The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-11 00:00:00

FRENCH BLOCKADE OF BUENOS AYRES

The following is an extract of a letter from an English
merchant resident at Buenos Ayres. He depicts, in strong
colours, the injury inflicted by the unprincipled blockade in-
stituted by France. Our Ministers have nelther eyes nor
ears for that which does not concern their Parliamentary ma-
jorities or minorities. It is time, however, that something,
as the saying is, were done :
" This blockade is enough to make one fret away existence.
The rascally Whig Government ought to be kicked out Wor
nothing else than the indifference they have manifested to-
wards British interests abroad, in fact, all over the world.
The French are playing with you, and helping themselves at
your expense in every quarter. Lord Aberdeen, and he is a
very high authority, said so recently in Parliament as the 2nd
March, that the blockade was unjust and untenable. Then
why not insist, if France has grievances with Buenea Ayres,
that they should take effective steps to adjust them. The
English Minister, Mandeville, has been all along advising
Governor Roses to hold out, and the latter has done so, and
can still do so, till the French send forces sufficient to take
Buenos Ayres and expel the present government. If the
matter is to be settled here it must be at the mouth of the
cannon. All treaty and negotiation is not worth a farthing.
Intrigue, threats, treaties, have all been tried and failed,
and it only now remains (and which ought to have been
used long ago) to use FORCE. I see a change of
Ministry has taken place in France; will that do any
good ? I fear not. Admiral Dupotel is lying here with
ten ships of war, very comfortably enjoying themselves.
Roses is laughing at them, and we poor inoffensive traders
are looking on, suffering and being ruined and in despair. I
see the Leeds•Mereury sometimes, but in vain look for any
remonstrance with Government against this blockade. There
is plenty of squabbling about Church-rates, and tithes, and
dissenters, and other rubbish of a like nature, but the inte-
rests of your oppressed merchants in and connected with the
river Plate are no where noticed ; and, indeed, so it is gene-
rally with the English press. Ours is no question of 'Whig
or Tory, but one of justice, commanding alike the support
and protection of all parties who wish for commercial pros-
perity ; but we are neglected because people either will not
take the trouble to listen to or _understand us, or are so
blinded by party feeling as to shut their ears to our com-
plaints. If England were to blockade Oporto, do you sup-
pose France and Russia would allow of its continuance for
two years and a half—a quiescent blockade? Would they
not rather take part with such power to bring it to an end
either by force or negotiation ? Yet England, which is almost
the only sufferer, here looks quietly on and takes no steps to
induce France to do anything really efficient. It is said, and
I believe it, that the Camille, which sailed from here on the
15th March, for Brest, took certain proposals from Rosas to
the French Government', which the latter cannot refuse to
accept of. I trust it may so prove. Rosas has offered to put
Frenchmen on the same footing in Buenos Ayres as Buenos
Ayreans are put on in Paris, but the unreasonable agents of
France here demand more. They insist that Frenchmen
shall enjoy exclusive privileges above all other foreigners—
which is monstrous ; and what is more so, they are attempt-
ing to obtain that by force ; to the shame of England be it if
she does not, upon ascertaining this, send a fleet and drive
every French ship out of the river. If you had better
men in power it would be done, but, if not, why the game
may go on for years."

WESLEYAN METHODIST CONFERENCE

(From the Newcastle Journal.)

The proceedings of this exemplary body of men continue
to excite very great interest in Newcastle and the neighbour-
ing towns. We understand the business of the conference
has been conducted in great nnity of spirit, and a very
hallowing influence has pervaded the whole of the public
religious services. From the returns laid before conference
it appears that twenty-nine preachers have died during the
last year, viz., nineteen in England, five in Ireland, and five
in the missionary field. Fifty-four young preachers, having
passed their four years of probation, have been admitted into
full connection, after examinations in private as to their
characters and qualifications for the work of the ministry,
and in public as to their conversion to God and call to the
sacred office. On Wednesday evening they were solemnly
devoted to tl.e work by the laying on of the hands of the
Presbytery. This was done by the president, assisted by Dr.
Hannah, and twelve of the senior ministers. On Thursday
evening an impressive charge was delivered to them by Dr.
Hannah, as Christians, students, preachers, and pastors. The
whole of these public services were deeply interesting to over-
flowing congregations, composed of Christians of every section
of the evangelical church. 114 others have been recommended
to the conference as candidates. Several new circuits have been
formed ; one of them at Shotley Bridge, in this district.
From the returns it appears that the centenary year of the
body has been most signally owned of God in the success of
the Wesleyan ministry, there being an increase of 16,110
members in Great Britain, 665 in Ireland (notwithstanding
a loss of 600 by emigration), and 5777 in the foreign stations,
besides 19,603 on trial for admission into the societies. Ad-
dresses of congratulation to the Queen and her Royal Con-
sort, on her Majesty's marriage, and providential preserva-
tion from the hands of the lunatic assassin, have been deter-
mined on. The two Ashantee princes who are at present in
this country, under the care of the Rev. Mr. pyne, have been
introduced to the Conference. The Rev. J. B. Freeman,
one of the Conference missionaries at Cape Coast Castle, a
man of colour, gave a deeply affecting account of his late
visit to Coomassie, the capital of Ashantee, in which country
a mission is determined on, and a mission in Hudson's Bay
has already been commenced, the expenses of which will be
chiefly defrayed by the company. In consequence of a letter
from the Anti-Slavery Society, the question was freely gone
into, and an answer returned, expressive of the abhorrence
which the Conference have always, and do still entertain, of
that dreadful evil. The business of the assembly, it is sup-
posed, will not be brought to a final close until about the
middle of next week, when we hope to be able to present our
readers with some additional information relative .to the de-
liberations of this body, whose loyalty has always been sound,
whose veneration for the establishment has ever been unva-
hryaisnegx,caeneddewdhtohsaet zoefalmiannythote
hdeisrsse.mipnhahtiloicn
woofrgsiolisppeli
lvtirl be
he
conducted in all the chapels of this town and the surrounding
country by some of the most eminent preachers of the con-
nection, next Lord's day.

THE WIGAN SPINNERS.—The dispute amongst this class
of artizans still remain unsettled, and the distress in conse-
quence is very great.— Wigan Gazette.
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.—Mr, J. Wimbridge, of Pres-
teign, has discovered a chemical process, by means of which
steel may be so hardened as to cut glass more easily than the
diamond.

tNtoDokB Wl'ancYe on LINE.t
O n
Friday DREADFUL
morningACClDENTfrightfulo N Tri laleve
he
above line, involving a serious loss of life. The train which
leaves Leeds at seven o'clock in the morning had arrived
within a mile of the Howden station, when six of the last
carriages, consisting of the York train, were upset, dragged
on the ground, and beaten to pieces ; and we are sorry to add
that six of the passengers lost their lives, namely, Mr. Stead,
of York, Mr. Veltman, of Hull, Mr. Craggs, of South Dalton,
and two gentlemen and a lady unknown ; the latter had with
her a pocket-handkerchief marked "A. S." About eight
persons were.more or less injured, some of them severely.
The cause of the accident was this :-There was part of a

sa•JA., 1,11/1•.•
weighing machine on one of the Leeds luggage carriage,g ;
this got out of balatice and fell off upon the rails, and thus
overturned the carriages spoken off. An inquest will be held
on the bodies this morning, at nine o'clock, at Howden ; and
for the present we abstain from all comment.—Leeds Intel&
yencer, Saturday.

EXTRAORDINARY MEETING AT BIRMINGHAM

On Wednesday evening last, a meeting of rather an extra-
ordinary character was held at Birmingham, convened by a
large placard, of which the following is a copy :
" Now or never ! Men of Birmingham, your duty to your-
selves, your children, and, above all, to your injured and in-
sulted country, at this important time of its need, call upon
you to attend a meetin,, this evening, at seven o'clock, on the
ground of the People's Hall of Science, when some most im-
portant business will be brought before you, concerning
deeply the welfare of yourselves and your country. Fellow-
townsmen attend ; be calm, and think seriously after what
will be laid before you."

At the hour appointed a considerable number of persons
assembled, when Charles Attwood, Esq., brother to the late
Member for Birmingham, made his appearance, accompanied
by several other gentlemen. Mr. Attwood then proceeded
to address the meeting amidst cheering. He said they had
been called together upon a subject of more importance than
any which had been broiched since the days of Oliver Crom-
well. It was no less than to charge a Minister of the Crown
with high treason, and with having intentionally and know-
ingly attempted to sell that country to a foreign power. He
made this charge, and was prepared with proof; when the
proper time arrived, in the full knowledge that he was incur-
ring a deep and a heavy responsibility. He had already de-
clared that the charge he was about to make was without a
precedent since the days of Oliver Cromwell, and he would
add that, to the honour of mankind, it was a crime rarely even
seen in historical records. The charge, then, was against the
Foreign Minister of Great Britain and Ireland, and he (Mr.
Attwood) most solemnly declared that he made the charge
not on his own authority alone, but on the authority also of
some of the most distinguished men of this country. In
form the accusation was this, that a treasonable collusion has
existed between the Foreign Minister of the Crown in this
country and Russia, during the whole time Lord Palmerston
has been in office-11nd that is no short space of time—with
a view to render this and other European powers subservi-
ent to the aggressions of the northern autocrat. (Hear,
hear.) Indeed, this country was being betrayed and sold ;
and he was prepared with proof to that effect. He had docu-
ments which, in the present state of the inquiry, it would not
be safe to produce ; but he called upon the people to demand
inquiry, and to demand, if guilty, the public execution of
Lord Palmerston. That minister of the crown had long
secretly fostered between England and France, and, indeed,
every other state but Russia, the germs of war, till at length
their country had been insulted and injured by every power
in Europe—till at length it was known by many distinguished
individuals in this country that Lord Palmerston was the
mere paid agent of the Russian Government.—(Sensation.)
Mr. A. concluded a long speech by moving the following re-
solution :—" That this country is in danger and intention-
ally betrayed to a foreign country ; and that the people of
Birmingham do, in public meeting assembled, on Monday
next, assert the danger and denounce the criminal."—(Loud
cheers.) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ • .

After several other parties had addressed the meeting, the
assemblage separated.

BIRMINGHAM, SUNDAY AFTERNOUN.—The elements of
disorder are again rife in Birmingham, and active prepara-
tions are making by the more violent section of the chartists
to commence a new movement here and in other parts of the
country, which is likely to become more important or mis-
chievous in its consequences than their last abortive attempt,
inasmuch as men of property and station in society have en-
listed themselves in the scheme. The avowed object of the
present project, as stated in my last, is no less a matter than
the impeachment of a minister of the Crown, Lord Viscount
Palmerston ; and his chief accusers are Mr. Charles Attwood,
of Newcastle, Mr. Urquhart, Mr. Monteith, Mr. Sheppard,
and a number of other gentlemen belonging to the ultra-tory
party, who have combined with the more violent of the char-
tist leaders in Birmingham, in their efforts to attain this ob-
ject. The more moderate of the chartist body, headed by
Mr. Collins, who has just obtained his liberation from War-
wick gaol, are opposed to the present movement, and are
taking active measures to counteract it, with what success it
is not easy to determine, as the party is pretty equally divided
upon the question.
To-morrow, a public meeting, called by Mr. Charles Att-
wood, is to take place at Holloway Head, " to consider cer-
tain allegations to be brought forward, that a minister of this
country labours to bring about its downfall, and that a rup-
ture with France and simultaneous embarrassments with
other powers, are parts of a systematic scheme for that ef-
fect." This is the gist of the placard, which ends by calling
upon the people to observe order and decorum that the mea-
sures to be adopted for " averting the ruin of the country,
by a timely investigation, according to the legal and consti-
tutional usage of the country," may not be thwarted. The
placard has produced much excitement, and many rumours
are afloat as to the probable result of the day's proceedings.
The chartists say that the articles of impeachment were placed
in the hands of Lord Melbourne on Friday night, and that
the government are determined to arrest Mr. Attwood on
Monday, and prevent the meeting from being held.
In consequence of this statement, the following placard
was this morning issued. It is a curiosity in its way, and I
therefore give it verbatim, &c.:—
" Men of Birmingham,—There being reason to believe
that persons are intended to be present (from London) at
the meeting at Holloway Head on Monday next for the pur-
pose, not of promoting, but of hindering discussion, by
interruptions,—your sense of justice and of your own re-
spectability is concerned to prevent any attempt of such a
nature, if it should be made, from succeeding in its unfair,
and to the character of your town, injurious design. Patience
in hearing, and in abstaining from such interruptions, will
always be the interest, and therefore the practice of the party
that can best depend upon the soundness of their arguments,
and those who deviate from such practice ought to recollect
that thereby in effect acknowledge that their cause is inde-
fensible. (Signed)

` EDWIN THOMPSON."

A meeting was held last evening, by adjournment, from
Dee's Royal Hotel, at the Assembly Rooms, in the Old
Square, at which the resolutions to be submitted at the
meeting to-morrow were agreed upon ; and it was also de-
termined, in order to give additional weight to the important
subject of the proceedings, to present a requisition to the
mayor, P. H. Muntz, Esq., to issue his mandate for holding
it. A deputation, consisting of the requisitionists, are with
the mayor while I write, but there is little probability—
much reason as he has to feel indignant at the pitiful conduct
of the present government in reference to the charter of
incorporation—that Mr. Muntz will lend even the sanction
of his name to a meeting which it is more than probable will
end in tumult and disorder.
.

Mr. Burgess, the active Commissioner of police, and his
superintendents, are fully acquainted with all that is passing
and in contemplation, and-, with the assistance of the Scot's
Greys stationed at our barracks, will be more than equal to
meet any possible emergency that may arise.—Morning
Herald of Yesterday.