The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-21 00:00:00

NEGRO WEALTH.

A Magistrate of St. James's, Mr. M-, a short time since,
while on a visit to a friend in Trelawny, was invited to visit
the negro houses with the proprietor of the estate, and to ob-
serve the contented state of his dependants. The offer was ac-
cepted, and in the course of the gentlemen's ride, Mr.
having been struck with the neat appearance of a young -Wo-
man, apparently not more than six and thirty, enquircaa who
she was.

The followinK conversation was the result :
Proprietor—She is the wife of that poor fellow who was
misled, and lost his life in the rebellion.

Mr. to the woman—You appear comfortable and
happy 7; your master must be very kind to you.
Woman—No sir, while my husband was alive I, was comfort-
able, but now I am very badly off, no body to take care of me
and-my- four children:
Proprietor—l never was more astonished.—To the slave—
Did I not value your husband's cattle, and pay you• £lB9 for
them ?.

Woman—Yes, sir.
Proprietor—Did I not count out between £5OO and £6OO in
money, which was found in your husband's house, and hand it
over to you? and have you not now got your grounds and
house, and everything that your husband left.
Slave—Massa gave them all to me.
Mr. M— —Are you called upon by your master to do any
work.

Slave—Since my husband died, I have only been required to
take care of my tour children; master gives them and rne
allowance:

Proprietnr—And vet Mr. M--, you 900 Sho
would the English peasant complain if so circumstanced.--
Jamaica Courant.

FATE OF A PETITION.—Some of our readers will remember
that, at the last Yorkshire assizes, two young men, named Wi-
thernwick, whose relatives are residents in this neighbourhood,
were tried and convicted of robbing the premises of John
Yorke, Esq. of Bewerley, and sentenced to transportation. A
gentleman of this town, whose name it is unnecessary to men-
tion, upon application being made to him by the almost broker-
hearted father, conceiving there were some circumstances.of
favourable nature in the case, humanely undertook to draw out
and forward a memorial to the Secretary of State, pointing out
such circumstances, and praying that the,-case of the hapless -
young men might be taken into consideration, with a view, if •
thought consistent with the ends of justice, to a mitigation of
the sentence pronounced against them. This memorial, or pe-
tition, was transmitted by post to Mr. Hill, the member for this-
town, by the gentleman to whom we have already alluded, en-
closed-in a letter from himself to the worthy M.P., in which he
strongly recommended the case of the unfortunate convicts to'
his notice, and begged him, if he could do so consistently with.
his duty, to enforce the prayer of the petition upon the atten-
tion of Lord Melbourne; the writer of the letter expressing his
own conviction that they having, as it appeared to him, been
originally seduced into crime by practised evil doers, were ht
objects the exercise of the Royal clemency. This letter was
dated 22nd of April at which time, with the petition, it was fo:
warded to Mr. Hill, through the medium. of the General Pos.:-
office. Satisfied that- he had. done a duty which humanity re-
quired of him, and that he had put the application in the meet
favourable train, to be of service to the unfortunate subject:, of
it, nothing remained but to await its result. Judge, then, of
the surprise of this gentleman, on receiving a letter signed I,y
Sir Francis l: reeling, from what is called the Dead Lettei-
,' office, enclosing his communication to Mr. Hill, and the me-
morial to the Secretary of State, "for the reason assigned
thereon,"—which reason was couched in the single word R
FUSHD."—It appears that the letter and petition, being above
the weight allowed for member of Parliament's franks,• was
charged a postage of 3s. Bd.; and this amount Mr. Hill declined
'to pay for a letter bearing the Hull post-mark, and evidently
containing some document, which Mr. Hill's experience ought
to have taught him might be of most vital consequence (as in
,fact it was) to the parties by whom it was transmitted. The
young men were, we believe, about to be sent to their destina-
tion, and a day—an hour's delay—might cause the application
for mercy to their Sovereign's ear to be too late We are
unwilling to make any harsh reflections in connection with
the conduct of Mr. Hill in this business. If Mr. Hill po-
sesses the feelings of a man, we may safely leave him to ..
the suggestions of his own heart. But we may ask, is this
all the- courtesy to which the people of Hull are entitled
from their member ? The overweight was an error against
which it had been attempted to guard, by substitutia,- a.v..afer
for wax; but still the package exceeded the prescribed limit.
The postmark was that of Hull,.and Mr. Hill must have kimwn
it was likely to come from one of his constituents, as sic believe
it did, for we think that the father of the young man is a
burgess. Is it possible that Mr. Hill has been so liarrassed by
postages for overweighted envelopes from parliamentary asso-
ciations, pelitical unions, and liberal clubs, that he has deter=-
mined upon putting a stop to the outlay by refusing allletters-
upon which there is a charge ? Had this been known to the hu-
mane gentleman by whom the petition was forwarded to bite,
we make no doubt, in the attempted service of his fellow-crea-
tures, he would have cheerfully paid the 3s. Bd., as in fact he
was obliged to pay it on receiving the returned letter from Sir
F. Freeling's office. We will, -however, quit the ung,rateful
subject. • For the information of our readers whose curiosity.
has doubtless been excited on the subject of the petition, we
may add, that immediately on its being returned, it was tmos-
mitted to Mr. Bethel!, who, by return of post, in a note dated
11th May, acknowledges its receiptt and states his intention to
forward it, without loss of time, to the Secretary of State; but
remarks that he can hold out small hopes of any remission of
the sentence, as lie has reason to believe one of the culprits
had been servant to the gentleman who was robbed.—huii.•
Packet.

The following dialoge took place betitZTri the
Richard Brinsley Sheridan and' his son. orn,---a-Why are Ni e
not entitled to prefix the big Irish 0 to our name ?"o!ti
Sherry,—' Why, Tom, there is no occasion for it, as ixe etve
every body already."—he Milo-, page 1411.-