The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-10-25 00:00:00

FRUIT GARDEN.

Pinery.—Those plants which were placed in their winter
quarters at the time of potting will probably require an addi-
tion of fresh tan between the pots, where they were only
partially plunged; and if the plants are far distant from the
glass, it will be well to raise them at the same time.
Vinery.—During the dull damp weather, a little fire should
be made every morning, so as to slightly warm the flues of
the houses containing ripe grapes, giving air at the same time ;
the fruit should be closely examined frequently, as one bad
berry will. in a short time, spoil the bunch.
Peach-house.—lf the lights are still off any of the early
houses, it will now be necessary to get them on ; indeed, it
is advisable to have the lights on all the houses before bad
weather sets in. All the air possible should be given.
Proceed with the planting of fruit trees; spread the roots
out carefully, and close the soil above them with the hand ;
nevr shake the tree up and down, as is sometimes done, as
it disarranges the roots very materially. Root-prune fruit
trees where they are growing very luxuriantly, or take them
entirely up and replant them. Gather any remaining fruits,
such as quinces, medlars, walnuts, &c.

Stove.-1 FLOWER-GARDEN.
in this t requires the utmost vigilance to keep the plants
departtnent free from insects ; every opportunity
should be takenadvantage of, when out-door work cannot
be got on with,
water, or a soli tl)7. clean the plants, either with a sponge and
Greenhouse anTI, that will not injure the leaves.
sometimes onservatory.—Plants, when fresh sur-
faced,
from nothing more droop without an apparent cause ; this arises
mootto7tnhthe roots being very dry—the fresh
soil absorbing
between the pot and the the moisture and the root escaping
surfacing the plants brought on by of the earth. This is usually
as the consequences ar when dry ;as soon, there-
fore, oeserved, the plant should be
examined, and sufficient
tborougblY. water given to wet the ball of earth
Pits and Frames.—Every plant that is liable to be injured
by wet or cold should be taken in: give air freely every mild
day.
aan
Proceed diligently with planting trees
all alterations in the pleasure ground nddsh rubs, and with
flower garden ;
protect those plants that will not
mown
nndat the severity
season,
of the
, as on
winter; keep the lawn neatly m
this depends, in a great measure, the neatness orn
it through
the summer. •••=1111............."""

ADVANTAGE OF BEFRIENDING A NEIGHBOUR.--in 1811
George Wilson, of Biddick, in this county, emigrated to
North America, having previously borrowed 20s. from Thos.
Robson, a neighbour, to assist him in effecting that object,
under a promise to remember him if ever he had it in his
power. Robson was then a bank sman ; but he has lately
been employed pumping water in Cassop pit. On Monday
week he received a letter from the executors of Wilson, in-
forming him that he had recently died at Philadelphia, United
States, and bequeathed him money and property to the value
of about £7OOO ! The party who has reaped this ample re-
turn for his generosity, is now about 70 years of age ; but—
lucky woman !—about half a year ago he married a female
not more than 40.—Durham Chronicle.

GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.—Ry the 3rd and 4th Victoria, cap.
77, it is thus provided :—"Whereas in Grammar schools the
term ' Grammar' has been construed to have reference only
to dead languages, Greek and Latin, and such schools
hav-
ing ceased to afford a substantial fulfilment of the intentions
of the founders, courts of equity shall be empowered to mnk e
orders, extending the system of education to other useful
branches of literature and science, in addition to the Greek
and Latin languages, and the right of admission into any
school, and to establish schemes for the application of its
revenues; any special 'visitor to he heard on the matters in
question previous to the making such orders. The present
schoolmasters are n
not to be affected but to be at liberty to
resign on receiving such pension as to She governors." shall seem reasonable

\.

BRAZILIAN TARIFF.
We subjoin A translation of the instrUctlons' isatied by the'
Brazilian Government to the commissioners appointed to
prepare the new tariff on goods imported into that country.
The report of the commissioners would be presented to the
Brazilian Chambers at their meeting on the Ist of January,
which shows that it is not intended to make any change in
the existing import duties before that time :
" BRAZILIAN TARIFF.—The instructions gfven by the
Ministers of Finance, Viscount d' Abrantes, to the commis-
sioners (45 in number, divided into nine sections), assigns
to each section a different description of goods, wares, or
merchandise, and are expressed as follows, viz. :
" Art. I. The commissioners altogether, or divided into
sections, shall hold their conferences or meetings in one of
the offices at the Custom-house, at such times as the chair-
man of the commission shall appoint ; and the collector of
the customs shall render every assistance in his power to for-
ward the labours of the commission, when requested to do so
by the chairman.
" 11. Any member not being able to continue his atten-
dance shall intimate the same to the chairman, who shall re-
port to the Treasury, pointing out at the same time a proper
person to fill the situation.
" 111. In settling the new tariff the respective sections
shall describe as accurately as possible, and classify all the
productions and merchandise, general objects of commerce.
" IV. The commission shall arrange in alphabetical order
the names of all goods, wares, and merchandise, according
to their respective classes, and prepare an index, specifying
the page where they are to be found in the tables of the
tariff.

" V. The amount of duty (not being less Than 2 per cent.,
nor more than 60) shall be stated opposite each article of
produce or merchandise described and classified in the said
tables.
" VI. The duties to which the produce and merchandise
to be imported for home consumption, re-exported, or trans-
shipped, shall be subject, shall be calculated (with such ex-
ceptions only as may be found expedient) according to the
weight of solids, to the contents of liquids, and to the number
of such as can be readily counted.
" VII. A table shall be annexed to the tariff of the tares
to be allowed on all goods, &c., which cannot or ought not
to be weighed seperate from the packages or casks in which
they are contained.
" VIII. That in apportioning the duties the commissioners
must attend—
" 1. To their being articles of greater or less necessity to
the community large, or to the comfort of certain classes
of the con tuners.
" 2. To ti,c or difficulty of smuggling the same.
" 3. To the propriety of encouraging articles the produce
of the country, or manufactured in it, or even of such as
may in time become a substitute for those coming from
abroad.
" To the utmost facility in calculating respective duties, so
as not to impede the clearing the same through the different
departments of the Custom-house.
" IX. The commissioners are required to lay down rules
by which the officers employed in the Custom-house ought
to he governed in the following cases :
" 1. If the article or merchandise should be omitted in the
tariff.

"2. If any dispute should arise between the Custom-
officers and proprietors or consignees of any goods, as to
their classification or amount of duties they ought to pay.
"X. The commissioners are also required to propose any
other measures they may consider necessary or expedient
for the more efficacious and ready collection of His Impe.
rial Majesty's revenue of customs, and at the same time cal-
culated to promote the natural course of commercial improve-
ment and augmentation."
The two chief articles in the above are Nos. V. and VIII.
By No. V. it is shown, that no differential duties are con-
templated in favour of or against any country. By the sub-
divisions of No. VII!. it is shown, however, that some in-
tentions exist of levying protective duties for the encourage-
ment of the home manufacturers. The effect which the mis-
sion of Mr. Ellis may produce in that respect may possibly
depend on the concessions he may be authorized to make
regarding the admission of Brazil sugars to British ports.

STAVES.—The poems of the Cymri were graven upon small
staves or rods, one line upon each face of the rod ; and the
old English word stave, as applied to a stanza, is probably a
relic of the practice which in the early ages prevailed in the
west. In the east we shall find the custom still subsisting •
the slips of bamboo, upon which the inhabitants of the In-
dian Archipelago now write or scratch their compositions
with a bodkin, are substantially the same with our ancient
staves.—Palgrave's History of the Anglo Saxons.
DISFRANCHISEMENT OF A WHOLE PARISH.—Owing
to neglect on the part of the overseers of Old Shoreham, in
not delivering in lists to the revising barristers, the whole of
the freeholders of this parish have been deprived of their
borough votes. The franchise here is unique; the free-
holders of the Rape of Bramber join with the burgesses of
the old borough of New Shoreham in returning merobt;rs.
The overseer neglecting to deliver in a list of the old voters,
they were all disfranchised. The list created by the Reform
Act was properly delivered and was revised.—Globe.
A WARLIKE FAMILY.—There are five brothers named
Keegan, now residing in and about this town, who entered
the army about thirty years since, and served in various parts
of the world, and particularly in the Peninsula, where they
were in several engagements. These five veterans have lately
returned to their native country in perfect health, and are in
the enjoyment of good pensions. They bore excellent cha-
racters, and honourable mention is made of them by the
several officers they served under.—Carlow Sentinel.
TOBACCO.—The New Act of Parliament against the adul-
teration of Tobacco comes into full operation on Tuesday the
Ist of November. By this act the officers of excise have power
to examine the stocks of dealers as well as of manufacturers ;
to seize all adulterated tobacco found therein ; and to levy
a fine of £2OO on the person in whose possession it is dis-
covered. It is understood that this law will be strictly en-
forced, and we, therefore, deem it proper to acquaint dealers
with the heavy penalties imposed, in order to caution them
against any inducements which may be held out to them to
purchase a spurious article, by it being offered at a reduced
price.

TREATMENT OF LUNATICS IN TURKEY.—The miserable
state in which lunatics are kept calls for severe reprehension ;
it is disgraceful to the Turkish Government, an opprobrium
on Turkish humanity. In cold cells in the winter season
(there was snow on the ground when I saw them), with
barred unglazed windows, the poor men are chained by the
neck to the wall by a heavy iron chain about six feet in length
—a space to which their exercise is limited. No medical aid
is afforded them. They are open to the public gaze, and
subject to irritation of an aggravated kind from mischievous
boys and lads, who, as I witnessed, seemed to take pleasure
in tormenting there, making even by blows the violent Oiribly
furious. In consistency with their treatment, the i "sane
establishment is contiguous to a menagerie ; one has to pass
through the yard containing the cages in which a few wild
beasts are exhibited, to enter that in which are the cells of
the lunatics; and the payment for both is the same.—Dr.
Davy's lonian Islands, Turkey, (iv.
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.—We have heard of another
rupture in China, but it is said that the power of Poo Loo
will be resorted to for cementing it. It is rumoured that an
attempt will be made to rivet the different fractions into
which the service of China is now divided, but this, we think,
is impossible. The great Kban wants a handle, and until
this is found there can be no reasonable hope of adjustment.
Our Indian letters put us in possession of Indian ink to the
22d, and our news is, consequently, of the same dark com-
plexion as before. Our Seville correspondent sends us
oranges to the latest moment at which our express was made
up, but we are very sorry to say that (ve find considerable
asperity in every quarter. Our letters from Egypt have not
arrived ; but, on enquiry at the Egyptian-hall, in Piccadilly,
we ascertained that affairs in that quarter were going on as
smoothly as the best friends of the land of the pyramids had
any reason to anticipate.—Punch.
A GYPSEY FUNERAL.—For some time a numerous tribe
of gypsies have pitched their tents in Cut Hedge-road, Little
Coggeshall. One of the party died last week. As soon as
life was extinct much ceremony was observed. The body
was dressed in a Scotch plaid gown, silk stockings, and satin
shoes ; wax tapers were burnt, and the remains lay in state.
Instructions for the funeral were given to Mr. Clements, the
undertaker, and no expense was spared to render it most
respectable in every respect. The coffin was of fine oak,
studded with gilt nails, and bore a brass plate, upon which
was engraved " Cecilia Chilcott—Died Sept. 29. 1842, aged
28 years." On Sunday last the funeral took place, and her
remains were interred in the parish churchyard, by the Rev.
W. Wizson, curate, in the presence of nearly 5,000 persons.
The pall was supported by four respectably dressed females
deeply veiled, and about 30 of the tribe followed, dressed in
black, the men wearing black cloth cloaks. The greatest de-
corum was observed by the whole party, and a more respec-
table funeral, we understand, has not been seen in the town
for many years. We are credibly informed, that in the coffin
were placed by the side of the body, the deceased's watch
and a purse of money, for the protection of which a person
is appointed to watch the grave for some weeks. The father
of the deceased, attributing the death of his daughter to the
removal by the police, threatens to take legal proceeding
against the parties.— Chelmqford Chronicle.

A WHEELING ARTICLE.—Going to dinner the other day
we saw a little codger, about two years old, sitting in a
wheelbarrow and trying to wheel himself. It struck us
that many people in this world are often caught in the same
act, and we shall always think hereafter—when we see a bu-
siness man trusting everything to his clerks, and continually
seeking his own amusement—always absent from his count-
ing-house, and yet expecting to get along, he's sitting in a
wheelbarrow, and trying to wheel himself. When we see a
professional man better acquainted with everything else than
his profession, always starting some new scheme, and never
attending to his calling, his wardrobe and credit will soon
designate him as sitting on a wheelbarrow, and trying to
wheel himself. When we see a farmer with an over-abun-
dance of " hired help," trusting everything to their manage-
ment, his fences down, implements out of repair, and land
suffering for want of proper tillage—too proud or too lazy
to off coat and go to work—he's sitting in a wheelbarrow
trying to wheel himself. hen we see a mechanic run half
a square every day to borrow a newspaper, and may be have
to wait ten or fifteen minutes before he can, get it, we sus-
pect that the time he loses would soon pay the subscription,
and consider him sitting in a wheelbarrow, and trying to
wheel himself. When we see a man busily engaged in cir-
culating scandal concerning his neighbour, we infer that he
his pretty deep in the mud himself, and sitting in a wheel-
barrow, and trying to wheel himself out.— Wheeling Gazette.
COLLISION.—We take the following account of this acci-
dent from a document made out and signed b • 11 (passengers
on board the steamer at the time :—On the evening of Fri-
day last, about half-past seven o'clock, as the Sovereign was
proceeding on her trip north, and while off the Boilers of
Buchan, between Aberdeen and Peterhead, the mate on the
look-out descried a schooner, with every stitch of canvass
set, bearing hard down on her larboard bow. The steamer
had two lights burning, one at the foremast, and the other at
the mainmast. The night, though dark, was clear. The
mate, on the watch, as soon as he perceived the danger,
instantly cried out to the man at the wheel to port his helm,
which be did, and the vessel's course was altered at least
eight points. The helmsman of the schooner, instead of
porting his helm, as he should have done, put it to starboard.
The schooner, consequently, ran down on the broadside of
the steamer, striking her on the larboard paddle-box, and
carrying away with her bowsprit one of the steamer's boats,
e enough
which was staved in and knocked into the sea. The scene on
board the steamer at this moment was dreadful. The scream-
ing
eof the female passengers and the shouting of the sailors
and allayed the fears
to appal thesto test heart. Captain Phillips,
that no promptitude,material damage
having first convinced himself
of
his
sd been sustainedhfull
by the
assurancessteamer,
n f
their safety,passengers )
proceeded to see what effects the collision had
there were four feet
had on the schooner, the crew of which were crying out that
ofpiwliailer in the hold, that she was filling,.
This was 'Ps to
and begging Captain send a boat to their assist-
ance.wproceededimmediately done,
t anda
ascertain
thee rta
in
imaten whatand some
con-
ditiono the
ssteamers cre
They
found that the bowsprit and jiboom
had been carried away, and other damagedt hastily e master and the crew
not exactly be ascertained; baunt done, which could
averred that she was sinking,jumpedthe intol On
the
ps learning that there was a very valuableve
se
steamer's boat, threatening to abandon
he induced the master and
cargo
Captainof n i
lon Phhoi lrid
men to stay by
their vessel, and he would send a hauser on board and tow
her into Aberdeen. This, after some persuasion, they were
induced to do, and the schooner was made fast to the steamer
and towed into the aforesaid harbour, though it delayed the
Sovereign nearly ten hours.—lnverness Courier.

THE MANUFACTURE OF WATCHES.

(From the Standard.)

Some very important circumstances are now working in an
under-current, which will materially co-operate in pro-
ducing the beneficial results in the revival of our manufac-
tures, aimed at by the recent tariff. The same cause that
led to the depreciation in price and character of many of our
cotton and silk manufactures, viz., competition by manufac-
turers to undersell each other, by supplying rubbish, and
which has been so ably exposed in the House of Commons,
had many years previously entirely destroyed our export
trade in watches, and very considerably depreciated the
home trade. A select committee of the House of Commons
sate upon this sublect in the year 1818, and it appears from
the report that in 1796 the number of gold and silver watch
cases marked in Goldsmiths'-hall amounted to 191,678;
while in the year 1816 the gradual reduction had brought
that number down to 102,112, exhibiting a diminution of
89,566, or nearly one-half, and it further appears from the
last edition of M'Culloch's Dictionary of commerce, that
that number was reduced in 1841 to less than 100,000. In
one township alone, in Lancashire, called Prescot, in which
the manufacture of the movements of watches was the staple,
there were in 1821, 859 families employed in handicrafts,
whilst in 1831, from the manufacture of watches being
utterly destroyed, that number was reduced to only 540.
That which this country has lost, Switzerland has chiefly
gained; and it is proved that England is, in this respect,
tributary to the continent—that every year the quantity of
foreign watches sold in London, and in the principal towns
of the three kingdoms, is more than tenfold the amount of
those manufactured in England.
This great injury to our manufactures and loss to our
trade is likely speedily to have an end, a gentleman, who
has devoted 20 years of his life to this subject, having made a
variety of machines by which an incredible number of watches,
of every variety of size, may be made in a day. By one of the
machines 300 perfect plates can be produced in a day; by
another the same quantity of barrels; by five machines
the requisite number of centre, third, and fourth wheels
(crossed, polished, and cut), with balances for 300 movements.
By another 200 pinions can be cut and rounded ; by another
the holes are drilled, the tapping, the screw-holes, the various
parts in the plate are sunk, planting the depths and escape-
ments, &c., and all with such exactness as cannot be excelled;
another for the making and polishing of pivots, &c. Four
other machines will be sufficient for making pivots for 50
movements a-day ; and to add to these, there are 20 other
machines for every description of work connected with the
watch-snaking, and which altogether constitute a set. The
inventor has submitted these machines to the scrutiniz-
ing inspection of the most experienced makers of chronome-
ters and watches in London, and not one has expressed a
doubt of the work so produced being incomparably superior
to that done in the usual way. Among other distinguished
names in the trade we have observed those of Mr. Barwise,
Mr. Earnshaw, Mr. Hewett, Mr. Vieyres, Messrs. Frod-
sham and Co., with about a hundred watchmakers in the
country, who, with the Duke of Hamilton and Mr. Howell
(of the firm of Howell and James) at their head, are engaged
in carrying out the great and national object of restoring this
lost and important martt;io ore to England, by means that,
while they greatly lessen ho price, will improve the quality,
and entirely undersell our f feign rivals, and be very largely
profitable to all parties concerned. The subject is now in
the hands of the Attorney-General.

It is a remarkable fact, that although Magna Charta is
considered as the foundation of British liberty, there is not a
single word about "liberties" in it.
STRANGE FELLOWSHIP.—A handsome Scots church has
lately been built in Woolwich ; close to this is, now in course
of erection a Roman Catholic chapel ; between these edifices,
as if apparently to connect the church of John Knox with
that of his Holiness the Pope, stands a large gin palace,
called the Gun. Any person visiting Woolwich may observe
this fact near the store guard-room.
SHOWER OF BUTTER.—The following extraordinary letter
appears in the Cork Examiner :—" Dunmanway, Septem-
ber 17th, 1842. Sir—Please to publish in your widely cir-
culated columns, that a shower of butter has been falling
every night since the 14th instant on the land of Drundrasdal,
near Dunmanway; it covers a span of about an acre of land.
The peasants assemble every morning to collect the butter to
cure disease ; in some instances effectual cures have been
made.—Yours very truly, James Scanlan, Secretary to the
Dunmanway Temperance Society."—[This beats Yankee
miracles hollow !]
TAMWORTH, OCT. 17.—Buckland, Dr. Lyon Playfair, the
translator of Liebig, and Mr. George Stephenson, the civil
engineer, are on a visit to Drayton Manor. Sir Robert Peel
invited his principal tenants and the leading agriculturists in
the neighbourhood to meet them at breakfast, in order that
they might profit by the opportunity of personal intercourse
with men of so much eminence. A party of nearly 30 per-
sons were assembled. Conversations took place in the course
of the morning of the most interesting nature on various sub-
jects connected with the improvement of agriculture—on the
necessity of draining, as the foundation of all other improve-
ments—on the use of lime as a manure—on the feeding of
cattle—and the importance of warmth as well as food, &c., &c.,
The party separated about two o'clock, having derived the
greatest satisfaction from their visit.—Standard.
GOSSIP OF HIGH PLACES.—A strange story has reached
us, of so painful and delicate a nature, that it is with extreme
reluctance that we allude to it at all ; but, as the matter in-
volves royal and public, as well as private considerations, we
should consider that we had failed in our duty to the public
were we to preserve total silence on the subject. The " mis-
hap," we are informed, relates to one of the most noble fami-
lies in England, and the other party ins olved is of still higher
rank. The Queen, we understand, has been appealed to, as
the circumstances of the case imperatively demand that the
injury should be atoned fur by a speedy marriage. The father
of the " irresistible" is said to be on this point inexorable.
But we must refrain, in the present state of the proceedings,
from saying more on so delicate a subject, involving, as it
does, consequences so important, social, political, and royal.
—The British Queen.

A law suit, which had been pending 300 years, has just
been concluded at Berlin by the Court of Supreme Justice.
In this suit figured as witness the celebrated Comte d'Egmont,
decapitated at Brussels in 1563, by order of the Duke of
Alba. The parties pleading were the families of Arenberg
and Manderscheid, and the cause was a sum of 200,000 thalers,
(750,000 f.,) which the former claimed in virtue of the stipu-
lations of a marriage concluded in 1517. Not less than 18
tribunals have been occupied with this case, and latterly that
of Munster. The judgment of the Berlin Court has been,
that the Manderscheid family should pay the sum claimed,
but without interest, and that the expenses, amounting to
about a half more than the original sum, should be equally
divided. In this case the old Saxon proverb holds good, that
" in gaining our suit we lose our money."

An account is given, in a letter from the Hague 15th inst.,
of an atrocious case of poisoning. The personseaccused of
this crime are the nephew of the victim and the wife of the
former. Their uncle, a very aged man, lived at the Hague,
and they were his heirs. The uncle received from them, as
a present, a pie, which, it appears, contained a quantity of
arsenic. Almost immediately after partaking of it he be-
came ill, and died. His wife and a female servant, who also
ate some of the pie, were, at the date of the account,
dangerously ill. The nephew was formerly a surgeon in the
French army. Since his arrest it has been ascertained that,
some time ago, he had fraudulently appropriated to his own
use a sum of 8000 florins, which had been placed in his hands
by his uncle for the purpose of being invested in a bank. The
murder was, therefore, intended as well to prevent the dis-
clovery of this crime, as to hasten the period when he was
to inherit the fortune of the uncle.

MARRIAGE OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS
AUGUSTA OF CAMBRIDGE.—The preliminaries for the mar-
riage of her Royal Highness the Princess Augusta of Cam-
bridge have been finally arranged, and the nuptial ceremony
will take place at no very distant period. His Royal High-
ness the Duke of Cambridge arrived at Windsor, on Wed-
nesday last, for the purpose of communicating this interest-
ing fact to her Majesty. The future husband of the princess
is his Royal Highness the hereditary Grand Duke of Meck-
lenburgh Strelitz, the eldest son of the reigning Duke George
V. The Queen's royal and illustrious uncle, after tiartaking
of luncheon with her Majesty, left Windsor Castle in the
afternoon for Kew. It is expected that the ceremony will
take place on the continent. The bridegroom elect was born
on the 17th of October, 1819, consequently has just entered
his 24th year. The Princess Augusta is in her 21st year.
NOBLE CHARITY.—The other day a poor man went to
inter his child at the parish church not a hundred miles from
Batley. When the burial service was over the man followed
the vicar into the vestry, is usual with persons in his sta-
tion of life, to pay the fees. On arriving there, however, it
came out that he ti; d gone to ask the rev. gentleman to give
him credit till the Saturday evening following ; which request
was granted accordin-l- ; and on the Saturday, as good as
his word, he went to pay his dues. The vicar commended
him for punctuality and honesty, but questioned him as to
why he did nbt see him at church on a Sunday. The man
replied—" Because I have not a coat and waistcoat fit to
come in." The worthy and rev. gentleman made no more to
do, but instantly pulled off his own coat and waistcoat, and
gave them to the man, who now makes his appearance with
the rest of his neighbours to worship God in his holy sane-
tuary.—Doncaster Gazette.—[The name of this truly cha-
ritable man should not have been withheld by our provincial
contemporary.]

THE ATLAS PRIZE ESSAY.—It will be remembered that
the proprietors of the Atlas newspaper recently offered pre-
miums of £lOO, £5O, and £25, for the three best essays on
the causes of, and the remedies for, the distress existing in
the country. At the time the announcement was made, a
doubt was suggested whether, on a subject which might be
supposed to embrace so many and so important political
considerations, it would be possible to find a tribunal suffi-
ciently free from a natural bias to be able to give a decision
on the intrinsic merit of the essays offered, independent al-
together of the principles on which their arguments might
be based. That doubt will in a great measure be dispelled
by a glance at the names of four out of five of the adjudica-
tors of the proposed rewards. They are—Sir David Brew-
ster, D.C.L., F.R.S., Vice-President of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, and Principal of the United Colleges of St.
Salvator's, St. Leonard's, and St. Andrew's; Mr. Herman
Merivale, M.A., of Balliol College, Oxford, late Professor
of Political Economy in that University ; Mr. Geo. Pryme,
M.A., Professor of Political Economy, and late Fellow of
Trinity College, in the University of Cambridge; and Mr.
John Wilson, Professor of Moral Philosophy and of Political
Economy, in the University of Edinburgh. The formal
consent of the fifth adjudicator has not yet been obtained,
but when his name is published he will be found to be of
equally high reputation with the above gentlemen.
NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY.--The directors of this rail-
way met at Derby, on Tuesday and Wednesday, and would
meet again yesterday and to-day (Friday), to examine item
by item the details of the reductions and alterations proposed
by the committee of shareholders. We have already stated
that the report of the committee proposed reductions to the
amount of £17,788, on an establishment which, at the date
of the 6th of August, appeared to cost in salaries and wages
£40,610 a year (the goods department in which the salaries
and wages are about £3,600, not being included in this
£40,610, because it was not examined into by the committee.)
We also stated that the directors had themselves already
made, or given notice of reductions amounting to from
£5,000 to £6,000, from the £40,610. We believe we may
now say that the directors have gone into the reductions
proposed by the committee with a determination to adopt all
which in their view can be adopted with prudence ; and that
they are likely to recommend reductions to the extent of
several thousand pounds beyond those which they had pre-
viously contemplated. The are also likely to approve of
some important consolidations and changes in the offices of
the company. There will still, we apprehend, remain a.
rather wide difference betwt.en the directors and the com-
mittee, arising partly out of the former acting on the plan of
keeping up the engines in a state of perfect repair, whilst the
latter think it cheaper to let them wear out and renew them
more frequently. The plan of keeping the engines in perfect
repair of course requires a larger establishment; and it is a
question whether this is in the long run more or less expensive
than the frequent purchase of new engines. If we are not
misinformed, both the directors and committee are agreed on
the necessity ofgiving greater vigour, authority, and unity, to
the management. When the directors have completed their
revision, it is probable that they will lay before the share-
holders the report of the committee, together with the de-
tails of the present establishments, specifying the reductions
proposed by the committee, and the reductions approved of
by themselves. It will then remain for the shareholders,
who will be convened in special general meeting, to decide
between the two. It must, however, be most satisfactory to
the shareholders that the directors are likely to give their
sanction to reductions of so large an amount.—Leeds
Mercury.