The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-23 00:00:00

PIRACY AND MURDER ON BOARD A BRIM

SHIP.

853.

Great anxiety has of late prevailed respecting the
fate of the commander, officers, and some of the crew of the
British brigantine Reindeer, of Great Yarmouth, who, it
was reported, had been shockingly massacred on board the
vessel, off the coast of Cape San Antonio, South America.
The Reindeer, tt appears, was on a voyage from Valpa-
nix) to Monte Video and London, with a general cargo.
At Monte Video she shipped on board two paseeniters, Spa-
nish priests, and within • short time after her sailing from
I that port for England, she was discovered, abandoned and
ashore off Cape San Antonio, a headland near the mouth f
the River Plate. She was taken possession of by five
fishermen, who, after much exertion, succeeded in getting

her off, and towing the vessel back into Monte Video, where
they claimed as salvage 4,000 dollars. About the same time
the British consul learnt that the muter of the vessel,

Captain Wilson, his officers steward, and one or two
of the Spanish priests, had been murdered by some of the
crew, who, after plundering the vessel of everything that
was valuable, ran her ashore, and then escaped into the
interior of the country, where it is reported they subse-
quently tell into the hands of some troops belonging to
General Crquiza's army. They were stopped outside of
the walls of Buenos Ayres, and suspicions were excited,
owing to the quantity of gold and papers found on them ;
and as the papers found related to the Reindeer, they
were accused of being the perpetrators of the murders on
board that vessel. When interrogated, one of them eon-
' leased, and criminated the whole of his companions of the
crimes imputed to them. Whether they were sent to prison
or pressed into the general's service, the writer has
been unable to learn, hut it appears quite clear that
those who would materially assist towards prosecuting
the criminals have been permitted to leave the country.
One of them proves to be one of the Spanish priests who
sailed in the Reindeer from Monte Video, who has gone to
his convent at S..n Jose de Flores. There is • mystery now
he escaped. The claim made by the salvors for 4,000 dol-
lars was opposed on the groond of its being excessive, as
well as oppressive, to the owners, and 2,000 dollars were
I offered as an equitable remuneration for their services.
This was refused, but we hive since learnt that the matter
Ihas been adjusted, and that the Reindeer on the Sub f
October, in the outer roads of Monte Video waiting her
despatches to saig for England, the British consul having
appointed a [nester to her and an efficient crew.

Mit. J. H. HOPE Ikon, of Abbotsford, Q.C.,
delivered the introductory lecture to the Galashiels Me-
chanics' Institute on the 9th hut —Caledonian Mercury.

THE BOURBON A_ND OItLEANIST FUSION.

-

The telegraph announces that a French monarchi-
cal project, which has been paraded before the public
ever since the advent of Luis Napoleon to power,
has at length been realised. The "fusion "is et-
fected ; in other words, the Orleans family unite
their interests and pretensions with those of the
elder Bourbons. What right or claim the beads of
either of these two families can have to the supre-
macy of a state which has so lately, and more
than once, elected its chief, is a question which
might be asked long before receiving an answer.
However, such pretensions as elder or younger, legi-
timist or soi-disant constitutionalist Bourbon can pro-
duce to the supremacy of the French nation, will
henceforth, it is said, be common to both. Hence-
forth French monarchists are to about in common
" There is no king but Henry V., and the Comte de
Paris is his heir. What are the political conditions
upon which the "fusion" has been effected is un-
known, whether the Duke de Bordeaux is to take up
the creed and charter of the July monarchy, or the
Comte de Paris is to be educated to the paternal
absolutism of Charles X., does not appear. The
family conditions of the arrangement are sufficiently
apparent. The Duke de Bordeaux is childless, and
the Comte de Paris is, according to the laws of here.
ditary succession, his natural heir. It will be seen
that neither family makes any Freat sacrifice to
attain the result which has required five years of
efforts to realise. Whether the gain is worth so
much diplomacy and so many journeys to and fro,
the French nation may one day show. It appears
that both parties reckon, as of old, much more upon
intrigues and alliances out of France than upon the
spontaneous action of the people whom they
aspire to lead, and it is understood that at this
moment elder and younger Bourbons are busying
themselves with the Turkish question—no concern of
theirs—in order to destroy the existing French and
English alliance, and with it the beet support of the
cause of Turkey and European liberty, for no higher
reason than the selfish wish of isolating the French
Emperor. The odium of this scheme belongs doubt-
less to the Orleanists; it is not probable that the
Duke de Bordeaux has the activity and energy
which such plots require. The duke is thirty-three
years of age, having been born Sept. 29, 1820. In
1848 he was married to the Princess Marie Therese
Beatrice Oatane, eldest daughter of the late
Francis IV., Duke of Modena. M. Didier, who
visited him at the castle of Frobsdorff, in 1849, says
of him—" Either I am much deceived, or the Duke
de Bourdeaux is di ficient in initiative power, and
also deficient in resolution. His mind is cultivated
rather than inventive; he conceive rather than
creates, and takes in more than he gives out. From
his education, and from hie nature, indolence in him
prevails over the power of execution. In a-word—
and, perhaps, this is fortunate for his repose—he
appears to me more suited to expectation than to
action." Louis Philippe Albert d'Orleans, Comte de
Paris, was born August 24, 1838.