The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-09-08 00:00:00

DOMESTIC

The Ford Abbey Estate. together with the splendid
monastery, was sold on Thursday at tke Auction Mart,
by Mr. George Robins, for 50,100 guineas; and Messrs.
Osborne and Ward, of Bristol, it is believed, the leading
bankers of that city, are the purchasers.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A GENTLEMAN.—On Tues-
day morning, a man named Bailey, in the employ of Mr.
Cubitt, of Thames-bank, in going to Lis work, discovered
the body of a gentleman lying on the shore, at Thames_
bank. The deceased was a gentleman of independent
property, and highly respectably connected ; his name
was William Johnson, aged fifty-two, of Belvoir-terrace,
Vauxhall-bridge-road. He had left home after dinner
with the intention of taking a walk. He had been in a
low and depressed state of mind for some days past.
The late Sir Charles Wetherell died intestate. Search
for a will has been made without success at the residences
of the deceased in Berkeley-square, Stone-buildings,
Lincoln's-inn, and Old House, Sussex. The personal
funded property is estimated at upwards of .:£210,000,
Principally invested in Venezuelan, Chilian, and other
foreign stock ; and there being no surviving children,
one-half of the same will be Lady Wetherell's share. The
remainder will be equally divided amongst the brothers
and sisters of the deceased. The landed and other pro-
perty is valuable, and goes to the heir-at-law, the Rev.
R. Wetherell. It consists of the mansion in Berkeley_
square, a leasehold investment, purchased, for several
thousand pounds, from the Earl of Abergavenny, the
residence and chambers in Stone-buildings, where he
entertained the King of Hanover on two occas'ons during
his last visit to this country, and lands in Sussex, Surrey,
and Kent; the litter about 1500 acres. The property in
Sussex is situate near East Grinstead, and in Surrey,
near Chertsey.

SINGULAR AccrnENT.—We understand that an acci-
dent of a very singular descrip.ion occurred to one of our
fellow-citizens, when recently bathing at Ardeatinny. The
gentleman in question, while swimming at some distance
from the shore, was suddenly attacked by a large medusa
or galley-fish, which so clogged his movements, that he
was in imminent danger of being drowned, and it was
with dffiiculty he disencumbered himself so far as to admit
of his diving, by which i.e freed himself for the moment
from his unwonted assailant. Unfortunately, however,
on rising to the surface, he again came in contact with the
animal, which, this time, began to sink along with him,
and, bad it not been for the assistance of a fisherman,
who, attracted by his cries, rowed hastily to the rescue,
the result might very possibly have been fatal. As it is.
he was some time confined to bed, and is still suffering
from the feverish effect produced by the stings received is
his stro.ge encounter. This accident is the more worthy
worthy of notice from the s'ze of tt.e medusa, which is
rarely found so large in these latitudes, being, so far as
the observer's agitation would permit him to indulge, at
leastsix feet in circumferec ne.—Glaßgow Courier.
SINGULAR BEQUESTS.—The will of Mary Anne John-
son, late of Well-walk, Hampstead, spinster, who died on
the 6th ult., passed the seal of the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury, on the ]st inst. The personal estate of the
testatrix is sworn under £25,000. The will contains, ac-
cording to a statement of a correspondent of the Church
and State Gazette, the following b=quests :—" I give to
my black do, Carlo an annuity of £3O a year during the
do;age}, Jemmy,'skl,ife , to be
andbepaid Tom,yearly.halfl give Unto
an annuityntocacllo of x
f tlreclao a
cats,
year; £3O a year for the three cats, to be pail half-
,
Blacky,
mayn d "ctabtes.r''s'
Query.—What 'Ain the authorities at the Legacy Duty
Office do? As it respects Legacy duty," the legatees
a ret Paoktes o n
charge and
orfri Harriet He odl loyg,
oldyear r.
servants,
to t
are certainly " strangers in blood" to the deceased, and
in that capacity are liable to a duty of ten per cent, on
the value of their life interest ; but the Legacy Duty Act,
on the other hand, says nothing about duty payable on
legacies bequeathed to dogs and cats. Asit is nothing
uncommon "to pass an act to amend an act," we would
certainly suggest that it be done in the next session ; for
we do not see why children should pay one per cent. upon
property they derive from their parents, and Master
Carlo, and Messrs. Blacky, Jemmy, and Tom, pay
nothing.

THE ATTENTIVE GOVERNMENT.—Various govern-
ments have had various nicknames fastened upon them.
Beyond all question the present one is entitled to be called
" The Attentive Government." To every enquiry that is
made, to every suggestion that is offered, to every plan
that is recommended, to every abuse that is pointed out,
to every deficiency that is mentioned, they have hut one
answer—" they will direct their attention to it." The.
inquiry they cannot answer—the suggestion they do not
undo rstand—t he plan they never heard of—the abuse they
are unable to remedy—the deficiency they cannot supply
—but—" they will direct their attention to them." What
a set of inefficient, unprovided, ignorant, unbusiness-like,
unprepared dolts they must be ! They know nothing.
can do nothinz, have no resources at hand, and can only
adr
ei res tt ts hfieeidr tet esnpteiaokn
ittoh
iwn hcaotme vpears
si
wmhe
enn-
early a hundred subjects are now waiting for
wtpi roeonsmeadiys. et
that
laoit n
7e"
their " attention" during the recess ; and if they fulfil
their promises, their time will be so fully occupied, that
the current business of the country must of necessity be
neglected. That will beallowed to accumulate and become
subjects for " attention" during the recess of 1847, if
Providence should continue to inflict upon us the " At-
tentive Government" for another year. The meaning of
all this is. that they are wholly unfit for their offices at
present, but intend to work hard and quality themselves
before Parliament meets again. With such an awkward
squad we shall soon witness some glorious blunders.—
John Bull.

FREE TRADE CELEBRATION AT SHEFFIELD.—The
Sheffield free traders celebrated the passing of the free
trade measures on Wednesday. Lord Morpeth, M.P.,
addressed the assembly in a speech which was character-
ised by his usual elegance of expression, but which con-
tained nothing new or startling, being, in fact, a clever
lecture on the benefits in prospect from free trade. Hav-
ing alluded to the failure of the potato crop as endanger-
ing famine in Ireland, and as seeming "to bring some-
thing in the spirit of a solemn rebuke to those who, in
the earlier discussions of the present session, indulged in
sarcastic refetences to the malady in the potatoes, his
lordship said, " The most inveterate protectionist will tell
you that he is as ready as any one to meet the pressure of
any immediate evil, and that if the natural operations of
their loved sliding scale bad not of itself reduced prices,
in such a state of affairs they would have been ready in
the face of famine to throw all the ports open. But we
tell them that that is not enough—small thanks to you,
that the sharp cry of a people's famine will be strong

enough to sweep away every obstacle; but what we want
to proclaim is that in every year, in every season, in every
state of the weather, the ports of Britain shall be open.
(Loud cheers.) Therefore plough ❑ow your fields, and
wastes, and prairies; cut down your forests; grub up the
roots of your trees ; sow wheat, and maize, and barley,
and oats, and beans, and peas,--load all your boats and
barges on Your seas and rivers—the Baltic, the Don,
the Hudson, the Mississippi,—come when they may, and
from whence they may, for the ports of England shall be
open to them, and no man shall stop them. ( Loud cheers.)
The manufacturers and workmen of busy England shall
open their mouths wide for all this abundance, and no
man shall stay it. (Cheers.) And this it is mainly
which makes me rejoice, that the people and parliament
of my country h,ve given a complete, an irresistible, an.
eternal sanction to the principles of free trade, and to re-
verse which I believe will be a far harder task than to re-
move the pyramids or to stop the downfall of Niagara.
(Cheers.) And I have the sanction of your chairman
and of this meeting, that if such an attempt be made, the
free traders of Sheffield will do their best to put it down.
(Hear, hear.)" The company was afterwards addressed
by John Parker, Esq., M.P., G. Ward, Esq., M.P., Col.
Thompson, and others.

DERBY ELECTION.—An unexpected vacancy in the re-
presentation of this borough has been occasioned by the
appointment of Mr. Strutt to the office of President of
the new Railway Board. The writ was moved for and issued
on Friday week, and was received the same night by the
Mayor (Mr. E. Mousley), who, as returning officer, ap-
pointed the nomination to take place on Wednesday
morning. The Mayor's proclamation, and an address
from Mr. Strutt, appeared almost simultaneously on Sa-
turday morning, and great was the astonishment of the
electors et an announcement for which they were wholly
unprepared. In fact, if Mr. Strutt's acceptance to office
was known to any oue in the town before the receipt of
the writ, the knowledge was confined to some of that gen-
tleman's confidential friends, by whom the secret was
most carefully kept. Mr. Strutt arrived at Derby at a
late hour on Friday night, and on Saturday morning fol-
lowed his address. In the course of Saturday a placard
appeared, intimating that Sir Digby Mackworth (Con-
servative) had been requested to come forward in opposi-
tion to Mr. Strutt, and cautioning the electors against
promising their votes. Sir Digby arrived at the Royal
Hotel about midnight on Saturday, and on Monday morn-
ing he published an address to the electors, in which he
said—"Gentlemen,—Though personally a stranger to
most of you, I have been invited by a large and influential
body from among yourselves to stand forward

didate for the horioUr of being one of the representatives
of your ancient borough in parliament. I come forward,
Gentlemen, simply as a supporter of the great funda-
mental Constitution of England—the palladium of our
liberties—the real cause of our prosperity—and the best
gift of Divine Providence to our fathers—our Protestant
religion. My principles have ever been Conservative—
unconnected with any political party ; but my anxious de-
sire is to see Protestants of every persuasion rally roi_nrd
.
the standard of Protestantism.' It appears that 1
Strutt gave treat umbrage to many of the
conduct
with
dis-
senters who formerly sported him by c
ct
hireferenceelection
mp oelni ttt
hoi t
neoo
took
Sirhuem place
numbers
towne. r Peelssonw Ttehrher
uo_rAussfadTaht
rayhynnet,tohti
loe,dntBehddfiesatayle. Bill t
fAsaore wetfsicatislwrhB
oe4gDrsrete.
ihl
goa,bstsTeye6hxole
:f.
Majority for Strutt, 284.
for
imn owing tl.
pledge o
many Strati.
ntio.
to
tf the Dissenters,
ea at
this
election, w ho
givingh tcl giventhe ar im-
pliednvo te