The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-08-06 00:00:00

AMERICA.

By the Great Western steamer, whose arrival is noticed
elsewhere, we have received New York papers to the 20th
ult., being five days later than those previously received.
Quiet has been restored at Philadelphia.
The Madisonian, by some very curious means, is
enabled to publish another President's Message and sun-
dry annexation documents, though the same were ordered
to be suppressed by the Senate, The Message is dated
May 16th, and in it the Presidcnt urges, that, if Texas be
not then annexed to the United States, the opportunity
would be lost for ever ; and, in order to influence the
senators in favour of the measure, he accompanies the
Message with several letters. or communications, " de-
rived from private sources." but not bearing any signa-
tures, which confidently declare, that, if the annexation
treaty be not ratified, Texas will ally herself with Eng-
land, and enter into a treaty of commerce, offensive and
defensive. There are also extracts from letters of Gene-
Houston, the President of Texas, and General Jackson,
upon the same subject. General Houston says, that if
annexation be refused, " it would then only be left for
the United States to expect that she (Texas) would seek
some other friend."

We publish a circular in another column on the state
of the cotton trade, &c.

The news from Mexico indicates great activity in pre-
paring for the renewal of hostilities with Texas, General
Santa Anna had again placed himself at the head of the
republic ; appointed a new secretary of war ; demanded
a levy of 30,000 men and four millions of dollars ; ordered
General `'Noll to repair to the frontiers; and appointed
General Canalizo commander-in-chief of the army
destined against Texas.
_ _

By adviC'es from Dominica, to the 23d June, we learn
that the insurrection had been quelled and the operation
of martial law suspended. The Governor had issued a
proclamation and amnesty to all, with the exception of
ringleaders, ninety of whom had been retained in prison
to undergo the decision of the laws, several hundred
having been discharged under the admonitory advice of
the Governor. The islands had been overwhelmed with
rains and floods, which had caused great damage to the
roads, &c. A singular discovery had been made, in
taking a census of the island of Trinidad, of " two en-
campments of the aboriginal Indians of the island, be-
longing to a race perfectly distinct from any hitherto
known."

The coronation of King Oscar, of Sweden, is to take
place on the 21st of August.
The new comet has been seen at Bois le Duc with the
naked eye.
AN EXTENSIVE ORnEß.—Previous to her departure
from Paris, Queen Christina left orders for the construc-
tion of a number of carriages for the service of the Spanish
court. No less than sixty-four of those vehicles have al-
ready passed through Bordeaux.
As a proof of the depression in the value of agricultural
property in Sydney, it has been remarked that the Sydney
Herald contains an advertisement to let a farm of 112
acres, and offering to make the person who will take it a
present of some cows into the bargain.
FREN cu REVOLUTION.—The fourteenth anniversary
of this revolution passed off quietly at Paris last week. A
melancholy accident, however, occurred at the termina-
tion of the day's proceedings, a number of persons having
been trodden under foot by the crowd in the Place de la
Concorde, of whom three lost their lives.
THE SCOTCH CHURCH IN CANADA.—The Presbyte-
rian Synod of Canada, on the 6th ult., by a majority of 56
to 40, determined to maintain its connection with the Es-
tablished Church of Scotland. Some of its ministers—
it is said about 26—had in consequence seceded, and have
resolved to set up a rival institution, which they propose
to call " The Presbyterian Church of Canada."
ALLEGED PLOT TO MASSACRE THE CHRISTIANS AT
RHODES.—The Augsburgh Gazette quotes a letter from
Smyrna, of the Ist ult., stating, in the most positive terms,
that in the island of Rhodes and other places the Turks
had formed a plot for the massacre of the Christians at
last Easter. The execution of the plot appears to have
been prevented by an accidental discovery.
FROST, WILLIAMS, AND JONES.—Our Monmouth
Town,corr esp
do
an
tdeedn thm aa
rs
crhe cse,i vlesd4 a 4 e
itnt e
whichr from
tah fre iwe friend r
it
eirn
states—
" a Hobart
t esa—r
" I often see Frost, Williams, and Jones ; the former
lives a few doors from me, at a grocer'si ; he is in the
counting-house ; Williams is a constable ; and Jones is a
guard to the mail." The above may be relied on as cor-
rect.— Gloucester Journal.

A RELIC !—The Cathedral of Treves is in possession of
a vestment without seam, said to have been worn by
Christ. This precious garment is exposed to the faithful
once in every century, except when the Pope grants an
express permission. This permission has been accordtd
by his holiness for this year, and the relic will be exhibited
from August 18 to September 30. The last regular exhi-
bition was in 1809.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE KING OF PECS-
STA.—It appears by an official bulletin, which reached
London on Thursday, from M. Bulow, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs in Prussia, that an assassin fired two bar-
rels of a double. barrelled pistol at the King, on the 26th
ultimo ; one of the balls missed, but it is 'said that the
Queen, who was in the same carriage with his Majesty,
would have been hit had she not, just at the moment,
leaned forward. The other ball struck the King on the
breast, but glanced off, leaving only a alight bruise.

•
STRANGE PROCEEDINGS AT TAHITI.—Out polite and
peaceable neighbours, the French, seem disposed to carry
matters in the Pacific with a mighty high hand. In fact,
things are come to a pretty pass already. Not content
with depriving poor Queen Pomare of her kingdom, and
converting her regal palace into a dwelling-house for his
own high mightiness, that terrible fire-eater Monsieur
d'Aubigny, a warrior of the Joinville or Jeune France
school, who makes war, as the Times says, " upon wo-
men in the family-wayu—this doughty hero has at length
performed an exploit for which he must be appropriately
rewarded. The vapouring Gascon has actually bad the
insolence to insult the Queen of Great Britain by arrest-
ing the person of her consul at Tahiti : here are his own
words in proof of the outrage :—" FRENCH ESTABLISH-
MENT IN OCEANIA.—A French sentinel has been attacked
in the night of the 2d and 3d of March. By
way of re-
prisal I have seized one Pritchard" (no less a person
than the British consul,) "the only mover and daily in-
stigator of the excitement of the natives. His property
shall answer for every damage occasioned to our establish-
ments by the insurgents; and if French blood is shed,
every drop shall recoil upon his head." It is true that
Mr. Pritchard bas since been released from arrest, and
that he has arrived in England ; but that is no atonement
for the outrage ' • and unless a proper and full atonement
shall be made, Captain Warner or somebody else must
teach Johnny Crapaud a lesson which be will not readily
forget,

FLOODS IN THE WEST.—By the Hibernia were received
fearful accounts of the overflow of the Mississippi. For
a region of more than a thousand miles in extent, along
the Missouri and Mississippi, above St. Louis, the inhabi-
tants have been deprived of their cattle and crops, and, in
many instances, their houses and barns also ; while the
soil itself, for hundreds of thousands of acres, has been
either seriously injured or totally destroyed. The loss of
the cotton crop now growing, is estimated at equal to
300,000 bales. The city of St. Louis, itself a severe suf-
ferer by the flood, has naturally become the refuge of
hundreds of houseless, destitute, and starving creatures,
driven from their homes by the pursuing footsteps of the
flood ; and the scenes of want and suffering presented by
them—gathered together in sheds and rude tents, and fed
by the hand of public charity—is represented as heart-
sickening in the extreme. We are yet to hear of the de-
structive course of the flood for thirteen hundred miles
between St. Louis and New Orleans • and we anticipate
disasters of the severest kind when the mighty torrent
roars through the Louisiana plantations—the garden of
the south.

SUPPOSED ArTgMPT TO ASSASS/NATE THE KING OF
GREECE.—On Sunday, the ith of July, a serjeant of the
getidarn-ierie at Athens rushed past the sentinels on duty
at the palace, and proceeded to enter at the private door
which leads to the garden. The sentinel on du at this
door attempted to stop the intruder, who drew his sword,
and turning aside his musket, sprang into the corridor ;
the sentinel immediately followed, but not being able to
seize him, transfixed him with his bayonet, and he fell
wounded before the door of one of the maids of honour,
Md!le. Wiesenthau, a Bavarian lady, who opened the door
to inquire the cause of the disturbance, and was witness
of the scene. The King's physician was immediately
called, and the wound was dressed. Though the bayonet
passed through the body of the unfortunate man, it ap-
pears that there is every prospect of Lis recovery. There
is little doubt that the man was insane before and at the
time when he conducted himself in so extravagant a man-
ner. No blame can be imputed to the sentinel, who only
wounded him when he was rushing in with his drawn
sword, and it was impossible to stop him in any other way.
The King is said to have been deeply affected by the sad
accident,. and to have sent repeatedly to make inquiries
concerning the state of the unfortunate man, and he has
ordered that he is to receive every possible care and atten-
tion.

THE EMPEROR OF MOROCCO AND THE FRENCH.—
The Moorish Consul at Gibraltar has received a letter
from Morocco, via Tangier, informing him that, for the
purpose of being nearer the Algerine frontier, and there-
fore having his orders better obeyed by his people there,
the Emperor was about to set out immediately for Fez
'and Mequinez, the one being but half a day's journey
from the other, and the latter more properly the rendez-
vous for large assemblages of troops in that part of the
empire. The Moorish Consul states, that on such move-
ments the Cadis of the different districts furnish their
quotas of cavalry, so that he thinks the Emperor will have
nothing short of 100,000 of that force at Fez and Mequi-
nez, 5000 being splendid blacks, quite superior to those
usually seen, and such as astonished the officers of the
Gibraltar garrison who saw some of them at Tangier a few
years ago. The Moorish cavalry are always quite inde-
pendent of a commissariat; indeed, every man is his own
commissariat, and manages matters thus for himself :
Preparatory to the march he gets a quantity of wheat
toasted by his family ; this, pounded with a portion of
dates and butter, is formed into a mass, of which about
141 b. is put into a prepared leather bag, which he slings
on his shoulder ; and this quantity answers for his con-
sumption for twenty days. It seems an exaggeration to
speak of 100,000 cavalry, unless it be considered that a
young man of thirty is often the father of ten boys, each
brought up to horse and long gun from an early age ;
indeed, a boy mastering a horse at the age of eight is
COMMOR.

STEAM BOAT ACCIDENT.—SEVENTY LIVES LOST.—
The following melancholy account is extracted from the
Rio de Janeiro papers :—At five o'clock in the afternoon
of the 25th May, about 200 persons had taken their pas-
sage in the Especuladora steam-boat, which plies between
this city and Nitheropy (a pleasant village on the opposite
side of the harbour.) The next day being Whit-Sunday,
and this the last boat for that evening, was crowded by
respectable parties anticipating a day's pleasure on the
morrow. The clock had just struck five, and the captain
given the order to " cast off," but the moment the paddle-
wheels began to move round a terrible hissing noise was
heard, the precursor of several explosions, which suc-
ceeded each other like flashes of lightning and claps of
thunder—the boiler had burst ; at first nothing could be
seen for a dense cloud of steam that covered the vessel,
from whence issued the most dreadful cries. On the
steam clearing off, a most horror-striking sight presented
itself to view ; the middle part of the deck had been blown
away, and a great number of human beings were disco-
vered—men, women, and children, struggling in the hold,
amidst the boiling water from the exploded boiler. Some
died instantaneously, and these were, perhaps, the most
fortunate : others, in their endeavours to extricate them-
selves from the horrid cauldron, caught hold of the hot
bars and fragments ; but obliged to let go their hold, fell
backwards into it again. Soon after the explosion the
chimney and mainmast fell on the awning, and buried be-
neath it a number of the passengers, who were thus placed
in the greatest jeopardy, as the boiling liquid was fast ap-
proaching them ; but they were rescued by the great ex-
ertions made. The number of victims could not be
ascertained ; but, from more recent information, the
deaths exceeded seventy, and several of the thirty wound-
ed were still in a dangerous state. The cause of the
explosion had not been exactly ascertained.

THE MURDER OF JOE SMITH.—We mentioned in our
last briefly the murder of this notorious fellow. It appears
from fuller information that the Mormonites have for
some time past been in insurrection. Their leader, how-
ever, Joe Smith, and some of his followers, laid down
their arms on the assurance of protection from outrage.
Joe Smith, his brother Hiram, and some others were con-
fined in gaol at Warsaw, in the State of New York, await-
ing their trial on a charge of treason. The gaol was
strongly guarded by soldiers and anti-Mormons, who had
been placed there by the governor. A Mormon attempted
to rush by the guard for the purpose of forcing his way
into the gaol. He was opposed by the guard, and fired a
pistol at one of the guards, giving him a slight wound.
The governor and his forces being absent, a general con-
fusion ensued in the crowd around the gaol. Joe and his
Mormon fellow prisoners it seems had provided themselves
with pistols, and commenced firing upon the guard within.
He then attempted to escape from the window, when a
hundred balls entered his body, and he fell a lifeless
corpse. His brother Hiram shared the same fate. Ri-
chards, a leading Mormon, was badly wounded. There
our intelligence ends—what took place after this, God
only knows. Mormons immediately left for Nauvoo to
carry the news of the death of the prophet. The dead
bodies of the Smiths have been conveyed to Nauvoo, by
order of the governor. It was supposed by many that the
Mormons, on seeing them, would break away from all re-
straints, and commence a war of extermination. But no-
thing of the kind occurred. They received their murdered
friends in sorrow—laid down their arms and remained
quiet. Colonel Singleton and his company of sixty men
are still at Nauvoo, and the Mormons submit to their
authority. A man has been knocked down with a musket
in 'Warsaw for presuming to express disapprobation at the
murder of the Smiths ; so great is the popular feeling
against the sect. The papers by the Great Western in-
form us, that the Mormons submit to the loss of their
leader in silence. The prophet and his brother were
buried without parade on the 29th June, and the poor
infatuated creatures confidently anticipated his resurrec-
tion on the third day. It is said that a Dr. Richards, of
Massachusetts, a man of talent, has been selected as a
new prophet.
MASSACRE AT THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.-011 the
14th of last January, the Magnet, whaler, Captain Lewis,
came to anchor off the north-west coast of Liffore, one of
the South Sea Islands, and by a number of natives
coming on board to barter with the crew, the latter were
informed that a vessel had lately been captured, and most
part of her seamen murdered by the natives of Maryee Is-
land. In order to test the truth of this story, the Magnet
got under weigh, and proceeded to the spot. Soon after
her arrival, a canoe came alongside with a missionary and,
three men, who had just come from the south-west ex-
tremity of the island ; and upon being questioned as to
the alleged outrage, they confirmed what the officer of the
Magnet had previously heard, their information being.
that all hands had been killed, and the ship sunk, but that
the sails, rope, and part of her stores had been deposited in
the hole of a rock abreast of the spot where the vessel
went down. The missionary further informed the crew
of the Magnet that another vessel had met with a similar
fate ; that the whole of her unfortunate crew, with the ex.
ception of two seamen who had managed to escape to a
more secluded part of the island, had been slain ; and that
if the Magnet could lay to till the following morning, they
would bring the two survivors on board. Captain Lewis
consented, and about the middle of the day the missionary
came again alongside with one of the seamen, and the ac-
count he gave of the transaction was, that he sailed from
London in September last, in the brig Janet, of Dumbar-
ton, on a voyage to the South Sea Islands, for a cargo of
sandal-wood and tortoise-shell, but they were wrecked
upon the coral reef of Caledonia, on the 14th of Decem-
ber. Some of the crew perished in the wreck, and the re-
mainder (14 in number) escaped by a boat, and landed
safely on the same day in the Isle of Pines. Their stay
was but short, owing to the ferocious disposition of the
natives ; and they again set sail, in the hope of gaining
some other island where a more civilized race of people
might be found. Unfortunately, however, they touched
at Maryee, where they were immediately attacked, their
boat destroyed, and twelve of their crew seriously maimed.
He and another sailor, named Richards, were saved, and
they eventually sought refuge in that part of the island.
Nothing further having been learned as to the fate of the
missing ships or crews, the Magnet proceeded on to Lip-
pore Island, on a further search, and on coming up to that
place the officers ascertained that the name of the former
ill-fated ship was the Two Sisters, a South Sea whaler,
commanded by Captain Brend, and that every soul of the
crew had been barbarously murdered. Shortly after her
arrival off the coast a large number of the natives, of both
sexes, went on board. The crew were at their respective
duties, but unfortunately one of them happened to take a
slight liberty with one of the women, and a dreadful slaugh-
ter ensued. The natives then plundered the vessel, and in
order to carry out their diabolical revenge, fired her, and
she was thereby utterly consumed. The crew of the Mag-
net being well armed, and believing that some portion of
the unfortunate whaler's cargo was distributed amongst
the residents of that part of the island, detained the bro-
ther of the chief (Bulla) until the things belonging to the
Two Sisters were delivered up. Amongst the articles soon
brought on board were a quadrant, greatly injured, a
jolly-boat, with the name Two Sisters painted thereon,
chronometer, account books, and the log',
twehalagn et then
kept up to the 10th of December last.
The
the last two
set sail for Sydney. Five fine shipsddeustr:.
destroyed, and their
years have thus been captured and
of the South
barbarians
crews murdered by the savage
Sea Islands. which had been

LABOUR IN THE WEST INDIES.—It is understood that
her Majesty's Government have finally resolved to con-
vey a considerable number of Coolie labourers from the
ports of Calcutta and Madras, to the colonies of Guiana,
Ttinidad, and Jamaica. The agents to conduct this emi-
gration have already been appointed, and it is to com-
mence after the Ist of October next. The ships are to be
chartered in India by public tender, in conformity with
the provisions of the Passengers' Act, and they will arrive
in the colonies at a favourable period for obtaining cargoes
for this country, while they have besides the whole sea-
board of America open to them.
GUANO.—Accounts from Ichaboe mention that the
Amy and Hanover left that island for England on the
26th and 28th May last. The Marquis of Wellesley,
Mathesis, and William and Ann had completed their
loading on the Ist of June, and that the Charles and
William Grant were nearly filled. Thirty vessels had ar-
rived there during the month of May from various parts,
of which number six were from England, three from
Liverpool, one from Bristol, one from Cork, one from
Glasgow, one from Guernsey, two from Fernando Po,
two from Rio, nine from T. Bay, two from St. Helena,
and one from Boston.
JUNCTION OF THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS.
—The advantages that would be afforded to commerce by
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by a canal that
might be navigated by the largest ships are obvious to au ;
and it is the supposition that all schemes for such con-
nexion are impracticable that causes them to be less gene-
rally regarded than the benefits they promise would seem
to demand. A passage through Central America would
throw open an easy and comparatively short communica-
tion with the north western coast of the southern conti-
nent, would facilitate the approach to the Australian co-
lonies, and allow of a new route to China. However,
such appears to be the magnitude of the undertaking, that
there is a general disposition to look upon all projects for
connecting the oceans with distrust. Setting aside, how-
ever, the general doubt, and admitting the scheme of
communication to be practicable in some shape or other,
opinions seem to be divided among three plans—the Pa-
nama passage, that by the Lake of Nicaragua, and that by
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the Mexican territory.
To this last plan attention has lately been called by Don
Jose de Garay, who has published a pamphlet containing
the results of a survey, undertaken under the auspices of
the Mexican government, and setting forth his project in
very full detail. The foundation of Don Garay's project
is the cessation of the cordillera of mountains near the
source of the Chicapa, and a number of neighbouring ri-
vers. This leaves a table-land about Tarifa, composed of
a soil which is easily excavated, and densely inhabited by
an active population, whose labour can be obtained at a
trifling outlay. Don Garay would cut two trenches—one
from the Ostula to the Chicapa, another, which, beginning
a little above the " Ultimo Rancho," would direct the
waters to the immediate vicinity of Tarifa. To explain
the workings of the scheme fully is impossible without re-
ference to accurate maps of the spot, such as those which
accompany the pamphlet, but the general object is to
connect the great river of Coatzacoalcos, which flows into
the Gulf of Mexico, with the Chicapa, which flows into
the lagunes adjoining the Pacific, and affording the advan-
tage of an excellent harbour. The total cost of the work
Don Garay estimates at 85,000,000 f., or upwards of
£3,000,000 sterling.