The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-27 00:00:00

ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE

On the truth of the following narrative, or romance in real
life, our readers may rely :—Oa the evening of the 7th of
March last a young man, meanly attired, apparently about
twenty years of age, knocked at the door of Mr. Madden,
the relieving officer of the Kensington Union for the parish
of Kensington, residing in Charles-street, and entreated he
would afford him shelter for the night, as he was in a state of
utter destitution, " having not where to lay his head." Mr.
Madden, seeing that the unfortunate individual looked pale
and weakly, asked him if he was not also unwell in health ;
to which he replied, in a very mild voice, that he was suffer-
ing from a severe attack of influenza, and was very ill. Mr.
Madden accordingly gave him an order for admission into
the union workhouse for males, in Gloucester-road, Kensing-
ton, where he remained for eight days, and was attended
during that time by Mr. Wright, the district surgeon of the
union. On the 15th of March, having given the usual notice
to leave, he discharged himself from the workhouse saying
that he was going to Yepton, in Sussex, to which place he
stated he belonged, although it has since been ascertained
that on his entering the workhouse, and his name, &c.,
being, as is customary, entered in a book by the porter, he
gave them as follows :—" George White, aged 16 years, came
from Chelmsford, and going to Southampton." From the
15th of March, nothing further was heard of the individual
in question by the workhouse authorities until Wednesdey
last, when one of the turnkeys belonging to the Westminster
New Bridewell, Tothill-fields, applied at the workhouse for
information as to whether such a person had been an inmate
there, and on being informed in the affirmative, he acquainted
Mr. Madden that the party, although dressed as a
man, and calling himself George White, was a female, and at
present an inmate of the bridewell. From the statement of the
turnkey it appeared that she had been committed last week
from one of the police courts of the metropolis to imprison-
ment for seven days for an act of vagrancy she had been
convicted of. On Tuesday last, on one of the officers of the
prison visiting her cell, he noticed a remarkable fulness of
her chest, and on desiring her to open her shirt, discovered,
to his great surprise, that the prisoner was a female, and
not a man. He immediately communicated this discovery
to Lieutenant Tracey, the governor, who instantly sent for
the supposed young man, and questioned her as to the cause
of her adopting the present disguise. For some time she re-
fused to answer his questions, and all attempts to ascertain
her real name or the address of her connexions were unavail-
ing ; but ultimately he elicited from her that she was not a
married woman, and that her father and mother were both
dead. Subsequently to their demise she had been residing
with her uncle, by whose footman she had been seduced,
which being discovered by her relation, she had left his resi-
dence about four months ago, since which time she had
adopted the disguise of a man, in the hope of abiding dis-
covery, and had ever since been wandering about the coun-
try, until taken into custody as a vagrant. She obstinately
refused to give any clue by means of which her name, or the
residence of her friends can be discovered, beyond stating
that she has a brother, who is a student in one of the col-
leges of Cambridge University. She is described as a re-
markably fine looking young woman,
rather above the mid-
dle stature, and her conduct, while both in the workhouse
and in the
superior edPuricsaotinon a.ffHo rders e
xe
tvri
adoe
rndcien
aorfy Isfteorr havingr
ereceivede
da
by the fact of her being enciente, and since the discovery she
has been kindly placed by Lieutenant Tracey in the infirmary
of the prison, and the proper authorities are at present en-
gaged in writing to the places before named, in endeavouring
to obtain correct information respecting her, with a view to
her restoration to her friends.

On Wednesday last a public dinner was given to Commo-
dore Napier in Manchester, at which the Mayor presided,
and many gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood were
present. After the Commodore's health bad been proposed,
he spoke as follows :—Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, when I
last had the honour of being in Manchester, some three or
four years ago, with that distinguished warrior, Marshal
Soult,—to whom you, in common with Liverpool and Bir-
mingham, paid that attention so worthy of the English cha-
racter, I little thought, that, in a few years afterwards, I
should be here myself, and be received by you and others iu
the very kind and handsome manner in which I have now
been received, both in Liverpool and here this day. (Cheers.)
Your mayor, gentlemen, has complimented me very much—
I might almost say undeservedly—(cries of " No, no")—on
the services which I have performed. Gentlemen, I found
myself in Syria under very peculiar circumstances. The
general officer who came out to Syria to take the command
was on his arrival, in such extremely bad health, that he was
obliged to return ; and Admiral Sir Robert Stopford (I sup-
pose for a want of a better) offered me the command of the
Turkish troops entrusted to his charge. Certainly it was a
new command to me, to find myself entrusted with that of a
Turkish army—(hear)—and the Turks had not only an Eng-
lishman commanding their army; but they had also an Eng-
lishman commanding their navy [Rear-Admiral Walker.]—
(Hear.) It is well known, that it was of the utmost import-
ance to affairs in Syria, that the war should be settled as soon
as possible. We were threatened with a war by France ; we
did not know but that at any moment the French fleet might
appear off Alexandria, and combine with the Egyptian fleet
there to attack us. We landed 5000 troops ; and we found
ourselves surrounded by 20,000 Egyptian troops, who were
north, south, east, and west of us. We thought it was ne-
cessary at once to do something. They allowed me to form
my own plans, and I followed the example of the illustrious
Duke of Wellington, under whose banner I had the honour
of serving. (Great cheering.) We were opposed in Syria,
by Ibrahim Pacha, and a large army. In four days we were
ready to receive their forces. The pacha bad always been
noted as a very great general, as well as Suleiman Pacha ;
and we therefore thought it necessary to act with the great-
est circumspection. We were perfectly unacquainted with
the roads of that country, and the first ten days were em-
ployed in acquainting ourselves with the different positions
where Ibrahim Pacha 's army was stationed. He had then
upon our right 4000 or SCOO men under Suleiman Pacha ;
and after looking for them to attack us, for eight or ten days,
it may naturally be supposed that we began to get impatient ;
and as he would not come to us, why, as was the natural
result, we went to him. (Loud cheers and laughter.)
It was our first affair ; and having with us 500 marines, and
not knowing how the Turkish troops would fight ; knowing
that the marines were accustomed to war, we sent the ma-
rines forward to attack him ; but, long before we could get
near the Egyptian troops, the pacha marched them off in
double quick time, and we had the pleasure of taking 600 or
700 prisoners in the course of about half an hour. (Cheers
and laughter.) Our position we saw was a dangerous one,
and we were obliged to come back again, double quick, and
we returned to our former position at D'Jouni' where we
arrived safe that night. This took place on the 24th Sep-
tember. On the 26th, it was determined to attack some of
their fortified places ; we went by sea to Sidon, and took
that city in 24 hours, and brought back with us 3,000 pri-
soners. (Loud cheers.) It was a very new thing for our
Turkish troops to fight with a regular army ; the old Turkish
troops, the Janissaries, having been destroyed by the late
sultan. These new troops were, for the second time, brought
into action on the heights of Syria; and I must do them the
justice of saying, that I never saw men behave better than
those young soldiers. After the capture of Sidon, it was ne-
cessary to do something with the fleet. Beyrout was not yet
taken ; there was a strong force in it ; the place was doubt-
ful, for the inhabitants were the sultan's subjects, but it still
remained doubtful which side they would espouse ; when we
determined to attack it. We marched from D'Jouni upon
the heights of , with the intention of joining the prince
of the mountains, and so to descend upon Beyrout ; but we
found ourselves opposed to such a large force of the Egyp-
tians, under Ibrahim Pacha, that it became necessary to at-
tack them. I made myself acquainted with the tactics of
Ibrahim Pacha, which were always to turn to the enemy's
left; at night, I passed over some troops into his rear, and
the next night we attacked him both front and rear • and
after half an hour's hard fighting, we destroyed nearly the
whole of its forse. (Hear.) The consequence of that was
the evacuation of Beyrout and the whole of the mountains
of Lebanon, and the total liberation of the peasantry of the
country. (Cheers.) After that it was necessary to do
something further; and it was determined by the com-
mander-in-chief to take the whole naval force, together with
three thousand or four thousand troops, to Acre, the result
of which you know. (Cheers.) That result was owing en-
tirely to the skill of British seamen. In former wars many
actions were of course fought by our seamen with ships ; but it
had been very rare for them to fight batteries. One exception
was the taking of Algiers under Admiral Lord Exmouth, and
Acre was the next. There they showed such skill, that, from

the superiority and excellence of their firing, the place was
taken in three hours with hardly any loss at all. (Hear.)
I now come to a subject which you have complimented me a
great deal upon—my negotiations with Mehemet Ali. I was
sent off to Alexandria. It was then towards the end of the
season, and the beginning of winter. We had only 10,000
Turks in Syria for the defence of Sidon, Bey rout, Jerusalem,
Joppa, and Acre. Ibrahim Pacha had collected 50,000 men;
and, knowing the vicissitudes of war, and that delays are

dangerous, rtook upon myself the responsibility of propos-
ing to Mehemet Ali peace. (Most enthusiastic cheering.)
I was quite aware that I was treading on delicate and dan-
gerous ground, because I was poaching on the province of
the diplomatists ; nevertheless I attempted it, and accom-
plished it. The diplomatists thought their trade was at an
end ; they protested against my convention, and upset it ;
the chiefs in Syria upset it also ; so that there was fearful
odds ; the Turkish admiral, four ambassadors, and a com-
mander-in-chief against me—(hear. hear)—still I was satis-
fied I had taken a clear view of the subject ; and I felt satis-
fied, that, by the time the despatches reached this country,
they would be better understood ; and I am happy to say,
that I received most complimentary letters from both Lord
Palmerston and Lord Minto, highly approving of the con-
vention which I had entered into. (Great cheering.) I bad
the satisfaction of being sent to Alexandria to see that condi-
tion carried out ; and I must do Mehemet Ali the justice of
saying, that, from the beginning to the end of the business,
he acted in a fair, open, straightforward manner. He gave
orders for the immediate evacuation of Syria ; he gave up
Turkish fleet ; he paid that fleet—not to the whole extent,
for he had not the money—but still he paid them what he
could ; he victualled them, and sent them back, with his
own officers, to Constantinople. lam excessively sorry to
say (perhaps it may not please at all points, but it is best to
tell the truth), that the Turkish government did not act with
good faith in this business ; they sent orders to their officers
in Syria to examine into the state of Ibrahim Pacha's army,
and, if it was found to be weak, to attack him, but, if strong,
to let him alone. They even went so far as—[we could not
hear the few following words J—contrary to the protest of
that gallant brother officer of mine, Sir C. Stuart, and Col,
Mitchell, both of whom protested very strongly against the
shedding of more blood. I will go further and say, that the
officer who was employed, by the interest of Lord Ponsonby,
was protested against by the Turkish government for taking
this course. The dragoman of the porte, sent by Lord Ponson-
by, ourambassador, handed his protest to the Turkish officer,
for not breaking the convention, and acting against the Pacha.
I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that the Eastern question is
still unsettled. After Mehemet Ali had acted in the best
manner possible ; after the sultan had got the fleet out of his
hands, he then sent him conditions which it was morally im-
possible that he could accept. He accepted the liberal part
of them ; he accepted the hatti scheriff to abolish slavery and
give up his monopolies ; hut it was impossible for him to let
the porte appoint which of his sons they thought proper to
rule Egypt after his death. Another condition which the
porte wished to impose upon him was what he could never
accede to—that of taking away from him the power of ap-
pointing his officers to command his troops. Mehemet Ali
did me the honour of consulting me on the subject ; it was
a tender and delicate one ; but I certainly could not advise
him to accept the terms offered. (" Hear," and a voice,
" certainiy not.") Gentlemen, the very instructions that
we had from home were to carry on the war in Syria with as
little loss of life as possible—hear, and cheers) ;—but, though
we endevoured to observe this as much as possible, the Eng-
lish army sent to the other world not less than ten thousand
human beings. (Hear.) Gentlemen, I will not further de-
tain you, but again, thanking you, wish all prosperity to the
town of Manchester. (Great applause.)

AWFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.-THIRTY-TWO

LIVES LOST.

An explosion, attended by a deplorable sacrifice of human
life, and involving an almost inconceivable amount of suffer-
ing, occurred at Willington, four miles east of Newcastle, a
few minutes after one in the afternoon of Monday last. " Bigge
Pit"—for so the scene of the catastrophe is named—is one of
the several series of workings at Willington colliery, the pro-
perty of Matthew Bell, Esq., and Co., and was for a con-
siderable time closed, having been brought into active opera-
tion only a very short time ago. The workings are, there-
fore, comparatively, not extensive, the east headway running
220 yards, and the west headway 280 yards, while that to the
north is even much shorter. The shaft is sunk to the depth
of 140 fathoms, the High Main Seam being passed through,
and the working of the Bensham seam fairly carried on.
There were employed in the pit at the time of the explosion
35 men and boys, and the first intimation which those at the
bank received of their fellows' danger, was a tremendous re-
port, accompanied by a dense volume of smoke. The effect
upon the earth for a considerable distance round, is said, in
some degree, to have resembled that produced by the shock
of an earthquake, the whole surface appearing, as it were,
to quiver. The noise was heard far in every direction, more
especially eastward, the wind at the time blowing strong
towards that quarter ; and the melancholy, tidings were
thus proclaimed throughout the whole neighbourhood by
the very agency which wrought the mischief. Relatives,
and all in any way connected or sympathizing with those
engaged in the work were drawn to the spot, manifest-
ing in every look And action the dismal anxiety, the gloomy
forebodin, or the intense sorrow, with which the occur-
rence had overwhelmed them. Two men—Michael Ranson
and Henry Dunn—and George Charlton, a boy, all sinkers,
were employed at some distance in the east headway, and
were made sensible of their danger by the dust and wind
which came upon them. Fortunately the after-damp was
spent, and they reached the shaft without being injured : there
they found that stones and wood-work at the bottom were
torn from their places and had fastened the " cage," but,
after much labour, they were rescued from their perilous
position and conveyed to the top in safety. Without loss of
time, and with a readiness which, while it bespoke their feel-
ing, displayed their courage, a body of workmen descended
and forthwith commenced their melancholy work. The la-
bour, exhausting though it was, was continued unremittingly,
until the bodies of the 32 sufferers were recovered. Two
horses, in the northern division, were found quite dead; and
in the same direction where the three survivors were, was
found an old pony, which, though nearly starved, was unhurt.
The stable was burnt down, and an unknown amount of other
injury was effected.—Durham Advertiser.

THE ARMY.—A general order has been issued from the
Horse Guards on the subject of the punishment of a soldier
of the 11th Hussars in the Riding House at Hounslow on
Sunday fortnight, under the direction of the Earl of Cardi-
gan. The conduct of the noble earl is condemned in terms
of well-merited censure, such as we trust will prevent any
repetition of the offence.
ARREST OF A MANCHESTER ANTI-CORN LAW LEAGUER
FOR BRIBERY AT THE WALSALL ELECTION.-At the late
Stafford assizes, the grand jury found a true bill against Ed-
ward Hall, " late of Walsall, gentleman," as therein des-
cribed, but better known in. this neighbourhood as the son of
Mr. James Hall, Sunneyside, a member of the Society of
Friends, and late Boroughreeve of Salford, for " unlawfUlly,
wickedly, and corruptly attempting and endeavouring to
bribe and corrupt one James Lynx, a voter of the said bo-
ith, on of the candid to serve the said
tes
onerough,
Benjamin t ogive hiss vote, as such voter at the said election, for
borough in parliament." Upon this indictment a bench
dwaayr t
lastt wasivir issued
Edward "late
by us ice
ofWalsall,
Coleridge,and on Thurs.
gentleman,"
was taken before the magistrates at the New Bailey, to an-
swer the charge at the next Stafford assizes. Mr. Maude,
who presided on the occasion, ordered the defendant to enter
into his own recognizances in £250, with two sureties in
£lOO each. Mr. Rawson and Mr. R. P. Livingstone having
entered into the required bond, Mr. Hall was set at liberty.
The consternation amongst the party who did the dirty work
oisf
etxhpeeleetaignugeat Walsalls
that there are many in Manchester whose merits far exceed
th of Mr. Edward Hall.—Manchester Chronicle.
thathis turn
i will
ibl el y
comeon description.
and it is well known
[Awn; Each of them

ALTERATION OF THE SUGAR DUTIES

(From the Anti-Slavery Reporter.)

The attention of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Committee has been seriously directed to the measure which
is now understood to be under the consideration of the gov-
ernment, by which the British market would be opened to
foreign, and therefore to slave-grown sugars. A memorial to
Lord Melbourne on this subject, which is most deeply inter-
esting to humanity, has been adopted by that body, and was
presented to his lordship on Friday, by a deputation consist-
ing of the following gentlemen :—Messrs. Samuel Gurney,
Josiah Forster, George Bennet, - John Beaumont, Edward
Gurney, John O'Connell, M.P., E. N. Buxton, and Henry
Sterry. The noble premier received the deputation courte-
ously, and assured them that the memorial should receive
the serious attention of the government.
The following is the memorial :
To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Melbourne, &c.
My Lord,—The rumoured intention of her majesty's gov-
ernment to lower the duties on the staple productions of the
British colonies, and to make such other arrangements as
shall admit the produce of slave as well as free labour into
the British market, having come under the consideration of
the British and Foreign Anti- Slavery Society, they venture
respectfully to lay the result of their deliberations on the sub-
ject before your lordship.
That the question of the reduction of duties is deemed one
of vital importance, may be inferred from the amount of pub-
lic attention which has for some time past been given to it,
bothin and out of parliament. On the one hand it is asserted
that the welfare of the country at large, but especially of the
labouring classes, and of the mercantile and manufacturing
interests, peremptorily requires the reduction ; whilst on
the other hand it is contended, that any such reduction
would be destructive of an immense amount of capital in-
vested in the colonies, that their cultivation, as a conse-
quence, must be abandoned, and the important market they
now afford to the manufacturer and the merchant be altoge-
ther closed.

To the government, therefore, the subject must have been
one of difficulty, if not of embarrassment ; pressed as it has
been on their attention by parties of opposite views and con-
flicting claims. The committee conceive, however, that,
whilst the expectations of those who advocate the reduction
of duties as to the anticipated results of the measure are un-
duly raised, the fears of these who oppose it are as unduly
exaggerated. No doubt, the immediate effect of the con-
templated reduction would be to lower the price of colonial
produce in the British market, as it would bring the cheaper
produce of Cuba and Brazil into competition with it ; but
that it would materially increase the exports of manufac-
tured goods to either of those countries may be fairly ques-
tioned, since that, the committee apprehend, must depend
upon the increase of population, and the general distribu-
tion of wealth amongst the community—a thing which can
never take place where the great mass of the labouring popu-
lation are slaves.
That the ultimate result would be to advance the price of
the productions of those countries in the continental market,
and also in this, must be obvious, inasmuch as every ton
subtracted from the present supply of the foreign market to
meet the demand of the consumers in this, must necessarily
affect it; and, to whatever extent the reduction in the duties
may diminish cultivation in the British colonies, it must,
sooner or later, affect the exports to them. Cuba and Brazil
will undoubtedly be benefited. The British colonies may,
and most probably will, be injured by the measure.
But, my lord, there are some who cannot look on the
question as one of mere fiscal arrangement. They regard it
as involving great principles and solemn responsibilies. In
the relation which it bears to slavery and the slave-trade—in
the strength it will give the one, and the impulse it will
yield the other—the committee find an argument which ap-
peals with irresistible force to their convictions and feelings
against it.
It is not, and cannot be, a question with them, how far the
political interests and commercial policy of this country may
seem to require the measure; but whether the great prin-
ciples of universal justice and benevolence may not be com-
promised thereby.
That in Cuba and Brazil, the great slave-markets of the
western world, the cupidity of slave-dealers will be stimu-
lated to increase the number of their victims, and that the
cart whip of the slave-drivers will be plied with redoubled
energy to extort labour from reluctant bondsmen, should the
reduction take place, there can be no doubt ; the committee
would therefore earnestly deprecate the measure, as involv-
ing a criminal disregard of the liberty and welfare of mil-
lions of their fellow men, and of the sacred obligations of
duty to the Most High. . .

The committee are far from being opposed to the princi-
ples of free trade, in their fair and legitimate application.
They are not in favour of monopolies. Hence they are de-
sirous of seeing the produce of other countries, raised by free
labour, introduced into this. But they conceive that, to ad-
mit the produce of slave-labour into the British market on
such favourable terms as these, which, it is understood, have
been proposed, would, under present circumstances, give a
bonus to slave-holders, supply a fearful impetus to the ne-
farious traffic in human beings, and consolidate a system of
iniquity, which has been branded with deserved infamy by
the people, the legislature, and the government of this coun-
try. Whereas it may be confidently expected, that the tem-

porary pressure of high prices, already in process of re-
moval, will entirely give way, if the free system, which has
happily been established in the British colonies, be not em-
barrassed in its infancy with difficulties with which it may
not be able to contend.
The documents laid before Parliament clearly prove, that
the deficiency in the supply of produce from the British colo-
nies during the last two years, has arisen partly from the
great change which has taken place in the condition of the
labouring population, considerable numbers of them having,
either wholly or in part, withdrawn from agricultural employ-
ments; partly from the unjust and severe laws which have
been allowed to, go into operation, to coerce labour under a
state of freedom ; partly from the injudicious arrangements
of some, and the dishonourable proceedings of other planters,
in the management of properties confided to their care; and
partly from providential dispensations, such as the long con-
tinued and heavy rains in some colonies, and the length and
severity of the drought in others. But these causes, the
committee sincerely trust, will not be permanent in their
continuance. To the Government they would confidently
look to remove every unequal andi unrighteous law, and to
purify and strengthen the administration of justice. To the
proprietary body they would look to adopt such wise mea-
sures as shall promote the cheerful labour, and the full de-
velopment of the industrial energies of the liberated bonds-
men; and, above all, they would look to the Divine blessing
to crown the great work of emancipation, which they are
anxious everywhere to promote, with abundant success.
The committee are much gratified on being able to state
that, in the judgment of practical men, founded upon.accu-
rate information, no fears of a short supply of produce for
the present year need be apprehended ; that the prospect of
an increased quantity from the British colonies may be rea-
sonably anticipated in 1842 ; and that there is every reason
to believe that each succeeding year will yield still larger
supplies than have hitherto been imported from them into
this country. The late complete assimilation of the duties
between East and West India sugar, will also greatly add to
the stock of that necessary article for home consumption.
In conclusion, the committee would respectfully, but ear-
nestly, entreat your lordship, and your lordship's colleagues
in office, that, in the contemplated alterations in the tariff of
customs duties, provision may be made for the exclusion of
the produce of slave labour from the British market, and for
the greater encouragement of free labour, by all practicable
and legitimate means, throughout the world.
On behalf of the committee,
HENRY TUCKETT, Chairman.
London, March 26th, 1841.

Cumous OCCURRENCE.—Two ravens were seen a few
days since fighting in the air, near the mouth of the river
Yealm, and at length fell together to the ground. An ob-
server hastened to the spot and secured them both while they
were thus hotly engaged, and locked in each other's claws.—
Western Luminary.