The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-22 00:00:00

TAE LIVERPOOL STAADARD.

THE CAUSE OF IRELAND'S SUFFERING.

(From a Sermon by the Rev. H. Melville.)
I dwell not upon this—l go on, and I would tell you
yet further, that pestilence, the twin sister of famine, has
laid her hand on the unhappy districts; fever, and that
too of the most malignant character, boils in the veins of
the starving peasantry—and thus it is daily becoming the
lot of multitudes, in a land most romantic in its loveli-
ness, and most luxuriant in its natural resources, to lie
down hopelessly, the victims of raging hunger and raging
disease, and there is none to minister to the sufferers; for
where famine and pestilence are holding carnival, who
shall give to another what he is demanding for himself ?
Alas ! alas ! the frown of the Almighty seems to -rest
upon Ireland. Nature has done much for her—there is
fertility in her soil, and majesty in her scenery—the navies
of empire may ride in her harbours—the commerce of
the world might float on her rivers and her lakes—yet
despite those advantages which appear to mark her out as
worthy to share with England the diadem of the waters,
Ireland is still but a degraded and half-civilized territory,
and there is no bringing out a developement of her in-
ternal resources, and violence is the atmosphere in which
her children live, and human life too often nothing but
their plaything.
God forbid I should hesitate to state that I believe
the prevalence of the Roman Catholic religion lies at the
root of all this wretchedness. There is nothing of bigotry
in affirming that it is the very genius of this 'religion to
keep a rude population still rude, just because it keeps
them still ignorant—and whilst the Irish population con-
tinues unhumanised, and unhumanised it must continue
until a moral influence has been introduced among its
tribes, the landlord will have his excuse for absenteeism,
that curse and drain of the land ; and the capitalist will
will have his excuse for not embarking his property in
schemes for the improvement of the country ; and thus
the springs of national prosperity will remain choked and
dried up ; and all for want of that moral influence amongst
the people, which can only be produced by diffusing the
knowledge of the true religion of Jesus. It is because
Ireland is morally benighted. that she is physically de-
graded ; and the energies which must be turned to her to
raise her to her due rank in the scale of nations are re-
ligious rather than political; she can be thoroughly civi-
lised only by being thoroughly Christianized.

,
These remarks are in no sense irrelevant to the cause
which has gathered us together. The physical distress of
the Irish I believe to be closely connected with their
moral destitution; and if you would, God helping, pre-
vent the recurrence of the one, you must labour assidu-
ously at the removal of the other. The legislation which
is required for Ireland is heart-legislation. And oh, if
her people could be rescued from the thraldrom of spiritual
despotism, and if they could be brought to take freely
into their hands the words of the everlasting Gospel,
Ireland might, in deed and in truth, rise up as the green
isle of the ocean, and plenty mantle her valleys, and the
music of peace be heard in her mountains—the withering
frown of the Almighty would rest no longer upon her
an.l beneath the clear sunshine of his countenance she
would become the home of civil order, and the seat of
piety and happiness.

The Earl of Dundonald preferred a claim for the arrears
of pay of which his lordship was unjustly deprived during
seventeen years, which the Lords of her Majesty's Trea-
sl'ry have refused' to listen to.
TN superb service of ornamental plate which has been
presented to the Earl of Ellenborough by his friends in
India is now finished. It consists of a grand centre-piece.
two candelabra, four ice-pails, four dessert stands, and
two ornaments for the end of the table.
On Thursday, the Rev. Mr. Wrottesley, rector of
Knoyle, near Salisbury, committed suicide by tying his
handkerchief tight round his neck, as it was so found.
The deceased was an aged gentleman, and very much
reected.
PARISH EMIGRATION,—The owners of property and
ratepayers of the township of Bradford, Yorkshire, have
agreed to appropriate the sum of £2OOO from the poor-
rate towards a fund for defraying the emigration of poor
persons having settlements in the township.
CUSTOMS.—The number of porters and persons hold-
ing subordinate situations in the department of the Cus-
toms in the receipt of not more than 3s. a day is 3108, of
which 1890 are employed in England, 415 in Scotland,
and 803 in Ireland.
DIMINUTION OF THE ROMISH CLERGY.—In 1757 there
were in France alone, in priests and friars, more than
300,000. In 1829, there only 108,000. The papal clergy
of Europe have been greatly reduced by a variety of
causes. The total diminution of Romish ecclesiastics in
Europe amounts to 855,000.
A Kendal paper mentions, that on the 31st ult. one of
the Low Wood powder mills exploded, but happily no
person was injured, and the damage was confined to the
destruction of the mill and of the powder which was
grinding at the time of the accident, for which no cause
can be assigned.
A husband has been committed to gaol for the murder
of his wife at Lictleport. The name of the accused is
John Crabb, who was for many years steward on the Bar-
ton farm, Ely, to the late J. Page, Esq., and for the last
few years has been keeping a small shop, and farming a
little land at Littleport. The prisoner is about 60 years
old, and his deceased wife was about the same age.
A few days since, some hot water was applied to dissolve
the ice in a pump on the premises of a farmer at Haugh,
in Lincolnshire ; 'nut a vessel which had previously con-
tained arsenic was incautiously used ; and when the water
from the pump was given to thirty bullocks on the farm,
the poison was so virulent that twenty of them died on
the following day, and seven others shortly afterwards.
About twenty little carvings in ivory, which were dis-
covered lying on some of the bassi-rilievi brought to this
country from Nineveh by Mr. Layard, have been added
to the national treasures in the British Museum. They
are well carved in low relief, on a small scale, about four
inches by two and a half ; and the greater portion of them
resemble strictly Egyptian types rather than Assyrian.
On Monday night, while some men were emptying a
puncheon of whisky that stood before a shop at Glasgow,
a boy observed that some of the spirit was flowing from
the bunghole, and applied a lighted paper to it. The
whisky instantly caught fire, and the cask exploded with
a loud report ; but happily no one was hurt, though seve-
ral panes of glass were broken in the neighbouring houses.
The Rev. J. Lee, Vicar of Thaxted, who is 71 years
old, has been committed to gaol in default of sureties to
keep the peace towards Marian, the wife of the Rev. T.
Harvey, curate of the same place. He had assaulted, or
rather threatened to assault the lady, who with consent of
the Bishop resides with her husband in the vicarage-
house, and was fined £5 for so doing, which he paid.
The Bishop of Oxford has commenced a subscription
and formed a committee for establishing an agricultural
school in his diocese. At a meeting at Cuddesdon Palace
last week, when Lord Barrington, M.P. J. W. Henley,
J. H. Langstone, C. G. Dupre, and J. Walter (M.P.'s),
and others were present.. Preliminaries were agreed upon,
and £llOO subscribed on the spot.
A poor old Irish woman named Ellen Gray, nearly 80
years old, died last week at a filthy lodging-house in
Gloucester. The immediate cause of her demise was a
bad leg, but her end was hastened by the want of proper
nourishment and attention. The jury expressed an opinion
that there ought to be more comfortable accommodation
for casual poor.
At a meeting of the Geological and Polytechnic Society
of the West Riding of Yorkshire, at Huddersfield, the
Rev. W. Thorp produced a new lamp, which will effec-
tually remedy all the defects in the lamp of Sir H. Davy ;
affording five times more light, and being, it is said, per-
fectly safe in every condition of the coal mine. The lamp
received the unqualified approbation of a great number of
persons, nine of whom were coal owners, or viewers of
collieries, and more conversant with fire-damp than, per-
haps, any other persons in Yorkshire.
Jullien, the grand quadrille maestro, is stated to be in
pecuniary difficulties, and a meeting of his creditors was
lately held, when his liabilities were estimated at £16,000,
to pay which, his creditors granted him twelve years.
His embarrassments are attributed to his having taken
Drury-lane Theatre, for the purpose of producing operas
on a scale far exceeding anything which had been before
attempted in Englawl. Besides this, he laid out an incre-
dible sum of money in rendering his music shop in Regent-
street a most superb saloon, paid high for copyrights of
many things that never sold, &c., &c.
DEATH FROM POISON.—An inquest has been held on
Mrs. Jones, of Tycalch, Llangristiolus, who committed
the fatal mistake of introducing arsenic, in lieu of carbon-
ate of soda, into some light cakes. The: unfortunate de-
ceased, together with her two daughters and a son, and
two step-daughters, partook more or less of the cakes,
and all of them were taken ill shortly after. Mrs. Jones
died next day, and the other members of the family con-
tinued in a precarious state for several days, requiring the
utmost medical care and attention. Verdict—" Accidental
poisoning."
NORTH OF ENGLAND JOINT STOCK BANK.—A gene-
ral meeting was held at Newcastle on Tuesday, Mr. John
Henderson in the chair. A report was read, shewing that
the liabilities were reduced to £444,232 7s. 3(1., being a
reduction of £134.367 3s. 3d. since the 30th of September
last, and of £1,420,623 19s. 11d, since the stoppage of the
bank ; also, that £89,301 3s. sd. had been received for
calls, and that the deficiency now to be met by the share-
holders amounts to £87,373 ls. 6d. A subscription was
determined on for raising £lOO,OOO by loan from the
shareholders, and it was promptly responded to.
An establishment, termed a "Training Institution for
Nurses," is about to be founded in London; under the
auspices of the Archbishop of York, several bishops and
many of the most eminent physicians of London. This
institution will be based on the doctrine and discipline of
the Church of England, and will be placed under the im-
mediate superintendence of a clergyman. The inmates
are to consist of three classes :—Those who are under
training as probationers ; those who, after passing through
the period of probation satisfactorily, are admitted as
nurses for a period of five years ; and a class of " sisters,"
who will devote their attention to the sick and poor.
A RICH PAUPER.—A remarkable instance of pro-
pensity for hoarding has lately come to light in the case
of a woman who died last week in Macduff. The indi-
vidual in question had been for years a pauper on the roll
of the parish of King Edward, and her outward appear-
ance at all times bespoke the deepest poverty. After
her death, the person who had waited upon her in her
illness found, rolled up in separate pieces of paper in a
cupboard, 23 one-pound notes, six sovereigns, £7 in
silver, mostly in half-crowns, besides a bank check for
£5O ; the entire amounting to £B6. The money has been
paid over to the inspector of poor of King Edward, that
parish being entitled to it, to indemnify themselves for the
sums they had paid to the deceased.—Banffshire Journal.
CONFLICT AT SNIG'S-END.--An unpleasant reconoure,
which threatened the most serious consequences, occurred
lately at the " People's Estate," at Snig's-end, between
Mr. Dewhurst and Mr. Fergus O'Connor. Mr. D., it
seems, who was formerly a schoolmaster at Leicester, had
so much confidence in Mr. O'Connor's allotment-system.
that he gave up his academy, and placed £4OO in his hand
for the purchase of the old farm-house, which he (Mr.
Dewhurst) now holds, together with a quantity of cider,
&c. Thinking that Mr. O'Connor meant to do " him
out of the purchase, Mr. D. one day entered the room
where he was sitting with a hatchet, and under violent
excitement was about to commit a murderous assault,
when Mr. O'Conner knocked him down, and the in-
truder was borne off amidst the reprobation of the other
inmates, without having inflicted any injury.
Mr. Andrew Doyle, late editor of the Morning Chron-
icle, has been appointed one of the Inspectors under the
chief commissioner of poor-laws, and part of the extensive
district now under the superintendence of Mr. Austin,
who resides in Manchester, has been assigned to him.
Mr. Doyle is the son-in-law of Sir John Easthope, Bart.,
who retired on Saturday from the proprietorship of
the Morning Chronicle. Who the new proprietors of
that rout-URI are is not known ; but it is certain tlitly are
eminent in political and mercantile stations. Mr. Doyle
has been succeeded in the editorship by Mr. Cooke, a dis-
tinguished writer, recently connected with the Times,
whose brilliant productions have obtained for him the
highest honours of the metropolitan press. He was for-
merly a parliamentary reporter. With Mr. Cooke is as-
sociated the elder Mr. Delane, who retired from the Times
along with the late Mr. Alsager, and a staff of cOadjutors
of tried ability.
A daring outrage was committed on Sunday at the
house of the Rev. Mr. Strickland, Great George-street,
Bristol. Between seven and eight in the evening, two
men called at Mr. Strickland's house, and asked if he was
at home. The servant requested them to walk in, and
wait till Mr. Strickland (who was officiating at Christ
Church), should return. The men went into the kitchen,
and as the servant was putting chairs for them, one of
them struck her a violent blow upon the head with a
mallet, which he had hitherto concealed. The blow felled
her to the ground, rendering her insensible. The other
female servant, walking down stairs at the time, saw the
blow struck, and immediately ran up stairs and into the
street, and cried " murder." The villains quickly fol-
lowed her, and escaped, leaving the mallet, a formidable
weapon, behind them. Their object was evidently to rob
the house. The poor servant has suffered concussion of
the brain, and lies in a very dangerous state.
" THERE'S MANY A SLIP," &c.—The daughter of a
son of St. Crispin (i. e., we presume, a grand-daughter of
the saint), residing in the vicinity of King-street, was
very nearly converted into a Countess, yesterday morn-
ing, by a certain young and noble earl, formerly a mem-
ber of Trinity College, in this University. The tale is,
that matters had proceeded so far that the expectant
bridegroom had an interview with the Clerk of Trinity
parish on Thursday afternoon, and all needful prelimi-
nary arrangements were made for the celebration of the
ceremony yesterday morning. We are not in the secret
as to the bride's dress, the magnificence of her trousseau,
the beauty of her bridesmaids, or any of those other little
matters which are usually chronicled in the marriages of
the great : nor are these things now of much consequence,
for, alas for human hope ! not long before midnight on
Thursday, the servant of the noble earl presented himself
before the elated functionary of Trinity parish, and coun-
termanded everything : there was to be no wedding after
all. It is supposed that the friends,-of the noble earl suc-
ceeded in dissuading him from fanning so degrading an
alliance.---Cambridge Chronicle of Saturday.

LIEUT. Bowan .—We have been assured that there are
many parties in Liverpool and the neighbourhood who
distinctly recollect seeing Lieut. Bowen (who is charged
with forgery,) on the 2d instant, the day on which he Is
stated to have been at Doctors' Commons in the disguise
of a sailor.

A correspondent of the Morning Post says that as soon
as the news of the Archbishop of Canterbury's death ar-
rived at Hereford, " sweeps " were established at several
of the inns. in the same manner as for races, but with the
difference that the names of all the bishops were substi-
tuted for those of the horses ; and the proceeds will of
course be paid to the ticket-holder who may have drawn
the name of the bishop who is promoted to the vacant
primacy.
MR. MACREADY.—HIS CONTEMPLATED RETIREMENT
FROM THE STAGE.—On Friday night Mr. Macready took
his benefit at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. Long be-
fore the regular time of opening, the doors were besieged—
as early as six o'clock hundreds being about the doors.
When they were opened the rush to the pit and gallery
was fearful, and in a short time the house was crowded in
every part. The receipts were £145. and it is calculated
that above three hundred individuals could not gain ad-
mission. The pieces Mr. Macready appeared in were a
scene in Shakspeare's play of Henry IV., and the comedy
of the Jealous Wife. At the conclusion of the comedy
Mr. Macready was called in front of the curtain, and on
making his appearance was hailed with loud cheers, which
were again and again repeated. Mr. Macready thanked
the audience very sincerely for their kind expression of
regard to him. The next visit he should pay them world,
in all probability, be his last he would then have to say
the word " Farewell," a word always painful to utter, but
to him on that occasion doubly so. He proposed retiring-
from the stage at an early day, not because he felt age
creeping upon him, or his faculties or energies impaired,
but because of the present deplorable condition of the
National Drama.

How THE Pool:. LIVE.—The following report from a
visitor of some of the districts of St. Giles's, London,
gives a sad picture of the crowded condition of some of
the houses there. It is said to be by no means the worst
case that might be selected. The house to which the re-
port refers is situated at No. 4, Church-lane. On the
ground floor there are two rooms, one 14 feet long by 13
feet wide, and 6 feet high ; the other 11 feet 2 inches long,
9 feet 4 inches wide, less than 6 feet high. Number of
families in these two rooms fine, comprising 4 males above
20, 9 females above 20, three of them single, 2 males
under 20, 4 females under 20, total nineteen ! Number of
beds, six. On the first floor, one room, 17 feet long, 13
feet wide, 8 feet high. Number of families, Jour. Five
males above 20; five females above 20 ; 4 males under 20 ;
2 females under 20: total, sixteen. Number of beds, one.
Two of the single women were 25, and one of the boys was
18. Sixteen persons, with only one bedstead ! On the
second floor, one room, 17 feet long, 13 feet wide, 8 feet
high. Number of families, five. Five males above 20,
6 females above 20; 9 males under 20, 3 females under
20; total, twenty-three. Beds of shavings and rags, no
bedsteads. A back room on the stairs, 12 feet long, 12
feet wide, 5 feet 6 inches high. One family of three per-
sons. Thus in this miserable house of five rooms, sixty-
one persons slept every night.
HORRIBLE OCCURRENCE.—Abont half-past 12 o'clock
on the night of Thursday, a house occupied by Mr. Med-
way, a small grocer, of Wellington, in Somersetshire, was
discovered to be in flames, and there being at the time no
less than seven persons asleep therein, it was soon evident
that life as well as property was in jeopardy. Mr. Medway
was away from home at the time, but Mrs. Medway, her
brother, and her child, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards and their
little girl, and a person named Pearce, were sleeping in
various rooms. An alarm was raised, and the engines
brought as speedily as possible to the spot ; but owing to
the rapid spread of the flames, Mr. Edwards, his wife,
and his child were unable to effect their escape, and, mel-
ancholy to relate, the whole family perished in the flames.
Fortunately for the safety of the adjoining houses, there
was no breeze at the time. The town engines were early
on the spot, and rendered very considerable service. The
house burnt down and the adjoining one belonged to a
person named John Holley, a retired builder, and both
were insured in the Sun, fire-office, the one burnt in £l5O,
and the other, which is considerably damaged, in £lOO.
The goods of Medway, who carried on the grocery business
in s small way, were insured in the Union Fire-office, in
£100; and the goods of the poor man, Edwards, who lost
his life, were insured in the County Fit e-office in £5O.
The origin of the fire is certainly enveloped in a great
deal of mystery, and every exertion will be made to sift it
to the bottom.
THE SERPENT AND THE FARMER.—The inhabitants of
a place called Greens, situated about half a mile from
Bacup, have recently got plenty to laugh at in thd adven-
ture which a worthy old farmer had with a terrible looking
animal, in his barn, the otht r morning. At an early hour,
while it was still dusk, he had gone to look after his pits,
and when just entering the barn, he thought he saw a
monster serpent lying on the ground, one of its extre-
mities being coiled. Recovering from the terror which
the sight had induced, and feeling himself still free from
the embraces of the hideous reptile, he took to his heels,
and told his neighbours such a tale as induced a general
desire for a fierce assault upon the unwelcome intruder.
Several persons instantly armed themselves with various
weapons, such as spades, pieces of wood, and evideatly
resolved to rid the neighbourhood of the formidable viper,
and bring back his dead carcase as a trophy of their cou-
rage. The farmer himself led the way, armed with a hay-
fork, and boldly entering the barn, attacked the serpent,
and forking him through at the first blow, held him aloft.
In this position the farmer's valiant friends banged at the
serpent most powerfully till they were satisfied that the
life was out of him. They then carried his carcase to a
house not far distant, where more knowing sort of folks
resided, who, as may be imagined, enjoyed no little amuse-
ment and laughter at the rediculous mistake of the clowns,
the said serpent being nothing else than—a lady's boa.
CHLOROFORM.—No slight amount of discredit has been
ca,t upon chloroform by the recent case of death at New-
castle, in which the coroner's jury found a verdict of
" Death from congestion of the lungs from chloroform
inhalation." Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, seems,
however, to have removed the imputation. In a lecture
delivered last Monday, in the Edinburgh University, he
clearly showed that the patient had been destroyed by ar
tificial choking, or asphyxia, and not by the chloroform ;
that in fact, her mouth had been filled with brandy and
water for the purpose of reviving her, while she was yet in
a torpid and lethargic state, and consequently unable to
swallow; and that death was thus produced precisely as
by drowning. He concluded by stating that he had the
satisfaction of believing that, by saving much human suf-
fering and agony, chloroform had already saved much
human life. Such a case as the present was well calcu-
lated to teach a salutary degree of caution ; but it would
and could do no ultimate injury to the general adoption
and spread of a practice of tvsthenasia. With reference
to Dr. Simpson's Lecture, Dr. Meggison, of Edinburgh,
in a letter dated Whickham, February 14, states that it
might be expected that the professor should endeavour to
attribute the death of his (the writer's) unfortunate
patient to some other cause than the inhalation of chlo-
roform, and after complaining that Dr. Simpson did not
write to him before he assumed that so much brandy was
given—asserts, first, that the patient only took a tea-
spoonful of brandy which she swallowed, though with
some difficulty, yet without the slightest indication of
choking. Secondly, the brandy given could not have
produced the enormous congestion of the lungs as was
found. Some of the most eminent surgeons who had
seen the body had never seen such lungs as those of the
unfortunate girl, except in the cases of animals poisoned
by chloroform. He finally again denies that the patient
was choked with brandy.
PETITIONS IN FAVOUR OF THE JEW BILL.—We have
heard some curious stories both in and out of parliament
respecting the mode in which petitions are obtained in
favour of the Jew bill—signatures being contracted for, at
so much per score. And Lord John Russell can conde-
scend to present such petitions by the bushel, in support
of his election bargain with the Baron. On Thursday
night, the Earl of Ellenborough laid eleven of these pre-
cious bits of parchment on the table of the House of
Lords, from Baptists, Unitarians, Independents, and Pres-
byterians, with the following account of how they came
into his hand :—" The prayer of all these petitions (said
the noble earl) was precisely in the same form of words.
The petitions of all noticed that a bill had been intro-
duced into parliament for the removal of the Jewish dis-
abilities, and prayed that those disabilities might be
removed. He totally dissented from the prayer. These
petitions were brought to his house by a person who was
represented on the card which he left as coming from the
London Election Committee. He (Lord Ellenborough)
was not surprised at this, as he always considered the
Jewish Di .abilities Bill as a"-Whig "civic job. The abuse
of a valuable public right had occurred before; but he
knew of no aluse calculated to be so injurious as the
shameful abuse of the right of petitioning which hid
taken place on this and many other occasions." We
firmly believe the noble earl simply stated a fact when he
said the " Jewish Disabilities Bill was a Whig civic job."
The Baron would never have come forward if the minister
had held back. It was a compact—with conditions which
we prefer leaving to the reader's imagination.
INDIGESTION CURED, AND WEAK STOMACHS
STRENGTHENED, BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLS, which are
the finest stomachic and invigorating medicine ever
known. Even in very bad cases a few doses will wonder-
fully improve the tone and strength of the weakest sto-
mach, and induce healthy digestion ; and as they never
fail to promote an excellent appetite, those of weak and
delicate habits are enabled to take such substantial food
as is necessary to get up their strength. By means of
this astonishing medicine persons have obtained a state of
health and vigour they never anticipated. Theie Pills
may be taken at all times with the greatest freedom and
safety. They are purely a herbal preparation.—See advt.
CULTIVATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL.—It has been the
fashion with prudes and pedants, time immemorial, to run
down the advantages of external appearance—thus the
phrases " Outside show," and " Skin-deep beauty," had
obtained a sort of currency which gave them, and others
of similar import, an appearance of grave authority. The
present age is bold enough to quit this dictum, and even
to go as far as to extol the study of externals as a duty
to society, which should have presented to it agreeable
objects, and now contends that the cultivation of the
beautiful holds a place second in importance ,to the
promotion of the good. This is it which holds out en-
couragement to those who labour to put the public in
possession of means to this end. Oldridge's Balm of
Columbia, as the most effective preservative or renovator
of that most beautiful ornament the Human Hair, takes
first rank, and as long as its valuable properties continue
to be known and appreciated, must take the precedence
of every production intended for exterior improvement in
this direction. C. and A. OLDRIDGE'S BALM OF
COLUMBIA causes the Hair to curl beautifully, frees it
from scurf, and stops it from falling off, and a few bottles
generally restore it again ; it also prevents greyness.--
3s. 6d., 65., and lls. per bottle. No other prices are
genuine. Ask for OLDRIDGE'S BALM, 1, Welling_
ton-street, Strand, London. Sold by all resiseetable
Chemists, Perfumers, and Stationers. - -