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

THE COMET.

The following letter, dated Berlin, Nlarch 9th, 1843, has
been received by a gentleman iu this town from Lieut. Metre
Petrie, R.N. :

" An extraordinary exhibition of nature has been given us
here, in the shape of a comet; but of such an immense di-
mension, as to cause the utmost wonder even in the most
learned in these matters, and the geratest consternation in
the ignorant,—floods to overflow the earth, war, pestilence,
and fame, have all been predicted in consequence of this most
beautiful stranger's appearance. I first observed it on the
evening of the 2nd of this month, and at this date, no one in
this province has dared to write a word in the papers upon
the subject, so deficient are the Brazilians in astronomical
studies. At the hour of 7on the 2nd instant, 1 saw for the
first time a faint stream of light shooting up into the sky from
the western horizon ; but on the following evening we had a
beautiful figure of a luminous pillar, standing, as it were, on
a dark base of clouds, and reaching nearly half-way to our
zenith,—it was like a pillar of polished silver, with the most
brilliant moon-booms plying upon it, the reflection upon the
calm water, added greatly to its beauty ; altogether, it is an
extraordinary phenomenon, and perhaps never was the like
seen by the inhabitants of this earth since they were able to
communicate and hand down accounts of such things to pos-
terity. I mean, with regard to its extreme splendour and di-
mensions. On the evening of the 7th I found the comet setting
about in the horizon at the hour of eight, and thirty-nine mi-
nutes, and this evening it was even more splendid ; its mag-
nificence was beyond conception ; it measured from the
nucleus, or head of the comet, to the end of the tail, or
growth, 40 30, and fully double the diameter of the moon. It
seemed to be very dense to about 38, then more attenuated,
the nucleus or head was fully defined, and appeared about a
star of the first magnitude ; the sides of the tail were so well
defined that it had all the appearance of a highly polished
pillar ; the tail must 'be nearly two hundred millions of miles
in length, and thirty-seven millions of miles in breadth, and
must be flying at the rate of upwards of one million of mites
in an hour. I believe it must have come much nearer the
sun than any comet we have an account of. The tail did not
dilate, nor contract, but appeared to bend towards the south
—the comet set bearing W. by S., 4 S., and the moon's
angle with it was about 53. I have seen several comets, but
this more than rivals all put together. I remember the one
of 1811, which was considered a largo one ; and believe the
greatest length of its tail was 231, and this is 40 29.

IMPORT OF FOREIGN CATTLE.--Last week, the Soren
Winkel, from Aalborg, brought 49 oxen and two cows to
Hull. At Southampton, 40 oxen have been received from
Spain.

LORD Rossz's TELESCOPE.—We are happy'to announce,
that " the great telescope," under the immediate superin-
tendence of his lordship, is progressing towards completion.
A large number of artizans and labourers are employed in
erecting this truly wonderful instrument.—Lcinster Express.
The Glasgow Courier states, that a young man named
Briton, is in custody, on the charge of embezzling, to a large
amount, the funds of his employers, the Glasgow and Ayr
Railway Company.

The amount of sheep, lamb. and Alpaca wool imported
into the United Kingdom in the year 1842, that paid a duty
of one penny and one halfpenny per lb, was 45,881.639 lbs. ;
re-exported, 4,085,190 lbs. Total consumption, 44,022,141
lbs. The quantity imported, the produce of the British pos-
sessions in 1842, was 18,467,212 lbs; re-exported, 106,473
lbs.

INFANTICIDE.—A very pretty and genteel young woman
about 22 years of age, has been taken before the magistrate
at the Queen-square Police-office, London, and conioiitted
for trial, on her own confession, on the charge of hnving at
two different periods given birth to an illegitimate child, and
murdered the infants by strangulation, and then destroyed
their bodies by fire.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT ON THE LIEGE LINE-Our Dover
correspondent sends us the following under yesterday's date :
We have learned, from a Spanish gentleman, who arrived
here last night, per the Widgeon, from Ostend, that a fearful
accident had occurred on the previous day (Wednesday) on
the Liege Railway.by which six persons had lost their lives,
and fourteen had been seriously wounded. The accident, as
we understood our Spanish informant, arose from one of the
carriages taking fire.—Globe.
CORN-LADEN SIIIPS.--A retr,rn of the number of ships
laden with foreign corn, entered inwards at the ports of the
United Kingdom, between January 5, 1842 and 1843, shows
the following results :—Of British ships there were 2,346
entered, containing 1,661,224 quarters of wheat, 17,347
quarters of barley, 103,574 quarters of oats, 136,028 quarters
of beans and peas, 528,515 cwt. of flour, 10,334 quarters of
Indian corn, 3,780 quarters of rye, and 5,466 cwt. of oatmeal.
The number of foreign ships entered were 1,857, containing
999,792 quarters of wheat, 50,857 quarters of barley, 193,856
cwt. of flour, 1,312 quarters of Indian corn, 6,237
quarters
of rye, and 71 cwt. of flour. Of 1,857 foreign ships, 48 were
from Russia, 39 from Sweden, 308 from Denmark, 531 from
Prussia, 413 from Germany, 89 from Holland, 3 from
,Bel-
gium, 175 from France,27 from Spain, 71 from Italy, 12
from Austria, 1 from Greece, 1 from Egypt, and 128 from
the United States of America.

The Registration of Voters Biil went through committee,
Lord CAMPBELL postponing his amendments until the
bringing up of the report.
Lord BEAUMONT brought the question of Servia under
the consideration of the house, contending, at great length,
that the recent interference of Russia was an infringement
of the integrity of the Ottoman empire, wholly unjustifiable
upon any other ground than that the Sublime Portc was
weak, Austria timid, Russia encroaching, and England
apathetic : although it was rumoured that France was in-
clined to stand with England against the despotic interfer-
ence of Russia. The Porte was, he contended, abandoned to
its own resources against Russia, and the result was that
Russi, as usual, would obtain by negotiation what never
could have been obtained by force of arms. If Servia should
decline to have its own choice of a sovereign over-ruled, he
wished to know from Lord Aberdeen if he was prepared to
allow Russia to send 50,000 men into that country to enforce
obedience to its wishes under the specious pretext of pro-
tection—a pretext so often resorted to for the purpose of
extending its territories. The noble lord concluded by
movlng for papers connected with the subject.
The Earl of ABERDEEN said that a revolt took place last
September in Servia which led to the dethronement of the
reigning ruler, and this dethronement was the result of a
bargain between the Turkish Pacha of Belgrade and certain
parties of Servia, with whom the people of that country so
little sympathised, that the prince whom the revolutionists
chose would, ere long; be but too happy should he escape
from those very people without any aid from the arms of
Russia. It was said, when the revolution took place, that
it was to be attributed to Russian intrigues, and great credit
was given to that country for the crafty and successful man-
ner in which it carried out its objects. Now, however, that
Russia condemns the revolution, it was contended that other
nations were succumbing to her influence. The fact was,
that Servia possessed only a qualified independence, which
she owed to the support of Russia, and this independence
was sought to be destroyed by the intrigues of the Pacha of
Belgrade, which caused Russia to interfere for the protection
of that qualified independence that Servia could not maintain
without her assistance. It appeared to the Government,
under all the circumstances, that the wisest course to pursue
was that of following in the steps of Austria, which had the
strongest interest in maintaining the integrity of the Ottoman
empire. He believed a new election would take place of a
Servian prince, but he had no apprehension whatever of the
alarming consequences which the noble lord appeared to fore-
bode. Ile therefore opposed the motion of the noble lord.
Lord BEAUMONT then withdrew the motion, and their
lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY,

Mr. L. Fox said, in reply to a question froth Mr. W. S.
O'BRIEN. that as Mr. O'Connell had declared he would not
attend the discussion of the motion of which he had given
notice with a view to put a stop to the agitation for a repeal
of the union, :he would not bring it on in his absence, but
would inform him what he intended to do in a letter addressed
to him publicly.
Sir R. PEEL said that no official communications had taken
place between this country and France respecting the re-
ported intention of the King of the French to compel a mar-
riage between the Queen of Spain and a Bourbon prince.
It was, however, the opinion of the British Government that
Spain, as an independent state, was the exclusive judge of
any alliances which it might think proper to form.
Sir R. PEEL, stated the progress which had been made to
ren

ledy the evils arising Worn-the population progressing in
various towns in a greater ratio than the means of providing
them with religious instruction. This evil being admitted,
the next question was as to the means of applying a remedy,
and for these it was the present intention of the government
that ecclesiastical revenues should be applied to the purpose,
but if these should hereafter prove to be ►nsuflicient it would
become his duty to apply to Parliament for assistance. The
right hon. baronet adverted to the advantages which had re-
sulted from the ecclesiastical commission appointed in 1834,
and stated that in consequence of the reduction of the num-
ber of cathedral establishments a revenue of £25,000 was
now at their disposal applicable to the augmentation of small
livings. This sum would in future years be largely increased
from the same source. He proposed to borrow £600,000
from the capital stock of £1,200,000 standing in the names
of the governors of the Queen Anne's Bounty., to be secured
on the revenues accruing hereafter to the ecclesiastical com-
missioners. He proposed that the sum borrowed should be
applied to the increase of spiritual instruction to the extent
of .1;30,000 per annum, not for the building of churches, but
for the endowment of ministers in aid of local subscriptions.
If a minister were endowed in a destitute district he had no
doubt but that the erection of a church by subscription would
soon follow as a result of his labours. Ile believed it to be
of importance thot they should immediately proceed to action,
and as he asked for no public money he hoped the house
would unanimously agree to the proposed plan. The right
hon. baronet concluded by moving a resolution on which to
found a motion for leave to bring in a bill to carry out the
scheme he proposed.

• •
Sir R. Isorms could not give his approbation to the plan,
although he would not embarrass the government by any
observations which could have the effect of strengthening
the hands of those from whom the church had nothing to
expect. He confidently looked forward to the time when
the house would be asked for a grant of public money in
furtherance of the religious instruction of the people. It
was to the enlargement of the church establishment that the
country looked for the means of improving its social condi-
tion, and it was to be remembered that the greatest evils of
the late insurrection prevailed in districts insufficiently pro-
vided with pastoral care. He sincerely hoped the present
plan would prove beneficial, though it by no means came up
to his expectations.

Lord .1. RUSSELL was not prepared, so far as he under-
stood the plan, to bestow upon it his unqualified admiration,
although it certainly contained the elements of utility. It
was not, however, any defect, according to his views, that
the plan required no grant of public money in its support.
Mr. PLuMPTRE maintained the necessity of upholding the
preaching of the pure doctrine in the church.

Mr. BoßTHwicic complained of the practice of make,
shows of our churches, and charging twopence for admissio,
to them, instead of throwing them open to all.
Lord SANDON supported the plan as likely to prove bene
ficial to the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of the peo
ple._

Mr. CAMPBELL, while he approved of the plan, condemn-
ed the doctrines of Puseyism, and said he would not support
any motion calculated to promote the doctrines of a sect
opnosed to the principles of the reformation. .
S r R. PEEL replied, and said that the difference of opinion
expressed in the course of the debate upon the propriety of
requiring a parliamentary grant fully justified him in refrain-
ing from adopting that course. He believed the annual sum
-10,000, which he proposed, would be found adequate, with
l aid of voluntary subscriptions, to promote the real wel-
ts e of the church more effectually than if he had required a
!a •ge grant of public money.

The resolution was then agreed to.
Lord ELIOT then moved the second reading of the Irish
Poor Law Bill, and stated the various alterations contem.
plated by its enactment.

Mr. FRENCH said that the first poor law had been founded
upon the inaccurate representations made by Mr. Nicholls.
The expense originally calculated upon had been greatly ex-
ceeded, and yet but little benefit had resulted to the poor.
The dissatisfaction amongst all classes was so great, that its
repeal was inevitable, for it could never be rendered suitable
to the people of Ireland. Ile concluded by moving that the
bill should be read a second time that day six months.
Mr. S. CRAWFORD seconded the motion.
Mr. SMITH (Attorney-General for Ireland) contended that
the rating to the poor-rate in many parts of Ireland was only
the fraction of a penny, while in others it did not exceed two-
pence—a burden which it was absurd to stigmatise as an in-
sult to Ireland.
Mr. FRENCH said he would not press his amendment to a
division, and the bill was accordingly read a second time
without a division.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and
the house adjourned.