The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-18 00:00:00

POLITICAL MISCELLANY.

" See what bad company I have been in at Kennington
Common," said Mr. Feargus O'Connor ; "my colleagues
have picked my pocket." "What have you lost ?" in-
quired Sir William Somerville. "My pocket handker-
chief." " Oh," rejoined the right hon. bart., with that
readiness and tact for which he is so distinguished, '' Oh,
I thought it was your resolution.'"
THE CHARTIST "NATIONAL CONVENTION."—This
body still continues its sittings, but its proceedings have
been utterly devoid of interest. Since the failure of the
demonstration on Kennington Common, the language of
the speakers has been somewhat less violent and vaunting
than before. One amusing circumstance is that one of
the leading delegates, Mr. Ernest Jones, has been arrested
for debt.
THE CHARTIST LEADER FRIGHTENED.—After the ex-
traordinary exposure of the moster petition in the House
of Commons on Friday, Mr. O'Connor informed the
house that " he should abandon his motion for taking the
Chartist petition into consideration on Friday. He would
not practice any delusion upon the house himself, nor be
accessory to the practice of any delusion by others. He
left the petition between the house and the country, and
also between the committee and those who signed it."

THE CHARTIST LION ASLEEP.—After the division had
been taken in the House of Commons, on Friday, on the
Crown Security Bill, the tellers appeared at the table, and
informed the speaker, amidst the laughter of the house,
that Mr. O'Connor was asleep during the whole of the
division ! The hon. member having been called up. and
asked how he intended to vote, replied, "with the Ares,"
an announcement which, being in opposition to all his
previous votes, had the effect of producing irrepressible
mirth.

THE REMOVAL OF ALIENS.—The bill brought in by
Government for. the purpose of getting rid of foreign
emissaries of mischief, simply provides that the secretary
of state, or viceroy, of Ireland shall have power to issue a
warrant for the removal from the country of any sus-
picious foreigner, and that the latter, on disobeying the
warrant, shall be liable to apprehension and commitment
to prison for 12 months, and then be sent out of the
kingdom. Foreigners who have been settled here for
seven years are not affected by the bill.
THE CHARTIST CONVENTION.—At a meeting of the
delegates in London, Mr. Clark drew the attention of the
Convention to the Alien Bill introduced last night into
the House of Lords, by the Marquis of Lansdowne, and said,
that if it were to be put in force he should be glad to see
it applied to " a person' called Prince Albert," and also to
M. Guizot. Notice of motion was given against the Bill.
A Committee was appointed to consider the mode of pay-
ing the delegates. Mr. O'Connor, M.P., declared that
as soon as Sir G. Grey's Treason and Sedition Bill passed
into ‘t law, he would that moment avow himself to be a
Republican. He would certainly move for the impeach-
ment of Ministers.
NEW POLITICAL ASSOC/ATION.—At a meeting of the
members of Parliament, held at the Free Trade Club, in
London, on Thursday, on a requisition, signed by 49 mem-
bers, including Messrs. Hume, Cobden, Osborne, Selby,
Sir W. Molesworth, Lord D. Stuart, &c., Mr. Hume
acting as chairman, and Sir Joshua Walmesley as secre-
tary, the following resolution was unanimously adopted :
—"That a more cordial co-operation is earnestly requested
among such members of Parliament as are favourable to
the extension of the suffrage and an equitable arrange-
ment of taxation, reduction of expenditure, and the gene-
ral advance of reform principles throughout Great Britain
and Ireland." A committee was appointed.'
THE COBDEN FUND.—The following significant letter
appears, without note or comment in the Manchester
Guardian of Wednesday last :—" Sir,—l am a partner in
a firm which contributed handsomely to the Cobden tes-
timonial fund, and although the subscription has been
closed several months, I have not seen any account re-
specting the disposal of the money. I, as well as several
other friends who contributed, have made many inquiries
about it, but have not been able to learn anything satis-
factory. Can you, sir, inform me whether the testimonial
has been presented to Mr. Cobden, and if so, in what
shape and to what amount, and whether Mr. Cobden has
acknowledged the receipt of the same ?—I remain, sir,
yours respectfully, 11.8.
THE. MONSTER PETITION.—This Petition, like the

great demonstration got up for Monday last, turns out to

„ .
be a veritable hoax. The number of signatures attached
to it amounted, according to Mr. Feargus O'Connor's
statement, to between five and six millions, and he claimed
attention to it mainly on that ground. We understand
from the very best authority, that so far from the peti-
tioners numbering fire millions, they fall short of two,
whilst the credence attaching to the veracity of the signa-
tures may, be judged from the fact, that not only is the
name of .Queen Victoria appended to it, but the Duke of
Wellington is attached nearly twenty times. Almost
every slang name known to Englishmen, such as Snooks,
Pugnose, and other nicknames, figure in thousands, and
the very coarsest words, of the most vulgar and disgrace-
ful meaning, are found in most unholy abundance.—
Errand boy, about fourteen, in a stationer's shop, speak-
ing to his master :—” I've had such a capital lark, Sir,
signing my name to the Chartist. Petition. I always signs
it when I goes over the bridge and when I comes back."
Now, as his master tells me his business regularly takes
hiM twice each way every day during the year, it would
give, deducting Sundays, 1,252 of his signatures alone
during the year; and, as hundreds of others no doubt
think it. fine fun, it would soon make up the 5,760,000.
A MAN Os MIGHT.—At a meeting of the " National
Convention." held in London on Monday last, Mr.
Feargus O'Connor is reported to have said, in reference
to his own courage and prowess—" I have scars and marks
of bayonet wounds which I have received whilst struggl-
ing for the people; and on one occasion, at Manchester,
after a disturbance, there were no less than ninety-three
warrants issued against me, at the instance of parties who
had been injured by me in the exercise of the conflict.
On the same occasion, I was carried away by the mob in
a state of insensibility, bleeding from my wounds, and I
am equally determined to exercise my courage to-day,
notwithstanding the threats that have been held out against
ny life."—Mercy upon us ! what a terrible fellow the
Chartist member for Nottingham must be ! Why all we
have read of, in prose or verse, in history or romance,
falls short of his prowess in fight. The heroes of the
Trojan war, the paladins of Charlemagne, and the worthies
of knight-errantry, must all look small before him.
Ni4ety-three persons injured by him to one fight (how
many more were injured, but did not complain, we are
left to guess) obtained warrants against him. It must
have been a wonderful affair. But, pray, when did it all
happen ? We profess to have some little knowledge of
what has been going on in Manchester during the last
thirty years; but, up to the time when we read the
report of Mr. O'Connor's speech in the convention. we
never heard of the terribl' onslaught in which he did so
much mschiet We rather suspect that the hon. gentle-
rush has been dreaming, and has put off upon his hearers
teets the mete wanderings of kis owt itoaginat'ion.

UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL NEWS,

Dr. Keith has declined to be nominated as Moderator of
the Free Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, on Wednesday, received
a deputation of the clergy of the City of London, who
waited upon his Grace at Lambeth Palace, to congratulate
him upon his elevation to the archiepiscopal see.
CAMBRIDGE.—The two gold medals, value fifteen gui-
neas each, given by H.R.H. the Chancellor of the Uni-
versity, to two commencing Bachelors of Arts, who hav-
ing obtained senior optimes a least, show themselves the
greatest proficients in classical learning, were adjudged on
Saturday last to-1. C. B. Scott, first classic, 22nd wran-
gler, Trinity ; 2. B. F. Westcott, second classic, 24th
wrangler, Trinity.
The Bishop of Exeter having afforded to the Rev. G.
C. Gorham, vicar of St. Just, Cornwall, another oppor-
tunity of explaining his views on the sacrament of bap-
tism, has finally pronounced him unsound in doctrine,
and refused to institute him to the living of Bampford
Speke, to which he bas been presented by the crown. It
is reported that legal proceedings will be taken against the
Bishop, the case having been referred to the law officers of
the crown.

LOYAL AND ORTHODOX. The opponents of the
Bishop of Hereford, so far from having recovered their
good sense, or returned to an observance of decent pro-
priety, appear, we regret to say, to be more rabid and
impotent than ever. One of them has been annoying the
Lord Primate for a reply to the protest made against the
Bishop of Hereford's consecration, and has got nothing
for his pains and importunity but the assurance that. his
Grace of Canterbury has not o'erstepped the bounds of
duty. In addition to this, a weekly journal, angry at not
having slain the Bishop of Hereford with the stabs dealt
at his back, proposes to brand his lordship with a nick-
name, and that he ,never be recognised among the semi-
Romanists in our church by the title which is his own.
The same paper, adverting to the recognition of repub-
lican atrocities by the French priesthood, holds it up as a
warning to ministries that. will not nourish tractarianism.
It will be a sight in that Semaine des trois Jeudis which
shall see Mr. F. O'Connor ruling provisionally the des-
tinies of England from the Mansion-house. to beLold a
tractarian deputation acknowledging the wicked abortion,
and to hear the Lacordaire of the party declaring it to be
God—created, because favour had not been riven by the
fallen Sovereign of England to the friends of the Pope in
England's church !—Church and State Gazette.
PROPOSED NEW DIOCESE OF ST. ALBAN'S.—The Ec-
clesiastical Commissioners, it is said, intend to recom-
mend to the government the immediate formation of a
new diocese, to comprise a portion of the extensive see of
the Bishop of Rochester, and part of that of the Bishop
of Ely. At presents the whole of Essex, the whole of
Hertfordshire, and a large portion of Kent, are comprised
in the diocese of Rochester, whilst the see of Ely includes
the whole of Cambridgeshire, the whole of Huntingdon-
shire, the whole of Bedfordshire, and part of Suffolk. It
is proposed that the new diocese of St. Alban's shall be
composed of the archdeaconries of St. Alban's and Bed-
ford, containing 109 rectories, 112 vicarages, and 36 dona-
tive and perpetual curacies, served by about 400 clergy-
men. The new see of St. Alban's will thus be larger than
either of the dioceses of St. Asaph, Bangor, Chichester,
Llandaff, Carlisle, Durham, or Sodor and Man. When
the new arrangement shall have been made, the diocese of
Rochester will consist of the whole of Essex (a few par-
ishes closely bordering on London excepted) and a portion
of Kent, containing 255 rectories, 165 vicarages, and 57
perpetual and donative curacies, served by about 700 cler-
gymen. Under the new arrangement, the diocese of Ely
will consist of the whole of Cambridgeshire, the whole of
Huntingdonshire, and part of Suffolk, comprising 232 rec.
tories, 131 vicarages, and 71 perpetual and donative cura-
cies, served by nearly 600 clergymen. The Abbey Church
of St. Alban's will of course serve for the Cathedral
Church.