The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-04-07 00:00:00

COST OF

(From the Liverpool Health of Towns' Advocate.)
Let us begin with the loss entailed on the community
by the evils which now exist. It is always an expensive
matter to act, either in the neglect of natural laws or con-
trary to them ; and as we have already proved that the low
sanitary condition of the town proceeds from these very
circumstances, we m-y infer that all the suffering and
disease and death, which is taking place around us, cannot
exist without occasioning a most serious pecuniary loss to
the community. We have already shown that, assuming
Ulverstone district as a standard of comparison, there are
no fewer than 3611 deaths a year, in Liverpool, more than
there ought to be, if we could raise its sanitary state to
that of Ulverstone. And we have also given Dr. Play-
fair's estimate of the annual excess of cases of sickness at
101,108. Our space will not permit us to trace the bear-
ings of these two facts on the wellbeing of the public
through all their ramifications ; but we shall state a few
of the more prominent results.
FIRST.—Out of these 3611 deaths, there are 2063 adults;
and every individual born in the town loses, on an aver-
age, 211 years of life. There is a great mortality, as we
have already seen, among chil.lren ; and of those persons
who arrive at adult age, every individual loses ln years
of the natural term of existence. The amount of pecu-
niary loss from these causes has been calculated by Dr.
Playfair as follows ;—lst. Taking the ordinary expense of
funerals at £5 each, the annual extra cost under this head
would be £18,055.-2d. If the productive labour of each
individual be assumed as worth 10s. a week, the total
annual loss of labour would amount to £953,225.-3d.
Supposing each case of sickness to involve an expense of
£l, we should have an annual loss of £lOl,lOB from this
cause. So that the first direct loss to the community is
no less than £1,072,388 per annum, in addition to the
great expense of medical charities, which, in Liverpool,
have a constant struggle for existence, on account of the
heavy demands on them, from the bad sanitary state of
the town.
SECONDLY.—The support of a large number of widows
and orphans is continually entailed upon the public. In
March, 1844, there were 1895 widows, and 1834 children
under 14 years of age, dependent on them, in the receipt
of out-door relief in the parish of Liverpool, in addition to
widows and orphan children in the Workhouse ; of the
latter of which there were, at the same period, 344. Now,
we do not mean to say that all of these were thrown upon
the parish as a consequence of the low sanitary condition
of the town, but that a very considerable proportion may
have been reduced to widowhood and orphanage from this
cause, we have already given sufficient evidence to show.
Another serious item of parish expenditure arises from
fever, which, to a great extent, attacks persons in the vi-
gour of life and usefulness. It has been proved, for in-
stance, that the number of fever cases occurring between
the ages of 20 and 30, is nearly equal to the number
takin, -11 other ages put together; and this
:,bourhoods does not choose the
r its victims, but hardworking mecha-

place at a
of unhealthy neigt

weak and sic

nics, in the very prime of their usefulness. Thu. it was
found that, during an epidemic, at Glasgow, out of 429
persons attacked with fever, only 10 were emaciated and
unhealthy in appearance, and only 65 were of spare habit,
all the others being vigorous. Now, if we would form an
Df fever, a disease arising from

e of the exoen

j. preventible causes, let it be remembered that, during one
w epidemic in Liverpool, the North ana South Dispensaries
attended 5779 cases, and that we must add to these the
number attended in the Fever Hospital and by other cha-
rities, as well as by private practitioners. The palish
authorities of Liverpool and West Derby are the most
competent parties to estimate the amount of poor-rate

necessary to meet the expenses arising from fever, and
other preventible diseases. in their boundaries. It was
found that in two of the London parishes the cost of relief
for fever cases alone, independent of every other disease,
was £2467 16s. in one year.

It is a great mistake to suppose that where there is a
high rate of mortality, the population must necessari:y
decrease. It is, on the contrary, a law of nature, that the
more deaths there are, the more births there must be.
We see similar efforts at the preservation of species
throughout the vegetable and animal kingdoms ; so that,
wherever there are a great number of infants born, we may
be sure there is a high rate of mortality, while the sur-
sickly population. There is thus
_ eto the community, for in Liver-
pool we have an excess of no fewer than 504 births a year.

vivors grow up into

Knssoor, on the Punjaub, 01

EXTRACTS FROM THE LIFE OF GEORGE
CANNING.*

MR. CANiVING'S MARRIAGE-MAGNANIMOUS LOVE

On the Bth of July, 1800, Mr. Canning was married to
Miss Joan Scott, daughter and co-heiress to Gen. Scott,
and sister to the Marchioness of Titchfie'd, afterwards
Duchess of Portland. General Scott is said to have been
a man of peculiar habits and eccentric character, who
possessed considerable wealth, which he left tied up by
some very singular and stringent conditions. Miss Scott's
fortune was large, and placed Mr. Canning at once in a
position of independence. The union was in every point
of view a source of mutual happiness. The unsullied pu-
rity of Mr. Canning's life, and his love for domestic plea-
sures (for, after his marriage, he seldom extended his inter-
course with general society beyond those occasions which
his station rendered unavoidable), were rewarded by as
much virtue and devotion as ever graced the home of an
English statesman. In an antechamber in Mr. Canning's
house there used to hang over the mantel-piece a painting
of two female figures—the Duchess of Portland and her
sister. The duchess, who was many years the elder, is
represented leaning over her sister, and caressing her with
an expression of affectionate emotion. From the history
attached to the picture, we learn that this attitude was
chosen by the Duchess herself, as a memorial of a some-
what romantic circumstance in the lives of the sisters. It
seems that General Scott made the principal part of his
fortune by play, to which he was passionately addicted,
and which in his time ran high in the fashionable world.
He was remarkable for many personal singularities, odd
tastes and antipathies ; and, amongst the rest, he conceived
an extraordinary aversion to the aristocracy. He carried
this feeling to such an extreme, as to resolve that neither
his family nor his money, if he coul.l prevent them, should
ever be found shining under a coronet ; and in order to
secure this object he inserted a strict condition in his will,
that if either of his daughters should marry a nobleman
her moiety of a sum of £200,000, which he divided be-
tween them, should devolve upon her sister. The Duchess
of Portland was the first to disobey this testamentary in-
junction ; but her sister, refusing to take advantage of the
will, insisted upon an equal division of the legacy. She
saw no reason why, having married a lord for love, the
duchess should not at least be as rich as if she had mar-
ried a commoner upon compulsion. The picture illus-
trates with touching simplicity this little episode of mag-
nanimous love.

WILBERFORCE AND PITT

Wilberforce was the parliamentary apostle of Abolition.
He worked at it day and night, and prayed for it wiat his
daily bread. Honour to him for that, in spite of all his
crotchetty little ways and eccentricities ! But he was a sad
bore to Pitt, always popping in his fears and misgivings at
the most inopportune moments ; a sort of philanthropic
Paul Pry, perpetually forgetting his umbrella, and hoping
he didn't intrude. Nobody ever had such an inobtrusive
way of obtruding his advice upon every body. No matter
what the question was, or who the person, or how slight
the acquaintance, Wilberforce was sure to find some ex-
cuse for a hint or a warning, with such excellent inten-
tions, that it was impossible to give vent to the vexation
he occasioned. He had no suspicion of the possibility of
doing mischief; but went blundering on with the most
amiable sincerity of purpose, good-naturedly setting all
his friends right, and knocking his head against every
body's business with a simplicity of character upon which
experience was wasted in vain. The dull integrity of
Wilberforce was always for going forward, in and out
of season ; all he looked to was the truth and justice of the
matter, and that, he thought would carry it against all
obstacles ; he bad no idea of the low struggle of passions
and interests which renders the cunning use of means even
more essential to success than the purity of the end ; he
never could be brought to understand the value of timing
and economising his efforts ; and, like an unpractised
rower, he expended a hundredfold more strength upon the
oar than, skilfully employed, was necessary to propel the
boat. To PAU, when he was in office, all this was quite
fearful ; for Wilberforce had not the remotest notion of
ministerial machinery, of parliamentary tact, or the ne-
cessity of management, and he used to be struck with
amazement at Pitt's sagacity and cleverness in that way,
which seemed to him like an inspiration. Whenever he
saw any thing wrong, or what he supposed to be wrong,
he could no more help hi xiself from just pointing it out,
than faithful watch-dogs can help their instinct in barking
at footsteps in the night. He would make the most awk-
ward motions out of sheer benevolence and good-hearted-
ness, to the indescribable embarrassment of government
or the total discomfiture of his own friends ; and once was
on the point of making a motion which would have broken
up the administration—a result as far from his intention
as the destruction of the monarchy itself—and was only
prevented by a private entreaty from l'itt. But what was
to be done with this charitable, unwise man—this gentle,
impracticable boing ? To oppose him openly was out of
the question, for there was really no gainsaying him on
principle : he was propriety itself carried to a fault; it
would be like opposing one of the decencies of life, al-
though every body must feel how inconvenient it is to have
even the decencies themselves thrust under one's eyes,
and rung in one's ears every hour in the day.

CANNING

LOVE OF LITERATURE

Canning's passion for literature entered into all his
pursuits. It coloured his whole life. Every moment of
leisure was given up to books. He and Pitt were pas-
sionately fond of the classics ; and we find them together
of an evening, after a dinner at Pitt's, poring over some
old Grecian in a emair of the drawing-room, while the
rest of the company are dispersed in conversation. Fox
had a similar love of classical literature, but his wider
sympathies embraced a class of works in which Pitt never
appears to have exhibited any interest. Fox was a de-
vourer of novels ; and into this region Mr. Canning en-
tered with gusto. In English writings his judgment was
pure and strict; and no man was a more perfect master
of all the varieties of composition. He was the first Eng-
lish minister who banished the French language from our
diplomatist correspondence, and vindicated before Europe
the copiousness and dignity of our native tongue. He had
a high zest for the early vigorous moulds, in all styles, and
held in less estimation the more ornate and refined. W►it-
ing to Scott about the " Lady of the Lake," he says, that
on a repeated perusal he is more and more delighted with
it; but that he wishes he could induce him to try the ef-
fect of " a more full and sweeping style"—to present
himself" in a Drydenic habit." His admiration of Dry-
den, whom be pronounced to be " the perfection of har-
mony," and his preference of that poet of gigantic mould
over the melodists of the French school, may be suggested
as an evidence of the soundness and strength of his judg-
ment.

CANNING'S PATRONAGE OF MEN OF LETTERS

He never suffered an opportunity to escape, of promot-
ing the welfare of literary men, or their connexions. Soon
after Sir Walter Scott had become involved in pecuniary
troubles, Mr. Canning, understanding that he was to meet
him at dinner at Mr. Croker's, wrote privately to Sir
William Knighton, for the purpose of interesting his ma-
jesty. beforehand, on behalf of Sir Walter's son, " I shall
be glad," be said, " to have the protection of the king's
commands in doing an act of klndt ess by Malachi Mala-
growther." On another occasion, James Mill, the histo-
rian of India, a conspicuous Radical, a man of distin-
guished intellectual power, the friend of Bentham. and
the most prominent writer in the Westminster Review,
(items not very recommendatory to the government of the
day) was one of the candidates for the examinership in the
civil service of the East India Company ; a situation of
£2500 per annum. The Tories besought Canning to use
all his influence against him. Canning refused. He
ee why Mill's radicalism should prevent him

)uld no

slight facts, but they disclose fine traits of character ; as
fragments of ore on the surface indicate the rich reins

that lie below

Mit. CANNING'S CONNEXION WITH LIVERPOOL

paratinn from friends who had long bestowed the most
signal confidence upon him, Mr. Canning repaired to Li-
verpool to take leave of his constituents. His connexion
with that place had been a succession of the most gratify-
ing triumphs, each fresh election increasing the number

of his supporters, and converting enemies into active par-
He bad been four times elected for Liverpool.
he most for-

gham ;

tion there were three candidates, but as the struggle ad-
vanced, fresh names were added to the poll, and new bars
were opened, until at last there were no less than twenty-
'idates in the field; a curious piece of electioneer-
manceuvring which was described by Mr. Canning, in
'"ac. with exquisite humour. Some of Mr.
"--is were delivered at dinners and

one cand

iongst I

his eloquence render-

g the scene of its achiever
presented, instruct

its as renownei as Bristol,
evated by Burke. Mr. Can-
e galas to the people. He
received with the most lavish honours ; entertainments
planned for the purpose of rendering homage to his
_ us ; and the " Canning Club" was instituted to com-
memorate his connexion with the borough. He generally
took up his residence at Seaforth House, the residence of
Mr. Gladstone (the father of the Right Hon.
ituated on a flat stretching to the north
Overlooking the sea. The room which
I out upon the ocean, and here he would
expanse, while young

isits to Liver

is friend

of the to