The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-11-26 00:00:00

THE SLAVE TRADE.

The following is an extract of a letter from an officer on
board his Maj,.sty's ship Maidstone, on the Coast of Africa,
dated Prince's Island, S:ptember 12. It gives an affecting
account of the condition of seven hundred wretched human
beings, found on board a French slave-ship bound for Mar-
tinique:-
1 am also glad to say the squadron continues healthy, and, with
the exception of the clergyman, and one man of this ship, there have
been no deaths. At Sierra Leone and Cape Coast they are and
hare been very sickly ; at the former place they have lost upwards
of one hundred troops, and rather more at Cape Coast since the
rainy season.
I am glad to say the squadron has been fortunate in captures,
so that we are picking up a little. But the French now engross all
the trade in slaves. A few days ago we had a long and arduous
chase after a large frigate-built corvette ship, which we at last ran
alongside of. She proved to be the French ship Orphie, with a
cargo of seven hundred slaves on board, and in a state that would
hare made your heart ache to have seen. The rascals had nearly
all the men chained by the necks, or most of them ; the rest by
the legs to the deck and. to add to the horror of te thing, the
bolts were riveted ; thereby-showing it was not the intention of
the monsters to let the innocent victims of their cruelty loose until,
the end of the voyage. She was bound to Martinique. The
between-deck was tittle more than three feet high, and the groans
of the poor sufferers almost it:lmre-tried me. When I desired them
to be released, I thought I should have choked : never were toy
feelings so much hurt.

THE JUBILEE OF GOETHE.

WEIMAR, Nov. 8.

It was on the 7th of November, 1775, that our present Minister
of State, Von Goethe, arrived •at Is' ettmtr, In consequence of an
invitation to enter into the service of the Grand Duke. Yesterday
morninz, being the fiftieth anniversary of the day of his arrival,
his Royal Highness the Grand Duke sent an autograph letter to
M. Von Goethe, with a medal executed by M. Brandt, at Berlin,
according to the directions of the Grand Duke. The letter was in
the following terms :
Most esteemed Privy Councilor and Minister of State—lt' is
certainly with entire justice that I consider the day on which, con:-
plying with my invitation, you arrived at Weimar, as the day of
your actual entrance into my service, since, from that time, you
have never ceased to gi re me the most satisfactory proofs of the
most faithful attachment and friendship, by the dedication to thy
aereice of your rare talents. The fiftieth anniversary of this Jay I
accordingly consider, with the most lively pleasure, as the Jubilee
of my First Officer of State, who, with fidelity, constancy. and at-
tachment, has hitherto accompanied me in all the vicissitudes of
life ; to whose prudent counsel, and ever ready and cheerful ser-
vice, I owe the happy issue of the most important endertakings;
and whom, to have permanently attached to me, I consider as one
of the most distingaished ornaments of my reign. Joyfully taklrg
advantage of the happy occasion of the Jubilee of to-day to express
these sentiments to you, I beg you to be assured that they will
never change."
The medal has on the face the busts of their Royal Highnesses
the Grand Duke and Duchess ; on the reverse the bust of Goethe,
with twe branches of laurel round it, and the following inscription
continued from the face to the reverse :--
" Charles Augustus and Louisa, to Goethe."
. . . .

If Goethe's works belting to all Germans; and the civilised world,
we have besides the pleasure of his direct and personal exertions
for the last fifty years. A faithful performer of the commands of
his niece, his first efforts were directed to forming the taste of his
new fellnw.sitieens, in conjunction with noble and highly-gifted
men. al: of whom we have now lost. He entered into the ideas of
the Duke and the amiable Print vases ; • lively interest for art and
science was soon manifested in the city and country, and a sincere
endeavour to promote them to the utmost ; and this little acquired
an intellectual importance more pure, more solid, than could have
bcen acquired by more worldly means. IF, wherever the German
tongue is understood, the ingenious poet, the luminous thinker,
naturalist, and connoisseur, is admired, we have the pleasure of
loving the amiable qualities of the man.
The (14 was kept in a very suitable manner. For some time
hat, all the fair hands in Weimar had been busy in preparing for
im a number of elegant presents, which were sent to him ertly in
the morning. At half-past eight o'clock, all those who thought
they had any right, assembled in his house. Eberwein had coo_
posed a very pretty cantata, which was sung by M. Eberwein and
several Ladi, a, when he came nut of his chamber to welcome the
company. The Grand Duke's letter and the treilal were presented
to him. Then came deputies from the ellunicitality, who presented
to him, for his grandchildren and all his destendants for ever, the
freedom of all the cities and towns in the Wand Duchy of Weimar.
This being done, the company retired to make way for the Grand
Duke and family, who came in person '.o congratulate him. Mean-
time, his bum, in marble, executed by Hotteh, was placed in the
library : a select company of ladle>, and gentlemen attended as wit-
ness's"; a line piece of vocal and instrumental music, composed
for the occasion, was performed ; the Chancellor and the Librarian
delivered appropriate dinar:reel; and lastly a description of the
proceedings of the day. 0 impression of the medal, and a splen-
did copy of lolligrnio wore deposited in the pedestal under the bust.
Thus was a grand dinner in the Town-hall. at which various songs
were sung in Goetb'e honour, but he himself was not pre.ent.
Then the company repaired to the theatre; Goethe sat quite con-
cealed in an übscgre box, but was discovered and vielconted with
acelamrions. After a prologue, in which his bust, crowned with
laurel, was introduced, his Iphigrnia, which we had hot seen fur
many years. 'vas admirably performed before a very numerous and
attentive at/dents, dressed with the greatest elegance in honour of
the occaelsm. After the performance, the inhabitants of the square
in wki.J.. he lives illuminated their houses, and the Grand Duke's
band performed, under his window, a very tine serenade composed
by fluminel.

We have received letters from Valparaiso to the 6th of
August. They contain no late advice' from Lima: a
Chilien vessel, however, had arrived in 16 days from Cho-
rines, but brought no letters. The Captain confirmed all
the former accounts we had received of the distressed state
of Raid, at Callao, adding, that the troops were in a most
diseased state from scurvy, and deserting from him as fast
as they could find means. The statement of his having
offered to surrender to the Chilien ships of war, upon cer-
tain conditions, and of the offer having been refused, is
confirmed—the besiegers will listen to nothing leas than
an unconditional surrender. We learn from these letters
that a Minister from Peru to our Government may be ex-
pected by the first Jamaica packet: and it is added, that
an agent, empowered to negotiate another loan, will ac-
company him. Mr. Merrylowitch, with his steam-boat
from Liverpool, had arrived at Lima, after a passage of
four months.

On Thursday. at one o'clock, his Excellency the Hon.
F. N. Burton, G.C.H., Lieutenant-Governor of this Pro-
vince, embarked on board his Majesty's yacht Herald, for
Ziglaud. His Excellency was attended, from his residence
to the place of embarkation, by the Officers on the per-
sonal Staff of the Governor-in-Chief, and on the general
Staff of command, and a • number of mpectable citizens,
who were anxious to pay this parting mark of respect to a
character whose affability and amiable conduct have ren-
dered him so generally popular. A large and respectable
party, on hoard the steam-boat La Prairie, accompanied
the Herald some way down the river, in compliment to his
Excellency. The other passengets in the Herald were
Lord Arthur Lennox, 71st Highland Light Inflintry, Mrs.
Mountain, relict of our late venerable Bishop, Alias Moun-
tain, and Captain Mountain, 76th regiment.—Quehec
Paper, Oct. 7.