The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-12-13 00:00:00

LIVER THEATRE.—The Liver Theatre is now open. Mrs.
Fitzwilliam is playing several of her amusing characters.
Mr. Hoskins and Mr. I'. Lee are engaged.

THE NEW CIIIMN

;WEEPING ACT.—George Ryley,
master sweep, was, on Saturday, charged before Air. Rush-
ton, by a young man who had been in his service, with having
compelled the said young man to enter a flue in the premises
of Messrs. Taylor and Co. The defendant was fined £5
and costs. In default of payment, he was committed for 21
days.

THE BOLD-STREET CLUB.—Mr. Shaw, Secretary of the
Bold-street Club, appeared before Mr. Rushton, on Satur-
day, having been summoned by William Dickinson, a sailor.
The latter stated, that, during his passage to Quebec, in Au-
gust last, he fell into the hold of the vessel, and broke his
arm. He remained off duty till the 30th September. On
the 17th November they were in dock at Liverpool, and on
the following day he sent a notice to the club, according to
the second rule. Mr. 'Rushton examined the rules, and
found that if members resided at a distance the Secretary
should, on receiving a form, pay any allowance, to which they
were entitled, over to such person as might be appointed, and
in the form it was set forth that no person should receive
more than one week's pay for time elapsed. Mr. Rushton
said as the accident occurred in the performance of duty, the
ship was bound to pay wages, and give medical and other at-
tendance. The claimant allowed that he had received all
this, but said he paid 2s. 2d. per week to the society, and if
he could not claim now where was the benefit. Mr. Rush-
ton said if the claimant had broken his arm on land, the club
would have been bound to pay him his allowance, as he could
not have received any wages while unable to work, but geo-
graphical circumstances had here prevented him from com-
plying with the rules, and, as a sailor, the law protected him,
and granted him wages and medical attendance during the
time he was disabled. The complaint was dismissed.
COLLISION ON THE RIVER.—On Friday, the master of
the steam-boat " Cheshire Witch," which plies between
Rock Ferry and Liverpool, appeared before Mr. Rushton to
answer a charge preferred against him by the owner of the
schooner Devonshire, who claimed damages for alleged in-
jury clone to the latter vessel by the steamer running foul of
her. The, captain of the Devonshire said that on the Friday
night previous he was steering his vessel into George's Dock
basin, and when near the entrance he saw a steamer coming
across the bows of his schooner, and she soon came in con-
tact with her. There was, he'said, plenty of room for her to
have passed between his vessel and the pier bead if she had
kept her course, which she did not, there being a space of
from 200 to 300 yards. Witness, on seeing her, had the helna
put hard-a-port. Mr. Jenkins, solicitor, who appeared for
the owners of the Cheshire Witch, said that that vessel started
on her last trip to Rock Ferry at nine o'clock that night, and
immediately on leaving George's Pier, endeavoured to get
into the strength of the tide, in doing which she had to pass
on the lee side of the Duke of Bridgewater steamer, which
had several flats in tow. In going out he saw something
black, and ordered the helm to be put a-port ; but directly
after a small boat came from under the bow of the schooner,
and he was obliged to stop the engine, otherwise the boat
would have been run down. He admitted that had the
steamer kept on her course she would have cleared the
schooner, but in that case the boat would have been swamped,
and the men in her killed or drowned. He had witnesses to
prove that had the schooner kept her helm a-port the colli-
sion would have been avoided.—Mr. Owen, a passenger on
board the steamer, spoke to the facts stated by Mr. Jenkins,
and Mr. Rushton said that the case must be dismissed, as
the captain of that vessel had acted in a humane and praise-
worthy manner ; for had he not stopped the engine at the
time, the boat would have been swamped, and the men
drowned

FORGING A CHEQUE.—A charge of forging a cheque, for
£5O, was preferred at the police-court, yesterday, against a
young man named Alexander Mason. It appeared that the
prisoner is the son of the late Mr. Robert MaSon, boot and
shoemaker, of 80ld-street, who died about two years ago.
Mrs. Mason and Mr. Pattinson (who died two months after-
wards), were left executors of the deceased's will. Mrs.
Mason, beit.g in ill health, entrusted Miss Mason and the
prisoner with the power of drawing cheques upon Messrs.
Moss, hankers ; and it, therefore, became requisite that
whenever a cheque was drawn, it should be signed by both
parties. On Saturday last, the prisoner presented a cheque
for £5O at the bank, which purported to be signed in the re-
gular way by himself and his sister, and the money was
paid to him. In the course of the day it was disco-
vered that the signature of Miss Mason was a forgery ;
and information being given to the police, the prisoner
was apprehended by Inspector Maddox whilst drinking in
the Shakspeare Tavern, Dawson-street. The sum of
£4l 17s. 3d. was found upon him. Having been placed in
custody, lie said, " I received the money : do you think they
will transport me ?" Mr. Peter Cottingham Moss, who
cashed the cheque, stated, that, in the first instance, a stran-
ger came to the bank, with a sheet of paper, on which the
form of a cheque was given ; but he went away on being told
that the signature purporting to be Miss Mason's was not
considered genuine. Shortly afterwards the prisoner came
himself, with one of the hank cheque forms filled up, and the
money was then paid to him. The money would not have
been paid to him on his own signature alone. Miss Mason
having proved that the signature was not her's, and that she
had given no authority for it to be appended, the prisoner
was called upon for his defence. He said, all he had to say
was, that he owed several sums of money, and he got the
cash out of the bank to pay them. He was committed for
trial at the next assizes.

SERIOUS ASSAULT UPON A. SIIIP-CARPENTER.—Yester-
day a man, named Robert Marsh, who is a ship-carpenter,
was brought up at the Police-court, before Mr. Rushton and
Mr. Benn, under a warrant, charging him with an assault
upon William Williams, also a ship-carpenter. Mr. James,
the barrister, and Mr. Leather, solicitor, appeared for the
complainant, and the prisoner was defended by Mr. Yates,
solicitor. Mr. James said this was one of the cases arising
out of the disturbances which, for some time past, had
existed among the shipwrights. The prisoner had taken an
active part in those disturbances, and, on one occasion, he
attempted to put a rope round the body of the complainant,
who was engaged in repairing a vessel in Queen's Graving
Dock No. 2, with the view of his being dragged out of the
dock by a body of about 200 of his associates, who were
crowded on the quay above. Had that been accomplished,
Williams would either have lost his life or have sustained
some very serious injury. The learned counsel then called
Williams, who said, that, on the 3d of November, he was
employed by Messrs. Humble and Milcrest in making
stages for a vessel in the graving dock. He was halfway
down the mud wall, when from 150 to 200 men made their
appearance upon the quay. They made a great noise, and
asked him if he was going to " knock off?" Ile replied
that he should not, unless he was ordered to do so either by
his employers or by the foreman. The prisoner, on hearing
this, came to him halfway down the mud wall ; and, there
being a Y or inch rope, with a noose at one end, hanging
from the quay, he attempted to slip the noose over his head
and body. He got it as far as the shoulders at first, but
complainant lifted it off, and this process took place several
times, the men on the quay having hold of the other end of
the rope, ready, when it should be fast, to hoist him up.
Finding that he could not succeed, the prisoner struck
him upon the head, and finally threw him to the bot-
tom of the dock. This was the assault complained.
of ; and this account was confirmed by the testimony of
Joseph Royle, the foreman. Mr. Yates cross-examined the
witnesses, but being unable to affect the credit of their evi-
dence, he stated so to the court. Mr. Rushton, in giving
the decision of the court, said, this was one of those lamenta-
ble instances of disorder on the part of workmen, which arose
out of a total misapprehension of the rights and duties of
workmen, and out of an ignorance of the law of the land.
The law of England would not permit any man to be inter-
fered with in the disposal of his labour upon whatever terms
lie might think it right and equitable to sell it. No man had
right or power over him whilst he was doing that which was
laudable and right in endeavouring to maintsin his family and
himself by his own honest industry. It was a painful thing
to find, that men, like the prisoner, who had every opportu-
nity of acquiring the best information upon their own posi-
tion and the rights of others, should think it proper to resort
to violence. After going through the facts of the case, Mr.
Rushton added, that the decision of the court was that the
prisoner should be committed for trial at the sessions ; but,
in the mean time, he might be admitted to bail on finding
sureties, himself in £4O, and two others in £2O each, to ap-
pear and answer any indictment which might be preferred
against him.

-SERIOUS ROBBERY.—Thomas Spooner, a middle aged
man, was placed at the bar of the Police-court, on Friday,
charged with having committed a fraud on his employers,
the Messrs. Crossfield and Co., wholesale grocers, carrying
on business in Temple-court. It appeared that the pri-
soner had for the last six years been their confidential ware-
houseman. His duty was to deliver the article sold during
the day by the firm, and enter it into the books by the
clerks. The article of rice the Messrs. Crossfield did not
keep in their own warehouse, but purchased large quantities
of it at a time from different rice merchants in the town,
and which was delivered as they required it. Spooner being
well known to the firms from whom the articles had been
purchased, they were delivered to him, when he applied, on
account of his employers. He took advantageof this facility,
and sold to Mr. M'Levy, of Preston, 25 bags of rice and
about one ton of raisins, the latter article being taken direct
from his employer's warehouse. He also sold, within the
last three months, to Corless and Co., who carry on busi-
ness as cocoa manufacturers, in Parliament-street, in this
town, 274 bags and several tierces of rice, the value of the
latter, altogether, amounted to nearly £5OO. The whole of
the articles sold by the prisoner were disposed of to the two
different parties considerably below the price charged by the
merchants to the Messrs. Crossfield. Mr. Rushton said
that it was a case of great suspicion against Mr. Corless,
and told him that he should consider him implicated in the
transaction unless he could satisfy him that he had taken
that precaution, which, as a respectable tradesman, he ought
to have done in the transactions. Mr. Corless stated that
he had made inquiry from the Messrs. Hall and Smith, rice
merchants, of Edmund-street, and from what they had
stated, he believed the transactions to be perfectly correct.
A messenger was immediately sent to those gentlemen, re-
questing their attendance at the court. Shortly after Mr.
Medcalf, who manages the business of those gentlemen, ap-
peared in court, and stated that he knew Mr. Corless only
by sight, but never knew him to make any inquiry of the
kind. Mr. Rushton then ordered Spooner to be committed
to the sessions, and ordered Corless to find bail to the
amount of £2OO. About half an hour afterwards, bail was
produced to the amount required, and he was liberated. By
letters found upon the prisoner, it appeared that M'Levy
had questioned him about the mode in which he had become
possessed of the articles, and the letter of Spooner, in reply,
was produced, which satisfied the mind of Mr. M'Levy as
to the correctness of the transactions. Under these circum-
stances, the magistrates considered that in the transactions
of Mr. M'Levy, with the prisoner, there was nothing that
would implicate his character.—On Saturday the prisoner
Spooner was again placed at the bar. Mr. Corless appeared
in court, attended by both his partners, Mr. Isaac Dale
Edwards and Mr. John Stephens. Mr. Davenport, solici-
tor, attended on behalf of Mr. Corless. Mr. William Bol-
derston and other witnesses were called, who showed that it
was very customary for clerks and others in the service of
large firms to do business on their own account; and testi-
mony was given which showed, that the rice purchased by
Messrs. Corless and Co. from the prisoner was not under
the market price. It further appeared, that the prisoner
Spencer had on one occasion purchased some sugar and
other articles from Messrs. Crosfield ; that Messrs. Corless
had purchased from Mr. Thomas Medcalf, Messrs. Cros-
field's clerk, twine and hags, in which he dealt, and had paid
the money for them in Messrs. Crosfield and Co.'s office. It
was also shown, that Messrs. Corless and Co. had dealt
largely with confidential persons, who, being in the service
of other individuals, were allowed to traffic on their own ac-
count. It appeared that Messrs. Corless and Co. were led
to believe that the prisoner was a confidential servant, who
was struggling to advance himself, as he represented to them,
in reply to their inquiries, that he had several shares in
building societies, and had drawn out some of them to the
amount of £3OO for the purpose of trading with the money ;
an assertion which Mr. Stephens the more readily believed,
as he knew that Spooner was building several small houses.
In his transactions with them he wrote orders at their office
for them to go to Messrs. Hill and Smith's for the rice, and
the orders were signed in his own name, so that any suspi-
cions which they might have entertained were completely
lulled. The establishment of these points, and particularly
that with regard to the fair price of the rice, completely ex-
onerated Messrs. Corless and Co. from any imputation, and
Mr. Rushton expressed his gratification that he was relieved
from what would have been a painful duty. lie still blamed
Messrs. Corless and Co. for their carelessness in having,
without more inquiry, dealt so largely with a man holding so
subordinate a situation. Mr. Stephens, in reply to a ques-
tion from Mr. Rushton, said they had paid £3OO to the pri-
soner on account, and there was still about £lOO due on the
transactions. The depositions against the prisoner were read
over, and he was committed for trial.

1 TESTIMONIAL OP RESPECT TO THE REV.
HUGH M'NEILE.

Last evening a very numerous meeting of the members
and friends of the Operative Protestant Association was held
in the Portico, Newington, for the purpose of forwarding the
intended testimonial of respect to the Rev. Hugh M`Neile,
which was suggested some time ago by Mr. John Howard.
On the motion of Mr. Taylor, JOHN MIDDLETON, Esq. was
called to the chair, and the proceedings commenced with a

supplication for the divine blessings upon them.
The CHAIRMAN said it afforded him unspeakable pleasure
to meet his operative friends at their various meetings, but
he must say that he met them with increased delight on
this occasion. The object they had in view was to at-
tempt, in some measure, to discharge that debt of gratitude
which they all owed to the Rev. Hugh M'Neile. (Loud
cheers.) He really was not aware how to commence, so

y the praise of the reverend gentle-
man. Ile saw before him many who were themselves
living monuments of the efficacy of his preaching ; and
when he told them he was himself a monument of the
efficacy of his preaching, he knew he should be speaking to
the hearts of many whom he saw before him. About six
years ago he came from the Metropolis of this kingdom to
reside in this town a confirmed dissenter from the Church;
he came recommended to join one of the dissenting congre-
gations in the town, particularly that conducted under the
ministry of the Rev. Dr. Raffles : but by the kind Providence
of God he was invited by an esteemed friend to attend the
ministry of the Rev. H. M'Neile. The rev. gentleman at
that time happened to be preaching a series of sermons upon
the services and liturgy of the established Church, in which
by the Providence of God he was directed to touch upon
many of those subjects on which he (the Chairman) objected
to the Church of England. He need scarcely tell the meet-
ing that his objections gave way. He waited upon Mr.
M'Neile privately more particularly to consult him upon
his objections to infant baptism, the younger branches
not having been baptized, as his own inclinations
leaned to adult baptism. He should not forget the kind
manner in which Mr. M'Neile spoke of his former pastor,
the Rev. Dr. Liefchild.—(Hear.) Mr. M'Neile had been
represented by some portion of the press of this town, as a
narrow-minded bigot. Now he (the Chairman) well recol-
lected his conversation with, him respecting the Reverend
Doctor. " Pray, what minister did you sit under in London ?"
Mr. M`Neile enquired. He replied, " The Rev. Dr. Lief-
child ;'' and never should he forget the evident delight with
which the rev. gentleman spoke of that eminent man ; he said
that Dr. Liefchild was one of the greatest preachers in the
kingdom. He was shocked, therefore, when he heard Mr.
M'Neile set down as a bigotted narrow-minded man; and it
was with peculiar delight he (the Chairman) now came for-
ward to lend his aid in raising some testimonial of the respect
in which they held that esteemed man.—(Loud cheers.)
From what he had heard he was happy to say, that this pro-
posed testimonial would not be confined to Liverpool ;
in fact, that there was every prospect of its becoming a
national tribute. ( Immense cheering.) The intention
had been heard of in the town of Manchester; and he had
good reason for believing that the Protestants of that town
would join their brethren in Liverpool in this laudable un-
dertaking. He had also had an intimation from a friend in
Birmingham, that the Protestants of that town would rejoice
to join them ; so that, although the present might appear but
a very small beginning, great things might be properly aimed
at. The cause indeed would gather strength as it went on.
(Loud cheers.) The chairman concluded by calling upon the
mover of the first resolution.
Mr. JOHN HOWARD rose amidst much applause and moved
the first resolution, which, with the others, will be found in
our advertising columns. He said he felt the request made
upon him to move this resolution as an unusual honour, and
he complied with it with a great deal of pleasure. He little
thought, indeed, that the suggestion which he, in the fulness
of his heart, threw out at the anniversary of the Operative
Protestant Association in the Music-hall, that some public
testimonial should be given to that excellent and eminent
man, Mr. M'Neile, would have had the influence and power
which, by God's blessing, it appeared to have. It was ano-
ther exemplification of the truth that God chose the weak
things of the earth to confound the wise. We might also see
in it a verification of that other passage from the word of
truth, " how great a matter a little fire kindleth." He
hoped the present would be a great matter; and he rejoiced
to find there had been so much notice taken of the few
words that had fallen from him on the occasion alluded to—
that they had called forth a spirit which ought to have been
called forth long ago—that we were now about at length to
pay what our enemies called a tardy tribute to one who so
well deserved our attention and regard. (Cheers.) Mr.
Howard here read the resolution, and it was received with

the most enthusiastic and prolonge'clCiaeering: He knew,he
said, how their hearts would bound as soon as they heard it.
It was a resolution fitting for the occasion, suitable to the
individual to whom it applied, and fitting to the case for
which it was intended to apply. Having, in these words,
borne the testimony of friends to the merits of Mr. M`Neile,
he would next give them the evidence of an enemy proving
the fact. Mr. Howard commented upon an editorial article
in the Liverpool Chronicle of Saturday last, beaded " The
M`Neile Testimonial," written in reply to the letter in the
STANDARD, which he showed, contrary to the intention of
the writer, furnished the strongest grounds for such a tribute
to the reverend gentleman. He concluded by repeating the
words of the Chronicle—" that some testimonial is certainly
due to Mr. M'Neile from his party." (Loud cheers.)
Mr. JOSEPH CRISP said that, in seconding the resolution,
he was placed in this awkward and unpleasant predicament :
with every desire to say a few words in support of the reso-
lution, lie had nothing left to say ; for his friend Mr. How-
ard, with all his kindness, had done him a great cruelty, for
he had taken the very bread out of his mouth. KLaughter.)
He (Mr. Crisp) had also brought the article from the Chro-
nicle, and was about to move a vote of thanks to the editor
for giving him something to read in place of a speech. But,
still thrown upon his own resources, he must say a few
words. No eulogium was required, from so humble an in-
dividual as himself, to heighten the estimation in which Mr.
M`Neile was held, not only by that meeting and this town,
but by the whole country. He quite agreed that the Rev.
Hugh M`Neile had done much, through the instrumentality
of the Protestant Operative Association, he acting as their
head, both towards returning conservative members for the
borough, and in the town council ; aye, and in helping us to
turn some liberal conservatives out of the town council, when
departing from sound principles. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
They were not proposing to raise an annual rent of
£20,000 for Mr. M`Neile : they merely proposed to present
him with a testimonial of their regard for his never ending
exertions in defence of Protestant truth. (Cheers.) A
meeting had been lately held in this town to commence an
O'Connell compensation fund, and in the speech of the Rev.
Mr. Parker he found Mr. O'Connell eulogized for his friend-
ship to the poor and enslaved, whether in Africa or America,
but he saw nothing about the enslaved factory children.
Perhaps Mr. O'Connell did not receive £1,000—" say one
thousand"—to vote against the factory question. (Hear.)
By the bye, Irishmen were very fond of boasting that they
had no venomous reptiles in Ireland ; he wondered then
what they called this reptile with a sting in his tail ?
(Cheers.) If ever there was a time in which Protestant
Associations were required more than another, even in the
rough-shod days of whig misrule, now was that time—when
Popery was marching with giant strides through the country
—when, with daringeffrontery, three cheers were given, at a
public meeting in this town, for the Jesuits, an illegal body,
and a proposition was made to build a Jesuits' College ; when
one of our best buildings was taken for what they call St. Ed-
ward's School, under a clergyman appointed by Dr. Brown, and
which he would take the liberty of calling a Jesuits' College.
—(Hear, hear.) If their exertions were wanted, they wanted
champions, and where were we to look for them, but in our
known and tried ones, in the foremost ranks of which we
found the Reverend Hugh M'Neile—(hear, hear),—who
had laboured long and fearlessly in the cause. (Cheers.)
It was a debt due to such valiant champions to avail our-
selves of every opportunity to encourage them in the good
work. (Loud cheers.) He had great pleasure in seconding
the resolution.

Mr. GLEAVE in a very energetic speech, in which he en-
larged on the extent of Mr. M'Neile's services to the cause of
Scriptural education and Protestant truth moved the second
resolution.

Mr. BARROW seconded the resolution, and the meeting
unanimously adopted it.

.
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution and it was car-
ried unanimously. The announcement was received with
tremendous cheering.

The CHAIRMAN then read a list of the subscriptions at
present obtained, and announced the several places where
they would be received. He mentioned that a Wesleyan
Methodist had subscribed half a guinea, as his first instal-
ment, towards the testimonial, and also promised that, al-
though be belonged to another congregation, his purse should
be again opened in the cause.

- .
A vote of thanks was then presented to Mr. Middleton for
his able and courteous conduct in the chair. The doxology,
" Praise God from whom all blessings flow," was next sung,
and the proceedings terminated.