The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

£428,645, which had been produced by the increase of
that amount of gold coin and bullion, the silver bullion
remaining unaltered. On the debit side of the banking
department the Rest had increased £77,048, the public
deposits had increased £402,860, the private or other de-
posits had decreased £469,060, and the seven-day and
other bills had decreased £6756, making the total of lia-
bilities £34,128,305. On the credit side, the Govern-
ment Securities remained unaltered ; the other securities
had decreased £433,313 ; the notes had increased
£434,610 and the Gold and silver coin had increased
£2795 ; which squared the account. The bullion in both
departments of the bank had increased from £13,390,314
to £13,821,754, being a difference of £431,440. The
paper in actual circulation, including the seven day and
other post bills, had decreased from £20,046,893 to
£20,034,172, being a difference £12,721.
In Paris, on Thursday, the Times correspondent says,
" the public did not yet appear to feel the perilous im-
portance of the stormy sitting of the Chamber of Deputies
on the preceding day, still the opinion generally expressed
was with the opposition." On the Bourse attempts were
made to support prices, which partially succeeded.—The
Bourse was much agitated on Saturday. It was said that
: the Opposition encouraged a proposition to hold a mon-
ster public meeting on the plain of Monceaux, under the
walls of Paris, on Sunday ; but, as the law is decidedly
against such a demonstration, it would hardly, ifattempt-
ed, be suffered.—The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris
Bourse on Saturday at 74f. 20c. ; New Loan, 75f. sc. ;
the Five per Cents. 116 f. 15c.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
(BY EXPRESS.)

LONDON CORN MARKET.-YESTERDAY

.
English Wheat met a steady sate at the currency of this da
week.
The demand for foreign is still limited at former rates.
No change recurred in the value• of barrel Flour.

Indian Corn on the spot is very doll, there are still a few
buyers of lioatinc, cargoes of good quality near at hand, say
about 31s. for and 335. for Galatz.

Malting and distilling Barley the turn in favour of buyers,
but grinding is not cheaper.
Malt and Peas in slow consumptive demand.
Egyptian Beans are Is. to 2s. lower.
Oats is. per quarter under the current rates of last week.

SMITHFIELD CATTLE MARKET.—YESTERDAY.
The Beef trade was lower by 2d. per 81b.
For Sheep prices advanced from 2d. to 4d. per 81b.
In Calves and Pigs last week's currencies were maintained

MONEY MARKET-YESTERDAY

The market for public securities has been extremely inactive
this morning. From the commencement of business, Consols
have scarcely undergone any change in position, having been
wavering between buyers•and sellers at 89i for the account, and
89i for money. The Three per Cent. Reduced have been sold
at 89# to the Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent at 90i to lb and
Bank Stock at 200. The March Exchequer-bills are quoted
225. to 18s., and the June bills at 275. to 235. pm.

THE DEMORALIZING INFLUENCE OF THE

CONFESSIONAL

To a well regulated mind there can be nothing more
abhorrent than the wiles and devices of Romanism, exem-
plified not only in a constant effort to keen the poor and
uneducated in mental stain quo, so that individually they
may be the fear-stricken slaves of the priesthood, but (as
a prop to their power) in their sympathy and forgiveness
of offences that come under their cognizance in the con-
fessional—a secret privilege which they seem to employ
even to the almost absolute compounding of felony—
the contributors to the priests' pecuniary means. The
system is eminently calculated to prevent the ends of jus-
tice, and set at defiance the legitimate authorities of the
land. No Protestant criminal can conciliate his pastor,
or any layman in his own station in life, to stand between
him and retributive punishment; but the Rom'sh priest,
it appears, can screen, by suppression of facts, an assassin
or spoliator of property ; and not only this, but can set
the culprit at mesmeric quietude with his own conscience
by means of absolution. The bold and impudent manner
in which this system is ever and anon persevered in, is
fully shown in two recent cases, the authenticity of which
it is impossible to dispute.
First.—The Edinburgh Mail states that on Saturday
week a pupil in a Ronaish school, near that eity, was
charged by his teacher with stealing aXI note. The cul-
prit was apprehended ; but his teacher said (on a second
examination) that he had got back the note from a Roman
Catholic priest, who had declared that the boy was not
guilty. The priest was questioned by. the magistrates,
but they could not induce him to divulge the name of the
assumed thief. He declined to say one word on the sub-
ject. There was no resource but to liberate the boy, and
the guilty party, if another there be, is at large.
Second.—ln Manchester, a few days since, a young
Irish girl was charged before the magistrates with stealing
a watch, the property of her master, Mr. Johnson, of
Urmston, with which she absconded to Ireland, and we
have the following story from the Manchester Courier :
When apprehended at Liverpool, on her return to this
country, she stated that she had given up the watch to a
policeman in Ireland, having been told to do so by a priest
to whom she went to confess. Since her examination and
remand by Mr. Trafford, her story has been found to be
correct, extraordinary as it may appear, as Inspector May-
bury has been over to Ireland, and has succeeded in reco-
vering the watch. It seems that on confessing the rob-
bery to the priest, he did not interest himself to see the
watch restored to its rightful owner; but he actually
instructed the misguided girl to go with a lie on her lips
to the nearest policeman, and tell him that she had found
it ! and even sent his own servant with her, to comfort
and assist her in the fraud."

We ask at once, and without comment on these facts,
have the magistrates no power to compel these priests to
surrender the names of offenders avowedly or tacitly known
to them ? If they have not, the sooner an act of parlia-
ment be passed so to empower them, the better for society
at large. There is now an act by which magistrates may
summarily punish parties found in possession of property
unlikely to be honestly attainable by them, and of the
possession of which they cannot, or will not, give any
satisfactory account. Why not deal with these priests in
a parallel manner ? If a priest can exonerate one accused
party, by stating that he is not guilty, as he (the priest)
has privately—at the confessional—ascertained the real
offender, why not compel him to take his choice of either
naming the latter, or of being himself punished as an
accessory ?

The Rev. Wm. M'Call, curate of St. Mark's, has been
presented, by some of the members of the congregation,
with a handsome purse of gold, as a mark of esteem.
COMMITMENT.—At the Police-court, yesterday, a
man, named John Tumilty, was committed for trial at
the Sessions, on a charge of stealing 401 b. weight of lead,
from a window of a house occupied by Mr. Thos. Cross,
No. 51, Maguire-street. The metal was identified, having
been cut away, and was stated to be worth Id. a pound.
TROTTING MATCH.—Yesterday morning, a trotting
match that had been much talked of came off at Green-
Bank, between Mr. Turner's gray horse and a young
mare, Birmingham. The distance was two miles, the
latter giving the former one hundred yards start, but the
mare won with ease. There was considerable betting on
the result.
REV. STEPHEN H. GLOUCESTER.—A letter has been
received by a friend in this town from Mr. Gloucester, in
which he states that he had a most prosperous and plea-
sant voyage to Halifax, where he had arrived safely, and
that the captain and officers of the Acadia, together with
the passengers, behaved to him like English gentlemen.
He also expresses feelings of the deepest gratitude for
the kind treatment he met with in Britain.
THEFT FROM A SHOP.—Yesterday, at the Police-
court, a woman, named Mary Farrell, was charged with
having stolen from the shop of Mr. John Rogers, N 0.141,
St. James's-street, a piece of regatta-striped shirting.
It appeared that she had gone into the shop on pretence
of purchasing, and had taken the piece away under her
cloak. It measured 74 yards in length, and was said to
be worth 7d. a yard. The sum of 6s. 6d. was found upon
her. She said, in her defence, that another woman had
given her the piece. She was committed for trial.

APPREHENSION OF A FEMALE ON SUSPICION OF
MURDER.-Yesterday a female named Catharine France
was apprehended by the police in this town, in conse-
quence of information received from Ireland to the effect
that she had been guilty of, or accessory to, the highest
crime that can be committed. It appears that she had
come to this port from New Ross, in Ireland, in company
with other parties, with whom she proposed to emigrate to
New York in the transit ship •0 Howard." She is accused
of the murder of her husband. The prisoner is stated to
be a remarkably good-looking young woman.
HANDSOME DONATION TO THE BRUNSWICK CLUB.
—A most splendidly painted board, for the acknowledg-
ment of donations, has been presented to the Brunswick
club by Mr. Richard Lloyd. As a specimen of orna-
mental painting, it reflects the greatest credit on the taste
and skill of the donor and artist. The border, which is
inlaid in green, and relieved with gold arabesque work, is
extremely rich, and presents an admirable contrast with
the bold and effective lettering acknowledging the se-
veral presentations to the club. The workmanship is al-
together good; and the painting presents a freedom of
execution seldom exhibited. _ _

ST. BARNABAS' ScHooLS.—ln our notice last week of
these Schools we were guilty of a slight inaccuracy, which
we hasten to rectify to-day. The entire cost of the
schools, including purchase of the land, &c., amounted
to nearly £3ooo—of this a very considerable portion was
contributed by the congregation, the remainder. was made
up partly of grants from the National Society, and from
the Lords' Committee on National Education, and prin-
cipally by the generosity of the merchants generally, in
answer to the persona; canvass of the Rev. Mr. Nolan,
aided by the kind influene. of Mr. Charles Groves : the
use of whose name in such a connexion,requires neither
explanation nor praise. Still A debt of nearly ' X2OO re-
mained ; to liquidate this is the object of the !present
effort, to which Mr. Fisher, of Great George's-street
Academy, has lent himself with characteristic kindness.
The value of his Astronomical Illustrations is only equalled
by their suprising beauty. A chief difficulty that meets
the astronomical tyro arises from his ignorance of pro-
jection, and his inability to realize distinctly the meaning
of astronomical figures, where a line represents a circle,
and where objects that he knows to lie in different places,
are necessarily represented together on the plane of the
paper before him. This is unavoidable upon the first tran-
sition from plane to spherical and solid eeometry. The
difficulty however is so soon got over, that it has not been
found necessary to go to the expense of any contrivance
to supply at once correct notions on those predominant
points. This last enhances the value of Mr. Fisher's
views and illustrations. We never saw anything better
than his diagrams illustrative of the projection of the
sphere, the diflerent phases of the moon, the change of
seasons, the transits of Mercury and Venus over the
Sun's disk, the ascending and descending mode, the satel-
lites of Jupiter, nebulous appearances, &c. In addition
to which many new plates will be introduced, including
several dissolving views of scriptural subjects.