The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-06-14 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STAND.IIID.

Stn,—l have received the following letter from a most re-
spectable gentleman, of unquestionable veracity, residing in the
vicinity of Ilecktnondwike, in reply to a few inquiries I made
of him 'relative to the character and connections of Henry
Whitely, whose notorious pamphlet on West India cruelty has
been so widely circulated by a set of frenzied partisans, amongst
people ignorant or prejudiced on the subject, too easily be-
lieved. You will greatly oblige me by inserting it in your
valuable paper, for the benefit of the public.—Yours, &c. -
Liverpool, Jane 6, 1833. LEX TALIONIS.

(COPY.)
MY DEAR SIR,-When an individual offers himself to our
notice, by his public pretensions for applause, fame, or noto-
riety, it is natural that we feel more than an ordinary inclina-
tion to know something about the birth, parentage, and educa-
tion of such a character.

You have seen, I.presume, and probably read, a pamphlet
written (or published) by Henry Whiteley, giving a most hor-
rible account of certain cruelties practised in Jamaica. I re-
peat, you must have heard Henry Whiteley the common topic
of conversation. His praises have been sounded by Whig,
Radical, anti-slavery advocates, and by all who claim superior
pretensions to kindly feelings. As I have an opportunity of
KNOWING the general character of the person who is quoted as
an authority, (as little to be doubted as St. Paul,) I will, for
your information, give you a sketch, which I am surprised no
abler pen has long ere this favoured some of the journals with.
Henry Whiteley's father was formerly a blanket. manufac-
turer at Heckmondwike, a poor-looking village about seven
miles from Leeds. Ile was unfortunate, as it is termed, in
business; sold his patrimony, and, to preserve him from pau-
perism. he was appointed master of the workhouse, or poor-
house, in the place of his nativity. Having sons, he brought
them up to weaving blankets, and his son Henry followed, for
some years, that occupation. The time of the young man (as
he is now about twenty-one years of age) was not, however,
wholly taken up with the business: having received from some-
body, or from himself, a call, as it is termed, to pray, preach,
exhort, or hold forth to the sect called Methodists, in due time
he assumed, or had given to him, the appellation of " local
preacher." Confined in his operations, and limited in his use-
fulness, to his village, where, being known, he probably. was
not honoured as a prophet, he shook the dust off his shoes and
removed to London, to an uncle who possessed some influence.
It appears from his printed Narrative that he went out to Ja-
maica, and, being disgusted with slavery, he returned home
after a few months' absence, to relate to our English what he
had witnessed. Ile is at present residing at Ileekmondwike,
better off in the world, buying blankets for the London uncle,
and receiving the attentions of all anti-slavery friends.
Now, my dear sir, the foregoing account affords matter for
reflection, conjecture, and remark. In the first place, it is
manifest that the ostensible reason given by Whiteley, in his
book, for wishing to go out to Jamaica, was not the real one.
Ile might, it is true, be anxious to act as book-keeper, and I
can suppose that he would gladly have continued in such a
tuation, but unfortunately for his future success, he (I have
little doubt) manifested too great an eagerness in resumin,_,,, his
old favourite exercises, and finding the poor blacks ready to
listen to his prayers, he would freely indulge in his holdings
forth; a spirit of dissatisfaction would soon spring up in the
temper of the slave; insubordination would necessarily follow,
and the termination of Whiteley's attempt to make the slave
believe, what he himself perhaps did not comprehend, would be
dismissal from all civil employment. - - • . •
When you receive your Jamaica version of this man's talc,
I have little hesitation in saying that you will find that he
preached, and prayed, and talked about emancipation, and all
that kind of thing ; and, in his youthful sanctity, making the
slaves believe that manna would be sent down from heaven to
feed them when they became free.

If we inquire into the former modes of obtaining a livelihood
which the generality of itinerant preachers were obliged to re-
sort-to, we shall see that they were compelled to work,- perhaps
in weaving, or at some more laborious trade. Now, the plan
to escape the dull drudgery of working at an honest rade, was
laid by Whiteley before he left England, and having once en-
joyed the luxury of hearing his own speeches and wise expla-
nations; having once, tasted the sweets of an idle life, he would
feel ill disposed to return to an active and useful one. His aim
would be to preach and pray as much as you like, but to work
he would protest against with as much zeal as the black, if at
this moment emancipated.
You would read, at the end of Whiteley's pamphlet, a list of
names of gentlemen who testified to having known the father of
the young man. It is rather curious to know that those signa-
tures were obtained for the purpose of assisting Whiteley to
gaiu a mercantile situation ; and I KNOW that those who appear
in print do not feel satisfied in seeing their names attached to a
pamphlet of which they knew nothing when they were re-
quested to certify.
I am amazed to hear men quote Whitely as a good authority,
who say they believe every word in his book ;—yes, on the evi
-
dence of one man they condemn an entire population. Their
faith is powerfully exercised on that subject, while the same
men will not believe the evidence offered by respectable indi-
viduals in favour of the factory bill; they turn a deaf ear to that
'question, and decide against the most positive declarations that
children are not worked too long in our factories.
I have written a long letter on a subject which perhaps will
interest you; if I have not devoted more time to this investi-
gation, you must find for me an excuse in the many calls which
I have on my time.
I have been contented to state facts.

In the language of Junius I would say, that "the evidence
which truth carries withit is superior to all argument."—Yours,
truly, S. J.

A Bill throwing open the profession of medicine in its far
more general department is to be offered in the House of Lords
in a few days. Phis Bill is said to have been concocted by the
Lord Advocate of Scotland.

Rear-Admiral (now Sir George) Parker has got the insignia
of the Knight Commander of the Bath, vacant by the demise of
Vice-Admiral the lion. Sir Henry Hothani. As the gallant
Admiral, however, commands the squadron in the Tagus, he
cannot be invested with the Order until his return to England