The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-08-01 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

the members the necessity of activity on their part, as the
best means to ensure permanent prosperitysta the insti-
tution.
Mr. W. MATcorr would propose the thanks of the
members to their secretary, Mr. Bignold, whose explana-
tions of the affairs had given so much satisfaction to all
present. The motion was unanimously carried.
Mr. BIGNOLD thanked the members for their good opi-
nions, and assured them of his best efforts at all times for
the furtherance of their interests. He said it was the first
year of a quinquiennial series, leading to ,the next bonus ;
and that there was a most satisfactory prospect of a hand-
some one; while the low premiums for lives under 45
years of age, was a most important advantage to the mem-
bers. The meeting then broke up.

Otntral ftlisreilanv.

On Monday last, a woman was gored to death by a
cow, on the Leeds and Bradford Railway.
The Birkenhead, Driver and Cyclops, steam-frigates,
have received orders for preparation for sea, and were got
ready in the short space of sixteen hours.
At York assizes, on Thursday, James Bland, a special
constable, was found guilty of not assisting in the preven-
tion of riot and rescue. Sentence deferred.
The wheat harvest is general in the neighbourhood of
Taunton ; the ears are heavy, and the straw of good qua-
lity. Barley and oats are fine, and will yield a good crop.
The total number of persons who emigrated from the
United Kingdom daring the year 1847, was 258,270. The
number is twice as great as that of any, previous year.
A plan is in agitation for conducting sea-water, by
mans of pipes, on the Brighton Railway, to a vast bath-
ing reservoir on the south, side of London.
The Tablet (a Roman Catholic journal) announces that
the Hon. Miss Methuen daughter of Lord Methuen, has
become a Roman Catholic.
Sarah Stubbs and her sister were last week acquitted at
York Assizes of the charge of having killed their father at
Harrogate.
The Rev. Thomas Wilson, of Bath, has destroyed him-
self by shooting himself with a pistol. He was only 38
years of age, and his mind had been affected for some
weeks.
LACE DRESS FOR THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA.—The
Nottingham Review states that a lace dress is now making
by Mr. Reckless, of that town, which is intended as a pre-
sent from her Majesty to the Empress of Russia.
Two parrots have been received from South Australia,
the first importation of such birds from that country.
They are no larger than a canary, and their colours are
peculiarly brilliant and various.
On Tuesday it was discovered that a letter, containing
nearly £600,000, in notes and bills of exchange, had been
abstracted while in course of transit through the London
Post-office.
The result of a long and anxious perusal of the public
journals for the last few months is the discovery that six of
the leading Chartists and Confederates are named respec-
tively Duffy, Cuffy, Ruffv, Looney, Mooney, and Rooney.
At the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, William
Hetherton, blacksmith, was convicted of culpable homi-
cide, in causing the death of his wife, by beating and
kicking her, and was sentenced to transportation for life.
On Saturday the Royal Assent was given by commission
to no fewer than seventy public and private Acts of Par-
liament ! Thus it appears that whatever else England
stands in need of, she has no lack of law and taxes.
The East-India Company have granted a pension of
£lOO per annum, for life, to Lieut. Waghorn, R.N., as an
acknowledgment for the services he has rendered the cause
of steam communication between this country and India.
The Tablet, in a bitter article against education at Ox-
ford University, quotes the account of the cheering of the
ladies under various denominations by the undergraduates
at the late commemoration as a proof of the great demo-
ralisation among the students !
On Sunday week two young men and two young women
were overturned in a wherry they were rowing to Kew,
which, from the swollen state of the tide and want of ex.
rience, was unmanageable. All four were drowned, and
the bodies of the young women have not been recovered.
A boy fell into the Tweed the other day, and was
drowning, when a cow in a meadow bellowed loudly, and
ran to and fro in so strange a manner that those at hand
were attracted to the spot, and the poor little fellow was
taken out of the water. He became insensible immediately,
and died shortly afterwards.
On Saturday Messrs. Bentley obtained an injunction
from the Vice-Chancellor to restrain the proprietors of
the London Journal from publishing certain numbers of
their work containing extracts from Sir E. L. Bulwer's
new romance of Harold, the copyright of which they had
purchased for £1,600
Manifold symptoms of a revival of trade are manifested
among the iron works in Wales. We hear that several of
the leading ironmasters have received considerable orders
recently, which are now proceeding with much satisfaction
and confidence. At Cwmbrain iron works a large order
for 1000 tons of rails has been executed within the last
three weeks.
FOUR LIVES LOST.—On Sunday morning, a wherry,
containing two young men and two females, ran agams,
a barge moored on the Middlesex side of the river, near
Putney-bridge. The boat immediately upset, and all
four were immersed in the river, and carried under the
barge. Several boats put off to their assistance, but
without any effect.
NOVEL WAGER.—Two gentlemen in high life have ar-
ranged a wager of 1000 guineas, that one of them shall
sell one million boxes of lucifer matches in the space of
two years, and not sell more than four boxes for one
penny, and not exceed more than sixpenny-worth to any
one individual ; to commence on the 24th day of July,
1848, at Cork, and finish in Hull, 24th July, 1850.
PRICE OF BREAD IN THE METROPOLIS.—On Thursday
the bakers of the west end, and the second-rate ones
throughout the metropolis generally, rose the price of the
41b. loaf Id. The best bread is now charged 711 to Bd. ;
second quality, 71d ; some, however, only charge sid. and
6d., weighed on delivery ; good household bread is at sd.
The cause of this rudden rise is not stated.
THE CHARTIST TRlALS.—Upwards of fifty prisoners
were arraigned in batches, at York Assizes, on Friday,
for riots, rescue, and drilling, at Bradford and Bingley.
Some pleaded guilty, and were discharged on entering
into their own recognisances to keep the peace for two
years, and to appear for judgment when called upon.
Others traversed till next assizes, and one was acquitted.
A man named Shearer was brought before the Wake-
field magistrates, on Monday, charged with a murder
which occurred two years ago. The jury, at an inquest
on the body, returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder,"
against Shearer and another man, both of whom ab-
sconded. The prisoner was remanded, and the case is be-
ing inquired into.
M. Ole Bull, the celebrated Norwegian violinist, is now
working as a journeyman in the manufactory of M. Vuil-
laume, a Parisian musical instrument maker, in the hope
of being enabled to make a violin that shall equal the tones
of those made by the celebrated Stradivarius, of Cremona,
and for this purpose he has brought from Norway wood
more than 200 years old.
Her Majesty, as a parting gift to the inhabitants of
Brighton, has presented them with the Royal Chapel
organ, which was built by Lincoln. It is the intention of
the commissioners to put the instrument in the Assembly
Room in the Town Hall. The Lord Chamberlain was
applied to for the Pavilion clock, but that was refused,
and the organ given instead. The Pavilion is completely
dismantled.
GUTTA PERCHA.—The importations of this newly-in-
troduced article of merchandise continue to take place in
large quantities. A vessel arrived in the docks from
Singapore, has brought 10,902 blocks of gutta percha as a
portion of her cargo. The importation of the article tak-
ing place in blocks renders it applicable for the manufac-
ture of constables' staves or any other purposes to which
it can be applied.
MANSLAUGHTER.—On Monday !last a number of per-
sons were engaged at hay-making at Messrs. Walkers',
the Bower Farm, on the Blackmore Park estate, when
some quarrelling took place, a man named Ganderton, who
is a Romanist, had been frequently teased on that sub-
ject. At length he became so exasperated that, being on
the top of a rick, he threw his pike at a man named Fisher,
and the prongs penetrating his head, he died on the spot.—
Worcester Journal.
DREADFUL FIRE.—Two FIREMEN KILLED.—On Fri-
day morning, about half-past four, a most disastrous fire
broke out in the extensive biscuit factory of Messrs. Law-
ford and Westrupp, New Crane, High-street, Wapping,
London, Floor after floor were soon in flames, and when
the whole building was in one burning mass, the roof fell
in with a fearful crash, burying two firmer, named
Pearcy and Hancock, and Mackey, the engineer, was also
much injured,
The Nottingham Journal states that a few days since
three men wished to cross the Trent at the Radcliffe Ferry,
but as they only possessed 2d. while the fare was Id. each,
one of them undertook to swim over the river, while his
companions, to whom lie entrusted his clothes, crossed in
the ferry boat. At first the swimmer seemed likely to at-
tain the opposite bank with ease, but at length the strength
of the current carried him into a deep hole, where he was
drowned before assistance could be rendered to him.
MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—On the 14th ult., as Mr.
Thomas Babb, of Caverswall, near Uttoxeter, was return-
ing home, 'between eight and nine o'clock, in a gig, with
his daughter, a little girl five years old, when descending
the hill between Bromshall and Loxley, it is supposed his
horse, a very spirited one, shied at a bush in the road, and
ran up a sloping bank, which overturned the gig, and
threw them out. When found, Mr, Babb was quite dead,
with the wheel of the vehicle upon his throat ; but the
little girl escaped unhurt.
NOVEL DINNER PARTY.—So favourable has been the
opinion entertained by the respectable inhabitants of the
parish of Camberwell of the general conduct of the police
force doing duty in that parish, that a subscription was
set on foot for the purpose of testifying their approval in
some substantial manner. A fund was in a short time
collected, and the sanction of the commissioners having
been obtained through the Rev. Mr. Lilly, on Wednesday
72 constables and serjeants, with Mr. Superintendent
Robinson and Inspector Campbell (who were specially
invited), sat down to a most substantial dinner. The
chair was filled by Mr. Cull, a gentleman of large pro.
perty in the neighbourhood, with the Rev. Mr. Lilly on
his right, and Dr. Flower and Mr. Wilson, the church-
wardens, and other gentlemen on his left.
In the Bankruptcy Court, on Thursday, Mr. Jullien
appeared for his last examination. The balance-sheet—
with a total of £27,634, showed a lamentable state of
affairs, for hardly anything appeared likely to be realised
for the benefit of the creditors. The cost for the repair,
alteration, and decoration of Drury-lane Theatre, the ex-
pense of the Grand Opera, and that of the equestrian
company, formed a total of £30,584 ; while the receipts
for the grand opera were only £9825, and for the Cirque
National £5687. Mr. Commissioner Fane censured the
course of the bankrupt. Mr. Jullien said he had offered,
before he was made a bankrupt, to pay his creditors as
fast as his professional gains would permit ; and he now
protested that he would not return to his country until he
had paid every shilling. The bankrupt passed.

A PROVIDENT SAILOR.—A very gratifying instance of
what may be accomplished by careful and prudent habits
on the part of seamen has just been displayed by one of
the old boarders at the Sailors' Home, who has on each
returning voyage placed a portion of his wages in the
savings-bank attached to that institution until the princi-
pal and interest having increased to £2OO, he has purcha-
sed that amount in the public. funds. This sailor is a
native of Ireland, and has always been in the habit of
remembering his relatives in that country, to whom he
has constantly sent pecuniary assistance.
A public meeting in aid of the Society for the Promotion
of Colonisation was held on Friday, at the Guildhall, city
of London, and presided over by the Lord Mayor. The
objects the society have in view are to assist emigration,
to collect and diffuse information, and to form correspond-
ing associations at home and in the colonies. A numerous
assemblage of persons, many.of them belonging to the
industrial classes, indicated that the subject of emigration
is becoming a prominent idea in the public mind. The
platform was crowded by gentlemen well known for the
interest they take in the question.
In the Bankruptcy Court, on Tuesday, William Howitt,
bookseller and publisher, in the Strand, and an author,
passed his last examination. The balance sheet, which
begins May 1, 1846, and ends at the date of the fiat, June
8, 1848, has the following items :—Sundry creditors,
£3006; creditors holding security, £6lB ; profit, £1731 ;
capital, May 1, 1846,. £1036 ; liabilities, £2OO ; liabilities
on account of the late firm of Saunders, Turrell, and
Howitt, £2054. The credit side has the following :
Good debts, £369 ; doubtful ditto, £l2 ; property, £641 ;
property in the hands of a creditor, £474 ; trade expenses,
£1227 ; personal expenses, £1872 ; and losses, £1792.
WEIR ON ULVERSTONE SANDS.—About 650 yards of
this important work has been completed. When we in-
spected it on Monday last, preparations were making for
the construction of a. road, at an angle of some 45 degrees
with the weir, to commence the most important part of
the undertaking, that of crossing the channel, into which
the weir had entered—or, rather, the channel had moved
to the Weir. The depth of water within ten yards of the
front of the weir was ten feet. The effect of the weir is
already very remarkable in causing the deposition of sand,
and also influencing the channel on the eastern shore of
Chapel Island. and the formation also of a wash on the
western side of the channel, opposite the weir.
A SURPRISE.—When the despatch announcing the al.
leged outbreak in Ireland reached London, Sir George
Grey was about to start to Richmond, to act as one of the
sponsors at the baptism of Lord and Lady John Russell's
infant son. He immediately forwarded a communication
to the noble premier, who received it just as he was enter-
ing Petersham Church. After witnessing the baptismal
ceremony, his lordship left for town in great haste, and
had an interview with the Duke of Wellington. Sum-
monses were issued shortly afterwards for a Cabinet
Council. The Earl of Glengall, Lord Lieutenant of Tip-
perary, and several of the leading Irish members, were in
constant communication during the day.
THE BAPTIST SECT.—A Dissenting print announces the
public baptism, by immersion, on Sunday week, of the
Rev. C. B. Proby, Rector of St. Peter's, Winchester.
The ceremony was performed by a Baptist preacher, with
whom Mr. Proby is said to have had some previous dis-
cussion on the subject, and who, at his request, baptized
him in a running brook, in the presence of between one
and two hundred persons, after he had made apublic pro-
fession of his new faith. In the afternoon, Mr. Proby
communicated at the Baptist Chapel, and in the evening
preached a sermon at his own church in spite of the re-
monstrance of the churchwardens, when he announced
the fact of his ana-baptism and stated his views on the
subject.
MURDER BY POISONING.—At the Chelmsford assizes,
on Monday, Mary May, aged 28, a repulsive-looking
woman, was indicted for the wilful murder of William
Constable, by administering to him a large quantity of
arsenic. The prisoner, who is a married woman, lived
with her husband at a small village called Wix, a few
miles from Harwich, and she kept a little grocer's or
chandler's shop, her family consisting of herself and
husband, two children, and a half-brother, the unfortu-
nate deceased, who got his living by doing what little
jobs he could get in the village, and occupied one of the
rooms in the prisoner's house. It appeared that she bad
entered the poor fellow as tt, member of a burial club, and
that she had poisoned him for the purpose of obtaining
£8 or £9, which would be paid on his death. She was
ound guilty, and sentenced to be hanged.
A public meeting, the proceedings of which illustrate as
well the good sense and clear perceptions of the labouring
class as the kindly feeling of persons in a higher sphere,
was held on Tuesday evening in the metropolis. The as-
semblage was convened at the Central Mechanics' insti-
tute, in Southampton Buildings, for the purpose of sub-
mitting to the public the plan of the Canadian Land and
Railway Association—a scheme purporting to " have ori-
ginated with, and for the benefit of the working classes,
with a view to the improvement of their social condition."
The chair was taken by Lord Ashley, and amongst the
speakers were the Duke of Argyle, the Marquis of Bland-
ford, the Earl of Harrowby, and various other gentlemen
of rank and station. The utmost unanimity prevailed, if
we except the efforts made by a madman and some half
dozen chartists, who tried at the conclusion to disturb the
meeting, but with signally ill success.
KILLING HARES.—The new law on this subject autho-
rises any person, being in the actual occupation of any in-
closed lands, or for any owner thereof who has the right
of killing game thereon, by himself or by any person
directed or authorised by him in writing (according to a
form in a schedule to this Act annexed, or to the like effect)
so to do, to take, kill, or destroy any hare then being in
or upon any such inclosed lands, without a game certi-
ficate. The authority to kill hares is to be limited to one
person at the same time in any one parish ; which autho-
rity shall be sent to the clerk of the petty sessions, who
shall register the same. If authority revoked, notice to
be given of the revocation. Persons authorised to kill
hares not to be liable to tax on game keepers. Hereafter
it shall be lawful for any person to pursue and kill or to
join in the pursuit and killing of any hare by coursing
with greyhounds, or by hunting with beagles or other
hounds, without having obtained an annual game certifi-
cate. This Act is not to authorise the laying of poison to
kill game.
HORRID CONFESSION.—Prior to the execution on
Monday last of Hewson, for the murder of the turnkey
in Coldbath-fields prison ; the murderer gave to the She-
riff and Ordinary a number of papers relating to himself.
He states that he was born in 1803 in Whitechapel ; that
he went to the charity school, and became one of the
singers at the church, and got a medal for good conduct.
That his father was a corporal in the 20th regiment. He
married ; but having enlisted, and being bought off seven
times by his mother and sister in 1826 he entered the
Queen's Royals, and shortly after went to the East Indies,
and was in the Affghan and Cabool expeditions, and in
1839 was at the taking of Ghuznee and Kelat, and for his
conduct received two marks. Previous to his entering the
army, lie was tried in 1825 at the Old Bailey for stealing
a pennyweight of gold, the property of his employer,
but was acquitted. By his unhappy intercourse with
his daughter be had four children ; the eldest died
since he had been convicted ; another was still-born, and
the other two were murdered to conceal their birth. For
the death of one lie and his daughter were tried, and for
the minor offence he was sentenced to two years', and she
to eighteen months' imprisonment. The knife with which
he killed Woodhouse he had concealed about his person
for four months, sometimes carrying it in his sleeve, some-
times in his trousers. He intended to have murdered
Mr. Chesterton, the Governor, but he never had an oppor-
tunity. When asked his motives he bad none to give,
and a few days since lie expressed in strong terms to the
visiting Aldermen his regret that he could not carry out
his object.
There was a " scene" in the House of Commons on
Friday night. A hot-headed gentleman, named Keogh,
made a speech on Irish affairs, in the course of which he
contrived to touch up the Wliig teinisters on a point
whereon they are peculiarly irritable, and open to far
sharper appliances than any which rough operators like
Mr. Keogh can administer—the contrast between their
language and conduct upon O'Connell's trial when they
were in opposition, and their language and conduct now
when in power. This made Silt George Grey very angry,
hand he fell upon the unfortunate Irishman with the fury
of a scold. This was all well enough ; but the Home Se-
cretary at length lost all discretion, and made it a serious
charge against his opponent that he attended a repeal
dinner some eight or ten years ago, and was returned as
an anti-repealer at the last election. Upon this, Mr.
Keogh returned to the charge, and having fired a shot or
two at his old antagonist, turned his weapon against Sir
William Somerville, the Irish Secretary. If he was to be
called a repealer for accidentally attending a dinner years
ago at which repeal was proposed as a toast, what was to
be said of the chief Secretary for Ireland, a member of
the Government engaged in an exterminating warfare
against repeal, who had actubily voted for and supported
by his purse at the last election a repeal candidate in
opposition to Mr. Keogh himself ? A sensation " fol-
lowed this home-thrust, and the House was anxious to
hear what the Irish Secretary had to say to it : but for a
long time the right honourable gentleman wrapped him-
self up in his own dignity. He was at last dragged forth,
and compelled to confess that he did give a cheque towards
the expences of a repealer's election ; but he didn't do it
in his character of Secretary of State ! Now, really
this was very pitiable.
SCENE IN THE HUDDERSFIELD PARISH CHURCH.—
On Sunday week, Samuel Jackson, a young man, who
has attained the age of 22 years, presented himself before
the altar table at the Huddersfield parish church, seeing
no just cause or impediment why lie should not be joined
together in holy matrimony" with a pretty-looking girl
named Townend, the object of his ardent and early at,
tachment, and whom he had brought thither for that pur-
pose. The Rev. Mr. Packer, one of the curates, officia-
ted ; and the ceremony bad proceeded so far that the
happy couple had repeated those spell-bound words " I
will," and the ring was about to be given by the clergy-
man to the bridegroom to be pl ced on the finger of the
bride, when, to the utter consternation of the party,
Jackson's brother and sister rushed breathless into the
church, and up to the communion railings. The former
seized the ring from the minister's hand, and the latter
dragged the half-married youth by main force through
the lower west door, into the churchyard. The astonished
bridegroom clung to the framings of the pews as they
passed along the transept, but the muscular strength of
the sister, aided by the brother (a lad much younger)
completely overpowered him, and he was compelled to
yield. When in the churchyard, lie partially succeeded
in making his escape from their ruthless hands, when the
brother again urged the sister to another effort at rescu-
ing him from the hapless fate that awaited him inside the
church ; but the luckless wench proved like the rest of
her sex, and remarked, " I have done my best,—let him
go his whole length ; and in a few moments more the
bridegroom was placed at the altar beside his wonder..
stricken spouse. The ring having been torn away, a
female stationed near the altar rails volunteered the loan
of her's. The ceremony then proceeded. Meanwhile, the
sexton had been dispatched for the churchwarden and a
constable, but their arrival was too late to be of service.

Romans INTOLERANCE.—On Wednesday a curious in-
stance of the party enthusiasm which has often been dis-
played by Roman Catholics, especially in the sister
country, was manifested in our High-street. It would appear
that an Orange lodgein the city are in the custom of holding
their meetings in a coffee-housein the High-street ; and in
order, as they represented, to make their local habitation
known, had displayed a large board in front of the house
with a very gorgeous and well-executed' representation of
the celebrated Orange Prince, William 111., with the in-
scription, " G.V.I.L.E.L. 111.—R.-1688,-9,'' at the bot-
tom. This had not been long displayed before the atten-
of the Catholics of the city were directed towards it ; and,
unwilling to suffer their eyes to be offended by the spec-
tacle, especially on the anniversary of the battle of the
Boyne (the 12th of July), they assembled in considerable
numbers on Tuesday evening, and defaced and bedaubed
the odious figure. Throughout the whole. of Wednesday,
groups of three and four individuals (which it was riot dif-
ficult, from the indignation visible on their countenances,
to recognise as Roman Catholics) might have been seen
at different periods congregated in front of the picture ;
and, about ten o'clock in the evening, so threatening were
appearances, that the authorities deemed it advisable to
remove the obnoxious board.—Edinburgh Paper.
REMEDIES AGAINST THE HUNDRED.—Last April, Sir
Wm. Clay introduced a hill into the House of Commons
for amending the law which denied redress to all but
landlords against the hundred, for damage done by rioters,
tumultuous assemblies, &c. The defect in the law was
first made manifest three months since, in London, during
the Chartist riots, and the object of Sir William's bill
was to obviate this admitted defect. The bill is to be read
a second time to-morrow, and the public would do well
just now to solicit their representatives to support it, in
order that it may pass into a law this session. The bill is
brief, for it contains only one clause and the customary
one.. It provides, " that in every case where any house'
shop, or other building whatever, or any part thereof,
shalt be destroyed, or shall be in any manner damaged or
injured, or where any fixtures thereto attached, or any
furniture, goods. or commodities whatever which shall be
therein shall be destroyed, taken away, or damaged, by
the act or acts of any riotous or tumultuous assembly of
persons, or by the act or acts of any persons engaged in or
making part of such riotous or tumultous assembly, the
inhabitants of the hundred, wapentake, ward, or other
district in the nature of a hundred, or of the county of
the city or town, liberty, franchise, or place in which such
damage shall be done, shall be liable to yield full compen-
sation in damages to the person or persons injured, &c."
SUSPECTED MURDER.—On the 17th inst., Mr, Robert
Sowerby, the policeman at Hessle, apprehended two men
at South Cave, on suspicion of stealing a number of arti-
cles which he had previously seen in their bundle on the
road near Hessle. The articles in question consisted of
five fine shirts, twenty shirt collars, a pocket book, a sil-
ver-bladed fruit knife, with a pearl haft, a black frock
coat, and several other articles. No owner could be
found for these articles for some time, but thanks to the
unceasing activity of Mr. Sowerby, it was at length dis-
covered that the things belonged to a Mr. Jonas Edward
Iredale, a solicitor or solicitor's clerk, of Leeds. This
gentleman left Leeds on the Ist of July, and from thence
there is account of his being at York, Northallerton, Dar-
lington, Ferryhill, and Durham. He left the Newcastle
Arms, New Elvet, Durham, on the Ilth of July, and
from that time nothing further has been heard of him.
It appears the missing gentleman was in communication
with a young lady at Leeds, and she received three letters
from him, dated respectively the 3rd, 6th, and 9th July,
since which date she has not received any letter. The
two men in custody are named' Henry Bunting and Ed-
ward Bateman, and it has been ascertained that they
arrived at Hull on the 16th from Newcastle, by the stea-
mer. No clue whatever has yet been found to the mis-
sing gentleman, and the circumstances altogether lead to
the belief that the unfortunate man has been murdered
and robbed by the two men now in custody.—Leeds
Intelligencer.
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.—A respectable firm in Man-
chester have received from the partner -resident in St.
Petersburgh a very interesting and important communica-
tion in relation to the present appearance of the Asiatic
cholera in Russia and other countries in Western Europe.
Some few weeks ago the Medical Times and the Man-
chester Guardian noticed that the ravages of this fearful
and devastating scourge were most fatal and more fierce
" over twenty degrees of latitude, on a line, nearly due
north and south,' which line comprehends, as will be seen
by looking at the map, the cities of Constantinople, Jassy,
St. Petersburg, and Bucharest. Further experience and
advices have proved the accuracy of this observation. In-
telligence has been received of the appearance of the cho-
lera at Salmi, in Finland, and at Riga, on the coast of the
Baltic, all of which places are on the same parallel of lon-
gitude. The discovery, however, to which we have alluded
above, is thus communicated :—" The air here (St. Peters-
burg) has had a very singular effect on the magnetic power.
Whilst the cholera was at its height the action of the mag-
net was nearly neutralised ; which, now the disease is gra-
dually subsiding, assumes by degrees its former power. A
magnet block, which used to carry 801 b., would, during
the worst time of the cholera, not carry above 131 b. Its
strength has now increased again to 601 b. The electro-
magnetic telegraph, at one time, would not work at all."
Here, then, have our scientific medical authorities a rich
mine submitted for investigation. If the above paragraph
be correct in its details, it is settled that quarantines are
utterly useless to prevent the ravages of the Asiatic
cholera. We will not, however, presume to dogmatise on
a question essentially medical and scientific. We direct
attention to the discovery, and solicit a discussion of the
subject from the pens of competent medical authorities in
this town. We shall be glad to open our columns thereto.
—[We perceive since the above was in type that Dr.
Hawthorne, in the pamphlet which we recently reviewed,
states that a disturbance of the electrical condition of the
human body had been observed by him. He was one of
the Physicians of the Belfast General Hospital.]
THE WESLEYAIqS.—Last week, the annual " Con-
ference " took place at Hull. The first business was the
supplying the vacancies in the legal hundred. By nomi-
nation, Francis West and William Barton ; by seniority,
W. Beal, Morgan, Cullen, Corbett, Cooke, and Davies,
were the parties elevated. The election of president fol-
lowed. The votes were, for Dr. Newton, 197 ; the Rev.
Mr. Fowler, 83. The esteemed minister now chosen oc-
cupies the presidential chair for the fourth time—an
honour previously conferred only in the single case of Dr.
Bunting. Dr. Newton presided over the Leeds Con-
ference, in 1824 ; the Liverpool Conference, in 1832, and
the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Conference, in 1840. He could
not have been re elected more frequently, since one of
the regulations of Conference is that a minister shall not
be again eligible to the office until the expiration of eight
years. For the secretaryship the Rev. Joseph Fowler, of
Hull, was elected, having received 111 votes. The Rev.
Dr. Hannah received 71 votes, and the Rev. John Farrar
56. After this, the newly-elected president was seated in
the presidential chair, and invested with the insignia of
office. The ex-president, the Rev. Samuel Jackson,
tendered the Seal of Conference, the Bible, and the key
of the desk with inimitable grace. The sight of the two
venerable gentlemen in such a relation to each other,
with all the attendant circumstances, was extremely
affecting, many of the aged ministers being observed in
tears. The station committee presented their report,
which included the following ministers for this neighbour-
hood—Liverpool, north—Revs. J. Keeling, W. Illin g-
worth, and S. R. Hall ; south—Revs. P. M'Owen, T.
Martin, W. H. Taylor, and W. Willan. St. Helens and
Prescot—Revs. Rotherick and R. Dyson. Warrington—
Revs. S. Broadbent, G. Dickinson, and R. M. Wilcox.
Newton—Revs. J. Werril and W. S. Bestall. Wigan—
Revs. T. Moss arid J. Jones. Southport and Ormskirk—
Revs. J. Bartholomew and H. L. Church. Lancaster—
Revs. W. Coultass and Faulkner. Garstang—Revs. T.
Burrows, W. H. Lewis, and G. T. Nelson. Preston and
Chorley—Revs, J. Moulton, W. Cattle, and T. Kent.
FREE TRADE OR PROTECTION.—BRITISH MERINOS.—
According to the Bradford Observes' (at one time, if not
yet, a thorough-going free-trade organ,) the good people
of Bradford have begun to find out that the staple manu-
facture of that town has suffered severely by the operation
of free-trade principles. The manufacture of merinos
was `'once the staple of the Bradford trade," but alas 1
free trade has stepped in and all but extinguished it—the
French material being preferred in every respect but du-
rability, pretty much on the same principle as that which
induces well-dressed persons to prefer kerseymere inex-
pressibles to corduroys. There is in the Observer of
Thursday a paragraph, setting forth in glowing terms the
unequalled excellence of Messrs. It. Brook and Co.'s
merinos, of which, by the way. her Majesty has been
graciously pleased to express her approval. The para-
graph in question commences thus:—
" BRITISH MERlNOS.—Differences of opinion may and do
exist as to the policy of opening our ports to the importation
of foreign manufaCtures ; but so far as their introduction may
have superseded our own, or diminished the sources of employ-
ment for our own artisans, there is a common feeling of regret.
This has been especially the case with respect to the Merino—
once the staple of the Bradford trade. The superiorfinish of
the French goods has given them the command of the market ;
and partly on this account, and partly from other causes, for
some time past our manufacturers have almost ceased to em-
ploy their looms on the finer descriptions of this fabric."
Now the French may finish their merinos better than we
finish ours, but we cannot help thinking that Messrs.
Cobden, Bright, and Co. are, after all, the persons who
have " finished" the Bradford merino trade; and if we
do not misconstrue the paragraph, the writer of it, no
doubt instigated by certain free traders who have found
free trade a losing game, thinks so too. So ! There is
" a common feeling of regret" that " foreign manufac-
tures" have " superseded or diminished the sources of
employment for our own artisans." We have always
said it would come to this. If we are not mistaken, we
read something of the kind the other day, in an account
of an interview that had taken place between Colonel'
Thompson and a deputation of his constituents—the free-
trade Colonel expressing himself favourable to " a little
protection," in order to save the particular trade from
being swallowed up by foreigners. We are much obliged
to the Bradford Observer for this early proof of the
" moving of the straw" amongst the free traders. We
shall not be surprised to find friend Bright demurely ask-
ing for some little protection on some little article in
which he is interested, one of these days.
CURIOUS CASE.—At the Lambeth police-office, on
Friday, Mr. Thorndike, a solicitor of Staple's-inn, who
was accompanied by Mr. Bushell, a medical gentleman
residing in Kennington-lane, who is one of the guardians
of the poor for the parish of Lambeth, applied to Mr.
Norton for his advice in the caso of an aged lady, then
present, who was reduced to great distress under circum-
stances of a very peculiar character. The lady in whose
behalf he applied had been a member of a highly respect-
able family formerly residing at Feversham, in Kent, and
in the year 1812, she was married to a Mr. Fox, then an
extensive merchant. The parties lived happily together
until Mr. Fox had occasion to go out to the Mauritius to
arrange some mercantile affairs, and ultimately settled
there. In 1816, Mrs. Fox followed her husband to the
Mauritius, but finding on her arrival there that her
husband had got a second wife, she soon after returned
to England, and three years afterwards, news reached
her of the death of her husband. In 1823, when, as she
supposed, in her widowhood, she met in society a gentle-

man named Mr. Peter Rainsworth Rigby, who paid his
addresses to her, and in 1825, they were married and
lived together until 1836. Some three years after their
marriages they met, at a dinner party, a gentleman who
had just returned from the Mauritius, and Mrs. Rigby
having, in the course of the evening, asked him if he
bad ever met Mr. Fox, he replied that he had dined with
Mr. and Mrs. Fox on the day of his leaving for England.
This unexpected intelligence, as might be well supposed,
produced a most unpleasant feeling in the minds of Mr.
and Mrs. Rigby, but they netviithstanding continued to
live together until 1836, when Mr. Rigby deserted Mrs.
Fox, and went to reside at Liverpool, where he possessed
considerable property,. Some three years after Mrs. Fox
proceeded to Liverpool, where she discovered that Mr.
Rigby had taken unto• himself a wife ; and in 1840 he
(Mr. Rigby) executed a bond, by which he undertook to
give Mrs. Fox £4O a year; to be paid quarterly, provided
she did not annoy him or his wife in any way. He kept
up the payments regularly until about 12 months since,
when, without assigning the slightest cause for doing so,
he discontinued them, and the consequence was, that Mrs.
Fox had been compelled to part with her trinkets and
everything she possessed to support herself, and all ber
means being now exhausted she was compelled to apply
for parochial relief. Mr. Thorndike said that Mr. Pox
was not now living. He was killed at the Mauritius in.
1834, through the horse in his carriage taking fright.
Mr. Norton said that he hoped that now the case was
made public the friends of the poor woman would do
something for her. The parties then withdrew.