The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-02-18 00:00:00

LIVER THEATRE, CHURCH-STREET,

ADDITIONAL ATTRACTION.
Mr. J. L. HATTON, for a Limited Period.
In consequence of the numerous applications at the Box-
office for the repetition of JACK SHEPPARD, it will be
performed every Evening during the Week, with two New
Dramas.

• Mrs. RAYMOND.
NEW SONGS AND NEW DANCES.
ripHIS present TUESDAY EVENING, the 18th instant,
and during the week, the Evening's Entertainments will
commence with a new Drama, of powerful interest, (never
acted here,) written by Mr. Higgie, of this Theatre, as acted
with the most distinguished success in London, entitled
THE ROYALIST;
OR, THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY.
King Charles the First Mr. F. Gardner.
Richard Ludlam
Margoth (a Trooper) Mr. Higgie.
Saucy Dabbs.. Mr. C. F. Marshall.
Lasceline Hastings (the Rose of Newark) Miss Baldie.
Arnica Mrs. Barton.
An Admired Shawl Dance byMademoiselle Chevalier.
To be followed by a laughable Farce, entitled
THE VALET DE SHAM.
Mr. Tweezer (a headstrong old Gentleman) Mr. Tilbury.
Captain Trivet (a prejudiced young Gentleman) Mr. Higgie.
Clipper (a polished Lady's Lady) Mrs. Raymond.
A Popular Pas de Dews', from the " Daughter of the
Danube," by Misses Thomassin and Lidia.
To conclude with a new version of the celebrated Historical

Drama of
JACK SIIEPPARD ;
OR, TIIR,TIOUSERREAKER OF 1703.
Owen Wood Mr. Tilbury.
Joe Blueskin .. Mr. J. L. Hatton,
In which character he will sing " The Jolly Nose," " Now
Farewell my Rowry Towries," and the Chorus "- Nix my
Dolly, Pals, Fake Away."
Jonathan Wild . Mr. Barton.
Jack Shepherd Mrs. Barton.
Tickets and places for the Boxes may be had of Mr.
BitEigott the Box-office, from Eleven till Three o'Clock.
Boxes, 35.; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, 6d. Second Price at Half-past
Eight : Boxes, 2s, ; Pit Is. ; no Second Price to the Gallery.
Doors to be open at Half-past Six o'Clock, performance to
commence at Seven precisely.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

In the Rev. Hugh M`Neile's " Reply to the Rev. Thomas
Drew," which appeared in our last publication, there was
an omission of a part of a sentence. It occurred in the
last paragraph but one, which was wrongly printed thus :
" Only be united among yourselves : explain the principles,
and urge the claims of the Church Education Society.
There you have the true line drawn between latitudinarian-
ism as regards Christianity. and bigotry as regards any
human formula, and you teach nothing else."
It should have stood thus :—" Only be united among your-
selves : explain the principles, and urge the claims of the
Church Education Society. There you have the true line
drawn between latitudinarianism as regards Christianity,
and bigotry as regards any human formula. There you
teach Scriptural Christianit) to all without exception, and
you teach nothing else."

r Ziberpool &tanbatt.

TUBSD AY MORNING, FEBRUARY 18, 1840,

A year has just elapsed since the publication of the
LIVERPOOL STANDARD was resumed under its
present management. That resumption took place,
as most of our readers must be aware, under circum-
stances which rendered the future success of the
paper somewhat problematical. Many of. the old
subscribers, whose patronage had been extended to
the STANDARD in former years, had been led to
transfer their support to other journals, under the
impression that the STANDARD was defunct—an
impression which our Radical contemporaries took
much pains to strengthen and perpetuate. To this
disadvantage, sufficiently discouraging in itself, was
superadded the more serious loss of several adver-
tising connections. Confident, however, in the
strength of the Conservative body in this great com-
mercial town, and anxious that the "good cause,"
which had been so long and so successfully advocat-
ed in the columns of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD,
should not suffer any detriment from the loss of an
organ whose services had been so generously appre-
ciated, the present proprietors of this journal at once
resolved upon its republication. The result has fully
justified their anticipations. The Conservatives of
Liverpool have once more rallied round their STAN-
DARD—that STANDARD under which they have so
often victoriously fotight the battles of the Constitu-
tion against the combined forces of Whiggery and
Radicalism, Popery and Infidelity.
It is now our pleasing duty, at the termination of our
first year's probation, to return our grateful acknow-
ledgments for the large and increasing measure of
support which has hitherto attended our career. The
Conservatives of Liverpool .have fully justified the
confidence which we reposed in their attachment to
the principles which we have advocated. From these
Principles, which include the support, in unimpaired,
integrity, of our glorious Constitution in Church and
State—the maintenance of a monarchical form of
Government, checked and controuled by an heredi-
tary House of Lords, exercising independent legisla-
tive functions, and a House of Commons, freely
elected by the people—the defence of those rights
and privileges which are the inalienable birthright of
every British subject—the support of an Established
Churchthe furtherance of a religious system of na-
tional education—and the most uncompromising
hostility to every form of error, whether it be the
blighting superstition of Popery. the insidious poison
of Socinianism, or the pestiferous blasphemy of the
filthy and degraded Socialist—from these principles
we shall never deviate. They constitute the broad
basis of our political creed. They form the founda-
tion also of our national greatness and prosperity. It
shall always, therefore, be our maxim, as it is our
motto, to be ready, in every emergency,
" With hearts resolved, and hands prepared,
The blessings we enjoy to guard."
In entering upon another year in the history of the
LIVERPOOL STANDARD we i;ledge ourselves to
lender our journal worthy of increased support.
°ur Present number will bear witness to our anxiety
ing
to e
eti furnishn copious and accurate reports of public
of local and general interest, as well as
early and authentic intelligence from neighbouring
towns. We allude, in particular, to the report of the
great meeting for Church Extension, and to the
account of the proceedings in the Chamber of Com-
merce at Manchester.
Among the improvements which we have recently in-
troduced into the LIVERPOOL STANDARD we wish
to direCt the attention of our readers to the original
intelligence which we have, for some weeks past,
given on the subject of Railways. Information of
this description must possess a peculiar interest in
Liverpool, which may be considered the central mart
for shares of every description. It
is necessary to
add, that we have selected our 'Tuesday's
for giving publicity to our publication
Railway Intelligence, as a
preliminary step towards giving to the STANDARD
of 'Tuesday in each week a more commercial character
than it has hitherto assumed. While, however, we
shall endeavour to carry these plans into execution,
we shall not strive the less to render the LIVERPOOL
STANDARD one of the best FAMILY NEWSPAPERS
in the kingdom.

The enemies of the West India Colonies are con-
tinuing their reckless and mischievous system of agita-
tion, and require to be most vigilantly watched, and
most perseveringly opposed. There is nothing to
which these men will not resort in the eagerness of their
zeal against the injured and calumniated planters.
Messrs. Sturge, Scoble, and, Co., are by no means par-
ticular in the choice of the weapons with which they
carry on their war of extermination against the West
India interest. Personal abuse, misconstruction of
Motives, garbled statements of facts, and even gross
perversion of the truth, have been severally, and, we
are sorry to acid, but too successfully, resorted to in this
unholy warfare.

Among the most glaring of the ,falsehoods put forth
by the pretended "friends of the Negroes," we Would
unhesitatingly point out the assertion that the emanci-
pated Negroes has.,e been as diligent, in the West Indies,
since the termination of the apprenticeship, as they were
under a coerced system of labour. That this assertion

is utterly unfounded and diametrically opposed to fact
we are fully prepared to show.

We know of no fairer criterion by which to judge
of the comparative industry of the Negroes in the West
Indies, previously to the abolition of slavery, and sub-
sequently to that period, than by examining the amount
of produce imported from the Colonies, during the last
few years. We have before us an elaborate statement
of the imports, deliveries, and stocks of the principal
articles of colonial growth, compiled by Mr. J. S.
Kewley, of this town, which furnishes us with the
means of completely refuting the assertions of the
Anti-Slavery folks respecting the alleged prosperity of
the West Indies. The principal article of import from
the West India Colonies is sugar. Let us see how the
facts of the case stand in reference to this important
staple. The average annual import of sugar from the
Colonies, for the six years previous to 1835, appears
to have been 255,000 hogsheads ; from 1835, when the
Apprenticeship system commenced, to 1838, when the
Negroes were finally liberated, the average was 220,000
hhds.; while the produce of the last year hai dwindled
down to 179,800 hhds. The supplies of 1839 shew
the enormous decrease of 75,200 hhds. as compared
with the former period, and of 42,200 as compared
with the latter. A comparison between the imports of
sugar -for the years 1838 and 1839 respectively, will
serve still more strongly to prove the indolence of the
Negroes since they obtained their freedom. The fol-
lowing will exhibit the imports from each of the Bri-
tish plantations during the last two years :

1838. 1839.
hhds. hhds.
Antigua . 12,200 12,600
Barbadoes
Demerara and Berbice
Dominica
Grenada and Tobago 15,800 13,600
Jamaica
Nevis and St. Kitts 8,700 12,900
St. Lucia and St. Thomas
St. Vincent and Trinidad 29,850 25,200

Total imports 228,300

179,800

This statement shows a falling off in one year of
43,500 Mids. It is a singular and instructive fact—a
fact which may be noticed as connected with the imports
of other articles of Colonial produce, as well as with
that of sugar, that those Colonies show the greatest
falling off where the Negroes and the Executive Gorern-
ment have been most under the controul of the Anti-
Slavery agitators. This is particularly evident from the
imports from Jamaica, Demerara, and Berbice. The
falling off in the imports from Jamaica amounts to
17,800 hhds ; and the imports from British Guiana
show a decrease of 18,400 hhds. Thus, out of the
total deficiency of 45,500 hhds., we find the enormous
amount of 36,20() hhds. in the Colonies of Jamaica and

British Guiana alone. Now, it is notorious that these
unfortunate Colonies have been more exposed than any
of the others to the machinations of Scoble, Sturge &
Co. What are we to infer from the result afforded by

the preceding figures ? Can we come to any other con-
clusion than that of imputing all the mischief, the in-
dolence, and the consequent ruin which have been
witnessed in Jamaica and British Guiana to the bad coun-
sel which the Negroes have received from their pre-
tended friends ? Where the Negroes have been left
to themselves, they have been found generally disposed
to labour : where they have been meddled with by the
agents of the Anti-Slavery Society, they have been
uniformly idle and discontented.
In the article of molasses, again, we find a similar
diminution in the aggregate amount of imports. In
the year 1835 the number of casks imported was
51,100; in 1836, the import was 50,900 casks; in
1837, the import was 52,000 ; in 1838; the import
was 60,700; and in 1839. the import was 48,000

—showing a falling off, in the last year, of 12,700

casks

The imports of rum exhibit a similar falling off, as
far as Jamaica and British Guiana are concerned,
though the aggregate amount from all parts, including
the East Indies and foreign countries, shows a trifling
increase. The following is a statement of the imports
of rum, from all parts, during the last five years:-
1835. 1836. 1837. 1838.

1839.
puns. puns. puns. puns. puns.
48,700 44,750 41,100 42,900 43,400.

The discrepancy between any two of these amounts
is, certainly, not very considerable : but when we come
to look at the imports from Jamaica and British
Guiana, we shall find a very serious deficiency. The
following is a table of the imports from these Colonies
during the same period :-
1835. 1836. 1837. 1838. 1839.
puns. puns. puns. puns. puns.
39,000 36,900 30,600 33,500 27,450

Thus the imports of last year have been 7,300
puncheons less than the average of the four preceding
years. The consequence of this falling off in the im-
ports of the West India rums has been a considerable
advance in prices. The high prices of rum during the
past year has attracted supplies from foreign parts to a
very considerable extent. All this, has, of course,
operated injuriously to the West India interest, and
consequently to the trade and commerce of this country.
In the article of coffee, also, there has been a most
serious falling off in the imports from the West Indies
during the past year. In the year 1838 there were
imported into Liverpool 8,100 casks from the British
plantations : whilst, in the year 1839, the import was
only 6,300 casks. We believe the falling off in the
imports to London, Bristol, &c. is still more consider-
able.

The facts which have just been adduced are, we trust,
sufficient to negative the assertions made by the Anti-
Slavery Committee respecting the prosperity of the
West Indies and the orderly and diligent conduct of
the Negroes. The truth is, that, in the two principal
colonies—those of Jamaica and British Guiana—the
Negroes have been grossly misled. Every tie of gra-
titude and reciprocal affection between them and their
former masters has been, in numberless instances,
rudely dissolved by the lying insinuations of a set of
needy and interested agitators, whose policy it has been,
like that of the "Big Beggarman," to fatten upon the
imaginary grievances of the Negroes. Every insidious
art has been employed to poison the minds of the latter
against the planters. Habits of indolence have been
in consequence of the advice of their leaders, acquired
by the Negroes. They have extensively resorted to the
squatting system, and commenced the cultivation of
small patches of land, each for his own maintenance
and that of his family: and, as each family consumes
what is thus produced, the exports of the British plan-
tations are necessarily diminishing. We see no cure
for this evil but one—an extended system of free im-
migration, which, by producing greater competition,
will force the Negroes to accede to such an amount of
remuneration as can be afforded by the planters. Such
a system must be speedily adopted, or the West Indies
will he ruined.

The meeting held at the Music-hall in this town, on
Friday evening, on the subject of Church Extension,
and in support of Sir Robert Inglis's intended motion
after Easter, was one of the most important and inter-
esting ever held in Liverpool. The speeches of the
Rev. Rector Brooks, the Rev. Mr. M‘Neile, and Mr.
Horsfall, appear to us specially to claim attention. The
eagerness of the operative and humbler classes to gain
admission, and the deep interest they took in the ac-
tual proceedings, are points too material to be lost
sight of. had the room been twice as large as it is,
we believe it might have been filled with an overflow-
ing audience : but it had been found necessary to put
a check upon the issuing of tickets of admission at a
very early period of the week. We notice this, for it
is important that our rulers should know that very
many in the humbler walks of life have intelligence
enough to see that the welfare of the class to which
they belong—their own happiness, and that of their
children and their children's children—are involved in
the decision to which the legislature must speedily
come on this vital question.

It was truly stated in the petition which was adopted
at the meeting, that on the poorer classes " penal mea-
sures, whenever necessary, are apt to fall with peculiar
weight and severity." And it was also stated, with
equal truth, that it is little they can do to help them-
selves. When we reflect, indeed, how dependent, un-
der any form of government, the poorer classes are
upon those who are above them, and how exceedingly
liable they are to plunge headlong into misery and
crime, if they attempt to take the remedy of even ac-
tual grievances into their own hands, they ought to be

objects of much deeper sympathy and solicitude than
unhappily they are. But those real grievances are,
strange as it may appear to some, the very ones of
which that class is ordinarily least conscious : the most
pressing evils to which they are exposed are those on
which they have never reflected. Under the ancient
parochial system, every village in the
,kingdom, down
even to the population of 150 or 200 souls, had a
church and a pastor; the church being often spacious
enough to hold the entire population, and the seats
open to all, as is the case to this clay in most of,
or all, the Roman Catholic churches abroad, and as,
we doubt not, was the case in the early ages of Chris-
tianity, long before the errors of Popery were grafted
upon it. Whatever else thd Church of Rome may
have to answer for, it is not responsible for the intro-
duction of that system of pewing, which might, we ad-
mit, have been so regulated as to preserve inviolate the
rights of the poor, but which, as it has been suffered
to prevail, is a disgrace and a scandal to Protestantism.
From a want of vigilance, and perhaps of firmness, on
the part of successive incumbents and churchwardens,
in very many instances the ancient churches of the
land (as population has gone on increasing) have be-
come appropriated to a particular caste. Yes—startle
as we may at the expression—to a particular caste;
that caste being the wealthier and smaller portion of
the community; until, to speak plainly, the poor have
been altogether deprived (we had almost said robbed)
of their share in an inheritance bequeathed to the com-
munity. Many a time have we been grieved to mark
in crowded churches, where our liturgical services Were
performed in the most impressive manner, and where
pure evangelical truth—the gospel of Jesus Christ in
its fulness—was preached from the pulpit, that the
poor, to whom, when first promulgated, it was special-
ly addressed, formed no part of the attentive auditory;
unless, indeed, a few could be discovered in the remote
corners and passages of the edifice, or standing, with-
out an interval of rest, in the aisles. We know of one
parish, that of Stoke Damarel, in which the town of
Devonport is situated, where, with a population of
40,000 inhabitants, there is nothing bnt aisle room for
the working classes, as far as the churches and episco-
pal chapels are concerned. And it is a fact, that in
the principal and most ancient church of Birming-
ham, with a capacity to hold 1800 persons, so
completely had the poorer classes lost all share
of the sittings, when the present rector, the Rev.
Mr. Mozeley, came to it, that, being a man of
peace, and perhaps too reluctant to avail himself of
remedies which might have involved him in unpleasant
disputes with certain of his parishioners, he purchased
some fifty sittings of privileged pew-holders, to add to
another fifty (we think that was about the number),
which had not been appropriated to the wealthier class
of parishioners.

Again, take the parish of Sheffield (we refer to
Sheffield and Birmingham, because they have been
the scenes of recent outrage and insubordination).
Fourteen years ago that parish, having then a popula-.
tion of from 70 to 80,000 inhabitants, had but three
churches ; the exact number of sittings they furnished,
we are not, at the moment, able to state, but probably
some 4 or 5,000;--hut, be that as it may, the free and
unappropriated seats did not exceed 100 !! ! Who
can wonder that, when the doors of- the sanctuary
were thus in a manner closed against them, the work-
ing classes should have learnt to spend their time in
pot-houses, until intemperate habits have become the
characteristic of the Sheffield artisans, and infidel
principles abound among them. In no town in Eng-
land, probably, is the scoffer at religion to be more
frequently met with than in that very parish of Shef-
field ;—so we are assured by a clergyman who has
.assiduously laboured in visiting from house to house
in a district of it. A race have grown up, who, from
infancy, have had no religious principles whatever in-
stilled into their minds : ignorant of the Sacred Vo-
lume, but as they make it serve for a jest-book ; their
wits sharpened to a certain extent by congregating to-
gether; and presenting to the faithful pastors, now
tardily and far too scantily sent among them, a hard-
ened and impenetrable front, that requires that the
minister of the Gospel should be armed in all the
panoply of faith, to encounter and bear up against it.
And, if we turn to our own town and neighbour-

hood, we have here much, very much, to mourn and
lament over. We heard, but the other day, an intelli-
gent friend, who has long been a resident in Liverpool,
and an attentive observer of things passing around
him, °estimating, from facts which he had collected,
that a number not fewer than 80 or 90,000 of our own
population never enter a place of worship of any de-
scription. Now, to what does all this tend ? We will
give the answer in the words of Machiavel, a states-
man of no ordinary sagacity. " There is no surer
prognostic," says that eminent man,—" There is no
surer prognostic of impending ruin to any state, than
-ror public worship to be neglected and despised." Here
we have a great statesman and philosopher, speaking
as a man of the world, and without the slightest refwr-
ence to Christian principles, unconsciously bearing
testimony to the truth of the declaration the Almighty

made by his prophet of old, when addressing his
Church,—" The nation and kingdom which will not
serve thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall be
utterly wasted."

It is a momentous consideration for the rulers of a
country, and for all who have station, Wealth, and in-
fluence in it, including as well its merchants and tra-
ders, as its landed proprietors and the cultivators of
the soil, how much the Providence of God has placed
at their disposal. To suffer, on the one hand, as the
source of revenue, and in deference to the doctrine
of free trade (pushed, in this instance, to a most
unwarrantable extent), beer-houses and gin-palaces,
which plunder the working classes and their chil-
dren of the fruits of their honest toil, to be multi-
plied in every nook and corner of the empire (in
Glasgow the spirit-shops are one-tenth of all the houses),
and these places to be furnished with the most pesti-
lential publications, is to deal with the people in a way
that is enough to call down the bolts of heaven upon
the heads of all whO are parties to the injustice and the
wrong. And, on the other hand, the injustice and the
wrong are as great, in withholding from them the op-
portunity of worshipping God, as their forefathers
did. The population of England and Wales is
now doubling in fifty-three years. It has increased
by upwards of six millions since 1800. If it were
not for the proprietary churches which have been
built in the last thirty or forty years, the destitu-
tion would, in many neighbourhoods, be ten times
greater than it is. But what has the building of these
proprietary churches done for the lower classes ? Next
to nothing ; in some absolutely nothing ! In many of
them, the idea of inviting the poor never enters the
heads of those who sit at ease in their carpeted and
cushioned pews. And then we have wonder expressed
at the demoralization, the want of natural affection, the
sabbath breaking, and the infidel principles, which in-
evitably follow such neglect; and common sense is in-
sulted. The poorer classes of this country have
grievances, and the want of churches and schools, in
which they and their offspring can have an opportunity
of being faithfully and religiously instructed, and pre-
pared and fortified to meet and resist the temptations
which a state of poverty, or a scanty supply of this
world's goods, brings along with it, is unquestionably
one of the greatest.
Our remarks have extended so much, that we can

say nothing at present on the state of the public finances,

as bearing on the subject of Church Extension. At a
future opportunity we shall not shrink from noticing
the connexion. In the mean time, we beg to remind
those who may he disposed to ask, from whence, with
an increasing defalcation in the revenue, the money
is to come—that while only a million and a half of
public money have been devoted to the building of
churches since the days of Queen Anne, little short of
five millions can have been spent on the building and
fitting up of gaols and lions es of correction. Since the
commencement of the present century, we know of one
parliamentary return, at all events, which the House of
Commons ordered to be printed the 10th October, 1831,
which gave "the total expences incurred in building,
fitting up, and furnishing" such places, since the year
1800, at £3,400,000. And glancing at another par-
liamentary document, we may form some idea of the
expence of prosecuting " felons." The return happens
to be for the year 1832. Now park ! This is for
"prosecuting," only: not a word about clothing and
maintenance. In the county of Lancaster, there were,
in that year, 126 cases tried at the assizes, at an average
charge of £4O Os. ld. each; and 2,587 cases. at sessions,
at an average of £7 19s. 4d. each : in all, £25,656 158.

4d. spent in one year in prosecuting only. We may
be told that this number of committals 'and trials was
an evidence of considerable activity and vigilance, at all
events, on the part of the magistracy and the police.
On this subject we have no complaint to make : we
have nothing to allege. But, of this we feel assured,
that if the population be not religiously brought up; if
pastors and teachers, churches and schools, are not pro-
vided,.in proportion to the demand and the want,—no
police regulations, no penal statutes, no punishments
however terrible, will restrain those, who from infancy
to hoary hairs, have neither been taught to fear God,
nor to regard man. In proof of this we have only to
refer to the fact, stated by Mr. Slaney the other even-
ing in the House of Commons, when he made his
motion respecting the Causes of Discontent in the
country ; that the amount of plunder in one year, in
Liverpool only, was £700,000 !!!

The country wants a paternal government, acting

upon Christian principles, and conservative of the rights
of all. Nothing short of this, can save it from anarchy

and ruin

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

PROSPECTS OP THE SHARE MARKET.

The improving appearance of the money market is already
producing a favourable impression upon railway property. A
considerable number of railway companies are now in a con-
dition to take up money on loan, under the authority of their
Acts of Parliament, but the unfavourable state of money mat-
ters has hitherto prevented them from adopting this method
of relieving their shareholders for a time from the necessity
of answering further calls. This difficulty, however, is now
vanishing ; the rate of interest offered by railway companies
for loans upon their debentures is beginning to he readily ac-
cepted by capitalists, and it will, we trust, in a very short
while, be in the power of several of these companies to re-
lieve their proprietary from the drain for money to pay calls,
by the unexpectedly severe pressure of which they have been
for some time so seriously inconvenienced.
The effect of this seasonable relief must be immediately
felt ; and although only applicable directly to stock upon
which a large portion of the amount has been paid, yet it

must operate indirectly upon all share property, and have the
effect of restoring confidence and gradually advancing prices.
There are many stocks upon which we think there is ample
room for a rise ; and when these shall have attained a fair
market value, the friends of railway investments will be
enabled to turn their attention to those lesser lines which are
now struggling through a feeble infancy in almost total
neglect.

TENDENCY OF RAILWAYS TO INCREASE PAS-
SENGER,TRAFFIC, AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE
WORKING OF THE LONDON AND BIRMING-
HAM LINE.

The following statement, which has been published in the
form of an appendix to the half-yearly report of the London
and Birmingham railway, will serve to show the steady pro-
gress which this great undertaking is making in the amount
of its traffic. For the six months previous to the 30th June
last, the aggregate number of passengers travelling upon the

line was 267,144—and for the six months ended 31st Dec.
341,420—shewing an increase in number of passengers during
the past hilf-year of 74,276. The average number of pas-
sengers per day during these two periods was respectively
1476 and 18351—the increase per day being 359 k, or nearly
2-41- per cent. Of course, to render this a fair mode of cal-
culation, the number of miles travelled by each passenger,
during the two periods, must be alike ; and from the same
document we find that such has been the case—the average
number of miles travelled by each passenger, for the half
year ending June, being 65, and for the half year ending
December, 651:

The evidence here afforded of the increasing prosperity of
the London and Birmingham Railway is valuable, not only •
as it applies to this particular line, but also to other lines, as •
illustrating the workinT of the railway system generally. We
find it stated, at a meeting of the London and Birmingham
Railway Company, held on Thursday last, by Mr. Levy, an
extensive road contractor, that " he had never known traffic
so bad for the last twenty-five years as it had been since
July last." We know too that the commerce of the coun-
try since that time has been unusually depressed, and we
have had no peculiar causes operating within the last six
months to produce an increase of travelling ; yet, on this
railway, a considerable increase—an increase of one-fourth--
has taken place. Front the mode of calculation pursued, we
find too that such increase has been not only in the number
of passengers, but also of miles travelled, or (to use the
phrase of the road) that both long awl short passengers hare
increased. We can therefore only attribute such a result to
the power which railways possess of developing and increas-
ing the resources of the different districts through which
they pass, and thus continually creating for themselves an
additional supply of the materiel of revenue. Let those who
are constantly decrying the advantages and affecting to doubt
the profitable working of railways generally, account other-
wise if they can, for this gratifying result of the labours of
their more enterprising neighbours. We can only see in it
satisfaction for the past, and grounds of bright hope for the
future.

BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY.—
HALF-YEARLY MEETING.
The half-yearly meeting of the above company was held on
Wednesday last, at the Bell Hotel, Gloucester, and the re-
ports of the directors and of the engineer were received
with the greatest satisfaction by the proprietors assembled.
By the former it appeared that the sum of £7O per share
had been called for, amounting to the gross sum of £665,000;
and of this sum, on the 31st December, the arrears were
£77,119. Up to the date of the meeting, however, the total
amount of arrears (exclusive of the calls upon a few shares
which were declared forfeited by the meeting), had been re-
duced to the sum of £29,860.
It was also intimated to the shareholders that negotiations
were in progress to unite the Birmingham and Gloucester
with the Bristol and Gloucester line, in order to form one
continuous railiray from Birmingham to Bristol, under one
direction. This arrangement, it was suggested, would ma-
terially advance the interests of both companies, and their
solicitors had been instructed to apply to Parliament jointly
for a bill to secure the necessary powers. The arrangements,
however, were not sufficiently advanced to enable the directors
to bring the matter fully before the meeting, and the share-
holders were assured that no decisive step would be taken
without mature consideration, and their opinion of its pro-
priety being first taken.
From the report of the engineer, W. S. Moorsom, Esq.,
it appeared that the works upon the line had been greatly re-
tarded by the wetness of the season ; yet that the opening of
a portion, from Cheltenham to Bromsgrove, might be calcu-
lated upon before the month of May ; a further distance of
nine miles in the month of October or November ; and to
Camp Hill, near BirminghaM, before the end of the present
year.

The short extension line to the London and Birmingham
railway, which will then comprise the whole of the unfinished
works, is expected to he completed in the spring of 1841,
when the entire undertaking will be. in a finishedstate.
It was stated by the chairman, in reply to a question from
a proprietor, that although the cost of the entire line, with
the extra accommodation and works which had been found
necessary, would exceed the amount of the revised estimates,
the company had power, under the original act of Parliament,
to pay for all works contemplated at present, as well as to
stock the line, and he believed upwards of XlOO,OOO to spare.
The extra works alluded to were stated to consist of in-
creased engineering powers, increased accommodation in
carriages, and more accommodationi in point of station-room,
than had ever been contemplated, and which it had been
found advisable to provide at once, to meet the demands of a
traffic greater than the company had originally ventured to
calculate upon. •
LONDON AND GREENWICH RAILWAY COM-
PANY—GENERAL, MEETING.
The first annual general meeting of the proprietors of this
company (being the termination of the first year from the
completion of the railway) was held on Thursday last, at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, William Shadbolt, Esq.,
in the chair. The attendance was exceedingly large.
The report, which was read by the Deputy-Chairman,
(Josiah Wilson, Esq.,) after detailing shortly the past pro-
' ceedings of the Directors, went on to explain the arrange-
ments required to enable the Company to accommodate the
traffic of the .various other lines which are intended to run
along the Greenwich line as their entrance into London. A
strong opinion had been expressed by the parliamentary com-
mittee on railways last session, th at so extensive a traffic as
is expected on this line, when the :Brighton and South East-
ern lines aye opened, could not be safely accommodated un-
less an extra width of road was previously constructed ; and
it was stated that the directors has! endeavoured to form an
arrangement with the Croydon Railway Company, b)%which
this object might be effected, on tams mutually beneficial.
This arrangement, however, they, have not been able to form ;
and the Croydon Company having a previously existing con-
tract with the Greenwich for the toll upon their traffic, which
would he insufficient to remunerate the: atter, after incurring
the expense of widening their road, both Companies are now
before parliament applying for the necessary powers to enable
them to fulfil the requirements of the committee.
With respect to the working of the railway it was an-
nounced, that from the experience gained upon their own
line, and from the working of others, it had been found that
more ease and steadiness of motion., combined also with
greater economy, would be secured by substituting wooden
sleepers with a heavier rail, for the present stone sleepers.
The directors, therefore, recommend that the whole of the
line should be relaid upon this princ'iple during the present
summer.

Although, owing to the unfavourable season and other
causes, the traffic upon the line had not equalled the expec-
tations that had been entertained, the directors were enabled
to declare a dividend of ss. on each original share, leaving a
reserve fund of £1307 15s. 2d.

NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY.
A considerable portion of this iallway is so far completed

as to allow of the permanent way being laid ; this is done on
the greater part of the line. The most forward district is
that situated between Derby and Barnsley. One line of rails
is now nearly all laid for the whole distance, which is about
50 miles, great exertions having been made to accomplish
this, as it is expected the directors will pass along the line
with a locomotive engine, between the towns of Derby and
Barnsley, very shortly—probably next week. In the neigh-
bourhood of Belper, Clay Cross, Staveley, &c., the works
are proceeding night and day, in order to have a road through
the large excavations in those districts. The first class sta-

tions are nearly all contracted for, and several of them are in
a forward state. The Eckington one is nearly ready for the
roof; the Chesterfield and Southwingfield stations are also
far advanced ; the Leeds and Sheffield stations have been let
out during the week. The latter one is contracted for by
Mr. Crawshaw, and will be situated near the entrance of the
Sheffield and Rotherham railway. It will be a large and
convenient station ; the cost is estimated at about £8,000.
Shejfield

SHEFFIELD AND ROTHERHAM RAILWAY.
HALF-YEARLY MEETING.

The half-yearly meeting of the proprietors of the Sheffield
and Rotherham Railway Company was held on Wednesday
last, but we regret that we cannot find room for. the details
this week. We are glad to find that the undertaking is in so
prosperous a condition as to allow of a dividend at the rate
of .C 6 per cent. per annum being declared. We are glad to
find also that the shares are on the advance, being now about
7 premium. A highly respectable correspondent informs us
that a new station at the Sheffield terminus, with booking
offices and other rooms suitable for the joint use of the Shef-
field and Rotherham Company and the North Midland Com-
pany, is being erected on a splendid scale, and is expected
to be finished in April ready for the opening of the North
Midland, the two Companies having agreed on the prelimi-
naries of a treaty whereby passengers may travel from Shef-
field to' Leeds or Derby in the same carriage in which they
seat themselves at first, and thence forward to the metropolis
of the county or kingdom.—Railway Times.

WEEKLY RETURNS

IF RAILWAY TRAFFIC.

(From the Rai,

!way Magazine.)

• NAME. Passer- I
Cash. P.mile • P.mile Passeng.
gers. pr.wk.p. day. per day.
X. X. X.
Birmingham 1120581 1074 15-1
South Western 2196 371 51 --
Great Western .. 2.3071 75 10i-
Greenwich..
Manchester& Leeds 10-159 5991 441 61 1494
Binning. & Derby — 703 184 2
York &N. Midland 1455 330 224 34 2GB
Croydon
Midland Counties 2732 266 17 21 390
Eastern Counties 3927 561
Glasgow & Ayr 1326 534 5 1 221
Ulster.. — —I

SUSPICION OF FELONY AGA:
OFFICERS,

rNsl."rwo POLICE

Before JOHN tioLatEs and R. E. HARVEY, Esquires.
A case which excited very great interest in a crowded
court, came on for hearing yesterday, before the magistrates
above named,—Mr. Rushton being absent, on business in
London. John and Joshua Fell, police constables, were
placed at the bar, the former on suspicion of having stolen,
and the latter with having received a silver watch, the pro-
perty of a young man named Bamber. The prisoners
appeared in respectable undress, and were unattended by
counsel.

Mr. Dowling, Police Commissioner, briefly stated the case
to the bench, as it afterwards appeared in the following
evidence :

Mrs. Margaret Kermode said, I live in Cable-street, and
on Wednesday week Mr. Bamber, now present, came to
board and lodge at my house, recommended by Mr. Carus,
publican, of the same street. On Wednesday last; Mr.
Bamber came to me and said he felt uneasy about the weeks'
rent he owed me. I told him not to distress himself as he
was recommended by !Or. Carus ; but he persuaded me to
take his watch as security ; and I told him that would ter-
tainly satisfy my husband, as we had often lost money by
lodgers. He also gave me four shillings at the same time,
keeping one shilling out of five, which he said he might
want, and that was all the money he had. I took the
watch and the money and put them into a desk in the
shop where We keep our money ' • Bamber said be would
not lose the watch for X 5, and I said it would be there
and safe, when he paid us. I took the key of the desk
from the nail where it hung, to put in the watch and
the money, and after locking it, hung the key again on the
nail. This was in his presence. I afterwards saw the key in
the drawer of the desk. It was about twelve o'clock. At
three o'clock the same day the police came to the house.
The watch produced is the same that was given to me, and
was afterwards missed. It had a piece out of the face of it,
and a crack ; and it wound up in front. There was a seal, a
green stone, and two little keys. Mr. Bamber was twice in
the house on that day after he gave me the watch. He came
and had his dinner, and went out through the shop. Nobody
was in the shop at the time lie went through. Besides the
watch, there were taken from the desk nine shillings in
money, namely, the four shillings given me by Bamber, and
which was placed separately, and five shillings that were in
another place. There were also twenty shillings in a small
tin box in the desk, without a lid ; but these were not taken.
Kermode, the daughter of the last witness, said,—
I saw my mother put the watch and money into the desk. It
was about a quarter to twelve o'clock. In about three quar-
ters of an hour after, I went to give change out of the drawer,
and saw the watch there then. Bamber came in a little af-
terwards, and enquired when the dinner would be ready. He
went out again ; but cannot say whether lie went straight
through the shop. He had to go through the shop to get
out. I did not see him again till he was sent for, after three
o'clock, and after the watch was missed. That is the same
watch.

Alexander AV Pherson said,-1 am a pawnbroker in Tithe-
barn-street. On the 12th of February (Wednesday) a watch
was left in pledge with Me, by a young woman. She said it
was her husband's, and she pledged it in the name of Williams,
of Preston-street. I lent twelve shillings upon it. I gave
the girl a ticket. The ticket was afterwards brought to me
by the tallest prisoner, (Joshua Fell.) Ile said he wanted to
redeem it, that it belonged to a friend of his who had got into
a house of ill fame, and he would take it out. Ile redeemed
it, and I got the ticket back. I had never seen the officer
before. - That is the same watch.
William 'limber, a young man, said he was a printer. The
watch produced is mine. I gave it to Mrs. Kermode on
Wednesday, and never saw it till yesterday morning, at Mr.
Dowling's house.
Mrs. Kermode, on being recalled, said that the last wit-
ness left her house on the night of the day on which the
watch was taken.

Police-officer 334 (Flyman,) I lodge in Durham-place, to-
gether with John Fell. Before five yesterday evening, while
we were going to bed, a rap came to the door, and the mis-
tress of the house (as we understood the witness to say)
called out, " John, you're wanted." He said to me,
" Flyman, can you lend me a shilling? I am going to try it
again." I told him there was a shilling on the window and
he might take it. He did so. He said, "my mother has a
watch, and it's a good goer : I did very well with the last I
bought from her, and I'll try it again." He went and
brought the watch, and looked at it, and said, " it is French
made, but Lancashire built." He said he would get a new
dial to her ; it would improve her very much. Re looked at
the seal and keys, and remarked that the letters were upside
down. I said they were of course cut in that way so that
the impression from them would be right. At three o'clock
that afternoon, we (the officers) were served with bills, giving
a description of the watch, at the station. John Fell was
present at the time. From the description I was almost
convinced is was the watch Fell had shown me ; but as I had
not seen the inside, .1 could not he positive. I mentioned it
to my inspector when I saw him, that I thought I had seen
the watch. I gave the bill I had to the pawnbroker, think-
ing I could sufficiently remember the description. • In the
morning I and John Fell went up again to go to bed. He
took the watch out again, and laid it on the shelf where he
generally put his watch. We went to bed. I afterwards got
up, and looked at the inside of the watch, and then I was
fully convinced that it was' the same that was described. I
took it to Mr. Dowling.

The witness was cross-examined by John Frost, and ad-
mitted that the latter did not conceal the watch, but pro-
duced it openly. He repeated that Frost took it to the
window soon after day-light, and looked at the inside.
Joshua Frost here said he had gone to the country on duty,
by the railway, and did not return until Thursday evening.
This Mr. Dowling knew, as he gave him the order. (The
court said Mr. Dowling would be examined, and the prisoner
might afterwards cross-question him.)
Mr. Dowling sworn.—Yesterday morning the last witness
came to me, and brought the watch now produced. I sent
for the Fells, of course, separately. I first saw Joshua. I
asked him if he had a watch. He said " Yes." I asked
him where it was, and he took a watch out of his pocket,
which was something like that produced, in outward appear-
ance. I asked him if he had sold a watch to his brother.
He said that he had : that he had found the ticket for it
near the Amphitheatre, on Wednesday or Thursday, he was
not certain which. Ile added that he had taken it out of
pledge at Mr. M'Pherson's, and repledged it at Mr. Brown's,
Copperas-hill, for Bs, and afterwards sold the ticket to his
brother for 7s. I then called in John Fell, and be said he
had bought the ticket for Bs, and that he took it out of
pledge at Brown's, where it was in for 7s, and he paid is
He said the watch was pledged at Brown's, in his brother's
name.

William Bamber was recalled, with a view to his account-
ing for where he had been on Wednesday afternoon and even-
ing, after he dined at Mrs. Kermode's. He said that being
put out of the way by losing his watch, he was occupied
chiefly in inquiring about it. He had also called at Mr.
Carus s, in Cable-street, at Mr. Pannell's, in Byrom-street,
and at Mr. Aspinall's, at which last place some money was
due to him. He was also several times at Mrs. Kermode's.
He had'a bottle of ginger-beer at Carus's that night, but did
not change the shilling ;he had to pay for it. He did not
pay for it.
Mr. Brown, pawnbroker said :—This watch was brought
to my place on Saturday last, and pledged in the name of
Joshua Fell, for Bs. There was a great resemblance between
the prisoner John Fell, and the person who brought it ; but
but he could not say positively it was he. The watch was
redeemed on the same day from my assistant, who says she
could pot identify the party.
Mr. Dowling said, with reference to what Joshua Fell had
said ; that he had certainly given him an order to go to Sut-
ton to serve some summonses, and it was probable that he
was absent from the town on Wednesday.
Joshua Fell said, he had been there and had served the
summonses. He had slept at Prescot that night.
The court intimated that they did not doubt that fact, and
said that bill and notices read at the stations, affected only
John Fell.
Inspector Fresh sworn. I was at the station to which
John Frost belongs, on Wednesday, and heard the notice
read. I think John Fell was on duty then ; am not quite
sure. On Saturday John received two bills describing the
watch.
John Fell.—l did not hear any notice read. I was not
there when any notice'was read.
Joshua Pell said that it was not likely that if he thought
the watch was stolen he would go and pledge it in his own
name.
John Frost
stolensaid ;h he
was
but
ifaccusedthet wereo f
e as
ewatch,,t sn
not
it to be
reasonable to snppose that he would have openly sit ewn it to
Flyman.
Meantime, lie should
Mr. Harvey here said that there was something very
strangegsem einfutrhtehewrhiohlfeerema save
haanhdethhtaitth
day.)
remand the prisoners until to-morrow—(thismust endeavour to

----------- .
MISS YANIEWICZ'S CONCERT.—Thislady's concert took
place last evening in the Templar's Hall, Great George
Street, and it must have been very gratifying to her feelings
to have had so large an auditory. The room was filled. The
entire performances gave decided satisfaction, and went off
exceedingly well, - but we have not space for b
upon them:

SOCIALISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SlR,—Seeing the seducing manner in which the so-called
" social system " is presenting itself to the eyes of the
banefulrate portion of the community, and the effects it
must eventually produce upon the whole nation if allowed
to continue in its onward career, poisoning the minds of all
who imbibe its principles with the grossest immorality, I
think it is quite time for every man possessing the least re-
gard for the sacred truths of Christianity, nay even for mo-
rality alone, to at once exert himself to the utmost of his
power in endeavouring to abolish it for ever from the face of
the earth ; and in no other way can it be done but by the
interference of the legislature. It is worse than useless to
trust to the good sense of the people for counteracting this
wide-spreading evil. It is well known that a large portion
of the community are exceedingly ignorant, and liable to be
carried away with any romance of doctrine ; and, such being
the case, how can we wonder at their being led astray by
socialism, dressed up as it is by its missionaries to suit the
taste and inflame the passions of their hearers ? I have fre-
quently attended their meetings in Manchester and else-
where,
and it is scarcely possible to conceive a more degraded
and ignorant assemblage of persons than is generally to be
found there ; and there the benevolent (though well-paid)
missionaries industriously gloss over the worst features of
their system, and administer to the licentious appetites of
their hearers, by preaching up the blessings they will enjoy
in coinnzuntty, without laws or government of any kind,
except their own wild passions,—without marriage,—almost
without work,—and without tolerating the rights of private
property ; and upon such principles as these they profess, in
their wild ravings, to be able to reform the world ; and any
attempt to convince their poor dupes by reason, after listen.-
mg to such smooth-tongued perverters of truth, is nearly
equal to the folly of " casting pearls before swine." Should
the people of England allow socialism to gain the ascendancy,
then would brute force triumph over justice—yes, then would
the helpless have to bow down at the oppressor's feet. Do
away with the idea of future rewards and punishments—
couple that with the belief that man ought to be irresponsible
here, and you will at once give loose the reins to despotism;
anarchy, and bloodshed. What bar would there then be
twixt the murderer's knife and the throat of his hapless
victim ? And, parents, what bar would there be betwixt the
licentious cravings of depraved wretches, and the honour of
your lovely daughters? The arm of brother would be raised
against brother—of parent against child—and child against
parent. " England expects every man to do his duty,"
were the memorable words of a mighty warrior ; but there
is a mightier far than he, who sits enthroned on high, who
will require us to do our duty, and use out utmost endea
yours to banish infidelity from the land. Then let petitions,
praying for the legislature to prevent the publication of so-
cialist doctrines, and to prevent their holding meetings to
propagate those doctrines, lie for signature at all the churches
and chapels in the kingdom, and I doubt not but tens of
thousands of signatures would soon be attached to them.
Kirkdale, Feb. 11, 1840. J. C.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " LIVERPOOL

STANDARD."

Si R,—lnstructions have been delivered to the officers about
the docks, which, if my information be correct, stands unri-
valled fer ignorance and oppression. Well might Capt. D.
call them " a set of cobblers and blacksmiths."
INDEPENDENCE.
QIJERY.—Has the Surveyor had fresh instructions?
lith February.

TOWN MISSION.---The annual meeting of the Town Mis-
sion Society was held in the Music Hall, Bold Street, last
night. The room was crowded to excess. Thomas Sands,
Esq., presided, and the meeting was addressed by several
speakers.

ADDRESSES OF THE COUNCIL TO HER MAJESTY AND
PRINCE ALBERT.—Yesterday a special meeting of the Coun-
cil was held in the Town-hall, for the purpose of agreeing to
an address to her most gracious Majesty, and another to his
royal highness Prince Albert, on the occasion of their mar-
riage. The committee appointed on a former occasion pre-
sented the addresses, and stated in their report that they had
intimated to the Lord Chamberlain that they would be pre-
sented by the Mayor, Mr. Alderman Sheil, and Mr. Bushell.
After a few remarks from those gentlemen, and from Mr.
Isaac Holmes, the addresses were unanimously adopted.
They willije presented at her Majesty's first levee since her
marriage, which will be held to-morrow (Wednesday).
The following paragraph was intended for our publication
of Tuesday last, but the mass of intelligence respecting the
Queen's marriage prevented its insertion on that day :
We take the opportunity of directing the attention of our
general commercial readers to an advertisement in another
column, headed " Guarantee Society." We have been
favoured with a prospectus of this society, embodying a
highly respectable directory ; and the well known profes-
sional house of Messrs. Cotton, as the solicitors. It appears
on first impression to be one of the really useful, in principle
and object,—amongst the many societies lately offered to the
public support—embracing an extensive range of utility. as
well as a philanthropic design. A society of this kind being
much needed, bids fair, under judicious management, to
give to the shareholders a fair remuneration on their invest-
ments; and at no very distant period of time, to become an
institution of first-rate importance in the metropolis, as well
as one of general advantage to the country.

CONCERT ON BEHALF OF THE DISPENSARIES AND IN-
FIRMARY.—Next Tuesday a grand miscellaneous Concert
will be given at the Theatre Royal, the profits of which will
be wholly appropriated to the support of the Dispensaries
and Infirmary. The orchestral arrangements will be on the
same scale as the subscription concerts, which have just ter-
minated, • and which have proved so successful. The vocal
performers will be Miss Maria B. Hawes, Miss Whitnall,
Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Stretton ; and the instrumental, Miss
C. Weller and Mr. Lidel. We hope to see a crowded house.
Indeed, we have no doubt as to that circumstance, when we
bear in mind how, in this case, benevolence and amusement
are so judiciously combined.

THE: OLD ENGLAND NEWSPAPER.--The Old England
newspaper, published in London, is one of the cheapest and
best of the metropolitan prints. It is carefully prepared,
and great attention is paid to the publication of the earliest
and most authentic information. On the occasion of the
Queen's marriage, the proprietors made great efforts, and we
believe they accomplished more in the same time than any
other London weekly paper.

THE CHARITIES OF LIVERPOOL—TRU ROYAL AMPHI-
THEATRE.—The benefit at the Amphitheatre to-morrow
night, the proceeds of which Mr. Ducrow, with his charac-
teristic liberality, intends to devote in aid of the subscription
for the public charities of Liverpool, we sincerely trust will
be numerously attended. Everything that his ingenious and
active spirit could suggest will be done to merit support by
Mr. Ducrow ; and, when we consider the object, we cannot
allow ourselves to doubt that the public will not realize
the expectations that are abroad as to their liberality on this
occasion. The particulars of the performances will be found
in the advertisenient. In noticing the kindness of Mr. Ducrow
we have not a less pleasing duty to perform in doing justice
to the humane and considerate conduct of Mrs. Stebbing the
proprietor of the Amphitheatre. That lady, on learning the
praiseworthy object of the performances, immediately pro-
mised the use of the house, for the evening, without any
charge. In conclusion we may state that the theatre is well
lighted and well aired ; that the accommodations are superior,
particularly in the boxes, which are kept in admirable order
by Mr. Minster, whose attention and politeness to the com-
fort of the visitors has been a theme of general remark.
THE STEPHEN WHITNEY AMERICAN PACKET—This fine
vessel recently accomplished her first voyage from New York
to Liverpool, and she is now lying in the North Graving
Dock receiving repairs. Her accommodations are the most
convenient and commodious of any packet of her tonnage,
and the decorative portions are admirably splendid. To these
advantages must be added, the experience and gentlemanly
manners of the commander, Captain Thompson ; for, with-
out disrespect to any officer occupying a similar position, we
must say that the owners have been extremely fortunate in
the selection they have made. Yesterday an elegant dejeune
was given on board the ship, at which, between thirty
and forty gentlemen were present. The viands and the
wines were of the first quality, and the attendance most
assiduous. Capt. Thompson presided, supported by the
American consul at this port, Colonel Ogden ; and the vice-
president was Mr. Sands, one of the consignees. Amongst
the toasts proposed were, "The Stephen Whitney," " Capt.
and Mrs. Thompson," " Her most gracious Majesty and her
illustrious Consort," " The American Consul," " The
Consignees in Liverpool and New York," " The Port and
Trade of Liverpool," " The City and Trade of New York,"
" The Owners of the Stephen Whitney," and a variety of
others, all of which were received with great applause. The
company separated about four o'clock, highly gratified with
the entertainment provided for them, and with the politeness
of the worthy commander of the vessel.
DEAFNESS.—We have great pleasure in calling the
attention of our readers to the Second Edition •of Neill's
report on Deafness advertised in our columns this day.
THE MULTIJM IN PARVO, or E. and T. Taylor's Concen-
trated Meat Lozenges, have excited the attention of all
classes from the admirable nutritious properties they possess,
being composed of the finest meats by a process, which
renders them even peculiarly adapted to the most delicate
stomach. The invalids, travellers, and sportsmen have here a
desideratum never before attempted, as two or three dissolved
in the mouth will afford the most satisfying nourishment,
whilst their portability, (being contained in a lozenge box of
the ordinary size,) renders them accessible under any
emergency, whilst the trivial cost places them within the
reach of all. None are genuine but those which have the
signature of E. and T. Taylor, 17, Lower Holborn, London,
who have appointed agents for the sale of them in every
principal town throughout the British empire.

The Rev. W. A. Strange, late of the. Royal Institution,
Colquitt.street, has been unanimously appointed Head
Master of the Abingdon Free Grammar School.
SUDDEN DEATH.—On Friday, the 14th instant, a woman
of the name of Betty King,- a widow, residing at Prescot,
was washing clothes in her own house, apparently in good
health, when she wad seized with a dizziness and other violent
pains ; the soap she held in her hand fell, and she became
insensible. Mr. Myers, the surgeon, was sent for, who
attempted to bleed her but it was of no avail ; she was already
in the agonies of death, and in an hour from the time she
was first seized, she was no more.

DISTRESSING ACCIDENT.—About eight o'clock on Satur-
day morning, the 13th instant, a very distressing accident
occurred at Prescot. A boy, of the name of Thomas Mercer,
about seven or eight years of age, was playing with his sister,
about four years old, and another younger ; the youngest had
hold of the elder sister, and the boy ran to the corner of the
house where there was a loaded gun, he presented it at his
elder sister, saying, if she did not get out of the way he
would shoot her; he had no sooner said so than he fired off
the gun, and as he was so short a distance from her, the shot
flew over the youngest child's head, and entered the breast
of the other girl, so concentrated as to have the effect of a
ball. She instantly fell, and only breathed twice. The boy
had frequently struck off caps, and he was not aware that
there was anything in the gun; but as soon as he saw the
ran out of the house
fatal effects of his thoughless joke, he
in a state of mind bordering on distraction. After so many
who
peex.rtueaniu
similar accidents have occurred, doubtlessly many
will attribute the blame to the parents
the gun within the reach of the children ; but t.
will be considered as an
following circumstance perhaps
tltieohfnet
of his fault. A person called to borrow this gun fro,
the
deceased's father, and was to call for it in a few minutes.
The father fetched the gun from his bed-room whereght
b he
e
always kept it, and placed it in the corner that it might
ready when the person borrowing it should call. Mrs. Mer-
cer was in the house with the children, and only went to
fetch some coals to put on the fire, and in the instant of
time that she was away.
ANOTHER ACCIDENT.—On Wednesday last, two children
of a weaver, at Ince, named Wva '
there was a pot boiling on Yana playing together,
the fire, there was the iron
which weavers dry their yarn with in the fire, when the elder
child accidentally took hold of the handle of the iron and
raised up the rfot, which
on the younger child, llset, emptying the boiling water
scalding it on the breast, arms, &c. in
e
a dreadful manner ; the poor little sufferer lingered in agonis-
ing pain until Saturday night, the 15th inst, when it died.
ABSENCE of MIN 13.—A young gentleman, an enthnsiastic
sportsman, of Warrington, was sitting in the parlour with
his mother, when there- came a bird fluttering to a branch
opposite the window, and pitched upon that far its resting-
place. The young sportsman was immediately seized with
a desire to exercise his favourite vocation, and having a gun
in the room, he deliberately loaded, capped, and fired, just
missing the head of his mother, without ever its occurring to
him that there was anything heavier or less elastic than air,
between his gun and his victim, until the squares of the par-
lour window, smashed in a thousand pieces.--[The above is
a fact The parties ars knows to oci

REPORT.]
LIVERPOOL INSTITUTION FOR CURING
DISEASES OF THE EAR.
No. 5, MOUNT-PLEASANT, NEAR THE ADELPRI HOTEL.
Established August, 1839.

Number of Patients who have been prescribed for, and who
have obtained Surgical Assistance during the month of
J'entiary
Total since the commencement .

. . . 121
. . . SlB

Attendance on Tuesday and Saturday, at eleven o'clock
Mr. Neill, Operating Surgeon.

NONTII r 0 R T.j
OPHTHALMIC INFIRMARY, SLATER-STREET,
Established A.D. 1320.
New Patients admitted in the month of Jan 2BO
Patients prescribed for, and who have received Stu-gical ,88
Assistance during the month of Jan.

Totai since the'coinmencernent.... 29,327
Dr. Edwards and Mr. Nell, Surgeons.
Mr. W. P. Hutchinson, Treasurer.