The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-06-07 00:00:00

WHEN sometime since we referred to the Petition
against the election of Messrs. TURNER and MA c-
KENZIE, and confidently expressed our opinion of
its being a mere party manoeuvre, which there could
be no serious intention of prosecuting, we were as-
sailed with a storm of exulting defiance from our
Radical contemporaries. A nest of corruption had
been discovered, and would be laid bare to public
indignation, and the Representation would then be
at the disposal of those whom the Radicals delight
to honour. The prospect was almost too flattering
for Radical credulity; and the hopes which had to
be supported on so slender a foundation, were fed
with ingenious rumours, insidiously circulated, of
the sitting members having declined to defend
their seats against such an overwhelming mass of
evidence; with an occasional milder version, to the
effect that one only of the seats was to be sur-
rendered to a Radical nominee. So clever were
our opponents in thus foreshadowing the fate of
Messrs. TURNER and MACKENZIE, and SO con-
fident was the tone which our Radical contempora-
ries had been instructed to assume, unless, indeed,
the invention were all their own, that we sometimes
doubted our own identity. We began to entertain
a vague apprehension that an extraordinary dis-
covery had been made of doings of which the Con-
servatives were themselves unaware; and as there
were also among the chances, the new Whig-Radi-
cal zeal for political purity, and the "glorious uncer-
tainty of the law," it was barely possible that a
favourable Committee, judging from precedents,
might be found to carry out the designs of Messrs.
RATHBONE and Co. We were content, therefore,
to bide our time until the opening of the proceed-
ings, at the commencement of last week, should
afford some insight into that all-important accu-
sation which was to annihilate Conservative
ascendancy in Liverpool ; and we only express the
feeling of nine-tenths of the community, when we
say that contempt and shame are struggling for
the mastery. Months have elapsed since this
charge of bribery and treating was first made ; the
mountain has been painfully in labour, and the
issue is so ridiculously insignificant, that a mouse
would be too dignified a comparison. This was
evident from the first, in the laboured address of
Mr. Serjeant KINGLAKE, who, finding no ma-
terials, yet feeling himself bound to say something,
indulged in reiterated allusions to the number of
freemen—to what had been done twenty years ago—
and to the monstrous enormity of not allowing a
labouring man to lose the day's wages be would
otherwise have earned, and of conveying him to the
rolling-booth in a one-horse carriage. The ex-
posure of the plan of the campaign excited a
general laugh of derision at its utter imbecility,
among all who were interested in the decision,
while even the Radicals felt ashamed of a cause in
which their sympathies had been wantonly en-
listed. They looked with natural anxiety for those
exposures of gross corruption which had been so
confidently promised, and upon which they built
their hopes of the profits of another election, and
to their mortification they dwindled down into the
mere reimbursement of the day's wages lost by
those who attended the election, and paid for at the
currentrates -of the day. It was -seriously doubted
whether a Petition, to be thus -supported, was ever
really designed -to be submitted to investigation;
but the intention was soon made apparent when
the ostensible prime-mover -was examined as a
witness. He WEB -compelled to .admit that he had
made a proposal some two or -three months since
to withdraw the Petition, upon condition of one of
the members resigning his seat•; and it was only
when-the offer was rejected, with the contempt and
indignation .which it merited, that a subscription

was made in order to bear the 'necessary expenses
of prosecuting the inquiry. The final step was
not, however, determined 'upon until after the
selection of the Committee:; and it was only
because it was'believed that the political opinions
of -three of :its •memberawere favourable to the pe-
titioners, that they decided on proceeding. It is
clear, therefore, that the whole affair is a mere
,party manoeuvre,--an electioneering trick to in-
timidate the chosen Representatives of Liverpool
into sn abandonment of •the seats which they
obtained by the votes of such large majorities of
their constituents; and after the unwilling admis-
-sions -of Mr. WILLIAM RATHBONE, jun., the
Electors of Liverpool will know how to appreciate
his ;zeal for their interests, and to estimate the
zealowa exertions of the Radicals.for the purity of
their body. Had it been a Closely-contested
election, in which ea f,-few votes only -had turned
the scale; had the majority been obtained by
inducing men who were pledged to Liberalism
to become sudden converts to Conservative prin-
ciples; :bad the votes been secured of-those who
were not above the temptations of bribery, we
could !have made some allowance for the mortifi-
cation of .a defeated party.finding a safety-valve in
a petition of inquiry. But -such charges have not
a shadow..of foundation upon which to rest. The
majority was too overwhelming to require the
slightest• approach to anything beyond that judi-
cious organisation which is always necessary to
ensure success; and when itilsatotorious that there
is no election for Liverpool on record which .was
freer from corruption, or conducted on purer prin-
ciples than the last, the conduct of the petitioners
is without the slightest excuse, and should brand
them with inf%amy and the detestation of every
2elector, to whiclever party he may belong, who
,has any confidence in the correctness of his own
(views or the purity of his own motives. We do
not charge the -party generally who supported
tlessrs. CAnownza. and EWART ,With the dis-
grace of these proceedings. Many among them
are .men of high and:honourab/e character, and-the
majority, we believe, are thoroughly ashamed of
the .course which has been pursued, though it
should teach them a lesson of the folly of allowing
themselves to be mixed up with such characters in
order to gala political ends. Mr. CARDWELL 'had
forfeited The ,confidence of the electors by the poli-
tical treachery in which -he shared with the late
Sir ROBERT PEEL, by his surrender of the Ship-
ping interest—in the abrogation of the Navigation
Laws—and by his support of the Romish College
of Maynooth. The question at issue was therefore
placed upon an intelligible basis, and it is the
grossest falsehood, and a foul libel upon the inde-
pendence and common sense of the electors of
Liverpool, for any man, or body of men, to assert
that their votes were obtained, as the petition alleges,
by corrupt practices.
We cannot believe, until the verdict has been
pronounced, that Mr. INGHAM, the Chairman of
the Committee, upon whose decision it will ulti-
mately depend, can be so utterly

oblirioug of

common sense, and even common honesty—so corn
pletely the tool of party prejudice in forgetfulnes

of every other consideration—as to pronounce it

adversely to our present Representatives, upon the
flimsy pretexts which have been advanced on behalf
of the petitioners. But whatever may be the result,
the stain of the infamous proceedings will remain in-
delibly upon those who have promoted them, and
Liverpool will thus far have benefited, in having

discovered the traitors within her own bosom. If
she should obtain that bare measure of justice to
which she has an undoubted right, the execrations
of her foes may be drowned in the congratulations
for her second triumph ; but si,ould she be called
upon once more to assert her privilege of electing
two Constitutional Representatives, it will be by
such a majority as to render hopeless all attempts at
further opposition,

THE election of eight Commissioners for the
Township of Birkenhead takes place this day
(Tuesday). The excitement on the subject has been
increasing in intensity, and announcements in blue
and red have been issued almost hourly. It is,
however, much to be lamented that crimination and
recrimination should have been so largely resorted
to, the more especially when the merits of the case
lie almost in a nutshell, and would have long since
received a satisfactory solution, had the parties been
as ingenuous in their statements as they have proved
themselves to be ingenious in mystifying them.
The sympathies of many of the ratepayers appear to
have been enlisted on the side of the Reds, from a
belief that the ascendancy of that party would lead
to the establishment of factories on the banks of the
Pool. They say that if the choice be between the
completion of the Docks and the occupation of the
banks with hives of industry, they prefer the latter
as being the most conducive to the welfare of
Birkenhead. This is not, however, the alternative ;
for, if the Blue party be elected, the Docks will be
completed, and the other object also attained, the
only obstacle being a legal difference as to the
respective rights of the Dock Trustees and the
Dock and Warehouse Company to the conservancy
of the dock walls, and the question is left for the
decision of the Vice-Chancellor on Monday next.
Whichever way this question may be decided, the
difficulty will be removed from carrying out the
wishes of those who think, by voting for the Red
party, to see the long-desired occupation of the
banks, whereas by voting for the Blue list they will
equally secure the same end, and at the same time

further the equally important object of the com-
pletion of the Docks.

COUNTY COURT.-YESTERDAY.

(Before Joseph Pollock, Esq., Judge.)

His Honour having disposed of several fraud sum-
monses, which possessed no feature of public interest,
proceeded to take insolvency cases.
NON-PAYMENT OF COURT FEES.—CHARGE OF NEG-
LECT AGAINST AN ATTORNEY.—An insolvent, named
Thomas Hesselgrave, came before the court on his final
examination. The case had been before adjourned on
the application of Mr. Bluck, insolvent's attorney. Mr.
M'Oubrey, barrister, appeared for the insolvent, and the
application was opposed by Mr. Grocott, solicitor, on be-
half of certain creditors.

It appeared from an intimation made by his Honour to
Mr. M'Oubrey, that Mr. Bluck, insolvent's attorney, had
not paid certain court fees, although he had received the
money. His Honour complained of this conduct as irre-
gular. The case had been adjourned twice, for the ac-
commodation of the insolvent, when the opposing creditor
was present ; and now, when the case again came before
the court, it appeared the fees had not been paid. His
Honour was determined that the proceedings of the court
should be regular, and would not allow the case to pro-
ceed in its present state.
The insolvent here said that he was not aware the fees
were not paid, and offered to pay them now.
His HONOUR said he would not permit the arrange-
ments under the act of parliament to be interfered with.
The act required that the fees should be paid a certain
time before the hearing of a case, and they must proceed
in the usual way. His Honour added, that if these things
were repeated he should feel it his duty to declare that he
would not hear any practitioner iu that court who did not
fulfil his engagements.
The petition was then dimissed, his Honour stating
that he would not again hear it until the regulations of
the court had been complied with.
On the application of Mr. Grocott, the opposing cre-
ditors' costs were allowed.
ALLEGED NEGLECT OF AN OFFICER OF THE COURT.—
John Muir, a flour-dealer in Scotland-road, appeared
before the court on his final order. The insolvent was
supported by Mr. Hill, solicitor, and opposed by Mr.
Dewhurst on behalf of Mr. Arthur Henderson, who bad
advanced the insolvent certain sums of money on the se-
curity of a policy of insurance and a promissory note. It
was alleged against the insolvent that he had obtained
from Mr. Henderson a second sum of money on the repre-
sentation that be had paid the premium upon the policy
of insurance, which was not so.

His HONOIIII stated to Mr. Dewhurst that he was not
.certain whether, under existing circumstances, he had
jurisdiction in the case. It appeared, when the case was
last before the court, that the necessary advertisement
had not been inserted in the Gazette in due time, and the
case could not proceed. Since that time another case of
aaivailar nature, in re Hughes, had come before him, and
the.disposal of that case had been deferred, pending the
decision of the insolvent court in London by the practices
in ,which it was laid down that the county court judges
were to be guided. The present case had, therefore,
better stand over until a decision in Hughes's case was
before him. It had been submitted to him by the attorney
in Hughes's case that, in consequence of the advertise-
ment not .having been duly inserted in the Gazette, he had
no jurisdiction, and that the entire of the proceedings
must commence de novo.

Mr..Hit,t. said, in the present case he bad himself
paid the money to the officer of the court.
His HoNora.—He did not say that the insolvent bad
not a right of action against the officer of the court, if the
fees had been dpaly paid, but still he (the judge) must be
guided by the construction of the Act of Parliament as
leaf down in the practice of the Insolvent Court in Lon-
don. If the money was paid to the officer of the court in
time for him to have advertised it in the Gazette, no
doubt he ought to have done so; but the question was
whether, in consequence of the advertisement not Lavine
appeared, be had now any jurisdiction in the case. It
was a very important case.

The case was adjourned accordingly, after Mr. Hender-
son had been examined respecting his claim.

WAVERTREE CHURQO 0.1, ENGLAND SUNDAY SCHOOL.
—On Thursday lest the scholars belonging to the Church
of England Schools at Wavertree had their annual treat,
under the auspices of their esteemed president, the Rev.
W. Badnail, M.A. In the forenoon, the children, to the
number of 175, and about twenty teachers, met at the
school rooms in Wavertree-road, and headed by the Rev.
W. Badnall, and the Rec. W. Kewley, the vice-president,
with an efficient band, and upwards of a dozen flags bear-
ing appropriate inscriptions, they walked in procession
through the village to Wavertree-green, where they sang
a hymn, and then entered four omnibuses, which had
Theyte were thus promoters by
Messrs.b e n kindlyl‘iat
tin s placedon as:at
Dilworth.he
con-
veyed to the Landing-stage, where they trnbarlted on
board one of the New Brighton boats. Theday being beau-
tifully fine, they greatly enjoyed themselves ; the Rev.
Arr. Kewlev and the teachers joining in the festivities of the

with a Wentifu

n
the Rev. S. Fenton, the Rev. J. W. Kewley, Mr. J
luTshdhunoahipdyteerpelleslr:citrlibthotu'ohefttolh.aly:scuuwwstsi
hp'aeesiemrr: eeeetbsrrreoecoeear.fgfdns'atluellolrer:dedaereßsdi;;:et,
v3dlraii.rainalrt:gb.
fooirbjunt.hsot eßeietlrinx:ieeinridtaecuisit irltilids.
e,
and superintendent of the sch:iol, and an efficient staff o.
together witl
25 teachers. It then numbered only GO scholars. c"let'tia6la:3s
continued to increase, and now boasts of nearly 200
scholars. We understand that the success of the school
has led to the determination to erect a new and more
commodious building for the pupils.

In the forenoon his Lordship attended at the parish
church of St. Peter, in Church-street, where it had been
arranged that the candidates for confirmation belonging
to the several districts of St. Peter, St. Nicholas (parish
church), St. George, St. John, St. David, St. Stephen,
the Mariners' Church, and the Workhouse, should assem-
ble to have the rite administered.
The young people presented by the clergymen having
charge of the respective districts numbered about 300.
In the afternoon his Lordship proceeded to St.
Mi hael's Church, where he administered confirmation to
between 300 and 400 children belonging to St. Michael's,
St. Thomas's, St. Barnabas's, St. Bride's, St. Mark's,and
St. Andrew's.
After confirmation, the usual services in connexion with
the rite were performed, after which
His LORDSHIP addressed the children in eloquent and
affecting terms, peculiarly appropriate to the occasion.
His Lordship's observations at both churches were much
to the same effect. He said—My dear young friends, this
solemn service of your confirmation has now been com-
pleted. I have laid my hands upon you as the Church
directs, in order, by that sign, to assure you of God's
loving kindness and gracious favour. I have also, as the
Church directs, prayed that God will bless you—that he
will extend to you his heavenly grace, and at last bring
you to his everlasting kingdom. I have offered up this
prayer for you with true sincerity and earnestness of
heart, and I hope that that prayer will be answered by
God's good gifts descending on you all. I am sure that
you have been well instructed and prepared for this solemn
service by your ministers, for your own behaviour here,
which has been so very orderly and reverential during
the whole of the service, would itself point to me
that you feel yourselves the great importance of the
step that you are now taking in your Christian life.
Still I wish, before I bid you farewell, to say a few
words to you, both as a token of my own good will and
kindness to you, and also because being addressed to
you on this very solemn occasion in your lives, what I
may now say may, through God's blessing, sometimes be
called to your remembrance afterwards. Now when you
were little children, your parents or friends took you to
the Church of God to be baptised in the name of the
Father, the Son. and the Holy Ghost. You were thereby
openlyad nsitted into the Christiancovenantof grace. Now,
in that very covenant there is a very great and precious pro-
mise made to you. You had the promise of being delivered
from a state of condemnation to which all men have been
brought by sin, and of being received by the favour of
God, through the atonement which Christ Jesus made on
the cross for the sins of the whole world. You had the
promise of God's Holy Spirit to make you his children by
adoption, and to renew and sanctify your hearts and lives,
and you had also the glorious promise of everlasting life
in heaven, through the merits of the Holy Saviour Jesus
Christ. But, my young friends, the Christian covenant
to which you were admitted at your baptism has duties
and engagements which it imposes upon you, as well as
the promises it makes an 3 the privileges it confers.
Those engagements and duties you could not, when you
were little children, make for yourselves—they were made
for you by your godfathers and godmothers, who acted
at your baptism, and became sponsors on your behalf and
for your good. But, then, all this was with the
understanding that what others did for you, you
should yourself adopt as your own act and deed as soon as
you were able to understand its meaning. You are now
able to do this, and as you have arrived at years of suitable
discretion, the Church calls upon you to renew in your
own persons the engagements made for you by those on
your behalf, that, by the blessing of God and the help of
his grace, you would renounce all ungodliness, believe
God's Holy Word, and keep his commandments. You
have now, this day, openly, before the Church, made
this profession, and entered into these engagements in
your own persons, and with your own voices. Do not,
however, suppose, that you are thereby binding your-
selves by some tie from which you would otherwise have
been free. Do not suppose that you are thereby taking
upon yourselves a responsibility to answer for your sins,
for which you were not accountable before. No such
thing. It never can be a matter of choice with you whe-
ther you will be bound to obey God's commandments
He is the righteous governor of the world, and if you had
never made any such engagement as you have done to-
day, yet because he is the righteous governor of the
world, you would have been equally bound to keep his
commandments and to obey his laws. Neither will it
ever be a matter of choice in you whether you will
answer for your own sins or not. God is the righteous
judge of the world, and if you transgress his laws,
you mud answer for your disobedience. No one else
can answer for you. You must answer lor your
own sins yourselves ; and the time when you become
answerable is not at the time of your confirmation, but
as soon as your understanding enables you to know the
difference between good and evil. His Lordship, in con-
tinuation, pointed out the Christian duties and respon-
sibilities which they had now openly imposed upon them-
selves, and feelingly urged upon them the vast importance
of adhering in practice to the Christian profession they
had made. _ _ _ _ _

The proceedings closed by his Lordship - pronouncing
the benediction.

To-day, at eleven o'clock, his Lordship will hold a
confirmation

At St. Luke's Church.—For St. Luke, Liverpool, St.
Philip, St. Clement, St. Saviour, St. Catherine, St.
Simon. St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary (for the blind).
At St. Jude's Church, three o'clock, p m.—For St.
Jude, Liverpool ; St. Silas, Trinity. Christ Church, St.
Anne ; St. James, West Derby ; St. Anne, Stanley ;
Edge-hill, St. Mary ; Edge-hill, St. Stephen ; Fairfield.
At St. Paul's Church, Wednesday, at eleven o'clock,
p.m.—For St. Paul, Liverpool ; St. Matthias, St. Martin,
St. Bartholomew, AU Saints, St. Matthew, Bevington,
Vauxhall.

At Walton Church, at three o'clock, p.m..—For Wal-
ton, Kirkby. Ainiree, Bootle, West Derby ; Trinity,
Walton Breck ; Kirkdale Industrial School.
At St. George's Church, Everton, on Thursday, al
eleven o'clock, a.m.—For St. George, Everton ; St.
Augustine, ditto ; Christ Church, ditto ; St. Peter, ditto ;
St. Mary, Kirkdale.
At St. John Baptist Church, Toxteth, Cn, Thursday.
at three o'clock, p.m.—For St. John Baptist, Toxteth ;
St. Michael, ditto ; St. Paul, ditto ; St. James, ditto ; St.
Thomas, ditto ; St. Matthew, ditto.

VAUXHALL CHURCH AND SCHOOLS.—We are glad to see
that the contributions for these important objects go for-
ward with spirit; and we hope that all who sympathise
in the effort will be prompt in affording their assistance,
that full advantage may be taken of the summer season
in forwarding the work.
BODIES FOUND.—On Sunday, the body of a woman,
unknown, was found in the canal. It appeared to have
been in the water for some time.—On Saturday, the body
of a man, unknown, was found floating in the river
twelve miles N.W. of the Bell Buoy, by the steam-tug.
Tartar. The body was brought by the steamer to the
Seacombe Ferry, and thence conveyed to the dead-house.
Inquests will be held on the bodies to-day.

SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.—It will be seen, by adver-
tisement, that a public meeting will be held this evening
to receive a deputation from the London Sunday School
Union, and to celebrate the jubilee of that society. The
Sunday School has been in existence half a century, dining
which period it has been conducted by the friends and
voluntary unpaid labours of the London Sunday School
Committee. Its operations, which are conducted in a
truly Catholic spirit, have been very extensive. Exc!ucive
of grants for the colonies, the society has given £7,000
since 1832 towards the erection of 300 Sunday
rooms. They have also granted 2,750 libraries of books
for Sunday scholars and their parents at a ►rime cost of
upwards of £12,000. Their annual profits they invari-
ably spend in assisting schools in various localities which
require their aid. The arrival of the fiftieth year of the
society has suggested the necessity of still more extended
plans of usefulness, and it is to explain and develop these
that the deputation visits this town.

AN UNFEELING SON.—On Wednesday an inquest was
held upon the body of William WilHamer), aged 48, mate
of the schooner Fanny, of Ramsay, who died from the
effects of excessive drinking. The deceased went, on
Monday afternoon, to the house of Mr. John Carrot,
Salthouse-lane, after which, being intoxicated, Mr.
Carrot accompanied him to the Prince's Dock basin,
where they found the Fanny, in tow of a steamer, going
up to Runcorn. Williamson being too late to ge

bOard, they returned to Salthouse-lane, and the deceased
lay upon a sofa in the parlour. Carrol went out
goods on the Queen's Dock quay, and remained there a,
night. When he returned to his house, on Tuesday
morning, he found Williamson still on the sofa. He
tried to rouse him, but, not succeeding, he called in Dr.
Bruce, who pronounced life extinct. A son of the de-
ceased, who had that morning returned from India,
appeared in court, and owned his father ; but, although
he had taken a watch out of the dead man's pocket, and
pawned it for 55., he refused to have anything to do with
burying the corpse, and said the parish must do it, for he
would not. The burial order was consequently sent to
Mr. Gray, at the parisb-office, and the body removed. A
verdict of "Died from excessive drinking" was returned.

to watct

ht:Lwd Ysfat" is is THELOVERS OF LAUGHTER are as numerous as the stars
of the firmament, and those who cater for theiramusernent
need be as watchful as Argus to catch the passing whim
of the moment and tickle the risible faculties. Those who
succeed best ir. this are amongst the greatest benefactors
oinfc
ds oi
cc:ine
et ye, v
ef or ry
ewholesomee
dn_ii r"
thlauigsl'e and be
st
an adage as old as the world—the hyena, the most vora-
cious of animals, is obliged to laugh to digest his meals.
bile--go
then, ye dyspeptic; go, ye victims of the
to Eastham, and see the Catageloseum, whose pro .
if he has not had as much audacity as pr,etor,
Prometheus, to
steal fire from heaven to endow his ludicrous figures
life, he certainly has had brass enough t
for the most life-like movements ever o make machinery
to wooden figures ; indeed, w yet communion
figures of real flesh and blood e have seen very
movements than those ofwith much more woot
the Templeof Laughter which
now attracts th,nisands to the beautifully-pictoies,
grounds at the East ham Ferry. At first the C t o•e'
made us laugh heartily aal'
and hold our sides, for very tear
of ti ,e CO
,efiuk nces, but after a long and patient 1,--

JOETU- M

lgenlous resetagluarrQto we
real life—each is so tru,
s„on gives way to the percc,
caricature, but an accurate personific
cannot to
. were
which we are looking.popular Ve
amusement

ricaculou

mend this e

To Ike EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STAND.

SIR, —W e are very much in Want of an early Comm
nion in one of the churches upon the North Slic
'• or Waterloo). ' clergy wot

Seafer

,ad ou

say at eight a.m., especially
favour ut.on us if they would arratie,
/tic opportunity for one on each Sacrament Sunda
during the summer months
This privilege is enjoyed in Liverpool and at Birken
and great numbers avail themselves of it. Will you make
the suggestion with all due respect, and 01-"

page y(
E. (

,Bootle, June, 6, 1853.