The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-12-17 00:00:00

SIR HENRY POTTINGER.

On Wednesday a public entertainment was given at
Merchant Tailor's Hall to Major-General Sir Henry Pot-
tinger. Bart., by the merchants of the city of London
trading to China and the East Indies to testify their high
approval of the distinguished ability and zeal displayed by
that gallant officer as British Plenipotentiary,in ❑egotiat-
in.g so successfully the recent commercial treaty with
China.

The hon. baronet, after his health had been drunk with
great enthusiasm, spoke as follows. Having been long in
the East I may perhaps make use of an Oriental expres-
sion,—" there never was a rose without a thorn;" the
rose I allude to is your kindness—your approbation—the
honour you have done me •, the thorn, which pricks not
my side but my heart, is, that I cannot express adequately
the feelings of gratitude I entertain. I must ak you
therefore to remember how and where my life has been
passed. I have been about 40 years absent from my na-
tive country. I hope I have always taken part in the
social meetings and national celebrations that have taken
place wherever I have been ; but still these have been so
different from all I see here, that I may say I am almost
bewildered by this display of yfikkindness. If therefore
I fail in giving due expression boy sentiment., I hope
you will make every allowance for me while I refer to one
or two points. And first, I must refer to the extraordi-
nary combination of good qualities for which the expedi-
tion to China, both in the naval and military department,
was distinguished. It is not for me, after the thanks of
both houses of Parliament have been awarded to the com-
manders of the navy and army, to express any opinion
on their merits; but rmay say, that in every respect
that expedition far exceeded my most sanguine expecta-
tions, even with the full belief I had that all that was pos-
sible would be done. I say, that the expedition up to
Nankin was the most extraordinary event in the history
of any country in the world. It surmounted physical
difficulties which the Chinese themselves believed utterly
impossible. When the Bogue forts bad been silenced at
the mouth of the river by the gallantry of our troops,
the Governor of Nankin, I know for a fact, wrote to the
Emperor saying he might feel quite easy, for the expedi-
tion could never reach him. (Loud cheers.) Having
paid my humble duty to the service with which 1 was
associated in China, I wish merely to say that, with re-
spect to matters of trade, I believe the treaty includes
everything desirable for England and for China. I am
now speaking impartially. Having reflected seriously on
it since I returned to England I really see no point on
which any amendment of importance can be made.
There are some points no doubt susceptible of amendment,
but on all the leading important points it requires no al-
-1 teration. It is one great advantage, that it is likel:. to be-
nefit England and China in the same degree. The inter-
ests of both countries are, in fact, similarly affected. A
very erroneous impression went abroad, through, I be-
lieve, some papers on the continent, that there had been
some mistake committed in the treaty. That is quite in-
correct. It arose from the necessity of my making public
an abstract of the treaty, while the Chinese published the
whole, and a translation was made with many important
omissions. Having been asked seriously whether there
was any ground for the allegation that mistakes have been
committed, I am happy to say-4hat there was no cause
whatever for the alarm. The establishment of Hongkong
having been alluded to, I feel it right, on this most public
occasion, to say that I look upon Hongkong still as the
best position for British enterprise. Unfortunately it has
been unhealthy ; but there is nothing in its appearance or
situation that should render it so, and those who would
substitute Chusan for it are, in my humble opinion, in
error. Chusan is an island containing 60,000 inhabitants,
and is situated in the midst of an archipelago, containing
at least 1,000,000 inhabitants, which it would at all times
be difficult to prevent coming into jealous and angry dis-
cussions with this country, whilst our own colony is suf-
ficient for all commercial purposes. Before sitting down
I will once more repeat my grateful thanks for the honour
you have done me, and trust you will make every allow-
ance for the imperfect manner in which I have spoken. I
have a great dislike to anything that is egotistical, but on
this occasion I was obliged to speak of myself more than
I wished to have done.

HEALTH OF TOWNS.—On Wednesday a public meet-
ing was held in London, to form an association to promote
legislative measures for the improvement of the health of
towns. The Marquis of Normanby took the chair, and
amongst the speakers were the Earl of Shelburne and Sir
R. H. Inglis. Several of the speakers referred to the un-
healthy state of this county, and the chairman, in the
course of his address, said, " The county of Lancaster, it
appeared, stood at the head of the unhealthy counties. It
had deteriorated in the healthiness of its population ; but
it had gained in wealth. The property tax now yielded
136 per cent. over the proceeds of the last. But the
census showed a great increase in the number of deaths.
The census of 1811 gave 1 in 46 as the number of deaths ;
now, the proportion was 1 in 36. At the same time he
should add, that the census for the whole kingdom ex-
hibited an increase, though not to the same extent. In
1811 the proportion of deaths was 1 in 50; now, it was
lin 45 This was remarkable, more particularly when the
improved state of medical science was considered, and the
advance of the upper and middle classes in habits of tem-
perance, as shown by the tables of the insurance offices.
In considering the condition of Lancaster in this respect
it should be borne in mind, however, that the county in-
cluded some districts which were remarkably healthy,
Ulverstone for instance. From the calculations of Pro-
fessor Playfair, it appeared that there were in Manchester
3,000 deaths more than its fair proportion, as compared
with Ulverstone, of which 1,900 were of adults. Manches-
ter stood second among the unhealthy towns in the king-
dom. It was a fact deserving of recollection that those dis-
tricts in which modern science had made its greatest ad-
vances in the promotion of manufactures and other pursuits
were the most unhealthy. There were eight counties in
which the average mortality was less than the average of
the whole country. They were counties in which there
had been the least amount of social change. They were
Devonshire, Cornwall, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex,
Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, and the North Riding of
Yorkshire. In Lancashire, on the other hand, where the
social changes had been the greatest, the mortality had
been the highest, and the general condition of the people
was the lowest. Out of 100 men 52 could not write their
names, and out of 100 women, 67. Yet those parts of
Lancashire which bordered on Westmoreland stood the
highest in point of instruction. In Ashton only 8 women
and 12 men out of 100 could write their names. Eighty
years ago 70 out of 100 could write their names. It ap-
peared from the census reports that the number of houses
as compared with the population was on the increase,
though it was lower than it was thirty years ago. In the
western part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the pro-
portion of houses to population was one-half less than in
the northern part of the riding. Comparing the advance
of Lancashire in wealth with that of the eight counties he
had named, it appeared, that while the advance of the
former had been at the rate of 136 per cent., that of the
latter had been 38 per cent. Thus the balance in favour
of Lancashire as regarded property was 98, while the pro-
portion, as regarded health, was 2 to 1 against it.
The laying on of water at every other house, the provi-
sion of adequate sewerage, of side drains, the removal of
all refuse from the houses, the cleansing of the streets,
and the opening of new streets, might, it was calculated,
all be effected at an expense of £14,000 per annum for
every 100,000 persons, to be repaid at the end of every
20 and 30 years respectively. In this calculation, £40,000
was allowed to each 100,000 for the opening of new
streets; for parks and public walks £lOOO a-year, and
for the salary to a medical officer of health £3oo—a low
sum, but one for which many gentlemen would be ready
to undertake the duties. The expense would average 15s.
a-year for each house, and 3s. for each person. Dr. Play-
fair calculated that the saving to the population of Man-
chester alone in the prevention of disease and its accom-
panying expenses would be £989,000 a-year—a sum which
would equal the difference between the highest and lowest
price of the bread consumed by the population. Among
the other statements in the reports of the gentlemen to
whom he had referred, reference was made to the grow-
ing and general practice of administering drugs to chil-
dren to quiet them. They also referred to the practice of
parents subscribing to more than one burial society for
their children. It was a common thing for the head of a
family, when asked for the amount of a debt, to say, " I
can't pay you now, but I will when Dick dies." Thus
the mechanic who earned 10s. a-week looked to receiving
his £l5 when his child died. It was also stated, among
other things, that on one occasion, when a lady offered
a young woman the assistance of her own medical man to
attend her child, the answer of the mother was, " Never
mind, ma'am, it is in two burial clubs." It was horrible
thus to see the appliances of civilization brought i❑ aid of
purposes from which the instincts of savages would recoil.
GYMNASTIC EXERCISES.—The younger branches of
the Earl of Sefton family commenced yesterday taking
instructions in the numerous physical exercises in which
Mr. Huguenin has so long distinguished himself. These
pastimes, which we have witnessed at Mr. H's extensive
establishment, are not only healthful and exhilirating,
but are peculiarly calculated to elicit the muscular ener-
gies, and to bring forth, especially in the young, the full
development of " the human form divine " in all its pro-
portions.

IMPROVEMENTS IN CHRONOMETERS.—As soon as the
method by Harrison (for which he received the premium
of £20,000) was proved to be a correct and easy mode by
which the sailor could ascertain the longitude at sea, the
British government offered premiums for the improve-
ment of marine time-keepers, and annual prizes to the
makers of the three chronometers that performed during
the year of trial, at Greenwich Observatory, with the
least variation. This encouragement soon caused British
skill to present for trial chronometers which, whether
regarded as time-keepers or specimens of mechanism, far
exceeded anything that had been produced. Year after
year the number of chronometer-manufacturers conti-
nued to increase, and England became the manufactory
for these time-keepers for"the whole world. The govern-
ment, finding that the rivalry of the various makers
was a sufficient guarantee for the future improvement in
art, withdrew the annual prizes, but continued to pur-
chase, at liberal prices, such chronometers as were found
to perform without the least variation of rate during the
time of trial at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, where
a limited number from each maker is yearly received.
The result of the yearly trial has just been published
under the authority of the Astronomer Royal. By it we
learn that the first and second honours have been ob-
tained by Mr. Thomas Porthouse, of Northampton-
square, London, for the superior performance of his
chronometers over those of the other makers with whom
he competed, amounting to 150. Supposing a ship with
one of theie chronometers on board had been traversing
the ocean out of sight of land during the trial year, the
error in her position would have been about 500 yards ;
comparing this error with the errors of the ships in Lord
Anson's squadron—the Centurion, for example—which
amounted to 540 miles (Sir J. Barrow's Life of Lord
Anson, page 64)—and it will appear to what a high state
of perfection the chronometer is now brought, and the
certainty with which the longitude is given by it at sea.

Removed from Birmingham to 19, Berners•street,
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Just published, the Thirteenth Edition, price 2s. 6d. ;

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