The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-03-08 00:00:00

COLONIAL INTELLIGENCZ.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
Cape papers to the 3d of January have been received.
From their contents it is to be inferred that the colony was
in a most prosperous condition. The accounts of the
revenue had not been finally made up, but his excellency the
governor, in his address to the council, stated that " it
had increased beyond all expectation ; " and as no new
taxes had been imposed, the increase of the revenue is
argued to be taken as a measure of the increase of the
quantity and number of all taxed commodities and things in
the colony. The income of the people it was held, must,
therefore, as well as the revenue, have increased in the same
proportion. The prices of agricultural produce had been
high during the past year, chiefly arising from the large
exports of wheat and flour ; but it was expected that the then
present harvest would prove a fair average crop. During the
past year, up to the 10th of October, it appears that the im-
ports into Table and Simon's Bay and Port Elizabeth amount-
ed to £290,784, and the exports to £87,905. •To Table and
Simon's Bay the tonnage inwards of British vessels was
22,323 tons, outwards 21,312 tons. Of foreign vessels inwards,
2,508 tons, and outwards 2881 tons. To Port Elizabeth,
British, inwards, to 2,285 tons, outwards to 2,618 tons.
Foreign, inwards, 270, and outwards 270 tons. These returns
have no reference to coasters or local craft. _ _

Cape papers to the 6th of January have also been received.
There had been no further intelligence from the eastern fron-
tiers, but the following government notice which they contain
fully confirms our previous statements, that the detachment
of the Queen's troops which were sent to Port Natal had not
been cut off ; this document is dated the fifth of January:--:

" The expedition to Port Natal, under the command of
Major Chartres, arrived off that port on the 3d of December,
and the troops landed immediately, occupying a portion of
the defence inside the harbour. There were but few of the
emigrant farmers at that place, or in the neighbourhood, a
command having gone forth against the Zoolah chief on the
26th of November.

" The emigrants who remained were in good health, hav-
ing abundance of animal food, but almost without any other
nourishment. A quantity of rice and some other articles of
supply had been landed for their use. The detachment of
troops was in excellent health, and no accident had occurred
on their landing.
" Communications had been made to the emigrants in the
Commando, and to the neighbouring chief of Amaponda ;
but no answer had been received to either when her Majesty's
ship left Port Natal on the 16th of December.
DEMERARA.

Demerara papers to the 18th of December have been re-
ceived, but they add little to our previous information respec-
ting the conduct of the negro free labourers. The inhabitants
of George Town had been seriously alarmed by a violent
shock of an earthquake. The Court of Policy had closed its
sittings on the 14th of January, leaving, as is often the cus-
tom in a more august legislative assembly, some principal
measures undecided, the bill respecting the stipendiary
magistracy and the currency measures, which have caused
so much rancorous discussion during the late session, with
other important matters, being postponed until the new
session, which would open about the 15th of February.
THE MAURITIUS.

Letters, with papers and price currents, to the 12th of
December, have been received from the Mauritius. From
their contents it appears that the commerce of that colony
was in rather an inactive state. The exchange on London
for government bills at 30 days' sight was 21 per cent. pre-
mium. On private bills at 90 days' sight 6a 5 per cent. dis.
Freights to England were £4 per ton. Two drafts of ordi-
nances were published in the Government Gazette on the
sth of December—one for the purpose of modifying the 7th
clause of the Slavery Abolition Act ; the other to regulate
hereafter the form and conditions of the hire of labourers,
workmen, and other persons receiving wages, as also the
hours during which they were to work.
The following is an extract from a letter, dated Port Louis,
Dec 15, 1838 :
" The detention of the Norfolk enables us to inform you
that a fire took place here last night, by which about 30
houses were burnt down. We are, however, happy to say
that not being in the commercial part of the town, the injury
to trade will not be so great as it might have been. The
stores of the Messrs. Webb, de Drussina, and Co., were
burnt to the ground full of goods ; Messrs. Scott, Bell, and
Co., have experienced very trifling loss."

FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE LATE OUT-
RAGE ON THE BRITISH FLAG.

(Communicated to the Editor of the United Service Gazette,
by the Editor of the Falmouth Express.)
Not without reluctance and shame do we recur to the insult
recently endured by the British nation—unconscious which
to esteem the greatest humiliation, the wanton insolence of
the Frenchmen, or the tame subserviency of our own govern-
ment. The little crafty knot of incapables, impressed with
the recollections of shame, had determined on secresy : and
very snugly was the transaction hushed up. At length Lord
Minto came up gracefully to the parliamentary confessional,
and made a merit of answers he could no longer withhold.
But did he tell the truth ? Did he nobly confess the whole ?
Did he speak as our statesmen were wont to speak ? No !
he equivocated; he cunningly suppressed—yes ! he perverted
the eery truth ; and Mr. Wood followed in the Commons the
pitiful example of his master. They dared to assure the
members of a British legislature that this unparalleled out-
rage was perpetrated in the face of at least one man-of-war
present. Shame on the meanness ! What ! a British ship
there, and the admiralty organs unable to name her ? About
six miles from the position of the packet the Satellite, 18,
happened to have anchored. The solitary packet with her
four nine-pounders was at the mercy of the French squadron ;
but there were 18 more British guns six miles off ! The Ad-
miralty knew this, and they withheld it, preferring equivoca-
tion to truth !
But worse still is the endeavour to shift the odium of the
outrage from the shoulders of the French admiral to those of
the French prince. It is an unworthy resource, for exculpa-
tion before parliament, of those disingenuous statesmen who,
with the same nonchalance that they have betrayed the na-
tional glory, would deliver the national fleet to our enemies.
We speak advisedly, Admiral Baudin has not dared to cast
the blame upon his King's son. He better respects his own
veracity than the British flag. He knows he ordered the
seizure of the pilot. The packet, as we stated, had passed
the corvette exchanging civilities—the English officers had
retired to breakfast, when the " whizzing" of a shot* startled
them-from their cabins. Signals were flying at the Admiral's
main! How does Lord Minto answer this important point
to Lord Lyndhurst ? "He does not know !" The signals
at the admiral's mast-head were yet flying, and an English
Jack only just hoisting at that of the Creole corvette. And
when the boat was discerned leaving the corvette it was plain
to all on board the packet that the movement had been exe-
cuted solely in obedience to the signals of the flag-ship. But
to set that at rest, we know that the French officer, on de-
manding the pilot, positively affirmed that he did so in com-
pliance with orders from the admiral to the prince to secure
the pilot, and he called attention to the signals. On a sub-
sequent occasion at the Castle of Ulloa the prince stated his
regret for removing the pilot, defending it, however,by affirm-
ing the necessity of his fulfilling the orders from the admiral.
And the admiral himself declared that on him alone must
rest the responsibility of the transaction. The pilot firmly
and repeatedly remonstrated, continually appealing to the
protection of the British flag ; and when eventually dragged
from the brig's deck, as he went over her side, in the bitter-
ness of his feelings he pointed aloft to the humiliated ensign
and pennant with an eloquence of scorn and contempt which
no language could have equalled. And where was he taken ?
To the admiral's ship, where he remained for two days a
prisoner ! !
A word on the alleged " apology." With admirable con-
sistency Lord Minto pretends to know no more of it than he
would desire to know of the whole transaction.t Shall we
tell the admirality lord, that if he will condescend to recollect
Captain, not " Admiral," Douglas received a verbal apology.
And is this to satisfy Great Britain ! Is this to be the beg-
garly amends for an insult unparalleled in the pages of his-
tory ! Men of St. Vincent's, of the Nile, of glorious Tra-
falgar, happy enviable unconsciousness is your of these times
of degeneracy, when our decks may be audaciously boarded,
and our pilots forcibly dragged from them, by a boat's crew
of the power that trembled within its own ports at the whis-
per of your coming, and no other reparation extracted than
the informal utterance of " an apology !" A verbal apology !
A few words of French imperfectly understood, inaccurately
translated, immediately forgotten—the satisfaction for this
outrageous insolence ! Lord Minto may believe that what-
ever has satisfied Captain Douglas must be very ample—but
let us tell the easy lord, in this matter the people of England
world like to judge for themselves, and nothing but a writ-
ten apology, published throughout Europe ; published where-
ever the French flag is untiured ; above all, published at
by "sob,-,q, Mexico, should have satisfied the British office or the British
wrt„...,5,,, admiralty, and nothing less will satisfy the British public.
3, 0;4, s, The insult was notoriously public ; the apology should be the
Tp,r' '#), • same—your hole-and-corner accommodation which must not
• too rudely be " probed," will never restore the British flag
to the consideration it before maintained in Mexico ; and it
..cf„ y,: is not the credibility of a whig admiralty that will persuade
_S. other nations that our power has been even decently respected.
a,vix a The " apology" is a mere shabby patched-up affair, sound-
„ ing from the exhuberance of Lord Minto with an importance
inr
.a,:, that his lordship knows was not condescended to it by the
French Admiral Baudin. We trust it will be searchingly in-
quired into.
But what has become of the poor victim—the maltreated
Mexican pilot ? As we should expect, Mord Minto " really
does not know." This is a damning imputation on our na-
tional good faith—that man was beguiled by our flag ; he left
his home in the morning confident that he should not look
upon that home from the ports of an enemy's prison-ship.
For the time being he was virtually a British subject, and
frilly entitled to a Briton's protection. He was honestly
serving as a pilot on our Queen's gun-brig ; and whatever
mischance has befallen him, he owes it, solely to the mis-
' in
confidence that induced him to serve a British officer,
2 in a British armed ship. Shame ! shame !on the English
Y" ininister that can tell a British Parliament he knows not what
" has become of that man ! Talk of your " apology," where
is the satisfaction to that poor, insulted, captive Mexican ?
uf-nn What has British honour, justly indignant, obtained as a re-
"r."- paration to him for the gross outrage our ship brought upon
' him? Is it, Lord Minto, any object that the few rotting craft
that you can send to sea should obtain a pilot in a foreign port
for the future, that they may not leavb their decayed timbers
on a reef ? Then cozen all other pilots with the hope of aug-
idninfti mented energy to protect them—publish your bare tradition
tetalrent? of "an apology" to the world—but never, never, ask for a
,0 man from the port of Vera Cruz, lest your signal be answered
by the hmiliating taunt of the tricolour over the dishonoured
• flag of your country.
To the United Service Gazette, whose excellent article we
have read with great satisfaction a few words. Our informa-
tion, though from a source equally authentic, positively was
not " supplied by Lieutenant Croks himself." It is due to
that officer that we should positively affirm it. Our con-
temporary, however, may be assured that we should never
venture such publications without sufficient authority. Our
very numerous and highly-respectable proprietary affords us
opportunities for obtaining authentic foreign and colonial in-
• telligence, from the countries visited by our packets, such as
no other paper can possibly enjoy.
Lieut. Croke is an old, an experienced, and a very deserv-
ing officer—a man of known coolness and courage, and a high
s'nse of the honour of the service. As one of the veterans
-e Of Trafalgar, we would not hesitate to affirm of him, even
iD • were his character for intrepidity less known to us, that, re-
,t- leased from the depressing and shackling controul of whig
4 ^ impotency, he would, in a moment, have bundled the French
tr crew into the sea, and have fought his little brig while a spar
1. in her remained standing. But Lieut. Croke, doubtless, knew
tt' the admiralty authority to which he would have to account—
how soon the commission of a lieutenant would be sacrificed to
the insolence of France, and the soft places in Downing-street.
It is now perfectly understood in the navy, as it has long been
by our merchants, that the tame easy government of England
is calmly prepared, at any time, to sacrifice the honour of
our flag and the character of our officers, provided always
'l:' they have no votes and are not authors, as they have already
abandoned the interests and the commerce of the country—
' " Anything for a quiet life" is the maxim from the remier
• down to Lord Minto ; and the officers of both services by
this time perfectly comprehend their instructions !

,

~;1~1

/o 1 fy+r

* It is not usual to fire the first gun shotted when signals
are shown—and never to allow the shot to drop within three
ships' lengths. This shot, however, just cleared the forefoot
of the Express !

fi The mistakes repeatedly made by members of both
houses, when alluding to this subject, are truly surprising—
her Majesty's gun-brig packet is called " a merchantman,"
no compliment to the officers and man-of-war's men on
board. Captain Douglas has been dubbed an admiral, sa-
tirically enough. And Admiral Paget has been styled Mr.
Paget—a cruel sarcasm upon the value of his services on that
station.

I9a3Veviti

3 ra.Cl; 3,111110,,

EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE
MRS. C. MATHEWS (LATE MADAME VESTRIS.)

(From the Standard of Wednesday.)
Yesterday morning Mr. Charles Mathews, of the Olympic
theatre, accompanied by Mr. Peakeand two other gentlemen,
waited upon Sir F. Roe, at Bow-street office, for the purpose
of obtaining his advice and assistance under the most extra-
ordinary circumstances :

- One of the gentlemen, whose name is Lancaster, stated
that he was passing through Lincoln's-inn-fields, between
eight and nine o'clock on the previous evening, when he had
occasion to stop at a corner of the south side of the square,
and while there heard a conversation pass between two per-
sons, by whom he was divided only by a stone partition. He
heard one of the men say to the other, " Well Jack, have
you sent it ?" Upon which the other replied that he had.
The first speaker then asked if he had directed it to " Char-
ley ;" to which the other answered, " No, I have directed
it to Madame," adding words to the effect that his (Charley's)
time was not come yet. The two speakers then emerged
from their concealment, and Mr. Lancaster observed that
one of them was dressed in a sort of flushing jacket, and the
other had the appearance of a mechanic. Suspecting im-
mediately that their conversation applied to Mr. and Mrs.
Mathews, Mr. Lancaster was induced to follow them, and
as he. walked after them for a short distance, he could hear
that they were still conversing upon the same subject, but he
could not gather any distinct meaning from their words.
They had proceeded only a short distance in the direction of
Portugal-street, when one of the men, in pulling out his
handkerchief, dropped a letter, which he (Mr. Lancaster)
immediately picked up, and suspecting from what he had
heard that something was wrong, he opened the letter, and
read it by the light of a lamp.
The letter was here produced to the magistrate, and the
following is a verbatim copy of it
Dear Jack,—Now mind what i say I will have no corpse-
ing work so take care and do nothink of the Species. Do
somethink as will tattow her d—d countenance and disfigger
it with everlasting pepper. Better her than him this time
cause if she's prevented from practising, her play house wont
pay and he will suffer in his pockets for daring to speak agin
a free country. Dam him we'll serve him out another way
another time. You had better send the thing at the parcels
delivery and address it to her at the stage door in Craven
buildings mind I wont have no shot or shells only gunpow-
powder. That ull be enough to throw her into fits and blind
her, so remember your leving
" B F Yatchell."
This letter was directed as follows John Jackson, to
be left at the Ship."
Mr. Lancaster, upon reading the above, immediately pur-
sued the-two men, but they turned down a narrow passage.
and although he ran as fast as he could in order to give them
into custody he lost sight of them, and could not discover
which way they went. He then went directly to the Olym-
pic Theatre and communicated what he had seen and heard
to Mr. Charles Matthews, to whom he showed the above
letter, and it was determined that an application should be
made upon the subject to Sir F. Roe on the following morn-
ing. . .

The magistrate, however, after perusing the letter and put-
ting several questions to. Mr. Lancaster, expressed his opin-
ion that the affair was nothing more than a stupid hoax, and
that no real danger need be apprehended, and Mr. Matthews
and his friends left the, office under that impression.

On proceeding to the Olympic Theatre, however, Mr. Ma-
thews found that a box, directed to " Mrs. Madame Vestris,"
had been left by the Parcels' Delivery Company that morn-
ing, at the stage door, and it may be well imagined that the
circumstance, coupled with the conversation of the two men,
and the dark insinuations contained in the letter, afforded
good grounds for mistrust and alarm. On removing the pa-
per which was pasted over the box, and on which the direc-
tion was written, the box itself was found to be made of ma-
hogany, and finished in a very neat manner. It is about a
foot in length, five or six inches in breadth, and as many in
depth. On the cover a piece of string was observed which
communicated in three places with the contents inside, and
,on the lid was written . Open, Sesame" and a. "A present
for Madame." The box was immediately ordered to be re-
moved to the stage of the theatre, but of course with the
greatest caution, and the question then arose who was to open
it, and how its contents were to be examined. After various
means had been suggested to accomplish the object without
danger, one of the persons attached to the theatre, although
cautioned not to do so, put is foot, on the cover and burst it
open, when its contents were found fully to realise the ap-
prehensions which its mysterious appearance had excited. On
the interior of the lid was fastened a small parcel neatly made
up, supposed to contain detonating powder, or some other
material of a highly combustible nature, beneath which was
attached a piece of sand paper, which was so placed as to act
upon several matches, and thus set fire to a quantity of gun-
powder, German crackers, and other destructive materials,
which were placed in the interior of the box, and the strings
which were attached to the piece of twine fastened to the
cover, and which passed through it, were so contrived as to
act as triggers ; so that, the moment the lid should be raised,
the whole of the infernalcombustible would instantly explode
and destroy or maim for life the unfortunate person who had
hazarded the experiment. Fortunately, however, the man
who broke the cover by a stamp of his foot, avoided the
twine, and all danger was thus averted.
The box and its contents were subsequently conveyed to
Bow-street, for the inspection of Sir F. Roe, whose opinion
as regarded the circumstance was altered on viewing the dia-
bolical machinery.
The magistrate advised Mr. Mathews to offer a reward for
the detection of the contrivers of so foul a plot ; and, under
that advice, Mr. Mathews gave immediate directions for the
printing of a number of handbills, in which he, has offered a
reward of £lOO for the apprehension and conviction of the
parties.

Inquiry having been made at the branch office of the Par-
cels' Delivery Company, whose carriers brought the box to
the theatre, it was ascertained that it had been left at the
office between seven and eight o'clock on the previous (Mon-
day) evening, so that it must have been delivered about an
hour before Mr. Lancaster overheard the few words which
passed between the two men in Lincoln's-inn-fields. The
person who took in the box at the company office, said that
he should know the man who brought it, for he noticed him
at the time, and observed that he was dressed in shabby
black, and had the appearance of a mechanic. He also no-
ticed that he appeared hurried and agitated in his manner,
for instead of waiting to see the box weighed, he hastily
placed it on the counter, together with 3d. to pay for the
carriage, and merely saying, " Let that be sent as directed,"
he left the office. Mr. Lancaster is of opinion that he should
be able to identify one of the two men wham he saw as
described.

It was at first suggested that the transaction should be kept
secret for the present, in order to trace out the perpetrators,
but it was represented that as the affair was known to every
body about the theatre, it would be useless to conceal it.
Measures are now in active progress for the purpose of de-
tecting the parties, and bringing them to justice. Shackell
and other officers of the Bow-street establishment are em-
ployed in the business.

THE COURT AGAIN.

(From the Cork Constitution)

In addition to the unpleasant incident mentioned in our
last we have now another. We give it as we find it in two
English cotemporaries. If these things be true, there is
something fearfully amiss in high quarters.
[After quoting the paragraphs from the Staffordshire Ga-
zette and the Bristol Journal, which have already appeared
in our paper, the Cork Constitution proceeds to remark—]
To these remarks we add one which we have since seen in
the private correspondence of the Evening Packet. We do
not know whether it contains any clue to the cause of Miss
Davy s' retirement, or of the misunderstanding to which we
alluded on Saturday ; but to those who feel for the character
of the country, it affords food enough for melancholy medi-
tation. We wish we could avoid any allusion to it, but what
choice have we ? We must either shun all reference to court
topics or take them as they come; and as we fear the cor-
rective is to be found, not where it ought naturally to be
looked for, but in unsparing exposure by the public press,
the latter is the alternative—the painful but inevitable alter-
native for us. But where are there things to stop ?—when
are we to have done with disclosures and disputes ? Is there
no friendly voice to breathe into the royal ear, that, of the
irregularities by which we fear the palace is pervaded, there
can be no end until the court is purged of the moral nuisances
which pollute it ? More than one of the ladies in attendance
on Majesty has oeen obliged to resign—Lady Charlotte St.
Maur we believe was the last ; and unless the services of one
or two noblemen with whose names the public are unfortu-
nately too familiar be dispensed with, others will probably
have soon to follow her example. Better this, however, than
that the scenes of the court of the second Charles should
again profane the palaces of England.
" It is said, I believe with truth, that a certain young un-
married lady, who attends upon the monarch, has suffered
some gay gallant to pour a leprous distilment into her ear and
steal away her senses. She has been prevailed on to believe
the doctrine of ' happier far the rose distilled than that which,
withering on the virgin thorn, grows, lives, and dies in single
blessedness.' The consequence has been * * * * *
and the doctor consulted upon the occasion has pronounced
her to be enceinte. The medical gentleman did not think
himself justified in concealing the fact from her Majesty, and
the delicate disclosure was received with all the importance
due to the situation of the respective parties. A question
of paternity is said to have arisen between the highest per-
sonage alluded to and her august parent—the one insisting
that the gay deceiver is a certain Irish Marquis of hereditary
celebriety in that line, and especially notorious for his de-
clared hostility to the Protestant clergy—the other averring
it could not be so, and that;the seducer is a totally different
personage, one famed for deeds of arms. Be that fact, how-
ever, as it may, if they were all priests and friars, the deed
could not be better done. The names of the parties are all
bruited about in the cirtile in which I move ; but I must not
comthit one of them to paper. Am I, or was I, on hearing
the story, surprised ? .No, by no means. I was long since
prepared to hear the worst things that can happpen to reli-
gion and morality occurring in a court where the enemies of
the Christian Church are encouraged about the person of an
interesting and guiltness feinale- monarch. "A separation of
mother and daughter is said to be resolved on. If that event
shall take place, there will be some hope that the Throne and
Church may survive the assaults of her enemies, as the
Queen cannot be expected to tolerate about her person, or
in her palace, persons of that school of politics to which
belongs, the Lothario above alluded to."
To the above letter the Packet adds the following :
" We are informed, by another correspondent, that the
frail fair one in question is Lady F— H--, and that the
suspected gallants are the Marquess of H— and Sir J—
C—"

We quit this subject for the present. We have noticed it
with feelings of anything but satisfaction, and sincerely do
we hope there will be no occasion to return to it. None of
the London papers seem to have been in possession of the
circumstances, but there is reason to fear that they are too
well founded. The Mail has the following paragraph, and
the writer was evidently alluding to the unfortunate case
mentioned by the Packet's correspondent :
" Some dreadful rumours are, afloat respecting scenes of
profligacy and vice which have, it is said, come to light, in a
recent investigation touching certain parties holding situa-
tions in the Queen's household. Public morals and public
decency require that these rumours should be sifted to their
source : that if they be unfounded, the most unqualified
contradiction should be given to them upon authority—the
result of a strict and searching inquiry ; or otherwise, that
the persons implicated should be driven from the presence
of a young and innocent creature, such as our gracious
Queen. Such a course is due to the virtuous sensitiveness
of the females of both countries ; and the people at large will
not be satisfied with less."

(From the Private Correspondence f the Chester Gazette.)
It is my duty, and I discharge it with feelings of the ut-
most pain and reluctance, to allude to certain rumours which
are most extensively circulated in circles low as *ell as high,
of proceedings in the court of our lovely Queen—rumours
which brand individuals of the most exalted and illustrious
rank as participating in scenes of the grossest immorality, the
most disgusting profligacy. One, if not two or three, of the
maids of honour—the Duchess, Marquis, and others to whom
I will not here particularly direct attention—are inculpated,
and, I regret to say, not without reason. The rumours of
which I am speaking have formed the common topic of con-
versation for some time past. I have hitherto refrained from
noticing them, because I considered they might be nothing
more than the scandal of the court. Events, however, have
come to my knowledge which render any further silence use-
less. I need not be more explicit.

When George IV. visited Scotland, having one day tasted
a haggis, his Majesty wished to say something polite to a
Scotch laird, and mentioned that he had lately dined on an
excellent dish—"a boiled bagpipe."

NEWCASTLE ASSIZES.

MURDER AT THE SAVINGS' BANK, NEWCASTLE.