The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-06-02 00:00:00

their power on an usurpation of the exercise of the elective
franchise, have been insidiously labouring to evade the conse-
quences of that great legislative measure.
" The abrupt dismissal of a liberal administration in which the
country confided, replaced the executive functions of the state,
at the end of last year, in the hand's of the tories. Their first
act was the dissolution of a parliament too liberal for their de-
signs. They succeeded in returning a more numerous party to
the present House of Commons; not, as is pretended, from any'
change or "re-action" in public opinion, but by a pre-con-
certed and successful attention to the registration in 1834,—by
various means, either out of the reach or repugnant to the prin-
ciples of reformers,—by the unprecedented canvas by a large
body of the clergy,---by bribery and intimidation,—by the cor-
rupting influence of close corporations,—by the unscrupulous
perversion by tory authorities, for party purposes, of powers
confided to them for the maintenance of order and the ends of
justiCe,—and by deceptions practised on the fears of the timid
and the prejudices of the uninformed.
" Notwithstanding, these unconstitutional and' corrupt arts,
successive majorities in the present House of Commons have dri-
ven the tories from office. They are again endeavouring stren-
uously, by means of party clubs, and affiliated associations; by
an iikeincere, but specious profession of liberal princ'iples; and
by every mode of delusion and misrepresentation, to regain their
lost power."

These allegations are based on falsehood, and they
moreover convey a direct insult to the king—an insult
so open and glaring that it could hardly have been
written by any other man than JOSEPH PARKES of Bir-
mingham. His majesty is here charged with an "abrupt
dismissal of an administration in which the country con.
fided." This we say again is a falsehood. The king
dismissed an administration which Lord BROUGHAM had
repeatedly declared could not be carried on without the
assistance of Lord ALTHORP as leader of the House of
Commons. Lord ALTHORP was removed from the House
of Commons—the impassable gulf which Lord BROUGHAM
looked forward to had yawned upon the country—the
ministry was helpless and -characterless—Lord MEL.
BOURNE had no standing—the Loan CHANCELLOR had
neither influence nor reputation. The ministry therefore
sunk into oblivion a dead and diseased lump, the scorn
and the ridicule of all parties.
What hand had the tories in this disgrace ? They. had
not intrigued against Lord MELBOURNE'S first administra-
tion. On the contrary, Sir ROBERT PEEL was its best and
foremost supporter. The right honourable baronet, so
far from calculating upon the consequences of Lord
SPENCER'S death, had retired to a distant part of Europe
without once thinking of it. In obedience to the king's
commands he undertook to form a new ministry—and he
did so at first not more unexpectedly than reluctantly.
But the dissolution of parliament gave great offence.
Why ? Because it deprived some hundred members of
their seats, replacing whigs by conservatives. Is this a
proof that the late parliament was one in which the
" country confided?" It proves quite the reverse. But
JOSEPH PARKES tells us that the tories had stolen a march
upon the electors of the nation in 1834. This also is
false. The tories alone have been negligent, and un-
pardonably negligent in recording their votes. Witness
the city of London, Mary-le-bone, Liverpool, Manchester,
and twenty other places. For this borough we can say
that there were near one hundred inhabitants who had
voted at a former election, and who were deprived of their
votes at the last by some mismanagement which remains
to be explained. There were no such blunders on the par
of the whig and radical party.

This alone proves the extent of the reaction which the
whigs have still the folly and the temerity to deny.
They boast that they have a majority in the House of,
Commons. We admit it. It is a majority of from seven
to thirty ; and it is this paltry majority which has. placed
the name of MELBOURNE at the head of the ministry,
nominally, and given all the power to O'CONNELL and
Lord JOHN RUSSELL.

They are welcome to this triumph, as we say to a man
who has gained a temporary advantage, but who being
in our power, we only wait a convenient opportunity to
punish—you are welcome ! That Lord JOHN RUSSELL
is able to carry on the government for three months, sup-
ported though he be by O'CONNELL and'his myrthidOrns,
we take to be an utter impossibility. The desperate strug-
gle in the last resort of the "Reform Association," seeing
who its members are, is to us proof enough. Their combi-
nation is evidence of weakness. They combine for the sake
of place. We unite. for property. and the salvation of the
institutions of the country. Theirs is a triumph in the
House of Commons whiclL the nation laments, and the
people are prepared to cure. They tell us there is no
reaction ; this glaring falsehood proves a greater re-
action than we assert. But if they still continue to
make assertions in the teeth of evidence, we call upon
them to give us an opportunity to demonstrate whether
they are right or we wrong. Most gladly would we
join issue on this point. We demand nothing so much
as another appeal to the people. Will they consent to
this ? No ; but we shall have it before the year is out.
In the mean time we implore conservativesto act upon
the rules of the " Reform Association." We thank them
for the ingenious suggestions of Mr. JOSEPH PARKES.
First, every conservative must be called upon to register.,
Secondly, every alien and ineligible voter must be ex-
punged from the rolls. Thirdly, a strict guard must be
set upon.those who vote by proxy, and of course fraudu-
lently, (as the quaker did in Liverpool) on the side of
radical and liberal principles.

The only measure--the forlorn measure—that which is
to be the prop and stay of the RUSSELL cabinet in the pre-
sent session of parliament, and which was to have been
introduced last night, like Jack in the Green and the
chimney sweeps on Mayday, has been indefinitely post-
poned. We, of course,. allude to the corporation reform
bill. Being an only measure it will, because it must, be
persisted in. The present week tray not, but the next
week we should think will have the honour of the open-
ing of the important debate.

We are assured that, the corporation of London, wi

and propitiate the most disaffected classes. If he cannot
win the approbation of the ultra. radicals, his scheme

must fail.

For these reasons we are inclined to believe that he
intends-to alter the whole form and frame of corpora-
tions by one general uniform and sweeping bill, and
place all municipal power in the hands of the democracy.
That is our opinion—a few days will explain all.

Notwithstanding the enormous sums expended upon
the poor in the town of Liverpool, the number of beggars
and vagrants has recently very much increased. .In
every respectable house it has almost become indispensa-
ble to keep a servant, the greater portion of whose time
is consumed in answering the demands of these walking
pests. In short, the nuisance is intolerable, and, unless
something is done by the authorities to suppress it, the
inhabitants must take the matter into their own hands.
These vagrants do not frequent the more crowded tho-
roughfares of the town, where a few police constables are
occasionally to be seen, but they swarm in the retired
and most respectable streets, where a constable is as sel-
dom visible as the aurora borealis, where they not only
pester and annoy servants, frightening the timid, and
insulting the more resolute, but even indulge in theft
and encourage plunder whenever an opportunity occurs.
This nuisance, we say again, must be abated.
It is unnecessary to state that these beggars and va-
grants are exclusively Irish. How they procure a passage
is explained in a letter which we shall annex to these
remarks; but it is much to be regretted that means can-
not be adopted to impose some tax or restraint upon such
imports. , They come here under the pretext of seeking
field, labour, but they come in a condition which compels
them, in case of not finding work, to beg or steal. In many
instances' they come for no other purpose than to beg or
steal. How can ragged wretches of women with troops
of young children, many of whom can hardly walk, ex-
pect to support themselves by field labour ? The thing
is absurd. They are sent to. beg or steal, and they come
for that purpose; and no other.
Now, it is hard that Liverpool, after being taxed to
support the poorhouse, the out-door poor, the infirmary,
the dispensaries, the catholic schools, and several other
charities, in which three-fourths of the persons thus aided
or supported are Irish Roman catholics, should be still
further exposed to these frequent inundations of Irish
vagrants.. It is they who force upon the town the neces-
sity for an enlarged and more efficient police. It is to
protect our property and preserve our servants from pol-
lution that we require a new police. It is not for the
exclusive benefit of the wealthy who live in the fashion-
able parts of the town, but for the protection of the shop-
keepers and middle classes. The inhabitants of Everton,
Low-hill, Edge•hill, Abercrombie-square, and Toxteth-
park, have a remedy in their own hands, if they choose to
resort to it. They will, perhaps, find it their interest to
establish a constabulary force by private and voluntary
subscription, and by means of such a force they could
drive back upon the central streets—upon 80ld-street,
Church-street, Lord-street, and Castle-street those
swarms of. ragged Irish beggars which infest the out-
skirts. If this were done, perhaps there would be less
objection to the new police bill. So long .as the shop-
keepers feel no inconvenience from Irish paupers besieg-
ing their doors and annoying their customers, they wil
not be convinced of the, necessity for such a body; when
they see and feel the nuisance, their eyes will be opened,,
and their opinion changed. At prestnt these Irish do
'not prey on one, nother. Whitechapel, Tithebarn.street,
Dale-street, and the adjacent Streets, suffer little com-
paratively. These are only thoroughfares to less public
streets, in Which the paupers begin their work in real
earnest. Bat,-if a suburban constabulary were formed, the
nuisance would fall heavy upon those who are signing peti-
tions against the bill now before the. House of Commons.
How these petitions are got up is explained in the follow-
ing letter, which we have received from a correspondent
of undoubted veracity :
TO TEE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
find from last week's papers that two petitions against
the police bill, numerously signed, have been presented by Mr.
Ewart to the HoUse of Commons. There are two distinct
classes of society who are strongly interested in this bill. The
first includes the middle and higher classes, who have an interest
in the preservation of the peace of the town and the security of
their persons and property; the other comprehends a numerous
assemblage of blacklegs, swindlers, pickpockets, beggars, and
others who are just as fond of either day or night police as the
devil is of holy water. Now, Mr. Editor, soppose each of these
last named worthies to be not only allowed to sign his own name
to the petition, but to act as secretary for all the rogues and va-
gabonds he knows or can remember, that is, to subscribe the
names of the whole list of his right honourable associates, who
reside anywhere between the Land's End and John o'Groats,.
and you will not be surprised if in the course of the present week
there are a few more numerously signed petitions presented to
the honourable house.
That such has been the case, to a considerable extent, I am
led to infer from some observations which I made yesterday,
(Sunday,) which will tend to throw some light on the modes of
obtaining signatures to liberal petitions generally. You are, no
doubt, aware that, owing to the opposition among the packets,
persons may obtain a passage to 'or from Dublin for a mere
trifle, (3d. or 6d., I believe,) and consequently that we have
had some extensive importations of Irish vagrants who have
come over on speculation, and the body of St. Patrick's Chapel,
being free, is of course resorted to by crowds of these respictable
gintlemen. The fathers of the petition have taken advantage of
.these circumstances, and, although St. Patrick's was not one of
the places at which petitions were advertised to lie for signa-
ture, they sent, on Sunday morning, a great number of sheets,
which were spread invitingly on desks or tables'at the doors of
the chapel, in order that each good catholic might, before com-
mencing his.religious ditties, propitiate the saints by signing his
name, as one of them wittily observed, against the parsons and
the policemen. Attracted by curiosity, I went to one of the
tables, where I saw one man write down sir names, and heard
the following interesting dialogue :
Writer—" See what I done for yees."
Door-keeper —q Ye-should alther yer hand though."
Writer—" Shure coulde I write a whole lafe if I'd like?"
Door-keeper—" Och I dar say; but we'll take it in out o' the
rain." • '

It was accordingly removed into the chapel, and whether the
writer would fill the remainder of the lafe or not I cannot tell.
The first name written was Peter Burns, the three next, as
nearly as I can recollect, were Kierman or Kirkman, White,
and Daly, and the fifth and sixth were Arthur Burns and Jas.
Burns. Nor was this a solitary instance, for I observed that at
the.other tables eaph person wrote as many names as he pleased,
without affixing- either residence or occupation. I have been
told also that 'a sheet lies at a public-house in Blair-street,
which may be signed hi the same manner. After this I trust
we shall not hear the number and respectability of the signa-
tures to this petition trumpeted forth by the liberal party. I
have no doubt but the-same means were used at the rest of the
catholic chapels, and, not to mention the desecration of a place
of worship by, using it for such purposes, I am decidedly of
opinion that the promotersof the petition, knowing that nineteen-
twentieths (4 the signatures obtained are spurious, will, in pre-
senting it, be guilty of a gross and direct insult to the House
of Commons.—l C. J. s.

MRS. lIEMANS

The Athenmunt, in announcing the death of Mrs. Hemans,
has been led into some errors respecting the place of her birth
which we are requested by a near relation of that lady to cor-
rect. She was not born "in a small quaint looking house in
St. Anne-street, Liverpool," but in the house now occupied by
Mr. Molyneux, in Duke-street. Her mother was also born in
the same street. Mrs. Hemans was born to affluence, received
a superior education, and was a beautiful as well as a highly
accomplished woman. Her marriage was an imprudent but not
an.unhappy one, and although separated in later life from her
husbarid he was never estranged-from her. About three years
since she removed from Wavertree to Dublin, where she died.
Speaking of her works the Athena= says:—
" Few have written so much, or written so well as Mrs,
Hemans; few have entwined the genuine fresh thoughts and
impressions of their own minds so intimately with their poeti-
cal fancies as she did ; few have undergone more arduous and
reverential preparation for the service of song; for, from child-
hood, her thirst for knowledge was extreme, and her reading
great and varied. Her knowledge of classic literature may lie
distinctly traced in her Sceptic,' her Modern Greece,' and, a
hundred later lyrics based npon what Bulwer so happily calls
'the Graceful Superstition.' Her study and admiration of the
works of ancient Greek and Roman art, strengthened into an
abiding love of the beautiful, which breathes both in the senti-
ment and structure of every line she wrote (for there are few or
our poets more faultlessly musical in their versification) and
when, subsequently, she opened for herself the treasuries of Spa-
nish and German legend and literature, how thoroughly she
had imbued herself with their spirit may be seen in her ' Siege
of Valencia,' in her glorious and chivalresque Songs of the
Cid,' and in her 'Lays of Many Lands,' the idea of which was
suggested by Herde's Stimmen der Volker in Liedern.'
"But though her mind was enriched by her wide acquaint-
ance with the poetical and historical literature dither coun-
tries, it possessed'a strong and decidedly marked character of
its own, which coloured all her productions—a character which,
though anything but feeble -or sentimenCar was tiientially
feminine. An eloquent modern critic (Mrs. `.larnes6n) has
rightly sdidi"that Mrs. Hemans's poems could not have been
writtenhy a man;' their love is without selfishness, their pas-
sions without a stain of this world's coarseness, their high hero-
ism unsullied by any grosser alloy of mean ambition. Her re=
ligion, too, is essentially womanly, fervent, clinging. to belief,
and, 'hoping on, hoping ever, in spite of the peculiar trials ap-
pointed to her sex. "It is difficult to enumerate the titles of
her principal works. Her first childest efforts were published
when she was only thirteen, and we can only 'speak of her sub-
sequent poems—' Wallace,'' Dartmoor,' 'The Restoration of
the Works of Art to Italy,' and her 'Dramatic Scenes' from
memory. These were, probably, written in the happiest period
of her life,;when her mind was rapidly developing itself; and its
progress.'"was aided by judicious and intelligent counsellors,
among.whciin may be mentioned Bishop Heber. A favourable'
notice of one of these poems will be found in Lord Boron's Let-
ters; and the fame of her opening talent had reached Shelly, who
addressed a very singularcorrespondence to her. With respect to
the world in general,- her name began to be known by the pub-
lication of her Welch Melodies,' of her Siege of Valencia,'
and the scattered lyrics which appeared in the New Monthly
Magathine, then under the direction of Campbell. She had pre-
viously contributed a series of prose papers, on Foreign Litera-
ture, to Constable's Edinburgh Magazine, which, with a little ex-
ception, are the only specimens of that style of writing ever
attempted by her. 'lo the Siege of Valencia' succeeded rapidly
her Forest Sanctuary ' her 'Records of Woman' (the most
successful of her works),, her, 'Sou of the AffectioLs' (con-
taining, perhaps, her finest poem, I'he Spirit's Return,') her
National Lyrics and songs for Music' (most of which have
been set to music by her sister, and become popular), and her
Scenes and Hymns of Life.' She had been urged by a fri end
to undertake a prose work, and a series of Aristic Novels,'
something after the manner of Tieck, and Goethe's Kunst Ro-
manen as likely to be congenial to her own tastes and habits f
mind, and to prove most acceptable to the public.
" I have now,' says she, • passed through the feverish and
somewhat visionary state of mind often connected with the pas-
sionate study of art in, early life; deep affections and deep sor-
rows seem to have solemnized my whole being, and I now feel
'as if bound to higher and holier- tasks, which, though I may
occasionally lay, asicle,4 could not long wander 'from without
some sense of dereliction. I hope it is no self-delusion, but I
cannot help sometimes feeling as if it were my true task to en-
large the sphere of sacred poetry, and its influence. When you
receive my volume of ' Scenes and Hymns,' vou will see what
I mean by enlarging its sphere, though my plan as yet is very
imperfectly developed.'
"Besides the works here_enumerated, we should mention 'her
tragedy, 'The Vespers of Palermo,' and the songs which she
contributed to colonel Hodges"Peninsolar Melodies.' And
we cannot but once more call the attention of our readers to her
last lyric, `Despondeucy, and Aspiration,' published in Black-
wood's Magazine for this month; it is the song of the swan—its
sweetest and its last! "- ' -

We take the following from the Dublin University Aragitzine
for June, The editor,-speaking of "the poetry of the Psalms,"
says, ."I'hev are the last verses ever dictated by her, which she
sent to us a-few days previous to her death—
Approved and sanctified to pass,
Through shades and silent rest to endless joy."

THE POETRY OF THE PSALMS.
Nobly thy song, 0 Minstrel! rush'd to meet
Thi Eternal, on the pathway of the blast,
• With darkness round him, as a mantle cast,
And cherubim to waft his flying seat;
Amidst the hills that smoked beneath his feet;
With trumpet-voice thy spirit call'd aloud,
And bade the trembling rocks His name repeat,
And the bent cedars, and the bursting cloud,
But far more gloriously to earth made known
By that high strain, than by the thunder's tone,
The flashing torrents, or the ocean's roll,
Jehovah spoke, through thee, imbleathing tire
Nature's vast realms for ever to inspire, ,
With the deep Worship of a living soul.

MONUMENT TO THE LATE REV NICHOLAS
ROBINSON, M.A.
1 . •

It will be in the recollection of our readers that on the la-
mented death of the Rev. Nicholas Robinson, the minister of
St_ Martin's Church, the congregation were desirous to express
their grateful sense of the value of his services by. erecting a
monument to his memory; and it was thought desirable that,
by limiting the amount of the subscriptions, the poor, who most
severely felt his loss, might have it in their power to share iu the
contributions. Accordingly, a neat monument, consisting of a
marble slab, surmounted by an urn, has
.just been completed
and fixed on the north side of the communion table in that
church.. The following is the inscription :
" NICHOLAS ROBINSON, M.A.,
Minister of this Church,
Born in Liverpool, January 22d, 1801.
Died at Everton, November 21st, 1831.
Disposed by diVine grace from an early age for the work of an
Evangelist,' he used all diligence to approve himself as a minis-
ter of God. In his public teaching he was faithful to the truth
as it is in Jesus, affectionate in reproof, earnest in exhortation,
meek in spirit, and averse from display. In all the offices of
christian charity he was patient and unwearied, glad to distri-
bute, rejoicingtoinstruct the young and ignorant. and to make.
known to the sick and troubled in spirit the consolations of the
gospel. From his last visit to. the dwelling of disease it pleased
God to'eall him to the trial of that sickness which terminated
his existence upon earth. In grateful remembrance of his de-
votion to their service this monument is erected 1:,,y the voluntary
contributions of the congregation." '
. _
This is another instance, among the many others of daily
occurrence, of eminent ministerialfaithfulneSs in a clergyman,
of the eatohlished church; and it is another proof that the peo-
ple are fidly alive to the value of such services, and anxious to
record their gratitude.
It was gratifying to witnetsthe expression of feeling displayed
by the congregation on seeing the monument for the:, first time
last Sunday; and Mr. Gladwin took occasion to remind them,
in a sermon which cannot fail to make a lasting impression upon
their minds, that with this memorial- of their beloved pastor's
virtues before their eyes, they were more deeply than ever en-
gaged to prove their sense of his worth by imitating his example
and following his instructions.