The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-08-21 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

In an evening paper of Saturday last we find in the
parliamentary report the following passage in a speech
of Mr. C. Buller :—" The hon. and learned Member then
adierted tb the largedeniand there was for cheap publi.
cations. While The Times and The Dispatch circulated
only about 30,000 each per week, the Penny Magazine
sold 200,000 copies in the same time." It is curious that
in the four prir.cipal morning papers no such remark is
reported, and that as far as we have seen, it appears only
in a journal with which .the hon. member (we knOw not
how truly) is generally said to be connected. Be that as
itnray, we have one wort to say on the observation itself:
-We shalt norcoadeScend to comment on the honourable
ttempt of Mr. C. Bulle'r to depreciate the amount of our
circulation, when a moment's inquiry at the Stamp-office
would have showa4tis statement to be gripssly inacurate,
but we will go at once to his allegation about the cheap-
ness of the Penny Magcizinc. Now we pronounCe that
publication 'to be almost incalculably dearer than The
Times.. The, ;riras,,includirrg the.price of the stamp, is
sold for sevenpen.ce. The Penny Magazine, which has
rni• fourpenn-y• stamp to pay, and does not contain more
than a .sixTil PART of the. matter 0f,27/Ca Times, is sold for
a penny
,the matter of the cheap rnagaaine is a mere
scissor-aompiiation from other works: there are no par-
liamentary reporters, nu law reporters, no police reporters
to be paid: no writers of original discussion: no Corres-
pondence: no expresses; foreign or dpmestic. Such a
jobrhal CoMpared With The Times, or any sell-conducted
porning,paper, would hedear if sold at lite rate a six fo'r
a farthing. And yet the hon. member for Liskeardi,
the plenitude of his ignorance, calls this a "cheap pabli-
cation:: It was said of the most ageeable, though not
the best, writer ‘o-f -the last century, that "nihil tetigtt
qadrd non ormivit :" front the specimemi, which we have
seen of the parliamentary career of the' member for Lis-
keard we should say "niltil ornavit quod tetigif.." His
very scanty modicum of talent and knowledge makes hico
an easy dupe, while his self-opinion blinds him to' his
error, even when it is visible to all the World. Lord
Ellenborough once said of a dull -witness who was in-
dulging in some figure of speech, "Reall.y such a man
should not venture upon metaphor:" We would With
deference suggest to Mr. C. Bnller, that he shohld make-
"his Power the limit of his gill," and not venture to
.touch upon subjects beyond his strength or beyond his
knowledge. He has lately been foundsadlyintitt he Ladilngon
the important question of the Mauritius, of w
assumed the management. We will undertake to predict
that lie will gather as few laurels in his new field of opera-
tions against the stamped press. \%e do not know
whether we may think. itivorth our while to descend into
the arena with him, but there is no lack of ability in
several of our contemporaries to give him a regular
"Cornish hug."
We beg to assure this hon. gentleman that ne. bear
him no illwill, and that our observations are dictated by a
feeling of compassion for one who seems likely to commit
himself. If we were malicious, we should,adopt the pOlicy
of Addison, and let him flounder on till he became inex-
tricably involved in error and absurdity.—Times.

We perceive that one of the witnesses before the select
committee of orange lodges.is 'ordered to attend at the
bar of the House .of Commons tins day, to account for
his refusal to produce the book in which he keeps copies
of his letters..
We believe it will be found necessary, ere long, if the
spirit or the name of freedom is to be preserved in Eng-
land, to remind, by some strong public demonstration,
the persons who get themselves appointed Members of
the select committees of the House. of Commons that,
although their functions are inquisitorial, they must not
discharge them in so strict and literal an accordance with'
the practices and principles of the Spanish inquisition as
they have done upon at least one recent occasion.
It is stated to us by persons whom we entirely believe,
that one of the witnesses before the select -committee on
orange lodges was threatened with the displeasUre of the
House of Commons if he persisted in his refusal to vio-
late the oath he had taken, by disclosing to the commit-
tee the signs and pass-word of the institution. The
witness was an honest and honourable man; therefore
the attempt.to terrify him into the violation of his oath
failed as in such a case it was sure to fail. And what
terror had not been able to effect. casuistry could not
accomplish. The witness, We understand, put down com-
pletely the hon and learned Roman Catholic member,
who alternately employed menace and casuistry to induce
him to violate-his oath, by the natural, simple, and forci-
ble reply, " I can have no absolution l"
We shall have much more to say upon the proceedings
of this committee, and shall probably be enabled to sup-
ply some instructive addenda to the evidence which it
will lay before the house.

It will exeite.a general feeling of indignation, though
but little surprise, a►nong the people of England, when
they learn,that au attempt has been made to revive the
use of general warrants, by a liberal committee of the
reformed House of Commons.—Morning Post.

One has every 'day cause to lament the miserable igno-
rance of legislators who pretend to provide for the wapts
of Ireland. If there were no ground to distrust the
honesty of their intentions—if there were no other mere
direct reason to dispute the wisdom of their proposed en-
actments, their utter ignorance of the country and its
parties would furnish abundant ground for a veto on their
law making. In thus imputing to ignorance, the absurd
misrepresentations which are gravely put forward by
thoSe who talk of treasonable Orange conspiracies to
alter the succession to the Crown, we are fully aware
that it must appear to many a violent strain of charitable
pity to set down these gentlemen as only noodles. The
leaders of party, when recommending some extravagant
absurdity, are indeed seldom so innocent as their dupes;
but without stopping to divide calculating dishonesty and
foolish ignorance in due proportions amongst the Orange
accusers on the English side of the tlfannel, we can
safely say that the pure villany of Irish incendiarism has
no parallel in England in the wickedness 'of the contri.
vance, and scarcely any in the credulity of the dupes.
A few days ago a notice was posted on the chapel of
Ballymartle, warning the Roman Cat ';-,olics of the neigh-
bourhood to "stand on their guard," and, in order to pre-
vent surprise and massacre. by the Orangemen, not to
trust themselves to sleep. The arts of faction have been
so successful in directing the suspicion and hatred of the
popish population against Orangemen, that although the
Roman catholic curate very properly tore down the
paper, the intimation Was greedily believed and acted on.
The alarm was so great in the neighbourhood of Bandon,
Innishannon, and Kinsale, that the farmers have been in
many cases seriously inconvenienced by the dearth of
labourers at this busy season—the 's atchings of the night
disabling them for the toil of the day.
If the mischief were to stop here, the alarm would he
only ludicrous for its absurdity ; but when we consider
the oiabolical zeal with which a sanguinary re-action
against the small protestant population of the South of
Ireland is daily fomented, by tales of murdered priests,
threatened massacre, oaths; and conspiracies for popish
extermination, we cannot avoid characterizing the whole
plot for,maintaining a political excitenientwithout regard
for consequences, as equalling—At least in treachery,
villany and absurdity—the old plot of Titus Oates.
There are those who—recalling to mind the history of
'9B; the every day fate
.of individuals; the multiplied
prophecies, denunciations, &c. in verse and prose; the
chalked, painted, or scrawled warnings of an extermina-
tion of protestants in 1835—believe that the ready credit
now given to this mischieyOus nonsense, of a rising Of
the few against the many, was not altogether the work of
credulous folly. They read in this easy belief the result
of a full consciousness that the deep hate of, religion and
politics can make men conceive, revolve, contemplate
with pleasure, and wait but for opportunity to prompt
the attempting of the most atrocious deeds.—Cork Con-
stitution.

THE BIG BEGGARMAN.—The radicals of Edinburgh met on
Wednesday most appropriately in the Co wgate, and determined
formally to invite the hero of the skull and cross-bones to a
public dinner. We believe that,. the agitator will receive a
similar honour in Glackrow. Of course he will prove very at-
tractive to the tag-rag and-bob-tail. lie intends bringing,forty
joints to each feed. We shall probably attempt to ttipp.v
de,.crt, by giving the radicals a few
.`.`.nuts to cracle' on the uc-
casion--./EdinAtirs Post,
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