The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-02-11 00:00:00

BY DR. D. P. THOMPSON

Into how many concentric circles is the outer ring of
Saturn divided ?—has long been a question in astronomy.
That a multiple division might be, required not, though
it received, the demonstrations of Laplace; nevertheless,
hia-1116noire is valuable, for he shows that their centres
of gravity may be independent of that of the planet.
On the 17th of December, 1825, Captain Kater thought
he saw a division in the outer ring. " I fancied," says
he, " that 1 saw the outer ring separated by numerous
dark divisions, extremely close, one stronger than the
rest dividing the ring about equally. * * * * The
inner ring decidedly has no such appearance." In the
following year a glimpse of the same was twice obtained ;
but after an interval of three years, on the 22d of Jan.,
1828, under very favourable circumstances, the captain
failed to'detecti t. " I am, therefore, the more persuaded,"
says he, " that they are not permanent."
There is something about the appearance on the 17th
of Dec., 1825, exceedingly interesting; and we are struck
with the resemblance of the third diagram illustrating his
paper (Memoirs of Roy. Ast. Soc., vol. iv.) to that
recently drawn by the Rev. Mr. Davies, in the Proceedings
of the same society. And it may be observed that this
appearance of the ring was confirmed by the testimony of
two individuals, one of whom was Mrs. Kater, (vide
Smyth's Cycle,) who is malignantly called by the captain
a " person." We are at a loss, however, to know which
of the " persons" was his lady, unless we can find out if
she was the " short-sighted" one referred to.

Short, the astronomer, had previously witnessed a simi-
lar division of the outer ring ; and though we have searched
unsuccessfully, as well an others, for the original, the ob-
servation is referred to by Brewster, Laplace, Lalande,
and Delambre. Such a division had also been seen by
Quetelet, at Paris, in December, 1823. In all these, and
in subsequent observations, it has been the outer ring
which appeared divided ; a sufficient refutation of the ar-
gument of Sir William Herschel, that it had arisen from
tremors of the speculum in the case of Short and Kater,
and applying the same argument to the object-glass in
that of Quetelet. Against this presumptive evidence, we
have to balance the negative testimony of Sir 'William
Herschel, in 1791, Sir John Herschel, in 1826, Struve, in
the same year, and Kater, in 1828.
The subject remained in abeyance till the autumn of
1843, when. Mr. Lassell, and the Rev. Mr. Dawes, of Wa-
teringbury, beheld the phenomenon at Starfield, near
Liverpbol. It was on a somewhat hazy night, after a
beautiful and warm day, the 7th of September, that these
astronomers turned their attention closely to the planet
Saturn. " I took my place at the telescope," says Mr.
Dawes, " and Mr. Lassell requested me to examine care-
fully the extremities of the ring, and say if I observed
any thing remarkable. Having obtained a fine adjust-
ment of the focus, I presently perceived the outer ring to
be divided in two. This perfectly coincided with the im-
pression Mr. Lassell had previously received. For some
minutes I scrutinized the interestine object, and occa-
sionally, for several seconds together, had by far the
finest view of Saturn that I was ever favoured with. The
outline of the planet was very hard and sharply defined
with power 450 • and the primary division of the ring very
black and steadily seen all round the southern side. When
this 'was most satisfactorily observed, a dark line was
pretty obvious on the outer ring. I *as notonly perfectly
satisfied of its existence, but had time during the bestviews
carefully to estimate its breadth, in comparison with that
of the division ordinarily seen. The proportion appeared
to be as 1 to 3 ; but Mr. Lassell estimated it at scarcely
one-third. it is certainly rather outside the middle of
the outer ring, and is broadest at the major axis, being in
this respect precisely similar to the primary division. It
was equally visible at both ends of the ring."—Captain
Smyth's Cycle.
Bringing the narrative down to the present time, we
find the proceedings of the astronomical society for
December last contain some interesting observations by
Mr. Dawes and Mr. Lassell, in confirmation of the opi-
nion that there is a bipartite' division of the outer ring.
Upon the 23rd of November, 1850, the rev. gentleman
obtained a view which warranted the following entry in
his journal:—" sometimes suspected that the %outer
ring had a short and narrow line upon it, near the extre-
mity. On scrutinizing the preceding arm, I occasionally
get the same impression. Query—ls the division in the
outer arm becoming visible again? Mem. Ast. Lassell
to look for it." Strange to say, the following morning's
post brought a letter from Mr. Lassell on this very point.
It is dated the 22nd,—" Last night, in about a single
hour of fine sky, I was favoured with a view of Saturn,
accompanied by his eight satellites, some of them in try-
ing positions...l had repeated impressions of a secondary
division, and, if it be real, it is one-third of the breadth of
the outer ring, from its outer edge. The suspicion was
the same from both anste—powers from 219 to 614 ; aper-
ture; 24 inches." Upon' the 25th and 29th, the Rev. Mr.
Dawes fully satisfied himself of , the appearance ; and on
the 2nd of December, Mr. Lassell arrived. It was upon
that' evening that he observed the peculiar appearance
between the broad bright inner ring and the planet, which
,Bond, of the United States, considers a ring ; but he
could not Satisfy hiniself of the secondary division referred
to. That it exists the mind is almost satisfied, but it is
evidently a " trying" object for the telescope. The fact
of its having been seen at Starfield on the 21st, and at
WateringbUry 9n the 23rd of the 'same month, by two
able observers, "'without previous communication on the
subject, and using instruments so different in character as
Mr. Lassell's twenty-foot reflector and Mr. Dawes's
refractor, unless there were some real grounds for it," is
too improbable aceincidence.

An American senator, who had married a lady of pro-
perty in the South, was asked quizzically how many
slaves his wife possessed. He replied, laying his hand on
his breast, " She has but one slave."

Ifitbentorol ;ffietballtra Column.

NEW INVENTIONS.—Two merchants of Liverpool,
where they are quite alive to the great business questions
of the day, have enrolled two separate patents in regard
to water., The one, of Mr. Laird's, is " for filtering and
purifying water ;" the other, of Mr. James-Forster's, is
for " improvements in filtering water and, other liquids."
We hope: that both of them will have the effect of pre-
venting the taking up of lead by water passing through
pipes or remaining in leaden cisterns. Anew candlestick
is also about to enlighten us, at the instance of the Rev.
W. H. Jones, of Queen's College, Oxford; and Chailey,
Sussex. If the rev. gentleman can but only cro as well
with his new invention as Mr. Palmer has done by the
reproduction of an old one, he will have little need to
envy the Archbishop of Canterbury his income for the
future.—Reporter. [We believe the latter gentleman is
one of the talented sons olthe Rev.. J. Jonas, Rural Dean
of Liverpool.—En. L. Sc]

STEREO-CHROMIC.—T6iS is a new mode of fresco
painting, about which Garman artists are now so san-
guine. It is the discovery of the distinguished chemist,
the Oberbergrath von Fuchs, and considered one of the
great discoveries of the age.. Its advantages over ordinary
fresco and encaustic painting are its greater durability,
and the power which it affords the painter of retouching
and glazing his picture. The colour is mixed with water,
and the whole is permanently fixed by occasional sprink-
lings of water, in which is mixed a certain proportion of
fluoric acid. A pupil of. Kaulbach is painting in this
style a picture for the Great Exhibition.—Athenaeum.
PATENT LAW REFORM.—A public meeting was held on
Monday last of the members and friends of the National
Patent Law Amendment Association, to receive the report
of the council. The report commenced by complaining
that, according to the present patent law, a sum of nearly
£4OO must be paid before an invention can have a patent
for the United Kingdom. The council proposed to reduce
the expense to £3O, in the form of a stamp' duty, as sug-
gested by the Government committee in 1849, and were
further of opinion that patent reform to be worth anything
should comprise :—L Protection for inventors ad interim
or provisionally, ohtainable at little or no cost. 2. Com-
plete protection, or letters patent, obtainable at moderate
cost, if any he thought expedient. 3. A simplified mode
of obtaining complete protection, or patent. 4. An offi-
cial classified index of patents and protections, for the easy
reference of inventors and the public. 5. The better judi-
cial protection of patent rights, by the introduction and
use of scientific and practical judgment, in a positive form,
and without extra expense to the litigants. This report
having been read, several questions were asked, so as to
ascertain whether the suggestions of the council embodied
the wishes and opinions of those " poor inventors" who
could not afford to pay £3O. The answers were in effect
that if the proposals of the council were carried out to the
fullest extent the cost alluded to might not be deemed ne-
cessary, but that the protection required (as suggested in
one of the propositions) be " obtainable at little or no
cost." After this the meeting separated, the members of
the association stating they were resolved to use every
effort to effect the objects set forth in the report of their
council.

CORRESPONDENCE

PAPAL

AGGRESSIONS

LETTER 11.-HOW THE DIFFICULTY SHOULD BE MET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SIR,—My former letter referred to a Papal aggression,
which is not less an insult towards Protestants for being a
very ancient and certainly an unintended one. It is, how-
ever, one that may readily be met, by a moral remedy
which is in every man's power—passive resistance ; a
steady and combined resolve of all not to use the word
" Catholic" in the sense of Romanist or Papist. We
have now to consider the recent aggression of the Pope;
and how the apostolical letter of Pius IX., conferring
titles and partitioning dioceses in a kingdom where " he
neither has nor ought to have" any power, is to be met
and prevented.
The writers on the side of the Pope are urgent in main-
taining that this interference with another's freehold is no
trespass. But such unwarranted intrusions were not ad-
mitted by the most vigorous of our sovereigns, even in
times when Popery might with more propriety be called
" Catholic" in this kingdom. Perhaps we might be sa-
tisfied to imitate the course adopted by Edward 1., when
Pope Boniface VIII. prohibited him from taxing the
clergy. " Orders were given to the judges, to receive no
cause brought before them by the clergy ; to hear and
decide all causes in which they were defendants ; to do
every man justice against them, and to do them justice
against none." He, in fact, outlawed all his clergy. I
could not, however, desire to see a Protestant Govern-
ment imitate the rigour with which our Papist monarchs
were wont to treat their spiritual lords' " aggressions."
The grievance we have to remedy is not entirely an ec-
clesiastical one. The assumption of foreign titles of
honour, without leave of the sovereign, is an offence
against " the sole fountain of honour," which should be
impartially met, as well in the walks of civil or military
life as in those of Romish churchmen. A Jew, like a.
" Catholic," may claim to belong to no state; and, ac-
cordingly, the one may assume to be a baron, or the other
a cardinal, upon the plea of some divided allegiance which
is shared with the Sovereign of this realm ; but neither
from the one nor the other can the plea be received.
If there is no law to prevent such an impropriety, a
new law must be introduced, stringent enough to reach
the fault, but impartial enough to punish all who commit
the offence. The French have a law, as may be known,
containing punishment unknown to the English law,
called Civil Death. The nature of it, I believe, to be that
a man is viewed as if he were a nonentity, or had ceased
to exist: He cannot resort to the law to vindicate his
rights. The law is not a very Christian one in all its de-
tails ; nevertheless, it may be remembered that this
punishment was inflicted on Prince Polignac, for a politi-
cal offence sufficiently heinous undoubtedly, but not more
universally reprobated by a great nation than that which
we are now considering. Let any person, as well eccle-
siastical as civil, who assumes a title of honour without
leave of the Crown or of the law of the land, be as if he
had never had existence. Let the name of such title or
distinction be null and void for any legacy or benefit;
and let it be permitted to any common informer to cite
any one, who by any overt act assumes such a distinction,
before a magistrate ; and let him be fined for the offence,
without appeal, in a sum of sufficient magnitude to make
it annoying, if frequently repeated. At the same time,
whilst the assumption of such title or distinction should
deprive a man of any benefit, it should never be admitted
for his advantage, either by way of misnomer or other-
wise.

Such civil disabilities as these, which would not have
the dignity of persecution, would involve the offender in
an amount of ridicule, almost worse than any other pu-
nishment; and this should be the object of the law, be-
cause in its application to many who might suffer by it, it
would be calculated to wound the man's personal vanity.
It would be a species of civil excommunication, more in-
tolerable than the original thunderbolt, which has now
lost its fire ; and as directed towards Rome, it would be
to " turn the tables" upon the Roman Pontiff.
It is of immense importance that we should mete out a
sufficient punishment against the insult which has been
given by this most despicable of earthly potentates. The
weakness of the insect does not lessen the sharpness of
the sting, nor the disposition to crush it. The eyes of
" all nations and languages" are upon Great Britain, to
watch the effect of a blow upon a people the most exalted
in intelligence and power. None have yet drawn from
Papal weakness the acknowledgment of an error. If we
have found an enemy " impalpable to touch," who has
neither fleets nor commerce that we can reach, we must
rack our ingenuity to devise, like Captain Warren, " a
long range," and from unseen sources derive fires that
will roll up the papal parchment to a cinder, render
it of none effect, and leave the Cardinal Archbishop with
his pallium, but without an English diocese. The Pope
might then invoke anew " the assistance of Mary the
Virgin, Mother of God, and the other heavenly patrons of
England," " especially St. Gregory the Great,' the ori-
ginal usurper of the rights and privileges of the English
Church—a holy company of whose efficiency as " inter-
cessors with God" the Christianity of Protestants is ig-
norant, and whose assistance is little dreaded or needed by
A CHURCH-OF-ENGLAND MAN.
OUR INCREASED EXPORTS NOT ATTRIBUTA-

BLE TO FREE TRADE IN CORN,

TO TIM EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

looiiing over the Liverpool Times of this
date, I find under the title of " Exports of Cotton Goods
to Foreign Countries," a reference to exports hence to
the United States. It appears to me that the writer is
more intent on making a victim of you, than he is of
making a fair and candid statement of facts, and thereby
allow his readers to draw a right conclusion. To shew the
great increase in our exports of cotton goods to the States,
he takes 1845 to compare with 1849 ; but he omits to
state that in 1846 the United States adopted a new tariff,
which came into operation in November of that year.
According to this tariff, cotton goods were reduced to a
duty of 25 per cent. No wonder, then, there was an in-
crease, especially as the former duty on coarse descrip-
tions amounted to a prohibition, and very heavy on all
other fabrics. This fact shews, at least, that the writer of
the article alluded to has no right to credit our free trade
in corn with the increase in our export to the United
States, or has he any right to taunt you for want of argu-
ment against free trade.—Yours respectfully, _ _ _

J. P. J.

Manchester, '6th February, 1851

tOtrirt 3eius.

On Monday, William Durham, aged 51, for a wager of
£2O a side, walked from Preston to Kendal and back, a
distance of 88 miles, in less than 23 hours.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has placed
the names of Henry Anthony Littledale, Esq., and Wm.
Tipping, Esq., in the Commission of the Peace for this
count. . . . . .

At bury, on Sunday last, a young lady officiated as clerk
at the parish church, in the absence of the paid official,
who was attending to his duties in the church yard, with
the second curate.

While a man named Wynne, who was much intoxi-
cated, was leaning against the screen before the fire at a
beerhause at Handbridge, Cheshire, on Monday night
week, he fell against the firegrate, and before the accident
was discovered he was so dreadfully burned that no hope.
are entertained of his recovery.

An aged woman, named Betty Harwood, who had been
in receipt of parish relief at Preston, and who was found
dead in bed on the 19th ult., possessed the following arti-
cles, which have been sold :—Fifty-two bonnets, fifty-two
dresses, and fifty-two pairs of shoes ; while in each pair of
shoes there was a pair of stockings, and in each pair of
stocking, a pair of garter'.

DAY NURSERIES IN MANCHESTER.—The Manchester
Courier says that, in September last, a numerous and in.
fluential , meeting was held in the Town-hall, " for the
purpose of considering the propriety of establishing an.
experimental Day Nursery for the infants of the labouring
classes in Manchester. At that meeting a committee was
formed to carry out the resolutions agreed upon for the
formation of a Day Nursery, whose labours have resulted
in the establishment of an institution in Ancoats-crescent,
Great Ancoats-street, which is likely to be of inestimable
advantage to the poorer inhabitants of the localicy. We
paid a visit to the institution a few days since, and were
highly gratified with the inspection. The nursery is
established for the purpose of receiving the children of
the married industrious factory operatives while their pa.
rents are at work in the mills. It is intended to be a self.
supporting institution, its expenses being defrayed by the
weekly subscriptions of the parents whose children are
placed under its care."

- TALKING Btuns.—Mr. Rothwell, hair dresser, South.
port, has had a letter from a clergyman in Hampshire,
enquiring about his starling, called "Jacob,"'and what it
could say besides " Poor Jacob, give us Rory." It could
say, " How do you do ?" and, when it saw a bason of
water on the floor, it would say, " Poor Jacob wants a
wash." INIr. Garside, of Cheetham-hill,_ Manchester,
taught a starling to go through a regular performance.
It would say, "Ladies and gentlemen, how do you do ?
Jack's a tory. Wellington for ever! 1, should like to
kiss Sally." It would also whistle, " A rose tree in full
bearing." In a recently published book on birds, men-
tion is made of a starling at Edinburgh that was worth
five guineas. It would hop upon the breakfast table and.
say, " Jack wants breakfast ; bread for Jack ; bread and
butter for Jack ; poor Jack ; bread and butter for break-
fast. The Family Herald alludes to one in Glasgow that
would say many more th'ngs than She one above-men-
tioned. A hook of natural history states that nightingales
repeat words in the dark, and that a red-breast in a cage
was taught to say, " How do you do ?" by lessons given
when feeding them.—Preston Chrtmicle.

JOHN BULL'S LOVE FOR FOREIGNERS.—As an in-
stance of the remark that the foreigner excels us in taste,
a year or two since, a youth, who had 'een serving his
apprenticeship near London, having friends in France,
proceeded thither in quest of employ. After residing
there some time, he returned to England : proceeding to
Manchester, he introduced himself, fully bearded and'
mustachioed, to one of the large printers, and offering
his services. They were accepted, and all went on well
until he unfortunately became known as one of our own
countrymen ; from which time he sank in estimation,
and subsequently his services were dispensed with.
Again, within these last few months, a person resident
in Manchester (not an artist) came up to London, bring-
ing a number of designs for sale, several of which were
purchased. On being asked how he managed to sell
them, he replied, " I state them to be French, knowing
they would not buy English drawings." Does not this
show the blind avidity with which John Bull gulls him-
self ; and how false must be the position of the artist who
has to resort to all this chicanery and falsehood to procure
a vent for his productions.—Correspondent of Manches-
ter Guardian,

FRIGHTFUL MURDER AT WARRINGTON.—The town
of Warrington has been thrown into a state of excitement
by the suspected murder of an Irishwoman named Mar-
garet Fahay, who was accustomed to hawk small wares in
the neighbourhood, and who lodged in the house of a
man named Patrick Lyons, in that borough. It appears
that the wife of Patrick Lyons and an old woman were
also hawkers, and that on Monday night last the old
woman heard a scream from the lower part of the house,
but was told in the morning by Lyons and his wife that it
proceeded from a drunken man. Her suspicions being
awakened by the absence of Margaret Fahay, who was
accustomed to sleep with her, she communicated them to
the police, and in consequence a search was made in the
house of Lyons, when the body of the Irishwoman was
discovered in a cupboard, lying in a pool of blood and
covered with a sack. Oa being examined by a surgeon,
it was found to be dreadfully mangled, as if by a butcher's
cleaver. A sack was partially thrown over the body, and
a piece of coal was so placed as to hide it, if the door were
opened. In reply to the charge of having committed the
murder jointly with her husband, Bridget Lyons said she
knew nothing of it ' • but she was given into the charge of
Police-constable Dagnall and taken to prison. Dr. Davis
examined the body, in, which life was of course quite
extinct, and several wounds, evidently from a blunt
instrument, were observed on the head and neck. On
continuing the search more minutely, a small axe or
cleaver was found in the ash-hole under the fire-place_
It was covered with ashes, but the marks of blood on the
blade were very distinct. The door key was also found
thrust under the bed. The unfortunate woman Fahay,
was a sort of pedlar, and was known to have a little
money, which is thought to have been the incentive to
the murder. On examining the body, however, a small
tin box containing 12s. 6d. was discovered suspended by
a piece of tape round her neck, having evidently escaped
the observation of the murderer. The man Lyons has
absconded.