The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-29 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS.

FIRE AND Loss OF LIFE.—A fire occurred in London on
Wednesday, in Loder's-place; Chapel-street, by which a
little boy, four years old, lost his life.
The trial of Good for the Roehampton murder will take
place at the coming sessions of the Central Criminal Court,
which begin on Monday week. It is thought the day fixed
for the trial will be either Thursday or Friday.

Forty thousand emigrants were sent out to New South
Wales last year, at a cost to the Colonial Government of
X 900,000. In future the average number of emigrants to
that colony is to be limited to 10,000, and to Van Dienaan's
Land, £l,-500.

Advices from Belfast mention the suspension of payment
of Messrs. Curell and Sons, manufacturers of that place. It
is supposed that only time is required to enable them to meet
their liabilities.

CORDAGE AND OAKUM.—By a return moved for by Sir
Howard Douglas, M.P., the total quantity of foreign cordage
and cables imported during the year ended the sth of January,
1841, was 5092 cwt. ; and the total quantity of oakum so im-
ported 13,271 cwt.
We understand that the marriage of Miss Cecil Wellesley,
only unmarried daughter of the Hon. and Rev. Dr. Gerald
Wellesley, a sister of Viscountess Chelsea, with the Hon.
Mr. Liddell, son of Lord Ravensworth, is to be solemnized
in the course of the ensuing month. The fair betrothed is
niece to the Duke of Wellington.

The London Courier newspaper is advertised for sale. Mr.
George Robins is the auctioneer, who says in the advertise-
ment that the " retrograde march" of the Courier is owing
" to its having in an evil hour been tempted to advocate
those political (liberal) principles that fortunately now are
very much out of fashion."

FREE TRADE BEEF.—About a fortnight ago, a young
gentleman at Pendleton lost a fine young well-bred horse by
accident. The animal was bought by a person at Eccles,
where it was cut up with a little skill, salted, and sold in
Manchester for free-trade, or South American, beef at 4d.
per lb.

CURIOSITY DISAGREEABLY GRATIFIED.—TWO females
applied for admission to the Crown Court at the Gloucester
assizes, one of them remarking that she had never seen a
trial, and wished to have an opportunity of doing so. She
had not been present long before she was recognised by a
policeman as a person who was charged with a robbery at
Cheltenham. She was immediately apprehended, a bill was
found against her, and her curiosity to be present at a trial
was gratified to a greater extent than was agreeable, she
being the party tried, and being sentenced to six months'
imprisonment.
•• - - •

RIOT AT WlGAN.—Great distress has for some time pre-
vailed in the town of Wigan, and particularly among that
unfortunate class of operatives the handloom weavers, who,
in consequence of the introductiGn of power looms, or some
other cause, are unable, when in work, at 14 hours per day,
to earn more than from 4s' to is. per week. Many thou-
sands of these wretched people, scattered throughout the ma-
nufacturing district, are wholly destitute of the means of
subsistence, excepting the relief so niggardly doled out by
poor law guardians, who cannot, legally, afford them any
out-door relief whatever. Groups of hundreds of these poor
men and their families are continually parading the streets,
craving charity. On Thursday last they assembled in un-
usually large numbers, in Wigan, and about six hundred of
them went in a body to the board room, where the guardians
of the Wigan union were sitting, and there demanded instant
relief. This was denied, and they were ordered to leave the
premises, upon which they rushed towards the ;board-room,
demanding " Food or death, " and took possession of it.
The guardians were put to flight, and the police were sent
for, but they were unable to disperse the mob. Upon this,
the authorities, fearing for the peace of the town, held a
consultation, when it was determined to send for the mili-
tary from the barracks, who speedily arrived under the di-
rections of the Mayor. They were two companies of the 60th
Rifles, who drew up in front of the mob. The officer in
command civily but firmly desired the mob to disperse on
pain of consequences, which they ultimately did without
resorting to violence. Placards have since appeared upon
the walls, headed " Bread v. Steel," calling a public meeting
to take into consideration the best means of satisfying the
immediate wants of these starving people.

SUSPECTED MURDER.—MERTHYR, APRIL 24.—The ma-
nufacturing town of Merthyr (in the Welch hills) was thrown
into much excitement yesterday afternoon, in consequence
of the discovery of the body of an old woman, of the name of
Edwards, hid under a bedstead in her own house, a wretched
hovel, in Plymouth-street, near the tram-road. It appears
that the deceased, who was 70 or 73 years of age, resided as
above, her son and his wife living with her, and sleeping on
the bed underneath which the body was found. The old
woman having been missed by her neighbours for some days
past, inquiries were made of her son as to where she was, in
answer to which the son stated, that she had gone a few miles
into the country. On his leaving the house yesterday morn-
ing he told his wife that he was going to Dowlais to get his
pay, and particularly ordered her not to look under the bed.
After he had left, the wife, excited by curiosity to know what
it was her husband was so anxious to conceal from her, went
to a neighbour's house, and told two women of it, who agreed
that the wife ought to see what it was. The three women
then returned to the house, and raising the foot vallance of
the bedstead, were horror-struck at observing the body of the
poor old woman under the bed partially wrapped up in a
sheet, and quite dead. The alarm having been given, the su-
perintendent of police was sent for, and from the information
obtained by him suspicion pointed instantly to the son as the
murderer, and the more readily so from the son being the
person who was two years since committed for the murder of
a poor Irish girl, an unfortunate woman of the town. In
that case, the evidence not being deemed conclusive, Edwards
was acquitted on his trial at the assizes. Information was
immediately given to the coroner, Mr. T. Davis, and at five
o'clock last evening the coroner and a respectable jury as-
sembled ; having viewed the body, the inquest was adjourned
until six o'clock, Monday evening, in order to allow time for
the post mortem examination of the body. The police are in
active pursuit of the murderer, but have not as yet succeeded
in capturing him. •
SHOCKING MURDER IN WALES.—On Friday, the 15th
instant, a revolting murder was committed at a place called
Coed e Vedw, which is the name given to a few cottages in
the parish of Dingestow, about two miles and a half from
Ragland, on the road to Monmouth. The victim was a child
one year and ten months' old, named Eliza Hughes, who
died by the hands of its own mother, committed by drowning
it in a pan of water, and then cutting open the abdomen.
The unhappy woman, who is thlrty-nine years of age, and
has been married about three years, is insane. A few days
before the committal of the dreadful deed, she appeared low-
spirited and dejected, but not sufficiently so as to cause any
alarm to her husband and neighbours. On the day of the
murder, her husband returned home to dinner rather before
his usual time, and told his wife that, as he was in a hurry,
he would not wait for his dinner to be cooked, but would
have bread and cheese. He dandled his child on his knees
during the time ; and, on going back to his work, the little
creature followed him to the door. The mother told her
husband to pick her up and kiss her, which he did ; and it
must have been soon after his departure that the unhappy
creature destroyed it. She immediately posted to a neigh-
bour, a quarter of a mile from the house, and narrated the
particulars of her crime, and was soon afterwards apprehended
at Penrose. Since her apprehension, up to the time of her
being conveyed to the county jail on Monday evening, she
was exceedingly violent and outrageous, but did not make the
least allusion to her child. An inquest has been held on the
body, and a verdict of wilful murder returned against Maria
Hughes. The wretched woman was forthwith conveyed to
Monmouth jail.
THE ROYAL MASQUE.—Her Majesty's " Masque" still
continues to be the ruling topic. Her Majesty has signified
her gracious permission that each fair leader of fashion
should bring her own baronial court to pay liege homage to
Edward and Phillippa, and in the costume of such epoch as
best may suit themselves, their sworn knights and dames
The most remarkable addition to the splendour of the pageant
on the ]2th of May will be the Court of her Royal Highness
the Duchess of Cambridge. Her Royal Highness, with cha-
racteristic good taste, has adopted the character of Anne de
Bretagne.
i The costume of this Princess is the most beau-
tiful,
and s preserved in many illuminated volumes with all
its original grace and splendour and the minutest detail, this
celebrated beauty having brought the largest province of
France as an accessjon to the French crown, and married
successively two sovereigns of that great country. The cos-
tume belongs, besides, to one of the most splended and
and chivalric period of French annals. Fifty followers are
to accompany Her Royal Highness, most of them wearing the
costumes of the great dignitaries of the Court of Charles
VIII. and his successor. We do not know what costume
her Royal Higness's consort will wear, but the character of
the stalwart, chivalric knight and kind-hearted sovereign,
Louis XII, would well befit him, not only in the superfices,
but in the moral similarity of disposition and habits.
Amongst the cortege of her Royal Highness will be formed
four complete quadrilles—French, German, Spanish and
Italian. We hear that their Excellences the French Ambas-
sador and Ambassadress have joined with her Royal High-
ness, and, no doubt, will contribute to uphold the memory
of one of the noblest Royal dames that ever bore the sceptre
of St. Louis. The Countess of Jersey, we hear, is to wear
the costume which the great Medici, by the ascendancy of
their taste and their power, rendered so much a vogue in
past ages, and which bears the stamp of the classic source
from which it flowed. All these arrangements would, how.
ever, lose their charm if, from the very outset, the Royal
mummers were mixed. It is, therefore, expected that each
party will rendezvous at :some given point, and thus pro-
ceed to the " Masque." It is therefore expected, we repeat
that Her Majesty, seated under a canopy, will receive the
bright squadrons with their seperate cognizances as they
arrive, and that these, as soon as they have paid their obei-
sances to Royalty, will file off right and left, to raised seats
in the Presence Chamber, and in their turn become specta-
tors, after being actors in the mimic scene—until, at last, the
brilliant assemblage being complete, the quadrilles, under
their seperate leaders, will once more occupy the floor. Be-
sides this, younger ladies of high rank are organizing quad-
rilles, of which each of the partners is to wear some uniform
peculiar dress. Vie never knew curiosity in matters of
pleasure more intensely excited. This projected (and now
determined)fete has been received by all classes with general
acclamation, ministering, as it will, not only to the pleasures
of the great but to the resources of the industrions.—Morn-
ing Post.

THE QUEEN DOWAGER.—The health of Queen Adelaide,
we are concerned to announce, precludes the possibility of
her venturing out of doors at present. Her Majesty has
been confined to Marlborough House since her return to
London, and it is gratifying to notice the affectionate atten-
tions of her royal relatives, who, without exception, are con-
stant in their visits to the august patient. Her Majesty em-
ploys her leisure in works of charity, and it was only the other
day that she sent for the Lady Mayoress, and presented her
with a handsome assortment of articles for the charitable
bazaar held on Wednesday and Thursday at the Egyptian
Hall, many of which having been worked by her Majesty's
own hands, possess a value for purchasers which neither cost
of material nor nicety of workmanship could bestow. Her
Majesty has been advised to try the air of the south of De-
vonshire, and will, we are informed, select a residence for
this purpose during the ensuing autumn. The voyage across
the channel, it is feared, would prove too severe a shock for
isec delicate frame, or the south of France is generally con-
sideredrecommendedthe most y desirable
physicians.climate, andn tb e hadfirs
first instance,
previously
bn
w
two or
rhtebrrMeete=si.llrlmove to Bushy Park for a period of
rgus.

DEATH OF THE FRENCH MINISTER OF FINANCE.—A
great shock was given in Paris on Monday in the ministerial
and financial circles by a report being spread that M. Humann,
the Minister of Finance. had died suddenly that morning.
On inquiry the intelligence proved to be true, the unfortu-
nate gentleman having been struck with an apoplectic fit,
which proved instantly fatal. M. Humann had been slightly
indisposed for some days, and on Sunday his medical attend-
ant thought proper to bleed him, but none of his friends or
family had any serious cause to be alarmed, and the blow
which has fallen was as sudden as unexpected. It must be
admitted that he was an able Minister, and none but a man
of his talent and energy could have carried the finances of
France so well through the crisis occasioned by the Thiers
administration. Indeed, his loss will be severely felt; and it
is possible that the plan, now before the Chambers, of esta-
blishing a general system of railroads, will have to be laid
It is said, that M. Duchatel, Minister
ke pro tempore. the financial
of the L I •
will
acave ap aigne be
de-
partment,
asidefolrnttehreioprr,ewseini
of M. Hamann. M. Humann, on the morn-
ingtu.ndle
the successor
had breakfasted, and retired in his usual
and that either he or M. L
of his death,
goo
d he found
good health into his library. On his secretary entering about
an hour afterwards, him extended on the floor. He
raised him up, but life was quite extinct.