quantity of water is admitted to this vessel, in which
decomposition is allowed to take place. By means of a
steam-engine, and underground pipes and force-pumps, the
manure is conveyed to distant points of the farm, from
whence it is discharged through a hose, with a nozzle at
its extremity, and thus spread over the whole of the farm-
land which needs t$ The result of this system has been
to cover a soil with fine green grasses, feeding cattle satis-
factorily, and producing an abundance of butter and milk,
which formerly, as Mr. MECIII describes it, " resembled
bird-lime in winter and cast-iron in summer." Mr.
Mecur's balance-sheet exhibits a profit of £6OO during the
past year, exclusive of items which, in their result, will
swell the next year's account. The process, in its nume-
rous details, is eminently worthy of the study of all who
are directly or remotely interested in land, and is of para-
mount importance as a matter of public concern. In this
little sketch I cannot pretend to give but a very slight
summary of the subject, strongly recommending members
of the agricultural community in Lancashire and else-
where to make themselves masters of the facts which Mr.
MECIII has made public.

THE limit SHERIFF for the ensuing year is Richard
Fert, of Read Hal, Clitheroc,—Lancaster Gazette.

PRODUCE.—There has been an improved de-
mand for Sugar at full prices. In Tea and Coffee
a quiet business. Oils less in request and Tallow
dull. To-DAY there has been a very good inquiry
for Sugar, chiefly
.for refining purposes, the bu-
siness since Friday comprising 500 bags white
Benares at 38s. to 395., 1,000 bags brown Bengal
at 305., 100 bags Dates at 325. to 335. 9d., 2,500
bags brown Madras at 295., 5,000 mats Mauritius
at 335. 6d. to 345. 9d., besides a floating cargo of
unclayed Manilla, (13,000 bags,) the price and des-
tination not reported. There is nothing to notice
in Molasses, Rum or Coffee. The Tea market re-
mains quiet, but no decline can be quoted. Of
Rice, 1,300 bags Madras have been sold, to arrive,
at 13s. 101 d., and a small parcel of Bengal, on the
spot, at 14s. to 15s. 6d. per cwt. for low to fine
middling. We have also to report 120 bags Salt-
petre at 265. 6d. per cwt., for 114 d. per cent.
refraction, and 20 tons Ceara Fustic at £7 ss. to
£7 7s. 6d. per ton.
WooL.—The improved feeling in the Wool
market, noticed for several weeks past, still con-
tinues to characterise this market ; but as staplers
and manufacturers are unwilling to increase their
stock until the turn of the year, the business of the
week has not been quite so extensive. There is a
good demand for long shafty Foreign Wool, free in
staple, for the Yorkshire market, but not much
offering here. A sale of damaged Wool took place
here on Thursday, when about 1,400 bales were
offered, consisting of Alpaca, Peruvian, Egyptian,
and East India. There was a good attendance of
the trade, and for Alpaca and Egyptian there was
much competition, prices ruling Id. to ld. more
than on a similar occasion in November. Imports
for the week 977 bales.

MR. PElimn, late master of the Hereford Workhouse,
committed suicide on Friday morning week. He was
found in the hay loft, his head being held in a cord tied
to a beam five feet from the ground, and his body in a re-
clining posture. Death, however, had not resulted from
hanging. Deceased's hands were bloody, and it would
seem that, finding his attempts at self-destruction in that
way were not effectual, he inflicted so deep a wound in his
throat with some sharp instrument as to sever the wind-
pipe and all the large blood-vessels of the throat.

Tin annual meeting and festival of the congregation of
'St. Simon's Church, in support of the schools, was held
,last night in the Concert-hall, Lord Nelson-street, which
:was very gaily and tastefully decorated for the occasion,
with flags and banners, evergreens, and flowers, arranged
in devices and appropriate mottoes.i Tea was laid on
'tables, not only in the body of the hall, but also in the
galleries, while some members of the school, with really
sweet voices, formed a juvenile orchestra, and sung the
grace before and after meat. The Rev. John R. Conor,
M.A., the incumbent of St. Simon's, was in the chair, and
upon the platform were the Rev. James M'Alister, the
-.curate of St. Simon's, Rev. Ormsby Powell, Rev. T. C
Cowan, Rev. H. Marten, Rev. Sheldon, Rev. J. J.
Butler, Rev. D. Barry, Rev. S. B. Sutton, Rev. Dr. Hume,
&e. At the conclusion of the repast, after an anthem by
the choir,
The CHAIRMAN addressed the meeting, and stated that
having had two tea-meetings that year, it might be sup-
posed they were fond of tea-drinking. They had, how-
ever, work to do, and when they wanted funds for a school
or any other good purpose, they had a tea-meeting. He
alluded to the exertions which had been made not only by
collecting cards, but by farthing contributions from the
children, which amounted to £7 6s. 31d., and boxes at the
church, in which the amount received was £7 is. 10d.
He had added up the various sums which had been con- 1
tributed by members of the congregation, and found that
£316 had been received, and with promises would amount
to about £7OO ; but they wanted between £2,000 and
£3,000. It had, however, been a bad year for begging,
for they had elections in 1852 and 1853, and petitions
which cost money ; but he hoped they had an end of them.
Their funds were in a bad state, for on the Ist of Oct. they
were in debt to the treasurer £2l 4s. 6d. ; since then he
'had £22 7s. 71-d., leaving only £1 3s. 14d. out of
which to pay salary and the quarter's rent, to say nothing
of the other expenses. He, however, relied upon their
assistance to enable him to face the difficulty.
The Rev. T. C. COWAN gave credit to the Chairman for
the honesty with which he acknowledged that they had
not enough to pay the next quarter's bills. He was sorry
to say that the burden which too often weighed upon the
minister, was the difficulty of maintaining the schools ;
and it was a state of things which ought not to exist, and
would not much longer be submitted to, for the poor must
do something more than they had hitherto done, towards
the education of their own offspring. He was told a
short time since, that, in a certain district, the wages of
working-men had been raised to thirty-six shillings a week,
and on expressing his satisfaction at it, he was assured
that the effect was no improvement on the condition of
the working-man, who only worked three days a week, and
spent the rest of his time at the public house. He rejoiced
to be able to refer to the prominent lead which the
Church maintained in the instruction of the people in the
truths of Christianity.
The CHAIRMAN said he feared at one time that they
were not so numerous as on the previous occasion, but
on looking round he was glad to see that every space was
filled.

The Rev. Dr. Huux addressed the meeting, and en-
larged on the importance of education in training the
habits, thoughts, feelings, and inclinations of the people.
He alluded to the distinction between the education of
the intellectual faculties and the training of moral habits,
and related several anecdotes, illustrative of the distinc-
tion and also the advantages from the application of learn-
ing. Much had been said of the genius of Protestantism
for education, and the tendency of Romanism to keep the
people in ignorance. He could tell them that great exer-
tions were made by the Romish Priests in this town, and
that in a few years, if they progressed at the same rate,
they would have almost all the poor under their
influence. Upon the clergy were thrown the burden of
education, and it was one which was greater than
they ought to be expected to bear, but he trusted that
Parliament would shortly throw the burden upon the
shoulders of all, in the shape of a rate ; so that they would
pay for instructing the children of those who could not
pay for themselves, in the same way as they now paid
rates for water, poor relief, and other purposes.
The Rev. J. J. BUTLER, of the Sailors' Home, next
addressed the meeting, and said that so long as Mr. Conor
had such friends around him, and relied upon his heavenly
Father being at the helm, there was no fear of his being
able to weather the storm and surmounting all his diffi-
culties, to attain his desired object; He said that as the
time for collection was drawing near, he would tell them
a tale of a tea party, with which he concluded amidst loud
laughter.
A collection was then made in behalf of the school funds,
after which the Rev. DA.VID Runty addressed the meet-
ing. The children then sung the anthem, " Lord of all
power and might." The other speakers were —the Rev.
Henry Marlen, Rev. S. B. Sutton, and the Rev. 0. Powell.
The refreshments, which were excellent in quality and
abundant in quantity, were supplied by Mr. Milburn, of
Clarence-street, and gave general satisfaction ; the hall
was well filled, and the whole affair passed off with great
success.

ONE OF THE HORSES in a Garston omnibus fell down
suddenly on Saturday, and died, opposite the Aigburth
Hotel.

PRIZES.—In Dr. Fisher's educational establishment the
various prizes were awarded, on Saturday last, to the suc-
cessfultcompetitors in Classics, Mathematics, Science, and
Commerce.

ANOTHER SUDDEN DEATH.—Yesterday a man, named
John Hughes, a smith, employed in Messrs. Neill's works,
in the Park, after eating a hearty dinner, when he had
tea over himself, by which he was so severely scalded as to
cause his death on Saturday last. An inquest was held
yesterday on the body, and a verdict of accidental death
returned.
IT will be seen, by advertisement, that the annual sale of
clothing, made by the Scottish poor, takes place this week.
The proceeds of these sales, we are glad to learn, go to
relieve distress and furnish employment to poor females
during winter.
DEATH BY SCALDING.—John M'Clusky, a child eleven
months old, residing in No. 11 Court, Smithfield-street,
with its parents, on Tuesday, the 29th ult., white sitting
on its mother's knee, pulled a vessel containing boiling
just resumed work, fell down and instantly expired.
SUDDEN DEATH.—On Saturday Henry Bolton, aged 23,
a joiner, in the employment of Mr. Major, ship-builder,
Brunswick Dock, while engaged in carrying some planks,
in company with another man, was observed to spit
blood, when he requested to let down the load. He sat
down, and almost immediately expired, after vomiting a
large quantity of blood. A verdict of died from natural
causes was returned at the inquest yesterday.
STEALING CANVASS.—Mary Jones was brought before
the Police-court yesterday, charged with stealing a bolt of
canvass, containing forty-one yards, from the premises of
Messrs. Coltart. It appeared that Jones went into the
warehouse in the morning on some frivolous pretext,
when, watching her opportunity, she seized the canvass,
and was making off with it. She was taken into custody
with the property in her possession. She was committed
for trial. Previous to which, on being questioned as to
what she had to say, she denied having stolen the canvass,
and said while in the warehouse an old man who was in
charge of it made an improper proposal to her, whieh.she
resented, and while she was in conversation with him,
some other person came in and attempted to take the
property, for which she was taken hold of.
Ireland

COURT OP CHANCERY: ex parte NEILSON, in re ED-
MOND, Bankrupts.—This appeal was argued on Tuesday.
The petitioners are brokers, at Liverpool, and the defen-
dants are the assignees of Messrs. Edmond, for whom
the Messrs. Neilson sold a number of shares in the Royal
Insurance Company previous to their bankruptcy. Mr.
W. Edmond, the subscriber for the shares, had not at the
time of the sale executed the deed of settlement, although
he did so afterwards ; and the question was, whether,
under the true construction of the 26th section of the 7th
and Bth Vict. c. 110, the brokers could establish the
legality of the sale and claim against the assignees to have
the shares they had sold, and which they had made good
to the purchasers by other shares, transferred to them
after the bankruptcy. On Thursday the Vice-Chancellor
Knight Bruce decided that the transaction was contrary
to the policy of the law, and affirmed the order of Mr.
Commissioner Skirrow, who refused to grant the peti-
tioners the relief they asked.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT TEE NEW DOCIC.-011 Sunday,
Martin Dimond, a man about 4,0 years of age, was employed
in taking down a wall on the edge of the Old King's Dock,
a part of the wall having been previously removed, and
some of it still standing in a dangerous condition. He
was cautioned to keep out of the way, to which he care-
lessly replied, " Oh, there's no danger," when the wall
gave way, hurling him to the bottom of the dock, a depth
of thirty feet. He was extricated as speedily as possible,
and conveyed to the Southern Hospital, where he died at
a little after seven o'clock, being two hours after the period
of his admission. An inquest was summoned for yesterday
and adjourned till to-day. During the investigation it
was stated as a reason for having the work continued
on Sunday, that the wall had been ordered to be removed
on Saturday ; but the men refusing to work after dark,
operations were resumed on Sunday, to prevent the cer-
tainty of a great number of men and horses being thrown
idle on Monday.

THE ARCTIC SniPs.—Letters for officers, seamen, and
marines serving in the undermetitioned ships, will be in
time to be forwarded, if sent to the Admiralty on or
before the Ist of January, 1864:—Her Majesty's ship
Enterprise, Her Majesty's ship Rattlesnake, and Her
Majesty's ship Plover.
ROBBERY IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—A lady, who
arrived in Glasgow, on Saturday, by the five o'clock
train from Edinburgh, had a bank check for £2,000
abstracted from a leathern reticule which she carried
along with her. The reticule was slung over her arm,
and was locked, but the thief had most adroitly cut it
open with a knife, and extracted the document without
her being aware of it till some time after. The check has
been stopped at the bank on which it was drawn, so that
fortunately the thief will be disappointed.—North British
Daily Mail.
Ix PARIS, they have now an " Umbrella Great Coat,"
which is intended to serve as a great coat and an umbrella
at the same time. It is made of any impervious material,
and has, running along the lower edge, an airproof tube.
Under the collar is a little blow-hole communicating with
this tube. The wearer applies his mouth to this hole, and
with a few vigorous exhalations, he inflates it with air.
The tube takes the consistency of a hoop, the great coat
takes the form of a diving bell, and the drops fall a long
way outside of the wearer's feet, Such is Prevel's umbrella
great coat. It has one immense advantage—no one would
be likely to borrow it.
NEAPOLITAN MERCY.—We
—; find the following in a letter
dated Naples, Dec. 4:— I am sorry to inform you that
Baron Poerio, who has now worn the chains of a galley
slave for more than four years, is subject to fresh severities,
which, if continued, will ere long remove him from the
troubles of this world. Hitherto the police authorities
have permitted.the ex-Minister to spend ten ducats (£2)
per month for such necessaries as his state of health
demands. Orders have now been issued that henceforth he
will be permitted to receive from his family only one car-
lino (441.) per day. Now the prison in which the victim of
the Neapolitan Constitution is confined at Montefusco, is
so exposed that without fire the prisoners would perish of
cold, and the 4d, per day will scarcely pay for wood ; in-
dependent of which M. Poerio is in such a wretched state
of health as to require many
.comforts ; such as are ac-
corded to the very worst criminal are refused to the late
friend and adviser of his Sicilian Majesty."

; LORD PALME_RSTON' S _RESIGNATION

ON FILIDAT, the two morning organs of .the Coalition
Ministry startled the town by the intelligence that Lord
Palmerston had tendered his resignation.
"It was rumoured List night," said the Chronicle, in
conveying the doleful intelligence, "and we fear with too
much truth, that Lord Palmerston has taken a step which
will excite the deepest regret on the part both of his col-
leagues and of the public. This distinguished statesman
has, it is reported, tendered his resignation of the office
which he has so ably filled since the formation of Lord
Aberdeen's administration ; and it is stated that the
Premier's present visit to Osborne has reference to the
lamented withdrawal of one of the most popular members
of his Cabinet"

The Times, more certainly informed, it would appear,
went right to the point:—` Viscount PALMERSTON has
tendered his resignation of the office of Secretary of State
for the Home Department, and has therefore ceased, within
the last forty-eight hours, to form a part of her MAJESTY'S
Government, if that resignation has been accepted by the
Crown. Upon the receipt of a communication from Lord
Palmerston, announcing the resolution he had been led
to form, the Prime Minister left town for Osborne
House, yesterday, for the purpose of laying the resignation
of the Home Secretary before the Queen."
The Earl of Aberdeen, the Duke of Newcastle, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the members of the
Cabinet who met at Sir J. Graham's official residence, at
the Admiralty, on Friday night, did not separate until 2
o'clock, a.m., on Saturday.

Sir James Graham had an audience of the Earl of
Aberdeen early on Saturday forenoon, at Argyll-house.
The Earl of Aberdeen, soon after his arrival at his
official residence in Downing-street, received Lord Pan-
mure, with whom the noble Earl remained closeted
upwards .of an hour.

The resignation of Lord Palmerston and the summoning
of the Cabinet Council, on Thursday last, has prevented
several of the members of the Cabinet from proceeding
on visiting tours. Lord Granville left London only on
Wednesday, with the intention of being absent four or
five weeks. His lordship returned to town on Saturday
from the seat of Earl Bruce, in Wiltshire, and arrived at
the Foreign-office soon after two o'clock. Sir Charles
Wood had only recently arrived at his seat near Don-
caster, and returned to London early on Saturday
morning, and was present at the meeting of his col-
leagues. Mr. Sidney Herbert arrived in town early on
Saturday morning, from Wilton-house, Salisbury, and
attended the Council. The Marquis of Lansdowne is
entertaining, at his seat, Bowood, Wilts, a large circle of
distinguished guests. Lord Palmerston was among the
number from Thursday until Saturday, when the noble
viscount left for London. The Marquis of Lansdowne did
not travel from Bowood on Saturday to attend the Council.
On Thursday morning summonses were issued to the
Ministers to attend a Cabinet Council, on Saturday, at the
Foreign-office, Downing-street, One o'clock was the hour
appointed for the meeting, and soon after that time the
following members assembled, namely :—The Lord Chan-
cellor, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of Aberdeen, the
Earl of Clarendon, Sir James Graham; Lord John Russell,
Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and Sir C. Wood.
Lord Granville arrived soon after two o'clock, having
travelled to town from Marlborough in order to attend
the meeting. The Ministers remained in deliberation
until near six o'clock.
The Duke of Newcastle, Sir James Graham, and the
Earl of Clarendon had audiences of the Earl of Aberdeen
on Sunday, at Argyll-house.
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston and his Excel-
lency Count Walewski (the French Ambassador) arrived
in town on Saturday, at half-past three, from Bowood, the
seat of Lord Lansdowne.

Sir James Graham left town yesterday, on a visit to her
Majesty at Osborne, and will return to-morrow (Wed-
nesday) morning.
With reference to Lord Palmerston's successor, the
Times of yesterday says :—We understand that, upon
Lord Palmerston's resignation, Lord Aberdeen offered the
Home-office to Lord John Russell, and we regret to hear
that the offer was declined, mainly from the fear that
his acceptance of it might be misconstrued. The office
has now been offered to Sir George Grey, and awaits
his acceptance or rejection. Whoever is destined to be
its future occupant will, we trust, be prepared to advocate
and carry through a fair and substantial measure of par-
liamentary reform, and to consider his official situation as
a great trust held for the benefit of the country, neither to
be undertaken rashly nor flung. aside hastily, and least of
all when the welfare of the state exacts every sacrifice in
order to preserve in the presence of foreign nations the
appearance of unity and harmony in our councils.
The Morning Herald says that Sir George Grey will
probably be the new Home Secretary. It is known there
is a serious difference between the Whig and Peelite
sections of the cabinet, and that each party held a separate
meeting in the course of yesterday.
Two messengers have been sent to Lord Lansdowne
from Osborne.