The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-05-06 00:00:00

columns

LOCAL. NEWS

We perceive from a Glasgow paper that the Rev. Hugh
Crichton of the Scotch Secession Church, Mount-pleasant,
in this town, has had the degree of D.D. conferred upon him
by the University of Glasgow.
THE NIGER EXPEDITION.-A letter has been received in
this town, dated Ascension, March 9, from which we take
the following extract :—The Albert left the Fernando Po on
the 18th of December. We called at Prince's, St. Thomas's,
and Anabona, and arrived here on the 28th of January. Dr.
V6gel, the botanist, died at Fernando Po on the 17th of De-
cember. lam going in the Wilberforce to Fernando Po to
join the Soudan, and go up the river again. We will sail to-
morrow. I believe the Albert is coming home.

THEFT FROM A Sitor.—Two girls, Jane Jones and Jane
Roberts, were yesterday charged at the police-court with
stealing a pair of stays. About nine o'clock, the prisoners
went into the shop of Mr. Hayes, Park-lane, and looked at
some stays, which they said would not suit them. On their
going out the person in attendance observed that Roberts
looked rather bulky, and, on detaining her, he found the
stays in her apron. They were worth 3s. 6d. Both pri-
soners were committed for trial at the sessions.

TESTIMONIAL OF ESTEEM.—On Saturday last, a party of
gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner at the Monk's
Ferry Hotel, when a piece of plate, as a token of esteem,
was presented to John Dixon, Esq., civil engineer, who has
just left the situation on the Chester and Birkenhead Rail-
way, which he has filled with great satisfaction since its
opening. The plate consists of an octagon-shaped tea-kettle,
engraved in compartments, in the style of the time of Queen
Elizabeth, supported on a richly-pierced piedal stand, in the
centre of which is a lamp for burning spirit of wine. On
one side is the following inscription :—" This well-merited
tribute of respect, presented to John Dixon, Esq., civil
engineer, by the contractors, officers, and servants generally,
of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway, as an humble token
of their regard for him as a master and admiration as a man.
April 30th, 1842." And in a shield on the obverse side are
engraved the arms of Mr. Dixon.
FRENCH LANGUAGE AND THE HARP.—There never was
a period when elegant acquirements were more valued, and,
we may add, valuable, than at the present day. On exten-
sive information and high accomplishment may be said to
depend success in life ; for whether a person be rich in the
gifts of fortune or otherwise, his or her position in society
must depend mainly on those qualities which the world has
been taught so highly to value. This direction of the general
taste into the right channel is becoming every day more and
more determinate, and hence high cultivation is becoming
still more essential. Amongst the accomplishments which
are at once useful and ornamental, are those indicated at the
head of this paragraph, the language of France being abso-
lutely necessary, while a knowledge of the harp may be
looked upon as one of the most elegant acquirements of which
a lady can become possessed. It is no disparagement to the
piano to say, that it is the more general instrument, but, for
that very reason, to play well on the harp is the greater dis-
tinction. In connexion with a subject of so much interest
to those classes to whom high accomplishments are absolute
necessaries we have great pleasure in mentioning the name
of Professor Barre De Ballicourt, who teaches the harp on
the method adopted by the celebrated Bochsa. Mr. De
Ballicourt's capability as an instructor in French is highly
spoken of.
Mn. POPJOY ON MANNERS !—We are requested by Mr.
Popjoy to notice the indecent practice, so common amongst
our juvenile dandies, of sticking their hands, whilst prome-
nading Lord-street and Bold-street, into the back pockets of
their coats, and protruding in the face of modest people that
unsightly portion of the body which all civilized nations have
concurred, in devising fashions, to conceal. The laps of a
modern coat were meant to hang down, not to be drawn
aside, as if for the express purpose of showing how like a
human being can make himself to a barn door fowl in moult-
ing time, or a pigeon which has lost its tail in a trap. Insert
your hands, young gentlemen, in your waistcoat pockets, or
breeches pockets, if you like; but do permit Or skirts of
your coats to serve the purposes for which they vised,
viz., to cover that part of the body which, although " the
seat of honour," is not, certainly, a spectacle of grace and
beauty !
CHARLESTON LAW AED BRITISH LAW.•—Several sea-
men of the British ship Ann Hall, who were committed to
prison at Charleston, in February last, at the instance of the
British consul, for having seized and confined the master
with hand-cuffs and a strait jacket, under pretence that he
was intoxicated or insane, were recently brought before the
Hon. Jacob Axson, Recorder of Charleston, on a writ of
habeas corpus to obtain their discharge. His Honour de-
livered his opinion, discharging the prisoners, on the ground
that in the absence of any treaty stipulation to that effect be-
tween this country and Great Britain, there was no autho-
rity to arrest or retain them as fugitives from justice. If
such is Charleston law, it is very much like British law, as
exemplified in the case of the slaves of the Creole. If Ame-
rican courts have no right to detain British subjects for
crimes committed on board of British vessels, then by parity
of reasoning, British courts have no right to detain Ameri-
can subjects for crimes committed on board American ves-
sels.—New York Journal of Commerce, April 11.

FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT ON THE CHESTER AND BIRKEN-
HEAD RAILWAY.—On Tuesday evening on one of the last
trains quitting Chester, the number of inside places was
found too few to accommodate all the persons applying for
tickets on the line. Several, in consequence, mounted to the
top. The train proceeded, and all went on safely till within
a short distance of Sutton, when one of the most tragical
events occurred which we have had to record in connexion
with railroad travelling. On the outside of one of the car-
riages was a party of young men, one of whom, in some man-
ner elevated himself so that his head came in contact with
one of the bridges, before he could perceive the danger; and
in an instant his skull was dashed to pieces, and his blood
was spattered on his fellow-passengers. He was killed on
the spot. An inquest was held on view of the body yester-
day, before Mr. Churton, the coroner for South Cheshire,
when the following rather extraordinary verdict was returned :
" Died from accident, but of what nature there was no evi-
dence to show." We certainly anticipated a heavy deodand
on the carriage from what we have heard of the circumstances.
Several persons were present at the inquiry who witnessed
the accident, but for some reason they were not called. The
deceased was a solicitor of the name of Thistleton, in prac-
tice in this town, and was, we are credibly informed, per-
fectly sober all the time.

ANOTHER DISCOVERY BY THE " LIVERPOOL TIMES."—
The stream of inane twaddle which ordinarily dribbles from the
pen of our enlightened contemporary, the Liverpool Times,
has this week been obstructed by the fume into which our
remarks of Friday appear to have thrown him, or by the cruel
necessity of displaying to his readers that he is able to retort
upon an opponent without the necessity of resorting to the
kennel for his weapons. Whatever be the cause, however,
the effect has been most singular. Having no leisure to be-
stow upon any sublunary affairs besides our unworthy selves
and his own unhappy temper, he has been compelled to draw
upon imagination for matter to dole out to the numerous ad-
mirers of his profundity ; and, amongst other marvellous dis-
coveries, has produced the following, which will be news to
those mere terrestrial beings who have not the sublimated
perceptions enjoyed by the inhabitants of the seventh heaven,
amongst whom our contemporary has evidently been sojourn-
ing. Under the heading of " The income Tax," the Times
remarks :—" This delightful measure progresses (as the
Americans say), if not very fast. at least quite fast enough.
All its most grinding clauses have .been agreed to, with the
single exception of that which compelled a man engaged iu
two businesses, one profitable and the other losing, to pay
on the profits of the one, without any allowance for the losses
of the other. With much difficulty ministers-have been in-
duced to give up this point, and to allow persons so situated
to pay on the average gains (if there are any) of the two bu-
sinesses. Several other proposed amendments, and amongst
them one moved by Mr. Roebuck, for the purpose of making
the per centage paid by persons in trade lighter than that paid
by owners of realized property, have been rejected by large
majorities."—The whole of this statement, with the excep-
tion of the last paragraph, at the time when it was penned
was sheer imagination. The " delightful measure" in ques-
tion had not progressed fast, and did not begin to progress
fast until Monday night, too late for the Times, with all his
peculiar sources of information, to be aware of the fact.
The " grinding clause," which " compelled a man engaged
in two businesses, one profitable and the other losing, to pay
on the profits of the one, without any allowance for the losses
of the other," had not " with much difficulty been given up"
by the ministry ; and that simply because no such clause
ever existed in the bill. It was never proposed by this
measure that persons having more than one business or pro-
fession should pay upon more than their " average gains ;"
and hence the injustice of the requirement, upon which we
remarked last week, that a man having a business which
would come under Schedule D, and properly under any other
schedules, is not allowed to set his gains from one against
his losses in the other. With respect to this, which is doubt-
less the point at which our sublimated contemporary was
aiming, it will be seen, by the debate on Monday, that, in
reply to a question from 111 r. B. Wood, by whom it was first
brought before the especial notice of the house, Sir Robert
Peel intimated, that although he had, according to his pro-
mise, " taken the subject into consideration, he was bound
to say that he did not think that he could accede to the pro-
position of the honourable member." So much for the pro-
fundity anti accuracy of the Liverpool Times!

TILE EGREMONT STEAM-FACKET COMPANY.-1R the
Vice-Chancellor's Court a motion was made on Tuesday on
behalf of Laycock and others, iron merchants of this town,
to dissolve an injunction which had been issued against them
last January, (on the motion of Mr. Vincent, an attorney
in London,) restraining them from contracting any debts or
liabilities, or entering into any engagements in the name or
on account of the Egretnont Steam-packet Company. The
material circumstances detailed in the case were given fully
in the evidence in a recent trial at the last assizes in this
town, brought by Messrs. Page and Grantham against Mr.
Vincent. The bill in Chancery, filed by Mr. Vincent, prayed
for the injunction above stated, and also for the dissolution
of the company and the winding up of its affairs in the usual
manner. After hearing counsel, his honour said, it was
plain, upon the face of the affidavit upon which the injunc-
tion had been granted, that pains had been taken to show as
stinted a knowledge as possible of the affairs of the company.
It was important that parties applying for an injunction
should state all the circumstances within their knowledge, in
order that the court might have an opportunity of judging
whether the injunction should he granted ex parte or on
notice. In this case he thought the plaintiff should have
stated two notices which he had received in July and Octo-
ber, 1841, which were set forth in the answer of the defend-
ants, but of which not one word appeared in the plaintiff's
affidavit; and it would have been but fair to the defendants
that those notices should have been stated ; for if they had
been stated, his honour would not have granted the injunc-
tion ex parte. It appeared to him essential to the cause of
justice, and especially to that delicate species of justice which
related to the granting of injunctions, that the case should
be fully stated to the court. In the present instance this had
not been done, and be was bound by that rule, by which he
had, ever since he had administered this branch of the juris-
diction of the court, acted, and by which he should always
act,—he was bound, he repeated, to say that the injunction
must be dissolved with costs.

FORGED WILLS.-011 Tuesday Mr. Rushton was occu-
pied, in the Police Court, with hearing some further evidence
as to the forged wills of John Kenney and Robert Wilson,
both mariners; but the prisoners in both cases were remanded.
COTTON.—A large import of this staple commodity is ex-
pected to arrive this month. We perceive, from our usual
circular, that not less than twenty vessels arrived with this
article yesterday.
WASHINGTON IRVING.—This gentleman was one of the
passengers by the Independence, from New York to this
port, which arrived here on Tuesday morning, but he land-
ed at Waterford and proceeded to Bristol by steam, and
from thence.to London, and has thus frustrated the inten-
tions of his fliends and admirers as to the honours intended
to be shown him in this town.
A PASSENGER DROWNED AT SEA.—We are requested to
state, that George B. Bedford, supposed to belong to sane
part of the South of England, was a passenger in the ship
Susquehanna, on her recent voyage from Philadelphia to Li-
verpool, and that when she was about ten days out he fell
overboard and was drowned.
STEALING FROM A CART.—A man named Thomas Wil-
liams was yesterday charged, before Mr. Rushton, with hav-
ing stolen a loaf of sugar, the property of Richard Taylor and
Sons, from a cart containing a quantity of the article, as it
was passing along York-street. He made off with it, but
was overtaken in Pitt-street, and given into custody. The
prisoner said he had only taken it as a lark. He was commit.
ted for trial.

ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH.—We understand that, in the
course of next month, trbazaar will be held for the purpose
of obtaining funds towards liquidating the debt on St.
Saviour's Church ; and that the Town Council have granted
the use of the Exhibition-rooms for that purpose.
CAUTION.—HAWKING ARTICLES OF BASE COIN METAL
FOR COIN.—At the Police-court yesterday, a young man
was charged with selling to a gentleman a small chain and a
seal attached, for gold, and for which he received 10s. Tl•cy
afterwards turned out to be merely brass. The prisoner d
no hawker's license, and was committed to prison fot
month as an unlicensed pedlar.
SHORT WEIGHTS.—CAUTION TO BUTCHERS, PROVIS ON
DEALERS AND OTHERS.—Yesterday, about thirty butch-
ers, provision dealers, and others, were brought by summons
before John Shaw Leigh, Esq., the Mayor, in the Sessions-
house, to answer charges preferred against them respectively
by Mr. Atkinson, inspector of weights and measures, for
having defective scales, or short weights, in their places of
business. They were all fined in various penalties of
ls., ls. 6d., 25., 55., and 205., together with costs, and the
Mayor, in imposing them, strongly reprehended the practice,
by which the poor especially were defrauded to a great ex-
tent ; and he cautioned them to adopt a different course of
dealing for the future, intimating that their conduct would
be strictly watched by the proper officers. Several of them
pleaded various excuses, some alleging that they had never
used the short weights seized on their premises • others that
the defectiye state of their scales was counterbalanced by
penny pieces, bits of iron, &c., invariably put into the light
scale ; others, that they were ltogether ignorant of the defi-
ciency, and so forth, but his worship over ruled the defences
set up in every instance, proportioning the fines, -as far as
possible, to the several grades of offence. We had prepared
a list of the offenders, but forbear publishing it, in hopes
that the present exposure will put a stop to such a fraudu-
lent practice.

ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH.—We understand that a proposi-
tion will be submitted to the Town Council to-morrow, by
the Church Expenditure Committee, for a reduction in the
rents of the pews of St. Martin's Church.—[Alluding to
this proposition, Popjoy says that the definition of Puseyism
in Liverpool is, high church and low rents.]
We beg to call the attention of our readers to an adver-
tisement in our columns of this day, announcing the time
of the anniversary sermons and meetings of the Church
Missionary Society in Liverpool. We understand that ener-
getic exertions have been lately made elsewhere to make up
the deficiency in the society's funds—a deficiency in a great
measure caused by the annually increasing extent of the so-
ciety missions—and we trust this town will not be backward
in this good work, and that the approaching anniversary will
bear testimony to the growing liberality of Liverpool towards
this invaluable society.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE OF A CRIED•--On Monday
morning last, a son of police-officer Moran (who attends daily
on the magistrates at the Police-court), of a little more than
three years old, was left by himself for a short time in a room
on the second floor of his father's house, in Richardson's-
buildings, Park-lane ; and seeing some children playing in
the street, he by some means got up to the window, probably
on to a table, and overbalancing himself, fell down upon the
flags in the street below. A crowd immediately gathered,
thinking be could not long survive the shock, the height
being 14 or 15 feet. Strange to say, however, not even a
scratch or a bruise was to be found upon him, and he has
since been in his usual health, and has attended school as
usual !

The ship Shannon, Capt. Harrison, from Mobile, arrived
here late last night,.and from one of the passengers we have
learned that she spoke the following vessels :
April 23. British Queeii,, from Liverpool to Miramachi, in
lat. 41 10 N., long. 49 20 W.
26. Caledonia steamer, from Liverpool to Halifax and
Boston, in lat. 44 59, long. 33 45.
28. Witton Castle, from London to Prince Edward's
Island, in lat. 46 35 long. 27 30.
_ , _ _

May 1. Glengarry, from Savannah to Liverpool, in lat. 49
32, long. 18 25.
2. Elizabeth, from Charleston to Liverpool, in lat. 50,
long. 15.
- 5. Acadia, at 5 a.m., off Bardsey.

DEATH FROM APOPLEXY ON BOARD A STEAM PACKET.
An inquest was yesterday held before Mr. Curry, the
borough coroner, on view of the body of William Fisher,
who was by trade a rigger. The deceased had been to Bel-
fast, which he left on Tuesday afternoon, coming as a pas-
senger by the .Falcon steamer. On the arrival of the vessel
at this port on Wednesday morning, at two o'clock, he was
found lying dead on a coal bunker on board. A post mortem
examination of the body was made, and the surgeon ga* it
as his opinion that he had died from sanguinous apoplexy.
There were no marks of violence, and the jury returned a
verdict to the effect that the deceased died from natural
causes—namely apoplexy.
A CHILD OVERLAIN.—An inquest was held yesterday,
before Mr. Curry, touching the death of Martha Ann M.
Mitchell, an infant. The deceased had been taken to bed
with her parents, who live in Virgil-street, and on Wednes-
day morning was found dead in bed, having, it appeared,
been overlain. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental
death."

DEATH BY DROWNlNG.—Yesterday an inquest was held
before Mr. Curry, hovough coroner, on view of the body of
James Sherratt. The deceased, who was 37 years of age,
was returning home on Tuesday night from the races, at
Chester, and took passage across the Mersey by the Ellen-
borough Woodside steam-boat. On the arrival of the packet
at George's Pier, about ten o'clock, while he was stepping
on shore, being a little intoxicated, he fell into the water. A
boat-hook was immediately handed to him, but he could not
avail himself of it, and sunk almost instantly. The body
was got out in a few minutes, and conveyed to the receiving
house, where the usual means were resorted to to restore
animation, but without avail. The jury returned a verdict of
" Accidental death." The deceased was the son of Mrs.
Etty Taylor, of St. John's Market, by her first husband.
Mn. WEISS' CONCERT.—Mr. Weiss' Concert took place
last evening at Lasselle's Room, at which we had an oppor-
tunity of hearing Mr. Willoughby Weiss, the new Basso,
who made his first appearance before his townsmen. We_
had heard the most flattering opinions of this gentleman's
powers, and we may say that, instead of being disappointed,
our expectations have been more than realized. Mr. Weiss
studied for a short time under Sir George Smart; he then
placed himself under Mr. Balfe, with whom he has been for
the last six months in Paris. We quoted the opinions of
the Paris papers on the debutant's singing ; and, when now
we give our own, we may safely say that our town may be;
proud of the young artist. His voice is really a true bass—
in compass it exceeds two octaves—his intonation isperfect—
his execution brilliant, if we may use the tetra, in the
management of any voice so ponderous. •His power is ex-
traordinary, while his tones are full, sonorous, andlllear ; in
fact, the musical world have received a great, a very great ac-
quisition, and if he has health, and strength, and perseveres,
we may at some day not far distant name him as the first
bass singer that England has produced for years. Mr. Weiss
is but 22 years old. We have scarcely met with so much
promise of excellence with such a chance of fulfilment. Mr.
Balfe may pride himself upon his pupil. In the first part of
the concert Mr. Balfe and Mr. Weiss sang Balfe's duet from
Falstaff, which has been so much extolled in London and
Paris. It was encored enthusiastically. " Bello Ardir,"
sang also by Mr. Weiss, gave great delight ; as did the air
from the Stabat Mater ;"—this was loudly encored.
Madame Balfe sang a fine aria of her husband's "La
Speranga." Mr. Balfe gave from M.S. a new ballad, but
we cannot say much of its merits.—lt was encored.
The composer sang a very graceful ballad, entitled " The
Blighted Flower "—this was encored. Mr. Dodd sang
Lee's ballad of " Woman Love ye Best "—it was honoured
with an encore. Mrs. and Miss St. Albin played a de-
lightful duett of Czerney's on two piano-fortes. This ap-
peared to give great satisfaction. Mrs. St. Albin played
afterwards the air from " Giovanni " (arranged by Thal-
berg) with her usual grace, execution, and skill. We hear
too little of this' admirable pianist. Altogether we may
pronounce this concert to have been a most excellent one, and
every one present seemed to be delighted. The room was
comfortably full. We noticed that members of all the
leading families in the town were present, and appeared to
take much pleasure in Mr. Weiss's success. Mr. Weiss
appears next in. Dublin with Miss Adelaide Kemble and
party.

Mr. 1. N. Wigney's library was sold on Wednesday in 1
lots, and fetched the enormous sum of £5 10s. We under
stand Mr. Wigney said, " he did not spend his money of
such trash as books."—Brighton Gazette.

PAISLEY RACES.—The Paisley race committee have an-
nounced, that, in consequence of the great commercial and
manufacturing distress now felt, there will be no meeting
this year in Paisley.
PAISLEY.—Messrs. Hastie, Oswald, and Johnston, mem-
bers of parliament, have remitted to the provost of Paisley
£l,OOB ss. 4d. which they received from gentlemen in Cal-
cutta, Madras, and Bombay, in aid of the fund for the relief
of the distressed operatives of Paisley.

The Earl of Wicklow will be honoured with the riband of
the order of St. Patrick, vacant by the death of Lord Shan-
non. The Earl of Bandon will succeed Lord Shannon as
lord lieutenant of the county of Cork.

A respite has been received by the Governor of Chester
Castle, from the Home Secretary, deferring the execution of
Robert Sandys, who was left for execution for having
poisoned his child at Stockport, during her Majesty's
pleasure.

THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT.—A HINT FOR LORD MAHON.
—The New York papers contain an advertisement, intimat-
ing that, on April the sth, " an extra quadruple Brother
Jonathan" (which, for the information of the world, is a Yan-
kee newspaper somewhat larger than the double Herald)
" will be published at the price of 23 cents. (ls.), for the pur-
pose of giving in a complete form the whole of Sir E. L. Bul-
wer's last new novel, Zanoni.' " The American public are
informed that " this will also be a rare opportunity for per-
sons wishing to forward their country friends the latest and
most popular novel of the day, as the postage can be only from
3to 4 cents to any part of the union. ' So here is Bulwer's
last new work selling in England for Ll lb. 6d., and pub-
lished in New York at Is. !

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.—On Wednes-
day the annual meeting of this society took place at Exeter-
hall, Lord Bexley in the chair; and amongst those present
were the Earl of Harrowby, the Marquis of Cholmondeley,
the Earl of Chichester, Lord Glenelg, Lord Sandon, Lord
Teignmouth, the Bishops of Chester, Chichester, Peter-
borough, Winchester, and Norwich, Sir T. D. Acland, the
Dean of Salisbury, Sz.e. The noble Chairman having
briefly addressed the meeting, called upon the secretary
to read the report of the proceedings of the last year,
from which it appeared that the total amount
received during the year, applicable to the general
objects of the society, including subscriptions, dona-
tions, legacies, dividends on stock, and contributions of
auxiliary societies, was £44,045 lls. 5d., which compared
with the receipts of the former year, shows an increase of
£1,300 17s.
The amount received fromthet
il
estaol et oftotal
amountßibles
and Testaments was £50,204 14s. 10d., and
from all sources z£95,095 4s. Bd. The number of copies
issued by the society from the same depository 'B4 r44s
was .) a
and from the depOts abroad 231,007. Total ' during'
815 551 and the total issues
the year, , , number of copies issued
since the commencement of the society
14,038,934. amounts to