The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-18 00:00:00

' animate his followers. We must now feel that, after all,
measures of this great national importance depend upon
something more solid that the word of any individual,
however sincere or however great.
Sir GEORGE GREY expressed his great gratification at
the unanimity of feeling exhibited on all sides of the house
at the course pursued by his noble friend. He denied that
any pledge had been given by him.
Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT defended the government in the
course they had pursued, and hoped at no distant period
to see his noble friend accomplish this object, and thus
complete the great work of parliamentary reform, with
which his name, his honour, and his fame were so indis-
solubly united.
Sir J. PASINGTON entirely concurred in the tribute of
respect which his right hon. friend had offered to the
noble lord. Even had any one for a moment entertained
a doubt as to the personal honour of the noble lord—a
doubt which he believed no one had ever felt—that doubt
would have been effectually dissipated by the speech which
the noble lord had that night addressed to them.
Lord J. RIISSELL.—I beg to express my grateful sense
of the manner in which the statement I have made has
been met by the house. (Cheers.)

PUBLIC busniEss.--LOrd J. RUSSELL said he proposed
to take the second reading of the Oxford University Bill
on Thursday, the 27th instant, and to proceed with the
committee on that bill on the following day. On the Ist
of May, the President of the Board of Trade proposed to
go into committee on the Railways Bill. With regard to
the measure for the settlement and removal of paupers, it
was not proposed to go on with that measure during the
present session. His right hon. friend intended to move
the appointment of a select committee to consider the law
and practice respecting the removal of Irish paupers from
England and Scotland, and of English and Scotch paupers
from Ireland.

THE PRESTON STRIKE.—Mr. T. DUNCOMBE gave notice
that, on the 9th of May, he should move for a committee
to inquire into the complaints of the working classes of
Preston, as alleged in their petition which had been pre-
sented to the house.

THE PERIODICAL PRESS.-Mr. Grimm./ gave notice
that, on the 16th day of May, he should call the attention
of the house to the unsatisfactory state of the law affect-
ing the periodical press, and should move the following
resolution :—" That, in the opinion of this house, the law
in reference to the newspaper stamps is undefined, unequally
enforced, and is a subject that demands the early attention
of Parliament."
THE NATIONAL FINANCES.

The Circa-cm .Lon of the EXCITEQUER, after laying
upon the table the balance-sheet, said it had been his in-
tention to make a statement respecting the revenue for the
year now closed, the condition of the public balances, and
that of the unfunded debt, but, Mr. Disraeli having moved
for further information in connexion with the subject, he
thought it better, as far as any matter of argument was
concerned, to postpone it, and he should confine him-
self to matters of fact. He then stated the amount
of the excess of revenue received up to the sth of
April, beyond the sum he had anticipated on the 6th of
March, and the amount of. excess of income over expendi-
ture (as stated in the published account), which showed
the real surplus of income for the year to be about
£3,000,000, which he thought a satisfactory result, the
more so since the sum he had expected to receive from the
income-tax was less than he had anticipated. He then
detailed the state of the public balances, the amount in
1853, the reduction in 1854 (when it was returned at
£2,778,000), the manner in which the reduction had been
brought about, by the paying off public debt and advances,
and the probable amount of the deficiency bills required
to meet the quarter, namely, £5,852,000. In explaining
the deficiency bill system, and the extent of accommoda-
tion which the government obtained from the Bank of
England, he observed that some of the best-informed per-
•sons out of doors believed that the amount of deficiency
bills out on the sth of April represented the amount of
the accommodation given by the Bank, and this amount
had been estimated at from £4,000,000 to £6,000,000 ; but
the amount of deficiency bills chargeable to the public
yesterday was only £2,808,000, subject to a deduction for
cash unexhausted, which reduced the amount to £2,129,000,
and this, he remarked, in ordinary times, would not be an
extravagant amount to receive as accommodation from the
Bank. At the present time, however, he thought the
amount ought to be progressively reduced, and it would
be ffiminished without the least difficulty ; but this was
the actual extent of accommodation received from the
Bank. It was supposed, he added, that this unusual
demand reduced the capital in the market available for
commercial operations ; but this notion, he said, was not
only erroneous, but ludicrously so, inasmuch as the demand
withdrew from commercial purposes in the London money
market not any sum whatever. There was, he continued,
another point in connexion with the Bank, which was
supposed to be a matter of good faith. Some persons had
an idea that there had been a sort of compact (unwritten)
between the government and the Bank, under which
demands on deficiency bills ought not to be made on the
Bank. He was not aware of any sucbcompact ; but there
had been an understanding in 1844 that, if there was a
diminution of the public balances beyond the usual sum,
the Bank would be entitled to a claim upon the govern-
ment, and vice versa if there was an increase. The pre-
sumption on which this understanding rested was, that
the amount of the public balances was to remain in future
as it was at that time. Now, in the two quarters imme-
diately preceding this agreement, namely, January 5,1844,
and April 5, 1844, the amount of deficiency bills was, in
the former £5,462,000, and in the latter £3,967,000. On
the sth of January, 1854, the amount was £3,711,000,
and on the sth April, 1854., £5,472,000. The average amount
,of the two quarters of 1854 was £4,591,000, and that of the
two quarters of 1844, £4,714,000, so that the amount
was nearly the same, or a little less, in 1854 than in
1844. Mr. Gladstone then made a statement of the con-
dition of the unfunded debt, whence it appeared that the
present amount of Exchequer-bills was 41,174,000 short
,of that which the government was authorised to issue,
,and he had no reason, he -said, to expect that he should
have to make any further demand upon parliament for
more bills, or even to use the whole amount he was au-
thorised to issue. The present state of public credit was,
he added, highly satisfactory, as he showed by comparing
the,present prices of our public securities with those of
foreign countries, and with those of this country at former
periods. The result of the whole was, that the demands
of :the government upon the bank for accommodation
(though it was desirable to reduce the amount) were not
calculated to inspire any alarm ; that there had been no
contraction of the resources of commerce ; that the un-
funded debt was moderate, and likely to continue so; and
that •public credit was in a satisfactory condition, when
the menacing circumstances of the times were considered.
After a brief discussion, in avhich Mr. DIBRAOLI, Mr.
T. BARWG, Mr. LAING, and Sir H. WlLLouGriss. made
some comments upon the statements of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, the paper was ordered to lie on the table.
The bills for the prevention of %bribery in the boroughs
of Cambridge, Hull, Maldon, Barnstaple, and Canterbury,
were brought in and read a first time.
_

The house adjourned at ten minutes to eleven, until the
27th instant.

SHIPPING AND ME:ROAN TILE

MIS CELLAIV f.

FREIGHT "MONEY AT GREENWICR HOSPITAL. —.A
return of freight money at Greenwich Hospital shows that
between February, 1852, and March last :the amount was
£9,698 19s. 6d., .of which £1,026 19s. 3d. was public
treasure, and 2(72 Os. 3d. private treasure.
THE PACKET SERVICE OF THE POST-OFFICE.—A return
to the House .of .Commons shows that in the year ended
January last the amount paid on account,of the packet
service was £895,275. The amount chargeable to the
packet service was £801,455, and 2,81,100 "otherwise
chargeable," in addition to which £12,720 was paid as
salaries of Admiralty agents on board the several contract
packets.
MAIL PACKETS.—By a return just presented to parlia-
ment, of the longest and shortest voyages from Southamp-
ton to Ushant, made by the contract packets on the xoutes
to the Peninsula. Mediterranean, and Brazils, for the years
1848 to 1852 inclusive, it appears that by the Peninsula
packets, the longest voyage was 84 hours, and the shortest
211 hours. Mean voyage,.3l. Average voyage, 26 hours.
By the Mediterranean packets the longest voyage was 36
hours, shortest 21 hours:; mean voyage 26, and average
voyage 24 hours. By the Brazil packets the longest
voyage was 48 hours, shortest:2l hours; mean voyage 27,
:and average voyage 25 hours.
LAUNCR OF THE PRINCE SCREW-STEAMER.—OR Wed-
nesday, the General Steam Shipping Company's new iron
steamer Prince was launched from Messrs. Mare's ship-
building-yard, Blackwall. The :principal dimensions of
the Prince are :—Length between the perpendiculars,
295 ft. -; length of the keel for tonnage, 268 10.ift. ' • breadth
for tonnage, 4.3 4ft.; depth in hold, 33 6ft.; burthen,
2,706 tons. She is to be fitted with engines built by
Messrs. Maudsley and Co., of the power of 300 horses, and
upon the screw-propeller principle.
OUR SHIPPING IN 1853.—During the year there were
built and registered in the United Kingdom 635 sailing
vessels of timber, of the collective burden of 146,380 tons,
and 10 of iron, of 8,576 tons ; the number of steamers
built was 36 of timber, with a tonnage amounting to 3,305
and 117 of iron, with a tonnage of 44,910 ; 32 colonial-
built vessels (20 of them from New Brunswick) were
registered here, and 102 foreign ; the tonnage of the
former was 26,443, of the latter 30,073. 69 of our sailing
vessels and 15 of our steamers, with a united tonnage of
6,221, were broken up in the course of the year, and 569
of our sailing vessels, and 12 of our steamers, together of
120,714 tons, were wrecked.
SHIPPING BlLLS.—Thesecond reading of the "Merchant
Shipping Act, 1854," or what is better known as the Con-
solidated Mercantile Marine Bill, has peen postponed to
the 4th of May ; so that there will be ample time to ex-
amine and discuss the new provisions in the bill. We also
find that Mr. Cardwell has brought in a bill, which was
read a first time, for the amendment of the law relating to
wreck and salvage. This bill was also ordered to be read
a second tune on May 4. Why this measure does not form
part of the Consolidated Bill we are at a loss to conceive ;
but we shall be better able to judge of the matter when the
bill is before us.—Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.
COMPOSITION OF THE SHEATHING OF SHIPS.—M.
Bobierre has paid considerable attention to this subject,
and has arrived at the following conclusions as to the cause
of the rapid destruction of some copper and bronze sheath-
ing :-1. When unalloyed copper is employed, the pre-
sence of arsenic appears to hasten its destruction. 2. All
bronzes which appear to have stood, well, contained from
41 to 51 per cent. of tin, that quantity being necessary to
form an homogenous alloy. When the per centage of tin
is only 2'5 to 3'5, which is very frequently the case, no
definite alloy is produced, and the mass is of unequal com-
position, and, being unequally acted upon is soon destroyed.
3. When impure copper is employed, the alloy is never
homogenous, and is unequally acted upon in consequence.
We thus see that the so frequent destruction of the sheath-
ing of copper-bottomed vessels arises from the tendency to
use inferior brittle copper, and by diminishing the propor-
tion of tin, to economise the difference between the price of
that metal and copper, at the same time that the cost of
rolling is also less, in consequence of the greater softness
of the poor alloy. Bobierre thinks that the addition of a
very small proportion of zinc very much improves the
bronze, by producing a more perfect and uniform distribu-
tion of the positive metals, and consequently a much more
definite a1107,---Coniptes Rendus.

CUSTOMS ORDERS.—The Board of Customs have, with
reference to the 356th section of the Customs' Consolida-
tion Act of the last session of parliament, 16 and 17 Vic.,
cap. 107, caused the general orders and minutes issued by
them in the year 1853 for the regulation of trade, &c., to
be printed in collective form. Copies of these orders can
be had by merchants and others interested and concerned,
on application to the collectors and comptrollers of the
Customs, at the several outports throughout the United
Kingdom.
BILLS OP EXCHANGE BILL.—Lord Brougham's Bill for
the registration of dishonoured bills of exchange, and for
speedy execution thereon, proposes to provide that bills of
exchange and promissory notes may be protested by any
attorney or solicitor, and that the holder of any protested
bill or note, which is duly stamped and free from erasures
or alterations, may at any time within six months after
its becoming due, register it with the master of one of the
three superior courts of law, and shall thereupon be en-
titled to judgment and execution against the parties to the
bill or note, within six days after service of an order of the

court to that effect, to be given to him upon such registra-
tion ; and power is left with the judge to direct execution with-
out personal service of the order, if it shall appear to him
that the order has come to the knowledge of the party, or
that he wilfully evades service of it. Such an order may
be served out of the jurisdiction, but the period for obtain-
ing execution is then to be extended beyond six days. The
party served with the order may apply to the court to stay
execution, the application to be supported by an affidavit
disclosing what would constitute a legal defence, and the
court may then stay execution, and direct a trial or a
special case for the opinion of the court ; but execution is
not to be stayed unless the party seeking to stay it give
security for the payment of the bill and costs, or satisfy
the court that his signature has been forged, or that the
title of the holder is affected with fraud, or that other cir-
cumstances exist to induce the court to dispense with such
security. Where the amount of the bill or note does not
exceed £5O it may be registered in the County Court with-
in the jurisdiction of which the acceptor or maker resides,
and the proceedings may be in that court. A judgment
order or a bill or note accepted, made, or endorsed, within
two months of bankruptcy is to be void.

THE FALKLAND ISLES.—The following is the copy of
a letter from the commander of the steam-ship Great
Britain to the owners, on the advantages of the Falkland
Islands as a coaling station :—" Liverpool, Ist April, 1854.
Gentlemen,—l have much pleasure in complying with
your request that I should lay before you a brief state-
ment of the advantages afforded by the Falkland
Islands as a place of call for ocean steamers. Captain
Grant, of the Sea Bird, in the very interesting letter
which he wrote to you from Stanley relative to the depo-
sit of coal for the Greet Britain, has already made you
aware of the excellence of that harbour, and of its easy
access. lam able, from my own experience, to confirm,
in every particular, Captain Grant's remarks. The
Government charts are exceedingly correct ; the land, as
you approach it, is made out without any difficulty ; and
we saw Pembroke Point and its beacon (now to be super-
seded by a light-house) at the distance of seven miles. The
harbour itself is like a large dock, secure from all winds,
and with an entrance wide enough for a smart sailing vessel
to beat through with ease. All the dangerous points are
distinctly marked by the kelp, or sea-weed. The anchor-
age is excellent, varying from four to five fathoms at low
water, so that the Great Britain is everywhere in perfect
safety ; and, even were she to touch the ground, she
would not receive any injury, as the bottom is all soft
mud. The facility for watering ships is good ; a reser-
voir, holding about two hundred tons of water, communi-
cates by means of pipes with the end of a jetty, where,
even when the tide is out, there is always about three feet
of water, which is sufficient for a flat boat to float off ten
tons at a time. The casks in the boat are filled by fasten-
ing a short hose to the pipes, and thus one ship can be
watered as rapidly as if she were in Liverpool. The
Governor, of whose courteous and obliging conduct I can-
not speak too highly; promised that, should Stanley
become a port of call for steamers, a floating tank shall be
built, so that water could be alongside the ship imme-
diately on her arrival, and pumped into the tanks or
casks, as the case maybe. There are considerable herds
of cattle on the islands, and when put up to feed (as was
the case with the great Britain) their beef is very good;
vegetables of the more ordinary kind, such as potatoes,
cabbages, and turnips, can be had when in season. Ship
chandlery:and grocery stores can also be purchased to a
limited extent. Labour is scarce, as the population of
Stanley (the only settlement) is only about four hundred.
But every year, as the islands become better known, this
want will, -no doubt, be less felt. I should add that the
hulk for coaling the Great Britain was placed in the most
convenient situation. I experienced not the slightest
difficultyin this or any other matter during the detention
of four days in these islands, owing chiefly to the good
management of Mr. Dale, the agent for the Falkland
Islands' Company, who was immediately in attendance on
arrival of the ship, and continued until the hulk with coals
was alongside. The zealous attention and kindness of
this gentleman to my passengers and myself, whenever
his services were required, will always be remembered by
us. I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant, (Signed,)
BARNARD R. MATTIIEWB.—Messrs. Gibbs, Brightaud Co."

A coisPANT is about to be formed for the purpose, as
the prospectus announces, of enabling the descendants of
Israel to obtain and to cultivate the Land of Palestine.
DESTRUCTIVE CONFLAGRATION.-011 Saturday morn-
ing, between twelve and one o'clock, a very serious fire
broke out In Stockwell-street, Greenwich. It appears that
some of the police on duty discovered the fire raging on
the premises of Mr. G. Grove, wheelwright. immediately
behind the house are the workshops, and the materials,
once ignited, blazed up with great rapidity, illuminating
the surrounding neighbourhood. Several engines were
soon on the spot, but in spite of the utmost-exertions the
flames communicated to Mr. B. Sufferitils, licensed
victualler, 'the roof of whose billiard-rooms was destroyed,
besides other damage. The house of Mrs. Hudson,
plumber, Busby-court, London-street, was •also consider-
ably damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown. '
MAIILBOROUGH-HOUSE. —There is at present submitted
to public inspection in the Museum of Art at Marlborough-
house a small but exceedingly curious and interesting col-
lection of models in clay and wax which are believecrto be
original studies by Michael Angelo, Raffaelle, Donatello,
and other celebrated Italian sculptors. The .collection,
having been offered to the French Government.and to the
trustees of the British Museum and the National Gallery
without finding a purchaser, is now exhibited at Marl-
borough-house, that it may undergo a carefiil examina-
tion by the best judges, and have its value ascertained,-
Should the result be considered favourable, the Board of
Trade may, perhaps, be induced to buy the :collection,
which undoubtedly would form an important addition to
the Museum. The specimens possessinc, the chief-interest
are not more thanbalf-a-dozen in number, and are such
as an uneducated ,eye would pass over with indifference ;
yet persons the most competent to judge declare that one
object alone-said to be the original study in terracotta,
by Raffaelle, for 'his Jonah—is worth £1,500, and that
the value of the whole cannot be stated at less than £3OOO.
The collection, which was found in a house in Florence,
appears to be eonsidered genuine by the cog/mm/1i and
undoubtedly the best -specimens contained in it 'have a
very'highly instructive-character stamped upon them. If
they serve no other .purpose than to show the extraor-
dinary care with which the great Italian masters prepared
themselves for the execution of their chefs d'wurre, they
would be worth the price put upon them. The Bacchus
of Michael Angelo is -seen, -first brought out as a skeleton
figure, marvellously executed, and so also with his David,
,the striking anatomical studies for the limbs -of which are
Included in the collection. There are also the studies for
pis Apollo, his Marsyas, the Hercules and Cacus, which
was subSequently executed byinferior hands, and several
clam of his greatest works, all pos-sessing eitrent-3
interest to- the lovers- of art. Some of the specimens
ascribed to Donatello are worthy of attentive examination
.-among them a cow in terra •cotta, which excited an
immense sensation in Florence when first discovered, and
which, is said to have occupied Bactolini, an eminent pro-
fessor, three entire lectures in discuesing its merits. The
antiquarian interest of the collection is hardly inferior to
that Which it possesses on the score of art, and it may be
noted as a curious circumstance 'connected therewith that
a marvelously-executed human hand in terracotta by
Michael Angelo, casts from which are in almost every
studio in Europe, is now for the first time produced, and
publicly exhibited.

-
TUE CrrEr OFFICERS AGAIN-ex RuesTA.—Of the five
who are to ccmmand divisions, all are of different birth,
a Scotchman, a Hanoverian, an Irisbroan, a Canadian, and
an Englishman—thus, Sir George Brown is a native of
Linkwood, near Elgin, the Duke of Cambridge was born
in Hanover, Sir De Lacy Evans in Ireland, Sir Richard
England in Upper Canada, the Earl of Lucan is the only
Englishman of that rank, and is a Londoner by birth,
though Irish by descent. With respect to the fleets, the
two highest in command are not Englishmen ; Sir Charles
Napier was born in 'Scotland, and Admiral Dundas at Cab
cutta, though Scotch lay descent. Among the eleven Bri-
gadiers-General, H. J. Bentinck (English ?) of Dutch
origin, Sir Colin and Sir John Campbell, Scotch, Colonel.
Pennefather, a "Tipperary boy," Colonel Yorke Scarlett,
of Jamaica descent, while J. B. B. Estcourt is a Londoner,
born near Portman-square, and Lord Cardigan, a native of
Hambledou, leaving only four unaccounted for, and of these
H. W. Adams is probably a native of Warwickshire, Wit-
Ham Eyr is, probably, of Nottinghamshire birth, and
George Buller a Cornishman. Among the six Assistants
Adjutant-General, we notice the two Irish names of Doyle
and Sullivan, and two Scotch, Maule and Gordon. The
mixed nature of our population is here shadowed forth,
but Englishmen have not secured "the lion's share" of
the stall' appointments.— Civil Saralee Gazette.

.
IcEßnEGs.—lcebergs have been moving from the north
for several months. On, referring to our memoranda of
the drift of Polar ice, we find as follows :-Packet-ship
Yorkshire, from Liverpool, passed a large iceberg on the
14th of December, 1853; in lat. 46 30, N., lon. 48 21, W.
On the 21st of the samemonth the barqueMagnolia passed
an immense island of ice, 'one hundred *et- high, in lat.
4-1 35, N., lon. 48 30, W. On the 14th of February, 1854,
ship Parliament, from Liverpool for Boston, lat. 46 50, N.,
lon. 48, W., saw three large islands of ice, and the same"
day saw abundance of field ice. On the 15th of February,
1854, ship Nightingale, from London fOr Boston, in 10.45
52, lon. 47 39, saw a great number of icebergs, and was
among the field ice twelve hours. 'On the 24th of Feb.;
1854, the clipper-ship Lightning, in lat. 49 15, N., lon. 431
20, W., passed a large iceberg. • On the 7th of, March;lBs4, British ship Julia, from London, in lat. 44 14, lon.
49 20, saw a field of ice stretching north and south, as far
as the eye- could reach. On the 11th of March, 1854,
steam-ship Washington, from Bremen, lat. 43, lon. 50 40,
passed four laTge icebergs and a field of iec. The vessels
now arriving report abundance of ice °utile' 'Atlantic. In
1842, 1846, and 1847 icebergs were met on the Atlantic
in the month of March. In 1850 icebergs were abundant
in January, February, March, and April. In ' December,
1850, icebergs commenced moving on the 'Atlantic, and
continued unuSually'abUndant till the Ist of August, 1851,
when they ceased running.. During this time our register
contains the names of one hundred vessels which reported
ice in crossing the Atlantic, and among theSe was a vessel
bound from Limerick to Quebec, which reported an im-
mense body of ice upon which they, saw two ships housed
in, which were, no doubt, the Erebus and Terror,. compos-
ing the expedition' of sir John -Franklin. In 1843 but
four vessels reported ice on the Atlantic, and in 1846 but
three vessels ; and in 1848 the Atlantic between the United
States and'Europe was wholly free from ice. The atmos-
pherie changes converting fluids to solid's, and in iedUcing
solids to fluidi, are wonderful, but we have become so fami-
rwith these wonders of nature that they almost pass
a noticerL—Neuf York Journal of commerce,