The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-21 00:00:00

NORWICII UNION FIRE OFFICE

On Tuesday last, the annual general meeting of the pro-
prietors of this great society was held in the Board-room of
the Office, in Su-rev-street, Norwich, which was nearly filled
by shareholders.—The chair was taken soon after I'2 o'clock
by the president, E. T. Booth, Esq., who having shortly
opened the business, the secretary, Samuel Bignold, Esq.,
read the advertisement which convened the meeting, and
which stated its object to be "to receive the report of the
Board of Directors." Mr: Bignold next read the items-of-
the cash account of the society's transactions for the year
ending 28th September last ; also extracts from the quarterly
returns to the Stamp-office of the society's aggregate busi-
ness.

The PRESIDENT then rose and expressed himself as much
gratified in again meeting the members of this important es-
tablishment with a favourable report. The directors, he said,
had yesterday fully considered the present situation of the
society, and had resolved to appropriate the sum of £30,000.
profits for the past year, which gave £lB,OOO. to the In-
surance Fund, divisable amongst the policy holders, and
£12,000. to the Proprietors. By the Rules of the Society,
half the Proprietors profits were set apart and added to the
Reserve Fund, and half became available for the Yearly
Dividend. This sum, added to the Interest which accrued
upon the Original Capital of £66,000. would enable the So-
ciety again to pay its Shareholders £3 15s. per share, or
£l2l per cent. on their paid-up capital. (Hear, hear!)
Whilst he cordially congratulated them on so successful a year,
he felt it right, from past experience, to caution the Share-
holders, not to antic'pate the continuance of so high a Divi-
dend. Nevertheless the position of the Office was in all re-
spects most prosperous. First—there was the Reserve Fund,
(which had accrued from past profits) now amounting to
£45,434 wholly belonging to the Proprietors, and guarding
their original Capital of £66,000. Secondly—there *as
£36,000 in the Insurance Fund, applicable to future trien-
nial returns to the Insurers, and thirdly—there was a surplus
balance of £12,800 to the credit of the. Society on its ac-
counts for the next year. It was also a feature deserving of
notice,' that .the premiums of the year just closed, had in-
creased by £3099 and exceeded any former year since the in-
stitution of the Office. This increase of the revenues of the
Society from Premiums on Insurances, had been steadily
progressing at an average rate of £2OOO per annum for the
• last ten years: As a proof of the vast extent of the Society's
business, the President stated, that in making the return last
year of 10 per cent. to the Insurers, there had been no less
than 105,000 return receipts to prepare. He was not aware
of any further remarks which the accounts called for, but he
should be happy to answer the enquiries of any Shareholders.
JOSEPH STANNARD, Esq. wished to know when the term
of partnership by which the company was bound, would ex-
pire, and was answered that it would terminate in August,
1851, at which period the reserve fund, with all its additions,
and accumulations, would be divisable, pro rata, amongst
the holders of the shares, 2200 in number.
SAML. BIGNOLD, Esq. (the Secretary) must request per-
' Mission to congratulate the meeting upon the onward course
of this noble Institution, which in its extent and the prosperous
results of its business, was without parallel amongst provincial
offices, and was scarcely exceeded by any office in London.
Other cities and towns had their Insurance Offices, but they
were in every instance far below ours. Two years ago he
had• prepared an epitome of the then recent prOgress of the
Society and the results of its business, and flattering as was
the view thus exhibited, it had been greatly eclipsed by the
- 6Vents'Of the interiening.period. The aggregaie business
.nemi,stood at about 57. millions ; the yearly premiums.
£77,.766; the profits of the two years had enabled the Direc-.
'fbitk't6'tipportion between the two bodies, the shareholders
iiad the parties insured, no less than -X60,000 • the reserve
fund.had been largely increased; the annual dividend (against
the expectation held out last year by the worthy President)
was kept up at 12i per cent : and upon the fifteen week§
which had already :passed of the current year, they stood
considerably lighter in amount of loss, than they did as corn-
Pared with the previous year, or with any year on record 1
(Hear, hear.) The Society he was proud to gay enjoyed,
and justly so, a high reputation for honourable dealing. --T
"We have had no litigation or jar in any. direction; all is
smooth and tranquil throughout our vast connexion." These •
(Mr. B. added) are facts on which we may 'with exultation
dwell, and challenge comparison with any other similar
Society in the kingdom. As to the future, he considered
their prospects most cheering. So great an Institution
as this, effecting yearly, new insurances to the amount
of between six and seven millions, could not be 'Carried on
without heavy expenses; but he noticed with satisfaction,
that, under one head, that of the postage of letters, there
would be a great saving effected by the government measure
of the penny postage. In the last three days he had received
and attended to the contents of upwards.of 100 letters. The
change would doubtless add much to his duties; both on
this ground, and the great addition in the last few years to
the business of the Office, he felt called upon, in justice to
himself, to direct_ the attention of the Proprietors to the
Clause.in the Deed of Settlement, which regulated the com-
pensation to him Self and big colleague. It was framed on a
principle of augmentation with the rise of the Society, .up to
45 millions, but it, there stopped. Now what he must submit
was,. that the Office having passed that limit, to the extent of
:12' millions, some consideration was due to its officers for the
additional duties thus cast upon them, and.whieh would as-
suredly have been provided for in the Original Deed, had it
;ever,been'contemplated that this Society would have grown
to such a great Institution as it was now become. Mr. Big-
nold further stated, that,• in drawing the attention of the
Shareholders to the subject, lie did not contemplate the
adoption by them of any resolution, because it was a matter
which devolved on the Board of Directors_; they had the
Power, and all he sought at the hands of the Proprietors was,
the expression of an opinion, that, it was a subject which
inight fitly be entertained by the Board. Mr. Bignold de-
clarcl that he had never, most remotely, consulted with any
one on the matter lie had• thus introduced ; and be the deci-
sion on it what it might, his most sedulous attention would,
as in times past, be given to the promotion of the great in-
terests of this important Society.
After some. discussion, in which Lieut.-Col. Harvey, T.
Bignold; Esq., Edward Browne, Esq. and Adam Taylor,
'Esq.•(the colleague of Mr. S. Bignold) took part.
• JOHN STRACEY, Esq. (one of the Society's Trustees) said,
that conceiving this to be a matter which rested wholly with
the Board of Directors—a fact Mr. Bignold himself allowed
—he should move, that it be referred to that body, " to take
into consideration the services of the Secretaries, with refer-
ence to the great increase of the Society's business, which is
now nearly 57 millions, and has advanced 12 millions since
any addition has been made to their remuneration."
WILLIAM RACKH AM, Esq. entirely concurred in what had
fallen from Mr. Stracey, and most willingly seconded the
proposition. The President having put the same to the meet
ing, declared it to be carried unanimously.
The PRESIDENT then announced that the Dividend to the
Shareholders would be payable at the Treasurers, Messrs.
Gurneys, on and after the 27th inst. and quitted the chair,
whereupon it was moved by EDWARD BROWNE, Esq. of
Hethersett, and seconded by W. M. SEPPINGS, Esq. " that
the warmest thanks of the proprietors be given to the Di-
rectors and Officers for their successful conduct of the affairs
of the Society, and to the President for the ability with which
he has discharged the duties of Chairman this day." (Hear,
hear.)
We need scarcely add, that this meeting separated in great
good feeling at the auspicious state of the affairs of the So-
ciety, and we most sincerely congratulate our fellow-citizens
at large, and the Managers of this noble Society in particular,
on the highly honourable place which the Norwich Union
Fire Office enjoys, as one of the best managed and most suc-
cessful Offices in the kingdom.

RIVER RIBBLE NAVIGATION.—The excavation of the
coffer dam is now completed, and has been executed to the
most entire satisfaction of Mr. Stevenson and the directors.
Every part of the work is progressing as favourably as possi-
ble, and is proceeding with great spirit and activity. Next
week the annual meeting takes place.—Preston Chronicle.
Last week a government commission was engaged in
making inquiries at the different towns along this coast,
rezarding the necessary protection that will be required to
guard our fishermen against the incursions and annoyance of
the French fishermen ; and from what we have heard we
have no doubt the most efficient means will be adopted for
this purpose.—Dover Chronicle.
• MORECAMBE-BAY RAILWAY PROJECT. —On Saturday
last a meeting of landowners, whose property lie in the line
of the projected railway across the Bay of Morecambe, was
held at the Royal Oak, in this town, for the purpose of con-
sidering measures in opposition to the scheme. Nothing
definite was fixed upon, we understand, but we are informed
that the owners of property generally on this side the bay
are.decidedly hostile.—Lancaster Gazette.
SAVAGE ATTEMPT AT HIGHWAY ROBBERY.---AS Mr.
Varley, of St. Helen's, on his return home from Whiston, on
Thursday evening last, approached the farm-house near to
Mr. Taylor's lodge, he was waylaid by three ruffians, who
knocked him down, kicked him, and attempted to rifle his
pockets, containing £4. 10s. in money, and a valuable lever
watch ;. by a sudden exertion, he raised himself on his knees,
and threw them off him, at the same time lustily bawling
out, which brought the honest inmate of the farm-house most
opportunely to his aid. His appearance scared the villains
for the moment, but they were distinctly heard in the
is of the house for some time afterwards. It sto be
lamented that the efficient police officer of St. Helen's, Mr.
Storey, is confined by sickness at present otherwise there
might have been a good chance of the offenders being cap-
tured.—Preston paper.
THE THAMES TUNNEL.—This stupendous undertaking
progresses fast towards completion. The excavators reached
low water mark on the Middlesex shore a month or two back.
Since that time their progress has been much more rapid,
they having frequently accomplished upwards of 20 feet per
week. They are now within a very short distance of the
hank, and it is expected that in two months' time the whole
of this extraordinary excavation will be completed, The ap-
-proaches to the tunnel on either side will then have to be
formed, and this will, it is expected, prove a task of no or-
dinary difficulty. The carriage way will be by a circular
'road, and the approach for foot passengers by flights of stone
gteps. Property in the ,neighbourhood of the tunnel has al-
ready, improved nearly 20 per cent. The tunnel will be
'opened for pedestrians at least, a year before it will be ready
for :horses and carriages.—Evening paper.

SENTENCE OF DEATH ON FROST, WILLIAMS;

AND JONES.

MONMOUTH, Thursday, January 16.—1 t being understood
that sentence would be passed upon the prisoners this morning,
the court was crowded as soon as the doors were opened. Pre-
viously to the judge coming into courts Frost came to the
front of the bar, and entered into conversation with Mr. Stone,
the counsel ; with his attorney, Mr. Geaoh ; and with Feargus
O'Connor. _ _ _

At nine o'clock their lordships took their seats, and Frost,
Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones'were ordered to be
placed at the bar. Frost's countenance pourtrayerl the same
calmness which characterised it during the trial: ; Williams
appeared low and desponding ; and Jones had lost that air of
levity and carelessness which-he had previously exhibited.
Mr. BELLAMY then. addressed John Frost.—" You have
been indicted for the crime of treason ; you were arraigned
upon that indictment, and you pleaded not guilty, and for
your trial you put yourself upon your country, which country
pronounced you guilty. What have you to say why the
Court should not pass judgment upon you to dieaccording to
law ? "

After an objection had been made on an alleged misde-
scription of a juror, andoverruled, Mr. Bellamy then addressed
Zephaniah Williams and William Jones in the same manner,
but neither of the prisoners made any reply.
Proclamation was then made for all persons to kew silence
while sentence of death was being passed upon theThrisoners
at the bar. _ _ _ _

The three learned Judges having put on their black caps,
The CHIEF JUSTICE addressed the prisoners in the follow-
ing terms :—" John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William
Jones,—After the most anxious and careful investigation of
your respective cases before juries of great intelligence and
almost unexampled patience, you stand-at the bar of this court
to receive the last sentence of the law for the commission of a
crime which, beyond all others, is the most pernicious in ex-
ample, and the most injurious in its consequences to the peace
and happiness of human society—that of high treason
against your Sovereign. You can have no just ground of com-
plaint that your several cases have not met with
.the most full
consideration both from the jury and the court ; but as the
jury have in each of them pronounced you guilty of the crime
with which you have been charged, I should be wanting in
justice to them if I did not openly declare that the verdicts
which they have found meet with the entire concurrence of
my learned brethren and myself. In the case of all ordinary
breaches of the law the mischief of the offence does for the
most part terminate with the immediate injury sustained by
the individual against whom it is levelled. The man who
plunders the property, or lifts his hands against the life of his
neighbour, does by his guilty act inflict in that particular in-
stance, and to that extent, a loss or injury on the sufferer or
his surviving friends. But they who by armed numbers, or
violence, or terror, endeavour to put down established institu-
tions, and to introduce in their stead a new order of things, open
wide the floodgates of rapine and bloodshed, destroy all se-
curity of property and life, and do their utmost .to involve a
whole nation in anarchy and ruin. It has been proved in your
case that you combined together to lead from the hills at the
dead of night into the town of Newport many thousands of
men, armed in many instances with weapons of a dangerous
description, in order that they might take possession of the
town, and supersede the lawful authority of the Qucen there-
in, as a preliminary step to a more general insurrection
throughout the kingdom. It is owing to the interposition of
Providence alone that your wicked designs were frustrated.
Your followers arrived by daylight, and, after firing upon the
civil power and the Queen's troops, were, by the firmness of
the magistrates, and the cool and determined bravery of a
small band of soldiers, defeated and dispersed. What would
have been the fate of the peaceable and unoffending inhabi-
tants, if success had attended your rebellious designs, it is
useless to conjecture : the invasion of a foreign foe would in
all probability have been less destructive to property and life.
It is for the crime of treason, committed under these circum-
stances; that you are now called upon yourselves to answer •,
and by the penalty which you are about to suffer, you hold
out a warning to all your fellow-subjects that the law of your
country is strong enough to repress and to punish all at-
tempts to alter the established order of things by insurrection
and armed force, and that those who are found guilty of such
treasonable attempts, must expiate their crime by an igno-
minious death. I do, therefore, most earnestly exhort you
to employ the little time that remains to you, in preparing
for the great change that doth await you, by sincere peni-
tence and fervent prayer ; for,- although we do not fail to
forward to the proper quarter that recommendation which
the jury entrusted to us, we,:eannot hold out to you any mer-
cy-on this side the grave. And now nothing more cloth re-
main than that the court pronounce (to all of us a most pain-
ful duty)_ the last sentence of the law, which is, that each of
you, J'bhn Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones,
be taken hence to the place whence you came, and be thence
drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and that each
of you be there hanged by the neck until you be dead, and
that afterwards the head of each of you shall be severed from
his body, and the body of each, divided into four quarters,
shall be disposed of as leer Majesty shall think fit; and may
the Lord have mercy on your souls."
Frost raised his eyes during the latter part of the sentence,
but the other prisoners did not show any signs of emotion.
They were then removed from the bar.
Mr. Bellamy directed Charles Walters, John Lovell,
Richard Benfield, John Rees, and Jenkin Morgan, to be
placed at the bar, and he asked them severally whether they
had any thing to say why the court should not give them
judgment to die according to law ?
These are the prisoners who yesterday pleaded " guilty."
.

. -
Several attorneys who were concerned for them spoke to
them, apparently explaining to them that the sentence wawa
mere matter of form, and would not be carried into effect.
The CHIEF JUSTICE then addressed them, and stated that
her Majesty would be recommended to extend mercy to
them. His lordship thus concluded :—" At the same time,
looking to the active and prominent share which each of you
has taken in the lawless proceedings at Newport, on the fatal
4th of. November, we cannot hold out to you the hope of any
further mitigation than that you must be prepared to leave
your native country, and probably for the remainder .of your
lives. For, the present, and with the object of obtaining such
mitigation of the execution of your sentence, it is our duty
to paSs the sentence required by law." His lordship then
passed upon the prisoners the same sentence as in the former
case.

PERRANZABULOE; A PARISH CHURCH BURIED
IN THE SAND FOR 700 YEARS.-LATELY DIS
COVERED.
• tr. ,r-r 1

.• t':
(From the Churchman)

Of the many objects to which the attention of your readers
is deawn, in thaVarious departments of your paper, there is
4ot one which can exceed in interest the following account of
the churchof Perranzabuloe, or St. Peran, in the hundred
,
of'Pydar, in the county of Cornwall. For more than seven
hundred-years, it had been imbedded in the sand, from which
it was rescued, in the year 1835, by the persevering- exertions
of a private gentleman, William Michell, Esq., of Compreg-
ney, near Truro ; and there are many considerations which
render a description of the church, in the state in which it
was found:very 'opportune and seasonable at this moment;
for its present state affords presumptive and internal evidence
of, the fallacy of some of those pretensions in which the mem-
bers of the Ronaish communion indulge, as to the antiquity
of their church, and the pomp and splendour of their services.
It would be no difficult matter to prove, by authentic docu-
ments, that the first three centuries furnish not the slightest
authority for those -pompous ceremonies, and those puerile
observances which were introduced, and which still continue
to outrage the simplicity of the primitive worship. With re-
spect to this particular church, the sand has been accumula-
ting for many hundred years, but when completely removed,
the church was found in the most perfect state ; and it is a
very singular circumstance. that the interior contained none
• of the modern innovations and accompaniments of a Rornish
place of worship, from which the evidence is clear and indis-
putable, that it must have been built at a period anterior to the
introduction of the numerous corruptions, &c. of the Papistical
communion, and gives sanction to the well-authenticated fact,
that, in the first three or four centuries, none of those pue-
rilities and observances, borrowed either from Pagan idola-
tries, or the Jewish ritual, were known ; for the truth is,
what we see in ROmish places of worship is nothing but a
transfer of what we read from the synagogues of the Jews,
or the temples of the Pagans ; and which outvie, in particular,
in splendour and magnificence, the sacerdotal vestments with
which those were apparelled who officiated either in the one
or the other. The whole of their services is an appeal more
to the external sense, than an address to the understanding
and the affections. There was no rood left for the hanging
of the host, nor the vain display of fabricated relics—no
latticed confessional—no sacring bell (a bell rung before and
at the elevation of the host)—no daubed and decorated
images of the Virgin Mary or of saints—nothing which indi-
cated the unscriptural adoration of the wafer, or the no less
unscriptural masses for the dead. The most diligent search
was made for beads and rosaries—pyxes and Agni Dei— cen-
sers and crucifixes. Strange that this ancient church, in
which it will be borne in mind, everything was found as
perfect as at the time in which it was imbedded, should so
belie the Papists' constant appeal to antiquity—to the faith
of their forefathers—to the old religion, as it is falsely
termed, as if that were
.religion which has not a particle of
the simplicity and purity of the primitive church, to sanctify
and identify it as 'a branch from the true apostolical tree !
At the eastern end, in a plain, unornamental chancel, stands
a very neat But simple stone altar, and in the nave of the
church are stone seats, of the like simple construction,
attached to the western, northern, and southern walls. With
such humble accommodations were our fathers, who wor-
shipped God in simplicity and truth, content !
From the amiable and intelligent historian of the past and
present condition of Perranzabuloe—the Rev. C. T. Collins
Trelawny—a descendant, on the maternal side, of the good
bishop Trelawny—a name of which he may well be proud—
one of the seven of the glorious company who preferred the
gloom of a prison before submission to the mandates of an
arbitrary papistical tyrant, I have had an interesting letter,
in which, in answer to my inquiry as to the present state of
the parish church, he informs me that it is not in a condition
to admit of its being used for any purpose whatsoever, as it
is already again entombed in the sand! It was with extreme
regret that I received, this communication • for so much had
my interest been eicitedliy Mr. Trelawny's narrative, which
is beautiful and will ,well repay many a perusal, that I was
on the point of fulfilling arrangementS I had made for a sum-
mer visit to the venerated spot ; but I hope that the same
enterprising spirit by which it was five years since resusci-
tated, as it were, and recalled into being, will be again inter-
posed to -rescue it from its present entombment, and be a
temple yet appropriated to the service of the living God ! I
know not the localities ; but who in such a wish does not
join? and where is the man whose piety would not grow
warm as he worshipped within the hallowed pile of Perran-
zabuloe, as much as it would within the mouldering ruins of
lona ? It may not, perhaps, be unimportant and uninterest-
ing to add, that the tutelar saint of Cornwall was Peranus,
or, St. Perran, after whom the imbedded church was named,
and that the memory of this saint is still cherished with fond
veneration by the people of Cornwall. His annual comme-
moration is celebrated on the sth of March. Christianity
was first preached in Cornwall by Corantinus, by whom the
whole of the population was rescued from Pagan idolatry,
and converted to the Christian faith, at the end of the third
and at the commencement of the fourth century.
• JAMES RUDGE, D.D.
Hawkchurch Rectory, 18th Dec. 1839.

Mr. Hume, joint secretary to the Board of Trade, is about
to retire. M. Hume will, we understand, be succeeded by
Mr. Macgregor, whose successful discharge of the important
commercial missions on which he has been employed during
the last four years proves him to be thoroughly qualified for
the duties of the appointment now conferred on him.—Globe.

DUEL BETWEEN MR. BRADSHAW AND MR. HORSMAN,
M.P., FOR COCKERMOUTH.—On Thursday morning, a duel
took place between these gentlemen, in consequence of Mr.
Horsman having reprobated, in severe terms, Mr. Brad-
shaw's disloyalty. Mr. Horsman having received Mr. B.'s
fire, fired in the air, after which the parties withdrew.
EXTRAORDINARY CAVERN NEAR BRISTOL.—A 3 the
workmen were employed in blasting the rocks near the foun-
dation of one of the piers of the Clifton Suspension Bridge a
day or two since, they discovered a small opening. On its
being examined, it was found to lead to a cavern extending
57 feet below the surface of the ground, nearly in a perpen-
dicular direction. The exploration was made by 'Dr. Fair-
brother, with the assistance of one of the workmen. There
are several chambers at intervals ; but the descent is: difficult,
and can only be made with the assistance of ropes. The air
is tolerably pure, so that the candle burned freely during the
whole of the time (nearly two hours). At the bottom the
air was found to be excessively hot, so that the perspiration
flowed freely. In other respects the cavity presented nothing
remarkable, beyond the ordinary appearance of fissures
formed by the raising of the strata of limestone by some ex-
trordinary convulsion of nature.