The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-03 00:00:00

NEW Vublirations.

Lately Published, price 3s. 6d., cloth hoards.
SURGICAL REPORT on LITIIOTOMY,
with General Remarks on Operations for Stone, and
on Diseases of the Kidneys, Bladder. and Urethra. By J.
NOTTINGHAM, M.D., Liverpool, Anthor of " Surgical
Report on Cataract and Artificial Pupil."
CHURCHILL, London: DEIGHTON 8z LAuonroN, Liverpool.

Price ss. 6d. by post.
THE TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION,
with Cases. By Dr. BURSLENI, Senior Physician to
the Blenheim-street Dispensary, London.
"Original and important observations on the treatment of
consumption in the female. . . Dr. Burslem is evtdently
a practical physician."—Lqueet.
"Of practical utility."—Medical Times and Gazette.
London: J. CHURCHILL, Soho.

TO BOOK CLUBS TOWN AND COUNTRY LENDING
LIBRARIES, MECHA,NICS' INSTITUTES, Src., &c.
In the Press.
HISTORY of the POLICY of the CHURCH
of ROME in IRELAND from the INTRODUCTION
of the ENGLISH DYNASTY to the GREAT REBELLION.
By the late WILLIAM PHELAN, D.D. With Biographical
Memoir by the late Dr. JOHN JEBB, formerly Bishop of
Limerick, and Introductory Remarks, by JAMES LORD, Esq.,
of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. To be published in
octavo, good type and paper. Price, 125 to subscribers, 16e
to non-subscribers. Orders may be sent to Mr. Sanders, Pro-
testant Association Office, 6, Serjeants'-Inn, Fleet-street, Lon-
don, or to Messrs. Wertheim and Macintosh, 24, Paternoster
row. The printed list of those ordering copies will be inserted
in the Times of 2d January, 1854, and may be had gratis at the
Office. In it are the names of two Archbishops, eight Bishops,
twenty-eight Noblemen, and Members of the !louse of Com-
mons. as well as those of Clergymen and distinguished lay-
men in various parts of the kingdom.
249 Copies have already been subscribed for.
The List for Subscribers will close January 18, 1854.

HANDSOME CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEAR'S PRESENT.
Now ready, elegantly bound in cloth, gilt, 384 pages, with
Forty-four Illustrations, price 2s. 6d.,
HOME THOUGHTS for 1854, containing
Tales—Essays—Poetry—Historic Contrasts— Biogra-
phical Sketches of Eminent Men—t.oiterings round London
—Papers on Science, Natural History, and the Arts—Notices
and Extracts from New Books—Embroidery, Crochet, and
Netting, with Diagrams—Useful Domestic Hints—Gardening
Notes—Chess and Draughts, with Problems and Games—
Arithmetical Questions—Riddles and Charades—and a variety
of instructive and amusing matter.
" One of the most welcome of fireside visitors."—Black-
burn Standard.
HOME THOUGHTS is also p•iblished in Monthly Numbers,
price 2d., each containing 32 pages of letter-press, with
V% rapper, and Engravings. Nos. Ito 12 are now ready.—
The January Number (No. 13) contains the first chapters
of a New Tale, by Mrs. Geldart, Author of " Truth is Every-
thing," &c.
London KENT F.E Co., Paternoster-row ; and all Booksellers.

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES,
a Commercial, Political. and General Newspaper,
IS PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING,
and is delivered at the RESIDENCE of Subscribers by
EIGHT O'CLOCK, in any part of Liverpool. or within the
districts of A eto Brighton, Egremont, Seacombe, Birkenhead,
Woodside, Tranmere, Rock-ferry, Waterloo, Seajorth,Bootle,
Walton, Rverton, Fairfield, and Aigburth.
Subscripion, in advance, for a year. £3 ; six months,
Ns, 6d.; three months, 19s. 6d.—For the Proprietors,
• CHARLES WILIAM ER, PUBLISHER.

IMPORTANT TO SHOPKEEPERS.
Just Published, price 2s. 6d.,
THE SHOPKEEPER'S GUIDE, designed to
give stability to the interest of the Shopkeeper, by in-
structing him how to place his business upon a secure foun-
dation ; but especially to guide persons, who, from ill health,
or from reverse of fortune, may seek to obtain a livelihood by
Shopkeeping, in a path which will contribute to certain
BUMPH. CONTENTS :
I. SHOPKEEPING.—CAUSES OF FAILURES OF SHOP-
KEEPERS.
2. THREE WAYS OF LIVING.
3. QUALIFICATIONS FOR A SHOPKEEPER.
4. CHOICE OF A BUSINESS. •
5. SHOPKEEPERS' STOCK LISTS.
6. HINTS TOWARDS THE CHOICE OF A BUSINESS.
7. DIFFERENCEOF REMUNERATION IN THE TRADES
AND PROFESSIONS.
8. MONEY, CREDIT, BILLS OF EXCHANGE, LEGAL
ADVICE REGARDING BILLS AND PROMISSORY
NOTES, LETTERS OF CREDIT, STAMPS, INTE-
REST TABLES, BANKS AND BANKING, &c. &c.
9. BOOK-KEEPING.—OUTLINE OF A SIMPLIFIED
SYSTEM ADAPTED TO A RETAIL SHOP.
10. LAW OF PARTNERSHIP.
11. MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE FOR THE CONSIDER-
ATION OF THE SHOPKEEPER.
12. THE LAW OF LANDLORD AND TENANT.
13. EXAMPLES OF PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN SUC-
CESSFUL IN LIFE.
14. NUMEROUS RECEIPTS FOR ARTICLES IN CON-
STANT DEMAND, WHICH MAY BE PUT UP BY
ANY SHOPKEEPER, AND SOLD AT A CONSIDER-
ABLE PROFIT; WITH AN ACCURATE STATE-
MENT OF THEIR COST, AND THE PROFITS
RESULTING FROM THE SALE OF THEM.
15. A LIST OF PROFITABLE AGENCIES OFFERED TO
THE PUBLIC IN THE PAGES OF ALL THE
DAILY PAPERS DURING THE LAST TWELVE
MONTHS.
London : HOULSTON and STONEMAN, 65, Paternoster-row,
and every Bookseller throughout the kingdom. Price 2s. 6d.,
ound neatly.

MONDAY EDITION for all interested in the prices at MARK-
LANE and SMITHFIELD MARKETS.
Price 6d., free by post, enlarge,i to twenty.four folio pages,
(each yearly volume comnlete in itself,)
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE AND
AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE; a Weekly Record of
Rural Economy and General News. The Horticultural Part
edited by Dr. LINDLEY.
In accordance with the wishes of Farmers, Millers, and
others interested in the Corn Trade, an Edition will be pub-
lished in time for post every Monday Afternoon from the
commencement of the New Year, containing a Full Report of
the Mark-lane and Smithfield Markets of that day.
In consequence of the Advertisement duty having been
taken off by Government, the customary charges for Adver-
tisements in THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE AND AGRICUL-
TURAL GAZETTE have been reduced. The peculiar character
and very extensive sale of THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE
AND AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE among the Farming Interest
and Landed Aristocracy makes it an especially valuable
channel for all Advertisements which are addressed to that
class, particularly for Advertisements relating to the Sale of
Estates and Farm Stock, the Letting of Farms, Farming and
Garden Implements, Construction of Conservatories, Fences,
&c.,
Seeds Manures, Planting, Flowers, &c., &c. Another
advantage is, that the work, from its nature, is one not only
of daily but constant reference, so that Advertisements are
repeatedly under the eyes of the subscribers. Advertisements
will appear in both Editions without extra charge. Space of
four lines and under (body type), 2s. 6d. ; each additional
line up to twenty, 6d.; every five lines beyond, 2s. ; a column,
£3; a page, es Ba. Advertisements of Bailifts and Gardeners
out of place, if not more than four lines, Is. 6d. each.
From the last published Official Stamp Returns, Oct. 1851,
it appears that during the preceding year 1850, the Stamps
supplied to each of the undermentioned Journals gave them
an average publication Of—GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 6,500;
Observer, 6,230; Magnet, 4,731 ; Mark-lane Express, 4,730;
Examiner, 4,397; Evening Mail, 4,166 ; Economist, 3,826 ;
Record, 3,754; Daily News, 3,692; Morning Herald, 3,650 ;
Britannia, 3,151 ; Spectator, ; Morning Chronicle, 2,924;
St. James's Chronicle, 2,891; San, 2,674; Morning Post,
2,657; John Bull, 2,115; Atlas, 1,884; Globe, 1,875; Standard,
1,577 ; Gardener and Farmer's Journal, 1,165.
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE AND AGRICULTURAL GA-
ZETTE, price 6d., is published every Saturday Morning, with
a Special Edition on Nionday afternoon after Mark-lane Mar-
ket, and may be ordered of all Newsvenders. List of Con-
tributors may be had on application at tha Office. Parties
intending to commence with the New Volume had better give
their orders at once, specifying whethee-Saturday's or Mon-
day's Edition.—Office for Advertisements and Communica-
tions, 5, Upper Wellington-street, coygnt-wlert,,Lomlon.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, AND GENERAL COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

ttberpool tattbarb.

thise with the injustice which has robbed the
Church of the crergy reserves guaranteed by a
former government.
With the exception of the dispute, which has
grown into a war, between Russia and Turkey,
the state of Europe has been comparatively one of
quietude. Louis NAPOLEON has contrived to
preserve the Imperial' crown of France, which he
so adroitly won, and to restrain the thirst
for military conquest which animates his troops.
Austria, vacillating between her Russian ally
and her professions of peace with the Western
Powers, has been successful in doing nothing.
Prussia appears to have forgotten her dream of
German unity. Spain has lost nothing but her
loyalty for her sovereign, the eccentric daughter
of an infamous mother, and still retains Cuba from
the long-meditated grasp of the American eagle :
and the little states are in much the same condi-
tion at the close of the year as they were at the
beginning ; so that 1854 may be said to dawn
upon the civilized world amid a calm, the duration
of which few will venture to foretel.

Having thus taken a hasty glance at some of
the more striking events which have now become
matters of history, little remains for us to say
with reference to ourselves and our readers. Our
past labours in the consistent advocacy of the
great principles of Church and State have spoken
for themselves. With no interests to serve except
those of our common country, and no object to
gain but the satisfaction of having performed our
duty, we have pursued the path which we believe to
be the right one, swerving neither to the right hand
nor to the left, not deterred by the fear of enemies,
nor tempted by false friends. In politics, as in
religion, we have been solely guided by the con-
sciousness of right, and though we may sometimes
have been compelled to differ with those whose
good opinion we value, we have never been in-
fluenced by any other motive than zeal for the'
maintenance of our national faith in its integrity
and purity, and the preservation of the Constitu-
tion, handed down to us by our forefathers, and
under which, by the blessing of Providence, this
country has grown in greatness from the glorious
days of ELIZABETH down to those of our own
VICTORIA. We have no need to make promises
for the future, but let the past be the best earnest
of the time to come. It is, however, satisfactory
to know that our labours are appreciated, and in
the steadily increasing circulation of the Liverpool
Standard we experience that reward for our exer-
tions which must prove the secret incentive to
constant perseverance.

TUESDAY MORNING, JAN. 3, 1854.

THE close of one year and the commencement
of another is an event of too much interest to-
allow us to pass it unnoticed, or without availing

ourselves of the opportunity to remind our readers
that we are not regardless of the progress of never-
ebbing Time. The remark that the year just closed
has been a most eventful one, has been so often
made with reference to previous years, that it has
become an observation too trite to excite attention :
still there are many circumstances worthy to be
recalled, which have had their rise in the year
1853, though their ultimate results may be long
distant.

England has had a year's experience of a Coali-
tion Ministry, the income-tax renewed for seven
years, and real property subject to a tax on succes-
sion. To commercial enterprise and industrial
activity, 1853 has been a year of halcyon days,
high prices, and unlimited demand ; but human
nature is never satisfied, and long before the season
had Nosed, reports from all quarters teemed with
complaints of operatives out on strike for higher
wages—so that prosperity failed to bring content,
and full employment was the precursor of absolute
idleness. Those who indulged in dreams of cheap
bread, awoke to the reality of dear food of all kinds ;
while the reflecting mind may have learned the
useful lesson that every earthly good has its alloy
of evil, nothing being perfect but the hope of
good things hereafter. The dilatory manner in
which measures for sanitary improvement have
been carried on has received a salutary warning in
a visitation of the cholera, which, though slight at
first, and temporarily checked by the frost which
has lately set in,. may return with far more viru-
lence on the approach of warmer weather, should
the interval not be wisely used in the application
of the means within our power for the promotion of
cleanliness, by better draining and ventilation, and
a more ample supply of water. The lull in politi-
cal agitation, during the Parliamentary vacation,
has not been unprofitably employed in discussing
the wants of our poorer fellow-creatures, the best
means of affording the advantages of education to
the rising generation, and the most efficient mode
of dealing with the increasing number of juvenile
delinquents. The interests of the Church have
not been neglected—for two members have been
added to our Colonial Episcopate ; inquiries have
taken place into the great seminaries of learning,
Oxford and Cambridge : and though little direct
benefit may be anticipated from the labours of a
Ministerial appointed commission, the stimulus to
self-examination, which has resulted, may not be
without a beneficial effect. In our relations with
Foreign states, there appears to be less cause for
congratulation—for after, like Judaea of old, the
land has had rest for nearly forty years, we hear of
wars and rumours of wars ; and none may safely
predict how long we shall be spared from once
more being called upon to put forth our strength
to secure the safety of the British Empire, at the
cost of war taxes and a heavy addition to the
National Debt.

Ireland, more than decimated of her population
by famine, and pestilence, and voluntary expatria-
tion, has had an Exhibition of Industry and Art,
displaying to the world at large that her latent
energy and skill only required the stimulus of
encouragement to give them fair play.' Scotland,
after a century and a half of union with England,
has determined to speak out and demand her full
share of the rights which her patient submission
has failed to obtain from a sense of justice.

The colonies have not been without interest.
Australia has started in the race like a young
giant, her gold fields surpassing the wildest
dreams of Oriental enthusiasts, and attracting im-
migrants by thousands and tens of thousands;
while the wants of the latter have opened an ex-
port trade for our home produce, which, as yet,
seems to know no limit. It is a circumstance
also worthy of observation, that, although
the almost fabulous accounts of the discovery
of gold excited many apprehensions of too
great an abundance, we have really experienced a
gradual tightening of the money market, through
the decreasing store of bullion in the coffers
of the Bank of England. The long war
which endangered the peace .of the Cape of Good
Hope has been brought to a conclusion, and now
we are promised new supplies of colonial produce.
The West Indies have partially recovered from
their long suffering, and at length given up their
claim to hold, the purse-strings independent of
the Governor. Canada has hardly supplied us
with an lineiden.t for comment, except to sympa-

WE briefly alluded last week to the erroneous
opinion which appeared to prevail with reference
to the Foreign policy of the present Home Secre-
tary being opposed to that which seems to have
influenced the course pursued by the EARL of
ABERDEEN, in the affairs between Russia and
Turkey, and thereby led to the inference that the
recent resignation and rc sumption of office had
been caused by a difference of opinion on this sub-
ject. In all the developments, whether real or pre-
tended, which have been made respecting the
recent split in the Cabinet, a variance of opinion
as to the details of the proposed Reform Bill has
been adhered to as to the real cause of the dis-
pute ; but notwithstanding the positive assertions
of Ministerial organs, professing to be in posses-
sion of State secrets, public opinion has been rather
inclined to the belief that the HOME SECRETARY
has ventured to have an opinion of his own on
Foreign policy, and that that opinion has been
more in accordance with the feeling out of doors
than the one which has been acted upon. Now, so
far from believing that Lord PALMERSTON has
been actuated by any refined sense of national
honour, which would prompt the succour of the
weak and defiance of the strong, there are many
incidents in hisiprevious career as FOREIGN SECRE-
TARY which lead us to a totally opposite conclu-
sion. It will be remembered that some twenty
years since, a ship belonging to Mr. BELL was
seized, in the Black Sea, by the Russian forces,
and indignant remonstrances were made to the
FOREIGN SECRETARY on this wanton outrage. No
satisfaction was obtained for wounded national
honour, but compensation was privately made to
Mr. BELL for his individual loss, and the affair
was hushed up. Shortly after this a young gen-
tleman, who officiated as Vice-Consul in the petty
State of New Grenada, committed some outrages
upon the peace of the town at night, while in a
state of intoxication, for which he was apprehended,
and made amenable to the laws he had broken.
LORD PALMERSTON was appealed to. Here was
no mighty empire of Russia to deal with, but a
defenceless State, and demand was therefore imme-
diately made, with a threat of bombardment for
the release of the Vice-Consul, and compensation
to him. In 1840, Mr. URQUHART returned from
long diplomatic services at Constantinople, and in
a series of pamphlets openly accused the FOREIGN
SECRETARY of being the agent of Russia, and in-
triguing with that power for the weakening and
overthrow of Turkey. Again we find him suc-
cumbing to France under Louis PHILIPPE, when
Admiral DUPETIT THOUARS wantonly seized upon
Tahiti, and expelled Mr. PRITCHARD, the English
resident. Later still we find him sending a fleet to
the little State of Greece, not long rescued from
Mahometan despotism, in order to enforce by
threats the doubtful claims of Don PACIFICO. In
every instance, and each of them is too notorious
to be doubted, we find the foreign policy of Lord
PALMERSTON to be the ignoble practice of commit-
ting injustice on the weak and submitting to it
from the strong ; leaving the legitimate inference
that, in the question which is now agitating all
Europe, his diplomatic skill and official experience
would have been displayed in a similar manner, to
be followed by his inimitable ingenuity in explain-
ing away all the charges, made against him. Not-
withstanding, however, the little reliance we place
on his regard for the national honour in foreign
affairs, we believe that he is far more of a Conser-
vative in domestic policy than many of his col-
leagues, and that,with an eye to his future position
on the inevitable and speedy break-up of the coali-
tion Ministry, he has manfully resisted the designs
of Lord JOHN RUSSELL to make the proposed
Reform Bill a means of democratic extension in
the government of the country.

rived at no one will attempt to dispute, for it must
be easier in the addition or multiplication of pence
to put down the -onit, and carry on the other
figures, than to labour through the process of
dividing the product by twelve. So, in the treat-
ment of shillings, the unit, as at present, will be
retained, and the divikion of the remainder by two
will be saved. Thus far the advantages of the
proposed decimal systemmay be readily admitted,
and, no doubt, that is keeping accounts and
making the calculations which are continually
being required in commercial transactions, there
will be a saving of time and labour, sufficient in
some large establishments to save the cost of one
clerk. But what is the price which must be paid
for this obvious advantage ? Not simply a slight
change which will be willingly consented to, but a
retention of the present pound sterling, and a posi-
tive re-construction of the rest of our monetary
system, involving an alteration in the value of our
copper coinage, which enters more than any other
into the every-day affairs. and monetary transac-
tions of the vast majority of our population, and
those, too, the least likely to take readily, or even
to comprehend, new ways.. By the present system
the penny—which is used for toll at our ferries,
for postage, for receipt stamps, and as the price of
a multitude of articles—is the two hundred and
fortieth part of a pound ; by the proposed system
it must represent either the two hundredth or the
two hundred and fiftieth part of a pound,wronging
in one case or the other the payer or the receiver.
Some of the speeches slightly touched upon the
necessity of decimalising our weights and mea-
sures, but though that part of the question was
postponed, it is absolutely indispensable to the
other. In discussing the question, however, some
of the speakers dwelt on the inconveniencies aris-
ing from the conflicting weights and measures
used in different districts, owing to the variety of
local customs. No clearer argument could have
been adduced to show the impracticability of en-
forcing the proposed decimal currency system. By
the act of 5 and 6 George IV., passed in 1825, or
nearly thirty years since, all weights and measures
were required to be copies of the imperial standards
deposited in the Exchequer ; and by the act 4 and
5 William IV., c. 49, passed in August, 1834, local
weights and measures were abolished, and all
contracts made by any other than the imperial
standards were declared to be null and void. Yet, I
despite the stringency of these regulations, which
were to equalise all commercial transactions,wheat
is still sold in Liverpool at per 701bs. ; butchers'
meat in London at per 81bs., instead of the im-
perial stone of 141bs. ; and local customs are
maintained as though the law were not in exist-
ence. If, therefore, people cling to their old and
well accustomed ways in defiance of acts of Parlia-
ment, of what avail will be an act to convert
farthings and pence into mils and cents when the
old names and the old values will be adhered to,
unless the almost impossible alternative be adopted
of withdrawing all the present small coinage from
circulation, an operation involving immense ex-
pense, and a delay which has been computed at
twenty years ? Merchants, accountants, and clerks
may be readily convinced of the saving of time and
trouble in keeping their books, and may unite in
adopting the proposed system, without troubling
the Legislature, but the long-practised habits of
millions of people are not so easily changed, and
their transactions in the buying and selling of
small quantities are those which would be most
affected. There is, however, another difficulty in
the sub-division of small quantities for which no
advantage in large transactions would prove a
compensation. Under a decimal system, division
could only take place by fifths and tenths, render-
ing halves and quarters utterly impracticable, so
that, in the purchase of minute portions of goods,
in which the poor are chiefly interested, they would
be constant losers by the impossibility of finding
coins to represent the fractional parts. All the
arguments which have been used by the advocates
of the decimal system may be admitted, as far as
concerns the facilities for calculation and keeping
accounts in mercantile transactions, but beyond
this it is overloaded with difficulties which no in-
genuity in altering the coinage can surmount ; and
the instance we have alluded to with reference to
weights and measures is a proof that the long-
settled customs of a people cannot be changed by
acts of Parliament, however stringent their regu-
lations.

IF we may judge by the very numerous public
meeting which was held on Wednesday, at the
Sessions-house, the high standing of many who
took part in the proceedings, and the unanimity
which prevailed, the adoption of a decimal system'
of coinage has been placed almost beyond doubt,
as an improvement of self-evident utility, and which
only requires the formal sanction of the Legislature
to be brought immediately into practice. Before,
however, arriving at such a conclusion, it would
be as well to look more narrowly at the arguments
made use of by its promoters, the advantages which
are sought to be gained, and the difficulties with
which it may be accompanied. It will be observed
that the speakers at the meeting we have referred
to, in common with the advocates of the decimal
system elsewhere, almost confined their attention
to the advantages to be derived from the greater
facilities for calculation, and received the support
of the Principal of the Collegiate Institution on the
intelligible ground that, if arithmetic were con-
fined to decimals, it would be much easier taugh
than the present system, which combines calcula-
tions in money, and also in weights and measures..
The conclusions, therefore, which have been ar-