The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-08-01 00:00:00

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

SIR,—In the Chronicle of to-day appears a very severe
article, and, in my humble opinion, unwarranted attack
on the loyalty and courage of the inhabitants of the good
old town of Liverpool, and as the writer of it, I doubt not,
has no other intention than giving the subject fair play,
I trust you will give the following remarks publicity in
your next number.
With respect to the petition so severely criticised, I can
most positively affirm that it came before the public on
Saturday, the 22d instant, signed by our worthy mayor
and magistrates, and was placed in the Exchange News
Room for the purpose of receiving signatures, being the
most public and proper place for receiving respectable and
genuine names. In the course of an hour the signatures
of our first merchants and others were affixed to it, with-
out the slightest regard to politics, all showing without an
exception, so far us I heard or saw, the greatest anxiety
to affix their names to it;s all feeling that as the magis-
trates had thought proper to ask for it, that they ought to
render them every support.
You are perhaps not aware that we are blessed with a
population of 60,000 Irish, chiefly of the lowest cast, out
of which and the Chartists, with the hordes of thieves
and idlers, ever ready to join in any illegal proceeding, a
very numerous and dangerous mob could speedily be or-
ganized. Now these are no insignificant number in a wide
spread town like Liverpool, with its warehouses laden with
cotton and other inflammable articles, and the authorities
feel this.

They further know it is the intention of these miscre-
ants to fire the town ; and nothing would be easier, so far
as the warehouses rnd shipping are concerned, if done in
the dead of the night by a combined movement. The
Clubs now number about 40. It is known by the autho-
rities that these misguided creatures have upwards of
4,000 fire-arms amongst them, and that they are daily
adding to their stock, and still there is no law to prevent
this slate of things. Is it so "reprehensible," then, that
we should ask for a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act
to enable us to seize these rebels in their dens of treason,
particularly when we know that they are working hand
and glove with the Dublin Clubs ? In addition to the fire-
arms which they are known to have in their possession,
they have any quantity of pikes, &c., as the seizures daily
prove, but, notwithstanding, about 20,000 of us have
come forward as special constables. It is scarcely fair to
compare the present state of Liverpool with that of Lon-
don in April last ; the Londoners doubtless came forward
nobly and did their duty, but they were backed, or rather
fronted, by 10,000 of our finest troops, under the com-
mand of the Duke, with a legion of artillery ; the rebels
having to cross the bridges over the cannon, muskets, and
bodies of the troops, before they could get at any num-
ber of their special friends.
These are stirring times and I think with the lesson
which we have lately had on the continent of Europe, and
the treasonable language in Ireland, that Englishmen
should not to be too squeamish. It is notorious that this
seaport which contributes so largely to the national reve-
nue is comparatively unprotected, there being no barracks
or arsenal. I really think it would be for the interest of
the nation and the good of the port, to have both ; and
feeling pretty sure that I am only speaking the senti-
ments of a large portion of the inhabitants of this till
lately considered loyal town,
T remain your obedient servant,
_ _ AN OLD FREEMAN.
_

Liverpool Exchange, _ _
26M July, 1848.
We refer our readers to some remarks which
appeared in the London Times on this subject,
which will be found in another column, under the
head "State of Liverpool," which shew that our
indefatigable authorities were fully justified in the
course which they pursued.

Fr is acknowledged on all hands that an ample
supply of water is one of the greatest blessings a
town like Liverpool can possibly possess; and it
was with unalloyed pleasure we learned some time
ago that the Water Committee had given instruc-
tions to their servants to apply the water in the
various wells in the best manner possible for the
benefit of the public. Acting on these instructions,
the officers of the Harrington Company instantly
commenced giving a daily supply of water to all
the inhabitants whose pipes were in connection
with their mains. Although several large districts
of the town, containing upwards of two hundred
streets which were formerly supplied by the Bootle
Works, had been joined to the Harrington mains,
yet it was found, we believe, that the latter Works
were perfectly adequate to give an ample daily
supply, even if the consumption had been much
greater, and this supply was continued without
difficulty for a period of two months. Judge, then,
of our surprise and mortification on learning 0, few
days ago that orders bad been given to discontinue
this daily supply.
For the last week the inhabitants have had given
out to them a more scanty supply of water than
they actually received from the companies. Surely
the authorities are not justified in withholding from
the poor man the great blessing which they can so
readily confer upon him by supplying his cottage
day by day amply with pure water?
Unless we are grievously misinformed, there is
abundance of water to admit of an ample supply of
water being given daily to every inhabitant of the
borough-j--and may we not then ask why should it
be withheld ?

We hope this question will be satisfactorily
explained in the Council on Wednesday.

THE accounts from Ireland, received yesterday,
are, as a whole, satisfactory. It now appears cer-
tain that O'Brien was on the point of being cap-
tured, and as his followers have now dwindled to a
miserable few, we do not anticipate any serious
outbreak in consequence of his apprehension. His
latest exhibition of himself is thus graphically
reported by a contemporary :

" At Mullinahone he entered the police station, look-
ing, we should imagine, more like Robinson Crusoe than
the King of Munster, and required the seven occupants,
of whom three were not quite recovered from a fever, to
deliver up their arms. On their politely declining, he
had recourse to persuasion. As there was a considerable
number of pikes round the station, the police judged it
best to temporize with the poor crazy rebel, and requested
a night to think over his suggestion, The pikes departed,
and the brave men forthwith took met:sures against an-
other interview, if such should occur, which, however,
did not. The Tipperary boys, excitable as they are, pos-
sess a degree of shrewdness, and when they saw the man
talking incoherently, and throwing his head from side to
side, they conferred with one another, and came to the
timely conclusion that their leader was a fool. A rapid
desertion ensued."

In a second edition we shall probably be able
to announce that this notorious personage, and
would-be monarch, is in the hands of the autho-
rities.

The Town Clerk of Liverpool and A. Hodgson, had an
interview with Sir George Grey, on. Saturday, at the Home
Office.
The sum of £23 I]d. was collected for the Liver-
pool Mureli of England School Society, at St. Mary's
Church, Edge-hill, on Sunday morning last, after a ser-
mon by the Rev. F. Barker.
We understand that St. Paul's Church, Prince's Park,
will be reopened on Sunday next. The Rev. Dr. M'Neile
will return home at the close of the present week.
_ _ _

A deputation, consisting .of Mr. Cardwell, M.P., Mr.
Barkly, M.P., Mr. Green, Mr. Sandbach, Mr. Bouch,
and Mr. Mac Gregor, had an interview, on Saturday,
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
A great number of Irish reapers have arrived in this
town for the purpose of gathering in the harvest in this
country. The rebellious proceedings in Ireland do not
appear to have diminished the importations of this class
of persons.
EXTRAORDINARY CASE.—At the police-court yester-
day, a decent*, looking female, who gave her name as
Catharine Jones, was placed at the bar under the follow-
ing charge :—A well-dressed man, George Jones,
.who
took his place in that part of the court known as the jury-
box, said that the prisoner who had resided with him as
his servant, and whom be had dismissed, was frequently
annoying him by coming to his house and demanding
money from him, although she had no claim upon him
whatever. She had also threatened (he added) that she
would have money, and expose him, and had recently on
obtaining entrance refused to go out and had created
great annoyance to him. To Mr. Rushton's enquiry, he
replied that she had no claim upon him whatever:
The prisoner on being asked what she to say, made,
in mild yet firm language, a statement to the follow-
ing effect :—She said that when she had but attained
the age of fiteen, the complainant took her clandes-
tinely from her home to the house of one whom he
called his first cousin, where (as we understood her) she
considered she was legally married to him. She bad lived
with him for fourteen years as his wife, and had borne
him ten children. The eldest, a girl of fourteen years of
age, he had, after recently ejecting her, taken away at
first to the Park ; and she had gone to the house to en-
deavour to find out where she could find her, when she
was turned out without means of subsistence, and was one
whole night left sitting on the door-steps of his house
without meat or drink. The last time she went (to which
he had alluded) was merely to obtain a little money to enable
her to go back to Ireland, but he had denied her all assist-
ance, and she had received from him for a fortnight before,
only one shilling a week. Mr. Rushton asked complain-
ant what he had to say to this, and he appeared to preva-
ricate. It was drawn from him however that he had
lived with her ten years, but not as his wife, and that she
had borne him children. Mr. Rushton expressed astonish-
ment that such a case should be brought there. Com-
plainant had taken away the woman at tender years, and
had so treated her that, that if she had faults, they were
attributable to his own conduct toward her. "Go away,"
said he, " and make some arrangement with her ; for you
admit she is the mother of your children, and I will not
send her to gaol. Let her be discharged."