The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-07-08 00:00:00

I informers to institute proceedings. The house again divided
and the numbers were—For Lord John Russell's motion,
124; against it, 175; majority against the government, 51.
The house next divided on the question that the bill do pass,
when the numbers were—For the bill, 20 ; against it, 46;
majority, 217. nn the question that the Ecclesiastical Titles
Assumption Bill be the title of the hill, Mr. H. GRATTAN
moved as an amendment, that it be called, " A Bill to prevent
the free exerciseof the Roman Catholic religion in this country."
Sir J. GRAHAM said the bill was unfortunate in its commence-
rn.nt, but it was ten times more unfortunate in its termination.
He would, however, advise his hon. friend not to press his
motion to a division, but to leave it now in the hands of the
government, on whom would rest the responsibility of advising
thecrown to let the bill in its present shape become the law of the
land. Mr. Serjean t MURPIIy replied to a charge made ag,ainst him
by Mr. Grattan of having allowed the question that the bill da
nass to nut without speaking against it, in order t-

give
time to the Irish members to return ; and, in doing so, said
the Irish members, in retiring as they had done, han been
guilty of " sublime foliy."—Mr. REYNOLDS retorted on Mr.
Serjeant Murphy, that he was scting in opposition to the
wishes of his constituents, of whom he professed himself to be
independent ; and intimated that he for one would, on his re-
turn to Ireland, warn the Catholics of that country that they
had no one to rely upon but themselves to prevent the last
shreds of their religious toleration being torn from thefr bands.
He quite agreed that the advice of Sir J. Graham ought to be
taken and the motion withdrawn.—After someobservations from
Mr. Lawless, Mr. Keogh, M Aglionby, and other hon. members,
Lord J. RUSSELL said that the division on the passing of the

measure bad been taken without discussion only because of
the absence of its opponents at the moment when the question
was put by the Speaker. 'the noble lord then proceeded to
contend that neither by intention nor in effect would the bill
interfere with the full exercise of the Catholic religion.—Mr.
GLADSTONE regretted the accident which had prevented one
last general review of the measure. The bill was objectionable
from the commencement, and it was much more so now. A.
nice distinction had been drawn by the Solicitor-General be-
tween the words " vexatious" and" persecuting"; but, in his
(Mr. Gladstone's) opinion, it was persecuting from the begin-
ning., and hart been rendered far more pungent by the
amendments of the lion. and learned member for Abingdon.
He objected to the bill from the first, and he protested against
its provisions in its altered form. After a few words from the
Marquis of GRANBY and Lord HARRY VANE, Mr. S. H ERBERT
protested against the bill, which, in his opinion, was unintelli-
gible, unnecessary, and would be inoperative. The amendment
of Mr. Grattan was then withdrawn, the title of the bill agreed
to, and it was ordered to be sent to the House of Lords.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.

AMERICA.
THE FIRE AT SAN FR tNCISCO

The advice 3 from New York by the Pacific, which
arrived here on Tuesday night from New York, contain
no business details of any importance. The Pacific sailed
from New York at 12 30 p.m., on the 21st of June, and
arrived at the Bar at 6 p.m. on the Ist of July. Passage,
mean time, 10 days 30 minutes; stopped waiting for water
till 8 46 p.m. ; arrived here at 9 45 p.m ; total length
of passage, 10 days 1 hour 30 minutes. She has brought
£200,000 in specie, which makes £423,000 already
received this week. At the time of her departure the rate
of exchange showed no symptoms of giving way, so that
shipments may still be expected to continue; and, as it
was feared that the fire at San Francisco, which turns out
to have been more disastrous than any of the former ones,
might interfere temporarily with the course of remit-
tances from California, the banks were disposed, for the
present, to act with increased caution. About £130,000,
however, had just arrived, and £500,000 was known to be
on its way from Uhagres. Meanwhile the rate of discount
had risen about 1 per cent. The particulars regarding
the burning of San Francisco are interesting. The fire
commenced at eleven at night, on the 3d of May, in a
small frame•house used as an upholstery store, and swept
through three-fourths of the city, destroying all the shops
and goods ; but not extending, as was stated, to the ships
in the harbour. Neither iron nor brick escaped, and the
whole of the banking-houses, which were thought to be
fireproof, were burnt, except those of Argenti and Co.
and James King. In each case, however, the parties
succeeded in removing their books and specie. The
Assay-office, the Custom-house, and the gaols were in-
cluded in the destruction, and the prisoners afterwards
remained at large. The Sub-treasury, with £BOO,OOO of
of gold and silver, escaped. The newspaper offices, except
that of the Alta California, were all in ruins, but two of
them had already recommenced publishing. There were
many accidents, and ten or twelve lives were lost. Want
of water is evidently the sole cause of these extraordinary
conflagrations, and one firm are stated to have saved their
building by using 80,000 gallons of vinegar. Subse-
quently, the city authorities have recommended compli-
ance with the offer of an individual to introduce constant
supplies from a spot called Mountain Lake at a cost of
£150,000, on receiving authority to lay down pipes, leav-
ing the question of rates to be ultimately decided by the
corporation. It is out of the question to estimate the
total value of the property destroyed, owing to the vague
nominal amount which each individual would put down ;
but the worth of the merchandise in store is stated at the
utmost to have been within £200.100. TI

bay being full, there was no subsequent scarcity of goods
of any kind, and, although building materials had greatly
risen in price, it was still questionable whether they would
yield a profit. There was no excess, however, in articles
of clothing, and dry goods generally, and the first arrivals
from England would probably pay well. Furniture,
earthenware, and hardware, would likewise fetch high
prices. A fire had also occurred at the city of Stockton,
by which that place had been half-consumed ; but, the,
houses being chiefly of wood or canvass, the loss was less
severe. In the excitement that prevailed the feeling was
general that both fires were the work of incendiaries;
but there seems no proof that this was the case beyond
the fact that some convicts from Sydney had been heard
to threaten that they would revenge themselves for a tem-
porary imprisonment to which they had been sentenced
by firing San Francisco, Stockton, and Sacramento. Of
course, under the circumstances, there is little detailed
information from the gold mines, but the general report
indicates increasing production. The last news from
Oregon alleges that the newly-discovered coal region in
that State is inexhaustible, and that coal can be delivered
on the banks of the Columbia river at less than 4;10 per
ton. Whether its quality will compare with that on Van
Couver's Island does not appear. It is likewise still
affirmed, that the coal districts in Oregon are found to

otter a moderate yielc
which the Californians have met their di.
in the latest accounts :

the energy with

sters, it is said

"The whole city is alive with workmen. From Monday
the sth instant, when the fire ceased, up to the present time
May 14, an interval of 10 days, 357 buildings have been corn

This is exclusive of the many that are going up in other parts
of the city not touched by the fire. Including them. the total
number of houses just completed, or in the course of erection
throughot t the city, will not fall short of 450. Of course, from
the rapidity with which they have been put up, most of them
are frame, but still, in every instance in which a brick building
was burnt, either the walls still standing will be used in re-
building, or, where they are unfit, a new brick fireproof build-
ing will be erected in the place of the one destroyed."

ARRIVAL OF THE STEAM-SHIP AMERICA

The British and North American Royal Mail Steam-ship
Neil Shannon, arrived here yesterday
morning at six o'clock, with advices from New York by
the regular mails to the 24th ult. inclusive, and by tele-
graph from that port to the evening of the 26th ult. The
America left Boston on the 25th ult., and Halifax on the
27th, and has therefore made an average passage. She
brought 100 passengers and 150,000 dollars in specie.
The steam-ship Arctic arrived at New York on the
afternoon of the 22nd ult. The steam-ship Europa
reached Halifax on the morning of the 24• h ult., and, as
will be seen by the telegraphic report, her advices had a
marked effect on the New York corn and flour markets.
The intelligence by this arrival is not important.
A meeting took place among the crew of the packet ship
New World, which should have left New York o❑ the
23d ultimo, and she was, therefore, detained until a full
complement of hands could be procured.
There arrived at the port of New York, from foreign
ports, during the week ending June 21st, 1851, ten thou-
sand five hundred and ninety. one passengers.
We learn from Washington a reiteration of the rumoured
intention of the U.S. Cabinet to propose to England a
Protectorate for the small states of Central America. It
is also stated that a Federal Government had been agreed
upon between the states Nicaragua, San Salvador, and
Honduras, and that they had been seeking to establish
relations with the Washington Government. Other letters
announ'

America, Capt

e that orders had been issued by the Secretary of
the Treasury permitting Canadian vessels to load and un-
load at ports in the United States, so long as similar pri-
vileges are extended fn A mppi,,,,n oneanlo 4