The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-30 00:00:00

LITERARY CURIOSITY

In the first number of the Liverpool Magazine (for Janu-
ary of the coming year), we find the following specimen of
literary trifling. The author, Mr. James Scott Walker,
concludes an alliterative epistle to the editor of the magazine
10 these words :—" You will remark that the rigmarole is
really in rhyme, but it is neither right nor reasonable to
"Peet, in a writer so restrained, right rhyme and right rea-
s°ll.' Nevertheless, I hereby challenge any poet, poetaster,
or pet of the petticoats, pedant or pedagogue, in the parish,
to prove his pre-eminence in producing a parallel piece, per-
taining to poesy, so playful and so pointed."

GREAT BRITAIN

AN ALLITERATIVE ACROSTIC

IZEAT-BRITAIN ! glorious, gallant, generous, good ;
II espeeted round remotest regions rude;
-11 E nlightened, envied, energy-endued;
A liens and allies, all award alone
o thee Truth's tribute—triumph to thy throne 1

ritannia! braving battle, billow, breeze ;
etrieving rights repriss'd, restores, refrees:
iidustrious, indomitable isle!
T by treasures te'; !by thriving trade; thy toil :
rts, arms, achic% ,ments—Albion's ardent aim,
Insult incenses. injuries inflame;
lit numbers, nine-fold nervous, note thy noble name !

[The only slip (if it may be so called) from perfect allite-
ration throughout is the use of the pronoun thy in the last
line, which appears to have been unavoidable from the pau-
city of words in the English language commencing with the
letter n.—En. STAN D• 3

A Young French lady, said to be worth " £lOO,OOO ster-
Lug;" advertises in the Parisian papers her desire to marry
aq English nobleman. The intrinsic value of such a lady,
without her money bags, is something less than a farthing.

ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL

The adjourned meeting of the town-council was held at
eleven o'clock on Wednesday, in the council chamber of the
Town-hall. The MAYOR presided.

GARDENS' COMMITTEE

The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK read the proceedings of this
committee ; from which it appeared that Mr. Isaac Holmes
had been appointed chairman.

COURT OF REQUESTS' COMMITTEE.
From the proceedings of this committee, it appeared that
- Cattrell, assistant clerk to the treasurer of the Court of
Requests, had been dismissed for the misappropriation of
certain monies in his possession. There were F. ixty-two can-
didates for the vacant situation, whose testimonials were
carefully examined, and the number reduced to six. The
committee recommended that Thomas Ashbrook be appointed
to the office, at a salary of ;£llO per annum, on condition of
his finding security in the sum of £2OO, and not to be di-
rectly or indirectly concerned in private business.
On the motion of Mr. COOPER, seconded by Mr. J. B.
LLOYD, the appointment of Mr. Ashbrook was confirmed.

cnuncu EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE.
The proceedings of this committee comprised only the
appointment of Mr. William Birkett as chairman.

TOWN-HALL ESTABLISHMENT COMMITTEE

The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK read the proceedings of !this
committee. It appeared that the committee had left the
appointment of porter in the Town-hall (in the place of
Robert Hurley, dismissed for misconduct) at the disposal of
the Mayor.
The MAYoR stated, that he had appointed a person of the
name of John Jones, who was formerly in the police force,
to the office of porter. He mentioned this circumstance
because the appointment bad not, as yet, come before the
committee.—The proceedings were confirmed.

OBSERVATORY COMMITTEE.
The Observatory Committee, it appeared, had re-appointed
Mr. James Aikin their chairman.

HEALTH OF TOWN COMMITTEE

The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK read the proceedings of this
committee, from which it appeared that Mr. James Aspinall
had been appointed chairman, and Mr. Birkett deputy chair-
man. The proceedings detailed several acts, on the part of
the committee, under the new law with reference to the
erection of cottage property in different parts of the town.
The surveyor, it further appeared, had been requested by the
committee to report whether, in his opinion, the two district
surveyors would be adequate to the duties of inspection under
the new act ; and his report being in the affirmative, as their
present duties would be lightened, the committee had ap-
pointed thew, without any recommendation for increased
salaries.
Mr. BIRKETT said, that in the absence of the chairman of
the committee, he had been requested to move the confirma-
tion of the proceedings, and in doing .so, he should make a
few observations. The committee had proceeded, in the first
place, in the carrying out of their duties, to direct the town-
clerk to placard the walls of the town as extensively as lie
could with the regulations imposed by the new act upon
parties about to build; and, in the next place, to provide
that, at the small cost of sixpence, every one interested in
building might have a copy of the act itself. The committee
had, since then, given an opinion—which he believed they
were not bound to• do, but which they were willing to take
upon themselves for the general benefit of the inhabitants ;
namely, that if the parties about to build would submit to
them two copies of their plans, the committee would then
give the sanction of their opinion. The committee could not
allow or disallow any thing except in conformity or other-
wise with the act; but if parties would submit their plans to
them, the committee would, under the advice of the town-
clerk, give their opinion whether or not those plans were in
conformity with the act. This course, he thought, would be
found to do away with much of the objection to the act. In
the course of his engagements with this committee, he had
had occasion to notice, in conjunction with Mr. Lace, the
great improvement which had, of late, taken place in the
construction of dwellings for the poor. The new act, he
thought, would be a very great benefit to the town. With
regard to old property, the committee hoped it would be
found that, by this act, the council had delivered the owners
of that description of property from the great burden of the
Marquis of Normanby's bill, which would have been in
many instances injurious to their property ; the committee
earnestly hoped, therefore, that the owners of that property
would save them the trouble of doing that which they were
determined to do, firmly but temperately, to carry out the
act by flagging and paving courts. The committee had
desired the district surveyors to enforce these regulations
upon all parties, without respect ; and, at the same time, the
committee were determined to carry out the regulations with
regard to old property; for if they did not, it would be a
fraud upon parliament, which, in this act, had given Liver-
pool an exemption from the more stringent clauses in Lord
Normanby's bill. He moved the confirmation of the pro-
ceedings.
Mr. COOPER seconded the motion, and it was carried.

PAID OFFICERS' COMMITTEE—STATEMENTS OF THE
TOWN-CLERK, THE DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK, AND THE
CLERK OF COMMITTEES.
Mr. J. B. LLOYD, as chairman of the Paid Officers' Com-
mittee, said the committee thought the more convenient plan
would be for the council to receive the remarks of the com-
mittee upon the statements of the town-clerk, the deputy
town-clerk, and the clerk of committees, which had been
printed on Saturday, for the convenience of the members of
the council. It was only on Saturday that the statements
had passed the committee, or else it would have been more
in order that the remarks of the committee, together with
their resolutions, should have been, in accordance with the
standing orders, deposited in the office of the clerk of com-
mittees. Time, however, had not been allowed for that.
Tile committee had sat day by day in order to bring up the
report, so that the council must come to some conclusion, for
it was most important to all the departments, that a speedy
settlement should take place. If the council would permit
him, he would read the remarks of the committee upon the
officers' statements which had been printed. By the sum-
mons paper, it appe,red that the statements of the town-
clerk, the deputy town-clerk and the clerk of committees,
would be read and taken into consideration ; now they could
not be taken into consideration, except in connection with
the report. Perhaps, therefore, the remarks of the com-
mittee should be first read.
Mr. LACE suggested that the council should first hear the
wishes of the town-clerk and the deputy town-clerk.
Mr. LLOYD admitted that their statements must first be
read ; and the remarks of the committee thereon would fol-
low.
Mr. HORNDY presumed it was not the intention of the
chairman of the Paid Officers' Committee to press the coun-
cil to a decision, either by receiving the report, or the adoption
of the plan suggested by the Town-clerk and other officers.
He conceived that as the standing orders had not been ad-
hered to by which members of the council were entitled to
see, two days before the meeting, what was to be brought be-
fore them, it would not be correct to come to a decision upon
such a very important question to-day. The council were
not at all aware of what the proceedings of the Paid Officers'
Committee had been since their last report; in fact, all they
knew was the substance of the statements of the officers.
Mr. BIRKETT thought it would be very desirable for the
chairman to make the committee's statement, and for the
officers to make theirs, in order that the council might see
how the matter stood. He candidly confessed that he was
not, at present, in a position to give an opinion upon the
subject one way or the other. He understood from one party
that the report recommended an exceedingly large amount of
salary ; and, on the other hand, he had been told by the
committee that it did no such thing—on the contrary, that
there would be a saving. On these grounds he wished to
hear the chairman of the committee first.
Mr. Nicol. inquired where this was to end. First, there
was a report of the Paid Officers' Committee, then an answer
from the officers ; next they were to have a rejoinder to that
reply, and, in all appearance, the Paid Officers' Committee
would wish to make their comments on that, it appeared
to him something like a chancery suit, in which the Council
were to have a paper communication from the parties every
month respectively. Was this reply to the statements of the
Town-clerk and the Deputy Town-clerk to be the last? Was
the Council now to come to a decision ?
The MAYOR said it was impossible for the Council to form
an opinion on that point until they had heard the statements.
Mr. Nicol. asked whether the standing orders defined or
limited such a proceeding?
Sir Tiros. BRANCKER and Mr. LLOYD apprehended that
the statements of the officers should be first read.
The TOWN-CLERK said it was only necessary to refer to the
order of the council to see at once the correct course of pro-
ceeding. He then read the resolution of the 19th October,
directing the officers to make their statements upon the re-
port of the Paid Officers' Committee. From this he consi-
dered that the straightforward course would be, first to read
the statements of the officers, made through the committee,
which had been printed. With regard to any rejoinder on
the remarks of the committee, he should hope that nothing of
that kind would be necessary ; they would take place in
council, and save any further trouble on the part of the Paid
Officers' Committee.
After a few words from G. 11. LAWRENCE and Mr.
LLOYD, it was arranged that the officers' statements should
be read in the first instance.
The DEPUTY TOWN-CLERK then read the statements,
which occupied considerably more than half an hour. The
document commenced with a general introduction, stating,
that the statements of the Town-clerk, the Deputy Town-
clerk, and Clerk of Committees, were made in compliance
with a resolution passed in the council of the 19th October
last, to the effect that the first report of the committee was
to be taken into consideration at a future day, and that in
the meantime the above-named fdrictionaries, with the
Serjeant at Mace, were to state their views in writing upon
the portions of the report which referred to them, with any
suggestions for the improvement of their respective depart-
ments. It then proceeded with the