The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-29 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL GALLERY.—A fine full-length:portrait
of Mrs. Siddons has recently been added to the collection
in the National Gallery. It was painted by Lawrence,
and was presented to the government for exhibition by
Mrs. Fitzhugh. The portrait is placed in the same room
as that of John Kemble as Hamlet, by the same master,
and attracts much notice.

THE PEGASUS.—The jury who sat to inquire in the
circumstances causing the death of two of the passen-
gers by this unfortunate vessel, have brought in a verdict
of accidental death, occasioned by the gross carelessness
of the master and those on the look out; and the jury, in
addition to this expression of their opinion, have added a
deodand of £lOO against the company, on each body—
£2oo in all.

THE OPIUM COMPENSATION.—Friday night's Gazette
contains a treasury notice, that the holders of the certifi-
cates given by Capt. Elliot for the British-owned opium,
entitled to compensation, may, on or after the 30th inst.,
apply at the office of the Paymaster of Civil Services, at
the Treasury-chambers, Whitehall; London, for payment,
the receipts in question to be delivered at the Treasury-
chambers two days before the demand for payment.
The grand cricket match between the Marylebone club
and the Midland counties players came off on the Leices-
ter ground this week, and was decided on Wednesday, in
favour of the Marylebone, with ten wickets to go down.
In the first innings the Midland Counties scored 93, and
in the second 62 ; the Marylebone scored 139 in the first
innings, and the game was won by the first two bats in
the second.
EXTRA PAROCHIAL PLACES IN LANCASHIRE.—There
are 13 extra parochial places in this county, containing
7,161 inhabited houses, and a population of 43,288 per-
sons, according to the census of 1841. There is no other
county in England that has one-fourth as large an extra
parochial population ; indeed it exceeds two-fifths of the
whole extra parochial population of England, viz. 103,461.

THE INCOME TAX.—The commissioners for the in-
come tax, at their sitting on Friday week at Kensington,
decided that a beneficed clergyman has no right to make
any deduction from his gross receipts on account of sti-
pends paid to licensed curates ; but that in a case where
a curate having a stipend of £l5O per annum had paid
the tax upon the same, the incumbent ought to pay also
that sum. as having formed part of his original income.
Six LIVES LOST.—On Wednesday last, at Messrs.
Bramah and Cochrane's Thick Coal Pit, Woodside Col-
liery, near Dudley, some of the men went down to work,
by some means or other (not yet ascertained), the gas in
the pit became ignited : the consequence was, that five
persons were killed on the spot, and the other died soon
after he was taken home. Several others were injured
but not seriously.—Ten Towns' Messenger.

Two SISTERS KILLED.—On Sunday last five persons,
two females (sisters), two men of the name of Robertson
and Johnstone, and an infant child of the latter, were
proceeding in a cart from Hughmill, when the vehicle
came in contact with a large stone, which upset the whole.
Robertson was much bruised, Johnstone and his infant
escaped unhurt, but Mrs. Robertson was killed on the
spot, and her sister, who was never again sensible, died
on Monday.—Fifeshire Journal.

PETITIONING.—In spite of the loud complaints which
issue from all parts of Wales in regard to tolls, rents,
tithes, county-rates, &c, no petitions were presented for
redress. And what is still more extraordinary is, that in
spite of the whole of Ireland being torn to pieces and dis-
tracted by the agitation and the " monster meetings" now
going on, and being held in favour of the repeal of the
union. only ten petitions have been presented to Parlia-
ment in behalf of that measure, and nine were presented
against it.

" Rebecca," like Robin Hood of old, has turned moral-
ist and a wild minister of justice. About two years back,
says the Carmarthenshire Journal, a servant girl gave
birth to a boy, the son of her master. a respectable free-
holder. A few days ago a carriage drove up to the man's
house ; a black footman opened the door ; an elegantly-
dressed lady alighted, with a child in her arms, and, en-
tering the Lothario's house, presented herself as " Re-
becca," and the child as his own, with an injunction that
he should cherish it. The Welsh dictatress has been im-
plicitly obeyed.
GOVERNMENT AND THE SOCINIANS.—It is now con-
fidently stated, that a royal commission is to be forthwith
issued for the purpose of inquiry into the state of the trust
property of evangelical donors, usurped by the Socinians
in England and the Arians in Ireland, with a view to what
is cantingly termed " an equitable adjustment" in the pre-
mises. If this step had been taken at first, there might
have been some show of public utility in it. But now,
when the law has been repeatedly declared in both king-
doms, and finally decided by the House of Lords, it seems
difficult to know what a commission would be appointed
to inquire into, or wherefore it should meddle in the affair.

MR. BRARAM.—This unrivalled vocalist, after a pro-
fessional tour through the south-western parts of England,
has lately been delighting with his powers of song the in-
habitants of the Channel Islands. His career, however,
was, a few days since, nearly brought to a close by the
rash attempt to cross, with his son Charles and his friend
Mr. Torre, in a small open boat, from Guernsey to Jer-
sey, the difficult and dangerous navigation in that quarter
being unknown to any of the party. After having been
"rocked on the cradle of the deep" for upwards of fifteen
hours, and exposed during the whole night to a rough sea,
they providentially reached terra firma in safety, drenched
and famished.

SENDING THREATENING LETTERS.—George W. A.
Hamilton, alias Robert Bell, was on Friday tried at the
Central Criminal Court, for having sent to a respectable
young lady, named Jessie Hopper, letters demanding
money, with menaces, &c. The prisoner threatened, in his
infamous epistles, to blast the reputation of the young lady
by publishing to the world that she had been visiting a
house of ill-fame, if she did not buy his secret from him.
His conduct had such an effect on the young lady, that
she has been seriously ill ever since. The jury found the
prisoner guilty. Baron Rolfe sentenced the prisoner to
transportation for fourteen years.

WARRANTS OF ATTORNEY.—Among the acts which
received the Royal assent on Tuesday was one of some
importance to the trading community, entitled " An Act
for the better prevention of Frauds by Secret Warrants
of Attorney to confess judgement." By an act passed
some years ago all the warrants of attorney were required
to be filed, and an index kept for public inspection. It
has, however, been considered necessary to afford greater
facilities on the subject, and by the present act any per-
son before he gives credit, or an extension of credit, can,
on the payment of ls. 6d., ascertain whether any warrant
of attorney or legal instrument exists by which the pro-
perty supplied to that debtor can be suddenly seized upon.
It often happens that tradesmen supply goods, and find
them swept away in a short time by a warrant of attor-
ney.

MURDERS OF COLONEL STODDART AND CAPTAIN
CONOLLY.—In the House of Commons, on Thursday
last, in reply to a question, Sir R. Peel said that though
he was not in possession of any direct information offici-
ally as to these murders, yet he believed there was no
reason to doubt the intelligence that they had been
barbarously murdered by the Ameer of Bokhara on the
17th of June, 1842. The Emperor of Russia was indig-
nant at the crime, and bad since then refused to hold any
communication with Bokhara, and the Sultan had pur-
sued a similar course. Notwithstanding the distance and
the difficulties in the way, he did not despair of obtaining
satisfaction for the atrocious crime. Colonel Stoddart
was in the public service, but he could not speak with
certainty as to whether Captain Conolly was or was not
in the public service.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.—" We cannot deny,"
says the National, " whatever be the cause which para-
lyses the progress of our agriculture, that our produce is
much inferior to that of the English. The following is
a comparison of the agricultural produce raised by 1,000
families in France and England :
In England. In France. Difference.
Horses.. 273 65 four times less.
Oxen ... 1,230 203 six times less.
Sheep... 11,000 1,043 ten times less.
Corn .... 56,000 hectolitres 40,000 hectolitres.
In France it is calculated that on every thousand square
yards of ground there are 33 cultivators. In England
only 28. Our agricultural produce ought, therefore, to be
at least equal to that of England, and our inferiority con-
sequently proves the want of skill amongst the French
agriculturists."

FISHING EXTRAORDINARY.—A few days ago, the Isle
of Tiree was visited by a shoal of whales, which were
no sooner observed than several boats put out to sea to
surround them. The " leaders" were shaving a creek,
when a Herculean native, Mr. D. Maclean, who chan-
ced to be riding by, with heroism worthy of a better
cause, jumped off his horse, taking with him the bridle
and his trusty dirk. It is well known, that, if one
whale bleeds, and is stranded, the rest of the shoal, by
some fatility, follow, and are easily secured. Mr. Mac-
lean, seeing the leader quite close, jumped upon its back.
and stabbed it in the belly. The moment the monster
took in the saline element, it turned belly up. Donald
put his bridle about its tail and swam with it to an ad-
jacent boat ! In this manner the unequal fight was car-
ried on for about an hour ; when Mr. Maclean, after hav-
ing secured eleven whales, felt exhausted, and had to give
up the contest.—Abridged from the Dumfries Courier.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT
OF SCIENCE.—This body is now sitting and discussing in
Cork. The attendance of savans is said to be numerous.
In the report it was stated, that since its establishment
the association had expended £8,300 in scientific investi-
gations ; that £3,339 were pledged to be paid for scientific
inquiries suggested at the late meeting at Manchester;
and that it had only a sum of £5,000 invested capital.
During the last eight years of its active operations, it had
expended in astronomical investigations, &c., £2,200 ; in
tidal observations, Li ,550 ; in meteorological and mag-
netical observations, £1,400 ; in experiments and observa-
tions on the forms of vessels, £9OO ; in experiments on
the manufacture of iron, £400; and in inquiries connected
with medicine, botany, zoology, chemistry, and other
branches of science, nearly £5,000. They also represented
that the disposable funds of the society were nearly ex-
hausted. The balance in hand previous to the last meet-
ing at Manchester was £538. 14s. 6d. ; the sum received
at Manchester, £1,737 ; contributions for books, £192.
10s. ; dividend on the funded property of the association
(£5,500) in the Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Consols,
£247.105. ; received for the sale of reports, £l7O. 15s. 3d.
for ladies' tickets at Manchester, £331 ; for sectional
tickets, £33 ; and interest on money remaining in the
bands of the Manchester bankers, £ll. 18s. 7d., making
a total of £3,271. 4s. 4d. The expenditure consisted of
payments for various grants for scientific purposes, £1,565.
lls. 2d.; printing reports, &c., £446; salaries, £435, and
expenditure at Manchester, £328. Bs. 10d. ; leaving a
balance in hand of £496. 4s. ld. The property of the
association consisted of funded property, £5,500, which,
with other assets, made a total of 6,705.