The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-09-24 00:00:00

Upon the second reading of the Poor Law Coinmission
Bill,
Sir R. PEEL took the opportunity of correcting an erro-
neous impression which he understood to prevail in Ireland
respecting the Irish poor-law. 'lt was supposed that, in con-
sequence of his accession to power, great changes would take
place in the Irish poor-la*, and this supposition materially
interfered with the beneficial operation of the law as it now
stood. In order to prevent this impression prejudicing the
operation of the law, he felt it necessary to state that there
was no intention on the part of the government to make any
change in the genuine outline of the Irish poor-law.
In the course of the discussion which followed several hon.
members 'expressed a hope that some alteration would take
place in the severer clauses of the Poor Law Bill.
Sir R. PEEL said there appeared to be an erroneous idea
abroad as to the nature of the bill before the house. It was
not the poor law that was proposed to be continued, for the
poor-law was a permanent measure. The bill before the
house was for the continuance of the poor-law commission ;
and in such a bill it would be impossible to embody any
alterations in the Poor Law Bill.
Mr. W. FERRAND said the Poor Law Bill had been the
destruction of the last government, and would destroy any
government whatever which would identify itself with its
harsher clauses. He was a supporter of the right hon.
baronet, but he might rely upon it it he stood by the harsh
clauses of that bill it would destroy his government.
The bill was then read a second time.
Sir J. GRAHAM obtained leave to bring in a bill to provide
for the payment of the persons employed in taking account of
the population in England, which bill was read a first time:
The house then adjourned until Friday.

MURDER AND PIRACY

The Sag Harbour Corrector of August 11 gives an account
of an atrocious murder and piracy sent them by the Ameri-
cm Counsul at the Island of St. Helena, to put persons
visiting 'on their guard. After detailing vorious interviews
which were had with the natives both on shore and on board
the vessel, during which they seemed desirious of holding
the most friendly intercourse and carrying on the usual trade,
the writer goes on to say—
" In about a quarter of an hour we left the house of one of
the natives, and in walking amongst the others saw more
natives; all of a sudden we heard a kind of howl or scream,
which appeared to proceed from the ship. Mr. Snowden,
the second mate, said it imported something he did not like
to hear, and said, ' let us go to the boat and return.' At the
same instant he saw several natives arming themselves with
spears, and Robinson asked one old man in the Malay langu-
age what they were going to do ; his answer was, Ido not
knoW ;' and immediately a number of natives came running
from the bush at the back of the houses, and attacked us
with spears. One struck Mr. Snowden, through the body ;
be fell, and the native then pierced him through with another,
and pinned him to the ground. James Robinson was struck
immediately afterwards by another native in the same way.
Mr. Clark was struck through the side with a spear, close to
the boat. Wm. Burt was wounled in two places. These two
and the rest succeeded in getting into the boat and pushing off
towards the vessel, although numbers of spears struck the
oars, boat, &c. Upon nearing the vessel, great was our con-
sternation to find her in the possession of the natives, who
were standing all round the rails, in the boats, and every one
armed with ship's cutlasses, cutting spades, lances, harpoons,
&c., and in such numbers that we had not the slightest chance
to get on board, being totally unarmed ourselves; therefore
we had no other alternative than either to be killed there, or
or endeavour to proceed to sea and risk being picked up by
some vessel. As soon as the natives saw us retiring from
the ship, they immediately pulled off in canoes from the
village we had been attacked at, as also from another
village, both of them being between us and the entrance
of the harbour, but through the good management of James
Clark, who took the steering oar, they could not come
up with us sufficiently to throw their spears to injure us, al-
though they pursued us till dark. We continued at the oars
all night ; in the morning Chowry Island hove in sight, about
seven miles off; we continued pulling against wind, tide, and
a heavy sea, and when it came near, about midway, saw some
natives fishing, and endeavoured to buy some cocoanuts from
them for handkerchiefs, tobacco, razors, knives, &c., and
one rupee, which we had about us. We succeeded in induc-
ing the natives to let us have about twenty-seven cocoanuts,
and we then put to sea without bread, water, sail, or any-
thing to subsist upon besides the twenty-seven cocoanuts,
amongst ten men, in an open boat, 1000 miles from Ceylon,
and 700 from any other place we could pull towards, having
no compass. We agreed to live upon two cocoanuts per day
if possible, but our thirst became so great we were obliged to
use more ; we cut of the legs of our trousers to make a sail,
and tore up the boards from the bottom of the boat, and tied
them with bandkerdhiefs together and made a sail, the mast
being one of oars ; in this way we were picked up at sea by
her majesty's ship Cruiser, who took us on board on Dec.
the 29th, at half-past eight in the morning, and immediately
gave us sago, &c. In the afternoon the captain inquired the
particulars of us, and although he had General Sir Hugh
Gough, for the China expedition, on board, proceeding to
China, he altered his course, and on the 31st of September,
at five in the evening, we re-entered the place, where the Pilot
was till lying, but not one of our crew was to be found, and
there was every appearance of their having been all massa-
cred. The vessel was found to be plundered of every article
of clothing, bedding, sails, rope, blocks, lances, harpoons,
muskets, guns, (large,) cutlasses, all the spirits, wine, ale,
porter, bread, and every piece of iron cut out from her bul-
warks, davit-heads, the copper stmipped off her bottom, and,
in fact, such destruction committed in the short space of one
week, as no person can accurately describe, and in a day or
two more she would not have been worth removing. We
visited the villages, but the natives had fled upon our coming
in ; found a great quanity of rope, canvass, sails cut in pieces,
lances, &c., iron hoop bands from masts, &c., but no clothing
or article of dress.

" Twenty-one of the officers and crew are missing, two we
saw killed, and ten only escaped. _

" There cannot be any doubt of every one missing being
massacred,—the decks stained with blood in many places,
also old sails, canvass, &c. In one part of the deck, the
shape of a man having been apparently smashed to pieces can
be distinctly traced, and in several places the print of a man's
bloody hand can be seen.

" W. BLACKWELL,
" Surgeon, whaling bark Pilot, of London."