The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-05 00:00:00

THE MERCURY ON THE MINISTRY.

Our contemporary of Friday has had a fit of such un-
usual liveliness upon him this week, that we have been
able, not only to read his lucubrations,—a task of no
small magnitude—but to read them without yawning!
With one or two portions indeed of an article, in which
the measures of the past session of parliament are re-
viewed, we have been so amused that we cannot resist
giving to our readers a specimen or two.
Speaking of the condition of Ireland, the Mercury
sagely, and with a gravity peculiar to him, remarks :

" The course which Mr. O'Connell is pursuing will
very soon force the alternative upon every man in the
kingdom, of choosing between a whig government and
civil war.' Sad choice between two evils! The choice
of a whig ministry, which the mass of the Irish people
would reject with contempt and aversion, as " base,
bloody, and brutal,—which the Demagogue himself would
either treat as his abject slaves, or spurn with his foot
from the path of his bad ambition ;—a whig ministry
which would foster rebellion, fatten and feed traitors, un-
loose the prison doors of murderers and felons of all
degrees of criminality, or—CIVIL WAR, most wise con-
temporary ? Not so—not so ! To hurry forward such a
catastrophe a whig ministry would be the best of all ap-
pliances! With so imbecile a thing to contend against,
rebellion would soon indeed throw off its mask, and rush
to the field and to bloodshed. The alternatives, which
we have to choose between, are vigorous measures and
civil war; a whig ministry might retard the latter, but
would render its advent inevitable, and its success
decisive !

But with respect to the Trish arms bill, our contempo-
rary is still more rich and rare in his absurdity. " The
Irish arms bill," he remarks, " was a disgraceful proof
of the unpopularity of Sir Robert Peel's government in
Ireland." Of what were the various arms bills passed in
the days of whig supremacy proof? " A whig govern-
ment," he continues, " could have a
fforded (!) to relin-
quish that bill if opposed." We don't know, by the bye,
what a whig government could not afford to relinquish if
opposed, or what they would not relinquish to secure
place and pay. But the reason assigned for such relin-
quishment is most rich of all. Under a whig ministry
" the arms used would lam been used for legitimate or
insignificant purposes"—(are assassination and midnight
robbery of arms insignificant ?; ;—" but the Tory govern-
ment could not do so, because they flared that an armed
nation might start up against them, like the volunteers of
1782." Of course a whig government has no such diffi-
culty—no such fears. The rising of "an armed nation"
would not be necessary against a government prepared to
concede all that faction or treason could demand. An
armed nation, rising to coerce a whig government, would
be about as utter an absurdity as a levy en masse of all
the men, women, boys, cats, and dogs of the empire, to
kill a poor score of blue-bottles, entangled amongst the
sweets of a treacle pot !
Poor Mercury . with what zeal he endeavaurs to forget,
and to fancy that the world forgets, the history of whig
misrule in Ireland—its arms bills and coercion bills—and
the scorching contempt which has been levelled against
its wretched imbecility, and glaring and desperate cor-
ruptness, by the very man, and the very people, whom he
now assumes to be anxious to accept of that miserable
effigy of a government—that pitiful and paltry scarecrow—
that empty and hollow mockery—A WHIG GOVERNMENT

CORRESPONDENCE.

O'CONNELL AND THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

see the Queen's speech has put Mr. O'Connell
in a rage, during which he has stumbled on a new griev-
ance-700,000 human beings lost by the grinding murders
of the landlords! within the space of ten vea-s! all owing
to the cursed Union ! Pray calculate on thi; principle,
what would have been the popul-' on of Iri and at this
day, if the Union had not take, place, a LU what it would
be 43 years hence; and then eonjeo...e how happy that
population would be, the &maul 'or labour being such,
that high wages would be land in advance !) in order
to secure labourers ! Can we be surprised, if O'Connell
labours under this conviction, that his rage against the
Union should be excessive? In the paroxysm thus ex-
cited, no wonder he should abuse Wellington and Peel
for granting the Catholic emancipation, or rather that he
should laugh at the image of their being " dragged in
chains after the chariot of Ireland's" (i.e., Mr. O'Con-
nell's) " victory"; nor that he should forget how far the
people of England contributed to forge those chains by a
gradual diminution of religious prejudices, and by a grow-
ing confidence in the professions of Mr. O'Connell, Mr.
Sheil, and the Catholic priesthood, as to the results of
Catholic emancipation. In the passion which the murder
of these 700,000 innocents has excited, he forgets that
these circumstances may have contributed, in some slight
degree, to have placed those chains on the ministers of
the day, by which they were compelled to grant Catholic
emancipation. To this end the eloquence of Pitt, Fox,
Burke, Grey, Canning, and Brougham may have contri-
buted; although now, alas! they are the objects of vitu-
peration to those who formerly applauded their labours to
the skies. C.

UNLAWFUL DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.—At the
Police-court, yesterday, a man named Robert Daulby was
charged with having attempted to destroy a quantity of
fringe, on the premises of Mr. Thomas Dutton, uphol-
sterer, from whose service he bad been discharged. It
appeared that the fringe bad been lying on the premises
for a long time, and that the prisoner put it into a furnace,
by which it was partly scorched and burned. The priso-
ner said that the fringe did not belong to the complainant,
but had been ordered a long time ago, and not being ac-
cording to order, was thrown aside, and had become mil-
dewed and useless. He had, therefore, put it in the fire,
so that no disturbance might afterwards be made about it.
Mr. Rushton said such destruction of property was not to
be justified, and fined him 40s. and costs, the alleged value
of the article. 1r.,.
POLICE BusisEss.--The following is a return of the
number of prisoners brought before the magistrates from
the Ist September, 1841, to 31st August, 1842, with a
corresponding return for the same period in 1842-3 :-
1841-2. 1842-3.
September
October
November
December . .......... 1596
January
February
March
April 1363
May 1603
June
July
August....

18,666 16,361
A deduction should be made in the total of the last twelve
months of 361, that being the number of beggars taken
up by constables, specially employed on that duty, in
March and April. The totals will then stand-
-1841-2....
1842-3.
Decrease in the last year
The decrease has been gradual in each month (with the
exception of the two months stated) since the operation
of the new improvement act.
On Mondays. Other Days.
In 1841-2 there were brought up.. 5929 .... 12,737
„ 1842-3 „ „ „ „ ..4915 11,412

Decrease
Making a total decrease of 2335
_

LECTURES ON BALLAD POETRY.—On Tuesday even-
ing last, the Rev. A. Hume, B.A. of Trinity College,
Dublin, delivered the first of a series of five lectures on
English ballad poetry, before a pretty numerous and
highly respectable audience. He commenced by defining
the nature of the ancient ballad ; its relation to other
poetical compositions, and its metrical structure—gener-
ally of four-line verses of six and eight syllables alter-
nately, commonly called metre. It was usually of the
narative kind, the measure was common to all countries,
and the style simple and easily comprehended. These
popular productions were wont to be chaunted, and in
illustration of the music to which they were set, the airs
of " Chevy Chase," " the Children in the Wood," and
"the Friar of Orders Grey," were played on the organ,
and received with much applause. History was written
in poetry before records of events were penned in prose,
but the poetry of the ",Chronicles" differed from the
ballad, (which was still more ancient,) the former par-
taking more of the character of the epic poem. Ballad
poetry had had great influence on popular feeling in all
countries and all ages—in Greece, in Rome, and in more
modern times in our own country. This influence of the
bards—for whom high respect was entertained—extended
to all classes: for the sentiment expressed, and the music
that accompanied it, was addressed to the feelings of the
general community. He illustrated this by several recita-
tions, including Lili Burlero," verses of Sir Philip
Sidney, the " Songs of the Trades," &c., and he quoted
Dibdin's testimony in behalf of national songs, and the
stimulus they gave to physical exertion, and to deeds of
heroism. The ballad had also been useful in preserving
in a popular form the manners, customs, and events of
past ages ; it was easily acquired and held in memory, as
was instanced in the case of a man of 101 years old, who
could repeat a whole ballad of 68 stanzas without omitting
a word. He concluded by dwelling on the universality of
the ballad, and its early use, even in the days of Homer.
It was alluded to even in scripture, particularly in Num-
bers.—On Friday the lecturer delivered his second dis-
course, embracing "ballads purely English,"—their na-
ture and history. He quoted Percy's " Reliques of An-
cient English Poetry"—submitted an analysis of portions
of " Chevy Chass ;" noticed " Hitson's Ancient Songs ;"
the Homeric ballads—compared with Robin Hood ; the
alterations in the character of the more modern ballads,
and in those of the present time, and several of the recent
compilation of that species of lyric composition—illustra-
ting his subject by frequent: recitations. The reverend
gentleman is an energetic and pleasing speaker, has evi-
dently well matured himself in his subject, and was re-
ceived with much applause. The remaining three lectures
will bring the subject down to the present day, showing
the influence of ballad poetry in this and other countries,
illustrated by specimens from the works of our most ap-
provpdpand gifted' fnodorn poets. [We may here observe
that the reverberation of the lecturer's voice in the lecture
theatre is at times so great that parties in the reserved
gallery, in particular, can with difficulty hear all that is
uttered, when the seats are not all, or nearly all, occupied.
The'directors would do well to institute some experiment
lndetrismtaantrde has.
in otherine
fur the removal of this great defect, by the application of
some deadening appliance, which We understand
successfully resorted to elsewhere% he
respects is all that can be desired.l-r-sg• L. S.