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

LIVERPOOL DECEMBER SESSIONS.

The Sessions of the Peace for the Borough•of Liverpool
commenced, in the Court-house, yesterday, before JAMES
CLARKE, Esq., Recorder. The calendar contains the names

of 63 prisoners charged with felony, and 16 with misdemean-
ours ; total 79. 01 these 5 can read and write well ;13
imperfectly ; 12 can read imperfectly ; and 18 have never
been taught either. The court having been opened with the
usual formalities, the following gentlemen were sworn the
grand jury

GEORGE PARSONS, Esq., merchant, Sefton-street, fore-

man ;
Robert Wainwright Ashley, merchant, Water-street
Joseph Brice, corn-merchant, Bedford-street;
Samuel Beckwith, hide-broker, Tower-garden;
Thomas Birkett, warehouse•owner, Chorley-street ;
Henry Booth, gentleman, Bedford-street South;
Francis Boult, coal-agent, Chatham-street;
John Bent, brewer, Johnson-street ;
Robert Crosby, merchant, North John-street;
Robinson Duckworth, merchant, Canning-street ;
John Goulding jun., corn-merchant, Chorley-street ;
Charles Groves, merchant, India-buildings;
Abraham Gartside, wool-broker, North John-street ;
Peter Hope, grocer, Whitechapel ;
Herbert Clayton Langton, share-broker, Exchange-
East ;

Thomas Mather, corn-merchant, Drury-lane;
'William Oxley, merchant, Rumford-place;
Edward Langsdale, timber-merchant, Shaw-street; and
Charles Mozley, banker, Mount-pleasant.
The CLERK of the PEACE read the Queen's proclamation
against vice, profaneness, and immorality ; after which,
The RECORDER proceeded to deliver his charge to the
Grand Jury. He said he was happy, at the outset, to inform
them, that their labours at the present Sessions would not be
very heavy. He bad gone over the depositions, and he was
happy to say that none of the cases appeared to be involved;
they were short and clear ; and, therefore, they would have
no difficulty in forming a correct conclusion upon all that
were to come before them. In looking over the depositions,
he was sorry to observe several cases of robbery by confiden-
tial servants, who had, unfortunately, availed themselves of
the confidence reposed iu them to plunder their employers
to a considerable extent. He need not say that this was a
description of crime over which no police could have control
because they were not crimes of violence, but crimes which
took place clandestinely and secretly ; they were known to
none but the party himself. Now these cases, whenever
they were brought before him, he should endeavour to put
down by severe, but at the same time, he hoped, by just and
correct punishments. He had observed, also, that Sundays
seemed to be generally chosen by wicked men for the purpose
of breaking into and robbing counting-houses, dwelling-
houses, and shops. This was a description of property much
exposed to plunder on that day. There were a great number
of shops in Liverpool detached from the dwelling-houses of
the owners, and there was no one upon the premises to pre-
vent them being entered upon the Sabbath day. The thieves
got a knowledge of this fact, and, either late on Saturday
night or during Sunday, they contrived to plunder those
places. The same observation applied to counting-houses ;
and he was sorry to say there were some bad cases to come
before them with reference to such offences. Counting-houses
were also deserted upon the Sunday ; no one was left there ;
therefore, the parties could not possibly have a better oppor-
tunity than when nobody was there for breaking into them.
Wicked men knew this, and they availed themselves of their
wicked knowledge as much as they could. They endea-
voured to plunder, as much as they could, the counting-houses
of the merchants of this town when they were thus left. He
mentioned this in order_ to suggest that the owners should,
as much as possible, so remove their property that the spo-
liator could not get at it. This, he thought, was an impor-
tant hint, and he hoped it would be acted upon. He would
now refer to the old subject of gaol discipline, but not at
much length. They all knew how much anxiety there was
to reform and amend the discipline of our gaols; and he
might mention that a committee of the magistrates of this
county had been appointed to examine into and report upon
that subject. He had had the honour of being chosen a
member of that committee, but he confessed he felt consi-
derable difficulty in coming to a conclusion. A noble lord
(Lord Western) had written a sensible pamphlet upon the
necessity of holding a winter commission, and of having
more frequent gaol deliveries. His lordship, however, was
speaking of aasizes ; but unquestionably, if the jurisdiction
of magistrates were to remain so much curtailed as it was at
the present time, for they could not now try many offences
at sessions as they formerly could, you must, in the same
proportion as their jurisdiction was curtailed, give the coun-
try the power, in some way or other, to try those crimes
which the magistrates could no longer try. A large part of
the criminal calendar which the magistrates used to investi-
gate at sessions, they could not now ; therefore, the country

had a right to call for more frequent gaol deli;,eries. Lord
Western made one observation, in which he almost agreed
with his Lordship, that, however efficacious gaols might be
in point of discipline, they were not to be considered as
schools for education. That kind of idea, indeed, seemed to
be growing among the people, that if you educated the cri-
minals in gaols you turned them out reformed characters.
Now, he could not agree to that. The prisoners certainly
got a good education in the gaols ; in Lancaster Castle, which
he sometimes visited, their progress was surprising. Read-
ing and writing were often acquired there by men who went
in ignorant of both, so that, at the end of their imprison-
ment, they had been turned out very fair readers and writers
indeed. The education given there was undoubtedly good ;
and he did not agree with Lord Western that the school-
thasters ought to be removed from our gaols because they
could not accomplish all that was desired, for he thought they
did good. Nevertheless, they could not accomplish that
which after all was the great thing : although they might
communicate a great deal of knowledge, they could not re-
generate the character. The character was still a bad one,
although the prisoner might have acquired a good deal of
knowledge, Education in gaols was good as far as it went;
but the education the country wanted was education given
without the gaol—to prevent parties being committed
to gaol. Unless we could give this kind of education,
we were doing very little indeed to reform the morals
of the lower classes. It was undoubtedly of the most
pressing necessity that the education of the lower classes
of the people should be carefully attended to; and on
this subject an admirable discourse had been published by the
Lord Bishop of Ripon. It was the discourse annexed to the
annual report of the Society for the Propagation of Christian
Knowledge ; and it contained some of the very best obsgrva-
tions on this subject which be had ever read. His lordship
said the country must look after the education of the
people in time, or the consequences would be fearful;
and he (the Recorder) hoped the subject would be
looked into, to see what could be done. And now that
happily the country was in a state of peace, he hoped
the legislature and the government would take this im-
portant subject into their most serious consideration, and
do what they possibly could to reform the morals of the
people, by extending the blessings of education. He had
taken up a newspaper on Saturday, in which it was stated
that in Liverpool there were at this moment 20,000 children
who knew nothing of the Bible—who knew nothing whatever
of the blessings of a religious education. How could we deal
with such a mass of people, and how could we correct crime
if such a mass of ignorance was allowed to prevail? There-
fore, he said, if education was to be of any service, it must
be education given not in gaols, but out of gaols, to prevent,
them being committed there. The learned recorder then
dismissed the grand jury to their labours.
The traverse jury were then called over, and Mr. William
Brabazon Jones, draper, of 47, Dale-street, not answering
to his name, was fined 40s. for non-attendance, with an in-
timation that the fine would be repeated each time he did not
answer on being called.
The trials commenced shortly afterwards, but none of any
interest occurred during the day.

11/IRV/0 NANO.—Hervio Nano was received last night at
the Theatre Royal with great applause : his performances
excited the utmost astonishment. He is really a surprising
and remarkable person.
FATAL ACCIDENT.-011 Thursday, as a person named
Robert Collinson was standing near a hatchway, in the fifth
story of the factory in Vauxhall-road, his foot slipped, and
he was precipitated to the ground floor, receiving so much
injury in the back that he expired on Friday.
INTERESTING MUSICAL EVENT.—In the concerts given
by Thalberg last week in Dublin. there appeared the remark-
able spectacle of a young lady of seventeen taking part with
the great maestro in the performance of his magnificent com-
positions. This young amateur being a resident of Liverpool,
we are much pleased to be enabled to quote from the Dublin
Evening Packet the following account of her debut in that
city :—" We now come to the most agreeable part of our
task, the notice of Miss Christiana Weller, who on this occa-
sion made her appearance, and was, by the universal voice of
the entire auditory, pronounced a pianiste of rare excellence
and still rarer promise. Young she is—in the very spring
of youth and, without flattery we may add, of beauty; en-
dowed, too, with talent of the highest order—unaffected,
graceful, and lovely—it is no wonder that her reputation has
already become established. Miss Weller's style is essen-
tially pure ; her fingering rapid, distinct, and sufficiently
powerful to conquer the most difficult passages ; and her
execution clear, finished, and brilliant. Performing contem-
poraneously with the great master Thalberg, and on the
same instrument, was a bold attempt, and intimated con-
sciousness of abilities that would not suffer even by compa-
rison with ' the Leviathan.' Never was such a formidable
difficulty so completely overcome; and the enthusiastic
plaudits that rewarded her splendid fantasia, testified how
fully she shared the triumphs of the evening. On the pre-
vious day, at the Rotunda, Miss Weller and Thalberg played
his grand duet for two piano-fortes, from Norma, before a
crowded room. It was a matchless performance, and cre-
ated such enthusiasm that the audience rose en masse, and
would not be pacified until the duet was repeated. Thalberg
has already pronounced Miss Weller one of the best piano-
forte players he has ever met with ; and when so high a tri-
bute is paid to a lady only numbering seventeen summers,
what may we not expect from her after years ?"

A short time ago the Duke of Wellington narrowly escaped
choking. He was dining of a partridge, one of the small
bones of which stuck in his throat. Ordinary means having
failed to remove the bone, it was only by the use of an instru-
ment that, after much pain and great danger, his medical at-
tendant succeeded in pushing it into his grace's stomach.

The two actions brought by Messrs. Acraman and Co., of
Bristol, against the London and County Bank, for a consi-
derable sum of money in respect of securities deposited with
that bank by Messrs. Coils, Thompson and Co., and which
were specially appointed to be tried in the Court of Ex-
chequer on Tuesday next, have been withdrawn by the
plaintiffs.

BISHOPRIC OP ST. ASAPH AND BANGOR.—The union of
the two sees of St. Asaph and Bangor, which will take place
unless that portion of the act 6 and 7 William IV. relating to
the subject is repealed, meets with strenuous opposition. A
highly respectable and numerous meeting was held last Tues-
day at Carnarvon, when petitions to parliament were agreed
to, in which, after pointing out the increased necessity for
episcopal superintendence, the petitioners say—" The bi-
shoprics of St. Asaph and Bangor have been, from very an-
cient times, endowed with funds solemnly dedicated to the
maintenance of the church in North Wales, and they cannot
feei it consistent with the interests of religion or with the
demands of justice, or even with the report of the ecclesias-
tical commissioners, to unite these sees in order to divert a
portion of these funds to the endowment of a bishopric in a
district unconnected with Wales, and one of the wealthiest
in the empire."

THE CHARGES AGAINST ALDERMAN WOOD OF LONDON.
—The committee of aldermen met again on Saturday, to
pursue the inquiry into the charges against Mr. Alderman
Thomas Wood. A letter was read from the alderman de-
clining to comply with the resolution that he should furnish
the charges against himself as well as the answers. He was
ready to meet any tangible charae instantly, and to produce
all the affidavits, papers, and books relating to the Talacre
Mine. One passage implying that the Court of Aldermen
had refused to elect him mayor on account of those charges,
the chairman warmly denied that any one had made any
charge, or that Mr. Alderman Wood had a right to ask the
reason of any man's vote. As no alderman would assume
the post of accuser, and Mr. Alderman Wood refused to ac-
cuse himself, the chairman proposed to apply to the Court of

Aldermen for fresh instructions. Sir Mei:Laurie proposed
to accept the offer in the letter of the affidavits. Mr. Alder-
man Wood did not see how he could do this if there was no
charge. None were so closely looked after as solicitors.
Merchants and others could commit nefarious acts and in-
dulge in fraudulent speculations with impunity. Sir Peter
Laurie said, if he was Alderman Wood, he would not stand
for forms, but go at once into the matter, and sell the coat off
his back to trounce the traducers. He moved that the papers
be received. This was, after some warm discussion, agreed
to, and the papers were ordered to be printed.