The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-10-23 00:00:00

DOUGLAS HARBOUR, ISLE OF MAN.

CONTE M PORAR t pRESS.

FACTRAnRDINARY ABUSE OF THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE.
—Tine Globe, the accredited organ of the present incubus
by which'England is ridden, to her everlasting Shame
and disgrace, bath received orders officially from the
;Horne Secretary's office to reply to an article respecting
the "Extraordinary abuse of the Royal Prerogative,"
detailed in ours of the 3d instant. ,This discovery, having
excited a universal burst of indignation through the
country, bids fair to bring the
,authors of such a piece of
mischievous "clemency" into disgrace even with their
own party—at least with those who travel on the King's
highway with money in their pockets, The cool impu•
dence which this hireling displays, in his"answer' is
quite marvellous, and such as could, hardly have been
expected even from such.a source. He says, "The cir-
cumstances under which this man was pardoned show the
foundation of this and similar calumnies which flow from
'the same source. All -the statements and papers were
,first referred to the judge who tried :the pcisouer, who
:perused again. the evidence given at the trial,-and in his
report to goverment stated that he had doubts as to the
propriety '"of the verdict. SoMe time after, the magistrate
(a conservative) who committed the. priSoner
.thought
,proper to complain of his Majesty's clemency at the
Home-office.. He was shewn the report of the judge,
and could make no further objection.".
Would any person imagine- that there are nearly as
many." lies as lines" in this statement. The magistrate
who called at the Home-office was not shewn the judge's
report. He would fain have seen it, but was not allowed.
A very brief and garbled 'extract was read to him, doubt-
less culled to suit the present purpose ; and will it be be-
lieved that even this "selection," so far from sanctioning
such an abuse •of the royal cletnency, merely intimated
that. be, the judge, should have been satisfied which ever
way the verdict.had been given! •
It was perfectly right in the judge to say so—as judge,
'he could do no Other ; and we fearlessly ass-trt, that he
did not recommend the prisoner to the merciful con-
.sideratiOn of these abusers of .power. - If it had been as
the. Globe states, why was not such a prime piece of in-
telligence communicated to the magistrate when he called
at the Home-office? The best excuse possible was matle
'at the time, and a miserable one it was—so much so, that
in place of the'magistrate being satisfied, he was exceed,
inglfdissatisfied. Indignation and contempt no doubt
rendered him silent, though silence was probably a piece
of direction we should not have exercised on the occasion.

That the whole affair is a piece of miserable truckling
to the radicals We again most positively assert.. Le' no-
the wretched faction who• are DOW completely at their
mercy speculate too far on our forbearance. , We could
" name names." Suffice it to say, that this free pardon
Was granted at the demand of a political party,.and could
not, dared not, be denied! As a corroboration, we can
tell the .Globe what he has not yet been informed of from
the Home otlice---viz., that this ("conservative") magi-
irtrate applied for a mitigation of the sentence on a culprit
he had himself committed, stating that he thought
,they
had borne rather too hardly upon him. This request,
coming from " a conservative," was of•course denied.
Will the Globe, in its next reply, vouchsafe an an-wer
to that best of all possible proof as to the justice of the
former verdict, by the fact that this object .of his Majesty's
clemency has been positively sworn to as one of the in-
dividuals committing another aggravated and atrocious
assault and robbery, and on the most undeniab:e evidence
again sent to take his trial for a similar crime ? We will
giVO,the Globe another " bone to gnaw," which of itself
will CoMpletely falsify the statement he has made. • A
second indictment for another robbery by this individual
would have been proceeded with at the time of trial, but
the judge was so satisfied with the evidence and the ver-
dict, that he said it was perfectly useless, the former find-
fltkbeing quite enough to secure an adequate punish-
ment,—Manchester Chronicle.

O'CONNELL A PRIVY COUNCILLOR I—We cannot be-
lieve it. The rumour is prevalent that before the ruffian
left London it was stipulated that he should be advanced
to the dignity, but—we cannot believe it, and we hope
that in this case, the rumour justifies the poetical asser-
tion, that 7— .

. "Common fame is a common liar!"-
like him who is its subject. We reluctantly bandy terms
of reproach with our political enemies, but we claim the
merit of courtesy, in adopting towards him whose name
we have occasion to mention but too often, the mildest
epithet which can describe him—that of ruffian. Lord
Mulgrave may degrade himself and his high' office by
having O'Connell at his table: lie may impose on his
amiable Countess the sore humiliation of breathing within
the same -room the atmosphere tainted by the Massaniello
of the Trades' Union; he may insult his Sovereign, by
haying to dine with him—the man whom the,,King. de-
nounced from the throne as the disturber of his peace—
, the man who called that denunciation brutal and bloody,
who reviled, in his own characteristic brutal scurrility,
the anointed Majesty of England, and who, but the very
day before, dared, *in an assembly of blackguards, par
excellence, to ca►l the royal brother of his Sovereign a
"mighty great liar!"- Lord Mulgrave has done all this;
and what other worse than " fantastic tricks" he may
"play before high heaven" while "dressed in a little
brief authority," no One can. say; but if he shall be so far
intoxicated by the Circean cup of faction, of which he has
drank, as to meditate the advancing Daniel O'Connell to
a dignity which his-participation would' for ever disgrace
and bring into loyal contempt, we adjure him to pause on
the threshold of so mad and so dangerous a purpose-
The aritiointment of a privy councillor must be ratified by
thi,, King's sign Manual, which, unless his Majesty be
held under traitorous constraint by his ministers, we feel
assured he will never give. There is no persecution un-
der which the protestants of Ireland suffer would-be' more
galling to them than such an appointment—nothing
more-calculated to shake their hitherto steady loyalty,
and render allegiance a questionable obligation. We
Would apostrophise Lord Mulgrave thus, and in kind-
ness :

If the evidence which his own public acts, and his poli
tics, hostile to the integrity, the religion, and the peace
of,the state, affords, cannot • influence your excellency to
the faithful exercise of your representative duty, we re-
commend to your lordship the perusal of a letter in the
first page of our supplement of this day, addressed to
O'Connell, by a kinsman of his own, a man of honour
and integrity, well acquainted with the private as well as
Public life and character of the man whomhe addresses.
As the letter, however well written—and it is written
right well—may .e ton long to engage the attention even
of a literary Lord L.:Nutenant, we offer to your notice a
feW of the passages, which may be most instructive to
your excellency. Alluding to the agitator's systematic
scurrility and falsehood, Mr. Finn says:-- - •

"Yours is not the refined dirt of a Martial or a Persius—of a
Horace or a Juvenal; it is the gross and offensive'ordure of a
Macfleckno or a Denis—of a Brown or 'a Vanburgh;it is the
dirt of a vulgar, low-bred hind, whose original impressions have
not been effaced by reading or social intercourse, ❑or chastened
by -a public companionship with the best blood of the empire."
' What a picture, my lord; yet you have had the original
at visor dinner table, and perhaps, he drank wine with
your Countess! .

"You never enjoyed my confidence long as I have known
you; for I always suspected that you were vile as you have
since proved to tie." "You are a compound'of public fraud,
sof
falsehood, treachery, dUplieity, and ingratitude, of which there
is no living model; and that you are so base a mercenary, that
if the God of Eleaven were again to come upon earth, in qua-
lity of a Saviour, you would take the price of his blood were it
offered to you, and betray him for thirty pieces of silver."
SUrely, my lord, you would not invest such a man with
the privy- confidence of your Sovereign i

“To ba called. a liar has nothing reproachful in it for your '
ear. Lying was the futindation .upon which you raised the
superstructure of your public fame. Lying was the draft which
you drew on public credulity, when you sent your mendicant
collectors through every part of Ireland to extract from the
very vitals of pauperism, the means of indulging in social riot,
of living in vulgar splendour, and of satiating your toad-eaters
to repletion, when they looked for a remuneration of their ser-
vices amidst scenes of extravagant luxurTor criminal dissipa-
tion.
"Wh.., therefore, should you not continue to he ohm., when
national ignorance and credulity, Leaativ superstition and suc-
cessful knavery have made lying so profitable a trade for you to
follow? . •
01 Lord Mulgrave, are these the elements of which a
privy councillor should be compounded ?
"Your third charge denounces me for the 'profligacy' of my
political opinions. To be a profligate is to be an abandoned
trlan—to be lost to virtue and decency—to be shameless. This
is pretty well coming from the proprietor of a seraglio, com-
posed of every order in the Cyprian profession, from the lofty
runagate of Kerry down to the lowly cinder-wench of the Earl
of Meath's Liberty. Profligate as you have ever been, and the
sanctifier of your own profligacy by an uniform adherence to
the ceremonials of the catholic religion—leaving, as you left, so
many public memorials of that profligacy—availing yourself, as
you have done, of those unguarded avenues to female virtue
which the grief of widowhood or the inexperience of youth had
opened to your brutal approaches—prone as the serpent in your
animal propensities, and capricious as the ourang-outang in
your amours—was it for a gravelling sensualist, such as you
are, to ...cruse nie of profligacy ?”

Here is a description revolting to all the virtues and
decencies of life. Recollect, my lord, the beautiful crea-
tion of your own imagination--the Lady Castleton of
your " Contrast." In the holy sensitiveness of pure and
genuine female delicacy, she turned abashed from the
pirouette exhibition of Taglioni at the Opera House;
and yet, you could bring O'Connell to the same table
with the Countess of Mulgrave—she who, probably, is
the living personification, in female purity, of . the in-
teresting and lovely Lucy Darnell; or else is it only in
fictitious characters that you admire the virtues which
your pen has described so well ? The spirit of popery,
which substitutes penance for repentance, ought to fall
heavy on your lordship for the insult you have offered to
your Countess.
We shall proceed no further with Our extracts; but if,
after • the depiction of O'Connell by his own kinsman;
Lord Mulgrave can still ente, tain the idea of making
him avprivy councillor, we shall envy neither.,his feelings,
nqr.his fame, and would recommend for the title of his
lordship's next novel—" Self Def?radation, or the Dero-
gate Lieutenant."—Dublin Warder.

~., ~ ...
..

THE NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF A GREAT- CEN-
TRAL HARBOUR- Foli THE IRISH SEA, ACCESSI-
iiLE AT ALL TIME'S TO TII LARGES r VESSELS,
PROPOSED TO BE CONSTRCCTED AT• DOUGLAS IN THE
ISLE OF MAN. BY SIR WILLIAM HILLARY,
BARONET, AUTHOR OP "AN APPEAL TO THE BKITISH
NATION ON THE HUMANITY AND POLICY OF FORMING A
• NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE
• FBOM SHIPWRECK," &C.-JULY, 1826.

The importance of constructing It port in the centre of the •
fish Sea, so situated, and of such depth of. water, that the
hugest vessel could take refuge from storms with ail winds and
at all times of ,the tide, has long and universally been felt and
acknowledged.
At Holyhead, at Kingstawn, and at Howth large sums have
been expended, and great efforts have. been made to establish
ports of such a description ou the coasts of Anglesea and of
Ireland';, but hitherto the.equally dangerous shores of England
and the 'south of Scotland have been left destitute of that pro-
tection, and a great and continued loss of life and property has
been the consequence.. .
On the northern coast of Wales, excepting Holyhead, the
whole of the coasts of Lancashire .aud. of Cumberland, and the
south parts of Scotland, as fat as the. Mull of GalloWay, making
an.extent of about three hundred miles, there is not a single
harbour, which .can -afford -shelter to a vessel in distress at low
water, or even at half-tide;
.yet within this range lies Liverpool,
the second port of the mish dominions, at which arrive an-
nually more than twelve thousand sail of vessels, besides Lan-
caster, Whitebaven, Maryport. Workington, and the various
other ports of the adjacent shores of England and of Scotland,
to which belong, collectively, not less than one-third of the
commercial navy of the whole empire; added to which, these
Seas are navigated by the numerous shipping of the Clyde and
the west of Scotland, sailing to and from the south; also the
whole coasting trade of the east of Ireland.
The value of these vessels and their cargoes is enormous;
the value of the lives on board is beyond all estimate; yet are
all these great stakes, so important to the country, exposed to
continual hazard during the long winters, and the frequent and
violent tempests of these seas, and atilt more dangerous shores.
To obviate, as tar as human means will allow, this great evil,
it appears requisite that some adequate harbour should be esta-
blished for the shipping which may be overtaken by storms on
the eastern side of the Irish Sea into which to enter and find
refuge. The construction of such a port does not appear to be
practicable to the east of .Holyhead ; the formidable banks
which. stretch many miles to sea off Liverpool debar all access
to that port at low tide, and often prove the destruction of those
who seek to enter in the darkness of night, or during the vio-
lence of the storm, even in the day and at high water.
It would equally be in vain to seek fur such a situation on
any part of the low sandy coast of Lancashire, and it is to be
feared such could not be formed on the Cumberland or the
Scottish shores.

Bet the eastern side of the Isle of Man holds out a fair pros-
pect of obviating these obstacles, and from its situation, and
almost equal distance from those other coasts, would seem to be,
preferable to a 4 of them, even were they so circumstanced in
themselves as to admit of the construction of harbours thereon,
Frop whatever quarter the tempest might arise, numerous ves-
sels,. now compelled at all haiards to keep the sea, or to tempt
their fate by running for those ports where little shelteris to be
found, might here obtain safe refuge; and from the depth of,
water, the boldness of the shores, and the excellent light-hriuses
placed it each of its extremities, the Isle of Man may at all
times be,epproached.
It is, therefore, obvious that, could a port be formed on the
eastern side of the Isle of Man, easy of access, of sufficient depth
of water for the largest vessels at all .times, to enter, and when
entered to be in safety, this great object would be accomplished.
Douglas, even, in its present state, from the want of a better
port, has long been a great resort for shipping in tempestuous
weather, though only a dry harbour, formed at the mouth of a
small river, its entrance flanked by dangerous rocks on each
side, on which many dreadful and somelatal wrecks have taken
place; yet, from the formation of its bay and many other local
circumstances, besides those common to the island, this place
above all others appears to be capable of receiving those im-
provements which could render it one of the most
,secure and
Valuable harbours of the. Irish Sea; but the measures which it
has hitherto been practicable to pursue to make it easy of ac-
cess, or sate when entered, as also the amount of the funds
applicable to these objects, are sO utterly inadequate as to ren-
der it absolutely requisite to adopt an entirely new system.
Having assumed that Douglas is the most eligible situation in
the Isle of Man for such a port, the plan here proposed is the
construction of a breakwater, to commence near the point on
which a two gun battery was lately placed on the south side of
the'bay, to he continued in nearly a northerly direction for
about five hundred yards, until it should have almost outflanked
the insulated rock of St. Mary or, Connister, on the eastern side,
and leaving an entrance of about one hundred and fifty yards
between the head of this breakwater and St. Mary's rock; on
which a pier should also be erected, running out into deep water
at low tides, and fronting the northern side of the entrance ;
whilst, on the head of these new works a lighthouse should be
bailt, in lieu of that now on the present pier, which would then
have become useless, and capsterns should be placed upon both.
The breakwater, as will appear by reference to the plate, will
stand in from 24 to 38 feet, by soundings taken at low water,
spring tides; and within this proposed work should be a tine
basin of from forty to fifty acres, having various depths, from
34 feet to 29 feet at the lowest tides, within which a numerous
fleet, from a line of battle ship downwards, might lie in safety in
all weathers. _

The anchorage of this harbour is a mixture of sand, clay, and
shingle; and it may be confidently supposed would afford ample
hold _against any sea and wind which might affect vessels within
its protection—mooring chains and rings, both on the break.
water and within the harbour, would complete the security of
the whole.
When these works are accomplished, it will be seen whether
any inconvenience arises from the ebb and flow of the tide
through the mouth of the projected harbour, and thence through
the sound bet Ween St.-Mary's rock and the tr►iin land, which is
nearly dry at low water, spring tides, in which case a strong
seawall might with ease be constructed, so us to enclose that
side of the basin entirely, or flood-gates might be placed therein,
to allow vessels to pass at high tides into the north hay, as also
by a torrent of water to scour the entrance of, the harbour,
should that ever be needful.
Far within the range of these new works would remain the
present pier and harbour, now much exposed to storms, but
rendered perfectly secure, and consequently capable of affording
every further accommodation of
.quays and wharfs to the addt-
tional trade and increased shipping which the improved state of
the port might render necessary.—Wet docks may, at a very
moderate expense, also he constructed within the port, to which
some of the works now existing may be made materially to.con-
tribute.

Eligible situations may also be found as dock yards and grav-
ing docks, now much wanted for the repair 'of: the shipping
either belonging to .the place or which may have-sustained
damage off the coasts of the. Isle ,if Man. Fine springs of ex-
cellent water, capable of supplying a large fleet, are to be found
close to the shore, and the proposed works.
'l'he expense attending these projected works, though un-
avoidably large, would be amply compensated by the many and
important objects which would thereby be attained, and which,
from various circumstances, particularly from the immediate
vicinity of a great part of the requisite materials, could in very
few situations be practicable at so comparatively small a cost—
the whole of Douglas Head, where the proposed breakwater
would commence, being an entire mass ot.rock, rising at once
to a considerable height, it would only be needful, as the stones
were quarried, to roll them into the sea, and, as the work ad-
vanced, to forum railways thereon, and thus prolong the Mole as
far as may be found desirable, the very spot whence the stone
was taken, from its' new situation level with the most sheltered
part of the basin, becoming valuable either for building ground
or for quay and stores—or should stones of a still harder quals.y
be required for the outward face of the breakwater next the sea,.
such are to be procured, of the most solid nature, of almost any
weight, arid in great abundance, close to the line of high water
on the whole range of coast commencing at St. Ann's Head,
four miles south of Douglas, and extending by Derbyhaven and
Castletown to Port-le-Murray. Labour in the Isle of Man is
very reasonable, and a sufficient number of workmen could at
all times be procured therein or from the adjacent shores.
The advantages whiCh would result to the Maritime andto the
commercial interests of the surrounding kingdcms are striking
and incontrovertible—whether as affects the safety of life, the
preservation of property, or the facility which would thus he
afforded to the navigation of the whole Irislechannel--in which
benefits the Isle of Man must naturally,and essentially participate.
since it must greatly extend their intercourse, insure despatch
and safety to their packets, now often compelled, with their pas-
sengers and snails, to pass the isle when close to itsshores—give
effectual protecticn to their fisheries, and materially contribute
to the general prosperity of the Manks people.
But it is in a national point of view that this subject should he
the most considered, and in that light alone, and as a measure
of policy, the requisite sums for such a purpose could be ex-
pended on few objects to so much advantage.
, Amongst those already enumerated, .the. protection which
would be thus given to the- fisheries may he ranked as highly
important—on them, the best bounty which a government can
confer, and that the most likely to increase the number of men.
so employed, will be found to consist iu affording every facility
for their pursuits when the seasons are: favourable, and 4 safe
refuge when overtaken by the storm.
The 'Milks herring fleet alone is now registered at 2.50 ves-
Sets, averaging from 25 to 30 tons, and navigeted by upwards,of
2000 men.- besides the numerous vessels from the neighbouring
shores, and even so far as from. Cornwall and Torbay, a hich
assemble round the Isle of Man in the fishing season, forming
altogether a branch of the-naval property of the state of a mag-
nitude well worthy the protecting care of his Majesty's govern-
ment—it is further indubitable, that from the want of such a
shelter as the projected harbour would afford, this large fleet
is often compelled to disperse, and to seek for safety wherever
it may he found, their pursuits prematurely inter, opted, or al-
together frustrated, frequently
.when the fish are abundant on
the coasts, and hut too often in the stormy season, many are
Wrecked whilst se' kiag_in.v,ain for refuge in the very exposed
creek* and small ports of the island, and every year many per-
sons thus miserably perish.
The general coasting trade, and the carrying of coals in par-
ticular, has long been regaided as another imperteut nursery
fur seamen—the numerous fleets belonging to Whitehaven, ana
the other ports of the Cumberland and Ayrshire coasts, which
continually pas the shores of the Isle of Man, on their passage
to and from Ireland, are frequently exposed to great danger from
the want of some safe harbour into which they can enter at all
times of the tide, and many are the wrecks which take place,
and the lives that are lost, which such shelter in nine cases out
of ten would undoubtedly have averted.
As a station for the protection of the revenue, Douglas is
already important, and a depot there established ; but, in its
present state, his Majesty's cruisers obliged to quit its bay when-
ever a gale sets in from the east, are often compelled, in the most
severe storms and during the darkest nights in winter, to seek a
refuge wherever they may.
It would be impossible to enumerate the wrecks that have
taken place under such circumstances, but amongst which was
the total lossof the American ship Minerva, close to the present
harbour, where eighteen out of twenty persons on board perished
—in 1822, his Majesty's cotter Vigilant was stranded on St.
Mary's'rock—the Racehorse sloop of war was totally lost in
coming to escort the Vigilant to Plymouth for repair, and nine
persons were drowned—the City of Glasgow,•steam-packet, was
last year wrecked on the rocks south of the harbour, and her
passengers and crew miraculously escaped. These, and many
other catastrophes, have all taken place.within the last few years,
and form only a small portion of the disasters which have oc-,
, cursed on these immediate coasts.* .
By a very interesting and melancholy list of wrecks recently
collected, it has been found that.within the last:thirty years, up-
wards of thirtyssix vessels, many:with,thpir whole crews and

• Amongst the many wrecks which -have taken place since
the publication of this pamphlet. Mac he enumerated those of
the Eclipse. the Swedish ship Forfroendet, the Royal 'Alai'
packet St. George, the Parkfield, and many smaller vessel, all
bOugles Bay,—every one of which,in all human probability,
vtould have :escaped, had the proposed Asylum Harbour ex-
ilted. property lost by the above wrecks, and those last
.sinter in Ramsay Illy, and near Castletown,. must exceed
4100,000. The entire loss, on the whole of the coasts of the Isle
or Man, and.the adjacent seas, within the last ten years, cannot
be calculated at less than half a million,—the sacrifice of hu-
tian life has been'awfully great.