The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-17 00:00:00

OWN-CLERF

adjourned

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SIR,—In consequence of public attention baying been di-
rected a short time ago to the evils of the Registration Act,
in an article which appeared in most of the London conser-
vative journals, and which subsequently found its way into
many other periodicals and provincial papers, a petition on
the subject has been forwarded from the Wirral Union, for
presentation to both house§ of parliament, of which the fol-

you favou

in your valuable and widely-circulated paper, other hoards
of guardians may be induced to follow the example set by
the Wirral Union, and may so strongly and simultaneously
press the repeal of so iniquitous a measure upon the notice
of the legislature, as to cause an erasure from the statute-
book of an act which is a disgrace to a Christian legis

inguishing ordinances of reli-

gion, is raj

idly 1;i-in—girl

Lu a zastaLu Ul nea-
.
thenism ; and which, while it robs, degrades, and insults the
clergy, perpetrates an imposition and a palpable fraud upon
all poor-rate payers, by extracting enormous sums of molip,,
out of their pockets,
tenance of the poor,
of the registrars

ostensibly " for the support and main-
' which is appropriated to the payment

-I
am, sir, your very obedient servant,
JOSH UA KING
Woodchurch Rectory, Feb. 10th, 1843.

(corr.)
To the Right Honourable and Honourable the Commons of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in
Parliament assembled,
The humble Petition of the undersigned Guardians of the
Poor of the Wirral Union, in the county of Chester,

SHEWETH,

That an act was passed in the sixth and seventh years of
his late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled, `'An
Act for registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages," and
amended in the first year of her present Majesty, Queen
Victoria.
That, in carrying the said act into operation, a large amount
of expense is entailed upon the country in the shape of poor-
rates (to pay the registrars); from which the poor receive no
benefit whatever, nor the community at large any adequate
advantage.
That the expense caused by it to this union alone, situated
in a thinly-inhabited agricultural district, amounts to the
sum of £139 13s. 6d. a-year.
That, at a time when the country is labouring under in-
creased taxation, and agricultural produce far below a remu-
nerating price, it is but ill prepared to bear this apparently
unnecessary burden.

That the same results the legislature had in view when
passing the said act, might be attained without expense to
the country, if each officiating minister would, at the time of
baptising a child, register its birth as well as its baptism ;
and, at the interment of every corpse, would register the
time of death as well as that of the burial ; provided such
registrations were made legal evidence in courts of law.
That it subjects the clergy to a heavy penalty should they
bury a corpse without the certificate of a lay registrar; al-
though, through his neglect, they are frequently obliged to
bury without such certificate, which is both unreasonable
and unjust.

That the operations of the said act in unchristianising the
community, by doing away with the solemnity of a religious
contract in marriage, and by superseding the sacrament of
baptism, especially among the lower orders, are still more
deeply to be lamented.
That it has such eff3ct to an immense extent, may be abun-
dantly proved from the great diminution of baptisms which
has taken place under its operation, particularly in large
towns and populous districts, while he number of inhabi-
taqts has been very much increased.
That your petitioners feel confident they only need call
the attention of a Christian legislature to an act that thus
tends to supersede a rite which the Divine Head of that re-
ligion appointed, and commanded to be observed, in order
to have such tendency, together with the other evils therein
contained, entirely removed.
Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your honourable
house to take their great grievances into your serious consi-
deration, with a view to remove them by repealing the said
act.

EDUCATION AND RE

LIGION

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SlR,—Will you have the kindness to give a place in your
highly-respectable paper to the following remarks on the
principles set forth in a report published by a school society
in this town. One of the resolutions in the report is this—
" That this meeting dissents from the opinion that knowledge
is in itself a dangerous thing, being fully convinced that
Whatever tends to deeelope and exercise the intellectual fa-
culties facilitates the reception of moral and divine truth."
No*, this principle seems to me to be quite contrary to the
teaching of Scripture, to historical facts and daily experience.
The Scriptures inform us that the cause why the Greeks (the
then most learned nation in the world) would not receive the
Gospel was, that they "counted it foolishness." They said
of Paul, " What will this babbler say?" The fact evidently
appears that When the mind gets stored with secular know-
ledge, without a knowledge of the Word of God, it becomes
so sell sufficient as to disperse the simplicity of the Gospel ;
this is the knowledge that " puffeth up ;" and this fact has
been proved wherever the Gospel has been proclaimed. A
striking instance of this truth has been, and is at this mo-
ment exhibited in Ireland, where so many hundreds of un-
educated persons have gladly embraced the Gospel, while it
would be difficult to find one individual, who has received
only secular education, who has embraced the Gospel. This
I knew by experience, having resided in that country for
many years, and being perfectly acquainted with the state of
it, both as respects its education societies and the general
state of religion. The same principle is inculcated through
the whole report, enforced by such strong assertions as
these—that to differ from their principle is " a most despi-
cable fallacy, repugnant alike to common sense and universal
experience." In refutation of this it may be sufficient to
state *hat effect secular learning had on the conduct and
principles of the Greeks and Romans : its evident effects
were to enable them to know that many surrounding nations
could be easily conquered, robbed and made slates ; and this
they did to a very great extent, and just for the purpose of
enabling themselves to indulge more largely in the most de•
spotic and abominable practices, thus rendering themselves
more unhappy, and making thousands of others most raise
rably so. But there is another reason given why the lower
orders should receive secular education, and it is this. that
they may be qualified to use political power, or, in other
words, become inflammeral rulers in the state ; now this
object seems to me to be also contrary to Scripture teaching
and experience, and, whenever adopted, has had most ru.
inorts consequences. In Scripture it is said, " Wessed art
time 0 Land when thy king is the son of nobles," King
here evidently means the rulers of a state; and as to its ru-
inous consequences, see the late revolution in France—yes,
and, see the present state of our own country, thousands of
Chartists arid other .such politicians boldly threatening to
overturn the present constitution ; and there is every reason
to fear that tench blood must be shod before a stop can be
put to what they avow as their object—viz., the overthrow
of the present happy constitution, unless some ministry can
be bend with sufficient nerve to at once put a stop to all
meetings and agitators of questions subversive of govern-
ment—and this could yet be done. It is a fact that, ever
since our pusilanimous government submitted to the Bir-
mingham mob, in allowing them to appoint a ministry,
government has been daily losing its strength, and mob legis-
lators daily gaining more political power. But, to return to
the education question. Those who advocate secular in-
struction ever take for granted that Roman Catholics would
not send their children to be taught in schools where the
Scriptures were read and made the basis of their education ;
but this is proved to be a most erroneous opinion, for, prior
to the establishment of the national schools in Ireland, there
were upwards of 100,000 Roman Catholic children at schools
where the Bible was not only freely read in the schools, but
the children had to commit to memory considerable portions
of it; and, if sufficient funds could have been obtained, five
times the number of Roman Catholics would have attended
the shoots, and that in despite of all the denunciations of
their clergy ; and even qt this moment there are more than
100,000 Roman Catholics (including adults) receiving a truly
religious education, and carefully reading the Word of God.
13 ut the report on which I am observing, with other publica-
tions of the like import, is evidently intended to influence
the government to adopt in Great Britain the mode of edu-
cation imposed on Ireland. Now the facts respecting the
state of the parties for and against the establishing of the
Irish system in Britain may, 1 think, be fairly stated at about
one in every hundred of the inhabitants in favour of the Irish
system ; then the case stands thus, that to gratify these few,
who hate the Word of God, cannot bear to hear it even read,
that precious Word, given by God for the guidance and com-
fort of man, is not only to be kept from the people, but be
lowered in its inestimable value and importance in the eyes of all, it being made a matter of indifference whether it gsgssid
be read or not. I may just observe that, although do not
see the necessity of putting my name to this letter, should
any one dispute the correctness of what l have stated, as far
as regards Ireland, by his noticing it in the STANDARD I
shall immediately give him my name, and I pledge myself to
produce authentic documents to prove all I have stated.
am, Sir, yours, 4sc.
A DISSENTER
Liverpog,k, 11th February, 1843.

--a

THE LIVERPOOL MERCURY AND THE NE\
COPYRIG HT LAW.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SIR.—I shall feel myself much indebted to you by your
permitting me to make a few remarks on a paragraph which
appeared in last Friday's Mercury, touching the advantages
of the new Copyright Bill, under the head of " Benet
Effects of the New Copyright Act" ; for, in this said. not
very lengthy paragraph, the Editor totally disavows the prin-
ciples of free trade, virtually recants all his, previously. pub-
lished sentiments, and, in principle and effect, becomes a
rigorous and uncompromising advocate of restriction, mono-
poly, and comprehensive protection; (I take for granted
that the Editor of the kicrettry r rote the paragraph is guts,
tion, or fatly APPkoXed, of doctrirrs, since ha has not.a4;.;
nowledgeil it as taken from any other newspaper.) And it is
not a restriction of any thing immaterial ta the peopy4;:
by a restriction "of which they will not be tn
Mercury here advocates: on the
other haad, it is a mattes of
j the highest importance, it is tbe .fuorae(49'• titel4e°l)l( •
The Editor of the Me7;M:3lPle'als
ledge! For dear req..(l,lAg,:for high-priced literature; ture_; for a
(or a monopoly_ in know-
monopoly of; tb.‘, ',utast interesting bookslienrathe English
language!,
4 w4sh, sir, to call your close attention to that part of the

ators, wh

_ .
could defy competition as to
Now, sir, this Quotation c

But this very satr

tie English publisher was r

,upyi act; he was protected,
from the native invasion of his rights.
"foreign speculator" was concerned, the ed

February 16, 1843

landed proprietor, he cannot feel their fort
be is a literary man, and may, for oug/
preparing a volume for the press, he set
books, the ruinous tendency of "unfair riva,.,
speculation ; lie may have literary property sometime of
other by which, of course, he may expect to subsist; and it
he should, he sees that he may be undone by " foreign specu
because the manuscript owner is " not protected I
scribe should not forget that his ft.!
anourer of the anti-monopoly club, Colonel Thompson, has
said, that " all protection means robbery ; " a doctrine which,
no doubt, is deemed by the editor of the Mercury as contain-
ing the quintessence of truth. Therefore, if this be so, he is
placed in the enviable position of advocate for robbery. It
is " unjust traffic," he says, to admit " French, Belgian,
and American copies of works," because the English pub-
lisher is under greater expense than the foreign speculator."
Indeed! and did the editor of the Mercury learn this doctrine
in the anti-monopoly school? Not he. But let him carry
his doctrine beyond the province of " copyright " and
" manuscript; " let him apply it to the landowner and
farmer and it will turn out to be " unjust" to admit, duty
free, " French, Belgian, and American " corn. because the

is not

t►t that we know, be
es,*as to literature and

.ngl►sh producer is under greater expense than the " foreign
peculator." The case of thR

Luc Lwo is precisely ; yet,
with prodigious consistency, the editor contends that one
should be protected and the other not protected ! If there be
any argument in the above quotation that is worth a straw it
may be translated in favour of the agriculturist, thus :
The legitimate sale of English coru has been contracted by
the sale of French, Belgian, and American corn ; and the
English landowner, though in many cases paying considerable
sums for land, and embarking his capital in other• large out-
lays for farm-houses, barns, shippons, stables, carts, plough,
gearing, horses, cows, seed, plants (including tithes, poor-
rates, and various other taxes), &c

aid riot hope for an

entire possession even of the home market, there 1

••••••., Uy iui cigti specu-
lators, who, not having so expensive an outlay nor so many
taxes, can defy competition as to price."
If the editor will be just, he must now see, if he never
saw before, that the landowner has at least equal claim to
!Protection wit!,

And, as far as the

to have

0 11L/Lll 0./.../IAU
Dt Ns. per cwt.; a duty, in itself almost equal to pro-
hibition ; especially, if it be considered that besides this the
" foreign speculator". would be saddled with many additional
expenses for freight, &c.

Of the " beneficial effects of the new copyright act," of
which the Meacury speaks I shall not say much. Some of
its clauses may possibly be beneficial to a few ; but not one
of these clauses contemplate the advantage of the public, or
the dissemination of knowledge among the people : and how
a more rigorous exclusion of competition can have the effect
of reducing the price of books, as the paragraph pretends, is
unfathomable. A very different doctrine is taught by the
Mercury's friends of the League, who invariably contend
that monopoly increases price.
One of the " beneficial effects" of the new Copyrig..
is, that the public must pay double, at least, for all those
works which would soon have fallen out of copyright during
the neat seven years; and it ought to be borne in mind that
but for the new Copyright Act, the "immortal Waverley"
would have dropped into the hands of the cheap publishers
,n July last ; but the " beneficial effects" of the new act ex-
.end the monopoly of this work several years further, and the
)üblic now pay double what they otherwise would have had
o pay for it; although, previously, it had been the instru-
nent of a princely fortune to its owners. So far from the
iew Copyright Act presentinc, any " beneficial effects" to the
,üblic, i defy the editor of Mercury to show a single
lause even pointing that way. It ought to be regarded as a
3b, and nothing but a job—a robbery of the British public,
nd an iniquitous proscription of cheap literature ; and justice
D the reading public demands that most of the new clauses
e at once repealed.
Hoping that these remarks may find insertion in your
seful paper, I am, sir, yours respectfully,

to wit
be

A BOOKSELLER

JOINT STOCK BANKS.—During the past week or ten days
here have been several meetings in the country of joint-
itock bank proprietaries. The Dudley and West 11,..,‘,,,;„t.

.4au Cb
_ l•
Bank at the annual meeting declared the usual dividendJareniwicn of
10 per cent. with £4,000 added to the guarantee fund mak-
ing the reserve £38,000, notwithstanding, as stated, that a
" considerable diminution of profits had taken place for the
last year." At the meeting of the Bilston district Bank a
dividend was declared of 7 per cent. out of profits, but only
leaving less than £203 to be added to the guarantee fund,
which would then amount to £4,680. It must be observed
however that the dividend was clear of income tax, whilst a
fair allowance was made for bad debts. It was noticed pro-
perly as a singular circumstance that, notwithstanding the

" trying nature" of the times during the year not, " a single
bad debt had been incurred." At the eleventh annual meet-
fng of the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Banking Com-
pany a dividend was declared of 10 per cent.. clear of income
tax, for the half-year ending march Ist, the dividend of the
previous half-year ending with September having been 7 per
A surplus of profits remained of £4.52R. of

.Vllllal lb
was calculated that one-half would be required to meet bad
debts sustained during the past year. The guarantee fond of
£25,090 was untouched, and the directors conceived tkat the
resolution at a former meeting, for appropriating, all the
future profits beyond 17 per cent, to the establishment of it
second guarantee fund not to exceed the first in amount, was
judicious and would be rendered available. At the annual
meeting of the Leicestershire Banking company at Leicester
a dividend was declared of 12 per cent., free of income tax.
The capital of the company was stated at £64,950, whilst the
guarantee fund amounted to £32,829. At the meeting of
the York Union Bank a dividend was declared of 10 per
cent., leaving a surplus to be added to the guarantee fund
which then amounted to £16,922. At the meeting of the
Yorkshire District Banking Company a dividend at the rate
of 3s. 9d. on the old and 5s 3d on the new shares. The sum
of £17,416 had been written off the bad bebt account during
the past half-year as loss, so that there remained a " balance
of £72,273 at the credit of that account." At the meeting
of the Leeds Banking Company a dividend of 6 per cent.
was declared, and a " handsome" sum carried to the reserve
fund. At the meeting of the Barnsley Banking Company a
dividend was declared of 8 per cent., and £6OO carried to the
reserve fund. At the meeting of the Leeds Commercial
Banking Company a dividend was declared for the half-year
at the rate of six per cent. with a " satisfactory" report of
nrocress.

STOCK ExcHANGE PRACTlCE.—Circumstances have oc-
curred from time to time which have led to a feeling among
the members of the Stock Exchange against business in the
securities of any character whatever being transacted out of
the house. At length, a difference between two of the mem-
bers, arising out of a dealing of this sort, has brought the
subject before the committee, who have been deliberating

I came in to her assistanc
such assistance as he c

dreadfully burnt over I

tely conveyed

for about six hou

The body

UpOil IL ror roe last two trays. It appears that a broker who some Great Western Itailvray shares to sell met, as he
was leaving the market, another broker, and their conversa-
tion turned upon the business. The consequence was, that
the second broker bought the shares. The partner of the
first broker, in the meantime, not being aware of this trans-
action, and bearing that the firm was empowered by a prin-
cipal to sell Great Western shares, concluded a sale with auo-
ther broker in a public market, The number of shares sold
in both these transactions was the same. When the first
broker, who had sold his shares out of doors, returned to his
countinghouse, he found that a similar sale had been effected
by his partner in the house, at a lower price. The conse-
quence was, that an endeavour was made by the firm to set
aside the bargain concluded in the house in favour of the one
concluded out of doors, a priority of sale being the reason al-
leged. The broker, however, who had bought the shares in
the public market, would not consent that the sale to hire
should be annulled, inasmuch as be had operated against his
purchase in the course of his subsequent transactions. As a
discussion involving the principle of the strict fairness of
doing business out of doors was raised among the members
of the house, it was thought expedient to refer the matter to
the committee, the feeling generally being that the transac-
tion of business out of doors was injurious to the members of
the establishment. The committee, after consideration, have
declared the sale in the market to be an absolute sale, in spite
of the priority of the other, and that it cannot be set aside.
The consequence of this decision has been, that the seller
has been obliged to re-purchase the shares at a higher price
than that at which he sold them. The committee, in the
notice which is posted in the house on the subject, recom-
mend that in future all business for the benefit of the public
shall be transacted with' •he walls. This recommendation

husband

I also 1;

presented a shocking appearat
nearly to a cinder. The dens
that she had been sit

quest, am

YESTEI
fall, Bo

Molynewc, Royc

p, which v

guilty authors of

/abut
will apply most forcibly to a course of lousiness which is very
prevalent, and which consists in some of the members carry-
ing ou extensive transactions in their counting-houses, or
otherwise privately, instead of coming into the open market.
It will also prevent the recurrence of such differences as that
just recorded, arising more from the defect of a system, than
from any fault of the parties immediately concerned.-
7'it,i2 es.

IMPORTANT CASE.—A trial of considerable interest to
merchants, occurred in Dublin last week, before the Court of
Common Pleas. It was an action brought by a merchant,
named Rish, against the Messrs. Scovell—who are the lessees
of the crown of the Custom-house stores, where bonded goods
are placed—under the following circumstances :—lt appeared
that in the month of May last there were between two and
three thousand chests of tea in bond in the stores of the de-
fendants, and on the ground floor, under the lofts where they
were, a cargo of oranges had been placed, Amongst the tea
thus stored, the p;aintiff Rish had 15.9 chests. Some of the
merchants, upon taking parcels of their tea out for sale to
their customers, found that it bad imbided a strong flavour
of the oranges, and in some instances it was sent back to them
as unsaleable. Amongst those so cireamstanced was the
plaintiff's in the present action. Inquiry was at once set on
foot about the matter, and tea tasters from London and Liver-
pool were brought over to ascertain if the complaints were
well founded. The oranges were removed in the mean time,
and, upon an examination of the teas, it was found that the
whole two or three thousand chests had more or less imbibed
the orange flavour ; but that the finer qualities bad been af-
fected in a far greater degree than the coarser. It was then
agreed between the Messrs. Scovells and some of the mer-
chants, that their teas should be sold by public auction, sub-
ject to the fault complained of, for whatever they might bring,
and that the Messrs. Scovell should make good the difference
between that and the T.nnelnn -c... A

Jo not call ft

) on flour's

~~~;

paragraph in question which reads thus:--" The legitimate DIMADFUL CASE or _Liu..._
sale of English books has, indeed, been contracted by the Wednesday, before Mr. Curry,
circulation of French, Belgian, and American copies of of the body of Ellen Maynagh
works; and the English publisher, though, in many cases, It appeared from the giving considerable sums for manuscripts, and embarking his morning of Tuesday last, the decea.,
capital in other large outlays, for paper, print, advertise- family in Pall Mall, was found, by some pt._
ments, (including duty to Government,) &c., could not hope the house on hearing her cries, to be envel
for an entire possession even of the home market, where his I from head to foot. Her person, indef,d
energies were defeated, where he was not protected (!) from tinctiv seen through the blaze •
unfair rivalru, and wino,..s. n'' •• -
Iguish the fire, thP '
had his hand-

—An inques
borourh

mence, that at 0t.1e.-4;'

irs Yot

tory ha