The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-05-24 00:00:00

CHURCH PASTORAL Am SOCIETY.—The Rev. John
Harding, Rector of Blackfriars, London, in a letter addressed
to the Record, says, " inasmuch as the society can do no-
thing of itself, but can act only so far as the clergy avail
themselves of its assistance, and are sanctioned by their
diocesan in so doing, if any man finds fault with the society,
he does, in fact, impeach that large body of clergy who have
connected themselves with it, and those prelates of the
church who, by their patronage of the society, or their
licenses given to the curates supported by its funds, have
countenanced and encouraged its proceedings."
FATAL ACCIDENT.—We deeply regret to announce that
an accident, which has proved fatal in its results, occurred
yesterday, about two o'clock, to the under-named respected
gentleman, at his residence, Stormount, within a short dis-
tance of this town. It appears Mr. Cleland had employed a
number of men in pulling down an old house, lately occupied
by one of his own servants. While the men were proceed-
ing with the work, as Mr. Cleland was superintending their
operations, the gable of the house suddenly gave way, and,
coming down with a tremendous crash, melancholy to re-
late, buried the unfortunate and lamented gentleman beneath
its ruins. He expired almost instantly.— Ulster Times.
KINSALE PETITION—About forty witnesses started yes-
terday for London. Some of the friends of Mr. Watson,

summoned at the instance of the petitioner, seem not in-

clined to go, but we dare say the Speaker will know how to
deal with them. If we are not misinformed, there are ample
proofs that Mr. Watson has no right to the seat he holds.
We intimated at the time that in a few months the honour-
able gentleman would be wishing his money in his pocket ;
but he would not listen to us.—Cork paper.
A WITTY BARBER.—A gentleman went into a shop in
Bedford, on Whit Monday, to be shaved ; the barber was
engaged in shaving a tailor of the same street, with whom he
was conversing on the conduct or misconduct of some of the
professors of religion. During the time the young man was
operating, the tailor remained mute, but as soon as he had
an opportunity of wagging his jaw without fear, with attitude
and elocution surpassing that of Kemble himself, he ex-
claimed, " You may tell a tree by its fruit ;" when the bar-
ber, fixing his eye upon his waistcoat, which was joined in
two places, calmly said, " If I may judge of your waistcoat,
your's is cabbage."—Bedford Mercury.
INSOLVENCY AND DISSOLUTION OF THE COMMERCIAL
STEAM-PACKET COMPANY. This company, the head-
quarters of which was London, is insolvent, and its affairs
are now winding up. Its liabilities amount to £140,000.
£112,000 has been offered for its vessels, and the shareholders
are called upon to make up, by a per centage on their shares,
the deficiency of £28,000, besides losing all their capital.
The following question was put and answer given at the
meeting of the shareholders, held on Thursday last :—A
proprietor : " What has been the cause of the present state
of the company's affairs ?'z Mr. Wire : "It arose from the
competition of two or three companies against each other,
when their vessels were running for fares that were de-
structive to both. At one time, a shilling was the charge for
going to Boulogne." (Hear.)
CHARTIST AGITATION AGAINST ENLISTMENT.—SinCe

the meeting of chartist delegates, held at Birmingham about
a month since, a systematic agitation has been carried on
in that town and neighbourhood, for the purpose of deterring
persons from enlisting in her Majesty's service ; and it is
known that the agents employed in these disloyal and sediti-
ous practices, have not confined their efforts to mere argu-
ments against enlistment. but have, in many cases. tampered
with the soldiers, en route for foreign service, with the view
of inducing them to desert. One of the serjeants, in endea-
vouring to pass through the streets, was assailed with abusive
epithets, and so obstructed, for many days, that he complain-
ed to the police, who took the offenders into custody, and
they were bound over to answer any charge that may be pre-
ferred against them.
THE NEW TARIFF.—DUTY ON CORK. The duty at
present payable on cork is Bs. per cwt., and in consequence
of its being stated in the new tariff that the duty on that
article will, from and after sth Jan., 1843, be reduced to Is.
per " ton," it was generally believed by the trade that the
duty on this item in the tariff was, by mistake, incorrectly
given, the present duty being imposed by the cwt., and that
the word "ton" had been misprinted, or inadvertently in-
serted for cwt. To remove all doubts on the subject, a gen-
tleman, at the request of several cork manufacturers, wrote
a letter to Sir Robert Peel, respectfully requesting to be
informed whether the new duty of ls. was to be imposed by
the cwt., as at present, or by the ton. On Saturday morning
the Premier's reply was received, and is as follows :
" Whitehall, 20th May, 1842. Sir,—l am directed by Sir
Rober Peel to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the
16th May, that the duty on cork, in the new tariff, is meant
to be taken by the ton.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
(signed,) W. H. Stephenson. Mr. Goodfellow, 14, Burr-
street, Lower East Smithfield."
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•
TRACTARIANISM.-It gives us much pleasure to lay the
following information before our readers :—" By the provi-
sions of the Theological Statute passed at Oxford last week,
Dr. Hampden, the Regius Professor of Divinity, has been
constituted Chairman of the New Theological Board, and is
also recognised as a public University Professor in Dogmatic
Theology. The statute, therefore, virtually rescinds the
judgment passed by the University on the Professor's theo-
logical opinions, in 183 G, on occasion of his appointment to
the chair by Her Majesty, at the recommendation of the late
whig administration." This is as it ought to be. The ap-
pointment we consider excellent in itself ; while it is another
proof that Tractarianism is fading in the estimation of those
in places of highest influence in the church. As we have
already intimated, we are disposed to think, that in future
our warfare will be chiefly directed, not against Puseyism in
its rampant state, but against its principles, insidiously ad-
vanced as the principles of our church, while in essence they
are Tractarian principles—in other words, Popish principles
—as these are diametrically opposed to the principles of the
gospel.—Record.
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION IN A BED.—A few days since
a remarkable case of the spontaneous combustion of a bed
occurred in the family of C. D. Archibald, Esq., F.R.S., of
Portland-place, Leamington, which, but for its timely disco-
very, might have led to very disastrous results. The alarm
was given of a fire which had broken out in one of two bed-
steads in a bedroom, on which there were two beds, the one
a paillasse and the other what was supposed to be a hair mat-
tress. It was promptly extinguished by the application of
water, when it was ascertained that a hole, about eight inches
in diameter, had burned completely through the floor imme-
diately under the bed, and. on examining the bedding, a cor-
responding circle of combustion was found both in the mat-
tress and paillasse. The former turned out, on examination,
instead of hair, to have merely a thin superficial covering of
that substance, the interior being made up, amongst other
things, of roughly broken flax, tow, and oakum, which sub-
stances only require the contact of oil or grease to ignite of
themselves. This process, which goes on under ordinary
circumstances of the atmosphere, would unquestionably be
promoted even by such an elevation of temperature as mere
animal heat. It would appear, that after having commenced
in the tow or other contents at the under side of the mat-
htress, thence to have burned downwards through the paillasse,
the straw and ignited materials setting fire to the floor, and
thence to the curtains and hangings. Mr. Booth, the lectu-
rer on chemistry, who has paid much attention to this curious
and intricate subject, and to whom these facts were thus re-
lated, finds no difficulty in adding this to the many authentic
cases of spontaneous combustion; and, as many such mat-
tresses are undoubtedly in use, it should operate as a whole-
some caution.

THE CASE OF MR. C. MATEIEWS.—In the Observer of
last Sunday a general analysis of the schedule and other docu-
ments filed in the Insolvent Debtors' Court by Mr. C.
Mathews, the late manager of Covent-garden Theatre, was
given, and we now proceed, from the same sources, to state
some further particulars relating to the speculations in which
that gentleman and Madame Vestris were concerned. In
the first place, it may be stated that the performers have sub-
scribed to present Mr. C. Matthews and his wife with an ele-
gant candelabrum, which has been made in testimony of
their approval of the late management of the theatre; but
the same will not be presented until after the final hearing
of the case, as it would become the property of the creditors ;
and for the same reason no benefit will take place, as it has
been suggested should be given, on account of the losses sus-
tained in the establishment. Mr. C. Mathews took his bene-
fit at Covent-garden Theatre on Saturday night, and he
was taken in execution on the following Monday. The
question, therefore, naturally arose, what had he done
with the money ? That question is, however, easily an-
swered, by reference to the schedule, in which is a state-
ment showing that he had anticipated the proceeding
by borrowing various sums of persons, to whom he gave
orders on Mr. Robertson, the treasurer, and they were
paid accordingly. In this way the money was dissi-
pated, and Mr. Mathews left with a very few pounds. It
seems that the trip to America was an unfortunate one, and
that a sum of £5OO remitted for the purposes of the Olympic
Theatre was an entire loss. The general balance-sheet
(which, by the practice of the court, must commence from
the earliest date in the schedule) shows that £650 was re-
ceived for thirteen nights' performance at New York ; £4OO
for twelve nights at Philadelphia; and £7OO on the second
engagement at New York, of fourteen nights, making in the
whole £1750, whilst the expenses were about £lOOO. It is
stated on the schedule-sheet, that from Easter to the closing
the performers above £8 a-week received only half salaries ;
and in juxta-position to the debt of £6,166, claimed by the
proprietors for arrears of rent, is a long statement setting
forth the agreement under which the theatre was taken, the
effect of which is to show that it was taken verbally from
Mr. Moore, with an understanding that any sum above
£5,000 to £7,000 a-year would be accepted, after deducting
£6O a week for his own services and those of Madame
Vestris ; and until a recent period before the close he was
not aware of the present claim, having paid during the
three seasons the sums of £5,000, £6,150, and £2,384 ;
besides which last-mentioned sum, £7OO would accrue
from private boxes, and £l,OOO from the German Opera
now performing at the theatre. The balance-sheet states,
that £750 a year has been spent in household
_expenses,
£l4O a year for horse hire and keep, and £350 a year
for clothes and theatrical dresses. Among the property
detained by the proprietors are clothes and theatrical ward-
robes to the estimated value of £5OO. There are no perform-
ers in the schedule as creditors for services rendered at Co-
vent-garden, and a very few of those who were engaged at
the Olympic. The names of various moneylenders " are
set forth ; and, with the law expenses, amounting to £4,500
in less than five years, is indicative of certain
involvements.
A sum of £3,000 was raised by way of annuity, which soon
disappeared in payments. When Madame Vestris com-
pounded with her creditors to about £8,0.00, she raised the
money by sale of her own property, and it appears that her
jewels alone were sold for £l,OOO. A vast deal of informa-
tion is given in the schedule. The theatrical speculations of
the parties—the struggles behind the scenes to Pursue the
career whilst all was glittering in front—form at once a curi-
ous and instructive lesson to those aho look at more than
the outside, or the keeping up of appearances, or to the reali-
ties of life.