The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-12 00:00:00

EARLY CLOSING..

(From the Bi,eminyham Journal of October 2, 1847)
[The following letters on this subject have been handed
to us for publication. They tell their own story.]
74, Bull-street, Birmingham, Aug. 26, 1847.
GENTLEMEN,—I shall feel obliged by your favouring
me with your opinion and experience respecting the closing
of your establishment at seven o'clock, and what months
in the year you have adopted that hour for closing. A.
reply by return of post will oblige the Committee of the
Birmingham. Association for obtaining an Abridgment of
the Hours of Labour.

I remain, Gentlemen, yours, most respectfully,
WILLIAM POTTER, Hon. Sec.
Messrs. Jeffery, .21forrish and Co.,
Colapton House, Liverpool.

Compton House, 23rd September, 1847.
Siu,—We are duly in receipt of your letter of the 26th
ultimo, and regret it has not received our earlier attention ;
but, from pressure of other business, we laid it aside at
the moment, and it has since altogether escaped us. We
hope your committee will excuse this neglect. You ask
us in your letter our opinions and experience respecting
the closing our establishment at seven o'clock, and what
months in the year we have adopted that hour for closing.
We close at seven o'clock, without inconvenience, during
the months of October, November, December, January,
February, and March; but in April and September we adopt
half-past seven ; May, June, July, and August, eight. It is
clear to us that many benefits have accrued to employers
as well as employed from the curtailment thus effected in
the hours of business—much has been gained by both,
without loss to either. The praiseworthy efforts which
have been made to induce the public to abstain from late
shopping, have greatly facilitated the movement : they are
really essential to the accomplishment of the object
souent, and should, therefore, be continued periodically
until the habit has been completely forsaken. We think
this is desirable even so far as the public interest and
comfort are concerned, viewed quite apart from the bene-
fit derived by those engaged in business ; for no one can
doubt that purchases made by daylight are more agree-
ably and satisfactorily made than by gaslight. That much
may be done is evident from what has been already ac-
complished, and as soon as we find the public are prepared
for a still further curtailment—say at six o'clock during
December and January—we shall not hesitate to adopt
that as the closing hour for those months, though a fur-
ther curtailment can scarcely be expected to be perma-
nent, unless followed by a very considerable improvement
both in the moral and intellectual character of the assist-
ants generally. It must not be forgotten that this is the
grand plea upon which early closing is based, and all your
secretaries will do well to impress this powerfully and fre-
quently upon their minds. They will then, we hope, form
a proper sense of right, devote themselves more to busi-
ness purposes during business hours, possess a greater
amount of self-respect, require less looking after, obtain
more of public as well as individual confidence, and thereby
encourage the many employers to follow the example of
the few.—We are, Sir, yours respectfully,
JEFFERY, MORRISH and Co.
Mr. Wm. Potter, 74, Bull-street, Birmingham.

EXTRAORDINARY PROSELYTISM AN FAL-

MOUTH.

Under this head, the Cornwall Royal Gazette gives
some particulars of a case of the grossest character, which
has just been developed at Falmouth. It is an alarming
statement, when taken in connection with the warnings,
which were given on all hands, that Romanists are la-
bouring most actively, though most secretly, and we may
add successfully, to promote the ends of their church;
when it is proposed to plant a Roman hierarchy in Eng-
land, as archbishop and bishops, and when a member of
the English government is on his way to R.)me, if not
already there, on a mission to the Pope, evading the law
which forbids such intercourse, by the flimsy and quib-
bling pretence that he is not officially credited ; as if his
position as a cabinet minister were not official credentials.
We give the following narrative, somewhat condensed,
from the Cornwall Gazette :

Some time since, a family of ladies, Romanists, came to
Falmouth, under circumstances which made it doubtful
whether they were private individuals who had voluntarily
devoted their means and labour to the service of the Ro-
mish church, or were sent on a secret but recognised
Theyadmpei personatingpps eesainorwdnaeen.
nr ceceeAs
o,opofortnrhheeeaefpyor irusl nll,oosgibwavt
aaneesddi
anpsbeeheydroestaaoa:
isx iirimsenmigon;
sffssopoirraoecrapin
ireei
sfncertntioaontbmoitsl
their
and
priests.
Among names.
indeed,
enn-
f
dsd:that a younger member displayed considerable skill in
made themselves agreeable intimates. There was no
Among the families to whom they obtained access was
one in which a close intimacy sprung up, which was per-
mitted on the express understanding that no attempt
should be made to unsettle the faith of any of its mem-
bers. The eldest daughter of this family was led to re-
gard them with warm and confiding attachment, and was
induced to converse and correspond on the subject of re-
ligion. To all appearance, however, there was no attempt
to proselyte. The books they lent her were written by
English clergymen, and thus it seemed that she was
guided by writers of her own communion, while they
were so chosen as gradually to shake her confidence in
her church, and create a favourable feeling towards Rome.
friends to
intimacy had continued for about two years, when,
on the 19th of February last, she went to visit these friends
wrt:ae.eti:nthct
.s
et enhdf
from
se.
theotomn ,t hwe eveningh
town er e tt they eoayr
some
ladyho amd e
whore, mh oo
residedvl
holy
water
A atmessage
short
baptisedi
swasa-
toNpsriehioexei
priest,
,wmt
ahwo
serhni
nexticni r
communion,
toi her, youngneeagolusooei
osrtoee id ladywsteohdi wass urgedhe
positively y her
csheweithaned.pcveonssvieorsens
of repugnance and dread at doing so. She was then in-
duced to accompany her friend to a bedroom. The bottle
of holy water was on the table. The priest was brought
to her there, and left alone with her ! On seeing him
enter the room she burst into tears, and remained in
such a state of agitation and excitement, that during the
half-hour the interview lasted, she knew not what she
said or did ; a most natural consequence of so abrupt and
indecent an intrusion. She had never met this priest
before, except twice at table. He asked her if she had
been baptised, and on her replying that she had, he took
the bottle of water and dashed some upon her, saying
that, if anything had been defective in her former bap-
tism, it was now rectified. She remained so ill and ex-
cited all day, that, though she attempted to come down
stairs to tea, she was obliged to return immediately and
go to bed. Her friends sat with her to a late hour, and
proposed that one should remain with her through the
night, but this she would not suffer.
The charge against these people is, that they took ad-
vantage of this young lady's affection for them, and igno-
rance of the subject, to mislead her ; and when they had
so far prepared her mind, that though she had no thought
of becoming a Romanist, and shrank from the proposal
to be so, she yet would be unlikely to retract if she could
once be made to think herself committed, that they em-
ployed the means we have stated to effect their object.
And thus it had nearly been ; for, her faith previously
shaken, finding it more difficult to recede than to go for-
ward, and utterly ignorant of the nature and doctrines of
Romanism, she resolved to remain with the Romanists.
Accordingly, for about a month, she used their worship,
1 and corresponded with the priest as a member of his flock ;
but, happily, the doubts which could not but attend such
tfooufndfriheenrdsu,tlteedrlyher
igno-
rantto of the very alphabet of Popery. Unquestionable
caosnuvdedrseen
wc
tahn
doctrines of the Church of England had been represented
ageClearngdymtia)en.reqHuees
to her as Roman dogmas, while the tenets of Romanism
had been carefully kept from her knowledge. She knew
nothing of the creed of Pope Pius IV., and when she
found that every Romanist was required to profess this
creed, she felt how impossible it was to belong to a church
which held such doctrines. Her eyes were opened to the
treachery which had been practised, The snare was
broken and she was delivered.
We have only further to add that the priest, a foreigner,
Gazette reiterates its assertion.
has written to deny the statement made, but that the

- •
alippearriennotlsyheep exposed in
DISEASED SHEEP.—At the Guildhall (London) police-
in his opinion was office, on Monday, the sitting alderman was informed
diseased of the
that
small-pox,t
itihfieerled market
neadrrektehata
tnt
itullmet riesreeoafs e
infec-
tious. The Alderman requested Mr. Nice, a veterinary
surgeon to inspect the animals; and he reported that
a number of them were diseased, and that the character
of the disease appeared to him to be that of the human
small-pox. He thought they were now recovering, how-
ever; and he did not pronounce the disease to be infecti-
ous, though at the same time he would not like any sheep
of his own to be mixed with them. While this discussion
was going on, it appeared that several of the diseased
sheep had been bought by a butcher. The Alderman said
he did not believe the sheep were in a fit state for killing,
and he directed the officer to state to the butcher what
had transpired at the court, and desire him to remove
them.

4

China.

Now loading, :and" will meet with immediate
114._ For HONG KONGdltat.d WHAMPOA,
.......... • The Ship JOHN O'GAUNT,
Aliiiii JOHN 111.`lloNALn, Commander.
r----
For terms ,of, freight or passage, having superior
poop accommodations, apply to Messrs. GLADSTONE and CO.,
or to J. J. STARKEY.