The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-05-16 00:00:00

THE HARES OF KILKENNY.

"The boys of Kilkenny," the old song tells us, " are
neat roaring blades ;" but this must have been, as another
song says, "a long time ago," somewhere about the time
," when we went out a gypsying." Any how, the present
boys of Kilkenny are not very much in earnest in roaring
" pikes," as proved by a little incident which occurred at
a recent confederation meeting, held in that city of blwk
coal and smokeless fires. The redoubtable Mr. Meagher
—be of the sword—was addressing the boys in question
upon the necessity of arming themselves, and they had
responded with vehement and applauding cries of " hear,
bear," and " pikes," when, says the report :

" He was interrupted by a great confusion and outcry amongst
the people beneath. The crowd was swaying to and fro, and
cries of 'the police,' 'the soldiers,' were raised, which seemed
to create a general panic, and some who were carrying pikes,
and who had stationed themselves at the upper end of the
street, most gallantly took to their heels, and tied up Meeting-
house-lane, knocking down several women who lay in their
way, while others ran in the opposite direction, and did not stop
till they reached the Coal-market. Several people were tram-
pled on and many hurt, and the shrieks of the women and chil-
dren were loudly heard."

Alas, for the" roaring " prestige of the boys of Kilkenny !
We should be sorry, however to hint a word of any
want of courage on their part. Their pikemen, doubtless,
rushed, not " fled," as the naughty reporter has it, "up
Meetinghouse-lane," only to meet and make mincemeat
of the peelers and soldiers ; knocked down the women
and children only in their eagerness to be at the foe, and
only stopped in the Coal Market because they had lost
their way. Mr. Duffey of the Nation, however, appears,
from his remarks upon the sad subject, to have taken a
very different view of the cause of the running. We quote
the oracle of the Nation : '

"lie heard acommotion there that night,and had heard cries
of 'the police are coming,' and a panic seemed to pervade the
meeting at the words. What meant this panic? The people
should grow in strength and security, and become conscious of
their own dignity. Those present would never do for an army
of the people if they were to act in this pusillanimous manner.
That was not the way men calculated to form the people's army
should act; they should stand their ground, and say to the po-
lice, 'We are doing no illegal act, and we will continue where
we are.' Perhaps the panic was only momentary; perhaps it
would have occurred anywhere as well as there; but let them
not fall into it ever again.
'A Voice.—lt was women and children.
" Mr. Duffy.—Was it women? In Waterford he had heard
the women ask When will the time come?' and look as reso-
lutely.and fearlessly for their country's right as any man. Why
should not the women here do the same? Well, they were wo-
men after all, and he would say no more about it."

" Well. they were women after all, and he would say
no more about it." We hope there was no sarcasm in-
tended in the admission, although we are afraid there was.
We should recommend the patriot, however, to trust no
more to the women of Waterford, who " look as reso-
lutely and as fearlessly for their country's rights as any
man," and to trust as little as possible to looks in either
Waterford women or "Kilkenny boys," as possible. There
are very fierce looking people, both male and female, who
are very hares ; people who can took as well as " speak
daggers," and pikes as well, but whose last thought it is
to " use them."

After all, it would disappoint few people to find that a
tolerably fair proportion of the confederate pikemen, as
well as of their spouters, are made of this Kilkenny
stuff.

FIRST DAY'S SALE OF MESSRS. OFFLEYS,
WEBBER, FORRESTER, AND CRAMPS'S PORT
WINES.

The first day's sale of port wines of the above extensive
Oporto firm took place yesterday, in the Portico, New-
ington, and was numerously attended by the trade and by
private purchasers. It consisted of 304 lots of pipes,
hogsheads and quarter casks of the finest vintages, and
all first growths, from 1820 to 1846. The wines, which
are stored in the Albert Dock Warehouses, had been on
view during three days last week, and had been tasted by
numbers of our first connoiseurs. Mr. Forrester, of
Oporto, one of the firm, was in attendance; and before
proceeding to the sale, Mr. Medland, the auctioneer, in-
troduced that gentleman to the company for the purpose
of making a few observations.
Mr. FORRESTER. on presenting himself, said that he
appeared before them as the representative of one of the
largest houses, as growers and producers of port or any
other wine, in Europe—a house whose production
amounted to the large quantity of 2000 pipes a year.
His object in appearing there was to explain the reasons
which had led to the present sale. He was induced to
make a few remarks to them by two circumstances ; first,
be had to explain that they had adopted the present course
because they did not conceive it safe to hold so large a
Ftock in the present disturbed state of Europe—and,
secondly, by reason of an existing combination against
them by competitors, who complained of their offering to
the public pure wine instead of compounds. For four
consecutive years they had been exposed to an extra-
ordinary contention by the advocates of adulteration
versus purity; and every assertion of his house as to the
superiority of the latter during those four years years re-
mained uncontroverted. He should make no further
remarks ; but there was one calumny used against them
which he felt bound to contradict. It was said that, be-
cause they did not throw in the enormous quantity of
brandy used by some houses, their wines would turn
sour. His reply was, that every pipe which they produced
they took care should be thoroughly fermented ; and he
had found that, when wines had been thus fermented,
they contained of themselves sufficient alcohol to pre-
serve them. The present. he added, was a bona fide
sale, and they.intended during the present state of affairs
to limit their transactions to the disposal of the stock
annually grown by themselves. For the purity and
keeping quality of the stock now offered he pledged the
honor of his house.

Tne Auctioneer, having explained that every pipe would
be guaranteed to consist of 115 gallons, anything over to
be to the benefit of the buyer, proceeded to offer the
various lots. The first lot, marked double diamond and
two grapes, went off at £27 to £2B per pipe; £l4 and
£l4 10s. for hogsheads, and £6los. to £7 15s. for quar-
ters—all sold. The next br nd, three grapes, and U. S.
went off, five pipes at £3O, and five at £29 10s. The
hogsheads were passed, there being no bidders ; and the
quarter casks went off at £7, one lot only bringing £7 ss.
The next, the feathers mark was sold, half at £4O and the
remainder at £39. Three hogsheads of the same were
sold at £l9 and the remainder passed. The quarters
were sold at £9 and £8 10s. Of the next brand, four
grapes, 1834 vintage, described as very superior, one pipe
was sold at £37 10s., and the remainder, with the hhds.,
at the rate of £36105. The quarters were sold at .Z 8 10s.
to £9.

Several other parcels of the same four brands, out of
other importations, were subsequently offered. The lots
sold, however, brought in general lower prices. and a
large quantity was withdrawn. Many of the quarter casks
appeared to be purchased by private consumers.

The Court of Exchequer has refused a rule for a new
trial in the case of Mr. Grote v. the Holyhead Railway
Company.
THE LATE ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT WESTERN
RAILWAY.—We regret to state that the case of Mr.
Arthur Augustus Lea, who had one of his thighs frac-
tured and the other leg broken below the knee, terminated
fatally on Saturday. The deceased was a young man of
great promise, having taken a double second degree at
the classical examination at College, and was only de-
prived of the highest honour by a long and serious illness
previously. Captain Blair has rallied considerably.
ARREST OF MR. MITCHEL.—The Irish Executive have
at length made a bold and determined attempt to put
down the treasonable designs of the Irish Confederates.
Mr. Mitchell has been arrested and committed to New-
gate on a charge of treason, under the new act for the secu-
rity of the Crown and Government. Mr. Mitchel was
very calm and collected. He cannot be let out on bail,
and will have to remain in prison until his trial on the
20th May. There has been little or no excitement in
Dublin in consequence.
St. Peter's Parish Savings Bank, Dublin, has stopped
payment in consequence of the war panic. It appears in
1831 the then trustees discovered that a large deficiency
in the funds of this bank had been caused by the defalca-
tion of a Mr. Dunne, the then officer of the bank, who
absconded ; the law officer of the Crown recommended
that the bank should be kept open with the view of
making good the deficiency out of the annual surplus,
when such should arise. This plan was proceeding pros-
perously when the run to buy arms upset it.
The repeal rent on Monday was £2B.

CRIME AND IRELAND.—From an official return of crime
and misdemeanours in the city of Toronto, from the Ist
February to the 31st of December 1847, it appears that
out of 1,361 persons apprehended during that period, no
less than 934 were Irish, or more than double the number
from all other countries, European and American put
together. The contrast is still more striking under the
head of females. Out of the 1381 there were 340 females,
and of these 287 were from Ireland, being more than five
times as many as from any other part of the world.
THE FARMERS OF ULSTER. A general meeting of
" the tenant farmers, cottier tenants, and working classes
of all professions," is announced for Saturday, the 20th
of May, to be held at Shane Hill, near Lurgan. The
following are the purposes of the ;meeting :—To
make a declaration of loyalty to the Throne; to merge
all political differences; to require a general reduction of
rents ; to have the land revalued ; to institute branch
tenant-right associations in connexion with the present
association in Derry. The placard concludes with the
following appeal : Men of Ulster, your existence is at
stake. Under the laws of God, who created this earth
and all things thereon, you are fairly and justly entitled
to a living on the land that bore you. Assemble then,
and assert that right. Be brothers, be determined, be
courageous, be loyal, and, above all things, be peaceable."
DEATH OF LORD ASHBURTON.—This nobleman who
is so well known as the head of the eminent house of
Baring Brothers and Co. has ceased to live. His lordship
was in the 74th year of his age. He married in 1798 the
eldest daughter of Mr. Bingham, of Philadelphia. Though
best known as an enterprising, opulent, and most success-
ful merchant, Lord Ashburton's services as a legislator
have been most valuable. He represented Taunton in
several parliaments, and was a firm supporter of Sir
Robert Peel, until the latter proposed the repeal of the
corn laws, which Lord Ashburton opposed, and with that
vote it may be said that his political life was closed. In
1834 Lord Ashburton was called by Sir Robert Peel to
preside over the Board of Trade. On commercial affairs,
on manufactures, on matters of trade, finance and politi-
cal economy, he was regarded as an oracle. His lordship
spent many of his earlier years in America, and at the
close of 1841, when the dispute between this country and
the United States, with respect to the Oregon territory,
began to assume a very serious aspect, Lord Ashburton
was selected as a special embassy to Washington, and
although he had nearly reached the age of 70, yet in the
year 1842 he consented once more to cross the Atlantic,
and endeavour to effect an accommodation of the existing
differences, and by this step he laid the foundation of the
eventual settlement.