The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-10-31 00:00:00

marks,—

" All minor differences will be absorbed by the porten-
tous consideration of the maintenance of their religion and
liberties. The northerns are quite as ready to fall on as
the Roman Catholic peasantry of the south ; and it will
be seen that such is the case the moment the restraint
which is at present imposed upon them by the government
is removed."

The following observations as to the disastrous conse-
quences of a prolonged contest are fearfully impressive
and true :

" The actual loss rf life is the least of the evils which is
entailed by a popular war; when the contest is merely be-
tween the governments, the people look on while the re-
gular armies fight it out; and, after a campaign or two,
the matter is decided, without much injury to either party.
Even in our own civil wars, although infinite evils were
entailed upon England, the contest was in the main be-
tween the regular armies on each side. But if an insur-
rection breaks out in Ireland, the struggle will be between
the people and with the people. Every town, every vil-
lage, every farm-house will be a scene of conflict ; the in-
dustry of the country will be suspended, the stock of food
and the means of future production will be destroyed—
within six months there will be a famine, and within six
montl s more there will be a pestilence, to say nothing of
the widows and orphans. There is no European country
which would suffer so severely from the effects of a popu-
lar war as Ireland, because none is more populous and
none less provided with varied resources. In order to find
a parallel to the effects of such a warfare in Ireland. it
would be necessary to go to those districts of India which
have been the scene of murderous and long-continued con-
tests. In the struggle carried on in the south of Ireland
in the reign of Elizabeth, which is known by the name of
the Desmond war, the people died by hundreds in the
ditches, with grass in their mouths, with which they vainly
endeavoured to satisfy the craving: of hunger. This has
been repeatedly referred to by O'Connell, as a proof of
the atrocious cruelty of the English. It was no such
thing. The Desmond war was a strictly popular war,
such as we are now threatened with; and the necessary
consequence of such a war, in a country circumstanced as
Ireland, is, that the sources whence life is sustained are
dried up. In such a case the miserable people have no
choice given them between famine, pestilence, and the
sword. They fall under all three. Will it now be said
that the loss of a million or two of lives would be the only
sacrifice which the people would have to make, and that
the survivors would be benefitted by the change ?"
The improbability of any successful foreign intervention
is shewn with equal force. But the most important por-
tion of these letters is the following concluding passage :
" And let not these poor deluded people count on the
British roldier abandoning his colours. Some drunken
men, who have had liquor given them by the repealers,
may roll down the street, shouting out, in the frolicsome
thoughtless style of such people, ' Hurrah for repeal!' but
if it came to be a question whether they would be true to
their sovereign and to their own pledged faith, even these
persons would do their duty perhaps as effectually as their
more steady comrades ; and as soon as the first blood is
spilt, see who will be the greater tiger of the two.
" And will there be no defection in the rebel camp?
They are now all apparently united, because the popular
current runs so strongly in one direction, that all are
obliged to yield at least an outward conformity to the pre-
vailing idea. But wait, I say again, till the time comes
for showing colours, and see how many of the gentlemen
who now cheer you on to the brink of the precipice will
jump down with you. • Are you so mad as to imagine that
several persons whose names will at once occur to you,
will ever dream of hoisting the white cockade ? Even
among those who will break out with you, is it to he ex-
pected that all will remain true? There is an old Irish
adage, ' Roast an Irishman on the spit, and you will he
sure to get another to turn him.' Many will soon weary
of the contest. Others will begin to doubt whether it he
eventually attended with success ; and there will be no
want of persons who will gladly avail themselves of any
opportunity that may offer of making their peace with the
government at the expense of their former associates."

THEFT FROM A BUTCHER'S SHOP.—At the Police
Court, yesterday, a boy named Joseph Bennett, was
charged with stealing sth. of beef, from the shop of Mr.
Hughes, Heath-street, Toxteth-park. He had gone in
with two other boys to ask for a light, and while it was
being procured by one of the others, he ran off with the
meat, but was pursued and captured. Being an old
offender be was sent for trial.

A " PETTY" ROBBEILY.—At the Police-court, yester-
day, a man named Thos. Mc Rema, was charged with
robbing Michael Caine of the sum of £3. 12s. 6d, in
cash. It appeared that they both lodged at the house of
a man named M'Dermot, in a court in Stockdale-street.
and both rose about the same hour yesterday morning,
the complainant to go to his work, and the prisoner to go,
as he said, to the bask yard. The former soon afterwards
missed his money, and suspicion fell upon the prisoner
as the only one who had gone out. The money was after-
wards found concealed under a slate in the roof of the
" petty," to which he had gone. He was committed for
trial.

THE WEATHER.—Since the gale of Friday night and
Saturday the weather has been extremely changeable.
Sunday was fine and sunny, though coldish, with a wes-
terly
wind, and the number of parties who visited the
Cheshire side of the river in the afternoon, by the steam-
boats, was great for the season. The evening was clear,
with a bright moon, and towards the close inclined to
frost. Yesterday morning, however, the sky again broke
with occasional showers, and towards day-light rain set
in, which became heavier, and continued almost inces-
santly throughout the day, and last night until the time
of our going to press. The potatoes yet ungathered, and
some patches of corn in various parts of our county which
had not fully ripened, may suffer some injury from the
excessive wet in low grounds ; but we do not anticipate
any serious or extensive damage.
The Church of England School Society, which has now
fur seven years pursued its most useful course, is about to
hold its annual meeting in the Lecture-hall of the Colle-
giate Institution, the Bishop of the Diocese taking the
chair. It is extremely gratifying to witness the progress
and success which educational efforts have made in Liver-
pool since the formation of this society. Not only are
there twelve schools in connection with it for the educa-
tion of the labouring poor, but the Collegiate Institution
supplying the dem Ind for sound and scriptural education
in all classes of society, and the Female Orphan Asylnm
providing for the wants of the most destitute, testify that
neither the zeal nor the benevolence of the friends of edu-
cation in Liverpool is exhausted. The meeting, we doubt
not, will be very interesting, and acquires fresh importance
from the effort which the Church of England is now making
to place a religious education within the reach of all her
members.

ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE AT HALE.—A meeting of
the Floral and Agricultural Society of Hale and Halewood
lately took place. When the business of the meeting was
over, the following extraordinary scene occurred :—Our
patriotic Col. Williams, in his " Russia ducks," mounted
the platform, and expressed his wish to address the people
on the subject of the corn laws, and had assembled not a
few persons to hear his rhapsodies, when suddenly he was
interrupted by the appearance of a gentleman in authority,
who inquired the object of the meeting, and by whose
permission he thus intruded upon the business of the day.
Col. Williams indignantly replied, " that he was a magis-
trate, and that he did not know of any authority to pre-
vent him acting as he thought proper." The gentleman
replied, "no man has authority to act in this ancient and
loyal borough without permission of the chief magistrate."
" And, pray, sir," said Col. Williams, " who has more
authority than me ?" " That," replied the gentleman,
" I will shortly shew you—l am the Mayor of Hale ; and
I will not allow any demagogues to disseminate false doc-
trines or mischief within my province ;" on which the
mayor ordered the platform to be cleared, and the gallant
colonel and his squad were compelled to fly and take
refuge in a public-house in the immediate neighbourhood :
and thus was this fanatic prevented disturbing the peace
of a very happy arid loyal portion of this county. Thua
should. your Cobdens, your Brights, and other
League be served. whenever they venture, neon what may
be terait':d sacred ground.

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