The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-10 00:00:00

circumstances attending this case, and the

There are hundreds,

given by the medical witnesses
we repeat, of monomaniacs—men of distorted minch
men labouring under delusions different in descrip-
tion, but equal in degree, to those of Daniel
M`Naughten—delusions, too, which may equally be
driven to result in the commission of crime- -

ti

and every community. Turn for a moment to the
state of society and feeling developed in the trial now
taking place at Lancaster. Are the deluded men, we
ask, who crowd the manufacturing districts of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, and look up from the midst of
their misery, to the realisation of the wild theories of
the Charter, or the equally wild promises of the Anti-
Corn-law League, as to the coming of a social and po-
litical millnium, beings amongst whom the firebrands
of agitation ought to be wantonly thrown ? Are these
men burning with savage passion, and smarts:
the lash of poverty, the parties amongst whom incen-
diary placards ought to be circulated, imputing, in let-
ters that he who runs may read, " MURDER,
MURDER, MURDER," to any individuals or class
of their fellow-subjects ? Undoubtedly they are not ;
and here at least a system of prevention of possible
evil results may well be applied. The authors of such
incendiary appeals may be restrained far more easily
than their possible results can be arrested or even

ghom
t'f

imagined !

Since the above remarks, intended for our Tuesday's,l
publication, were written, another almost similar case
to that of M`Naughten has come to light,--a Mr.
John Dillon, who alleges some injustice done to him
by that department of the Government which is under
Mr. Goulburn, having threatened the life of that gen-
tleman, and a warrant having been issued for his ap-
prehension. Verily, the principle of " individual and
personal responsibility" progresses apace ! It is con-
fidently asserted that Dillon was remarked in the lobby
of the House of Commons on Monday night last,
making eager inquiries for the Right Hon. Gentleman
in question—with what view may almost be surmised
by the violent tone of his letters, which will be found
elsewhere. We know not whether or not he has taken
out the necessary qualification for Bedlam ; but, doubt-
less, he could be proved to possess insanity sufficient
to enable him to commit murder, with immunity from
its ordinary penal consequences !

We are of course unacquainted with the precise
terms which are being offered by Sir Robert Peel, in
the negociation which is going on with the govern-
ment of Mexico. We know not what may be the pro-
posed modifications to which that statesman is willing
to submit in the differential duties levied upon sugar,
the produce of Brazilian cultivators, as compared with
West Indian sugar ; but we are afraid, if the most

recent accounts from Brazil can be relied upon, that
the views expressed by our contemporary, the Jamaica
Standard, can scarcely he those contemplated by the

British Government. The Standard claims, on behalf

of the West Indian interests, that " no remission of
the differential duties in question shall be conceded
whilst slavery exists in the Brazilian possessions:.

We are perfectly sanguine that Sir Robert Peel wil

make no such remission, unaccompanied with, at the
least, a satisfactory assurance with respect to the early
termination of the system of slavery in the Brazils.

Its termination, at once, we can scarcely hope for, vs
we do not know that the machinery exists in the
Brazils which would be necessary to render such a
step one of safety. Again, our contemporary main-
tains that the remission of duty upon the produce of
Brazil shall be no greater than that upon the produce
of British colonies—in other words, that the diffe-

rential duty shall remain as before, the whole dut:
upon both being reduced six shillings. Such, at least
is the interpretation which we put upon the somewlia
obscure language used ; and it is plain that, if Brat'
has anything to give in return, she can never be satin
fled with such terms ;—for how could she be tbereb
placed in a much better position in the Britis
market ?

We repeat, that we cannot tell, except from his past
declarations—and they are confined to his course with
respect to the question of slave cultivation—the terms
which Sir Robert is prepared to grant ; hut if the con-

cessions which he requires from Brazil be anything
approaching those which have been communicated to
us by a recent arrival from that country, his offers
must convey to Brazil something well worthy of
acceptance. No minister of such a country, in which
the slaveholding interest is paramount, would venture
to moot the question of the cessation of slavery,
without some worthy equivalent to offer ; still less to

countenance a proposition such as the following, whi,

is given by a correspondent of the London Times of
Wednesday, who dates from Marauhao, a northern
Brazilian port, on the 21st January :
" The Finance Minister, Viscount d'Abrantes, has
published a pertaria to the president of the commission
charged with the organization of the new tariff, esta-
blishing differential duties by imposing an additional
twenty per cent. upon all goods imported into the
Brazilian territory, with the exception of Great Britain
and its possessions, to whom an exemption was con-
ceded."

This proposition, it was said, had created a great
sensation on the Exchange at Rio ; and, amongst the
non-Britannic merchants, " a perfect storm of indig-
nation :" whilst an opposition paper says, that " it is
feared that the machinations of England will too soon
follow this up with a lasting convention, which will
establish, in favour of her commerce, a monopoly."
Here, then, is a large measure of favour offered to us
—with what prospects of its being carried into execu-
tion we know not—and it is perfectly clear that a
measure of substantial advantage to the staple trade of
Brazil is meditated as its equivalent. It is also clear,
from the hostility with which the formation of a
British commercial alliance was regarded by the
slaving interests of the country—and we are told that
the British Envoy had been grossly and personally
insulted by their journals—that the negociations going
on must contain stipulations, with respect to the
question of slavery, which, if carried out, must lead
to divest the public mind of any objections which it
might entertain on the score of the impetus to be
given to a system against which we are nationally
pledged, by the admission of the produce of Brazil to
compete in the British market with the produce of
our own free colonies.

Such is, so far as our present information extends
the state of the question, as between the present go-
vernment and the West Indies. We have stated it
fairly and freely, that our fellow-countrymen in the
West Indies might prepare themselves for the result.
No rash legislation, we trust, will be attempted by Sir
Robert Peel's government; nothing calculated
mad
seri-
ously to compromise the interests of those colonies, of
nigh
which Whig fraud and incapacity have
shipwreck. At the same time, we feel convinced that
the time has approached at which we must extend our
consideration to the important markets of the Brazils;
and if we can do this without sacrificing the interests
of British subjects in our own colonies, or compro-
mising the interests of humanity, it will be a consum-
mation devoutly to be thankful for. We cannot,
however, consent toraeccceoivmepaenvieend
by
yisin
jbuosotnice
to
to our
suffering suffering commerce, if
British planter, and the sacrifice of those professions
of humanity and that noble sacrifice in the cause which
we have made in the face of the whole world. The