The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-03-15 00:00:00

"THE OATH OF A FREE BURGESS OF THE
TOWN OF LIVERPOOL.

" You shall be a true and faithful subject to our Sovereign
Lord King WILLIAM, his Heirs and Successors, and no trea-
son do, procure, or commit, or cause to be done, procured, or
committed, within this town or the liberties thereof.

" You shall also from time to time, as occasion shall require,
aid, assist, and obey, as well the Mayor of this town, as also
all other his Majesty's Officers within the same under the said
Mayor, in the due and lawful execution of their several ices;
and especially concerning the Preservation of his Majesty's Peace,
the Observation of Good' Order; and the ancient and laudable Pri-
vileges, Franchises, Liberties, and Customs of the same, which
said Liberties and• Customs you shall further and increase, to your
knowledge and best endeavour.

" You.shall likewise by no covin, colour, or deceit, free any
foreigner, or the goods, chattles, or merchandize, of any fo-
reigner, or other person whatsover, not free within-this town,
in the name of your own proper goods, chattels, or merchandize,
whereby the customs of this town may be impaired, hindered,
impeached, delayed, or embezzled.
" And if you shall know or hear of any unlawful congrega-
tions, conventicles, riots, routs, or unlawful assemblies, or other
disorderly tumults to be had or made, or like to be had, made,
or procured, by day or by night, within this town or the liber-
ties of the same, to the disturbance of the peace of our sovereign
lord the King's Majesty, his heirs or successors, you shall give
warning and notice thereof to the mayor,. his deputy or bailiffs,
with all speed ; and all and every other thing or things which
shall either touch or concern the advancement or preferment of
the commonwealth and state of this town, or shall appertain
and belong to be done by good and honest burgesses, freemen,
or ,inhabitants of the same, you shall for your part do, accom-
plish, perform, and observe, to the best of your ability, power,
knowledge, and wit. " so HELP YOU GOD."

This is the oath that Messrs. Wybergh, Rathbonc, and
Harvey took when they became freemen of Liverpool.
Any comment upon this would be superfluous : we leave
the rest to our fellow-townsmen.

The Albion affects to be very indignant at Lord San-
don, for hinting at the true cause why the old burgesses
hung back from voting on-the first day of the election
" not choosing to vote at the same time with the small
householders." Indignant, but unable to contradict, he
can only exclaim " Faugh!" pirating, without acknow-
ledgment, the expression of the old freemen themselves
on the occasion alluded to, whose almost universal reply
during the first day of the election to the canvassers for
Lord Sandon and Sir Howard Douglas, was "Faugh.!
let the Jerry-voters have their bit of fling to-day, you'll
see how we will take the shine out of them to-morrow,
cock-a-hoop as they are." They gratified their whim,
making good their prediction, and the result sufficiently
accounts for all the vexation and bitter animosity which
has been subsequently evinced by the defeated party
against the old freemen, as well as for the,little irritation
displayed by the Editor of the Albion at Lord Sandon's
touch of an old sore.

MR. WASON made on Tuesday night, in the House of
Commons, one of the most unjustifiable attacks upon
Mr. Gladstone of this town and member for Portarling-
ton, which we ever •remember to have heard of in any
society supposed to consist of gentlemen. The particu-
lars will be found in our parliamentary report. The in-
solence of Mr Wason,as most of our readers know, is
only exceeded by his ignorance, and as our columns are
full to overflowing, we leave him to the severe repri-
mand which he'received. at the hands of the Speaker.
Such a rebuke would have turned any other man, who
possessed feelings warmer than those of an oyster, into
a stone.

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.—One of the members of this
society has at length• found his way into the House of
Commons without taking the oaths required frOm the
other members of that body. Suppose the King' should
be advised to elevate one of this sect to the peerage, or
suppose a Peer should turn Quaker, and demand adtnis-
sion to the house. What would-the' Lords do? Would
the oaths administeied on taking a seat in the upper
House of Parliament present an insurmountable bar to
his admission ;—or, until those oaths are abrogated by
an Act of Parliament, can a vote of the House of Com-
mons Constitutionally supersede the law of the land ?
If Quakers can legislatively dispose of our lives, liber-
ties, and property, (without being first sworn) why may
they not do this judicially ? Why should they be ex-
empted from serving all offices whether civil or military,
some of which bear heavily on every other class of the
community ?

We have been led into these reflections by some obser-
vations that fell from Mr. Justice Alderson at "the
Durham Assizes," where he is reported to have said, that
the affirmation of a Quaker being equivalent to the oath
of another person, (as decided by the 22nd. Geo. 2 Cap.
46,) the members of the society of friends would in future
be liable also to undertake the onerous duties of Consta-
bles, Overseers, and Grand and Petty Jurymen.

MARY-LE-BONE ELECTION.—In one "little month"
after it was asserted that the electors of the city of Lon-
don had proved by their votes in favour of the four re-
form candidates at the general election, that they were
the most reform-loving-electors in Great Britain, the
return of Mr. Lyall in preference to Mr. Alderman
Venables, gave rise to some abstruse speculations as to
the cause of this apparent change of opinion in that
body. We who are accustomed to read that inspired
periodical " The Times," and to give implicit credence,
to all that we read therein, have scarce recovered frcm
the shock given to our faith, before we find another va-
cancy occurring in one of the Metropolitan boroughs,
and, wonderful to relate, we find too, that a Tory candi-
date has dared to rear the standard of revolt,' against the
majesty of reform in.that place. All this is wonderous
strange, and should Mr. Hope bellie successful candidate,
we must go to school again to learn by what causes such
effects are produced—and what acts of the reform(({
parliament have produced this reformation of public
opinion.

SOUTH LANCASHIRE CONSERVATIVE SOCIETY.

More than three hundred of the nobilityrand gentry of South
Lancashire have enrolled themselves as members of the Con-
servative Societ, established at the public meeting lately held.
at Newton.

It' there was ever a period when a cordial union of the friends
or our religious and political institutions was desirable, the
present is that period-. We can no longer rely, as was
formerly the case, on the character of the government; for we
have a ministry which is remarkable for nothing so much as
the facility with which it yields
.to the cluMonis of the turbu-
lent, and, a disposition to gratify that morbid apptite for change
which distinguishes the present age. The representations of
Political Unions are heard in the senate,. deputations from.
Political Unions have their audience, of the minister, remon-
strate, threaten ; and the name of the " people" is prostituted
to give authority and influence to principles subversive of all
order, of religion, of the rights of property, and of the consti-
tution itself. There are persons who are ready to condemn the
establishment of Conservative Societies, on the ground that
their existence affords a cover to the existence of Political.
Unions. But it must be remembered that Political Unions
arc tolerated by the legislature, and that they have been per-
mitted to influence the conduct of the government; the ques-
tion therefore is, whether a countervailing influence resting on
the wealth and intelligence of the country, shall not be exerted
in defence of those institutions which it is the object of the,
unions to destroy. " When bad men combine, the good should
associate ;" and if all who desire to preserve the existing con-
nection between Church and State, the dignity of the throne,
and the independence of the' House of Lords, would express
their " fixed determination to maintain the tried and ancient
principles on which the constitution of our country is founded,"
ministers, with all their disposition to yield to the clamours
with which they are assailed, would not yenture even to pro-
pose a measure which was calculated' to endanger the estab-
lished institutions of the country.
But it appears to us that something more is required of Con-
servative societies than a declaration of their principles. Every
one who is in the habit of perusing the Movement and revolu-
tionary journals must be a aware that they are filled with false
and calumnious statements, the natural tendency of which is to
excite discontent among those who are not able to detect the
imposition, or the motive for circulating it. If the church is
mentioned, it is for the purpose of exaggerating-its revenues,
maligning its clergy, and depreciating their labours. Now, it
appears to us that the Conservative societies of England would
render a very important service to their country, if they would
direct their attention to the best means of counteracting the in-
fluence of these libellous effusions. Most of our readers are
doubtless aware of what has been done by the venerable Soci-
ety for Promoting Christian Knowledge, to oppose infidel and
immoral publications by the circulation of their admirable
tracts: what this society has done for the moral and religious
interests of society, we would have Conservative Associations
do for its political interests. A small annual subscription from
each member would form a fund which would place within the
reach of every man, information on every snbject connected
with his political and social condition, which would enable him,
at once, to detect the fallacies by which fraudulent and crafty
revolutionists attempted to mislead him. We shall probably
return .to this subject on some future occasion.—Manchester
Guardian.

It is reported that a requisition to the Lord Mayor is in pro-
gress of signing, calling for a public meeting of the electors to
keep Sir John Key to his pledge of resigning when called upon
by his constituents. It appears•that he has given great offence
by voting for ministers on the Irish coercion bill. We know
not how true the rumour may be, but we think the citizens
should give intimation to their respective representatives that
they have withdraVm their confidence from the Whig Govern-
ment. How otherwise is an alderman to find out such a
change ? The conservatives are making themselves,very merry .
upon the subject ; under the new order of things in the Con..
Mons they fully expect a change of delegates at least once a
month during the present session, as some one or other of the
members pledged will find it a difficult task to please all their
good friends the radicals. In the meantime large bets are of-
fered that, if a vacancy occurs, it will be filled up by a conser-
vative; in that case, being a gentleman, there will be no pledg-
ing.—Guordiati.
The Lumley family at one time claimed their descent from
Adam. This occasioned James the First to say in his Scotch
accent, when be saw it at Lumley Castle, in his way from the
North, " I never before kennid what was Adam's surname, but
I now find it was Adam Loomley."

Vettrn.

FROM THE "HECUBA" OF EURIPIDES.

STROPHE T.
Gentle breele, that fanu'st the sea,
AS the surge thou raisest, free,
That bearest o'er the swelling foam
The way-worn sailor to his home ;
Whither, o'er the billows wild,
Wilt thou bear the Trojan's child
Whither shall the child of woe
To chains, and grief, and anguish go 2
On the Dorian's distant shore,
Or where the Phthian rivers roar?
Where, sire of streams that lave the earth,
Anipeus gives his waters birth ?

ANTISTROPHE I.
Shall Boreas bear my mournful flight
To some far island's rocky height,
Where the first-born palms expand
Their treasures on the Delian strand ?
Where the bay-trees irallow'd shade
Saw Latona's burden laid 1
Where the damsel minstrels raise
The hymn of chaste Diana's praise,
The golden wreath, th' unerring dart
That pierced the sylvan hunter's heart ?
STROPHE 11.
Or on the fertile olive plains,
Where virgin Pallas dwells and reigns,
join the coursers to the car
Of her who loves the race, the war 1
Weave the car and weave the horse,
Bounding on in rapid course,
With many a tinge and many a hue,
Weave them for the Virgin's view ?
Or Titan's bold and giant band,
That dared the Thund'rer's red right hand,
Hurl'd from the heavens' highest steep,
And hush'd in everlasting sleep 1
ANTISTROPHE 11.
Woe, woe is me for those I bore,
Woe for my sires, and ravaged shore ;
Behold the flames in fury rise,
Behold the Grecian's sacrifice 1
'Tis mine to lie on foreign strand,
No more to see my native land—
No more to see my country, save,
To see her to her toes a slave :
And change the soft, the bridal bed
For the dark chambers of the dead.