The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-03-04 00:00:00

A WORD TO TfigOPERATIVE CONSR-

VATIVES.

Under this title a small but exceedingly useful pamph-
let has recently been published, by Mr. Sowler, junior,
of the Manchester Courier. Its language is plain, tem-
perate; and perspicuous, and is on that account likely to
be the more useful. We take an extract to show the
progress of operative conservatism in 'South Lanca
shire :=

The success which has attended the establishment of these
associations, seyetilly, since their first commencement, has in-
deed been most extraordinary, so much so, that I look back with
•astonishineut; nor has' their rapid progress been .confined to
places whichare, or have bee,u distinguished for their loyalty,
and the conservative character of their inhabitants. In. South
'Lancashire.Societies exist in the noted radical boroughs of Sal-
ford and Oldham ; and what has surprised -me still more, can
boast of as' litany members as those established in many places
which hiive.enjoyed a more deditabie.reputation. . I can only
'account for this strange ,anomaly in oue way, especially with
reference to Salford.. Ilere.the:puorer.inbabitantsbaye, for the
last few years, been .subject to the. iron rule. of a tyrannising
raaical ;
,they. are, painfully alive to, and have had
sad experience.of, the many OppresSive and unfeeling acts of
.this body; they 'would, therefore; (to look at the matter only• in
a Local point of view) eagerly shelter themselves under the pro-
tection of such a society as the, Salford Operative Conservative
association. As regards the other borough, kOldham,) it is
sufficient to say, that the inhabitants have been witnesses of the.
acts'd the low radical faction, and would hail, with . equal feel,
inns of7delig'it, the establiihment of a conservative society.
To prove that. I ant not guilty of vain, einpty boast in de-.
scribing the rapid increase of these societies, I subjoin a table
showing the number of societies in the southern division of
.the
county of Lancaster, withtheamount of members in each.
Estimated number of
members. .

Manchester
Salford
Liverpool*
,
.B:i1,;(5.11
Wrririgton
-Nritzalt
°SAtsi. Helens
/(1
iteunnsder-Lyne
.150
80
Stocqoorlf•
Middleton
Radcliffe l5O
"Pilkington.
Chadderton

Total . .... 3270

It, is; however, necessary for me to remind you that none of
these societies have been established more than six or seven
months., and that I have only given 0 list of such as are in
Soutli'Laiirashire, and have omitted a few that have been lateiy
established, and some that are now in course of formation. If
this is not a fair and proper illustration of the word reaction, I
declare lam quite at a loss tti find one. What the total of a
table 'similar to the preceding one would be. in six months hence,
I will leave yOu to judge; of this I ant certain, that at the expi-
ration of that period I should have no hesitation in drawing a
comparison between it and the vaunted numbers of the Bir-
miiiighann Political Union, and, be it remembered, without
etnploying the usual artifices resorted to by our opponents to
gain an accession of numbers.

* It is necessary to explain, with respect to Liverpool, that
the society has not been in existence niore than five or six
weeks. •'

't Although the greater part of Stockport is in the county of
Chester, there are many members of the society who live in
Heaton Ntirris.

O'CONNELL COMMITTEES.

DUBLIN ELECTION COMMITTEE.—This committee resumed
its sittings on Monday. A difficulty was started as to the com-
petency of the' committee to proceed to business. Sir ltufane
Shaw bonkin, one of its members, having since the last meet-
ing vacated his seat by accepting office as Master-General of
the Ordnance. Counsel for the petitioners contended that,
although Sir R. Donkin had been re-elected a member of par-
liament,' yet, the vacation of his seat necessarily removed him
also from being a member of that or any other committee' to
'which le might have belonged. Mr. Austen, on the part of
`Mr. O'Connell, maintained that the committee could not pro-
ceed to business in the absence of any one member, withoOt the
special leave of the house. The committee adjourned for a
short period. On their return to the room, the Chairman said
thit the committee had determined upon proceediug upon the
inquiry forthwith.
CAItLOW ELECTION COMMITTEE.—The investigation of this
affair, was also commenced on Monday. Mr. O'Connell was
in attendance, and strenuously urged that the'inquiry might be
an open one. • The Chairman, Mr. Ridley Colbourne, said the
doors of the committee-room would be open to the public, but
the evidence would not be permitted to be printed until the in-
quiry was at an end. Mr. O'Connell; in answer to his applica-
tion to be present, was told that be would be permitted to remain
ifhe were noLto become a witness. Mr. Sergeant Wilde, the
-nominee for Mr. O'Connell, wanted to know the specific
charges brought against his hon. and learned friend. The
charges were a so-general a nature that he knew not how to
grapple with Warn. Sir Frederick Pollock knew no more about
the transactions—the subject of the inquiry —than any gentle-
men forming the committee. He had been deputed by, the
house of Commons to assist in the investigation; he had no
means, neither would he take any, of stating specifically what
the charges were. He was not a public prosecutor, nor would
he become one. He was there to examine such witnesses as
might appear to give their evidence, and the duty of the com-
mittee would be, according to the instructions of the house " to
inquire and report upon the evidence, with their observations
thereupon." If he (Sir F. Pollock) knew anything of the
chMges, he only knew of them in the same way as the committee,
through a statement made in the house by an hon. member.
Evidence was then gone into, which, however, will not be pub-
lished until the inquiry is brought to a close. Mr. Raphael was
in the course of the day called in and examined.
The Dublin Evening Mail of Wednesday contains the follow-
ing•account of Mr. Raphael's examination :
" Mr. Raphael was then called, and examined at great
length, but in deference to the desire of the committee, I send
you no part of his evidence that was not already before the
public. He proceeded with great clearness to narrate the cir-
cumstances of the case as detailed its his letters already before
the public. In addition to these documents, he produced the
suppressed letter, which as it turns out to be in the same terms
as that I sent you, and which appeared in the Mail of Feb. 3.,
I may, without violating the commands of the committee, re-
publish. It offers Mr. Raphael a baronetcy, and concludes
14;as:—` Ido not make the offer without sufficient reason.' The
committee at four o'clock adjourned till to-morrow, Mr. Ra-
phael's examination not having terminated."

FASHIONS FOR MARCH.

(From the New Monthly Belle Assemblee.)

This is a month in which evening head-dress is perhaps more
splendid and varied than any other during the season, but on
the other hand, outdoor costume presents little or nothing for
even the most industrious gleaner in the field of fashion to
gather: We may observe, however, that velvet bonnets begin
already to be partially displaced by satin ones, although from
its-being so early in the season we have no idea that they will
be entirely laid aside till April, and probably not even then;
but they are certainly in a minority which every day will in-
crease. We see with pleasure that these'lar,ge curtains at the
back of the crown, which disfigured so many pretty necks, are
much reduced in size, and in some instances abolished alto-
gether. Some change also has taken place in the interior of
the trimming of bonnets; the wreath of flowers, or the blond
lace niche,' which usully encircled the face, is replaced by a
light bouillon of tulle on each side, intermingled with flowers,
or knots of riband. Furs have as yet lost nothing of their
vogue; we observe that short mantles, lined and trimmed with
them, predominate in carriage-dress.
The pelisse robe form is still that most generally employett
in evening.nesligt.s; some of the prettiest are of velours epinglii
trimmed with satin. Those that we consider the most elegant
are of pale rose or azure blue velours 4ingl(• ; the trimming_en
tablier is a wreath of cockscombs formed of satin, either cor-
responding in colour or white. The corsage is tight to the
shape, and moderately low, with a round l'aPpel, excessively
.shallow in the cedtre of the back and bosom; cleft and formed
in points on the shoulders. The lappet and the top of the cor-
sage' is encircled with narrow blond lace, beaded by a piping of
satin. The sleeves are cut in such a manner as to be nearly but
not quite tightat the upper p:.rt, excessively full from thence to
about half-way below the elbow; from whence they descend in'
a moderate size to the wrist. A short flat mancheron, trimmed
with blond and piping, ornaments the shoulder, and a simple
band'confines the sleeve at the wrist.

'Caps continue in great favour in half-dress: we observe that
althoUgh those of a Simple-form are still predominant, yet some
that have been lately introduced promise to be equally Lishion-
able: they are made high, and the fronts rather voluminous;
they are also a good deal trimmed : a sprig 'of flowers is in-
serted on each side of the front among the lace, or rather we
should say, a sprig on one side, and a single flower on the other:
another sprig with a good deal of Tiband adorns the caul. We
see also some half-dress caps of a simple form; the front very
low, trimmed with a light sprig of flowers, and a velvet band
tied at the side encircling the bottom of the caul. Our fair
readers will cry out against this mixture, and we admit that in
description it appears incongruous enough, ,but the effect is
really pretty, and we think it likely to be fashionable. Triple
satin of rich full colours is a good deal adopted for soirees..
We observe that the majority of these dresses have the corsage
plain, cut moderately high, and bordered with a row of blond
which stands up round the bust. We shall not be surprised to
have to announce in a short time a majority of tight sleeves in
dull dress. We now see some made rather short, quite tight to
the arm, and finished with a blond lace ruffle. " It is true that
these sleeves are yet few in number, but fashion is like love, if
it is once admitted it soon Makes its way. 'A very pretty and
becoming kind of sleeve, which appears to us the just& milieu,
between large and small, is somewhat of the melon form; it is
composed of a bouffant of tulle formed into puffs by bands of
the material of the dress. We may cite among the most elegant-
evening dresses those of satin k mille rotes. rhe corsage made
without shoulder straps, is disposed in folds which forms a fan.
A half-wreath of roses formed of white satin ribands mingled
with those of the colour of the uress descends from the waist
on the right to the bottom of the skirt on the left; the sleeves
are composed of
.four bouffants of white tulle, and are covered.
with bands Crossed and fixed by a rose of riband. •
What will our readers say to ball robes of velvet! some have,
however, been seen on ladies of the first distinction. It is true
some were of white Velvet, and others of very pale rose or azure
blue; the sleeves were tulle, and the head-dresses of hair, orna-
mented with flowers, thus the effect was much lighter than one
would suppose, nevertheless we must, as a matter of taste, enter
our protest against velvet ball dresses. 'We 'should, however,
be more indulgent to dresses ornamented with' velvet, such at
least as we are about to describe, for we think that though very
rich they are not heavy. The under dress is of white satin, the
upper, a short crape robe, descending only to the knee, and the
front of which is trimmed with arabesques of velvet of some
rich colour. The sleeves short, tight, and bordered with vel-
vet. Sub of our readers as arc old enough to remember the
modes 0f,30 years ago, will recollect that this style of dancing
dress was:then very prevalent. It is a becoming fashion for
tall, gracefttlitomen, but quite the reverse for under-sized belles.
Head-dretsts of hair ornamented with flowers are most in
favour in ball'dress. We see also a good mail), coiffures orna-
mented with nets formed of ribands or of velvet bands ; the
lightest, and, in our opinion,,the prettiest of these coiffures are
those composed of blonde, arranged in a net trimmed at the
back with jessamine, and clematis, and ornamented in front
with Bengal roses and lilacs. The colours in request are those
of last month, hitt we observe that white and pale ruse are very
predominant in evening dress.

The great will cause, Tatham v. Wright, in which a new trial
has been granted, will not come on till the Lancaster summer
assizes.