The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-05-18 00:00:00

SECOND " AUTO DA FE" IN TUAM.

To the EDITOR of the LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
is only a fortnight since I was obliged to call
public attention to the burning of Thomas Bohens'
house, in this town, in which fifteen persons, ten of whom
were Protestants, were then asleep. Depositions on oath
were since taken before a magistrate, and these went to
show that, as was suspected, this diabolical act was per-
petrated by a Popish incendiary. Indeed, it is notorious,
as has been published, that menaces were held out, by
persons of influence, that houses would be burned if
their owners continued to harbour Protestants or encou-
rage Protestantism.

It will scarcely be credited, that a second attempt was
made on this morning, about three o'clock, to burn
Bohens' house, but such is the case. About four o'clock.
as some persons were proceeding to work, they observed
the thatch of his house on fire ; and, before it could be
extinguished, the roof of an adjoining house had caught
the flames : no lives, however, were lost, and not much
injury done.

Since the former attempt to burn this poor man's
house, lie made it a practice to sit up till one or two
o'clock in the morning; and it is remarkable, that this
second attempt was made about three o'clock, when it
was known be had retired to rest. Had not Providence
again caused timely warning to be given, the lives of
Bohens and his Protestant lodgers would have been
sacrificed.

I give the facts as they are, and commend their consi-
deration to the Protestant public. Persecution is rife ;
inquiry is abroad ; and truth is progressing. It behoves
us all to consider what is our duty.
Your obedient servant,
CH ARLES H. SEYMOUR,
Tuam, Bth May, 1852. Provost and Vicar of Tuam.

CLANDESTINE MARRIAGES..—The diocese of London
is not the only one in which complaints are made of the
facility with which clergymen of populous parishes solem-
nise marriages between persons who are not the'r
parishioners. St. Martin's, the Mother-Church of
Birmingham, seems to enjoy an unr,nviable notoriety in
this respect among the rural clergy in the neighbouring
counties. The evil of such laxity has been recently illus-
trated by ilbe occurrence of a marriage at that church
between an uncle and niece. Of course they are not
legally married, but they live together as man and wife
under colour of the Birmingham marriage service.

THE CAFFI WAR.—SIR HARRY SMITH'S LAST
DISPATCH.—The Gazette, of Tuesday last, contains
a lengthy dispatch from Sir Harry Smith, in which he as-
signs the following reason for not giving up his command
earlier :—He commences by stating that, at the time he
received his notice of recal, "such were the prospects of
the Caffre war, and so rapid the progression towards that
state of things which can alone perpetuate peace, (best
shown by the proclamation issued by me on the 6th of
February, and again enclosed), that a sense of the duty
which has guided me in the service of my sovereign and
country for so many years induced me to persevere in the
preparatory steps I had taken for the expulsion from cer-
tain strongholds within the colony, of the rebel Gaikas
and Hottentots, under the wily chief Macomo, a rene-
gade from the authority of his paramount chief, Sandilli ;
as, also, for expelling the Gaika tribes from British Caf-
fraria, and driving them over the Great Kei." The gal-
lant general enters at length into a detail of various brave
exploits, and thus speaks of the conduct of the troops en-
gaged fifteen months against 25,000 savages and sturdy
enemies, in an almost impassable country, larger than
England :—" I am fully aware that I have been accused,
during the progress of this campaign, of using the lan-
guage of hyperbole in describing the numerous recontres
which have occurred, and in giving praise to the gallant
officers and troops as well as burghers. Possessing, how-
ever, some experience in war, I must maintain that such
is not the case. Troops acting in the open field expect
not the stimulus of praise ; the soldier sees his foe, and
his British courage rises at each step ; but he who, after,
perhaps a night march of great length, has to ascend
mountains or penetrate dense bush and ravines, filled pro-
bably with a daring and intrepid enemy, as resolute as ath-
letic, ready to murder any one who may fall into his
hands, and whose warfare is of the most stealthy and en-
terprising kind, appreciates the praise of his commander.
because when his acts are conspicuously daring he is con-
scious he deserves it. He does his duty ; but human na-
ture renders even the soldier's intrepid heart sensible of
the approbation of his superior,
which he is proud to know
may reach the eye of his parents and friends."