The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1843-05-26 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

INTERESTING CIRCUMSTANCE.  It will probably be remembered by a few of our readers that about eighteen months since a lady of the name of Mrs. Dunn, the wife of a clergyman at New Brunswick,) visited this town on a laborious and arduous mission from the parish of her husband, tor the purpose of collecting subscriptions in this country towards the payment of a debt which had been incurred in the erection of a church in that parish, which is an island situated in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, about thirty miles from the main land of the Province of New Brunswick, twenty miles in extent, inhabited by about 190 families, numbering 1.100 souls, principally occupied by fishing. A church was built about twenty years since, which was destroyed in October, 1839, with all its furniture, through the malevolence of some incendiaries. A new church was immediately commenced, and was opened in the October following. Towards the erection of this building £566 were contributed by the inhabitants and other parishes, leaving a debt of £153, though the church was not completed. Such was the depression of trade and the scarcity of money, that it was considered hopeless to attempt further solicitations for aid in that country, and Mrs. Dunn resolved upon undertaking a voyage to England alone, and without the advantage of friends, to solicit contributions. The result of her visit we find detailed in the New Brunswick Courier of the Ist of April last. It appears that this enterprising lady collected in England and Ireland the sum of £65216x. 2d, and the following items of the expenditure of the money will give our readers sufficient information as to its appropriation. We have already stated that at the time of Mrs. Dunn's departure there was a debt incurred of £153., to which is to be added the interest upon it until collected, with a proportion of collecting the previous subscriptions, amounting to £5l 10s. 7d. The sum of £lB6 3s. VA. was expended in materials required for the church after 1840. Incidental expenses, charges upon importing books, travelling expenses, &c., £137 Ss. 9d. There had been expended and appropriated for school-houses and schools £9O 51., which left on hand for the benefit of schools £149 ISs. 4d., to which are to be added the proceeds of some jewellery presented by two ladies, for which a satisfactory sale had not been obtained. Before Mrs. Dunn left England, she stated that not more than £BO should be deducted from her collections to meet her expenses, and though her memoranda of land-carriage, passages, and board, exceed that sum by £3O, her husband considerately makes that loss his own, which is worthy of notice from the following circumstance :—Mr. • Dunn had previously appropriated the whole proceeds of the glebe £lBO for paying a debt upon and finishing the parsonagehouse, and a further sum 0f.t.40 in repairs and out-buildings that were essential. The result of this expenditure will be in future an enlarged income, and a comfortable residence for the missionary ; and the present flourishing state of the parish with respect to the temporalities of the church and the ample provision for schools, will materially increase the ability of the inhabitants to contribute to the support of their future clergyman. Mrs. Dunn acknowledges with gratitude the liberal response which was made to her applications, and attributes much of her success to recommendatory letters from the lion. and Rev. Baptist Noel, end the Rev. Hugh M`Neile. She also states that she was much indebted to Chas. Groves, Esq. of this town. The sum of £lO3 was collected in Liverpool, and very handsome subscriptions were raised in Bath, Brighton, Cheltenham, Bristol, and other places. Donations are acknowledged from the Queen Dowager, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Dowager Viscountess lierberton, &c. &c.  On the Ist instant, died the Rev. John Gibbons, rector of Thornbury, in the county of Hereford, aged 90 years ; and on the 9th of May, in-his 81st year, died the Rev. T. Lewes, who had officiated as curate of that parish till within the last twelvemonths. Perhaps there is no other instance on record. where the united ages of an incumbent and curate amounted to 170 years.  RAILWAY SPEED,—The returns given in the report of the officers in the Railway Department, Board of Trade, show the average speed upon the various lines, exclusive of stoppage, as follows :—London and Birmingham, 27 miles per hour ; Great Western, 33 ; Northern and Eastern, 36 ; North Midland, 29; Midland Counties, 28 ; Birmingham and Derby, 29 : Manchester and Birmingham 25 ; Newcastle and North Shields, 30 ; and Chester and Birkenhead, 28. The average speed on the metropolitan lines, exclusive of stoppage, is about 22 miles an hour.  A young woman named Rebecca Rumball, was tried and found guilty before Mr. Justice Coltman at the Central Criminal Cpurt, of having attempted to drown her illegitimate male child. She had thrown herself and child into the water, intending to commit suicide, and bad tied the child to her breast; but both were rescued by a constable, and restored to animation. She was sentenced to two years imprisonment.  We hear, with great satisfaction, that Mr. Lockhart has been appointed auditor of the Duciiy of Cornwall, vacant by the death of the late John Allen, of Dulwich. Few are the government opportunities for distinguishing literary men by granting public offices compatible with their avocations; and it is highly gratifying, as in this instance, to see the occasion at once seized, and the palm and profit awarded in so just and liberal a manner.. The emolument, we are told, is about .ClOO per annum, and the duties not so onerous as to interfere with the new auditor's accustomed pursuits.—Literary Luckart is the editor of the Qurrterly Review.]