The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-04-06 00:00:00

ulness ; the opening of new

facilities for its growing commei

the completion

the pre-eminence of the, Mersey as the resort of the
shipping of Great Britain, and of the world is to be
stimulated, are more than ordinary matters—are

matters momentous enough to allow us for once to
concentrate our attention to our own locality, and
to withdraw our notice from some of those general
questions which would otherwise have met with
due consideration at our hands. All labourers,
whether their services are devoted to the public, or
to the advancement of their own interests, have
their occasional holidays ; the members of the two
Houses of Parliament are at this moment relaxing
themselves from their severe labours of political
life. And if we take the liberty to do the same ;
if we forget for awhile the conflicts of party and
indulge ourselves at home, we hav a nlea which

cannot offer.

We can point to the produc-
P

tions of our busy reporuerb
idle, cannot certainly plead guilty to any such
failure in the performance of their duty to the

mblic

An ample report of the interesting proceedings
yesterday,—or at least what will, we trust, be con-
sidered such by our readers—will be found in our
columns. We give it plain and unvarnished, faith-
ful we believe, and certainly without any spirit of
local jealousy inducing us to prevent or suppress
one fact connected with the occasion. We disdain
alike adulation of Birkenhead, of the promoters
of its enterprising rojects, and unworthy fear of
itt
the effect of succ of those projects upon the
prosper Try of Live 01. We regard the growing
uld as likely to be a useful stay to the parent, in
whose steps she is following, and with whose
growth she must grow. Some of the proceedings
of the Birkenhead authorities we have not hesitated
to object to ; and we believe our objections have
been received in a proper spirit, as dictated by 'sin-
cere, although possibly mistaken convictions. The
prosperity of Birkenhead, however, is as much an
ect which we devoutly desire as it is that of the
ire and energetic of those gentlemen; and,

most ac

_ and all of the objections which we have been
compelled to urge, we sincerely trust that time and
facts will prove us to have been in the wrong.

.n any,

THE recurrence of Easter Tues(
hich our Annual Vestry is held

minds us of
41... n+7-0.,

some matters tc

tion of our readers, and of the rate-payers of the
town generally. For the last two years, it is well
known -to most people—and by some the result

itive to a

has been felt in that quarter most sen
Englishman, viz., the pocket—that a fussy move-
ment has been got up at our Vestry meetings,
having for its battle cry, the imposing words •` Fair
play." The chief player in this imposingly named
farce we need not mention. The object sought by
the gentleman in question, and his supporters, was,
ostensibly, an equalization of the political strength
in the Vestry. The real object was, to enable
Whiggery to Fet its footing into the Parish-office,
for electioneering and registration purposes. Small
Radicals were to be foisted upon the rate-payers,

in the place of influential and respectable men who
laboured under the misfortune of differing from
the Sir Oracle of the movement.

It was successful—thanks to the apathy of our
leading Conservatives. We have had some fine
specimens imposed upon us, of pretension and
helpless impotence. Men who went up—or, rather
came in—like rockets, have come down like t.
sticks ; and, when the public properly recovers it,
good sense, will, no doubt, go out with the usual

;dour attending the departure of such people.
Our object in referring to the subject is, to impress
upon the rate-payers of Liverpool the importance
of putting a stop to all this kind of absurdity.
What earthly connection is there between politics
and the appointment of a Select Vestry-man ?
There is none. There can be none, unless an
opportunity is sought to make our own Parish-
office something like the office of the Extra-paro-
chial place of Toxteth-park, in which members of
the Committee disport themselves so strangely.
The main consideration of the rate-payers of
Liverpool ought to be to save their pockets, and to
protect the poor of the town, at the same time.
The eloquence of Mr. Wm. Earle, the sharp prac-
tice of Mr. Avison, the ponderosity of Mr. Bright,
are nothing to them, compared with the impor-
tance of husbanding their own resources. We
want in the Select Vestry, in the present crisis of
our affairs, not petty pretenders to Liberalism, not
abortive imitators of Brougham, on a small scale,
or shopkeepers of the Bright class, and with less
of the luminous quality which the name implies.
We want common sense, common consideration
and prudence, a little sparkle of information upon
the ordinary affairs of the world, and a trifle of
honesty in the composition of members of a body
who have it in their power so seriously to influence
the fortunes of this community.

It is already a recognized fact, that our present

high rate of taxation, for the support of our own
and of extraneous poor, is as much as we can con-
veniently bear. It is not the less a fact, that our
taxation for the year to come is likely to be largely
increased—doubled, no doubt—trebled, ye!
bably. Now, what ought to be the class of parties
who have to do with the imposition upon us, and
the management of the funds derived from this
taxation ? Manifestly they ought to be large rate-
payers, instead of noisy and empty spouters. We
committed a sad mistake when we set out upon our
" fair play" cruise, and sent men of no weight to

instead of men su

fficientli inte

ets, to save ours

temporary woo
but we have no

-work, present an interesti

S.PPEARANCE

At an early hour. in the fo:

g appearance;

veyed to the scene of the approaching fest
rangements had been previously made to s

n. holyday

cient attendance of policemen at the various slips and
steps, to keep order and prevent accidents ; and we feel
bound to say that every possible_ effort was made. To

suppress confusion, however, on this as on every similar
occasion, was found to be impossible. John Bull, whe-
ther belonging to old or young England, is an impatient
animal. He hates to be left behind ; and whether going
to storm a battery or assault a good dinner, prefers tread-
ing on the heels of any one who attempts to take prece-
dence of him to going a head in the manner of ordinary
mortals. As the forenoon advanced the crush became
fast and furious ; and although the proprietors of the
Ferries had put on an unusual quantity of steam, and
despatched their boats without regard to regular hours
(thereby making them very irregular characters,) there
was the utmost difficulty in transporting all the candi-
dates for the sports who put in their claims to the Che-
shire side. As the hour drew near when the distin-
guished nobleman who was to honour the occasion with

positively dangerous
th own cal Ire. csnfb +11‘2.;

he appearanee of th
freinhts,_ rinelrPri frt..

became
boats

to stern, and from cabin; to the paddle wheels, was
strongly suggestive of the possibility of calamity, which
happily did not occur. By two or three o'clock our good
old town began to wear the appearance of a deserted
place, the bulk of its population having emptied itself
into the pool of Wallasey, the park of Claughton, and the
streets, squares, and lands of the modern Carthage, loca-
ted on the site of the old hamlet on the opposite side of
the river.

APPEARANCE OF BIRKENHEAD

For some days previously to the celebration, efforts
must have been making by the spirited inhabitants of
Birkenhead to give every possible eel& to the day. Early
in the morning, the town was dressed to profusion ; and
the neighbourhod of the new docks, the various ferries,
and a great number of the residences of the leading parties
connected with the town, displayed flags in abundance.
The streets, as every steamboat discharged its supply, of
population, became more and more crowded with people,
the bulk of whom, we fear, neither knew for what they
came at all, nor got anything in the shape of information
or spectacle by their coming. The fineness of the day
had, doubtless, attracted many who would otherwise have
contented themselves with what could be seen from our
own piers. At the Dock Works, and the Woodside and
Monks' Ferries throughout the day, the firing of cannon
was almost incessant, by which a startling effect was given
to the whole of the proceedings. The exhaustion of gun-
powder thus caused, must have been considerable. During
the dejeunfr, when for a brief period the lions of the
occasion were withdrawn from the public eye, and indeed
throughout the day, the beautiful park, whose formal

opening was part of its business, was thronged with
admiring and curious crowds ; and thousands, no doubt

extent of the entrprize by which Birkenhead has been
raised to its present position. Numerous straggling

skirts, clinibing the Bidston hill, or meandering through
the delightful village of Tranmere, Oxton, and other
places the neighbourhood. to put off time until those

portions of the da

h they wer

isularly interested—the firewmlcs, rural sports, &c., should
be brought upon the scene.
During the whole of the day, the streets were enlivened
by bands_ of music and processions of various orders.

Tents and marquees were erected in various places ; but
to the doings in these, we must refer in another part of
our report.

ARRIVAL OF LORD MORPETH

Lord Morpeth arrived at the Railway Station, Lime-
street, at eleven o'clock, and immediately drove to the
Adelphi Hotel, where apartments had been :prepared for
his reception. He left the Adelphi about half-pr 3t eleven
and was driven to the George's Pier, where '

_re he em Arked
in a steamer which was there in waiting for him. He
steamed across the river, and went on board a new iron
steamer, the Lord Warden, which was moored in the
offing, between the Woodside and Monks' ferries. The
LorA Warden was elegantly decorated for the occasion, a
profusion of the flags of all nations having floated from
c+.nel to PfLORI from the ric,k• 1,-% -

and gallant vessel. Lord Morpeth's arrival on board wa
announced by a discharge of cannon from the Monks

ARRIVAL OF A SPECIAL TRAIN FROM LONDON

Shortly after 11 o'clock, a special train, which had been
provided expressly_ for the_ conveyance of guests to_ the

opening of file docks, reached the railway station from
London. It was fully freighted with noble and dis-
tinpished guests. Amongst others who arrived by this
train were Lord Monteagle, Lord Lincoln, Sir Philip De
Gray Egerton and Lady Egerton, the Dean of Chester,

&c., Scc

EMBARKATION ON BOARD OF THE LORD WARDEN

All the guests who had arrived by the special train from
London, accompanied by the Birkenhead Dock Company
and Commissioners of the township, went on board the
steamer Eliza Price, at the Monks'-ferry, and embarked
in the Lord Warden, and were introduced ,to Lord Mor-
peth on the quarter deck. His lordship, who was dressed
in a blue body coat, blue satin vest, striped trousers, and
blue satin stock, appeared in the enjoyment of excellent
health and spirits. He paced up and down the decks
rapidly, conversing in the most affable manner with most
of the ladies and gentlemen on board, and it was but too
evident that he enjoyed amazingly the fine stiff breeze,
amounting almost to a gale, which was blowing at the
time from the north-west.