The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-03-16 00:00:00

1
elf, in vi

mgh it would seem re

a enabled to delegate his own

himself empowered, should

ion to nominate a successor, qualified,
w rank and ability, to take his place.

'rom fort

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tamely, Capt. I

asted, N

ment n

to baffle t

tain Elliot, an officer c

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it and diploma-

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;, is left in sole
with the most

could be

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,g what Lord Melbourne, the pre-
the House of Lords, should not be

the direction of the e

can read as the

of even a

any of whom knov

mmana of the expedition, but whether he is
Alan, here or not we are left in ignorance." It is
11 known Admiral Elliot had for
r the visitation of that
And this

s prey
listress

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x been a vietim_to it

sainted with him tha

id of the Cape station he
of this disease, that it

n painful to be with him from the very violent action
cart. which shook the whole room, -' ---

t of very

Under suc

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_

.
a an invalid a command of such extreme im-

that of the Chinese expedition, or even t

and papers have

RALIA

been received

1 from Hobart Town
ply' no new facts re-
igned causes. It ap-
)n of a great deal of

pears indeed that tl
overtrading prevailed among the banks of other parts of
Australia, and that in consequence all were more or less pru-
dently engaged, like those of Van Diemen's Land, in taking
steps to remedy or make head against the evil.

WEST INDIES.
The arrival of the West India mail by the Hope packet
has furnished papers from the various islands to the follow-
ing dates, all inclusive—Jamaica to the Ist of February ;
Demerara to the 22d of January ; Trinidad to the 22d of
January ; Barbadoes to the 23d of January ; and Antigua to
the 19th of January. In the Jamaica papers some accounts
appear of the state of the island of Dominica, which was suf-
fering much from the very dry weather. On some of the
tates sugar had already been made, but of very inferior
iality, and in others the juices were so weak that they
ulate. The crop was not expected to exceed
r. Besides the inconvenience of the continu-
raught tfiroughout the months of November
it was feared there was no chance 'of establish-
...or the crop of 1842, as most part of the island
planted in these months. Provisions were, for the titne
°mug, reasonable, from the desire of the planter to clear his
cane preparations of roots. The Court of Policy at Deme-
rara was in course of deliberation, but the discussions were
connected only with matters of local interest.
Cape of Good Hope papers to the 9th of January, and
Graham's Town papers to the Ist of January were also re-
ceived to-day. These communicate the news of an attack by
the emigrant boers of Natal upon the Chief Capai, in which
they carried off an immense drove of cattle. The Governor
had had a conference with the chiefs of the Slambie and
Gonaquabe Caffres on the treaties, which was not finally
t the date of these accounts.

)ecember

[lt will be remembered that inour last we expressed stioug
doubts of the correctness of the account of the destruction of
the Falls of Niagara, which we copied from a Buffalo paper ;
and it seems, from the following extract frtim the New York
Comrnercial Advertiser that it is likely to prove merely a

Some of the papers this morning contained what is called
extra from the " office of the Advertiser, Buffalo, Feb. 14,
o'clock," giving an account of the destruction of the Falls

tgata. DA
slight glance at it will convince any one that
bohx., and by no means a good one, got up by some
g who probably never saw the falls. We will point out
of the indicia leading to this conclusion.

1. The article was not written, although purporting to have
been, by the editor of the _Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.
We know his style too well. Ile never deals in such inflated
windy language as the account presents.
2. *The extra purports to be dated at Buffalo on Sunday
evening at 4 o'clock, and it was received in this city last
evening. This could not be done.
3. "Biddle Tower and all the adjoining groundwork had
disappeared."—Mr. Biddle never built a tower at the falls.
Some years ago he caused to be built a staircase on Goat's
Island, leading down to the falls, which goes by his name.
4. "The water made a subterraneous passage, and burst
through the wall of Goat Island."—Absurd.
5. " The hotel is gone. It is believed no lives have been
lost."—The last- clause is correct; there can have been no
lives lost, because there was no hotel to be carried away. The
nearest hotel is the Clifton-house, far below the falls.
P.S. Since the above was in type the northern mail, only
due this afternoon, has arrived, and brought us the Buffalo
Commercial Advertiser of Saturday evening, the latest which
•,

The Albany papers of yesterday are silent
.1 hoax was probably got Up in this city.

The Falls of Niagara afford a magnificent example of the
progressive excavation of a deep valley in a solid rock. That
river slows froM Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the former lake

being 330 feet above the latter, and the distance between
them being 32 miles. On flowing out of the upper lake the
river is almost on a level with its banks, so that if it
'should

rise perpendicularly eight or ten feet, it would lay under wa-
ter the adjacent'flat country of Upper Canada on the west,
and of the state of New York on the east. The river; where
it issues, is about three-quarters of a mile in width. Before
reaching the Falls it is propelled with great rapidity, being-a
mile broad, about 25 feet deep, and having a descent of 50
feet in half a mile. An iskind at the very verge of the cata-
ract divides it into two sheets of water : one of these, called
the Horseshoe Fall, is 600 yards wide, and 158 feet perpen-
dicular ; the other, called the American Falls, is about 200
yards in width, and 164 feet in height. The breadth of
the island is about 500 yards. This great sheet of water
is precipitated over a ledge of hard limestone, '.._
tal strata, below which ,is a, somewhat greater, thickne,

t horizon-

s away more r

Ile, which dec

) thi)t the calcareous rock forms an overha

,he hollow space

of wind, charged with spray, which

pool into wi

ch this enormous cascade
shale beds. so that their

disintegration is constant,

Hy at certain

the expanst

The superincum-

bent limestone bein

from time to time in

patiied by a not
river h
Hall,

MISCELLANEOUS

Arthur Henry, son of Mr. W. Brown, of Brentwood,
a youth little more than ten years of age, but of great musi-
cal promise, has been appointed organist to the new church,

£50,000

ue of the plate, paintings, furniture, and other pro-
•ed front the tire at Wynyard Park, is said to be
The total loss is estimated at £70,000, and there
ns to be no doubt of the distressing fact that the

property was WI:

- -
since the opening of the Hartlepool and Stockton railway;
and the recent opening* of the Great North of England rail-
way for goods and merchandize, great quantities of fish are
no* daily sent from Hartlepool to Darlington, and forwarded
by the latter railway for York, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby,
Manchestee, and Birmingham.
- The quantity of timber imported into the port of Sunderland
for the year ending on the sth of last January was 41,705
loads. The quantity imported last year into the united king-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland was 518,299 loads ; so that
the quantity imported at this port exceeded a twentieth of
that of the whole kingdom.

FATAL ACCIDENT.-It is with sincere regret we have to
intimate the untimely fate of the Rev. Thomas WRitchie,
late minister of the parish of Clunie, in this county. It will
be recollected that he voluntarily demitted his pastoral
charge, between two and three years ago, for the purpose of
going abroad. He was drowned on the Ist July last, in con-
sequence of the upsetting of a boat in the Kiapara River, on
the west coast of New Zealand, while the ship Anna Watson,
with which he was a passenger, lay wind-bound on her voy-
age from Sydney to the Bay of Islands. Mr. WRitchie was
in the thirty-sixth year of his age.—Perth Constitutional.
A French paper called the Audience contains a letter from
a private correspondent, dated Gibralter, the 28th ult., which
states that an opulent British merchant, named James Box-
Well, long resident there, had been tried and convicted of the
murder his daughter, on circumstantial evidence, and that
on the way to execution the convict saw in the crowd ano-
ther Englishman named John Keats, who had been active in
Collecting evidence against him. The convict expressed a
desire to die in peace with all mankind, and to pardon this
petson, whom he considered his greatest enemy. When the
convict reached the scaffold, the executioner was preparing
to exeeute the sentence of the law, when a voice was heard
in the crowd exclaiming—" It is I that am guilty, and not
the convict." This exclamation was made by John Keats.
He confessed that it was he who bad carried off James Box-
well's daughter ; that he had cut off her hair during her
sleep, and stolen one of her dresses, which he had steeped in
blood ; and that the generous pardon granted to him by this
victim had caused him to reflect on the enormity of his
The executioner immediately withdrew the rope
..t's neck, and the cap from his face, when it
was discovered that he was dead from the effects of tensor.
The atrocious John Keats was conducted to prison amidst
the execrations of the populace, who wished to tear him to

from the convic

DESPERATE OUTRAGE BY AN ARMED PARTY.—On the
night of Monday, between the hours of eight and nine
o'clock, a large body of armed men surrounded the house of
Patrick Ryan, of Ballywilliam. Five of them having en-
tered, the first thing they did was to demand of Ryan what
decrees he had in the house ; not having immediately com-
plied with the demand, one of the ruffians snapt a gun at his
head, which fortunately missed fire ; two others of the party
also attempted to shoot him, but their pistols burned
priming. They then assaulted him with the butt ends of
their fire-arms, and having knocked him down, they asked
him if he would give up the decrees he had obtained at the
last quarter sessions against the Boyles, Gormans, Ryans,
and others. Having given them the decrees, they placed him
on his knees, and swore him as to the fact of his having any
more of them. They also swore him to give up an acre of
land, which he had rented for the last twelve months from
Caleb Powel, of Castleotway, and threatened him with cer-
tain death if he put them to the necessity of a second
visit.
Before they departed they beat a weaver who was sleeping in
the house, in a most unmerciful manner, and broke several
of his teeth. His name is Thomas M`Mahon, and his of-
fence was being entered in one or two of the decrees as a
specialty. Several shots were heard after the gang had left
the house.—Limerick Standard.

COLLISION AND SINKING OF A PASSENGER STEAM-BOAT.
—An accident of an extraordinary and alarming nature oc-
curred Ou Tuesday morning, at Kilpinpike, near Howden.
The facts are briefly these :—About eight o'clock the iron
steamer Hirondelle, Captain Wilson, from Hull to Selby,
came in contact with a vessel lying at anchor in the river, and
so dreadful was the collision, that the steamer's starboard
bow was completely stove in, and her machinery so dread-
fully shattered, that in less than five minutes she filled with
water and disappeared. She had on board about 50 passen-
gers and 93 sheep. We are happy to state that all the pas-
sengers saved their lives by jumping on board the vessel with
which the steamer came in collision; but nearly half of the
sheep were drowned : 25 dead ones have been picked up at
Booth Ferry. A Jew lost a valuable box of jewellery, valued
at £3OO. The screams of the people on board the packet
were heart-rending, and they certainly were in imminent
danger, as the interval which elapsed between the shock and
sinking was scarcely five minutes, and had the vessel onboard
which they escaped been in the least damaged by the colli-
sion, they would inevitably have perished. The weather was
calm, but a dense fog prevailed at the time of the accident.
This is the account given by the persons who were on the
deck of the steamer when the collision took place.—Eastern
Counties' Herald.

The g

AND HER

FATAL AFFRAY BETWEEN A " GIANTESS
HUSBAND.—On Saturday night, after the performance in a
booth at the foot of Saltmarket-street had closed, the woman
who exhibited herself as a giantess quarrelled with her hus-
band, on account, it is said, of his excessively dissipated ha-
bits, and in the course of the struggle which ensued, the lat-
ter received :a severe blow on the forehead with some weapon.
The unfortunate man soon after became seriously ill, and on
Sabbath afternoon, about five o'clock, he expired. Prepara-
tions were made for the interment of the body on Tuesday,
but on the circumstances of the death being made known to
the police, the obsequies were postponed, the body taken to
the police-office, and submitted to medical inspection. The
female was, at the same time, taken into custody for exami-
nation. It appeared that the weapon used was part of a bed..
post ; but we understand that the medical gentlemen are of
opinion that, from the morbid state of the brain, death might
have ensued although there had been no external violence.
The deceased's name was Moir. The accused is a woman
about five feet nine inches in height, and of a masculine
figure. She denies having used deadly violence towards her
husband, and frequently asks for what sbe is confined. S,ince
the above was wrote the prisoner has been discharged by the
fiscal, subsequent to the report of the medical gentlemen
having been received.—Scotlish Guardian.
SUICIDE.—On Monday evening a man and a woman en-
gaged lodgings in a house in Bell-street, and remained during
that night. In the morning the man went out after break-
fast, and did not return. On Tuesday evening the former
ordered some coffee, into which the landlady observed she
put a white powder, but supposing it to be some medicine,
took no suspicion of the matter. During the night the woman
was heard to vomit excessively, and in the morning she was
found in hen bed dead. Under the pillow was a letter, ad-
dressed to " Wm. Barton," of whom we have learned nothing
but the name. The writer, however, was known as a per-
former in the booths at the foot of Saltmarket-street, and
bad been married to a showman named Scott, some years
dead. She addresses Barton in affectionate terms, informing
him that this letter was the last her poor hands would write
in this vale of tears ; that his departure from her was the
last blow to her proud and bursting heart. She prays for
forgiveness to all who have spoke reproachfully of her ; and
concludes—" her eyes becoming dim '—with a last request
to her sister to attend her funeral. We learn that the de-
ceased was respectably connected. She was about thirty-six
years of age, and had been good looking, but from her course
of life her countenance had assumed rather a haggard ap-
pearance.—Scottish Guardian.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—TWO LIVES LOST.—On Thursday
morning, between 11 and 12'o'clock, the following lamenta-
ble occurrence took place :—lt appears that two nursery-
maids, attached to the establishment of Major Macfarlane,
of 16, Raymond-terrace, Regent's Park, went out with three
of the children for the purpose of walking round the park.
On arriving at the bridge over the canal, one of the servants
incautiously placed the youngest child on the parapet of the
bridge, and was in the act of tying the strings of its hat
when the child fell backward over the bridge. The servant
succeeded in grasping its leg before it disappeared, and, in
her endeavours to save the child, she overbalanced herself,
and both were 'precipitated into the canal. The screams of
the other servant quickly drew a number of persons to the
spot, and several railed down to the water side, but the child
and its nurse had disappeared beneath the surface. Two
gentlemen, divesting themselves of their coats, immediately
plunged into the water, and,'after repeatedly diving, at length
succeeded in bringing out the bodies of the nurse and child.
The poor infant was found closely clasped in the arms of the
unfortunate young woman, who, it is supposed, had never
lost her hold of the child. The bodies were conveyed to the
residence of Richards, Esq., close to the spot, and every
exertion was used to restore animation, but without effect,
life being quite extinot.—Morning Herald.

WARLIKE PREPARATIONS.—StIEERNESS, MARCH 10.—
reatest bustle and activity prevail in the royal dock-
_ i here in getting her Majesty's ships Monarch and Ver-
non fitted out. V/hen completed, they proceed to Spithead
for orders. No doubt is entertained here but that their des-
tination is a visit to our braggart brother " Jonathan" and
the rest of the Van Buren faction. A letter received here
(Sheerness) this morning states, that at Plymouth and Ports-
mouth the utmost activity prevails in the naval departments,
and our position in China is now talked about as if it were a
secondary consideration.

NORTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.—We understand that it is
not Lord Maidstone's intention again to offer himself as a
candidate for the representation of North Northamptonshire.
Although, in conjunction with his constituenfs, we sincerely
regret to lose the services of a nobleman whose spirit, energy,
and talents have so thoroughly commended him to our good
opinion, yet we rejoice to know that the conservative arrange-
ments are quite completed, and that Augustus O'Brien, Esq„
is. fully prepared to take the field, in connexion with Mr.
Maunsell, that well-tried and unflinching upholder of his
country's weal, whenever a dissolution takes .place.—North-
amp/on Herald.

GALILEO.—TI►e ceremony of Galileo's abjuration was one
of exciting interest, and of awful formality. Clothed in the
sackcloth of a repentant criminal, the venerable sage fell
upon his knees before the assembled cardinals; and laying
his hands upon the Holy Evangelists, he invoked the Divine
aid in abjuring and detesting, and vowing again never to teach,
the doctrine of the earth's motion and of the sun's stability.
He pledged himself that he would never again, either in
words or in writing, propagate such heresies ; and he swore
that he would fulfil and observe the penances which had
been inflicted upon him. At the conclusion of this ceremony,
in which he recited his abjuration word for word, and then
signed it, he was conveyed, in conformity with his sentence,
to the prison of the Inquisition. The account which we have
given of the trial and the sentence of Galileo, is pregnant
with the deepest instruction. Human nature is here drawn
in its darkest colouring; and in surveying the melancholy
picture, it is difficult to decide whether religion or philoso-
phy has been most degraded. While we witness' the pre-
sumptuous priest pronouncing infallible decrees of his own
erring judgment, we see the highminded philosopher abjuring
the eternal and immutable truths which he had himself the
glory of establishing. In the ignorances and prejudices of
the age—in a too literal interpretration of the language of
Scripture—in a mistaken respect for the errors that had be-
come venerable from their antiquity—and in the peculiar
position which Galileo had taken among the avowed enemies
of the church, we find the elements of an apology, poor
though it he, for the conduct of the Inquisition. But
what excuse can we devise for the humiliating confession
and abjuration of Galileo ? Why did this master-spirit
Of the age—this high priest of the stars—this representa-
tive of science—this hoary sage, whose career of glory
was near its consummation—why did he reject the crown Of
martyrdom which he had himself coveted, and which, plaited
with immortal laurels, was about to descend upon his head?
If, in place of disavowing the laws of nature, and surrender-
ing in his own person the intellectual dignity of his species,
he had boldly asserted the truth of his opinions, and confided
his character to posterity, and his cause to an all-ruling Pro-
vidence, he would have strung up the hair-suspended sabre,
and disarmed for ever the hostility which threatened to over-
whelm him. The philosopher, however, was supported only
by philosophy ; and in the love of truth he found a miserable
substitute for the hopes of the martyr. Galileo cowered un-
der the fear of man, and his submission was the salvation of
the church. The sword of the inquisition descended on his
prostrate neck, and. though its stroke was not physical, yet
it fell with a moral influence fatal to the character of its vic-
tim, and to the dignity of science.—The Martyrs of Science.
By Sir David Brewster.