The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-05-20 00:00:00

LATER FROM TEXAS,

The intelligence brought from Texas by the De Kalb, arrived at
New Orleans on Sunday last, is rather of a gloomy cast. It is only
rumour, it is true, but there must be some foundation for it without
any doubt. We subjoin extracts from two letters received in this
city yesterday, the first by the steamboat Merchant in the morning,
and the last by the mail-boat, evening, from-New Orleans. They
contain all that we have found.

" Dear have just received letters from --. The Mexi-
cans were within a few miles of San Filipe, which had.been been de-
serted by the Texians and burnt down. ***** ' ' '
Houston had retreated to the east of the Brazos. Fannin, it is reported
had been killed and all his army—a panic prevailed throughout, and
every one was moving on as fast as possible for the Sabine. No doubt
Santa Ana will concentrate his forces on the Brazos, and Houston Will
decoy hint into the heart of Texas. Come on at once ! NOw or never
is the time: to do any thing! It is now near eleven o'clock morning.
I write iu great haste."
The following are extracts from the second letter :
" * ' * It appears that Houston has retreated to the east

side of the Brazos, and the Mexican army is advancing in two divi-
sions, one on the sea coast and the other in the interior, and that-one
was within a few miles of San Felipe. The citizens of San Felipe had
burnt down the town and were moving on towards the Sabine. It was
the intention of the people of Texas to destroy all their towns, rather
than let the Mexicans get possession of them. • ' • "
All the country west of the Brazos, it is said, had been abandoned.
Houston will not, it is thought, retire any further—but it looks gloomy,
and the next accounts will be very interesting. Reinforcements were
reaching Houston daily, and if the Mexicans should make much de-
lay, he will have a strong force, and we think drive Santa Ana back.
Yours in haste.
A CONVICTED MURDERER BURIED WITH MILITARY HONOURS.—
That there is a growing disposition among the people of this country,
to exercise a most morbid sympathy for malefactors, we have long
been convicted. There is, 'in the first place, a false philanthropy
abroad in the land, which professes to feel conscientious misgivings
as to the propriety of " taking the life of a human being" for even
the most atrocious crimes ; and, in the next place, another large por-
tion of our people, who, pE;rhaps, would hardly do away with the law
which inflicts capital punishment, but who are ready, the moment
that a murderer pays the forfeiture of his crimes, to sanctify his me-
mory. They would acknowledge, probably, that he was justly pun-
ished, but every pains is taken to convince the culprit himself, as well
as others, that he had ecome " a saint in heaven," the instant that
the halter had made on% rogue less on earth. The scaffold, according
to these people, is the very stepping stone to glory, and a felon's ex-
piation of guilt upon the gallows, is a matter that is to be " improved"
for the edification of those he has left behind. No matter what may
have been the amount of his turpitude: no matter how heinous may
have been the particular offence tior which he suffered ; he merely
" fell a victim to the rigor of our laws' and the maudlin sentimen-
tality sure to follow guilt to its grave, has actually taken half the
terrors from the consequences that fall on those who have made up
their mind to commit a crime I Every villian knows that he is sure
of scores of sympathizing friends, if he is destitute ; and if he can
get off clear so mucrtlie'better for him. If he escapes, he makes a
thrifty business of his wickedness ; if he is punished, he becomes
conspicuous ; ante is, moreover, made a martyr and a saint ! His
good qualitieS are recorded, and his bad ones glossed over and for-
gotten. The court of justice which convicts him is little less an
object of horror with the philanthropists, than the hangman who
fixes the rope about his neck, for a sum of money. His fate is pitied ;
white, perhaps, that of the very victim of his atrocity is eared very
little for. Nay, nine times in ten, that the victim becomes the theme
of the vilest and most unfeeling posthumous calumny. There is no
extravagance in these remarks. They are warranted by the actual
history of the last twenty years. Every part
,of our country has hen
disgraced by these scenes. The moral elements of our, society l*e
been poisoned by the practices of a canting pretension to'sublimated
philosopEy ; and there is really some danger, that ere long, crime
will become' the readiest road to the good opinion, of our contem-
poraries. A scene of recent occurrence in Louisiana, has impresSed
these considerations upon us with more freshness and more force than
anything of the kind that has ever yet taken place in this country.
One Washington Whitaker, Tepresented as a brawling blackleg of
the worst description, was sometime since convicted in New Orleans
of one of the most unprovoked and atrocious murders that has ever
been perpetrated in the United States. lie was wealthy, had
wealthy and influential friends, and every possible exertion was
made to- rescue him from the consequences of .the deed ; but after a
fair and patient trial a jury found him guilty, the court sentenced him
to death ; and the governor of the state hail the firmness to resist the
importunity to pardon him. The day of execution ivas fixed, and
Whitaker, to shun the ignominy of the gallows, stabbed himself to
death with a knife.

Now comes a scene such as we hope for the honour of. the country,
may never be enacted again, at least so long as we claim to be a civi-
lized nation: The body of the felon was taken to his mother's plan-
tation, the militia of the state is called out, a martial procession
formed, military music is provided and the body carried to the grave
with all the honours that could have been bestowed upon a general of-
ficer who had fallen in glorious battle. A volley was fired over the grate
and a major general pronounced'a laboured eulogium upon his eha-•
racter ! The court that convicted him was termed an " Inquisition,"
the governor abused in most unmeasured terms fur refusing to pardon
the culprit, and the people of New Orleans indiscriminately stigma-
tized in the grossest language that calumny could muster for its pur-
poses. A meeting was organized on the spot in order to embody an
" expression of the public opinion" and the proceedings signed by a
president andsecretary, and ordered to be published.
This is unquestionably the grossest violation of every thing that is
decent and decorous that ever occurred in this country, and the
citizens of New Orleans could not receive a more emphatic com-
pliment than is bestowed upon them by the abuse :of Such an assem-
blage as gathered around the grave of Washington Whitaker.

We have received Hobart Town papers to the 26th
December. That beautiful and highly-favoured country,
Van Diemen's Land, is, like Ireland, blessed with an
O'CONNELL in the person of J. T. Gellibrand, Esq., the
bead of a political association. This worthy personage,
who has undertaken the task of agitating the new set-
tlers in thefifilt quarter of the globe, is, we believe, a
Cockney attorney, who -emigrated some years since, but
whether at the state's.or his own expense we do not
remember. The press of Van Diemen's Land, with one
or two hOnourable exceptions, is of the most incendiary
and .mendacious character. The Hobart Town Courier,
speaking cf this press and the political association; and
alluding to Mr. GELLIBIIAND, says—

•
The march of slander goes on, as we predicted, with unwearied
steps, while its attendants—disunion, distrust, and social discomfort,
follow close behind. This is now the state of think in Hobart town,
rapidly spreading its contagion in the other parts of. the.coloay. - -The
abuse of the press is no bugbear, it is an actual demon with hydra
head, that if left to itself, unchecked and unsubdued, will stalk across
our land, blighting in its progress every green leaf, poisoning every
happy heart, corrupting every good disposition, destroying the fruits
of industry, and paralysing its energies. The labours in our supreme
court, which has been occupied during the past week with an atteni pt
to regulate the progress of this demon, so far from disarming, or
crippling him, seems only to have added fresh vigour to his steps. And
so it will be, until the people themselves, aroused by the weekly, the
daily volleys of newspaper detraction with which they are oppressed,
take the remedy into their own hands, and by withholding encourage-
ment, by no longer nursing the dangerous viper, if they do not wholly
put it down, teach it at least to change its tone, to adopt another
language, and to apply the glorious engine which Providence has
placed at their command, to the good and not the curse of mankind.

1 The murder of Captain SERGEANTSON, a gentleman
who is spoken of in high terms, had created a very con-
siderable degree of excitement in the colony. On this
subject we take another extract from the paper we have
already quoted.
The settlers of Campbell Town district, say very true. " Here it
out off, by foul murder, a gentleman by birth and education—a zallan
soldier of Quatre Bras and Waterloo—a magistrate of the colony—t)-e
head of a family. We will show his friends at home and his widow
here, the estimation in which we held him by the liberality of our re-
ward for the discovery of the murderers." We have not vet heard
the facti that have been elicited on the inquest but we know and are
authorised to state thus publicly that a sum of nearly four hundred
pounds has been subscribed by the settlers in the neighbourhood
which we trust, in addition to the reward held out by government will
bring the perpetrators to light.

Captain Sergeantson has left behind him a widow and one child, two
died in India and had his life been spared a little longer, he would
soon have had another to call him father. All his family are attached
to the military profession. His father was the late Major Sergoantson.
His uncle Major Yarborgh, a gentleman of large property and a Ifa-
chelor, is the distinguished patron of the turf at York and Doncaster.
Had Captain Serjeantson lived, he would, it is supposed have suc-
ceeded to a considerable portion of the estates of his uncle, whose
favourite he was. His brother, the Rev: Robert Sorgeantson, is vicar
Of Snaith, in Yorkshire, and his mother died lately at llanrith, in that
county, of which Captain Sergeantson was a native, and it was to
settle some family affairs of importance that he was going home in the
Westmoreland from Launceston. He had fixed to bring Mrs. Ser-
geantson and child over to Anstey Barton on Thursday last, the first
day of the inquest. Mr. Anstey was one of his most intimate friends,
and is appointed an executor of his will.

The ministerial journals, after maintaining a strict and
suspicious silence for nearly a fortnight, have at length
been instructed to whitewash Lord MELBOURNE. They
deny that he has resigned ! They whisper something
about a certain intrigue being comprproiSed; th.it his
lordship is fast recovering from a severe attack of gout,
and that, whatever differences might have existed in the
cabinet, the utmost harmony now prevails; and, conse-
quently, it is only a " tory lie" to say that Lord MEL-
BOURNE has resigned.

This is a very poor quibble. We deny that any tory
ever asserted that Lord MELBOURNE bad resigned. Who
ever heard of a Whig resigning office so lung as he could
retain it by hook, crook, effrontery, or impudence? If
the noble lord has committed any act which renders his
absence from the House of Peers or the presence of his
Sovereign unavoidable and imperative, "resignation"
is not the proper term to apply to such an act of neces-
sity. We do not say that Lord MELBOURNE has com-
mitted any such offence. , Whatever truth there may be
in the rumours of the day, we have no right to assume
that the premier is out of office because a certain magis-
trate is not in a higher and more lucrative situation.
There may be. many reasons why his lordship should ne-
ver again meet his colleagues in an official capacity. He
has not been on good terms with them for some consider-
able time. He has refused to be a party to that collisioh
between the two houses which is resolved upon, and
which that shuffling old dunce, Lord LANSDOWNE, inti-
mated on iplonday last. He has called the member for
all Ireland a " goblin damned"—words that will stick,
and which draw a portrait too true to be forgotten or for-
given. DANIEL, we have no doubt, has placed his mark
of the death's head and cross-bones against the name of
Lord MELBOURNE, and he (DANIEL) we strongly suspect,
is the apple of discord in the cabinet. The pledges made
to the beggar cannot be redeemed. Lord JOHN RUSSELL
is paralysed, Lord DUNCANNON is stupified, and afraid. to
face those to whom he is bound, while Lord MELBOURNE
resolutely declines lending himself to the conspiracy,
which has for its object an open rupture with the peers,
and a desperate plunge, cost what it may, into a reyolu-
tionn'iy struggle for ascendency, the annihilation of the

upper house being the only mode by which the supremacy
of the cumtnonS can, be secured.
This, at least, is our view of the subject, and we have
seldom mistaken the signs of the times or the movements
of parties. The majority in the cabinet having resolved
to do "justice to Ireland," that is, to carry into effect all
the schemes of the demagogue; 'and all the selfish ma-
chinations of the priests—to rob the church—to propagate
infidelity in the national schools—to give the filthy priests
the benefit of the convent system as it prevails in Spain
and Canada—to extirpate protestantism in Ireland, and
make that ill-fated island one immense lazaretto of monks,'
friats, nuns, hedge priests, and religious swindlers of
every description, with all the jugglery and imposition of
holy water, lime pits for murdered infants, skull-caps of
penance, lies and miracles equally holy and disgusting,
toe nail's being an object of reverence, and the Gott of
HEAVEN reduced to a wafer, and in that shape eaten—the
majority of . the cabinet, we say, being in favour of this
most filthy fraud,. it is necessary that Lord MELBOURNE,
who has some pretensions to the manners and character
of a gentleman, should no longer be at the head of a
liberal administration. •
That Lord JOHN RUSSELL aspires to his place we have •
no doubt whatever. That the Norton affair is of whig
contrivance, and that it was first published by them, we
never had any doubt at all. It is just that sort of intrigue
in which the shallow and shabby mind of Lord JOHN
luxuriates. It is bad, if true; it is malice, of pure whig
odour, if false. But, true or false, we believe that its ex-
posure came from the whip', and that it was circulated in
coder to drive Lord MELBOURNE from his position.
Will he retire, badgered as he is on the one side by the..
friends of the " goblin damned," and pressed on the other
by those-Who have concocted the li:te draina in private
life fur the purpose of making the premier the object of:
obloquy, and execration ? We use the word retire in a'
very delicate sense. When alnanis.kicked down stairs
he can hardly be said to have •retired from the drawing-
room. Lord MRLI3t)URNE, being, a whig, is not a retiring
man; but, being outvoted, he is adismissed member of the
cabinet.

P As to the delicate part of the charge we have no wish,
! to dwell upon it, but it is now so notorious that silence
I would be. affectation. The ministerial journals do not'
deny the criminality ; they' only assert that the guilty
party has not resigned office, and they have the indecency
to state that a compromise has taken place.- What
a compromise on the part of an injured husband, and he
' the brother of a peer ...of England ! It isimpossible.
All the money in the world would not purchase the si-
lence of so infamobs a compromise. If it could, the hus-
band would be a thousand times more degraded than the
weak woman who bartered his fame and honour at the
shrine-of passion and, pelf. The noble house of Grandy.
cannot suffer their shield of arms to be barred in this,
disgraceful manner. They must compel Mr. NORTON,
if the story be true, to seek fair redress an open court
of justice; and, if the story be false, they must force hint
to vindicate the now suspected purity of his wife. There
have been cases where the softer sex have been the se-
ducers; but rarely has this happened where the gentle-.
man has been of mature age and the lady of more unripe
years. Lord MELBotiaNE had power and patronage at.
command. The other party, though handsome and well'
born, was not Anent. The meaner temptation was con-.
sequently stronger in, the poorest, and, apart from the -
morality of the question, blue stocking ladies are not of
the firmest virtue. It is not merely the offence that
mands public censure and public exposure in the person
of Lord MELBOURNE, but it is because the noble lord is•
prime minister of England, having immense patronage-
at his disposal, the King's signet in his hand, and the.
King's honour in his keeping, that the affair assumes a
more serious foil') and culls for a more solemn reproba-
tinn

But after all the private affairs of Lord MELBOURNE:
have little to do with the present question. That he will
never again appear as a minister in the House of Lords,
we fully believe, but that the ministry, lame though it be,.,
contemplates an angry collision with the upper house on
behalf of the Irish mendicant and the Irish municipal.
bill, is too transparent to be misunderstood. -Lord LANS
DOWNE is forwarding the amended, bill through the lords
expressly for the purpose. The commons are to be
roused to a rupture with the lords be the consequences
what they may, the end of which must be a dissolution of
parliament. The King has no other choice. If the lords
are insulted by such persons as WAKLEY, EWART, DUN-
COMBI4 BUCKINGHAM, ROEBUCK, and THE TAIL, the King
will be compelled to appeal to his people. That the peo-
ple of England will gratefully and joyously respond to
the wishes of their sovereign is indisputable. That the
people of Scotland and Ireland- will do the same, is per-
haps problematical ; but this we are confident of, namely,
let the appeal be made to-morrow, and a very different
set of representatives will be sent to parliament. We,
long for nothing so much as this another trial of
strength upon the hustings.