The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-05-11 00:00:00

TO COHRESPOFDENTS.

is "A Constant Reader' positive that he is not labouringunder
any mistake? There are two "Town Missions" in Liver-
pool, one of which is in connexion with the Unitarians. Per-
haps his remarks apply to the agents of that society. We
shall make some inquiries on the subject.
Questions on points of law do not come within our province,
but we are always ready to answer them, when it is in our
power to do so.
A correspondent has sent us the following
enquitios—yerhapa
some of our readers will be able to afford a satisfactory
answer
Mr. Enyrou.—Sir,-can you inform ine of the year drat Mr.
Young, the tragedian, left the stage? and the year the late,
Edmund Kean died in ? also the year Geo. F. Cooke died in.?,
Yours, &c.

_
TuEsets•
" An Admirer of Pickwick" is informed that most of the parti-
culate to which he alludes are incorrect. We cannot give
satisfactory answer to either his second or third questiott•
Perhaps the following may not prove uninteresting—lt ap-
peared some time ago in the Durham Advertiser:
"BOZ, vErisus, HIS AUTO-BIOGRAI'HER, DR. •
MACKENZIE.
We have received from the great and glorious Boz hiMself•
—the highly taledted Charles Dickens—the following contra-
dictions to the statements put forth by Dr. Mackenzie, or
Liverpool, aed which were copied into our columns a fortnight.
ago :

" Darlington Saturday Morning.
" Ste,—Waiting in this place for a Darlington,
coach, this morn-
ing, I chanced, in the coutse of the few minutes 1 staved hem,
to take up your paper of January the 26th, in which saw a
brief auto-biography of myself bylir. Mackenzie. Dr. Mackenzie,
whoever he may be, knows as much of me as of the meaning of
the word auto-biography, in proof of which, may I beg you to
state on my authority, that when I commenced the Pickwick
Papers, I was not living on five guineas a week as a reporter on
the ItiorninyChroniele-1-that Messrs. Chapman and Hall were
never persuaded with some difficulty to become the Pickwick
publishers, but on the contrary first became known to me by,
waiting on me to propose the work; that no such pecuniary ar-
rangement as the paragraph describes ever existed between us::.
that by the Pickwick Papers alone I have not netted between
£2OOO and £3000; that the sketch called " Watkin's Tattle"
never appeared in the Mooning Chronicle; that 1 am not novir
in the receipt of £3OOO a-vear; and that Mr. Bentley does not
give me £lOOO a-year for editing his Miscellany, and twenty
guineas a sheet for what-I write in it.
have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
CHARLES DICKENS.
To the Editor of the Durham Advertiser."'

We are not aware of any source from which the desired infor-
mation may be obtained. "An Admirer of Pickwick" will
most likely have his curiosity giatified upon consulting any
friend of his who may be in the habit of frequenting any of
the clubs iu London.
The rumour to which "Quin" alludes is, we believe, correct,
but, for obvious reasons, we must decline entering upon auy
particulars. his last question we reply " Conservative."
R. M" must be a very careless reader of the public journals,.
or he would never trotible us with his silly questions.
"An Honest Radical" is a questionable designation. We
should almost as soon think of calling anyone an honestroyue—
The lines to which " P. A. J." subscribes her name are stolen:
from the Mercury. We almost suspect the writer of having._
stoleu the long-missing umbrella.

Ebt Eiberpool ,i.Ltanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 11. 1838.

• The Publication of the STANDARD corarnenced.this morn,-
log at 6 o'clock.

JAMAICA.—We have received files of Jan3aiixt. papers.-.
to the 24th of March, inclusive. The packet by which,.
they arrived, the Linnet, has brought about £.5,400.1°4%
height. She sailed from Barbados on the 21st of *MI".
Jamaica, 23d, and St. Tinimas, 31st. The crops in Ja-
maica are likely to be plentiful. •
In spite of the eggregions mismanagement of the pre-
sent administration there is every probability that mat
ters may still prove satisfactory in Jamaica. Though the
cultivation of sugar and coffee, the two staple products:
of the West Indies, may experience a ruinous change;
when the apprentices have fulfilled their period of servo
tude, it appears that the planters, have ether sources 01
profitable investment within their reaoh. Of these, the
introduction of the mulberry tree for the purpose 0-1;
rearing the silkworm seems to be the most promising..
On this subject we find, the following remarks in the.
Kingston Chronicle of March 23
" As our sage. governaietn rulers seem inclined to afford:
every license to, the apprentices to resist agricultural lab Our„
and to abandon the cultivation of the island staples, we are re-
joiced to dud that any new substitute can be found likely to.
afford a living to the landedproprietors who are obliged to throw
up their sugar and coffee plantations. It seems the mulberry
tree thrives very well in the island of Antigua and at Montserrat
and we can bear witness to its having been planted with success,
and even bearing frnit, in the mountain lands of St. Andre
Upon the leaves of the mulberry tree the silkworms at Mont-
serrat have been reared with success; and, as Mr. Harker has
.
also discovered another tree, called the ramoon,
substitute for the mulberry, we suppose, as two plants will grow
in the country, upon which the:silkworm will feed, there can be
little doubt that the silk of Jamaica knight, with some attention,
soon become an article of commerce. It is lamentable to obse..n
the destructive policy of the prassat ministry, who are srvaac:
misery an.d rucrs amongst she,labouring classe; both of
which is a good_
their , Lai
sties and parent state. Fur, tViii4tt their measures have pare
the agricultural industry of the west, their free fisreiyn trade hat,

Mtv iBB

thrown their native al lisaffis'and mnchunics entirely out of iffeari."
To the troth of the above remarks respecting the ruin-
ous policy Of the prest,nt ministry the experience of the
People ,f ~England will bear the Strongest testimony.
Little _e
se remains to complete the measure' of %%hig in-
fatuation than tot brow .open the trade in corn, and thus.
Pintige ten millions of the population of Great Britain
into irretrievable ruin. We have very little doubt that
it is the intention of the Whigs to- accomplish this
scheme, as soon as certain exisring obstacles are re-
moved—that.is, if they are not previously driven from
power.

We are sorry to perceive,that one melancholy result
of the full emancipation of the negroes has been the
death from neo-6lioenee of their children. The paper
6
front which we have already quoted has the following
distressing particulars
in looking over the catalogue of'coroners inquests (pub-
lished by our contemporary of the St. Jago Gazetee, it is me-
lancholy to observe the number of poor free negro children
sacrificed by the listless negligence of their slothful motheri,
many of whom, feel so little auxiety about the health or wel-
fare of their offspriug, that they never observe they are ailing or
sick till they are at the last extremity, and then they run with
them to the overseer or hospital doctor when it is too late to
save tbeM. That our readers may have autheutic reports,of the
cases alluded to, we subjoin a few specimens as follow :
IN WESTAVAELAND : —On the 12th September last, at My-
lerstield estate, on the body of a negro child named Thomas
Riley. It appeared iu evidence that the child had been sick
and was neglected by its mother; taken from her and given to '
a nurse; it came on bad weather; utter weather over, nurse
brought it to the overseer, who ordered a quart of flour to be
given fur it. Nurse roasted two dumplings, it eat a little ; asked
for rater, drank some, then died almost iminediatel.—Verdict
4' Died by the visitation or God."—At the same place, and on
the same day, on the body of another negro child named Mary
Dobson, also a free child on the property. It appeared trout
the evidence of Rosey BeCkford, that Mary Ann Claike, the
child's mother, left the child with her iu the morning,
and
when she, Rosey Beckford, went out, she left it playing in the
yard. When, she _returned she missed Mary D:ibsou, and
searching for her, she found her lying in a aster hole quite
dead.—Verdict "Accidentally drowned."—On the 3,l•Januarv,`
at Prospect estate, on the body of a, negro child named George.
Pennycoek, about 3 years old. The child'S mother being
sworn, deposed that two or three weeks ago her child was sick ;
took it to the overseer who gave her medicine for it; the child
was afterwards taken very ill, and before she could take it to
the overseer it died.—Verdict "That the child came to its
death partly from neglect of its mother." Ou the 24th at
Spring Garden estate, on the body of a free child named Diana
Thomas.—Orioa Wedderburn, the child's mother, being sworn,
deposed that returning -from her wOrk on Friday, she found her
child blow quite hard,
,took it immediately to Mr. Smith, the.
overseer, who sent it to the hospital, where every care was
taken of her, but she died in less than au hour.—Verdict " Died
by the visitation of God."'
" In the dugs of slavery such cruel neglect could seldom or never.
occur, because the negro children were under the superintend-
ence of nurses appointed by the proprietor to attend to all the
young children, to see them properly fed, clothed, and looked
after, and the mistress or ladies resident on the estate were assi-
duous in training the young negroes to domestic habits, and
paid them every possible attention when sick. But since the
parents of these free negro children have had their hearts turn-
ed against their former 1 enefactots, and they feel averse to
apprentice them, or trust them to the care of masters and mis-
tresses, they are suffered to ruts wild, and are doomed to perish
from the neglect of their careless or depraved parents. What
the liveS of some of these negro mothers are, we may judge from
the following inquest :
On the 211th, at Retreat estate, ou the body of a negro woman
named Mary Hogg Goodwiu, late an apprentice on that pro-
Perty. Mr. Cocker, the overseer, deposed, that on Thursday
shell blow, he found deceased laying down drunk in the fowl-
house ; she went home in the evening apparently pretty sober;
he ordered her to turn out to work in the second gang; would
not allow her near the, house. Friday morning. she was found
lying on the King's road beastly drunk;
hospital; sent for Dr. Mason, jun., wo used the stomach
pump, and did every thing 'possible. to save her, but in vain;
she died about eight o'clock that evening. Verdict—'''That
Mary Hogg Goodwin 'died froth excessive drinking of ardent
spirits."

" We may ask, what is become otall the,childret of the non-
prmdials. who have been kindly treated and comfortably lodged
in the houses or on the premises of the apprentice-masters dur-
ing, their pietas' term- of service'? For, it is •not reasonable
to expect that people will be willing to hire servants who will
burthen with children that are of no use, and cannot be kept
under proper control. And how they are to be otherwise pro-
vided fur in the present.unsettled state of affairs, we are at a
loss to determine."
- From these details it is evident that incalculable mis-
chief would be the unfailing consequence of immediate
emancipation, and that it is no less an act of humanity.
towards the apprentices, than of just ice towards the plan -•
ters, that a reasonable period of probation should inter-
vene before the former are thrown entirely upon their
own resources t We would, therefore, venture to ask the
emancipationists whether they. are not virtually contri•
buting to swell the amount of human misery by seeking
to precipitate the perfect liberty of the negroes? Would
it not be much better to labour for the moral and spiritual
improvement of the apprentices, in older to fit them for
the proper exercise of tlie- rights of citizenship, than to
seek to confer upon them privileges which they are in-
capable of appreciating, and immunities which they are
stile to abuse ?
We have been lunch delighted with, the following ex-
cellent sketch of
.the'policy.of our present ministers :
(Front the Kings!on Chronicle, ,Ifurcho )
Addisen, describing the whigs in the reign of Queen Arnie
WYs, addressing himself to Britannia:—
Thy favourites grow not up by fortune's sport,
Nor from the crimes or. follies of a court,
On the firm basis of desert they rise,
From long try'd faith, and friendship's holy ties.
And Burke, too, says that in those days they believed that
the 'only proper method of rising into power, was through
bard essays of practised friendship and eXperienced fidelity.
At that time it was not imagined that patriotisin was a bloody
id"l• which required the sacrifice of children and parents,
arid the dearest connexious in private life, and of all vit..
tles which rise from those relations. They were not of that,
lugentous_paradoxical morality, to imagine that a spirit of mo-
deration .Wmi properly shown in patiently bearing the sufferings
of your friends.. Or that disinterestedness was clearly mani-
fested at the expense of other people's fortune. They believed
that no xaen could act in conceit who did not act in coulidetice ;'
and that no men could act with confidence who were not bound
together by common opinions, common affections, and common
intents.

" These wise men were too well-principled in these maxims,.
'''Pon which the whole fabric of public strength is built, to be
-blown off their ground by the breath of any childish talker.
:rhey were nut afraid that they should be called an ambiguous
Junto, or that their resolution to stand or fall together should,
placeraen, be interpreted as a scuffle fur power. The govern-
inY Whigs of Queen Vietwia's reign act upon no common principle
"11. reason or consistency, that we know of, but that of changing
lizeir measures to retain their places. To divide and reign is
'their maxim, and to split the county into contending factions
411).ears to be the object of the acting administration. Their
baneful councils spread even to the colonial legislatures, and
"I produced in our Jamaica assembly the same jarring and
(-115tinited elements which are to be found in the parliament of
4e parent state. With this difference, that here the conserve-
body is not of that united, compact, and formidable phalanx
'•'lctilaterl to
,defeat the mischievous and destructive assaultsbf .
their ever-restless and changeable roes. And, .coortequently,
thefrc'huteutieus conflicts are the more- likely to effect general
confusion .; Itthe conservative corps do not rally speedily; we can
'Acive little hope for the futUie peace or prosperity of the country!"
It is, indeed; perfectly true that the Whigs have no
t'tliei principle—no other motive Al action, than that of
`Pertinaciously keeping their places. To accomplish this
etici they are ever,willing to
,suit their policy 40 every
le!")ergelapy, and ready on all occasions to shape and alter
)heir measures in obedience to,considerptions of expedi-
f'„neY• But it is high time that the_Couservatives of
Great Britain should take somp ;decisive plan for thrust-
.ing these unprincipled imbeciles out of office, before the
,I.4i3chiel which they are perpptraiing .becomes irrepara.
..11e• Let the people of .gnglanO, pour their addresses
th
tt foot of the throne, and demand the expulsion of the
•
'ig-Radical faction flow power. Let our gracious
eeti know the sentiments entprtatned by, licr loyal
41Thjects, and she will not assuredly • lack the coinage to
Beat de‘ •
With her present ministers according to their merits.

:fur. ROMAN CATHOLIC OAT/L.-411e Earl of sltrews-
lurY, in pursuance to a notice of motion to that effect,
before the House of Lordi on Tuesday last the
il'?risideration of the Roman Catholic Oath. The exhi-
iltion which this doughty champion of Popery made of
'413'411..0n the occasion is as unaccountable as it is diS-
raCeflil to himself and to iris party. Of all men in the
l'i.",;dom the Earl of Shrewsbury should have been the
i
4st to utter a word in extenuation of the Popish mein-
'ers. of Parliament. From the extracts which we shall
presently introduce from a work published by the noble
'ail before the passing of the Emancipation it ap•
heats that he of all others, most effectually laboured to
riettici
• " tire. Protestants of
.England into the belief that
t N Papists. were sincere :in their professions with respect
in tii*,llkit4iptitspus'e.d to;,be incorporated in the bill. That
nt:ll,-- in a letter to
n.gtvtAal-ery opi)O.r.tunely citlo'.al several pasnges