The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-11-05 00:00:00

A MANLY AVOWAL OF PRINCIPLE.

The following manly avowal of attachment to the Church
of England was delivered by Mr. Booker, the newly-
elected member for Herefordshire, at his nomination :

"It has been intimated to me since I arrived in this hall that
a deep feeling of anxiety pervades a large and influential body
of my constituents to know what my religious opinions and
bias may be (hear, hear). I have no difficulty in telling you ;
for, by conviction, I am a member of the Church of England
(great applause). Gentlemen, I would say of her, in the words
of a !ate eloquent statesman. Henry Grattan, " I love the mild
government of the Church of England. There is a home com-
fort about her that makes her dear to all classes, and a modest,
humble grandeur that makes her equally distant from poverty
and ostentation. She is the source of hope—the cradle of
science—the balm of aflliction—the handmaid of charity. She
sways the sense to the side of salvation, and holds direct com-
munion with the Majesty of Heaven" (tremendous applause).
Gentlemen, with this devotion to my own communion, it has
ever been my pride and my happiness to live in cordial concord
and amity with my dissenting fellow-Christians of all denom-
inations. And, gentlemen, while I never can consent to any
measure which will i,yeaken the influence or lower the authority
of our National Church, yet to the fair claims and to the religi-
ous scruples of my dissenting fellow-Christians I shall ever
give die most anxious consideration (hear, hear). Gentlemen,
I believe the Church of England to be founded on a rock—im-
pregnable. I fear for her no assault from bout; what I
fear is disunion from within. I know, gentlemen, how to meet
the open hostility of the Dissenter or the Romanist, but I do
not know how to meet the Romanist tendency of the Tracta-
rian, with whose views of ecclesiastical and religious policy I
must disclaim all sympathy. England is a Protestant ':onntry,
and our Protestant institutions must be maintained. She is,
thank God ! pre-eminently a Christian country, and my opi-
nion is that neither the unbeliever nor the Jew should find
admission into her Christian legislature (cheers and applause,
with partial hissing and cries of " Oh !").

Equally satisfactory and straightforward are the senti-
ments of the honourable member upon the subject of
education :

" Gentlemen, my opinions on the great question of popular
education are these :—I believe that the union between Church
and state should be indissoluble. I cannot consent to and
measure that would weaken it. I believe, gentleman, that it is
the duty of th s state as much to prevent as it is to repress and
punish crime, and I believe that the most effectual preventive
to crime is education. Ido not mean mere secular education
—the mere teaching a boy or girl to read and write, for that,
with the natural proneness of the human heart to evil, may be
only increasing his or her powers and capabilities for mischief.
But what I mean is a sound mbral and religious education,
founded upon the Bible (great applause). Gentlemen, Ido not
believe that the voluntary pr►nciple alone will afford the ade-
quate means for providing education. I believe that the state
should enforce it, that the National Church shoulti take the
lead in it ; and I hope that there is no class amongst my Dis-
senting fellow-Christians that will not willingly lend a helping
hand to it, that all may work in harmony together for objects
so essential as the temporal advancement of the wants of our
bodies, as well as for the furtherance of the eternal destinies of
our souls (great applause)."
With a House of Commons com

posed of such genuine

Englishmen as Mr. Booker, we might reasonably look
for the adoption of a decided and bold policy, conservative
alike of the industry of the people and of the time-ho_
noured institutions of the country.

agrituiturat anti 31?ortattItitraI.

The value of space in horticultural buildings demands
much care on the part of the cultivator in selecting plants
to occupy permanent positions ; thus, for instance, to
plant climbers of no beauty or value to cover the rafters

is in fact to throw away so much room, because they oc-
cupy much space, and are permanent. Nothing can
conduce more fully to the beauty of the house than well-
covered rafters, and no plants should be selected but those of
the most showy description ; thus, instead of 'porn( as, and
other evanescent things ( say there are six rafters), lee
them be covered with fine plants of Allemande cathartica,
Mandevillea suaveoleus, Echites splendens, Bignonia ve-
nusta, Passiflora Kermesina, and Stephanotis florabunda.
These carefully kept, and brought down in graceful fes-
toons, would be sufficient to make glorious display. We
have seen Echites ( dipladenia) splendens with more than
a hundred trusses of magnificent flowers covering a rafter-
trellis ; and no situation can be better suited to it. Fancy
not-trellises may be desirable in small houses, where a
number of plants are kept, but it must not be imagined
that such climbers as those we have mentioned can ever
succeed with their roots cramped in pots, and their
branches twisted into unnatural forms, and confined to
ridiculously small spaces. Their natural habit is to ramble
like our native honeysuckle, from bush to bush, or tree to

tree; often spreading to a great extent, mantling the bor-
ders of forests with cloth of gold or silver, or the inimitable
tapestry of nature. Hoya imperialis has been recom-
mended as a rafter plant, but in our opinion it ought not
to be planted in a house where ornament is a first consi-
deration. As an ornamental plant it has been much over-
rated; the large size of its flowers are their only recom-
mendation; but they are of a dull brown leather-
colour, and appear to be made of that material; besides
which. they are very apt to fall—even before they are per-
fectly developed. No climbing Hoya has yet been intro-
duced which equals the old H. carnosa, or wax flower, as
it is often called : it requires good management, and at-
tention to its foliage, which, if neglected, becomes dirty.
H. carnosa will, however, do for a greenhouse rafter : its

colours are not sufficiently bright to match with the gaudy
stove climbers. In the greenhouse and conservatory less
showy climbers will do very well, because the constant
gaiety of these houses, during their season, will admit of
the more Qober colours of such plants as the one last
mentioned, Kennedya monophylla, &c. • but even in the
conservatory, it is better to have bright colours, if possible,
and they may be had in abundance, as we will endeavour
to show in a future article.

BIRKENHEAD CHEMICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL. SOCIETY.
The first conversazione of this society was held at the
Craven-rooms on the 29th instant. The attendance was
excellent, and comprised not only a great portion of the
professional talent of Birkenhead, but a good share of the
Liverpool Sevens. A large number of elegantly attired
ladies also graced the meeting, and took a warm interest
in the proceedings. The room was tastefully decorated
with objects of interest in the arts and sciences, and
an abundant supply of refreshments of a superior
description was furnished. The chair was taken by T. B.
Blackburne, Esq., who opened the meeting with a neat
and appropriate speed:. The president of the society,
Mr. T. S. Waring, then gave a sketch of the nature and
objects of the society, which he said had now for twelve
months past been increasing both in members and the
means of intellectual enjoyment, and being actuated by
motives the reverse of selfish ; the society was anxious to
share its amusements with its friends, and, there-
fore, intended to hold public conversaziones from time to
time. He concluded amid much applause, and the
chairman then called upon Mr. T. C. Archer to give a
lecture on Botany. Mr. Archer addressed the meeting for
fifteen minutes ( the time allowed for the lectures) upon
the peculiarities in the foliar organs of several plants, par-
ticularly those of the great South American water lily
( illustrated by an immense diagram), the pitcher plants
( Sarracenia, Nepenthes, and Cephalotus), and various
others. The lecturer had a splendid series of ferns arid
other plants, which he stated had been furnished by Mr.
Henderson, of the Oxton- hill Nursery. The lecture was
warmly applauded. The next was by Mr. J. B. Edwardes,
F. C. S.. on Electricity and Galvanism, illustrated by
powerful and interesting apparatus and a variety of very
beautiful experiments which gave much pleasure. The
chairman announced the absence of J. Price, Esq. M. A.,
in consequence of ill health, and begged to re-introduce
Mr. T. C. Archer, who would fill up the interval allotted
to Mr. Price with a short lecture on fossil animals. He
pointed to the walls of the room which were covered
with a splendid series of diagrams, and proceeded to
inform the company present that they were indebted to
the kindness of Professor Ansted for those interesting
illustrations of the ancient world ; and gave a brief sketch
of the discovery and comparative anatomy of the gigantic
fossil elk (Megaceros Hibernicus), the Dinornis, or great
fossil bird ; Labrynthodon of Stourton quarry ; Mylodon,
Glyptodon, Icthyosaurus,Plesiosaurus,and various others,
which was listened to with much interest. After an in-
terval of one hour, which was spent at the refreshment
tables and in examining the various objects of interest on
the tables, particularly a splendid set of five microscopes
provided by Drs. Inman and Higgins, and an interesting
series of ornamental and useful articles in Gutta Percha,
sent by Messrs. Johnston of Church-street ; Curiosities
in Electrotype, Calotype, Daguerreotype, Talbotype,
Natural History, (particularly insects), the lectures were
resumed by Dr. Higgins, who almost convulsed the meet-
ing by an amusing lecture on the sense of smell and the
various uses of the nose. Mr. Wm. Johnson, F.C.S., fol-
lowed with one on chemistry, which he illustrated withsome
brilliant and well conducted experiments; nothing could
surpass the admirably lucid manner in which Mr. Johnston
explained the priciples of combustion, and much approba-
tion was repeatedly expressed. A slight accident in re-
moving a jar containing phosphorus was near marring the
lecture, but it was fortunately remedied. Between each
lecture the company was regaled with some admirable
music, by the members of the Birkenhead Philharmonic
Society, the piano being in the masterly hands of Mr.
Molyneux, and the whole under the management of Mr.
Buckton, whose arrangements gave great satisfaction.
After a concluding address by the Rev. S. El. Booth, Mr.
Waring moved a vote of thanks to the amiable chairman,
whose kindness the society have great reason to appreciate.
We need not say that thanks were heartily accorded, and
the meeting broke up much pleased with this novel at-
tempt to combine amusement and instruction in a popular
entertainment, in the town of Birkenhead.