The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-07 00:00:00

FATAL ACCII)ENT AT A
NDON POTHECARIES' HALL,
LO.

At the urgent request of the East India Company, the
establishment of Apothecaries Hall had undertaken, con-
trary to their usual practice, the preparation of fulminating
mercury for the percussion caps intended to be used in the
East Indies. With this view, both on Friday and Saturday
morning, Mr. Hennell, the company's chemical operator,
had been preparing about six pounds weight of fulminating
mercury, containing one-third of its weight in water, with a
view to ascertain its actual strength. At ten o'clock, attended
by only one of the labourers, Mr. Hennell was standing be-
fore a large block of wood about three feet high, whose cir-
cumference could not be less than six feet, upon which was
placed a white evaporating dish containing the mercury, the
locality between the distil-house and what is called the gas-
room, where formerly gas was manufactured for the use of
the ball, but which now is used for the purpose of contain-
ing various small bottles filled with essential oils. At this
moment the labourer in attendance left the operator, in order
to look after a furnace fire, where, in the early part of the
day 400 grains of mercury had been drying, and which, it is
supposed, had been taken out by Mr. Hennell, in order to
test the condition in which they were. Scarely, however,
had the labourer left the place before he heard three slight
explosions, between each of them there only elapsed a few
seeonds, but which was followed by a loud report, the origin
of which, to the present time, appears to be perfectly inex-
plicable, although it is very strongly supposed that the
slighter reports were occasioned by Mr. Hennell striking
a small portion of the preparation with his finger, and
the fatal explosion must have arisen from a particle of the
matter having fallen upon the larger mass. By this accident
we are sorry to say that the exploded preparation struck Mr.
Hennell immediately below the chest, and taking an upward
direction, carried away the right arm and the same side of the
face, together with the whole of the upper portion of the
head, as well as nearly the whole of the viscera, laying open
the entire chest, and exhibiting the action of the heart and
lungs. Some parts of the remains were scattered over the
tops of the buildings, and other portions were actually picked
up by the workmen upon the roofs of the adjoining houses.
The deceased's right arm was found on the roof of Apothe-
caries's Hall, a distance of full forty yards from the scene of
the fatal event, and had, in its progress, indented considera-
bly the leaden gutter pipe. One of his fingers was picked up
in Union-street, a distance of 100 yards, by a person passing
at the time, and must have been forced over the high building
of the hall. The labourers belonging to the hall collected the
scattered fragments, and deposited them in a spot set apart
for their reception. Deplorable, however, as the accident
has been, it is consolatory to know that no other person was
injured but one man, who was knocked down, but who es-
caped without injury. The glass contained in the whole of
the window frames (made of iron) were broken, by which, at
least, 1000 panes were demolished, exhibiting a picture of
destruction seldom witnessed. The block of wood upon which
the dish was placed was so much splintered as to appear as
though it bad been struck by a cannon-ball fired from an
eighteen-pounder. The large paving stone upon which the
block stood is likewise shattered into twenty pieces. About
a yard square, in the middle of a wall nearly two feet thick,
is thrown inwards four or five Inches by the force of the ex-
plosion.

EMIGRATION

(From the Scotsman:)

We lately gave an account of the emigration to Canada,
but a recent return puts us in possession of the amount of
emigration to all quarters of the globe. The following table
gives the number of persons who emigrated to all foreign
countries in 1841 :
To America : England. Scotland. Ireland. Total.
United States 39066 2058 3893 45017
Texas 46 46
Central America
North American Colonies:
Canada
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 618 1693 33 2344
Newfoundland
Prince Edward's Island 325 885 621 1831

West Indies :
Jamaica..
British Guiana B4 63 147
Trinidad
Other West India Islands 514 83 26 623
Falkland' Islands - 27 27
Western Africa
Cape of Good Hope ...
Mauritius 4O 40
Moulmein
Australian Colonies :
Sydney
Port Philip -
Van Diemanen's Land
South Austrrlia
Western Austra64 357 357
New Zealand ....ir*. 3BBB 13 3901

Total ........• 72104 14060 32428 118592
There is something curious in the preference which the
emigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland display for
different localities. The proportions emigrating to the
countries below are as follow :

To United States

To Sydney
To Canada

EMIGRANTS.
English. Scottish. Irish.
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent
51 .... l4l 12

17
2i`
84 25

To Port Philip
14
7
The 118,592 emigrants, probably, carried with them, or
expended on their passage, £2O each ; and thus the money
which left the country must have amounted to upwards of
£2,000,000. . . .

This gigantic emigration is one of the things which convey
as idea of the immense resources of Britain. The United
Kingdom contains only the ninth part of the population of
Europe ; and we believe it may be safely said, that all the
other eight parts do not send out half the number of emi-
grants annually which are sent out by the British isles
alone.

ADMIRALTY COURT-FRIDAY

THE VOLANT—COLLISION—JUDGMENT.
Dr. Lushington proceeded to give judgment in this case.
The question to be decided, he said, was of some difficulty
and of very considerable importance. It was an action for
damage brought by the owners of the Beatitude, for £2,300.
The vessel proceeded against was of the value of £675 only,
and when the case came before the court, it being assisted by
Trinity masters, it was held that the collision arose in con-
sequence of the misconduct of the captain of the Volant, who
with four other persons were the owners of the vessel. The
question now for the decision of the court was, if the court
could enforce payment beyond the value of the ship, if hav-
ing been asked to pronounce that the master was also liable.
There had been two cases cited ; one for and the other against
the liability of the master—the Triune, decided by Sir John
Nichol, and the Hope, decided by himself. He (Dr Lush-
ington) was not aware of the decision in the case of the
Triune, when he decided that of the Hope, and, therefore,
he should look at the point now before him as an open ques-
tion, not being bound by either. By the ancient maritime
law, the owners of vessels doing damage were bound to make
it good, if the amount claimed was not more than the ship
doing the damage was worth. That court had jurisdiction
in cases of damage over the whole seas, and the usual mode
was to arrest the vessel ; but its jurisdiction, where an ap-
pearance was not given, did not exist beyond the value of the
ship. The owners were called to enter an appearance to the
value of the ship in cases of damage, and no further. Bail
could not be demanded beyond the value of the ship, and
the warrant of arrest was confined to that ; nor could any
other claim be engrafted upon it. In the case of Wilson v.
Dickson, 2d Barnewell and Alderson, it was held by Baron
Bayley, under the sth Geo. 111., that the liabilities of owners
were limited. The question then arose if the co-owners
were liable, the master being part owner, and the loss having
occurred through his misconduct. The verdict was for the
defendant. The substance in effect of this decision was to
protect the master, though part owner. He (Dr. Lushing-
ton) was of opinion that the master in this case being a part
owner, and the damage having been the result of his miscon-
duct, the parties proceeding must sue him in the first in-
stance. The promoters of the suit must set out first with a
personal action, and most clearly that had not been done in
the present case. He must pronounce for the damage; but
the court could not enforce payment beyond the value of the
ship and freight, and condemn the owners who have ap-
peared in the costs.

So soon as the Seine shall have become shallow, from the
progress of the season, says the Moniteur Parisien, the bed
of it, betweeu the Pont d'Austerlitz and the Pont de Gre-
nelle, will be explored by means of a newly-invented diving.
bell, as it is supposed that valuable property was thrown in
there during the revolutions.
- -

-----
SCOTTISH CHURCHES IN ANCIENT TIMES.—It is a some-
what curious circumstance that Scotland, which appears in
ancient times to have been distinguished among the nations
for her magnificent temples, should have become remarkable
for the adoption of the most short-sighted notions with re-
gard to the use of churches. The sound opinions formerly
entertained in Scotland on this subject have been noticed by
the excellent Bishop Jeremy Taylor, whose soul loved every
thing that was beautiful and grand, and who speaks of our
country as being " famous in former times for so much piety
that the devotion of the natives under so cold a clime—whe-
ther you consider the rich endowments, or the magnificent
structures of places dedicated to God's service—can hardly
be matched."* Now-a-days a church appears to be consi-
dered by many people to be nothing else but a place for hear-
ing ministers speak in ; and consequently it is thought that
it should be a house just capable of holding as many people
as can hear the minister's discourse, and that it should have
no ornaments which a mob could destroy. It is also a down
laid principle that too little money cannot be spent upon the
temples of religion. Now surely a devout heart would
naturally conceive that there are many uses of a church be-
sides its adaptation to the hearing of sermons. Is it super-
stition to say that a church ought to be vast enough for that
as well as for other purposes—that it ought to be an earthly
symbol of the eternal temple not made with hands—a place
to which the thankful and prosperous might repair, and offer
up their praises to the throne of grace—the meditative to
heighten the rapture of their contemplations—and the broken-
hearted to pour out their souls before the God of all conso-
lation—and that ever which
the feelings can derive from
y
external objects, should be there ever present;—Bruce's
Eminent Men of Aberdeen.—Life of Bishop Gavin Dunbar.
* In his Address to the Reader, prefixed to Spotiswood's
" History of the Church of Scotland," folio,. London, 1668.

Varitament.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-THURSDAY

The LORD CHANCELLOR read her Majesty's most gra-
cious answer to their lordships' address on her recent escape,
which answer was ordered to be entered on the journals.
On the motion of the Earl of RIPON the Income 'Fax Bill
was read a first time, and ordered to he read a second time
on Friday next.

Lord KINNAIRD then brought his motion for a select
committee to inquire into the present state of distress pre-
vailing through the country. He adverted to the Queen's
letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, which he thought
most impolitic, because it was addressed exclusively to the
established church, instead of being addressed generally to
the clergy of all denominations, calling upon them to aid in
the work of charity. He supposed its being exclusively ad-
dressed to the right rev. prelate was with a view to show a
mark of distinction to the established church. The noble
lord then charged the government with applying public
money to suppress the exposure of the magnitude of the dis-
tress by doing something towards its alleviation. The peo-
ple being in a state of deep suffering asked their lordships
for bread, and they gave them a stone, as was evident from
the fact that since the passing of the late corn law the price
of corn had risen 35., with a likelihood of a still further in-
crease. The noble lord entered into various statistics re-
specting Manchester, Bolton, Dundee, Leeds, Paisley, and
other large manufacturing towns, showing that both crle
and distress were largely on the increase of late years,
although the poor's rates had also been largely increased du-
ring the same period. Such, in fact, was the state of the
manufacturing districts, that their lordships were treading on
a mine. After dwelling at much length on the intense suffer-
ings of the people, the noble lord besought them, on behalf
of that people, to grant the committee for which he prayed.
The Duke of WELLINGTON said the noble lord had at
great length laboured to prove that which every one admitted
—the great distress prevailing through the manufacturing
districts. With respect to the money advanced by govern-
ment to relieve distress, he admitted it was not exactly con-
sistent with the principles of our law to do so, but at the
same time it was by no means unprecedented. When the
means of a particular locality became wholly exhausted, the
Government had stepped in to afford assistance, and were
justified by the necessity of the case. With respect to ad-
dressing the Queen's letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury
exclusively, it was impossible that any other course could be
adopted to obtain the end in view. The whole aim and ob-
ject of the noble lord, in moving for his committee, appeared
to be ultimately to have the corn law, so recently passed, re-
pealed ; and certainly an inquiry going on iu this way from
day to day could scarcely fail to produce a great excitement
through the country. He hoped their lordships would nega-
tive the motion of the noble lord.
The Earl of RADNOR said the noble duke had attributed
motives to his noble friend (Lord Kinnaird) for which nothing

that had fallen from him had given the slightest foundation:
The fault he found with the Queen's letter was that it was
a most inadequate and ridiculous mode of endeavouring to
meet distress of such magnitude as that which now prevailed.
The noble earl then contended, that the new corn law, at
present prices, was quite as prohibitory to importation as the
old corn law ; and that the recent alteration had, therefore,
been productive of no benefit to the mass of the people who
were in such deep distress.
The Duke of RICHMOND was of opinion that they would
only aggravate the distress which now prevailed by assenting
to this committee. It would create alarm amongst the agri-
culturists, for the obvious inference would be that another
change of the corn-laws was in contemplation. He regretted
that his noble friend had permitted himself to be made a tool
of by the Anti-Corn-Law League.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE thought it was a fact cal-
culated to excite deep horror to know that, although the
population of the country had largely increased, the consump-
tion of food had considerably diminished. He hoped his
noble friend would not press his motion to a division, for the
committee must go into a variety of subjects, for the discus-
sion of which he did not think the house suffic;ently prepared.
Lord WESTERN thought some inquiry should take place
into the cause of the distress.

Lord IVIoNTnAGLE thought it was an unfortunate circum-
stance that this inquiry should have been introduced so late
in the session, and still more unfortunate that it should be
refused by the government.
After some explanations from the Duke of WELLINGTON,
the Earl of RADNOR, and Lord FITZGERALD,
Lord KINNAIRD withdrew his motion, after which their
lordships adjourned.

--....--.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY

Lord BEAUMONT presented a petition from the East India
Committee of the Colonial Society, praying for the produc-
tion of papers connected with the affairs of Affghanistan, in
order to enable them to judge of the necessity for the recent
proceedings in India. The noble lord entered into a long
narrative of the transactions which led to the occupation of
Affghanistan, and intimated that if any public inconvenience
wab likely to follow the production of the papers, he would
not for a moment press for them.

Lord FITZGERAID declined to follow the noble lord in the
history which he had given of these transactions, be-
cause it would not only be unfair to the late government, who
were responsible for these transactions, but because, in the
present imperfect state of our information, and in the doubt-
ful position of our army beyond the Indus, such a discussion
would be both premature and ill-timed.
The petition was then ordered to lie on the table, and some
bills being forwarded a stage their lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY.
Sir J. GRAHAM, in reply to a question from Mr. Cobden,
admitted that great distress prevailed throughout the country,
but he was gratified to find that it had been greatly alleviated
by the contributions of the charitable.
Mr. FERRAND complained of a placard which he said was
issued in Manchester by the Anti-corn-law League, headed
i❑ large characters with the word " murder !" and asked if
the government had taken auy steps in consequence of its
publication ?

Sir J. GRAHAM said he had seen the placard, which was
very inflammatory in its language; but the conduct of the
labouring classes was so exemplary in the midst of their dis-
tress, that he thought the government was justified in taking
no notice of the placard.
Mr. HUME required the ithority upon which the hon.
member had attributed the placard to the Anti-corn-law
League ; but -

Mr. PERRAND declined to give the name of the party, who
was, he said, a gentleman of great respectability.
The house then resolved itself into a committee of ways
and means.

The CH ANCELIAR of the EXCHEQUER, in moving the
continuance of the present sugar duties for another year,
said, he should have been gratified to have beerdn a position
to propose a reduction of those duties, but it was impossible,
under the circumstances, for the government to risk any
further loss to the revenue at the present moment. It was
also necessary that they should have further time to ascertain
whether foreign sugar-growing countries could furnish such
a supply as to make up for any loss that might accrue from
a reduction of the duties. It was likewise necessary to pave
the way by commercial treaties for the suppression of the
slave trade, which might be encouraged if the British markets
were thrown open to the slave-grown sugar upon the pay-
ment of such duties as would enable slave states to enter into
successful competion with the free-grown sugar of the British
colonies.

Mr. ROEBUCK then moved thaa the duty on foreign sugar
should be reduced to the same level as that imposed on our
colonial produce. The hon. gentleman entered into some
calculations to show that the people of this country paid no
less than four millions annually, in the shape of duties on
sugar, more than they would have had to pay had our mar-
kets been thrown open to foreign sugars ; and it was to be
remembered that this amount of duty was levied upon an
article which had become one of the necessaries of life. The
hon. member treated the attempt to put down the slave trade
in this way as Quixotic, and quoted the authority of Sir F.
Buxton to show that it had increased with an aggravation of
its worst characteristics. The country should be made
aware, that it was only for the purpose of maintaining the
interests of the West Indian proprietors that they werecalled
upon to pay this enormous amount of duty.
Mr. GODSON said that such a reduction as that proposed
by Mr. ROEBUCK would be injurious to the free black popu-
lation of our colonies.

Mr. GLADSTONE said that most important interests had
grown up under those protective duties, and those interests
should not be wantonly injured by such sudden alterations
as that proposed.
Mr. COBDEN thought that the existing system of slavery
was as much encouraged at present as it would be if the du-
ties were equalized. The only difference was that at present
our commerce with that country was carried on by a more
circuitous route, and at a far greater expense than it would
be if the proposed alteration were acquiesced in. We could
not import sugar for sale in our markets, but we might bring
it home, refine it in bond, and afterwards sell it to other
countries who had not the same objection to its admission as
we had.

On a division, the motion of Mr. Roebuck was negative(
by a majority of 59 to 18. _ _ _ _ _

Mr. LABOUCHERE then moved that the duty on foreign
sugar be reduced to 30s. per cwt., and on colonial sugar 20s.
per cwt. He was unable, he said, to support the motion of
Mr. Roebuck, for he could not consent, at a single blow, to
annihilate interests which had grown up under a system of
protection. He was opposed to monopolies of all kinds, and
would reduce all protective duties if he could do so without
material damage to the interests necessarily affected by the
change. He was surprised, after the principles which Sir
R. Peel had taken for his guide in arranging the new tariff,
that he should have left the important article of sugar un-
touched. The right hon. gentleman entered into a great va-
riety of statistical calculations to show that the duties he
proposed would not prove injurious to our colonies—would
not act as an encouragement to slavery, while they would be
a great boon to the labouring classes in this country.
Mr. GLADSTONE adduced a variety of calculations to show
that, in a financial point of view, the proposed reduction
would be productive of very great loss to the revenue, and
contended that for a very doubtful advantage they should not
interfere with the present satisfactory progress of slave eman-
cipation, by throwing open to slave produce the markets of
Great Britain. He hoped that the present Parliament, by a
majority greater than even that of the last Parliament, would
reject the policy which the right hon. gentleman then, as
now, had so strongly advocated.
Mr. lIUME said, as soon as prohibitive duties were placed
upon slave-grown tobacco and cotton, he should give some
credit for sincerity to the arguments used respecting encou-
ragement of slavery, but not until then. We were doing an
injustice to the British labourer in imposing upon him a
heavy duty for the benefit of the blacks in those West Indies
any one of whom could earn in seven hours in the islands,
as much as three Englishmen could in sixteen hours in this
country.
Mr. P. M. STEWART said that no man who was alive to
our colonial interests could have voted for Mr. Roebuck's
motion ; nor could he support a reduction so extensive as
that proposed by Mr. Lahouchere. He was, however. op-
posed to all monopolies, and he thought that those West
Indian proprietors who could not foresee that an early change
of those duties was inevitable must be more than usually
short-sighted. There were, however, strong reasons for the
temporary retention of the existing duties. It would, in fact,
be unfair to call upon them to compete with other countries
while their commerce was so restricted—that would be in
fact to call upon them to enter the arena of competition with
one hand tied.

Lord J. RUSSELL said, it was admitted on all hands that
it was a great object to have articles of consumption as cheap
as possible; but when an attempt was made to cheapen any
great article of consumption it was found impossible to do so,
owing to the interests which interfered to prevent their doing
so. Such was the case with bread, sugar, butter, cheese, and
cattle. The latter indeed had been assented to, but not until
the house was assured that the people could profit but very
little by the change. The noble lord then commented on the
inconsistency of the government, in arguing that to reduce
the duty on sugar would be to encourage slavery, while they
reduced the duty on slave-grown coffee to 8d from is 3d ;
and the duty on copper, also, although it was notorious that
the copper mines in the Brazils were all worked by slaves.
It would be a great disappointment to the people, after hav-
ing an income-tax imposed upon them, to find out at last
that the promises of relief held out to them terminated in
nothing substantial, for where the reductions were material
they were sure to be upon articles which entered but little
into the consumption of the poorer classes of the people.
Mr. ROEBUCK said that Mr. P. M. Stewart wanted a resto-
ration of slavery, for otherwise he could not tell what he
meant by calling upon the house to untie their hands, and
they would then compete with the world. Sir R. Peel, it
was clear, had many difficulties to contend with in bringing
forward the tariff, for as the right hen. baronet had well re.

marked on a former night, "every man had his herring,"
and colonial produce was now the herring of Mr. Stewart, as
corn was of the late government. The hon. gentleman then
contrasted his own proposition with that of Mr. Labouchere
in order to show the superiority of his own, and condemned
the whole colonial system which caused them to tax the peo-
ple for the benefit of a very few parties interested in the co-
lonies. He had no hesitation in saying, that if it was for the
benefit of the people of England, he would sacrifice the West
India interests, and he challenged any hon. member to show
any benefit that had ever accrued to this country from the
possession of those barren islands. What benefit had the
poor weavers of Yorkshire or Lancashire from our possession
of these colonies to compensate them for the high price they
paid for their sugar ?
Mr. P. M. STEWART said, in explanation, that what he
had said was that he was opposed to all monopolies except
those for maintaining which there were special reasons. So
far from saying that he wished to see slavery revived, he had
argued directly the other way.
• Mr. BERNAL said he had no arguments to advance which
he could hope would alter the destructive opinions of his hon.
friend (Mr. Roebuck), but he should remember that all
great empires, as a whole, depended for their existence upon
preserving the integrity of their various parts. The hon.
gentleman then contended that the West Indian proprietors
were not placed on the same footing as the agricultural pro-
prietors in this country.
Sir R. PEEL said, that in order to pour oil upon the dis-
sensions in the opposition, he would recommend the house
to vote for the pnuposition of the government. If the colo-
nies were to be abandoned, as recommended by Mr. Roe-
buck, this country would give a fatal blow to its honour, its
greatness, and even to its safety as an empire. It would be
madness for a governnient to adopt any measure whatever,
with a view to obtaining the support of the West India in-
terests ; for, as respected political influence, they were the
wealthiest party in the number of their votes in that house.
The noble lord had said that he (Sir R. Peel) had stated that
the reduction of the duty on meat would confer but little
benefit on the people ; but the noble lord had himself been
ten years in office, and had never proposed any alteration in
the duties on foreign provisions. It might be that the sav-
ing in meat, in consequence of these alterations of duty,
might be very small ; but it was not the less important on
that account, for it was to an accumulation of small savings,
as the result of the tariff, that he looked for material benefit
to the people. With respect to sugar, this country was in a
peculiar position. France had refused to ratify a treaty for
the suppression of slavery, and had thrown imputations upon
the disinterestedness .of Great Britain. Under such circum-
stances, it behoved them to be cautious, in any step they
took, not to give room to the world to infer that there could
be the slightest foundation for those imputations,

Lord J. RUSSELL said he had no reason to be ashamed of
the ten years during which he was in office; for during those
ten years the government to which he belonged had brought
forward many of the most important measures that had ever
been submitted to parliament. If they had brought forward
the tariff of the right hon. baronet while they were in power,
they would have been defeated, whereas now, as an opposi-
tion, they had the satisfaction of enabling the right hon. ba-
ronet to carry it, notwithstanding the desertion of a great
portion of his usual supporters,
On a division, the motion of Mr. Labouchere was defeated
by 245 to 164.
The original resolution was then agreed to, and the house
resumed.

The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
house adjourned.