The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-05-04 00:00:00

LOCAL NEWS

NEW STEAM COMPANY IN NEWRY.—A most influen-
tial meeting was held in the Assembly-rooms, Newry, on
Monday last, for the purpose of forming a company for the
purchase of a steam-vessel to ply between Newry and Liver-
pool. A resolution was passed in the affirmative, and another
that the capital of the company be £lo,ooo—a thousand
shares of £lO each.

TIIE SEE OF WORCESTER.—Dr. Pepys, the Bishop of
Sodor and Man, will be translated to the see of Worcester,
vacant by the decease of Dr. Carr ; and it is expected that
Dr. Short, rector of Bloomsbury, will be promoted to Sodor
and Man.

THE PRESIDENT.—No intelligence of this vessel has yet
been received, but there has not been any arrival from Ber-
muda later than the 30th ult., and we have no news from the
West Indies sufficiently late to have reached there had she
missed Bermuda, and made for that quarter. We trust
sincerely that the expectation arising from this circumstance,
and still adhered to, may yet be realised.
LORD WALDEGRAVE AND CAPTI.IN DUFF.—On Thurs-
day last Lord Waldegrave and Captain Duff were brought up
in the Court of Queen's Bench, to receive judgment for the
assault on a policeman. As the affidavits on the part of the
prisoners were not quite ready, Sir F. Pollock requested the
court to postpone the case for a short time. Lord Denman
then said, " Let it stand peremptorily for Monday" (yester-
day.)

LARCENY.—Mary Ann Bowman, a respectably-dressed
young woman, who appeared greatly affected by the situation
in which she was placed, was brought before Mr. Rushton,
on Saturday, charged with having robbed Mr. William Davis,
laceman, of Buoy-street. Thomas Ainsworth, constable,
stated, that, on Wednesday, the 21st April last, he was called
into the shop of Mr. Clarke, Scotland-road, where he found
the prisoner detained. Her box was pointed out to him, in
a front bedroom, which, having obtained the key from the
prisoner, he opened, and found several articles of finery,
which had been stolen. He took her to the Police-office;
hut, as the charge was not pressed, she was not detained.
He kept the articles, and subsequently found that they be-
longed to Mr. Davis. He went to Manchester, and there
found the prisoner at a shop, in Oxtord-street. He took her
into custody, and again examined her box, in which he found
several articles of jewellery, which had been since claimed
by Mr. Davis. She confessed that she had taken the pro-
perty, and said she must have been prompted to it by the evil
spirit. Mrs. Davis said, the prisoner had worked in her ser-
vice as a milliner, and that while she was there they had
missed goods from the shop, and also the jewellery. The
prisoner appeared overcome with grief, and held her hands
imploringly to Mr. Rushton. Mr. Rushton said, " 1 can do
nothing for you : you have here committed several felonies."
The 'prisoner appealed to Mr. Davis, and begged him to have
mercy on her. Mr. Rushton : " Mr. Davis has no power to
have mercy on her. You have stolen those articles, and you
must suffer for it. You had no excuse • many poor persons
are tried and punished for stealing who are, perhaps, urged
to it by necessity."

THE BIRKENIIEAD WATER BILL.—A meeting was held
on Friday evening, at the Town-hall, Birkenhead, in con-
sequence of a placard which had appeared, summoning the
ratepayers to consider the proposed water bill, now before
parliament. J. D. Case, Esq. in the chair.—Mr. Brodribb
opposed the bill, upon the principle that the rates for water
were excessive.—Mr. Appleton defended the bill, upon the
grounds that it was a boon to the public, and a water company
being much wanted, as the supply was good and wholesome
in some parts of the township, and not in others : and there-
fore, if the ratepayers were supplied by a company, all would
benefit thereby.—Mr. Laycock contended that the ratepay-
ers had not besn fairly dealt with, and that they had not
been consulted by the promoters of the bill.—Mr. Jackson,
in replying to the observations which had been made, de-
clared that his object in promoting the bill was for the public
good as well as his own ; that a feeling had been excited
against him very unhandsomely, and that he had been un-
fairly dealt with. Mr. Jackson offered the contract to the
Birkenhead shareholders if it was wished by the ratepayers,
and that the commissioners might take the water-works off
his hands on payment of part of his expenses in going to par-
liament, and the cost of the works. Mr. Jackson concluded
an animated address in declaring that be only wanted fair
remuneration for his risk, capital, and outlay.—Mr. Mallaby
stated the part he had taken in the matter, and signified his
intention to resign his office of clerk to the commissioners,
in consequence of his not being allowed by them to give any
other than a legal opinion upon matters before them.

DEATH OF GENERAL HARRISON.—MEETING AT THE
GRECIAN HOTEL.—On Friday evening a meeting of Ameri-
can merchants, shipmasters, and others, convened by pla-
cards, was held at the Grecian Hotel, Dale-street, for the
purpose of adopting such measures as might be deemed ap-
propriate to express their grief at the death of General Har-
rison, late president of the United States. The chair was
occupied on the occasion by Francis B. Ogden, Esq., of New
York. The chairman opened the proceedings by briefly stat-
ing the object for which the meeting had been convened.
He said there was no distinction of party on the present oc-
casion, but that they were assembled in a foreign country, as
Americans, to resolve upon the proper mode of expressing
their respect for the memory of their deceased president.
Captains Bridges, Smith, and Lowber were then appointed
a deputation to prepare suitable resolutions, and they having
retired for that purpose, Mr. John B. Murray, of New York,
the secretary, addressed the meeting. He, as an American
citizen, begged to say that they had been called to meet to-
gether that evening to express their sense of the deep regret
they felt at becoming acquainted with the melancholy intelli-
gence of the death of the president of the United States.
They had come not to speak of General Harrison as the whig
candidate, but as their departed president, as the man whom
the majority of their fellow-citizens had called to the chief
office of the country, and whose loss they mourned. He (the
secretary) for one felt that he had lost a father because their
president had departed, and when their country lost its pre-
sident, he felt that he had lost a friend. He hoped that every
gentleman present felt a deep sense of the loss they were suf-
fering under, and that when their proceedings should be
taken back to the department of state, it would be seen in
America that they, in Liverpool, though they resided in a fo-
reign land, did not forget their home, their president, or their
fellow-citizens. Thanks were returned to the chairman and
secretary, and the meeting separated.

" The table and petition nuisance" has been again in ope-
ration on our footpaths during the past week. What are the
police doing? The obstruction to passengers is most incon-
venient.

INDICATIONS OF SPRlNG.—Considering the chilly and
unsettled weather that, with slight exceptions, we have expe-
rienced until within the last day or two, our readers will
scarcely be prepared for the tokens which " smiling spring"
has now given of her bland and cheering presence. In seve-
ral places in the neighbourhood, the note of the cuckoo has
been beard, and on Friday week swallows were seen in great
numbers. On Tuesday last a hive of bees swarmed in the
garden of Cuthbert Simpson, Esq., of Woolton. This may
be considered the most striking fact of all, the usual period
being anticipated by at least a month.

BURGLARY.—EarIy on Friday morning some thieves ef-
fected an entrance into the house of Mr. Nathan, watch-
maker, Castle-street, by getting through the coal-vault into
the kitchen. They forced open several drawers, but de-
camped without taking any thing with them, probably hav-
ing been disturbed whilst at their nefarious work.

EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY.—The report of this excellent
institution we are glad to see has been much called for. We
drew attention, when it was first published, to the important
practical remarks attached to it by Mr. Neill, the operating
surgeon, and we cannot too strongly press the claims of the
charity, or the observations of Mr. Neill, upon the consi-
deration of our readers.

On Saturday night and Sunday morning this town was
visited by a severe storm of rain, accompanied with thunder
in the distance. On Saturday the weather was extremely
sultry, but on Sunday we experienced a sudden change—the
atmosphere being thick and hazy, and the rain descending
the whole day. Yesterday, however, was seasonable, and
like a May-day. We. perceive, from the London papers,
that the metropolis was visited by a similar storm, though of
rather more severity.

CAUTION TO CARTERS.—About eleven o'clock on Satur-
day morning, a carter, named John Gay, who was riding in
his cart near St. John's Market in a state of intoxication,
ran over a child, and seriously injured it. The child was
immediately taken up, and it walked as far as Hood-street,
and then dropped down. Policeman No. 202 took the driver
into custody ; but not until after having had his coat torn in
a struggle with him. Yesterday he was brought up before
Mr. Rushton, when a certificate from a surgeon was produ
ced, stating that the child was in considerable danger. The
prisoner said some woman had unbuckled the horse's reins,
and that he saw the child walk under the feet of the animal,
but he could not stop, although he shouted. He was willing
to pay the expenses of the doctor. Mr. Rushton said that
would not do, and he must be remanded till the fate of the
child was known.

STREET ROBBERY.—A bad character, named James Mill-
ward, was brought up at the police-court yesterday, on a
charge of having picked the pocket of Mrs. Hannah Jones,
the wife of a grocer in High-street, Bangor, of five sovereigns,
a crown-piece, and a half-crown. Mrs. Jones stated, that
she was looking for her lodgings in Pownall-street about nine
o'clock on Saturday night, and that when she was with her
daughter at the corner of Liver-street the prisoner jostled
against her, and immediately afterwards she felt his hands in
her pocket. The next moment she felt that her purse had
been taken. She charged the prisoner with the robbery, and
on the police being called for he ran off. He was, however,
secured, by policeman No. 70, after a severe struggle in Park-
lane. Four half-crowns were found upon him. The pri-
soner strongly denied the charge, but being positively sworn
to by Mrs. Jones and her daughter, he was committed for
trial at the ensuing sessions.

DEATH OF GENERAL DONKIN, M.P.—This venerable
and gallant general terminated his existence at Southampton
on Saturday last. We are informed the deceased general,
who was on a tour on the coast for the benefit of his health,
which for some time past has caused much anxiety to his
family connections, had only arrived a few days previously,
attended by a person in charge of him, and that having availed
himself of the temporary absence of his attendant succeeded
in hanging himself. The deceased had been upwards of 63
years in the army. lie was surveyor-general of the ordnance,
a K.C.B. and and colonel of the 11th or North
Devonshire regiment of foot, to which regiment he was re-
moved from the 80th, of which regiment he was colonel-in-
chief many years. He was returned as member of parlia-
ment in 1832 and 1835 for Berwick, and was returned at the
last election for Sandwich, for which place there is now a
vacancy in the representation.

Miss E. HAMILTON'S CONCERT.—Miss E. Hamilton's
concert took place at the Wellington-rooms, on Thursday
last, and was most fashionably and numerously attended.
The fair beneficiarie delighted her audience with some three
or four pretty ballads, which she sung in a chaste and pleas-
ing style. Her sister, Miss Hamilton possesses a fine con-
trait voice of considerable power. Miss Vviitnall sang with
much sweetness a charming ballad of Lover's,—the chorus at
the close of each verse having a novel and singular effect.
Mr. Andrews free base voice was very effective in Calcott's
song—" Friend of the Brave". The concerto on the piano-
forte by Mr. Elliot, displayed much brilliancy of execution,
taste, and feeling. It was deservedly applauded. In conse-
quence of Mr. Walton being prevented leaving Manchester,
Mr. Henry Dodd supplied his place, the change leaving no-
thing to be wished for. Mr. Dodd sung a very difficult and
capital song of Horn's—that most charming composer—en-
titled "The Troubadour". It is somewhat new in Liverpool.
It appeared to be well relished. It was given with powerful
effect, good taste, and feeling. Tenors with fine names
could not have made more of it. How is it that this very ca-
pital singer is so seldom engaged at the concerts continually
given here ? Mr. Dodd is generally liked. His voice is a
noble one, and his songs are always relished by the public.—
It appears remarkable that singers should be brought from
neighbouring towns, when we have those who are in good
favour amongst us. Mr. Dodd is not the only instance of
talent being neglected. There is a Mr. Jackson—why is it
that the concert " givers " do not engage him. Without
doubt he is the first violincello performer in this part of Eng-
land—indeed we question if there is better or superior to
him anywhere. At a late concert, a song in which he ac-
companied was rapturously encored, merely for the purpose
of again hearing him " wake the sweet notes in passing
along." Yet these stupid concert givers are so blind to their
interest and so regardless of taste, that they will not give a
man art engagement who has no superior—from some unac-
countable feeling—arising, nobody knows why, and nobody
knows wherefore. We would rather, positively, hear Mr.
Jackson's violincello for half an boor, than listen to all the
singers in Liverpool put together a day !
DBEADFUL TRAGEDY AT RHYL, IN FLINTSHIRE.—We
have the painful duty of recording one of those cases of the
incautious use of fire-arms which have been too frequent in
this country of late years. The following are the particu-
lars :—A young man, named John Hickson, about twenty-
one years of age, by trade a cooper, and whose father is a
respectable master baker, in Hodgson-street, in Chester.
became enamoured, it appears, some time since, with the
daughter of a small farmer, 'residing at Rhyl ; the conse-
quence was that pregnancy ensued. He had, it should be
observed, not quite finished his apprenticeship, and, his in-
tentions of marrying her becoming known to his parents,
they strongly opposed the alliance. The young man, how-
ever, resolved upon saving her from disgrace, and accordingly
married her on Easter Monday last. Her father, last week,
made overtures that she should return home, for a given
period, until her husband could provide a habitation for her.
This was agreed upon, and on Thursday, the 22nd ult., he
left with his wife for Rhyl. They reached in safety, and,
after dinner on the following day, Mr. Hickson and his
wife retired to the kitchen, no one else being present. At
this moment he took up a gun belonging to his father-in-
law, and, not being aware that it was loaded, held it towards
his wife, saying, ," I'll shoot you," or words to that effect.
He unfortunately pulled the trigger, and the contents entered
her head, and she expired in three minutes afterwards, to the
great horror of her husband, father, and all who soon en-
tered the house. A coroner's inquest was held on the body
on Monday last, when the jury, after a careful investigation
of the evidence, returned a verdict of " Accidental death ;"
thus exonerating, as all persons did, her husband from any
wilful intention of doing the deceased any harm. What a
melancholy lesson the above fatal circumstance ought to
teach all persons who carelessly leave fire-arms openly ex-
posed in their habitations, likewise those individuals who so
imprudently use them.—Journal.
THE CHINA TRADE.—The merchants interested in the
East India and China trade in the city, at Liverpool, at Glas-
gow, and other principal ports of the United Kingdom, have
drawn out strong remonstrances against the ratifications by
our government of the basis of the arrangement sent home by
Captain Elliot, her majesty's plenipotentiary in China, for
the adjustment of the differences with the celestial empire,
and for placing the commercial intercourse on a better foot-
ing for the future. A deputation from the East India and
China trade association had an interview with Lord Palmer-
ston upon this highly important subject on Wednesday last.
The deputation consisted of Mr. Crawford, M.P., Mr. Hors-
ley Palmer, Mr. Jardine, Mr. Jamieson, and Mr. Milligan.
The deputation rested their complaints mainly on two points
—namely, the inadequacy of the indemnity proposed to be
paid by the Chinese government to this country, and the
want of any sufficient security having been provided for the
personal safety and independence of British residents in China,
by the arrangements which Captain Elliot was said to have
entered into with the Chinese plenipotentiary. The answer
of Lord Palmerston was, to the effect, that as he was ac-
quainted only with the principles agreed to between the ple-
nipotentiaries, namely, that the emperor was to cede to the
British crown a territorial possession in China, that an in-
demnity was to be paid to the British government, and that
the official intercourse between the two countries was for the
future to be conducted on terms of perfect equality. As yet,
his lordship knew nothing beyond the admission of these
important principles ; and as it was expressly stated that the
details were to be the subject of further negotiation, it neces-
sarily followed that it was impossible for his lordship to come
to any conclusive opinion as to the acts of the British ple-
nopitentiary until in the full possession of the details of the
further negotiations so alluded to.

ROBBERY AND STABBING.-At the Police-eourt, on
Friday, an ill-looking fellow of the name of James Steele
was put forward on a charge of having, in company with one
or two others, entered the house of Mr. John Wren, tea-
dealer, of No. 92, Finch-street, at a late hour the night
before, and taken therefrom some silver spoons. He was
further charged with having drawn a clasp-knife on one of the
police-officers, from which the latter had narrowly escaped.
Officer 156 stated that he was in Finch-street about ten
minutes past two o'clock the night before, and that he ob-
served two men going along the parapet. When they heard
his footsteps they proceeded up a court that was in the
neighbourhood. He followed with a view of ascertaining
who they were, but on discovering his approach they came
out, and as fast as he. went so fast did they continue to keep
ahead of him. Before he reached the top of Moss-street
they got out of sight. He went round into London-road,
passed several streets, and at length heard footsteps coming
along Finch-street. He then observed the prisoner, who
was habited at the time in a glazed cap and coat, and went
across to meet him and two others who accompanied him.
They continued, however, to evade him for some time, but
eventually he followed them through Mill-street, and came
up with the prisoner. The !Aber two made off. Having
asked him what he was loitering about the streets for at that
advanced hour of the night, he replied that he was on his
way home, and that he lived at the top ofCopperas-hill.
The officer expressed a wish to accompany him part of the
Way, but to this the fellow would not consent, and turning
round, the officer heard him make a noise resembling that of
the click of a pistol. He then faced the officer, and made a
thrust with a large clasp-knife at his mouth, which the
. latter
parried off. He then made a second. furious attempt to
stab the officer, but having missed him
.he took to his
heels. The officer followed closely, and while the
_f_ell ow was
in the act of scaling a wall, with the view of effecting his
escape, the officer struck him a blow on the head, and spee-
dily brought him to the ground. A desperate rencoutrethe n
took place between the parties, in the course of which the
fellow made five or six other attempts to stab the officer, but
failed. The officer then gave him a blow upon the arm,
which in some measure disabled him, and he ran into Isling-
ton, where he was knocked down by officer No. 5, who hap-
pened to be on duty in the neighbourhood at the time, and
when lying on the ground the open knife was discovered
under his thigh. One dessert spoon, one teaspoon, one salt
spoon, and one dessert fork, were found wrapped up in a
handkerchief on his person.—Sarah Tomlinson, servant to
Mr. Wren, identified the property found on the prisoner as
bring that of her master. It appeared that the prisoner and
his companions had effected an entrance into the house by
ren-oving the coal-grid and forcing the kitchen-door. Three
skeleton keys, a piece of a candle, and a quantity of lucifer
matches, were found upon the floor of Mr. Wren's house,
and also upon the kitchen floor.—Mr. Rushton asked what
the accused had to say for himself ?—The prisoner replied
that he had been cruelly treated by the officers, and that they
had nearly killed hiro.—Mr. Rushton expressedhis satisfac-
tion at finding that he had been captured, and directed him
to be sent for trial.

SKETCHES IN PARLIAMENT.-:

.No. 5

(FOR THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.)

DEBATES ON LORD MORPETH'S REGISTRATION
BILL ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, AND

THE BUDGET ON FRIDAY

The proceedings in the House of Commons during the last
three nights have been of so extraordinary a nature that I
find it utterly impossible even to attempt a detailed sketch of
them, much less of any portion of them. The whole three
nights' debate constitute in fact only one scene—one act of
the ministerial scramble for the prolongation of their term of
official existence. Different although the subjects of debate
may appear on the two first nights and on the third, yet it is
impossible to separate them ; for the budget on Friday is as
essentially coloured throughout by the defeat of the preceding
night, and the declaration of the ministerial views upon the
question of the corn-laws is as essentially produced and in-
fluenced by that defeat, as if the regulation of the budget and
the corn-laws both were mere clauses introduced to render
nugatory the Conservative principle introduced by the majo-
rity on Thursday into Lord Morpeth's registration measure.
The interest excited by the debate on Wednesday night, if
possible, exceeded that displayed on the preceding Monday.
By five o'clock the house was filled in every part, and so
pressing had been the ministerial circulars that the members
of that party were strictly enjoined not to absent themselves
for a moment without being provided with a pair. It was
soon, however, made evident that on that evening the divi-
sion was not to take place, and that the proceedings of
ministers were to be merely of a " retarding" character.
After a debate of between five and six hours, upon a motion
of Mr. Hume to confer the franchise upon £5 rated occu-
pants from year to year—a proposition which, it must be evi-
dent, could never by any chance have received the sanction
of the house—the farce of dividing began, and continued un-
interruptedly from a quarter before eleven o'clock till nearly
two in the morning!
Such of your readers as have not attended the debates in
the House of Commons may be interested to know how a
division is managed. The gallery you will be well aware is
immediately closed; and, in addition, the ante-room next to
the house is cleared of strangers, and shut. Between this
room and the house itself the division is taken by two tellers
on each side, and the name of every member voting is taken
down. For such a process it must be evident that consider-
able time is necessary, especially in a full house; and upon
this occasion the time occupied by each division was upwards
of half• an hour. From a Conversation which took place
through a loophole of the lobby-door, between a member in-
side and a member shut out, no secret was made of the fact
that there was a majority against Ministers in the house, and
that the ruse of dividing would be continued for that evening
at least ; and my only inducement to stay longer in the house
was to witness the barefaced recklessness with which the
System was persevered in by Ministers until the Conservative
members were worn out into submission. The house at
length adjourned, with the understanding that a bond" fide
division upon the main question should take place imme-
diately upon its meeting on Thursday.
The interest displayed on this occasion continued unabated
on Thursday, and the house was crowded at an early hour.
From the very commencement of the proceedings it was
apparent that the " wind-up" could not be much longer de-
ferred ; and the debate accordingly partook more of the na-
ture of explanations of the views by which the contending
parties had been actuated—intermingled by the Ministerialists
with splenetic personalities—than of a discussion of the real
merits of the question before the house. Lord Morpeth, in
his peculia►ly sublime manner, expressed his sorrow at ob-
serving that the right hon. baronet, the member for Tam-
worth, " had been compelled to throw himself into the head-
long and impetuous career" of Lord Stanley—a course which
before long he feared he would have " bitter reasons to re-
gret ;" although what the nature of these reasons might be
he was not kind enough to disclose. The noble lord, how-
ever, would evidently have consulted his own ease better by
refraining from an attack—even by a side-wind—upon an
antagonist so prompt with his weapons as Lord Stanley,
who in a reply of infinite power made complete mincemeat of
the noble secretary and his bill at the same time, announcing
boldly and unreservedly that, in the vote which he was about
to give, his object was to get rid of it altogether!
After several vain attempts to prolong the discussion, by
Mr. flume and others, and the administration of a little of
what Mr. Sam Slick would term " soft sawder" to her Ma-
jesty's Ministers by Mr. Daniel O'Connell (on behalf of the
people of Ireland), for their good intentions—(a commodity
with which we are told that a certain place is " paved with,"
and which may possibly constitute the floor of that " slough
of despond" which Ministers are all but in at the present
moment)—the house divided, and the Ministry were defeated
by a majority of eleven!

The scene presented upon the opening of the gallery was
of the most animated description, and, like a debutant at
Tyburn tree, or in the stocks, Lord John Russell found him-
self " the observed of all observers"—not much perhaps to
his inward gratification, vain and inflated as most undoubt-
edly he is. After a whole heap of regrets—a profession of
utter inability to comprehend what his opponents would be
at, and (strangest of all!) an earnest wish to know what Sir
Robert Peel would advise him to do under the circumstances,
his lordship concluded a flighty and at the same time feeble
speech, by moving "that the chairman do leave the chair,"
—a suggestion which Sir Robert Peel in a speech charac-
terized by great power and most happy effect heartily con-
curred in. The right hon. baronet repudiated in emphatic
terms the imagination thrown out by Lord Morpeth, that he
was under the coercion of the noble member for North Lan-
cashire ; and compared, in terms which called forth roars of
laughter from the house, the " perfect cordiality" existing
amongst the conservative party with the distracted condition
and divided affections manifested amongst Lord John's sup-
porters. The house then adjourned at a little past nine.
But come we now to

" The last scene of all,
Which crowns this strange eventful—history,"

the poet has it, but " farce" would be the more appropriate
term. Again the house was crowded at an early hour ; and
now let me direct the attention of the conservative merchants
of Liverpool to the working of what I observe Mr. William
Rathbone called the "TRAP" set for them, upon the occa-
sion of a late public meeting held in your town. Lord. San-
don presented a petition from 600 and odd merchants, bankers,
&c., of the town of Liverpool, " praying for a revision of our
commercial tariff." Instanter Mr. Wm. Ewart presented a
petition signed by 53,000 ! ! inhabitants of the borough of
Liverpool,—(l really was not aware you had that number of
male adhlts in all your population)—praying for a total re-
peal of the corn-laws ; Mr. Mark Philips presented a similar
petition from Manchester, and then—the trap fell, and Lord
John Russell announced that on the 31st of May the minis-
try would bring on the question of the corn-laws as a cabinet
question, "upon which ministers were undivided in opinion" !
I will not comment upon the position of the " trapped" con-
servatives of Liverpool in this little scene ; but merely re-
mark that without a strong protest they stand committed—
in the eyes of the public at least—not only to the budget, as
subsequently introduced, but also to Lord John's corn-law
measure whatever it may he.

It is utterly impossible for me to convey to you even the
slightest idea of the sensation created by Lord John Russell's
notice. The radical section—the anti-corn-law portion—of
his lordship's supporters were in the " seventh heaven," and
I verily thought would have shouted for a month. There
were, however, a few of the " liberal" landed gentry upon
the ministerial benches who were not disposed to be so joy-
ous upon the occasion, whilst the great body of the conserva-
tive party stood perfectly aghast at this frantic effort of their
beaten opponent, to fire the powder-magazine and blow up
the ship, rather than strike his colours. Their alarm how-
ever was a little abated by the discovery that the day, upon
which his lordship in his haste had fixed—the 31st of May—
was actually a holiday;—was Whit-Monday ! The noble
lord, however, who had not had time apparently since the
night before, when this desperate step was resolved upon, to
look at the calendar, intimated that if the Monday he had
fixed upon was Whit-Monday, he would put off his motion
until the Monday after, or some other convenient day ; and
the excitement having a little subsided, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer proceeded to bring in "what he called a budget.'
Of the delectable scheme introduced by the chancellor I

need not attempt any description, for, in reality, neither the
manner nor the matter of the right honourable gentleman
were very lucid. Its main features, however, are a reduction
of the duties upon slave-grown sugars—let the abolitionists
of slavery in our colonies bear this in mind—from 635. to 365.
per cwt., and a reduction of the duty upon Baltic timber
from 555. to 505., with an increase of that upon Canadian
timber from 10s. to 20s. per load. The decrease in question
upon Baltic timber may be something very like the kind of
modification of the tariff proposed at the late meeting by the
" men of all parties" in Liverpool ; but I must confess I
cannot see how the mercantile or the shipping interest can
be benefitted—putting our colonists out of the question alto-
gether—by doubling the present duty upon colonial timber.
That, however, is not my affair.
The debate which followed was of a desultory character,
and in fact necessarily so. The Chancellor of the Exche-
quer had given only a mere outline of his plan—his estimates
of the revenue which it would produce, but not a syllable to
shew upon what data those estimates had been prepared. Mr.
Goulburn, indeed, endeavoured to grapple with what he could
find of detail, and went into a statement, (which ought to be
placarded throughout every Whig-radieal borough in the king-
dom,) of the financial doings of Lord Melbourne's ministry,
since their accession to office with a SURPLUS of HALF A
MILLION: until the present hour, when they have contrived
with a revenue which has increased upwards of two millions
annually to accumulate a deficiency, by increasing expendi-
ture, which amounts now to SEVEN MILLIONS AND A HALF
Mr. W. E. Gladstone, by a few queries addressed to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, which that eminent functionary
was at a loss to reply to effectually, convinced the house that
the whole affair, as to the sugar duties at least, was a loose
experiment. Lord Sandon, Lord Francis Egerton, and other
honourable members pressed for some definite notion of the
ministerial intentions with respect to the corn-law ; but in
vain. All that the world knows with respect to the probable
working of the financial scheme, and the nature and extent
of the ministerial attack upon the agriculture of the country,
is confined to this. Some claptrap proposition must be got
up to form an electioneering topic ; and we shall know more
of the chancellor's details andldata—when he has learnt more
himself—and of Lord John's corn-law bill, when he knows
the precise amount of fixed duty which will, by ensuring its
rejection, make another appropriation clause of it !

OUR PORTRAIT GALLERY.—tio. VI