The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-11-25 00:00:00

our pos:

tribe."

ally, IN ~pie and his .
And from this single gun—which, by the bye, was
once, during the attack, in the hands of the enemy,
for want of a sufficient British force to enable the
Colonel to spare a picket to guard it—only 26 shots
were able to be fired upon the stockade. The re-
sult was a determination to attack and scale the fort
at once—no practicable breach having been effected
—and the poor fellows composing the British force,
elate in the confidence of their superior discipline,
and despising their cpposing enemy, advanced to
the attack. How they were met again the Colonel
shall himself detail :

"When the advance was sounded, they rushed forward
in the most gallant and daring manner, and every endea-
vour was made to pall the stockade down. They partially
succeeded in opening the outer one, but the inward one
resisted all their efforts, and being lined with men firing
through loopholes on a level with the ground, and from
others - were falling so fast that, not-

is made to p (.liacte down. They partially Some two months ago, one-half of the population
-I in openir - hut the inward one of this country were said to be labouring under
',eir effo • ' men firing aberration of mind—a railway-projecting and rail-
'-s on
way-speculating fever. Merchants had forsaken
our mer, their usual speculations by sea and land, traders and
ri
shopkeepers their counters and their stock ; lawyers
:'..y N
A iii had laid down their quills; and even clerks and
,d hat office-boys, butlers and footmen, were, for a time,
force v above attending to their ordinary avocations, and
g like were preparing to become millionaires. Railway
hough h shares, or railway scrips, were the objects of univer-
E 1 so. sal pursuit ; and the postman's double knock at the
dwell long door, with a letter of allotment, was as welcome an
country's hi event, and esteemed as valuable a windfall, as the
. every British news of an unexpected legacy, or the arrival from
as evincing th India of some long unheard-of uncle, with half a
perseverance, t liver and sundry bags of rupees to spend or leave
Jal the troops of : among his relations. Alas, for the vanity of worldly
,wever, again urge anticipations !—this dream of gratified avarice has
ealand upon Goverr vanished and "left not a wreck behind," except
t allow the livcs of he numerous pieces of paper or parchment,—which
,ced, but will demand z men thought were as good as acres of green field
lavigilolhatlOll 111 our 1..,0 or citable, lows of neat villas or thriving shops,—
or past treatment of Nev and various unsatisfied debts and pressing creditors.
.4 led to the calamities whit The world was mad, we repeat, in those days—
unequivocally mad; but we question if it is in a per-
We :abstained last week from expressing fully fectly sane state yet. We are afraid, indeed, that
our opinion, with respect to the propriety of holding the bulk of cur late excited speculators have only
the public meeting, which his worship the Mayor exchanged the form of their mania, and passed from
was requested to convene, on the subject of the delirium to utter prostration of mind. Like the sick
anticipated scarcity of food. The following is his Bacchanal, we reject with loathing, in the morning of
worship's reply to the requisition : partially awakened reason, the draught which fren-
Town-hall, 21st Nev. 1845. zied us in the evening of our distempered folly. We
SlR,—The requisition presented yesterday by yourself, are rushing as madly into the excess of fear, as we
Mr. Thornley, Mr. James Mulleneux, and Mr. Mellor, lately indulged in excess of confidence and hope;
requesting me to call a public meeting of the inhabitants and are as ready to throw away, to-day, for anything
of the borough, " to discuss and determine what steps
should be taken to alleviate, and, as far as possible, to or nothing, the very property, or its representative,
prevent, that distress which threatens .o overtake a large of which yesterday we were in such hot chase.
and helpless portion of our fellow-subjects, arising from Everything in the shape of shares or scrip—bad,
the failure of the potato crop, and the injury done to the good, or indifferent—we are getting rid of, or striv-
wheat crop," has had my best consideration, and as the to do so, and with perfect recklessness as to the con-
result, I offer, in reply, that, as the distress apprehended
sequences to ourselves or our neighbours. If, in
from the lamentable disease and waste in the potato is at
this time especially engaging the attention and considers- short, we were mad a couple of months ago—a fact
Lion of her Majesty's responsible advisers, it would seem we are not disposed to deny altogether—it is per-
to me, pending their investigation and deliberations, pre- fectly clear that we are now as mad as ever, our
mature to call a meeting of the inhabitants of the borough frenzy having only taken a different direction. Our
for public discussion on the subject; and I therefore feel
first state was the madness which leads on a forlorn
constrained to withhold compliance with the request to
that effect, made to me in the requisition. hope against an impregnable fortress ; our present
At the Same time, I would offer my assurance, that if state that of a flying army, which throws away, in
the apprehended distress should unhappily assume an its headlong career, musket and knapsack, cloak
aspect of certainty,—when the channels are manifest
and coat, that it may get further from an enemy
through which aid can be most effectually and advantage-
which—being one of bricks or stone and mortar
ously given,--I shall be prompt to :promote any measure
calculated to afford substantial relief. only—cannot pursue.
In adopting this course, lam relieved by the assurance, We have a word or two to say to our fellow
that the cause of humanity is in no way involved, since
happily, there is no present want of sustenance for the if ,otintrymen on the subject of this last headlong folly,
m. Sir, they can:cool themselves down sufficiently to listen
poor. I a
Your most obedient servant, to us ; and first we would address ourselves to those
DAVID HODGSON, Mayor. most lamentably infected with the prevailing panic,
William Brown, Es q. viz :—the holders of scrips in the newly projected
We cordially agree in the propriety of the undertakings. A and B, we will assume, have em-
decision come to by his worship; not only on the barked their money in this description of securities

wusc daring acts of bravery, and the
greatest perseverance, they were obliged to retire."
Sir Howard was not lin error, in his 'sstimation,
of the " character and habits" of the New Zealand-
ers, and the kind of force which it would require "to
suppress anything like a general insurrection" i
amongst them, although her Majesty's advisers ap-
pear to have been so.
We will not dwell longer upon this melancholy
chapter in our country's history,—a chapter never-
theless which every British soldier may look upon
with pride, as evincing the national courage and
uuflinching perseverance, under difficulties, which
would appal the troops of any other nation. We
must, however, again urge the critical position of
New Zealand upon Government. The country
will not allow the livcz of her brave sons to be thus
sacrificed, but will demand a searching remedy for
Lito ataoigatithauun in our uoioniat policy, aisplayea
in our past treatment of New Zealand, and which
has led to the calamities which we deplore.