The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-02-10 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDAY

Sir. R. PEEL, in answer to a question from Dr. Bow-
ring, said that the government had not received any in-
formation of any retaliatory measures contemplated by
Spain with the view to obtain the introduction of the su-
gars of Cuba on the same terms with those of Manilla,
Venezuela, and the United States, nor did be believe any
such measures ..ere contemplated.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL wished to know whether the go-
vernment had had any further correspondence with the
Spanish government relative to the sugar of Cuba.
Sir R. PEEL said that a further correspondence had ta-
ken place, which he would take care should be laid before
the house previous to any discussion taking place.
Sir R. PEEL in answer to a question from Mr. Pattison,
said that, generally speaking, it was intended that th. re-
duction of duties in the tariff should take place immedi-
ately upon the passing of the resolutions to that effect.
The Right Hon. Baronet also stated, in answer to a
question from Lord John Russell, that he proposed that
after the resolutions bad passed and been reported, that
the *eduction of duty on corn should take place immedi-
ately.

Mr. WATSON moved for leave to bring in a bill for the
further repeal of pains and penalties upon Roman Catho-
lics.

Lord JOHN MANNERS said, if his hon. friend perse-
vered bringing in his bill, he should feel it his duty to
support it, believing that it was injurious to the Church
of England to retain those pains and penalties.
Mr. O'CnNNELL deprecated the continuation of a law
that punished virtue and devotional exercies.
LorJ JOHN RUSSELL thought it was the duty of the
house to have the law with respect to Roman Catholics
placed upon some reasonable footing, which it certainly
was cot at present.
Leave was then given to bring in the bill.

Mr. BASKES, in moving for various returns relative to
the aopiications for the stewardship of the Chiltern Hun-
dreds sod Of the forms and grants, &c., said that it was

Despatches in anticipation of the Overland mail from
Bombay, of the 3rd of January, reached town on Thurs-
day. via Trieste, bringing the important news that the
Sikh army had crossed the Sutletj, invaded the British
territory, and declared war against England; that the
Governor General had issued a proclamation declaring the
posses-ions of the Maharrajah Dhuleep Singh, on the left
hank of the Sutletj, confiscated and annexed to the Bri-
tish territory : and that an important battle had been
fought at Ferozepore, between the British and the Sikh
troops, which had lasted three days and nights, and had
not terminated when the latest advices left, at which time
the British had taken from the enemy 65 canon. The loss
was great on both sides, hut the enemy had been defeated
when the despatch left. Sir Henry Hardinge led the cen-
tre, Sir Hugh Gough the right, and General Littler the
left wing. The Victoria steamer, by which the mail was
conveyed from Bombay to Suez, had lett the harbour
when the dispatches arrived, but had fortunately not pro-
ceeded too far to be recalled. The Sikh troops are said
to be about 70,000 in number, of indomitable courage,
and disposed to fight with the proverbial desperation of
fanatics. They are, however, in so disunited and disor-
ganised a state as to render them much less formidable
than they might otherwise have proved. Stimulated by
the prospect of extensive plunder, and in opposition, it is
pretended to the wishes of the Lahore government, they
marched, towards the latter end of December, to the
banks of the Sutletj, compelling Lab Singh, the paramour
of the Ranee, to accompany them as a hostage for her
adhesion to their interests. By the Bth of December their
entire force had reached the bank of the river, and formed
a line from Kussoor, opposite Ferozepore, to the Hurreke
Ghat. The chief appointed to the principal command of
the Sikh troops, Tej Singh, appeared to have delayed his
departure from Lahore on one pretext or another as long
as it was possible for him so to do, which would lead us
to infer that he was in the confidence of the Queen Mother.
We have already announced the departure of the Governor
General from Delhi on the 19th November, and his ar-
rival and interview with Sir Hugh Gough and Major
Broadfoot, who had repaired to that place from Umhallah,
to consult with him on the measures it might be desirable
to adopt. It will be remembered that our last advices al-
luded ambiguously to some difference of opinion which
was said to have arisen between the Governor General
and the Commander-in-Chief; and it is now stated that
his Excellency had disapproved of the rapid advance of
the troops to the river's bank, as tending to precipitate a
collision which it was his great object not to precipitate.
On the 27th of November he set out for Umballah, where
he remained until the 7th December, engaged in review-
ing the troops. On the 11th he visited the camp, for the
purpose of inspecting the various regiments. The deter-
mination of the Sikh troops to cross the Sutletj did not
transpire until the 9 h of December, when orders were
immediately issued for the assembling of the army. The
proclamation to which we have already referred was issued
on the 13th, and on the 17th the Governor General's
camp was at Basseean, within thirty-seven miles of that
of the Sikh army. The division under the command of
Sir Hugh Gough was stationed only five miles off. On
the 12th the Sikhs, amounting to 10,000 in number, and
with twenty-seven guns, crossed the river by a ford twelve
miles above Ferozepore. On the 13th they had approached
within seven miles, continuing to send men and guns
across by a bridge of boats. Thence they must have
proceeded to Ferozepore, where the battle above referred
to took place. The British army, which began to con-
centrate as rapidly as possible after the determination of
the enemy's council of war was known, was composed of
11 complete troops of horse artillery, 11 companies of
foot artillery, wi h four light field batteries ; a 12-pounder
elephant battery of 13 guns, 14 24-pounders, 8 howitzers
and mortars ; 3 European with 7 native light cavalry
regiments, including the body guard ; 4 complete corps
and a wing of the sth irregular cavalry ; 9 European and
25 native regiments of infantry, and nearly the whole
corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners, with reinforcements
on the march. By the 14th, 30,000 Sikhs, with 70 guns,
had crossed the river.

Their sole object in this aggression appears tl have
been plunder, which they expected to obtain with little
difficulty, and they carried with them provisions for the
campaign, under the dread of being poisoned if they
trusted to the food they found within the British territory.
They must have been much surprised at the warmth of
their reception, having had, it appears, an imperfect idea
of the preparations which awaited them. The Queen
Mother remained at Lahore, pretending that she opposed
the march of the troops, but they had refused fo obey her.

Indian accounts state that a sum of nearly thirteen
thousand rupees has been subscribed for the proposed
new college at Kishnagur, for the most part by natives.

✓
LONGEVITY.—The Courrier Francais states that a
woman lately died at Tolosa, in Spain, at the extraordi-
nary age of 150 years. She leaves a daughter in her 82nd
year.
A letter in The Times, dated Lisbon, January 24, says,
the Patriot(' gives later intelligence from Loando, an-
nouncing that the Lady Sale has been condemned as a
saver by the Portuguese judges of the mixed commission,
against 'he opinion of the English, who did not consider
the case proved by the evidence. _

FAMINE IN SWEDEN.— A letter from Stockholm of
the 15th of January states, that in the provinces of Upsal,
Stockholm, and Westmanland, the scarcity has reached
uch a degree of intensity, that it is feared generally lest a
mass of unfortunate: persons rush to Stockholm, which
would inevitably produce a famine. In Upland there are
14,000 persons without food or shelter.
MARTIN LUTHER.—Thc 300th anniversary of Luther's
death, which falls on the 18th instant, will be celebrated
with the greatest pomp in all the Lutheran churches of
Prussia. In that of the Royal Palace of Wittemberg, in
which repose the mortal remains of Luther and Melanc-
than, 400 artists and dilettanti will perform the Messiah,
and Luther's celebrated hymn, " Ein Festerurg ist unser
Gott," composed by himself.
ALGERIA.—The accounts from Algeria are unfavour-
able to the French. It is now quite certain that Abd-el-
Kader has not retreated, and that the French army is so
knocked up as to be unable for the present to undertake
any expedition of consequence. The Alperie mentions a
report, that Abd-el-Kader, on hearing of the disaster of
General Levasseur, even ventured upon an excursion to
the very walls of Setif.
A SOP TO THE POPE.—The debate on the University
question, in the Chamber of Deputies, was brought to a
close, but without a division, on Friday, after a speech
from M. Guizot, universally admitted to have been bril-
liant, but which embraced an avowal that has brought
down upon him the ire of all the journals opposed to the
Church. M. Guizot avowed that the dissolution of the
Council of the University, by the Royal Ordinances of
the 7th of December last, had been done with a view to
propitiate the Pope, who would otherwise have opposed
the break-up of the Jesuit establishments in France.
Letters from Leghorn of the 25th ult. state, that the
Pontifical Government apprehend another movement in
Romagna. The political prisoners confined at Civita
Castellana have attempted to escape, the guards were
obliged to make use of their arms, and killed and wounded
several of them. At Imola, a detachment of Carabiniers
and Swiss soldiers having met in the streets a band of
young men singing patriotic songs, fired upon them, and
killed two and wounded some others. Much agitation
had prevailed at Forli since the murder of the Commis-
sary of police of that town.
GERMAN POLITENESS.—The Frankfort Journal gives
the following anecdote :—" About a week ago the Duke
of Nassau, while walking on the banks of the Rhine, near
Mayence, asked a boatman whether the river continued
to rise ? ' You,' replied the man, using a term equiva-
lent to calling the Duke a stupid ass, ' have been walking
an hour here, and ask me whether the water rises !' The
Duke turned away laughing. 'Do you know whom you
have been talking to ?' asked a second boatman to the
first. ' No! who was he?' Why, it was the Duke of
Nassau !' Well, lam glad I was not rude !' "
STATE OF PRUSSlA.—lmportant news has arrive(' from
West Prussia. The persons compromised in the Polish
plot had been transferred to Grandentz, and the authori-
ties imagined that they had thus prevented every explo-
sion of violence and discontent. This hope has been dis-
appointed ; on the night of the 18th ult. an attempt was
made to gain possession of one of the gates of Grandentz,
and to deliver the prisoners by force ; it is said ihat this
attempt proved a failure. Patrols of cavalry put the re-
bels to flight, and numerous arrests were made. M de
Bodelschwingh, Minister of the Interior, has sent out for
Grandentz, to take in person the necessary information.
It is said that a Polish Count, seriously compromised in
the plot, and dissatisfied at having been made the dupe of
vain promises, has offered to make important disclosures
to the government.—Frankfort Paper.

The famous article of the London Times of the 4th De-
cember, relative to the corn laws, had been received in
New York, and is freely commented on in the journals
before us. There had not been time to ascertain the
effect which the announcement had had upon the Ameri-
can markets, as the intelligence was only received on the
15th ult. The effect, however, was anticipated to be, that
prices of flour and grain would particularly feel the influ-
ence of such accounts, and that a very extensive demand
for those articles, and large speculative shipments, would
take place. Every one seemed on the very tip-toe of ex-
pectation of the news by the Hibernia steam-ship from
this country, to the 4th ult., and until that arrived, busi-
ness was in a great degree suspended.
A project has been introduced into the senate for build-
ing a steam navy. It was in the shape of a bill from the
naval committee, which has been ordered to be printed.
It appropriates 5,165,000 dollars, and gives authority tc
the President to build ten steam-ships, and to complete
all the ships on the stocks.
New York, Friday, Jan. 17.

BREADSTUFFS.—There was a little more doing, to-day,
than was previously noticed, and the market is also more
firm at our last quotations. Sales were made in Gene-
see, for export, at 5 doll. 75 cents, and in Southern at 5
dots. 75 cents. a 5 dots 871 cents. . _

COTTON.—There was a moderate enquiry to-day, and
the sales amounted to about 600 bales. We could not
learn of any change in rates, but rather more cotton has
been brought out on the market, which gives the buyer a
greater choice in his selections. We continue our quota.
tions, as follows:

LIVERPOOL CLASSIFICATION

inferior
Ordinary .....
Middling
Good Middling
Middling fair .
Fair .
Fully fair
Good fair
Fine

Upl. Sr Flor. Mobile Sr N. 0.
. - 6A i 64-
. 614 64 0,4 7
. . 7a 71

7 a if
7L if
714 8

7.1 71
81-4 8;
Sia 84

Bkg 81 .... 9a9 4-
fib 84 .... 91a 91
81a 9 .... 10 alO4

CONGRESSIONAL COMPLIMENTS

House of Representatives. Washington. Jan. 10,1846.
Mr. Hudson rose on a privilege question. tie sent to
the clerk's desk a copy of the Union, containing a long
and severe attack upon him by Major Heiss. The clerk
read it at length.
Mr. Hudson defended himself. It was a fact that the
president's message and public documents were formerly
returned printed in about a fortnight. It was tilt so now.
Mr. M'Connell, of Alabama, called the gentleman to
order. He had no business to abuse the organ of the ad-
ministration. (Laughter.)
Mr. Hudson said he had no inclination to play upon
that organ. He would leave the management of the dis-
cordant notes in the hands of the gentleman from Alaba-
ma. (Laughter.) Mr. Hudson said the question was,
whether an officer of the house should attack the house, or
a member thereof. The doorkeeper might as well call the
members to account for words spoken on that floor.
Mr. M'Connell rose to order.

The :tpeaker : The gentleman will state his point of or-
der (he pronounced the word point, pint )
Mr. M'Connell said, he would state his point, not his
pint (pointing to his throat, as if he had swallowed about
that measure.) Mr. M'Connell stated, that Ritchie and
Heiss would not touch the gentleman with a ten-foot pole.
Mr. Hudson would not reply to the gentleman from
Alabama. After referring to the delay of the printing last
year, saying that it was not their fault, but the fault of the
conduct of the engraving committee, be left his case in the
hands of the house.
Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, submitted a resolution, that
J. P. Heiss, a person in the employ of this house, having
charged upon a member of that house falsehood, &c., be
dismissed from the office which he holds under this house.
He was going on to defend this motion, when
Mr. M'Connell called him to order. If the gentleman
takes up the gentleman from Massachusetts, it is ditty bu-
siness in dirty hands.
The Speaker called to order.

Mr. Davis : I have no reply to make to a drunken
blackguard. (Sensation.)
Speaker: The gentleman from Kentucky must not in-
dulge in such language.
Mr. Davies : I beg pardon from the speaker.
Here Mr. M'Conneil left the house, in company with
Mr. Sims, of Missouri.
The votes were soon after taken, and we need scarcely
refer further to the proceedings of this body We find in
the recorded proceedings one member calling another a
" liar," and another " a scoundrel." Asa sample of their
Oregan eloquence, we give the following :
Mr. Kennedy, of Indiana, was the victor among some
thirty combatants for the floor. Ile said the people out
west got their education in wrestling with bears. They
were not even afraid of lions. If the British lion got into
our path, it must get out of the way. The west was not
for war, but they would not give up their country to dicta.
tion. lie himself was a quaker : but he would fight for
his nation. England was not so much, after all. If the
British lion put his nose into our affairs, we would run
the eagle's talons into it, and make it spout blood like a
whale. He did not stick to party here. The Whig party
are true as the other party on national honour. We will
people the whole west. Put a singe pair of human beings
out west, and visit them twenty years afterwards, and
you'll find their number twenty, and so we'll go on with
thousands and millions in that ratio. Our institutions
should and would spread. Cuba, California, Oregon, all
would come within the widening cirzle. The British go-
vernment was the worst government in the world. (Mr.
Pakenham was in the house during part of the speech.)
On her brow was written " Mene, Mene." (Here the
Hebrew quotation failed amid roars of laughter.) The
British lion must get off our territory, if it costs millions
of lives and oceans of blood. That is all the war spirit in
the west. _

Mr. Chipman, another honourable member of Con-
gress, said he went for the whole of Oregon. He was not
like the man who went for the middle extreme. Ile was
not for steering between Silly and Charybogue. (Roars
of laughter.) Mr. Chairman, said he, what is the
question? (Loud laughter.) We hear great talk about
being s pared by a lion in place of a wolf (referring to
Mr. Holmes's speech on Oregon). He was not and
would not be afraid of English lions. He g.loried in the
speech of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Adams.)
He bad bad prejudices against that venerable man, but
they were all dissipated by his noble position on Oregon ;
though his head was white with blossoms [noises, I be-
lieve, blossom], he was in favour of the rights of his
country ; he had touched the hearts of the nation with a
live coal from off the altar of patriotism. The brightest
page of history would record the name of Adams, who
was the breathing living history of his country's diplo-
macy. Mr. Chipman then went on to distinguish " joint
occupation" from " joint occupancy." He gave his
views upon arbitration, by supposing that some loafers
would gather around him and ask him to arbitrate about
his own coat, to which his right was " clear and unques-
tionable." Our right was as clear to Oregon as his right
was to his coat. It did not come by Adam's will; it was
I by the will of Omnipotence, whose plastic hand had made
this continent for our governing hands. Lewis Cass, of
Michigan, he said, would do great things. Michigan
would take the conquest of Canada by the job ; Michigan
would take Canada in ninety days, and give it back to
England for the pleasure of taking it again. He then
went into a defence of his former views on " Education
warring on Democracy. He repeated it. It thwarted tha
ways of Providence, and made men Whigs. (Laughter.)
He seemed to be afraid of war, but be was not afraid.
If a British man of war was lying in the Potomac with
a broadside 1. yelled at this hall [the capitol is not on a
level with the Potomac], and did she threaten us with
destruction if we did not give up a certqin territory, ave,
even one square yard, he would say—(a long pause]—
Fire. (Shouts of laughter, and cries of "Go it. ) He
had in his eye the boa constrictor freedom. The hedge-
hog of British usurpation spread out his quills. (Here
the gentleman shrugged his shoulders,
and spread his
fingers, to imitate a hedgehog.) But let that hedgehog
beware how it came within that boa constrictor.

TREASURE FOUND.—On Monday last, as some men
were digging in a field at Borrisokane, they dug up up-
wards of 1,000 pieces of coin ; the large pieces were
broader than a shilling, but much thinner; they were
coined in Henry IV.'s time,- and passed for a groat in
those days ; seven of them weigh one ounle ; the small
pieces are about the size of a sixpenny piece, but quite
thin ; they appear to be the silver penny of Henry 11.
The silver pieces were not more than five or six inches
under the surface of the earth, and must have lain there
for c,nturies.—Nenagh Guardian.
CORK ELECTION,—Mr. A. M'Carthy, the " enor-
mously rich" nominee of the Repeal Directory, has, of
course, walked over for the seat in Cork vacated by the
retirement of Mr. Serjeant Murphy. The election took
place on Saturday, and the proceedings passed over quietly.
On the same day Alderman Timothy O'Brien, ex-Lord
Mayor of Dublin, and, if not " enormously rich," a sub-
stantial trader, was returned to the Saxon Parliament as
member for " Cashel of the Kings," vice Mr. Serjeant
Stock, who, like his brother of the coif, declined playing
the fool in Conciliation-hall for the amusement of the
overgroivn children who frequent that interesting locality.
REPEAL ASSOCIATION.—On Monday, the usual meet-
ing of this body was held, and notwith-tanding the ab-
sence of the Liberator, the " hall of sedition" was well
filled. Mr. James Kelly, M.P. for Limerick, occupied
the chair. King Dan's vicegerent (Mr. Smith O'Brien)
brought up a report condemnatory of the government's
proposed arrangement with reference to public works in
Ireland, and, commenting on the intended repeal of
the corn laws, argued that no compensation was in reality
afforded to the agriculturists by the measures which Sir
R. Peel proposed to give as an equivalent—they being
such as ought in justice to be enacted, irrespective alto-
gether of the corn laws. He was himself in favour of
moderate protection, but if the people of Ireland were
willing to submit to the change, he was ready to acquiesce.
Mr. J. O'Neill and others having addressed the meeting,
the rent was announced to be £263.
MELANCHOLY CIRCUMSTANCE.—Twin MEN SHOT.
—lt is our painful duty to announce a most melancholy
circumstance, by which two human beings have, in an
instant, been hurried into eternity ; and, it our authority
be correct, we fear that the tragical occurrence was
brought upon themselves by their own misdeeds. The
melancholy affair took place on Sunday evening, the Ist
instant, at Dreenan, within two miles of Maghera. It
appears that two men, named Downing and Mulholland,
who are Protestants' were on their way to the house of
the former, when they met a party of men, numbering
about thirty, who were conducting themselves very bois-
terously on the highway, and as our informant states, were
singing Ribbon songs. An altercation ensued among the
Parties, but from whom the provocation emanated, we
cannot tell. Downing and his companion were forced to
run for their lives, being overpowered by numbers ; they
succeeded in obtaining refuge in Downing's house, when
the mob came up and surrounded the house. The Pro-
testant party, in self-defence, fired out, and the shots
took effect on two of their assailants. One of the men
lived for some hours afterwards; the body of the second
sufferer was not discovered for some time, when it was
found in a moss-hole, adjoining the road-side, and into
which it is supposed the unhappy man had fallen after re.
ceiving the shot. The names of the deceased are Henry
M`Williams and John Higgins, both Roman Catholics.—
Londonderry Sentinel.
IRELAND AND FREE TRADE.—AS a result of the mi-
nisterial declarations bacon has fallen four shillings a cwt.
and hams two shillings. This, it is remarkable, will be
agreeable intelligence to the pork-curers in the counties
of Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Kerry, and to the
dry-smokers of Ballybrack and other localities in the
county of Wicklow. Turning from produce to land, we
have the following " authentic particulars on competent
authority :"—Tidgeon-park, an eligible property, within
three miles of the city of Kilkenny, very well circum•
stanced, was sold in 1836 to Mr. De Montmorency for
£10,600. On account of an alleged defect in the title, he
got out of the purchase. That defect, if it ever existed,
has been since cured, and the same property brought to a
sale in 18-14, when £8,500 was offered and refused for it,
as being totally insufficient, as the rental amounts to £5OO
per year. It was again offered for sale in Master Goold's
office, on last Friday, when no person could be got to bid
more than £5,300; and though very much pressed a pur-
chaser who offered a year ago £8,400, would not consent
to have it knocked down to him for £6,ooo.—Dublin
Wexford paper says that pigs which averaged
435. to 445. per cwt. a fortnight back, could not bring 355.
at the fair of Taghmon on Wednesday, and a complete
panic seemed to have seized on buyer and seller. A let-
ter from Tralee, of Monday's date, says, " Grain, if
bought at all, was purchased at much lower quotations
than the previous day. Pork, beef, butter, eggs, all
commodities in fact, but potatoes, tumbled. Potatoes,
however, I regret to say, from the progress of the rot,
advanced a third, and this, as I stated a few days since, at
a period when the rate of remuneration for agricultural
labourers is 244. per day, and diet—a few wet Jumpers."]

GOVERNMENT PRECAUTION S.-We mentioned on Tues.
day the arrival at Cove of a vessel (the Atlas) with Indian
corn. Another (the Adirondock) had arrived on the same
mission about a fortnight previously. They are large
American liners, registered 1000 tons, and between them
they have brought, probably, about 5000 barrels of corn
meal and Indian corn They were reported at the Cust-m-
-house on Tuesday, and yesterday commenced discharging
the meal at Haulbowline, whence it will be supplied as
occasion may require. The corn, or a portion of it, they
will bring to the quay, for conveyance, for grinding. to
the Lee Mills, which have been taken by the firm of N.
and I. Cummins, for either the Messrs. Baring or the Go-
vernment—the latter is the general opinion, and we believe
the correct one. A vessel similarly laden is said to have
sailed for Waterford, and another for Limerick, and seve-
ral others are, we understand, expected here. This is a
prudent and commendable precaution, and let Govern-
ment have the praise of it. We said, when liberal jour-
nalists were scribbnaT, and liberal orators were spouting,
about their apathy and heartlessness, accusing them of not
caring for the lives of a starving people because they were
Irish, &c., that ministers felt more keenly than their re-
vilers the responsibility of their situation, and the result
has proved it. Commissary-general Hewetson and two
other officers connected with the commissariat department
have been for some months in the city instituting inquiries
and communicating with Government, and it is the in-
formation received from these and similarly authorised
agents in other parts of Ireland, that Sir R. Peel relied on
in his statement in the Commons. Indian corn, when
properly managed, makes, we understand, an excellent ar-
ticle of food, and perhaps when Sir Robert spoke of de-
posing the potato, it was by this that lie intended to supply
its place. The proper management, however, is, we be-
lieve, a matter of some difficulty ; but Government, we
presume, will take measures to teach the people how its
conversion into bread is to be effected.—Cork Constitution.